Graphic Design Basics Part 3: Composition. The second article in the series talked about the Principles of Graphic Design and we took a look at concepts such as Balance, Dominance, Contrast and Harmony. Today we go a bit more in-depth with the last episode and talk about the composition and its basic elements. 1. Single Visual This composition is where a single image is used for the design. This means the image is usually powerful, creates an impact and the whole design is built on it. Examples of single visual pages include landing pages, but this is more popular in print than in web.
The single visual composition is one of the easiest to achieve, although you need to carefully select the image, otherwise it won’t have the desired effect. Glitter Denmark is a very good example of a single visual pattern design. 2. The Golden Ration, which is also known as the Fibonacci Spiral or Phi, is around 1:1.618. The Fibonacci Spiral 3. Girlfriend Agency uses the focal point properly, by emphasizing the headline 4. The Grid System 5. 6. Wireframing & Prototyping with Adobe Fireworks – Resources and Tutorials. Adobe Fireworks is one of the most popular application choices amongst web designers for wireframing and prototyping.
There are many reasons as for prototyping with Fireworks over any other graphic editor, but we won’t go into them with this post (perhaps you could try this one: A Case for Adobe Fireworks against Photoshop and Illustrator). What this post will offer is a comprehensive starting point and reference for any designer who would like to take those first Fireworks steps and are not very sure where to begin. We promise, once you start using Fireworks for wireframing you will never go back. Fireworks Wireframing Tutorials & Resources from Adobe Creating standards-compliant web designs with Fireworks → This article shows how to use the enhancements to the CSS Export feature so you can create standards-compliant designs. Creating interactive prototypes in Fireworks →A Fireworks tips and tricks video. Fireworks Wireframing Tutorials Wireframes to mockups with Fireworks Orange Commands. Top 10 content management systems. There are dozens of great CMSs out there. Regardless of what type of site you’re building, there’s probably one perfectly-suited to it.
The problem is that most designers and developers don’t want to spend time learning a bunch of different CMSs. They want to learn one, or maybe two, and use those for all of their sites. That means they need something that’s both flexible and powerful. The CMSs below fit that bill pretty well. The first three, WordPress, Joomla! Try them out, and decide for yourself which one best fits your needs and the needs of your clients. WordPress Free, PHP-based A couple years ago, it was widely debated whether WordPress should really be considered a CMS considering its roots as a blogging platform. There are thousands of themes available for WordPress, as well as thousands of plugins and widgets to extend its functionality. Through plugins and custom themes, you can turn WP into a social network, forum, e-commerce site, and much, much more.
Strengths Weaknesses Joomla! 50 Wonderful Free Fonts For Vintage And Retro Designing. Introduction To URL Rewriting - Smashing Coding. Advertisement Many Web companies spend hours and hours agonizing over the best domain names for their clients. They try to find a domain name that is relevant and appropriate, sounds professional yet is distinctive, is easy to spell and remember and read over the phone, looks good on business cards and is available as a dot-com. Or else they spend thousands of dollars to purchase the one they really want, which just happened to be registered by a forward-thinking and hard-to-find squatter in 1998.
They go through all that trouble with the domain name but neglect the rest of the URL, the element after the domain name. Fortunately, there is a technique called URL rewriting that can turn unsightly URLs into nice ones — with a lot less agony and expense than picking a good domain name. This article covers the following: What is URL rewriting? What Is URL Rewriting? URL rewriting changes all that. How Does URL Rewriting Help? Can you guess what this Web page sells? How To Rewrite URLs The ?
An Introduction to Breadcrumb Navigation. Web design has come a long way. Gone are the days when a collection of a few static pages would complete a website. As of now it is about the ever-growing model of content creation that exponentially increases the depth of a website. A simple website can become the go-to hub of information in only a few months time. This is when the complexity of that website increases and it becomes necessary for the webmaster to handle the same. Reducing complexity is an art and a “breadcrumb” is one tool that designers love to use. Breadcrumbs act as the navigational device for a website visitor. Why the word breadcrumb? It has something to do with the tale of two siblings, Hansel and Gretel, who were tricked into a house made of cake and candy. If you still don’t understand what breadcrumbs are then see the image below. Why breadcrumbs? That, I agree, is a smart question! Breadcrumbs are performers nibbling in the corner of your design. That is one question that people ask me often.
