I signed up on the network a while back in the testing phase but only really started using it in the last few days and I have to say, Linkedin needs to take note of some of the features in Salambc.com’s network. Salambc’s profile’s work alot more like a facebook and creating and joining groups is alot easier than Linkedin.

They’re described themselves in the following manner:

The Salam Business Club is the world’s first social business network especially for the Arab, Asian and Muslim business world with members from 170 countries around the world. Join the hottest Internet startup and find old friends, colleagues, valuable business contacts and new markets for your products. Extend your network and connect with decision makers, freelancers, entrepreneurs and the managers of the future.

I’d love to know if their backend is custom built or running on an open-source platform. Have a squiz at Salambc.com and sign up if ur interested in networking with Muslim/Arab Friendly business professionals.

An aquantance of mine criticised the special focus of this social network saying no social networks should be specifically for certain groups. I had to dissagree, as  person with a specific set of values and ethics, I’m interested in networking with others who share my values and on a business level I’d like to network with other business people who appreciate that there are certain types of business practices I cannot promote, joining Salambc gives me this opportunity.

Salambc is not exclusive though and even though it encourages doing business in an islamically acceptable manner, it invites all interested to join. If you do join though, know that there are rules to any game, so promoting business which does not conform with Islamic Business rules is not allowed, those being interest based financial services, gambling, alcohol, anything of an adult(XXX) nature or any unhealthy products or services.

I take my hat off to theses guys and wish them every success going forward.

Jacob of Just Creative Design wrote Why logo design does not cost $5.00 in which he mentions:

1. A logo is the very first impression people get of your company
2. A logo needs longevity
3. A logo needs to be original
4. A logo should look professional
5. A logo should reflect the time and thought gone in to designing it
6. A logo is the starting point of your whole corporate image

Many people don’t understand either the value a well designed logo can add to their Brand Image or the effort it takes to design a logo which will add that value.

Misconceptions part of the problem

It’s extremely frustrating dealing with clients who don’t appreciate the time, effort and consideration required to develop a logo which does justice to what they are trying to sell. Many people think the designer should go off on their own with a company name and re-appear with a brilliant perfectly suited design.

Briefing a designer is very much about setting constraints, boundaries for the creative process not to cross, which will make for a more targeted and relevant solution.

I have also found people do not want to engage with the design process and expect to see a final perfect design which solves all their problems with actually spending he time to convey to the designer what their business is all about.

My perspective on Logo Design

Logo design or any design for that matter has got nothing to do with guess work. It’s also got little to do with dreaming up great ideas out of nothing. It takes alot of thinking, researching, exploring, questioning and experience to bring together all the elements needed to realise a great looking and functioning logo.

So what do you think a Logo design Should Cost?

What have you paid or have you heard of others paying?

Post your comments below

Praxia Positions itself in the following manner.

“Our mission is to help our clients realise the full potential of their network, communications and computer hardware and software.”

Saeed of Praxia Technologies approached me, firstly to refresh his web presence and put something up there he could manage himself. This has become pretty much a standard request for web design projects as no-one wants to have to call up an html coder each time they want to update a page on their site.

As usual I recommended WordPress, due to it’s quick and simple framework and user friendliness, especially for Praxia’s simple CMS(Content Management System) needs. I found a template which suited their requirements and went about giving it a complete facelift. Praxia’s logo also needed a change and I was happy to oblige as logo design is one of my favourite areas of focus.

First Things first – Establish a new Brand

We started off with the logo design so we could base the site’s look & feel on the Brand and create a nice consistent looking online presence.

After exploring various directions as I usually do with logo design projects the client was split between 2 logo options and we had some back & forth discussion on the pros and cons of each direction.

We settled on the more practical option, the other being the 3 dimensional X element. The focus on the X stems from their original logo and was maintained to keep some kind of consistency going in the re-brand.

Next comes the site in WordPress

We decided to re-use the 3D X element with each component of the X representing a specific business unit as the client still liked the element and wanted to maintain it somehow.

Because Praxia is an IT Tech company focusing every element of a clients IT Tech needs they wanted to go with something which links well with the technology they use. A few stages of design drafts and the client was pretty happy with the look though felt something was missing, and with the inclusion of the brushed metal background we’d settled on a design which the client was very excited about.

To see the final coded result visit www.praxia.co.za. Let me know what you think.

What do the rest of you think of the logo?

Grab the badge below or paste the code into your sidebar to let others know you’ll be there and to encourage more to join us!

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Visit my Standard Packages & Rates and my Services pages for an idea of what I offer.

This is a trial offer valid until the 10 March to see what kind of response I get.

Question #7 – Should the values of my organisation be reflected in its logo, and how would a designer go about communicating these values visually and in an enticing fashion?

