Articles - Page 181 | Design Shack

Inspiration / 26 Feb 2014

What Makes a Great Search Interface?

A search box is one of the essential pieces that is included in almost every website design. While sometimes the creation of this small element turns into an afterthought, there is no reason why the search box should not be designed as beautifully as the rest of a website.

The design of a search box should mirror that of the rest of the site, be functional and easy to use and be placed in a location that is obvious to users. Today, we are going to take a look at some great search boxes and a few tools to help you through your own design.

JavaScript / 25 Feb 2014

Creating Instagram-Style Photo Filters With jQuery

I’ve always been intrigued by the Instagram phenomenon and how quickly it rose to popularity. Photo filters are nothing new but dynamic use of these filters has not always been possible. Building the functionality into an iOS/Android application requires a lot of time. Thankfully developers have worked to replicate this process for the web using JavaScript.

In this tutorial I want to demonstrate how to build a simple Instagram-style filter webapp using jQuery. The library is called CamanJS which is easily extendable to create your own filter plugins. This doesn’t require jQuery but I’ve chosen to use it for a simpler development environment. Take a look at my live sample demo to understand the goal of this tutorial.

Software / 24 Feb 2014

5 Online Portfolio Services & Tools Compared

Whether you are designing for print, packaging or online, almost everyone wants a portfolio site that is easy to manage and maintain while providing a good visual experience. With so many different portfolio tools and services out there, though, how do you choose what works best?

Today, we are taking a look at five nice online portfolio tools. We’ll weigh the pros and cons and pricing for each in hopes that it will help you choose the right tool to display your work.

This Week in Design / 21 Feb 2014

This Week in Design: Feb. 21, 2014

PayPal has moved to video, jumping on something that we will likely see as a big web design trend this year. Because of this design update, creativity is on my mind as well as the overarching theme this week.

Every week, we plan to a look at major product releases and upgrades, tools and tricks and even some of the most popular things you are talking about on social media. And we’d love to hear what’s going on in your world as well. Have we missed anything? Drop me a line at [email protected].

Inspiration / 19 Feb 2014

Making Vintage Design Work for You

Vintage textures and palettes are in. They are popping up in a variety of uses from large-scale design projects to small details in a logo or background texture. This dated-style technique has really made a comeback.

Today, we will look at how you can create and establish a great palette for a vintage-style design from color to type to texture choices.

Design Dilemma / 18 Feb 2014

Design Dilemma: How Do I Become a Designer?

I get several messages with questions on how to become a designer every month from varied social media sources, as well as through the Design Dilemma email link (listed at the bottom of this article). That’s it. No details or background. They just want to have me write an email instructing them how to become web designers.

It’s not really an easy answer… and some people get really upset when I won’t engage them in long email explanations of the steps they can take. The simple answer of “enroll in art school” doesn’t seem to be the acceptable answer. I gather that through their curt salutations…

Layouts / 17 Feb 2014

2014 Will Be Year of Parallax

A somewhat bold prediction: 2014 will go down as the year of parallax. Before you downplay this reemerging trend, think about it. With developments in HTML, CSS and jQuery, and more people running on high-speed internet connections it is not a stretch to think this nifty technique will really explode this year.

Parallax scrolling effects are fun, user friendly and allow for new types of creative thought in the website design process. The end result is a technique that can be fun to create and can create a highly visual and interactive experience for users.

This Week in Design / 14 Feb 2014

This Week in Design: Feb. 14, 2014

We’re feeling the design love this week in honor of Valentine’s Day. So the roundup includes a few things to crush on, including an opportunity to write a love poem to the web and a few card designs for your sweetheart.

Every week, we plan to a look at major product releases and upgrades, tools and tricks and even some of the most popular things you are talking about on social media. And we’d love to hear what’s going on in your world as well. Have we missed anything? Drop me a line at [email protected].

CSS / 12 Feb 2014

Building HTML5 and CSS3 Anchor Link Tooltips

There are many tutorials online discussing the idea of CSS-based tooltips. Yet many examples require HTML elements along with the anchor link. Visitors can get a basic tooltip message by using the default title attribute. I’d like to follow this method and update the process just a little bit.

In this tutorial I want to demonstrate how to build CSS3 tooltips which are contextually based on an HTML5 attribute. Using different classes we can incorporate unique color schemes along with CSS3 transition effects. This technique doesn’t require any extra HTML unless you attach the tooltips onto a different element (like a text field). Let’s get started!

Design Dilemma / 11 Feb 2014

Design Dilemma: Are You Confused About Your Career Options?

The design industry has many levels of involvement. Some think you can be a designer, an art director or a creative director and that’s it, but there are so many more positions that make design part of business. Some people are not cut out for actual designing but are brilliant in certain support roles that are just as important as being a hands-on designer, and just as satisfying at the end of the work day.

A message from a confused designer begs the question of where he fits into the scheme of things in the design industry. Perhaps this will answer his quandary. So join us as we delve into another Design Dilemma, helping to answer your questions, queries and concerns about the murky world of design…

Typography / 10 Feb 2014

Why I Love Ampersands & You Should Too

Without a doubt, the most beautiful character in the English language is the ampersand. The single character comes in so many fashions – from the simple & to the casual E- to t-style representations.

But where did this character come from? What does it mean? And most importantly how can you take advantage of using it in your design projects? Here we will take a look at my favorite character from its history to uses and a gallery of great ampersands to inspire you.

This Week in Design / 7 Feb 2014

This Week in Design: Feb. 7, 2014

Nothing tends to create more buzz than a popular website undergoing a redesign or design tweak. And that’s just what happened with Twitter earlier this week as the major news in the world of design. So much so that Twitter is still dominating many design conversations around the globe.

Every week, we plan to a look at major product releases and upgrades, tools and tricks and even some of the most popular things you are talking about on social media. And we’d love to hear what’s going on in your world as well. Have we missed anything? Drop me a line at [email protected].