Trends
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BrandingFirst, I'm an admirer of the iconic brand design work that Chermayeff & Geismar have done over the years. That been said, the first image that came to my mind when I saw this logo was a jail cell window, not books. Although the simplicity of the design works well in the digital media environment I was expecting some visual connection with the original Harvard Press logo. Perhaps a modern visual interpretation of the 3 books that have identified Harvard and Harvard Press for so long? The new logo in my opinion although clean, feels stark and a bit cold, more appropriate for a bank than for one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the world. Too radical of a departure, I wish the character and weight of the Harvard brand was somehow still present. Just an opinion.
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Logo designIf "a brand is a promise" as Walter Landor famously stated, eBay and Microsoft have fallen rather short on the new visual representation of their brands: their logos.
eBay has been evolving quietly but significantly and now it's much more than auction-style listings, it has transitioned from an auction site to a storefront. eBay president Devin Wenig said: "the new logo is part of its effort to reinvent the 17-year-old brand and create a new eBay". Unfortunately the new reinvented eBay logo falls short on communicating such a grand promise lacking the visual uniqueness and personality of the old logo which as quirky as it was at least it was memorable and distinctive, key attributes every logo must have. eBay's color palette (also used by Google and many others) by itself is not enough to set it apart and the generic typography dulls the new logo rather than make it shine. The logo is clean but uneventful, it went from all personality to none and so eBay's brand design "re-invention" efforts fail on its core promise: inventiveness.
“It’s been 25 years since we’ve updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change. This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products… …so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning.” –Microsoft"Incredible excitement, new products and a new beginning", big words, however the "new" Microsoft logo design does not support the promise they convey. Although the logo does well maintaining consistency of color scheme and the windows concept, it fails however in fulfilling the promise of excitement and a new beginnings, it's nice and clean but falls short on inspiration and in communicating innovation. Unfortunately Microsoft missed the opportunity to use its 25 year re-branding milestone to make the ambitious "new beginning" statement believable from the brand image point of view. I'm afraid most Microsoft users will barely notice the brand's "update" making the re-branding irrelevant and the "new beginning" promise dubious. -
Digital strategyBased on a July, 2012 About.com "The Trust Factor" study, reviews played a bigger role in cultivating trust than friend "likes" and recommending brands. Other key trust promoting factors are: accuracy, expertise, transparency as well as useful mobile content, location-based services and video. Read full emarketing article.
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Social MediaUniqlo made good on its brand commitment to innovation on clothing as well as marketing pushing the limits of Pinterest with a visually arresting animation. This is a good example of a brand using social media in perfect alignment to what they stand for. Read the full story on Brand Channel.
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TypographyI love this experimental design exercises that set the imagination free. Although the purpose of this experiment is to promote the 3D prototyping capability of the UK-based Ravensbourne digital media university they really went well beyond the call of a promotion.
They created an alphabet where each of the letters features a typeface rendered with a concept that relates to the history of that typeface. For example, the "C" of Courier is made of typewriter keys since Courier was the font typewriters used in the 1950's.
Beautiful, original and fun. Love it!
Read the complete article in Designboom -
Interactive marketing technology / QR codes
Heineken personalized QR code stickers helped thousands of concert goers to start conversations with complete stranges and so promoting friendship and imported beer. Via DigitalBuzz
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QR codesIf you think QR codes are everywhere these days, you are not mistaken. This infographic from queaar.com reveals some astouding facts. Fortune 500 companies such as P&G are now agressively implementing QR based sales and marketing strategies. Soon most smartphones will have an integrated QR code reader and their use will surely explode.
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QR codesQR code stands for “Quick Response” it’s a smartphone readable bar code that can launch a website, a product page, blog or social media site, videos, SMS messages, emails and many other types of digital data in a snap. QR codes seem to be everywhere these days, their uptake has increased 4,589% from early 2010 to early 2011. Victoria’s Secret turned heads with its successful QR billboard campaign and even the “The Real Housewives of New York City” are pushing products on TV with the help of QR codes. the reason?. QR Codes do a good job at enhancing the user experience very quickly and easily.
To scan a QR code, you need a QR reader. These are some of the best: QRafter for iPhone and Barcode Scanner for Android.I’m using QR codes myself to showcase my work, in business cards and other promotional materials, to entice prospects to scan and view my mobile Youtube video portfolio. Give it try. Scan my QR code from the business cards above and let me know what you think. Questions? Post a comment or give me a call. -
Experimental
When you are Nike, the expectations can only get higher and higher. An as always Nike manages to make a big splash combining experimental visual technologies and smart creative. Enjoy the show. Thanks to DigitalBuzz for the tip.
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Illustrators successfully challenge digital media with traditional craftsmanship and experimentationIllustrationWith digital technology becoming the main media for creating illustration art sometimes it feels as it's dictating illustration trends too much. It's refreshing to see that striking art can still be made with humble trational media. The amazing paper illustrations from Russian artist Yulia Brodskaya are a fantastic example of the resilient power of handmade crafts.
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