Recently, Visible Logic celebrated its 10th Anniversary! As the owner of this small business, I’m thrilled that we’ve survived and thrived so long. And it’s especially exciting to see how our firm has grown in its tenth year. One new part of our business is Mail On The Mark, our e-newsletter service.

We have been designing e-newsletters for our clients for a long time, and realized that the tools available to most small business owners were not great. Many of our clients were using email marketing services that produced poorly designed e-newsletters. They came to us for outstanding brand identity work, and then it all fell apart when they connected with their customers’ and prospects’ in boxes.

We felt there had to be a way to create beautifully designed, truly custom-branded, highly functional e-newsletters. So we created Mail on the Mark.

Now as a thank you to everyone who has helped us succeed the past ten years, we are giving away 10 free blueprint designs. These are valued at $999 each!

Note: A blueprint is like a template, except that we HATE the word template. Template suggests a pre-made, generic looking design. All of our designs are completely customized with your brand identity and tailored to the type of content you include in your email marketing. Read this for more information.

We want to help you!

We are looking for 10 worthy groups who would benefit from a well-designed, custom-branded, e-newsletter. This is available to non-profits, small business owners, entrepreneurs, or even you.

Our criteria for choosing the winners is loose, but we are looking for the following (not all of these at once!):

• Organizations who can really benefit from effective email marketing. Ideally you are already established, but have lacked a professionally designed e-newsletter.
• Companies or individuals who currently use another email service, but are unhappy with the results; or do not currently use an email marketing tool.
• Businesses we can help in Maine.
• Organizations involved with: environmental issues; running/triathlon/fitness; cooking; gardening/farming; dance; children/education.
• Entrepreneurs and small business owners who are trying to launch successful businesses.
• Design opportunities that will allow us to create showcase work.
• People who are willing to spread the good karma (hint, click on that Tweet button and/or the Facebook Like button)

Spread the word & stay in touch!

Tell others about this contest:
Tweet

Connect with us on Facebook:

Submit your application below.

Yes, that’s all you need to do!

[contact-form-7]

Fine print: We are designing a custom blueprint for your e-newsletter for use with a Do-It-Yourself account. You will be responsible for any fees related to sending your emails. Generally this fee is .05/email + $10/sending fee per campaign. Learn about the fees for sending.

We’ll keep you posted of who we have selected for this contest.

The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a time when we all tend to look inside and figure out what we can do better. As a business owner, it’s time to look at your brand identity and see what you can do better.

Remember, a stronger and more unified brand identity will lead to better recognition among your prospects, growing trust and a better ability to attract better, higher paying clients.

Web Site

1. Go through your web site, page by page, and identify content that is out of date. Anything that can be easily updated do so immediately.
2. Any content that is no longer relevant should be eliminated.
3. If you’ve abandoned your blog, take it out of the navigation.
4. Write a list of all content that needs more lengthy updating, or needs to be developed. Delegate the task to someone and give it a deadline. Don’t know who’s going to write it? Give us a call and we’ll refer you to a great writer or editor.
5. If you’ve been writing a blog that is not housed within your web site or domain name (for example if you’re using a .wordpress URL or blogspot) integrate it into your site. Not sure how to do that? Give us a call.
6. If you have a blog or other area that needs new content frequently, ask everyone around you for ideas. Generate a long list of topics based on feedback from your employees, your readers, your clients, your vendors, your partners, etc. Figure out what people want to read about. It will make your content more relevant and help you find topics to write about.
7. Update your client list to ensure that it is current.
8. Update your employee list to add new hires and eliminate people who no longer work there. In these recessionary times, some organizations have kept staff on their web site to make it look like they are bigger than they are. It’s time to just come clean with who is currently working for you.

Business Cards

1. Take a look at all the business cards floating around your office. Do all the employees have up-to-date logos, taglines, colors, paper, contact information and titles on their cards? Figure out what is correct and current.
2. Make sure that the correct files are identified on your server, with your designer or with your printer. Whoever orders the cards needs to know what the correct standards are.
3. Are there employees who have received promotions who need new cards? Order them now.
4. It is often cheaper to print more than one business card at the same time. Figure out who is low on cards and order them now too.
5. Consider using thicker, higher quality paper on your business cards. It makes an important first impression about the quality of your brand.

