Welcome to the Escape Blog

Head’s up for all our UK readers interested in design and print - well print really. I just heard an advert for a tv programme on Monday (14th April) 9pm on BBC4, which has the double whammy of having Stephen Fry present it…

Stephen Fry and the Machine That Made Us

Stephen Fry goes in search of the story behind the inventor of the printing press, Johann Gutenberg, travelling across Europe to find out how Gutenberg kept his development work secret, and how his approach started a cultural revolution.

In order to fully understand the man and his machine, Stephen assembles a team to help him build a copy of Gutenberg’s printing press as well as learning how to make the paper and type so that they can print as Gutenberg once did.

So, you’ve been mulling over the green issue for your printing and you’ve managed to get a favourable price on FSC approved paper but is that enough?

To be even more environmentally friendly you may want to ask about the inks that are used on your printing.

Traditional printing uses inks that are petroleum based and are used with alcohol based solvents. As they evaporate, they release Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOCs not only damage the environment by creating ozone pollution (or greenhouse gas), they can also contaminate soil and groundwater, when sent to landfill.

So you may want to consider soya or vegetable-based inks as these have a much lower rate of VOC emissions. It won’t be a surprise therefore, to know that de-inking of vegetable based inks for recycling is much easier.

One other thing - if you use metallic or fluorescent based inks, you might want to re-think that decision, they contain pigments which can be damaging to the environment and to human health such as cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury.

So, next time you are ready to place your order for printing on your environmentally friendly paper - don’t forget to ask about the inks.

E-Consultancy mention a move by Daily Blog Tips to raise awareness of RSS:

The number of people using the web is increasing every day, but the adoption rate of RSS as a technology is still way down at 5%.

I personally love RSS (really simple syndication) and I love the idea of what it can do. But, then again, I am a bit of a geek. Obviously the everyday Internet punter doesn’t get it or can find easier ways of getting information - like e-mail for instance.

As much as I would love more people to adopt RSS, perhaps it’s still not simple enough for people to understand, or use?

That may sound a little patronising, but I think about my own situation with recording TV programmes and the fact that I have a DVD recorder I have never used. Why? Because I got used to Sky Plus so now I need it to be that easy otherwise I won’t bother.

Food for thought, perhaps?

When I am creating meta descriptions and meta titles for new web pages, I often wonder what they will look like in a search engine result page.

I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago to our web team and they built me this neat little tool for checking your meta tags for search engines. So, I thought we’d share it with you too… The Better Meta Checker!

We are experiencing an increasing demand for “greener” print, so for those of you that are considering moving into this area, here is a mini guide.

The Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) was set up in 1993 and is an independent body, to certify that forests are well managed, sustainable and being constantly renewed. The FSC is supported by environmental groups such as Greenpeace. Over the past 13 years, over 90 million hectares in more than 70 countries have been certified according to FSC standards while several thousand products are produced using FSC-certified wood and carrying the FSC trademark. FSC operates through its network of National Initiatives in 45 countries.

More detailed information can be found on the FSC website.

Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) was established in 1999 as an independent non-profit making organisation. It has the same objectives as the FSC but it’s main advantage is that there is twice as much certified product available under this scheme.

More detailed information can be found at the PEFC website.

The main purpose of both organisation’s certification is to maintain a “chain of custody” from the forest to the end user to ensure that the product is distinctive from non-certified products.

A story from stateside via Search Engine Land about a court ruling on a company using a companies trademark in their ‘meta data’:

North American Medical Corp. v. Axiom Worldwide, Inc. docket number 06-01678 CV-JTC-1 (PDF) doesn’t specifically say if the trademarked terms were in the keywords meta tag, description meta tag or some other meta tag. But the ruling is that Axiom, who used North American Medical Corp’s trademark in their meta tags, is in violation of trademark infringement.

The story comes from Eric Goldmans Blog which finishes off with a sentiment that sits with me…

If you are going to use keyword metatags, you must ensure that competitive trademarks do not appear in your keyword metatags, period. It’s just not worth it. They don’t buy you much juice with the search engines anyway, and it will leave you exposed to irrational judicial freakouts about keyword metatags if ever tested in court.

Back in 2001 we had to settle with a client who wouldn’t pay his bill because his website didn’t come number one in search engines for a one word search phrase, basically because the judge did not have a clue about what was being placed to hime and at the time I couldn’t be bothered to fight it. Not that I let it grind, even now after seven years, but the client also counter sued for lost earnings based on all the work he wasn’t getting for not being number one!

Our free e-book about search engine optimization has gone down well but we have had the odd bit of feedback about how “you can’t beat a proper book”.

So, you can now buy the book online as a paperback from Lulu.com.

The BBC report today about how the value of internet advertising will overtake TV adverts by 2009 in the UK, following a report by The Internet Advertising Bureau .

Online advertising grew 38% in 2007 to be worth £2.8bn ($5.5bn), taking its market share to 15.3%, up from 11.4% in 2006, the report showed.

The report also highlights how the paid-for-search advertising market is “not slowing but maturing” as marketers become more sophisticated in the way they use the medium.

Brands are now using search more intelligently, getting a greater return on investment through ‘key phrases’ and more accurate targeting that reflects consumer behaviour.

I read an article in yesterday’s FT about the  “the web wins in White House race” and this fuels my belief that Blogs are becoming accepted in the mainstream. My recent new pitch meetings also suggest that businesses too are coming to a point where they accept Blogs as a useful marketing tool… or do they… really?

Not so much when the concept is fully explained and the cat is let out of the bag.

The thing I think, with Blogs and business, comes when you talk about the possibility that someone may reply or comment on something you have said. Also, how open you need to be - letting go of control a bit. Maybe even sharing some knowledge from your business?

Too often, Blogs will be implemented and treated purely as news channels with filtered news stories in a monologue fashion. If it’s news, call it news. People won’t mind. Only call it a Blog if you are ready to enter into dialogue with people.

People may comment, they may disagree, but that’s the point. If someone is negative about any of my posts, as long as it it’s not spammy, or plain rude, I’ll keep it in, why not? I many learn something. The thing is, this type of conversation could be going on without you on someone else’s Blog, or in a Forum somewhere.

So, if you are going to be brave and have a Business Blog, I would suggest that it should be as inclusive as possible.

Apple fans will not be happy that the next version of Photoshop will be friendlier with a PC than a Mac. But, who’s fault is it…? Jack Scholfield discusses at Guardian Unlimited