Being the business junkie that I am, one of my favorite things to do is read company stories. Large or small, my favorite companies value their culture and cultivate it in unique ways.

I'm going to share culture stories from time to time on this blog because I think we can all be encouraged and inspired by them. Our trip to Zappos was the first one I talked about. Culture is not a buzz word to these companies; they live and breathe it.

First up ... Southwest Airlines.

I've been reading a book called Nuts: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success. It's a great history of the early days and talks at great length about the culture they built over the years. One particular thing I'm fascinated by is how they hire people.

How Southwest Airlines Hires

In 1995 (the book was published in '96), the Southwest Airlines People Department (they don't do HR, just people) received 124,000 applications and only hired about 5,400 folks. Guess what the #1 criteria is? Sense of humor.

Founder Herb Kelleher says, "We look for attitudes; people with a sense of humor who don't take themselves too seriously. We'll train you on whatever it is you have to do, but the one thing Southwest cannot change in people is inherent attitudes."

How would you answer if someone posed the following question in an interview? "Tell me how you recently used your sense of humor in a work environment." If you don't know the answer, I wouldn't suggest applying at Southwest Airlines.

In what very little experience I have hiring people, it's not surprising Southwest hires for personality first. Although our industry in particular requires technical expertise, it's not worth hiring someone unless they have a personality that compliments everyone else.

Now you know why the most memorable flight attendant you've ever encountered was most likely on a Southwest flight. I know mine was.

Ever wondered what the difference is between a logo, identity and brand? Maybe you've just wanted to impress all your friends at parties with your intimate knowledge of all things visual. Either way, our resident logo guru Kevin Burr is here to bestow some wisdom for us.

Kevin designs logos and websites at Project83 along with our team.

Logo

Out of the three, the term logo is the easiest to understand. A logo is a symbol or font based design, also known as a logotype, that represents a company or service. The logo works much like a signature. It can be a mark like the Nike tick or a purely type driven logo like FedEx.

Logo Examples

Identity

The identity is more global. It influences how an individual feels about a company through visual consistency across various mediums. For example, color schemes, stationery, photo styles, font styles, logo guidelines (i.e. spacing, sizing, reproduction) and grid systems all take part in defining the company's identity.

Identity Examples

• Business cards, stationary and print collateral
• Style guides, including approved colors, typography and logo usage
• Product packaging

Brand

Think of the brand as something less tangible. A brand can't be designed or created. It's the collective perception one builds about a company based on the logo, identity, goods or services provided and also their experiences with the company. Brand value is built over time in the minds of your customers.

Brand Examples

• Zappos: synonymous with great customer service
• Crate & Barrel: modern furniture and clean design
• BP: big oil company that prioritizes profits over safety and the environment
• Starbucks: good coffee that's always around the corner

While Project83 is where we do client business, our same team also operates another business called Brightwurks that builds web applications. So far we've created two, Feed My Inbox and Linkpatch, along with a mobile website gallery called Mobile Awesomeness.

We've decided to start work on a new web app recently, and blog about the entire process publicly. Being transparent and sharing our secrets is another way of proving that ideas are worthless. Everything from inspiration to wireframes, logo to launch will be written about and covered in detail. It's a really great way to learn about our process first hand and even follow along and participate if you want.

The project is called B Combinator. We've published two posts so far outlining what B Combinator is and what we're building. I'd  love for you to subscribe and participate as we try to do something that's never really been done before. I'll be hard at work working on the app and writing all about it in my spare time over the next several months. Cheers to taking risks!