Carrie Cousins

Business / 17 Aug 2020

What’s Your Design Diet? Music, Podcasts & Books to Keep You Inspired

Some days are harder than others when it comes to sparking creativity. I find that keeping a solid rotation of other art forms in my routine can keep those juices flowing a little better.

It’s all part of your design diet – music, podcasts, books, challenges, and other design goodies that keep you inspired to push forward, try new things and work at your full capacity.

Your design diet can change from time to time. For me, it ebbs and flows in what type of media and art I consume. From binging on podcasts, to listening to new musicians that help me find a groove, I rely a lot on others to share some of the best new things.

And that’s what this article is primed to do. I’m going to share some of my favorites with you and I’d love it if you shared some of yours with me on social media.

Photoshop Actions / 13 Aug 2020

How to Use & Install Photoshop Actions

If you aren’t taking advantage of Photoshop actions for editing and image effects, you’re missing out on one of Photoshop’s best features. Here, we’ll take you through how to use Photoshop Actions, and the best steps to install and apply them in seconds.

Photoshop actions can save you time when it comes to repeated tasks, and condense entire paths of editing into a single click. (While it might sound too good to be true, Photoshop actions are a very real thing.) We’ve previously hand-picked the best Photoshop actions out there, and today we’re explaining how to use them!

Business / 11 Aug 2020

Should You Design Your Brand Based on Digital Marketing Needs?

What comes first: branding or strategy? It’s an age-old question for designers and marketers and today extends to digital marketing as well. Should your brand design be based on digital marketing needs?

In today’s marketplace, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a brand that isn’t leveraging some type of digital marketing, including social media, to communicate with audiences.

Here’s why.

PowerPoint Templates / 10 Aug 2020

How to Design a Presentation for Screen Viewing

Given how the world is changing, you are probably presenting more commonly on screens in virtual conference or webinar settings. That can impact the design of presentations, and you’ll need to think about what to change to make it work well.

There are multiple considerations when designing PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides templates for screen viewing versus when you are presenting live.

Here, we’ll walk through key considerations to help you make the most of designing presentations for screen viewing.

Reviews / 6 Aug 2020

Get More Done With a Remote Team and Taskade

Almost every team is adjusting to remote work and better workflows. Taskade can provide that boost for your team, whether you work across the hall or halfway around the world.

The tool looks like a simple to-do app, so it’s easy to use. But the reality is that Taskade is powered by a tree-structured database that will help you manage workflows into action items. It’s made for collaboration and comes with all the robust features you need to manage day to day activity.

Here’s a look at Taskade and how you can make it work for your design team.

Reviews / 22 Jul 2020

Userback: Get Immediate and Visual Feedback

We all know that collecting user feedback can make design projects better. But how many of us are actually using tools to gather and analyze that information to make better decisions?

If your stumbling block is finding the right tool, we have found it. Userback is a tool that helps you gather visual feedback for projects. You can see what users see when they look at a website with fast feedback and a robust set of tools to help you make smarter design choices.

The tool is designed to work with small projects all the way to multiple teams and clients, so it can grow with your business needs. And it works. Nothing beats real-time feedback for improving your website designs and user experiences. Let’s take a look at Userback and how it can work for you.

Premiere Pro Templates / 21 Jul 2020

Final Cut vs. Adobe Premiere Pro (Which to Choose? Pros & Cons)

Almost everyone is shooting video these days. From social media clips to full feature moving images for websites and more. But you have to do more than just take video, to get the right finish requires a solid video editing tool.

Two of the best options available are Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro. These solid video editors are packed with features and can help you polish video clips for a more professional feel.

But which one is right for your projects? Here, we’re taking a look at each tool and key pros and cons to help you choose the video tool that’s best for your daily workflows (and budget).

Trends / 14 Jul 2020

Design Trend: Strong Hero Images With Subtle Text

This website design trend is all about contrast… or the lack thereof. More designs are popping up that have large and stunning hero image areas, but text elements are much more subtle. This is a shift from oversized hero area text that has been big (literally) for some time.

These designs make you look because of this difference. It establishes a sense of contrast with other websites, while maybe not creating so much contrast in the design itself.

Let’s take a look at websites with strong hero images and subtle text to help you generate inspiration for your next project.

Reviews / 13 Jul 2020

Get Real-Time Market Data With Marketstack

Do you need to get the same stock market data on your website as some of the major players, such as Uber, Amazon, and Credit Suisse. That must be super complicated, right? Turns out that it’s easy with the right tool, such as marketstack.

marketstack is a real-time, intraday, and historical stock market data API. It delivers market data to your website and users to create better online experiences.

Here’s a look at the tool, key features, and how it works.

Graphics / 13 Jul 2020

7 Common Website Design Problems (And How to Explain Them to Clients)

Sometimes designers and clients don’t quite speak the same language.

This barrier can be a real problem if a client expresses an issue and you can’t need to explain a solution in a way they understand. Sometimes, you have to step back from your knowledge and break it down in a simplified way.

That’s not always easy. Here, we’re going to look at some common website design problems and how to talk them through with clients that might not understand exactly how websites come together.

Instagram Templates / 8 Jul 2020

11 Tips to Boost Your Design Profile on Social Media (Without Looking Sleazy)

Most designers have no problem creating great visuals to share on social media. (That’s almost a no-brainer!) But how can you boost your profile on social media channels without looking sleazy?

There’s a fine line between fun, engaging content, and pushy or overwhelming. There’s a lot of value in showcasing your work online, and you want to do it the right way.

Here, we’re going to look at how to make the most of your design profile on social media. These tips work for personal and business accounts, and they help you walk the path of using social media in a genuine and helpful way.

Trends / 6 Jul 2020

Design Trend: A New Generation of Image Sliders

Website sliders are one of those design elements that we don’t love but have learned to live with. Generally, they don’t provide a lot of click value, but clients seem to love them.

A new design trend that features a new style of image sliders, fixes some of the functionality (and design boredom) issue of sliders. These aren’t your old-school image scrollers (and you won’t recreate these techniques with plugins).

Here’s a look at different design elements and ways of using this design trend so you can find renewed inspiration next time a slider is part of a project.