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Pietra Review (2023): Does Pietra Really Do It All?

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/pietra-review

Launching and scaling an eCommerce business involves a lot of moving parts. From creating your brand and setting up your online store to connecting with suppliers, you’ll need a serious ‘can-do’ attitude to hit the ground running. 

However, there is a way to make kickstarting your business easier – cue, Pietra. 

Pietra is an all-in-one platform that provides creatives and entrepreneurs almost everything they need for brand ideation, product sourcing and production, logistics and fulfillment, and sales and marketing- but is it right for you? 

To find out, stick with me for this Pietra review. I’ll examine what makes Pietra stand out, how it helps budding businesses boom, and more.

There’s lots to cover, so let’s dive in! 

What Is Pietra? 

As I hinted at in the intro, Pietra is a robust platform that provides all the essential tools eCommerce businesses need to establish and grow their operations. From listing yourself on popular online marketplaces to procuring product suppliers, you can handle everything from the convenience of one centralized platform. 

So, according to Pietra, setting up an end-to-end eCommerce business is now as simple as setting up a Shopify store.

Pietra was founded in 2019, and its co-founders, Pan Pan, and Ronak Trivedi, were once part of the Uber leadership team. Borrowing elements of the Uber philosophy to bring Pietra to life, they’re passionate about providing consumers with the best experience.

Pietra Review

Pietra’s Key Features 

As you’ve probably already guessed, Pietra’s suite of features is pretty extensive. As such, I can only scratch the surface of what Pietra offers. With that in mind, below is a closer look at some of Pietra’s most notable functionality:

Brand Ideation

With Pietra, you can manage even the earliest stages of brand ideation; best of all, these tools are available to both free and paid plan users.  

Once you’ve signed up, head to the ‘brand creation tools’ tab to start bringing your vision to life. You’ll begin by describing your brand and selecting a target audience based on Pietra’s intelligent suggestions. You’ll then be prompted to define your brand in more detail, including your brand identity. At this point, you’ll also get access to market research suggestions from Pietra to suit your brand.

Once you’ve filled in the relevant information, Pietra provides ideas for your brand based on competitor analysis and current market trends. This can include a brand name, tagline, relevant image, and even your company’s mission and values. 

You can also create an online mood board to help define your business and present it to potential suppliers and partners. You can upload images representing your brand or choose pictures from Pietra’s suggestions. They’ll even suggest a color palette to suit your brand and explain the psychological significance of each proposal and how it complements your vision. 

If you’re stuck for product ideas, Pietra (based on market research) can offer a few product examples alongside the prices you could sell them for. 

If you like those product suggestions, Pietra has a supplier ‘marketplace’ you can utilize. All you need to do is reach out to those you’d like to work with to see whether they can manufacture your chosen products and then let them do the rest.

Pietra Review

Crowdfunding 

If you don’t have the funds to get your business off the ground, you could crowdfund your business directly from Pietra’s platform rather than sourcing a third party. 

For example, you can launch a crowdfunding campaign to advertise your business idea to potential investors. Done well, this is a step in the right direction to securing the financial backing you need to bring your venture to life. 

When setting up a crowdfunding campaign, you can select a campaign deadline (I.e., the date you want to raise the money by). Pietra recommends at least 30 days to see results. 

As with brand ideation, crowdfunding is also available to both free and paid plan users. 

Pietra Review

Product Design 

With Pietra’s product idea generator, you can input your product idea (for example, socks), describe your product in detail (for example, crochet socks), and let the Pietra generator work its magic. 

More specifically, the product idea generator provides images of the product you want to create, suggests product prices, and links to suppliers who can make/source the product for you. 

It’s also worth noting that once you’ve generated your ideas, you can design products directly from Pietra’s platform. Pietra offers a catalog of basic blank items. So, for example, if you’re selling clothing, you could select a blank hoodie, choose which colors and sizes you want it in, and upload or draw your own designs onto it. Then, once you’re happy with the result, you can start selling (don’t worry, you’ll get a quote on the unit cost of your items before you begin selling). 

Note: To access the product generator, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid-for plan.

Sourcing 

If you need to find product suppliers, Pietra can help. Just choose the sort of suppliers you want to work with (merch factories, activewear factories, makeup factories, etc.), and Pietra will provide you with a list. Then contact a factory that creates products for your niche to see if they can help you produce them. 

You can also find packaging suppliers in a similar fashion. So, suppose you want tissue paper wrapping, stickers, custom poly mailers, notecards, etc., for your products. In that case, pick one of Pietra’s suppliers, choose the quantity of the product you want, and continue. 

Alternatively, if you need to hire a team of creatives, you can connect with them via the platform. For example, photographers, web developers, graphic designers, etc. When browsing for talent, you’ll see a selection of freelancers, their past projects, and how much they charge for their services.

We also want to highlight that Pietra’s supply partners are hand-picked to ensure the best possible service for its users.

Pietra Review

Order Fulfillment 

Pietra offers 3PL services. For instance, you can store and ship products from a Pietra warehouse directly to your customers. 

On top of that, Pietra enables you to: 

Create orders

Check your inventory 

Organize shipments and send them to Pietra for storage and fulfillment 

Order kitting services 

Create shipping labels 

View your shipping label history 

You can access these fulfillment services via a paid Pietra subscription. However, fulfillment rates vary depending on your chosen plan (more on this below).

Pietra Review

Storefront 

Ready to organize your storefront? If you have a Shopify website, you can connect it with Pietra. 

