A few weeks ago Randa Clay and I decided to collaborate on a group writing project. We decided to make the theme advertising slogans, and we even threw down a prize each! The posts have been collected and we have each selected a winner.

The following are the posts that were submitted to the project:

Vivien at Inspiration Bit posts about Connecting People

Jacob at Just Creative Design wants to know what is the best social media marketing website

Lucy at Corporate Eye submitted Probably the Best IR Site in the World

Wash the Bowl included audio in the Good Till the Last Drop entry

Damien Riley analyzed the Taco Bell campaigns in Aye Chihuahua

Becca knows What it is to be Alive and not Just to Survive

John at Business Opportunities and Ideas knows that sometimes you have to Just Do It!

Katherine says she is new at this but submitted her entry anyhow (yeah) called Enjolie - The ad that inspired a young woman

The Fit Shack takes a healthier approach to a popular slogan in Tastes Great More Filling

And how about a fun poem inspired by Where’s the Beef from The Fork of Ambiguity

And my winner is…. John and his Just Do It post!! Congrats John. Now if you want to find out who the other winner is, you have to stop in at Randa’s.

Thanks to all the participants! It was fun and the entries were all very creative.

Ever get stumped for blog post ideas? Randa Clay and I were recently discussing ideas for a group writing project. Liz Strauss’ Blogging Metaphor Project and Brian Clark’s recent Cosmo Headlines idea on Copyblogger project for coming up with blog topics were great inspirations. We decided that the great advertising slogans would also be great inspiration for blog posts! So, we would like to introduce the Ad Lib Group Writing Project!

Here’s the deal: you write a blog post inspired by a great ad slogan and then send the permalink either to Randa or me (cpolanosky [at] gmail [dot] com). The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, March 12th. To sweeten the deal, Randa and I will each choose an entry that strikes us as the most creative or best application of the slogan and reward the author with their choice of either a $20 Amazon or iTunes gift certificate. (yes, that means there will be two winners)

Here are a few great ad slogans to get you started:

1. A diamond is forever (De Beers, 1950)
2. Just do it (Nike, 1988)
3. The pause that refreshes (Coca-Cola, 1929)
4. Tastes great, less filling (Miller Lite)
5. We try harder (Avis, 1962)
6. Good to the last drop (Maxwell House, 1915)
7. Breakfast of champions (Wheaties)
8. Does she … or doesn’t she? (Clairol, 1964)
9. When it rains it pours (Morton Salt, 1911)
10. Where’s the beef? (Wendy’s, 1984)

If none of those strike you, feel free to use one of your own favorites or pick one from a larger list at Wikiquote.

We will reveal the winners, compile the full list of entries, and post them on our sites for everyone to enjoy after March 12!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Linette! You are the winner!

In the fall, I was sent a copy of Sue Jenkins’ Dreamweaver for Designers training DVD to review. I was really interested in giving it a look, since I have been using Dreamweaver to build websites since 1998.

The Class on Demand self-paced instructional DVD is ideal for beginners and intermediate users looking to learn Dreamweaver. Class on Demand Dreamweaver for Designers takes students through the fundamentals of web site and application creation for users of Dreamweaver MX 2004 all the way through Dreamweaver CS3.

Topic highlights include:

• Dreamweaver Environment Understanding the application layout and learning the basic navigation flow to structuring the web site.
• Implementing Graphics Mocking layouts in Photoshop.
• Understanding size and file types.
• Creating slices.
• Creating Web Pages Inserting images, creating hyperlinks, adding tables, creating style sheets and inserting comments into Dreamweaver code.
• Building Navigation Menus Structuring navigation menus, building button, rollovers and image maps.
• Incorporate media objects.
• Working with Layers and Templates Create and work with templates.
• Understand server-side workings.

I have finished looking over the DVD and found it useful (even to an advanced user). Rather than keep it for myself, I would like to give one of my readers the opportunity to learn more about Dreamweaver! I am giving away one copy of Dreamweaver for Designers to a random commenter.

To be eligible to win all you need to do is leave me a comment on this post telling me what software you use for web design and why. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. If you are already a Dreamweaver user, tell me what you like or dislike about it. You can also post about the giveaway for an additional entry (but that is not required).

The contest will end midnight EST on February 1, 2008.