Scott Wise

What is the best place to sit & do work on a laptop during the day in Atlanta?

Answer here

Great article on how we readily identify brands by means of logotype brand marks and symbols rather than their traditional word based logo counterparts.

Great article on how social media has changed corporate branding.

Nice branding work showcase of Fuel.

Great Article! Must read for #branding gurus!

Nice run down. Good points

Dear Clients,

Due to an overwhelming demand for my creative consulting services, I must unfortunately raise the cost of services to all of you. I have been very busy establishing relationships with several service providers that can help out with production, development, administration, and accounting.

With the planned expansion of business and the expenses involved with progressing within the landscape of the design consulting profession I have decided to update my billing rate to address these oncoming needs.

Many of my clients will agree that the services I have provided are of great value to them and because of this my time has become a very limited resource. Steps are now being taken to increase the rate of speed and range of services provided by WiseOne Ltd.  and new goals have been set in efforts to better serve the needs of my clients.

WiseOne Ltd. has avoided raising rates for as long as possible, but we can no longer prolong the inevitable. WiseOne Ltd. will be updating all hourly billing rates to reflect new goals we have in-line for 2010. The new standard billing rate for all design and creative consulting services is now $85/hourly which will go into effect on February 1st 2010. Any orders placed between now and February 1st will be honored at the current rate of $75/hourly.

We wish to thank you for your valued account and hope that you see the value in these updates and look forward to a faster, richer overall graphics consulting experience from WiseOne Ltd.

Sincerely,

Scott Wise

VS.  

Discovered a new invoicing and estimating app last night called BallPark that is from the ever fresh producing Metalabs, coders of the ever populare Tumblr theme Fluid.

I’ve been testing FreshBooks since they began and the only thing that has kept me from becoming a paid member is the fact that you can only store a limited number of contacts per package, no more than 3 for the FREE package, and the entry paid subscription package was priced too steep for most cost conscious freelancers. $19 a month is heavy monthly obligation for any entry level user.

BallPark is taking FreshBooks head on in these 2 barriers to entry with the introduction of their new FREE 30 day trial period in which you can store unlimited amount of contacts. After the BallPark trial period ends you have a reasonable upgrade to the new $6 Freelance package option, though limited to sending out 10 invoices per month, which in my opinion is a smarter approach than FreshBooks because they will automatically get people to switch and get hooked just on the sheer fact that they can add and customize more of their contacts.

They are even making it a cinch for users to convert by supplying us with a simple Freshbook contact import solution and an API tie in to Basecamp and High-Rise with all the bells and whistles you would expect from any would be Freshbooks contender, including a ridiculously sexy iPhone app, the ability to email and print invoices, Live Search, Paypal integration, recurring invoicing, estimate to invoice conversion, additional currencies, and many more features!

My favorite feature is the integrated file attachment support so you can include proofs, contracts, and source files with your invoicing, further select any number of recipients to view your invoices and reply with inline comments so you can see comment history on each invoice. This is where they excel in user interface over their Freshbooks competitor.

FreshBooks should reconsider their entry level pricing structure and make it to where you can input more than 3 contacts with their FREE account and upgrade their abilities to interface with inline comments or I’m sure they will be seeing many of their accounts jump ship to test out the new player in the BallPark, and once they do, they will find that the guys over and MetaLabs can design one mean and clean sticky interface backed with some top notch functionality and may just decide to stick around for while.

Your move Freshbooks.

http://getballpark.com/

Simply outstanding article on the process of creating a good logo design.

Best branding article I’ve read in quite some time.

Great read!

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/WiseOneLtd

A merger is a combination of two or more companies into one. It can often create problems for these companies: which name and logo will they use? Some companies create an entirely new brand name and logo, while others try to retain a bit of both entities. In this article you’ll find 20 companies that merged and the resulting logo. ~ Awesome

In his top-selling book Zag: The No. 1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands, Marty Neumeier summarizes the differences in this tongue-in-cheek visualization.

http://twitter.com/MARTYneumeier

You are not a brand unless other people think you are. People have to connect with your brand on an intellectual and emotional level. A logo is not a brand but the story behind it is.

In its simplest form, branding relates to a product’s or service’s ability to create a relationship with a consumer; typically, via an appealing promise. Tim Tam promises indulgence, Google ease of information, Maggi noodles convenience, and NRMA Insurance is cutting through with a unique promise to “unworry your life.” Successful brands are anchored in propositions that are desirable, distinctive, and credible in the target consumer’s mind. A summary of the purpose of branding can be found in Walter Landor’s prophetic quote of 1964: “Products are built in the factory, brands are created in the mind.”

So, which brands exemplify outstanding branding and what are the unifying principles common to all of them?  Here’s a great summary…

Manfred Fitzgerald has worked for Lamborghini for nine years, first as the Brand Director and now as Head of Design. Between Manfred Fitzgerald and Chief Executive Stefan Winkelmann, they have reinvented the brand under VW Group’s ownership.

Interesting analysis of college branding and the changes now facing Colleges with local/regional spheres of influence and their ever increasing competition stemming from the global transition to the online E-Learning.

This signal of a potent emotional attachment is the foundation for brand success. It’s a form of primal brand magic, built on a near-mythical brand story that unconsciously transports one from the mundane to the imaginational, transforming our inner world and inspiring us to buy.

