Content is posted courtesy of Felix Diaconu at Fuel Your Creativity.

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Crafting logomarks is a big part of logo design, but there are many logos that get by just fine without an illustrated mark — instead, they make novel use of typography to convey their message. In this showcase, we look at 50 logos who use typography as the core element to draw attention and demonstrate the brand’s value.

codeMoon

Wanderlust

akkadia

Tierney

Azalea

Drupalr

BlackBelt

Piero

Lumen Tights

Music Fashion

Bpata

AKA

Nostalgia

White Stork

Left

Rillo

loft

Nunka

logoshots

Limbo

Rokka

kyly

Dominick

Juice box

ZongoBongo

Idea furniture

Baklava House

Cheap Flight Travel Agency

PinPoint

Dutty

Texas Lettercraft

Robin

Qlose

Lapwing

The Hatmaker

Essence

TheHole

Keep it real

Baguette Cafe

Ride

ZipHub

Crimson Pies

Stylovely

Brilly

Colt

IlBeato

Von Herzen

Mandy

pupstack

music Notes

Looking for a logo?

Find some of the best stock logo designs at BrandCrowd, or find type logo design jobs at DesignCrowd.

There’s a new buzzword marketers are using and, unlike some buzzwords, this is one that you should probably learn.

The term is SoLoMo and it stands for “social, local and mobile.”

What it describes is the convergence of social, location-based and mobile marketing into a new category of tools that many businesses are using to acquire new customers.

The odds are you’re already familiar with some SoLoMo tools such as Yelp, Foursquare and Groupon. But you may not be familiar with how to use these tools to attract new customers. That’s what we’re going to talk about here. But first, let’s take a look at how SoLoMo works.

You're probably familiar with many SoLoMo tools already.

Wrapping Your Mind Around SoLoMo

You already know about the social part of SoLoMo. These are social media tools that generally allow the participants to have a dialogue with a business or to share thoughts, opinions and comments with other users. They include well-known entities such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

The location-based part of SoLoMo happens through something called geo-targeting, which is when businesses target their messages to people in a specific geographic location.

Geo-targeting can be accomplished when customers provide their address or, more commonly, when they let a company know their location based on their smartphone or tablet computer use.

For example, if you own a restaurant and want to offer a special discount to people within a 5-mile radius of your location, you can do that using location-based marketing. These location-based marketing “hotspots” are a perfect way for retailers to attract prospects who are in close proximity to their stores.

By sending marketing messages to location-based marketing hotspots, you can target potential customers who are within a short distance of your business.

The mobile side of SoLoMo simply means that, in addition to being able to use these tools on your desktop, you can use them on a smartphone or tablet computer as well.

For example, you might get emails from Groupon each morning at your office, but you might also use the Groupon mobile app when you’re out for dinner. If that’s the case, then you’re experiencing the mobile side of SoLoMo.

For more information on the convergence of social and mobile, be sure to check out “How Mobile Is Changing Social Media,” where Social Media Examiner founder Michael Stelzner interviews blogger and author Jason Falls about the impact mobile is having on social media.

All this leads to the question, “How can I use SoLoMo to attract new customers to my business?” Surprisingly, getting started in the world of SoLoMo is actually pretty simple.

Here are three things you should do to get started right away.

#1: Decide if SoLoMo is Right for Your Business

SoLoMo isn’t right for every business. If you’re a manufacturer of heavy equipment or a public utility, you can probably move right past this whole SoLoMo thing without skipping a beat. But if you run a business like a restaurant, a bookstore or a hardware store, then SoLoMo is right up your alley.

The first step in getting started with SoLoMo is to decide if, in fact, this category of marketing tool is right for your business.

#2: Register Your Business with Location-Based Services

Registering your business is no more complex than visiting the websites for each of the SoLoMo services that are most relevant to your business.

You might start with the best-known services such as Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook Places (which, by the way, isn’t getting the love it deserves from the gang at Facebook headquarters).

Then, you’ll want to move on to services such as SCVNGR, WHERE and Loopt. And, if you’re interested in using deal-of-the-day services, then you’ll want to investigate Groupon, Google Offers and LivingSocial.

Deal-of-the-day services such as Groupon, Google Offers and LivingSocial provide a way for businesses to drive additional traffic to their locations.

