tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32339560688715482732024-03-12T19:15:55.506-07:00Web Design Wigan's BlogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-30418126212110900232015-12-10T05:01:00.001-08:002015-12-10T05:01:02.589-08:00GCHQ gives you homework in its 2015 Christmas card<img width="520" height="245" src="http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/12/GCHQ-christmas-fun-520x245.png" alt="GCHQ christmas fun" title="GCHQ gives you homework in its 2015 Christmas card" data-id="939021" /><br />
Keen codebreakers can have a crack at a brainteaser this festive season in the form of a Christmas card challenge set by GCHQ’s director Robert Hannigan. The traditional grid-shading puzzle invites those who dare (or care) to fill in the squares black or leave them white depending on the pattern indicated by the numbers on each column and row. Each number indicates there should be a black square, with at least one white one left in between. Some have already been filled in to give you a head start. Once you’ve filled in all the squares, the image you’re left with leads…<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thenextweb.com/uk/2015/12/10/gchq-gives-you-homework-in-its-2015-christmas-card/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=profeed">This story continues</a> at The Next Web<br />
<br />
from The Next Web » UK http://thenextweb.com/uk/2015/12/10/gchq-gives-you-homework-in-its-2015-christmas-card/<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-85146999608892374852015-12-09T13:45:00.001-08:002015-12-09T13:45:17.981-08:00Free e-Book: Web UI Design for the Human Eye<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye1.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye1" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye1-250x250.jpg 250w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye1.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Long before the Internet, scientists have been unraveling the mysteries and peculiarities of human sight. As a visual medium, web design has only to gain from their discoveries.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aside from simply knowing their craft, designers can mine a variety of practical applications from the study of human sight. In the realm of visual hierarchy alone, knowing how to implement size, spacing, and contrast can influence the order elements are seen and the how important they appear.</span></p>
<p><a href="http://studio.uxpin.com/ebooks/visual-web-ui-design-colors-space-contrast/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33185" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye3.jpg" alt="Web UI Design for the Human Eye3" width="1272" height="765" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye3-500x301.jpg 500w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye3-1024x616.jpg 1024w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye3-610x367.jpg 610w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye3.jpg 1272w" sizes="(max-width: 1272px) 100vw, 1272px" /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Colors, too, are a powerful tool in the hands of those that use them. With each color evoking different feelings (orange for playfulness, blue for trust, etc.), designers can quantitatively construct the right emotional atmosphere for their project. Even the way in which different colors are combined changes their effects.</span></p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33184" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye2.jpg" alt="Web UI Design for the Human Eye2" width="1183" height="591" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye2-500x250.jpg 500w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye2-1024x512.jpg 1024w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye2-610x305.jpg 610w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-UI-Design-for-the-Human-Eye2.jpg 1183w" sizes="(max-width: 1183px) 100vw, 1183px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Source:</span> <a href="http://www.fanta.com/en/home/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fanta</span></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.uxpin.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">UXPin</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">collects the most helpful resources on human sight for web design, and compiled them into their e-book series</span> <a href="http://studio.uxpin.com/ebooks/visual-web-ui-design-colors-space-contrast/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Web UI Design for the Human Eye</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The guide describes practical techniques with visual case studies from 33 companies like Google, Bose, Intercom, Medium, Tumblr, and others.</span></p>
<p>Volume 1, downloaded by almost 40,000 people this year, covers advanced topics such as the use of spacing, the emotional affects of colors, and the principles of Gestalt (an early 1900s movement analyzing visual phenomena).</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s not enough that people see your site — what matter is</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">how</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">they see your site.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check out the</span> <a href="http://studio.uxpin.com/ebooks/visual-web-ui-design-colors-space-contrast/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">free guide</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and let us know what you think in the comments.</span></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="9234" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33182" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/free-e-book-web-ui-design-for-the-human-eye" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_9234"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/free-e-book-web-ui-design-for-the-human-eye">Free e-Book: Web UI Design for the Human Eye</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/free-e-book-web-ui-design-for-the-human-eye<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-89554095039807098762015-12-09T12:11:00.001-08:002015-12-09T12:11:33.627-08:00The “Better Than Christmas Morning” Winter Design Bundle<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-blog-post.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-blog-post" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-blog-post-250x250.jpg 250w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-blog-post.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />
<p>Ho, ho, HO-LY MOLY! That's a lot of design goodies.</p>
<p>There's enough stress during the holidays over what presents to buy for others, or whether or not your Christmas bonus is going to cover all your gift expenses. Not to mention, as a designer, everyone and their mother comes to you for that last minute, custom Christmas card for their dear aunt Sally.</p>
<p><strong>You've worked hard to make everyone elses holidays special. Now it's time to tre<img src="file:///Users/davidfreedman/Downloads/christmas-bundle-2015-webdesignledger/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger.jpg" alt="" />at yourself.</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.mydesigndeals.com/deal/the-better-than-christmas-morning-winter-bundle-only-29?a=21407&utm_source=webdesignledger&utm_medium=blogpost&utm_campaign=christmasbundle2015">This collection</a> contains thousands of creative goodies, like vectors, layer styles, textures, patterns, PSD templates, and much more. They are perfect for seasonal designs, not just this year, but each and every year to come. Many of the items in this bundle can even be used year round.</p>
<p>The best part is that this deal includes extended licensing, so you can use these items in designs you create for resale!</p>
<p>If you bought all of these items individually, you'd have to pay $1,342. For a very limited time, you can grab everything from MyDesignDeals for just $29. That's 98% off the regular price.</p>
<p>The MyDesignDeals team scoured the internet all year to put together a bundle better than Christmas morning itself, so make sure you grab it now before it's gone forever.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mydesigndeals.com/deal/the-better-than-christmas-morning-winter-bundle-only-29?a=21407&utm_source=webdesignledger&utm_medium=blogpost&utm_campaign=christmasbundle2015" target="_blank"><img class=" wp-image-33276 aligncenter" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-500x400.jpg" alt="big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger" width="658" height="526" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-500x400.jpg 500w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-768x614.jpg 768w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger-610x488.jpg 610w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/big-winter-bundle-2015-webdesignledger.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px" /></a></p>
<h3><span style="color: #3366ff;"><a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.mydesigndeals.com/deal/the-better-than-christmas-morning-winter-bundle-only-29?a=21407&utm_source=webdesignledger&utm_medium=blogpost&utm_campaign=christmasbundle2015">Grab This Mega Christmas and Winter Bundle Now</a></span></h3>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="7217" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33275" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/the-better-than-christmas-morning-winter-design-bundle" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_7217"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/the-better-than-christmas-morning-winter-design-bundle">The “Better Than Christmas Morning” Winter Design Bundle</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/the-better-than-christmas-morning-winter-design-bundle<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-70193645909996742142015-12-09T08:46:00.001-08:002015-12-09T08:46:06.401-08:00Jetpack’s Photon Now Supports WebP Images<img width="625" height="416" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-photon.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="jetpack-photon" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-photon-500x333.png 500w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-photon-768x511.png 768w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-photon-610x406.png 610w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-photon.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" />
<p>Introduced by Google, WebP is an image format that provides lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. WebP images are considered to be nearly 26% smaller in size as compared to PNGs, and as much as 25%-34% smaller as compared to JPEGs.</p>
<p>Recently, Photon, the image service module provided by the popular <a href="http://jetpack.me/">Jetpack plugin</a> for self-hosted WordPress websites, decided to <a href="http://jetpack.me/2015/12/04/webp-support/">offer support for the WebP image format</a>.<span id="more-33270"></span></p>
<p>Since Photon is primarily used by website owners to serve images using WordPress.com cloud infrastructure, thereby saving the host website’s bandwidth and improving the overall loading times, WebP format is especially beneficial since offers smaller file sizes than both PNG and JPG, and can result in faster website performance.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33272" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-webp.png" alt="jetpack-webp" width="665" height="252" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-webp-500x189.png 500w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-webp-610x231.png 610w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jetpack-webp.png 665w" sizes="(max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px" /></p>
<p>By default, Photon will be compressing WebP images at the high quality settings. However, it must be noted that since many web browsers still do not support WebP image format, Photon will auto-detect the visitor’s web browser, and then pick the ideal image format, size and compression for better performance.</p>
<p>Jetpack is actively used by several WordPress websites, and the Photon module is a very useful feature as it provides CDN-like service for free. Since images form the bulk of content on most websites, serving them via Photon can improve overall website performance. As of now, WebP image format is not the most popular one out there, but for web browsers that do support WebP images, Photon will be able to serve images even faster.</p>
<p>To learn more about the WebP image format, <a href="http://developers.google.com/speed/webp/">check this out</a>; and you can also go through the <a href="http://developers.google.com/speed/webp/docs/webp_study">comparative study</a> between WebP and JPEG image formats. Alternatively, if you are a Photon user, simply head to the Jetpack Settings section to learn more about how Photon will work with WebP images.</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="7700" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33270" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/jetpack-photon-supports-webp-images" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_7700"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/jetpack-photon-supports-webp-images">Jetpack’s Photon Now Supports WebP Images</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/jetpack-photon-supports-webp-images<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-45694594464283752632015-12-09T04:35:00.001-08:002015-12-09T04:35:17.980-08:00WordPress 4.4 “Clifford” Has Been Released<img width="625" height="286" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wordpress-44-1024x469.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="wordpress-44" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wordpress-44-500x229.png 500w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wordpress-44-768x352.png 768w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wordpress-44-1024x469.png 1024w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wordpress-44-610x280.png 610w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wordpress-44.png 1396w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" />
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2015/12/clifford/">WordPress 4.4</a>, nicknamed "Clifford" after the famous Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown, is now available for download. This latest version of WordPress comes with several new features, such as support for responsive images, better embeds, a new default theme, and various other improvements.</p>
<p>WordPress 4.4 now supports srcset, which allows it to detect and display the ideal image size on the basis of the user's screen resolution. As such, responsive images are now implemented in WordPress 4.4 with no further tweaking or configuration required.</p>
<p>Plus, you can also embed content from other WordPress sites directly on-page, much like you'd embed a tweet or a YouTube video. Learn more about this feature <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/32522">here</a>.</p>
<p>As always, this major release of WordPress comes with a new default theme of its own -- <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/twentysixteen/">Twenty Sixteen</a>. It is a minimal and clean theme, primarily meant for bloggers, with a right sidebar by default.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33268" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/twenty-sixteen.png" alt="twenty-sixteen" width="808" height="572" srcset="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/twenty-sixteen-500x354.png 500w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/twenty-sixteen-768x544.png 768w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/twenty-sixteen-610x432.png 610w, http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/twenty-sixteen.png 808w" sizes="(max-width: 808px) 100vw, 808px" /></p>
<p>However, the biggest and most noteworthy change that WordPress 4.4 brings to the table is the fact that it comes bundled with the first half of the REST API. If you are a plugin or theme author, you can start implementing REST API immediately, and read more about the implementation <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2015/10/28/rest-api-welcome-the-infrastructure-to-core/">here</a>.</p>
<p>WordPress 4.4 comes with several other new features as well, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>WordPress Multisite has a new class called WP_Network, that makes it easier to use it across multiple networks.</li>
<li>The WP_Comments component has been rebuilt. Now, the comment field will display first, followed by name, email and website. Earlier, users were shown the name, email and website fields before the comment field.</li>
<li>The headings hierarchy has been restored for admin screens.</li>
<li>Unattached media attachments can now have pretty permalinks.</li>
<li>While it was previously assumed that WordPress 4.4 will deprecate WP_Title, it is no longer the case and WP_Title is still the recommended method of inserting title tags in WordPress themes.</li>
</ul>
<p>To learn more about WordPress 4.4, check out this video:</p>
<p><iframe width='625' height='350' src='https://videopress.com/embed/J44FHXvg?hd=0' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1435166243' type="text/javascript">
</script></p>
<p>WordPress 4.4 is the last major release of this year, and it brings several new features to the table. Have you updated your websites yet? Be sure to share your feedback in the comments below.</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="484" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33267" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/wordpress-4-4-released" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_484"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/wordpress-4-4-released">WordPress 4.4 “Clifford” Has Been Released</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/wordpress-4-4-released<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-8472314697141287462015-12-08T15:00:00.001-08:002015-12-08T15:00:55.099-08:00Web Design Inspiration: Merry Quizmas<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Merry-Quizmas.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Merry-Quizmas" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33244" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Merry-Quizmas-1.jpg" alt="Merry Quizmas 1" width="1099" height="622" /></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The idea of</span> <a href="http://misterblaser.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daniel Blaser</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and coded by</span> <a href="https://twitter.com/phaedryx"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tad T</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">horley,</span> <a href="http://merryquizmas.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merry Quizmas</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">is a delightful design made to be much more than fun design, it is also the ultimate challenge! The website is designed as a quiz game that test you on multiple holidays, pop-culture references.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When landing on the page the quiz begin, you are shown 60 different character illustration in a pleasant flat design. They are are very well done! We commend illustrator</span> <a href="http://jameskenison.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">James Kenison</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">on his illustration skills. Each of the characters is taken from different holiday entertainment references. You then have to identify the character either by name, source material. You will then be provided a score according to how well you did. The scores range from 0-10: </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Holiday Chump, lowest or 60: Grand Tinsel-Covered Viceroy of the Holidays, the highest possible score. Get inspired and get in the holiday spirit by testing your holiday knowledge on</span> <a href="http://merryquizmas.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merry Quizmas</span></a><b>.</b></p>
