Learn line and wash skills with Paint & Draw issue 12

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeBloq/~3/65_neH0He6A/learn-line-and-wash-skills-with-paint-draw-issue-12

Paint & Draw is off to the seaside this issue as we've got plenty of tutorials and workshops dedicated to the life aquatic. These features include tips for using watercolours in experimental ways, plus a look at how to paint some of the ocean's oldest inhabitants…

Our lead feature though is a workshop by artist Tony Underhill. With his advice for using inks and watercolours, your artwork will soon start bringing the outdoors in. Thanks to his tips, you'll also get a better understanding of how the two mediums can work together for maximum impact.

Buy issue 12 of Paint & Draw here

Issue 12 also includes the first part of a new series dedicated to pencil drawing. Our readers have been calling out for this so we're happy to deliver. In these workshops you'll learn the essentials of how to draw with pencils, from tips on how to hold them, to different ways you can use them to make marks.

Of course, the latest issue also comes with all the news, reviews and exhibition previews you've come to expect from Paint & Draw, so make sure you don't miss it. Some more of the magazine's highlights are below.

Subscribe to Paint & Draw here
Fun tips for painting ammonites

Replicate beautiful ammonite textures in watercolours

In this watercolour workshop, artist and author Stephanie Law shares how to paint the intricate textures of prehistoric ammonite fossils. She also guides you through how to add some sparkle to your finish for that extra-special touch.

Flamingo painting and the power of 'negative shapes'

This workshop shows you how to bring out main features and add interest

Make your artwork stand out from the crowd with these composition tips from Marie Antoniou. With her tips for painting colours and patterns, you're sure to start giving your artwork something extra special.

How to paint realistic eyes in oils

Learn how to start painting perfect peepers with these tips

Eyes are the most important part of any successful portrait, so it's important that you get them right. With these quick tips you'll get a better grasp of the anatomy of eyes so that your faces look more lifelike than ever.

Evoke memories with a seascape

Memories of the sea can create atmosphere and energy

Artist Sarah Jane Brown reveals how she channels her previous maritime career into her art with this eye-opening workshop. With her oil painting tips, she shows how you can recreate the mercurial mood of the sea.

More great content from Paint & DrawBuy issue 12 of Paint & Draw here

How to Design Beautiful Mobile Apps for an Online Store

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Designrfix/~3/pZKTCsIm_uA/design-beautiful-mobile-apps-online-store

One can see the importance of the mobile app for shopping in that the projected worldwide sales figure for mobile e-shopping will touch $162.5 billion by the end of the year. And yet there is no urgency shown by the online retailers in moving towards this platform. Only 10% of them offer mobile e-shopping facilities […]

The post How to Design Beautiful Mobile Apps for an Online Store appeared first on designrfix.com.

20 Best Photoshop Text Effects Tutorials [2017]

Original Source: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/photoshop-text-effects-2017/

There are endless posibilities of creating amazing stuff in Adobe Photoshop, especially when it comes to text. Using Photoshop you can create interesting typography like a glossy emblem effect or flaming text. If your next graphic design project is going to involve manipulations with typography, then don’t miss out this collection of fresh Photoshop text effect tutorials.

20 Ultra Light and Elegant Fonts for Web Designers

.no-js #ref-block-post-19193 .ref-block__thumbnail { background-image: url(“http://media02.hongkiat.com/thumbs/250×160/ultra-light-elegant-fonts.jpg”); }

20 Ultra Light and Elegant Fonts for Web Designers

Along with color and layout selections, choosing the right font is essential for producing pretty much any good…Read more

These tutorials will help you learn how to create a 3D effect, utilize masks, shadows, and patterns, combine text and photography, imitate double exposure and much more along the way. So, scroll down and choose the tutorial you are going to follow today.

First, here are two from us

Glossy Emblem Text Effects – Create the following nice looking Glossy Emblem text effect in 4 simple steps.

glossy emblemglossy emblem

Flaming Text Effect – Creating flamming text effect using Photoshop’s Flame Filter.

flaming textflaming textHere are another 20 more!

