Originally designed in 1974 and launched internationally in 1980, Rubik’s Cube is a design classic that’s sold by the hundreds of millions. Over the years, it has delighted – not to mention infuriated – countless people around the globe.
The original cube was an extremely clever piece of design and engineering that defied improvement; it’s been refined so that speed-cubers can turn it even more times without the cube falling apart, but basically this is one of those situations where the design thinking was absolutely bang on the first time. Pick up any Rubik’s Cube, or indeed any imitation cube, and you know exactly what to do with it – even if you don’t know how to solve it. Who needs a high-tech update when the original just works?
The GoCube – like the Rubik’s Cube, only smarter
Well, it turns out that lots of people do. Designed in Israel by Tel Aviv company Particula, the GoCube is pitched as the Rubik’s Cube reimagined with brains. It still behaves the same as a standard Cube, but now has loads of clever high-tech features designed to help you learn how to solve it, improve your times and even race against friends online.
The GoCube tracks its movements using built-in sensors, and connects via Bluetooth to an app that displays your cube on your phone or tablet, and also features various games and challenges to improve your cube handling and instincts.
The GoCube app will help you solve the cube then improve your times
It’s set to retail from an eye-watering $119 for the basic GoCube, but if you want to get your hands on one at a substantial discount, you’d better hurry over to the GoCube Kickstarter, where you can save around 40 per cent on various GoCube packages. The GoCube might sound expensive but that’s not holding anyone back; it’s torn right through its original Kickstarter goal of $25,000 and has clocked up over $800,000 of pledges. There’s now less than 24 hours left to run on the campaign.
There are many ways to use your design and illustration skills to generate extra income, over and above picking up freelance work. For many creatives, profit isn’t top of the agenda when planning a side project. It’s a bonus, rather than the main goal. However, even if side projects don’t bring in extra income immediately, the boost to your graphic design portfolio can lead to work indirectly – or make money in unexpected ways further down the line. Here, we explore four ways designers have branched out and turned a sideline project into a big earner.
Diana Hlevnjak sells patterns and textures via Shutterstock and iStock, as well as her own site
Diana Hlevnjak was working for a small web design firm when personal circumstances led her to relocate to another city. She managed to work remotely for a while, but times were tough and her contract was terminated shortly before the company shut down.
Hlevnjak had been selling digital assets through stock libraries for some additional income, but there wasn’t enough to cover her costs. She focused all her efforts on the task to see how lucrative it could be. “I liked the fact I didn’t have to deal with sales, clients, meetings and similar tasks that introverts don’t like,” she confesses. “It also meant I could work from anywhere.”
When she first started out, the returns were low, but gained momentum as she kept putting up more and more products on more and more platforms. Hlevnjak’s focus was on graphic resources such as patterns and textures, an area she’s passionate about. This is crucial, she argues, to stay motivated when building up a large portfolio of assets.
I liked the fact I didn’t have to deal with sales, clients, meetings and similar tasks that introverts don’t likeDiana Hlevnjak
She watches trends across illustration and design, as well as fashion, interiors and architecture. “Last summer was big on monstera and cacti plants, which came from Scandinavian interior design,” she says. Although her work is still sold on Shutterstock and iStock, Hlevnjak points out that the volume of assets on the large libraries means things that are on-trend one month are soon buried beneath new trends.
She has instead been focusing her efforts on more niche marketplaces such as Creative Market, where watercolour illustrations and textures tend to fare well, as well as her own website: Polar Vectors. The strategy has paid off: Hlevnjak has successfully managed to turn an occasional sideline into her primary earner. “As a freelancer, I am accepting less and less client work, and it’s become a minority of my revenue,” she reveals.
02. Teach a Skillshare course
Online courses are a practical option if you have a busy schedule
Following her success on the conference circuit and growing love of public speaking, Jessica Hische decided to turn her hand to teaching – and her hectic schedule meant an online course was the best option.
“I haven’t been in a position to commit to teaching at a university – I’m hardly ever in one place for 15 weeks straight,” she explains. “Skillshare was a good in-between of an on-stage talk and a more intimate classroom. You can pour more into an online course than you can a one-hour talk, but it does scale, unlike in-person teaching.”
