Carrie Cousins

Mockup Templates / 13 Jun 2018

5 Reasons to Use a Responsive Mockup Template

If you aren’t using responsive mockup templates to showcase your website and app design projects, you’re missing out! A mockup template provides a realistic or stylized shell to highlight a design, and choosing a responsive template can beautifully show your design’s versatility.

Most designers use a mockup template to place a website design into a computer screen, tablet, or phone to give clients or other stakeholders a preview of what a finished project will look like. The result is polished and easy for users to understand.

If you haven’t ventured into the world of using one of these tools yet, here are five reasons to use a responsive mockup template. All with some great examples to show you exactly how they work.

Trends / 11 Jun 2018

Design Trend: Sliced Text & Typography

Purists say that you should never alter typography. Lettering should appear as intended by the type designer, or you should select a different font altogether. While this is mostly true, the exception is in the sliced text trend.

The nifty effect makes type elements look like they’ve been cut with a precision tool and can add visual interest to logotypes, headlines and simple text blocks. Sliced text effects can vary from super subtle (such as a small bit of a letter that’s missing) to major parts of words missing altogether.

The thing to keep in mind when using sliced text is that words must always be readable – what point is there otherwise? – and you should pay close attention so that unintended letter combinations or words don’t appear due to slicing. Here’s a look at how to make it work for you with some examples of designs that do it well.

Wedding Design / 4 Jun 2018

Wedding Monogram Logo Ideas, Tips & Advice

A classic wedding monogram is a design element that almost any couple can incorporate into their wedding design and stationery. From use in invitations and mailings to a shared post-nuptial monogram, creating a classy wedding logo or monogram element can be a great touch.

Here are a few tips to help you make your own wedding logo or monogram including templates, ideas, and graphics to help you get started fast.

UX Design / 30 May 2018

10 Tips for Writing Great Microcopy

The tiniest bits of text on your website can have the biggest impact. Microcopy includes all of the instructions, labels, navigation, tooltips, error messages and call-to-action language that helps users actually use a design.

Microcopy can aid navigation, and be the final element a user reads before clicking a button. (It’s easy to understand why these words are so important.)

Microcopy is often neglected though, in the website design process. Often “click here” is just slapped on a button and it’s done. But well-thought-out microcopy can make your website better. Great microcopy can even help boost retention and conversion rates among users—and that’s something every website owner can appreciate.

So how do you do it? Here are ten tips for getting started down the road to writing great microcopy.

Trends / 23 May 2018

What Is Holistic Web Design?

Google “holistic web design” and you’ll see a lot of results that encompass health and wellness. But that’s not really what designers and developers usually mean when they mention holistic web design.

In the most simple of explanations – we’ll dig deeper after this – holistic web design is a process of thinking about all the parts of a project, and understanding and accounting for how they connect. Great content will fall apart if the visuals are poor. And equally, the best-looking website in the world doesn’t do anything if it isn’t highly usable. These are the issues that holistic web design solves before they even become problems.

Here’s how it works (and can work for you), with examples from the Design Shack Gallery.

Business / 14 May 2018

5 Signs You Need to Fire Your Client (And How to Do It)

Nothing can make your life miserable like a bad client. From scope-creep to those that never pay on time, sometimes you just have to let a client go. It’s a tough decision and you don’t want to burn any bridges, but often it’s best to dissolve the relationship and move on.

When do you know it is time? Today, we’ll look at five situations when it’s time to fire a client with some ideas on how to do it tactfully.

Inspiration / 9 May 2018

Top 10 Podcasts for Designers and Creatives

Ready for a good listen? A great podcast can provide inspiration as well as a mental break while you work or relax. There’s no shortage of outstanding podcasts for designers and creatives, covering web design, creative life, and much more!

Today we’ve gathered a collection of great podcasts for designers and creatives, to give you a quick start with filling up your podcast player for the next commute!

Trends / 7 May 2018

Design Trend: Dark & Moody Designs

Good design can really get you in the mood. Today, we’ve got a collection of dark and moody website designs that will help inspire you to create a distinct atmosphere in your design work.

While most dark collections have a bit of a “downer” vibe, not all of these designs have that feel (although color has a lot to do with how you feel when you look at them). This showcase is more than a gallery, we hope it inspires you to create a dark, moody design of your own.

Typography / 30 Apr 2018

10 Tips for Using Text Effects That Don’t Suck

Adding effects to typography can be a source of heartache for designers. Clients demand a drop shadow or embossing, and you’re stuck with text effects that threaten to ruin a project. What you need is an arsenal of text effects that don’t suck so you can help the client pivot to something a little more classy.

The trick to all of these effects is using them with purpose. Good typography doesn’t need “help.” If a font isn’t working alone, it’s not going to work with a bunch of techniques added either. (You’ll only make something bad even worse.)

The best text effects are nearly invisible to non-designers. Or text effects are used to add meaning to typography or lettering. Here are a few tips for using text effects that don’t suck with some pretty cool examples.

Inspiration / 25 Apr 2018

10 Examples of Timeless Apple Design

When we set out to create a list of ten historic Apple products that feature timeless design, it seemed a little daunting. The reality is that it was anything but.

Apple has been at the forefront of design and product design innovation since the Apple I in 1976. (Yes, Apple really has been making computers for 40-plus years.) There are so many products and designs that continue to shape the way we think about creating things today. Wikipedia has a pretty impressive timeline that shows every release – good and bad.

Let’s take a look at ten of our favorite examples that stand the test of time!

Business / 18 Apr 2018

10 Tips for a Perfect Facebook Cover Image

Almost every business and individual – from personal pages to freelance business pages – uses Facebook. It’s likely an integral part of your marketing strategy. It might even be your main professional website.

So it is important that you make the most of this platform to ensure that your social media profile is polished and professional. A sloppy image, bad crop, or text that scales improperly can give the wrong first impression. Here are 10 tips for creating a perfect Facebook cover image that people will want to click.

PowerPoint Templates / 11 Apr 2018

7 Tips for Finding the Perfect PowerPoint Presentation Template

A great PowerPoint presentation template can wow audiences, and help you to build a slideshow quickly and easily. While you can create your own custom template, there’s a whole market of affordable PowerPoint templates that you can customize. But what should you be considering when deciding which one to choose?

PowerPoint templates are a great option for designers – or practically anyone – who wants to create a polished, professional-looking presentation that doesn’t take a lot of time to put together. Here’s what to look for to ensure that you are getting the perfect PowerPoint template for each specific presentation.