Design Shack — Web Design Gallery, Articles & Community

Business / 23 Oct 2017

Is the Static Logo Dead?

There’s a bit of disruption happening in the world of logos. The single static logo isn’t enough to carry your brand anymore. You actually need a library of logos to meet all the needs of your brand.

This idea has been evolving for a while; just think of the variations for a website, social media and even that tiny favicon in web browsers. It can be a lot to think about. So let’s try to organize those logo thoughts.

Inspiration / 20 Oct 2017

30 Beautifully Designed Ghost Themes

Are you ready to jump into the world of web design with Ghost? This simple and powerful platform is designed for bloggers (and other websites) that are looking to create using a simple platform and structure.

The framework could be roughly compared to something such as WordPress, because of the number of options and amount of flexibility available with this system. And Ghost is gaining popularity. Publishers such as Square, Envato, NASA and Bitcoin are using it to power their websites. Today, we’ll round up 30 great themes (including free and paid options) for Ghost so you can get started in no time. And these are more than just themes that work great; we focused on themes that are beautifully designed.

Graphics / 18 Oct 2017

The Greatest Print Campaigns of All Time: Volkswagen Think Small

You’re a web designer living large in the 21st century. Your job is defined by screens and software. What in the world could you possibly learn about design from a bunch of old dusty print ads? The answer of course, is “a ton.”

Today we’re examining one of the most famous print ad campaigns of all time. The Volkswagen “Think Small” campaign. How did a funny looking car that was named after a bug, known for being slow and manufactured in factories built by Nazis ever become iconic to a generation of post-war Americans? Great design and fantastic marketing.

Freebies / 17 Oct 2017

40+ Stunning Vintage Mockup Packs & Graphics

Design is all about presentation. You might have spent hours designing a logo or a layout for your client, but in order to fully reap the rewards of your hard work, it can be incredibly helpful to present your work in the perfect manner.

This is where mockup packs come in handy, to showcase the design you’ve poured time and attention into in the best possible light. Today, you can take a look at our huge collection of free and premium vintage mock up sets that would allow you to showcase your work like never before.

Graphics / 16 Oct 2017

Design Trend: Vivid Rainbow Colors

If nothing else, 2017 has been a year of color in website design. Color trends have dominated the conversation about design, with brighter, bolder hues as a large part of the landscape.

There’s a new color trend that combines a lot of those bright options into bigger color palettes that you might now expect – rainbow color patterns. That’s right, more designers are taking a change with a lot of color and incorporating vivid rainbow, gradient colors into design projects. And it’s pretty cool!

Here’s a look at the trend and some ideas for how to use vivid color that aren’t garish.

Layouts / 11 Oct 2017

Coming Soon Landing Pages: Tips and Best Practices

What do you do when your website is under construction and you aren’t quite ready for launch?

Whether you’re generating buzz to release a new product or app, or just waiting for a new website project to be ready, a coming soon page can be the fix.

When used well, coming soon pages can help generate leads (with an email signup form) and drum up some interest for your website.

Inspiration / 10 Oct 2017

50+ Apple Watch Mockups & Graphics

The Apple Watch is the latest gadget in Apple’s ever-growing product line-up. If you’re looking to display your latest application or web interface on the watch, then you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve gone through and updated our collection of Apple Watch mockups with dozens more beautiful graphics, mockups and vector designs for you to use in your next project. These are mixed templates with photograph-based PSD mockups as well as fully scalable vector packs. Some of these mockups contain all the three versions of Apple Watch, including the ‘Sport’ and ‘Edition’ versions. Some sets are free, while others cost a few dollars.

Graphics / 9 Oct 2017

Tips for Creating a Modern Monochrome Color Palette

A monochrome color scheme isn’t always the first idea that comes to mind when starting a new design project. But single-color design projects can have a lot of impact and give the opportunity to branch out and try some new techniques.

Monochromatic projects, which consist of a color palette with just one color, can be striking because they aren’t as commonly seen as projects with more color variances. This alone can make your project stand out.

Graphics / 4 Oct 2017

DPI vs. Pixels: What Do I Use?

You hear these phrases tossed around by everyone today – from amateur photographers, to the iPhone salesman, to some of the world’s most acknowledged visual creators and designers. But what do image size specs really mean? And what should you use?

Simply, it all depends on your project. Knowing what medium you are creating for and how your images will be used is key to sizing and picking the right number of pixels or DPI. Before you begin your next project, though, make sure you are familiar with all the image-quality jargon.

Inspiration / 3 Oct 2017

100+ Logo PSD & Vector Mockup Templates

Logo designs play a crucial role when it comes to the success of a business. For designers, it’s always about how they present their work to their clients or audience. Good mockups not only enhance design presentations but also help in saving time and making work processes more streamlined and efficient.

In order to help you present your logo designs to your clients with the strongest possible impact, we have gathered more than 100 logo design mockup templates. All of these mockups are of extremely high quality and will help you streamline your work process in no time. Some are free to use, while others cost only a few dollars.

Business / 2 Oct 2017

5 Tips for Creating a Memorable Logo Design

A logo might be the single most important visual connection a brand makes with users. It identifies the company or organization and sets a basic tone for interactions with users.

From color to shape to words, every element in a logo design says something. (That’s why such a small element is so important to your brand.)

Logo design takes a lot of planning and thought and it is important to create a mark that represents your business and is something that users can identify and remember. It’s doubtful that you’ll develop the next Nike swoosh, but with the right approach you can create a memorable logo design.

Graphics / 28 Sep 2017

How & Why Faces Increase User Engagement

There’s a lot of science and psychology that goes into design. Even if you don’t consciously think about it, choices that you make when selecting imagery and user interface elements can establish a connection with users (or not) and even lead to higher engagement rates.

Using actual human faces in the design is one way to do this. Seeing a face can make people more likely to engage with a design because it makes the app/website/poster feel more human. It creates a more distinct emotional connection.

Here, we’re going to look at designs that use faces in different ways and how you can up user interaction with some of the same design techniques.