All posts in web design

Drupal for Web Designers

24/10/2010 | web design

This is the second part of the new Drupal for Web Designers series written by Idan Arbel of Arbel Designs. After covering the intro to design (here’s the link to the Introduction in case you missed it) we’ll now discuss the second aspect Arbel loves about Drupal:
Flexability, I love drupal for the simple fact that you don’t need to be a php guru to create e-commerce sites, directory sites, portfolios, blogs or almost any type of website, you can do almost anything without writing a single line of code with drupal.

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Giving Your Older Web Designs a Refresh

22/10/2010 | tools, web design

Every once in a while it doesn’t hurt to give your website design a refresh. It helps to remove older blocks of code which were slowing load times and costing you pageviews. It can also help to re-evaluate what you’re trying to do with your site and how your audience should interact with each page element.

I’ll be going over a few tricks to ease the process of a website refresh. The redesign process isn’t something that should be happening weekly, but it is a powerful process that should be applied to your site every so often. If you’re starting to feel lackadaisical about your site’s design that may be a clue you could use a refresher.

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Understanding the Z-Layout in Web Design

19/10/2010 | web design

The Z-Layout is a great way to start just about any web design project because it addresses the core requirements for any effective site: branding, hierarchy, structure, and call to action. While the classic “Z-Layout” isn’t going to be the perfect solution for each and every website out there, it’s certainly a layout that’s effective enough to warrant inclusion in any web designer’s arsenal of layout ideas.

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A/B Testing: Usability From A to B

18/10/2010 | articles, web design

Usability is an often discussed part of design, but it seems to be very poorly understood. While most people understand the concept of usability, many people don’t know how to use it in their workflow, how to get started with their testing, or fail to see the benefits it has for them.

In the past usability testing meant huge labs, huge budgets and long timeframes. With the rise of the internet has come the rise of a number of remote usability testing tools that meet a wide variety of needs and a wide range of budgets that have made usability testing far more accessible to the point today where even the smallest design studio and freelancers can afford to usability test.

The point is now that you almost can’t afford not to usability test. Clients design better results, designers and developers have more exacting standards, and users will keep looking until they find a design that just works – you just need to look at the rise of Apple, the iPod, iPhone and iPad to see examples of this.

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4 Concepts for Simplistic Web Design

15/10/2010 | web design

These are some powerful principles you might have never heard about. One of them is being used in the conversion rate optimization industry by world-class companies to skyrocket their conversion rates (getting more people to buy their products, register on sites and so on.) We’ll also explore why assumptions can be dangerous and how to learn more about your visitors with direct observation. Let’s get started.

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Factors Influencing Your Overall Website Design

15/10/2010 | articles, web design

When most people check out a new website, they sometimes think “yikes, this website looks like total crap” or “wow, this is one of the best website designs I’ve ever seen!” What is it that makes the great websites look so great?

In my experience, Website designing is not a piece of cake. It is something which needs both time and efforts from your part. Plus, there are certain factors that can directly influence your overall website design as well. Although there are many factors, but in this piece of writing, just for your concern, I have decided to disclose the most important and significant ones, and included examples of some great web designs out there that have mastered these factors.

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5 Tips to Simplify Your Web Design

14/10/2010 | web design

Simplicity rules!  It makes a websites look sleek, reduce nagivation confusion and it helps achieving desired goals and results (I.e., more signups, subscribers and sales). But too often it seems elusive to simplify your website design. No matter how hard you try, you can’t make your work look like Apple’s. So what does a website designer really needs to do? Fret not, for there are 5 starting points to simplify your website design.

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Understanding Visual Hierarchy in Web Design

14/10/2010 | web design

Visual hierarchy is one of the most important principles behind effective web design. This article will examine why developing a visual hierarchy is crucial on the web, the theory behind it, and how you can use some very basic exercises in your own designs to put these principles into practice.

At it’s core, design is all about visual communication: To be an effective designer, you have to be able to clearly communicate your ideas to viewers or else lose their attention. People are fickle though; if you give them a massive block of information, chances are that 99 out of 100 people won’t bother to read it. Why? Because most people are inherently visual thinkers, not data processors…

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10 Awesome Solutions for Creating Your Online Portfolio

09/10/2010 | web design

Every design enthusiast want to have a sparkling online portfolio for showcasing his/her work, but there are few people who can build an awesome portfolio for themselves from scratch. Fortunately there are many online services making portfolio creation process effortless. You just need to sign up before showing your creative work off to the whole world. In this article we have reviewed 10 best solutions for creating your online portfolio in matter of few minuets.

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Designing a Mobile Stylesheet for your Website

08/10/2010 | web design

It seems mobile is becoming more powerful with the younger tech audience. More kids and young adults are carrying around smartphones than any other time period ever before. Each one of these devices is not just a phone, but a mobile computer built with access to any website over the Internet.

This leaves a lot to the imagination when it comes to mobile design. If you are developing a website and know you’ll have a market running through mobile browsing it would be a good idea to optimize a mobile stylesheet. It doesn’t take much work and will save your visitors a lot of frustration.

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