Greg needed a proper logo and a more cohesive brand, so I approached him with some concepts at the following meet up and he was sold.

As with any logo the first step was to sketch out ideas, I’m not terribly good at drawing (as you can see) but this process helps flesh out ideas and often allows new ideas to flow much easier from revision to revision then possible on screen with a mouse. Once a handful of concepts are on paper I can then take the best of them to the computer and mock them up in Corel Draw.

The primary concept I went with was to represent the step aspect of the name in type using perspective, size and weight. However the divergence in my sketching was in deciding how to include the image of Greg as a child on his Grandparents steps, or if to include it at all.

I experimented with the figure and the various perspectives to go with it, but in the end it seemed out of place, forced even, to include it despite having so much brand equity. Rather I settled on a simple typographic logo set in Futura with varying degrees of kerning and sizes to create perspective as if looking at a set of stairs. The colour black was selected for it’s strength and versatility, giving the effect more visual impact. The website that followed used the same colour pallet to give the content more prominence and alleviate the noise often found on news websites.

I did end up finding a way to include the iconic image of Greg during the development of the new website by making it the sites favicon, as well as putting it in the footer as a logo for “Fowler Media”, a parent brand for Greg to apply to his network of sites. At launch the reaction from people was overwhelmingly positive at it’s continued inclusion, instantly being a favorite element of the new site.

The site has already recived some attention at Dan Brown’s Cool Blog Name to Come and Pat Dryburgh’s blog where he described the new design in a word, fantastic.

From My Bottom Step (FMBS) is described as “a community activist’s online, independent, local source of news about London, Ontario” and focused on issues like pedestrian rights, accessibility, environmental concerns, public transit, and municipal politics. It was recently the subject in my review on London’s Independent Media.

Check it out at www.frommybottomstep.com

Sarah also has a website comming out in the near future.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

I started my collection circa 2002 while in Toronto to see the Pope with the Thunder Bay Diocese. Probably the worst trip I’ve been on, but I came home with a bunch of business cards and pinned them up on my office bulletin board. Since then I moved and they ended up scattered in several boxes for the last year that I had yet to unpack. However a few weeks ago while cleaning one the book shelves next to my desk, where new business cards collected at networking functions lately end up, and decided it was time to get the collection together again.

I got a binder and some plastic baseball trading card pages, which is the worst way to store them I found out today, and organized them alphabetically. I have have a collection of 100 through 20 pages so far but I want more. This is where you come in faithful reader!

Send me your business cards. You can hand them to me in person at any of the networking events I frequent, or slip them in an envelope addressed too 404-641 Kipps Lane, London Ontario, Canada N5Y 4R6. I have no desire to be the next Steve Patterson who’s looking to collect 1 million cards, but I’d like to fill out this binder at least which would be about 300 cards. And I’m not too picky about what I’ll accept, I’ll even take the cards you have amassed from networking and traveling about. There is a video here that talks about how to mail them, try to send a couple so I have spares in case something happens to one and to minimize damage to the cards if you can.

Thanks in advance!

The first being the business cards I did for the NortheastEnder that were previously featured have been featured again by two more sites.

businesscards24.com, a site that features business cards that are the “perfect marketing tool”, noted their unique size and described them as “Simple and memorable”. And Jennifer Farley, a fellow designer and educator at Laughing Lion Design out of Ireland, also featured the design in a roundup of twelve of the best business cards using green.

The second project to be featured is the new logo design for CastRoller, included in the “Cream of the crop” gallery at Logopond, recognizing top notch identity work from very skilled designers. You can also read more about the development of CastRoller’s new logo at bloggingtips.com.

Thanks to all three for noticing the hard work put into both projects.

Here it is in its entirety, in case the article gets archived and requires you to pay to see it.

Blogs blossom in Forest City
By DAN BROWN

Something’s happening in the London blogosphere.

There have been blogs written by London residents as long as blogs have been around, but the city now appears to have arrived at — to borrow an overused phrase — a point of critical mass.

Witness a post last week on Leschinski Design, the website run by local graphic designer John Leschinski. Posted in the Notebook section, it was possibly the first serious attempt to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the London blogging community.

Leschinski focussed on well-known blogs such as From My Bottom Step, the London Fog and Alt London. Weighing the merits of each, he gave suggestions for how all the sites could be improved (being a member of the dreaded mainstream media, lfpress.com blogger Dan Brown received an honourable mention).

The exercise generated a significant number of comments on Leschinski’s site, some of them trenchant.

Although this type of post might be dismissed as navel-gazing, it is an important signal: The Forest City has a collection of blogs deserving serious recognition. We’ve come a long way.

