Empowering the world to design
Have you tried out Canva yet?
Over here at Grass Roots Media, we LOVE this smart, simple, online design programme.
How is this relevant to Social Media you ask?
This has to be the quickest way to create a beautiful graphic for social media without the cost of an expensive design programme or designer!
With 10.6million users worldwide, Canva is one of a kind. The only downside at this stage is they don’t have a mobile App available in New Zealand...yet! Hopefully they’ll roll this out soon, but in the meantime, if you’re lucky enough to have an Apple iPad you have a download option in the App store.
An added feature that we love is that you can sign in with Facebook, leaving out the need for yet another password and username to remember.
It also stores all your past designs under that Facebook log in for future reference - just in case you forgot to download them at the time.
Note the design options at the top of the page to help get the most appropriate dimensions for your need? You can also set your own dimensions, for example a Facebook Advertisement is best made at 1200 x 628 pixels.
On your Canva home page, as shown above, you can also search for design inspiration by others who have shared their creations publicly.
The only limit here is your imagination, so have a play and see what you can come up with! We’d love to see your designs share them to our Facebook page.
Have you updated your Facebook App lately?
The new marketplace notification tab looks to be slowly rolling out over the country and we're not sure what we think about it.
The tab brings together all the items for sale in your local area based on buy/sell groups you belong to.
We arent't sure if we're going to find it overly useful and the feedback we've read online hasn’t been greatly in favour of it either. On the other hand if you are after something specific locally, rather than just browsing - perhaps it could be your first stop shop?
Has this update appeared for you yet?
Have you found it useful?
What do you think?
TED who?
Unlike others here at GRM, I think I missed the early boat when it came to the much talked about ‘TED Talks’ but I think I’m finally catching up!
What is a ‘TED talk?’
‘TED is a non-profit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages.’Yes, we’ve missed the boat by 32 years or so, but never fear, it’s not too late!
Since I was told about TED talks back in March I have two favourites that stand out:A fantastic speaker, Simon Sinek is one to look out for. ‘How great leaders inspire action’ is one of his most watched videos (27,500,000 views and counting) and well worth the 18 minutes to inspire some new thinking.
Patti Dobrowolski's talk ‘Draw your future’ is one I went on to put into action.
Patti is a nationally acclaimed comic performer, high-performance business consultant, speaker, strategic illustrator and is well worth a watch when you're looking to set some life and family goals.
A relatively recent addition to the TED suite is an app that allows you to download talks from a selection of 2000 which can be listened too offline.
Great when running in a rural area with no reception!
Check out the TED Facebook page here to learn a little more and see the latest additions on your news feed. Download the Android or Apple Apps.
My name is Chanelle O’Sullivan. I originally studied agriculture, before moving south onto a Station, followed by a stint dairy farming. After 3 years vet nursing, I am now a Mum to 2 kids and creator of Farming Mums NZ and ‘Just a Farmers Wife’ while also now working part-time for the NZ Landcare Trust and Grass Roots Media.
Follow me on Instagram here
