David Appleyard

News / 26 Dec 2009

Happy Christmas!

I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to the site this year, written an article, or submitted their design. We’re certainly ending this year on a high, and are looking forward to everything we have in store for 2010.

I hope that you have a wonderful rest over Christmas, take the time to recharge your batteries, and start the New Year full of fresh, creative inspiration.

Thanks for reading Design Shack, and Happy Christmas from myself and Josh!

Articles / 20 Dec 2009

Interview With Alen Grakalic of CSS Globe

Today we’re talking with Alen Grakalic, of CSS Globe. He’s a talented designer, an amateur triathlete competitor, and has recently launched an interesting JavaScript framework!

We’ll also take a look at the tools and workspace Alen uses to get the job done, along with a few pointers for places to find inspiration online.

Competitions / 15 Dec 2009

Winner Announced: Win a Copy of CSSEdit

I’m pleased to announce that we’re giving away a copy of CSSEdit to one lucky reader. CSSEdit is a brilliant piece of software for dealing with style sheets on your Mac, with visual editing, live preview, an “X-Ray inspector”, and a thorough selector builder that can save you a headache.

All you need to do to enter is follow @designshack on Twitter, and post your username in the comments. It only takes five minutes, and we’ll be announcing the winners in one week – on the 19th December.

Good luck, and thanks for reading Design Shack!

Articles / 12 Dec 2009

Take Part in the BaseKit Beta

Various services are available for converting PSD files to HTML code, all competing from a different angle. Some offer a very quick turn-around, others a ridiculously low price. Whilst some designers regularly use them as part of their working process, there are various advantages to completing the process yourself.

BaseKit is a new web service that allows you to maintain control over this process, easily moving from a PSD to a fully marked up website. It’s still in Beta, but we have 50 invite codes to give away. Read on for a preview video of the service in action, and information on how to apply for an invite.

News / 22 Nov 2009

We’re Joining the Smashing Network!

I’m pleased to announce that Design Shack has become a member of The Smashing Network, offering us another outlet to get in touch with new designers and network with some other really fantastic websites.

A big thanks to the Smashing Magazine team – we’re really looking forward to growing Design Shack further, and hope that you’re enjoying our new articles. Thanks for reading – you make the site what it is!

Business / 3 Nov 2009

The Ultimate Guide to CSS Gallery Inclusion

Design Shack started out as a simple CSS gallery, featuring well designed websites that caught my eye. Tens of thousands of designs have been submitted over the past few years, and each one has been considered carefully for inclusion. The sad fact is that only around 5% of submissions stand out from the crowd.

This could be due to any number of factors; the site didn’t get the basics right, didn’t have anything remarkable to show, or (occasionally) was let down by content. This guide will walk you through how to make sure you stand a great chance of inclusion, avoiding all the pitfalls so commonly stumbled into by designers. At each stage, we’ll take a look at one great example, and one that’s not so good.

News / 9 Oct 2009

Introducing Our New Editor

I mentioned a few days ago that we have taken on board a new site editor for Design Shack, and I’m pleased to introduce him to you today! Joshua Johnson will be taking charge of the news and tutorials published on the site, and it should lead to some fantastic new content.

Read on to find out a little more about our awesome new editor!

News / 6 Oct 2009

Feeds, Articles & More

We’ll be making a few changes around here over the coming weeks, aiming at turning Design Shack into a far better resource for designers around the world.

Competitions / 4 Aug 2009

Fanurio Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered our competition to win a copy of Fanurio. I’m pleased to announce that the winners are Vicente Canales, Mark, and Josh St. John.

Your details have been passed on to the developer, and you should receive a license code shortly!

Competitions / 27 Jul 2009

Win a Copy of Fanurio

I’m pleased to announce our latest competition to win a copy of Fanurio, a cross-platform time tracking application. It offers an intuitive interface, flexible timer and the ability to produce detailed invoices.

We have three copies to give away, and entering is simple. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post saying why you’d like a copy. The competition will run for one week, and we’ll announce the winners on the 2nd August.

Good luck!

Typography / 30 May 2009

Introducing Typekit

Font support on the web has long been a topic of debate. Recent years have seen the emergence of various techniques for embedding fonts through flash, a method known as Cufon, or various plays on the new @font-face CSS properties emerging slowly through CSS3.

The main limiting factor to date is that of font licensing. Understandably, foundries are reluctant to allow web designers to publicly host their font files for anyone to download. A few typefaces have been licensed for use online, but designers are severely limited in choice.

This week saw the announcement of a breakthrough system – Typekit.

Interviews / 3 Mar 2009

Becoming a Productive Designer: An Interview With Leo Babauta

Leo Babauta, a blogger famous for the philosophy of keeping life and work simple has kindly allowed us to interview him about blogging, design and how we can all work with less clutter.

We’ll be talking about a regular day for Leo, how blogging has launched his career, and the principles he suggests for a designer to be more productive. It’s great to speak to someone so genuine and passionate about their philosophy, and I hope you enjoy reading what he has to say.