Adobe Creative Cloud 2017 Release Splash Screens Roundup

2017 Adobe Creative Cloud Splash Screens

Adobe Released a Major Update to Most Creative Cloud Apps

Adobe just released major updates for the flagship Creative Cloud apps including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and others. The apps receiving updates also received new splash screens. Super critical, right? No. But they are almost always good conversation fodder for designers! If you’re curious about the art Adobe selected for the splash screens, scroll on down. But first, let me give you some brief information on what I experienced when I updated.

My Experience Upgrading to the Latest Apps in Adobe Creative Cloud 2017

I’m using a 2015 MacBook Pro with 15″ Retina display. Here is my system information:

screenshot-macbook-pro-specs

My initial upgrade action involved clicking “Update All” in the notification within the Creative Cloud app. I noticed that the progress indicator for Photoshop froze at 84%. I found this article that instructed me on the process to fix my hung-up installation. Before I knew it, I had removed ALL my Creative Cloud applications. Scary!

Thankfully, it wasn’t painful or time-consuming to reinstall the Creative Cloud desktop app and install the new 2017 applications. And everything works so far. The installation process even preserved my saved workspace in InDesign.

And now, here are the new splash screens.

It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway…) that these images are the intellectual property of Adobe and the artists who created them. They are provided here as reference and are for review only.

Adobe Photoshop 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe Photoshop 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe Illustrator 2015 Splash Screen

Adobe Illustrator 2015 Splash Screen


Adobe InDesign 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe InDesign 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe Dreamweaver 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe Dreamweaver 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe Audition 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe Audition 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe Premiere Pro 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe Premiere Pro 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe After Effects 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe After Effects 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe Experience Design 2017 Intro Screen

(There is no true splash screen like the rest for xD…it just displays a start panel with a video. Here is a still.)

Adobe Experience Design 2017 Start Screen


Adobe Animate 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe Animate 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe Character Animator 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe Character Animator 2017 Splash Screen


Adobe InCopy 2017 Splash Screen

Adobe InCopy 2017 Splash Screen

Rey Star Wars™ Fan Photo Dress-Up

My daughter dressed up as Rey from Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens for a Halloween event. We have boys in our household too, so we of course have a few lightsabers around the house. When these things come together like so, one just can’t NOT do a photo shoot, right? I did a little post work, and voila, my daughter looks like she walked off the set of Star Wars 8. Here’s the result. Enjoy!

clareyn-share

Background image credit: Unsplash.com

Tips: How to Get Likes on a New Facebook Page

Social media is here to stay. It’s something most of us touch daily. But being a user and making it work for your business are very different. When you have a brand new Facebook Page and you want to build your initial audience, where do you start? How exactly do you get likes on a new Facebook Page? I had a client ask me that very question today, and without much thought, I fired back this list. First, the screen grab of our conversation. Then scroll down for the list.

5 Tips to Boost a New Facebook Page

5 Tips to Boost a New Facebook Page

 

5 Tips to Get Likes on a New Facebook Page


First things first, I’m talking about a Facebook Page. This is not a personal profile where you set up your business as a person with the first name ACME and last name Widgets, Inc. I’m talking about an actual, proper business page. Here’s how  Facebook explains Pages:

If you’re logged in to Facebook and want to create a page, this link will take you to the right place:

When you create the page, you’ll need to add a good profile image. Your profile image should be your logo, ideally. If you are managing a personal brand in which you are virtually inseparable from your business, you might want to use a professional headshot for your profile image. This usually makes sense for people in the insurance business, sales reps, authors, and media personalities. Almost every other kind of business should use a logo for the Facebook Page profile image.

Don’t have a logo?

No worries! That’s something AJ Design can help with. Click here to get started.

In addition to having a well-built profile image, you’ll also want to set your Facebook Page URL. Your Facebook Page’s default address will be something like this:

http://www.facebook.com/My-Business-Name-829472633711178365/

Not cool. It’s not only not cool; it’s also pretty hard to type or remember. If you set your Facebook Page address, this is what you can have:

http://www.facebook.com/MyBusinessName

Much better isn’t it?! With those two preliminaries out of the way, proceed.


Okay, No More Teasing. Here’s the Five Tips to Get Likes on a New Facebook Page

1) Add an appropriate cover image.

Your cover image is among the first opportunities you have to make a good impression. What’s unique about your business? What can you do best? What are you most remembered for? Make sure your cover image features that thing.

2) Invite your friends and family to like the page.

Yep. Play the family card. Don’t be shy! Most of your family and friends (let’s hope…) like you and want you to succeed, right? Don’t ask them for a loan. Don’t ask them to buy things they don’t need. But do ask them to like your page.

3) Add a link to your page to your email signatures. Invite your customers and vendors to like the page.

