background preloader

Useful links

Facebook Twitter

Discussion Overview. Okay, I have some bad news. Brace yourself… I have closed the boagworld forum. I know, if you are viewing this page then you were probably a fan of the forum and so this might be a little disappointing. However, I do have good reasons: The forum was a lot of work to maintain, due to insane amounts of spam.Only a fraction of my followers ever used it.It was exasperating a problem I had with fractured conversations happening across the forum, twitter, Facebook and comments.There are loads of better web design forums out there and my own contribution felt like a slightly pointless addition. But do not despair! The forum maybe gone but there is now a question and answers section to take its place. This new section allows you to post questions via Twitter (using the hash tag #helpbw) and users can monitor that hash tag and respond to questions.

In addition, I will pick some questions and either post an answer on the blog myself or encourage another boagworld reader to do so. Website Template Service Reviews - StarREVIEWS 2010. 13 Ways to Challenge Yourself in Your Career as a Web Designer. A career in web design or development requires a constant effort to improve and to stay on top of new technologies and changes within the industry. No matter how much you improve or how many new things you learn there is always something else out there that can make you better at your work and improve your career. Fortunately, most designers and developers receive challenges on a daily basis in the normal course of their work, especially those who work for a variety of different clients.

However, there are times when a designer should focus on learning and improvement outside of these normal activities. Perhaps no project has come up that will provide an opportunity to hone skills in a particular area, or maybe you have something specific in mind that deserves extra attention. In this article we will look at some of the ways that you can challenge yourself as a designer. Some of the most beneficial things that I have done in my career have also been the most uncomfortable. 1. 2. 3. 4. Questions to ask clients before designing their website. As with any project you start, gathering essential information upfront is not only beneficial to a successful deliverable but will also save you and your client plenty of headaches throughout the process and pave the way to a lasting and trusting relationship. The more information you have equals the smoother the project goes — which in turn sets the tone for a good designer/client relationship. Some of the questions below can be applied to more then just website design so I broke them down into sections for better functionality for your clients.

Company-related questions Do you currently have a website? What is the URL? Describe the products/services you sell.Who are your main competitors? How do you differ? Project-related questions Technical skill level of your client base. Additional questions Do you need to be able to update the website on your own? It’s always important to remember that being a graphic designer means you are a problem solver. Horizontal Navigation Menus: Trends, Patterns, and Best Practices - Smashing Magazine.

Advertisement The horizontal navigation menu has become a mainstay in Web design. It is safe to say that nowadays most websites use some form of horizontal navigation to facilitate content browsing. The dominance of horizontal navigation over vertical (i.e. down a sidebar) is obviously due to the design and content limitations of the latter. Notably, CNN discovered those limitations1 before switching from vertical to horizontal a few years back. There are, however, many styles of horizontal navigation in modern Web design. Some offer usability advantages for certain types of websites, while others are aesthetically better.

In this article, we will focus on a variety of techniques and best practices to improve the usability of horizontal navigation bars, and we will note less effective styles. Use Familiar Names For Links Let’s start off with a usability tip that applies to any navigation bar. Impulse Development2 Clearly Distinguish Primary And Secondary Sections Primary links (e.g. Sharify7. 38 jQuery And CSS Drop Down Multi Level Menu Solutions. Hello again, it’s time for the comprehensive programming article. Here you’ll find 38 mainly CSS and jQuery dropdown menu or just multi level menus with downloadable files and explanations as well. Mostly they are free. My favorite here is the first pick – Outside the box with a very unique navigation menu (free) and Mega Menu, which is premium. It’s always good to have such reference articles in your bookmarks and when you have to create some really big website with a lot of content and menu sections – just return here.

Oh..and little tip – shorten your developing process with already premade menus, which can be easily modified with a little touch of CSS. Table of Contents: Are The Best jQuery Dropdown Menu Solutions Free? But well, also be aware when each code has been created, has it got some updates through time? At least I am doing my designing process like this – What has been your experience? And while you are figuring answers – enjoy this quality article! Wait but before..here is.. 1. Free CSS Navigation Menu Designs at ExplodingBoy. 27 Best Photoshop Web Layout Design Tutorials to Design Decent Web Layouts | Dzine Blog.

