- Start with a question: what problem are we trying to solve?
- Understanding the problem you are solving begins with research. Research uncovers achievable goals.Being tired of a site is not necessarily a great reason to redesign.
- Research makes you a credible partner with stakeholders. Shows you care about business considerations.Build the relationship before you show the design. This sets up collaboration between you and your client instead of a service-based relationship.
- Redesign objectives need to be an integration of user needs & business goals. First part of learning what people need is getting out and talking to them. Research helps you manage changing requirements. Can always return to the real things people really need. Provides you with bulletproof reasons to keep project on track.
- Have a content strategy: know what the actual content on your site will be before you finalize your design. Remind people where you are in the process before you present designs. Outline previous decisions, status, etc.
- Learn to translate: sometimes people say one thing but mean another. Try to look for the actual meaning of people’s comments. Convey the meaning of design so you don’t have to get into arguing the details. Use design to communicate the direction of the project: who is it for and how does the design reflect that?
- Dealing with feedback. When you receive feedback reference the research. Communicate the “why” behind the design. Bring the discussion back to the strategy level and away from the pixel level. Sell ideas not pixels.
- When looking for inspiration, check out what your peers are doing, where you have been, and more.
- Design from the content out and ensure function is part of the design.
Showing posts with label webdesign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label webdesign. Show all posts
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Website Redesign Tips 3:22 PM
Whether we are working on client or our own site, we are designing something that needs to meet someone else’s goals and below are the tips i have employed to get my projects done.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Where Visual Design Meets Usability 11:58 AM
Here is an interesting interview between UIE’s Joshua Porter and Luke Wroblewski. I was impressed by Luke’s clarity in describing how visual design can improve a site’s usability.
Read the interview here: Where Visual Design Meets Usability
Read the interview here: Where Visual Design Meets Usability
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines 5:47 PM
'If you write for a site or a magazine, it is the content and the title that meets the visitor’s eye before they read in detail. The headline gives the reader a prior idea of what the site is all about. A bold headline or a title with a captivating font is the first step to win the whole battle. They grow the reader’s interest to stay on the page, instead of giving it a look and move for another interesting one. Here is some information on eye catching and bold fonts to galvanize the sites look and invite more readers.
An article worth reading at: Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines
An article worth reading at: Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines
Sunday, October 2, 2011
22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability 2:57 AM
Interesting article i thought will be useful to you.
22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability
Have a pleasant reading
22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability
Have a pleasant reading
Friday, July 1, 2011
Design Criticism and the Creative Process 8:08 AM
This an interesting article that i came across.Hope it is useful in your career.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/design-criticism-creative-process/
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/design-criticism-creative-process/
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
40 Creative and Beautiful Package Designs 2:30 AM
Package design and development are often thought of as an integral part of the product development process. Package design starts with the identification of all the requirements: structural design, marketing, shelf life, quality and the real purpose of the product. For designing the package needs thinking inside, outside and all around the box. The primary goal of Package Designing is the to attract the consumers attention. Thus, today such designs could not stop only by informing the customers, but it needs to build up a feeling of buying the product and communicate the essential features that would benefit the customer. An effective and creative package design would always look great on the shelf and also make the customers curious to get to know more about the product. The package design is really the first impression of the product in the customers mind. The package design distinguishes your product from the hundreds of other companies that produce the same product.
In this post we are publishing 40 Creative and Beautiful Package Designs for your inspiration. I hope some of these inspire you to create a beautiful masterpiece yourself.
Have a pleasant read
http://artatm.com/2011/05/40-creative-and-beautiful-package-designs/
In this post we are publishing 40 Creative and Beautiful Package Designs for your inspiration. I hope some of these inspire you to create a beautiful masterpiece yourself.
Have a pleasant read
http://artatm.com/2011/05/40-creative-and-beautiful-package-designs/
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
WHY PERSUASIVE DESIGN SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT SKILL SET 11:50 PM
Persuasive design is the next practice it will supercharge and embrace, folding its techniques into interaction design.
Have a pleasant reading
WHY PERSUASIVE DESIGN SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT SKILL SET
Have a pleasant reading
WHY PERSUASIVE DESIGN SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT SKILL SET
Monday, June 6, 2011
Facts About Design Costing 10:30 AM
Designing has become one of the most rewarding and profitable careers in today’s world. The professional world of designing has seen many old and new designers switching from employment to self-employment, due to the rewarding nature of this business. Such designers have done quite a good job in producing call-to-action campaigns resulting into a wider clientele. However, among these, there are many who cut a sorry figure when it comes to costing or charging their design services.
Costing for one’s products is not at all a big deal, however, when it comes to costing for your services, people often find themselves in an acute dilemma. Same happens when a designer does a very good and fulfilling project, but when the client asks for the costing, he totally shuts down and finds himself looking around and asking the fellow designers as what do they charge and how to go about this process.
Following are some facts about pricing your design services:
First Rule, That There is No Rule
If, for any reason, you expect this article to provide you with rules and regulations and set guidelines, then you are seriously mistaken. The very first thing you need to learn about design costing is that there is not hard and fast rule for it. There are no books or guidelines that may help you actually make good costing. The basic reason is that designing is an extremely variable process. Some designs may look simple and easy, yet only the designer might know how much effort and research he has put into making it.
Therefore my suggestion is that every designer needs to develop his or her own method for pricing, and even if you do make your own rules, you probably won’t be able to follow the same rule on every project. It is better to not only have your own formulas of costing but these should also be extremely flexible, highly variable and according to the project.
Costing – A Necessary Evil
Like all other creative professionals of the world, designers usually like to focus on their work more than any other aspect of their business. Although their business is totally commercial and aimed at money-making, still, they are not very comfortable with pricing their services. However, while working on a design project, they should be aware that they will have to face the costing aspect sooner or later. Even more, they cannot hire anyone for this job or leave it to a friend to charge their services, as they are the only ones who know how much time and effort has been put into a certain project and how it should be valued in terms of money.
Especially and particularly, for freelance designers, costing is a necessary evil. One should understand that freelancers wear a lot of hats, and design costing is just one of them. Therefore, it is important to get comfortable with it as earlier as possible and save yourself from many long-term issues.
Charging Less is Inevitable for Starters
There is an important thing that all the design newbies should understand, i.e. no matter how good you design or how skillful you are with your work, there is something that will always keep you from costing your work at higher prices and that is the sole fact that you are new. As soon as you enter the market, as a freelance designer, you will find that you need to prove yourself to the market and establish a name. Charging less is the only way you can beat the raging competition and get your share of goodies from the market.
Hourly Costing Vs Project-based Costing
There are two basic formats on which designer around the world charge their clients i.e. hourly costing or project-based costing. Different designers opt for any of these two formats owing to their routine, work pattern and market trend. It all depends on you as how would you like to take it across and on which format your clients are comfortable paying you. However, in general, project-based costing is more common than hourly rates, but it is better that you explore the pros and cons of both formats and then make a decision.
Learning through Trial and Error
Wherever there is fluctuation in the value for your services, freelancers and even the bigger organizations opt for the most comfortable, yet risky method of costing, i.e. trial and error. Although there is very little margin to experiment whenever there is money involved, however, for starters, trial and error method gives you long-term benefits.
If you have made a mistake in design costing (under-charged and client and lost a big chunk of money or over-charged a client and lost him for being too expensive), always remember that it is normal and you should learn from it. The more you learn from your experiences, the trial and error method will automatically diminish.
Your Prices Speak for Your Work
Design costing is a very tricky business. You need to strike a balance between your high and low prices as this can lead to your reputation. How? Well, pricing is one of the most solid and common way of judging the abilities of a designer (sometimes even more than his or her portfolio). When people usually meet a low-pricing designer,(no matter how well you have designed their brochures, flyers, post cards or business cards) the first thing that comes in their mind is that he or she must not be very skilled or experienced. Your prices impact your impression on your potential clients.
Your prices also impact; rather speak for your own idea about your services and abilities. By costing your services very low you will eventually convince yourself that you are not worth more. Then again, if you cost your services too high, you will indulge in feelings of over-confidence and will not be able to land many clients. So it is always good to keep a balanced costing habit that should benefit you more.
It’s OK to be Uncertain
As I have mentioned repeatedly earlier, design costing is a very vague and fluctuating process. Especially the freelance designers, no matter how experienced they are in their business they do feel slight uncertainly while costing their design projects every time. So either you are a starter or a veteran freelance designer, it is OK to be uncertain about design costing. The majority freelancers struggle with design costing and are often very uncertain, so being uncertain doesn’t mean that you are inferior or lack talent. Take the time to educate yourself through learning and experience.
Sometimes it is Good to Lose a Project
This a fact especially addressed to the designers who are new in freelancing. When you start a business, there is a special hunger for more and more work coming in. This is totally understandable and quite acceptable, however, as soon as you start getting regular work, you need to wash this lusty attitude away and become choosy about your clients and projects.
All of us have a limited amount of time available for work in a day, and taking a job that does not pay what you need to make it to a good livelihood, isn’t going to be ideal. If you see that the client is very annoying, negatively critical or paying less, your freelancing gives you all the rights to drop that project and focus on more positive ones. Once you have dropped a project then there is no need to worry about it, because, after all, only a freelance design can enjoy this privilege!
Reagan Sirengo Muganda
www.reaganfolio.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Reagan_Sirengo
Costing for one’s products is not at all a big deal, however, when it comes to costing for your services, people often find themselves in an acute dilemma. Same happens when a designer does a very good and fulfilling project, but when the client asks for the costing, he totally shuts down and finds himself looking around and asking the fellow designers as what do they charge and how to go about this process.
Following are some facts about pricing your design services:
First Rule, That There is No Rule
If, for any reason, you expect this article to provide you with rules and regulations and set guidelines, then you are seriously mistaken. The very first thing you need to learn about design costing is that there is not hard and fast rule for it. There are no books or guidelines that may help you actually make good costing. The basic reason is that designing is an extremely variable process. Some designs may look simple and easy, yet only the designer might know how much effort and research he has put into making it.
Therefore my suggestion is that every designer needs to develop his or her own method for pricing, and even if you do make your own rules, you probably won’t be able to follow the same rule on every project. It is better to not only have your own formulas of costing but these should also be extremely flexible, highly variable and according to the project.
Costing – A Necessary Evil
Like all other creative professionals of the world, designers usually like to focus on their work more than any other aspect of their business. Although their business is totally commercial and aimed at money-making, still, they are not very comfortable with pricing their services. However, while working on a design project, they should be aware that they will have to face the costing aspect sooner or later. Even more, they cannot hire anyone for this job or leave it to a friend to charge their services, as they are the only ones who know how much time and effort has been put into a certain project and how it should be valued in terms of money.
Especially and particularly, for freelance designers, costing is a necessary evil. One should understand that freelancers wear a lot of hats, and design costing is just one of them. Therefore, it is important to get comfortable with it as earlier as possible and save yourself from many long-term issues.
Charging Less is Inevitable for Starters
There is an important thing that all the design newbies should understand, i.e. no matter how good you design or how skillful you are with your work, there is something that will always keep you from costing your work at higher prices and that is the sole fact that you are new. As soon as you enter the market, as a freelance designer, you will find that you need to prove yourself to the market and establish a name. Charging less is the only way you can beat the raging competition and get your share of goodies from the market.
Hourly Costing Vs Project-based Costing
There are two basic formats on which designer around the world charge their clients i.e. hourly costing or project-based costing. Different designers opt for any of these two formats owing to their routine, work pattern and market trend. It all depends on you as how would you like to take it across and on which format your clients are comfortable paying you. However, in general, project-based costing is more common than hourly rates, but it is better that you explore the pros and cons of both formats and then make a decision.
Learning through Trial and Error
Wherever there is fluctuation in the value for your services, freelancers and even the bigger organizations opt for the most comfortable, yet risky method of costing, i.e. trial and error. Although there is very little margin to experiment whenever there is money involved, however, for starters, trial and error method gives you long-term benefits.
If you have made a mistake in design costing (under-charged and client and lost a big chunk of money or over-charged a client and lost him for being too expensive), always remember that it is normal and you should learn from it. The more you learn from your experiences, the trial and error method will automatically diminish.
Your Prices Speak for Your Work
Design costing is a very tricky business. You need to strike a balance between your high and low prices as this can lead to your reputation. How? Well, pricing is one of the most solid and common way of judging the abilities of a designer (sometimes even more than his or her portfolio). When people usually meet a low-pricing designer,(no matter how well you have designed their brochures, flyers, post cards or business cards) the first thing that comes in their mind is that he or she must not be very skilled or experienced. Your prices impact your impression on your potential clients.
Your prices also impact; rather speak for your own idea about your services and abilities. By costing your services very low you will eventually convince yourself that you are not worth more. Then again, if you cost your services too high, you will indulge in feelings of over-confidence and will not be able to land many clients. So it is always good to keep a balanced costing habit that should benefit you more.
It’s OK to be Uncertain
As I have mentioned repeatedly earlier, design costing is a very vague and fluctuating process. Especially the freelance designers, no matter how experienced they are in their business they do feel slight uncertainly while costing their design projects every time. So either you are a starter or a veteran freelance designer, it is OK to be uncertain about design costing. The majority freelancers struggle with design costing and are often very uncertain, so being uncertain doesn’t mean that you are inferior or lack talent. Take the time to educate yourself through learning and experience.
Sometimes it is Good to Lose a Project
This a fact especially addressed to the designers who are new in freelancing. When you start a business, there is a special hunger for more and more work coming in. This is totally understandable and quite acceptable, however, as soon as you start getting regular work, you need to wash this lusty attitude away and become choosy about your clients and projects.
All of us have a limited amount of time available for work in a day, and taking a job that does not pay what you need to make it to a good livelihood, isn’t going to be ideal. If you see that the client is very annoying, negatively critical or paying less, your freelancing gives you all the rights to drop that project and focus on more positive ones. Once you have dropped a project then there is no need to worry about it, because, after all, only a freelance design can enjoy this privilege!
Reagan Sirengo Muganda
www.reaganfolio.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Reagan_Sirengo
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web 7:25 AM
I'm a designer . I don't do any coding, just design. I work in InDesign, Illustrator, occasionally photoshop. I then hand off my Illustrator/PSD design files to the developer who applies the code. Sometimes i run into trouble and endless QA with my friend web designer over the mock up sites i design
In my opinion, there's two sides to this:
1) as a Graphic designer i should know the limitations that exist when designing for the web.
2) the developer should be able to match my design perfectly as long as my requirements are realistic for a web design (hence point #1) such as using a 960 Grid System template and using a 10px grid with snap to to grid turned on in photoshop/illustrator. That way all my layout elements will be 10px/20px/30px/etc apart and easier to work out, code wise.
Here's a website that lists a set of guidelines for communicating your designs to the developer:
The Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web Designers
photoshopetiquette dot com
Hope it's useful for the designers who mostly do print collateral.
In my opinion, there's two sides to this:
1) as a Graphic designer i should know the limitations that exist when designing for the web.
2) the developer should be able to match my design perfectly as long as my requirements are realistic for a web design (hence point #1) such as using a 960 Grid System template and using a 10px grid with snap to to grid turned on in photoshop/illustrator. That way all my layout elements will be 10px/20px/30px/etc apart and easier to work out, code wise.
Here's a website that lists a set of guidelines for communicating your designs to the developer:
The Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web Designers
photoshopetiquette dot com
Hope it's useful for the designers who mostly do print collateral.
The Most Wanted Design Tutorials in Photoshop 4:20 AM
Here are now the unique, creative and stunning tutorials every Photoshop developer surely loves to learn.
http://www.funspill.com/design-tutorials-photohop/
Enjoy
http://www.funspill.com/design-tutorials-photohop/
Enjoy
Best Tutorials 2:41 AM
I found some interesting resource and thought you might enjoy too.
http://sharkwebstyle.com/2011/03/best-tutorials-february-2011/
Have a pleasant reading.
http://sharkwebstyle.com/2011/03/best-tutorials-february-2011/
Have a pleasant reading.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Adobe CS5 suite review 10:43 AM
To begin, I must say that I detected in the suite CS5 one of the major flaws of the CS4: it requires too much RAM and memory. Adobe software, in the past few years has shown a very annoying tendency to double the memory required to install the newer version of every software they own. 600 Mb in Photoshop CS2 turned into 2 Gb CS4, and now, as expected, you’d better have 3 and a half gigabytes to spare in your hard drive.
Another defect of this new suite is the very unpractical habit of sucking 110% of the resources of the machine, requiring an insane RAM and a demented graphic card for the programs to work properly. It makes me laugh that all the Adobe promotional videos are made with Macintosh computers, presumably more powerful than the sword of He-man, and yet all the new tools make them work slowly. The brushes have a good "delay, you will have to wait about 30 seconds (if no more) to apply certain filters ... and so on.
I must say, as a point in favor of the suite, that this time Adobe has had the detail of not having the whole interface changed, they have kept the CS4 design.
In the case of Photoshop, the 3D aspect has been polished. As a plus point, I must admit that the professional versions of the programs are well prepared to work all together because they are fully compatible. However, if God invented compatibility, the devil invented Bridge, a plague they didn’t got rid off in this new version.
