We hope you’ve enjoyed Snoack Studios’ blog this last year, we know we had a great time writing these posts for you! We’ve talked about everything from Facebook and Google+ to branding, marketing and design tips for your company. If you missed some of our many posts from this last year, don’t worry, we’ve picked out our favorites from the year and compiled a list of our best posts from 2011.

We look forward to bringing you more great tips and news on social media, branding, website design, marketing and more! Enjoy!

Blogging & Social Media

How To Promote Your Blog & Grow Your Audience
Facebook’s EdgeRank – How To Use It To Increase Your Visibility
Great Facebook Page Custom Tabs
5 Ways To Boost Your Facebook Page
How Promotable Is Your Company?
Google’s +1 Button
A Simple Trick To Get More Fans, Followers, & Subscribers
Google+ Pages Are Here

New Website Launches

New Site Launch: New Jersey Fitness
New Website Launch: Cheer Up Cherup
New Website Launch: Girls Get Real
New Website Launch – Marathon Fundraisers
New Website Launch: Pioneer 90.1 Radio
New Website Launch – Delia’s Catering

Website Tips

8 Things Every Awesome Site Must Have
Why You Don’t Want A Flash Website
Top 10 Typography Mistakes To Avoid
5 Quick Tips To Jazz Up Your Website
WordPress Tips For Beginners
The Most Important Element Of Any Website
What Does The Color Of Your Website Say About Your Company?
What Does Your Website Say About Your Company?
Above The Fold – How It Applies To Web Design
Today’s Font Options For Your Website
Before You Launch Checklist
5 Myths About Your Website
Make Your Site More Accessible, Make it Mobile-Friendly

Business & Marketing Tips

Branding Series: Great & Powerful Brands
10 New Marketing Ideas To Try
Branding Series: How Does It Relate To You?
The Value of a Quality Logo
Email Marketing For Your Company
Current Logo Design Trends
Your Challenge for 2012

Interviews

Business + Design: Interview with Adam Gilbert
Business + Design: Interview with Annette Bendish

What are your favorites? Add yours in the comments area below!

Characters are very prevalent in logo design and can really add a unique personality to the look and feel of a brand. A word of caution though, it doesn’t work for every company, so it’s best to think about what fits your vibe well and will represent your company appropriately, not just what looks nice.

The characters in these logos are all fun and certainly noteworthy. They do a great job of representing each company in a manner that is professional and memorable. Check out these great examples below!

*These logos all appeared in Logo Moose.

Which one is your favorite?

Big businesses can often have boring websites, and on the other side of the spectrum the automotive industry can get a bit loud and sales-y. However, I’ve noticed lately that there’s a trend of great-looking websites coming from the car industry. You’ll find great, large photography, new and cutting-edge website development techniques, interactive and fun features for users, and unique things that will help them stand out from their competition.

We’ve gathered a few in our collection today that we felt really stood out and were worth a visit. Enjoy!

*Click on the thumbnail above to see the full site.

Which one is your favorite?

Holiday time is such a cheery time of year and the packaging of many items around this time reflects that wonderful and cheerful spirit. We see lots of bright colors, some fun and wonderful patterns, and playful ideas that are remind us all what it was like to be a child during the holidays.

Check out these great festive holiday packaging examples from TheDieline.com that exude the holiday spirit and make you want to kick back and enjoy some fun family time! Grab your eggnog and enjoy!

What fun holiday packaging have you seen lately? Share in the comments below!

*Click on each picture to see the source, and more pictures with each product.

Animals are pretty prevalent in logo designs, and I’ve seen so many great ones lately so I wanted to showcase animals in logos today. Using an animal in a logo doesn’t automatically make your logo child-like or silly. Depending on how it’s applied, it can give a very different style. It can be professional, funny, clever, hopeful, friendly, corporate or family-oriented. If you’re planning on using an animal in your logo, think of the characteristics that you want your logo to portray, find an animal that gives you those qualities and then choose a style to use that also demonstrates the same meaning. See some great examples below.