So you obviously want me to explain why I’ve chosen this as the winning question. To some this might seem like a standard question; it may be something asked by many who approach designers to do their Logo Designs. However, I believe it is one of the key issues which needs proper exploration, if a Logo is to fulfil it’s true purpose in life, that is being an ambassador of the entity is is representing in a meaningful fashion.

I hope, that through the course of developing this logo for the winner, we can further reveal some of the methods used to transform the vision and essence of an entity into its visual representation.

I think if this aspect of the relationship between Logo designer & company were better understood, and approached from the proper perspective, the results would be much different.

So far, setting up this little competition has allowed me to focus on the theoretical or technical aspects of Logo Design. It has helped me get back to the nuts and bolts of it so to speak, and to get together a collection of best practices which has already started influencing how I go about Designing Logos. All in all, the competition from my perspective has been a great success, so much so that I’ve been thinking about having it as a standard feature on my site with a winner chosen every 2 months.

I haven’t chosen the first winner yet

There have been a few last minute entries and I’m also a little confused as to which questions deserve to win. I hoped there would be a question which stood out head & shoulders above the rest, but there are a few good ones and I want to take some time to decide.

I was thinking of opening it up for a vote

The questions already have ratings and can be rated once per visitor. I’m not sure if this is viable due to the slow traffic at this time of year though.

I was also considering asking the entrants to post a motivation as to why they think their question is a winner. This would help me with my decision.

The questions which stand out for me so far are:

# 7 – Should the values of my organisation be reflected in its logo, and how would a designer go about communicating these values visually and in an enticing fashion?

# 10 – Ok, so I’ve got a logo but I think it’s starting to look out of date. I’m also worried that we shouldn’t change our branding when we’re already recognised by it. What can I do?

# 11 – Is there a difference between a logo and a brand and if so how are the two connected?

#14 – Logo’s these days are designed to flashy shiny and very web2.0 … what are the principles that you would use to design a timeless classic.

What do you think? Check out the questions on the Logo Design Q & A page and post a comment or a motivation as to why your question, if you asked one; should win.

I’m also interested to know:

• What you guys think of the competition?
• Was it useful?
• Any ideas on how to improve it?
• What do you think of my choices for the winning Question?
• What else would you like to see happening at nomad-one.com

Blog Design Questions & Answers Competition to start soon …

The questions asked have allowed me to gain insight into some aspects of the logo design process and decision making process on the clients’ side. In this respect it’s been a really good experience for me.

Visit the Logo Design Q & A page to see what others have asked and to read my responses. I’d also appreciate some votes to rate the best answers. If you haven’t gotten involved yet, you still stand a chance of winning a Custom Logo Design for your company, organisation or for your blog.

The competition Closes at Midnight on 31st December and the winner will be announced in the week which follows.

Also see Web Design Q & A for all your web design related questions!

One place online which I’ve recently been testing out for fun is the Sitepoint Design Contests. I was browsing the many contests and thought I’d give it a bash, just to see what I could do in a few minutes, and also to test the responses I might get. I have to say, most of the logo designs submitted in these contest are really shocking. Many times it seems the people who are requesting the designs are not very design literate either, which would probably explain their need or choice to use a solution like this. There are however quite a few really great designers spending their time crafting to top notch stuff on these design contests. This means not everyone is against this type of design work and someone has to be making some money off this type of service. You’ll have a laugh at some of the weird and wacky designs people try to get through these contest. I recommend visiting the Sitepoint Design Contests just for the fun of it, some crazy companies on there as well.

It was quite a fun exercise, working with limited briefs, not putting in too much time, no feedback, mostly working on these in the wee hours to get some creative juices flowing. Below are a few samples of some of the logo designs I developed which I thought I’d share with you. I’m holding thumbs that one of them might be chosen so I can boost my income a little. Let me know what you think.

ERGOWRITE – healthy stationery

Edmonton – Social Planning Council

WTHRU – where the heck are you (people finding software)

Domaining.org – domain registration service

What Biz Community Readers Think

A recent poll held by Biz-community.com reveals a little about what people, mostly those in the marketing & advertising industry I gather, have to say about this re-brand. As of about 14:40, 14 November 2007, 47% of readers expressed a dislike for the new identity.

Is the bad publicity a good thing?

I’m wondering now whether the controversy is a negative or positive thing, and whether these Brands will gain further positive exposure once the controversies die down. After a bit of deep meditation,a few seconds of pondering that is, I definitely think that these controversies won’t have major impact on the likability of these brands. It seems the only ones complaining are in the marketing & media industry, which is a small percentage of the general population. Most of Pick n Pay’s customers probably have no idea that there’s a controversy at all.