I got really upset when I reviewed the new batch of tools of CS5. Each and every one of them (and I mean this for every program, not just Photoshop) are designed to make the softwares more accessible to the public. Don’t get me wrong, but as an artist with experience in the suite, cause I use it continuously to work, I feel infinitely ignored by programmers.
There are few improvements to make life easier for the professional user, such as being able to edit multiple layers at once. But the new tools are basically a candy collection for the general public, to make them able to play with digital creation. They have finally released "Flash Elements" under the name "Flash Catalyst" to make the creation of multimedia environments accessible to the average designer.
In conclusion. The CS5 suite is a somehow an extended version of CS4,but with many bugs solved; with a collection of tools for the public to play with the digital creation, but with little improvement for the professionals.
Adapted from deviant http://news.deviantart.com/article/114507/
Another defect of this new suite is the very unpractical habit of sucking 110% of the resources of the machine, requiring an insane RAM and a demented graphic card for the programs to work properly. It makes me laugh that all the Adobe promotional videos are made with Macintosh computers, presumably more powerful than the sword of He-man, and yet all the new tools make them work slowly. The brushes have a good "delay, you will have to wait about 30 seconds (if no more) to apply certain filters ... and so on.
I must say, as a point in favor of the suite, that this time Adobe has had the detail of not having the whole interface changed, they have kept the CS4 design.
In the case of Photoshop, the 3D aspect has been polished. As a plus point, I must admit that the professional versions of the programs are well prepared to work all together because they are fully compatible. However, if God invented compatibility, the devil invented Bridge, a plague they didn’t got rid off in this new version.
I got really upset when I reviewed the new batch of tools of CS5. Each and every one of them (and I mean this for every program, not just Photoshop) are designed to make the softwares more accessible to the public. Don’t get me wrong, but as an artist with experience in the suite, cause I use it continuously to work, I feel infinitely ignored by programmers.
There are few improvements to make life easier for the professional user, such as being able to edit multiple layers at once. But the new tools are basically a candy collection for the general public, to make them able to play with digital creation. They have finally released "Flash Elements" under the name "Flash Catalyst" to make the creation of multimedia environments accessible to the average designer.
In conclusion. The CS5 suite is a somehow an extended version of CS4,but with many bugs solved; with a collection of tools for the public to play with the digital creation, but with little improvement for the professionals.
Adapted from deviant http://news.deviantart.com/article/114507/
Adobe Creative Suite 5 Is the Creative Professional's Dream Package 10:16 AM
The hype surrounding's Adobe's new Creative Suite 5 (CS5) was huge. The software was touted as being a game-changing new package that would enable creative professionals to work more efficiently, and in some truly amazing ways. For the most part, CS5 does just that.
Adobe CS5, available for both Mac and Windows, takes the company's killer apps and infuses them with new polish and features, making the package one of the most extensive updates we've seen in the suite's history.
Creative Suite 5's scope is so huge, that we not only did a full review of the overall package, but drilled down into each individual application: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Adobe InDesign CS5, and Adobe Photoshop CS5
Adobe CS5, available for both Mac and Windows, takes the company's killer apps and infuses them with new polish and features, making the package one of the most extensive updates we've seen in the suite's history.
Creative Suite 5's scope is so huge, that we not only did a full review of the overall package, but drilled down into each individual application: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Adobe InDesign CS5, and Adobe Photoshop CS5
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Adobe InDesign for wireframing in website design 3:02 AM
I have relied on InDesign for almost all my wireframing needs and it has served me very well. However, I am aware that InDesign might not be such a widely used tool within the Interaction Design community and it was therefor decided to use Illustrator for the wireframing workshop. Having now worked in both these packages, here are my thoughts on why I prefer InDesign to Illustrator.
One Package
This issue refers partly to the pagination problem. Essentially, you are using the same functionality in Illustrator to draw the wireframes than in InDesign. It is possible to draw all you need right within Indesign but it is impossible to make a proper document Indesign-style in Illustrator. This means that you are using two applications in stead of one to get the same job done.
Styles
Illustrator isn’t as good with paragraph styles, compared to InDesign. Although it is possible to define paragraph styles in Illustrator, it simply is not as robust as InDesign. I have the feeling that paragraph styles are an afterthought in Illustrations, whereas in InDesign it forms a major part of the functionality.
Masters
Masters are a powerful tool in InDesign. It allows you to create templates that repeat themselves throughout your entire site. Indicating where the fold is, for instance, can be done on a master page. Recurring elements such as a header can be designed and placed in a master and simply applied when needed.
General Document Design
Using and knowing InDesign teaches basic document design skills, but more importantly, it teaches typography
Whilst Illustrator is a far more advanced illustration tool (as the name suggest) than InDesign, the drawing functionality found in InDesign is more than sufficient to develop high quality wireframes.
One Package
This issue refers partly to the pagination problem. Essentially, you are using the same functionality in Illustrator to draw the wireframes than in InDesign. It is possible to draw all you need right within Indesign but it is impossible to make a proper document Indesign-style in Illustrator. This means that you are using two applications in stead of one to get the same job done.
Styles
Illustrator isn’t as good with paragraph styles, compared to InDesign. Although it is possible to define paragraph styles in Illustrator, it simply is not as robust as InDesign. I have the feeling that paragraph styles are an afterthought in Illustrations, whereas in InDesign it forms a major part of the functionality.
Masters
Masters are a powerful tool in InDesign. It allows you to create templates that repeat themselves throughout your entire site. Indicating where the fold is, for instance, can be done on a master page. Recurring elements such as a header can be designed and placed in a master and simply applied when needed.
General Document Design
Using and knowing InDesign teaches basic document design skills, but more importantly, it teaches typography
Whilst Illustrator is a far more advanced illustration tool (as the name suggest) than InDesign, the drawing functionality found in InDesign is more than sufficient to develop high quality wireframes.
