Author Iris Lješnjanin

November 3, 2022 — What’s the state of HTML Email, Vue.js and Next.js? Would you like to level up with modern CSS? What are new, smart interface design patterns we could use? Let’s figure it all out together with our brand new online workshops alongside our free community meetups. Read more…

December 2, 2021 — Are you ready for the countdown to Christmas? From festive icon sets to advent calendars that are bound to sweeten your days with a delightful little surprise each morning, we’ve decided to join in on this lovely annual tradition and bring it all to one place. So prepare yourself a nice cup of coffee and get cozy — there’s always something new to learn and discover! Read more…

November 22, 2021 — What’s the state of CSS, Vue.js and Next.js? What are new, smart interface design patterns we could use? Let’s figure it out. With our online workshops on UX, front-end and design. Read more…

October 13, 2021 — Do you like a good interface design challenge? What about accessibility testing and design systems? Or maybe Next.js and advanced CSS? With our new online workshops on front-end & design, we cover all of it. Ah, and here’s what our workshops are like. Read more…

September 8, 2021 — What’s the state of HTML Email, Vue.js and Next.js? What are new, smart interface design patterns we could use? Let’s figure it out. With our brand new online workshops on front-end & design. Now with free workshops for you to test the waters. Read more…

August 11, 2021 — How do we build and establish a successful, bulletproof design system? What’s the state of HTML Email? And what are new, smart interface design patterns we could use? Let’s find out. With our brand new online workshops on front-end & design — to help us all boost skills online. Read more…

June 23, 2021 — Frontend and design are remarkably complex these days. That’s why we invite kind, smart folks from the community to run online workshops for all of us to learn together. And we have new ones coming up, and we’d like to kindly welcome you to join in. Read more…

May 20, 2021 — Front-end and design are remarkably complex these days. That’s why we invite kind, smart folks from the community to run online workshops for all of us to learn together. And we have new ones coming up, and we’d like to kindly welcome you to join in. Read more…

March 29, 2021 — In a new series of posts, we highlight some of the useful tools and techniques for developers and designers. Last weeks, we’ve covered CSS auditing tools, CSS generators and accessible front-end components. This time around, Iris Lješnjanin will take a look at SVG generators — for everything from shapes and backgrounds to SVG path visualizers and SVG → JSX generators. Read more…

March 15, 2021 — In a new short series of posts, we highlight some of the useful tools and techniques for developers and designers. This time Iris Lješnjanin brings you CSS Generators: from CSS shadows to easing gradients to CSS overlays to CSS doodles. Read more…

March 11, 2021 — Ideally, a CSS auditing tool would provide some insights about how heavily CSS implact rendering performance, and which operations lead to expensive layout recalculations. It could also highlight what properties don’t affect the rendering at all (like Firefox DevTools does it), and perhaps even suggest how to write slightly more efficient CSS selectors. In a new short series of posts, we highlight some of the useful tools and techniques for developers and designers to get their work done better and faster. Starting out with a few tools for getting to the bottom of CSS. Read more…

January 15, 2021 — Catch up on what’s been cookin’ at Smashing and explore some of the most popular community resources featured in our newsletter over the past few weeks. Spoiler: there are also new workshops, front-end & UX audits and truly smashing podcast episodes. This article covers pretty much everything you need to build fast experiences on the web today — from metrics to tooling and front-end techniques and strategies. Read more…

December 18, 2020 — We know how difficult it can sometimes be to stay on top of things. In this monthly edition, you can read more about what’s cookin’ at Smashing and explore some of the most popular resources featured in our newsletter in the past few weeks. Read more…

November 20, 2020 — With so much going on, it’s nice to have an overview of what’s new at Smashing — all in one place. Read on to find out what’s been keeping the team busy alongside some inspiring community resources that have made it to the top list of our newsletters! Read more…

October 16, 2020 — It’s time for another monthly update! The best way to get better together is by learning from each other, and what better way is there than to promote new ideas and the way forward for the web industry. A quick peek at our ever-growing guides will show you that we’re dedicated in bringing together a variety of topics that will help us all explore and learn new things. Join us as we share the latest news and highlight the things we have enjoyed reading over the past month. Read more…

