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Demystifying the Logo Design Process: Retail Association of Maine Rebranding

Emily Brackett — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:20:48 +0000

Many people I talk with seem mystified by the logo design process. Business owners who want to hire a design firm are scared that they will not end up with a logo they are happy with. People look at new logos and wonder why some have turned out great and others do not. Many of these issues can be prevented by taking the time to follow a process that guides the logo design from the beginning. The work for a logo design begins before the designer starts sketching. If there is agreement about the goals for the brand, it is much more likely that everyone involved will be happy with the end result. Take a look at this video that shows the process of Visible Logic working with the Retail Association of Maine on their new logo as they rebranded from the former Maine Merchants Association. Video (5 minutes) on Demystifying the Logo Design Process: Retail Association of Maine Rebranding.

Branding The State of Maine: Mayor Brennan vs. Governor LePage

Emily Brackett — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:51:46 +0000

Recently, I attended two events hosted by the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce where I was able to hear my local politicians in person. About two weeks ago I went to a luncheon where the keynote speaker was Michael Brennan, Mayor of Portland, Maine. Then yesterday, I went to their breakfast-time "Eggs & Issues" event where Paul LePage, Governor of Maine was the featured speaker. As prominent local elected officials, I read and hear a lot about each of the men in the news and media, but I had never seen either of these politicians talk live.

Portland and Maine: Struggling but reaching

I live, work and own my business in Portland, Maine. I grew up in Massachusetts and I had lived most of my adult life in Chicago. But in late 2005 my husband and I chose to move to Portland, Maine. We are one of the many people who move to Maine, and to the Portland area, because of the quality of life. Both Portland and Maine end up getting some prominent listings whenever there are best/worst lists in magazines or web sites. Portland has been called the Foodiest Small Town, and we're even ranked number 5 for America's best Cities for Hipsters. Maine is currently listed as the most peaceful state in our country. Forbes Magazine has called Portland America's most livable city. Yet, Forbes has also ranked Maine the worst state in the country for business the third year in a row. While we all love living in Vacationland, the economic realities of living here can be tough.

Two speakers. Two reactions.

Let me describe the two speakers I heard, and my reaction. Both speakers gave an overview of what's going on in their domain. Brennan spoke about Portland; LePage, the bigger state. Mayor Brennan talked about the struggles of Portland: lack of good jobs, and the need for better educated children. He then presented his list of key items he was working on to improve these areas. The Mayor talked about several private/public partnerships that were growing and helping the city achieve its goals. As he talked about his vision and love for Portland I felt my pride and energy growing. I was so glad to have chosen to live in Portland. I love the city already and now even better things are on the horizon. As his talk concluded, I approached one of the leaders of the private/public groups he mentioned and asked how I could get involved. Governor LePage also talked about the struggles of Maine and they focused on the same two key themes: ramping up business in Maine and improving the education system. But what a contrast. The more he spoke the more down I felt. He really convinced me that the problems in Maine were practically unsolvable. He did not demonstrate to me that he had the vision, leadership and enthusiasm to accomplish great things. He had a lot of excuses, and it was always someone else's fault as to why things were just so bad in the state of Maine. I walked out pretty glum.

Leaders are the face of your brand

Mayors, councilors, governors and presidents can inspire citizens. Elected politicians also represent and promote a region to outsiders. They become the "face" of a city or state. Mayor Brennan inspired me to take action and to become part of his vision. Governor LePage just made me depressed. Does your brand inspire others to take action? Does your web site, the way you talk, and the way you present you and your brand convey an optimistic and energetic approach? People want to be surrounded by other winners. They want to work with other successful people so they can gain success, too.

3 Ways Your Analytics Are Misleading You

Emily Brackett — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:08:12 +0000

In my last post, I wrote about how having up an out-of-date or unprofessional web site can mean many lost opportunities. And I’ve been thinking about the many ways people read data and come to the wrong conclusion about their web site.

