Articles - Page 170

Layouts / 28 May 2015

Visual Composer: A Drag-and-Drop WordPress Page Builder

WordPress powers a large percentage of the web, and it’s a famously easy-to-use content management system. But creating immersive, in-depth pages and layouts can be a tricky process.

Visual Composer is a plugin that lets you take full control over your WordPress site, and build any layout you can imagine. It’s all based around adrag and drop page builder interface, doesn’t require any programming knowledge, and is really simple to get started using. Today we’re going to be taking a look at how it works, and sharing a few examples of how it’s powering some lovely WordPress designs!

Graphics / 27 May 2015

10 Reasons Why the Best Design Is Invisible

Good design is not something the average user look at and says “wow, that’s a great design!” Good design is something that is easy to use, read and interact with. It makes users want to engage and experience your website, app or physical material and evokes a specific emotional response.

As a designer you may spend days, weeks or months working on a project that does not look like anything especially spectacular to those outside the design community, and that is probably a good thing. Good design is pretty much invisible.

Competitions / 26 May 2015

Win an Apple Thunderbolt Display With Design Shack Deals

The 27-inch Thunderbolt Display supersizes your view with an incredible 2560-by-1440 resolution. It features a universal MagSafe connector that charges your notebook, a Mini DisplayPort cable for easy connectivity, three USB ports, and lots more!

This week, we’re giving one of these brand new displays away to one lucky winner through Design Shack Deals. But don’t wait, because the competition ends in just over 24 hours. Read on to find out how to enter!

Inspiration / 26 May 2015

10 Tips for Becoming a Better Designer

I don’t think there’s a single designer out there that thinks he or she can’t get any better. This is not the day when you are as good as you will ever be. Design and designers are constantly changing, growing and evolving. Some of it is technology, some of it is trendy; but all change happens by choice.

If you want to be a better designer, you have to do something about it. Whether that’s learning something new, trying a different type of project, or thinking about feedback and criticism. So let’s start getting better together, today!

Business / 18 May 2015

10 Mistakes Every Designer Makes… and How to Avoid Them

We all have them – design projects we’d like to take back. Some of them you can attribute to a bad design brief or youth; others you just want to hide forever. The good news is that you can often avoid design mistakes; the bad news is that every designer will fall in at least one of these traps at some point in his or her career.

But part of the key to avoiding designer mishaps is knowing what they are, so you can be aware if you feel yourself slipping into one of these bad habits.

Inspiration / 14 May 2015

20 Design Quotes… and What They Can Inspire

Some days are just about inspiration. This is going to be one of those days. There are so many good ideas and thoughts and design practices out there that deserve to be shared.

So we have put together a roundup of 20 quotes that pertain to design or the creative process or the business itself as a conversation starter. This collection is from all over the world, from a wide range of sources and across various eras. Here are 20 great thoughts about design… and what they can inspire in each of us.

Layouts / 12 May 2015

The (Sometimes Hidden) Meaning of Shapes

The shapes of objects in your design may be sending a message to users that you aren’t even aware of. Whether you put an image inside a square or circle or triangle can have an impact on what people think about that image.

Sometimes a shape is more than just a group of connected lines. The use of shapes can be obvious or subtle and appear within images or as elements in a design. Here, we will look at common shapes used in design projects and the signals they may convey.

Business / 11 May 2015

Code Free Web Design With Webydo

Web design can sometimes be frustrating for those who are not fluent in HTML or JavaScript or other programming languages. This is especially true of responsive web design. Webydo is here to help.

The website building platform offers designers (and pretty much everyone) the opportunity to create a responsive website with a great design without knowing the first line of code. Without any technical knowledge, just about anyone can publish a website backed by a full content management system.

Software / 6 May 2015

Get to Know Hiveage and Make Invoicing Easier

Work. Bill. Grow. That’s the motto for Hiveage, an online billing and invoicing tool for freelancers and small businesses.

The tool can make life easier with a well-designed interface that’s easy to use and manage – especially for those who don’t have a lot of time to focus on billing. It’s a platform that can help you handle all your business basics in one place. Today we’re taking a look at how it works, and what you can expect from the app.

Tumblr Themes / 5 May 2015

How to Make a Budget Wedding Website With Tumblr

Having a wedding website or blog is all the rage, and it can be a great way to keep your friends and family up-to-date with your wedding planning for the special day.

There are lots of services out there to help, but many are quite expensive or complicated. Today we’re taking a look at how you can build your own wedding website in a few simple steps, using the Wedding Tumblr theme.

You’ll have a wedding website to be proud of, in no time at all (here’s an example). All for the price of a couple of wedding magazines!

UX Design / 4 May 2015

How to Design Content for User Experiences

Content is a major part of the user experience. Content is more than search engine optimization; it’s more than blogging. It is part of your site, brand identity and why users interact with your design.

Every day it becomes even more important to design for content as part of the overall function and user experience in website and app design. But how can you do it? (We can help you with some case studies and examples, such as The Hen House, which uses a variety of design and user engagement techniques to keep you scrolling.)

Inspiration / 1 May 2015

Stay Up-to-Date With Webdesigner News

There are plenty of ways to stay across what’s happening in the design industry. Twitter, Facebook, your collection of RSS feeds, and a growing collection of newsletters and news aggregation sites.

Today we’re taking a look at the new Webdesigner News, to see how it fares, and explore how it can be a useful place to stay up-to-date with the latest news, announcements, releases, and sensations in the web design industry.