Web Design

Bokardo
Is Twitter Successful?

Josh

21 Oct 2009 | 3:52 am

The big question everyone has with Twitter is, and the very first one that John Battelle asked Twitter CEO Ev Williams when he interviewed him yesterday, is “What’s the revenue model?” And the answer Ev gave is exactly the same one they’ve been giving for a year now, which essentially is: “We’re not focused on revenue. We’re focused on growth”. When you hear a CEO say something like that, you know a lot of people’s reaction will be “They’re doomed. They’re a flash in the pan. They’re not successful yet, etc”.
Communicating Value through Cause & Effect on Fanfeedr

Josh

17 Sep 2009 | 5:36 am

A few months ago we held an event called Testcase at Betahouse in Cambridge, MA where we asked four startups to come and user test their web sites with local folks who showed up. Despite the super informal user testing method we used, we clearly saw that each startup struggled with communicating the value of their service. This is a common problem…founders have a really awesome idea but it just isn’t communicated to people clearly. One of the startups, Fanfeedr, was in super-early alpha at the time. The primary finding from testing their site was that people didn’t…
Feature Development in Action: Broadcast Stream Messages in Socialcast

Josh

21 Aug 2009 | 6:20 am

In which I describe how we discovered the broadcast stream message feature in Socialcast. One of the guiding principles of interaction design is to support existing behavior. This means to figure out what is already happening, what activities, tasks, and interactions people are already doing, and build support for them into software. This may not seem like a glamorous way to approach design, but from my experience it’s the fastest way to make people happy. Let them do what they already do faster/better/easier, and then you’ll have their attention in order to push the envelope…
Using your Sign-up form as a Qualifier

Josh

19 Aug 2009 | 9:26 am

In many industries people pay lots of money for a qualified lead. A qualified lead is a person who has expressed interest in a product or service and meets general buying criteria. For example, my neighbor told me that in the real-estate business agents often pay 1% of a resulting home sale for qualified home buyers. If someone can send an agent a home buyer who is serious about purchasing and eventually purchases, that referral is worth several thousand dollars. I recently ran across an interesting way to qualify people using sign-up forms at monotask.com. Monotask is a yet-to-be-released…
No Sign-up Necessary (the strikethrough method)

Josh

18 Aug 2009 | 6:59 am

Two apps, Posterous and SignApp, have a novel way to communicate how easy it is to start using their product. I call it the strikethrough method. It’s a simple feature: the designers simply cross out one of the normal, expected steps of getting started with the service. On the home page of the site they show the usual, expected step of creating an account and then put a red line through it. Easy. Here it is on Posterous: Here it is on SignApp: Notice that striking through text actually adds information to the sign-up page that doesn’t need to be there. By informing people they…

Smashing Magazine
The Beauty of London in Design

Dan Redding

6 Nov 2009 | 10:03 am

“There is no specific London style.” At least that’s what the ‘Super Contemporary’ show at London’s Design Museum proclaims. During an exploration of London’s art and design scene in September 2009, what did emerge was a city with a unique sense of its own personality and history, a fertile hub of international thinkers, and a community working towards a future that is designed to be interactive, environmentally responsible, and prosperous.Here is a look at the visual personality of London, based on visits to the city’s major art museums, attendance at…
Invoice Like A Pro: Examples and Best Practices

Kat Neville

5 Nov 2009 | 12:25 pm

Your invoice should be prim and proper, so that you can get paid by your clients efficiently. While invoicing is not a fun task, it’s a necessary one: by keeping clients informed of your expectations, you will get paid punctually and reinforce your professionalism. After going over some best practices for creating invoices, we’ll review some great (and not so great) online invoicing tools, so that you can spend less time creating invoices and more time doing the things you love!So here are some general guidelines, best practices and examples that will help you make…
Website Maintenance Tips for Front-End Developers

Louis Lazaris

4 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pm

One of the biggest advantages of online media over print is the ability to change, update, and enhance online media at virtually anytime, with virtually no negative side effects. In fact, if a website or web application does not continually offer its users an ever-evolving and growing experience, that site or application would soon become insecure, unusable, and out of date.Have you beautified your code, validated your markup, and made your XHTML more semantic? Have you implemented basic SEO best practices, spell-checked content, and removed legacy code? Have you ensured…
50 Beautiful and Creative Blog Designs

Julia May

3 Nov 2009 | 1:23 pm

The most recent collection of creative blog designs was featured here on Smashing Magazine back in July. Only three months have passed and we’ve got a new dose of inspiration for you. Beautiful and sophisticated designs are constantly appearing on the Web; creative activity is in non-stop mode, despite global economic shocks and unfortunate events; and this is surely a positive sign.Today, we showcase 50 fresh, beautiful, inventive and, hopefully, inspiring blog designs. The variety of styles represented in this collection is considerable, so everyone will be able to find a…
The Ails Of Typographic Anti-Aliasing

Thomas Giannattasio

2 Nov 2009 | 3:12 pm

As printed typography enjoys the fruits of high-DPI glory, proudly displaying its beautiful curves and subtleties, its on-screen counterpart remains stifled by bulky pixels, living in a world of jagged edges, distorted letterforms and trimmed serifs. Until display manufacturers produce affordable 200 or 300 PPI monitors, we’ll have to rely on software advances to fix these problems.Enter anti-aliasing: the next best thing to a world of higher-resolution monitors. The concept of anti-aliasing is fairly simple: add semi-transparent pixels along the edges of letterforms to…

A List Apart
Can You Say That in English? Explaining UX Research to Clients

3 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

It's hard for clients to understand the true value of user experience research. As much as you'd like to tell your clients to go read The Elements of User Experience and call you back when they’re done, that won’t cut it in a professional services environment. David Sherwin creates a cheat sheet to help you pitch UX research using plain, client-friendly language that focuses on the business value of each exercise.
You Can Get There From Here: Websites for Learners

3 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

"Content-rich" is not enough. Most websites are not learner-friendly. As an industry, we haven’t done our best to make our content-rich websites suitable for learning and exploration. Learners require more from us than keywords and killer headlines. They need an environment that is narrative, interactive, and discoverable. Amber Simmons tells how to begin creating rich content sites that invite and repay exploration and discovery.
Getting to No

20 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am

A bad client relationship is like a bad marriage without the benefits. To avoid such relationships, or to fix the one you’re in, learn the five classic signs of trouble. Recognizing the never-ending contract revisionist, the giant project team, the vanishing boss and other warning signs can help you run successful, angst-free projects.
The Myth of Usability Testing

20 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am

Usability evaluations are good for many things, but determining a team’s priorities is not one of them. The Molich experiment proves a single usability team can’t discover all or even most major problems on a site. But usability testing does have value as a shock treatment, trust builder, and part of a triangulation process. Test for the right reasons and achieve a positive outcome.
Discovering Magic

6 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am

Wouldn’t it be a little magical if, when you signed up for a new site, it said something like, “We notice you have a profile photo on Flickr and Twitter, would you like to use one of those or upload a new one?” Glenn Jones created a JavaScript library called Ident Engine that can help you do just that.

Tutorial Blog
Target Your Marketing Campaign with Facebook Ads

Barbara Holbrook

4 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

Facebook ads are quickly becoming the top choice for targeted online ad campaigns. Whether your goal is lead generation, sales, or improving brand recognition, a targeted campaign will always have better results. Google Adwords used to be the king of online ad campaigns because they can target users based on their current search priorities. Facebook ads are the next generation of targeted text ads. Learn how to get started and why you should create a Facebook ad. (...)Read the rest of Target Your Marketing Campaign with Facebook Ads © Tutorial Blog, 2009. | Permalink
5 Photo Gallery Plugins for WordPress

Spencer Spellman

2 Nov 2009 | 12:28 pm

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, then these photo gallery plugins for WordPress must be worth volumes. Each plugin creates the photo gallery a bit differently — jquery slideshows, flash slideshows, automatically from your flickr set — which you choose is purely a matter of preference. Image galleries are one of those features that can help your website or blog rise above the rest. Quality photos can draw in your visitors and keep them on your site longer. Sure, you can still add eye candy to your blog using the default installation of WordPress. But if you really…
Free Photoshop Shapes: Download Custom Shapes Sets

Barbara Holbrook

22 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

Photoshop shapes are different than Photoshop brushes, although some people use the terms interchangeably, they refer to completely different tools. Both tools will allow you to easily add custom elements that be stamped out over and over again, used to create patterns, transferred from one design to another, and stored in your Photoshop library for use on your next project. The big difference between custom brushes and custom shapes is that brushes create a bitmapped element that is permanently painted onto a layer. Custom Photoshop shapes will add an editable vector shape on it’s own…
5 WordPress Comment Plugins to Engage Users and Promote Discussion

Spencer Spellman

21 Oct 2009 | 2:16 pm

If you’re a new user to WordPress, then you’re probably perfectly content with the comment features you already have. You may not yet realize the positive effect that adding a comment plugin (or three) can have on your site. Better comment functions are a great way to encourage discussion and build community on your blog or website. Whether your goal is to encourage people to leave comments, reward them for doing so or even just make your comments look better, there is a WordPress plugin that will do the trick. Try these 5 WordPress comment plugins to enhance your blog.(...)Read…
Choosing the Best RSS Feed Plugin for Wordpress

Barbara Holbrook

9 Oct 2009 | 3:59 pm

Using RSS feeds with Wordpress for fun and for profit. At one point or another most bloggers will want to display articles from another website. You may be sharing articles with a syndicated author, setting up a news ticker, or simply listing the current headlines from news sources in your niche. Whatever your reason, RSS feeds are usually the best way to pull in content from another source. Today we’ll discuss how to import an RSS feed and display the feed items in a WordPress blog. There are plenty of methods to fetch and display the RSS feeds: plugins, third-party feed websites (such…

Psdtuts+
How to Create a Side View Concept Car

Martin Tyminski

6 Nov 2009 | 7:46 am

In this tutorial, I will be taking you through the steps to create a rendering of a car. It will take you from initial sketch to this stylized polished off piece suitable for a presentation. The time taken to complete such a rendering depends on the complexity and the level of detail on the car. This particular one took me about an hour. So grab a cup of coffee and let’s get started! Final Image Preview Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You…
Jerico Santander Interview

Hakan Nural

5 Nov 2009 | 6:51 am

Jerico Santander is an illustrator from Spain. His works includes 3D, illustration, drawings and much more. Own World and Open Source are some of his most famous artworks. Jerico Santander talks about his fantastic works and his design life. Let’s have a chat with him! 1. Welcome to Psdtuts+. Can you please introduce yourself? Hi there! I’m Jerico Santander, an illustrator from Canary Islands, Spain. Apart from the obvious, I also enjoy going out for a run, fishing and eating my mum’s cheesecake Only the strong survive Atutiplen 2. How did you start your design career? What…
New Grunge Photoshop Brushes – Psd Plus Pack

Qbrushes

4 Nov 2009 | 5:47 am

This is a new pack of Photoshop brushes available exclusively from Psdtuts+ for Psd Plus Members. These Grunge Brushes are great for adding an artistic touch to your next project. This set of high quality brushes is available for Psd Plus members to download today! Learn more at the jump! New Exclusive High Resolution Photoshop Brushes This new Photoshop Brushes Pack is created by Qbrushes and is available for Psd Plus members today. This is a set of 16 Brushes, which are all high resolution at around 2500 pixels by 2500 pixels. Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! A preview…
Create a Funky Perspective of a Model Riding Digital Volume

Marcel Pirosca

3 Nov 2009 | 6:11 am

This is a tutorial illustrating perspective techniques and how you can achieve the feeling of depth and motion. We will be doing this in a few steps, such as placing the main character, creating the volume fading away and adding foreground and background images. Let’s get started! Final Image Preview Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here. Tutorial details: Programs: Adobe…
Create a Leather-Textured, Realistic Briefcase Icon – Screencast

Gavin Steele

2 Nov 2009 | 6:19 am

“Our goal for this tutorial is to draw a realistic leather briefcase entirely from scratch. We’ll use Photoshop’s amazing layer styles and incredible brush engine to create textured leather, convincing stitches and gold-plated locks. Let’s get started!” Andrea Austoni Here is a link to the written version of the tutorial Create a Leather-Textured, Realistic Briefcase Icon and the video version is below.

Customized Marketing
Deals and Steals (Coupons and Sales)

admin

24 Oct 2009 | 1:46 pm

Today appears to be a good day for great savings on some of our favorite things. Great deal on Woo Themes. As usual, get 2 wordpress themes for the price of 1. Now you can also get 25% off using coupon code “ROCKSTAR” FREE Shoemoneyx course! The best way to learn about blogging, monetizing, etc. Only available until 10/30/09, then access is discontinued. Be sure to sign up now. Brand New iMacs at $100 off. They sure are beautiful and the new specs are awesome! Enjoy!
Obsessed With Circa

admin

11 Oct 2009 | 7:50 pm

I am so addicted to Circa notebooks. Levenger’s Circa series lets you totally customize your notebook in letter, junior and compact sizes. You can order a $40 sampler set which gives you a letter size setup and more plus a $40 gift card to pick the products you like (so the sampler is free). A suggestion is to use the card to get the compact grid 300 page refill for $9.95 (regularly $38) and starter kits in all sizes. Try these coupons. If you are fortunate enough to live near a Levenger Store, they have workshops that show you how to assemble and they give you a free sample. I…
50% Off WordPress Videos – Limited Time Offer

admin

22 Sep 2009 | 6:04 am

LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!! 50% OFF The Wordpress Video Series with 46 videos is now available here only for 50% off using the orange button. This is a limited time offer. Nearly 5 HOURS of step-by-step video training! And don’t worry, no geeky tech talk! Just simple guided videos. 46 WordPress training videos, including: - Registering a domain name, getting web hosting and changing nameservers. - Using FileZilla FTP. - Installing WordPress manually and automatically. - How to create new content, add images etc. - How to install and manage plugins and themes. - How to Use WordPress Widgets…
Fantastic Foxinni Plugin

admin

21 Sep 2009 | 8:40 pm

I downloaded and tried Foxinni’s plugin, ThemeSmith, last week. Wow, I was so impressed. I have tried other gallery plugins, and none were this elegant or easy to customize. In addition to photos, the plugin works for audio and video. Best of all, it is free and according to Foxinni, “Web publishing should be simple and easy.” Well, this plugin certainly gets us one step closer to that goal. Check out this 3 minute gallery demo (includes installing plugin). You will notice that the plugin works well with Slimbox 2 if you click to enlarge.
How I Use Evernote

admin

14 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am

Evernote is a free web based program with a companion app for desktop and iPhone/iPod Touch. My primary personal use is from the desktop app. The app loads in 3 seconds on my machine, and gives me instant access to my notes or to quickly paste something in. Here are some samples of the things I store in Evernote: snippets of code color palettes (see the image above, which was pasted from a web app) case ID#s of technical help call-ins ftp info screenshots pics or text from web pages wine or meal to remember restaurant or movie suggestions and the list goes on…. In short, it is a…

Carsonified » Blog
Dan Cederholm on Bulletproof Web Design, CSS3 and Dribbble

Keir Whitaker

6 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

Today’s entry in our series of web deisgn interviews is Dan Cederholm. Dan is a recognized expert in the field of standards-based web design and has worked with Google, MTV, AIGA, ESPN, Blogger, Fast Company, Inc.com, and many more. He’s a renowned speaker and author and blogs about web design related topics at SimpleBits. Editor’s Note: Dan will be hosting a full day workshop with Ethan Marcotte on “Handcrafted Bulletproof CSS” in London, UK on November 23rd, buy your ticket online now. He will also be speaking about “Progressive Enrichment” at The…
Client Side Code Highlighting Made Easy

Keir Whitaker

5 Nov 2009 | 8:16 am

I have recently been working on a little out of hours PHP project called “Dummy“. The code is almost complete, apart from the obligatory prettifying of indents and comments, which means it’s time to turn my attention to the online documentation. As part of the “How to Use” page I need to show small PHP code examples. I also want them to look very readable and be easy to copy and paste. Hand cranking each code snippet using <span>’s, spaces and CSS clearly isn’t the way to go, there has to be an easy way. Server Side Options Having used Pygments…
Steve Smith on HTML5 and CSS3

Keir Whitaker

4 Nov 2009 | 3:23 am

Next up in our series of web deisgn interviews is Steve Smith from Ordered List. Steve is a recognised authority on front-end development, interface design and is also the co-founder of Sidebar Creative. As an author, public speaker, and University of Notre Dame professor, he is passionate about sharing his knowledge with others. Editor’s Note: Steve will be hosting a workshop on “How to build a HTML5/CSS3 Website Today” at The Future of Web Design New York on November 16-17 2009. You can buy your ticket online now. What’s all the fuss about HTML5 and CSS3? For me, the big…
Five Must-follow Twitter Lists

Ryan Carson

29 Oct 2009 | 4:42 pm

You might’ve heard the news that Twitter Lists are alive and kicking. If you don’t know what they are, here’s a brief explanation: Any Twitter user can create a list of people on Twitter, which can be followed with one click. For example, all the people on the Carsonified Team can be found at twitter.com/carsonified/team. We’re with Robert Scoble on this one: We LOVE this idea (see his great write-up here). It’s going to make Twitter even more valuable because you’ll be able to easily find and follow the type of people you’re interested in. Here are…
Karl Swedberg on jQuery

Keir Whitaker

29 Oct 2009 | 4:31 am

Next up in our series of short interviews is Karl Swedberg. Karl is the principal author at Learning jQuery and regularly presents and blogs about JavaScript and jQuery. Editor’s Note: Karl will be hosting a workshop on “jQuery for Designers” at The Future of Web Design New York on November 16-17 2009. You can buy your ticket online now. For designers that might not of heard of it, what is JQuery? jQuery is a tool to help designers and developers add interactive elements to their web pages. At the risk of oversimplifying, jQuery’s core feature is a set of commands that…

Web Designer Wall
Fireworks vs Photoshop Compression

Nick La

30 Oct 2009 | 1:32 am

Surprisingly enough, based on the findings from my recent survey there are quite a bit of Fireworks users. Personally, I never used Fireworks. Photoshop is alway my first choice for designing—from image editing to designing mock-ups. But, did you know that Fireworks is way better than Photoshop in term of image compression? I’m not a software engineer, I can’t explain why Fireworks can compress better. But I can prove it to you by showing a series of experiments I did. (more…)
iPhone App Site Design Trends

Nick La

20 Oct 2009 | 1:47 am

To compete with thousands of iPhone apps in the App Store, having a good app icon is not enough. A nicely designed website for the app is very important. A beautiful website helps to drive traffic in and also makes your app stand out from the crowd. This post showcases a gallery of appealing iPhone app sites and common design trends that I see. (more…)
FOWD NYC 2009 Ticket Giveaway

Nick La

17 Oct 2009 | 11:49 pm

The Future of Web Design (FOWD) is returning to New York City on 16th & 17th of November! If you haven’t heard of FOWD, it’s a conference which brings together the web industry’s leading designers and delivers two days of workshops and talks from the likes of Dan Cederholm, Jason Santa Maria, Molly Holzschlag, Joshua Davis, Vimeo and lots more. I have one conference pass to giveaway. Enter a comment in this post before November 3rd, 2009 for your chance to win a ticket. Update: The winner is: #178. (more…)
Follow Me on Twitter @nickla

Nick La

14 Oct 2009 | 8:01 pm

Finally, I’ve joined Twitter (follow me @nickla). At the moment, I don’t really have any tweets yet. The main reason I’ve started Twitter because I’m redesigning N.Design Studio and I want to be able to post updates and in-progress images for readers. Also, if you have a moment, please let me know what kind of tweets best interest you. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
Design Process of Koi Illustration

Nick La

8 Oct 2009 | 2:08 pm

It has been a while since the last time I’ve done any illustration work. Recently I’ve created a new awesome piece that I would like to share with you. It is a koi fish illustration inspired by my tattoo. Read this post to find out more about my tattoo and see how I created the koi fish illustration based on my tattoo. (more…)

digg.com: Stories / Design / Popular
Ask the Artist: How Windows 7's Iconic Home Screen Evolved

6 Nov 2009 | 7:15 am

Chuck Anderson, creator of Windows 7's laid-back, cerulean-cool default wallpaper and login screen, showed me the evolution of his work --including Easter eggs, avoiding Mac tropes and why flaming skulls didn't make the final design.
10 cool 3D buildings made with Google SketchUp (SLIDESHOW)

5 Nov 2009 | 7:50 pm

Among all the free tools that Google produces, its 3D modeling software, SketchUp, has to be one of the best and most addicting. These 10 models were selected from Google's 3D Warehouse, its online library of thousands of models created by SketchUp users. (SLIDESHOW)
Cookie monster eats Google!

5 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pm

Another Google Sesame Street 40th anniversary celebration - at http://www.google.co.uk
Wallace and Gromit Google logo

4 Nov 2009 | 7:16 am

Google celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wallace and Gromit
Futuristic pod car uses vacuum

2 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

Futuristic Vacuum Pod concept car uses maglev (magnetic and gravitational force field) technology.

FreelanceSwitch
Seasonal Myths About Freelancing

FreelanceSwitch.com

6 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

Every year, around this time, I get an email or two from someone wanting to know how to make a few bucks freelancing in time for the holiday season. I generally try to point these folks towards other options, although it does get me thinking about why someone would turn to freelancing for seasonal work. There are more than a few myths that seem to pop up, making freelancing seem like a viable option for seasonal work. While debunking these myths shouldn’t scare off any freelancers in it for the long haul, they can be easy answers for any friends hoping you’ll help them find a…
Leveraging Your Blog to Promote Your Services

FreelanceSwitch.com

5 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

If you’re like many creative freelancers, you have a blog. And being the diligent type that you are, it’s updated at least once a week. But here’s the bad news: There are a lot of other blogs out there. Which means that you’ll have to work hard to make yours stand out. Oh, no. Those two four-letter words: w-o-r-k h-a-r-d. They beg the question, what should you be hard at work on? Here are six suggestions: 1. Don’t just create a blog post and let it sit there. Tell the person/people involved in about it. I like to send a short e-mail with the header, “You have…
DMCA: Is It a Muzzle or Security?

FreelanceSwitch.com

4 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

Since the advent of the Internet as a wide-open information conduit there has been a lot of worry amongst legislators, media corporations, and others with a stake in preventing content piracy to create a law that would add teeth to copyright for electronic communications. The long discussions, lobbying, and heated arguments between interested parties were loud and public. The end result was the passing of a complex law called The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. DMCA was enacted by Congress in October 1998, to bring American copyright law in line with the World Intellectual Property…
Freelance Radio, Episode 39: A Typical Freelance Day

FreelanceSwitch.com

3 Nov 2009 | 5:25 pm

The latest episode of Freelance Radio, the official FreelanceSwitch podcast, is now available! This episode, the panel (John Brougher, Dickie Adams, Kristen Fischer and Von Glitschka) talks about a typical day. Subscriptions to the podcast are available via iTunes and an archive of all podcasts will appear in the podcast section. We hope you enjoy it! Subscribe to Freelance Radio on iTunes You can subscribe on other podcast aggregators by using our podcast feed–it’s simply http://feeds.feedburner.com/FreelanceRadio. Download the podcast file (in MP3 format) via the link…
Linkswitch #13

FreelanceSwitch.com

3 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

Freelance Contracts: Do’s And Don’ts: “Drafting a contract that covers you, and doesn’t just enumerate information, is more than important: it is a must. Freelancers do not have the benefit of a legal department dedicated to protecting their interests with a watertight contract. Nevertheless, a freelancer’s contract must be comprehensive, concise and clear. It should outline the scope of the job, scheduling demands, the expectations of both parties and more.” The History and Evolution of Social Media: “Social media has become an integral part of modern…

Noupe
The Beauty Of Splash Sculptures

vitaly

5 Nov 2009 | 10:07 am

By Tim Mercer Splash Art is a truly beautiful art form requiring precise timming a specialized photography equipment. Masters of the genre often have complex studios set up with lasers, multiple flashes and controlers to acheive the exact timming needed to capture these wonderfull images. With the abstract nature of splash photography you can often make out figures in the liquid forms. The artists featured below have taken this niche to new heights – perfecting their techniques and inspiring us all. Today we present 45 Stunning Splash Sculpture Photographs taken by masters of their…
Essential CSS/HTML Lists Styling Techniques

vitaly

4 Nov 2009 | 8:52 am

By Justin Johnson Certain elements in HTML lend themselves to many situations when marking up a website, one of the more useful of these elements is the HTML list. Using lists, a developer can markup horizontal navigation, dropdown navigation, a list of links, and even scrolling content panels (with the help of Javascript). These features can help developers build new sites and applications as well as integrate new content into existing applications. Unordered/Ordered Lists Unorderd lists are recommened to be used with a list of items where order is irrelevant. With unordered lists (and all…
The Future Of The Web: Where Will We Be In Five Years?

vitaly

3 Nov 2009 | 4:50 am

By Cameron Chapman We’re approaching the end of 2009, and many people are wondering what the future will bring. While no one can predict for sure what the Internet holds in its future, there are indicators and trends that can point us in the right direction. A ton of technologies are ripe for further development in the coming few years. Social media and related apps are definitely going to be at the forefront of the Web for a long time. But plenty of other technologies are on the verge of becoming mainstream, either because of more social acceptance or because of advancements in…
40 New Useful Web Development Tools and Resources

vitaly

2 Nov 2009 | 6:13 am

To become a professional web designer, you need effective tools that would help you implement beautiful designs with solid coding techniques. Handy ready-to-be-used solutions and smart design tools are always nice to have, but good ones are often quite hard to find. And this is where we come into play. In this post we have put together a useful collection of new web development tools to save developers and designers time, energy, and headaches. Let’s take a look at 40 new useful web development tools and resources in a goodie bag for you, including easy and fast tweaks to forms,…
Web Typography: Font Embedding Services

vitaly

30 Oct 2009 | 1:03 pm

There are a lot of options out there for using other-than-websafe fonts in your website designs. Dynamic text replacement methods or resorting to very long fontstacks (where most of your visitors won’t see the font you wanted anyway) have long been the standard for using anything other than websafe fonts. But the @font-face function changes all that. With most major, modern browsers now compatible with it, services are cropping up all over for providing the fonts you want to embed on your site without eating up your bandwidth and server space. One of the biggest hurdles these services…

SimpleBits
Think Vitamin interview

Dan Cederholm

6 Nov 2009 | 8:18 am

A quick interview with Carsonified’s Keir Whitaker, on bulletproof design, CSS3 and a little leak on what Dribbble is.
Loopland

Dan Cederholm

5 Nov 2009 | 2:02 pm

The website of illustrator Allan Sanders. Fantastic aesthetic. (via)
A Font Grown From E-Coli

Dan Cederholm

4 Nov 2009 | 1:52 pm

“[Jelte] Van Abbema created the font by stamping bacteria into paper, and then placing the paper in a jury-rigged incubator, which provided the right humdity and warmth for the organisms. As they multiplied and died, the resulting fonts changed color and shape.” (via)
Authentic Jobs Retooled

Dan Cederholm

4 Nov 2009 | 6:54 am

A brand-spanking new Authentic Jobs has launched, now with realigned identity, better search and filtering, more compelling listings and more. Post a job today and get 20% off with promo code RETOOLED. Congrats to the AJ team!
Hey Jude, flowcharted

Dan Cederholm

3 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm

See also the inspiration. (via)

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents The Daily Report
Crazy man at Starbucks

Jeffrey Zeldman

4 Nov 2009 | 5:18 am

Shot by Mr Greg Storey.
Once more into the breach

Jeffrey Zeldman

4 Nov 2009 | 3:50 am
Less babble, more learning

Jeffrey Zeldman

3 Nov 2009 | 4:49 am

Issue No. 295 of A List Apart emphasizes words and experiences that communicate. Can You Say That in English? Explaining UX Research to Clients by DAVID SHERWIN It’s hard for clients to understand the true value of user experience research. As much as you’d like to tell your clients to go read The Elements of User Experience and call you back when they’re done, that won’t cut it in a professional services environment. David Sherwin creates a cheat sheet to help you pitch UX research using plain, client-friendly language that focuses on the business value of each exercise. You…
House Party

Jeffrey Zeldman

31 Oct 2009 | 10:02 am

Real fonts on the web: House Industries supports WOFF format. …a font format for the Web that satisfies the needs and concerns of browser makers, web designers, and type foundries. … WOFF offers compression to speed page load times, freedom from thorny legacy issues, and inclusiveness (font outlines can be Postscript or TrueType). WOFF has the support of a wide spectrum of the type community; from peers such as Emigre, Hoefler & Frere-Jones, Commercial Type, etc., and larger foundries such as Linotype and Monotype. Today it has also gained the support of Mozilla in the their…
Beep ’n Me, Live

Jeffrey Zeldman

29 Oct 2009 | 1:29 pm

Join Ethan Marcotte and me tonight at 8:00 PM EDT on the CreativeXpert Live Show, an interview and podcast with live listener call-in via Skype and Twitter. We’ll discuss the newly released third edition of Designing with Web Standards and such topics from its pages as selling standards to reluctant clients and bosses, changing what support for IE6 means, understanding and transitioning to HTML5, neato CSS3-based design techniques you can use right now, and more. Tune in, call in, rock on. Short URL: zeldman.com/?p=2810

Stuff and Nonsense
The Beauty of London in Design

Andy Clarke

6 Nov 2009 | 11:17 am

A look at the visual personality of London, based on visits to the city’s major art museums, attendance at the 2009 London Design Festival, and interviews with artists and designers who call the great city home. — A well written and illustrated piece by Dan Redding. Well done to him and to Smashing Magazine. More like this please. Published in External links.
★ Unleashed In The East

Andy Clarke

6 Nov 2009 | 9:09 am

Tomorrow I leave for Japan, taking For A Beautiful Web‘s Advanced CSS Styling workshop to Tokyo and then presenting an edited version of Walls Come Tumbling Down at Web Directions East 2009. I'm looking forward immensely to seeing my Japanese friends and to meeting new ones. If you're attending Web Directions East this year, please don't be shy, please come and say hello. When the conference is over, I have planned to spend a few days travelling down to Hiroshima to experience a little of Japan outside of Tokyo. As a life-long anti-nuclear campaigner and an advocate of unilateral…
CannyBill’s photos from our Advanced CSS Styling workshop in Newcastle

Andy Clarke

5 Nov 2009 | 4:01 am

Published in External links.
Progressive enhancement with CSS3

Andy Clarke

4 Nov 2009 | 6:59 am

Nick Cowie’s Progressive enhancement with CSS3 presentation slides (including a little from my CannyBill redesign) on Slideshare. Published in External links.
Nick Cowie’s CSS Zen Garden example with CSS transitions

Andy Clarke

4 Nov 2009 | 6:56 am

The CSS Zen Garden has largely gone to seed. But that didn’t stop Nick Cowie from using it to show off CSS transforms and transitions. Published in External links.

