New logo and business card for Lava Smith

It's been pretty hard to have time to post to this blog over the last couple of weeks with a very healthy workload of projects.
Here is one of our recent logo and business card creations for Lava Smith.


2010 © St Louis Web Designer

The anatomy of a repeating pattern: Free vector download

Looking to design a unique repeating pattern? It is easier than you think.

Start with a simple shape like an oval

Duplicate and rotate to form a flower shape

Duplicate horizontally

then vertically


Voila!

Printed out these are a great coloring project for kids.
Download repeating pattern here

2010 © St Louis Web Designer

Free Vector Graphic: Winter Theme Pattern

In honor of the "great snowfall" we are due over the next 36 hours, here in St Louis, here is a free vector graphic of a repeating pattern with a winter theme. The great land of Twitter is busy speculating inches. Snow anyone?



2010 © St Louis Web Designer

Free Vector Patterns

I have always been drawn to patterns (no pun intended!). As a kid I loved geometry coloring sheets and my first job in design was the creation of anti counterfeit patterns for currency. More about that another day!

Here are a couple of simple vector patterns for you to enjoy.

Download them for free

2009 © St Louis Web Designer

Custom Cartoon Illustrations for your Website?

As a graphic and website designer sometimes my design tool of choice is simply a piece of paper and a pencil. This is especially so when a web site calls for custom cartoon illustrations, these work really well on websites targeted towards kids. The result is a very original feel to the graphics of the final site.

Here are some examples of custom illustrations I created for children's author Cynthia Reeg. I let my pencil flow freely, scanned the drawings and imported them into Adobe Photoshop. Then they were brought to life with the magic of color.




The graphics for Cynthia's site are incorporated into the template of the page, used as navigational elements and add interest to sections of the site. Although all different they have a very branded feel due to the hand drawn and colorization techniques used.

Are you looking for custom illustrations for your new or existing web site? We can help


© 2009 St Louis Web Designer

Banner Designs for St Louis Retail Center

This was a fun project. We were commissioned to design a set of "trendy" banners for a St Louis metro retail center. At 18 by 10 ft each they will be hung and illuminated in vacant stores.

Logo and stationery set for Big River

Here is one of the latest projects we have been working on; Big River Associates.

Here is the logo and stationery set. A web site is in the works.

A web and graphic design portfolio: A lead generator

I met with a potential client earlier this week, looking to create a logo and web site look and feel. A start up company, they have a great idea and a hefty business plan - a sure sign to mean that they really mean business.

It never ceases to amaze me the number of start up companies I meet who have no business plan just a vague idea. They want to start developing a brand image with no idea of who they are targeting, their competition, price structure and any of those other elements a good business plan will detail.

The start up company I met this week had found us via Google and had spent a considerable time going through our extensive portfolio. We had impressed them enough that they called and scheduled an appointment. A great example of our web and graphic design portfolio working as a lead generator!

A brand color palette. Eye of a St Louis web designer

A few weeks ago these beautiful irises were in full bloom in my St Louis garden. Notice anything about the colors in this photograph? They are essentially the palette of colors we use in our brand.

I love using nature as an inspiration during web and graphic design projects and as this image shows a simple photograph is sometimes all you need to build a great color palette from which to work.



St Louis web designer tip of the day

Brochure Design for St Louis Financial Advisor.

We recently completed this brochure design for St Louis financial advisor, LegaGroup.

Are you getting the most of the visual elements of your brand ?

The visual elements of your brand are typically classified as

• Your Logo

• Typography – font face, sizes

• Color Palette – primary and secondary colors

• Imagery- photographs, illustration and their styles

• Personality

Here are the visual elements of the Indigo Image brand and examples of how we use them to create a consistent image.

Ideally your brand elements should be present on all forms of communication, your web site, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, email signature even on your social network profiles like LinkedIn and Twitter.
Don't miss an opportunity to make your brand work for you.

Web Design Updates for Indigo Image

Back in February I mentioned our web site was undergoing a freshen up. Client work always comes first so it has taken until the middle of April to roll out the changes. But today is the day!

While the overall design has not dramatically changed we have focused on usability issues. Our home page now features our RSS feed and a dynamic portfolio navigator. The entire portfolio section has been reworked and all logo and graphic design pieces are presented as a slide show format for easy viewing.

The portfolio has been split into the following sections

• Web Design - with 3 galleries of web site, email templates, landing page, banner ads etc
• Logo Design
• Graphic Design -with 3 galleries of business cards, letterheads, flyers, trifolds, menus etc
• Complete Branding - with six galleries of branding projects
  

We have also taken the opportunity to update our blog template and create a custom background for the STLwebdesign Twitter page

St Louis Jazz Cafe: opening soon

Opening March 21st is the much anticipated St Louis Jazz Café

I worked with Cafe owner Arnold Charleston in April last year in design of their logo. I love the way they have incorporated it into their web site.

Check it out at http://www.stlouisjazzcafe.com/

Gift Tags Freebie: seasonal graphic design fun

Here is a set of custom gift tags designed using Adobe Illustrator which you can download for FREE print them out on your desktop printer. A St Louis Web Designer freebie

Brochure Design In progress

We are currently working on a new brochure for Bella Stone Pavers

Eye of a St Louis Web Designer

The fall colors have been fabulous in St Louis this year. There is nothing like color in nature to inspire creativity.

