15 Inspiring Alternatives to Dribbble & Behance

Live chat is one of the most powerful tools for customer experience in the current marketplace.  In a world where customers are constantly connected to the online world, online chat is a reliable way of getting quick solutions to common problems.  Today’s consumers prefer talking to an agent over chat to calling a contact center, and they often feel that live chat is less frustrating than waiting for the right person to answer the phone. ...

Last week, you started a web design agency. This week we’ll help you take the next steps towards making your agency viable. The first couple of days were spent on legal checks and taxes. After that, you’ve picked a niche to specialize in, an awesome name, worked out how much you’re going to charge, and set up business accounts. Then, finally, you took a day off to prepare for this week. (If you skipped any of those steps, go back and catch up...

There’s nothing like a new font or two to breathe new life into your designs. And so, every month, we put together this collection of the fonts that have caught our eye in the past few weeks. This month we’ve got traditional slab-serifs, some original scripts, a couple of workhorses, and plenty of characterful display faces. Enjoy! Canora There are plenty of calligraphic typefaces available, but Canora is a little different. Alongside...

In today’s fast-paced marketplace, having a website has become more of a necessity than a luxury. A website showcases a business to potential customers and is the backbone of a brand’s presence online. However, like a machine with many moving parts, a website requires regular maintenance for optimum performance and security. Here’s why it’s essential to ensure that your clients regularly maintain their sites to get the most out...

Many designers and developers dream of starting their own web design agency. Most don’t try because it seems too challenging, but getting started is simple. To start a web design agency, you decide you’re the boss of a web design agency. That’s all there is to it. Now, let’s talk about the tricky part: making your web design agency sustainable over the short, medium, and long term. Over the next few weeks, we’ll walk you through the...

There’s a lot of experimentation happening in website design right now. Of course, there are micro trends everywhere, but these three elements seem to be holding steady and gaining more traction than most. This month’s biggest web design trends will look at a user interface element, video, and color. Here’s what’s trending in design this month. 1. Down Scroll Arrows A functional user interface element is beginning to get more design...

If you’re a freelancer, you know that time is money. And if there’s one thing we could all use more of, it’s time. So in this article, we’re going to share some tools to help you save time and be more productive.  As a freelancer, learning how to manage your time effectively is essential. Juggling work with other responsibilities can be tricky, but finding a balance that works for you is crucial. Managing your time will help you stay on...

If you’ve worked directly with a client, then on more than one occasion, they’ve probably come to you and said something like, “I know exactly the design I want, and here’s how I want you to do it…” This might seem great at first because you feel like you have a clear vision of what the client wants, and you could probably create something that meets their needs quickly and efficiently. You feel like you could almost go straight to designing...

Every month we like to inspire you with a collection of what has caught our eye on the web. This month we have a real variety pack for you because sometimes it’s hard to settle for just one flavor. We have glossy luxury and stripped-back serenity, a healthy dose of grown-up restraint and an equally healthy dose of in-your-face attitude, some very different but equally effective ways of using color, and some interesting navigation ideas, plus...

Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site. The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s...

Your brain is extremely fast. It’s capable of processing data and making a decision with unparalleled speed. Macro decisions, like product purchases, may be considered, but micro decisions such as whether to tap the back button or to sign-up for a newsletter are impulsive. In the case of micro-decisions, reasoning, logic, and past decisions are processed so quickly you don’t even notice the decision — we call those processes “gut...

As the ultimate form of social proof, customer reviews are incredibly valuable to your clients’ companies. Around 95% of customers say they read reviews before they make a purchase. Another 72% say they won’t even consider buying items until they’ve read the reviews associated with the business or product.  No matter how good your marketing and promotion strategies might be, your audience will always turn to other customers for...

We’re over halfway through 2022! And so far this year, we’ve seen some incredible side-projects, awesome apps, and a bunch of new tools we can’t do without. If you’ve still got room in your digital toolbox to cram a few more gems in, here’s what we’re getting excited about this month. Adbot Do you get confused by the Google Ads interface? You’re not the only one. Fortunately, Adbot is a superb service that automates your ad management....

Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site. The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s...

The CMS (Content Management System) you use as a web designer will significantly impact the kind of websites you can create. While virtually all of these tools will allow you to organize content, edit themes, and implement various features, some are more flexible and advanced than others. As one of the most important tools in your kit as a designer, your CMS choice will help you to achieve your creative goals and impress your clients. However,...

A small business can do a lot with a website. So it might surprise you that only 71% of small businesses currently have a website. Given just how much business is done online, that’s a grave mistake! Around 80% of people research a business online before making a purchase. So if you don’t have a website, you could miss out on the opportunity to grow your business and increase your profits.  So, if you’re considering creating a website for...

Typefaces give a voice and a character to our text. As a result, they influence our designs more than most design elements. But with so many typefaces available, selecting one (or two!) can be one of the most challenging decisions in any design project — which is probably why so many big brands opt for inoffensive geometric sans-serifs. In our monthly roundup, we give you a selection of new options, including variable fonts, updated classics,...

Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site. The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s...

Users expect websites to load quickly. As a result, companies like Amazon and Target spend millions of dollars optimizing their sites to make them load as fast as possible because there is a direct correlation between site speed and conversions. Websites typically don’t have load bars, so a user waiting for a site to load cannot know that it will be one more second or even that the site will load at all. The best load time for a website is 0 seconds,...

Creating videos for social media or to embed on your site can be a fun and creative way to promote your brand or business. More importantly, time spent on a page is a significant SEO ranking factor, so providing a video to watch is of enormous benefit. However, coming up with the music for your videos can be challenging. You want something catchy that fits your video’s tone but don’t want to violate copyright laws. Music licensing can be tricky,...

Welcome to our guide to the best new websites this month. If subtle, minimal sites are your thing, either look away now or prepare to have your preconceptions challenged because this month, we are going maximalist. Lots of elements fill up the screen, lots of color, lots of big fonts, lots of illustration, and plenty of in-your-face personality. This is a tricky style to get right: if elements are not chosen and placed well, the result is simply...

Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site. The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s...