Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~3/52P5Uz2bfvQ/

If you’re a freelancer, then you’ve probably experienced the anxiety of staring at the blank white space where your cover letter or proposal needs to go. Not only do you have to sell yourself, but you have to show that you can do the work, that you understand the client’s needs, that you can fill them in a specific timeframe, and that you’ve specifically tailored your proposal to them.

Before I started being successful at getting freelancing gigs, I made the big mistake of having a generic pitch that I would copy and paste into each cover letter section of Upwork while applying to a bunch of jobs all at once.

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I hardly got any work because the clients could not only tell that I was just recycling something I’ve used before, but also could tell that I had not fully read their proposal. If you want them to take the time to hire and work with you, then you need to take the time upfront to invest in writing a solid proposal.

Maybe you’ve seen that 20 other people have already applied for the project you’re absolutely sure that you could easily and successfully accomplish.

Proposal Template by Darian Rosebrook

The competition for freelancing gigs is fierce, but at least half of those proposals were generic copy/paste applications, and the others were a sentence or two about how they’re qualified without much more detail.

We’ve compiled a set of tips to help you take the time to craft the perfect proposal that will get you your next freelancing gig. Remember: presentation is everything.

1. Read Through the Proposal and Take Notes

You’ll need to do your research before writing your proposal. Read through the entirety of their posting to determine several things:

What their timeline is
What their budget is (and if it’s even worth your time!)
What product their ultimately asking for
Who their target audience is
What skills they’re requiring or seeking
What previous projects they might want to see

Once you’ve done your due diligence in parsing apart their request, then you can set out to writing a proper proposal. Though we urge you not to use a generic, copy/pasted proposal, it is always a good idea to have a set outline for how to structure your proposals to make writing them faster while simultaneously demonstrating that you understand the needs of the client.

Once you get the job, it might be a good idea to have a standard form like this one you can send the client to show you’re professional and that you care about their input.

2. Create a Standard Form for Applying (But Only a Wireframe)

We recommend something like the following:

I am a(n) [specific word for what they’re looking for, like designer, writer, or developer] with [skills] and with experience in [jobs or projects specifically related to the kind of project they’ve established] which you can view here [provide links to your project]. I also have experience working with/for [their target audience, and what experience you have writing for them, etc.]. I can complete your project in [insert timeframe] for [your price point].

It does not need to look like this, but having a standard form is different from recycling the same proposal insofar as this way you have a quick and handy guide to turn to so you’re not working on a proposal for hours, while also being able to be original and specific in your proposal.

Don’t forget to be specific about your skill-set. Do you have 5 years of experience in graphic design, or did you get your B.A. in Professional Writing? Don’t make them sift through 300 pages of your skills – make it simple, easy to read, yet expansive enough that they see you can handle every component of their job.

Remember that the client has work to do, too. Communicate this to them and make sure you get what you need from them.

Soulmates Proposal by Charlie Isslander

3. Be Original and Specific

You don’t have to spend 40 hours a week writing one proposal, but you do need to spend more than a few seconds crafting something up if you really want the job.

Think about how much time the client spent in crafting their proposal and posting it to find people to help them – you should ideally be spending however much time you imagine they spent on their job posting as you do on your proposal.

Let us first reiterate: do not copy and paste. Yes, it’s an easy way to quickly get your name out there, but clients can see right through that. The worst offense is when you don’t even mention their project or what specifically about their project you could provide value for.

Your client will be able to see through your vague, generic proposal in a few seconds. Sometimes, this is such a problem that clients will request in their proposal for a freelancer to put words like “pineapple” or “unicorn” at the beginning of their proposal before submission to make sure they’ve read and understand everything about the job posting.

Showcase your work! If you don’t have many samples to send in, especially if you’re just getting started, then it would be a good investment of time and energy in developing some mock-ups to provide to a client when they ask. Better yet, don’t wait for them to ask – show them upfront! Get a website to direct your clients to in your proposal.

Redesign a few of your favorite websites, draw up a few logos for fake companies, write a few blog posts about anything – this will largely depend on what you do and what you’re applying for, but make sure you have something to prove you can do the job.

