Summary: Effective icons depend on recognizability and interpretation. Evaluate them with methods appropriate for your specific research questions Icon Usability Effective icons can increase usability by helping users understand and interpret available functionality. However, when poorly implemented, they harm usability and introduce confusion. In Digital Icons That Work, I emphasize the importance of two variables… Continue reading Icon Usability: When and How to Evaluate Digital Icons
15 Best New Fonts, September 2024
Compilations By Simon Sterne September 30, 2024 Welcome to our roundup of the best new fonts we’ve found on the web in the previous four weeks. In this month’s edition there’s plenty of hand-lettering charm, and some excellent historical revivals. Enjoy! Kornel Kornel is a serif type family designed for long texts, featuring classic proportions… Continue reading 15 Best New Fonts, September 2024
Adobe InDesign 2025 updates | Adobe MAX 2024
Adobe MAX is here, and we have some new and exciting InDesign features that I can’t wait to tell you about. We even have a few enhancements to existing features that will increase your productivity and streamline your design process even more. Looking for graphic and web design content? Visit the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel,… Continue reading Adobe InDesign 2025 updates | Adobe MAX 2024
How to Add Grainy Shading to Your Photoshop Art
By adding grainy shading to your illustrations, you can bring your flat artwork to life with depth and the sought-after noisy textured appearance. In this Photoshop tutorial I’ll show you how to create a delicious donut illustration. Along the way I’ll show you my favourite technique for easily painting in highlights and shadows, and apply… Continue reading How to Add Grainy Shading to Your Photoshop Art
Getting into the Discovery Mindset
Summary: Successful discovery requires teams to be open to uncovering “unknown unknowns.” Center your discovery efforts around problems rather than solutions. Discovery helps us decide what to build or what direction to pursue. To perform discovery well, we have to adopt a particular mindset: an exploration mindset and an openness to learn new things. The… Continue reading Getting into the Discovery Mindset
Adobe Illustrator 2025 Updates | Adobe MAX 2024
Adobe MAX 2024 has brought some exciting new tools and upgrades to Adobe Illustrator, enhancing both creativity and productivity. Ready to try them out? Make sure your app is updated to the latest version through Adobe Creative Cloud, and you’ll be all set. Once you’re ready, scroll down to see our breakdown of the top… Continue reading Adobe Illustrator 2025 Updates | Adobe MAX 2024
How to create a reeded glass photo effect in Photoshop
Glassmorphism is a term from graphic design, referring mainly to user interface elements that look like frosted glass—not simply covering the elements beneath them, but distorting them slightly for a unique, soft effect. But you can also glass-morph photos, using a variety of transparent effects borrowed from the real world. Take reeded glass, for example—it’s… Continue reading How to create a reeded glass photo effect in Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop 2025 Updates | Envato Tuts+
Adobe Max 2024 just ended, and Photoshop has some key new features. Making Photoshop more user-friendly and intuitive still seems to be at the top of Adobe’s priority list for Photoshop. Let’s take a closer look at some of the bigger updates for Photoshop from Adobe Max 2024! Follow along with this over on our… Continue reading Adobe Photoshop 2025 Updates | Envato Tuts+
40+ Adorable Halloween Costumes for Kids That They’ll Love!
When Halloween approaches, excitement fills the air as kids dream about their Halloween costumes, trick-or-treating adventures, and, of course, all the candy! From classic ghost costumes to creative, one-of-a-kind looks, Halloween costumes for kids are more than just an outfit; they’re an expression of their imagination and enthusiasm. For parents, finding the perfect costume that… Continue reading 40+ Adorable Halloween Costumes for Kids That They’ll Love!
7 Simple Button Design Tips That Make a Big Impact
[unable to retrieve full-text content] While working on design projects, I have developed a set of practical tips that help me maintain design standards throughout the process. Continue reading on UX Planet »
Inaccessible Marketing Emails Suck!
Summary This is a rant about poor email communication that relies too much on embedded images being shown (they rarely are). Bad examples of newsletters and other types of email are shown (some are truly horrible) along with good examples to learn from. This is not an in-depth how to guide on coding accessible email… Continue reading Inaccessible Marketing Emails Suck!
