Adobe is on ‘Edge’

A few months back I wrote an article on Adobe Wallaby; a piece of software created to convert Flash files into HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. Since then Adobe has created another entry in the Adobe Labs: Edge. From the preview i found on YouTube (see below) it seems that Edge is heading in the direction of overtaking Flash as the premier animation tool for web developers. Of course, only time well tell, but in the meantime I thought it would be a good idea to further explain Edge and introduce it to the readers of DBMEi.

First displayed at Adobe MAX 2010, Adobe Edge targets designers and developers looking for an adept method to raise web standards like HTML to help generate content that provides smooth motion and transitions. THe need for a lightweight, pro-grade tool that is a complimentary addition to Adobe’s current line up of web tools including Adobe Flash Pro CS5.5, Dreamweaver CS5.5, and Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 software.

Perhaps even more significantly, Adobe has announced that because of rapid changes in HTML5, they are initiating an open development policy with Edge. Because of this Adobe Labs will release the software earlier than is usual in the common process of the software development process. Since user feedback is returned to watchful developers before beta begins, that feedback will actually help to shape the final product. To ice that cake, Adobe announced they will also provide a zero-cost download that web designers can download to begin to explore and provide that vital feedback.

Check out this Preview of Adobe Edge:

Adobe Enhancements

Adobe has leapt through several notable milestones over the last year. These include elements such as:

– Contributions to jQuery
– Enhanced HTML5 output for Creative Suite 5.5
– Submitting code to webkit

Adobe Edge Features

The preview of Adobe Edge will work natively with HTML to allow designers to implement motion into existing HTML documents. With no alterations in the integrity of CSS layouts, creating visually enhanced content entirely from scratch becomes possible. Edge uses traditional drawing tools that can produce many HTML elements that are styled with CSS3.

Standard supported web graphics assets include:

– PNG
– GIF
– SVG
– JPG
– EPS

These can easily be styled using CSS3. A design stage uses WebKit to enable the design manipulation of the content with incredibly clarity. A ‘new’ timeline element – borrowed from Flash –  supplies new perspectives and options in animation productivity. Motion can be applied smoothly to elements of the HTML with ease and accuracy.

Edge content can be used on common browsers including:

– Blackberry Playbook
– Android
– iOS
– Hp webOS
– Safari
– Chrome
– IE9
– Firefox

Could this new tool further help animated content find its way to new devices such as the IPad? I guess we’re going to have to wait to find out! In the meantime visit Adobe Labs to download a FREE copy of Edge!

Sources:

Adobe Labs

IT Pro: Adobe Previews Flash Alternative Edge

MK Multimedia: Adobe Edge Preview

PC World: Adobe Edge: What You Need to Know 

More on Logo Design & Branding

A COMMENT BECOMES A POST
This blog post started out as a comment on another blog post, Why Does A Company Need A Logo?, written by fellow Digital Brand Marketing Education Blog author, John Lasurdo. His article was published on June 21, 2011. As a fellow graphic designer, I have experienced that logos and their design are a favorite discipline of mine.

I found that the comment I started to write regarding John’s post wanted to be more and, thanks to his excellent, educational and thought provoking blog post, my comment quickly evolved into a blog post, acknowledging his thoughts and adding to this topic.

Why Does a Company Need a Logo © John Lasurdo

TRANSFORMATION
History

I have watched and continue to watch the evolution of logos and branding. Historically, it seems that the wordless icon has evolved from much more complex designs. In fact, many companies and situations that used to require both images (icons) and logotype as their ‘logo/brand’, have simplified and streamlined their visual and verbal brand down to their simplest forms. Pepsi, Air Jordan and, of course, Nike (Just Do It) come to mind both visually and verbally related to this.

History-of-Logos then © http://www.webguru-india.com/logo-history.php and now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Jordan

Simplicity
There are even companies that have taken the logo/brand concept a step further and reduced their brand to a single word. This is particularly fascinating to me. For example, in the case of UPS, that word is a color and the color is ‘BROWN’. Mention ‘BROWN’, as UPS refers to itself in its commercials, or hear the reference to ‘brown’ and any marketing savvy person will know the reference is to none other than UPS.

History of UPS 'Brown' logo © http-:www.logoblog.org:ups-logo

Color and Type
In another case, although the color is not the ‘spoken brand’, it is the symbolic brand. Such is the example of Home Depot. Every time I see a large blur of orange signage along major road ways, I think and know it is none other than Home Depot. They have basically claimed the color orange, in a square shaped format, without ever saying a word about it. Was this meant to be sneaky? No, I believe it is part of subliminal and savvy logo/branding.