Other Communications

1. Do you have an electronic version of your letterhead and standards for how letters, memos or proposals should look? If not, create some template files for everyone to use, watch this video to learn how.
2. Check out email signatures. These don’t have to be 100% consistent from one employee to the next, but ensure that everyone who includes a logo is using the right one and no one is using incorrect addresses, taglines, etc.
3. Make sure you and your employees are using an email address from your company whenever you contact clients and prospects. Don’t use gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc. Think it doesn’t matter? Read this white paper report and realize what a bad impression you are creating if you use a non-branded email address.

Logo Standards

1. Make sure you have an organized logo library available to all your employees. When a small business owner goes from being a solopreneur to having employees often these details don’t get shared very well. Review the files everyone is using, discard any that are incorrect, and post good clean files on a server, dropbox, other other accessible place. Not sure what type of files to use and share? Read about the difference between pixel and vector-based graphicsto make sure you got the right files from your logo designer.
2. If you realize that you need variations on the logo, hire a professional do it. For example, there may be times you want to separate the logo’s symbol from the logotype. Or you may need a horizontal or vertical version of the logo. Rather than having employees create these on the fly, have your graphic designer add to your logo library in an organized way to keep your brand consistent. Read this post (scroll to the bottom), to help you figure out if you should you have more than one version of your logo.

Social Media

1. Claim your Twitter handle. You don’t have to use it, but you can put your basic contact info there and more information about the best way to get in touch.
2. Properly brand your Twitter landing page with a logo that is sized appropriately.
3. If you have a Facebook page, at minimum place a logo that is sized appropriately on the page.
4. If you are going to use Social Media, have a plan for who is doing the updates, what are appropriate topics, and how available you’ll be. If you need some more guidance about personal vs corporate branding, read this blog post.
5. Double check that any links to social media, from your web site or email signature are accurate.
6. If you are unable or not interested in using social media, remove the links/icons from your web site.

Everywhere

1. Take a look at all of these places mentioned, as well in any printed materials, presentations such as on Slideshare or created in Powerpoint, and see if things are consistent. If you want some ideas of what to look for, read about 8 Essential Elements to a Comprehensive Brand Identity. Each touchpoint with customers or prospective clients should have a consistent, and recognizable brand identity.

What else did I forget that you are taking time to examine this New Year’s season?

Presenting the first round of logo designs to a client is one my favorite parts of my job. It’s very exciting to show how loose ideas, general likes and dislikes, and sometimes even conflicting input gets translated into a tangible logo design.

I’m happy to say we’ve been very successful at being able to translate these abstract thoughts into concrete designs, and generally our clients are pretty wowed by the effect. Whether they are a local client from Portland, Maine or someone we are working with entirely through phone calls and emails, we manage to figure out what they are looking for.

The next step then becomes evaluating the options.

How to choose a good logo design?

Good logos have appeal both at first glance and when you’ve had some time to sit with them. Great logos have immediate appeal and then grow even more appealing as someone has time to take in the detail.

A fun example of this is the FedEx logo. At first glance, it is bold and clean. At second glance, you see the arrow embedded in the logo, which sums up the speed and accuracy which is at the core of their business.

First impressions

When you are working with a logo designer, and seeing your logo designs for the first time, try to remember that feeling. Some of those same first impressions that hit you, will hit your customers and prospects.

Probably you will have a strong reaction (either positive or negative) to some of the logo designs you see. Some of these impressions are gut reactions or from the subconscious. You just like it or didn’t like it for reasons you may not even be able to easily articulate. Even if you can’t say why, it’s still a worthwhile feeling to acknowledge.

Another important part of first impressions is that they cannot be easily overcome. A great logo needs no explanation, it just works.

There are many times when your prospective customer will only see your logo very quickly. Whether it’s briefly when exchanging business cards, or quickly as your logo’d van drives by, many first impressions of logos happen quickly without much time for analysis. It needs to be recognizable and memorable in a flash.

Lasting feelings

Just as important as first impressions, you need to have a logo that you love the more you look at it. As a business owner, you will be promoting your brand identity for years, and you don’t want to easily get tired of it. In fact, the stronger a concept behind a logo design, the more you’ll tend to like it as time goes on.

