Work It Like a Boss / Blog Design

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Bella

Hi!

Thanks for your patience through our blog hiatus! We returned from our fun-packed family vacation in Virginia last week, and the two of us are now preparing for the fall issue launch and our upcoming school years. Needless to say, we are excited to be posting once again, and we’re looking forward to the weeks ahead.

One of the most common topics of question from DM readers is blog design, and Lulu and I can understand the anxiety! Like the cover of a book, the design of your blog is key to making an excellent first impression. For this month’s Work It Like a Boss, we’ve chosen to finally address your questions – and what better way to learn than from the experts?! Below are five doll blog designs that earn the DM stamp of approval. Use our observations and apply them to your own site, making the Internet prettier one blog at a time :)

Alex D. Perreault

One of the first elements to determine when designing your blog is the method in which you want to deliver your content. Here at Doll Mag, we are text-driven, using graphics as support to each post; in contrast, eighteen-inch style blog Alex D. Perreault has pictures supplemented with a short sentence or two. It’s fitting then that the blogger strays from the typical two-column design and picks a photo grid structure instead. Your eye is immediately drawn to the pictures, and the handwritten style of the title has a lasting impact. Furthermore, both color and white space are used well, making this site a visual winner all around.

Simply Dollightful

Another way to approach your site design is to work it around your strengths as a blogger. Both Lulu and I have an eye for graphic design, so we utilized our favorite fonts and bright color palettes when formatting the Doll Mag site. This is consistent with the content we produce: an online publication! At Simply Dollightful, readers can expect gorgeous photography just by looking at Christina’s header. As her blog is primarily photo stories, snapshots from previous posts is a an effective way to design the site. This is also a good reminder that simple is usually better; Christina uses two colors and the same font throughout, and trust us, that’s all you need.

Clarisse’s Closet

Next question to ask yourself: how do you identify yourself and/or your blog? Are you an Etsy shop owner looking to promote your store? Are you a longtime doll fan in need of a creative outlet? Are you a budding doll collector who likes to review different products? It may seem unnecessary, but determining why you blog makes the process of designing a logo and brand all the more easier. Doll Mag is a hobby for the both of us, but we attempt to be professional, using the same typefaces in our graphics and high-quality files in our design. Clarisse’s Closet is excellent at this step as well – we can always tell Clarisse around the web with her signature hat logo!

From Echo with Love

One of the easiest ways to take your site design from good to great is to analyze how you use white space. Contrary to the name, white space doesn’t have to be white; it is merely an art term used to describe the space between design elements. Too little white space looks unprofessional and cluttered {the sidebar is the usual culprit here}, while too much of it can distract your reader. Echo, blogger at From Echo with Love, finds the perfect balance, using pops of color against a clean white background. We love how the design fits her artistic personality, and it goes to show that a white background is not as boring as it sounds.

Doll Stars

Finally, there’s only one mantra we can’t stress enough: less is more! Your background, header, and fonts should support the amazing content you produce, not overwhelm it. The design of Doll Stars does this well; the chic, minimalistic structure allows Elly’s colorful photos to pop, and its professional look upgrades it from the typical Blogger template. Elly didn’t do this alone, however, which leads us to our final note. If you reach a creative rut and can’t seem to get out, finding a free or inexpensive blog designer to assist you will help you and your site in the long run.

What do you think is most important when designing a blog? {And please note that there are plenty of other well-designed doll blogs we could have highlighted! We just felt that these five best fit our particular tips}.

Happy Monday!
Bella

Psst. The next Anne of Green Gables discussion will be posted tomorrow. Some DM team members slacked on the next section while on vacation – not that we know anything :)

Work It Like a Boss / Fabric 101

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Lulu

Hi!

