What makes for a classic logo? I think the key elements in good logo design are as follows:

• Simple – The best logos are typically quite simple, too much intricacy isn’t usually overburdened with detail
• Sleek – Clean edges and design so that you can close your eyes and still see that image
• Bold – A quality logo is the first thing a client might see to represent your business (a poor one sadly is also the first thing they see). It needs to be bold and punchy with impact. As a consumer you know logos by the shape and colors – have a second look at the graphic with this article!
• Elegant – A great logo is like a catchy tune, as soon as you see it it’s almost as if it was always there

So, back to my experience…..there’s a reason a logo design can’t be done well for $10, the reasons are there is a lot of planning to the whole design process. I was part of the first 3 steps to follow at which point I stepped back and learned.

1. Consulting – Understanding what your client must have, would like to have and absolutely won’t want is critical.  It’s actually an intricate process if done well but will save many errors in design
2. Study – Looking at successful logos that might contain inspiration or guidance both within the industry the logo is needed for or containing thematic factors that are needed
3. Pencil Time – Sketching some concepts to see where the flow begins and ruling out what won’t work. This is prior to fonts being settled upon. It’s a very creative phase that must be done slowly to work well
4. Compile – A good time to break and discuss what works well and what doesn’t. At this stage fresh ideas seem to emerge from the rubble of concepts that were scrapped
5. Graft – Putting the pieces together, experimenting with fonts, lines and textures. Color and shading plus effects may come into the picture. Then the actual process of putting out 3 great logo examples can be completed

It’s no exaggeration to say over 2.5 hours of work went into the process and the results (I thought) were fantastic but seeing how the path to great Logo is quite twisty was a revelation. Understanding the process now can only make me better consult with clients about custom Logo design and I also see the value in having it done right.

Tell the truth, did you see that the logos above were just parodies?

Tim at greenseedwebdesign

I’ve picked three this week – in no order, they are all simply dreadful.

• Something.com – the name promises a lot, the expectation builds, you click the link and …. you can’t say they were misrepresenting themselves
• This one is just fun, flash at it’s most distressing…I keep reloading it…simply brilliant
• Finally, this one will make you either want to shop, play a game with the kids or turn off the monitor. Someone email them and help them.

That was fun, I could do this for hours but it does remind me of the value of good design. Send me your worst finds I’d love to post them.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign.com

It seemed that in 2006 MySpace was on everyone’s lips and the punchline to most jokes on the late night circuit. Facebook was still a fringe media, Twitter was left to birds exclusively. Three years later and it does seem that the buzz has slowed (although still a huge traffic site) and the rot might be setting in. For me – it was a combination of three things that made venues such as Facebook far more fun, useful, interesting…..because they didn’t share the ‘issues’.

First, the lack of actual names meant your friend “Sarah” might actually be beachbucket87 and how could you possibly know? Second…spam…and lots of it….Monty Python sketch levels of spam. Lastly was the ‘pimp’ my site features that for the most part resulted in pages being either poorly structured/proportioned , overrun by terrible colors, very slow to load or if you really pimped things too much – all three!

Now I don’t want to see MySpace vanish, and it has been especially good for bands/musicians, but I hope that the recent admission that traffic has dropped 20% means that a complete overhaul is around the corner. Think of Facebook, will we be there in 4 years? My guess is by then 1 or 2 more giant social networks will have taken over the landscape and we’ll be chuckling at how “2009″ Facebook was. As a final note what are we calling this decade?? It’s nearly over and there seems to be no official term. I like the noughties but it seems t0o late to convince anyone…

Tim at greenseedwebdesign.com

You’ll find out how how many followers you have, how many are following and how many update. If you’re inclined you can even share your score on Twitter…I can see this becoming (sadly) popular.

Give Twitterank a try and feel your ego swell or deflate accordingly.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign.com

I wanted to write about one of the easiest things to change and also one that essentially applies to everyone; paper consumption. Ten or fifteen years ago we all heard about a paperless society, a paperless office being a principle underscoring that ideal.

It’s dismaying to learn that we are now using more paper than ever before. In fact based on 2007 data the total sheets of paper per worker exceeds 9,200 per year. I found that hard to believe until I reflected on my previous role within a large financial corporation and realized just how viable those numbers were. I attended numerous training classes and meetings where a ‘deck’ (even the word is ominous) of paper ‘resources’ was supplied to all participants. This stack of former trees would often number 40-50 pages.

The opportunity to reduce paper consumption is a daily reality and one that has immediate dividends. If you can’t implement all of these changes in your work place, focus on the easiest ones first and aim for all in time.

Reports/files and data: From accounting records to customer contacts it’s time to move all reporting to hard drive, discs, or burn to cds.

Planning/Diary/Contacts: There are a number of online tools and of course phone options which means shopping at your local office supply store every December becomes a thing of the past

Day to Day business notes : Rather than a spiral bound notepad, scraps of paper, or post-it notes; an answer is at hand that has existed for years. A dry-erase whiteboard! Although it seems to have more in common with the era of cassette tapes and full service gas stations, a dry erase board is a wonderful place to store ideas, notes, contact information or data until you can load it onto your computer, they even make small ones now.

Communication: I used to work in an office where more than a third of my staff would receive an important email – perhaps something that marked a procedural change. The first thing they would do (even before reading it)….? They would print it! Email has to replace all written forms of communication immediately, whether it be memos, letters or faxes. If you have staff who are technically struggling invest time in training them how to operate without paper. They’ll ultimately thank you and we all benefit

But without paper my day will be chaos: I used to feel that way too. Paper became our security blanket to keep on top of tasks as a reminder, somehow a former piece of a tree on our desk would guarantee a call was returned or a project completed. I really believed that until quite recently. The truth is that there are numerous project management systems and related software that is better than all those notes. They really do work, I’ll explain what worked for me in another article

Paper purchasing: As you aim for a 100% paperless office there may still be some paper to purchase. Ensure any paper you buy is from recycled content with a minimum of bleaching

These are some of the easier ones to enact, there are many more examples and I’d be happy to learn of others you may use. Save a tree, read this blog.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign.com