Carrie Cousins

Trends / 15 Jun 2020

Split Screen Web Design: The Trend That Keeps Growing

Website design with a split-screen aesthetic is a trend that keeps evolving and growing. A split-screen design can be good for a number of reasons, including mobile compatibility and user-friendliness. Plus, many of these designs just look great!

Shifts in the trend show that there are so many different ways to create an effective split screen design that users will love. Consider this your introduction to split-screen design in the new and improved era!

Reviews / 3 Jun 2020

Upgrade Your WordPress Website With Kinsta

If you are running a website on WordPress, then you likely understand the value of managed WordPress hosting. Managed hosting helps keep your site up and running smoothly, often comes with backups, core and plugin updates, and monitoring security.

That’s a pretty expansive package that helps provide website peace of mind.

And you can get it all with Kinsta, a cutting-edge cloud platform that offers managed WordPress hosting, Application Hosting, Database Hosting, and free Static Site Hosting with everything you need to take care of your web projects. (We trust it so much that we’re running this website on Kinsta.)

Graphics / 3 Jun 2020

How to Add Text to a Video Online: 7 Tips & Tricks

Everywhere you look in web design, the hero image seems to be replaced with a hero video. And many of these videos include some type of text elements to provide additional information that draws you into the design.

When done right, the result can be rather stunning. When done wrong, video and text elements fall short of conveying a proper message.

Here, we’re going to look at how to ensure your video and text combinations are understandable, readable, and functional in your next design project.

Let’s dive into our assessment of how to add text to a video online, and the rules you should aim to follow as you do so!

Trends / 1 Jun 2020

Design Trend: Transparent Text With a Bold Background

Who said typography has to be boring? Designers are having a lot of fun with interesting type options, including the super trendy method of layering transparent text elements with interesting backgrounds, animations, and images.

There are plenty of ways to incorporate this website design trend into a project (or put your personal spin on it for printed projects as well).

Here are some ideas and inspiration to help you get started with using transparent text on a bold background.

Font Collections / 27 May 2020

Trend: Retro Serif Typography

Serif typography is having a moment. From thin lines to interesting shapes and even modern serifs, this trend is taking over new website projects. What’s great about serifs is that they can add a certain flair or mood to a design based on the style of letterforms.

This trend is using retro-style serifs in a number of ways. (Our favorite option is for display text that pairs a retro serif with a simple sans serif, to create some eye-catching contrast and variety).

Here’s how to use this trend with some examples that do it exceptionally well, covering a range of different design styles and niches.

Font Collections / 21 May 2020

How to Add Fonts to Photoshop (Mac and Windows)

There’s no need to be intimidated when it comes to adding fonts to Adobe Photoshop for use in projects. Whether you’re on a Mac or Windows, adding a font to Photoshop can be a straight-forward process.

Any designer will regularly need to be working with new fonts and typography, and knowing how to quickly get them working in your design app is a key part of your workflow.

Today, we’ll walk you through how to add fonts to Photoshop (using a few different methods) so that you can speed up your workflow like a pro.

PowerPoint Templates / 20 May 2020

How to Loop a PowerPoint

A self-running or looping PowerPoint presentation can be great for using in booths at conferences, displaying information on screens before a live event/presentation, or even to use in the waiting room of a business to showcase information.

The great thing is that if you can create a PowerPoint presentation, saving it for a looped playback is a breeze.

You can loop a PowerPoint in two different ways depending on playback method – as a PowerPoint or as a video file.

Here’s how you do it.

Navigation / 18 May 2020

5 Reasons to Avoid the Desktop Hamburger Menu Icon

A hamburger icon as the only source of navigation on a desktop website sucks. It’s frustrating, confusing, and violates unwritten rules of navigation and user flow best practices. Why would you do it? Other than to maintain or establish a certain aesthetic, it’s hard to find an answer that makes any sense.

The often-debated hamburger icon can be a great complement to website navigation or even for small screens, but it shouldn’t be the only option for desktops. You are doing yourself – and the website design – a huge disservice if this is your only menu option.

Take note of the different desktop menu styles throughout this post. Some of the best uses of the hamburger icon come with other menu items.

Reviews / 14 May 2020

Get Free SSL Protection With ZeroSSL

Until now, there haven’t been many options when it comes to free security certificates for your website. ZeroSSL offers completely free SSL certificates that are easy to use thanks to an intuitive user interface and API.

Here, we’re going to take a look at this viable alternative to Let’s Encrypt and how you can make ZeroSSL your website security solution.

This is a tool you can use and trust. And you won’t be alone. Companies such as Slack, Uber, and Shopify use ZeroSSL.

Procreate Brushes / 13 May 2020

Procreate for Windows and Android: Alternatives & Ideas

Procreate is one of the hottest drawing apps in the App Store. With more than 13,000 reviews and an average 4.5-star rating, it’s no wonder that designers and illustrators everywhere are talking about the app.

We have more information about Procreate and how to make the most of it here.

But one of the most common questions about the tool is what alternatives exist for Windows and Android users since Procreate is only available for iOS at this time. Let’s take a look.

Mockup Templates / 11 May 2020

How to Make a Mockup (Using a Mockup Generator or Photoshop)

Mockups are a design tool that show off a design – logos, websites, products, and more – in a realistic way. There are plenty of tools out there to help you create a usable mockup to show off your work.

The primary benefit of using a mockup is that it can bring a project to life (even before it is finished) for clients or serve as a portfolio showpiece to highlight different applications of a specific design.

Here, we’re going to look at how to make a mockup and how to use tools such as mockup generators to create just the right scene for your designs.

Reviews / 6 May 2020

Designing for Print Is Easy With Print Peppermint

Printing can make – or break – a design that you’ve put a lot of effort into.

Print Peppermint is a quality printer that allows you to choose from a variety of paper types, premium finishes, and luxury styles.

Here’s a look at the printing service, and a few tips for how you can use it for projects.