Learn how to earn $125 or more per hour as a freelancer - Click Here Looking for hosting?. We recommend MediaTemple for web hosting. Use Code MTLOVESDESIGN for 20% off For beginner web designers – design tutorials really help to understand the basic knowledge about web design! , Here is a collection of 27 layout design tutorials that will help you with designing a decent looking website. Some of them are really good! , Design a cool Photography Portfolio Design A Grungy Website Design In Photoshop Design a High End Webdesign From Scratch Design Your Own Personal Portfolio Page In Photoshop Design a cool Portfolio Web Layout Urban Layout Design in Photoshop Design a Funky website Design in Photoshop Design a personal portfolio Site in Photoshop Designing a Dating Agency Website in Photoshop Music Band Website Designing a Clean Photo Portfolio Site In Photoshop Cool Dark website Design Dark Themed Website From Scratch 3d Studio Design In photoshop Design a Cartoon Grunge Web layout in Photoshop.

The Definitive Guide to Using Negative Margins - Smashing Magazine. Advertisement Since the recommendation of CSS2 back in 1998, the use of tables has slowly faded into the background and into the history books. Because of this, CSS layouts have since then been synonymous with coding elegance. Out of all the CSS concepts designers have ever used, an award probably needs to be given to the use of Negative Margins as being the most least talked about method of positioning.

It’s like an online taboo—everyone’s doing it, yet no one wants to talk about it. 1. We all use margins in our CSS, but when it comes to negative margins, our relationship somehow manages to take a turn for the worse. A negative margin looks like this: Negative margins are usually applied in small doses but as you’ll see later on, it’s capable of so much more. They are extremely valid CSSI’m not kidding on this one. 2. Negative margins are very powerful when used correctly. Negative Margins on Static Elements A static element is an element with no float applied. 3. Smashing 3D text effects. The Mystery Of CSS Sprites: Techniques, Tools And Tutorials - Smashing Magazine. Advertisement CSS Sprites are not new. In fact, they are a rather well-established technique and have managed to become common practice in Web development. Of course, CSS sprites are not always necessary, but in some situation they can bring significant advantages and improvements – particularly if you want to reduce your server load.

And if you haven’t heard of CSS sprites before, now is probably a good time to learn what they are, how they work and what tools can help you create and use the technique in your projects. What Are CSS Sprites? The term “sprite” (similar to “spirit,” “goblin,” or “elf”) has its origins in computer graphics, in which it described a graphic object blended with a 2-D or 3-D scene through graphics hardware. Sprites were displayed over a static or dynamic background image, and the positioning of the sprite was controlled simply by the hardware controllers.

The Pokemon Sprite Sheet, consisting of over 1000 graphic objects. Where Are CSS Sprites Used? Web Design Principles. 29 Resources for Freelance Designers Operating on a Tight Budget. Get the FlatPix UI Kit for only $7 - Learn More or Buy Now There are plenty of highly-useful resources and web apps that have been created with freelance designers and developers in mind. But for many freelancers, especially those who are just getting started, pricing can be an issue. In this post we’ll feature 29 resources that are not only very useful fore freelancers, but also extremely affordable. Many of them are free or offer a free plan, and the others are priced below the competition. Hopefully you will find some resources here that will help you to save time and make your work more efficient and effective. 1. Project Bubble offers free web-based project management and invoicing. 2. Concept Feedback provides designers with a way to get free feedback on their work from others in the design community. 3.

Appollo is a useful free tool for getting feedback from clients and colleagues. 4. fivesecondtest Fivesecond test is a great free resource for testing. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 80+ Photoshop Actions for Giving Your Pictures a Vintage Look | Photoshop actions are great. With just a click of a button you can apply a complicated effect to a photo instantly.

One of the most popular type of actions is the vintage or retro style. With the popularity of vintage-inspired Instagram filters and film emulation, the older style is desired with many photos. Fortunately, there are plenty of quality Photoshop actions that will help you to get vintage effects quickly and easily. Instagram Filters (13 actions) Lomocam (10 actions) Lomo Action Hard Lomo Action Holgarizer Vintage Light Leak Action Vintage Heaven Action Vintage Dream Action Retro Cross Action Vintage Matte Action Faded Film Action Old Film Action Retro Style Actions (10 actions) Instant Hipster (10 actions) Prestalgia (10 actions) Vintage Gold Action Aged Black & White Action Glory Days Vintage Actions (7 actions) Muted Colors Vintage Action Old Tones (6 actions) Vintage-Inspired Actions (4 actions) Minty Tint Vintage Action.

