We usually export images for the Web from our favorite graphics software. Our eyes fixate on an image’s preview, adjusting the quality settings until we’ve found that sweet spot, where the file size and quality are both the best they can be. After having gone to all that care and effort, we would be forgiven for thinking that our image is in the best shape possible, but that’s not always the case. In fact, much more data is usually left in such files, data that keeps our users waiting just a bit longer than necessary. Thankfully, a number of popular tools can help us optimize images even further!
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Two years ago, Portuguese graphic and type designer Natanael Gama started to play with glyphs — as a way to discover typography. Doodling around, he created Exo, a font which he released for free in a Kickstarter project which turned out to be quite successful, and Natanael did a complete redesign. Today, he is no longer a student and Exo has evolved into Exo 2.0, an elegant, contemporary geometric sans serif typeface.
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In this article, we feature a set of 54 flat icons created and designed by Nick Frost and Greg Lapin. If you are looking for a way to make your design fresh and expressive, then this freebie is the answer. It includes 36 icons drawn from a full commercial set available on Smallicons, plus 18 icons designed exclusively for Smashing Magazine.
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Many designers and design teams make the mistake of thinking that their work is done once they’ve completed the visual design stage, and this is where Specctr can help. Specctr is a plugin for Adobe applications, which transitions a visual design to production by enabling you to specify form and function. It automatically generates a specification and creates a blueprint for the design, which saves a lot of time!
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In this article, we are honoured to present to you Nice Things a set of 128 original, beautiful icons that Chris Behr came up with while playing around with the Shape tools in Illustrator. He casually divided a square into a grid and then randomly colored it. Then he combined the grid with a couple of icons that he had been doodling. Let’s see the results!
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Today, we’re proud to feature a free Photoshop extension, BlendMe.in, that will help everyone access those font icons they need without even leaving Photoshop. Please note that this will reset all Photoshop settings to default. Enjoy!
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In this article, we feature a set of 33 flat e-commerce icons, created exclusively for Smashing Magazine by Responsive. The icons are suited to e-commerce projects and include many popular payment providers. The set includes Photoshop and Illustrator files containing all of the icons.
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We are pleased to introduce Type & Grids, a free responsive HTML5 template by Jeremiah Shoaf. All of the content resides in a single HTML file, so setting it up is super-simple. Its extensive customization options set Type & Grids apart from other templates out there. Each type theme is meticulously handcrafted, with attention paid to the smallest typographic details.
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As creators of products that will be consumed on Retina devices, we have to optimize our design and development workflow accordingly. Upon failing to find a tool that fits my design team’s workflow, Artiom Dashinsky created a set of two time-saving Photoshop actions for slicing graphics for Retina and standard displays. The great feedback from his team inspired him to share it with other designers.
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This article features email templates for communicating with clients, superiors, teammates and the like. You can easily customize them. They balance firmness and tact, professionalism and friendliness.
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