Articles by Web Designer Depot from November 2012

Going viral is the holy grail of advertising these days. Mom and Pop run businesses can become global names overnight with the right hashtag, video or promo. When Metro Trains the metropolitan rail n...

The way that we that we navigate our websites is extremely important. The reason being that the user experience and the way in which they interact with the website makes or breaks the usability of the...

Tooltips are a great way to show your user more information by simply hovering over an image or text. They can be used, for example, to provide captions for images, or longer descriptions for links, o...

As strange as this may sound for some, not every designer is a good logo designer. I’ve met many highly talented designers who are terrible at designing logos. Actually, some of the best designe...

Mark Zuckerberg opened up recently about HTML5 and the difficulties that Facebook has faced in developing mobile apps. In a quote heard round the world, Zuckerberg called HTML5 one of the biggest stra...

W.C. Fields famously said ‘Never work with children or animals’ and there are numerous blooper reels around to show just how difficult it can be to work with kids. It can be just as diffic...

When creating website designs, it’s almost impossible to leave out icons. They help visualize pieces of copy and are absolutely necessary in a detailed and consistent website. Icons create a hei...

Creative thinking is an integral part of design and all art-related professions. Hyper-creative people appear to conceive of brilliant ideas as easily as magicians pull rabbits from hats, but the trut...

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers. The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow...

Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD. The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers. These great ...

We’re all sold on WordPress, it’s a great solution for anybody who needs to easily manage their site’s content in a user interface that even the least tech-savvy staff members are co...

For many startup businesses out there, the idea of funding or angel investment is a mere pipe dream.Bootstrapping is a much more realistic way for many new businesses to build their online presence an...

On December 3rd a closed-door meeting will take place in Dubai. In attendance will be members of the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union. On the agenda will be a proposal, tab...

I earned my BFA in 98. Learned to layout feature pages and create infographics for the local daily paper.I earned aPhotoshop ACE in 03. My most recent full-time contract was pure mock-up design work. ...

Its hard to believe, but its true: our sister-siteMightyDeals.com is 2 years old. Hard to believe, because its only been 2 years since probably the best resource on the net for deals on plugins, clip ...

There is no need to ask why anybody would want to write a plugin for WordPress. It’s one of the primary features that makes WordPress so flexible and a good fit for a wide range of projects.Inth...

Most web pros can’t make it through a week without falling back on some else’s work: you may be a great programmer, but can you illustrate? You may be a great icon designer, but do you und...

Landing Pages are used for many different things. Some of us have products to sell. Many of us have apps to sell. Some of us just want to let the world know about our products or services. Landing Pag...

Landing Pages are used for many different things. Some of us have products to sell. Many of us have apps to sell. Some of us just want to let the world know about our products or services. Landing Pag...

With the explosive expansion in the use of tablet computers and smartphones for web searches, why are so many SEO experts unable to look beyond desktop development? Is it because developers do not fee...

This post examines an important part of the design process that, for some reason or other, is often omitted from community conversations. Its aim is to get the design community talking about the whys ...

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers. The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow...

Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD. The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers. These great ...

Weve all been in the situation: sat opposite a client, having delivered your best gimme a job pitch. Youve walked them through your folio, youve explained your client centered approach, youve even hin...

When I start telling people about the importance of a favicon to their overall online branding strategy, they usually say the same thing: “Aren’t you taking this branding thing a little bi...

Ah, Ruby on Rails. The champion of the startup hustle, and the side project.That in essence describes a lot of why I think people enjoy the community as a whole, because they all appreciate those two ...

Our lives, particularly within the urban environment, are governed by light; half natural, half artificial. Light is enticing; promising excitement, safety, community. Light is also the most basic med...

Issues of cross-browser compatibility, screen resolution and inconsistent HTML and CSS code are things of the past in mobile development. Developers who are still grappling with these issues are far b...

