Hi
First of all sorry this is my first post! I am looking for quotes for several Logo's and other design work. While i will put as much detail as I feel I am able, aspects of this job will require the chosen designer to sign a NDA .
I had better state from the start, a couple of important factors to keep in mind. This will save people wasting their time reading the whole thing.
First of all I am predominately a Scientist, i have the design skills and flare of your average 3 years old. The overall job is fairly large, if you honestly dont think you could finish it, then i would be eternally grateful if you dont reply and ask questions etc etc. Sorry to be blunt, but i have wasted 3 weeks talking to two 'designers'. One Vanished at the point we required a NDA, the other took 3 weeks to decide the job was too big for them.
So hopefully that will have cut the field down a little
. Next is the budget.......We dont have one! NO money has been set aside for this at all, the reasoning is simple. We dont know how much it will cost to get what we want/need, so it costs what it costs. The other reason is, unless you are a large studio with a reasonable amount of man power, then it is likely we will be paying in stages as each part is completed.
The above is important, this is a professional job and it will need to be under some kind of contract. We are flexible to most terms, however some are not, and these will be detailed. If your still reading then great! Please do not be put off if your any of the following...... New, we have no issue working with new designers. Sometimes a clean, fresh set of idea's are the best idea's, so as long as you can meet the challenge, your experience or lack of will not count against you.
'Hobbyist'. One of the best logo's I ever had designed (many years ago), was designed by someone who did design as a hobby. So again if you can do the job and do it well, then that is all I am after.
Now a few of the horror aspects, I dont know exactly what we are looking for. I know specifics such as, how many logo's and graphic aspects needed. But I dont know the colours or style.......... To be honest I see that as your job and not mine, I dont want to get into arguments over this, however I can give you a 'feel' of who and what we are. I am looking for someone who can take that, and turn it into a brand.
We are a blank canvas!
If I explain this, then maybe you will understand the job, and the above a little better. We have a single unbranded (from a design aspect) umbrella company, this I will explain a little more later, as it forms part of the design brief. Having semi retired very recently, I am looking to consolidate several businesses my wife and I own, we would like to simplify things and have a master brand. But assured that simplified means, easier for us and harder for you.
Over the years and particularly recently, we have acquired several businesses. We have also recently started a couple, these have mostly come from buying a couple and splitting them up into different operations/companies. Now I am semi retired, I am looking to bring everything together. The end goal is to pass the company on to our children at some point.
At first glance, there would seem to be a disconnect, between the businesses. This isnt actually the case, the businesses have grown, or been acquired, because they fit in with what we do, and because they reflect our own particular skill sets. This is the main reason for the number of things we require, and for the size of the job.
I am very rusty at doing briefs of this sort, p[lease forgive me if I have strayed off the norm, this is not a normal job in any sense. So i better give you an idea of what we require. Keep in mind this is intended to be a small snap shop of what is needed, I will give full details to the selected designer, once one is chosen. Because of the size of the job I will simply outline a few things.
The rest of the brief, will pretty much be a replication of the following, please keep in mind, each small snip of information,probably matters alot.
Several years ago we purchased a, small (ish) Scottish Estate. This has become, both our main home and 'head office'. Some of the businesses are located within the estate, and some are not. We are actually English, it took a couple of years, to really understand what 'Estate' meant in Scotland. One of the harder aspects of this job, will be for you to understand its meaning. Unfortunately it is central to the branding.
A short history, this will help you understand, why we dont have a 'Brand' as such at the moment.
A very long time ago the estate we own was independent, it was much much larger than today. 200-300 years ago it was purchased by another, much bigger Estate and this still exists today.
The Estate was absorbed as a whole into the other Estate, however the house and some surrounding land, kept the origanal name. This name is our 'Main' (Brand)/name. We purchased the house and some of the land, up until we did this, none of the original estate had ever been sold. So while OUR Estate still has, the original cattle brand (we dont own that), and apparently a barony title (we dont, and wont be using). It has been known as mainly as the Estate name House, but operated under the other Estate name.
After purchase we decided to use the Estate name, so some of our businesses operate under the Estate name. This name is unusual and will be our main umbrella brand. I can give you a feel for what we want from it, but I dont have any idea of the look.
The name is important to us, it is also well known locally. We want it to reflect, who we are as a company, and give a sense of high quality and prestige. Last year we dissolved the main company, this was mainly because the company name, was too specific to something we did. While we are retaining some aspects of what we did, the new parent company when registered, will simply be the Estate name. Some of the company logo's we want, will carry the Estate name. This will either be in part, or as a whole. So for example our main company, will be registered as, our ' estatename Estate LTD' .
