01When looking to start a new website or blog, choosing a niche is one of the most important decisions you will make. It requires time and research but once it’s set you’ll have a very solid direction. Fortunately there are a number of tools and websites available that can help with the research. In this […]
The post Choosing a Niche: Tips, Tools & Techniques appeared first on Vandelay Design.
Freelancing is quite addicting. Being your own boss, setting your own hours, working from your favorite location, just to name a few. But every freelancer knows that the job comes with more than a few difficulties: dealing with clients, accounting, invoicing. And then there's the part where you have to know how to sell yourself well enough that clients keep knocking on your door for more work. Your freelance website is one way to make sure that this happens.
In this post, we'll examine some keys to achieving success as a freelancer (plus two bonus segments on vacationing as a freelancer and tips for in-person meetings). These are all areas for would-be freelancers to consider before making the jump, and potential areas of improvement for existing freelancers...
The post Keys to Success as a Freelance Designer appeared first on Vandelay Design.
In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to draw a location icon in Adobe XD.
1. Create a new document/artboard.
2. Select the Ellipse Tool, Left-click and hold Shift to draw a circle. Give the circle a fill colour of #DE503D, and deselect any borders.
3. Using the Selection Tool, Double-click on the circle to go inside the shape, to be able to edit each of the anchor points individually. Left-click on the bottom anchor point for the circle shape, and Drag downwards. This will be the ‘point’ on the location pin icon.
4. Double-click on the bottom anchor point to convert the curved lines either side to straight lines.
5. Next, select the Ellipse Tool, Left-click and hold Shift to draw a small circle. Give the circle a fill colour of white (#FFFFFF), and deselect any borders. Position this smaller circle inside the top half of the location pin shape, ensuring that any space to the left/right sides and above, is equal.
6. Hold Shift and Alt to either increase or decrease the size of the circle accordingly.
7. Once you are happy with your location pin icon, the last step in to Drag over both shapes to select everything, and in the Pathfinder options on the right, select Subtract. This will effectively ‘knockout’ the smaller white circle from the location pin shape, turning this into one complete and finished icon with a transparent background.
Download Adobe Experience Design CC (Adobe XD).
Read More at Draw a Location Pin Icon in Adobe XD
Most web designers wear multiple hats when working on design projects. These hats can include web development, SEO, marketing, identity, content writing, and even photography.
Small businesses and personal sites use photos to deliver a message to visitors. And the quality of these photos greatly impact the message being sent. That’s why I’ve organized these handy photography tips for designers working on the web.
Great photography enhances a website layout and the overall experience. Poor photography brings it down and damages the perception of the entire website. This is why photo choice plays such a crucial role in every design strategy...
The post Photography Tips For Natural-Looking Website Layouts appeared first on Vandelay Design.
Top 4 Cloud Computing Languages To Learn Now!
The Cloud is here, and it’s here to stay. And if you love programming, script-writing, and earning the cushy income that skill set can award you, you’ve probably looked into coding on cloud-based platforms. And while you might think that the Cloud you’ve chosen to work on might limit you… think again! The cloud can accommodate just about any language, depending on the interface you’re running.
We’ve put together a comprehensive list of some of the most in-demand programming languages for the cloud. If you don’t know them now, you should probably start learning! As hot as they are now, it’s likely that the growth of big data and machine learning will only make them more so.
Learning SQL:
SQL is still the king of coding languages, and the price-points of SQL developers and database admins is all but proof. In a time when the US median income for a household is about $52,000, SQL-savvy coders can earn an average of $92,000. With the rise in big data (which usually means bigger databases), and the continuing reign of SQL as one of the most common languages out there, job security is nearly guaranteed into the future (a worthwhile perk, in the ever-changing tech industry). But beyond that, there can be a lot of personal pleasure in SQL coding. At its heart, writing SQL is basically creating processes which automate themselves. If you’ve even been frustrated to tears by needing to manually create reports or datasets, this might be the language for you.
Learning R:
R is a programming language which sees a lot of use in the area of data analysis and software development. Especially if the sciences intrigues you, this could be a hot language to learn: it’s incredible in-demand with scientific investigators, and has had a recent surge in popularity no doubt related to the rise in data-related work and positions. If data-mining is your bag, there’s nothing better. Couple that with the fact that it has many business applications and the fact that being able to program in R is considered one of the highest-paying skillsets to have and you probably agree that you should be learning it now!
