2010 June | Webdesigner Depot

30 Jun
Win 1000 Postcards from UPrinting
Contests
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Sending postcards to your old clients to remind them of your services, or to prospective new clients, can be a great and often overlooked way to generate more business.
As you probably know by now, UPrinting is one of the leading online printing companies in the world, with over 25 years of experience under their belt.
They’re truly a great company to work with when you need to get something professionally printed, whether it’s a business card, brochure or postcard.
A few months ago we teamed up with them and gave away 5,000 business cards to 10 lucky winners, which was a resounding success.
Today we bring you even more great goodies! We have 100 custom postcards from UPrinting to give away to 10 lucky winners. Read on for more details on the prizes and on how to participate… Read more
29 Jun
6 Tips for Pitching to Major Clients
Business, Clients, Freelancing
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Almost every major web designer faces this dilemma at some point: either continue working with “mom-and-pop” style businesses, enjoying effortless marketing and relatively simple projects, or transition to working with larger businesses and reap the benefits of bigger budgets.
It’s a question of experience, and with enough design work under your belt, new opportunities start to present themselves.
The most difficult part for many is making the transition. The comfort of simple work and the ease of marketing yourself can make maintaining a small client network very tempting.
You see the effort involved in pitching to a major client and you slightly recoil, worried that you’re not quite skilled enough, you’re not quite experienced enough and your business is not quite big enough. Read more
28 Jun
WordPress 3.0 Upgrade: What to Expect
How to, Web Development, WordPress
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With virtually any WordPress release (or the release of any open-source software, for that matter), there are bound to be bugs.
In a lot of cases the bugs are minor, and are just annoying. In other cases, these “bugs” can completely disable your site. Kind of like the difference between a mosquito bite and being attacked by a swarm of wasps.
WordPress 3.0 is no different. Almost as soon as the official release came out, reports of bugs starting pouring in. In the vast majority of cases, these bugs had to do with either customizations based on deprecated code or plugins that aren’t yet compatible with 3.0.
And in virtually every case, easy fixes have already been found. Of course, there are also a number of things you can do prior to upgrading to prevent problems. Read on for some tips, and some of the common bugs you might run into. Read more
27 Jun
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jun 20-Jun 26, 2010
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
26 Jun
Comics of the Week #31
Comics, Funny, Humor
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Every week we 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.
Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own… Read more
24 Jun
Awesome Recent Website Redesigns
Compilation, Inspiration, Web Design
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It’s always so interesting when you go to a website you’ve been visiting for months or years to find they’ve been redesigned.
Some redesigns are immediately evocative of the old design, and can even leave you wondering if they have, in fact, been redesigned, or just done a little revamping. Others are so complete you have to double-check and make sure you’ve landed on the right website.
Remember that keeping some elements consistent from your old design to your new one can aid visitors in knowing they’ve arrived at the right place. Otherwise, they might assume your company has been bought out or closed and the domain has been taken over by someone else.
Below are thirteen awesome redesigns from the past year or so… Each one also has some in-depth analysis of what’s been changed and what hasn’t, and the effect that they may have on the site’s visitors. Read more
23 Jun
Winners of Que Publishing Book Giveaway
Adobe, Contests
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And here we are with the results of last week’s Que Publishing giveaway, in which we’re giving away 5 books about Adobe’s CS5.
Que Publishing is a very established publisher with almost 30 years of experience providing information and books related to computing and technology, and in this case they’re providing 5 winners with books from the OnDemand CS5 series.
As usual, all winners were chosen at random and the results appear after the jump. The publisher will contact all winners directly via email with details as to how to receive their books.
Did you win this time? Find out after the jump! Read more
22 Jun
Taking Photoshop’s Curves Beyond Highlights and Shadows
How to, Photoshop, Web Design
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Photoshop’s Curves is a flexible control that can brighten or darken parts of a layer based on the layer’s luminosity.
Editing tones in an image—not just grays and not always photos—can do more than fix highlights and shadows.
Curves can be used to edit photos, masks, graphics and even hues. But using it requires a little know-how and imagination.
Read on for more details about what Photoshop curves are, as well as how to use them properly for your designs.
As usual, feel free to leave us your comments at the end of this post. Read more
21 Jun
The Best Website Designs of the 2010 World Cup
Compilation, Inspiration, Web Design
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The World Cup is currently taking place in South Africa and people all over the world are glued to television sets at home, in bars and in town squares, to watch their country play.
