The Freelance Webdesigner

Subtlepattern.com announced photoshop plugin

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:52:00 +0200

Like many designer, we love to use pattern to highlight and improve detail in our designs. Now a days a lot of “flat” design is there but also some of those designs can use a little extra detail and subtle pattern has been one of my favorite blogs to go for the nice photoshop pattern freebies.

ps. nice little details with the mascot also if you hover his eyes.

http://plugin.subtlepatterns.com/

How to add a html signature to Mac Mountain Lioin Mail program.

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 23:46:33 +0200

How to add a html signature to Mac Mountain Lioin Mail program.

How to Use Multiple Dropbox Accounts on One Computer

Thu, 30 May 2013 12:37:20 +0200

How to Use Multiple Dropbox Accounts on One Computer:

Dropbox is one of out favorite ways to backup and store files, but unfortunately it doesn’t allow you to sign into multiple accounts at once. To solve this, blogger Daniel Mann figured out a way to run two different instances of Dropbox on a Mac using an automator script.

Finally both personal and work dropbox on one account, simple and effective.

Today i am working on a complete redesign of a companies website...

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:32:00 +0200

Today i am working on a complete redesign of a companies website where there is also a checkout process. While doing some research i found this article on Smashing Magazine about a study that had been performed by Baymard Institute among many webshops. Each of these test where monitors in different was and analysed with tester speaking there thoughts aloud.

The example above was given as a improvement in the design to give the user a more secure feeling of the form. As some visitors experienced parts of the shopping forms as not save. It is clear from the images that version B on the right is a improvement. Giving the credit card a different background and moving the logo of security next to the credit card form contains it as being more secure.

More great tips can be found here: http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011/04/06/fundamental-guidelines-of-e-commerce-checkout-design/

Baymard Institute also have a research study specific for the checkout process on there website.

ZURBspeak - Interaction and product design talks from ZURB

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:52:50 +0200

ZURBspeak - Interaction and product design talks from ZURB:

ZURBspeak is our way to give back to the community by sharing many of our lessons learned building product and helping entrepreneurs, designers, managers, movers and shakers build great products.

Very interesting video every designer for web or apps should look. Great examples of the relationship between the main elements of design and communication.

Visual, how it looks.

Content, what it says.

Form elements, what type of shape or icon.

Are you still here, get your but to that link and watch the video.

Article about why design for the looks can destroy the use of the purpose of the design: Tail wagging - Matt Gemmell

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:17:21 +0200

Article about why design for the looks can destroy the use of the purpose of the design: Tail wagging - Matt Gemmell:

The ongoing debate about skeuomorphism in software interfaces misses the point.

I really like this article, but the problem i have with articles about going more simple to be clear is that they mis out on a point that is very important. The emotional connect or feeling you get when you are using a app, device or tool. Going all about the functionality and focus can lead to dull looking and boring interfaces to work with.

We need to understand that when we all moved to this new trend of designing, we get bored with it. Just like we did with grungy, highly realistic and other trends of designs.

We should understand that this should not be about looks but about the tool. If flatt fits your identity and not your will to fit in then go for it, but else go for something that fits your product.

Redesigning the save icon and its interaction

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:39:00 +0200

A group on Branch is working on redesigning the save icon, i really like the idea from below by Aaron Delani. This is not a easy task, most of the icons are bit confusing as this makes sense when you look at the animation. Also like how it shows the progress from the saved version.

More information about the work done and the discussion go to http://branch.com/b/redesigning-the-save-symbol-let-s-do-this.

Spotted this message on http://www.thefoxisblack.com/2013/04/04/redesigning-the-save-icon/ .

webappfrontend: Compressing png images even smaller! Finally i...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:01:19 +0200

webappfrontend:

Compressing png images even smaller! Finally i found a tool that managed to make our lovely png files smaller, coming more closer to the size of jpgs. Most of the time we are forced to use jpg because of slow bandwidth on mobile devices, but this tool seems to compress my optimized pngs even futher. Give it a try, http://tinypng.org/.

Finding the right color, just became more easier and fun with...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:01:26 +0200

Finding the right color, just became more easier and fun with 0to255.com.

As a designer you run into your color chooses, at least i am. Today i came across this nice tool to help you find a lighter or darker version of a color to use in your next project.

Adjust the roundcorners of your photoshop shapes now with this...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:05:00 +0200

Adjust the roundcorners of your photoshop shapes now with this great photoshop script. Wish i found this years ago.

