We get creative for print and web
Challenges and Solutions
When should you overhaul your website?How to get people to actually read your newsletter
Why turn your print piece into an e-book?
Tips for creating a theme for a business plan or annual report
Tips on redesigning a large website
Tips on improving magazine, brochure and report covers
Tips on how to design a poster
Tips for creating multi-page templates
Tips on designing a family of logos
Tips on creating an effective fundraising brochure
Tips on creating graphic identities for related entities
Tips for making your business plan more reader-friendly
Tips for upgrading your logo
Tips for upgrading your marketing folder
Tips for extending a print brand with an e-publication
Tips for creating educational materials using new technology
How to create an interactive brochure
Tips for creating a customers-only e-newsletter
How to rebrand
Improving conversion rate on a website
How to look professional without looking impersonal
How to convert a print piece to a website
How to design newsletters for teens
How to create a capabilities brochure
How to create a website for a campaign or a cause
How to create an e-newsletter for a membership organization
How to extend your brand through your email newsletter
How to improve a school website
How to improve your sell sheets
Tips on coordinating your marketing materials
Tips on upgrading a newsletter to a magazine
Tips on designing a family of logos
Insight Venture Partners called us with a challenge. One of the companies in their portfolio needed logos stat.
The company was about to launch SharePointAnswers.org and ExchangeAnswers.org, the first two in a series of Web communities for users of specific Microsoft products. On these sites, users can get answers to all of their questions, as well as the latest product news and reviews.
Our challenge was to create a family of logos that look closely related, but allow for a little individuality.
Here's how we went about doing that:
- Design one icon, typeface and tagline style, then vary the icon color.
- In thinking about icon concepts, consider the thematic link between the different products in the family, i.e. what they have in common. (In this case, the websites all reference Microsoft products, so we decided to develop a logo that references Microsoft logos in that it has four pieces of a consistent shape and style. The colors we chose are similar to those in the Microsoft palette.)
- Your visual reference should be an allusion, not a replication. (While Microsoft's pieces are essentially squares arranged like windowpanes, our four pieces are pie wedges.)
- Think about your icon as an expression of the products, their purpose or outstanding characteristics. (For example, the Answers websites collect all the information pieces users might need and gather them in one place. Our pie wedges were separated, rotated, then brought back together to create a new whole. The Answers websites move quickly to display the latest information about a Microsoft product. Our pie wedges were recombined in a way that gives the icon the appearance of forward motion, with a square (á la Windows) in the center.)