Trick Out Your Online Brand

Trick Out Your Online Brand

How To Improve Your Call to Action

How To Improve Your Call to Action

Nonprofits generally struggle to craft clear and specific calls to action because they over-generalize. Merely saying ‘Stop Hunger’ doesn’t cut it. Supporters need to know what to do and how to do it. These 5 tips and infographic help define how to craft a compelling and informative call to action.

Say Goodbye to User Name and Password Logins, and Hello to ‘OneID’

Say Goodbye to User Name and Password Logins, and Hello to ‘OneID’

Ever forget your username or password to any specific site because you just have too many lying around? OneID attempts to resolve this inconvenient security issue with a single-click login that can also be set up to include your credit card number and billing information.

Five Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Mobile Website

Five Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Mobile Website

With smartphone and tablet sales booming, more and more of your nonprofit supporters are browsing your website on mobile devices. Nonprofits have been slow to launch mobile websites, but with this dramatic shift in web communications, it has become even more integral for your nonprofit’s website to get user-friendly and tech savvy.

The Elements of Navigation

The Elements of Navigation

Labeling is Enabling. As the engine that drives your user experience online, every detail that goes into constructing the navigation of websites or apps is important. From getting the choices of labels for sections and pages to smart use of symbols, pictograms, & icons, Smashing Magazine offers 6 navigation design guidelines to get you on the right track.

Protecting Your Brand From Media Misfires

Protecting Your Brand From Media Misfires

Nonprofit controversies for Susan G. Komen and Kony 2012 have proven that whether you’re right and the media is wrong, or vice versa, effectively managing the situation is critical to protecting your brand. John Burke offers solid examples of crisis situations and how to handle them, as well as tips on key points for which to have a ready plan-of-action in case of a media emergency.

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The 6 Best Web Type Services: Part 2

The 6 Best Web Type Services: Part 2

Web Typography: A Critical Element of a Strong Brand.

Web typography is here and you can use it can strengthen your brand online now. Finally you can extend your valuable brand typographic guidelines to your online properties without images or Javascript workarounds. In Part One of this series, I reviewed three subscription-based web type services. In this second part, I'll take a look at three download-oriented sites (where you host your own font files) - one paid service and two free ones.

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March 21, 2012

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Big News in Data Visualization

Big News in Data Visualization

With New Tool, Visual.ly Wants To Replace PowerPoint With Infographics

With New Tool, Visual.ly Wants To Replace PowerPoint With Infographics

Finally, the death to PowerPoint is nigh! As effective data visualization has become essential to organizations that need to communicate complex ideas and content with simplicity, the cry for better tools to get the job done has never been louder. Visual.ly looks to answer the call by launching a new platform to make it faster and easier to create better infographics.

How to Track Traffic From Pinterest in Google Analytics

How to Track Traffic From Pinterest in Google Analytics

While Pinterest might be the newest social media platform to take off, jumping in without a plan to measure impact is a sure way to waste effort and potentially damage your brand, How many referrals does it generate? What kind? Are they converting? Here are 4 easy ways to use Google Analytics to fine-tune your social media

Documentarians: KONY2012 Achieved Its Goal

Documentarians: KONY2012 Achieved Its Goal

Is there such a thing as bad PR? The backlash from Invisible Children has, at the very least, brought issues in Uganda to the forefront, dramatically increasing awareness. With many taking in the full 30-minute movie, Kony 2012 clearly got something right, shattering the “2-minute rule,” and succeeding in exactly what it set out to do.

Was The New York Times Was Wrong to Abandon Philanthropy?

Was The New York Times Was Wrong to Abandon Philanthropy?

As newspaper coverage of nonprofits has been in sharp decline, is the Time’s elimination of full-time coverage of social philanthropy a sign of the gradual loss of interest in a healthy nonprofit sector? The Chronicle of Philanthropy points out the implications of a lack of coverage and oversight.

Unraveling the Mystery of Edgerank on Facebook

Unraveling the Mystery of Edgerank on Facebook

Edgerank is the Facebook search platform that helps you find exactly who or what you’re looking for. Facebook’s recent release of their Edgerank algorithm shows that photos dominate engagement, and provides tips on how brands can take advantage of that information.

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The 6 Best Web Type Services: Part 1

The 6 Best Web Type Services: Part 1

Finally, Brand Typogaphy Online Made Easy!

