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John Lepp

Waterdown, ON, Canada

Designer (Graphic Design)

Member since January 27, 2009


  • Your Website: Putting the power back in your hands

    Communication, Communication Design

    This week I asked Mark Haak to write about some work we’ve been doing. We have been putting charities like yours - back in the drivers seat of their website. In the spirit of keeping things simple and straightforward, we have been working with charities like yours to show them how easy it is to regain control of their websites and more importantly, keep it current and relevant to your donor and their needs.

    Technology has made it possible to get a site built to your specific needs and then allows you to update things when you need to, as you need to. No more waiting for your “webmaster”.

    The best part of all, is that it likely costs less than you think.

    Enjoy Mark’s post.

    Take control of your non profit’s website and fire your webmaster!

    OK, maybe that’s taking it a bit far for some organizations, but there is truth in that statement.

    Technology has changed and its time you took notice. Why should a non profit care about technology? Because it will give you the power to easily communicate to your donors and build a community around your cause – every charity knows the benefits of that.

    Gone are the days of asking your IT guy to make updates to your site content. Gone are the delays, extra charges and excuses. Most organizations don’t make updates to their site because it costs too much or takes too long. What if you (yes, you) could do it all yourself?

    By using an “open source” content management system (CMS) you can update you own content. What does t...

  • Tweaking your logo?

    Communication, Communication Design

    I saw something this past week that I found quite unsettling and I’m still not sure how I can make sure it never happens again.

    I am working with a new client developing some direct mail packs for them. About eight years ago I designed this clients logo on a pro bono assignment through the agency I was working with at the time. Last time I noticed, they were still using the same logo.

    In the midst of package development, the client sent over the “new” versions of their logos. The colour had been changed to a lighter blue and a light green (the original was a dark blue). In my books, that was no-no number one for reasons I’ve outlined before.

    They also revised the bilingual logo to create an English only version - and by removing the French completely changed the meaning of the logo. Now the logo didn’t mean anything. It looked like some random elements thrown together.

    Needless to say, I wasn’t terribly amused. But what can I do? In this situation I was a little more lucky because I now had a new contact with the client and the opportunity to “fix it” - but what about other cases?

    I know that some charities can have massive turnovers. I know that often they have no idea where the logo came from or who did it, or even why it was developed as it was.

    As a designer, if a client calls and asks me to change/tweak their logo - I tend think “no way”. In the commercial world, it is total taboo to mess with another designers logo.

    But in our sector- it seems...

Making a difference through design.

Contact John Lepp
Idea Design

My Interests

  • Industrial Design
  • Environmental Design
  • Communication Design
  • Fashion Design
  • Audio/Visual Design