The folks at LogoLounge have selected our work for inclusion in their prestigious Master Library Collection, and we're both honored and stoked to say the least. The award and recognition is for our logo & brand identity for Half Badger Records. The email said:

"Your work has been selected for inclusion in a remarkable new LogoLounge project, 'Animals and Mythology', in the new Master Library series…"

the messsage continued... "What is the Master Library series? Like our existing (and continuing) LogoLounge book series, the new Master Library books will bring you exemplary logo design work from creatives around the world. Our first book in the series, Initials and Crests, is at the publisher as we write and promises to be a new best selling series from Rockport in the model of LogoLounge.

Unlike our original series, though, each book in the Master Library series will focus on a very specific logo design category, to wit:

Initials and Crests
Animals and Mythology
Typography
People
Shapes and Symbols
Nature and Food
Arts and Culture

We hope to include your work in the the Master Library series, Animals and Mythology."

The Master Collection will be published by Rockport and should be released in July 2010. Amazon already has it available for pre-order.

This week the Pasadena Star-News ran a story on the Pasadena Symphony and POPS and how they're overhauling their brand strategy and visual identity. Studiofluid has been right in the middle of that process for the last couple months—partnering with the Symphony to design their new logo, season booklet, stationery and new web site—so I joined them for the interview and small photo shoot.

When it came time to speak about the brand strategy and our results, I had the floor for a few minutes to articulate our process and share about our new branding results. And what made it into the final piece?

Probably did, too.

We're happy to announce that Studiofluid is working closely with the Pasadena Symphony and POPS on a massive re-branding effort. We're helping them with a new identity system for their various orchestras, stationery and print collateral, the 2010 season brochure, and a completely redesigned web site.

Here's a sneak peak of the progress we've been making on the branding and web site. Stay tuned for the results, which will make a splash in September!

UPDATE: Check out more of the project in the work section, and visit the new pasadenasymphony-pops.org.

And then I discovered Infinite Storage Solutions, based in San Clemente, CA. I knew I had finally found the right company, and within 20 minutes I was in the car, driving down to see the product in their showroom.

ISS is based on a modular system of sturdy extruded aluminum rails, which—as their name suggests—can be customized for an infinite number of useful configurations. We're thrilled with the L-shaped desk and standing height work station, for the function as well as the attention to detail and minimal lines of the ISS system.

I also love the product is made right here in the USA, and that they're a family owned and run business. In fact, during my visit, John and Mona they invited me to join them for pizza in the break room with their staff and kids. It's always nice to meet people who are creating their own opportunities through innovation—and thriving.

ISS actually custom designs your furniture in Google SketchUp so you can evaluate in 3D before purchasing. You can even drop their SketchUp files into your floor plan and see how it will fit into your space.

Their customer service is top-notch too. (Thanks, Kristy!) What else could you ask for? If you're in the market for a workspace for your small business, or if you have a live/work space like we do, you would be wise to give ISS Designs a closer look.

And if you're headed to the Dwell on Design Expo in L.A. this month, make sure you stop by the ISS exhibitor booth, and tell them Studiofluid sent ya.

Over at the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, a group of entrepreneurs contributed their best strategies for staying focused and getting things done.

Ben's idea is featured at #10.

Here's a link the the Freedom App, which is highly recommended for those of you on the Mac.

But is that enough?

Not exactly. Your site also needs to be visible to search engines if your customer is going to find you in the first place. (Making your site visible to search engines is called "Search Engine Optimization" or "SEO.")

At some point, when you've got all the fundamentals in place, partnering with a dedicated SEO company may be the right decision. But if you're a small to mid-sized business, building your site properly and adding quality content will likely be money much better spent.

So how is your site currently scoring? If you have a existing site, now you can get an objective analysis by Website Grader for free!

Website Grader is a free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.

On May 5, 2009, Studiofluid recieved a WebsiteGrader score 91 with an Alexa rank of 755,131 which is in the top 2.7 % of all websites.

If you're looking to revamp your low-scoring web site, or build a new site right from the ground up, Studiofluid can help. We build efficient and intuitive web sites that are easy for your visitors to use, and that allow you the best possible visibility to search engines like Yahoo! and Google.

And yeah, your site will look great too.

It's been a flurry of activity around here. I just finished renovating my live/work space and my new office looks great and functions even better. I'm looking at a photo shoot soon so I can post some here.

Identity and Retail Packaging for a healthy snack food company. Can't say a whole lot about that one now, but we're stoked about everything is coming together.

Branding and Website for the Pasadena Wine Festival which will be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden this fall. Our site will handle ticket sales and event sponsorship. All ticket sales from the event benefit the Pasadena Symphony.

Branding and Website for a remodeling company. We're helping the owner connect with his clearly defined target audience in Southern California. His website includes a content management system (CMS) and will clearly communicate their commitment to quality, community focus, and will encourage visitors to get in touch for a free estimate.

And a few more are in the pipeline, but it's a bit too early to say...

When launching a new product or service, there is a strong temptation to just jump in and arrive at branding decisions based on your assumptions.

And while that may be a quick and cheap way to get up and running, it might also be one of the most costly decisions you'll ever make—when you discover your assumptions were wrong and you need to retool your brand from the ground up (assuming your company is still around).

Right now Studiofluid is working with a Food and Beverage company looking to break into the saturated Snack Food category. We've been spending time in supermarkets performing design research and have put together a market analysis to help our client with the following:

1. Understand the Context and how Snacks are displayed
2. Study Market Leaders and Competing Brands
3. Discover Packaging Trends
4. Find Clichés and Points of Market Over-saturation
5. Identify Opportunities for Differentiation

Here are a few pages from the 24 page report, which breaks down the competitive landscape with qualitative and quantitative analysis, allowing our clients to make informed decisions:

Armed with the results, we are well underway with the packaging design that will help our client stand our and dominate their selected niche market. The results will be posted here with enthusiasm as soon as they're finalized.

Good design evokes an intended response from a specific audience, and as your partner, Studiofluid can help you see your company through the eyes of your customer. As part of the research that goes into a successful branding program, we evaluate the competitive landscape, the context where you want to be seen, and help identify opportunities to set you apart. When you're ready to make an informed decision about the future of your brand, we'll be here. Get in touch, and Studiofluid can help you too.