1. Your google analytics show that you have little web traffic; therefore you shouldn’t invest in your web site.

Face it, there are some businesses that reap very direct rewards from their web site and for others the connection is less clear. For example, if you compare an e-commerce enabled web site with a content-only web site it can be significantly harder to measure the economic outcomes of the latter.

But does that mean a business with an out-dated web site should not invest in a better web site? If they were to create a well-optimized, professionally designed web site they would start to see web traffic and web referrals increase.

A similar case can be made for mobile-specific sites. The more mobile-optimized your site is, the more likely people are to spend time on it while using their smartphone. If it doesn’t function on an iPhone because it’s flash-based, or it just a jumbled mess, you can bet that your mobile stats will be low. But what would happen if you presented a mobile-optimized version to your prospects?

2. Your customers do not indicate they found you on the web.

It is common for many retailers or restaurants to ask a patron: “How did you hear of us?” When you get a low response in the category of referrals from the web site, it may seem that the logical thing to do is invest less in the web site and more in the channels that are working.

However, what may be happening is that a poor web site is not effective at sending customers to your bricks and mortar location. Your business may not be easily found by search engines. Or your web site is poorly designed or poorly functioning and it turns away prospects. Therefore, your stats around how customers found you will remain low for the web site. If you did invest in your web site you should see an increase in web-based leads.

3. All my business comes from in-person connections, my web site matters little.

This is a common phrase I hear from people who are consultants or other B2B-based small businesses. But I can guarantee that a large number of your networking connections are following up by checking out your web site. If they see something out-of-date, out-of-style, or out-of-place with the person they just met, they are dramatically less likely to follow up with you.

You may not need a large number of pages on your site. You may never rely on search engine traffic. But people are making decisions about how much they like and trust you based on your web site.

Get a web site that can help your business!

Your web site may never generate revenue for you. Your web site may never close a deal. Your web site may never even send an unknown prospect your way.

But it is still a critical part of your business’ equity, and by improving your web site you will improve your business.

What Are You Losing by NOT Updating Your Web Site

Emily Brackett — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:02:49 +0000

Right now at Visible Logic we have several web site projects that are near completion. Each one is very close to going live, yet has not gone live because the client is waiting to finalize some piece of content.

Some of these are web sites for new companies who have nothing more than a landing page at their URL right now. Others are for established businesses that have out-of-date and out-of-style web sites live on their domain name.

Your old web site means lost opportunities

I keep wondering how many opportunities have these organizations lost by not updating to their new web site. The new sites are much more professionally designed, optimized for search engines and nearly ready to go.

I’ve already counseled these clients on how we could go live without the missing content, and that it could be added or edited later. That is one of the benefits of working off of a flexible platform like WordPress.

But they are waiting for everything to be perfect.

During this wait, their version of WordPress is now no longer current and I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one piece of content now needs updating.

Think long and hard about our own web site. What is stopping you from re-doing it? Usually it’s the costs involved.

Now think long and hard about the missed opportunities.

Five reasons your new site will be better

A more professional web site projects a strong organization. Face it, it’s pretty easy to recognize an out-dated web site. Much has changed in the last 10 years: larger monitors, more web fonts, different stylistic trends. Your old site is marking you and your business as someone who does not keep up with the times. If your current site was a DIY project, you’re probably in even worse shape.
Your current web site is not optimized for search. With the prevalence of content management systems it is so much easier to edit and adapt your content for search. A good web designer/developer will have a solid understanding of how to write content and connect the content with code to optimize for search. Depending on the state of your old site, this may not be true. If your current site is built in flash, you’re in even worse shape.
Out-of-date information. If your current site is hard or costly to update, it is probably filled with information that is no longer current. This may include employees who no longer work there or out-dated descriptions of products and services.
Too many things have been stuck in to every blank space. Over the past several years you may have needed to add services to your navigational list or add social media links. But if these weren’t well planned, your site now looks like a Franken-site.
Your business has grown/changed, but your web site does not relect this. Face it, we live in a time where things change rapidly. Most businesses change significantly over a span of several years. If your web site is more than a few years old, it’s likely that your messaging (ie what content is emphasize and the text and graphics that support that message) are probably no longer in sync with your current status or future plans.

