Category "Inspiration" on Smashing Magazine

Category: Inspiration

Fresh inspiration, portfolios, galleries and new showcases of remarkable web design and artwork in general is what every creative head needs to refuel. Break your creativity block by exploring galleries of art, design and photography or showcases of web designs (blogs, portfolios and online-shops) and design elements (search box, back-to-top-link).

Popular tags in this category: Photos, Showcases, Portfolios, E-commerce, Blogs, Navigation, Logos, Favicons.

Making Sense Of Type Classification (Part 2)

By Joseph Alessio
June 19th, 2013
Fonts, Typography
1 Comment

In the first installment of this two-part series on type classification, we covered the basics of type classification — the various methods people have used, why they are helpful, and a brief survey of type history, classifying and identifying typefaces along the way. Unfortunately, we only got as far as Roman (traditional serif) typefaces and the early-19th century.

Now we’re back for part 2! Part 2 will primarily cover sans typefaces, with a nod to display typefaces and other less common categories, as well as address a few of the questions people have about whether type classification is helpful and necessary.

The Smashing Magazine 2013 Photo Contest: Winners And Best Entries

Three weeks ago we launched a photo contest and asked everyone to submit a creative picture of the object that fuels their creativity and inspiration. For all of you who have participated, thank you so much for taking the time and thought to interpret your object in a creative way.

We did not only enjoy the lovely photography that you sent us, it was also inspiring to read your thoughts on the story behind all these objects. We received around 350 entries from all over the world and only 70 could make it onto the poster we’ve created exclusively for our dear fans.

Front-End Ops

When a team builds a complex application, there is often a common breakdown of roles. Specifically on the back end, there are database engineers, application engineers and operations engineers, or something close to this. In recent years, more and more application logic is being deferred to the client side.

For some reason, though, operations folks aren’t going with it. I think things are about to shift, and I’d (humbly) like to help guide that shift, because I think it’ll be great for the Web.

Open Device Labs: Why Should We Care?

With all of the different smartphones, tablets and other devices that sport various operating systems and versions thereof, a Web developer’s job — testing (sometimes virtually) on multiple devices to resolve errors — hasn’t become any simpler.

This article suggests how we can manage these tasks without pouring a truck-load of money into actually buying all of these different devices.

The Smashing Magazine 2013 Photo Contest

Once again, it’s time to join in on a Smashing Magazine photography contest. You might remember or took part in our popular Coffee Mug Contest in 2011, which drew over 470 entries. This time, we are not interested in the vessel that holds your daily intake of caffeine, but rather in the object that fuels your creativity and inspiration.

Have a look around, choose the object that sparks your most creative thoughts and solutions, take a picture from an interesting perspective, and share it with us!

Case StudyTypographic Design Patterns And Current Practices (2013 Edition)

Good typography has always been a defining aspect of effective Web design, and this holds true especially for websites in which the emphasis is on presenting a large amount of content — specifically, articles, news and stories.

Whether for a magazine or international newspaper, the designer of any website that distributes a lot of content has always had to consider typographic details as seriously and thoroughly as a print designer would. In 2009, we conducted a survey of then current typographic practices. Since then, responsive design techniques have clearly gained momentum and established their place in the landscape of CSS layout.

InterviewHow I Work: IDEO’s Duane Bray On Creating Great Digital Experiences

Welcome to another interview in the series called “How I Work.” These interviews revolve around how leading thinkers and creators in the Web world design, code and create.

The goal is not to get into the specific nuances of their craft (as that information already exists online), but rather step back and learn a bit about their habits, philosophies and workflow for producing great work.

Content Knowledge Is Power

“Content matters!” “Comp with real copy!” “Have a plan!” By now, you’ve probably heard the refrain: making mobile work is hard if you don’t consider your content. But content knowledge isn’t just about ditching lorem ipsum in a couple of comps.

Countless organizations now have a decade or two’s worth of Web content — content that’s shoved somewhere underneath their redesigned-nine-times home page. Content that’s stuck in the crannies of some sub-sub-subnavigation. Content that’s clogging up a CMS with WYSIWYG-generated markup.

Interview With Nadine ChahineThe Art And Craft Of Arabic Type Design

By Iris Lješnjanin
April 26th, 2013
Interviews
36 Comments

The beauty of typography has no borders. While most of us work with the familiar Latin alphabet, international projects usually require quite extensive knowledge of less familiar writing systems from around the world.

The aesthetics and structure of such designs can be strongly related to the shape and legibility of the letterforms, so learning about international writing systems will certainly help you to create more attractive and engaging Web designs.

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