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Above the Fold: Everything in Order

January 28, 2009 by Liz

What a Few Tweaks Can Do

ABOVE THE FOLD

I met Carole Hicks on Twitter. Then she asked a question via email and, before I replied, I made her an offer. I said I have this feature called, Above the Fold, I’d like to bring back to my blog. Would you be game for consultation? She was most agreeable. Thus starts the saga of tweaking her blog with the fabulous title —

Everything in Order [dot] com
But the fabulous title was outshouted by some noisy color …

So we got to work together. Here’s how the Above the Fold Tweak Process works

  1. I make a “before” screenshot.
  2. We talk through some changes for readability.
  3. The blogger makes the changes. (In this case, Carole took notes for her developer.)
  4. We talk while the tweaks are in process. (She passed them on.)
  5. I take an “after” screenshot and share the results in a post.

Tweaking Everything in Order

The blog: Everything n Order . com
Everything in Order, creative problem-solving…beautiful ideas.
URL:
: http://www.everythingnorder.com
Blogger: Carole Hicks

Before

This is EverythingnOrder.com before we started.

everything-n-order

Three Tweaks that We Agreed Upon

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

  1. The backgrounds were overpowering — the coral wrap and the coral type were too vibrant and vibrating.
  2. The sidebar needed focus and less text / and disappeared on the post page. (Sorry I missed the sidebar in the screen shot.)
  3. A search box and ways to subscribe were missing.

Carole and I discussed how the true black background played into the bright shade of the coral outer wrap to make it almost vibrate. I suggested another shade of color with a touch more black in the coral and a black background that was a little more charcoal. 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.

We talked about the tag cloud and other sidebar information. I mentioned that the large tags seemed to be saying that’s all or mostly all she talked about — was that the first impression she wanted to be giving? Carole decided that might not be her whole story.

When choosing text the type size needs to match the line length. If they don’t match, the eye has trouble doing the “return sweep” to the next line correctly. As often happens, the 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 talked about reasons that a search box and subscription options were important.

We made other changes. Can you see them?

For the results, turn the page now. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Design, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Carole Hicks, design-tweaks, EverythinginOrder

45 Rules of Logo Design

October 12, 2008 by Liz

Great Advice Is Always a Great Find

If you know an outstanding design site, email me a link and tell me why you think it’s important to share. Then I can pass it along. I can’t remember how I came across this one.

Great Find: 45 Rules for Creating a Great Logo DesignPermalink: http://www.tannersite.com/rules-of-logo-design/
Target Audience: Design clients, design students

Content: If you work on the web, you might need a new logo as often as every week. The temptation to make your own gets strong enough when time is tight. When money is tight, it can seem a necessity. My advice is to know what makes a great logo and be aware of the workout a great logo needs to live up to. This article from Tannersite will get you up to speed. Go on and check out.

45 Rules for Creating a Great Logo Design

Then find a great designer to help you. Great logos take time, technique and talent. Most of us only think we have all three.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Related
Great Graphic Ideas: Nebon Media
https://www.successful-blog.com/1/great-find-yudu-freedom/
Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: block posters
Great Find: PDF Online — Free

Get your best voice in the conversation. Buy my eBook.

Filed Under: Design, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Great-Find

Great Graphic Ideas: crowdSPRING

September 28, 2008 by Liz

Looking for a Little Creativity or Maybe a LOT?

If you know an outstanding design site, email me a link and tell me why you think it’s important to share. Then I can pass it along.

This week at the Feast for Smart Marketers I met Pete Burgeson of crowdSPRING. We had quite the conversation about this Chicago-based business that calls itself a “marketplace for creative services.”

Great Find: crowdSPRING
Permalink: http://www.crowdspring.com/
Target Audience: Design clients, creatives

Content: When Pete I started talking I asked how crowdSpring worked. He described the basic model as they do on the website.

crowdSPRING project model

I questioned a model based on work done on spec, but after a closer look I’m quite taken by what’s happening at crowdSPRING. Their model is intelligent and built to grow with their community.

