Sometimes the right answer to a question is a discussion - a mosaic of answers. Enter Fluther, a great little project I found over at Cameron Moll’s Authentic Jobs. In redesigning their site, Co-owners Andrew McClain and Ben Finkel wanted an identity and user experience that would set them apart from sites like Metafilter, and Yahoo Answers. It was an rewarding collaboration.

Being Different.
One thing competitors in the social search space had in common were very plain, very generic “Web 2.0” looking interfaces. Just being something specific can sometimes be a powerful brand differentiator. After building an identity spectrum, we were quickly able to agree specifically on how the identity should “feel”. And the name Fluther (meaning a pod of jellyfish) gave me the perfect starting point to visualize these attributes.

Interaction.
The idea? You ask a question. Fluther connects you to people with a wide range of experience on your topic. Ya’ll chat… ...(more)

Following an abysmal interaction with PNM‘s customer service department (New Mexico’s public utility company) I went online in search of a consumer advocate group with whom I could share my despair.

Knowing it was a long shot, I pointed Firefox to PNMsucks.com with the hope of discovering a vocal opponent to these “evil-doers”. No such luck. Interestingly, a quick domain lookup revealed that PNM was fully aware of their negative perception, and had preemptively purchased the domain… for ten years.

Not only did this revelation further incense me, it reinforced their brand - that is, my experience in dealing with their company. After witnessing first hand the full impotence of their customer service department, I’d now found that PNM was also attempting to quash a response to their utter “suckitude” rather than, I don’t know… trying not to suck maybe?

SaraJoy Pond’s recent rant on a visit to her local Walmart prompted another quick check, revealing Walmart too worries they suck… ...(more)

To me, Jeffrey Zeldman is the King of Cool. It feels like he’s always 1 1/2 steps ahead of whatever’s going on. With a savant-like mastery of design and web standards, he still manages to exude incredible humanity.

So not for a second does anyone believe he’s the wandering noob he appears to be during his recent challenges with an expiring domain, and his flickr Pro account. One important lesson companies can learn from him is “don’t bury your mistakes”. Without malice for the companies that failed to watch his back, Zeldman shares his mistakes, and offers advice for preventing these situations in the future. A genius, a visionary and a guru - but human like the rest of us. It’s his brand.

Many businesses go to great lengths to hide their flaws, mistakes or even simple lapses in attention. They feel it would hurt their credibility if anyone were ever… ...(more)

As a designer who spends some time designing logos, I want to state for the record that your logo doesn’t matter. That’s right. If you created a spectrum of all the problems facing large companies, small companies, stagnating companies, companies experiencing painful growth, you won’t find one that a logo can fix.

So I wanted to offer some logo advice for business owners I’ve gathered through my experience in developing brands:

- Your logo is not your brand. Don’t expect it to be.

- If you are unable to articulate why someone should choose your company over your competitor, a well designed logo is not going to fix that problem.

- Trying to look like a big company when you aren’t one is a bad strategy. These days, 2 guys can have a billion dollar idea. No one cares how much overhead you have. That is old thinking.

- Your logo is also not your value proposition. Don’t expect it to be. “How will people… ...(more)