(This is a sponsored post.) Many developers love working with static site generators like Gatsby and Hugo. These powerful yet flexible systems help create beautiful websites using familiar tools like Markdown and React. Nearly every popular modern programming … The post Static Site Generators vs. CMS-powered Websites: How to Keep Marketers and Devs Happy appeared first on CSS-Tricks. You can support CSS-Tricks by being an MVP Supporter.

Complex user interfaces for websites or applications have to be well thought out and intuitive. Before it comes to actual design, it is a common thing to define the appearance and controls via mockups. Mockplus allows you to create interactive mockups with just a few clicks, and test them on mobile devices as well. Download Mockplus for Windows and Mac OSX Although the trend is moving away from classic applications to web apps, Mockplus is available as a classic app for Windows and Mac OSX systems. Once you’ve installed the app and registered an account for free, you can immediately get started with your first project. Choose which type of mockup you want to create. You can choose between smartphones, tablets, and desktop devices, as well as websites and whiteboards. Depending on your choice, you receive a different work interface that suits the chosen task best. Starting a New Project Next, decide on a style for the mockup. While the wireframe style uses geometrically reduced shapes, the sketch style comes with a handdrawn look. You can switch between the two styles whenever you want to. Choice Between Wireframe and Sketch Style Placing Classic Content and Control Elements Once your work […]

It's 2019, if you don't have a video marketing strategy, you're already behind. In order to make your brand succeed, video is no longer just helpful, it's a must. Since video isn't a one-size-fits-all product, you can include it in your marketing plan easily and adapt it to your audience and your goals. With all...

In the last few years, I've seen a lot of code. As a freelancer working on multiple big projects with a lot of people, you'll inevitably see all varieties of code styles. But I also realized how much writing JavaScript changed over the past years. Having learned JavaScript before ES6 was there, a great mentor (Hans Christian Reinl) taught me the most important lesson: Always write clean, understandable code. Avoid ternary operators, declare variables in one place, make functions as simple as possible. Basically things that so many JavaScript style guides also advise. But with the growing adoption of ES6/ES2015, I also saw an increase of code where most of these principles (except for keeping functions small) are ignored.The post Web Development Reading List #151: Microinteraction UX, Feature Policy, And Passport.js appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Several changes are seen in the IT architecture as Big data is rolled out within the system, especially big data teams to handle such a vast amount of information. Today DevOps procedures are implemented throughout the software development cycle to collect more actionable insights from unstructured data. And DevOps automation is one of the significant...

Improvement is a matter of steady, ongoing iteration. If you've been around for a good while, you'll know that Smashing has been through a good number of changes in the past: a new design, a new layout, a new technical stack, and so much more. Still, it was always done with quality content in mind. For example, we recently rearranged the navigation bar at the top of the page — have you noticed?

Using the neon effect in Photoshop may sound a little too simplistic for experienced Photoshop users but the effect it can have on your design is certainly not so simple. This fun design effect turns the design process into an experimental and vibey journey. The neon effect has a variety of different application methods and...

You’ve always wanted to be your own boss? When working as a web designer or developer, having an own agency or working as a freelancer can be very tempting. But it’s not an easy challenge, as you need to have a lot of abilities to be successful in the tough market. The accounting needs to be taken care of, and marketing needs to be done to help you become famous and get commissions. You’ll also need a sufficient seed capital so that you can not only start, but also survive droughts. That’s why we’ll give you a bunch of useful tips from practice in this article. 1 – Adjust Your Way of Thinking Being your own boss is very tempting, but this is exactly what makes it difficult. A staff web designer will spend the majority of his working time actually designing. Other people work on gaining new commissions, doing the accounting and setting new goals and strategies for the business. When you are your own boss and work for yourself only, you will need to work on new tasks. Even when you earn enough money to afford employees, you’ll still need to do more tasks not directly related to […]* You might also be interested in the following articlesHow to be an Efficient and Happy FreelancerLeaving The Treadmill: The Five Biggest Advantages of Freelance…Be Theme: An Efficient Approach to Your Web Design ProjectsLearning by Pulling Apart: An Interview with UI/UX Designer Matt…Why Web Designers and Developers Need to CooperateWhy Having a Blog is so Important for Freelance Designers

Summer is probably everyone's favorite time of the year! It is also the time when brands start to launch vacation-themed promotions and offers that need to be backed up by compelling Summer-inspired graphics! For designers, Summer is a great time to create fun banners, creative ads, and other Summer-inspired projects. If you have a great […] The post 20 Free Summer Vector Graphics for Estival Designs appeared first on Line25.

Some graphic design styles just simply can’t be created without specialist tools or resources. Effects like watercolour or oil paintings need to be created from physical paints to achieve the desired realism, but buying a load of art supplies and training to become a master artist just isn’t feasible in the middle of a design […] The post A Colossal Treasure Chest of Creative Tools for 99% Off! appeared first on Spoon Graphics.