It happened when I wasn’t looking. It was a slippery slope. One day I realized I was hooked on newsletters. I was getting LOTS of them. Perhaps too many. I couldn’t stop myself from subscribing because they were so friendly and so good. Newsletters help me stay in touch with other people, fields, topics and ideas. They get my brain and spirit moving. And what instructional designer isn’t hooked on learning… learning… learning?
Here are some of the newsletters I like. Maybe you’ll find one that speaks to you. Many are delivered through Substack (“The home for great writers & podcasters”). Some have a way to support their creators, so consider that option. You may even start one yourself. Watch out. It’s the start of a new addiction.
What are your favorites? Share in Comments. I’d love to know.
CREATIVE ANYTHING
Austin Kleon
If you like hanging around creative people, you’ll love this newsletter. Kleon, author of creative books like Steal Like An Artist, shares ten creative anythings that he finds moving in the moment. This might include inspiring books, ideas, artworks, movies, music and the like. If a creative hodgepodge sounds like fun to you, you can subscribe here: Austin Kleon’s Newsletter.
DrawTogether with Wendy Mac
I like Wendy Mac’s illustrations so I followed her down a rabbit hole and came back as a subscriber to her paid newsletter for adults. She also has a free one for drawing activities with children and a few morsels for adults under the Grown Ups Table heading. She promises and delivers drawing videos, tips, artwork from visiting artists and best of all, assignments and a community. Check out her Grown Ups Table Archive, where you can also subscribe.
Hello Simple Video
Photographer and videographer, Joe Mendiola, shares tips, inspiration and ideas for making video production better and easier. Hello Simple Video
The Pudding
You may be familiar with The Pudding, a site that focuses on visual essays and storytelling based on data. Their weekly publication brings their visual stories right to your door. The Pudding explores ideas, covers unusual topics and is unique. If this floats your boat, subscribe here: The Pudding.
TOOLS.design
I like the simple focus of this newsletter. Every week you get a list of five resources or tools for designers, with a few words about each one. TOOLS.design
Related: See How to Develop Your Creativity
UX, PRODUCT AND INFORMATION DESIGN
InfoDesign News
Peter Bogards delivers a curated collection of articles related to information design. It doesn’t appear to come on a regular schedule, but that could just be deliverability issues. I’m hoping he continues with this newsletter in what will be year 26! InfoDesign News.
Informa(c)tion
Curated by information architect and writer, Jorge Arango, this newsletter covers topics related to the “intersection of information, cognition, and design.” It comes every other Sunday. Subscribe to Informa(c)tion.
Nielson Normal Group Newsletter
The research and consulting firm of Jakob Nielson and Donald Norman may have the best newsletter and website in the UX world. Their articles are based on research and/or lots of experience. The writing is clear and to the point. What more could you want? Subscribe to the NN/g Newsletter.
UX Collective
User experience design is an important aspect of instructional design. This weekly newsletter is one way to keep up with the latest ideas on user experience, usability and product design. If you want to stay current with the UX industry, this is where you can subscribe.
Related: See 5 UX Research Techniques to Borrow for Learning Design
WRITING
Draft Mode
This is a weekly newsletter from Iain Broome, author, copywriter and content designer. It’s for people interested in improving their writing and getting published. You’ll get writing related articles, tips and resources every week. Subscribe to Draft Mode.
Writing Hacks
This newsletter is published by writer and writing teacher Jane Rosenzweig. She has advice to help you write more efficiently and effectively at work—one “hack” at a time. In each edition, she focuses on one strategy or topic so it will stick. Sound familiar? Subscribe to Writing Hacks.
Electric Speed by Jane Friedman
This is a free newsletter by writing and publishing expert Jane Friedman. She shares an array of tools and resources related to the creative life, writing and publishing. This comes twice a month on Saturdays. Electric Speed Newsletter.
Related: See 10 Types of Writing for eLearning
MISC
BrainPint
I recently subscribed to this newsletter and so far so good. Curator, Janel Loi, reads 150 articles a week plus 60 newsletters. She selects the best and summarizes them into “a short, refreshing weekly newsletter that helps you uncover more about the world and yourself.” Okay, so I’ll admit that I subscribed because Janel seems smart, lives in Barcelona (one of my favorite cities) and likes no code tools. The BrainPint Newsletter.
For the Interested
This newsletter is for people interested in creative entrepreneurship. Josh Spector collects relevant articles and delivers them weekly. For the Interested Newsletter.
Refind
This newsletter was recommended by Mike Taylor. Refind curates five articles from around the web that are related to the interests you select. I’m impressed with the accuracy of Refind’s algorithms. I usually find something of interest, which is rarely the case with similar technologies. Subscribe to Refind.
How to Keep Up?
One of these days I plan on streamlining my newsletter non-system into something sane. But who has time? I plan to investigate MailBrew or how to do this in my RSS reader, Inoreader. I’m sure there are many tools for this. Maybe there’s a newsletter for how to organize your newsletters?
I use feedly for everything aggregation wise. I’m sure there’s a way to link the pages to the RSS feed reader.
Have any suggestions?
Wonderful. Thanks for these resources as I’ll check them out.