Alexify.Com » Tutorials

Branding Basics

Admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:46:09 +0000

Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor’s business gets more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And that has to do with branding.

But exactly what is branding, anyway? Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers.

The First Key Element of Branding; Create a Great Logo.

You have given a great deal of attention to your company name and believe it speaks to who you are and what you do. Great! Now you need to wrap a graphic image around that name to carve out a prime piece of real estate in your target customer’s mind. That is exactly what a great logo design can do.

7 Logo Design Tips

Keep in mind that a powerful logo design:
has a strong, balanced image with no little extras that clutter its look;
is distinctive and bold in design, making it easy to see at a glance;
has graphic imagery that looks appropriate for your business;
works well with your company name;
is done in an easy to read font;
communicates your business clearly; and
looks good in black and white, as well as in color.
The Second Key Element of Branding; Create a Distinctive Tag Line.
A tag line is a three to seven word phrase that accompanies your logo. It expresses your company’s most important benefits and/or what you want your customers to remember about working with you. Think of it as the words you want to linger in your target customer’s mind about you and what you have to offer.
Great tag lines appear to be effortlessly created because they just seem to flow. In fact, creating and refining one takes time, just like designing a great logo. The benefits of taking the time to craft a great tag line lie with the tag line’s stickiness. Great tag lines stick in your memory.
Creating a great logo and distinctive tag line are critical in creating a brand that provides the perfect image for your company and great ones just might be memorable enough to give your company the beach front property in the minds of your customers that leaves them thinking only of you.
Source: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/marketing/a/brandingks.htm

Linking: The Process – Multiply

Admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:43:43 +0000

A hyperlink (or link) is a word, group of words, or image that you can click on to jump to a new document or a new section within the current document.

When you move the cursor over a link in a Web page, the arrow will turn into a little hand depending on the codes used.

When Alexify™ tells you that your theme is “ready for linking“, what to do?

If you don’t have Link URLs available:

1. Click on ‘POST’ found on the upper part of your Multiply page.

2. You have all the options to use any of the available to serve as a landing page for your link buttons. Below is the list of possible and suggested usage of the following:

Photos - for albums; product photos

Blog - for entries containing words or codes like About Us, Shop Policies, Order Form

Event - for tracking down transactions; calendar

Review - Feedback! I just love the “Rating” option here. Clients can comment here and leave you ratings.

3. Then after creating the necessary postings needed, it’s time to get the URLs.

Let’s say you’ve created a post with the title “Shop Policies”. Hit “View your blog entry” after saving to get its URL.

The URL can be found on the upper part of your browser. That part is where you type-in the address of the site you’d like to visit – the Address Bar.

If you have Link URLs available:

Just send the listed URLs to our email so we can start doing the linking process.

That’s it! So if you don’t want us to charge you 20.00Php doing the posting process, don’t get lazy posting and getting your link urls. It’s simple and easy plus you’ve learned!

Cheers!

Motion Blur – Tutorial

Admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:47:52 +0000

This tutorial is quite simple and easy so open-up your Adobe Photoshop and let’s start Click the images for larger preview

1. Create a new canvass. I’ve set mine into a 500px by 250px with black background. Add a text in the canvass

Color each letter the way you want to. In this tutorial, I’ll be using different colors ‘coz it looks cute

After coloring each letter and you feel it’s cute enough You should be able to have a similar image as below.

2. Next step is to duplicate the first layer by either going to Layer>Duplicate Layer or simply hit CTRL+J on your keyboards. You should be able to notice a new layer under the Layer’s tab.

Now, click on the original layer. Right-click then Rasterize Type. Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur as shown below.

A window like this should open; just follow the settings as shown or you could experiment and try adjusting the Angle and Distance

After this, you should be able to have an image similar below and this is quite finish. You might want to add some little extra effects or additional texts

Enjoy!

The FS Log-in Gfx Effect – Tutorial

Admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:26:14 +0000

Good day guys! Now, let me share to you this another cool technique/effect for your gfx concerns. The new friendster log-in page design inspired this post

Now follow the steps and let’s start alexifying. Remember, you can click on the images to see it bigger

1. Open Adobe Photoshop, create a new canvass (size? depends on the design you’ll make), and choose the background you’d want to use. Mine is set to a dark bg (i just want it to be dark Hehe). After these, use the Rounded Rectangle Tool which is shown in the image below.

Drag the mouse into the canvas in such a way that you feel comfortable with the size of the shape we’ve created using the Rounded Rectangle Tool (anyways, you can use whatever shape you want). And oh, the radius will define the intensity of the curve in the edges – the higher, the more curvy

Right-click inside the rounded rectangle, click Make Selection and notice a pop-up window as shown below.

Leave the Feather Radius as is and click OK.

2. Now, create a new layer or simple press CTRL+J. Notice the new layer created under the Layer’s Tab.

After creating a new layer, we’ll be filling the rounded rectangle with a solid color. You can use whatever color you like. Just click inside the shape to fill it up with the chosen color.

After that, go to Select>Deselect or simply press CTRL+D to disable the moving lines in the shape

3. Right click on Layer 2 then choose Blending Options and notice a pop-up window as shown on the images below.

Select Stroke, you’ll notice it being checked when clicked.

Stroke is a blending option wherein the outline of the image/shape/text is coated with rich chocolate filling (Haha! Just kidding), outlined with the chosen color that you’ll use.
Under the Stucture, I’ve set the size to 15 and the Opacity to 20% (you can set it accordingly to your desired output). And under the Fill Type, I’ve chosen White as the color of the Stroke. Look at the image below.

After setting the Stroke Option, you should have an image like this.

4. Create another Layer or simple press CTRL+J. Drag the Layer3 in between Layers 1 and 2. We’ll be working with this layer in the rest of the steps.

5. Now here’s the fun part In this step always check if you are in Layer3. Use your favorite Brush to creatively design the edges of the shape. You can go crazy with the colors or stay simple by using one.

This is my sample work

Enjoy!