5 Free Prototyping Tools That You Won’t Want to Live Without

A pictures is worth a thousand words, but if that’s true, then a single prototype is worth a thousand meetings.

We all know as designers how difficult it can sometimes be to communicate your ideas and visions clearly with a client.

When it comes to the custom design of a product, you have to try and try again to absolutely nail everything perfectly.

But even when the creation of a product is done… it never truly is, is it?

You always have room for a few modifications and improvements here and there.

And it’s better to find the little mistakes that were made on the product sooner rather than later, right?

And it’s an especially good thing to be able to run your designs by other colleagues, friends, fresh eyes, and ultimately, your client, in order to make sure you’ve done everything to the best of your ability.

The best way to do that is by using prototyping tools.

That’s why, today, we are going to go over 5 different prototyping tools.

Prototyping tools are especially helpful so that you can ensure that you are making your client happy by working alongside them, allowing them to see your process, and ultimately making sure that you keep your customer empathy intact while you’re going through the developmental phases.

And of course, we found the best free prototyping tools for you to use because we’ve always got your back when it comes to saving a buck.

So without further ado, let’s do this.

1. Adobe Experience Design

Alright, let’s just jump into this list and start it off with a banger. This is my personal favorite of the bunch of free prototyping tools, but maybe that’s because I’m a major Adobe fan-girl. And we can just let Adobe themselves sum up the tool in just a few words.

“Adobe XD is a powerful, collaborative, easy-to-use platform that helps you and your team create designs for websites, mobile apps, voice interfaces, games and more.”

You can work together with your team in real-time so that everyone is always on the same page and you can work faster and more efficiently.

“For designers, by designers.”

“We’re not just building a product — we’re building a community of designers striving for a better way to work.”

Price:

Free

Compatible with:

Windows
iOS
OS X
Android

Prototypes for:

Try it here: https://www.adobe.com/in/products/xd.html

2. Origami Studio

“Explore, iterate, and test your ideas. A new tool for designing modern interfaces, built and used by designers at Facebook. Get started today for free.”

What may have started just for the design team at Facebook, has now been launched for all of us designers out there to use, for free.

“We created Origami to help us design and build many of our products like Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. We’re excited to see what you make in Origami.”

With Origami Studio, once you’ve created your mockup, you can view it in real-time on your phone to catch any bugs or errors, or just simply to enjoy the fruits of your labors.

Price:

Free

Compatible with:

OS X

Prototypes for:

iOS
Android

3. Invision

Design better. Faster. Together.

The digital product design platform powering the world’s best user experiences

By far the most popular prototyping tool in the entire world, I present to you, Invision.

Because they know how important it is to be able to create an amazing prototype, they constantly have their team testing and improving their product.

Because of this, they are continuously adding new, relevant features they will help you create the best prototype that you possibly could.

My favorite part of this prototyping tool is that you can set up planning columns like to-do lists, in progress, needs review, etc.

That way, everyone is on the same page and nothing gets lost in planning.

The tool is free at first, and if you get hooked, in my opinion, the price of it is quite affordable thereafter.

Price:

The first project is free
3 projects (which is the starter package) – $15/month
Unlimited Projects (which is the professional package) – $25/month

Runs on:

Prototypes for:

Web
iOS
Android

4. Atomic

Atomic makes it easy to create and deliver functionality to your users on any device or platform.

If you’re a major Google Chrome fan, then this tool might just be for you.

In order to use Atomic, because it is a web-based tool, you have to use Google Chrome.

Because it is a web-based tool, other designers and developers do not need to install any app, but instead, simply use the Chrome browser in order to see the prototype.

One thing that really does comes in handy is the play button. By clicking on it, you get to see all of your changes and animations in action and progression.

It’s pretty satisfying, but you can also see if there’s anything that went wrong that you’d like to change.

