First of all, it has been awhile since I actually talked to you guys… Hi!
I started this blog while I was at a job/internship for a small transportation-orientated nonprofit where I had some graphic design type tasks. The timing was kind of perfect because while I was teaching myself skills for the job I was able to make some interesting “art” for my blog as well. (P.S. I made the “Journey as Janelle” banner myself)
I liked using my own computer for that job because frankly it is faster but it is a Mac and the only copy of photoshop software the organization had was for a PC. I decided to look online for ways to design what they needed because it was pretty simple and I had made a flyer using purely online programs before… as in I did not have to purchase any software or download anything.
I found two amazing websites that I cannot rave about enough. I use both of them semi-regularly for personal projects as well as to beef up my projects for school.
1. Canva
This program could be used for just about any graphic you can think of honestly. I’ve used it for flyers, my banner, social media posts, etc. I guess you could think of it as a much more visually attractive powerpoint. Meaning that you add pretty simple things but with some creativity you could make something super orginal. They have a ton of templates, some free some $1. I’ve personally never spent any money on the website but if you wanted to make something that looks really nice very quickly I can see why a buck would be worth it.
2. PiktoChart
This program can be used to make those amazing, expensive looking infographics that you see on the web… you know the ones that people are paid to make. Yep, you can totally make them for free! YOU! Seriously I cannot stress how user friendly both of these programs are. To publish infographics from PiktoChart without the watermark you do need a “pro” account. It is not expensive by any means and you also get something like 400 templates (which they are constantly adding to). For the sake of transparency, I do not currently subscribe to a pro account but that is mostly because I am a broke college student.
The reason I respect them and also what inspired this post is that they give free lessons on their website! They offer a ton of tips and tricks as well as a “Featured Gallery” which can be a great place to find some free design inspiration. When you make an account you subscribe to their blog which provides you with a weekly email of some new way to use infographics or make yours better. Obviously, you could unsubscribe from that feature but I actually love reading my “Harrison from PiktoChart emails.”
If you are sitting here confused about what infographics really are or if you don’t think they are all that special, check out this Buzzfeed article. Look how much cooler this article is because of some crafty design work!
Until next time,
Journey as Janelle
Journey as Janelle 