The Current State of Web Design: Trends 2010 - Smashing Magazine

Web design is a fickle industry. Just like every other form of artistic expression, Web design has undergone a continuous and surprisingly fast evolution. Once a playground for enthusiasts, it has now become a mature rich medium with strong aesthetic and functional appeal. In fact, we are experiencing what could be the golden era of Web design — or at least the best period thus far. We have powerful new tools at our disposal (CSS3, HTML5, font-embedding, etc.), a plethora of freely available resources, a strong design community and also (if you needed any more!) We’re seeing better interaction design and more aesthetically pleasing designs. Please note: this article is the first in our series on the current state of web design. 1. As designers, our job is to communicate ideas effectively. Attractive things work better and help focus and keep the user’s attention. Bounty Bev5 Bounty Bev is a beverage company with a beautiful one-page design. 20Large version21 Further Reading Link 3. 4.

25 New Free High-Quality Fonts - Smashing Magazine Advertisement Every now and then we look around, select fresh free high-quality fonts and present them to you in a brief overview. The choice is enormous, so the time you need to find them is usually time you should be investing in your projects. In this selection, we’re pleased to present Pompadour Numeral Set, Lato, Crimson Text, Espinosa Nova, Musa Ornata, Spatha Sans, ColorLines, Roke1984, Neuton, Avro, Baurete and other fonts. New High-Quality Free Fonts Pompadour Numeral Set1 (.eps, released under Creative Commons) A beautiful numeral font released by Andy Mangold under a Creative Commons license. Lato2 (open-source sans serif) Lato is a san-serif typeface family. Crimson Text3 “Crimson Text is a font family for book production in the tradition of beautiful old-style typefaces. Color Lines5 This decorative font can be used for a variety of products, such as posters, packaging and label design. Neuton Font9 Neuton is a clean Times-Roman–like typeface by Brian Zick. Further Resources

10 The Most Cool Floating Staircase Designs There are usually two kinds of people, ones that likes floating staircases and want to have them at their homes, and ones that think that such staircases are dangerous. Floating staircases are usually very elegant, stylish and minimalist. They are perfect for modern interiors and for those people who like to live on the edge. Sometimes they have railings on the side, sometimes they haven’t. This minimalist steel staircase links the living room in the French flat to the owner’s private space underneath the roof. flat. This stylish floating staircase connects ground floor and private spaces in Iporanga House designed by Arthur Casas Studio. Inspired by rippling ribbon this staircase was designed by HSH Architects. This monolithic floating staircase is made of metal as a part of the Steel house designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates. This sculptural floating staircase is designed by Jordivayreda Projectteam. This very simple staircase is part of Tolo House designed by Alvaro Leite Siza.