Logo copyrights are secured automatically when the logo is created, or “fixed in a copy for the first time.”  And the designer (or “author”) immediately becomes the owner of the design.

Unless your contract specifically states that copyrights are to be assigned to you, or unless you have a document drawn up that assigns copyrights at some later time, the copyrights to the logo you ordered up remain with the designer.

Many designers include verbiage in their contracts that assign copyrights, but just as many do not. I don’t normally include an assignment of copyrights for the logos I create. I like to know I have a little leverage if the client doesn’t pay their bill. I also like to have the right to use the logo on my website, or as part of my portfolio without special consent.

Of course, I do protect my clients’ logos as I would protect my own. And I happily assign rights at the request of any client, provided they have their lawyer draw up the necessary documents.

What exactly is a copyright?

The U.S. Copyright Office defines copyright as “a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.”

When it comes to design, copyrights aren’t just for logos. You’ll also want to secure the copyrights of any illustration or photography work created specifically for your company, as well the copyrights of your website’s design and any other printed materials.

For more information on copyrights, visit http://www.copyright.gov. Download Copyright Basics at http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf. For information on trademark law, visit http://www.uspto.gov/.

With the social media taking the internet by storm, you can build your brand the new-fashioned way.

Create a Facebook Page for your business. If you don’t already have an account, create one, then create a page for your business and upload that shiny new logo. Begin connecting to friends and family who might be (or know) potential customers. Post regularly to your business page. As your network grows, so will the reach of your brand.

Create a Twitter account and profile for your business. Create (or have your designer create) a custom background for your profile that utilizes your logo and upload it. Alternately, adjust the colors of your page to coordinate with your logo and/or website. Follow people who are potential customers, competitors and colleagues. Post regularly.

Create a blog. Hey, you’re here reading mine. Why not have someone read yours. Coordinate colors to your look and feel. Or have your web designer customize your blog and/or add your blog to your website. (Yes, I know, I’m just like the shoemaker whose children have no shoes! My blog should better coordinate with my identity. If I wasn’t spending so much time writing my blog, I might have time to design it!)

Everything old is new again.
Traditional ways to extend your brand can be applied to web marketing as well.

Write a press release. This isn’t new, but it’s still very effective, particularly when you’re looking to reach a highly targeted market. Send your press release along with photos of your products, your storefront, your logo and/or you to both online and traditional print media outlets. While you’re at it, add a press section to your website where you can post regular press releases along with downloadable photos and logos for the media to use.

Create a newsletter. Monthly email newsletters promote and extend your brand while keeping you connected to customers. Build a list via your website. Include informational content like ‘tips & tricks’  or promotional offers that are helpful or beneficial to your readers.

First, file them in a place where you know you’ll be able to find them later. Second, back them up some place else.

Basic Formats You’ll Want:

.ai
.eps
.gif
.jpg
.png

The right file format for the job
Some file formats are for print, some are for screen media (the web, powerpoint, etc.). For the best visual quality, you’ll need the right file format.

Print formats
An .ai file (Adobe Illustrator) or Illustrator .eps file is the first file format you’ll want. You’ll need this for your business cards, letterhead, print advertising and marketing materials, etc. These are vector file formats, which means it’s fully scaleable.

Not all .eps files are created equal
You can create .eps files in both Photoshop and Illustrator, but only Illustrator (vector) files in which the art is outlined may be scaled up. Scaling up a Photoshop .eps file will mean a loss of print quality. (Either may be scaled down with no loss of quality.)

Both .ai and .eps files may be imported into design programs like InDesign & Quark. .eps files can also be imported into Word docs with varying results.

.tif files may also be used for print, much as a Photoshop .eps file is used. .tif files are not vector-based and will lose quality if scaled up.

Web formats
On the web, use a .gif if your logo uses a lot of flat color; use a .jpg if your logo has gradients or shading of some kind, or lots of color. Use a .png (with a clear background) if you need your logo needs to overlay a background image.

The web, however, is less fussy than print, so if you only have a jpg, even though a .gif file might be more appropriate, go ahead and use it.

