After a few years in the graphic design business, you realize how important it is to get the basics right. Like following a file naming convention, creating scalable logos, ensuring proper kerning and leading, using high-res images for printing, and so on. … [Read more...]
30 Beautiful Color Gradients For Your Next Design Project
Looking for cool background gradients for your UI? Software and design company Itmeo has created a useful online tool called WebGradients – a free collection of 180 linear gradients that you can use as content backdrops in any part of your website. You can download a .PNG version of each gradient and copy their CSS3 cross-browser codes. Sketch and Photoshop packs are … [Read more...]
10 Hilarious Examples Of How Punctuation Makes A Big Difference
The absence or presence of a comma can change the entire meaning of a sentence. For example, there's a cannibalistic difference between "Let's eat grandma" and "Let's eat, grandma." The same holds true for apostrophes, hyphens, colons, and other punctuation marks. … [Read more...]
5 Tips For A Killer Portfolio
Your portfolio should showcase only your best work. Don't use mediocre work as filler. Also, develop your skills using the "T-shaped" model, i.e., hold a thorough knowledge and strong skill-set in one subject, but also work beyond your area of expertise to collaborate in other fields. … [Read more...]
What Different Types Of Fonts Mean And How To Use Them
Every font has a unique personality and purpose. While working on a project, it's imperative to know which font matches the intended tone of communication. Serif fonts portray tradition, sophistication and a formal tone. Sans serif fonts are modern, humanist and neutral. Slab serifs are bold and contemporary. Script fonts are elegant, classic, stylish and formal. … [Read more...]
Adobe Illustrator ‘Pen Tool’ Cheat Sheet For Designers
Paul Trani, Senior Worldwide Creative Cloud Evangelist for Adobe, has created a handy 'Pen Tool' cheat sheet for Adobe Illustrator. The 8-point visual guide covers the basics and shows you how to create straight and curved lines, add/delete/move anchor points and use bezier handles. We've also collated a few tutorials that Illustrator newbies might find useful. Check them all … [Read more...]
Who Legally Owns A Website Once It’s Designed?
"I paid a professional web designer to create my site, of course I own it!" - this is probably the belief that almost every website client holds. It makes perfect sense - you paid someone to develop a website for you. Why then would you not own what you paid for? … [Read more...]
How Art Directors And Copywriters Can Avoid Annoying Each Other
Copywriter Stephanie Vicari and Art Director Caitlin Hickey wanted to tackle the potential complicated relationship that can exist between copywriters and art directors. The result? They created airline-style safety cards for budding creatives to ensure that no one steps on any toes. Check them out below. … [Read more...]
What Is SSL And Why Every Website Will Need It In 2017
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser to avoid interception by hackers. Encryption means to convert information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorized access. A website that uses SSL encryption has a padlock next to their domain name in the browser's address bar (like … [Read more...]
The Recipe For Creating Epic Logo Designs
A logo is not just a graphical symbol, it is the embodiment of your organization. Designing a logo is not just about creating a business identity, it's about creating a connection between the customer and your brand. A successful logo is one that is memorable, versatile, appropriate and timeless. … [Read more...]
9 Simple Ways To Become More Creative
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Pablo Picasso. 60% CEOs believe that creativity is the most important leadership quality, but only 1 in 4 people believe they are living up to their creative potential. … [Read more...]
200 Words To Use Instead Of “Good”
"Good" is dull and unimaginative. People often use "good" as a lazy replacement for a more appropriate word. Custom Writing have created an excellent infographic that lists 200 words you can use instead of "good". For instance, to describe taste, use "scrumptious" or "delicious". To describe a performance, use "stellar" or "captivating". Know more in the infographic below. … [Read more...]
10 Golden Rules To Improve Your Typography Skills
There are two types of typography - expressive typography (where type is used as a visual element) and functional typography (type that is meant to be read). Emmy Award-winning designer Chris Do's Typography Manual focuses on the latter and shares 10 golden rules to help you improve your type skills. Vietnam-based designer Leo Dinh has created an animated version of … [Read more...]
