Las Vegas Web Design

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Adobe, Commercial, Freeware, Design Tips

Do you ever have to design or have input into software user interfaces? If not, you might want to skip this post, but if so, Balsamiq Mockups might be of interest to you. The concept of the program is quite simple: create a bare-bones version of the user interface in question. So bare bones, in fact, that it almost looks like it was sketched.

The hand-drawn style might seem a little funny at first, but it serves a couple of very real purposes. Firstly, it makes it extremely clear that what you create with it is nothing but a mockup; nobody you show it to is actually going to expect that it be able to do anything. Second, it strips away all of the more subjective elements of design like color and shading, so you can focus on the usability of the layout of your user interface.

Balsamiq Mockups is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux, but unfortunately that flexibility comes with a price, in more ways than one. The first price is that it’s a Flash application, so to run it on your machine as a desktop app requires Adobe Air. The second price is, well, the price: $79 US to be exact. Well, that’s not entirely true. Yes, it is $79US for the full desktop version, but if you’re not worried about being able to save your mockups or export them as PNG files, you can install a feature-limited desktop version for free.

[via John Watson]

Create user interface mockups quickly with Balsamiq Mockups originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Freeware, Mods, Design Tips

Icons are to me like clothes are to my wife - meant to be changed. I love sprucing up my desktop with customized icons and a funky background, only to change it all up a week later.

If you’re like me, then you’re going to enjoy this list of 50 of the most beautiful icon sets created in 2008 at NOUPE. The icon sets listed are intended for everything from customizing your Mac or Windows desktop, to iPhone replacement icons, to web development. There’s a little something for everyone, so have a peek if you’re at all curious.

Do you have a favorite resource for free icons? Link it up in the comments.

Fifty gorgeous and free icon sets originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Design, Internet, Design Tips

Today’s Design Tip, the second in a recently re-launched series, brings some open source layouts to your web design tool box. The CSS Tinderbox features some Creative Commons licensed basic layouts that can easily lay the foundation for many of your design projects. All the layouts have previews available, and the site is of course collecting examples of their layouts being used in live projects.

A final bonus of these layouts is the leniency of the Creative Commons license: you don’t necessarily need to credit CSS Tinderbox when using one of their layouts, though they request one when submitting your designs to any kind of design community sites or contests.

Thanks Abhijeet!

CSS Tinderbox: open source web design - DLS Design Tip originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Design, Utilities, Web services, Design Tips

Palette generators are nothing new, in fact they go back to the same color theory designers have used for ages. Colorjack takes the color wheel into the 21st century.

Available both online as a super slick AJAX application — with the ability to export palette files for Illustrator, Photoshop and more — Colorjack is also available as a Mac OS Widget so you can keep the power of a color wheel on your desktop at all times.

[via Digg]

Design Tip : Colorjack Sphere - a palette creator originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Design, Developer, Photo, Features, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source, Imaging Tips, Design Tips

LightZone, the RAW photo converter, can cost you hundreds of dollars for the Windows or OS X versions, however, the Linux version is free. LightZone is a powerful photo editing software package based on tonal zones with an easy intuitive interface.

The Windows and OS X versions are available in a Basic edition for $150 and a Full version for $250. The Linux version is functionally equivalent to the Full version, and did we mention, is free? LightZone is copyrighted by Light Crafts of Palo Alto, CA. They do not provide online support for the Linux version however, Anton Kast, Light Crafts’ chief architect and Linux devotee maintains a separate page to keep the Linux version updated and to provide technical support.

[via Linux.com]

Design Tip - LightZone commercial quality for free originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 14 Mar 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Design, Windows, Macintosh, Design Tips

I would like to announce a slight shift in how we handle our image and design-related tips here at Download Squad. As a multimedia student myself, and with all the new talent we’ve been so fortunately gaining over the past weeks and months, we realized that we have a lot of general design talent to share with you readers that quickly surpasses the boundaries of mere ‘imaging.’ So as of today, our Imaging Tips series has evolved into a new, twice-weekly Design Tips series that will allow us to stretch our mice and expand our minds into video, illustration, web, motion graphics and a whole lot more. Look for tips, techniques, apps, plugins and linkage surrounding the whole world of design from here on out.

With that said, I present you the first post in our new Design Tips series which involves Photoshop and filters that can give your images that oh-so-cool worn look. Machine Wash filters from Mister Retro are three separate volumes of 60 filters apiece, all with their own unique attributes, that can apply texture, age and weathered aesthetics to Photoshop layers.