Python:
If you’re all about lofty goals and raising the bar, Python might be the cloud programming language for you! Some of the most popular IaaS management softwares are written in Python, and it’s an incredibly marketable skill which is applicable to many different environments. Though it’s easy to learn, it’s more elegant than similar languages like Php and Ruby. And, as with the other languages, it’s a money maker. The average salary of a Python developer is over 6 figures.
Learning Clojure:
Clojure is based on JVM, and in the opinion of most coders proficient in its use, is mature, stable, and easy to learn. It’s a Lisp, with all of the advantages that entails, and is built with concurrency in mind: meaning immutable data and less problems! If you’re a little slapdash with your coding, that means that Clojure helps protect you from yourself. And, like the above languages, it’s perfect for processing a great deal of data.
The Bottom Line:
There are hundreds of languages out there which can be used on the cloud, from Deadfish to Scala. But if you’re going to pick a new one to learn for developing on the cloud, you might as well pick one which has a lot of applications, offers substantial job security, and can make you a lot of money. For those looking to expand their skillset or jump into the field, SQL, R, Python, and Clojure are our top 4!
Read More at Top 4 Cloud Computing Languages To Learn Now!
Stress is an unwelcome partner when you are designing a website. Some design tools, including WordPress themes, can create stressful experiences. They are, at times simply difficult to use.
Problems you may encounter with such a product can eat up valuable time, and take that time away from what you should be doing – design. Technical problems also take the fun out of web design, to the point where a project becomes a chore, and you can’t wait to finish it.
This kind of theme may have bugs, a steep learning curve, or seems designed by developers for other developers. It’s time to take a breath and start searching for something better.
This theme could be your answer. Not only does it have the features and functionality you need. And because of its easy-to-use, intuitive, integrated front-end builder, it is actually enjoyable.
A web designer taking a relaxed walk in the park after working with a difficult WP theme.
Intuitiveness and simplicity can often be difficult to find in a WordPress theme for one very good reason –these kind of themes are hard to code. Bugs create technical issues. Bloated code can as well, but in most cases it is simply inefficient, and it tends to be a resource hog.
A theme creators’ experience can tell you a great deal about what you might reasonably expect in terms of its performance. Experienced developers know how to make your life simpler, if they have worked with more than one coding languages. You don’t have to become a developer to make a tool work for you.
For example, Kallyas’ creators have several years of experience on WP and Joomla themes. That tells you that with Kallyas, they have delivered a theme that is simple, adaptable, intuitive, and enjoyable to use.
An example of a well-designed, intuitive homepage for an eCommerce website.
With Kallyas, you can focus on design, without having to worry about delivering a website that includes code your client has no need for. Kallyas’ experienced creators have taken care of that issue. They have provided you with a customizable theme that features smart, optimized, efficient code.
If you are a web developer, a front-end builder may not seem like such a big deal. You are used to writing your own code, and managing everything from the back end. That is what you do, and there is no real need to change.
If you happen to be a web designer, the chances are your coding expertise is somewhere between slim and none. Any need to write code, as a part of your design activity, will simply slow you down.
The intuitive interface of an integrated front-end WP visual builder.
Front-end builders are noted for being great time-savers, and productivity boosters. They can also have a positive impact on the quality of your deliverables. The reason is simple. If you are spending time going back and forth between the front end and the back end, you can lose focus on the consistency of your design.
Kallyas builder’s simple, fast, steps are the keys to producing higher quality work:
Another benefit of a WP integrated front end builder: if your client wants changes on the layout, you can make them in seconds. No stress, no hassle, and a more enjoyable experience.
Check out this video to see the integrated, front-end builder in action:
As a web designer, you should not have to be concerned about accessing and managing the resources needed to build a page or a website. Your WordPress theme should perform that task for you, that is why you are paying for this product. If it does so efficiently, both you and the user will have beautiful, intuitive, and stress-free experiences.
When you enter a page built on a regular WordPress theme, your device isn’t going to receive only the elements that make up the page. It will also receive other elements Those other elements are unnecessary, and only serve to clog up the code.
