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Colour Chronicles: Brilliant Blue Posted: 29 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST Welcome back to another colourful article, this time dealing with last month’s favourite, chosen by you! Just as last time, it includes a showcase of websites, artwork and palettes, so there is a little something for everybody. Basics Blue is one of the three primary colours and as such is also part of the chromatic spectrum. It is a cool colour which covers a relatively wide area of the spectrum, ranging from cyan to a more violet tint. Of course you could always nitpick, but there is usually little doubt as to what all its different shades should be called; light or dark, greenish or not, you can still call it blue and get away with it. Characteristics According to its proper theory, blues are considered far colours, meaning that they seem to expand whatever shape they fill; a room, for example, will seem larger if painted blue, rather than yellow or orange. It is easily perceivable by the human eye, given that blue colours present a wavelength between 440 and 490 nm. All three types of photosensitive cells respond to this range, albeit to varying degrees. On the other hand, the inclusive nature of the name means that some shades are (literally) easier on the eyes than others. Nevertheless, blue is a common sight in top favourites. Symbolism Although present in living beings (mushrooms and frogs, for instance), generally it has more inorganic and abstract associations. One of these is the sky. Light tones give a sense of open space and freedom, an overall calming effect. Using light blue backgrounds in web design can make a site look friendlier, but large backgrounds have the risk of becoming dull. To avoid this, take inspiration from nature: the sky is much more appealing when the Sun creates a sort of gradient, rather than when it's more or less one solid colour. "Trondheim omgivelser" by Helene Rojas Nagel Next is the sea (or water in general). As a symbol of life and vitality, it also represents versatility; you can find it nearly everywhere, filling different shapes in different states. Although it is colourless in small quantities, in reality water has a slight blue tint that becomes more obvious in large quantities. While the image of a still body of water can be considered peaceful, remember that it can just as easily turn into a source of turbulence. Blue is also a powerful corporate colour because of its association with stability and confidence. This is also why many IT companies prefer to use it in their visual identity, trying to combat the (to a certain degree) volatile nature of technology. Of course this all depends on the company's philosophy, profile and desired image, but reliability seems to be the most wide-spread. Some of the more negative associations are cold and melancholy. Less saturated shades remind of murky skies on cold days, while brighter shades closer to cyan have a frostier feel to them. Also, save for eye colours, the presence of blue on the human body is an indication of something wrong. This can be both physical and mental, hence the expression "feeling blue". Combinations Bright, electric shades of blue create a fantastic effect when combined with dark, ash brown. Although it dominates and gives the overall composition a cool feel, at the same time it manages to generate energy. It works well with dark metallic colours as well. Together with teal or mint green it creates a natural, watery scheme that is also very fresh and inviting. Of course, there must be some balance and hierarchy between the two colours; otherwise they will compete with each other if they have the same intensity. Using blue for less important details in orange or yellow schemes can cool down the design and take away some of the glare. While traditionally, orange is blue's complementary, combinations with yellow will have roughly the same effect. Palettes 01. Complementary blue by tudor.girba 02. Swimming Sports by julievonderropp 03. Sunny Shores by twinklebunnytoes 04. Sea Foam by louisan 05. Lilac Bathroom by nightzdragonz 06. Leviathan by matthepworth 07. Bleu Blanc Rouge by kuler 08. blueberry pie by elsabartley 09. Nautical Cruise by thecolorcat 10. Giant Attack Robot by stevereed.m Web – WordPress themes 01. Sealight (premium) 02. MyStream (premium) 03. Irresistible (free) 04. MixBloo (free / must keep footer) 05. The Revival (free) 06. Blue Earth (premium) 07. Feather (premium) 08. SiliconApp (premium) 09. TheCorporation (premium) 10. Envision (premium) Artwork – animals 01. Sea turtle by Ruth-Tay 02. The Safe Place by ShadowUmbre 03. Hyacinth Macaw by doormouse1960 04. La fable de la girafe by AquaSixio 05. Snowy Owl by markkarvon 06. White Fang 2 by Ginseng-fox 07. Out of Blue by kerembeyit 08. Bubbles by trenchmaker 09. The Emperor by D-NA 10. Into the blue by orcasaurus

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Becoming a Blogger Posted: 29 Jan 2012 02:00 AM PST For the most part, being a professional blogger is a freelance position. It doesn’t matter how many different blog sites you are loyal to, even if it is your own, a blogger still has the option to have work published anywhere they feel. Unless you’re a corporate blogger who signed a contract with your company of employment stating you would not do so, but then again that technically might make you more of a copywriter. Moving on, being a full-time or part-time blogger means you’re freelancing on some level. As the typical freelancer asked themselves many questions before taking the big leap, you would think the same would go for bloggers. In the same fashion as any other occupation, there are certain skill requirements that must be met. Almost every industry blog site has published an article about