Weekly Roundup, January 23, 2012

It's Monday, which means of course we've pulled together our top 5 stories uncovered last week in the world of branding, design and marketing. Surefire tips to improve user experience, best practices for nonprofit content, news on Google's personalized search, and Twitter tips for your brand? Read on for more. Want a stream-of-consciousness look at what's got our attention? Follow us daily: @msdsbranding on Twitter.

1. How to get your Nonprofit Started on Pinterest!
Why It’s Important: This new social network may not hold obvious appeal for nonprofits, but these eight tips illuminate the way a Pinterest social following can help advocate a nonprofit mission.

2. Real Friends Don’t Count Chromosomes.
Why It’s Important: This touching personal Facebook slideshow of a girl and her brother, who has Down Syndrome, shows us how the power of storytelling and social media combine to challenge and change perceptions.

3. When Connecting Across Cultures, Approach Makes All the Difference
Why It’s Important: As the world increasingly reaches across global borders, the ways in which we approach new people, especially in networking, must be re-thought. Harvard Business Review sheds some light on how communicating and connecting must evolve in an increasingly interconnected world.

4. In the Startup Economy, How Can Design Change the World.
Why It’s Important: The startup economy has given rise to the design culture. As design is entrusted to increasingly shape the evolution of the Web and brand experiences, practitioners must first prove wrong misguided notions of design as a decorative commodity. It’s time for designers to show how it will change the world.

5. How Our Minds Work Like JPGs
Why It’s Important: Recent studies indicate that our brains may work like JPGS, conserving “bandwidth” and influencing how we make sense of the world. This article is an interesting take on understanding how brands can cut through media clutter and more effectively reach out to audiences.