I urge you, again, to take a long look at your current site and see it from the eyes of a prospect. What are you losing by not updating your web site?

99 Things Your Graphic Designer Can Do For You

Emily Brackett — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:50:37 +0000

Make it pretty.

It’s a statement that most graphic designers hate to hear. As a group we get sick of feeling like design is just decoration. If you work with a highly qualified, experienced and well-rounded designer, you should expect so much more.

Designers don’t just make things look pretty…

I take a vague idea that’s in your head and make it a reality.
I make your text easier to read.
I educate your buyers.
I make the complex understandable.
I turn something boring into something compelling.
I interpret data.
I help you sell more books.
I make you look professional.
I make you look like an expert.
I help you charge more money.
I help you attract better clients.
I increase the visibility of your business.
I add value to your business.
I build one of the most valuable intangible assets your business can have.
I make people want to keep reading.
I build your credibility.
I decrease your bounce rate.
I increase your open rate.
I help you understand why your brand identity is so important.
I explain what to expect when creating a new web site.
I help you launch your new business.
I keep your web site up and running.
I understand your ideal customer.
I understand how to communicate to your prospects.
I deliver your message in the most effective medium.
I help you decide whether to use words, pictures or video.
I tell you when you’re wasting money.
I get people to trust you.
I get people to like you.
I make it easy for people to buy from you.
I understand your business goals.
I help you reach your business goals.
I communicate for you.
I find just the right image to convey your message.
I get search engines to find your web site.
I get your prospects to find your web site.
I keep viewers on your web site longer.
I make sure you don’t look like a DIY start up.
I help your customers overcome their fears about buying from you.
I help you keep up with the ever-changing world of online marketing.
I help you understand why we chose a serif rather than a sans serif typeface.
I focus your readers’ attention on the right words.
I get your RSS feed working.
I set up your Google Analytics.
I show you how to read and interpret your Google Analytics data.
I explain why updating your web site content is critical.
I integrate your web site with your CRM.
I make each e-newsletter you send have people say “wow” instead of “ugh.”
I allow you to take credit card payments on your web site.
I increase your email list.
I stop you from sending spam.
I create charts and graphs that really convey the data.
I help you make your point.
I make your book easy-to-read.
I make your book compelling to pick up.
I make your signs helpful.
I make your clients comfortable.
I think like a designer.
I project your best image.
I organize your words.
I use imagery to convey your ideas.
I make your words more effective.
I make you look how you wish you were: approachable, smart, trust-worthy, funny, etc.
I coordinate your brand identity.
I give you the tools to maintain your own brand identity.
I teach you how to update your web site.
I give you a competitive advantage.
I help you grow your business.
I make your product look desirable.
I don’t waste money, I increase it.
I prioritize your messages.
I find printers who do the job right the first time.
I find the sign makers.
I find the screen printers.
I figure out the right label to print.
I put a face on an ideal customer.
I help you define your audience.
I coordinate your Twitter background with your brand identity.
I teach you how to use Twitter.
I help you decide whether you should use Twitter.
I make you more efficient with broadcasting your content.
I make it easy for you to repurpose your content.
I coordinate your web site, e-newsletter and social media.
I set up your Facebook page and have it automatically post your new blogs.
I set up your blog to automatically feed to your LinkedIn profile.
I explain the difference between CMYK and RGB.
I explain the difference between PMS and CMYK colors.
I explain when you need offset printing, and when digital printing is OK.
I make the color look right on screen and in print.
I find the right paper stock.
I find the right partners to produce our ideas.
I pick out just the right color.
I set up the files the right way so that the end result is what we were all expecting.
I help you expect higher prices.
I get people to take you seriously.
I get people to take your business seriously.
I get people to think you’re the real deal.
I help you earn respect.
I build your brand identity.

