2010 July | Webdesigner Depot

31 Jul
Comics of the Week #36
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
30 Jul
Worldy Inspiration from Tourism Websites
Best Of, Compilation, Inspiration
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The tourism industry can be a major source of revenue for a country and in some cases, it can even be its main source or revenue.
That’s one of the main reasons why web design for this field plays such a vital role in promoting and attracting potential tourists from other parts of the world.
In this post, we’re showcasing some great official tourism websites from various countries and cities around the world.
Most of them feature stunning photography and use typography and color that are reminiscent of the particular city or country.
Please let us know which ones are your favorites and feel free to suggest other great tourism websites. Read more
29 Jul
30+ Places to Submit Your Website Designs
Best Of, Compilation, Inspiration
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Sometimes you finish a web design project and you’re really proud of the results. Maybe it’s a personal project, or the client gave you complete creative control.
Whatever the case, you know it’s some of the best work you’ve ever done, and you want the world to see it.
Besides adding it to your portfolio or sending out a Tweet about it, there are dozens of web design galleries out there for showing off your work.
All of the ones featured in this post are free to submit to, and all are picky about what sites they accept, so you can rest assured that you’ll only be shown alongside other high-quality designs.
If you have other favorite design galleries, please share them in the comments area below… Read more
28 Jul
200+ Exclusive Free Icons: “Reflection”
Design, Freebies, Icons
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Icons are a great and quick way to enhance your projects. They add a certain personality to your designs and make things pop when they need to.
Today we release a new set of icons which we call “Reflection”. It’s simple yet elegant and stylish at the same time. You’ll find these icons great to use at small sizes, such as for website navigation, menus and more. Both vector and raster versions are included.
The set contains 208 icons and is available free of charge for personal and commercial projects, with attribution required.
Redistribution isn’t allowed, so If you’d like to share these icons with your friends, please direct them to this page so that they can download their copy from here.
There is a full preview right after the jump… We hope you enjoy the new icons! Read more
27 Jul
How to Handle Information Overload
How to, Information, Internet
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The Internet holds a wealth of information on virtually any topic one could think of. With a simple search, you can gain access to knowledge about almost any subject out there.
In fact, you can often get so much information returned that it’s a little intimidating even knowing where to start. Information overload gets more and more common as ever-growing amounts of information go online.
At its worst, information overload can be paralyzing. Too much information can leave us feeling overwhelmed and unable to make decisions. It can leave us more confused than if we’d never had the information to start with.
The good news is that information overload can be dealt with. It doesn’t require disconnecting from the Internet or anything extreme, just some prioritization and organization on your part. Read on for a complete guide to dealing with information overload. Read more
26 Jul
Exploring Photoshop’s Angle Gradient Tool
How to, Photoshop, Review
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The angle gradient tool is an overlooked gem tucked away in Photoshop’s toolbar.
Often passed over for its more popular sibling, the linear gradient tool, angle gradients create clockwise blends of color around the point a user clicks.
The angle gradients create clockwise blends of color around the point a user clicks.
Most people stop there. But when combined with other techniques and some creativity, the angled gradient has some surprising uses.
Have you overlooked it? Look again… Read more
25 Jul
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jul 18-Jul 25, 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
24 Jul
Comics of the Week #35
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
23 Jul
Book Review: From Photoshop to HTML
Books, Review, Web Development
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If you’re new to creating website designs using Photoshop, learning to transform those .PSD files into semantic, standards-compliant CSS and HTML files can be a bit intimidating.
After all, there are plenty of great services out there that can slice up and code your files for you. But there are those cases when you may prefer to slice those designs by yourself.
That’s where From Photoshop to HTML: How to Slice Your Designs Like a Pro by Jeffrey Way, editor of Nettuts+, comes in.
In this 145-page book, the entire process of converting a .PSD file into a working website design is covered, in detail, with code examples. Read more
22 Jul
20+ Demos Showing Advanced jQuery Effects
Effects, Web Development, jQuery
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Just a short while ago, Flash was one of the primary technologies used by web designers to add interactivity to a website.
Since the introduction of the iPad, with its lack of the Flash Player, there’s an acceleration in the web development world to use alternative technologies to Flash, such as jQuery, Ajax and others.
Although Flash is still a very powerful and useful tool, which works great on many cases, several of the effects that web designers are accustomed to creating in Flash, can be just as easily implemented using jQuery.
Here are 21 online demos that show the power of jQuery for creating advanced effects and interactivity that can rival Flash. Read more
21 Jul
Winners of Icon Sets from IconDock
Contests, Icons
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For the past week, we’ve been running IconDock’s Giveaway for 10 Icon sets. Thanks to all who participated and a special thanks to Nick La for these wonderful icons.
