40 Beautiful Corporate Websites

In today’s marketplace, every company needs an effective website. Of course, the purposes and needs of each company’s site will be unique, but every company should have a site that presents a professional image to visitors. That image should also be an accurate representation of the company and should work with other branding efforts to present consistent messages to customers. In this post we’ll feature 40 well-designed corporate websites.

Blackberry

15 Invoicing Tips for Designers and Freelancers

Most designers don’t particularly enjoy the financial side of running a business, but handling it properly is a necessary part of being a freelancer or running a design agency. The financial side of the business includes invoicing clients, and in this article we’ll look at some tips and best practices for invoicing.

1. Decide on an Invoicing App or Software

There are plenty of online invoicing apps available that have been created with designers and freelancers in mind. Additionally, there are some software options as well. Using either an online app or software to handle your invoicing will allow you to save time and to have better organization over your invoices and receivables, as opposed to using a manual system or spreadsheets.

With so many options to choose from (see 20 Invoicing Tools for Web Designers), you should be able to find an app or software that includes all of the features that you need, and ideally, not a lot of those that you don’t need. Online apps are available in a wide range of prices, some are even free. Prices will usually rise as more features are included, and most invoicing apps will have a few different plans according to the number of invoices and clients that you need to manage.

If you’d like to avoid monthly or yearly fees of online apps, you can purchase invoicing software for a one-time fee and manage an unlimited number of invoices and clients.

For invoicing software we recommend Fanurio. For online apps we recommend FreshBooks. Find a solution that meets your needs and it will help you to have more accurate invoicing and financial records with less time commitment.

Design Instruct: A New Resource for the Design Community

Almost two years ago I got to know Jacob Gube of Six Revisions as both of us had relatively new blogs in the design community. Since then I’ve followed Six Revisions as it has grown to become one of the leading blogs on web design and development with over 40,000 subscribers.

Showcase of Buttons in Web Design

Button design is usually a subtle element to a web design, but it can have a significant impact on the overall look and usability of the site. In this post we’ll showcase a variety of types and styles of buttons. Hopefully this showcase can provide you with some inspiration and ideas for your own work.

Epic Event

25 of the Best Photography Portfolio Sites – Part III

In the past we’ve published two posts showcasing excellent photography portfolio sites, and today we’re following up with the third edition (see 25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites and 25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites – Part II). If you’re looking for more design inspiration from high-quality portfolio sites, see our gallery site Folio Focus.

World In My Lens

15 Resources for Easily Creating Web Forms

Almost every website needs some type of form, whether it be a contact/feedback form, a registration form, a survey, or an order form. Despite the fact that forms are a necessity for just about every project, designers and developers can often be frustrated by the process of creating them, especially more advanced forms.

There are a number of resources available that have been created to make it easier for designers, developers, and website owners to quickly and easily create attractive, usable forms without the need to code. In this post we’ll look at some of the best options available.

The resources featured in this post include some free options and a number of paid options. Most of the paid options include a lot of features, and in many cases the ability to integrate your forms with PayPal or other payment gateways.

Resources for Creating Forms:

FormSpring

With FormSpring you can create standard contact forms, set up surveys, accept donations, manage event registrations and more. The form builder will allow you to easily create forms without the need for coding, and FormSpring helps you to manage the data that is collected through the forms (store in a database, export to Excel, or use the API). You can even use a payment integration feature. A free plan is available that allows 3 forms with 10 fields and 50 saved entries per month, and paid plans range from $14 – $159 per month.

30 Beautifully Dark Websites – Part IV

Some of the most impressive web designs are those that use dark backgrounds effectively. While dark backgrounds can be difficult to work with and may not be ideal for every project, when they’re done well the results can be quite impressive. In this post we’ll continue a series of showcase posts that we started about two years ago.

• 25 Beautifully Dark Website Designs
• 25 Beautifully Dark Website Designs – Part II
• 25 Beautifully Dark Website Designs – Part III
  

Nue(me)dia

Win a Free Membership to Elegant Themes

Our friends at Elegant Themes have offered to give away five one-year memberships to readers of the Vandelay Design blog! This is a great prize for some lucky bloggers or website owners.

35 Tutorials and Guides for Working With Wacom Tablets

Wacom tablets are preferred tools for many graphic designers because they can be much easier than working with a mouse for some types of design. Learning to work effectively with a tablet can be a little tricky, but fortunately there are a number of tutorials that can help. In this post we’ll feature a selection of tutorials that will help with learning how to design specific things, and some that will help you understand the Wacom tablet and to get the most out of it.

Draw a Windy Sunset Illustration

Networking Tips for the Busy Designer

Professional networking is an important part of being a designer and working towards a challenging and rewarding career. Unfortunately, most designers are so busy with client work, or trying to find more clients, that networking-related activities are more of an afterthought that get attention whenever the time happens to be available. While networking is critical, it doesn’t have to adsorb huge amounts of time that prevent you from getting other essential tasks completed.

In this article we’ll look at a series of tips and suggestions that are aimed at designers who want to network more successfully, but without committing large amounts of time each day or each week. The idea is to get as much benefit as possible from a reasonable time commitment that can be accommodated by just about any schedule.