Wednesday: May 12, 2010
- Twenty fresh high-quality free fonts courtesy of the folks from Smashing Magazine.
Every designer knows that it can never hurt to have some quality fonts laying around in your design arsenal for a rainy day. Having too many shitty fonts in your library and using said shitty fonts often, well that's another story.
Tuesday: May 11, 2010
- A showcase of blogs with unique post designs for your viewing pleasure.
It seems like these days everyone is using the same old blog template or the same tired Wordpress theme (although I've seen some pretty amazing Tumblr themes). Regardless, I'm a sucker for blogs that don't actually look like your average blog and stray from the formula. The end result is what some are calling a 'blogazine'. Enjoy.
- Wikipedia may get a facelift in the near future.
The new design promises to to make things easier for our users and introduce simpler editings tools - which should make spreading false information about a subject even easier! You can learn more about the changes that are being planned on their FAQ page.
Monday: May 10, 2010
- Twelve stylish and creative sinks for your viewing pleasure.
Any sink you come across today will look dated and unappealing after seeing the photos contained on this link. Sure, they may not always be quite as functional as a regular sink but who cares - I've always wanted a sink that resembles a water slide.
Thursday: April 15, 2010
- Need some icons for your next project? Smashing Magazine is here to help.
Ah, icons - creating them can be a tedious process even for seasoned designers. Luckily, Smashing Magazine has given us all an arsenal of which to start from. Expect to see most of these icons (or slight variations of them) in iPhone apps, productivity software, and/or WordPress themes near you soon.
Monday: April 12, 2010
- Adobe Creative Suite 5 now available for all you serious design folk out there.
The cost for getting yourself the latest and greatest set of Adobe design tools will set you back $1,699. If you happen to be thinking of going full-blown Master edition, you'll be plunking down $2,599. The iPhone Packager Tool may or may not be included with your purchase.
Monday: April 5, 2010
- Eight rules for creating effective typography that you should probably know about.
This is a great read for any designer (be it web or print) who might be looking to beef up their current typography skills a little bit. Some items you'll learn about include kerning, font communication and what they mean in regards to effective use of typography.
Thursday: April 1, 2010
- Twitter revamps their homepage to in effort to make Twitter easier to understand.
To me, this revamp is actually a much welcomed step in the right direction as you can plainly see the 'realtime-ness' that didn't appear to be there with their previous version. Trending topics scroll across in realtime along with top tweets from select users. Not bad.
Friday: March 26, 2010
- Thirty free fonts for that next retro/vintage design you happen to be working on.
Every now and again it's good for a designer to breathe some new life into their beloved font collection. This site lists out thirty new typefaces that you can use to spruce up that project. Go ahead, go have some retro fun.
Wednesday: March 24, 2010
- Ten of the most commonly used colors in web design with examples.
Need some creative inspiration to get started on that next design project? This post showcases how other designers are using colors to their advantage and even touches on the associated feelings some of these colors convey.
Thursday: March 4, 2010
- Twelve very creative home wallpapers for your viewing pleasure.
If pixelated wallpaper isn't your thing there are ton of other interesting designs listed over on the other side of the click. The color palette/wallpaper idea sounds like a fun weekend project as Home Depot sure doesn't seem to mind the taking of those free swatch colors (you may need multiple trips to get away with it though).
Thursday: February 4, 2010
- Forty-seven amazing CSS3 demonstrations for your viewing pleasure.
Behold the mighty power of CSS3 which can take on some powerful animation techniques (thus negating the need for Flash or intense JavaScript). You'll need a webkit compliant browser (Safari, Chrome) to enjoy said demos though.
Wednesday: February 3, 2010
- A list of thirty-five web design mistakes you should try to avoid.
Are you an aspiring web designer? Thinking of making a name for yourself on the big world wide web? Then follow this well put together guide and you'll be on your way to web success in no time.
Friday: January 29, 2010
- The golden rules of site redesign as told by Some Random Dude.
A good read for my fellow webnerds out there that might be thinking and/or planning about a potential redesign. Be it for work or for personal use, this is a good starting point before you actually get started.
