El Gaffney

Do Day: What? You Don’t Have A Logo!?!

I was going to call this “Me-keting” or “Marketmeing” but I didn’t think either of those qualify as new terms worth coining on putting in the subject. What’s worse is I’m not sure they’re even original. Either way, I’ve been thinking a bit lately about all my online accounts (from Seesmic—which I stopped using—to Y! Live on which I’m currently watching Aki)…and I’ve been thinking lately about my brand (El Gaffney vs. Seth Gaffney and specifically what is the persona I present online).

Also, I was talking with Clay and Eric about a side project (that hopefully I’ll be featuring in a very near Do Day) for which one of them asked for a picture and a logo. “A logo?,” I thought, “I guess I can hit them up with the El Gaffney side profile with drawn in mustache image.” Though while it was done by a real designer (at my first agency), I felt a bit naked. Why didn’t I have a logo? (Daddy, I want a golden ticket!)

Then, that same day, I saw Eric’s post about Logobama over at Marketing.fm. This site has meets people’s profile (logo) needs in such a smart and easy way—and more interestingly, the idea to create this site seems to have stemmed from online observation…

We’ve been noticing a trend of people displaying their support for Barack Obama’s Democratic presidential campaign by using his logo as their avatar, or visual representation on the web. We thought, ‘what can we do to show our support?’

So we created Logobama, a place for you to create your own custom Obama logo and use it wherever you want. As Obama says, ‘we are the change we have been waiting for.’ That’s what Obama is representing… someone who wants all of us to participate in changing the world. And together, we can make this change, one logo at a time.

It let’s you personalize his logo and download it at full size or for a variety of other places web-goers will likely have profiles. (i.e. YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, etc.) Here’s the one I created:

Yes, very much in the spirit of “A More Perfect Union”. And yes, I did have cornrows for a few days…until I started feeling gross and getting headaches.

So, all that said, I think as more and more young people grow up with many profiles and understanding the many dimensions of their online experience, they’ll naturally think about themselves as brands. They’ll know that while there are many profiles and dimensions, there is only one them (ME)—there is not your personal persona (friend one is different from family) and your business face, which you can present to each appropriate audience. And they’ll learn quickly how to and be equipped to manage their brands. And yes, they’ll probably have logos (and the skills sets and tools to make their own). So, I still want mine…and perhaps a more unique photo while we’re at it.

Tags: brands, logo, obama, personal

Google’s Dreams

I really like how they change their logo and the flexibility those O’s provide for almost daily alterations. I was a big fan of the Van Gogh one they had on Vincent’s bday. It reminded me of every single girl apt/house in college. Moreso than the Belushi “College” poster does of guys’ apts. P.S. Would anyone be surprised if you read the headline in 10 years, “Google cures cancer”? Maybe Google Health or Dr.oogle actually. Another display of its name’s power in simplicity, differentiation and versatility.

Tags: google, logo