Articles - Page 130

Inspiration / 28 Mar 2018

6 Unique Notebooks for Designers

Some of the best ideas start with a pencil and paper. That’s why it’s a good idea to always have a sketchpad or notebook nearby to record those ideas when inspiration strikes.

How you use those concepts and sketches can determine what kind of notebook is best for you. (I actually have several go-to notebook styles – one for my desk and a small one that’s always with me in my bag.)

Here, we’re showcasing six unique notebooks for designers that can help you capture ideas and even facilitate projects.

Bootstrap / 22 Mar 2018

20+ Awesome Resources for Bootstrap Lovers

Bootstrap has simply exploded in the web development community. There will always be skeptics and haters but on the whole, the project has been a smashing success and can constantly be seen at the top of the Forked and Watched charts at GitHub.

As a result of Bootstrap’s fame, lots of great related resources have been put forth by the development community. Today we’ve collected our favorites into a list of everything you need to get started with Bootstrap. From introductory tutorials to wireframing kits and custom generators, there’s something here for every Bootstrap lover.

Layouts / 21 Mar 2018

10 Web Design Commandments for Every Project

Do you have a rulebook when it comes to website design? There are some rules that apply to pretty much every web design project—let’s call them the “web design commandments”.

No matter how large or small the website, these rules are the foundation for good design. If you follow along with these basic guidelines, and make them part of your thinking for every project you start, you’ll avoid many of the pitfalls that designers can stumble into!

Layouts / 15 Mar 2018

10 Tips for Designing Landing Pages That Don’t Suck

A landing page is the first experience your customer (or potential customer) will have with your brand. It has to convey information, encourage a call-to-action, and reflect your personality. It’s difficult! Today we’re sharing ten landing page design tips to help.

If you just stick your logo and product image on a template, it’ll be obvious. The page won’t provide the experience or information your customer expected when getting there. Whether it is hard to navigate, difficult to read, or a mess of visuals, designing a landing page that doesn’t suck takes planning and precision. Let’s take a look at ten tips on how to do it better.

Software / 12 Mar 2018

10 Best Safari Extensions for Web Designers & Developers

Apple’s Safari web browser is beloved by many Apple and Mac enthusiasts. It’s a solid alternative to Chrome (and often does a great job on the privacy and security front). There are some great Safari extensions that can help designers increase their productivity, and create a better browsing experience.

You can find all of these extensions in Apple’s extensions gallery, but we’ve curated some of our favorites below. Whether you’re wanting to improve your typeface recognition, understand what’s powering a website behind the scenes, or better check your grammar—we’ve got you covered!

Typography / 5 Mar 2018

Serif, Sans, Script & Slab: 4 Font Types Explained

Always wanted to know the difference between serif, sans, script, and slab fonts? Look no further. Take your typography game to the next level, and quit guessing if certain typefaces or font pairs work together. Back your logic with a little design theory!

Having a better knowledge of fonts and typography can make explaining your choices to clients easier (always a bonus), and will give you more confidence when selecting font pairs. Here’s a primer (or refresher) on four common font types and how to use them in your design projects.

Business / 28 Feb 2018

6 Finance Apps for Your Freelance Business

A great set of financial apps and tools can make it easier to manage your freelance business. From tracking receipts and invoices for clients, to making sure you’re ready for tax season and have all your expenses accounted for. There are plenty of great apps to help you manage your freelance business.

Characteristics of great finance apps are that they are secure, cloud-based, include automation tools to help you work more efficiently, are affordable, come with financial accounting and reporting that you can understand and customer support when you need it. All of the apps on this list fit the bill.

CSS / 26 Feb 2018

13 Best Ways to Learn CSS Grid

CSS Grid an increasingly popular method for creating complex responsive web design layouts that render more consistently across browsers. Now is the time to familiarize yourself with CSS Grid, so we’ve collected 13 of the best ways to get started learning today.

Rather than old-school methods such as tables or the box model, CSS Grid allows you to create more asymmetrical layouts and more standardized code that is cross-browser compatible. Most major website browsers already support CSS Grid and it is a W3C Candidate Recommendation, which would formalize it as a standard practice. It’s widely believed that CSS Grid will be the future of website layouts.

Mobile / 21 Feb 2018

5 Fun Augmented Reality Apps for Design Inspiration

Augmented reality is a growing trend in application design and development. Apple has invested in the technology with recent updates (ARKit), and plans to include even more AR features. So how do you start planning to design for augmented reality?

It starts with playing with apps already on the market to see how they work. What do you like (or dislike)? Here are five AR apps to help jumpstart your design inspiration and hopefully get you thinking about this next generation technology. (And how to make it look great and function well.)

Typography / 14 Feb 2018

How to Design Readable Content for the Web

Designing content is more than just making something look great. You have to create a design that people will actually read, and help them engage with the content. Sometimes, that’s easier said than done.

People generally have short attention spans, and you shouldn’t expect them to digest every word on the screen. But you can use certain design techniques and elements to help users read as much as possible.

Business / 12 Feb 2018

20 DIY Projects to Improve Your Freelance Office

A creative workspace is good for your creativity. That’s why companies such as Apple and Google have open and innovative workspaces. While you probably don’t have that kind of budget, there are some great DIY projects you can take on to improve your freelance or home office!

So grab your hammer, paint and creative thinking to make your workspace somewhere you’ll want to spend most of the day. Some of these projects take a few minutes, some a few hours, or some a few weeks or months. But it’s a great starting point for some creative thinking!

Inspiration / 7 Feb 2018

The 3 Cs of User Interfaces: Color, Contrast, and Content

There’s an old business model that many business strategists live by—the 3 Cs. It’s a reminder to focus on the company, customers and competitors. Many small businesses and websites also use this model. But for designers, the three Cs are a little different.

When creating user interfaces, you should focus on color, contrast, and content. These three elements are the foundation of good design. But each is a little more complex than it might seem from the surface. Here’s how to think about–and incorporate–the three Cs of user interfaces into your design projects.