Arts

The Logo Geek Podcast

Want to know what it takes to design logos and brand identities? In the Logo Geek podcast, award winning logo design expert Ian Paget finds out by interviewing successful graphic designers and entrepreneurs around the world so you can learn from their experiences. Topics include logo design tips, getting clients, how much to charge, coming up with ideas, choosing fonts, portfolio mistakes, branding, online marketing and so much more!

Latest Episodes:

Networking to Get Clients & Referrals - An interview with Joana Galvao Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

At the age of 22 Joana Galvão made the decision to leave her junior design position to start her own agency, Gif Design Studios. Within the first 10 months she made over $100K, and was able to fulfil her dream to work with ambitious and revolutionary entrepreneurs, such as Lewis Howes, Danielle LaPorte, and Selena Soo.

But how did she do it? In this interview Ian uncovers Joanas story to learn how she was able to grew her design agency through traditional face to face networking, referrals and speaking, and how you can do the same.

Resources & Events Mentioned

Joana Galvão Business Insider interview: “I made $100K within 10 months of quitting my job, and these are my 3 big takeaways for lasting success”
Joana Galvão website
Joana on Facebook and Instagram
Gif Design Studios
B-School
YouPreneur Summit
Traffic & Conversion Summit
Logo Package Express (use promocode logogeek to get 20% off)

To view show notes, and a full transcription of the interview head here.

Building a Million Dollar Agency from Zero - An interview with Mash Bonigala Sep 01, 2019

Show notes

In 2012 when Google changed its algorithm, the company Logo Design Works went from having hundreds of enquiries a day, to almost zero. The founder Mash Bonigala hit rock bottom, and ultimately needed to let his team go. He made the decision to start again under the parent name of Spellbrand, which he built up to become a million dollar agency with offices in 5 countries around the world.

In this episode Ian Paget interviews Mash to learn how he built the business up from scratch, what the agencies sales funnels look like and how they use Facebook and Google Ads to pull in ongoing clients.

Resources Mentioned

Spellbrand Website
Spellbrand on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram
Bonigala.com
Mash on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Linkedin

For show notes, and episode transcription head here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/mash-bonigala/

Creating a Niche Business - An interview with Sara Dunn Aug 26, 2019

Show notes

How do you stand out from other designers, attract clients, and work on projects you enjoy? One solution is to build a business that specialises in one area, that targets a specific niche audience. In this interview, Ian speaks to Sara Dunn who’s done just that. She transitioned from a general web agency to building a niche business offering SEO services for Wedding planners.

In this interview we discover how she decided what niche to focus on, how she used content marketing to attract the right clients, and how she productised & systematised the business too.

Show notes can be found here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/creating-niche-business/

Showing the Value of Design - An interview with Aarron Walter Aug 18, 2019

Show notes

In order to be respected as a designer you need to be able to show the value of design. But how do you do that? In this weeks episode Ian Paget interviews Aarron Walter to find out. In this interview we learn how designers can gain the respect of business owners, how to measure the success of a project, Aarrons approach to UX design, and how you can use emotion to create incredible user experiences.

Aarron Walter is VP of Design Education at InVision, host of The Design Better Podcast, founder of the UX practice at MailChimp, and author of a number of publications including the book, Designing for Emotion.

Books & Resources Mentioned

Aarron Walters website.
Design Better by InVision.
The Design Better Podcast.
Designing for Emotion – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Universal Principles of Design – Amazon UK | Amazon US
The User Experience Team of One – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Just Enough Research – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Typographie Web – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Emotional Design – Amazon UK | Amazon US
The Design of Everyday Things – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Responsive Web Design
A Book Apart Collection
Enterprise Design Sprints – Free eBook
usertesting.com
To keep learning and improving, use SkillShare and the courses from The Futur.

For show notes and episode transcription head here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/aarron-walter/

A Brief History of Logo Design - An interview with Steven Heller Aug 11, 2019

Show notes

The Logo Design Idea Book is the latest inspirational book from Steven Heller, which shares the story behind 50 successful logos. In this episode Ian Paget interviews Steven to discuss the new book, which leads down a path to discover the origins of logo design.

