Author: Eric Palmer
Web Conventions: Creating a User-Friendly Navigation
Conventions are the way web users expect a site to look or work. When it comes to navigation, there's freedom in some decisions, while others should stick to the status quo.
Web Conventions: The Logo
If the word "STOP" was suddenly removed from stop signs everywhere... you'd still understand what that giant red octagon was telling you to do, right? But if the shape changed to a square, or the color to blue, you'd be a little more cautious, wouldn't you? You could figure it out soon enough, but there would most likely be a moment of confusion. Over time you've become accustomed to things looking a certain way and…
Blogging: Yes, It Really Is Important
Unlike our office, most people aren't plugged in to their computers all day long. That used to make keeping up with your business's social media pretty tough, but the proliferation of smart phones and social apps has alleviated most of those problems. One area that hasn't been made any easier though, is blogging. Writing a simple text message can be hard enough with just your thumbs; a whole article almost certainly requires a desktop. Yes,…
The Big Ten Gets Bigger
On Monday it was officially announced that the University of Maryland would be joining the Big Ten Conference, and it's fully expected that Rutgers will make a similar announcement later today (NOTE: They just did). This is the second expansion of the Big Ten in just 2 years, with Nebraska joining in 2011, brining the total number of schools to 14 by 2014. From a branding perspective, this move could hurt the conference.
Taking Branding to New Heights
We usually write about design-related topics, due to the fact that it's what fills our days (And nights. And dreams. And nightmares.) but sometimes we just have to post about something we think is really cool... and Red Bull Stratos is one of those things. If you're actually using the internet and reading this blog we shouldn't have to explain what Red Bull is to you, but you probably haven't heard of Stratos. Red Bull…
6 Degrees of BK – The B Stands for Bacon
Way back in the dark ages, I mean 1994, actor Kevin Bacon made the bold claim that he had worked with everyone in Hollywood, or was at the very least connected by those he had worked with. It was this claim that started the game of "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon," the challenge being to connect any actor to Kevin Bacon in no more than 6 steps. The internet has made the game much easier,…
A New Day for eBay
Remember our little chat about Microsoft and their new logo? About how it fit with the trends in branding these days? Well you can add another redesign to that list, and it's quite similar. This time it's eBay, the online marketplace giant that started 17 years ago as an auction website.
These Windows Come With A New View!
It's official: for the first time since 1987, Microsoft has a new logo! Seeing as I was born that year, I haven't known Microsoft by any other mark, though looking through their past logos I think my favorite is now the 1980-81 version, or the "Metallica version" as we've dubbed it here.
I Win A Gold Medal in Forgetfulness
The folks over at Inspix collected many of the Olympic logos from 1924–2016 (winter and summer) and it's worth a look. For as (relatively) few Olympics as I've been around for, you'd think I'd have a better memory of them. Apparently, not the case. The logos for Atlanta (96) and Beijing (08) drew instant recognition, while others like Nagano (98) and Salt Lake City (02) looked familiar, but mainly reminded me of watching those games.…