The new logo is, according to the official Windows Blog, a “reimagination” of the Windows Operating System. It takes us back to its roots as the window is now a window and not a flag – expertly pointed out by Paula Scher – the designer from Pentagram, who was taken on to design the identity. Her question posed to the Windows team was:

“…your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”

This obviously got the Windows team thinking and gave Paula the opportunity to design a window for this new chapter in Windows history.

The new logo sees colour introduced – just a single colour – which is refreshing after the multi-coloured flag design which has accompanied us since the 1990s. It’s a return to the colour blue which featured in the original Windows 1.0 logo although this time it’s bolder and brighter.

The typeface looks to be Myriad Pro. This is the same or very similar to the type that Apple have used for their Mac OS logos over the years.

You can’t help thinking that the simplicity of this design has been influenced by the designs we have grown accustomed to with the Mac Operating System.

Perhaps the new Windows logo is a sign from Microsoft – a possible indication that we are going to get similar standards we have come to expect, and have been enjoying, with Mac Operating Systems over the last 10 years. One can but hope.

Research shows that colour influences people’s decisions in many ways. When choosing colours, don’t base your decision on artistic preference, but look at what the colours mean and how they could influence your customers or clients.

Black

Black is a colour associated with authority and power which is stylish and timeless. It’s used for many luxury brands as it portrays an image of class and elegance. Black indicates strength and tradition. It’s a classic colour choice that will never go out of fashion. It’s also easy to print. In this list of Luxury Brands the majority of them are black.

White

White is the colour of purity and cleanliness. White is fresh and bright and is often associated with coolness and cleanliness – as fresh as the driven snow. Logos that are white are combined with other colours and reversed out which highlights the design and leaves a clean image. White is also associated with dairy and low fat products. Medical products use white because of its connotations with a sterile, clean environment.

Red

Red is one of the most emotionally tense colours. It’s the colour of blood, fire and heat. It’s the colour of passion and love. It’s also a colour that encourages appetite. Several of the major fast food chains use red in their logos, for example, KFC, MacDonalds, Pizza Hut. It’s also a popular choice with fashion brands. Red attracts attention.

Yellow

Yellow is bright and cheery and encourages optimism. It represents youth, fun and summer. It’s often used on children’s toys and clothes. And adult toys in the case of Ferrari. However, it’s also a difficult colour to read and take in. You don’t see many of the Top Global Brands using yellow in their logos. Use cautiously.

Green

Green is a colour associated with nature and fertility. It’s a calming colour. One of the easiest colours on the eye. It’s often a colour used for businesses associated with health and the environment. Logos and products with green tend to be natural, safe, approachable and environmentally friendly – or at least want to be associated that way.

Pink

Pink is a more tranquil colour than it’s close neighbour, red. It is strongly linked to more feminine brands and products with retailers still viewing pink as the traditional female colour. There are varying shades of pink however with the magento pink evoking different emotions than the paler pink. Magento pink is associated with innovation and imagination and can be outrageous. Paler pink tends to be soft, warm and friendly – and often associated with sweet tasting products.

Blue

Blue is one of the most popular colours, the colour of sky and sea. It’s supposed to evoke loyalty, trust and wisdom. It’s popular in the corporate and service sector industries and is often used by IT companies and financial services. Blue is meant to have a calming influence on workers. It’s also associated with health or medical products. However, there are many shades of blue and finding the right one is important. The wrong shades can be cold and depressing.

Purple

Purple combines the qualities of blue and red. Blue for stability and red for passion. It’s a colour associated with royalty, luxury and sophistication. Purple is often associated with fantasy, spirituality and imagination. Confectionery products and spiritual organisations use purple, as well as luxury products – or products that want to be.

Orange

Orange is a bright and cheery colour which represents fire, sun and warmth. As a citrus colour it’s often associated with healthy products and vitamin C. Orange represents enthusiasm, happiness, creativity, success, encouragement and stimulation. It’s a highly visible colour so is a good choice for attracting attention.

The ideal process when thinking about colour choices is to keep it simple. Often logos are made up of different colour combinations. Be careful when choosing colour combinations. Some colours work better with others and will complement each other. You don’t need lots of colours in your logo. If chosen correctly, a good combination of 1,2 or 3 colours is ideal.

Have a look at this List of Top 100 Brands to see how major companies use colour in their logos and what their companies represent.

This is a brief introduction to colours and their meanings. There is history and meaning behind every colour choice and the more you research the better choices you will make to attract your target audience.

