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“What was once called the objective world is a sort of Rorschach inkblot, into which each culture, each system of science and religion, each type of personality, reads a meaning only remotely derived from the shape and color of the blot itself.”
— Lewis Mumford
Happy Summer Solstice! Here are a few things from learning, design, and technology you can read to fill the longest day of the year. (Or if you’re in the southern hemisphere, you should hurry up – you haven’t got all day!)
The Top 7 Free Alternatives to Adobe Illustrator
Many of us in the L&D world are always looking for ways to stretch our budgets. One way to do that is by avoiding expensive software. When it comes to designing vector graphics, icons, and more you might want to check out these free alternatives to Adobe Illustrator.
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/adobe-free-alternatives
12 Exceptional Newsletters That Will Change Your Approach to Email Forever
From marketing and design to the news you need to know, there is something for everyone in here.
As an added bonus, I’ll make it baker’s dozen by adding one of my favorites, the Farnam Street Brain Food Newsletter.
TechSmith Video Academy
TechSmith Academy is a free online resource to help you learn more about visual communication and video creation. Initially, there are eight courses that range from the beginning stages of why you should write a script, to basics for setting up lighting, capturing audio in your environment, and more. Hop on over to up your video game and grab some of the downloadable templates and other supporting materials that Matt Pierce (@piercemr) and the rest of team have assembled for you.
https://academy.techsmith.com/
The Best Storyboarding Software of 2018 for Any Budget
Storyboarding can be a useful tool for training, sales, or demos, and other types of projects. Hubspot (@hubspot) has rounded up some good options for any budget.
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/storyboard-software
How Persona Creation Makes Content and Editorial Calendar Creation Easier
For many, content creation is a time-consuming process. In this article, Matt Solar (@mattsolar) shares a few ways personas can make an editorial calendar and content creation easier.
https://blog.marketo.com/2018/06/personas-make-content-creation-easier.html
Miscellany
A few other things just because I can. 😎
Conference News
- A wondeful group of people gathered (@ActivateLearn @JD_Dillon @MelMilloway @MirjamN @GerDriesen @CraigTaylor74 & more) in Ghent this week for Mathias Vermeulen’s (@MathVermeulen) #LearningTechDay
- Peek in on our friends over at the TLDC UK Meetup
- Looking for your next conference? Check my global collection of L&D events.
Design Resources
- Mobile Mockup – Dead simple way to create mobile mockups. Couldn’t be any easier.
- Palx – Nice color palette generator. Just give it a color and you’ll get a full-spectrum color palette, well suited for UI design and data visualizations that work harmoniously with brand colors.
Apps I’m trying out this week:
- YouPresent – This PowerPoint addin can save you time and a bit of your sanity by converting your slides for uploading to webinar platforms.
Book/Podcast/Course
- Jane Bozarth talking about “Show Your Work” on the GoodPractice podcast.
What I’m listening too
- Spotify’s personalized playlists are so good as you can see in my “Summer Rewind” which is hitting all the right notes for me this morning.
Thanks for reading! If you found anything good, forward it to a friend or spread the word with a tweet. 😎
Interested in the things that didn’t make the cut here? Follow me on Twitter or even better, subscribe to my newsletter.
I enjoy sharing my ideas and experience with corporate professionals via workshops, keynote presentations, podcasts, and webinars. Learn more in my Speaking and Workshop Information Sheet.
Mike Taylor 