With the NFL Season starting in September, I will focus on exploring the logos of some of the popular NFL teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins and the Green Bay Packers among many others. The 2009-10 season will culminate with the SuperBowl XLIII in Tampa Bay Florida.
The first and most important thing you will have to do is determine the keywords you are tuning your website for. The trick here is to determine what your potential users are likely to search for. Also remember, do not try and tune for generic keywords because there will be a ton of other sites who have already tuned for it. Lets take an example. Lets say you have an Indian Restaurant called Banjara Palace in Bangalore. The first instinct may be to tune for "Banjara Palace" or "Indian Restaurant". Anyone who already knows your name is not your target audience, although its important to tune for your name as well. Even if you get in the top list for Indian Restaurant, whats the point, someone in Japan who searches finds you will probably never come to Malleshwaram for lunch.
Do you own a website, blog, business related to India, then you can get a free listing in the Dinesh.com Indian web directory. This directory has over 5000 listings at this point and a lot of the sections show up in the rankings on Google.
To submit your site, navigate to the proper category and add your listing. The listing will be approved or rejected in about a week. If you site is not related to India or does not meet my standards, it will be rejected. If you find that your site needs a new category, please add it in the description and I will consider it.
Do not submit any "Work At Home" or "Money Making Related Sites"
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game is an exhibition basketball game between players selected from the league's Western Conference and the Eastern Conference that will be played on February 14, 2010 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game will be the 59th edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and will be played during the 2009–10 NBA season.
The Logo for the event is shown above and the following are some of the key elements in the logo.
The key aspect of the logo is the is the star in light and dark blue, which are also the primary colors of the Mavericks logo. The Star is an important aspect of Texas (a.k.a Lone Star State).The Star also goes well with the "All Star" Game.
The mix of blue lines in the logo also represent a spot light shining on the NBA Logo.
The All Star font is very similar to the font of the Dallas Mavericks, but thats just my opinion.
The location - Dallas 2010 is also prominent.
The A and R are mirror images (sort of) and I am wondering if its supposed to resemble the Cowboys Stadium.
I am not sure why the Ball is Green - wonder if they are doing something environmental.
Expedia is an Internet-based travel reservation website, and a part of the Expedia, Inc. based in the US with localized sites for 18 countries. It books airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruises, vacation packages, and various attractions and services via the World Wide Web and telephone travel agents. The site uses multiple global distribution systems like Amadeus or the Sabre reservation systems for flights and for hotels, Worldspan, and Pegasus, along with their own hotel reservation system for their contracted bulk rate reservations. Expedia was started by Microsoft, which they then spun off as a multi-billion dollar company.
In 2009, Expedia decided to change its decade old logo (shown on right above) which was a yellow plane circling the globe. The new logo shown on the right was launched to replace the old logo. One of the executives defined that they wanted to replace the cartoonish logo with a more contemporary logo.
The new logo maintains the airplane and the notion of globe, but the airplane sits on the top of globe, not rotate around it.
The "Expedia" font is also different, more rounded and contemporary as well.
The logo also gets a new tagline, "Where You Book Matters."
Super Bowl XLIV will be the 44th annual edition of the Super Bowl in American Professional Football, and the 40th annual championship game of the modern-era National Football League (NFL). The game will be played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This marks the tenth time a Super Bowl will have played in the South Florida area: five times the game has been held at Dolphin Stadium; the other five were played at the Orange Bowl. The game will be played on February 7, 2010.
The Logo for the event is shown alongside and the following are some of the key elements in the logo.
1. Clearly the heart of the logo is the XLIV written in block letters. 2. The bold orange color, which really hurts the eye, reflects the Florida Orange 3. The L and I have been somewhat cleverly used to represent the goal post. 4. The two stars on the edges reflect the stars for the two NFL conferences (AFC and NFC). The red star represents the AFC and the blue star represents the NFC. 5. The football is the same as the football in the NFL logo.
I am personally not very impressed by the logo and it seems like that is the general impression of other folks as well. The Orange is too bright and in your face and its really an eye-sore. The block letter too are not very pleasing to the eye. With some other companies like Hertz and Jack in the Box moving to more contemporary fonts, this looks rather old fashioned.
Lets hope that the game is far more interesting than the logo.
