Technical Info   Your logo design - things to consider Greys, shadows and gradients - Light greys, shadows and/or gradients in logos do not fax or copy well! Printing designs with these attributes on certain items (t-shirts etc) can also be problematic and/or costly. If your design has any of these characteristics you will be provided with a 'spot colour' version as well. You will also get a suitable version for faxing and black & white printing e.g. Yellow Pages. Spot colour? The most effective logos (especially in terms of cost) are those with up to three colours or less. A design which uses spot colours can be matched with high accuracy again and again across many different media This method is generally less expensive because only a few colours are used. Other terms of reference you might hear are '2' or '3 colour' which means that only black and either one or two additional coloured inks are used It follows then that (because each colour must be printed with a separate plate on the printing press) fewer colours are needed to print the job and therefore the less expense you will incur See example of Spot Colour below Process colour? - Also referred to as '4 Colour Process'. This method must be used for printing full colour photos and designs containing gradients and/or drop-shadow effects accurately Instead of a pre-mixed ink for each colour, the image is broken up into percentages of 4 standard colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK). When using this method of printing, a full color image can be reproduced accurately. It is often more expensive but unavoidable when printing color photos or designs with gradients and drop-shadows. Exact colours are achievable across different media but it can be difficult and takes more effort See example of Process Colour below How will it print? - The only way to see exactly how the colour in the final print will look like is to see a 'proof' from your printer (make sure that it is printed on the same machine that your job will be output from). This also applies to Spot Colours, however, spot colours can be assesed without the need to go to print by viewing a Pantone Matching System 'swatch book' (available for purchase or at your printers) Designs by Eagle Imagery are provided with PMS reference codes where necessary to enable you to assess 'real-world' colours accurately In summary - In most cases a logo should be designed for spot color printing. It will be easier and less expensive to print. On merchandise (T-shirts, mugs, vinyl signs etc) gradients and drop-shadows are not out of the question but quality will be not appear as good as the original With a design using spot colours, reproduction will be consistent and therefore more distinctive. So ask yourself - 'will that fancy gradient effect cost me more in the long-run?' If your logo is only for web use then there is no need to consider a colour strategy (less that of 'colour psychology'!) and there are few limits to what colours you may have in your design. However, think of the future and consider that many businesses start up on the web and then become 'bricks and mortar' companies needing stationery and printed advertising! And finally... All logos designed by Eagle Imagery are initiated in 'vector' format unless otherwise requested. The vector format is the industry standard method of logo creation and it means that, unlike logos designed in 'raster' programs such as Adobe Photoshop, they are infinitely scaleable without any loss of quality. From vector format, your logo can then be exported to almost any file format you desire SPOT Colour - using spot colour only is generally cheaper and easier to reproduce accurately. Consistency across different media is more easily achievable PROCESS Colour - using gradients and/or shadows means that process colour will be needed to reproduce the design accurately and that may cost a little more home • info/contact • logos • other services • photography • testimonials • print orders• links All content copyright Eagle Imagery™ 1998-2007 unless otherwise stated