You can do it with photos. You can do it with illustrations. Why not logos?

At least that’s what iStock seems to be saying. iStockphoto is proposing to offer stock logos for single purchase use to its customers. I first heard about this new venture through the site Logo Design Love : “iStock opens can of nasty worms”. According to the news release on iStock’s website, the logos will be available for download as fully editable .eps files, can only be sold once, and must be exclusive to iStock and will sell between 100 and 750 credits. They’re are considering offering some small customization depending upon what the client wants and what the artist is willing to do once the client buys the logo. iStock will give 50% royalties for the first 6 months and after that the rate remains to be seen.

I scanned some of the comments below the article and was surprised to see a lot of positive feedback. Logos are integral to a companies brand and image. I don’t really understand how a company can select a logo that will become their essence out of a stockpile of designs that were created without a thought in mind about what that company really stands for. I’m interested to see how this will really unravel out. There are plenty of places where a company could get a cheap logo designed (not that it would be any better quality than a random stock logo) And even sites selling stock logos already, such as The Red Door Studio. Is this really as profitable or exciting as some think it will be?

So there is a competition going on at work for this years holiday card that we send out to clients as well as the birthday card and anniversary card that get circulated out to employees on their special day. I’ve been doing so much screen work, that I really wanted to take the opportunity to design for print again. Plus I wanted to try out some of the skills I’ve been gleaning from all the tutorials I’ve been looking at. These are my entries:

I’ve been into the grunge/distressed trend although I haven’t been able to use it much for most of the stuff I do. So I tried to incorporate it a little bit here without getting my designs too dirty. I just wanted them to feel a little rustic. Even if none of my designs get chosen, I had so much fun making them. I think I want to try doing one for my own personal use. I’ve already got holiday cards for this year though, so maybe I’ll do some Valentine cards when winter rolls around.

I already mention SmashingApps.com as a design resource for tutorials and inspiration, but I wanted to mention a couple more that I’ve become aware of recently.

Smashing Magazine is also an excellent resource. You can find tips and more tutorials. There is information on designing with CSS and links to freebies (wordpress themes, icons and the like). They also have a showcase of work if you are looking for inspiration and ideas.

I also wanted to mention some of the free stock photo sites that I have been using for a while.

Morguefile.com – contains a variety of hi-res images that are royalty free for personal and corporate use.

Stock.XCHNG – also has a good variety of hi res images, I personally think the quality is also better than what you would find at morguefile, but both are good if you can’t afford to pay for stock photography.

Well, this will be my first design post in a while—

These are supposed to function not only as a logo, but also a patch, so I was trying to keep the design practical as far as something that could be used on the web as well as on someone’s jacket.

I think I like the first two as a set. But I wanted to have a color option as well.

I ordered some business cards not too long ago and received them yesterday. I had heard about 4×6.com from one of my professors in college as far as getting stuff printed up like business cards and postcards for pretty cheap. I was all set to order from them when I randomly googled 4×6.com and came up with a bad review regarding their service. The reviewer recommended Henley Printing, for quality printing and customer service. I tried them out and got 100 business cards 4/4(full color) with a satin coating on both sides for less than half the price of what 4×6.com would have charged me for the same thing. I paid about $40 for everything. They did a good job and I’m really pleased with the way my cards turned out. I think the turn around time was not too bad either–I got my cards within a couple of weeks. So if you’re looking to get something printed up you might give them a try!

For anyone who can’t make it to the show, my finished Munny Doll! Black vinyl painted with silver and glossy mod podge. I did a little brain surgery so this doll can also function as a very bright night light. It will be on display until the end of May. I highly recommend going to see some of the other pieces in the show. It’s pretty cool.

Another scooter related design project. I ended up creating a logo design for the Dam Ride (Bagnell Dam in the Ozarks) sponsored by the Knights of St. Louis Vintage Scooter Club. I sketched the design and digitized it and the club handled the screenprinting themselves.