Many women, especially in southwest Florida, wear hats or sun visors to protect them from the sun while boating, playing golf or going to the beach. Lori Taylor, who is one of those active southwest Floridians, developed Visor Versa out of necessity to coordinate her visors depending on what she was wearing. She figured out how to create visors with interchangeable straps of all colors, patterns and sports teams and even has the ability of customizing straps for special events. Blue Turtle Graphics was hired to create the logo, packaging cards and website for this fun new product.

The logo was designed to have a “whimsical” and boutique look and feel, using a fun script typeface (House Industries Studio Swing) and red/chocolate brown color combo. Once the logo was finalized, we moved on to the packaging. Since the visor and straps were to be packaged separately, a fold-over card was created for each and then stapled to a cellophane bag. The cards have a small hole drilled so they can be displayed on a peg board in a retail store.

To get started online, the client wanted a one-page web site that had photos, product description and contact information. She wanted the ability to eventually sell the visor and straps online. With this in mind, the web page was built on a Wordpress framework for flexibility. The online store can be added with an ecommerce plugin at a later time as well as the addition of a blog.

We were thrilled to have gotten to work on such a fun and creative project and look forward to following Visor Versa’s success.

We recently had a client request to create a new ad campaign for them. Regenocyte Theraputic, a world leader in Adult Stem Cell Therapy, had previously been using a great ad concept but it had become a little stale and overused. They needed a fresh, new perspective as the basis of their advertising campaign.With the help of a great copywriter, we were able to produce a compelling new campaign using the concept, “Regenerate hope. Regenerate life. Regenerate you.” Each ad emphasizes the word’s “hope”, “life” and “you” while encouraging potential patients that they can be who they once were as well as do things they haven’t been able to do since the onset of their disease. The ad campaign is currently running in eBella Magazine, Southwest Florida Health & Wellness, Valacious Magazine and Life Extensions Magazine.

We’ve also recently designed several logos. One of the logos was for Coastal Cases, an iPhone and Blackberry case and accessories online store . Since the company is local to southwest Florida and aptly named “Coastal” we went for a look of palm tree and waves. Coastal Cases new website www.coastalcases.com  is currently in production and is being designed by White Crossroads.

Another logo design recently completed was for The Choir Project. The Choir Project provides local residents of various ages and ethnicities the opportunity to sing together – to build community – by offering innovative choral events, workshops, festivals, concerts, and short-term choral projects. I was approached by founder, Dr. Marian Dolan, at a recent Social Media Club of Southwest Florida meeting about donating some design work (logo, web, etc.) for the non-profit organization.  I was more than happy to design the logo as well as redesign the current website (coming soon!).  As part of the logo and web design for The Choir Project we are working to promote an upcoming concert in January to benefit the Shelter for Abused Women and Children. Stay tuned for the website launch and information about the Finding a Voice benefit concert!

Recently, I was contacted by Collier Enterprises to create an invitation for a boat show to be held at Hamilton Harbor Yacht Club. They wanted to use a simple concept of a rope and compass rose for the front of the invite. After some brainstorming with local printer, Intech Printing, we decided to use a multi-level emboss on the rope to give it some added texture. We also used a dull varnish on the invite except for the compass rose, which used a gloss varnish to make it stand out (hopefully that is apparent in the photo). As a designer, it’s really nice to get to work with a quality printer on a project that includes a few bells & whistles.

Many times, I receive an email (generated from my website) or a phone call from a potential client inquiring about prices for graphic design, web design, etc. If you, or your business is in need of gathering an estimate or two for graphic design or web design services, please allow me to give a few pointers to make it a better experience for you.

In order to provide an accurate estimate for your project, designers usually need to get all the project details from you first. If you fill out an online contact form and type in the comments section, “How much is it for a website?” be prepared to receive an email or a phone call from the designer asking lots of questions.

See, web site design isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Your needs for a web site will be (and should be) different from another company’s needs, which is why it’s a good idea to think through your project and provide as many specifics as possible to the designer.

Some specifics you might want to include when requesting a web design estimate might be:

• How much content/copy do you have? How should that content be organized on the site? Will you be providing the copy? Or do you need someone to provide copywriting for you?
• Will you be providing photos/graphics/logos? Or do you need the designer to provide the images?
• Have you reserved a domain name (www.domainname.com)? Have you purchased a hosting package? Or would you like the designer to take care of these things for you?
• Will this be a simple static website, acting as an online brochure for your company?
• Is this an ecommerce site, where you’ll sell your products?
• Will your site be dynamic? Is there a need for your customers/clients to login, post messages, search a database, etc.
• Is this site something you’d like to be able to manage and make changes yourself (Content Management System)?
• Do you want to have a blog? Or social media integration?

