21 August 2009
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SMASHING MAGAZINE
45 Amazing Examples of Code Generated and 3D CG Artworks AUG 21, 2009 02:49P.M.
The most interesting thing we like about art is that it is independent of any medium; an artist can express himself without any limitations or restrictions by creating a wonderful and creative piece of art. A creative artist can come up with an inspirational and motivational thought and put that in their artwork in such a way that it becomes a masterpiece that dazzles our mind. In this post we present some amazing examples of Code Generated, Algorithmic Abstract Artworks and CG Artworks. There are some really interesting platforms and libraries; by using them, artists can create unusual artworks. Most popular among these libraries are Flash Scripting, Generator.x, Processing (Java Based), openFrameworks (C Based) and for creating CG Art, artists are often using 3D Max, Maya, Zbrush, V Ray, Photoshop etc.
Rewind Blue
Hopefully, you’ll love them and will find them creative or inspirational. Please explore the further works of the artists linked below and also feel free to suggest other artworks in the comments to this post. Algorithmic and Code Generated Artworks Composition #72
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Generative War
The Days Shine On I am no Chuck Close
monogram Crimson
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You Are Special
Composition-51
Composite
Wild but happy
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Aloha
love.01
Correndo
sad.wire
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x.01.plode
see.the.sky
orange.awakening.02
circle.explosion
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soft.twirl 02
Heart
behind.the.line.01
Pit
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Stinging Eyes
3D Computer Graphic Artworks In this section, we have collected some truly fantastic CG Artworks (3D Computer Graphics). The most incredible thing about 3D Graphics is that you can recreate any image on your computer that will looks very much like the real thing. Sometimes this 3D rendering becomes so incredible that nobody can hardly tell a difference between the real image and a computed one. Young girl
Crazy Rabbit
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Hektor
The Duet Ice Enviroment
A Vespid BINAH
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Night Elf
Old Lamp
Livingroom
Great White
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Gorilla
House For Sale
Howling
Porsche 911 Gt2
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Elder
Green Cargo,
The Artist himself
Escargot
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more than usual (or at least should matter more than usual). We’ve chosen popular newspapers, magazines and blogs as well as various typography-related websites. We’ve carefully analyzed their typography and style sheets and searched for similarities and differences. We have also put together a spreadsheet of the study that displays the websites’ various values (for example, the ratio between the line height and line length). Ultimately, we identified 13 general typographic problems and issues related to typographic design and tried to find answers to them through our research: 1. How popular are serif and sans-serif typefaces in body copy and headlines? 2. Which fonts are used most frequently? 3. What is the average font size? 4. What is the average ratio between the font size of headlines and body copy? 5. What is the average line height of body copy? 6. What is the average ratio between line height and font size in body copy? 7. What is the average ratio between line height and line length in body copy? © Aquil Akhter for Smashing Magazine, 2009. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
8. What is the average amount of spacing between paragraphs? 9. What is the average ratio of paragraph spacing to line height in body copy?
Post tags: cg, code generated art, computer generated
10.How are links styled? SMASHING MAGAZINE
Typographic Design Patterns and Best Practices
11. How many characters per line are common in body copy?
AUG 20, 2009 07:36P.M.
13.How often is font replacement (sIFR, etc.) used?
12.How often are links underlined?
We ended up with solid data, which we evaluated and prepared for this article. Based on the statistics, we have identified several “rules of thumb” for working with type. Please note that these rules can often, but not always, be considered best practice.
Even with a relatively limited set of options in CSS, typography can vary tremendously using pure CSS syntax. Serif or sans-serif? Large or small font? Line height, spacing, font size and padding… The list goes on and on. To find typographic design patterns that are common in modern Web design and to resolve some common typographic issues, we conducted extensive research on 50 popular websites on which typography matters
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• The most popular sans-serif typefaces for headlines are Arial (28%), Helvetica (20%) and Verdana (8%). • The most popular sans-serif typefaces for body copy are Arial (28%), Verdana (20%) and Lucida Grande (10%). Two thirds of the websites we surveyed used sans-serif fonts for body copy. The main reason is probably because, despite the growing popularity of advanced font replacement techniques, such as Cufón, most designers stick to the core Web fonts, which essentially give them only two viable options: Georgia and Times New Roman. And because of the stigma attached to Times New Roman (that it often makes a modern website look outdated), they’re left with only Georgia. Sans-serif fonts offer a wider variety of options for the Web.
