Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/ux-motion-designer-freebies/
Interface designers are taking a greater interest in UX design with animated mockups that emulate user actions. These UX mockups rely on motion with animated effects to define how an interface should…
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Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/oNcutwcpVc0/oenotypo-exhibition-blending-typography-and-wine
œnotypo Exhibition Blending Typography and Wine
abduzeedoJul 17, 2019
Graphéine shared a super cool project on their Behance profile for œnotypo, an exhibition that blend typographic creation and South African wines.
In 2018, Graphéine freshen their designer minds with the Adobe Hidden Treasures Design Challenge, which allowed them to pay tribute to the Bauhaus by creating the most designer football team in the world, as well as reinventing the famous German sausage as a typographic hot dog.
This new season, they have taken up the invitation of Vinochromie to offer them a new atypical subject to test their creativity. “A short break between two customer briefs, since the graphic creations you are about to discover have been inspired by the tasting of four South African wines….” the designers added.
From this reflection was born the oenotypo concept which offers 20 creations to discover South African wines. A conceptual answer through typographic visuals. The word becomes image in each of the visuals created for the occasion. The result is a tasting of 20 creations in which it is a question of red wine, white wine, South African soil, barrels, letters, expressive character designs… In the same way that wine tasting delights the senses while inviting a specific and unsuspected vocabulary, we have decided through this exhibition to introduce our guests to the formal richness of typographical experimentation. œnotypo is a formal and poetic sensory initiation to typography that illustrates the qualities of South African wines.
Among the works created, four of them directly respond to the selection tasted. The other creations offer the team’s immersive readings to discover South African beverages. The opening provided an opportunity to confront these two worlds and share each other’s knowledge. A friendly experience that allowed the Vinochromie and Graphéine teams to meet their passions and share their interpretations. A very good creative experience that we will be pleased to repeat!
Photo credits: Bruno Aussillou
Discover more photos of the opening evening: https://myalbum.com/album/mvq2SXRnQHLF
All the artworks designed by Graphéine are exhibited until September at Les Caves du Louvre, 52 rue de l’Arbre Sec – Paris 2.
Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~3/OlROk8mKx_A/
When you start a web design business, there are so many unknowns and things you may not have even considered. Maybe you’re a talented designer or developer – but that’s only part of the equation.
After all, even the most talented among us aren’t going to be successful without the ability to recruit and retain paying customers. Otherwise, you career becomes one endless side project. It may sound fun, but it also leaves you wondering how you’ll pay the bills.
The future of your business depends on creating solid working relationships with your clients. In other words: You need to keep them happy. But how?
In my 20+ years as a freelance designer, I’ve had a number of experiences – both good and not-so-good. Here are a few things I’ve learned about retaining clients over the long haul.
Communication is Key
Having good communication skills is essential in this business – especially if you’re working directly with clients. But there are some misconceptions about what this entails.
First and foremost, communication during a project’s development phase is of the utmost importance. Keep in mind that no one wants to be left in the dark. Clients need to be kept abreast of progress and aware of any challenges you see in achieving project goals.
Once the project is launched, you still need to keep up with your clients. However, some designers take this to mean inundating them with upsells and other marketing. While it’s OK to send an occasional newsletter or social media post, don’t overdo it. Someone who just paid a good bit of money for your services doesn’t want be bothered with constant “offers”.
More important is to be proactive about things like software updates, security and third-party subscriptions. For example, if they’re using a commercial plugin on their website, you’ll want to let your client know when a license renewal is coming. Or perhaps a change to a search engine algorithm means that some adjustments to their content may be in order.
These may seem like little things, but they mean a lot. They show clients that you are looking out for them and aren’t simply out to take their money. In turn, this establishes a level of trust between you that bodes well for the future of your relationship.
Be Honest
Communication is only as good as its actual content. Just as it’s not wise to send a constant stream of sales pitches, dishonesty is also a huge turnoff (and, sooner or later, a deal-breaker).
It’s not that we necessarily start out with the intention of being dishonest. Often it can come from the fear of letting someone down. And it may not even be about anything very important with regards to the bigger picture. That’s all the more reason to just be honest.
