Articles - Page 129

Browse hundreds of articles, tips, and inspiring design collections. Find helpful design advice, or the perfect resource for your next project.

Zarget: Analytics for Designers – Settle Design Debates With Data

Reviews / 1 Mar 2017

Zarget: Analytics for Designers – Settle Design Debates With Data

Do you ever wonder if you are getting the most out of your website design? While asking peers about the design is great, there is a more data-driven, scientific way to evaluate website conversions.

Zarget is all-in-one conversion rate optimization software. It offers a suite of analytics tools that help observe, track and drive visitor behavior on websites to optimize conversions. Tools include A/B testing, heatmaps, funnel analysis, form analytics, polls and feedback. Here, we’ll take a look at Zarget, it’s features and how you can use the tools to more successfully evaluate and shape your website design into something that users can’t help but interact with.

Attention Spans Are Short: Here’s How to Hook Users

Accessibility / 27 Feb 2017

Attention Spans Are Short: Here’s How to Hook Users

A goldfish has a longer attention span than you do. Let that sink in for a moment. Now, what are you going to do about it?

As a designer, it is your job to create something that people will stop and interact with. It takes a design and user experience that will hook visitors and keep them clicking and tapping. Combat short attention spans with smart design.

How to Customize a Resume or CV Template

CV & Resume Templates / 22 Feb 2017

How to Customize a Resume or CV Template

You only get one chance to make a first impression. When you apply for a job, that first impression is often in the form of a resume or CV. The document is a potential employer’s glimpse into your career, and can determine whether you become a viable candidate or not!

That’s a lot of pressure for a single document. It’s important that you have a resume that stands out and shows some of your best assets at a glance.

Here, we’ll walk through some resume-building best practices as well as how to customise a resume or CV template in no time.

Tips for Using Contrast to Enhance Readability

Typography / 15 Feb 2017

Tips for Using Contrast to Enhance Readability

Good design is readable design. Without a clear message, displayed in an easy-to-digest way, it’s easy to lose the meaning of any piece of design work. That’s why it’s so crucial that any design must be easy to read.

Designing for readability is a lesson in typography, but also in contrast. Contrast is the key to enhancing readability, and helping create a flow through the text in a logical manner so that users understand exactly what you want to say.

Designing an Infographic? 5 Elements You Must Include

Graphics / 8 Feb 2017

Designing an Infographic? 5 Elements You Must Include

Designing an infographic is just like designing a website. It starts with a concept, goals and even a wireframe.

The big difference is that all the information for an infographic is contained in one unit, whereas a website has multiple pages and ways to engage users. You can almost think of an infographic as a flat, or static, mini-website. You can also design a one-page website as an infographic!

Here are five essential elements to help you make the most of your next infographic design.

How to Design One-Tap Microinteractions

Mobile / 6 Feb 2017

How to Design One-Tap Microinteractions

Microinteractions are the “secret sauce” that make apps and websites shine for users. These tiny details make it easy to set an alarm, press a button or simply better understand how to work with a digital product.

The secret is that the best microinteractions are elements that the user probably doesn’t even think about. They happen in an instant – often with just one tap on a mobile screen. Despite the small nature of the interaction, hence “micro,” the value is immense to users as these engagements become more integrated with daily activity.

How do you design one-tap microinteractions that will delight users? Here are a few ideas.

7 Common UX Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Content

UX Design / 1 Feb 2017

7 Common UX Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Content

A successful project is a combination of good design, killer content and a little bit of luck. Too often a design is derailed by simple UX mistakes that ruin the content and muddle the intended actions of the interface.

Users can easily lose track of why they are there, and what they are supposed to do. Thankfully, many of these design mistakes are easy to identify and correct. (As a bonus, the examples in this post are doing things right; use them as a guide!)

What Are Design Ethics? (And Why Are They Important?)

Business / 30 Jan 2017

What Are Design Ethics? (And Why Are They Important?)

Are you an ethical designer? Is that something you even think about when taking on projects? Design ethics come in many forms – from how you choose projects, to how you work with clients, to copyrights and legal protection.

These written and unwritten codes help shape the way graphic design professionals interact, communicate and do business. It’s something you probably do need to think about, because you know and understand the bigger rules. But any time you stop and ask “should I do this or that?” design ethics are part of the conversation.

11 Handy Resources to Help Build a Website in 2017

Graphics / 25 Jan 2017

11 Handy Resources to Help Build a Website in 2017

Ready to finally tackle that website project you’ve been putting off? This is the year to get that site designed and published! Whether it’s a simple blog or something more complex, all you need to get started are a few great tools.

Here, we’ve rounded up a selection of new, innovative resources to help you get inspired, design and prototype, along with a few elements that will help you better work in WordPress – the most popular publishing platform. What are you waiting for? This is the day you start building a website in 2017!

50+ Best Lightroom Presets of 2017

Lightroom Presets / 24 Jan 2017

50+ Best Lightroom Presets of 2017

It’s time to think about upgrading those old Lightroom presets you’ve been using for the past year with a new, more powerful collection! This selection of presets can enhance your photos in ways that you’ve never considered before.

We’ve lined up some of the best and the latest Lightroom presets on the web, all packed with functionality to create stunning effects. Add these to your photo editing workflow, and you’ll add a whole new level of professional look-and-feel to your images!

Flex Your Design Muscles With These 10 Creative Exercises

Business / 23 Jan 2017

Flex Your Design Muscles With These 10 Creative Exercises

Are you already over all those New Year’s resolutions? Now that we are a little further into the year, it’s time to pause and refresh in a way that will last longer than a fad diet or 30-day gym membership. You need to flex your creative muscles.

You might be surprised at the value of simple design workouts. They can help you forget problems you are actually working on (maybe helping you solve those design dilemmas), and even learn something new.

It only takes a few minutes a week to work through an exercise or two, and really stretch those creative muscles. Pick an exercise from our collection below – each one includes just three steps — and make a date to get in design shape!

7 Rules for Creating a Simple Design

Graphics / 18 Jan 2017

7 Rules for Creating a Simple Design

Keep it simple, stupid. This concept dates to 1960 when the U.S. Navy implemented the KISS principle, which maintains that most systems work best if they are simple, rather than complicated. The same is true of pretty much any design project as well.

Most graphic designers learn about KISS early in their careers. So how can you do it? Creating a simple design is a little more complicated than you might think. Here are seven rules to design by, that help you cut away all the clutter and create a beautifully simple account.