We’ve been closely working with Maya on this article, and we’re happy to see the final result now being published on 18F. We highly encourage more teams to share the lessons they learned when building design systems or pattern libraries, and we’re always happy to support them in writing, editing and shaping that article. This post is a re-post of Maya’s final article. In this article, Maya will shed some light on how to built tools to leverage industry-standard best practices and produce a design system with reusable components.
Read more…
In this article, Nikola Lazarević will show you how to create a very realistic and detailed vector illustration of a watch using basic shapes, layer styles and cool Sketch functions such as “Rotate Copies” and “Make Grid.” No bitmap images will be used, which means you will be able to easily adapt the final image to different sizes and resolutions. While Sketch is undoubtedly an excellent UI design tool, it can be used as a powerful illustration tool as well. So, in this tutorial, he’ll walk you through the process of creating the iconic Heuer Autavia wrist chronograph, all in vectors.
Read more…
Designers need to create the most usable and attractive websites possible, and well applied minimalist principles can help designers make attractive and effective websites with fewer elements. Minimalist websites simplify interfaces by removing unnecessary elements and paring down content that does not support user tasks. In this article, Nick Babich will discuss some examples of minimalism in web design, things to consider when designing minimalist interfaces, and explain why sometimes “less is more”.
Read more…
If you feel that your own confidential business information needs to be protected, a mutual NDA might be a great idea. It’s normal to feel a little intimidated when reviewing a legal document. However, NDAs are a part of life for developers. If you want to work for top clients, you will be asked to sign them. If you’re not sure whether to sign an NDA as a developer, Kimberly Bond will guide you to make an educated decision.
Read more…
This monthly wallpapers mission has been going on for nine years already, and we are very thankful to everyone who has and still is contributing to it each month anew. Today, to provide you with some fresh inspiration even when the weather is gray, artists and designers from across the globe once again challenged their creative skills to design beautiful, one-of-a-kind wallpapers for you to indulge in. The wallpapers in this collection all come in versions with and without a calendar for October 2017 and can be downloaded for free. Happy October!
Read more…
Prior to CSS Grid Layout landing in browsers, many people saw flexbox as the answer to all of our design-related problems. However, flexbox doesn’t provide a grid system any more than floats do, although it does make creating one simpler. CSS Grid is such a different way of approaching layout that there are a number of common questions Rachel Andrew is asked as people start to use the specification. In this article, she will answer some of those, and will be one in a series of articles on Smashing Magazine about layouts.
Read more…
UX professionals need to communicate design ideas and research findings to a range of audiences. They use deliverables for that purpose. Don’t be surprised by the number of deliverables Nick Babich mentions in this article. Rest assured, each project is different and a UX designer wouldn’t need to produce all of them for each project. Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all deliverable that will be equally effective for all projects. Each deliverable becomes an effective communication tool in the right context and with the right audience.
Read more…
Today, Cosima Mielke brings you 60 icons with everything from transportation and equipment to nature, activities and other motifs that are bound to awaken your wanderlust. EPS, AI, SVG and PNG formats are available, so it’s easy to customize the icons to your liking.
Read more…
Karim Maaloul decided to start a series of short WebGL experiments on Codepen, and he has finally found the time to compile them all together on a single website named “Moments of Happiness”. In this article, Karim has detailed the solution used to make a running cycle. On his Codepen page, all of these experiments are available, with the code at your disposal. Feel free to play around and make your own interactive toys. As you’ll see, all of the experiments share one principle: The behavior of each character responds programmatically to user input. No precalculated animation — every movement is defined at runtime.
Read more…