Geometric Collage Text Effect – In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll get to know how to use both selection and move tools to cut parts of the image and fill the text with them in order to achieve the geometric look.

geometric-textgeometric-text

Create an Ice-Cream Scoop Effect – Who does not like ice cream? This guide will walk you through the process of creating ice cream letters using brushes, layers, and textures in Photoshop.

scoopscoop

Atmospheric Under-Water Effect – This short article will tell you how to create a water splash text effect in no time. You’re going to use textures, gradients, and image of water drops.

splash-text-effectsplash-text-effect

How to Create a Portrait Quote – This quick Photoshop tutorial shows how to combine a text quote with the portrait using a few simple tools in just one minute. Such kind of text effect could be used for a portfolio website, business cards, or invitations.

portrait-quoteportrait-quote

Bold Floral Text Effect – Use simple selection and adjustment tools in Photoshop to create this fantastic floral text effect. This floral text will look amazing on wedding invitations.

floral-textfloral-text

Create a Futuristic Metal Effect – This step-by-step Photoshop tutorial will teach you how to create this futuristic metal text effect. This effect is created by using a texture, a pattern, and a few layer styles.

futuristic-textfuturistic-text

Cartoon Gradient Text Effect – Do you remember that nice fairytale text in the end of TV cartoons? In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a similar pink text effect with the move tool, layer styles, and strokes.

fairy-texteffectfairy-texteffect

Design Skin-Textured Typography – This skin text effect looks a little creepy, however, this tutorial could be done just for practice. You are going to use skin texture and combine text with real meat photo to achieve a realistic look.

skin-textskin-text

Stylized Hay Bale Typography – In this autumn-inspired Photoshop tutorial, you are going to learn how to create a text made of hay and place it on a field photo. You can follow step-by-step instructions or watch the video.

harvestharvest

Double Exposure Inspired Text Effect – Double exposure effect has become quite poplar lately. It can be applied not only to portraits but to the text too. In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll get to know how to combine a few exposure into a single image using blending modes and adjustment layers.

double-exposure-textdouble-exposure-text

Retro ‘Saved by the Bell’ Inspired Effect – Are you a retro TV fan? In this guide, you’ll see the process of creating a vintage sitcom title art of the 80s and 90s. You will see how to use Photoshop’s 3D tools and settings, shapes, and filters to achieve the effect you need.

retro-textretro-text

Photography & Type Dramatic Effect – In this article, you’re going to learn how to integrate typography with 3D effect into an image naturally. This text effect could be used to create flyers, posters, and postcards.

dramatic-textdramatic-text

Quick & Easy Duotone Text Effect – Using gradient map and the textured image you can create fantastic modern duo tone text affect in Photoshop. This text effect can be used not only for graphic design but for motion design as well.

duo-tone-textduo-tone-text

Create a Tasty 3D Typographic Illustration – Using this tutorial you can create a mouth-watering text effect with brownies, cookies, and donuts. This Photoshop tutorial is quite complicated and is created with advanced users in mind.

sweet-text-effectsweet-text-effect

Conform Text to a Surface Using Displacement Map – In this article, you will learn how to add depth and shape to your text the same as the background, so your image looks complicated and great. In this exact post, you’ll see how to add a simple text into a towel surface.

text-on-surfacetext-on-surface

Lollipop Inspired Text Effect – You can create realistic lollipop text effect using a few text and shape layers, textures, and filters. You can write your own text and change colors according to your needs.

lollipop-text-effectlollipop-text-effect

Create a Glossy, Puffy Text Effect – This amazing Photoshop tutorial is similar to the previous one, but here you’re going to create puffy ice text effect with a gradient. This process won’t take a lot of time because the tutorial is short and sweet.

puffy-textpuffy-text

Create a Simple Wedding Confetti Effect – In this guide, you’ll see the process of using a couple of textures, brushes, and layer styles to create a confetti text effect. This text effect is a perfect choice for wedding invitations thanks to its elegant refined look.

wedding-textwedding-text

Create a 3D Neon Night Club Sign – The neon sign created with this Photoshop tutorial is so realistic that it’s hard to believe it’s not a photo. Follow this simple yet powerful tutorial to create a similar neon sign of your own.

neon-sign-tutorialneon-sign-tutorial

Layered Floral Typography Text Effect – Blending typography and images is my favorite type of Photoshop text effect tutorials. This one will help you combine a flower image with a simple text to achieve an elegant beautiful look.

floral-text-effectfloral-text-effect
30 Free Slab Serif Fonts for Logos and Headlines

.no-js #ref-block-post-37600 .ref-block__thumbnail { background-image: url(“http://media02.hongkiat.com/thumbs/250×160/free-slab-serif-fonts.jpg”); }

30 Free Slab Serif Fonts for Logos and Headlines

Slab serif fonts are quite attractive and versatile that can be used in an array of contexts. This…Read more

An Introduction To Gravit Designer: Designing A Weather App (Part 2)

Original Source: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/08/introduction-gravit-designer-designing-weather-app-part-2/


 

 

Welcome back to the second part of this tutorial on Gravit Designer. In the first part we took a general look at Gravit and set everything up, created the background image in the weather app and the status bar, and then started to make the initial elements of the design’s content. Let’s continue where we left off.