Doing business in the age of social media and online communities is not the same as it was some 20 plus years ago. Its not enough to just have a great product or good customer service, you need great ...

now it looks as if it’s here to stay. Having been introduced as part of the Windows 8 operating system launch last month, Internet Explorer has just been released for Windows 7. Rapid uptake is ...

Clients are an important part of any business. But when it comes to web design, clients are everything!Whether it is an individually run enterprise or an establishment owned by several stakeholders; a...

Nothing is more important than readability when it comes to the text on your website. Absolutely nothing. If you cant read the words, then what good are you doing? Who is getting your message? Just as...

Born in London, England in the early 1950s, Alan Meeks began his career as a trainee artist, typographer and typeface designer in 1970. He joined Letraset as senior designer and studio manager in 1975...

Building stuff for the web is fun. Want to know what isnt? Waiting on a client to give you content so that you can launch their bloody website. Before I founded my startup, I worked as a freelancer an...

If you run your website on WordPress, chances are you use at least a handful of plugins. That’s what’s so great about a CMS like WP: rather than some huge bloated system with every feature...

It will come as no surprise to anyone, that slow buffering of a video is highly likely to see viewers give up, and go and do something less boring instead. Think about all the hours you’ve waste...

It seems that everyone is on the logo change bandwagon. Why are so many companies choosing now to change logos that are no older than their teenage customers? Take the CBS (a major U.S. commercial bro...

The November edition of what’s new for web designers and developers includes new web and Mac apps, JavaScript and jQuery tools, productivity tools, UI testing tools, CSS and HTML frameworks, app...

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers. The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow...

Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD. The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers. These great ...

It is a commonly held view that the minimalist approach to design is what lifted Google, in the early days of the web, above the arguably better search results of engines such as Alta Vista. The famou...

In August 2011 7.12% of all website hits worldwide came from a handheld mobile device. By August 2012, that figure had risen to 11.78%. We can literally watch as tablets and smartphones become our def...

Oh Photoshop, what wonders you perform: creative freedom second to none, the bitmap tool of choice for most digital artists. The best part of 2 weeks salary, for the average American, to purchase; and...

Being in love is great. It’s often a crazy journey where you find out much about your partner and especially yourself. The beginnings of a relationship may be the most exciting, but once that...

There has been much cross-over between web development and application development in recent years. The biggest trend being the increase in web-based applications. Whilst many would argue that its the...

Today Im going to show you some interesting ways to make money as a web professional. Before I do, let’s clarify something: the best way to make money as a web designer is to develop a portfolio...

In the U.S. election day is finally here. People across the country are heading out to vote, with many U.S. citizens resident abroad having already cast their ballots. Polls emerging in the U.S. sugge...

As a design professional, you are familiar with (and possibly contributing to) the increased use of circles in all elements of design. From home dcor items such as round-framed mirrors and prints to h...

A long time ago, on a website not that far away, you’d be welcomed by a web page that didn’t have much on it. It maybe had a logo or picture and a button or link telling you to ‘ente...

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers. The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow...

Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD. The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers. These great ...

The way people access information online is evolving.Google reports that by next year (2013) more than half of website visits will come from mobile devices rather than desktops or laptops. Not only is...

If you’re looking to set up a website there are a multitude of options. With no budget or time restrictions the choice is clear: design a bespoke site from the ground up. However, in the real wo...

Since the advent of the world wide web, people have been using it to bear witness to the events around them, some trivial, others world-shattering. While Hurricane Sandy was making its way up the East...

If youve been involved in todays conversations about whats best as far as style goes for websites, and nearly everything else design related, then you know that designers are falling in love or alread...

My therapist says Im obsessed with revenge. Hell be sorry he said that! Its not that Im paranoid about all of the people who are against me; I just want to make them all pay dearly. I truly believe th...

Now the lights are coming back on in New York, a lot of our regular readers may be feeling a little nostalgic for cosy intimacy of the flashlights and candles. Lighting affects us like nothing else. W...