Articles - Page 213

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

Graphics / 8 Feb 2010

25 Beautifully Designed Web Agency Sites

Getting noticed in an industry as competitive and overcrowded as web design is no mean feat. In order to stand out, first impressions need to be both targeted and executed to perfection.

To provide an insight into how it should be done, we’ve compiled a list of 25 of the most beautifully designed web agency sites. These amazing sites all have that “wow factor”, displaying cutting edge design alongside marketing savoir-faire. They are conscious of their target clientele, whether it’s large corporations or personal clients, presenting an understanding of their needs.

Business / 6 Feb 2010

Creating a Well Designed Invoice: Step-by-Step

Boring paperwork is one of the necessary evils of being a freelance designer.

There’s simply no way around it, if you want to track and manage payments from clients, you’re going to have to setup an invoicing system. It’s not all bad news though; the fun part is that you actually get to design a custom invoice.

Today we’ll walk through designing an invoice from scratch. I’ll be as in-depth as possible and include everything you need to know from the absolute basics to advanced features and even a little design theory.

Reviews / 5 Feb 2010

A Smashing Review of the Smashing Book

When Smashing Magazine first announced the release of their book, I have to confess that I was slightly sceptical. I enjoy their blog regularly, but didn’t really see how the concept would carry across to a book – or what topics it would cover.

I’ve spent a few hours reading through my review copy over the past week, and have been pleasantly surprised. Sven and Vitaly have managed to bring several talented writers on board to help put together a thoroughly interesting read.

This review will walk you through the book’s contents, and outline a few of the chapters I particularly enjoyed!

Graphics / 4 Feb 2010

15 Design Tips to Learn From Apple

There is no shortage of companies that follow popular design trends to appeal to a mass market. Much more rare is the breed of company that actually sets design trends. Today we’ll examine the techniques of a company that occupies the top of the design food chain: Apple.

Below you’ll find 15 practical ways to follow Apple’s example in creating beautiful interfaces.

Inspiration / 2 Feb 2010

20+ Examples of Fantastic Fixed-Position Navigation

A site with fixed-position navigation is one that never allows the user to lose site of the directory links as they scroll.

This simple trick makes for a site that is incredibly easy to navigate and is ideally suited for specific types of content. Below we’ll take a look at both the most common and the most unique uses of fixed navigation in web design.

Business / 31 Jan 2010

How to Make Money as a Freelance Designer

So you want to be a freelancer, now what?

Despite the glamorous reputation, freelance design is no walk in the park. It takes an incredible work ethic, significant entrepreneurial prowess, and a little bit of insanity to pull it off effectively. This article will discuss how to effectively make a living as a freelancer (designer or otherwise). Since we are in fact a design blog, I’ll scatter in some well-designed freelancer sites along the way for inspiration.

Interviews / 28 Jan 2010

In Depth With Adii: The Growth of a Rockstar

Today we’re starting a new series of interviews, in which we’ll have an in-depth and fascinating conversion with various industry leading figures. We’re kicking things off with Adii Rockstar, a WordPress guru and the man behind WooThemes.

We’ll be discussing Adii’s early days as a designer, the rise and growth of WooThemes, a standard working day, his favourite hardware and software, and a number of new projects he’s beginning to get involved with this year.

Business / 25 Jan 2010

20+ Outstanding Mac Apps for Designers

Like every good designer, I’m a complete Mac addict.

Ok, that’s probably going to get me into trouble, not every good designer uses a Mac. But honestly, you should. The strong emphasis on beautiful design in Mac apps is hard to overlook and is in fact a necessity for anything that makes its way into my applications folder.

There is a never ending sea of amazing Mac applications available online. Here’s a list 20, undoubtedly incredible apps that will make your life as a designer a lot easier. When possible, I’ve included both high quality professional apps as well as their free alternatives.

Competitions / 23 Jan 2010

Winner Announced: Win a Copy of Designing With Web Standards (3rd Edition)

Congratulations to our randomly selected winner, Benjamin Alijagić. We hope you enjoy the book and want to thank everyone who entered. We’ll have another competition coming soon!

Today we’re bringing you the chance to win a copy of the fantastic Designing with Web Standards (3rd Edition) by Jeffery Zeldman. It’s a brilliant book for better understanding the importance of web standards, written by a real industry leader.

Read on for more information, and to find out how to enter.

Business / 21 Jan 2010

20 Gorgeous Examples of E-Commerce Done Right

E-commerce sites are notoriously busy and overcrowded.

Today we’ll be examining a ton of online stores that break this trend by being both functional and attractive. Each of the examples below has a unique lesson to teach us about good e-commerce design. Let’s get started!