Wednesday: January 13, 2010
- Five branding basics that every logo designer should know about.
When Coca-Cola briefly changed their formula in 1985, people flipped over sabotaged history. Can you imagine their reaction if Coca-Cola changed their name to Sanscoca Fizzola? Exactly.
Wednesday: December 30, 2009
- Fifty useful design tools for beautiful web typography.
Another quality post from Smashing Magazine covering everything you could possibly need to know about how to make decent looking web typography. Post features a number of great online utilities you can use as well as some handy techniques. Happy fonting.
Tuesday: December 29, 2009
- Twelve unusual scarf designs for you to gawk at.
Posted mostly because of the biting cold that happened to have a direct effect on my morning New York City commute. While a typography-based scarf sounds cool in theory, in practice it probably wouldn't provide much warmth.
Monday: December 28, 2009
- Fifteen well-designed posters that happen to be about design.
Looking for a bit of design inspiration? Have a look at this gallery of design-centric posters about design (recursive post is vaguely trying to be recursive), print some out and hang them in your office or cubicle. Voila, instant inspiration.
Monday: December 21, 2009
- A list of the best and worst identities of the 2009 calendar year.
Only five months later Kraft Foods unveiled a revised logo that was supposed to be an improvement. You know the expression “Putting lipstick on a pig”? This is like switching the lipstick from the pig’s mouth to the pig’s you-know-what.
Wednesday: December 9, 2009
- Twenty-five awesome gift ideas for designers and developers.
Yes, I'll take any one or more of these fabulous gift ideas. Honestly, who wouldn't want a brand new MacBook Pro? So in closing, please send your charitable contribution gifts to me via overnight via FedEx, thanks. Merry Christmas.
Monday: December 7, 2009
- Reuters decides to give their website a complete facelift.
Although the source article is about the redesign itself, you can try out the brand new Reuters website design on their brand new website. Very clean and gives emphasis properly to what a news site is supposed to give emphasis to, the news. CNN, please study this.
Monday: November 23, 2009
- AOL trying out new look now that split from Time Warner is official.
Say goodbye to the that blue triangle you've grown so familiar with over the years. Say hello to various works of clipart instead... with the letters A O L (and don't forget the period) draped over them.
Thursday: November 19, 2009
- Smashing Magazine would like you to know that classic blog posts are boring.
A lof of valid points in this writeup along with some great examples of web designers who are pushing the envelope in this area. I'm loving the deviation from their normal layout just to push the article's main concept.
Monday: November 16, 2009
- Twenty brand new high quality free fonts just for you.
Need some new fonts for your design arsenal? Smashing Magazine is here to the recue to perk up your library. They encourage you to read up license agreements before using these fonts - just in case.
Friday: November 6, 2009
- A collection of the best free fonts of 2009 thus far.
Need some inspiration by way of lettering? These fonts are a great addition to any designer's arsenal of fonts. The fact that they are free is also good. I like free and I'm gueeing you will too.
Wednesday: November 4, 2009
- Microsoft decides to give the MSN homepage a bit of a facelift.
The new home page is tightly integrated with Bing, which should help boost the search engine's market share from its current ten percent or so. It also includes Twitter and Facebook feeds, so that users don't need to leave the page to update status or post a tweet.
Tuesday: November 3, 2009
- Fifteen awesome ultramodern fireplaces for you to gawk at.
Yes, it's quite possible to have a mini fire pit to go along with your coffee table. And by go along with, I actually mean inside your coffee table. Who wants smores?
Tuesday: October 27, 2009
- The essential characteristics of modern CSS layouts.
Another quality post from the folks at Smashing Magazine that covers said characteristics ranging from progressive enhancements to rich typography.
Friday: October 16, 2009
- Seven key principles that happen to make a web design look good.
...anyone should be able to create a visually pleasing design and take one step closer to fame. Okay, it’s not that simple, and talent and experience do matter, but anyone can turn their home page into something prettier within mere minutes.
- Ten essential skills that every graphic designer should probably have.
One of the more underrated design skills today is typography, however in truth, typography is one of the key things top advertising firms review in a design portfolio. It is usually the difference between a good and excellent designer.