So, you've finally spent the time to get your branding right, blowing up all that inconsistent ad-hoc work done across the years and turning it something cohesive and consistent. Your brand guidelines are all set and your print collateral is all built on the new typography that is a major component of your brand identity. But what about online?

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March 15, 2012

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News about Pinterest and Facebook Timeline

News about Pinterest and Facebook Timeline

10 Strategies for Nonprofits on Pinterest

10 Strategies for Nonprofits on Pinterest

Nonprofits should be taking full advantage of Pinterest by using photography, infographics and other visuals as an extension of their organization. Because it is a site that connects people all over the world based on shared interests, it is an obvious venue for nonprofits to take advantage of.

11 Ways Facebook Timeline Changes Your Content Strategy

11 Ways Facebook Timeline Changes Your Content Strategy

The new layout of Facebook Timeline makes organizations rethink the way they present their content. Gone is an organization’s reliance on custom tabs and the news feed—both of these features have been changed or revamped for the new Timeline. Replacing them, are many more ways in which to market your brand using the proper content

Nature Conservancy Faces Flap Over Fundraising Deal to Promote Swimsuit Issue

Nature Conservancy Faces Flap Over Fundraising Deal to Promote Swimsuit Issue

Similar to the Komen disaster awhile back, let this article be a lesson in nonprofit branding. By partnering with Sports Illustrated latest racy swimsuit issue to raise money for the environment, the Nature Conservancy put the holistic values of their mission at odds with a business many people feel demeans women.

The Current State of HTML5

The Current State of HTML5

HTML5 has become the crux of what makes the web work today since the first version was created in 1990. But will it replace Flash? This infographic highlights how far it has come in the last 2 years.

New Tools For Web Design and Development

New Tools For Web Design and Development

While it’s no surprise that JavaScript leads the charge, these top 10 other tools make a web developer’s job much easier. Some of these tools are free while others can be bought for a low price.

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Maximizing Design Firm Relationships by Managing Stakeholder Input

Maximizing Design Firm Relationships by Managing Stakeholder Input

There are so many great ways for non-profits to maximize relationships with design partners. My last post addressed the budgeting process, and in this post I’ll talk about managing stakeholder input.

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March 7, 2012

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How to Curate a Powerful Story

How to Curate a Powerful Story

Content Marketing: 5 Nonprofit Success Stories to Learn From

Content Marketing: 5 Nonprofit Success Stories to Learn From

Nonprofits must strategize online content to connect with the right online audience. Tactics like leveraging videos to tell your story, using a multidimensional approach, optimizing user-generated content, being creative, and staying true to your brand, will ensure success in content marketing for your nonprofit.

Facebook Timeline for Brands: The Complete Guide

Facebook Timeline for Brands: The Complete Guide

Facebook Timeline offers the possibility for brands to refresh their social media strategy. This article covers all aspects of the new shift in order for brands to tell a more engaging and authentic story.

Up Close With Feltron’s Latest Annual Report

Up Close With Feltron’s Latest Annual Report

Nicholas Feltron, the designer behind Facebook’s Timeline, designs a visual representation of his past 2 years that melds his business and the personal. His unique design approach to annual reports highlights the everyday richness of life.

8 Strategies for Launching a Brand Presence on Pinterest

8 Strategies for Launching a Brand Presence on Pinterest

Pinterest is the hottest new social media site on the web these days. Savvy brands are designing Pinterest page to leverage their brand values and gain followers. These are 8 quick and easy tips to hop on the Pinterest train and start marketing your brand.

Design’s Next Frontier: Nudging Consumers Into Making Better Life Choices

Design’s Next Frontier: Nudging Consumers Into Making Better Life Choices

Irrational thinking informs the decisions people make. Designers are beginning to understand how to use persuasive design in order to influence consumers to make more responsible choices. In this way, design becomes key to sustaining profitability in the 21st century.

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MSDS Included in New Book, "The 1000 Best Logos in the World. Ever."

MSDS Included in New Book, "The 1000 Best Logos in the World. Ever."

David E. Carter, the all-time best selling producer of logo and graphic design books, has finally selected his favorite logos of all time. The  book, The 1000 Best Logos in the World. Ever. was recently released, and we're extremely honored to have our work included amongst Mr. Carter's top choices.

Posted on March 1, 2012

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