Carrie Cousins

Lightroom Presets / 25 Aug 2020

15+ Best Lightroom Tutorials for Beginners + Pros

Adobe Lightroom is an industry-standard tool for photographers. It allows you to edit, organize, store, and share photos and works with other Adobe tools and cross-device. It isn’t that easy to get started with, and these Lightroom tutorials will give you an incredible boost.

Whether you are new to Lightroom or are looking to expand your skills, this roundup of tutorials has something for everyone.

The more beginner tutorials are at the top and progress slightly in difficulty as you move down through this post.

After Effects Templates / 24 Aug 2020

15+ Best Adobe After Effects Tutorials

Adobe After Effects can help you take motion graphics to the next level, but the tool isn’t always easy to use (especially if you are new to it). That’s where great tutorials come in.

From written instructions to video lessons, you can learn to do almost anything with the right set of instructions.

Here, we’ve scoured the internet for some of the best and more useful Adobe After Effects tutorials to help you make the most of the software for keying, tracking, compositing, and animation.

It’s a mix of video and written education, for beginners and pros alike!

Business / 20 Aug 2020

30 Tips to Learn Web Design in 30 Days

Is learning the basics of web design still on your “someday” list? Why haven’t you got started yet? We’ve put together 30 tips and resources to help you start learning web design this month (and maybe even find yourself a new career path!)

Graphic designers, print designers, and creatives looking to learn something new or break into website need to quit procrastinating. Every day that you don’t take that first step leaves you one day further behind everyone else!

Follow these steps to begin learning how to create your first website, industry best practices, and much more—all in 30 days!

UX Design / 18 Aug 2020

Is Your Design Inclusive? (And How to Make It More Inclusive)

Is your design for everyone? We talk a lot about creating with an audience in mind, but it’s important to understand that audience can identify in several ways.

Now more than ever before, it is important to create designs and visuals that are inclusive of that entire audience segment. An inclusive aesthetic will make users feel like they are part of the design and that a company, organization, or product is for them.

Inclusivity is more than just accessibility. It’s a combination of function and visual design that creates something that people identify with and want to be a part of.

It’s time to check yourself and your designs, put aside your biases and take a hard look at projects to ensure they are as all-encompassing as they can be. Let’s get started.

Business / 17 Aug 2020

What’s Your Design Diet? Music, Podcasts & Books to Keep You Inspired

Some days are harder than others when it comes to sparking creativity. I find that keeping a solid rotation of other art forms in my routine can keep those juices flowing a little better.

It’s all part of your design diet – music, podcasts, books, challenges, and other design goodies that keep you inspired to push forward, try new things and work at your full capacity.

Your design diet can change from time to time. For me, it ebbs and flows in what type of media and art I consume. From binging on podcasts, to listening to new musicians that help me find a groove, I rely a lot on others to share some of the best new things.

And that’s what this article is primed to do. I’m going to share some of my favorites with you and I’d love it if you shared some of yours with me on social media.

Photoshop Actions / 13 Aug 2020

How to Use & Install Photoshop Actions

If you aren’t taking advantage of Photoshop actions for editing and image effects, you’re missing out on one of Photoshop’s best features. Here, we’ll take you through how to use Photoshop Actions, and the best steps to install and apply them in seconds.

Photoshop actions can save you time when it comes to repeated tasks, and condense entire paths of editing into a single click. (While it might sound too good to be true, Photoshop actions are a very real thing.) We’ve previously hand-picked the best Photoshop actions out there, and today we’re explaining how to use them!

Business / 11 Aug 2020

Should You Design Your Brand Based on Digital Marketing Needs?

What comes first: branding or strategy? It’s an age-old question for designers and marketers and today extends to digital marketing as well. Should your brand design be based on digital marketing needs?

In today’s marketplace, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a brand that isn’t leveraging some type of digital marketing, including social media, to communicate with audiences.

Here’s why.

PowerPoint Templates / 10 Aug 2020

How to Design a Presentation for Screen Viewing

Given how the world is changing, you are probably presenting more commonly on screens in virtual conference or webinar settings. That can impact the design of presentations, and you’ll need to think about what to change to make it work well.

There are multiple considerations when designing PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides templates for screen viewing versus when you are presenting live.

Here, we’ll walk through key considerations to help you make the most of designing presentations for screen viewing.

Reviews / 6 Aug 2020

Get More Done With a Remote Team and Taskade

Almost every team is adjusting to remote work and better workflows. Taskade can provide that boost for your team, whether you work across the hall or halfway around the world.

The tool looks like a simple to-do app, so it’s easy to use. But the reality is that Taskade is powered by a tree-structured database that will help you manage workflows into action items. It’s made for collaboration and comes with all the robust features you need to manage day to day activity.

Here’s a look at Taskade and how you can make it work for your design team.

After Effects Templates / 6 Aug 2020

How to Use After Effects Templates

Adobe After Effects is a video-based tool that’s used to add elements to moving pictures and animations. Designers use it to create titles, intros, and transitions between video clips to enhance the production value of animations and video projects.

After Effects is one of those tools that’s packed with goodies, including templates that you can use to speed up project workflows. You can create your own templates or find and download them from other sources.

Here, we have a guide to using After Effects so you have everything you need to get started or better use the software.

Final Cut Pro Templates / 28 Jul 2020

15+ Best Final Cut Pro Tutorials for Beginners 2021

Goal: Edit videos, add effects, and create better productions with ease in Final Cut Pro. Solution: You need a stellar tutorial that walks you through all the steps in this increasingly popular video editing tool.

Thanks to great tutorials from pros, you’ll be able to capture just the right moment, with the right effect quickly.

We’ve rounded up some of the best Final Cut Pro tutorials out there for beginners to help you make the most of this software. Note that Final Cut Pro is a robust tool, but it is only available for the Mac.

Reviews / 22 Jul 2020

Userback: Get Immediate and Visual Feedback

We all know that collecting user feedback can make design projects better. But how many of us are actually using tools to gather and analyze that information to make better decisions?

If your stumbling block is finding the right tool, we have found it. Userback is a tool that helps you gather visual feedback for projects. You can see what users see when they look at a website with fast feedback and a robust set of tools to help you make smarter design choices.

The tool is designed to work with small projects all the way to multiple teams and clients, so it can grow with your business needs. And it works. Nothing beats real-time feedback for improving your website designs and user experiences. Let’s take a look at Userback and how it can work for you.