The Home Depot logo © http://www.allfreelogo.com/logo/the-home-depot-logo.html

Speaking of orange, there exists what I consider to be one of the most outstanding, award winning quality examples of logo/branding executions of all times. It is FedEx, which is short for Federal Express. The brilliance of this logo/branding metamorphosis existed in several stages:

• Initially, there was the shortening of the two-worded name, a noun, into a ‘nickname’,  a verb, ‘FedEx’.

• The ‘nickname’, ‘FedEx’ as a verb, then became synonymous with shipping. That is fantastic marketing when the product name becomes the generic noun or verb description. Such is also the case with Kleenex for tissues, Xerox for copy, and Google for search.

FedEx-logo © http://www.logoblog.org/fedex-logo.php

To get back to the use of orange (I wouldn’t forget, it’s my favorite color lately) and the variety of other colors FedEx has adopted, the brand continues to evolve. Quoted from FedEx on the LogoBlog.org site is the following, “In 1994, Lindon Leader of Landor Associates created the new FedEx  ‘hidden logo design’ which has become a highly recognized corporate symbol of FedEx Corporation. Behind the FedEx logo’s simplicity, lays an arrow located in the negative space between the ‘E’ and ‘X’ pointing rightwards. While the arrow in the FedEx logo becomes quite obvious when pointed out, it sure is neglected by many. This arrow in the FedEx logo has been used as a form of subliminal advertising of the brand, symbolizing forward movement and thinking. ”

FedEx hidden logo design arrow in pink © http://www.logoblog.org/fedex-logo.php

• The ‘hidden logo design’ results from the brilliant use of the lack of color in the white space between the letters E and x where the arrow pointing right appears. This is a subliminally superior graphic execution of a visual for the concept of movement since transportation, the movement of goods, service and even ideas is what Federal Express is all about.

• The next stage is the differentiation between their various divisions with the clever manipulation of color. The corporate logo as well as the services division uses gray with purple, express shipping uses orange with purple, ground shipping uses green with purple, freight uses red with purple, trade networks uses yellow with purple and their ‘partnership’ with Kinko’s uses blue with purple. It is the same logotype, FedEx. A simple, singular change of color clearly denotes each aspect of their company and their brand.

The FedEx Logo © http://www.logoblog.org/fedex-logo.php

Another example of logo/branding transformation is British Petroleum.
• A shortening of the name to a ‘nickname’ consisting of merely two letters, BP, an affectionate simplification that occurred early on and served the company well with minor changes for many years.  See the illustration below.

• But the recent transformation is more than meets the eye. It was a very shrewd action economically and politically because it further de-emphasized the country (British), the product (Petroleum) by minimizing the logotype to circular icon creating an entirely different story. A story from cars on roadways to a modern alternative energy age.

• This evolution of their logo was designed to prepare the public and the company culture for big changes. But who knew what they were up to underneath their sunny veneer of transformational branding suggesting company culture changes.

• Their long standing, classic shaped logo, was representative of a highway sign. It was turned into more of a logo by icon that looks like a stylized sun or circle of energy in yellow and green, implying a burst of eco-friendly energy, rather than gas and oil for cars on the highway.

The Evolution of the British Petroleum logo © http-:worldsbestlogos.blogspot.com:2007:08:british-petroleum-bp-logo-history

The British Petroleum logo/brand transformation was a masterful and classic example of the kinds of changes companies have been making over the decades. It is also very much in keeping with the times of changing energy sources. The only problem is that one just does not know whether or not excellence in branding development implying positive changing of company values followed by actual bad deeds, is sufficient to save a company from economic and political suicide.

BP logo redesign contest after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico © http-inhabitat-comredesigned-bp-logos-depict-the-gulf-oil-slick.jpg

THE LOGO ICON

The Logo Icon Himself © http-:www.paul-rand.com

Here is a more upbeat story in the annals of logo design that must be included in a historically influenced post about this topic. It can also be viewed on a video of Steve Jobs discussing his choice of then, world famous designer, Paul Rand , for the task of creating Steve’s NEXT company logo. Steve questioned Paul Rand on the design process inquiring as to whether or not he would be given a variety of optional designs to choose from for the project. Mr. Rand simply said, “No”.

