arangostudio wishes everyone Happy Holidays, Happy Hannukah and a Merry Christmas!

How to Buy Happiness: Spend Money on #Giving Tuesday

 
Today is Giving Tuesday so we are sharing this great TED video from Michael Norton explaining how money can buy happiness when you decide to spend it on others.

For those of you who don't know what #Giving Tuesday is, here is an explanation from www.givingtuesday.org: 

"We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give."


 
arangostudio participated in Giving Tuesday by making a donation to IDEO's Kickstarter campaign for their new book The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design that focuses on helping us solve problems related to poverty through the use of design. To find out more and show your support, take a look at the video below or donate to another campaign, foundation or charity of your choice!

Gratitude

At arangostudio we wanted to celebrate this holiday by saying "Thank You!" to all of our clients, collaborators, friends, followers and family for working with us and supporting us throughout the years!

For those of you who are celebrating today, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

8 Web Design Mistakes Your Business Should Avoid

"As a small business, your website is the most crucial element of your marketing and branding efforts. One flaw may turn away a valuable potential customer.", according to Ilya Pozin, CEO of Open Me and columnist for Inc, Forbes & LinkedIn.

He also states that "a poorly designed website could cost you thousands of dollars upfront, but even more concerning is the loss of potential revenue you may experience from its poor design and function."

Is your business making any of these mistakes when it comes to your website?
 

1. You’ve overlooked your target audience or you are targeting everyone.
Pozin recommends "If you’re looking to reach women in the 21 to 30 age range, consider youthful color schemes and imagery, and cater to mobile website compatibility. As for an older target market, focus on larger font sizes and simplifying the user experience to help with faster navigation. Many Web design questions are more easily answered through target audience research." 


2. You’ve gone overboard with the design
Don't confuse interactive and non-static with having a flashy design.  We agree with Pozin when he says that a flashy design isn’t an effective marketing strategy for your website. "Over-designing your website -- and ending up with a busy-looking product -- will ensure your potential customers spend very little time on it." This is why at arangostudio, we recommend clean design and navigation that allows the customer to quickly gather information with a minimal effort.


3. You’re missing a clear call to action
You must be able to determine what you want the customer to do once they reach your page and they should be easily guided to the next step. Do you want them to call you right away? Fill out a quick form to request a quote?


4. You either went over budget or paid too little
"I’ve come across far too many small businesses who ended up with a horrible website after hiring a cheap designer. At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve also encountered far too many companies who shot for the stars by attempting to hire an expensive agency famed for working with big brands, only to find out the agency doesn’t have the skills to help an ROI-focused small business"

"When it comes to launching a new website or redeveloping your current one, do your research. Choosing the right Web marketing agency could make or break your website. It’s also best to keep in mind that being too money-focused can skew the whole process in the wrong direction."

We have experienced exactly what Pozin describes above and have ended up redesigning many pages for our clients who initially went with the cheaper proposal but the page was poorly constructed, the design did not represent the company or it simply was not helping them achieve their needs.


5. Your content is stale
According to Pozin "if your website is lacking a fresh feel in terms of content, your customer may assume you’re not in business any longer--or worse, you’re not innovative enough to get ahead of the competition. For appealing content, ensure your addressing the needs of both your current and potential customers. Update frequently, especially with company updates, news, and trends. If you have a blog on your website, consider updating it at least once a week to help drive visitors to your website and improve your search engine optimization." 

We can help you with that by developing new content, keywords and Search Engine Optimization strategies that will help bring customers back to your page and have a high ranking in searches.


6. You decided to DIY
"Web design is better left to the pros. While a DIY initiative may seem necessary to accommodate your small budget, you’re probably not going to do your small business justice on the Web. Your website will be the first chance many of your customers have to interact with your brand; presenting a DIY experience may turn them away." says Pozin.

We couldn't agree with him more. 


7. Your website lacks mobile compatibility
Pozin's article states "seventy-five percent of smartphone Internet users prefer a mobile-friendly site, but 96 percent say they’ve encountered sites that were not designed for mobile devices."

While not all websites must have a separate version created for mobile devices, many would benefit from it. arangostudio can help you determine whether your business needs a mobile site and create one for you when necessary. 


8. Your social media buttons are broken
You are missing out on opportunities and sending out the wrong message to potential clients.

  
Source: 8 Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Make by Ilya Pozin, CEO of Open Me and columnist for Inc, Forbes & LinkedIn

"Steaming pile of poo" or chocolate kiss?

The Hershey Company recently revealed their new logo.

This is what the old logo looked like.



What changed?

• The logo has become flatter and more simple
• The apostrophe and last "s" have been removed
• The wordmark no longer has beveling
• A custom font was created (notice the "r" curving under the "s")
• The font was changed for the name of the company
• The kiss no longer has a wrapper and is now flat

Steaming pile of poo or chocolate kiss?
The flattened kiss icon has generated a lot of comments such as:

"Err... Steaming sh*t?"