Be truthful in your billing, your skills and your assessment of a situation. If you don’t know the answer to something – it’s OK. Let your client know that you need to do some further research and get back to them.
Perhaps most importantly, own up to a mistake. None of us are perfect and we’re all going to do something wrong from time-to-time. Refusal to admit mistakes can only serve to put you into a deeper hole, while harming your relationship.
Honesty has its consequences, as well. But they are often better than the alternative.
Make Them a Priority
Everyone wants to feel like their needs are being attended to. As such, you’ll want to be as responsive as you can when it comes to handling client requests. Whether their site needs maintenance or they just have a question, it’s important to take care of things in a timely manner.
Once again, it always seems to come back to communication. Even if you aren’t able to get to something just that minute (not every request is that important), it’s helpful to let your client know when they can expect it done. Just as important is to make sure that it’s done within whatever time frame you’ve provided.
The idea here is to provide a first-class experience. It’s not about getting to each and every item on your to-do list immediately. Rather, it’s making sure that your clients feel good about you and your service.
Think of it this way: In a world that is often chaotic, clients will appreciate the fact that they can count on you to get the job done. Prove your reliability and you’ll be far ahead of most of your competitors.
Build Better Client Relationships
The great thing about all of this is that it’s not inherently difficult. The main challenge comes in finding consistency in your efforts. This can take a little time, but it’s very much worth doing.
Now, some of you may be thinking that being an outstanding communicator also means that you need to have a warm and fuzzy personality. That you need to be a social butterfly. However, that’s not the case.
The tips above don’t require the gift of gab or even a witty writing style. It’s more a matter of avoiding procrastination and letting clients know that you are there for them. You don’t need to win a personality contest to do it.
And now that you know what it takes to keep clients happy, you can put it into practice. The result will be better relations with your clients, year after year.
Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/LVK7FNzPur8/celebrate-worldemojiday-adobe-released-its-emoji-trend-report
To celebrate #WorldEmojiDay ❤️, Adobe released its Emoji Trend Report
AoiroStudioJul 17, 2019
It’s #WorldEmojiDay! To celebrate this visual digital language that changed the way we communicate, Adobe shared it’s Emoji Trend report that can be viewed here. It’s basically the results from a survey they conducted with 1,000 users and you will be surprised by some of its results. We shared some of the highlights right in the article so give it a look and make sure to send an Emoji to that special someone (or more) today. ?
In their words
This World Emoji Day, we’re excited to unpack the cultural phenomenon of emoji with the release of our first-ever Emoji Trend Report. In this year’s report, we surveyed 1,000 emoji users in the U.S. to learn more about the impact of this emerging digital language….
Image Courtesy by Adobe
Some highlights from Adobe’s Report:
Emoji users’ top three favorite emojis are ? (#1), ❤️ (#2), ? (#3). Love, happiness and sadness are the top three emotions users express through emojis.
81% believe those who use emojis are friendlier and more approachable.
65% of emoji users are more comfortable expressing their emotions through emojis than a phone call. This is especially true for Gen Z’ers (83%).
When emojis are used at work, the majority of emoji users feel they positively impact likability (78%), credibility (63%) and make positive news more sincere (74%).
Emojis’ greatest benefits include the ability to communicate across language barriers (94%) and instantly share thoughts and ideas (90%).
73% wish they had more emoji customization options to better reflect their personal appearance/identity.
64% are more likely to open an email from a brand with their favorite emoji in the subject line.
Full Report here
More on Adobe Blog
Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Designrfix/~3/mEdezLumZIU/the-ultimate-guide-to-graphic-design-basics-for-the-creative-eye
?If you have a creative eye and think you might enjoy working in art, a job in graphic design may be the best route for you. Learn everything you need to know, from the history of the industry to graphic design basics and design principles. We’ll show you how you can become a graphic designer […]
The post The Ultimate Guide To Graphic Design Basics For The Creative Eye appeared first on designrfix.com.
Original Source: https://www.sitepoint.com/best-design-handoff-tools/?utm_source=rss
Design handoff (before it was even called that) was a complicated, frustrating, and often disastrous task. Way back when, Photoshop was the only tool available for screen design, and converting a design to code was called “slicing a PSD.”
Oh, the days.
Slicing a PSD was the developer’s responsibility, which was quite frustrating because developers understandably didn’t want to work with design tools. That being said, designers had to manually write out design specs for every layer in a Photoshop document, which often resulted in inconsistencies and heated discussions with developers. This set designers and developers on a path of war that even today we’re not ready to joke about.
But eventually we were introduced to Sketch. Thanks to its extensible API, developers were able to build apps that could analyze and interpret design documents completely. Today, design handoff tools have become a must-have in every design workflow, with almost every screen design tool integrating with (or providing its own) design handoff solution.
What Do Design Handoff Tools Do?
Design handoff tools have three main objectives:
to help designers export their designs from [insert tool here]
to help developers inspect and implement said design
to facilitate feedback and collaboration between stakeholders
The design handoff workflow often looks like this:
The designer mocks up the design in a screen design tool.
The designer sends the mockups to a design handoff tool.
Stakeholders look at the design, and make comments if needed.
The designer fixes any issues, then sends an updated version.
The developer then inspects the finished design, layer-by-layer.
Design handoff tools translate each layer into code, and the developer can then use this code as the basis for developing the app or website.
Without design handoff, developers are left with only one alternative: guessing. Guessing can result in inaccuracies — for example the wrong colors being used, or an interaction behaving incorrectly — which in turn impacts user experience.
All handoff tools work the same way, but they don’t all support the same platforms or your screen design tool of choice. If you don’t use Sketch, for example, Marvel isn’t going to be all that useful to you as a design handoff tool.
Let’s take a look at the best design handoff tools that are currently available.
Zeplin
Zeplin has been leading the charge on design handoff since the concept was first realized, integrating with Sketch and Photoshop, and more recently Adobe XD and Figma. Designs synced from any of these tools can be translated into CSS, Android, Swift, Objective-C or React Native code, which includes the styles of each layer and any assets that have been marked as exportable.
This functionality is standard for design handoff tools, although with Zeplin being the first (or at least one of the first), the user experience of their app is almost unrivaled.
And as with all other design handoff tools, commenting features are there to aid feedback and collaboration.
Platforms: Web, macOS, Windows
Pricing: Free Plan, $17, $26, or $122.40 (/month)
The post 8 of the Best Design Handoff Tools appeared first on SitePoint.
Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2019/07/whats-new-for-designers-july-2019/
It’s hard to stay focused this time of year. With vacations coming up (or having recently passed) it’s easy to get distracted from work-related tasks. For that reason, this month’s roundup is full of design tools plus a few design diversions that you can have fun with.
404 Illustrations
Have you ever wanted to create a cool 404 page but didn’t have the time or inspiration? 404 Illustrations takes all the work out of it for you with funky and trendy illustrations for lost website users. Each illustration comes with a cute description as well and they are free to use. The designers promise more illustrations in the future.
Spotlight
Spotlight is a lightbox gallery library that’s lightweight, easy to run, and has no dependencies. It literally runs from the download without additional JavaScript, HTML snippets, additional CSS resources, images or assets, and no additional handling of dynamic content.
Eva Design System
Eva is a free and open-source design system that’s adaptable to your needs and team. It works with Sketch and provides symbols and style configurations. The system allows you to design and code using a quick process that can eliminate repetitive work.
Screenzy
Screenzy is a tool for creating and editing screenshots quickly. Just paste an image or URL and use on-screen settings to adjust the image, add text or choose from one of 5 pre-set options.
Drag and Drop Sticky
Scott Kellum created a cool drag and drop sticky note element with no JavaScript. It works as a textarea element and as you move it around, technically you are just resizing a the textarea and the “note” follows.
Freezeframe.js
Freezeframe.js lets you pause animated gifs and then reanimate on a hover, mouse click, touch event, or another manual trigger. The new version of this tool no longer uses jQuery and functions thanks to modern JavaScript.
Space Shooter
Space Shooter is a fun pen by Andrew Rubin that’s a good distraction when you are trying to work through a design problem and a fun bit of inspiration. You can build something like this. Why not make a game? Fork it and play around.
