5o9 is a Boulder, Colorado company that develops software enabling the web to be personal, local and mobile. This unique approach allows companies to send and receive personalized content through the web instead of building complex apps for each mobile device.

5o9 tasked us with creating a website that could communicate the complex technology behind their products and turn it into something that everyone could quickly and easily understand.
Taking the challenge head-on, we developed a site that is clean and easy to navigate while using strong graphics and everyday concepts to create an approachable look. 5o9 felt that the animation on the homepage hit the nail on the head, showing “who”, “what” and “where” scenarios for a diverse group of mobile users.

Upon completion of the web concepts, 5o9 LOVED the new look, but suddenly realized they didn’t love their current logo design. Just like that, a new project was born – create something abstract, friendly, and icon-based. A mark that didn’t need to have the word “5o9″ in it to be recognizable. Needless to say, not an easy task, but one that we felt confident we could tackle. The new logo illustrates the who, what and where data and shows how they intersect to create magic. Some also see a zen-like mark while others see a person. What do you see?

By the way – 5o9 is crazy in love with the new logo. Here’s to another satisfied client!

Linkedin has become a powerful tool for professionals looking to network and find career opportunities as well as companies looking for talent. Linkedin also provides some unique tools that can be particularly effective for small business marketing. Here are some tips for making the most of Linkedin:

Get Your Company In

Create a profile for your company, and make sure to include relevant keywords in your descriptions. Linkedin can be a great source of SEO links, and your profile will start to appear in Google and other search engine results.

Get Your Team In

Make sure that your principals and team members have Linkedin profiles. They can easily create unique URLs (http://www.linkedin.com/in/name) so their profiles will be easier to find. Individual profiles should also include relevant keywords as well as good photos.  Linkedin is a great way to put a face on your team – and your company!

Get In the Conversation

A unique feature of Linkedin is the ability to ask Questions and provide Answers to other members. Providing smart, helpful answers can position you or a team member as an expert, and increase your network of connections. You can also ask thoughtful questions as a way to start conversations. With Linkedin, you can also join or start groups! You can join relevant industry or local groups, or start and facilitate groups of your own. Group discussions can lead to increased connections, industry insights, referrals, and even prospects!

Get In with the Media

Most people get connected with professional colleagues, service providers, clients, friends, and associates. But don’t miss the chance to connect with journalists, bloggers, and other media professionals. If you meet or are introduced to a media contact, invite him or her to connect on Linkedin! Staying connected helps keep you top-of-mind and may lead to PR opportunities.

Keep Your Contacts in the Loop

Use Network Updates to keep your contacts informed about your professional news, and select the News Module to share the latest news about your company. A word of caution: Linkedin is not a micro-blogging site like Twitter and it’s not nearly as personal as Facebook. Encourage your team to be strategic and limit their number of status updates.  If you are a prolific tweeter, it’s not a good idea to connect your Linkedin updates to your Twitter profile. Don’t overwhelm your professional contacts!

We’re looking forward to seeing you Linkedin!

Design Rangers would like to thank Tammy for another awesome guest post! We are proud to call her partner and friend. Tammy Oler is a freelance wordslinger, strategist, and member of the Design Rangers Auxiliary in Brooklyn, NY. Connect with Tammy on Linkedin. Connect with the Design Rangers, Chris and Jenny, on Linkedin.

I just came across this great article from the “biz ladies” of design*sponge. I have found so many articles by the biz ladies to be inspiring and informative, including: how to form successful biz partnerships, organizing your biz income + expenses, starting a business in tough times, and I actually included this one in a weekly round up blog post from August of 2009 – a very informative article about advertising 101 for small businesses.

To quote the article’s author, Meg Mateo Ilasco, “…an amateur logo design could only hurt your business. Just because you’re an artist, craftsperson, or designer doesn’t make you a skilled graphic designer. Designing a logo takes experience. It’s no easy task to take everything a company stands for and bring it down to a single graphic representation or symbol.”

Meg hits the nail on the head – your logo is everything! The Design Rangers believe it should be clean, have good contrast and be simple. Our professor in college once said “a good logo can be drawn in the sand with a stick”. Think Nike, McDonalds, Mercedes, Apple. The greats ARE clean and simple! Here is a previous blog post that talks briefly about our logo process and what it take to get some pencil marks on a paper to a logo that has impact.

We are passionate about logo design and we love a well designed, thoughtful logo! Here are a few of our favorites: Endurance Army, Property Army, Bottle Rocket, Love Yarn, Women’s Bike Challenge, Lyric Quotes, Beer Garden, and idea couch. What are yours?

Compared to Twitter and Facebook, blogs can feel a bit old-fashioned. Blogs take a lot of time and energy to maintain, and many small businesses find them to be a challenge. But blogs are powerful – and creative – marketing tools. They demonstrate your expertise, show off your company’s personality, and increase your visibility online. Blogs can also generate content for your other social media channels. Above all else, a blog can demonstrate that you care about your business, your industry, and your customers.