1. Start with a colorful photograph
2. Sample the photograph to build a palette of colors
3. Use your palette to design a quick fun graphic



Todays tip from the St Louis web designer

Fun with design at Halloween

The icons of Halloween and a bit of design fun by the St Louis web designer.

What happens to Pixel and Vector graphics when they are enlarged.

Here is a graphic which illustrates what happens when you do an idential enlargement on pixel generated and vector generated circles.

The pixel generated graphic goes all blurry and not too nice at all. The vector one however stays crisp and clean.





Now imagine you want your logo enlarged 20 times and put on a banner on the side of a building. Which format would you want your logo to be in ... pixel or vector?

Any logo we develop is always generated in the vector format so it will perform however you want to use it.

Corporate outsourcing of graphic and web design work

Over the last few years there has been a distinct trend for corporations to outsource elements of their businesses, everything from IT to payroll services. Graphic and web design services are no exception and we now have a number of these corporate outsource accounts in our client mix.

With these clients we provide the same creative services as if they had a full time employee and once we are up to speed with their brand and product offerings are able to respond to requests promptly.

Quite a bit of work this past month has been for our corporate clients and includes a logo redesign, business card design, the creation of a set of web banners, label creation, navigational improvements on a web site, web site updates and generation of a the look feel for web interfaces.

Our work is billed hourly and the clients are given weekly status reports on hours spent.

If you are a corporation looking to outsource your web and graphic design services we would welcome an opportunity to talk with you.

Feedback from i google theme designs

I took a look recently at how popular the themes I have created for i Google are and got a pleasant suprise.

Perfect Petals has had rave reviews and proves to be the most popular:

Perfectly Brilliant Elizabeth Deal - Jul 18, 2008 - Thank you for such a beautious theme. I love the brilliant color on a black background. I truely love it!

Breathtaking Anonymous - Sep 10, 2008 - I love coming in everyday and opening my google site to this beautifully displayed flowers--it starts the day off right.

Color Punch also has some fabulous comments:

Brava Brava Dolce2001@aol.com - Aug 2, 2008 - Thank you, Zoe Feast, for creating this truly unique, beautifully colored and visually pleasing accent for an iGoogle homepage. It's not just the colors that I like, it's the design that accents them. Well done!

Outstanding! - Anonymous - Jul 5, 2008 - Very impressive..and easily worth a 5 star rating. Hope to see more of your stuff! Well done.

Thanks you to everyone who has taken the time to rate and comment on the themes.

Celebrating a St Louis Web Designer Milestone

Todays marks my 300th post as the St Louis Web Designer. It's time to celebrate with some graphic design!

New development in The Central West End St Louis

I have updated one of our clients web sites, www.embrace4449.com today with some photographs of a recently completed construction project in the Central West End. The project included the renovation of an old building into condos and the building new Townhomes.

Check them out at 4449 Olive StreetCentral West End, St Louis.

For this project we created the logo, building banners, web site and brochure.

The power of Adobe Photoshop Filters

One of the main tools of my trade is Adobe Photoshop.
I encountered a little creative block while trying to think of something to write on my blog today and sat there doodling with photoshop. In less than 2 minutes this is what I had created ...all done with standard abode filters. I used a smudge stick, accented the edges, applied a difference cloud and added some grain .. the only way I know this now is beacuse is by checked the history on the file I created.
Below this photo you will see the one I started with.

A logo makeover

One of our newest customer is MAC, Motor Appliance Corporation. We have been working with them for a few months on a whole range of graphic design projects including business card design, label design and one of or latest project a rework of thier logo

We will shortly be turning our attention to their web site, applying the new logo and a general update.

Another great printer for your design projects

I recently had some business cards printed for a project and decided to give another printer a try. My usual printer is http://www.printingforless.com/, I have been very happy with their service and results. However a quick Google search brought up http://www.vistaprint.com/ and after a few minutes looking through their web site the price for their premium business cards was rather appealing. I placed the order and recieved the cards within the week. The quality was great.



My first order resulted in a flood of emails from Vista Print with offers for free this and free that. I thought I'd take advantage of one of these offers...not exactly free as they charge for design upload..around $4.00 if my memory serves me right. And then there was shipping. I opted for the slow shipping but recieved my oversized postcards within the week. But another great result, 5he printing was crisp and clean and the colors spot on.

I will definately be using them again

Color Punch..another new theme for iGoogle users.

Google recently index another theme I created for their iGoogle dash board.

The theme, titled Color Punch, is dynamic changing 7 times throughtout the day. The designs and color are pretty" in your face" hence the name. So far the theme has had great reviews and ratings

"Great theme! Love the way it changes colors - and how often it changes. Brilliant designs and colors. Great job - thanks!"

To use any of our themes click here

Color and mood: A rainy day pick me up.

We are facing another rainy day in St Louis today and greeted by a rather gray sky again this morning it got me thinking about color and mood. For me gray is most definately a mood downer. I like bright vibrant colors and a blue sky with bright sunshine is an instant pick me up.

