Articles Archive

Code an Awesome Animated Download Button With CSS3

January 30th, 2012 11 Comments

Follow along as we create a simple and fun download button using some fancy CSS3. Our button will use lots of fun goodies including border-radius, box-shadow, linear-gradients, z-index and transitions to achieve a unique double sliding drawer effect on hover.

As we go, I’ll discuss why some techniques that you might think to use should be avoided. Transitions are tricky to work with and are quite prone to refuse to work with certain properties. Read on to find out more.

Web Design Critique #75: Income Diary

January 28th, 2012 3 Comments

Every week we take a look at a new website and analyze the design. We’ll point out both the areas that are done well in addition to those that could use some work. Finally, we’ll finish by asking you to provide your own feedback.

Today’s site is Income Diary, a blog that offers simple, practical advice for how to earn money online. Let’s jump in and see what we think!

Weekly Freebies: 15 Free Business Card Templates That Don’t Suck

January 27th, 2012 2 Comments

Business cards are an awesome creative outlet where designers tend to push themselves to come up with unique and interesting solutions. If you’re a newbie to business card design though it can be difficult to break out of the cliché unoriginal layouts that will no doubt pop into your head. This post of over 15 free layered business card templates should help you out.

As a bonus, we’ve included not only layered business card templates, but a few editable 3D mockup files as well so that once you start creating your own awesome designs, you can show them off in style.

Pick the Right Typefaces for Your Project

January 26th, 2012 7 Comments

Sometimes the most daunting part of a new project can be the brainstorming phase. Thinking of color schemes and font selections can be inspiring in your head, but really tough when you start mixing and matching elements on paper or for your website.

Understanding some of the history of fonts and typography can help make any project a little easier. Learn how to pair different typefaces to get desired effect every time and learn what things to avoid. Sharp typography and font selections can really make or break just about any project.

Addictive UX: Why Pinterest Is So Dang Amazing

January 25th, 2012 26 Comments

Today we’re going to examine a very specific example of good design and discuss what makes it so successful. Along the way we’ll discover the importance of good design and how to structure experiences that turn users into addicts.

We’ll hone our sights in on Pinterest and perform a seriously in-depth analysis to see why this seemingly generic idea seems to stand so far out from the competition. The ultimate conclusions will equip you to design experiences that your users will absolute love.

Jumpstart Your Web Project With HTML KickStart

January 24th, 2012 14 Comments

Recently, we took a look at a really solid framework from the good folks at Twitter called Bootstrap. This toolkit is a swiss army knife of utilities and includes both a functional layout grid and enough pre-styled elements to get a great jumpstart on any project.

Today we’re going to look at a very similar tool from Joshua Gatcke called HTML KickStart. This framework is simply overflowing with great stuff that will enable you to build web page prototypes at light speed. Let’s jump in and build a page with it to see what we think.

Announcing Design Curate: Freebies and Resources for Designers

January 24th, 2012 1 Comment

We’re incredibly excited to let you know about a new project we’ve been working on for the past few months — Design Curate. While we love to share inspiration and articles here, we also wanted a place to offer some fantastic freebies and resources for designers.

Design Curate already has a growing collection of freebies — PSDs, WordPress themes, CSS/HTML snippets, and lots more! We’ll be adding new free resources every week, along with featuring a few commercial design goodies from time to time as well.

Read on to find out more about the new site, or just head over and take a look!

Nailing Browser Support in CSS3 and HTML5: Invaluable Resources to Use Today

January 23rd, 2012 3 Comments

New technologies are making web development more exciting than ever before. HTML5 and CSS3 provide a double dose of modern practices that are absolutely refreshing and empowering. Unfortunately, utilizing these technologies can considerably complicate your quest for cross browser compatibility.

How can you know which techniques are safe to use now and which you should either provide alternatives to or avoid altogether? Join us as we take a look at a handful of our favorite resources that quickly and easily help you make informed decisions about real world HTML5 and CSS3 implementation.

Weekly Freebies: 6 Sophisticated and Free Didone Fonts

January 20th, 2012 1 Comment

Didone typefaces (also known as Moderns) are a particularly classy type of font that is characterized by heavy contrast between the thick and thin portions (the vertical parts are thick) and typically very thin, unbracketed serifs. They’re a lot like slab serifs that want to be upscale and fancy.

This particular classification of typeface is one of the rarer breeds to find in the free font world so be sure to take all you can get. Today we’ve got a great little collection of six beautiful and free Didone fonts for you to download and enjoy.

5 Cliché Logo Design Trends to Avoid

January 20th, 2012 13 Comments

Logos are one of the trickiest areas in the graphic design world. It takes almost zero talent to make a logo, virtually anyone can do it. However, making a good logo requires a lot of insight, artistic skill and patience.

Too often we see designers falling into the trap of rushing into a logo design project and coming up with ideas that are so overused that they’re downright cringe-worthy. Today we’re going to take a look at five logo trends that fit this description. Read on to see if any of your go-to techniques are on the list.