Graphics - Page 12

Inspiring advice, tips, and suggestions for improving your graphic design skills, logo design, working with templates, and more.

Designing an Infographic? 5 Elements You Must Include

Graphics / 8 Feb 2017

Designing an Infographic? 5 Elements You Must Include

Designing an infographic is just like designing a website. It starts with a concept, goals and even a wireframe.

The big difference is that all the information for an infographic is contained in one unit, whereas a website has multiple pages and ways to engage users. You can almost think of an infographic as a flat, or static, mini-website. You can also design a one-page website as an infographic!

Here are five essential elements to help you make the most of your next infographic design.

11 Handy Resources to Help Build a Website in 2017

Graphics / 25 Jan 2017

11 Handy Resources to Help Build a Website in 2017

Ready to finally tackle that website project you’ve been putting off? This is the year to get that site designed and published! Whether it’s a simple blog or something more complex, all you need to get started are a few great tools.

Here, we’ve rounded up a selection of new, innovative resources to help you get inspired, design and prototype, along with a few elements that will help you better work in WordPress – the most popular publishing platform. What are you waiting for? This is the day you start building a website in 2017!

7 Rules for Creating a Simple Design

Graphics / 18 Jan 2017

7 Rules for Creating a Simple Design

Keep it simple, stupid. This concept dates to 1960 when the U.S. Navy implemented the KISS principle, which maintains that most systems work best if they are simple, rather than complicated. The same is true of pretty much any design project as well.

Most graphic designers learn about KISS early in their careers. So how can you do it? Creating a simple design is a little more complicated than you might think. Here are seven rules to design by, that help you cut away all the clutter and create a beautifully simple account.

7 Tips for Effective Use of Icons in Design Projects

Graphics / 11 Jan 2017

7 Tips for Effective Use of Icons in Design Projects

Designing icons can be a lot of fun. But once you have a good set, what do you do with them?

Icons are not just miniature links for Facebook or Instagram — they can be fully interactive cues that help lead users through a design and provide extra visual spark. Icons can be small or large, black and white or colored, flat or intricate. No matter what style appeals to you, effective use of icons can enhance usability and the aesthetic value of almost any design project.

5 Modern Website Background Ideas for 2017

Graphics / 9 Jan 2017

5 Modern Website Background Ideas for 2017

White, stark backgrounds are so 2016. It’s time to give your website a quick refresh with a new, more modern background treatment.

While many minimal styles are still in, the lack of color is not. Designers are opting for grays and bright colors instead. Background effects are also pushing more boundaries with cool geometry, asymmetrical patterns and abstract art. Today we’re delving into modern website background trends, packed with examples and inspiration!

How to Design With Pantone’s Color of the Year

Graphics / 27 Dec 2016

How to Design With Pantone’s Color of the Year

Drumroll, please. It’s the design geek Grammy’s. Pantone recently named its color of the year – 15-0343, more commonly known as Greenery.

The natural hue is bright, clean and fresh. Pantone says the zesty yellow-green shade “evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.”

How can you use this design trend in upcoming projects? This year Pantone made it easy with a “new neutral” that’s relatively easy to use. Here are a few ways to do it.

Designing With an 80s Trend: Memphis Design 101

Graphics / 14 Dec 2016

Designing With an 80s Trend: Memphis Design 101

Every trend eventually makes a comeback. Sometimes that even applies to trends that are more difficult to understand.

Memphis design – exemplified by an 80s aesthetic with bright colors and lots of shapes and lines – is one of those concepts that has come back around again. Not many people have ever said they love the 80s design style. Love it or hate it, the bright design pattern can be a lot of fun and direct attention to the design. Here’s everything you need to know about Memphis design.

Design Trend: Photos That Come Alive

Graphics / 6 Dec 2016

Design Trend: Photos That Come Alive

A live photo. Cinemagraph. Moving pictures. Still motion. There are so many names for this trend in web design, identified by a hero image that seems to come alive in a subtle way.

It’s not quite a photo, but not quite a video either. The movement is often restricted to one action in the image to help grab user attention and draw them into the image. Regardless of what you call it, this trend is making an impact and popping up everywhere in web design, as shareable gifs and on social media.

Design a Better Logo: 5 Key Concepts to Consider

Business / 16 Nov 2016

Design a Better Logo: 5 Key Concepts to Consider

Logo design is tough. There’s so much pressure to come up with a perfectly iconic symbol. It has to be original, fresh and interesting. And it’s probably going to be around for a while.

Before you break out in a cold sweat trying to develop the next Nike Swoosh, stop and breathe. While some of the most successful logos of all time did come with a little luck, most follow a few key concepts that you can apply to your thought process.

Take a minute, think it through and you can design a better logo using these five key concepts (with examples from the Design Shack gallery).

5 Tips for Mixing Photos & Illustrations in a Single Design

Graphics / 2 Nov 2016

5 Tips for Mixing Photos & Illustrations in a Single Design

Ready to take a design risk? Try mixing photos and illustrations in the same design project. A hand drawn element can add whimsy and interest to a design that includes photography. Conversely, a photo can make a more lighthearted illustrated design seem more real or important.

This technique can be a little difficult to imagine until you see a few examples of how it can work beautifully. Today’s we’re looking at this trend and providing tips and examples to help you develop creative ways to come up with a design of your own.

Choosing the Right Display Typeface: 5 Tips for Success

Graphics / 31 Oct 2016

Choosing the Right Display Typeface: 5 Tips for Success

One of the biggest trends in web design is a large hero image or video at the top of a page with a few words to guide users into the site. This kind of aesthetic puts a lot of pressure on the designer to come up with just the right display typeface to pull the design together.

With so many typefaces to choose from, this can be a bit of a daunting task. But you can find a great typeface with a little planning and luck. Here are five tips to get started with a few beautiful examples of display typography.

How to Make Color Overlays Work in Your Design

Graphics / 24 Oct 2016

How to Make Color Overlays Work in Your Design

Color is an important part of almost any design. Whether you are a fan of bright, bold hues or prefer a more minimalist black and white, how you use color can have a great impact on the overall design.

One way to use color to make a statement is with a design that incorporates a color overlay. This means that you cover an image or video with a semi-transparent colored box. The effect can add meaning to an image, bring attention to a design and help you make most of limited art choices.

Today, we’re going to look at a variety of color overlays to serve as a bit of inspiration for creating your own.