<p><a href="http://merryquizmas.com/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33243" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Merry-Quizmas2.jpg" alt="Merry Quizmas2" width="1467" height="494" /></a></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="7870" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33242" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/web-design-inspiration-merry-quizmas" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_7870"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/web-design-inspiration-merry-quizmas">Web Design Inspiration: Merry Quizmas</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/web-design-inspiration-merry-quizmas<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-56850860493763815182015-12-08T14:08:00.001-08:002015-12-08T14:08:18.815-08:00Christmas & Winter Design Bundle Savings<img width="625" height="414" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-08-at-1.28.40-PM.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-08 at 1.28.40 PM" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just in time for the Holidays and the Winter season, get these amazing design elements for a fraction of the price.</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.mightydeals.com/deal/snow-text-generator.html?refID=6cfd6bb6"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Snow generator text</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">is 71% off. Lets you easily create 3D style typography with a snow and Ice texture. The pack comes with a PSD file, snow background, brushes, overlays and much more!</span><a href="http://www.mightydeals.com/deal/snow-text-generator.html?refID=6cfd6bb6" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-120750" src="http://designm.ag/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-08-at-1.28.40-PM.jpg" alt="Snow text" width="619" height="410" /></a>Accompany your designs with a little Christmas cheer using these <a href="http://www.mightydeals.com/deal/christmas-vectors.html?refID=6cfd6bb6" target="_blank">Christmas & New Year vector collection</a>. A bundle of 120 high-quality vector illustrations created in modern design styles. Great holiday themes elements for Christmas retail sale design, holiday cards, and other personal projects.<a href="http://www.mightydeals.com/deal/christmas-vectors.html?refID=6cfd6bb6" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-120752" src="http://designm.ag/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-08-at-1.33.19-PM.jpg" alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-08 at 1.33.19 PM" width="619" height="412" /></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t wait, these deals are available for a very limited time! Get them today!</span></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="9112" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33240" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/christmas-winter-design-bundle-savings" data-notimes="3" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_9112"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/christmas-winter-design-bundle-savings">Christmas & Winter Design Bundle Savings</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/christmas-winter-design-bundle-savings<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-50826819965089292762015-12-08T13:39:00.001-08:002015-12-08T13:39:34.279-08:00Predictions For Online Privacy and Security in 2016<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Security-2016.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Security-2016" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the past two years, we’ve seen massive cyber attacks and privacy issues surface in the US. The government has struggled to define a fine line between keeping its citizens safe without violating their privacy rights. Econsultancy’s Todd Ruback says that <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/67299-2015-was-the-year-of-cyber-attacks-privacy-debates-what-will-2016-bring/?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=blog" target="_blank">2016 will be just as impactful<img class="alignright wp-image-33239" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/digital-government-security.png" alt="digital-government-security" width="474" height="317" /></a>. He shares his perdition and current initiatives in EU and US. He mentions Europe’s massive data protection framework legislation, which calls for better access and control of personal data as well as additional obligations for companies collecting and transferring data. He predicts that an improved</span> <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/67144-safe-harbor-2-0-an-update-on-eu-privacy-law/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">US Safe Harbor Program</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">will be proposed to propose data transfers between Europe and the US with limited government access to personal data.</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">He also predicts 2016 will continue to be in favor of the user with added regulation to</span> <a href="https://econsultancy.com/reports/the-eu-cookie-law-a-guide-to-compliance/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">cookie law</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">enforcement and continued popularity of</span> <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/67076-the-rise-and-rise-of-ad-blockers-stats/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ad blocking</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">for a faster mobile experience. Finally, the most exciting prediction is the growth of Video and VR, as current tech giants like</span> <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/28/8682475/googles-jump-3d-videos-camera-rig-hands-on"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Google</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and</span> <a href="http://webdesignledger.com/facebook-discontinues-creative-labs-division"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">are investing in 360 video capability and life-like 3D Video.</span></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="7168" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33237" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/predictions-for-online-privacy-and-security-in-2016" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_7168"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/predictions-for-online-privacy-and-security-in-2016">Predictions For Online Privacy and Security in 2016</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/predictions-for-online-privacy-and-security-in-2016<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-3542273129739692222015-12-08T13:23:00.001-08:002015-12-08T13:23:24.364-08:00Focus by Firefox, A Content Blocker For iOS<img width="625" height="492" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/focus-firefox.png" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="focus-firefox" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p>Recently, Mozilla launched a new tool that works with Safari, not Firefox. Yes, you read that right.</p>
<p>Meet Focus, a free content blocker for Safari users on iOS 9 that gives you better control over your mobile browsing experience. You can use Focus to block trackers, such as those used for advertisements, analytics and social media.<span id="more-33234"></span></p>
<p>By default, Firefox, running on Windows, Linux or Android devices, offers a Private Browsing feature that is similar to the Incognito Mode of Google Chrome. However, Firefox also adds Tracking Protection to Private Browsing, thereby blocking certain trackers, as based on Disconnect’s <a href="https://github.com/disconnectme/disconnect-tracking-protection">Open Source Tracking List</a>.</p>
<p>Focus will do just the same, and block the same set of trackers. You can, however, configure it to do much more than that, and even block web fonts using Focus.</p>
<p>So why did Mozilla feel the need to come up with a new content blocker? Well, <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2015/12/07/focus-by-firefox-content-blocking-for-the-open-web/">here</a> is the answer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We made Focus by Firefox because we believe content blockers need to be transparent with publishers and other content providers about how lists are created and maintained, rather than placing certain content in a permanent penalty box. We want this product to encourage a discussion about users and content providers, instead of monetizing users’ mistrust and pulling value out of the Web ecosystem. Focus by Firefox is free to users and we don’t monetize it in other ways.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Considering the fact that Apple does not yet allow content blocking features for third party web browsers running on iOS, Focus is available only for Safari, and not for Firefox running on iOS.</p>
<p><strong>You can download and install Focus from the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1055677337">App Store</a>, and since this is a relatively newer product, Mozilla is actively seeking <a href="https://input.mozilla.org/feedback/focus">user feedback</a> for Focus.</strong></p>
<p>What do you think of this new content blocker by Mozilla? Share your views in the comments below!</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="1493" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33234" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/focus-firefox-content-blocker-ios" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_1493"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/focus-firefox-content-blocker-ios">Focus by Firefox, A Content Blocker For iOS</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/focus-firefox-content-blocker-ios<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-78890496781131316032015-12-08T12:54:00.001-08:002015-12-08T12:54:57.513-08:00Listable: the Best Modern Listing Directory WordPress Theme<img width="625" height="333" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1-listable-wordpress-theme.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="1-listable-wordpress-theme" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><span style="color: #00ccff;"><strong><a href="http://themeforest.net/item/listable-a-friendly-directory-wordpress-theme/13398377?ref=designmag" target="_blank">Listable</a></strong></span> is a listing directory and user-friendly WordPress theme which will help you to create, manage and monetize a global or local directory website. With Listable you can get your favourite spots online.</p>
<p><a href="http://themeforest.net/item/listable-a-friendly-directory-wordpress-theme/13398377?ref=designmag"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-33228" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1-listable-wordpress-theme-1.jpg" alt="1-listable-wordpress-theme-1" width="965" height="514" /></a></p>
<p>The theme is perfect for city shops, restaurant listings, and events, hotel & lodging, outdoor activities, nightlife, and much more.</p>
<p>Its design is a perfect balance between elegance and minimalism.</p>
<p>Listable is flexiblу to fit your needs. It uses responsive design which looks awesome on any screen: from the largest desktops to small tablets, and is compatible with mobile devices.</p>
<p><strong>Listable</strong> has powerful listing cards system with huge possibilities: each listing card can be a spot, an event, or an activity of any kind.</p>
<p><a href="http://themeforest.net/item/listable-a-friendly-directory-wordpress-theme/13398377?ref=designmag"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-33226" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/3-listable-wordpress-theme.jpg" alt="3-listable-wordpress-theme" width="965" height="623" /></a></p>
<p>It also includes a blog, login area and ‘Add Listing’ form to implement your plans in life.</p>
<h3>Monetize Your Site with Listable</h3>
<p>To make it easier to get money with your website, Listable was integrated with WooCommerce. You can charge for listing packages, sell subscriptions or charge a fee from reservations made with your website.</p>
<p>Also, you may work with vendors and let them sell s through your site and earns commission from them. Thanks to WooCommerce it has many ways for monetization.</p>
<h3>More Features</h3>
<p>Listable’s homepage includes explore page allowing your users to search for the listings including food, lodging, entertainment, stores, outdoors, and more.</p>
<p><a href="http://themeforest.net/item/listable-a-friendly-directory-wordpress-theme/13398377?ref=designmag"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-33225" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2-listable-wordpress-theme.jpg" alt="2-listable-wordpress-theme" width="965" height="450" /></a></p>
<p>The footer of Listable has all social buttons to stay in touch with your audience and build new clients with social media.</p>
<p>The code is apparently very neat and clean.</p>
<p>One of the best features is the theme customization. It is easy to use, clear and has a live preview so everything you change shows live on your page immediately.</p>
<h3>Recommended FREE Plugins</h3>
<p>Listable is designed to not overwhelm you with features you don’t need. Thus, to add more functionality to your site you can use totally free plugins that can be installed in a minute.</p>
<p>Here is the essential list of the free plugins:</p>
<ul>
<li>WP Job Manager by Automattic and Mike Jolley (Official Documentation)</li>
<li>Customify by PixelGrade</li>
<li>Comments Ratings by PixelGrade</li>
<li>Category Icon by PixelGrade</li>
<li>PixTypes by Pixelgrade</li>
</ul>
<p>Please, note that these plugins need to be installed (or activated) separately. All of them are available on WordPress.org for free.</p>
<h3>Tech Support</h3>
<p>The team behind Listable lives to make their clients happy. So, if you have any issues with Listable theme, feel free to contact them at once. They are here to make your experience with theme as easy and pleasant as it’s possible.</p>
<h3>Over to You</h3>
<p>I hope this <a href="http://themeforest.net/item/listable-a-friendly-directory-wordpress-theme/13398377?ref=designmag">Listable</a> review turned in handy for you. Please, let us know in the comments your feedback regarding Listable.</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="9178" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33223" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/listable-the-best-modern-listing-directory-wordpress-theme" data-notimes="9" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_9178"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/listable-the-best-modern-listing-directory-wordpress-theme">Listable: the Best Modern Listing Directory WordPress Theme</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/listable-the-best-modern-listing-directory-wordpress-theme<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-57175930043447277562015-12-08T12:24:00.001-08:002015-12-08T12:24:21.073-08:00Pixate Partners With Google and Launches Pixate Studio 2.0<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Pixate-and-Google.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Pixate-and-Google" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><a href="http://blog.pixate.com/post/124673189563/google"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33232" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Pixate-joins-Google.jpg" alt="Pixate joins Google" width="977" height="498" /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pixate, the native prototyping platform for creating high-fidelity iOS and Android Apps without code has joined the Google design team and launched Pixate Studio 2.0. The original Pixate was launched three years ago to help designer turn their app designs into reality with native mobile functionality. They are now</span> <a href="http://blog.pixate.com/post/124673189563/google"><span style="font-weight: 400;">joining Google</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s big team of big ideas to reach millions of designers and product-oriented companies.</span></p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33207" src="http://www.pixate.com.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/blog/zoom.gif" alt="Pixate-Studio" width="600" height="366" /></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As of today, the</span> <a href="http://blog.pixate.com/post/134795427293/pixate2-0"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pixate Studio 2.0</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">release is its greatest update yet. The latest version features better, faster performance, the ability to zoom in and out of large projects and audio/visual capabilities. They have also improved on a lot of existing functionalities and with Google’s design team on their side, the sky's the limit! Pixate Studio 2.0 is completely free and their Pixate cloud service has been reduced in price in hopes to compete with the ever changing market of design tools. If you already have Studio you can update it to the 2.0 version or</span> <a href="http://www.pixate.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">visit their site to download</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">it.</span></p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33207" src="http://www.pixate.com.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/blog/video.gif" alt="Pixate-Studio" width="600" height="366" /></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="7294" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33231" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/pixate-partners-with-google-and-launches-pixate-studio-2-0" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_7294"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/pixate-partners-with-google-and-launches-pixate-studio-2-0">Pixate Partners With Google and Launches Pixate Studio 2.0</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/pixate-partners-with-google-and-launches-pixate-studio-2-0<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-89436950015441795322015-12-08T09:22:00.001-08:002015-12-08T09:22:16.972-08:00Figma: A New Design Collaboration Tool<img width="625" height="364" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/figma-wdl.png" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="figma-wdl" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p>For many years, Adobe Creative Cloud has been the de facto leader of design tools. While the name does have “cloud” in it, Adobe’s products initially began as desktop applications, and even today, many users feel that collaborative workflow is not up to the par.</p>
<p>To answer this problem, 23-year old Dylan Field has come up with a new solution: <a href="https://www.figma.com/">Figma</a>, a new set of collaborative design applications.<span id="more-33218"></span></p>
<p>In simple words, Figma is a design collaboration tool that, instead of relying heavily on desktop apps, runs within your web browser, and allows your team members to work together and collaborate freely on design projects. Any changes made to the design are saved and synced in the cloud, allowing users to track changes and work seamlessly with other members of the team.</p>
<p>Obviously, this sounds like a novel approach to design collaboration and, if rightly implemented, can prove to the Google Docs of web and graphic design.</p>
<p>The mainstay of Figma is a browser-based version of Photoshop, that focuses deeply on interaction design. Any change you make to the current project is saved to the cloud, and if you ever wish to revert back to a previous state, version control helps you do that. As such, when working with Figma, you do not need to constantly toggle back and forth between email, Dropbox and other such services -- instead, collaboration is built inside the design tool itself.</p>
<p>As of now, Figma allows you to share color assets with the members of your team. However, eventually, the plan is to offer shared asset libraries, with real-time simultaneous design editing.</p>
<p>Figma seems to have a promising road ahead, and it has already generated $14M in funding. Currently, it is in its testing phase, and you can signup for the free preview program by visiting Figma’s homepage. Later on, Figma intends to rely on a paid monthly subscription SAAS model.</p>
<p>Wish to learn more? Read the <a href="https://medium.com/figma-design/design-meet-the-internet-4140774f2872#.djfanqfud">official blog post here</a>.</p>
<p>What do you think of Figma? Share your views in the comments below!</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="4015" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33218" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/figma-a-new-design-collaboration-tool" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_4015"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/figma-a-new-design-collaboration-tool">Figma: A New Design Collaboration Tool</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/figma-a-new-design-collaboration-tool<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-84520987021361899562015-12-08T05:21:00.001-08:002015-12-08T05:21:16.517-08:00Speedtest.net Moving Towards HTML5<img width="625" height="434" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/speedtest.png" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="speedtest" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><a href="http://speedtest.net/">Speedtest.net</a> is one of the most popular services for checking the speed of your internet connection. Thus far, the interface has relied on Adobe Flash to perform the test.</p>
<p>However, all of that is going to change soon, as the service is planning to abandon Flash in favor of HTML5.<span id="more-33216"></span></p>
<p>For many years, Adobe Flash has served as a mainstay of the internet, powering several websites and apps. But in recent years, especially with the advent of HTML5, Flash has fallen out of favor. In fact, Adobe is not shying away from the fact that Flash in itself is a thing of the past -- Adobe has already rebranded Flash as <a href="http://blogs.adobe.com/flashpro/welcome-adobe-animate-cc-a-new-era-for-flash-professional/?PID=4003003">Animate CC</a>, and starting January 2016, the new Animate software, for all practical purposes, will focus more on HTML5 and offer Flash support only for the sake of backward compatibility.</p>
