This is a post to go along with Hongkiat’s post of 100 Greatest Abstract and Grunge Fonts. You can check out the posting and view the font list here. While viewing the site I mentioned how I would like to be able to have the collection and after seeing a few other post about a collection, I decided to grab the fonts and put them together. Thanks to Hongkiat for putting together such an awesome list!

You can download the full 100 Grunge Fonts zip (about 20 MB) here.

Once again the logo beast has reared its (somewhat) ugly head! a while ago I commented on how bad the new AT&T logo was and asked, “Why would a company with a strong logo design that has been around for ages change it to something visually uncomfortable and simply bad?” Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say “bad” but certainly not as strong, solid or even as well thought out as it was. I’m just floored by a lot of companies like AT&T who give the go-ahead on these redesigns instead of spending the money on something that would actually propel the company further.

My problematic logo of the day is the new Pepsi logo. WOW? What? I haven’t quite read into the reasoning or the meaning of the new logo, but I have heard that the strange shape is supposed to resemble a “smile”. Bottom line is this: once again a big corporation has joined the craptastic depths of businesses who pay top dollar for mediocre (at best) work. Take a look below.

Allow me to say right off the bat, the Mountain Dew design is lame. I understand that a lot of tech geeks use Mt. Dew as fuel but that doesn’t mean that you need to change the font to a techy designed font or bow to that demographic of your market. I think they would even say it looks like ass.
Was there a point here? It doesn’t seem so to me. I guess they thought that since the Pepsi logo was gonna be redesigned, they might as well do the rest too… Well, bad idea guys. Looks terrible.

Now, On to Pepsi. The first thing that I noticed when looking at the new Pepsi bottle logos was that the “smile” is different sizes on all labels! This makes no sense to me. I tried to make a little sense of it by saying that the size of the white smile dictates the amount of calories or its “health benefits” but that didn’t work either! Notice that the diet Pepsi logo has the smallest “smile”. The regular Pepsi logo has a bigger smile and the Pepsi Zero logo design has the “smile” the largest of the three. It just doesn’t seem like these were well thought out and explored; two things that should seriously have been done considering the amount of money connected with the product. Regardless of whether or not there is a “method to the madness”, without an explanation it’s still poor design.

I don’t mind the font so much, in fact there are some postings on Brand New that point out it looks like the old old diet Pepsi logo. I do however dislike it’s placement and size. Personally I think it would have looked better horizontally under the “smile” logo. That way its still balanced and just plain looks better. Along with the placement, the sub text (0 cal carb sugar) doesn’t always appear centered under the logo and in the case of the regular Pepsi the empty space under the logo is really bothersome. With so few elements “white space” cannot be an excuse. The layout is just plain lazy.

One of the last things I will mention has nothing to do with the logo, but the shape of the bottle. I know I’m not the first to notice it but it does look quite phallic to me. I think that Pepsi needs to stop wasting time and money on logo recreations and bottle shaping and pay more attention to their marketing and advertising. Oh, wait… but logo creation and bottle design go hand-in-hand with marketing and advertising! Oh well, looks like another wasted marketing budget!

Overall I’d say that the New Pepsi Logo missed the mark. Not exactly by miles but certainly by a far stretch. I just don’t understand why some companies feel that they need a new or modern logo. In the case of AT&T and Pepsi its just a few really bad decisions and bad tweaks on an already strong logo design. I’m sure it won’t impact their bottom line at all but honestly, how much do you really need to push into advertising and marketing for Pepsi?

Would you like a drink with that? Coke or Pepsi?

A common question I get when I talk about web design is, “are web design graphics really that important when trying to sell online?”. Let me answer it this way:

Basically, I know of 2 groups of thought regarding graphic elements, and they are:

1. Graphic design does not affect anything, only content does. This would be your typical SEO response to web design and content creation. In SEO, content is king, therefor your graphics aren’t as important… however…

2. The second group thinks web graphics are very important, since they create that first impression when a new visitors arrives. Good web graphics can set your page apart from the rest and give you the needed accountability that largely formated content sites lack.

Which group is right?

I think the second group is closer to the truth. Let me explain…

The objective of any website is to get people to do things - buy stuff, or subscribe, or provide user generated content. We want are visitors to stay longer and do more things with us. It’s how you make money, and why we all do this web content creation thing.

If you go for a job interview, or go on a new date, what happens when you first meet? The first impression! That’s right, we all form an instant opinion when we make that first encounter.

You see, a new website visitor gets that same first impression when they come to your site, and if they get the wrong impression, they hit the back button or close button, and no one wins.

Anyways, do you think web design graphics have anything to do with first impressions? You can bet your last dollar on that, because they are proven to be the biggest factor in forming the first impression.

Put up a boring plain website that looks like other boring sites, and everyone will think “same old boring site” and leave. You will be just like every other boring site, with no reason to bookmark or visit.

Use some well matched web graphics on your site that grab attention, and you will see how it affects your sales, stats and conversions.

Think back to some of the websites you bookmarked on your first visit. Remember how they grabbed your attention and got you looking closely at what they offered? The first step is by the proper use of layout and web graphics to get people to start reading and watching. Now you know this, wouldn’t you want the graphics that give the best possible results?

It’s a key way to get that instant differentiation that makes you stand out to everyone, and luckily, you can get some pretty amazing marketing graphics for next to nothing out there.

If your website isn’t memorable, why not try putting some exciting graphics on your website? It might be just enough to tilt your visitors into action.