Steve Job's NEXT logo as well as others designed by Paul Rand © http-:www.paul-rand.com: Paul Rand logos

Paul then explained that he would provide Steve with his ‘solution to the problem’. Steve would pay for it and if he wanted other options, he was free to go to other designers for their ‘solutions’.

NeXT © http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT

Clearly Mr. Rand was confident in his ability to solve Steve Job’s problem. Over the years, Paul Rand had solved the ‘problem’ of creating logos for most of the top corporations in America. View video at end of post.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I hope that both the original logo blog post writer, John Lasurdo, who was the catalyst for this post, and those who are reading it, will find my comment turned blog post an interesting addition in providing further insight into this topic. My words were inspired by John’s words and my ideas are flavored with historical references to the saga of logo design and branding.

AUTHOR’S AFTER THOUGHT
I had never considered graphic design and logo design, in particular, so political until I studied their history and evolution in depth preparing for this article. I am amazed by the power that simple icons and logotype can have. They are NOT just a matter of pretty designs.

SOURCES
Why Does A Company Need a Logo?
Air Jordan on Wikipedia
The History of Logos
The Home Depot Logo
The FedEx Logo
The World’s Best Logos: British Petroleum
The Redesign of the BP Logo After the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
Paul Rand
NeXT
Steve Jobs on Paul Rand YouTube Video

Issuu for Your Publication Issues

You’ll hear a lot of people – especially web designers, talk about how “print is dead”. The influx of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, may indeed mark the beginning of the end for the print community…but by no means is traditional print advertising ‘dead’. Many companies still rely on print advertising in magazines, newspapers; and at the same time, these various publications are trying to find a way to translate their product to the digital realm. Enter Issuu.com.

There are so many available publishing formats on the net, many free, many costly. Because of the many available sites, there are also many available formats for publication uploads and downloads. This can make business difficult for publishers who want to see their hard-earned accomplishments displayed in their finest surroundings via custom cover designs, book descriptions, and more.

The Danish start-up known as Issuu now offers publishing platforms that can turn any uploaded document into a gorgeous online publication. Their numbers support that this is a format that many online publishers have been seeking. They also support Time-Magazines bid when it placed Issuu in the Top 50 Best Websites of 2009. With over 3.4 billionglobal impressions monthly on a global scale, the service shot to the top in its industry early on.

User Ease

Getting signed up is as easy as entering your email address and a favored password. Users can also take advantage of its Facebook integration sign up. Once the account is confirmed via email, users can quickly add contacts via their Gmail, Yahoo, Plaxo, or Windows Live Hotmail accounts.

Once logged in there are plenty of options to help customize your Issuu profile, settings and more. Getting started is as easy as selecting the upload feature, browsing your local folders for the publication file, and entering key descriptions of the publication. Next users can choose their publishing and sharing options, and then it is on to the upload process. From there users simply customize their publication cover and other options, and publish away.

Once your profile is complete and you have uploaded your publication, Issuu automatically lays the digital publication out into a magazine format complete with a fake ‘reflection’ from the gloss of a magazine cover. Viewers have the ability to view their publication as is, or switch to full screen mode. This is where Issuu really shines. It blows up the magazine to full screen viewing and even has a mock page turning animation that gives the viewer the sense of flipping through a printed publication. All the usual social media buttons are included and give the user the ability to share the digital publication through social media outlets like facebook and twitter, email to a client list or embed the digital booklet into their own site.

New Reseller Feature

The responsibility of an Issuu Reseller is to help your clients get the best out of their printed publications. Resllers may be anyone from government and marketing agencies to freelancers. Resellers can create and manage as many accounts as they need. One master account can control all of the individual, or client, accounts. The master account also handles and manages all payments.

Resellers can customize their client’s publications to fit their identity, or current cover, site, or business color scheme or theme. Advanced API’s gives the reseller immense flexibility and functionality in their customization processes. As resellers add clients and publications to their accounts, they can begin to build up discounted rates that can go as high as 85%.

It seems like Issuu may have gotten it right where many other publication services have failed. Issuu supports an incredibly wide variety of document extensions and does a great job at providing necessary formatting automatically, as well as allowing manual options for detailed perfection.

Sources:

You Publish @ Issuu

Issuu Adds New Features to Catch Up with Scribd.

Issuu Reseller, Humble E-Publisher

Issuu Crunchbase Profile