What's gone viral this week

This week I return with my look at what was gone viral all this week. So, without further ado let's kick things off.

Vin Diesel flexes his dancing muscles

The Fast and Furious star thought it would be good idea to showcase his dancing moves to Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" and Beyoncé's "Drunk in Love". Treating his 63 million facebook fans to 7 minutes of head banging and bad shuffling, in a video that went viral in pretty much seconds racking up over 800,000 likes in short space of time. Some would say it's his finest work to date, see for yourself.

Post by Vin Diesel.

Hear what you want

With one of the biggest advertising spaces in the history of sport happening this Sunday at half time on Super Bowl XLVIII. You'll be hard pressed to avoid it, even if you don't like American Football.

There has been plenty of short teasers that are doing the rounds from Bud Light to the now banned SodaStream ad and you'll also see a massive investment in social media from some of the largest companies of the world, looking to get a worldwide trend going. But, it was this ad for Beats that caught my attention.

Richard Sherman, who play's cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks and is one of the games controversial figures at the moment. He takes some pretty tough questions from journalists to help promote Beats' noise cancelling function on their headphones. A bold and uncompromising ad, with over 2 million views, it speaks volumes about how the Beats brand market there voice.

Loki is Thor

And finally, me and Svea love films and especially anything with Tom Hiddleston in. So what would the world look like if Tom, didn't play Loki but played Thor? Well, with the release of Thor 2 coming up on DVD you can see for yourself. And if you know anything about Tom Hiddleston on the web, he always is in gif form. Enjoy.

Tips for Creating a Coherent Social Experience.

James is the expert when it comes to businesses creating a coherent and engaging social media experience for their followers and clients, but for me it's still important to take that knowledge and adapt it for the single blogger. Today I'm sharing my tips for creating a decent and cohesive social presence when you're not representing a major business. 

1// Personality is the key.

Regardless of which site(s) you choose to use, your personality should always be the overriding element. This is different from when a business is using social media as they will generally have a  generic brand tone of voice to convey. For the everyday user, it's more important to appear human. Readers always want to know that they're engaging with a real person as apposed to just another 'brand', work to make sure what you present online is a good representation of your personality and carry that same voice across all social platforms.

2// Pick some rules, and stick to them.

Ok when I mean rules, I don't mean restricting yourself and losing any type of individuality. What I mean is, tailor the sides of your personality you want to present online and create some rules around that. For instance,  a lot of bloggers choose not to swear on their blogs at all in order to make them as universally appealing as possible. Others choose to strictly not talk about their families, personal lives or their work. It helps to create an edited 'online' version of yourself. I'm not talking about a total character re-invention here, I mean creating an essence of yourself that you present online.

3// Roll out your rules consistently. 

Once you've figured out how you want to represent yourself online, you should roll this out consistently across all of the social platforms that you choose to use. I know I'm making this sound kind of heartless, but I don't mean it like that. Your readers shouldn't feel like they're talking to a totally different person every time they decide to look you up. I find it so strange when I find a blog that I love, only to take a look at their Twitter/Facebook and it's like meeting someone new. It freaks me out and makes me think that the blog is totally contrived. It can absolutely work against you to have an overly curated and pulled together blog with a mis-matched social experience to go with it. Readers will sniff out the fakeness very quickly and will be less likely to trust what you're saying in future. By all means, talk about what you're passionate about, but make sure it's consistent across the board. 

4// Have fun, and don't take it too seriously.

Above all, remember that you're not a business bound by a brand identity, you're allowed to get out their and explore your personality online. It's important that the real you comes out and feels approachable to your readers. So stick to your rules but have fun within them. This way, you're comfortable with the amount of information being shared online but your readers are getting to know the real you too. 

5// P.S. All of this applies to imagery too. 

If you're big on photography, I'd consider getting some type of house style involved. Not sure what I mean? Take a look at Pink Ronnie's photography over on her blog. She is very consistent with her photographic style, it has developed over time, but it has a very strong identity to it. This is definitely something to consider if photography is really important to you and how to represent yourself.

