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You are here: Home > Business > Branding > Having a Logo Designed for Your Business? How to Ensure You Get What You Think You’re Paying For |
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Advice You - Having a Logo Designed for Your Business? How to Ensure You Get What You Think You’re Paying For
Here’s What Happened to Me: About a year ago I worked with three enterprising women who were considering a start-up company specializing in makeup and a bath and body line. They were a good referral from a trusted business colleague. When these clients first contacted me, they hadn’t done any research in their client market, they had no business plan and they had no idea what type of logo they wanted. No According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product r did they know what their business was about, what their competition was doing, or even who their customers were. They just thought, “We need a logo design of some kind that will define our company, so let’s hire a designer”. These clients were intelligent, fun and enthusiastic women who said they wanted logo design – but in retrospect I now know they needed was not logo design but concept design.
; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug. Examples of combination products may in >NOTE: If you’re a small business owner here’s an important point you don’t want to miss: your company should define what your logo looks like and what it is; your logo should not define your company. Why is it important to distinguish between concept and logo design? Understanding the project as a logo design or concept design clearly defines the final product of t lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together. e project, as well as the project’s expectations. When the project’s expectations and objectives aren’t clearly defined we end up with miscommunication and the project can end badly for both parties. If you’re a designer, it’s critical to have the expectations spelled out; miscommunication and misconceptions can cost you a load of time and money. It’s your responsibility as a designer to get clear on what the project’s scope here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe nd objective really is, and help the business owner understand the process and the end product. And as a business owner, you want to make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for. Here’s a real world example, which should help you distinguish between logo design and concept design: a client tells you, “This is what we want, we’ve taken some time to look at the competition, talked to our clients and discussed what we’re l d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations. Combination pro ooking for in a logo/brand. We want it to say this…” – this is logo design. The final output and objective for this project is going to be a final, finished logo that the company is going to use as long as it remains in business. Conversely, another client says, “Well, we’re not sure what we’re looking for, so were bringing you on as our creative person. We don’t know what we want, but if you hit it, ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc e’ll know it” – this is concept design. The final output and objective for this project is to generate new ideas and identity concepts for company can mull around, brainstorm over (the designer essentially does the research and the thinking for the company). Clients typically receive 3-9 different concepts depending on the designer. Do you see the difference? Ultimately the final product is easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi either a finished, “set in stone” logo that a company will use from that point on, or the final product(s) are concepts that help the company flush out ideas they haven’t had time to look into, ideas they can look over, discuss and test.
Either way, it’s important to make the distinction before the project begins. The following set of questions will help both parties understand the nature of the project. nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically >What Questions to Ask to Determine if You have Logo Design or Concept Design: Have you spent any time thinking about what you think would be a good logo? Have you scrutinized your competitors logos, do you have any examples of logos (in or out of your industry) that you like or dislike? Have you talked to any of your clients or prospects about this? Who’s making this decision? How are you or they going to and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ be making it? Are you going to be making this decision based on what you like or what your clients have told you they like? Have you invested any time getting some preliminary feedback from clients or prospects? What is this logo supposed to convey, communicate or say to a client or prospect? Do you have a tag line? What images/icons or insignias do you think would help communicate your message and draw in ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi customers? How would you like your logo to differentiate your company from the competition? How do you want your logo help you define a niche market that is different from your competitors? How do you want prospects/customers to feel when they see your logo? What do you want prospects/customers to think when they see your logo? What are some adjectives you would want your prospects/customers to use to describe yo ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it. Following aspects would a r company based on seeing your logo? Based on the answers given to these questions, you should quickly be able to determine whether the project is a concept design or a logo design. Key Phrases that Indicate Concept Design: Here are a number of top phrases I’ve heard that should tip you off that the project is concept design rather than logo design. The business owner says,
Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well? Which combination prod > cts are meaningful and rational? Which therapeutic categories to select? Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients? Do combin >“I’m just starting this business and I probably have to get something” Even though they said they wanted logo design, the 3 clients were asking for concept design. Unfortunately, I accepted th tions increase the patient compliance? What would be the developing cost? How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen project as a logo design instead of concept design – which proved to be a HUGE mistake, and one that designers often make. I ended up spending over 10 hours developing their image for this “dream company”, going from one idea to the next. The women came up with a new idea each day; they wanted me to try out to see if they’d like it, and without fail, each time I did this they came back with, “We’re not sure about it, we’ t? As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel like to try something else. Something’s missing but we don’t know what”. This was, to put it lightly, unbelievably frustrating. It sounds crazy but this was my fault, I didn’t first analyze and distinguish the differences between logo design and concept design. I should have recognized and explained to these women that their project was concept design, not a logo design, and that our objective was to flush out co ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality. Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust cepts rather than a finished logo. In the end I gave the clients their deposit back and wished them the best of luck. They in turn scrapped the idea of having a logo, and paid another designer to create a web site for them – the web site never amounted to more than an “Under Construction” page. Bottom Line for Small Business Owners: If you don’t have the time or talent and you have the money, go y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products ahead and hire a good designer to concept design for you. But for most small business owners, having a frugal marketing and design budget is a must. In this case I suggest doing some research on your own rather than paying a designer to do it for you. Look at competitor’s logos; browse the Internet; and decide what colors, fonts and icons you might like. The more you can hone down exactly what you are looking for, the less expensive and the . As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de faster the project will go. Most companies don’t have the time or the funds to hire a designer for concept design, so do your homework up front rather than saying, “We’re not sure what we want, but if you get it we’ll tell you”. If you do some preliminary background work you can expect to save significant time and money in having the project done. Bottom Line for Sharp Graphic Designers: Invest a littl elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements. Companies that provide selfless information through particip time up front and get clear on what the objective of the project is, it will save you a world of future headaches. Is the project’s objective just coming up with concepts or is it taking a clear idea or vision the company has and making it tangible? Graphic designers, it’s your responsibility to take the lead on this, you’re the expert. If you use the information I’ve provided above as a guide, you will be off to a great start, best wishes tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products
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