Carrie Cousins

Mobile / 15 Oct 2020

Design Trend: Modern Tappable Targets (And How to Do It)

A solid tap target can make or break your mobile website or app. The size, shape, location, and overall design of the button or link determines whether a user successfully completes an action or not. It might seem like a small thing, but can be one of the most important elements of a design.

Modern tappable targets are easy to recognize, work in an expected manner, and encourage engagement.

Today we’re looking at how to design them, ways to craft effective call-to-action items, and considerations around color and font choices.

Typography / 12 Oct 2020

9 Reasons Why You Should Use Open-Source Fonts

This is a love letter of sorts to an underrated design tool: open source fonts. Open source fonts are licensed in such a way that anyone can use them for any project at no cost.

Many open source fonts come with the standard Open Font License (you can find it here), and it gives you huge flexibility in how you can use them, the types of projects they are suitable for, and how they can be distributed.

There are plenty of reasons to try open source fonts for projects online and in print. And every typeface featured in this post is open source!

Reviews / 9 Oct 2020

Design Bundles: The Ultimate SVGs Site

If you are looking for images and templates – who isn’t these days – Design Bundles is a one-stop-shop for deals on all kinds of design resources.

From free design resources to premium elements, you will find an extensive collection of tools that will make your design life that much easier. (And who doesn’t love a deal on highly usable design tools?)

Here, we’re going to take a look at Design Bundles and the extensive collection of SVGs available from the site. It’s a great place to grab a fantastic deal on your next pack of design resources.

PowerPoint Templates / 30 Sep 2020

How Many Slides to Use in a Presentation? 5 Tips

There’s nothing worse than a presentation that goes over time or poorly-designed slides that cram too much information onto the screen at once.

While there are a lot of things that can dictate how many slides to use in a presentation, key factors include how long you have to speak, what content you are presenting, and the visual nature of the content. (Some speakers don’t need slides at all to keep audiences engaged!)

Here, we’re breaking down common presentation times with a guide for how not to overload slides, and use them well—no matter what type of talk you are giving.

Sketch Templates / 29 Sep 2020

15+ Best Sketch Tutorials (Sketch App for Beginners)

If you have been waiting to experiment with Sketch, there’s never a better time to dive in than right now. The Mac-based vector graphics editing tool for user interface and experience design has become a go-to tool for many designers and developers.

If you haven’t started using it yet, or already downloaded the software and are feeling a little overwhelmed, then you are in the right place.

Here, we’re going to look at some of the best Sketch tutorials to help you jumpstart your familiarity and skill level with the software, whether you’re completely new, or looking to level up your skillset.

Email Templates / 15 Sep 2020

15+ Best Responsive & HTML Email Design Tutorials

How do you design an email that will result in plenty of opens and strong click-through rates? There’s a little art – and luck – that goes into email design.

Whether you’re looking at the graphic and visual design, or the responsive HTML development side, email design can be a tricky business.

Here, we’re going to look at some tutorials to help you learn everything you need to know about email design, from some basics to more advanced techniques to help you make this most of this digital marketing tool.

Reviews / 8 Sep 2020

Find Just the Right Free Photo With Freerange Stock

Using stock photography can be a tricky business. You have to find the right photo in collections with thousands or even millions of choices, and then you need to know that the photo is actually safe (and legal) to use for your projects.

That’s where Freerange Stock comes in. The stock photo service recently passed 750,000 members and specializes in delivering modern, high-quality stock images. The best part for you is that images are free to use.

Here, we’re going to take a look at Freerange Stock and the perks of membership.

Lightroom Presets / 2 Sep 2020

How to Create & Save a Preset in Lightroom

If you’re an Adobe Lightroom user, learning how to save a preset can make your workflow much smoother. Today we’re going to teach you how to create your own Lightroom presets in a few quick steps.

A Lightroom preset is a “package” of settings that can speed up the photo-editing process. Presets can be reused to create the same effects over and over again. Using them can take a lot of time out of the editing process for repetitive actions.

We have a full guide to Lightroom Presets if you want to learn more, or find presets that you can download and use right away.

Layouts / 26 Aug 2020

Vector vs. Raster: What Do I Use?

With all of the image options and file formats out there, it can be a little overwhelming when you are choosing what file type to use (and send to clients). Compatibility is always a concern when you are working with different file types, but when it comes to graphics and images the type of computer graphic format you use is essential to how the image renders.

There are two types of digital graphics files – vector and raster. Vector images are made of hundreds of thousands of tiny lines and curves (or paths) to create an image. Raster images are composed of pixels. But how do you know what format is best for your next project?

UX Design / 18 Aug 2020

Is Your Design Inclusive? (And How to Make It More Inclusive)

Is your design for everyone? We talk a lot about creating with an audience in mind, but it’s important to understand that audience can identify in several ways.

Now more than ever before, it is important to create designs and visuals that are inclusive of that entire audience segment. An inclusive aesthetic will make users feel like they are part of the design and that a company, organization, or product is for them.

Inclusivity is more than just accessibility. It’s a combination of function and visual design that creates something that people identify with and want to be a part of.

It’s time to check yourself and your designs, put aside your biases and take a hard look at projects to ensure they are as all-encompassing as they can be. Let’s get started.

Photoshop Actions / 13 Aug 2020

How to Use & Install Photoshop Actions

If you aren’t taking advantage of Photoshop actions for editing and image effects, you’re missing out on one of Photoshop’s best features. Here, we’ll take you through how to use Photoshop Actions, and the best steps to install and apply them in seconds.

Photoshop actions can save you time when it comes to repeated tasks, and condense entire paths of editing into a single click. (While it might sound too good to be true, Photoshop actions are a very real thing.) We’ve previously hand-picked the best Photoshop actions out there, and today we’re explaining how to use them!

Business / 11 Aug 2020

Should You Design Your Brand Based on Digital Marketing Needs?

What comes first: branding or strategy? It’s an age-old question for designers and marketers and today extends to digital marketing as well. Should your brand design be based on digital marketing needs?

In today’s marketplace, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a brand that isn’t leveraging some type of digital marketing, including social media, to communicate with audiences.

Here’s why.