The result? Slower page loading times, and impatient users (Note: remember that mobile users are not noted for their patience).
Kallyas solved that problem when it designed and developed its integrated, front-end builder. Thanks to this WordPress theme’s front end builder, the only elements that are received when loading a page, are those that are needed.
You’ve been told that working harder and longer does not always produce high quality results. Quite the opposite is often true. If you can perform your web design activities in a relaxed manner, you’ll be able to focus on the creative work. And that will be reflected in the quality of your work.
Experienced creatives seek out tools and methods that don’t interfere with their preferred style of work. Kallyas, with its intuitive front end builder, will provide you with all necessary element to get the job done.
Check Kallyas out. Read more about why this WP theme is so easy and relaxing to work with. Kallyas promises not to disappoint in terms of code agility, resource optimization, and UI quality.
Kallyas is a WP theme you won’t regret investing in.
Read More at Are You Looking for a Pleasant Experience with a WordPress Theme?
There’s a large market of design software out there and it seems to just keep growing. Designers often specialize to master a few programs, but career-wise it’s good to at least learn the basics of all major design software. These basics include fundamental techniques, what can be created, and tricks of the trade. I’ve put […]
The post Keyboard Shortcuts and Cheatsheets for Design Software appeared first on Vandelay Design.
Adobe Muse Quick Tip #1 – Page Expansion. No Coding Skills Required.
In the 2015.1 release of Adobe Muse in early February we were introduced to fluid-width breakpoints. This allowed you to create a responsive website in Adobe Muse and change the layout of the website on different breakpoints. Most of us loved it and some of us were struggling with wrapping our heads around the concept of breakpoints. One thing that is great about Adobe Muse is the easy learning curve, and when breakpoints were introduced it kind of made the curve a bit steeper :D.
I tend to go the easy route when designing websites. The easy route for me is having 100% width elements that automatically change size as you re-size the browser. This makes the element responsive, and I don’t have to add breakpoints. In the video tutorial above I go over using the “Page Expansion” option that allows you to make elements across the browser 100% width, so you can have a responsive website without adding a lot of breakpoints and cluttering up the website. It is a great alternative and works really well with the Adobe Muse responsive width and height options.
Happy Musing :).
Read More at Adobe Muse Quick Tip #1 – Page Expansion
If you work as a freelancer, you’re probably struggling to get clients. With over 53 million Americans freelancing, and more expected to join soon, you simply can’t fold your arms and watch and hope to get freelance clients. With the following seven techniques, you can proactively work to get more freelance clients than you can handle.
Many freelance designers and developers create free themes, plugins, graphic packs and other useful products for other people to use, and there isn’t much benefit they derive from this.
If you have a plugin that thousands of people are installing and you are not advertising your services in it, you are missing out. For example, if you have a plugin that helps people optimize their database, you can include a note in the plugin page that you offer consulting aimed at helping people boost their site speed. If you have a plugin aimed at helping people make their site mobile responsive, you can also note that you offer web design help.
Even if your products are paid, it doesn’t hurt to include a note to let people know that you are a freelancer that they can hire for their design needs.
If you are a freelance web designer, there’s every probability that your clients will want content for their website when it is finally ready. Since you are not a freelance writer, it is impossible for you to do this job. A mistake most freelancers make is that they let this offer go and forget about it. Instead, you can be creative by partnering with other freelancers and establish a relationship in which you send each other work you cannot do; for example, a freelance designer partners with a freelance writer, and the designer sends his clients to the writer if they have writing jobs. The freelance writer does the same and sends his clients to the designer if they have design jobs.
If done strategically, this alone can serve as a source of more jobs than you can handle for you.
Also in line with partnering with other freelancers is partnering with agencies. The only difference is that agencies are more likely to have more job offers than individual freelancers.
You can identify SEO agencies, writing agencies and other agencies, and convince them to start offering design services to their clients while you do the work; they charge their clients more, they pay you a part of it and both you and the agency win.
Interestingly, many freelance web designers and developers have set up countless blogs for other people but they do not have one of their own.
