madhouse musings!

All of us want that “best” Logo designed for our startup. That Logo, which will differentiate our brand from the clutter, something that will uniquely represent our USPs & one that will aesthetically appeal to all sensibilities!

So, what is that Good Logo or what all should it have?

I’m not a researched authority on Logo Designs, but practical experience coupled with some practical design sense has me listing the following:

• A good logo should look memorable and describe something. This is very important as Logo is an integral part of any business / brand. It is important to get the philosophy of what the company stands for represented in the logo unit.
• It should be memorable and be remembered even after the logo is out of one’s sight – what’s the point of not recognizing or recalling a brand after? (its a failed effort, if so)
• For a new brand, logos should favor – Simplicity & Directness Over Style & Subtlety You know the KISS rule, right?
• A logo should be effective without color (I mean black & white). The true test of a good logo is that it conveys what it does even without color.
• A logo that’s designed around a particular color is seldom a huge failure. Reminds me of the Nike “Swoosh” – I remember the thick strong swoosh – without Nike written anywhere around it and surprisingly without any color association.
• Though, you can definitely use color to your advantage, but only over and above the main logo element (the main parts of the logo) – say, the Mcdonald Golden arch. Good designers usually design in black or grey and then add the color element to it
• A logo should be scalable (ironically, the scalable term applys to logos too LOL). A logo should be such that it can be used in any shape, size, form, texture, context and it should convey the same meaning, should retain its effect and should have the capacity to replicate itself well.
• In short, the details in the logo should as clear while its 10feet as it will when it’s an inch in size. Think various use cases of the logo in its lifetime from website to button buddies
• A logo should be appropriate for the business it identifies. It should have a stand out effect over its competitors.
• Using an element for a logo just because it needs to be there is a bad design – the element should make sense and should be in context.
• Always use a simple, readable font for your logo – No fancy or remotely fancy font! A quick check on Logo’s of the most popular / big brands reveals that their font type is Solid & Simple
• Design of the logo should surround around “Readablity” of the brand / logo
• We want to load our first logo with all possible decorations – emboss effect / drop shadow / gradient / etc – Keep Away from all that temptation! KISS rule, remember?
• The most important aspect of any logo designing effort is that the end result should clearly break away from clutter and stand out screaming its identity.
• It is NOT always necessary for you logo to have a tagline. Read my post on taglines here.

It is important for you to take ownership of the logo design. Outsourcing it to a designer is the thing to do, but it is important that you know what you want and convey the same to the designer. You can try and draft a short design specification document which will list out mainly, but not inclusive:

• Brief description of the product / service / business for which the logo is being generated
• Purpose of the Logo
• Mission / Philosophy of the design / company
• Logo design concept – If you want to follow a particular style, if there is a story that the logo should convey, etc.
• Colors
• Any other important detail you may want the designer to remember

The above will not only let you convey your thoughts to the designer, but will help the designer understand what is required and estimate efforts.

Once the initial version of the logo design is out, its is important that you quickly go around and take customer / general user feedback by way some random sampling.  This you can do by asking directed questions to your friends & family, your team / employees, &  some select customers of yours. You can even get feedback from some perfect strangers by walking into a cafe and asking people for their feedback. You can always thank them for their time by buying them coffee!

Logo design is an iterative process and it changes with time. What is important to achieve is a clean design, easy to read and remember font & a simple representation of the same – such a design can be everlastingly relevant.

Here’s a site that has listed logo design trends and some interesting tips:
http://www.logolounge.com/articles/default.asp?Archive=True&ArticleID=680

As entrepreneurs, businesses  -  we constantly stive to achieving user acceptance, customer acknowledgement. But, the reality is many happy customers spread the word of mouth, and many unhappy customers are vocal about their unhappiness.

But there are rare moments of reassurance & pride when customers, happy customers write back to you with good words or acknowledge your efforts to making thier lives better.

Here are two such instances (a proud moment for me) where customers of Deskaway & Commonfloor – MVPs portfolio companies have shared their experiences and candid feelings about their services.

The “age factor” compels you to do a few things, one such in my case is the urge to shed that extra fat and stay fit. So, i’ve been at it for a couple of months, but have always had a problem measuring my efforts towards that end.

