Nur Ahmad Furlong

Tag: branding

Latest Work here at nomad-one.com
The last few months have been really hectic for me as I posted here before with a few setbacks but I’m glad to say I’ve bounced back and things have returned to normal. I’ve completed a few nice little WordPress design projects all with their own interesting twists to them. I’m always amazed at just how many really great WordPress plugins exist to fill in the extra functionality needed.
www.strictlyhalaal.com
The first of them, a site which hasn’t launched yet but is pretty much completed is www.strictlyhalaal.com, which serves as a listing/directory site for “halaal” certified businesses.
Strictlyhalaal.com uses a few great free plugins:
- GD Star Rating allows for users to give each listing a rating.
- Collapsing Categories Plugin created that cool expandable category list on the homepage
- Ad Minister allows you to created widgetized ad spaces to add dynamic ads or content
Next up is Learningcurve.co.za
Learning Curve is a dedicated education technology supplier, representing premium brands such as Adobe, Apple, Dell, Autodesk and Toonboom. This was the first time I have setup an e-commerce website using WordPress and proved to be quite a challenge to begin with but also turned out to be a really valuable learning experience, no pun intended.
To power the e-commerce side fo things I used the wp-ecommerce plugin, which is a really powerful yet free plugin system allowing you to turn your WordPress site into an online store in a few clicks. Customizing the online store’s appearance was a bit of a mission for starters but it’s worth learning the ins & outs of this plugin, developed by the boys at www.instinct.co.nz.
I can’t unfortunately divulge the sales figures for the first 2 months, but lets just say I was more than pleasantly surprised. It’s great to see your work directly benefiting your client’s bottom line, especially immediately after it’s implementation.
Last but not least is Duomarketing.co.za
This is the first time I make use of a Woo Theme to develop a client site. I’m very impressed with what the guys at WooThemes are up to, and even more so when I took a little lookie under the hood of one of their themes. The theme options part is really well done, some of the code still boggles my mind a bit, but it allows the user to easily switch stylesheets for a change of colour and style.
The widgetized areas on the homepage works out quite well also allowing you to add pages into certain block of the homepage layout. The cost of the premium theme definitely adds value to the mix as it allows the client to aquire some really great features for a fraction of the cost of cutom development.
March 31, 2009
What do you think a Logo design should cost?
I Found the following article very apt with regard to the current perceptions by many business people regarding the benefits of a good logo and what they are prepared to “invest” in it.
Jacob of Just Creative Design wrote Why logo design does not cost $5.00 in which he mentions:
Many people don’t understand either the value a well designed logo can add to their Brand Image or the effort it takes to design a logo which will add that value.
Misconceptions part of the problem
It’s extremely frustrating dealing with clients who don’t appreciate the time, effort and consideration required to develop a logo which does justice to what they are trying to sell. Many people think the designer should go off on their own with a company name and re-appear with a brilliant perfectly suited design.
Briefing a designer is very much about setting constraints, boundaries for the creative process not to cross, which will make for a more targeted and relevant solution.
I have also found people do not want to engage with the design process and expect to see a final perfect design which solves all their problems with actually spending he time to convey to the designer what their business is all about.
My perspective on Logo Design
Logo design or any design for that matter has got nothing to do with guess work. It’s also got little to do with dreaming up great ideas out of nothing. It takes alot of thinking, researching, exploring, questioning and experience to bring together all the elements needed to realise a great looking and functioning logo.
So what do you think a Logo design Should Cost?
What have you paid or have you heard of others paying?
Post your comments below
June 9, 2008
Recent Project – Praxia Technologies Branding & WP website
A nice little Branding & Web design project I recently completed was for Praxia Technologies.
Praxia Positions itself in the following manner.
“Our mission is to help our clients realise the full potential of their network, communications and computer hardware and software.”
Saeed of Praxia Technologies approached me, firstly to refresh his web presence and put something up there he could manage himself. This has become pretty much a standard request for web design projects as no-one wants to have to call up an html coder each time they want to update a page on their site.
As usual I recommended WordPress, due to it’s quick and simple framework and user friendliness, especially for Praxia’s simple CMS(Content Management System) needs. I found a template which suited their requirements and went about giving it a complete facelift. Praxia’s logo also needed a change and I was happy to oblige as logo design is one of my favourite areas of focus.
First Things first – Establish a new Brand
We started off with the logo design so we could base the site’s look & feel on the Brand and create a nice consistent looking online presence.

After exploring various directions as I usually do with logo design projects the client was split between 2 logo options and we had some back & forth discussion on the pros and cons of each direction.
We settled on the more practical option, the other being the 3 dimensional X element. The focus on the X stems from their original logo and was maintained to keep some kind of consistency going in the re-brand.
Next comes the site in WordPress
We decided to re-use the 3D X element with each component of the X representing a specific business unit as the client still liked the element and wanted to maintain it somehow.
Because Praxia is an IT Tech company focusing every element of a clients IT Tech needs they wanted to go with something which links well with the technology they use. A few stages of design drafts and the client was pretty happy with the look though felt something was missing, and with the inclusion of the brushed metal background we’d settled on a design which the client was very excited about.

To see the final coded result visit www.praxia.co.za. Let me know what you think.
May 8, 2008
Wanna start an Agency with me? I’m looking for a partner!
I am working on setting up a Strategic Communications Consultancy and need a Partner willing to start the venture with me. I’m looking for someone with a strategic mind and who has been involved in some form of Brand Communications at some level.
The person should be independent, or looking to go independent. Someone with a wide skills or knowledge base and a solid network of strategic connections would help. Someone with previous experience in advertising, brand development, web development or journalism would be suitable.
Are you an entrepreneur in the making? If you’ve thought about starting an agency or consultancy more than once a month in the last few years, then this may be your chance to do just that. If you don’t need to do a wikipedia search to know what Design Thinking means then I’d love to pick your brain and maybe develop a business together.
Someone with a highly ethical approach and positive outlook on the environment and development of positive values in society would be ideal.
Interested in chatting, mail me on nur@nomad-one.com or contact me on skype with “one-nomad”. Looking forward to chatting soon.
March 5, 2008
Brand? Branding? branded? What is a Brand?
With all the talk about Brands, Branding, Brand Building, Brand Strategy you’d think that the meaning of the word Brand was clear, and that this crucial aspect of business would be one which is clearly understood.
The reality, however, is very different. Many business people are still struggling to come to terms with exactly what a Brand is and how to build it. I just “AskedWiki” the question: What is a Brand?, and this is what they served up:
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes products and services from competitive offerings, as defined by the American Marketing Association; however, according to The Chartered Institute of Marketing, a brand represents the consumers’ experience with an organization, product, or service.
The roots of Branding – a little history
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December 18, 2007
Logo Controversies Continued
I’ve been monitoring a few high profile logo re-design projects lately, and the controversies which have popped up surrounding them. I find the whole thing rather intriguing. At first I suppose I was thinking the same thing everyone else was, which is basically – “What were they thinking”? Why’d they waste so much money on that? I’ve seen smaller companies do much better” etc. etc. I personally haven’t heard much noise or controversy about small company re-brands. The latest installment is none other than our very own Pick n Pay, a place we have all probably visited at some stage(South Africans that is) to stock up on our daily needs. Biz-community has been following the story quite closely of late and seems to have quite a bit of insight into what this re-branding process entailed.

What Biz Community Readers Think
A recent poll held by Biz-community.com reveals a little about what people, mostly those in the marketing & advertising industry I gather, have to say about this re-brand. As of about 14:40, 14 November 2007, 47% of readers expressed a dislike for the new identity.
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November 14, 2007