Thanks for reading guys, hope these tips help!

Svea xo

Photo of the Week

This week's photo is all about Thinking Places.

When you need to get away from it all and just have a bit of time to think about things, well this is my place. If you're ever in Liverpool then take a trip to Crosby Beach were Antony Gormley's 'Another Place' lives. The beach is taken over by 100 iron figures placed across the stretch of coastline and is haunting but also very beautiful.

My Top 5 Pinners for Inspiration

So we've established this month that I have an unhealthy obsession with Pinterest yes? Well today I'm feeding the obsession by sharing my favourite pinners for inspiration. 

Even though I'm a designer, a lot of my favourite images don't come from other designers. I'm inspired massively by food/fashion photography. I also love interior design & beautiful colours. Sporadic yes, but also it also makes for a great Pinterest dashboard. Here are (some) of my favourite pinners…

1// Izy Hossack.

We'll kick off with a food blogger. Izy has an amazing blog by the name of 'Top With Cinnamon'. Her photography is absolutely beautiful and her pins very much reflect this. She pins a good mix of food and other things but there is a distinctive quality to the images she's pinned. Check her out!

 2// Mrs. French

Another blogger but this time a lifestyle one. Her pins are more varied, but always have a lovely milky, rich feel to them. I love looking at her pins, she has great taste.

3// Beth Kirby

Beth is of Local Milk fame. Her profile is full of gorgeous pins. They always come across as 'classy' to me, but I can't exactly explain it. There's lots of inspiring imagery anyway so get over there and take a look!

4// Bonnie Tsang

Bonnie has a great overall mix of pins. They all have a similar quality to them, but the subject matter is varied and plentiful. Great for all round inspiration. Also, just go look at her blog, you won't regret it!

5//  Sarah Kieffer

Apart from having a delicious blog, Sarah's also has a ton (38,000) pins to tempt us with. Like Bonnie's, the subject matter is pretty varied so there's something for everyone. 

These are my favourite pinners to hit up when I need an inspirational pick me up. I find that working from the back forward also helps to reveal the hidden gems I've forgotten about. Happy Pinning! Svea xo

My Tips for Twitter

So you've got Twitter all set up and you're wondering how do I get the best out of this? If you follow me on the social network then you'll see I mainly tweet about films, sport and food. But, when you're in charge of a business twitter feed you can't really share your individual passions, it needs to be about what the brand represents. I've put together some handy tips that might keep you on track.


1//What are your aims?
Why are you setting up this account? If you don’t have a clear answer to that question then it’s going to be very difficult for you to create an account that speaks with a consistent voice and provides a great reason for people to follow. Think about what kind of things you’d like to talk about, whether you’re hoping to promote something such as a business or a blog, and the kind of impression you’d like to make with this account. 

2//Don't go content crazy
Remember you're talking to human beings that aren't here to badgered about your latest this and that, let people know about your content but think about using it differently. You have plenty of other avenues to let people know about how busy your site is. Have a content plan across the social platforms that will break up the flow of constant updates.

3//Connect with people

Companies often send out Twitter updates but don’t build connections. Twitter lets you speak to anyone (using the @mention function) about any topic using #hashtag for a subject. This is one place where it isn’t bad to be a follower. Follow people and companies you want to know about and connect with, reach out to them and connect and you'll grow similar followers that are passionate about your industry.

4// Never change your voice

Whether you’re talking to 3 followers or 3 million followers, use the same approach in your tweeting. Share the same kind of links and information. The best way to grow your network and become a reliable source of information is to provide really high quality tweets from the word go.

These tips will hopefully get you cracking on with a successful twitter venture. If you have any other tips, please feel free to share.

James

Photo of the Week

Happy Saturday everyone! Today's Photo of the Week comes in the form of lunch. One of my New Years' resolutions was to experiment more with vegetables in my cooking and try to eat more healthy food. Enter the Cauliflower crust pizza. I've been pinning lots of great veggie recipes and I'm planning to cook my way through them in 2014.

