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Ball co-owned a public relations and advertising firm in Worcester, Mass., and in 1963 made a design for the State Mutual Life Assurance Cos. of America. It's a design you've seen before: the "Smiley Face". The simple yellow ball with dot eyes and a smile swept the country. In 1971, more than 50 million Smiley Face buttons were sold. It led directly to the online "smiley emoticon" -- :-) -- and its many derivatives. The insurance company paid Ball $45 for his design, and he never trademarked or copyrighted it, which he did not regret. "He was not a money-driven guy," said his son Charles. "He'd get letters from all over the world thanking him for Smiley. How do you put a price on that?" Ball died April 12 at age 79. From This is True for 8 April 2001 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Tim Ash List Price: $29.99 Amazon Price: $19.79 Editorial Review: How much money are you losing because of poor landing page design? In this comprehensive, step-by-step guide, you’ll learn all the skills necessary to dramatically improve your bottom line, including identifying mission critical parts of your website and their true economic value, defining important visitor classes and key conversion tasks, gaining insight on customer decision-making, uncovering problems with your page and deciding which elements to test, developing an action plan, and avoiding common pitfalls. Includes a companion website and a detailed review of the Google Website Optimizer tool.  By: Ellen Lupton List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $13.37 Editorial Review: The organization of letters on a blank sheet -- or screen -- is the most basic challenge facing anyone who practices design. What type of font to use? How big? How should those letters, words, and paragraphs be aligned, spaced, ordered, shaped, and otherwise manipulated? In this groundbreaking new primer, leading design educator and historian Ellen Lupton provides clear and concise guidance for anyone learning or brushing up on their typographic skills. Thinking with Type is divided into three sections: letter, text, and grid. Each section begins with an easy-to-grasp essay that reviews historical, technological, and theoretical concepts, and is then followed by a set of practical exercises that bring the material covered to life. Sections conclude with examples of work by leading practitioners that demonstrate creative possibilities (along with some classic no-no's to avoid).  By: Bruce C. Brown List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $16.47 Editorial Review: Interested in promoting your business and/or Web site, but don t have the big budget for traditional advertising? This new book will show you how to build, promote, and make money off of your Web site or brick and mortar store using the Internet, with minimal costs. Let us arm you with the knowledge you need to make your business a success! Learn how to generate more traffic for your site or store with hundreds of Internet marketing methods, including many free and low-cost promotions. This new book presents a comprehensive, hands-on, step-by-step guide for increasing Web site traffic and traditional store traffic by using hundreds of proven tips, tools, and techniques. Learn how to target more customers to your business and optimize your Web site from a marketing perspective. You will learn to target your campaign, use keywords, generate free advertising, search-engine strategies, learn the inside secrets of e-mail marketing, how to build Web communities, co-branding, auto-responders, Google advertising, banner advertising, eBay storefronts, Web-design information, search-engine registration, directories, and real-world examples of what strategies are succeeding and what strategies are failing. **Award-Winning Finalist in the Business Category of the National Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards **Bronze Winner in the Computer/ Internet Category of the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards  By: Alina Wheeler List Price: $45.00 Amazon Price: $29.70 Editorial Review: This innovative approach -- blending practicality and creativity -- is now in full-color! From translating the vision of a CEO and conducting research, through designing a sustainable identity program and building online branding tools, Designing Brand Identity helps companies create stronger brands by offering real substance. With an easy-to-follow style, step-by-step considerations, and a proven, universal five-phase process for creating and implementing effective brand identity, the book offers the tools you need, whether a brand manager, marketer, or designer, when creating or managing a brand. This edition includes a wealth of full-color examples and updated case studies for world-class brands such as BP, Unilever, Citi, Tazo Tea, and Mini Cooper. Alina Wheeler (Philadelphia, PA) applies her strategic imagination to help build brands, create new identities, and design brand-identity programs for Fortune 100 companies, entrepreneurial ventures, foundations, and cities.  By: Marty Neumeier List Price: $21.99 Amazon Price: $14.95 Editorial Review: The second edition features a 220-term brand glossary and a premium softcover binding. THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a “charismatic brand”—a brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. 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Those with a grasp of branding will be inspired by the new perspectives they find here, and those who would like to understand it better will suddenly “get it.” This deceptively simple book offers everyone in the company access to “the most powerful business tool since the spreadsheet.” “The surprise book of the year!” —John Moore, Fast Company “The first book on brand that seems fresh and relevant.” —Ric Grefe, executive director of AIGA, the professional association for design “A pleasure to read.”—David A. Aaker, author of BRAND PORTFOLIO STRATEGY and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS “Cuts to the heart of what brand is all about.” —Susan Rockrise, worldwide brand director, Intel “Read this book before your competitors do!” —Tom Kelley, general manager, IDEO FROM THE INSIDE FLAPS “A pleasure to read. THE BRAND GAP consistently provides deep, practical insights in a light, visual way. Discover the power of imagery and the role of research in building a heavy-duty brand—without the heavy-duty reading.” —David Aaker, author of BRAND LEADERSHIP and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS “Finally, a book that cuts to the heart of what brand is all about—connecting the rational and the emotional, the theoretical and the practical, the logical and the magical to create a sustainable competitive advantage.” —Susan Rockrise, Worldwide Brand Director, Intel In THE BRAND GAP, Neumeier reminds us that the ultimate moment of truth for all brands is the customer experience. Customer perceptions trump our own perceptions.” —Kurt Kuehn, senior VP of worldwide marketing and sales, UPS “This is not just another book on brand. This is the ONLY book you’ll need to read in business, engineering, and design school.” —Clement Mok, design entrepreneur “A well-managed brand is the lifeblood of any successful company—and Neumeier shows us exactly how to do it. Read this book before your competitors do!” —Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO, co-author of THE ART OF INNOVATION “THE BRAND GAP couldn’t be more timely. Just when we’re at our most skeptical about corporate motives, along comes a book that shows how to evaluate and develop a brand in a straightforward and honest manner.” —David Stuart, co-founder of The Partners, co-author of A SMILE IN THE MIND “Must-reading for anyone who wants to understand how their business strategy will succeed or fail when put to the ultimate test: ‘Do customers perceive a difference that’s desirable?’” —Steve Harrington, director of strategy and operations, Hewlett-Packard “The book slices like a hot knife through all the turgid, pseudo-academic nonsense that surrounds branding. It’s now on the course list for my graduate students, and new members of my team at Ogilvy get a copy with their training materials.” —Brian Collins, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide |
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