Help! Noob trying to design a complex vector logo

[Saajid]

Hey guys.

I'm pretty new at trying to design complex vector based logos, and need your guys help, suggestions, advice.

I am sponsoring a logo for a client - for a new South African help-you-out community website, it needs to be in a vector based format. I have decided to use Adobe Illustrator to design the logo - I have some experience with it, and know how to use most of the tools.

Here is what the client wants:

They want a van / mini-bus taxi, similar to this one, with the name of the website on the taxi.

Standing next to the van, they want a Handyman-type figure. He must be an old(ish) black male, and have skin color between light and dark brown. He must have a white beard and also be wearing a cap. He must be wearing blue dungarees, a toolbelt around his waist, and he must be wearing gumboots.

He must be almost Mandela-like in looks - an old, respected, black South African, community man, with a white beard, smile on his face. He must have his tools at hand (toolbelt) and wearing gum boots, ready to help.

The overall logo needs to have a very South African theme, hence the Mini-bus taxi, gum boots, respected Mandela-type black man.

Here are some pictures the client has sent me, to help get their point through.
- Old Black Respected man
- Madiba
- Handyman with Toolbelt
- Man with Gum Boots
- More Gumboots

Now I am a bit stumped on how to proceed with this. I thought maybe I could get various vector images online, and bring them all together in Adobe Illustrator, and make the changes where necessary. I couldn't find any really useful vectors, not even on the stock/paid-for sites (maybe my searching skills suck?). I can't do this from scratch either (drawing, tracing, etc) as my skills in this area suck.

Any ideas, suggestions?? Any constructive input will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[FarligOpptreden]

The best option really would be to draw / trace this in an illustration program. You could try InkScape as well - it's a VERY powerful, open source vector drawing program. I've used it before and achieved stunning results within minutes. There are some good tutorials available online. Just keep at it and you'll be fine...

Just a note - I don't think this is the best forum to post this topic in though. Most developers / programmers aren't your strongest artists / illustrators.

 

[Nod]

There are some vector images here: http://www.openclipart.org/
Might come in handy, if not with this project, maybe something in the future.

 

[bwana]

Lay it out in photoshop then upload it to http://vectormagic.com/home and let them convert it to a vector image.

 

[DarkStreet]

Try http://www.vectorstock.com/

 

[Murdoc]

google- illustrator pen tool tutorial and learn how to use the pen tool (no small feat) and retrace the van manually. You would be able to add your own creative design if you managed this. Also if you get the idea of the pen tool- you would have learnt the single most important tool in Illustrator and Photoshop.

Otherwise you can try Live trace the van
Im assuming you know how to do this and expand it to make it editable

As for the man, well i cant help but feel you gona really struggle- try google south african cartoon and use the lines as reference, look for any cartoon in the pose you need
. The best thing would be is to draw in pencil over and over until you have something - scan - then trace with the pen tool and then colour - easy

The van is the easy part but the figure and achieving the south african feel would take me some time
which i have run out of but let me know how its going and i can help
Its too bad you are sponsoring this as I would charge alot as it can be very time consuming to illustate graphics with a certain style, feel

 

[saburation]

Hi. As the other have pretty much given the best advice here. The only two other option I would suggest is a freelance website. I know you are sponsoring this but if you really get stuck try hiring people to do it for you on sites like Odesk or Guru etc. I'd recommend Odesk, people do work on there for really cheap. Alternatively get somone you know who can draw the logo you want. Then scan it in and trace it in Illustrator and do the effects etc in Illustrator.

 

[midrange]

The best option really would be to draw / trace this in an illustration program.

The live trace tool in Illustrator does a pretty good job converting bitmaps to vectors.

 

[Synaesthesia]

Vector Magic is an online tool which traces bitmaps, it produces excellent results, some of the best
http://vectormagic.com/

 

[Saajid]

Thanks guys... some really excellent advice!

When I finish (if I do, hopefully), I will post the results here...

 

[murraybiscuit]

live trace, but you'll probably need to do some contrast correction or threshold conversion in ps first.
to be honest though, i think you need to take charge with this client a bit more.

here's what i'd say to him:

1. what logos stick out for you and why?
2. why do you think standard bank, ford, apple... in fact any logo of a well known product sticks out in your mind?
3. name three well known brands where you can tell by the logo what the company does.
4. name a banking logo which contains a picture of money or a car logo which contains a picture of a car.
5. how will a complicated logo look on a business card, fax, letterhead, web banner etc when it's small?
6. exactly how many colours do you intend using this to print it if you're doing a litho job?

the problem here is that the client is trying to tell a story with the logo.
a logo is merely for brand recognition. you have to keep it as simple as possible.
the logoTYPE is the most important part.
only once you have an established brand can you prioritise a logoGRAM.

most inexperienced clients make the mistake of making the logo the artwork.
they also feel that the logo needs to communicate everything about the company in a single image.
they also feel that the logo is some kind of expression of who they are and that consumers are more interested in their corporate anecdotes than their product.
clients forget that there are going to be other elements on the page and that in order for those elements to be seen, they have to shout louder than the logo.
it all becomes a cacophony of communication.

what the client is really trying to express is the mood, tone and content of the graphics that they want with their communications.
this is valuable, as it gives you some ideas of graphics that you can use to complement the logo.
but it shouldn't be part of the logo.

in the words of a famous designer:
'your design is complete not when there is nothing more to add, rather when there is nothing more to be taken away'.

as always, you don't want to dampen a fresh client's enthusiasm, but you do want to steer them a bit in order to save yourself some pain.
the most difficult thing with a client is getting the picture that they have in their head into your head and therefore into the consumer's head.
this can be an extremely frustrating process, as inexperienced clients lack the visual vocabulary to describe what they want.
and inexperienced designers lack the ability to extract the right information.
be clear that you're willing to do 2 sets of changes up front. otherwise you're going to be going backwards and forwards.
the less colours the better - especially when you have to start thinking about matching across pantone, cmyk and rgb gamuts.

 

[czc]

It sounds too complex for a logo. Try simplify it down.

http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-design/logos.php