New Custom Shortlinks & Other Updates

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Last week I received word back from the Library of Congress that ThisIsInspired has been registered as a periodical and assigned an ISSN number. (you may have noticed the slightly different look to the site, including the number under the logo type) We’ve also added a custom link shortening service.

A couple of updates…

The ISSN Registration

This is something very, very few other design blogs utilize — to date, I, personally, have only seen A List Apart and Dave Shea’s Mezzoblue make use of an ISSN assignment. (I’m not saying ThisIsInspired is anywhere near the company of those, however) There are a few nice benefits to making use of this service, which will be discussed in an upcoming article.

In the meantime, it adds an image of stability and trustworthiness to the magazine as well as provides an easy, standardized way to find ThisIsInspired in certain indexes and catalogues.

nspr.us Link Shortening

Last week, scarcely over 24 hours after receiving our ISSN assignment I registered nspr.us for use as a dedicated custom link shortening service. nspr.us (Inspire Us… get it?) provides a self-hosted, self-reliant means to shorten and promote articles, together with other links I find interesting and inspiring.

Why Not Bitly, Hootsuite or Supr?
In a world where link compressors are a dime a dozen (and also remembering the Mysterious Case of the Tr.im Fiasco), it’s reasonable to ask why ThisIsInspired would start using it’s own URL service. There are a few reasons.

• Branding – Using nspr.us enables us to have our own branded service that keeps the whole experience neat and controlled.
• Instability of existing services – In times past, I’ve had trouble with Bit.ly (the Twitter default) responding slowly or not loading at all. Other services, such as Supr (by StumbleUpon) provide a cool bar at the top of the page (and some inherent some usability problems) but was problematic from the get-go with authentication and shortening. And then there’s the aforementioned Tr.im debacle.
• Statistics – Using a self-hosted service also keeps all link statistics readily accessible & stored in a local database and allows for great convenience of accessing the data & measuring link interest.

Prettier Pull Quotes

ThisIsInspired, to go along with my ambition of publishing as a friendly online design magazine with a distinct blog–ish flavour that will never feature loads of articles about 40 Ways to This or That, is also sporting much nicer looking pull quotes (or callouts, if you prefer) in feature articles. This reduces monotony of lengthy pieces, adds colour and depth to the layout, and not the least of which calls extra (but suitable) attention to key ideas and facts. It adds visual interest and aids understanding as a reader scans the page.

Let’s be candid: Commonly, most blogs sport pull quotes that are blockish, monotonous and boring. This is a small detail that really separates a casual blog from a designed print magazine. By implementing pull quotes that look just a bit nicer, ThisIsInspired presents information in a way the reader understands better.

Where Is It All Going?

ThisIsInspired began in November, 2009. Since then, I’ve had the privilege to speak with and interview some people I never, ever thought would give me the time of day (due to their already busy schedules), and it turned out they were very friendly, polite and supportive of my efforts — some of the friendliest designers I’ve met. To them, I sincerely say Thank you.

ThisIsInspired has several thousand readers and impressions each month, and it is growing steadily. The goal isn’t to have twice as many ads as I do content; the goal is to write about what I’m passionate for and help other designers feel the same way. In the meantime, if an ad or two will pay for incurred expenses I’ll be overjoyed, but it will always be my love of art and design that keeps it going.

Thank you for your support as fellow creators and designers.