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We All Like the Facebook 'Like' Button
April 2010 was the month when the Facebook 'Like' button made its first appearance. It was accompanied by a endearing, little thumbs-up sign which indicated users' appreciation of stuff posted on FB (and the internet). Within no time, it became a rage.There were people whose happiness knew no bounds if someone liked what they posted on FB. Netizens really liked the “Like” button. Cut to the present times, the 'Like' button is all over the web. It is installed on thousands of websites on a daily basis.
Facebook first introduced the 'Like' button at its F8 developer's conference, along with Facebook Open Graph and instant personalization. It was immensely helpful for Facebook to expand its social base on the web. “50,000 Like buttons were installed in the first one week of its launch, and the number rose to 100, 000 in less than a month,” reports Mashable.
The ease with which the websites can integrate the FB Like button has made it a faiy-tale success. Facebook is celebrating its first birthday by asking the users what Like button means to them. On its official FB page, Facebook writes: “Happy 1st birthday, Like button! For a one-year old, the Like button sure has a lot of friends. More than 10,000 sites add the Like button every day. Tell us what the Like button has meant to you”. About 56,000 people liked the post within seven hours of it being posted and about 7000 comments poured in from the users. FB also posted a profile picture showing how the Like button looks like in 75 different languages.
About 10,000 websites add the Like button every day. Google, in an unimpressive attempt to take over the Like button, launched the +1 button recently. It is not expected to do any wonders. Studies have pointed that a Like on Facebook is more profitable than a tweet.
So what do you think of the Like button? Has it altered your life in any way? Do let us know and don't forget to like this article on FB. Happy Facebooking!
A Review on Icongalore.com
Icongalore.com is an online store that sell high quality icons need for web development, application development, and other purposes. There are thousands of professionaly designed icons displayed in the website. The website contains icons suitable for various windows OS, such as XP style icons, Vista icons, and Windows 7 icons. They are further classified into categories to make it easy for the customers to choose the pack they are in need of. These various categories of icons come in five different formats, three states and in all standard sizes. Each of the icon package has a complete set of icons required for specific purposes and have be priced much lower than the standard market price. The icons are grouped under various categories, such as Network Icons, Festival Icons, Socialmedia Icons, Vista Email Icons, Network DB Icons, Hotel Icons, Travel Rule Icons, Weather Icons, Accounting Icons, Navigation Icons, Travel Icons, Real Estate Icons, Ecommerce Icons, Transport Icons, Accounting Software Icons, E-commerce Icons, Conceptual Icons, Web Icons, People and Objects, Flag Icons, Multimedia Icons, Computer & Network Icons, Insurance Icons, Telecom Icons, Entertainment Icons, Medical Icons, Windows Theme Icons, Retail Icons, Banking Icons, Education Icons, Food & Beverage Icons, Object & Product Icons, Software Icons, Button Icons and many more.
Branding Naming – Dos and Don’ts
Naming a company or a brand in this day and age could be quite a challenging experience. Every single day more and more companies – both online and offline – are being started. Further more, people are more aware of the need for selecting a good brand name. I will talk about what I mean by “good brand name” a little later on.
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The situation is further complicated by the need for every company to have a domain name. It is very hard to get and register a decent domain name and much harder to get your hands on domains which are short and contain generic words in them.
So, how does a small business owner come up with a good company name that would also be available as a domain url? A tough question to answer. I will try to answer this question based on the experience I have had helping many small business get a brand name that works well.
I always advocate that companies should be bold enough to separate their company name from their domain name. This is more so for companies that choose a company name that is not available as a domain name. They could try and find alternative variations of the name as a domain name but if your company name already exists as a domain name and is owned by some one else then, you should consider the fact that you might put in a lot of time and effort into promoting your brand and that domain name might get hits as a result of of your target audience assuming your domain name would be the same as your company name.
So, it is quite tricky. On the one hand you need to select a company name that relates to what you do or is in some one connected with your brand story and on the other hand it has to be unique enough to be available as a domain name that you can grab and register.
First of all, make sure your company does not use common names or words that would have been used by a 1000 other companies. I know this is easier said than done. But it is quite important to have at least some part of your company unique.
You can try several different methods of coming up with names. If you do not have an obvious choice or the compulsion to use a particular name or combination or words, then you can try and formulate a list of names in the 4 popular categories of brand names: Generic, Evocative, Derivative and Negative.
Second, before you finalize the name, make sure it is available as a domain URL. Normally, it would be a good branding practice to get a domain URL name that is short and easy to remember. It is not nessasary to have a domain name that includes all the elements of your company name. If it makes sense, it is ok to have one or two elements of the name.
