Carrie Cousins

Reviews / 9 May 2016

Optimizer WordPress Theme: Designed to Make Website Building Easy

Need a new website? Chances are if you have not redesigned in a while that you probably need a visual – and user experience – refresh. A website based on a WordPress platform is a good place to start.

An even better place to start is with the Optimizer WordPress theme. The theme is made so that even if you don’t feel comfortable coding, you can build a great website. It is light enough to work for one-page sites and includes enough robust features for almost any full-scale website design project. Today, we’re going to take a look at Optimizer and how you might be able to use it for your projects.

Reviews / 4 May 2016

Speed Up Your Design Feedback Workflow With CuePin

One thing that every design team needs is a better way to collaborate and comment on a project in a central forum. Collaboration helps move a project forward and allows everyone on the design team to contribute, even if they can’t make a meeting or are located in a remote location.

CuePin is a tool that helps foster this collaboration with an easy way for designers, freelancers and project managers to work together and provide feedback on a variety of different design projects in a centralized hub. Here’s a look at CuePin, how it works, and how you can make the most of this feedback and collaboration tool.

Inspiration / 4 May 2016

19 Newly Released Examples of Beautiful Pre-Built Websites

Today we’re featuring a collection of beautiful Be Theme pre-built websites, designed to make your website building efforts much easier. Not only that; the things you will be able to accomplish with them can’t help but make you look good, and make your clients exceedingly happy.

These pre-built websites aren’t simply a collection of attractive, professionally-designed images. Examine one or two of them in depth, and you’ll discover a wealth of useful features, plus each one is completely customisable.

While you can use a pre-built website for any online enterprise you might have in mind, those shown here are primarily intended for creating small business websites or blogs. You will also see how easy they are to install, and how you can build your website down to the finest level of detail, one-click at a time, without any need for coding.

Freelancing / 2 May 2016

How to Live Life as a Hustling Freelancer (And Get S#%! Done!)

I came across this tweet not too long ago and couldn’t stop thinking about how much I hustle every day. The post was a simple image and outlined “good hustle” versus “bad hustle.” And it got me thinking… am I hustling all wrong?

We all know that freelancing could be described as the life of a hustler. There’s always so much to do, and so many things going all the time. But how can you hustle the right way and just get s#%! done? Today, I am expanding on the outline presented by Meg Robichaud to help explain better ways to manage it all.

Inspiration / 26 Apr 2016

7 Best Restaurant WordPress Themes

Whether you’re running a restaurant, cafe, bar, or bistro, your customers are going to expect you to have a fantastic website. They’ll want to take a look at a few photos of your restaurant, read the menu, make a booking, and see what other people think of it!

Don’t worry — we’re here to help. We’ve done the leg-work and gathered together some of our favourite WordPress themes for building a website for a restaurant. They’re all packed with the features you need to get started quickly, and they take advantage of the power of WordPress to build upon a professional platform.

Trends / 25 Apr 2016

Design Trend: Square-Stacked Typography

Everywhere you look these days, it seems like someone else is using stacked typography. Particularly square stacked typography. It’s a common design trend that we’re seeing more and more.

The trend is hard to ignore, and is worth replicating because this aesthetic is charming and impactful. There are plenty of ways to combine words and lines of lettering to create a design that is attention-grabbing. Today, we’ll look at exactly how to make the most out of the square stacked typography trend with examples from the Design Shack gallery. Read on for some great examples, and helpful tips!

Reviews / 20 Apr 2016

Looking for the Perfect Restaurant WordPress Theme? Try ROSA

When it comes to showcasing your business online, the right tools can make all the difference. The ROSA WordPress theme is the perfect solution for restaurants, bars, bakeries or coffee shops with all the tools you need to create a deliciously designed website.

Today we’re going to take a good look at the ROSA theme for WordPress, and delve into how you can use an industry-specific theme to create a great website that meets your business needs in no time. We’ll have a peek at the design, functionality, what’s included, and consider how it’s a useful solution for anyone looking to create a quick website for the restaurant or cafe.

UX Design / 19 Apr 2016

How to Create a UI That Users Can Trust

What does trust have to do with web design? Quite simply, everything. In a world where people hear about digital security breaches almost daily, designing and creating a user interface that users can trust is imperative.

Establishing this trust will help create a solid foundation between you and the user, it can contribute to sales and product loyalty, it establishes a sense of quality and success and sets the stage for a long-term and valuable user relationship. So how do you do it? Today, we have ten things you can do to create a UI that users can trust (with trustworthy examples, of course).

Reviews / 13 Apr 2016

How to Create a Website With Simbla

With so many different website builders out there, it can be tough to find the right one. Simbla helps you create a professional, responsive website without any code. (It’s a win-win.)

That’s what makes a website building tool so great. They can help you save time, create a website that functions without a lot of backend know-how and get your site off the ground quickly and easily. Today, we’re going to look at how to create a website with Simbla – one of these website builders – and how you can make it work for you.

UX Design / 11 Apr 2016

5 Tips for Designing Personalization

Are you delighted when your favorite online shop makes a wonderful suggestion for an item you didn’t know about? How about when your cart is stored even if you log off for a while?

If so, you are just like many other users that like and have come to expect personalized web experiences. Personalization extends to all of our devices – from those virtual shopping carts, to voice activated calling on a mobile phone, to a game that knows exactly where you left off. But how do you design something so particularly individual? Let’s take a look.

Typography / 6 Apr 2016

What Does That Say? How Typefaces Add Meaning to the Design

Can something as simple as a typeface change the meaning of words and an entire design. Of course! A typeface can add a new level of emphasis or meaning to your message.

It can help you connect with users, establish brand, and set the tone for your entire project. The wrong typeface can leave a design feeling flat, disjointed or even give users the wrong impression about your brand. Now let’s take that knowledge and add a little practical application. (And look at a few examples of beautiful typography from the Design Shack gallery.)

Accessibility / 30 Mar 2016

Designing for the Web: Are There Colors You Should Avoid?

The web is a rainbow of color options. Color is a great tool for grabbing the attention of users, providing visual interest and impact and creating contrast for readability. Color is also at the center of many design trends, including flat and material styles.

But can you go wrong with color? Are there hues or combinations that you should shy away from? In a word … yes! Today we’re looking at colors or color combinations that you should avoid when designing websites and apps. (And on the chance that you’ve already made one of these mistakes, we offer alternative suggestions as well.)