It’s especially great if your logo tells a story. This story or concept helps you connect with your audience. Just like first impressions, sometimes these impressions are hard to articulate, but still resonate with viewers.

A logo that has no substance or concept behind it will tend to look out of date more quickly because the only thing holding it together is “style.” As trends change, your logo (and therefore your brand) may appear out of touch. A more classic design, backed by a strong concept will serve you better in the long run.

Should I get other people’s opinions?

Many designers cringe at the idea of “design by committee.” Group decisions often weaken a design and the result is a watered down concept with a muddied result.

However, I do recommend that you show preliminary logo designs to other people that you trust.

Each person has their own life experiences that they bring with them when viewing and evaluating something like a logo. They may see similarities with other logos or brands that you are not familiar with. It’s good to hear about these possible conflicts before you become too invested in one logo design.

Do not expect to please everyone, and do not look for your advisers to give you answers (just opinions). In other words, listen when they say: “This reminds me of brand X” but don’t put much weight into statements like: “I’d like it better if this were red.”

Rather, listen to their gut reactions and follow up with research on any correlations they see that you are unfamiliar with. For example, if they say: “This reminds me of the logo for that Financial Advisor who embezzled millions of cash.” it would be a good idea to see if there are similarities between your new logo design and brand identity (especially if it has a tainted history).

The final analysis

I really like to hear the process my client went through to select a logo design. So don’t feel that all you have to do is choose an option. When your logo designer has the full understanding of your decision making process, it can help them as they continue to refine the logo design.

Which brings me to my final point. It is unlikely that whatever design was shown in an initial design presentation is completely ready. Most logo designers are prepared to then refine a logo design, once an initial concept has been selected. This is why having a complete understanding of your thought process is useful. It will help your designer avoid going down paths you’ve already dismissed in your mind; and push a design more in the direction of your liking.

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If you want to see some example of our logo design process, I suggest you read about the logo design process for the New England Breeze logo, The Greater Freeport Chamber of Commerce logo, or the Perfect Peanut Brittle logo.

A small, family-owned gourmet food business approached us about upgrading their existing logo.

The Perfect Peanut Brittle Company had been using a piece of clipart for their logo that was not working out. The only version they had was not high resolution and it looked poor. When the client talked with the clipart company about upgrading the art and using it as a logo, they were told they did not have the rights to do so. Therefore, a new logo logo was in order. However, they wanted to maintain a tie to their current brand identity.

Old logo

As you can see, the original logo was a historical looking portrait, framed like a cameo. It recalled a certain era that tied in with the idea of good, old-fashioned, home-made peanut brittle.

So we worked to maintain that historical feel as we upgraded the design. I did research to find images of women from the Victorian period. I also was inspired by Mary Poppins and some of the outfits from the Disney movie.

Research and inspiration for the logo design: Victorian women and Mary Poppins.

I found lots of crazy hats and collars which were a bit more elaborate than the original, but the general lines of the hair, hats and collars worked.

The original logo also featured a script font for the logotype. It was hard to read and was not grouped with the logo; it was a separate element. Our client wanted to have at least one variation that tied the portrait together with the type. We also decided it would be the type of logo that could be split into two pieces when necessary.

First round of logo designs

First round of options for the logo design.

As you can see, we kept the design within a narrow focus. The first option (upper left) was quite similar to the original. The second option (upper right) was a close take away from that, but with a more elaborate hat and the script type put into a ribbon banner. Both of these followed the original’s downcast eyes and I found it a too dour and sad looking.

So, I started from scratch with a much more optimistic rendition (I was channeling Mary Poppins). I thought adding a peanut to the hat would also be a fun little extra touch.

Finalizing the logo design

The client agreed that the newer version was much more appealing with the smiling and upward gazing face.

We did a few rounds of revisions to tweak and adjust the logo design and this is what we ended up with. We chose the more readable non-script font, but placed it within the ribbon. We adjusted her hairline, neck and collar and made a few other minor adjustments to the design elements.

Final logo design for The Perfect Peanut Brittle Company

In addition to this version that groups the type and logo together, we also provided files for the elements separately. As I wrote in a recent post, we feel it’s OK to have more than one version of a logo, as long as they are very consistent. The client knew he would have several different applications for this logo, and there would be times when it would be better to separate the logo and the type.