  • crowdSPRING serves the new guys. Small businesses just launching need a professional presence that won’t cost them out of the market. Talented creatives starting out need to build visibility and a portfolio of clients.
  • It also serves who’ve been “around the block.” I’m fully confident that buyers looking for serious design work can find it here because there seems to be no requirement to participate in the “projects.”
  • I was able to browse projects, portfolios, profiles, and forums. Personal messages and forum conversations make it easy to connect with creative suppliers.

  • Creatives can upload portfolios next to their profiles. Profiles include a record of performance on projects completed through the site.
  • It’s community for learning and thinking, as well as a marketplace. The forums are filled with insightful discussion of design and of the projects on the site.

crowdSPRING is using social media in the best way . . . by making it easy for people to connect around ideas that they care about.

Go on, have a look. See how easy it looks when it’s done well.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Related
Great Graphic Ideas: Nebon Media
https://www.successful-blog.com/1/great-find-yudu-freedom/
Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: block posters
Great Find: PDF Online — Free

Get your best voice in the conversation. Buy my eBook.

Filed Under: Design, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, creativity, crowdspring, Design, social-media

kriesi new media design

September 21, 2008 by Liz

More Great Design Ideas

If you know an outstanding design site, email me a link and tell me why you think it’s important to share. Then I can pass it along. This group is another that Lorelle turned me on to.

Great Find: kriesi.at new media design

Permalink: http://www.kriesi.at/

Target Audience: Design clients, design fans

Content: Any web citizen who appreciates great design likes to check in what cool designers are doing. The folks at kriesi are subtle in their use of light and color. Be sure to mouse over their nav bar. Click the screenshot to make a visit.

kriesi

I don’t know them. I’ve never talked to them or worked with them. I just like what they’re doing visually. Notice how you can see through board to the trees behind the “hut” the shelves are in.

Great design engages imagination ways like that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Related
Great Graphic Ideas: Nebon Media
https://www.successful-blog.com/1/great-find-yudu-freedom/
Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: block posters
Great Find: PDF Online — Free

Get your best voice in the conversation. Buy my eBook.

Filed Under: Design, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Great-Find, kriesi

Great Graphic Ideas: Nebon Media

September 13, 2008 by Liz

Cool Things Are Happening

If you know an outstanding design site, email me a link and tell me why you think it’s important to share. Then I can pass it along. Lorelle shared this design group with me.

Great Find: Nebon Media

Permalink: http://www.nebonmedia.com/en/inthehut.html

Target Audience: Design clients

Content: Any web citizen who appreciates great design likes to check in what cool designers are doing. The folks at Nebon Media have some great ideas. Take a minute to check them out. Click the screenshot to make a visit.

Nebon Media

I don’t know them. I’ve never talked to them or worked with them. I just like what they’re doing visually. Notice how you can see through board to the trees behind the “hut” the shelves are in.

Great design engages imagination ways like that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Related
Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: block posters
Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: Pixel Ruler
Great Find: PDF Online — Free

Get your best voice in the conversation. Buy my eBook.

Filed Under: Design, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Great-Find, Nebon Media

Great Find: How to Geek Comment Moderation Notifier

January 5, 2008 by Liz

Got a Full Email Box?

Now that I have a phone on which I can actually read something from the web. I’ve found the beauty of being able to keep with important email when I’m not in my office. The problem is that if I don’t preplan I also have to keep up with the in flow of email I can’t address at the moment. One amazing chunk is spam comments that hit my blog in a literally constant stream via my moderation queue.

So when I came across the How-To Geek’s remedy, I stopped to give it a read. I think you should do the same. I’m about to try it out. It sure looks to be an elegant solution.

Great Find: How to Geek Comment Moderation Notifier
Permalink: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/the-geek-blog/how-to-geek-software-wordpress-comment-moderation-notifier/
Target Audience: WordPress users
Content: This WordPress plugin is meant to ease the load on our email inbox caused by spam filters that moderate all new comments. It creates a desktop window to launch the comment moderation page of a blog so that we can monitor comments coming in quickly and easily.

When there are new comments, you’ll see this little message pop up, and then the icon will change to some random icon alert icon I found somewhere. If you click on the text it will take you to the moderation page. — the How-To Geek

You’ll find the plug-in and installation directions if you click the logo below.

the How-To Geek

Check it out!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Filed Under: Design, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Comment-Moderation-plugin, Great Finds, the-How-to-Geek

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