If you travel across Germany, you will notice how some place name endings are quite universal, and others are quite specific, regionally. -ach, -ingen, -zell is a little exploration of those spatial patterns. It was a welcome opportunity to experiment with a few techniques I wanted to learn more about. Find the code with some remarks […]

Scrum is an agile project management framework that relies on collaboration between the product owner, scrum master, and development team. One of the key artifacts in Scrum is the product backlog, which contains a prioritized list of features, requirements, and [...]

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The post Collaborative Backlog Management in Scrum first appeared on CSS Reset.

Follow this tutorial to create a trendy flat teacup logotype in Adobe Illustrator! We’ll be using and modifying basic geometric shapes, working with Align panel, Pathfinder functions and learning simple yet very useful tips and tricks. Let’s get started!   Tutorial details: Program: Adobe Illustrator CC Difficulty: Beginner Topics Covered: Logotype Design, Shape Building, Compositional Skills Estimated […]

The post Design a Flat Teacup Logotype in Adobe Illustrator appeared first on Vectips.

Co.Design asked Tobias Frere-Jones of Hoefler & Co. to give his thoughts on Apple’s choice of Helvetica as an interface typeface for the upcoming OS X Yosemite update:

Despite its grand reputation, Helvetica can’t do everything. It works well in big sizes, but it can be really weak in small sizes. Shapes like ‘C’ and ‘S’ curl back into themselves, leaving tight “apertures”–the channels of white between a letter’s interior and exterior. So each shape halts the eye again and again, rather than ushering it along the line. The lowercase ‘e,’ the most common letter in English and many other languages, takes an especially unobliging form. These and other letters can be a pixel away from being some other letter, and we’re left to deal with flickers of doubt as we read.

This reminds me of what Erik Spiekerman wrote about Helvetica:

[Helvetica] really wasn’t designed for small sizes on screens. Words like milliliter can be very difficult to decipher. If you ever had to read or write a password with 1, i, l or I, you know the problem.

Still, I wouldn’t keep Lucida Grande for HiDPI displays. With a 2× resolution jump (4× pixels) pixel fitting becomes less of an issue, and pixel optimized typefaces like Lucida Grande begin to look crude in comparison with typefaces made primarily for print. Legibility obviously still matters just as much, but the choice need no longer be bound to fonts optimized for low resolution displays.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.¹

Publilius Syrus

When software in a particular category stops rapidly evolving and its interface begins to develop along a set of accepted patterns, designers begin to decorate. Decoration is a luxury, it is something you can only afford to do once the functionality of the thing you are working on has been implemented to a high degree. It is in the period of gradual evolution and established interaction norms that designers begin to decorate, begin to focus on small aesthetic details for the visual experience alone. Prolonged times of slow evolution lead to decorative excess. Unable to differentiate software on the level of how it works, developers try to push it ahead on the level of how it looks. When the buttons in all the apps are the same, when the controls all appear in about the same place, when all the interfaces are laid out in a similar fashion, designers begin to differentiate their work by changing the appearance of the interface rather than its function or its structure. The interface begins to gather decorative moss.

The recent minimalist trends in software design – Metro, flat, iOS7, Material – are attempts to scrape away the moss without a radical alteration in the underlying function. It is a reaction to the friction felt between the old stratum of software that has cemented its implementation and thus could afford to wear a rich visual coat, and a new stratum of software that yearns for a radically different approach to interface design. The old and the new cannot co-exist in harmony because the appearance of the two look nothing alike. The layers of visual excess painted over old software apps – e.g. skeuomorphic visuals, rich textures, reflection effects, etc – became baggage to designers who wished to develop something new, for example, using animation to help differentiate between the different states of the app and create a more fluid experience. If you wish to move content around, scale things, change colors, morph one element from one into another, all the superfluous visuals like gloss and textures simply get in the way. Minimalist design makes animation simpler.

The old paint was scraped away not for the sake of a minimalist style, but to allow the designer to create a new kind of experience, an experience where the content making up the interface would be more alive and more dynamic than ever. Buttons morph into panes, panels bounce back and forth to reflect the speed of the finger used to pull them across the glass screen, bits of content fly from place to place signifying a change in state or context, icons move or change shape, and everything gently slides in or fade out as you navigate around the digital canvas. Without the baggage of skeuomorphic visuals, rich textures or decorative styles, the designer can now experiment with motion, can begin to craft a new kind of visual experience from the content itself.

