A 'dark pattern' is a user interface that has been craftily designed to trick users into doing things they might not want to do, in order to benefit the business in question. The term was coined by UK-based UI designer Harry Brignull, who runs DarkPatterns.org - a website dedicated to "naming and shaming websites that use deceptive user interfaces". For example, have you … [Read more...]
20 Important Design Principles Explained With Simple Illustrations
There are no fixed rules or formulas for good design, but there are a few basic principles that will help you create design that is effective, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. Technical jargon can sometimes get confusing or overwhelming, which is why Canva has come up with a fantastic infographic that uses simple illustrations to explain the 20 most important design … [Read more...]
27 Beautiful Color Gradients For Your Next Design Project
Looking for beautiful gradients for your graphic, web, or UI design? UVdesk has created a useful online tool called coolHue – a free collection of over 60 gradients that you can use for design and code. You can browse through the swatches, copy their CSS codes and even download a .PNG version of each one. Here are some of our favourites from the collection. … [Read more...]
Graphic Designer’s Interesting Experiment Shows How The Placement Of An Element Affects Its Meaning
Brazilian designer Nei Valente has come up with an intriguing design experiment titled 'Thoughts on Position' that studies the relationship between the placement of an element and its meaning. The objective was to find out if the same element can communicate different messages when placed in different positions. In this experiment, Valente surveyed 288 participants with a … [Read more...]
33 Beautiful Color Schemes For Your Next Design Project
Looking for color combinations for your graphic, web or UI design? CoSchedule has come up with a handy infographic that shares 33 beautiful palettes organized by primary and secondary colors. They've also compiled two additional infographics on color + word associations and color psychology. Check them all out below. … [Read more...]
12 Visual Hierarchy Principles Every Designer Should Know
Visual hierarchy is the arrangement and presentation of design elements in order of their importance. It influences the order in which the human eye perceives the information that is being displayed. A simple example would be a business card - the name of the organisation is usually the most prominent element, followed by the name of the card holder, job title, and contact … [Read more...]
Designers Share Valuable Advice They Would Give To Their Younger Selves If They Could Go Back In Time
If you could go back in time and give advice about the graphic design profession to your younger self, what would it be? Would you suggest building a diverse portfolio early on, or networking more effectively? What about the importance of continual learning and staying abreast of evolving design trends? Understanding the value of constructive criticism and resilience in … [Read more...]
Short, Useful Design Tips For UI/UX Designers
Steve Schoger is a multidisciplinary designer based in Kitchener, Ontario. When he finds time off from running his design and illustration studio, he curates 'Little UI Details' - a Twitter collection of short, useful design tips for UI/UX designers. Steve's tweets cover different elements of UI design and also include before-after mockup images that make them all the more … [Read more...]
Free Minimal Line Icons For UI, Web And Mobile Design
Here's a handy set of 124 vector line icons by Madrid-based designer Situ Herrera. They're minimal, flat and basic, in keeping with current design trends. You can use them for a variety of UI, web, and mobile design projects. The zip file includes AI, EPS, and PSD files, so you can tweak them, change colors, and more. … [Read more...]
21 Free Geometric And Blurred Background Packs For Your Design Projects
Geometric polygon and soft-blurred backgrounds are a popular trend nowadays in graphic, web and UI design. Low-poly patterns look great on print collaterals like business cards, brochures, flyers, packaging, signage, etc. They're also used in digital presentations, kiosks, app start up screens and more. Soft-blurred, gradient backgrounds became a rage after Apple started … [Read more...]
34 Beautiful Color Palettes For Your Next Design Project
Looking for color schemes for your graphic, web or UI design? Coolors is a fast and easy tool that lets you create, save and share beautiful color palettes. You can browse and filter schemes by color or popularity, save them to your account, or export them as .PNG, .PDF, .SVG, and more. Coolors is also available as an iOS App, Android App, Figma Plugin, and Chrome Extension. … [Read more...]
36 Beautiful Color Gradients For Your Next Design Project
Looking for cool gradients for your graphic, web or UI design? Product designer and front end developer Indrashish Ghosh has created a useful online tool called uiGradients – a free collection of over 260 linear gradients that you can use for design and code. You can browse gradients by color, copy their hexadecimal or CSS codes, and even download a .JPG version of each one. … [Read more...]
30 Brilliant Slider Animations For UI Inspiration
Sliders are the most commonly-used UI element, after buttons. From lock screens and image galleries to volume controls and app selections, we use sliders to navigate our way through different interfaces everyday. An effectively implemented slider enhances the user experience and makes the interface more engaging, dynamic, and memorable. … [Read more...]
29 Beautiful Color Schemes From Award-Winning Websites
Looking for color schemes for your website or UI? The design team at Visme, an online tool for creating presentations and infographics, has created a list of beautiful color schemes from websites that have been recognized by Awwwards, the world's largest web design awarding body. The list includes a wide range of color schemes - natural, earthy, contemporary, bold, elegant, … [Read more...]
36 Beautiful Color Palettes For Your Next Design Project
Looking for color palettes for your UI? Color Hex is a useful online tool with a collection of almost 40,000 color palettes that you can use in your projects. You can copy hex codes and even download a .PNG version of each palette. Check out some our favourites below. … [Read more...]
