Web navigation menu is one of the important elements of a good Web design. Since online visitors are always looking for information, your navigation menu helps them find the info they need at the soonest possible time.

Though a simple menu will do, many Web designers are experimenting with different techniques to enhance online experience. There is a comprehensive analysis and numerous examples at Smashing Magazine about the current trends on navigation menus.

Among these items, I find the use of vertical tabs very appealing but quite risky since most online users are not yet acquainted with this style.

But if you’re just starting with your site, do not forget the basic elements of a web navigation menu. For instance, try to use conventional yet creative icons like shopping cart so it will not be hard for customers to look for the appropriate links.

In like manner, use basic terms such as “About Us”, Products/Services, Sitemap, FAQ, and “Contact Us” to avoid any confusion and frustration on the customers’ end. If you terms exclusive to your industry then do not hesitate to use it. The idea here is to help all your online visitors get the right information as few clicks as possible.

What is graphic design?

Yes, this is a rather simple yet very profound question which varies from each designer’s interpretation and experience. Recently, there is a lot of buzz about this intriguing question. There was even a What is Graphic Design Poster Competition at Veerle’s blog to creatively and visually express the answer to this elemental question.

Some say graphic design it’s a visual communication to evoke emotion or solve a problem. It then reminded me of a book entitled Graphic Design for the 21st Century: 100 of the World’s Best Graphic Designers - a compilation of leading graphic designers in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia together with their predictions and perspectives about this craft. Let me just share some of the interesting insights I read there:

Farrow Design: “A designer is duty bound to push the client as far as they will go.”

Peter Anderson: “Graphic design should evolve and challenge existing systems of language and perception.”

Philippe Apeloig: “Graphic design is the intersection point between art and communication.”

David Foldvari: “Ugly = Beautiful”

Tina Frank: “Design will become anything and anything will become design. Even no-design will be designed.”

Gila Kaplan: “To play the strands of a spider’s web as if they were cello strings.”

Scott King: “There’s no point in doing decorative design…it would just interfere with what I had to say…”

We have echoed this a while ago that the hardest working presidential candidate logo design belongs to Sen. Barack Obama. Now, a group called Substance has taken this to an entirely new level with Logobama.com, a new site which empowers individuals to customize the famous Obama logo and use it wherever they want.

Substance has noticed that a growing number of people display their support to Obama by using his logo design as avatar. From that, they created Logobama.com to allow his avid supporters to upload their photos inside this powerful logo design featuring a blue letter “O” with three red stripes.

What makes this site really cool is that it enables users to easily slap this customized logo on popular social networking sites like YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, Eventful, LinkedIn and Flickr.

This group is not officially affiliated with Obama. Perhaps what inspired Substance is Obama’s call for people to participate in changing the world. According to its site, “we can make this change, one logo at a time.” In return, there is a link encouraging users to donate directly to Obama’s official site.

On Small Business
In this interactive world, it pays to be flexible on our logo design in the same way Google has been constantly tweaking its symbol for special events and holidays.

Logobama.com is an interesting concept which you can apply to your business to add a personal touch to your customers. Who knows this might be the future of logo design since the world is becoming exceedingly efficient in developing customized products and services.

via Mashable

In choosing the most fitting mascot design for 2014 Winter Olympics in the southern city of Sochi in Russia, the residents have voted for a dolphin to represent this celebrated event where the triumph of human spirit is at its finest.

According to a news article, more than 130 entries including birds and insects were submitted as candidate for the right mascot. Then, the candidates were trimmed down to a dolphin, a polar bear, a skiing snowflake, and believe it or not, Father Christmas. After the voting at all ballot stations in Sochi were finished, majority of 270,000 Sochi dwellers favored the dolphin. Sochi’s mayor said the dolphin he has chosen this mascot because it combines the highlands and the sea.

Unfortunately, the result of this poll is not binding to the organizers of the 2014 Olympics and Russia’s Olympic Committee. The whole world has to wait until 2011 for the official announcement. Whether the dolphin will get the green light or not is quite difficult to assess since more relevant and entertaining mascot designs might come out in the near future.

By the way, Sochi was chosen by International Olympic Committee in July 2007 over Salzburg in Austria and Pyeongchang in South Korea.