Cost:

1 prototype (30-day trial) – Free
Unlimited prototypes for 1 user – $19
Unlimited prototypes for up to 10 users – $99

Runs on:

Prototypes for:

5. Sketch

The best products start with Sketch

Create, prototype, collaborate and turn your ideas into incredible products with the definitive platform for digital design.

And last but not least, I present you with Sketch.

If you love photoshop, then you’re in luck.

Sketch is very similar to photoshop in many different ways, but it is most similar in the fact that you can manipulate and edit photos any way that you want.

Because Sketch’s workflow is completely vector-based, it makes it easy to create amazing prototypes.

Another nice thing about Sketch is that you can easily copy and paste things that are constantly repeating themselves in UI, such as buttons, menus, bars… You name it. It’ll save you lots of time and headache in the end.

Cost:

Trial – Free
Full version – One-time $99 payment

Compatible with:

OS X

Prototypes for:

Web
iOS
OS X

Wrapping up…

We hope you found this article helpful and the perfect prototype tool for you.

If we missed any free prototyping tools that you use on a daily basis, let us know in the comments below which ones are your favorite and we’ll cover them in another article.

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

March 9, 2020

Here’s A Major International Women’s Day Appreciation Post – Happy Women’s Day

Today is a glorious day to be celebrated by all.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Here’s to all the strong, loving, independent, wonderful, creative, and special women out there.

Every day, I truly believe, women deserve to be celebrated.

[source]

Every day, but today especially, we want to honor women the way that they deserve.

Women contribute a billion and one things to society every single day, whether you realize it or not, and deserve to be celebrated and treated as such.

Without women, our world would be bland.

Without women, we wouldn’t know our world as we know it today.

Women make our world a better place.

By women, for women.

That’s why, today, I want to shine the spotlight on the talented and amazing women who created art to share on this International Women’s Day.

Here are 19 designs to celebrate Women’s Day and to appreciate the women in our lives and the ones that change the world each day for the better.

[source]

Happy International Women’s Day

From the bottom of our hearts, Happy Women’s Day.

We see you killing the game, hustling, climbing to the top, running a business, being a mom, taking care of others, fighting for freedom, protecting others… basically, being a woman.

You are strong.

You are a woman.

And we thank you for that.

March 4, 2020

BMW Gets A New Logo and Brand Identity After 100+ Years

After nearly 100 years, BMW has decided to change up its old logo and give us something new and fresh.

With every new and upcoming generation, BMW loves to switch things up and give us a new logo.

“The new logo and brand design symbolizes the importance and relevance of the brand for mobility and the joy of driving in the future,” Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President BMW Customer Brand

The logo has seen 6 facelifts in its time, each corresponding to an appropriate design of the era.

The BMW logo that I grew up with (1997-2019) is quite different than the new one of 2020.

To me, it seems BMW really took it back to its roots when they retired their gradients and 3D effects and traded it for a flat design.

The colors are obviously changed from a lighter blue to a dark blue and the font also got the slightest facelift.

The new and improved logo has kept its original shape, but it’s withing the logo that we’re going to see some major differences.

Of course, the bavarian colors of the iconic BMW emblem are still a must and are prevalent in the design.

And the outer ring is now flat, as opposed to what it used to be.

It is with these identity changes and visual changes that BMW wants their clients to view them as more accessible and available to all.

Also, I need to mention that BMW’s subbrands, BMW i and BMW m, will also stand to get new identities.

I personally am a huge fan of the new logo. It’s the perfect combo of modern-yet-vintage-and-a-little-bit-of-luxurious, but we want to know your thoughts on the new BMW logo.

Are you a huge fan or could you pass?

Let us know in the comments!

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

March 2, 2020

Are You Ready to Play Uno Minimalista? We Know We Are.

Oh, the golden days of Uno, when everyone would carry their pack of fun and good memories in their pocket.

I remember playing Uno all throughout my childhood and even to this day when we get a good old group of friends together, we’ll play our version of Uno extreme.

