The Metal Magician contacted me because he had been looking for someone to help him design a new logo. He found my information through his wife, who works for an area mailing business. Apparently, I was listed in a directory for the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce.  I was very happy he contacted me! One of my biggest challenges is connecting with my potential client base, so I am always interested to know how people find my contact information. I try to have a big web presence, but my clients don’t always seem to be surfing the web in search of designers.

Metal Magician has been in business for 3-4 years. He had been getting by with no logo, doing a lot of word of mouth work for larger companies in metal fabrication, and he’s been very successful. I think he has a lot of foresight in deciding he needed to be more proactive in giving his business a professional image. He has also branched out into doing custom metal work and making tables & interesting creative things.

The Metal Magician & I met at the Mandolin Cafe to discuss the scope of his project. We discussed his target market, his client base, his growth strategies and plans for the future of his business. We also discussed how he wants his business to appear to other people, the image he wants to portray. I like to do an intensive investigation into what makes a business owner & his or her business unique. The more information I am able to gather, the better the visual image will be for the client.

After our initial meeting, I sent him my estimate for a logo. Currently, I charge a flat rate of $750, with a 50% deposit to start. That includes 3 initial design options, 2 rounds of revisions and one final logo (available in a variety of digital formats). I also will include a color and a black & white version and a hard copy. In this case, the Metal Magician didn’t want a color version, but wanted a design he could adapt to get embroidered hats made, so he could give them out as promotional items. I helped him figure out hat pricing and what sort of file the embroidery people needed to achieve a successful hat design. I communicated with some embroidery companies on his behalf, then provided him with the files he needed to supply to them.

We came up with a great design that will serve his business well for years to come.

In doing some research on metal working tools, I came across some very interesting saw blades that I used as the inspiration for this logo image. The Metal Magician logo was illustrated & designed in Illustrator 4.