According to data from Hubspot, businesses that blog generate significantly more leads than businesses that do not blog. It doesn’t take much effort to realize why this is the case; blogging — in essence, publishing content — means search engines have something to index and rank when people ask questions online. In turn, the people who read this content, if impressed, are potential clients that can use your services. Once you start your blog, use the following techniques to leverage your blog to boost your client portfolio:
Freelance job boards are one of the most popular means freelancers use to get jobs, but a mistake many people make is assuming that you can only get job offers on popular, and often overcrowded, job boards like Upwork.
In reality, there are many popular alternatives to sites like Upwork; not only are these sites less crowded, making it easier for you to get jobs, but they also often result in clients that pay more. They provide opportunities for designers, developers, writers and other freelancers.
Some top sites like this include CloudPeeps and Twago. A simple Google search will reveal many more.
Pretty much every freelancer goes through the “feast or famine cycle.” The feast or famine cycle is a period where you have a lot of client opportunities at a time and little to none at other times; for most freelance writers, it happens every year. Sometimes, they have more work than they can handle and have to turn work down. At other times, however, they barely have enough work to keep food on the table.
The solution to avoiding this and ensuring that you have work all year round is to create a waiting list; whenever you have more work than you can handle, instead of having to turn clients away, you simply ask clients to sign up to your waiting list and tell them that you will reach out to them once you’re available for more work.
By doing this, you are getting permission from the clients you couldn’t work with to reach out to them when you are finally ready. While not all of them will eventually work with you, a good portion will, and this will ensure you have consistent work at all times.
Finally, mastering the art of strategic cold pitching will help you get more jobs than you know what to do with, season in and season out.
You will notice my emphasis on “strategic.” We all get those cold pitches that we immediately regard as spam, and our reaction is either to send them to the spam or trash folder. You don’t want to be lumped in the same category as these people.
Here are some tips to help you get results through strategic cold pitching:
Read More at 7 Ways to Get More Freelance Clients Than You Can Handle
Google's Webmaster Tools can be very useful for website owners, but it can also be overwhelming if you're not sure what is available and how to use it. This post will take a step-by-step look at the free tools available and explain how to use Webmaster Tools within your own website...
The post How To Use Webmaster Tools: A User’s Guide to Google Search Console appeared first on Vandelay Design.
WordPress is the most popular content management system, and there are countless designers and developers that are making a living working with WordPress. WordPress's popularity provides plenty of options for working with clients as well as for creating and selling themes and plugins.
In this post, we'll showcase more than 55 different Wordpress developer tools that can help you in one way or another. If you're creating themes or plugins for WordPress, regardless of whether it is for clients or to sell, you'll benefit by incorporating these resources into your workflow...
The post 55+ Outstanding WordPress Developer Tools & Resources for Developing Themes and Plugins appeared first on Vandelay Design.
Some might assume that an Internet loaded with free code would breed indolence. Yet it seems developers are willing to contribute their help to projects more than ever before. JavaScript libraries are a microcosm of the larger open source community - specifically jQuery with its ever-growing popularity and easy learning curve.
One such area of broadened potential would be jQuery-based calendars for websites. Although date & calendar interfaces have sparse usage, they come in handy for very specific circumstances. And when building a site that requires this type of interface you'll be happy to know there are dozens of open source plugins available.
I've catalogued the 30 best free jQuery plugins that offer datetime functionality. Some are more developed than others and each plugin has its own set of benefits. The best part about using open source code is that it's easy to customize for your own purpose. So peruse through this collection and take a look at any plugins which pique your curiosity...
The post 30 Best Free Calendar & Datepicker jQuery Plugins appeared first on Vandelay Design.
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new online shop! The Web Design Ledger shop is packed with great deals on everything from gadgets and gear to software, web services, and online courses. We even have special sections dedicated to design and development to ensure you save money on the items you need to do what you love.
Deals have limited lifespans so signing up for an account is a great way to stay up-to-date. As an added bonus, the shop will offer a number of freebies you won’t want to miss out on. All you need to do is login and share the offer with your friends.
A few of our staff’s favorite items currently in the shop are:
These are just a few of the awesome products you can find in the Web Design Ledger shop. To kick-off off today’s launch, we’re offering readers 10% off their first purchase with code WDLShop10. This code is good to July 31st at 11:59 pm PST, so hurry and claim your discount today!
Read More at Introducing the Web Design Ledger Shop
In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to draw and skew a circular symbol in Adobe Illustrator.
