Have you noticed?

I received these logos and captions in an email today

from my sister.  It was interesting to read and look at
because I've never noticed some of these observations
before.  Which makes me wonder, how much time is
spent adding an extra element to a company's logo if the
majority of people aren't going to notice it?  However,
when someone points it out, it makes the logo more
unique, to me anyways.  What do you think?

If you look at the center of this logo, you can see two people enjoying a Tostito chip with a bowl of salsa.  This logo conveys the idea of people connecting with each other.

At first, this logo might not make much sense. But if you look closely, you'll see the number 1 in the negative space between the F and the red stripes.



Toblerone is a chocolate-company from Bern, Switzerland.   Bern is sometimes called 'The City Of Bears '.  They have incorporated this idea in the Toblerone logo, because if you look closely, you'll see the silhouette of a bear.



This logo doesn't seem to hide much at first sight, but it gives you a little insight in the philosophy behind the brand. First of all, the yellow swoosh looks like a smile: Amazon wants to have the best customer satisfaction. The swoosh also connects the letters a and z, meaning that this store has everything from a to z.


The old logo of Baskin Robbins had the number 31 with an arc above it.  The new logo took this idea to the next level.  The pink parts of the BR still form the number 31, a reference to the 31 flavours.




Do you see any arrow on FedEx's logo? The clue is that the arrow is located in between the alphabet E and X, and the arrow is white, acting as a background.

Sunday Smile

I was browsing through a photo gallery on the website of the Ellen DeGeneres Show titled "Unlikely Animal Pairs" and this was my favourite picture.  Being a big animal lover, it melted my heart a little.

Just thought I'd share it.

Taken from the Ellen DeGeneres Show

The SPC App - discounts at your fingertips

In my PR class this past week we talked about different apps that you can download for your mobile device.  We did a fun activity where our teacher, Melanie, gave us a company and, in groups of three, we had to think of a free app that the company could offer to consumers.  We are presenting our ideas next week in class, which I'm excited to hear.

We also received another assignment for our blog post this week.  We had to browse the different apps and find a free app that a company or business already has and explain how it fits within the principles of persuasion.  Here is what I found....

The company I found creates the SPC.  SPC stands for "Student Price Card" and by its definition off its website the card "is your pass to exclusive student deals on fashion, food, entertainment, lifestyle, travel and more".

You can save from 10-15% at participating locations and you can buy the card for $9.00 at various retailers.  However, I was given a free SPC when I did my taxes with H&R Block this past year.  The card comes with a little booklet detailing the stores which accept the card, however, I never carry it with me because it is too big. 

Here is where the SPC app comes into play.

By downloading this free app you can see all of the stores that accept the SPC and how much of a discount you can receive.  I think this is a great app for anyone who has the SPC, because you can instantly find out which stores accept the card.  Now even if you don't have the booklet with you, you are still able to take advantage of your SPC.  And who doesn't like a discount?  Especially a student!

Here is how the app fits into the principles of persuasion.

Identification: The "what's in it for me" for the person who has the SPC is the discounts it offers.  By knowing who accepts the SPC, it saves you money and allows you to remember for the future that the store accepts the SPC.

Familiarity & Trust:  Many students know what the SPC is because it is advertised at various educational institutions, including high schools.  I've known about the SPC since I entered high school.

Clarity: The app is simple and easy to use.  It's broken down into various categories so it is easy to find what you are looking for.

Action: With the tap of a finger you have access to all of the discounts the SPC offers.  You don't have to worry about searching for your booklet that came with the card or asking every retailer if they accept the SPC.

All in all, I think this app is a great idea for anyone who has the SPC. 
I would definitely use it.

For more info on the SPC, visit www.spccard.ca

For more info on the SPC app, visit this link

image credit here

Summer is officially over

With the start of a new school year comes new clothes, new school supplies, and a new blog! 

I am now officially a second year CreComm student, more than halfway through the first week!  I am happy to say that the weather isn't as nice as it was last year during the first week back.  I remember it being super hot everyday and it was very difficult to spend all day inside the college while the sun was shining on the outside.  But so far this year it's been mildly sunny with quite a bit of rain.  But I digress...