You can pour more into an online course than you can a one-hour talk, but it does scale, unlike in-person teaching
Hische’s first course was based on her Penguin Drop Caps book project, which was itself inspired by one of her best-known side projects: Daily Drop Cap. Although Hische was responsible for putting together the course content, Skillshare took care of all the “production heavy lifting”, including filming and editing. Her second course took a more general angle, focusing on the logo development, feedback and the revision process.
“It’s been a very good source of income over the years, especially when it first launched and they had a different model for paying teachers,” she reveals. “Initially they sold tickets to each course and teachers made 75–85 per cent of the ticket cost, but a couple of years in they switched to a membership model that does revenue sharing based on class popularity,” Hische continues.
“But not every teacher earns a lot from online teaching platforms,” she warns. “You do really need an audience that’s already interested in your work to take that leap to starting a class.”
03. Speak at events
Even if they don’t pay, speaking opportunities can open plenty of doors
A common thread evident with many of the creatives featured here is public speaking – not just as an income stream in and of itself, but also as a springboard to other opportunities. Jessica Hische, Jon Burgerman and Gavin Strange have all clocked up their fair share of design talks around the world.
“I was first asked to speak about my work because of Daily Drop Cap,” recalls Hische, revealing yet another major opportunity spun off from that one killer side project. “After gaining a bit of experience, the demand snowballed. I was very nervous at first, but with a little practice it has come more naturally to me. I became a good speaker, and conferences are always on the hunt for strong female voices in their lineup,” she points out.
“I try not to do speaking jobs unless I’m paid, or it’s for a good cause,” reveals Burgerman. “It’s work, so I need to be paid! Otherwise there are books and movies I’d rather be catching up on.”
Conferences are always on the hunt for strong female voices in their lineupJessica Hische
While talks at schools, colleges and non-profits are rarely paid, full-blown conferences tend to offer a fee, plus travel and accommodation. “Fees range between $1,500–10,000, with almost all events that I enjoy talking at falling on the lower end of that range,” explains Hische. “The more you’re paid, the more likely it’ll be a very business-like conference, rather than a looser creative event.”
She has several ways of figuring out the right speaking fee, including taking into account how much prep time is involved and how long she’ll need to be out of the office.
Like Hische, Strange insists on transport and accommodation to be paid as a minimum, and always asks for a speaker’s fee for more commercial-focused talks for businesses. “Depending on the size of the festival, some pay and some don’t,” adds Strange. “Over the years I’ve become comfortable having that conversation. They’re nice bonuses to have, but I didn’t get into speaking for money,” he concludes. “It’s the joy and excitement of having the privilege to do so.”
04. Write a book
Gavin Strange turned reams of talk notes into a book
After almost eight years of writing talks – a totally new one each year – Gavin Strange ended up with a vast bank of written notes. After speaking at The Do Lectures he was handed a book by David Hyatt, co-founder of Do. “I loved it because it was so inspiring, but it was also formatted a lot like how I structure my talks,” he recalls. “For the first time ever I thought, maybe I can write a book?”
He got in touch, and the rest was history. Working closely with Miranda West, editor and founder of the Do Book Company, his book – Do Fly – took shape. Although profit is never high on the agenda for Strange’s side projects, Do Fly provides him with some royalties every quarter, and has recently been licensed to indie publisher Chronicle Books to distribute in the United States. Appetite duly whetted, Strange is already thinking about his next book – and how it could be timed to coincide with turning 40 in a few years’ time.
05. Design products
Jon Burgerman has transferred his designs onto a range of items
Over the years, Nottingham-born, NYC-based doodle master Jon Burgerman has dabbled in a dizzying array of self-branded merchandise, from toys, prints, books and T-shirts to mugs, laptop sleeves and wallpaper.
Of course, he had to start somewhere and learnt a few lessons the hard way: “Always make things in small batches first, and see how your market reacts,” speaks the wisdom of experience. “Don’t make a thousand T-shirts. Make 10. I think there’s a basement in Nottingham that still has a few boxes of my unsold T-shirts in it,” he winces.