And there are no promises that someone won’t get hurt, so you play at your own risk.

Uno brings so many good memories to my mind when I think about it, and I was absolutely stoked when I heard the news that they going to make a minimalist version of it.

And we all know I’m a sucker for some minimalist design.

So let’s get into the story behind it all.

Meet Uno Minimalista

[Image credit: Warleson Oliveira]

Just like we talked about last week, everyone is loving a dark mode of anything nowadays, and many people are calling Uno Minimalista the dark mode of the original Uno.

What started as a petition, is just about to become a reality.

[Image credit: Warleson Oliveira]

Last month, the new concept of Uno Minimalista drove people crazy, in the best way.

There was just an uproar of how people needed this version of Uno in their life. And I was 100% apart of this crowd.

[Image credit: Warleson Oliveira]

Warleson Oliveira was the mastermind behind this gorgeous minimalist concept of Uno that made the internet go wild.

A petition started on change.org to see this concept become a reality and Mattel heard us.

Mattel tweeted out the thing we were all dying to hear. “You asked for it, you got it.”

First look at #UNOMinimalista from #TFNY. pic.twitter.com/w7QgDmoeiN

— MATTEL (@Mattel) February 22, 2020

As soon as I saw this, you know I was just dying to get my hands on it, and if you’re anything like me, you probably had your credit card in your hand, ready to go and order a few packs.

Well, unfortunately, we don’t have an exact date yet, but we sure are looking forward to getting our hands on this new Uno Minimalista.

[Image credit: Warleson Oliveira]

They tweeted that we should “stay tuned for the summer”, so within a few short months, we will all be reliving our childhood all over again.

So call your friends and set up a camping trip, get your Uno Minimalista cards ready, and have a great time together creating new memories.

[Image credit: Warleson Oliveira]

We can’t wait to get this new and improved Uno and play all night.

Let us know what you think aboutthis new Uno design in the comments!

What do you love about it or what would you have done differently?

And of course…

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

February 20, 2020

10 Free Modern Fonts That Will Spice Up Your Futuristic Projects

Some designs just absolutely call for an edgier look than usual.

You can’t just be happy with a simple, everyday font.

You need something more, and more specifically, something that won’t break the bank.

This is why I scoured the internet and found my top 10 picks of free modern fonts.

And yes, you’re welcome.

So without further ado, let’s just jump right into our list of 10 free modern fonts, shall we?

1. Manrope

I thought that I would start this list out with my absolute favorite font and visual.

Manrope.

Pixel Surplus created this gorgeous and functional sans-serif that has amazing readability whether it’s upper or lowercased. This font is so sleek and elegant, and what really had me hooked was this visual.

I mean, just look at all that creativity wrapped up in one image.

Here’s what the creator of Manrope had to say about their font.

“Sometimes, creativity comes from simplicity, elegance, and readability. This font is an extra mile towards, guided by optical balance, and packed with modern features.”

Get it for free by clicking on the link below!

Download here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/70262447/MANROPE-FREE-MODERN-GEOMETRIC-SANS-SERIF-FONT-FAMILY

2. Oneday

Moving on to my next favorite font of this list, here I present to you Oneday.

This font is like a modern-day font that is presented in stencil style. As you can see, almost all of the letters have disconnections in them, which make them stand out and look quite futuristic, in my opinion.

Check it out through the link below and get it for free!

Download here: https://www.dafontfree.io/one-day-font-free/

3. Coco Gothic

Coco Gothic. I’m definitely vibing with this font.

This san font is so modern, sleek, and elegant that it makes you kind of want to use it on all of your upcoming product and packaging designs.

This font comes in 6 different weights and also has different variants for the letter’s “g” and “a” which I find to be very considerate.

Check out the link below to get this modern font for free.

