2009 November | Webdesigner Depot

30 Nov
Internet Famous: Becoming an Online Celebrity
Blogging, How to, Internet
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Some people dream of being famous from the time they’re quite young. They crave the spotlight, and will do anything to be the center of attention.
They want nothing more than to become a celebrity, to have legions of adoring fans, and to have their name recognized the world over.
For others, fame is a means to an end. They want to be famous so people will buy their product, hire them to do something they love, or to influence others to support a cause they really care about.
They see promoting themselves and becoming a celebrity as a way to further their career, business, or other efforts, and nothing more. In many cases, these people would prefer not to be famous if they could be as effective in other ways.
Whichever category you fall into, if you’re reading this article you’re probably interested in becoming an Internet celebrity. Read on to find out more.
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29 Nov
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Nov 22-Nov 28, 2009
Best Of, Compilation, Twitter
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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 Read more
28 Nov
Comics of the Week #1
Comics, Funny, Illustrations
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We’ve seen great success with our weekly “Favorite Tweets of the Week” posts, so today we’re introducing the “Comics of the Week”.
This is a new weekly section that will feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD.
The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers.
These great cartoons are created by Jerry King, an award-winning cartoonist who’s one of the most published, prolific and versatile cartoonists in the world today.
So for a few moments, take a break from your daily routine, have a laugh and enjoy these funny cartoons. Read more
24 Nov
Win 5 Free Copies of ‘Fancy Form Design’
Books, Contests
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We’re partnering once again with the awesome folks at SitePoint to bring you another great giveaway for one of their latest books.
The book this time is called Fancy Form Design and it guides you through the creation of beautiful forms for your websites.
Forms need not be ugly, they can be beautiful, too, and their coding can now be hassle free.
We will give away a total of 5 copies of the book, and the contest will run for a week, with the results announced on December 1st.
To get a chance to win, please follow the guidelines for participation after the jump. Read more
23 Nov
The History and Controversies of Digg
Digg, History, Social Media
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Most people have probably heard of Digg by now.
It’s one of the unofficial poster children of Web 2.0, and was one of the first social news sites to come out.
It gets millions of visitors every month (Compete says about 43 million in October 2009), and those visitors vote on thousands of stories every day.
In this article you can learn about how Digg came to be from its humble beginnings to the massive popularity it has now as well as the controversies that have surrounded it. Read more
22 Nov
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Nov 15-Nov 21, 2009
Best Of, Compilation, Twitter
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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 Read more
20 Nov
The Ultimate Toolbox for iPhone Development
Code, Resources, iPhone
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iPhone development can be intimidating, especially to someone who’s unfamiliar with Macs, or the way iPhone apps work.
But with currently more than 100,000 apps officially available from the App Store, it’s kind of hard for a developer to ignore the potential market the iPhone provides.
And there are apps for virtually anything you could think of, from games to productivity apps to horoscopes to news and more.
Below are 70 tools, tutorials, and resources to help you get started developing your own iPhone apps. There’s everything from basic tutorials to templates to resource libraries to help you on your way. Read more
19 Nov
Mind Blowing Hyperrealistic Sculptures
Art, Compilation, Design
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Artists that produce photorealistic sculptures, for the most part, aim to show us our bodies and life as it really is.
Technically, artists who strive for a high resolution level of detail in painting or sculpture are called “hyperrealists”, although all hyperrealists are also considered to be photorealists.
Every detail is slavishly recreated as close to the real life model as possible, even if the sculpture is larger than the original scale.
Photorealistic sculptors create truly amazing sculptures that will make you feel wonder, revulsion and the sense of looking in someone else’s mirror.
In this post we feature sculptors Ron Mueck, Evan Penny, Jamie Salmon, Duane Hanson, Sam Jinks and Adam Beane who produce sculpture that seems alive in every detail, right down to veins and rashes on skin. This compilation should give you a cross section of modern photorealistic sculpture. Read more
19 Nov
The wait is over! And the prizes go to…
Contests
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Thanks to everyone that participated in our massive first birthday giveaway.
Your response of over 1,200 comments was absolutely unbelievable and made me realize how influential the blog has been to so many people out there.
The comments were great! Funny, artistic, original and charged with positive vibes.
A very heartfelt thank you to all of you for your support, and for the great feedback in your comments.
I’m now truly charged to propel WDD further into its second year! Feel free to always send me your feedback, ideas and suggestions. I read all emails and will definetely take your feedback into consideration.
And now, what you’ve been waiting for since last week… the prizes! And there are 42 very lucky winners… are you one of them? Read more
17 Nov
WDD Launches Mobile Version with Mobify
Applications, Compatibility, iPhone
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Today we’re pleased to announce the official launch of the mobile version of Webdesigner Depot.
Thanks to the awesome team and service of Mobify, we were able to easily deploy a mobile version for WDD, which loads extremely quickly and makes it easy to browse our content when you’re on the go on your mobile phone.
