Harkable » Blog http://harkable.com Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:53:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Harkablehttp://feedburner.google.com 50 People You’re Not Following On Twitter Who You Probably Should Be http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Harkable/~3/_bqj0SSWH7o/ http://harkable.com/blog/50-people-youre-not-following-on-twitter-who-you-probably-should-be/#comments Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:41:43 +0000 Harry Tattersall Smith http://harkable.com/?p=8122 ]]>  

Here’s our run down of people we think you need to be following on Twitter and don’t worry there’s not a Rio Ferdinand in sight…

1) @DeathStarPR

Behind every great hero is a great PR team

 

2) @WstonesOxfordSt

Tales from Waterstones Oxford Street. 

 

3) @GSElevator

Things heard in the Goldman Sachs elevators do not stay in the Goldman Sachs elevators.

 

4) @50ShedsofGrey

Erotica for the not-too-modern male. (not for the faint-hearted)

 

5) @MirrorFootball

We’ll Tweet what we want / We’ll Tweet what we want / We’re@MirrorFootball / And we’ll Tweet what we want

 

6) @AmandaPalmer

performer, writer, giver, taker, yeller, listener, love-lover, rule-hater.

 

7) @rainnwilson

I am an actor and a writer and I co-created @SoulPancake and my son, Walter

 

8) @ShitGirlsSay

Could you pass me that blanket?

 

9) @Queen_UK

Fictional/parody

 

10) @othrshrtstories

basically, amusing names for books/films that do exist/should exist/should never exist. if you have your own, please share and other short stories…

11) @BorowitzReport

There is a fine line between social networking and wasting your fucking life

 

12) @PippasTips

Tips for living. An invoice for the best part of half a million is in the post.

 

13) @SexyExecutive

Chief CEO & Managing Assistant President of Sexy Executives Inc.Meeting Room #4

 

14) @DarthVader

Evil Orphan Ani™

 

15) @AccidentalP

Highlighting accidental Partridge on twitter

 

16) @Big_Ben_Clock

Established November 2009. Entirely unofficial & apparently imitated everywhere.

 

17) @BetFairPoker

My mother says that even as a child I rarely tweeted about poker.

 

18) @FootballCliches

Adam Hurrey’s crusade to analyse, in excruciating depth, the unique language of football

 

19) @YourAnonNews

A news network that supports Anonymous. As official accounts do not exist, we’re an Anonymous account amongst many.

 

20) @ThePositiveTroll

Sharpen your pitchfork of positivity, for today The Positive Troll rides into battle. #positivetroll

 

21) @SixthFormPoet

Please buy my book, I owe people money

 

22) @MooseAllain

Artist & Illustrator. Dogsbody, but human head. Peripheral visionary. Pest. Daddy to @archie_allain http://soundcloud.com/moosechoons

 

23) @FootballRamble

THE KINGS OF LO-FI. Y U TAKE FOOTBALL SO SERIOUS?  

 

24) @ShitMyDadsays

 This account is where I publish the shit that he says

 

25) @USSoccerGuy

Expert in the sport of soccer, especially the English EPL League. If you have a problem with my awesome soccer knowledge, block me. No time for soccer douches

 

26) @Duplicitron

A wicker basket filled with lemons.

 

27) @HemsleyHemsley

We are food lovers who are passionate about wellness

 

28) @PaddyPower

Betting news and banter served with a side of mischief by Paddy and team. 

 

29) @DearPhotograph

#DearPhotographBook out now! http://book.dearphotograph.com  Founded May 2011 by 23 Year old Canadian @TJ. For Speaking Inquiries:http://bit.ly/TJSpeaking

 

30) @HumbleBrag

 Email Humblebrag@gmail.com with any leads on any humblebrags.

 

31) @Disalmanac

Disalmanac: A Book of Fact-Like Facts

 

32) @TheTweetOfGod

I’m your dope-ass divinity, trollin’ with My trinity, tossin’ top tweets in your immediate vicinity, flingin’ fly phrases from the fringes of infinity.