Have you seen any great animal-inspired logos lately? Share with us in the comments below!

Blog Action Day is an annual event that allows bloggers of the world to come together and focus the conversation on one important topic. This year’s topic is food, so we could hardly turn down the opportunity to participate! This year also marks our 4th year that we’ve joined the conversation. Please check out the BAD website to see more information about this great event. Today, we salute local restaurants, farmers, foodie bloggers, and anyone working hard to bring great food to the table. We’ve gathered together a collection of tasty websites that showcase great design and good food. Enjoy!

Take this great quiz to see how much you know about world hunger issues, and what you can do to help.

Have you seen any great food-related websites lately? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Texture is a great way to add some visual interest to a design and give it that extra spark. Depending on the choice of texture, it can also add some character to the design as well, so it’s important to choose appropriate textures that match the style of the company.

We love using texture at Snoack Studios and wanted to highlight some really great uses of texture in web design today. We picked out 8 sites that have different types of textures and also different levels of intensity too. They all do a great job of utilizing these textures to enhance the site and create a great look.

* Click on each thumbnail to see the full website. All sites were originally featured at Make Better Websites, a great online design gallery.

Logo design trends are constantly changing and evolving to include new color schemes, layouts, themes, and different ideas. Right now, you’ll see that logos with lots of color are popular, bringing in multiple colors to enhance their look. You’ll also see logos with a lot of layers and different things going on that create an interesting look.

There are tons of great trends and ideas in logo design, and today we’ll talk about just a few that we really like, and show you some examples of great logos that embrace these ideas.

Multiplied Layer Effect

Falling right in step with the ideas we just mentioned, this trend usually has a bunch of colors, as well as multiple pieces and layers. By multiplying the layers, you get a unique effect that looks like opaque objects sitting on top of one another. This creates new shapes and adds to the overall look. We love the multiplied layer look and enjoy seeing all the different examples of great logos that use it.

A New Take On Pointillism

Pointillism is an art form that involves creating a shape or a piece of artwork out of dots. For this trend, the dots are usually shapes or icons of some sort that are gathered together to form a shape or symbol in the logo. These are two great examples of that effect, and also include some great color to create a fun overall look. A logo is really a small piece of artwork and this trend really shows that through these great compilations.

Creatively Utilizing Negative Space

Using negative space to form objects or give meaning is something that’s also been around for a long time, and is popular in logo design. It’s a great way to utilize a small amount of space, combing a few different ideas or objects to create multiple meanings. Creativity goes a long way with logo design and when you are able to make this trend work, it’s always a great touch to add to your mark.

These logo design trends are great examples of what’s out there currently and what will be popular this year. Don’t be fooled by our use of the word trends though, by using a trend you aren’t destined to have an outdated logo in 10 years. These are great ideas for any logo, as these examples show, great logos can follow trends and still succeed.

What other trends have you seen lately that you enjoy?

* The logos above can be seen featured in LogoMoose.com.

Typography options used to be very limited online, and there are still not as many options as we would all like, but it’s certainly come along way! There are some great options for creating a great typographic feel on your site, something that really fits in with your style, and it truly helps to improve the look of your site. Today, we wanted to showcase some sites that have made some great typographic choices.

Check out these great sites that showcase great typography and have a great look.

What are some other great sites that have made great typography choices?

You can communicate so many ideas and characteristics through design, without ever using any words. Even when you do use words, the font, size, layout and color can often speak more powerfully than the actual context of the words. The concept of motion and movement is one of those characteristics that can be conveyed quite well through design, and it usually adds a lot of character to the design when it’s done well.

Today we’ll showcase a group of logos that demonstrate motion through symbols, gradients, curves & other techniques.

Have you seen any good logos with motion in them lately? Please share in the comments below!

* All logos were originally showcased in the great logo gallery at LogoMoose.com.