You can find the recipe for this pizza here. I tweaked it slightly to suit my tastes (I switched the type of cheese to Mozzarella and cooked the spinach into the tomato sauce) but it's pretty much the same. Highly recommended for a chilled out (and healthy!) Saturday lunch.

Svea xo

What's gone viral this week

Every month I'll be bringing you a slice from the web that has gone viral. From the weird to the wonderful, to the clever and the stupid, the web is an endless source of great entertainment.

Zach King does Magic

Zach King is a bit of a Vine star and while this might not be magic in the traditional sense, he is super good at editing, I will give him that. Sit back and enjoy some of his mesmerizing tricks.

Devil Baby

Viral videos and horror movies have come hand in hand in recent months, just check out Carrie's telekinetic prank. So, this time the Devil's Due got in on the act. 

With a creepy and realistic looking remote controlled baby, unsuspecting passers by are terrorized by the little blighter. Chasing people down the street and the classic projectile vomiting all take place, some of the reactions are priceless from this freaky looking infant. 

Guinness goes anti-tech

We at Lovers' TIF do like a good trip down to the pub with friends and it seems the Irish brewer has certainly noticed that tech just ruins good banter down the pub.

I think Guinness have played this really well, gently asking revellers to put your phone to one side and I think it is about time someone stood up for good old conversation.

My Tips for Being a Prolific Pinner

My name is Svea Carney, and I am a Pinterest addict. I love the thing. It's my favourite social site. As I mentioned in our 5 minutes with interview, I'm a visual person, I love to hoard beautiful images to call on them later for inspiration. I've been using Pinterest for around three years now and I never get bored of it. Today I'm sharing my tips & tricks for getting the most out of your Pinterest account.

1// Try to get a decent description together when you pin. 
I know how it is, you're browsing and you just want to pin it and move on. But if you really want to use your Pinterest account to it's best advantage, then I'd recommend writing a decent description of your pin as you pin it. This not only helps yourself to find things at a later date, but also helps other pinners to see what you're about and to categorise the image. There's also nothing wrong with throwing in a good hashtag at this point for good measure #justsayin' #badjoke #sorrynotsorry

2// Organise your boards properly.
When people land on your profile, they want to know what you're about straight up. This means you taking the time to drag your boards around so that your most important/relevant boards are right up front, loud and proud. I rearrange my boards every so often depending on what I'm feeling at the time, it makes me feel as though at least one aspect of my life is organised. 
Also, name your boards something helpful. For your own sanity, and for everyone else's.

3// Pin good quality images.
This one can't always be helped, but when you're  surfing and you spot something pin worthy, try to grab the good quality version if you can. The 'Pin It' button drags up every image from the page you're on when you hit it, so if multiple versions of the image you want appear, make sure you hit the biggest one you can find. There's nothing more disappointing than finding a great image only to click through and to find it links back to the tiniest thing ever that's no good to anyone.

4// Give credit where credit is due.
Pinning someone's work? Say so in the description. It's just good karma people. Pinners like to know where beautiful work/food/clothes come from. And designers/cooks/stores like to know that people know that that's their stuff. It's a pain to have to trace a pin right back through the internet to find the original source. So to tie in with tip number one, state on the pin (if you can) who something belongs to. 

5// Follow Follow Follow,
You have to follow a set number of pinners when you set up your account so that you can get your feed up and running, but on top of that make sure you keep following new people, your feed will get richer and more interesting for it, and odds are they'll follow you back. Everyone's a winner. 

6// Be vocal.
There is an option to comment on a pin either as you pin it, or just as you're browsing your feed. If you decide to speak up, it means that your comment will show up when that pin gets re-pinned, so your profile will be pinged all around Pinterest with that pin, therefore increasing your visibility across the site. 

I hope these have been helpful! Let us know your username in the comments section and we'll give you a follow!

