Nur Ahmad Furlong

Category: Logo Design

Salam BC, an impressive new business network
A few months ago I posted some designs on crowdspring.com for the re-brand of the social network which targets Muslim, Arabic and Middle-eastern interest groups. I won the contest and went on to complete a logo design according to the client’s very strict specifications. See Salambc.com Logo Design below:
I signed up on the network a while back in the testing phase but only really started using it in the last few days and I have to say, Linkedin needs to take note of some of the features in Salambc.com’s network. Salambc’s profile’s work alot more like a facebook and creating and joining groups is alot easier than Linkedin.
They’re described themselves in the following manner:
The Salam Business Club is the world’s first social business network especially for the Arab, Asian and Muslim business world with members from 170 countries around the world. Join the hottest Internet startup and find old friends, colleagues, valuable business contacts and new markets for your products. Extend your network and connect with decision makers, freelancers, entrepreneurs and the managers of the future.
I’d love to know if their backend is custom built or running on an open-source platform. Have a squiz at Salambc.com and sign up if ur interested in networking with Muslim/Arab Friendly business professionals.
An aquantance of mine criticised the special focus of this social network saying no social networks should be specifically for certain groups. I had to dissagree, as person with a specific set of values and ethics, I’m interested in networking with others who share my values and on a business level I’d like to network with other business people who appreciate that there are certain types of business practices I cannot promote, joining Salambc gives me this opportunity.
Salambc is not exclusive though and even though it encourages doing business in an islamically acceptable manner, it invites all interested to join. If you do join though, know that there are rules to any game, so promoting business which does not conform with Islamic Business rules is not allowed, those being interest based financial services, gambling, alcohol, anything of an adult(XXX) nature or any unhealthy products or services.
I take my hat off to theses guys and wish them every success going forward.
November 27, 2008
What do you think a Logo design should cost?
I Found the following article very apt with regard to the current perceptions by many business people regarding the benefits of a good logo and what they are prepared to “invest” in it.
Jacob of Just Creative Design wrote Why logo design does not cost $5.00 in which he mentions:
Many people don’t understand either the value a well designed logo can add to their Brand Image or the effort it takes to design a logo which will add that value.
Misconceptions part of the problem
It’s extremely frustrating dealing with clients who don’t appreciate the time, effort and consideration required to develop a logo which does justice to what they are trying to sell. Many people think the designer should go off on their own with a company name and re-appear with a brilliant perfectly suited design.
Briefing a designer is very much about setting constraints, boundaries for the creative process not to cross, which will make for a more targeted and relevant solution.
I have also found people do not want to engage with the design process and expect to see a final perfect design which solves all their problems with actually spending he time to convey to the designer what their business is all about.
My perspective on Logo Design
Logo design or any design for that matter has got nothing to do with guess work. It’s also got little to do with dreaming up great ideas out of nothing. It takes alot of thinking, researching, exploring, questioning and experience to bring together all the elements needed to realise a great looking and functioning logo.
So what do you think a Logo design Should Cost?
What have you paid or have you heard of others paying?
Post your comments below
June 9, 2008
Recent Project – Praxia Technologies Branding & WP website
A nice little Branding & Web design project I recently completed was for Praxia Technologies.
Praxia Positions itself in the following manner.
“Our mission is to help our clients realise the full potential of their network, communications and computer hardware and software.”
Saeed of Praxia Technologies approached me, firstly to refresh his web presence and put something up there he could manage himself. This has become pretty much a standard request for web design projects as no-one wants to have to call up an html coder each time they want to update a page on their site.
As usual I recommended WordPress, due to it’s quick and simple framework and user friendliness, especially for Praxia’s simple CMS(Content Management System) needs. I found a template which suited their requirements and went about giving it a complete facelift. Praxia’s logo also needed a change and I was happy to oblige as logo design is one of my favourite areas of focus.
First Things first – Establish a new Brand
We started off with the logo design so we could base the site’s look & feel on the Brand and create a nice consistent looking online presence.

After exploring various directions as I usually do with logo design projects the client was split between 2 logo options and we had some back & forth discussion on the pros and cons of each direction.
We settled on the more practical option, the other being the 3 dimensional X element. The focus on the X stems from their original logo and was maintained to keep some kind of consistency going in the re-brand.
Next comes the site in WordPress
We decided to re-use the 3D X element with each component of the X representing a specific business unit as the client still liked the element and wanted to maintain it somehow.
Because Praxia is an IT Tech company focusing every element of a clients IT Tech needs they wanted to go with something which links well with the technology they use. A few stages of design drafts and the client was pretty happy with the look though felt something was missing, and with the inclusion of the brushed metal background we’d settled on a design which the client was very excited about.

To see the final coded result visit www.praxia.co.za. Let me know what you think.
May 8, 2008
The Official WordPress Meetup Cape Town Logo
That is of course if anyone disagrees in and provides something better. I did a few roughs and seems this one was the favourite, so in the spirit of moving forward, I’m planning on whipping up an I’m attending button for you to put onto your blogs. Lets hope this will stimulate a little more interest in the event which will be taking place 26th March, 4pm at the Bandwidth Barn in Cape Town CBD.
What do the rest of you think of the logo?
Grab the badge below or paste the code into your sidebar to let others know you’ll be there and to encourage more to join us!
<a href=”http://wpcapetown.wordpress.com” title=”Wordpress Cape Town Meetup March 26 2008″><img src=”http://www.nurahmadfurlong.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/wpmeetup-button.gif” alt=”Wordpress Meetup Cape Town March 26 2008″ border=”0″ /></a>
March 14, 2008
Earn 10% on Design & Web Projects you refer to me
I’m running a special where you could earn 10% of projects you refer to me. This is a finders fee so if you find Design & Web projects for me, you’ll get paid 10% of anything I earn. Bear in mind client’s who do not pay, will not earn you a finders fee!
Visit my Standard Packages & Rates and my Services pages for an idea of what I offer.
This is a trial offer valid until the 10 March to see what kind of response I get.
February 19, 2008
And the Winner of a Logo Design is …
The winner for the Logo Design Questions & Answer Competition has been decided. This has been a tough decision and one which I’m sure to invite criticism on, especially so from the entrants. I’ve offered all those who have submitted an entry a 25% discount on Logo Design work if any are interested. I hope this will patch up some of that disappointment which comes from not being chosen.
Question #7 – Should the values of my organisation be reflected in its logo, and how would a designer go about communicating these values visually and in an enticing fashion?
So you obviously want me to explain why I’ve chosen this as the winning question. To some this might seem like a standard question; it may be something asked by many who approach designers to do their Logo Designs. However, I believe it is one of the key issues which needs proper exploration, if a Logo is to fulfil it’s true purpose in life, that is being an ambassador of the entity is is representing in a meaningful fashion.
I hope, that through the course of developing this logo for the winner, we can further reveal some of the methods used to transform the vision and essence of an entity into its visual representation.
I think if this aspect of the relationship between Logo designer & company were better understood, and approached from the proper perspective, the results would be much different.
January 7, 2008