Joshua Johnson

CSS / 27 May 2010

Create an Awesome 3D Slideshow With Cu3er: Part 1

Today we’re going to build a simple web page with an amazing and free tool: Cu3er.

Cu3er is a really neat 3D image slider with crazy visual transitions and lots of customization options. Though it’s built with Flash and JavaScript, you don’t really need to know either of these to use it.

In this article, we’ll get the page built and the slideshow up and running. Next time we’ll return and see how to customize some of Cu3er’s many features and variables.

Graphics / 25 May 2010

5 Fantastic Notebooks and Sketchbooks for Designers

This article will briefly examine 5 physical notebooks that are perfectly suited for a number of designer workflows.

Before we get started, let’s take a brief look at some reasons you should be using a notebook as an integral part of your design process.

Graphics / 22 May 2010

Funny Business and the Lack of Humor in Web Design

In a recent post on things that web designers can learn from print designers, I pointed out that professional web design seems awkwardly void of comedy while other forms of marketing seem to embrace it. I decided to explore this area further and make it into full-fledged post.

So today we’re going to look at the world of funny marketing and why you should add it to your arsenal of design tools.

CSS / 20 May 2010

How to Use the New Google Font API

Today we’re going to learn about what the new Google Font is and how to implement it right away in your designs.

It’s free to use and can be installed in under a minute once you get the hang of it!

CSS / 18 May 2010

Best Resources for Learning WordPress Development

Odds are, if you’re a web developer, learning WordPress is either on your todo list or something that you’ve already committed yourself to. Learning to build WordPress themes is an excellent professional move that will open you to a wealth of new clients and personal opportunities.

To follow up our article last week on tutorials for learning web design, below is a list of books and free tutorials specifically targeted at learning to develop for WordPress. Whether you’ve never heard of WordPress or are just looking to update your current WordPress skill set, there are plenty of resources below to get you on your way.

CSS / 13 May 2010

Create Seamless Web Background Textures in Minutes

Ever wondered how some web designers come up with such great background textures? It’s actually way easier than you might think. It only takes a few minutes and a single Photoshop filter that you’ve probably never used.

Intrigued? Read on to see the step by step instructions for creating tileable textures out of almost any image.

CSS / 11 May 2010

30 Free Video Tutorials for Learning Web Design

Getting started in web design can be quite difficult. For readers, there are tons of great free tutorials online. However, some people find visual instruction to be more effective for their learning style.

Instructional videos are an incredibly rich learning tool and could be just what you need to finally learn web development properly. We’ve compiled a list of over 30 excellent screencasts for beginners across a number of web technologies and disciplines.

HTML / 5 May 2010

Entering the Era of Device Testing

This article will discuss the history and future of the web and what implications that has for how device testing will begin to play a larger role in the obligations of web designers.

As the presence of web enabled devices increases the key question that will arise relates to not only whether or not your design will function on a given device, but also (and perhaps more importantly) how high the quality of the experience will be on that device.

CSS / 30 Apr 2010

30 Gorgeous and Versatile CSS Menus

Sometimes the navigation menu can be one of trickiest parts of the design process. This single area can set the tone for the usability of the entire site.

Today we’ll look at 30 inspiring examples of good menu design. Though many are pure CSS, others add in some images and/or JavaScript to increase the aesthetic and functionality.

Business / 24 Apr 2010

Earning Extra Income Selling Stock Art

As a designer, you’ve probably used stock art quite a few times and can therefore attest to its usefulness. But have you ever considered jumping from the consumer side to the supplier side?

Today we’ll briefly go over everything you need to know to start making real money as a stock provider.

Graphics / 17 Apr 2010

How to Use Visual Hierarchy in Web Design

Sometimes you look at a site that may be attractive enough, but something is missing. It has great colors, nice graphics, perfect alignment and clever copy, but there’s just something a bit bland about it. Though everything looks nice, nothing is really coming through vividly on a greater level than anything else. This solution to this problem is visual hierarchy.

Designers are often intuitive enough to give the elements on the page a clear hierarchy without even thinking, other times the lack of intention in this area leads to a design like the one described above. This article will examine some of the basic principles of designing with a visual hierarchy of information in mind.

Graphics / 13 Apr 2010

How to Avoid Sticking in a Design Rut

Design ruts are the commercial artist’s equivalent of writer’s block. Sometimes you just seem to reach the end of your creative rope and can’t imagine thinking of any more good ideas.

Fortunately, all hope is not lost in these situations as there is plenty that you can do to both prevent and/or recover from a design rut. Today we’ll look at some different ways your creativity could potentially become stagnant and what to do in response.