Download here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/25341907/Coco-Gothic-NEW-2-FREE-WEIGHTS

4. Cornerstone

Cornerstone screams professional, modern, and no-nonsense. This modular font is a bit elongated and is great for things like banners, logos, and headers.

It’s definitely got that modern feel that many people are looking for nowadays, and the best part is that it is “free-ninety-nine”! Aka, 100% free.

Check it out via the download link below!

Download here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/29835665/Cornerstone-Free-Font

5. Tenre

Tenre, designed by Jacopo Severitano, is a beautiful, geometric font that comes in 4 different styles.

It’s sleek and unique, perfect for any upcoming projects that you have going on that need a bit of modern feel to them.

Download it by using the link below!

Download here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/8313635/TENRE-Font-Free-Modern

6. Vanity

This classic modern serif called Vanity is absolutely stunning.

With the perfect combination of thick and thin lines, this classic yet modern font is ready for you to use for any beauty product packaging or magazines.

This font that was created by Hendrick Rolandez is ready for you to download for free via the link below.

Download here: https://dribbble.com/shots/1559859-Vanity-Free-Modern-Type-Family

7. Kontanter

Kontanter is so interesting to look at.

Kontanter is loosely based on Gotham bold, but has an amazingly unique look about it.

This font is perfect for those designs that just need a little extra spice about them that really makes them stand out and pop.

Download it for free by using the link below!

Download here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/17725611/Kontanter-FREE-FONT

8. Arkhip

Next up, we have Arkhip.

What’s amazing about this font is that you can use it in both Russian and English, and it’s still free!

We know how hard it can be to find a free font that supports both languages, so when we found Arkhip, we knew we hit the jackpot.

Check it out below if you want to use this font for free!

Download here: https://dribbble.com/shots/1953924-Arkhip-Free-Font

9. Headache

Second to last, we present to you Headache.

This incredibly unique and geometric font is perfect for projects that you’re working on that need a touch of futuristic and modern vibes.

This font is available in 2 different styles, and when you combine the two, the outcomes are endless.

This font will truly stand out amongst the others, and we highly recommend you try it out.

Download here:

10. Bondi

And finally, we come to our last font called Bondi.

This fun and bubbly font will give your projects an undeniably happy feel to them.

This font is modern with a touch of futuristic and has all its thick lines on the left, which give it lots of dimension and balance.

If you want to use this font, click on the link below to download it.

Download here: https://dribbble.com/shots/3611615-Headache-Free-Font

And Finally…

We hope that you enjoyed this article of our top 10 picks of free modern fonts in 2020.

Use them to your advantage, and of course…

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

February 19, 2020

Kroger Gets A New Logo And Slogan – Fresh For Everyone

Kroger is hands-down one of my favorite grocery stores ever.

And I’m not the only one, apparently.

With 2,800 stores nationwide and in 35 states, Kroger is easily the largest grocery store retailer in the United States of America.

Kroger has been around for a long, long time.

I’m talking over 100 year’s time! Kroger was established in 1883 in Cinncinatti, where the Kroger headquarters still is.

Not only does Kroger have over 500,000 (yes, folks, you heard correctly. That’s five-hundred-thousand employees), but they also donate hundreds of millions of dollars to help feed the hungry all over the country.

Now that’s the kind of grocery store I want to be a part of.

And I have been!

For years my family and I shopped at Kroger and to this day, we still do.

That’s why I wanted to talk a little bit about the new logo and slogan that they came out with at the end of last year.

As I said, Kroger has been around for a long, long time. And because they’ve been around for so long, you can imagine that their logo can quickly become dated.

One thing that completely distinguishes Kroger from other brands the curvy letters.

The “K” and “G” have a very distinct, curvy look to them that you don’t just see around.

And with this unique design, you either love it or hate it.

I’ve read loads of comments and talked to other designers who absolutely hate the curves.

But are the curvy letters what really brings the brand to life?

If they were to drop the curves, which, visually speaking would probably be the best thing to do, they would lose brand recognizability.

