4 New Web Design Trends for the Year 2016 Overall rating: ★★★★★ 5 based on 23 reviews
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4 New Web Design Trends for the Year 2016

Business Advice, Web Design Tips No Comment

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Trends are always changing and this is true even in the case of web designs. Designs ensure that your website looks good. The designing could enhance or spoil the user experience. Web users would certainly leave a website which is hard to navigate, hard to use or just irritating to their eyes. Homepage design could be very crucial.

Though users may land upon your website through other pages, your homepage is where they first land up. Not only will this design create a tone for your whole site but is also a great chance of establishing your identity and your brand identity. So check out what is new this year when it comes to web design trends.

  • Photos are great!

Professionals, photographers and artists in the industry of beauty have always had photo stacked websites. But amid the new quick rise in the resolution quality of the screen in basest of the devices, the hike in internet speeds, and popularity of picture apps like Aviary and Instagram, large images are omnipresent now. Websites across all businesses now make use of big images at the top of the site’s home screen. It would flaunt the product, set a perfect mood, and introduce those behind the products. All in all, such images only serve a single purpose which is to grab the user’s attraction and have them involved.

  • Subtle movements

Tech advances in broadband speeds and impulses like maintaining the user’s attention intact have turned it into a possibility for sites to use scrolling, animation and many other effects to instill interest. Elements which are given animation while the user hovers above them could actually enhance the call to action. This is because it will make it sure that something would happen when clicked on it. It is vital that you know how to use them sparingly relatively; you wouldn’t want the whole site jiggling and wiggling. For instance, parallax scrolling which is an effect that creates impression of layers and depth looks great but would also make a few feel nauseated with it. Hence include animations wisely

  • Simplified style

All elements like glossy buttons, gradient colors, and beveled edges are getting old. Sites are now moving to more flat designs. This look is cleaner, simpler and highly minimalist that websites have appeared earlier. Google is being such aesthetic along with design guidelines which they have created known as material design. The search engines provide elaborate tutorials about everything from typography to color theory to aid designers in understanding better how to create effective websites. Use of such icons is another domain where flat designs have actually made a great impact.

  • Fancy fonts for enhanced creativity

Typography on websites has come a really long way. You have many fonts to use than just courier or arial font. The largest difference maker is the extensive fonts that are web based. Though fonts like arial and courier are good in their own way, new web fonts are really booming and are used to enhance creativity in the websites.

So which web design trend are you going to follow? Let us know in comments.

Clever Logos with Hidden Meanings (Part 2)

Business Advice, Web Design Tips No Comment

Logos are designed keeping in mind various factors and considerations. A lot goes behind the scenes when a logo is developed. Last time, we posted the first part of these logos with hidden meanings. Here we bring to you the second part of our list. Check them out below!

google-01

Google

The logo of Google has got 4 primary colors that are arranged in a row which is later fragmented through secondary colors. This idea was totally intentional. Google wanted to make it evident that they don’t follow the rules. Besides, they also want to show they are playful as they haven’t made the symbol look bulky. For that, they just made use of simple colors and letters.

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IBM

The logo of IBM, too, has got hidden message that is there for the world to see. Those white lines which pass through the logo present the appearance that an equal sign has, which is at the right corner to the bottom. This represents equality.

Pepsi-02

Pepsi

The old logo of the Pepsi is a circle with red and blue color and has got a white curved line passing through the diameter. However, they new logo of the Pepsi is also quite famous now and has cost the company one million dollars. They teamed with Arnell Associates to make the logo. Pepsi has to spend millions rebranding everything. It was called a spectacular design strategy. The new logo is a kind of a Day Vinci Code. The logo is inspired from the Renaissance, Feng Shui, Geodynamo of earth, the Theory of Relativity and a lot of other stuff.

tostitos

Tostitos

Tositos is too much popular. The two Ts in the middle depict two friends who are sharing few tortilla chips along with salsa.

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Elefont

The blank space that is in the logo which is an E in the lower case is nothing but an elephant trunk!

Hope for African Children Initiative logo

Hope for African Children Initiative

The moment you look at the logo, it just looks like an African map. But when you look at it closely, you will see that a child and an adult are facing one another.

toblerone-logo-01

Toblerone

We all love these chocolates don’t we? And we never actually took time to observe the awesomeness of the logo. The logo is of a mountain which has got snow over it, which is shown by the white space. But take a closer look and you will find a polar bear on it. This is because Toblerone originated in Bern, Switzerland that is popularly known as the city of bears.

Goodwill-01

Goodwill

The G in the Goodwill is nothing but a smiling face. Awesome! Isn’t it?

spartan-golf-club

Spartan Golf Club

This logo is totally genius. If you look at the logo in a way, it looks like a helmet of a Spartan. If you view it in another way, it is a Golfer who has taken a swing.

unilever

Unilever

The products of Unilever are so versatile that at times it is difficult to maintain a track of all their products. To our fortune, all the symbols in the logo stands for all products they produce.

