Carrie Cousins

Reviews / 31 Oct 2022

Lunacy: Breeze Through Graphic Design Projects

Admit it, you are always looking for quicker, more efficient ways to complete projects – even graphic design tasks. Lunacy is a piece of free design software from Icons8 that can help you do just that.

It’s packed with AI-powered tools to speed up your work, giving you a new edge in your design work, plus a range of built-in graphics to help you “build design like a Lego”.

Today, we’ll take a look at this tool, highlight its key features, and explain how you can make it work for you.

Business / 20 Oct 2022

8 Regular Maintenance Considerations for Your Website

It might not be the most fun topic when it comes to your website, but it may be one of the most important: regular maintenance.

If you launch a website and then never go back and work on it, it will eventually stop working. The user experience will deteriorate over time and you won’t be able to maximize the impact of your site. As the first impression that many customers have with you, an up-to-date and well-functioning website is a must for any business.

Here are eight crucial regular maintenance considerations to help you keep your website in top condition.

Reviews / 14 Oct 2022

Design Feedback Is Easier With Claap

What if you could get time back in your day with better and more efficient meetings and design feedback sessions? Claap is designed with this solution in mind.

Claap is an asynchronous video collaboration platform that can help design teams make better, faster decisions without endless meetings or messaging threads that you get lost in.

The tool can help you spend less time in meetings and is ideal for hybrid design teams.

Here, we’ll take a look at Claap and how it may work for you.

Trends / 10 Oct 2022

Design Trend: QR Codes Everywhere (Tips to Use Them Well)

It looks like QR codes may be back – and here to stay. QR, which stands for quick response, is a bar code that most phone or tablet cameras read that provides a link to something online.

A tool that seemed like it had all but vanished re-emerged as a form of contactless information for things like menus or even to collect payments (such as PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo QR codes).

Using QR codes is more than a design trend; it can be a highly functional component of many design projects.

Here are some ideas for using them well (with a few examples from Envato Elements).

Premiere Pro Templates / 7 Oct 2022

After Effects vs. Premiere: What’s the Difference?

Video has likely become an important part of your website design or marketing strategy. From video hero images to short YouTube videos that help explain a product or service, video is a growing aspect of design.

Have you been asked to edit, create or adjust video for a client yet? Chances are it will happen.

Here, we’re going to look at two popular video tools from Adobe to help you get a crash course what tool is best to use for video projects – Adobe After Effects or Premiere?

Should you choose one, the other, or both? And are they the right fit for your next project?

Business / 6 Oct 2022

10 Tips for Design That Puts Customers First

As an online shopper or buyer, you likely notice bad customer experiences before the good ones. A design that puts customers first feels seamless and intuitive and is pretty frictionless from the point of shopping to completing a transaction.

This kind of mindset is important in every project. A solid customer experience will keep users coming back for your product or service. You created a pleasant shopping destination that helped them find what they were looking for and buy it in a manner that felt safe, secure, and easy to manage.

The design can contribute to that quite a bit. Here are some tips to help you create a design that puts customers first.

Trends / 3 Oct 2022

Design Trend: Creative Scroll Arrows

Scroll arrows are a common design element with many sites using a small icon to help users navigate down the page. It’s nothing new, and it’s been around as a visual indicator for decades.

What’s new is that more designers are experimenting with more creative ways to use these elements to create additional engagement and visual interest. Whether it’s the design of the scroll arrow itself, it’s placement, or animation and visual effects. There’s a lot of creativity at work!

Here’s a look at the creative scroll arrows design trend and ways to make it work in your projects.

Business / 27 Sep 2022

How Often Do You Need to Redesign Your Website? (7 Ways to Know It Is Time)

Does it seem like as soon as you finally get your website design right, it’s time for a change?

You are not alone. With the speed at which technology – and design trends – are changing, that’s a common feeling. But how often do you really need a redesign? When do you know that it is time?

It’s a balancing act. You don’t want to waste resources on an unnecessary redesign, but equally you don’t want to fall behind and risk a dated online presence.

Let’s walk through the answers to those questions with some website template examples from Envato Elements to help jumpstart your design thinking.

Business / 22 Sep 2022

9 Tips for a Great Newsletter Signup Design

If newsletter signups are one of the desired conversions on your website, a great design is vital to achieving success. A clear, well-designed newsletter signup form will help draw attention to the element on the page, and encourage people to use it.

This form is often see as a small element in the overall website design, but it can pack a big punch. So don’t overlook it in your design process!

Here are nine tips to help you make the most of your email newsletter signup design.

Reviews / 21 Sep 2022

Readymag: Create a Website Right in a Browser

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced web designer that needs to create a site that looks great with ease, Readymag has all the tools you need to do it right in your browser.

The design tool is made so you can create cool projects – including animations and trendy design elements – without any code right in your browser.

Here’s a look at Readymag and how it might work for your projects. (As a bonus, the example sites in this article were all created with Readymag!)

Business / 19 Sep 2022

11 Places to Show Off Your Work (Portfolio Sites You’ll Love)

Most designers probably have their own website, but do you share work on portfolio sites to help that work get even more attention?

There are a variety of sites that accept website designs for inspiration so you can get more eyeballs on your projects. These are sources of great inspiration, as well as solid backlinks for your website.

We’ve collected 11 options for you to share and show projects, from portfolio sites that allow for all general submissions to a few that are more niche-based (plus, a few that have really innovative ways of showcasing design projects!)

Business / 16 Sep 2022

What Is a Design Brief: Templates, Examples & More

Anyone who’s ever submitted a proposal or tried to snag a design project has probably been asked to submit or create a design brief for the project. It’s a fairly standard practice but can often be intimidating, particularly if you aren’t used to it.

A good design brief is a tool that can help you and design clients get on the same page for projects and help them move along more smoothly.

You’ll outline deliverables and timelines so that clients are comfortable with your process.

Let’s break it down with some best practices, examples, and templates.