So if the St Louis weather is not going to cooperate today how about this for a digital pick me up. This was designed using Adobe Illustrator and is currently being incorporated into a dynamic iGoogle theme called color punch. It is not yet in the Google themes directory but you can get it via inthemes



If you are interested in Meaning and Associations of color read one of our previous posts

iGoogle Theme: showcase

One of the best places to find quality themes for your iGoogle home page is at www.inthemes.com. Every week they feature one of the themes from their directory on their site; this week it is one I recently created called The Boffins


Here is what they have to say


Theme of the Week: The Boffins
Every week here at inThemes we like to showcase one of our favorite themes by applying it to our own homepage. This week it's The Boffins by Zoe Feast, but why does it always make me think of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew?

Like it? Get it!

New Logo for St Louis Investment Company

Here is one of our latest logo projects and a great testimonial from the client:-

"Wonderful job. I think this represents a wonderful graphical representation of what Chrysalis is trying to portray. The color green is the color of growth, nature and money. The logo with the circle transforming into a diamond presents a wonderful embodiment for what Chrysalis offers. Thanks for all your help in this."

Another new theme for iGoogle

If you use iGoogle and your search page has a header that looks like this



did you know that Google now offers a directory of themes that allow you to customize the look of their interface?

They have just included a dynamic theme I created, which feature two boffins in a chemistry lab. The theme changes five times thoughout the day and follows the boffins as things go a little awry in their lab.




Click here to use this theme , if you don't have one already you will need a free gmail account

New logo for St Louis Jazz Cafe

Here is one of our latest logo projects for St Louis Jazz Cafe, a new venture opening soon in downtown St Louis.

As with all of our projects, from logo to web design, client collaboration is very important. Some clients have great ideas of there own, as was the case with this project. In these situation I ask they sketch out their thoughts so I get a better understanding of thier ideas and interpret accordingly.

Here is the sketch provided by this client

New logo design for a St Louis Service

Here is one of our latest projects, a logo creation for Outlook Today, a St Louis based Microsoft Exchange host.




With the logo complete we have now turned our attention to creating a web site

Building Banner Design for St Louis Construction Project

Here is the latest branding element we have completed for for The 4449, a Central West End condo and townhome constuction


The big banner will be hung on the side of the building and the smaller ones on interior glass panels.

A web site will is to follow shortly.

Branding project in progress

We are currently working on a branding project for The 4449, a boutique condo and townhome construction, on 4449 Olive Street in the Central West End.

The project encompasses a logo, web site, 30 ft high building banners and brochure.

Eye of a St Louis Web Designer

Valentine's Day illustration by the St Louis web designer

Kids menu for new St Louis Restaurant

This was a really fun project ... creating a kids menu and activity sheet for a new Mexican Restaurant set to open in Kirkwood in the spring.


It includes a maze, custom word search, boxes, Tic Tac Toe and a design to color.

The menu is illustrated with custom drawings to aid younger children in their choice of meal.

Logo for a new St Louis restaurant.

Opening this spring in downtown Kirkwood is a new Mexican restaurant, Amigos Cantina.

We are currently in the process of creating the branding elements and have started with the logo.



The branding project includes everthing from business cards, letterhead and web site to a fun custom designed kids menu. I had the opportunity of sampling a dish created by the chef recently. It was fabulous!

New Logo for Hartshill Youth Theatre

We have recently completed a new logo for Hartshill Touth Theatre.

This logo was designed to evoke a fun group and the color palette was selected to compliment the group's school logo.

Holiday Card Design

We have recently completed a custom designed holiday card for diamond company, Prime Diam.



Tis the season!

Graphic Design Portfolio Updated

I recently had a call from a lady who had visited my site. She was looking to create a new web site but told me she had spent many hours trying to find a company to work with but had not liked any of the sites she had visited ...until she visited indigoimage.com and hence the call.

This one phone call alone speaks volumes about having a good online presence and standing out from the crowd.

I have been working on the organisation of the portfolio aspect of the site recently and today launched a reconfigured version of the graphic design portfolio. The portfolio is now spit into logos (five galleries) Business Cards & Lettersheads, Brochures and Newsletters and 2 galleries of corporate design.

The portfolio has been updated with some new projects and the new configuration should make it easier to visitors to home into their intrest area faster.

Graphic Design work for St Louis Company

We have just completed the design work for a set of custom tabs for Building Products Corporation. The tab design is part of a complate manual project we are working on which include a custom binder and product sheets.

Latest graphic design project

We have just completed a packaging design project for a St Louis based company.

Graphic design project for St Louis based MyKnowIt.com

Creating a look/feel which can be carried through all media from print,web to email template, is an important aspect in maintaining a brand consistency.
Getting it done right at the start can save problems down the road.

Building a translatable look feel is just what we have done this year for St Louis based MyKnowIt, an online training provider. We have worked closely with them and created the company identity, web site, software interface and powerpoint template. Our latest creation using the company brand elements is a brochure.

Graphic design project: Binder

We are currently working on a graphic design project for Building Products Corp.

The project includes the design of a custom binder and product information sheets