Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: CoolText

Filed Under Design, Great Finds, Successful Blog, Tips | 21 Comments

Create Logos and Buttons with CoolText Graphics Generator

Great Find: CoolText

Permalink: http://cooltext.com/

Target Audience: Computer users who want to create buttons

Content: Every now and then I need a button. Sure, I have all the programs to create my own, but why spend the time when there are tools out there that can finish the job quickly.

There are a lot of button generators, but this one caught my attention because it worked so well. Recently a few people told me the ‘hire me’ on my site doesn’t look like a link, so it seemed like a good time to try out CoolText. Here’s what I created.

Then check out the logo designs. I’m not crazy about the terminology and would prefer banner, or something more descriptive. But it doesn’t really matter what they call them, there’s a great selection. Remember to save the image files on your computer because they don’t store them.

It took longer to write this post than to create the buttons/banners.

Here are six things I like about CoolText:

You can create an account to save your designs
There’s more than 1200 fonts available
It’s easy to use
You can edit your button until it’s just right
There are several file types to choose from
It’s free!

Click the screenshot to go there.

Let me know how you use CoolText!

See you next time!

–Sandy, Purple Wren

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Above the Fold: SmartWealthyRich.com

Filed Under Design, Successful Blog | 37 Comments

Couldn’t Resist SmartWealthyRich

I met Jonathan Phillips when he left a message with me at MyBlogLog. I took a side trip to his blog, before I replied. When I got there I saw something I couldn’t resist — the title of his blog.

Smart, Wealthy, Rich [dot] com

But that engaging title was in tiny typography . . .

So I invited Jonathan Phillips to get tweaked Above the Fold. Here’s how the Above the Fold Tweak Process works

I make a â€œbeforeâ€ screenshot.
We talk through some changes for readability.
The blogger makes the changes.
We talk while the tweaks are in process.
I take an â€œafterâ€ screenshot and share the results in a post.

Tweaking Smart, Wealthy, Rich

The blog: SmartWealthyRich.com
- How to create wealth, keep it, and make it grow!
URL: : http://www.smartwealthyrich.com
Blogger:: Jonathan-C. Philllips

Before

This is SmartWealthyRich.com before we started. Click to enlarge.

Three Tweaks that We Agreed Upon

In this series, we’ll concentrate only three important tweaks for each blog that is featured. On Jonathanâ€™s blog, those three tweaks were these.

His feed button was overpowering.
The title is too small.
The main body text block is too wide. A reader needs transportation to return to the next line.

Jonathan and I discussed how in a blink test, the feed button wins. We decided that it would be a much stronger presentation if the title got that first attention. Folks would remember where they were and where they wanted to return.

When choosing text the type size needs to match the line length. If they don’t match, the eye has trouble doing the â€œreturn sweepâ€ to the next line correctly. Jonathanâ€™s line was too long for the size of the type in the body text. We shortened the main body copy block and increased the type size.

We made other changes. Can you see them?

For the results, turn the page now. Read more

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Sandy’s Great Graphic Tip: Re-sizing Graphics in an Editor

Filed Under Design, Successful Blog, Tips | 1 Comment

What Happened to that Picture?

Sometimes you see photos on websites that look funny - too wide or narrow, tall or short. In other words, out of proportion. Some other terms used are scale, perspective and aspect ratio. One common way to re-size a graphic is using a WYSIWYG editor. WYSIWYG is pronounced wiz-e-wig and is short for what you see is what you get.

Hover over the corner of a graphic, click and drag. Depending on the program, it’s possible to lose perspective, so keep this little tip in mind.

Hold down the shift key while clicking and dragging. It will keep the picture looking square.

Another Option to Re-Size a Graphic

Another option is to right-click the graphic and choose format. In the window, you usually have a choice to re-size the graphic by pixel size or percentage of original. You will probably see a check box for preserve aspect ratio or uniform scale. Selecting the box means when you enter the horizontal or vertical size, the other dimension is automatically selected to keep the graphic in perspective.

Here’s a visual example of what I mean:

It’s also a good idea to re-size and edit graphics before uploading them. When you upload a large graphic and only want to display a small graphic, it can increase the file size and make the page load slowly. Let’s talk more about that another time.

Remember, a good-looking graphic makes your webpage look interesting and professional.

See you next time!

–Sandy, Purple Wren

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Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: block posters

Filed Under Design, Great Finds, Successful Blog, Tools | 6 Comments

What Do You Want to Decorate?

Great Find: block posters

Permalink: http://www.blockposters.com

Target Audience: Photo Lovers

Content: This nifty tool is very easy to use.

Upload your favorite photo
Slice it any way you like
Download the images
Print

This is a fast, inexpensive way to decorate a room if you have a lot of wall space and you want to create a mood. What’s better than using your own photos? Check out some of the interesting samples.

Here’s three ideas I have for using posters:

Meetings
Parties
Reunions

Let me know how you decorate with block posters!

–Sandy, Purple Wren Communications

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Business of Design Online is LIVE!!

Filed Under Design, Great Finds, Successful Blog | 6 Comments

Bravo! Cat, nt, and Jay!

I have the pleasure of announcing an important new entry in the blogosphere. Ladies and Gentlemen,

Go meet BoDo! The Business of Design Online. It’s the genius brainchild of the team of Catherine (cat) Morley, Neil (nt) Tortorella, and Jeanette (jay) Wickham. It’s been months in the making and boasts series and services, resources, and a list of guest authors that outflank anything I’ve seen.

Click the screenshot and see for yourself! It’s downright amazing!

So much all in one place. Do you think you have to be a designer to get value from this site. Heck, you’ll even find me there.

Congratulations BoDo Team!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: CoolText

Create Logos and Buttons with CoolText Graphics Generator

Above the Fold: SmartWealthyRich.com

Couldn’t Resist SmartWealthyRich