profile

Content + Design

Tekla Szymanski

Without quality content, you don't have a website. Become a better sentient writer (and designer) in the digital world. Because every word counts.

PostsLinks
Featured Post

ChatGPT and other AI tools: A guide for writers and editors

The popularity of AI writing tools shows that long-form written content isn’t dead. That's the good news. Now let's use us it responsibly. AI is your power tool that you wield and control. You invite it to work with you, and you can kick it to the curb whenever you want. Its output may sound righteous or dated, you need to check its sources and correct biases and assumptions, but you can tame it and make it yours. Will AI replace you, the human writer, anytime soon, as many doomsayers have...

over 1 year ago • 6 min read

Hi Reader, Reader, as a subscriber, you know my pledge is never to promote my services or market myself through my newsletter. I aim to land in your inbox every other Wednesday with valuable, actionable information about content + design topics of interest to anyone who wants to improve on or plans to create a content-rich website. This email is different. I’d like to share with you a new service that I offer, for a flat rate fee, to anyone reluctant to start a larger project, who has budget...

3 months ago • 1 min read

Have you ever been unsure how to present your content, or overwhelmed by the entire writing and publishing process? Yes, writing is hard. Yet it is structured and follows certain rules. That helps. But there's more to it if you want to create content that stands out. You also need to remember the 4 Cs that every piece of published writing relies on. Following these steps meticulously helps ensure you're more than just good at your craft as a writer and can present your stories effectively and...

about 1 year ago • 1 min read

Reading and understanding are complex neurological concepts. We want to “get into our readers' minds” to give them what they need when they need it in an understandable and valuable way. We want to motivate them to appreciate and consciously act upon our writing. Neuro writing helps do that. It is a neurocognitive tactic that uses persuasive, engaging, honest, straightforward, easy-to-grasp, yet stimulating language. Here are a few concepts in neuro writing to help trigger your readers’...

about 1 year ago • 2 min read

White space, also referred to as negative space, is an important design concept. Negative space is the absence of active design elements that demand nothing from the user. The term refers to the amount of space, or padding, around visuals, tables, forms, headlines and content on a webpage or on paper (and it does not have to be white). It is more of an intuitive design choice than a hard rule, and every designer applies it differently. There is no standard for how much white space you should...

about 1 year ago • 2 min read

Have you ever wondered what should come first, your content or your design? A Content Design approach to creating your website is your answer. Because designing a website without copy is like creating a book cover before writing the book. Content Design helps you launch a well-functioning website with highly effective content. Content designers gather each content element to establish the correct content flow. They decide, for example, whether information needs to be placed in a sidebar to...

about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Share this page