4. Present a Timeline

This is crucial, and is more than just saying that you could finish the job in two weeks. Be as specific as possible by parsing apart their project into smaller tasks and provide a timeline for each. For instance, you could say that research and brainstorming will take three days, with a little time for communication with the client on your ideas and working their feedback into it, and wireframing will take two days, and so on.

The client will appreciate not only that you’ve taken the time to adequately think about your commitments and their needs, but also will appreciate that you understand the complexities and nuances of what they’re asking. It will demonstrate your seriousness about the job, and will help the client better understand what working with you will be like, and what the greater process of the project will look like.

Last Thing

Remember that as a freelancer you’re selling yourself and your services, and you have to see yourself, your work, and what you provide as a business.

Don’t make your proposal five pages long. Keep it short, sweet, succinct, and economic. You want to be as specific and narrow as possible, as well as descriptive as possible when explaining your process and their project, while also being as succinct as possible so that they know quickly and immediately that you’re the right freelancer for the job.

Think about it this way: pick 3 skills, pick 3 recent projects, and break the timeline into at least 3 tasks for your client. Now go forth, and get working!

The biggest takeaway? A little extra time spent on a proposal can bring you much better contracts, meaning fewer jobs with higher payout. You can work less by working better.

Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2018/10/5-secrets-of-image-rich-websites/

When was the last time you visited a website with no images?

As web designers, we love adding images to our designs because images are memorable and give us a direct channel of communication to the audience’s brain. Also, images are universal and processed by our brains faster than text. That’s partly why the “story” medium (short-form videos with effects and overlays) and emojis attract engagement.

But something else has also been happening since “web 2.0” came along. The high usage of images all over the web, some fueled by user-generated content, is creating a problem for web designers who now must deliver rich experiences in the face of an ever-increasing number of images.

In the following sections, we’ll discuss in detail five things to keep in mind when designing smart, image-rich websites in the modern era.

1. Enhance Performance

Whenever someone thinks about images on the web, their content, resolution, and style immediately come to mind. But the most important factor for delivering superior UX of images is actually performance, which is even more important than the image itself. That’s because most visitors to your site won’t bother to wait for your images to load.

a slow-loading ecommerce website that clocks $1,000 in revenue per day loses $250,000 in sales every year

In short, image-rich websites can’t afford to be slow. For every second of increase in load time, there’s a 7-percent reduction in conversions. That means that a slow-loading ecommerce website that clocks $1,000 in revenue per day loses $250,000 in sales every year.

Big companies like Ryanair and Marks & Spencer had massive website redesigns that failed abominably because of critical performance issues. So be sure to keep in mind that a user-centered website is, first and foremost, performance based. You can enhance performance in many ways, here’s a good place to start.

Use optimized and responsive images. Show the users the image only when and exactly how they need it. Below are three essential tips.

Tip 1: Use Sprite Sheets

One of the oldest tricks for speeding up load times on the web. Loading multiple images takes time and resources. However, loading a single image and displaying its components is much faster because doing so reduces the number of server requests and optimizes bandwidth.

With Cascading Image Style Sheet (CSS) sprites, the browser loads just one image, say, a row of social-media icons, displaying only portions of it in the relevant places.

A good recent example of such a technique is The Guardian’s World Cup 2018 infographic. At the outset, the page ran into a problem with the large amount of images to show: 32 competing teams, each with over 20 players. As a solution, the website leverages CSS sprites to show the players for each of the teams. See the page below that displays all 23 players of the Spanish team, the page source being only one single image, which loads superfast.

Tip 2: Lazy-Load Images

Another critical issue, especially in the case of a multitude of images, is lazy loading. The principle is simple: Load an image only when it is visible in the viewport of the browser instead of having the visitor wait by loading the entire collection of images.

For a classic example, scroll down the Unsplash home page.

Tip 3: Load a Site Skeleton First

Images never show up in advance, which is why you must account for perceived performance.

Loading a basic skeleton version of a website before its images creates a better experience for visitors. They are then aware of  what to expect and, in some cases, can even start to interact with the site (before images load).

