Dennis Salvatier writes the blog Tanoshiboy Chronicles. In it he talks about design. His recent posting entitled “Can Design Tell a Story?” talked about design versus content. I have always strived for excellent content when I write. Consequently, that goal carried over to my blogging. However, the design was always a secondary consideration.
I always intended to add photos to each post but found it too cumbersome. That is until I discovered Wylio. In about 20 minutes, I had placed photos in seven of my prior posts. No muss, no fuss. Instead of trying to paraphrase what they do, please look at the following Questions and Answers from their web site.
Q. What is Wylio?
A. Wylio is the super sonic, thrifty, all-in-one picture finder and re-sizer made specifically for bloggers. We are the quickest way for you to get a photo into your next blog post.
Q. How do I use Wylio?
A. 1) Find an image 2) Resize and position it 3) Copy and paste the chunk of automatically generated code into your article
Q. Where do the photos come from? How do I know I can use them on my blog?
A. When you use Wylio, you’re searching through the millions upon millions of Flickr photos that have been designated as Creative Commons works by their owners/uploaders. We don’t guarantee the validity of the licenses since we can’t control what people decide to upload to Flickr. So, be pragmatic when you decide what photo to use. If it’s painfully obvious that “flickr_user_1234” isn’t the copyright owner for that Coca-Cola logo they uploaded… don’t use it. That said, it is our opinion that people generally upload their own work to Flickr (like they’re suppose to). This means when a Flickr user decides to release one of their Flickr photos under a Creative Commons license, they are legally allowing certain uses of that photo.
The Takeaway
Harmony of design and content of your marketing materials can be achieved. Technology has made it much easier for the business person to merge the two.
That is what is on my mind. Over to you. Please comment below.
1. Why do you use photos in your blog posts?
2. How do you harmonize content and design?
3. Has technology made creation of your marketing materials easier?
If you would like to contact me, you may do so by visiting my LinkedIn page, following me on Twitter, or e-mailing me at rcberman2 (at) yahoo.com.
28 replies on “Harmonizing Design and Content in Your Marketing Materials”
I’ve always been challenged when it comes to doing graphics. Wylio sounds really useful. Thanks.
Interesting information…haven’t used this service yet. To answer your question, I use photographs I’ve taken myself, for the most part, to inspire others to explore my home state. I believe visual beauty draws the reader in at a deeper level and keeps them engaged. So far, matching travel photos to posts about specific places has been a good strategy.
Kate:
Given your niche, the photos you take fit very well with your subject matter.
Rob
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the information of Wylio – I’d never heard of it until now. I confess I am “image spoiled” since my art director custom designs an image for every one of my posts. I know I’m fortunate to have him at my beck and call.
Catherine:
I am looking at Wylio as my art director.
Rob
Excellent information Rob!! Especially since there are too many photographs with “all rights reserved” on Flickr nowadays.
Catarina:
That is why I found it so easy to use.
Rob
Hi Rob,
I was looking forward to this post. I actually used Wylio to get an image for my last post. I am a little concerned about what Sherryl said about there being no guaranty – that could get sticky. However, it is easy to use and I do appreciate your suggestion. Your point that one’s image should be harmonious to the content is certainly a good one. I always have thesaurus.com open while searching for images for articles and videos.
Julie:
I like the idea of having the thesaurus open when searching for images.
Rob
Hi Rob,
I had not heard of it either, so thanks for letting us know about it.
What Sherryl mentioned is a bit of a concern as they do not stay on your server. I will check it out and one question for your or Sherryl is Can you add an alt tag to the photos?
I have fun at times choosing the picture that adds to or represents the post which I think adds another dimension.
Susan:
I ran Hubspots Web Grader on my site. It told me there were alt tags in all the photos.
Rob
I checked the code Rob and the alt tag relates to Wylio and not your keywords. If you hover over the picture above you will see what I mean.
Susan:
I see what you mean. Did you try to add an alt tag?
