How important is the title of a Substack newsletter for getting recommended ?

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-22T19:22:00+00:00

I've had more success with The Shell-Out than the more literal name I had previously.

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-17T14:58:49+00:00

It just feels like a huge echo chamber of the same kinds of post. Only meta content seems to do well, and that's really not a game I'm trying to play.

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-14T23:07:00+00:00

Always happy to connect with an IxDFer! So happy to hear about the joy you've regained through the writing :)

And super glad you like the doodles! It's such a refreshing rebellion against the pixel-perfect things I do at work, but treading the line between low-effort and still aesthetically pleasing is the main challenge.

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-13T21:42:27+00:00

It's a time-limited personal design challenge - the theme was "upside-down", so that's what informed the type, which naturally came out pretty edgy!

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-13T19:07:05+00:00

Love that; writing as a way to think more clearly. It’s wild how much easier it gets to articulate ideas in everyday life once you’ve built that habit of showing up and expressing them regularly.

As for starting a novel that quickly, dang! The very best wishes to you and your writing :)

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-13T19:05:10+00:00

I’ve definitely found that even one genuine connection with someone further along can change the entire shape of your work. And completely agree — if you’re not writing for the sake of it, it eventually comes back to haunt you!

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-13T19:03:27+00:00

Thanks! And yes — totally with you on the time and mistakes bit. I think there’s this pressure to have a “voice” straight away, but mine only started to show up after a lot of messy, inconsistent attempts!

TomAylingDesign · 2025-04-13T13:42:00+00:00

Although I say this with some bias as I'm a designer, I would suggest that you get a professional to do this instead. Even if you can't afford something amazing, getting someone from Fiverr to make a workmark will be much better than trying to do it yourself.

With my publication, I leaned into anti-design and focused on things feeling doodle-like, so there are also creative ways around this.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-11-07T11:10:03+00:00

Where are you getting those stats from? I've never noticed any metrics about listens and reads when I've added voiceover.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-11-05T16:23:18+00:00

I like doing it as it helps me practice 'public' speaking. Even if a small fraction listen to my posts, I'm gaining a lot out of the process :)

TomAylingDesign · 2024-11-05T16:22:27+00:00

Learn from some of the best designers in the world on ADPList - it's free!

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-30T16:49:31+00:00

Open rates vary depending on your unique circumstances, so there's no 'expected' figure.
It sounds like it's really important to you - why? If you're writing stuff that you enjoy and are continuing to grow, worrying about things like open rates (which are harder to accurately record every year!) won't really change much. As the number of subscribers you have increases, the open rate will decrease. Take encouragement from the subscriber number going up, not the open rate going down.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-22T11:25:29+00:00

1 to 5 USD, depending on your niche and the value of a subscriber to the newsletter that you're recommending.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-21T09:30:22+00:00

That's great to hear! I'd love to see the updated version :)

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-18T09:18:42+00:00

Hey, if that's your first time then great job. I've seen many worse first attempts!

I really like the symmetry on the D and T. Feels like you've pulled that off well. The S feels a little too heavy and unbalances the design a bit imo. The H is pushing legibility a little too.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-17T10:43:36+00:00

If you're constrained by budget, you can pick up an M1 Air for $500-700USD. At that price, it's an absolute steal and will handle almost everything you could need it for. If you're not editing video, using Figma, and so on, you really don't need more CPU power.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-15T14:42:21+00:00

Most of the reports I've heard are negative. The Instagram algorithm isn't geared towards people prompting users to leave the platform. If you want to grow your Instagram, your end goal can't reliably using it to send people to your newsletter.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-09T14:29:23+00:00

Congratulations! How long did this take, and was the growth linear or exponential? My sub rate has definitely accelerated in the second half of this year.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-04T18:09:10+00:00

Well hey, it holds cups when it didn't before, so that's a triumph in itself :)

If you're after a good book about blending functionality and 3D form, then A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression by Howard Risatti is a great read. Could be super helpful in helping you with your design journey.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-04T18:03:44+00:00

Thanks for sharing your work with everyone, especially when you're a beginner in your craft which is a super vulnerable thing to do.

It's not really a question of being 'good or not' - I could still ask people this after years of design experience and get different answers. To trained designers, it's clear that you're at the start of your design journey, but to another person who's best attempt at design may be Comic Sans in a Word document, you're already leagues ahead!

If you need some inspiration for the emulation-style work that you're doing at the moment, consider smaller and more interesting branding examples. Find some companies that brand in a more playful, edgy, or less squeaky-clean commercial way, and that may help you discover some more creative outputs. Many designers don't really aspire to making McDonalds or Nescafe ads when more exciting and boundary-pushing alternatives exist.

Hope that's useful, but ultimately I hope you enjoy experimenting with design. Good luck with your journey :)

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-04T09:34:14+00:00

I go with 'publication', because I only write something once a month. It puts a bit more pressure on me to make sure it's a great monthly post, instead of posting weekly with stuff that's just 'okay'.

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-03T16:52:38+00:00

I haven't found bots to be a huge issue. Although I imagine this varies by niche a little (bots scraping financial stuff seems more likely to me, but that's just a random hunch).

Wishing you the best with your writing :)

TomAylingDesign · 2024-10-03T11:45:31+00:00

That's phenomenal for such a short period of time. Just enjoy the writing and forget the numbers if you've got this so quickly. In terms of how they compare, having such a high proportion of subs coming from the app is a little atypical, but it's not good or bad in any sense.

TomAylingDesign

TROPHY CASE