Almost every day, we have customers come in with a business card, or a letterhead, asking us to make a sign, or create large format graphics with thier logo or artwork.
"Can you send us the original art file for your logo, in vector* format, or whatever program was used to create your artwork?"
Invariably we get one of these responses...
~"This is all I have"
~"Someone created this online, or found clipart somewhere"
~"We had this made for us, but the we're having trouble getting the original file from the artist"
We're happy to reproduce your logo, but we don't like charging customers to redo something they have already done.
Someone, at some point, made your logo.
~If you found clipart online, did you check to see if you have the right to use it as a commercially reproduced logo?
~Did you pay to have it made?
If you had a company or individual create your logo, did you pay for those services, or was there an agreement that they would create your logo as "part of the package".
Make sure you are going to have full access to your artwork after it is created, and get a copy for your files, so you can use it at your descretion, it is your logo after all.
We have always worked on the theory that you get what you pay for. If you come to us to get your logo created, once you have paid your bill, the artwork is yours in several useable formats. We charge directly for the creation of your artwork, either in a pre-determined rate, or by the hour.
*Vector Artwork ~ Quite often, this is a file you would get from your artist, that you can't open with any of your software, because it is an art file, specifically made for reproducing your logo in high quality, at any size. You will see a file extension (.eps .cdr .ai ) are quite common in art files. You will often find files saved in PDF format as well, which can be vector files, but are not always. You can scan in your business card, and make a PDF with it, but that does not make it vector.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics
