designm.ag - Archives (juin 2014)
Back just a few years ago it was required for web developers use JavaScript/jQuery to perform animated effects in-browser. CSS3 has dramatic
Graphic design is such an engrossing topic because it requires an enormous amount of time and practice to learn. This is similar with web development, but coding is often seen as more logical and straightforward. Design has structured guidelines, but it is much more of an art than a science. You should learn these basic guidelines and understand why certain graphics or colors work together before starting to breaking those rules.
If you have passion and perseverance then nothing can truly stop you from becoming a great designer. The first step is to recognize how the process works and where your energy needs to be focused. I want to share my thoughts about graphic design for website layouts and offer a few bits of advice for anyone interested in the field.
We're well into 2014 by now. How are you coming with your annual freelance web design business goals?
That's what I thought. But don't worry. It's not just you. Most of us are behind on our goals.
One of the biggest perks of freelancing is also one of the biggest problems. To be precise, the problem is the fact that you don't answer to a boss.
Most freelancers that I know love the fact that no one is looking over their shoulder to make sure that they get their work done. And I agree. Not having a boss can be great.
- Want a day off? Just take it.
- Having trouble getting started in the morning? No problem. Get up later.
- Don't feel like working today? Then don't.
- Do you dread working with that problem client today? Put it off until tomorrow.
One of the easiest CMS engines to learn is WordPress. They have a free service where newbies can sign up to learn the system without committing to a full domain name. Once you get a personal server there are many additional benefits, however it can become more confusing to manage an entire WordPress website. Thankfully there's a ton of resources online for learning how to utilize WordPress to its fullest potential.
In this guide I want to share a few tips for managing your own efficient & speedy WordPress website. The system may seem confusing at first but it's really easy to learn with a bit of time. Practicing the backend will make everything else a lot easier to grasp, and this includes customizing plugins or theme files.
Should you work with a freelance design partner?
The answer is "maybe."
Not every freelancer is cut out to be in a partnership. And not every pair of freelance designers who decide to work together succeed.
For many, working with a freelancing partner is the best thing that ever happened to them. But for others, forming a partnership results in nothing but chaos and misery.
What's the difference?
That's an excellent question, and one that we'll explore in this post. We'll look at why some partnerships work and others don't. I'll also provide five tips to help you form a working web design partnership.
If you liked this post, you may also like 10 Essential Guidelines for Freelance Collaboration.
We’re at a pivotal time where it is important to create engaging and memorable websites for our clients, and to find platforms that will help us to achieve this along the way. One of the most important names in the industry is Webydo, which provides a web design platform that allows designers to create websites from the ground up without writing any code. The newest feature addition is Webydo’s pixel accurate, code-free Parallax Scrolling Animator that enables creative individuals to add this eye-catching and highly interactive effect to their projects.
Parallax Scrolling Animations gives you the power to define the way your site’s pages move and changes as viewers scroll through it and has easily become one of the most talked about trends in web design industry at the moment. To add to the conversation is Webydo’s recent feature release of their code-free Parallax Scrolling Animator. This new feature to their platform will enable web creators to add Parallax Scrolling to their projects without having to know how to code. Webydo is offering 3,000 invites on a first come first serve basis to participate in its closed beta trial. All readers have to do is sign up and do it quickly, the offer lasts 7 days and the invites are snatched up fast. Last week, 2,000 invites were put up and they were gone in less than 1.5h.
Gridgum is a marketplace that seeks to provide the best responsive themes available. For a developer, Gridgum is a great place to sell your themes. As a customer you can find a great variety of responsive themes, some of them including an installation and setup package to help you get going. Browsing through this marketplace’s galleries you will find templates developed with a wide variety of frameworks such as Bootstrap, Foundation or Skeleton. If you’re shopping for your new website, Gridgum provides Bootstrap and Wordpress themes, as well as Admin Panels. In order to constantly keep the wide range of responsive themes they offer, Gridgum is always looking for the best developers. Therefore, the marketplace is now hosting the Mammoth June $2000 giveaway. All you have to do is submit your theme by June 30th 2014 in order to participate in the giveaway and have the chance to win one of the prizes.
Who doesn't honestly love sophisticated culture? A three-piece suit with the cane & top hat seems to evoke the same feeling of a classy script typeface. Curly lettering with fancy linework has provided an articulate beauty in the design world.
With so many custom fonts you might expect all script writing to appear very similar. But custom designers put a lot of work into lettering which often turns into logos, posters, business cards, and other forms of promotional material. Check out this collection of script typography made for print and digital mediums. If you really love fancy design consider a quick look through this gallery with your favorite opera glasses.
Keep on Keepin' On
A year ago, finding a blogging platform that focused on blogging was impossible. Even content creation platforms that advertised as having an easy set-up and were specifically for bloggers seemed to focus mostly on the creation of the layout of a blog. For instance, WordPress has some amazing news and magazine themes, but it certainly isn't a quick set-up. Tumblr themes are a bit simpler but still come with some bells and whistles that many found annoying. Bloggers just wanted to be able to quickly set up a simple but professionally designed blog and start publishing. John O'Nolan was one such blogger who became frustrated enough with the situation that he hired Hannah Wolfe as lead developer, received funding through Kickstarter, and created a simple blogging platform called Ghost. With so many supporters due to blogging platform ire already, Ghost quickly received the funding it needed to launch on 14 October 2013. The other good news is that there are themes for more than just writers. Portfolio ghost themes are also emerging. So, if you are a blogger or a designer looking to set up a simple blogging or even portfolio platform, Ghost is one platform that brings content back to the forefront on the web. In fact, below is a list of 30 of our favorite ghost themes so far. All are very elegant and, most importantly, provide a clean layout to help your content shine.
1. Penman
If you've never heard about rapid prototyping it can be defined by the two individual terms. "Rapid" means a speedy action taking place over a short period of time, and a prototype is typically the first model of a project. This process requires fast iterations of design to implement features, test how they work, and fix what doesn't work until you reach a comfortable solution.
This article will go over some of the basics to rapid prototyping and how you can get started. I'll be focusing specifically on website design, but keep in mind that you can rapidly prototype any interface including mobile apps or GUIs for software. I've also included some related posts and popular tools for prototyping.
Mobile apps are a growing trend these days with 22% of the population across the world owning smartphones and 6% owning tablets. According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 56% of American adults own a smartphone. Many businesses now offer loyal followers apps in place of their website to provide convenient and quick access to their information.
Vector design is the perfect way to jazz up a bland or simplistic layout. Nowadays designers can export SVG icons which naturally expand or animate for unique visual effects. Connecting a branded vector character into your company logo is a memorable way to capture attention. It certainly works for these websites!
Below you can find a number of excellent vector-based icons blended into typical website layouts. This is a solid collection of websites to understand how other designers create these effects. You might try designing your own Illustrator vectors for the web and see how they can improve overall visitor interactivity.
Metaverse Mod Squad
