Ensure, assure, or insure
All three words can mean to make sure of something, but they are not fully interchangeable. Do you know which verb goes in which space?
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10
Nov 2021
10
Nov 2021
To Err Is Human—It’s What Comes Next That Matters
“Look at this!” Everyone in the darkened room gasped. We were at an editing conference, and the keynote speaker, a noted journalism expert, had placed a scan of a magazine cover on the display screen. A large, red circle drew attention to the mistake: “February” had been misspelled as “Febraury,” and the typo had gone
03
Sep 2021
6 Tips for Effective Proofreading
Can yuu raed htis? You probably can—because your brain is really good at autocorrecting. But that can be a problem when you’re trying to ferret out errors in copy. When you’re reading, you often infer the complete word you expect to see, not the letters that are actually on the page. It’s even harder when
09
Mar 2021
Happy 2021!
We are now well into a new year and things are starting to look a little more positive. January finally came after what seemed like the longest 2020 ever. Now February has come and gone. We celebrated Valentine’s day with our loved ones and probably treasured them a little more this year. Now it’s March,
05
Dec 2019
Holiday Cookies
Wow! It’s hard to believe that the 2019 holiday season is already here. No matter what holiday you celebrate, the one thing that most people love are cookies. They can be anything from an easy chocolate chip recipe you found on the package of chocolate chips, a homemade recipe passed down from generations, one you
17
Oct 2017
What’s In A Name?
For those of us in the communications industry, branding is huge. It’s how people know and recognize you. For our team, before we became TalentMEDIA we were a part of EEI. People would hear “EEI” and say, “I know you—you guys are the Editorial Experts! We always use your editors and designers!” We had 45
19
Sep 2017
The Not-So-Clear View
What’s in a name? Well, if your font name is Clearview, I’d say it’s pretty obvious. Apparently, the federal government has decided otherwise. Say goodbye to easy-to-read highway signs. The Federal Highway Administration will be reverting back to their old font, Highway Gothic. What’s the big deal, right? Well, as someone who looks at fonts
12
Sep 2017
The Power of “Suggestion”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is a beloved institution—I suppose that’s why some of their recent changes have gotten such a strong reaction. I am certainly one of the museum’s admirers, spending many lovely days there with my artist mother. While I wait to get back there again, I’ll delve in
29
Aug 2017
Lord and Taylor-Rebranding an Icon
I’m not sure if any of you have heard or seen, but the store and brand Lord and Taylor (L&T) has redesigned its logo. The iconic words that we all recognize have been the logo since the 1950s. According to type historian Paul Shaw who contributed an article to Bloomberg Business, “The time has come
23
Aug 2017
Image is Everything
In today’s digitally advanced world, strong communication skills are a must, both professionally and personally. Organizations are starting to realize that the phrase “image is everything” applies today more than ever, as a strong online image could now very well be a deciding factor for success. With these changes, more and more millennials are capitalizing on organizational
25
Jul 2017
Curl Up With A Good Style Guide
My Aunt Jane used to read cookbooks like they were novels, and she was the best cook I’ve ever known. I think I understand the correlation, now that I work with style guides. If you take the time to dig deeply into them, you can learn so much about the craft of editing—and about your
18
Jul 2017
The Designer Dilemma
I’ve been designing, decorating, illustrating, and organizing for over 20 years. I never imagined I’d make a career out of it. It sort of just happened by accident. I’ve always been that person who sees a design or a project and says, “I can do that.” That’s what I did all through college. Even when
30
May 2017
HOW Design’s #TenThingsNotToSayToADesigner
HOW Design has a hashtag that has me laughing each time it pops up on my Twitter feed: #TenThingsNotToSayToADesigner. It’s not really 10 things, but a list of phrases designers often hear that can drive us a little crazy and give us a good laugh. People from across the web have joined in and tweeted. Here are
21
May 2017
You’re Smarter Than Spell-Check
Spell-checking features are often lifesavers, but they are not all-knowing. An editor learns quickly to read every there/their/they’re and you/your/you’re carefully to make sure the correct version of the word is used for the particular context. As you get to know your clients, you should also build a list of their most easily mistaken words.
17
May 2017
Grammar Tips: When Do You Capitalize a Noun?
My sister, who is a second-grade teacher, gave her students a seemingly simple assignment: List three common nouns. This was part of a lesson on proper versus common nouns, which included teaching the students that common nouns are lowercase and proper nouns are capitalized. Turns out the assignment wasn’t so simple. Being 7-year-olds, most of