 

33) @AwkwardFamilyPhotos

Celebrating those uncomfortable family moments.

 

34) @birbigs

Mike Birbliglia: My shows are for self promotion. Twitter is where art happens.

 

35) @GuyEndoreKaiser

The Millers, CBS

 

36) @Madeupstats

Strengths: Stats. Weaknesses: Checking stuff

 

37) @JoshGondelman

Politely Hilarious. Hilariously Polite. Co-author of @SeinfeldToday Tough Mudder Runner, Sponsored by Wheaties Regular guy at joshgondelman@gmail.com

 

38) @NotTildaSwinton

A collection of universal energy. Mother of a bat, Theremiah Swinton.

 

39) @mental_floss

Amazing facts from the good people at mental_floss magazine.

 

40) @GoogleFacts

You can learn a lot of things everyday. When you doubt our facts, just Google it. Thank you.

 

41) @factsandtrivia

A collection of interesting facts and historical trivia about a variety of fun topics.

 

42) @NotAPoliceman

Past times include: buying and selling drugs and related paraphernalia, using drugs as well. Message me.

 

43) @SarcasticRover

Doing a science on the red planet. Not the real @MarsCuriosity.

 

44) @KimKierkegaardashian

The philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard mashed with the tweets and observations of Kim Kardashian.

 

45) @ZooeySiri

Sometimes I get confused, so I ask Siri…

 

46) @Upiktips

This account is not affiliated to any ‘libertarian, non-racist’ organisations with a similar name

 

47) @meganamram

it’s this weird, sexual, anti-comedy comedy that’s ‘in’ right now. – my mom

 

48) @MediaREDEF

Curated media + tech + pop newsfeed by @JasonHirschhorn. Volume 100+/day. Daily 40 story newsletter digest athttp://link.mediaredefined.com/join/353/mediaredefsubscribe?curator=MediaReDEF … - tips #tipsmediaredef

 

49) @ThePoke

Homemade and hand-picked internet treasure. Seen something good? Tweet us.

 

50) @oldmansearch

My dad is 83 years old. I’m teaching him how to use the internet. I told him twitter was how to search things on Google. These tweets are what he’s searching.

 

51) @harrytats

]]> http://harkable.com/blog/50-people-youre-not-following-on-twitter-who-you-probably-should-be/feed/ 0 http://harkable.com/blog/50-people-youre-not-following-on-twitter-who-you-probably-should-be/ ‘Flat Design’ – Everything You Need To Know http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Harkable/~3/Uq1JxrBsDMQ/ http://harkable.com/blog/flat-design-everything-you-need-to-know/#comments Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:16:32 +0000 Charles Patterson http://harkable.com/?p=7470 ]]> ‘Flat’ design has been trending amongst graphic and web designers for some time now but how did it come about and why?

Yesterday Apple announced the release of their brand new operating system iOS7 which has an entirely new look – they’ve gone ‘flat’ crazy!

What is ‘Flat’ Design?

Flat design is a style that focuses on aesthetics being very clear, sharp and minimalistic. Lacking any kind of texture or blurry drop shadow. It focuses more on the bare essentials. The steer away from skeumorphic design is due to that everyone is now familiar with using all of these complex peices of technology and the functionality they provide. We no longer have to hold peoples hand by over designing everything. Finally switches don’t have to actually look like switches anymore!!

Design Principles

Flat design has very similar design principles to print design. Now we have super high definition screens with four times the amount of pixels, we don’t have to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes anymore. Screens now look like a printed page. We can now focus more on typography, colours and layout which makes for a greater user experience.

Flat design is about stripping away the superfluous to concentrate on user functionality and utility. Think of it as Liberace’s washing machine; people no longer want the elaborate to perform the elementary. Users want apps to concentrate on delivering an experience driven by functionality and clarity that utilises the full extent of digital interfaces rather than one that focuses on mimicking the analogue world.