<p>So what happens when Speedtest.net moves away from Flash and switches to HTML5? To begin with, you will not require any plugins, and you can run Speedtest using any web browser with no additional requirements. Of course, this move in itself might probably not mean much, but it is another step towards the fact that Flash is dying, and the trend has now shifted towards more modern and less resource-hungry technology.</p>
<p>What do you think of this move from Speedtest.net? Much awaited, or came a bit early? Share your views in the comments below! Plus, you can also grab an early preview of what Speedtest.net on HTML5 will look like -- find the beta version <a href="http://beta.speedtest.net/">here</a>.</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="3616" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33216" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/speedtest-net-moving-towards-html5" data-notimes="3" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_3616"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/speedtest-net-moving-towards-html5">Speedtest.net Moving Towards HTML5</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/speedtest-net-moving-towards-html5<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-78598170068817930942015-12-08T05:09:00.001-08:002015-12-08T05:09:15.054-08:00Facebook Discontinues Creative Labs Division<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Facebook-Creative-Labs1.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Facebook-Creative-Labs" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-quietly-shuts-down-creative-labs-and-apps/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33209" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Facebook-Creative-Labs.jpg" alt="Facebook Creative Labs" width="736" height="587" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">is no longer looking to support its internal startup Creative Labs. This division of Facebook was used as an experimental and creative approach to mobile software. A couple of the apps created made it to app stores, each with their own unique social sharing capabilities. Slingshot, featuring brief messaging and Riff, for sharing video stories both lost the competitive battle to</span> <a href="https://www.snapchat.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Snapchat</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. There was also Rooms, a group IM app that also missed the mark. As of Monday all three apps have been removed from app stores.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook is now applying their "Move fast and break things." mantra towards other emerging areas of technology like AI, drones, and virtual-reality goggles. The Social network giant hopes to continues experimenting with apps and continue to adding features to Facebook.com and the mobile apps like</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXSsbitfa3o"><span style="font-weight: 400;">320-degree video</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">capability.</span></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="1552" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33208" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/facebook-discontinues-creative-labs-division" data-notimes="3" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_1552"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/facebook-discontinues-creative-labs-division">Facebook Discontinues Creative Labs Division</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/facebook-discontinues-creative-labs-division<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-90276044088456272502015-12-08T05:08:00.001-08:002015-12-08T05:08:20.264-08:00The 43 Best Websites To Learn Something New About Marketing<p>Whether you want to learn more about A/B testing, conversion rate optimization, content marketing or paid ads, there’s a wealth of marketing knowledge being shared online every day.</p>
<p><strong>Today I’m excited to share 43 of the best websites to learn something new about marketing.</strong></p>
<p>These websites will teach you practically anything you’d like to learn. Ready to dive in and pick up something new?</p>
<p>Let’s go!</p>
<p><span id="more-14722"></span></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14733" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/pablo-23-800x400.png" alt="pablo (23)" width="800" height="400" /></p>
<h2>Company Blogs</h2>
<h3>Unbounce</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14723" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/unbounce-800x635.png" alt="unbounce" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>The Unbounce blog offers expert advice on landing page and conversion optimization to help you crush your next online marketing campaign.</p>
<p><strong>Recommended reading:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/22-brutally-honest-landing-page-critiques/">22 Brutally Honest Landing Page Critiques</a></li>
<li><a href="http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/built-using-unbounce/landing-page-designs/">26 Beautiful Landing Page Designs Critiqued with A/B Testing Tips</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Vero</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14724" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/vero-800x635.png" alt="vero" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Vero have a wealth of resources on their blog covering email marketing, automation and much more.</p>
<p><strong>Recommended reading:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.getvero.com/resources/guides/lifecycle-marketing/">The Ultimate Lifecycle Email Marketing Guide</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.getvero.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-best-practices/">20 Tips for Dramatically Better Emails</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Moz</h2>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14725" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/moz-800x635.png" alt="moz" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Moz’s blog features advice, research, how-tos, and insights — all in the name of helping you level-up your SEO and online marketing skills.</p>
<p><strong>Recommended reading:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://moz.com/blog/the-greatest-misconception-in-content-marketing-whiteboard-friday">The Greatest Misconception in Content Marketing</a></li>
<li><a href="https://moz.com/blog/use-hosted-blog-platforms-seo-content-distribution">How to Use Hosted Blog Platforms for SEO & Content Distribution</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Coschedule</h3>
<p>Coscheudle’s blog features in-depth blog posts and resources on content marketing.</p>
<p><a href="http://coschedule.com/blog/">Check out CoSchedule’s blog ></a></p>
<h3>Wistia</h3>
<p>Wistia is a fantastic place to learn about video marketing and startup life.</p>
<p><a href="http://wistia.com/blog">Check out Wistia’s blog ></a></p>
<h3>Econsultancy</h3>
<p>Econsultancy shares the latest digital marketing and ecommerce insight from a team of analysts and experts.</p>
<p><a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog">Check out Econsultancy’s blog > </a></p>
<h3>Hubspot</h3>
<p>Hubspot has a fantastic blog covering a range of sales and marketing topics, including A/B testing, content marketing and email marketing.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/topics">Check out Hubspot’s blog ></a></p>
<h3>Contently</h3>
<p>Contently’s Content Strategist blog takes readers on a dive into the World of content marketing, strategy and social media in a wide ranges of industries.</p>
<p><a href="https://contently.com/strategist/" target="_blank">Check out Contently’s blog > </a></p>
<h3>KISSmetrics</h3>
<p>The KISSmetrics blog aims to help you track, analyze and optimize your digital marketing.</p>
<p><a href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/" target="_blank">Check out KISSmetrics’ blog ></a></p>
<h3>Optimizely</h3>
<p>Optimizely’s blog focuses heavily on landing page optimization and A/B testing.</p>
<p><a href="https://blog.optimizely.com/" target="_blank">Check out Optimizely’s blog > </a></p>
<h3>Groove</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14757" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/groove-blog-800x635.jpg" alt="groove-blog" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>On their blog, Groove share everything about their journey to $500k in monthly revenue.</p>
<p><strong>Recommended reading:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.groovehq.com/blog/1000-subscribers" target="_blank">How We Got 1,000+ Subscribers from a Single Blog Post in 24 Hours</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.groovehq.com/blog/seo-for-startups" target="_blank">How We Got Over Our Fear of SEO and Improved Conversions 20% in the Process</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.groovehq.com/blog" target="_blank">Check out Groove’s blog > </a></p>
<h3>AdExpresso</h3>
<p>AdExpresso’s blog focuses on social media marketing and paid advertising channels. It’s an especially brilliant resource if you’re looking to learn a thing or two about Facebook Ads.</p>
<p><a href="https://adespresso.com/academy/blog/" target="_blank">Check out AdExpresso’s blog ></a></p>
<h3>Close.io</h3>
<p>Close.io’s blog is a great resource for sales tips and tricks.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.close.io/" target="_blank">Check out Close.io’s blog ></a></p>
<h3>Ghost</h3>
<p>Ghost is an awesome blogging platform and their blog focuses on how to create a blog people will love.</p>
<p><a href="https://blog.ghost.org/" target="_blank">Check out Ghost’s blog > </a></p>
<h3>Convince & Convert</h3>
<p>Convince & Convert is led by Jay Baer. Their blog covers an interesting range of social media, marketing and content.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.convinceandconvert.com/blog/" target="_blank">Check out Convince & Convert’s blog ></a></p>
<h2>Individual Marketers</h2>
<h3>Seth Godin</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14730" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/seth-godin-800x635.png" alt="seth-godin" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Seth Godin is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and marketer. His blog features short, daily posts on marketing, business and leadership.</p>
<p><strong>Recommended reading: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="entry-header"><a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/03/reject-the-tyranny-of-being-picked-pick-yourself.html" target="_blank">Reject the tyranny of being picked: pick yourself</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p class="entry-header"><a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/12/running-out-of-room-length-vs-density.html" target="_blank">Running out of room (length vs. density)</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Justin Jackson</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14727" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/justin-jackson-800x635.png" alt="justin-jackson" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Justin Jackson is a product builder and his blog focuses on helping you reach more people with the things you create.</p>
<p><strong>Recommended reading: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://justinjackson.ca/words.html">This is a web page</a></li>
<li><a href="http://justinjackson.ca/growth/#more-1087">How user growth really works</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Gary Vaynerchuck</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14728" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/gary-v-800x635.png" alt="gary-v" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Gary Vaynerchuk builds businesses. He co-founded VayerMedia and grew his family wine business from a $3M to a $60M business in just five years. He creates brilliant content on a daily basis.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/starting-a-blog-and-where-to-start-a-blog-1215151571.html">Starting a Blog, Where to Start a Blog, and Why Blogging Is Not Dead</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/effective-selling-how-to-sell-anything-1240448170.html">Number One Waste of Time? Trying to Convert Your Customer</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Viperchill</h3>
<p>On Viperchill, Glen Allsopp covers viral marketing, search engine optimisation, and blogging advice.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.viperchill.com/">Check out Viperchill ></a></p>
<h3>Neil Patel</h3>
<p>Nei Patel’s blog, Quicksprout, is a fantastic resource for marketers and covers many aspects of content marketing and social media marketing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.quicksprout.com/blog/">Check out Quicksprout > </a></p>
<h3>Jon Loomer</h3>
<p>On his blog, Jon Loomer shares advice and tips on how to become a better Facebook marketer.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jonloomer.com/blog/">Check out Jon Loomer’s blog > </a></p>
<h3>Heidi Cohen</h3>
<p>Heidi Cohen’s blog provides you with marketing insights on social media, content marketing and mobile.</p>
<p><a href="http://heidicohen.com/" target="_blank">Check out Heidi Cohen’s blog > </a></p>
<h3>Brian Dean</h3>
<p>Brian Dean’s Backlinko blog is an awesome resource for actionable SEO and content marketing advice.</p>
<p><a href="http://backlinko.com/" target="_blank">Check out Backlinko > </a></p>
<h3>Chris Brogan</h3>
<p>Chris Brogan is an author and marketer. His blog is one of the leading resources for marketing, lead generation and customer acquisition strategies for businesses.</p>
<p><a href="http://chrisbrogan.com/" target="_blank">Check out Chris Brogan’s blog ></a></p>
<h3>Nathan Barry</h3>
<p>Nath Barry is the founder of <a href="https://convertkit.com/" target="_blank">Convertkit</a>. On his blog he posts regularly about both design and marketing.</p>
<p><a href="http://nathanbarry.com/" target="_blank">Check out Nathan Barry’s blog ></a></p>
<h3>Noah Kagan</h3>
<p>On his blog, Appsumo and Sumome founder, Noak Kagan, shares tips and tricks on how he started 2 multi-million dollar businesses.</p>
<p><a href="http://okdork.com/" target="_blank">Check out Noah Kagan’s blog ></a></p>
<h2>YouTube</h2>
<h3 class="p1">Video Creators</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14807" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/video-creators-800x635.jpg" alt="video-creators" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Video Creators discuss how to leverage YouTube as a social media platform and use it to build an audience that cares about your message.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/VideoCreatorsTV" target="_blank">Check out the channel ></a></p>
<h3 class="p1"><span class="s1">Savvy Sexy Social</span></h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14784" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/youtube-1-800x635.jpg" alt="youtube-1" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Savvy Sexy Social is a marketing lifestyle blog – led from Amy “Schmittastic” Schmittauer – for brands who want to learn how to show off their amazing personality online.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/savvysexysocial/featured" target="_blank">Check out the channel ></a></p>
<h3>Sunny Lenarduzzi</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14785" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/sunny-youtube-800x635.jpg" alt="sunny-youtube" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/SunnyLenarduzzi/" target="_blank">Check out the channel ></a></p>
<h3>Sue B. Zimmerman</h3>
<p>This channel teaches entrepreneurs, business execs, and marketing professionals how powerful Instagram for business can be.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/suebzimmerman/featured" target="_blank">Check out the channel ></a></p>
<h3 data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Fsuebzimmerman%2Ffeatured">Reelseo</h3>
<p>ReelSEO’s YouTube channel offers YouTube tips and tricks for video marketing.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/reelseo" target="_blank">Check out the channel ></a></p>
<h3>Vidiseo</h3>
<p>Vidiseo helps YouTube channels and brands drive targeted viewers and measure the success of their YouTube channel.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4NpfzSlPhsurKkn3bmiXw" target="_blank">Check out the channel > </a></p>
<h2>Communities</h2>
<h3>Inbound.org</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14729" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/inbound-800x635.png" alt="inbound" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Inbound.org is where the world’s smartest marketers convene to discuss & share what’s trending in the marketing world.</p>
<p><a href="http://inbound.org/" target="_blank">Check out Inbound.org > </a></p>
<h3>GrowthHackers</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14808" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/growthhackers-800x635.jpg" alt="growthhackers" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Premiere destination to collaborate and get inspired to help grow your business.</p>
<p><a href="https://growthhackers.com/" target="_blank">Check out GrowthHackers ></a></p>
<h2>Podcasts</h2>
<h3>Mixergy</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14809" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/mixergy-800x635.jpg" alt="mixergy" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Mixergy is a great podcast where can learn from a huge range of experienced mentors and entrepreneurs through interviews with host Andrew Warner.</p>
<p><a href="http://mixergy.com/" target="_blank">Check out Mixergy > </a></p>
<h3>The Fizzle Show</h3>
<p>The Fizzle Show is a podcast for creative entrepreneurs and honest business builders who want to earn a living doing something they care about.</p>
<p><a href="https://fizzle.co/show" target="_blank">Check out The Fizzle > </a></p>
<h3>StartUp</h3>
<p>StartUp is a podcast series about what it’s really like to get a business off the ground.</p>
<p><a href="https://gimletmedia.com/show/startup/" target="_blank">Check out StartUp ></a></p>
<h3>Entrepreneur On Fire</h3>
<p>A brilliant podcast for entreprenuers and marketers. Host and founder, John Lee Dumas, interview today’s most inspiring Entrepreneurs 7-days a week</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eofire.com/podcast/" target="_blank">Check out Entreprenuer On Fire ></a></p>
<h3>The Lede</h3>
<p>Each week, The Lede answers your questions about copywriting, content marketing, email marketing, conversion optimization, mindset, and much more.</p>
<p><a href="http://rainmaker.fm/series/lede/" target="_blank">Check out The Lede ></a></p>
<h3>Six Pixels of Separation</h3>
<p>Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Seperation podcast covers digital marketing and media hacking.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.twistimage.com/podcast/" target="_blank">Check out Six Pixels of Seperation ></a></p>
<h2>Online Courses</h2>
<h3>CreativeLive</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14726" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/creativelive-800x635.png" alt="creativelive" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>CreativeLive is an online learning platform that broadcasts live classes. You can also join old classes and re-watch the lessons. The site has a wealth of awesome marketing classes.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.creativelive.com/" target="_blank">Check out CreativeLive ></a></p>
<h3>One Month</h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14805" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/one-month-800x635.jpg" alt="one-month" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>One Month is a school for entreprenuers and delivers high-quality educational content on a range of topics, including marketing.</p>
<p><a href="https://onemonth.com/" target="_blank">Check out OneMonth ></a></p>
<h3><strong>Ryan Holiday: Growth Hacker Marketing</strong></h3>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14806" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ryan-holiday-800x635.jpg" alt="ryan-holiday" width="800" height="635" /></p>
<p>Growth Hacker marketing is a short course on the future of PR, marketing and advertising by marketer, auother and former Director of Marketing for American Apparel and an editor-at-large for the New York Observer, Ryan Holiday.</p>
<p><a href="http://learn.ryanholiday.net/" target="_blank">Check out the course ></a></p>
<p><em>*Some of the courses in this section are paid for courses. </em></p>
<h2>Over to you</h2>
<p>I’d love to hear your favourite sites to learn something new about marketing.</p>
<p><strong>Where do you go when you want to check out the latest tips, trends and strategies?</strong> Let me know in the comments and I’ll be excited to check out your recomenedations.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/marketing-resources">The 43 Best Websites To Learn Something New About Marketing</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.bufferapp.com">Social</a>.</p>