Finally, we provided the client with a complete logo library including: eps files, jpegs and gifs in various sizes and small avatars to work with. Not sure what files you should get from your designer? read this.

The client’s reaction? He sent me a note saying:

Thanks so much for creating a fantastic logo for me!

And, I highly recommend the brittle. Buy it online or find it in stores and markets in and around Maine.

This week we learned of the death of Steve Jobs, the leader of Apple computers.

Many times when someone I know only through the news dies, I honestly don’t have much of a reaction. But in the case of Steve Jobs, I feel more of a real loss because I can truly say his ideas and inventions strongly affected my life.

My first computer was an Apple

I remember I was in the eighth grade when my Dad decided to buy an Apple IIc for the first family computer. Growing up in the town of Lexington, MA there were quite a lot of geeky families with parents who were engineers or scientists, parents who were professors at MIT and other top universities, and many of the high school population heading that way, too. Therefore, there were debates—even in junior high—about Apple products vs IBMs. My Dad felt that while Apple was the underdog, it was the better designed technology.

I eventually took that old Apple with me to Carleton College and used it my first year. I printed my papers out on my dot matrix printer, and saved my files on 5″ floppy disks.

Apple has always had a strong educational connection, so I purchased a Mac classic through the school in 1990. I had my first mouse!

This little computer got me through my BA degree and I used it at home occasionally after that when I got my first job in publishing. However, at work, I used a PC with PageMaker.

In 1994, I returned to school at The Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) to study graphic design. Once we got into the core of our studies, I purchased a new Mac and the latest design software so that I didn’t have to spend all my hours in the computer lab. I purchased an Apple 7200. It was sluggish when I ran PhotoShop, and I definitely couldn’t run two applications simultaneously. But, it allowed me to work through the night on many occasions to learn how to become a designer.

After graduating in 1997, I moved to Chicago where I worked in a number of design studios. At work, I used to work on the first G3s. However, one employer I had was doing some computer upgrades and offered me an old 7500, so I was able to upgrade my home computer slightly.

Then, in the boom years, before the internet bubble burst, I was given a tangerine orange Apple laptop by my employer, Laughing Dog Creative.

Apple design begins to stand out

I still have this computer (in a closet) and I think I’ll always cherish it. This was a real turning point for Apple. It was when being seen with an Apple product began to take on status. I remember travelling with it, and when I took it out to go through security everyone sort of “oohed and aahed”.

From that point on, I’ve owned a large succession of more Apple computers. As a graphic designer, Apple has always been the platform that worked best for the professional Adobe design software I use and for rendering fonts. Starting as a one person shop in 2001 and now growing Visible Logic into a multi-person studio, we’ve purchased numerous iMacs and laptops. I figure I’m on my third Apple laptop and fourth desktop model that I have personally used for design work. This doesn’t even get into my iPod, iPhone, etc. or the computers for my employees.

More than just a tool: a role model of great design

Obviously, Apple computers have been a direct participant in my economic success. I could still be doing design on a drafting table with press type and an exacto blade, (and yes I did have some early jobs/internships where I did this!) but I’m really glad I’m not. I sit at an Apple computer for many, many hours every day.

But another important factor is how Apple has influenced great design and branding. Apple has always made design a central part of their product development. This means industrial design in terms of the physical look and interactive nature of their products. It means graphic design in terms of their logo and streamlined package designs. It means usability design in terms of their operating systems and their web site. And it means branding in terms of the cohesive message they present to their customers, many of whom are very strong brand evangelists.

It is extremely helpful to me, as designer working in web site design and branding, to have a role model out there for my clients to refer to. They can see the direct economic success of an investment in design and branding.

It is hard to guess how Apple will move forward without Steve Jobs. I wonder what other areas of technology he could have revolutionized if had had more time.

We are currently in the midst of a large branding project. It started with an analysis of the client’s competitors and target audience and is now in the final stages of logo development and refinement and the beginning phases of the web site design.

As we are refining the logo design, we’ve had some interesting conversations about “What is the best shape for a logo?” And “Is it OK to have multiple versions of your logo?” such as one that is predominantly horizontal and another that is grouped more compactly.

