Articles - Page 103

Freelancing / 10 Jan 2022

10 Biggest Worries of Freelance Designers (And How to Prepare!)

Whether you are new to the gig economy or have been doing it for a while, there are some common worries that almost all freelance designers share. While knowing you aren’t alone isn’t enough to alleviate all those fears, it can help to know many of your fears are common.

As someone who has done freelance work for the better part of 15 years, I can attest that some of these worries never go completely away. They do ebb and flow over time and you do learn to deal with them more effectively.

Here’s that list of worries with a little practical advice to help you manage common freelance concerns.

Mockup Templates / 10 Jan 2022

25+ Best Billboard Mockups

If you’re currently designing a billboard or a banner design, then you should also prepare for how to present it to your client. Because the way you’re going to showcase your design will influence the final decision of your clients. It’s one part of the project that you should invest in, without holding back.

Luckily, you don’t have to spend days trying to find a way to showcase your billboard design. You can simply use a pre-designed billboard mockup template to get that job done.

To help you find the perfect mockup for your project, we handpicked a few mockups that are perfect for showcasing billboard designs. Check them out and start downloading — some are free, and some are part of an Envato Elements subscription. Our tips for billboard design should help get you off to a great start!

UX Design / 6 Jan 2022

10 Tips for a Better CX (Customer Experience) Journey

The customer experience, or CX, journey can be one of the most important elements of an online store. It dictates how people interact with the site in the path to making a purchase, and even if they make a purchase at all.

The more technical definition of CX is all the cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioral responses that a consumer has in the buying process from pre-purchase to the sale to the post-purchase process.

Let’s look at ways that you can improve the customer experience journey in website projects.

Trends / 5 Jan 2022

Design Trend: Happy, Optimistic Designs

The last few years have been rough for almost everyone. No matter where you live or what you do, most everyone in the world has felt the stress and pressure resulting from a worldwide health pandemic.

To combat these feelings of misery and malignancy, designers are using happy, optimistic design elements to help create more engaging websites. It’s just the emotional boost we all need when browsing, shopping, or simply looking for information.

Here’s a look at helpful design elements to use with this trend in mind with some examples for inspiration.

Business / 27 Dec 2021

How to Design Social Proof (Without Social Media)

Recommendations from friends and family can be one of the most reliable sources of information when you are looking to try something, make a purchase, or enroll in a new service. Whether you are doing it subconsciously because of your peer group or you are seeking out information, what people around you do can influence decision-making.

It’s also true online. An element of social proof can help turn a website browser into a lead conversion or buyer.

But you have to design it. Here’s a guide that will help you navigate different ways to design social proof.

Mockup Templates / 25 Dec 2021

25+ Cool T-Shirt Designs for Printing Custom T-Shirts

Designing and wearing your own custom-made T-shirts is all the rage these days. It’s a way to stand out from the crowd as well as to show off your personality.

Due to the popularity of the trend, it’s now so easy to print your own T-shirts. There are many platforms you can use to upload a design to print custom T-shirts. All you need is to come up with a cool design. To help you get started, we handpicked a collection of cool custom T-shirt designs.

These T-shirt designs are easy to use. Just download and upload the design to a T-shirt printing service and you’re all set. You can also customize the designs as well. You can edit the text to add your own name or your favorite quote into the design.

Whether you’re a designer working on a T-shirt design for a brand or printing a T-shirt for yourself, these custom T-shirt designs will make the process so much easier. Have a look.

Inspiration / 23 Dec 2021

22 Places to Find Design Inspiration When You Are Stuck

In need of a little design pick-me-up? There’s creative inspiration all around. You just have to stop, take a minute, and absorb it!

The best places to find design inspiration might not be just the usual suspects, including design blogs like this one.

Use this list to get those creative juices flowing again. We’re exploring ideas from popular inspiration websites, all the way through to a neighborhood walk or a museum.

Digital, physical, and everything in-between!

Software / 20 Dec 2021

7 Best Free Wireframing Apps for Beginners

Wireframing is an essential part of every UI/ UX designer’s job. Every time you design a new app or website, you need the right tool for effectively outlining the page structure, layout, user flow, and other factors.

While professional wireframing tools cost organizations hundreds of dollars a month, there are also plenty of budget-friendly or entirely free apps that solo designers, small teams, and beginners can use.

These free tools are also perfect for aspiring UI/UX designers to build hands-on wireframing skills through bootcamps like Springboard’s UI/UX Design Bootcamp.

To help you pick the right wireframing tool, we’ve listed 7 excellent free wireframing applications. Most of these have solid free plans and have the option for added functionality via paid subscriptions. Let’s get into it.

Navigation / 20 Dec 2021

8 Tips for Better Hyperlink Text

Better hyperlinks will create more useful user experiences. It starts with the words you use in the button or linked copy. (And “click here” is not the answer!)

If you want to generate more—and better—conversions from links, it’s important to focus on writing better microcopy for every link on your website.

These tips, which apply to hyperlinks throughout the design (not button microcopy) can help you think through the process.

Join us as we explore pitfalls to avoid, tips for punctuation, and the types of visual indicators that work well for links.

Graphics / 17 Dec 2021

10 T-Shirt Design Tips (For Shirts People Will Wear)

Designing a t-shirt that people will actually wear can be a design challenge of epic proportions. Let’s take a look at some tips for creating a t-shirt that won’t just get left in a drawer!

You have to create something that people connect with and want to wear. You have to deal with issues such as color and sizing (which aren’t really a concern for many other design projects). And even the style of apparel or brand can impact someone’s desire to wear your design.

Today, we’re breaking it all down with tips for creating a shirt design that people will want to wear (and maybe even buy in your e-commerce store!)

Graphics / 13 Dec 2021

10 Tips for Designing a YouTube Video Title Slide

The right YouTube thumbnail image can help draw people into your video and encourage views. But designing these title slides can get cumbersome over time.

You want to design a thumbnail that renders well at any size and is something that looks consistent but different, so that users recognize your content but also know that videos are new or different.

Here, we’ll look at 10 tips for designing a great YouTube/video thumbnail or title slide with some downloadable templates to help you get started!

Trends / 9 Dec 2021

10+ Tips for a Trendy and User-Friendly One-Page Website

Sometimes a one-page website is all you need.

From simple landing pages to coming soon design projects, there are plenty of reasons why you need to have a good grasp of how to create a stellar one-page design. While the idea of one page might not seem intimidating, it can be a tough thing to do.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you design a user-friendly one-page website.

The first example features the full one-page design, but you’ll have to click through for the rest!