Hey Now!! If you have an iPhone and are a fan of Howard Stern then you like me, would want to listen to Howard Stern on the iPhone. For quite a while that was rather difficult to do because Sirius did not have an iPhone app and when they did introduce it, they did not offer the Howard Stern Channels on the iPhone app. Now (as of Jan 2010), you have two options to get Howard Stern on your iPhone.
iPhone Pocket Tunes Radio Application
iPhone Skydock for XM Radio
Pocket Tunes Radio iPhone Application
Pocket Tunes Radio is an application available in the App Store ($6.99) that streams a large number of online stations. The application can also stream the content from the online Sirius feed which includes the Stern channels. In order to make this work, you will need to buy this application (one time 6.99 cost) and also have the online streaming ($2.99/month) and you are all set. The pro's of this method of listening to Stern are that you can virtually get access to the channels anywhere you are as long as you have Wifi or good data speeds. Also, the price is only 2.99/month or lower if you have annual subscriptions etc. The downside is that if you are in the car, you may get spotty signal and also crackling sound on your stereo.
iPhone Skydock for XM Radio
The iPhone Skydock is a new adapter that can be attached to a car (uses the standard charger output) and converts your iPhone into a Satellite radio. Unlike the Rocket Tunes option, the signal comes from the satellites so you are guaranteed of a better reception and signal. The problem with this is that the product comes from XM (not Sirius) so you have to subscribe to XM (for full price) and then get the Best of Sirius package. The total cost will work out to around $17/month. Also the Skydock works only in the car and costs about $120.
The Skydock communicates with your stereo over FM and in crowded markets such as NY, LA or Dallas, its tough to find a good frequency as well. The Skydock also plays your iPod as well. The Skydock does have an auxillary out so if your car stereo supports that you are in luck.
These are the two ways you can get Stern on your iPhone. Given my listening pattern (I spend about 40 mins in the car everyday) and also listen at work, I prefer option 1. I also have a Skydock that I uses mainly as an FM transmitter and have not activated my radio as yet. Maybe if Stern renews, I may consider doing that.
There are rumors that they will introduce new products at the CES and new options may show u or maybe Stern will allow them to broadcast on the Sirius application. Until then, seems like this is what we can do.
Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant founded in 1951 in San Diego, California, where it is still headquartered today. In total, the chain has 2,100 locations; primarily serving the West Coast of the United States. Most of the outlets are in California, followed by Texas, Arizona, Washington, Jack in the Box competes primarily with other major national fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wendy's. Food items include the Jumbo Jack, Potato Wedges, and Ultimate Cheeseburger.
In March 2009, Jack in the Box unveiled a new corporate logo shown above alongside the old logo. The new logo is significantly different from the old logo with the following most visible change 1. The new logo is 3-dimensional and the Box clearly stands out. 2. The font is more contemporary and pleasing to the eye. 3. The focus is more on "Jack" than "in the box", and I am wondering if thats to promote the use of Jacks more than Jack in the Box. 4. Some people say that the long curve in the letter 'K' appears to be a smile (just like the Amazon logo).
They still continue to maintain the bright red, although it appears to be a bit toned down.
Overall, I like the new logo as it does give it a modern feel although some bloggers feel that the logo may not be apt for restaurant logo. What do you think? Submit your comments below.
The Hertz Corporation (also known as Hertz Rent a Car or simply Hertz) is the largest car rental brand in the world, with approximately 3,500 locations in the United States and 7,500 worldwide. It is headquartered in Park Ridge, New Jersey, United States. The company was begun by Walter L. Jacobs in 1918, who started a car rental operation in Chicago with a dozen Model Ts. In 1923, Jacobs sold it to John D. Hertz, president of Yellow Cab and Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company, who renamed it the "Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System". The company has passed through a number of hands, including General Motors, RCA, and United Airlines. As a public company, Hertz was traded on the NYSE under the symbol HRZ until the purchase of outstanding stock by Ford Motor Company in 1994.
Hertz's new logo leverages their signature yellow color, signifying the Company's 91-year legacy of service and innovation. In the previous logo, the font was in Yellow, but with the new logo, the Yellow color is even more prominent With a contemporary look, the logo also symbolizes Hertz's commitment to remain relevant to today's car and equipment rental customers. The new font is more contemporary with rounded edges as opposed to the old font which is more block-shaped.
