World Cup 2010 Twitter replay

In the midst of heavy Surveylab workload, and Fullscope battling to get the American’s website launched at the start of July, the World Cup is proving an engaging, if frequently frustrating, diversion.  Dan picked up a great link from The Guardian’s website which animates a record of Twitter traffic across World Cup games.  Very clever.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/world-cup-match-replay

Updated Wordle on Fullscope

The always popular Wordle.net reviews content of websites to create visually impressive ‘word clouds’.  By enabling a small Java app you can play around with colours layout and now remove specific words you dont find relevent.

Click on the image below for a closer look!

Also found a funky portfolio site worth visiting. Very simple, very obvious and it works – 41six.com

How to Write an Amazing Article – Six Revisions

With so much information on the Internet, there are always a shortlist of sites that you find yourself returning to time and time again.  BBC News and BBC Sport are permanent bookmarks for me, and in terms of design, Smashing Magazine and SixRevisions sit loud and proud as RSS feeds on my Firefox browser.

SixRevisons published a very nice article on the 17th March 2010 about writing articles for the web.

How to Write an Amazing Article by James Costa summarises a number of key features of a sucessful post and is an example of the points he raises.

‘Content is king’, ‘know your audience’ and writing with an engaging style are all common sense principles that are all too easy to forget.  Similarly, I’ve posted before about keeping things short, sweet and punchy and never to assume people will read your posts if you write essays rather than posts or articles.

An excellent resource, I encourage all to read this and enjoy the SixRevisons website.

Getting another opinion before you print!

It is great to have an an idea… and then be able to get it down on paper, on the PC or on a website.  You think to yourself, “it works, it says what I want… job done”.

A word of caution though – always try to get a second opinion.  Being blinded somewhat by your good idea, you might miss something important.

Mathieu is a client who is an osteopath in Ealing and Uxbridge .  Their 2008 brochure, featured on the left here, was designed by them in-house.  However, without the benefit of another point of view, the result was a nice picture of a happy man standing on a rather large phallic outcrop of rock.

So, the ideas of freedom and relief certainly shine through, but those with a more devious sense of humour, will see something else other than what Mathieu & co had in mind.

Some great advertisments found on OneExtraPixel.com (via Smashing Magazine) – definitely worth a visit.

Tips for writing a blog post

A number of my clients have moved to WordPress in the past year in order to have some editorial control over their websites. WordPress has many benefits, put aside the ‘bells and whistles’ offered by plugins, it not only frees my support time but allows clients to have a ‘voice’ through publishing posts and editing pages themselves.

The interface does take some getting used to, but not long as many editing functions are similar to Word.  Beyond that, the main thing to learn is creating the all important links and either uploading or linking to images.  Learning time 30mins?

Other key benefits concern the blog.  Visitors need a reason to visit your website… not just once but again and again.   Take a step back and ask yourself, why should a visitor [or potential customer] visit my site, what am I saying in my posts that would encourage them to bookmark/link/revisit? Do this before you hit the big purple ‘Publish’ button!

Following on from that is the search engine rating opportunities of having more dynamic content.  Internal links to parts of your website (new services, new documents uploaded) are a big thumbs up, as well as inserting as many links as you can to other sites on the website in your posts.

Boooooring Blogs?

The golden rule is to realise you are writing for the web… not an essay, not an article.   You are also not writing for yourself… but I guess you are, as it is your own personality and style that helps makes an engaging blog.

Top Tips

These top tips are from Problogger’s blog, written in 2005.  These are as true today as they were in 2005… simple, short and clear.

Make your opinion known

Link like crazy

Write less

250 Words is enough

Make Headlines snappy

Write with passion

Include Bullet point lists

Edit your post

Make your posts easy to scan

Be consistent with your style

Litter the post with keywords

1. Make your opinion known
People like blogs, they like blogs because they are written by people and not corporations. People want to know what people think, crazy as it sounds they want to know what you think. Tell them exactly what you think using the least amount of words possible.

2. Link like crazy.
Support your post with links to other web pages that are contextual to your post.

3. Write Less
Give the maximum amount of information with the least amount of words. Time is finite and people are infinitely busy. Blast your knowledge into the reader at the speed of sound.

4. 250 is enough
A long post is easier to forget and harder to get into. A short post is the opposite.