Showing posts with label webdesign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label webdesign. Show all posts
Website Redesign Tips
3:22 PM
Whether we are working on client or our own site, we are designing something that needs to meet someone else’s goals and below are the tips i have employed to get my projects done.
- Start with a question: what problem are we trying to solve?
- Understanding the problem you are solving begins with research. Research uncovers achievable goals.Being tired of a site is not necessarily a great reason to redesign.
- Research makes you a credible partner with stakeholders. Shows you care about business considerations.Build the relationship before you show the design. This sets up collaboration between you and your client instead of a service-based relationship.
- Redesign objectives need to be an integration of user needs & business goals. First part of learning what people need is getting out and talking to them. Research helps you manage changing requirements. Can always return to the real things people really need. Provides you with bulletproof reasons to keep project on track.
- Have a content strategy: know what the actual content on your site will be before you finalize your design. Remind people where you are in the process before you present designs. Outline previous decisions, status, etc.
- Learn to translate: sometimes people say one thing but mean another. Try to look for the actual meaning of people’s comments. Convey the meaning of design so you don’t have to get into arguing the details. Use design to communicate the direction of the project: who is it for and how does the design reflect that?
- Dealing with feedback. When you receive feedback reference the research. Communicate the “why” behind the design. Bring the discussion back to the strategy level and away from the pixel level. Sell ideas not pixels.
- When looking for inspiration, check out what your peers are doing, where you have been, and more.
- Design from the content out and ensure function is part of the design.
Read more...
Where Visual Design Meets Usability
11:58 AM
Here is an interesting interview between UIE’s Joshua Porter and Luke Wroblewski. I was impressed by Luke’s clarity in describing how visual design can improve a site’s usability.
Read the interview here: Where Visual Design Meets Usability
Read the interview here: Where Visual Design Meets Usability
Read more...
blogging,
new,
presentations,
projects,
special characters,
UI,
usability,
UX,
visual design,
web,
Web designer,
webdesign,
website
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Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines
5:47 PM
'If you write for a site or a magazine, it is the content and the title that meets the visitor’s eye before they read in detail. The headline gives the reader a prior idea of what the site is all about. A bold headline or a title with a captivating font is the first step to win the whole battle. They grow the reader’s interest to stay on the page, instead of giving it a look and move for another interesting one. Here is some information on eye catching and bold fonts to galvanize the sites look and invite more readers.
An article worth reading at: Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines
An article worth reading at: Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines
Read more...
22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability
2:57 AM
Interesting article i thought will be useful to you.
22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability
Have a pleasant reading
22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability
Have a pleasant reading
Read more...
Design Criticism and the Creative Process
8:08 AM
This an interesting article that i came across.Hope it is useful in your career.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/design-criticism-creative-process/
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/design-criticism-creative-process/
Read more...
40 Creative and Beautiful Package Designs
2:30 AM
Package design and development are often thought of as an integral part of the product development process. Package design starts with the identification of all the requirements: structural design, marketing, shelf life, quality and the real purpose of the product. For designing the package needs thinking inside, outside and all around the box. The primary goal of Package Designing is the to attract the consumers attention. Thus, today such designs could not stop only by informing the customers, but it needs to build up a feeling of buying the product and communicate the essential features that would benefit the customer. An effective and creative package design would always look great on the shelf and also make the customers curious to get to know more about the product. The package design is really the first impression of the product in the customers mind. The package design distinguishes your product from the hundreds of other companies that produce the same product.
In this post we are publishing 40 Creative and Beautiful Package Designs for your inspiration. I hope some of these inspire you to create a beautiful masterpiece yourself.
Have a pleasant read
http://artatm.com/2011/05/40-creative-and-beautiful-package-designs/
In this post we are publishing 40 Creative and Beautiful Package Designs for your inspiration. I hope some of these inspire you to create a beautiful masterpiece yourself.
Have a pleasant read
http://artatm.com/2011/05/40-creative-and-beautiful-package-designs/
Read more...
WHY PERSUASIVE DESIGN SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT SKILL SET
11:50 PM
Persuasive design is the next practice it will supercharge and embrace, folding its techniques into interaction design.
Have a pleasant reading
WHY PERSUASIVE DESIGN SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT SKILL SET
Have a pleasant reading
WHY PERSUASIVE DESIGN SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT SKILL SET
Read more...
Facts About Design Costing
10:30 AM
Designing has become one of the most rewarding and profitable careers in today’s world. The professional world of designing has seen many old and new designers switching from employment to self-employment, due to the rewarding nature of this business. Such designers have done quite a good job in producing call-to-action campaigns resulting into a wider clientele. However, among these, there are many who cut a sorry figure when it comes to costing or charging their design services.
Costing for one’s products is not at all a big deal, however, when it comes to costing for your services, people often find themselves in an acute dilemma. Same happens when a designer does a very good and fulfilling project, but when the client asks for the costing, he totally shuts down and finds himself looking around and asking the fellow designers as what do they charge and how to go about this process.
Following are some facts about pricing your design services:
First Rule, That There is No Rule
If, for any reason, you expect this article to provide you with rules and regulations and set guidelines, then you are seriously mistaken. The very first thing you need to learn about design costing is that there is not hard and fast rule for it. There are no books or guidelines that may help you actually make good costing. The basic reason is that designing is an extremely variable process. Some designs may look simple and easy, yet only the designer might know how much effort and research he has put into making it.
Therefore my suggestion is that every designer needs to develop his or her own method for pricing, and even if you do make your own rules, you probably won’t be able to follow the same rule on every project. It is better to not only have your own formulas of costing but these should also be extremely flexible, highly variable and according to the project.
Costing – A Necessary Evil
Like all other creative professionals of the world, designers usually like to focus on their work more than any other aspect of their business. Although their business is totally commercial and aimed at money-making, still, they are not very comfortable with pricing their services. However, while working on a design project, they should be aware that they will have to face the costing aspect sooner or later. Even more, they cannot hire anyone for this job or leave it to a friend to charge their services, as they are the only ones who know how much time and effort has been put into a certain project and how it should be valued in terms of money.
