July 4, 2013 — Jeremy Olson believes we learn much more from success than from failure, and that we have many shining lights in the app industry. By studying independent developers who have succeeded in the App Store again and again, he was able to learn the basic principles that he needed to succeed, and he hopes this article will help others do the same. Read more…

July 3, 2013 — In this article, Martin Gittins will explore the idea of consciously restricting yourself to a set of core tools that you know, love and trust, so that you don’t get overwhelmed by the staggering array of resources and options available to designers. You should know what your most precious tools are, and keep a portable set close at hand. Read more…

July 2, 2013 — Technology enabled us to do more, not less. Tools such as email enable us to communicate more, rather than make life easier. In fact, many people are now overwhelmed by the amount of email they receive. The trick is to process everything out of your inbox. Do that and I promise you will never look at email with the same horror again. Read more…

July 1, 2013 — This post features free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for July 2013. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free. It’s time to freshen up your wallpaper! This creativity mission has been going on for over five years now, and we are very thankful to all the designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month. Read more…

June 28, 2013 — Many of the posts Nathan Barry read for his first product launch didn’t help him very much. The marketing ideas were vague, or the advice didn’t apply to his tiny business. Now, having launched five new products in fewer than nine months, he turned product launches into a science. And while they never go perfectly, these ideas have helped him generate over $200,000 in revenue from online products, starting from scratch. Read more…

June 27, 2013 — Placing a Twitter feed on one’s website has almost become compulsory. Embedding a feed isn’t all that difficult if you are comfortable with Twitter’s default widget, but making your own will enable you to blend it into your website seamlessly. Once you grasp the basic idea behind how this widget is created, you can add many of your own and customize them to your (or your client’s) delight. Read more…

June 26, 2013 — Jeff Eaton works with media, publishing and enterprise clients. Those businesses produce so much content and manage so many publishing channels that keeping presentation and design-specific markup out of their content is an absolute requirement. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that editors and writers are content with rigid, predictable designs for the material they publish, and this is where many well-intentioned content models break down. In this article, Jeff will share five techniques he used on recent projects to solve these problems. Read more…

June 25, 2013 — In this article, Adham Dannaway will show you how to create your own portfolio website. A challenging but enjoyable experience that he learned a lot from his goal was to create a unique online presence that represents his personality and displays his design work in detail, while of course serving as a promotional medium to gain more exposure and business. let’s get started! Read more…

June 25, 2013 — Extensive use of media queries is not a viable long-term solution. Media queries do not allow for reusable modules that adapt based on their containers’ size. Responsive Web design has inspired us to think beyond device classifications and to use media queries to adapt a layout to the browser’s viewport size. But this deviates from the hierarchical structure of CSS and characterizes elements relative to the viewport, instead of to their container. Read more…

June 24, 2013 — One way to gauge mobile experience is to look at the tools at our disposal. Prototyping tools enable us to build wireframes and click-dummies. We seem to be in a better position than ever to design great experiences in virtually no time. However, these tools come with a hidden cost: they tempt us to skip the key step necessary to creating a well-designed product — which is to take the time to understand the problem we are given. Read more…