Download: http://photoshopscripts.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/rounded-rectangle-radius-resizer/

The Human.txt file, show other who made the website

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:44:06 +0200

We have this robot.txt file that helps the search engines, but i like the idea behind human.txt to show who made the website without being on the actual placing your name at the bottom of the site.

Example of human.txt file

/* TEAM */

Your title: Your name.

Site: email, link to a contact form, etc.

Twitter: your Twitter username.

Location: City, Country.

/* THANKS */

Name: name or url

/* SITE */

Last update: YYYY/MM/DD

Standards: HTML5, CSS3,..

Components: Modernizr, jQuery, etc.

Software: Software used for the development

For more information checkout

http://humanstxt.org/

Have fun with your app, like Dropbox does when you need to wait...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:05:32 +0100

Have fun with your app, like Dropbox does when you need to wait a long time it suggest you to “Grab a Snickers”.

Photoshop how to get rid of that stupid "copy" on duplication layers

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:52:00 +0100

Finally, this tutorial pointed me out that you can disable this feature in photoshop. I have to say been lazy for years. Because i could have just search for it haha. But for those of you who are also annoyed but still didn’t change it in the Photoshop layer settings.

Here is how to disabled the “copy” on the duplication of a layer.

Go to layers tab, then click settings in top right corner and click Panel options..

Just got a message that am in the top 10% most viewed profiles...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:24:49 +0100

Just got a message that am in the top 10% most viewed profiles of Linkedin. Pretty cool and inspiring to get an email like this, makes you want to keep up the good work.

As a company it is good to find ways to make your emails interesting and promote your product, instead of making them come across as spam.

Thanks Linkedin, for making the emails more fun.

Freelance webdesigners hidden tool & app suite v1

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:09:00 +0100

Basic tools every succesful freelancer should have

Because we all face the same problems and routines, even if we work in different professions. I decided to share with you my favorite basic tools and services, that take a lot of work out of your hands and get you focust on your real job.

Free tools, apps and services

Below you will find the best tools, apps en online services that get you working in the cloud. That means you can work from home, the cafe or at a clients office! We all know that if you don’t have everything with you, working on a project can be very difficult, you’ll miss your todo’s, project details or login information it’s all the same with everybody. So let’s get this handled and start focussing on our real job.

The below freelance tools, apps and services are a results of a lot of testing between different variantions available. Looking for the best, took a lot of work and time, but i hope this list saves you this worry.

Best free todo app around
Wunderlist
Wunderlist is best todo app i ever come across and beleave it or not it’s a free online todo app that is available for you to use on almost all major platforms. Pc, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android and offcourse through your browser.

Wunderlist todo let’s you
Best todo list manager
Add extremely quick and easy todo items to different lists
Best mail intergration i have seen so far
Manage multiple list
Add dates, tags or notes
Automatic synchronisches between online and multiple devices
Apps for Pc, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Andriod

http://www.wunderlist.com

Best note taking app
Evernote
Evernote is a online service that lets your sync your notes between all major platforms and you can access it online every were you go. For most the free version is good enough, but for the hardcore users there also paid memberships, that exclude commercial banners and give you extra options.

Evernote let’s you
Add tekst, images or sounds
Easily manage all your notes
Create project folders and use tags
Automatic synchronisches between online and multiple devices
Extensions for all major browsers
Apps for Pc, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry and Andriod
Scanners and other products can be attached

http://www.evernote.com

Best free filesharing app
Dropbox
So far we got the idea’s and todo’s covered, so we’ll always know what todo next. But what about the files that make it all possible? Besides the famous Google Docs, we need to have a place that is easily manageble, free to start with and sync’s between all our platforms. To make adding, ordering and editing files easy Dropbox add’s a folder to you Pc or Mac that feels like a normal folder, but has the special powers of a server without the difficult setup.

This is where Dropbox steps in, the free account starts with 2 gb and promoting it to friends and college’s can get you fired up to 8,5 gb! But if that isn’t enough for you? You can alway get a paid membership per month or year.

