The Most Recognized Brand and Logo Designs.......Ever!

In a time of such competition it is important to make your company stand out from the crowd. When setting up a business how do you distinguish yourself from the masses and be remembered? Multinational companies devote large amounts of money and time to developing their branding and logos that we find ourselves bombarded with through advertising everyday. The development of a brand or logo really is a science, so what does your company logo say about you? 

A recent poll has been taken to identify the world’s leading global brands, and while this is up for discussion here is a list of the top 10 for you to look over. A successful brand does not mean automatically the greatest of logos as i am sure that you will agree!

Top 20 Globally Recognized Brands:

1) Coca Cola

2) Windows

 3) IBM

4) GE

5) Intel








6) Nokia

7) Toyota

8) Walt Disney

9) McDonald's

10) Mercedes-Benz

All of these are instantly recognisable brands of large successful international companies, i wonder if you would use the word successful when describing their logos? What makes a great logo? Here are what i would say are 5 of the best and 5 stinkers. Can you beat them?

5 of the Best:

5 of the Worst:

Sorry I could not resist that last logo, sure many of you will agree. Finally people spend many an hour designing logos and coming up with original concepts. Funny how sometimes the message can get lost in the graphic. Look carefully and tell me was it intentional?

Surely this shows that proof reading is essential! Think you can do better?

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Posted in: Advertising,Branding,Business,Coca Cola,Design,IBM,Logos,Marketing,Windows

Letting your Business take Advantage of Social Networking

It is now easier than ever to start-up a new business and thousands do so everyday. Ten clicks of the mouse and you can call yourself a company director and have some business cards made up to say so too! It is easy to have a great idea, many people do while on their fifth double vodka between friends. Comments being passed around like "of course I came up with the idea of Facebook before that Mark Zukerberg, I just wish I had followed it through!"

It is true that small good ideas do grow in to the modern online behemoths that we see today like Facebook and Google to name but a few, but there are many other much smaller companies below the radar that are becoming fantastically successful even in these times of recession. All it takes is good planning, organisation and a little luck along the way at the risk of sounding overly simplistic!

Not many business have deep pockets when starting up and have to make us of every available tool especially if they are free or involve a little co-promotion. More and more I see that so many new company websites missing out on the free promotional tools such as social networking links and feeds.

It is true that Facebook first came on to the net for people to check up on former classmates, bullies, crushes and ex girlfriends. Now with membership passing the 500 million mark Facebook is fast becoming a great way to promote your business and whats more it can be for free! Simply sign up or log in to Facebook and register your company name so you can have a webpage to advertise your company, its products and features. When is free advertising not a good thing I ask you?

At the risk of sounding like a Facebook employee there are many other social networking sites that offer similar opportunities, why not churp, I mean tweet like a bird from the roof tops about your company on twitter. It may take time and effort but what a great way to inform potential customers of new products and important news. Further to this you can add the sites Digg, StumbleUpon, Google Buzz, Del.icio.us, My Space, Bebo and there are more. Yes they all take time to complete but if the only work that you have to do is flex your finger muscles and check your spelling surely it is worth it instead of reaching for the credit card and giving yourself more bills!

Social networking is but one tool that a new business can use to promote its resources and products, there are many other free pieces of software and online tools that can help a company get ahead, or at the very least get off the ground. I am sure there are many other sites out there if people should wish to comment and enlighten me and other readers I greatly welcome your comments.

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Posted in: Advertising,Business,Facebook,Linked In,Marketing,My Space,Online marketing,Social networking,Web design,Work

What Makes a Great Website and How do you Design One?

I am currently designing my company website and I ask myself the question what makes a great website? In some ways it is more fun to say what doesn't make a good website because during my reasearch I have truly seen some stinkers! Colour choices that make you reach for your sun glasses, font types that have you baffled and consulting code books while being bombarded with more advertising than bullets in an AK-47. In fact I think being shot with the AK-47 would be a lot less painful!

So what should you consider when designing you website?

Assuming you already know what your products are, you primary and most important person to consider is the user, your client, the buyer, the person who is going to let you retire before they have to carry you off in a box! You may think your website is a style icon that Andy Warhol would approve of which is fine, however if you client is homer Simpson you may just have missed the mark.

So apply the KISS technique, keep it simply stupid. Always consider your client, the average UK user spends 23 hours online with are US cousins once again winning with 32 hours with average viewing times. Average times spent on websites vary hugely depending on the wide variety of differing websites and the services they offer. However the most common factors causing a person to leave a website are:

• Poor Navigation
• Accessibility
• Advertisements/Pop Ups
  
• Slow Page Loading
• Poor Font Choice

Poor Navigation: Like getting lost in any big city raises the blood pressure, misdirection and poor navigation around a website only gets potential clients annoyed and leaving just as quickly as they arrived. Constructing a good site map is essential to make the website user-friendly and making the most of every visitor.

Accessibility: It doesn't take much to run some beta-testing on your website before it goes live to make sure that it runs on most browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox and look as it should. A little bit of time and a little bit of code can make a whole world of difference to a customers experience and your balance sheet.

Advertisements/Pop Ups: It is true that banners and advertisements can generate extra income but is  this to the detriment to your main revenue source. People often report a site as looking cheap or unprofessional with too many banners and people need confidence before they buy. So ask yourself just how much do those banners add to your bottom line? Pop Ups...... I don't think I have to say too much here, a tool dreamed up by web techs and marketers that cost you money and designed to absolutely without a doubt with a 100% success rate drive your customers insane and make them vow to never return.

Slow Page Loading: With good web design and coding this should be easy to overcome, with the invention of broadband gone are the days where you have time to make a cup of coffee while a website loads up.

Poor Font Choice: There are standard fonts for websites for a reason, they are easy to read and code. It may look good but if visitor can't read what you saying then you might as well be talking a foreign language that google translator doesnt recognise.

Here are just a few of the most popular moans that the average web user reveals when asks, but then again if you don't believe me why don't you go and ask. A little bit of market research never hurt anyone! In truth everybody has an opinion so what are your gripes and pet hates when it comes to websites? What has you closing a website down quicker than you can say "hell no."

Below for your amusement are a few stinkers, if they belong to you i am sorry, but then again you have got some free promotion!

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/worst-websites-of-2010-contenders.html

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Posted in: Advertising,Best Websites,Business,Design,Fonts,Marketing,Online,Website