Carrie Cousins

Software / 10 Jan 2023

20+ Best Free Portfolio Website Tools & Templates in 2023

Do you need a portfolio website right now? There are a variety of online tools and templates that can help jumpstart the process so you can feature your work online quickly.

This list is packed with options that provide free plans to help you get started. (Note that many do also offer paid options with the ability to customize or add premium features.)

Here are a few tools that can help writers, designers, photographers, artists, or pretty much anyone get their portfolio online this week.

Inspiration / 9 Jan 2023

35+ Inspiring Personal Portfolio Websites in 2023

I just love digging around portfolio websites for design inspiration. You can learn so much about the personality of a designer from the way a portfolio looks, and the interactions therein.

A portfolio site is also a great playground because it gives you the creative freedom you can’t always express with a normal client project.

Here, we have a roundup of personal portfolio websites that can impart a dose of instant inspiration. Explore new ideas, design trends, and themes that you can take and use in your own projects.

How to Design a Logo / 7 Jan 2023

How Much Does Logo Design Cost in 2023?

When considering how to design a logo, one of the most common questions has nothing to do with the creation of a brand element. It’s about pricing. How much does a logo design cost?

The answer is pretty complicated and depends on a lot of factors. Today, we’re going to look into logo design costs (and benefits of a professional design). Even if we can’t narrow down an exact price for you, this guide can serve as a starting point.

It should help you get a feel for the different price brackets of the options you could choose, and set off on the right path!

Freebies / 6 Jan 2023

10 Best Free Stock Video Sites in 2023

Need video? From moving images for your own website, to b-roll for clients, having a solid place to find quality stock videos is a must. Today, we’re going to help you “stock” your toolkit with ten places to find amazing, free stock video for a variety of projects.

We are giving you basic information about using stock videos from each vendor; make sure to check specific license agreements before using any stock image or video. These can vary quite a bit, and it’s worth making sure that any video use is a good fit for your project license-wise!

Reviews / 6 Jan 2023

Wondershare Filmora 12 Gives Creators More Freedom

Video editing is easier and more cost-effective than ever for creators with Wondershare’s Filmora 12. The easy-to-use video editing software is designed with all the features you want, plus a budget-friendly price.

Here, we’re going to take a look at Filmora 12, its key features and tools, and how it might work for you in video projects.

Read on to find out if Filmora 12 might be a good contender for your next project.

Affinity Publisher Templates / 5 Jan 2023

25+ Most Useful Affinity Publisher Tutorials (+ Reviews) in 2023

Affinity Publisher is a powerful design app available for Mac and Windows. It’s a standalone tool that is made for creating printed projects, such as magazines, brochures, posters, and other collateral pieces.

Use it to combine images and other graphic elements to create outstanding layouts for publishing. Whether you are new to Affinity Publisher or not, great tutorials can help you master specific or general skills to help you make the most of the tool. Here, we’ve collected some of the best to help you jumpstart projects.

Affinity Designer Templates / 2 Jan 2023

25+ Most Helpful Affinity Designer Tutorials (+ Reviews) in 2023

Affinity Designer is a vector or raster app. It’s a competitor to Adobe’s Illustrator and allows you to design various elements for print or digital publication.

It’s part of the Affinity package of design tools made by Serif. Use it to do anything from making a business card to mock-up an app. Affinity Designer is made for Mac iOS, Windows, and iPad.

Here, we’ve collected some of the best for everyone from beginners to more seasoned pros, a mix of video and written tutorials. It’s a great place to start for upskilling with your first steps in Affinity Designer!

Trends / 29 Dec 2022

50 Best Website Color Schemes of 2023

Does it ever seem like certain website color schemes just get all the attention? As with every other aspect of web design, there are color schemes that tend to trend more than others. Bright colors, stark palettes, and even some mismatching schemes are elements of color that are trending.

Here’s a look at some of the best website color schemes (in no particular order). For each, we’re also sharing the color codes that make up the key elements of the design, so it’s easy to play around with these color schemes yourself too!

One of the biggest trends in color schemes that you might notice is the use of dark dominant colors and backgrounds and shades of gold and bright red or pink hues for accents. This dark/light combo is an evolution of black and red in many minimal designs from a few years ago with a more modern touch.

Here are some great examples of color choices done right, to inspire your next project.

Final Cut Pro Templates / 26 Dec 2022

22+ Best Final Cut Pro Tutorials for Beginners 2023

Goal: Edit videos, add effects, and create better productions with ease in Final Cut Pro. Solution: You need a stellar tutorial that walks you through all the steps in this increasingly popular video editing tool.

Thanks to great tutorials from pros, you’ll be able to capture just the right moment, with the right effect quickly.

We’ve rounded up some of the best Final Cut Pro tutorials out there for beginners to help you make the most of this software. Note that Final Cut Pro is a robust tool, but it is only available for the Mac.

Software / 24 Dec 2022

The 8 Best Photoshop Alternatives for Windows (2023)

Looking for a faster and better alternative to Adobe Photoshop? While Photoshop has been a standard for years, that’s starting to change with plenty of new tools for Windows that make easy work of photo editing. Many of these new tools include smart functions that will speed up workflows.

The best Photoshop alternatives pack in just the features you need without a lot of fluff you won’t use. Here’s a list of the best Photoshop alternatives for Windows in 2023.

Take note of special features to find the one that’s right for you.

UX Design / 23 Dec 2022

Microinteractions Are Growing Up: How to Design Them in 2023

Microinteractions aren’t a new concept in UX design, but they keep getting more impressive. We’ve been talking about microinteractions here at Design Shack for a while because they are so vital to the overall success of web projects.

Microinteractions are those tiny details that turn an ordinary user experience into something more memorable and engaging. The little things that surprise and delight, adding a layer of enjoyable UX to your app or website.

Here’s a look at how designers are using microinteractions in 2021 with examples of how this design technique has grown up.

Instagram Templates / 19 Dec 2022

10 Key Instagram Trends for Designers to Watch in 2023

From hard-core ‘grammers to those that post the occasional pic, Instagram is the social media platform that’s practically made for designers because it is so visual.

So, you’ll probably want to be on-trend when it comes to posting. Here are nine ways to create images that look modern with a few examples and Instagram templates to help you get started.

From #nofilter, to framing, overlay elements, carousels, and more, we’re exploring all the trends you need to know.