Why did we create a mobile version? Mobile access is growing 30% every year. While WDD was optimized to load quickly on your desktop, the same format is not best suited to a mobile device. A more streamlined version was needed, and that’s when Mobify came to our rescue.
The mobile version now carries specially optimized images that load quickly on your mobile phone as opposed to loading the full sized images which are better suited for broadband connections. Read more
16 Nov
Understanding Your Brain for Better Design: Left vs. Right
Design, Visualization, Webdesign
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The concept of the left and right brain only lately popped up in the late 1960′s, but since has become a well-known part of human psychology.
While we all use both sides of the brain, each of us has a dominant side, and this dominant side makes up for a huge part of our personalities.
Each individual thinks a certain way, has more interest in certain areas, and above and beyond all — is most effective in certain ways. An accurate understanding of the left and right brain can help one to become more productive, efficient, and creative.
This article will cover a basic understanding of what the left and right brains are, and each of their traits. We’ll also go into how we, as creative people, can harness this understanding of the left and right brain to be more creative, as well as succeed in other work-related tasks. Read more
15 Nov
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Nov 8-Nov 14, 2009
Best Of, Compilation, Twitter
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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 Read more
12 Nov
Coding a Web Design for Speed and Quality
Code, Usability, Web Development
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The beauty of being a web designer is creating a detailed, creative, and original web design in Photoshop, without having to (for the most part) think about how it will be coded.
During the design phase, it’s all about the look, and either the coding can be taken care of later, or be outsourced to a developer.
Either way, not thinking about the development usability or functionality is a great way for a designer to not feel limited in the design process.
This is a great way of thinking, and can lead to the best designs. However, once it does need to be coded, we as designers are in a tricky spot.
In this article, you’ll find a few simple tips that can help designers learn basic XHTML/CSS conversion efficiently for a quick-loading website that is accurate to the original PSD. Read more
11 Nov
Webdesigner Depot Turns One Year Old! (surprises included)
Contests
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It’s been one year already and today we celebrate WDD’s first birthday!
It’s been an incredible journey so far… and I’ve enjoyed it immensely, and still am.
I started WDD out of my curiosity for blogging and my passion for design. I wanted to put my mark out there by pouring my design vision into the world.
Since WDD began, the blog has been visited by over 10 million people and that number is growing in leaps and bounds month after month.
Today, I’d like to share a few interesting details about myself and WDD, and I also have some very special birthday surprises in store… Read more
10 Nov
40 Seriously Funny Print Ads
Advertising, Humor, Marketing
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Print adverts need to get a message across with a single image and without the recourse of interactivity that we find today on the Internet.
As interactive media expands, attention spans are getting shorter and shorter every day.
For any company trying to get their product or service out in print format, the task is ever more challenging and difficult.
Humorous ads remain one of the few effective ways to engage an audience in a very saturated advertising market. This is an area where the audience is far more receptive and still willing to pay attention.
In this post, we’ve gathered 40 hilarious and really creative ads for your enjoyment… Read more
9 Nov
A Guide to Creating Email Newsletters
Information, Internet, Web Design
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Email newsletters are hotter than ever.
They’re a great extension to your business’ communication toolkit and offer you and your clients an excellent channel by which you can reach potential and existing customers.
In this article, we’ll explore common design patterns of email newsletters and learn which approaches work well, so that you’ll be prepared to create one for yourself and your clients.
We’ve also included a compilation and analysis of different newsletter designs so that you can learn from them as well as tips on what to do and what not to do.
If you know of any other tips, please share them with us in the comments area. Read more
8 Nov
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Nov 1-Nov 7, 2009
Best Of, Compilation, Twitter
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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 Read more
6 Nov
Pure Design Awesomeness by Niark
Design, Graphic Design, Illustrator
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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 inspiration. Read more
5 Nov
Best Practices for 6 Common User Interface Elements
Usability, User Interface, Web Design
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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 is usually the case with client work—we have to ensure that certain UI elements do not stray too far from what users are accustomed to.
This article discusses some best practices and usability traits of six user interface elements and the conventions for each, so that developers can create user experiences that are both beautiful and simple. Read more
3 Nov
The Unbelievable and Impossible Photos of Li Wei
Best Of, Inspiration, Photography
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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.
“My artistic language is universal and deals with themes about contemporary politics and society using symbols understood by everyone in every part of the world. I am fascinated by the unstable and dangerous sides of art…”
Here’s a collection of some of Wei’s most outstanding photos, in a unique combination of artistry and acrobatics that are sure to make you take a second look. Read more
2 Nov
CNN’s New Website Design Deconstructed
Usability, User Interface, Web Design
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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 not only the notable improvements, but some of the questionable design and usability decisions.
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1 Nov
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Oct 25-Oct 31, 2009
Best Of, Compilation, Twitter
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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
Read more