Some of these services, such as Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook Places, allow your customers to “check in“ as soon as you’ve registered your business on their website. Other services, such as Groupon, Google Offers or LivingSocial, will require you to provide a special “deal-of-the-day“ discount to visitors who use their services.

#3: Create Promotions that Appeal to Your Target Market

Once you’ve done the first two steps, it’s time to develop promotions that will appeal to your target market.

The key here is to develop promotions that have a sense of urgency to them. If you always give a 25% discount to your prospects, then there’s no need for them to visit your location now. But if the 25% off coupon is good for a limited time, then people will have a sense of urgency and are more likely to visit your business.

Creating a sense of urgency in your offer and including a clear call to action will help improve the results of your SoLoMo campaign.

Okay, now that we’ve taken the first three steps into SoLoMo, what are some of the best practices for moving ahead? Glad you asked.

• Address consumer confusion: Many customers will have a tendency to shy away from SoLoMo campaigns because they don’t understand how to use them. It’s your job to explain the nature of the campaign and to assure them that it’s a safe way to engage with your business.
• Provide clear opt-in instructions: Be sure to explain how to opt into your SoLoMo program. Sometimes, opting in happens when they download the app (as in the case of Yelp, Foursquare or Facebook Places). Other times, they have to provide an email address to opt in (such as with Groupon, Google Offers or LivingSocial). Be sure to remind people that they can opt out at any time. By doing so, you’ll gain their trust and increase the number of people who adopt your program.
• Explain what to expect: People don’t mind getting marketing messages they’ve opted-in to receive, but they do mind being overwhelmed by too many messages and/or confusing offers. Explain to consumers what they can expect after they’ve opted into your program. That way, you’ll avoid unpleasant surprises for your audience.
• Make it worth their while: You’re asking people to opt into your SoLoMo marketing campaign, so reward them for their trouble. There’s nothing more frustrating than opting into a program only to find a better discount in a print ad or direct mail program the next day. If people go to the trouble to be part of your program, be sure to reward them for their efforts by providing them special discounts.

A Few Final Words

SoLoMo isn’t right for everyone, but if your business needs local traffic to survive, then SoLoMo is one of your best options. Good luck with your program.

What do you think? Let us know how it goes. Leave your questions and comments in the box below.

.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/is-social-local-mobile-right-for-your-business/
This article is posted courtesy of Jamie Turner at Social Media Examiner.

Content is posted courtesy of liz at CMD+Shift Design.

As you may know, I am a pesco-vegetarian. Easily explained, the only meat I eat is fish. As you also may know, I live in the Pacific Northwest where there is no shortage of fresh delicious fish that can be cooked at a summer time cookout, but fish can be expensive and sometimes I wanna be part of the gang (mine being largely populated with meat eaters) and have a good ‘ol BURGER. SO… I have tried many Black Bean Burger recipes, and while always managed to create something filling and tasty — they always had 1 major problem. THEY FALL APART! The second I attempt to either flip the burger in the pan or eat it — it falls apart and makes a huge mess.

So I have adapted my own recipe! This recipe was expressly made so that I could freeze a bunch of patties for quick use down the line – but you can alway use some math to break this down if need be.

I CAN HAS BEAN BURGER?

Recipe yields about 8 standard sized burgers.

Ingredients

• 2 Peppers (any color)
• 2 Cans Black Beans
• 1 Can Black Eye Peas
• 5 Cloves Garlic
• 1 White Onion
• 1 TBSP Thai Chili Sauce
• 2.5 TBSP Chili Powder
• 2 TBSP Cumin
• 2 TSP Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 TBSP Salt
• 1/2 Cup Cut Okra
• 1 Cup Bread Crumbs

Directions for Patties

1. Drain all beans and cook over Medium Heat in a large Pot for 30 minutes with Diced Onion. (be sure to give them a stir occasionally.
2. Finely Chop Peppers and set aside
3. In a small bowl mix Cumin, Chili Powder, Salt and Red Pepper Flakes, and Thai Cili Sauce minced Garlic, set aside.
4. Puree Okra into a paste then mix into mixture above, set aside.
5. Let cooked beans and Onions cool to room temperature.
6. Mix in Okra Puree mixture, chopped Peppers and Bread Crumbs
7. Form into 0.25 inch thick patties

Directions for Cooking

So far, only tried cooking these in a pan, but my goal for these was to be able to cook them on the grill outside, so once I try that — I’ll update this and let you know.

