Content + Design Blog: Media, Features, Design & Technology

MY BLOG. 100% HUMAN.
On communications, design, writing, editing, tech and AI.

A Guide to Working with AI Content

Like it or not, AI will be a part of your writing career, and you will use it in your daily work. But AI requires human writers and editors to make it work.

Localize Your Content and Reach a Global Audience

Localization strategies target a global audience and let you introduce your product or services to a broader non-native English-speaking market.

Offline and Online writing: Is There Still a Difference?

Good online content doesn’t have to be short. Good offline content doesn’t have to be long. It's all about storytelling and engaging your readers.

Editing: Types, Stages and What to Skip

Every writer needs an editor. Here are the various editing types and stages, from the macro level to the nitty-gritty, to help you become a better writer.

Should Reading Behavior Affect Your Design?

Most online readers scan only the first sentences when taking in large chunks of content in an F-pattern. Should your design adapt?

Can Neuro Writing Entice Your Readers?

Neuro writing is a neurocognitive tactic that uses persuasive, engaging, honest, straightforward and stimulating language to engage your readers.

Content Design Is Crucial For Websites

A content-first mindset combines content strategy and UX/UI writing. Because the content always dictates your design.

Break a Few Grammar Rules

Writing is hard. And English grammar rules can be strict. But sometimes, you need to break them to become a better writer.

Avoid Graphic Design Beginner Mistakes

Content and design matter. Can you pull that off by yourself without creative design experience from the get-go? Sure you can.

Should You Use Image Carousels?

Rotating images on websites are ineffective at delivering content and don’t provide a good user experience. Here are better options to try.

Good Writing Offers Value to Your Readers

Great writing is NOT meant to reveal what’s on your mind. Yep, you read that right. Here's how to focus on your readers.

Write Headlines, Not Clickbait

Headlines matter. They are the first impression of your story. They represent your voice and convince readers to dive into your content.

Good Stories Make Great Infographics

Infographics are an important and effective tool to digest and make sense of the vast amounts of data we gather. Here's how to get it right.

How to Perform a Content Audit

Redesigning or migrating a website? Start by auditing your content: Perform a complete inventory and then evaluate its quality. Here's how.

Great Content Connects

Writing is hard. But when you connect with your readers on an emotional level, you’re halfway there. Make them hear Little Red Riding Hood bouncing in the woods.

Cross-Cultural Design: The Web Without Borders

The web has no borders. And yet, most of us have a site audience persona in mind that fits our cultural background when designing websites.

cheap vs pro chart. Pick two: good and fast won't be cheap, fast and cheap won't be good and cheap and good won't be fast.

Building Your Website: Going Cheap vs. Going Pro

Building a website, you can choose between DIY website builders, cheap designers or professionals. There’s no one size fits all. You get what you pay.

You Need Content-First Design

Without content, you don’t have a website; you’re not being heard. Without quality content, your website is a beautiful vessel that won't convert.

Why Use WordPress for Content-Rich Websites?

Why WordPress? Because it fuels simple 1-page blogs AND it handles enormous fully-featured commercial and publishing endeavors.

Your Content and the Semantic Web

Almost two decades ago, in 2001, the concept of the Semantic Web, aka Web 3.0, was first introduced. Has it succeeded? Are we better off?

Bad Form Design & Wasted Time: Resetting Passwords

How easy is it to change passwords or delete accounts? Root canal is less painful. The reason: Poorly designed forms provide dismal user experience.

Persuasive Writing: Promoting Your Brand

You have expertise in a topic or an industry? Persuasive writing, including op-eds, can promote your brand and your services and offer real value.

Don’t Assume I’m A Guy: Gender-Neutral Marketing

Are you looking for a winning marketing strategy? Then make an effort to ditch any sexist ways of addressing your clients.

Writing Should Open a Vein

You've got the tools to be a writer. You either have an inner voice and write from your gut or you haven’t found it yet. The rest of you will never look for that spark.

Donation Emails Done Right

A compelling narrative, visual storytelling and a call-to-action are crucial for a successful #GivingTuesday email campaign. Here are more tips how to stand out.

Dodging the Cashier Check Scam

Ah, the cashier-check scam. Many freelancers and independent contractors become targets, and victims. Here's my story and tips how to spot—and fight—it.

A clustered work desk with many outdated tech gadgets in 1980 next to a clean work space with only a laptop and a phone in 2014

Sometimes, the shoemaker has no shoes. Being a web designer, you’d think I would take care of my own website first. Wrong. Twenty years after I hand-coded the very first iteration of my website, I finally brought it to the 21st century.

Nellie Bly: Fierce and Fearless

Long before the 1970s, the golden era of investigative journalism, there was Nellie Bly. She was the pioneer in investigative reporting. And the year was 1880.

The Web’s Baby Babble

Forkly, Mingly and Grovo. Twitter with its tweets and peeps. Digg, reddit, Bebo and Mixi. Tumblr, Flickr and folkd. Oovoo and Zoomr. Prezi and scribd. Badoo, Rapt, Mubi and Wooxie. Spotify, Blippy and Twilio. Zynga, Scribd and Tsy. Pet names? No, the Web’s Baby Babble startup names.

German Jews in New York reading Aufbau in the 1930s

Searching for German-Jews in New York

The number of German-Jewish émigrés, who fled to the United States from Germany in the early 1930s, is dwindling. I miss so many of them, whom I’ve met in New York in the early 1990s, when I was managing editor of the legendary German-Jewish newspaper Aufbau.