Pinterest might not be the biggest social platform out there, but some argue it’s the best for translating your marketing efforts into actual sales. Research shows that 87 percent of Pinners said they’ve bought a product because of the site, and 93 percent said they’ve used it to plan a future purchase.

But don’t even think about hopping on Pinterest with the exact same content that you’re using on other social sites. Pinners are famous for being passionate about their pinning, and they’ve got some pretty clear expectations about the types of things they expect to see on their boards.

Alexandra Evjen, known as the "Pinterest queen," has helped countless brands such as Target, Home Depot and Anthropologie create digital content that keeps consumers wanting more and makes products fly off the shelves. With her creative eye and strategic mind, she’ll help you find success on Pinterest, too.

In this class, you’ll learn how to:

- Establish your brand on Pinterest.

- Foster growth and community.

- Create a powerful, rich and shoppable pin.

- Develop a content strategy for sharing on Pinterest.

- Prep for conversions.

- Understand Pinterest Analytics.

 Adjust your game plan based on the data.

Drums are one of the hardest instruments to record because in reality, a drum kit can be upwards of 20 or 30 instruments being played by a performer at one consistent time. Each drum head plays a huge role in determining the overall tone. The range of frequencies is broader than any other recorded instrument, with sub-kicks extending down below 60 Hz and hi-hats and cymbals with presence and ring above 16kHz. The dynamic range can include subtle ghost hits and flutters to pounding snares that fill a room, and yet somehow all of this is supposed to fit inside a mix without getting lost in a sea of guitars.

Kris Crummett has over a decade and a half of experience recording bands like Sleeping with Sirens, Issues, Alesana, Further Seems Forever and Emarosa. Kris will walk you through every step of the process to capturing killer drum sounds.

Which Drums to Use?

- The size and type of the kick drum is a good place to start, and will largely dictate what kind of tone you end up with when you get the final mix. Do you want a modern-sounding kit with a big low end and a bright punch or a more vintage tone with a rounder, softer low-end punch?

- Snare sounds can often define the tone of an entire record with a range of sizes, head choices, and tuning options. How much ring is left in the resonant head can be deceiving when listening to a drum kit on its own, but can often be lost when blended in with the rest of the band. From maple and birch full-bodied and nuanced tones to aluminum or even brass bodies, the snare drum can have one of the biggest impacts on your final track.

- Drum heads can also have a huge impact on the transients that you capture when recording. Coated heads can offer a punchier, thicker sound while clear heads are a bit brighter. Tuning the top head and the bottom head to resonant together is an essential art that takes practice and expertise.

Which mics to Use?

Kris is prepared to walk you through all of these choices, with examples from his storied career and tips and tricks that only years in the studio can earn you. With legendary guest drummer KJ Sawka, you’ll have an experienced team to guide you through how to overcome the biggest challenge for a home studio engineer, the drum kit.

- There’s no right or wrong way to mic a drum kit, from the famous ‘When the Levee Breaks” 2 microphone room tone to modern metal drum production with 30+ mics in place.

- Deciding when to use a condenser and when to use a dynamic mic is dependent upon the style, the drummer’s playing style and even the room in which you’re tracking. What sort of room mic techniques can give you that big open kit sound? What about a tight, small room trap kit sound?

So you’ve done your homework and you now understand what design thinking is and the power it has to revolutionize the way you do business. But the only way it can really have an impact is if key players throughout your organization embrace design thinking principles and are willing to put them into practice.

Basically, you need to become a design thinking evangelist, coach, and trainer. This course will instruct you on how to explain the method and mindset for creative problem framing and solving and show others how to implement this innovative process.

In this class, you’ll learn how to:

- Make the case for learning design thinking.

- Introduce and teach design thinking to others.

- Facilitate engaging learning experiences.

- Teach "mindset," not just "method."

- Sustain interest and engagement throughout the training process.

Every great rock song starts with a stellar vocal. Get ready to learn the fundamentals of recording rock vocals from Andrew Wade, who’s worked with A Day to Remember, Motionless in White, and dozens more.

Andrew will cover everything you need to know about recording, editing, and mixing vocals for modern rock songs. You’ll learn about mic selection and positioning, key mixing techniques, and the secrets of time and pitch correction. You’ll also learn about how to work with each individual artist to get the sound they want.

By the end of this course, you’ll be fully equipped to work with a variety of male or female vocalists to get the results you need, from screaming to cleaning and everything in between.

Master the typographic skills that are rarely taught or fully understood by design professionals from acclaimed author, educator, and type expert, Ilene Strizver.

In Advanced Typography: Fine Tuning & Finessing you will learn advanced typographic skills and aesthetics every serious designer needs to know. Ilene will share practical tips you can use to visibly improve the readability and effectiveness of your type, including:

- How to fine-tune your type

- Tracking and word spacing tips and tricks

- Custom kerning

- Working with figures and fractions

- Text kerning

Professional typography sets your designs apart while attracting and holding your audience’s attention. Learn how to set type without fear – develop your skills and build your confidence in with insights from Ilene in Advanced Typography: Fine Tuning & Finessing.