According to Mike Senackerib, Hertz Chief Marketing Officer, "Our goal in the logo redesign was to create a more contemporary corporate image that reflects our strong brand recognition, and is in touch with the mindset of current and future customers who appreciate superior service, personalized choices and value. We believe, and our customer research bears out, that the new logo portrays Hertz as a modern brand with personality for business, leisure and insurance replacement renters, and equipment rental customers."
As part of its rebranding, Hertz will be also updating its worldwide facilities, including on-and-off-airport Rent-a-Car and equipment rental locations consistent with the corporate identity.
Saab is a line of automobiles manufactured by Saab Automobile AB, and is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of the General Motors Corporation. Originally, Saab AB was an aviation and defense company based in Sweden and founded in 1937 in Trollhättan. Its name was an acronym for "Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget" (translates to Swedish Aeroplane Limited), thus written as "SAAB". In 1939 Saab merged with the Linköping based ASJA and the headquarters moved to Linköping. During changes in company ownership in the 1990s, the company name became Saab AB.
The logo of this SAAB depicts a mythological bird which is also used on the official coat of arms of the Count von Skane. The symbol was used as the symbol for the Swedish province Skane, where the SAAB company was formed.
On October 2, 2009, Rio De Janeiro was awarded the right to hold the 2016 Summer Olympic games. The logo for the games shown alongside is in the shape of a Sugar Loaf. According to the winning designer, Ann Soter,"The Sugar Loaf in the shape of a heart represents the Brazilians' indisputable passion and vibration for sports. The exclamation point replacing the numeral 1 in the writing 'Rio 20!6' symbolizes Brazil's heightened expectations with the chance of hosting the event".
The distinctive shape of the Sugar Loaf is representative of the city's natural assets "cariocas" take so much pride in. The proposed logo is intended to depict the varied colors of Rio's exuberant nature. You can see from the picture of Rio below how the logo ties in with the landscape. The colors Yellow, Green and Blue are also the colors of the Brazilian flag. The logo was chosen from among 4 finalists.
The logo was unveiled Monday, Dec. 17, during the Brazil Olympic Award ceremony, held at Rio's Teatro Municipal.
Google announced the launch of Google Wave on September 30th, 2009. Google Wave is "a personal communication and collaboration tool" announced by Google at the Google I/O conference on May 27, 2009. Google Wave is a web-based service, computing platform, and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wiki, and social networking.It has a strong collaborative and real-time focus supported by extensions that can provide, for example, robust spelling/grammar checking, automated translation between 40 languages, and numerous other extensions.
I found the logo for Google Wave to be very well designed with the 4 primary Google colors - Blue, Red, Yellow and Green integrated to for a W representing a Wave. I am not sure if the 4 elements are also tied to the 4 platforms being merged - e-mail, instant messaging, wiki, and social networking.
Overall, I like the logo a lot and it looks really professional and cool.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team located in Jacksonville, Florida. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Jaguars, along with the Carolina Panthers, joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1995.
The Jaguars name was selected through a fan contest. Finalists for the name included the Sharks, Stingrays and even Panthers, but Jaguars was ultimately selected on December 6, 1991. The Jaguars logo featured a snarling jaguar head with a teal tongue, which Weaver said was his wife's touch. He also claimed that the teal tongue came from "feeding Panthers to our Jaguars" — an obvious jab at their expansion brethren.
The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, is being played in Finland between August 23 and September 10, 2009. Twelve teams compete in the competition, increase of 4 teams from 8 teams that played in previous tournaments. The logo of the championship was unveiled in Feb 2008 and is shown alongside. The logo, which is a mix of bright yellow and orange is in the shape of a person with the head shaped as a ball. The colour palette usage, from light yellow to dark orange, encompasses passion, pride and a sense of a new dawn within the competition. At the same time, the heritage and prestigious past of this tournament is maintained via the use of the distinctive UEFA arch. Beneath the main graphic element and the tournament wording, the host country staging the finals is also referenced, in this case "FINLAND 2009".
The logo was created by The Works, the United Kingdom-based design and branding agency. UEFA also said that future UEFA European Women's Championship final rounds will utilise the same logo, although each time with a personalised brand design highlighting the features of the hosts.
