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Field Notes Blog

News and thoughts on UI/UX, web design, and more.

A Cheerful Retro-inspired T-shirt Celebrating the San Diego Blood Bank's 70th Anniversary

9/17/2020

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PictureClick for a larger view
As many of you know, I am an avid supporter of the work blood banks do in communities around the world. As a blood drive host I'm proud to contribute to that mission and it's a great way to stay on track since I'm working to earn my own 5 gallon donor badge. So, imagine my excitement when I got the opportunity to create some original artwork to help celebrate the 70th anniversary of the San Diego Blood Bank! 2020 has been a tough year but it hasn't been all bad. For this design I wanted to create something that would be oh-so-San Diego while helping people feel hopeful and inspired. I immediately remembered one of the high points of the year for me, a very special day in February at La Jolla Shores Beach when I saw bottlenose dolphins surfing with pure delight in the sparkling morning surf. 


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Digital Summer Camp 06: CMYK and RGB

8/15/2018

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CMYK and RGB
​What is RGB and why does it matter? Why is there a big blank spot on your site where you uploaded that TIF image? In this episode, we’ll do a deep dive into color spaces and look at how our image formats are influenced by our eyeballs, LED displays and even the sun itself. I’ll also provide some easy examples of what to use where and tips for getting the best results. 


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Digital Summer Camp 03: 3 Ways to Measure Images

7/25/2018

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How to measure online images
Say you want to add a photo to your blog as a thumbnail graphic. You snap a cool photo, pop it in and WHOA, it’s gigantic. Plus, it’s taking forever to load. Wouldn’t it be great to know how big to make the photo in the first place? In this 1 minute episode,  I'll show you three easy ways to determine how large an image should be and give you some handy image size examples. 


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8 Week Digital Summer Camp: The Secret Life of Images

7/6/2018

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Digital Summer Camp
Build Your Skills to Rule the Web - Starting July 10th
Are you baffled by RGB and CMYK? Flummoxed by file types? Distressed by dpi? Do you struggle to understand when to use high-res or low-res images? Do you yearn for short and simple explanations? Then you're in the right place! I'm kicking off July with a Digital Summer Camp web series called The Secret Life of Images. Over the course of eight weeks, you'll gain hands-on skills like how to resize and optimize images for your website and social media. You'll also gain valuable deeper understanding about image formats (Vector? Raster?), file types and we'll crack the mystery of resolution. 

The web is visual, marketing is visual, communication itself is visual. Before a single word of your carefully-crafted copy is read, people evaluate you based on your images. The difference between a fast, appealing website and a slow, ineffective one comes down to images. The key to high quality, professional brochure is the images. But never fear, YOU can be a Graphics Eagle Scout by the end of summer!

Whether you're running your own business, boosting your job skills or managing staff, this series is packed with short, info-packed episodes that will pay for themselves many times over (especially since they're free). That's right, I said episode because this web series is in video format which means you can learn on your smartphone while lounging by the beach, lake or campfire. So join me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube (links in the footer) for a new lesson each week or join my mailing list to get them delivered right to your In Box.

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15 Social Media Ideas from Your Every Day Life

5/15/2018

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15 social media ideas
Content marketing is a fancy term for promoting yourself online by offering useful material. It's successful because it works on the power of attraction instead of distraction. In the same way we skip commercials, it's easy to tune out cheesy stuff online. Instead, we want to put out appealing, relevant content. Simple! Or is it? Do you have a hard time seeing your business through the eyes of an outsider? What may be an everyday, mundane thing to you (ho hum, here I am meeting with the wine rep again) might be wonderfully exotic to a new client (the handsome Italian wine rep - are you kidding me?!). With the goal of harvesting cool content for your social media marketing, here are 15 social media ideas that come out of the everyday things you probably already do. 


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7 Step-by-Step Guide to Monthly Website Updates

2/26/2018

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7 Step Guide to Monthly Updates
The best way to make the most of your online marketing channels - whether it's your website, blog, email newsletter or social media feed - is to develop a habit of keeping them fresh. For small businesses and nonprofits though, this can be a real challenge. As small business owners, we wear a lot of hats and marketing often ends up on a back burner. To remedy this, consider scheduling in a 7 step monthly update. Here’s a step-by-step guide to doing your first one and setting it up as an easy task each month.  


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January Newsletter: Free 3-Month Marketing Planner | Online Marketing 101  |  Soaring

1/1/2018

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Picture

Catty New Year!


