Drawar Clips

Does WordPress Scare Away Your Clients?

wpcandy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:25:18

WordPress is a great CMS to use with clients, but it can sometimes get a little intimidating, especially for the non-techie user. In this article, Dan talks about the difficulties he faces in using WordPress with clients, and suggests a few solutions to overcome these obstacles.

Microsoft redesigns Live.com

Tyme — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:18:30

Redesign might give Live.com's home page more aesthetic appeal, but it doesn't address the problem of Microsoft's confusing online branding.

Another PNG Fix For IE6

Mike — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:30:08

Interesting technique, I'll have to give this a shot.

80 Graphic Design Links You Can’t Live Without

Scrivs — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:45:09

Doesn't get more comprehensive than this.

How to organize posts into two side-by-side columns in Wordpress

Xiarria — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:33:13

I recently received an email asking for some Wordpress advice on making posts show up in columns just like on 9antivirus.com and thought I’d share one way of doing this.

I’ve set up a demo blog showing how it looks after the code is implemented.

Great Photo on Flickr? Getty Images Might Pay You For It

Tyme — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:00:07

In a partnership with Flickr, Getty Images will comb through the photo-sharing site to find images that can be marketed and licensed, sharing the licensing fees with the photographers.

12 Tools I Use Every Day as an Independent Web Designer

bitsonewmedia — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:08:24

Every web designer has a list of favorite tools—a set of indispensable programs and resources that we couldn't live a day without. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for us there is constantly a newer, better tool emerging for just about everything a web designer does daily. I thought it would be interesting and helpful to share my current list of die-without-it web design tools. Of course, by the time I actually post this article, the list will probably have changed; but that's the nature of the industry.

Are Lists Becoming The New Table In HTML?

Mike — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:08:31

He brings up some very good points here, ones that I've argued both sides on:

The adoption is not so wide-spread this time (yet), but there’s a movement afoot. This time it’s not the table element that’s being misused, instead it’s list elements. I see it more and more each week: extremely creative ideas coming from some of the masters of the craft resulting in the abuse and misuse of lists.

The 10 Commandments of Web Design

Tyme — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:44:16

The Internet is constantly changing. BusinessWeek.com spoke to a experts and distilled the must-follow rules top online designers live by in 2008. Contributors ranged from the guru of Web usability, Don Norman, co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, to the design director of NYTimes.com, Khoi Vinh, and John Maeda, president-elect of the Rhode Island School of Design.

2008 Web Design Trends

Mike — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:41:02

Grungy, painty, hand-written. Great synopsis of current trends with tons of screenshots.

Coaxing Web Content: How to Get Your Clients to Get You the Content You Need

bitsonewmedia — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:51:13

No matter how well you stick to your time-line, or how hard you work to meet deadlines, or how on-top-of-it you are, missing content will shut you down. When you can't finish a project, you can't get paid. That's why the art of coaxing content is such a desirable skill. Here are some tips for sharpening that skill and keeping your projects rolling.

Top 25 Photoshop Pictures of May 2008

Scrivs — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:20:59

Below are the top 25 highest scoring entries submitted in may 2008 on PST… taken from all photoshop contests that were active during that month.

How To: Make the Viget Inspire Background

shadowsun7 — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:34:28

How to create a faded watercolour effect, like the background of the Viget Inspire blog background.

15 Tools to Help You Develop Faster Web Pages

Scrivs — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:42:39

Response times, availability, and stability are vital factors to bear in mind when creating and maintaining a web application. If you’re concerned about your web pages’ speed or want to make sure you’re in tip-top shape before starting or launching a project, here’s a few useful, free tools to help you create and sustain high-performance web applications.

Complete Guide to Pre-Installed Fonts in Linux, Mac, and Windows

Scrivs — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:11:17

All three operaing systems come with a variety of fonts, many of which can be reasonably substitued for each other without affecting the design.You can also choose fonts that have the same look and feel that you want, but may not be close matches. This allows for much more flexibility in design while still ensuring compatibility across operating systems.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Scrivs — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:09:30

You may have noticed that Google has a new favicon, the small icon you see in your browser next to the URL or in your bookmarks list. Some people have wondered why we changed our favicon -- after all, we hadn't in 8.5 years(!). The reason is that we wanted to develop a set of icons that would scale better to some new platforms like the iPhone and other mobile devices. So the new favicon is one of those, but we've also developed a group of logo-based icons that all hang together as a unified set.

