Why Don’t We Just Use Material Design?

You’ve done the hard work: you’ve taken a lead and turned them into a paying customer. Congrats! Now, you have to build their website. But is it that simple? The client signs the contract and you immediately get to work on designing the website? You could certainly approach the kickoff of a web design project that way. However, you’d be missing out on the huge benefits of having a well-laid-out onboarding process. By the time you have a signed...

We’re all about learning tools this month in our round of up new resources and tools for designers. From games to books to tutorials, there’s something new for everyone to learn and enjoy. 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! CSSBattle Jump to the top of the CSSBattle...

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...

In today’s digital era, having an impactful and compelling website is a critical component for any business or organization. A useful site that connects with your audience instills trust, screams authority, and drives action, can mean the difference between remaining relevant and competitive or falling silently to the wayside. Despite the critical importance of websites in today’s competitive landscape, many web designers find...

It’s becoming easier to design websites, what with Wix, Squarespace, and even now WordPress providing DIY site builder tools. On the flipside of that, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to convince even the least technically-savvy business owner that they shouldn’t try to build their own website. Sadly, the rise of the site builder isn’t the only excuse prospects have for not wanting to work with web designers. In this post,...

WHO suggests that 1.3 billion people all around the world have some kind of visual impairment – which includes 217 million people with moderate to severe vision impairment; 36 million people are blind worldwide; 15% of the global population have some kind of disability. With the advancements in adaptive technologies, such as screen readers, magnifiers, eye-tracking, joysticks, and sip-and puff technology, visually impaired and disabled...

Greetings, Readers! It’s April, so there will be no joke here. You’re welcome. This month, designers seem to have hit the minimalism button hard. There is a bit of variety in there, but if you like lots of white space, you’re in luck. A few Powerpoint-ish sites, too. Enjoy! Note: I’m judging these sites by how good they look to me. If they’re creative and original, or classic but really well-done, it’s all good to me. Sometimes, UX...

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...

There are so many decisions you have to make as a web designer and it can sometimes be a tricky balance trying to put all the right elements into place. When you add the ecommerce piece, it gets even more complicated. According to this infographic by Subscriptionly.net, consumers have very high expectations for ecommerce websites. But if you design it right, there’s a lot of up money up for grabs: We’re talking trillions of dollars in sales...

Wow. DeviantArt; there’s a blast from the past, where I’m concerned. I used to have an account where I posted my amateur web design, photography, and photomanipulation-based art. I actually remember making art and website mockups on my PC at home, writing the files to a rewritable CD, and taking them to the local Internet café to post them on DA for feedback. It was the site for all artists and designers, at every skill level. And now, it’s...

Sometimes design trends take a little while to emerge and sneak up on you, others seem to pop out of the blue all at once. The latter is true of each of our web design trends this month. Animated image frames, gold metallics and obvious grids seem to be everywhere (and we are guessing you might be taking notice). Here’s what’s trending in design this month. Animated Image Frame Distortion The verdict on this trend is still out. Do you love it or...

Firefox’s mobile browser’s nightly release has become the first browser to implement a left-handed option in its preferences. First proposed at the then bi-annual web conference, way back in 1998, the left-handed web protocol was initially envisaged as a way to enable left-handed browsing online. The protocol was never officially adopted, thanks to ambidextrous hardware. However, the rise of the touch screens has lead to an unexpected...

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...

UX design and a solid SEO strategy go hand in hand. Design is here to boost user experiences, inspire users to spend more time on your pages, and ensure they don’t leave your site frustrated. This way, it minimizes bounce rates and turns your visitors into leads and, ultimately, sales. However, designing a spotless website is pointless if it’s not visible on Google. This is where SEO shines. It increases your site’s exposure in the SERPs,...

Take a close look at Monetate’s Ecommerce Quarterly Report for Q2 2018 and you might not be happy about the state of mobile websites it depicts. The good news is that smartphones drive significantly more traffic to websites than all other devices with 52.73%: But conversions? Ehhhh… Smartphone conversions lag behind all other devices with 2.03%. It’s not just conversion rates that are low either. There are also fewer pages looked at,...

Recently-ish, there has been a small but noticeable backlash to the word “user”. Yeah, the word for people who do, in fact, use our websites, web apps, and products. Now, the word isn’t going anywhere, and if you like the word, no one’s saying you must stop using it. I mean, some people are saying that, but you have no obligation to actually do what they say. So why does it matter? Why would I die on this hill? Because I think this discussion...

Welcome to our roundup of the best websites launched (or relaunched with major updates) in the last four weeks. This month’s offering sees the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring, and many sites this month reflect that change with rich colors. To counter that, there’s some high-contrast black and white work on show. You’ll also find innovative uses of images and video. Enjoy! Takahisa Mitsumori A leading exponent of digital music,...

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...

In an increasingly competitive market, every freelancer and agency needs a way to stand out from the crowd. One of the simplest options is to commit to only ever working with quality assets; not least high-quality stock images. Quality stock images help your design stand out by reducing the high cost of art direction. Stock images can be used for banners, background images, to add a human touch to otherwise impersonal user experiences; often,...

A lot of very smart people have said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Other people say that nostalgia bait…ahem…“retrospectives” get a lot of clicks. They’re both right, and I thought it might be both fun and educational to take a look at some of the dead UI conventions of yesteryear. It’s good to remember why they ever lived, and how and why they died. It gives us insight into how best practices were born,...

Building a learnable website is much tougher than it sounds. One thinks one’s design is clear and comprehensible; however, a design that might be obvious for you, might be perceived totally different by a user with a different set of experiences. Therefore, the goal is to design a clear user path that visitors can quickly pick up and understand. Why Learnability Matters Learnability has a strong correlation with usability. It is vital for...

It’s the first day of Spring! As you look to clean up other parts of your life (e.g. your home, your refrigerator, your yard) make the cleanup of your web design business a priority as well. If you’re anything like me, you set aside time later in the week or month, promising yourself that you’ll finally take care of “business stuff”. And if you’re also like me, you often have to postpone those business maintenance tasks because new...