What Have You Got to Say?
I’ve found that many small businesses share the same blogging challenge: they don’t know what to blog about! Here are some ideas for posts:
Report industry news. Share information, commentary and insider knowledge on news that impacts your industry or products. This is a great way to build value for your customers and establish your expertise.
Share advice and tips. Provide guidance and help to your customers and readers. Everyone loves a post full of tips. (Like this one!)
Product announcements and case studies. Are you rolling out a new product or service? Blog about it! And don’t forget to share success stories.
Roundups. Create a regular roundup of useful or relevant links to share on your blog. It’s a great way to make use of other resources online – and to make your own web surfing productive!
Guest bloggers. Invite other bloggers or subject matter specialists to submit posts. This is a great way to bring resources to your customers. Your guest bloggers might just invite you to do some guest blogging, too. (You’re reading a guest blog right now!)

Tips for Better Posts

Once you’ve got your content, make the most of it! Here are some things to keep in mind while you’re writing:
Make it concise. You should definitely use more than 140 characters, but keep your posts brief (300-500 words is a good range).
Develop clear, clever titles. This is especially important if you will be posting your blog content to Twitter and Facebook! Make your titles clear, so that prospective readers know what they’ll be reading, but see if you can make them snappy, too.
Include links. Provide links to people, articles, and blogs that you reference. This is useful to your readers, and it also helps you to build connections in the blogosphere.
Proofread your posts! Even in the online world, spelling, grammar, and punctuation matter. Don’t forget to proof your posts.

My 500 words are nearly up… happy blogging!

Tammy Oler is a freelance wordslinger, strategist, and member of the Design Rangers Auxiliary in Brooklyn, NY. Follow her on Twitter here.

It’s doubtful however that many would envision a talking wine bottle looking for a date with food (a campaign for Epcot’s International Food and Wine festival). Or an ad showing Yoda, using the force at luggage claim (in a campaign for Star Wars Weekends). Yet these are exactly the kind of fun (and funny) ideas and campaigns coming out of Disney’s “Yellow Shoes” in-house creative department.

Or take the example of the campaign for the Disney Princess half-marathon. It would have been easy to take a group-shot of Disney’s many animated princesses and call it a day.  But by combining a classic icon with the unexpected, you get a much more powerful and targeted message. The theme worked so well, that Disney created real glass-slipper running shoes for display alongside other athletic shoes at Foot Locker, the key sponsor.

The Rangers had the exciting opportunity to attend Will Gay’s presentation to the Pikes Peak Advertising Federation that provided rare insight to the creative engine that drives the creative look for Disney’s resort brands. Will, the creative director for Yellow Shoes, showed us that even under the seemingly restrictive brand that is Disney, big ideas and creativity still rule the roost.

Besides being a fun and entertaining presentation, the talk sparked dialog at the Ranger Camp about the importance of creative play and the ideas it can create.  The big take-away for us is that you should always be pushing for innovative and smart creative, even if what you have is already working for you. Disney has a proven formula that’s worked through the ages, so why step outside the box? Because it works, and it keeps the Disney brand from becoming stale. As Will put it, “If you entertain people, they forget that they are being advertised to.” What ads or brands stand out in your mind as innovative, creative, entertaining or willing to push the envelope? We look forward to hearing your favorites.

Bearski’s skin-loving products are high-quality, handmade, yet affordable.  Jessica and Christian were looking to give Bearski a hip, cool, and fun personality.  They gave us a lot of great input and ideas – bubbles and lower-case text were kicked around – then… they let us have at it!

Ultimately, a logo should reflect the persona of the company while being engaging and memorable. Sometimes, the design process meanders on it’s way to the ultimate design, and other times, you just get a “Yes, THIS is IT!” moment. After completing one logo concept in particular – we knew we had done it. We felt the logo really had it all – contrast, personality, sweetness, not to mention bubbles AND lower case type. We were thrilled when Jessica and Christian loved it just as much as we did.

SIDE NOTE: We were also thrilled to find out just a few days ago that the Bearski logo has won an ADDY award

After many rounds of high-fives about the logo, we let the logo begin its new life in Bearski’s business cards, product label template and a custom e-commerce web site:

Not only were we passionate about this project, we’re passionate about what Jessica and Christian are doing with Bearski Bath & Body. We are crazy about their products – here are links to our favorites, the coffee soap and Goat Milk TLC. Feel free to list your favorites in the comments or visit Bearski and pick up a future favorite.

Thanks Bearski for trusting us with your image – creating it was truly good, clean fun!

