Honoring individuals for their achievements may say a great deal about the person but can also demonstrate the sincere appreciation of the one awarding and recognizing the recipients’ success. Everyone enjoys receiving awards and being recognized for their efforts. Many times our trophies and plaques are proudly displayed in a prominent place in the home or office. This may be a wall, trophy case or fireplace mantel that in some environments can represent a small shrine. Reflecting back on awards that have captured my attention, it’s always been the logo or graphic picture that first caught my eye. After looking at the design (or the structure of the award itself), I then focus my eyes towards the inscription engraved on the plaque. There are numerous types of awards from appreciation, acknowledgement, retirement, sports and more. One of the easiest ways to dress up your presentation and make it stand out among others is done by simply applying graphics to the item you are presenting. By adding or implementing a cool design, you will give more personality to the award and make it more attractive to the recipient and the individuals who view it. Adding clip art or logos to your presentation can be done at a small expense and at times even free, while adding value to the award. Usually the organization or company giving the presentation has their logo available in print or in a digital format that can be reproduced easily. Simply request to receive their insignia in the computer format you need. Now days, more and more company’s have their logo already available on CD that will work within the environment of your graphics software. Many times this is easily downloaded from the associations website or may be emailed directly to your address. If for some reason a logo or design you wish to reproduce is not readily available, you can always have it created or have one “digitized” to meet your needs. By digitizing someone’s logo you enable it to be used with certain computer software programs while at the same time giving way to numerous other applications as well. For example: If you were in need of reproducing a logo for use with a laser engraving process, you may have it digitized and supplied to you in an .EPS format. This particular format is one of the more universal files of type, which many of your leading software programs can import into their layout screen. Additionally, this type of format can be used for other types of applications too. The key to creating any image is to better understand the application (or process) in which the design is going to be reproduced. If you are unsure, it’s always best to contact a professional digitizing company to assist you with the production or reproduction of the logo. You can find many sources on the World Wide Web that can help you from beginning to end, with logo design or clip art images all ready to engrave or print for most any application. The quickest way to locate some of these vendors is by typing in a “keyword” at any of your favorite search engines search bar. Example: goto MSN.com and key in the words “laser engraving”, “logo company” or refine your keywords to a more specific industry such as, “wedding clip art” or “religious clip art”. By using search engines to “search” for a specific type of logo or desired application for creating your awards, this enables you to locate numerous choices much faster and compare their services and/or products on line. Once you begin to settle in on a company to assist you with your award creation or logo digitizing process, ask them what other type of industry applications they service. One of the reasons you want to acquire this information is for future uses of your digitized image. You may only need to have your logo laser engraved today however, next time you may need to have a banner created with the same design. If your vendor can create your logo to work with both applications without a re-work, it may same you time and money for up coming awards and presentations. You don’t need to know every finite detail for dressing up your presentations. My suggestion is that by adding logos or a graphic design to your awards, it adds value and makes your item more attractive. Connecting with a cutting edge technology companies will help you create these types of designs and have your recipients proud to display their trophy for all to see.