For pan grilling these, all a bit of olive oil into the pan and in Medium Low heat cook about 10 – 15 minutes on each side.

Taste & Texture

They turned out a little crunchy on the outside while still moist on the inside, which was the texture I wanted. I do like spice, so these have a bit of a kick to them but I wouldn’t consider them spicy, per sa. I think my next batch may add in a  jalapeño pepper.

When I grill it I will get a picture of the finished sandwich as this time I accidentally scarfed it down before getting a shot!

I enjoyed cooking and eating a burger without it falling apart (which has always been my main complaint about all other bean burger recipes I have attempted int he past.) I hope you enjoy it too! If you adapt this further with success please share your improvements with me!

Content is posted courtesy of Daniel Thornton at Fuel Your Creativity.

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TimesSquare.com, the online events portal for some of the 39 million annual visitors to the iconic entertainment precinct on Manhattan Island, has launched a contest on DesignCrowd for a new logo, and with a budget of $10,000, this is one of the largest design contests to have ever been posted.

The winning logo will be unveiled in Times Square on December 12, 2012 followed by a book launch featuring a selection of the entries from the contest.

Logo designers who submit will be eligible for the following prizes, including a large number of DesignCrowd’s ethical crowdsourcing Participation Payments:

• 1st Place: $5,000
• 2nd Place: $1,000
• 3rd Place (Most Facebook Likes): $500
• 4th Place: $300
• 5th Place: $200
• Top 60 Participation Payments: $50

For participating designers whose design is not selected, DesignCrowd’s sister marketplace, BrandCrowd.com, offers a way to monetize their unused designs by uploading the designs for sale.

Submissions close on July 7. Make sure to check out the contest while there’s still plenty of time!

If your logo design tastes are a little more lighthearted, check out FUEL’s humorous Presidential Running Mates logo design contest!

Content is posted courtesy of Amy Hoy at Fuel Your Creativity.

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Hi there. I’m Amy. I design interactive experiences that are so unexpectedly nice, people write me to tell me that they wish they had a need for my software, just so they could have an excuse to use it.

I’m no superhero, I just have a secret weapon. Which I’m going to share with you, right now.

Let me step out of the usual coy article-writing character, and say it up front:

You wanna kick butt? Read a lot of research papers.

Yes, research papers. The publish half of publish or perish. Dry, academic, boring, inaccessible (and sometimes expensive) research papers.

They’re simply a gold mine.

They will make you smarter, better, and yes, even hotter (when your eyes start going bad from all the tiny type, you’ll resort to getting yourself a sexy monocle).

I know, you’re thinking that this is the very definition of hyperbole. But stick with me til the end of this article. I obviously can’t force you to read citations til your eyes blur, but I would bet you money I can convince you that you should.

We all agree that great interaction design is important, or we wouldn’t be here.

So, let’s talk about interaction for a moment.

Everybody says that excellent interface is one of the big reasons Google wins. It’s so simple; it just works; it’s a big friendly question box, just sitting there, waiting to help us. And, of course, Google was founded by two very ambitious PhD students.

So, if some research came out that totally demolished our view of how people search for information, you’d think that Google would be first on the scene. Right?

Sadly, wrong.

Let’s take a look at what they’re missing out on.

The Berry-Picking Model of Search

According to Marcia J. Bates, graduate researcher in the Library and Information Sciences department of UCLA, our existing models of search are dead wrong.

She proposes a different model, more accurate by her measure (and also by mine). She calls it berry-picking.

In reality, she says, users almost never find the desired result on the first try. This isn’t just because they don’t enter the correct terms. Their very idea of what they are looking for evolves over multiple searches and their desired documents extend across multiple searches, too.

Imagine a little girl tra-la-la-ing through the forest as she picks berries. She stops at this berry bush, and that berry bush, then returning to the first because it just looks so good, taking some berries from each. Then you pretty much have got it down.

Imagine, then, a search engine that helped you when you searched like that—the natural way to search. It would show you your old search terms, so you could revisit them, in case your newest forays were unproductive. You could “pin” results to some part of the page for later, in case you found nothing better, or wanted them in addition to the new goodies you found.