Consider the loading sequence of Klook:

Here, for each image, the browser first loads a light version of the site (with a white backdrop) and then the actual background image. Such an approach might seem fast or trivial to some, but keep in mind that performance varies across connections and devices.

(If you are working with React or Vue, you can use this cool tool to create skeleton components.)

2. Treat Images as Part of the Design

This rule might seem obvious but is frequently overlooked. Images are an integral part of the design and, as such, must be taken into account. Because designs serve a goal, the related images and composition of the page must support that goal.

Design Images to Complement

Remember to identify and prioritize the goals of the page. Whether your objective is to solicit newsletter signups or offer a catalog for browsing, your images must complement the intended purpose.

As an example, Essential Phone’s landing page displays a single, eye-catching image of the product. The yellow Buy Now button prominently stands out, steering the visitor’s attention to the intended action. Because the image shows the product itself, it’s never cut off, nor does it serve as a background to the text.

Have Images Take the Back Seat

Even though image-focused designs often deliver better results, be sure to follow the basic usability principles because those designs do not guarantee success. For example, you might overlook the visual hierarchy by assigning equal weightage to both the primary and secondary elements.

MetaLab is a design agency that specializes in designing interfaces. When first displayed, its single-fold landing page shows only a solid-color background with minimal text, mainly the names of its clientele. However, as soon as you mouse over a company name, the background subtly changes, displaying a contextual image. That means no more suffering through context switching each time. Such a home-page design ably conveys the message that MetaLab’s clientele is impressively extensive.

3. Let Text and Images Be Friends

Displaying both text and images on the same page can be a tricky business. The challenge is to find that perfect balance of text and imagery for your website.

Place Text on a Soft Background Overlay

Placing text on a soft background overlay is one of the simplest techniques for presenting contrasting images and text. Indiegogo’s landing page is a vintage example, on which the title and description are displayed atop a soft, dark overlay on an image of each of the products offered on the site. The text is easy to read with no sacrifice in visual appeal.

Blend Text and Images

Airbnb adopts a fantastic visual blend of text and images for their home-listing page.

The images for the home categories contain the wording inside the images themselves, enabling the designer to play with hiding the text between overlay objects in the photographs. (See “Family”) Such an approach works seamlessly, demonstrating that text and image need not be separate entities.

(A side note on accessibility: Keep in mind that using text in images also means no keywords for search engines except for those specified in the images’ alt tags, causing problems in accessibility unless you use the aria-label tags. Your final choice depends on the design context and your page’s objective.)

Combine Text and Images as a Single Interactive Unit

The landing page of the 2018 film Sorry to Bother You shows the image of each member of the cast only on a mouseover of the member’s name, simultaneously lazy-loading the image. Although the text is composed of live text (list element), it uses a styled font and color along with the images’ drop shadow to make the presentation look like one piece of art (or movie). The line between image and text is blurry.

Showing the right image at the right time embodies a playful and engaging user experience.

4. Apply the Right Layout

As we’re aware, user experience largely hinges on the layout of the website. For media-rich websites, the common layout choice is usually the grid. That’s because the grid’s pattern immaculately shows a list of images, also each one of them side by side.

The sections below describe the three main grid types with an example for each of them.

Apply a Classic Grid

A classic grid is one that contains square image-thumbs in equal sizes. It brings forth a sense of balance and harmony and is suitable for pages in which images are not the lead items for scanning. A list of cards is an option for a classic grid. Think of common use cases like YouTube and Dribbble.

Apply a Brutalist Grid

Below is an example of a portfolio site that does not adhere to the all-too-familiar grid layout while still focusing on content. Marcus Eriksson is a sought-after photographer whose clientele includes top brands like Nike and ESPN. His website features an unconventional grid layout that draws the viewer’s attention to the content without sacrificing usability. The site also lazy-loads pretty nicely.

Use this pattern if you want your visitors to focus on several individual images. The chaotic layout is very engaging and has an element of surprise. Beware, however, that  some images might “get lost on the way” from all the racket.

