Our logo is ready and obviously we are more than excited.
(If you stumbled upon this page and are a bit lost check out how we started and what the name means and our principles).
Sofia will update later on in the day with more details of the history but I couldn’t resist uploading this.
Let us know what you think.
From the first moment we started talking about SoMaFusion and where we would like the company to go we realised that we shared some common values. One of them is our insistence on transparency and disclosure.
I have more complicated examples in mind but I think our position on disclosing our names sums up where we stand pretty neatly.
This is more or less how we see it – and I’ve got Manolis dropping in little comments as I write this.
SoMaFusion is effectively a service provider. We will tailor each product to the needs of the client and judge what is needed depending on the situation. Looking into some of the things we’ve done a client might not see something that is exactly what they are looking for. This is of course normal.
So, we sat down and we considered this. What would help a client decide if they would be willing to take a chance with us? And this is the list we came up with.
Obviously the four last ones are the hardest. If we haven’t worked together how can you tell? Well, it turns out you can up to a point. That’s why our names are right there. That’s why our LinkedIn profiles are right there. That’s why we sign our blog posts depending on who is writing them (even though admittedly we always agree on everything we write on here).
The decision was a no-brainer to us but we asked clients, and we asked people we trust as well. Everybody came back with the same thing: A name means you can search for us, our work, ask around. A name means that we actually stand by our work. A name means that we like what we do and we’re willing to put our name under it. But the best line came from a long standing client.
Seeing your names and your thoughts on the blog makes me think we share something, I know what you think and I can see how you work. From an uknown quantity you become less of a risk as time goes by.
We couldn’t have said it better if we tried.
getting closer
Originally uploaded by LeLon Is Idea(L)
I mentioned the other day that we found a designer – the talented Mr. Lefteris Koulonis (see his updates on Less Like More and you’ll know) and we are working with him to come up with our logo.
I finished our design brief, Manolis went over it and he’s happy as well so I’ve just whizzed it off to Lefteris.
I just wanted to blog about what a design brief is all about. I could write a lot but I think the picture above says it all (and what do you know, it’s one from Lefteris’ photostream).
A design brief is all about getting closer to your vision, to your designer and to your audience.
It should be a succinct document (not necessarily short. But definitely very clear) which will help the designer understand who you are, what you do, what’s your vision, what’s your market, what are your design preferences. It is definitely not a document whereby you instruct the designer what to do. It is a document that puts your designer in a frame of mind.
Ours includes
I doubt that’s enough but I think that for now they will introduce Lefteris to what we are all about and we will be able to discuss further and find more areas that we want to explore as we go along.
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Here are some good resources I found on writing a design brief.
- How do you write a design brief? by David Airey
- The Ultimate Design Brief by Shaun Crowley on Freelance Switch
- The Logo Design Process of TOP Logo Designers by Jacob Cass on Just Creative Design
I’ve worked with graphic artists in the past producing logos for clients and if it’s one thing that makes their lives miserable is a client that says ‘oh, just sketch something and we’ll talk about it‘. Usually good graphic artists reject projects which give them no guidance and rightly so. How can you do your job to a high standard if you don’t have the tools?
Here is what I’ve learned (so far) that you need to have before you even start talking to a graphic artist or even thinking about a logo.
What your company does
This is not as easy as it looks. We sat down and analysed what we’ve done in the past, our skillsets, what we could outsource, our contacts, our aims, our plans for the future.
What is your business plan
I know the phrase sounds scary – I left it up to Manolis to draft and then we sat down and discussed it, even though we still have some way to go. For the first few weeks I always think it’s neccessary to think about market position, gaps in current offerings and why it makes sense to work the way you intend to work.
The name of the company
Explain – this also helps focus your mind, let alone the designer, on what the name stands for, what it represents. For us it’s all about our skillset and our belief that the combination of content and code does wonders.
What sort of clients/ projects are you going for?
The audience shapes the message – I think I don’t have to analyse this more.
So, what have I left out?
