20 WordPress Travel Themes
Published May 7th, 2013 in WordPress - 0 Comments
Those who are traveling or working in the travel industry often need a website to share their experiences or to allow visitors to research information and options related to their own travel. There are a number of WordPress themes that have been designed and developed especially for the travel industry and for travel blogs. (You may also be interested in 17 of the Best WordPress Hotel Themes.)
If you’re looking for the right theme or template for your own travel website, this post is for you. Here we’ll showcase 20 different WordPress that could be just the right option for you.
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Voyage - $99
Voyage, from ThemeFuse, is one of the best-looking travel themes available. It is an ideal choice for travel agencies. Voyage features powerful search and filter options that will allow visitors to find the perfect trip or vacation. It also uses a responsive design and layout so that it will look good on phones and tablets as well as desktops.
33 Examples of the Flat Web Design Trend
Published May 6th, 2013 in Galleries - 12 Comments
Currently, one of the biggest trends in the web design industry is the flat design style. In case you are not yet familiar with the term, flat design is essentially design without the drop shadows, gradients, and textures that have been common in web design for some time. Flat design uses solid colors and often typography figures prominently into the design.
In this post we’ll showcase 33 excellent examples of the flat web design trend. Hopefully they can provide some inspiration that can be put to use in your own work.
25 Outstanding Google Fonts for Web Design
Published May 3rd, 2013 in Design - 9 Comments
In recent years we’ve seen a number of developments and advancements, such as responsive design, that have had a major impact on the web design industry. One of the most significant advancements has been improved options for using a greater variety of fonts in your web design projects. Google Web Fonts is one of the leading options, although there are others like Adone’s Typekit.
Google Web Fonts is free, easy to implement, and their are an increasing number of font families available. With currently more than 600 font families to choose from, finding the fight font available from Google Web Fonts can be a challenge. In this post we’re showcasing 25 that are worth a look. Browse through the fonts here and you’ll probably find at least one that could be a good fit for that project that you are currently working on.
7 Awesome HTML5 Website Development Tools by Adobe
Published in Tools, Web Development - 1 Comment
PCMag recently spoke with Danny Winokur, Adobe’s vice president and general manager of Interactive Development, who said the point of today’s releases is to “advance what’s possible with HTML5 and associated technologies that have become instrumental to the modern Web.”
Adobe’s tools for HTML5 website development have brought the power of multiple technology features to build creative website designs. It aims to revolutionize the way the web is dealt with going forward. Adobe hopes to surprise web developers with a rather convenient and simpler creative process. These comprehensive tools are smart, flexible, and highly interactive in their use, style and performance.
Let’s take a look at the latest Adobe’s HTML5 website development tools re-invented for 2013:
Edge Reflow
This is a completely new, responsive web design tool by Adobe, available only for Adobe Creative Cloud members. The tool can create layouts and visual designs with CSS and is totally free in Adobe’s creative Cloud. It has a smart and intuitive design surface which can be easily resized. This surface gives an idea as to how layouts and visuals will adapt to different screen sizes.
It allows users to preview their designs in the browser, and check their designs in real-time with Edge Inspect extension. The design CSS can be transported to Dreamweaver, Edge Code or any other code editor for further modifications.
What it has in-store for Developers?
The primary purpose of Adobe’s Edge Reflow is to simplify the multi-screen design process, making it much more efficient and time-bound. Used for creating UX prototypes and visual designs followed by quick mock-ups.
Edge Reflow works on 2 design regions – design canvas for WYSIWYG layout and the property inspector (for single element styling). Breakpoints create new media query regions that can be easily tweaked to edit visual elements such as boxes, layouts and much more.
20 Awesome jQuery Sliders
Published May 2nd, 2013 in Tools, Web Development - 4 Comments
Image and content sliders are an extremely common element in modern web design. Coding your own slider from scratch is always an option, but if you’re looking to save some time or if you’re not sure how to code your own slider there are plenty of options. In some cases, working with an existing jQuery plugin will give you the chance to observe the code that is being used, and learn things that can be used in situations where you do want to code from scratch.