“Hand-make stuff to keep the manufacturing costs down for low runs,” he continues. “There are lots of print on-demand sites, so make some test pieces, show them to people, and see if anyone will buy them. Go from there. Dead stock can be costly!” Advertisement
Don’t make a thousand T-shirts. Make 10… Dead stock can be costly!Jon Burgerman
Burgerman also advises thinking about distribution from the outset, however small-scale your operation. “It’s super-easy to make stuff, but how are you going to sell it? Where will people buy it? And how are you going to ship the stuff out?” he reels off.
“It’s not fun spending all day and night packing up little toys into custom-made boxes, then waiting in a huge Post Office queue to send them out,” he adds. “Then there’s things like dealing with missing packages, and grumpy customers who want everything delivered the minute they place their order.
It’s been 20 years since Apple launched the first in its series of game-changing personal computers. Instantly recognisable thanks to its unique shape and brightly coloured, translucent monitors, the iMac G3 provided Apple with a much-needed shot in the arm.
To celebrate the anniversary, phone accessory manufacturer Spigen is bringing the design of the iMac G3 to the iPhone X with a series of fun cases.
Unveiled through a suitably charismatic presentation by Steve Jobs on May 8 1998, the iMac G3 would go on to set itself apart from the pack with a range of colour options including Bondi Blue, Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power.
Sir Jonathan Ive, the man behind the look of the iPod, is credited with creating the groundbreaking industrial design. Jobs summed it up best when he said “it looks like it’s from another planet. A good planet. A planet with better designers.”
Spigen has proved that there’s still a strong market for brightly coloured tech packed with turn-of-the-millennium appeal as its iPhone X Indiegogo campaign has already smashed its target.
The manufacturer’s Classic C1 phone cases are described as ‘familiar but extraordinary’. Tapping into the nostalgia of people who grew up with the original iMac G3, these clever cases shrink down the desktop’s design elements into something that you can carry around in your pocket.
“We took the chance to deepen what we already knew of the iconic computer,” says Spigen on its fundraiser page. “We personally bought, cleaned up and re-examined every part of the classic computer to bring it back for devices of today.”
The phone cases match the original colours of the first iMacs
With a month to go until Spigen’s Indiegogo pledge comes to an end, there’s still plenty of time to snap up one of these cases for as little as $25. And with this phenomenally popular project having already sailed past its goal by 1139%, you don’t even have to worry that your pledge will go unrewarded.
If you’ve been hard at work in your spare time creating stunning paper art or impressive poster designs, selling your merchandise online can be a quick way to make extra pennies for your efforts.
However it’s not as simple as sticking it on the internet and hoping people hand over their money. In fact there’s a fine art to tempting people into buying your wares – especially now the lower barriers to entry mean anyone and everyone can sell their creations online. Luckily this crash course list of advice will get you ready for the fast-paced world of online design retail.
Here we’re focusing on Etsy, but there are other places geared up towards selling designer-maker goods – take a look at our list of great places to sell your design work online for more info. And if you’re looking to start from scratch, it’s worth reading our in-depth guide to how to succeed as a designer-maker for success stories and advice.
01. Get product photography right
It can be helpful to include something to indicate scale
Images are really important when selling on Etsy – or anywhere else online. It’s the only way your customers are able to see what you’re selling, so make sure your photos are clear, well-lit and appealing. In particular, make sure your backgrounds are plain and neutral – keep the focus on your products. However, it can help to include something for scale in one of your photos. For example, RockCakes shows her jewellery on a person (above), so prospective customers can see how big it is.
02. Use search terms in product titles
Use the Title field to add extra info for your customers
On Etsy, you need to provide each listing with a title. This is a great place to add keywords and search terms that your buyers will use to find your item.
Some sellers mistake this as a place to title a work with a collection or item name – for example, calling a handbag ‘the Julia’ and leaving out important words that help search engines recognise the item, such as style, colour, material and manufacturing method. When writing your title, be sure to include descriptive words that your customers will use.
03. Experiment to see what sells
These pins from Finest Imaginary are a summertime purchase
Something successful sellers do is focus on their businesses. They are constantly experimenting and figuring out what works for them. This includes trying out new products, as well as new photos and new ways to describe their items.