What is the best place to sit & do work on a laptop during the day in Atlanta?

Answer here

Great article on how we readily identify brands by means of logotype brand marks and symbols rather than their traditional word based logo counterparts.

Great article on how social media has changed corporate branding.

Nice branding work showcase of Fuel.

Great Article! Must read for #branding gurus!

Nice run down. Good points

Dear Clients,

Due to an overwhelming demand for my creative consulting services, I must unfortunately raise the cost of services to all of you. I have been very busy establishing relationships with several service providers that can help out with production, development, administration, and accounting.

With the planned expansion of business and the expenses involved with progressing within the landscape of the design consulting profession I have decided to update my billing rate to address these oncoming needs.

Many of my clients will agree that the services I have provided are of great value to them and because of this my time has become a very limited resource. Steps are now being taken to increase the rate of speed and range of services provided by WiseOne Ltd.  and new goals have been set in efforts to better serve the needs of my clients.

WiseOne Ltd. has avoided raising rates for as long as possible, but we can no longer prolong the inevitable. WiseOne Ltd. will be updating all hourly billing rates to reflect new goals we have in-line for 2010. The new standard billing rate for all design and creative consulting services is now $85/hourly which will go into effect on February 1st 2010. Any orders placed between now and February 1st will be honored at the current rate of $75/hourly.

We wish to thank you for your valued account and hope that you see the value in these updates and look forward to a faster, richer overall graphics consulting experience from WiseOne Ltd.

Sincerely,

Scott Wise

VS.  

Discovered a new invoicing and estimating app last night called BallPark that is from the ever fresh producing Metalabs, coders of the ever populare Tumblr theme Fluid.

I’ve been testing FreshBooks since they began and the only thing that has kept me from becoming a paid member is the fact that you can only store a limited number of contacts per package, no more than 3 for the FREE package, and the entry paid subscription package was priced too steep for most cost conscious freelancers. $19 a month is heavy monthly obligation for any entry level user.

BallPark is taking FreshBooks head on in these 2 barriers to entry with the introduction of their new FREE 30 day trial period in which you can store unlimited amount of contacts. After the BallPark trial period ends you have a reasonable upgrade to the new $6 Freelance package option, though limited to sending out 10 invoices per month, which in my opinion is a smarter approach than FreshBooks because they will automatically get people to switch and get hooked just on the sheer fact that they can add and customize more of their contacts.

They are even making it a cinch for users to convert by supplying us with a simple Freshbook contact import solution and an API tie in to Basecamp and High-Rise with all the bells and whistles you would expect from any would be Freshbooks contender, including a ridiculously sexy iPhone app, the ability to email and print invoices, Live Search, Paypal integration, recurring invoicing, estimate to invoice conversion, additional currencies, and many more features!

My favorite feature is the integrated file attachment support so you can include proofs, contracts, and source files with your invoicing, further select any number of recipients to view your invoices and reply with inline comments so you can see comment history on each invoice. This is where they excel in user interface over their Freshbooks competitor.

FreshBooks should reconsider their entry level pricing structure and make it to where you can input more than 3 contacts with their FREE account and upgrade their abilities to interface with inline comments or I’m sure they will be seeing many of their accounts jump ship to test out the new player in the BallPark, and once they do, they will find that the guys over and MetaLabs can design one mean and clean sticky interface backed with some top notch functionality and may just decide to stick around for while.

Your move Freshbooks.

http://getballpark.com/

Simply outstanding article on the process of creating a good logo design.

Best branding article I’ve read in quite some time.

Great read!

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/WiseOneLtd

A merger is a combination of two or more companies into one. It can often create problems for these companies: which name and logo will they use? Some companies create an entirely new brand name and logo, while others try to retain a bit of both entities. In this article you’ll find 20 companies that merged and the resulting logo. ~ Awesome

In his top-selling book Zag: The No. 1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands, Marty Neumeier summarizes the differences in this tongue-in-cheek visualization.

http://twitter.com/MARTYneumeier

You are not a brand unless other people think you are. People have to connect with your brand on an intellectual and emotional level. A logo is not a brand but the story behind it is.

In its simplest form, branding relates to a product’s or service’s ability to create a relationship with a consumer; typically, via an appealing promise. Tim Tam promises indulgence, Google ease of information, Maggi noodles convenience, and NRMA Insurance is cutting through with a unique promise to “unworry your life.” Successful brands are anchored in propositions that are desirable, distinctive, and credible in the target consumer’s mind. A summary of the purpose of branding can be found in Walter Landor’s prophetic quote of 1964: “Products are built in the factory, brands are created in the mind.”

So, which brands exemplify outstanding branding and what are the unifying principles common to all of them?  Here’s a great summary…

Manfred Fitzgerald has worked for Lamborghini for nine years, first as the Brand Director and now as Head of Design. Between Manfred Fitzgerald and Chief Executive Stefan Winkelmann, they have reinvented the brand under VW Group’s ownership.

Interesting analysis of college branding and the changes now facing Colleges with local/regional spheres of influence and their ever increasing competition stemming from the global transition to the online E-Learning.

This signal of a potent emotional attachment is the foundation for brand success. It’s a form of primal brand magic, built on a near-mythical brand story that unconsciously transports one from the mundane to the imaginational, transforming our inner world and inspiring us to buy.