I (like many) have a t-shirt addiction, much to my spouses dismay. I am particularly fond of geek humor that is not obvious to most people. Call me goofy, but it makes me laugh. Here is a fine collection of t-shirt sites, some well known, others not so much. http://thedesigned.com/2010/02/08/20-cool-t-shirt-websites-for-inspirations-and-goods/
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I posted to designmeltdown.com
T-shirt sites
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/designmeltdown/uecD/~3/r87SQ0jzYzA/
- Tags:
- t-Shirt Sites
February 17 2010, 10:00am | Comments »
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I posted to designmeltdown.com
New old paper
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/designmeltdown/uecD/~3/3BI2LMrquK4/
This style starts with old paper scanned in to create textures, frames and interesting backgrounds. Start with a scanner and some trash instead of skipping to Google and you will produce something far more unique. Ever notice everyone seems to use the same lame coffee cup stain you can get with a quick Google search? Do yourself a favor and don’t do the same. http://www.thewebdesignsource.com/30-creative-examples-of-using-paper-in-web-designs/
- Tags:
- Old paper
February 17 2010, 6:00am | Comments »
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I posted to smashingmagazine.com
Group Interview: Expert Advice For Students and Young Web Designers
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmashingMagazine/~3/mBdRXU9jXSU/
- Tags:
- clients
- workflow
- designers
- intrerviews
February 17 2010, 2:51am | Comments »
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I posted to designmeltdown.com
Jumbo sized drop down menus
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/designmeltdown/uecD/~3/q4Ky1aVN5Uk/
This wonderful collection of jumbo sized drop down menus comes to us via smileycat.com. Some of these drop down menus are just awesome looking and amazingly functional given the amount of content they contain. (This is an ongoing list that the author adds to). http://www.smileycat.com/design_elements/mega_dropdown_menus/
- Tags:
- Drop Down Menus
February 16 2010, 8:00am | Comments »
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I posted to designmeltdown.com
Illustration
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/designmeltdown/uecD/~3/rUURSysyncU/
This is very similar to the posts on using mascots, but can of course lead to illustrated elements in any part of the page. Illustration is a great way to create a bold and unique design. Enjoy this beautiful set of sites: http://www.thewebdesignsource.com/30-creative-examples-of-illustrations-in-web-design/
- Tags:
- illustration
February 16 2010, 6:00am | Comments »
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I posted to smashingmagazine.com
Smashing Network Update: Add Widget To Your Site and New Members
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmashingMagazine/~3/tmhWtGaG7fI/
In the last few months, you may have noticed some major changes happening on Smashing Magazine’s front page. Since November 2009, when we launched the Smashing Network, which features manually selected articles from the best design blogs, we’ve been working hard to improve the usability of our website and make the navigation easier to use and the content easier to read.Indeed, we have been continually looking for a nice clean design that would allow Smashing Magazine’s brand to dominate the website, while boosting the visibility and exposure of our network members. We have considered various solutions, and one seemed to be just perfect. The result (we hope) is a cleaner separation of the magazine’s posts and network’s posts, by way of tabbed navigation at the top of the page.[Offtopic: by the way, did you already get your copy of the brand new Smashing Book?]Magazine And Network TabsSo, what exactly does this mean? It’s very simple. At the top of the page, you’ll notice two tabs, one for Smashing Magazine’s posts and one for the Smashing Network’s posts. You can now easily switch between the magazine and network’s content without using the scroll bar. You can also visit the network’s content page, which wasn’t possible before, and use Smashing Magazine’s good old front page, which now features only Smashing Magazine’s posts. Also, the tabbed solution is the first step towards something huge that we have planned for 2010. Smashing tabs in use. You can now easily switch between the magazine and network’s content on every single page of Smashing Magazine.This change obviously means that our network members would get much less traffic from our website to theirs. So, to compensate, we have decided to add the tabbed navigation not only to our front page (as was done earlier) but to all pages on Smashing Magazine. This is why you see the tabbed navigation at the