PD International logo

One of my first commissions was from a company called 'PD International' that produced environmental products. They were based in Northern Ireland but their products received a lot of interest from the American business community. When they started looking for investment over there they commissioned me to produce a video for them. Whilst thinking about the video I realised that it may be a good idea to produce something that Americans would recognise. So instead of a tired old advert, I produced an infomercial on the product and the company. This was then sent to prospective investors in America. It was successful in raising the company profile and gaining interest in investing, so on the strength of that they asked me to create some company logos and brand designs.

I create an assortment of images for them to choose from. This was back when I was just starting out and before I knew to concentrate on one main idea or theme. Above is one of the ideas that were not chosen. Regular pc users will maybe recognise the background image as one of the standard template images you used to get on your computer. I took this image, coloured it and laid their logo over it in a nice crisp, clean font.

All the time I'm sticking with the idea of blue being a recognisably environmental colour. And Gold being the symbol colour for success. Capital letters for the font also to give the same idea. As I said, this wasn't the image that they chose to go with. I think the one they chose was a close up of a drop of water causing a ripple on the surface of a river. Again with the whole water, blue imagery.

It's always important to know what your client is advertising or selling or the impression they are trying to make. If you can find out about their product or company then you will get a good idea of the design approach you should take. You definitely don't want to walk into a meeting with a group of businessmen who are expecting clever corporate designs and you have cartoons in your portfolio. The opposite is also embarrassing so do your homework in advance. Some of us have made these mistakes, so that the rest of you don't have to. Think on!!!