What we are shouting about!

Are you looking for a value for money office/studio in the center of Chichester?

If so, we currently have a desk available, suitable for self-employed people or small businesses. We have room for 1 (maybe 2 people) to share a studio with us. The rate is very attractive and there is also use of a communal meeting room.

This studio is currently used by companies in the creative media industries but would be suitable for most people.

If you are interested please contact:

Simon Hilton | (01243 774599) | simon@otb-creative.co.uk

My name is Simon Hilton and I am here to talk about your options when trusting someone with your corporate imagery. As someone who has worked as an intern for a major sports brand, as well as design agencies of various sizes as both an employee and as a freelancer, and is now running my own successful design agency as well as freelancing for large agencies in the area I feel I am qualified to talk about this subject.

With the market saturated with different design agencies and freelancers it may be quite tricky to find the right one for you, a typical way to find one is a simple Google search followed by browsing of the portfolio, but this isn’t necessarily the best way to find someone for your job. I am going to talk about a variety of different considerations you can take into account when looking for a designer. I will also talk you about how Outside the Box fits into your choices.

Cost
One of the most important factors in this current climate is the cost of a job. It is probably best to avoid a designer who has a fixed price for design work e.g Brochure £500, Business Card £50 etc. The reason for this being that every job will need to be quoted on a bespoke basis, no two jobs are the same, and if someone can offer a fixed price they are most likely offering you a templated style design, probably similar to something they have produced for a similar client. Generally a designer will cost up a job based on an hourly rate. Now this can vary greatly dependant on experience and type of agency, for example:

Agency: If you are looking for an agency to produce work their hourly rate is often 2 or 3 times more than a freelancer (depending on the freelancer), however for this you get a team of people working on your ideas scaling from account managers to senior designers and everything in-between. This may or may not be necessary for your needs, but feel free to ask, most agencies will be happy to let you know what they can do for you.

Freelancers: There is no doubt about it, freelancers are going to be cheaper due to the lack of overheads and additional staff, a freelancer will often do all of the admin themselves and of course the account management, for this reason you won’t be paying the additional staffing costs found within the agency, however be careful! Going for the cheapest designer isn’t necessarily the best option. As with everything you get what you pay for, and since the computer started playing such an important role in the design studio you do find more and more designers popping up simply because someone has got a Mac and a copy of Photoshop, they may now consider themselves a designer without a shred of training, and the cost could reflect this.

So don’t be afraid to ask about what experience they have. In the design industry it is preferable for the designer to have at least 2 years studio experience following qualification, this is when a designer will make the majority of his/her mistakes and needs someone to check it over. I’m not saying that after this time you don’t make mistakes because of course you do, you just make less of them and they aren’t as big.

OTB Creative: At OTB we work slightly different to both agencies and freelancers, our hourly rates are somewhere in the middle. This is due to having overheads, but keeping them small, we have a core amount of staff that can cover most jobs, but also an extensive range of contacts we can call on at any time to cover any kind of job. We also work very closely with other local agencies who we can bounce ideas off at any time, meaning your designs don’t get stale based on one persons ideas and opinions.

Experience

Experience as mentioned before should be a major consideration when looking for the right person to do your job. It always good idea to find out what kind of experience that person has. So you can have something to judge it on here is the level of experience needed to fulfil particular levels of job in a design studio:

Junior Designer: 0-2 years
Middle Weight Designer: 2-5 years
Senior Designer/Creative Director: 5+ Years

Of course these depend on the studio you are working for, but they are typical examples for you to bear in mind.

The Interwebs

I thought I should also mention about the major role the internet has played on the life of a freelance designer, with the production of a website for every possible design need it is now much more accessible to work from home/small studio and have a major network of people on hand to critique your work (not for the over sensitive designer). As well as this there is a wealth of stock photography to cover most needs. You can also now send incredibly large files to clients saving the need to print everything out (until you actually need to proof the job) making a large job a lot quicker and easier. This of course helps the freelance designer test their work for you on other people and get their opinion, however there is nothing like face-to-face constructive criticism and idea-generation found in a studio environment.

Overall I hope I have given you something to consider when looking for someone to produce your design work, and if you have a particular job in mind please don’t be afraid to contact us and ask any questions you like.

A logo/brand/identity is a much neglected piece of design for any company. All too often you get asked to design a logo for a company to go with their ad, or they have designed a website and need to place a logo on it. THIS IS WRONG!

