A few years ago, there was a debate stirring on the web about black. Ian Storm Taylor’s “Never Use Black” was shared and tweeted and read by designers all over the world.
You can debate whether you should use black or not all day long. But the reality is that you will use black. Every designer does – by choosing or not.
So it’s best to understand the color and how to use it properly in a variety of design projects.
A Photoshop action can save time and effort when you perform some of the same edits and tasks repeatedly. You can record almost any command into an action that you can replay for later use on different files.
Here, we have step-by-step instructions so you can learn how to create actions in Photoshop. (It really only takes five minutes.)
In no time at all, you’ll have a helpful Photoshop action that can save you time every day!
What makes a great poster design? It’s often a mix of creativity and design elements that have a certain panache.
Poster and flyer design can be a lot of fun because you can often stretch your design muscles and try things you wouldn’t for other projects. It’s an opportunity to do something attention-grabbing and unique!
With that idea in mind, here are twenty different poster/flyer tutorials that you can try out. Plus, you’ll get a chance to try out some new design techniques along the way!
Photoshop brushes are a great way to save time and create stunning digital artwork by using a pre-built set of graphics and elements.
There are thousands of Photoshop brushes that can help you create more polished and engaging graphic art. This series collects some of the best Photoshop Brushes and explains how to use them.
If you are anything like me, design goodies can make your day. And free design goodies can have me doing a little dance around the office for a minute before getting back to work.
Freepik is one of those tools that might get you on your feet. Their website is packed with highly usable design tools and resources.
We’re going to take a look at what Freepik is, what you can find, and how you can use these tools in your design projects.
Affinity Photo has been receiving rave reviews from designers and photographers alike, looking for a photo editing software solution that’s not crazy-expensive but has in-demand features. But can it replace Photoshop?
While Affinity Photo isn’t super-cheap, you only have to buy the software (and any add-ons you like) just once, making it a somewhat viable option if you don’t like the monthly subscription fees that come with Adobe Photoshop.
Here’s a look at a few of the reasons you might switch from Adobe Photoshop to Affinity Photo (and a few reasons why it might not be the best fit for you!)
Adding effects to typography can be a source of heartache for designers. Clients demand a drop shadow or embossing, and you’re stuck with text effects that threaten to ruin a project. What you need is an arsenal of text effects that don’t suck so you can help the client pivot to something a little more classy.
The trick to all of these effects is using them with purpose. Good typography doesn’t need “help.” If a font isn’t working alone, it’s not going to work with a bunch of techniques added either. (You’ll only make something bad even worse.)
The best text effects are nearly invisible to non-designers. Or text effects are used to add meaning to typography or lettering. Here are a few tips for using text effects that don’t suck with some pretty cool examples.
The virtual world has to be authentic to captivate users. Childish imagery or clip-art just won’t cut it. But there are still so many websites out there that use over-the-top stock photos, or images that don’t resonate with readers. It’s a problem.
To connect, you have to feel realistic and use authentic imagery and photos, so that users feel something when they interact with the website. It has to feel real. Join us as explore this trend, and share how you can use it to best effect!
Designing icons can be a lot of fun. But once you have a good set, what do you do with them?
Icons are not just miniature links for Facebook or Instagram — they can be fully interactive cues that help lead users through a design and provide extra visual spark. Icons can be small or large, black and white or colored, flat or intricate. No matter what style appeals to you, effective use of icons can enhance usability and the aesthetic value of almost any design project.
Ready to take a design risk? Try mixing photos and illustrations in the same design project. A hand drawn element can add whimsy and interest to a design that includes photography. Conversely, a photo can make a more lighthearted illustrated design seem more real or important.
This technique can be a little difficult to imagine until you see a few examples of how it can work beautifully. Today’s we’re looking at this trend and providing tips and examples to help you develop creative ways to come up with a design of your own.
Thanks to mobile image editing apps like Instagram, the faux tilt shift fad seems to be at its height. But why should we let iPhones have all the fun? Let’s bust out a tilt shift effect using pure CSS.
In this tutorial, we’ll learn all about the new CSS filters in Webkit and how to implement an image mask in CSS. We’ll then use these techniques for our final tilt shift effect. We’re going to hit on all kinds of crazy stuff so read on and we’ll have some fun.
Hover effects are always a fun topic to explore. In the past, we’ve built some awesome examples of CSS hovers that were easy to copy and paste right into your code.
Today, we’re going to follow that up with ten new effects specifically built for use with images. Each example comes with an HTML and CSS snippet that you can steal and a live demo so you can see it in action.