Starting design work in a spreadsheet

In the early phases of a project a spreadsheet can be a more useful design tool than Figma. If you’re redesigning an existing website there are huge benefits in getting to know the content you’ll be working with. The earlier in the project the better. A little upfront investigation will help you make informed design decisions.… Continue reading Starting design work in a spreadsheet

4g CO2 per email—really?

Disentangling a well-known “fact” about emails. There’s a lot of “received wisdom” kicking about on the internet — ideas and “facts” which are essentially presented without question on the basis of “ he said it, so it must be true”. This afflicts many fields, and sustainability is no exception. One common example is that “sending an email generates… Continue reading 4g CO2 per email—really?

How to Create an Artistic Painting Effect in Affinity Photo

Today, we’ll be taking a look at how to create artistic painting effects in Affinity Photo. Affinity Photo may not have any dedicated artist effect filters, but it has more than enough amazing built-in tools that let you turn a photo into a painting or drawing. All without a drawing tablet! We are putting three… Continue reading How to Create an Artistic Painting Effect in Affinity Photo

What does your design cause?

What does your design cause which is undesirable or unintended or at odds with the design intent? How does one ask and answer these questions? In these next few posts I’m going to propose some ways of answering these questions that build up in complexity and propose some ways of thinking about causality and modeling… Continue reading What does your design cause?

Guide to Serif Fonts

Welcome to the ultimate guide to serif fonts! Whether you’re new to the subject or a bit more experienced, this guide will help you out. We’ll start by explaining what a serif font is and when you’d want to use one, and then we’ll look at some different types of serif fonts and introduce you… Continue reading Guide to Serif Fonts

Wordle is a masterclass in product design simplicity

Some of the most fun I’ve had this year is playing Wordle with my friends and family. But I’m a product designer and a programmer, so as I played, I couldn’t help but notice some strange things about how it was constructed. I was right in the middle of making my own product School Morning Routine,… Continue reading Wordle is a masterclass in product design simplicity

How to Customize Contact Form 7 for WordPress: Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

In the past, we’ve discussed different customizations of the WordPress Contact Form 7 (CF7) plugin. Today, we’ll learn how to build custom checkboxes and radio buttons with this plugin. Sound like a good exercise? Here are two animated images that show how these form elements will look after our custom styling: And here is a… Continue reading How to Customize Contact Form 7 for WordPress: Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

A to Z of Procreate: Tips, Tricks, and Hacks!

The Procreate app for iPad is not just the killer mobile app for artists—it’s genuinely one of the best painting programs ever released. So What Is the Procreate App? In this A to Z of Procreate, I’m going to answer that question with 26 mini Procreate tutorials, as well as Procreate tips and tricks that… Continue reading A to Z of Procreate: Tips, Tricks, and Hacks!

4 Questions to Ask Your Clients When They Request Basic SEO Services

Most top designers and top programmers are separate individuals. Although most professional designers know JavaScript, it’s rare to find one person who is a master of both design and programming (beyond JavaScript). The same is true for search engine optimization (SEO). As a designer, you probably know your way around basic SEO strategies, but you… Continue reading 4 Questions to Ask Your Clients When They Request Basic SEO Services

HTML5 Form Validation With the “pattern” Attribute

In this tutorial we’ll explore HTML’s pattern attribute, using it to help us customize the way we validate our forms. Form Validation Video Check out the video tutorial below, subscribe to Tuts+ on Youtube, or read on to learn more about HTML form validation and the pattern attribute! HTML5 Form Validation Form validation is of… Continue reading HTML5 Form Validation With the “pattern” Attribute

3 Essential Design Trends, April 2021

The best thing about writing about website design trends each month is looking at all the great sites that are being developed. Designers are stretching creatively and exploring new techniques and ways of doing things all the time. It’s refreshing and inspiring. This month, some of those trends include a style that nods to brutalism,… Continue reading 3 Essential Design Trends, April 2021

How to Create a Thumbnail Image in PHP

Today, we’ll discuss how you could create thumbnail images in PHP with the help of the GD library. When you’re working on projects that are related to media, more often than not you will need to create thumbnails from the original images. Also, if you’ve enabled image uploads on your website, it’s essential that you… Continue reading How to Create a Thumbnail Image in PHP

