Search Results For: graphic 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.

Layouts / 22 Nov 2016

How to Design for Long-Form Content

Forget what you think about user attention spans. Long-form content can be a valuable part of your design strategy (and doesn’t have to be a boring block of ongoing text). Users love a good story and long-form content is a great way to create an immersive and engaging experience.

To keep users interested – and scrolling – you have to design interactions that are visually pleasing and create a consistent experience from the first glimpse to the final act. Here are a few ways to design long-form content that meets those goals with a few examples that are anything but boring.

Graphics / 16 May 2016

Design Trend: The Modern Retro Touch

You’ve probably heard the saying “everything old is new again.” The same can be said about design and design trends. While the medium might change, many of the old styles can come back into fashion.

One example of this is modern retro design. Today, we’re going to take a look at what modern retro is all about and how you can make this most of it in your design projects. What’s really nice about modern retro is that it works across mediums. While we are seeing a lot of it in website design right now, modern retro adds a fun touch to print projects from business cards to poster design to party invitations.

Typography / 25 Apr 2016

Design Trend: Square-Stacked Typography

Everywhere you look these days, it seems like someone else is using stacked typography. Particularly square stacked typography. It’s a common design trend that we’re seeing more and more.

The trend is hard to ignore, and is worth replicating because this aesthetic is charming and impactful. There are plenty of ways to combine words and lines of lettering to create a design that is attention-grabbing. Today, we’ll look at exactly how to make the most out of the square stacked typography trend with examples from the Design Shack gallery. Read on for some great examples, and helpful tips!

Graphics / 28 Mar 2016

Everything You Need to Know About HD Design

If you haven’t already taken note, the web is going high def. From images to backgrounds to user interface elements, high definition is the new normal.

It started with some of the retina and high-resolution screens, but access to faster connections has also emphasized this phenomenon, providing greater access to HD websites from any device. Are you thinking about and designing in high definition? Here are a few things to consider.

Freelancing / 1 Feb 2016

How to Critique Your Own Work as a Freelance Designer

Working alone can come with a lot of perks, but there are some things that always seem easier when you are in a more structured group environment. One of these things is gathering feedback for your work.

With practice, you can learn to step back and provide a pretty good critique of your own design projects. It will take a little practice to get comfortable with the idea, but plenty of freelancers are quite good at evaluating their own work. If it’s not something you feel good about, this guide can help you learn to better critique your own work as a freelance designer.

Graphics / 25 Jan 2016

How to Design Killer Micro-Content

The smallest parts of a design project can be the most important. It’s something we all know conceptually, right?

But do you ever get caught just filling in these details at the last minute? Does your micro-content suffer because you are ready to be finished with a project? Don’t let that happen. Plan out micro-content from the start to create better, more usable pieces that will help make the design better than you had hoped.

Business / 30 Nov 2015

Designing for Trust: How to Build a Relationship With Your Audience

Trust. How often do you think about this concept when working through a design project? Probably very often if you are associated with e-commerce, but what about other types of design?

Trust is a key component of user loyalty, and a reason why people come to your company or brand. While a lot of trust comes from past performance and a brand’s track-record, it also comes from the design. How a website, poster or package looks can impact how users feel about it and whether they take the leap from casual looker to brand loyalist.

Typography / 26 Oct 2015

Web Design Debate: Do I Really Need to Use Sans Serif Fonts?

There’s long been a theory that serif typefaces are for printed projects and sans serifs are for website design. But with more high definition screens and great type options available, that rule just isn’t so much a rule anymore.

Whether you prefer serifs or sans serifs (or a combination of the two), the main objectives when choosing typefaces for digital design projects should be readability and legibility. Simple, you need to pick fonts that are sharp and easy to read on the screen. Part of this is related to usage, such as size and placement of text, and then to the style of typeface you choose.

Inspiration / 24 Sep 2015

Use Abstract Geometry to Create Stunning Designs

If you’ve ever found yourself in a design rut, wondering how to come up with some fresh ideas, then you’ve no doubt experienced how refreshing it can be to experiment with a new design style that’s completely outside of what you typically produce.

Today we’re going to do exactly that. I’ve been fascinated with a particular style lately and just itching to give it a test drive. We’ll start by analyzing this style’s characteristics through the work of others and then proceed to building something on our own using what we learn. Read on to see the step by step process.

Graphics / 7 Sep 2015

Design Banner Ads That Don’t Suck: 15 Design Tips

There’s been a lot of recent chatter about banner ads. Are they fading? Are users actually clicking them? Are they dead? Are there better options available?

While it is true that banner ad clicks are in decline, that’s not the end of the popular online advertising format. While you can’t measure it, just seeing an ad helps create a user preference for that item, product or service. (Remember, ads have appeared on TV and in printed materials for decades without clicks to prove their success rates.) Today, we’ll look at 15 ways you can create banner ads that simply don’t suck. Take a look at the examples as well. They are 2015 winner of The Webby Awards for ad and website design. You can click through the images to learn more about each one.

How to Design a Logo / 31 Jul 2015

80 Clever Negative Space Logo Designs

Negative space is an inspiring field in the design world, where designers use the alternative color in a graphic to make a dual imagery and representation of a product. When it comes to negative space logo designs, agencies can incorporate multiple meanings in to their logo designs.

It’s a great way to capture a customers attention, and make them think twice. We’ve conducted a thorough search for some of the most interesting negative space logos, and collected 80 inspiring designs to give you an idea of what’s possible. Enjoy!