1. Serif vs. Sans-serif Whether designers should use serif or sans-serif fonts for body copy is one of the most discussed and unresolved questions about typesetting on the Web. Some designers prefer to give their headlines serifs (which are short, decorative lines at the end of letter strokes) to give them more appeal. The main reason to choose a serif font for your headlines is that, at a large size, serif fonts are easy to read and look great. The contrast between a serif font for headlines and a sans-serif font for body copy can be interesting, too. Some designers prefer serif fonts for body copy because they believe the lines at the end of letter strokes help guide readers from one letter to the next, making scanning and reading more comfortable.
2. Which Typeface Is Most Popular? Surprisingly, despite the growing popularity of font replacement techniques and growing availability of new pre-installed fonts (e.g. Windows Vista and Mac fonts), designs in our study mainly used the traditional, core Web fonts, the only exceptions being Lucida Grande (which comes installed only on Macs), Helvetica and Baskerville.
According to our study, sans-serif fonts are still more popular than serif fonts for headlines, although they seem to have dropped in popularity in recent years. • 60% of websites use sans-serif typefaces for headlines, mostly Arial, Verdana, Lucida Grande and Helvetica. Among them: CNN, ArsTechnica, Slate, BBC and NewScientist. • Only 34% of websites use a serif typeface for body copy. Among them: New York Times, Typographica, Time, AIGA and Newsweek. • The most popular serif typefaces for headlines are Georgia (28%) and Baskerville (4%).
As one would expect, Arial, Georgia and Verdana are used for the majority of body copy today. In our study, around 80% of websites used one of these three fonts. For the remaining 20%, designers’ favorite Helvetica is a popular choice, as is Lucida Grande.
• The most popular serif typefaces for body copy are Georgia (32%) and Times New Roman (4%).
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With options such as Verdana and Arial available as fall-backs, a designer really has no reason not to specify other non-standard fonts to achieve the best effect. You can learn more about advanced CSS font stacks in Nathan Ford’s article Better CSS Font Stacks and CodeStyle’s Build Better CSS Font Stacks.
The New Yorker has a light color scheme, with Times New Roman used for headlines and body copy. Pure white background for body copy won by a landslide. However, many of the designs avoid the high contrast of pure white on pure black; text color is often made a bit lighter than pure black. Designers clearly focus on legibility and avoid experimenting with background colors. The contrast of black on white is easy to read and is, at least among these websites, the status quo. Jon Tan uses serif typeface Baskerville for headlines and serif typeface Georgia for body copy.
4. Average Font Size For Headlines
Verdana is used minimally for headlines. Only 10 websites use it for body copy to begin with, and only four use it for headlines. The main reason is that Verdana puts a lot of spacing between letters, which makes it not as tidy to read at a large size. If you are going to use it for headlines, you may want to take advantage of the CSS letter-spacing property. Georgia and Arial are most popular fonts for headings.
Of course, the choice of headline font size depends on the font used in the design. In any case, in our study by far the most popular font sizes ranged from 18 to 29 pixels, with 18 to 20 pixels and 24 to 26 pixels being the most popular choices.
Finally, we note that “alternative” fonts are used much more for headlines than for body copy. Designers seem more willing to experiment with their headings than with the main body. If you want to bring some typographic variation into your next design, headings may be the easiest place to start. 3. Light Or Dark Background? We were curious to learn the extent to which designers were willing to experiment with dark background colors. We looked out for any typography-oriented websites that had a dark color scheme and were surprised to find not a single one.