IconDock features professionally designed pixel and vector stock icons suitable for print and web projects. The website contains a great collection of both premium and free icons.
Today we have the results of the contest and 10 lucky winners get the chance to pick any icon set of their choice from the great collection at IconDock.
The winners were selected at random and you can see the results after the jump. All winners will be contacted via email for details as to how to receive their prizes. Read more
20 Jul
A Complete Guide to A/B Testing
How to, Web Design, Web Development
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A/B testing (also called split testing) is a testing method generally used in marketing to compare results between two samples with the goal to improve conversion or response rates.
In web design, A/B tests are generally used to test design elements (sometimes against the existing design) to better determine which design elements will get the best response from visitors.
A/B tests, by definition, compare only two variables (design elements) at a time. There is also multivariate testing, which compares more than one variable.
Each one serves a purpose and can help your clients make better decisions that will result in a more successful website.
Here we present a thorough guide to A/B testing, including the benefits of using it and how to administer A/B tests on your own projects. Read more
19 Jul
Applying Duotones to Data
Design, How to, Photography
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The ability to tint black-and-white photographs with color has been a staple of photography for decades, and modern image editors make warming and cooling grayscale images a snap.
This concept of a steady progression of shades can be used to present information as well.
This technique of tinting digital photos works well for presenting information and can improve usability.
Just as a gradient shows a range of colors, a monotone or duotone can be used to show a range of data.
In this article, we’ll learn how to apply color to enhance infographics. Read more
18 Jul
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jul 11-Jul 17, 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
17 Jul
Comics of the Week #34
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
16 Jul
A Collection of Splendid Illustrated Websites
Compilation, Illustrations, Inspiration
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Illustrated additions to websites can lend even the plainest theme an extra level of visual interest and complexity.
Illustrations vary widely from one site to the next. Some look hand-drawn (whether they are or not) while others are obviously digitally rendered.
Below are more than thirty great website designs that feature illustrations.
Most common are illustrations in headers and backgrounds, often of site mascots or characters.
But illustrations are used in other ways, too. If you have a favorite illustrated site that isn’t mentioned here, please let us know in the comments. Read more
15 Jul
Mixing Type and Imagery: How to Manage a Controlled Collision
How to, Typography, Visualization
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By setting images in type, you are able to express more than words or pictures can alone.
The effect packs a lot of information into a tight space. But it can get ugly if the text and imagery are at odds with each other.
Designers can steer clear of disaster by keeping their purpose in mind: expressing the idea clearly should trump the “wow” factor of the technique.
Setting images directly in text mixes the straightforward communication of words with the emotional effect of photos.
Words state, and photos express. But when images get lost or text becomes muddled, or both, we get conflict. Images and text can be harmonized seamlessly, but only if we follow some guidelines that balance the readability of both. Read on to find out how to effectively mix text and imagery. Read more
14 Jul
Win 10 Fantastic Icon Sets from IconDock
Contests, Icons
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IconDock is the brain child of renowned designer Nick La, more known for his popular blog, Web Designer Wall, and his portfolio site, N Design Studio.
IconDock features professionally designed pixel and vector stock icons suitable for print and web projects. The site contains a great collection of both premium and free icons.
With today’s contest, we’re bringing you the chance to win 10 sets of these wonderful and useful icons.
One week from today, on July 21st, we’ll be giving away 10 sets of icons to 10 lucky WDD readers.
Check out the beautiful icon previews after the jump and read on for more details about this contest… Read more
13 Jul
7 Personality Types of Clients Today
Business, Clients, Freelancing
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In previous articles, we discussed seven types of designers and seven types of developers.
Designers and developers form two parts of the design trinity: the client completes it. You can have the technology to build something and the design to make it magnificent, but if someone doesn’t fund the project, it usually falls flat.
No one has the time to do such a thing for fun. Designers and developers need clients to build their portfolio, sustain their lifestyle and grow and learn.
Not all clients are difficult, so we’ll try not to stereotype. But in all honesty, the perfect client needs no introduction or description. The perfect client is rare, though not extinct.
Today’s article focuses on seven types of clients who aren’t so perfect. You can decide for yourself which of them are the lesser evils. Read more
12 Jul
Content Organization: Deciding What Matters Most
Information, User Interface
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The content of any website is paramount to a site’s success.
High quality content, regardless of whether the site aims to inform, entertain, or sell a product, will increase the site’s likelihood of converting visitors. But beyond providing high quality content, a site also needs to organize that content in a way that makes it accessible to visitors.
Prioritizing your content is one of the best ways to make sure your visitors are finding the information you want them to find, and that they want to find. But figuring out what content is most important and how to arrange it to reflect that can get confusing, fast.