Since the brand has been repping the unique font for so long, it’d just feel wrong to change it so drastically at this point.

The logo went from a 3D realistic style to minimal, flat design, which is a trend we’ve been seeing from huge brands all through-out 2019.

Beyond changing the font to be a little simpler and with better tracking, the also dropped the 3D border that they had before.

Which to me seemed to be the smart choice.

They also threw in a slogan now.

“Fresh is for everyone.”

Which is just what we need to see and hear in 2020.

Their commercial just about sums it up.

And “What are all those little animated people called?”, you may ask.

Well, those adorable little animations are called Krojis.

Only the cutest grocery store representatives I’ve ever seen.

The versatility you can get with these characters is amazing. The commercial was very relatable and inclusive, which I personally loved.

Having them on every sign in the store though does seem a bit overwhelming and excessive, but hey. They’re just trying to make us remember them, I suppose.

I think Kroger is on just the right path to becoming more relevant and modern, design-wise.

What do you guys think of all these new changes and the little Krojis?

I know many of us are in an uproar about the combination of fonts that they chose to go with.

A rounded sans serif with ITC Avant Garde Gothic… Maybe not the best choice to go with.

Be we want to know your thoughts on everything.

Let us know in the comments what you think about Kroger’s new logo and slogan.

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

February 19, 2020

8 Super Useful WordPress Plugins for Your Website

Although WordPress has become the most popular website-building platform thanks to its vast array of tools and features, it doesn’t cover all the bases. That’s even the case when designers choose a WordPress theme to help the process along.

Whether it’s a multipurpose theme or a specialty theme there’s often something missing. It prevents the designer from incorporating a key element into a website – like a review section, a powerful SEO capability, or a knowledge base to cite 3 examples.

The designer could resort to coding.
Or ask a developer to add the element
Or do nothing
Or search for a good tool to get the job done; like one of the plugins described in this article.

Here are 8 of the top plugins on the market as we 2020. Hopefully you can use at least one of them to solve a major problem.

One thing more. These 8 plugins are free to try or use.

Brizy Website Builder for WordPress

Most WP plugins are designed to perform a certain specialized task in mind and to do that task well. The Brizy WP plugin is designed to perform a number of tasks, chief among them the its capability to help you build an entire website – and do it well.

This top 2020 plugin is easy to learn and not at all intimidating to work with.
Brizy is a drag and drop builder. You do not need any coding skills to use it.
You’ll have instant access to a wealth of documentation to help you along should you have a need for it; including tutorial videos.
With 500+ design blocks to work with right out of the box plus 150 layouts, 40 popups, and a popup generator, you can structure and build a page in mere minutes
And, to top it off – Brizy is free.

Checkout Brizy’s website for the full description of the available features, download it, and get started today.

Amelia WordPress Booking Plugin

Many plugins are designed to add an important feature to a website, and by extension, enable the website to play a greater role in a business’s success. Amelia directs its focus more on the business itself by enabling the owner of certain businesses to automate a key operation

These businesses include health and fitness centers, trip planners, beauty parlors, and others that devote a great deal of time and effort managing events, appointments, and bookings.

What Amelia will do for you is this:

It will allow your customers to book appointments online 24/7 and cancel or change them if need be.
It will match appointments to customer preferences and employee’s availability
It will manage bookings and appointments from a central location and save you a ton of time and money in the process.

If the need for increased productivity is there, Amelia is worth a good, close look.

Logic Hop – Content Personalization for WordPress

Content personalization is old news. Surely by now you know that personalized websites perform over 200% better than static sites. You’ve seen it on Amazon and countless other high-end sites. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed to have inspired you to fill out a form, be more engaged in content, and even make a purchase online. So knowing all that, you’re personalizing your site… Right?