An Introduction To Gravit Designer: Designing A Weather App (Part 2)

Having created the main text layers of the content area in part one of this tutorial, let’s continue with the weather conditions for the different times of day.

The post An Introduction To Gravit Designer: Designing A Weather App (Part 2) appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Is Success Down To The Quality Of Your Work?

Original Source: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/08/success-quality-of-work/


 

 

One of the biggest fallacies of our industry is that good work speaks for itself. It is a self-delusional lie that those with a good reputation tell themselves to explain their success.

Is Success Down To The Quality Of Your Work?

I will let you in on a secret; I am not that amazing at my job. Don’t get me wrong; I am good. But I am not a leading mind in our industry or anything. But, people often talk as if I am.

The post Is Success Down To The Quality Of Your Work? appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Industrial Design: Introducing Fitbit Ionic

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/d5KdA4ocA0M/industrial-design-introducing-fitbit-ionic

Industrial Design: Introducing Fitbit Ionic

Industrial Design: Introducing Fitbit Ionic

AoiroStudio
Aug 29, 2017

Let’s take a look at the latest from Fitbit, called the Ionic (Love the name!). It’s packed with many features including personalized guidance & insights, built-in GPS, stores music, heart rate, 4+ days battery life and more. Currently, for pre-ordering, you will be able to accessorize it with bands for different aspects of your everyday routine from sport, leather and classic. I’ll be very curious to see it live and test it for every situation. From what we are seeing today from its industrial design, this may be the potential Apple Watch killer, wouldn’t you agree?

Fitbit is a brand that is located all over the World with the goal to emphasize and empower to live a healthier, more active life. They design products and experiences that fit seamlessly into your life so you can achieve your health and fitness goals, whatever they may be.

Product Gallery
Industrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit IonicIndustrial Design: Introducing Fitbit Ionic

 

More Links
Learn more about Fitbit Ionic at fitbit.com
Pre-Order yours at the Fitbit Store

industrial design
design
fitbit


Back to School: Editor's Picks

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/PLgx7IpJrl0/back-school-editors-picks

Back to School: Editor’s Picks

Back to School: Editor's Picks

AoiroStudio
Aug 29, 2017

It’s that time of the year where we all go back to our routine. Summer is over (sadly!) and we are grinding slowly to our commute. We hope that you have enjoyed a beautiful summer or/and vacation time. It’s always important to take some time off to keep a balance in your life vs career. At Abduzeedo, we kept it chill and steady with our everyday opportunity to provide the best inspiration out there for you guys. For this Back to School, we decided to drill down a list of tech from backpacks, notebook and more. Hope you will enjoy!

Apple 15″ MacBook Pro, Retina, Touch Bar and etc

Samsung Galaxy S8 Unlocked Phone, Black

Apple iPad Pro 128GB, Wi-Fi, Space Gray & 12.9″ Display

Microsoft Surface Pro, 4GB RAM & 128GB

Nintendo Switch Console

Moment Lens 18mm Wide-Angle

Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L

VINTA | S-Series Travel, Camera Bag & Backpack

DJI Spark

Zhiyun Smooth-Q 3 Axis Handheld Gimbal

Bluetooth Headphones, Mpow Bluetooth v4.1

Anker Ultra Slim 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub

Seagate Expansion 1TB Portable External Hard Drive

AUKEY 20000mAh Portable External Battery Charger Power Bank

Moleskine Adobe Smart Notebook

More Links
Cover Photo by Samuel Zeller

gift guide
guide


An Introduction to Component Routing with Angular Router

Original Source: https://www.sitepoint.com/component-routing-angular-router/

This article is part 4 of the SitePoint Angular 2+ Tutorial on how to create a CRUD App with the Angular CLI.

Part 0— The Ultimate Angular CLI Reference Guide
Part 1— Getting our first version of the Todo application up and running
Part 2— Creating separate components to display a list of todo’s and a single todo
Part 3— Update the Todo service to communicate with a REST API
Part 4— Use Angular router to resolve data
Part 5— Add authentication to protect private content

In part one we learned how to get our Todo application up and running and deploy it to GitHub pages. This worked just fine but, unfortunately, the whole app was crammed into a single component.

