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1 Jul 2019

How to make money as a designer

Talent is a rare piece of an asset these days, and if you are the creative kind you are truly blessed! But apart from talent, you need to know the nitty-gritty tips on how to cash on your talent. If you are in such a dilemma, then this blog is especially for you! If you need to exist in the world of business, you need to know how to pull the right strings at the right time, so here’s how the game goes.  We have 8 glorious steps lined up for you.  Remember one thing: If your backgrounds works (research) are up to date, you are ready to get on stage and shine out!    #8: Get your portfolio in order Okay, you first need to get the clutter out of your frame. Just keep what is really good to show others. Possibly, your early days’ work may not that professional, so stash them in your private files. Arrange a few really cool ones in your portfolio. This is what you need to show your clients, so let that speak for itself!!   #7: Set your charges as per your real worth Most designers actually do not know the worth of their styles. Each designer is unique in their own way. It is you, and only you who can decide the price for your services. Of course, if you are a newbie, then it is best you work in a company, know the nuances of business, and then step out on your own feet. You see, everyone would love to get your work done at the cheapest rates. Nothing to find fault about it!  But, you need to specify your worthiness in terms of a rate. In this world of business, clients are ready to pay a few more bucks for real awesome talent.   #6: Advertise the Pro in you No use, if the world does not know about your talent. So, spill the beans out into the world! Your potential is not supposed to be cocooned in your laptop, or your room. You need to speak about it, go for forums, social meetups and speak up. During, this time that you need to showcase your portfolio, as nothing beats such golden proof of your expertise.   #5: Spruce up your Linkedin profile Okay, many designers think that Linkedin is no place for them. But that is not true. It is a place where real professional talents get together. And you are a part of this cycle. No business is successful with more logos, cards, colors, right!! So, get out there, exhibit your portfolio on your Linkedin profile and see how people come asking for your services. This is a world where visuals make all the first impressions. And, today, it is a designer who makes a project look extra sexy and pretty, so go for it, and revamp or create your Linkedin world of connections. Plus, let us remind you that Linkedin is considered as a reliable platform, so your presence in that- will do you heaps of good!   #4: Shell out on top-notch tools Make sure you learn the best of the tools in designing like Photoshop to be a true pro. Keep a bit of HTML and CSS under your sleeve and clients will love a person who can manage development cum designing! Next, tools like ShortStack will aid in planning your projects and record each designing milestone in a systematic manner.   #3: Templates are hot sellers always If you are one who has a great eye for detailing layouts, then templates are the best choice. Try building your own niche in UL designs, brand portfolios, company guides, and magazine layouts. If you do know how to mix and match colors, and shapes and pass striking messages across- template business can be your most reliable baby!   #2: Define your product line From banners, presentations, videos, and websites- the choices are so many. Start with a few, and then grow your product line. Keep building your portfolio and also update in those respective fields with the latest technologies and International preferences.   #1: Get your online store ready! Oh yes, this is a must. Get an online store where you sell printed calendars, cups, mementos, and anything that appeals to the masses. From cute pens to customized T-shirts, let your designs rule the online world. Keep your rates affordable; give freebies to attract more crowds.   Some Designing work secrets you need to keep in mind always Practice makes perfect, so keep polishing on your skills every time you get some free time. It is a must to perfection. Be consistent with your performance irrespective of your time lags, deadlines, software issues. Get it done to your client’s satisfaction. Nothing is sweeter than gaining their trust in life. Trust us, they will come back for more – once they are convinced with your work. Positivity is the foundation of your world. All your works won’t be accepted in one go. It’s ok. Keep the positive vibes moving! Once your destiny reaches the right moment, you will be known to be a fully fledged designer who actually makes money. After all, if you are determined- you can touch the stars. So, stay focused on the fact that you must make money with designing and follow the steps mentioned above.