Simply send your inventory to a Pietra fulfillment center, sync your Shopify store with Pietra, and let Pietra do the rest! They’ll even ship your products straight to your customers.

If you’re not using Shopify, you can build your own Pietra shop to be listed on Pietra’s marketplace. Of course, you don’t enjoy anywhere near as much design freedom as you would your own online store, but it’s an okay place to get started. 

Pietra Review

Sales Channels 

With Pietra, you can access an extensive sales channel network. For instance, you can apply to become a member of Pietra’s unique partner network, which enables you to list your products on plenty of major websites, including the giants like eBay, Amazon, and Google.  

You can also sell on social media. For example, you can sign up for Instagram Shopping via Pietra. Here Pietra lists all your products on Instagram shopping automatically so you don’t have to, and will even handle the fulfillment, exchanges, and returns for you. 

You can also benefit from the sales channels Pietra’s partnered with (a separate entity from its partner network) to list your products on: 

Flip

Goody 

Facebook Marketplace 

Bonanza

Twitter

Etsy 

Google Shopping

Faire

Depop

Poshmark

Grailed

StockX

… And more! 

Pietra Review

Pietra Pricing 

If you upgrade to a paid plan, you can opt for month-to-month or annual billing. 

For the purposes of this Pietra Studios review, I’ve quoted prices for monthly billing:

Note: With the free plan, you’ll have access to brand ideation, and you can build your own merchandise shop. You also benefit from Pietra’s educational resources, workshops, and webinars to learn more about how to make the most out of Pietra. However, with the free plan, you can’t source manufacturers. 

Beginner: $39/mo

This plan is designed for small brands and businesses looking to ship fewer than 500 orders per month. 

You’ll get access to all of the free features mentioned above, plus:

Low warehousing and fulfillment service rates ($1.50/order fulfillment) 

Connect up to three sales channels to sell your products 

Business blueprints that act as a step-by-step tool to help you launch your brand

Fulfillment and logistics support 

Scaling: $89/mo

This is designed for larger, growing businesses shipping 500-2000 monthly orders. 

You’ll get access to similar features (as listed above), plus 20% lower fulfillment ($1.25/order) and reduced storage and shipping rates – however, Petria doesn’t specify exactly how cheap these are. 

You can also work with around 25 suppliers and connect with seven sales channels.

Professional: $199/mo

This plan is designed for larger businesses shipping more than 2000 monthly orders. You’ll get everything in the above two plans, plus: 

Even lower fulfillment rates ($1.15/order) 

The ability to work with unlimited suppliers and connect to unlimited sales channels 

Access to a Pietra specialist – you can book 1:1 sessions to get answers to your queries about fulfillment, eCommerce, and sourcing. 

Pietra Review

Pietra: Pros and Cons 

Need a more digestible overview of Pietra? Here’s a brief look at the pros and cons: 

Pros

Pietra’s easy to navigate; you can find everything you need in one place.

There’s a large network of suppliers available.

It’s an all-in-one solution for developing and selling your products, making it a great choice for those launching their brand.

Although you’ll have to pay for more advanced features, it’s free to join, and you can access Pietra’s brand ideation (and other tools) without paying a penny.

Order fulfillment and shipping are fast, efficient, and easy to organize. According to Pietra, all orders are fulfilled within two days. Domestic shipping times are between 3-5 business days, and international shipping can take between 7-15 days. 

Cons 

Some users say the messaging and inbox platform used to connect with Pietra suppliers is clunky and often glitches. 

You can’t archive conversations with suppliers, so you may need to manually note any important information from your discussions. 

As there are so many moving pieces, there’s somewhat of a learning curve involved.

Is Pietra Legit?

Yes, Pietra is a 100% legitimate company with plenty of happy customers – just look at the Pietra reviews on GetApp! Here, they enjoy an overall rating of 4.7 out of five stars (however, although this is impressive, at the time of writing, this was only from 15 reviewers).

An all-in-one solution for businesses looking to develop and sell their products may sound too good to be true, but in this case, it’s not.

Pietra’s supply partners are hand-picked to ensure the best possible service for its users. 

Pietra Review: Is Pietra Worth It? 

So that brings my Pietra review to a close! Here are my final thoughts on who should use Pietra:

If you’re a business owner in the process of launching a brand, you’ll have a million and one things to consider. It’s no small feat. It can require a vast amount of time, money, and resources not all entrepreneurs can access. 

This is where Pietra comes in. If you want to streamline the launch of your startup and access the majority of things you need to hit the ground running in one place, Pietra is ABSOLUTELY worth it. 

You’ll be hard-pressed to find another provider that offers anything close to Pietra. Pietra can do everything from brand ideation to inventory storage and shipping. 

For all these reasons, this makes Pietra a good choice for budding entrepreneurs and small businesses. Plus, signing up is free, and you can start working on brand ideation without a paid plan. Why not try it today and see how Pietra can help your business grow? Don’t forget to let me know how you get on in the connect bow below!

The post Pietra Review (2023): Does Pietra Really Do It All? appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

Matrixify Shopify App Review (2023): The Complete Guide

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/matrixify-shopify-app-review

In this Matrixify Shopify app review, we’re going to be exploring the functionality and benefits of one of the most popular, and highly rated tools on the Shopify app store.

Synchronizing and managing data is one of the most important tasks for any online store owner. Your website data, from product SKU information to customer profiles, is essential to the overall functionality and success of your store. Unfortunately, if you choose to migrate from another ecommerce platform to Shopify (or vice versa), taking your data with you can be challenging.

