2011 January | Webdesigner Depot

31 Jan
Changes to the Apple.com Design
Apple, User Interface, Web Design
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Apple.com has undergone some adjustments to its design in the past week or so, changes that, if you weren’t paying close enough attention, you may not have even noticed.
Although many reports are referring to this as a “redesign”, I think it’s difficult to classify it as such. There certainly are some significant changes, but the changes are not exactly a complete overhaul as was the case for CNN.com in late 2009.
Nonetheless, the changes are significant to web designers, so I’ll briefly look at them here. If there’s anything about the changes that I’ve neglected to mention, feel free to comment. Read more
30 Jan
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jan 24-Jan 30, 2011
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
29 Jan
Comics of the Week #62
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
28 Jan
Applying Color Schemes Requires Seeing Them Anew
Color, How to, Photoshop
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Many online resources exist for designers to explore, tweak and download great color combinations.
Playing with complementary, analogous, monochromatic and other combinations opens us to exciting possibilities, and there’s no shortage of freebies.
But there’s a difference between a winning color scheme and a winning design that uses it.
Choosing colors is the first step. Adapting them to fit your design requirements is just as important.
What looks good in a swatch may not work well on a web page—but that doesn’t mean you have to return to square one. We’ll explore here new ways to look at color schemes. Read more
27 Jan
Starting A Web Design Business
Business, Freelancing, Web Design
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If you don’t like the idea of working for somebody else and you’re quite attracted to idea of world domination then starting a web design business might be right up your alley.
Unfortunately though, contrary to popular speculation, it’s not an easy ride.
In fact it’s probably the number one most difficult path which you could choose to follow in this industry.
But, if it’s the right decision for you, then it’ll all be worth while regardless of whether you’re a student or working at a full-time job and looking for a change.
In today’s post we’re going to cover the most important things you need to know about starting a web design business, and get input from other people throughout the industry.
Read more
26 Jan
How to Use LinkedIn for Your Web Design Business
Community, Social Media, Web Designers
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Maybe you’re already one of the 85 million users on LinkedIn, or perhaps you’re just getting started.
Regardless of where you fall on the social networking spectrum, LinkedIn has a number of new applications and features to enrich your experience.
In this post, we’ll look at ways to beef up your profile as well as use new applications and sections to optimize your networking with clients, prospects and others in the design community.
We’ll also cover how to find design-related groups on LinkedIn, exploit the new features of company pages to showcase your design work and keep up with developments on LinkedIn.
Please let us know in the comments area about other ways in which you could harness the power of LinkedIn in your web design business.
Read more
25 Jan
50+ Awesome CSS3 Techniques for Better Designs
CSS, Code, Compilation
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CSS3 is gaining momentum, despite the fact that the standard hasn’t even been finalized.
There are hundreds of tutorials out there to teach designers how to use it, but unfortunately a lot of them cover the same ground.
And some of the tutorials teach designers to do things that they might not think of as useful, though the techniques can usually be adapted to fit a project perfectly.
Below are more than fifty awesome CSS3 tutorials. Many are strictly CSS and HTML based, while others also incorporate JavaScript.
If you have a favorite technique or tutorial that’s not included below, please share it in the comments! Read more
24 Jan
Win 5 Free Poster Prints from UPrinting
Contests
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Picture this… you worked dozens of hours on your coolest design yet and you’re so proud that you want to show it off and hang it on your office wall for everyone to see. A poster of your design sounds like a cool idea, doesn’t it?
Posters can indeed be great promotional tools or advertising for a web design company or a freelancer.
In fact, posters and billboards are probably one of the best ways to get your word out in the offline world.
Today UPrinting is bringing us an awesome giveaway by giving a custom Poster print to 5 WDD lucky winners.
Read on for more details and for information on how to participate in this awesome giveaway. Read more
23 Jan
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jan 17-Jan 23, 2011
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
22 Jan
Comics of the Week #61
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
21 Jan
Kaching – Exclusive Free eCommerce Icons
Design, Freebies, Icons
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Today we’re bringing you another great set of icons right fresh from the oven! This set of eCommerce icons is appropriately titled “Kaching”.
The icons are available as PNGs (48×48 and 400×400) and we have also included the source files in PSD and Illustrator format to allow for your own full customization.
The icons were designed exclusively for WDD by WordPressThemeShock, a great site that offers quality premium WordPress themes as well as a bunch of amazing design sets (buttons, textures, backgrounds and much more). The site was created by the same awesome team behind Iconshock.
All icons are free to use for both personal and commercial purposes, with attribution required (you can waive the attribution requirement by paying a small fee).
Redistribution is not permitted, so if you would like to share these icons with your friends, please direct them to this page so that they can download their own copy from here.
The preview and download link are right after the jump, so go and grab yours today while they’re still hot! Read more
20 Jan
Inspiration: A Dozen Awesome Etsy Artists
Compilation, Design, Inspiration
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Etsy is an online marketplace for crafters, artisans, and artists from more than 150 countries to sell their handcrafted wares.
While some of the products sold on Etsy are cringe-worthy (check out Regretsy.com if you don’t believe me), a lot of Etsy sellers are incredibly talented individuals.
Currently, there are over 400,000 sellers on Etsy, and more than 6.4 million total users.
There are hundreds of fantastic fine artists on Etsy, so be sure to check out the various Art categories for more inspiration!
Below are a dozen fantastic Etsy artists who sell prints, original paintings, illustrations, and drawings. Read more
19 Jan
What to Ask a Client Before You Start Their Project
Clients, Freelancing, Web Design
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We all know the importance of fact-finding before starting any web design project.
We can’t really get started on a project until we know exactly what’s needed, what the client wants, and who the site is aimed at. In fact, in most cases we can’t even create an effective proposal until we know those things.
