Do you have a favourite colour?

Many individual have strong preferences for specific colours, however understanding why and what these colours mean is critically important when designing for a specific audience.

Colours and their meanings

Colours have hidden meanings. For example, blue is the colour from sky and water and is most often associated with a business, as it is perceived to be a calming, reliable colour. Green is the most common colour in nature and we perceive this colour to be the second ‘favourite colour’. It often provides a backdrop colour for design, and this is often used when an image of ‘natural goodness’ or sustainability is to be suggested. Every colour has a very specific psychological meaning and it is certainly important to understand the underlying meaning.

Don’t miss a design trick

A good designer will be able to advise you on the meaning of colour and should produce design with this in mind. Every aspect of design carries a deep-rooted physiological response; if you do not consider these within the design process, you are missing a trick!

Getting hung on a colour

The worst thing you can do is to start the design process with a specific colour as a prerequisite for the design. Many companies have corporate colours, which are fine as long as they have been well thought out, and this should be clearly understood.

Just remember

It’s worth considering that not all colours are perceived the same across each culture. It’s a classic one but in the west, black is the colour most often associated with death, however, in Japan it’s white. If you are developing a brand that has an international reach, remember to think how the colour is going to be received in all markets!

The WordPress dashboard is easy to set-up, customise and use the way you want to. This video walks you through its features. -

Diving into drafts from the dashboard

If you want to get right back to a recent draft, you can now dive in right from the dashboard’s Recent Drafts pane. This video walks you through what’s on offer. -

Saving and returning to draft posts & pages

If you’d like to save your work and come back to it another time, without putting it out for the world to see, WordPress gives you various draft options. This video talks you through the process. -

Using Quick Edit and Bulk Edit to manage your posts in half the time

Quick Edit and Bulk Edit are two features that will make it easier for you to quickly make changes to single posts or a whole bunch at once. This video shows you how. -

Rearranging the post editor to suit your style

The WordPress post editor lets you set it up to suit you – this short video shows you how you can configure it to taste. -

Writing and publishing a post

The thing you’ll probably be doing most with WordPress – writing and publishing posts – is covered in this short flyby tutorial. -

Embedding photos, video & audio into your posts

If you’d like to insert photos, videos, audio or other media into your blog posts, this video will walk you through the basics. -

Adding categories and tags to your posts

Categories and tags help to organize the content in your blog, and make it easier for people (and Google) to navigate through to find what they’re looking for. In this short video, we’ll take a look at how to add and manage both. -

Publishing your post at a later date

If you’d like to set a post to publish at a future date, WordPress makes it easy. Here’s how to do it. -

Moderating your recent comments from the dashboard

If you want to get a quick glance at your latest comments, or moderate them right from the dashboard, this video will walk you through the feature. -

Getting a post out quickly with QuickPress

If you want to quickly get a post out without the trimmings of the main editor, QuickPress makes it simple to publish right from the dashboard. This short video walks you through it.

Is it the best business card you’ve ever seen? Are we wrong? Can Americans really design?