It’s all too easy for data to be corrupted or lost in the digital world, leading to catastrophic results for any online brand. Matrixify aims to eliminate this problem, helping you bulk import and export Excel and CSV files with minimal effort. So, is the app worthwhile?

We took a deep dive into the solution to find out.

What is Matrixify? An Introduction

Formerly known as “Excelify”, Matrixify is a convenient application on the Shopify app store, designed to help business owners manage their data. The import and export application allows you to control your essential data more effectively, going beyond the limitations of Shopify’s own data transfer tools, as well as other third-party competitors.

The core purpose of the app is to allow any vendor to utilize CSV and Excel files to transfer various types of data to other locations. You can use it to convert import data feeds from dropshippers and suppliers into readable files, or to update product info and your existing store data in bulk.

The solution is also perfect for business leaders migrating to a Shopify store, as it allows you to move every detail from a previous store (such as collections, customers, and pages) to Shopify in bulk. If you’re running multiple stores at the same time, you can even keep your information in sync, with scheduled auto-repeat transfers and automatic backups.

Just some of the types of data you can manage with Matrixify include customer information, products, company outlines, collections, discounts, draft orders, regular orders, and payouts. You can also move pages, blog posts, redirects, activity information, files, and shop data.

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Matrixify Review: The Core Features

Ultimately, Matrixify is intended to make data management as simple and convenient as possible. The app can manage file sizes as large as 10 GB, and backup and restore your data automatically on your behalf. The core features of the solution include:

Comprehensive data entity support: With Matrixify, you can import and export virtually any kind of data imaginable within your Shopify admin. All exported store information can be transferred into a single file, for instant transfer to any other website.

Bulk import/Export: Rather than dealing with one data file at a time, you can convert and import data from dropshippers, suppliers, or other custom file formats with Excel (XLSX) and Google Sheets templates in bulk.

Custom filters: With filter applications, you can select specific columns and segments of data you want to export or import, maintaining complete control over the fields you want to update. It’s even possible to bulk delete items when necessary.

Simple data updates: Rapidly update crucial information such as product price, image alt text, inventory information, collection product positions, product variants, and meta data, with a straightforward dashboard.

Automation: Create custom schedules for automatically transferring data to and from your website for other entities, reducing the manual work you need to do to keep your website up to date.

Advanced import: Import several images from the same row with semicolon separation, or update and reorder comprehensive product information by SKU, option values, barcodes, and other essential data.

SEO and blog migration: Quickly and effectively update SEO fields for products, collections, and pages, such as metafields, and transfer entire blogs between Shopify and other websites. You can also export comments left on blog posts.

Numerous export and import destinations: Import data from Dropbox, URLs, FTP/SFTP, Google Sheets, and Google drive, or use direct file uploads. You can also monitor the completion time and progress of each import, with insights into failed items.

Multiple migration sources: Migrate from numerous ecommerce platforms, including WordPress (WooCommerce), Magento, and BigCommerce, straight into Shopify or Shopify Plus.

Essentially, Matrixify gives you all the tools you need to copy your store data to other stores, schedule crucial updates, backup your store, and maintain control over your store information.

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How Matrixify Works: Ease of Use

Dealing with data can be extremely complicated, even with a platform like Shopify, which already offers features to help you download and manage your data. Matrixify aims to eliminate the common problems customers face with data management, through a simple and convenient interface.

Once you download the app from the Shopify app store, and choose your plan, you’ll be able to create an export in seconds, edit Shopify data, or import directly to Shopify from any other site.

The process is extremely straightforward. For instance:

To Export Shopify data

Head into the Matrixify home page, and choose “New Export”. In the “Format” section, click on the solution that works best for you, such as the Excel format, or CSV format if you have larger files. Click on “Select Sheets”, and you can add specific sheets to your export file, either one at a time or in bulk. Plus, you can choose exactly which columns you want to export.

There’s also the option to customize columns, dragging column tags to change their position, and set filters to determine which information should be included or removed from your export. Matrixify gives you numerous bonus options to choose from too, such as setting a schedule for automated exports. Once the export begins, you’ll be able to track the progress using a simple visual tool.

To Edit Shopify data

Matrixify doesn’t just give you the tools you need to move crucial store data, it also allows you to edit your files too. You can choose to import only the columns you need in a simple Excel file. The app automatically identifies products by ID, Handle, or Variant SKU. Plus, it can update or create new collections, customers, orders, or pages with as many columns as you like.

Each sheet includes a “command” column where you can choose whether to create new files, merge files, update information, replace information, or delete an item. You can update all products and images at once, plus, you can add metafield columns for SEO.

To Import products and Shopify store data

Importing is just as simple as exporting. With a sheet name, you can tell the Matrixify app exactly what you’re importing, making it easy to keep track of all of your aligned data. Each sheet also features column headers, file size information, and more.

The maximum file size you can upload (at one time) is 10GB. If you’re using a CSV in ZIP file format, then all of the files in your ZIP can’t be larger than 30GB. Matrixify can import data in EXCEL, csv, Google Sheet, and other file formats, auto-detecting file encoding information as it works. The solution will automatically convert UTF-8, ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1), ISO-2022-JP and other encoding data into UTF-8 where necessary for Shopify.

As with the export option, you can track your progress with each import, implement filters and options, and edit the resulting imports once they’re moved into your site.

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Matrixify Settings and Controls

One of the best things about the Matrixify app, is how much control it actually gives you over your data exports and imports. Within the “Settings” section of the app, you can manage:

Security: Choose whether you want your files to be public and private, and control who should be able to access your files within your digital ecosystem.

