If you are a digital designer, chances are that you will have to stock up on media kits, fonts, and many other resources and tools on a daily basis. It is important to not only know the latest trends but also keep yourself up to date on what is happening in the world of design. We are back again with a fresh collection icon sets, new typefaces, illustrations, UI kits for Sketch, HTML pop us, PSD templates, beautiful landing pages, and many other helpful tools to help you enhance your work and improve your design flow. These fresh list of top 14 resources are not only a must-have for this year but can help over the course of your design career.
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Website Building Tools You Should Try in 2019
Website builders are not new. But they have evolved through the years to become more powerful and more flexible. They are more efficient, and better able to meet the demands of new technologies. Today’s website-building tools can help individuals, teams, and businesses. They help to build anything from a simple single page site to a large online store.
Copyright Basics for Graphic Designers
As designers, it is crucial to know and understand some of the copyright laws, design patents, and trademark issues that exist today. Copyright laws exist to protect artwork, illustrations, photographs, and other graphical imagery. This doesn’t apply if you are a painter or if your work is a fixed form of creative expression. Under these circumstances, you own the copyright in your work the moment you create it. For any designer, it is imperative to get their seal on all the original pieces they create and they should also cite any borrowed graphics to avoid any unnecessary legal issues.
We have gathered some helpful tips about copyright laws straight from the people who know it best- lawyers. We hope that these 10 tips on copyright laws will train you the basics on properly citing your work.
11 Best Adobe Illustrator Plugins for Designers
Adobe Illustrator is a powerful vector based program that lets you create and customize vector-based shapes, text, and artwork. Even though it comes with many built-in features there are areas where it falls short. It doesn’t necessarily work with all programs and sometimes lacks the shapes and elements that designers often need. Plugins and add-ons can help add in the functionalities that may be lacking in illustrator. By installing these third-party programs you are able to customize the tool to fit your needs. They not only provide necessary elements but also enables you to work quickly and improve your overall workflow. We have gathered a list of incredibly useful plugins to help customize your illustrator experience. In this article, we will talk about plugins that you can either download or purchase from the third party websites.
14 Best Isometric Mock Up Templates
As designers, you are always looking for new ways to present your work to your clients. Isometric templates can help showcase your work in a realistic way. As a creative professional, you know that your work is only done after the presentation. With the help of isometric mockup templates, you are able to feature your design work with 3D realism that can engage the audience in a unique way. This way of presenting is more effective than a traditional front and back view that can sometimes fall flat.
We have gathered a strong list of 14 isometric mockup ideas that can engage the viewer and help make your designs stand out from the crowd. The mockups created with these templates should allow you to showcase your websites, apps, logos, business cards and much more.
Best Practices for Combining Typefaces / Fonts
Combining typefaces is an art. The best part about art and design is that once you give shape to a form, you are free to explore different styles, techniques, and combinations to communicate a message. That being said, you have to understand the basics of typographic design to be able to move beyond these rules. Designers usually work with multiple fonts to create visual interest and establish information hierarchy. While there are no rigid and scientific rules to follow, it is important that you understand some tried and tested techniques to create a good typographic structure. By looking at some of the best practices in type design, you will be able to see what typefaces can be paired together and why they work well.
7 Best Photoshop Actions for Web Designers
Photoshop is a powerful tool that can help you create great work. Designers usually use this tool to create custom graphics, web layouts, sometimes even to sketch prototype ideas for clients. One of the best aspects of Photoshop is its action feature. If you are looking for ways to automate those complex tasks that you use on a regular basis, then make sure to add Photoshop to your web design tool kit.
What is a web design proposal? How do you write one?
Writing a web design proposal is a time-consuming and monotonous task – when done right, it can be a successful business foundation for your design business. Knowing and building your copy around important aspects of the work will help you craft an effective proposal that will match the complexity of the proposal to the complexity of the project. Whether you are working for an agency with a team of other creatives or a freelancer trying to sell your own products and services, writing a strong proposal can help you set the right expectations, find work and win clients.
In this article, we will discuss how best to tailor your projects to win the right clients, present your work and make your case as to why you are the best person for the job. You will take away some important tips, best practices for your presentation and a free template to help you get started.
10 Great Landing Page Examples
Landing pages are used for one purpose – to guide the website visitors to the next stage in the buying journey. These pages should be designed to focus visitors attention on a websites value proposition. With all the available options in the market, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd, for this reason, designers should take their time to design striking stand-alone pages that are specifically adapted to your business. Although designing a landing page may seem simple in theory, it actually requires some detailed planning.
Tips for Using Background Textures in Web Design
There are many ways to use background textures in web design. It is one of the best ways to add depth to your design. To be able to make use of the power of textures and to make your designs effective, it is important to pay attention to the quality of the textural background. As it can help guide and emphasize important elements in a design. Textures have been misused for a long time. Due to this reason, its benefits have been most frequently overlooked.
Textures shouldn’t be confused with patterns. Patterns are small, repeating tiles/elements while textures tend to be larger in size don’t repeat. Textures in design should serve a purpose. Each design decision should be well thought out and must be done after weighing the pros and cons. Let us look at some of their important benefits and look at the industry’s best practices and standards of using a textural background in web design.