Here is a short video – in Greek – with Panos from Aegean Sky where he explains the value of being online.

We made this video as part of our “I want you… online” campaign. You will recall that the cheekily titled “I want you… online” encourages travellers to leave feedback to hotels regarding their digital needs using a little card we created.

Even though Greece boasts some lovely small and medium sized hotels, the vast majority is not online. Travellers cannot find them and they cannot book online.

Panos is a SoMaFusion client and he recognises the value of being online and understanding his guests’ needs. In this short video he explains that by creating a website, analysing booking trends and his guests feedback he has managed to turn things around.

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We are delighted to announce the next step of our Greek campaign.

Even though Greece boasts some lovely small and medium sized hotels, the vast majority is not online. Travellers cannot find them and they cannot book online.

Good hoteliers want to move forward but in most cases they are not certain that their customers consider things like a good website and an online booking facility as neccessities.

In the normal SoMaFusion spirit of working together we are launching an action today cheekily titled “I want you… online”

Travellers are encouraged to leave feedback to hotels regarding their digital needs using a little card we created.

The action is also on Facebook and interested parties can also use our banners if they want to. In case there are questions we also created a FAQ.

If you are a Greek language speaker we would love to see you around.

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The amazing feedback card and banners were designed by our favourite artist.

It feels a little bit like a dream come true. I’ve always been of the opinion that a logo needs to evoke emotion – trully great logos should inspire people to act. (Well, ours already inspired the Codesmith to act, he wrote his first blog post about it yesterday).

In my first post about it I said that designing the logo is a journey that your designer helps you take.

It is impossible to do justice to our designer Lefteris Koulonis who was with us every step of the way and nurtured our every idea (yes, even the really bad ones so that we would take them up to a point and see how bad they really were).

Myself, Manolis and Lefteris managed to swap a good number of e-mails, messages and telephone calls in the process. In one memorable occasion I interrupted a phone call to ask what that annoying sound in the background was. It was the cicadas. Lefteris was on holiday and he didn’t think it too important to mention when I called to discuss colour combinations.

That’s the kind of guy that he is. Check him out on flickr, wordpress, twitter and LinkedIn.(Kudos to Miss Konstantina Zoehrer for introducing him to us)

When we arrived at the final version (I was seriously dancing around) it felt like the end of a really enjoyable journey. We knew every curve, we knew every thought and we could stand behind the logo 100%

So – what do you think?

You just know – you know?

The moment you see it there are no two ways about it. Your first reaction – especially if it’s a logo for your project – should be one of “Yes! That’s the one!” All your theorising and comparisons with the design brief will come later but the moment you see the thing you know.

For us it was like this. I started dancing around singing “we’ve got a logo” (honestly). Manolis declared “well since you’re dancing I guess we’ve got a logo”.

Tweaks and colour combination discussions are to follow in the coming days but for now I am just glad that Lefteris is the designer that he is.

I knew it - even though there is nothing I could have done to avoid it.

We got some drafts from our designer and I remained unconvinced. I looked into it, I spoke with Lefteris (the designer), I spoke with Konstantina (the PR girl I can trust), I spoke with Manolis (the other half of SoMaFusion) and I couldn’t figure it out.

Until I went back to the writer’s drawing board (that is, my trusty notebook, yes, they still exist) and I started writing and doodling (very badly may I add) and it hit me.

What I had left out was a prioritisation of characteristics. In other words a list of our key characteristics informing the logo in order of importance.

Why do this? Well, there is always a good chance that fitting all of them in one logo is out of the question.

Doing the list helped me focus my mind on what is important for us and helps the designer focus his mind on what should be more prominent.

So here it is. As I’ve said before a logo is a journey, not a simple tick in a box.

man flowers
Originally uploaded by LeLon Is Idea(L)

It’s true.

This is where having a network of lovely and intelligent people comes in useful.

Lefteris Koulonis was suggested to us by Konstantina Zoehrer.

I am preparing a design brief for him today but you can see one of my favourites in his portfolio above and here is an ingenious banner he did for Positive Voice, the Greek Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS

banner
Originally uploaded by LeLon Is Idea(L)