In Defense of Advertising
It’s on our clothes, in our houses and painted on the sides of our buildings. It flies high over our cities and can be found deep below our feet in subway tunnels. It’s so ingrained into the way we live that if it were to cease existing, the global economy and infrastructure would crumble in hours. Of what mystical force do I speak?
Advertising. In many American households this is a dirty word. We’ve come to hate this plague that has taken over our society and fear that it over-saturates our lives in ways that can only be destructive. Today I will cross the line and defend not only the industry as a concept but also those undoubtably evil people that participate in it.
February 2nd, 2011 Posted in BusinessWeekly Freebies: 180 Incredibly Useful HTML Email Templates
HTML Email has seen mass amounts of debate, not only about how it should be done but even whether it should be done at all. However, the popularity of this medium has shown only growth in recent years. As support from email applications grows, so to does the richness of the designs.
Below we’ve included some of the best and most recent free templates from a number of sources. The templates range from heavily designed to extremely basic so that no matter what you’re looking for, be it a simple layout aid or a nearly finished product, there is something here for you.
February 1st, 2011 Posted in HTMLPro Techniques for Smarter and Faster Blogging
Blogging is all the rage in our futuristic web 2.0 technology-induced world. Although the term blogging holds connotations as almost simplistic and unprofessional, it doesn’t mean anything different than writing for the web.
As digital writers sometimes tend to glorify the trade, the job may seem cushy and even quite fun. Bloggers understand the web just a little better than most and can provide their knowledge to others in a positive fashion. The profession does offer a great means for practice writing and endows a sense of accomplishment at the end of each day.
January 27th, 2011 Posted in BusinessIntroduction to Developing a Custom Tumblr Blog Theme
Tumblr is the fastest growing blog network on the web today. With the ability to quickly reblog any of your followers’ posts it truly revolutionizes the way we interact with a digtial community. Tumblr has taken the popular dashboard feature and expanded it into a personal blog feed.
Amongst the many popular features of the service is the ability to directly customize the look and feel of your page. Each blog has its own theme which is used to give your page its layout and color scheme. There are plenty of free and paid themes to choose from, but it’s much easier and more fun to create your own.
January 26th, 2011 Posted in HTMLWe Design Critique #35: Scentsy Buddy
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 Scentsy Buddy, a site for scented children’s stuffed animals.
January 22nd, 2011 Posted in Critique10 Website Background Ideas for Your Next Project
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is a variant of what kind of background someone should use for their site. These designers have the basic content and the layout pretty much nailed down, but the background is either too boring or too busy and they don’t know how to fix it.
Today we’re going to take a look at a few live sites to grab some inspiration on how to effectively add interesting backgrounds to a web page. Bookmark this article and come back to it the next time you’re stuck on a background decision.
January 21st, 2011 Posted in InspirationBest and Worst Design: 50 University Websites From 50 States
If you hail from the U.S., which state are you from and how would you rate the level of design from the schools there? Today we’re going to jump into this topic by examining 50 website home pages, one from a university in each of the fifty states.
We’ve divided the schools up into the best and worst and didn’t pull any punches when it comes to calling out bad design practices. Let’s see how your state fared!
January 20th, 2011 Posted in GraphicsPhotoshop Reflections 101
Today we’re going to learn all about how to make convincing reflections in Photoshop. Text reflections, 3D reflections, product shot reflections, all kinds of crazy reflections. We’ll discuss everything from custom transforms to blending modes and beyond. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, you’ll probably learn a thing or two.
You might be thinking that reflections were all the rage a few years ago, but are currently losing a bit of steam, and you’d be right. However, you can still see plenty of them in practice on Apple.com and other sites. You should definitely beware of over-using them and adding to bad web 2.0 trends, but also know that once in a while they can add class to a boring item.
January 19th, 2011 Posted in GraphicsWeekly Freebies: 10 Rocking Retro Fonts
When you’re working on a retro design, one of the key elements that you have to nail is the typography. Each typeface has an implicit suggestion of a decade and having a full arsenal of fonts helps you prepare for all kinds of design scenarios.
Below we’ve compiled ten of our favorite free retro fonts from around the web. They’re all really beautiful and definitely worth a download.
January 18th, 2011 Posted in TypographyWeb Design Critique #34: myRepono
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 myRepono, a website backup service.
January 15th, 2011 Posted in Critique