Category: clients

I’m A Logo Designer Too—A Portfolio of Logo Designs

Posted on by Stephen

Lush Floral and GardenBeing a logo designer has two main challenges. The first is expressing a company’s essence in one simplistic graphic, the other is getting people to see the value and importance of a quality logo created by a professional graphic designer. The process of doing a logo takes several hours, because much more is involved than what appears on the surface. Logos are put under a microscope by the creator, the client and the public. I really enjoy making logos for my clients. One small disappointment I have faced more than once is being mistaken for being a web designer only, when I’m just as much of a logo designer. Clients sometimes will come to me with a logo from another graphic designer they hired without knowing that I have a longer history of being a logo designer, graphic designer and illustrator than being a web designer.

Here is my process: First, the client and I brainstorm together. Then rough black and white sketches are presented and a couple are chosen out of several options. Next, many variations are created from the first one or two chosen options. At this point, color is only now introduced and integrated in with the design. Along the way several fonts are presented and matched up with the imagery. Sometimes typography is customized. Finally, micro-adjustments are made to logo and several versions are created for the website, print, in house printing, and possibly, merchandise. I’ve spent 30-40 hours on some logos not because it takes me that long to make the image, but the whole process from idea to the public involves a lot of decision making and discussions along the way.

See my rates page for the prices and the kind of logo you may need.

Below is a list of my top 10 logos I’ve designed for clients since starting my business, Schildbach Design, in 2008.

  1. Keith B. Wong, orthodontist (illustration by Keith B. Wong)
  2. Home and Comfort (never used)
  3. Center for Precision Diagnostics, University of Washington
  4. CBT Westport, clinical psychologists
  5. Speaking of Dying, a film about end of life planning
  6. Majdor, clothing and accessories
  7. Miles Lost Miles Gained, Washington rivers project by Zac Corum
  8. Wendy Woldenberg, jeweler
  9. Solstice NYC, psychiatrist
  10. Lush Floral and Garden, floral and garden designer

Testimonials

Posted on by Stephen

“Working with Stephen is a pleasure and a great learning experience. He is warm and compassionate, has an amazing memory for detail (at least partly because he is such a good listener), and is truly interested in creating an aesthetically pleasing, highly functional website that reflects the character of the business it represents. Stephen is clearly personally invested in our success, in our feeling great about our website and confident in our ability to manage it on an ongoing basis. He is constantly learning and seems to be a step ahead of industry changes, so he chooses the most effective, cost-effective, and sustainable options for creating and managing our online presence. I feel inspired to keep learning and updating our website, in order to maintain the professional standard that Stephen has set for us.”

Angeline Johnson, owner of Richmond Beach Yoga

“I appreciate all your hard work so much, and think the end result is awesome.  I think the business identity and logo and everything together presents very professionally.   I’m very happy with the result.”

A. Caron, PHD

“My website continues to reap benefits.  While I was on tour in the Marshall Islands, I did several workshops in schools in addition to several concert performances.  Many of the people I met at shows, and kids from the schools, went on my website and even used the contact form to write me emails.  It’s so convenient and satisfying to tell people “check out my website” knowing that it actually embodies my work and is something I can be proud of.”

Jeremy Jones, Drummer and Composer

2015 Clients

Posted on by Stephen

I want to thank all of my 20 plus, 2015 clients help make Schildbach Design have it’s best year to date. My repeat clients and new clients cover a dynamic range of professions (therapists, scientists, orthodontists, musicians, yoga teachers, etc…). Work that spans web maintenance to business identities. This year’s client list:

BIRD ALLY X: Oil, LA, A New Website, and the Wonders of Travel

Posted on by Stephen

The only way I can begin with this amazing client, BIRD ALLY X, is a story. My family and I are on vacation in Los Angeles spending a day on a Malibu beach. Sounds pretty posh doesn’t it? Well, let me take a step back.

A couple of days before that, my family and I are on Venice Beach and we see a meandering line of black sludge on the beach and it takes us only a couple of minutes to realize that it is oil run ashore from the Santa Barbara, CA oil spill. Hardly anyone is on the beach, but not because of the oil spill, because it is freezing cold in June on the shore. The winds are gusting, the beach sand is flying, and few people want to go to the beach today because of it. Although, my daughter doesn’t care. She can enjoy the situation to it’s fullest because she is experiencing two of some of her most favorite things—sand and water. We avoid the trail of black sludge, not only because it is toxic, but also because I remember someone saying, “You can’t get the stuff off your skin”. I and my daughter missed the oil land mine that day but my wife landed her heel on the goo, and it took a lot of natural solutions and scrubbing to get it off, and her sandals were now garbage.

Back to the Malibu beach part of the story, a couple of days after the Venice Beach experience. I call my friend Laura Corsiglia to see if she is in Los Angeles (she told me previously she would be on assignment for Bird Ally X, in Santa Barbara, caring for birds effected by the oil spill), and she says she is in Santa Monica—in between us and Los Angeles (LA is where we were headed back to anyway). So, I say, “Let’s have lunch!”. We drive to Santa Monica and have a Mexican dinner with Laura, talking about old times, the times, and how hard she worked on caring for birds effected by the disaster.

A few months ago, my friends Laura Corsiglia and Monte Merrick also became clients. They asked me to redesign the website for Bird Ally X. Being a non-profit, they would not have been able to afford my services without a grant. I too donated a small portion of my time to make a really exciting site. They are the ideal client for me: laid-back, but passionate about what they do; having an artistic sense, but with the maturity to know that we also have to build a user friendly site; and, they are doing something important in the world. They are caring for animals that sadly run into human behavior and creations that are destructive to the environment. If you too care about birds and cleaning up the environment, please consider donating to Bird Ally X.