10 Common Photoshop Mistakes That Novice Designers Make
Still using Bevel and Emboss on your Photoshop text? That's not a bad idea if you want your designs to look like flea market flyers from the 90s. Here's a handy tutorial by Nathaniel Dodson at Tutvid that features 10 common Photoshop mistakes that amateur designers make, and how to avoid them. … [Read more...]
10 Simple Exercises For Designers And Desk Workers To Stay Fit
Designers and artists spend long sedentary hours at their desk which can lead to a range of health issues like obesity, back pain, neck strain, diabetes, heart disease and more. Jack Dennerlein, professor at Northeastern's Bouvé College of Health Sciences in Boston, suggests a 20-20-20 rule to counter the health risks of prolonged sitting - after every 20 minutes, walk 20 feet … [Read more...]
Web Design Psychology: How To Create A Site That Influences People
"Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent." - Joe Sparano. An effective website is one that builds trust with its user and influences him/her to take your preferred course of action. From layout and typeface to colors and CTAs, each element plays an important role in engaging users and creating profitable conversions. … [Read more...]
69 Useful Photoshop Shortcuts To Speed Up Your Workflow
Photoshop shortcuts help speed up your workflow considerably. The more time you spend with the software, the more shortcuts you learn and use. Creative Bloq has created a handy cheat sheet/infographic that contains 69 useful Photoshop shortcuts to help you save time – a perfect reference guide for PS newcomers or as a checklist for experienced designers. Check it out below and … [Read more...]
9 Useful Tips For Better Typography
Like any form of art, there is no set formula to create good typography. Typographic choices that work for one form of text won’t necessarily work for another. There are however good practices to follow. Design resource website Pixelo has come up with a nifty animated video that shares a few useful tips to keep in mind when combining typefaces and working with … [Read more...]
How Filmmakers Use Shapes And Geometry In Movies To Trigger Your Emotions
The brain gives abstract meaning to many different shapes in a consistent way and filmmakers use this phenomenon to tell their story. In animation, for example, evil characters have sharper features, pointy noses and long curly fingers. The lovable characters are designed soft and round. … [Read more...]
10 Great Google Font Combinations For Your Next Design Project
Designers often spend a lot of time deciding which typefaces to pair up and most sites just give one-sentence examples that don't offer a real preview of what the text will look like. To make life easier for everyone, the team at Milo Themes has created a set of mock-ups that show different Google Font combinations for headline and body copy. They've used filler text from … [Read more...]
15 Surprising Things That Can’t Be Copyrighted
Copyrights are an essential legal tool for artists, writers, musicians and inventors to protect their work. However, not everything can be copyrighted. The ingredients of a recipe can't be copyrighted. Neither can a domain name, or the title of a book. … [Read more...]
The Psychology of Colors in Marketing (Infographic)
When buying a product, 93% of buyers focus on its visual appearance. 84.7% of buyers claim that color is the primary draw card. Different colors have different psychological effects on consumers - red encourages appetite, blue provides a sense of security, green stimulates harmony, orange promotes enthusiasm, purple is associated with royalty, and so on. Homestead has … [Read more...]
5 Things Every Designer Should Know When Dealing With Clients
If you're making changes to a project in front of a client, you're doing it wrong. You might think you're saving time, but you end up making the design process look simpler than it actually is. Here's a handy infographic by Basekit and Josuedric that shares five such important tips you should keep in mind when dealing with design clients. … [Read more...]
Tips To Make Your Website User-Friendly For People With Disabilities
A website should be user-friendly for everyone, including those with poor vision, dyslexia, autism or physical disabilities. UK-based interaction designer Karwai Pun has created a set of six infographics that highlight the dos and don'ts of designing for accessibility. … [Read more...]