The World Cup is actually everywhere one looks – all over TV, the Internet and even supermarket products.
A lot of interesting graphic design is coming out of the World Cup, so we’ve put together a compilation of some of the best designed World Cup 2010 websites. We’ve also included a few African websites for more inspiration.
Drop us a comment and let us know which of these websites you like the best, and if you know of any other inspirational World Cup sites ones that we may have missed. Read more
20 Jun
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jun 13-Jun 19, 2010
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
19 Jun
Comics of the Week #30
Comics, Funny, Humor
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Every week we 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.
Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own… Read more
17 Jun
The Creepy Art of Human Bones
Art, Compilation, Inspiration
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François Robert is a photographer renowned for both his commercial and fine art photography work.
In the mid 90′s, Robert purchased three lockers from a school for $50.00 to furnish his studio. To his surprise, one of the lockers contained a human skeleton, which had been mounted for teaching purposes.
Since he always had a fascination with bones, once spending five weeks photographing skulls in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, he decided to take some of his free time caused by the recession of 2007 and trade in his skeleton for a collection of 206 loose bones.
He arranged these into simple, yet controversial shapes to form the images that you see below over a period of hundreds of hours, resulting in a collection that he titled “Stop the Violence” - a series that he created to increase awareness of war violence. The results are amazing, yet haunting. Check them out below…
Read more
16 Jun
Que Publishing: Adobe CS5 Books Giveaway
Adobe, Contests
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Que Publishing is a very established publisher with almost 30 years of experience providing information and books related to computing and technology.
We’ve partnered with this awesome publisher to bring you a super cool giveaway today, to ensure that you get the most out of your new Adobe CS5 products.
I’ve been using the CS5 On Demand book series for a while now and they really provide the answers in an quick and easy visual step-by-step format. They show you exactly what to do with lots of full color illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions.
One week from today, we’ll be giving away 5 books about CS5, from Photoshop CS5 to InDesign CS5… Read more after the jump and for a full description of all books.
Read more
15 Jun
30 of the Best Web Typography Resources Online
Fonts, Resources, Typography
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It seems there are two camps among web designers: those who embrace web typography, experiment with it, and try new things in virtually all of their designs; and those who avoid it like the plague, opting to use standard, web-safe font stacks with little variation.
It also seems like a lot of the designers who fall into the second group wish they were more like the first.
The resources below can help you improve your web typography, regardless of which camp you fall into.
There are tools for creating unique typography, references and articles that can teach you typographic principles, and plenty of inspiration and news to keep you updated on the state of web typography. Read more
14 Jun
Information Architecture: Enhancing the User Experience
Data Visualization, Information
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Defined as ‘the structural design of shared information environments’, information architecture focuses on bringing the principles of architectural design to the online world.
Just like the blueprints of a dream home or the outline of a well-written article, good website structure organizes information in a way that enhances the user experience and delivers pertinent information as quickly as possible.
In fact, most website visitors only become aware of information architecture when it is poor and stops them from finding the information they require.
Read on for more details and a case study. As usual, you can leave us your feedback at the end of the post… Read more
13 Jun
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
June 6-June 12, 2010
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 Jun
Comics of the Week #29
Comics, Funny, Illustrations
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Every week we 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.
Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own… Read more
11 Jun
Winners of Radim Malinic’s Book #Three
Books, Contests
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We’re finally ready with the results of last week’s giveaway, where we’re giving away 5 copies of Radim Malinic’s new book called #Three.
As you probably know by now, Radim is the illustrator of the awesome graphics that you see in the header and footer of Webdesigner Depot.
The book features Radim’s designs from the past 18 months, both in detail and in real-world settings.
All winners were chosen at random and the results appear after the jump. Radim will contact all winners directly via email with details as to how to receive their prizes.
Did you make it this time? Check below to find out! Read more
10 Jun
WordPress: From Kubrick to Twenty Ten
Web Developers, Web Development, WordPress
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Kubrick, the default theme for WordPress since 2005, got many Web and open-source enthusiasts through some pretty tough times.
Developers have modified it, bloggers have learned HTML and CSS on it, and designers have made it their go-to template for designing blogs of all sizes for clients.
But let’s face it: five years on the Web is like a hundred years anywhere else, and Kubrick, even according to its creators, is due for an update.