Keep in mind that the more bells and whistles (i.e. flash movies, databases, interactivity) you want on your site, the more expensive it will be. Many clients sometimes get sticker shock when shopping for a website because they have an idea of what they want and request all the bells and whistles, yet with a limited budget they realize they need to scale it back. It’s important to understand what functionality you absolutely need versus what flashy and new things you’d like to have. I’m not saying the flashy and new is bad, it certainly has its place in web design; I’m just saying that if your budget is limited, maybe you could skip on that flash animation.

Just as you need to provide details when requesting an estimate for web design, it goes without saying that it’s the same with any print graphic design project. Want to quote a brochure or a newsletter? Ask yourself these questions:

• Will you be providing the copy? Or do you need someone to provide copywriting for you? Will you be providing photos/graphics?
• Do you have a finished size in mind? Is it a trifold? Or something larger? Does it need to fit any other collateral pieces, such as a pocket folder or envelope?
• Are you going to mail it? Or is it just a handout? If mailing, will is go into an envelope or is it a self-mailer? If you are unsure of any of this, just say that you’re open to suggestions. A good graphic designer will be able to suggest a size and mailing options that best fit your needs and budget.
• Do you know what quantity you’d like to print? Having this info ahead of time can help the designer decide the best way to have it printed, whether it is printed on an offset press or whether it should be printed digitally.

Understanding the scope of the design project is crucial for any designer to begin estimating your job. Next time you go to a designer’s web site and fill in a request for quote, think about all the details that you might be able to provide to help the designer fully understand your project and accurately estimate it.

In August 2009, Blue Turtle Graphics celebrated it’s first year in business. Looking back, I can only say that it’s been a wild ride!  Over the past year, I’ve learned many important lessons about running a small business and I wanted to share a few of them with you:

1. Create partnerships and network. As a designer, I tend to want to stay holed-up in my office with my Mac. The thought of going to networking events where I don’t know anyone doesn’t appeal much to me. I do realize that networking is extremely important and have decided to embrace it. Creating partnerships with professionals in related fields, such as copywriters, printers or PR firms is another great way to network and get business. Since word-of-mouth has proven to bring in the most business for me, I highly recommend getting out of the office and among other business professionals.

2. You win some, and you lose some. Most graphic designers are passionate about their work. It’s easy to get caught up in a project where you want your best work to shine through. At some point, you will come across a situation where a client doesn’t agree with your particular design or vision and wants you to change it. While you may disagree with changing the font or color to what the client wants, you must remember that they are the customer and ultimately, you want them to be fully happy with the outcome of the design. You can politely let them know how you feel about the style change and give reasons to back up your side of things, but if they still insist on changing to their way, then it’s time to let it go. Learning the importance of picking your battles not only makes your customer happy, but can help save your sanity as a designer.

3. Step away from the iMac. Starting a new business is both exciting and overwhelming. For me, it’s easy to put in long hours since the business is mine and I am passionate about it. Juggling both a new business and personal time can be quite a challenge. I’m guilty of burning the midnight oil on occasion, but I’ve learned to shut the computer off and take time for myself and family. It’s an absolute must to keep from burning out.

4. Always request a deposit before starting a job. Sounds like standard operating procedure, but when first starting out, I was a bit squeamish about discussing payment with a new client. I would get so excited about a project and want to start right away that I would forget to ask for a deposit. Unfortunately for me, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. When you collect a deposit, your client is showing you that they are committed to the project and to moving forward. It’s really a great feeling when you know that your client is on board and respects the work you do.

5. Write a business plan (and rewrite it every year)! Someone highly advised me to write a business plan when starting out on this venture. At first I thought they were crazy—me? Write anything related to business? I’m an artist, I argued. I just want to make pretty things using Adobe products. Then I realized that to make this work, I did need a plan and am so glad I created one. Every business needs a detailed plan to give them an idea of how they will acquire new clients, grow the business and set future goals.

Well, that’s it. I’m sure there are many other lessons learned that I’ve missed, but these were the first to come in mind. I’m hoping to have even more advice after the second and third year in business. If you are a small business owner or freelancer and would like to share your lessons or tips, please feel free to leave a comment.

When my hair stylist, Marcia Cosgrove, approached me to create a logo and website for her new salon, StudioHBL,  I was thrilled! Not only is she the rock star of hair coloring and cutting, she’s a genuinely fun and sweet person to know. The “HBL” in StudioHBL stands for Hair, Beauty, Life, Love and Laughs and it perfectly suits Marcia’s style. The new salon is located off of College Parkway in Fort Myers, Florida. For more information about the salon and Marcia, visit the new website at mystudiohbl.com