Dropbox let’s you
Start with 2gb space for free
Extremely easy to setup and manage files
Share folders with others
Sent links from files to others for download
Public and private folders
Free and paid memberships
Automatic file sync between all plathforms
Apps for Pc, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Andriod
They even have version control and deletion backups

http://www.dropbox.com

Best way to manage your Bookmarks
Symbaloo
Symbaloo lets you display your favorite links to websites, blogs, rssfeeds, online services and more in a friendly user interface. Just perfect for your browsers homepage. We know your browser lets you save bookmarks, but you can easily get lost in all the links, speaking of experience! Symbaloo helps you get this fixed.

Symbaloo let’s you
Easily manage your favorite bookmarks
Have a beautiful homepage for your browsers
Add it to your iPad or Andriod tablet as web app
Compleetly customisable it if you want

http://www.symbaloo.com

Best free calender service
Google Apps Calender
We all know that Gmail rocks, that you can sync your calender between all your platforms, if it’s a desktop, tablet or mobile phone it doesn’t matter. But what not everybody know is that Google Apps for business has also a free version available. Google Apps lets you controle your email and calender by using your own domeinname. So i suggest you check it out today, so you can save money on expensive email services.

Google Apps let’s you
Attach your own domein
Gives you more controle over your contacts, email and calendar
Has a lot of extra services like Google Doc and Google Reader
Automatic synchronisches between online and multiple devices
Apps for Pc, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Andriod

Here is the link that Google hide away in his text.

Best Hour tracker app on iPad/ iPhone
Hourtracker
I know all the above services include multi platform usage, but this is the best and easiest hour tracking app i found so far. It lets you clock in and out, even ahead or back in time with a single click, but also lets you export you data to excel (.csv). For those you don’t have ios device, you can use the below alternatives.

Hourtracker let’s you
Easily clock in and out
Clock in and out in the future or past
Add notes to you hours
View summary’s by job, date, month or year

http://www.hourstrackerapp.com/

Hope this part (one) of best freelance tools, apps en services had helpt you can get best tools for the job. The next part other help full tools are presented, keep your eye out for them.

Tool to test which version of your site or page loads faster!

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:36:00 +0100

I am working on improving usablity on a different level then just design. Because performance is just as important as how it looks, because it makes a big presentage of how a user things the app feels when navigation.

To try and test if my process of optimizing and compressing is working i am looking for the best tools. Below will be a list of tools and techniques to use, if you know good ones please share as i will update the list.

Compare pages - Which page/ site loads faster
http://www.whichloadsfaster.com

Loadtime from multiple countries
http://internetsupervision.com/
http://www.neustar.biz/enterprise/resources/web-performance/instant-test

Chrome makes subtle update on tab closing icon

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:41:49 +0100

It is in the details, we all say it, we all do it. But most users don’t see it, but they always go for that website or app that just works. Details can be found in how the site looks, how animations feel and the colors used.

Chrome just updated there closing tab icon with a subtle red color to warn the user that there closing a tab. Besides going for red i love the subtle color give a soft vibe, because it is not something really bad, but it is nice to be pointed out a little more that your exiting the tab.

Did you notice any other subtle changes in Chrome or other app, that suddenly seem to be there? Please share the great stuff.

Free webdesign interface sketch templates print

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:55:40 +0200

Download these free interface templates to sketch your next project on, they look very good and are free.

Download on Interface Sketch tumblr page

Making video advertisement less annoying, will this help?

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 15:56:00 +0200

This thing i seen a couple a months ago was that i could choose my own video advertisement. As we all do hate those advertisements that come up sometimes for only a few seconds video. But what if we can start choosing from a small selection as shown below, that would make it a bit nicer rigth? I think it is better, as we have to watch advertisements to keep our favorite websites alive, why not make it a bit more fun.

Lets change online advertisement presentation together

Did you one of you come across a new approach to more friendly advertisements or a way of showing that it makes it more fun than annoying? Please share as we designers and ux people should also take this part into account in designing or planning our next project. Because at the end we all want to keep our favorite websites alive and secretly ones in a while we love that we seen that advertisement with that new cool movie or app.

Illustrator CS6 crashes fix (temporary)

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:34:22 +0200

Sinds the new Adobe Suite CS6 came out, i wasn’t able to do anything inside Illustrator cs6. It kept crashing what ever i did, even when i wanted te create a new web document it already was showing his loading bal.

After another attempt to find a answer online, i came across the below post on the Adobe forms which suggest holding command+option+shift while starting illustrator. This has helped a lot and can work normal with illustrator again. But i have to do it everytime i start it up.

Source: http://forums.adobe.com/message/4587298 suggestion by Beltane Grey.