Notifications: Arrange automatic notifications to be delivered to your email address about the progress of import and export tasks.

Servers: Securely save your FTP/SFTP servers and their users so you don’t need to enter the details for each import or export.

Job file erasure: manage settings for deleting import and export jobs from Matrixify servers. By default, the app will store all files for 30 days.

Matrixify also has a convenient “All Jobs” section where you can track your future, current, and past jobs, as well as the progress of any tasks that are already running.

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Matrixify Integrations

The Matrixify app for Shopify integrates seamlessly with a variety of other useful tools for data management, including Google Shopping, Google Sheets, and Google Drive. You can also integrate the system directly with Shopify Flow, for creating automated workflows, as well as cloud storage solutions like Dropbox and various FTP/SFTP servers.

Matrixify also allows users to import information from any link that is publicly available on the web. Plus, you can list dynamic placeholders in your URLs for scheduled imports, so you can specify the exact file name you want to import from your directory.

If you have other custom storage locations you’re struggling to access, you can reach out to Matrixify’s support team to request assistance.

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Matrixify Pricing Plans

Matrixify offers four different plans in total, starting with a free “demo” version of the app, which allows for 10 imports/exports of products, smart collections, custom collections, customers, companies, discounts, draft orders, orders, pages, and blog posts. You also get 10 redirects, payouts, activity files, files, and metaobjects for a single store.

If you choose to upgrade to a paid plan, options include:

Basic: $20 per month for up to 5,000 products, 300 smart collections and custom collections, 2000 customers, 50 companies, and 3000 discounts. You also get support for 1000 orders and draft orders, 50 pages and blog posts, 10,000 redirects, 366 payouts, 10,000 activity files, 1,000 regular files, and 50 meta objects. The basic plan has no monthly item limit, supports metafields and scheduling, and comes with one free additional store. You can also send and read files from a range of FTP/SFTP and cloud storage solutions.

Big: $50 per month for all the features of Basic, plus 50,000 products, 3,000 smart collections and custom collections, and 20,000 customers. This plan includes support for 500 companies, 3,000 discounts, 10,000 orders and draft orders, 500 pages and blog posts, 100,000 redirects, 3,660 payouts, and 100,000 activity data points. Plus you get 10,000 files, 500 meta objects, 5 times higher transfer speeds, and batch import options.

Enterprise: $200 per month for unlimited file imports for every type of data supported by Matrixify. The Enterprise also includes 10 times faster import and export speeds.

Additional features and services can also be purchased at a rate of $200 per hour. These services include custom complex data migration, custom import/export format development, and fast-tracking for custom feature development in Matrixify’s app.

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Matrixify Customer Support

Matrixify offers customers a range of ways to seek out support for any issues they might be facing. First, the company has a fantastic knowledgebase on its website. Here, you can access documentation, tutorials, and insights into new features. There’s also the option to purchase extra assistance from trusted experts within the Matrixify team.

Every plan also comes with customer support via Slack channels, and email. Matrixify is relatively quick and responding to any queries you might have, and there’s a free live chat option for extra-fast support. Plus, Matrixify also has an offline tracker, to show you when the company is dealing with technical issues in real-time.

Matrixify Pros and Cons

Matrixify has an excellent reputation among Shopify store owners, and a fantastic rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on the Shopify app store. However, like most apps and store add-ons, it does have various pros and cons to consider. Here are the biggest benefits and disadvantages of the app:

Pros 👍
Cons 👎

Pros 👍

Exceptional guidance, tutorials, and insights for users
Easy-to-use back-end environment for bulk imports and exports
Affordable pricing compared to some alternatives
Good technical support and customer service
Fantastic for managing multiple stores
Comprehensive control over your data and updates
Excellent range of integration options
Support for multiple filters and customizations

Cons 👎

Data export can be slower in some of the plans
The free version is extremely limited
Altering imported data once it’s in the program is difficult

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Matrixify Review: Finishing Thoughts

If you’ve ever struggled with managing crucial data across a variety of different store environments, or you’ve had a hard time migrating to Shopify in the past, Matrixify could be the solution for you. It certainly outperforms the default import and export controls offered by Shopify. Plus, it gives you a lot more control over your data, with more file types and integrations to choose from.

Combine the excellent functionality of the Matrixify app with it’s fantastic selection of resources and brilliant customer support and it’s easy to see why this is one of the most popular tools on the Shopify app store to date.

The post Matrixify Shopify App Review (2023): The Complete Guide appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

20 Free Handwritten Fonts to Download

Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/handwritten-fonts/

Handwritten and cursive fonts have a unique charm that can add a personal touch to your designs. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of 20 beautiful cursive and handwritten fonts that you can download for free. These fonts are perfect for invitations, greeting cards, branding materials, and more.

Explore these fonts to add a touch of elegance and authenticity to your designs.

#1. Bakery

Bakery by StereoType offers a complete set of alternate glyphs, 13 ligatures, and swashes. It’s a versatile font available for personal use, adding a touch of elegance to your projects.

BakeryBakery

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#2. She Always Walks Alone

She Always Walks Alone by Runes & Fonts is a unique brush font with a playful and quirky style. It is ideal for various creative projects and is available for commercial use upon contacting the creator for licensing details.

She Always Walks AloneShe Always Walks Alone

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#3. Variane Script Font

Variane Script Font by Boy Moch Tomi is a clean and versatile cursive font suitable for both light and dark designs. Its simplicity adds a touch of elegance to any project.