The company hasnt been registered yet, the reason is simply because, we havnt finished chopping things up! Because of the different aspects/companies that relate to what we do, it has taken some time to decide, exactly which parts were to be registered as separate companies.
This is one reason, this is likely to be, a fairly long and ongoing job for you. I dont want to give the actual name out on a public forum yet, I did this recently and was surprised just how much attention and email it attracted. Mostly the enquiries were nothing to do with the job! So i wasted alot of time answering alot of silly questions. Also we plan to 'relaunch' the Estate. To explain that would take alot of time, I dont think it would add anything to the brief.
I am really sorry this is a long post, but hopefully it will save everyone, alot of time in the long run!
Onto some examples of what we are after, take 'Estate name' to be the full name, this will be given in emails and pm's.
First of all we would like.
LOGO
'Name Estate'
This is the really important one for us, it should have a feeling of age (its a very old Estate), definitely should look/feel high end. I think of this very much like I do of the actual house, which is old and solid, large but elegant. To give you some idea's, I will give you an idea of the impression I got, when I viewed it for the first time.
When you look at the house from the outside, it feels large and solid. Made from granite and slate, it stands on a hill and stands out. While it looks like it needs some care (it does and is getting it), when you look at it from the village, it seems to have been part of the landscape forever (actually the original house was rebuilt 300 years ago).
It looks SOLID, even though it is exposed on the hill. The walls are 3 feet thick solid stone, Even in the worst of storms the house has never creaked, you dont hear storms from inside, and when outside in one it looks very safe. Our company is also like this, we are established and solid. We are known as dependable, and a little special. But we also do alot of R&D work, so we are known for cutting edge, and coming up with solutions, when all others have failed.
Colours, Fonts and Style is your choice. I want to look at it, and get the same feeling I did, when I saw the house. The websites for all companies, will need colour schemes (3-4 colours). We are having extensive websites built, the entire business/businesses will have an online part for most things. We have alot of 'back end' software, things like accounting and customer service all have a online side. We would like everything 'dressed' to look like it belongs to the same parent company (a couple of exceptions). You wont be required to dabble in CSS or touch the actual sites, this is being done by someone else. You need to come up with the colours and overall brand design.
TBC due to character limit.
First of all sorry this is my first post! I am looking for quotes for several Logo's and other design work. While i will put as much detail as I feel I am able, aspects of this job will require the chosen designer to sign a NDA .
I had better state from the start, a couple of important factors to keep in mind. This will save people wasting their time reading the whole thing.
First of all I am predominately a Scientist, i have the design skills and flare of your average 3 years old. The overall job is fairly large, if you honestly dont think you could finish it, then i would be eternally grateful if you dont reply and ask questions etc etc. Sorry to be blunt, but i have wasted 3 weeks talking to two 'designers'. One Vanished at the point we required a NDA, the other took 3 weeks to decide the job was too big for them.
So hopefully that will have cut the field down a little
. Next is the budget.......We dont have one! NO money has been set aside for this at all, the reasoning is simple. We dont know how much it will cost to get what we want/need, so it costs what it costs. The other reason is, unless you are a large studio with a reasonable amount of man power, then it is likely we will be paying in stages as each part is completed.The above is important, this is a professional job and it will need to be under some kind of contract. We are flexible to most terms, however some are not, and these will be detailed. If your still reading then great! Please do not be put off if your any of the following...... New, we have no issue working with new designers. Sometimes a clean, fresh set of idea's are the best idea's, so as long as you can meet the challenge, your experience or lack of will not count against you.
'Hobbyist'. One of the best logo's I ever had designed (many years ago), was designed by someone who did design as a hobby. So again if you can do the job and do it well, then that is all I am after.
Now a few of the horror aspects, I dont know exactly what we are looking for
. I know specifics such as, how many logo's and graphic aspects needed. But I dont know the colours or style.......... To be honest I see that as your job and not mine, I dont want to get into arguments over this, however I can give you a 'feel' of who and what we are. I am looking for someone who can take that, and turn it into a brand.We are a blank canvas!
If I explain this, then maybe you will understand the job, and the above a little better. We have a single unbranded (from a design aspect) umbrella company, this I will explain a little more later, as it forms part of the design brief. Having semi retired very recently, I am looking to consolidate several businesses my wife and I own, we would like to simplify things and have a master brand. But assured that simplified means, easier for us and harder for you
. Over the years and particularly recently, we have acquired several businesses. We have also recently started a couple, these have mostly come from buying a couple and splitting them up into different operations/companies. Now I am semi retired, I am looking to bring everything together. The end goal is to pass the company on to our children at some point.
