Design Shack - Web design showcase, CSS tutorials and web standards
About
Design Shack showcases inspiring web design, alongside resources and tutorials for you to succeed in the same way. It is carefully curated and edited by Josh Johnson and David Appleyard.
Articles & Tutorials
27 Utilities for Saving and Sharing Code Snippets
You’ve got countless bits of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and PHP rolling around in your head and on your hard drive that you are forced to try to recall each time you start a project. It’s time to get organized.
This post will briefly point you to 27 great utilities that not only help you store your favorite snippets both locally and in the cloud, but also make sharing with others a breeze. Enjoy!
The Designer’s Guide to Taking Better Photos
I’ve mentioned several times before that photography is one of the most natural complements to your skills as a designer. We designers are in constant need of very specific imagery and this can and does lead to hours of searching, unnecessary stock fees and ultimately the use of imagery that has a high likelihood of being found on the projects of countless other designers.
Becoming a decent photographer can save you time and money and provide you with a serious competitive edge in the form of truly unique imagery that no one in the world possesses but you.
Web Design Critique #10: Creative Ad Awards
Every week we take a look at a new website and analyze the design. We’ll point out both the areas that are done well as well as those that could use some work. Finally, we’ll finish by asking you to provide your own feedback.
Today’s site is Creative Ad Awards, a showcase for well designed advertisements.
Tips for Designing for Colorblind Users
It’s estimated that about 8% of males and 0.5% of females are born colorblind. That may seem like a low number but if you’re designing for a large audience, having a site that’s unusable for eight out of every hundred males is definitely less than desirable.
Fortunately, you can fairly easily make sure that your site is colorblind friendly by always keeping in mind the information below. We’ll take a look at what colorblindness really means and how you can tweak your designs based on a few simple principles.
Web Design Critique #9: Wallpapa
Every week we take a look at a new website and analyze the design. We’ll point out both the areas that are done well as well as those that could use some work. Finally, we’ll finish by asking you to provide your own feedback.
Today’s site is Wallpapa, a site offering free desktop wallpaper downloads.
50 Fantastically Clever Logos
I know everybody and their brother does logo roundups so you’re probably sick of them, but I don’t believe I’ve ever done one and there is a particularly impressive brand of logo design that I wanted to point out.
Today we’ll look at 50 logos that are the result of going beyond the typical thought process and injecting a little wit and hidden symbolism into the design process.
20+ Free CSS3 Code Generators
One of the biggest problems with all the new CSS3 properties is that most of them have multiple browser-specific implementations. This means when you want a simple shadow, you have to remember quite a bit of code to make it compatible across as many browsers as possible.
To help you out with this task, a bunch of intrepid coders have created free interactive tools that provide simple user interfaces that spit out all the code you need with a fully customizable end result. Below you’ll find over twenty of these CSS3 generators.
Designing From a Photo: Quick Tips and Best Practices
Photography is the best thing to hit design since typography. A quality photograph can make a poor designer look good and a good designer look great. It can convey emotion, bring in color, provide and provide a strong focal point.
Today we’ll look at a few tips, techniques and ideas for designing around great photography.
Design Critique #8: Pointillé ComunicaçãO
Every week we take a look at a new website and analyze the design. We’ll point out both the areas that are done well as well as those that could use some work. Finally, we’ll finish by asking you to provide your own feedback.
Today’s site is Pointillé Comunicação, a branding and design firm.
5 Tips for Sending More Useful and Effective Invoices
It happens all the time. No sooner than you click the send button does the phone ring. At the other end is an angry client who just received an invoice. Despite the fact that all of your payment agreements were handled before the project ever started, he has still somehow managed to be surprised at the amount that he owes you.
Whether the description above typifies your client base or not, it can still be a good idea to soften the blow of an invoice by showcasing what you did and how it benefited them. There are also a few things you can do to make the whole process easier and therefore (hopefully) speed up payment. Below we’ll look at five things you can do to make your invoices both more useful and impressive.
