Articles by Vandelay Design from November 2015

When a new visitor comes to your website for the first time an initial impression will be formed pretty quickly. A good first impression will drastically increase the chances of that visitor...Click t...

Educational institutions like schools, colleges, and universities can use an attractive and effective website in several different ways. Quality websites will attract more applications from new...Clic...

This is a guest post from Chris Garrett. Chris is an internet marketing consultant from the UK. You can read more at his blog, chrisg.com – Subscribe and receive a free ebook. While I have...Cli...

Many bloggers either own multiple blogs or they write for others as well as their own. Those who arent writing for other blogs are missing out on a great opportunity to gain exposure and network...Cli...

In the past we have written about the effects of creative blog content. Now that you know about all the benefits that come with creative content you may be wondering what you can do to improve your......

Redesigning a website can be a very involved process, and it is important to properly plan and consider the necessary factors that will make or break the redesign. Here is a quick look at 21 factors.....

Finding and choosing the right web designer can be a confusing and frustrating process for many people. There are so many options and different factors to consider. When you are in the situation,...Cl...

Over the past few years, both WordPress.com and Jetpack have undergone several changes in terms of UI and UX, including a revamped post editor, as well as a more intuitive interface for management of....

If you are selling any type of product or service that involves online payments, one of the biggest barriers you will have to overcome is gaining the trust of potential buyers. Here are 13 things you....

Shadows can be used creatively by photographers, sometimes as the primary subject of the photo and sometimes just for interesting effects. Cast shadows are the most widely-used style to draw...Click t...

The tone, lettering, style, and presentation of a business card says a lot about you and your business. While typical humdrum card designs are expected in the corporate world, unique business cards......

One of the best ways for new bloggers to get some valuable exposure is to write guest posts for other blogs . In the past, I was writing 3 to 5 posts each week for other blogs. While I think it is...C...

If you design and develop WordPress themes you may have considered using a WordPress theme framework rather than creating themes from scratch.Frameworks offer significant benefits to developers and......

Browsing the work of other artists and designers can be a great exercise for finding inspiration for your own work. You can find inspiring examples in web design, photography, art, and all different.....

Holidays are the best times to surprise a friend or loved one with a gift. Designers often enjoy creative tools and little trinkets that can enhance their workflow. So if you wanted to buy something.....

In the past we have showcased examples of landscape photography, which includes photos of mountains, valleys, plains, lakes, coast lines, and a variety of other types of landscapes. Deserts may not......

Choosing the right content management system for a particular project can be a critical decision that has long-lasting impact on the client and the success of their website. Unfortunately, with so...C...

In the website design world there are today two mainstream ways to build a website: 1) use a premium WordPress theme, or 2) use a website builder. Much can be said for either approach, but there is a....

Sunsets are a popular photography subject for amateurs and professionals alike. While the lighting often presents challenges, the results can be stunning. In this post we'll showcase 20 amazing...Clic...

As you surf through the internet you’re bound to come across certain designs that you love and some that you hate. But good blog design has a few unique elements when compared to the design of.....

One of the biggest struggles for bloggers who are pushing for growth is the ability to publish unique content. With millions of other blogs out there it can seem at times that every worthwhile topic.....

As bloggers, we all face the challenge of creating unique content that will keep readers coming back for more. The first step to writing a blog post is coming up with an idea, but many times this...Cl...

Every successful blogger is part of a network of other bloggers. The community aspect is extremely important for a number of reasons that we’ll look at below. Building a strong network is not......

If you’ve ever tried to redesign a website (especially one that was designed by someone other than yourself) you know how frustrating it can be. Even performing routine maintenance can be...Clic...

Most of us as bloggers and website owners devote so much of our focus on increasing the value of our visitors to us that we neglect to focus on our value to the readers. If we dedicate our efforts to....

Frequently Asked Question pages are usually an after-thought when designing a website. They’re sometimes thrown together just to provide some basic information for visitors so they won’t.....

If you’re looking to increase the exposure of your blog and gain new readers, consider submitting articles to be posted on other blogs. This article will cover the reasons for writing for other....

