The Point of Pinternest

So maybe you've heard of the new creative site called Pinterest, or maybe you have been completely out of the loop. Either way, I'm here to break it down for you--because there is nothing more exciting then learning about new blogging platforms, right? (Well, there are probably more exciting things, but...) Pinterest is essentially a virtual pinboard. What do I mean by pinboard? Well, you know a bulletin board that you may have in your office place; a space where you can clip inspirational pictures, articles, phrases, etc.? This website is basically that concept, only an online version. You can create different boards which all feature collections of things you love. Additionally you can follow other boards--in some ways it is very similar to sites like Blogger, Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. On all four of these sites you can "follow" or "friend" other individuals whom have similar tastes, interests, and thoughts.

Why join? Well for starters it is a very new website that is gaining attention among the fashion and design-minded. Start up a Pinterest account, spread the word, and be the tech-savvy-expert amongst all your friends and colleagues! But besides being the cool guy/gal, chatting away about "pinning" this and "pinning" that--Pinterest is, more importantly, a great source for networking. Tons of bloggers, artists, and designers have accounts and the coolest thing about it is that, "When you follow a new person, you get to see all the things they find fascinating online and each new thing that catches your eye takes you to more boards that will continue to take you deeper and deeper down an Alice in Wonderland hole of amazing stuff," (read more here). From a designer/artist standpoint, Pinterest is a great tool for collecting/presenting/dreaming up potential collections and designs. Visualize a specific image, maybe it's the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York City; you are inspired by the sculpture, the colors, the lines, the dimension. You decide that you want to design something around this particular object so you collect tons of patterns, color swatches, and ornaments that inspire you. Since you are able to create multiple boards on the site, create one for this project and share it with your design team and clients. By having every image located on this one board you are creating an organized space to share your vision.

Why is Pinterest so easy and convenient? Well for starters once you join Pinterest asks you if you have Facebook and/or Twitter accounts. If you do (which you should because they are great business tools to utilize!) then you can simply click a button, log into your accounts quickly via Pinterest and the site will find all of your followers/contacts/friends that have Pinterest accounts--could finding friends on a new website be any easier? I think not! Even better...all you need to do is install a special "Pin It" button to your browser bar (works on Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome) to "pin" things directly! After the button is bookmarked you can grab an image from any website and then add it to any one of your pin boards. The best part is that since you are pinning from a website, Pinternest grabs the source so you credit the original designer/creator of whatever you are "PINNING." So what do you think? Are you going to start "pinning"? Do you need my help? Check out my Pinterest account here (I just started one too!).