Many people barely read emails, much less email signatures. But hey, having it there is likely to reach more people than not having it there. I would recommend adding a simple text link like this:

Like us on Facebook

And don’t hesitate to ask your customers and vendors to like your page. It’s usually good to be relaxed with this request:

Hey there Bob,

Thanks for getting that order shipped! I know that was a special request, and you really helped us meet the deadline. Thanks so much!

By the way, we decided to jump in to social media with a Facebook Page. If you are on Facebook, would you mind liking our page? Click here to visit the page. Thanks again!

4) Ask your clients’ permission to mention them (and tag them) in posts or images.

This may be a little tricky if you’re not used to how Facebook works. When you post an image with people in it, Facebook allows users to “tag” people in the photo. It’s a brilliant feature that allows you to say, “Let me look at all the photos on Facebook showing Sally…” The feature breaks down if people over-use it or use it inappropriately, though. If Sally is tagged in a photo of knockoff Oakley sunglasses, it’s a frustration. You wanted one thing but found another. Further, some users’ privacy settings disallow tagging. That’s fine. Note the first few words of this step: Ask your clients’ permission… If someone disallows tagging, don’t worry about it.

But if you ask and they grant permission (getting this in writing may not be a bad idea), you can post an update or an image to your business Page and then tag them in it. This has an organic “viral” effect. Facebook shows that photo in the News Feed of Sally’s friends. It may be presented with text that indicates, “My Business Name tagged Sally in an update,” or some other similar language. If Sally has a large Facebook network made up of people who could benefit from your services in the same way as Sally, this type of sharing can be powerful!

5) Learn about Adobe Spark and use it to create great images.

Spark from Adobe is AMAZING. It’s FREE. Spark enables you to create professional graphics for social media without having to be a designer. I routinely use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, but I reach for Spark when I am not in front of my computer. Here are several examples of images I created with Spark:

There you go. That list of tips for Facebook ought to take most new business Pages from zero to 300 likes and beyond.


If you need help getting things started, contact us. AJ Design works with start-up concerns, entrepreneurs, established businesses and large organizations. I would love to discuss your needs!

A Blog Post About Not Blogging Enough

I’m composing a post about how much I write for my blog. Or how much I don’t write. Yep, I’m blogging about not blogging enough. Okay, I really just got tired of seeing the latest post in the most recent slot, knowing it was old news and knowing that it wasn’t really compelling. So maybe a quick cathartic rant — laced with a little bit of empathy and encouragement — is just the ticket! Need a new blog post? Write one about not writing. That’s a very Jerry Seinfeld thing to say, is it not?

JUST DO IT! MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!No, the irony isn’t lost on me.

So what do you do when you know you ought to blog but you can’t find the time? Well for starters, here’s some encouragement from Shia LaBeouf.

How Much Do YOU Need to Blog?

Maybe a better approach is to ask yourself, “Self, do I need to blog all that much?” The metrics on blog frequency and successful lead generation are a ridiculous burden for most small businesses to bear. I recall one article shared on the Fuel Your Photos Facebook group showing through data that  the most successful companies publish more than 16 posts per month on their blog (!). That may be realistic for several types of businesses, especially those with a business-to-consumer mode of operation and those who have someone with a full-time responsibility for marketing. However, in my experience, 16 posts would be a good year in blogging for most small business websites.

By the way, Corey Potter is an amazing wealth of insight and information concerning SEO and marketing. Check out Fuel Your Photos on their website and their Facebook group. It’s geared toward photographers, but I have found the information to be applicable to pretty much any small business.

More Is Better, Right?

Anyone with a website and a blog knows that more content, more traffic, more conversion is always better. It’s the lure of productivity. There is certainly a point at which more web traffic (and more blog posts that give a place to that traffic) is a good thing. But let’s look at a reminder from Sabrina:

More isn’t always better, Linus. Sometimes it’s just more.

But to be honest, from a SEO perspective, it’s better to have more instances of your keywords and your message occurring in the index. SEO algorithms are somewhat unintelligent in that they generally equate quantity to authority. For example, the more I blog about business friendly graphic design, the more the search engine considers me to be an authority on the subject. The organic results from Google, Bing and Yahoo would agree.

Reaching for An Excuse — and Hope

Okay, you got me. I’m not really making a case for blogging less. I’m just reaching for an excuse to justify how I could possibly be content with such an infrequent and irregular blogging frequency. Yep, that’s pretty much it.

But really some businesses do okay not blogging once a week or once every two days. But a target like once a week is a good thing. If you mess up and only do half that much, over the course of the year you’ll have 26 blog posts. And if you do a good job of staying on message while learning just a little bit about SEO, your website will have at least 26 more opportunities for people to find your content and maybe become interested in what you offer. Ah, there’s the hope.

