Feb 21, 2010
You are the most important person in the world. Wow, I got you to read the second sentence. Your interest is now piqued and you want to read more. If you do read this article, you will learn exactly how important it is to create compelling web copy. Between you and me, most readers just scan, but if you find a way to hook them in the first sentence and reel them in on the second sentence, you have a good chance that they will read the third. They may even read the entire article.
Don’t listen to those naysayers who tell you that website visitors only scan headlines and look at cute pictures. It’s a fact that visitors are more interested in what you write than every other aspect on the page. The problem is that most web writing is dreadfully boring, and oddly self-gratifying. Under the premise of helping you, the visitor, the writing is geared more towards establishing the writer as some sort of authority. Most web writing is very didactic, or teacher-student. I’m the first to admit I’m guilty of it, but not anymore. Here are some useful tips in creating words that people will want to read:
Feb 6, 2010
As many of you know, I also run Card Observer, which is a site that showcases beautiful business cards. A few weeks ago, I showed you some of the best Letterpress cards that have been featured on the site, but lately I have been noticing more and more cards being submitted that are being produced using uncommon materials, such as plastic, wood, metal, and even some cloth.
Here are some of my favorites. If you want to see more details about the cards, just click on the images.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Permanent link to this post (119 words, 14 images, estimated 29 secs reading time)
Jan 26, 2010
Icons in web design are often used to enhance content and navigation, but the ones in this post are so detailed that they could easily stand alone as beautiful works of art. So if you plan on using these, be careful that they don’t steal the show.
Jan 25, 2010
The use of ornate patterns in web design has been popular for several years now. Not only does it add a lot of intricate detail, but it’s also a great way to add a level of sophistication to a design. Here are some of the most beautiful ornate patterns and textures that I have found.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Permanent link to this post (99 words, 14 images, estimated 24 secs reading time)
Dec 31, 2009
In 2009 we’ve witnessed many talented and generous designers creating tons of amazing stuff and giving it away for us to use. We’ve already shown you all of the best free fonts from this past year. Now we’re going to show you the best free icon sets. There were plenty of free sets created this year, but these stand above the rest in terms of quality and usefulness.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Permanent link to this post (113 words, 17 images, estimated 27 secs reading time)
Mar 31, 2009
A well rounded web designer’s day is spent immersed in multiple graphic design programs and writing front end code. All of this moving from one environment to another can make it hard to memorize such things as hot keys and shortcuts for each. This is where cheat sheets come into play. A cheat sheet is simply a printable reference or guide to a particular software package, language, framework, etc.
Here are 14 of my favorite cheat sheets.
Photoshop
CSS
XHTML
JavaScript Frameworks
Mar 28, 2009
A couple of months ago, we took a look at 28 Powerful Photoshop Lighting Effects. This time I want to show you some of the most incredible Photoshop brushes I’ve found that can be used to create similar stuff. If you have a project coming up that requires some type of lighting effect, you will definitely find these to be very useful.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Permanent link to this post (110 words, 18 images, estimated 26 secs reading time)
Mar 24, 2009
Seamless patterns are a great way to add a big impact to a web design without a lot of effort. Here are 223 of them that are absolutely beautiful. Whether you use patterns to fill the entire background of your site or just a specific area of your design, you will definitely find these useful.
Mar 21, 2009
Deciding when to use light text on a dark background in web design should always be about enhancing the content and the user experience. Here are some stunning examples of light on dark designs where the designers achieved this while maintaining excellent contrast and readability.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Permanent link to this post (92 words, 23 images, estimated 22 secs reading time)
Mar 19, 2009
A few weeks ago, I showed you some of the best fonts for use in grunge style design. Creating grungy designs can be fun, but sometimes a site requires a cleaner approach, one where artsy design elements take a back seat to clear presentation of content. Typography plays a big role in this type of design. If you have been struggling to find the right font for your clean designs, here are 40 of them that are both clean and beautiful.
