What’s new for designers, December 2011

The December edition of what’s new for web designers and developers includes new web apps, frameworks, some JavaScript tools and resources, color tools, e‑commerce platforms, and a number of 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.

Project Adthenticate

is a hosted service for ad validation from Adobe that aims to help publishers become more efficient at launching their advertising campaigns. 

Colorpilgrim

offers tools for creating color palettes. The ColorClipper bookmarklet lets you easily collect colors, and other tools let you create palettes from uploaded images or from scratch. 

FormBakery

is an incredibly easy to use app for creating forms. Just drag and drop the elements you need (text boxes, drop downs, radio buttons, and check boxes are all available), enter the email address where the form should go, and then enter the name and email address where forms should go, and export your code. 

Easy Basket

is a free Ajax shopping cart that works with PayPal and Google Checkout, and includes drag-and-drop functionality. There’s also a WordPress plugin version. 

Draftest

lets you set up tests to let your clients rate designs so you can get an idea of what styles they like most. 

Breakpoints.js

makes it possible to define breakpoints for your responsive designs, and will trigger custom events when the user’s browser enters or exits these break points. 

BestVendor

makes it easy to discover apps recommended by others. You can also enter your favorite three web services to recommend them to others. 

QwikVu

makes it easy to share website mockups with your clients at full scale, without resorting to email attachments and without requiring your clients to sign up for any kind of account. 

iWebInspector

is a free web debugging app for Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Phone Gap. 

YAMB

is ​“yet another boilerplate for responsive web design.” It’s a set of tools for building better responsive designs in less time. 

CSS3 Click Chart

gives you a visual representation of different CSS3 properties, along with an explanation of each and example syntax. 

Check My Colours

is a tool for checking the contrast of foreground and background elements on a website design to make sure they’re accessible to those with color deficits. 

Moment.js

is a javascript library for parsing, manipulating, and formatting dates and times. 

Shapecatcher

is a simple app that will help you find a Unicode character similar to whatever shape you draw. 

Dochub

is a fantastic resource for checking various CSS, HTML, JavaScript and DOM elements and definitions. In-depth documentation is provided for each, including usage notes and attributes. 

Keyboard JS

is a library for binding to keys or key combos. 

W3Clove

will validate the entire markup of your entire website with a single click. Just enter your site’s address and click ​“Validate.”

Reverie

is a responsive HTML5 WordPress framework based on Zurb’s Foundation. It follows the HTML5 Boilerplate standard and is hNews microformat ready. 

Color Thief

uses JavaScript and Canvas to grab the dominant color or color palette from an image. 

Sell Simply

is a service for sending and receiving direct payments on Twitter. 

Smart Validate

is a jQuery plugin for validating credit cards. It supports American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club, and Discover cards. 

foneFrame

is an HTML5 and CSS3 mobile framework that helps you create web pages designed specifically for smartphones. 

jqPagination

is a design agnostic jQuery plugin for pagination of your website or app. 

In-Field Labels jQuery Plugin

is a jQuery plugin for turning properly formatted HTML forms into forms with in-field label support. 

Excssive

compresses your CSS files on the fly as you drag and drop them onto the page. It gives you a list of sortable and removable files, and once you’ve sorted the file hierarchy, just copy and save the minified output. 

SimpLESS

is an app that will compile your .less files into valid CSS. It’s free for Mac, Linux, and PC. 

Stitches

is a drag-and-drop app for creating sprites and stylesheets. It uses HTML5, and is only compatible with the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome currently. 

SocialCompare

lets you compare anything in interactive comparison tables, and then share with your friends, and even solicit their opinions on the table data. 

Erler Dingbats (free)

is a new complete Unicode dingbats font. It has a consistent design so everything harmonizes elegantly, and includes a wide range of popular pictograms and symbols. 

Bitter Regular (free)

is a very attractive serif font with a modern aesthetic. 

Streetscript ($59.99)

is a contemporary script font with a wealth of OpenType features, including stylistic alternates, ligatures, swashes, and more. 

Accent (free)

is a free font designed by Nelson Balaban. It’s very modern, with exceptional details. 

Lorena (free)

is a free slab-serif display font with rounded edges, designed by Arnold Hoepker. 

Lavanderia (name your own price)

is based on lettering from a Mission District laundromat sign, and features three weights and numerous OpenType features. 

Bender (name your own price)

is a chunky display typeface that comes in two weights. 

Arvil Sans (name your own price)

is a rounded sans-serif font that includes a wide range of symbols. 

Bandera Pro ($189)

is a square serif typeface that’s extremely legible and comes in six weights. 

Carton (name your own price)

is a slab-serif font inspired by letterpress designs, perfect for display use. 

Modulus ($30)

is a clean and minimal sans-serif typeface with rounded lines and a very modern feel. 

Valencia (name your own price)

is a condensed font with five weights (including matching obliques for each weight).  Know of a new app or resource that should have been included but wasn’t? Let us know in the comments!