Variane Script FontVariane Script Font

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#4. Shorelines Script

Shorelines Script by The Branded Quotes is a free-flowing cursive font that captures the essence of natural handwriting. The varying height and spacing give it an organic and authentic appearance.

Shorelines ScriptShorelines Script

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#5. Reis

Reis by Marcelo Reis Melo is a bold and eye-catching font perfect for posters and headlines. Its distinct style adds a powerful impact to any design project.

ReisReis

Download

#6. Stackyard

Stackyard by Mans Greback is a strong and organized font with a consistent slant. Its sleek and professional appearance makes it suitable for various applications.

StackyardStackyard

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#7. A HandMade Font

A HandMade Font by Gaston Jacquier is a roundish and clean font featuring lightweight strokes. It exudes a subtle charm, making it a great choice for a range of design projects.

A HandMade FontA HandMade Font

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#8. Cheddar Jack

Cheddar Jack by Brittney Murphy Design is a natural handwritten font that captures an authentic and relaxed style. It works particularly well for freestyle packaging designs, adding a personal touch.

Cheddar JackCheddar Jack

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#9. Kitsune Udon

Kitsune Udon by Rory Harnden is an extensive collection of dynamic handwritten characters, providing versatility and creativity for your designs. With numerous glyphs, it offers flexibility and uniqueness.

Kitsune UdonKitsune Udon

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#10. BeWicked

BeWicked by Jeff Bensch is inspired by the title card of the Bewitched TV sitcom. Its playful and whimsical style brings a touch of nostalgia and charm to any project.

BeWickedBeWicked

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#11. Euphoria

Euphoria by Typesenses is an informal and playful font, reminiscent of greeting cards. It adds a cheerful and light-hearted vibe to your designs, perfect for special occasions.

EuphoriaEuphoria

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#12. Moose font

Moose font by Jake Luedecke Motion & Graphic Design is a charming font that emulates the typewriter aesthetic. With its nostalgic appeal, it adds character and warmth to your projects.

Moose fontMoose font

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#13. Vtks Love U

Vtks Love U by VTKS DESIGN is a raw and unpolished font intentionally crafted to evoke an anxious vibe. Its imperfect strokes and unique style create an intriguing and expressive look.

Vtks Love UVtks Love U

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#14. MRF Freckled Lemonade

MRF Freckled Lemonade by MonkeyRoodles Fonts is a light-stroked and quirky font ideal for invitation cards. It adds a playful and whimsical touch, enhancing the overall aesthetic.

MRF Freckled LemonadeMRF Freckled Lemonade

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#15. Milasian

Milasian by Mans Greback is a beautiful and elegant font available in three weights: thin, medium, and bold. Its graceful curves and refined style make it suitable for a wide range of projects.

MilasianMilasian

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#16. Wasted

Wasted by StereoType is a versatile font that comes with 14 different swashes and two underline styles. It offers a creative and contemporary look, perfect for various design applications.

WastedWasted

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#17. Scriptina Font Family

Scriptina Font Family by Apostrophic Labs features captivating waves that lend an elegant and decorative touch. Whether for fancy wedding invitations or expressive tattoos, it adds a touch of sophistication.

Scriptina Font FamilyScriptina Font Family

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#18. Popsies Font

Popsies Font by StimulEye Fonts provides an authentic handwritten look. With its raw and unrefined style, it captures the essence of true handwriting, adding an organic feel to your designs.

Popsies FontPopsies Font

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#19. Milasian Circa

Milasian Circa by Mans Greback is a more rounded and spread-out version of Milasian. With its smooth curves and balanced design, it offers a distinct and approachable appearance.

Milasian CircaMilasian Circa

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The post 20 Free Handwritten Fonts to Download appeared first on Hongkiat.

Charming and Minimalist Branding and Visual Identity for Blend

Original Source: https://abduzeedo.com/charming-and-minimalist-branding-and-visual-identity-blend

Charming and Minimalist Branding and Visual Identity for Blend
Charming and Minimalist Branding and Visual Identity for Blend

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Charlotte Slegers has delivered a truly enchanting and minimalist branding project for Blend Coffee Shop, showcasing her impeccable design skills. The project exudes a sense of charm and elegance through the clever use of script typography, creating a unique visual identity that captures the essence of the coffee shop. 

The script typography chosen by Slegers adds a touch of sophistication and a personal, handwritten feel to the brand. The flowing curves and delicate lines of the script create a harmonious and inviting aesthetic, reflecting the warm and welcoming atmosphere of Blend Coffee Shop. The typography serves as the focal point of the branding, captivating attention and leaving a lasting impression.

To add contrast and visual interest, Slegers incorporates cute graphics into the branding. These playful elements complement the script typography and inject a sense of whimsy into the overall design. The combination of elegant script and charming graphics strikes the perfect balance, creating a visually appealing and memorable brand identity.

In addition to the captivating branding elements, Slegers extends her design expertise to the packaging of Blend Coffee Shop’s milk bottles. Here, she opts for a minimalist approach, focusing solely on the word “blend” rendered in the script typography. This choice adds a touch of elegance to the packaging, ensuring a cohesive and refined visual experience across all touchpoints. The simplicity of the design allows the quality of the product to shine through while maintaining a consistent brand aesthetic.

Charlotte Slegers’ branding work for Blend Coffee Shop is a testament to her ability to create captivating and elegant designs. The script typography, combined with cute graphics and minimalist packaging design, forms a cohesive visual identity that perfectly represents the coffee shop’s charm and style. This branding project showcases Slegers’ talent for blending elegance, minimalism, and playfulness, resulting in a brand that is sure to stand out in the competitive coffee industry.