A healthy blogosphere is good for all members of the London media, independent or not. Anything that promotes improvements in the city’s media is to be lauded since we can all learn from each other, especially where the Internet is concerned.

One can disagree with Leschinski’s conclusions. He certainly did not provide a comprehensive catalogue of all the noteworthy London blogs, leaving out such ones as Phronk and Written Inc.

But let’s all hope his analysis sparks a larger discussion. Let’s hope the blogs Leschinski showcased continue to improve, continue to provide web surfers in London with the insights they need to make informed judgments about the issues of the day. And let’s hope other Londoners are spurred to start their own blogs. We’ll all benefit.

When it comes to providing Londoners with information and commentary on the web, let a thousand flowers bloom.

Branding the idea of independent and user generated media, capturing its diversity, and building a community around it is key to reach out to those who want to be able to identify sources of passionate and free voices. But better brands are needed, and they need to be better than anything mainstream has to offer before they can grow.

In this article I’m going to take a look at six of London’s most prominent alternative media sources online, and go over what they do well, where they could use some work, and where they fail.

The London Fog

Called one of the greatest South-Western Ontario blogs, “The London Fog” drew more then 200,000 view in the last 12 months; making it one of the most popular sites on this list. The sites team of seven authors “document the continuing mismanagement of London by its people and municipal government” filling the void as London’s right wing voice. It’s been so successful in this realm that more left wing sites like Alt-London and the London Commons regularly voice their hatred of “The Fog”.

The success of The Fog ends there however, the site has seen a number of visual updates since it’s launch in 2003, but it has yet to develop a solid brand stratagy, and hasn’t extended its aesthetics beyond some dull default templates offered by their host. So my first recommendation would be to move the operation to a self hosted wordpress install; developing a strong brand is a lot better when you don’t have dot blogspot attached to the end of your name. I’d also suggest capitalizing on some of the traffic they pull and monetize it.

The closest thing to a logo the site has is a picture of a flag, the city logo in gold on a field of red much like the old USSR flag. Using that as a starting point for logo development, and the suggestions previously mentioned a great brand could be formed here that could surpass anything else London has to offer currently.

The sites current design released in 2007 feels more like it was created in 1999. This is probably more due to the poor compression of the header image and the lack of sufficient breathing room on the page then anything else they’ve done. With a branding system based on the previously mentioned flag the site could easily pull off a more textured but subtle weathered look of Word War Two poster art.

At the very least I’d suggest pairing down some of the over 600 links they have to the left and right of each post to something more sensible, say 50 or less, create more visual and physical separation of the comments and time stamp links, and remove the grouping of posts by date and unnecessary hierarchical element they could easily do without.

The Fog is at a point that with a strong design and brand, could expand the sites reach and become self sufficient. Either way though, I can only see the site gaining more traction as people begin to pull away from the over-saturation of left wing campaigns.

http://thelondonfog.blogspot.com/
Est. 2003
7 Authors
 Blogger

London Commons

London Commons is more of a community post it then an alternative source of media. None the less the sites most valuable contribution to the mediascape is its promotion of local events through the blog posts and the events calendar. The goal is to facilitate a more closely knit community by providing tools and resources to encourage cooperation and sharing, designed so that “any Londoner can become the media”. They also have some lofty five year goals described on their about page that include a print publication, a professional sound studio, organizing public swap meets, and becoming an Internet as well as a VoIP service provider.

The design is a big improvement over the last version, it’s much cleaner has more breathing room, and overall has a much less heavy feel. Unfortunately a few things from the old design were carried over and a few new issues arrived. The first and foremost is the organization’s logo; it’s generic, bland, boring. It clip art married with horrible typography, and doesn’t seem to represent or connect with anything else on the site or in their mission. They should seriously look at doing away with it and moving in a new direction entirely, especially if they are looking at branching out into all these different areas. Finding iconography that represents them and their future ventures may well be difficult for a group run by consensus, but a strong purely typographic logo might be easier, maybe something in Helvetica (neutral enough to get past design by committee), or something more daring like Gotham or Futura but still timeless. Either way it would be a great first step.

Another hold over from previous designs is the poor user interface, and the mystery meat navigation. Making the site difficult to navigate might be more the fault of their framework then the abilities of the staff, but the use of the pictographs for navigation in the top right is not. This sort of guess what the picture means navigation is a very poor choice, especially when only two out of the four somewhat represent their function.