Our study didn’t yield any clear winners. The average font size for headings is 25.6 pixels. But note that any size between 18 and 29 pixels
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could be effective; it depends, after all, on how your headings fit the overall design of your website. Still, you could try experimenting with larger sizes, because displays are always getting larger, as are display resolutions. An obvious outlier is Wilson Miner (screenshot below), who uses a massive font size of 48 pixels for his headlines. His website is a special case, though, because all of his posts have extremely short titles, only a few words.
We noted (as one would expect) more and more attention being paid to the smallest typographic details. Dashes, quotes, footnotes, author names, introductory text and paragraphs have been carefully set, with optimal legibility in mind. Type setting is usually very consistent, with a lot of white space, leading and padding.
5. Average Font Size For Body Copy Do you remember about seven years ago when Web designs had tiny, barely readable elements, and body copy was set to 8 pixels in Tahoma? Small font sizes are out, and more and more modern designers are turning to large font sizes. From our sample size, we saw a clear tendency towards sizes between 12 and 14 pixels. The most popular font size (38%) is 13 pixels, with 14 pixels slightly more popular than 12 pixels. Overall, the average font size for body copy is 13 pixels.
Typographica uses a large font size for the introductory paragraphs of its articles, and then reverts to a normal size for the rest of text. Heading to Body Font-Size Ratio To better understand the relationship between heading and body font size, we divided each website’s heading font size by its body font size. We took the average of these ratios and derived a rule of thumb for you to work with: Heading font size ÷ Body copy font size = 1.96 The overall value, then, is 1.96. This means that when you have chosen a font size for your body copy, you may want to multiply it by 2 to get your heading font size. This, of course, depends on your style; the rule of thumb won’t necessarily give you the optimal size for your particular design. Another option is to use a traditional scale (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
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14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72) or the Fibonacci sequence (e.g. 16 – 24 – 40 – 64 – 104) to get natural typographic results. 6. Optimal Line Height For Body Copy Leading (or line height) will always depend on your chosen font size and measure (or line length). In general, the longer the measure, the longer the leading should be. Therefore, presenting a chart of the most popular choices for leading in pixels wouldn’t make sense here. More appropriate would be for you to use a relative unit, such as an em or percentage value, that determines the relation between leading and measure and between leading and font size. According to our study: • line height (pixels) ÷ body copy font size (pixels) = 1.48 • Note that 1.5 is a value that is commonly recommended in classic typographic books, so our study backs up this rule of thumb. Very few websites use anything less than that. The number of websites that go above 1.48 decreases as you get further from this value.
AIGA is a perfect example of optimal leading. Its font size is 13.21 pixels (converted from ems) and its line height is 19.833 pixels (conversion from ems). In fact, 19.8333 ÷ 13.2167 = 1.5011.
• line length (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 27.8 • The average line length is 538.64 pixels (excluding margins and paddings) which is pretty large, considering that many websites still use 12 to 13 pixels for their body copy font size.
So, once you have decided on your body copy font size, multiplying this value by 1.5 will give you the optimal line height. Once you’ve got that, you can multiply this new value by 27.8 to get your optimal line length. Note that the layout will also need gutters, margins and padding to let the body copy breathe.
• space between paragraphs (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 0.754 • We were surprised by this result. It turns out that paragraph spacing (i.e. the space between the last line of one paragraph and the first line of the next) rarely equals the leading (which would be the main characteristic of perfect vertical rhythm). More often, paragraph spacing is just 75% of the paragraph leading. The reason may be that leading usually includes the space taken up by descenders, and because most characters do not have descenders, additional white space is created under the line.
The New Scientist has 20 pixels of spacing between paragraphs. 7. How Many Characters Per Line? According to a classic rule of Web typography, 55 to 75 is an optimal number of characters per line. Surprisingly, our study shows that most websites have a higher number. We counted how many characters could fit on one line using the design’s default font size. The result, which is an
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average of 88.74 characters per line (maximum), is extremely high. Of course, this maximal number is different from the average number of characters per line, which in general ranges between 75 and 85 characters per line. Still, the range is way above the conventional range — quite peculiar.