Five Steps to Brainstorming New Product or Service Ideas
Building Your BrandWhether you are interested in expanding your small business or simply wanting to stay up with the time, adding new products and services is an essential part of finding success in small business. Markets change, and the more you can change with them, the more successful you will be. However, it is important that new products be congruent with your current brand, adding to it rather than detracting from it. Here are a few pointers for brainstorming new products that will compliment your brand.
The customer is always right. Well, not exactly always, but most of the time at least. If you find that your customers are asking for a certain product, it indicates that they feel your business is a logical place in which to find it. If your customers are expressing frustration with a current issue, think about how you can solve it. Innovation is one of the strong points of dealing with a small business, so give the customer what they need and especially what they ask for.
Provide convenience. The same way the post office sells stamps and mailing boxes, you should also be selling relevant accessories that naturally go with your product. Not only will expanding a product line in this manner help build your brand, there is no reason a customer should buy a product from you and then be obligated to promptly march across town to get the cable or other accessory that they need. Sell a full line of peripheral items that go with your key products or services; it will not only make your customers’ lives easier, it will add to your bottom line.
Offer value. Customers now buy so many products and services that it can be both time consuming and expensive. If you can find a way to bundle several of these into a single package that costs less, your customers will beat down your doors to buy them. Most of the time, offering solutions such as this will not conflict with your brand, and in fact build it.
Think holistically. When a customer walks into your store, they bring with them a history and a future. Where do they come from and where are they going? For example, if a chiropractor often refers clients to certain vitamins and supplements, these customers likely are leaving and going directly to the drug store to buy them. Offering the vitamins and supplements in office is a good solution in this case. If there is a logical step before or after your business, try to offer the same product in your own business. It will save the customer time, something that no modern person has in surplus.
As you can see, adding new products and services that compliment your brand can be very simple. The key is to identify your customers’ needs, even if they haven’t identified them yet. If you are offering more products that fit your brand and that your customers want, you can bet you will be more successful than ever.
January Edition - 10 Fresh & Insanely Creative Blogs
Well it’s January already and we’re all tired from the holidays and stuff, but we never have enough goodies to read and our RSS basket is never too full. So here’s the list of inspiring blogs for January.
Jay Hollywood | @jay_hollywood
I specialize in branding, user experience, and interface design, specifically when it relates to the digital world (although I do dabble in a bit of print work too). I work with all types of clients to achieve specific results and exceptional outcomes through creative problems solving and development.
Geek Tyrant | @geektyrant
Movies, Games, TV, Animation, NEWS; GeekTyrant.com is the premier website for hardcore geeks everywhere!
Addy Osmani | @addyosmani
A geek that loves experimenting with jQuery, JavaScript and everything else to do with web development
Coolvibe | @coolvibe
A blog showcasing digital art from around the web. We’ll update this page with more info once it’s necessary
Black Moon Design | @blackmoondev
The Web Design Blog | @philmatthews
The Web Design Blog was setup in 2009 by freelance web designer Phil Matthews with the intention of providing web design news, articles, tutorials and interviews for everyone to enjoy!
But You Are a Girl | @adriarichards
Adria Richards has been in the IT industry for 10 years and launched her own consulting company in 2006. She is an active supporter of open source and promotes developers and their tools on social networks
Media Militia | @mediamilitia
We are the place for free resources, tutorials, and inspiration. When you need to jump start a project, we are here to help you out
Vunky Blog | @vunky
Vunky Blog is a blog about design and development. It contains everything I come across in my day to day job as a designer and active Ruby on Rails developer
Vizualize | @albyantoniazzi
A handpicked selection of cool infographics
Your turn now, share some recent inspirational links in the comments guys!
10 Creative and Ingenious Typographic Logos
We look for creative inspiration everywhere… from corporate cards to candy bar wrappers. Inspiration drives our graphic design community and if you want to be inspired, then, you have come to the right post. Today’s post will showcase 10 creative typographic logo designs. Prepare to be inspired…
The emotional attachment with brands is possible through professional logo designs that best reflect on such a dream.
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Top 10 Eyewear Brand Logos
Everyone owns a pair of sunglasses but consumer decision making isn’t based on fashion alone. Most individuals tend to be loyal to specific brands whose logos promise more than just a mere eyewear product. Eyewear brand logos reflect on a dream that makes a public statement about social class status and not just an individual’s style sense. These top 10 eyewear brand logos will illustrate a promise of style that is approached through various designs.
Here are the Top 10 Eyewear Brand Logos…
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As it is evident, eyewear brand logo designs vary by a far margin. While, certain brands focus on traditional design approaches, others go for a contemporary image marketed differently. The important aspect of eyewear logos is not what its design approach is but whether it appropriately communicates the intended branding strategy of the company.
