2010 April | Logo Design Blog

Archive for April, 2010

Apr 28, 201023

Changing colors of Logo Design SEO

Categories: Logo Design News, Logo Design SEO, Logo Designers, logo designs

Written By: Nora Reed

Any of you happen to come across lengthy posts by some self-proclaimed masters of design industry? It seems like few “companies” and “freelancers” have an intense opposition against Google and its search mechanism. Nowadays, some absurd cases are seen active in the logo design industry, creating bizarre hypes about Google.

Google search brazenly challenged:

Undoubtedly, whole world massively depends on Google and its search assistance but no one has been able to explain how Google mechanism actually works. Taking this advantage, a handful of companies and freelancers seem to be propagating “their” philosophy of Google mechanism. They have gone as far as challenging the authenticity of Google by ridiculing its search results and surprisingly only for the term “logo design”.

Logobird.com has brazenly challenged the authenticity of Google search capabilities saying,

“The Google algorithm doesn’t understand professional logo design.

Yesterday, Steve Douglas from thelogofactory.com further gave his words of favor, saying

“Seems a lot of designers are starting to notice that all is not right in search engine land. And they’re right. It isn’t.”

Why do I get the feeling these people are close relatives of Google?

If you can’t beat them, defame them:

Logo designing is a growing industry and being a part of it is a battle of nerves. Those who cannot stand the test of times either lose the race or lose their nerves…what say? Steve Douglas from thelogofactory.com loves to spend more time spying on other blogs than on his own. Although Steve has a chronic habit of spying on other blogs and making up distorting articles (a dishonorable technique of generating traffic), I would advise if you spend more time on SEO, you won’t be conjuring flaws in Google. But I understand, how can one be left with much time after all this post raiding and spy reports? By the way, it was really brave of you to finally admit that “We’re all in this together”. I Agree!

What really surprised me was the entrée of David Airey in this bizarre act. Frankly speaking, I have always respected David as a very competent and skilled graphic designer, and still do. But I need to ask this… where is David heading for? Being the “sole operator” of multiple blogs, I fail to understand how can one slay his time in this spy work? To set the record straight, LogoBlog is owned by DK Tech in UAE. Its sole purpose is to provide logo design related and useful resources to its users.

"I never lie because I don’t fear anyone"

Let us now come on the subject of SEO and its latest color hats. In one of David’s recent post, when one of the readers asked about his link building techniques, this is what he replies

I’m sure that poor reader would want to see these directory submissions. By the way, isn’t this called SEO as well?

What color hat SEO is this?

Undoubtedly, excessive Grey Hat turns into “Black Hat”. And Steve Douglas has left no stone unturned in doing exactly so. Here are excerpts from his post

Someone recently asked me this “why do you link to your competition on your blog?” And it’s true, I’ve never been shy about linking to any site using (in most circumstances) ‘do follow’ links.

Well Steve, the bare truth is that it’s not the competition you are linking; it’s merely the “intimate ones” you interlink and support. Even a newbie can figure out that the only interlinking you do is limited to “the chosen ones”. Now what color hat SEO would this come under?

Here are the blogrolls of this friend circle (logobird, thelogofactory, imjustcreative, logodesignlove) continually interlinking each other’s blogs…”only”. Great work, team!

Contradicting Statements:

The babbling does not end here. Steve further contradicts himself with another “enlightening” verity about SEO:

“For each of these sites, there’s a set of support splogs and websites, often hosted on sites likeWordpressorBlogger. Those sites toss inbound links at both the secondary level of the network as well as the target site. For what it’s worth, and other than content scraping and logo raiding for content, we’re still probably in Grey Hat territory.”

For those who do not know, Graham Smith so-called freelance designer at imjustcreative.com is busy creating multiple blogs to support his “friends” by doing some SEO work for them. After all, what are friends for? As David titled one of his recent post …“Birds of a feather, flock together”….so true!

It’s either my way or the highway:

Then there is Graham Smith, (a “ very good friend” of David) who blatantly declares “Avoid Sub £100 logo designs”.What a tactful way of saying “It’s either my way or the highway”. What about those who cannot afford a logo design over £100 (from big designers), don’t they have a right to own a logo design? What a diplomatic way of diverting people towards oneself by labeling companies who offer low cost, economical logo design solutions as “criminals” (as quoted by Graham Smith) and portraying oneself as a “savior”.