Wouldn’t that be great?

Doesn’t that sound exactly like the kind of thing Google should be doing, to push the boundaries of search engine design?

Or, if not them, then a competitor trying to get a leg up?

Now: I want you to guess when this research paper came out.

I’ve never seen any of these feature ideas implemented on any search engine, ever. Have you? So this paper must be really cutting-edge, right?

Actually, it wasn’t even published in this decade. Or this century. In fact, Marcia Bates published this remarkable paper in 1989.

You could be first on the scene with a practical application.

There are tons of research papers out there, like this one, that are just ripe for the picking (no pun intended).

Thanks to the publishing model of science, there are many people who spend their entire academic careers doing research in user interface-related topics. They don’t typically develop or release software. They often don’t even offer specific feature suggestions. But they do describe reality, and tests they made, and what does and doesn’t work.

You can read their papers and come up with the features and design them yourself.

Convinced yet?

How to get started

There are four major sources for computer-related research papers online:

1. The General Web
   Many researchers and/or their universities publish their papers online for free. If you read papers, or books, that cite papers, you can often find their citation lists online for free. You can find Marcia J. Bates’ paper, THE DESIGN OF BROWSING AND BERRYPICKING TECHNIQUES FOR THE ONLINE SEARCH INTERFACE for free. I recommend it.
2. The ACM
   The Association for Computing Machinery offers a yearly subscription of about $200 for anybody off the street, and this gives you access to a large portion of their online library. It dates back decades and is fairly searchable. You can also buy individual papers instead of a membership.
3. Other online services
   The other two major sources I’d recommend are Questia and Highbeam, although not in any specific order. They are not as affordable or comprehensive as the ACM, but the ACM does not have everything.
4. Books
   There are also many available books that compile industry research papers. Some analyze a whole body of papers so you don’t have to read and digest them yourself.

One more easy place to get started

If you’re new to research, I can recommend no better place to start than the personal information textbook Keeping Things Found. The author talks about berry-picking, among other things. (It’s not a bad read, either.)

In conclusion…

Most user interaction professionals never bother to read a single research paper. Those who do, have a huge leg up on the competition. And a greater chance of making happier users.

Research papers are available, they give you a professional & competitive edge, and they’re not terribly expensive (sometimes they’re free). Usability researchers even tend to write better than, say, philosophy PhD’s.

You’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

It’s time to kick some interface designing butt! Now, go read.

Are you looking for easy ways to engage new Facebook fans using Timeline?

Keep reading to learn how free apps can provide enormous opportunities for your business.

Why Facebook Timeline Apps?

Now that the new Timeline layout is mandatory for all page owners, we’re all beginning to find our way around the new layout.

For many, especially those who just started seeing traction with the old layout, Timeline presents brand-new challenges (and opportunities!) for staying top-of-mind.

Sure, the layout is beautiful, with lots of room for high-res video and photo. But with all the rules and changes (e.g., that your cover photo can’t be promotional, or that there’s no more driving non-fans to a default “welcome” tab prompting them to Like your page), page admins have their work cut out for them in terms of fostering high engagement and moving their fans to take action. Without engagement and momentum, your page is as good as invisible.

Since page admins can no longer designate a default landing tab (also referred to as the “default welcome tab”), businesses need to get more creative and use custom apps to direct Facebook page visitors to take action. Instead of having apps on the left-hand side of your page, they’re now featured directly below the cover photo.

One way to make up for the loss of engagement with a default landing tab is to drive visitors to your custom apps instead. Custom apps are prime real estate when optimized.

To get the most out of this real estate, you need to create a custom app strategy for your page.

Here’s a simple 3-step action plan to help you get momentum quickly with your new Timeline layout:

• Define your custom app strategy.
• Use a third-party tool.
• Promote and drive traffic to your custom app.

#1: Define Your Custom App Strategy

Before you start creating custom apps for your page, you want to be clear on your overall app strategy. Define what outcome you want to get from the app.

Do you want to create lead generation opportunities? Or create a welcome page? Or perhaps you want to turn your app into a mini-storefront? There are endless strategies for your custom apps.

Here are a few examples:

Social Media Examiner has created multiple custom apps to move their fans to action. As you can see from the image below, they use their custom apps to provide valuable content, collect leads and introduce their new Networking Clubs.