You be the judge…

Let us know what you think by commenting below

Twitter Glossary

Twitter has started posting definitions of common Twitter terms on your profile page, beneath your picture. Note: If a term is classed as a “phone command”, it will only work from your phone. Your web tweets will go on functioning the same way. For anything that isn’t on this list, you can go to Twittonary.com, type your term in, and get a definition instantly. # sign The hash sign is used to mark a word as a keyword, which denotes a “hashtag”. More on hashtags further down the list. @ reply The @ sign is used to indicate that you are replying to a specific username. For example, if DickCheney tweets a question about font tags, you will reply with @reply DickCheney “nobody uses font tags anymore, try CSS” or something of the sort. Remember that when you use @reply it is visible to everyone – for private communications use a direct message. 140 character limit Twitter messages are meant to be short. Most people don’t even go up to the 140 character limit when posting a tweet. This is the reason for utilities like URL snippers, which we’ll get to. Block The act of blocking a particular user name from following your tweets. You block someone by clicking on their profile and choosing “Block” on the right sidebar. d USERNAME Updating Tweets from a Mobile Device: You can send tweets from any mobile device using text messaging. Text “d YOURUSERNAME” and your tweet and send it to 40404, Twitter’s text message number. Direct Messages Direct Messages are sent from twitter by entering d RECIPIENTUSERNAME Text of Message. DM This stands for direct message, which is the Twitter equivalent to e-mail. You may only send direct messages to those following you. To do so, click on “Direct Message” on their profile and type out your message, again only up to 140 characters. Automatic direct messages can be set up to thank someone for following you using a free service such as TweetLater. Keep in mind that you cannot send Direct Messages to people that are not following you, even if you are following them. This is Twitter’s built-in spam protection. Drunktwittering Drunk dialing on Twitter. Dweet Related to above, Tweet sent while drunk. Failwhale The whale logo that pops up when the Twitter service crashes. FAV You can favourite a tweet by typing FAV in all caps plus their username. This will automatically favourite the last tweet from that user. Feed Your posts on Twitter are commonly referred to as your “Twitter feed”, or “timeline”. FOLLOW username Phone command. This command sends the message that you want to follow a specific user on Twitter. Followers People who follow your updates. Friendapalooza A round of friending on Twitter. Geotwitter Type it in to get the geolocation of the most recent tweets. GET username Retrieves the most recent tweet from that user. Hashtags Hashtags, such as #BSG for “Battlestar Galactica”, denote groupings on Twitter for popular, commonly referenced items. You can follow updates on hashtags in real time at Hashtags.org They were developed as a means to create groupings on Twitter. In order to have hashtags tracked, start following @hashtags on Twitter. It will follow you automatically and your use of hashtags will be tracked. Hashtags became popular during the San Diego fire, when Nate Ritter used the hashtag #sandiegofire to chronicle his updates of the event. Since then they have been used to track specific events in real time on a regular basis. INVITE phonenumber This will send a Twitter invite to a mobile phone. LEAVE username Phone command. Sends the message that you wish to stop following a certain user. Locking Your Profile You can “lock” your profile so that only friends can see your updates by scrolling down to the bottom of your “Settings” tab on the Twitter website and clicking the box beside “Protect My Updates”. This may deprive you of followers who would have otherwise followed you based on keywords in your posts and isn’t advised for general use. You would only want this if you wanted to use Twitter, but need to avoid public communication for a specific reason. Even celebrities have public profiles on Twitter. Microblog Twitter is a microblogging platform. A shorter and usually more immediate version of a blog. mistweet Similar to “mistell”, a term coined by gamers, a mistweet is a tweet that you will regret. You can delete your tweets on your profile page, but everyone on your follow list will still have seen it when it was posted. NUDGE username Reminds one of your friends to update. off-Twitter A variant of “offline”, usually used when someone wants to share something with someone privately. OFF Phone command. Turns all notifications to your phone off. OFF username Phone command. Turns all notifications to your phone from a certain user off. ON Phone command. Turns all notifications to your phone on. ON username Phone command. Turns all notifications to your phone from a certain user on. Public Timeline The timeline of all public Tweets. Seen here. ReporTwitters Reporters publishing tweets in conjunction with their articles or broadcasts. RT/Retweeting This stands for retweeting, the process whereby you repost someone else’s Twitter post on your feed. The proper form for this is: RT #usernameyouarerequotingfrom “text of the retweet”. You are specifying that it is a retweet and putting in the full username so others on your list can choose to follow them if they like it. Search Go to search.twitter.com to search tweets for a specific keyword. Also, http://twitter.com/invitations/find_on_twitter will allow you to search by name. STATS This is a command that returns how many people you are following, how many people are following you, and which words you are tracking. TinyURL Name of the most popular URL snipping service which trims URL lengths to allow for inclusion in twitter messages. Located at tinyurl.com. There are others out there but this is the most commonly used one. Twactor Someone who impersonates another person on Twitter. Twittcrastination Using Twitter to procrastinate. Twadd The act of adding someone as your friend. Twaffic Traffic on Twitter. Twaggle A bunch of followers. Twaigslist To sell something via Twitter. Twaiting Twittering while waiting for something. Tweeps/Tweeples A cluster of friends on Twitter. Frequently used to address all of your followers at once, e.g.”Morning, Tweeples!”. Tweet-back Bringing a previous tweet back into the current conversation. Tweeter A Twitter user. Tweeterbox Someone who Tweets too much. Tweetard Someone acting like an idiot on Twitter. Tweetheart Another way to refer to friends on Twitter. TweetIn A group of users agree on a set time to Twitter to each other. Tweets A collection of posts on Twitter. Twerminology Lingo used on Twitter. See this Glossary. Twhepard Twitter employee that restores your lost followers if you have lost them due to a technical glitch. Twhiner A Twitter user who posts a high number of negative items. Twike To ride a bicycle while Twittering. Don’t ask for a how-to. Twis A “dis” of a fellow Twitterer. Not a good idea since everything on Twitter is public. Twittectomy The act of unfollowing someone on Twitter. Twitterati The Twitter L33T. This is not a comprehensive list at all, but it is generally accepted that a member of the Twitterati has 30,000 or more followers. A very nice graphing of Twitterati networks is available here. Twitterbate This was meant to be a comprehensive list. Self-explanatory, but the mental images are disturbing. Twitterific Something awesome related to Twitter. Twittering To send a Twitter message. Twitteritas Ladies who use Twitter. Twitterject To insert your tweet in an ongoing conversation between other people on Twitter. Twitterlooing The act of Twittering from a bathroom. Twitterphoria What you feel when something good happens on Twitter, like being followed or retweeted. Twittermob Similar to a “flashmob”, this is a bunch of people who descend on an often ill-prepared location based on a Twitter message. Twitterstream The Twitter timeline, both your own and the public one. Twittfessional A confession made on Twitter. Twittosphere The community of Twitter users. Twittworking Networking with other Twitter users. Twoogle Twitter as the human version of Google, since you can post a question and get instant results. Twoops Sending a private message to Twitter by accident. Twoosh A full 140 character Twitter message. Twurvey A survey conducted over Twitter. Twype Typing a Twitter message. WHOIS username Gets profile information for a Twitter user. Don’t forget to…