They also keep an eye on the results. What worked this year may not work next year, and seasonality and larger trends can play a big part in how well a shop does, so never stop experimenting.
04. Set targets for improvement
Abi Overland offers a small but popular range of products on her Etsy site
It’s good to set small goals over the course of a week. For example, you could start by opening your shop with one item and then add another item each week. It’s also worth signing up for the Etsy Success newsletter, which provides tips from top sellers on the site. Good luck!
There is no doubt that almost every business nowadays has a mobile app. If you don’t, oh dear, you are missing out enormous opportunities to boost your productivity. In fact, developing an app for your business is not an activity of amusement anymore, it’s a must. That’s because today’s customer are mainly depended on smartphones to do their daily business tasks.
The thing is that finding a developer you are confident and comfortable working with can be a horror story, time-consuming task. And if you don’t make a right choice, you can end up wasting lots of money for an app that doesn’t satisfy your business requirement and not match the way you wish to operate.
If you’re at that phase, no matter which direction you choose to go, here are 5 key points that you should keep in mind. It’s not only to help you better evaluate your potential developers, but also to deepen your understanding of what’s best for you and your business.
Choose a candidate with experience
The first and foremost thing you need to do while hiring an app developer is requesting a portfolio of their apps they have built so far.
It’s not just for evaluating them, also for you to make sure you can hire the right one who had experienced in relevant field.Because if you don’t, imagine bringing on a developer with years of experience in building Android apps to develop an iOS app, how terrible!
Besides, when evaluating the portfolios of developers, here are a few questions you need to highly consider:
What kind of applications they have built? (yup, I have mentioned above how important it is)
On which mobile platform they have been creating the most mobile apps?
What the clients said about their works?
Start with a small talk
If developers don’t know what purpose that your app should serve, they can not create an effective one for you. That’s why communication becomes a thing of matter.
You need to clearly specify all the details of your project and watch the developer’s reactions closely to find out whether they have interest in your business or not. Because if they don’t, they may not give their best innovative ideas that they could.
The more you communicate with each other, the smoother the process will go, which consequently results in getting the preferred outcome.
Do check the developer’s technical skills
Developing a mobile app might require various tools, technologies & platforms. Make sure that the developer is familiar with all these.
However, please kindly note that fluency in an impressive number of program won’t make or break that developer. The one with an eagerness to learn will always serve you better.
You wouldn’t buy a car without knowing how much it costs, right?
Every developer has their different pricing structure, so what you should ask is whether it’s a flat project price or hourly rate is used. The most important thing is that you have to know exactly what you’re paying for. Asking for an detailed list of deliverables included in the price is the only way to get clear about how much your app’s actually going to cost you.
However, do not let the price drives you. You have to know that an app is always a long-term investment in your business and future, and therefore should be treated as such. If you are looking for someone offering cheaper quote, your app will look cheap as well. Whatever you are thinking, think bigger. Let’s imagine where you will see your business in next few years with that app.
Hire an offshore development company
If you have a tight budget, hiring a native app developer sometimes can turn out to be too expensive. In that case, offshoring your app is a good idea to get it build at affordable prices.
It doesn’t mean that you are compromising with quality to save a few dollars. It’s just about filling your team with talent people all around the world.
Final words
Building a simple mobile app might be a child’s play, but a seamless one takes complex programming. It takes time and practice to produce a “be-you” product which attains the quality online presence your brand deserves, not just a rushed creation from a dull off-the-shelf applications.
Deciding to hire a suitable developer to create a flawless app for your business can be a daunting decision. I hope that my blogpost helped you to relieve that stress a little bit.
Also, if you have any question regarding outsourcing your applications, please don’t hesitate to contact Designveloper. That’s something we can definitely help you!
I know it sounds ridiculous but more people in this world own smartphones than toothbrushes. They have became a vital part of our life.
But, have you ever wondered why they’re so popular like that? The real heroes standing behind such success are the many exciting apps smartphones provide us. These apps seems to be everything surrounding us from doing business, checking email, shopping or even playing game.
Nonetheless, creating a rock star application is not an easy task. In fact, it can takes weeks or even months to build an app, but just a little feature can still make or break that app.
