Archive for the ‘Found Fridays’ Category

Found Friday Vol 52

May 6, 2011

Ahoy hoy! Welcome to Found Friday Vol 52, where we have the following: a website with free, well-made subtle Photoshop patterns; an article on typography and the role hierarchy plays; a site where you can get huge, easily mountable wall murals; a Mac app for picking colors live off the web; and an overview of web font services in a nice little table.

Subtle Patterns

Subtle Patterns just launched this week, and because of all the demand, their server is going really slow. So be patient (I imagine this isn’t helping). Anyway, the site has a bunch of great, subtle patterns for web designers. Definitely worth a look.

Subtle Patterns Photoshop Patterns

Good Typography – An Introduction to Hierarchy

Hierarchy plays a huge role in good typography – this article breaks it down with examples, images and well-written content.

Good Typography - Hierarchy

Eazy Wallz Wall Murals

Is your workspace boring? Spice it up with these wall murals. You can use your own shots or their artwork; you can go huge or small; you can apply them yourself. A cost-effective way to make your workspace a bit more interesting. (via uncrate)

Eazy Wallz

ColorSnapper

From their site: “ColorSnapper is an easy-to-use tool for quickly finding out the color of any pixel on the screen. It is activated via a system-wide hotkey, giving you a magnifying loupe to easily pick the pixel you need. The resulting color is copied to clipboard in a format of your preference.”

ColorSnapper

Web Font Services – An Overview

There are an ever-growing number of services out there designed to help you implement new fonts on your website designs. This website organizes the information, the pros & cons of each, in a nice little package. (via swiss miss)

WebFonts - An Overview

See you next week!

Found Friday Vol 51

April 29, 2011

This week’s Found Friday has some definite designer desirables, including the following: logo design trends in 2011; 39 different things you can do with CSS3′s box-shadow property; a sketchbook made specifically for web designers; a color-naming tool; and a review of a few different e-commerce systems. Read on!

Logo Design Trends 2011

Every year, trends emerge in identity and logo design. Logobird sums up an actual report on logo trends nicely here.

Logo Design Trends 2011

39 Ridiculous Things to Do with CSS3 Box Shadows

Box shadow is a property we’ve been playing with for a while in our web designs; this post showcases a whole variety of different effects you can achieve that I didn’t even know were possible. A definite must-see for web designers & developers (best viewed in Chrome 11).

CSS3 Box Shadows

Gridbooks

A sketchbook with grids specifically designed for web designers and their pencil mockups.

Gridbooks

Name That Color

When designing an identity, some clients appreciate named colors to go with their Pantone values. This tool is helpful if you’re stuck and need to name that color. (via @perishable)

Name that Color Tool

Ecommerce Solutions for Websites

As with everything web, there are a plethora of ways to solve a problem – the same applies to e-commerce. This article breaks down a variety of options from paid to open-source to custom made.

Ecommerce Solutions for Websites

See you next week!

Found Friday Vol 50

April 22, 2011

50 volumes of Found Friday – the best design finds of the week – and we’re still going strong. This week is an especially strong one to send you off on your Easter long weekend: a fun example of what can be down with Lettering.js; a great tutorial on getting handmade print effects in Illustrator; a beautiful set of icons based off of Helvetica bold; 10 new & useful jQuery plugins for your website designs; and an in-depth look at CSS3 vs. CSS. Enjoy!

Kerning Me Softly

Go to this URL, click between a pair of letters, and use the A and S keys on your keyboard to adjust kerning. Fun for type nerds, intriguing for the future of typography on the web. (via swiss-miss)

Kerning with Lettering.js

Achieve Handmade Print Effects

Illustrator is the industry standard for vector illustration for a reason; however, you have to put a bit more work in to achieve handmade print effects, if that’s what you’re going for. Luckily we have this handy tutorial from Computer Arts magazine.

Handmade Illustrator Effects

Helveticons

This premium icon set is based off of the Helvetica Bold typeface. The set is beautifully designed, and there are three packages for purchase. Worth a look!