At first glance, there would seem to be a disconnect, between the businesses. This isnt actually the case, the businesses have grown, or been acquired, because they fit in with what we do, and because they reflect our own particular skill sets. This is the main reason for the number of things we require, and for the size of the job.
I am very rusty at doing briefs of this sort, p[lease forgive me if I have strayed off the norm, this is not a normal job in any sense. So i better give you an idea of what we require. Keep in mind this is intended to be a small snap shop of what is needed, I will give full details to the selected designer, once one is chosen. Because of the size of the job I will simply outline a few things.
The rest of the brief, will pretty much be a replication of the following, please keep in mind, each small snip of information,probably matters alot.
Several years ago we purchased a, small (ish) Scottish Estate. This has become, both our main home and 'head office'. Some of the businesses are located within the estate, and some are not. We are actually English, it took a couple of years, to really understand what 'Estate' meant in Scotland. One of the harder aspects of this job, will be for you to understand its meaning. Unfortunately it is central to the branding.
A short history, this will help you understand, why we dont have a 'Brand' as such at the moment.
A very long time ago the estate we own was independent, it was much much larger than today. 200-300 years ago it was purchased by another, much bigger Estate and this still exists today.
The Estate was absorbed as a whole into the other Estate, however the house and some surrounding land, kept the origanal name. This name is our 'Main' (Brand)/name. We purchased the house and some of the land, up until we did this, none of the original estate had ever been sold. So while OUR Estate still has, the original cattle brand (we dont own that), and apparently a barony title (we dont, and wont be using). It has been known as mainly as the Estate name House, but operated under the other Estate name.
After purchase we decided to use the Estate name, so some of our businesses operate under the Estate name. This name is unusual and will be our main umbrella brand. I can give you a feel for what we want from it, but I dont have any idea of the look.
The name is important to us, it is also well known locally. We want it to reflect, who we are as a company, and give a sense of high quality and prestige. Last year we dissolved the main company, this was mainly because the company name, was too specific to something we did. While we are retaining some aspects of what we did, the new parent company when registered, will simply be the Estate name. Some of the company logo's we want, will carry the Estate name. This will either be in part, or as a whole. So for example our main company, will be registered as, our ' estatename Estate LTD' .
The company hasnt been registered yet, the reason is simply because, we havnt finished chopping things up! Because of the different aspects/companies that relate to what we do, it has taken some time to decide, exactly which parts were to be registered as separate companies.
This is one reason, this is likely to be, a fairly long and ongoing job for you. I dont want to give the actual name out on a public forum yet, I did this recently and was surprised just how much attention and email it attracted. Mostly the enquiries were nothing to do with the job! So i wasted alot of time answering alot of silly questions. Also we plan to 'relaunch' the Estate. To explain that would take alot of time, I dont think it would add anything to the brief.
I am really sorry this is a long post, but hopefully it will save everyone, alot of time in the long run!
Onto some examples of what we are after, take 'Estate name' to be the full name, this will be given in emails and pm's.
First of all we would like.
LOGO
'Name Estate'
This is the really important one for us, it should have a feeling of age (its a very old Estate), definitely should look/feel high end. I think of this very much like I do of the actual house, which is old and solid, large but elegant. To give you some idea's, I will give you an idea of the impression I got, when I viewed it for the first time.
When you look at the house from the outside, it feels large and solid. Made from granite and slate, it stands on a hill and stands out. While it looks like it needs some care (it does and is getting it), when you look at it from the village, it seems to have been part of the landscape forever (actually the original house was rebuilt 300 years ago).
It looks SOLID, even though it is exposed on the hill. The walls are 3 feet thick solid stone, Even in the worst of storms the house has never creaked, you dont hear storms from inside, and when outside in one it looks very safe. Our company is also like this, we are established and solid. We are known as dependable, and a little special. But we also do alot of R&D work, so we are known for cutting edge, and coming up with solutions, when all others have failed.
Colours, Fonts and Style is your choice. I want to look at it, and get the same feeling I did, when I saw the house. The websites for all companies, will need colour schemes (3-4 colours). We are having extensive websites built, the entire business/businesses will have an online part for most things. We have alot of 'back end' software, things like accounting and customer service all have a online side. We would like everything 'dressed' to look like it belongs to the same parent company (a couple of exceptions). You wont be required to dabble in CSS or touch the actual sites, this is being done by someone else. You need to come up with the colours and overall brand design.
TBC due to character limit.