<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bufferapp/~4/tJ_-6807EKI" height="1" width="1" alt="" /><br />
<br />
from Social https://blog.bufferapp.com/marketing-resources<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-34617026556502577692015-12-08T04:06:00.001-08:002015-12-08T04:06:23.173-08:00The Anatomy of An Invoice (That Gets Paid)<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Anatomy-of-an-Invoice.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Anatomy-of-an-Invoice" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33202" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/anatomy-of-an-invoice1.png" alt="anatomy-of-an-invoice1" width="900" height="538" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier in the</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Billing Like a Boss</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">series we covered</span> <a href="http://webdesignledger.com/money-talks-how-to-start-billing-like-a-boss"><span style="font-weight: 400;">how to talk about money</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">in a way that</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">isn’t</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">as awkward as that time you realized (mid-conversation) that you didn’t know the name of the person you were talking to.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now we’ll dive a little deeper into the world of invoicing. You’ll learn how to</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">not</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">embarrass yourself if you’re a billing beginner, the bare minimum if you want to be taken seriously, and a few easy ways to leverage your invoicing to become the biggest boss on the block.</span></p>
<p>Buckle up.</p>
<h2><b>The Man Behind the Curtain</b></h2>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33213" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Man-behind-the-curtain.png" alt="Man behind the curtain" width="900" height="450" /></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Remember how scary the Wizard of Oz was before before the curtain was drawn and we all discovered he was just an adorable senior citizen? That’s kinda what you want your invoices to do for you. (Go with me on this.) Even if you’re just a lone solopreneur</span> <a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/about/story?ref=11663&utm_source=webdesignledger&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=anatomy-mikebasement&utm_campaign=creatives-nov2015"><span style="font-weight: 400;">working out of your parent’s basement</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">in your housecoat and slippers, that doesn’t mean you can’t present a polished, professional curtain that portrays you as the boss you are.</span></p>
<p>Just like the way you bill (hourly, flat, value-based) makes its own statement, the appearance of your invoices will also speak on your behalf.</p>
<h2><b>How to NOT Embarrass Yourself</b></h2>
<p>Some of this stuff is going to feel obvious, but there are so many levels of invoicing prowess out there that I just wouldn’t feel right not including it. So here we go...</p>
<ol>
<li><b>Know whom you’re invoicing and how many times you’ve sent your invoice.</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">This is easier to mess up than you might think. Especially if you don’t have a system for your invoicing. Do whatever you need to do to state on your invoice</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">whom</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">the invoice recipient is (sometimes your client, sometimes someone at your client’s financial department) and</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">when</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">your invoice was sent to them.</span></li>
</ol>
<ol start="2">
<li><b>Include the basic information such as a</b> <b>date</b> <b>and a</b> <b>description</b> <b>of what you’re billing for.</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">This helps remind your clients</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">when</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">why</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">they are forking out money, and also covers your assets later in the case of late payment or confusion over what the invoice was for.</span></li>
</ol>
<ol start="3">
<li><b>Proofread your invoices.</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Make sure you’ve got the right person, the right date, the right dollar amount—the right everything. Again, it sounds simple, but it’s the simplest of things that slip through the cracks. So do your future-self a favor and start looking over your invoices for embarrassing mistakes that detract from your boss-like persona.</span></li>
</ol>
<h2><b>The Billing Bare Minimum</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you get into the habit of including the basic information in your invoices, take things up another notch by including:</span></p>
<ol>
<li><b>Clear payment terms that cover when and how you want to be paid</b></li>
<li><b>Your contact info</b></li>
<li><b>Your client’s contact info</b></li>
<li><b>A numbering system for easy reference for both you and your clients</b></li>
</ol>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33201" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/anatomy-of-an-invoice2.png" alt="anatomy-of-an-invoice2" width="900" height="538" /></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lastly, and don’t get mad, but your design software just isn’t good enough for making your invoices. Yes, it absolutely makes invoices look better than a simple spreadsheet or text-based document, no question, but what it doesn’t have is a way to help you stay on top of when you sent your invoice, if your invoice has been paid or not, how long your client took to pay the last invoice, your total income for the month—see where I’m going with this?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are tons of tools out there to help you achieve both beautiful billing AND total knowledge of your freelance finances. Best of all, they all provide the perk of keeping everything in one place for easy reference</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(insert</span></i> <a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/?ref=11664&utm_source=webdesignledger&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=anatomy-freshbooks&utm_campaign=creatives-nov2015"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">shameless FreshBooks plug</span></i></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">)</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<h2><b>Taking it up a (professional) notch</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some surprisingly simple ways to become even more boss-like in your billing:</span></p>
<p><b>Say “Thank you for your business”.</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Why? It adds a dash of positivity, which never hurts the speed of your payment, and adds a dash of professionalism to the relationship.</span></p>
<p><b>Accept online payment from your clients.</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Another thing you can do to make your client’s life easier (and thus keep them longer and maybe even get more) is to make the payment process as easy as possible. So when you send your invoice (promptly) after finishing a project, let your clients pay their invoice from the comfort of their home/office by accepting online payment. Yes, there will be a transaction fee, but think of it this way. You’re making the payment process so convenient for your client that you could likely increase your rates a touch for being so delightful to work with (just like the price difference between economy and business class on a flight). </span></p>
<p><b>Request advance payment (aka Deposits).</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Ok, here’s one that’s less about your client’s happiness and more about your own well being.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Before</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">you begin working on a project (especially a big one) request a deposit.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you already do this—fantastic!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you don’t request deposits, that’s totally OK. Many industries don’t need to because they have a physical item they can withhold in lieu of payment.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But this is not the case for us (I’m speaking specifically about web designers).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If we put in the work and the client skips town (proverbially), you are left with nothing. You’ll never get that time back, you could have been making money working on something else, and the final product you have is rarely resellable.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before you say “Woah now! That’s too much to ask”, think of framing deposits this way. By requesting deposits, neither you nor your client ever has to take on 100% of the financial risk. At the beginning, your client has to trust that you’ll put in the work. At the end, you have to trust that your client will come through with payment. Make your case on the platform of</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">mutual trust</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">because we all know the</span> <a href="http://re.tc/mvb92sb1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">world of commerce can sometimes be far from fair</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><b>Follow up with clients.</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Give a quick check in to see how they are enjoying your product/service after the project is completed. Nothing extensive, just a quick check in. Your clients will be appreciative that you’ve taken the time to show you care and will form an even stronger, more positive association with you, thus making it easier to remember you the next time they need something.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now onto what you get out of client follow up (other than warm fuzzies, of course).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By checking in with your clients to see how things are going post-payment, you’re secretly doing research for areas of improvement in your own work/process. I’m not saying you should give clients a full survey (although that would be smart), it can be as simple as a</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">how’s everything going?</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">email. You’re not committing to extending the contract (although that would be the smartest) or doing more work for free. You’re simply looking to ensure things are up to standard and there are no areas of improvement that are completely off your radar.</span></p>
<h2><b>Curtain Call</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So there you have it. The inner workings of an invoice that fully lives up to its higher purpose of creating a curtain of professionalism that says to the world “I’m a total boss at what I do”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just as you would put thought into what your website says about you (be it with words or not), you absolutely want to take time to consider the impression your invoices give off.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because your invoice is the predecessor to your paycheck.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Next, we’ll leap even further into</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Billing Bossdom</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">with a few crafty hacks to get your invoices paid lightning fast!</span></p>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/the-anatomy-of-an-invoice-that-gets-paid">The Anatomy of An Invoice (That Gets Paid)</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/the-anatomy-of-an-invoice-that-gets-paid<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-1330712756067693642015-12-07T23:54:00.001-08:002015-12-07T23:54:51.442-08:00WordPress and State of the Word 2015<img width="625" height="469" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wordcamp-2015.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="wordcamp-2015" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p>Recently, the inaugural <a href="https://2015.us.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp US</a> was held in Philadelphia, wherein Matt Mullenweg delivered his 10th annual State of the Word address.</p>
<p>A lot many things were mentioned in State of the Word 2015 by Mullenweg, with the highlight of the speech being the fact that WordPress now powers over 25% of the internet.<span id="more-33214"></span></p>
<p>Furthermore, Matt Mullenweg also mentioned the rate at which WordPress is growing, and further highlighted some of the major improvements and milestones, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Adoption of Slack for team collaboration</li>
<li>The code for WordPress.tv is now open source</li>
<li>All themes and plugins now support language packs</li>
<li>Plugin directory crossed over a billion downloads</li>
<li>Twenty Fifteen is now active on over 1.6 million websites</li>
<li>There were three major releases of WordPress this year: 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 (with 4.4 being ready for release soon)</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">At <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wcus?src=hash">#wcus</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wonderboymusic">@wonderboymusic</a> is presenting 4.4 during the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sotw?src=hash">#sotw</a>. <img src="http://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f389.png" alt="🎉" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> <a href="https://t.co/bc5rMOau5B">pic.twitter.com/bc5rMOau5B</a></p>
<p>— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) <a href="https://twitter.com/photomatt/status/673269117953048576">December 5, 2015</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript">
</script></p>
<p>Going further, Mullenweg stated that JavaScript interfaces and PHP APIs are the future of not just WordPress, but the internet:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believe quite strongly that JavaScript and API-driven interfaces are the future of not just WordPress but the web. Perhaps there could be a future where there might be something on the other side that is worth breaking backwards compatibility for.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Looking forward to 2016, Mullenweg admitted that WordPress needs to focus more on customization, and further added that in near future, JavaScript interfaces are something that WordPress needs to rely on. In fact, Mullenweg even pledged to himself contribute a JavaScript patch to the WordPress core in the coming year.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Homework assignment from <a href="https://twitter.com/photomatt">@photomatt</a>: Learn JavaScript, deeply. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCUS?src=hash">#WCUS</a> <a href="https://t.co/VHr2p4JB1O">pic.twitter.com/VHr2p4JB1O</a></p>
<p>— WordCamp US (@WordCampUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/WordCampUS/status/673276970977902593">December 5, 2015</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript">
</script></p>
<p>WordPress had humble beginnings in the form of a simple blogging platform, but today it has evolved into the world’s most popular Content Management System, and it continues to grow at a steady pace. IN 2016, WordPress is expected to grow even more, and here is what Matt Mullenweg had to say to conclude his speech:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think we can use this opening up, API-driven development to actually open up more of the web. We have a very exciting year ahead of us making the web a more open place.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What do you think of State of the Word 2015, and how does 2016 look to you from the point of view of WordPress? Share your views in the comments below!</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="1437" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33214" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/state-of-the-word-2015-wordpress" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_1437"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/state-of-the-word-2015-wordpress">WordPress and State of the Word 2015</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/state-of-the-word-2015-wordpress<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-31708901064888249032015-12-07T19:04:00.001-08:002015-12-07T19:04:01.962-08:00Dropbox Announces Mailbox and Carousel Will Shutdown In 2016<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mailbox.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Mailbox" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><a href="https://blogs.dropbox.com/carousel/2015/12/thank-you-for-using-carousel/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33207" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Carousel.jpg" alt="Carousel" width="649" height="380" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dropbox</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">has announced that it will be shutting down its photo and email apps</span> <a href="https://www.mailboxapp.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mailbox</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and</span> <a href="https://carousel.dropbox.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Carousel</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. After acquiring the startups, Mailbox in 2013 and Carousel in 2014 shortly after, Dropbox is already shifting away from both apps less than three years later. Dropbox has decided to focus on a different set of products. The company has invested in finding better ways in which people collaborate and are taking action on moving in that direction.</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>“Over the past year and a half, we’ve learned the vast majority of our users prefer the convenience and simplicity of interacting with their photos directly inside of Dropbox. With this in mind, we’ve had to make a difficult decision,” - Carousel Team, <a href="https://blogs.dropbox.com/carousel/2015/12/thank-you-for-using-carousel/">via their blog</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As for Mailbox, it is a client that worked on Gmail so none of the users files will be lost after it shutdowns. Mailbox is set to shut down February 26, 2016 followed soon after by Carousel on March 31, 2016. Dropbox has made a</span> <a href="http://www.mailboxapp.com/faq/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">few guides and export tools</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">available to help users prepare for a proper goodbye.</span></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="8712" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33205" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/dropbox-announces-mailbox-and-carousel-will-shutdown-in-2016" data-notimes="3" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_8712"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/dropbox-announces-mailbox-and-carousel-will-shutdown-in-2016">Dropbox Announces Mailbox and Carousel Will Shutdown In 2016</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/dropbox-announces-mailbox-and-carousel-will-shutdown-in-2016<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-89013372533984339582015-12-07T16:03:00.001-08:002015-12-07T16:03:36.138-08:00Lightroom Release Free for Android<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Lightroom-Android.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Lightroom-Android" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Everyone with an Android device can now look forward to the excellent editing and synchronizing of photo files that come with Adobe Lightroom. Adobe released</span> <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.lrmobile&hl=en"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lightroom for Android version 1.4</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, with a free subscription for Android mobile users. Take advantage of the free trial by signing up or logging into a Creative Cloud account.</span></p>
<p>The subscription allows you to process and organize photos with lightroom between your desktop version of Lightroom. The application is similar in capability to the Lightroom 2.0 released for iOS, also free for Apple mobile devices, back in October.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33197" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Lightroom-Android1.jpg" alt="Lightroom Android1" width="1394" height="898" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33198" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Lightroom-Android-3.jpg" alt="Lightroom Android 3" width="1565" height="839" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33199" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Lightroom-Android2.jpg" alt="Lightroom Android2" width="1372" height="891" /><br />
