Designing and Formatting Blog Posts for Readability
Published June 11th, 2008 in Design - 27 Comments
Most of us probably put a great deal of thought and effort into the design of a blog, but once it’s launched there is a tendency to type a post and hit publish without giving much thought to the visual elements of the post. I know I fall into that trap quite often, and I don’t think I’m alone.
The heart and soul of the blog post is the content itself, however, the design, layout, and formatting certainly impacts the attention that visitors give to the content. For the current re-design that’s in the works for this blog, this is a factor that I would really like to improve.
25 Beautifully Dark Websites – Part II
Published June 9th, 2008 in Galleries - 73 Comments
In the right situation, a dark website background can create a stunning look. As a follow up to the original collection from several months ago, here are another 25 dark websites for your design inspiration.
Design Bump: A New Niche Social Media Site for Design-Related Content
Published June 8th, 2008 in Social Media - 10 Comments
A few days ago I was contacted about a new site that targets the web design community. Design Bump is a niche social media site that was launched recently and is already building a bit of an audience.
Being built on Pligg, the popular open-source option for social media sites, Design Bump functions in a way that will be very familiar to many of you. The site has similar content and a similar audience to Design Float.
Tips for Localized PPC Advertising for Designers
Published June 4th, 2008 in Marketing - 15 Comments
A few months ago I published a post of tips for attracting more local clients for your web design business, and today I’d like to take a more in-depth look at one of those tips. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising can be an extremely productive and cost-effective method of generating leads for local design work. Of course, many businesses, including design firms and freelance designers, use PPC ads to promote their business worldwide, but targeting only you local area is a slightly different approach. The major PPC programs such as Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, and Microsoft Advertising all provide some simple ways for you to concentrate your advertising budget on a specific location.
40 Excellent Photoshop Textures and Backgrounds Tutorials
Published June 2nd, 2008 in Design, Photoshop Tutorials - 119 Comments
When it comes to creating backgrounds for websites, posters, and other types of designs, Photoshop provides unlimited potential. Textures are often used in backgrounds in addition to abstract effects. Textures can sometimes be created from scratch using filters and other features of Photoshop, or they can be created with the help of photographs.
In this post we’ll link to 40 tutorials that will show you how to create impressive backgrounds and textures for your own work. Follow along with of few of these tutorials and you will be creating awesome backgrounds and textures that make your designs look great.
Unique Textures without Using Brushes
7 Factors that Separate Good Websites from Bad Websites
Published June 1st, 2008 in Web Development - 47 Comments
Most of us naturally form opinions about the websites we visit. Some of them we love so much that we come back several times a week, and others leave us with a bad experience that causes us to never return. But what is it that determines whether a website is good or bad? As individuals we each have our own opinions and we’ll never completely agree on which websites are good and which ones are bad, but most of us will base our feelings on similar factors. Here is a look at 7 factors that I feel are influential in this determination.