In this post we’ll look at 20 different options for sliders. Many of them allow you to create responsive sliders, and some are optimized for mobile users as well. Most of these options are free. The last two listed are premium, and one is free with options to pay for a WordPress plugin version.
Wow Slider
Wow Slider is an “awesome slider for non-coders”. It is a responsive slider with plenty of beautiful visual effects, and what makes it unique is the point-and-click wizard that makes it possible to create sliders with no coding.
Free Download: Bokeh Backgrounds
Published in Free Resources, Textures - 1 Comment
If you’re looking for an abstract background to use in your own designs, bokeh backgrounds can be a good choice. Today we have a free set of 4 bokeh backgrounds that you can download and use in yoor own projects. These 4 backgrounds are samples from the larger set of 40 bokeh textures available at Vandelay Premier.
50+ New WordPress Themes from April, 2013
Published May 1st, 2013 in WordPress - 3 Comments
If you are looking for a WordPress theme for a new website or for a fresh look on an already existing website, there are always plenty of new themes being released. April was a busy month for new WordPress themes, just like any other month. In this post we’ll showcase some of the best new themes that were released during the month, and hopefully if you’re looking for a new theme you will find something that you like.
This post includes over 50 new WordPress themes, so there is plenty of selection. Most of the themes are premium/commercial, but some high-quality free themes have been included as well.
Foxy
Price: $39 (price includes access to more than 80 themes)
Available at: Elegant Themes
How to Plan Your Design Portfolio in 11 Easy Steps
Published April 30th, 2013 in Business - 6 Comments
Online design portfolios are essential to your identity. It’s the one place online where potential clients can go to read about who you are and what type of work you are capable of producing. There are many factors that go into a well-presented portfolio, such as organization and uniqueness. Planning out your design portfolio doesn’t have to be difficult. If you break it down into these 10 easy steps, it’s a lot simpler to wrap your head around.
1. Preparation
View your portfolio as a learning experience. Your portfolio is a showcase that’s all about you – this means you want to profile yourself in the best light possible. Especially for a design student or someone who’s just starting out, preparing your portfolio will be essential in your development as a professional.
83-Bits has a well-designed portfolio that showcases his work nicely.
5 Great Tools for Finding Color Inspiration
Published April 29th, 2013 in Design - 0 Comments
There are so many great resources available to designers that help inspire and improve efficiency, but often, color inspiration and color search abilities are overlooked in web design resources. After all, it’s often just important to find an image, gradient, or palette as it is to find one with the right subject.
What’s more, color can be one of the elements that designers forget to focus on, in favor of the typography, layout, or imagery. And yet a gorgeous color palette can make the difference between a bland and a strikingly original design.
So if you find yourself in need of a color inspiration boost, not only will this roundup of great sites provide you with all the palettes and images you could ever wish to see, they’re also great resources for manipulating, creating, and sharing color.
Find the right palette, pattern, or gradient
Try This One Simple Trick That Will Help You Sell More Web Design Projects
Published April 26th, 2013 in Business - 4 Comments
Prior to selling my web agency, HotPress Web, last year and starting uGurus, a new venture to help web professionals become more profitable, I pitched a lot of website projects.
I have lost more deals than I have won. Many more.
There were times in my early days when I was pitching so many website deals, I would lose track of proposals I had sent out. My process was broken.
I have created and sent over 950 website proposals to date.
Now, when I say that, you might picture in your mind that I just quick fired a bunch of documents in response to contact form inquiries or RFPs (Request for Proposals). But that’s not my style.
I like the hustle.
Each and every one of those 950 proposals consisted of countless phone calls, in person meetings, driving to remote offices, and sitting through more meet and greets than I care to go into. I have sat in the most ornate conference rooms and the smallest kitchens.
With only one objective: sell as many website as I can muster the energy to do.
The Biggest Waste
