Designing From a Photo: Quick Tips and Best Practices
Photography is the best thing to hit design since typography. A quality photograph can make a poor designer look good and a good designer look great. It can convey emotion, bring in color, provide and provide a strong focal point.
Today we’ll look at a few tips, techniques and ideas for designing around great photography.
July 20th, 2010 Posted in Graphics, LayoutsAnalyzing and Comparing Popular Blog Designs
If you’re thinking about starting a blog, there are a lot of technical details to consider when attempting the initial layout of your page. How large should your text be? What font should you use? Should your images have borders?
We’ll help you answer these questions and more by tearing apart the post designs of popular design blogs. Examining the work of others will give you insight into popular trends and what you think works best. Let’s get started!
June 12th, 2010 Posted in CSS, Graphics, HTMLCreate a Moveable Sticky Note With MooTools and CSS3
I recently came across a neat tutorial at Woorkup pointing out a MooTools feature that allows you to turn any item on a web page into a positionable element.
Today we’re going to use this technique to create a simple and fun sticky note that a user can play with and move anywhere on the page. Along the way will be using lots of CSS3 so make sure you’ve got a decent browser!
June 8th, 2010 Posted in CSS, Graphics, JavaScript6 Apps for Collecting Digital Inspiration
The online design community is simply overflowing with inspiration. Every day countless blog posts are being published showcasing 30-100 amazing examples of “insert item here.” Further, CSS galleries like our own contain hundreds or even thousands of great site designs.
With all this inspiration being tossed at you all the time, you need a way to catalogue and store it. Today we’ll look at a few tools out there that do exceptionally well at this very thing.
June 4th, 2010 Posted in Graphics, InspirationCreate Stunning 3D Text Free With SketchUp
Everyone loves 3D text.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford the 3D modeling software necessary to build it. Today I’ll teach you how to create some awesome 3D text using only Photoshop and a free app from Google. Intrigued? Read on!
June 2nd, 2010 Posted in Graphics5 Fantastic Notebooks and Sketchbooks for Designers
This article will briefly examine 5 physical notebooks that are perfectly suited for a number of designer workflows.
Before we get started, let’s take a brief look at some reasons you should be using a notebook as an integral part of your design process.
May 25th, 2010 Posted in Graphics, InspirationFunny Business and the Lack of Humor in Web Design
In a recent post on things that web designers can learn from print designers, I pointed out that professional web design seems awkwardly void of comedy while other forms of marketing seem to embrace it. I decided to explore this area further and make it into full-fledged post.
So today we’re going to look at the world of funny marketing and why you should add it to your arsenal of design tools.
May 22nd, 2010 Posted in Graphics, InspirationHow to Use the New Google Font API
Today we’re going to learn about what the new Google Font is and how to implement it right away in your designs.
It’s free to use and can be installed in under a minute once you get the hang of it!
May 20th, 2010 Posted in CSS, Graphics, HTMLWhere to Find Free Design Feedback
Sometimes outside opinions can offer invaluable insight into the strengths and weaknesses in your designs. Unfortunately, obtaining professional advice can be expensive and risky due to the uncertainty of the quality of feedback you’ll receive for your money.
However, there are plenty of resources available for you to receive completely free feedback on your designs. Though the quality of information you receive will vary widely across the options below, you’re won’t lose a penny by trying!
May 15th, 2010 Posted in Graphics, LayoutsCreate Seamless Web Background Textures in Minutes
Ever wondered how some web designers come up with such great background textures? It’s actually way easier than you might think. It only takes a few minutes and a single Photoshop filter that you’ve probably never used.
Intrigued? Read on to see the step by step instructions for creating tileable textures out of almost any image.
May 13th, 2010 Posted in CSS, Graphics, HTML