Carrie Cousins

Trends / 7 Aug 2023

What Happened to Readability? the New Age of Funky Designs

Sometimes a website design trend comes around that just makes you want to pull your hair out. This is one of those trends – beautiful and funky designs with practically unreadable text. (Why would you put text there if you can’t be expected to read it?)

Now that may be a bit of an exaggeration because in most instances you can figure out what the text is supposed to say. But it’s not easy. And the user has to think. Will people stick around to figure out the design?

Let’s take a look at a few different examples of ways designs are “forgetting” about readability.

Trends / 31 Jul 2023

Design Trend: Zig-Zag Patterns and Alignments (Where Is the Grid?)

Smaller images, animation, and plenty of wild patterns are what you’ll find in this website design trend that’s popping up all over the place.

Without a clear thing to call it, you’ll know this trend when you see it thanks to zig-zag patterns and alignments for photos and the seeming lack of a grid.

Here, we’ll dive into this design trend and look at some ways you can use it and examples that really showcase how nice these designs can look.

PowerPoint Templates / 26 Jul 2023

How to Create an Org Chart in PowerPoint (Quickly and Easily!)

An organisation chart (org chart), is a useful tool that your business can use to display the company structure. It’s usually shown in the form of a flow diagram, and the chart helps to show the relationships between different departments and employees.

Creating an organizational chart is quick and easy if you have the right tools. And guess what? You don’t need a specific graphic design tool to do this. Microsoft PowerPoint, a software you likely already have, can do the job just fine.

Here, we’re going to walk through some ideas for putting together a stunning org chart in PowerPoint to help you jumpstart projects. Plus, all the examples are from Envato Elements, so you can download templates for even quicker work!

Business Card Templates / 25 Jul 2023

Choosing the Best Font for Business Cards: 10 Tips & Examples

One of the smallest things that can be the most difficult to design is a business card. Due to its small size and a need to include a lot of information, choosing the best font for your business cards is important. It has to set the right tone for you (and your business) and maintain a high level of readability.

While there are a lot of amazing fonts out there, not all of them are super easy to read and understand at small sizes. Most printers recommend that the font on a business card not drop below 8 points (that’s pretty small), so a highly readable option for anything this size is vital.

Here, we’ll look at 10 of the best fonts for business cards and ways you can make the most of these typefaces. Plus, we have a few examples of business card designs that are sure to inspire you.

Trends / 24 Jul 2023

The Bento-Style Rounded Corner Trend: Explored & Explained

Softer, rounded corners are one of the biggest trends in website design right now. This bento style is visually pleasing, easy to accomplish, and takes some of the sharpness out of your design.

There are also plenty of different ways to use this trend so that your projects have a distinct look and feel.

Here, we’ll explore the bento-style rounded corner design trend and all the ways you can make it work for you. Plus, there are plenty of examples for design inspiration.

PowerPoint Templates / 21 Jul 2023

How to Wrap Text in PowerPoint

Most PowerPoint presentations contain a mix of elements that includes text and images. Typically, you don’t want these elements to overlap, because it can make things in the presentation difficult to read.

That’s where using a text wrap can come in. text wrapping creates an invisible border around and image so that text seems to “bounce” off of it, not moving into that space.

When it comes to using PowerPoint and creating text wraps, there’s a catch. You can’t actually do it with one click, as many other tools do. But it can be done.

Here’s our full guide on how to wrap text in PowerPoint!

PowerPoint Templates / 20 Jul 2023

How to Convert PowerPoint to Google Slides

It’s surprisingly easy to switch between presentation tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. Both tools have different pros and cons that mostly come down to user preference.

Maybe you’ve started a presentation in PowerPoint, and you want to finish it in Google Slides? Or maybe you just want to compare the two and decide which is the best platform to deliver your presentation?

We’ve got you covered — here’s a quick guide on how to convert PowerPoint to Google Slides in a few simple steps.

Google Slides Themes / 19 Jul 2023

How to Add Music & Audio to Google Slides

Spice up presentations in Google Slides by adding audio or music files to your deck. Audio can be an engaging way to connect with the audience and keep them interested in the information on the screen.

The biggest consideration when it comes to using music or audio files for a presentation is to make sure you have permission to use sound files. You can create your own, buy licensed sound, or find audio with an open, creative commons license.

That’s not what we’re going to focus on here. This guide is to help you, step-by-step, add music or audio files to Google Slides.

Brochure Templates / 18 Jul 2023

10 Tips for Perfect Brochure Design

Designing a brochure can be a rewarding project. There’s nothing like creating something that you can hold, touch, and read. Plus, the design is more than just an arrangement of parts—it includes texture and feel in a way that digital projects can’t convey.

Designing the perfect brochure can be intimidating. In addition to all the design considerations you normally think about, there are some things that are specific to printed projects.

Today we’re taking a look at ten useful tips for improving your next brochure design!

Inspiration / 17 Jul 2023

30 Beautifully Designed Ghost Themes

Are you ready to jump into the world of web design with Ghost? This simple and powerful platform is designed for bloggers (and other websites) that are looking to create using a simple platform and structure.

The framework could be roughly compared to something such as WordPress, because of the number of options and amount of flexibility available with this system. And Ghost is gaining popularity. Publishers such as Square, Envato, NASA and Bitcoin are using it to power their websites.

Today, we’ll round up 30 great themes (including free and paid options) for Ghost so you can get started in no time. And these are more than just themes that work great; we focused on themes that are beautifully designed.

How to Design a Logo / 11 Jul 2023

30 Eye-Catching Logo Color Schemes

Color can have a significant impact on logos. It can communicate meaning and help users identify your company or brand. And just like other design trends, what styles and colors are used in logos tend to change over time.

The trend now is toward more streamlined logos without much color (often single color) or the exact opposite – rainbow-style color palettes for brand marks.

Here’s a look at 30 logo color schemes that are sure to catch your attention.

PowerPoint Templates / 7 Jul 2023

How to Change Slide Size in PowerPoint

While most users are accustomed to the standard 16:9 aspect ratio of presentations, you can change the size of slides in PowerPoint.

You might change to accommodate a different screen size – maybe the older 4:3 aspect ratio – or to create a custom file type. The tool even includes a few predefined sizes to make it easy for you.

You’ll ideally want the size of your presentation to match whatever device it will be shown on (which is why it’s worth asking about the resolution of the screen or projector you’ll be using in advance!)

Here’s how to change slide size in PowerPoint in a few quick steps.