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Since webfont support is basically universal there’s no good reason to stick to the defaults. Google Webfonts is the largest source of free fonts with hundreds of typefaces to pick from.

Since page headers are the strongest elements they usually work best with custom fonts. However it can be tough whittling down the best choices, and that’s exactly why I wrote this post.

All the Fonts You Could Ask For

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1. Montserrat

The first in my collection is Montserrat. This font can work for pretty much anything but I think it works incredibly well as header text.

I’ve used this for navigation text with all caps, customized letter spacing, along with many different font styles from thin to super thick. Montserrat fits the bill perfectly across the board and it’s one of the more universal fonts blending into anything from a tech blog to a funeral parlor website.

The font only weighs about 500 bytes using the default style so it’s incredibly light. And with so many different styles you can get a lot of different looks from this one family.

If you’re looking for a unique heading font try Montserrat. It probably won’t work for everyone but it’s a safe starting font that many designers love.

2. Merriweather

A much thicker serif alternative is Merriweather which I also like as a body font. This versatile typeface really looks great anywhere on your site and it’ll bring plenty of attention to your headers.

If you try Merriweather for a larger page heading I suggest using the bold or bold italic style. They are surprisingly clean but they probably need some letter spacing adjustments. Either way the style and darkness of the letters are super easy to follow.

When pairing this font I usually do a sans-serif body typeface. The contrasting styles create a natural divide between headers & body copy. Plus most people find sans-serif easier to read on average for body content.

But I see a lot of sites with serif headers and they all look great. Merriweather is a nice starting point for serif, but if you don’t like it you’ll find tons of alternatives in this post.

3. Josefin Sans

Modern and classy best describes Josefin Sans. It feels like a font straight from a 1950s jazz lounge, or maybe something you’d see on the front page of The New Yorker.

It does have a distinct curvy style and the thin letters save a lot of horizontal space. You can toy with all-caps or different letter spacings to create many unique styles all from this one font family.

Some sites just look better with thin heading fonts. If you’re looking for one to try I absolutely recommend Josefin Sans with its unique letter designs and its many bold/italic styles.

4. Arvo

One other serif font I really like is Arvo. This font has a lot of character which you’ll notice right away in the bolder styles.

I really feel like Arvo works best on blogs and digital magazines because the font grabs so much focus. It’s one of the strongest fonts in this list and the serif design grabs even more attention.

If you’re launching a magazine-style blog then Arvo can work well as a strong header. But if your blog works better with sans-serif fonts this can be too much. One alternative that’s a bit more subtle is Crete Round but it doesn’t have the same eye-catching appeal as Arvo.

5. Raleway

I’ve seen Raleway on many larger blogs and online magazines for its distinct style and large variety of font variations.

For big heading text I think a mid-level thickness works best so the letters don’t get too wide. Default letter spacing is great so every word is clearly legible.

One feature unique to Raleway is the “w” letter form. It crosses in the middle which looks like two “v”s stacked together. Some may like this, others won’t. But it’s definitely unique to Raleway so it’ll stand out in your page headers too.

6. Catamaran

One of the newer fonts I found recently is Catamaran. It comes with 9 font styles from thin to black and varying thicknesses inbetween.

What I like most about this font is the offbeat lettering. Each letter takes on a very unique style and you can see this in the bolder styles. When used in heading text these letters really shine and jump off the page.

Because the bold styles are so thick you should only use Catamaran in headers with larger font sizes. It can look OK at all sizes but Catamaran really feels like a thick header typeface.

7. PT Sans

PT Sans is soft with smooth edges and thin letters. For headers I only like the bold style of PT Sans because the “normal” style just feels way too thin.

I also prefer PT Sans for headers only since it just feels too soft for regular body text. But any PT Sans header is going to look amazingly clean and readable. This font actually has a sister named PT Serif that also works well.

Between the two, I personally prefer PT Sans. It has smoother edges than the serif version and I feel it just works better in page headings and especially for blogs.

8. Open Sans

Open Sans is small, versatile, and super clean. It deserves a spot in this collection because it’s a simple font and one of the fastest loading fonts from the entire Google Fonts library.

The majority of sans-serif fonts play well with any site. Plus you can use sans-serif fonts in both your header and body text making Open Sans a reasonable choice for the entire website. One alternative I really like is Muli which has a lot more character as a header font.

But Muli’s downside is the larger file size. Ultimately this is what makes Open Sans so great because slower sites don’t rank as well and they provide a worse UX all around.