The Showcase 1. 2.
Affiliate marketing. Foolproof Method from Beginning to End for Design Projects. Just like there is a Scientific Method that scientists and researchers should follow, there is also a process for all designers to follow. This is called the ‘Design Thinking Process’, created to make the designer’s job a whole lot easier. The Design Thinking Process has seven concrete steps wherein the problems are defined, ideas are created, and in the end, the best solution is chosen and implemented. The process isn’t exactly linear though, as the steps can occur simultaneously and can be repeated when needed. The whole intention of the 7 step process is to meet the client’s needs and maximize the designer’s precious time. First Step: Define The first step is to know your problem. Determine strategies you think will solve the problem or issue in question. The brief should be your ‘bible’ for the rest of the project, your point of reference that you can reread as many times as you need to throughout the project.
Second Step: Research Photo by Content Marketing Today Photo by F. Or not. Quick tips for web design: Keep learning. Ryan Boudreaux highlights a few handy resources for those who both want to get started and continue their web design education without going back to the classroom. Pushing the envelope of web design requires understanding and learning new developments, such as CSS3 and HTML5.
These and other innovations will help you drive web design through the ever changing pace of technological advancements. And you don't necessarily have to attend a college or university as a full time student to continue learning. This post outlines a short list of several resources for sharpening your skills and knowledge, including a number of online resources, a collection of books, and several videos.
Online resources The Web Standards Project (WaSP), offers the Web Standards InterACT as a living, open curriculum based on web standards and best practices, designed to teach students the skills of the web professional. Books These would be great additions for your web design library. Videos. Tools for Web Design and Evaluation. Every web designer aspires to create websites that attract millions of users and provides them the right information, products and services that will keep them coming back for more. In order to make this aspiration into a reality, the designers should use the available technology that will help to bring out their creativity and talent in a big way.
One aspect of technology that can have a profound impact on the outcome of web design is web tools. There are hundreds of free and paid tools available online that can do a whole lot of things like analyzing traffic patterns on the website, evaluating the performance and speed of the website, act as a bridge between the website’s technology and any other legacy system that is in use, and to even interact with users. These tools can substantially improve the purpose and design of websites.
Below is a review of some of these useful tools. Performance Tools Yslow – Yslow is a performance tool developed by Yahoo! Analytical Tools Compatibility Tools. How to Avoid the 7 Deadly Website Sins | BNET. Lessons Learned: Productivity Tips For Running A Web Design Business - Smashing Magazine. Advertisement It didn’t work out as you expected, did it? The freelance life was supposed to give you more time with the family and free you from that incompetent boss. You even thought you might be better off financially.
Instead, you’re working longer hours and under constant stress, worrying about various aspects of your business. To relieve the pressure of entrepreneurial life and avoid burning out, freelancers and business owners need strategies. Let’s begin by putting some solid plans in place. You Don’t Have Time Not To Plan For a business owner, being reactive is easy. Take, for example, the ongoing concern about where our next job will come from. We need a marketing plan that ensures a flow of business. Who is your target audience? This last point is where the real danger is. Evernote is a great tool for recording long-term plans for your business. This approach applies not only to marketing. Sticking to a plan is tough, but that’s where routine can help.
Create A Routine (al) Web Design Software. A part of every web designer’s functions is to find new methods for improving the way things are made, this includes finding ways of reducing file sizes, cleaning messy code, optimizing images and testing the site’s performance As web designers, we’re always looking for new tools and gadgets to make our lives easier and be able to work faster and more effectively. These tools can be helpful in many different ways, including image editors, code formatters, SEO analyzers and more; we have gathered more than 250 web design tools that will help you save time and concentrate in the most relevant aspects in web design instead of figuring out how to optimize a CSS, boost your site’s traffic or reduce a JPEG size.
Web Editors and Generators For the first category we have web editors and generators. These tools fulfill a role similar to the one provided by programs such as Dreamweaver with the advantage of being usually free and lightweight. Editors HTML Instant Blue Griffon JS Bin Rendera Modernizr.
CSS 3. HTML 5. 45 Amazing and Free Photoshop Actions. BgPatterns. On Friday 4th March 2011 BgPatterns is a tiny web app for making background patterns in a few clicks. It's a simple but delightful App to use and a great tool. I particularly like the simple toolset and the intuitive layout.