Social Media Examiner uses custom apps to provide valuable content, collect leads and introduce their new Networking Clubs.

When you click on “Networking Clubs” you’ll be taken to a custom app that incorporates video to explain the Clubs. Video within custom apps is a smart strategy to connect with your fans on a more personal level.

When you add video to your custom apps, you're able to connect with your Facebook fans at a deeper level.

Another custom app strategy is to use them to display your best content. I’ve done that here by pulling in one of my most popular blog posts. If you click on the custom app “Click 4 Tips,” you’ll see my latest blog post inside my Facebook page.

The more value you can create on your Facebook page, the greater your overall fan engagement. Use custom apps to highlight your best content.

With the help of the tool Lujure, I added one of my most popular blog posts to a custom app inside of Facebook.

The cool thing about pulling in my blog post is that all of the share buttons work—meaning I can get even more exposure via clicks inside Facebook. Also, at the end of my blog post, I’ve included an opt-in opportunity. Therefore, not only am I providing great content, I am also growing my email list.

Another useful strategy for custom apps is to create an e-commerce opportunity. As you can see from the example below, Christie LaPiana has pulled her website directly into her Facebook page. Now anyone can click on a product and purchase it without ever leaving Facebook.

Christie LaPiana uses her Facebook page as an e-commerce portal, selling her products directly from her custom app.

This e-commerce site is inside Christie's Facebook page, creating a new opportunity for her to sell her products.

#2: Use a Third-Party Tool to Create Your Custom App

By now you might be thinking, “So how do I create these custom apps?”

The good news is that you have many third-party tool options. Some options are free, others charge a fee.

For some of my custom apps, I’ve used Lujure. It’s a drag-and-drop operation, making it very easy to use, even when you are a bit technically challenged! Check out my short video to see how easy it is to set up a custom app in just minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh3PfiLiZ2k

#3: Promote and Drive Traffic to Your Custom App

One of the biggest challenges you will face once you create your custom app is driving traffic to it.

To grab your fans’ attention, make sure to use strong calls to action in both the custom app name and the app thumbnail image. The thumbnail image specs are 111 x 74 pixels.

Quick Tip! Here’s a free tool that will help you create your custom app thumbnails without ever having to hire a designer.

By adding thumbnails and action phrases to your custom apps, you can dramatically increase fan engagement.

In the example above, I called one app “Sign Up,” one “Watch,” one “Enroll Now” and then included more actionable text (“Social Media Updates,” “Free Video Series,” etc.) in the app thumbnail itself.

Calls to action that provide a clear incentive—valuable knowledge, industry tips and entertainment value—are likely to get more clicks.

To upload a thumbnail or change the name of the app, follow these steps:

• First, collapse all of your apps by using the drop-down arrow to the right of the apps.
• Next, put your cursor in the right corner of any app and you will see an edit pencil icon.
• Click the edit pencil and you will see a drop-down.
• Click “Edit Settings” in the drop-down and you will see an option to change “Custom Tab Image” (a.k.a. the thumbnail image) and the app name.
  

  Choose "Edit Settings" in the drop-down menu.

  

  Rename your app with a call to action.

As you can see, there are a lot of different custom app strategies you can try out for your own Facebook page. The key to success is to create apps that will get your fans engaged and move them to take action.

Now it’s your turn!

What do you think? Have you used custom apps to create engagement and drive your fans to action? Share your custom app strategy in the comments box below.

.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-apps-to-drive-facebook-timeline-engagement/
This article is posted courtesy of Amy Porterfield at Social Media Examiner.

Content is posted courtesy of Joel Falconer at Fuel Your Creativity.

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Creative Fuel is a periodic collection of design and creativity awesomeness found around the web. Find out about new apps and services, the best freebies, and other significant news from the design community!

Design Freebies: Music Vectors, Login Form & CSS3 Buttons

Building a music app? We’ve got free vectors for common features such as shuffle and repeat from 365psd. Also from 365psd is a modern, minimalist login form. Finally, Smashing Magazine has released a heap of buttons for 72 different social and web services — all in CSS3, including the little icons.