Our Favourite 10 Examples

Flat UI Pro

http://designmodo.com/flat/

When designmodo released their UI kit it blew everyone away and really set the bar, this is a great example of flat design at its best.

Flat UI Colours

http://flatuicolors.com

Designmodo also made this awesome little microsite full of really useful Flat colour palettes.

TriplAgent

http://triplagent.com

This is a great example of beautiful typography and colour leading the entire design.

Drop Box

https://dropbox.com/dbx

Check out the little boats animating along the screen! A great landing page by dropbox which is promoting their first developer conference.

lorenzo Verzini

http://lorenzoverzini.com

A beautiful muted 3 colour scheme from Italian designer Lorenzo Verzini proving that sometimes less is most definitely more.

Sagmeister Walsh

http://sagmeisterwalsh.com

Once you get over the initial vertigo inducing camera angle you can appreciate the beauty of this website. A live camera gives a birsdeye view of the office over icons that are literally painted onto the floor. Very smart.

Tynan Darcy

http://tynan-darcy.com

Simple crisp fonts and basic colours ensure this design is timelessly effective.

Currency Converter

http://simplesimple.co/currency/

Minimal design; maximum functionality. A highly intuitive app, that is easy for users whilst being lovely to look at.

Rezo Zero

http://www.rezo-zero.com/en

This site possesses a bright, dynamic colour scheme- which falls well short of garish- and striking typography combined with clever animation.

Justin Aguilar

http://justinaguilar.com

A one page website that is the portfolio of designer Justin Aguilar. Two much mixing of typography can leave a website looking messy and cluttered but this design of Novecento Wide and Source Sans Pro creates a page with a crisp, clean design.

Apple started off the craze of skeumorphic designs and I think they’ve now officially ended it. Apple are not exactly leading the flat design revolution; Microsoft Phones have always been flat. However the huge amounts of power and influence they exert in the design world means that their shift over to flat design, in my opinion, means it’s staying for good.

]]> http://harkable.com/blog/flat-design-everything-you-need-to-know/feed/ 1 http://harkable.com/blog/flat-design-everything-you-need-to-know/ 15 Social Media Stats You Can’t Live Without This Week http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Harkable/~3/kyV_YuCtybg/ http://harkable.com/blog/15-social-media-stats-you-cant-live-without-this-week-2/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:22:56 +0000 Harry Tattersall Smith http://harkable.com/?p=7402 ]]>

As American statistician W. Edwards Demming once wrote, “In God we trust; everyone else must bring data.”

With that in mind here’s your weekly fix of facts from the world of social media.

37.5: The average age of a Facebook user. Source: ComScore - Tweet this 

54.7%: The projected percentage of internet users in 2017 who will be using Facebook, a growth from 42.6% in 2013 .Source: emarketers - Tweet this

54%: The percentage increase in likes that posts with photos on Facebook pages receive over normal Facebook posts. Source: Wish Pond - Tweet this 

27% of all US time spent online is on social networks, whilst 15% of the time spent online on mobile devices is spent on them. Source: Marketing Profs - Tweet this 

117,672: The number of Tweets sent during the duration of Channel 4′s Dogging Tales making it the most Tweeted about documentary of the last year. Source: Second Sync - Tweet this 

37%: The percentage of marketers who feel Facebook advertising is effective. Source: Search Engine Watch - Tweet this 

90: The number of pieces of content the average Facebook user generates per month. Source: Kissmetrics - Tweet this 

Jakarta: The Twitter capital of the world. The Indonesian capital sends out the most tweets followed by New York City, São Paulo, Kuala Lumpur and Paris. Source: IT World - Tweet this 

17%: The percentage increase in engagement that tweets with under 100 characters have over ones with more than a 100. Source: Linchpin SEO - Tweet this 

86%: The percentage increase of retweets that tweets with links receive over ones that don’t. Source: Linchpin SEO - Tweet this 

