Entries Tagged 'Design tips' ↓

Booya!

Check out this Performance Comparison of Major Web Browsers.

Google Chrome killed it!

In summary:

Up yours Internet Explorer. And you know what? Up yours too Firefox!

I’ve been having so many issues with Firefox lately that I had to completely give up on it and use Chrome as my default browser. Many of my Firefox add-ons weren’t compatible with the latest version and the ones that were compatible were slowing it down. I’m careful with my add-ons and I didn’t have too many to begin with so this was unacceptable for me.

I’m really loving Chrome. It’s fast and it looks pretty damn cool. I have mine set up with the chrome finish so my browser looks all slick-like.

I’m not even that disappointed that I can’t use the add-ons I was so dependent on with Firefox. I don’t even miss them.

You can’t right click on an image in Chrome and set it as your desktop wallpaper which is sad, but you can right click on anything you want to and “inspect element”. This is a super handy tool for web developers, designers, internet marketers, etc. If you use Firebug for Firefox, this tool is very similar.

It’s definitely worth trying Chrome out if you haven’t already.

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately designing websites (mostly WordPress themes but some static pages as well) and I’ve been looking at things in a completely new light.

When I read magazines, I pay attention to the layout of the pages, the font used, the images, etc. which inspires me to create new designs. I also get inspired by nature – going for walks always gives me ideas and I can’t wait to get home to draw them.

I also love to look at photography which is always really inspiring. I get all my wallpapers from InterfaceLIFT. They have some amazing photos and the one I downloaded today is particularly crazy cool.

I like to minimize all my windows on my desktop and just sit back and admire my current wallpaper. I usually get a lot of design ideas from them. It’s also like having a piece of ever-changing art on my desk while I’m not working.

I might have to keep this Buddhist Temple wallpaper on my desktop for longer than usual since it goes so well with my Buddha head sitting on my desk.

So take a look around you. Chances are there are many inspiring elements right in front of you, you just have to look at them with open eyes!

I wanted to point out a couple resources that two of my excellent readers recommended in the hopes that they will be useful to you.

Chris from AB Web Design says the best tool he has found for color sampling is Pixie. It’s a tiny little program that tells you what the hex, RGB, HTML, CMYK and HSV values are for a particular color. You simply hold your mouse over the color you want.

I do this a lot of times when I see a color in a photo or on a website that I love. Now, instead of opening up Fireworks (which takes an eternity on my piece of crap machine) to find out what the hex value is, I can open up Pixie instantly and find out. Very handy.

Jack from ZedProMarketing.com uses Treepad. I haven’t used it too much yet but I can see it’s like Notepad (for keeping text files) but with a lot more features. Plus it is a much smaller program than OpenOffice or MS Office so it’s much easier to load and keep running while you’re working on other things.

For bloggers and/or web designers who have computers that are lacking in speed and memory (like mine!), these two programs are great options. Thanks for the recommendations guys!

I was looking for a web safe color chart that I could buy and there doesn’t seem to be much of a selection online. That’s OK though because there are some great options at VisiBone.

I found a mousepad and a chart that I’d love to try, although I don’t think the mousepad would work with my optical mouse. It would be really handy to have a chart on my desk when designing websites, so if you also dabble in design, this chart may be something that could come in handy for you.

(I’m not an affiliate for them. Just pointing out a cool resource.)

Creating a header for your blog is one of the best ways to make it unique and stand out from the crowd. When you’re trying to come up with an idea for your new header, you may be drawing a blank. I’ve got a few ideas that will help kickstart those creative gears in your head.

Just Text – I’ve seen a lot of great blog headers that are simply text. Using typography to make your blog stand out is gutsy but can result in a beautiful header. Find a snazzy font – there are tons of free fonts available on the web to download – and use your favorite image editing program to create a cool graphic with your blog title.

Add some text effects to make it anything but generic. You can even make it look like it’s 3D, shiny, or glowing. Try using different colors for certain letters, add a copy of the text flipped upside down to create a mirror effect, or create text using other images. There are lots of ways to get creative with text.

Photography – Some headers are nothing but a photo. A scenic landscape, a city skyline, or a row of cute babies smiling for the camera can make a memorable image for your blog readers.

If you want to get even more creative, design multiple headers and have them rotate each time the page is refreshed. This is a great idea for people with photoblogs who like to showcase their own work. My favorite place to get images for my blog headers is StockXpert.

Minimal – If you have a busy theme or you want to direct the focus on something in particular, you may want to choose a header that doesn’t attract a lot of attention.

A simple blog title may suffice, or a small logo. This works well for blogs that already have a brand that is recognizable.

Grunge – There are lots of grunge images and textures that you can download for free. Grab a few, splice them together, and create your own unique header with them.

While you’re looking for some grunge textures, find some grunge fonts to go with it. A dark grunge background with a white grungy text over top would look great on a personal blog.

Color – Using bright, vibrant colors for your header is extremely eye-catching. It could be something really abstract (in which case many examples can be found on free stock photography and images sites) or you can use a mixture of images that add a lot of color contrast.

In one blog header I designed, I took one image of an apple, duplicated it twice, and changed the color of the second two images resulting in a row of three colorful apples. It was simple and eye-catching at the same time and the same idea could be implemented for any niche blog using different images.

If you can’t decide on one idea, why not try more than one? Some blogs are known to change their headers regularly. In some cases this could confuse your readers, but if done properly, it could end up being something that makes your blog unique. Your readers will expect the change and look forward to seeing what you come up with next.