By Matt, April 15th, 2009
in Design Tips, Web Design |
30 Super Comments
Design is in the details. No matter what field of design you work with, you will always hear that, because it is very true. The slightest details have a direct effect on the design as a whole. This is true in web design, too. Everything from the amount of white space between two interface elements to the size of a header will impact a website. Another one of those details is hover effects.
In navigation, usability is essential; hover effects not only help styling but they also help usability. Why is that? A good hover effect will tell a user when they have a link under focus, and which link they have under focus.
In the following article, I will go over the best practices and techniques for hover effects. I will be using over 30 examples to show good use of hover effects.
Gradient Hovers
The more common type of hover effect is the gradient. There are many uses of this, here are a few.
Gradient vs. Gradient
Take a look at the navigation shown below to understand what this means. The normal button, not under focused and not selected has a gradient fill that goes from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top. When under focus, the gradient flips from dark at the top and light at the bottom. This is an especially good hover effect because the hover button is very different from the normal, and adds depth to the design. Look at the two buttons side by side. You can very easily determine the difference between the two. This is essential what you should aim for: hover effects that are easily recognizable and distinguishable.
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By Matt, March 19th, 2009
in Design Tips, Web Design |
8 Super Comments
There are so many different ways to represent information, and that is essentially what web design is all about. You see so many different styles and techniques used to convey this information, some better than others. Designing information rich websites is a whole different ball game.
The majority of the population is now using the internet as their main information resource, instead of print. Therefore, it is extremely crucial for news sites to have user-friendly designs. Here are 10 universal tips that will help you design content-heavy websites.
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By Matt, March 9th, 2009
in Design Tips, Web Design |
10 Super Comments
There are many variables that play into the equation of readability and usability in web design. Content needs to be as readable as possible to be efficient and effective, but styling is important at the same time. There is unique balance for every website, and that balance must be found to have a successful website. This is true for all types of sites, especially blogs which contain a large amount of text.
The following article describes how to easily create a clean, readable, and user friendly blog article layout.
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By Matt, March 1st, 2009
in Design Tips, Freelance |
18 Super Comments
You have the skill. You have the time. You are ready to work, but there’s one problem. You have no clients. The biggest struggle freelancers face is finding work. There are a number of services and websites that bring the jobs right to you. Here are the best places to find design work, including job boards for full time and freelance projects, blogs to write for, and a few more websites.
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By Matt, February 26th, 2009
in Design Tips, Web Design |
13 Super Comments
Some say that the design is in the details, and often times that is true. One of those details often used in web design is icons. Icons bring extra illustration to a layout, and can help attract attention to any object or element.
The following is an in-depth description of best practices for the icon, when to use the icon, and a description of working with metaphors, including a nice list of commonly used icon metaphors. There is also a comprehensive showcase of inspiration websites that use icons, and a list of great icon sets.
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By Matt, February 2nd, 2009
in Design Tips, Freelance |
37 Super Comments
Happiness leads to success. No two ways about it, if you enjoy freelancing, then you will succeed. It may take time, but in the long run it will be worth it. Sometimes though, freelancing can be very stressful. Stress can bring you down, so conquering that stress and leading a happy life can help you to become a better designer and freelancer.
Many habits and slight tweaks in your daily routine can make a drastic difference in your attitude and your work. All of these adjustments may not work for you, but there are bound to be at least a few that will help. So now, I will go over (in a rather “zen-ish” manner) a list of ways to make your freelancing more enjoyable.
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By Matt, January 26th, 2009
in Design Tips, Web Design |
7 Super Comments
Busting the Myth: Writing JavaScript Takes Forever!
Coding in JavaScript (or any coding language, for that matter) can be tedious. If you’ve ever had to spend all day scrolling through a thousand lines of code looking for occurrences of a variable or function reference, you know what I mean. However, it’s not terribly difficult to streamline your coding habits to make both the writing AND maintenance of JavaScript much easier and faster!
Below, I’ll go over four easy-to-adopt habits that will cut your coding time down significantly. These small tricks are very helpful to immediately improve your productivity and are great habits to pick up.
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