In part two we examined a more modular component architecture and learned how to break this single component into a structured tree of smaller components that are easier to understand, reuse and maintain.

In part three we updated our application to communicate with a REST API backend using RxJS and Angular’s HTTP service.

In this part, we will introduce Angular router and learn how it can update our application when the browser URL changes and vice versa. We will also learn how we can update our application to resolve data from our backend API using the router.

Don’t worry! You don’t need to have followed part one, two or three of this tutorial, for four to make sense. You can simply grab a copy of our repo, checkout the code from part three, and use that as a starting point. This is explained in more detail below.

Up and Running

Make sure you have the latest version of the Angular CLI installed. If you don’t, you can install it with the following command:

npm install -g @angular/cli@latest

If you need to remove a previous version of the Angular CLI, you can:

npm uninstall -g @angular/cli angular-cli
npm cache clean
npm install -g @angular/cli@latest

After that, you’ll need a copy of the code from part three. This is available at https://github.com/sitepoint-editors/angular-todo-app. Each article in this series has a corresponding tag in the repository so you can switch back and forth between the different states of the application.

The code that we ended with in part three and that we start with in this article is tagged as part-3. The code that we end this article with is tagged as part-4.

You can think of tags like an alias to a specific commit id. You can switch between them using git checkout. You can read more on that here.

So, to get up and running (the latest version of the Angular CLI installed) we would do:

git clone git@github.com:sitepoint-editors/angular-todo-app.git
cd angular-todo-app
git checkout part-3
npm install
ng serve

Then visit http://localhost:4200/. If all is well, you should see the working Todo app.

A quick recap

Here is what our application architecture looked like at the end of part 3:

Application Architecture

In this article we will:

learn why an application may need routing
learn what a JavaScript router is
learn what Angular router is, how it works and what it can do for you
set up Angular router and configure the routes for our application
create a resolver to fetch the todo’s from our REST API
update our application to fetch the todo’s using our new resolver

By the end of this article, you will understand:

when and why your application may need routing
the difference between routing on the server and routing in the browser
what Angular router is and what it can do for your application
how to set up Angular router
how to configure routes for your application
how to tell Angular router where to place components in the DOM
how to gracefully handle unknown URLs
what a resolver is and what it can be used for
how to use a resolver to resolve data using Angular router

So, let’s get started!

Why routing?

In its current state, our web application does not take the browser URL into account.

We access our application through one URL e.g. http://localhost:4200 and our application is not aware of any other URLs such as http://localhost:4200/todos.

Most web applications need to support different URLs to navigate users to different pages in the application. That is where a router comes in.

In traditional websites, routing is handled by a router on the server:

a user clicks a link in the browser, causing the URL to change
the browser sends an HTTP request to server
the server reads the URL from the HTTP request and generates an appropriate HTTP response
the server sends the HTTP response to the browser

In modern JavaScript web applications, routing is often handled by a JavaScript router in the browser.

What is a JavaScript router?

In essence, a JavaScript router does 2 things:

update the web application state when the browser URL changes
update the browser URL when the web application state changes

JavaScript routers make it possible for us to develop Single Page Applications (SPA’s).

A Single Page Application is a web application that provides a user experience similar to a desktop application. In a Single Page Application, all communication with a back-end occurs behind the scenes.

When a user navigates from one page to another, the page is updated dynamically without reload, even if the URL changes.

There are many different JavaScript router implementations available.

Some of them are specifically written for a certain JavaScript framework such as Angular, ember, React, Vue.js, aurelia, etc. Other implementations are built for generic purposes and are not tied to a specific framework.

What is Angular router?

Angular router is an official Angular routing library, written and maintained by the Angular Core Team.

It is a JavaScript router implementation that is designed to work with Angular and is packaged as @angular/router.

First of all, Angular router takes care of the duties of a JavaScript router:

it activates all required Angular components to compose a page when a user navigates to a certain URL
it lets users navigate from one page to another without page reload
it updates the browser’s history so the user can use the back and forward buttons when navigating back and forth between pages

In addition, Angular router allows us to:

redirect a URL to another URL
resolve data before a page is displayed
run scripts when a page is activated or deactivated
lazy load parts of our application

In this article, we will learn how to set up and configure Angular router, how to redirect a URL and how to use Angular router to resolve todo’s from our back-end API.

In the next article, we will add authentication to our application and use the router to make sure some of the pages can only be accessed when the user is signed in.

How Angular Router Works

Before we dive into the code, it is important to understand how Angular router operates and the terminology it introduces.

