Graphic Design help for company label

[thedeathcake]

Hi. Thanks for the hugely detailed response. Alot of good points there, and I never thought about taking pictures with my camera. That could definately work, if I can the weather up in Aberdeen... Regarding the policeman. Sigh. I really don't know why there needs to be a policeman either, but my MD says it needs to have one there. As you say, if the paint does it's job, then the police shouldn't ever be involved, and are therefore irrelevant to the whole thing. I take on board all your other points. The photographs used, are more placeholders. I seem to work best when I throw things onto the page and let them lie for a bit. The whole policeman thing really has thrown me off, and my head probably doesn't accept the reason why he should be there...

Anyways, I'll have a chat on Monday with the MD and see if I can change his mind. I'll knock up a label without him there. I think space maybe an issue too, as the new label have to be A6 sized, so I suppose I have to be careful with how much information I put there. It is quite a niche paint though, and I suppose could do with a proper descriptive text on there.

Many thanks again for your reply. Super helpful stuff!

[James Allen]

Hi. Thanks for the hugely detailed response. Alot of good points there, and I never thought about taking pictures with my camera. That could definately work, if I can the weather up in Aberdeen... Regarding the policeman. Sigh. I really don't know why there needs to be a policeman either, but my MD says it needs to have one there. As you say, if the paint does it's job, then the police shouldn't ever be involved, and are therefore irrelevant to the whole thing. I take on board all your other points. The photographs used, are more placeholders. I seem to work best when I throw things onto the page and let them lie for a bit. The whole policeman thing really has thrown me off, and my head probably doesn't accept the reason why he should be there...

Anyways, I'll have a chat on Monday with the MD and see if I can change his mind. I'll knock up a label without him there. I think space maybe an issue too, as the new label have to be A6 sized, so I suppose I have to be careful with how much information I put there. It is quite a niche paint though, and I suppose could do with a proper descriptive text on there.

Many thanks again for your reply. Super helpful stuff!

Hi again,

It might pay to show the boss what the competition are doing. If you go to Google and click on images, and then search for "anti-intruder paint" (in quote marks), you should see this page:

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q...w=1115&bih=811

Scroll down to see different images used. You can select some of these (use right click and then ‘open link in new window’). In the new window you can click on the page to open it for more detail.

It’s the first time I’ve looked at these images, and I checked them because after reading your latest post I assumed your boss must be insisting on police because everyone else does. On that page you can see different cans, signs, stickers, images, and none of them appear to have police in them. You could print a few examples out, and show your boss what approaches they use. You could also print out some of my points and tell him you met a designer who told you this.

You can see on that page a couple of photos showing a burglar climbing over a brick wall and getting paint on his hands – about 5 or so – and one of guy on a roof seen from below. To me it’s clear that a burglar with pant on his hands is what you need, but I would not depict him as these people did for two reasons: First, he seems to be ignoring the paint and climbing over the fence undaunted (which would be advertising that the paint doesn’t work), and second, there is no expression seen on his face.

Your latest attempt had something these images failed to show – a close up from the correct angle of a burglar viewed from above the fence (where you would see the paint), and his face is clearly visible. All you need to do is create that again, only with a clear photo and with the guy showing his hands, with a shocked look. The image makes it clear the burglar was stopped by the paint.

The other thing I think you got right is the fact that the burglar was doing this at night time – your opposition think it should be day. Night is good because it is more real and more atmospheric, but it also sets up a nice dark background on which your lettering stands out. If your boss insists on putting cops in the picture, perhaps you could add a couple of small cops in this dark background, as though they are arriving at the scene AFTER the paint has done its job. They should only be in the shadows though and should not stand out because I still say most people hate cops and this will put some customers off.

Good luck with all that!

[thedeathcake]

Thanks again man. I did have a look at images on google (that's where i got my placeholder from), but as you say, the competitions paints don't really feature policeman and stick to hard facts about the paint, with descriptive texts. I'll definately whip something up on Monday to show him.

Cheers!

[Rik]

Hope this doesn't confuse any issues.

Black and Yellow stripes are associated with a warning of danger: Do Not Touch.

So maybe some sort of a shield could also be included in the design.

Just an idea!

[thedeathcake]

I like the design thanks. I'll knock up a couple and see whats what. Once again, thanks to all of you for your extremely helpful tips/suggestions. Much appreciated!

[Rik]

Another option?!

Another idea!

Might give you something to work from or develop.

Not too sure about the tin of paint. It would need a bit more work if it was going to be part of the lable/sign etc...

[Rik]

Made a bit of a mistake, so, I thought I would correct that and get rid of the tin of paint.