One of the first things that a business owner should do is have graphics created to begin the process of branding your business website. This is the case because graphics quickly attract the eye of web visitors and can quickly direct them to places on your website where they can buy services or products.

Image: SXC.hu

To help you determine the graphics that you would need to add to your website, I have created a starter list below. This list provides the type of graphics that are common place or branding along with a description of how the graphic is normally used.

• Logo: placed usually in either the upper left (normal placement) or right hand corner for easy identification.
• Banners: include header graphic that normally is displayed at the top of your web pages or standard banners used to advertise your business on other websites.
• Buttons: used to provide a smaller version of your logo or banner to advertise your business and is usually 125 x 125 up to 250 x 250.
• eBook covers: in case you decide to package your knowledge into an eBook, it’s a good ideal for you to have a graphic created for the eBook
• Miscellaneous images:
  • Footer: occasionally used to draw attention to special announcement or special upcoming events.
  • Order/action button: to highlight your order section and to encourage web visitors to buy your product(s).
  • Matching bullet points: would be used for your list to bring attention to them on your webpage.
  • Highlighted images: include directional arrows or stars that highlight specific information.

Now let’s take a look at the Twitter homepage to see what they included on their websites to help brand their image. In the image below, I have pointed out a couple of the images that Twitter has used to brand their website. The logo is in the upper left had corner so that when you see it anywhere, you will know that it is in reference to Twitter. They have included several action buttons that encorage you to take action on their homepage such as “Get Started– Join“.

Image: Twitter.com

Now taking a look at Facebook’s homepage, they have their logo in the upper left corner also as you can see below. Their sign-up is on the homepage so you don’t have to take an extra step to sign-up. In the upper right hand corner is the section where you can login or click a link in case you have forgotten your login.

Image: Facebook.com

Our first Name that Brand game was admittedly easy. I’m still impressed that most of you knew the obvious brands, and only few were stumped by the more obscure bits of the logos.

The trickiest ones were:
6. FedEx
9. Puma
11. H&M
13. Winamp
17. Virgin
18. Nintendo

Check out the hacked-up logos from the original post here.

Since I’m loving the concept of putting your company’s logo in the hands of your customers, I thought I’d share an initiative by an El Paso County children’s museum.

flickr: cambodia4kidsorg

The Pikes Peak Children’s Museum, still in the early stages, is asking the children of the community to inspire the design of the logo. They’re holding a content until April 17th open to all children aged 1 -11.

That’s right, aged 1 to 11! However, the top designs are simply going to be inspiration for a professional graphic designer who will prepare the final logo design. I’m curious to see just how much of the children’s drawings are carried over to the final logo. Contractually, how much liberty can the designer take?

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette,

Five designs will be chosen on April 20 by a panel from the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the Bemis School of Art. These five will be displayed in all branches of the Pikes Peak Library District, and the public will choose the top three.

The winning designs will be showcased in the museum and the kids will receive gift certificates for an art class in the area as well as an artist’s kit.

This is a bit different from our previous conversations about Burger King and Firefox because it is about building an existing brand rather than putting an established brand in the customers’ hands. There is no sanctity to be preserved, necessarily.

Who knows whether the final product will be anything like what the kids come up with, but getting them involved is an important first step for return visits. That sense of ownership over a community staple is important for the success of the museum.

What do you think? Is this effort taking it a bit to far? Will the kids be disappointed if the designers takes too many liberties when designing the final logo?

Let’s take a break and play a little game to find out just how strong some notable brands are.

I’ve compiled a list of 18 logos, each cut apart, for you to decipher. I’m starting with a really easy list here, so it shouldn’t be hard to guess all 18 logos. Next time, we’ll kick it up a notch and see if you can match minute branding elements like colours or a small portion of a graphic element to its brand.

Leave a comment with all of the brands that you can name. I’ll post the answers in a week or so.

Yesterday, in Part 1, we looked at Firefox’s main logo.

Mozilla is now working on building its visual design community by launching the Mozilla Creative Collective where designers can post work and get feedback from peers . So, rather than keeping the logo creation process private and then unveiling the new design to the world, John Slater, Creative Director at Mozilla, asks the readers of his blog for feedback and direction:

We also need a logo. Not just any logo, either: we need something that can serve as a rallying point for the entire project and will inspire designers around the world to lend their talents to the cause.

What better reason to rally around something than the fact that you had a say in its creation! You can check out the 9 possible logos here.

