From time to time I get a client that wants awesome design, but doesn’t have the budget to pay for it. Dunlap Studios does a really great job of working around budget’s without dumbing down the quality of the design. I plan on doing a few posts on this subject, not only to show you how your money can stretch as a client but also to show designers a few tips on how to save time.

This specific project was a logo design for an indie start-up label, True Vision, in Washington. The funds were limited because the label was just getting started, but I was still able to create what True Vision was looking for.

First and foremost when designing on a budget, the brief and communication is key. There isn’t time for too much experimentation and there isn’t money for millions of changes. Mike, from True Vision, knew exactly what he was looking for and just needed me to implement it. Mike wanted a tree, but he needed the tree to be fairly specific. Here is Mike’s explanation from the brief…

“the base of the tree represents love for music and a eye to see truth and convey it through music not just your typical mainstream stuff and from the base branches out all these different paths people take (which represent different genres, hip hop, acoustic, rock etc)”

After I received more information I began working. There were several factors that were crucial to this design: (1) The tree’s wide base (2) Several branches, with smaller branches (3) The tree’s roots and, last and most important, (4) The budget. I began sketching ideas for a layout and once I had an idea on how I was going to do it I got to work.

I knew of many free or cheap resources to grab vector trees from, though I didn’t want the logo to be one stock image. I’m ok with using bits and pieces here and there, but only if it’s un-noticeable. I’d hate for people to associate the logo with a free resource rather than the company it represents. So, I started searching Compfight and here is what I found.

The plan was to find an image of a tree that I could easily vectorize, the problem was that I couldn’t find any that I liked. So, I made my own. I took the two images above and made sort of a Frankenstein tree.

Creating The Tree

I began by cutting out the first tree, the one I thought would work best for the base.

I then began adding in limbs from the second image.

Now, with just a quick adjustment of my levels, the Frankenstein tree looks like the real deal.

IT’S ALIVE!!!

Vectorizing The Tree

Next is a really cool trick that I use all of the time. My good friend, Stephen at Sonata Creative, showed me this years ago and I’ve been using it ever since. Here’s how to vectorize the tree without ever touching your pen tool… or live trace, an awesome trick for people that just have Photoshop.

First I had to select the tree, which is easiest if it’s all on one layer. I duplicated my layer set and then merged the duplicates on to one layer. I then selected the tree by cmd+clicking on the tree layer (control+click on a PC).

Once the ants start crawling I’m ready for the next step. Switch from your layer palette to you paths palette, then click on the tab in the right hand corner. Select “Make Work Path” from the drop down menu and now you’ve got a path.

The tree did require some tweaking, but it took a lot less time than using the pen tool. Once I had my path, I exported to Illustrator and said goodbye to Photoshop.

Adding The Roots

As I said above, vector resources can be a great way to save time and money on projects. I happened to know of an awesome tree from a vector pack made by YSR1. When using free vectors make sure to pay attention to the licensing, not only to protect yourself but also the client.

I brought YSR1’s tree into my document and positioned the roots to match the tree. I merged the layers together using pathfinder and added a few bits and pieces to make the root’s look a little different. Here is the tree with the added roots.

Adding Personality

I knew I wanted to do something unique with this tree but I didn’t know what. During the brief I had asked Mike about possibly doing some hand drawn elements or giving the tree kind of a wood grain feel. He liked the idea and told me to role with it.

As with any of my drawing projects, I like to actually draw them out on paper. I love my Wacom and I use it every day, but I find that I get better results with just pencil and paper. So, I printed out what I had of the tree and traced over it. Here’s what I came up with:

I then scanned in my drawing and traced the lines in Illustrator with the pen tool. Adding these little accents really transformed the piece into something much more appealing.

Adding Text

After I had the tree completed I tried different type variations. I proofed both and Mike approved right away. He couldn’t choose between the two, so I just sent him both files.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, especially with the amount of time spent. What do you guys think?