In this article, Ani Kostova will explore the first browser-based app to be viable in the vector illustration and UI design space: Gravit. Why Gravit? Mainly because Sketch and Affinity Designer are not options for Ani. She decided to give it a try and test it seriously. After a few months of using it, she feels ready to review its features and offer some practical tips and tricks she’s learned along the way.
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You can now have multiple designs right next to each other in Photoshop! In this article, Murdoch Carpenter will design an entire set of assets all at once. He will walk you through the basics of artboards and Generate. Then he’ll look at a real project in which he used these techniques together, making for a major time-saver. First up, artboards. What many Photoshop users have been hoping for — with a push from Sketch, no doubt — finally arrives in the form of artboards.
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With the ever-increasing computing power of desktops, browser sophistication and use of native apps, every day we learn of new ways to push the limits of what defines a well-crafted UI. When used correctly, motion can be a key utility in helping your users achieve their goals. UX designers who are considering motion in their designs will find themselves under pressure to explain, communicate and defend why the extra effort is required. Know your audience, and communicate your intentions to the team early on. With UX animation, subtlety is key. Focusing on helping users achieve their goals is paramount.
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As logo and brand designers, our work starts long before the first concept sketches, and finishes long after the last perfectly placed pixel. Our work requires so much more than just creative ideas and technical skills — it compels us to be a marketer, strategist, psychologist, salesperson, showman and project manager at the same time. It’s difficult, but it’s also exciting and challenging! The goal of my article is to help you rethink your (logo) design workflow. Some of these tips are mine, others are borrowed from world-famous designers. All these tips and tricks are tested and proven, and are tailored to improve your workflow for (re)branding projects.
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In this article, Ben Callahan will help you be more successful with your web projects by starting at the beginning; by working from day one to help set your client’s expectations about what’s going to happen, and by working throughout a project’s life cycle to do the same. By the end of this article, you’ll find yourself more inspired to invest in your own understanding of how the web works, and more willing to invest in your teammates’ understanding. Ben hopes you’ll feel excited to try a new approach, but he also that you’ll be empowered to tear these pages up if they don’t work for you. Only you, your team and your customer can figure out the best way to approach a project. The time is now — so, get to it!
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In this article, Rachel Andrew will look at the basics of HTTP2 as they apply to web designers and developers. She’ll explain some of the key features of the new protocol, look at browser and server compatibility, and detail the things you might need to think about as we see more adoption of HTTP2. You will get an overview of what to consider changing in your workflow in the short and long term. Rachel will also include plenty of resources if you want to dig further into the issues raised. Her aim is to give you enough of the background to be able to make good decisions as you plan your move to HTTP2.
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JavaScript developers faced a great revolution with Node.js, by allowing them to write code that runs directly on their machines. They started to easily write tools for the command line that automate a lot of things in their development cycles. npm, which is bundled with Node.js, made this even easier by giving them quick and easy access to tools that others have created, which they install on their machines to access from wherever they are in their system. Make the most out of it Installing packages from npm globally.
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In this article, Patrick Brosset takes a walk through some of the main tools and differential features of Firefox Developer Edition. He explores how this browser can be used to keep updated about the latest tools for CSS features and animations, testing website displays and some tips and tricks for developers and designers. Firefox’s DevTools have evolved quite rapidly in recent years, and feature-packed versions are now getting released every six weeks. The project is being driven by an active community, which you can be a part of! Feel free to download Firefox Developer Edition to try out the latest version of the tools.
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Every web professional is different. Practices such as turning off email at key times during the day to avoid distractions, taking weekend and vacation time for himself and avoiding filling that time with more work, or attending to professional conferences to keep the passion for web design going, worked wonders for Jeremy Girard’s own productivity. Like many web professionals, his first instinct was to work longer hours – to come into the office early, stay late, and to give up some of his own weekend time. While this certainly helped him get more work done, he quickly realized it was not something he could sustain without eventually burning out.
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By focusing almost exclusively on the user insights that each test is designed to yield, prototype testing can be an impressively efficient method for product teams to run experiments. Regardless of which prototype tools you use or whether you test wireframes, clickable mockups or coded prototypes, what’s most important to focus on is what you want to test and what you want to learn from it. In this article, Michelle Chu gives six tips for designers to consider when creating prototypes specifically to generate user testing insight.
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