Showcase Of Modern Navigation Design Trends - Smashing Magazine. Advertisement The navigation menu is perhaps a website’s single most important component. Navigation gives you a window onto the website designer’s creative ability to produce a functional yet visually impressive element that’s fundamental to most websites. Because of their value to websites, navigation menus are customarily placed in the most visible location of the page, and thus can make a significant impact on the visitor’s first impression. The design of a navigation menu has to be outstanding in order to sustain the user’s interest. You should also read the following related posts: 3-D Navigation Lately, we’ve seen a trend towards design elements that sit on a higher z-plane; that is, they appear closer than other elements on the page. DelibarThe content area on the Delibar website looks like a pile of two pieces of paper, with the navigation items holding them together.

Mystery TinThe Mystery Tin navigation menu is arranged vertically. Speech Balloons Rounded Corners Unusual Shapes. Design and Build Email Newsletters Without Losing Your Mind (and. Advertisement “We really love this new website you’ve built! Now we’d like to send out an email to all of our customers, friends and anyone, and it should look exactly like the website except with a spinning mailbox at the bottom, and have my photo, and my cat’s photo…” Ever had that conversation with a client? You’ve built plenty of websites in your time and could knock off a blog template in your sleep, but HTML email? Seriously? HTML email has the reputation (often well deserved) of being a horrible design medium.

The mere mention of it sends some designers into physical shock (try it if you ever get stuck in a tedious conversation about XHTML vs. This article gives you the information you need to plan, design and build an HTML newsletter that renders well and is actually useful to recipients. If you’d like to get started right now, here are the cheat notes to get you on the right track. Respect your reader. 1. The email inbox is a noisy busy place for a newsletter to land. 2. 3. 4. Tips for Coding and Designing Usable Web Forms. Jan 21 2010 By Louis Lazaris The web form has been one of the most discussed elements in web design for more than ten years now. We can’t help it. Call-to-action functionality often leads users to a form; purchases are made using forms; users register or subscribe using forms — the uses for forms are endless.

While it is fairly easy to slap together a form in HTML, it’s not as easy to code, style, and design your form in a manner that makes it usable and accessible to the majority of users. Since forms play such a large role in website conversions and success rates, the tips below, as well as the resources provided at the end of this article, should prove valuable for developers creating and coding web forms. Two-Column vs.

This decision will generally depend on the content of the form, but it’s often preferable to avoid a two-column layout if the form is fairly simple. Below is a good example of a simple form that places each label above its related form element. Use Inline Form Validation. 10 Completely Free Wireframe and Mockup Applications : Specky. Every web designer and developer should have a good and reliable wireframe (mockup or prototype) tool at there disposal. The importance of such a tool differentiates amongst web designers and developers, some use them, some don’t. Personally, I use them. It is in this initial stage of development that makes web design enjoyable, the coming together of the clients needs and your own creative ideas onto a blank canvas, allowing you to plan effectively the visual arrangement of the sites content.

The downside is that a good and reliable wireframe application can come at a heavy price, have you seen the cost of a good wireframe application? Prices can vary from as low as $100 all the way up to over $4000. Who has this kind of mine to throw around? So, what options do you have? Please note that this post really old, so some of the below apps may not longer be free or available. Hot Gloo – The Online Wireframe App Pencil Project Web Site Wireframe Tool Mockingbird MockFlow fluidIA Cacoo Lumzy. 50 Creative Examples of Illustrations in Web Design : Speckybo. Using illustration in web design gives the designer the opportunity to convey there own personal and unique style, and be able to say "this site is mine, and look what I can do".

Very few web design styles give an artist this opportunity. What makes the examples below stand out are not just the beautiful illustrative art work nor the carefully crafted web designs, it is the balance between the two that distinguishes them from the rest. They all manage to be unique in there own right, by highlighting the illustration with carefully positioned content. And when this is a achieved successfully, the effect is amazing and memorable.

VixML N.Design Studio Bogdan Teodorescu The Shark Lab Creative Spark 10Words – RichPurple pixelcool – we make every pixel look great! Pixel Thread AppBoy – A Social Outlet for Mobile App Lovers Yellow Bird Project Matthew Tarpley Matt Salik Attack of the Web Hua Zhong Wen Bet Your Followers BlackMoon Design Camellie odosketch Sushimonstr One Lucky Helen Kitfolio.com SuperLogistik Meomi. 50 Brilliant CSS3/JavaScript Coding Techniques - Smashing Magazi. 44 Examples of Unique and Inspiring Green Logos. CSS3 Dropdown Menu. Progress Trackers in Web Design: Examples and Best Practices - S. 20 High Quality Photoshop Web Design Tutorials | Tutorials.