I’m not ready to share the client’s in-progress work, so I will use other examples to illustrate my point.

The wide rectangle

When I was in design school, we were taught that the ideal shape for a logo is a horizontal rectangle. That doesn’t mean that the actual shape of the logo needs to be a rectangle, but the live area should be like a wide rectangle.

An example of a logo we created that fits the wide proportion, but is not actually a rectangle shape.

This is the normal viewing area for the human eyes, which is why they use it in movie theaters. This format is now becoming more mainstream as TVs and computer monitors are also more commonly created with this widescreen format. That shape can quickly and easily be seen, whereas a more tall & skinny or overly wide format may take longer for the human eye to see and recognize the information.

The square

Nowadays, there are many applications that require a square version of your logo. Favicons, and avatars are two common places where you may need to represent your company or brand with a small, square version of your logo. Some designers are trying to create logos that are specifically square to start with. Other shapes that fit within a square would be a close second choice, such as circles or triangles. They should have the same height and width dimension.

A logo with a square shape as the live area (although it's actually a circle)

Working with your business name

A critical problem (and one for this client project we’re in the middle of) is businesses with long names. In that case, it can be difficult to make a version of the logo that is grouped tightly. If you’re starting from scratch, you may want to consider a short name. There are many benefits to a short and snappy name and one of them is that you’re able to create a very compact logo design.

With a name like Visible Logic I understand the issues!

One company that overcame this issue was FedEx. For years, they fought to be called their full name: Federal Express. But eventually they decided to change to the nickname that everyone was using: FedEx. This opened up a world of opportunity when they rebranded. What started as a weak logo, was redesigned and is now praised as one of the best.

You can see with the FedEx example, that choosing a short brand name can be beneficial. But, it is not the only consideration. The name needs to make sense to people, it needs to have an available domain name, etc. You also may have a company that has successfully been in business for a long time and it doesn’t make sense to shorten your name! (You probably don’t have FedEx’s budget for marketing, nor their promotional opportunities on the sides of trucks and planes across the globe).

Should you have more than one version of your logo?

Harkening back to design school days again, I remember being told that while a wide rectangle is the ideal shape for a logo, you should always have a version that can fit on the side of a pen. Pens are frequent giveaway items at trade shows and some businesses do rely on this type of promotional item. Nowadays, it’s more common to need a horizontal version within a web site banner or header.

It is reasonable to have more than one version of your logo. You probably already have more than one version— such as a full color version and a black and white or one color version. With careful planning, you should be able to create several, tightly related versions of your logo so that you always have the best fit for the application at hand. Here is an example of both a wide and stacked version of British Airways logo (note there is also no highlight on one version, which might be necessary depending on the application).

Looking around on the web I was also able to find a picture of the British Airways headquarters that had the stacked version, but with white type.

On this page you can see a complete run down of all their planes with the logo applied. It is always the horizontal logo, but the actual placement of the ribbon graphic and the size and relationship between the graphic and type changes based on the physical structure of the plane.

Click here to see British Airway's fleet and how the logo changes slightly on each plane.

6 Tips for logo usage

1. The fewer the variations, the better. It is still ideal to have one version of your logo and be able to apply it in every case. This is the easiest way (especially for a small business owner) to ensure the correct usage and maximum impact.
2. But… make sure you have different versions that present your brand in the best light. Just like you have different color versions, based on ouput, you may need to have different lockups (the groupings of the typography and graphic). For example, if you only have a circular version of your logo, and you have a wide rectangular space to work with, your logo will appear very small. This is probably not ideal in a place where you are trying to maximize exposure. Having a secondary, wider version is good.
3. Consider the applications that are critical to your business. For someone like British Airways, a wide logo is great for placement on their planes. If you give away a lot of pens make sure you also have a good horizontal version of your logo. Think about the applications for your logo: large scale signage, uniforms, business cards, etc.
4. Create masters and then stick with it. Try not to make too many variations of your logo. This will weaken your identity. Ideally, have your designer create a complete logo library that includes things like: color version, black and white version, square avatars and logos with and without the tagline.
5. Prioritize your logo options. It’s best to consider one version of the logo to be the “master” and then the rest are secondary versions. The master has the ideal grouping of type and icon and is in your corporate colors. Always attempt to use the master first.
6. Make sure people understand the importance of consistency. Whether it’s the business owner, the marketing department personnel, or your web site designer, make sure the people who apply your logo have access to the right files and understand which version is the best to use.

