What’s new for designers, May 2015

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May 11, 2015
What’s new for designers, May 2015.

In this month’s edition of what’s new for designers and developers, we’ve included lots of podcasts, design resource directories, lots of web apps, learning resources, productivity resources, new frameworks, APIs, team resources, and much more. And as always, we’ve also included some awesome new free fonts! Almost everything on the list this month is free, with a few high-value paid apps and tools also included. They’re sure to be useful to designers and developers, from beginners to experts. 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 @cameron_chapman to be considered!

ReadThisThing

ReadThisThing

is a modern storytelling toolbox that includes resources and tools for things like audio and video content, staying up to date on the news, social media, and more. readthisthing

Startup CVs

Startup CVs

lets you upload your CV to be discovered by startups across the US and Europe. It includes startups looking for all sorts of job functions, from entry level to co-founder. startup cvs

Tailor

Tailor

uses statistical analysis to create better copy for your landing pages. It lets you show incoming users different layouts or copy based on what has worked best for users in the past. tailor

The Unmistakable Creative Podcast

The Unmistakable Creative Podcast

gives you access to hundreds of interviews with all sorts of creatives and interesting people. Interviews include Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Elle Luna, and more. unmistakable creative podcast

Collections

Collections

is Google’s answer to Pinterest, letting you create collections for your interests, follow and be followed, and customize your collections with custom names and cover photos. collections

OneLiners​.co

OneLiners​.co

lets you crowdsource your company’s tagline. You can also suggest and vote on taglines for others. oneliners

Funnel

Funnel

lets you easily create contact forms, track deals, send proposals, track customers, and more. It even works with Gmail. funnel

Riddle

Riddle

lets you create social content in just one minute. You can better engage your audience through quizzes, lists, polls, and more. riddle

Marvel API

The Marvel API lets developers create stuff using information about Marvel’s library of comics, including both upcoming releases all the way back to their start 70 years ago. marvel api

IntroBar

IntroBar

lets you welcome visitors from specific sources and even offer them special deals. Giving a custom intro based on where visitors came from lets you get more out of your visitors. introbar

Deekit

Deekit

is a shared, real-time whiteboard for remote teams that works for designers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, developers, and more. deekit

Augment

Augment

is a Chrome plugin that lets you access apps like Google Calendar, Evernote, Dropbox, and more, right within Gmail. Take action right from your inbox, making Gmail a powerful productivity tool. augment

Pexels Videos

Pexels Videos

is a collection of completely free stock videos for your projects. They’re broken down by category, with videos of people, drinks, animals, industry, and more. pexels videos

BassCSS

BassCSS

is a collection of base element styles, layout modules, color styles, and more. It’s designed for clarity, performance, speed, and scalability. basscss

9 Squares

9 Squares

is a collaboration between nine different designers and animators from around the world. Each one creates a 3‑second looped, abstract animation based on a 4‑color palette. 9 squares

Layzr.js

Layzr.js

is a small, modern, fast library for lazy loading images. It’s dependency-free, and boosts page loading speed while keeping options to a minimum. layzr.js

Trianglify Generator

The Trianglify Generator lets you create a custom images based on triangles and color gradients. You can adjust the width and height of the final image, as well as adjust the variance in triangle shapes, the cell size, and the color palette. trianglify generator

Email Framework

This Email Framework makes it easier to build bullet-proof responsive HTML email templates. It supports over 40 email clients, and has been thoroughly tested with Litmus. email framework

Beagle

Beagle

is a tool for creating better proposals that lets you import content to base your proposals on existing ones. It also has tools for collaboration, and lets you send directly to your client with a custom cover letter. beagle

First Aid Git

First Aid Git

is a searchable collection of frequently asked Git questions. Answers were collected from personal experience, Stackoverflow, and official documentation. first aid git

Peek Space

Peek Space

is a collection of free-to-use, curated space photos that you can use for your projects. The images are all from NASA, and were curated from thousands of images available online. peek space

How to Center in CSS

How to Center in CSS

is an app for centering your content with CSS. Just specify the type of content to center, the container size, and alignment, and it generates your code for you. how to center in css

Kubist

Kubist

lets you create Cubist-style artwork from an image. Just upload an image and adjust the number of points to use and the style to create your own custom image. kubist

Project Fi

Project Fi

is a project from Google that aims to deliver a fast, easy wireless experience alongside leading hardware makers, carriers, and users. fi

Electron

Electron

lets you build cross-platform desktop apps using web technologies. It’s open source, and works with Mac, Windows, and Linux. electron

Ways We Work

Ways We Work

interviews a variety of founders and creatives on how they work. It includes questions about the tools they use, how they stay on top of email, and more. ways we work

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code

is a free app for building and debugging modern web and cloud applications. It works on Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows. visual studio code

RightFont

RightFont

for Mac lets you manage fonts, and find the correct font quickly. It even integrates with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, as well as Sketch. rightfont

Font Library

Font Library

is an open source project for tagging and organizing Google Fonts. You can browse by a variety of tags, including friendly”, small caps”, whimsical”, cute”, and more. font library

Ntype

Ntype

is a 4D communication tool that lets you share messages via URL. Messages are animated, and you can even download an OTF font of the current rotation. ntype

Wwwhere

Wwwhere

is a directory of web apps and resources that are broken down by category. There are apps and resources for coding, community, project tools, UX, inspiration, and much more. wwwhere

Pintsize

Pintsize

is a Sass front end template. It’s simple, configurable, scalable, and lightweight. pintsize

The Path to Performance

The Path to Performance

is a podcast dedicated to making websites faster. So far they’ve had interviews with Jeff Lembeck of Filament Group, Mark Dorison of Chromatic, and Lara Hogan of Etsy. the path to performance

10Up Engineering Best Practices

The 10Up Engineering Best Practices illustrate how to engineer in the 10Up way”. They’re aimed at already-capable engineers, rather than beginners. 10up Engineering

Octobotapp

The Octobot iOS app tells you when something has changed in GitHub’s services status. It’ll tell you when there’s a partial service outage and when systems are back up, with optional push notifications. octobotapp

Structure Font

Structure

is a free display typeface with modern geometric styling. structure

Valencia Sweetness

Valencia Sweetness

is a brush-style script font that includes alternate, sans, and script ornaments. valencia sweetness

Metrica

Metrica

is a modern geometric typeface that’s ideal for nightlife designs. metrica

Didactic

Didactic

is a practical serif typeface with a full character set and unique style. didactic

Spastic

Spastic

is a hand drawn font designed for people that are a little strange, off, and possibly should have some distance from one another”. spastic

Moderne Sans

Moderne Sans

is a clean sans-serif typeface designed by Marius Kempken. moderne sans

Bough

Bough

is a free hand drawn typeface with a vintage feel that comes in regular and condensed versions. bough

Ailerons

Ailerons

is a modern condensed typeface that was inspired by aircraft models of the 1940s. ailerons

Sunday

Sunday

is a custom, hand-drawn typeface with a full character set and alternate glyfs. It’s perfect for signage, posters, and other display uses. Sunday

Matchstick Thin

Matchstick Thin

is a free sans-serif typeface with a geometric style, designed by Oliver Walthard. matchstick thin

Cameron Chapman

Cameron Chapman is a freelance writer and designer from New England. You can visit her site or follow her on Twitter.

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