Especially and particularly, for freelance designers, costing is a necessary evil. One should understand that freelancers wear a lot of hats, and design costing is just one of them. Therefore, it is important to get comfortable with it as earlier as possible and save yourself from many long-term issues.
Charging Less is Inevitable for Starters
There is an important thing that all the design newbies should understand, i.e. no matter how good you design or how skillful you are with your work, there is something that will always keep you from costing your work at higher prices and that is the sole fact that you are new. As soon as you enter the market, as a freelance designer, you will find that you need to prove yourself to the market and establish a name. Charging less is the only way you can beat the raging competition and get your share of goodies from the market.
Hourly Costing Vs Project-based Costing
There are two basic formats on which designer around the world charge their clients i.e. hourly costing or project-based costing. Different designers opt for any of these two formats owing to their routine, work pattern and market trend. It all depends on you as how would you like to take it across and on which format your clients are comfortable paying you. However, in general, project-based costing is more common than hourly rates, but it is better that you explore the pros and cons of both formats and then make a decision.
Learning through Trial and Error
Wherever there is fluctuation in the value for your services, freelancers and even the bigger organizations opt for the most comfortable, yet risky method of costing, i.e. trial and error. Although there is very little margin to experiment whenever there is money involved, however, for starters, trial and error method gives you long-term benefits.
If you have made a mistake in design costing (under-charged and client and lost a big chunk of money or over-charged a client and lost him for being too expensive), always remember that it is normal and you should learn from it. The more you learn from your experiences, the trial and error method will automatically diminish.
Your Prices Speak for Your Work
Design costing is a very tricky business. You need to strike a balance between your high and low prices as this can lead to your reputation. How? Well, pricing is one of the most solid and common way of judging the abilities of a designer (sometimes even more than his or her portfolio). When people usually meet a low-pricing designer,(no matter how well you have designed their brochures, flyers, post cards or business cards) the first thing that comes in their mind is that he or she must not be very skilled or experienced. Your prices impact your impression on your potential clients.
Your prices also impact; rather speak for your own idea about your services and abilities. By costing your services very low you will eventually convince yourself that you are not worth more. Then again, if you cost your services too high, you will indulge in feelings of over-confidence and will not be able to land many clients. So it is always good to keep a balanced costing habit that should benefit you more.
It’s OK to be Uncertain
As I have mentioned repeatedly earlier, design costing is a very vague and fluctuating process. Especially the freelance designers, no matter how experienced they are in their business they do feel slight uncertainly while costing their design projects every time. So either you are a starter or a veteran freelance designer, it is OK to be uncertain about design costing. The majority freelancers struggle with design costing and are often very uncertain, so being uncertain doesn’t mean that you are inferior or lack talent. Take the time to educate yourself through learning and experience.
Sometimes it is Good to Lose a Project
This a fact especially addressed to the designers who are new in freelancing. When you start a business, there is a special hunger for more and more work coming in. This is totally understandable and quite acceptable, however, as soon as you start getting regular work, you need to wash this lusty attitude away and become choosy about your clients and projects.
All of us have a limited amount of time available for work in a day, and taking a job that does not pay what you need to make it to a good livelihood, isn’t going to be ideal. If you see that the client is very annoying, negatively critical or paying less, your freelancing gives you all the rights to drop that project and focus on more positive ones. Once you have dropped a project then there is no need to worry about it, because, after all, only a freelance design can enjoy this privilege!
Reagan Sirengo Muganda
www.reaganfolio.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Reagan_Sirengo
Costing for one’s products is not at all a big deal, however, when it comes to costing for your services, people often find themselves in an acute dilemma. Same happens when a designer does a very good and fulfilling project, but when the client asks for the costing, he totally shuts down and finds himself looking around and asking the fellow designers as what do they charge and how to go about this process.
Following are some facts about pricing your design services:
First Rule, That There is No Rule
If, for any reason, you expect this article to provide you with rules and regulations and set guidelines, then you are seriously mistaken. The very first thing you need to learn about design costing is that there is not hard and fast rule for it. There are no books or guidelines that may help you actually make good costing. The basic reason is that designing is an extremely variable process. Some designs may look simple and easy, yet only the designer might know how much effort and research he has put into making it.
Therefore my suggestion is that every designer needs to develop his or her own method for pricing, and even if you do make your own rules, you probably won’t be able to follow the same rule on every project. It is better to not only have your own formulas of costing but these should also be extremely flexible, highly variable and according to the project.
Costing – A Necessary Evil
Like all other creative professionals of the world, designers usually like to focus on their work more than any other aspect of their business. Although their business is totally commercial and aimed at money-making, still, they are not very comfortable with pricing their services. However, while working on a design project, they should be aware that they will have to face the costing aspect sooner or later. Even more, they cannot hire anyone for this job or leave it to a friend to charge their services, as they are the only ones who know how much time and effort has been put into a certain project and how it should be valued in terms of money.
Especially and particularly, for freelance designers, costing is a necessary evil. One should understand that freelancers wear a lot of hats, and design costing is just one of them. Therefore, it is important to get comfortable with it as earlier as possible and save yourself from many long-term issues.
Charging Less is Inevitable for Starters
There is an important thing that all the design newbies should understand, i.e. no matter how good you design or how skillful you are with your work, there is something that will always keep you from costing your work at higher prices and that is the sole fact that you are new. As soon as you enter the market, as a freelance designer, you will find that you need to prove yourself to the market and establish a name. Charging less is the only way you can beat the raging competition and get your share of goodies from the market.
Hourly Costing Vs Project-based Costing
There are two basic formats on which designer around the world charge their clients i.e. hourly costing or project-based costing. Different designers opt for any of these two formats owing to their routine, work pattern and market trend. It all depends on you as how would you like to take it across and on which format your clients are comfortable paying you. However, in general, project-based costing is more common than hourly rates, but it is better that you explore the pros and cons of both formats and then make a decision.