5. Make Headlines snappy
Contain your whole argument in your headline. Check out National newspapers to see how they do it.

6. Include bullet point lists
We all love lists, it structures the info in an easily digestible format.

7. Make your posts easy to scan
Every few paragraphs insert a sub heading. Make sentences and headlines short and to the point.

8. Be consistent with your style
People like to know what to expect, once you have settled on a style for your audience stick to it.

9. Litter the post with Keywords.
Think about what keywords people would use to search for your post and include them in the body text and headers. make sure the keyword placement is natural and does not seem out of place.

10. Edit your post
Good writing is in the editing. Before you hit the submit button, re-read your post and cut out the stuff that you don’t need.

A good starting list which can apply across almost any blog.

I’d add a few things.

• Images often help illustrate points and add some visual interest to ‘wordy’ posts… just ensure that the image is apt to your subject.  Don’t insert images for images’ sake, but Google is your friend!
• Have an objective in mind when you post.  Keep what you want to get across in your mind and see you’ve done it before you publish
• Frequency of posting is vital.  If visitor sees that the latest post is months old then you dont have much to say.  “Ticking the box” of having a blog can do more brand harm if the flurry of initial posts tail off into stagnation.  Set time aside each week/fortnight/month.  I often have a little text file sat on my desktop that I drop links and notes into which helps flesh monthly/bi-monthly posts.  Conversly, Blogging isnt like Twitter, overload people and you will bore then, so have clear ideas, put them together in a short punchy, engaging way… and give it a meaty title.
• Have fun.   Enjoy blogging, encourage people to contribute and add comments if you want.   Get it into the routine and have the blog work for you and your business!

More useful links (open in new windows)

How to craft good blog titles – Problogger

What makes for a good blog – 43folder

Good blog writing style – Blogoscoped

Vive les années 90!!!!

Unleashed a few pennies last week on a Numark mixer.  Many moons ago I had the choice at a young age to buy cheap turntables or a decent stereo.  I took the stereo as I could still play the vinyl I had been buying.

Spin forward a few years and I after nearly a year living in Belgium during college, I came back from putting on parties over there and decided to do something in Coventry.  Incidentally, the title for this post comes from a comment underneath the vid at the bottom.  It mentions the glorious Mirano, Brussel’s premier club at one point, that I went to during my stay.  More happy days.  Anyway, thought it was apt.

I had friends who DJ’d, Dave and Greg both doing warm up slots for the most fantastic Wobble night in Brum.  Ah happy days.  So I started promoting the ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ nights on a Thursday(?) at Browns in the Lower Precinct.  Nearly broke even, had some good times but quite stressful and hard going standing outside townie clubs at 2am, getting chased, then having hassle on the night of the event when the owner refused to let non-students in.  Yeah thanks for that.

Next move was amsuing looking back on it.  WE moved to setup a new night on Sundays called ‘Loosen Up’, the only Sunday night going in Coventry at that time, we thought we’d have them queuing at the door with cool house music to wind down a weekend.  Sadly the venue had other ideas when a *cough* electrical problem torched the place.  Not mentioning its name!

So from promotion in Coventry, I started doing some nights in L0ndon after I moved down.  The Slug in Fulham Broadway, KIngs Road pubs, parties and a wedding out at Cobham.  All good fun.

From the early decision of taking the stereo, if I had taken the decks… who knows. … So never having lost the enjoyment of playing music, I purchased a Numark mixer last week and using it as a controller, hooked up my Macbook with Traktor software.  Well, so far so good.  I’ve not yet purchased the external soundcard I have my eye on, or the affordable but very nice amp/speaker set… but again, who knows what a moment of weakness will produce.

I am working on some mixes for my own benefit but not releasing them online as I’m sure I could be slapped with a wealth of legal iss-shoows.  Still, people know where I am…  Whether or not I’m out doing anything in public, well unlikely but who knows.

After that ramble I have a few links I’d post up.  Firstly, the place I bought the mixer from has been great.  Dolphin Music are recommended for their prompt service and for generally being good guys.  I think I found them via their ebay links but if anyone is looking for audio equipment online then head their way.

Second link is for Beatport.  Here you can listen to and purchase a massive range of audio tracks, from psy-house, trance to nu beat.  Warning is that any house heads can lose hours here.  Few pennies more than iTunes but obviously more specialised.  Had a few problems with payment set up but that was with my bank I think rather than their systems.  Good guys.