Steven Heller is the author, co-author, and/or editor of over 100 books on design and popular culture. For 33 years of his career he was art director at the New York Times, and among many other successes, is a recipient of the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

Books & Resources Mentioned

The Logo Design Idea Book – Amazon UK | Amazon US
The Graphic Design Idea Book – Amazon UK | Amazon US
The Typography Idea Book – Amazon UK | Amazon US
The Illustration Idea Book – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Paul Rand (a Biography) – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Paul Rand Inspiration and Process in Design – Amazon UK | Amazon US
The Swastika: The Earliest Known Symbol – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Stencil Type – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Teaching Graphic Design History – Amazon UK | Amazon US
Unit Editions Standards Manuals – Manuals 1 | Manuals 2
The Butler Box – Everything you need to level up and run your creative agency. Use promo code LogoGeek to get 25% off.

For full show notes, and an interview transcription head here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/steven-heller/

Designing the Google Logo - An interview with Ruth Kedar Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

In 1999, when she was art professor at the Stanford Art Department, Ruth Kedar was approached by 2 students to design a logo for their startup business. Those students were Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, which has now become one of the worlds most profitable businesses, and the logo one of the most recognisable in the process.

In the weeks interview Ian Paget speaks with Ruth to discover how she designed the Google logo, what decisions were made, and the reason why the final solution was selected. We also dive into Ruths time at Stanford University and her fascination with playing cards too.

View the show notes, and a full transcription here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/ruth-kedar/

Thank you to the sponsor, FreshBooks

I’m incredibly thankful to FreshBooks for sponsoring season 4 of the Logo Geek Podcast! FreshBooks is an online accounting tool that makes it really easy to create and send invoices, track time and manage your money. You can try it out for yourself with a free 30 day trial.

Illustrator & Logo Designer Alexa Erkaeva Apr 14, 2019

Show notes

In this weeks podcast Ian interviews the super talented Alexa Erkaeva, who produces stylised logo designs and illustrations that gleam with character, which also come to life through effective use of animation.

In this interview we discuss how she first became a graphic designer despite not being able to attend university, what her logo design process looks like, how she animates her logo designs, how she gets clients, and how she’s able to connect meet other designers despite living in a part of the world where there are currently no design events.

Alexa is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Turkmenistan, in Central Asia.

Resources Mentioned

Logo Lounge interview with Alexa Erkaeva.
Alexa Erkaeva Portfolio Website.
Alexa Erkaeva On Behance | Dribbble | Instagram | Twitter.
Logo Design Love by David Airey.
Chris Spooner’s Texture Brushes.

Thank you to the sponsor, FreshBooks

Scaling & Marketing Your Business - An interview with Tom Ross Apr 08, 2019

Show notes

If you’re working as a freelancer or a one person company in order to scale your business you need to start hiring others to help and support your goals. But the thought of hiring someone can incredibly daunting. In this weeks interview Ian discusses this topic with Tom Ross, founder and CEO of Design Cuts and host of the popular podcast, The Honest Designers show.

In this interview we also discuss how to prevent burnout, and how to market your business too.

Show notes for this episode can be found here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/scaling-your-business/

Thank you to the sponsor, FreshBooks

Using the One Concept Approach - An interview with Melissa Yeager Mar 31, 2019

Show notes

How many logos should you present to clients?

Back in 2013 Sean McCabe created a viral piece of content called ‘the one logo concept‘ that sparked controversy, suggesting that professional designers should present only one logo, and if a designer cannot determine what the most effective solution is… they should not be taking on clients.

Despite this, many well established designers don’t agree, and still present options. However, after hearing of the approach Melissa Yeager took the advice board, created her own version of the process, and now presents only the one logo to clients with great success. In this podcast Ian interview Melissa to learn how she’s been able to do this, taking a deep dive into her process to discover how its worked for her.

Melissa is a brand strategist and holistic identity designer for creative small businesses, based in Pennsylvania.

Resources Mentioned

The One Concept Approach: How a Professional Designs A Logo (bySean McCabe)
www.melissayeager.com
Melissas Blog
Melissa on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Dribbble | Pinterest
Illustrator Essentials Training Course

Thank you to the sponsor, FreshBooks

Building a Strategy Led Design Agency - An interview with Sean Tambagahan Mar 24, 2019

Show notes

Design that’s based on aesthetics can be very subjective and open to the whims of personal preference, however when you focus on solving business challenges with design you get better results. That’s where Brand strategy comes into play.

In this episode Ian Paget interviews Sean Tambagahan, the founder and CEO of Butler Branding – a strategy led design agency to learn how he built his business, what a brand strategy session looks like, how he grew his team and more.

Show notes and a full transcription can be found here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/sean-tambagahan/

Thank you to the sponsor, FreshBooks

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