What can you add? What has your designer done for you?

Readers Want Your Content, Not Your “Content Marketing”

Emily Brackett — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:00:39 +0000

Content marketing is a hot buzz word in the world of internet marketing. But the reasoning behind it has been around for ages and is a timeless and effective way to show your expertise, build trust and generate business. The idea behind content marketing is that you produce content that people want to view. In the old days these channels sounded like: present at a conference, write an article and get published, or send out a printed newsletter. Nowadays it can mean writing a blog, posting a video on YouTube, designing an infographic, sending out an e-newsletter or sharing information on Twitter. This content allows you to showcase your expertise.

SEO benefits of content marketing

I love that content marketing is proving to be effective. I love that Google says they want to continue to refine their alogrithm to benefit people, companies and organizations who are genuinely creating new, thoughtful, relevant, engaging, content. These are the thought leaders who should benefit. When you create great content, people who already know you will listen more carefully. This is what happens with an effective e-newsletter. People who don't know you will seek answers and find you. This is what happens with effective organic search. After all the SEO snake oil salesmen got screwed by Google's Panda and Penguin updates, they started to realize that "content marketing" is a great way to build web content, traffic and backlinks to promote a web site.

People want content, but don't want to be marketed to

So to summarize, if you share good ideas with people are who are interested, they will take notice. But, people don't want "content marketing" dumped on them. If it feels like marketing, rather than sharing great information, it may backfire. You may get some good SEO juice, but that traffic will never convert to leads or clients. Recently, I was pointed to a group's web site in hopes that I would become a member. This is how they described one of their benefits. Ugh. Call it ideas, tips, expertise, case studies. Don't just call it content.

Is Your Logo Important? McDonalds Vs. Zappos

Emily Brackett — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:17:12 +0000

As a follow up to my last post setting out to define some of the terms that are used within conversations about branding, I want to give an example of brands that have a logo that is central to their entire brand, and another who has their brand much more defined by other elements. As I started out saying in my last post, there seems to be an ongoing argument about how important a logo is to a brand. Is your logo the same as your brand? Is a logo a part of your brand? Is your logo completely inconsequential to your brand? I would answer that it depends on what you've done with your logo along with other elements that make up your brand.

McDonalds: Logo is mission critical to their brand

When I ask you to envision and define the McDonalds' brand, I would guess that the famous golden arches would be one of the first things that comes to mind. McDonalds is a company with such as a strong and recognizable logo that the symbol can be shown without the words and billions of people around the world know what it represents. When I grabbed this logo file from their web site, I noticed their name wasn't included with the golden arches. In fact, their name is not really anywhere prominent on their home page.

Zappos: Logo is not as important as intangibles

When I ask you to articulate Zappos' brand you are much more likely to start with terms like incredible customer service, and free shipping even on returns. Their logo is not very distinct or compelling, in fact it's a bit amateurish looking. However, it is the promise of great service and easy returns that creates confidence in buying from them. This is what builds their brand.

How important is a logo to a brand?

A brand can rely on a powerful logo, or it can be a powerhouse without a strong logo. This is why the words brand and branding can be confusing. We always recommend that our small business clients start with a great logo (I think that's why they hire us). You can and always will be building the all of the other pieces that form your brand.

Logo, Brand Identity, Brand: What Is Branding?

Emily Brackett — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:38:05 +0000

I can't tell you how many times I've heard the phrase: Your logo is not your brand. This is repeated often enough that I have to guess there are people out there, who think a logo is a brand. On the other end of the spectrum there are people arguing that a brand is so much more than a logo, that a logo is inconsequential. So I wanted to show how I define, understand and use the terms logo and brand, as well as some other related key words.

What is a logo?