Check them all out:

CSS Trick: Triangles with Shadows

Everyone knows you can draw triangles with CSS3, among many other things (such as the icons on those buttons above). But you can’t then apply a shadow to the triangle. Chris Coyier shows us how to use a whole bunch of obscure Unicode characters as vectors you can apply shadows to in your web designs.

Typography: Creating Novel Pro

I Love Typography has posted the story of the Novel Pro typeface family’s development, written by its creator, Christoph Dunst. It’s a reasonably long page, but a good read.

Boulton: We need a critique culture

Reputable web design Mark Boulton talks about how a culture of critique in art school and the workplace has helped him grow as a designer, and how the web design industry lacks this — partially due to its reliance on distributed teams and remote working. Boulton proposes a way we can build more of a critique culture. Well worth a read, plenty of thought and discussion.

Weathered brick wall photo by Shutterstock.

Quick Tips: How to Speed Up CSS Rendering

Onextrapixel presents a basic guide on speeding up your CSS rendering time and writing more efficient CSS in general, by designer Faraz Karimian. Well worth a look — if you’re building fairly complex designs, these tips will really be helpful, but it is good to make them habits before you need them.

The Font Wars: A Story on Rivalry Between Type Foundries

Simon Loxley has written a fascinating history of IP theft and rivalry between type foundries over the years. Check it out at Smashing Magazine.

Are you seeking more visibility for your YouTube videos?

Are you wondering how others do it?

If you want the massive views, exposure and targeted traffic that YouTube offers, you need to focus on first building an audience—or as YouTube calls them, subscribers.

Why YouTube Subscribers?

A YouTube subscriber is someone who has chosen to “follow” your channel and your content so they can stay updated with your latest videos. In essence, a subscriber can become a raving fan who watches, comments and shares your videos with others. Building up a strong subscriber base is essential for creating a powerful community online.

The following article will reveal six simple—yet highly effective—methods for getting more subscribers to your channel and your existing videos.

However, before you follow these simple action steps, you’ll need to make sure you’re already following these three principles for YouTube marketing success in your business:

• Be consistent: The “one-and-done” approach does not work on YouTube. If you want the views and the traffic, you need to be posting and updating your content consistently for best results. Upload new videos and share with your list and sphere of influence as frequently as possible.
• Provide value: If your video fails to provide any real value to the end user, don’t be surprised when it doesn’t get any real views. Each video needs to deliver your best content, your best-kept secrets and your most effective strategies. How can you raise the bar and provide more value in your videos?
• Be remarkable: Today, it’s not enough to be posting weekly videos with your tips and content. Using your creative “right-brain marketing approach,” you need to convey your content in an engaging and entertaining format that separates you from the rest. In short, your videos need to be remarkable. The biggest sin in marketing is to be boring. How can your videos be the opposite of boring?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxnbXJMZ3Dg

If you put the above principles into practice in all of your marketing efforts (not just YouTube), seeing results with these six subscriber-getting strategies will be easy!

#1: Ask for Subscribers

The simplest way to begin increasing your subscriber count is to start asking for it in your videos. Never assume that your viewer can read your mind. In your videos, give your audience a compelling call to action and ask them to click the “Subscribe” button right above your video.

Here’s a simple three-part formula for creating a compelling call to action in your video that makes subscribing to your channel a complete “no-brainer!”

• Tell them what to do.
• Tell them how to do it.
• Tell them why to do it.

For example: “To stay up to date with my latest videos and cool marketing tips, make sure to subscribe to this YouTube channel by clicking the button above this video.”

Ask your viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel.

#2: Use Annotations

Annotations are the little colorful sticky notes that people paste all over their videos once they’ve been uploaded to YouTube. Although this tool is often overused, a few strategically placed annotations can make a world of difference for your YouTube marketing efforts.

In the case of increasing your subscribers, there are two effective uses for annotations that I recommend:

• Call-to-action annotation: Add a “speech bubble“ annotation directly under the Subscribe button to all of your old and existing videos.
  

  Notice how this speech bubble is aligned just below the Subscribe button.

• Click-to-action annotation: When you mention your call to action, add an image, graphic or “button“ to the video and overlay it with a “Spotlight“ annotation that links directly to your channel subscribe page. In short, your viewers can now subscribe by clicking an annotation inside your video.
  

  Add this Subscribe button in your videos.