Apply a Masonry Grid

The Art Palette experiment from Google Art & Culture breaks down popular artwork into their fundamental color palettes. Inversely, it can also display artforms based on a color palette of your choice.

For our purpose, the Art Palette site is inspiring. It’s a good example of a masonry grid, showing different sizes of images while keeping them “in order.” That’s an optimal way of displaying numerous images while keeping their original aspect ratio.

(You can build your own masonry grid with this plugin.)

A side note on performance: Remember the skeleton technique mentioned earlier? The Art Palette site takes it up a notch by initially loading a lazily-loaded, dominant color block and then progressively loading low quality image placeholders (LQIP). A highly recommended move!

5. Add Motion for a Purpose

The element of motion adds to a website’s visual flair. However, just like with text, when tackling a large quantity of images, ensure that both motion and images work together.

Some best practices of motion design principles are noted in Google’s Material Design. Below are some examples of how to employ animation to support UX in websites.

Announce Layout Changes

In many cases, layout changes are unsettling for visitors, as if the ground was shifting as everything on the page changes location. Animation can help soften the changes for your visitors.

Consider this example, which displays images in a classic grid. On a mouseover of an image, a subtle motion gently nudges the visitor’s attention to that element. In other words, the animation deftly steers the visitor from the grid layout to a single-image one. Simple, yet brilliantly effective.

Load With Ease

Another interesting example is Uber’s design website. Because the main user action is simply scrolling down the page, which triggers image loading, the website enriches the browsing experience with smooth transitions and subtle animations, concurrently presenting the related information in a clear, easily-accessible manner.

Switch Images

Fubiz softens switches between images in an image gallery with animation techniques, displaying a peek inside each and every image on the post.

Incorporate Animation to Tell a Story

A final example: Avocode’s 2017 design report, in which each page has a story to share along with illustrations created by some of the world’s top design talent. The report acts as a comic strip, with each illustration built and animated to reinforce the key findings of the report.

Don’t Forget the Advantages of Video

Here is a good rule of thumb: If you can post videos instead of images, do it. See this example of a Nike product gallery, in which one of the items, disguised as an image, is, in fact, a video. An image is shown until the video is loaded so the shopper’s experience is not abstracted.

Conclusion

Having to tackle the display of a massive amount of images or visual media doesn’t mean that you should ignore design principles. Designing a trendy website without taking into account user experience invariably fails. Planning images as part of your website’s goal, enforcing performance, and incorporating animation can make all the difference between a spectacular experience and a boring one.

[Special thanks to Sourav Kundu and Mickey Aharony for helping with this article.]

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Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/this-browser-extension-quickly-copies-all-code-snippets-for-you/

A browser extentsion that adds a click-to-copy button onto every code snippet block.

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Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/10-reasons-why-amazon-prime-is-totally-worth-it/

People who’re into online shopping would certainly know about Amazon Prime – the latest subscription program by Amazon that offers extremely fast shipping. Instead of waiting for a couple…

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Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2018/10/project-management-templates-the-key-to-improving-your-workflow/

Last year, Rachel McPherson shared 9 ways to organize successful creative projects. It’s a very useful article that highlights the main things to do if you want to bring greater control and organization to your web design workflow.

Tip #2: Take Advantage of a Project Management Tool, is the one I want to focus on today. Specifically, I want to look at some of the best tools for web designers, how to choose the right one for you, as well as give you a quick lesson on how to use project management templates to improve your workflow.

How to Choose the Best Project Management Tool for You

When considering a project management platform for your web design business, here are some things to pay attention to:

Generic vs. Web Design Tools

These are four project management tools I would recommend you start with:

Asana
Trello
Wrike
InVision

Of the four, InVision is the only one strictly made for the web design process. As such, there’s a greater emphasis on managing design work.

Here, you can see how to collaborate within uploaded designs, prototypes, wireframes, etc.:

And this is an example of how InVision enables you to create design-specific workflows for yourself:

There are limitations to what you can do with a design task management tool, so you may find one of the other options a better choice if your goal is to bring greater control to projects, client communication, and team collaboration.

