RE Barcamp Logos

Over the past couple of years I have had the privilege to design quite a few logos for RE Barcamps across the country. Even though it’s not our primary “stock-in-trade” to do design work, I’ve really enjoyed helping give an identity to the events.  Those I’ve designed logos for have been nice enough to give “in-kind” consideration to one of my companies in exchange for the work but that’s not why I’ve done them. Having been involved with REBC from the very first event, I wanted to do what I could to be a good steward to the brand. I’ve got too many irons in the fire to keep up with it.

If you’re planning an upcoming RE Barcamp I would suggest finding a good local designer that would consider the in-kind sponsorship trade. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

Colors
Keep the number of colors to a minimum and try not to use gradients or complex fills for the layout. Your printing costs will stay low and the ability to re-size the image for avatars etc. will be easier. You will be using several types of printing including screen printing for t-shirts and badges, so if you keep the registration of colors simple it will be easier in the long run.

Flame On
The constants in a Barcamp logo are the flame and the typeface (Century Gothic). There are no rules for the way you can use it and there have been some really creative implementations. Take a look at Barcamp.org and click through to the 1,000’s of barcamps that have taken place across the world.

Formats
Your designer will need to design a 300 x 150 transparent .png file for the RE Barcamp web site. Send it to Andy Kaufman to get it added. ( andy AT myeastbayagent DOT com. ) If you’re doing BandPass event badges, keep in mind they are typically black and will require a design that works well on a black background. Have the logo designed in a vector illustration program and save your high resolution file as either Adboe Illustrator or .EPS format.

Sizes
Have your designer layout the standard logo design and an alternative format that is square and scales down well. This makes creating avatars for Twitter, Facebook etc. easier.

Working With Your Designer
If you use the same logo for subsequent events, please give your designer the same consideration of sponsorship you did for the initial event. Try not to use committees or large groups to decide on a design. Keep it to 3 people and the process will be easy for selection.

Files
The original Barcamp files to give to your designer are located here. Century Gothic by Monotype is the tyepface used for all Barcamp logos. Most designers will have it in their type library. If not it can be purchased at Fonts.com.

I hope this helps out anyone planning a new REBC and I look forward to seeing as many of you as I can at upcoming events. Cheers!