A logo is the most important piece of company promotion you can have. It is a simple icon that instantly and confidently tells people what you do and how well established you are.

You see so many bad logos, generally created by signwriters to go on to someones van or by a web designer who doesn’t understand the complexity of print design (I must point out that this isn’t true of all web designers or signwriters, some are very well aware of the important role logo design has on your companies identity. Sorry for generalising.) That don’t tell you anything about the company or the level of service they could potentially provide.

Logo’s are also subconscious, as designers we obviously are constantly looking at everything and analyising, critiquing and breaking it down into its design process, and making judgement. But I feel that is true of most people, they may not know they are doing it but could easily pick one company over another because they look more established or professional, simply because of the logo.

To show you what we think a logo/identity should contain we have broken it down into these elements.

Simplicity: You must keep a logo simple it needs to say 1000 words in one small image, sometimes it will need to fit on a postage stamp or simliar size and it must be clear.

Memorable: If people don’t remember your brand or logo then they aren’t going to remember you, simple as that.

Timeless: You see so many trends with logos, a particular example of this was when people started designing logos for the web with all kinds of shiny bits, shapes, 3D elements and embossing. These logos had a limited shelf life though, they also worked really badly when printed, and almost impossible to see when used small. If you design a good solid logo that tells the right story it should be able to last 10, 25 or 50 years. Good examples of this are Nike, Apple and Coca-Cola.

Versatile: A logo needs to be used in various formats, it needs to be able to work small on newspaper print, as well as large on a billboard and on websites or video media. It should always be designed in vector format so it is infinitely scalable to suit any media. Ideally it should also work on one, 2 or full colour.

Appropriate: A logo needs to represent the company in mind, something acceptable for an accountants wouldn’t be acceptable for a toy shop this needs to be considered in the style of font used, the colour coices and use of icon. As I said before the logo needs to tell a story.

For a look at a list of Good, Bad, or just simply ridiculous logos click these links.

If you would like us to design a logo for your company you can contact us here, or take a look at some logo’s we have designed, we have many more so don’t be afraid to ask to see other examples.

Is the smartphone taking away our need of thinking for ourselves?

At OTB we have come to realise how much we really on our smartphones, in particular the iPhone. In our daily lives the iPhone will let us know when we have an email, direct us to our chosen location, let us know what the weather is doing in our area, allow us to use Apps like Facebook and Twitter to know exactly what our friends and favourite celebrities are up to, as well as making phone calls to anyone in the world, even video calls if we wanted.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be carrying around something in my pocket the size of a pack of cigarettes that contained:

A Phone
Camera
Calendar
Alarm Clock
WiFi Internet Computer
Address Book
Notebook
GameBoy
Jukebox/Music Shop
Radio
Map
Compass
TV/Video Player
News/Weather
Book Library
and much much more…

…It would have blown my mind

But is this healthy?

I know for a fact that when I am asked a question or am curious about something I will pull out my iPhone and look it up using Wikipedia or Google rather than try to think about it for myself. I am in two minds as to whether this is increasing my intellect by having the information I wanted so easily accessible, or decreasing it by knowing that I don’t need to remember this stuff, I can just look at up again if required. If you have an opinion on this please let us know.

Would I survive without it?

I often like the idea of disappearing somewhere with no phone reception to see how I would cope and am saddened to think that maybe I wouldn’t cope at all. When on holiday I will normally turn the phone off and leave it in the safe, but still occasionally get it from the safe to check the news or suchlike.

Are Smartphones antisocial?

With now more people in Europe owning a smartphone than those who don’t is the popularity causing us to become too involved in them rather than what is going on around us.  I now notice more people using their smartphones as a way to pass the time, I am guilty of this myself, I will have my music plugged into my head whilst walking around the town, I will be in my own little tech world when maybe I could be taking in more of what is around me. If I am waiting for someone in a bar or café I will be checking Twitter or the news to pass the time, is this antisocial? Could I be having a conversation with someone, maybe learn something from them rather than Wikipedia? I’m not sure.

What does the future hold?

With the iPhone 5 on it’s way next month we will be keeping an eye on what features are coming with it, to be honest until it is released we are unsure on what these new features may be, we have had rumours but until release that is exactly what these are. Rumours.

All this is just opinion and it would be good to know your thoughts, it would be good to have feedback. Click here to contact us.

It is rare that we have time to browse the web looking for new and interesting sites, however after hearing Lauren Laverne on BBC 6Music talking about a website called “Dear Photograph” we just had to check it out.