It’s time for another Work it Like A Boss! Lately I’ve been doing a bit of sewing every Friday (expect some summer-y clothing photo shoots soon), and with all of that sewing comes trips to the local fabric store. On my latest trip, Bella tagged along and we snapped some photos with our EAH seamstress, Rubye for this month’s Work it Like A Boss…which I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, is about fabric and sewing tips! I hope the some of these tips can help some beginner sewers like me in our garment – making adventures. Shall we begin? (Please ignore the quality of these photos – they were taken on Bella’s phone)

I am nowhere near a sewing expert, so if any of you more experienced sewers have any tips or corrections, please tell me in the comments! :)

Using the Right Fabric: Using the right kind of fabric for your project is very important – different fabrics drape in different ways! Cottons (probably the easiest fabric to work with) work for many items like shirts, dresses, and skirts, but you have to keep draping in mind. Cotton won’t work well for a small flowing skirt! Sheer fabrics are probably the better bet for something like that. Stretching knit fabrics work well for leggings and t-shirts as well. Fleece and felt should be used sparingly, (think coats and accessories) And of course, you have to think about pattern size – AG dolls are roughly one-third in the scale to us, so patterns should be one-third the size of what we use. (And so on and so on.) While this can be a bit of a pain at times, this can also be helpful: since dolls are small, you don’t need as much fabric. Fat quarters can make plenty of clothes for very little money.

For more info on different types of fabric, I definitely recommend Clarisse’s “Knowing Your Fabric” style series. It’s very helpful! :)

Supplies: When sewing, you’ll almost definitely come across a tutorial or pattern that requires elastic cord. For AG dolls, I use 1/4 inch size elastic, while for EAH dolls I use 1/8 inch. And of course, you’ll need velcro to help keep your dolls’ clothes together! I try to use the thinnest velcro possible, so that the clothes aren’t too bulky in the back. Trims, beads, embroidery, and buttons are great details to add to your doll clothes as well, but use them in a tasteful way. Don’t overdo it!

When using fabrics, you should be sure to use the right kind of scissors. I use three kinds: big metal ones that are very sharp, a backup smaller pair that are still pretty sharp, and a dull pair for cutting paper patterns. Be sure not to use your fabric scissors on paper too often – it will dull the blades! After cutting your pieces, iron them out to avoid wrinkles and stretching, (it can be tricky to get wrinkles out after you’ve stitched everything up.) Keeping your supplies in a box or bag to keep things organized is a good idea too.

One last thing – although a sewing machine can seem intimidating, it really doesn’t have to be. Take a few lessons and you’ll be on your way! And the cool thing about sewing doll clothes? You can do it by hand in a pretty reasonable amount of time as well.

That’s all I have for tips right now. Do you guys have any?

Lulu :)

P.S. Today is Piper’s birthday! Bri and the rest of the EAH girls surprised her with an Audrey Hepburn movie marathon and cupcakes – it was loads of fun. :)

Work It Like a Boss / Online Etiquette

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Bella

Hi!

Time clearly flies when you’re having fun, as already have several weeks passed since we last shared a Work It Like a Boss post! Although we have received plenty of great topic suggestions from followers {your interests range from photography to blogging, and we hope to get to them all!}, Lulu and I decided to focus this month’s efforts on something that is relevant to any doll blogger or regular reader: online etiquette, a blanket term for the “unwritten rules” of the blogging world. The online doll community is super friendly, supportive, and all-around awesome – we consider ourselves so lucky to be a part of it – that we wanted to offer a few simple reminders so we can keep it that way.

Fair warning, before we begin. These are our thoughts only, so feel free to agree or disagree! Stay constructive with your feedback, and remember no one’s perfect {Lulu and I certainly aren’t}.

Pictures Online are Not Yours to Take: Although I would think it rare that this is done with jerkish intent, I see photos or graphics miscredited, or worse, not credited, all too often in the doll world. A photo popping up on Pinterest or Google images does not make it yours to use freely; a talented artist, blogger, or passionate doll fan is behind that piece of work! Do your best to find the original source {a reverse search engine makes this process super easy} and ask permission to use it whenever possible, even if that means holding out on your post for a few days. Safest bet if you can’t get in touch? A caption and link will do the trick. Done and done!

Comment Like You’re Talking To Your Best Friend: I can’t think of anything worse to do to a blogger than leave a mean-spirited comment, especially on a post they put a lot of effort into. Getting your tone across online can be incredibly difficult, so my go-to piece of advice is to pretend you’re talking to your best friend {i.e. always kind, never cruel!}. On a similar note, there’s no need to spam your favorite blogs with your own site link. Spend your time developing real connections with them instead, and send an email if you truly want.

