Why We Love: Pinterest

Why We Love: Pinterest

By now, you’ve probably at least heard the name of this product or met a die hard user addicted to using it. At Alt Creative, we are hooked. Check out how we are using this new social network.
 

Here’s how Pinterest works: Users (a.k.a. Pinners) post “pins” (usually photos) to boards that they organize by topic or theme. Users can create boards about anything and fill them with photos from around the web using a special bookmark. They can follow other users or just browse topics and “repin” specific items. For instance, a user who is planning to remodel a house may Pin interior decorating ideas to a Design Board. Or a bride-to-be can post wedding dress inspirations to a Wedding Board. With 32 different topic areas, users can browse everything from fitness to art to science.

Personally, I am the type of person who “reads” a magazine like a catalog. I get so enthralled with pretty pictures, fun fonts, and well-designed layouts that I get distracted from the content. Pinterest’s browser experience is ideal for the people like me who are visual readers since it offers almost no text and mostly all pictures. From a design standpoint, it gives us the ability to create inspiration boards for certain areas of design and for individual clients.

Pinterest is probably the fastest growing social network out there at the moment. While we are still exploring (and pinning like crazy!), we’re betting that this new network will have high-impact branding implications for businesses. In fact, we are already seeing other brands using it in their marketing. We’ll devote a feature blog post about using Pinterest for branding soon. In the meantime, check out some basics and other tips & tricks for using Pinterest. And take a look at our web design and font/typography boards.