Coopers Green wrote:

I should also say fair play to you for getting out there and setting up your own business. Would you keep a little of that start-up capital to do business cards/a website/advertise/get your name out there?

We are both fairly well known locally so the advertising would only be low-key, business cards will be cheap as I have a printer friend that could do them and I have paid for our web address but have nothing up at the mo as my partner's brother would have been doing the website but he had a stroke a couple of months ago so is still out of action.

We will be hoping that our van might drum us up some work as it is seen around.

Oh the address we have got is www.leemac-deisgn.co.uk but we won't be focusing on that much more than having it as a place to show some of the work we have done.

Jaco wrote:

Moto. I owe you a favour mate. I'm quite happy to do any design work you need, gratis.

Don't be daft but if you ever have any time to fill I wouldn't object to seeing any ideas you may have for my own logo! Seriously don't put yourself out though.

Once I am up and running I'll talk to you properly because I am sure that we will be able to use you, either directly or by passing your details on.

I am so full of trepidation and excitement in equal measures, the trepidation comes from potentially giving up a salary and the excitement from knowing that I may soon not be tied to somebody else! I'll do the lottery this weekend and who knows you might get that move quicker than you think!

I have no brief other than the name is LEEMAC DESIGN LTD but as it was formed by our surnames (Lee & Mac'kenzie) I thought that highlighting this may be worthwhile but without highlighting to such an extent that people may start to think it was two words (or that a comic had gone into making signage!). I'm not actually keen on the name but I think once we are trading and get established the name itself becomes less important.

The only other thing is that I wanted to steer away from a logo where the aspect ratio was close but saying that I am not adverse to it as it is really down to what it looks like, I just know that some companies with square logos often struggle to get them to fit well in certain locations.

I am excited again now seeing what you do but like I said don't put yourself out or feel the need to rush. I take it you still have my email address?

Brooks wrote:

Thing about the squashed LIMITED, just for amusement value: It now looks super early 90s retro, though in certain design circles there's a whole lot of flirting with that going on again.

That almost makes it sound like some design went into it, I can assure you that none did!!!

TBH this is one of the reasons I want to work for myself, I want to be able to work like a bastard to earn our keep but then have a day or two spare every so often so that I can see what is going on.

I also want to get a CNC machine because I want to make things, I want to look at getting into interior design and shopfits etc.

Why hasn't anybody said how brilliant the 'glass room' is!?!?!

I just thought of something...

While I am taking you up on your kind offer I might as well take the piss completely and let you know that our van will be a normal Renault Trafic (in white) so our logo would need to fit well on that on the off-chance that really wanted to use your crayons!

Jaco wrote:

Haha. No worries. New shape Renault Traffic?

Yep.

I haven't looked into vans too closely but I can get one for £179 per month so figured that would do!

Oh and go as mental as you want as we'll obviously be doing it ourselves so the cost of doing it isn't an issue.

Unfortunately for you, Moto, he's literally using crayons.

Jaco wrote:

Cool. Full wrapping it is then. You asked for this... EDIT: FMI, normal wheelbase, single-sliding door on passenger side, no glass in sides/rear doors?

How do you go about creating a full wrap Jaco?
Obviously in 3D I could take a model, UV unwrap it and use that as a flattened out piece to design on.
Is there a similar thing provided by Renault or summat?

Liveinadive wrote:

Jaco wrote:

Cool. Full wrapping it is then. You asked for this... EDIT: FMI, normal wheelbase, single-sliding door on passenger side, no glass in sides/rear doors?

How do you go about creating a full wrap Jaco? Obviously in 3D I could take a model, UV unwrap it and use that as a flattened out piece to design on. Is there a similar thing provided by Renault or summat?

I do it the following way...

Take a picture of the vehicle - I generally stand back and zoom-in to eliminate lens distortion.

Measure between two easily distinguishable points - I normally use the front shutline and the rear lights.

With this I now put the photo into Photoshop and crop it down so I mainly have the van in the image. Now I import the image into Illustrator and size it up to actual size using the measurement I took. If the van is going to have a lot of images I now go back to Photoshop and size up the image to the final working size.

It's not difficult to do, you just treat the whole side as a flat image and let the fitting side of things worry about the rest!

Liveinadive wrote:

Makes sense, I guess vans are a lot easier than standard cars would be.

I'd do a car the same way, saying that I'd actually try not to do either as I hate wrapping. I generally try to work some full colour into the design but keeping away from anything that would wrap, for instance, from the front wing to the bottom as it is a nightmare getting it all lined up!

I hope you're reading this Jim!

What him said. Except for two things - I tend to scale up after creating the artwork to keep file sizes to a minimum (also because Illustrator's artboard only goes up to 5m, and a 7.5m wagon just won't fit, sadly), and when surveying the vehicle I make extensive notes on creases and dips in the bodywork that may distort the imagery and any text. Avoids issues when I come to fit the sucker.

EDIT: Moto - how do you feel about glow-in-the-dark vinyl?

Quite pricey (and yes, I meant photoluminescent, not reflective - that stuff knackers cutter blades something chronic). Maybe stick with the norms (we use Avery's 700 series) with a flash of something fancy.

I'm feeling chrome. Yes.

I like it when I'm spending someone else's money.

I'm liking the look of these business cards (the Luxe version), I think I might invest in some!

Moto, I can get you much nicer cards printed for much less than Moo charge.

They use digital print, my guy uses proper ink.

Also, what about MacLee? afaik Lee Mac is a comedian. Or a DJ. I forget.

I know Jim has already offered but if anyone else is interested I have two guys that do logo work. One lives in Uruguay and will do a contact sheet of about 8-10 designs based on a text brief and a couple of revisions to a preferred one for £100. My other guy is a full branding agency that would do logo, look and feel, colour schemes, business cards, letterheads etc for circa £700

Mod74 wrote:

Moto, I can get you much nicer cards printed for much less than Moo charge. They use digital print, my guy uses proper ink. Also, what about MacLee? afaik Lee Mac is a comedian. Or a DJ. I forget. I know Jim has already offered but if anyone else is interested I have two guys that do logo work. One lives in Uruguay and will do a contact sheet of about 8-10 designs based on a text brief and a couple of revisions to a preferred one for £100. My other guy is a full branding agency that would do logo, look and feel, colour schemes, business cards, letterheads etc for circa £700

Can your bloke do them in full colour on one side and have different designs across the order?

As for the name my business partner chose it, as I have said I couldn't care less what it is called though yes, Lee Mack is a comedian. Because my main priority is getting up and running I am happy to let him pick the name. As for logos I would rather pay somebody here if I was going to pay anybody but I am capable of doing my own logo, again though my time is better spent getting this thing up and running not designing a logo for a business that doesn't yet exist. As for the other guy, again we are more than capable of doing our own logo and colour schemes and for £700 I could actually build the glass room I posted. Our target clientèle would prefer a coffee in a nice workplace than us sending them details on a letterhead.

I do, however, appreciate your input and believe me that money was no objection then I would give people in this forum a fair bite of the pie.

As for your other post I'm not sure what the style is called (or even if it has a name?) but it is very art deco/avant garde looking.