Art direction has been part of advertising and print design for over 100 years, but on the web art direction is rare and there have been few meaningful conversations about it. Art Direction for the Web by Andy Clarke changes that and explains art direction, what it means, why it matters, and who can do it. Jump to table of contents or pre-order the book right away. This is a book about why art direction matters and how you can art-direct compelling and effective experiences across devices and platforms.
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Forms are at the center of every meaningful interaction, so they’re worth getting a firm handle on. That’s why we published Form Design Patterns, a new printed book about accessible and well-designed web forms. With the new Form Design Patterns book, you will go through common real-world problems step by step, and learn how to design simple, robust, lightweight, responsive, accessible, progressively enhanced, interoperable and intuitive forms that let users get stuff done no matter what. And by the end of the book you’ll have a close-to exhaustive list of components delivered as a design system that you can use immediately in your own projects. Jump to table of contents or get the book right away.
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We’re happy to announce Adam Silver’s new book Form Design Patterns. In this excerpt from the book, Adam takes a look at the foundational qualities of a well-designed form and how to think about them.
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Smashing Book 6 is now shipping worldwide. With everything from design systems to accessible single-page apps, CSS Custom Properties, CSS Grid, service workers, performance patterns, AR/VR/XR, conversational UIs and responsive art direction. Check table of contents and get the book now.Read more…
Images are powerful. They can provide key information and context to articles, or merely add humorous asides. They do anything for us that plain text just can’t by itself. But when there’s too much imagery, it can be frustrating for users on slow connections, or run afoul of data plan allowances. In this eBook, you’ll learn all about WebP: what it’s capable of, how it performs, how to convert images to the format in a variety of ways, and most importantly, how to use it. Meet “The WebP Manual,” our latest edition to the Smashing eBook Library that covers everything you need to know about the latest image format to sweep the web!
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In times when everything is generic, how do we stand out without spending too much time and resources on elaborate art direction? Let’s explore a strategic guide for bringing back personality to the web, in regular real-life projects.
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Smashing Book 6 is here with everything you need to know to tackle the new adventures web design and development are bringing along. No theory, just things that worked in practice. This book is dedicated to the challenges and headaches that we are facing today, and how to resolve them. In this article, Vitaly Friedman tells you everything about it!
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What are the key qualities of a well-functioning, enduring design system? Throughout the book, Alla will share an approach that will help you every day with your work.
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The “User Experience Revolution” book is a practical battle plan for placing the user at the heart of your company. Companies desperately need to change, and this book shows you how to help them do that. This is why we are releasing a new book today called “User Experience Revolution,” a practical battle plan for placing the user at the heart of your company. Companies desperately need to change, and the book shows you how to help them do that. Get the book now!
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Sketch lets you design interfaces, websites and icons with ease. To help you get the most out of this mighty tool, The Sketch Handbook will show you every aspect of it. Not in theory, but backed up by practical examples that you can follow along, step-by-step.
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