One of the toughest issues that legitimate designers face these days is on the subject of pricing. An increasingly popular reason for this is due to the huge difference in pricing prospective clients hear when shopping around for a particular design project. If you’re unfamiliar with the process behind good, legitimate design, it probably seems a little confusing. For example, you might be shopping around for a logo for your new company. You decide to look for a graphic designer online and request a quote from a couple of designers who’s portfolio you like. But then, while searching for those designers, you see an ad for a website that offers logos for only $199. When you compare that amount to the proposals you get from the professional designers, you see a world of difference. The same is often true for the pricing you might get from certain “freelance designers”. Why is that? Why is there such a huge difference in price?

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Do you remember going to TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt) when you were a kid? It was one of those places your parents took you to after a recital or a movie. The fact that it was yogurt and not ice cream meant less calories for the adults. And the range of flavors and toppings made it great for us kids. For some reason I thought they had closed down or maybe there just arent any TCBY’s in Little Havana (my hood for the past couple of years). Whatever the case may be, they are in fact here and going strong. So strong in fact, that they blew my mind with their new branding. It’s wonderful. Fresh, young innovative and fun.

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We were recently emailed these great images of shopping bags. Totally awesome and a great way to take your brand to the next level. Check them out!

I had the pleasure of visiting Spain a few years back. An amazing country. Two things 1. I never made it to Barcelona and 2. DHUB wasn’t around yet (or I would have hauled my butt over there!) What is DHUB you ask? Disseny Hub Barcelona better known as DHUB—the newest “space” in the city. I can’t say its a “museum” and its not necessarily an “institution”, rather “a new centre for promoting knowledge, understanding and proper use of the design world. A space billed to go beyond the scope of a museum or institution which aims to advance all facets of this discipline. It is all of this and much more.” Sooo, basically it’s a hub for all things design.

image via: imprint

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The Democratic party has revamped their entire brand. We’re not quite sure how we feel about it. There’s been a lot of snickering on various blogs and television shows including this little snippet from Bill Maher. We’re big fans of simple and streamlined, but is it too simple, even boring perhaps? We think it was a great idea to re-brand, and the concept behind their utilitarian website is a great way to reach the crowds and move them into the 21st century—but the logo is lacking the power that it needs. Hari Sevugan, the DNC National Press Secretary, declined to say how much the redesign cost or what design firm worked with the DNC on the brand overhaul. “We haven’t been sharing that at this point,” he said, adding that “it wasn’t done completely in-house. The process was collaborative,” and that the redesign “had been in the works for a while.” Which, is probably a good thing seeing as their work is not very popular right now. You can read a full article on the re-brand here.