September 5, 2013 — This tutorial shows the basic steps Veerle Pieters followed to create a water lily; but in creating this flower, she did way more than what is presented here. You see, every creation is never straightforward or perfect right away. It takes some trial and error, because she also needed to find the method that can be most easily explained. To get to her result, you’ll be doing a lot of clever actions while having a lot of room for experimentation as well. Read more…

September 3, 2013 — Lately we’ve seen a rapid shift in software and app interface design, from 3-D and skeuomorphic to flat and minimal. Let’s take a moment to consider how we got here and what influence it’s having on interface design as a whole. Minimal design’s widespread resurgence is refreshing to witness. It is by no means the right solution for everything, but when applied thoughtfully and appropriately, it makes for a highly usable and enjoyable digital experience. Read more…

September 3, 2013 — Progressive enhancement has become a bit of a hot topic recently, most recently with Tom Dale [conclusively showing it to be a futile act, but only by misrepresenting what progressive enhancement is and what its benefits are. Read more…

September 2, 2013 — Emotional interaction is an important, but frequently neglected, component that must be considered in Web design. Crafting an element of surprise on Web pages can raise visitor engagement without obfuscating important content, sidelining mobile visitors or disadvantaging users who require accessibility features. Naturally, this must always be balanced with the need to guide users through the website. Read more…

August 31, 2013 — In this article, you will find free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for September 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. Read more…

August 29, 2013 — As usual, we have to put ourselves in the users’ shoes: What do we want them to see first? How will your message be best communicated? We have to ask these questions before we start designing, because the layout will shape the rest of the design. The following websites have some quite unusual layouts. They aren’t necessarily perfect; still, browse through them, and maybe your creative genius will be sparked. Read more…

August 28, 2013 — Jesse Friedman has spent nearly a decade trying to create scalable, predictably insightful, inspirational environments. he has led creative teams in these environments, and is currently doing it as the Director of Web Interface and Development at Astonish. What follows is what Jesse has found to help his team harness inspiration effectively. Read more…

August 27, 2013 — Navigation Timing API provides easy access to accurate page timing information, but it is still insufficient to draw a complete picture. Whether we need to support browsers that do not currently implement the Navigation Timing or get information about resources not included in the current page, be sure to find out more about the user’s network bandwidth or whether their support for IPv6 is better or worse than their support for IPv4. All of the techniques presented here were developed while writing Boomerang though not all of them made it into the code yet. Read more…

August 26, 2013 — Thanks to strong mobile Web adoption worldwide, we have seen the launch of even more responsive designs in 2012 and 2013. Most of these have been in the publishing category, but lately we are starting to see complex transactional websites, such as Currys UK, take a brave step into this new world. Read more…

August 22, 2013 — We have gotten serious about asking how to better serve users, which reflects a significant change in the designer’s skill set. Designers will use the same tools they have always used, but they are now responsible for more than just the interface. Whether or not a designer calls him or herself a product designer is beside the point; to remain relevant, they need to master these new user-centered values and processes. Read more…