top of this page now. Aside from that, we have come up with a couple of new exciting features that will roll out this year, one of which is the Smashing Network widget.The Smashing Network WidgetWe are pleased to release a simple and customizable widget that displays the latest posts from the Smashing Network. It’s up to you to decide how to style our updates on your website. You can use your own CSS to customize the look of the widget as you wish. The widget is available right now!To embed the widget on your website, simply include a JavaScript code. You will find the details, including implementation examples, on our page “How to Add the Smashing Network Widget to Your Site“.We hope many designers and developers will integrate the widget on their websites. The main goal of the widget is to promote high-quality design-related content on the Web. We are confident that the design community will benefit significantly from the mutual support of the network websites, particularly in terms of traffic, so it would be great if you integrated it on your website, too.Welcome New Members!We are also very happy to announce that we have accepted new members into the Smashing Network. All applicants were carefully considered and tested for the relevance and quality of their content. In this second round, we have accepted the following websites.CSS-TricksCSS-Tricks is a Web design community curated by CSS ninja Chris Coyier. The website offers a variety of articles, tips, tutorials and screencasts on front-end development, mostly CSS and jQuery. The website also features useful snippets and freebies and has a growing community forum.CSS-Tricks websiteCSS-Tricks channel on Smashing MagazineDesign InformerDesign Informer is a fresh new blog that brings the latest in Web and graphic design. It has Photoshop tutorials, freebies, resources, inspiration and much more. It is one of the fastest-growing design blogs, and it strives to always deliver high-quality content to readers.Design Informer websiteDesign Informer channel on Smashing MagazineCats Who CodeCreated by Jean-Baptiste Jung in June 2008, Cats Who Code provides practical Web development tutorials and resources for both beginners and advanced developers. With a focus on such topics as WordPress, jQuery and CSS, Cats Who Code helps you build better websites. Meow!Cats Who Code websiteCats Who Code channel on Smashing MagazineUsabilityPostUsabilityPost is a blog about design. Design isn’t about what something looks like but about how it works. Making something usable means understanding what people expect from your product and thinking of ways to make their use of it simple and enjoyable. The aim of UsabilityPost is to provide relevant resources, tips and insights related to good design to help you make great products. UsabilityPost was founded by Dmitry Fadeyev in 2008.UsabilityPost websiteWeb Designer NotebookThis blog’s purpose is to shed light on CSS and front-end development for those who are starting out, while also going deeper into more complex areas such as CSS3. Created by CSS master Inayaili de León.Web Designer Notebook websiteLine25Line25 is the drawing board of creative Web design, a place where ideas and inspiration are drafted into articles, tutorials and round-ups of cutting-edge Web design. Created and updated by Chris Spooner.Line25 websiteLine25 channel on Smashing MagazineUX MagazineUX Magazine was created to provide a central place to discuss the critical disciplines that enhance user experience. An extraordinary user experience should be the goal of every interaction you deliver to users at any level. All too often, businesses (large and small) get it horribly wrong. It’s painful to watch and even worse when it happens to you.UX Magazine websiteUX Magazine channel on Smashing MagazineImpressive WebsImpressive Webs is an article and tutorial website dedicated to providing practical information on and solutions to common front-end Web development problems and issues. Created and updated by Louis Lazaris.Impressive Webs websiteImpressive Webs channel on Smashing MagazineWe are very pleased and excited to welcome these new members to the Smashing Network! We will do our best to continue promoting the best stories from the Smashing Network and to spread the word in social media.Bonus: The Smashing WordPress BookAside from the network updates, we have even more exciting news for our friends and fans. In cooperation with Wiley & Sons, we have just released Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog, a new book in the Smashing Magazine book series.The book shows you how to use the power of the WordPress platform, and it offers a creative spark to help you build WordPress–powered websites that go beyond the obvious. You will learn the core concepts needed to build just about anything in WordPress, resulting in faster deployment and greater design flexibility. The book was written by WordPress expert Thord Daniel Hedengren and costs $44.99 / €27.90.Chapter 1: Anatomy of a WordPress Install (PDF)Full table of contents including sub-chapters (PDF)Index (PDF)Buy the book in the Smashing Shop!What Do You Think?Your opinion has always been very important to us. Please let us know what you think of the changes and the widget, and let us know how you see Smashing Magazine and the Smashing Network evolving. We look forward to your constructive criticism and are open to your ideas and suggestions!Also, we will be adding more exciting features and revealing more exciting projects in the months to come, so please stay tuned for updates. Thank you.