5. The most popular font size for body copy is a range between 12 and 14 pixels. 6. Header font size ÷ Body copy font size = 1.96. 7. Line height (pixels) ÷ body copy font size (pixels) = 1.48. 8. Line length (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 27.8. 9. Space between paragraphs (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 0.754. 10.The optimal number of characters per line is between 55 and 75, but between 75 and 85 characters per line is more popular, 11. Body text is left-aligned, image replacement is rarely used and links are either underlined or highlighted with bold or color. Of course these “rules” aren’t set in stone. Rather, they are a set of rough guidelines that you can use as a basis for setting typography. Every website is unique, and you may want to modify your choices at each stage of your design to suit your layout. You can also take a look at the spreadsheet of the study and export its data for further analysis.
Between 73 and 90 characters per line is a popular choice among designers, yet we also found outliers: Monocle (47 characters per line) and Boxes and Arrows (125 characters per line). To get a more exact reading for each website, you would need to take an average character count from multiple lines.
Related posts You may be interested in the following related posts:
Other Findings
• A Small Study of Big Blogs
• 46% of websites underlined the links in their body copy, while the others highlighted only with color or a bold font weight.
• A Small Study Of Big Blogs: Further Findings • 6% of websites used some kind of image replacement for headings or body copy (e.g. Monocle, New Yorker, Newsweek).
• Web Form Design Patterns: Sign-Up Forms
• 96% of websites do not justify text.
• Web Forms Design Patterns: Sign-Up Forms, Part 2 More Studies On Smashing Magazine?
• Websites gave their text a left padding of on average 11.7 pixels (counting from the left content area border).
Interested in more studies? Let us know what you’re interested in, and we’ll see what we can do!
Conclusion The study shows a clear set of common practices and guidelines for setting type in Web design. Note, though, that these findings are not scientific and should serve only as rough guidelines:
What kind of studies would you like to see on Smashing Magazine?(polls) About the Author
1. Either serif or sans-serif fonts are fine for body copy and headings, but sans-serif fonts are still more popular for both.
Michael Martin writes about Web design, WordPress and coding at Pro Blog Design. Check it out for advice on making the most of your blog’s design, or follow him on Twitter.
2. Common choices for headlines are Georgia, Arial and Helvetica.
(al)
3. Common choices for body copy are Georgia, Arial, Verdana and Lucida Grande.
© Michael Martin for Smashing Magazine, 2009. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
4. The most popular font size for headings is a range between 18 and 29 pixels.
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Post tags: study, typography
SMASHING MAGAZINE
Corporate Blog Design: Trends And Examples AUG 20, 2009 03:26P.M.
With tens of millions of blogs online today, major corporations have started to recognize the value of a corporate blog for communicating with customers. However, corporate blogging is far different than the more traditional blogging that most of us encounter on a daily basis. Corporate blogging brings its own unique set of challenges and opportunities that must be considered and addressed by the company in order for its users to have a positive experience. In this article we’ll examine the issues that face corporate blogs, we’ll observe some current trends, and we’ll look at a large sample of blogs from companies of various sizes in a wide variety of industries.
While websites in general provide plenty of opportunities for corporate communication, blogs can eliminate barriers and allow a company’s executives or employees to communicate directly with anyone who visits the blog. Those who read the blog will sense a much more personal message in what is generally a more relaxed environment than many other types of corporate communication. Companies that place a priority on communicating with customers through a blog display a certain openness and responsiveness that today’s consumers appreciate. A blog is able to bring a company and its customers together through the open sharing of ideas, issues, announcements, events and feedback.
Purposes of Corporate Blogs Probably the most significant reason for companies to manage a corporate blog is the communication benefits it can provide. As a higher percentage of the population uses the Internet for researching and buying products and services, companies can often benefit from having a more direct line of communication with customers and potential customers.