There isn’t one! Sorry it’s true. Think about it. There must be a infinite number of combination of content out there in the emails you get. Can you sum all of them up with the same subject line? No. The same runs true here. However there are a few things you could to “help” with your open rates. People who are new to email marketing often ask us, “What is the best subject line for me to use?” or “How should I write my subject lines so that more recipients will open my emails?” So we have got some examples for you to look at to get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. The “highest” open rates were in the range of 60%-87%, while the “lowest” performers fell in the dismal 1%-14% range. Do you see a pattern below?

Best Open Rates (60%-87%)

• [COMPANYNAME] Sales & Marketing Newsletter
• Eye on the [COMPANYNAME] Update (Oct 31 – Nov 4)
• [COMPANYNAME] Staff Shirts & Photos
• [COMPANYNAME] May 2009 News Bulletin!
• [COMPANYNAME] Newsletter – February 2009
• [COMPANYNAME] Newsletter – January 20096 [ *|FIRSTNAME|* *|LASTNAME|* ]
• [COMPANYNAME] and [COMPANYNAME] Invites You!
• Happy Holidays from [COMPANYNAME]
• ATTENTION [COMPANYNAME] Staff!
• ATTENTION [COMPANYNAME] West Staff!!
• Invitation from [COMPANYNAME]
• [COMPANYNAME] Jan/Feb 2009 Newsletter
• Website news – Issue 3
• Upcoming Events at [COMPANYNAME]
• [COMPANYNAME] Councils: Letter of Interest
• [COMPANYNAME] Coffee Exchange – Post-Katrina Update
• We’re Throwing a Party
• October 2009 Newsletter
• [COMPANYNAME]: 02.10.09
• [COMPANYNAME] Racing Newsletter

Worst Open Rates (1%-14%)

• Last Minute Gift – We Have The Answer
• Valentines – Shop Early & Save 10%
• Give a Gift Certificate this Holiday
• Valentine’s Day Salon and Spa Specials!
• Gift Certificates – Easy & Elegant Giving – Let Them Choose
• Need More Advertising Value From Your Marketing Partner?
• [COMPANYNAME] Pioneers in Banana Technology
• [COMPANYNAME] Moves You Home for the Holidays
• Renewal
• Technology Company Works with [COMPANYNAME] on Bananas Efforts
• [COMPANYNAME] Update – A Summary of Security and Emergency Preparedness News
• Now Offering Banana Services!
• It’s still summer in Tahoe!
• [COMPANYNAME] endorses [COMPANYNAME] as successor
• [COMPANYNAME] Holiday Sales Event
• The Future of International Trade
• [COMPANYNAME] for your next dream home.
• True automation of your Banana Research
• [COMPANYNAME] Resort – Spring into May Savings
• You Asked For More…

Observations

On the “best” list, you’ll notice the subject lines are pretty straightforward. They’re not very “salesy” or “pushy” at all. Some people might even say they’re “boring.” On the “worst” list however, notice how the subject lines read like headlines from advertisements you’d see in the Sunday paper. They might look more “creative,” but their open rates are horrible. It’s as if those email marketers assumed that subject lines have to jump off the screen and “GRAB THE READER’S ATTENTION!” or something. Unfortunately, most people get so much junk mail in their inbox, anything that even hints of spam gets thrown away immediately.

Setting Expectations

So does that mean your subject lines should be really stale and un-creative to get high open rates? We don’t think so. We actually saw some campaigns that used more “creative” subject lines (like the ones on the “bad” list) but they had pretty decent open rates. The difference seemed to be in the expectations that were set for the emails. Email newsletters, or eShots are for soft-selling. They build relationships with your customers, and they’re great if your products have a very long sales cycle. Use them to slowly soften your customers for the sale, or to make them feel really good about your brand. If your recipients signed up for these kinds of emails, don’t expect them to be very enthusiastic when, out of the blue, you send an email with a subject line like, “10% Discount! Open Now!” For newsletters, keep your subject lines simple, straightforward, and consistent. On the other hand, if your subscribers specifically opted-in to receive “special offers and promotions” from your company, there’s nothing wrong with saying there’s a “10% off e-coupon inside.” They’ll be expecting a “hard sell” from you. It’s when marketers send promotional emails to their entire “newsletter” list when things go wrong. The idea is to create a totally separate opt-in list for those who want to receive promotional emails. Furthermore, segment your promotions list into smaller, more focused groups before you send your campaign (don’t send an offer for purses and high-heel shoes to the men on your list).