ValleyZen.com
How to Get a Lucky Domain: ZEN, Numerology and IDN

Bill Fenwick & Drue Kataoka

14 Oct 2009 | 3:14 am

As a child, I was enthralled with the works of James Burke. Like the enso, the tales he told had no beginning or end. His work simply explored the “connectedness” of things, both past and present. I was reminded of James Burke while attending the recent ICANN gTLD & IDN Outreach event in Hong Kong (videos of all of the sessions and materials are available here online). What reminded me of James Burke while attending the event was the combination of ICANN’s new gTLD initiative with the IDN initiative. One of the few restrictions on new gTLDs is that the gTLD cannot consist solely of…
Fashion Week: Catherine Malandrino, Mary J Blige, Tyson Beckford, Kim Kardashian

Bill Fenwick & Drue Kataoka

19 Sep 2009 | 1:46 pm

Catherine Malandrino and Bernard Aidan invited us to Catherine Malandrino’s Spring/Summer 2010 Collection at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in NYC. Staged at the Chelsea Art Museum on the West Side of Manhattan, Malandrino placed her models on pedestals instead of walking them down a runway. We arrived early to slip backstage and capture the pre-show mayhem and excitement. Recording star and hip hop diva Mary J Blige, Grammy Award-winning British R&B singer Estelle, Ralph Lauren supermodel and Host of Bravo’s “Make Me a Supermodel” Tyson Beckford, E! Star Kim…
Chris Anderson, Wired Editor-in-Chief leads “FREE” Panel

Bill Fenwick & Drue Kataoka

4 Aug 2009 | 1:40 pm

Drue and Bill were invited to attend the Churchill Club’s July 23, 2009 program, held at Microsoft’s campus in Mountain View, CA, “The Free Economy: How Companies Make Money From Giving Things Away.” Chris Anderson, whose latest book FREE: The Future of a Radical Price (released days before the program) was the moderator of an outstanding panel including five founders and/or CEOs of companies that produce products made of bits. The event started with a short context-setting statement by Chris. He explained how the “zero”-cost of bit product reproduction makes it possible for…
Martin Perl, Nobel Laureate in Physics VIDEO EXCLUSIVE

Bill Fenwick & Drue Kataoka

5 Jul 2009 | 1:59 am

Watch our exclusive interview with Prof. Perl who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the tau lepton, one of the elementary particles forming our world. In this lively video, experience his incredible energy, intellectual curiosity and excitement. How Prof. Perl missed “The Call” from the Nobel Committee How Nobel Laureates are treated in Sweden Dining with the King and Queen of Sweden (hint: can’t go to the bathroom, no matter what!) Why Physics is the simplest of the sciences Why complexity is easier than simplicity See the setup of Prof. Perl’s…
The Zen Art of Sitting

Bill Fenwick & Drue Kataoka

9 Jun 2009 | 10:58 am

Guest Post by Esther Gokhale Author, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back Whether in Zazen or Valley Zen, sitting is very much a part of our lives. In Zen sitting, each muscle, bone and ligament has a natural place. The design of the skeleton, the end product of millennia of collaboration between gravity and structure, has a natural balance and harmony. When we restore that balance, the result is stillness and flow. No part of the body is pinched or pulled, no part signals the brain that it needs to shift, toss, turn, tighten or be protected. Structure informs function. Blood, lymph, cerebrospinal…

You the Designer
30 Clever Coaster Designs

Jennifer

5 Nov 2009 | 10:36 am

Ever come across a really cool coaster and wonder, “Am I drunk or is this coaster really cool?” Well here is your sober chance to take a look at some clever and creative coaster inspiration. We’ve rounded up 30 coasters that would definitely liven up any bar top or table. Bottoms Up! Let’s See Those Coaster Designs. Mehmet Gozetlik Kent and Jim Dave Hall Kaleb Coleman Niyati Mehta Tiina Ilmavirta Yvonne Schüttler Kamal Patel Jennifer Stetson Kelsy VonderHaar Thapanon Khongraksa Joshua M. Smith Devika Khowala Elizabeth Crowther David Garcia SLAMS Chris Trivizas Emily…
20 Magnificent Magazine Covers in Recent Years

Sam Nam

2 Nov 2009 | 9:39 am

The art of graphic design is continually evolving with society, fashion, technology and politics. Our styles and colors are inspired by everything around us and in turn, we can see snapshots of our evolving culture in the designs of the recent past. Taking a look at 2 years of magazine covers from major publications, I collected 20 contemporary magazine covers that I appreciated. Twenty Magazine Covers from 2007 – 2009 Bon Apetit Magazine – August 2008 Departures Magazine – October 2008 GQ Magazine – March 2008 Harpers Bazaar – March 2009 (Subscribers Edition)…
Stencil Graffiti Custom Sticker Design Contest

Sam Nam

29 Oct 2009 | 12:39 pm

While shuffling some papers on my desk, I discovered a sample for a clear roll label product. Coincidentally, I had just finished perusing some artwork by the famous Stencil Graffiti Artist Banksy. The two ideas came together to create awesomeness I don’t usually experience so early in the day! Stencil graffiti designs being put on clear stickers. Brilliant! Submit Your Custom Stickers Designs! We’re excited to see the sticker designs that our readers submit and to sweeten the deal we will be giving the winner $100 and 250 stickers of their design. Please submit your entries…
Win Ben Harper Halloweenabaloo Tickets

Sam Nam

21 Oct 2009 | 3:31 pm

Ben Harper, Andy Summers, Linda Perry and Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) are confirmed to perform at the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music’s annual Halloweenabaloo concert at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles on October 31, 2009. Why are we blogging about this? Because we received two tickets to this event and we decided that these two tickets should go to our readers. Yes! That’s right. Keep reading to find out how you can win a pair of tickets to see Ben Harper and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers! This is an intimate fundraiser with tons of big names in attendance.
TwitPic Business Card Design Contest

Sam Nam

19 Oct 2009 | 10:54 am

For creative professionals, a business card is more than a piece of paper with your contact information. It actually serves as an example of your work for prospective clients. A poorly designed business card is going to make it hard for you to convince clients that you are the right person for their project. Thankfully, you can score 2000 stylish die-cut business cards from UPrinting.com by entering our business card design competition. CONTEST PRIZES Three skilled designers will receive 2000 Die-Cut business cards courtesy of UPrinting.com. Free ground shipping within the U.S. and Canada.

Graphic Design News
Graphic Design Gets The Message Across Part 2 of 2 | Dynamic Interactive Marketing

6 Nov 2009 | 12:42 pm

Dynamic Interactive Marketing >> Posted By joemarketer 3 hours, 34 minutes ago in Business & Finance Graphic design is the cornerstone of branding, find out how it works as well as how to choose the right graphic designer.
Top Hawaii graphic designs showcased

6 Nov 2009 | 4:22 am

Creativity in print, online and environmental graphic design will be in the spotlight tomorrow at the 2009 Hawaii's 5-O Design Competition & Awards Show.
Belhaven launches graphic design major

5 Nov 2009 | 8:02 pm

Belhaven College in Jackson will add a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design to its undergraduate degree program, starting in fall 2010.
Graphic designer with photoshop

5 Nov 2009 | 11:58 am

Hi Unregistered and welcome to WB, Due to spam and people joining the forum just to promote their sites, you are not allowed to add a signature to your posts until you reach a certain number of posts.
'Hype' Graphic Design Juried Art Exhibit

5 Nov 2009 | 3:46 am

The Graphic Design students at MTSU are currently having their first ever exhibit, October 27 - November 5. The exhibit is expected to be an annual event and features the art department's largest part of declared majors.

Warpspire
It’s just not about how many hours you work

Kyle

11 Oct 2009 | 2:07 pm

My favorite discussion amongst web professionals is when people start talking about work/life balance and how many hours they’re working. There’s been no end of interesting ideas to pop out from this — everything from 4 hour work weeks to 100 hour work weeks. And everyone thinks that they’ve got the answer. But I think everyone’s just arguing about an irrelevant metric: the hour. Let’s talk about that work/life balance thing Most of this discussion always seem to revolve around the idea of a work/life balance. The basic idea is to keep yourself sane.
Joining GitHub

Kyle

1 Oct 2009 | 7:31 pm

I still feel like it was last week I decided to give up my “safe” job at Web Associates Level Studios to play around with the ENTP crew. Well, it’s time for another move. Last week I was given an offer I just couldn’t refuse–to join the amazing GitHub team (my GitHub profile. For those of you who don’t know who GitHub is: shame on you. GitHub has taken something as boring as source control and made it something that brings people together. Social coding, indeed. A brief look at the past couple years The past couple of years have been a crazy blur of…
Why aren’t there any journalistic startups?

Kyle

23 Jul 2009 | 12:31 pm

I think it’s time that we can all agree that the news industry is failing. Hundreds of newspapers have declared bankruptcy and gone under in the past couple years — and thousands of Journalists are out of work. But I’m curious: what are all these journalists doing? Laying down and giving up? I’m wondering why I don’t see a flurry of journalistic startups. The state of startups Call it “Valley Culture” or however the hipsters wants to spin it — there is a definite attitude of Entrepreneurship in California. I’ve lived around it my whole…
Quick & Dirty Referral Tracking

Kyle

10 Jul 2009 | 11:11 pm

Ever wondered where people came from to sign up for your web app? Recently I wanted to track referrals for Tender and wanted something quick and dirty. The only problem? Our setup page is on a different domain than our marketing site. This meant I couldn’t use Google Analytics since it thought every “goal” came from exactly one place: the marketing site. So instead, what I did was hack together a quick referral script using Javascript to track where people came from and add that to a field on the Site model (each install of Tender is considered a ‘Site’). The…
Having fun with the Lighthouse API

Kyle

5 May 2009 | 9:07 am

I’ve been using Lighthouse since it’s inception, but now that I’m working with the ENTP folks I get to thinking about what to do with Lighthouse a lot more. I’ve had a few ideas on ways to play with the API and I finally got around to implementing one of those ideas with Burndown. Burndown is a simple little app that adds a new dimension to Lighthouse – Time. It shows you a burndown chart for each milestone in your project, recording the number of open tickets each day so you can see the progress of your milestone. If you’re running in short iterations,…

AIGA: Home
Answering the Call to Service Design: An Interview with Phi-Hong Ha

Steven Heller

2 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

What is service design? Heller asks interaction designer Phi-Hong D. Ha to describe the skills needed and challenges posed by this emerging field.
Service or Servitude: The In-house Dilemma

Andy Epstein

1 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

Serving your company’s needs shouldn’t be a bad thing. Epstein urges in-house design teams to adopt a more positive outlook on the “S” word.
Blood Types

Angela Riechers

29 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

Will the thirst for vampires ever be sated? Riechers examines the many incarnations of Nosferatu, Dracula and their ilk in popular culture and what they say about us.
Naming Names for Fun and Profit

Ralph Caplan

26 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

What is it about some brands that makes people want to be their walking billboards? Caplan reflects on the lure of logos and labels.
What can designers do collectively to advance social causes?

Richard Grefé

22 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

Executive director Richard Grefé discusses design’s role in improving social conditions at home and abroad and how AIGA is involved.

The Everyday Web Expert!
Time for Another Contest!

Webmaster

2 Nov 2009 | 6:58 pm

It is time again for another contest! We at The Everyday Web Expert are looking for a new slogan. Since we love our fans and clients so much, we thought we should give them the choice of picking the next company slogan. How the Contest Works In the comments section of this post, write what you think our next slogan should be. (Remember, we are a web design company and all around media source) - ONE SLOGAN SUBMISSION PER PERSON When you submit your slogan, please also submit your name and contact information. (Whether is be a phone number or email address – preferably both though) The…
Things are back to Normal

Kyle Reddoch - Owner

28 Oct 2009 | 2:51 pm

I just want to give my personal apology to my company’s blog’s faithful readers. I know that I haven’t been writing articles in such a long time. There has been such a lot going on that has needed my attention. First, I had a death in my family. My grandfather died back in September and things have been crazy with that. Then last week my family came down with the flu and that went around to each member and that was FUN…NOT!! Things are just now getting back to normal and there will be much excitement in the days to come. I have alot of articles to start writing…
Read Homecare

Webmaster

24 Oct 2009 | 7:00 am

Providing home health care to the elderly in need, Read Homecare is there for you! Thanks to the Everyday Web Expert, Read Homecare has a new, functional website to make their web presence seen.
Total Dog Care Network

Webmaster

5 Oct 2009 | 6:49 pm

Thanks to the experts at The Everyday Web Expert, the Total Dog Care Network has a fresh new look! Take a peek for yourselves and let us know what you think.
Office Closed on Labor Day

Management

5 Sep 2009 | 1:43 pm

Our office will be closed on Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day. We will resume regular business hours on Tuesday, September 8th. We wish everyone a happy and safe weekend!

PhotoshopNews
Adobe Releases Lightroom 3 Beta

PSN Editorial Staff

22 Oct 2009 | 11:13 am

New Lightroom beta delivers faster performance, refined image processing and streamlined publishing SAN JOSE, Calif. – Oct. 22, 2009 – Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 beta software for Macintosh and Windows, a public preview of new and improved functionality to be delivered in the next major release. Lightroom is the essential digital photography workflow solution, helping serious amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance and showcase all their images from one application. Available as a free…
Adobe Brings Photoshop to the iPhone

PSN Editorial Staff

16 Oct 2009 | 12:23 pm

Well, sorta. It’s actually limited to some basic editing features such as cropping, rotating, changing color and a few processing effects such as soft focus, vignette and others. But it is sorta like having Photoshop on your iPhone. Here’s Adobe’s press release: Adobe Unveils Photoshop.com Mobile for iPhone New Adobe application brings must-have photo tools and eye-catching effects to iPhone users SAN JOSE, Calif. – Oct. 9, 2009 – Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced Photoshop.com Mobile for iPhone application, delivering Adobe…
He’s Back. Mark Hamburg Returns to Adobe

Jeff Schewe

24 Jul 2009 | 12:04 am

After over a year spent working at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington offices, Mark Hamburg has resigned from Microsoft to rejoin Adobe Systems, Inc. where he will again be working in the Digital Imaging department. Mark, a former Photoshop Architect and the founding engineer on Lightroom had gone to Microsoft to work on new usability for Windows. His decision to return to Adobe is more a statement of desire to again work on products in the digital imaging realm rather than a more research driven project. News of his return is official as of Friday, July 24th, 2009. Check out Mark’s…
Adobe Updates Camera Raw, Lightroom and DNG

PSN Editorial Staff

23 Jun 2009 | 10:17 pm

Adobe today released the final Photoshop Lightroom 2.4 and Camera Raw 5.4 updates, available for immediate download at www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/. Both updates bring additional raw file support to 31 camera and camera back models including the Canon EOS 500D, Nikon D5000 and 18 Hasselblad models. A full list of the newly supported camera and camera back models is below. In addition, Adobe released an update to its Digital Negative specification (DNG), the public archival format for digital camera raw data. DNG addresses the lack of an open standard for raw files created by individual…
Perspective correction for Camera Raw images

Martin Evening

5 May 2009 | 11:59 pm

Click to view movie This movie extract is from Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop. One of the top requests for Camera Raw and Lightroom has been to include perspective corrections, so that users can apply perspective corrections to raw images. It so happens there is already a method in Camera Raw and Photoshop that will allow you to correct the perspective of a raw photograph while keeping the image in its original raw file state. This isn’t exactly a hidden feature in Camera Raw, but this movie does demonstrate a workaround for correcting perspective of raw…

Experience Matters
CT3: Twitter Goes Multilingual

William Bertolo

3 Nov 2009 | 10:01 am

Twitter announced last week that it would be using CT3 (community, crowdsourced and collaborative translation) to make its content available in the FIGS (French, Italian, German and Spanish) group of languages. They’re stepping on ground that brought some trouble to LinkedIn some time ago. Despite specific website approaches, the CT3 matter will be sure to generate a lot of debate in the times to come. So it would be nice to start understanding the factors that surround it. The first factor is resistance. Professional translators may feel their market is at risk. To be honest, as a web…
#350ppm: The Little Hashtag That Could

Margo Gremmler

30 Oct 2009 | 12:59 pm

This weekend, the world gathered around one iconic idea: 350ppm. 350 parts per million is the level of CO2 many climate scientists agree is the safe upper limit of carbon in our air (we’re at about 390, by the way). But that’s not all 350ppm is. It’s also one of the strongest examples of social media optimization the world has ever seen. To help promote its International Day of Climate Action (last Saturday, 10/24), 350.org simply asked supporters to use a special hashtag in related tweets: #350ppm. According to search.twitter.com, it was used 1,500 times over the weekend…
The MarketingProfs Digital Mixer is Over, But the Work is Just Beginning

DJ Francis

28 Oct 2009 | 8:44 am

I attended the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer last week here in Chicago and learned a lot that will eventually translate into the creative work we do for our clients. But this conference illuminated a change in the learning process, altogether. It showed me why agencies like Critical Mass must be involved in these conversations as well as the changing ways we can use these events to inform our work moving forward. The Snowball Starts Rolling This was a different kind of conference. From the start, a strong symphony of tweets and a streaming video feed allowed everyone in the world to…
Critical Mass CEO Dianne Wilkins Speaking Today at the Forrester Consumer Forum

Critical Mass

27 Oct 2009 | 7:07 am

It’s Forrester time again! Critical Mass is a Gold Sponsor at this year’s Forrester Consumer Forum being held at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago today, October 27 and October 28. If you’re attending the conference, we’re at Booth #107 so stop by and say hi. We’ll be tweeting from the event (@criticalmass) and Forrester has set up a hash tag (#FCF09) so you can follow all the conference happenings. The theme of the conference this year is “creating breakthrough multichannel relationships with the three-dimensional consumer.” It’s certainly a challenge that our clients—across…
A Plug-in To Fix Microsoft Internet Explorer

Brendan Best

22 Oct 2009 | 9:57 am

IE6 denial message for Momentile.com By John MartzIf you’ve attempted to use Internet Explorer to access Google Wave you have already encountered what may be one of the most interesting salvos in the renewed browser wars. Apparently frustrated by Microsoft’s ongoing lack of support for HTML 5 especially the canvas tag and compliance to Web standards generally, Google has released what it describes as an “early version” of a plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer. It’s called Google Chrome Frame. Google Chrome Frame literally replaces Internet Explorer’s…

Graphic Design Links and Tutorials / Published News
20 Best Alternatives of Adobe Photoshop

manishwebmaster

6 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

However, it is correct that most of the designers use Photoshop to give color and life to their imagination but it is not the only application. There are many other alternatives to Photoshop's, which can give your imagination a life. So why not try couple of these applications, which are as good as Adobe's application.2 Vote(s)
50 Clever, Creative Logos

Toon

6 Nov 2009 | 4:29 am

50 Clever, Creative Logos1 Vote(s)
Interview with a pro a4 Whyisbox

atikusdesign

6 Nov 2009 | 2:11 am

An interview with illustrator and creator of NewSugar Magazine, Whyisbox7 Vote(s)
20 Construction Company Logos-Building

humairr

5 Nov 2009 | 7:54 am

Successful company logos, always well-define the nature and characteristics of the related industry. For instance, whenever we talk about building homes and offices, we start visualizing strong and sturdy construction company logos. With the growing demand for construction services, companies are hiring professional design agencies for all sorts of corporate design needs.2 Vote(s)
Free Hair Styles Vectors

crazyleaf

4 Nov 2009 | 5:35 am

This is a beautiful collection of 8 beautiful and stylish hair styles vectors, available in AI, EPS and SVG file formats. The vectors are designed by VectorVaco. Details about the use you will find in the readme file included in the download...3 Vote(s)

Just Creative Design
A quick copywriting tip to get more subscribers

Jacob Cass

4 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm

I recently wrote an article for Freelance Folder about how to get more subscribers by adding an email subscription box and within the comments, Troy Peterson left a great tip on how to optimise the copywriting to maximize subscription signups and I thought it was worth sharing… One thing that will improve your signups as well, is to replace “Subscribe” with “Get Updates”. Many people tend to associate “Subscribe” with some type of commitment. This is typically carried over from the old days of Magazine subscriptions, where people had to commit for a year and pay a price.
Tutorial: How To Create An Iconic Logo Design

Jacob Cass

1 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Logo design is arguably one of the hardest parts of graphic design though with a little insider knowledge, you may find it’s not so difficult after all. By understanding what makes a “good” logo and the principles behind effective logo design you will be on the right track in no time. In this tutorial you will be guided through the logo design process, from initial brief right through to delivery while being given vital logo design tips along the way. For the sake of this tutorial we will be creating a fictional logo - for now I’ve gone with a logo that reflects the…
New Just Creative Design Store

Jacob Cass

25 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

Inspired by Von Glitschka’s simply awesome Zazzle store, where I just recently bought his Tickles “Evil Clown” t-shirt, I thought I’d see how opening a store of my own would go. You never know, right? Though before I did that, I thought I should wait to check out the quality of Zazzle’s products and overall service. I didn’t have to wait long - just 5 days after ordering I received my shirt (and I’m down in Oz). I was also pleasantly surprised at the high quality of their products, especially considering their very competitive pricing. Anyway,…
How to choose a logo designer

Jacob Cass

19 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pm

With such a plethora of choice it may be hard to find the right designer for your specific needs. Below is a short guide to help you make the right choice when choosing a logo designer. These points could also be useful when hiring a web designer, graphic designer, or any designer for that matter. I don’t want this post to come across as self promotional, however, I’ve linked to my own examples to show you how I personally communicate to potential clients the value of my design work. For other designers, I hope this in turn, gives you an idea of how you too can communicate the…
Climate change is about people

Jacob Cass

15 Oct 2009 | 5:40 am

As part of this year’s Blog Action Day focusing on climate change, I have Simon Owens from CARE come to talk to you about the effects of climate change and what you can do to help. I’ll pass you onto Simon now… Climate change is not only about melting ice caps and polar bears. Climate change is about people. Swinging weather patterns are creating disasters on a scale that human civilization has never before witnessed. For the world’s poorest people – the ones least equipped to deal with its effects – climate change is devastating their crops, livelihoods and…

Logo Design Love
Seven brand identity by B&W Studio

David Airey

2 Nov 2009 | 4:28 am

Design consultancy B&W Studio, based in Leeds, UK, created this brand identity design for Seven back in 2007. I saw it today for the first time. Liked it. Thought you would, too. As with many brand identities, the logo in isolation isn’t what makes it work, and what I enjoy most is consistency of implementation across both print and web, giving a strong and professional unity. View more work on the brand spanking B&W Studio website. Or visit the Seven website to view the identity in context. Photography by Matt Wright. Via Grafikcache. Thanks for subscribing That is all.
McCadden Design brandmarks

David Airey

26 Oct 2009 | 6:04 am

Given that I’ve been back in Northern Ireland for a little over a year now, I thought it appropriate to put some focus on local design studios. Belfast-based McCadden Design has been working with organisations in the UK and Ireland for more than 25 years. Here’s a small selection of its brandmarks. Titanic Quarter “Currently the largest waterfront development in Europe, Titanic Quarter is a massive yet dynamic undertaking which takes its name from the part of the site where the Titanic was built. The four funnels of the iconic ship play a key role in our identity – a…
Kellogg’s publicity stunt or waste of money?

David Airey

21 Oct 2009 | 5:30 am

Image from @KelloggsUK’s Twitpic If the new Kellogg’s Corn Flakes with laser-etched logo is for publicity, then hat’s off. If it’s a legitimate marketing move an actual change of the cereal production process, isn’t it a needless use of energy and cash? Landor calls it very cool. I call it a waste of money. What do you think? Photo courtesy of Mail Online More here: Kellogg’s to laser-brand individual Corn Flakes Hoax, stunt or breakthrough? Kellogg’s says laser-etched Corn Flakes are real Thanks for subscribing That is all. Related posts on Logo…
Negative space in logo design

David Airey

15 Oct 2009 | 3:58 am

It’s hard to beat a clever use of negative space in logo design. Here are 35 or so logos I enjoy that use white space well, along with the designers and agencies who created them. A.G. Low Construction logo By Rebecca Low Martin Newcombe Property Maintenance logo By buddy Nexcite logo By Amore Via Blair Thomson American Institute of Architects Center logo By Pentagram Ogden Plumbing logo By Astuteo WWF By Sir Peter Scott, modified by Landor FreemanWhite logo By Malcolm Grear Designers The Brand Union logo By The Brand Union Egg n Spoon logo (same day couriers) By Thoughtful Human logo…
In other news…

David Airey

11 Oct 2009 | 6:30 pm

The logo board game. It’s all fun and games (apparently). Well, it is for the over 12s anyway—sorry kids. Evolution of the LEGO logo. Such a simple product. If I was to tally the hours spent with it as a child, I reckon it’s easily triple figures. Logo Design Love book available for pre-order. Time’s a pressin. Not long to go. Commonwealth logo in overhaul. For the English out there. The 9/11 Memorial brand identity. One of my favourite designs of the naughties. New Doctor Who logo revealed. I’ve never been a big Doctor Who fan. I quite like the “tardis”…

Dexigner Design Portal
British Council Sets Up Graphic Design Framework

6 Nov 2009 | 12:36 pm

The British Council is hoping to appoint up to 12 consultancies to a new UK graphic design framework.
ATTIK Relocates Leeds Studio, Gears Up for Grand Return to London

6 Nov 2009 | 11:04 am

In 1995, armed with the very first edition of their experimental design book entitled Noise, the principals of Yorkshire-based graphic design company ATTIK took the bold step of opening a new studio in London.
Photoshop.com Mobile for Android

6 Nov 2009 | 9:52 am

Adobe today introduced the Photoshop.com Mobile for Android, extending Adobe industry-leading digital imaging technology to users of the Google Mobile operating system.
Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams

6 Nov 2009 | 9:36 am

For 40 years, from 1955 until 1995, Dieter Rams designed or oversaw the design of over 500 products for the German electronics manufacturer Braun, as well as furniture for Vitsoe.
The Neenah Eco-Calculator: Neenah Launches Second iPhone App

6 Nov 2009 | 9:04 am

Neenah Paper released its second application for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, the Neenah Eco-Calculator.