How motion capture and 3D is transforming film and TV
Motion capture (or mo-cap) has become a game-changer in the world of film and TV, turning the impossible into reality. This technology records every motion and expression to create performances that feel real, even when the characters aren’t. Famous examples of this include Gollum from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Davy Jones from Pirates… Continue reading How motion capture and 3D is transforming film and TV
Urban Streetwear Typography: Discover the 'Alias' Free Font
Bold lines meet playful inktraps in ‘Alias’, a free extended typeface inspired by urban streetwear. Explore Thunder Studio’s free font for personal typography projects now. Typography holds a special place in graphic design, and when it takes inspiration from vibrant subcultures, the result is something truly captivating. Enter Alias, a free typeface from Thunder Studio… Continue reading Urban Streetwear Typography: Discover the 'Alias' Free Font
30+ High-Impact Websites Leveraging the Latest Web Design Trends
In today’s tech-driven world, the art of crafting high-impact websites relies heavily on harnessing web design trends that captivate and convert. Each year, new innovations influence how brands and businesses present their digital identity. From animations that bring content to life, to layouts optimized for interaction, top trends in web design emphasize aesthetics, accessibility, and… Continue reading 30+ High-Impact Websites Leveraging the Latest Web Design Trends
Exploring Playful Context-Aware Animations for Fixed Elements
The other day, I was browsing a nicely designed “About” page, and, like many other sites, it had the familiar pattern of a fixed logo at the top while scrolling. This is quite common, but sometimes the logo ends up overlapping with the text, making things a bit hard to read. You might see this… Continue reading Exploring Playful Context-Aware Animations for Fixed Elements
Exploring the Fusion of Editorial Design and Graphic Design in ISA Style
Discover how editorial design and graphic design merge in ISA International Style, emphasizing simplicity and structure with bold typography. Editorial design has always played a critical role in shaping visual storytelling. When combined with graphic design, the result is often powerful and cohesive. One striking example of this is the ISA International Style of Architecture,… Continue reading Exploring the Fusion of Editorial Design and Graphic Design in ISA Style
Sneaking: The Deceptive UX Pattern You Never Saw Coming
Summary: Sneaking is a deceptive practice that includes three main patterns: forced continuity, hidden costs, and sneak into basket. Deceptive patterns are often employed to boost business growth, but they come at the expense of transparency and customer trust. This article discusses three types of deceptive patterns that all fall under the umbrella of sneaking.… Continue reading Sneaking: The Deceptive UX Pattern You Never Saw Coming
What’s a special character? | Envato Tuts+
You use special characters all the time. You know the names of some of them, and others you just call “that thing.” Special characters are those symbols and punctuation marks that fall outside of the alphabet. Special characters serve a purpose—think of em-dash, en-dash, comma, ampersand, umlaut, percent, etc. Special characters don’t usually have a… Continue reading What’s a special character? | Envato Tuts+
The Road to Good Intentions Is Paved with Hell
This post is the second in a three-part series about how screen readers obtain what users need from applications and operating systems. Part 1 introduced accessibility APIs (application programming interfaces) and the accessibility tree. I’ll conclude the series with a discussion of the IAccessible2 API, which is key to how modern Windows-based screen readers communicate… Continue reading The Road to Good Intentions Is Paved with Hell
Breathtaking Digital Portrait Illustrations from Top Artists and Designers
Digital portrait illustrations have become a significant art form in today’s creative world. Artists worldwide are pushing the boundaries of digital tools to create stunning, lifelike images that leave a lasting impression. From their unique styles to their intricate details, these artists are redefining what portrait illustrations can achieve. Here are six top artists whose… Continue reading Breathtaking Digital Portrait Illustrations from Top Artists and Designers
Duotone Neon Light Space Poster Photoshop Tutorial
Follow along with this photo compositing Photoshop tutorial to create a surreal space scene with a vibrant neon light effect. We’ll use assets from a free sample pack of the Ultimate Universe Creator product that’s exclusively available for Spoon Graphics viewers to download. I’ll show you how to compose the various space-themed graphics to make… Continue reading Duotone Neon Light Space Poster Photoshop Tutorial
How to create a holographic sticker text effect
What You’ll Be Creating In the following tutorial, you will learn how to add effects to text and how to make holographic stickers in Adobe Illustrator. If you don’t have the time to learn how to make holographic stickers, then Envato is the solution. This subscription-based marketplace has over 2,000 Illustrator add-ons you can download without… Continue reading How to create a holographic sticker text effect
30 Creative Branding Design and Logos For Inspiration
Branding is the soul of any business. It’s not just about logos or colors; it’s about creating a lasting impression in the minds of customers. Creative branding design goes beyond aesthetics, reflecting the core values, mission, and personality of a business. Whether you’re starting a new company or rebranding an existing one, the process of… Continue reading 30 Creative Branding Design and Logos For Inspiration
Apple Vision Pro – with 1% vision
I was worried I usually trust Apple devices will work great for me. For instance, when the Apple Watch first came out, I preordered it without hesitating at all. And sure enough, it came loaded with VoiceOver, zoom and other features, so it worked great for me. But with the Apple Vision Pro, I worried.… Continue reading Apple Vision Pro – with 1% vision