When a user navigates to a page, Angular router performs the following steps in order:

it reads the browser URL the user wants to navigate to
it applies a URL redirect (if one is defined)
it figures out which router state corresponds to the URL
it runs the guards that are defined in the router state
it resolves the required data for the router state
it activates the Angular components to display the page
it manages navigation and repeats the steps above when a new page is requested

To accomplish its tasks, Angular router introduces the following terms and concepts:

router service: the global Angular router service in our application
router configuration: definition of all possible router states our application can be in
router state: the state of the router at some point in time, expressed as a tree of activated route snapshots
activated route snapshot: provides access to the URL, parameters, and data for a router state node
guard: script that runs when a route is loaded, activated or deactivated
resolver: script that fetches data before the requested page is activated
router outlet: location in the DOM where Angular router can place activated components

Don’t worry if the terminology sounds overwhelming. You will get used to the terms as we tackle them gradually in this series and as you gain more experience with Angular router.

An Angular application that uses Angular router only has one router service instance; It is a singleton. Whenever and wherever you inject the Router service in your application, you will get access to the same Angular router service instance.

For a more in-depth look at Angular routing process, make sure to check out the 7-step routing process of Angular router navigation.

Enabling Routing

To enable routing in our Angular application, we need to do 3 things:

create a routing configuration that defines the possible states for our application
import the routing configuration into our application
add a router outlet to tell Angular router where to place the activated components in the DOM

So let’s start by creating a routing configuration.

Creating the routing configuration

To create our routing configuration, we need a list of the URLs we would like our application to support.

Currently, our application is very simple and only has one page that shows a list of todo’s:

/: show list of todo’s

which would show the list of todo’s as the homepage of our application.

However, when a user bookmarks / in their browser to consult their list of todo’s and we change the contents of our homepage (which we will do in part 5 of this series), their bookmark would no longer show their list of todo’s.

So let’s give our todo list its own URL and redirect our homepage to it:

/: redirect to /todos
/todos: show list of todo’s

This provides us with two benefits:

when users bookmark the todos page, their browser will bookmark /todos instead of /, which will keep working as expected, even if we change the home page contents
we can now easily change our homepage by redirecting it to any URL we like, which is convenient if you need to change your homepage contents regularly

The official Angular style guide recommends storing the routing configuration for an Angular module in a file with a filename ending in -routing.module.ts that exports a separate Angular module with a name ending in RoutingModule.

Our current module is called AppModule, so we create a file src/app/app-routing.module.ts and export our routing configuration as an Angular module called AppRoutingModule:

Continue reading %An Introduction to Component Routing with Angular Router%

Review: Unreal Engine 4.16.1

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeBloq/~3/xJbhrV5r9cc/review-unreal-engine-4161

The latest version of popular game engine Unreal Engine has the addition of some notable key features, which were highlighted during the 2017 Games Developer Conference (GDC 2017). This makes for a very solid update, with something in there for all types of artists. 

Best laptops for video editing

Since version 4.11, the user experience has become a lot smoother, and this current release builds upon this. One of the most obvious changes is that the experimental features in previous versions have become key components in their own right.

The Sequencer cinematic feature has come on in leaps and bounds since earlier revisions, and can be used for creating cut scenes, animatics or even presentations. Until 4.16, Matinee felt like a buggy external plug-in, but it now feels part of the software. The way camera sequences and cuts can be laid out visually is reminiscent of an editing suite, which makes for a far more enjoyable user experience.

The new release of Unreal Engine 4 has plenty to offer all types of artists
Create photo-real characters

For the artist or curious gamer who has always wondered how to create photorealisic characters for games, this release can answer a lot of those questions. Epic Games has kindly released a photo-real character model using the UE4 Skin Shader, along with online documentation to breakdown the processes and techniques used to create photo-real captivating characters.

In-VR editor

For VR users, the in-VR editor has become one of the main features of the release. Anyone working in this environment knows that when building in VR, it is essential you remain in VR for as long as possible for testing. 

By being able to access your Content Browser menu and even make edits to Landscape, you can remain in VR to make changes. This saves a lot of time and hassle. The inclusion of subdivision surfaces is fantastic and the way the user can manipulate in VR to make big, bold changes and set dressing is a benefit to the artist.  

However, whether these tools can offer the dexterity and precise nature required still remains to be seen. 

However, from a level design standpoint, there are key benefits of blocking out initial layouts to get a true feel for the worlds you want to create, all while immersed in VR. 