(al)© Vitaly Friedman for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: network, smashing
February 16 2010, 2:30am | Comments »
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I posted to designmeltdown.com
Musical sites
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/designmeltdown/uecD/~3/Ak3jUZwrdhM/
Sites that promote bands, or represent music distribution (ie not fan sites etc) have two things going for them. First there is lots and lots of money in this industry. Secondly, one of its key targets is young people. This means there is money t0 be made and it has to be hip and appealing. The end result? An openness to the latest styles and trends. This collection of music sites shows that this niche can be very slick and inpsiring. <shameless plug>Look for more on this topic in my upcoming book</shameless plug> http://www.thewebdesignsource.com/30-beautiful-music-websites-for-design-inspiration/
- Tags:
- Music Sites
February 15 2010, 6:00am | Comments »
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I posted to smashingmagazine.com
Email Newsletter Design: Guidelines And Examples
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/02/15/email-newsletters-guidelines-and-examples/
The email newsletter is a powerful marketing and communication tool that has various useful functions. It reminds your users about you; it informs users about your products; it tells them what you have been up to; and it helps you build a unique relationship with them. Users like email newsletters if the newsletters bring them value.The fundamental rule for creating an email newsletter is to give it interesting, relevant and up-to-date information that is enjoyable to read. Users sign up for newsletters hoping be informed about things that they would not otherwise be able to find out about. In this article, we’ll discuss some guidelines for designing and distributing email newsletters. Each point will be accompanied by both good and bad examples.Please notice: in this post we features both good and bad examples of newsletter design, so you can get a better understanding of the problems to avoid and good design decisions to make.You may be interested in the following related posts:Design and Build Email Newsletters Without Losing Your Mind (and Soul)[Offtopic: by the way, have you already visited Smashing Magazine's Facebook fan page? Join the community for a stream of useful resources, updates and giveaways!]Signing Up For A NewsletterThis is an important step in convincing users that your newsletters are interesting and that they would benefit from signing up.Tell Users What They Will GetBefore asking users for their details, tell them what they will receive, and identify the benefits of signing up. If you mention that the newsletters will include exclusive offers and deals, make sure to keep the promise. In addition, let users know how often they will receive the newsletter: weekly or monthly.On the Mulberry sign-up page, the company promises to send users exclusive updates and offers. The Marie Claire UK subscription page clearly states that its newsletters include news, beauty buys, competitions and offers.Marie Claire UK subscription pageReward Users for Signing UpYou may want to consider giving some reward to users for signing up; for example, a free gift, voucher or discount. To encourage users to sign up for his newsletter, Jamie Oliver offers a free £25 wine voucher that can be claimed after subscribing (on the condition that users spend £64.99 or more on the wine). Jamie Oliver sign-up page Jamie Oliver reward pageIf you will give rewards, let users know as soon as possible in the process. James Perse gives users who subscribe to its newsletter a $15 online gift card. However, the reward is not mentioned on the subscription page, and the promotion code is sent via a confirmation email only after the subscription has been received. You would not have known that until you subscribed. The company is clearly missing a great opportunity to get people to sign up for its newsletters. James Perse subscription confirmation emailPreview Your NewsletterOne way to let users know what they will get is to