The Secret Formula for Subject-Lines

So what’s our advice for email subject lines? This is going to sound “stupid simple” to a lot of people, but here goes: Your subject line should (drum roll please): Describe the subject of your email. Yep, that’s it. Always set your subscribers’ expectations during the opt-in process about what kinds of emails they’ll be receiving. Don’t confuse email newsletters with promotions. If your email is a newsletter, put the name and issue of the newsletter in your subject line. Because that’s what’s inside. If your email is a special promotion, tell them what’s inside. Either way, just don’t write your subject lines like advertisements. When it comes to email marketing, the best subject lines tell what’s inside, and the worst subject lines sell what’s inside.

Next Time…

In the next article we will be talking about “eShot Design” (the exciting bit?).

Corporate Brand Logo Evolution

01. Apple

Apple Macintosh

It is one of the biggest consumer electronics and Software Company, best known for products like Macintosh, iPod and iphone. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne had together setup Apple in 1976, to sell their hand-built computer Apple I. They had offered their product to HP first but were declined by them. I think HP would still be regretting this today. The road to success wasn’t easy for Apple, and Wayne liquidated his share in the company for a mere $ 800. After the launch of Apple II in 1977, things started to look up for Apple and we all know what heights the company has reached since then. Apple II was successful mainly because it had colored graphics. Great and simple design, has always been the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for Apple, and their logo is no exception. When Apple was started, the logo was a complicated picture of Isaac Newton sitting under a tree. This had been designed by Jobs and Wayne, with the inscription: “Newton … A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought … Alone.” Frankly, I don’t think it was just a coincidence that Apple had slow sales during this period. However, Steve Jobs hired Rob Janoff to simplify the logo, which turned out to be a great idea. Rob created the ‘Rainbow Apple’ which was the logo for company till 1998. There are many rumors as to why Rob had chosen to create such a logo. One of them says that the Apple was a tribute to Newton (discovery of gravity from an Apple), and since the USP for Apple at that time was colored graphics, it had the rainbow colors. Another explanation exists that the bitten apple pays homage to the Mathematician Alan Turing, who committed suicide by eating an apple he had laced with cyanide. Turing is regarded as the father of computers. The rainbow colors of the logo are rumored to be a reference to the rainbow flag, as homage to Turing’s homosexuality. Janoff, however, said in an interview that though he was mindful of the “byte/bite” pun (Apple’s slogan back then: “Byte into an Apple”), he designed the logo as such to “prevent the apple from looking like a cherry tomato.” When Apple launched the new iMac in 1998, they changed their logo to a monochromatic apple logo, almost identical to the rainbow logo. Now, the Apple logo comes with nice gradient chrome silver design. It is one of the most recognized brand symbols in the world today, and the shape is what identifies the company more than the color. Official Link

02. Shell

Shell

Back in 1900, when the company was started the logo was a realistic and simple shell which lies flat on the ground. This was a pectin or scallop shell, but today the company has a logo which is bold, colorful and much more simplistic. The evolution of the logo began after 1915, when rendering enabled the company to reproduce its identity easily. This is visible in the 1930 logo for the company. When the company started a project in California, it added the red and yellow colors to the symbol. The colors help Shell to stand out. Additionally, these are the colors of Spain, where many Californian settlers were born, which might have helped the company to create an emotional bond with the people. With the advent of internet and fax machines over the later years, it became necessary for the company to simplify their logo, which would prevent it from being distorted in small images. The 1971 logo designed by Raymond Loewy is very simple as compared to the earlier logos. This has helped the company because this logo is more memorable and recognizable, accountable to the simplicity of the logo. The 1971 logo is still used by the company albeit with minor changes, but it has become so recognizable that it often appears without the company name now. Official Link

03. Xerox

Xerox

The Xerox Company used to be known as the Haloid Company almost 100 years ago. But in 1938, Chester Carlson invented a technique called xerography which we today call the photocopy technique. Unfortunately no one was willing to invest in his invention, and many big giants like IBM, GE, RCA and others decided not to finance this invention. But Haloid Company decided to go with Chester and made the first photocopying machine named Haloid Xerox 14. As can be seen in their logos, the original Haloid word which was prominent in the company’s logo before 1961 was completely replaced by Xerox due to the immense success of this idea. They retained almost the same logo from 1961 to 2004. But in 2004 there was a problem with the Xerox books and it tried to reinvent itself with a new logo. People associate the company only with photocopy machines, and that has been a major problem for Xerox. The company changed its logo in 2008 to get away from this stereotyped image, by changing the font of the word. They also added a ball which has a stylish X instead of their ‘boring’ X in earlier times According to Anne M. Mulcahy, Xerox’s chief, that little piece of art represents the connection to customers, partners, industry and innovation. Official Link