Graphic Design Blog & Web Design Blog
Matt W. Moore - Design and Illustrations

Toon

20 Oct 2009 | 5:24 am

PERSONAL ILLUSTRATIONS 2009 on the Behance NetworkTechnorati Tags: Matt W. Moore , Design, Illustrations, Behance, ForumSubscribe to this feed
Nicolas Alexander Typography

Toon

19 Oct 2009 | 6:13 am

Typography II on the Behance NetworkTechnorati Tags: Nicolas Alexander, Typography, Design, BehanceSubscribe to this feed
Phil McDarby is a Digital Artist, Photographer & Composer

Toon

19 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

Phil McDarby / Profile Technorati Tags: Phil McDarby, Digital Artist, Photographer, Composer Subscribe to this feed
A comprehensive re-brand of the internationally renowned architectural practice Hames Sharley

Toon

15 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am

A comprehensive re-brand of the internationally renowned architectural practice Hames Sharley. Brand Identity :: Hames Sharley on the Behance NetworkTechnorati Tags: Logo Design, Behance, Business CardsSubscribe to this feed
Michele Angelo - Typography Projects

Toon

14 Oct 2009 | 4:13 am

Quote: Type treatment for the exhibition "Capital", at the first Madrid Diseño SI - week of international design. The artwork is inspired by "Where is my mind" New Type Works on the Behance Network Technorati Tags: Michele Angelo, Typography, Art, Blog Subscribe to this feed

CSS-Tricks
Quickie CSS3 Tricks with Fallbacks

Chris Coyier

6 Nov 2009 | 3:45 am

CSS3 can do some seriously neat stuff. Just check out some of the crazy 3D stuff you can do in WebKit. But as we all know, we need to be careful with what we choose to do with it. The most cutting edge techniques are fun to play with, but since since only a sliver of browsers support them fully, we can only use them in circumstances where they fall back to otherwise perfectly acceptable styling. Let’s look at a couple of quick, simple, cheezy examples. Growing Links Scaling an element is really fun any easy with CSS3. We don’t need CSS3 to do this, we could use relative…
New Poll: How do you format your CSS?

Chris Coyier

4 Nov 2009 | 5:33 am

The poll is in the sidebar, so jump down there to vote. You can see examples of the different ways to format CSS here. I think that covers most of the popular ways to format CSS, but if you have your own unique way, feel free to post some code or a link to an example CSS file in the comments! I think it’s an interesting topic because us all the implications it may have on a site and the working life of the front end coder. We spend so much time in CSS that how we choose to format it affects how efficiently we can write it, how easily re-acquainted we are with old CSS, and even…
Poll Results: When Do Jobs Get Done?

Chris Coyier

3 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

When this poll first kicked off, the “late” options were way ahead. Over time, things have evened off a bit, and the results are closer than I thought they might be. If you are in the on time or early crowd, congrats! That means you are really good at estimating project completion times. For the rest of us, that means we should start pushing those dates back a little further than we do now. Of course, meeting deadlines is reliant upon both our working speed and our clients ability to communicate, but we are the ones issuing the completion dates, so it’s our job to anticipate…
Holy Sprites

Chris Coyier

2 Nov 2009 | 3:39 am

Lots of folks joined in on the fun with the Show Off Your Sprites! contest. I used the ol’ random number generator and came up with Lee Kowalkowski as the big winner, congrats Lee! Now let’s take a look at some of the submissions. Looking at sprites I find strangely fascinating. It’s like this strange secret language of the web that only us performance nerds really understand =) Some of these may have been cropped or resized. They aren’t meant to be taken and used, I just hope they serve as an inspirational spark! If you just look through all these and were like…
Redesigned Personal Site

Chris Coyier

30 Oct 2009 | 4:46 am

As I do from time to time, I redesigned my personal site (redesign notes). I wanted to make the site a better vessel for writing, so the shell of the site has a much nicer structure for doing that. It’s 100% WordPress of course. I did break one major rule: the design is a complete overhaul of the previous site, rather than an evolutionary step. I just felt like evolution wasn’t going to cut it this time. And besides, this is a low-traffic, personal site, not major news portal or web app or anything where the “Who moved my cheese?” phenomenon is much stronger. In…

The 99 Percent
How to Write a Mission Statement that Isn't Dumb

6 Nov 2009 | 7:32 am

An argument for mission statements featuring a call-to-action, as opposed to attitudes.
We Don't Need No (Formal) Education

6 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am

In the not-so-distant future, will traditional universities give way to web education as a viable, legitimate education source?
David Skokna: There’s No Such Thing as a B-Team

4 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

Many startups begin small. Ten years ago David Skokna broke away from the corporate world to found an interactive agency called HUGE. It’s first project? IKEA.com. Fast forward ten years and HUGE has infiltrated all aspects of the web, taking on world-class clients across several industries, including entertainment, media, and e-commerce. Their portfolio includes the current versions of JetBlue.com, About.com, ReadersDigest.com, NYCGo.com, ONE.org, and dozens more, in addition to current redesign projects for CNN.com and iVillage.com. As Global Creative Director and one of four partners,…
Alain de Botton: A Kinder, Gentler Philosophy of Success

4 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

An argument for redefining success through a personal lens, as opposed to through the culturally promoted ideals of meritocracy, envy, and binaries.
Do You Do Your Most Important Work First?

3 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

A look into priorities -- do you believe in getting the tough stuff out of the way, or saving it for later?

ScribeMedia.Org: The Business, Technology and Culture of Digital Media
Textures and Backgrounds

Peter Cervieri

6 Nov 2009 | 10:35 am

Here’s a cool site that has good high resolution textures and backgrounds you can download to use in apple motion / adobe after effects projects. psdGraphics Related PostBeijing’s Digital Fireworks
Smart 21 Communities of 2010

Peter Cervieri

31 Oct 2009 | 3:49 pm

The Smart21 announcement is the first stage in ICF’s annual Intelligent Community Awards cycle. Based on nominations submitted by communities large and small from around the world, ICF selects 21 finalists with the potential to become one of the Forum’s Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year. The Smart21 list is announced at least 60 days before the selection of the Top Seven and promoted to the world’s media by ICF and the communities involved. Gaining a place among the year’s Smart21 is considered a badge of honor as well as the first step greater recognition…
How Your Company can Capitalize on the Growth in Emerging Markets

Peter Cervieri

31 Oct 2009 | 3:47 pm

Listen to experts on practical techniques that both small and large companies can employ now in order to sell into emerging markets, including hiring sales representatives, establishing an office, or acquiring a complementary company. Whether your company’s global strategy is just being formulated, or you already have a master plan focused on expanding your presence in Beijing, New Delhi or Dodoma, this symposium expands your awareness of the benefits of globalism and how to fully exploit emerging markets in order to grow your company’s revenues. Globalization is making our world…
TV Talk Show Pilot

Peter Cervieri

31 Oct 2009 | 2:06 pm

Here’s some behind the scenes footage from a TV talk show pilot we’re working on. We’re shooting in 1080p on Sony EX1s, using Kino Flo and Arri lights, Lectrosonics SMD transmitter / receiver packs with Sanken COS 11’s. The audio was live mixed on a Mackie board. Related PostShooting with Zylight Z90Bogen Manfrotto Tripod ShowcaseMy Joby and Me: Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM + AG-HSC1U = PASS
The Chalkboard Blog and the Town Square

Michael Cervieri

29 Oct 2009 | 6:05 am

When we talk about Internet and mobile communications, we should always keep in mind that in many parts of the world these technologies just don’t compute. Take, for example, the video above from Liberia’s capital Monrovia. Here, where per capita GDP is $215, newspapers are too expensive to buy and Internet access is something the majority only hear about. How to share and spread information then? The Chalkboard Blog. Each morning, Alfred Sirleaf combs through the day’s news and writes headlines and stories on a giant chalkboard. Then readers come to discuss, debate in this…

Design Shack
Exclusive Freebie: Crawling Vines Vector Pattern

6 Nov 2009 | 9:33 am

Premium seamless vector patterns, ready to download. View Post
Free Motion Graphics Backgrounds of Zach Fonville

6 Nov 2009 | 9:17 am

Quality free moving backgrounds are hard to find. Jump on these while you can! View Post
A Roundup of 25 Advanced CSS Tips and Tutorials

6 Nov 2009 | 8:42 am

“From menus to galleries, Jon shows us a roundup of 25 different pure CSS tips and tutorials.” View Post
Find Web Design Clients Free With Haystack

6 Nov 2009 | 7:26 am

Today we’ll check out Haystack, a new web designer directory site from 37signals. We’ll go over what it’s all about, their pricing structure and how to get yourself listed! 37 Who? 37signals makes some of the most popular professional tools on the web. If you’re not familiar with their company, you should be. They created a wildly popular framework called Ruby on Rails that drastically speeds up the development of complex systems. Check out their corporate website for the full scoop on all of their products. Here’s a pic with the gist: For Web Designers Haystack…
CSS Design: Radium Labs

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

View radiumlabs.com/ at Design Shack

CSS Beauty News Feed
Browser support for CSS3 and HTML5

Alex

21 Oct 2009 | 1:52 pm

Browser support for CSS3 and HTML5. A nice recap of the current state of support for CSS3 and HTML5 features in the current browser market.
Chrome Experiments

Alex

19 Oct 2009 | 9:54 am

Chrome Experiments. A showcase of JavaScript experiments created using open standards like HTML5, Canvas, SVG, and more.
Becoming a Font Embedding Master

Alex

13 Oct 2009 | 9:08 am

Becoming a Font Embedding Master. A well written explanation on how to implement @font-face on your webpages.
@font-face in Depth

Alex

6 Oct 2009 | 1:42 pm

@font-face in Depth. Want to embed fonts in your webpages? Here's a thorough explanation of how font-face works.
Google Chrome Frame

Alex

24 Sep 2009 | 8:37 am

Google Chrome Frame. An open source plug-in that brings HTML5 and other open web technologies to Internet Explorer.

CSS Drive News
15 Creative Logos and How They Were Designed

webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

7 Nov 2009 | 7:34 am

A list of 15 awesome logos and how each designer came up with the concept then executed the concept.
Google Closure Tools

webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

6 Nov 2009 | 8:24 am

Google has has released Closure Tools, a set of tools that include Closure Compiler, Closure Library, and Closure Templates to ease your JavaScript development.
25 Amazing Photoshop Patterns

webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

5 Nov 2009 | 3:12 pm

I'm into Photoshop patterns and textures, who isn't? This collection is pretty slick, some of the coolest Photoshop pattern sets around for sure!
Logo Design Research

webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

4 Nov 2009 | 11:59 pm

A detailed article on one Logo Designers personal research process for a Logo Design. A great way to build on your own process and get inspired.
Dive Into HTML5

webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

1 Nov 2009 | 7:46 am

An excellent, comprehensive guide to HTML 5. It seeks to elaborate on a hand-picked selection of features from the HTML5 specification and other fine Standards.

Cssleak.com
Joomplicity

29 Oct 2009 | 12:36 am
Zefxis

29 Oct 2009 | 12:01 am
Copimaj Interactive

28 Oct 2009 | 11:36 pm
Discover Hosting

28 Oct 2009 | 11:29 pm
Future Management

26 Oct 2009 | 12:39 am

All Graphic Design & Graphics News
Logos: What Makes a Good Design? - Part II

admin

5 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pm

The Logo Journey Continues In our last article, we examined several logo designs that were, by most conventional standards, unsuccessful. In Part 2 of this series, we'll take a look at concepts that aren't necessarily bad, but have missed hitting the target. We'll investigate these logo designs and see what could have been done to improve them. . And [...]
Logos: What Makes a Good Design? - Part I

admin

3 Nov 2009 | 11:25 pm

Logo Design Isn't Always Easy Designing a logo can sometimes be mystifying, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. At times a logo design just works, even though it may seem rather unremarkable. Other designs should work but they don't. When Things Go Terribly Wrong The examples in this article demonstrate what can happen when attention to [...]
Great Ideas for Package Designs - Part II

admin

30 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am

Package Design: The Two Second Commercial If you pay a visit to your local supermarket and view the thousands of items sitting on shelves, each product is vying to gain your attention through its package design. Hence each package acts as a two second commercial. The following designs excel in attracting your eye, but also serve a [...]
Great Ideas for Package Designs - Part I

admin

29 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

See, Learn, and Get Inspired Designing a package can be quite challenging when trying to think of unique ways to present a product. The following examples show how graphic designers think outside the packaging box by using creative techniques that are novel in approach, and also quite functional by design. Otokoyama Sake A simple design can be more [...]
Graphic Design Education and Your Career

admin

23 Oct 2009 | 4:36 pm

Talent + Education = Graphic Designer Talent is always a big consideration for employers who are seeking individuals to fill positions, but the world of graphics, illustration, and art has changed dramatically with the use of computer design software and computer hardware. Publishing houses, graphic design firms and other related businesses need people who are up-to-date in [...]

Vandelay Design Blog
Examples of Excellent Blog Post Formatting and Styling

Vandelay Website Design

4 Nov 2009 | 2:43 pm

While front pages are usually the part of blogs that get showcased, blog design includes a lot of other details that can add to the overall look and appearance of the blog, not to mention usability. The pages of individual blog posts provide opportunities for design and styling in a number of different areas. In this post we’ll look at a few aspects of blog posts and showcase some design elements that are used to make the post more helpful, inviting, or attractive. Intro Areas: At the start of posts, some blogs include additional elements or design techniques to improve the post in one…
25 Beautifully Colorful Websites – Part V

Vandelay Website Design

2 Nov 2009 | 1:14 pm

Color schemes have a huge impact on the end result of a design. In this post we’ll feature 25 websites that use bright and vibrant color schemes very effectively. This is the fifth post that has been published in this series. You can see the previous four here. 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites – Part II 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites – Part III 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites – Part IV Gary’s Real Life Yodaa Chris Jennings Sacramento Jazz Festival Ryan Keiser Juan Diego Velasco Bellyshades Flex360 The Alamo Basement FeedStitch…
Trends in Pricing Page Design and Layout

Vandelay Website Design

28 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

Pricing pages are very common for sites of web apps, web hosting and other types of services. These pages are critical to the success of the company because they will have a significant influence on the visitors who are trying to make a buying decision. Pricing pages typically give the necessary details regarding the various plans and options, and they encourage visitors to take action. In this post we’ll look at a number of trends in pricing page design, along with several examples for each. Emphasis on One Option: Most of the pricing pages that we are looking at in this post include…
Win 500 Die-Cut Business Cards from UPrinting

Vandelay Website Design

27 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pm

UPrinting has offered to give 500 die cut business cards to five readers of the Vandelay Design blog! If you’re interested in having a unique business card that helps you to stand out to potential clients, this is a great opportunity. If you’re not familiar with UPrinting, they have been a printing leader for over 25 years and they offer a very wide variety of services, including business cards, brochures, calendars, menus, posters, postcards, envelopes, and more. UPrinting also has a blog that may interest you. They publish articles relevant to graphic designers and the printing…
75 PSD to HTML Resources for Web Designers

Vandelay Website Design

26 Oct 2009 | 12:57 pm

PSD to HTML conversion is a critical step in the web design and development process. Whether you are coding your own design or outsourcing it, the quality of the final project will be significantly influenced by the work that is done at this stage. In this post you’ll find 75 resources, including PSD to HTML providers, PSD to WordPress providers, sites for reading reviews of the service providers, automated resources, and PSD to HTML tutorials. PSD to HTML Tutorials: If you’re interested in learning more about doing the PSD to HTML coding yourself, these tutorials will be very…

Fuel Your Creativity
Friday FUEL Fix (11/06/09)

Angie Bowen

6 Nov 2009 | 2:58 am

Call Craig and his cousin Day-Day, everybody, it’s Friday! And this week on FYC we felt that it was time for another fix, in fact we felt that with all the great FUEL content that has been coming out recently, that it was overdue. So we assembled a little November rain in the form of a Friday FUEL Fix (was the rain a good thing in the song…it’s been a while. I guess if it inspired a song, it was a good, right? Moving on). We usually take a look at some Twitter followers in the fix, but we thought we would mix it up this week and look at some lists, not to mention…
Inspiration in Blue: The FYC Edition

Angie Bowen

4 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am

It’s humpday once again and that means the blogosphere is about to get a little more colorful as our series where we delight in a bit of an inspirational inquisition here on FYC continues. Looking to test the waters to determine if the source that feeds our inspiration, if it tends towards a singular color, can tend to aim our creative output in the same direction as elements associated with that color. Last week we rolled out Inspiration in Green: The FYC Edition, and so the color wheel keeps turning as the series carries on. So welcome back to the FYC edition of the popular…
Preview Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change

Angie Bowen

3 Nov 2009 | 12:44 am

We recently had some time to sit down and check out the preview of Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change from Trend Hunter founder Jeremy Gutsche. From this full-color and wonderfully illustrated preview it seems that Exploiting Chaos promises to be as visually stimulating as it is verbally engaging, and the powerful first chapter of this book had us scribbling down ideas and longing to get our hands on a full copy. For that reason, we wanted to recommend that anyone interested go check out the first chapter for themselves, to see what we are talking about. We…
Creative Discussion – What Gets Your Creative Butt In Gear?

Rob Bowen

3 Nov 2009 | 12:20 am

In our first Creative Discussion on beating the creative blocks we tackled an issue that most people who are involved with the creative process have run into, a problem of inspiration. In this month’s discussion we are addressing a different sort of bump in the road, a problem of motivation. For creatives and non-creatives alike, sometimes the issue that arises is not necessarily a block of ideas, in fact, there may be times when you have an over abundance of inspiration, but you just cannot seem to get started. For whatever the reason, we come across the times when we are unable to…
A Month In The Creative Community: An October Round-Up

Angie Bowen

2 Nov 2009 | 12:22 am

Falling into the winter’s grip, we leave another month behind shuffling towards the year’s end. October has drawn to a close and that means it is time for the FYC monthly round-up. So we scoured the feeds and stopped by our favorite cyberspace hangouts to grab the best content that the creative community had to offer in October. Whether you caught them the first time around or you are seeing them for the first time, the showcase below is what we believed should not be left behind with the days we dropped along the way. So we hope you enjoy these fantastic features! Inspiration 45+…

Boagworld
Do aesthetics need to be compromised for the sake of usability?

Paul Boag

6 Nov 2009 | 8:36 am

As you will know if you have followed me for any length of time, I have great respect for usability expert Gerry McGovern. We work on similar projects and share a similar view of the web. However, this week I parted company with Mr McGovern over his most recent post “Why web links are calls to action.” In it he wrote: It’s hard to read what Dustin writes on this black background; gave me a bit of a headache actually. But that’s okay. I had a great overall experience of the page because its black background communicated an important emotional, aesthetic thing to me.
The biggest ecommerce lies and how to avoid them

Paul Boag

6 Nov 2009 | 3:35 am

Of all the sites I am involved in at Headscape it is the ecommerce sites that excite me the most. How can you not get excited about working on a website where the fruits of your labour are so visible and direct? Do a good job and the website makes more money, screw up and profits decline. There is something wonderfully black and white about it. With such a measurable and obvious success criteria, you would have thought best practice would be well established and generally accepted. Bad advice would be quickly exposed for what it is and successful techniques would rise to the top. However, it…
190. Become a branding Ninja

Paul Boag

4 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am

Download this show. Launch our podcast player News Offline inspiration It has been a while since we have featured a Smashing Magazine post on the show so thought it was about time. Shocking though this will be, it is not a top 10 list. Instead it is an excellent post on finding inspiration offline. The post argues that using online sources such as CSS galleries for inspiration is not enough. As designers we need to be taking a walk, visiting a museum or spending time sketching. We need to consider these an essential part of our job description. The post examines eight areas of inspiration:…
Don’t reduce your designers and developers to stereotypes

Rob Borley

3 Nov 2009 | 5:08 am

At Headscape I have the privilege of working with a group of very talented people. Both our development team and our design team are on top of their game and it makes my job of Project Managing a little more straight forward because of it. A big part of my job is getting the most out of both of these teams by facilitating them working together in the most effective way. I’m often asked questions like, “Who do you prefer to work with; designers or developers?” and “how does working with developers differ from working with designers?” So here is my inside track on this age old tussle.
10 problems your content management system will not solve and how to overcome them

Paul Boag

30 Oct 2009 | 9:53 am

So many website owners hate their content management system. This is often because it has failed to live up to their unrealistic expectations. Many organisations purchased their CMS hoping to solve a wide range of issues surrounding content production and delivery. In reality, a CMS is only capable of overcoming relatively few. In fact often a content management system will solve one set of problems only to create more. It is these new problems that I wish to address here. What follows is a list of 10 issues that are either directly created by content management systems or that a CMS will…

Dzine Blog
27 Brilliant Photoshop Photo Manipulation Design Tutorials

yugu

4 Nov 2009 | 6:51 am

Photo Manipulation is one of the most complex, highly detailed and creative art forms to come out of the digital age. mixing a bunch of photos together isn’t quite as easy as it might look, Blending different elements to form a single convincing image requires a very diverse skill set. Composition, color theory, the need for a solid concept and the technical skill Here i’ve listed 27 Best Photoshop Photo Manipulation Tutorials by various great Writers, These tutorials have detailed instructions which will help you to create your perfect photo manipulation art, Please let me know what you…
Beautiful Graphic Design Works of Radim Malinic - [ brand nu ]

yugu

30 Oct 2009 | 12:45 am

Radim Malinic has firmly established himself over the last few years as one of the most successful and prolific commercial illustrators working today. His sought after work has earned him reputation of one of the hardest working person in the creative industly with a who’s-who’s client list in the advertising world of household brand names. Based on his award winning work he has become renowned worldwide for the passion and intricate detail. Under the name of Brand Nu, he tells stories in vibrantly colourful images throught mixtures of shapes, handrawn elements and photo…
30 Nature Inspired Website Designs For your inspiration

yugu

26 Oct 2009 | 7:18 am

Now a days you can see a increasing trend of using nature elements in web-design. incorporating nature elements like trees , landscape, sea, sky etc in to the design gives a more realistic and pleasant look to the website Here i’ve collected 30+ website designs base on nature theme, its quite interesting and inspiring to see how designers take colors and elements for nature and bring them in to web design, hope you all will like this collection 1.) 84Colors 2.) Hrasi 3.) Reklambyrå stockholm 4.) Dara’s Garden 5.) Springtime in Tennessee 6.) Adventure Travel 7.) Morphix Design Studio…
27+ Beautiful Examples of Infographics

yugu

19 Oct 2009 | 9:30 am

Infographics refers to visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. They are also used extensively as tools by computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians to ease the process of developing and communicating conceptual information. Infographics allows you to see the and understand the concept in a more interesting and useful manner, Here I’ve listed 27+ beautiful infographic design, that will help and…
Splash Screen Design Evolution of Famous Design Software’s

yugu

11 Oct 2009 | 10:45 pm

Splash screens are those floating images displayed for a couple of seconds when the program is launching, Splash screens Typically serve to enhance the look and feel of an application or web site, and hence are often visually appealing, in this post i cove the splash screen design evolution of famous design software’s like Photoshop, Corel Draw, Illustrator, Maya, 3Ds Max and In design. Hope you find this collection interesting and worth sharing Maya Splash Screen Evolution Corel Draw Splash Screen Evolution Photoshop Splash Screen Evolution Illustrator Splash Screen Evolution 3Ds Max…

Elite By Design
Web Design Tuts Is For Sale

Brian

4 Nov 2009 | 7:03 pm

That’s right, I’m selling Web Design Tuts. After being unable to successfully manage the site, I have created an auction over at Flippa. Click here to view auction. I want to pass WDT onto a new owner who will be able to take advantage of this amazing site, with superb content, wonderful followers, and limitless potential. Please check out the auction if you are interested. If you have more questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to comment below or email me at brian[at]webdesigntuts.com. Thank you everyone for your support thus far and I know that Web Design Tuts will…
The Ultimate WordPress Guide For The Absolute Beginner Part 1

Brian

18 Jan 2009 | 10:01 pm

I personally recommend WordPress to every client I work with or any person who asks me how to get started in the online world. Why? Because I trust WordPress. Wordpress is easy to use, easy to learn, and easy to maintain. The problem comes when people simply haven’t been immersed into the online world long enough to learn how to use this powerful tool to their advantage. I am bombarded with questions about ‘how to do this’ and ‘how to do that.’ Unfortunately, there has never been a resource I could point to that would be the ultimate learning center for an…
And THIS Is Why You Don’t Steal Online Content

Brian

16 Jan 2009 | 3:39 pm

Update: The site that was stealing content has removed their post, although I did not get any sort of reply email. And to the people that were emailing me from Web Design Tuts with those dirty messages – it was other people stealing WDT content, not the other way around Second Update: The site owner has kindly emailed me and apologized for what happened. The article was removed and no harm was done. I will keep this post up as a way to help deter future content thieves. Look everyone, if you’re going to take content, at least don’t steal someone’s bandwidth, and it…
Launching Web Design Tuts

Brian

5 Jan 2009 | 3:00 pm

Well I knew it couldn’t stay a secret forever. Today, after writing a 6 hour, 2,000 word Photoshop tutorial, I went ahead and did an early-open for Web Design Tuts. I rolled out a couple of Twitter updates to get a few people’s reactions to the site. Some loved it. Some hated it. @BuildInternet was the first to actually look up Web Design Tuts on Who Is and noticed that the nameservers were pointed to Elite By Design. And the secret was out! So yes, I am launching Web Design Tuts as a companion site to Elite By Design. I’ve written some posts in the past here on EBD about…
Artist Allure: A Vitaly S Alexius Showcase

Angie Bowen

12 Dec 2008 | 4:00 am

Vitaly S Alexius is an innovative graphic artist with a style all of his own, and of his own making. Born in Novokuznetsk, located on the Tom River in south central Siberian Russia in the year of our Big Brother (1984, for all those not acquainted with the reference). With a fascination in all things celestial and a wide range of artistic backgrounds, add a dash of Photoshop enthusiasm, and Vitaly has created a unique artistic voice that shines like the stars from the heavens above. Early in his life, Vitaly grew up in the European architecture and factories that surrounded him,and he…

Nettuts+
Learn how to AJAXify Comment Forms

Jeffrey Way

6 Nov 2009 | 10:28 am

In this week’s video tutorial, I’ll teach you how to take a simple, boring contact form and add some animations and an AJAX post request to submit the form to your MySQL database asynchronously. In addition, we’ll also implement a bit of server and client-side validation to better secure our data. When submitting to the database, we’ll also review the most secure methods, including the use of prepared statements, which will bind the necessary values to each query, rather than embed them. Screencast *Note – please forgive me, but I had a slight cold when recording…
Book Review: Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development

Fred Wu

6 Nov 2009 | 2:01 am

If you are looking into buying a book to learn about Zend Framework, chances are you are already set on using Zend Framework to build your next project. Today, we will be looking at Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development by Keith Pope, published by Packt Publishing. First of all, you’ll notice that this book is based on Zend Framework version 1.8, and as of writing this review, the latest stable release of Zend Framework is 1.9.4. This is not an issue, because 1.9, even though it brings new features such as PHP 5.3 compatibility and RESTful web services, does not change its…
Inside the Mind of ThemeForest’s Top Selling Author

Jeffrey Way

5 Nov 2009 | 4:33 am

Kriesi is ThemeForest’s top selling author; he, last month, broke the record of most sales in a single month, across all of the Envato marketplaces! It’s even more shocking when we consider the fact that he’s only 27 years old! In this interview, we’ll dive into his work process, and hopefully steal some tips and inspiration! How long have you been in the web design business? About five years ago, I started the Multimedia and Web Design Course at SAE Vienna in my home country, Austria. Back then, I did mostly Flash stuff (almost every piece of work was REALLY horrible…
Create a Contact Manager – New Plus Tutorial

Connor Zwick

4 Nov 2009 | 11:28 pm

In this three-part series – in depth tutorials + two hour screencast – we’ll be creating a contact manager using jQuery and CodeIgniter. As more and more applications are moving towards the hive, web developers & designers alike are required to learn more and more about how to design “desktopesque” projects. Join Tuts Plus For those unfamiliar, the family of TUTS sites runs a premium membership service called “TUTSPLUS”. For $9 per month, you gain access to exclusive premium tutorials, screencasts, and freebies from Nettuts+, Psdtuts+, Aetuts+,…
Build a Simple Password Strength Checker

Siddharth

4 Nov 2009 | 12:15 pm

Providing instant feedback is the in-thing right now. Why limit yourself to checking usernames and email addresses? Why not extend this to provide quick visual feedback about the strength of the password the user has input? Today, we’ll take a look at how to create a simple password strength checker using the jQuery library, regular expressions and a simple algorithm. A Word From the Author As most security experts will tell you, the user is always the weakest link. The most secure of systems are vulnerable when a user chooses an extremely ill-advised password. With that in mind, the…

Woork Up
jQuery Lessons Series: Manipulating CSS Classes

Antonio Lupetti

6 Nov 2009 | 3:29 pm

In this lesson I want to illustrate you how to use some useful jQuery methods that allow you to manipulate easily CSS classes. In particular I prepared some examples to explain the following methods: toggleClass(), hasClass(), addClass() and removeClass(). For a printable reference guide to the jQuery API I suggest you to download my jQuery Visual Cheat Sheet or take a look at the official jQuery documentation. Highlight content Start taking a look at this basic example. Here is a list of items. You can highlight each item of the list by clicking over it and return to the original status with…
The Web Designer Wheel

Antonio Lupetti

3 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pm

The Web Designer Wheel is simple process model that describes in five steps how to manage a small web project and relations with client. This approach allows you to work better, set and respect milestones and establish profitable and long-term relations with your clients. Here is the process: The model Requirements Definition: in this first step you have to “translate” all customer requests in requirements and features to implement. You can elaborate a list with a certain number of items that describe what you have to do. Planning: for each item you identified in the previous…
What’s Your Own Personal ‘Coding Horror’?

