Articles by Smashing Magazine from July 2013

   Just a little reminder before you start: In part 1 we explored the infrastructure of the Internet and the make-up of a Web server. We left off at the stage where our Web server soft...

Today we are happy to present to you the second part of the sample chapter from Smashing Book #4. You might want to read the first part of this chapter beforehand if you haven’t already.Just a ...

Too often when working in information design, youll hear the request, Can you make the data look cool? Cool is a rather ambiguous term, and means different things to different people. Unfortunately, w...

   Too often when working in information design, you’ll hear the request, “Can you make the data look cool?” “Cool” is a rather ambiguous term, and means...

We all make mistakes. Whether in our design and development work or just in life in general, we all do it. Thankfully, even the biggest mistakes carry valuable lessons.As a contrast to the many Web de...

   We all make mistakes. Whether in our design and development work or just in life in general, we all do it. Thankfully, even the biggest mistakes carry valuable lessons. As a contras...

Automation is useful in the work of every designer. It saves precious time on repetitive tasks and helps us solve certain problems more quickly and easily.You can automate your workflow in Photoshop w...

   Automation is useful in the work of every designer. It saves precious time on repetitive tasks and helps us solve certain problems more quickly and easily. You can automate your wor...

   What does it take to craft a great product? For those of us who design and build apps, websites and software, a great product means one that delights its users. But digital product ...

What does it take to craft a great product? For those of us who design and build apps, websites and software, a great product means one that delights its users. But digital product development is a co...

   We are very happy to present a sample chapter from the upcoming printed Smashing Book #4: New Perspectives on Coding, written by Paul Tero. Please note that the second part of this ...

Imagine that you wake up one morning, reach groggily for your laptop and fire it up. Youve just finished developing a brand new website and last night you were proudly clicking through the product lis...

   With all the talk of new HTML5 standards such as the srcset attribute and <picture> element, as well as server-side techniques such as Responsive Web Design + Server Side Comp...

Editor’s Note: This article features just one of the many, suboptimal solutions for responsive images. We suggest that you review different approaches before choosing a particular responsive ima...

Unlike many other industries, the web design community is all about sharing knowledge and experience. Each of us is very lucky to be part of such a great and useful learning environment, and it is up ...

   Unlike many other industries, the Web design community is all about sharing knowledge and experience. Each of us is very lucky to be part of such a great and useful learning environ...

Can you put together a digital strategy for us to review? Requests like this strike fear into those of us who work on the Web. What do we know about putting together strategy documents? Yes, we unders...

   “Can you put together a digital strategy for us to review?” Requests like this strike fear into those of us who work on the Web. What do we know about putting together s...

The recently popularized flat interface style is not merely a trend. It is the manifestation of a desire for greater authenticity in design, a desire to curb visual excess and eliminate the fake and t...

   The recently popularized “flat” interface style is not merely a trend. It is the manifestation of a desire for greater authenticity in design, a desire to curb visual ex...

Update (01.08.2013) Please note that this article has been updated and now references to OpenStreetMap.In my career as a freelance illustrator, map-making has become a favorite specialty of mine. With...

   In my career as a freelance illustrator, map-making has become a favorite specialty of mine. With each map assignment, I virtually travel across the globe, visiting places I’...

   Our anticipation was building. Between defining our language translation app, sketching it out, obsessively designing and iterating, and juggling other projects — all covered ...

Our anticipation was building. Between defining our language translation app, sketching it out, obsessively designing and iterating, and juggling other projects all covered in the first part of our c...

A website has a personality it is a reflection of the person or organization behind it. When people visit your website, you want it to stand out from the crowd, to be memorable. You want people to co...

   A website has a personality — it is a reflection of the person or organization behind it. When people visit your website, you want it to stand out from the crowd, to be memora...

   If you’ve spent the last few months under a rock, then we’ve got a surprise for you. We are working on two brand new Smashing Books. The first, New Perspectives on Codi...

High-definition (or Retina) displays have spread wider and wider, and evidently their numbers will keep growing. So, as creators of products that will be consumed on Retina devices, we have to optimiz...

   High-definition (or “Retina”) displays have spread wider and wider, and evidently their numbers will keep growing. So, as creators of products that will be consumed on R...

   If you code websites, it’s a good bet that at least one of your clients has asked about or requested a mobile-friendly website. If you go the responsive design route (whereby...

If you code websites, its a good bet that at least one of your clients has asked about or requested a mobile-friendly website. If you go the responsive design route (whereby your website is flexible e...

   My name is Jeremy Olson. I’m a senior in college, living in Charlotte, North Carolina, and this is the story of how my little app beat Angry Birds. Large view. I’m wri...

My name is Jeremy Olson. Im a senior in college, living in Charlotte, North Carolina, and this is the story of how my little app beat Angry Birds.Im writing this because I believe we learn much more f...

Its easy to get overwhelmed by the staggering array of resources and options available to designers. In this article, well explore the idea of consciously restricting yourself to a set of core tools t...

   It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the staggering array of resources and options available to designers. In this article, we’ll explore the idea of consciously restrictin...

In the 1950s, when consumer electronics such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines emerged, there was a belief that household chores would be done in a fraction of the time.We know now it didnt work...

   In the 1950s, when consumer electronics such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines emerged, there was a belief that household chores would be done in a fraction of the time. We kn...

We always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. And as designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a mat...

   We always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. And as designers we usually turn to different sources of in...