Learning through Trial and Error
Wherever there is fluctuation in the value for your services, freelancers and even the bigger organizations opt for the most comfortable, yet risky method of costing, i.e. trial and error. Although there is very little margin to experiment whenever there is money involved, however, for starters, trial and error method gives you long-term benefits.
If you have made a mistake in design costing (under-charged and client and lost a big chunk of money or over-charged a client and lost him for being too expensive), always remember that it is normal and you should learn from it. The more you learn from your experiences, the trial and error method will automatically diminish.
Your Prices Speak for Your Work
Design costing is a very tricky business. You need to strike a balance between your high and low prices as this can lead to your reputation. How? Well, pricing is one of the most solid and common way of judging the abilities of a designer (sometimes even more than his or her portfolio). When people usually meet a low-pricing designer,(no matter how well you have designed their brochures, flyers, post cards or business cards) the first thing that comes in their mind is that he or she must not be very skilled or experienced. Your prices impact your impression on your potential clients.
Your prices also impact; rather speak for your own idea about your services and abilities. By costing your services very low you will eventually convince yourself that you are not worth more. Then again, if you cost your services too high, you will indulge in feelings of over-confidence and will not be able to land many clients. So it is always good to keep a balanced costing habit that should benefit you more.
It’s OK to be Uncertain
As I have mentioned repeatedly earlier, design costing is a very vague and fluctuating process. Especially the freelance designers, no matter how experienced they are in their business they do feel slight uncertainly while costing their design projects every time. So either you are a starter or a veteran freelance designer, it is OK to be uncertain about design costing. The majority freelancers struggle with design costing and are often very uncertain, so being uncertain doesn’t mean that you are inferior or lack talent. Take the time to educate yourself through learning and experience.
Sometimes it is Good to Lose a Project
This a fact especially addressed to the designers who are new in freelancing. When you start a business, there is a special hunger for more and more work coming in. This is totally understandable and quite acceptable, however, as soon as you start getting regular work, you need to wash this lusty attitude away and become choosy about your clients and projects.
All of us have a limited amount of time available for work in a day, and taking a job that does not pay what you need to make it to a good livelihood, isn’t going to be ideal. If you see that the client is very annoying, negatively critical or paying less, your freelancing gives you all the rights to drop that project and focus on more positive ones. Once you have dropped a project then there is no need to worry about it, because, after all, only a freelance design can enjoy this privilege!
Reagan Sirengo Muganda
www.reaganfolio.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Reagan_Sirengo
Read more...
The Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web
7:25 AM
I'm a designer . I don't do any coding, just design. I work in InDesign, Illustrator, occasionally photoshop. I then hand off my Illustrator/PSD design files to the developer who applies the code. Sometimes i run into trouble and endless QA with my friend web designer over the mock up sites i design
In my opinion, there's two sides to this:
1) as a Graphic designer i should know the limitations that exist when designing for the web.
2) the developer should be able to match my design perfectly as long as my requirements are realistic for a web design (hence point #1) such as using a 960 Grid System template and using a 10px grid with snap to to grid turned on in photoshop/illustrator. That way all my layout elements will be 10px/20px/30px/etc apart and easier to work out, code wise.
Here's a website that lists a set of guidelines for communicating your designs to the developer:
The Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web Designers
photoshopetiquette dot com
Hope it's useful for the designers who mostly do print collateral.
In my opinion, there's two sides to this:
1) as a Graphic designer i should know the limitations that exist when designing for the web.
2) the developer should be able to match my design perfectly as long as my requirements are realistic for a web design (hence point #1) such as using a 960 Grid System template and using a 10px grid with snap to to grid turned on in photoshop/illustrator. That way all my layout elements will be 10px/20px/30px/etc apart and easier to work out, code wise.
Here's a website that lists a set of guidelines for communicating your designs to the developer:
The Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web Designers
photoshopetiquette dot com
Hope it's useful for the designers who mostly do print collateral.
Read more...
The Most Wanted Design Tutorials in Photoshop
4:20 AM
Here are now the unique, creative and stunning tutorials every Photoshop developer surely loves to learn.
http://www.funspill.com/design-tutorials-photohop/
Enjoy
http://www.funspill.com/design-tutorials-photohop/
Enjoy
Read more...
Best Tutorials
2:41 AM
I found some interesting resource and thought you might enjoy too.
http://sharkwebstyle.com/2011/03/best-tutorials-february-2011/
Have a pleasant reading.
http://sharkwebstyle.com/2011/03/best-tutorials-february-2011/
Have a pleasant reading.
Read more...
Adobe CS5 suite review
10:43 AM
To begin, I must say that I detected in the suite CS5 one of the major flaws of the CS4: it requires too much RAM and memory. Adobe software, in the past few years has shown a very annoying tendency to double the memory required to install the newer version of every software they own. 600 Mb in Photoshop CS2 turned into 2 Gb CS4, and now, as expected, you’d better have 3 and a half gigabytes to spare in your hard drive.
Another defect of this new suite is the very unpractical habit of sucking 110% of the resources of the machine, requiring an insane RAM and a demented graphic card for the programs to work properly. It makes me laugh that all the Adobe promotional videos are made with Macintosh computers, presumably more powerful than the sword of He-man, and yet all the new tools make them work slowly. The brushes have a good "delay, you will have to wait about 30 seconds (if no more) to apply certain filters ... and so on.
I must say, as a point in favor of the suite, that this time Adobe has had the detail of not having the whole interface changed, they have kept the CS4 design.
In the case of Photoshop, the 3D aspect has been polished. As a plus point, I must admit that the professional versions of the programs are well prepared to work all together because they are fully compatible. However, if God invented compatibility, the devil invented Bridge, a plague they didn’t got rid off in this new version.
