Carrie Cousins

Background Textures / 22 Aug 2022

Risograph Style Backgrounds: An Organic Design Trend

High-color, print-style backgrounds are making an impact in what is known as the “Risograph style”. Packed with charming imperfections, bold colour overlays, and hints of duotone style, it’s a winning style to experiment with.

Typically associated with printing, this design technique is making its way into digital projects as well, most commonly as a background element.

Here, we’ll look at the Risograph style for backgrounds, how to use this design trend to your advantage, and a selection of templates that can help you get started quickly.

Trends / 18 Aug 2022

Kinetic Typography: An Eye Catching Font Trend

When you combine typography and animation, you get kinetic type. This website design trend is showing up practically everywhere as designers add motion to text elements to create more engaging headlines and art elements.

It’s an engaging way to take typography to the next level, bringing it alive on-screen.

Here, we’ll take a look at the kinetic typography design trend, what it is, and how to make it work for you. Plus, examples and a few downloadable to help you get started.

Trends / 11 Aug 2022

Color Overload: 10 Tips for Creating Color-Packed Designs

A high-color design can be a difficult thing to create without the final design feeling overwhelming. But designers are taking this chance and experimenting with a bit of color overload to create stunning projects that don’t overwhelm users.

Here, we’ll look at 10 different examples with 10 tips to help you navigate this color trend as you complete a website or other design project.

Leave the muted color palette behind, and dive into a world of vivid color!

Business Templates / 10 Aug 2022

How to Make a Booklet in Word (With an Easy Template)

Learning how to make a booklet in Word is a valuable design skill. Even if you are used to working in something like InDesign, it’s likely a client or colleague may ask for a Microsoft Word-based booklet. It’s easy with a quick template that you can download, replace content, and use.

Here, we’ll take you through everything you need to know to create a booklet from a professional template for Word, from thinking about content to preparing the file for printing.

We’re going to use a template from Envato Elements (where there are loads of great options!), but you could use any booklet template for Word that you’ve tracked down online.

Reviews / 9 Aug 2022

Designing an Online Course or Presentation? Try iSpring Suite

Have you ever thought of designing an online course or presentation to share with others? What made you stop?

If it was not having the knowledge or tools to design an engaging and informational course or presentation, iSpring is the solution. The suite of tools is as simple as using PowerPoint, and you have everything you need to create a course or presentation at your fingertips.

Here, we’re going to look at iSpring and what you can do with it so you can determine if it is right for your projects.

Flyer Templates / 1 Aug 2022

How to Make a Flyer in Word (Using a Quick Template)

Everyone has to make a flyer at some point. It’s easy in Microsoft Word with a quick template that you can download, replace content, and use. You’re probably already familiar with MS Word, so why not use that as a jumping off point for a simple flyer project?

Here, we’ll take you through everything you need to know to create a flyer from a professional template, from thinking about content to preparing the file for printing.

We’re going to use a template from Envato Elements (where there are loads of great options!), but you could use any flyer template for Word that you’ve tracked down online.

Graphics / 29 Jul 2022

Border Design: 8 Tips & Modern Examples

Graphic designers have been using borders for as long as they have been designing things. And they’re a fun element to play with. We’re taking a look at eight border design concepts (most of them you can actually download as project starters), along with tips for usage and some examples that you can try in projects.

Sometimes a great border can help separate your design for other elements, such as around the perimeter of an ad. Other times, a border can serve as an element to help break up different parts of a design, or frame messaging or content.

While borders are most frequently thought about in terms of print design, they can be a valuable digital design tool as well. A good border defines a space so that users know where a design begins and ends. (Pretty simple, right?)

Reviews / 28 Jul 2022

Lookup and Validate Phone Numbers With Numlookupapi

numlookupapi is a tool that can help you automate the phone number validation process for your website or app. It can validate any phone number, returning carrier and location information, and is already trusted and used by more than 15,000 companies worldwide.

It’s an easy-to-use and free basic worldwide phone number lookup API, with pricing tiers for high-volume users. Whether you’re exploring a small use-case for a personal project, or a huge enterprise project that requires thousands of requests an hour, there’s an option for you.

Here’s a look at numlookupapi and how it could work for you.

PowerPoint Templates / 26 Jul 2022

How to Make a Timeline in PowerPoint

If you are showing information in chronological information, you might need to know how to make a timeline in PowerPoint to communicate most effectively.

A timeline is primarily used to show information that follows a chronology for a list of events. These milestones can be visualized better in a timeline format, and chronologies can be forward or reversed.

There are a couple of ways to accomplish this. We’ll walk through the uses for PowerPoint timelines, the types of timelines you might use, and how to make them. Let’s get started!

Note: All of the timeline examples here are from Envato Elements and are available to download and use.

Business / 21 Jul 2022

9 Best Ways to Grow a Small Business

Take your small business to the next level and start growing now.

There are plenty of things you can do to develop your small business, and here we’ll look at some of the digital growth tools you have to help propel your business forward.

From mobile apps to branding and blogs, some of these tips can give you inspiration to explore areas for growth that you might not previously have considered.

UX Design / 11 Jul 2022

5 Tips to Avoid Deceptive Patterns in Website Design

There’s nothing worse than something that auto-renews unexpectedly. Or finding yourself stuck in a website pattern that just doesn’t do what you want to expect.

These are deceptive patterns – user experience tricks and methods that force users into something unintended. It can include visual elements, interactivity, audio, motion, hidden sales, and more. And although commonly used, they are a bad idea.

Here’s how to avoid using deceptive patterns in website design, and some tips on better approaches to take!

Trends / 7 Jul 2022

Design Trend: Design With Whimsy

Light, happy, and whimsical design elements are just the trend we need in the world right now.

These projects bring a more joyous touch to all types of projects in various industries with common themes that are just a little more quirky than you might expect.

They don’t have to feel childish or tacky – they can bring a personality to your projects that’s often all too lacking in modern design.

Here’s a look at this website design trend with a little inspiration for incorporating it into your projects.