Rob
You can change the code for the alt tag but not sure whether this goes against their conditions of use.
Susan:
I heard back from the head of Wylio. He said, “We don’t currently have a policy about the alt tag specifically, but in general it’s best not to alter the embed code.”
Rob
I just used Wylio and inserted an image in an old post. I have to say it was really easy. However, it’s still up to the blogger to choose the right image to complement the copy. I don’t particularly like the credit under the photo, although that’s only fair. I’ve been buying my images from http://www.istockphoto.com/ which is a royalty-free site and prices are quite low for a small image. I will continue to use Wylio. I guess it’s always possible that the photo isn’t Creative Commons but wouldn’t the owner of the photo find that out if Wylio keeps a record of usage?
Jeannette:
It is possible that the photo is not Creative Commons. I think the risk is pretty minimal. Thanks for validating the ease of use.
Rob
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dennis Salvatier, Rob Berman. Rob Berman said: New Post => Harmonizing Design and Content in Your Marketing Materials http://ow.ly/1a0nMZ […]
Rob, this is a great resource that’s going to help lots of people. Thank you for sharing and thank you for the mention! One thing to keep in mind…when I retweeted this post your twitter handle didn’t automatically show up. I’d change some settings around so you can see the mentions.
Dennis:
Thanks for the inspiration. I checked in HootSuite and your re-tweet showed up. Please tell me more about what you did not see any suggestions of where to change info.
Rob
Well, I retweeted direct from your site and didn’t see your handle. I’m not a wordpress user so I wouldnt know where to go, but I thought i’d like you know. The good thing is you saw it on hootsuite, an application I’m curious to start using.
Thanks for the tip Rob. I hadn’t heard of Wylio before and I’m not sure yet if I’m going to use this. The image is stored on their server not mine. My understanding is that the code includes 3 links (to Wylio, the profile page of the originator, and the history of where it’s been used.) That adds a little overhead and makes me dependent on Wylio for continuing this service plus their server being available. Also, Wylio makes no guarantee that it’s legal to use these images. (The pics come from Flickr and are creative common photos.) I’m not trying to play devil’s advocate here but I would like to know what others think about this. Having said that, I’ll definitely keep this on my radar screen. It looks almost too good to be true.
Sherryl:
I understand your points and thanks for being a devil’s advocate. I did some research into the service and some folks have voiced your concerns as well. Others have said yippee (maybe not that exact word but close). It is a new service and who knows how it will go? For now, I have added the photos to some recent posts but have not added to all of mine.
Rob
Please keep us posted. I definitely am not ruling it out. I only post once a week. So, for me, paying a $1 (or less) to license a stock photo is worth the peace of mind of never having to worry that it could be stolen by someone else or that the service could suddenly end. Just me always trying to build some sort of fail-safe mechanism into everything. Comes from my old IT days. 🙂 I hope this service becomes a huge success!
I love using photos in most posts as they can create a “draw” for the reader. Also, many people are simply visual as opposed to auditory or kinesthetic learners and for them, a picture can make a difference as to whether or not to even read an article. Correlating content with a photo completes the package. Recently, I wrote a blog about bullying. The photo used painted a picture of what bullying looks like and “feels” like. It was very moving.
Keyuri:
Exactly. Your example is a perfect illustration of the idea.
Rob
This looks like a great resource Rob!
I usually use photos to clarify a message in my blog post.
I never thought about how to harmonize content and design beyond the alignment of an image. Maybe you could comment on that?
Technology avails TOO much information so reality for me, it’s making things overwhelming at times.
Thanks for this resource.
Pat:
Technology can be friend or foe depending on its usage. I like this particular technology because it made life easier and I really did not need to learn anything. Harmonizing the content and design is more than just placing the image where you want it. Is the picture visually striking? Does it allude to your message or does it distract from your message? I will think more about it and maybe write another post.
Thanks,
Rob