Now I’d like to have your feedback dear bloggers.
I’m a very visual person and I love pictures.
And no, not (always) the guy who lost his shirt even if it’s a definite perk! But don’t give me guys groping their junk because it’s a definite turn off. I need some mystery for God’s sake. Let’s be subtle somehow. Perfect example here below with The Boy Next Door teaser (fantastic read by the way).
But I digress…
If I go exploring blogs I’ll be attracted to blogs with gorgeous graphics and clean lines.
Some of my best examples are Flylef and her incredible graphics or Corina at Happily Ever After Book Reviews. She is one of my blog besties and her blog is utterly gorgeous with incredible pictures! Go have a peek because she is talented like mad.
If I encounter a blog with too many pictures, on two side bars plus advertising and everything in different dimensions I won’t come back even if the content is wonderful.
Now I’m not shallow either and if it’s only looks but no brain that won’t do either!
So here I come to the matter at hand: do pictures play a big role in your blog liking or not?
Second question: what do you think about teasers? Either alone preparing your soul to welcome the next best book of some insanely talented author or in the review self.
Do they appeal to your heart like the latest Jimmy Choo on 5th Avenue?
Or are you rather unmoved and consider them a necessary nuisance?
Third question: do you create teasers, banners, collage and other graphics? If so what tools and/or apps do you use?
It’s been trial and errors for me so far. Just trying some new tool or new app every other day. I was like a teenage boy salivating every time a gorgeous girl bend to lace her shoes just tent-less in the pants (sorry it seems my hormones are playing the Mambo today. I’ve a one track mind.): I wanted them all!
So far my favorite are: Canva (my foundation); PicMonkey to add some gorgeous and free calligraphy on the picture and Pic Collage for…collage duh! I’m still looking for some incredible tool to create banners on FB. A friend advised Ripl but … What do you think?
The thing is I don’t like multiplying tools. Call me old fashioned but I’d rather prefer mastering some tools than have a collection as big as Imelda Marcos shoes assortment.
Here are some teasers I created this week thanks to PicMonkey. For the first time ever a book inspired me so much I could not stop looking for pictures to use featuring my favorite quotes (it’s Sugar & Gold by Emma Scott if you did not already guess 😀 ).
And how do you use a picture as background and add another above with “holes” to see through? Like the one you can find at Flylef in her Flytip?
Fourth question: where do you get your pictures? Are you googling and choosing the one you like whatever the royalties? Do you have a monthly payment plan at Adobe or Shutterstock or Dreamstine? Or do you get them free of rights for zero Penny?
I confess: I’m a play by the rules kind or girl. I very, very, very, very … rarely use pictures on Google whatever their rights. I’m too chicken! I get my pictures from free databases like Unsplash (gorgeous), Pixabay or Pexels.
Of course trying to find them free of rights and just the perfect picture to illustrate your review is often more time consuming than writing the review…Absurd you say?
So where do you get them? And do you consider it stealing if you don’t care for the rights?
Let’s comment because if you have incredible tips regarding banners, teasers and the likes I’m VERY interested.
Hi Sophie,
I’m so, so, so honored that you’ve mentioned me in this special place of yours. [heart bursting with love] I really need to check out Canva. I heard it’s a great place for graphics. I use Adobe Creative Cloud which provides a whole range of design tools.
PS. I love your IG feed. Your pictures are gorgeous!
Thank you Lonna! Coming from you this realy warm my heart 😉
I love these posts Sophie because I’m still learning how to do most of this stuff! Thanks for all the new tips, I’ll use them to make more teasers because I’m a very visual person and love color and finding new quotes!!
You’re welcome Trisy! I’m still on a learning curve so I try to give some of the tips I learned
Hi Sophie! I agree with you about blogs with clean lines, even though mine can get tacky at times, lol. I always set off saying: do something neat and elegant and then… oh, look, this gold and flames pattern is so cool. So yeah, you get the picture.
I think I’d still read a blog no matter what banners/pics are in it, but too many sure make it slower for the page to load, so it’s counterproductive anyway.
As for teasers, I love both the clean ones like “the boy next door” one you showed and the multiple layered ones, in which you can’t completely discern what the elements are, with bright colors, different fonts, kind of messy, but alluring, like the ones Mary Ruth at The Reading Ruth does.
I do some graphic designing on the side, mainly premade book covers. And I use Photoshop, which I ‘inherited’ from my father since he didn’t use it. Even though you can do basically anything with it, it’s really time and space consuming (those files are heavy!). Other times I use Canva, because it’s supposed to be faster, but sometimes it doesn’t let me save the file and I go back to Photoshop (there’s also a free version of it online. I used it before finding out I actually had it at home and it was quite good. You have to learn how to use it, but it pays off.)
I also like to play by the rules. No pics from Google. For my blog’s banners I use Unsplash or, when it comes to reviews, directly the book’s cover, but for the premades I sell I made a monthly plan with Depositphoto. It’s the cheapest one out there and the pictures are really good. Plus, you can use them for anything, while I’ve heard that some other stock photo websites don’t allow the buyers to use the pics for stuff like romantic covers or teasers or basically anything that could be “degrading for the model”, like being on the cover of an erotic novel or such.
Sorry for the long comment. Lots of things to say! 🙂
Three things Talia: first I love your long comment , second I’ll go visit that blog and third thanks for the tip with Depositphoto
Wow Sophie!!! This is such an honor! Thanks for mentioning my blog. Love the post! I feel the Danes if the blog is not pleasing to the eye I won’t come back. If it’s big mess and I can barely find anything, on top of toms of photos, covers, and buttons – I’m gone. I don’t have the time to figure it out. I love teasers and some are beyond gorgeous, but I also heard that making teasers can be quite complicated if you don’t by your own stock photos or use your own photos.
That’s why I use Pixabay and the likes Corina