Links Every Badass Instructional Designer Should Have

Resources

For those of you who purchased How to Be a Badass Instructional Designer, this is the list of links I promised. It’s meant to be a companion to the print book, allowing for a more robust reading experience. But it can also be used as a supplemental resource for practically anything you want to know about instructional design.

If you didn’t purchase my book and you just happened to stumble upon this list, welcome. This list is just one piece of the pie. The book is a powerful tool you can use on your learning journey. It’s never too late to continue investing in yourself by picking up a copy.  

DISCLAIMER: Life happens. Links get broken. I’ll check back sporadically to ensure the links are still accurate. If you come across one that isn’t, give me grace, and send an email to chanta@chantarand.com.

Got Skillz? Skills for Designers

• Map IT: The Hands On Guide to Strategic Training by Cathy Moore
• Visual Design Solutions by Connie Malamed
• Non-Designers Design Book by Robin Williams
• Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirksen
• Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte
• Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation by James and Wendy Kirkpatrick

5 ways to Use White Space to Your Advantage 

• White Space is Not Your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen
• Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton

4 Ways to Use Font to Convey Your Message

Literary Hub – Gutenberg didn’t create the printing press

So, Gutenberg Didn’t Actually Invent Printing As We Know It

7 Ways the Printing Press Changed the World

https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance

The Invention and History of the Printing Press

https://www.psprint.com/resources/printing-press/

Fonts and Typography Resources

• Typography.com
• https://creativemarket.com/blog/what-is-a-monospaced-font
• https://www.creativebloq.com/typography/mistakes-41411451

Font inspiration

• MyFonts – https://www.myfonts.com/
• Creative Market – https://creativemarket.com/fonts
• Dribble – https://dribbble.com/tags/font
• Behance – https://www.behance.net/search/projects/?sort=appreciations&time=week&featured_on_behance=true&search=fonts

6 Alternatives to Bullet Points

Lorem Ipsum Generator – https://www.lipsum.com/

Custom Text Generator – https://www.loremipzum.com/en/text-generator

How to Write Bullet Points People Actually Want to Read

Progressive Reveal – How to use bullet points on presentation slides

Bullet Points in Presentations Suck… Unless You Use the Progressive Reveal Technique

4 Methods to Engage Learners Through Color

• Zoom Survey –https://blog.zoom.us/how-you-zoomed-over-the-past-year-2021/
• Deposit Photos Color of the Year –https://blog.depositphotos.com/color-of-the-year-2022.html
• LinkedIn Universal Principles of Design course –https://www.linkedin.com/learning/universal-principles-of-design

Color links

• https://www.canva.com/learn/contrasting-colors/
• https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/color-in-ux
• https://webaim.org/articles/visual/colorblind
• https://creativemarket.com/blog/tint-vs-shade-hue-tone

5 Standards for Using Images

15 Tips for Cropping Photos –https://www.companyfolders.com/blog/cropping-photos

Diverse Stock Photography

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/wocintechchat/
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/wocintechchat/
• https://www.lyricalhost.com/blog/20-websites-to-download-culturally-diverse-stock-photos/
• https://bodyliberationphotos.com/
• https://genderphotos.vice.com/
• https://elements.envato.com/photos/asian+people
• http://photoability.net/
• https://jopwellcollection.jopwell.com/
• https://www.diversityphotos.com/

Links to best practices and sites for photography/images/vectors/

24 Sites for Free Images – https://buffer.com/library/free-images/

Beginner’s Guide to Using Royalty-free Images – https://marketing.istockphoto.com/blog/royalty-free-images/

• Adobe Stock Photography – https://stock.adobe.com/
• Adobe Creative Cloud – https://www.adobe.com/express/
• Canva – https://www.canva.com/
• Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/
• Copyright Licenses – https://pitt.libguides.com/copyright/licenses
• Openverse – https://wordpress.org/openverse/?referrer=creativecommons.org

Website Accessibility Design

Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/

Web Aim contrast checker (https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/).

6 Tips for Formatting Tables People Actually Read

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/10/an-exploration-of-type-focused-websites/

Tools for Designers

• https://zapier.com/blog/best-calendar-apps/
• HelloBonsai for freelancers – https://www.hellobonsai.com/
• HoneyBook client management – https://www.honeybook.com/invites

Design Process

• How to design quicker – https://www.shortsims.com/
• Design Methods
• ATD Intake Form
• Training Industry Article – It Isn’t Always a Training Issue

Statement of Work Templates

• https://templatelab.com/statement-of-work/
• https://monday.com/blog/project-management/statement-of-work-example/
• https://www.smartsheet.com/how-write-statement-work-any-industry#:~:text=Statements%20of%20Work%20are%20typically,well%20as%20standards%20and%20metrics.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Mager’s Performance Based Objectives
• Cathy Moore: Action Mapping
• Kirkpatrick’s Levels of Evaluation
• Unboxed article: Metrics for Evaluating Training and Development
• How to measure eLearning effectiveness

It’s All About You, Boo | Taking Care of Your Health

• Walk Pad
• Thin Optics – https://www.thinoptics.com/collections/blue-light-blocker
• Wikipedia Hobby List – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies
• X-Chair – https://www.xchair.com/
• BBC Article: Hidden Overwork
• Zoom Camera Fatigue Study  
• Sunlamps on Amazon
• Top countries for digital nomads
• Top U.S. cities for digital nomads
• Ideas for Staycations – https://www.mintnotion.com/travel/staycation-ideas/

Who Dis? | Building Your Brand

• Lume Cube  
• Folding Screens
• Mind Tools
• 185 Action Verbs That Will Majorly Impress Hiring Managers
• Career Coach Rosie McCarthy – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosiecareercoach/
• Chanta Rand’s Training Reimagined site – https://writestuff2270.wixsite.com/trainingreimagined
• Chanta Rand’s Design Slayers site – https://designslayers.com/

Conferences

• ATD Conference
• Adobe Learning Summit
• AfroTech
• Training Magazine Conference & Expo
• Adobe MAX
• TechLearn
• Learning Guild
• Learning Technologies
• Voiceover Atlanta

LinkedIn Groups

• Ladies that UX – https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-that-ux/
• Instructional Designer – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10326181/
• Freelance Instructional Designers – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12322895/
• Training and Development for eLearning – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/70060/
• Training Zone – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1965996/

All About the Benjamins | Negotiating Work and Salary 

• Devlin Peck Survey
• Consulting Fees

• Forbes Link: Are you charging Enough?
• 19 Self-Employment Tax Deductions
• Workers Don’t Know They are Underpaid
• NLRB: Your Right to Discuss Wages
• Government of Alberta
• What’s Considered a Reasonable Raise
• Living Wage Calculator by Country
• 18 Non-Salary Items to Negotiate
• Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon spills
• Snowvid 2021