Pika CDN
Pika CDN is made for packages written in ES Module syntax, that runs natively in browser. Use it to distribute more modern, unminified packages that uses a proprietary package builder, putting everything into a ready-to-import JavaScript file. The tool is free and a pro version is on the way. (Sign up to get notified when it is ready.)
Swipemix
Swipemix will help you design better layouts and collages on Instagram. It allows you to sequence images with easy templates in just a few minutes from an app on your iPhone.
Source Wireframe Kit
Source Wireframe Kit helps you prototype faster with more than 500 blocks that can be moved, combined, and adjusted into a complete design system. Everything is grouped into categories to help you work faster and you can use it with Sketch, Figma, Marvel, or Invision to bring prototypes to life.
Hubcap
Hubcap is a free screen recorder that works without installing any software. It works with Chrome or Firefox and allows you to record a screengrab and share it instantly. You can record up to five minutes and Hubcap will store if for up to 2 weeks at no cost.
Brutalism Web Kit
Brutalism Web Kit is a collection of artboards to jumpstart website projects using this design trend. It includes 70 styles and works with free tools including Google Fonts.
Ant Design UI Kit
Any Design UI Kit is a collection of components for Figma based on the React UI library. It includes 2,100 components, 630 icons, 140 customizable styles, and 43 screens, making it one of the biggest component inventories for Figma.
Anggada
Anggada looks like it could be inspired by the title characters in recent Aladdin movie release. It includes a full character set that’s most appropriate for display use. The demo version is free and the full font is available from the typeface designer.
Basier Mono
Basier Mono is a modern style monospaced typeface with a free and family (premium) download option with square and circular shapes. The typeface is also packed with cool alternates, fractions, and supports multiple languages.
Bright Salkiy
Bright Salkiy is a scrawling script with thin lines that has the look of an elegant signature. The free version is for personal use only and includes a full character and number set.
Cataclysmo
Cataclysmo is a bold, tall slab serif for display use. It includes an uppercase-only character set and numbers.
Nairi Amber
Nairi Amber includes a regular sans serif, italic sans serif, and script character set for personal use with the free version. Each character set in the family works well together with a wide stance and rounded letterforms. The script is somewhat more compact.
Rise of Kingdom
Rise of Kingdom is an uppercase serif typeface that would be a great display option. It has a somewhat whimsical feel with tall letterforms on the thin side.
Source
p img {display:inline-block; margin-right:10px;}
.alignleft {float:left;}
p.showcase {clear:both;}
body#browserfriendly p, body#podcast p, div#emailbody p{margin:0;}
Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2019/07/is-dribbble-worth-your-time/
The online community has been around since 2010 and is one of the top platforms where designers can share work, or shots, and get feedback.
The invite-only community is a showcase of portfolio projects and personal artwork for digital graphics and user interface design, illustrations, animations, and pretty much any other design work you can think of.
Dribbble Pros
If you want to be inspired, Dribbble is the place for you. There’s so much good work to browse through, comment on, and engage with. It’s a good mental distraction if you are working through a design problem of your own.
The community is huge and the company reports that the number of users nearly doubled last year. In 2018, designers uploaded 1.2 million shots, that got 35 million likes, and 1 million comments. Best estimates put the number of users at 4.5 million worldwide.
Everything about Dribbble has a community feel, for the time being, it’s very un-Facebook
Dribbble is more than just an online community. Dribbblers in different locations get together for meetups and design networking. They literally happen all over the world, or you can host one in your location. It makes the design-based peer network social IRL.
Everything about Dribbble has a community feel, for the time being, it’s very un-Facebook, even as it expands. It’s simple and authentic.
There’s something great about a design platform that is designed well. Every page is simple and stunning. Projects are easy to see, thanks to consistent previews. Usability is obvious. From the first login, everything about Dribbble is easy to understand, find, and explore.
You can get feedback from other designers. Feedback from your boss or clients or design team is great, but what if you want to know what a wider community thinks. This is the place to test out a design.
Dribbble has expanded to include job listings – real gigs from some reputable companies – and even mark your profile as available for hire. That allows others to seek you out. One the same note, you can sell designs and digital goods, which can be a nice supplemental income.