Last week, Namit, Varun, Himanshu - founders of LifeMojo, one of MVP’s portfolio sent me a test link to their B2C platform – www.lifemojo.com. Here you can not only assess your current body and lifestyle “health”, but also plan and track your diet and exercise schedule. These guys are in a pre-release mode and will open to users shortly… i’ll update my blog when they release, its a great tool to try out, if you are health conscious, a health freak or just concerned about over-weight. I know that they are also going to add tracking tools for preventive healthcare, such as diabetes and blood pressure.

Anyways, the best thing i liked about these guys is that even if they are in pre-release phase, fixing bugs and all that – When i logged onto www.lifemojo.com this morning – i was totally impressed. I saw a little note on World Diabetes Day on the homepage. When i logged in it also showed me a little reminder about getting my blood sugar tested… So, lo and behold – i promptly got to the hospital near my house in the morning and gave my blood sample to get my sugar levels tested! This, i have been procastinating for a while, though my doctor had suggested i get it tested, considering the family history of blood sugar there exits.

Thankyou LifeMojo!

I do not answer the call if its from 30333232 anymore. But its strange to see how these guys have been repeatedly calling me.

I bought a reliance netconnect connection three weeks back and a day later as promised my connection got activated. The same day i got a Welcome call from one of the agents who asked me a bunch of questions for verification. Thanks were said at both ends and i was a happy customer. Until…

The next day i got another call, Welcome Call Sir! (please, i hate it when people don’t bother to figure out if its a man or a woman they are talking to. My voice is not that masculine, nor do i have a Punjabi Sikh name to make things more confusing!) I answered patiently and told the caller that a welcome call has been done, this is a second call. Thanks were said.

From then on, i’ve got 30 calls in all, on a daily basis from Reliance, some i have answered, explained to them that i’ve got a welcome call already, please make note. Some i have simply not answered.

Meanwhile, i’ve already got my usage bill and i still continue to get welcome calls

Reliance Communications – I would’ve loved to see this dedication and efficiency in your data service and complaint resolution.

PS: I’ve got a welcome call, please make note and don’t call me anymmore!

Today, on Valentine’s day, when tradition talks of spreading love and expressing your love… Cafe Coffee Day has managed to pull off a FRAUD!

My classmate from University came by visiting me, she lives in another country and is visiting India briefly. She dropped by at office and we decided to go to the nearby Cafe Coffee Day or CCD as its commonly known as!

The Valentine flavor was seen all around and at CCD, with red balloons and young couples mostly in Red and Black, the women holding presents or flowers…. the spirit was in the air!

When we sat to order, i was a little disappointed as they were NOT serving the regular menu, so there was no usual Masala Chai Black for me. A little unhappy, i continued to choose what my friend had ordered for – ‘Go Nut Cappuccino’. As the guy was walking away with the order, we noticed that there was “no price attached to the menu”, we joked about CCD’s strategy to make extra bucks on V-Day and asked the guy how much the cappuccino costs, he did a mental calculation and said Rs. 51/-. We were pleased, thats not a rip off after all!

The order came and our expectations got crushed further, the Go Nut was all about one simple cappuccino and CCD’s own Masala Peanut, which they call ‘ Go Nut’. Bummer! Yet we were going with the spirit… catching up on matters of a few years that had grayed on us. After a couple of hits by the floor supervisor at CCD we decided we’ll make way for the young love birds who had flocked around waiting for their chance to taste the sweetness of caffeine…

When it was Bill Time, i was given a bill of Rs. 75 first, which in between conversation i handed a Rs. 500 note… so when change came back, i was charged an amount of Rs. 190/-

It happens such that Go Not, has nuts that’s separate and charged Rs. 36 for 2 (all the time we thought it was complementary and it sucked!) Cappuccino was Rs. 75 for one. (Omygod!) When asked for a clarification, i was told that the person who took my order was not aware of the costs. Even after random excuses and million illogical statements, my question was not answered – “I want a compensation.” Finally, after a serious argument and pointing out that CCD was doing a fraud with its customers, i got charged Rs. 51/-per cup of coffee.

The point is not about money here, it is about setting consumer expectations. It is about ensuring product knowledge and awareness to the last line in your business.

It is also about acknowledging the fact that consumer’s are intelligent, running a business, but in a fair manner. I have no qualms about CCD making a quick buck on V-day, but my problem is in the fact that they opted not to inform the customers about the prices up front, still worse, gave wrong information.

What’s your fraud experience? Let know. Also, i will be interested in knowing, if you guys can come up with intelligent fraud ways of making a quick buck… let the ideas roll!