links – Inspect Element

Links of the Week 21

October 30th, 2009 — 5 Comments

Fireworks vs Photoshop, essential UX blogs, mouse cursor CSS tips and web design education.

Links of Interest

Fireworks vs Photoshop Compression

Having never used Fireworks myself, Nick La gives us a good reason why you may want to use it instead of Photoshop.

10 UX Blogs You Should Be Reading

Reading these blogs is one of the best ways to keep up to date with anything related to usability and as web designers, we all know the importance of usability.

Mouse Cursor Affordance

A simple CSS tip that all web designers and developers should adhere to.

To School or Not to School

As someone who is self-taught in web design, CSS and HTML I find this article from Web Designer Depot very interesting.

Inspiration for the Weekend

This Week on Inspect Element

Four Different Ways of Implementing Twitter on your Site

Wallpapers of the Week 21: Stunning Views

Showcase of Some of the Most Inspiring Travel & Tourism Websites

Links of the Week 20

October 23rd, 2009 — 4 Comments

Staying informed about web design, Raindrop, web conferences, preparing and planning for a redesign and ensuring you get paid for your work as a freelancer.

Links of Interest

10 Secrets To Staying Informed About Web Design

While, I wouldn’t call them secrets, they are useful tips for keeping yourself in the know in web design.

Mozilla Raindrop

Mozilla are releasing an app to try and improve communication. Looks quite interesting.

Web Conferences Roundup: Events from Around the Globe

I have a New Year’s resolution ready for next year which is to attend at least one web conference. As of yet, I haven’t been to any but they seem a lot of fun judging by the activity on Twitter. Smashing Magazine have compiled a list of all the known current conferences from around the world.

Preparing and Planning for a Redesign

Great article on what you need to think about before redesigning a website.

Essential Tips to Ensure You Get Paid For Your Work

Some good tips for freelancers to make sure they get paid for their work.

Inspiration for the Weekend

yay!everyday

This Week on Inspect Element

8 Simple Tips for Freelancers to Keep Focused

Wallpapers of the Week 20: Planets

Advanced Photoshop Techniques that you may not be aware of

Links of the Week 19

October 16th, 2009 — 4 Comments

The ultimate icons collection, A/B test results, Lorem Ipsum alternative, funny flowcharts and building a thermometer controlled page with jQuery.

Links of Interest

The Ultimate Icons Collection

Almost certainly the biggest collection of quality icons on the web. Make sure you check the license before using any of them.

AB Tests

This site lists a number of A/B testing examples and results that have been made public.

Blind Text Generator

blindtextgenerator

Lorem Ipsum text has been the standard text usage for using in design concepts but the Blind Text Generator creates more natural looking text.

A Collection of Humorous Flowcharts for Web Designers

This goes quite nicely with Inspect Element’s post, Humor in Web Design.

Build a Thermometer Controlled Page with jQuery

Another example of the guys at Build Internet doing cool things with jQuery.

Design of the Week

Woork Up

Really like the grid layout for the list of recent posts on the homepage.

This Week on Inspect Element

8 Ways Blogging about Web Design will Improve Your Work

Wallpapers of the Week 19: On the Road

5 Invitations to Typekit to Give Away

Links of the Week 18

October 9th, 2009 — 4 Comments

Become a font embedding master, myth of the page fold, web dev goodies, minimize complexity and my dock.

Links of Interest

Becoming a Font Embedding Master

Everything you wanted to know about font embedding and more.

The myth of the page fold: evidence from user testing

A must read if a client requests all of their content must be crammed in above the fold. Show them this.

Fresh Web Development Goodies Bag

A great roundup of the latest free tools and resources in the web design/development world.

Minimizing Complexity In User Interfaces

Simplifying user interfaces is a great way of improving usability and this article does a great job of showing examples of how to achieve this.

Show Me Your Dock Series! Part 19 (with me!)

Grace Smith asked me if I wanted to be in her awesome Show Me Your Dock! series and of course I said yes. Check out what apps are in my dock.

Design of the Week

Abduzeedo

Abduzeedo has had a bit of a makeover. I especially like the way that the headers become part of the main image.

Inspiration for the Weekend

39 Astonishing Examples of 3D Typography

Coming from a 3D background, I love this collection of inspiration 3D typography.

This Week on Inspect Element

Design Trend Showcase: Textured Backgrounds

Wallpapers of the Week 18: Abstract Art

The Future of Web Use: Something We Need to Think About

Links of the Week 17

October 2nd, 2009 — No Comments

Interview with Jakob Nielsen, Sitepoint 5-for-1, Smashing Magazine acquires Noupe and respond effectively to design criticism.

Links of Interest

Interview with Web Usability Guru, Jakob Nielsen

A fantastic interview with the man who knows as much as there is to know about usability.

The SitePoint 5-for-1 Sale

Sitepoint are selling 5 PDF books for the price of one. They have aÂ great selection so make you take a look.

Noupe Has A New Owner: Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine, the best design blog on the internet,Â have bought Noupe, another of my favourite design blogs. This seems to be a win-win situation for all concerned, especially us, the readers!

How To Respond Effectively To Design Criticism

Responding to criticism from clients can be a hard thing but luckily this great article from Smashing Magazine can help.

Design of the Week

Snook.ca

Jonathan Snook has redesigned his site with a minimalistic design which I love as it draws the users’ attentions to the great content.

Inspiration for the Weekend

Machinarium

Remember the old Monkey Island games and how good they were? Now think of any great point and click games that have come out in the last 10 years. Not many, which is a shame. The demo of Machinarium is out now and is absolutely gorgeous. Download it now, you won’t be disappointed!