Therefore, in today’s post, I’m going to bring to you a list of some common mistakes when designing an application which prevent your advance. Those simple stupid mistakes and overlooked components can be a huge detriment to your application and can send your users to your competitors’ app. Be vigilant!
You got it all wrong in the first place
You never get a second chance to make a first impression
How many times do I need to repeat that saying?
Usually users don’t really know what they will experience in the first moment they open an app. That time will determine whether they should trust you application or not, or if they’ll fall in love and stick with it. That’s why a fantastic app should make a good first impression.
Not only should the app load quickly and easy to understand, but also it should remind users of the reason they downloaded the app. If you don’t wow users with the first run experience, chances are they won’t interact with it again.
You forgot about fat fingers!
I don’t know about you but nothing drives me crazy more than putting so much effort into just tapping a small touch button. That doesn’t necessarily mean I have fat fingers, it’s just because I (and most people in the world) generally use the pads of the fingers to touch a button and not the fingertips.
You don’t have to design a very big touch button to avoiding this issue, just ensure that there is plenty of space around each button and make it tappable. What I mean is wherever you hit in that tappable area, it can still take you to the same location. This totally makes the app more user-friendly.
You put too much things on the screen
Sometimes, less is more. With mobile application, everything should be made as simple as possible for the users. Since apps are designed to work on small screens, there’s not so much room for you to clutter up anyway.
Also, you shouldn’t pack too many features into an app. Each app is downloaded to serve a certain purpose. If you try to stuff tons of content and other design elements, the app becomes overwhelming and too distracting to the users. Moreover, honest to say, in the world that people seem to be bombarded with too much content, they tend to be attracted by the simplicity.
People always want to be heard, seen or listened to. So, there is no doubt that if you design an app that is not easy to interact with, they won’t spend much time per their visit.
Your app should be intuitive by including some visual clues so that the users can understand exactly what actions you want them to take or where to touch, what will happen next.
Lack of consistency
Let’s picture a little scenario: Your application has different color, typography and navigation patterns for each page. You think this will make your app stand out. I’m sorry to burst your bubble but just one word can describe such app – Confusing!. Another word? – Chaos!
Everything within a single app that aren’t consistent often yields frustrated users and can be the main reason driving even the most promising products to failure. Also, it’s not just about consistency. It must be a wise consistency which does more than looking the same. Related: The Most Useful Tools For Designers
Build once, run forever
Really? This is the killer!
Many people have this silly assumption! They think that once their app is built, it never need to be touched again and their job is done. Remember, time flies fast. Things change. People changes. No matter how awesome your app is, no one is going to be interested in it forever if it’s still the same with the passing of time.
To avoid looking outdated and old-fashioned, your app needs to be updated regularly. Additionally, updated content encourage people to return to check out something new. So don’t be a conservative one that get left behind by not changing.
Do you have anything else to add?
These are just a few common mistakes of ton of misconceptions out there in the application design industry. Do you have anything else to add? I would love to know what kind of misconceptions you have met in your creative journey.
And if you are serious in getting an application for your business, you will need to consider engaging a professional agency. It will save your valuable time which you can use to improve your business processes and your products.
Just like any other creative fields, the world of design is always evolving with the passing of time. So even if you consider yourself to be an expert designer, there’s still so much to learn and focus on to stay ahead the competitions and meet your clients’ expectations.
To step up your design game a little bit, I would love to bring to you 7 important rules of user interface design that you better remember:
Get to know your users
This is the most important thing to be considered first. If the designer can’t determine their target audience, they can not create an effective one.
Who are your users – inside and out? What do they need? What will stand in the way of them achieving their goals? Don’t stop at knowing what your users want.
To do that, you are going to need to take some time to speak with your users face to face. Even better, watching them use your product, then asking how they think about it.
Think about how people use your interface
Tapping a button, swiping a card or dragging and dropping an item with a fingertip? What ways do you want your users to do? Let’s think about it first before you design your interface.
Once you defined who your users are and how they interact with your interface, it’s time to build some cool things.
Clarity is job #1
People want convenience, not a challenge. Because of this, please do your users a favor: Make everything as clear and simple as possible to understand. Don’t make them guess.