Tammy asked us to design a Wordpress site that would showcase her wordslinging and marketing talents as well as incorporate her blog & post her twitter updates. We really wanted the new site to reflect TAMMY and her hip, funky, professional awesomeness!

Chris started with the Cushy WooThemes template…

used his design magic, customizing the template it into this….

Tammy was thrilled with the look of her new site, and quickly realized she needed business cards that reflected the new tammyoler.com feel. We designed this card for her…

The cards are printed on 16pt paper, and we decided on the rounded corner option, as it played off of the background pattern nicely.

As you reflect on your marketing efforts in 2009 and prepare for 2010, it’s easy to focus on what you accomplished (or didn’t) and what kinds of strategies will meet your needs going forward.  But before you design a plan that’s all about YOU, remember that no marketing will work unless you put your customers first.

Ask yourself the following question: how often do you listen to your customers?

Listening is critical to your business.  Listening – seriously – to your customers will not only provide you with key insights about your products and services, but it is essential for developing a strong and effective marketing plan.  As you move into 2010, make sure that a fundamental component of your strategy is setting up a listening post to talk to your customers – offline and online.

Listening in the Real World

This sounds simple, but most companies try to avoid actually talking to customers unless they have to.  Don’t skip out on your chance to connect personally and get honest feedback about what you’re offering!  If you’re a small business, chances are good that you have developed relationships with customers in your target markets.  Listening is as simple as asking them how they have experienced your product or service, how they perceive your company, why they choose you over a competitor, and what you can do to improve. This feedback can help you determine if your messaging and design is effective, if you’re using the right marketing channels, and if your performance delivers against your promises.

Listening in the real world can also provide you with key information on how to plan your online and social media marketing.  This type of marketing requires a large investment of time and, often, resources, and it’s critical to determine how to make that investment.  Make sure to ask customers in your target markets how they use the Web, what (if any) social networks they prefer, and if they feel it would be useful for you to be there, too.

Listening in the Virtual World

You also want to make sure that you’re listening online.  Many businesses make decisions about their online presence and social media channels without ever first assessing how their customers use the Web and the sentiment of customers towards products, services and competitors online.

To listen online, start by searching for your company name on broad range of platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google Blog Search, and general search engines.  How large is your online reach, and how positive is sentiment about you?  Next, do the same thing for your competitors.  Are they reaching customers in ways or places you are not?  Take the time to inventory how they are using the Web.  Finally, start searching for conversations about the types of products or services you offer.  Are there influential blogs you should be watching and contributing to?  Are customers even talking about your types of products and services on certain platforms? Remember that you may be able to gain new customers and strengthen your relationships very effectively online and with social media channels – but only if people in your key markets are actually engaged with that channel.

Make online listening an ongoing project!  You can automate this in several ways, including setting up Google Alerts to track mentions of your company name, your competitors, and other keywords that are essential to your business.

One More Thing: Be Prepared For Less-Than-Awesome Feedback

If you’re listening, chances are good that you’re going to hear some things that you might not want to. But negative feedback might be among the most valuable feedback you can receive.  It represents an opportunity to respectfully and considerately respond as well as to improve!  Remember that with social media, your customers are asking you to listen to them. Responding in an honest, authentic and ongoing way is the surest way to support your marketing efforts and build stronger relationships.

Here’s to a 2010 with more listening – and more effective marketing!

Tammy Oler is a freelance wordslinger, consultant and member of the Design Rangers Auxiliary in Brooklyn, NY.  Follow her on Twitter here.

Here are the posts in no particular alphabetical order:

• Looking for a birthday card you can personalize for someone you love (or don’t love, I guess). They have included a PDF you can download, run some card stock through your printer, trim and fill out. I would probably use a hole punch and then a single to hold them all together. In my book, this almost acts as THE present! You know your mom will get teary-eyed over this.

• I also find my self really appreciating and enjoying things my friends appreciate and enjoy – I feel like it connects us across the miles. So, when I saw this poster I immediately thought of Ehren and his love of all things robot.
• I’ve recently been designing a holiday card for our dear friend and wordslinging partner Tammy Oler. It has a Twitter theme and when I came across this ABC poster my thoughts went to Tammy and her Twitter expertise! I’ve also fallen in-love with images of birds, I have to admit!
• The guest blog writer from inchmark looked through the thousand ABC posters that are out there – here are Brooke’s favorites
• This is not a design*sponge link but a link  I’ve already posted, it deserves another visit in this all things alphabet post. The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Hurray for a great drop cap!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Trails!

Here are a few great pumpkin ideas, just in case you are still looking…

1. As designers, we will always hold a special place in our heart for anything Pantone. WHY didn’t we think of this!
2. And a great one from of favorite bear, Smokey.
3. Those of you that know Chris as well as I do, know that when he sees these he will smile a huge smile – once a fan, always a fan!

We wish you all a great Halloween, full of treats!

Happy Trails.