September 18, 2020 — There’s a lot of information out there — that’s a fact. In these monthly editions, Smashing’s senior editor Iris brings it all in one place because we know how hard it can be to stay on top of things. So with no further ado, here’s what was, what is, and what will be! Read more…

August 14, 2020 — Alongside our guides, printed books, eBooks and printed magazine, we’re thrilled to have yet another addition to our smashingly cherished gems: meet our brand new Interface Design Patterns Checklists. Co-founder of Smashing Magazine, Vitaly Friedman, has been collecting, curating and refining each checklist for years — we’re convinced that this deck of cards will prove to always be useful when designing and building any interface component. With so much going on, we’ve made it our mission to help you stay on top of things. Of course, you can follow us on social media and subscribe to our RSS feed, but it’s nice to have an overview of the most important things in one place. Read more…

July 17, 2020 — What’s new at Smashing? When’s the next event? Did you miss out on anything? Don’t worry, you’ll find everything gathered here in one place so you don’t need to have a hundred tabs open. (Yes, it has been that busy!) Unfortunately, the effects of COVID-19 are still so wide-reaching throughout the world, so that the Smashing team has had to make big changes to our plans this year. Read more…

June 19, 2020 — Every month, we present an overview of things the Smashing team has been working on — all in one place. We organized Smashing Meets on three days — events that were open to everyone in the web community. With sessions on performance, CSS, GraphQL, and creative courage, we made sure to leave plenty of time for Q&A, networking, competitions and prizes. The past few weeks have been quite challenging: COVID-19 crisis, #BlackLivesMatter, and so many other ongoing issues taking place all over the world. Here’s what’s been happening on our end in the meantime. Read more…

May 15, 2020 — A month is a long time to stay on top of things. In today’s monthly post, Iris Lješnjanin brings you an overview of everything we’ve been working on and have also enjoyed reading over the past month. Here at Smashing, we believe that is is now more important than ever to stay in touch and support each other. Behind the scenes, the team is working tirelessly on ways to keep the community connected, and oh boy do we have a lot of things in store for you! You didn’t really think we’d give up that easily, did you? Read more…

April 17, 2020 — A month is a long time to stay on top of things. Here you’ll find an overview of everything we’ve been working on and have also enjoyed reading over the past month. Of course, you can always find us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and also stay updated with our RSS feed as well as our Smashing Newsletter (sent out every second week with all sorts of goodies!). Read more…

March 13, 2020 — It’s that time of the month! Join us as we share the latest news and highlight the things we’ve been working on and have also enjoyed reading over the past month.

It’s nice to have an overview of the most important things in one place, but do feel free to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and subscribe to our RSS feed as well as our bi-weekly newsletter. We like helping you stay on top of things and making life at least just a little bit easier! Read more…

February 14, 2020 — It’s nice to have an overview of the most important things in one place, but do feel free to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and subscribe to our RSS feed. We like helping you stay on top of things and making life just a little bit easier! Fear not, we’ve got your backs! Our bi-weekly Smashing Podcast has you covered with a variety of topics across multiple levels of expertise. Read more…

January 17, 2020 — With so much going on, we’ve made it our mission to help you stay on top of things. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and subscribe to our RSS feed, but it’s nice to have an overview of the most important things in one place. With this guide, Iris Lješnjanin covers pretty much everything from performance budgets to single-page apps to networking optimizations. Read more…

December 20, 2019 — In case you missed it, we launched the Smashing Podcast just a few weeks ago — a bi-weekly podcast that is moderated by our dear friend and colleague, Drew McLellan. And so it’s time for another monthly update! Join us as we share the latest news and highlight the things we have enjoyed reading over the past month. Read more…

November 15, 2019 — Welcome to another monthly update to keep you all in the loop about all things smashing. Today, join Iris Lješnjanin as she share the latest news and highlight the things we have enjoyed reading over the past month. In the fast-paced industry that designers and developers work in, it’s important to stay up to date as much as possible. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back with monthly updates to help you stay on top of things. Read more…