Enter “Twenty Ten” the new default theme for WordPress 3.0, which is scheduled for an imminent release. Not only does it address general changes in Web standards and style guides, it takes into account the clamoring of designers who love WordPress but have had a hard time applying new principles to an older theme. Read more
8 Jun
Opacity + Photoshop Blend Modes = Pattern Magic
How to, Photoshop, Tutorials
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Forget the clone stamp, paint bucket and pattern presets. When it comes to creating patterns, the ability to duplicate a layer is one of Photoshop’s greatest features.
Semitransparent shapes can be very useful when creating repeated geometric “textures” of color and form.
They’re easy to create, fun to play with and best of all, they can be uniquely yours.
In searching for interesting patterns, designers sometimes pass over basic shapes in favor of more complex geometrics. But simpler is often better.
The trick is to pay attention more to how shapes interact than to how a shape looks on its own. Read more
7 Jun
How to Design Your Business Card
Branding, Design, How to
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As web designers and developers, we often overlook printed marketing materials.
But on occasion, they can come in very handy: at conferences, when we meet face-to-face with clients, or when we happen to run into someone we might want to do business with. Having business cards is a great way to promote yourself in the physical world.
Of course, since web design is a creative field, you’ll want your business card to serve as a sort of mini portfolio that displays your skills. You should put the same time and energy into designing your business cards that you put into designing a website.
And the skills necessary to design a business card can be easily adapted from those that are required to design a website. Read on for more information about how to design your business cards. Read more
6 Jun
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
May 30-June 5, 2010
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
5 Jun
Comics of the Week #28
Comics, Funny, Humor
Tweet View Comments

Every week we 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.
Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own… Read more
4 Jun
Review and Giveaway: Radim Malinic’s Book #THREE
Books, Contests, Review
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Book #THREE by Brand Nu is a unique book that serves as the portfolio of Radim Malinic, one of the most prolific and successful commercial illustrators around.
Radim is the illustrator of the awesome graphics that you see in the header and footer of Webdesigner Depot. If you didn’t see our interview with Radim, you can check it out here
It’s filled with designs from the past 18 months, both in detail and in real-world settings.
The list of clients included in this book is extensive, and includes high profile organizations such as the London Film Museum, QV Melbourne, Acer Computers and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
Read on to know more about #Three and for a chance to win 1 of 5 books that we will be giving away next week… Read more
3 Jun
Signposts: Helping Users Navigate Content
Data Visualization, How to, Web Design
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Navigating unfamiliar information on the web requires aids.
These aids don’t have an agenda or bias the way advertising does. Instead, navigational aids help people find the right path based on their interests.
Signposts are one type of navigational aid. They provide the information people need to make their own decisions while searching and surfing the web.
Should a designer worry about a website losing readers? Many websites compete for attention by luring audiences with vibrant illustrations, catchy typography and rich user interfaces.
In addition to being attractive, other websites strive to be useful. The goal of usability isn’t to get attention, but to get repeat visits. Advertising loses readers, in the sense that it directs them to other websites, whereas usability is about making sure they don’t get lost. Read more
2 Jun
Spectacular Fountains from Around the World
Best Of, Compilation, Inspiration
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While fountains were originally used as a source for water and for bathing, already in ancient Rome they started to be used as decorative elements in gardens and courtyards.
From the beautiful world famous Fontana di Trevi in Rome to the Jet D’eau in Geneva, these fountains vary greatly in design from the very old traditional styles to the ultra contemporary.
These wonderful architectural pieces continue to attract crowds and inspire millions around the world.
In this post, we’ve compiled some of the most spectacular fountains from around the world, for your enjoyment and inspiration.
Feel free to post links to others and share them at the end of this post. Read more
1 Jun
Redesign vs. Realign
Design, Web Design, Web Designers
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It’s been nearly five years now since the redesign vs. realign debate began.
Many designers are still approaching website changes as redesigns, with little thought to whether they should be redesigning or realigning the site for their clients.
In fact, many designers are still a bit confused about which one is appropriate for which projects, or even what the difference really is.
Understanding the difference between redesigning and realigning can result in happier clients who are better reaching their website goals.
There are times when redesigns are appropriate, and there are other times when realignments are appropriate. It all depends on how the client’s current site is working for them, and what their goals are.
Read on to find out more about the differences between redesigning and realigning, and how to determine which one fits your current and future projects. Read more