September 2020 on the West Coast was a scorching smoky affair, as we all know. I’m sure most of you reading this know how devastating the current fire season has been. One town, Talent, Oregon, was devastated by the Almeda Fire as it roared through. One of my school friends, Terry, lives in this area, and one night I received a message from her.
September 20, 2020, 9:07pm
Terry - Hey Rick. How much do you charge for a logo? We are wanting to have shirts printed for our City of Talent, Oregon, which has suffered horrific losses with the recent Almeda Fire. They want to use “Talent Stronger.”
Artguy - Hola Terry. Since it’s for a good cause and I’ve known you forever, I’ll give you the friends and family price. How many colors would you like, and what is your deadline?
Terry - 2-3 colors. How soon can you do it? But whatever you think is best. Our Fire relief event is Saturday the 26th. No pressure. We already have a guy that will print the shirts.
Artguy - Well, I think I can have something for you by the 27th or 28th. Yeah, I’m joking, probably tomorrow around noon or so. Do you have any visuals in mind?
Terry - I have no idea as far as visual. Sorry, I trust you.
Artguy - Do you know what color shirts you would like to use?
Terry - I know they use teal a lot. As soon as I hear I will get that info to you.
Artguy - I’ll give you a couple of looks on a couple of different shirt colors.
Terry - Awesome
Artguy - I’m thinking of the building front that you sent with a person sweeping up in front. Showing cleaning up and getting back to business. How’s that sound to you?
Terry - With the wording Talent Stronger?
Artguy - Oh yeah!
Terry - Thank you so much.
I would like to have all of you budding designers take a good look at the above conversation. Note that I have learned some essential information about the job at hand in a short amount of time.
- What is the deadline?
- How many colors will be in the design
- The message of the design
- The look of the design
- What color shirts will the design be printed on
With those five simple responses, I came up with a design and sent it in for approval. No, it didn’t have a guy with a broom but a Phoenix rising from the ashes. I sent the artwork to Terry, and she loved it. Better than that, it was chosen over three other designs and is being used to raise money for the city schools. They are currently printing their fourth round of t-shirts. (Yeah, I got one!)
I enjoy doing what I do. It pleases me. I get to create, help people get something they need and like, and I get a bit of cash. If it weren’t because I like to eat, I would do it for free. Well, that and I love to see the designs I create printed and being enjoyed.