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All posts for “Explanation”
The Common Craft Explainer Network - Now More Awesome
Posted by: leelefever on January 2, 2013- 11:26am
Categories: Explainer Network, explainer video, Explanation, marketplace
A few years back, we saw an opportunity to help talented producers of explainer videos be successful through a sort of marketplace or directory on our website. This became The Common Craft Explainer Network. When a company needs an explainer video for their product or service, the Explainer Network is the place to go.
Lately explainer videos have become an increasingly important part of a company's website and presentation, and there is growing demand for producers who can create amazing,... Continue Reading
Understand Music - An Experiment in Explanation
Posted by: leelefever on December 10, 2012- 10:59am
Categories: animation, Art of Explanation, Explanation, music, video
Boing Boing pointed me to this beautiful animated video by a German studio called "finally". From the description with the video:
Music is a good thing. But what we did not know until we started with the research for this piece: Music is also a pretty damn complex thing. This experimental animation is about the attempt to understand all the parts and bits of it. Have a look. You might agree with our conclusion!
Email or RSS readers can watch the video here.
I think this is a great example... Continue Reading
New Video: Online Citizenship
Posted by: leelefever on December 4, 2012- 8:55am
Categories: Explanation, net safety, New Video, online citizenship, trolls, video
Today we’re announcing a new video: Online Citizenship - Explained by Common Craft.
What it teaches:
Sometimes communicating via computers can feel anonymous and make people lose touch with the impact of what they say online. This video highlights the problems this causes and explains a basic idea: that our words matter, online and off. It teaches:
• Why citizenship matters in the real world
• How one person can behave differently online and off
• What happens when someone forgets that real... Continue Reading
Tired of Explaining Your Startup and Failing? Here's How to Fix That (GeekWire Guest Post)
Posted by: leelefever on November 28, 2012- 8:26am
Categories: Article, Explanation, Explanation problem, geekwire, guest post
In The Art of Explanation, I tell a story that put me on the path to writing the book. I was at a small tech conference and a CEO was asked "What is RSS?" His response was "RSS is an XML-based content syndication format". Yikes. That answer was the first time I saw a problem that plagues the technology and startup world. We call it an "exaplanation problem" - and a lots of great products and services have it.
In a guest post at GeekWire, I tell a story about a startup founder who learns to... Continue Reading
Introducing: Explain That Sh*t - Sharable Tips from The Art of Explanation
Posted by: leelefever on November 25, 2012- 4:54pm
Categories: Art of Explanation, explainthatshit, Explanation, tips
Today we're announcing a new Common Craft website that is focused on one thing: sharing short, snarky and useful explanation tips. The site exists in two forms:
Explain That Sh*t (Not-Safe-For-Work, Language)
Explain That Idea (Work-Safe)
Along with providing a way to learn about explanation, the sites are meant for sharing explanation tips. You can click the Twitter icon on any tip and the site will copy that tip into a tweet for you.
Here's the site on computers and phones:
Backstory:
A few... Continue Reading
What is an "Enhanced" eBook?
Posted by: leelefever on November 25, 2012- 2:01pm
Categories: Art of Explanation, book, ebook, Explanation, publishing
I think we’re at the very beginning of a huge transformation that will change how we think about books. Thanks to new devices and publishing platforms, books are becoming more interactive and multimedia. One form this is taking is the "enhanced" ebook. To understand the enhanced versions, let’s start with normal ebooks.
“Normal” ebooks are essentially digital versions of regular books that are usually read on devices like the Kindle, iPad and Nook. For most of their history, ebooks have... Continue Reading
Explanation Tricks from Planet Money and Chana Joffe-Walt
Posted by: leelefever on October 31, 2012- 9:58am
Categories: Art of Explanation, explainer tip, Explanation, NPR, planet money, podcast
When people ask me who is doing the best explanatory work these days, I often point to public radio and podcasts. The radio format, while not visual, can be incredibly engaging and effective in packaging complicated ideas into explanations.
One of our favorites is NPR’s Planet Money podcast which has the tagline “The Economy Explained”. The podcast got started with an episode of This American Life in May of 2008 called the Giant Pool of Money. This hour-long show explained the mortgage... Continue Reading
Interview with Patrick Sharma, Newsbound's Explainer-in-Chief
Posted by: leelefever on October 24, 2012- 12:54pm
Categories: Explainer Profile, Explanation, journalism, news, politics
A while back I noticed that an organization called Newsbound posted a job opening for an "Explainer-in-Chief", a title I love to see. Curious, I followed Newsbound and eventually met Patrick Sharma, the person who now fills that role. He's been kind enough to answer a few questions and share a remarkable format the company is using to package explanations.
1. Tell me about Newsbound and your role there. What's the company's mission and story?
Newsbound is a San Francisco-based digital media... Continue Reading
Our video "Zombies in Plain English" is surely responsible for saving millions of brains over the last few years. But it's time for an update. For this Halloween, we're debuting a REDUX - with a new ending. Be brain-safe this Halloween!
Our library of other videos are also helpful for brains, but for entirely different reasons. Check them out.
And if you're interested in becoming a better explainer, we wrote a book just for you.
Here's the original Zombies video.
Video: Explaining The US Election Process
Posted by: leelefever on October 10, 2012- 12:29pm
Categories: election, Explanation, Explanation, politics, video
This time of year, politics is everywhere, and so is confusion. Electing the US president is a complex subject with lots of moving parts.
That’s why we chose to explain it with a simple, non-biased video that uses visuals to make it understandable. It’s one of my favorite videos in our library and I hope it will be helpful to you and people you know. Please feel free to share it.
Looking for more videos like this? Check out our library of video explanations. Or build your own explanation... Continue Reading