1. The saying has two interpretations. In one, moss is seen as a sign of stagnation. If you don’t act, if you don’t keep moving, you will begin to rust away. In another, moss is seen as something desirable. If you keep changing projects, if you keep losing focus, you will never be able to build up anything worthwhile. I think the duality of the message is quite fitting for the analogy in the post. Excessive decoration is bad design, it is a distraction that adds unnecessary baggage to our work, but decoration is also beautiful, something that enhances the experience of people using our work. Decoration is not in itself good or bad, just as design is neither good or bad – it is how it is implemented that makes all the difference.

I made some poor decisions in my 20s. Or rather, a series of poor decisions that seemed to stack and compound. I took on tens of thousands of dollars of credit card, student loan, and tax debt. I gained 70 pounds since graduating high school, because I ate way too much fast food and pretty …

The post How to tackle big goals by narrowing your focus with two simple questions appeared first on Nathan Rice.

The emergence of AI software in the field of architecture and design has sparked a significant shift in how professionals approach their work. With advancem ...

When it comes to the sweet nectar that delights our taste buds and adds a touch of magic to our daily routines, nothing beats honey. Whether it's a comforti ...

Creativity is not a gift that only some people have. It is a skill that can be learned and developed by anyone who is willing to explore new possibilities, ...

Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator stands as a testament to the golden era of role-playing games. With its intricate storyline, captivating characters, an ...

Imagine an empty apartment block, stark and desolate, with just a single light flickering in the overwhelming darkness. This is not a scene from a movie; it ...

Technology today loves making stuff just for you, and it's changing the game in how we get our digital kicks. In an era where personalization is paramount, ...

As per scientists around 90% of all information we perceive comes through our eyes. The visual side always has been quite important for humanity, we can see it from the culture of writings and visual art having very long history. The other suitable feature is laconism. We can experience the lack of time for finding […]

The background plays a significant role in making a design pop. As a designer, changing the background color is something you'll probably do frequently when working in Adobe Illustrator. There are several ways to change the background color in Adobe Illustrator. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to change the background color in Illustrator quickly...

The post How to Change the Background Color in Adobe Illustrator appeared first on Bittbox.

Yahoo has announced a new upcoming Marketplace for licensing images on Flickr. Short on details for now, but certainly full of potential.

Grab your free copy of DxO FilmPack 3 until August 15, 2014.

Earn while you sleep: Realistic passive income ideas you can pursue part time! Ditch the 9-5 with the right idea, hard work, & these essential tools.

As ecommerce revs up for the holidays, it's time to prepare. Brand new survey data for Black Friday 2024 stats and trends from your friends at Woo.

Black Friday trends: Understand the best practices and favorite tools for your WooCommerce store's Black Friday marketing strategy.

Discover how to find the right product manufacturer, vet suppliers effectively, and use a checklist to ensure the best quality at the lowest costs.

Don’t lose a shot, Keep your Sony NP-FW50 batteries topped off, even without an AC...

The post Sony NP-FW50 Batteries: Charge ’em without AC Power appeared first on Alphatracks.

This post: Affinity Acquired by Canva.com was first published on Beyond Photo Tips by Susheel Chandradhas

Today, Affinity and Canva, together announced the acquisition of Serif, the makers of the Affinity apps, by Canva. This is a significant development in the progress of the Affinity suite, and we are both excited, and hesitant at this development. What Is Affinity? Affinity is a suite of apps that allows designers, photographers, and publishers […]

This post: Affinity Acquired by Canva.com was first published on Beyond Photo Tips

This post: What Is The “.ACR” File Format? was first published on Beyond Photo Tips by Susheel Chandradhas

Recently while editing some images in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR), I noticed an additional, new, “.acr” sidecar file. In the past, I’ve written about the .XMP files that are created by Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera RAW when you edit raw images. This .ACR file was created in addition to the .XMP file, […]

This post: What Is The “.ACR” File Format? was first published on Beyond Photo Tips

We talk about David Ellefson's absurd quote comparing him to Jesus. Speaking of Jesus, we check in with Marilyn Manson's Christianity. We discuss the latest NFT craze, Seinfeld, the Golden […]

There will never be another Eddie Van Halen.

As a small business proprietor, you must establish connections with local patrons, integrate into the community, and differentiate yourself from your rivals. However, understanding how to market your business locally requires clever marketing techniques. Given the limited pool of potential customers in your vicinity, prioritizing local marketing endeavors is essential, especially when considering that your […]

Chefs Duncan Kwitkor and Andrew Greene — Abstract Table, offering up a 5 and 7 course tasting menu Friday and Saturday nights at Gastropig. Last night my wife and I had a chance to dine at the opening of a new pop up style 7 course tasting menu called Abstract Table, currently being offered as …

Continue reading "Abstract Table, An Interesting Tasting Menu in Oakland, California"

As a photographer, I have been making photographs with my own cameras my entire life. From my first Kodak Instamatic camera as a child, to the Sigma film SLR that I received as gift in high school, to my first digital camera (a Sony Mavica in 1999 or so) to my current DSLR (a Canon …

Continue reading "Collecting Vernacular Photography"

Branding and Packaging Design for Di Ligúria: Italian Roots with Brazilian Flair

Chooch’s Branding Embraces Authenticity Through Playful Imperfection

Illustration for Impact: HART Curatorship Incubation Programme Visuals

FLIPPO Pet Food: A Fresh Take on Branding and Packaging Design

By Joe Zazzera A brief history of biophilic design patterns in interior spaces “Nature in the Space” in biophilic terms means any design interventions that forge a direct, physical and ephemeral presence of nature in a space or place. One … Continue reading →

By Leaiman Yes! Magazine Affectionately called “Professor” by his neighbors, Josefino Martinez is a well-respected indigenous farmer and community organizer from the remote town of Chicahuaxtla, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. He watched with patient attention as I showed … Continue reading →

By Shubhendu Sharma TED Forests don’t have to be far-flung nature reserves, isolated from human life. Instead, we can grow them right where we are — even in cities. Eco-entrepreneur and TED Fellow Shubhendu Sharma grows ultra-dense, biodiverse mini-forests of … Continue reading →

Want to enable scroll tracking on your WordPress website? You can easily find out how far a user scrolls down on each post. This lets you know the exact section in which they lose interest and abandon your site. With this data, you can modify that specific section and make it interesting enough to engage […]

The post How to Enable Scroll Tracking in WordPress With Google Analytics first appeared on IsItWP - Free WordPress Theme Detector.

Are you looking for a reliable way to add a Facebook feed to your WordPress site? Adding a custom Facebook feed makes your site more engaging and interactive. At the same time, you also provide social proof of an active online presence, helping you turn your readers into your fans.  The easiest way to add […]

The post How to Show a Facebook Feed in WordPress (5 Easy Steps) first appeared on IsItWP - Free WordPress Theme Detector.

Are you looking for a great backup solution for your WordPress site? Duplicator, UpdraftPlus, and BackupBuddy are three of the best plugins to help you back up your site.  They stand above the rest because of their simplicity of use, many features, and security.  Even though they are all great, you need just one backup […]

The post Duplicator Vs. UpdraftPlus Vs. BackupBuddy – Which One is Better? first appeared on IsItWP - Free WordPress Theme Detector.

The WordPress development blog has put a date on the release of 2.8, plus some notes.

The post The actually release of WordPress 2.8 announced appeared first on WPCult.

The landscape of AI is rapidly evolving, presenting both opportunities and challenges. From its historical roots to the current AI wars and the pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), AI is a force to be reckoned with. Despite remarkable advancements, current AI systems face limitations in adaptive learning and memory, sparking a paradigm shift towards creating more human-like capabilities.

The post Game-Changing Paradigm Shift in Machine Learning! appeared first on WPCult.

Hi guys this is my first post on wpcult the great site Austin built.  Hope you guys find it usefull. If you run a blog using the wordpress software then your blog is a target to hackers.  Below I will list some hacks and just how they can help you keep your business/site safe. The following […]

The post WordPress Security Hacks appeared first on WPCult.

WCAG provides guidance for making interactive elements more accessible by specifying minimum size requirements. In this article, Eric Bailey discusses the nuances of interactive element sizes and clarifies what it looks like to provide accessible interactive experiences using WCAG-compliant target sizes.

Google Analytics is often on a “need to know” basis, but why not flip the script? Paul Scanlon shares how he wrote a GitHub Action that queries Google Analytics to automatically generate and post a top ten page views report to Slack, making it incredibly easy to track page performance and share insights with your team.

This article aims to celebrate the power of introversion in UX research and design. Victor Yocco debunks common misconceptions, explores the unique strengths introverted researchers and designers bring to the table, and offers practical tips for thriving in a field that sometimes seems tailored for extroverts.

One of the main laws that applies to almost everything in our lives, including building digital products, is Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Our goal is to prevent things from going wrong and, if they do, mitigate the consequences. In this article, Victor Ponamarev explores different strategies for preventing users from making mistakes.

Go behind the scenes with Björn Ottosson, the Swedish engineer who created Oklab color space, and discover how he developed a simple yet effective model with good hue uniformity while also handling lightness and saturation well — and is “okay” to use.

You can’t overstate the importance of accessible website design. By the same token, bottom-up philosophies are crucial in modern site-building. A detail-oriented approach makes it easier to serve a more diverse audience along several fronts. Making the most of this opportunity will both extend your reach to new niches and make the web a more equitable place.