Who is the ring leader?

After reading the ludicrous stories put together by this “friend circle”, I learnt that connecting blogs and making relations isn’t so hard after all.
Even more startling fact is that their comments section is full of statements from “only” within their group. Have a look at the comment section at thelogofactory.com minutes after the post went live.

This mysterious connection made me ponder… “who is the ring leader?” They are taking up a daunting move by challenging Google’s search results, with Steve declaring “We’re all in this together”

Not a good idea, team! A friendly advice…the “ring leader” should watch out for Google. Cheers!!

Update:

I would like to clarify this post a bit, and update things for the record. I do not wish to imply David Airey is lying or a liar in anyway. After reading David’s comment below, and thinking more about it I see now what he is saying. He makes a good point. I’m a big fan of both David’s design, and his blog and wish him all the best and hope he continues to contribute to our discussions here.

Apr 26, 20106

In-Game Advertising – The new platform for logo designing!

Categories: Logo Design Tips

Written By: Nora Reed

Ever thought why we crave for a drink or want to order a pizza while playing video games? Although we don’t really yearn for it, still our impulses persuade us. This is known as the art of In-game advertising. With rules of advertising shifting through the development of technology, the applications of logo design are on the rise. Long gone are the days when companies were restricted to advertise through conventional ways. With the advent of video games and its rampant popularity, corporations have found a new way of advertising their corporate logo design to the masses. It’s time to say bye-bye to conventional advertising and hello to In-game advertising, the latest hype in the corporate promotion world.

Popularly known as IGA (in-game advertising) has gained corporate attention for its extensive usage and widespread reach. The technique used to advertise a corporate logo in a video game is called subliminal advertising. The users of video games are inadvertently exposed to the corporate logos in the background of the game. This stimulates the subconscious mind of the viewer and generates the necessary response from the advertisement. According to industry reports, in-game advertising will continue to rise to $1 billion by 2014.

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Pepsi used its logo design in its game developed by Kindle Imagine Develop (KID)

Pepsi In Game ad # 1

Pepsi In Game ad # 2

Did you know that Barack Obama spent over $ 44,000 on in-game ads for his presidential campaign? Take a look at the screen shots taken from the hit games, “Burnout” and “NBA”.

Obama In Game ad # 1

Obama In Game ad # 2

While conventional mode of advertising still holds the bulk share, the trends of corporate advertising are changing rapidly. Corporations are shifting to more unique and contemporary forms of promoting their logo design with the help of In-Game Advertising.

Do you think that In-Game advertising is a better mode of promotion than other conventional forms? Will we be seeing more and more corporate logos in video games?

Apr 21, 20103

Famous Logo Designs – The unknown tales!!

Categories: Logo Design Tips

Written By: Nora Reed

We are well accquainted with world famous brands and their renowned logo designs but some interesting facts about these brands/logos are not known. Being at the pinnacle of the corporate world, we continuosly get to read the bizzare history of these famous logo designs. However, their past holds some amazing facts that you will be surprised to learn.

Today, I share the unknown tales about the most recognized corporate logos of the modern world.

These brands have faced the test of times to reach where they are at present. Their story revolves around some astonishing realities that most of us never heed.

So go ahead and start reading the unbelievable truths about these famous brands:

1) Nike – From Cheap to Famous:


The all famous logo design “Nike Swoosh”, the basis of a multi-million dollar empire, was created for a paltry $35. Amazingly, the brainchild behind this renowned logo design was a graphic design student at Portland State University, Carolyn Davidson. Previously named Blue

Ribbon Sports, David was asked by his teacher to do some work for the company. Due to a deadline on his head, his Swoosh was accepted in desperation

2) DreamWorks SKG – The Mysterious Kid:

The well-acclaimed Hollywood studio was established in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen (SKG). Its logo design has a very interesting tale. Initially, the project was assigned to a company named Industrial Light and Magic with an idea of a man fishing on the moon. But Dennis Muren, the Visual Effects Supervisor, suggested a handmade logo would look better. For this purpose Robert Hunt was hired who came

up with the present historical logo, featuring his own son, William. This logo design became the face of DreamWorks SKG.