Finally I’ll leave you with a YouTube vid of Aly Us’ ‘Follow Me’.  Glorious 92, I remember playing this to death on an early Strictly Rhythm compliation I had.  The vid is fantastic -- cross between a feature slot, music video and home movie.  Ace.

A selection of CSS reference websites

Cascading Style Sheets are a way to control the style and presentation of content on a website. For my own reference and perhaps for one or two others, I thought I’d share some of the sites I use. Many of these have been regularly visited from my Bookmarks folder and perhaps may require updating. New versions of CSS are being released over time, and designers then have the ‘fun’ of ensuring browser compatibilty and that their sites remain stylish and accessible.

Though perfectly harmless websites, the only disclaimer is that I am not responsible for the content on any of the linked sites on Fullscope!

Stu Nichols from CSSPlay – Great CSS reference, here a range of up to date menus
Listamatic -one stop shop for a range of CSS controlled menus
Listamatic2 – nested CSS menus
DynamicDrive – Drop down menu examples
CSS Menu Generator – Useful reference though I havent used the tool
DynamicDrive jQuery Menu – I have used this menu, very nice jQuery controlled menu.  USed on amphealthcare.co.uk and surveylab.co.uk
Layouts:IronMyers – starting point for many, options for page structure
pmob – CSS for centering on a page.  There are several options to achieve this, this is just one.
SmileyCat – number of ways to achieve rounded corners in CSS

CSS Templates – Free CSS templates
CSS Drive – CSS templates and menus
BoxedArt – Range of website and design elements

Finally, another useful link -  GraphicLeftovers where designers can submit unsed graphics for low cost resell and use to the design community.

Design Links 2009 Roundup

Whilst the site revision was mulled over, planned… and eventually… executed, I collected a number of links that I felt were useful and interesting.  These are for my own reference if nothing else.

Tutorials and Resources
Pragt.net – PhotoShop tutorials for text effects
FilterForge – some great backgrounds
CreativeMYK – Nice images and illustrations
at0mica – PhotoShop brushes and resources
Aviary – in-page design tools

Design Opinion & Blogs
24Ways – calendar blog for designs
Tony Yoo – Tony’s links page is a onestopshop for links
Ads of the World – Advertising inspiration
Azbeedo – Posters and other design inspiration
StuckInCustoms – A good travel blog
NASA photos of the Earth

Humour

Graphic Tools and Updating Websites

More behind the scenes development work this month so limited screenshots available of published work.  Surveylab is ticking over well with client work.  Fullscope has a number of sites that are scheduled and one or two in the final stages. Bridge to Health was overhauled and transferred to WordPress, both Dan and I involved in reviewing copy, stylesheets and presentation.  New look is below.

Again, getting into the detail of WordPress, WandsworthLINk had further work carried out on it to improve accessibilty and  readability.  A number of copy revisions, default text increased, script included to control the text size all actioned and I think it will work well for visitors.

As for links, two stand out.  Firstly Wordle.net grabs website copy, blog feeds or straight text and displays it word clouds.  Quite slick and clever.  Below is Fullscope’s output.

Second impressive link is Pixlr – an in-browser picture editor.  Very impressive (and free).  Many nice features that arent too far behind fully licensed equivalents.

Its nearly November! Ouch.

October ending already – it really has been a dull year for weather.  Then again, weather hardly the topic headlining the news these days.  Surveylab has been busy again, with report work and client project work keeping everyone on their toes.  Fullscope has been relatively quiet with development of a WordPress template with one site and the frontend design of another.  Not being cryptic here, but next post should have more news and links when they are published.

So September/October has been a month of getting on with things.  Few links I’ve found this month.  The art and technology site Eyebeam is worth a visit, its blog has many photos where um, it brings together..er… art and technology.  More good links off the posts here.

More design resources up next.  Colorburned is a great link for brushes and quality images.  If you are after brushes then I think I’ve linked this family of sites before but you could lose a couple hours looking around Brusheezy.  CreativeBits is a site I stumbled across recently, this post about cool business card designs is very good, and links to page 2 at the top.  Well worth a look. (See below)

and

Slight more random but it was Trafalgar day during the week – and for any anglophobes (is that a word), here is the lowdown on French military history.  Another Star Wars spoof at YouTube lightened up a dull afternoon.

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