Grace Smith

3 Nov 2009 | 8:46 am

Most of us can remember building our first website or application and the excitement that came with learning new techniques and languages. However, years (or even months) later when we look back at our first tentative steps in web development, we realize just how horrible those first lines of code where. Sites such as The Daily WTF are even dedicated to user-submitted examples of bad code and software design. Inspired by this I’d like to ask the readers here at Woorkup to share your own personal coding horror stories and examples of of the worst, invalid and downright ugly code…
WordPress Visual Cheat Sheet

Antonio Lupetti

1 Nov 2009 | 6:06 am

WordPress Visual Cheat Sheet is the new document, of the Visual Cheat Sheet family, that contains a practical reference guide to WordPress 2.8. This cheat sheet (5 pages) contains the full reference guide to WP Template Tags with detailed descriptions and sample code. The simple visual style I used to design this sheet allows you to find at a glance everything you are looking for. Download WordPress Visual Cheat Sheet Scribd Preview
Woork Up is a part of the Smashing Network!

Antonio Lupetti

31 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pm

I’m really happy to announce Woork Up is now a part of the new Smashing Network, a network created by Smashing Magazine that includes 18 high-quality web design blogs and magazines about web design. I want to say a big thanks to Vitaly Friedman and all Smashing Magazine editorial staff for the inclusion of Woork Up. You can follow our update on the Woork Up’s channel on the Smashing Network.

Graphic Rating | Web Design, Graphic Design, Sites Rating
10 Impressive Game Trailers

Andy Gongea

1 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pm

Do you remember the first game trailer that made you WOW. And I don’t mean WOW like Windows Vista … but a real WOW. Well this is a post that tries to give thanks to those creative game trailers designers and also remember some of the best trailers. 1. Warcraft 3 You can’t say game trailers without mentioning Blizzard Entertainment. It is the company that practically made the transition from simple announcements to cinematic experiences. And the first trailer that I will always remember is Warcraft 3. 2. Starcraft 2 The second title in is the next Starcraft installment from…
My Top 10 Daily Web Stops

Andy Gongea

22 Oct 2009 | 3:40 pm

I am curious about your first daily web stops. So in order to find yours I will share mine. Here are my first 10 web stops that usually are on my list every day. Let’s check them and see whether you have the same habits or not. 1. Gmail By far this is the first thing that I go to when I open my browser. I think I’m not the only person since checking your mail in our days is crucial to any professional. 2. Google Analytics Yes, my name is Andy Gongea and I have a stats addiction. So, the next thing that I usually do is to verify Graphic Rating’s stats. 3. Blog Comments This…
Thanks to our Sponsors

Andy Gongea

19 Oct 2009 | 11:13 am

With the help of this mini-post I want to thank our sponsors for their support. With their help I can continue sustaining this blog and delivering from time to time some interesting posts. Cheers! Sponsors: - WPBest – The Best Premium Wordpress Themes, Pugins and More - Wordpress Themes – WPStyles.org Cheers!
6 Icon Packs You Will Actually Use

Andy Gongea

11 Oct 2009 | 2:41 pm

These days you can find icon packs posts on many blogs. There is nothing wrong with that, just that you should get value from those icon packs. In this post I want to showcase 6 icon packs that I think are worth mentioning and saving as a bookmark for future projects. There is no particular order – every pack has the same importance. 1. Social Network Icon Pack Designed by Rogie King from Komodo Media, the Social Network Icon Pack contains 80 refined, amazing social networking icons for the top networks around: Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon etc. I’ve used this pack to…
Creating Wireframes with Pencil (Firefox Addon)

Andy Gongea

5 Oct 2009 | 3:59 pm

As a request from the previous article, I’ve decided to create a tutorial on how to create wireframes using Firefox. OK, we wont be using just Firefox but an additional addon – Pencil -, which makes creating graphic user interfaces and various types of sketches an easy task. Tutorial Requirements Tutorial Theme: Creating Twitter User Interface Wireframe Software Requirements: Mozilla Firefox Browser, Pencil Firefox Addon Skill: Beginner Tutorial completion time: 15 minutes 1. Launching Pencil In order to start Pencil Addon, you must start first Mozilla Firefox. After that, you…

Pro Blog Design
Why and How to Use Dropbox for Client & Blog Files

Michael Martin

5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

We all know that our computers will crash someday, and we all know that we need to make backups of our files to keep our work safe. The hassle is that a lot of backup methods are tedious and time wasting to keep going. We want to have a backup system that we can set up, and then forget about it. We’ve already shown you how to keep a WordPress database safe, but in this post we are going to look at the rest of your blog and theme files, as well as client files or any other important documents you keep. Here’s what we’ll be talking about: What is Dropbox? Securing your blog folder. Why…
40 Hand-Picked Themes For Joomla

Tehseen

2 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

Joomla is a CMS (Content Management System) that lets you create websites, blogs, web portals and online applications with a minimal amount of coding. It has a lot in common with WordPress. We haven’t covered Joomla in any way previously on this blog, so we’re going to start by giving you a taste of the sites that can be made with Joomla. The following 40 themes are all free to use and show you the starting point you could have for your next site if you use Joomla with it. If you’d like to see more Joomla coverage in the future, just let us know. Or of course, we can stick…
Design Review: Splashnology

Michael Martin

29 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

Splashnology is a community design site. Members join up and submit articles, which are then displayed in blog format on the website. Today we’re going to take a look Splashnology’s design to see what has been done well, and what we would improve on. Lets start by opening up a new tab, and then on to the review! NB – This is a sponsored design review. To see about getting one for your own site, email us. What Has Been Done Well? The first word that comes to mind when describing this design would be “clean.” The color scheme is largely black and white, and there is ample padding with…
Help Us Out With Some FeedBack?

Michael Martin

26 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

It’s been a while since we last asked for some feedback about who you are and what you think of the site. If you could spare two minutes to answer the polls below, it would really help us make Pro Blog Design even better! There is also a reward for anyone answering the question at the end! Absar from ShopHTML is offering 20% off their PSD to HTML services to anyone who does! On top of that, I will choose one random winner from the list andgive them a free design review, published here on Pro Blog Design. That means you get all the feedback on your website of course, but also a good bit of…
22 (Now 28!) of the Best Green Web Designs

Michael Martin

15 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

Update (17/10/09): We’re now up to 28 awesome green web designs, thanks to all your comments! Today is the 3rd Blog Action Day, meaning that you’ll be bombarded by articles from all over the internet on helping our environment. We took part in the first two, and of course we’ll be taking part in the bombardment today as well. Keeping in line with our regular topic, we’ve pulled together a collection of the best designed “green” blogs and websites out there. As web and graphic designers, one of the easiest ways we can help out a green organization is to help out with their…

About.com Web Design / HTML
Poll: What Operating System do you use?

5 Nov 2009 | 12:04 am

If you're like most Web designers, you have several computers. But there is probably one that you prefer over all the rest. What operating system does that machine use? Personally, I have a Windows XP machine, access to Windows Vista and Windows 7, Mac 10.4 and 10.6. But my preferred OS is Snow Leopard - Mac 10.6. It took me a while to get it installed (Apple had to send me a replacment disc), but now that it's up and running I just love it. What's your favorite OS?Poll: What Operating System do you use? originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at…
Wordless Wednesday - Readers' Favorite Page Designs: Mad Cat Photo Page

4 Nov 2009 | 12:07 am

Read more...Wordless Wednesday - Readers' Favorite Page Designs: Mad Cat Photo Page originally appeared on About.com Web Design / HTML on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 08:07:37.Permalink | Comment | Email this
Editor Round-Up

3 Nov 2009 | 1:04 am

Since the last round-up, I've reviewed 27 more editors. I still have dozens left to go. If you have a favorite, why not write a review of it? That will get it to my attention as well as let others know what you think is the best. Amaya Angel Writer Arachnophilia BBEdit Bluefish Code Lobster CoffeeCup HTML Editor Crea:Text Cream Crimson Editor Cute User-Friendly Text Editor Emacs HTML-Kit Tools jEdit Notepad NoteTab Light NoteTab Pro NoteTab Standard Nvu Quanta Plus Rapidweaver SlickEdit Selida TextWrangler vi Web Assist HTML Editor Website Meta Language Editor Round-Up originally appeared on…
Monthly Review October 2009: What's Happening at Web Design @ About.com

2 Nov 2009 | 11:22 am

It's getting colder up here. We had a pellet stove installed at the beginning of the October, and we're starting to use it a lot. I love having a fireplace again! I've also gotten deep into editors for the last few weeks. Hopefully I can get the reviews done quickly. But on to the website! Introducing a New Site Feature I have been given the opportunity to beta test a new feature coming to all About.com websites soon - user submitted articles and pictures. I would love to see your submissions, and I got a number in just the few weeks it was live in October. How to Become a Web Designer - find…
Is Your Hosting Provider Green?

29 Oct 2009 | 2:07 pm

I have looked at a lot of hosting provider's Websites, and they all say the same thing. So when I came upon the Green Geeks hosting site, I was surprised. They offer similar hosting plans to other providers, but they do one thing differently - they are green. In fact, they claim they are "300% green hosting." This intrigued me so much, that I asked for an interview with their CEO, Trey Gardner to find out more. Is your hosting provider green? Why not let us know by submitting a review. More About Finding a Web Hosting Provider Green Web Hosting Interview Web Host Profiles How to Find Cheap…

lewro's blog
Amazon S3 services – bulletproof solution for your data.

lewro

26 Oct 2009 | 6:52 am

I have already mentioned my backup system for my local data using time machine and git but today I want to talk how to make bulletproof backup solution using S3 amazon servers. You might wander why would someone need external server when there is time machine. The answer is simple, not everyone has a time machine, your external HD could fail or someone could even break into your house and take your laptop/pc and external HD as well. Yeah I know, this is highly unlikely. But wait a second you will like this one. How would you like if all your databases would be backup, zipped and send to…
Simplify your workflow using bash scripting

lewro

5 Oct 2009 | 2:13 pm

It has been only couple of months when John introduced me to bash scripting, specially creating aliases in bash_profile. For those of you who do not know how the aliases in bash profile work I will explain it very simple way. It is like giving a set of commands and name in one place and be able to type the name in terminal and all these commands will be executed. As I have mentioned before I set up alias for every new project. There is a simple reason. When you are using git for pulling and pushing code into git repository you always need to be in the root folder of that project. So instead…
Pretty tooltips using jquery

lewro

17 Sep 2009 | 1:07 pm

Last week I received question – how do I create tooltip, the one which you can see on my portfolio page. I have to say, at the time I was creating that tooltip I was not using jquery so the code in my js file will look different. If you are not fully sold on jquery I will try to show you how this can be done very quickly and easy way. First of all you need the jquery library. The best way is to link it from google repository so you always get the last version and it could be already cashed if the user comes from the site which uses the same technique. <script…
Front-end development the right way

lewro

2 Sep 2009 | 1:23 am

We at thrusites are having dev meetings twice a month. This Friday it was my turn to talk about design and I have decided to share most of the presentation with you guys. My talk was a mixture of design standards and my own personal tweaks and hacks I use in every day work. Workflow Every-time I start a new project I follow the same steps. I start with sketches which are usually done on paper but not always. There are times when I only sketch in my mind. If you are designer your mind probably works the same way. I can draw the whole picture in my mind and use that as a basic for next process.
Moving my RSS Feed to Feedburner

lewro

16 Aug 2009 | 9:55 am

The short version Please change the address in your rss readers to http://feeds2.feedburner.com/lewro. The long version I have changed the rss address couple of times before and I do not really want to do again because it confuses people, but using Feedburner is standard way serving blog feeds today. My feeds have been served by Feedburner for quite some time but link on my blog is not pointing there. My mistake. There is only about 30 people who use my Feedburner’s feed at the moment comparing to hundreds of you who use the one on this server. (lewro.com/feed) I will be changing the…

Bridgeline Software Blog
Avoid These Common Mistakes When Implementing WCM

Tony Pietrocola

5 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

It seems like just about every company both large and small, b2c, b2b and the like are evaluating a new content management system or in the beginning stages of implementing one. CMS success, which way will you go... Either way it is not too late to ensure success. I continue to see many organizations make a lot of the same mistakes during a CMS implementation. If you are in the throes of evaluating a new CMS, avoid these common missteps to ensure your content management implementation is successful. 1. Make certain the software provides intrinsic value. Don’t purchase CMS on cost alone. Not…
The Importance of the Style Guide in a Web Project

Matt Glaze

27 Oct 2009 | 1:50 pm

The project is done, delivered and launched. Timelines were met, UI work was superb, designs look great, quality assurance and testing went smoothly. Happy client. Model project. Then you get that dreaded call two weeks later from someone on the other side who is wondering where their style guide document is. “It was in the proposal” they say. And yes, they are right, there it is, plain as day. No one realized it was missing and now you have to get it done! A style guide serves many purposes. On one hand, it can be used in the early phases of a project to ensure common use of…
The state of browser/screen resolutions – how wide should your website be?

Tracey Greene

23 Oct 2009 | 1:20 pm

When your start creating the visual design of a website there are a lot of considerations to think about such as: What is the company brand? What colors, fonts, and imagery should be used? What are the main communication objectives that need to be answered? Although these are all important, the first questions that should come to mind are: Who are your target audiences and What are their computer capabilities (i.e. Browser level, connection speed, computer literacy, monitor/screen dimensions, etc.). By answering these, this helps inform the overall canvas dimensions to support the various…
Writing for the Web Part 1: The Title

Becki Dilworth

22 Oct 2009 | 8:53 am

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/ / CC BY 2.0 Despite the old adage, it’s fair to say that most of us often choose a book by its cover. First impressions reign king in our busy world – where we are inundated with choices. What’s interesting, though, is how very little thought goes into the first impression a Web site may make. Though it can vary, one of the primary introductions users have to a Web site is within the search results. It’s a common behavior. Users perform a search, quickly scan the result set and generally make a choice on what site to visit based…
MITX ‘Get Relevant’ Website Personalization Roundup

Brett Zucker

20 Oct 2009 | 8:21 am

We recently participated on a panel at an excellent MITX event focused on getting relevant website content to your audiences. I think we could have spent the entire day on the topic and the speakers were very knowledgeable and passionate which always makes for a good seminar. I hoped the audience would be able to take away a tangible list of action items and at least a starting point for thinking about content personalization. So I thought I would jot those down here for everyone. While some folks may be well beyond the basics, I still believe these principals work for everyone. 1)…

AndySowards.com
links for 2009-11-07

Andy Sowards

7 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am

links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web (tags: ping.fm) If you like this, You’ll love These. No Related Posts
links for 2009-11-07

Andy Sowards

7 Nov 2009 | 2:34 am

links for 2009-11-07 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? Where did tech firms' logos come from? | News | TechRadar UK Fantastic brief history of some of the most famous tech logos (tags: ping.fm) links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a…
links for 2009-11-07

Andy Sowards

7 Nov 2009 | 1:42 am

Where did tech firms' logos come from? | News | TechRadar UK Fantastic brief history of some of the most famous tech logos around (tags: logos) The Best Steampunk Gadgets & Devices Ever | Fried Post More Steampunk Awesomeness If you like this, You’ll love These. No Related Posts
links for 2009-11-06

Andy Sowards

6 Nov 2009 | 11:44 pm

links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web (tags: ping.fm) links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math…
links for 2009-11-06

Andy Sowards

6 Nov 2009 | 11:14 pm

links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web (tags: ping.fm) links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? links for 2009-11-06 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming Freelancer, Hacks, Downloads, Math…

webtoolkit4me
Inspiration: web design trends in 2009 (and 2010): Where are we heading? Volume 2

Gerasimos

2 Nov 2009 | 10:39 am

Here’s the second part of posts about web design trends that we will see in the end of 2009 and 2010. If you missed the first post have a look there as well. In this post we will check a few examples using text replacement techniques (image based or through javascript), a touch of flash and/or complicated (but non intrusive) backgrounds. Visit Visit Visit Visit Visit Visit Visit Visit Visit Related posts:Inspiration: web design trends in 2009 (and probably 2010): Where are we heading?Logo of the Day – Logo Design InspirationKontain – a blogging platform from FI.com
Build iPhone apps with Flash Pro CS5 and Actionscript 3

Gerasimos

6 Oct 2009 | 12:35 am

Some great news can be found at Adobe Labs. At MAX 2009, Adobe announced the next version of Flash (CS5) that will enable us to build applications for iPhone using Actionscript 3.0. A public beta is not available yet but Adobe says it will be available before the end of the year. If you want to learn more about it, keep an eye on Adobe Labs page for Flash CS5. Related posts:Decision Maker – Easily build decision guides and trouble shooters with this jQuery script.Aptana PHP – Version 1.0 is outKontain – a blogging platform from FI.com
Stylizer and Pixelmator competition results

Gerasimos

16 Sep 2009 | 2:35 am

Hello everyone, Actually i am bit late, but there we go, the winners for the 2 prizes i promised a while ago. So, after picking some random comment numbers the winners are: Stylizer: Paolo Valzania Pixelmator: The Voyager I ll get in touch with you in order to give you your serial numbers. Congratulation guys! And from tomorrow we’ll get back in track with more resources. Related posts:Vacation time for me, free stuff for you: Win a copy of Stylizer for windows and Pixelmator for Mac OS XThe Gift of Knowledge GIVEaway: Donate your mindlet’s move on
Vacation time for me, free stuff for you: Win a copy of Stylizer for windows and Pixelmator for Mac OS X

Gerasimos

16 Aug 2009 | 11:57 am

Hi everyone, it’s this time of the year again where i have to take a break and recharge my batteries. So before leaving my RSS feed alone for about 15 days i decided to give away 2 small but powerful apps to 2 lucky readers. So here they are then: Stylizer for Windows users For our windows friends it’s Stylizer. If you don’t know what this is, well you should give it a try. It’s a CSS editor but not like every other editor. It approaches things in a visual way but with 100% control over your stylesheet. If you manage to spend the first 15 “uncomfortable”…
Inspiration: web design trends in 2009 (and probably 2010): Where are we heading?

Gerasimos

15 Aug 2009 | 12:39 pm

Big photography, huge typography, sketches, nature and sliders. There are other “trends” as well but i believe these are the elements used mostly in today’s web design world and will be used next year as well. In this post I’ve got 4 sites for each of the 5 categories i mentioned earlier. Sites using big titles Visit Visit Visit Visit Sites using big images Visit Visit Visit Visit Sites inspired by nature Visit Visit Visit Visit Sites using sketches Visit Visit Visit Visit Sites using sliders Visit Visit Visit Visit And that would be it. So what do you think? What…

Web Design Ledger
The Best Free Fonts of 2009

Henry

5 Nov 2009 | 9:47 pm

As this year comes to a close, we can look back and see that 2009 was a big year for typography. We saw more web designs with a focus on type, and there were some pretty amazing fonts released. Here are some of the best free fonts from this past year. A few of the fonts below were released at the end of 2008, but since they didn’t see much action until this year, I included them in the list. Chunk Chunk is an ultra-bold slab serif typeface that is reminiscent of old American Western woodcuts, broadsides, and newspaper headlines. Used mainly for display, the fat block lettering is…
Ten Tips for Becoming a Better WordPress Developer

MikeSmith

4 Nov 2009 | 8:49 pm

It’s no secret that here at Web Design Ledger, we love WordPress. It’s what powers this website as well as inspires the content we publish on a regular basis. We’ve discussed WordPress numerous times before on the site and today we’re going to cover some of the things you can do to become a better WordPress developer. I am going to cover a little bit from across the board as to what we can do to become WordPress developers. Some items take only a minute or two to complete while others might take a bit more initial effort. I promise though that through it all,…
WDL Premium: Light Grunge Textures

Caleb

3 Nov 2009 | 10:08 pm

Sometimes you just need to add a hint of grunge to your designs, rather than a big dirty mess and that’s where these subtle grunge textures come in. I created them in Photoshop by combining several different textures in separate layers to get the final effect that you see. I hope you guys can find some awesome uses for the textures, I had a blast making them. Enjoy! For more premium textures check out PremiumTextures.com. There are 20 textures in all. Here is a preview: Download Light Grunge Textures Premium MemberYou must be a WDL Premium member to accesss the rest of this article.
Web Design Trends for 2010

jkthomas

2 Nov 2009 | 7:57 pm

With a new year on the horizon, it’s time to pack away the old, worn web designs and prepare for the brave, new face of tomorrow. Although trends don’t start and stop on January 1st, there is a definite shift from what we craved at the beginning of the year to what we are seeking tutorials for at the end of the year. Most of the time, this shift is subtle. It’s a perfection or re-interpretation of a currently hot trend. Trends help us evolve as designers. As we master the skills of design aesthetic, we continue to push forward to what’s next or what needs to be fully…
Convert Your PSD’s into Web Pages with SiteGrinder 2

Henry

1 Nov 2009 | 10:43 pm

If you’re the type of Web Designer that doesn’t like to get your hands dirty with XHTML and CSS, SiteGrinder 2 could become your best friend. It’s a plugin for Photoshop that can turn a design into a fully functional website. This means you will no longer need to outsource the programming of your designs. Enabling Photoshop to Do More Out of the box, Photoshop is a robust graphics package with a powerful set of tools that enable designers to work their magic and create visually stunning web designs. In a typical web site creation workflow, when the design process is finished, so is…

Unmatched Style
The Web Tuts

Gene Crawford

6 Nov 2009 | 10:18 am

Submitted by Luca Bertaiola, @luglio7. Designer & Developer. An easy web aggregator for tutorials. Really great resource and a good design too. I like the multiple column layout and the colors in this design. It’s clean clear and succinct and I don’t have to really hunt around to find content. Brevity is also something that makes this design really work.
saturized.com

Gene Crawford

6 Nov 2009 | 6:55 am

Submitted by @saturized. This is a great looking design agency site. It has tons of great interactions and everything just feels sized and spaced out precisely right. I love the colors and love that big image in the center of the home page. Each page also changes up just enough and contains really well thought out content. The blog is also very nicely done.
sman96.com

Gene Crawford

6 Nov 2009 | 4:29 am

I like the details in this site, it has some good textures and the navigation buttons across the top are well done. I like the picture/illustration of the designer on the right side with the thought bubble pointing you to his blog. This site is pretty well done from top to bottom, each page also gives you something just a little different, just enough to keep you engaged with it from page to page.
arteye.com

Gene Crawford

5 Nov 2009 | 11:22 am

Good looking long scrolling site full of large screen shots of work. I really like the years across the bottom, that’s a really smart way to display both your work and progression of you professionally at the same time.
Mulletized

Gene Crawford

5 Nov 2009 | 9:30 am

Submitted by Brendon Grobler, @biggestmullet. Designer & Developer. A design with a strong focus on typography and graphic design elements. I really like the heavy typography on this site. The layout is quite different from things i’ve seen yet it’s really familiar feeling to use, that’s always the tough thing with doing something new(ish) you tend to change the way people expect to interact with a site and this one really doesn’t do that. However it presents something fresh at the same time. Good job.

Design Snack
GutWebDesign / Current Rating: 78%

23 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

GutWebDesign (http://gutwebdesign.com/)
Reid Jubb Brown Architecture / Current Rating: 73%

14 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

Reid Jubb Brown Architecture (http://www.rjbarchitecture.co.uk)
Lucie Cihakova / Current Rating: 64%

12 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

Lucie Cihakova (http://www.luciecihakova.cz)
Virtualapps UK / Current Rating: 22%

8 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

Virtualapps UK (http://www.virtualapps.co.uk)
Revolt Pro Media ~ Unite & Fight / Current Rating: 73%

5 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

Revolt Pro Media ~ Unite & Fight (http://www.revoltpromedia.com)

Desizntech
35 Adorable Monster and Creature Digital Arts and Wallpapers

Kawsar Ali

1 Nov 2009 | 5:55 pm

Cuteness on overdose! That’s all this post is about. You have been warned. If you are monster junkie and creature illustration enthusiast you will certainly enjoy these digital arts and wallpapers. We have gathered some of the best digital arts and wallpapers on monster, animals, creatures on the web. I do not know whats you favorite [...]
Wordpress Custom Fields and Hacks for Bloggers

Kawsar Ali

27 Oct 2009 | 4:22 pm

You can use wordpress to create a custom and professional looking website. In this post we are sharing some wordpress custom field tricks and hacks that will allow you to have a better wordpress powered site. Sometimes there could be guest bloggers who only writes one post on your site and that’s all. You can [...]
Free Twitter and RSS Icon Set with Bonus Icons

Kawsar Ali

24 Oct 2009 | 6:20 pm

Here is a sweet treat for Desizn Tech readers. In a recent, article we showed you how to easily create twitter icons . Following up that post, here are the twitter icons and also some rss icons. The icons come in different sizes such as 24×24, 32×32, 48×48, 64×64. There is also two bonus rss icons. [...]
22 Really Useful Online Tools for Web Designers and Bloggers

Kawsar Ali

19 Oct 2009 | 8:33 pm

Let’s face it. It is the age of cloud computing and we spend so much time on the internet. Some of us maintain and manage our social lives, work online. Especially if you are a blogger or web designer or web master or all of them together. If you far away from your regular computer [...]
Create a Twitter Icon in Six Easy Steps Using Photoshop

Kawsar Ali

14 Oct 2009 | 11:44 am

You do not need to be a Photoshop pro or Iconist to create a simple icon. Just have an idea of what you want to create and start from there. In this post we are showing you how to create a simple twitter icon for your blog or website in six easy steps. First lets [...]

