CategoryDesign

July 14, 2014 — To celebrate the launch of the SmashingConf Whistler, our very first conference in Canada, we’ve prepared a yet another riddle, and of course this time it’s not going to be any easier! How does it work this time? Below you’ll find the first of a few hidden animated GIFs that contain a secret Twitter hashtag.  Once you’ve reached the last level, just tweet out all the hints in one single hashtag to @smashingmag on Twitter! Let’s get to business. Are you ready? Read more…

July 11, 2014 — The method of pitting two versions of a landing page against each other in a battle of conversion is called A/B testing, and it lets you test two entirely different designs for a landing page or you can test small tweaks, like changes to a few words in your copy. Running A/B tests on your website can help you improve your communication with visitors and back up important design decisions with real data from real users. With the multitude of tools available, split testing has become easy for even non-technical people to design and manage. Read more…

July 10, 2014 — Instead of having a 10 to 20% profit margin like many businesses, Nathan Barry had an 85% profit margin in 2012. That actually could have been much higher, except that he spent some money on equipment and hiring freelancers. After creating each product, he has only 5% in hard costs for each sale. And the product can be sold an unlimited number of times. In this article, Nathan Barry will show how to profit from selling digital products. Read more…

June 26, 2014 — The reason why app store reviews aren’t as effective as they could be is that they’re a one-way conversation, asking the user to say something positive to everyone else. There should be something better, something more conversational. In this article, Joshua Mauldin will investigate the various tactics of prompting for app reviews and ratings and how to make them better. He’ll also talk about how to ask users for feedback in a way that benefits everyone. Getting feedback on your app is important. How else can people tell you that your app is doing well or poorly? Read more…

May 16, 2014 — Design is an arrangement of both shapes and space. Learn to see the shapes that space forms and how space communicates. This is second part of a series on design principles for beginners. The first part covered an introduction to gestalt; today Steven Bradley will build on those gestalt principles and show you how many of the fundamental principles you work with as designers have their origin there. Make an effort to spend time observing how space is used in design! Read more…

May 2, 2014 — Originally released in 2007, the BBC’s Programmes website now has pages for over 1.6 million episodes, but that’s barely half of the story. Surrounding those episodes is a wealth of content, including clips, galleries, character profiles and much more, plus Programme’s newly responsive home pages. This article is a case study of the responsive rebuild of the BBC’s Programmes pages, and it actually begins back in 2007, at the conception of the project. Read more…

April 4, 2014 — Khajag Apelian not only is a talented type and graphic designer, unsurprisingly, but also counts Disney as a client, as well as a number of local and not-for-profit organizations throughout the Middle East. Designing a quality typeface is a daunting task when it’s only in the Latin alphabet. Khajag goes deeper still, having designed a Latin-Armenian dual-script typeface in four weights, named “Arek”, as well as an Arabic adaptation of Typotheque’s Fedra Display. Read more…

March 31, 2014 — At SmashingMag, we cherish the idea of lasting traditions—be it monthly desktop wallpapers, editorial newsletters or those weird mystery riddles. So in the spirit of tradition, the riddle had to be based on animated GIFs. During an intensive, unscheduled, battery-recharge brainstorming session, we came up with a number of interesting ideas, all thoroughly written down, tagged and ready for use. Read more…

March 29, 2014 — Gestalt principles are important to understand. They sit at the foundation of everything we do visually as designers. They describe how everyone visually perceives objects. This article is part of a new series about design principles that can serve both as a refresher for seasoned designers and reference for newcomers to the industry. Hopefully, the content covered here isn’t too obvious and self-explanatory, but it’s always great to have a nice quick refresher every now and again, isn’t it? Read more…

March 27, 2014 — The Mystery continues! To celebrate the launch of Paul Boag’s Digital Adaptation book, we’ve prepared a new riddle, and this time it’s a bit different and a bit easier. Below you’ll find three animated GIFs that contain a hidden message. Once you’ve resolved the mystery, please tweet the full sentence @smashingmag using the hashtag #smashing. Read more…