Branding, packaging design and visual identity

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Photography by Ketut Subiyanto All product photos are used only for presentation for non-commercial purposes only. All rights reserved.

For more information make sure to check out Charlotte Slegers’ website or follow her on Behance.

CSS Keyframes: From Static to Dynamic Designs

Original Source: https://1stwebdesigner.com/css-keyframes-from-static-to-dynamic-designs/

Web designers often seek tools that can bring static elements to life, and CSS keyframes are a great ally for this task. Keyframes enable us to animate elements over a certain duration, providing our designs with a dynamic feel. Below, we’ll cover the basics of using keyframes, from defining animations to applying them to our elements.

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Understanding the Structure of CSS Keyframes

At the core of every CSS animation are keyframes, which define the stages of an animation sequence. Keyframes are declared using the @keyframes rule, followed by an animation name of your choice. The name we use in the example below, changeBackground, is arbitrary – you could name it anything that suits your needs.

Here’s an illustration:

/* Keyframe declaration */
@keyframes changeBackground {
0% { background: #ff0000; } /* Red at the start */
50% { background: #00ff00; } /* Green in the middle */
100% { background: #0000ff; } /* Blue at the end */
}

The changeBackground keyframe dictates how the background color of an element will transition during the animation. At the start of the animation (0%), the background is red. At the midway point (50%), the background changes to green. Finally, at the end of the animation (100%), the background transitions to blue.

Applying CSS Keyframes to an Element

Now, let’s apply our keyframes to an HTML element using the animation shorthand property:

/* Applying keyframe to an element */
.myElement {
animation: changeBackground 2s ease-in-out 1s infinite alternate;
}

In this case, we’ve applied the changeBackground keyframe to an element with the .myElement class. The animation alters the background color of this element over a defined period, according to the stages we set in the keyframe.

Dissecting the Animation Shorthand

The animation shorthand property encapsulates several animation-related properties:

/* The animation shorthand */
animation: changeBackground 2s ease-in-out 1s infinite alternate;

changeBackground: The keyframe we defined earlier.
2s: One cycle of the animation will last 2 seconds.
ease-in-out: The pace of the animation, starting slow, becoming fast in the middle, and then ending slow.
1s: The animation will start after a delay of 1 second.
infinite: The animation will repeat indefinitely.
alternate: The animation will alternate directions each cycle.

These are the most commonly used properties but remember that you can also specify animation-fill-mode, animation-play-state, and more. Each property can also be specified separately if you want more control over the animation.

Manipulating Animation Timeline with Percentages and Keywords

Keyframe animations allow changes in style to be dictated using either percentages or the from and to keywords. from represents the start (0%), and to represents the end (100%) of the animation:

/* Keyframe declaration using keywords */
@keyframes fadeInOut {
from { opacity: 0; } /* The element is fully transparent at the start */
to { opacity: 1; } /* The element is fully visible at the end */
}

.myElement {
animation: fadeInOut 3s ease-in-out 1s infinite alternate;
}

In the fadeInOut keyframe above, we’re changing the element’s opacity. It starts with being fully transparent (opacity: 0) and transitions to being fully visible (opacity: 1). The from and to keywords can be used interchangeably with 0% and 100%, respectively.

So, when this animation is applied to .myElement, the element will gradually fade in over a 3-second duration, from being completely transparent to fully visible. After a 1-second delay, the process will reverse, causing the element to fade out, creating an ongoing cycle of fading in and out due to the infinite and alternate keywords.

Bringing It All Together

Let’s look at a slightly more detailed example:

/* Keyframe declaration */
@keyframes spin {
0% { transform: rotate(0deg); } /* Element starts at its original position */
50% { transform: rotate(180deg); } /* Rotates 180 degrees halfway through the animation */
100% { transform: rotate(360deg); } /* Completes a full rotation at the end */
}

.box {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: #FF4B59; /* Specific shade of red */
animation: spin 2s linear infinite; /* Applies the spin animation */
}

And here’s our HTML element:

<div class="box"></div>

In the above example, we define an animation named spin that rotates an element. We apply this animation to a <div> element with the class .box. This <div> is a square with a specific shade of red. It will continue to rotate, creating a loop because of the infinite keyword. The transform property with the rotate() function is used to alter the position of the element, providing the rotation effect. The linear keyword ensures that the rotation speed is consistent throughout the animation.

See the Pen CSS Text Embossing Effect by 1stWebDesigner (@firstwebdesigner) on CodePen.0

Conclusion

CSS keyframes form the foundation of most CSS animations. Naturally, there’s more to learn and experiment with beyond the aspects we covered. For instance, consider exploring the steps() function in CSS animations, which allows you to break your animation into segments, giving you “frame by frame” control.

When it comes to interactive animations, JavaScript can be combined with CSS keyframes to trigger animations based on user actions like clicks or scrolls. Meanwhile, SVG animations offer more complex graphical animations beyond standard HTML elements, allowing you to animate individual parts of an SVG image for intricate visual effects.

As your understanding of CSS keyframes deepens, you’ll be able to leverage them more effectively to improve your designs and their user experience. Consider using animations for user guidance, interaction feedback, or simply to elevate your designs.

However, remember that animations can be resource-intensive. Strive for a balance between the aesthetic appeal of animations and your website’s performance. Techniques such as reducing the number of animated properties or minimizing the number of keyframes can help you achieve this balance.