Svea xo

5 Minutes with Svea & James

This year we thought we'd introduce a new feature called 5 Minutes With. It's basically a series of quick fire style questions that we'll ask to some of our favourite creatives. It's a chance for us to introduce you guys to people we know & love and also to (hopefully) showcase some really great creative on here. Sound good? 

We didn't think it would be fair to put someone else through this if we hadn't first done it ourselves. This month we decided to put ourselves under the microscope because we realised, we haven't actually given that much away about ourselves and the work we do on this blog. So without further ado, let's begin...

First, tell us a bit about yourself

S: I'm a 24 year old Graphic Designer from Liverpool. I graduated from LJMU in 2011 with a BA in Graphic Design. At the moment I'm working for a large online retailer full time as a designer, as well as running this blog on the side. 

J: I'm 27 years old and have been part of the creative industry since I graduated from Uni in 2007. I'm one half of Lovers TIF and I also run a podcast called the CinemaGoers (quick plug!) we talk about all things film. I'm a big fan of social media and web design, even the not so glamorous stuff like analytics. I enjoy studying seeing how people interact with something you've designed.

What made you want to do what you do?

S: I was quite focused on wanting to do a creative job from when I was very young. I'm not sure where it came from though, I'm the only member of my family that's in a creative field. I think I just gravitated towards something that I found I could do naturally. Also, there's such an amazing sense of fun and community amongst creatives - I wanted in on that!

J: I remember sitting in Uni when Facebook had just come to the UK and was absolutely fascinated by the connections and interactions that people made with it. I was skeptical at first, I think we all were, but I was hooked about being able to design journeys and interactions that people really enjoyed. That was when I had that moment where I knew that this is what I wanted to do.

What inspires you the most?

S: I'm inspired a lot by beautiful imagery. When Pinterest came along I felt like I'd found heaven! I'm addicted to the thing, I've got something stupid like 18,000 images that I've liked. Utterly ridiculous. Other than that I often find that I get inspired by what I read too, I'm a big reader.

J: I get inspiration from the little things in design. I do believe that there is something great about keeping it simple. From seeing a simple logo that uses the negative space to create something entirely different is genius. Once you see it it's like being in a secret club that the designer wanted you to be apart of, just seeing things like that inspires me to make things simple but wonderful. 

If you could work in a different creative field, what would it be and why?

S: I'd like to be a better photographer, I read so many blogs that have absolutely gorgeous images on them and I do get a little jealous. I've thought a few times that I might go back to school and study photography. Maybe in future. Other than that I wish I was musically gifted, but doesn't everybody?

J: I'm a huge movie nut, so I would have always wanted to work for the film industry. I would have loved to work for a SFX production team, using all the latest tech to develop big blockbuster effects would be brilliant. Imagine working on the effects for the latest Marvel or DC film makes me giddy. To be honest, just being on a movie set would make me giddy too.

What are your plans for your work in 2014?

S: I want to make more of a conscious effort to try new things and experiment with techniques. I feel as though I've lost some of that experimentation since I graduated so I'd like to get that back.

J: I would love to have my work put out there more, I'm not one for limelight or recognition. I never really shout out about what I do, maybe I'm just a little insecure about my work but I think most creative people are until it gets some recognition. So I'm trying to overcome that and shout a little louder about it.

What do you enjoy most about your field?

S: I like solving problems. I should probably mention that I'm also a bit of a maths geek, so when I get a layout that means I have a ton of elements that need to fit together, then I'm right n my comfort zone. Sometimes it's a pain, and it can be stressful and irritating, but in the end the feeling on solving the puzzle can't be beaten.

J: I think the freedom it offers is what I enjoy most. When you get a brief it is a bit like an open book, you know how the journey will start but you never know the end result. Having freedom like that in a job is a rare thing, I've done a fair few odd jobs that have structures, processes that can make my head hurt but this field let's the shackles off. And, the freedom for different interpretations, the whole mixture of views that can get thrown around when working on a group project is an amazing thing.  

I hope you feel like you know us better now, keep your eyes out for our next 5 minutes with!