Create Beautiful Scrolling Animations With the CSS Clip-Path Property

In a previous tutorial, we learned how to create a grayscale-to-color effect on scroll. To implement it, we took advantage of modern front-end features like CSS Grid, the clip-path property, and the Intersection Observer API. Today, we’ll use these tools and the knowledge gained from that tutorial to build another cool scroll effect. As we scroll, page… Continue reading Create Beautiful Scrolling Animations With the CSS Clip-Path Property

What’s New in Ecommerce, January 2021

Ecommerce design may seem fairly straight-forward; you build an online store that showcases a company’s products or services and gives customers a quick and pain-free way to purchase them. While that formula will always hold true, ecommerce is undergoing some big changes, and web designers need to be prepared to keep up with them. This… Continue reading What’s New in Ecommerce, January 2021

9 Best Font Manager Apps for Mac, Windows, Linux and Online

If you or your business do any kind work with fonts, font management software can help you organize and manage the fonts you work with. In this article, I’ll explain why you should consider using font management software and I’ll outline some of the most popular font manager packages for Windows and Mac users. Fonts… Continue reading 9 Best Font Manager Apps for Mac, Windows, Linux and Online

3 Essential Design Trends, January 2021

Don’t drop the ball on these website design trends for the new year. All of the trends featured here this month are visual in nature – not as many user interface elements as previous months, but all just as stunning and usable. Here’s what’s trending in design this month. 1. 3D Scenes on White (Light)… Continue reading 3 Essential Design Trends, January 2021

What I’m Thankful For: 2020 Edition

My parents loathe when I use poor language but luckily they don’t read this blog so I’ll just be blunt: 2020 has been an absolute shit show. COVID-19 has been a world-wide source of devastation to lives, jobs, and our quality of life. That said, I’ve found myself feeling incredibly grateful at the end. Despite… Continue reading What I’m Thankful For: 2020 Edition

Who Do Web Designers Really Work For?

It would be way too easy to answer this question with: “Whoever pays your bills.” And, honestly, I don’t think you can be a very successful web designer if you’re only driven by what the person paying you tells you to do. Then again, that doesn’t mean you should swing to the exact opposite end… Continue reading Who Do Web Designers Really Work For?

When Does Emotional Design Cross a Line?

Designing for emotion in and of itself is not a problem. Websites are bound to elicit an emotional reaction from visitors, even if it’s as simple as them feeling at ease because of the soft, pastel color palette you’ve designed the site with. I don’t want to outright villainize emotional design. Unless there is some… Continue reading When Does Emotional Design Cross a Line?

15 Best Free Twitch Overlays (Including a Free Twitch Overlay Maker)

Look, we get it. Money is tight, but you’re getting into streaming and need a well-designed Twitch stream overlay for your channel. Find the right Twitch Overlay Template for you at Placeit.net Well, we’ve got the perfect solution for you. We’re going to share how you can find top-quality free Twitch overlay templates at Placeit… Continue reading 15 Best Free Twitch Overlays (Including a Free Twitch Overlay Maker)

25+ Best WordPress Resume Themes: For Your Personal Website (Free & Premium)

Whether you’re fresh out of college or looking to find a better job, you will need a resume to showcase all your skills and help you stand out from the competition.  Nowadays, however, a standard resume or a CV is not enough. A better way to impress HR managers and describe your expertise, education, and experience is to… Continue reading 25+ Best WordPress Resume Themes: For Your Personal Website (Free & Premium)

30+ Awesome Esports T-Shirt Mockups (Gaming Jerseys Ready to Download)

If you’ve been using the COVID-19 lockdown to become an esports star, you’ll want an esports T-shirt mockup to promote your team. You can find fabulous esports T-shirt mockups like this one at Placeit The fabulous selection of esports T-shirt mockups and jersey esport team mockups at Placeit give you the perfect opportunity to show… Continue reading 30+ Awesome Esports T-Shirt Mockups (Gaming Jerseys Ready to Download)

How to Make a Rap Album Cover Art (Using an Album Cover Maker)

If you’re an aspiring rap artist, independent rap label, or an MC spitting lyrics, at some point you’re going to need a cool album cover design to promote your work.  The Placeit album cover maker app offers a wide selection of album covers that you can customise in a matter of minutes to create amazing… Continue reading How to Make a Rap Album Cover Art (Using an Album Cover Maker)

How to make a business website better by improving its UX

4 Shares To establish a modern business, you need to create a website. Websites are precious. They provide quick access to the essential information and services a company offers. It is great to have an excellent online presence – and sites allow just that. However, many users expect a particular web design one business to… Continue reading How to make a business website better by improving its UX