The Marketing Technology Blog

Notice how I didn’t say “must-read”?

These blogs are “must-read” as well, but it’s the combination of the visual representation of each and every post that deserves some attention. There are some incredibly beautiful blogs out there - but they don’t necessarily wrap the styles of their blog into the presentation of each and every post. These blogs do!

I work hard to ‘find’ a visualization for each of my posts, but most of the time Kathy, Dan and Tony create their illustration to visually explain or compliment their message.

Creating Passionate Users
http://headrush.typepad.com

At work, we have a ton of whiteboards. I believe they may be one of our most useful tools. We can put down bullet points, flow some designs, erase, redraw, erase, redraw… until perfect (or close).

That’s the impression I’m provided by the drawings and photos on Create Passionate Users. It feels as though either Kathy or Dan is in the conference room with me, drawing and telling me the story.

The illustration always matches the post, and the post always matches the illustration. This method speaks to two different types of receptors. I’m a bullet point guy. I like to organize my thoughts and projects hierarchically according to the process or the system. Sometimes I rewrite my documents a dozen times, until it makes sense and meets the needs of the audience. I realize at work is that bullet points work for me, but simply don’t illustrate the point to the account managers or developers.

As well, another 60 page document isn’t adequate and often doesn’t match the logic of a diagram, flowchart, or wireframe. Why? Because not all people interpret information the same way. What appears to be logical to you may make no sense to another person.

At work we now create “1-pagers”, with a visualization on one-half of the page and key points on the other. They work better than the books we used to write.

Great job to the folks at Creating Passionate Users. I love the site and love the visualizations. Beyond helping me to create passionate users, you’ve taught me about effective communication.

Success from the Nest
http://successfromthenest.com

There are 287 unread posts in my feed reader right now. I’ll probably peruse those within an hour or so. As I “J” my way through these posts (Google Reader shortcut), many of them blur into each other… especially the techy posts.

I have no idea what the difference is between a Gizmodo or Lifehacker post - though I know I enjoy both of them. When I get to a Success from the Nest post, though, the accompanying illustration always portrays the incredibly strong brand that Tony has built into his website.

Spend some time on Tony’s site and you’ll see what I’m talking about. I’m not sure how long Tony has been illustrating, but his style is so consistent that I can spot it in a heartbeat. It draws my attention into the post immediately. As well, Tony’s cartoonish style will put a smile on your face. His cartoons aren’t over the top, they identify his brand and add color and life to the post. (Even his icon!)

Tony also makes good use of font-types. You’ll see that I sparingly use the blockquotes, bolds, italics, etc…. but Tony sprinkles them throughout his posts. If you wanted to, you could easily speed-read or peruse the Success from the Nest posts rather than reading every line.

There you have it! Please check out these two blogs when you get the chance.

Kathy gave me permission to post the illustration I borrowed from her site. I intentionally shrunk it a little so that you’ll go back to Creating Passionate Users site. Tony also gave me the okay!