Blog and Inspiration

a social media guiding tool
a social media guiding tool

Here are some wise tips from our friends at Top Nonprofits. They highlight two main points: understanding your audience and planning your content. This one page document should live on everyone's bulletin board. It is presented in such a straightforward way that you may feel as inspired as I do to practice (and preach) these tips. Imagine if we all could get on board... I bet our social media communicaitons would not only be less scattered and overwhelming, but more alive and meaningful.

Thank you Top Nonprofits (and author,...

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going responsive
going responsive

In this dynamic, fast-moving, wild and wonderful world of web design, 5 years is practically a century. Responsive web design (RWD) had it's beginnings in 2010 ago when visionary web designer, Ethan Marcotte, published his article on A List Apart. Soon Ethan was on the speaker circuit, his vision became a game changer, and by now "responsive" is practically a household name.

Or is it?

Most...

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why the name "elytra"?
why elytra? and the hidden beauty of pollination

People often ask, "What is Elytra?" I wrote a short answer to this question here in the about section of our website. I wrote this in 2002, when I first ventured out on my own as a young web designer and started this studio. What I wrote then still holds true today. I wanted to capture the heart of what I wanted this web studio to be and to represent. I wanted to bring on this journey a love for nature, biology, art and technology. I'm a biologist by training...

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a vision without a plan
a vision without a plan is a hallucination

I was speaking with a colleague recently about the phenomena of big visions, and how if those big visions are not surrounded and supported by healthy, rigorous, and ongoing organizational structures, that vision will have a tough time getting off the ground. Or, if that vision is already off the ground, it will have a hard time staying afloat. At the end of our call, my friend shared one of her favorite quotes. She said, "a vision without a plan is a hallucination."

I like this quote. It's edgy. It throws you back on yourself and makes you think. Or rethink. It begs the...

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color beautiful: selecting colors for your new website
color beautiful - selecting a color palette for your new website

Choosing the best colors for your new or re-designed website can be overwhelming. Sometimes we can get lost in a sea of possibilities. I swim there a lot!... One recommendation to help with the process is to find a bunch of photos or images that you feel hit that sweet spot in your heart or gut, and gives you a premonition of the atmosphere you imagine for your website. Your color palette might just pop for you. These colors below represents a few inspiring color combinations using some of Elytra Design's header images.

There are several...

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blogging and thought leadership
blogging and thought leadership, a blog post by Andrea Hurley

In an article I recently read, entitled What is Thought Leadership?, Michael Brenner shares this quote, a definition by author and strategist, Daniel Rasmus: "Thought leadership should be an entry point to a relationship. Thought leadership should intrigue, challenge, and inspire even...

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blogging and the motivation factor
blogging and the motivation factor - blog post by Andrea Hurley, Elytra Design

At Elytra Design, we've been courting the idea of blogging for a couple of years. We knew it was important for all the reasons we expressed in our previous blog post, but something seemed to be getting in the way of starting—in earnest. As we looked more more closely at what was hanging us up, we found that it was not quite so simple as not having enough time, which we initially thought was the culprit. We found that beyond the time factor, there is also the motivation factor....

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blogging and the time factor
blogging and the time factor, blog post by Andrea Hurley

I don’t think there is a lot of controversy about whether or not it is a good idea for a business to have a blog. In our modern digital world, blogging is considered to be a signifiant asset to your business. By bringing new and more keyword rich content to your website, you organically increase your page rankings in search engines like Google. So of course it’s a good idea to have a blog. Who would not want to improve business by having higher rankings in the search engines? Silly question, I know. But when the rubber hits the road and it’s time to sit at the keyboard, you just...

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an elytra re-design
The cobbler's children have no shoe

"The cobbler's children have no shoes." That's what people would say when we talked about our old website. As much as we wanted to redesign it, we never managed to find the time. But when it reached that point where it felt so outdated that we didn't want to send anyone to it (not good for a web design shop) we pulled out all stops and made it happen. Those those cobbler's kids finally have new shoes! And Elytra has its new design:) 

Welcome to our new site! While we gave it a whole new look and feel—one that is more contemporary and upbeat, we retained some of the old touches that...

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