Welcome to the newest edition of The List, a collection of random things that have caught my eye in the past few weeks. The List always includes an update on what some GetCreative clients are up to, some goodies from ‘the internets’, and anything that seems worth mentioning. If it provokes a smile, makes my life easier or is generally awesome- I will share it here.
Last year we featured Wordle in a post, and today we take it one step further. Welcome to Tagxedo, ‘word clouds with style’! This is a quick and fun distraction, with a lot of room for customization. The font type, color, shape, orientation and layout can all be tweaked for each word cloud. There are preset color themes and shapes for you to choose from, or create a Pro account and make your own! You can input the words you’d like used, or submit a website URL and Tagxedo will generate the words for you. Keep reading to see my own unique word art below.
Today’s Find is a roundup of great t-shirts for web designers with a sense of humor. There’s nothing like an extremely nerdy t-shirt for a good laugh (Big Bang Theory, anyone?*). I just recently discovered nerdy t-shirts made specifically for designers, and I knew I had to share. Below are some of my favorites, with links to where you can buy them. Enjoy!
Today’s find is a fun font game for the graphic design nerd in all of us: The Font Game. The concept reminds me of freerice.com, the online vocabulary game for a good cause. With ‘The Rather Difficult Font Game’ at ilovetypography.com, though, you are challenged to identify various fonts on sight. (more…)
The winner of the $15 iTunes gift card has been randomly selected! Congratulations to Fleming Kennedy Fuller, who commented on our Facebook page. Fleming, email me the mailing address where you would like your gift card sent to ESpontarelli@GetCreativeWebDesign.com and it will be on its way! Fleming is also celebrating her birthday this week, and now she can do so with some new ‘tunes! Congrats and thanks for reading!
Tomorrow is my birthday and to celebrate I’m giving one of you lucky readers a gift! I’m giving away a $15 iTunes gift card this weekend. Enjoy $15 worth of the latest music, movies, TV shows and more on iTunes. To enter, leave a comment on this post or our Facebook page, or Tweet about it. One winner will be selected at random on Monday, November 8th at 12 noon. Have a great weekend!
In the spirit of Halloween I thought I’d share some blogs and websites that are good for a few laughs. It’s important sometimes to step away from your work and enjoy a few stress-relieving chuckles. Some of these sites may be NSFW, so enjoy these over the weekend.
Today’s find is a website called xtranormal.com that makes movie making easy. Their tag line says it all: “If you can type, you can make movies.” With at least 16 ‘showpaks’, or themes, to choose from, you can select one or two characters, change your background, and add audio music and sounds with just a few simple clicks. Then you simply type up a script for your characters to read (in a voice of your choosing), and animate them as you see fit. A number of these videos can be created for free, but for advanced options there is a fee.
In the Watch Movies section you can view featured videos by xtranormal, as well as the most recent and most popular user created videos. There is also a Desktop option to avoid the sometimes overwhelmed server issues. Xtranormal is a quick and fun distraction that could also be used as a business tool. Want to join the YouTube craze but are a little camera shy? This site is a great way to do so for cheap. Plus, you can avoid novice camera shaking and other less-than-desirable traits customary of new video producers. If you find yourself escaping the heat indoors this weekend, head over to xtranormal and try your hand at creating videos. Happy Friday!
This year I am starting out on my first ever vegetable garden…which is also my first ever garden, period. I have been taking photos to document this delicate process, and it is quite exciting. I have very few expectations for the outcome of my veggies, but if I get a few good herbs or vegetables of any variety I will be happy. Here are the fragile beginnings of my seedlings (as well as some early spring flowers) in all their photographic glory. Enjoy!
