A friend reminded me that I haven’t posted in awhile. The days and weeks are just flying by. It’s hard to believe that 2 weeks have gone by since my last post. I had friends from NYC staying with me last week so it was quite hectic trying to balance work and friends. I can probably waste an hour posting about the great food we cooked and dined on but that’s for another day and another blog.
After 4 weeks of self-employment, here are the latest updates:
Technical Development - my partner, Peter, is busy trying to learn RoR. His background is primarily with Microsoft tools (C#.NET, ASP.NET, etc.) and Java development. It’s taking a little more time than both of us want but it was expected. I’m hoping he can wrap up the first iteration in the next couple of days.
Logo Design - last week we picked a designer that worked with us at a previous interactive agency. She’s in the process of working on our logo. The draft concepts will be presented next week and I’m very anxious to see them. I found some good guidelines from marketingprofs.com but you have to register to read the article. It’s a two part article and a really good read for someone new to the logo design process. Here’s a short excerpt…
1. Black and white first
Good logos are designed in black and white first. Color comes later. By the same token, logos should be judged in black and white first, then in color.
By evaluating the black and white version first, you get a much better idea of the shape, design and readability of the logo. Good design stands up well in black and white. Lousy design does not. Lazy designers know that bad design can be camouflaged by color. A logo shouldn’t rely on color for its appeal, uniqueness or ability to be recognized.
If you’re hiring logo designers, insist that the first presentation come to you in black and white. If they don’t get it, fire them before they get started.
2. Shape and style next
Logos are first recognized by shape, then by color. Good logos have unique shapes that are quickly differentiated from the sea of other logos that the public sees every day. The shape must be simple, clean and quick. Sometimes logos are just the name of the organization in a well-selected font. And, yes, words—all by themselves—are shapes.
Complicated logos are more difficult to recognize. People memorize logos in exactly the same way they memorize printed words. When you look at the word “cat,” you don’t see the individual letters. Instead, you’ve memorized the “shape” of the word. That “shape” represents a small, furry animal. On the other hand, when you run across the word “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis” you’ll probably have to break it down to recognize it. (This could lead us to a whole discussion about product names, but for now, let’s stick to logos.)
3. A word about color
Just like the shape of a logo, color needs to be simple and easy to recognize and memorize. Colors and color combinations used in logos should be unique so that the logo doesn’t blend into the multitude of other logos. Complicated color combinations that include lots of different colors distract from the most important element of the logo, that is, its shape.
Again, think about memorization. It’s pretty easy to memorize the colors of a tan and blue logo. On the other hand, the same logo design in tan and blue and green and teal and purple and red and black is not so easy to remember.
What color should you use? Yes, colors do mean things. Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means speed up. There are a few generally accepted principles of color and the emotions they evoke. Color trends change. The trick is to find the color combination that doesn’t just work today but will maintain its appeal and meaning over time:
Prototyping - I am still in the process of creating wireframes and generating an HTML prototype using Axure. It’s been a great tool for interaction/user experience design. Hopefully, we have prevented a few development iterations of UI fixes.
Incorporation - I incorporated an S-corp back in 2001 when I was planning on going the independent consulting route before the dotcom crash. I was doing some research on LLCs vs. S-corps to make sure that an S-corp is best for our situation.
I really like the profit sharing flexibility and less formality of LLCs. But the self-employment tax savings, corporate structure and stock incentive of an S-corp make it the better solution for us. A Roth & Company Tax Update sealed the deal on an S-corp especially for a California based business. For those of you who are thinking about minimizing your tax burden through profit distributions, the IRS is conducting an audit of S-corps and their perceived abusive practices.
Google Calendar - since the launch of the Google Calendar, I’ve been using it and really enjoying it. The ability to create multiple calendars and share it with people is great. I know that Google isn’t the first web based calendar with these features. But it’s by far the best UI which is clean and simple. We are using Google Calendar instead of setting up an exchange server or similar server solution.
It was easy to import my Outlook events and meetings into the Google Calendar although recurring events didn’t import correctly but it is easily corrected. I set up multiple calendars (personal, work, to dos, etc.) and no longer use Outlook Calendar. In the future, the Google Calendar will be able to synchronize with mobile devices and Outlook.
Although I really like Google’s Calendar, it’s bad news for other calendar startups like 30 Boxes and CalendarHub. As someone who is trying to start a new business it’s not reassuring to see one of the established players taking out startups. I’m not saying that 30 Boxes or CalendarHub won’t be successful but it’s harder when an A-list player releases a really good product.
During the time it takes to release our product/site, my biggest fear is that some competitor will steal our thunder and release a similar product or worse yet a better product than we have planned. My attitude is competition only makes you better.
On a product basis, I know we can compete but I’m worried about our marketing and advertising budget versus our established competitors. But marketing and advertising issues are also for another day.
Food & Wine side note: During the week my friends were in town, we took a day trip to Sonoma. We visted a great winery, Imagery Estate Winery, with very unique wine varietals. Just down the road in the town of Sonoma, we ate at the girl & the fig. The food is fantastic. I recommend the oxtail risotto and sweet potato dumplings with crab for starters and the beef short rib and duck confit as entrees! Bring a large group so you can share the food.
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