Articles - Page 126

Graphics / 11 Nov 2019

Favicon Examples, Best Practices and Techniques

Do you ever pay attention to those tiny icons at the tops of browser tabs? How about when you save a shortcut to a website or page online? Those tiny images, or favicons, are designed especially for that purpose.

There’s a pretty distinct difference between what makes for a good or bad tiny icon. You’d be forgiven for thinking that design decisions at the tiny scale matter less. But a poorly designed favicon can reflect badly on your brand.

Today we’re looking at what these icons are, basic design techniques for them, and the specs you’ll need to follow.

Reviews / 5 Nov 2019

Designers, Get Your Custom Domain at Hover

Looking for a way to make your design portfolio – or any other website, for that matter – stand out? A custom, top-level domain is the start.

Hover is a leading provider of domains and mailbox services for you or your small business.

You can snag a new domain or transfer an existing one to their platform.

Not sure how to get started? Here’s everything you need to know about Hover and the services and tools they provide for individuals and businesses.

Sketch Templates / 4 Nov 2019

Adobe XD vs. Sketch: Pros + Cons

Get a bunch of designers in one room and one of the biggest topics of conversation is tools. What are you using to create, mockup, and showcase your work?

Two of the most popular options for digital projects are Adobe XD and Sketch. While Sketch has been around for almost a decade, Adobe’s offering is newer to the market, but quickly gaining favor among designers.

Today, we’re going to look at both tools with a comparison of Adobe XD versus Sketch and the pros and cons of each.

Trends / 30 Oct 2019

What Is Modern UI Design? 10 Tips & Examples

Chances are that you might not be able to list the aesthetics of a modern user interface, but you sure know when you land on a website that doesn’t use one. It just feels dated.

Modern UI design helps establish credibility for your website or brand because it has a style that fits what most people to be a current visual aesthetic. This might include visual trends, adapting to usability standards and patterns, and using development techniques that are appropriate for today’s users.

Here, we’re going to look at elements that you’ll find in modern user interfaces. Hopefully, most of these examples seem pretty familiar, but if not, it might be time to plan a little web refresh.

Reviews / 28 Oct 2019

Serpstack: Search Result Data Made Easy

Collecting real-time and accurate search results just got a whole lot easier with the serpstack API. The lightning-fast JSON REST API pulls search data.

serpstack was built by parent company apilayer out of an in-house need to keep track of search engine positioning with ease. That grew into what is one of the most trusted SERP APIs on the market.

Here’s a look at the tool and how you can make it work for you?

Trends / 28 Oct 2019

The Art of Website UI Button Design: 10 Trends & Tips

Great button design is something that most website users never think about… because when it works well, it’s almost invisible. The best buttons are easy to click or tap, have an obvious function, and help users interact with the design without thinking.

It’s a fairly simple formula, but it can be hard to design if you leave it as an afterthought.

Today, we’re looking at trends in button design, plus a few tips to help you design a UI button that people click over and over again. Give your button design a boost with these tips, trends, and ideas to spark inspiration.

Business / 23 Oct 2019

Passive Income for Designers: 5 Tips to Get Started

Passive income is money that you keep earning on a product or service with little or no maintenance. While it takes some work to get started, a plan for generating passive income can be a great supplement to a designer’s revenue stream.

There are plenty of things you can do – create an e-book or t-shirt design; sell UI kits, themes, or design elements; develop an online course; join an affiliate program, or provide hosting services for website clients.

But how do you get started? Here are five tips to help you turn your passive income idea into a revenue-generating reality.

Flyer Templates / 16 Oct 2019

How to Make a Flyer for an Event (Using a Template)

Event flyers can be fun projects that give you a little more freedom with your design. Many events come with a design style of their own, providing ample opportunity to bend or break some of your brand rules.

The downside to event flyer design is that it often comes with tight turnarounds. So how do you make a flyer for an event quickly, that is designed well?

Start with a template. Here, we’ll take you through everything you need to know to create an event flyer from a template, from thinking about content to preparing the file for printing. We’re going to use a template from Envato Elements.

Software / 9 Oct 2019

25+ Best Google Chrome Extensions for Designers and Developers

Browser extensions can speed up design workflows, helping you do everything from identifying a font, to pulling a color swatch, to inspecting the code of an element. Google Chrome has edged out all other browsers with the top market share among users, on more than 58 percent of all computers.

And there are plenty of extensions out there to help you optimize the performance of Chrome in your design workflows.

We compiled an awesome collection of 25 extremely useful Google Chrome Extensions for designers and developers.

Reviews / 7 Oct 2019

Simplify Scraping Jobs With Scrapestack API

There are plenty of scenarios where you need to scrape and collect data from across the web. An API can take a lot of the work out of this chore for you so that you don’t have to handle it (with IP blocks, CAPTCHAs, and a huge amount of manual work on your own).

scrapestack is an API solution that can scrape webpages around the world in the blink of an eye, to power information on your website, database, research project, or product.

Here’s a look at how to use this tool and how to make it work for you.

Typography / 7 Oct 2019

8 Things to Stop Doing With Typography (Right Now!)

Good typography is an art that shouldn’t be messed with too much. Letterforms flow together to form words and phrases that are readable and have subtle visual meaning.

But if you aren’t careful, it’s easy to ruin typographic beauty in an instant.

If you have slipped into any of these design traps, this is the time to stop doing anything on this list to type and clean up your design pieces. (Your portfolio will thank you.)

Trends / 2 Oct 2019

10 Website Design Trends That Are Fading (Thankfully)

Website design trends can be a lot of fun to experiment with and incorporate into projects, but if you aren’t careful these elements can add a dated look to projects. Sometimes trends fade out as quickly as they rush in!

Here, we’re going to look at some website design trends that are fading. (And that’s a good thing.)

If you have these elements on your site, it might be time to consider a refresh.