Graphics - Page 3

Graphics / 26 Aug 2021

10 Tips for Working With Bold Colors in Web Design

Designing with bold color is a lot of fun.

It’s also a little dangerous.

Bold color choices can evoke emotion, draw attention, and create just the right vibe for a design. On the other hand, bold color can feel frenzied or off balance. Users are instantly drawn into color or turned off by it.

Here’s a look at a few ways to use bold color in web design. We’ll walk through how to bring personality and vivid style into your projects, while keeping a sense of balance and accessibility that makes the site easy to use.

Graphics / 23 Aug 2021

How to Balance “Good Design” vs. a Functional Website

It’s the chicken and egg debate of website design: What comes first “good design” or functional design?

Both answers are right… and wrong.

Unlike much of what we share on Design Shack, this is more of a personal essay on the benefits of each type of thinking and why I’ll design with function over “good design” almost any day of the week.

And I’ll back up my thinking with some examples that have made a difference for real-life projects.

Graphics / 9 Aug 2021

Learn to Color Match and Create a Palette Like a Pro (Tips and Tools)

You know it the minute you see it – a design that has so color that’s so impactful you can’t help but look at it.

These designs typically fall into one of two categories. Either it’s a great color palette that you want to find a way to replicate immediately. Or it’s a color palette so bizarre or bad that you can’t figure out why a designer would make that choice!

Since no one wants to fall in the latter category, learning to color match and develop palettes is a vital design skill.

It all starts with color theory but then goes a little further.

Graphics / 4 Aug 2021

10 Awesome Places to Download Free Vector Art

Despite what many would think, the term web designer does not always imply an artist. There are many very capable web developers and designers that are lucky to pull off a quality stick figure on most days. For those that are able to create complicated artwork, there are plenty of times when you’re up against a deadline need something generic.

For either of these situations, you can’t beat free vectors. Though the quality varies dramatically depending on the source, there’s no shortage of great work out there that you can download and use in your projects immediately. Below we’ll take a look at ten websites offering free vectors of various types.

Photoshop Actions / 21 Jul 2021

How to Whiten Teeth in Photoshop (Quick Step by Step Guide)

One of the things that always ruins a great portrait photo is yellow teeth. With Photoshop, you can get rid of it easily. We’ll show you how it’s done.

Most of the time, yellow teeth in portrait occurs without any fault by the person in the photo. Usually, it happens during bad lighting conditions and even the adjustments you make in the camera as well. Thankfully, Photoshop has a fix for this issue.

In this short guide, you’ll learn how to whiten teeth in Photoshop. This is a very simple 3-step method that you can do without any prior graphic design knowledge.

Let’s dive in.

Photoshop Actions / 20 Jul 2021

How to Remove an Object in Photoshop (Step by Step Guide)

One of the most common uses of Photoshop is removing objects from photos. In fact, it’s one of the reasons the software was so popular back in the day.

If you’ve just bought a subscription to Photoshop, removing objects is a trick you must learn right away. In this quick guide, we’ll show you how.

Photoshop has come a long way over the years and removing objects in photos is now much easier thanks to advanced AI-powered technologies. You can easily remove most objects without any effort.

Let’s dive in and see how.

Procreate Brushes / 7 Jul 2021

Procreate vs. Photoshop: Should You Make the Switch?

Designers are in love with Procreate. The app built for creative professionals makes designing on an iPad easier and more efficient in a completely new way. But can a $9.99 app be a realistic Photoshop competitor?

For some, the answer is a definite yes.

Here are five reasons Procreate could become your go-to design app (and five reasons why it might not). Plus, an introduction to what Procreate is, and why it might be the perfect app for you.

Graphics / 24 Jun 2021

An Introduction to Custom Cursors in Web Design: Tips, Ideas + Tutorials

One of the biggest trends in web design these days is custom cursors. At first glance, a custom website cursor may look like just another stylistic element. But there’s much more to this design concept.

When viewing a website from a desktop device, the cursor is the main component that bridges the gap between the user and the website. If you’re creative enough, you can actually use this cursor to your advantage to boost website interaction and engagement rates like never before.

In this guide, we take a closer look at what custom cursors are all about, why you should use them, and offer you a few tutorials for designing your own custom cursors.

Let’s get started.

CSS / 14 Jun 2021

An Introduction to Animation in Web Design

Animation is not just for cartoons anymore. From full-screen moving images to small hover effects, touches of animation are popping up everywhere. Animation is trendy, fun, and user-friendly.

And the obstacles to using animation have started to fall. With most users on high-speed connections and the ease of creating anything from simple movements or a silly gif to several minutes of action, animations have become practical and useful web design tools.

Let’s dive in!

Graphics / 31 May 2021

How to Create a Disruptive Design (So It Will Get Seen)

If you really want to create a design that will make people look, it has to be disruptive.

While “disruptive” can be a bit of a hackneyed catchphrase, it is also at the core of what you do when you create something new. The goal is to get people to stop, look, and interact.

Disruption works because it is different from the norm. This can include anything from being at the forefront of a new trend to designing with an interesting font, color palette, or design pattern.

This description from Layla Acaroglu explains it perfectly: “Design is about creating something that adds to or iterates on the existing, and disruption is about creating a disturbance with the intent of changing a system. When combined, the practice of Disruptive Design is to create intentional interventions into a pre-existing system with the specific objective to leverage a different outcome, and more importantly, an outcome that is likely to create positive social change.”

Now how can you do it? We have a few ideas (and examples) for you.

Graphics / 26 Apr 2021

Data Visualization Design: Tools, Examples & Tips

Data visualization is one of those design trends or techniques that just seems to keep growing in use and value. From simple infographics to full data stories, this informational format is almost everywhere.

And for good reason: A good data visualization makes complex content that much easier to understand.

Here, we are breaking down data visualization tools, examples, tips so you can design with data successfully.

Graphics / 29 Mar 2021

7 Tips for Establishing a Visual Brand Identity

Whether you are working on a design for a client at a major corporation or posting to your own social media account, a visual brand identity makes it easy for people to see – and know – a company or person at a glance.

Establishing a visual identity is more than popping a logo on something. It’s a collection of elements – from color to typography to imagery – that establishes who you are visually.

Plenty of companies take the time to set brand identity guidelines, but have you thought about how it all comes together visually? This set of tips can help.