HubSpot vs Monday.com (2023): A Detailed Comparison

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/hubspot-vs-monday-com

Powerful customer relationship management (CRM) and project management (PM) tools are pivotal to business success. From understanding customer journeys to eliminating repetitive tasks, these tools help streamline and enhance workflow processes.

HubSpot and Monday.com are two of the most widely adopted CRM and PM tools. While both have overlapping features and functionalities, they specialize in different domains.

This article analyzes the differences and similarities between HubSpot vs. Monday.com to help you decide the best fit for your business.

HubSpot vs Monday.com: Quick Verdict

HubSpot excels in many, if not all, avenues, making it a better fit for most businesses.

However, for some businesses that do not have the brainpower to invest in something as extensive as HubSpot, Monday.com may be a good starting pad. Monday.com isn’t as feature-stacked as HubSpot, but it is highly user-friendly.

Business needs are also an important consideration. HubSpot is the obvious choice if your needs extend beyond project management to sales, marketing, and customer support.

HubSpot vs Monday.com Overview

Monday.com is a project management tool that helps teams seamlessly and effectively run projects. On the other hand, HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM software that helps companies attract, engage, and convert prospects.

Both programs have their strengths and limitations. However, HubSpot is not your average CRM tool. The platform has evolved over the years to incorporate support for various business tasks and activities, including project management, through robust integrations and upgrades. This is one of the reasons why it has rapidly become one of the best CRM solutions today.

In comparison, Monday.com is feature-restrictive and generally focused on providing project management-related tools and services. That said, it has its strengths and maybe a better fit for some users due to its intuitive design, easier learning curve, and more straightforward pricing structure, among other things.

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Features

HubSpot CRM software offers not only sales and marketing features but also project management functionalities. Some of its most-prized capabilities include:

Projects

HubSpot has a dedicated hub for project management within the CRM Suite called HubSpot Projects. HubSpot Projects has a lot of PM-focused capabilities, such as assigning tasks and owners, adding attachments, and connecting assets. You can also save existing projects as templates for future planning and ease.

List Segmentation

Want to create a persona of your ideal buyer for an email marketing campaign? HubSpot enables you to group customers with similar actions and interests. Grouping contacts better positions you to send relevant messaging and drive results.

Content Management

With HubSpot, you can create, optimize, and personalize blogs, emails, landing pages, and more. The ability to deeply analyse engagement indicators, such as click rates and page views, empowers you to target the right people and make the best use of your marketing and project management resources.

Social Media Integration

Another feature that solidifies the one-in-all tag of the platform. HubSpot lets you integrate and monitor all your social media accounts in one place, making it easier to keep tabs on your marketing campaigns and data.

Robust Integrations: To enhance interoperability, HubSpot has continued to expand third-party support. As of speaking, it supports more than 200 applications, including close competitors like Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Monday.com.

Monday.com’s value proposition is easy, visual., and intuitive project management.Therefore, most of its use cases and features are designed to support this particular purpose.

Several Project Views

The project management software offers multiple views to visualise projects – calendar, timeline, and Kanban, Gantt charts. Once you’ve entered your data, you can easily convert it into different views with single-click simplicity.

Time Tracking

One of the few tools that offer free project time-tracking. Every Monday.com column has the option to add a time tracker. Time-tracking allows you to assess the timeline of your projects – which tasks require more time and which are repetitive and need to be removed.

Customizable Project Templates

Short on inspiration? Monday.com has more than 200 project templates based on real-life situations to give you and your team members a head-start. Plus, the templates have the same user-friendly interface on iPhone/iOs and Android Apps.

Custom Integrations

Monday.com is an open API tool that provides native support for third-party integrations. Since it’s an open API, developers can custom-integrate it with almost any other external application. Some of the most popular Monday.com integrations include Outlook, Pipedrive, Microsoft Teams, DropBox, and Slack.

Bottom line

HubSpot provides a more centralized database for marketing, sales pipelines, customer service, and project management, removing the need to shuffle between several platforms. Also, it offers robust support for third-party integrations, further strengthening its position as a feature-stacked CRM platform.

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Automation

Again, HubSpot’s automations are designed to support several business processes – marketing, customer support, sales, and even project management. So, it’s no surprise that Monday.com’s automations lack scale and scope in comparison. Some worth-mentioning HubSpot automation functionalities include:

Automated Workflows: HubSpot allows you to create automated workflows to make lead management and other processes easier and more efficient for your team. For instance, if a lead has left their contact details empty while filing a form, you can set up an automation to alert a sales rep to get in touch and retrieve this information immediately.

Automation in External Apps: HubSpot not only interacts with third-party apps but also triggers specific actions in these applications. For example, you can transfer your contacts from HubSpot to Zoom and have them automated so that they receive notifications on HubSpot for an activity or action taken on Zoom.

Custom Codes: You can design custom codes to trigger actions of your choice in HubSpot. For instance, if you want most of your sales requests to go to the top 4% of your sales reps, you can.

Smart Lists: Smart or segmented lists group similar audiences and trigger customized content based on these groups for effective targeting. Want a special offer to show up for a customer who signed up for a webinar? This is as easy as ABC, thanks to HubSpot’s marketing automation features.

Follow-up Emails: Dealing with high cart abandonment? Set up an automated email to be sent to a customer who did not go through with their buy. Want to Upsell customers who converted? Schedule a follow-up email to send recommendations for relevant products. The possibilities are endless.

