Cafepress: Revamped Look

At Cafepress, we're all about "Self Expression, Rewarded." (our mantra). Yet as you can see from teh note above, even our Co-Founder and CEO Fred Durham wasn't feeling it. So we put the wheels in motion for a rebranding.

Quick note from the team on our make-over:

It all started with a new logo. With a stamped-on feel, it's a tip-of-the-cap to our community's hand-crafted creativity. It says "do it yourself," which is what we're all about. It's also slightly distressed, which again speaks to the fact that none of us -- including folks in our community and the CafePress team -- are perfectly polished.

We've also added some fresh new colors to the palette, which we'll also be sprinkling in. Why? Because if there's one word that reflects our community, it's "colorful." You'll also notice that in some places we're keeping the palette very neutral. This lets your designs be the real heroes on pages, since enabling our Shopkeeper community is paramount.

Naturally, this is just the first leg on our new road to self-expression. It's our way of growing up, while staying fun.

Enjoy,
CafePress Team

MY THOUGHTS:

Some good, some bad, some what the hell were you smoking? There are some things about the overhaul I like (like how the Marketplace looks), some things I don't like (the text size increased throughout the site), and even some things that had me thinking, what the hell were you smoking? (The new CP logo is ugly and very unprofessional. It looks bad on CPs site and even worse when shrunken and blacked out on Premium shops). Alot of CP Shopkeepers are not pleased with the changes. Even some that are ready to pack up and head to the competition. I will ride it out for a while and see if I can adapt to the changes. I loved CP for its ease of use. If it stays easy through this change, I'll still be using it. If not, I'll be with others in exploring the other POD options out there.

SOURCE: Cafepress

Zazzle's Got A New Look

Email From Zazzle:

Welcome to the new Zazzle!

As a commerce re-defining platform, Zazzle is much less interested in promoting itself than it is in promoting our users and the content they generate. This overhaul of Zazzle's identity is intended to create a brand that allows us to step back from the limelight so that your content takes the center stage.

Our new, subdued black and white color scheme is neutral, friendly, inclusive and kind of hip (just enough that it won't turn anyone away). We chose this clean and simple aesthetic to let the colors and beauty of your original content really pop off the page. You might even think of this new site as a kind of empty coloring book and your products as the crayons.

Our new logo is also simple and bold. We designed it to look a little bit like a copyright © or registered trademark ® symbol, because we want you to think of the Zazzle logo as a kind of trademark symbol you might slap down next to your own brand as a way to let the world know that Zazzle's got your back. We will ensure the best consumer experience and retail quality products for all of your designs.

Some of the key descriptive words we used internally when working on this new brand included simple, clean, trustworthy, strong, universal, and unique. We hope you agree with the intent and like the results.

As always, we're very interested in hearing what you think. Feel free to drop us a note anytime, about the new brand or about anything else you might have on your mind, using our feedback form.

From the entire team that made this rebrand possible, thank you for Zazzling!

Darren Luvaas
Creative Director, Zazzle

I must admit the new look is a major improvement over their old layout. But I feel they can still do better. Look at Premium Shops on Cafepress once...