Svea xo

Photo of the Week

For our first Photo of the Week (yes I know it's not that exciting), since we're so close to the start of the New Year I would show you what this photo means to me.

Resolutions.

Resolutions that I have for 2014, I'm usually not a fan of of these but I thought this year would be different. So what does this collection of stuff all mean? I do believe in healthy body, healthy mind so I'm going to try and do a 5K run and hopefully move up to a 10K and with the help of Nike, hopefully I'll get there.

Secondly, I'm going to get more hands on with the Raspberry Pi, I picked one up last year and haven't had the spare time to get to grips with it, so stay tuned to see what happens.

And lastly, no design blog would be complete without mentioning Steve Jobs, but, it's not about his book specifically. I'm not the quickest of readers but I love to read so I have a stack of books that I want to get through.

You may believe in them you may not, yet, I'm sure you have something big planned for this year. So what are your resolutions?

James xo

A 5 Point Intro to Bloglovin'

If you're like me when it comes to blogs, you'll have a list of daily reads then lots (and I mean lots) of other blogs neatly tucked away in to your browsers' bookmark folder, just waiting for their turn to be read. Enter Bloglovin'. This handy site has transformed the way I read blogs, so I thought I'd share the love and break down the wall of mystery! 

1. Firstly, what is Bloglovin'?

Bloglovin' is basically the new Google Reader, except with more features to make keeping track of your favourite reads much easier. Bloglovin' allows it's users to track their favourite blogs, organise them into categories and to read them from within the Bloglovin' platform - say bye bye to a million bookmarks! 

As well as all of this, Bloglovin' also gives users the option to attach their Bloglovin' account to their own blog by inserting a small piece of code into a post, therefore, adding the blog to the ranks on the site. Sound great right?

2. Claiming your blog.

Once you're signed up, you're given the option to "claim" a blog as your own, it's a way of saying - 'hey, I own this!'. This is a simple case of searching your blog using the in-site engine, then selecting it from the list. After that, Bloglovin' generates a short piece of code that you then publish into a new post on the blog (you can go back and delete this post later if you want). Then hit done and you've claimed your blog!

After that you're presented with some options. The most important one is how you want to categorise your blog. This determines how readers find you on the site. Select the one that's most relevant to your content, then also add a small bio for your blog too.

3. Categories explained

Bloglovin' sections off every blog by putting it into a category. This is to help readers find blogs of interest, and also to keep like-minded content together. Obviously. It's great as a reader because it lets us browse through the whole section for new blogs we might not have found otherwise, but it's also a handy tool for bloggers to gage content against what is essentially our peers. 

4. Now what?

Now you're set up, it's really up to you how you use it. It can go one of two ways. You can leave it alone and simply have it as another means for new readers to find you, or, you can use it as a reader yourself. In the same way that you claimed your own blog, Bloglovin' lets you search for any blog and add it to your reading list, even if that blog isn't registered on Bloglovin'. You can organise your blogs into categorises to keep them tidy, choose to only show new posts, prioritise, you name it. It's a readers' idea of heaven. 

All of the blogs are viewed within the Bloglovin' framework, so you never leave the site but can navigate through all of your usual reads. Plus, you can favourite posts from all of your blogs and they're collected in one area on the site!

5. Climbing the ranks

There is a certain degree of competition if you do decide to be a pro-active member of Bloglovin'. Categories are basically ranked. The more popular your blog, the higher you'll appear on the list of blogs within that category thus making your blog more visible to new readers. How do you get higher on the ranks? By getting more followers! Bloglovin' kindly provides several cute buttons for us to use for this purpose. Grab the code, stick it on your blog and promote promote promote! 

Good luck with your Bloglovin' challenge! Drop us a link to your blog in the comments and we'll give you a follow :)

Svea xo

Top 5 web design blogs

Today, I'm going to share with you some of the blogs that I get inspiration from. Most of these I've stumbled upon when just surfing the web, and they've been a great source of information, projects and tutorials. It's amazing when you see so many people passionate about what you love and it's a real treat to find some of these great blogs.

