A quicker and dirtier guide of branding yourself
Know thy enemy and know thyself, find naught in fear for 100 battles. Know thyself but not thy enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know thy enemy but not thyself, wallow in defeat every time. ~ Sun Tzu
Well in our case it’s not really the enemy but our competition. From our last article, we know a little branding goes a long way. But it’s not only about differentiation, which means to be different, what we need to now is to have distinction, which means to be better. So we need to study our competitors in the web 2.0 world and their branding standards they subscribed to.
Thanks to Uniquely the epitome and The Font Shop.
This is an absolutely amazing collection of all the best web 2.0 logos out there. Well it looks like the Design Sojourn logo still needs a lot of work, or does it? At least now we have a much better idea and direction on where to go.
The big question really is to follow or not? Its seems the Web 2.0 logos today all have a similar feel and you can easily create your own if you follow this list:
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1) Bevelled edges
2) “Chicklet” or rounded corners
3) Bright colours or a range of complimentary colours
4) Glossy highlights
5) Clean fonts
6) Drop shadows
7) Ground and horizon reflections
8) Gradient fills
So do you want to differentiate or have distinction, follow or innovate? I’ll leave that to you to decide.
niblettes
August 20, 2006 at 11:59 amAll the 2.0 cliches in one logo right here:
http://www.niblettes.com/blog/2006/07/31/i-see-a-red-door-and-i-want-to-paint-it-20/
Design Translator
August 20, 2006 at 8:56 pmHeh heh, thats a nice one, thanks Niblettes!
Kitsch
August 22, 2006 at 11:24 amI guess I would vote for “none of the above”. I’m a fan, like I believe niblettes there is, of really simple logos. Just because it exists on the internet doesn’t mean it has to defy the good laws of design. Generally at some point you may want to use your logo outside the “web”…So I’d stick with something that really identifies you simply and easily. You have this great minimalist image going to your blog..white space EVERYWHERE and soft greys and thin key lines..me likey. So why not express that in your logo, only with like, a pop of colour to set it off? 2 colours. Thin sans serif. Pop of colour. Graphic.
Woot woot. Let the imagination begin. š
DT
August 24, 2006 at 9:59 amHi Kitsch,
Thanks for your comments and stopping by, I’m not too strong in graphics espically in text, but I do know what I like.
I agree with you, i will explore San Serif fonts with a hint of color! Thanks!
Kitsch
August 25, 2006 at 11:01 amnoooo worries. I like colour…too much!
Singapore Entrepreneurs ~ Venture Capital Funding in Singapore
January 25, 2007 at 7:01 pmA quicker and dirtier guide of branding yourself…
You have heard of a quick and dirty way of branding yourself from our resident contributor, Brian Ling aka Design Translator. In the first article, he first discussed the necessity and the know-hows to brand yourself in our competitive world. In this…