3) Coca-Cola – The Drug turned Cola:

Ever thought the beverage you love the most was first sold as a drug? That’s the case of Coca Cola. The Billion dollar company was originated by John Pemberton as a drugstore in 1885. He introduced a drug called French Wine Coca, which was targeted for people with extreme mental exertion. But then the tables turned for Coca Cola in 1886 when the prohibition law was passed banning alcohol. Hence Coca Cola, a non-alcoholic version of

French Wine Coca was introduced to suffice the prohibition laws. That is how a world renowned beverage “Coca-Cola” came into existence.

4) Hugo Boss – Nazi sponsor:

Hugo Boss, the well-acclaimed fashion designer brand, began as a clothing company in 1924 in Metzingen. However, due to the adverse financial conditions in Germany, Boss went into bankruptcy in 1930. But this did not stop Hugo as he set up a new business and in 1931 became an active member of the Nazi party. With the arrival of Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hugo Boss’s fortunes began to flourish as he became an official supplier of all German uniforms. The all-black uniform of the Nazi Schutzstaffel(SS), was jointly designed by Prof. Dr. Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer Walter Heck. Hugo Boss also produced the brown SA shirts and the black

-and-brown uniforms of the Hitler Youth. After the Nazi regime was trounced in 1945, Boss was indicted for Nazism and use of forced labor and was ordered to pay a fine. He died in 1948 but his business survived and grew into what is now the pioneer in fashion designing.

5) Marlboro Cigarettes – For Females Smokers:

Marlboro cigarette, known for its “manly” orientation, began as a female brand cigarette. The campaign was targeted to female smokers and the brand was projected as a mild cigarette. But these efforts failed and finally the brand was taken off the market. Then in the 1950’s, Marlboro was re-introduced as a filtered cigarette, an attempt to win over the health conscious audience and also claimed to be a men cigarette brand. The official symbol used was the “tattooed man”. This gave way for Marlboro to grow into most popular cigarette brand.

6) Sharp – Aftermath of an Earthquake:

No one could have imagined that an earthquake could result in the formation of a world class electronics corporation. Tokuji Hayakawa owned a metal workshop in Tokyo in 1912 where he invented a mechanical pencil called “Ever-Ready Sharp”. Gradually as things were starting to look good for Hayakawa, the Great Kanto Earthquake hit Tokyo in 1923. That destroyed Kayakawa’s workshop. With nothing left, the pencil inventor sold his patent and moved to Osaka where he tried out something new. This is when Kayakawa turned

his pencil making business into an electronics business. So now we know that there was never a person named Sharp. It was just the pencils that the multi-million dollar corporation was named after.

7) Siemens – Facilitated Hitler Propaganda:


Siemens, the Germany based conglomerate, is the leading engineering corporation. Although the company is famous worldwide, but it has a notorious past that many of you might not have heard of. Prior to the start of World War II, Siemens was involved in financially supporting the Nazi Party. During the Second World War, Siemens supported the Hitler regime, and played a part

in spreading the "Nazi" doctrine. Siemens owned many factories near the infamous concentration camps and built electric switches for military uses. The Siemens logo can still be seen on the gas chambers at Buchenwald camp.

I am sure these are just some of the many brands that have a curious tale. If you happen to know any interesting and peculiar facts related to other famous brands, do come and share with us.

Apr 13, 201020

10 Lame reasons to get a logo designed by your neighbor!!

Categories: Logo Design Mistakes, Logo Designers, logo designs

Written By: Nora Reed

It’s not new for logo designers to hear this excuse from their clients, “I’ll have my neighbor design my logo”. But they never tell you why. Most of you might not know what the reason behind this statement is. In fact there may be many reasons for clients to have their logo designed by their neighbor.

Today, I reveal the lame reasons as to why clients prefer their neighbor over professional logo design companies. Check out the top 10 amusing reasons why clients have their neighbor design a logo:

1. “He lives close to me – just next door”

Now that is one amusing reason to prefer your neighbor over a logo designer. I mean who wants to travel far off to meet a logo designer when you can go next door?