Spelling Need Not Be Perfect, But Try Your Best: I surely can’t be the only one that lists “text language” as a pet peeve. Blogging or commenting online is all about making fabulous impressions, so why in the world would you want to riddle your online presence with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes? Clearly, we are all guilty of typos, but the probability of me replying to an email with all lowercase letters and “you” spelled like “u” is slim. Oh, and this should go without saying, but in the doll world, I would stay away from cursing {unless your site is directed towards adult collectors, in which case you’re clearly old enough to use it with common sense and class :)}.

There’s a Person Behind the Screen: Finally, at the end of the day, the two of us like to remember that there is always someone on the receiving end of our posts, issues, and pins! Reflect the motto “there’s a person behind the screen” in your online interactions; reply to comments, answer emails, and put your best face forward – one that’s hopefully smiling!

Is there anything you would add to this list? Have a wonderful day!
Bella

Work It Like a Boss / Mastering PowerPoint

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Bella

Hi!

We apologize for our sporadic blogging this month – our schedules have been busy! Fortunately, our inconsistent posting hasn’t prevented the two of us from creating a new series for the Doll Mag site; we’re calling it “Work It Like a Boss” :) Named after one of Lulu’s favorite expressions, this feature will cover a variety of topics for you to master, many of which are inspired by your own questions. We figured the best subject to start with would be PowerPoint, an invaluable resource for us as bloggers, editors, and students.

To introduce you to the basics of PowerPoint to make images and other files, I’ve made a step-by-step tutorial for you to follow. I’m working on a MacBook Pro with the 2011 version of PowerPoint, but with a bit of patience, any computer and PowerPoint edition will work!

You’ve got the first step: Open up PowerPoint with a white background. Delete the title and subtitle text boxes; you won’t be needing them.

Next, press the themes tab, then find the page set-up button. Open it to edit the slide size. For our example, we won’t be changing much. Just flip the slide from landscape format to portrait dimensions.

For this step-by-step example, I’ve plucked book cover images from my TBR list to make a “2015 Releases I Want to Read” image. Not much of a reader? Make a graphic of new movies you can’t wait to see, a wish list of American Girl items you would love to get, or clothing pieces you want in your closet – the most important part of this step is finding your images {And remember, like anything you do on the Internet and plan to share, keeping track of your sources is important!}.

To make a title for your image, move your pictures off to the side and insert a text box. I like to make my text boxes the width of the slide; my words are always centered that way. Pick a font {or two!} to use.

Want to add another line of text? Feel free to add another text box, following the same steps as above.

Now, bring your pictures back into the center of the slide. Resize as needed by using the tools under the “Format Picture” tab.

It’s time to add some color! To change the color of your typeface, simply find the capital “A” with a bar of color underneath and highlight the text you would like to change.

You can also press the “Format” tab and find the “Fill” Button to change the color of your text.

While there’s nothing wrong with the preset theme colors, pressing “more colors” brings you more options for you to experiment with. Red is a common color among these book covers, so I’ve chosen it for my title!

If you want your text to have a colored border, as my subtitle does, press the “Line” button to change the color. The weight of the lines can also be changed under the same tab.

You can change the background color using, as one may guess, the background button under the “Themes” tab…

Or you can add one block of color by inserting a rectangle and changing its fill and line color. Don’t forget to get rid of the shadow, as it’s an easy step to miss.

Perhaps you want to number your books, movies, or wish list items? Add a circle, resizing the shape to fit your needs, then begin with the number “1!”

Change the font of the numbers by highlighting the digit and choosing a typeface from your collection.

Copy your first circle, and repeat it as needed for each item in your collection.

You did it – you made your first image! The last step that remains is saving.

First, rename your file and save it as a PowerPoint presentation for future reference.

Then, save it as the image file of your choice {I usually save my files as PNG’s}.And you’re done! Make blog images, school study guides, or online magazines to your heart’s content :)