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8 May 2019

How to Boost Your UX with Clear Visual Hierarchy

  Any product needs a brilliant advertiser, and in today’s online digital world- we have fabulous advertising agencies to promote the product, its logo, its banners and all of it. But how do you direct people to visit a particular page or app? That is where visual hierarchy comes into the picture. Let’s see the crucial role that visual hierarchy plays on the life of UX. With over ten million websites, social media pages, images screaming for attention, how do we settle on a special few? How do we comfortable with just a handful of websites? Well, that is the magic of visual hierarchy! When you consider the web design process, it is a visual hierarchy that helps people focus on actions or content that needs more attention than the rest of the webpage. Visual hierarchy guides people to notice and absorb certain information. When this technique is used in print design, or an app or even web page; ultimately it helps in bringing out one of the best optimal viewer experiences that a web visitor would ever have had in life.   When did the Visual Hierarchy begin? Turning back to the early days of visual hierarchy, history reflects that it had been used during the times when print was the most important of media, content, awareness, and advertisement. It is a fact that visual hierarchy does aid in taking virtual designs to the next level.   Gear up your UX via Clear Visual Hierarchy Visual hierarchy guides people toward content or actions of importance. It determines the order in which people take in and process the information on a page, irrespective of whether it’s a web page, web app, or even print design. It’s a vital part of creating an optimal user experience. There are many techniques that UX experts use to channelize the effect of visual hierarchy on digital products, thus helping customers experience the virtual world in a seamless manner. To get the most optimal results in web development, the SMART methodology will be used. To give you a better picture, you must realize that when a person enters a webpage, they roughly take about 15 seconds to scan the content, color, and image. If they are able to follow the website and feel it is reliable, then they would stay on the site and move over to other pages. That is the game of visual hierarchy. The idea is to grab the attention of the viewer in a silent and captivating manner. After SMART methods, another point that you must keep in mind through the web design process is the brand objectives.  Depending on how the brand is portrayed, people will remember the brand, product, and USP through the designs.   Four Basics to sync visual hierarchy with the web design process Once you set the objectives, you need to set the visual language and visual hierarchy rankings right. It is the visual language that showers beauty and life on the website. Once the design plan is set, we need to move towards the visual hierarchy process.   First, know the composition: This indicates that the layout during the web development process should be outlined. Make an idea about where the high ranking elements should be positioned. In this segment, the designer should figure out various template layouts to cater to many different types of scenarios.  It is best that the designers do this in a step by step manner of the web design process, as later on they would not miss any of these vital points. It is advised that few mockups design be figured out within the design system file along with UI symbols and patterns. Once this broad outline is developed, then the inner variants of the UI have to be set up.   Second, the UI elements are to be considered. Designers will need to have an eagle’s view on their UI as it forms the foundations of any website development process. Here, now writing styles, images, color combinations, symbols, layouts, and even the expressions and voice tones need to be considered and planned out.   Third, is the art of simplicity! Do not stuff the webpage with lots of content and images, as it will look cluttered and confusing. Instead, make use of white space appropriately and this improves a lot of focus on the center of the page. So, including apt headlines, call to action buttons and important links at crucial positions of the webpage can be practiced.   Fourth is to give it a makeover. Just like our homes and wardrobe needs a quick makeover from time to time- so does a website or app. This is a part of web development and a must to keep their regular visitors expecting more novelty.   To sum up In short, the more elaborate the visual hierarchy process is done during the web design process; this will facilitate a better customer experience. Visual Hierarchy can be incorporated into the web development and design process to enhance the professional website experience. With clear visual hierarchy , it improves the quality of UX, as well facilitates a workflow that is sustainable. The web design process attains more focus and people were to move around within the website.        