Web Design
RT @paddycosgrave: 40 insights in 40 seconds from the worlds of social media, ecommerce, web design and usability - http://bit.ly/2nNS7 #dws

6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

RT @paddycosgrave: 40 insights in 40 seconds from the worlds of social media, ecommerce, web design and usability - http://bit.ly/2nNS7 #dws[Filtrs in article: "web design" ][FiltrRank: 4][Source: twitter.com/stctweets]
RT @Plague88 5 Web Design Elements You Should Never Overlook | Website Usability http://post.ly/Bt0b #webdesign

5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

RT @Plague88 5 Web Design Elements You Should Never Overlook | Website Usability http://post.ly/Bt0b #webdesign[Filtrs in article: "web design" ][FiltrRank: 4][Source: twitter.com/jakesoderberg]
Web Design, XHTML, CSS, Usability, SEO, Tutorials and News Blog of Soh Tanaka (Thanks @brenelz) http://icio.us/dvto5t

5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

Web Design, XHTML, CSS, Usability, SEO, Tutorials and News Blog of Soh Tanaka (Thanks @brenelz) http://icio.us/dvto5t[Filtrs in article: "web design" ][FiltrRank: 4][Source: twitter.com/uwinnipegDCE_IT]
How to Web Enable Seniors

5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

The information age has arrived. Cell phones and word processors rule. However, for an important population segment, the ability to use new technology is obscure. The digital divide is problematic as a central tenet of health reform is the use of information technology to improve access, drive quality, and reduce costs. A new paper by Florida [...][Filtrs in article: "web design" ][FiltrRank: 6][Source: psychcentral.com/news]
5 Web Design Elements You Should Never Overlook | Website Usability http://post.ly/Bt0b

5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

5 Web Design Elements You Should Never Overlook | Website Usability http://post.ly/Bt0b[Filtrs in article: "web design" ][FiltrRank: 4][Source: twitter.com/Plague88]

milo
i systems [Flickr]

milo3oneseven

3 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pm

milo3oneseven posted a photo:
milo Showcase - WordPress design collection - free templates and BuddyPress themes [Flickr]

milo3oneseven

3 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pm

milo3oneseven posted a photo:
i sytems [Flickr]

milo3oneseven

3 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pm

milo3oneseven posted a photo:
milo - creative webdesign [Flickr]

milo3oneseven

3 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pm

milo3oneseven posted a photo:
gpix5cart [Flickr]

milo3oneseven

3 Nov 2009 | 2:32 pm

milo3oneseven posted a photo:

Top of Mind
Take the 21-Day LinkedIn Challenge

31 Oct 2009 | 3:06 pm

If you’re serious about your business, it’s time to get serious about LinkedIn! Maybe you don’t know what LinkedIn is or perhaps you’ve started a profile—personal or business—but you haven’t invested the time to build out your network or make working LinkedIn a habit. Now’s your chance! Commit to taking just 15–30 minutes on each of the next 21 days to explore LinkedIn and get first-hand experience with the features and benefits it has to offer you and your business. You’ll be glad you did.What Is LinkedIn?LinkedIn is a…
It’s Time to Tame Your Unwieldy Web Site

23 Oct 2009 | 7:04 am

Unwieldy, disorderly, unrestrained, unruly, out of hand … beyond control. Are these the words that you—or worse yet, your customers—use to describe your Web site?Never fear! Help is on the way in the form of a Web site redesign. With some careful planning and execution, you can reclaim control of your Web site—in particular, your content—to ensure that you provide meaningful user experiences whenever your customers visit you online.Web Site Content StrategyA content strategy is a plan for creating, publishing and governing useful, accessible content for your…
Show and Tell by Adding Video to Your Blog

15 Oct 2009 | 10:58 pm

More than two-thirds (67%) of Americans online have streamed or downloaded digital video content from the Internet, reports Ipsos MediaCT in its recent MOTION study. Furthermore, Nielsen reports a 25% year-over-year increase in total online video streams viewed and a matching increase in online video time per viewer. With this high-level—and growing—interest in online video, chances are good that adding video content to your blog will help you reach a wider audience and raise awareness of your company and brand. Are you ready to give video a try? Sample business how-to video from…
Why Integrated Marketing Matters

8 Oct 2009 | 2:23 pm

Integrated marketing matters because—simply put—your customers and prospects lead integrated online and offline lives. They move seamlessly between online and offline venues and expect a unified, cohesive experience wherever and however they encounter your business.So how do you ensure continuity for your customers and prospects? Through executing highly integrated marketing initiatives across specific channels that your customers frequent and ensuring that your company delivers complementary cross-channel experiences on the backend.Choose the Right Communication Channels for Your…
Fine-Tune PPC Keyword Selection with Google Insights for Search (Part 2)

4 Oct 2009 | 2:29 pm

In Fine-Tune PPC Keyword Selection with Google Insights for Search (Part 1), we started to look at some of the actionable insights that the Insights for Search tool helps you formulate about your keywords. This time, we’ll take our examples a few steps further to explore additional features of the tool. Setting the Stage Recall that for the sake of our examples, you own a plumbing, heating and air conditioning company in Maryland that serves the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Some of the keywords you target include hot water heater gas water heater electric water heater tankless…

BlueWave Media
Links for 2009-11-06 [del.icio.us]

Kimberly Beaven

7 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

Web Application Form Design “Input elements should be organized in logical groups so that your brain can process the form layout in chunks of related fields.” –HTML: the Definitive Guide Quite rare is the Web application that doesn’t make extensive use of forms for data input and configuration. But not all Web applications use forms consistently. Variations in the alignment of input fields, their respective labels, calls to action, and their surrounding visual elements can support or impair different aspects of user behavior.
Links for 2009-11-05 [del.icio.us]

Kimberly Beaven

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

MySuiteStuff MySuiteStuff brings your favorite app collection close to heart. Press 'em, fling 'em, or even hug them. These 12"x12" stuffed icons are 100% hand-made from the softest, fluffiest fleece there is. Head to the shop when you're ready to fill your room with app love! World Architecture Festival | Fast Company Now Blog | Fast Company Cars and airplanes may get tarred with a reputation as energy hogs, but the biggest culprits are buildings. Keeping our offices and homes lit, heated, and cooled accounts for a staggering 72% of electricity consumption and 38% of…
Links for 2009-11-03 [del.icio.us]

Kimberly Beaven

4 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

Using The More Tag vs Manual Excerpts on WordPress Posts | Welcome To WordPress A lot of blogs make it a point to avoid including entire posts right on the home page. Limiting the amount of content that appears on your homepage is an important tactic for a handful of reasons.
Links for 2009-11-02 [del.icio.us]

Kimberly Beaven

3 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

Transmissions: 37signals companion apps for the Mac. Think of it as Twitter for small teams of people. Integrated into 37signals Backpack®, it’s a great, unobtrusive way to keep up-to-date with what everyone on your team is up to and what they’ve accomplished throughout the day. We think it’s a must have for any team.
Links for 2009-11-01 [del.icio.us]

Kimberly Beaven

1 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

The Complete Guide to Google Wave: How to Use Google Wave Google Wave is a new web-based collaboration tool that's notoriously difficult to understand. This guide will help. Here you'll learn how to use Google Wave to get things done with your group. Because Wave is such a new product that's evolving quickly, this guidebook is a work in progress that will update in concert with Wave as it grows and changes. Creative Spacemaking Workshop | Artscape Imagine Bloomfield invites you to join Artscape for an engaging workshop on cultural space development Configuring CalDAV on iPhone…

WhatwasIthinking.co.uk
This week’s tweets on 2009-10-31

Alexander Rehm

31 Oct 2009 | 3:13 am

Anyone remember Death Rally? Well its now available for free! http://bit.ly/3vFjUK # 13 iPhone Apps for Graphic Designers http://ow.ly/wMe0 # 60+ Amazing Poster and Advertisment Tutorials http://ow.ly/wMeC # 5 Easy Steps for Improving Website Usability http://ow.ly/wMf9 # 10 Beautiful Letterpress Business Cards http://ow.ly/wMem # 100 (Really) Creative Business Cards http://ow.ly/wMeu # Usability extensions, accessibility extensions and SEO extensions for FireFox http://ow.ly/wMf5 # RTHX @meeratank @schachin @alteredeye @meloncreative @jankowarpspeed @Shili_Kapoor @sriniworld # Has anyone got…
Go Skimming iPhone app is live!

Alexander Rehm

30 Oct 2009 | 4:48 am

GoSkimming, the new iPhone app by Cumbria Tourism has been released on the iTunes App Store last week. This the first iPhone app I have worked on with New Vision Group and Buzz Interactive. And best of all – its free! About the app: Stone skimming is a worldwide pastime, although depending on where you come from it could be called skipping rocks, baking pancakes, letting the frogs out, letting the ducks out or making white-caps. Whatever you might call it, the rules and fun factor are the same wherever you’re playing… and now that could be anywhere with the Golakes Go Skimming app.
Wordpress 2.8.5 – a hardening security release

Alexander Rehm

22 Oct 2009 | 5:08 am

The brilliant minds behind Wordpress have released version 2.8.5 last night, dealing mostly with security issues. The main fixes of Wordpress 2.8.5 are: Trackback Denial-of-Service attack fix Removal of areas within the code where php code in variables was evaluated Switched the file upload functionality to be whitelisted for all users including Admins Retiring of the two importers of Tag data from old plugins It is strongly recommended to upgrade as soon as you can, either via your WP admin panel or download Wordpress 2.8.5 directly from here.
Adobe releases Coldfusion 9 betas

Alexander Rehm

24 Sep 2009 | 12:21 am

A couple of weeks ago, the brilliant minds behing Adobe released beta versions of ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder to its Adobe Labs members. This latest version of ColdFusion features a greater integration with the popular Flash platform, including AIR, Flex (and Flex Builder) and Flash Media Server, making it easier for developers to create rich user interfaces for (web) applications. Not only that, ColdFusion 9 accelerates the development cycle by reducing complex code and the ability to access data from existing infrastructures based on enterprise solutions such as MS Office, Sharepoint…
FireFox 3.6 Alpha – visual tab previews and faster start-up times

Alexander Rehm

12 Aug 2009 | 1:42 am

Mozilla Labs has just released the first alpha of Firefox 3.6, code-named Namoroka, built on top of Mozilla’s Gecko 1.9.2 layout engine. With it, Mozilla promises JavaScript improvements, startup time speed-ups, visual tab previews and behavior tweaks, capability for additional CSS3 properties, among the most notable changes. The startup time and JS speed improvements are noticeable and welcome, and the visual tab previews are finally here and worth the wait. By default, the new visual tabs are currently hidden in the FF3.6 alpha build, you can easily access them via an about:config…

Cheese and Beans
The results of the great October pleb fishing expedition

Jonathan

6 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pm

Over the course of the last month, I have been investing a little more effort than normal into both writing hopefully interesting posts for my personal blog at Cheese and Beans, and marketing it – with the idea that I could look back after a month or so, and reflect. It’s an odd thing to do because I don’t have a huge narcissistic streak in me, but the availability of free tools to give easy data makes the task of reflection a lot easier than it might have been (read: I am lazy, and this is an easy post to write). Publishing the nitty gritty will probably be interesting to…
Curiosity gets the better of me – Jupiter and it’s Moons…

Jonathan

6 Nov 2009 | 4:31 am

You know the photo I took the other night of Jupiter and it’s moons? Today curiousity finally got the better of me, and I installed a rather wonderful application called “Stellarium” on my netbook, to figure out which moon was which. Rolling back the clock to about the right time-frame that we were in the back garden, the magic box of tricks tells us the following (click on the pic for a bigger version via Flickr); From left to right, they are Callisto, Europa, Io, and Ganymede. It also occurs to me that I should have pointed out that the pictures from the telescope are of…
Remember, remember, the 5th of November

Jonathan

5 Nov 2009 | 1:25 pm

For generations (the last 400 years in fact), English families have taught the rhyme to their children “Remember, Remember, the 5th of November”. The rest of the world has little or no idea that this marker in history exists, and given that I know many people from far flung places read my blog, I thought perhaps a post about this was timely. So what is significant about 5th November? Wikipedia tells us the following; Guy Fawkes, also known as Guido Fawkes; the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of Roman Catholic restorationists…
Retro labels, decluttering, and giving stuff away

Jonathan

5 Nov 2009 | 5:22 am

Given that I wrote a rather philosophical post a few days ago about the attachment of labels to people, the irony has not escaped me that I bought a Dymo label machine this morning. It’s the classic sticky label machine we all remember from the late 1970s that punches letters into sticky plastic tape, which can then be fastened to any object you might care to imagine; plugs, drawers, folders – you name it. The label machine is part of a far bigger jigsaw; my other half’s attempts to begin de-cluttering our house. Since adopting the children a couple of years ago, our house…
Geeking out with Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Jonathan

5 Nov 2009 | 2:12 am

A couple of evenings ago I slotted a spare hard drive into my ASUS EEE 1000H netbook, and installed the latest build of Ubuntu Netbook Remix. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a distribution of Linux purposely designed for small form factor computers. I was very, very impressed. Everything worked immediately. I didn’t have to configure anything. It is FREE! You can install thousands of application for it – and they are free too. Here are a few representative screenshots to give you an idea what it looks/works like; Desktop The Ubuntu Netbook…

CSS Globe | Web Standards Magazine
50 Examples of Effective Uses of Typography Within Web Design

6 Nov 2009 | 3:03 am

Here you will find 50 varied styles and examples of creative and effective typography within web design.
Best Practices for 6 Common User Interface Elements

5 Nov 2009 | 9:20 am

The best practices and usability traits of six user interface elements and the conventions for each.
More 20 jQuery Menu Plugins

4 Nov 2009 | 8:44 am

In this article we present a new collection of jQuery menu plugins.
New York Times-Style Text Selection Widget Using MooTools or jQuery

4 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am

NYT's text selection widget listens for text selection and presents the user with a "search" icon they may click on to learn more about that term. I've duplicated that functionality using MooTools and jQuery
15 New Adobe AIR Apps. For Designers/Developers

4 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

Adobe AIR applications are great considering the ease-of-use & simplicity they offer.

Six Revisions
Announcement: UPrinting Business Card Giveaway Winners

Jacob Gube

6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

UPrinting.com and Six Revisions teamed up to give five Six Revisions readers a chance to win a set of 500 die cut business cards. Today, we’d like to announce the winners of the giveaway. Winners of the UPrinting Die Cut Business Cards These are the folks you’ve won the business cards of the "Best Online Resource for Graphic Designers?" giveaway: Nikas Jose Adan Ortiz AJ Sandra Kidd Annick Congratulations to the winners and you should get an email soon with details on how receive your prizes. Screenshot Here is the screen grab of the MySQL query that was executed to…
Announcement: Navicat License Winners

Jacob Gube

6 Nov 2009 | 7:00 pm

Last week, Navicat, the creators of popular database administration software, worked with Six Revisions to give three lucky winners a chance to win single-user licenses of their wonderful tools. Today, we’re happy to announce the winners. Winners Here are the winners of the Navicat giveaway. Shaun – Winner of Navicat for MySQL Enterprise Edition license JR – Winner of Navicat for PostgreSQL Enterprise Edition license Matt Powell – Winner of Navicat for Oracle Enterprise Edition Congratulations to the winners and you will be contacted soon about claiming your prizes.
Minimal and Modern Layout: PSD to XHTML/CSS Conversion

Jacob Gube

5 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

In this web design tutorial, you’ll see a process for converting a Photoshop mockup to working HTML/CSS template. This is Part 2 of a tutorial series that will show you how to create the design, and then convert it to an HTML/CSS template. Minimal and Modern Portfolio Layout Tutorial Series Part 1: Design a Minimal and Modern Portfolio Layout in Photoshop Part 2: Minimal and Modern Layout: PSD to XHTML/CSS Conversion Demo Click on the image preview below to launch the demo of what we’ll be creating today. Before you begin If you haven’t already, you’re highly…
10 Free Server & Network Monitoring Tools that Kick Ass

Jacob Gube

4 Nov 2009 | 3:48 pm

When you have a website or a network, it’s helpful to be aware of any issues as soon as they occur. There are open source and freeware server/network monitoring tools that will supervise your infrastructure for any issues that may arise. These tools are meant to aid you in avoiding being taken offline and evaluating if your resource needs has outgrown your infrastructure. In this article, we review our top 10 server/network monitoring tools. You will see a variety of server applications here so that you might find the tool (or tools) for your needs. 1. Monit Monit not only monitors your…
Microstock Photo Credits Giveaway: Win 20 Credits on Pixmac

Jacob Gube

3 Nov 2009 | 8:49 am

Pixmac, a microstock photo site (read more about them on the microstock:insider blog), is giving away 20 credits worth $23.00 to five randomly selected winners. How to participate This giveaway is sort of like a scavenger hunt; this is what you have to do: Step 1: Head over to the Pixmac Web Address: http://www.pixmac.com Step 2: Look for a photo that you think represents design and/or development Step 3: Head back to this page and, in the comments: provide a link to your photo describe why you think it represents design and/or development and share your experiences with using the Pixmac site…

Chris Wallace // Designer&Developer
This One’s for Dad

Chris

3 Nov 2009 | 8:16 am

With the launch of my latest theme, Aperturious, I knew this one was going to be difficult. This is the first theme I’ve released since my dad passed away suddenly one week ago today. When he died, I quickly began to realize dealing with it involves a lot of difficult firsts. First time going to church without him there. First time having Christmas without him. First time for everything. For my first theme released without him, I am dedicating it to my dad. He was a great man. I know he’s being taken care of where he went and I can’t wait to meet him there. I love…
Aperturious

Chris

3 Nov 2009 | 7:22 am

Aperturious is a flexible, highly-configurable, gorgeous WordPress theme with the ability to choose between 3 unique designs and 3 different layouts! Learn More and Purchase Buy theme at ThemeForest ($25) View Demo View Screenshots Three Awesomely Designed Color Schemes It may be tough to choose, but this theme comes with three color schemes to choose from, two light and one dark themes. Three Layout Options Choose between a left sidebar, right sidebar or no sidebar for a Tumblr-style blog. Video-Ready with Simple Video Embedder Simply install the amazing Simple Video Embedder…
Tuesday Freebie: Aperture Desktop Wallpaper

Chris

19 Oct 2009 | 8:54 pm

To promote the release of the highly-anticipated Aperture WordPress theme, one of the most flexible and beautiful themes in the known world, I went ahead and put together a desktop background for your downloading pleasure. Go ahead, tell your friends. Download Pick your resolution and enjoy. Make sure to right-click and save as… otherwise it will open up in a nice lightbox window. 2560×1600 2048×1152 1920×1200 1650×1050 1600×1200 1440×900 1400×1050 1280×960 1280×800 1024×768
Monday Freebie: Vector Scale Icon

Chris

18 Oct 2009 | 6:28 pm

Because it’s Monday and because I like you, I am releasing a vector scale icon that comes with 4 PNG icons in 512×512, 256×256, 128×128, and 64×64 and a PSD that has a smart object Illustrator file that can be edited for your needs (CS4 compatible). Click on the image above to see the sizes of the PNG versions. If you do happen to use the icon for anything, please do let me know, I’d love to see where you use it. Download the Scale Icon (.zip) Scale Icon by Chris Wallace is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. Based…
Dealing with a Design Ripoff: 5 Simple Steps

Chris

14 Oct 2009 | 8:53 pm

One of the cardinal sins in the design community is stealing someone’s work and calling it your own. About a month ago, a good friend notified me that his site and portfolio were completely ripped off by a guy he found on ThemeForest. The guy basically took his entire portfolio, slapped a new logo on it, and uploaded it to his domain. My friend was distraught about the whole situation and had no idea what to do. As a Christian, he wanted to help the person, and wasn’t sure what the best approach would be. Obviously, he wanted to get the stolen portfolio taken down. At the same…

Function Web Design & Development
Revisited: Creating Custom Write Panels in WordPress

Spencer

15 Oct 2009 | 6:50 am

Almost a year ago (wow, time flies!) I wrote a little tutorial explaining the nuances of add_meta_box in WordPress, and how it can be used to create some nifty Custom Write Panels. It was a nice little script, and still functioned great. I use it on almost all of the projects Liam and I have, and up to this point, it has been great. However, for an upcoming project, I foresaw some problems. The current way things are set up in the script, it created a new row in the postmeta table for each custom input you included. Because of this, when you wanted to display the results on your theme, you…
Beautiful Post Thumbnails: Top Examples & Best Practices

liam

29 Sep 2009 | 5:32 pm

Your blog post thumbnail will play a big part in how your users see your website, and how they navigate it. A well designed post thumbnail can really engage your visitors and help encourage them to explore your website. Examples of Post Thumbnails A very Unique Solution on Tutorial9 Introducing, a true master at making an interesting post thumbnails, Mr David Leggett. In this case a very bold & unique use of the content (icons) to create a memorable thumbnail. Clean and crisp thumbnail on AppStorm A very clean lighting effect in the background with a modern font & great colors to…
The Envato Marketplaces Re-Design: Our Involvement

liam

27 Sep 2009 | 8:34 pm

We’ve recently had the pleasure once again of working with Collis Ta’eed and the team at Envato, a company we admire - and one full of creative & down to earth guys - running a very successful network of sites. Having them use your icons on their site(s) is one thing, but working with them is a true honor. Here’s our write up of our involvement in the recent re-design, our thoughts on it - and our early design drafts for Collis. A look at the new Envato Marketplaces There’s a lot of people to please when you’re re-designing such a huge network of sites, and a…
178 Free Icons: WooFunction Free Icon Set goes Live

liam

25 Sep 2009 | 8:26 am

A really great set of icons for free. Something that you’ve seen before on this blog, but I think this most recent free set shows just how far I’ve come since the first set, just over a year ago now. This new set of icons was made exclusively for WooThemes & with their help we’ve proud to offer you this fantastic set of icons for absolutely nothing! With this set we’ve gone for a more refined, Mac OSX style Icons (almost) - which seem to be really popular with web designers recently. We’ve also gone for a (smaller than usual) 32 x 32px size, with a few of…
Daily Edition: Re-Inventing a WooThemes Classic

liam

15 Sep 2009 | 3:44 pm

Any WooThemes fan will be familiar with their popular Gazette Edition theme, but for 2009 they wanted something that would push the Gazette Edition theme forward with a more modern, stylish and minimal design. They contacted us about the fantastic project and we gladly accepted. As with most things, the more time you spend working at something the better you become at it. For me each time I work with WooThemes just gets better and better. There’s a real understanding on both sides which makes the projects they give me a real joy to work on. And at the same time it means we make…

Line25
Line25 Sites of the Week for November 6th 2009

Chris Spooner

5 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

Line25 Sites of the Week is a weekly roundup of the most outstanding website designs. In this week’s collection, we have design from Adii Rockstar, Denise Chandler, Adlucent, Glue and Andreas Hinkel. Adii Rockstar View the website Denise Chandler View the website Adlucent View the website Glue View the website Andreas Hinkel View the website Similar Posts Line25 Sites of the Week for October 30th 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 23rd 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 16th 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 9th 2009
Selling Ad Space: Tips from Top Design Blog Owners

Chris Spooner

1 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

The sale of ads is one of the primary sources of revenue for blogs, allowing the owners to continually pump out great content by covering the time required to maintain their websites. It also gives a platform for companies to promote their products and services to specific niches, delivering great results. In this post the owners of some of the top design blogs share their experiences of selling ad space, give advice on the tools they use and share an insight into their best performing ads. Todd Garland from the awesome BuySellAds marketplace also offers his advice to anyone looking to buy…
Line25 Sites of the Week for October 30th 2009

Chris Spooner

30 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

Line25 Sites of the Week is a weekly roundup of the most outstanding website designs. In this week’s collection, we have New to York, TimeSvr, Medicon Media, Pixel Thread and Fusion Ads. New to York View the website TimeSvr View the website Medicon Media View the website Pixel Thread View the website Fusion Ads View the website Similar Posts Line25 Sites of the Week for November 6th 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 23rd 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 16th 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 9th 2009
40 Amazing Female Role Models for Web Designers

Chris Spooner

26 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

It’s no secret that there’s a large difference in the ratio of males to females in the web design industry, but that’s not to say there isn’t any amazingly talented female designers out there. This post rounds up 40 of the most notable and prominent female designers, who can be seen as perfect role models for anyone currently working their way up in their web design career. Watch out, here come the girls! Selene M. Bowlby Name: Selene M. Bowlby Website: idesignstudios.com Twitter: @idesignstudios Emma Taylor Name: Emma Taylor Website: twigglegraphics.com Twitter:…
Line25 Sites of the Week for October 23rd 2009

Chris Spooner

23 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

Line25 Sites of the Week is a weekly roundup of the most outstanding website designs. In this week’s collection, we have designs from Mark Jardine, Mutant Labs, 8Interactive, Purple Raincloud and Ballpark. Mark Jardine View the website Mutant Labs View the website 8Interactive View the website Purple Raincloud View the website Ballpark View the website Similar Posts Line25 Sites of the Week for November 6th 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 30th 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 16th 2009 Line25 Sites of the Week for October 9th 2009

Nettuts+
Learn how to AJAXify Comment Forms

Jeffrey Way

6 Nov 2009 | 10:28 am

In this week’s video tutorial, I’ll teach you how to take a simple, boring contact form and add some animations and an AJAX post request to submit the form to your MySQL database asynchronously. In addition, we’ll also implement a bit of server and client-side validation to better secure our data. When submitting to the database, we’ll also review the most secure methods, including the use of prepared statements, which will bind the necessary values to each query, rather than embed them. Screencast *Note – please forgive me, but I had a slight cold when recording…
Book Review: Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development

Fred Wu

6 Nov 2009 | 2:01 am

If you are looking into buying a book to learn about Zend Framework, chances are you are already set on using Zend Framework to build your next project. Today, we will be looking at Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development by Keith Pope, published by Packt Publishing. First of all, you’ll notice that this book is based on Zend Framework version 1.8, and as of writing this review, the latest stable release of Zend Framework is 1.9.4. This is not an issue, because 1.9, even though it brings new features such as PHP 5.3 compatibility and RESTful web services, does not change its…
Inside the Mind of ThemeForest’s Top Selling Author

Jeffrey Way

5 Nov 2009 | 4:33 am

Kriesi is ThemeForest’s top selling author; he, last month, broke the record of most sales in a single month, across all of the Envato marketplaces! It’s even more shocking when we consider the fact that he’s only 27 years old! In this interview, we’ll dive into his work process, and hopefully steal some tips and inspiration! How long have you been in the web design business? About five years ago, I started the Multimedia and Web Design Course at SAE Vienna in my home country, Austria. Back then, I did mostly Flash stuff (almost every piece of work was REALLY horrible…
Create a Contact Manager – New Plus Tutorial

Connor Zwick

4 Nov 2009 | 11:28 pm

In this three-part series – in depth tutorials + two hour screencast – we’ll be creating a contact manager using jQuery and CodeIgniter. As more and more applications are moving towards the hive, web developers & designers alike are required to learn more and more about how to design “desktopesque” projects. Join Tuts Plus For those unfamiliar, the family of TUTS sites runs a premium membership service called “TUTSPLUS”. For $9 per month, you gain access to exclusive premium tutorials, screencasts, and freebies from Nettuts+, Psdtuts+, Aetuts+,…
Build a Simple Password Strength Checker

Siddharth

4 Nov 2009 | 12:15 pm

Providing instant feedback is the in-thing right now. Why limit yourself to checking usernames and email addresses? Why not extend this to provide quick visual feedback about the strength of the password the user has input? Today, we’ll take a look at how to create a simple password strength checker using the jQuery library, regular expressions and a simple algorithm. A Word From the Author As most security experts will tell you, the user is always the weakest link. The most secure of systems are vulnerable when a user chooses an extremely ill-advised password. With that in mind, the…

Marcofolio.net
Complete list with sweet UI improvements on Windows 7

1 Nov 2009 | 10:34 pm

First things first here: I'm a Mac guy. But I must say: Windows 7 has made quite a lot improvements compared to it's predecessor (Vista). The first time I booted the OS and saw flying orbs create the Windows logo, I was impressed. I was even more impressed by the amazing user interface improvements made by Microsoft. For those that aren't familiar with these, here's a complete list with sweet UI improvements on Windows 7. Below is the startup screen created by the flying orbs. A small little diclaimer here: I've fully skipped the "Windows Vista Era", since I moved to Mac OSX right…
Planet Collision: Free November 2009 Calendar Wallpaper

1 Nov 2009 | 5:52 am

Planet Collision: Free November 2009 Calendar Wallpaper was originally my entry for the Desktop Wallpaper collection on SmashingMagazine. Sadly, my wallpapers weren't selected to be included in the list, but I still wanted to share them with the rest of the world. I hope you enjoy them and use them as your wallpaper. These wallpapers are totally free for all kinds of use. Next to the versions that has a calender on them, the non-calender version has been included (in case you want to use it in other months too). These wallpapers come in a 4:3 (normal) and 16:9 (widescreen) aspect ratio. Also,…
Browser size aware content scaling

26 Oct 2009 | 1:04 am

Just recently, I noticed something pretty cool at Google Images: When you resize your browser, search results are hidden/shown, depending if it makes a full row. It does really have a big advantage: you'll never have any "empty spots" on your website. The grid is always fully filled and results that don't fit in the grid, are simply hidden. I wanted to recreate this technique using jQuery. Just like Google Images, it check how many images fit in each row and hides the one that fall off (depending on the browser size). The difference between my HTML and the one Google, is that Google…
8 different ways to beautifully style your lists

19 Oct 2009 | 9:34 am

The use of HTML lists (<ol> for an ordered list, <ul> for an unordered list) is very common these days. Today, we're going to look a little bit further than creating regular lists, by showing 8 different ways to beautifully style your HTML lists with CSS. We'll use some pure CSS techniques to make a bored list look awesome (and even have some extra functionality). As a reminder, here's how a default ordered list and a unordered list look like: Ordered list item #1 Ordered list item #2 Ordered list item #3 Unordered list item #1 Unordered list item #2 Unordered list item #3 And…
CSS trick: Debug your HTML and CSS

13 Oct 2009 | 1:25 pm

Today, I'll be showing you a neat little CSS trick to Debug your HTML and CSS. Take note that this will not be actual debugging, but it can help you find the element depth on a web page. Also, when you didn't properly close a tag, this piece of code will expose it for you. Simply check out the demo to view what we're going to create! At first, the demo looks like a regular web page. But when you start hovering the elements, you'll be able to see the HTML structure (in depth) of the HTML page. There are just a couple of lines of CSS to get this effect! Check out how (or view the…

Plaveb.com
Six Basic Principles for Developing Successful Rich Internet Applications

Mark Spenser

31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm

The W3C standards summary for Rich Internet Applications is the solution to the accessibility and usability problems of the Web 2.0. Web 2.0 has the issues of usability and accessibility due to the limitations of the XHTML. However, the Rich Internet Application offers novel ways of filling up the gaps in the XHTML through effective communication. The best part about using RIA...
Top Advantages Of Web Apps To Know About

Mark Spenser

31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm

Gone are the days when one had to become almost a system administrator and have the software installed in the desktops. There are no doubts about Web being a highly dynamic field and hence, development of web applications is just being true to its nature. Web application is basically an app (application) that can be accessed through the web browser itself and therefore there is no need to download it to the desktop. Wikipedia defines it as “The term may also...
Flash Websites Enables Good Online Business

Mark Spenser

31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm

Macromedia became the path breaker in the field of computers with its amazing cool graphics and animation. This was possible for macromedia with the making of Flash, though in the start it was just meant for the graphics but several other versions of flash followed and with Adobe it has evolved into what the flash websites looks like today. Adobe did a full justice to the Flash and updated with several innovative features. This made adobe flash the best tool for g...
Switching To New Corporate Identity Design Is Evolution Of The Brand Image Not Revolution

Mark Spenser

31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm

Corporate identity has assumed much importance in today’s world as it primarily deals with the visual aspects of the company’s presence. However, there is a marked difference between corporate identity and brand image. Brand image is all about the perception about your product in the minds of consumers. This perception is developed on the basis of the consumer experience of using y...
Tug Of War: Website design Vs Website Content

Mark Spenser

31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm

The importance of presence in the Dot Com world has increased in leaps and bounds in the few recent years. This has amounted into the rise of websites in the web world and thereby also raising the market competition to a much huge platform. This has resulted into pressuring the online businessmen to hold an upper hand by building an attractive website. It is an established fact now that content is the king and it is one of the important factors that can bring in o...

