Archive for January, 2006
MakaluMedia Book Appearance: Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality Monday, January 30th, 2006 by Mike
Today I received a wonderful gift from the UPS delivery-man: 
a crisp edged, brand-spankin’ new copy of Bob Walsh’s Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality softcover book. Why is it so special? Well, it’s the first book in which I’ve been featured as an interviewee! (see pp 58-59)
Bob emailed me last summer, asking if I’d be willing to offer quotes on logo and graphic design for his new book, to which I heartily agreed. After all, I’d been collaborating with Ian Landsman and several other micro-ISV owners on logo and web design work, so it only made sense to share that experience with Bob and other Micro-ISV owners. (Micro-ISV stands for micro-Independent Software Vendor; in other words a small software developer, often one person.)
Bob called a few days later to ask his questions and discuss the details. We had a great phone conversation, which eventually turned into a post on his ToDoOrElse weblog, as Micro-ISV Tip #6: Visual Integrity.
Here’s a snippet from the article, which ended up in the book as well:
Q. Why should a micro-ISV get a professional in to do their logo?
A. There are certainly ways of doing it yourself, or buying an off-the-shelf stock logo for fifty bucks, with exclusive rights in the 200 dollar range. Problem is, if you have a very specific company and you’re looking to portray what your company stands for, you’re already adapting to an existing logo that may not fit what you do. You’re already starting off with a compromise.
It’s subtle, but because it’s important to get the idea of your company or product across quickly and fully. Any confusion or lack of clarity can delay the first good impression. Design is becoming more and more critical for businesses, particularly on the Internet where you see the identity long before connecting with a person.
In a nutshell, you should hire a design professional because is it’s not your specialty. If you’re a micro-ISV, you’re always trying to be very effective with your limited time and energy. By doing it yourself you may actually spend more time and energy than you want and yet may not be happy with the end results.
All those months ago, I hadn’t considered the reality of my words and name being captured in print. I’m quite used to seeing my words appear online — on my own blog and even on other websites — but there is something special about appearing in print. it’s so… permanent.
Many thanks to Ian Landsman, and his UserScape and HelpSpot logo blog post which opened which the door for this opportunity, and to Bob Walsh for giving me the opportunity to contribute. I hope my words help many more Micro-ISVs out there establish businesses with great design as one of the pillars of their success.
Outer Level Logo Design Tuesday, January 17th, 2006 by Mike
I thoroughly enjoy logo design work, so when MakaluMedia clients talk about their experience in the logo design process I’m always interested. Just yesterday, Jon Trainer of Outer Level, posted a detailed article describing his experiences of collaborating on a logo design with me. Jon develops applications, including the game Bullfrog and the utility License Keeper for Mac OS as well as software development consulting.
I thought it would be interesting to quote some of Jon’s post here and provide my own thoughts.
Keywords and Goals:
Thankfully, this is where Mike comes in. Something I didn’t think about prior to hiring Mike, but would recommend to anyone looking for a graphic designer, is that you look for someone who can “consult” with you on your image. Instead of just asking what I wanted my logo to look like, Mike sent a short list of questions to solidify his feel for my tastes, personality, and desired company image.
One thing I’ve found helpful is to describe goals you’re shooting for when designing a logo. What kinds of feelings should it evoke in a viewer? Should it convey strength, warmth, honesty? While these might seem to be nebulous words, I think setting goals in words helps clients and myself get focus before the sketch process even begins.
Dead End Ideas:
A little over a week later, Mike sent me two full pages of pencil sketches incorporating my descriptors and his own feelings from the Outer Level name. Some of his ideas reflected ones I have had in mind for years — probably the more obvious and common images that Outer Level brings to mind. These are precisely the ones I didn’t want. I was looking to avoid the common and the obvious. Also in the sketches were some ideas that immediately captured my imagination.
Lately I’ve found it good to go down the ‘obvious’ paths to prove that the idea either has some potential — or that it’s a complete dead end.
Leaving ‘dead end’ ideas right in my sketches, while clearly explaining why they are dead ends to my clients helps cleanse the dead end idea out of the system, allowing me to try other areas of exploration and “let go” of the dead end idea.
There is of course, a risk a client will like a dead end idea. However, because I always provide comprehensive explanations with my sketches, I’ve found clients trust my judgement when I call out a dead end.
