Adobe Experience Design CC (Beta), has introduced the Repeat Grid feature to address the tedious aspect of a designer’s workflow. In this article, Elaine Chao will dig deep to uncover the true power of this time-saving feature. She’ll create and adjust a Repeat Grid, add content to it, and wire it up in Adobe XD’s simple and powerful Prototype Mode. If you’d like to follow along, you can download and test Adobe XD for free.
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After being surprised to see how little the topic of optimistic UI design is addressed in the community, Denys Mishunov brings you this article, where you will find out what concepts it is based on, and he will look at some examples as well as review its psychological background. After that, Denys will review the concerns and main points regarding how to maintain control over this UX technique.
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Depending on your browser, you may not be able to see all emoji featured in this article (especially the Tifinagh characters). Also, different platforms vary in how they display emoji as well. That’s why, in this article, Rob Reed always provides textual alternatives. Don’t let it discourage you from reading though!
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What’s going on in the industry? What new techniques have emerged recently? What insights, tools, tips and tricks is the web design community talking about? Anselm Hannemann is collecting everything that popped up over the last week in his web development reading list so that you don’t miss out on anything. The result is a carefully curated list of articles and resources that are worth taking a closer look at.
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Open device labs (ODLs) are a response to the myriad of operating systems, browsers and devices that litter our technical landscape, and offer developers a free space to go to test their web systems. In this article Gemma Church will highlight some of the many open device labs out there — fantastic and helpful initiatives by the community that deserve support and attention.
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Illustration is a great way to boost many of your skills and to experiment with drawing techniques, colors and composition. In this article, Igor Izhik will show you how these skills will make you a better specialist in any creative field by sharing how he approaches all stages of the illustration process and providing general techniques for creating vector illustrations in Adobe Illustrator. Just remember that a solid illustration requires patience and is rarely done quickly. The good news is that it pays off. Let’s take a closer look at it and see how it was made.
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Buttons are a vital element in creating a smooth user experience, so it’s worth paying attention to the best essential practices for them. In this article, Nick Babich will show you the essential items you need to know in order to create effective controls that improve user experience, such as making buttons look like buttons, making the most important button clearly identifiable, or labeling buttons with what they do for users.
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In this article Rachel Andrew explains how Flexbox and CSS Grid fit together, and how we can build resilient and flexible layouts today while providing a decent fallback for older browsers. Editor’s note: Please note that this article is quite lengthy, and contains dozens of CodePen embeds for an interactive view. The page might take a little while to load, so please be patient.
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How do you go about designing an app? Michael Flarup brings you an article about just that. A top level, somewhat simplified, and very honest overview of the steps involved in designing an app. This is an account of how most of the apps I work on are born, complete with shameless links to the tools he uses. Now when people think of ‘designing’ something, their thoughts often circle around the visual aspects of a product. Pixel pushing in Photoshop or laying grids in Sketch, but that’s a common misconception. Design, in the context of this article, covers the entire process. It is every deliberate action meant to produce something. The truth is that from the moment you get an idea, you are designing.
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Most of us carry the dead weight of an undefined process. We’re too passive, or ignorant, or foolish, or dismissive, or proud when it comes to our workflow. And that’s where we lose. Being ignorant of our process is to be ignorant of how long things really take, or where opportunities for improvement, in skill or outcome, are hidden. In all this we lose control of our intellectual and creative growth, letting too many opportunities slip to become the designers (or developers or writers) we aspire to be. In this article, Alexander Charchar will show you how to master your time and schedule, and how to have more control to make more (and better) choices.
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