04. BMW

BMW

BMW or Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (Bavarian Motor Works) was originally founded as an aircraft company. The aircrafts manufactured were painted with the colors of the Bavarian flag, which is the color of BMW logo. Another explanation is that when the pilot used to sit in the plane he would see alternating segments of white and blue due to rotation the plane propeller (blue being the sky). The major business of BMW was to supply planes to the German army during World War I. But after the war they were forced to change their business. It made railway brakes, before making motorized bicycle, motorcycles and cars. The logo itself hasn’t changed a lot during the years, but now has a more stylish look due to the different gradients. The unchanged logo has made it easier for people to remember and has given the company more recognition. Official Link

05. Nike

Nike

Nike probably got the best deal amongst all companies when Caroline Davidson designed its logo for just $35 in 1971. The main part of the logo hasn’t really changed with time. However, I don’t understand why they waited for 7 years before they realized that the text and the swoosh were overlapping each other. As the brand gained recognition, the company name was dropped from the logo, which made it more simplistic and memorable. The company has different variations of this logo for its various departments like Skate, Soccer etc. Official Link

06. IBM

IBM

As you would observe from the logos above that IBM was earlier known as The International Time Recording Company (ITR), whose major products were mechanical time recorders, invented and patented by Willard L. Bundy in 1888. So in the earlier periods the logo of the company had ITR inscribed on it. Later in 1911, ITR was merged with the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, which is why you will see that both ITR and CTR are there in the 1911 logo. In 1924, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company adapted the name International Business Machines Corporation. The ornate, rococo letters that formed the “CTR” logo were replaced by the words “Business Machines” in more contemporary sans-sarif type, and in a form intended to suggest a globe, girdled by the word “International.” In 1947, IBM decided to drop the globe from its logo, which was by then quite familiar amongst the people. The logo was not the only change in 1947; it was accompanied by a change in business from the punched-card tabulating business to computers. The typeface of this logo was called Beton Bold. In 1956, before Thomas J. Watson, Sr died he appointed Tom Watson, Jr. as the CEO. Tom Watson, Jr. decided to project the beginning of a new era in the company, for that he changed the company’s logo as well as the actions. Paul Rand designed the new logo which represented that the changes in the company would be subtle and will not disrupt the continuity. Also, the new logo looked more solid, grounded and balanced. Another change in the logo was designed by Paul Rand which had stripes instead of the solid font. It depicted ‘speed and dynamism’. Since, then the logo has more or less remained the same, and the design has been recognized and replicated all over the world. Official Link

07. Canon

Canon

The company had always wanted a global perspective, and the logos reflected the same as early as 1934. A specialized advertising designer had created the logo which included typeface never seen before in Europe or North America. The first camera launched by the company in 1934, was named as Kwanon, after the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The logo included the wordings and a picture of the goddess with 1000 arms and flames. As the years went by, like all other logos we have seen above, the company strived to make the logo as simple and memorable as possible. The logo had only been trademarked in 1935, and after that a lot of designing work went into making the logo more balanced. After 1956, the logo hasn’t been changed, but the designing effort is clearly visible in their simple but classic logo. Official Link

08. Google

Google

The clarity of thought is visible in the company’s logo right from the very beginning, when in 1996 two Stanford University computer science graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin built the search engine. The name of the search engine is derived from Googol (meaning one followed by 100 zeros). Google’s first logo was created by Sergey Brin, after he taught himself to use the free graphic software GIMP. Later, an exclamation mark mimicking the Yahoo! logo was added. In 1999, Stanford’s Consultant Art Professor Ruth Kedar designed the Google logo that the company uses today. Official Link

09. Kodak

Kodak

Interestingly, Kodak was the first company to integrate its name and looks into one symbol in 1907. After 1935, Kodak predominantly used yellow and red colors and the complete name of the company. First time the Kodak name was completely written in the logo in 1935, which began the use of yellow and red colors as well. In 1960, they tried to show a flip page as a logo, but was changed to a box and graphic “K” element in 1971. I think the logo in 1971 was quite trendy, but it might have been a little complex. Retaining the 1971 concept, there was a slight variation in the font in 1987. The new font looked contemporary. Again, like other companies, Kodak decided to simplify their logo in 1996, and removed the boxes. The red color gives a more brighter and structured feel of the company. In 2006, again a slight variation was made in the logo with a rounded ‘a’ and ‘d’, to give a contemporary look. Official Link