2. Demonstration of corporate responsibility In some cases, corporate blogs are not used to directly promote the products and services of a company, but rather to demonstrate ways in which the company is giving back to the community or to show that the company is conducting its business responsibly. McDonald’s effectively uses its blog to do just that.
1. Communication with customers and the public
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Corporate responsibility can also be demonstrated by using blogs as a medium for improving products and services and helping customers get more value out of them. A company that truly promotes open twoway communication through its blog is demonstrating to customers that it is committed to doing everything within its power to provide a quality product.
In very few cases, the primary purpose or goal of a corporate blog is to directly sell more products. In most cases, the blog is seen rather as a valuable tool that can indirectly assist the company to achieve more sales, but direct promotion is rarely the priority. However, some companies are able to find creative ways to promote their own products through blogs.
3. Reputation management
In some examples we’ll see throughout this article, companies are using their blogs to provide information or announcements about products, which of course can be done with the intent to boost sales. Some blogs provide content that shows readers new ways to use products or explains features that might not be commonly known. In other situations, products aren’t even mentioned in many of the blog posts but are most likely linked to in some area of the blog, frequently the sidebar.
The issue of reputation management continues to grow in importance for businesses both large and small. With technology available that allows anyone to post damaging statements online to be seen by the world, blogs provide companies with a way to prevent problems before they happen or help improve situations when it is too late for prevention. Because of the level of communication that can take place on a corporate blog, companies have greater control over the messages that the public receives about the company. They can quickly respond to any negative publicity and can help prevent such situations by adopting an open communication strategy that develops the trust of consumers.
5. Provide executives and/or employees the chance to communicate openly One of the real advantages of a blog to a traditional company website (not to say that a blog should replace a traditional website) is the personal nature in which a writer and reader can communicate and interact. Even readers who do not participate in making comments likely notice that the post was written by an individual, and that individual may be the best way for the reader and potential customer to connect with the company.
4. Promotion of products and services
Bloggers enjoy sharing their thoughts and information with readers, and readers enjoy being able to connect with the writer of the content. A corporate blog can add personality to the company in the eyes of readers, and employees can benefit by being able to express themselves and share with readers. Potential Issues for Corporate Blogs Although blogs provide all kinds of opportunities for companies, there
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are also several common struggles that can be experienced. In order for a company to have a positive experience with its blog and for the blog to be useful and relevant to readers, the company must consider these issues ahead of time and develop a plan to address and prevent them from happening.
one, the company should consider what type of posting schedule would allow for the blog to be used as an effective tool for itself and its customers.
1. Negative comments
Another major issue facing corporate blogs is the challenge of providing interesting content that is useful in some way to readers. Of course, the blog needs to benefit the company in some way as well, so content development can often be a struggle. Although a blog is intended to bring some type of benefit to the company, simply creating posts that promote products or services will draw little interest from readers and will have poor results.
3. Usefulness of posts
While communication is the major benefit of corporate blogs, it can also work the other way. Not all communication that occurs through blogs is positive. The presence of negative comments may not be a big issue on smaller blogs run by individuals, but they can be a problem for corporate blogs. After all, the company’s reputation management isn’t being helped by a blog that includes a lot of negative comments from readers.
Typical content for corporate blogs includes discussion of issues that are relevant to the company or industry, press releases, information to help readers use the company’s products more effectively, and other specific types of content that appeal to the company’s target market.
In order to avoid potential issues with negative comments, all comments should be moderated for approval before appearing on the blog. This way, unreasonably harsh or profane comments can be deleted without ever being posted to the blog. Some blogs also require users to create an account in order to post a comment.
When examining various corporate blogs, you will notice a great variety in the types of content being published and their usefulness to readers. Some companies do an excellent job of adding value for readers, while others are little more than another form of advertisement. Not surprisingly, the ones that have creative solutions to this challenge are usually the most effective.
2. Consistent and frequent posting
4. Who is going to write the content?
Blogs in general, not just corporate blogs, often suffer from abandonment or long periods of inactivity. While it may be acceptable for an individual to be inconsistent with a blog, corporations could possibly do more harm than good with a blog that doesn’t get much attention. When visitors arrive and see that nothing new has been posted in a long time, it sends the message that the blog is not important to the company and that it doesn’t take this form of communication with customers very seriously.