When people use your interface, they must be able to recognize what it is, understand how to use it and know what will happen when they use it.
Some says that they want to design their interface more mysterious to make people curious. Yes, it’s totally okay, even great, but remember there is no room for confusion.
Design with multiple screen sizes in mind
There’s no one-size-fits-all design for every device in the market. When it comes to designing a website or an app, you need to make sure that you design with all screen sizes in mind. That’s because people nowadays spend a lot of their time on mobile devices from doing business, checking email, shopping or even playing game.
According to a study from Google “What User Want Most From Mobile Sites Today?”, when users visited a mobile-friendly site, 74% of them said that they were more likely to return to that site in the future and 67% of them were more likely to buy on that site’s products or services.
It’s incredible frustrating to try to zoom in and out, up and down, left and right on smaller device to read content. That’s obviously the last thing a customer wants when they are on the move and need to find out about your business.
Therefore, if your design is not accommodating this change, visitors will hit the “Back” button without regret.
Consistency always matters
Consistency makes your interface easier to use, because visitors don’t have to learn new tricks as they move around. When someone or something behaves consistently with our expectations we feel like we have a good relationship with it. The same can be said as a consistent interface. Elements that behave the same should look the same.
Don’t make things so complicated. Keep your creativity for higher order concerns.
If my words do not convince you enough, consider this: According to the Principle of Least Surprise which applies to user interface and software design: “If a necessary feature has a high astonishment factor, it may be necessary to redesign the feature.”
Design for the zero stage
The first time users experience with your interface is the most crucial moment. In order to help your users get to know your interface immediately, it is best to design for the zero state that means the state in which nothing has yet occurred.
This stage should provide users direction and guidance. Once people understand the rules, they will easily find a clear path that leads them to what they are looking for.
Keep users in control
People always want to be the one who decide what happens next when they use a interface. They feel more comfortable when they are in control of everything. If they are instantly bombarded with an unplanned interaction or confusing pathways without their consent, they tend to leave immediately.
Therefore, always keep users in control by describing clearly causation or telling them what to expect at every turn. Even though you think it states the obvious, oh dear at least you did state, you have nothing to lose but a chance to win.
Ready to rock?
Not all of these rules may be useful for your business, but it’s always beneficial to know what’s foundation to rely on in the industry.
As Picasso said: “Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.” So why don’t you get your hand dirty, make your own stunning interface by testing and experimenting, and then share it with me in the comment box? Who knows, you might make a new rule by yourself?
By now, you have already known why having a strong website is important for your business. It isn’t just for fun anymore. Just one glance at your site, prospects can decide whether or not they should work with you. Or website is simply a place where customers are able to find you online.
However, many people misunderstood that a strong website is just a pretty one. Oh honey, you don’t need a BEAUTIFUL website, you need an EFFECTIVE one. The one that you can actually put to work.
How to put your website to work
Step one is do the thing I tell you to do nearly every article I write….wait for it…THINK ABOUT YOURSELF. This is the most important thing to be considered. If can’t be sure what purpose that your website should serve, you can not create an effective one. To do that, you are going to need to take some time to think about who you are, and what the core values of your business are. How could you change your business by changing your website? How can your website make you business easier to run and for your clients or prospects to engage with you?
Then, FIND OUT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. Along with you business goal, you need to determine your target market. Who will visit your site? What do they want to get from your site? What would make it easier for them to do business with you?
JUST DO IT. I know it’s not easy to sit down, asking yourself something that are rather vague. But, just try to do it anyway. It may be the thing that makes your business great.
Next, I’m going to tell you some elements that your need to improve to make your website work for you
Call to action (CTA)
What exactly is it that you would like your potential customers to do when they browse your website? Do you want more newsletter subscribers, make a sale, provide information or gather contact information?
Then include buttons which should be of a contrasting color and say exactly what you want them to do: Call Me, Shop Now, Contact Us, Let’s Chat, Sign Up, Buy Now.
Take this stunning website which is one of our successful products as an example, its CTA is very obvious and strong. See full website at: luminpdf.com A successful website must have ability to convert visitors quickly into customers. So make your CTA as clear and as easy for potential clients as possible to take the next step.