Groupon and other daily deal sites have created a frenzy in the business world as consumers scoop up big bargains and business owners try to determine if the steeply discounted coupon offers makes sense for their own business.

A recent study shows that while the short term profitability of the offers may be worthwhile for business owners, the long term growth of customers is just not there. About 55.5% of the businesses who offered a coupon made money. But, business owners and entrepreneurs hope that these offers will have consumers buying beyond the deal offered and/or will become repeat customers for the business. However, only about a third of coupon users end up spending beyond the deal value. And less than 20% end up returning for a full price purchase later.

Don’t compete on price

This all comes back to one of the most basic business rules: don’t compete on price. Your value and differentiation from your competitors should never be about positioning yourself as the low cost provider. Ideally, you should create such a reputation and brand appeal that you can actually charge more for your services.

According to this survey, close to 80 percent of deal users were new customers of the business. Which means an opportunity for the business owner to show a distinct brand identity and build an effective brand experience with the offer. But with so few people returning, it is clear that the buyers were just there for the low price—not an ideal prospect.

The cost of business?

Some businesses who offer steep discounts through Groupon or other sites such as Living Social figure that it’s more of a marketing expense and are OK if their deal is unprofitable. But it makes more sense to invest that money into an effective marketing and branding effort that would attract ideal clients rather than just the cheap ones.

My inbox is filled with offers everyday from both local and national businesses who are using these deals. In general, there are very few well-established, high-end brands represented. And while I’m usually one to support any sort of marketing effort that helps independent businesses, I see how getting involved with these deals can do more damage than benefit.

Coupons and discount sites are a means of advertising your product or service. But in a way you are suggesting that your normal customers have been overpaying by the 40-75% margin that you are now willing to discount. It’s like a one-two punch of poor pricing & marketing messages: 1) you are overpriced and 2) you are offering a cheap service.

According to Utpal Dholakia, associate professor of management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, who completed the study:

This is a problem for businesses, because they’re not building their brand when they offer discounted prices for their products and services.

In summary: Groupon and daily deal sites can tarnish your brand image and attract cheap prospects rather than ideal clients.

On nearly every web site, there is the ubiquitous Contact Us button. But what happens when you go that page? What should you include on your contact us page?

1. List a complete physical address. If you do not include a physical address people become very skeptical of you and your business. You may use a PO Box, but definitely provide a mailing address to show that you are legitimate.
2. Include all the details. Your contact page is also a great way to list all of the ways to contact you. As fax numbers become less frequently used, they are not necessarily included in web site footers or business cards. But if you have a fax number, include it here because it’s where people are looking for that type of information. The same goes for Skype or any other communication medium that you use.
3. Include social media links. The contact us page is a great place to list all of your social media channels in one place. You’re probably showing the icons elsewhere on your site, but this can be a place to explain how use use those channels. For example, is Twitter a good place for your clients to get a quick customer service issue resolved, or is it only live during week day hours?
4. Make sure all email addresses are links. It’s a very simple thing to make an email address into a clickable link that will launch someone’s email program. Don’t make the viewer copy and paste. If you are worried about people harvesting your email address, then don’t list it at all, and use forms (see next item).
5. Make sure you include a form. If you only include email links, you are forcing someone to launch an email program to contact you electronically. If someone is using a public computer, or prefers to access their email using a web-based program, they are stuck. Using a form allows an email to come to you without relying on the viewer’s email client.
6. Include interactive maps. If you have a retail operation or other business that has in person traffic make sure you include a map from Google or other source that people can immediately customize to get directions from where they are to your location.
7. Add descriptive directions as well. If there is anything tricky about getting to your store, finding parking, etc. write down some directions that will help. This helps to humanize you and your brand. It also gets the relationship off on a good foot, rather than having potential clients show up frustrated with the trek to your location.
8. Consider adding a photo. Photos of your building or sign are easily remembered and will help someone trying to find you while driving or walking in a new area. They’ll get that “aha” moment as they recognize the same thing they saw on your web site earlier.