Webdesigner Depot
Pure Design Awesomeness by Niark

Walter

6 Nov 2009 | 10:09 am

Today we’re featuring the awesome talent of Niark, a wondrous 34 year old French freelance graphic designer and witty illustrator living in Paris.Niark takes his inspiration from street art, music and graphics.He works in a broad scope of areas such as advertising agencies, music labels, art toys, streetwear and more.His style features bright colors and abstract illustrations and finds balance in seemingly chaotic environments.If you want to learn more about Niark, take a look at his portfolio. In this post, you’ll find a collection of his best works that you can use for…
Best Practices for 6 Common User Interface Elements

Walter

5 Nov 2009 | 9:17 am

The appearance and usability of certain interface elements and functionality are crucial to the success any websites in today’s market.Studies have demonstrated that even a split-second delay in thinking on the user’s part will weaken their perception and interest in a website and ultimately lower the website’s conversion rate.In certain niches and industries, having UI elements that are not obvious in their use may be perfectly acceptable. The blogging and web development industry are perfect examples.But when we design user interfaces for non-tech-savvy audiences—which…
The Unbelievable and Impossible Photos of Li Wei

Walter

3 Nov 2009 | 9:21 am

Li Wei, a contemporary artist from Beijing China, has been taking self portraits to new heights… literally!His gravity defying photos have been mesmerizing the world, capturing impossible looking moments of apparent extreme danger.You’ll find Wei hanging on in dangerous situations, or crashing head on into sidewalks and cars.Li Wei states that these images are not computer montages and that he works with the help of props such as mirrors, metal wires, scaffolding and acrobatics. He then removes the wires and scaffolding with Photoshop to create these seemingly impossible photos.
CNN’s New Website Design Deconstructed

Walter

2 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am

On Monday, October 26, CNN.com introduced a new website design, making a number of major changes to their information-heavy layout.The new design is beautiful, clean, organized and well-structured. It invites the eye to scan and find something interesting with the goal of clicking through to another page.The previous design was somewhat cluttered and not very inviting; the content looked liked it was being forced into an unstructured space. The new layout is very different and embraces a number of modern web design and usability best practices and trends.So, let’s look in more detail at…
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week Oct 25-Oct 31, 2009

Walter

31 Oct 2009 | 10:46 pm

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers.The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow us on Twitter, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the best tweets that we sent out this past week.Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that we tweeted about, so don’t miss out.To keep up to date with all the cool links, simply follow us @DesignerDepot 20 Quotes To Live Your Life and Design By: http://bit.ly/2sNg9iThe world upside…

Redswish - a web design blog
Letting the computer influence design

nathan

4 Nov 2009 | 6:38 am

In this month's Computer Arts, a particular quote from an inspiring interview with legendary designer Milton Glaser stood out to me: "I find a lot of students beginning to resent the computer as too powerful to use without thinking. They now describe it the same way; they say, "Before I start to do anything, I make notes and sketches and draw because otherwise the computer dominates everything I do"." Although I believe he's more likely referring to graphic design as opposed to web interfaces, it's an important point to consider. Personally I never open Photoshop before scrawling away, pencil…
Long time no speak

nathan

26 Oct 2009 | 9:35 am

Apologies to everyone, I have indeed returned from my travels and am back immersed in the world of real life and work, although this site has yet to kickstart. The new Redswish website is in development and will be relaunching soon, packed with a fresh selection of (hopefully) great articles on web design, marketing, branding and everything in between. So I've decided to hold off publishing any new posts until the new Redswish launches in a few weeks. If you can hold out till then that'll be great - I promise it will be worth the wait! Until that momentous occaision feel free to follow me on…
There and Back Again

nathan

3 Jul 2009 | 4:10 am

Hey folks, for those of you who don't know I'm actually heading off traveling for 3 months. In fact, I've already started and forgot to let you know! As much as I'll try, it's going to be difficult to ensure regular, decent computer access whilst backpacking through Indonesia, Australia and Japan so you may not hear much on Redswish regularly, or even at all, until I get back in October. I will however be putting some focus into a travel blog, which really stretches me thin enough as it is. If you fancy checking it out, it's not quite finished but I'll be building it up as and when I can at…
A real web design curriculum

nathan

25 Jun 2009 | 3:47 am

There's constant discussion in our industry about the merits of education vs self-teaching. The general concensus seems to be from those that studied at University and further education that although it was great experience, it seldom had little impact or relevance to their roles within new media and web design. In such a fast evolving, and still relatively new industry, standard curricula simply can't keep up. Web designers teaching in educational institutions begin to loose touch with the latest trends and technologies, and by the time a curriculum has been created, amended and passed it's…
Total Experience Design

nathan

23 Jun 2009 | 8:29 am

For good experience design to work it has to infuse every element of the business. The website, being the primary UI platform, has to be usable, friendly, easy, fast and fun. The importance of this shouldn't be overlooked. People are busy, we don't have time to learn new complicated systems all the time. Convenience is king! But what other points of interaction does the consumer have with a business? When making a sale, either online, over the phone or in person - the service should be exceptional in every way. Too difficult? Why should it be? Aftersales is just as important, if not more…

Inspired Magazine
8 Amazing Musical iPhone Apps You Must Definitely Touch

Catalin Zorzini

7 Nov 2009 | 3:16 am

You never have enough iPhone & iPod Touch apps! That’s why we keep feeding your precious touch screen with tiny little glossy icons. This time we have 8 musical masterpieces you should definitely try. Please leave your remarks and suggestions in the comments. Rock Band | $6.99 | Review | Download With its near-console quality graphics, varied song selection, and spot-on controls, Rock Band cranks the fun dial to 11 RJDJ | Free | Review | Download Often dubbed as a mind twisting hearing sensation or the trippy soundtrack for your life, RJDJ is one of the greatest experiments ever…
10 Fresh Blogs for Visual Inspiration – the November Edition

Catalin Zorzini

5 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am

Month after month we’re serving roundups of fresh blogs for your inspiration thirst. This time we have 10 amazing websites with tons of inspirational posts and ideas. Please share your suggestions and opinions in the comments. What’s your favorite? Design Investigator Design Investigators is a website dedicated to asking the world’s most infamous web & graphic designers questions that most of us designers may be wondering New Work NewWork is a collective of young people working in new media. On this platform they share their inspiration and latest work Ocon Design Here…
How To: Successfully Launch a Web Design Startup with Social Media and No Budget

Catalin Zorzini

4 Nov 2009 | 3:24 am

This time on Inspired Talks we invited David Perel from Obox Signature Series to give some insights and tips for the creative community. Warning: lots of useful advice for freelancers and startup owners in the design niche. Recently we launched a theme company called the Obox Signature Series. After two months in a ‘saturated’ market it’s become profitable. The reason we believe it became successful so ‘quickly’ is because of the power of Social Media. Our total marketing budget at Obox Design is about $100 a month. Usually at the end of the month we have $92 left. The only thing we…
12 Fresh & Creative Branded iPhone Apps You Should Definitely Touch

Catalin Zorzini

3 Nov 2009 | 6:20 am

Like sponsored websites or web apps, there are tons of branded iPhone apps out there, but only a few have real value. So we’ve made a compilation with the coolest 12 apps from the most creative iBrands. Most of them are free, so prepare you device for a new screen filled with glossy icons! GIG Finder | InBev | Free | Review | Download The free application promises to keep music fans informed and for those simply in need of a night out a chance to see what’s on both locally and across the UK Reebok iSprint | ustwo™ > Inside Mobile | Free | Review | Download A neat little app…
30 Fresh & Priceless Wordpress Themes Out in Octomber

Catalin Zorzini

2 Nov 2009 | 7:29 am

As usual we’re selecting the coolest 30 Wordpress themes of the month. In fact, October was a very prolific one and we actually had to cut a lot of themes that made it to the shortlist. So these here are the best choices for your new projects or redesigns. Enjoy and please leave your comments at the end of the roundup. You should check the September top as well. Kreativik | $30 | Details | Demo Kreativik is a result of our work on an easy, clean and solid design, which would be universal, cool and featured-packed at the same time. Finally available as a Wordpress theme Unique Portfolio…

Mindsmack
MindSmack has been rated the #1 Web Design Agency in the USA for the 7th month in a rowSmack.

admin

2 Nov 2009 | 6:43 am

MindSmack.com and MindSmack.TV specialize in the highest level of interactive web design, flash, animation, 3d, ad design, video, iphone applications, facebook applications, facebook games, twitter applications, post production and web development in the world. In business since 1996, we have won 100’s of recognized awards including: Inc. 500 #6 Overall in the Category of Media 1st Annual [...]
Top Web Design Company In The USA - MindSmack Rated #1 By TopSeos.com For October 2009

admin

1 Oct 2009 | 7:20 am

Here is a snippet of their posting. MindSmack.com and MindSmack.TV specialize in the highest level of interactive web design, flash, animation, 3d, ad design, video, iphone applications, facebook applications, facebook games, twitter applications, post production and web development in the world. In business since 1996, we have won 100’s of recognized awards including: 1st Annual DesignFirms.org [...]
Polaner interactive flash website for BG Foods has launched.

admin

25 Sep 2009 | 7:14 am

We are contracted to redesign and develop he new site for the Polaner line of products. MindSmack was given full creative reign so we came up with the home page that showcases very high resolution photos of the main jelly jars moving in the wind, hanging from a huge tree branch with completely interactive rollovers [...]
Linda McMahon For Senate Website Has Launched.

admin

16 Sep 2009 | 10:35 am

MindSmack has just completed the design and development for http://www.Linda2010.com – Linda E. McMahon recently stepped down as the Chief Executive Officer of the WWE, a publicly traded company in Stamford, Connecticut that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Linda helped grow a company from a modest 13-person operation to a publicly traded, global enterprise with [...]
Top Web Design Company In The USA - MindSmack Rated #1 By TopSeos.com For September 2009

admin

4 Sep 2009 | 2:44 pm

Here is a snippet of their posting. MindSmack.com and MindSmack.TV specialize in the highest level of interactive web design, flash, animation, 3d, ad design, video, iphone applications, facebook applications, facebook games, twitter applications, post production and web development in the world. In business since 1996, we have won 100’s of recognized awards including: 1st Annual DesignFirms.org [...]

Inspect Element
Links of the Week 22

Tom Kenny

6 Nov 2009 | 1:21 am

Future of the web, future of interface design, breadcrumb navigation best practices, getting clients to embrace fresh ideas, anatomy of green and environmental web designs. Links of Interest The Future Of The Web: Where Will We Be In Five Years? The Future of Interface Design Breadcrumb Navigation Examined: Best Practices & Examples Getting Clients to Embrace Fresh Ideas Anatomy of Colors in Web Design: Green and Environmental Concept Design of the Week Authentic Jobs Inspiration for the Weekend 50 Clever, Creative Logos
Simple CSS Tips that Go a Long Way

Tom Kenny

5 Nov 2009 | 11:44 am

Sometimes it’s the little things that can make all the difference and there are plenty of neat little CSS tips that can help with all aspects of design and development. Here are a few great tips that will help you improve your CSS work and help you get the most out of your code. Reset Browsers’ Default Styling By default, browsers assign styles to certain elements. The problem with this is different browsers assign slightly different styles so by reseting this you can create a consistent starting base across the board. The following code sample is Eric Meyer’s Reset CSS and…
Wallpapers of the Week 22: Tilt-Shift Photography

Tom Kenny

3 Nov 2009 | 5:30 pm
Inspect Element and Smashing Magazine’s Smashing Network!

Tom Kenny

2 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, you will have seen Smashing Magazine launch a redesign as well as their new adventure, the Smashing Network and Inspect Element is very proud to be part of it from launch. “Since November 2009 Smashing Magazine’s front page shows not only contributions from Smashing Magazine, but also manually selected articles from the design magazines in our network. We want to make our front page more interesting, more dynamic and also more diverse. Our network members regularly contribute a wide range of high-quality content to…
Overlaying Text on Images: What You Need to Consider

Tom Kenny

2 Nov 2009 | 11:32 am

When overlaying text onto images, the most important thing you need to consider is readability. If the text being placed on top of the image doesn’t have enough contrast with the image itself, the message will get lost and frustrate visitors as they try to work out what it actually says. You don’t want visitors to have to work hard just to read something on a website. This can contribute to them ignoring the message you want to get across or even cause them to leave the site. What Not to Do First we need to get an understanding of why this is important. Here are some examples of…

Posh CSS
Mobile optimised websites using CSS3 Media Queries

Sam Brown

7 Nov 2009 | 10:25 am

How to create a mobile optimised website using CSS3 Media Queries. Read more at www.alexgdesign.co.uk →
Realigning For A Beautiful Web using HTML5, CSS transforms and transitions

Kevin Holesh

3 Nov 2009 | 7:18 pm

Example of using CSS transitions to add a visual treat to Webkit browsers. CSS transitions are coming to Firefox in 3.6, but for now, this tutorial only works in Webkit browsers. View the live example on the For A Beautiful Web homepage. Read more at forabeautifulweb.com →
CSS Sprites: What They Are, Why They’re Cool, and How To Use Them

Kevin Holesh

30 Oct 2009 | 4:25 am

The name might be a little misleading, because sprites aren’t little images like you might be picturing, a sprite is actually one big image. This article will show you how to use CSS Sprites to cut down on HTTP requests and improve the efficiency of your web page. Also, it suggests the handy tool SpriteMe to automate the heavy calculations and eliminate the need for Photoshop. Read more at css-tricks.com →
A Dash of Rosemary on Your CSS

Sam Brown

29 Oct 2009 | 4:49 pm

Rosemary is an open-source modular cascading filter-based modification system for CSS files. Your CSS files are run through a series of filters that modify it one after another. These filters can be toggled on/off, rearranged, or all of them disabled completely to give you raw output. It provides a scalable CSS wrapper that you can continue to use no matter what version of CSS is supported (or unsupported). Read more at www.bigspaceship.com →
Dropdown with Flyout CSS Menus

Ross Chapman

29 Oct 2009 | 9:29 am

This page will be expanded over the coming year to show how the same simple nested unordered list can be styled in different ways to produce professional quality dropdown / pullup menus. Read more at www.cssmenus.co.uk →

Onextrapixel
The Analysis of Choosing the Right Images and Stock Photography Sites

Charlotte

5 Nov 2009 | 9:14 am

The use of imagery for websites is a great way of feeding your users with information, allowing them to visualize the scenario which sometimes words can't describe. These images should be impactful, uncluttered, appropriately sized and elicit desired emotional impact. Great images makes a great deal of difference as it confirms that what you are selling is real. Photos that illustrate the benefits of the subject, prompt users to click on further to discover your site leading to an increase of conversions. This post covers how to make images work for you, how to choose an appropriate image and…
Twitter Fever: 55 Extraordinary Twitter Button & Icon Sets

Terrance

4 Nov 2009 | 9:05 am

Twitter fever is upon us and it will definitely stay with us for awhile. Whether you are a web designer, blogger, or developer, you simply cannot ignore the Twitter phenomenon. Twitter is also no doubt the best way to share and discover what is happening right now. More and more websites are trying to include Twitter as part of their social media marketing tool. Most of the time, clients request for Twitter's social icon to be included in the project. Looking for the latest and unique Twitter icons to match the style of the web page could be time consuming. So today, we are sharing a variety…
Trend Spotting: The Beauty of Using Two Colors, Black and White in Graphic Design

Charlotte

3 Nov 2009 | 8:35 am

In the 90s, many areas of design- including fashion, home interiors, garden, and furniture, have evidenced a paring down to simple workable solutions. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than in graphic design. Even while technology has provided exciting and expensive new means to create compelling, complex images, type, and layout (not to mention the development of new inks, varnishes, and papers), designers have been thinking in a reductive way. How much can be removed from a design, they seem to be asking and still have it remain strong and full of impact? Budget printing is sometimes an…
Anatomy of Colors in Web Design: Green and Environmental Concept

Terrance

2 Nov 2009 | 8:09 am

This article is the first of our upcoming series, Anatomy of Colors in Web Design. Over the next few months, we'll be covering different colors selection, featuring web designs from around the world with particular to one specific color theme. We start today with an article about the use of the color Green in Web design and related Environmental Concept. Please stay tuned as we will continue with other colors in upcoming weeks. You may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter in order not to miss the full series. Everyone has a favorite color that they like and they tend to…
Smashing Magazine Redesigned, Introducing Smashing Network – With VIDEO!

Terrance

1 Nov 2009 | 6:49 pm

This Halloween holiday, 18 extraordinary blogs come together with only one absolute goal in mind to form the Smashing Network. The redesigned of the interface gives reader more great choices of content to explore from the various blogs at Smashing’s homepage. Onextrapixel is really happy to be part of the new Smashing Network. We will like to thank Vitaly Friedman and the rest of Smashing Magazine editorial staff for the inclusion of Onextrapixel. Since we are in the midst of producing another project with such a concept, we thought perhaps it would be fun to create something for this…

The Designed
Awesome Website Product Tour Design Inspiration

Greg Dougherty

3 Nov 2009 | 1:12 pm

There are so many different way to display your product’s features. Here are a few that I really like. Most of them are clean, minimal ways to get across a lot of information. 1. Virb 2. Campaign Monitor 3. Livestream 4. Dialogix 5. Checkout 6. Mint 7. MailChimp 8. Cobblestone 9. Wufoo 10. Squarespace 11. ConceptShare 12. The Resumator 13. Zcope 14. activeCollab 15. Big Cartel 16. Strutta 17. Pulse 18. Zendesk 19. Get Satisfaction If you liked this post, you’d probably enjoy this one… Can you think of any others? Please share any other product tour design websites that you…
Win 2 Free Licenses for Fanurio Time Tracking Software

Greg Dougherty

28 Oct 2009 | 9:53 pm

The Designed finally has a contest and I’m pretty excited to announce it. The Designed is giving away 2 free licenses for Fanurio Time Tracking Software. This is a great opportunity for freelancers to try out some new software. What is Fanurio? Fanurio is a time tracking and billing software application, highly appreciated by freelancers for its intuitive interface, flexible timer and ability to produce detailed invoices. Whether you need to round time, use multiple currencies or create invoices with your own layout, Fanurio has the right tools to help you get paid. So what are the…
10 Extraordinary Single Page Sites

Greg Dougherty

27 Oct 2009 | 8:22 am

Single page, simplistic websites seem to become more popular everyday. I for one love the simple, one page look. I like them because they just get straight to the point. Here’s a few extraordinary examples of single page sites for your enjoyment. 1. Fortyone 2. Frederik Moes 3. Riley Hamilton 4. Carbon House 5. Alex Edward Fish 6. James Lipscomb 7. Bunton 8. Chris Rowe 9. Ziv Meltzer 10. Creative Joomla Design If you like’d this post, check this one out…
12 Hand-Picked Slideshows to Inspire You

Greg Dougherty

23 Oct 2009 | 9:30 am

Slideshows in modern web design are becoming increasingly popular, so for this post I’d like to share a couple that I enjoy. So sit back and take a look at some of these hand-picked slideshows that are meant to inspire creativity. 1. Tracermedia 2. 45 Royale 3. Zcope 4. Violet 5. Notepod 6. Winestore 7. Graphik 8. Kinder Aktuell 9. Wilson Miner 10. Teapot 11. Deluge Studios 12. Mia and Maggie If you liked this post, check out these sweet ones… 10 Examples of Impressive jQuery Accordions 20 Creative Agency Web Sites that Rock Got a Slideshow? If you know of a great slideshow that…
8 Websites that I’m in Love With

Greg Dougherty

13 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

Okay so to start this post off, these aren’t sites that no one’s ever heard of. These are relatively popular sites within the design community, but I want to share them. There might be some of you who don’t know about these sites at all, and if you don’t then I’d like to help you out. These sites push web design and development to the next level. This is where web design and development should be. I love pretty much every aspect of these 8 sites. 1. Mail Chimp 2. Mint 3. WuFoo 4. GoodBarry 5. SquareSpace 6. Krop 7. Big Cartel 8. Virb What sites are you in love…

Inside the Webb
Interview with a Digg.com Software Engineer Kurt Wilms

Jake

2 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pm

As a web designer myself, I have found that other web designers I talk to always have favorite websites they go to for inspiration. Not saying they want to copy a specific website, but there are just some site’s that “stick” and really inspire you to create web designs. For me, this was Digg.com [...]
Interview with is.gd URL Shortener

Jake

26 Oct 2009 | 10:45 am

New URL Shortening services hit the web every week it seems. I can remember not too long ago when TinyURL was just starting up, and that hit with a huge bang. Ever since then, there have been countless creations of URL shorteners (where some even provided stats). However, only a select few have really succeeded [...]
Interview with ThisWebHost – An Impressive new Web Hosting Company

Jake

24 Oct 2009 | 12:07 pm

Finding a decent web hosting company today is difficult. So many companies overprice, can’t keep uptime promises, have horrible support, or offer you barely any space to store your site’s files and content. The few that have shown promise in the past are some of my favorites: Hostgator, Dreamhost, Bluehost, etc. However as I [...]
Founder of Omegle.com Answers Questions From Redditors

Jake

20 Oct 2009 | 11:51 am

Omegle.com has spread across many social networking hubs, forums, and internet chatrooms rapidly over the past few months. It’s a new site with a very simple concept: you log in anonymously and talk to someone else. Someone random, someone you’ve *probably* never even met before, just talking about whatever. It seems like a breeding [...]
The Inside Scoop on CoolROM’s.com with Founder Edward Chang

Jake

16 Oct 2009 | 5:57 am

Digging through the internet for your favorite ROM can be a frustrating process. Some sites can’t be trusted, others just throw you around in loops to find exactly what you’re looking for. I have recently gotten a short, sweet, and to the point interview with the founder of CoolRom.com Edward Chang. In it, he [...]

Useful Tools
Invoicing to Go

Alison K

6 Nov 2009 | 8:06 am

Desktop invoicing programs are great for people like me who work in front of a computer all day. But what if your business requires you to be out and about more often than you are in your office? Bill On Site was specifically designed to let you send invoices on the go from any mobile phone with Internet access. Whether you log in from your computer or your phone, Bill On Site gives you access to a complete set of invoicing tools. The program is easy to navigate and use-the side menu makes it easy to add clients’ contact information and create and send invoices. You can also…
Keep Track of Your Conversations

Alison K

5 Nov 2009 | 7:47 am

Once upon a time, people communicated in one of two ways: talking or writing letters. Now, we have more ways to stay in touch than ever before, including email, text messaging, social networking sites and instant messaging. We are awash in so many conversations that sometimes it’s hard to keep track of them all. Silentale helps you keep track of the conversations you have via email, IM, Twitter and Facebook. First, it creates a list of all of your contacts, matching up people’s profiles across the different services you use to keep in touch. Then, it archives your messages…
Turn Your Living Room Into A Dance Floor

Alison K

4 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am

All good parties have one thing in common: music. Ibizaah! lets you DJ your own dance party with videos from YouTube. With Ibizaah!, you can search for videos from YouTube and create playlists, or load playlists you’ve already created. There are two playlists, one on the left and one on the right, and you can drag the slider in the middle to crossfade between the two. So, it’s easy to browse videos and play them at the same time, and you can look for new playlist material without interrupting the music that’s currently playing. Naturally, Ibizaah! comes pre-loaded with…
Find Out Who’s Tweeting About You

Alison K

3 Nov 2009 | 6:51 am

To get the most out of Twitter, you need to know when people are tweeting about your content. URL shorteners like Bit.ly offer analytics that track the response to links you’ve shared, but what if someone posts a link to your site on their own, without mentioning you? Tweetiator is a service that notifies you whenever your content is shared on Twitter-even if the person sharing it doesn’t mention you in their tweet. Tweetiator is easy to use-once you sign up, Tweetiator creates an account for you, links to your Twitter account and gives you a tracking code. Simply cut and paste…
Powerful Project Management

Alison K

2 Nov 2009 | 9:14 am

Comindwork’s online project management software comes with with loads of features and many different options for customization. Whether your team shares an office or is spread across the globe, Comindwork can help ensure everyone stays on the same page. When you first log in to Comindwork, you are greeted by a Dashboard screen that shows real-time status updates for all of your active projects. You can also see current issues that need to be addressed, upcoming milestones and tasks that need to be completed. All of the information on the Dashboard is customizable-you can drag and drop…

Slodive
Street Artist Mark Jenkins Creates Hysteria From Randomly Placed Sculptures

SloDive Admin

6 Nov 2009 | 10:21 am

Older Related Articles: Inspiration Dose 3 – Body Painting by Guido Daniele Inspiration Dose – Issue 2 (Life Like 3D Stills) 15 Awesome Chalk Illustrations by Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner Outdoor Artwork: NYC (9/05) Winston-Salem, North Carolina (9/09) Washington, DC (6/06) Washington, DC (8/07) Washington, DC (7/06) Winston-Salem, North Carolina (9/09) Moscow (10/09) Malmö, Sweden (4/08) Indoor Artwork: Taubman Museum — Roanoke, VA (2008) National Cathedral School — Washington DC (2007) Manifest Hope — Washington DC (2009) Nature Artwork Winston-Salem, NC (9/09)…
Create A Realistic Video iPod Nano In Photoshop

SloDive Admin

2 Nov 2009 | 5:59 pm

Older Related Articles: Create Amazing Wallpapers Or Design Concepts With These 30 Photoshop Tutorials Photoshop Cheatsheets & Our Must Know Shortcuts 30 Advanced Photoshop Illustration Tutorials iPod Tutorial The image below is what we will be making which is entirely done in Photoshop (minus the Emperor Pope image) and will hopefully give you a better understanding of how to recreate an object in PS. Step 1 – Find Reference Image Before we get started let’s find a reference photo so we know what we are working toward. I went to Apple’s site and grabbed one there. Step…
Exclusive Halloween Wallpaper Free To Our Readers

SloDive Admin

31 Oct 2009 | 6:44 am

To download right click and save as 1024×768 1280×800 1280×1024 1600×900 1600×1200 1980×1080 The wallpaper is created by our old friend Anthony Altamirano, who is back in to graphics world. He is a graphic / web designer from Costa Rica with more than 8 years of experience. He is co-founder of ArtkasDesign and manages ArtkasBlog for sharing resources and tutorials to web designers around the world. Related posts:Halloween Fun: Celebrity Mug Shots With Beatdown Makeover Photoshop is great in so many ways but one of...Create Amazing Wallpapers Or Design Concepts…
Halloween Fun: Celebrity Mug Shots With Beatdown Makeover

SloDive Admin

29 Oct 2009 | 3:57 am

Older Related Articles: Inspiration Dose – Issue 1 Inspiration Dose – Issue 2 (Life Like 3D Stills) Create Amazing Wallpapers Or Design Concepts With These 30 Photoshop Tutorials Mike Dirnt Katie Holmes Naughty, naughty Ashton Winslet, Kate Mr. Bean..arrested Hilary booked Naughty Witch Party Animal Uma Thurman Assaulted The Thief of the Ring Madonna Mugshot Mini-Me Charlize Theron Wrong side of the Law Royal Mistake Links Worth Mentioning: Celebrity Mugshots Celebrity Mugshots 1 Celebrity Mugshots 2 Celebrity Mugshots 3 Celebrity Mugshots 4 Related posts:Inspiration Dose 3 – Body…
Create Amazing Wallpapers Or Design Concepts With These 30 Photoshop Tutorials

SloDive Admin

26 Oct 2009 | 2:15 am

Older Related Articles: Photoshop Cheatsheets & Our Must Know Shortcuts How To Correct Banding In Your Gradients Using Photoshop 30 Advanced Photoshop Illustration Tutorials Autumn Wallpaper Patek Philippe Watch Wallpaper Spring Planks Wallpaper Creating an Abstract Watercolor Wallpaper Broken Dreams Intensely Grungy Wallpaper Design A Grunge Car Wallpaper Create a Sleek Illustration that Fades from Line Art to Color How To Make Celebrity Wallpaper Skateboarding Club Wallpaper Abstract Windows 7 Wallpaper Awesome Music Wallpaper Create Fantasy Wallpaper Screamusic Wallpaper Super Cool…

Creativity Den
20 Web applications with excellent user interfaces

Liam McCabe

2 Nov 2009 | 8:58 am

AppMunch Just wrote a design related post over at my new blog AppMunch. A website dedicated to bringing you the latest web application news. Check it out if you have the time!
#19 Creative Logos of the Week!