1. Create a New Document.
2. Select the Ellipse Tool, Left-click and hold Shift to draw a circle. Remove any Fill and apply a Stroke width of your choice. For this tutorial, I’ve used a Stroke Width of 30 pixels, and given the colour black #000000.
3. In the Stroke Palette, select the box labeled Dashed Line, select 0 for the Dash, and approximately 65 for the Gap. Also select Round as the Cap. If done correctly, you should now have a circle made up of a dotted stroke.
4. Once you are happy with the size and spacing of your dotted stroke, go to Object > Expand, and click OK.
5. Left-click on the circle, and holding Alt + Shift, scale up from the centre and also create a larger copy of the dotted circle.
6. Repeat Step 5 as many times as you like, depending on the number of rings you wish to include in your design.
7. Drag over all shapes with your mouse to select everything on the artboard, and Left-click in the Gradient Palette to apply the default black/white gradient.
8. Next, select two colours of your choice, and drag each of the these colours in turn, to either end of the Gradient Slider. Each of the circles that make up your design should now have a gradient individually applied to them, with the two colours that you selected.
9. To make the gradient flow through the entire shape as a whole (rather than each circle individually), go to Object > Compound Path, and select Make.
10. Lastly, to distort the shape, go to Effect > Distort, and select Free Distort. Adjust the anchor points in the preview box until you are happy and click OK.
11. To edit the distorted shape, select the Free Distort effect listed in the Appearance Palette.
Read More at How to Skew a Circular Symbol in Illustrator
By: Anastasia Dyakovskaya
“Humans are complex and unpredictable, and there’s no reason why brand visuals can’t be, too.” – Lauren Catten, Art Director at Getty Images
Imagination is one of the four factors that make for a powerful image, and nothing stirs it more than Surreality – one of iStock & Getty Images’ 2016’s top visual trends.
The reason is simple: these original and sometimes peculiar compositions trigger a feeling of pleasure in experiencing the unpredictable. The aesthetic can transform an ordinary topic into something new and exciting. It can help distinguish a brand in a sea of similarity, making for memorable content that leaves a lasting impression. And, thanks to its hyper-immersive, psychedelic visuals, it has very broad appeal.
Nature-related images work as a particularly potent metaphor in this realm, leaving room for interpretation and creating meaningful connections with your content.
Here, iStock by Getty Images explain how to use captivating Surreality to illustrate some common concepts:
Frame conversations regarding market or business growth with photography that depicts flourishing flora. With a touch of fantasy, images of lush green plants and verdant pastures go far beyond a basic gardening blog, serving as an apt allusion to fruitful endeavors in any field.
Content that deals with data and metrics works well with interesting, high-quality images focused on patterns, textures, and repetition found in nature. A quarterly report might feature a seasonally appropriate yet abstract visual, while numbers-driven blogs, articles, or internal documents may be enriched by images depicting some kind of quantifiable element wrapped up in a visually pleasing configuration.
Healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses can benefit from incorporating altered images in an attempt to stand out in a crowded market. Double exposure, layering, and playing with proportion are all creative ways to illustrate topics on wellbeing or mental illness, while creating new layers of meaning.
Innovation or thought leadership content lends itself to images that stand out due to unexpected choices related to color, light and depth of field. Vivid hues are always attention grabbing, while focusing on a certain point and blurring out the rest suggests the highlighting of something special.
Banking and financial organizations might try to spice things up with a series of psychedelic landscapes serving as background or header images. For those industries that find it most challenging to tell a visual story or maintain an engaging array of images, Surreality may yet prove most effective when thoughtfully applied.
Beauty brands featuring herbal, fruit, or floral ingredients in particular might attempt to stand out with unexpected compositions using abstract angles and extreme close-ups. A vibrant burst of color accompanied by a surprise element is sure to draw attention and spark curiosities.
Distribution and supply-chain topics across industries pair well with kaleidoscopic images that evoke a web or span of networks due to design elements like refraction, replication, and abstraction. The modern, technological flair of such shapes and lines makes for a kind of psychedelia-meets-Photoshop, alternate reality that stretches the limits of image manipulation and is just the thing to keep eyes lingering longer.
Explore more Surreality images at iStock by Getty Images.
Read More at In Praise of the Peculiar: How and Why to Use Surreal Images