Many of the second years decided to change the theme of their blogs this year, me included.  I think some people may have found it difficult to keep up with a themed blog that had a narrow scope which seemed like a good idea at the time.  This year I have revamped my design and decided to keep it general.  This way, I can write about whatever I like without any specific topic limitations, within reason.

I am majoring in public relations this year, which I think will be a lot of fun.  I am also liking the flow of the schedule this year.  I like the fact that we only have each subject once a week on one day of the week, except for our major.  My schedule also isn't as jam packed as it was last year, which is nice.  But that also means that it leaves time for working on my IPP, which I guess is the whole idea haha.

We don't have too much work as of yet, since it's only the first week.  But by the looks of the course outlines we have received so far, the work will come along very soon.  I am still adjusting to doing homework, so I'm happy with slowly easing into it.  Plus I am in a wedding this Saturday, so I have rehearsal dinner tomorrow night, bridesmaid sleepover Friday night, the wedding Saturday night, and an after-wedding dinner on Sunday night.  So that basically takes up my whole weekend.  But I'm excited and it will be super fun!  So there's not really any room for homework this weekend. 

Well, I think I've rambled on enough for this blog.

Happy Labour Day weekend!

7 weeks of editing is almost done

This week is our last week of our seven week intersession course for Editing Print and Online Media.   It seems as though the weeks have flown by, but it made me look back.  Though seven weeks is not that long, it got me thinking as to what I have learned within that time frame.  I tried to think of what I knew about editing before I began this course compared to what I know now.  I would like to think that I have learned tips and tricks to use in the future.  The main thing I’ve learned though is how appreciative we should all be for editors.  Here are a list of items that I learned throughout this course:

• Steps to editing a story
• Spotting screwups
• Working with poll writing
• Writing headlines properly
• Laying out a website for readability
• Dangers in legal writing
• Spotting urban legends

Although I like to think I am a better editor now, it’s definitely not an easy task.  It takes a trained eye to carefully edit letter after letter, word after word, sentence after sentence, and so on.  I am ashamed to admit that even after everything I’ve learned, I still managed to send an email with a spelling mistake.  I only caught it when it was too late, right after I hit the send button. 

I have a new found appreciation for editing, as I never really thought of the mechanics and hard work that lay behind it.  Editing takes time, precison, and a good eye to catch things that other people may not have noticed.  Though I’m still working on my editing skills, I am happy to have taken the course and am now more aware of editing.

With whatever position I end up working in after my second year of CreComm, I know editing will come about at some point.  When it does, I can look at the piece and know I have backup, such as the info stored in my head, hand-outs, Caps and Spelling and the trusty CP Stylebook on my side.

Pictures need editing as well

In my Editing Print and Online Media class, we often discuss grammatical and spelling errors in various pieces of writing.  

However, what about errors that are made when trying to alter a photo in Photoshop?  Here is a website with some examples of Photoshop editing gone wrong.

http://photoshopmistakes.com/

Mad Libs: oh the fun we had

Today's blog post has a similar feel to my last post. The reason being is an experience that I had this past week at Chapters. I was browsing the fantastic gift section, just looking at all the neat gifts. I then came across a table of toys which is where I saw it.

Mad Libs.

I haven't seen a Mad Libs book since I was a "tween", as the kids call it nowadays. I remember looking through the Scholastic catalogue that we would get in school and then ask my Mom to buy it for me. I used to love filling in the spaces in the Mad Libs book with my friends and then read the story out loud to everyone, while laughing at how much it didn't make sense. But what really got me thinking was that among the hilarity, I was actually learning English grammar.

For anyone that has never seen a Mad Libs, it is a series of short stories with various word omitted. You then fill in the blank based on it asking for a noun, adverb, verb, or adjective. Once you have filled in all of the empty spaces, you then read your creation out loud.
So obviously you must know what a noun, adverb, verb, and adjective is or you wouldn't be able to play properly. And since I played it as a younger child, it definitely helped with my learning and understanding, while having fun!

Now I'm not even sure if kids still play with Mad Libs, because it's probably not "cool" anymore. But I think it's fun for all ages. So I searched the internet and found a couple sites that are all about Mad Libs. So here they are....happy playing!

www.madlibs.com

www.itsamadlibsworld.com

                                                              image credit