<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.lrmobile&hl=en"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Click here</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">to find out more about Lightroom for Android capabilities and download information.</span></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="7108" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33195" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/lightroom-release-free-for-android" data-notimes="3" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_7108"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/lightroom-release-free-for-android">Lightroom Release Free for Android</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/lightroom-release-free-for-android<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-3762272584119143372015-12-07T15:04:00.001-08:002015-12-07T15:04:41.373-08:00Mutative Design: design methodology to keeps users engaged for a lifetime<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mutative-Design.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Mutative-Design" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meet project</span> <a href="https://github.com/liamspradlin/Phoebe"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Phoebe</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a design concept introduced a the first iteration of mutative design, a design methodology that would UI be created and evolve according to a user. with mutative design interfaces would evolve or “mutate” independent on the user’s need or actions. The design could change and be affected by whether the user’s vision, age, disability, etc.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The idea is originally conceived by</span> <a href="https://medium.com/@LiamSpradlin"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Liam Spradlin</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Lead designer, touchlab, when speaking with developer</span> <a href="https://medium.com/@jaellysbales"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jae Bales</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, who is working on an app to help children learn to code using simple drag and drop UI. They then discussed how the app would continue to be engaging for children as they continued to grow up.</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>“There was a spark here — could the app change design or copy based on the user’s age, changing as the user ages to keep them engaged?” -</b> <a href="https://medium.com/@LiamSpradlin"><b>Liam Spradlin</b></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The best example of this concept is that of video games. Usually implemented in a childhood stage, video games often engage the user well into adulthood by mutating and evolving with complexity, advanced graphics, and usability.</p>
<div id="attachment_33187" style="width: 1031px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://medium.com/@LiamSpradlin/meet-project-phoebe-a-moonshot-concept-for-mutative-design-88d997f7ff14#.2eqgkuh31"><img class="wp-image-33187 size-full" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-07-at-2.07.19-PM.jpg" alt="Mutative Design 1" width="1021" height="522" /></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">The orange line represents one user’s potential journey through mutation states. Blue dots are potential starter states and white dots are all possible mutation states.</p>
</div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Contrary to today’s standards, which is described as “designing for averages” is not stable because users are lumped together into a couple different persona groups to take into consideration when designing an interface, even if the product has a million users. Mutative design breaks down the barriers of “we can’t design for everyone”; by removing compromise for the user and allowing the design to be accessible for each user’s individual scenario.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_33188" style="width: 1029px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://medium.com/@LiamSpradlin/meet-project-phoebe-a-moonshot-concept-for-mutative-design-88d997f7ff14#.2eqgkuh31"><img class="wp-image-33188 size-full" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-07-at-2.07.53-PM.jpg" alt="Mutative Design 2" width="1019" height="521" /></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Let’s say the user has a degenerative vision condition. How would that play out behind the scenes in a mutative app? Let’s think through a very basic flow where the app would decide to expand a visual target or increase color contrast based on ongoing user behavior.</p>
</div>
<p>Spradlin acknowledges that Phoebe is a “moonshot” idea by stating that it is not yet 100% realistic, but there is part of the concept of mutative design that can be solved for using more research to establish better practices around design with the concept of mutation in mind. Similar concepts like “machine learning” or AI are available today, that could also contribute to creating experiences based on individual users.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@LiamSpradlin"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Liam Spradlin</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">breaks down the concepts in elaborate detail on mutative design, a future concept of design on</span> <a href="https://medium.com/@LiamSpradlin/meet-project-phoebe-a-moonshot-concept-for-mutative-design-88d997f7ff14#.2eqgkuh31"><span style="font-weight: 400;">medium.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep the conversation going on the Community:</span> <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/105636325353264770213"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mutative Design on Google+</span></a></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="5779" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33186" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/mutative-design-design-methodology-to-keeps-users-engaged-for-a-lifetime" data-notimes="9" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_5779"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/mutative-design-design-methodology-to-keeps-users-engaged-for-a-lifetime">Mutative Design: design methodology to keeps users engaged for a lifetime</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/mutative-design-design-methodology-to-keeps-users-engaged-for-a-lifetime<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-2547286574339185922015-12-07T14:00:00.001-08:002015-12-07T14:00:09.553-08:00Free e-Book: Web Design Trends 2015 & 2016<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Web-Design-Trends-2016.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Web-Design-Trends-2016" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This last year marked a huge leap in web design, with the dominance of mobile browsing and the increase in HD devices.</span></p>
<p>Everything from typography to layouts has been restyled to suit the tastes and expectations of modern users, and the best practices of even just a few years ago can nowadays make a site look old or outdated.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For visuals, this year we saw more hero image — single images that cover the entire background. This enlarged visual, often an expressive photograph, draws the user into the site almost immediately, making it a popular choice for home and landing pages (like</span> <a href="https://twitter.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">).</span></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33179" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-trends-Twitter.jpg" alt="Design trends Twitter" width="913" height="584" /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The increase in mobile traffic also opened the door for many new trends. Long scrolling, for example, suits the natural restrictions of mobile like screen size and difficulty loading new pages. The card UI pattern, as well, suits mobile, with a flexible organization that can be rearranged for different screens (like</span> <a href="http://www.theverge.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Verge</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">).</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.theverge.com/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33178" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-trens-2.jpg" alt="Design trens 2" width="1044" height="691" /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These are just a few of the design trends discussed in</span> <a href="http://studio.uxpin.com/ebooks/web-ui-design-trends-2015-2016/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">UXPin</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s free guide</span> <a href="http://studio.uxpin.com/ebooks/web-ui-design-trends-2015-2016/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Web Design Book of Trends 2015 & 2016</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This 186-page guide explains the 10 most effective design trends of last year — why they’re popular and the best practices for applying them, with 166 hand-picked examples from companies like Adidas, Dropbox, Apple, BMW, Spotify, Google, and more.</span></p>
<p><a href="http://studio.uxpin.com/ebooks/web-ui-design-trends-2015-2016/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33177" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-trends-1.jpg" alt="Design trends 1" width="1221" height="629" /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What trends did you notice this year? Check out the</span> <a href="http://studio.uxpin.com/ebooks/web-ui-design-trends-2015-2016/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">free e-book</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and let us know your thoughts below.</span></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="1161" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33176" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/free-e-book-web-design-trends-2015-2016" data-notimes="6" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_1161"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/free-e-book-web-design-trends-2015-2016">Free e-Book: Web Design Trends 2015 & 2016</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/free-e-book-web-design-trends-2015-2016<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-85966599739260943352015-12-07T10:58:00.001-08:002015-12-07T10:58:32.736-08:00ICYMI: Weekly Ledger 4<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Weekly-Ledger-Icon.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Weekly-Ledger-Icon" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-32695" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Weekly-Ledger.jpg" alt="Weekly-Ledger" width="840" height="219" /></p>
<p>In case you missed it: last week's top web design news compiled by web designers for web designers only on <a href="http://webdesignledger.com/" target="_blank">WebDesignLedger.com</a>.</p>
<p><strong>This Week in Web Design</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.awwwards.com/be-careful-about-these-6-web-design-trends-in-2016.html" target="_blank">Be Careful About These 6 Web Design Trends in 2016</a></strong><br />
Trends in web design, like fashion trends, come and go. Sometimes trends are dictated by necessity (like responsive design). Other trends are industry shifts, such as the change from skeuomorphism to flat design.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://webdesignledger.com/the-10-best-web-design-tools-of-2015-worth-using" target="_blank">The 10 Best Web Design Tools of 2015 Worth Using</a></strong><br />
While 2015 might take some flak for not delivering on the promises of Back to the Future 2, the web design industry made Biff-sized leaps in what technology allowed and what users expected.</p>
<p><a href="http://webdesignledger.com/the-10-best-web-design-tools-of-2015-worth-using" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33048" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Affinity.jpg" alt="Affinity" width="1142" height="636" /></a></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/small-business/responsive-web-design-101-for-small-business/" target="_blank">Responsive Web Design 101 for Small Business</a></strong><br />
These incredibly important data points demonstrate how mobile Internet usage is changing the rules of the game for company websites.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://designers.hubspot.com/blog/the-history-of-web-design-infographic" target="_blank">The History of Web Design [Infographic]</a></strong><br />
Can you imagine what the very first website looked like? It was nothing like what we have today. No images. No CSS. No parallax design.</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://designers.hubspot.com/blog/the-history-of-web-design-infographic"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33173" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-07-at-11.13.15-AM.jpg" alt="History of Web Design-Hubspot" width="669" height="592" /></a></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://webdesignledger.com/un-study-finds-app-based-hookups-causing-teen-hiv-epidemic" target="_blank">UN Study Finds App-based Hookups Causing Teen HIV Epidemic</a></strong><br />
The latest <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/30/mobile-dating-apps-spurr-hiv-epidemic-among-asias-teenagers-says-un">UN Study</a> reports that apps meant for dating have been linked to an rise in HIV spread among teens in the Asia-Pacific area.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://www.instantshift.com/2015/12/02/latest-in-ecommerce-web-design/" target="_blank">What’s the Latest in E-Commerce Web Design?</a></strong><br />
A trillion-digit industry, yet you find over 65,000 names struggling to cross the bar of $1,000 in the world of E-commerce. Go through the stats, and I bet you will find an empire full of disparities.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://webdesignledger.com/interview-urooj-qureshi" target="_blank">Interview: Urooj Qureshi, UX Designer & Product Owner at 123ContactForm</a></strong><br />
We are delighted to share his interview where he talks about his beginnings as a Creative Director, turned UX Design and entrepreneurial Travel Writer.</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://webdesignledger.com/interview-urooj-qureshi" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33032" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01.LobsterFight-NovaScotia_UroojQureshi.jpg" alt="01.LobsterFight-NovaScotia_UroojQureshi" width="771" height="514" /></a></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://webdesignledger.com/swift-is-now-open-source" target="_blank">Swift is Now Open Source</a></strong><br />
The programming language made popular through it properties of speedy performance and safety, is now open source. Since <a href="https://developer.apple.com/swift/">originally presented by Apple</a> last year, it has become one of the fastest growing languages, used in everything from mobile to desktop apps.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://webdesignledger.com/money-talks-how-to-start-billing-like-a-boss" target="_blank">Money Talks | How to Start Billing Like a Boss</a></strong><br />
Is it just me, or were most of us never trained to talk about payment as a legitimate, natural progression of any project we undertake? I recall learning how to account for my income at the year’s end, but what about how to acquire that sweet nectar in the first place?</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/freelancing-101-is-it-time-to-raise-your-rates/?ref=11649&utm_source=webdesignledger&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=blog-freelance-raiserates&utm_campaign=creatives-nov2015" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33052" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/MoneyTalksPost_900x538.png" alt="MoneyTalksPost_900x538" width="900" height="538" /></a></p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="2230" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33170" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/icymi-weekly-ledger-4" data-notimes="9" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_2230"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/icymi-weekly-ledger-4">ICYMI: Weekly Ledger 4</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/icymi-weekly-ledger-4<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-62805234796025310112015-12-07T05:16:00.003-08:002015-12-07T05:16:35.130-08:00Shuriken: The Ultimate Mega Design Bundle<img width="500" height="500" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-bundle1.jpg" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" alt="Design-bundle" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;" />
<p><a href="http://Design%20bundle%202" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33162" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-bundle.jpg" alt="Design bundle" width="1125" height="433" /></a></p>
<p>As designers and creatives, we are always in pursuit of great design resources. Be it web or graphic design, everyone needs an assortment of resources to choose from, such as fonts, templates, themes, UI kits, illustrations, vectors, photos, and so on.</p>
<p>More importantly, when it comes to design resources, who doesn't like saving some money? Design deals and bundles are a great way to do just that -- you can get your hands on some awesome web and graphic design resources, and earn a big discount on the same!</p>
<p><strong>So, wanna learn about a new mega design bundle that can help you save loads of money? Meet <a href="https://gumroad.com/a/443692147">Shuriken</a> -- the world's biggest and most-loaded design bundle.</strong></p>
<p>Brought to you by <a href="https://www.samuraipixels.com/about">Samurai Pixels</a>, Shuriken comes with over 12 GB of web and graphic design resources -- illustrations, templates, WordPress themes, awesome fonts, photos and brushes, and a lot more!</p>
<h3>Shuriken: A Mega Bundle For Designers</h3>
<p>So, what all can we expect from Shuriken? Here is a quick run-down of all that Shuriken has to offer:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Website Templates:</strong> Shuriken gives you access to several multipurpose WordPress themes, eCommerce themes, HTML templates, PSDs, and a lot more.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33158" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-bundle-5.jpg" alt="Design bundle 5" width="1050" height="481" /></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Graphic Design Resources:</strong> Shuriken offers mockups, web elements, photos, brushes, addons, and print templates as well as illustrations and vectors.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33159" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-bundle-4.jpg" alt="Design bundle 4" width="1051" height="529" /></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Premium Fonts:</strong> What good is a design bundle without fonts? Shuriken includes fonts you will not see anywhere else on the web.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-33161" src="http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Design-bundle-2.jpg" alt="Design bundle 2" width="1060" height="437" /></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>A 20% discount deal on business cards.</strong> Need a new business card? Grab a 20% discount coupon inside the bundle. Just choose your card's design, enter shipping address (You can choose the design of your business card, and have it shipped to any address of your choice -- 20% discount on your total order, irrespective of the size of order or shipping location).</li>
</ul>
<p>Don't believe us? Why not <a href="https://gumroad.com/a/443692147">check it out for yourself</a>?</p>
<h3>Grab the Design Bundle</h3>
<p>Shuriken includes products worth $600+, and spanned across 1000+ files, this bundle is over 12 GB in size.</p>
<p>And how much does it cost?</p>
<p>$47.</p>
<p><strong>Correct, that's $47 for a bundle worth $600+. Over 92% off!</strong></p>
<p>Also, going beyond the premium offerings, Samurai Pixels also have a set of freebies that you can download right away, whether or not you wish to purchase Shuriken. These freebies includes templates, mockups and high resolution photos and videos. Simply head over to their homepage, and hit the flashy download button on the freebies.</p>
<p>That said, Shuriken is a great collection of very handy and useful resources for web and graphic designers alike. If you are looking to add some new resources and tools to your arsenal, Shuriken is one deal that you should surely not miss! Not only do you get to save a whopping amount of money, you also get fully-loaded and hand-picked resources for your web projects.</p>
<p>So, what's the wait? <a href="https://gumroad.com/a/443692147">Grab Shuriken before it's gone</a>! Also, be sure to share your views in the comments below.</p>