Check out Ilene's related course, Typography Fundamentals

Are you an artist, illustrator, or designer with a great book idea but no idea where to start in publishing? The publishing world can seem opaque, confusing, or daunting from the outside, and many creatives can feel tempted to give up before they even start. But, you can do it! Bridget Watson Payne is going to give you all the information you need to create a book proposal and get your work seen by publishers. Bridget, a published author, and artist herself, has more than 15 years experience inside the publishing industry and is currently Executive Editor of Art Publishing with Chronicle Books. Learn from the best!

This class will cover:

- How to brainstorm book ideas and choose the best one

- How to put together a great book proposal

- How to reach out to publishers

- How connecting with your audience supports your publishing dreams

- And more!

For some people, writing a bio is excruciating. How do you sum up your life, your work, and your entire being in one neat little paragraph? How do you figure out what to put in and what to leave out? And how do you share your accomplishments without sounding totally full of yourself?

Whether you need to write a brief bio, create an about page or just figure out the best way to introduce yourself at a conference, this class will make the process fun, not painful. Melissa Cassera, an experienced brand and marketing consultant for businesses large and small, will teach you how to use your bio to connect with your readers and convert them to customers and clients.

In this class, you’ll learn how to:

- Use journalistic interview strategies to uncover your best work and worth.

- Strike the right balance between professional and personable.

- Understand your readers so you can connect with them.

- Infuse personality into your bio.

- Create a 30-second pitch for yourself and your business.

- Write a compelling byline, 300-word story and about page.

Great design is invisible.

Design is not about what a product looks like; it's about understanding and outcomes. It has the power to communicate ideas, influence people, and impact your business. But too often, we put too much emphasis on how something looks. We let the message get stifled by colors, fonts, and layouts.

As attention spans shrink and increased screen time changes how we consume information, a design thinking approach has the potential to help us get customers, colleagues, and clients to understand our message and take action.

You don't need to work at IDEO or Apple to design innovative solutions to complex problems. Nor do you need to go to MIT or Stanford's d.school to learn design methodology. In this class, Sarah Doody leverages her 15-year background in user experience design to teach you how to go beyond aesthetic and truly think like a designer.

WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR:

This class is for creatives of all levels: visual designers, entrepreneurs, those considering a career change to the design field, design team members, clients working with designers, and professionals looking to apply design thinking to yield standout work.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR:

Sarah Doody is a User Experience Design Consultant based in NYC. She helps companies and entrepreneurs assess product ideas, understand their customers, and design and launch products. For companies already in the market, she guides businesses to reach their goals by optimizing their User Experience (UX). She's the creator of The UX Notebook, an education company that helps you learn how to think like a UX designer though a popular weekly newsletter, online UX courses, and in-person workshops and talks worldwide. Sarah's work has been featured in the New York Times, Net Magazine, and UX Magazine. Some of her clients include WeWork, Domino Magazine, General Assembly, Government of Pennsylvania, TicTail, Blue Apron, and Vice.

Over the last 30+ years, Sylvia Massy has built a career as one of the gutsiest and most innovative recording engineers and producers. She has worked with legends like Prince and Johnny Cash, and won awards for her work with bands like Tool, System of a Down and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this once-in-a-lifetime experience, you will get a peek inside the recording process of one of rock’s legendary engineers. 

While she is a proficient master of vintage gear, Sylvia stresses that great records come not from having the right gear, but from capturing great performances. Join Sylvia as she records a song in the studio with Seattle alt-rock band Thunderpussy, and learn how to work with an artist to capture that magical take in your own work.

Pulling from her years of experience and sharing stories from her newly published book Recording UnHinged, Sylvia will show you:
 

- How to get interesting and vibrant drum sounds, using the room and the drummer to your advantage

- Capturing great-sounding guitars at the source, without editing and reamping

- Pushing vocalists to deliver their best vocal takes 

- Mixing both in the box and through a console using outboard gear

Sylvia is also known as a prolific educator, speaking and teaching at some of the best recording schools around the world. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the industry’s most celebrated A-list producers. 

Mixing Live Sound can be one of the most daunting tasks for any engineer. In this class, Zach Varnell will walk you through the entire live sound production workflow, from loading in a PA and rigging and flying speakers to soundcheck and mixing on the fly.

In this class, you will get to see an entire day of load-in from Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party along with a complete breakdown of a live sound production workflow and interviews with some of the country's top touring live sound engineers. 

You will learn:
 

- Scaleable components of a live sound PA

- Power distribution and management

- Tuning speakers with a SMART system and FFT analysis

- Mic Placement and tips for an effective soundcheck

- Mixing front of house

- Mixing for stage monitors and in-ears

We'll also walk through a live mix setup and interview two touring engineers from their FOH mix position: Adam Jackson and Andy Frost (FOH and Monitor engineers for Christina Perri) and Shane Bardiau (Twenty One Pilots).

Whether you are a working live sound engineer and just want to brush up on some core concepts or you are a new engineer looking to get into live sound production, this is the place to learn all about live sound in one location.