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HOW TO O UTSOURCE LOGO DESIGN

 A solid logo leads to a solid brand 

© Zirtual.com  photo credi t

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HOW TO O UTSOURCE LOGO DESIGN

 A step by step guid e  

Overview I’ve always been a firm believer that a solid logo can lead a company. Just think of all the

 greats from Apple to Mercedes, their logo & brand are inextricably linked and because of 

this they dominate the market. So whether you want a solid logo for a small website or for

 your billion dollar baby, communicating eff ectively by using the simple steps outlined in this

 guide will help your virtual worker create a thing of beauty that you’re proud of and that

does your brand justice.

 a $ images are copyrighted and only used as examples

Step 1: Pick Your Colors To get started it’s important that you decide on the colors for your logo design project. You

can base the color scheme of the logo off your website, your company’s color scheme or al-

low the designer to use their better judgement - I like to air on the side of safety and pick a color palette from ColourLovers.com.

ColourLovers allows you to browse palettes created by others ( usually designers who know 

their stuff) or to create your own palette, so it’s a great resource for any design project.

Example: 

Go to www.ColourLovers.com and create an account  – it takes only a few minutes – then

start browsing through their palettes by clicking ‘Search Palettes’.

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 Type in keywords or colors you are fond of and check out all the diff erent palettes created

by others  – or browse through the most popular and most loved categories. If you don’t find

something you like you can always create your own palette by going here.

When you’re done just name your palette ( I usually name it after my brand name so in the

future others know XYZ company uses these colors ) and then send it on to your virtual

 worker so they can base your logo design off of your color preferences.

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Step 2: Figuring out Your Design PreferencesSome people are more ‘control freaky’ than others ( myself included ) when it comes to de-

sign. For those of us who want everything ‘just right’ it’s important that before the design

 gets underway we present the outsourced designer with an array of logos we like, so they can

understand our design preferences.

Even if you aren’t OCD in this regard it won’t hurt your project to give your designer some

pointers on what you like by referencing other styles. Though if you want to leave it com-

pletely up to their creative prowess I suggest you ask for 3-5 sample designs and then you

can pick and choose your favorites and go from there.

1. To find out your logo design preferences it’s great to browse through Dribbble or Brand

Stack’s logo gallery. They have plenty of unique designs posted and you can copy & pastethe URL’s of the ones you prefer the most into an email and send it to your virtual de-

signer. Remember any logo can be changed to your liking, this is just an exercise in get-

ting a few examples of what you like ( think font, size, shape ) so your outsourced worker

can understand where you’re coming from. And who knows, maybe you’ll find a logo you

just love on one of the above sites and be able to skip this exercise all together!

Step 3: Assigning the ProjectOnce you have the framework of your web design project down it’s time to assign the work,

sit back and wait for the results! To make sure you’ve assigned the project correctly, just fol-

low the simple steps below & you’ll be sitting pretty my friend.

1. Create accountability. It’s important to set up a system, no matter how basic, that

creates accountability for your virtual team. This means that you’ve expressed your ex -

pectations & your virtual worker does their best to meet them. I use a combination of 

BasecampHQ, Google docs and simple emails to assign projects to my virtual workers &

make sure they are followed through on.

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2. Ask for mock ups. When your virtual worker starts to design your logo project ask

them to send you 3-5 mock ups so you can choose which you like best and see how adapt

their design skill is. Be sure to give your designer constructive criticism on the mock up

if needed and help them better it by being as specific as possible.

3. Open the lines of communication . Be sure to make it very clear to your virtual worker that you are there if they need anything or have any questions, no matter how 

simple. Even though there is a 95% chance they won’t need to bother you, it’s good to

open the lines of communications just in case.

4. Set due dates. Ask your virtual worker when they think they’ll be done and then set

the ‘due date’, things may come up where it needs to be pushed back but giving your

 workers deadlines will help them focus and be more productive.

5. Dealing with issues. If you get the first batch of mock ups back and you hate them,

don’t stress, just focus in on what you don’t like about them and what you do like and

 write them a step by step message on how they can make it better. Never say “I don’t like

this, change it” without any solid instructions - this will end in futility for both parties

and will frustrate you & the designer. The most important part of working with a virtual

 worker is to be specific, to be positive and to communicate your needs concisely.

6. The finished product. When the designer delivers the finished product it’s time to

thank them, congratulate them on their strong points & to pay. Also keep the info for

the virtual workers who did good jobs for you, you may use them in the future - and in

the situations where your virtual worker went above and beyond for you, consider adding 

a bonus to thank them for their superior work.

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LAST, BUT NOT LEAS T.. . If you need more help, feel  % ee to let us know! 

 The world of outsourcing & virtual workers can be confusing at first, but as you go along it’ll get easier and easier. Soon you’ll be in the position I am, which is not knowing how in the

 world you ever ran a business without outsourcing! It’ll become your secret weapons and the

 virtual workers you hire become your trusted team.

I’m Maren Kate and I’m one of the founders of Zirtual.com & the humble writer of these

tutorials... if you have questions, comments or just want to say hi please feel free to do so

through any of these channels:

E M A I L M E A T :   M A R E N @ Z I R T U A L . C O M

 T W E E T M E A T :    T W I T T E R . C O M / M A R E N K A T E

H O P O V E R T O Z I R T U A L . C O M   & C L I C K T H E “A S K U S ”   T A B

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