Another Wednesday, another day to talk about the life of the comic artist! This week’s article is part of the series on setting up your own convention business, and more specifically it’s about making your own Logo and getting business cards printed up.

For those who aren’t accustomed to graphic art, creating logos can seem a bit daunting. Creating a good logo is something that should take time; I recommend drawing up quick thumbnails of at least twenty different versions of your logo before you make a final decision. Logos need to be streamlined, easy to size up and down, and much like a name – memorable. You want to be sure that people will easily be able to associate your logo with your work. It’s all a part of the branding process.

Try getting inspiration from some of your favorite products. Many of the best logos are simple, like the Nike check. Even if the Nike name wasn’t paired with the check, most of us would be able to identify the brand instantly just by seeing that check. Many people think of coca cola just by seeing that special shade of red. Maybe your brand will never reach that level of recognition, or have that vast an audience, but these examples still carry the same basic principles that you want your logo with draw from.

The best way to make a logo is to create one using vectors. Illustrator is probably the best tool for that, but seeing as how not everyone can afford Illustrator, any program capable of creating vectors will do. Vectors are great because you can size up or down as much as you like without having to worry about pixelization. That means that you can take your logo and use it on everything form your business card to your table banner without having to redo your logo every time to adjust for size. And believe me, you’re going to want your logo on everything you do. The more visible your logo is, the more people will start relating your name, product, and logo to one another – and the better your marketing scheme will work in the long run.

Once you’ve created a logo, it’s easy enough to make a business card with your logo on it. Although, there are quite a lot of options for you when it comes to business cards. As an artist, having a card that shows off your work might be better than a plain card with just your name, information, and a logo. That said, there are double sided business card options that can give you a combination of both. There are also a wide variety of paper choices and finishes out there, and depending on who you do your printing through, you may even be able to get specially sized or cut cards. How neat would it be to have a business card the size of a collectible card? Maybe you could print up a different drawing for the back side of each card and your customers can collect them from you at every convention you go to. Maybe each card could even be a single panel from an ongoing story. The possibilities are endless, and with a little creativity you can even start a fanbase from something as simple as a business card.

The two printers that I have experience with in having business cards made are http://www.vistaprint.com/ and http://www.overnightprints.com Both of these companies provide quick turnaround, and are very easy to use. They even provide you with templates to create your cards from so that your printing experience runs smoothly. If you just follow the template, your business cards should turn out defect-free. Though ou may still want someone to look at it for you before you get it printed – you never know when a typo night sneak up on you.

There may even be promotional offers going on with the printers at certain times of the year that you can take advantage of. What could be better than getting your first set of business cards for free? Usually these offers are only for 30-50 cards, but that’s still a good start. You’re already going to be spending a good chunk of change just getting your table set up, so finding ways like this to cut corners will really help keep your budget in check.

These companies also offer a variety of other custom promotional products like postcards or pens, but that will be something we discuss later in the series. : D So, before you order your printed goods, make sure that you’ve already got a good list of everything you need to have made. It’ll save you money if you order in bulk, and it’ll cost you less to ship too.

Well, that’s all for this week’s Workshop Wednesday. Check back again next Wednesday for another installment of The Set Up – Logo and Business Card!