About us
Where to sell your story? Yes, no place else but the “About us” page. The thing is many people seems not to be aware of its importance. The “About Us” page is usually their second thought. But let me unveil a secret, that page is one of the most visited pages on a successful website!
Therefore, it’s time for you to put some effort into making the “About us” page less boring. Do not write long essay, just keep the page simple; give users just enough information. And remember it should be personal, compelling, and definitely up to date.
Contact Information
I don’t know about you, but nothing drives me nuts more than a website that makes me revisit their pages so many times to find out how to contact to them. Hey, I found your site, I like it enough to stay and I want to do business with you, but guess what? I can not find your contact information. Are you serious?
So, please display your contact information on every page if possible. It should be RIGHT-THERE. You should also offer various options for potential customers to get in touch with you such as: your email, your phone number or a contact form. A good way to do this is add contact information to all static headers and footers.
Responsive design
There is no doubt that it’s the age of mobile devices now. Mobile seems to become everything surrounding us from doing business, checking email, shopping or even playing game. Because of that insanely increase of mobile devices, it’s a must for any kind of business to have a website that is responsive.
When I make the browser thinner and wider, the layout magically adjusts itself to fit any sizes of the browser. That is how responsive websites work!
A website which isn’t optimized to be viewed onto a mobile means the page won’t be adjusted or fit onto the small screen. So, your visitors have to zoom in and out, up and down, left and right on smaller device to read content. That’s obviously the last thing a customer wants when they are on the move and need to find out about your business.
Simple navigation
If you want to stand out from the crowd, a good navigation is the key factor you need to take care of. Navigation isn’t necessary to be complicated. It should be easy to identify and easy to use.
Remember, people want convenience, not a challenge. The easier it is for people to use and navigate throughout your site, the longer they are likely to interact with it.
Fast loading page
According to Hosting Facts, “A single second delay in your website loading time can result in a 7% loss in conversion, and 40% of web users will abandon a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load”.
Slow loading pages may be a major reason why your visitors hit the “Back” button without regret. Nobody likes waiting for so long! There are tons of other options available out there, why would they waste their time waiting for your page to load?
Relevant content
A good website is the one that not only work effectively, but also provide relevant content that your audience want. Content have to cater to the needs of the users. It should answers questions that have been posed by your audience. Once your customers have found what they have looked for, they are likely to return your site to find answers for any further problems.
Last but not least, make sure all content is SEO optimized using relevant keywords so your targeted audience can find your site.
Final thoughts
I’m sure by now you’re getting the picture. A website that works for you will not only save you time, but also make you money.
It takes time and practice to produce a “be-you” website which attains the quality online presence your brand deserves, not just a rushed creation from a dull template.
While your website essentially represents your business’s face, why don’t you take time to make it shine! Want help getting your website to sparkle? Talk to our team to see just what we can do for you!
When it comes to building applications and websites nowadays, you can’t avoid mentioning icon font. They own tons of amazing benefits like:
easily scalable
lesser http requests compared to images
stylable with CSS (change size, color, etc)
Like normal fonts, icon fonts are available for free or for a fee. If you’re looking for 100% free icon fonts for your website, here is a list of best 7.
Octicons
If you want a simple, lightweight icon font, Octicons will be your best choice. Created by GitHub, it now offers a free set of 163 solid colored icon fonts.This icon pack is currently in version 5.0 and totally free. Download here
Entypo
When it comes to freebies, Entypo will be top of the line. Entypo contains 411 carefully crafted premium pictograms which created by Daniel BruceEspecially, it includes a social extension if you need icons for social networks. Download here
Iconmoon
Available as both a website and an app, IcoMoon offers 490 different vector icons for you to play around with. Each icon pack features detailed licensing so that designers and developers know exactly how icons can be used. Download here
Typicons
You might not know about Typicons yet cause it’s not so popular. However, there is no doubt that it’s one of the better icon web fonts available.It offers a set of 336 rounded vector icons. Download here
Font Awesome
Created by Dave Gandy, Font Awesome is by far one of the safest icon sets you can use. It has been around for years and there’s no reason it will fade away soon.