<div id="aal_api_data" data-divnumber="5260" data-target="_blank" data-postid="post-33149" data-apikey="GVb7bEKPes" data-clickbankid="" data-clickbankcat="" data-clickbankgravity="" data-amazonid="webdesled0c-20" data-amazoncat="All" data-amazonlocal="com" data-amazonactive="1" data-clickbankactive="0" data-shareasaleid="1174899" data-shareasaleactive="1" data-cjactive="0" data-ebayactive="0" data-ebayid="" data-bestbuyactive="0" data-bestbuyid="" data-walmartactive="0" data-walmartid="" data-envatoid="designmag" data-envatosite="themeforest" data-envatoactive="1" data-aurl="http://webdesignledger.com/shuriken-ultimate-mega-design-bundle" data-notimes="9" data-excludewords="boss" data-apidata=''></div>
<div id="aalcontent_5260"></div>
<p>Read More at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://webdesignledger.com/shuriken-ultimate-mega-design-bundle">Shuriken: The Ultimate Mega Design Bundle</a></p>
<br />
<br />
from Web Design Ledger http://webdesignledger.com/shuriken-ultimate-mega-design-bundle<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-66826885519638202015-12-07T05:16:00.001-08:002015-12-07T05:16:31.232-08:00Be the Shakespeare of Facebook: The Enormous Guide to Writing Spectacular Social Media Updates<blockquote>
<p>Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Anne Lamott</p>
<p>This quote from Anne Lamott resonates with me quite a bit. I seldom <a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/i-dont-know-authority-in-your-industry">know what I’m doing</a> until I’ve done it.</p>
<p>I also seldom know what other writers are doing either.</p>
<p>I recognize what I enjoy reading … aaaaand I’ve little idea why I enjoy it.</p>
<p>That’s what makes the topic of linguistics and language so fascinating to me because it helps <strong>explain all the whys behind the writing I love, the <a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/twitter-data-1-million-tweets">tweets</a> I read, the updates I favorite, and the copy I crave.</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/beat-writers-block">There’s an art and a science to writing</a> that sits just below the surface, and I’d love to share with you what I’ve learned about how to reveal it and incorporate it into your marketing messages—and how to write copy that people love!</p>
<p><span id="more-11492"></span></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Linguistics.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14087" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Linguistics-800x400.png" alt="Linguistics" width="800" height="400" /></a></p>
<p style="background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #ff9; clear: both; margin-bottom: 18px; overflow: hidden; border: 1px solid #e5e597; padding: 13px;">I get suuuuper into detail in this post. If it ever seems like a bit much, there’s also <a href="http://eepurl.com/bIIvRL">an easy, on-demand email version</a> of this info, delivered in 5 short, digestible bits!</p>
<h2>Linguistics, microstyle, and the beauty of small writing</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Simplicity is not a given. It is an achievement, a human invention, a discovery, a beloved belief.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– William H. Gass, <em>Finding a Form</em></p>
<p>When I look at a format like Twitter for instance, I see a 140-character limit that has helped explode our use of writing and creative expression. We often <a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/7-examples-of-how-creative-constraints-can-lead-to-amazing-work">thrive creatively when given constraints</a>, and I think this has absolutely been true on social media where the messages are short and simple yet the effect resonates just as much or more.</p>
<p>What writers and sharers have found effective (purposefully or accidentally) is the power of a few particular types of word science. I’d love to get into each of these in fine detail in this article.</p>
<p><strong>What is linguistics?</strong></p>
<p><strong>What are literary devices?</strong></p>
<p><strong>What is microstyle?</strong></p>
<p><strong>What is syntax?</strong></p>
<p>And if it helps to have a little nudge of encouragement while you’re discovering the best way to write, here’s some advice I hold dear from William Zinsser:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair.</p>
<p>I’ve often found that the hares who write for the paper are overtaken by the tortoises who move studiously toward the goal of mastering the craft. … <strong>Forget the competition and go at your own pace. Your only contest is with yourself.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Table of contents</h2>
<p>1. <a href="#word">How to find the perfect word</a></p>
<p>2. <a href="#sentence">How to write a great sentence</a></p>
<p>3. <a href="#paragraph">How to write a great paragraph</a></p>
<p>4. <a href="#exercises">Formats and exercises for writing short</a></p>
<p style="background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #ff9; clear: both; margin-bottom: 18px; overflow: hidden; border: 1px solid #e5e597; padding: 13px;">I get suuuuper into detail in this post. If it ever seems like a bit much, there’s also <a href="#">an easy, on-demand email version</a> of this info, delivered in 5 short, digestible bits!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="word"></a><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/31.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14567" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/31-800x400.jpg" alt="3" width="800" height="400" /></a></p>
<h2>How to Find the Perfect Word</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#stop">Stop consonants and glide consonants</a></li>
<li><a href="#iambs">Iambs & trochees</a></li>
<li><a href="#new">How to create a new word</a></li>
<li><a href="#alliteration">Alliteration</a></li>
<li><a href="#anagrams">Anagrams</a></li>
</ol>
<p>Sometimes (okay, a lot of times) I find myself <strong>clicking on an update or a tweet because of a single word.</strong></p>
<p>The word might be a power word, one of those catchy <a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/words-and-phrases-that-convert-ultimate-list">words that convert and get people to click</a>. Or, and this is where I’m keen to learn much more, the word just <em>sounds</em> cool.</p>
<p><strong>Now, how do you find a cool-sounding word?</strong></p>
<p>One helpful bit of context is to think of these words within the bigger idea of syntax: way that words are pieced together into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Within syntax, the specific choice of word—its rhythm, its sounds, its letters even—can make the difference between a sentence or phrase that flourishes and one that flops.</p>
<p>Here’s a bit more about the pieces and parts of these perfect (and cool!) words.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="stop"></a></p>
<h3><strong>1. Consonants that make you stop and consonants that make you glide</strong></h3>
<p>Stop consonants are those that <strong>cause the vocal tract to block when pronouncing the consonant.</strong></p>
<p>Glide consonants <strong>do not obstruct the vocal tract and are quite frictionless when spoken</strong>.</p>
<p>Huh?</p>
<p>That was my first reaction, too! A few examples might help. Sound each of these out, either in your head or out loud, and notice the way each of them feel as you’re saying them.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Somewhere a ponderous tower clock slowly dropped a dozen strokes into the gloom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– James Thurber, <em>The Wonderful O</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Nathaniel Hawthorne</p>
<p>In these examples, the first uses a handful of stop consonants, giving the sentence a staccato vibe and a certain, ticking rhythm. The second example uses glide consonants, allowing the words to flow from one to the next.</p>
<p><em>The effect of a stop consonant</em> is to slow the flow of a word or sentence, thereby bringing a certain rhythm or symbolism to what you’re saying (or reading). Often these stop words help highlight what comes next or build to a grand conclusion—a bit like a countdown, when used in succession.</p>
<p><strong>Stop consonants include:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>t</li>
<li>d</li>
<li>k</li>
<li>g</li>
<li>b</li>
<li>p</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Glide consonants</em>, on the other hand, can lead to a really smooth flow from word to word and in the greater context of a sentence or paragraph.</p>
<p><strong>Glide consonants may include:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>l</li>
<li>r</li>
<li>j</li>
<li>w</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p>Stop consonants:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb1.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14669" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb1-800x238.png" alt="fb1" width="800" height="238" /></a></p>
<p>Glide consonants:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb2.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14668" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb2-800x237.png" alt="fb2" width="800" height="237" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="iambs"></a></p>
<h3>2. The stress of syllables</h3>
<p>Let’s get into the rhythm of the word itself. Rhythm comes from syllables, the individual units of words that make up the whole. For instance water has two syllables (wa-ter), and inferno has three (in-fer-no).</p>
<p>Now for the science-y good stuff. There are some really neat distinctions to be made with the order and emphasis of syllables. At the simplest level, these come down to iambs and trochees.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Iambs</strong> – an <strong>unstressed</strong> syllable followed by a <strong>stressed</strong> one (dee DUM)</li>
<li><strong>Trochees</strong> – a <strong>stressed</strong> syllable followed by an <strong>unstressed</strong> one (DUM dee)</li>
</ul>
<p>The difference, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-The-Art-Writing-Little/dp/039334181X">as Christopher Johnson notes in <em>Microstyle</em></a>, can be quite striking:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Iambs tend to sound lighter and softer, and trochees tend to sound heavier and harder.</p>
<p><strong>“Feminine” brand names, like Chanel, are often iambs; “masculine” ones, like Black & Decker, tend to be trochees.</strong></p>
<p>Most people “feel” this difference even if they find it hard to pinpoint.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/iambs-trochees.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14671" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/iambs-trochees-800x309.png" alt="iambs trochees" width="800" height="309" /></a></p>
<p>(If you ever find yourself naming a company or a product, this seems like super helpful advice!)</p>
<p>What effect do you want to make with your social media update? Are you going for lighter and softer or heaver and harder? Which one suits your brand’s voice and tone best?</p>
<p>For instance, I’m writing up a bunch of customer stories currently. Do I want to call them case studies (DUM dee) or user reviews (dee DUM)?</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb4.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14672" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb4-800x235.png" alt="fb4" width="800" height="235" /></a> <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb3.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14673" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb3-800x237.png" alt="fb3" width="800" height="237" /></a></p>
<p>Iambs and trochees might seem a bit foreign to the social media space, but they’re commonplace for poetry. Heard of iambic pentameter? It’s basically the placement of five consecutive iambs in a line of verse, like this from Shakespeare’s <em>Twelfth Night</em>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If <strong>mu</strong>sic <strong>be</strong> the <strong>food</strong> of <strong>love</strong>, play <strong>on</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So here’s where things get really interesting for the catchy social media updates you might spot.</p>
<p>Can you make a social media update sound like poetry?</p>
<p>Sure enough! We just touched on iambic pentameter (five iambs in a row), and there’s tons more. A couple of my favorites that I’ve found are anapaests and dactyls, which deal with the distinction between three-syllable words and phrases—basically a bit more wiggle room when composing longer updates or looking for longer words.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Anapaests</strong> – two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one (dee dee DUM)</li>
<li><strong>Dactyls</strong> – a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones (DUM dee dee)</li>
</ul>
<p>And like iambic pentameter, these anapaests and dactyls can fit within meters, too. Here’s an example of an anapestic tetrameter, which is when <strong>four consecutive anapaests appear</strong>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>And to<strong>day</strong> the Great <strong>Yer</strong>tle, that <strong>mar</strong>velous <strong>he</strong><br />
Is <strong>King</strong> of the <strong>Mud</strong>. That is <strong>all</strong> he can <strong>see</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Dr. Seuss, Yertle the Turtle</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/yertle.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14791" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/yertle-800x326.png" alt="yertle" width="800" height="326" /></a></p>
<p>OK, so not if we were to spin this into the social media updates that we all write, would the advice to be “take a poetry class”? Not really. Where these syllables and arrangements can be most effective is in the noticing of rhythm when you’re writing an update. Does something sound oh-so-close to rolling off the tongue but is just slightly stuck? Maybe it’s just a syllable away from an anapestic tetrameter.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb5.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14674" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb5-800x239.png" alt="fb5" width="800" height="239" /></a></p>
<p><em><strong>Check</strong> out this <strong>me</strong>ga guide: <strong>Snap</strong>chat and <strong>You</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="new"></a></p>
<h3>3. Create a new word</h3>
<p>In need of a great word? Why not make one up?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-The-Art-Writing-Little/dp/039334181X">Christopher Johnson’s book <em>Microstyle</em></a> lists seven ways to create a word from scratch. Many of these borrow from age-old literary devices like <strong>Portmanteau, </strong>which is the joining together two or more words in order to create an entirely new word. Here’s the full list (along with some examples of each).</p>
<ol>
<li>Reuse an existing word (Apple, spam)</li>
<li>Create a new compound word by sticking two words together (YouTube, Facebook)</li>
<li>Create a blend by combining one part of a word with another word or word part (Technorati, pastarazzi)</li>
<li>Attach a prefix or a suffix to a word (uncola, Bufferoo)</li>
<li>Make something up out of arbitrary syllables (Tivo, Cee-Lo)</li>
<li>Make an analogy or play on words (podcast, Sketchpaper)</li>
<li>Create an acronym (SCUBA, guba)</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>A bonus literary device: </strong><strong>Spoonerism: </strong>interchanging the first letters of some words in order to create new words. This is mostly done in error or, if intentionally, done as a joke. Still, I’d expect it to be catchy if it were to pop up in a timeline!</p>
<p><strong>Example:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb6.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14675" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb6-800x233.png" alt="fb6" width="800" height="233" /></a></p>
<p><em>(Yikes, that might be a terrible one. I’m new to this!)</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="alliteration"></a></p>
<h3>4. The world’s favorite literary device: Alliteration</h3>
<p>Here’s one you may recognize. Alliteration is <strong>words beginning with the same letters or letter sounds.</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>A dozen delicious doughnuts</li>
<li>Throwback Thursday</li>
<li>Facebook on a flip phone? Fantastic!</li>
</ul>
<p>You’ll see alliteration used in headlines quite often, particularly coupling a listicle number to a following adjective like 7 Sensational Whats-its or 10 Terrific Who’zles. There’s even a small bit of thought that <a href="http://www.kevanlee.com/how-to-write-a-listicle/">prime numbers work so well in listicles</a> because they can be easily paired with lots of alliterative adjectives and nouns.</p>
<p><strong>Bonus tip:</strong> A cool way to use alliteration is to string together a ton and then break off the pattern suddenly. (The word you use to break things off will stand out quite starkly, in a good way!)</p>
<p><strong>Example:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb7.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14676" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb7-800x234.png" alt="fb7" width="800" height="234" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="anagrams"></a></p>
<h3><strong>5. Anagrams! (the newspaper’s word jumble)</strong></h3>
<p>Have you ever seen this puzzle in your newspaper?</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/word-jumble-anagram.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-14664" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/word-jumble-anagram.jpg" alt="word jumble anagram" width="450" height="556" /></a></p>
<p>It’s built on <strong>anagrams, the jumbling of word parts to make a new word. </strong></p>
<p>In the example above, the jumbling makes nonsense words, which are great for puzzles. Where the real value in anagrams lies for your social sharing is with the creation of other words, using the same letters in the original. There’s a neat tool out there from Wordsmith.org called <a href="http://wordsmith.org/anagram/">the Internet Anagram Server</a>. Here’re some examples I grabbed:</p>
<p>Kevan Lee = Navel Eek</p>
<p>San Francisco = Casino Francs</p>
<p>Product Hunt = Doc Truth Pun</p>
<p><strong>Example:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb8.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14677" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb8-800x231.png" alt="fb8" width="800" height="231" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="sentence"></a><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14565" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/1-800x400.jpg" alt="1" width="800" height="400" /></a></p>
<h2>How to Write a Great Sentence</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#end">End your sentence with your strongest words</a></li>
<li><a href="#climax">Climax expressions</a></li>
<li><a href="#inversions">Inversions</a></li>
<li><a href="#repetition">Parallelism</a></li>
<li><a href="#ellipses">Ellipses</a></li>
<li><a href="#metaphor">Metaphor & Simile</a></li>
<li><a href="#incremental">Incremental repetition</a></li>
<li><a href="#tom">Tom Swifties</a></li>
</ol>
<p>Marketing copy is built on great sentences. Facebook updates, tweets, Pinterest captions, blog post intros—these are all incredible places to string together a subject/verb in a way that <strong>catches attention and gets more clicks</strong>.</p>
<p>And here’s the really awesome thing: The best sentences likely already come intuitively for you!</p>
<p>The tips below, which include some neat linguistic approaches and literary terms, are those you’d recognize in your favorite sentences and in the catchy sentences you’re already writing. Hopefully, knowing the science behind what makes these great can help take your sentence writing to the next level.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="end"></a></p>
<h3>1. End your sentence with strong words</h3>
<p>This is a lovely, simple tip: When composing your sentence, be sure to <strong>place a strong word or two last.</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Style-writing-Harriman-Modern-Classics/dp/085719187X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444755814&sr=1-1&keywords=9780857191878">F.L. Lucas in his book <em>Style: The Art of Writing Well</em></a> (one of my all-time favorite writing books, by the way) explains it here—and in so doing, gives a great example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I suggest that anyone who goes through the next thing he writes, <em>seeing to it that most of his sentences end with words that really matter</em>, may be surprised to find how the style gains, like a soggy biscuit dried in the oven.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb9.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14678" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fb9-800x315.png" alt="fb9" width="800" height="315" /></a></p>
<p><em>We’re so thrilled to announce the latest version of the Buffer app today: Automated Monitoring w/ in-Home <strong>Churro Delivery</strong>. Get the full details over on our blog post, including your first free <strong>churro</strong></em>.</p>
<p>As opposed to:</p>
<p><em>“New Automated Monitoring (w/ churros!) is now live within the Buffer <strong>dashboard</strong>. Take it for a spin, get a churro for free, and tell us what you <strong>think</strong>!”</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="climax"></a></p>