A logo is the graphic symbol that represents a person, company or organization. If the logo is well-known enough, such as the Nike swoosh, you may even see a logo used without the name of the business that it is associated with. Normally, most marks have a typographic part that more clearly spells out the name of the organization. What is a wordmark or logotype? A logo can also be purely typographic. It is called a logotype or wordmark when only the letters of the name make up to the logo (there is no additional symbol). A great example is Coca-Cola's red scripty type. Some people also refer to the logomark as the word portion of a logo that also has a symbol. Sometimes the graphic symbol and typographic word mark are very separate (see the logo for Retail Association of Maine). With other logo designs, there is not a clear separation of logo symbol from typography, (see the Cream & Sugar bakery logo).

What is a brand identity?

Once a logo has been designed it gets applied to many different applications. These can be as simple as the logo placed in the top center of a piece of paper and calling it letterhead. If all you do is essentially rubber-stamp your logo onto different things, you really have not developed a full brand identity. A brand identity is the larger, distinct visual look that is associated with a company. Read here about 8 Essential Elements to a Comprehensive Brand Identity. That is a brief overview of the elements that can be put together to make your brand's identity more robust than just a logo. When a brand identity really works, you should be able to recognize the brand even if you don't see the logo. For example, Netflix's red envelope is a simple yet powerful example of a brand identity. Many people have heard about the importance of using their logo consistently. But there should be a consistency to elements beyond your logo. The tricky thing is that while your logo is unfailingly unchangeable, your brand identity must have both consistency and flexibility. Creating a brand identity that is distinct yet varies based on it's form, is a challenge but can big dividends in your brand's value. The elements that can be part of a full brand identity could be fonts, colors, imagery, and even the voice of the writing.

What is a brand?

What is included under the term brand is much harder to define. It certainly encompasses the logo and the full visual position created by a strong brand identity. But it also includes many other areas that are not part of the strict design side of a business. These may include your content, messaging and story telling. Customer service and the client experience also a part of a brand. The idea of a reputation is a critical part of defining the word brand. Some people summarize this into the very abstract idea of a promise. You will also hear some people (including me) use the word brand almost interchangeably with company or organization. It can be a way to talk about product or service; individual or organization; company or non-profit without getting caught up in listing all those particulars. For example, people will say: "A great way to promote your brand is using social media." I like to think of a brand as a combination of how you define and promote yourself and how others define and view you. You never have complete control over your brand because it is not wholly generated internally. What definitions do you like for the term brand?

Comparing Mobile Web Site Viewers: B2C vs B2B

Emily Brackett — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:47:34 +0000

I'm sure you're hearing it everywhere: This is the year for mobile. Smartphone usage is steadily climbing and more and more people are surfing the web using their phone or tablet. But as you can imagine, the statistics for how many people are using smartphone and tablets to access the internet vary depending on the industry, the specific web site and even geographic considerations (for example, markets such as New York have more people using smartphones while in transit). Before you look to to create a mobile-optimized version of your site, or maybe redesign your web site with a full responsive design, you should take the time to think about what people tend to look at on their mobile phones, and whether they are actually looking at your site with a mobile phone. We took a peek at the analytics of several of our clients. Here is some info pulled from Google Analytics to show you the vast difference in how big a factor mobile, depending on the industry.

Corporate America mobile usage

One of our examples comes from a B2B client who deals primary with larger corporations. Based on what they sell and how the sales cycle works, most people are viewing their web site at work. It's just not the type of site or information that someone casually looks through. Corporate web site mobile traffic: 6.2%

Restaurant web site mobile stats

Restaurants, bars and shops often have heavy mobile usage on their web site. People look up directions, hours or menu offerings while on route. Having this info easily accessible to smartphone users extremely important. A restaurant without a mobile optimized site (or shudder, without a web site at all!) is definitely losing some business to people on the go searching for food choices. Our client's analytics shows this. Restaurant web site mobile traffic: 30%

Average mobile usage

There is, obviously, no such thing as average mobile usage. You can see a wide range right here with just two clients (6% vs. 30%). If you look through our list of web design clients, you see we work with a large variety of small businesses. But looking at all the sites that we can access Google Analtyics on, they are averaging about 10% of the viewers are mobile users.

What about mobile usage on e-newsletters?

