27 Dec Too Close for Comfort: the Pitfalls of Designing your Own Identity

Jord Riekwel, the proprietor of the design firm Larkef in the Netherlands, has written a thought-provoking article on the pitfalls of designing your own logo. Although he is a logo designer by trade, Jord discovered that he was at an impasse in designing his own identity. His own designs were lackluster, and he felt he needed another pair of eyes. So he hired “lettering artist” Sergey Shapiro, who created the warm, flowing Larkef logo.

Jord cautions creatives to not assume they can do it all, but to recognize they are not “polymaths”. After failed attempts at his own website design, and afer producing sloppy, trite copy, he hired a website developer and a professional copywriter to take on those two tasks. His take-away:  “Invest money in good design. Hire a proper logo designer, web designer, copywriter, or photographer. You won’t regret it.”

Above: Larkef logo sketches by designer Sergey Shapiro.