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Monday Motivation: Manufacturing the Magic of Focus

6/26/2017

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Picture
Do you wish you could make more progress on your projects? Or handle problems faster? Who doesn't? ​The secret is focus. ​But how can you focus when your phone and email are going off, your to do list is looming and someone's hovering nearby? Kids know all about single focus, they do it naturally. And us adults do it all the time accidentally. ​Have you ever been intrigued by a new car only to suddenly see that kind of car everywhere? 
It's not as if there are a zillion more of those suddenly. You're noticing them because the car caught your interest. It's been lifted out of the selective blindness that keeps us from being distracted by daily life's irrelevant details. So let's put that to work. Here are 3 very simple things that I do with my website clients to help them regain the precious skill of childlike focus.

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Learn from home with my Wednesday Website Webinars

12/22/2016

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Pixel Lava Webinars
Following on the success of last year I'm offering my live, online webinars again this year. These 1 hour presentations are designed to quickly get you up to speed on topics like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media marketing, blogging for business, using Facebook for business, the most effective ways to maintain your website and much more. These sessions are also valuable for small business people and nonprofit professionals who need to know enough to avoid internet scams and over-priced services. For example, what are the deliverables you should get in a search engine marketing service? What is Google Analytics and why should it be a part of any SEO package? How often and what sort of content should you be posting on social media? All that's required is to be online with your favorite device, if you want to participate in the question and answer period you'll get best results with a computer and headphones (or earbuds). There are 12 sessions in all and if you miss the live session on Wednesday night you can log in and view a video replay afterwards. As with my Web Labs I'm offering a nice discount for a Season Pass. While individual passes are a great value at $15 each, a Season Pass is just $144 which saves you $34. With a money-back guarantee you have nothing to lose and as professional development it's even a tax write-off.  See the full webinar list and sign up. 

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Web Labs Build your Business with Hands-on Project-based Labs

12/21/2016

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Pixel Lava Web Labs
I'm really excited to announce that all of the details are coming together for my upcoming Pixel Lava Webs Lab series. While I got a ton of great reviews last year, students all said the same thing - that they never got around to putting their new knowledge into action. That gave me the idea of creating these live, presenter-led sessions where we work together to build up our online marketing. In the same way that services like Blue Apron deliver a ready-to-make meal, each Web Lab features a standalone project with step-by-step instructions. I'll begin with a demo and then we'll get to work. My goal is for every student to leave every session with a new, ready to use project. The sessions are also a great way to get the support of like-minded small business owners and nonprofit professionals. By working together week by week, we'll motivate each other to stay on track and provide the accountability to GET THINGS DONE. To encourage students to take advantage of the whole series I've created a super deep discount of $385 for a season pass - that's 50% off. If you run a small business or nonprofit I encourage you to join us. You CAN bring in more clients, buyers, donors, volunteers, patients, visitors, etc. and I will show you how. With a money-back guarantee you have nothing to lose and as professional development it's even a tax write-off . Get all the details!

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    Blog

    Ame Stanko, San Diego Web Designer

    About the author

    As the owner of Pixel Lava Interactive I've helped hundreds of small businesses and nonprofits with websites, graphic design and more. I hope you'll find this blog full of useful information.
    ~ Ame Stanko
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  • Home
  • Websites
    • New Websites
    • Website Redesigns
    • Website Portfolio
    • Website Tune Ups
    • Website Updates
    • Zoom and Live streaming
    • Ecommerce  🔸
      • Online stores
      • Easy Online Payments
      • Product Photography
    • Repairs and Add-ons  🔸
      • Troubleshooting and repairs
      • Calendars
      • Interactive Maps
  • Graphic Design
    • Logo design and brand identity
    • Business Cards
    • Postcards, flyers, ads and more
    • Illustration & Infographics
  • Marketing
    • Marketing Action Plan
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Email Marketing
    • Local Search Marketing
    • Professional Photography
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Complete Workshop Kit
    • Seasonal Website Promos  🔸
      • Holiday Promo Slam Dunk
    • Video & Motion Graphics
  • Training
    • Online Event Hosting
    • Web Lab Kits
    • Webinars
    • 1-to-1 Trainings
    • Weebly Training
    • Digital Summer Camp
    • Training FAQs
    • Website Adventure Club
  • About
    • Blog
    • Client List
    • Good Vibes
    • Review Me
    • Recommendations
    • Partner Program  🔸
      • Partner Portal
    • Pixel Lava Unplugged
    • Art Barn Shop
    • Happy Holidays
    • Happy Halloween
    • Remembering Bob
    • Remembering Mary
  • Contact
    • Support
    • Make a Payment
    • Video & Motion Graphics BU