9. Roboto Slab

For a strong serif header font you might try Roboto Slab and just see how it looks. The letters aren’t too thick and the tags that hang off don’t distract the reader.

I generally prefer Roboto Slab for headers instead of the sans-serif version called Roboto. The serif version just feels stronger and leaves a much bigger impression on the viewer.

Truth be told they’re both awesome and you can’t go wrong either way. They both support all the common unicode characters and they’re both amazing choices for your website headings.

10. Ubuntu

The free Ubuntu font can be used for practically anything from nav text to large headers and even body copy. It’s extremely versatile and it’s lightweight with a pretty fast load time.

Rounded edges on the letters make this feel sleek and modern. It’s also one of the few fonts that really can be used in multiple places on your site which can cut down the total number of fonts you need.

Ubuntu was designed back in 2010 so it’s been around for quite a while. Now that webfonts are much more common the Ubuntu family is widely used in web design.

Wrapping Up

Whenever I design a new site these 10 fonts are my go-to choices for headers. They’re much better than the stock OS defaults and your layout will really stand out from the others with these strong header fonts.

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Ode to Simplicity in Graphic Design Playing with Lines

abduzeedoFeb 25, 2019

I am a fan of simplicity and for this post, I would love to share some artwork that inspired me for some recent personal projects. These are graphic design explorations using simple elements like lines and adding some deformation. It is a super simple effect, you can basically create it in Photoshop using the Displacement Map. The same goes if you want to animate it in After Effects. As I said, the effect is easy to be recreated, however, to achieve elegance and simplicity requires a lot of experimentation.

Graphic Design

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeBloq/~3/bxBggxbNrs8/5-apps-that-are-shaking-up-the-art-market

It’s always been tough to make money from art. But for big-city artists and curators, the cost of real estate for galleries and studio space has made it even tougher to build a sustainable practice.

The growing popularity of art fairs has also had an effect, by creating destination experiences that might be great for bringing people in, but not necessarily for actually selling art.

But artists willing to embrace digital technology and take charge of their own destinies have never had it so good. Social media, online platforms, transactional ecommerce platforms and mobile apps have made it possible to reach global audiences, build personal brands, and sell art on more favourable terms than ever before. In this article, we take a look at the art apps that are shaking things up for creatives. 

Selling art online

The artist’s digital journey often starts on social media, with artists using tools like Instagram to promote work and build an audience. Now there are also digital platforms to monetise creativity, and a new breed of digital-first players are building unique connections between artists and collectors, creating markets that simply didn’t exist in the pre-digital age.

16 great places to sell your design work online

Alongside this is an explosion of new channels to reach art lovers, whether it’s using Snapchat to provide behind-the-scenes looks into the creative process, or engaging with storytellers on podcasts to help spread the word (check out this playlist of great art podcasts).

With the global online art market worth around $4.22 billion in 2017, up 12 per cent from the previous year, these new digital tools and platforms are already revolutionising the world of fine art for artists and art-lovers. Here are five apps and platforms that are leading that revolution, creating new ways to make fine art profitable.

01. Artsy

The art on sale on Artsy ranges from design items such as ceramics to sculpture to photography

Artsy has a vision to transform the art world through technology, and it’s executed on that vision from day one, delivering an online platform that connects art lovers to galleries and artists in a global community. Its library encompasses a dizzying breadth of art, from Old Masters to contemporary artists. 

Under the hood, Artsy has built relationships with galleries and art fairs, combining their understanding of art markets with its deep technological expertise to provide gallerists and curators with tools and data to promote the artists they represent.

02. Patreon

Get direct support for your work using Patreon

Patreon is rethinking how artists and creators can finance their work, by enabling direct funding appeals to patrons and supporters. A digital spin on an age-old model, the San Francisco-based platform gives emerging artists control over their careers, without them being beholden to the existing gatekeepers of the art world.

Patreon enables artists to garner financial support for their work directly from the people who love it the most. The platform enables both the discovery of new artists and support for established artists, while leveraging learnings from ecommerce and crowdfunding to help artists make direct appeals to support their creative efforts.

03. Artfare

Artfare connects potential patrons to artists

Launched in February 2019, Artfare puts a new spin on the art fair model, using a mobile app, in-house curators and local pop-up shows and fairs to create connections between artists and collectors in local art scenes, starting with New York. 

Artfare promotes vibrant local art scenes by bringing artists and collectors together through messaging, studio visits and sales of art works. Using Artfare’s listings, artists can promote works for sale on social platforms such as Instagram (where they’ve often built big followings). In addition they can monetise them through online sales using the Artfare app – it gives them more control and effectively tilts the economics of art-buying in their favour. 

