Had the opportunity to shoot the new fountains installed on the north side of campus. Turned out really well. All HDR processing is done in Photoshop. The lights in the fountains change periodically and really make the water pop and gives the new entrance a uniquely beautiful look.
I plan on taking some more night time shots of campus. If there is anything in particular you would like to see, send me a email and I’ll see what I can do.
Times be a changin’. Arby’s and Wendy’s both have recently unveiled new logos for their famed fast food businesses.
Arby’s-
I always kind of dug the old Arby’s logo. A western style logo with a classy font. The new version incorporates the hat as well but does a terrible job on the font. Really no capital A? Not that crazy about the 3-d gradient mesh look either. The white shadow is WAY overdone.
I do enjoy the color change, the deeper shade of red works. I also dig the apostrophe. Reminds me of a meat slicer, guess they are going after the whole fresh food concept.
Wendy’s-
Although Ms. Wendy is probably one of the most recognizable faces around, I could see the need for a bit of a update. The previous logo lives up to the Old Fashioned part, but I still like the font.
The update is obviously more focused on our girl Wendy, which is not a bad thing. Gone is the boxy ice cream parlor look. I wish they had incorporated the older style font somehow instead of this hip Wendy’s font but hey it is a newer, cleaner look.
It would be nice to see fast food restaurants and all businesses in general put more of a focus on the quality of their product instead of their branding.
I admin this PAGE. The viral affect has been pretty impressive as well. Guess the old saying in social media is still true: Quality Content is king.
Came across this the other day while at work. We get quite a few daily direct mail pieces that get tossed out but I liked this one. QR codes are probably the most over used and annoying marketing fad going on right now. However when used correctly they can be effective.
This one is fairly simple: scan the code to be taken to a link that allows you to input your information and receive a free sample glass. Want to engage potential customers via a QR code? Give something away for free or enter them to win a prize. The Wasserstrom company is making a minimal investment not only engage potential customers, but to build up their email database as well.
Well done Wasserstrom, your direct mail piece did not wind up in the trash like 3 others did today.
One of my personal email accounts has recently been bombarded with phoney emails from UPS and the USPS. I noticed them right away but they have become a better disguised.
1) Notice who the email is from: LINKEDIN PASSWORD? Remember when LinkedIn was hacked about a month ago? This is a result of that. I’ve never never been much of a fan of LinkedIn as it is, just gives me another reason to delete it. The email above the top circle is also another phishing email. Notice the attachment.
2) The larger circled section contains an attachment which is a .Zip file. That is a big no no. Do not open or click it. Typically those involve malware/spyware but could be even worse. I never download attachments in email unless I know who it’s coming from.
3) The bottom circle indicates a bogus greeting. The desired E? Well thanks but I doubt anyone at UPS truly desires the first letter in my name. Fill in the attached file with the correct address? No thanks.
Notice how the email looks pretty authentic though. Has a nice UPS logo and typical UPS email layout. My advice is if you are on LinkedIn, change your password as soon as possible. I did mine the other day just to be on the safe side. It is frustrating to see emails like this. I am not much of an email person anymore. Seems like my inbox is becoming more and more like my mailbox at my house: Full of junk and bills. Texting and facebook have taken over email in terms of person to person communications.
I check the Google Analytics on a few sites I oversee on a fairly regular basis. It amazes me people are still using Internet Explorer. Some of the site are seeing 50% usage of IE still! Not only is it more vulnerable to malware, it is slower and does not render a lot of newer font correctly. There is a great write up on this very topic that goes into greater detail right HERE.
If you are still using Explorer I highly recommend Chrome or Firefox. All of your bookmarks are importable and you will notice a difference in speed. I use both Firefox and Chrome on a daily basis. In my opinion Google Chrome is the fastest browser out there hands down. Load times are almost instantaneous the vast majority of the time. I know some users are comfortable with their Internet Explorer and that is all they know. Just because it was installed on your computer does not make it the best one. Take the plunge, you’ll be happy you did.