November 2022 - PHd design

What are Colour Models?

Industry News 30th November 2022

creative graphic designers working

When discussing a new piece of work with a client, we’re often given a vague direction of colour for the project. Something along the lines of; ‘Can we make it red and black?’. Now this is always a helpful start, but selecting a colour is not quite so simple…

Each colour has a significant number of shades to choose from. Let’s look at red as an example, there are currently over 130 standardised shades.

So as you might expect, the first step is to drill down to a more specific shade. Let’s go with a medium dark shade of pink-red, or as we like to call it ‘PHd Design red’…. But it can be difficult for even those collaborators who are very comfortable with the colour spectrum, such as printers to understand exactly which shade we mean when we say a medium dark shade of pink-red. This is where colour models come into play.

 

What is a Colour Model?

In it’s simplest form, a colour model is a system used to describe a colour, so that it is consistent across all devices and materials. This standardisation of colour, means that you can be confident that everyone involved is working to the exact same shades of colour required for your project.

Believe it or not, there is more than one standardisation model. The 3 most commonly used colour models are: CMYK, RGB and Pantone. On the surface, it may seem counterintuitive to have multiple systems for standardisation. But each model has its own individual strengths and weaknesses.

So let’s look deeper into the most popular models…

 

CMYK

CMYK is an abbreviation of the main colour components, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key. To make this a bit simpler, the colours can be thought of as; blue, red, yellow and black. However, this method is sometimes referred to as ‘four colour’.

Now that we have the basics, let’s move on to ‘halftone’. CMYK printing uses halftone, where tiny dots of each colour component is printed in a pattern that we perceive as a solid block of colour. This makes CMYK a subtractive colour model, which means that when the colours overlap, the light wavelengths are absorbed, so we see the remaining wavelengths that weren’t absorbed. It often helps to think of it being similar to mixing paint to get the right shade. But in design work, instead of mixing paint by hand we use digital tools to assign a value to each of the four colour components to select the desired shade with precision. Interestingly though, if you get close enough (depending on the project you might need a magnifying glass), the image will appear pixelated, as you perceive the individual dots.

However, colour consistency can be an issue with CMYK printing, as the CMYK value may look different depending on variables in production.

Yep, we know it’s complicated…

 

RGB

Next on our list we have RGB, which stands for Red, Green, and Blue.

RGB is used for electronic and digital colouring, so you will likely have seen it in use on digital cameras, TV, and HTML.

Unlike CMYK, RGB is an additive colour model, which means that instead of layering colour to block light, it instead adds the light wavelengths together in order to produce new colours.

The main drawback of RGB is that it is a device-dependent colour. For instance, if you adjusted the presets on your TV for a ‘warmer’ picture, or adjusted the brightness and contrast on your computer monitor, then those specific colours you had so carefully selected, would look a little different depending on which device you viewed it through.

 

Pantone

The Pantone Matching System, commonly referred to as ‘Pantone’ has become the standard in colour matching and standardisation.

This system starts with a CMYK code, and then converts this into a ‘spot colour’. This spot colour then prints as a solid colour, rather than the CMYK halftone dot colours. But the Pantone system has a wider range of colours than the CMYK system and can even produce metallic and fluorescent colours.

But, as you might have guessed, this method is still open to ‘misinterpretation’, as colours can look different on different devices, and different again when compared with the final print. This concern was resolved by Pantone as they produced a range of physical swatches in both coated and uncoated formats. This allows designers and clients to not only see the actual colour, but to see how the printed colour would look depending on whether coated or uncoated paper was used for the final print.

When it comes to printing, it’s well known that Pantone will always produce consistent and sharp colours, but there is a downside… Each colour requires its own ink and screen, so can become quite expensive depending on the project.

 

So, Which Colour Mode is Best?

Most designers prefer to work in Pantone and will then find the closest match in another mode should the project be better suited to that mode.

But generally speaking, CMYK is best for printing at home, where budget is a concern and collateral prints. RGB is best for digital projects. And Pantone is best for colour accuracy, textile or product manufacturing and screen printing.

If you need support on a design or print project, we might be the perfect graphic design agency to help. Get in touch with our team today, by emailing info@phddesign.co.uk or call 01543 473 191.

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PHd Design Wins Silver at NY Product Design Awards

Studio News 11th November 2022

PHd design NY product design award

We’re delighted to announce that PHd Design has won silver in the NY Product Design Awards. Our recent rebranding of Titanic Brewery was well received by the judging panel and was awarded Silver for Branding of a Beverage.

 

About the NY Product Design Awards

The NY Product Design Awards are not your average design awards. They pride themselves on promoting designers whose works bring more positivity into the world and have made a name for themselves as one of the leading design awards internationally.

For its 2022 competitive year, the NY Product Design Awards received over 800 applications from 24 countries.

 

The Evaluation Process

The panel of judges was made up of industry veterans totalling 24 jurors from 16 countries. And to further guarantee impartial judgements by the panel, all entries were blind judged. This meant that the jury could only assess each entry on its own merits, against set criteria within the industry standards.