The 100 Best Web Design Tools And Resources
As a designer, it's imperative that you know your tools like an artist knows their paintbrushes. But with so many new apps and resources around, which ones should you bookmark? … [Read more...]
If You Want To Sound Smarter, Use These Words Instead Of “Very”
"Very" is vague and weak. People often use "very" as a lazy replacement for a more appropriate word. Proof Reading Services have come up with an excellent infographic that lists 128 words you can use instead of "very". For example, instead of "very colorful", you can use "vibrant". Instead of "very funny", use "hilarious". Instead of "very excited", use "thrilled". Know … [Read more...]
This Brilliant Font Lets You Create Graphs Quickly By Converting Numbers To Visuals
FF Chartwell is a handy typeface that lets you create charts and graphs out of numerical data with just a few keystrokes. Designed by Travis Kochel, the typeface transforms simple strings of numbers into a graph with corresponding values. The visualized data remains editable, allowing for updates and styling. Here's how it works: … [Read more...]
15 Great Google Font Combinations For Your Next Design Project
Designers often spend a lot of time deciding which typefaces to pair up and most sites just give one-sentence examples that don't offer a real preview of what the text will look like. To make life easier for everyone, the team at Milo Themes has created a set of mock-ups that show different Google Font combinations for headline and body copy. They've used filler text from … [Read more...]
This Powerful Photoshop Trick Lets You Remove Unwanted Objects In Just 3 Simple Steps
To remove unwanted objects from an image, we usually use the Clone Stamp Tool to duplicate elements from the surrounding area. But here's a Photoshop hack that makes it even simpler. … [Read more...]
A Useful, Comprehensive List Of Typography Terms For Designers
Do you know the difference between kerning and tracking, beak and serif, baseline and descender line? As a designer, it's imperative that you know what different typography terms mean, even if you don't use them every day. Here's a brilliant typeface glossary/infographic by DesignMantic that explains the meanings of terms like kerning, leading, tracking, glyph, serif, etc. and … [Read more...]
How To Remove Your Ex-Boyfriend Or Girlfriend From A Photo Using Photoshop
Picture this: You're browsing through your old photos and come across a fabulous picture of yours that you want to share on social media. There's just one problem. Your ex is in it too. What do you do? If you have Photoshop on your system, Aaron Nace from Phlearn offers a handy tutorial that shows you how to remove unwanted people and objects using the pen tool, clone stamp … [Read more...]
How To Structure URLs To Make Your Web Pages Rank Higher
Short and clean URLs don't just improve usability and user experience but they also help your pages rank higher in search results. Keep your URLs to under 60 characters, match them to their page titles and avoid keyword repetition and stop words like 'the', 'and', 'but', 'of', etc. FME Modules has created a handy infographic that offers URL structuring tips and suggestions to … [Read more...]
14 Graphic Design Terms That Most Designers Get Wrong
Most amateur designers don't know the difference between a font and a typeface. They use the two terms interchangeably. A font is the variation of weights (bold, italic, thin) of a typeface. A typeface is a family of fonts, like Arial, Helvetica, Bebas, etc. Another example is the usage of the terms 'color' and 'hue'. Color is an all-encompassing word referring to a hue, … [Read more...]
Beautiful, Inspiring Hand-Lettered Tips For Designers And Creatives
Sean McCabe is a hand lettering artist, type designer, and illustrator based in San Antonio, Texas. He runs a media company called seanwes by day and creates gorgeous hand-lettered typography by night. Using Pigma Micron pens, Sean weaves his magic on paper, offering inspiring tips and mantras for artists, designers, creatives, and just about anyone. He has spent over 9000 … [Read more...]
The Best Colors For Productivity And Creativity In Your Workplace
Did you know that yellow induces a sense of optimism and is a good color for high energy creative spaces? Red boosts heart rate, increases brain activity and is good for places where people work at night. Green boosts creativity, promotes harmony and is a good choice for brainstorming spaces. … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Next Page »