Moreover, Firefox can potentially avoid any backlash about an unsuccessful logo by bringing the users in at an early stage. Steven Garrity (formerly the lead of the Mozilla Visual Identity Team), on his blog Acts of Volition, described the culture of open source quite nicely:

In open source software development, the usual reply to any requests, suggestions, or criticisms is the classic refrain: “Where’s the patch!?” This reply is a (sometimes) polite way of saying, if you don’t like it, fix it. That’s how open source software development works. Therein lies its beauty.

Though Firefox users won’t have the freedom of manipulating the logo once chosen, at least they have a great sense of ownership over a new project that stems from a brand already dear to their hearts.

And so I ask, when is it alright for marketers to place their beloved logos in the hands of the user, if ever?

Since its creation, Mozilla has been using a marketing tactic they call Spread Firefox. In 2008, Firefox challenged its users by launching a t-shirt design competition to spread the word about Firefox. Check out the best of over 2000 entries here. Then ask yourself, can all of this hard work and care show toward a known brand be negative in any way? Even it means multiple interpretations of a brand and alteration of a logo?

Anyone who’s experienced the hopeless frustration of Internet Explorer shutting down due to errors knows that feeling a sense of closeness to one’s browser can be very important – especially if much of your work is online.

Luckily, you have a friend/colleague/relative who has introduced you to Firefox Mozilla and you’re now browsing happily along.

Mozilla is an open source software project that began in 1998. Open source means that developers around the globe can access the software code adding all sorts of wonderful things to make the program the best it can possible be.

Though and open source software, Mozilla Corporation has very strict guidelines when it comes to logo usage. The website has a very clear and effective guide for using the logo, including typography, colour palette, spacing along with a section that shows various improper usages.

Given that the company is founded on openness, it is still very important to remain strict about branding guidelines so that the message that Mozilla wants to send is clearly attributed to the company. According to Firefox’s Wikipedia page, in 2006, former Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker expressed concern that users should get a consistent experience when they used “Firefox.” That concern that speaks to a strong brand message.

From Mozilla’s about page:

The common thread that runs throughout Mozilla is our belief that, as the most significant social and technological development of our time, the Internet is a public resource that must remain open and accessible to all.

So though their logo is highly protected, it only makes sense that users and developers of Firefox would have, at the least, a say in the branding direction of the software and any of its offshoots. We’ll explore that concept in Part 2 of Mozilla Firefox: Users and Branding

We’ve been getting a lot of feedback about how many of you dislike the new Tropicana packaging.

But you might be interested in how the new Pepsi logo is faring…

Pedro over at Will it Brand? has done a quick survey of how people think the new logo will affect their consumption of Pepsi.

According to the results…

34% said they thought the old logo was a better fit.

Then again… 26% said it didn’t matter because they would keep drinking Coca-Cola.

Image: Chris Brogan

Car companies haven’t been having a good time: oil prices, environmental concerns and now recession are not helping the market.

More and more they need to stand out from the crowd, and one of the best ways to do this is to have a logo we recognise instantly when an interesting-looking car goes past.

So here’s the logos of some of the big names in motoring - reduced in size to how large you would see them in real life. (Click on the logo to see it full size.)

See which ones you can recognise and which stand out!

(It’s also interesting to note which brands use colours and which colours are used!)

Sunkist has recently announced its new logo, above, but that may not save the orange soda’s deeper branding issues or help it beat key competitor Fanta.

First, let’s compare it to the old logo:

The left is a US can, with a Chinese can on the right. Already you can see the split in branding. It’s not entirely a bad idea - the font is easier to read and the logo shows what’s in the can.

The brand is aimed at young people, mostly college age, hoping to tap into surf culture.

The problem with this is that the Sunkist name is used for other things, too…

Primarily the name is associated with more premium, adult goods - navel oranges and other fruit/nut products. It might have been convenient to use the Sunkist name in 1978 when it was used for soda drinks under licence, but now neither product line is going to do the other any favors.

There have been comparisons between this logo change and the redesign by Fanta earlier this year, but the fact remains: it doesn’t matter how your logo looks or if you make people Feel All Orange Inside (TM), if your brand message isn’t consistent you’re behind from the start.

Time for another round of Rate the Competitor Logos on Brandcurve.  Today, we’re comparing the logos from direct competitors - Google vs. Yahoo!  Cast your vote below and leave a comment to tell us why you voted the way you did.

Images: Google.com, Yahoo.com