How to enter

For the chance to win one of these 7 bags of chocs, all you have to do is:

• Leave a comment on this post

How to get extra entries

• Follow Jin Designs on Twitter and RETWEET THIS POST

OR

• Like Jin Designs on Facebook and SHARE THIS POST

Details

• Entries will be accepted until 11:59PM GMT on Friday 17 February 2012
• The 7 lucky winners will be selected using a random number generator and contacted via email on Monday 20th February.
• Only comments on this blog post will be counted as official entries. Each comment is numbered so these numbers will be entered into the random number generator.

Good luck!

* This competition is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered and for all your support. *

Perhaps more famous for its strapline rather than for the quality, the “exceedingly good cakes” have been in need of a lift for some time. Mr Kipling looked to brand packaging experts JKR for help. A new design of current product packaging is rolling out along with more products inspired by classic British sweet shop flavours. Cake and sweets combined? Interesting concept.

If Fruit Salad Mini Batts Battenberg cakes and snap packs of Pineapple slices tickle your French Fancies then you will find these on a supermarket shelf near you this month.

The new packaging design is much simpler than previous packaging. Gone is the harsh red background colour (often associated with fast food – KFC, MacDonalds, Findus Crispy Pancakes etc.) and in its place is a clean, white background. This overall makes it far less messy and slightly more appealing.

The logo has lost its drop shadow, along with the elaborate red enclosure. The typeface has been updated with a serif font – almost a variation of the classic Times New Roman. The word “Mr” is now sporting a new script typeface. The colour red is softer, not so harsh and positioned on a white background it takes centre stage on the new packaging.

Will it sell more cakes? Probably. This is a tired old brand and in much need of some attention. The updated logo and packaging design are just enough to give some life to these treats. But equally they still keep the cakes where they should be. Dressing them up any fancier than this would risk losing the loyal consumer and fooling the none-the-wiser.

With more choice than ever in the cake market it’s difficult to see if these changes will appeal to new consumers but it should be enough to attract a few back to this well established British brand.

[via The Branding Source]

Luckily there are useful applications and software out there to aid communication between Web Designer and Client.

1. TeamViewer

Free Remote Access and Desktop Sharing Over the Internet
So you’ve designed the website, you’ve built the Content Management System, now all you need to do is train the client. You didn’t budget for a flight out to the Bahamas in your Project Agreement so you need to find a way of training your client without leaving the comfort of your desk chair. TeamViewer is a simple, easy to use application which both your client and yourself can download. It allows you to connect up to their PC or Mac and effectively take control of the mouse and guide them through any training or systems that you’ve set up. It’s free to download and very simple for both client and web designer to install. This is also helpful if you find your client struggling with updates to their website. Just connect up to their computer and find out what the hell they are doing to make life so complicated.

2. Support Details

Tech Support Management
If your client or customer has problems with a website, send them to Support Details. It’s a simple web page which will tell you a number of things about your client’s computer and applications. You can find out the operating system, what version of browser they are using, whether they have javascript enabled. It will even tell you the screen resolution and browser size. All they have to do is input their name and email address and the details are emailed to you – or they can opt to download the details as a PDF or CSV file and send to you themselves.

3. BrowserCam

Cross Browser Compatibility
Unless you have a number of PCs, Macs and Mobiles you won’t know what your finely crafted website looks like across each platform. This is where BrowserCam can help. It allows you to take screenshots of your website and its pages to ensure your layouts work seamlessly across any browser and operating system. You can also send a link to the screenshots to your client to show that you’ve done a fine job of cross browser testing. BrowserCam also offers remote access to a bank of computers so you can navigate around your site using a different operating system to the one you already have. This is very useful for testing code and CSS changes. It’s also useful for replicating what your client is seeing. It’s not a free service but you can sign up for a free trial.

With simple tools like these we have the technology nowadays to ensure a healthy long distance relationship between Client and Web Designer.

The new website is a WordPress website. Having designed WordPress websites for clients for quite some time now, it seemed an obvious route to take for the site.

The website will develop over time as more articles are added. It’s quite an exciting time for Jin Designs but let’s not forget those websites of the past which show the changes for this design studio over the years.

2009-2011

2007-2009

2005-2007

2005

1) Focus on design

Don’t try to design the email newsletter yourself if you don’t have design skills. Professional email newsletters require a good level of design, HTML coding and CSS styling and it can be quite testing to get the newsletter to display correctly in different email applications such as Outlook, Hotmail and Gmail. The good news is you can either use a designer to create a unique template or you can opt for a pre-built template that are offered by many email newsletter software programs. Using a designer will give you more control over the design and ensure that the newsletter is adapted and designed to fit your own business identity.