One thing Monday.com has over the CRM software is that custom automation is not limited to Enterprise users. Even low-tier users can design custom codes to trigger alerts, move tasks, and accomplish more with Monday.com’s automation builder.

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Reporting and Analytics

HubSpot’s extensive reporting capabilities come at a hefty price. There’s a 200$/month reporting add-on that provides accessibility to centralized dashboards for all your sales and marketing reports. The add-on allows you to create up to 2000 custom sales and marketing reports.

The high cost aside, HubSpot allows you to visualize much more than Monday.com. Some of the most important metrics you can track on the platform include:

Page performance

Top blogs

Contacts

Cart abandonment rate

Landing pages with the highest conversion rates

First conversions

There are also pre-made reports to evaluate the effectiveness of your sales or marketing platform over time. This includes productivity and performance assessment reports that provide data about allocated marketing efforts and their performance over a specific period.

HubSpot’s analytics capabilities are also a lot more thorough than Monday.com. The platform has AI-driven tools that read existing data to forecast future deals and actions. Some other special performance analytics tools include:

CTA tools allow users to track impressions, click-through rates, and other significant CTA-focused KPIs.

Mobile Optimization tools: Make everything reflexive for mobile users, from landing pages to emails.

Landing page Tools: You can integrate these with your website to track and enhance the customer journey and website performance.

Meeting Scheduling Tools: Use these tools to schedule your team for timely meetings and save qualified prospects.

Email Tracking Tools: These alert your team whenever a customer opens an email or visits a website.

Monday is better at the ability to export insights into third-party applications seamlessly. Not only is exporting data from HubSpot to Excel and other programs complex, but also problematic – some features like automation codes automatically get turned off.

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Pricing

Monday.com’s pricing is straightforward. There are five plans:

Individual (free plan): $0

Basic: $8/seat/month

Standard: $10/seat/month

Pro: $16/seat/month

Enterprise: custom pricing

The free version is restricted to two users only. Besides this plan that’s free forever, there’s a 14-day free trial that lets you get a taste of paid features.

Basic, Standard, and Pro offer support for more users. The Enterprise is specifically designed for larger businesses with custom needs. Also, you must consult a sales agent first to sign up for this plan. However, the sales team does not provide phone support. The only way to get in touch is by filling out a form.

HubSpot’s pricing is much more complicated. The price of each plan varies based on the service or “hub” offered. There are three different hubs: sales, marketing, and customer support.

Marketing Hubs: Starter Marketing Hub opens at $45/month, with support for 1000 marketing contacts. The Professional and Enterprise HubSpot Marketing Hubs cost $80/month and $3200/month and offer support for 2,000 and 10,000 contacts, respectively. The cost for adding 1000 contacts to the Starter plan is $45/month, $100/month, and $1000/ month for the professional and Enterprise, respectively.

Sales Hubs: The Starter Sales Hub opens at $45/month. The professional plans cost $450/month and the Enterprise, $1200/month. To add a user to the Starter Plan, the price is 23$. For the Enterprise and Professional, this is $90 and $120, respectively.

Customer Service Hubs: The price for the Starter plan is the same, i.e., $45/month. Professional and enterprise plans cost $360/month and $1200/month, respectively. Also, the starter plan features support for two users, the pro plan for five, and the Enterprise for ten users.

You can also bundle up different hubs to create custom plans. Bundle pricing varies based on plan type and services included.

In a nutshell, monday.com has more simplistic pricing tiers. However, HubSpot’s plans offer a treasure trove of exciting opportunities equating to great value for money.

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Project Management

As mentioned above, HubSpot has a dedicated hub for project management, HubSpot projects. However, it has limited functionality compared to Monday.com.

To start, Monday.com offers many more project views – Gannt, Kanban, timeline, calendar – to visualize projects. There are also options to create custom views based on your preferences.

The dashboard where the data is laid down is highly intuitive and customizable. With only 15 pre-built widgets, you can create a dashboard of your liking from scratch. On top of that, you can also create private dashboards to protect your work privacy.

The platform also has automation recipes, which are much easier to work with. With simple if/then triggers, you can automate notifications, recurring tasks, and status changes.

Also, this same feature is only accessible to Enterprise HubSpot Users. HubSpot’s Enterprise plans are costly. So, the fact that you’re getting this feature with Monday.com for reduced costs is a huge plus!

You can also add a time tracking column to every Monday.com board to track projects in real-time. And if you’re short on inspiration, there are hundreds of project templates to shorten prep time and get you started.

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Ease of Use

Because HubSpot is more feature-packed, it is less user-friendly than Monday.com. It has a slick, modern, and intuitive design like Monday, but it’s not as simplistic.

However, you won’t need outside assistance or a technical sales team to operate HubSpot. Many support tools – tutorials, faqs, videos, and an extensive knowledge base – guide you through every step. HubSpot is also renowned for its excellent tech support. There’s also a HubSpot academy dedicated to operators who want to take their CRM game to the next level.

If unsure, you can always start with HubSpot’s Free CRM to test the waters. The free CRM isn’t a free trial; it’s free forever. It’s a great way to decide whether you’re ready to pay for more advanced features.

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Conclusion

The best way to choose between HubSpot vs Monday.com is first to understand your business’s size and scope.

Are you a small business or an Enterprise? What is the technical ability of your current workforce? How much can you spend on CRM and PM software? Do you want to scale as a business? What are the needs of your clients?

Answering these questions and an advanced understanding of the tools’ features and functionalities will best place you to make the most suitable decision.

The post HubSpot vs Monday.com (2023): A Detailed Comparison appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.