Other Media
Signage – your sign-maker will want a vector-based file for creating signage. Send him your .ai or Illustrator .eps file.
Banners – vinyl-cut banners also require vector-based files; for printed banners .ai or .eps files are recommended, but other file formats may also be used presuming they are high enough resolution.
Powerpoint – Use a .gif, .jpg, or .png file. Experiment to see what works best with your particular logo.
Word – .png files seem to cross platform the best, but you may find that an .eps file prints better. Make sure your .png file is high enough resolution, at least 200 dpi at full size.
Tee shirts – When silkscreening, you’ll want vector-based files (.ai or .eps); for digital printing on shirts (like those found at Café Press) you may need a .png or .jpg file, typically at least 200 dpi at full size.

Resolution
Hopefully your file formats will be delivered in the appropriate resolution. 300 dpi (at actual size) is recommended for offset printing. Digital printing may only require 200 dpi, although 300 dpi is better. Images for the web and other screen media should be 72 dpi.

They are:

1. Name
2. Logo
3. Tagline
4. Color Palette
5. Fonts
6. Voice
7. Graphic Elements
8. Imagery
9. Brand or Identity Vehicles

You’ll find links to entries on the subjects I’ve touched upon thus far below:
What’s in a Name?
Creating a Killer Logo
Tag, You’re It!
Using Fonts to Extend Your Identity
Your Voice as Your Corporate Identity

Need help with your identity? Contact Melissa Shimmin.

If you’re a small company, particularly a sole proprietorship, you may be doing your own copy writing and your voice may well be your company’s voice.

On the other hand, if you’re a 50-year-old tax attorney launching a social networking site for tweens as a side business, you might not speak your target audience’s language. Hiring a professional copywriter is probably a good idea.

Whatever your business, your voice should align with your audience. A company with an older, more conservative target customer should ‘speak’ in proper English, triple checking grammar and punctuation.

A young, hip, urban company, on the other hand, might choose a casual, conversational tone peppered with current slang.

Design your voice, just as you design your imagery and align the two for a stronger, more memorable identity.

Contact Melissa Shimmin.

Once I can ‘hear’ that voice, everything spills out from it.

For example, if that voice is young, edgy and female, I might choose hot colors and modern fonts that speak to that ‘person’. The logo might have an icon in an ‘on trend’ illustration style. Marketing collateral (if there was any) might have a unique shape or format or use a funky paper stock. The website and online marketing would likely take center stage and extend these ideas. And so on.

A traditional company in turn might stick to subdued color and serif fonts. Classic formats for marketing materials would probably be retained. Etc.

Essentially, think of your company as a person, then dress him or her in the appropriate ‘outfit’. The person is your identity. The outfit is your look and feel.

Where to Start

Consider where text is to ge used. Adverttising? Brochures? Posters? Signage? Website? A combination? You’ll need fonts that work in all your media.

Web vs. Print

Is your business primarily web-based with little print visibility? Choose fonts that are html friendly like Arial, Helvetica, or Times Roman.

If your marketing will be primarily in print, your font options are considerably wider. An equal mix of web and print? Some companies have two sets of fonts – one for the web and one for print.

How much is too much?

Too many different fonts distract from your message. While it’s possible to create strong designs with a multitude of fonts, it generally takes an especially gifted designer to do it well. Limit yourself to 2 font families – one for the bulk of your text, and one for headlines, subheads and pops.

A font family is all the styles of a particular font. For example, Helvetica Regular, Helvetica Bold, Helvetica Oblique, Helvetica Bold Oblique, etc. You might even limit yourself to a single font if it has a particularly extensive family.

What style?

Coordinate with your logo, but don’t get too matchy-matchy. For example, if your logo uses Frutiger Ultra Bold, consider Frutiger Regular for your text. Alternately, contrast your text font to your logo (or headline) font. Use a serif font for text and a sans serif font for your headline, or vice versa.

So I thought I’d outline that process for entrepreneurs and small business owners so that they’d know what to expect if and when they needed to hire a designer. Note that this is a general outline, and every designer/agency will have its own process for completing projects.