I got really upset when I reviewed the new batch of tools of CS5. Each and every one of them (and I mean this for every program, not just Photoshop) are designed to make the softwares more accessible to the public. Don’t get me wrong, but as an artist with experience in the suite, cause I use it continuously to work, I feel infinitely ignored by programmers.
There are few improvements to make life easier for the professional user, such as being able to edit multiple layers at once. But the new tools are basically a candy collection for the general public, to make them able to play with digital creation. They have finally released "Flash Elements" under the name "Flash Catalyst" to make the creation of multimedia environments accessible to the average designer.
In conclusion. The CS5 suite is a somehow an extended version of CS4,but with many bugs solved; with a collection of tools for the public to play with the digital creation, but with little improvement for the professionals.
Adapted from deviant http://news.deviantart.com/article/114507/
Another defect of this new suite is the very unpractical habit of sucking 110% of the resources of the machine, requiring an insane RAM and a demented graphic card for the programs to work properly. It makes me laugh that all the Adobe promotional videos are made with Macintosh computers, presumably more powerful than the sword of He-man, and yet all the new tools make them work slowly. The brushes have a good "delay, you will have to wait about 30 seconds (if no more) to apply certain filters ... and so on.
I must say, as a point in favor of the suite, that this time Adobe has had the detail of not having the whole interface changed, they have kept the CS4 design.
In the case of Photoshop, the 3D aspect has been polished. As a plus point, I must admit that the professional versions of the programs are well prepared to work all together because they are fully compatible. However, if God invented compatibility, the devil invented Bridge, a plague they didn’t got rid off in this new version.
I got really upset when I reviewed the new batch of tools of CS5. Each and every one of them (and I mean this for every program, not just Photoshop) are designed to make the softwares more accessible to the public. Don’t get me wrong, but as an artist with experience in the suite, cause I use it continuously to work, I feel infinitely ignored by programmers.
There are few improvements to make life easier for the professional user, such as being able to edit multiple layers at once. But the new tools are basically a candy collection for the general public, to make them able to play with digital creation. They have finally released "Flash Elements" under the name "Flash Catalyst" to make the creation of multimedia environments accessible to the average designer.
In conclusion. The CS5 suite is a somehow an extended version of CS4,but with many bugs solved; with a collection of tools for the public to play with the digital creation, but with little improvement for the professionals.
Adapted from deviant http://news.deviantart.com/article/114507/
Read more...
Adobe Creative Suite 5 Is the Creative Professional's Dream Package
10:16 AM
The hype surrounding's Adobe's new Creative Suite 5 (CS5) was huge. The software was touted as being a game-changing new package that would enable creative professionals to work more efficiently, and in some truly amazing ways. For the most part, CS5 does just that.
Adobe CS5, available for both Mac and Windows, takes the company's killer apps and infuses them with new polish and features, making the package one of the most extensive updates we've seen in the suite's history.
Creative Suite 5's scope is so huge, that we not only did a full review of the overall package, but drilled down into each individual application: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Adobe InDesign CS5, and Adobe Photoshop CS5
Adobe CS5, available for both Mac and Windows, takes the company's killer apps and infuses them with new polish and features, making the package one of the most extensive updates we've seen in the suite's history.
Creative Suite 5's scope is so huge, that we not only did a full review of the overall package, but drilled down into each individual application: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Adobe InDesign CS5, and Adobe Photoshop CS5
Read more...
Adobe InDesign for wireframing in website design
3:02 AM
I have relied on InDesign for almost all my wireframing needs and it has served me very well. However, I am aware that InDesign might not be such a widely used tool within the Interaction Design community and it was therefor decided to use Illustrator for the wireframing workshop. Having now worked in both these packages, here are my thoughts on why I prefer InDesign to Illustrator.
One Package
This issue refers partly to the pagination problem. Essentially, you are using the same functionality in Illustrator to draw the wireframes than in InDesign. It is possible to draw all you need right within Indesign but it is impossible to make a proper document Indesign-style in Illustrator. This means that you are using two applications in stead of one to get the same job done.
Styles
Illustrator isn’t as good with paragraph styles, compared to InDesign. Although it is possible to define paragraph styles in Illustrator, it simply is not as robust as InDesign. I have the feeling that paragraph styles are an afterthought in Illustrations, whereas in InDesign it forms a major part of the functionality.
Masters
Masters are a powerful tool in InDesign. It allows you to create templates that repeat themselves throughout your entire site. Indicating where the fold is, for instance, can be done on a master page. Recurring elements such as a header can be designed and placed in a master and simply applied when needed.
General Document Design
Using and knowing InDesign teaches basic document design skills, but more importantly, it teaches typography
Whilst Illustrator is a far more advanced illustration tool (as the name suggest) than InDesign, the drawing functionality found in InDesign is more than sufficient to develop high quality wireframes.
One Package
This issue refers partly to the pagination problem. Essentially, you are using the same functionality in Illustrator to draw the wireframes than in InDesign. It is possible to draw all you need right within Indesign but it is impossible to make a proper document Indesign-style in Illustrator. This means that you are using two applications in stead of one to get the same job done.
Styles
Illustrator isn’t as good with paragraph styles, compared to InDesign. Although it is possible to define paragraph styles in Illustrator, it simply is not as robust as InDesign. I have the feeling that paragraph styles are an afterthought in Illustrations, whereas in InDesign it forms a major part of the functionality.
Masters
Masters are a powerful tool in InDesign. It allows you to create templates that repeat themselves throughout your entire site. Indicating where the fold is, for instance, can be done on a master page. Recurring elements such as a header can be designed and placed in a master and simply applied when needed.
General Document Design
Using and knowing InDesign teaches basic document design skills, but more importantly, it teaches typography
Whilst Illustrator is a far more advanced illustration tool (as the name suggest) than InDesign, the drawing functionality found in InDesign is more than sufficient to develop high quality wireframes.
Read more...
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