Ongoing Infograph Gallery & Discussion

Mike — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:32:33

Some great inspirational pics in here for designers.

Squirrels...lots of squirrels.

Scrivs — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:34:11

They are just crazy, crazy I tell ya.

40 Excellent Photoshop Tutorials for Textures and Backgrounds

iisbum — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:44:15

Photoshop provides designers with unlimited options for creating unique and attractive backgrounds. One of the most popular approaches is to create some type of textured background, and fortunately there are a number of helpful tutorials to teach you all the tricks you need to know.

The Web Design Cycle: Landing Redesign Jobs with Clients You Love

bitsonewmedia — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:09:12

After a few years in the web design industry you'll inevitably reach a point where your first clients will be ready for a redesign of your original work. If managed carefully, you can build a lasting business foundation and a client base you love to work for.

Yahoo! Design Stencils For Rapid Web Prototyping

Mike — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:36:18

Yahoo! Design Stencil Kit version 1.0 is available for OmniGraffle, Visio (XML), Adobe Illustrator (PDF and SVG), and Adobe Photoshop (PNG), and covers many topics:

Online WYSIWYG Font Editor

hthth — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:08:22

FontStruct is an online tool for creating custom fonts with a WYSIWYG editor. Created fonts are downloadable as TrueType fonts.

Free Flash Source Code

ryando — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:23:58

Flash Code for download.

9 Crazy Cross Eye 3D Photography Images and How to Make Them

Tyme — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:55:22

3D photography and how to make them.

Managing a Web Project from Start to Finish

bitsonewmedia — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:40:05

Over the last eight years designing websites as a freelancer, I've developed a fairly solid process for building a website. I'll be walking through that process in this article. I welcome comments from other designers who work on teams, under employers, and in other situations.

Create Cool Watercolor Effects in Photoshop

shadowsun7 — Tue, 27 May 2008 08:30:47

Photoshop method for creating a cool watercolour effect from a photo.

Creating geometric patterns in Illustrator

Tyme — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:03:21

A guide on how to create a geometric pattern shape and fill a background with it.

Why Did You Hire Me?

Tyme — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:15:32

Remembering why you were hired—and identifying whether or not you belong—is just as important as getting the gig. To sustain career and mental health, you must work within your means and know how to navigate ambiguous workplace situations. Using client and project management techniques is one part of the solution. Using your talent is the other.

Top 25 Free Stock Image Resource Sites

Tyme — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:16:20

Top 25 Free Stock Image Resource Sites

40+ Extremely Beautifull Icon Sets Hand-picked from deviantART

Tyme — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:31:16

The web is rich with creative and amazing icon sets, and one of the most unusual source of amazing Icons Sets are those you can find on deviantART icons gallery.

Create a Spectacular Grass Text Effect in Photoshop

Scrivs — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:27:34

Ever wanted to make text out of grass? Well with Photoshop you can. In this tutorial we'll create a rather cool looking grass-text effect using a photo of grass, the pen tool and a bit of patience.

Think about paths instead of hierarchies

xirclebox — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:51:53

Interesting idea on navigation. Nothing new but is a good read to remind us of other options when planning a UI and AI.

Anterior Median Eyes of a Male Platycryptus undatus Jumping Spider

Scrivs — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:24:14

Exactly what the title says.

42 Awesome Business Card Designs (With Links to 100s More)

Scrivs — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:15:46

In today’s tech-oriented world of short attention spans it is more important than ever to make a compelling first impression. A brilliant business card that speaks to your profession, serves some unusual function or that transforms into something else can be a great way to grab attention and inspire those you meet. Organized by category here are 42 extremely creative business card designs. Some of these are old, some new, but all are still amazing examples of out-of-the-box thinking in business card design

7 Essential Web Design Principles to Earn Trust. And 4 Things to Avoid!

Scrivs — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:41:08

Designing content whether it be an article, landing page or a website you want to evoke a certain image. If you are selling then hopefully your image has a lot to do with trust. What makes one design more trustworthy than another?