These filter sets are now at version 2, which was a very nice upgrade from v1. The first series were actually PDFs that were applied with a somewhat clunky custom action. Version 2 of these filters introduces a full-blown filter GUI for optimum live-previewing and application. Mister Retro also supplies a sample gallery online, which operates as a testing grounds for each filter set so you can get a good idea of just what you’re paying for.

Speaking of money: as a happy customer, I personally recommend all three sets. They sell for $50 each, with volume licensing and bundle discounts available. The filters work in versions of Photoshop starting at 6.0 all the way up through CS2 (as well as Photoshop Elements 1.0 and above), with a free upgrade patch on the way for CS3 once Adobe officially releases it.

Design Tip Series kick-off: Machine Wash filters bring the worn look to Photoshop originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Business, Design, Text, Windows, Macintosh, Office, Freeware, Design Tips

Free fonts are everywhere online, but in most cases you get what you pay for. While many people are happy using hacked together fonts, discerning viewers notice the little things that set a well-made font apart from the wannabes.

Freelance web designer Vitaly Friedman has put together a listing of his choice of the best 25 free fonts available online, and it’s very hard to argue with his choices. He plainly states that his bias is towards fonts that are useful in a business setting, rather than those that would be more at home “on a colourful teenager’s homepage”. Don’t miss the update at the top of the post including links to new fonts Fontin (seen here) and Delicious. Beautiful stuff.

It’s easy to forget that there is more out there in terms of useful business type faces than Times New Roman and Arial. Thanks to Vitaly, we can all experiment with some more interesting but still classy looking fonts in our next report or PowerPoint presentation.

25 best free high-quality fonts originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet, Photo, Features, Adobe, Design Tips

If you missed the color course in college or habitually spend a small fortune on paint tester cans only to throw recycle them, you can (unlike at the paint service desk at Home Depot) get really good color help online. On the web, there are professional color palettes from infinite sources to help you out. Here’s a few unearthed from Fuzzy Future to help you find the perfect color match for your design project:

ColorBlender
You can slide the RGB buttons to create a core color which then automatically creates a coordinating palette.

DeGraeve
Input the URL of an image and the site will generate a lovely palette to match.

Kuler
Kuler from Adobe Labs helps you create endless colors and you always come out looking like a pro.

EasyRGB
Match your RGB values to real color paint lines (including Sherwin Williams), inks, fandecks, etc.

[via Digg]

Design Tip - web color for the rest of us originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Web services, Design Tips

If you’re a CSS-slinging web designer who often peers into how other sites are designed, why not take it a step further and actually redesign them, live, in your browser? CSSFly is a tool that seems almost too good to be true: the service allows you to open a site in a frame, with another frame containing the site’s markup allowing you to dig in. You get your choice of how and where the frames open, i.e. - markup on the top, bottom, left or right, but unfortunately the markup isn’t colorized in any way to help shuffle through the code. Still, CSSFly is a handy way to tinker with virtually any CSS-driven site without having to get out the big guns or ask the site owner for an FTP login.

Design Tip: CSSFly lets you edit live site design in your browser originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News, Design Tips

If you’re tackling some graphic design project or maybe even your wall decor, getting color hints from ready made color templates from professional designers can be useful. Below are 10 of the better sites to help you out on your design challenge.

ColorCombos - nice color palettes to choose from. If there’s a particular website whose colors you want to snag, check out their “Grab Website Colors” engine. You just input the URL of the site you’re reviewing and ColorCombos extracts the palette for you.

COLOURlovers - this is pretty close to color mecca. This post should actually be filed as a Timewaster because you can spend hours checking out the various palettes and patterns and rolling your own. The site is full of features such as create your own palette from a URL you’re inspired by, join groups devoted to colors (srsly), shore up on the latest color trends, contribute your own content and vote on others.

ColorExplorer - another site that’s feature rich and full of color goodies. Color import from images, palette export to most programs, convert any number of colors into a matching palette, 1 click palette filters and adjustments, plus no requirement for site registration.

Kuler - not surprisingly, Adobe has a fetching web app to help you generate color schemes and if you have Adobe’s Creative Suite 4, Kuler is built in. Kuler has great tools such as color extractor from an image, theme creation from 1 to several colors, as well as a community you can join and give and receive comments on yours and other’s creations.

ColorJack - very nice color site featuring several apps such as Color Sphere which allows you to choose the right color scheme supporting 18 formulas and 9 color blindness simulations. There’s also Color Galaxy, an online color visualizer with colors from 27 libraries including everyone’s favorite forever and ever, Crayola.

Keep reading for more…

Continue reading Color me crazy - 10 best online color tools

Color me crazy - 10 best online color tools originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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