Social Media Design For Dummies

Chapter 12

Compiling a Tumblr Page

In This Chapter

• Look at successful Tumblr designs before creating your own design.

• Use a custom background on Tumblr that reflects you.

• Create and upload an animated GIF for extra interest.

The microblogging site Tumblr has traveled an unlikely path to prominence amongst social media junkies. It was launched in February 2007 as a way to allow users to quickly and easily post and share short sentences, photos, or videos that were found on the web.

Since then, it has evolved into a more sophisticated platform, but one with a quirky ethos all its own. Tumblr blogs are kind of a hybrid of a full-fledged blog, Twitter, and Flickr stream — that is, a place where you can post short, funny, or heartfelt phrases, accompanied by attention-grabbing photos.

Tumblr shot to prominence in 2011, when it was used by the Occupy Wall Street movement as a way to organize protest rallies. Since then, the site has almost single-handedly revived the animated GIF as an art form.

When it comes to design, most Tumblr users content themselves with choosing from the vast library of free themes available from Tumblr or third-party designers. This chapter shows you how to go beyond the themes and create a design that works for you, as shown in Figure 12-1.

Figure 12-1 ...