October 18, 2019 — In the fast-paced industry that designers and developers work in, it’s important to stay up to date as much as possible. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back with monthly updates to help you stay on top of things. This is the first monthly update that the Smashing team will be publishing, to highlight some of the things we have enjoyed reading over the past month. Read more…

June 21, 2017 — Today, we’d like to share an icon set dedicated to a well-known upcoming American holiday. Designed by the creative folks at Vecteezy, this freebie contains 20 illustrations of some lovely things that shouldn’t be left out on this particular holiday. All icons are available in four formats so you can resize and customize them until they match your project’s visual style perfectly. Happy 4th of July to those who celebrate! Read more…

February 17, 2017 — To celebrate mankind’s urge to explore, the creative folks at Vexels created a set of 30 adventurous icons that take you on a journey from the ground of the sea right up to outer space. The set offers all the building blocks you’ll need to create your own little universe and become an explorer yourself. Strange deep-sea fellows, hot air balloons, meteors, and much more. Nature and technology beautifully united! Read more…

January 27, 2017 — In today’s icon set, you’ll find a good number of icons that have been specifically tailored to e-commerce projects, but also some more versatile motifs like a love letter, calendar, and even a WiFi sign that sends off some lovely vibes. This icon set is available in two different styles — each available in AI, SVG, EPS, Sketch, CSH and PNG formats. Thanks to the creative minds behind Roundicons who created these 30 sugar-sweet icons dedicated just for you to use for all things valentine. Perfect to spread some love, and hopefully, conquer the hearts of your users. Read more…

December 1, 2016 — In this article, you will find icons designed and created by Manuela Langella and are free to be used in private as well as commercial projects. No attribution is required, however, reselling of bundles or individual pictograms isn’t cool. Please note that this icon set is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. If you decide to use some or all of the icons from this set, then feel free to modify the size, color or shape of the icons. A big Thank You to Manuela Langella for designing this wonderful icon set — we sincerely appreciate your time and efforts! Keep up the brilliant work! Read more…

October 18, 2016 — There is something magical about Halloween, surrounded by mystery, horror, scare and trick-or-treat candies for kids and adults alike. In this post, we feature artists around the world who have been creating wonderful illustrations dedicated to Halloween. We celebrate the creative side of Halloween with those of you who are also planning to celebrate with friends! Read more…

December 18, 2015 — Today we are glad to release a beautiful set of icons designed by Anastasia Kolisnichenko from Minsk, Belarus, and released for Smashing Magazine’s readers. Feel free to use all of them for your projects. Grab what you need for a poster or website. You can customize everything you want: stroke width, size, color, shape — everything! As long as you don’t resell bundles of the illustrations, you can use the illustrations for anything you need. A sincere thank you to NastiFunny (Anastasia Kolisnichenko) for releasing the illustrations. Read more…

April 2, 2015 — One of the important factors in a customer’s decision of whether to use a product is usually the brand’s visual presence, which can help a product stand out from the rest of what the market has to offer. Upon taking a closer look, it doesn’t take long to see that good typography is involved. Akira Kobayashi believes that good typography reinforces the meaning of the text. He has a background in art and calligraphy and has been a freelance type designer for 18 years. Read more…

November 25, 2014 — Today, we’re happy to release the Christmas Icon Set, a set of 24 icons created by Manuela Langella and free to be used in private as well as commercial projects. The icons are all available in AI, PSD, EPS, PDF, SVG and PNG formats. You may modify the size, color or shape of the icons. We’d kindly like to ask you to provide credits to the creator and link to this article if you would like to spread the word about the freebie. Read more…

April 26, 2013 — International projects usually require quite extensive knowledge of less familiar writing systems from around the world. The aesthetics and structure of such designs can be strongly related to the shape and legibility of the letterforms. In this article, Iris Lješnjanin will explore the art and craft of Arabic typography with Dr. Nadine Chahine, who lives in Bad Homburg, Germany. She is an Arabic Specialist at Monotype GmbH and is an award-winning type designer who has created typefaces that are being sold worldwide. Read more…

July 9, 2009 — Becoming a freelance web designer is a common dream among many designers, although it takes quite a bit of talent, business savvy, committment, and time. With all there is to consider when becoming self-employed, one can become overwhelmed — enough to deter themselves from trying at all. Read more…