10. Microsoft

Microsoft

The Microsoft story began in 1975, when Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen coded the first computer language for a PC and named it BASIC. Soon they named their partnership as Micro-Soft which explains the first logo of the company. They changed the logo in that year itself and dropped the hyphen too. For the next 12 years, the logo had a distinctive O. The employees called this as “Blibbet”. It is said that at that time, the Microsoft cafeteria even had a double cheeseburger named “”Blibbet Burger”. When a new logo came on in 1987, there was a campaign within the company to “Save the Blibbet”. But, this couldn’t stop the company from adopting a new logo. The logo designed by Scott Baker, came to be known as “the Pacman logo” due to the distinctive cut in the O. In 1994, they integrated their tagline ‘Where do you want to go today?’ within the logo. This was widely mocked and the company kept trying different taglines like People Ready, Start Something, Making it Easier etc. The new 2008 logo has all the text in Italics (including the tagline), but the look of the logo has remained pretty much the same. Basically, the company is so well renowned already, that I don’t think the logo needs to change, since people already recognize and connect with it worldwide. Official Link

11. Volkswagen

Voltswagen

Volkswagen means ‘People’s car’ in German. The history of the company is tied with Adolf Hitler. Before the rise of Hitler, the German economy was in a very bad shape; as a result people couldn’t afford to buy cars. In 1933, Hitler raised the idea of an inexpensive car in the Auto show. In 1934, Ferdinand Porsche met with Hitler to design the car. Hitler gave him all the specifications of the car and Porsche promised to deliver the design. In 1937, the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH was created (it became simply Volkswagenwerk GmbH a year later). In 1938, Hitler opened a state funded Volkswagen factory in Walburg. It was suppose to produce commercial cars, but it was used to churn out military cars. It was only later found that Hitler had intended to use the Porsche car as a military vehicle only, which could carry 3 men and a machine gun. After the WWII, Britishers took over the company. They renamed the car as Beetle. Surprisingly all the car makers like Fiat and Ford declined to take ‘free control’ of the Volkswagen factory. So, it was returned to the German government, and went on to become one of the world’s bestselling cars ever. The first logo was designed by Franz Xavier Reimspiess, a Porsche employee during an office logo design competition. The main part of the logo hasn’t changed much, but understandably after the WWII, they got rid of the design around the circle which seems to be inspired from the Nazi flag. I love the colors that were added in 2000, to the logo which was built after WWII, it depicts a positive change in the company and the ability to adapt to the new millennium. Official Link

12. MasterCard

MasterCard

In 1966, seventeen bankers formed a federation for the reciprocal acceptance of their credit cards. They called this federation as Interbank and hence, the first 1966 logo. The ‘i’ was used to identify the participating members of Interbank Card Association. In 1969, the name was changed to Master Charge. The new logo had the two familiar intersecting circles which make sense when we think about the interbank card business. Also, the ‘i’ was retained at the bottom to show continuity and also to make it easy for people to recognize their earlier familiar logo. Finally, in 1979, the name MasterCard was adopted and they lost the ‘i’ from the logo. In 1990, bold colors were adopted which also made it easier to recognize the 23 horizontal bars between the two circles, which I think denoted the idea of multiple simultaneous interbank relationships. The logo looks more contemporary and simple, with an italic, sans-serif typeface. In 1996, a more prominent font replaces the old font, and the number of bars was also reduced, resulting in a simple and powerful logo. The Brand Mark’s visibility, recognition, and overall brand image are improved, with new features including larger lettering highlighted with a drop shadow, fewer interlocking bars within the red and yellow circles, and a new dark blue background for use on decals and signage. Official Link

13. Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox

An open source web browser, created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross, was first of all named as Phoenix, which is visible in their first logo in 2002. Due to some trademark issues, the name had to be changed to Firebird, but the name was chosen so that they would be able to retain the same logo. Unfortunately, this name also had trademark issues because of existing software. Then, they finally got lucky and chose the name Firefox, which has become one of the favorite and most used browser worldwide. In 2003, the now famous logo was designed by professional interface designer John Hicks. The logo depicted a Firefox engulfing the whole world, which also signifies the global reach that the company strived for. There has been a minor change in the logo since then, with the colors of the continents using a lighter blue color, just to differentiate them better from the oceans. Official Link

