Can I use my logo as my blog/web header?

I get asked this a lot, and I mean A LOT so don't worry if you are one of the people who has ever wondered this. Basically the answer is pretty much no... but I feel mean just saying NO and I do sometimes feel like people may think that I am just trying to get extra money out of them because they may not completely understand what the difference is between a logo and a banner or header.

A logo is essentially an image that is used to identify your business. It consists of a combination of colours, graphic elements and font and with it you are creating an image that your customers can get to know, trust and recognise immediately.

It doesn't have to illustrate or represent every aspect of your business, for example people who make cupcakes, jewellery, sock monkeys and frying pans ( I'm exaggerating slightly but you get my drift) don't have to have an image of everything they do on their logo. It just needs to give your customer the right impression of your business and be about what YOU do, not be a representation of what is in fashion this year or look like a competitor's design. Don't forget, if you do well then you will still be hopefully using the same design in 10 years time so you don't want it to age too much. Where logos are concerned the simpler the better and a good catchy tag line will do wonders for encapsulating the feel of your business.

So now you have your logo... its attractive, its eye catching and best of all its yours!

So what is a web header and why can't I just use my logo instead?

A web header is what goes across the top of your website, is long and thin in size and shape and usually consists of your logo, a tag line, possibly your contact details or even media icons like facebook, twitter etc. Here is where you can start to add a little bit more design to your site. Expand on the logo design to create a web banner that is exciting and eye catching. If you make bunting, then add some. If you make cakes, add some of them. If you make hand made hanging hearts whack some of those on there! A web banner can be used to set the overall feel of your website.

You can't use a logo design for this because unless your logo is long and pretty thin you are pretty much trying to shove a square peg into a round hole, your logo will end up either squashed and distorted or the top and bottom will be cut off and you will end up with just a bit of the middle.

Ok, fine I hear you say, I understand what's what now, so why can't you just design me a web header without me having to shell out for a logo design as well?!

Well as I said, a blog or web banner usually consists of your logo or business names and other bits along side it. If I designed a web header for someone for £30 I am essentially giving them a logo design for 1/3 of the price of what I usually charge. My prices are based on not only the time it takes to create the logo designs which are all drawn from scratch and don't contain any stock images, but also the time I take getting to know what each of my customers wants and needs from their design,and then time researching and sketching so that I can give them the best designs I can. I don't think it would be fair to charge some people £90 for a service and then let others have it for £30... plus, I can't really feed my forever hungry boys on that I'm afraid :)

I hope that has cleared things up a little bit and hasn't got too heavy or sounded like I was being nasty or trying to make anyone feel silly. This is what I do so I should know what I am talking about but when it comes to icing a cake or knitting a hat I wouldn't know where to start and I'd leave that to you lot... the experts at what you do. Thanks for reading, comments greatly appreciated.

Claire x

It's June....

So I AM doing a photo a day for June, its going to be a pretty big month for me so I think I'd like to record it.

Day one: Morning!

I had big plans for my first day, I was going to take him down the beach once we had dropped the bigger one off for school and get a gorgeous photo of the Solent while the morning mist was still around... but this little monkey had other ideas! Falling asleep at 6 pm as soon as you come in from nursery = getting up at 6 am with a whole lot of bounch in your step. Poor old Rex the Rabbit!

Claire xx

I've got the skills to pay the bills... I hope!

So after years of dreaming about it I have finally done it! As of the 15th of June I will officially be a freelance designer and Illustrator. I can't wait! I am also a little (read alot of a little) nervous! EEEK! I keep swinging from excitement to sheer terror! What if, after a year of pretty steady growth my little baby business suddenly bombs and I have to go back to working for someone else with my tail between my legs?! I just have to keep telling myself that I can do it, in the words of the Beastie Boys ' I've got the skills to pay the bills!'. So may exciting things are whizzing round in my head, big plans to take my business from little part time venture to something that can actually support me and my family. I'm so proud that I have managed to get this far with it, if I can manage with with two kids and a part time job having every day to create means that the sky is the limit! I've just opened for new orders after a little bit of time off to recharge my battery and live life a bit, find me inspiration again and feel really creative for the first time in a while. I think the time off is exactly what I needed to make me realise that going full time is the best thing for our little family. It means I can plan my days around my boys and the husband so that family time can really be family time. Oscar is going to nursery two days a week and Jack has his clubs on those days after school so that is 16 whole hours of child free time a week to really crack on with the important work stuff so that when they come home we can do the important family fun stuff. Jack is such a creative little monkey and I want to be able to encourage that as much as I can and give Oscar the opportunity to find out what he loves as he grows. Being the second one he is coming on so quickly already to keep up with his big brother, he loves reading ( obviously use that term loosely lol) books, harrssing the rabbit and sticking his fingers in the dogs bowl. Sounds like a perfect little gentleman already! I am going to have to plan my week down to the last second I think, because I do have a tendancy to get a little distracted... a few hours a week for admin, a set time of day for responding to email and a day a week where I write a blog post...I've got big plans for my little blog. I'm not a brilliant writer (i tend to waffle... you have probably guessed that!) but hopefully I will get a bit better with practice. I want to use it as a place to share our little adventures, share recipies, creative ideas (usually all found on Pinterest) and just be a little record of how much better life is now that I have taken this huge leap that is promising so much... I hope it delivers and hopefully you will all enjoy reading. I'm going to start with the June Photo a Day challenge from the brilliant Fat Mum Slim, I'll post it here, on Facebook and on Instagram and maybe it help me to get in the habit of blogging. You can follow me on Instagram at @mrslever and on facebook here.     So tomorrow's the first day, I'd better get off to bed so I can be up bright and early to take the first one! Claire xx p.s HOW is it June already?