The moment your potential customer sees your company name, let them know you are an established professional. These days, with all of the advertising that is subjected to viewers, you’ll need every extra bump that you can get. It starts with your company name. The name is the first thing that identifies your business and is the first impression when your viewers come across your promotions. That’s the moment when you want your business to look its best.

GJB Graphics creates custom logos that are easily recognizable, memorable, and aesthetically effective. For as low as $200 you can catch the eye of your next client and gain their trust and interest before your competitors who are only using a standard font to promote their business. Call GJB Graphics today to find out how you can obtain a custom logo that personifies you.

Want hand painted original artwork on your windows for an inexpensive rate? Call today and let GJB Graphics make your home or businesses a winter wonderland. Don’t worry, it’s easy enough to remove, but if you’d prefer, GJB Graphics offers quick removal services as well. View the gallery

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AFTER - click to view

As I was picking up some printed material at a local print shop,I found myself behind a woman I recognized as the owner of a local Indian restaurant. She was with her daughter and apparently not at all happy with what the sales rep on the other side counter was telling her about the photo they wanted to have enlarged for a backdrop.

THE PROBLEM: What the sales rep was trying to explain to the women was that the extreme shadows on the face of the photographed subject would appear worse after the photo is enlarged. Peeking over the shoulders of the ladies in front of me, I got a better look at what they were talking about. Sure enough, the shadows on the photo were so dark that it caused the subjects nose appeared to be floating. The women desperately needed the photo for an event that weekend, so they insisted that it be enlarged despite the problematic features.

BEFORE

SOLUTION: I happened to have my laptop with me and since editing photos is one of my favorite things to do, I jumped into the conversation with an offer to lighten up the shadows. Since they had nothing to lose, they took me up on the offer and the printer made available a workspace for us to work in. Only took a matter of minutes for me to brighten the face and improve how it would appear on a wide format print.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: While I was working on the photo, the mother told me how this image was going to be the backdrop on a stage for her daughters sweet 16th birthday party. They had even hired  a professional comedian and a live band to perform live in front of a large list of attendees. This was not some simple party. A simple photo of some girl in a parking lot couldn’t do justice for an event like that. Not only that, the shari that was worn by the photo’s subject was so rich with culture, it deserved to have more focus. I told them that I was an artist and asked if they had a bit more time for me to enhance the image a bit more. They permitted me to toy around with the image for another half hour before they had to run off on to other related errands. Though I am sure I could have done a bit more with another half hour and access to the resources in my own studio, I was quite pleased with what I had accomplished in such a short time. What they received in the end was a huge contrast and I’m certain the 16 year old girl was far more appreciative of Bollywood theme being a focal point of her 16th birthday instead of a poorly lit photo taken in a parking lot.

Final Logo & Business Card

The Project: A couple of years ago I was approached by a client who was interested in establishing an identity for his computer service. The business was based at the beach and it’s owner also had Charter Boat for deep sea fishing. So it was only natural that the specs for the job called for an illustrative logo containing a Marlin (hence the name of the company).

The Plan: Far too often in our industry, work is provided to a client only to find that the art is not compatible for production. Wether it is because the printing vendor isn’t set up for that kind of artwork, or the client was unaware of the potential expenses that could occur during the process of production. Although it’s not anyone’s fualt that this occurs, it is preventable with a just little bit of educated planning. For this reason I try to find how my clients intend to use the graphics I am expected to provide and how they hope to produce it. Based on this information, we are able to come up with a compatibility plan that coincides with their budget.

In this case, the client only wanted a logo that he could use to layout a business card himself. I knew that since an inkjet printer uses a CMYK process of printing, I knew that my final design be in full color. However, based on past experiences, I chose to develop a logo that could be modified easily enough to easily while still maintaining it’s recognizable traits at a later date should the client change his mind.

Logo Approved: After we had reached a final product that the client was happy with, he was provided with user friendly artwork so that he would be able to produce his own promotional material with the convenience of his own personal equipment and software.

Card Layout by Client

His final layout was simple and at least displayed the necessary information, but the logo we had created appeared to be intentionally stretched so that it would fill the entire business card.

The Revisiting Client: After having produced his own business cards for a period of two years or so, the client had decided to get a larger number of cards printed off by a professional printing company. Without knowing the story behind this decision and seeing an opportunity to improve his visibility, I offered to layout a new card design for him. Our final layout not only displayed elements of the original artwork in their proper proportion, but layout really drew attention and “flowed” quite well with the logo. All were happy in the land of creativity.

Logo & Business Cards

My challenge now was that the client had no logo, no established identity, and no material to point me into a stylistic direction. All I had was the business name, Pampered Paws House Calls, the content, and that the client specified a preference to the color blue.

It’s often difficult to work aesthetically with a business name so lengthy as “ Pampered Paws House Calls”, and since it was only a biz card layout, I really wouldn’t have to worry about establishing a visual identity. However, the more I looked at the name and services, I couldn’t help but see the “w” as a paw print. Since investment of establishing a businesses identity is often more involved than a simple card, I imediatly notified the firm that I had a branding concept that I was certain would be marketable. Since I have a pre-existing relationship with the firm, they trusted that I was on to something and re-negotiated our terms.

So rather than focus on a simple business card layout, I was able to zero in on a brand concept that pretty much established a style and identity of it’s own. After that the card was practically a cakewalk. If only everyday business could fall together so well.

Non-profit T-shirt & Logo Design

As a national non-profit organization, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have a multitude of resources available to design, create, develop, and even publish on their very own. However, from their regional on down to their district and local levels their only available help are predominantly volunteers. Having been raised on how great camping can be, I was more than happy to answer the call when the Del-Mar-Va regional office contacted me to put something together for their upcoming 5K Run/Hike, an event to help raise money for their Summer Camping Assistance Fund.

At first they had only asked for a t-shirt design, but as the event may possibly be an annual one, leaving out the date would enable them to use the design for years to come, not only for t-shirt, but for their promotional materials as well. Since they are non-profit, and they are trying to raise money rather than spend it, the design had to be simple, the fewer the colors, the more cost effective.

I wanted to create something that would be easily recognizable and illustrates the actual activity. Because the event is being held in two locations on paths leading through woods during the spring time, you can only imagine that you would be needing some good hiking shoes to walk through a mud puddle here and there. Mud and hiking boots come to mind. Since the demographic for the beneficiaries of this event are boys ranging from cub scout age to young adult, I chose to use a distressed font to further drive home the look and feel of rough and rugged terrain.

Want to know more about the event or get involved? Click here.