And here’s a little real-world example of how this plays out: I was inspired to create a new post about 9:42 a.m. I said, “I wonder if I can knock this out by 10:00 a.m.?” That didn’t happen. It’s 10:24 a.m. and I’m not quite done yet. But I’m about to hit the Publish button, and I’m only about a half hour over what I aimed at. Not too shabby.

If you strain for a goal that’s beyond what you think possible, you’ll do more than if you simply don’t try.


When you’re ready to “try” but need some direction, contact us. AJ Design can help you get started with a blog, website, or ecommerce platform.

Featured Photo credit: Thom

AJ Design is Now Accepting Stripe for Online Payments

AJ Design is Now Accepting Stripe for Online Payments

This week I set up Stripe as a payment processing option for AJ Design. I am content to receive checks for payment of services, but that’s a major inconvenience for some clients. I am glad to be able to offer a convenient online payment option, even though there will be an adjustment made to cover the merchant fees.

How about you? Do you pass merchant fees through to your clients/customers? Or do you adjust your pricing to conceal the fee?

Here’s a hint: The customer ALWAYS pays…they just don’t always realize it!

Three More Reasons to Love Shopify for Small Retailers

We love implementing Shopify for small retailers. It was so good a few years ago that it was a slam dunk for most small-ish retail businesses that want to sell online. It’s still that, but it’s even better today. And AJ Design is a Shopify Partner with a growing base of small retail clients using the system.

Here are three quick new reasons for retailers to love Shopify even more:


1) Amazon.com Integration

Shopify is working on some seamless integrations with Amazon. Users will be able to log in with their Amazon account, and eventually Shopify merchants will be able to sell via Amazon.com. This is big. Amazon is huge, and many small retailers may not feel they have any opportunity to compete with Amazon. Shopify is taking the bull by the horns and enabling their merchants to reach that massive customer base. Don’t try to beat Amazon. Let them do what they do best, and you keep doing what you do best. And when this integration is mature, you will have the opportunity to gain sales within the Amazon market. Read about what Shopify is planning here.

2) TaxJar

Filing sales tax isn’t too tough if you don’t mind working with the month’s order data in a spreadsheet and doing some math. But that’s something not practical for everyone. TaxJar simplifies filing sales tax. You might want to look into it if sales tax is a dread for you. Learn about TaxJar in the Shopify App market.

3) USPS Shipping Integration

If you ship a lot with USPS, the new USPS integration will help you save time and money. Remember when PayPal, eBay and USPS were integrated and you could print shipping labels directly from within eBay? Yeah, it’s that cool. Read more about Shopify’s USPS integration here.


If you are looking for someone to help you establish a Shopify website or POS system — or better yet, bothcontact AJ Design. Implementing Shopify for small retailers is a joy for us, and we are excited for the growth it brings to our clients.

Designer Responds to Apple's Decision to Drop Helvetica for San Francisco in iOS 9

One Designer’s Response to Apple’s Decision to Replace Helvetica in iOS 9

I wasn’t really excited about iOS 9, but I decided to install the update anyway. There are some nice new features, really. And it is pretty cool that my iPhone now matches the Apple Watch. But as soon as it was installed and I was moving in, I knew something wasn’t right. Helvetica was gone.

It took me a while to come around to Helvetica, but I’ve come to count on it. I know it’s used too often and with as little thought to typography as the elementary school teachers and healthcare professionals who use Comic Sans. But once Helvetica was the system font on iOS, it just seemed to fit. I think it worked very well, personally. I will miss it.

As a cathartic tribute to the typographic fixture that is Helvetica, now conspicuously supplanted by San Francisco on iOS 9, I submit this open letter to Apple.

Designer Responds to Apple's Decision to Drop Helvetica for San Francisco in iOS 9

How to Create a Secret Board on Pinterest

How to Create a Secret Board on Pinterest

Pinterest is a place to find creative inspiration for all areas of life. But some thing just shouldn’t be shared with the world. Are you planning to use Pinterest to keep track of ideas that are likely to cause trouble if the whole world saw them? Please. Make the board secret when you set it up.

Got a NSFW board? Make it secret. Your married friends will probably thank you.

Here’s how to create a secret board on Pinterest:

How to Create a Secret Board on Pinterest

A Cold Calling Epic Fail

There’s a place for unsolicited interruptions in marketing. But for most of us, including myself, that place is the dustbin of marketing history. The reasons people may cite for disregarding an unsolicited sales pitch are legion, but one reason may be that the person you are calling really doesn’t need what you’re selling. Case in point? Here’s a Facebook post from my personal account:

facebook-post-seo-cold-call

Business Friendly Graphic Design is what this website is all about, and search engine results reflect that.

In addition to that tagline, AJDesignCo.com also ranks well for more general localized searches like graphic design greenwood sc or web design abbeville sc.

If you’re going to employ cold calling without landing a cold calling epic fail, make sure your people are geared toward open-ended networking and discovering opportunities, not just rattling off a script hoping to capture someone with a pulse.