What’s New for Designers, February 2019

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.  The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week. Note...

3D Printing is a revolutionary new technology that allows you to realize, well, just about anything. The most common form of 3D printers use a special form of plastic filament to print durable, hard ABS plastic components or items. However, there are 3D printers—industrial mostly—that can work with materials like concrete, glass, titanium, steel and more. The tougher materials aren’t really necessary for design, but it’s still...

It’s no secret that email signatures have a major impact in the world of email marketing. It’s also clear that they are one of the easiest ways to re-engage with your existing customers, without spending any (or very little) money. Successful businesses are using the untapped power of their email signatures because they know that decisions are all about prioritizations based on invested effort vs benefit. Let’s take a look at how you...

Contact forms are a necessity for websites. Without them, your clients would be relegated to handling website- or business-related matters over the phone or email. Worse, they’d have absolutely no context for the call or message, which would increase the amount of time they’d have to spend responding to it. Contact forms, instead, gather essential details from visitors so that your clients can go into each conversation better prepared....

Welcome back, Readers! It’s February, and I don’t think I have a single pink or chocolate-themed site anywhere in the mix. Ah well… I really shouldn’t have typed that. Now I want to either eat some peanut-butter and chocolate goodies, or base a design on that color scheme. I probably will. Anyway, we’ve got a generally mixed bag of portfolios for you to check out, with a number of aggressively monochromatic designs in there. Enjoy!...

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.  The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week. Note...

I recently began reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and have been blown away by what I’ve learned so far. Regardless of what your ultimate career goal is—to actively build websites for clients or to turn your business into a thriving digital agency—there are ways in which you can work less and accomplish more. I’m about halfway through the book and I’ve already shaved an hour off of each workday just by using the tips in the book....

When we look at the very best content, it’s almost always about telling a story: From memorable TV adverts that run like a romantic mini series to sophisticated modern content campaigns that draw on the user community for experiences, the straight narrative provides the kind of emotional connection that builds a great brand. Websites in particular can benefit by placing storytelling and narrative techniques at their heart: this allows...

According to some historical records, some people out there have boundless energy, loads of free time, and ambition enough to make a dictator blush. These people are called “not parents”, “morning people”, and “annoying”. Some say these people invented the Side Hustle(™). Those historical records are wrong. The Side Hustle was invented long ago by people who just needed more money. Could have been Eve for all we know. Now...

This month, we are looking and some rather obvious visual trends in web design. While some trends are rooted more in the user experience or cool JavaScript, others are purely aesthetic. That’s what you’ll see on the list this month. From color to shapes to a style of photography, here’s a look at what’s trending this month. Black and White Black and white design patterns are timeless and classic. They have a feeling of sophistication...

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.  The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week. Note...

Laura Worthington is one of the new generation of type designers who are rewriting the rules of type foundries. Her beautiful lettering and professionally crafted fonts have made her one of the most popular type designers working today. One of her best-known, and most-loved type families is Samantha, a bright and cheery font family based on slick pen lettering. The consistent rhythm and the open shapes create a surprisingly readable font...

Ahoy Mateys! You’ve probably noticed lately that your website is looking a little worse for wear. What she needs is a bit more than fair skies and wind in her sails. She needs a redesign, something that’ll bring her into the modern age and truly make her a jewel of the digital sea. But how do you even get started? The last thing you want to do is try and navigate a redesign without a plan in place. There are countless articles out there telling you...

As the managing attorney of a commercial law boutique practice, I am asked several times per week some variation of the following question: How should I best protect my intellectual property from being stolen? Is it as simple as filling out a copyright or trademark application and paying a small fee to a do it yourself on-line service? Will that really provide sufficient protection? What do you think? I have set forth below a few of the many aspects...

In January 2018 alone, consumers conducted over 1 billion voice searches. By 2020, it’s estimated that 30% of all online searches will take place without the use of a screen. Needless to say, voice search is set to make serious waves in the not-so-distant future. As more users seek out the convenience of using their voice to search online, you have to consider how this will impact mobile websites. As of now, your main concern doesn’t need...

Welcome to 2019! It’s a brand new year and there are plenty of sites taking advantage of the optimism to start afresh. Every month we publish a guide to the freshest websites launched (or relaunched with significant new updates) in the previous 4 weeks, this is January’s edition. The slowdown for the holiday season is well behind us now, and new projects are launching daily. With some old trends still popular, and new ideas coming through,...

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.  The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week. Note...

For many designers, Photoshop is the number one tool for editing images, but for many other designers, Photoshop is an expensive, bloated, and inefficient tool. In the last few years, the number of apps coming to market and taking a bite out of Photoshop’s fanbase has grown. Photoshop has so many built-in features that few apps can match them all. But few designers need them all. The key to finding a good alternative to Photoshop is finding...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a lot of photographers aren’t getting paid enough. When a writer actually manages to build a business for themselves…well let’s just say we do okay. Most of us don’t get rich, but we do okay. WDD and others are good to me. I’ve been lucky enough that I’ve been able to sell my words online, and make a living from it. I recently re-designed my online writer’s portfolio (well, I’m still iterating),...

Every December the color categorizing company Pantone nominates one of its colors as a hue for the next 12 months. The act is intended to create positivity around messages such as the environment, gender equality, and current affairs. But the color for 2019 has raised hackles in some quarters. 2019’s official color is named Living Coral, and it’s a nice idealized shade of red coral under blue water. The controversy, according to Jack and...

One of the must-have technologies for sites in 2019 will be geolocation. Not only does geolocation help with security, and legal compliance, but it also improves customer experience—one of the key metrics in turning a profit online. Geolocation has a number of core benefits for businesses but the real benefit is in personalized content. Transforming an anonymous visit into a lasting customer relationship is the aim of all good sites,...

New year, new design tools. As your start regrouping and reorganizing in 2019, why not make good on those resolutions and try a new design element or two. We’ve got plenty to choose from here. If we’ve missed something that you think should have been on the list, let us know in the comments. And if you know of a new app or resource that should be featured next month, tweet it to @carriecousins to be considered! UI Bundle UI Bundle is a search tool...