"Me too, and I subscribe to the view that the thing that happened to the Airbnb logo was uncalled for. But this one deserves a shitstorm of mocking. "

"I believe the correct term is Steaming Pile of Poo, just like the UTF-8 char."

"In context, the logo looks real nice, but in advertising you have to take into consideration the current state of your audience. This looks exactly like a poop emoji."



arangostudio's thoughts:
We like it! It's a much cleaner design, easier to reproduce and still very recognizable. 



What are your thoughts?



Comments from http://www.underconsideration.com

The details are not the details, they make the design

World Cup Posters Past and Present

Although the World Cup is coming to a close, we still are inspired by the excitement of the games, teams and crowds. We also think that the posters created since 1930 are pretty great too. Take a look at a few....

Images: Print Magazine

Little Prints for Little People (and Big Ones Too...)

 

Personalized printed cards perfect for kids. Choose from an already existing design or we can create one that is completely new. Use them when giving gifts at the next birthday party.

At arangostudio we also create personalized stationery, cards and invitations.

When choosing a color a for your logo, think of the emotion you want to convey

Not sure what color to use for your logo? Here are some examples of very well known logos and how these businesses use color to create an emotion associated with their brand.

Infographic by: Ruby Media Corporation



Still not sure? We will happy to help. Just send us an e-mail at hello@arangostudio or reach out via skype at laura.arango.m and we will get back to you. If you are in Colombia, give us a call at 57.314.394.6302.

Copa America has a new logo

COPA América or the American Cup takes place every four years in a different country of South America and is the oldest international soccer tournament. In 2015 the competition will be held in Chile.

Brandia Central designed the new identity for next year's tournament stating "this edition of COPA América would be the start of something new, being the first with a “host-inspired brand”. Instead of presenting an “institutional-based brand” (focusing on COPA America’s tournament), like the previous ones, this edition’s brand would present Chile as proud host, showing its influence on the brand visuals."

"The Chilean culture was the background for all the creative process: the 5-point star of the national flag, the 8-point star as an old national symbol as well as a reminder of the 8 host cities, the kultrun (ancient tribal drum) design, the human visual representations from folk culture representing 4 values: Celebration, Passion, Surpass and Triumph. In other words,  a fan (or “hincha”, in spanish), a heart, two contenders and the most beautiful football move of all — the bicycle kick, aka “Chilena” (Chilean).  All of these elements were then revisited through a modern visual approach. Portraying a modern, ambitious and cheerful country."

 

 Different design elements of the identity system

Logo for the host city

Recent Work: Scientifica

Project: Business Cards and Corporate Presentation Templates

Client: Scientífica

Corporate Presentation Template Cover

Content Divider with same look & feel as the business cards

Presentation slides including guidelines for fonts, sizes and tables

Slide with samples of design elements to be used throughout the presentation to highlight important information

Throwback Thursday: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are making a comeback!

See the original, softer, friendlier illustrations and cartoons as well as their old logo transform into stronger, bolder and powerful turtles and fonts.

Then....

and Now! 

Want to see more? Take look at the just released trailer for the new movie.

Throwback Thursday: Carulla Logo Throughout The Years

Those of you who live or have lived in Colombia, will probably remember some of these...

Which do you like best? Yes, we know the newest redesign is very similar to Lava Life's logo...

Note: None of the logos above were created by arangostudio.

"If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design"

Want your client to feel good? Choose the right font and layout

Psychologist Kevin Larson, who has dedicated his career researching typefaces, conducted a study involving 20 volunteers who were separated into two groups and then shown separate layouts of the New Yorker magazine. One of the layouts was badly designed while the other was designed well. See designs above.

Results showed that readers belonging to the group who read the poorly designed layout felt bad. Sometimes even expressing this emotion physically with a frown.

On the the other hand, members from the group reading from the well designed layout, felt better and thought that it took less time to read. This group was also found to have more focus, a more efficient mental process, and a stronger sense of clarity.

Research concluded "that well-designed reading environments don’t necessarily help you understand what you’re reading better, but they do make you feel good, causing you to feel inspired and more likely to take action." according to Mikael Cho's article, "The science behind fonts (and how they make you feel)".

Make sure you are making your potential clients and employees feel good, calm and relaxed. If you don't know what fonts to use or are not sure about the best layout for your brochure, website or marketing material, arangostudio can help. 

Here are the many ways you can contact us:
(57) 314.394.6302
skype: laura.arango.m
hello@arangostudio.com

Problems and mistakes to avoid when it comes to your business website

"Websites are a critical meeting point between small business and customers. Maintaining an optimized site is crucial to acquiring new customers, building credibility and nurturing client relationships. Yet, today, almost 1/3 of small-business owners maintain their websites themselves, neglecting key site functions that consumers want, like mobile optimization, social network integration and user-friendly design. Here, we look at the costly mistakes small-business owners make when they try to maintain their own websites."

Happy New Year from arangostudio!