In many cases, designers and content creators feel like it’s all important, and should all get equal billing. But that’s not doing your visitors any favors. You need to get to the root of what’s most important to them, and then provide that in the most user-friendly way possible. Read more
11 Jul
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jul 4-Jul 10, 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
10 Jul
Comics of the Week #33
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
9 Jul
Smart Logos with Hidden Symbolism
Compilation, Inspiration, Logos
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Logos can convey many ideas in one simple design and as designers we need to be fully aware of any hidden symbolism.
You should be in full control of your design and use symbolism to convey messages to your advantage as this will further the impact of your logo.
For this post, we’ve compiled some great logos that carry hidden symbolism that you can use for inspiration in your own designs.
Try to figure what the hidden messages are before reading the explanations. Have the designers manage to convey the right messages for these logos? Please let us know in the comments’ area. Read more
8 Jul
Occam’s Razor: A Great Principle for Designers
Design, How to, Web Design
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Lex parsimoniae is the Latin expression of what is known in English as Occam’s Razor, a philosophical rule of thumb that has guided some of the world’s best and brightest minds (including Isaac Newton).
It is named after the 14th-century logician and theologian William of Ockham.
But what the heck does Occam’s Razor have to do with web design? I’m glad you asked. To put it plainly, Occam’s Razor states that the simplest explanation is usually true.
For our purposes, to use Occam’s Razor is to do something in the simplest manner possible because simpler is usually better.
In this article, we’ll show you how to use Occam’s Razor to create better websites and to enhance the user experience, both for yourself and your clients. Read more
7 Jul
Winners of 1000 Postcards from UPrinting
Contests
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For the past 7 days we’ve been running a great giveaway from UPrinting. Many thanks to all those of you who participated and to UPrinting for a great giveaway.
UPrinting is one of the leading online printing companies in the world, with over 25 years of experience under their belt.

Each of the 10 winners has won a set of 500 free business cards of their choice with free shipping to anywhere in the world.
The winners were selected at random and you can see the results after the jump.
All winners will be contacted via email for details as to how to receive their prizes.
Each of the 10 winners has won a set of 100 custom postcards with free shipping to anywhere in the world.
The winners were selected at random and you can see the results after the jump. All winners will be contacted via email for details as to how to receive their prizes. Read more
6 Jul
Tips for Creating Big Stature With Small Caps
Fonts, How to, Typography
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When a web page demands respect from readers, few type treatments give it dignity like “small capitals.”
This treatment makes all letters in a line of text uppercase, but retains hierarchy by making the initial letters of important words noticeably larger.
When used properly, small caps make things look stable and reliable. They can appear official or solemn; stately text is never rushed.
Small caps march to their own deliberate beat. Small caps almost guarantee that text won’t look cheap.
Like any technique, though, this one can be abused or used improperly. Read on for some tips on how to integrate the power of small caps in your designs… Read more
5 Jul
30 Useful Frameworks for Designers
Resources, Web Design, Web Designers
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Some designers view frameworks as constricting and limiting in their creative efforts. They look at a framework as something they have to bend their work to fit.
And for a lot of designers, that’s just not something they want to do. But with the dozens of frameworks available out there, why not look at it the other way around: why not find the framework that fits within your design projects?
To that end, we’ve compiled 30 of the best design frameworks out there. These frameworks are purely for design (you won’t find JavaScript or Ajax frameworks here, which, for the most part, fall more under development frameworks).
There’s almost certainly a framework listed here that can be adapted to your particular project, rather than the other way around. Read more
4 Jul
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jun 27-Jul 3, 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
3 Jul
Comics of the Week #32
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
2 Jul
Great Ads of the 2010 World Cup
Advertising, Compilation, Inspiration
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The world cup in South Africa continues to be one of the hottest events of the summer and the fascination for this event continues strong as we approach the finals.
Last week we featured the best website designs for the 2010 World Cup (check it out if you haven’t done so yet) and this week we continue with this theme.
In this post, we’re featuring some great ads made for this worldwide event that you can use for fun and inspiration.
Please feel free to drop us a comment and let us know which ads you like best, and if you know of any other awesome ads that we may have missed. Read more
1 Jul
Using Landmarks Makes Page Layout Easy
Design, Graphic Design, How to
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A design may have impact. It may have style. But having these isn’t enough.
To work well, a design has to have elements that play off each other’s strengths. Fortunately, every piece of content has inherent guidelines.
Layout, or the arrangement of content on a web page, is critical to a design’s success. Among other things, layout prioritizes content to lead people from one element to the next.
If done right, people will be so interested in the content that they won’t notice anything else.
Read on for more details and tips for creating layouts that work in your designs. Read more