<h3>2. Use climax expressions</h3>
<p>The key to a climax expression is simply this: <strong>Whatever your most important phrase is within your sentence, have it come last.</strong></p>
<p>The phrasing and order can really make a big difference. Take this example <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aspects-Language-Dwight-Bolinger/dp/0155038729">from Dwight Bolinger in <em>Aspects of Language</em></a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>After he ate, he left the house </em> answers the question, “What did he do after he ate?”; <em>He left the house after he ate</em> answers the question “When did he leave the house?” The climax expression comes last.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Linguists have found that many languages do the opposite: something called <strong>sentence perspective</strong>, where the known elements (e.g., “After he ate”) come first and the unexpected elements (what happened after he ate?) come last.</p>
<p>English takes a different tack, moving the strongest phrase last, regardless of whether it’s known or unknown.</p>
<p>It’s a small, really subtle difference, with the takeaway being: Put your strongest phrase last, as often as you can (and don’t mind breaking any rules). <strong>It not only can change the complexion of the sentence, but it also tells the reader which part to focus on the most. </strong></p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-example.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14792" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-example-800x242.png" alt="fb example" width="800" height="242" /></a></p>
<p>As opposed to:</p>
<p><em>“If you’re interested in saving more time, sign up for our free e-course.”</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="inversions"></a></p>
<h3>3. Inversions</h3>
<p>A typical sentence construction might be: Subject > Verb > Adverb.</p>
<p>With an inversion, this order gets flipped entirely around: <strong>Adverb > Verb > Subject. </strong></p>
<p>Talk about noticeable!</p>
<p>It might seem a bit odd to do at first, though the effect is quite catchy and elegant.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Into this grey lake</em> plopped the thought, I know that man, don’t I?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Doris Lessing, <em>Children of Violence</em></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-ex.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14793" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-ex-800x243.png" alt="fb ex" width="800" height="243" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="repetition"></a></p>
<h3><strong>4. Parallelism & the art of repeating things</strong></h3>
<p>With parallelism, you <strong>repeat words and sentence structures in a strategic way</strong>, building to a cohesive sentence or two that compounds on itself the more similarities it shares.</p>
<p>Within the DNA of parallelism is <strong>rhythm</strong>, which tends to be a common theme in a lot of the strategies mentioned here.</p>
<p>And you’ll probably start to recognize parallelism in some of the catchiest quotes and passages from speeches and literature, too. Here’s a teaser.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Ecclesiastes: 3:1-2</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– John F. Kennedy, inaugural address, January 20, 1961</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-ex1.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14794" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-ex1-800x240.png" alt="fb ex1" width="800" height="240" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="ellipses"></a></p>
<h3><strong>5. Ellipsis</strong></h3>
<p>An ellipsis occurs when <strong>writing a series of similar phrases and removing the similar parts that may be understood by the reader. </strong>(The sentence still sounds good, by the way; all the most important sentence parts are still there.)</p>
<p>There’re a handful of really neat advantages to this style:</p>
<ol>
<li>Gives the reader a voice by allowing him/her to fill in the missing pieces</li>
<li>Provides surprise with missing words</li>
<li>Emphasizes the missing words (since the reader must figure them out herself)</li>
<li>Removing words can create a sense of energy and brevity</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>My Juvenal and Dante are as faithful as I am able or dare or can bear <em>to be.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Robert Lowell, <em>Near the Ocean</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>No, I have never seen this face which you show me in the photograph. You would hardly forget it, would you, sir, for I’ve seldom seen an uglier.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Conan Doyle, <em>The Six Napoleons</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>It often happens that the sicker man is the nurse to the sounder.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Thoreau, <em>A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers </em></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-ex2.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14795" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-ex2-800x238.png" alt="fb ex2" width="800" height="238" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="metaphor"></a></p>
<h3>6. Metaphor vs. Simile</h3>
<p>There’s this great description of the difference between these two, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-The-Art-Writing-Little/dp/039334181X">from Christopher Johnson’s book <em>Microstyle</em></a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a metaphor is when you say one thing is another thing, and a simile is when you say one thing is like another thing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A <strong>simile</strong> uses the words “like” or “as” to draw the comparison.</p>
<p>A <strong>metaphor</strong> implies a bit more indirectly.</p>
<p>In both cases, you’re <strong>using a known object to help describe a lesser-known one, </strong>which can be great for helping to explain new concepts quickly and easily on social media.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-05-at-6.14.01-AM.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14796" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-05-at-6.14.01-AM-800x238.png" alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-05 at 6.14.01 AM" width="800" height="238" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="incremental"></a></p>
<h3>7. Incremental repetition</h3>
<p>This device is used when writers <strong>add to something that has been repeated</strong>, lending the repeated word or phrase more emphasis.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>He was a simple man, a simple man with a dream.</p>
<p>She was lovely, lovely beyond words.</p>
<p>There is much to be gained, to be gained from losing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14797" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-800x241.png" alt="fb" width="800" height="241" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="tom"></a></p>
<h3>Just for fun: Swifties</h3>
<p>These phrases are clever parodies that occur when <strong>quoting someone and attributing the quote using a pun. </strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You got a nice butt, lady,” he said cheekily.</p>
<p>“I’m the plumber,” he said, with a flush.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The phrase originated with a series of Tom Swift books (similar to Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew) where the author was fond of finding fresh ways to say “said” when quoting a character. The key example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We must hurry,” said Tom swiftly.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A swifty was originally known as a Tom Swifty, thanks to this example.</p>
<p><strong>Example:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb2.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14798" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb2-800x243.png" alt="fb2" width="800" height="243" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> —</p>
<p><a name="paragraph"></a><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/21.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14566" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/21-800x400.jpg" alt="2" width="800" height="400" /></a></p>
<h2>How to Write a Great Paragraph</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#be"><em>be</em>-sentences</a></li>
<li><a href="#devices">Literary devices</a></li>
<li><a href="#rhetoric">Classic English rhetoric</a></li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>Paragraphs are almost as important for how they look as for what they say; they are maps of intent.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Stephen King (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439156816/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439156816&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=GDTZVC36VTYFNV42">via</a>)</p>
<p>Do you have a favorite paragraph?</p>
<p>It’s kind of an odd thing to favorite, or to notice really. Yet paragraphs are so important in building the structure of blog posts, ebooks, even a long social media update.</p>
<p>There’re so many different ways and styles of writing and organizing paragraphs. Copywriters often go with single sentences as paragraphs. Others bundle them together in threes and fours. Yet no matter how the paragraph comes together, these tips on paragraph writing can work to take a paragraph from good to great.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="be"></a></p>
<h3>1. Use short, <em>be-</em>sentences to start a paragraph</h3>
<p>We all know what a short sentence looks like. (I’m familiar, though I could definitely use them more!)</p>
<p>But a <em>be-</em>sentence?</p>
<p>That was a new one to me!</p>
<p><em>Be-</em>sentences are those that include a <em>be</em> verb. And what are <em>be </em>verbs? Here’s a list:</p>
<ul>
<li>am</li>
<li>is</li>
<li>are</li>
<li>was</li>
<li>were</li>
<li>be</li>
<li>being</li>
<li>been</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961392185/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0961392185&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=5SDFA3PYLR77DAHC">In Virginia Tufte’s <em>Artful Sentences</em></a>, she write about how short sentences serve to introduce the paragraph, helping the reader move easily into a new topic. The <em>be-</em>sentence works singly or in pairs or triplets.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the morning <em>it was all over. The fiesta was finished</em>. I woke about nine o-clock, had a bath, dressed, and went downstairs. The square was empty and there were no people on the streets. A few children were picking up rocket-sticks in the square …</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ernest Hemingway, <em>The Sun Also Rises</em></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-paragraph.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14799" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fb-paragraph-800x359.png" alt="fb paragraph" width="800" height="359" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="devices"></a></p>
<h3>2. The literary devices you learned in school (but might have forgot)</h3>
<p>Running through the list of literary devices (there’s a complete list over at <a href="http://literary-devices.com/">Literary-Devices.com</a>), I was amazed at a) how many there are, b) how many I had heard of before, and c) how many I had forgotten about!</p>
<p>Here’s a short list of the ones that might be most helpful for adding some sizzle to your social media sharing. They’d make for great paragraphs!</p>
<p><strong>Allegory</strong> – conveying an abstract concept by using a concrete object as an example</p>
<p><strong>Analogy</strong> – conveying a new idea by referencing a familiar one</p>
<p><strong>Anastrophe</strong> – swapping the placement of the noun and adjective</p>
<p><strong>Anthropomorphism</strong> – giving human qualities to a non-human object</p>
<p><strong>Assonance</strong> – repeating of vowel sounds within a sentence or phrase</p>
<p><strong>Consonance</strong> – repeating of consonant sounds within a sentence or phrase</p>
<p><strong>Euphony</strong> – the use of phrases or words that are known for producing melody or loveliness in the sound they create</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It has been said that the phrase “cellar door” is reportedly the most pleasant sounding phrase in the English language. The phrase is said to depict the highest degree of euphony, and is said to be especially notable when spoken in the British accent.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(<a href="http://literary-devices.com/frontpage?page=3">via</a>)</p>
<p><strong>Internal Rhyme</strong> – forming a rhyme in only one line of verse</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We were the first that ever burst.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Samuel Taylor Coleridge, <em>The Rime of the Ancient Mariner</em></p>
<p><strong>Kennings</strong> – related to works in Old English poetry where the author would use a twist of words, figure of speech or magic poetic phrase or a newly created compound sentence or phrase</p>
<ul>
<li>Battle-sweat = blood</li>
<li>Sky-candle = sun</li>
<li>Whale-road = ocean</li>
<li>Light-of-battle = sword</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Hand-computer = iPhone <img src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/simple-smile.png" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></em></p>
<p><strong>Malapropism</strong> – misusing words by substituting words that sound similar but may have very different meaning</p>
<p><strong>Metaphor</strong> – implying one subject to be another, helping to better understand a lesser-known subject by relating it to a more well-known one</p>
<p><strong>Onomatopoeia</strong> – words that sounds like the sound they depict</p>
<p><strong>Oxymoron</strong> – when words that seem to be contradictory appear next to each other (e.g. Jumbo Shrimp)</p>
<p><strong>Puns</strong> – a joke, playing on the different meanings of same or similar-sounding words or phrases</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/waiter-pun.png"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14665" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/waiter-pun.png" alt="waiter pun" width="500" height="327" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="rhetoric"></a></p>
<h3>3. The way Shakespeare would have Facebooked</h3>
<p>Wouldn’t Shakespeare have been a rad Facebooker? His sonnets and plays are chock full of amazingly well-constructed sentences and thoughts that would be so fun to see in short bursts on social media.</p>
<p>Here’s what he and his contemporaries had at their disposal: Rhetoric and syntax, those bits of language that we all know and love (and notice), but can less often name.</p>
<p><strong>Rhetoric is the use of language to affect an audience.</strong></p>
<p><strong>And syntax is the unique way that we form phrases, clauses, and sentences. </strong></p>
<p>Rhetoric and syntax are close cousins to literary devices; in fact, literary devices often help make up the snappy rhetoric and syntax that is much-loved in writing and speech. I touched on some of the well-known devices above. There’s a ton of old-school ones, too, that Shakespeare and friends got great use of.</p>
<p>Here’s a big list of a huge number of rhetorical devices that could work wonders in your social media updates. (A lot of the obscure ones here came from a book called <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIPOJX0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BIPOJX0&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=7ORVRKROXJPACZVO">Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric</a></em> — it’s a wonderful read, and so too is Demian Farnwoth’s recap <a href="http://thecopybot.com/literary-devices-web-style/">here</a>).</p>
<p>Here’s the full list of 22:</p>
<p><strong>1. Epimone</strong> – Repeating a phrase</p>
<p><strong>2. Epizeuxis</strong> – Repeating a word</p>
<p><strong>3. Epanalepsis</strong> – Repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning and end of a sentence</p>
<p><strong>4. Anaphora</strong> -Repeating the same word or phrase at the start of consecutive sentences or clauses</p>
<p><strong>5. Epistrophe</strong> – Repeating the same word or phrase at the end of a series of sentences or clauses</p>
<p><strong>6. Symploce</strong> – Repeating words at the start of successive sentences or clauses and at the end of them, often with just a small change in the middle.</p>
<p><strong>7. Anadiplosis</strong> – Using the same language at the end of one sentence or clause and at the start of the next – an ABBC pattern.</p>
<p><strong>8. Polyptoton</strong> – Repeating the root of a word with a different ending.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In so far as religion is gone, reason is going.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– G.K. Chesterton, <em>Orthodoxy</em></p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5;">9. Isocolon</strong> <span style="line-height: 1.5;">– Using successive sentences, clauses, or phrases similar in length and parallel in structure.</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Emerson, Worship (1860)</p>
<p><strong>10. Antithesis</strong> – Juxtaposing parallel but contrasting ideas or images.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Charles Dickens, <em>A Tale of Two Cities</em></p>
<p><strong>11. Oscillation</strong> – Begins a passage with parallel elements of one length, then shortens them, then ends with a long phrase.</p>
<p><strong>12. Chiasmus</strong> – Repeating words or other elements with their order reversed.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He does not possess wealth; it possesses him.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Benjamin Franklin, <em>Poor Richard’s Almanack</em></p>
<p><strong>13. Anastrophe</strong> – Making words appear in unexpected order.<em> </em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The association of interest between Britain and France remains. The cause remains. Duty inescapable remains.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Churchill, London radio broadcast (1940) 2678</p>
<p><strong>14. Polysyndeton</strong> – The repeated use of conjunctions.</p>
<p><strong>15. Asyndeton</strong> – Leaving out a conjunction where it might have been expected.</p>
<p><strong>16. Præteritio</strong> – When the speaker describes what he will not say, and so says it, or at least a bit of it, after all.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The proceedings opened with a speech from my colleague, of which I will say nothing. It was deplorable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>G.K. Chesterton, <em>Manalive</em></p>
<p><strong>17. Aposiopesis</strong> – Breaking off a sentence and leaving it unfinished.</p>
<p><strong>18. Metanoia</strong> – Correcting oneself.</p>
<p><strong>19. Litotes</strong> – A speaker avoids making an affirmative claim directly and instead denies its opposite.</p>
<p><strong>20. Erotema</strong> – Asking a question that does not call for a reply.</p>
<p><strong>21. Hypophora</strong> – The speaker asks a question and answers it.</p>
<p><strong>22. Prolepsis</strong> – The speaker anticipates an objection (not necessarily a question) and comments on it.</p>
<p>And here’s a bit more on the first six—all of which could work great on social media.</p>
<h3>1. Repeating a phrase</h3>
<p><em>Official term: Epimone (“eh-PI-moan”)</em></p>
<p>Using multiple phrases is something you might be quite familiar with—lots of exclamations use it, lots of titles and subjects, too.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The horror! The horror!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Joseph Conrad, <em>Heart of Darkness </em>(<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIPOJX0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BIPOJX0&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=7ORVRKROXJPACZVO">via</a>)</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/tweet-examples.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-14556" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/tweet-examples-800x439.jpg" alt="tweet examples" width="399" height="219" /></a></p>
<h3>2. Repeating a word</h3>
<p><em>Official term: Epizeuxis (“eh-pi-ZOOK-zis”) </em></p>
<p>Much like the above literary device for repeating phrases, this device is a bit simpler: Just one word.</p>
<p><strong>Examples: </strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Winston Churchill</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-14802" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1-800x439.jpg" alt="1" width="399" height="219" /></a></p>
<h3>3. Repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning and end of a sentence</h3>
<p><em>Official name: Epanalepsis (“eh-puh-nuh-LEP-sis”)</em></p>