8 Web Design Trends to Watch In 2016

Web Design Tips No Comment

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If there is anything true about web designs, it is that these web designs are always evolving. Web designs are dynamic. Due to this ever changing characteristic, it could be a challenge to stay updated with latest design trends. User experience has been the core focus of many of the web design trends that are relevant. Creating a content which is accessible, responsive and easy to use will increase the user satisfaction. The web design trends that are going to emerge this year are going to perfect the user experience. We listed down a few!

1) Hero images

One of the prominent ways of grabbing the attention of the user is an appealing image. A high-quality image along with a call to action which compels the users to involve in sales increases conversions. Hence, having an image that acts as a protagonist to your website will only help you in getting more and more customers. An good example of this design technique is the portfolio of Andrew Elsass.

andrew-elsass-homepage

2) Material design

The style language of the material design of the Google is the next step towards the craze for flat designs. Material design provides more depth to those flat designs by including shadows and lights, while also featuring layouts that are grid based, and also having responsive animations.

Photo credit: Angular

Photo credit: Angular

3) Typography

Minimal as well streamlined designs let typefaces turn dramatic and thereby have a powerful impact. Calligraphic fonts that are artistic are emerging popular as they feel personal as well as tangible.

Photo Credit: worldchess.com

Photo Credit: worldchess.com

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Which Presidential Candidate has the Best Campaign Website?

Web Design Tips No Comment

When the Presidential elections are around the corner, there are a number of aspects we have to focus on and compare: which candidate has the best economic policies, healthcare policies and the likes. But there is one really interesting point to note here. Which presidential candidate has the best campaign website? The quality of the candidate’s website speaks volumes about the candidate in question. This is, basically, the hub of online campaigning and everyone has to get this absolutely right.

However, presidential campaign websites are not a new thing. They have been doing the rounds for the last 20 years ever since their inception by Bob Dole. Let us now see what the different presidential campaign websites offer us.

Marco Rubio

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Website URL: https://marcorubio.com/
Tagline: A New American Century
At first glance, the website for Marco seems impressive and pretty much well balanced. So, this gives a good first impression. However, a little into the website, we encounter a series of pictures and videos that overcrowd the space, mainly because of their irregular shapes and sizes. There are also different caption bars varying in colors between red and blue. So, the best thing to do here is to organize the content in a more regular and eye pleasing manner with a much more simplified visual design.

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6 Dreadful Design Mistakes to Avoid in Website Design

Business Advice, Web Design Tips No Comment

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SEO restricts the creativity of the designers, and thus web designers ignore SEO while web designing! But if SEO is ignored, your beautiful web design will just go to waste when you don’t have visitors to your site at all. Do not hope for free traffic from search engines if you have not followed the standard guidelines of a webmaster to make sure the visitor gets a good user experience.

We list 6 dreadful design mistakes to avoid in web designing, so that your website isn’t lost in rankings of the search.

1) Putting valuable information on images

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It is quite obvious that search engines understand the text content. Though serving images, podcasts or videos to the audience engages them, your main motive must be drawing audience to them first. Search engines look for keywords in important locations. The most vital content of your website might be ignored if you have put them in images or flash files. Try and use text to display essential names, links or contents. Do not make the mistake of replacing the text headers with pictures. The best way to practice using images is to include the keywords in the images’ alt texts.

2) Ignoring the visitors on mobile

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Consumers spend around 69% of the time on smart phones. Hence, you must ensure that your website is responsive to the mobile audience as well. Though the responsive design of the website isn’t mainly a ranking factor, it is recommended by Google to the webmasters to turn their sites into a mobile friendly one. A design that is responsive will provide a consistent experience to the users on all devices. It will also increase the engagement of the audience in your website.

3) 404 page

joomla-404-error-page

You would not wish to lose the audience who would have entered a wrong URL or have opened a broken link given on your website. You might want to give a good experience even to such audience hoping they will reminisce your brand later. You would have also designed a good looking 404 page. However, you would have forgotten to provide a link back to your page. This might seem a tiny issue and web masters tend to miss it quite often. This can lead to loss of rankings on the search engine.

4) Unwanted pop up ads

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These ads will not be indexed by the search engines. They aren’t even actually a portion of work plate of the designer. Such intrusive ads might compel the users to hit the close button the moment they pop up. That is the reason Google chrome blocks them by default. However, they still make it to the mainstream usage because of extraordinary results they get.

5) Using too many frames or flash

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Flash can be attractive visually, but search engines do not index them. A home page designed on flash can be one of the biggest blunders in SEO. 78% of users say that they dislike flash. You should not be using flash even in vital aspects of your website as it can affect usability of the website.

6) Filling up the webpage

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All those visually attractive animations, graphics, widgets and redundant codes will result in slower loading of the page. Besides being a bad experience for users, they are also one of the essential factors in deciding search engine rankings. Avoid stacking your web page with such images.

 

Best Tips on Building a WordPress Website with SEO

SEO Tips, Wordpress No Comment

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In this post, we will be talking about the most efficient, easiest and the most useful tips in creating a WordPress website with SEO.