give them a preview of your newsletter. Hershey’s Kitchens has two different newsletters, and it offers examples of both types. The company even gives each newsletter a name and clearly indicates how often it will be sent out.Hershey’s Kitchen sign-up pageKeep Questions Short and SimpleUsers avoid filling out forms and submitting their details if possible. For a newsletter sign-ups, all you need is their email address.Hersey’s Kitchens has 10 mandatory fields. MarieClaire.com has 8 fields, but only the email field is required. We have found from our studies, though, that people often miss the asterisk or do not know what it means. Users who are reluctant to fill in many details may well refuse to sign up in this case. Hershey’s Kitchen sign-up pageContent Of NewsletterBased on our user testing, we found that people look at three things when they receive a newsletter:The sender, to see if it is from someone they know.The subject line, to see if it is of interest to them.The date, to see if the communication is up to date.Write an Attractive Subject LineOne way to encourage users to open your newsletter is to write a subject line that grabs their attention.If you are offering some sort of deal in your newsletter, try to avoid generic appeals in your subject line (for instance, Game July newsletter subject line: “Sizzling Summer Deals”). Instead, mention specific offers, such as Dorothy Perkins November Issue: “25% Off Just for You”. Also, be realistic about your offers, and avoid making them sound too good to be true. Users are skeptical about subject lines like “Get 1000 Extra Points” because they know they will often have to spend a lot to get those points.Provide Useful and Well-Written ContentA newsletter should contain information that users would not normally research on their own. Users take seconds to scan for topics of interest to them before deciding whether to spend more time reading the newsletter. If your newsletter, like Forrester’s, shows only one or two topics, users would less likely to find something of interest to them. Forrester newsletterFurthermore, including links to your website in the newsletter is crucial.Make Content Relevant to Your ReadersMake your newsletter’s content as relevant to your readers as possible, whether through offers, products or images. Superfluous content will add no value and simply be ignored. You could also provide customized content. Personalization can be done in one of two ways:Asking users for more (optional) information when they sign up.Implicitly recording what they buy and view on your website.For example, Amazon sends newsletter with recommendations based on what its users have purchased. Recommendation-based newsletters can be highly useful, provided that your analytics are accurate. Amazon’s customized newsletterOffer Exclusive DealsYou could always offer subscribers special deals or freebies. There are a few ways to go about this. H&M and Photobox ask users to present their newsletters at the point of purchase in stores to receive discounts. Clinique and Airparks include a promotion code in their newsletters that users can redeem when checking out online. H&M newsletter
- Tags:
- design
- marketing
- newsletter
February 15 2010, 5:59am | Comments »
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I posted to smashingmagazine.com
Free Medical Icons Set (60 Icons)
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmashingMagazine/~3/hWLVLWK5ti0/
Today we are glad to release a Free Medical Icons Set, a set with 60 original medical icons in .png 32 bit in resolutions 32×32px and 128×128px. This set was designed by Thomas Immich and the design agency Centigrade and released exclusively for Smashing Magazine and its readers. The icons can serve as great in-app icons for desktop or RIAs in the medical domain. With perspective and reflective effects these can be a real stunner on landing pages or in touch screen application menus.Download the icon set for free!You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word.large previewdownload the set (.zip, 0.28 Mb)release post on designers’ websiteBehind the designAs always, here are some insights from the designers:There are a lot of free icon libraries out there, however, only few of them focus mainly on medical icons and we wanted this gap to be closed. Centigrade conducted quite a lot of icon projects in the healthcare sector just recently, for which reason we already had some nice vector shapes on the pile. We distilled the most frequently requested metaphors and wrapped them into a fresh new style. Being modern and concise rather than fancy and playful, they are in line with what we experienced works well in the medical domain.Thank you very much, guys! We really appreciate your efforts.© Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: Icons, medical
February 15 2010, 1:10am | Comments »