Type08

30 Oct 2009 | 4:06 am

MAKE YOUR OWN TOP 3 LIST! Dear readers! You have a chance to vote for your Top3 favorite featured logos on Creativity Den! Please add an short explanation next to your list in the comments section and BEST FEATURED LOGO will be announced in 7 days from today (30th Oct 2009 – 5th Nov 2009)! Here’s the list to pick out from. Thanks for participation, have fun!
#18 Creative Logos of the Week!

Type08

30 Oct 2009 | 3:22 am

Connect the DOTS If you read a lot of posts on design including the interviews, you’ll notice that the most common question there is usually something like this: “Where do you find your inspiration? What inspires you the most?” Now, every designer has his/hers own approach, someone just needs a bit of nature (like myself), someone grabs 50 books and starts reading them, someone browses through the history of art and design, someone even leaves the Earth in the mind and travels through space and time. But usually it’s right in front of our noses and we don’t have…
#2 Weekly Site Inspiration

Liam McCabe

12 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

Yummy This week features two Envato websites, now I would like to post them all but instead I posted their latest two, their redesign of the marketplaces and their company website. As well as this there is the fantastic tutorial9 – I just love the background and two outstanding portfolio sites. Envato Tapbots Orman Clark Tutorial9 ThemeForest
#1 Weekly Site Inspiration

Liam McCabe

4 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

Outstanding! For about a month now I have been stumbling upon some truly fantastic websites. Sites that have made me return simply due to the design. Is this just me? Instead of bookmarking and keeping them to myself, I have decided to share them I can honestly say that many of these sites have inspired me to improve my skill with photoshop, improve the way I code and most of all to try new things. I hope at least one of these sites gives you the same feeling! 24 Ways Made by Elephant Fully Illustrated Apple Reviews Spoon Juice

Inspect Element
Links of the Week 22

Tom Kenny

6 Nov 2009 | 1:21 am

Future of the web, future of interface design, breadcrumb navigation best practices, getting clients to embrace fresh ideas, anatomy of green and environmental web designs. Links of Interest The Future Of The Web: Where Will We Be In Five Years? The Future of Interface Design Breadcrumb Navigation Examined: Best Practices & Examples Getting Clients to Embrace Fresh Ideas Anatomy of Colors in Web Design: Green and Environmental Concept Design of the Week Authentic Jobs Inspiration for the Weekend 50 Clever, Creative Logos
Simple CSS Tips that Go a Long Way

Tom Kenny

5 Nov 2009 | 11:44 am

Sometimes it’s the little things that can make all the difference and there are plenty of neat little CSS tips that can help with all aspects of design and development. Here are a few great tips that will help you improve your CSS work and help you get the most out of your code. Reset Browsers’ Default Styling By default, browsers assign styles to certain elements. The problem with this is different browsers assign slightly different styles so by reseting this you can create a consistent starting base across the board. The following code sample is Eric Meyer’s Reset CSS and…
Wallpapers of the Week 22: Tilt-Shift Photography

Tom Kenny

3 Nov 2009 | 5:30 pm
Inspect Element and Smashing Magazine’s Smashing Network!

Tom Kenny

2 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, you will have seen Smashing Magazine launch a redesign as well as their new adventure, the Smashing Network and Inspect Element is very proud to be part of it from launch. “Since November 2009 Smashing Magazine’s front page shows not only contributions from Smashing Magazine, but also manually selected articles from the design magazines in our network. We want to make our front page more interesting, more dynamic and also more diverse. Our network members regularly contribute a wide range of high-quality content to…
Overlaying Text on Images: What You Need to Consider

Tom Kenny

2 Nov 2009 | 11:32 am

When overlaying text onto images, the most important thing you need to consider is readability. If the text being placed on top of the image doesn’t have enough contrast with the image itself, the message will get lost and frustrate visitors as they try to work out what it actually says. You don’t want visitors to have to work hard just to read something on a website. This can contribute to them ignoring the message you want to get across or even cause them to leave the site. What Not to Do First we need to get an understanding of why this is important. Here are some examples of…

Ants Magazine
Excellent JQuery Plugins To Enhance Form Validation

nahid

3 Nov 2009 | 7:47 am

Simple jquery plugins can enhance and beautify HTML form elements, these simple jquery scripts turn a simple HTML website to a fantastic look and feel. These plugins can be enabled very easily. In this roundup I have gathered most beautiful Jquery plugins that are related to all kinds of form validation. This list also includes roundups of some blogs. Go ahead and enjoy Auto Complete Forms 1) Editable Select 2) Auto complete dropdown plugin 3) Facebook Style Auto complete 4) jQuery JSON Suggest/Search Box 5) Jquery Simple hint box 6) Jquery Quick Search 7) Json Jquery Autocomplete Multiple…
Amazing Time Saving Photoshop Actions

nahid

14 Oct 2009 | 3:14 am

Photoshop actions make your photoshop task simple and easy, In this post we present some of the must have photoshop actions and best roundups of other photoshop actions. Be sure to download them all and try and add your own effects to the result. For better creativity get inspired by various photoshop works online. Go ahead and find out some of the best actions for your task download them or bookmark this article for later use. Enjoy Pencil Sketch Photoshop Actions 1) Real Sketch 2) Double Sketch Effect 3) Perfect Pencil Sketch 4) Pencil Shading Photo Manipulation Actions 1) Vintage Photo…
Abstract Photoshop Brushes Free To Download

nahid

5 Oct 2009 | 3:32 am

Photoshop brushes are easy to use and most popular among all photoshop users, In this post we have presented Abstract photoshop brushes which are free to use. It is a good practice to work on a limited set of brushes and not have a junk of brushes, go ahead and check out these brushes and download. Enjoy Abstract Brushes Set 1) Spiral Brush Set [download] 2) xplosion brush set [download] 3) Volcanic Photoshop Brushes – Set 1 [download] 4) Abstract Brushset XV [download] 5) Radial Brushes [download] 6) Fractal Brush Set [download] 7) Midnight City – Vector Brushes [download]…
Daily Inspiration #5 Photoshop Works From Web

nahid

16 Sep 2009 | 5:26 am

To become a photoshop expert it is necessary that we practice photoshop everyday. Ideas run out of mind when we get down to work and inspiration is all what we need. Here in this post of daily inspiration we present 20 cool photoshop works from regular photoshoppers, check out these awesome works of photoshop and get inspired for your next photoshop work. Go ahead and enjoy!
Fresh Photoshop Tutorials To Enhance Your Skills

nahid

15 Sep 2009 | 12:16 am

Photoshop tutorials are getting better everyday and with many sites over the web its really difficult to plot a tut. In this roundup we present fresh photoshop tutorials which will surely help you enhance your photoshop skills. These tutorials are best practice to help you get started, I have sorted out these tutorials into categories which will help you find them. Check them out! TYPOGRAPHY TUTORIALS 1) 3D Text Shatter Effect – Tutorial 2) 3D Graffiti Piece 3) Creating Very Cool Folded Typo 4) Super Cool Retro Poster in 10 Steps in Photoshop 5) 3d Typography 6) Awesome Milk Typography…

Graphic Rating
10 Impressive Game Trailers

Andy Gongea

1 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pm

Do you remember the first game trailer that made you WOW. And I don’t mean WOW like Windows Vista … but a real WOW. Well this is a post that tries to give thanks to those creative game trailers designers and also remember some of the best trailers. 1. Warcraft 3 You can’t say game trailers without mentioning Blizzard Entertainment. It is the company that practically made the transition from simple announcements to cinematic experiences. And the first trailer that I will always remember is Warcraft 3. 2. Starcraft 2 The second title in is the next Starcraft installment from…
My Top 10 Daily Web Stops

Andy Gongea

22 Oct 2009 | 3:40 pm

I am curious about your first daily web stops. So in order to find yours I will share mine. Here are my first 10 web stops that usually are on my list every day. Let’s check them and see whether you have the same habits or not. 1. Gmail By far this is the first thing that I go to when I open my browser. I think I’m not the only person since checking your mail in our days is crucial to any professional. 2. Google Analytics Yes, my name is Andy Gongea and I have a stats addiction. So, the next thing that I usually do is to verify Graphic Rating’s stats. 3. Blog Comments This…
Thanks to our Sponsors

Andy Gongea

19 Oct 2009 | 11:13 am

With the help of this mini-post I want to thank our sponsors for their support. With their help I can continue sustaining this blog and delivering from time to time some interesting posts. Cheers! Sponsors: - WPBest – The Best Premium Wordpress Themes, Pugins and More - Wordpress Themes – WPStyles.org Cheers!
6 Icon Packs You Will Actually Use

Andy Gongea

11 Oct 2009 | 2:41 pm

These days you can find icon packs posts on many blogs. There is nothing wrong with that, just that you should get value from those icon packs. In this post I want to showcase 6 icon packs that I think are worth mentioning and saving as a bookmark for future projects. There is no particular order – every pack has the same importance. 1. Social Network Icon Pack Designed by Rogie King from Komodo Media, the Social Network Icon Pack contains 80 refined, amazing social networking icons for the top networks around: Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon etc. I’ve used this pack to…
Creating Wireframes with Pencil (Firefox Addon)

Andy Gongea

5 Oct 2009 | 3:59 pm

As a request from the previous article, I’ve decided to create a tutorial on how to create wireframes using Firefox. OK, we wont be using just Firefox but an additional addon – Pencil -, which makes creating graphic user interfaces and various types of sketches an easy task. Tutorial Requirements Tutorial Theme: Creating Twitter User Interface Wireframe Software Requirements: Mozilla Firefox Browser, Pencil Firefox Addon Skill: Beginner Tutorial completion time: 15 minutes 1. Launching Pencil In order to start Pencil Addon, you must start first Mozilla Firefox. After that, you…

hongkiat
Macro Photography II – 70 Beautiful Photos of Insects

hongkiat

6 Nov 2009 | 5:40 am

Insect photography is challenging under the best circumstances. Think about it: you’re taking photos of something that is likely smaller than your little finger (and at largest is still probably smaller than your hand), has no reason to cooperate, and likely views you as a predator or is oblivious to your presence entirely. And even if you’re taking photos of dead insects, it still takes a lot of skill (and a good macro lens) to get the right focus and lighting. The photographers who managed to snap the photos below all deserve some serious respect. They’ve managed to…
Excellent HTML Newsletter Templates – Best Of

hongkiat

4 Nov 2009 | 5:16 am

A well designed newsletter/email template can be the difference between success an failure. Whether its to update customers about a product, or to share information, having a well designed template can be a great starting point to guide your readers and give them a clear coherent flow when they read your email. This is crucial, considering how important the first impression is. Here is round-up of some of the best free HTML newsletter templates on the Internet you can download without paying a penny. Here are more related entries you might be interested: XHTML/CSS Website Templates Web…
Breadcrumb Navigation Examined: Best Practices & Examples

hongkiat

2 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

Breadcrumb navigation is often overlooked in the design and development process. Some people may see it as unnecessary while others may feel it is too big of a hassle for what its worth. Fact of the matter is, breadcrumb navigation will greatly increase the usability of a website. Breadcrumbs give users an alternative method of navigation, allow them to see where they stand in the hierarchy of a website, and will reduce the number of steps needed to navigate to a higher-level within a website. Outlined here are the different types of breadcrumb navigation being used today, why they are…
100+ Clean, Simple and Minimalist Website Designs

hongkiat

29 Oct 2009 | 5:28 am

Minimalism has been a popular website design style for years. It has so many benefits; minimalist sites load faster, take fewer server resources, and are often faster to develop than more graphically complicated designs. Plus, they give a professional, clean impression to visitors. Many people still view minimalist designs as boring. But there’s a real art to effective minimal website designs, something not all designers can effectively master. When you limit the number of graphic elements you use and put the focus on negative space and typography, a good eye for spacing and proportion…
Freebie: Blitter Twitter Icon Set

hongkiat

27 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

We love freebies, and we love them more if they are high quality freebie. We occasionally search the Internet high and low to dig out these hidden gems to make designers’ life easier and better. This week, with the help from our friend Iconshock, we are releasing a free high quality Twitter icon set, named Blitter. Blitter Twitter icon set comes in two sets of sizes, respectively 215×215 pixels and 512×512 pixels in transparent .PNG 24-bit format. We’ve also included the Adobe Illustrator .AI source file just in case you want a bigger version of any icon. Feel free to use, edit…

SingleFunction
SurCentro

Guest

4 Nov 2009 | 9:57 am

SurCentro – Many times you read about a new website in the internet, but you don’t know if you can trust it and you feel that it would be great if you could check it’s background. Surcentro was created for that purpose. Surcentro is a web site statistics and web analytics service. Here you can find the amount of visitors, pagerank, indexed pages, view Alexa and Compete graphs and other additional information about every single page on the web. SurCentro is the creation of Alex Zani. To learn about what is new from SurCentro, simply follow the updates on Twitter @surcentro.
CompareMyDocs

Editorial Team

3 Nov 2009 | 9:04 pm

CompareMyDocs is an online document comparison service that makes the task of comparing, combining and merging different versions of your docs a snap. CompareMyDocs is the creation of Nordic River, known by their popular Adobe Air application TextFlow. Via cnet news
LGdtxtr

Editorial Team

3 Nov 2009 | 8:10 pm

LGdtxtr helps you decode and become familiar with texting terms used in SMS or chat. The service is very handy for parents unfamiliar with texting terms, and is definitely a way to try keeping up with today’s youth culture. LGdtxtr is the creation of LG Electronics MobileComm.
WPLookup

Editorial Team

3 Nov 2009 | 7:38 pm

WPLookup is a useful search service for quickly finding documentation related to WordPress development. Features: Easily find documentation related to a WordPress function or variable Results of your search term are gathered from a number of WordPress development resources such as WordPress Codex Browser addon available WPLookup is the creation of Andy Stratton.
Wordnik

Editorial Team

2 Nov 2009 | 12:36 pm

Wordnik – An online dictionary aiming to collect all the words in the English language. To learn about what is new from Wordnik, simply follow the updates on Twitter @Wordnik.

ziipa.com
postadollar.com

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
yellowise.com

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
startups.com

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
spaceded.com

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
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6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

Brian Cray's Blog
A focusing of Brian Cray’s blog content

Brian Cray

28 Oct 2009 | 7:24 am

I haven’t posted in a while. In fact it’s been 18 days. That’s a long time in the blogging world. Why has it been so long you ask? The past few weeks I’ve been cranking out Nearby Tweets v2, and today it hit private beta stage. By the way feel free to request private beta access to Nearby Tweets v2. So what’s next? Time to start providing valuable content to readers through my blog again, but with a little shift. Going forward my freelance services will be rebranded and focused on social experience design, which is basically helping businesses design and…
Disappearing “Scroll to top” link with jQuery and CSS

Brian Cray

6 Oct 2009 | 7:30 am

Seen in many forms, such as “Back to top,” “Top of page,” or “Scroll to top,” these links provide a way for users to jump to the top of the page, back to navigation and other handy stuff. This tutorial will help you build a scroll to top link, or whatever you call it, that appears when the user scrolls down, and disappears when users reach the top of the page using a combination of CSS and jQuery (a free javascript framework). You’ll need to download jQuery if you aren’t using it already. Demo You can either view the demo source if you’re…
How to remove a specific value from a javascript array

Brian Cray

30 Sep 2009 | 1:16 pm

I couldn’t find a short and sweet answer to this one, so I made an answer and I’m sharing it here if you need it. Enjoy! // from this var arr ['remove' 'specific' 'value' 'from' 'javascript' 'array'] // 6 items // to this ("specific" value removed) var arr ['remove' 'value' 'from' 'javascript' 'array'] // 5 items // use this (removes "specific") arr.splice(arr.indexOf('specific') 1) // full example var arr ['remove' 'specific' 'value' 'from' 'javascript' 'array'] var value_to_remove 'specific'…
Needs assessment: the most important process in web design

Brian Cray

22 Sep 2009 | 10:18 am

Every client who comes to you for a website knows why they want a website, even if they can’t clearly articulate that “why.” But understanding that why is the most important part of a website design. Why? Strategic design decisions You’ll be in trouble from the very beginning as you sit down in front of your monitor and ask yourself “What should this design look like?” You won’t have an answer, because you know that designs drive behavior, and you don’t know what behavior to design for. Knowing what your clients want from their websites makes…
Smart web form validation with PHP

Brian Cray

18 Sep 2009 | 8:16 am

Since I’ve been working on my CMS the past few days I’ve been on a little PHP trip. I’ll probably be writing a few PHP posts over the next week or so, intermingled with other topics of course. This tutorial should help you build smarter web forms with PHP and save you a ton of time. Let’s start with web form sanitization. Sanitize all user input through a standard PHP function User input sometimes has unnecessary whitespace, so we’ll trim that off. We’ll also check if magic_quotes_gpc is automatically adding backslashes to user input and remove as…

WebAppers
Download Free Andriod Icons for Developers

Ray Cheung

6 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

We have introduced some Free iPhone Icons for developers a week ago. They are designed and carefully optimized for use on toolbars and tab bars in iPhone apps. You can find them in AI and PSD formats. Now we have some Free Android Icons for developers. The package includes 30 PNG menu icons plus the additional source files for further customization. All icons are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license. Feel free to use them in any form in your projects or even remix them. Requirements: - Demo: http://www.androidicons.com/ License: Creative Commons License Related…
Raindrops Create Useful, Compelling Messaging Experiences

Ray Cheung

5 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

Raindrop is an exploration in messaging innovation being led by the team responsible for Thunderbird, to explore new ways to use Open Web technologies to create useful, compelling messaging experiences. A central principle behind Raindrop is that messaging should be personal — they want Raindrop to be people-centric both in how they process messages, and in how they can help give people control over their personal data and experiences. When a friend’s link from YouTube or flickr arrives, your messaging client should be able to show the video or photos near or as part of the message,…
How to Create Mega Drop Down Menus with jQuery

Ray Cheung

4 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

Do you remeber we have published a post of Accessible Very Tall Menus with jQuery and CSS? Some people found it not a good way to present information, because we cannot see everything on the menu in one go. Now SohTanaka has come up with another solution – Mega Drop Down Menus. According to usability expert Jakob Nielson, mega drop down menus tested to be more efficient for large scale websites. Requirements: jQuery Framework Demo: http://www.sohtanaka.com/web-design/examples/mega-dropdowns/ License: License Free Related PostsGreyscale Hover Effect with CSS & jQuery How to Create…
Show Your Links as a Drop Down List with Pluralink

Ray Cheung

3 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

Pluralink is an amazing javascript plugin to arrange multiple links in your text. Here is how it works. Suppose you have to include 3 links in a text. What you usually do is that you list it one after the other in a single line which gives a feeling of repetition. For example, if you want to link to google, yahoo and bing in a single line, you will write as “the three top search engines google, yahoo, bing contribute …”. But with Pluralink you can show all your links as a drop down list from which the user can choose any of those. It gives a nicer look as well. You can download either…
Easy Form Validation Requires No Javascript Library

Ray Cheung

2 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

Validatious 2.0 is an easy form validation with unobtrusive JavaScript. Validatious requires no JavaScript library. However, if you’re already using one, Validatious can easily work with it, and even benefit from it. There are several settings allow you to control how and when Validatious does validation, how it displays errors and more. If configuring isn’t enough, callbacks and easy overriding gives you complete control. You can also add custom validators with only a couple of lines of JavaScript. If your site’s language is not english, you probably don’t want error…

Woork
jQuery Lessons Series: Manipulating CSS Classes

Antonio Lupetti

6 Nov 2009 | 3:29 pm

In this lesson I want to illustrate you how to use some useful jQuery methods that allow you to manipulate easily CSS classes. In particular I prepared some examples to explain the following methods: toggleClass(), hasClass(), addClass() and removeClass(). For a printable reference guide to the jQuery API I suggest you to download my jQuery Visual Cheat Sheet or take a look at the official jQuery documentation. Highlight content Start taking a look at this basic example. Here is a list of items. You can highlight each item of the list by clicking over it and return to the original status with…
The Web Designer Wheel

Antonio Lupetti

3 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pm

The Web Designer Wheel is simple process model that describes in five steps how to manage a small web project and relations with client. This approach allows you to work better, set and respect milestones and establish profitable and long-term relations with your clients. Here is the process: The model Requirements Definition: in this first step you have to “translate” all customer requests in requirements and features to implement. You can elaborate a list with a certain number of items that describe what you have to do. Planning: for each item you identified in the previous…
What’s Your Own Personal ‘Coding Horror’?

Grace Smith

3 Nov 2009 | 8:46 am

Most of us can remember building our first website or application and the excitement that came with learning new techniques and languages. However, years (or even months) later when we look back at our first tentative steps in web development, we realize just how horrible those first lines of code where. Sites such as The Daily WTF are even dedicated to user-submitted examples of bad code and software design. Inspired by this I’d like to ask the readers here at Woorkup to share your own personal coding horror stories and examples of of the worst, invalid and downright ugly code…
WordPress Visual Cheat Sheet

Antonio Lupetti

1 Nov 2009 | 6:06 am

WordPress Visual Cheat Sheet is the new document, of the Visual Cheat Sheet family, that contains a practical reference guide to WordPress 2.8. This cheat sheet (5 pages) contains the full reference guide to WP Template Tags with detailed descriptions and sample code. The simple visual style I used to design this sheet allows you to find at a glance everything you are looking for. Download WordPress Visual Cheat Sheet Scribd Preview
Woork Up is a part of the Smashing Network!

Antonio Lupetti

31 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pm

I’m really happy to announce Woork Up is now a part of the new Smashing Network, a network created by Smashing Magazine that includes 18 high-quality web design blogs and magazines about web design. I want to say a big thanks to Vitaly Friedman and all Smashing Magazine editorial staff for the inclusion of Woork Up. You can follow our update on the Woork Up’s channel on the Smashing Network.

ComBridges
Leading with Value: The Currency of New Marketing

Jon

19 Oct 2009 | 9:51 am

In my keynotes and workshops on internet marketing (which I am hereby referring to as “new marketing”), one of my key concepts is “leading with value.” For me, a key part of business in general is creating (and maintaining) relationships. Of course, business is about much more than just making money. But, in this culture, that’s easy to forget. My real bottom line is the fact that the quality of the relationships that I have created via my business are perhaps the greatest source of satisfaction that I have in my work (right up there with the creative…
Phenomenal iPhone Photo Website + iPhone App

admin

12 Oct 2009 | 9:16 pm

I love this. I’ve been playing around with iPhone photo editing apps for a month or two, but I just discovered Chase Jarvis’ TheBestCamera.com (as in “the best camera is the one that’s with you”) and now I’m more excited about iPhone photography than ever before. This integrated offering has me really impressed. Not only is it probably the best iPhone photo editing app that I’ve seen; but, it’s got integrated photo sharing to Twitter and Facebook built in, plus instant uploading to a true iPhone photo community site. Get the picture? (yes, pun…
The Power of the Blog

Jon

12 Oct 2009 | 3:21 pm

Even though blogging is currently a very big buzz… a “buzz word du jour” even, I still think it widely misunderstood. So, what’s The Big Idea? First of all, your blog is your home base. If you’re doing social media marketing, it’s the center of your virtual storm. Your Twitter, Facebook and other social media posts all link back to your blog. Perhaps even more importantly, your blog is where you find your voice. It’s a real world exercise in speaking your truth and finding your value, making your offering. It’s not a new marketing trick.
3 Leading Edge Video Clips Illuminate Next Gen Video Web

Jon

4 Oct 2009 | 8:37 pm

One benefit of my on-going back recovery is that I’m currently watching even more online video than usual. This weekend, I was delighted to discover a rich sampling of video clips that I found inspiring as well as informative. So, of course, I want to share the three carefully selected video clips embedded below with you, dear readers, blog commenters and tweet peeps. I invented the term “Video Web” when I was writing for Videography magazine, and now that this particular dimension of the Web is expanding and improving in quality at an exponential rate, I find that it also…
Major Trend Alert: Shared Links Can Trump SEO for Internet Marketing

Jon

27 Sep 2009 | 9:26 pm

Link sharing inspired by social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn is nothing new. But fresh data published in Sunday’s New York Times by Brad Stone in his article, “Share The Moment And Spread the Wealth” reinforces the fact that this trend is continuing to gather momentum. It is doing so even to the extent that it has become equally important and now sits side-by-side with SEO (the historically dominant technique for building website traffic via Google) as a strategy for increasing the visibility for your website. This underscores the powerful points…

User Interface Trends
Debit or… Debit?

Ron Norman

4 Nov 2009 | 10:45 pm

Trend: Self Checkout Interfaces – the “Cancel” Menu Here at UI Trends, we normally cover trends in Web UI’s and occasionally we’ll bring up desktop applications. But we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t step outside of the box every once in a while. With that in mind, I couldn’t help but write about something that has been bugging me for years. I know you’ve seen it too and been annoyed. You’re at the grocery store, and you’re trying to “self checkout”. You swipe your bank card, then low and behold,…
Interview with Eric Meyer: The Future of Web Design Part 2

Jeff Noble

29 Oct 2009 | 6:44 am

Recently I was fortunate enough to interview Eric Meyer on the future of web design in what seems to be turning into an interesting series on this topic (See the first interview with Chris Coyier here). And for those of you that don’t know who Eric Meyer is, shame on you. Shame. Shame. Shame. I can’t write it any better than An Event Apart, “Eric Meyer has been working with the web since late 1993 and is an internationally recognized expert on the subjects of HTML, CSS, and web standards. Author of Eric Meyer on CSS and More Eric Meyer on CSS (New Riders), Cascading Style…
Turn the Page

Ron Norman

28 Oct 2009 | 9:18 am

Trend: Page Curl Navigation submission from guest author John Talton The page curl has been a Photoshop trick for years now. As Kate wrote previously, the “page curl” or “earmark” is a UI style that can function as a metaphor, implying “turn the page for more”. Its expensive rendering and lack of dynamic-ability when applying it via a generic template has limited its wide spread use over the years. But as the web increases its bandwidth capabilities and the need for more unique and flashy graphics continues to rise, this cheep-trick is start showing up…
Terrible Guesses at 3 Random CSS Properties

Jeff Noble

23 Oct 2009 | 8:45 am

Trend: Seldom Used CSS Properties For a wacky experiment I picked three “random” CSS properties I had never heard of and tried to guess what they were. Why? Mainly because I’m a dork, but perhaps “why not?” is a better question. I later found out that these properties aren’t random at all and could be extremely useful additions to a website if utilized correctly. My guesses are really bad (shocking, I know) but it just goes to show you, regardless of what you think you know about web design or life in general (I pretend to know a lot) there is always room…
Speak To Me!

