Sesame Street turns 40! The widely known children’s program has come a long way in 40 years, so it deserves a celebration. The show began on November 10th 1969 and is the longest running children’s television program on US TV. Google has proudly modified its logo to commemorate the joyous event with characters from the show. Jim Henson’s Muppet characters bring the educational series to life, adding personality and entertainment to the educational program.

Today was Cookie Monster and yesterday was Big Bird. What other characters will Google feature? Most likely the very popular Elmo will make an appearance.

It’s hard to keep a child’s attention span for very long, but Sesame Street has done a great job keeping kids both entertained and educated. Since the show has been around for so long, even adults have fond memories and favorite characters. The adults have passed on the tradition and perhaps Sesame Street will have another 40 yrs to go! Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

-Nora Reed

Halloween is such a fun holiday. It’s an opportunity to dress up, eat chocolate and have a scare fest. The Holiday usually means parties, food and friends and it is a fun little break from the ordinary everyday. Like most holidays, Halloween is also a booming market for retail sales and opportunities to create themes for amusement parks, stores or online sites. This is also a great opportunity for fun and frightful Halloween logos!

Of course the pumpkin is a great, classic symbol for Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Fall season in general. It’s one of the first things anyone thinks of when this time of year rolls around. They symbol is used in many logos to show their festive side and it is a great image for artistic creations. Here, YouTube replaces their known TV symbol with a square shaped pumpkin for that perfect Fall season feel.

Apple’s logo transforms from an apple to a pumpkin pretty easily, although I only think the stem should have been green or brown. Apple does traditionally use one color for their logo, so I guess they were staying consistent to their theme and brand identity.

How can there be a Halloween without the constant replaying of one of the many Halloween movies? The buildup to Halloween is one of the best parts of the holiday. It’s fun to look forward to a month or week of scary movies, decorated houses and stores overstocked with candy. The movies have always been my favorite part. When it comes to great horror films, new titles are always fun and refreshing, but on that particular night, tradition is always the better way to go.

I personally enjoy when candy companies create Halloween themes for their candy wrappers. This is the biggest day of the year for them so it would make sense for them to go all out.

Every year, it seems like new Halloween stores pop up, but since costumes are expensive, some competition is a good thing.

Google, being known for its constantly changing logo, also participates every year in showing off a great Halloween design. These are a few nice ones from the past, but I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with for this year.

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

-Nora Reed

I’ve spent a lot of time perusing the blogs of others and trying to get a feel for what the blogging community has to offer. After my searching, a bunch of question began to arise and I began to wonder what makes a blog popular? Is it the content or the amount of friends the blogger has? Or perhaps, a well established blog that has been around longer draws more attention. I’m still stumped as to what exactly it is, but thought that maybe it was the design of the site or even the logo or header that was the sole attraction. Most blogs are simple when it comes to the design, but having recently redesigned my own blog, it brought on the thought of how others have their blogs set up. How important is the header or logo of a blog? Does that bring in traffic and attract attention, or is just a pretty label that serves little purpose?

Abduzeedo

Abduzeedo has a great neon sign approach, which adds a lot of character. Other than the header, the design is simply a black background but nicely done and elegant.

Creative Nerds

The red background brings out the warm colors of the fire design. I think the fire is a great indicator of creative thinking.

Logo Design Love

I love how the blog name is set up as one word, but separated by a color difference rather than spaces. The logo covers the entire top of the page like a newspaper headline. The additional heart is the perfect way to tie it all together and add a bright color to the black and gray.

Noupe

Noupe has a great color scheme, in which the accents of pink really bring out the design, although they recently changed their look, to a pale blue background with navy lettering. The pink is still present and still ties the logo together nicely. Without the pink, it would be much more lifeless. I do think that all of the lettering should have a background shadow, it would help it jump off the page.

Outlaw Design Blog

This look is perfect for the name. Outlaw Design Blog has the great stencil look of the old west. It reminds me of lettering that would be painted on the wall of an old saloon. I like the new design a lot better now. It is much more creative and works great with the letting, although it would look nice if there was an added lasso or horse somewhere within the lettering or alongside it. It’s just such a great theme that there are so many interesting ways to take it and run with it.

Web Design Ledger

I love the wrinkled background with the subtle stripes, but I think that the lettering would benefit from some color or shadow. It just seems too plain for the interesting start going on in the background. The actual site does have a lot going on, so something plain is more beneficial to the design.

Blog. Spoon Graphics

This is such a busy logo but it works well. It demonstrates what it promises: good graphics!

Pro Blogger

Pro Blogger has a very bold design, in which the letters stand out and seem to shout at you. The “P” symbol on the side is an innovative and modern concept.

Techguy Tales

I’m not sure how they can get away with this one. Are they ignoring copyright laws? I’m surprised that the representation for Family Guy has not shut this down for stealing their angry monkey image, but it makes sense nonetheless and works for the theme.

Celebrity Gossip

This design works perfect for its purpose. The large pink star in the logo is reminiscent of the celebrity walk of fame and the fashionists in front of the star represent typical gossiping girls. Good gossip is always fun!

Little Box of Ideas

The thought bubble emerging from the “i” in “ideas” is a fantastic little touch to this logo design, however I don’t fully know what the face represents. Is this the author in cartoon form? The design concept is very clever and demonstrates exactly what it is, a release of thoughts and ideas!

Crazy Leaf Design Blog

I would be disappointed if there were not a leaf somewhere in this logo, although it somewhat resembles a feather. I love how the background and lettering have a shaded effect and don’t just look like solid colors.

Design O’ Blog

I like how the mouse is interpreted within the logo, considering it seems to be Niki Brown’s mascot. It’s cute and inviting and follows a fun, freehand text.

Cats Who Code

Simple and creative. Cats who code has a fun cartoon cat figure typing on a mac. I’m surprised Apple hasn’t forced them to change it with their paranoia over logo theft, although it seems there are many blog headers that include macs in their design.

The Design Mag

The coloring of the word “design” is what sets this concept apart from others. It looks to me like the sunset on a flat horizon and delivers a comforting feeling, yet appears professional. 

Smashing Magazine

Smashing magazine is anther great example of an interesting logo. You can’t miss that giant “S” as soon as you see it.

When I search other blogs, I generally search by article and go after what is most compelling, no matter what blogger wrote it. Others often check specific sites everyday in search of more content. I don’t know which method is more common. With so many great logo and header designs, it’s hard to tell if those are the sole attraction to blog sites or if there is much more to it and the logo or header are just part of the entire package.  What do you think?

-Nora Reed