14. Pepsi

Pepsi

Today, one of the biggest soft drinks company, was first started by Caleb Bradham in 1890’s. Initially named as Brad’s drink the name was quickly changed to Pepsi-Cola, which is visible in the first 1898 logo. Finally in 1903, the name was trademarked and hasn’t been changed till date. In the early years, Brad made custom logos for the brand as it became more famous. In 1933, the company was bought by Loft, Inc. The company changed the bottle size from 6 to 12 oz. and came up with the ‘Refreshing and Healthful’ logo. However, the major breakthrough in the Pepsi logo design came in 1940’s. Walter Mack, the CEO of Pepsi came up with the idea of a new bottle design, with a crown having the Pepsi logo. The ‘Pepsi Globe’ emerged when USA was in WWII, and to support the country’s war efforts, Pepsi had a blue, red and white logo. This logo became hugely popular, and went on to be the identifier for the company. As a result, in 1950 and 1962, this bottle cap with the swirling blue and red became prominent in the company logo. During the 1960’s when it became even more popular, the script was changed from the curly red, and the main attraction was on the bottle cap in the logo. We see the first appearance of the Pepsi Globe instead of the bottle cap in 1973. The typeface was made smaller so as to fit in the globe. The Pepsi Globe was “boxed in”, with a red bar coming in from the left and a light-blue bar coming in from the right. In 1991, the typeface was moved from inside the globe. The red bar was lengthened and the typeface came on the top of the globe. In 1998, the white background in the logo was replaced by the blue color, which also resulted in dropping the red horizontal band. The globe now had 3D graphic and larger than earlier versions. It might be that since, Pepsi and the globe touch each other for the first time in the logo, the name ‘the Pepsi Globe’ was given to the logo. After 1998, it seems that Pepsi had decided to give the globe more prominence than the script itself. So, the globe came on top of the script in 2003, and in their current logo they have done away with the script altogether. Official Link

15. LG

LG

LG was formed from two different companies named Lucky (chemical cosmetic company, 1947) and Goldstar (radio manufacturing plant, 1958). Though, these were different companies they were essentially owned by one person. In 1995, Lucky Goldstar was renamed to LG Electronics. Actually, LG is a chaebol (a South Korean conglomerate), so there’s a whole range of LG companies that also changed their names, such as LG Chemicals, LT Telecom, and even a baseball team called the LG Twins. These companies all adopted the “Life is Good” tagline you often see alongside its logo. LG denies that their name now stands for Lucky Goldstar. They’re just “LG.” Official Link

16. Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes Benz

The Mercedes-Benz was formed by the merger of two car companies – DMG (Daimler-Motored-Gesellschaft, founded by Gottlieb Daimler) and Benz & Cie, founded by Karl Benz. Both the companies were similar in their work and were situated in close proximity. It was after the World War I, when the German economy was shattered, that both these companies decided to from a syndicate in 1924, and then finally merge in 1926, called Diamler-Benz. In 1902, the logo for Mercedes was nothing more than the simple company name. However, it was changed to a 3 pointed star in 1909. The origin of this star came from a postcard by Diamler, where he had drawn a 3 pointed star which represented ‘making vehicles in land water and sky’. After 1926, a new symbol for Mercedes-Benz came into picture, where the original logo of both the companies was merged into one. It combined the 3 pointed star of Mercedes and the laurel wreath of Benz. Over the years, the symbol has been improved vastly in design and simplicity. It has been recognized as a symbol representing luxury and top tier cars. Official Link

17. General Electric

General Electric

The company has a great history. It was formed in 1892 by the merger of Edison Electric Light Company (founded by Thomas Edison to sell his invention, the light bulb) and Thomson-Houston Electric Company. The basic logo font face is still quite similar to what it was in 1892. Over time, a circle engulfing the company name has been added to the logo, which might be due to the increasing global presence and vision of the company. The current logo, which was designed by Wolff Olins, adds blue color to the logo instead of the black color which had been used in all the previous logos. Accompanied with the logo change was also a change in the tagline of the company from “We bring good things to life” to “Imagination at work”. Official Link

18. Nokia

Nokia

‘Nokia’ in Finnish means means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel. However, this has little to do with the current business and brand image. The origin of the company name, can rather be attributed to the setting up of the wood pulp mill (set up by Knut Fredrik Idestam), on the banks of Nokianvirta river in the town of Nokia. The Nokia Corporation was formed as a merger of Finnish Rubber Works (which also used a Nokia brand), the Nokia Wood Mill, and the Finnish Cable Works in 1967. The company has sold a variety of products in the past including television, shoes, car tires and others. The evolution and the meaning of the logo is unclear due to the changing business over the years. Official Link

19. Ford

Ford

Henry Ford used to work for Thomas Edison. He founded two companies before settling on Ford. His first company went bankrupt after just two years, and he left the second company after just one year. However, the second company became Cadillac later on. His third company, founded in 1902, was called Ford & Malcomson, Ltd. He was unable to pay the bills for parts in his third company, but some investors agreed to put money in the company, and it was renamed as Ford Motor Co. This is the company name in the first logo of 1903. The 1909 logo, which has a similar font as today’s logo was borrowed from Childe Harold Wills, who had made this font for his business card. In 1912, the Ford logo was given a complete makeover, as compared to the earlier simplistic design. When a car was launched in 1927, called Model A, the famous blue oval was introduced in the logo. This was the shape and color, on which all future Ford logos have been made. The company has experimented with different shape going from ellipse to circle, and even a diamond like shape in 1957. The 1976 logo was essentially, the last major change in the symbol, and is very similar to their current logo. Finally, in 2003, the company released a new logo, which came to be known as “Centennial Blue Oval”. Official Link