 

Silver Award

With a number of high-profile and well-distinguished design studio’s entering the competition, and submitting design works for the likes of Diageo, Unilever and Volvo, we entered the competition knowing that we were the underdog, unlikely to win. Yet in the face of these strong competitors, PHd Design emerged victorious and stood tall alongside the other giants.

So we’re now not only recognised as one of the Top 100 creative agencies in the whole of the UK, but we’re also making a name for ourselves worldwide!

Here are our MD, Peter Howard’s thoughts on the win;

Needless to say, we’re ecstatic to be bringing home the silver award, but more than that, we’re delighted that our small team of creative miscreants have been able to hold their own on an international stage and against agencies much bigger than ours.”

 

If you’d like to learn more about PHd Design, our award-winning designs, or to discuss your business needs, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.

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How Long Does it Take to Design a Logo?

Industry News 1st November 2022

Graphic designer development process

Have you ever thought about how long it would take to design a logo? Well, this all depends on lots of different factors. As you might already know, your logo is hugely important. Your logo is the core representation of your brand and should communicate its quality and values. This logo will be ingrained on signage, stationary, website and more…. Something this critical should not be rushed or be done cheaply at a cost to quality.

Design can look easy from the outside, however, most people probably know that designing logos isn’t as simple as it seems. There is a lot of work involved which often requires a lot of time.

 

Realistically, How Long Should it Take to Design a Logo?

There are a lot of different factors that contribute to the amount of time a logo takes to create. It is possible to create a logo in anywhere between a few minutes and a few weeks. So, let’s explore the types of logos and how long it takes to create them in more detail.

 

The Logo Which Takes a Few Minutes to Create

There are of course lots of options for ‘cheap’ logos online. Sites like Fiverr and online logo generators promise quality designs quickly and at an affordable price. Now if you’re business is a ‘side hustle’ and you have a very limited budget this may seem like the right option for you – but think carefully…

A logo that is drawn on the back of a cigarette packet or generated by a program won’t have the desired effect on your potential customers.

‘You get what you pay for’ has become a bit of an overused cliché – but the sentiment holds true. In virtually every area of business, you pay more for a higher-quality product. If a logo only takes a few minutes to create, there will be serious quality issues. Chances are that you will not notice these issues, but your customers will!

If a designer hasn’t spent a good amount of time analysing your business, your industry and your goals – how can they possibly create a logo that is an accurate representation of your brand? It’s also worth remembering that logos like this are often very generic and are frequently used by designers for multiple clients. In simple terms, your logo will fail straight out of the gate at its primary task of making your business stand out.

 

The Logo Which Takes a Couple of Hours to Create

Although this is a better option than a logo which takes a few minutes, a couple of hours is just not enough time to create an effective logo. If you are working with a professional design agency, they will need time to thoroughly understand and analyse your business, before they can then plan and conceptualise your logo. This process alone takes more than a couple of hours, so a professional would need more time to complete the logo design process.

 

The Logo Which Takes a Few Days to Create

For most small to medium-sized businesses, a bespoke logo within a few days is achievable, but not ideal. The longer a designer can spend analysing your brand, the industry and your goals, the more effectively they will be able to design the perfect logo for your business. Likewise, the more time they can afford to spend on the design process itself, the higher quality your end design will be, and the more successful it will be.

Now you may be making this decision based solely on price, but don’t forget to take into account that the average lifespan of a logo is 10 years, at which point it will likely need a refresh. So it’s always worth investing more where you can, for the long-term success of the project and ultimately your business.

 

The Logo Which Takes 2-4 Weeks to Create

Realistically, the full design process for a professional logo should from start to finish should take between 2-4 weeks. When working with a professional design agency, the full creative process starts as soon as the first meeting/ phone call has taken place. Every company, service and product is different, so the agency has to gather as much information as they can to ensure that they understand your business, your industry, your goals and your requirements and more. Likewise, no two design solutions are the same – reputable design agencies don’t use templates or copy other designs. Everything should be bespoke and tailored to achieve your goals.Each design agency will have it’s own individual ways of working, but as an example of how the design process works, here is an outline of the key stages here at PHd Design;

We research your brand and brainstorm ideas before sketching and putting together some design concepts to help provide you with the perfect logo.

By using a traditional pen and paper we can let our imagination go. These concepts will be rough and possibly just outlines. This process allows us to quickly explore ideas for the design.

The pen is mightier than the mac. Our solutions are sketched and refined with your input first. This unleashes possibilities and gets to solutions quicker. Only then do we diligently and accurately design everything to beautiful on-screen visuals.

The next step is to provide you with multiple concepts we have sketched to discover which styles you prefer and to make any amendments you may request.

Finally, we provide you with the finished product files.

Who are PHd Design?

We are an award-winning little company that has been merrily doing this since 1992, and our thousands of clients love it, they’ve grown with us and stuck with us. Ranked in the top 100 of all creative agencies in the whole of the UK, we’re proud of our reputation of delighting our clients. We are located in a lovely barn in the heart of the Staffordshire countryside, near to historic Lichfield and on the doorstep of Birmingham.

Why not take some time to look around our website and plan how best to use our phenomenal services to make your business dreams come true? You can see more of our logo design projects on the ‘our work’ pages, or find out more about our services by contacting us today.

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