Popular Design News of the Week: December 24, 2018 – December 30, 2018

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

Six Tips to Build Better Design Systems

 

How to Quit Acting like an Amateur Designer

<img style="max-width:100%;" class="image-border" src="http://idgraphics.

Continue Reading…

The State of Web Design, December 2018

Hey there, WDD Readers. Once more, I have spent a whole lot of my life online. My New Year’s resolution is to stay inside and keep doing that. I feel I shall probably succeed.

I have lived and breathed Internet stuff all year, and once again, I don’t even know how much I don’t know. The Internet holds untold numbers of secrets, most of them fairly dull, some of them delightful, and some of them are disgusting enough to inspire a certain awe and respect.

It’s a world unto itself. In my little corner of this world, I’ve once again noticed a few trends, and that’s what I’m here to write about today.

Aesthetic Fusion

Have you ever had Japanese food in Mexico? I’ve consulted with the experts (that is to say, actual Japanese people), and they’ll tell you that the Japanese food here is nothing at all like the real thing.

Continue Reading…

Popular Design News of the Week: December 17, 2018 – December 23, 2018

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

10 Exciting Web Design Trends You Can’t Hide from in 2019

 

Inspirational Websites from 2018

<img style="max-width:100%;" class="image-border" src="http://idgraphics.

Continue Reading…

Five Useful Tips From Experts in Writing Blogs

More and more people are putting up blog posts every day.

2 million blog posts are written daily which is why it’s not easy to stand out from the crowd.

As a blogger, you are not just competing with other blogs out there but new websites as well.

According to Netcraft, there are around 1.8 billion websites around the world.

In the most popular blogging platform on the planet known as WordPress, there are 75 million websites and blogs combined.

There are other platforms like Tumblr (350 million blogs) and Blogger.com who have several millions of bloggers on their platforms that are churning out articles and posts.

Statista.com shows that the number of blogs on Tumblr increased by 25 million blogs every 6 months.

The emergence of WordPress has changed the blogging world by offering a platform that is free, user-friendly and easy to implement.

– Websites with a blog have 434% more indexed pages

– 76% of online experts say they plan to add more content in the coming years

– Blogger.com has more than 46 million unique visitors per month

– 45% of online marketers say that blogging is an essential part of their marketing strategy

These numbers may be overwhelming for the average blogger but this shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your passion to write and publish a blog.

You should focus and try to dominate your chosen niche.

We share with you five useful tips from experts in writing blogs.

Be Concise

Blogs are usually written in an easy to read and conversational tone. Avoid using terms and words that are complex for the average reader to understand.

Concise writing is lean, readers can finish the article in a few minutes with little effort. Here are three tips you can apply to enhance your writing:

  • Avoid linking verb phrases that make your writing passive. For example, instead of “was writing” use “wrote” which sounds more forceful.
  • Change prepositional phrases like “The decision of the team,” to “The team’s decision.” These phrases make sentences longer and harder to follow.
  • When a noun ends in “tion,” change it to a verb. For example, change “in the creation” to “to create,” which makes the sentence sound cleaner.

Clear sentences should convey information in a simple way. Writers tend to focus on sounding smart to impress readers, but this defeats the purpose of making them understand you better.

Complex sentences confuse readers, you should keep in mind that they don’t care about your writing prowess, they only want to look for solutions to their problems.

The Hemingway App is a tool that you can use to see whether your writing is bold and clear.

Appeal to the Senses

Fiction writers can make their audience feel the stories that they write. They are good in transporting their readers into the story like they were really there.

Use vivid details that appeal to your reader’s senses, paint pictures with your words.

Business writing is different from fiction, but you can still harness the power of sensory language in your content.

Let your readers see, hear, touch, smell or taste your ideas so that they will get hooked on your content.

Be Consistent

It is easier to lose your traffic than to attract them. Bloggers forget that they need to be consistent with their posting.

For newbies, posting once a week would be a good way to start, but if you can post daily, then that is the best frequency for blogging.

A Hubspot study showed that blogging consistently leads to higher subscriber growth rates. Businesses that publish entries on a regular basis added subscribers twice as quickly compared to those who added content only once a month.

Give Free Content

Research has shown that those who add a giveaway contest led to 125% more email subscribers.

People love getting prizes and free stuff, make sure that what you give away has value and would be appreciated by your audience.

Add CTAs

Many bloggers forget to add a Call to Action on their posts.

Give your readers a chance to signup to your email list or follow you on Twitter.

Bloggers who added these CTAs had an increase of 335% in Twitter followers in 7 days.

Popular Design News of the Week: December 10, 2018 – December 16, 2018

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

Designers are not Happy with this Photoshop Update

 

How We Fixed the World’s Worst Logo

<img style="max-width:100%;" class="image-border" src="http://idgraphics.

Continue Reading…

WordPress 5.0 Is Here (and Yes, So Is Gutenberg)

WordPess 5.0 (codenamed “Bebo”) is officially out and prowling among the servers.

This, then, is when we find out how well Gutenberg works out. And make no mistake, whatever they’ve done under the hood, this release is about Gutenberg, both technically and in the public perception. It’s almost the only thing they talk about in their own blog post about this release.



Gutenberg

Automattic has set out to redefine the content editing experience in the CMS that powers at least a third of the Internet, and that is exactly what they’ve done. I think it’s for the better; others…not so much; still others think it’s a good idea that needs more development time.

Personally, I think a lot of that negative perception comes from earlier development builds.

Continue Reading…

Popular Design News of the Week: November 26, 2018 – December 2, 2018

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

Advent of Code 2018

 

How to Create an Amazing Email Signature

<img style="max-width:100%;" class="image-border" src="http://idgraphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/signature-jpg.

Continue Reading…

Popular Design News of the Week: November 19, 2018 – November 25, 2018

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

10 Small Design Mistakes We Still Make

 

The State of JavaScript 2018

<img style="max-width:100%;" class="image-border" src="http://idgraphics.

Continue Reading…

20 Best New Portfolios, November 2018

Welcome back, readers! My favorite thing about you all is that you’re all much too classy to put up Christmas decorations this darned early. Yes. You are. I insist.

I could also insist that you have a look at these portfolios, but you already clicked, and we all know what you’re here for: a mix of minimalist, corporate, and super artsy designs!

Note: I’m judging these sites by how good they look to me. If they’re creative and original, or classic but really well-done, it’s all good to me. Sometimes, UX and accessibility suffer. For example, many of these sites depend on JavaScript to display their content at all; this is a Bad Idea™, kids. If you find an idea you like and want to adapt to your own site, remember to implement it responsibly.

Continue Reading…

Popular Design News of the Week: November 12, 2018 – November 18, 2018

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

Web.Dev

 

25 Years Ago Today, the First Major Web Browser was Released: NCSA Mosaic 1.0

<img style="max-width:100%;" class="image-border" src="http://idgraphics.

Continue Reading…