It's impossible to love design and not love typography. Here's a list of 40 Super Sleek Fonts For Clean Web Design from Web Design Ledger.
I'm reading this wonderful book by Robin Williams. It's definitely a must have for your bookshelves! And the best thing about this book is its slimness. You can finish it on your plane ride to the next An Event Apart conference! ;)
The Four Basic Principles
The following is a brief overview of the basic principles of design that appear in every well-designed piece of work. Although I discuss each one of these principles separately, keep in mind they are really interconnected. Rarely will you apply only one principle.
Contrast
The idea behind contrast is to avoid elements on the page that are merely similar. If the elements (type, color, size, line, thickness, shape, space, etc.) are not the same, then make them very different. Contrast is often the most important visual attraction on a page -- it's what makes a reader look at the page in the first place.
Repetition
Repeat visual elements of the design throughout the piece. You can repeat colors, shapes, textures, spatial relationships, line thicknesses, fonts, sizes, graphic concepts, etc. This develops the organization and strengthens the unity.
Alignment
Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily. Every element should have some visual connection with another element on the page. This creates a clean, sophisiticated, fresh look.
Proximity
Items relating to each other should be grouped close together. When several items are in close proximity to each other, they become one visual unit rather than several separate units. This helps organize information, reduces clutter, and gives the reader a clear structure.
Ahh finally! One of my favorite magazines ... Real Simple ... is getting a much needed online facelift. It's now simpler and prettier than ever! Thanks to the alert I got today from the always-so-informative Twitter updates of Guy Kawasaki.
E-commerce sites don't have to look busy and overwhelming. Just take a look at this beautiful collection put together by Vanderlay. And yes, Uppercase is one of my personal faves. Not only is their site clean and beautiful, I love their whimsical creations as well.
For all freelance web designers, Astuteo has provided a calculator-of-sort that's so very helpful in helping you tally up the cost of most of your web development/design projects.
Blogging is so addictive. And I don't even have that much to say. Mostly just repeating all the great things other people say. But still ... just added another blog to my bag of blogs. Its lovely simplicity speaks volume to me.
My huge inspiration for today! Isn't his work amazing?
I always get excited when I find great recommendations on design books. Here are 5 books all designers should have (as found on tutorial9.net).
I almost went through the day without posting. {Gasp!} It's been crazy busy at work and I haven't had much time for anything else. Here's Veboo Labs ... my favorite site of the day. Vector-based arts are awesome, aren't they? Being a photographer, I wish I could draw like this, meanwhile there is help, here is where we can find lots of good free vector graphics.
Before you can start designing a site, it's definitely recommended that you create a wireframe for the site to give yourself and your client an idea of how contents will be organized. Your client would appreciate seeing your ideas visually also. This can be done using Photoshop, Illustrator, or with just pencil/paper, but there are also specialized software programs to help you do it seamlessly and easily, an example of one is OmniGraffle and its free to download custom graphic sets at Graffletopia.
Just collecting at a time ... some of the best web design companies that inspire us designers every day. :)
One of my 2009 goals:
My delicious.com subscription always delivers! Today's favorite is "77 Resources to Simplify Your Life as a Web Designer" by Vanderlay Design. And yes, the list does include my favorite colourlovers.com. And talk about colors, there's another great resource to help you find "the perfect colors for your website."
The other day, I was raving about awesome portfolio sites, here's a few more to add to the list. One of my favorite from this list is Francesco Mugnai's (screen captured above).
Isn't "clean & simple" so beautiful?!
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