Depending on the type of business you have, you may not need all eight of these elements. Adding local information such as your address and phone number may help with search engine rankings and local search.

Most importantly, remember that being helpful can be an important way for your customers and prospects to begin to like and trust you. It’s an easy way to start a relationship making the right first impression.

Educational Endeavors has been one of our favorite clients to work with, and we’ve been working with them for about five years. When Educational Endeavors first sought us out, they had a professionally designed logo, but their brand identity lacked anything else. With their print marketing and web site we built a complete visual position for them that allowed them to stand apart in their field.

Educational Endeavors is a tutoring and educational consulting group and they compete against many national franchises. However, their personalized approach and local service appeals to many families who choose them over the other options.

Educational Endeavor's print marketing. Like any good branding system, there should be consistency from print to web.

Our initial branding work entailed creating a series of flexible, printed marketing materials. The look of the bright color palette, horizontal bands and silhouetted photographs was also picked up on the web site design. Creating a branding system for them finally made them look professional and legitimate; you may wish to read our case study white paper on how creating a professional brand image improved their bottom line.

Changes require change

Just because you have a solid brand identity system, doesn’t mean you’ll never want or need to upgrade your web site. Lots has changed in both the world of web site development and also with Educational Endeavors’ organization in the past 5 years and it was time to redo their web site. We took the opportunity to make changes to both the design as well as the functionality of the site. However, we made sure we kept the same brand identity, by using consistent, but not completely repetitious design elements.

Goals of the web site redesign:

• Add a content management system. We decided to use WordPress as it’s very easy to use and the client is considering adding a blog.
• Add a slideshow on the home page to be able to showcase more programs and make the home page more engaging.
• Update and reorganize content to make it more in line with their current offerings.
• Have more information upfront, and easy-to-find, on the home page

Before: Old design of Educational Endeavors home page

To help maintain the branding elements:

• Keep the brightly colored, horizontal bands and color palette, but made the homepage’s top area more content-rich. We continued to use one color for each section as this matched up with their printed materials, and we kept the dominant corporate color green.
• Keep the typography, but make it web friendly. We used the new options available through web fonts to use HTML typography, rather than graphics for the top links
• Continue to use the silhouetted photographs, but redesigned how they worked within the design. We also introduced more, real candid shots on the interior pages of the site.

After: Educational Endeavors redesigned home page

With the new site, Educational Endeavors has control over the updates to their content. We created a custom-designed WordPress theme for them. If you’re considering adding WordPress to your web site, you may want to read about our advice on getting a professional involved to help you get it set up.

We were especially happy to find a solution for the slideshow on the home page that uses live text. Not only is this text updateable by Educational Endeavors, it’s also SEO-friendly.

Everyone is happy with the fact that is more relevant content on the home page. The slideshow features their programs and offerings. There is more room for additional body copy below the slideshow. The navigation has stayed very clean and well-branded. There is a sign-up form right on the homepage to join the email list.

A couple of months ago I was at a networking event and I introduced myself, as I usually do, as owning a graphic design and branding firm. My new acquaintance said they didn’t completely understand branding. They specifically mentioned that someone had told them that the airlines were an example of an industry that was not using branding effectively, and she asked me to explain.

I thought it was an interesting example and a good one because I agree that none of the major US airlines is doing a good job using branding effectively. JetBlue and SouthWest are doing better than the others, but even they are lacking.

My firsthand experience with the lack of airline branding

This weekend I traveled to Chicago to meet with clients, potential clients and business partners as well as to visit with family and friends.

I recount my story to help make the point about what goes into branding, in addition to a strong graphic identity. And how the major US airlines are missing big opportunities to implement a distinctive and effective brand strategy.

Choosing my flights: No brand differentiation

I live in Portland, Maine and neither JetBlue nor SouthWest has a strong presence here. Therefore, I usually fly one of the other major airlines and I generally use a site like Orbitz or Priceline to find fares and purchase my ticket.

When I choose my flight, I start with the date I want to fly, then I sort by price and time of day. There is no thought of what airline I’ll be choosing. I scan through the list and see what flight has the most convenient time and a reasonable price.

