The best UI typeface goes unnoticed →
Designer Thomas Byttebier covers typographic basics for UI design. Spoiler alert: Helvetica gets some (well deserved) dings.
Designer Thomas Byttebier covers typographic basics for UI design. Spoiler alert: Helvetica gets some (well deserved) dings.
Simple, core design principles. No fluff, read and review in a half hour, and great reading for those that don’t practice design but work with people that do.
I use ColorSnapper most days to select and compare colors on web sites, Sketch files, and more. I’ve tried other color pickers, but this app remains my favorite. Version 2.0 adds a smarter magnifying glass, Alfred-style color export formats and other enhancements.
Designer Liam Campell, writing on Medium:
I don’t buy the story that you’ve either got a natural knack for design, or you’re totally hopeless. And yet I hear designers describe the programmers they work with as “design blind” with a slimy sense of pity; the insidious implication being that designers are not made, they are born — that some special children are ordained by the stars at birth into the sacred order of designers, and all others are doomed to brutish, unenlightened lives of “design blindness”.
What bullshit.
As designer Mike Borsare writes over at the Thoughtbot blog, selecting a color palette for your web site or app doesn’t have to be a painful process. Limit your options to three, use the color wheel, and get inspiration from what’s around you.
Excellent single source from Typewolf on how and where to add various special typographic characters. There’s grammar tips, examples to copy and paste, keyboard shortcuts, and HTML entities for the web.
Michael Owens writes over at Medium about common patterns shared around hiring solid designers. The post gives a lot of feedback (from several different perspectives, many that are contradictory) on some of the most common evaluation methods, including design exercises, interview panels, and portfolio reviews.
Frank Chimero, writing in one of the smartest pieces on responsive and future web design I’ve read in quite a while:
The web is forcing our hands. And this is fine! Many sites will share design solutions, because we’re using the same materials. The consistencies establish best practices; they are proof of design patterns that play off of the needs of a common medium, and not evidence of a visual monoculture.
I’m a huge podcast fan, usually listening to several during my work day, especially when I’m cranking out code or debugging. Yet I’m also very picky – I have my favorites I listen to religiously, but rarely venture into new territory.
Yet even with that backstory, about twenty minutes into my first Design Details episode, I was hooked. It’s got solid guests that get asked a diverse set of questions. And unlike most podcasts, the show notes are time stamped and very detailed.
Wunderlist designer Timothy Achumba:
As designers it’s our responsibility to create an environment that encourages open communication with developers, as early as possible in the design process as to avoid problems like this. We need to let them into our world, help them understand what we’re trying to achieve and allow them help us to achieve it in the most efficient way. This constant stream of communication should continue right up to the launch of what you’re building. It keeps everyone involved aligned with the vision, it helps to form a strategy best for achieving the goal and creates a friendly, open and honest culture in the workplace.
Words to live by.