Kate Vander Ploeg

23 Oct 2009 | 8:42 am

Trend: Disabled States Using disabled states for buttons, links and other ui components are an important way to provide feedback to the user. Think about a stop light for a minute; if it were always green then the driver would expect that they could drive through causing collisions with cars going the other way. To prevent this, the red light steps in to tell the driver they have to wait. Just like stoplights allow traffic to run more smoothly, the disabled state allow UI interactions to be more efficient—the user knows that they don’t need to waste their time trying to click anything…

Noupe
The Beauty Of Splash Sculptures

vitaly

5 Nov 2009 | 10:07 am

By Tim Mercer Splash Art is a truly beautiful art form requiring precise timming a specialized photography equipment. Masters of the genre often have complex studios set up with lasers, multiple flashes and controlers to acheive the exact timming needed to capture these wonderfull images. With the abstract nature of splash photography you can often make out figures in the liquid forms. The artists featured below have taken this niche to new heights – perfecting their techniques and inspiring us all. Today we present 45 Stunning Splash Sculpture Photographs taken by masters of their…
Essential CSS/HTML Lists Styling Techniques

vitaly

4 Nov 2009 | 8:52 am

By Justin Johnson Certain elements in HTML lend themselves to many situations when marking up a website, one of the more useful of these elements is the HTML list. Using lists, a developer can markup horizontal navigation, dropdown navigation, a list of links, and even scrolling content panels (with the help of Javascript). These features can help developers build new sites and applications as well as integrate new content into existing applications. Unordered/Ordered Lists Unorderd lists are recommened to be used with a list of items where order is irrelevant. With unordered lists (and all…
The Future Of The Web: Where Will We Be In Five Years?

vitaly

3 Nov 2009 | 4:50 am

By Cameron Chapman We’re approaching the end of 2009, and many people are wondering what the future will bring. While no one can predict for sure what the Internet holds in its future, there are indicators and trends that can point us in the right direction. A ton of technologies are ripe for further development in the coming few years. Social media and related apps are definitely going to be at the forefront of the Web for a long time. But plenty of other technologies are on the verge of becoming mainstream, either because of more social acceptance or because of advancements in…
40 New Useful Web Development Tools and Resources

vitaly

2 Nov 2009 | 6:13 am

To become a professional web designer, you need effective tools that would help you implement beautiful designs with solid coding techniques. Handy ready-to-be-used solutions and smart design tools are always nice to have, but good ones are often quite hard to find. And this is where we come into play. In this post we have put together a useful collection of new web development tools to save developers and designers time, energy, and headaches. Let’s take a look at 40 new useful web development tools and resources in a goodie bag for you, including easy and fast tweaks to forms,…
Web Typography: Font Embedding Services

vitaly

30 Oct 2009 | 1:03 pm

There are a lot of options out there for using other-than-websafe fonts in your website designs. Dynamic text replacement methods or resorting to very long fontstacks (where most of your visitors won’t see the font you wanted anyway) have long been the standard for using anything other than websafe fonts. But the @font-face function changes all that. With most major, modern browsers now compatible with it, services are cropping up all over for providing the fonts you want to embed on your site without eating up your bandwidth and server space. One of the biggest hurdles these services…

Build Internet!
More Fonts Used In Logos of Popular Websites

Sam Dunn

4 Nov 2009 | 2:03 pm

This is a roundup of that identifies the fonts used in the logos of some of the top sites on the internet. This is the second addition to Fonts used in Logos of Popular Websites. With that said, let’s get to know these logos a little better. (Spoiler Alert) There is no Times New Roman. Newgrounds – Tekuteku VIRB – Proxima Nova Extrabold Myspace – Arial Rounded Bold Wikipedia – Hoefler Text eBay – Univers (Modified) Pandora – Mrs Eaves Small Caps Microsoft – Helvetica Black Italic msnbc – Gotham Medium IMDb – Impact T Adobe –…
Getting Clients to Embrace Fresh Ideas

Zach Dunn

3 Nov 2009 | 7:31 am

The internet is full of brand new proof of concepts and ideas just waiting to be implemented on exciting new projects. Actually getting the approval to use these features is another story entirely. Some of the most interesting ideas turn out to be hard sells when putting them into to practice. So what’s a web designer to do when clients insist on stale ideas? Know Your (Actual) Audience Your client can mean the world to you, but the world is not your client. The world audience does not always share all of your client’s needs and direction. Success (in most cases) is built on the…
Build Site Color Schemes from Photography

Zach Dunn

31 Oct 2009 | 12:52 pm

One of the reoccurring responses we received from our reader survey earlier this month involved our color scheme inspiration posts. Overall, readers seemed to like the palettes, but wanted a demonstration of how to put them into action. Today we’re going to do just that. By the end of this post we’ll have a website color scheme planned out, along with a wireframe demonstration. Pick a Base Photo Flickr is the only site you’ll ever need for inspiration photos. Name a topic, and you’ll have thousands to sift through. Without Flickr, our Color Scheme Inspiration series…
Using Rounded Corners with CSS3

Zach Dunn

25 Oct 2009 | 8:52 pm

A few years back, rounded corners became one of the signature design elements of the Web 2.0 trend. Even though they started as a fad, rounded corners are more than simple eye candy. They also have a role in separating or grouping the sections of a page. As CSS3 gets closer to becoming the new standard for mainstream design, the days of rounded corners through elaborate background images is fading. This means less headache and time spent working out alternatives for each browser. Browser Specific Options Through the use of proprietary CSS properties, certain browsers can already display…
Color Scheme Inspiration – Windows

Zach Dunn

22 Oct 2009 | 8:34 pm

It’s a look into the outside world through a series of window related photographs today. Wondering what this post is all about? Every couple weeks or so, we scavenge Flickr for some wonderfully inspiring photography to build color schemes from. The results can be used to start graphic and web projects of all sizes. Inspiration comes in funny places sometimes. Photos are all found via Flickr (follow image links for author info). Color schemes are available to download through COLOURlovers. Palettes from the Window Frame Open Another Creative Window Looking for more window theme photos to…

Bwired Weblogs
A Website of Substance - Design and Functionality (or Beauty and Brains)

5 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pm

If you've got a website that's beautiful but lacking in substance, you're not alone. In the early days of the web it was tough to get a good looking site and all the technical smarts in the same package. Countless businesses chose looks over tools - and maybe for a brief time it worked. Nowadays, you can have it all - and you should. You can have an engine like our own coreDNA powering your site, in a slick, fully-optioned design package. The design is not about you. Memorise this simple mantra. Repeat. And repeat again. Great web design is about empowering the user. Making it easy for them…
The iPhone craze has now hit the supermarket industry and in a big way - Coles Supermarket

29 Oct 2009 | 4:26 pm

Coles has joined many organizations in developing a fully functioning iPhone application for their business. This is an interesting step forward for an industry that has been experiencing rapid growth, showing they are proactively thinking about next steps for gaining brand loyalty and making shopping decisions easier for their consumers. I bet the main competitors won't be far away, if they don't' already have plans in place. Let's look at how Coles are using the application for their business; The application has been developed to work easily and with users in mind with core features like:…
What if I told you, you could change the lives of your customers?

29 Oct 2009 | 12:01 pm

This lucky employee come blog writer has just returned from 3 months leave; destination Europe.Via thorough research of visitor profiling and usability scenarios, certain businesses in the travel and accommodation industry have cornered their markets and are laughing all the way to the bank - helping travellers like me spend their hard earned!A bit on my travels first... Donned "EU '09" before leaving Melbourne on the 1st of July, my luck and fortune took me all over the mostly sunny European Continent including highlights such as a 3 week siesta in Spain (although it was through open eyes…
Hype or Hysteria

23 Oct 2009 | 12:25 pm

The environment over the last couple of years has received a serious plug in our media, both in Australia and around the world. Globally, mother nature and her ever increasingly fragile behavior has become not only a social, but political hot potato. Up until recently I have been a little na? in my understanding of the true predicament our environment is in and the role my personal and professional foot print plays. I recently attended a Women's Networking Event and the guest speaker was on climate change and the impact individuals and businesses as a whole have on the environment. Now at…
eCommerce Tips- Can You Afford Not to Know?

2 Oct 2009 | 3:13 pm

According to the Pew Research Centre, 80% of Generation X internet users buy products online, followed by 71% of Genration Y users. Interest in online shopping is significantly lower among the youngest and oldest groups, with 38% of teens buying products online, followed by 56% of seniors 64-72 and 47% of the elderly. Based on these statistics, if you have the opportunity to do online shopping I would be questioning why you wouldn't. If you are considering moving into this space a few more questions worth raising include: -Which of your competitors offer online shopping and what effect has…

UX Crank
Draw On All Three Brains

uxcrank

25 Oct 2009 | 4:30 am

Why are people so impressed by visual communication? I blame our old and mid brains. The human brain has three distinct sections with three distinct functions: The old brain deals with survival issues, the mid brain deals with our emotions, and the new brain takes care of conscious thought. It turns out that the new brain has a lot less influence over our opinions and actions that we would like to think.
Design It Like a Petting Zoo

uxcrank

18 Oct 2009 | 1:36 pm

Design is what it does and what design does is solve problems. Online, we concentrate on designing user experiences because the problems that need to be solved always come down to a single individual and the decisions they make. User experience could be pretty dispassionate work with such cold logic at its core, but in [...]
Make It Semantic from the Start

uxcrank

4 Oct 2009 | 5:31 pm

The publishing industry would be in much better shape if it could just stop concentrating on publishing things. Newspaper companies should be tremendous engines feeding a ridiculous variety of publishing vehicles, but they can’t do that as long as their tools are focused on delivery. If you’re still lucky enough to have a hometown print newspaper, [...]
Find Love in the Time of Curation

uxcrank

20 Sep 2009 | 7:00 am

When it comes to curation, I think there’s good news and bad news. Curation is “the art of plucking all the good stuff from a superabundance of crap.” (That’s the Cranky definition actor and dilettante media analyst Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave in a recent Esquire magazine interview.) Assuming broadcast and cable news organizations survive the shifting sands of [...]
Design It Like a Roller Coaster

uxcrank

13 Sep 2009 | 5:00 pm

As a result of explosive growth in the use of self-describing code and the increasingly sophisticated application of metadata, online content is getting smarter every day. As content gets smarter, controlling that content gets not only more difficult, but also less appropriate. At the same time, social aspects of the Web are broadening our definition of [...]

siteInspire
R/GA

hello@siteinspire.net

7 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
Hard Graft

hello@siteinspire.net

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
Daniel Leyva

hello@siteinspire.net

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
3 Deep Design

hello@siteinspire.net

6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
Arrival

hello@siteinspire.net

5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

Benzing Technologies
Social Media and Reputation Management

Rusty

3 Nov 2009 | 2:54 pm

The boom of social media is here and more and more businesses are jumping on board. But can we manage our reputations? With Facebook gaining over 300 million users and Twitter with about 50 million we know that consumers are looking more towards the net for information and purchases. Social media has added a new bump to the growing numbers with being able to comment and post what they want, when they want, and how they want it. This in turn makes it easy for them to say a product or service sucks and not to use it as well as how great it really is. Reviews aren’t new to the net and with…
10 WordPress Install Security Tips

Rusty

29 Oct 2009 | 6:22 am

Now that WordPress has released its harding release 2.8.5 security is on my mind. I did some research to find 10 tips to secure WordPress and make it harder to break in. Below are some of the tips I found most useful. 1. Always change your WordPress database extension. Default is ‘wp_’ so change it to something like ‘gp_’ or ‘wordpress_’ on install. 2. Remove your admin user. By default the admin user is set to ‘admin’ changing this to another username makes it harder for hackers to guess your admin login. 3. Secure your .htaccess file. If you…
Google Analytics Just Became More Powerful!

Rusty

21 Oct 2009 | 1:11 pm

Yes its true, when you thought the good can’t get any better. Google rolled out some useful enhancements to its already useful and powerful Google Analytics tool. The new features gives the tool more flexibility and intelligence. Here are some highlights on some of the new features. 1. Addition of two new goal types for measuring user engagement and branding success that allows webmasters to set thresholds for Time on Site and Pages per visit. Up to 20 goals can now be defined. 2. Improved tracking of mobile websites and mobile apps on mobile devices even if the device is running…
Diamond Limousine

Alex

10 Oct 2009 | 4:08 pm

A project with class. They decided to go with our template package and also our Online Marketing Package later on. This website was highly improved from their last. Including a much more professional look and adding some ajax code for the gallery.
Web Inspir

Alex

10 Oct 2009 | 4:08 pm

Web Inspir was a project with a strategy in mind. We created Inspir to gather links for beautiful web designs, clean blog designs, and just gorgeous design. It serves as a link farm to help the design community create new creative web designs without copying existing material.

Small Business
Elements of Small Business Website Solution

admin

6 Nov 2009 | 2:17 am

An effective web presence requires a solutions-based approach with goals such as what you want to accomplish and who is the audience you are targeting. As the web is constantly evolving and search engine competition is becoming fierce, being successful on the web requires consistent evaluation of the site’s effectiveness based on your objectives, understanding the latest technologies and trends, having a dynamic website marketing plan and constantly fine tuning. The right elements that need to be present for an effective small business web solution are: 1.) Domain Name – Choose the…
Checklist for An Effective Small Business Website Design

admin

26 Oct 2009 | 5:31 am

The key purpose of having a web presence for your small business is to develop brand identity that leads to powerful call to action for your products or services and finally sell your products or services online. But before you create your website, you need to be specific about its direction and a solid strategic foundation. You should be certain about the end goal for your website i.e. either you are strictly provide information about your products or services or it is going to be used as a powerful tool to leverage user engagement, call to actions and sales. A thoughtful checklist can…
How to Achieve Small Business Website Design in Limited Budget?

admin

20 Oct 2009 | 4:47 am

Online presence is not only restricted to the inevitability of large scale businesses but is also must for small or medium scale businesses. Nevertheless, small businesses usually come up with budget issue and are often refrained from obtaining a multifunctional website for their business. However, by putting little effort and endeavor, it is not impossible to get a fully-functional website design within budget for small businesses. Here are the points highlighting the importance of web presence for small business and how to get it without exceeding your budget; Small Business Needs to…
Enhance the Readability of Your Small Business Website

admin

24 Sep 2009 | 2:43 am

A well designed website is quite important for the proliferation of your small business over Internet. Since a website is a mirror image of a business, therefore website design should be done after proper thinking and a lot of planning. You need to devote a lot of time and money in designing your small business web site, writing the copy for it and have it all done by a professional designer and copywriter. It may be easy to design a website but it takes a lot of efforts to bring people to read it. According to research, content in and of itself is not enough. No matter how much useful…
Web Design: A Catalyst in Growth of Small Businesses

admin

18 Sep 2009 | 4:57 am

A good and attractive website design is the fastest marketing technique for any small and medium scale business. Promoting your products and services on the internet ensures the reach of the business to a large number of customers worldwide. An eye-catching web design is essential to promote a small business. Let us find out some facts which reveal the importance and role of website design in the growth and success of a small/medium sized business: World Wide Promotion: A plausibly priced eye catching web site design is the only way to promote your business world wide when your business is…

Helloewy: A blog from Loewy Design
Dangerous Curves Ahead

Matt Kaye

3 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

I’ve worked at Loewy Design for five years, and over time I’ve noticed a growing trend in requests for content management systems (CMS). After building out a handful, I noticed another trend that struck me as odd. Some of the clients wanted me to make edits to their sites post-launch, even though I had just handed them a fully functional, easy-to-use CMS. How could this be? Did I do something wrong? Was the training I gave them on the software not good enough? A lot of thoughts like these ran through my mind. Maybe, or perhaps…there’s more to this trend. I’ve noted that the clients…
A dark cloud on the horizon

Marc Acosta

27 Oct 2009 | 9:58 am

The relentless commercials for remote backup almost had me convinced to retire my arcane system of external usb drives and cases of DVDs on my bookshelf. Then a couple of weeks ago that little bit of doubt I was feeling became a reality for users of the T-Mobile Sidekick when a server failure at Microsoft’s Danger division left them holding a dataless hunk of plastic. Sidekicks rely on the servers at Danger to store things like contacts, photographs, notes, to-do-lists and other important user data. Sidekick users could do little but wait for Microsoft to restore the data. The interruption…
Strategy Is king

Donald May

16 Oct 2009 | 7:48 am

In a previous post, I talked about trimming the fat from content. But let’s face it: trimming the fat assumes you had good meat to start with. In a world where people have precious little time, if you’re thinking site redesign, content strategy has to be a main priority. I’ve been working with a client recently on a large site redesign. Like many of my other site-redesign projects, this one was long overdue. Much of the content was outdated. It had been managed by a host of individuals, all from different countries, who each had their own way of doing things. The jargon was so product-…
By the book

David Loewy

7 Oct 2009 | 2:19 pm

I recently gave a lecture to the advanced web design class at Farmingdale College. When I met up with professor Jack Harris, he informed me that the kids, mostly juniors and seniors, saw Loewy Design’s page in the Flash/Dreamweaver Genius Guide, and they were looking forward to meeting with me. A bit embarrassed and very flattered, I asked Jack what book was he talking about and where could I get one. I later found out that the book is published by Imagine Publishing and promises to be the essential guide to dynamic design and development. We were recognized for our website’s approach…
Don’t just leave a mark

Donald May

30 Sep 2009 | 12:33 pm

The history of branding goes back nearly 4,000 years; it was originally conceived to promote ownership. Branding today represents something far more complicated and even elusive for many companies. Today the concept of branding has much more to do with engagement than with ownership. And the act of branding has less to do with a product or service and more to do with the way a company engages an audience with that product or service. Take a positive experience you’ve had with a brand. What about the experience made it enjoyable? Everything about that experience was an example of branding,…

Little Box Of Ideas
8 Free iPhone Social Bookmarking Icons Set 3

Sneh Roy

5 Nov 2009 | 3:24 pm

Here is the 3rd installment of the iPhone Social Bookmarking Icons. These are mostly requests from people following the first two sets. Thanks very much for your messages and mails, I have enjoyed making these icons immensely. Icon Pack Details Icons are PNG format. 8 icons for Google, Skype, Linked In, Orkut, Design Float, Deviantart, Reddit and Yahoo. Sizes are 512×512, 256×2576, 128×128 and 64×64. Free For Personal And Commercial Use without any restrictions. No need for credits, comments or link backs. Just enjoy. No resale allowed. Keep them free! Related…
What Do You Think Will Become A Popular Web Design Trend In 2010?

Sneh Roy

3 Nov 2009 | 6:04 pm

A few months ago I did a couple of community posts on the blog where designers and creatives from various fields talked about what they thought would be some of the most prominent design trends of 2010. You can review those posts here Designers Predict Design Trends for 2010 – Part I and The Biggest Design Trend Predictions For 2010. I was over-eager I guess in trying to wrangle each designer’s arm in trying to cough up their predictions so early on in the year. But those predictions managed to give some very good insight into some new trends. After all trends are born, they…
43 New Typography Wallpapers For Type Fanatics

Sneh Roy

1 Nov 2009 | 11:39 pm

Have you been feeling the itch to change your desktop again? Is the itch of the typographic kind? Fret no more my friends, because I have rounded up yet another cool collection of beautiful typographic wallpapers that you can choose from and stare at all day long after you’ve set them up as your desktops. A great mix once again, featuring the evergreen Helvetica [is it the most widely used font really? for typographic wallpapers?] and some amazingly tedious compositions that look as fantastic as they must’ve been hard to make. I like quite a few from this list, especially the Swim…
2 Minutes To Fast Rounded Corners For Complex Shapes In Illustrator

Sneh Roy

29 Oct 2009 | 8:52 pm

There is a short way of doing a task and a long, roundabout way of doing it in Illustrator. Ever since I started tinkering with the software earlier this year, I have inadvertently ended up going the longer route. But once in a while you have the a-ha moment on your self-learning journey and what a wonderful moment that is when you discover that you can accomplish the same task in 2 minutes that earlier took you 10. The Tricks section on the blog is dedicated to those "Look Ma! I did it in 2 minutes!" moments. Today I will show you how to create a complex shape in Illustrator…
21 Extremely Useful Icon Sets For Designers

Sneh Roy

27 Oct 2009 | 2:45 am

I have been working on a couple of projects lately and have been designing quick icons on and off to facilitate the design requirements. That got me thinking as to what sort of icons were available out there that would make a designer’s [or any person wanting to put together a web page] life simple. I wanted to look beyond the "Milky", "Weby", "Function" icon sets that have been abused on all lists [I especially love "Milky" and "Simplico", google them and try them out if you haven't already]. After poring through blogs of designers and…

WebM.ag
25 Social Bookmarking Resources Every Designer Should Know

McBonio

7 Nov 2009 | 12:54 am

Social bookmarking is a fantastic way to raise awareness of your site and build a good reputation by sharing what you do, another useful aspect of bookmarking is of course the extra boost in traffic your site may receive from sharing articles, as well as the additional backlinks your site will gain which has some obvious SEO benefits. I have listed 25 top resources for sharing your work, the general resources are applicable for most types of site and news, but [...]
15 Easy To Use Calendars And Date Pickers

McBonio

5 Nov 2009 | 11:43 pm

There comes a time in every web designers life that he/she will need to use a calender or datepicker in a project, they are incredibly useful for scheduling, event management or for projects that have a booking function for example, and look much better than the old method of numerous input boxes or drop downs! The are many calendars and datepickers around, in this post I have listed 15 of the good ones, the selection below are built on jQuery, Mootools [...]
15 Of The Best CSS Frameworks

McBonio

4 Nov 2009 | 11:36 pm

CSS frameworks can be a useful tool in web design, using them can save you time and quickly let you get designs built that are going to pass validation and allow you to work on making it pleasing to the eye. Some designers frown upon the use of frameworks mainly as they feel they are bad for new designers as its not allowing them to learn to code properly… So I suppose there are arguments for and against, but having a [...]
Free High Quality Mac Icons

McBonio

3 Nov 2009 | 11:40 pm

Macs are pretty popular amongst designers nowadays, with Apple bringing out faster and more powerful machines the popularity continues to grow, not to mention the increasing number of application designers switching over to mac to develop due to the popularity of the iPhone and various iPods. We all love icons, especially the free and high quality ones so I have collected 10 icons sets here covering iMacs and MacBooks to use with your designs, but please do check with the original [...]
Superb Calligraphy Fonts

McBonio

3 Nov 2009 | 1:18 am

We covered a selection of awesome Hand Drawn fonts not too long ago on WebM.ag (http://www.webm.ag/2009/09/06/a-collection-of-hand-drawn-fonts), and whilst the article we feel was well received we had a few emails questioning our omission of Calligraphy fonts. This was a deliberate decision, as we wanted to dedicate more time to Calligraphy fonts and cover a greater number of them as they can be really effective in certain designs. So as promised here are some top notch Calligraphy fonts for you to use in [...]

Web Design Booth
Wordpress Multi Languages: 5 Plugins To Build A Multilingual Website

Dicky

1 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am

If you are using Wordpress as a CMS, then you probably want to present your content with multiple languages. Recently, I came across a Wordpress blog that presents their content with three different languages, so I decided to investigate the methods and plugins to turn Wordpress into a multilingual website, and share my findings with WDB’s readers. Maintaining a multilingual website is not easy. The best way to present multilingual content to your visitors is to allow them to switch between different languages anytime. So, the plugin needs to take care of this and links different…
45 Inspiring Navigation Menus That You Must See

Dicky

29 Oct 2009 | 7:45 am

Navigation menu is the most important element in the web design. It guides users to your content and also shows them your site structure. A well-designed and user friendly navigation menu will definitely attract more users to click and browse your content. Designing a navigation menu is not easy. The designer needs to understand the site structure before start. Furthermore, designer needs to make sure the navigation menu can cope for future needs. One of the example is the number of elements in the menu increase in future. In this article, you will see 45 inspiring, user-friendly and…
6 Free Icon Editors To Create and Edit Icons

Dicky

26 Oct 2009 | 7:13 am

We use icons for our web designs, favicons and also Windows/Mac application. To create or edit an icon, you can use either powerful image editors like Photoshop, Paint.NET, premium icon editors, or just use a free icon editor. Today, we are going to share 6 Useful Free Icon Editors where you can create and edit your icons for free. Some of them offer advanced features like extract icons from binary for free. 1. Greenfish Icon Editor Pro Greenfish Icon Editor Pro is a very powerful icon editor. It is portable, with <1.8MB after unzip. It supports layer, able to create animated cursors,…
65+ Beautiful and Scary Halloween Wallpapers

Dicky

23 Oct 2009 | 8:22 am

Halloween is around the corner and we can see the web is filled with Halloween icons, skeletons, pumpkins and even Photoshop Tutorials for Halloween Season. We decided to share wallpapers and resources for every festive season. So, we take this Halloween Holiday as our first step to share 65+ beautiful and scary Halloween Wallpapers with our readers. We hope these Halloween Wallpapers can spice up and add some scary effect to your desktop during this season. Related Posts 65 Absolutely Beautiful Beach Wallpapers 80+ Absolutely Beautiful Dual Screen Wallpapers 60+ Beautiful Firefox Wallpapers…
75 Creative And Unique Business Card Designs For Your Inspiration

Dicky

20 Oct 2009 | 4:08 am

When it comes to promoting your business offline, having a unique business card design will definitely helps you. Business card speaks for your brand, and creative business card will help you gain a better impression from your potential clients. If business card is a major thing to you and your business, then you had reached to a right place. Here, we collected 70+ beautiful, creative and unique business card designs to share with our readers. To make these business card designs look more neat, we had categorized them into different categories. You can simply click on the link and jump to…

hongkiat.com
Macro Photography II – 70 Beautiful Photos of Insects

hongkiat

6 Nov 2009 | 5:40 am

Insect photography is challenging under the best circumstances. Think about it: you’re taking photos of something that is likely smaller than your little finger (and at largest is still probably smaller than your hand), has no reason to cooperate, and likely views you as a predator or is oblivious to your presence entirely. And even if you’re taking photos of dead insects, it still takes a lot of skill (and a good macro lens) to get the right focus and lighting. The photographers who managed to snap the photos below all deserve some serious respect. They’ve managed to…
Excellent HTML Newsletter Templates – Best Of

hongkiat

4 Nov 2009 | 5:16 am

A well designed newsletter/email template can be the difference between success an failure. Whether its to update customers about a product, or to share information, having a well designed template can be a great starting point to guide your readers and give them a clear coherent flow when they read your email. This is crucial, considering how important the first impression is. Here is round-up of some of the best free HTML newsletter templates on the Internet you can download without paying a penny. Here are more related entries you might be interested: XHTML/CSS Website Templates Web…
Breadcrumb Navigation Examined: Best Practices & Examples

hongkiat

2 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

Breadcrumb navigation is often overlooked in the design and development process. Some people may see it as unnecessary while others may feel it is too big of a hassle for what its worth. Fact of the matter is, breadcrumb navigation will greatly increase the usability of a website. Breadcrumbs give users an alternative method of navigation, allow them to see where they stand in the hierarchy of a website, and will reduce the number of steps needed to navigate to a higher-level within a website. Outlined here are the different types of breadcrumb navigation being used today, why they are…
100+ Clean, Simple and Minimalist Website Designs

hongkiat

29 Oct 2009 | 5:28 am

Minimalism has been a popular website design style for years. It has so many benefits; minimalist sites load faster, take fewer server resources, and are often faster to develop than more graphically complicated designs. Plus, they give a professional, clean impression to visitors. Many people still view minimalist designs as boring. But there’s a real art to effective minimal website designs, something not all designers can effectively master. When you limit the number of graphic elements you use and put the focus on negative space and typography, a good eye for spacing and proportion…
Freebie: Blitter Twitter Icon Set

hongkiat

27 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

We love freebies, and we love them more if they are high quality freebie. We occasionally search the Internet high and low to dig out these hidden gems to make designers’ life easier and better. This week, with the help from our friend Iconshock, we are releasing a free high quality Twitter icon set, named Blitter. Blitter Twitter icon set comes in two sets of sizes, respectively 215×215 pixels and 512×512 pixels in transparent .PNG 24-bit format. We’ve also included the Adobe Illustrator .AI source file just in case you want a bigger version of any icon. Feel free to use, edit…

Snappy Sentences
Marketing on a shoestring budget

Snappy Sentences

31 Oct 2009 | 5:26 am

On Wednesday night I attended a Networx event called Marketing on a shoestring budget. It was a great night and I think everyone in the crowd learned some good tips and tricks to make a small marketing budget go further. One idea that wasn’t really expanded on though was the value of good content. I think that if you are going to go to the effort of pulling together a website, some direct mail outs, or even a decent business card (which were all items given the thumbs up), then don’t forget that the right words can really seal the deal. Hiring a professional copywriter –…
Start planning your content needs for 2010

Snappy Sentences

17 Oct 2009 | 5:02 am

It’s officially the downhill slide to the end of the year. The first Christmas party invites are starting to filter through, the weather is getting hotter and hotter (around here anyway), and there is a last minute push to get things done before everyone goes on holidays. The savvy ones out there are also starting to think about their content needs for 2010. While it may be hard to do (with all the frivolity on the horizon), start having a think about: What blog topics would you like to cover? Do some brainstorming and map out what you are going to cover for at least the first six…
Technorati tuning

Snappy Sentences

9 Oct 2009 | 2:06 am

I’ve been having some problems with Technorati, basically because I’ve changed my blog URL since joining. The site doesn’t seem to pick up my new blog posts, so after much trial and error I am deleting my claim and re-claiming www.snappysentences.com/blog To get this to work, they need a piece of code. Here it is: fvdq67ky8x Fingers crossed this works
Courting your customers with content

Snappy Sentences

19 Sep 2009 | 4:05 am

Part of the key to writing successful web content is understanding your customers. The web is a fickle place – you have such a short amount of time to stop and engage visitors before they hit the back button and leave your site. So how do you do this? Here are a few things to consider: It’s easy to get carried away on your sales pitch, but make sure you stop and think why your website visitor is actually seeking out your product or service in the first place. What situation brings them to need what you are offering? Are they celebrating? Mourning? In the midst of an emergency?
Fresh content on SNOBs.com.au

Snappy Sentences

1 Sep 2009 | 10:00 pm

I’ve just had an article published on SNOBs.com.au – check out Snappy SEO: Do-it-yourself search engine optimisation. Enjoy!