Carrie is the chief writer at Design Shack, with years of experience in web and graphic design. Sports fanatic. Information junkie. Designer. True-believer in karma.
Vintage textures and palettes are in. They are popping up in a variety of uses from large-scale design projects to small details in a logo or background texture. This dated-style technique has really made a comeback.
Today, we will look at how you can create and establish a great palette for a vintage-style design from color to type to texture choices.
A somewhat bold prediction: 2014 will go down as the year of parallax. Before you downplay this reemerging trend, think about it. With developments in HTML, CSS and jQuery, and more people running on high-speed internet connections it is not a stretch to think this nifty technique will really explode this year.
Parallax scrolling effects are fun, user friendly and allow for new types of creative thought in the website design process. The end result is a technique that can be fun to create and can create a highly visual and interactive experience for users.
We’re feeling the design love this week in honor of Valentine’s Day. So the roundup includes a few things to crush on, including an opportunity to write a love poem to the web and a few card designs for your sweetheart.
Every week, we plan to a look at major product releases and upgrades, tools and tricks and even some of the most popular things you are talking about on social media. And we’d love to hear what’s going on in your world as well. Have we missed anything? Drop me a line at [email protected].
Without a doubt, the most beautiful character in the English language is the ampersand. The single character comes in so many fashions – from the simple & to the casual E- to t-style representations.
But where did this character come from? What does it mean? And most importantly how can you take advantage of using it in your design projects? Here we will take a look at my favorite character from its history to uses and a gallery of great ampersands to inspire you.
Nothing tends to create more buzz than a popular website undergoing a redesign or design tweak. And that’s just what happened with Twitter earlier this week as the major news in the world of design. So much so that Twitter is still dominating many design conversations around the globe.
Every week, we plan to a look at major product releases and upgrades, tools and tricks and even some of the most popular things you are talking about on social media. And we’d love to hear what’s going on in your world as well. Have we missed anything? Drop me a line at [email protected].
We talk a lot about emerging trends and how to make them work in a variety of design projects. But there are some design techniques that I am, quite frankly, sick of seeing. They are overused, overdone and just not effective anymore. (And if you use them, you risk having a design that looks like a lot of other stuff out there.)
Today, we’re going to take a look at 10 design trends that have outlasted their time. Do yourself a favor and really think about removing each of these tricks from your 2014 projects.
This week the talk in the design world has hopped around from everything to a new logo-making tool, to the announcement of this year’s Smashing Conference, to the breakup of a pair of typography icons. And we even found a few great design deals to share as well.
Every week, we plan to a look at major product releases and upgrades, tools and tricks and even some of the most popular things you are talking about on social media. And we’d love to hear what’s going on in your world as well. Have we missed anything? Drop me a line at [email protected].
Not that long ago we entertained a discussion about design plagiarism here on Design Shack, but what does it mean if your work is stolen? How do you even know if your work is protected? And moreover, what can you do about it?
That’s where the protection of copyrights and trademarks come in. But what are they? And how do they apply to your designed work? Let’s take a look.
Today, we are starting a new feature at Design Shack and plan to bring you a roundup of everything new, cool and fun in the creative sphere each week. We’ll take a look at major product releases and upgrades, tools and tricks and even some of the most popular things you are talking about on social media.
And we’d love to hear what’s going on in your world as well. Have we missed anything? Drop me a line at [email protected].
The first part of any project, print or digital, should start on paper. Sketching can be an integral part of any design process — even if you can’t draw.
But who needs to sketch? Just artists and illustrators are required to put pen to paper, right? Wrong! Today we’ll take a look at why sketching can be an integral part of everyone’s design and brainstorming process.
User experience – notably poor user experience – has been a hot topic in recent months with the much-publicized launch of HealthCare.gov and its subsequent issues. User experience is a part of the design process that you don’t hear about unless something goes wrong. But it is something that should be an integral part of the design process, from early concepts to the final product.
So with this renewed – and very public – discussion about user experience, why does it matter to designers?
Unless you have been hiding from the design community for the last few weeks, you know that Pantone released its annual color of the year: Radiant Orchid.
The reviews are mixed. But there really are a lot of ways to incorporate this color into design projects if you want to be on-trend, and enjoy the challenge of crafting a design around a specific color!