Free vs. Paid

Most task management software you’ll find comes either with a free plan—typically for one person or a strict limitation on the number of projects—or with a free trial.

Here is an example from Teamwork:

Typically, you can get a good sense for whether a platform will be a good fit for you or not within 15 minutes. This is nice as it allows you to try a tool before adding on another business expense.

Workflow View

Project management tools offer a variety of workflow styles and views.

Here is an example from Asana of a calendar view:

This happens to be my preferred style since I work on shorter-term and one-off assignments as opposed to longer jobs that require greater organization of tasks, sub-tasks, and timelines. Asana has list views and kanban boards, too.

Here is an example from Trello of a kanban board:

Basically, you create high-level folders dedicated to each client (you can also break them up at the project level). Within each board, create columns for each phase of your project. The cards that fall below them are then dedicated to each of your tasks. If you prefer this type of card-sorting system and visualization, Trello is a great choice.

One other platform I’d strongly recommend looking at is Wrike and it’s because of its flexibility in workflow views:

Tables:

Boards:

Lists:

All the same tasks are present; they’re just displayed differently.

In summary, I’d suggest:

Asana for designers that work on smaller or shorter jobs.
Trello for designers that need greater control over lengthier project phases.
Wrike for designers that have a growing team and client list and want to offer more flexibility to them.

Features

Be sure to think through the features that matter most to you and will help you acquire the degree of control you want over projects. Here are some noteworthy features from these project management platforms:

Asana

Calendar, list, and kanban views
Internal chat area
Task and sub-task creation
Cloning of tasks and projects
Organization by color
Drag-and-drop task management
Integrate time-tracking software

Trello

Kanban view
Chat directly within cards
Use cards to create tasks or add checklists to individual cards
Drag-and-drop organization
Cloning of cards and lists

Wrike

Table, list, and kanban board views
Internal inbox for direct communications with team and clients
List of personal tasks or access to full projects
Set full timelines for each task
Customize status of tasks
Export lists and use as re-importable templates

Before upgrading to any premium tools, take some time to get acquainted with the base (free) product. Once you’ve found one that fits you well, you can upgrade when the time is right.

Templatization for Improved Workflows

There are so many great things that come out of using project management tools for a web design workflow:

Centralization of communication, files, status updates, etc.
Greater control over projects and all associated tasks
Better adherence to schedules
Improved communication with clients and teams
More efficient collaboration
Increased accountability from all involved parties
More consistent and higher quality of results
Automation of workflow

I think each of the points above—except for maybe the last one—are obvious when you look at how these project management tools work. However, if you’ve ever dreamed of working less while making more money, you really should be taking advantage of automation.

Specifically, I’m talking about project management templates.

To demonstrate this point, I’m going to use Trello to create pre-configured project boards, workflows, and checklists. Follow along to see how easy it is to do this with project management tools:

1. Create a New Board

In the top right corner, select “Create Board”.

Name it, add your team, and create.

2. Create Project Phases

This is what you will start with:

To create your phases (known as “Lists” in Trello), start typing.

Make the buckets as big or as small as you want. The organizational structure and workflow are up to you.

3. Add Tasks to the Phases

In this next part, you can decide how broad or specific you want each task (or card) to be. For my own organization, I allocate one task to one card:

However, you might prefer to create one broad task and then divvy up steps within the card using the checklist feature:

Again, it’s up to you to decide how you want to manage your projects here.

4. Copy the Template

With your project folder, phases, and tasks all broken out, this template is now ready for you to use.

To copy a project (board), click on “…Show Menu” in the top-right. Expand the “…More” option. Then, select “Copy Board”.

To copy just one of your project phases (lists), click on the “…” in the top-right corner of the list. Select “Copy List”.

And to copy an individual task (card), click on the “Copy” button under Actions.

If you can believe it, it’s really as easy as that. Simply break down your workflow however you best can manage it. Then, copy it!

Wrapping Up

If you’ve been using inefficient project management tools or have been relying on too many spreadsheets to keep everything in line until now, it’s time for a change. There’s so much you can do with the right project management tool, not to mention the time-saving and profit-boosting benefits that come from templatizing your process with them!

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