Going back as far as the 70′s and before, the public has seen the impact of the logo. The Nike swoosh, the McDonald’s M, the Adidas stripes…these logos epitomize good logo design. They are quickly viewed and registered, can be recreated in any color, and are easily remembered. That’s why they are so effective. Did you know that Nike paid a college kid around $35 in the 70′s for it’s swoosh logo?

Since then, logos have remained much the same. At least the good ones have anyway. But logos change just like the tools used to create them change. Over just the last five years you can see the transition from flat, solid logos to multilayered, translucent, overlaid images being used in logos. Bright colors are used in large quantities today, but still maintain the ability to appear recognizable in black and white, grey scale, and full color. And they still need to remain easily recognizable.

Many of these changes come about as the software used to create logos now changes, builds functionality and ease of use, and implements new technologies. That’s not to say that technology drives all logo trends by any means, but it certainly does influence them.

Logo Design: A Closer Look

If you look at the logos below, these changes are apparent across the board, but one can see that a certain solidity is maintained…going back to the logos of old.

Logo Design 2004

Logo Design 2005

Logo Design 2006

Logo Design 2007

Logo Design 2008

But more than just the heightened color and dimensionality, these logos follow the trends of the day. And when it comes to logos, trends can change almost overnight.

Why is a Good Logo Important?

A logo is your public face to your business. It defines your business as well as becomes your branding for it. Therefore a logo should be simple, easy to recognize and remember, and be able to be recreated in color, b/w, and gray scale.

Without a good logo, you tend to get lost in the mix. If people can’t recognize your brand, then they probably won’t remember your company and won’t think to buy your products or services. As stated…you will simply get lost in the mix.

So if you’re starting out, get a good logo first. If you have an existing business, ensure that your logo is effective. And most of all pay attention to trends, they can help ensure a quality, effective logo that will become your brand face around the world.

There are (according to Wikipedia) 4 types of widgets and widget software.  They are as follows:

• Widget Engine: In computer software, a widget engine is a host software system for running and displaying desktop widgets on the desktop. Desktop widgets are physically inspired applets that give access to information and frequently used functions such as clocks, calendars, news aggregators etc.
  The widget model is attractive because of ease of development. Most widgets can be created with a few images and about 10 to several hundred lines of XML/JavaScript/VBScript.
• GUI Widget:  In computer programming, a widget (or control) is an interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box. Widgets are sometimes qualified as virtual to distinguish them from their physical counterparts, e.g. virtual buttons that can be clicked with a mouse cursor, vs. physical buttons that can be pressed with a finger. Widgets are often packaged together in widget toolkits. Programmers use widgets to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
• Web Widget:  The web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation. They are derived from the idea of reusable code that has existed for years. Other terms used to describe web widgets including: gadget, badge, module, capsule, snippet, mini and flake. Web widgets often but not always use DHTML, JavaScript, or Adobe Flash.
• Mobile Widget:  The mobile widget is essentially the same thing as the GUI widget, but it is designed for use on mobile devices

So now that you have an idea of what a widget is and what you can do with it, where do get them?  Personally, I try to limit my resources for such things to as few as possible.  With so much on the internet in regards to things like this one can get bogged down with info quite quickly.  So here are some resources for widgets:

http://www.springwidgets.com/
http://www.widgetbox.com/
http://www.oneqube.com/

There are widgets for nearly anything you can think of.  If you can’t find a widget for what you want, both of the sources listed above have resources for creating your own widgets.  They can be placed nearly anywhere, too.  There are widgets specifically designed for use with sites such as MySpace, MyYearbook, Facebook, and also, desktops for PC and Mac.  So whatever your needs are for content, widgets may be the answer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widgets