Inspiring advice, tips, and suggestions for improving your graphic design skills, logo design, working with templates, and more.
The next big web design image trend is here, and it’s vibrant, colourful, and beautiful!
Thanks to Spotify, duotone is growing in popularity almost daily. The effect, which uses a pair of colors over a photo is striking, fun and vibrant. It’s also quite trendy, with new sites changing to a duotone format almost daily. Here are a few ways to make the most of this hot design technique.
Have you noticed how small logos seem to be increasingly popular on websites? For a while, it seemed the focus in design was to “make it bigger.” That has shifted — in terms of logo size and placement anyway.
The biggest trend in website design right now is the use of the tiny corner logo. We’re going to break down the trend and look at a few great examples. Maybe you’ll find the inspiration to shrink the logo in your next project. Or maybe you’ll decide to keep it big and bold!
We may live in a world where many of our design and communication interactions happen via a screen, but information from screens is jumping into the live realm more and more often.
While it might almost sound like something out of a science fiction movie, you will create design elements that live in the space between screens and reality in this lifetime. It’s already starting to happen. Experiential design is the force that will shape how those projects come together and how you create and develop dynamic real-life design elements.
The best designs never really go out of style. These classics are often rooted deep in design theory and have that certain something that helps them withstand the test of time. You know some of them – brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola have logos, colors and overall design personalities that have stood for decades.
Thankfully, that timeless concept is something you can apply to almost any project. You might not have the same visual recognition as the Swoosh, but you can create an aesthetic that can work for you for years to come. Here’s how to do it.
Be honest. Have you ever created something that was just bad? Now, have you ever designed something bad on purpose? It’s a strange concept, but one that we’re going to be exploring more today.
Sometimes designing something bad can actually yield a positive result. Not sure about that idea? Read on and you just might change your mind. (Then think about each example of a “bad design” and how you could fix it.)
One of the techniques shunned by designers at the beginning of the flat design era is making a comeback. Almost overnight, it seems that gradients are popping up in website designs everywhere.
From backgrounds to image overlays to subtle textures on user interface elements, the two-color effect is back in a big way. It’s also a little different this time around. Here’s what you need to know before using gradients again (and plenty of examples to spark your creativity).
Consistency will make your design better, easier to use, and practically invisible. It gives the user plenty of room to experience the design in the way you intend.
Designing for consistency is a no-brainer in some cases and a little trickier to understand in others. Quite simply, consistency is the thread that ties together elements in a single design. It also ties together designs across a single campaign or brand, creating a product that is distinguishable, usable and effective. Take special note of all the examples below, each brand is a leader when it comes to consistent and usable design.
Whimsy: capricious humor or disposition; extravagant, fanciful, or excessively playful expression. Adding a touch of whimsy to a project is an easy, and fun, way to lighten up the mood of the design.
From small elements to a full-scale whimsical design, these touches can draw in users because of their simple charm. Whimsy is most often associated with more feminine projects and common for designs that focus on children, but that’s not always the case. Many of the trendier retro styles that have been growing in popularity also incorporate a distinct sense of whimsy. Here are a few ideas to help you incorporate whimsy into your projects.
Just when you thought you had flat design figured out, everyone has shifted to talking about Flat 2.0. If you never took the leap into designing a flat project, now is the time.
Flat 2.0 is easier to use because it combines the best of flat design with additional user interface cues to help you create website design that’s beautiful and functional. It’s also highly adaptable and works with almost any concept. Unlike some of the purest flat designed websites, Flat 2.0 combines elements of flat with subtle additions to enhance user-friendliness. Let’s take a look at a few examples!
You’ve probably heard the saying “everything old is new again.” The same can be said about design and design trends. While the medium might change, many of the old styles can come back into fashion.
One example of this is modern retro design. Today, we’re going to take a look at what modern retro is all about and how you can make this most of it in your design projects. What’s really nice about modern retro is that it works across mediums. While we are seeing a lot of it in website design right now, modern retro adds a fun touch to print projects from business cards to poster design to party invitations.
If you haven’t already taken note, the web is going high def. From images to backgrounds to user interface elements, high definition is the new normal.
It started with some of the retina and high-resolution screens, but access to faster connections has also emphasized this phenomenon, providing greater access to HD websites from any device. Are you thinking about and designing in high definition? Here are a few things to consider.
One. Two. Three. Now stop counting and think about how elements grouped in threes can work for your projects. It’s an interesting concept but one that crosses multiple disciplines.
In public speaking, three points in sequence are crafted to drive home a point. In photography and art, the rule of thirds helps you visualize the canvas differently. Even the American Declaration of Independence is rooted in three rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How can you think more about groupings of three and implement this magic number into your projects? We have a few suggestions.