Always Hire @ Professional Website Designer
Many businesses wonder why they should hire a professional website designer. After all, with the new technology flooding the market, you can get a cheap website from a nameless freelancer or even your next door neighbor’s teenager. Here are just a few of the key things that a professional website designer has to offer small business owners.
Cohesiveness with Your Brand. Anyone can use a select group of fonts and colors, but a professional website designer knows how to take your brand and turn it into a visual, digitalized masterpiece that will not just complement your brand, but build it. This will increase customers and make your company seem more professional to the people who decide daily whether to buy your product or that of a competitor.
Appeal to Target Market. You design a website targeted at senior citizens very differently from one aimed at young people and teens. A professional website designer knows this and makes sure that every aspect of your site is just perfect for your target market—attractive, accessible, and capable of rallying further interest and sales. Even the most perfect website will be all wrong if it doesn’t suit your target customers.
Search Engine Optimization. What good is a website that gets no traffic? It might as well not be built in the first place. A professional website designer knows what wording and what design will draw in not just more traffic, but traffic interested in buying a product just like yours from someone just like you. Often, this can even be done without buying advertising on major search engines. There is no underestimating the effect this can have on a business. It’s instant visibility for your brand.
Applications. Whether you need a particular type of shopping cart software or an application that emails you whenever an order is made, a professional website designer can point you to the applications that are perfect for your company’s size, product, and customer base. Sometimes you will save more than the designer costs because you will be able to get these applications at low prices or even free, plus you won’t have to experiment before seeing what is right for your business.
Ease of Use. In order for a website to be viable, it must be easy to use—easy both for you and your customers. A professional website designer knows what elements make a website easy to use and how to include these in your site. A website that is not designed to be easy to use will make your life more difficult and even scare away customers. Take a look at website design samples of our previous work to see how we have tried to emphsize on ease of use.
When you decide you need a website—and every business big or small needs one now—don’t sell yourself short by going cheap on a website that will serve as both a billboard and a sales tool. Hire a professional and make a onetime investment that is almost certain to pay off. With an amateur, your website will one of many taking up space on the World Wide Web; with a professional, it will be another part of your soon-to-be business empire.
25 Websites To Have Fun With Your Photos
Getting a little bored how your photos are presented online? How about injecting some fun and humour into it. You don’t really need to be Photoshop literate to edit and add effects into your photos. There’re some really great sites out there that allows you to add effects to your photo by using their existing effect-templates.
The best part is - most of them are free and output is shown immediately on the fly. Here’s a collection of 25 Sites To Have Fun With Your Photoswe’ve come to know. You know they don’t really have to be your photos :-)
We’ll start with 10 of our favorites, followed by the rest. Full list after jump.
Our Top 10 Picks
PhotoFunia
One of the hottest site with tons of creative backgrounds to play around with. Now comes in 9 different languages.
Fun Photo Box
If you don’t get what you want from PhotoFunia, you reallly need to check out this site.
Picartia
Create a photo mosaic of your choice for free online.
Hairmixer
Choose a photo for the left and right side and start mixing their hairs up.
Photo505
We’d say, with Photo505, Photofunia and Fun Photo Box, you’ll be buzy for days.
Yearbook Yourself
Turn your face photo into yearbook alike black & white old school photo. The service is paused and will be back this Summer.
Loonapic
Make funny photos by embedding your face from the photo to the various templates.
Magmypic
Create different fake magazine covers from your photos.
Your own Wired Cover
Powered by Xerox, this service allows you to create your own Wired magazine cover. Customized everything from titles, colors to photos.
Hollywood Hair Makeover
Love those celebrities’ hair? Wear them instantly and see how you look.
More Ways To Have Fun
Write On It
Easily create your fake pictures, captions and fake magazines and other funny jokes for you and your friends.
Dumpr
Create multiple interesting effects from your normal photos.
Anymaking
Allows you to upload any photo and create "old photo", "wanted" and "puzzle" effects out of it.
Montagraph
PiZap
My Heritage
Making use of their face recognition technology, this site offers several fun effects you can play with your photos. Included are Celebrity Morph, Look-alike Meter, Celebrity Collage and Tag Photos.
Letter James
Letter James has nothing to do with photo effects, but instead you allows you to blend texts and words of your choice into their existing templates.
Imagechef
Lots of ways for you to customize your photos and express them wherever you want.
Funny Photos
Similar to Fun Photo Box and Photofunia, just different effects.
Frontpage
Make yourself frontpage in 136 different magazine covers.
Fake Magazine Cover
Personalized money
Get your head into that dollar bill.
Faceinhole
Create HDR
One of the simplest way to create HDR photos online.
Blingee
Add Glitter, Graphics, and Comments to personalize your images, then share with your friends!