Re-brand controversies have definitely had done alot to get the news out about the London 2012 Olympics and has boosted the mention of Wolff Olins, the brand agency famed for developing both the new London 2012 logo and the new Wacom Logo.

Wolf Olins’ approach to colour

I see something common in both the London 2012 logo and the Wacom logo and that’s the use of colour in a strikingly different manner. I have come across some criticism of the new Wacom Identity, but am realising more and more, going through some of the same struggles with my logo design clients that change is something people find difficult to deal with. Many companies want to be unique, recognizable, different, innovative but fear implementing these principles into the actions & strategies they implement including design. Another thing which strikes me about these logos is their unconventional shapes and that they seem to both lend themselves to various types of uses and meanings. Basically they are not set in stone and lend themselves to extension & evolution. They can grow and create a whole new visual language.

Pick n Pay looking to break out of their tired mould

The Pick n Pay logo style and payoff line did at first give me a bit of a Bank feeling to be honest. Having read through some of the rationale, and looking at further extensions of how the brand is proposed to be used, I do think that there’s something good coming out of this, something with a little more personality, something less Ramond Ackerman. I think it’s a brave step being taken by Pick n Pay and something they’ve needed to do in the current competitive market.

The payoff line however leaves alot to be desired. It’s like they’ve just realized they need to jump on the bandwagon of telling their customers how important they are. It’s becoming a little repetitive if you ask me, and in this regard actions should speak louder than a pay-off line, so with such a huge promise the visual re-Brand exercise better be followed up by a whole lot more for those who are being flattered. “Inspired by you”, should mean that actions taken to improve and value being added is being implemented based on what customers have added to the conversation. We’ll have to wait and see what they’ve got up their sleeves in fulfilling this promise.

My new fascination with unconventional designs

Back to London 2012, what first appeared to be the most incomprehensible and ugly mess is growing on me, it’s appeal is starting to change my perspective and I’m interested to see how it grows and impacts the bigger picture of the London Olympics. Having looked through some of the artist impressions of what the city might look like and how this identity will potentially be extended I see alot of potential for the city of London to put its unique stamp on the games. In fact when I look back the past 4 identities created for the games I kind of disappointed at what those previous cities had to offer.

There’s nothing memorable, unique, engaging about those logos. The fact that the logo will have a certain lifespan helps promote my newfound respect for this Identity. As the event dies down the logo’s only purpose will be to act as a reminder, and to further emphasize London as a uniquely different and diverse place. I think it’s already done a bit of that for me, having traveled to London in the not so distant past it gives me something to re-identify with, to remember and has even helped me further towards considering another visit.

I think Wolff Olins have been doing a little more homework than we think.

This is a little snippet of what the London 2012 website conveys as their Brand rationale:

Our emblem is simple, distinct, bold and buzzing with energy. Its form is inclusive yet consistent and has incredible flexibility to encourage access and participation. It can communicate with anyone from commercial organisations to kids playing sport.

It feels young in spirit. Full of confidence, certainty and opportunity. Not afraid to shake things up, to challenge the accepted. To change things.

The 2010 World Cup Logo

Something South Africans have become engrossed in recently is the pathway to the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The recent Rugby World Cup win has distracted us a little. This has not kept the 2010 World cup from being the talk of the moment on the streets and in the board-rooms. There’s not difference in the design community and the 2010 logo seems to have set off a whole anti-movement in the process. Follow the adventures of not the 2010 Logo which saw a whole website being set up and a move to find a better design to replace the current one. I’m eagerly awaiting the 2nd installment of this online experiment in Logo Design protest which should be up at www.notthe2010logo.co.za very soon.

For some more sober insights on Design and the Logo Design Process read a few of my latest posts on the subject below.

What is Design?

What your Logo should and should not be doing.

Why good Design is so important to your business

Ask questions relating to Logo Design in my Logo Design Q & A section

The *Camp builds on the 2006 BarCamp Cape Town, the GeekDinner movement started post-BarCamp Cape Town, and the 27dinner phenomenon of finding new ways to get people together to learn from each other and to learn _of_ each other, to help build the Cape as a leader in business and technology.

For those of you not familiar with these events, they are a new (well new to many) style, think tank/collaborative events or (un)conferences. The participants organize the event and set the agenda. It’s a great way to learn from others, share ideas and get involved with people you may never otherwise interact with.

Visit http://wiki.geekdinner.org.za/wiki/Star_Camp/Cape_Town_2007 to see all the details and sign up to attend. If you have any comments or ideas for the logos, let me know by submitting a comment on this post. You also stand a chance to Win a Brand Spanking new Logo Design by entering my Logo Design Questions & Answers competition. Click Here to enter.

Below is one of the recommended modified Logo Designs requested by benevolent dictator Neil. What do you guys think of this one?

Some more options based on feedback from those commenting on this page.