If you’re designing a page or running an e-store I bet you’re curious to know the behavior or reading pattern of your online visitors. Thanks to eye tracking method, researchers can analyze where online visitors are looking on your site. The output is what we call heatmaps.

Though this is a very useful tool, most entrepreneurs do not use eyetracking method for the simple reason that this service is not quite affordable. The good news is there are several sites simulating heatmaps to help you optimize your Web pages. (more…)

Whether you are a novice or expert logo designer, you should always leave a room for learning. In this world of graphic, it pays well to understand new trends and best practices.

The good news is that Just Creative Design gives a glimpse about a Leslie Cabarga’s book entitled The Secret Life of Logos: Behind The Scenes With Top Designers. In essence, below are the 8 crucial steps followed by 75 top designers for designing compelling logos:

1. The Brief
2. Research
3. Visual Research
4. Sketching & Conceptualizing
5. Reflection
6. Positioning
7. Presentations
8. Celebration

You might notice its semblance with our logo design process here in LDW. It might quite easy to implement but in reality a very difficult process to perfect. Moreover, I like to emphasize about positioning. It is described as:

This is where the designers choose to position themselves. They either position themselves like contractors and take orders according to their clients wishes (ie. Don’t advise their clients of design matters) OR they position themselves like a business and build themselves a long term relationship (ie. Guide clients to a more appropriate solution much alike how a lawyer does.) Designers have to choose how they wish to work.

Forging strong relationship is the pillar of every business. It is true a contractor type is a lot easier to do and has lesser risks because you can always put the blame to your customers’ bad concepts. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs are not familiar with logo designs and some simply copy the style of leading brands. It is then the responsibility of a good logo designer to share his experience and creative expertise to create a unique and effective logo.

Colors have a strong impact on our logical or emotional state. For instance, red evokes sexiness or aggressive nature while blue is associated with calmness and loyalty. You might find it hard to believe but colors can even help treat some diseases.

It is no surprise then that finding the right color or color combinations is proven to boost your brands. It helps attract attention and set a mood for your customers. Though a good logo designer can help you choose the right colors, it is also valuable to learn this aspect.

A common mistake committed by many entrepreneurs is using more colors in their logo designs. Each color creates a single message or association. So if you are using 5 colors in your logos or brands, it will deliver 5 different messages. Unfortunately, consumers cannot handle that much perception.

The first thing you should consider in finding the appropriate color is your competitors. It is not wise to copy the color scheme of the leading brands for it will create an impression that you’re just a second-rate version.

Also, pay attention to the demographics of your market such as gender, age and culture. A trendy neon green might appeal to youngsters but painful to look at for your average grandmas and grandpas. In a way, it sets the limitation of the color you can use.

For more information about this topic, I suggest you pay a visit to Inspiration Bit for it offers a comprehensive discussion of the dos and don’ts of colors.

Disclaimer: The image is for reference only. Hence, copyright belongs to the respective owners. If you are the owner and wish to have the image removed from this post, please send an e-mail to remove-logo@logodesignworks.com.

Can’t think of creative and effective ad or slogan to go with your impressive logo design? Burnout happens even to very creative individuals. Also, not all entrepreneurs have the much needed creativity or enough resources to commission a branding agency.

In case you badly needed an ad or a memorable slogan, you can visit The Ad Generator by Alexis Lloyd. It is a free mashup tool which manipulates languages and images to create fake advertisements every 15 to 30 seconds. Here are some of their samples.

Here’s the explanation of his process:

Words and semantic structures from real corporate slogans are remixed and randomized to generate invented slogans. These slogans are then paired with related images from Flickr, thereby generating fake advertisements on the fly. By remixing corporate slogans, I intend to show how the language of advertising is both deeply meaningful, in that it represents real cultural values and desires, and yet utterly meaningless in that these ideas have no relationship to the products being sold.

While some of the generated ads are really meaningless, visiting this site can guide you to the right direction or help spark the creativity within you. If you’re lucky, you might find the ideal slogan or ads for your small business here.

If you make a living from creative ideas like a good logo designer or painter, you ought to read the free e-book published by a London-based creativity coach Mark McGuinness entitled Time Management for Creative People.

Subtitled ‘Manage the Mundane - Create the Extraordinary’, this free 32-page book provides practical tips to help you maintain your creative focus while handling other business or personal commitments.

Undeniably there are numerous Websites tackling about time management but most of them are created for the consumption of the general public. Creative people, on the other hand, think differently. For instance, McGuinness pointed out most creative thinkers view organization, habit, and discipline as threats to creativity and not as good qualities to strive for.

Creativity is all about thinking outside the box and breaking the stereotypes. One of my favorite tips is to ring-fence your most creative time by asking the following questions:

When is your most creative time, when you are most alert and find it easy to focus?

If you could arrange your ideal schedule, what time would you ring-fence for focused creative work?

How close to your ideal schedule can you get within the constraints of your current situation?

Do you have a special place for creative work?

What physical triggers (such as pens, paper, computer hardware or software), rituals or routines do you use to get yourself in the right state of mind?

The e-book is under Creative Commons License, meaning you can share this on a noncommercial basis with any people you believe would benefit from these insights. Just keep the name of the author intact.

Via Creative Generalist