<p>Again, similar to the above (so many of these are related, it makes variations really fun), this form of repetition is a bit like an Oreo: Repeated words/phrases are the cookies, other words are the stuffing.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The King is dead. Long live the King!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-14803" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2-800x439.jpg" alt="2" width="399" height="219" /></a></p>
<h3>4. Repeating the same word or phrase at the start of consecutive sentences or clauses</h3>
<p><em>Official name: Anaphora (“ah-NAH-four-uh”)</em></p>
<p>One of the most famous of these old-tyme literary devices, this is the one made famous and memorable by speeches like Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech (see below).</p>
<p>The effect here, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIPOJX0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BIPOJX0&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=7ORVRKROXJPACZVO">according to <em>Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric</em>,</a> is two-fold: “Returning to the same words creates <strong>a hammering effect;</strong> and starting sentences with the same words also creates an involving <strong>rhythm</strong>” which can then be repeated or abandoned.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.</p>
<p>I have a dream today!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Martin Luther King (“I have a dream” is repeated at the start of eight sentences in a row)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– William Shakespeare, <em>King John</em></p>
<p>There also can be a bit of <strong>unexpected climax</strong> with anaphora, for instance when the repeated phrase leads to a sentence where the repeated feeling gets flipped on its head. For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull everywhere. He was dull in a new way, and that made many people think him GREAT.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Johnson, in Boswell’s Life (1791)</p>
<h3>5. Repeating the same word or phrase at the end of a series of sentences or clauses</h3>
<p><em>Official name: Epistrophe (“e-pis-tro-phee”)</em></p>
<p>Here we have the opposite of the anaphora, the device mentioned above, where the repeated word/phrase occurs at the end.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Herman Melville, <em>Moby Dick</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Ralph Waldo Emerson</p>
<h3>6. Repeating words at the start of successive sentences or clauses and at the end of them, often with just a small change in the middle.</h3>
<p><em>Official name: Symploce (sim-plo-see or sim-plo-kee) </em></p>
<p>Sound familiar? Symploce is a combination of anaphora and epistrophe—repeated words/phrases at the beginning and end of a clause. As you’ll see in the examples below, the repetition is nearly fully exact, which makes for a memorable turn of phrase.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am not afraid of you; – but I am afraid for you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Anthony Trollope, <em>The Prime Minister</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>– G.K. Chesterton, <em>Orthodoxy</em></p>
<h3>A note about abandonment:</h3>
<p>A lof ot these literary devices have a touch of rhythm to them, which is one of the great aspects of what makes them so memorable and catchy.</p>
<p>By the same token, there’s something to be said for abandoning this rhythm right at the point when the reader things they know what’s coming next. Abandonment often makes for good humor also, as the unexpected catches people off guard in a fun way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—-</p>
<p><a name="exercises"></a><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/41.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14568" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/41-800x400.jpg" alt="4" width="800" height="400" /></a></p>
<h2>Formats and Exercises for Writing Short</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#escalator">Escalator pitch</a></li>
<li><a href="#high-concept">High-concept pitch</a></li>
<li><a href="#micro">Micromessage</a></li>
<li><a href="#plot">Plot wheels</a></li>
<li><a href="#incubation">Incubation method</a></li>
<li><a href="#geese">Kicking the geese out of the boat</a></li>
</ol>
<p>And now for some fun ways to put it all together. <img src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/simple-smile.png" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p>These exercises can help with getting in the mindset to use your best words, sentences, and paragraphs to get your point across. Some might be great for brainstorming new ideas; some might be great for coming up with the text you’ll share on Facebook or Twitter.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="escalator"></a></p>
<h3>1. Escalator pitch</h3>
<p>You’ve maybe heard of an elevator pitch? A pitch you can make in the time it takes to ride an elevator with a prospective buyer?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-The-Art-Writing-Little/dp/039334181X">The escalator pitch</a> is similar, with a twist.</p>
<p>Instead of a pitch that lasts as long as an escalator ride, the escalator pitch is <strong>a pitch short enough that you can make it on your way up the escalator as your potential buyer is on his/her way down.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/product-hunt.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14800" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/product-hunt-771x800.png" alt="product hunt" width="771" height="800" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="high-concept"></a></p>
<h3>2. High-concept pitch</h3>
<p>One step beyond (shorter) than the escalator pitch is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-The-Art-Writing-Little/dp/039334181X">the high-concept pitch</a>.</p>
<p>Think: Hollywood movie taglines.</p>
<p>The high-concept pitch originated in Hollywood, where producers would pitch studio executives with the catchiest, quickest summary possible.</p>
<p><strong>The high-concept pitch is an extremely short phrase, encapsulating an idea by comparing it to another idea. </strong></p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><em>Alien</em> is “<em>Jaws</em> in space.”</li>
<li>The Uber of workouts</li>
<li>The Birchbox of …</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/birchbox.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14801" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/birchbox-800x611.png" alt="birchbox" width="800" height="611" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="micro"></a></p>
<h3>3. Micromessage</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-The-Art-Writing-Little/dp/039334181X">Christopher Johnson’s book <em>Microstyle</em></a> explores this idea of micromessage—an idea that is likely familiar to all of us who share to social media. Christopher defines a micromessage as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Using simple elements to maximum effect</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To carry it forward, this could include most any of the literary devices, syntax, and style that we’ve discussed so far in this article. The goal—be it in a tagline, a tweet, a headline, or an advertisement—is to get noticed and communicate quickly.</p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="500">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Little Black Font Book ☞ <a href="http://t.co/ajaGU2ecFm">http://t.co/ajaGU2ecFm</a> <a href="http://t.co/lolNGvZT75">pic.twitter.com/lolNGvZT75</a></p>
<p>— HypeForType (@hypefortype) <a href="https://twitter.com/hypefortype/status/639001693288562688">September 2, 2015</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript">
</script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="500">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">It’s downright scarf weather. As in SCARF SOME PIZZA FOR WARMTH AMIRITE</p>
<p>— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) <a href="https://twitter.com/DiGiornoPizza/status/667714028664303616">November 20, 2015</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript">
</script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="500">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">All I want is someone to rub my feet and like 500 other things.</p>
<p>— claudia martin (@cloudypianos) <a href="https://twitter.com/cloudypianos/status/632066569049214976">August 14, 2015</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript">
</script></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="plot"></a></p>
<h3>4. The Edgar Wallace Plot Wheel</h3>
<p>A novelist in the 1920s, Wallace patented what he termed as a plot wheel, a literal wheel that he would spin whenever he was stuck for a plot or advancement to his story.</p>
<p>Though his exact wheel is a bit hard to come by these days, a few others have remained. Erle Stanley Gardner, another early 1900s novelist, had a series of wheels to help with plot development in his novels. Here’s a taste, <a href="http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2013/10/nanowrimo-erle-stanley-gardner-perry-mason-plot-wheels.html">courtesy of Karen Woodward</a>:</p>
<p><strong>The Wheel Of Hostile Minor Characters Whose Function Is Making Complications For The Hero</strong></p>
<p>These folks put obstacles in the hero’s way, make it difficult for her to reach her goal.</p>
<ol>
<li>Hick detective.</li>
<li>Attorney.</li>
<li>Newspaper reporter.</li>
<li>Detective.</li>
<li>Business rival.</li>
<li>Rival in love.</li>
<li>Father of heroine.</li>
<li>Blackmailer.</li>
<li>Gossip.</li>
<li>Meddlesome friend.</li>
<li>Suspicious servant.</li>
<li>Hostile dog.</li>
<li>Spy.</li>
<li>Incidental crook.</li>
<li>Hotel detective.</li>
<li>Thickheaded police.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Solution Wheel</strong></p>
<p>How the hero surmounts the obstacles thrown in his way.</p>
<ol>
<li>Gets villain to betray himself through greed.</li>
<li>Gets the villain to, of his own free will, plant additional evidence.</li>
<li>Plants fake evidence to confuse the villain.</li>
<li>Fakes circumstances so the villain will think he/she has been discovered.</li>
<li>Tricks the hero’s accomplice into confessing.</li>
<li>Villain is hoist by his/her own petard.</li>
<li>Villain killed while he/she is trying to frame someone.</li>
<li>Gets villain to overreach himself/herself.</li>
<li>Meets trickery with horse-sense.</li>
<li>Squashes obstacles by sheer courage.</li>
<li>Turns villains against each other.</li>
<li>Traps [tricks?] villain into betraying a hiding place. Hero either a) creates a fake fire, or b) gives him/her something else to conceal, or c) makes it necessary for the villain to flee (and so must take something out of the hiding place).</li>
</ol>
<p>There’s also the Wheel Of Complicating Circumstances and The Wheel of Blind Trials By Which The Hero Is Mislead or Confused, both of which you can <a href="http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2013/10/nanowrimo-erle-stanley-gardner-perry-mason-plot-wheels.html">read at Karen’s blog</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/images.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14559" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/images.jpeg" alt="images" width="204" height="204" /></a></p>
<p>Similar tools exist today for inspiration with headlines and blog posts.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator">Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.upworthygenerator.com/">Upworthy Generator</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.portent.com/tools/title-maker">Portent’s Content Idea Generator</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a name="incubation"></a></p>
<h3>5. Incubation method</h3>
<p>A favorite of F.L. Lucas (author of <i>Style: The Art of Writing Well</i>), this method is one that we’ve employed to good results here at Buffer also, building bits of it into our editorial process.</p>
<ul>
<li>Stage 1: Meditation and documentation.</li>
<li>Stage 2: Incubation.</li>
</ul>
<p>Here’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Style-writing-Harriman-Modern-Classics/dp/085719187X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444755814&sr=1-1&keywords=9780857191878">a bit more from F.L.</a> on his incubation stage:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Periods of alternate thought, quick writing, and partial revision, till the first draft is complete. Revision; further documentation, correction, curtailment, and amplification. This can be repeated indefinitely, subject to the danger of the book [article] growing unwieldy, overloaded, or stale.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p><a name="geese"></a></p>
<h3>6. Kicking the geese out of the boat</h3>
<p>This is a fun and quick one, best saved for the revision process.</p>
<p>Writer Alfred Tennyson had a part of his editing process that he dubbed “kicking the geese out of the boat.” It worked like this:</p>
<p><em>Avoiding the juxtaposition of a word ending with ‘s’ and a following word beginning with it.</em></p>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>
<p>Change: <em>“Do your updates seem flat? Try on a literary device!”</em></p>
<p>to: <em>“Do your updates fall flat? Try on a literary device!”</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<h2>A final note about clarity and obscurity</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>One should not aim at being possible to understand, but at being <strong>impossible to misunderstand.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Quintillian</p>
<p>All this amazing info on syntax and style and rhetoric and linguistics is bound to make your social media updates shine. At the same time, there might just be a limit to having too much of a good thing.</p>
<p><strong>One of the most essential elements of good writing</strong> (for the web, for books, for anywhere really) is clarity and brevity.</p>
<p>In the Quintillian quote above, this point is highlighted wonderfully. The goal should always be that your audience understands what you’re writing—and if that means using simpler words and phrases and leaving out a cool syntax or two, then so be it.</p>
<p>Where clarity and brevity fail, <strong>obscurity</strong> thrives. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Style-writing-Harriman-Modern-Classics/dp/085719187X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444755814&sr=1-1&keywords=9780857191878">F.L. Lucas</a> has a really great take on where obscurity tends to come from so often:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… Most obscurity, I suspect, comes not so much from incompetence as from ambition – the ambition to be admired for depth of sense, or pomp of sound, or wealth of ornament.</p>
<p>It is for the writer to think and rethink his ideas till they are clear; to put them in a clear order; to prefer (other things equal, and subject to the law of variety) short words, sentences, and paragraphs; not to try to say too many things at once; to eschew irrelevances; and, above all, to <strong>put himself with imaginative sympathy in his reader’s place.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Obscurity arises</p>
<ul>
<li>by saying too many things at once (a lack of clarity and brevity)</li>
<li>having too many ideas and not enough sense of what’s relevant</li>
<li>when trying to impress people</li>
<li>by using flowery language when shorter words would do just as well</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/writing-quote.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-14564" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/writing-quote-800x400.png" alt="writing quote" width="800" height="400" /></a></p>
<h2>A note about the books referenced here</h2>
<p>I’m really grateful to have the influence of some really amazing books to put together this article. If you’re interested in learning more about any of these topics, I highly recommend giving each of these four a read.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439156816/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439156816&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=GDTZVC36VTYFNV42"><img class="alignnone wp-image-14561" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/style-the-art-of-writing-well.jpeg" alt="style-the-art-of-writing-well" width="145" height="223" /><img class="alignnone wp-image-14560" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/download.jpeg" alt="download" width="145" height="223" /></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIPOJX0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BIPOJX0&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=7ORVRKROXJPACZVO"><img class="alignnone wp-image-14562" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Farnsworths-Classical-English-Rhetoric.jpg" alt="Farnsworths-Classical-English-Rhetoric" width="145" height="219" /></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961392185/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0961392185&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=5SDFA3PYLR77DAHC"><img class="alignnone wp-image-14563" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/31a0-XDd94L._SX301_BO1204203200_.jpg" alt="31a0-XDd94L._SX301_BO1,204,203,200_" width="145" height="239" /></a></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Style-writing-Harriman-Modern-Classics/dp/085719187X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444755814&sr=1-1&keywords=9780857191878">Style: The Art of Writing Well</a> by F.L. Lucas</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439156816/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439156816&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=GDTZVC36VTYFNV42">On Writing</a> by Stephen King</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIPOJX0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BIPOJX0&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=7ORVRKROXJPACZVO">Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric</a> by Ward Farnsworth</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961392185/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0961392185&linkCode=as2&tag=kevanleecom-20&linkId=5SDFA3PYLR77DAHC">Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style</a> by Virginia Tufte</li>
</ul>
<p style="background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #ff9; clear: both; margin-bottom: 18px; overflow: hidden; border: 1px solid #e5e597; padding: 13px;">I get suuuuper into detail in this post. If it ever seems like a bit much, there’s also <a href="http://eepurl.com/bIIvRL">an easy, on-demand email version</a> of this info, delivered in 5 short, digestible bits!</p>
<h2>Over to you</h2>
<p><strong>Which of these literary devices and linguistic approaches are you most excited to try?</strong></p>
<p>Which are you already using?</p>
<p><strong>Which ones are working?</strong></p>
<p>I’ve got a number of these set up to test <a href="https://buffer.com">in my Buffer queue</a> right now and am excited to see the results. If you get a chance to try any of these on, please do report back here in the comments. It’d be amazing to hear from you!</p>
<p><em>Image sources: <a href="http://buffer.com/pablo">Pablo</a>, <a href="http://iconfinder.com">IconFinder</a>, <a href="http://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a>, <a href="http://www.sketchappsources.com/free-source/552-tweet-popup-sketch-freebie-resource.html">Sketch App Sources</a>,</em></p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/write-social-media">Be the Shakespeare of Facebook: The Enormous Guide to Writing Spectacular Social Media Updates</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blog.bufferapp.com">Social</a>.</p>
<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bufferapp/~4/Aybnl5_3DfQ" height="1" width="1" alt="" /><br />
<br />
from Social https://blog.bufferapp.com/write-social-media<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3233956068871548273.post-26090089923874649192015-12-07T03:15:00.001-08:002015-12-07T03:15:22.790-08:00Hit US delivery startup Postmates is launching in London next year<img width="520" height="245" src="http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/12/postmates-520x245.jpg" alt="postmates" title="Hit US delivery startup Postmates is launching in London next year" data-id="937943" /><br />
Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann has announced today that the company will be launching a UK operation in 2016. In conversation with Mike Butcher at TechCrunch Disrupt London, Lehmann said that the service would launch first in London. Postmates delivers restaurant food and other items on-demand in cities across the US, and has established partnerships to quickly deliver Starbucks and Apple orders in certain markets. Lehmann said that the plans for a London launch are still at an early stage and the company still needs to hire a general manager for the operation. The move will throw Postmates into direct competition with…<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/12/07/hit-us-delivery-startup-postmates-is-launching-in-london-next-year/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=profeed">This story continues</a> at The Next Web<br />
<br />
from The Next Web » UK http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/12/07/hit-us-delivery-startup-postmates-is-launching-in-london-next-year/<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09232907991341566812noreply@blogger.com0