Although corporate blogs typically include some sort of disclaimer that the information and opinions provided do not necessarily represent those of the company, the reality is that a blog is a direct reflection of the company in the eyes of visitors. Some corporate executives handle blogging responsibilities, but these people are obviously extremely busy with other work, and these blogs are rarely very active.
Corporate blogs have a wide variety of posting schedules. Some are very active, with multiple posts each day, while others have posts much more infrequently. Before launching a blog, or when evaluating an existing
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Most companies have employees who would enjoy being able to share their insights through a blog, but the company has to weigh the pros and cons of doing so. A corporate blog is useless without content, so the company does need to consider who will be responsible for providing it. 5. Promoting open communication without damaging the company Because of the openness of blogs and because they connect with readers on a personal level, the chance exists that the communication being done through a blog will damage the company. In most cases, companies are careful about who is allowed to publish content, and those individuals may be given restrictions as to what they can say. Some companies have a corporate culture that is more open and are willing to let employees participate in blogging activities, and other companies are more restrictive. Companies face the challenge of embracing the nature of blogging without also bringing some of the baggage that may come as a result of poor choices. Although many companies involved in corporate blogging spend huge sums of money to promote themselves to customers and potential customers, their blog designs are typically very simple. While content is the primary element of a blog, one would think that major companies might not want a blog design that looks so basic.
6. Lack of focus Simply having a corporate blog isn’t enough. In order to make it effective for the company and for readers, there must be some sort of focus or plan for using the blog to everyone’s benefit. Companies should consider who will be writing the content, how frequently new posts will be published, what types of content will be published and how the content will help the company and readers.
Going against the trend: Nike is one of the few companies that have put more emphasis on the look of the blog.
Many corporate blogs suffer from poor direction or a lack of focus. If the blog is nothing more than a place to publish press releases, it is unlikely to ever draw much interest from readers, because it really serves no purpose for them. The most successful corporate blogs have a clear focus, and those involved in running the blog understand how they can help readers and the company through their efforts. 7. Converting traffic into something useful Blogs may be able to attract visitors and regular readers, but the company still needs to convert that into something of significance. The strategy here depends on the focus and priorities of the blog. If the company’s goal with the blog is strictly to present the company in a positive light and to increase exposure of its actions in the community, then it wouldn’t be necessary to attempt to convert visits to the blog into product sales. Trends in Corporate Blogs Like other kinds of blogs, corporate blogs often follow their own unique trends. Of course, this isn’t to say that all corporate blogs have these things in common, but many do.
2. Branding
1. Simple layout, with a lack of visual appeal
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How blogs handle multiple authors can vary. Many corporate blogs include a small picture of the author in posts, which can help readers connect with the writer — and, as a result, with the company, too. Some companies have different writers who cover different topics on the same blog, and others separate topics into a few different corporate blogs. 4. Networks of blogs
Although layouts and designs in corporate blogs are usually unremarkable, most companies clearly attach their business to the blog by branding elements in the design. Most corporate blogs include logos or standard branding that would appear in other places, such as the main portion of a company’s website. Additionally, corporate colors are typically used for the blog design to promote consistency in branding. 3. Multiple authors When companies want to cover a wide variety of content in their blogs and employ many different writers, they will often have a small network of blogs rather than one all-encompassing blog. In these cases, the blogs will be separated according to topic, or sometimes each writer will have his or her own blog. This allows the company to publish more content and be more specific with content so that it can truly be of value to readers — plus, it helps readers get only the content that interests them. 5. Few comments Although blogging is intended to be two-way communication between companies and readers, many corporate blogs attract very few comments to their posts. This seems to be in part due to the type of content that is presented. Companies that publish typical blog content that isn’t focused on their products or themselves tend to draw more comments than those that publish corporate announcements or posts that are mainly intended to promote a product. 6. No ads except for internal ads The only ads that are typically found on a corporate blog are for the company’s own products and services. This is not surprising, but it is a drastic difference when compared to blogs in general. Because of the specific purposes and intent of corporate blogs, ad revenue is inconsequential, and ads would be a distraction to readers and a hindrance to the company’s goals for the blog.