20. Wal-Mart

Walmart

The company has tried out various colors and variation of the word Walmart over the years. In 1962, when Sam Walton started, the company, the logo had simply the word spelled in a very basic design. The logo was changed in 1964, when a hyphen was added and the color was also changed from blue to black. This came to be known as the “Frontier Font Logo”. The 1968 logo shown here is the discount city logo, which was mainly used for uniforms, in-store signing etc, but it was never used to advertise or even in annual reports. The 1981 logo changed the curly font to a more solid font, giving the company a more stable, established and balanced look. The hyphen in this logo was replaced by the star in 1992, and the familiar blue color of the logo returned for the first time after the company’s inception. Walmart is probably one of the few companies, who have tried so many logos, but their current logo is more like the original logo, other than any other intermediate logo. The font differs a little from the original and is indeed more stylish, but the ‘Walmart’ word without a break appears for the first time after 1962. They have kept the star from 1992, but moved it to the end. Official Link

Find something Missing?

Is your favorite Logo Evolution not on the list? Share it with us in the comments, along with the link if you have any.

Some Detailed Logo History References!

If you like to read some interesting Corporate Brand Logo Evolutions in details the refer the following list.

• Apple Logo History
• Shell Logo History
• Xerox’s Logo Evolution
• BMW Logo History
• IBM Logo History
• Canon Logo History
• Googl Logo History
• Kodak Logo History
• Microsoft Logo History
• MasterCard Logo History
• FireFox Logo History
• Pepsi Logo history
• LG Logo History
• Mercedes-Benz Logo History
• Nokia Logo History
• GE Logo History
• WalMart Logo History
• All In One Resource For Logo Histories!

- Thanks for this goes to the guys of Instantshift for their article. -

Ride Qi

Ride Qi

The Royal Chains

The Royal Chains

Diesel Design

Diesel Design

D. James Goodwin

D. James Goodwin

IQ Videography

IQ Videography

Frederick Van

Frederick Van

OEIL Photography

OEIL Photography

Identity Kitchen

Identity Kitchen

Betsy Hammill

Betsy Hammill

Nation Toys & Tees

Nation Toys & Tees

Structure your content

Understanding your audience means your copy should be relevant to them. Do some research, then put yourself in your audience’s shoes and write for them.

Each story should be a hook so remember to keep content short and snappy. Content should tease and encourage readers to click through to your website – not give the whole story away.

You will get a better click through rate with a short page containing ten short hooks than you will with one or two long story that may or may not, interest your reader. readers have a VERY short attention span and will quickly scan an email for items that interest them then click through or leave.

“It needs to be enticing” says Guardian writer and content specialist Claire Foot. “Keep your content short, sharp and sexy. Don’t lose readers by giving them irrelevant content.”

There are many ways to engage with the user and offer them a clear reason to continue their path to your site. “What happened next” text works well.

For example, “What was Posh Spice doing in this shop?” or “find out how we increased sales by 200%”, as clickable links.

Link to the relevant part of your site. Don’t make readers click to your homepage and then work to find the content you’re promoting. Make it easy.

You should also really aim to get under the skin of your intended recipients and use the language of your audience to really engage them. Depending on your audience, make it chatty, but not patronising and have the tone sit comfortably with the product.

Rebecca Cryan agrees. “Poor content can’t be saved by a clever design later,” she says. “An email may look slick and sophisticated, but if it’s got nothing to say, why would anybody want to read it? Copy counts. Take time to perfect the pace and tone of your newsletter.”

The amount of text you use is also a decision based on who your intended audience is. A newsletter for a television series such as The Apprentice can be more text-heavy, as it’s appealing to an older audience who are more likely to spend a longer time interacting with it.

Younger audiences require more visuals and less text: try to deliver a dynamic message in fewer words. This could also be true for an adult audience that might be looking at your product offering too.

Services on the other hand are summed up better with words than an image. Using the right method is key.

Next Time…

In the next article we will be talking about “Subject Lines”.

Rios Illustration Ads

Rios Illustration Ads

Rios Illustration Ads

1. Who you’re sending the newsletter to?
2. What you want to achieve?
3. How do we create copy that fits your brand’s tone?

Objectives first

“Email marketing can be much improved by more effective information gathering,” she explains. “Factors such as age, sex and interests ensure that newsletters reaching people’s inboxes are specific to them and their lifestyle.”

“We like to look purely at the objectives first. Some clients will fixate on the creative but we like to take a step back and review what they want to achieve with the email in the first place.”

“In the planning stages, we had the target users very much in mind when trying to create a compelling piece of communication,” explains interactive producer Oliver Davies.

“For this reason, we decided to produce something that was more content-rich and took longer to consume than other, more visual styles,” says Davies. They dubbed the tone ‘Apprentice snacking’. If the recipient didn’t have the time to click through to the main site, there would still be something substantial to satisfy their Apprentice fix.

This article has been based on an article from .net