It offers 585 downloadable free fonts on their website which come in various shapes, including line art and rounded images.
I highly recommend Ionicons for newbies who have known nothing about icon fonts before. Because those icon fonts are pretty easy to setup. And then once you become an expert in how they work, you can move onto almost any other icon webfont out there.
Created by designer Mario del Valle. Captain Icon owns amazing icon pack in which each icon has a very unique design. Which makes them stand out from the crowd is that they’re all hand drawn from scratch.
As you can tell, there’s a ton of free icon font out there for you to choose. This is my favorite list. How about you? Did you have any “I can’t believe you didn’t put it on your top” resources? Feel free to share your secret weapon in the comments below!
Have you ever been in a situation where you knew what you wanted your product to look like, but you had no idea how to communicate with the design agency what you meant in designer-speak? It felt like foreign language, didn’t it?
Pretty much every job has its own language or set of terms that those working in that field use on an everyday level, whether it’s being a doctor, a lawyer or a designer. However, this can be quite a challenge for clients who are not involved in the design industry. So, that’s why we’re here – make thing easier.
In case you want to be more prepared as you meet prospective agencies, I’ve compiled some of the most common UX/UI terminologies to help you make sure you are speaking the same language with designers.
First, let’s make clear what’s different between UX and UI:
UX (User experience) : UX focuses on the human interaction with the computer or device.
UI (User Interface): The user interface is simply how a user interacts with the design on a page.
Okay, it’s time to find out others. Let’s scroll!
A/B testing
At its core, A/B testing is exactly what it sounds like: You take two versions of a product , and present them side by side to a group of users, to determine which one performs better and which one the users likes more.
Breadcrumb
Breadcrumbs are a navigation trail that show users where they have been on your website. Taking a website which has a lot of pages as an example, breadcrumb navigation in this case can greatly enhance the way users find their way around.
Call to Action
It’s a term used for describing specific texts, images, banners or buttons that encourage the reader or viewer of a website to take an expected, predetermined action.
Simple examples include: “Click here” or “Buy now”.
Conversion
This term is used to describe when visitors take whatever action that you want them to make such as: completing a web form, submitting a request for information, subscribing to a newsletter or making an e-commerce purchase.
Flat Design
This is a design philosophy that focuses on clean and minimalist styles. Quite literally, flat means design that has no dimensional depth. Instead of designing elements that look like you can reach out and grab them, flat design goes back to the basics of graphics – bright colors, primitive shapes, icons, etc.
Information Architecture
It refers to the organization of the information, dealing with what pages go where in a website’s structure, what content is contained on each page and how each of these interact with other pages within the site
Landing page
In the purest sense, a landing page is any web page that a visitor can arrive at or “land” on. Oftentimes, a special landing page is designed for a specific business purpose (usually in connection with an advertising or marketing campaign)
Micro-interaction
Let’s have a look at this example:. When you see the red and white box icon on Facebook, you automatically know that you have a new message and immediately click on it to read messages. That’s micro-interactions.
Micro-interactions make devices more human-like in their moments. As a result, the design is more usable and enjoyable.
Prototype
Many people cannot distinguish prototype from wireframe. Look at it this way: Wireframe is just a low detailed presentation of a product, but prototype is a medium or highly detailed representation of the final product.
It’s the sample model of the product that gives the ability to test it and see if the solutions and decisions made about the product are efficient.
Personas
A persona is a profile of your one ideal customer. It is usually a fictional character created based on your user research and interview data.
White space is also called called negative space. It’s the blank space that surrounds text, images or other parts of the page. One more thing adding, white space is not necessarily white but uses the background color of the site.
Wireframe
In short, wireframe is a skeleton of you app or product. As I mentioned above, it’s a low detailed presentation of a design – no images, no content, no interactive elements. It’s like your website blueprint. Designers will take the main group of content that you want and lay it out exactly as it will be on your product.
Conclusion
That’s a look at some of the more common UX/UI terms you’ll see in the design world. Now you’re practically a designer, right? Just kidding! But guess what? You are totally ready for your meetings with a design agency!
By no means is this the be-all-end-all of web design terminology… so feel free to add your own glossary in the comments as well.
Dean Corner 