how blogging can improve your career, and then proceeds to convince the majority of readers that being a blogger is the way to go for them. However these articles, for the most part, are all missing one key aspect to them. Somewhere before, or after, informing the readers about the benefits of being a blogger, there needs to be time to reflect on why one shouldn’t be one. Not too long ago I had an article published questioning the current state of the blogging industry. In it, one of my main concerns was the quality of work currently filling up most blog pages. That is where this article comes into play. Below you will find a set of questions that need to be addressed before taking on the role of a blogger. Do You Write Well? *Image Credit: jjpacres There is nothing more embarrassing, or hurtful to your career, than having an article published that is structured badly and filled with grammatical errors. Automatically you’re going to have people eager to criticize every little grammatical mistake you make in your articles, that’s just something you have to come to expect as a blogger. Imagine finding an article that interests you and then realize that it is not written well enough for the actual message to be clear. It’s understandable why readers of articles like this voice their frustrations in the comments. Don’t think that because in school you always got top grades and/or awards for your writing that the praise you received then will automatically translate over to your blogging career. A good writing style and ability level for a blogger allows for any topic to be written in an easy to understand and follow article.  This is not something that comes easily if it is not your natural style of writing. Are You Going to do the Research? *Image Credit: UGA College of Ag Although being a top writer in school may not have much to do with your blogging career, how you went about researching your essays and papers does. For the most part, the average blogger gets started by writing about topics they already know a lot about. This allows them to showcase their knowledge, and is an easy stepping stone on the path to their new occupation. Once the topics they know about dry up so to speak, what then? This happens a lot in the blogging world sadly. It is a regular occurrence to see a blogger write pretty good articles at first based off the knowledge they already have, but after they start digging into topics outside of that they kinda flop. This is starting to happen more often because there are a lot of bloggers who are not putting in the proper amount of time in the research phase of their writing process. Do You Care about Your Readers? *Image Credit: familymwr Personally, I’m always asking myself and wondering how my readers will react to anything I write that gets published. Questions like “Are they going to understand my reason for writing this?”, “Could I have given that little bit of extra effort to make better?”, “Did I spend enough time on it?” or any number of  other questions. To be a good, well received blogger, you need to ask yourself these types of questions somewhere in the back of your mind. Even the bloggers who claim they only write to please themselves, somewhere along the line will start to if they are building a fan base for their work. As a blogger your job is to provide quality content FOR your readers. Do You Enjoy Blogging? *Image Credit: kiki follettosa Being a blogger takes up an awful amount of time if you’re doing it right, whether you’re being paid for it or not. The level of joy you have in your chosen topics, and blogging in general, will clearly show in everything you write. If you’re interested in your topic, you’ll probably write a good article. However if you’re is uninterested in the topic you’re writing about, and enjoyment is not a factor, then its going to be harder to produce quality content on a consistent basis. Are You Going to Give Readers What They Want, Or Need? *Image Credit: United Way of the Lower Mainland For the most part, the majority of people who find themselves blogging come from career backgrounds with their daily work always leading towards pleasing someone whether it’s a supervisor, client, board director, or the end-user. It doesn’t really matter who, in the end their job is to do something that pleases someone else. Blogging is a lot like this, because the one way a blog site can come up in the ranks fast, and keep a consistent strong readership, is to create content that they feel readers want. This of course will get you a ton of sharing of your articles, but will you be doing the community of readers who come to your articles proper justice? A good blogger should always remember that people don’t always get the best results from receiving what they want. It’s more vital to instead get what one needs. Why? *Image Credit: B Rosen This is a simple question, yet puzzling. Before embarking on this occupational journey you should ask yourself why? Whatever reason it may be, you need to be 100% sure of yourself. If you’re only looking for the possible internet fame associated with the job, then maybe you should just max out your potential in something you’re already doing. If you just want a nice and easy way to make a little extra money, you should ask yourself the previous questions again. Probably missed something important. In Conclusion Being a blogger is one of those areas where your interest level in what you do shows very easily, and your reputation rests with your worst article sometimes. It’s not easy, there is not a set amount of hours or days you will be working, and you’re not going to become some overnight sensation. This is a hard job to do, but the rewards greatly outweigh that if you’re really interested in blogging.

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