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If you’re not on the social media giant Pinterest, then you’re missing out!

Let’s begin with the basics: I started pinning in what feels like forever ago, but it was probably some time in 2010. The site wasn’t what it is now – granted, the design has stayed pretty much consistent and the user-interface has always been very friendly; yet, the following that Pinterest has now is just enormous. In January 2012, comScore reported the site had 11.7 million unique users, making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark.

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{ My Pinterest Profile }

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Everyone seems to be joining Pinterest – from big businesses to personal users. And with the sites immense growth comes innovative ideas for sharing and reaching more people. I love the Pinterest App on my cell (available for Android and iPhone) because I love to pin while I’m waiting for anything. It’s a sweet way to pass the time; looking up design inspirations or delicious recipes. But what matters most is what you have for later – Pinterest gives you the satisfaction of knowing that all of that information is stored there, in an organized and conveniently-linked manner.

Now for the goodies – literally. They’ve got a whole page of Pinterest Goodies where they’ve created some fantastic tools for business’ and personal brands:

Buttons + Widgets: Integrate the Pin It Button, Follow Button, Profile Widget, or Board Widget to get more engagement from pinners and traffic back your site; and don’t forget to Verify Your Site.

Also, if you’re a WordPress blogger – like me – then you’ll love this plugin that adds a “Pin It” button as you hover over blog images. Recently, I stumbled upon another plugin called Alpine Photo Tile that showcases your most recent pins on a site page.

By simply searching online, you’ll find an endless list of plugins and widgets for Pinterest + WordPress.

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Now for some visual fun. Here are a few examples of the Board Widget being integrated into a post. By clicking anywhere on the images below, you’ll be directed to any of the following boards: Design + Typography, Home + Garden, or Delicious Delights; yet the best part is that it’s constantly going to showcase the most recent pins. It’s sheer awesomeness:

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It doesn’t seem like the Pinterest trend will subside anytime soon. Which is why I’m recommending you to jump on board, if you haven’t already! There’s lots of help on the Pinterest site to get you started. Plus, it’s truly one of the most user-friendly websites out there. The inspirations are endless and the organization is perfect.

{ Check out Pinterest and be sure to follow me when you get there! }

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We all know the world of design isn’t just logos and website creations. Design reaches far more influential factors in a brands image – like for example, packaging design.

Consumers eyes are attracted to sleek and interesting displays of art; and you’re constantly confronted with packaging design options on the grocery store shelves. But have we realized how important that is to our purchase decisions? Packaging is an a key determination of the consumers perception of the product which leads to the the brands success or failure.

On that note, today’s focus is one of my favorite things in the universe – Wine!

When I walk up to the wine racks at the grocery store, I of course draw my attention immediately to the types of wine I like (Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc.) Then, once I’m standing in front this array of red wines, the package designs start to pull me closer. And this is the moment when I grab the one I like most and head over to the check-out counter…

A boring design might deter me from even looking at the wines details or I’ll simply skip over that bottle and keep looking. It’ just the way it works – packaging design plays a major role in the purchase process. Luckily for us consumers, designers have stepped it up with fun yet classic designs for this tasteful delicacy.

Ram’s Leap: a colorful array of swirly-rams is for lovers of all flavors and tastes

Hamilton Fray: inverse coloring process draws the eye to the hand drawn design

The Tentacle: illustration designs formulated in a simple way can link your company’s logo and image very eloquently and effectively

Julian Madrid: minimalist designs are also very attention capturing and classic

Sunflower Hills: A vintage, yet pop art, feel to the classic wine bottle

Santameriana: clean cut typography design is an instant attention grabber

The People’s Wine: my personal favorite, with hand-drawn text and colorful accents to determine the type of wine – easy to identify and fun to look at!

{ For more photos of these wine designs and many other styles, visit the source! }

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year month! Art Walk, every second Saturday of the month, is always a good time. This weekend, I looked forward to visiting Arlene‘s updated piece in the Wynwood Cigar Factory. She started work on a modern Indian girl – pictured above. Her next step is to incorporate typography treatments; can’t wait to see it finished!

Walking on the way to the cigar shop, I snapped some shots of Wynwood Art Walk‘s beautiful pieces – inside the galleries and throughout the streets:

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If you missed out the cultural event that is Art Walk this month, you can visit the next one on November 10th.  After a great stroll through the area, I finally got to the music-filled and energy-driven Wynwood Cigar Factory. I snapped some photos of the updated venue, with new artwork. Check it out and enjoy:

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Almost 1,500 people can’t be wrong!
Wordpress.org is where you should open, create,
and customize your new and soon-to-be-amazing blog.

It’s an open source blogging platform with extensive customization capabilities. You can install themes into the program and customize everything from layout, to fonts, to colors, and much more. It’s also notorious for its plugins and widgets servicing pretty much everything you need on your blog. From newsletter sign-ups to running SEO keywords for individual blog posts, WordPress plugins do it all. It also incorporates spam protection in your comments, has a mobile-app where you can quickly update and respond to comments from, and is always easy to upgrade. This blogging platform just gets better with every update. So don’t wait any longer, start blogging about whatever you want!

Ready to learn more about blogging and WordPress.org? Join me for a one-on-one consulting session. We’ll go step-by-step and in-depth as to how to start your WordPress blog site – plus tricks to make the site more user friendly and attention grabbing. Not sure exactly what you need help with? Contact me and I’ll help point you to the right starting-location.

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Hello Digital Darlings! I’d like to introduce META, Miami Elite Tennis Academy, who launched they’re official website this week. I was fortunate to work with META by designing and creating their website and social media outlets.

The overall layout of the site is minimalist; throughout all of the pages, you will enjoy the clean-cut yet exciting style. What really stands out, in the design aspect, is the highlight color of lime green which is also META’s identity color. Plus, the vibrancy of the images really “pop!” against the darker background, and the information is simply detailed in order for the viewer to know what they need to know and go!

The META project was actually a collaboration with my design partner and friend, Arlene, who did all the fun stuff like designing the brand identity for the company; of course, this is all while I stayed up late-nights, drinking coffee, and coding the back end of the website! But all kidding aside, I am so happy with the end result and to have had the opportunity to work with META on their website.

META is all about having fun and improving your tennis game. They have a special pyramid-system for their Juniors program, where the children go up in levels to become the best athletes they can in the appropriate amount of time and practice. They offer a 2-Week Free Trial when you register online, and are currently enrolling for Summer Camp! Check META out on Facebook too, or visit them as they are conveniently located in Kendall, Miami. Plus, I think you’ll really love what they have to offer.

[ www.metennis.com ]

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Source: HubSpot

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Artist Erin Hanson created minimalist illustrations about the differences between what we Need and what we Want… And wow, they are oh’ so true! Here are some of my favorites, but be sure to visit her post with all of the great designs:

Source