Logo Design part 2

I did not hate the design I got from Infinity Logo Design, but I wanted to keep looking at my options.  I started thinking that something else had to be out there. 

After many more searches, I came across another company.  This one sells a program called TypeStyler, and they offer a free 30 day trial.  As I said before, I am not the most creative person, but I thought I could figure out this program.  So I set up an account and requested the 30 day trial. 

They sent me a link and I was able to easily download the program.  What was really nice, and unexpected, is that this did not trigger a bunch of spam emails or constant emails asking me to buy the program. 

It took some trial and error to learn how to use the program, but it basically works like a paint program.  I am sure I have not learned all of the functionality, but I was able to put together a log using it.  Here is what I came up with. 

I liked that I was able to add some other colors compared to what I got before.  It is a little more fun for the logo. 

I would love to hear any comments on the logos.

Logo Design

For a while now, I have been thinking about a nice logo for the Bexley Brewing Company.  However, I kept putting it off.  I am not very creative and figured I needed some help, and design firms can be expensive.  Since I am working on a very small budget, I needed to find a low cost option.  

I searched the internet for “logo design” and “free logo design”.  I thought there would be some website that did low cost design or I could find someone who did it in the spare time for a small fee.  The first sites I found offered free logo designs on their website.  They give you a number of images to pick from then you can change the color and add text.  Basically these are pretty much a joke.  If you are able to create something that looks good, you are not able to save the file in a high resolution format without a fee.  In my opinion, what you come up with on these sites is not worth paying for.  So I went on.

I found two web only companies that offered logo design.  The first one (99designs.com) has some great reviews and a offers three different cost options which is nice.  The second one (infinitylogodesign.com) has some mixed reviews, but also offers different cost options.  Infinity design is much less expensive than 99designs, but the mixed reviews were concerning.  Their site also has much less in the way of information on what they provide and fewer examples.  

Being cheap I decided to go with Infinity Logo, and it turned out to be a great experience.  With the package I picked I figured I might get something and would not be out any money if it did not work out.  I have to say I was surprised by the level of service they provide.  They assign a rep even on the plan I picked and he was very responsive to any request or question I had.  They provided the design a day faster than promised, and each revision only took a day or two.  

However, I did see a lot of drawbacks, but most were due to the package I picked.  I could only get
three revisions, and they only provided two samples to work from.  So if I did not like where they started, I was in trouble.  At the end of the day, I got a design that is OK and certainly one that I can use. 

I also found that they keep their cost down by offering a bunch of add ons.  If you want them to assign the copyright to you, it is an extra fee (99designs includes this in their packages).  Also, if you want something where you can get a lot of revisions and initial designs, it will cost you.  Overall it was a much better experience than what I expected.   I think they are trying very hard to improve their reputation, and if you are willing to spend a little money (and not looking for free options) I think they provide a nice service.  

One additional note on the copyright.  What any of these places charge for the copyright is pretty high.  The real cost to copyright and register something is $35, and the government offers an online system to make your filing.  More information can be found on copyright.gov.

Bad Day?

I really wanted to brew this weekend and work on a new recipe. I am very detailed and take lots notes so I can repeat the process and get the same beer every time.  I have had this idea for a new recipe and really wanted to try it out.  I was thinking that this weekend would be the perfect time.  I have been working on the recipe for a little while.  It’s a variation of one I came up with last year, and I really wanted to see how it would turn out. 

I decided to brew early in the morning so I could get other things done later (it is Mother’s Day weekend).  The weather has been bad, rain and thunderstorm.  I was not going to let that stop me, so I went ahead with my plans. When I was about to mill the grain I decided to check my grain mill and somehow the rollers were really out of wack.  It’s a good thing I checked.  

Maybe I should have taken this as a hint that things were going to go wrong. I moved them back into position and began to mill.  I had the grain weighed out in a couple of different paper bags.  First one went well, then I grabbed the second bag and it ripped as I was lifting it up.  I lost about 2 – 3 lbs, and the floor was not clean enough to try and use it anyway.  I did not have any more.  Now I could have stopped and go out to buy more, but for some reason I decided to press on.  I figured I was going to lose a little bit of the alcohol content. 

So I started to mill that bag.  About ½ way through, the grain mill just stopped moving the grain through.  The rollers were turning, but nothing was going through.  I had to scoop the grain out and see.  Nothing, it looked fine.  I dumped the grain back in and same problem.  After trying that whole process again and pushing on the grain it finally started to mill again.  I was getting pretty ticked off at this point.

I started the mash and as I added the grain, I realized that some of the un-milled grain was mixed in with the milled.  It must have been when the grain mill stopped working.

So now, I have a mash going with an unknown amount of grain and I am not sure how much is not milled properly.

I tried to relax and figured I would just push on.  At this point I should have realized that the whole idea of trying this new recipe was shot since I don’t know what I have in the mash tun.  Of course I was not thinking that clearly. 

I was heating the sparge water and then looked back at my recipe.  Somehow I had set it for a batch sparge and not fly sparge, so my grain amounts were off anyway.  I had too much grain for where I originally wanted to end up.  I reduced the sparge water amount a little and pressed on. 

The rest of the process went well.  Somehow I ended up with the SG in the range I wanted, but I am really not sure how.  And I still will have to try this all over again with the recipe, because I really have no idea what I did.  One nice thing about brewing is that if you make a mistake you still get beer, so at least it will be something to drink.  However, no matter how good (or bad) it is, I will never be able to repeat this one. 

After lunch I was thinking I was going to try the last new beer I made.  I have been tweaking my IPA recipe and brewed it last month. I knew it was ready to drink, but had not tried it yet.  This made my day.  It’s prefect, exactly where I wanted it to be!  Great aroma, the flavor is wonderful.   So this recipe is final and I will certainly make it again.

With that I can say the day was a success.