Tweets that directly ask users to retweet receive 12 times the retweet than those who do not and yet only 1%  of companies use this strategy. Source: Linchpin SEO - Tweet this 

1132%: The growth of Instagram in the UK between December 2011 to 2012. Source: ComScore - Tweet this 

257 minutes The average time per month spent on instagram users Source: Expanded Ramblings - Tweet this 

262%: The growth of online mobile video users in the last year, the growth in online video users was just 8% Source: ComScore - Tweet this

]]> http://harkable.com/blog/15-social-media-stats-you-cant-live-without-this-week-2/feed/ 0 http://harkable.com/blog/15-social-media-stats-you-cant-live-without-this-week-2/ 5 Best: Creative Apps For Artists On Your IPad http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Harkable/~3/3GIfjXsT6N0/ http://harkable.com/blog/5-best-creative-apps-for-artists-on-your-ipad/#comments Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:52:36 +0000 Harry Tattersall Smith http://harkable.com/?p=6934 ]]> All the exciting work that’s been going on with the charity Miracles for their campaign Fifty Artists Fifty Children has inspired us to get creative in the office.

Here are some of the best apps to get you producing Monet on your mobile.

1) Paper

An app that lends itself excellently to doodling whilst also being a brilliant way to train yourself in the basic ways of IPad art before moving on to more developed programmes. The handy user note book feature means you can easily flick between unfinished pieces of work and continue at your leisure or when struck by a thunderbolt  of inspiration. However the apps greatest feature is that it enables users to realistically recreate painting with water colours, a feature that sees it transcend beyond just a lovely,user friendly, Microsoft Paint 10.0 to being a real market leader.

Pros: So simple even my mum is a devotee.

Cons: Although the basic app is free it can get quite expensive if you want to invest in more elaborate tools.

 

2) Brushes 3

The app that David Hockney used to propel computer art from the derision of the art elite to the acclaim of la mode high fashion, but just because it’s being utilised by a professional artist that doesn’t mean it should scare off jobbing amateurs. It’s beauty is in its simplicity; different brushes are easily accessed with users having the option to experiment with a whole heap of textures, the colour wheel makes it possible to select and mix colours with minimal hassle and errors are easy to erase. And Sharing your work on social media is as easy as a click of a button. For now the train, next stop the Tate.

Pros: After you’ve completed your masterpiece, you can revel in your own genius with a stroke by stroke video of your art coming into fruition.

Cons: If you have an earlier version by all accounts it’s not worth paying for the upgrade.

 

3) 123D Sculpt

See yourself as more of a Michelangelo, a Rodin or [Insert other famous sculptor] but don’t fancy the hassle of chiseling stone or have the resources to melt metal? Then this is the app for you. Take a ball of [metaphysical] clay and cut, chisel and carve away to your hearts content. Unlike some art apps you’re not going to be an instant master, so expect to begin with a lot of prodding and poking at a big ugly mass. Persistence, however pays off and it’s worth the effort for the satisfying end results. It still seems a bit away from the completed article but it’s still good fun to have a play about on.

Pros: A nice paint feature allows you to furnish your finished article, which some rival apps lack.

Cons: There is sadly no export feature so you cannot share your work as 3D models but rather only as flat images- which slightly takes away the fun of creating.

 

4) Phoster

The cheats way to graphic design mastery. An excellent app that allows you to design your own high quality professional looking posters. Simply choose a photo, add your text- select from a huge range of fonts -, and then you’re free to try and complete the polished look by playing about with adding filters to a series of pre-made templates. For what you can create, it’s also ridiculously simple and well worth the investment of just 69p. Check out this Tumblr account for inspiration and to see what other users have created.

Pros: Not just limited to posters- excellent for use as an invite or card creator.

Cons: You are currently limited to creating work in portrait and not landscape but this is just a minor problem that should and could be easily rectified.

 

5) And finally…Snoopify

As apps goes this creation from Snoop Dog Lion is an absolute must. Take the contents of your photo album and as the name of the app suggests… Snoopify them. Add stickers galore to your photo of bling, blunts, bills and bitc- scantily clad women. Plus plenty of novelty hats.