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9 Apr 2019

Future of Web Design and Web Development

Web Design and Development are the Game Changers for the success of any website. That proves that you definitely need to know them – if you aspire to stay at the top of the competition. Be it the age of creativity or startups, new technologies pop up from all corners of the web. So, here we would like to showcase an exciting collection of trendsetters that could rule the tech world in 2019. Our collection will consist of a well-balanced mix of frameworks, languages and quirky platforms that will make the web development and web design a totally energy-driven platform to work upon! So, let’s break it down in the following manner.   Progressive Web Apps Okay, to start- this is one of the most promising trends that software wizards have set their eyes upon. If you are into website making or plan to revamp your online presence- probably this is something you can consider. Who likes a website that looks like that of the early 2000’s era? No one! People all are always on the lookout for better performance, smooth presentation, and hassle-free navigability across all devices. That is where PWAs come into the picture.   PWA Eyecatchers: Fast page loading, strict guidelines to protect the website against data tampering, user-friendly, and they claim to provide attractive progressive enhancement plans. Plus, it is noted to be one of the most successful user engagement tools and therefore makes users stick on to the website for more time.   Networking Security In other words, we are talking about Cyber Security. This is a world that has more unethical hackers than ethical hackers, and our websites are left at their mercy. That means that internet security is surely a matter of concern to all companies, and individuals who have an online presence.   Online Security Eyecatchers: In today’s world, protecting the database is something quite inevitable. By focusing on networking security, you stop dark lurks against your website or blog. Unauthorized entry into websites, private info, modification and destruction of data can be brought to an end. Plus, it hinders the threat from spreading into the system.   Motion UI Another trendsetter that we felt you should know is the Motion UI. Of course, if you are a smart and well-updated developer, then this name will not seem something a novel. But lest, in case you are a beginner in the world of web design and development, this would come to your rescue. If you need something to look attractive, then remember to keep Motion UI in your kitty. It is an essential component that augments the design of the entire website. That would invariably bring the audience to your website and of course, encourage spending a bit more waddling through the website pages. Now, that is what every website would love! So, don’t forget this name.   Motion UI Eyecatchers: It exhibits outstanding animation options and out of the box graphics features.  The tool helps to achieve high user-friendly usability techniques.  It enhances the final outcome and that allows the website to present all the content in a much more quality-driven manner.   On the Go Visibility This is nothing but the way the world uses the internet nowadays. Apart from official documentation and education, probably all the communications and shopping is done via the online mode. So, this means you need to ensure that websites, blogs, and apps are mobile-friendly. What you need to take care of is the development and design should be compatible with desktops and mobiles also. While creating something meant for mobile content, ensure that fonts are readable, clear and formatted evenly.   On the Go Visibility Eyecatchers: it is highly responsive, loads pretty quickly, and ensures that site navigability can be experienced like a pleasant breeze. Just like the name ‘on the go visibility’ suggests, the media displayed will be well optimized and that means users do not need to resize the screen and images to their needs.   Blockchain Technology A great invention by the Bitcoin creators and this is one tool that rules the 2019 web development scenario. If you are still fresh into this field, this list will give you an idea. Blockchain technology is one supreme, well guarded and multifaceted transaction friendly app in today’s business world. It was primarily built to ease the complexities of recording and administering the financial transaction and also making it most secure to evade any unscrupulous tampering in the accounts of the company profits and losses.   Blockchain Technology Eyecatchers:  It is highly transparent, yet secure with supreme resistance blocks that flow via a strict protocol while executing a series of cash flows, settlements, and other financial transactions.   Single page application Hey, if this seems like a doubtful entry into this system, then you may want to read further on- as to why we included this point into this 2019 Tech Essentials List. With a ton of devices to handle, this is a must-use option for developers and designers. It‘s super-efficient when it comes to working with responsive websites, seamlessly into apps meant for tablets, desktops and any other tech gadgets. Experts claim that it is useful for a variety of hybrid apps and the latest versions use Angular and React frameworks to make the usability of any website most comfortable.   One page application Eyecatchers:  The new SPA keep interruptions at bay, and speeds up the performance and navigation requests can be executed with ease.   Artificial Intelligence Well, dessert is always kept for the last, isn’t it? So, this is our last entry into what will rule over the future of web development and web design. AI is like a next-door name to most of the tech world around us, but still not many have caught it and brought it to practice. So what is AI and how can it help you? It is a technical medium that offers human-like intelligence. and does functions like data collection and analysis, automated multi-tasking,

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30 Mar 2019

Ten Web Design Tools that help designers work smarter in 2019

  This month revolves around a couple of exciting tools that would boost the workflow and create a full-fledged outcome for every designer. This according to us is very much needed for every aspiring designer. It will help you try out new exciting color combinations, fonts, and coding tricks to make the final work look more professional and outstanding. So let’s get started and know tools for Mobile App Designers/ Website Designers! Few Must-Haves Designer/Developer/Social Media Designer Tools unveiled in March 2019   AXDraft The first tool is one of the best on our list. If you are a startup, then this should be in your designing kitty. A perfect kit to help you with preparing NDAs, legal documents, privacy policies, and even employee hiring, pay, and exit papers. Plus point: It is completely free of cost- the perfect option for a startup when the budget is tight from all corners!   QuickChart.io If you have been using Google Image Charts API, this one can replace it. Neat, sleek charts can be designed. A Url is given to every chart and is infused with one JSON object. The object contains all the necessary display and data options for the chart. Plus point: You demand what you need in that chart, and voila- everything is customizable. From the font, color designs, SMS, emails, and practically everything can be managed smoothly.   Interactive Typography Cheatsheet If you are a perfectionist but don’t have the time to perfect the art of typography –this tool is sure to take you overboard into the world of fine designing! This cheat sheet will guide on how to try various font styles. The advantage is that now you get to write according to the themes of various websites. Plus point: Do font styles play an important part in your daily design works? This tool is fun to use, and once you know the options within it- you will surely get into hooked into it.   Interactive Video Player Just as the name suggests, this video player is highly user-friendly and interactive. It is also called the IVID. What can you expect from it? The player uses a plug and plays option, friendly keyboard controls, a complete Vanilla JS web player, advanced keyboard controls and quite a quick installation process. Plus point: Super easy to use and one of the best choices even if you are a beginner in designing. The setup can be grasped in a jiffy and presentation is so very comfortable to the user. So, even if you are a UI Designer /UX Designer- this will remain handy for you.   CSS Color Wheel If classic colors can be taken to the next level, this would be the first choice for all designers. The CSS Color Wheel claims to have animated various styles alongside an animated color wheel. It is quirky, entertaining and can be the best match to get your imaginations wild on the screen. Plus point: Love to have more fun with colors? If you are a creative painter, then this pen can be all yours! A complete fun, experimental and educative tool for the next-gen designers!   Capture Website This is a tool meant for screenshots and will help the user catch website pictures quickly and easily. The designer will need to work with few codes and great screenshots can be captured in a professional hassle-free manner. Plus point: Give your screenshots a new creative twist with Capture Website! It is funky and helps you work with screenshots in a more flexible manner.   Lunar Popup If you are looking for a tool that sticks to your budget, check out the Lunar Popup. It is free and is a highly customized HTML / CSS pop up builder tool that turns out to be useful for any website. You can play with layers and that adds to the effects and quality of any pop-up. Plus point: The animated tool helps the designer work with layers on the go! It is one of the most trending pop up builders in the market.   Ludwig A tool, that allows a newbie designer and even an experienced one, to work upon model building; and its consequent training models. It boasts of highly flexible options for designing experts and this can be accessed via an open-source license. Plus point: Dislike writing time-consuming code? Then, this is your pick! A lovely hands-on toolbox, which allows you to play with; and test innovative learning models sans any code writing!   Charts for Sketch A special one for the sketch experts- Here you are given a vast collection of numerous diagrams, charts, and graphs for the Sketch. The designer gets to use layers, resize in many dimensions, and mold around figures with the help of area charts, bubble charts and so much more. Apart from this, there are three basic color schemes like wireframe, standard and black. Plus point: Beating constraints and experimenting with layering styles- is what any designer can benefit from this spectacular tool.   Haiku Animator  If you have heard of the Haiku, then you will be familiar with this one too! The new Haiku Animator works its way through web codebases iOS and Android also. If animations have always been too hard to coordinate, the new Haiku Animator brings in a smooth flow into the design. It blends the design well with the codebase. Plus point: This is a premium designer tool, but you can try it for free on a trial basis! If your website requires high-quality animations, then this Animator will do the trick.   Our Throwback on these Design Tools Technology is a very fast-moving dimension that draws a fine hairline between the professionals and the newbie designers. So, where would you like to exist? Be smart, take a look at these tools and stay tuned, as we serve in more of the latest tools that could help every designer Fine-tune your knowledge, sharpen your skills and your designing to the next

