Web Design Stories

Interface design, stock art, fonts, interface design, captology, and other web design-related topics.

Your Sneak Peek at Photoshop CS6

Photoshop CS6 Beta is available for download. Some of the many new features include: General Features Dark UI Presets (Migrate Presets and Import/Export) Patch Tool w/Content-Aware Option Scripted Patterns (Fill/Pattern) GPU/Performance GPU Warp Transform GPU Puppet Warp Preview GPU Oil Paint (Pixel Bender) Artistic Filter Adaptive Wide Angle Photographers ACR 7—Local controls for White Balance... 
Read the full story

50 Free UI and Web Design Wireframing Kits, Resources and Source Files

“This article focuses on actual wireframing tools and standalone applications, as well as resources that you’ll need to build your own wireframe: wireframing kits, browser windows, form elements, grids, Mac OS X elements, mobile elements, which you’ll use in any typical graphics editor such as Photoshop or Illustrator. …Or you could use pen and paper.” Personally, I use Balsamiq which... 
Read the full story

Interview with Michael Doret, Illustrator and Font Designer

Inspired by designs found in the real world — signs, matchbooks, postcards, automobiles, books, magazine covers, and postage stamps, Doret has evolved from an illustrator to a font designer. His work is both a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s, when he got started, and an effective counterweight to current typography and what is possible with font design and illustration. Part of the Creative... 
Read the full story

How to Design Without Graphics

Amazing little video that shows how to use white space and contrast to create image-free designs. The video is an excellent introduction for non-designers, as well, about the nature of white space, how white space works and what makes white space so valuable in any design. This video also is useful for people trying to design a text-only html email newsletter since those are all about no image design. From... 
Read the full story

Contrast is King in Design

“If you can make a solid design in black, white, and shades of gray, it will often allow you to translate your design to almost any color combination—as long as that color combination maintains the same level of contrast between the visual elements. Create your sketches and roughs in black and white and then create comps in grayscale. This workflow not only allows your mind to stay focused... 
Read the full story

Free Google AdWords Campaigns for Non-Profits

“Google Grants is a unique in-kind donation program awarding free AdWords advertising to select charitable organizations. We support organizations sharing our philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.” From Google Grants. The value of their grant varies and depends... 
Read the full story

How to Find the Perfect Color and Create a Color Palette

“No single visual element has more effect on a viewer than color. Color gets attention, sets a mood, sends a message. But what colors are the right ones? The key is that color is relational. Colors don’t exist in a vacuum but are always seen with other colors. Because of this, you can design a color-coordinated document based on the colors in any element on the page. Here’s how.” From... 
Read the full story

6 Tips for Better Branding with Avatars

“We’re living in a social media world, and, like it or not, our avatar is often the first impression others get about us as we interact virtually on social networks, blogs, microblogs and other online communities. Our avatars are a representation of our brands — our personal brand or our company’s or organization’s brand. But how many of us are thinking strategically about our avatars?” From... 
Read the full story

Xobni Organizes Your Outlook Email

As a web designer and coder, I collect tons of emails and attachments from clients that have to be carefully tracked and easily found. And many projects have three, four, or more people attached. Often I have to dig out their contact information to make calls. Awhile back, I found Xobni, a software tool with an odd name that should be in every version of any email software. Now they have a Plus version,... 
Read the full story

UI Pattern Documentation Review

“To date, the most common approach to propagating a single user experience standard is the development of UI guidelines and principles documentation within an organization. Development teams — usually incorporating a user experience specialist — then reference this documentation during implementation and upgrade processes. However, as the numbers of systems grow within an organization, so... 
Read the full story

More Web Design Stories

Browse all Web Design Stories

Connect With Us Online

We provide low-cost, how-to internet marketing information for individuals, businesses, and groups, as well as the people who support them. Learn more

  • Latest Stories
  • Popular Articles
  • Popular Stories

Great Online Communities to Explore

Community MX - Web Design with Adobe twist
IxDA - Interaction Design
Boagworld - Web Design
SitePoint - Web Design, Coding
The Content Wrangler - Content, Content, Content
@TypeTweets - Twitter for Type-o-philes
Webmasterworld - Web Design

Get the Email Newsletter: Keep Up To Date

Stories, links, and more emailed to you every few weeks!

PRIVACY NOTICE: Your email will never be sold or traded. Powered by Campaign Monitor.