This Animated Video Brilliantly Explains How To Choose The Right Colors For Your Designs
Choosing the right color palette is essential to the success of any design project. But how do we know which colors look good together and which ones don't? How do the pros do it? The answer is color theory. Artists and designers have used color theory for centuries, but anyone can learn more about it. … [Read more...]
31 Brilliant User Interface Animations
Animated interface elements don't just attract attention, they enhance user experience and help guide user flow. They reveal the functionality and process of a user interface much better than static text. Like any other element of good design, UI animations should have a purpose without being too noticeable. They should be functional above everything else. If you're looking … [Read more...]
30 Great Font Combinations For Your Next Design Project
Designers often spend a lot of time deciding which typefaces to pair up and most sites don’t offer a real preview of what the text will look like. To make life easier for everyone, designer Poppie Pack from Canva has created a set of mock-ups that show different headline and body font combinations for a variety of design projects. Pack has also specified the font size and … [Read more...]
50 Beautiful Color Combinations For Your Next Design Project
Looking for some nifty color combinations for your next project? The design team at Visme, an online tool for creating presentations and infographics, has created a list of 50 beautiful color schemes you can use in your designs. These color presets are available within Visme to use in any charts or graphics that you create with it. Check out the list below. … [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 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...]
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...]
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...]
A Closer Look At Web Designers And Their Funny Habits
We web designers are a peculiar species. We like to do things with <style>. We refuse to eat at restaurants where the <table> layout sucks. We search for the Ctrl/Cmd Z button every time we spill our coffee. Our relationship with developers is similar to Donald Trump's relationship with immigrants. We like to keep 'other' humans at a distance, unless they know the … [Read more...]
32 Creative Loading Animations That Are Worth The Wait
47% of users expect a webpage or an app to load in 2 seconds or less. After 4 seconds, the average user starts getting frustrated and after 8 seconds, they leave. In fact, a one second delay in your site speed can result in a 7% reduction in customer conversions. Loading time is crucial to the success of your site, app or program and if you can keep the user engaged for … [Read more...]
5 Color Choices You Must Avoid When Designing For The Web
When it comes to web design, colors play a vital role in increasing conversions, reducing bounce rate and ensuring a smooth user experience. We often see websites compromising on readability by using light-colored text on light backgrounds. Also, it's never ok to use red and green in excess, even if you're making a Christmas-themed website. … [Read more...]
What Different Colors Mean And How To Use Them
Did you know that blue is used for corporate and business designs because it represents dependability, trustworthiness and security? Orange is used to give a friendly impression without being overpowering. Darker shades of purple characterize wealth and luxury. TechKing has come up with a handy infographic that covers the psychology of different colors, their appropriate … [Read more...]
8 Dos and Don’ts Of Creating Pixel Icons In Illustrator
Chennai-based UI/UX Designer M.A. Kather has created an eight-point visual guide that covers some basic dos and don’ts of creating pixel icons in Adobe Illustrator. Kather’s visual comparison of Photoshop vs Illustrator was previously featured on our site. This new series offers a few tips and tricks that’ll come in handy for design students, beginners and professionals alike. … [Read more...]
15 Graphic Design Terms That Most Designers Get Wrong
It's cool to use design jargons with clients and co-workers but not if you're getting them wrong. Here's a brilliant infographic by Creative Market that helps you remember the differences between 15 common design terms like font and typeface, opacity and fill, px and em, trim and crop, etc. … [Read more...]
8 Beautiful Color Palettes For Your Next Design Project
Milan-based creative director Duminda Perera has created a series of minimalist color palette posters that are both handy and beautiful. Not only do they give you color ideas (with hex codes) for your next project, you can use these posters to decorate your studio, office or home. Check them out below. … [Read more...]
36 Brilliant User Interface Animations
Animated interface elements reveal the process and functionality of a UI much better than static text. They enhance user experience and help guide user flow. Like any other element of good design, UI animations should have a purpose. They should be functional without being overly flashy. … [Read more...]
34 CSS Puns That Prove Designers Have A Great Sense Of Humor
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a stylesheet language that defines how the content on a web page is to be displayed with colors, borders, fonts, backgrounds, etc. Inspired by this Reddit thread, today's post showcases 34 CSS puns that'll put a smile on every web designer's face. The interesting bit is that even if you have no clue about the technicalities, you'll still … [Read more...]
Free Download: 110 Flat Icons For Personal or Commercial Use
Add a touch of elegance to your next web project with these 110 free, flat icons that'll make your designs look professional, classy and cohesive. There are two sets - one with icons inside round buttons and the other without. PNG and original Photoshop PSD files are included in the ZIP package. … [Read more...]
50 Free, Flat And Gorgeous Icon Sets For The Modern Designer
Web and user interface design trends have changed. Flat is in, skeuomorphism is out. Long shadows are in, bevels are out. We at DigitalSynopsis.com want to make life simpler for you creative folk. Here are 50 awesome modern icon sets for your next web project and guess what, they're all FREE! … [Read more...]