It is such a lovely concept combining nostalgia with now! The concept is to find an old photo and take another photo of you holding that image in the place it first appeared. This idea was created by a 21 year old from Ontario, Canada and now works as a blog that anyone can upload to. I don’t know about you but it really makes me want to dig out some old, blurry, dog-eared photographs and see what I can do with them. Any website that makes you want to do something is a winner for us!

If you want to check it out for yourself, maybe upload something go to http://dearphotograph.com/

Hi all,

We have been pretty busy over the last few weeks so apologise for not updating this more regularly, anyway the reason for this month’s blog is to ask one simple question, what do you think of our new look front page?

Granted, it is a very small change to the website itself but we want to keep things looking fresh for you so are aiming to change this every couple of months.

Our question to you is what do you think? Do you prefer the styling of the original graphic? Or do you think this works better?

If you would like to give us your opinion on this matter there is a section on the right hand side at the bottom called “Would you rather?” where you can tell us your preference.

Thank you very much for your time.

We have recently been working with Dawn at Stonepilllow (www.stonepillow.org.uk) on the promotional material and marketing for their upcoming charity event ‘Celebrating Local’. This is a night twice a month at Woodies Wine Bar showcasing local talent, with proceeds going to Stonepillow.

Stonepillow offer shelter, information and support to empower homeless and vulnerable individuals to make positive changes in their lives. It also aims to create a safer environment that promotes social inclusion with practical assistance and without prejudice. So i’m sure you’ll agree it’s for a good cause.

The event will be documented in the Chichester Observer this week and all promotional materials will be up soon so look out for it.

You can also get more information by visiting www.facebook.com/celebratinglocal or follow Stonepillow in twitter @stonepillowchi

Firstly I would like to say Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you all had a nice Christmas break.

I would also like to apologise for not updating this recently, I have been working a lot with other design agencies on projects that they needed to finish quickly and efficiently, and needed my help with. I have enjoyed my time with them and have learnt a lot.

I am now back to normal (for now) and am looking forward to starting some exciting projects in 2011. I already know of a couple of good ones coming our way so should be a good start to the year.

Freelancing again has made me realise how much I like working with and meeting new people, learning new skills and generally finishing massive projects with the help of a good team.

Of course the reason we all work is so we can afford shelter and food to live, but there are other important factors too. I’m a strong believer in enjoying what you do for a living and I really do! I couldn’t do anything else. This is one of the benefits of freelancing from my point of view, so I wanted to put together a list of benefits from an employers point of view.

No Commitment
Freelancers tend to work on short term contracts, this can be anything from an hour to a year depending on the project so there is absolutely no commitment, you use them for the period of the job, charge this onto the client and make a profit.

Right Person for the Job
As this is generally for one particular projest you can choose your freelancer based on their skill-set and cost (if budget is an issue). They will do the best possible job for you, at a cost that you have already budgeted for.

Benefit of Experience
As a freelancer it is highly likely that the designer has worked in a multitude of studios, gaining experience from each and every person they have worked with, this would allow them to soak up the best practices from each of the studios bringing you the very best of their experience.

Fresh Eyes
The designer will often lend a new perspective to a job or project or multiple projects, this can prevent a brand’s styling from getting tired and looking dated.

A New Dimension
Often studios and offices can get stuck in a routine, and the daily grind can be less than inspiring, introducing someone new into the dynamic can often inspire other members of the team into more creative thinking and seeing things in a new light. This can bring a fresh approach to their latest projects.

At Outside the Box we are happy to offer our freelance services to any industry or company, whether you have your own design agency and need help with a major project, or are looking for someone to produce your literature for your start up business. We are happy and able to work from your ofice or studio to ensure you are getting exactly what you require, we have all the tools for the job. Of course you may only want to see our work and not us – in which case we have a fully set up studio in the centre of Chichester where we can meet with you to discuss your requirements and then work our design magic on your project.

Contact us here to find out more…

I really love this, such a clever idea but so effective.

I hope one day to have the opportunity to work on projects like this.

We thought we would show you this, it is the first in a pitch to a multi national photography firm to enhance their photos and give something a little special if the client desires it.

We are hoping this is going to lead to a whole set of templates for the company, as we enjoyed doing it and it would be great knowing people are actually choosing your designs to put in their homes, a first step on the ladder to becoming a proper artist.

We’d love to know what you think of the design.