WordPress is a versatile and easy to use platform. It is already search engine enhanced, however, it is important to understand that there is no such thing as CMS or search engine friendly website.

Eventhough WordPress is a search engine optimized platform, the SEO or Search Engine Optimization work needs to be done to make it more efficient and obtain the best results. We can always choose to switch to WordPress, but this is not an automatic guarantee that our website will move to the top of the search engine results. We need to take help from the SEO guide to make our website’s position in the search engines better.

It sometimes becomes hard for the business owners and the entrepreneurs who have a very little technical knowledge or information about the SEO, to differentiate between ‘search engine friendly’ and search engine optimized’ process. The business also tends to spend a lot of money in the CMS as they believe it to be inclusive of all their SEO needs.

However, WordPress provides a practical platform to start your website. You can incorporate the most effective marketing materials in your website if you are using WordPress and that too with a very little expenditure of cash. This is possible only if you have the skills to manage and get to know the features of WordPress, however, you can learn all of these very easily by studying about it.

Installing an SEO Plug-in is merely the starting point, most of the time, you’ll still need help from a search engine optimization consultant or SEO consultant. To, be precise SEO is a procedure which remains constant, it will be your task to incorporate it with the materials you want to initiate in your promotion.

There is no such thing as a WordPress plug-in that includes all the SEO components.

Search comprehension, understanding of the procedures to enhance the SEO process step by step in your promotion should be the major concern. The SEO professional must be careful to save you from some costly errors which might occur during the process. The professional must be there for you for a long time, whether an employee or a consultant from an agency, he/she must be able to help you in executing the best strategies to get the best results.

You might feel the need of adding some fast- moving pictures in your website. However, flashing submissions are a big no as they can induce convulsions. But again, if you need to add something that quickly flashes on the screen, please make sure that you also give the reader an option to stop it and replay it as many times the user wants to.

These are some quick tips that would help you build a good WordPress website.

(Source)

11 Resources for Logo Designers

Web Design Tips No Comment

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Getting help from online resources is a good way to improve your logo designing skills. Check out the following top logo designers resources. These resources will provide you with advice and inspiration that will be helpful in designing logos.

  1. Logoed

Logoed hosts a collection of logo designs. It is a single page site. It contains a huge number of logo designs in its archives. The beautiful logos are arranged in an easy to view manner.

  1. Logospire

Logospire is a great site with an intuitive UI. It is easy to navigate. It displays many brilliant designs that can form your inspiration. It shows 12 projects per page. There are 14 such pages available in Logospire.

  1. Brand new

Brand new is actually more than just a logo resource. It is an upcoming graphic design enterprise. It gives advice for the brand identity development. It provides information on the latest design trends and gives valuable opinions. It also has archives of good logo designs. Continue reading

The Importance of Typography in Graphic Design

Web Design Tips No Comment

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Graphic designs are meant to show your brand in a visually engaging manner.  They need to be extremely reader friendly. This makes the purpose of typography indispensable for a design. Typography is an art. It makes the letters come to life in your design. It has a great impact on how your design is received by people. It is as important or sometimes more important than the color and graphics used. It solidifies your brand image. It combines the both art and science to give the best effect to your designs. Here are some reasons why you should never overlook on the goodness of typography.

Speak to the viewer

A good typography accentuates your graphic designs. It gives them the ability to evoke the right emotion. It has been proved that typographical choices have a great influence on the audience. A good typography is legible and affects reader’s emotions as if you are talking to them. Good typography has been proven to create a positive emotion on people. It makes them perform better and sparks creativity.

Typography in Graphic Design - Cotton Natural

Reduces visual fatigue

The most desirable outcome you expect from your design is to make people impressed with it. Typography helps you achieve that. Appropriate font selection and mastery in typography will make your message more legible and easy to grasp. The line length, font size, character rendering and other typographical elements must be proper. Otherwise, users will feel distracted and annoyed. Following best practices in typography will reduce eye strain and fatigue. It will encourage the user to read more and pay attention to your design.

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WordPress BbPress Features

Wordpress No Comment

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BbPress is a WordPress plugin that acts as a forum application. Forums allow focused discussions among users. A Forum application can be used to manage forums in blogs and CMS sites. BbPress is an easy to learn WordPress plugin that powers up forums. It was developed by WordPress developers.

BbPress helps you transform a CMS into an effective forum. It gives all the standard features of a forum. It is easy to configure and install. It has many features that make it the most popular forum application. It is also very easy to maintain the forums using bbPress.

Some of the main features of bbPress are explained below.

User permissions

User permissions are important for any forum. BbPress presents a solid permission system. It helps you limit the usage of your sites as per your wish. You can place restrictions on certain users and limit their usage.

BbPress makes use of WordPress’s default permissions system. The five roles predefined by bbPress are:

  • Keymaster – The admin role; has all rights.
  • Moderator – Moderator has all the rights of admin except the delete forum right.
  • Participant – The default user role.
  • Spectator- Read only rights
  • Blocked-Users who are blocked access to the forum.

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