Most corporate blogs include a number of different writers who work together as a team to provide content to readers. Because these people typically have jobs outside of running the blog, it’s difficult to get a significant amount of content from one individual. In most cases, if the company wants an active blog that includes regular posts, multiple authors may be a more realistic option.
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Monster uses a large banner ad on its blog for its own services, but no outside advertisements.
It’s not uncommon for a corporate blog to be kept on a separate domain than the company’s website. There is a good deal of variety in practices with this, and it certainly isn’t the case with every corporate blog, but many companies have chosen to use a separate domain. Gallery of Corporate Blogs Here, we’ll take a look at more than 40 corporate blogs. To start, we’ll point out some that have particular items of interest, and other will simply include links and screenshots. American Express American Express has one of the more impressive corporate blogs. Its blog is part of OpenForum.com and provides information and resources to business owners. The blog at Open Forum is nicely designed and laid out. The sidebar on the left is used to promote some of the company’s products as well as for general navigation. Take a look at the posts and you may recognize some of the writers, including Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin. With the Open Forum blog, American Express attempts to provide valuable information that will help its target market of small business owners, rather than directly promote its own products.
7. Links to the company’s home page as well as products and services Every corporate blog will at some point link back at least to the company’s home page, and sometimes to specific products as well. Sidebars in corporate blogs are frequently used to direct visitors to other parts of the company website and provide brief information about products with links to specific pages or sections of the website. Without advertisements in the sidebar, there is plenty of space to do some internal promotion. 8. Separate domains
McDonald’s McDonald’s Corporate Responsibility Blog provides content exclusively on just that. You won’t find content here about McDonald’s food or current deals, just information on what the company is doing around the world. This blog is a good example of one that has a specific focus and purpose. The design and layout is very simple, but it does include some McDonald’s branding, and it clearly shows visitors that McDonald’s takes corporate responsibility very seriously.
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Best Buy Best Buy has a few different blogs. The Holiday Rituals Blog provides short posts that give information on specific popular products or recommended Christmas gifts. Because the posts cover specific products, it’s puzzling why the product descriptions are not linked back to the main Best Buy website, where those products can be purchased. Nevertheless, the blog has a nice colorful, winter-inspired design.
Best Buy also has a blog at AskABlueShirt.net that provides information on the upcoming digital TV transition. This blog has a lot of Best Buy branding in the design, including the colors, the logo, and the picture of the worker in the blue Best Buy shirt.
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Wal-Mart Wal-Mart’s blog is located on a separate domain, and even Wal-Mart’s branding may be missed at first glance. The content is mostly related to information about products that can be bought at Wal-Mart. Unlike Best Buy, Wal-Mart does link to pages on its own main website, and the Sam’s Club website, where specific products can be purchased. Nike Basketball The Nike Basketball Blog obviously places more importance on the look and visual appeal of the website than other blogs. The background is a large image of a basketball court, and a big picture of Kobe Bryant is currently in the header. Each post has its own header image, and some include pictures of NBA players who are sponsored by Nike. The content of the blog is primarily focused on drawing attention to athletes who are affiliated with Nike, which would ultimately lead to more shoe and apparel sales, because the players have a lot of influence on sales.
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Cisco The Cisco blog, The Platform, is used primarily to publish company news. There are some informational posts that don’t have to do with the company, but most are Cisco-related. The Platform uses a three-column layout that includes common blog elements, such as a tag cloud in the right sidebar.
Dell Dell uses several different blogs on various topics. Its blog network’s front page includes links to recent posts from across the network.
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Lenovo Like Dell, Lenovo also uses multiple blogs for different topics. Its blog network’s front page contains links to all of the various blogs, plus it includes elements typical of traditional blogs, such as a Flickr photostream and recent Delicious bookmarks.
