For the first time in it’s 16-year history, the 2016 Pantone Color of the Year is actually two colors – Rose Quarts and Serenity. The soft, pastel hues are a soothing compliment of each other and according to the color authority, “Rose Quartz and Serenity demonstrate an inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue,…
Every social media platform comes with it’s own dimensions for profile, cover, and shared photos. We’ve compiled a list of all the profile images you’ll need and the sizes they should be for your brand’s social media profiles. Facebook Images Facebook is one of the easier social media platforms to add your collateral to. The cover photo does not stretch…
Shooting your own photos is a great way to create authentic content for your website while showing off your work. You don’t always need a professional photographer or special equipment to take great photos, either. Knowing some photography basics can help you take high quality photos with a basic digital camera or even your phone. This is part one of…
Typography will continue to play a big role in web design in 2015. After all, what good is thoughtful, keyword-focused content if it doesn’t look nice? I’ve collected a list of the latest typography trends that will continue to influence web design throughout 2015 along with free Google Web Fonts you can use for your next project. Modern Serifs Despite…
Maps are great visual, web design tools that help users get the information they need quickly. Advances in geocoding have made it easy to create beautiful, custom location and geographic specific data maps. Here are some of my favorite examples of websites using awesome map designs right now. Websites Using Custom Markers PM Environmental PM Environmental’s location page uses a custom Google…
This tutorial will show you how to select an element in a photo and remove the background while preserving fine details like hair and feathers. In this example we’ll use a free photo from freeimages.com. You can download the same image we’re using in the tutorial here. First, we’re going to use the Refine Edge tool to separate the hairs…
MailChimp is a great tool for creating email campaigns that engage consumers and drive traffic to your website. It also has a powerful template designer that allows you to create a custom design starting with a basic template. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to turn a simple layout into a great-looking design. Step 1: Creating a New Template Once…
Design trends on the web are constantly changing and evolving. Websites that were created just a few years ago quickly start to look dated compared to newer ones today. Making a few changes to the aesthetic of your site can make it feel modern and updated without involving a total website overhaul. We’ve collected a few tips to simply and…
Re-branding can be an intimidating process for major businesses that have an established consumer base, especially when those changes involve updates to a company’s logo. Despite the risk of distancing loyal customers, many major companies have undergone successful re-branding throughout the last few decades. However, some logo evolutions include designs that never should have happened. The Arby’s logo is a prime example of…
Finding the perfect image to use for a blog post, newsletter, website design or flyer can pose it’s challenges, especially when the images you want to use are too small for your design. Here I’ve put together some simple tricks you can use to make your images look great and work for whatever project you’re working on. What do…