One of the most divisive issues in the web design community has been the use of frameworks. Front-end frameworks are collections of HTML, CSS and JavaScript that make up common... The post How the Foundation Framework Pushed the Web Forward over the Last Five Years appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Many criticize gestural controls as being unintuitive and unnecessary. Despite this, widespread adoption is underway already, and the UI design world is burning the candle at both ends to develop solutions that are instinctively tactile. The challenges here are those of novelty. Even though gestural controls have been around since the early 1980s and have enjoyed a level of ubiquity since the early 2000s, designers are still in the beta-testing phase of making gestural controls intuitive for everyday use.The post To Use Or Not To Use: Touch Gesture Controls For Mobile Interfaces appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Everything begins with responsive design nowadays. It is hard to imagine a website owner who does not care about the audience that comes from tablets and mobiles. It is so enormous, and neglecting its presence means inflicting damage on your business and brand. No one wants that. So as a web developer you are likely...

Every chef has their favorite tool. Mine happens to be a wooden spoon I’ve had since forever. I call it “Suzie” (because I’m a weirdo). Some people actually keep their... The post The Personal Process of Choosing the Right Design Tool appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

If you've been following all the fuss regarding Gutenberg, the new WordPress editor, you know that many users have formed a very strong opinion of it. But, all the drama... The post Building a WordPress Website with Gutenberg: Initial Observations appeared first on Speckyboy Web Design Magazine.

We have edited and prepared the video from SmashingConf Toronto, and it is all now live for you to watch and learn from. To get a feel for the event, watch our compilation. We think that it really captures the atmosphere of a SmashingConf! Day One The Day One Collaborative Doc created by attendees is full of takeaways from the first day of the conference. You might find some of those notes helpful as you watch the video linked below.

It's a truism that's oft-repeated in the design world, and in a digital universe of increasingly simple, minimalist, and image-based user interfaces, it's one that most digital designers could stand to revisit. The truth is, whether we're talking about a mobile app or a traditional website, copy is a design element - even if most designers don't think of it that way. The words on a page affect that page's usability just as much as button size and layout. Maybe that's why Fast Company says that writing is design's new "unicorn skill." Copywriting, however, is not as simple as it … Continue reading →Visit us at InstantShift.com

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If you're into wristwatches, like me, and are also a fan of the Sketch app (or just want to get better at it), then this is the tutorial for you. In it, you will learn how to create a very realistic and detailed vector illustration of a watch using basic shapes, layer styles and cool Sketch functions such as "Rotate Copies" and "Make Grid." You'll learn how to apply multiple shadows and how to use gradients, and you will see how objects can be rotated and duplicated in special ways. No bitmap images will be used, which means you will be able to easily adapt the final image to different sizes and resolutions.The post Designing A Realistic Chronograph Watch In Sketch appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

I was recently interviewed for an international design magazine but unfortunately it was not published so I'm sharing my answers here. Topics discussed include freelancing, finding clients, pricing, marketing and general advice. Enjoy! Read More