Case Studies

we're architects of small business brands; building solid foundations to grow upon.

Constructing your brand is easy with GDS.

Over the last 15 years, there have been over 1,000 small business brands developed between our designers Jeff Devey and Dan Antonelli. They've seen just about every type of business, and have learned how to create brands using an efficient creative process that makes it easy for clients to realize brand success. There are no surprises here. The examples on our site represent the caliber of work you can expect to receive when you hire us. That's because all of the creative pieces on our site were done by Dan and Jeff.

So, unlike online logo factories who show decent work on their site—but deliver something far inferior when they outsource projects all over the globe—you can be assured of what you'll get from GDS: two powerhouse designers who live for building small business brands. Below is an overview of our process, and what's included when you hire GDS to create your logo and brand identity.

What's included in a typical small business branding package?

Aside from a lot of blood and sweat, and of course, our hearts—here’s the nuts and bolts of what we include in a typical small business brand and logo package for businesses under $1m in sales.

  • Concepts: Approximately 2-3 conceptual ideas and mockups.
  • Logo Hours Budgeted: Up to 18 hours of creative time budgeted for logo design, with unlimited revisions within that time period.
  • Logo Guidelines: 1 hour devoted to basic logo standards document which provides overview of logo usage, colors, and logo application tips.    
  • Logo Files: Upon completion of your brand, you will own all the rights to the logo we've created, and will receive all the files required to have it reproduced. We include both color and black and white versions of your logo in the following industry-standard formats: EPS, PDF, AI, PSD, PNG, TIFF and BMP.

Stationery Design is an additional option available: We can also provide the layout and design of stationery, including letterheads, envelopes and business cards.

Step 1: GDS Creative Brief. A roadmap to brand success.

We start every branding process with our GDS Creative Brief. This is a form that is first filled out by you, and then reviewed by the GDS team. This brief allows for an uninhibited review of your brand goals, your preferences, and your clients' preferences. It serves as the foundation for our kickoff conversation, where the details of your brief are fleshed out to ensure alignment on objectives, audiences, and the look/feel of your brand.

Step 2: Pencil sketches, initial concepting, brainstorming and obsessive- compulsive design disorders.

Next comes the fun part: researching and conceptualizing your logo and obsessing over its implementation. This usually involves a lot of sketching, doodling and bright ideas—which may or may not originate while showering, or while fiddling on the iPad before going to sleep. Your brand becomes the center of our universe while we think through the logistics and brainstorm how it's going to work in all media forms, like your web site, brochure, uniforms, vehicles, etc.

Step 3: Present two or three concepts. Hope you love them; if not, we'll seek therapy for depression. Revise shortly therafter.

At this stage, we're ready and anxious to share our concepts with you. After all of our collective experience building brands, we're usually right on the money with the first go around (or pretty darn close). But if we're not, we're happy to make changes within the budgeted project time. Of the last 100 or so logos we've designed, maybe one or two have gone over budget. We don't like to have it happen (hey, no one's perfect!), but we're fortunate that it rarely does. If we're even remotely close to going over your budgeted hours, you’ll know well in advance. Again, there are no surprises.

Step 4: Revised and finalize design. Prepare final art files and logo guidelines.

The last stage is when GDS sends final art files for your approval. Afterward, we prepare your artwork files in various file formats, as well as provide a simple logo guideline document for your new brand.