Also, you may be interested to see some related statistics about mobile usage (and email client usage) for e-newsletters on our Mail on the Mark blog. What stats are you seeing on your site for mobile usage? I'd love to hear your stats and what industry you are in.

How Effective Web Design Can Make You Hate a Brand: PayPal

Emily Brackett — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:26:57 +0000

Some people have a hard time understanding the connection between design and branding. No, design is not all that goes into branding. But design is a major part of what we call brand identity and an integral part of a what we call "a brand." Good or effective design can make you like a brand a lot more. It can also make you frustrated.

PayPal: Effective design, poor branding

I've written about PayPal before in this post about how PayPal's brand can affect your own brand. Unfortunately, it's not a brand that has a lot of love behind it. It is easy to implement on a web site and it allows you to take payments without ongoing credit card processing fees. People seem to grudgingly use it, but you rarely hear your friends singing the praises of PayPal. Let me put it on the record that I think there is a huge opening for someone to build an online payment processing system that is simple and friendly. People are looking for alternatives to PayPal. They want to find a new brand to love.

PayPal's design history

As a designer, I've always disliked PayPal's graphics. People post their buttons everywhere, and they are pretty ugly. Also, if you have an account with them, and therefore log into their site a lot, you are very underwhelmed by their web design (see the last screen shot, below). Recently, PayPal has spruced up its home page and some of the graphics that you see on the way to getting to your account information. Here is the PayPal home page. They're doing a number of things really well. The page is uncluttered. They are very effectively using their blue and gray corporate colors. In fact, this company is using their core colors better than many other brands out there. Clearly, they use custom photography that creates a very consistent brand identity for them. [caption id="attachment_3935" align="alignnone" width="500"] PayPal's homepage design[/caption] But when I go to login, the trouble starts. Let's take a look at that login area: [caption id="attachment_3940" align="alignnone" width="500"] PayPal's login area on their home page.[/caption] After I enter my email address and password, I am compelled to click that blue "Sign up" button rather than the gray "Log in" button. But I'm already a registered user, I want to get to my account. Every time I hit the wrong key I end up having to enter my log in information again. Once you are a registered user, you access their site over and over and again. Instead of trying to get people to sign up, how about making it easy for your current customers to make the right click, easily! After you log in, here is a typical screen that you see. [caption id="attachment_3934" align="alignnone" width="500"] Design of a web page that you must go through to get to your account.[/caption] You have to get through this page to make it to your account. Look at that design. What button are you going to click? The large, yellow button that says "learn more", or the little, plain-text button that says "Go to My Account?" I can't tell you how many times I've clicked on that yellow button, and landed on their marketing page rather than into my account. This frustrates me. This is an example of how effective design ruins a brand's image. The design of the page is clear, simple and compelling. But it is compelling me to mistakenly fall into their marketing trap, rather that take care of business. This makes me dislike PayPal even more.

PayPal's original design problems

Once I finally get into the actual platform the design reverts back to its ugly roots. The type is very small. I hate the way there is a horizontal band for the navigation but it just ends rather than continuing the full width of the screen. Overall the design just looks poorly done and out-of-date. Check out this screen shot, and let me tell you my last pet peeve about using PayPal. [caption id="attachment_3937" align="alignnone" width="500"] Screen shot of the PayPal web site's withdraw page.[/caption] My last gripe about PayPal has nothing to do with design, yet still has to do with branding. This is where user interface design and thinking about what your customers really want factors into branding. I use PayPal to accept credit cards from my clients. After someone has paid an invoice, I go to PayPal to move those funds over to my bank account. Every time, I want to withdraw the entire amount. For me, I don't know why I'd ever want to withdraw anything less than the entire amount. Why is there not a button that give you that option, so that the amount can be automatically filled in for you? It is a little detail that would make my experience with PayPal so much better. I hope this case study helps you understand what parts of web design affect a brand. And to clarify that good design can still mean a poor brand experience. What do you think of PayPal's web site design and PayPal's brand?