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What makes a good landing page design?

We may all have seen those social media advertisements with a link, clicking on which takes you to a specific web page that tells you more about a particular campaign or the company itself. Ever wondered why not take you to the homepage of the website? That’s because the homepage is more generic. It contains a lot of information on the company, brand, and products which may not interest the customer. The customer may be only interested in a particular campaign which was marketed. So instead of directing a customer to the homepage, they are taken to a landing page. This landing page will be attractive, responsive and have ample information on the specific campaign that will interest the customer. It will also have a lot of information useful to the customer and about the customer that helps the company to better understand the source, customer’s preferences and his/her navigation options.   The landing page is the spirit and soul of a website from where the information about the visitor can be captured with the help of a conversion form also known as a lead capture form. It is important to know about the landing page, basic characteristics of the page, importance, and features of a good landing page design.   What is a landing page design?   The landing page is a separate page on the website that is made for only one transformation purpose. These pages are not dependent on the site and are majorly created for advertising and promotional campaigns. These pages can be created without the help of any developer and are an excellent way of converting the visitor into a lead. The prime objective of a landing page is to make the customers aware of the company products and permit them to purchase the same with the smooth and easy user interface and understanding.   Five Vital components of a Landing Page Design   There are five hard core basic features that are required for a Landing page Design and they are:   Unique Selling Proposition also called the USP which comprises of   o Main Heading o A supportive heading o A strengthening and underlining statement o A finishing reason   Social evidence like testimonials, customer feedback and reviews and any awards were given   The advantages of the deal to be presented in bullets and numbers and highlighted.   Images or videos that support your context   The Call-to-action   Importance of a Landing Page   The landing page is a source through which advertising and leads generated can be made more helpful and useful. Its importance is stated as under:   Acquire and generate leads   Provides vision into the success of the Offers from the marketing segment   Vital Features of a Good Landing Page Design     Since the landing page is an important aspect of lead generation and conversion, it must consider the following aspects:   Headings The very first thing which is noticeable by the customers is headline so it needs to be such which sums up the offer briefly but clearly.   Copy and appropriate Keywords The text should be represented in bullets and numberings and keywords should be boldly highlighted.   Hidden Navigation and social media Sharing Links The navigation bars should be hidden to avoid distraction and the links on landing pages should have a connection to social media sites to easily share with others.   Forms to Capture Leads and Images This is very critical as this is the form from where the visitors’ information turns to leads and the page should have an image to make the page more attractive.   A landing page design is an imperative tool for online marketing and can be used to benefit from sales, lead generators and to foster the predictions.

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