2) Focus on content

Quality is the key. Short and concise is better than lengthy paragraphs. A good subject line is also important. Remember when writing content for newsletters to ask yourself what’s in it for your subscribers?

3) Pick the best time to send

There is no wrong or right time to send as it depends on your business and what information you are sending. The best thing to do is monitor how successful each campaign is and vary the times you send. Some email marketing software allows you to track who clicks on what and also allows you to send split campaigns so you can send half at one time and half at another time.  For maximum results always monitor your campaign and make changes according to results.

4) Don’t spam

Sending an email newsletter to someone who hasn’t specifically requested to receive news from you is considered as spam. If you do so, you run the risk of being blacklisted from email servers and listed as spam by your recipients. If you can show that you received permission from everyone on your subscriber list to contact them then you can send email campaigns. Permission to send an email newsletter generally applies to

• People who have specifically signed up through your website
  eg. by ticking a checkbox on your newsletter signup or contact form
• People who completed offline forms & indicated they wanted to be emailed
  eg. by filling in a competition or survey form where they specifically agree to receive email
• People who gave you their business card and asked to receive email
  If someone gives you their business card and you have also explained to them
  that you will be in touch by email, you can contact them.
• People that purchased something off you in the last 2 years
  By making a purchase from you they have provided their permission implicitly,
  although it is much better to explicitly ask them.

If in any doubt, consult your web designer or seek legal advice.

5) Proof, proof and proof again

And proof again. Check that all your links work and are linking to the right places. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes or typos. Send test emails to different email programs to ensure it works across different applications. Read the text carefully and get at least one other person to read over it before you send.

In the last few years, several email marketing solutions have appeared on the market making the process of sending an email newsletter far more efficient and effective. If you’re still unsure about the best solution for you or you need any advice contact Jin Designs.

The Web Design Process at Jin Designs has developed to ensure a good working relationship with each and every client. Before starting any project, a detailed Project Agreement is issued which states the work involved, timescales and costs.

Once signed and deposit payment is received (40% of the overall project), work can commence on your designs within the timescales specified and within your agreed upon budget.

Each website project is split into 4 manageable phases. In brief, the phases are:

Phase One – Web Designs
Phase Two – Web Development
Phase Three – Testing and Training
Phase Four – Launch

Web Design Process in brief

Phase One – Web Designs

More often than not, Jin Designs offers more than one initial concept during the design phase. With Web Design this will be the form of two home page concepts plus an inner page design. There are up to 3 rounds of revisions included which allows a good level of feedback and a chance to adapt designs to ensure they are right and exact before any development work begins.

Phase Two – Web Development

Once all the designs are signed off, the project moves to the Web Development stage. Construction work begins and the front-end designs are built using HTML and CSS. The website is built on a test server and all admin features and technical work is carried out at this stage.

Phase Three – Testing and Training

Once the website is built in test, the client is able to view the site and test it out. At this stage full training and support is offered on how to manage the website.

Phase Four – Launch

The website is launched once training and testing is complete.

It’s as simple as that!

This process is explained in more detail in each Project Agreement.

There were two designs. A small bag of 4 chocolates with a label to write a personal message, and an individual chocolate with a card that inserted through the back of the chocolate wrapper.

The label and card were printed digitally on a 250gsm eco-friendly card. The wording of “a small treat for you” uses the Jin Designs colours and font for a consistent look.

This was great fun to work on. Only a small selection of chocs never made it out of the studio door. Those that did arrive at their destinations were gratefully received. There are still quite a few chocs left so look out for further promotions at Easter. If you want to join the Jin Designs Mailing List then make sure you send in your email address and postal address.

A small treat for you, a large box of chocolates to deal with.

The logo was created by Alasdhair Willis, founder of Announcement Creative and husband of designer Stella McCartney. It’s certainly a contrast to the other identities Beckham has in place. The one area which stands out is clearly that gaping hole. This references two things. First a football and second a lens or viewfinder which can spotlight details on various marketing materials. The typeface is Replica Pro font.

The logo is strong, simple and stylish. Just like the man himself! I’m not totally convinced by the hole, mainly for the fact that it’s a design style that only someone like Beckham can pull off. Also, it’s more than likely to be imitated. So watch out for lots of poor imitations in the future.

The David Beckham Bodywear Collection promises functional design with comfort and style. The Beckham Brand is style. Even the waistband branding is minimal with the signature on the inside rather than brandished on the outside. A welcome change.

It’s the latest in what’s becoming a long list of Beckham Brands following on from David Beckham Fragrances, The David Beckham Football Academy and the David Beckham Adidas Logo