The theme of the site hasn’t changed since Day 1 and it’s cute and endearing. Basketball fans can appreciate it for sure.
Dribbble Cons
Dribbble can be a major distraction. There’s just so much to look at, and then there are the rebounds, which will have you asking if you really just spent 3 hours enhancing someone else’s original animation concept.
Uploads are somewhat limited. While Dribbble eliminated the 400-pixel by 300-pixel rule late last year (thank you!), the maximum size for uploads is 10 MB. You don’t have to use a specific aspect ratio, but will be asked to crop for the preview to maintain design consistency across the network. Plus, you can still upload downloadable versions if you like.
The invites. It seems like a cool idea and maybe it was in the beginning, but are invites really necessary 10 years later? If someone doesn’t play by the rules kick them out.
It can feel a little like a high-school popularity contest
It can feel a little like a high-school popularity contest. There are bloggers out there with tips for what time to share your shots to get the most likes. Seriously? No thanks.
Some days Dribbble seems bigger than the rookie designer just starting out. It’s totally cool that designers from Apple and Airbnb are posting, but it can also be intimidating. If you are new to the platform, or design in general, try not to compare. Do your thing, find your niche, and be you in the community.
Dribbble is not the best place to keep a portfolio, although it is getting better. You can, but it can be a little tough to explain and share. (Do you really want a potential employer to see all those comments or a project you were just experimenting with?) So, you’ll probably need Dribbble, plus another platform to host a portfolio.
There are little ads everywhere. Dribbble needs a revenue source to survive and thrive, but some people are turned off by it. (If you are one of those people, you can upgrade to a paid plan.)
If you really want all the features of the network, you have to pay. It can be worth it if you are using it to sell good or get work (or ads drive you crazy). Dribbble Pro is $12 per month or $60 annually.
I’m on Dribbble … Kind Of
My name is Carrie, and I am a Dribbble lurker.
I have been on Dribble almost since the beginning. And I haven’t posted anything. That doesn’t mean I don’t value it, I’ve been looking at other designer projects for years love to see what’s out there, but just don’t have time to do more.
For me, Dribbble is all about inspiration and anticipation. So many of the shots are glimpses into experiments in design and can even be a predictor of trends.
I have go-to designers that I like to peek in on, but mostly I like to browse
I have go-to designers that I like to peek in on, but mostly I like to browse. What’s been uploaded recently, what’s getting a lot of attention, is there a technique or aesthetic that’s starting to emerge frequently?
I’ll also admit to getting called out for my Dribbble lurker status. Can you be a “real designer” if you aren’t using the platform regularly? Am I washing an invitation by not creating new, and regular shots?
Whether you are on (and are a frequent contributor to) Dribbble or not has nothing to do with your status as a designer. It’s all about time, project needs, and whether that feedback is something you crave. It’s like almost any other social network. You get from it what you contribute.
So, if you have the time and want to be a Dribbbler, go for it. And if not, that’s OK, too. (Let’s not judge each other because of a peer network.)
Conclusion
There’s nothing wrong with trying to get that coveted Dribbble invite, although with so many designers on the platform, invites aren’t as hard to get as they once were.
If you have time and enjoy the interaction, Dribbble can be a good use of resources and effort. But it’s OK to lurk too.
Just play with it in moderation and don’t let comments or shots overwhelm you. When Dribbble stops being fun, you should probably move on to something else. If you haven’t joined yet, now might be the time to ask your favorite co-worker for an invite.
Source
p img {display:inline-block; margin-right:10px;}
.alignleft {float:left;}
p.showcase {clear:both;}
body#browserfriendly p, body#podcast p, div#emailbody p{margin:0;}
Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/css3-2d-transformation/
The Transformation module is a tremendous addition in CSS3, it takes the way we manipulate elements on a website to the next level. There are some experiments that really amaze me, examples such as…
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Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/ways-to-lose-your-clients/
Clients are a feared group of people who freelancers depend greatly upon . Some clients are incredibly easy to work with; they say what they mean and mean what they say, and they never pay late….
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