The sidebar seems to be a hodgepodge of widgets trying to get your attention, lucky the most useful and important of these is at the top, and the somewhat superfluous extras below it. On some pages it almost blends with the content unfortunately, especially on the groups page where the content almost lines up perfectly with each event listing. Some better spacing between these elements might resolve that issue, but a look at what is needed in that bar, at what size, and what for, is warranted.

Another thing would be to not have the welcome message display on the homepage asking users to create an account if they are already logged in. But the overall design seems a bit haphazard, I like the colours, and think they could take the stylized urban imagery and run with it successfully, however in general its a bit underwhelming. The one page that looks really good is the Events page, the calendar is clean and isn’t obstructed by other elements looking for your attention, even though changing modes produces some undesirable results, and the name of the month could be much larger.

The word consensus is thrown around a lot describing how the operation is run, which is where I see trouble arising. Design rarely benefits from consensus, and to grow further I would advise they develop a board of directors who could be voted upon by the users (shareholders). Having one or two people in charge of a particular mission within the group and not always seeking consensus from everyone could improve the work flow and produce a stronger organization.

http://londoncommons.net/
Est. 2005
Open Author
 Drupal

From My Bottom Step

From My Bottom Step has shot up out of nowhere in the last 12 months, while it was created in 2007 and contains articles from a previous site dating back to 2001, it seemed to be gaining a lot of momentum in the first quarter of 2008. Run by community activist Greg Fowler the site spear heads a number of issues in London surrounding pedestrian rights, accessibility, environmental concerns, public transit, and various issues in municipal politics. It also has a rather useful daily post highlighting some of the news in the region of interest to readers.

Recently the site has been conducting a survey of it’s users, showing signs that the site is at the very least transitioning to the next level to follow it’s growth. Greg has also opened the door for user submissions to the site and maintains a handful of regular contributors.¹ However despite the addition of staff the site seems to be cooling down a little, while there are still great articles being published by contributors, Greg himself has slowed to a trickle in the last couple of weeks.

The sites design is fairly generic, making use of a default template provided by his provider. There is a significant amount of clutter in posts via share links, and the sidebar with a long blog roll. The photo for a logo at the top is something I’m used to by now, but I’ll be glad to see a change when it happens. Less focus on the more repetitive items like the comics and the daily news would be advisable as well.

Even with some change on the horizon for the site, without an increase in contributor’s or Greg picking up the pace, it might now continue to have the explosive growth it’s enjoyed without it’s creator at the helm.

http://frommybottomstep.wordpress.com/
Est. 2007
Open Author
 Wordpress

AltLondon

Alt London was one of the first alternative media websites I came across after moving to London, it’s fairly well known but is the least useful. It’s not that the content, that ranges from Perez-Hilton style photoshop jabs to baseball scores, isn’t good. It’s the way it’s presented or rather the lack of presentation. It’s so poorly designed that it drives people away, and in a recent survey ranking local blogs tied for last place with the NortheastEnder. Broken RSS feed, the inability to create new accounts, and the most complimentary reaction about the site being that it wasn’t “The London Fog” are telling.

It’s by far the worst designed site on this list, there is no organization at all, everything seemingly thrown on the page without any thought. As a comparison the average page length of sites was about eight pages, where as AltLondon is a whopping twenty pages. Some design, any amount of all, would help this site get back on track and help regain some of it’s lost traction.

http://www.altlondon.org/
Est. 2005
Authors Unknown
 GeekLog

Indymedia - London Chapter

Indymedia is one of the most successful global independent media network; recognisable, adaptable, and easy to franchise. That reason alone puts London Indymedia on this list. However being part of a great brand hasn’t been able to make it a powerful presence in London’s mediascape. If The London Fog is London’s right wing, Indymedia is the extreme left wing; aggressively left wing, almost to the point of being counter productive.

The site is fairly bland, even for a site run on Drupal, and fails to take advantage of the equity built up by it’s parent organization. The information is clearly laid out though, mostly due in part to the use of a free theme. That isn’t enough though, and if the content continues to be more extremist and sparse on facts then the site isn’t going to be able to bring it’s message to a wider audience.

http://londonontario.indymedia.org/
Est. 2008
Open Author
 Drupal

Blog London

In a recent survey Blog London was at the top of peoples list. Inspired by sites like Freshdaily’s BlogTO, Bill Deys of Deys.ca fame started the site looking for authors to help post a couple of times a week about the happenings in London and upcoming events. It hasn’t really taken off in that regard, with about 3 authors posting semi-regularly, however it does manage to post some of the more unique stories and events going on when it does get updated. One of the best features is the feed offered, a mash up of numerous blogs in London and the surrounding area.