There are plenty of pages-long web design questionnaires out there. Some have forty, fifty, or even a hundred questions on them.
The main problem with that, though, is that your clients or prospective clients are likely to rush through a questionnaire that long, leaving you with either inaccurate or incomplete answers.
A shorter questionnaire with more in-depth questions can uncover a lot more about what the client wants and needs, and they’re a lot less likely to skim over it if the questions presented take up less than a page.
Below are eleven questions you should ask your prospective clients before you get started on their project. They’re aimed at uncovering the root of what the project will entail without requiring you client to spend an entire workday answering questions. Read more
18 Jan
The Design–Content Life Cycle
Design, Web Design
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Design on the web has come full-circle from its early days.
There’s been a revival of simple, understated website designs that put content squarely at the forefront, eschewing the bold graphics and gimmicks of the past decade or so, similar to the way the first websites placed the emphasis on function and content.
But it’s likely the web, and the way it’s designed, will move in cycles, as most trends do. At some point in the near future, we may once again see sites with more overt “designs”, with content pushed down the scale of importance a bit.
You’ll notice throughout this article that there are instances where I’ve put “design” in quotes. Of course, all websites are designed to one extent or another, and design doesn’t just mean graphics.
The quotes are there to differentiate between overt, visually-dominating designs and the general practice of design. Read more
17 Jan
The Elements of Retro Web Design
Design, How to, Retro
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The vintage and retro style is becoming more and more popular in today’s digital artwork.
The use of retro and vintage themes in design is probably one of the most pervasive trends since the industry went almost completely digital.
In today’s post, we’ll look at examples of work sourced from the wonderful Dribbble, which helps us focus on snippets of a piece, rather than the entire design or illustration.
From here, it’s possible to identify what techniques have been used and to describe how they impact the overall design. You will become familiar with these design trends and be able to replicate them.
To help you, short tutorials are scattered throughout the article. We will also point you to several other useful tutorials and resources to get you started on your own vintage and retro work! Read more
16 Jan
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jan 10-Jan 16, 2011
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
15 Jan
Comics of the Week #60
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
14 Jan
Create Headings With Big and Small Overlapping Text
Design, Fonts, Typography
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Headings introduce content.
We can apply many effects and tricks to graphic-based headings to entice readers to continue reading, to set the tone or to make one heading stand out among many.
But sometimes the most obvious techniques, such as modifying visual weight and layout, work a lot better.
Overlapping titles use a small amount of big text and a big amount of small text to communicate more than a plain heading could do on its own. Sounds contradictory? Only if you ignore the fine points.
Read on to learn how to create memorable headings with overlapping text. Read more
13 Jan
Selling a Theme by the Thousands: What Thesis Teaches Us
Blogging, Business, WordPress
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About two years ago, Chris Pearson’s WordPress theme, Thesis, passed the $2 million mark in total sales.
It’s a remarkable achievement for a design-based product, particularly given the industry. Here is a theme-not a platform, but a theme-beating many of the world’s leading independent design firms in revenue, all through passive sales.
This means that the design industry no longer offers only services, but also offers products to its own designers and developers.
While the industry has held many opportunities for work, a designer’s pay has traditionally been based on hours rendered and total output. Pearson has achieved a breakthrough with this theme, cementing the immense value of design-based products. Read more
12 Jan
Working as an In House Web Designer
Business, Corporate, Web Design
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If you want to pursue full-time employment in the web design industry but not in an agency, then chances are that you’ll be looking at working as an in-house web designer or developer for an internet based company.
This type of role comes with its own lists of benefits and challenges to consider before throwing yourself headlong down this career path.
Today we’ll be exploring all those areas in detail and we’ll also be asking other people in the industry for their experiences to get a broad overview of the entire subject.
Whether you currently work for an agency, as a student, or as a freelancer, there should be some relevant and important information here to keep you interested!
Read more
11 Jan
What’s New for Web Designers – Jan. 2011
Apps, Compilation, Websites
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New apps and websites appear on an almost daily basis, but trying to find the good ones among them can be tough, especially considering how many are not that great.
That’s why every month we research and showcase some of the best and latest resources available for web designers.
This month we’ve included over 25 new apps, fonts, and other useful resources for designers from the past few weeks in this edition, and there’s sure to be something for everyone.
As always, if we’ve missed something, let us know in the comments. And if you know of an app you’d like included in the next roundup, please tweet it to @cameron_chapman.
Read more
9 Jan
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Jan 3-Jan 9, 2011
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
8 Jan
Comics of the Week #59
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
6 Jan
Too Many Blogs?
Blogging, Information, Internet
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A few years ago, blogging was the be-all and end-all of online content creation.
Individuals and companies alike all wanted to get in on blogging, and they saw it as the best way to reach people.
Blogs about blogging sprouted up everywhere, telling people how to create better blogs, how to make money from their blogs, and how to get more traffic.
But has the blogosphere grown so large that there are, simply put, too many blogs out there?
Is blogging going to fall by the wayside in favor of other forms of user-generated content and social media? Where do blogs fit in the age of Twitter and Facebook? Read more
4 Jan
Web Design Predictions for 2011
Design, Interviews, Web Design
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As is most often the case with the Internet, many of the trends and products people are talking about today weren’t part of our collective lexicon two and three years ago. And some, weren’t even discussed as recent as the first quarter of 2010!
As we head into the New Year, we were curious about what we can all expect to see in Web Design in 2011, and asked some of the leading Web Designers and Web Design Writers in the field for their predictions.
After you’ve had a chance to read their illuminating thoughts, please take a moment and tell us your predictions, too.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and well-designed 2011! Read more
2 Jan
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Dec 27-Jan 2, 2011
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