Possibly of interest to Smashing Magazine readers is Lenovo’s Design Matters blog.
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Monster Monster’s blog also has a design that fits well with the design and color scheme of the main website. Most of the content is geared to job searchers and those interested in career-related information. The header of the blog includes a banner ad for Monster’s resume-writing services.
Google The official Google blog is one of the more well-known corporate blogs. Naturally, Google’s blog is hosted on Blogspot.com.
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Yahoo! Yahoo! has several different blogs, including Yodel Anecdotal, on which Jerry Yang recently posted a copy of an email he sent to all Yahoo! employees about current layoffs. Yodel Anecdotal has a colorful design and includes content relevant to various aspects of Yahoo’s business.
Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson’s blog, JNJ BTW, includes a variety of content, including information on health, social action that the company is involved in and even a recent post that is an apology for an advertisement that some people found offensive.
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The Yahoo! Developer Network also has its own blog.
Southwest Airlines Southwest tries to distinguish itself as a company that has a more fun and laid-back corporate culture than other major airlines. The Southwest blog also takes that approach with its design.
The Yahoo! Search Blog is specifically focused on search-related content.
GM GM has several blogs for different purposes. Its blog network’s front
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page includes links to the various blogs.
FastLane The GM FastLane Blog is dedicated to covering all aspects of GM vehicles. The design uses a bright, colorful background.
FYI The GM FYI Blog is for GM news, information and opinions, and it is written by GM employees and others.
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Quicken Loans Quicken takes a unique approach with its blog, What’s the Diff? Content is rarely relevant to the company itself but is rather diverse, with a lot of different subjects covered. The blog includes some advertisements for Quicken’s mortgages.
Quizzle Quicken also runs the Quizzle blog, which publishes content related to home ownership and money management.
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LinkedIn The LinkedIn blog has a design that fits well with the rest of the website. The content is focused on providing LinkedIn users with information that can help them get more value out of the main website, which draws more comments than the content on many other corporate blogs. Like some of the other blogs featured here, LinkedIn includes a Flickr photostream.
37signals The popular blog of 37signals, Signal vs. Noise, publishes content on “design, business, experience, simplicity, the Web, culture and more.”
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37signals also has a separate Product Blog that focuses on the company and its products.
Aviary Aviary’s blog includes content that is actually relevant and useful to users of its products, rather than just posts about company news and information. The design of the blog features a colorful and attractive header, which is appropriate because the company offers browser-based tools for designers.
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Best Western - On the Go with Amy On the Go with Amy isn’t a typical corporate blog like many others featured here, but it is affiliated with Best Western. Amy writes about her travels and provides tips to readers for their own travels. The blog uses a fun and colorful design with an illustrated header.
AOL People Connection Blog
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The Nokia Blog
The Nokia Conversations Blog
Flickr
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Digg
Kodak
Delta
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Sun Microsystems
Boeing
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Novell BBC
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FreshBooks Marriott
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GE Global Research
Hoefler & Frere-Jones Type Foundry Blog
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Ning
Viddler
Oracle
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Additional resources on corporate blogging: IBM • The Blog Council - “a community of senior executives in charge of social media at the largest corporations in the world.” • 40+ Topics for Corporate Bloggers • 35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action • 15 Companies That Really Get Corporate Blogging • 5 Reasons Why Business Blogs Fail • The Corporate Blog’s Dying Off • Corporate Blogs on Alltop • Most Corporate Blogs are Unimaginative Failures Related posts You may be interested in the following related posts: Toyota
• 10 Harsh Truths About Corporate Blogging • Colors In Corporate Branding And Design
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• Corporate Identity Manuals and Guides About the Author Steven Snell is a Web designer and blogger. He actively maintains his own blog at Vandelay Design, where he frequently publishes articles about design, collections of resources and inspirational galleries. (al) © stevensnell for Smashing Magazine, 2009. | Permalink | 32 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: blogs, corporate, designs
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