The image Sequencer makes cutting sequences an absolute breeze
Preferred game engine

This is serious professional grade software that in the past was only accessible in development studios via programmer-written bespoke in-house engines.

With so many features and support for outputting to every platform, it becomes obvious why development studios have adopted it as their preferred game engine. Furthermore it is now creeping into film studio pipelines, since it can be additionally customised via open-source C++.

With such a large thriving online community, an enormous amount of learning resources with countless free tutorials and samples at your disposal, coupled with the fact you can download it completely free, I cannot see why anyone would not want to give Unreal Engine’s latest release a try. 

All in all, whether you’re a seasoned professional or an avid enthusiast looking to learn new skills, this is a very comprehensive update with plenty of supporting marketplace material.

This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 224. Buy it here.

Related articles:

Create a game environment in UE49 Unreal Engine plugins for artists8 best 3D tools of 2017 so far

Why FullStory Click Maps are Hotter than Heat Maps

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~3/2vNWC7alGpE/

Over the years, lots of different analytical tools have incorporated some form of a “heat map”. You know the ones – with the green/red/orange splotches splashed all over your beautiful website. They’re meant to show you how users are interacting with your site – at least, in theory.

But heat maps aren’t the silver bullet they’ve been made out to be. They aren’t really compatible with the modern web. That’s why FullStory developed their Page Insights feature, complete with Click Maps that simply outclass those colorful, but tired old heat maps. Let’s find out why.

The Limitations of Heat Maps

The Limitations of Heat Maps

While traditional heat maps look undeniably cool, they have some real limitations when it comes to functionality:

They’re Not So Responsive
You may have noticed that visitors to your site are using all sorts of devices and screen resolutions. And that can be a problem for the good old heat map. While they can provide you with a map for a specific resolution, they can’t give you an aggregate view of all devices and resolutions. That puts your data in several silos – making it hard to get the whole picture.

They Don’t Account for Dynamic States
A single web page can be made up of several different “states”. For example, think of a page that has a modal popup window. When the popup is visible to the user – that’s a state. It’s another state entirely when that popup isn’t being shown. Heat maps don’t account for the various states a given page can be in. Items such as sliders and dynamically populated content are all treated as the same thing. That leads to a distorted view of user interaction.

They Don’t Provide Context
When a specific part of your page’s heat map is painted orange – that means it’s “hot”. But that still doesn’t provide you with any sort of in-depth knowledge as to exactly what element users are interacting with. And it doesn’t provide the context you need to turn the data into actionable information. In the end, it’s just…orange.

They Can Be Difficult to Set Up
Many heat maps require an advanced setup process that can be very frustrating – even for seasoned pros. You’re asked to configure complicated URL patterns and regular expressions in order to try and get accurate results. It can take a lot of effort and research to get right.

Click Maps Prevail Where Heat Maps Fail

Click Maps Prevail Where Heat Maps Fail

FullStory actually considered adding heat maps to their service based on user demand. But as they researched all the limitations mentioned above, they decided that something new was in order. That’s how Click Maps were born. They bring a level of insight and flexibility that is simply too hot for a heat map to touch:

Click Maps are Resolution Independent and Dynamic
Because FullStory understands the structure of your website, they can translate that information across screen resolution or device type to provide you with an accurate picture. Even dynamic, data-driven interfaces are accurately interpreted, as FullStory Page Insights are focused on elements – not just screen position. That’s a smarter way to view the modern web.

Click Maps Show Every State
As you browse a web page, many elements will pop into and out of existence. FullStory lets you see that page in all its various states and provides data accordingly. In other words, you’ll only see data for that modal popup while it’s on the screen. When the popup isn’t there, its click statistics will also be hidden. You’ll only get data on the elements you see in any given state.

Click Maps are Actionable
Since Click Maps are part of FullStory (which records everything a user does on your site), that means you can use their powerful OmniSearch feature to gain incredibly deep insights. You can create segments for things like user behavior, geography, devices or make your own custom variables. With just a few clicks, you can get answers to just about any question you can think of with regards to user engagement.

Click Maps Just Work
There is no fancy setup process, no headaches and no frustration. FullStory Page Insights with Click Maps just works.

Use FullStory for Free

Use FullStory for Free

As we’ve discovered, FullStory’s Page Insights with Click Maps bring a whole new level of actionable data to your screen. You’re no longer limited by inaccurate heat maps. Instead, FullStory will show you exactly how users are interacting with your site – across devices and dynamic states.

Sign up for your free FullStory account today and see user engagement in a whole new way.

This article has been sponsored by Syndicate Ads.