Once you’ve selected a designer, determined the scope of your project and negotiated a contract and schedule (how to do that in a future blog), you’ll start by downloading your ideas to the designer (or account exec).

Typically this is a face-to-face meeting, but sometimes for smaller projects, or if you’ve been working with the designer for a while it could be over the phone or via email.

This is the time to get everything on the table – every idea you have for the project, every expectation, your target customer, your goals, etc. If you like blue and hate orange, make it known. If you love what the competition’s doing, let them know. The more information your designer has at the beginning, the more likely you’re going to get a design solution that’s on target, on schedule, and on budget. Not to mention one that you love.

This is also the time to provide the designer with any materials you might have for the project including digital versions of your logo, any photography or illustration you want incorporated into the project, copy, and any previously produced projects that the new project might need to coordinate with.

After the download, the designer will head ‘to the drawing board’ and begin creating ‘thumbnails’ or initial concepts. (Back in the day before computers, designers would sketch out rough ideas for clients to approve before creating mock-ups. Now that nearly everything is digital, only the terminology remains.) This typically takes between 2 days and 2 weeks, depending on the scope of the project and the schedule previously negotiated.

Once complete, the designer will present the initial concepts to the client. At this time the client will make comments, green light a project, or send it back to the designer for revisions, which could be major or minor. Again, allow between 2 days and 2 weeks for turnaround.

The designer will then incorporate the client’s comments, flesh out the design or concept and present the client with a finished concept or concepts. At this point the client may make edits and changes before sending the project into production. Typically these are minor, but sometimes the scope of the project changes or the company’s business needs change and it may be necessary to go back to the concept stage at this phase. Keep in mind that major changes at this stage may incur large surcharges.

Next, the project goes into production. Outside illustrators or photographers get hired, stock images may be purchased, and digital files are created. This will take anywhere between 2 days and 3 weeks.

Once initial production is complete, final files are sent to the client for review. At this stage the client should only have minor copy edits, or may want to swap out photographs. Keep in mind that any major changes at this stage (“I’d like all the products shot on red backgrounds instead of blue”) will likely be prohibitively expensive.

The client will then sign off on the project with any comments or edits they may have, and the designer will then implement all final edits. (This typically takes between 1 day to 1 week.)

The client will then have one more opportunity to check to see that all the changes that were requested were made before the project goes to press (print projects) or live (web projects).

Sometimes for print projects the client will also go to press checks, including ‘blue line’ (where the client gets to check that what was sent in digital format is what’s going on press, as well as checking that binding, folds and cutting are correct) and 1st and second ‘color’ (where, rather obviously, you proof for color).

Finally, the project gets delivered to the client. If the client is purchasing their own printing, the project may be delivered in digital format to the client, or directly to the printer. If the client has the designer purchase printing, the final printed pieces will be delivered. Likewise for web design – files may be delivered to the client for posting, or the designer may upload them to the server for the client.

Does your company name say what you do? For example, if your business is called Pete’s Plumbing, it’s pretty clear what you do.

What about your logo? Does it say what you do? If you’re in residential real estate and your logo has a house in it, your logo is fairly representative of what you do, so you might not need a tagline.

On the other hand, if the name of your company doesn’t say what you do and your logo doesn’t say what you do, you probably need a tagline. Or, if you want to differentiate your company from the competition, a tagline is an excellent way to clearly do that.

Writing your tagline

A good tagline says what you do, or differentiates your business with just a few words. Selecting those few words is of course the challenge.

Start with your core message. What do you do? What services or products do you provide? Break that down to a single word. Hopefully you’ll find several that apply.

Next determine your secondary message. Your secondary message is most likely your differentiation. Break that down to a single word.

Now, marry those two words together. You may need to add a conjunction or verb to bring it together. Make a list of all the combinations and select the best.

Finally, check to see if your tagline is being used by someone else. You can google the phrase for a quick search. Also be sure to check whether or not it’s been trademarked by another company. Visit http://www.uspto.gov/ to search.