Tag Archives: Newsletter
Issues 16 and 17 of the Creative Tips newsletter are now live on the newsletter page. Number 17 covers “capital offenses” — all those places where people commonly use ALL CAPS, but shouldn’t. (Hint: It’s most of the time!)
The latest issue of Creative Tips, going live tomorrow, details more about what a style book is and how to make one. Very few small to medium size businesses have a style book, far less use one, because nobody teaches business owners (or dentists, or consultants… name your field) that the marketplace does, 100 percent, judge a book by its cover. (If that’s not so, why do publishers put such enormous amounts of money and effort into designing terrific covers … Continue reading
The Creative Tips newsletters have proved amazingly popular, far more than I ever expected. There’s an interesting double-effect here: as I write more and get more feedback, I find the newsletters taking on a life of their own. Number 10 is the start of a series on company image that I suspect is going to shock some folks, because the definition of what constitutes “good” design isn’t nearly the constant that some would like to believe. And the more I … Continue reading
I’ve been amazed how many people have told me — enthusiastically — that after reading Creative Tips #5 they are battling to overcome their years-long habit of typing two spaces after a period. Those typewriter habits we learned at our mothers’ (or fathers’ secretaries’) knees are sometimes hard to break, but folks tell me they’re persevering! Oddly enough, the two-spaces thing never was considered correct in the UK, so ex-pat Brits don’t have a problem with it. It’s all in … Continue reading
Number 5 covers such things as “two spaces after a period” and other typewriter practices that don’t belong in proportionally-spaced type. It’s also true that when you type something in a word processor these days, you’re not strictly “typing” in the accepted sense of that word. What you are really doing is a simple form of “typesetting,” and the rules are different! You can find Issue 5 here.
This week’s Creative Tips for office software users covers the dreaded (by designers) “extra blank line” between paragraphs, why not to use them, and the Better Way to space your paragraphs; why spaces don’t work to make text line up from one line to the next, and how and why to use tabs instead. You can reach it from the Creative Tips page or directly here.
From the amazing amount of feedback I’ve been getting to the Creative Tips newsletter, it’s clear that there’s a vacuum of basic “how-to” information on simple layouts and making documents look good in standard office-type programs. This is mildly surprising, considering how many books, websites, etc., have been devoted to the topic over the years. On the other hand, I’ve looked at Microsoft’s website and discovered that the good stuff is hard to find. Lots of “Gee Whiz!” but the … Continue reading
It’s been a packed week, but I managed to get the next newsletter done. It goes out by email later, but I like to get it on the web first. I’ll be adding these to the blog eventually, but for now they’re mostly email.
I’ve had a ton of positive response to the first newsletter. Thank you to all those who emailed their appreciation. The second issue is now online for those who aren’t on the mailing list.
The first Creative Tips newsletter has hit the cyberwaves. The idea of this series is to help improve the world’s documents by giving basic tips on using Microsoft Word and similar programs that are as ubiquitous as the generally boring (or, let’s be brutally frank, downright awful) documents that are turned out by the millions every day. If we can get rid of some of the uglies, I think the time will be well spent!
