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45+ CSS Grid Systems, Layout Generators and Tutorials that every Designer should know

Sun, Jun 14, 2009

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css grid systems

In this article tripwire magazine presents a large collection of CSS Grid Systems, online generators and tutorial on how to use these in your design. Using a CSS Grid System is really worth considering if you’re planning to create a complex magazine web design. This article will give you the overview and tools you need to get started.

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35+ Logo Inspiration With Clever Use Of Symbols

Sat, Jun 13, 2009

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Quality logos encompass companies branding identity into one tiny graphic and in some cases vision and strategy is contained as well. That is why Logos are so important and inspirational to investigate. Good designers put significant effort into creating logos and it is an iterative process where multiple design ideas are created and presented.

Good logos are seriously difficult to create, why tutorials where you can learn how others do it can be worth investigating. See more in this article 80+ Logo Designers Huge Essential Toolbox. In my opinion pure inpiration from looking at good and clever logos is still the best approach.

Typography is in many cases an important element in logos and you may benefit from looking at other designs with grat typography and combine some of ideas into Logos. Here you find loads of typo-inspiration. 60+ Really awesome Typography Showcases, 40+ Awesome Typography Wallpapers, serious inspiration, 80+ Very inspiring uses of Typography.

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25+ Extensive List of Essential Pop-up Window enhancements

Wed, Jun 10, 2009

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This article provides an extensive list Essential Pop-up Window enhancements that any web developer should be aware of. The article will mainly but not only focus on lightbox pop-up style solutions that have become incredibly popular.

Did you ever wonder who invented the lightbox pop-up technique? I think I tracked down the source of the “outbreak” that have been really a revolution in how web based interface are designed today. There may have been other similar attempts earlier but they didn’t start this change. (I’m not entirely sure – if you have further information on this please post a comment. ) Back in early 2006 Lokesh Dhakar created and shared a simple little javascript based script for bloggers that put an overlay with an image over the page loaded in the browser, he called it Lightbox JS. See his initial post here if you find this interesting in any way. The main idea of his contribution was to save the user from going to a whole new page to view an enlarged version of an image – essentially by emulating a modal window. Obviously this is really a briliant idea and it is used all over the web now in may different styles and implementations. It isn’t just used for showing a large versions of a thumbnail images. The technique have shown to be useful in many other uses and is for example used for configuration forms in the back-end of fx. Joomla and wordpress, for login and input forms on many websites, etc.

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Using Photoshop Styles to create awesome web2.0 effects in no time

Tue, Jun 9, 2009

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photoshop-styles

What is a Photoshop Style? A Style in Photoshop or Layer Style, is a range of layer settings and options. So when you choose to add to a shape, could be some text, for example a drop shadow, a gradient and some stroke, you have effectively created a new Style. If you create a really good style that you may want to reuse or share photoshop supports that quite well. This article shows you the basics of using styles for creating great looking web 2.0 designs and provides essential resources for further studies. Also because styles can be saved in ASL file format you will be able to find preset styles as downloads in the Internet. In this article you will find some really good web2.0 related style resources and tutorials that you should take a closer look at. This article use the famous twitter logo as a case for a simple and quick tutorial. Lets get started and you will be creating your own web 2.0 logos very soon.

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9 Stunning must have Nature Wallpaper resources

Tue, Jun 9, 2009

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Beautiful images of remarkable nature landscapes or spectacular plants can make most people fell happy and allow some to be lost in their own thoughts dreaming to be there and fell the air, the smell of the flowers etc. Having these images waiting to be admired on the desktop behind all your windows where work and tasks constantly steals your attention is not a bad idea at all. In this article you will access a nearly unlimited resource of stunning and remarkable beautiful Nature Wallpapers. If you’re a designer of any type these nature images will also be inspiring in themselves but they will also be potential material that you can use in your own work. Just make sure to check the license on images and design elements you download before using it in your own designs.

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60+ Really awesome Typography Showcases

Sun, Jun 7, 2009

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more-typo-inspiration

There are indeed many ways in which designers can use typography to deliver a message or a specific emotion. The fonts used and the way the text is organized can be turned into a art work itself and as you will see below it is only the fantasy and imagination of each designer that defines the limits. This article provides a comprehensive list of more than 60 great typography showcases that I’m it sure will inspire you.

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16 Crucial Webdesign and Usability Best Practice Compilations and Tools

Thu, Jun 4, 2009

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In this article I have compiled a list of what I currently think is the best guidance you get on Do’s and Don’ts for Web Design and Usability. Some state that content is King and it is to some extent right. On the other hand good content presented in a really bad way will be hard or even impossible for some people to consume. As competition is enormous on the Internet and just getting worse all the time it is becoming more and more important to focus on accessibility and usability. User just have to feel invited, comfortable and special otherwise they will be quickly off to the next lucky website or blog waiting hungry to receive the hit. Usability is hard and it is a domain of expertice just as perogramming and graphic design is. The web developer have to combine it all in the end and taking some advice from others having experience in this field is essential. Below you will find the information, tips, techniques and tools you need. Lets get started!

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26 Essential Submit Button Enhancements

Wed, Jun 3, 2009

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Essential Submit Button Enhancements

Typically a press on a web page button indicates that a user is making a decision of some kind. Buttons are for that reason very important elements and they need to be well integrated with the overall design, easy to spot and use. Styling of buttons is typically achieved using CSS and graphic elements but there are a few other techniques available as well. This article first cover the basics of using submit buttons on web pages and then digg into more advanced techniques for applying enhancements to buttons.

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40+ Awesome Typography Wallpapers, serious inspiration

Tue, Jun 2, 2009

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typo-wallpapers

I have a soft spot for good quality typography. It is just nice and inpireing to look at I think. Adding typography art to desktop wallpapers seams to be quite common and it gives us a good oppertunity to have a source of typography inspiration in a place where we wont forget to look at it. So why not look through the more than 40 awesome Typography Wallpapers collected for you in this article. Most wallpapers are available in the common resolutions even though it is not indicated here. A few of the picks here require registration to download but all are free.

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20 Awesome eye-catching wallpaper compilations

Mon, Jun 1, 2009

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Wallpaper art is very popular and for a reason. First of all it is good inspiration to everyone to have great designs or photography right on the desktop. Secondly there is a large group of very skilled designs expressing their talent through wallpaper creations and providing them to us for free. Finally most directions of design and art is available as wallpaper art and you will for sure be able to find something to improve your desktop and you will be able to do this on a regular basis. New high quality Wallpaper art surface every day. In this article I have foundĀ  more than 20 awesome eye-catching wallpaper compilations featuring hundreds of stunning wallpapers you cant afford to miss!

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