The most important thing to remember about computers is THEY ARE ONLY A TOOL! Way too many people just throw stuff together because they can push a few buttons and insert some effects. Put pencil to paper first. If you're not not happy with your stuff at first, there is a TON of talent here in this forum. Spending a few bucks with one of these first-class artists now will help project a professional image that will last.
Photoshop will do everything that illustrator will do. It has a complete vector tool and you can export vectors to illustrator. Photoshop is all you need. You already have Photoshop 7 and you don't really need anything else, It is a complete draw/vector program. It will use pixels only if you choose to use pixels. If you want vectors it has vectors. You are starting on a very long learning path.
How much of this type of work do you plan to do? How much time do you have to do it, even if you get good at it? Is it a skill that you will use a lot? I don't know if you know how to rebuild an automatic transmission, but if you are only going to do one or two your entire life, is it really worth the money, time and effort to buy the tools, learn how to do it, and do it well enough for it to work the way it was intended? Logos work... just ask Coca Cola and Jesse James. Learning the process of conveying your ideas to someone, and the back and forth it takes to get to a final design from a pro for a couple of hundred bucks might be money better spent than buying all the tools and getting only what you are capable of doing with limited experience with the tools. If you like the process and want to do it again, then go ahead and buy the Adobe or Corel products... do some art for family and friends... I used to catch shit from people that went to school for graphic design because I'm self-taught, so I have no problem with others trying to learn this on their own. BUT, If you don't set things up correctly for each application and you send the files off to get printed, put onto a website, or made into signage, the extra money they charge you to get your art ready use might offset the money you might have saved. When you are self-taught, you still have to pay for schooling, just in a different way. I charge by the hour, and most of the artists I know do too... I can put together some simple logos in an hour to an hour and a half if I have an GOOD idea as to what the customer wants... If they tell or show me a few examples of the style they want or if they have a sketch, and they have certain ideas they want included, I can get much closer on the first try (I usually give 2 to 3 ideas for first draft, and we narrow it down). If you come to me with "I don't know what I want, but I know it when I see it..." or can't explain or show me what you like to narrow it down will take more time and time = $.
Check out logopond.com for some inspiration. You can also search for keywords, and it narrows the logos on the site to styles you're looking for.
Good info and help here. Illustrator (vector), 1 color (b/w for stickers, stitch shirts, etc), readable, outsourcing it. If you don't have any idea's of what you want get someone to draw up 3-4 quick designs. If you like one, refine it. Pick an artist that has work you like and fits you budget. Might not be as costly as you think it is. Some of the best logos are made without the owners input. Designers are thinking about this stuff ALL the time... Collecting images, ideas, and designing in their head and storing them for the next project. This is a hotrod forum. If you have parts someone needs you might be able to trade out. Always worth a try. Good luck.
always design a logo in black and white, it is easier to read and alot cheaper to print. You can add color later, but keep in mind every color you add, the printing price goes up, also keep it simple the best logos, are easy to read in small print as well as large, so a clean logs in black and white should read just as good on a bis card as a bilboard.
That only applies to certain projects, any paper printing now is just as cheap for full color as it is for B/W... I'd do a full color version and trim it down for t shirts and any other tough printing jobs where they are screen printing.
One spam and it brings up a 2 year old thread, if the guy doesn't have a logo by now he's got weak sauce.
You want a pro job...go to a pro! Research and fins someone whose work you like and get him to design it. Just good enough should never suffice when you're trying to make a first impression, which is what your logo does. Been mashing up art for 35 years. www.highspeedmotorsports.com
Damn, you guys need to READ the dates at the top of the VERY FIRST thread...obviously the spammer from UK isn't up on dates either... R-
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