Creative thinkers tend to be balls of energy and productivity machines. Creativity is generally perceived to be something external, out of our control, or an inherent talent for a chosen few. But consider that creativity is fundamentally about ideas. Ideas are generated by thinking, and skills for thinking can be learned. Therefore, creativity, thinking and idea generation are skills that can be learned. Learning a variety of thinking skills will have a dramatic impact on your productivity and output. In this article, Shelley Walsh introduces five books that are bound to stimulate your thinking and reflection on creativity, as well as provide valuable, practical exercises that will improve your thinking and problem-solving skills.
Read more…
Print style sheets is the main thing that comes to mind if you mention printing with CSS. But CSS is also being used to format books, catalogs and brochures — content that may never have been designed to be a web page at all. In this article, Rachel Andrew will take a look at the CSS modules that have been created not for use in web browsers, but to deal with printed and paged media. She’ll explain how the selectors, properties and values that they introduce work. She’ll finish up with a working example that you can use as a starting point for your own experiments.
Read more…
We are humbled to release a set of 45 free icons available in SVG, PSD and PNG formats, released exclusively for Smashing Magazine and its readers. Designed by Print Express. You can use the icons in your commercial as well as your personal projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. You may modify the size, color or shape of the icons. No attribution is required, however, reselling of bundles or individual pictograms is prohibited.
Read more…
As designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one—desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This post features free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for January 2015. You can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our Desktop Wallpaper Calendars series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?
Read more…
Web designers usually lose money on a project as a result of the client endlessly iterating on the design. After a few bad experiences, we avoid consulting with them. Unfortunately, this often makes interaction with the client even worse, so they interfere even more, creating a vicious cycle. But there is a way that enables you to produce outstanding design and maintain your profit margin! The answer lies in involving the client in the process, rather than excluding them. It involves collaborating with the client to produce a design. In this article, Paul Boag will show you how.
Read more…
Today, we’re honored to present to you a set of flat icons designed by Freepik. This set is completely free to use for commercial as well as your personal projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. Please provide credits to the creators and link to the article in which this freebie was released if you would like to spread the word. Note that this set is licensed under Creative Commons. Feel free to modify the size, color or shape of the icons.
Read more…
One could easily argue that nothing affects a design more than typography. And good typography starts with choosing an appropriate typeface. But can having too much choice be a bad thing? In this article, Jeremiah Shoaf reviews a collection of beautiful websites and analyzes the impact that their designers’ typeface choices have had on the overall designs. She’ll critique both the good and the bad. Of course, type is subjective, so take any critiques with a grain of salt. Let’s dig in!
Read more…
Throughout his 70-year career, Frank Lloyd Wright developed a number of principles and ideals that can inspire us to design digital experiences that better stand the test of time. His views on materials, form, function, space and environment define his iconic works. These ideals and principles are still used in architecture today, and his buildings have stood the test of time, remaining relevant even in today’s digital age. In this article, Kent Eisenhuth will cover six main aspects of Wright’s approach that you can apply to digital design. His effort to create a “new” architecture can inspire us to rethink the way we approach our digital design work and even push the medium into new and exciting territories.
Read more…
Today’s icon set is designed by the folks behind Iconshock and Designshock, and consists of 100 individual icons merging outlined as well as flat styles, all vectors built in Photoshop, in four transparent PNG image sizes and available in two color versions: a limited cold palette and a warm colorful one. Please always provide credits to the creators and link to the article in which this freebie was released if you would like to spread the word. Note that this icon set is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. You may modify the size, color or shape of the icons!
Read more…
Chartist was developed for a very particular need: to create simple responsive charts. While other charting libraries do a great job of visualizing data, something is always missing to satisfy this simple yet demanding need. In this article, Gion Kunz will show you how to use Chartist to create your own beautiful responsive charts. You’ll learn some key concepts of Chartist, how to easily extend it and also some advanced features, like responsive configuration overrides and the animation API.
Read more…