Pros: Hours of endless fun. Actually maybe only half an hour of fun… But so much fun for Snoop that Snoop posts about 7 images a day from the app to Instagram

Cons: Limited number of stickers. But we’re sure Snoop’s currently working on getting that sorted.

 

 

If you’re more interested in film-making then check out our essential blog on the 5 best apps to get you making movies on your mobile here.

 

]]> http://harkable.com/blog/5-best-creative-apps-for-artists-on-your-ipad/feed/ 0 http://harkable.com/blog/5-best-creative-apps-for-artists-on-your-ipad/ How To: Embed Tweets into Blog Posts http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Harkable/~3/IOO2O-Ud1EQ/ http://harkable.com/blog/how-to-embed-tweets-into-blog-posts/#comments Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:08:40 +0000 Harry Tattersall Smith http://harkable.com/?p=6702 ]]> If you thought the only way to get Tweets into your blog post was to just screen grab them before inserting them in as a JPEG then think again.

Embedding is a far superior way of sharing Tweets as the links remain active, display real-time retweet/follower/favourite counts and enable readers to follow, reply or retweet the original poster all directly from the page on which the Tweet has been embedded.

Although to show you how, first I’ll have to insert a couple of JPEG’s showing you how to get started! To avoid over complicating things I am going to just use one Tweet from the Harkable account about the new logo we’ve designed for the brilliant children’s charity Miracles for their Fifty Artists Fifty Children campaign.

Getting started

First select the Tweet you want to embed into your blog or website.

Click More

At the bottom right hand corner of the Tweet and as pictured above click more and you’ll be presented with a drop down menu giving you the option to E-mail or Embed the Tweet.

 

Click Embed

And you’ll be taken to the following page.

 

 

Copy the code

In the box and paste it into the HTML section of the text editor (In the top right hand corner next to the visual tab in WordPress) that you are using and when published the Tweet will have been reformatted to look this this.

 

 

Note: If you want to include an attached a photo or a video link make sure the include media box is ticked.

You can embed more than just single Tweets but can include whole conversations, tweets with pictures, YouTube links and replies.

 

 

Note: If you want to include replies and the original tweet make sure the include parent Tweet box is ticked.

If you want to include a Twitter conversation without using every Tweet insert the following code into the HTML section of your text editor.

 

Embedding Tweets on WordPress

If you are using WordPress you can simply copy and paste the URL of a tweet into a single line on your blog and it will be reformatted for you. Like this for example.

Editing the height and width of your embedded Tweets

Height is a variable based on the content of the Tweet. However they will generally render at a default width of 500px, but will adjust if the page section into which they are embedded is smaller. This flexibility makes embedding excellent for use both on desktop and mobile devices. However if you are wanting to edit the size, it’s easy to adjust the width code for the link in the HTML section of your text editor.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="350">...</blockquote>

Troubleshooting

If your CMS has an ‘HTML’ or ‘code editing’ mode make sure you are pasting your code directly into that. Otherwise some text editors will attempt to remove the data or simply try to publish the code literally.

Embedding Tweets for Developers

Whilst the previous section is adequate for users just looking to share and distribute content on blogs and websites some designers might want to arrange for Tweets to be embedded  programatically. This can now be easily done through an OEmbed endpoint feature that Twitter now employs.

In order to do  this users must do two things.

1)Take the URL address or ID number of the Tweet they want to render.

2) Make a request to the GET statuses/oembed endpoint, passing the Tweet URL or ID as a query parameter.

For more information on how to use, refer to the oEmbed Discovery documentation.

Want more Information?

If you want to learn more about embedding Tweets then check out the official guide to embedding Tweets on the official Twitter blog here.

 

]]> http://harkable.com/blog/how-to-embed-tweets-into-blog-posts/feed/ 0 http://harkable.com/blog/how-to-embed-tweets-into-blog-posts/