5 // The Best Designs
A great place to start for inspiration, showcasing some interesting designs it offers a great platform for you to get inspired to kick-start your journey.

4 // Smashing Magazine
Eveyone has probably heard of smashing magazine. Around since 2009, it has been dishing out some quality content. Great for professionals, a bit challenging for beginners. If you're after a good place to visit once you have got your skills up this is the place.

3 // Awwwards
Bringing together the very best of the web, awwwards has a whole range of great interviews and some lovely examples of web design. This online community shows off stellar sites every week and is one not to be missed. The inspiration wall is a good place to start.

2 // Web Design Depot
Ran by a number of designers and developers, the depot offers a wide look into the world of design. Challenging the normal and questioning trends, it's also a great hub for freebies (which are great by the way) and also helps people stuck with questions about the web, for example, what's the best Wordpress template to use or how can freelancers get more work. Very insightful.

1 // Line 25
Self confessed web lover Chris Spooner runs Line 25 and is a very simple and effective blog. From looking into trends in web design, typography and showcasing the best sites of the week. This provides perfect food for your brains imagination. Some of the tutorials are varied and range in difficulty to keep any budding web artiste going. Enjoy!

These are just some of the blogs I love to read and get involevd in. If I have missed any that you think we should be looking at, then just drop them in the comments box.

James xo

Colour Splash!

Introducing my January Palette! Although of course January is about new beginnings & fresh starts, I still wanted this palette to reflect the winter-time. So when pulling it together I went with frosty tones with splashes of berry red & earthy brown to brighten it up. These colours put me in mind of Icy mornings and walks in the country-side. I was thinking of climbing fences into farmers' fields and berries on the trees. 

I'll be working this colour scheme into my work (and my wardrobe!) this month, stay tuned for shares, and be sure to follow our Pinterest board to see my inspiration for this palette!

Svea xo

Let's take a look around

As Svea said, welcome back, hope you've missed us? Since we've been gone we have made a tweaks and changes to our blog so we hope you like what we have got in store for you.

So without further ado I'll take you through what is coming your way.

Layout//
We have a brand new snazzy look which will make it easier to find all our new features and favourite posts both past and present. Feel free to take a look around and tell us what you think.

Features//
We have a number of exciting new features that we would love you to get involved with overtime as we develop these exciting projects. A few of them are in their infancy at the moment, hence coming soon on the pages but I'll take you through them now:

• Tutorials | We're going to bring you a number of ways that we can help you get more Design, Web and Social media savvy. Giving you tips to help you crack on with projects that you're working on
• Inspiration | This section will feature a number of things that will feed your inspiration. Being great design work, outstanding websites and interviews from people living this day to day. We'll showcase some of the most exciting work from around the web.
• Photo of the Week | Everyone loves a cracking photo and we're doing just that. The SLR will be out and about with us capturing inspiration all around us. 
• Brand Spotlight | Ever wondered how a brand came to the decisions it did? We'll be going behind the scenes to bring you an interesting look into what goes into making a brand.
• Brain Food | Anyone that knows me and Svea is that we love food. So, we couldn't think of a better way than to share some of our recipes with you.

Monthly Email//

You can signup to our Monthly Email so we can keep you up to date on all the things we've been working on, Tips, interviews and some mouth watering food pics. So what are you waiting for, you can sign-up now on the right hand side.

That's what we planned for the new year, we've been looking in to what you guys have enjoyed and wanted to bring you something really special that we hope you like. 

James xo

{W} is for Welcome (Back!)

Happy New Year! And Welcome back to the blog!

We've been working hard for the past two months to bring you a brand new shiny version of Lover's.TIF, we hope you have fun looking around at all the new features. 

This month we're all about looking at new beginnings, so we've got loads of posts lined up all designed to help you get up and running for 2014! James will be dropping in to give you the grand tour, so for now it's up to me to give you the official welcome. Come in, grab a brew and enjoy the ride, we're pleased to have you on board.

Happy 2014!

Svea xo