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

The Winner has been chosen! The 2016 Games are going to Rio de Janeiro. South America finally gets an Olympics. After a long, dramatic wait, Chicago was knocked out by the International Olympic Committee. Even Tokyo was another contender, but was eliminated after Chicago in the second round.

Chicago’s logo for 2016

Tokyo Olympic logo for 2016

Rio’s Olympic logo for 2016

Congratulations Rio! We look forward to seeing a finalized logo for the Olympic games in the years to come.

It seems to happen all the time. Most of us have access to hundreds or even thousands of channels depending on your cable provider, and you click through them and never find anything worthy of your time in front of the TV. Quality programming can sometimes be hard to find. I am notorious for channel surfing, but I began to take notice of specific TV networks and their logos and marketing concepts. I found that there is so much variety and they are all so interesting. Take a look at these and notice how there is no specific style to them. They all vary so much depending on the channel’s general content. What’s your opinion on these?

The major networks use very simple ideas but have  progressed a lot over time. Often, their changes have included creating 3D concepts and adding more modern graphics. The BBC added a blue back light to their HD logo and I had seen a few versions of a 3 dimensional NBC peacock.

The Syfy channel changed their spelling and their logo. They dropped the Saturn symbol and adopted a new font instead. I think I will miss the Saturn symbol. It added a futuristic presence.

I think people often take TV channel logos for granted. They appear as tiny icons at the bottom corner of the screen and are more overlooked than noticed. They at least tell you what channel you are on if you land on it, but a lot of work actually goes into their design, just like any logo. Next time you are surfing for that perfect show to watch, take a look at the network logo and you may appreciate it a bit more.

-Nora Reed

The Swine flu or H1N1 virus has created quite a stir in the past few months. The media has made sure that we are so aware of it, that it has been the basis of paranoia among those who have even the slightest germ fear. Supposedly, this winter season is when it will hit the hardest, but who really knows? The precautions that we’ve been encouraged to take are a bit ridiculous. Basically school students are encouraged not to have any physical contact with each other whatsoever and colleges are considering having a quarantined area for those who feel sick. Is this flu stain really a good reason to stir such a fear in people? It could very easily be something created by the drug companies to sell more vaccines.

Whatever the case may be, the Swine flu is still the biggest health threat that is creeping up on us right now and it seems that we hear more and more about it every waking hour. It’s almost impossible not to think about it all the time, therefore designers express their own interpretation and create logos that represent or mock the virus.

Although we have been encouraged not to fear pigs themselves, the swine flu still got its name from a pig, therefore there are a lot of opportunities to use the pig image in a Swine flu logo creation. The bio hazard symbol along with the pig seems to be a common image. There is also a lot of creativity, in which the pig’s snout is replaced with a skull. This image is a bit morbid, especially since the media is referring to Swine flu as “deadly,” although it’s just as deadly as the regular flu, which also claims many lives every year, but we don’t get upset over that. Much like SARS, it’s nothing that can’t be cured with a little chicken soup and sprite, or maybe a dose of Tamiflu.

So it seems we are in for a long winter of encouraged fear, in which every cough or sneeze will be an excuse to stay home, but maybe a little relaxing time isn’t a bad thing. Just make sure to drink a little extra OJ in the morning and your dose of vitamin C should be covered, but I still wouldn’t recommend going around kissing any pigs.

-Nora Reed

Creativity comes in many forms and packaging is one way that a company can use creativity to help sell a product. Packaging makes a big difference when an item is waiting to be sold on a store shelf. Interesting packaging can draw customers to a product and can help it compete with similar products that may be in close vicinity. Take a look at some of these unusual, but great packaging designs. Do they take away from the products they are advertising or help? Would you be more interested in making a purchase if your options were more like these? Is eye candy really all that we look for? I’d like to know what you think.

-Nora Reed