The overall design is what you’d expect of a very basic wordpress theme, nothing very flashy or too imaginative. The biggest issue with this design is the poor contrast, everything is a shade of the same green, even the logo gets lost in the header. There is also the issue of the numerous icons at the bottom of every post, which could be grouped into one icon. Reducing some of the clutter, fixing the contrast, and putting a bit more design muscle into the site would give it a fresh and clean look.

For the future of this site I think more focus on the mashup feed would propel it further. Possibly rather then the feed mash up, the site could import excerpts of the stories into the sites own content, linking back to the original story, and in the process produce better headline structures then the mash up feed currently offers. Making Blog London, the go to for all of London’s Blogs.

http://blogldn.com/
Est. 2007
Open Author
 Wordpress

Hounerable Mentions

Two sites that didn’t make the list for one reason or another that I thought I’d mention are the London Free Press Blogs and the NortheastEnder.

Dan Brown’s blog at the London Free Press ranked very high in recent surveys, and rightfully so. The content is consistent and interesting, he is very interactive with his audience, and has generated such a loyal following that they have their own get togethers. The only negatives about this blog is the tiny page width and the various, much bemoaned, technical issues with the sites blogging platform.

The Northeastender is worthy of mention partly becuase I was instrumental in getting it funding and developing the concept with David Demitri of the Kipps Lane Community Association. I even did quite a bit of design work for the site that has been recognized by a few sites.

The city paid for the creation of the site under the Creative Cities initiative last September, hoping to create community involvement and promotion of Northeast London events and news. Unfortunately, as a result of the Northeastender, the city has decided it wont be funding any other web based projects. It’s been marred by very little original content, failed to attract contributors, and has been known to delete opposing viewpoints in comments going so far as to delete entire posts to squash any decent from people the site was supposed to be for. Pushing the community apart rather then bringing it together.

The site technically and conceptually is broken, navigation elements move around when you try to select them, the structure of the content is poorly thought out, and the organizational structure is haphazard at best. It’s a shame becuase it had great potential to become a major player in Northeast London with some guidance, but focus shift and the recent fire the site has taken for it’s censorship policies and the cities reaction have made the site a non competitor in the mediascape.

London has over 3,000 blogs, and some of those are hungry to displace the blogs in this list. Maintaining their position as the go to sources for alternative media in London might not be as easy as it has been, which is all the more reason to make some changes and propel themselves forward.

1. I am currently a contributor on this site, and will be helping to make some changes in the future.

So at the beginning of 2008 I began from the bottom, the brand. Previously the brand and identity system were put together as I went along and required new pieces. The logo was the name in a simple font, Interstate, the words separated by colour. I had always wanted a mark to compliment the logotype so I focused on creating something simple and flexible, and I think I found it. Sketch after sketch I came back to the acronym regularly used by friends LD. This set with a hint of the old typographic mark in helvetica this time resonated with me.

Shortly after the brand was put to bed, the website quickly became the focus, the old site wasn’t bad but it didn’t represent me the way I wanted anymore. It was also constrained to a time of 800x600 resolutions and with the surge of larger monitors dominating the market I decided to spread out a little. The new site is much better, and focuses on some core ideas such as grid based design, typography and minimalism.

I am sill in the process of going though my eight years of work and adding the case studies back to the work section; some of the older work for deviantART, Fort Frances Daily Info, and the campaign for Mayor Dan is currently up with more on the way, but I’m also adding new projects as they are completed like Bryan Johnson Creations, NortheastEnder, and Clinical Depression Show. I’d love to head your opinions of the new look, so feel free to add them in the comments below.

But the real reason for writing this is that this week I will be sending out the first edition of my newsletter in Brief, a quarterly publication highlighting some of the exciting new and work done at Leschinski Design. I’ve built quite the list of email addresses over the years so I’ve added friends, family, and past clients to the inaugural list. You can sign up for it right now though below or in the left column in the sidebar of this blog. If it’s not your thing then unsubscribing is easy and instant, just click the link at the bottom of the newsletter anytime you want to stop receiving it. I won’t cry if you do, I promise (at least in public).

If you’ve read all this, congratulations, and thanks for your support and comments.

Leschinski Design’s new look has also been receiving attention in the industry, being featured in Webdesign is Art out of France, We Love Wordpress for our unique blog design, and participating in the May Standards Reboot.

Lastly, I wrote two articles for David Peralty’s eXtra for Every Publisher this month on the fall of folksonomy and how to make it usefull again.

Exciting times here. You’ll likely see some more changes as we complete the redesign of our website, so thank you for bearing with us as we make the transition.