Jonathan Phillips wrote a blog post called:Getting A-Listers to Notice Your Blog vs. Social Networking. In the article Jon asks his readers which source they would prefer to send them traffic. He...Cl...

No matter how great your website design looks, if it loads too slowly visitors are unlikely to stick around. In this article we look at 12 ways you can decrease the load time of your pages. To see...C...

A few years back I launched what was called Vandelay Premier to test my ability to sell premium stock graphics. While I would only consider it a moderate success, one main thing I quickly...Click thro...

The success of any website ultimately hinges on its users. Without visitors a website will be unable to produce value for its owners. As a result, users should be the focal point of web development......

Running a blog can require a lot of time, and most bloggers have only a limited amount of time available. Good time management can make these few hours very productive. Time management concepts are......

HTML5 offers plenty of potential for web designers and developers, especially when combined with CSS3. The possibilities of HTML5 are exciting, and many designers/developers have been creating...Click...

The key to any good blog, regardless of the topic or industry, is content that interests readers and keeps them coming back for more. Although content is the number one priority, part of providing a.....

Photoshop is an amazing tool that allows designers and photographers to do some incredible things. But not every Photoshopped creation works out exactly as planned. Whether it is poor execution,...Cli...

Last month we published a post that showcased letterpress business cards. Today we'd like to share another showcase, this time focusing on business cards that use die cuts to stand out. Die cut...Clic...

A never-ending challenge for bloggers is to constantly produce quality content on topics that will generate interest. At times it can be a struggle to even decide on a topic to blog about. When you......

Once you get the hang of it, the Table of Contents generator in Adobe InDesign is a breeze to use, and if youre using an InDesign template, most of the work is already done for you, making your job......

We recently took a look at some of the new features and highlighted helpful tutorials for Photoshop CS6, and we thought it would be appropriate to do the same thing for Illustrator. The new features.....

Its not easy being a designer. Besides the erratic workload and weird clients who have sky high expectations but expect you to work for peanuts, you also need to create masterpieces of every...Click t...

Its not easy being a designer. Besides the erratic workload and weird clients who have sky high expectations but expect you to work for peanuts, you also need to create masterpieces of every...Click t...

Writing for an online audience is much different than writing for a traditional print publication like a book, magazine or newspaper. Online readers are obviously reading from a screen, and as a...Cli...

1. Horizontal Scrolling – Users on an average-size monitor with average resolution should not have to scroll left and right to read the contents of your pages. Designing with fixed widths that.....

1 – Your Own Domain Name Some free website hosting services, such as geocities and tripod, will provide you with a free domain name that is an extension of their domain. Any business that hopes....

Most internet users are looking for some type of specific information. The most important factor in the success of a website is the amount and quality of information provided. Having quality content.....

In recent years the popularity of premium/commercial WordPress themes has steadily increased. With the huge number of websites using WordPress as a CMS and with the demand for quality themes...Click t...

There are a number of important factors to consider when deciding on a web hosting company. 1 – Price – Web hosting services come in all different prices, including free. While free...Clic...

Search engines view websites completely differently than humans do. To a search engine this page looks like this: The same appearance of a website can be achieved with a number of different coding...C...

Adobe Photoshop is still the premiere editing suite for most graphic designers. It's been around for over 20 years and has a massive library of Photoshop plugins for all types of creative work.But...C...

Shopping malls are being killed by online stores according to a Forbes article. The increasing demand for eCommerce stores has led, among others, to the appearance of eCommerce pre-made page layouts.....

Although rain can make photography difficult, there are some amazing photos that have been captured in the rain. In this post we'll showcase 25 photos that fit into this category. If you see...Click t...

To successfully develop PHP sites, you'll naturally want to have a great development environment. When creating a website, you will likely also need to edit HTML, CSS and even JavaScript files, which....

A few years back I launched what was called Vandelay Premier to test my ability to sell premium stock graphics. While I would only consider it a moderate success, one main thing I quickly...Click thro...

Strong visuals are indispensable for making your site appealing to the audience. Even if you run a financial or business website, bold photography will help you promote your project more effectively.....