by Dustin Betonio on May 16, 2012
BuddyPress was conceived in 2008 while working to add social networking features to a WordPress MU powered site. The first official stable release was in May 2009. The platform has grown and morphed considerably since then, into the dynamic, easily extensible package you see today. Just like its parent project WordPress, BuddyPress is a completely open source endeavor. Everything from the core code, to the documentation, themes and plugin extensions are all built by the BuddyPress community. This means anyone can help the project by contributing their time and knowledge. BuddyPress provides a range of features that work right out of the box. However, you might decide that you only want to make use of a couple of features to start with. This is really simple using BuddyPress as you can turn off the features you don’t want with a click of a button. When you disable features, your site’s theme will auto adjust, showing only the menu items, pages and buttons for the features you have enabled. In this post I will do a round-up of some of the best free and premium buddy press themes for you to choose from.
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by Carsten on May 16, 2012
Simple and powerful photography logos are an essential part for all professional photographers with well-founded businesses. The logo is a name or symbol that tells something about the company that it represents and should catch the attention of your visitors or customers right away. Having the right logo design that’s easy for people to remember helps build a strong brand recognition which is an invaluable asset for your business. When designing a logo it’s important to remember that your logo is not your brand – instead it is representing your brand. That is why you need to have a clear notion of what your business or company is all about otherwise it’s hard to settle on the visual qualities your logo should have.
Whether you want to create your logo design by yourself or hire a designer to do the job, always make sure to get it in vector format as this will ensure that your logo wont pixelate or blur no matter how big or small you enlarge or shrink it. For the same reason make sure to keep it simple enough for visitors to remember its forms – so don’t have too much going on. A logo with too many details like shapes, different typography or colors might look perfect as a logo for your website but horrible when shrunk to business card size or bloated when enlarged to poster size formats.
Many photography logos use symbols like cameras, apertures, lenses, tripods, viewfinders or frames in some kind of way which quickly emphasizes the business relation to photography. Using symbols in logos is a fantastic way to catch the attention of visitors though logos with only typography or a mix of both can also make a strong presence. So, for a logo to represent your brand it’s important to have the proper balance in shapes, colors and typography to ensure a simple yet powerful and aesthetically pleasing design. If you have the money to spend consider hiring a professional logo designer to do the job as it is a very involved process creating a unique and simple logo that matches your business profile.
In this article I present a personally handpicked collection of photography logos for inspiration to further help you conceptualize your ideas for a professional logo design. If you want a designer to create your logo I have provided a couple of great online resources that specializes in hosting design contests where designers all over the world compete to create a winning logo you select and keep.
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