A picture definitely paints a thousand words (as we previously ellaborated here). It also helps you drive your point across. You can put emphasis on what you want to say to your audience with pictures/images. It’s the same with logos. A logo helps a company promote public recognition. Nowadays, it has become synonymous to being a company’s brand or trademark that everyone can easily identify to. This is the reason why I take a lot of photos, be it conceptual, landscape, architecture, and what else I can use for the blogs I manage. I sometimes design logos too, the basic ones, when need be. So what are the ins and outs of using images and logos on a website or for your business? Find out below.
On Logos
You can hire a graphic artist to design you a logo of your preference. With all the effective ways to communicate online, it is easier to relay to a designer the needs and wants of a client. But, logo-designing/making isn’t a cheap service, it can cost you 200$ to the thousands depending on the services incurred (others lower, you just need to really look around). Designers use different ways to determine their prices, thus, there’s no fix amount to how a logo would cost. Yes, unlike images, logos doesn’t come free as much. I say as much because, there are websites like Logojoy, that let you design a logo where you don’t have to pay, at least for the ones that you won’t use. (Click here as my referral.)
our logo 🙂
Logo maker tools such as Logojoy are a big help for those who want their brand to be a bit more personalized. Their Expert Roundup archives feature a lot of information and advice on how to effectively handle a business, online and otherwise. In a nutshell, users not only get to choose from a wide range of colours, fonts, among other design elements, they get to learn the process, thereby educating yourself about the ins and outs of making a logo and what it entails. You get an understanding of the creative process involved and a sense of justification why logos cost much.
It may take time for you to make a logo that you truly believe will represent your company, but at least you get to choose a design from utilising something that wouldn’t cost as much when a professional does it for you. In any case, if you aren’t still satisfied, you will have a lot of ideas from the ones you design before deciding to pitch it to an experienced graphic designer to create a clever logo for you.
On Images
For bloggers, pictures are essential in making content more interesting and, in a way, more thought provoking. It’s not all the time, however, that you have the luxury to take the perfect photos for your blogs. In these instances, it’s perfectly fine to make use of photographs taken by other photographers – not without proper clearance and permission, of course. The go-to graphics source for most people is the various online libraries of stock photos.
Free stock photos make blogging easier since you don’t have to wait until you have the time to take pictures of the images you have in mind. You can even go the other way around and pick a particularly interesting photo that is relevant to your blog niche and then write a piece that relates to it. You can choose high-quality photographs without you having to spend a dime for any equipment or production expenses or the photo itself. You also get to take advantage of someone else’s skill and graphic artistry instead of you having to learn the craft yourself. There are times when it simply gets frustrating not to be able to come up with the photos exactly as you want them to appear in your blog. There are some professional and amateur photographers who are all too willing to share their works with you.
There are, of course, certain written and unwritten rules you have to follow when using stock photography. For starters, you cannot use anything unless it is specifically marked as free. These free stock photos are made available with the express permission of the photographers who took them or whoever it is that owns the photos. In some cases, such as those of individual photographers who maintain their own library of works, the photographer or artist requires you to include credits to his work or a link to his library when you use his photos in your blog. Proper attribution is always a good practice whenever you are using someone else’s work.
The right images and logos can add value to your blog and business. But you have to choose your sources and use them responsibly. Do not go around grabbing photos you fancy in just any online site or photo sharing network. If you do not want to have to get in touch with the photographers and ask for permission to use their works, your best source of photos for your blogs are free stock photo libraries. If they are marked free, you can go right ahead and download it and publish it on your site.
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