Over the years I’ve drafted and helped with some business plans. You can find loads of advice out there, I wholeheartedly recommend the guide to preparing a business plan by Business Link. If you are in the South East (UK that is) also try to visit the Business and IP Centre at the British Library, they offer advice on planning and seeking funding.
From my experience though there are two things that most people tend to forget about before they start putting pen to paper. That’s function and audience and how these change over time.
Function
By that I mean what is the function of the business plan. Is it there to provide a road-map, to set-up processes, to measure success in the future, to secure external funding? By deciding on the function it is easier to draft but never forget that the function could change in the future.
Audience
Once you have deciced the current function then the current audience will also be clear. For example it could be just an internal audience, you and your partner or your employees. By all means make it relevant to them but remember that in the future things may change.
Changes in function and audience
You may not want to ask for funding now but you may want to do so in the future. Think about that from the outset and include it in your consideration of function and audience. This will help you find out if you have any weak arguments and address them from the outset.
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It’s a bit cheeky of me to be writing this post since Manolis is actually drafting our business plan, but I’ll do one better and send it to him as a ‘keep in mind when drafting’. It’s all fun over here at SoMaFusion.
I blogged a few days ago about what we believe in so here are a few more details on what Simple, Smart and Sensible means for SoMaFusion
SoMaFusion is a provider of Internet and digital comms services based in London. Our projects require Simple – Smart and Sensible presentation of the client.
SoMaFusion undertakes web development, online communications services and digital engagement. It also provides advice on electronic commerce, strategic communications and social media, online presence, etc.
We aim to provide what each customer needs. Our philosophy is expressed through the threefold simple, smart and sensible.
Simple: The simplest solutions are usually the ones that work best for the user. We do not promote services that the customer does not need. We analyze needs together and find the best product.
Smart: The products and the solutions we propose are always appropriate for the client. We believe in open source solutions and tools that do their job better and baster than any closed system ever could.
Sensible: There are no projects that are too small for us. Even the smallest project is treated with respect and enthusiasm.
We spent some time discussing the company name today – even though I’ve already noted it down in a previous post.
There are many theories out there about how you should choose your company name and what it should mean. Sure, we chatted about some of them and did the theory swapping.
By the way – check out the Business Link guide to naming a business and considering its structure and also see their very useful guide on branding.
At the end we agreed on one thing. We both know it’s a mistake to think about this on a personal level but we can’t help it. This is our project and we love it so the name needs to be personal and dear to us.
Naturally it also represents what we do.
As I’ve noted before, Sofia (yours truly) is good with content and Manolis is good with code. Hence SoMa.
However we feel that just the mere presence of these two elements (ahem, and people naturally) is not enough. We truly believe that only by combining code with good content will you be able to see results. Hence Fusion.
For us SoMaFusion does not just stand for two people getting together and pursuing some interesting projects (even though, if we didn’t think we could do the interesting projects we wouldn’t have started the company). It’s more than that.
It’s about a deeply ingrained belief that by fusing the content and code one can actually enhance online and offline presence.
So we spent about 4 hours brainstorming on SoMaFusion today.
Quite the evening this proved to be.
Here are some of the things we went over
By the way – we browsed online for some brainstorming tools and found out that XMind has now joined the open source community (quite cool we think). You can also embed an XMind map viewer into your blog (which definetely gives us ideas).
There is also bubbl.us – a free web application that lets you brainstorm online and it also allows you to embed content.
We also found some useful resources on brainstorming so read on:
Start Talking Nonsense on Blogging Innovation
To Be innovative or To Do Innovation on Innovate on Purpose
Confusing Information with the Form on Polaine – Uncommon Sense
It’s quite a lovely story really.
It can also be quite short.
Sofia and Manolis met. They found that they had a lot in common. They both like the direct approach. They appreciate simplicity. They love creating things that people can have a use for. They also found that where they differed they actually complemented each other. Sofia is good with words. Manolis is good with code. They combined their skills and hey presto So(fia)Ma(nolis)Fusion was born.
See? I told you it was lovely.
Read the SoMaFusion white paper on Policy and Crisis Communications for the Hospitality Sector