What's new for designers, December 2012

Default avatar.
December 10, 2012
What's new for designers, December 2012.

ThumbThe December edition of what's new for web designers and developers includes new web apps, jQuery plugins, productivity tools, design tools, video editing tools, CSS and HTML frameworks, Photoshop resources, security tools, and some really great new fonts.

Many of the resources below are free or very low cost, and are sure to be useful to a lot of designers and developers out there.

As always, if we've missed something you think should have been included, please let us know in the comments. And if you have an app or other resource you'd like to see included next month, tweet it to @cameron_chapman for consideration.

Smore

Smore is a new beta app for creating online flyers you can share with anyone. It's great for creating flyers for things like events, apps, and more.

smore

Weavly

Weavly is a free online app for mashing up sounds, videos, and GIFs from a variety of sources, including YouTube, Loopcam, and SoundCloud. Just search for the resources you want to use and arrange them in a timeline, just like offline video editing apps.

weavly

Artery

Artery is an easy way to sell digitial content through your Dropbox account. You can use it to sell art, music, templates, software, photography, books, and any other digital products you create, all with no monthly fee.

artery

Foldify

Foldify is a new app (coming out 12/13) that lets you design 3D figures that you can then print and fold into actual 3D shapes.

foldify

Photoshop Secrets

Photoshop Secrets is a continuously-updated Tumblr blog that offers new Photoshop tips and tricks. Learn all sorts of techniques to improve your PS skills, find resources to download, and more.

photoshop secrets

LaunchKey

LaunchKey is an upcoming app that will allow for physical authorization of accounts, instead of passwords. It will be available for both iPhone and Android.

launchkey

Docverter

Docverter lets you convert plain text documents written in HTML, Markdown, or LaTeX into Docx, RTF, PDF, or ePub formats with a simple HTTP API. It's open source, and you can run it on your own hardware or on Heroku.

docverter

PostMaven

PostMaven makes it easy to create well-designed ads for Craigslist in less than 10 minutes. It includes a growing number of templates, an easy-to-use dashboard, and the ability to save customized ads to re-post at any time. And for a limited time, it's free to use.

postmaven

Streak

Streak is a CRM browser plugin that works right within Gmail. It makes it easy to track sales, bugs, customers, hiring, and more.

streak

PublikDemand

PublikDemand is a social version of a "Better Business Bureau". It lets users post complaints about big companies and then use social media to get solutions.

publikdemand

Timetastic

Timetastic provides a solution for tracking time off among team members. It allows for both tracking of scheduled time off (like holidays, vacation, personal days, and more), as well as a way for employees to request time off.

timetastic

Site44

Site44 lets you use your Dropbox account to host your website. They offer a free account that allows for up to five websites and 100MB/month of data transfer, and paid accounts that start at under $5/month.

site44

Tuts+ Jobs

Tuts+ Jobs is a new job board from Envato. It includes part time, full time, and casual employment opportunities from around the world, and is free for job seekers (to post a job costs $99, with a 30-day money-back guarantee).

tuts+ jobs

WordPress Bootstrap

WordPress Bootstrap is a free WordPress theme that includes Twitter Bootstrap. It's built with LESS, and includes a homepage carousel, four page templates, a configurable theme options panel, two different sidebars, and Bootstrap shortcodes.

wordpress bootstrap

34Grid

34Grid is a responsive grid system that's based on an "equally distributed columns" layout. It contains a few options for margins, transitions, and more.

34grid

Punch

Punch is an open source, intuitive web publishing framework that's simple to use for both designers and developers. It uses boilerplates to quickly set up a site, Mustache for minimal templates, and Markdown for formatted content.

punch

Selfstarter

Selfstarter is an open source crowdfunding platform for setting up your own crowdfunding site. It's based on Ruby on Rails and includes full documentation to get youstarted.

selfstarter

Crumble

Crumble is a jQuery plugin that uses grumble.js for creating an interactive feature tour on your website. It's easy to implement, with the data included in an ordered list.

crumble

Singularity

Singularity is a responsive grid system that's completely, and easily, customizable. It lets you create symmetrical or asymmetrical grids, and even compound grids!

singularity

Spectragram

Want to pull an Instagram feed into your website or app? Spectragram makes it easy to fetch and display user, popular, or tagged photo feeds.

spectragram

Ai–>Canvas

Ai–>Canvas is an Adobe Illustrator plugin that lets you export vector and bitmap artwork directly to an HTML5 canvas element so you can build well-designed, interactive canvas-based web apps. It includes drawing, animation, and coding options like events.

ai-canvas

Any List Scroller

Any List Scroller is a jQuery plugin that makes it easy to scroll any list, with any content. It's easy to use, and lists can be scrolled horizontally or vertically.