#3: Add a YouTube Widget and More to Your Blog

If you already have a web property that is getting traffic, this is a great opportunity to leverage those visitors and get them to become subscribers to your channel. And they can do it with the click of a button.

Once you start embedding your YouTube videos on your blog, there are two really easy ways to get more subscribers:

• YouTube Subscription Widget: By installing the YouTube Subscription Widget to the sidebar of your blog or website, you can make it even easier for others to find your videos and subscribe to future content.
  

  Ask your blog readers to subscribe to your YouTube channel.

  Installing the widget is as simple as copying and pasting the iframe code below into your website’s HTML code:

  <iframe id=”fr” src=”http://www.YouTube.com/subscribe_widget?p=addYouTube Username here” style=”overflow: hidden; height: 105px; width: 300px; border: 0;” scrolling=”no” frameBorder=”0″></iframe>

  Note: Make sure to adjust the link above to include your YouTube channel name (username).

  For specific instructions on using and installing the YouTube Subscriber Widget, visit YouTube’s Official Blog.

• Call-to-action graphic: Recently, YouTube added a few features that allow users to interact more with videos, even when the videos are embedded on other web properties such as your blog. To take advantage of this update, add a small graphic above your embedded videos that tells people exactly what to do when watching!
  

  Be sure to add this new feature when you embed YouTube videos on your website.

  Not only can viewers like and share your videos even when they’re embedded on your blog, they can also subscribe to your channel by pushing the “more info” button.

  

  Note the More Info button where viewers can subscribe to your YouTube channel.

#4: Leverage Featured Channels

Another simple method for increasing your reach and scooping up more subscribers is to strategically partner with other YouTube content-creators.

Directly on your YouTube channel page is an option to add other “Featured Channels” of those “YouTubers” you like and recommend. When you get other channels that have a similar audience to feature you, you can expect to see new viewers coming your way very quickly!

Add Featured Channels.

How exactly do you get others to feature you on their channels? Simple. Ask! (But it also helps to reciprocate.)

#5: Consistently Interact

When you start to understand that YouTube is a community, not just a place to host your videos, you will begin to see far more results when you interact with the other members of this community.

One of the best ways to build a following of subscribers is to support others in their YouTube marketing efforts. Comment, like and subscribe as frequently as possible to other content-creators on YouTube, and wait for the reciprocation.

Take a few minutes a day to find some new and relevant YouTube channels, pay attention to their content and leave real, genuine comments. It’s a simple concept, really: the more you give, the more you get!

Take a few minutes to support others by leaving comments on the channels & videos that you enjoy.

#6: Create a Payoff

Lastly, my favorite strategy for attracting new subscribers starts by creating a “payoff.” There is something magical about posting your goals to the public.

You want to lose a few stubborn pounds? Post it on Facebook! Do you fancy that special someone? Shout it from a rooftop! But what if you want more YouTube subscribers?

Here’s a simple step-by-step process of the “subscriber payoff method” in action:

• Identify your current subscriber count (e.g., 450 subscribers)
• Identify your subscriber goal (e.g., 500 subscribers)
• Pick something fun, unique or different that you will do once you reach 500 subscribers (e.g., a free giveaway, shave your head, do a crazy dance on video, etc.)
• Share your goal (and your payoff) with the world!

When you share your goals with the world, people will jump on board to support you and help you accomplish your goals. This is a great way to spread your reach with little effort and have a fun time doing it.

Back to You

What do you think? How are you getting subscribers to your YouTube channel? Please share your questions and comments in the box below.

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http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/more-youtube-views-and-subscribers/
This article is posted courtesy of James Wedmore at Social Media Examiner.

Content is posted courtesy of Felix Diaconu at Fuel Your Creativity.

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Last week, we looked at 50 black and white logos and talked about the need to design logos in black and white first so that they can be reproduced in the broadest array of media. This week, we’re looking at the flip side: exuberantly colorful logos. You might not want a logo as bright as one of these, but adding some color to your finished black and white version can help a logo pop out in a design or piece of stationery, and can be useful when surrounded by other brands. Take a look at these 50 colorful logos and tell us what you think: would your personal logo be in black and white for stark impact or use color to draw the eye?