04. Paddle 8

Paddle 8 is a bit like eBay for art

Paddle 8 is a curated auction platform that enables a global community of buyers to discover and bid for art in real time. By digitally enabling the auction mechanic, it helps to promote artists’ work and drive sales, creating a global, digital spin on a market dynamic that was previously often limited to those with privilege and access.

05. Uprise Art

You can talk to one of Uprise Art’s personal art advisors if you’re not sure what you’re looking for

This one isn't an app, but a platform. The team at Uprise Art are driven by a mission to enable a new generation of digitally savvy collectors to discover and buy art from emerging artists. Uprise Art is effectively a digital gallery, working online and via pop-ups, collaborations and booths at art fairs to showcase the work of a roster of talented artists. 

By creating a digital-first gallery experience and constantly innovating the model – connecting with high-flying tech start-ups to provide art for their offices or working directly with interior designers – Uprise Art gives emerging artists new opportunities to have their work discovered and purchased.

Read more:

The 10 best drawing booksHow to succeed as a designer-makerThe best online art classes

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Coding remains to be one of the most in-demand skills across the tech industry. It is considered as one of the most important job skill of the future. It is the key to so many careers these days. It’s not yet too late to learn how to code. The Essential Coding for Beginners Bundle is […]

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Microsoft’s VS (Visual Studio) Code is a free, open source code editor that is gaining in popularity. It’s very lightweight, flexible and yet still packs some powerful features. Plus, it supports just about every major programming language, including PHP, JavaScript, C++ and a whole lot more.

You might even be surprised to learn that VS Code is also cross-platform. Not only does it work on Windows, but versions for both Linux and Mac are also available for download.

But perhaps the coolest feature of all is the massive extension marketplace. There are free extensions available to support new languages, debug your code or add a variety of other custom functionality. This enables you to customize the editing experience to better meet your needs.

Today, we’ll introduce you to some of the very best VS Code extensions out there. Let’s get started!

GitLens

While Git functionality is already built into VS Code, GitLens aims to “supercharge” the editor with even more version control goodies. It offers deeper insight into code, showing you when it was changed and who changed it. You can even compare different branches, tags and commits. Overall, this extension will make version control a more visual experience.

Beautify

Are you very particular about syntax highlighting? If so, Beautify is just the extension you need. It takes advantage of VS Code’s already existing use of Online JavaScript Beautifier, but allows you to easily make changes to its styles. This means you can set elements like indenting, line wrap and other minutiae to your heart’s content.

ESLint

JavaScript can be quite difficult to debug. But the ESLint extension for VS Code can make the process much easier. It helps by pointing out potential problems in your code before you even execute it. Better still, the extension lets you create your own linting rules.

Debugger for Chrome

For developers who’d rather troubleshoot code during runtime, Debugger for Chrome will help you get the job done. There are a number of handy features, including the ability to set breakpoints in your code, watches and a console. Plus, you can choose to run an instance of Chrome within VS Code or attach the debugger to a seperately running instance of the browser.

React Native Tools

React is among the most buzzworthy JS libraries out there – so much so that the new WordPress block editor (aka Gutenberg) is built on it. If you’re among the many who have jumped on the bandwagon, React Native Tools is a must-have extension. It adds the ability to run react-native commands and will help you debug code.

One Dark Pro

When dealing with code, it helps to have an editor that is both visually appealing and comfortable. After all, coding sessions can last for hours on end. One Dark Pro brings the popular “One Dark” theme from the Atom editor to VS Code. You get the familiarity of this iconic look with the other conveniences of Microsoft’s open source app.

Bracket Pair Colorizer 2

Bracket Pair Colorizer 2 is a simple extension, but one that can make code much easier to digest. It color codes matching brackets, allowing you to visually determine where functions begin and end. You can even pick which colors to use.

vscode-icons

Perhaps one of the most effective visual tweaks for VS Code comes from vscode-icons. It takes a rather bland file listing and adds colorful, language-specific icons to the mix. This makes it easy to tell your PHP files from HTML, for example. Plus, the added personality is a welcome addition to any workspace.

Write Code Your Way

The incredible number of available extensions for VS Code makes it a compelling choice for everyday use. You have the freedom to set things up to match the languages you use and the type of visual space you prefer.

Plus, it offers an interesting mix of both corporate and open source culture. Being backed by Microsoft would seem to ensure that VS Code will be actively developed in the future. And the open source community has created a thriving ecosystem around the software. The result for developers is getting the best of both worlds.