TL;DR: Use this Gist to insert a custom favicon into the WordPress admin. Use a black and white copy so that you don't confuse it with the front-end of the site.
I left a good bunch of comments, but here’s what the code does:
Blogging about blogging is my favorite!
Search engines like domains that continually produce content. It makes sense. As a search engine, you are going to want to send your users to the most relevant, most up-to-date information available on the Internet. If you consistently send your users to stale, out-of-date, irrelevant information, they are likely to go try out the competition next time they perform a search.
One of the most effective and easy ways any business can ensure that their website demonstrates this continuous activity is to write a blog. Writing content about the type of work your business does helps establish your domain as an authority on that subject.
Say you are a company that sells gardening supplies (services apply to this example as well), and you want to rank well in search engine results pages for the keyword ‘watering systems.’ In order to show up in search results, your site is going to need to have relevant information about water systems on it.
At the Converge SE conference this April in Columbia, SC, I had the pleasure of listening to Jed Schneider of Mode Set discuss untangling jQuery from the DOM using object-oriented best practices and patterns. The biggest takeaway for me was Mode Set's Utensils component library, specifically how their Bindable utility helps to decouple the components' HTML markup from the behavior driven by JavaScript. I would now like to show you why this separation is important to having high-quality, maintainable code and how to apply it to your own projects.
Mode Set wrote Utensils specifically for use with the Ruby on Rails Asset Pipeline. We will be a bit more agnostic in terms of the platform, but I will implement the examples in CoffeeScript. If you are unfamiliar with CoffeeScript (you should definitely read through the docs!) or would like to see the compiled JavaScript, check out the Gist for this article. Continue Reading
Sass was, to me, as big a revolution to my web development workflow as changing from tables to CSS for layout way back in the day. Variables, functions, nesting and more are powerful tools I never took the time to want from CSS, but once I had them, couldn't imagine working without them!
A big benefit of Sass is the reduction of your CSS files. But if you're unaware, one of Sass's time-saving features, the @extend directive, can bloat your resulting CSS file worse than an overzealous truck driver comically over-packing his vehicle (segue!). Here is the issue I discovered and how to fix it. Continue Reading
While Mad Men might have you believe that most advertising projects are born from a fortuitous combination of naps and "old fashioneds," there is - in fact - a process. The CNP User's Guide series offers valuable insight about this process and what helps us be most effective.
Home builders have blueprints. Chefs have recipes. Navigators have the stars.
At CNP, we have the creative brief.
As a graphic designer for CNP, I sometimes receive rastered jpgs of a requested logo when a vector-based file is needed. Here is an easy to understand explanation of raster vs. vector files.
Vector images are composed of mathematically defined lines, curves, shapes, gradients, etc., and have no resolution. A vector file can be infinitely scaled and look crisp and clear at any size. This makes the format perfect for logos, illustrations and other line art uses on print materials of all kinds. They are essential for use on specialty items, signs, vehicle wraps and billboards. Vector files commonly have file extensions such as .AI or .EPS created in Adobe Illustrator.
As one of the newest members of the CNP team, I feel very fortunate to say that I work with some of the most generous people I've ever known.
Florida Public Relations Association's Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter recently challenged its members to be a part of an initiative to collect and donate essential hygiene items for the 2,500+ homeless children within the Polk County school system. After hearing of this sad situation, Chris and I set a goal for CNP to collect 16 sets, one from each employee. One set would include shampoo, conditioner, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, combs, a hairbrush, washcloths and deodorant.
Recently, Google announced that it will begin supporting the Schema.org markup for organization logos. The Schema.org logo item property has existed for some time now, so if you’re already using it, then great! That logo will begin showing up in search result pages associated with your organization.
For those with decades of experience with online content the question may seem ridiculous, because to us spam looks like spam. Over the years I’ve found certain sources I can trust and some that I skeeve … utterly. To those new to relying on the web for information, however, identifying trustworthy content can be far more challenging.
For those unfamiliar with the web, (the short-timers) here are some secondary cues that can be helpful to sift through the silt of spam and find those tiny gold nuggets of truth: Continue Reading
One of the things I love most about working at CNP is being surrounded by so many creative and artistically talented people. As an account director, my artwork usually consists of stick figure drawings of concepts to help communicate the client’s vision to our design team. I routinely sit back in awe of how they turn that vision into a thing of beauty.
And I am not the only one impressed by this talent!
Our very own graphic designer, Robin Fight, is being recognized by Women in the Arts, Inc. in the “Celebrating the Genius of Women” exhibit at the Orlando Public Library. Robin is passionate about sketching and illustrating and it clearly shows through in her personal artwork. Continue Reading