Archive for the ‘Found Fridays’ Category

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!

Found Friday Vol 47

March 18, 2011

Hey all – welcome to Found Friday Vol 47, the weekly series where we round up our favorite design-related finds of the week. This week, we have the following: coding up a timeline in HTML & CSS, font-embedding icons with @font-face, some fun pixel oven mitts, an article on usability and CSS3 columns, and finally a bunch of advice from experienced people in the design community. It’s a good group this week – enjoy!

Coding Up a Semantic, Lean Timeline

Check out this visual timeline, built with CSS & HTML. Slick looking and fairly easy to customize and implement.

CSS Timeline

Font-Embedding Icons

This could be huge. Using embedded fonts as icons? Think of the speed, the ease of changing icons… great possibilities here.

Font Embedding Icons

Pixel Oven Mitts

If you’re a design nerd who cooks a lot – like me – what better kitchen tool to have than Pixel Oven Mitts? Fun & useful!

Pixel Oven Mitts

Usability and CSS3 Columns

This article is a good read – it explores CSS3′s ability to display columns while talking about how & when to implement the feature.

CSS3 Columns

The Design Community Offers its Favorite Bits of Design Advice

To stay on top of the ever-changing design field, we need to constantly learn and look to our peers. This post has some great bits of advice from well-known designers – have a read!

Design Advice

See you next week!

Found Friday Vol 46

March 11, 2011

Hey all! Welcome to Found Friday Volume 46 – the best design finds o’ the week. This week is a good one:  a great plugin for WordPress developers (including those of us who use WordPress as a CMS); a super-informative writeup on the self-publishing of Digging into WordPress; some great March Madness t-shirts; a completely free (and awesome-seeming) web-based project management app; and a fun little camera-inspired pencil sharpener.

WordPress Developer Tools Plugin

In their own words, this plugin “creates an admin user interface for many of the code-enabled features in WordPress and commonly used web development libraries. The Developer Tools plugin can also generate template code for theme development.” I think we may give it a try on our next build.

Wordpress Development

What We Learned Publishing Digging into WordPress

For those of you who have considered, or are currently considering, self-publishing a book of any sort must read this article. Chris & Jeff cover absolutely everything that went down during the whole self-publishing process of their book, Digging into WordPress.

Publishing Digging into WordPress

Homage March Madness Tees

I’m a fan of basketball, vintage tees and good design. Well-designed vintage basketball tees, you say? Don’t mind if I do!

March Madness T-Shirts

Freedcamp

I’ve been hunting around in my spare time for a suitable project management app that a) was intuitive, b) well-built and c) wouldn’t break the bank. Low and behold, Freedcamp meets all those requirements – plus, it’s totally free. I signed up & played around; it looks like a keeper. Have a look.

Freedcamp Project Management

Camera Pencil Sharpener

Most of us remember having the old-school pencil sharpeners attached to the wall in our grade-school classrooms. If you don’t… thanks for making me feel old. Check out this take on the good ol’ days, but with camera-inspired goodness! (via swiss-miss)

Camera Pencil Sharpener

That’s it! See you next week.

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