Helveticons

Top 10 Useful jQuery Plugins – March 2011

It seems like kind-hearted and skilled web developers release new jQuery plugins on the daily; it can be hard to keep up with. This article highlights some of the best released in March – definitely worth a look if you’re a web designer/developer.

jQuery Plugins March 2011

CSS3 vs. CSS: A Speed Benchmark

Once again, Smashing comes through with a thoroughly researched and applicable article for web designers. The short version? Use [nicely degradable] CSS3 if you aren’t already. It’s faster in all areas.

CSS3 vs CSS: A Speed Benchmark

That’s it – enjoy your long weekend!

Found Friday Vol 49

April 15, 2011

Welcome to Volume 49 of the best internet finds o’ the week: Found Friday. This week we have: a zombie Easter bunny (not overly design-related, but it’s Easter soon and the zombie bunny is just too awesome); an app that sends the websites you’re reading to your Kindle; an in-depth article on taking credit card payments on the web; an ingenious wallet for guitarists; and a good read on CSS data tables. Read on!

Chocolate Zombie Bunny

Alright, so this is a very loose-to-non-existent connection to design, but like I said – it’s almost Easter. How can you pass up a zombie chocolate Easter bunny? Another gem from ThinkGeek.

Chocolate Zombie Bunny

Kindlebility

This app is smart & straightforward: it sends the websites you’re reading to your Kindle. Developed right here in Edmonton too!

Kindlebility

Taking Credit Card Payments Online

Taking credit card payments through a website can be a daunting task. This article from Smashing Magazine breaks it all down for ya.

Taking Credit Card Payments Online

Picker’s Wallet

I’ve been known to carry a guitar pick in my wallet’s change section. Also, my wallets have been known to have change sections. Anyway, this Picker’s Wallet is a great design solution:  a little pick pocket!

Picker's Wallet

CSS Data Table Techniques

When used properly – ie. not for design/layout – tables are a great way to present tabular data. This article has a bunch of CSS techniques you can use to make your tables shine!

CSS Tables

See you next week!

Found Friday Vol 48

March 25, 2011

Here we are, at volume 48 of Found Friday – the best design finds of the week. Remember, if you find something that you think is worthwhile sharing, drop me a line or a tweet and let me know about it! This week we have: a great tool for creating CSS easing animations; an awesome, short video on the history of film title designs; a great article exploring Saul Bass’ logo creations and their longevity; a must-read article from Smashing Magazine regarding choosing typefaces; and a new website all about helping your expand your coding skills. Enjoy!

Ceaser

Use this handy tool to customize and create easing effects. It’s a simple what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda deal, with copy & paste code generated for you. Well done & useful.

Ceaser CSS easing Animation tool

A Brief History of Title Design

I found this over on Swiss Miss – a great little video made by Art of the Title showcasing the history of title sequence design in film. Interesting, inspiring, and quick. Click the image to watch!

Art of the Title

Saul Bass Logo Design: Then & Now

Saul Bass is the Muhammed Ali of logo design. His work has been seen by millions and, according to this article, the average lifespan of a Saul Bass logo is 34 years. Wow. Also interesting to see the ‘refreshed’ versions of his work – some of which are terrible (Continental), some of which are good (Girl Guides). Check it out.

Saul Bass Logo Design - Then & Now

How to Choose a Typeface

Everyone should read this. Developers who aren’t big on design; design students; secretaries at non-profits tasked with creating bake-sale posters and more. It’s a great breakdown of one of the most important elements of a design – the typeface. You will be a better designer having read it.

How to Choose a Typeface

Code School

Learn code by writing code – that’s the principle behind code school. A beautifully designed site showcases a variety of courses you can purchase to hone your skills, or you can learn a new language from scratch! It’s just getting off the ground, so pickings are slim, but it’s worth a look if you are a developer (or wannabe developer).

Code School

See you next week!

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