What's new for designers - January 2012

Default avatar.
January 16, 2012
The January edition of what's new for web designers and developers includes new web apps, frameworks, jQuery plugins, color tools, 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.

Cuepoint JS

Cuepoint JS is an open source plugin for adding subtitles or cue-points to HTML5 video.

jRumble

jRumble is a jQuery plugin that makes any element you choose rumble, vibrate, shake, and rotate.

Circle Menu

Circle Menu is a jQuery plugin that emulates the menu in the Path application, and includes various animation options for opening and closing menus.

Hovercard

Hovercard is a free jQuery plugin that lets you display related information when you hover over a link, label, or any other HTML element. It includes Twitter and Facebook hovercards, and uses minimum CSS and no external stylesheets.

Sharrre

Sharrre is a jQuery plugin for creating widgets for sharing for Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and more. It includes Google Analytics tracking, and is highly configurable and personalizable.

Flow Slider

Flow Slider is a jQuery plugin that lets you slide HTML content in a variety of ways. It's cross-browser compatible, customizable, and easy to set up.

Gitview

Gitview is a JavaScript widget for listing Github repositories. It includes asynchronous loading of all data, a canvas element for the participation graph, and many other features.

Leaflet Maps Marker

Leaflet Maps Marker is a WordPress plugin that lets you pin your favorite places with markers, use integrated address search for finding your places, and much more.

Initializr 2 Responsive Template

Initializr 2 is now offering an HTML5 responsive design template generator. You can create slightly customized and highly customized templates in under a minute.

AntiMap

AntiMap is an open source toolset for recording and visualizing your data. There's a smart phone app for data capture, as well as desktop and web applications for analysis and visualization.

Kinzaa

Kinzaa is a web app that lets you create infographic resumes that will set you apart from other job seekers.

HexHelp.com

HexHelp.com is an easy-to-use app for getting hex codes for any color.

Visual Heap

Visual Heap is a visual aggregator for designers that pulls images from all over the web for inspiration and ideas.

accentColor

accentColor is a JS script for grabbing the main accent color from any website.

Croply

Croply is a fast, secure, free online image cropping service. Just input the dimensions, upload your image, and that's it.

Revolver.js

Revolver.js is a new content slider that's equivalent to a boilerplate or framework for creating your own slider. It's easy to use and completely customizable.

Scrollorama

Scrollorama is a jQuery plugin for doing various "scrolly stuff", like transitions.

Tmpltr

Tmpltr is a tool for rapid web iteration, using JSON, HTML, and CSS.

Standard International (free)

Standard International is a modern sans serif font with slightly retro stylings.

Poly (free)

Poly is a traditional serif typeface suitable for text or display use.

Sofia (free)

Sofia is a feminine script font with lots of character.

Brix Slab ($174.30)

Brix Slab is an extended family with 24 fonts. It's a robust slab serif font with subtle detailing, optimized for longer texts and readable in smaller sizes.

Rosarian ($55.10)

Rosarian is a beautiful brush serif font with curvy stems on many of the letters, designed by Laura Worthington.

Blanch (name your price)

Blanch is a display typeface that comes in six weights. It was designed for the Fruita Blanch brand, and is traditional but with a contemporary feel.

Cubano (name your price)

Cubano has rounded corners and wide strokes, and features 167 glyphs.

Hexa (free)

Hexa is a blackletter typeface that has a modern look and feel.

Haiku's Script (free for personal use)

Haiku's Script is a hadwritten script font, created by Poemhaiku.

Gaunt (free)

Gaunt is a varying-width, uppercase font. The varying widths can be mixed together to give it a more unpredictable, non-uniform effect.

Garamond Serial ($14.99)

Garamond Serial is a traditional serif typeface with seven widths.

Bad Script (free)

Bad Script is a script font designed with a tablet to resemble casual and neat handwriting. Know of a new app or resource that should have been included but wasn't? Let us know in the comments!

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

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…

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…

20 Best New Websites, March 2024

Welcome to our pick of sites for March. This month’s collection tends towards the simple and clean, which goes to show…

Exciting New Tools for Designers, March 2024

The fast-paced world of design never stops turning, and staying ahead of the curve is essential for creatives. As…

Web Tech Trends to Watch in 2024 and Beyond

It hardly seems possible given the radical transformations we’ve seen over the last few decades, but the web design…