But in the essence of giving a little more of myself I thought I’d share with you today 10 things you never knew about the Chicago web designer!

1. First off my name is not Chicago Web Designer, it is Zoe Feast. It is amazing how often it is mispronounced. I  recently received a phone call from someone asking to talk to Zoo Fest!
2. I originally come from the UK but became a US citizen in 2009 . I have yet to lose my English accent despite living in the States for over 15 years.
3. I am passionate about what I do and love the ying/yang aspect of my job; putting on my creative hat for the design part and swapping it out for a technical one when it comes to coding a project.  I sometimes dream about coding which is the geek in me surfacing.
4. If that wasn’t geeky enough I have a degree in Physics and a Masters in Engineering.
5. My favorite type of project is building brand imagery from the ground up. Everything from a logo, to establishing a color palette and typefaces then putting it all together in an engaging website. Fun!
6. I moved to Chicago 18 months ago and live in the North suburbs. For the first 6 weeks of so I was completely reliant on my GPS  … Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Lincolnshire, Highland park and the other North Shore suburbs are now my friends!
7. I am most productive in the morning and dynamic weather such a thunderstorms or wild winds really help me focus my creativity. Weird right!
8. I work on a PC not a MAC
9. A friend help me come up with the name of my company ” Indigo Image” . We were eating curry at the time.
10. I cook from scratch nearly every night. I have eaten horse, kangaroo and ostrich but never snails.

Here is one of my latest creation, a piece of String Art where the negative space does the talking!

© 2012 Chicago Web Designer

Here is a little short and sweet thing for you to check out on this amazingly warm Chicago afternoon,  it’s 40 deg F and I have just been out WITHOUT a coat on!

If you have a Google account click HERE and  see if the profile Google has of you, is correct. They use information gathered from your web browsing history ( if you have that enabled) to show  ads more relevant to your interests.

But it seems not all profiles are correct.

Here are the categories and demographics of my profile.

Amazingly I only seem to have three interest categories which is a little odd as the very nature of my web and graphic design job, means I run a huge gamut of searches across a wide range of subjects and industries. Secondly they have me pegged in the 25-334 age range …which is sweet … but incorrect. Just about the only thing they got right was my gender.

Google allows you to remove or edit anything you like and also opt out of the tailored ad system completely.

Does Google have your profile correct?

© 2012 Chicago Web Designer

Here is a very quick video tutorial I made on how to subscribe to our blog “The Chicago web designer”

© 2012 Chicago web designer

It grabs the most frequently used words from any web site or blog feed , search term or Twitter Id.

The fonts, color palette and shape can be easily customized.

and you can even upload a custom shape …here I uploaded the icon of our logo.

The images it creates can be saved in a number of formats. A good idea for a really quick marketing idea.

©: 2011 Chicago Web Designer

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest  is  one of the fastest growing social networking sites. It is a virtual pin board enabling you to share  images  you find online.  You can organize your images onto separate boards according to your interests. For example within my collection I have a board of contemporary art work and a board of free printable.

Who is using Pinterest and what are they using it for?

The majority of Pinterest users are women aged between 25 and 44. It is primarily used to share DIY, craft, beauty, art, design, home decor, food, fashion, photography and  garden imagery.  If for example a pinner is remodeling a home they may have boards for Kitchens, bathrooms, landscape design, painting techniques etc.

How do I get started?

Currently Pinterest is by invitation only but if you email z.feast@indigoimage.com I will send you an invite. You do need either a Facebook or Twitter account to activate your profile but you can unlink from these accounts at any time.

How do I configure a board?

A new Pinterst account come with five empty boards which can be configured however you like. It is also very easy to create new boards as you need them. You can set the title a description, a category, and who is able to pin to the board. New boards can be made during the act of pinning an item.

How do I pin an image to a board?

There are various ways to pin an image to a board but by far the easiest is to install the ” Pin it” button to your browser toolbar. Then whenever you come across something you’d like to share hit the “Pin It” button and follow the prompts. You will be able to add you pin to an existing board or even create a new one and your pin will automatically be added to your Pinterest profile without ever having to visit the site.

You can also repin images you see on other users boards to your own boards.

What type of things can I pin?

You can pin any image or video you like* but the most successful pins , the ones that get repinned onto other boards, liked, commented on and “go viral”,  are  those that are interesting, unique and well photographed. In essential “Eye Candy” images are the winners.

(* for a full disclosure on what is permissible see here)

Finding Friends

Because your Pinterest account is already linked to your Twitter or Facebook account it is easy to see which of your friend are already using Pinterest. You can also follow other pinners whose boards interst you…following all of their boards or just an individual board. The more active you are in the community the more followers you will get.

Can Pinterest drive traffic to my website?

When ever an image or video is pinned to a board it is automatically linked to the source site so there is definitely potential for traffic. My personal blog Creative in Chicago receives about 15% of it’s traffic from Pinterest.

The lastest figures show that Pinterst is used predominantly by women aged 25-44

Follow me on Pinterest!

©: 2012 Chicago web designer

On the agenda today was  my email signature and as much of my business communication is done via email, it is an important little snippet at the bottom of every email I send. It essentially acts as an electronic business card.

What are the elements of a good email signature?

• Your name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Fax Number
• A very brief statement on what you do and offer
• Link to company web site
• Links to social media profiles such as Twitter and Facebook
• Keeping the signature short and sweet

In my signature I also have my logo and also the word “Thanks” so I don’t have to type it out every time.  The signature can also be edited on a per email basis, so if I need to have a more formal finish I can easily delete “Thanks” and replace with something more appropriate. The same goes for adding my surname.

Here is how it looks.

Setting up an email  signature in Outlook is easy and there are great instruction on how to do so here.

© 2012 Chicago Web Designer

It seems however I am unable to step away from the creative world. Here are a few of the fun non computer creative things I have done in the last year.

• Invested in an SLR digital camera, while my photos are far from professional I did qualified for a profile on istockphotos.com
• Built some sand sculptures in the gorgeous white sands of Florida.
• Learnt how to tie the fantastic monkey fist knot
• Enjoyed the creative eye candy of down town Chicago. From the wonderful impressionist painting in the Art Institute of Chicago to the amazing reflections from “The Bean“
• Transformed a dungeon basement room to a teenage penthouse complete with painted  skyline mural
• Made an igloo in the garden after the spectacular snow storm in February
• Got creative with food with some doggy cookies …for humans.
• Got inspired to  buy some watercolor paints after discovering a painting I’d started at age 17 and never finished. Brushing up on some seriously lost skills!
• Planted a vegetable garden …that our resident garden critters enjoyed very much.

I am looking forward to many more creative adventures in 2012… digital or not.

©: 2011 Chicago web designer

But without further ado here is this years holiday message.

Happy Holidays!

&copy: 2011 Chicago web designer

The new profile page features a large cover photo which you will need to set.  You can use one of your existing photos or upload something new.

The dimension of the cover photo is 850px by 315 px, if the image you select is smaller that that it will end up being stretched and not sharp.

I created a montage of contemporary graphics for my cover photo, they are the same as the ones I used to create the “Color Punch” igoogle theme.

To get you started I am offering three contemporary graphics you can use on your own Facebook profile. Download by clicking on the image and saving to your computer. They are sized correctly and ready to go.

Color Splat

Color Punch

Rays

© 2011 Chicago web designer