Team Voodoo

Flit

FunGumz

Demiu

Adriatic

perth Website

celebuphants

Candy Tree

Stemford

Pixel cake

vodovo

Aquapark

Pastel Fly

eco resources

Juice

The Chaai

Octo’s Garden

Retro Monitor

Techno Dream

Hlavathy Zsofia

International Management & Development

Chameleon Minds

Barich

Show Splash

TCC

sun fox

Brand Events

inkboutique

Drwatopia

Blumen fur die Lieben

flowled

Wildkid

Zemelyshka

Aurora

Koloro

Pet& You

Mountain Studio

Pendeca

Where to tomorrow

freshgui

Sweet Toof bakery

alcePixel

Yezhevika

oarta

Tropic JUngle

Hutville

RAC2012

coloraa

Talksaboutlove

Auras

Looking for a logo?

Find some of the best stock logo designs at BrandCrowd, or find colorful logo design jobs at DesignCrowd.

Late last week I had the pleasure of being introduced to Nick Disabato, who is in the process of creating a book to serve as a style guide for good interaction in design. I thought that Nick was tackling a really interesting subject, so I asked him to share some information on his upcoming book with the readers here at Positive Space. Since I really enjoy the Kickstarter community, and Nick is using it to fund his book, I thought it would be a great way to help him spread his idea and hopefully encourage some of you back his project.

Hey all. I’m Nick Disabato, an interaction designer from Chicago. I’m writing a book called Cadence & Slang that’s coming out in 2010. I’m writing, editing, designing, and typesetting it by myself. I’m revising it with the help of some close friends and colleagues. My friend Daniel Bogan is doing the illustrations. Right now I have a Kickstarter project going on to fund its independent production, and as of press time, we’re over 40% of the way there.

What’s inside the book

Cadence & Slang is a style guide for good interactions. A huge part of interaction design is coming up with creative solutions to unique situations. But at this point, the majority of it is about ensuring sensible, conventional solutions that are easy for people to understand, and useful once they’re adopted.

For better or worse, only a handful of significant interaction models have really gained traction in the past few decades. For example, in my daily life, I usually use just two: the keyboard-and-mouse of my computers, and the touchscreen on my phone. And while these models may change in the long term – I don’t expect people to use mice forever – they’re around for long enough, with enough products written for them, that conventions arise and rules can be codified. Fitts’s law, for example, is at its most useful when designing any interfaces that are controlled by a mouse.

But I don’t expect any guidelines to be distilled into black & white issues. All rules exist to be bent and broken by those sensitive enough to understand the tradeoffs in doing so. But by having these written down someplace, they may provide a framework, a starting point, for more humane, useful products. That’s my hope, at least.

Why this all matters

Cadence & Slang isn’t only for designers. It doesn’t talk in any lingo specific to our field; it’s not born of a scene that celebrates itself. Making good design a reality is about everyone adopting the right attitudes, no matter their job title. As Panic Inc.’s Steven Frank recently noted, good experiences run the entire way down the software stack. They require good performance and reliability; these problems concern the left-brained and the right-brained equally.

So how does this all happen? How do you create it? There’s no perfect formula, of course – especially not in a field that’s prone to reinventing itself every eighteen months. But having a place to start builds consensus between teams with different priorities.

Everybody says they want to make something that’s “simple,” “elegant,” “user-friendly.” But those terms are hollow if you refuse to address how they pertain to your product, and what you’ll do to get there. A fairly big chunk of Cadence & Slang exposes and addresses this – but again, as a starting point.

You’re part of this

Maybe you struggle with these problems as a freelancer, or as the lone designer in an organization that doesn’t yet understand the value of good experiences. Or maybe you’re part of management, and you’re wondering about the success of various simple, well-designed products over the past decade. No matter your role, I hope you’ll get something out of Cadence & Slang. If this sounds interesting so far, there’s a lot more information over at my Kickstarter page, where fancy pre-orders and other goodies can be yours on the cheap. I’ve also been writing a bunch of other long posts about usability and design, both inside said Kickstarter project and at a dedicated site, called I see what you did there.

I’m really excited at our progress so far. If you’d like to talk about anything, I’d love to hear from you: just fire an email over to nickd[at]nickd[dot]org.

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zinnidesign/PSFEED/~3/wQm5PttVteA/
This article is posted courtesy of Zinni at Positive Space Blog.