als

Heyoffline.js

Heyoffline.js warns your users when their network is down so they don't lose whatever they're working on.

heyoffline

Dashing

Dashing is an open source, Sinatra-based dashboard framework that includes premade widgets as well as the ability to make your own, a drag-and-drop interface for rearranging your widgets, and more.

dashing

jGravity

jGravity is a jQuery plugin for adding gravity to elements within a page. It's easy to use, and can be used with default gravity settings or customized.

jgravity

Method Draw

Method Draw is a free, online SVG editor from Method of Action. It includes basic tools for drawing shapes, text, and more. The selection of custom shapes is impressive and well-categorized.

method draw

Calendario

Calendario is a flexible calendar jQuery plugin that provides layouts suitable for both small and large screens, with a fluid structure when possible.

calendario

OneLogin

OneLogin is an app for identity management in the cloud that uses single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, directory integration, user provisioning, and more. There's a free plan available, as well as paid plans starting at just $1/user/month.

onelogin

Cedvel

Cedvel is a grid design application that makes it easy to explore alternative grid layouts. Just create a rectangle and then adjust the number of columns, rows, gutter width, and more to create your own custom grid design.

cedvel

Alertify.js

Alertify.js is an unobtrusive customizable JS notification system. Set up alert dialogs, confirmation dialogs, and prompt dialogs, complete with custom labels, log messages, and more.

alertify

Two-B Slab (free)

Two-B Slab (scroll down to find it) is a free slab-serif typeface from Flux Collective. It's great for display use, with bold letterforms.

two-b slab

Flex Display (free)

Flex Display is a light sans serif font with all lowercase letterforms. It's free for both personal and commercial use.

flex display

Wave Me In (free)

Wave Me In is an experimental geometric typeface, inspired by wave shapes and triangular edges.

wave me in

Facunda (name your price)

Facunda is a condensed sans serif type family that includes a variety of weights and styles, including a shadow style and italics.

facunda

Venera (name your price)

Venera is a sans serif typeface inspred by the futuristic forms of the space race, with five weights.

venera

Grand Hotel (free)

Grand Hotel is a script font inspried by the title screen of the 1937 film "Cafe Metropole". It's particularly suited to designs related to the holidays or bakeries.

grand hotel

Breakers Slab ($96)

Breakers Slab is a companion to the sans serif Breakers, and is great for both headlines and body text. It has a range of distinct weights, from thin to ultra bold.

breakers slab

Halis Grotesque ($19)

Halis Grotesque is a modern sans serif typeface that includes eight weights, normal and italic styles, as well as small caps for all weights and styles.

halis grotesque

CPL Kirkwood ($75)

CPL Kirkwood is a distressed, condensed bold type family that comes with both slab and sans serif versions.

cpl kirkwood

Chalk Hand Lettering ($79)

Chalk Hand Lettering is a vintage style font with a hand-lettered style. It includes both normal and shaded varieties, as well as "Chalk Hand Elements", which includes chalkboard-style graphics.

chalk hand lettering

Did we forget something you think should have been included? Let us know in the comments below!

Cameron Chapman

Cameron Chapman is a freelance writer and designer from New England. You can visit her site or follow her on Twitter.

Read Next

3 Essential Design Trends, May 2024

Integrated navigation elements, interactive typography, and digital overprints are three website design trends making…

How to Write World-Beating Web Content

Writing for the web is different from all other formats. We typically do not read to any real depth on the web; we…

20 Best New Websites, April 2024

Welcome to our sites of the month for April. With some websites, the details make all the difference, while in others,…

Exciting New Tools for Designers, April 2024

Welcome to our April tools collection. There are no practical jokes here, just practical gadgets, services, and apps to…

How Web Designers Can Stay Relevant in the Age of AI

The digital landscape is evolving rapidly. With the advent of AI, every sector is witnessing a revolution, including…

14 Top UX Tools for Designers in 2024

User Experience (UX) is one of the most important fields of design, so it should come as no surprise that there are a…

What Negative Effects Does a Bad Website Design Have On My Business?

Consumer expectations for a responsive, immersive, and visually appealing website experience have never been higher. In…

10+ Best Resources & Tools for Web Designers (2024 update)

Is searching for the best web design tools to suit your needs akin to having a recurring bad dream? Does each…

3 Essential Design Trends, April 2024

Ready to jump into some amazing new design ideas for Spring? Our roundup has everything from UX to color trends…

How to Plan Your First Successful Website

Planning a new website can be exciting and — if you’re anything like me — a little daunting. Whether you’re an…

15 Best New Fonts, March 2024

Welcome to March’s edition of our roundup of the best new fonts for designers. This month’s compilation includes…

LimeWire Developer APIs Herald a New Era of AI Integration

Generative AI is a fascinating technology. Far from the design killer some people feared, it is an empowering and…