What this shows is that I have no  brand preference. I don’t feel there are any real differences or reasons why I would choose one airline another. If you want to achieve brand loyalty, you need to give someone a reason to seek out your product or service. More flights and cheaper airfares certainly help, but if there was an airline that people sought out, they’d be willing to pay more for that brand.

As it turns out, with the services like Orbitz and Priceline you can even mix and match airlines. For example, on my return flight from Chicago I went United from ORD to LaGuardia and then US Airways from LGA to Portland. That’s pretty much the epitome of no brand differentiation. They are completely interchangeable.

The baggage game: No brand value

We all love to hate the airlines when it comes to baggage.

Flying out of Portland, Maine means I nearly always have to change planes. My normal suitcase for short visit is a roll aboard that fits the specs for a carry-on, but I often check because I don’t want to have to traipse through the airport with it.

As we all know, most airlines have started to charge you extra to check a bag. On the one hand it makes sense: they make more money, and they are essentially charging more for the weight of your bag. But the reality is that it’s just a mess: both for the logistics of boarding the plane and for the airlines’ brand appeal.

A lot of us figure “why should I pay $25 extra and risk losing my bag? I’ll just take it on board.” which means the boarding process is slowed down, and people are fighting over the overhead bins.

On my flight out, I had a tight connection and took my bag with me. However, on the way home I decided I’d pay the fee and lose the hassle of having to carry my bag through my connection. My flight to New York was nearly full and many people had the maximum sized carry on bags with them. So the flight attendants had to become bullies about the overhead compartments. The announcements started:

Save the overhead bins for the large bags. Any bag that can fit under your seat must be placed there.

They even started walking through the aisles and asking people why they had no bags at their feet. Meanwhile, they were also making announcement telling people to hurry up because people were waiting in the hot walkway.

I was thinking to myself:

I just paid extra to check my bag. I feel like I deserve my seat front area for my legs, if I want it. If everyone had bothered to check those roll aboards everyone would all have all the space they want.

I started wondering if the airlines should change their policy so that you had to pay $25 if you wanted the overhead space. For free you get the space in front of your seat or checked cargo area for you bags. That would still provide revenue for the airlines, but it would speed up the seating process as many more bags would be checked and make the boarding process much more pleasant. A more pleasant experience leads to brand loyalty.

And about that new logo

By the time they’ve got the doors closed, everyone is slightly annoyed and feeling no brand love.

Then, the screens come down and the safety video starts. But, because United recently merged with Continental, the video presentation starts with a message from the President talking about the merger.

Nearly the first thing out of his mouth is that thousands of planes have been repainted with the new logo.

I’m not going to talk about the weak, new logo, you can read about that many places. But I do want to highlight the fact that even I, the owner of a graphic design and branding company, do not want to hear about painting new logos on planes. I immediately started calculating how many baggage fees could be eliminated with the costs of painting the planes.

When a graphic designer, who designs logos and brand identities for a living, doesn’t care about your new brand identity it’s bad news. And these are the two reasons I don’t care: first the new logo is a muddied mixed up mess of the two previous logos; and secondly the other parts of the brand identity are so weak that I know it cannot be saved by a logo.

Beyond the logo, other branding visuals

I’m not going to do a critique of the logo, but I am going to mention the larger visual position of the brand. As we taxied around the runways I was reminded of how every airline has the same color palette: red, blue, white and maybe gray. Every plane is painted with a horizontal strip along it’s belly and the logo near the cockpit (is this some sort of FAA regulation??). And that ubiquitous branding is apparent throughout the airport: blue signs everywhere, no matter what the airline.

A typical airplane design with horizontal stripes and red, white and blue colors.

In summary

1. After flying as an adult for the past 20 years, no individual airline has been able to distinguish themselves for me in a way that makes me seek them out when booking an flight.
2. Once I’m at the airport there are no visual cues that separate one airline from the next as it’s all blue, blue and more blue.
3. Nothing about the flight and the service (and especially dealing with the baggage issues) inspires loyalty.

Airlines have a chance to create a unique brand position for themselves. All the major US airlines are making the same branding mistakes: no differentiation in either the tangible (ie brand identity elements) or intangible (ie customer service, pricing, policies, etc.) brand position. There is room for someone to make a bold move, if they dare.

I am curious, do any of you have brand loyalty to a US-based airline?