Client Collaboration
There were many bits in these sketches that I really liked. So I sent back my comments along with my own sketches because I tend to think better in pictures than in words.
When Jon sent me his sketches I was very excited to see him getting into the process so deeply! I’m a proponent of visual thinking, so seeing my sketches encourage a client to sketch was wonderful to see.
Color
To this point, the process had been quite fun, though challenging. I had no idea what was in store now that it was time for color. I envisioned blue, red, and even green as potential main colors and wasn’t surprised that I wasn’t alone in this train of thought.
Color is maybe the toughest part of the logo process in my opinion. Colors carry have emotional impact, which is why I like to leave color to the end of the process — this helps void choosing a logo based on the color rather than a great concept.
Unfortunately, once I saw these colors applied to the logo design they didn’t project the feel I was looking for. But, I really liked the warm red-orange sunrise-like background Mike had incorporated. So I searched out some photos of planets, nebulas, etc. and sent them to Mike as a sample of colors that appeared in space. Maybe, these would help change the feel of the logo.
As it turns out, these “space colors” lead us in the right direction.
It’s rare to nail down final color selections on the first round because color is so complex. This is why it’s so important to collaborate with clients. In this case, Jon sent some reference to give me an idea of his tastes, from which I was able to draw out some new options.
The entire process really is a back and forth; client feedback and my expertise, combined to arrive at a final logomark that’s attractive, practical and pleases both the client and designer.
What intrigues me is how fun this process can be, particularly for clients. All of the clients who have collaborated in their own logo process have commented on how much they enjoyed it. Knowing clients get a logo they love and a process that’s fun makes for a very satisfying experience for everyone.
If you need of a logo and are intrigued by this design process, drop me a line.
World-Wired: Beyond MATC Article Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 by Mike
At the very tail end of 2005, I happened to stop by my alma mater, Milwaukee Area Technical College to see 
instructors and friends. While there, I was introduced to the PR department (which is very near the place I used to work as a student). Somehow, I managed to get an invitation to be the topic of an article for a new online magazine at the MATC website, Beyond MATC.
In December, I received a call from Julie at MATC’s PR department, where I shared stories and insights from my years as a design student, about my work now and remote working in general. It was a great discussion — touching on globalism, distributed teamwork, creativity, blogging and more. Unfortunately, much of our discussions had to be trimmed from the final article (seems like a great reason for an MATC PR Weblog).
This week, Sue, the MATC staff photographer stopped by to take a few photos to accompany the article, to complete the process. Sue and I had a great time on the shoot, with a side benefit that my office is all clean and tidy. ;-)
Today, I was notified by Julie that the article was online:
World-Wired: Mike Rohde Serves Global Clientele
Here’s an excerpt:
You never know where on earth an MATC degree might lead. For 1989 Commercial Art (Graphic Design) graduate Mike Rohde, it led to colleagues and clients in Germany, Spain, France and Ireland. Rohde creates corporate logos, Web sites, Web applications and business blogs for firms around the world, working from his home office in Wauwatosa.
Privileged to be able to combine his passions for design, technology and new ways of working, he is, simply, an artist at heart. “I had always loved art and wanted to be an artist, but my dad warned me about ’starving artists’ and how hard it could be for me to make a living,” he says. So Rohde came to MATC for a night class in photography, which led him to the Printing associate degree program.
That program required classes in commercial art, and from there he found his calling. “The other students in printing said, “What are you doing here? You should be an artist.’ One great thing about MATC is that you are required to be exposed to other areas. I got good cross training between printing, commercial art and photography.”
His cross training also included working as art director for two years at MATC’s student newspaper, The Times, and a part-time job in the college’s Design Centre as a student graphic artist.
On the article page you’ll not only see a few shots of me in my office and kitchen, the photographer took a few shots of my sketchbook, some with a recent logo done for Panoramio and a shot of our kitty Jasmine playing around with my Faber-Castell pencil. Gotta love the cat photo!
BTW, it’s funny to me that my Mac is not shown in the photo above, while the crusty old vanilla PC I use for testing websites is — someone might get the idea I’m a PC user or something! :-)
The entire experience was very positive, all the way from the phone discussion with Julie to the photo shoot with Sue. I’m very happy with the article. Thanks Julie, Sue and MATC for the opportunity!