Enter Logic Hop – The affordable, easy-to-use content personalization plugin for WordPress. That’s right, now you can have the personalization power those high-end sites have on YOUR site. With over 50 points of data, including geolocation, Logic Hop makes it easy to add powerful personalizations that will generate more signups, lower bounce rates, and make more sales. That’s why Logic Hop is one of our picks for the best plugins of 2020. What are you waiting for?

wpDataTables

If you have the right tool, creating a table or chart from a single source of data may not be too difficult, but when you’re confronted with thousands of rows of data from several sources the task can be a nightmare.

wpDataTables will do with the same ease the heavy lifting for you, as well as easy tasks. It will organize data to produce colorful, informative, responsive, editable tables and charts in minutes. Additionally, you can allow users to edit their own data on the front-end.

StarCat Reviews

A 5-Star Rating feature helps you better signify the quality of products or services offered. StarCat Reviews is an advanced WordPress Review plugin you can use to include review and/or rating systems in your pages and posts.

StarCat Reviews also allows you to make good use of multiple criteria and display overall scores in Google search pages. StarCat Reviews also includes premium add-ons for post type, voting, and photo reviews along with comparison tables to help you create a comprehensive review website.

WordPress Review

If you have a service to provide or products to review, adding a helpful and informative review section to your website could give a significant boost to your business. Customers like this feature and the feedback they provide will benefit you as well.

WP Review provides several different rating criteria types, product comparisons, integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, and can be used with any WordPress theme.

Heroic KB – Knowledge Base Plugin

The Heroic KB plugin with its live search, actionable user analysis, and article feedback capabilities will enable you to give your website users quick, informative answers to their questions and other information of interest to them as well.

This is the most popular WordPress plugin of its type. It integrates easily with any WP theme you may happen to be using, plus you can expect excellent 24/7 support.

Rank Math SEO

Rank Math SEO is a powerhouse that will take your SEO design skills to the next level. Also providing you with a highly effective way to generate additional traffic to your website.

Rank Math will automatically add the metadata search engines look for to your site, assess 40 site SEO factors and provide you with actionable feedback. Plus, you’ll enjoy working with Rank Math’s clean and simple UI.

*****

Any of the above premium plugins could provide a feature or capability to a website that would effectively put it on steroids. Few if any WP themes provide all the features and functionalities you’re likely to need in the long run. That can also include some specialty themes.

Most themes do not include review capabilities, knowledge base functionality, or content personalization features that enable you to effectively address multiple audiences.

Selecting a plugin that will make your site super SEO friendly is a good investment indeed.

February 18, 2020

6 Amazing Packaging Design Ideas for 2020 That Are on Point

You’re here because you’re looking for amazing packaging ideas for 2020.

Well, you’re in luck, because I’m showing you 6 ideas for you to implement this year into your packaging designs.

Well, what are we waiting for?

Let’s just jump right in!

Sustainable Packaging

Sustainability. It’s at the forefront of all of our minds nowadays.

As it should be!

It’s so important that we take care of our world because it’s the only one we’ve got.

And what better way for you as a designer to contribute to this world, than to create your own sustainable packaging ideas for yourself and for your clients?

So here are various sustainable packaging design ideas for you to draw inspiration from!

[source]

Minimalism

Next up, we have minimalism.

Minimalism was all over the globe last year and we don’t expect anything less this year.

On the contrary, we expect to see minimalism rise up even more and overtake many packaging designs.

Imagine the combo of minimalism and sustainability.

That just warms my designer soul.

[source]

Bold Typography

Boldness.

You need packaging that is as bold as the product.

Sometimes the best way to display the boldness of your packaging is by simplicity.

By using bold text, you can have an intricate yet simple design that speaks louder than loads of 3D design factors could.

Here are some examples of what I mean.

[source]

Flat Design

Flat design was another trend that took over all of 2019 but that we only expect it to continue growing in 2020.

Flat design is also a type of minimal design, which is the undertone of the ultimate trend of 2019, which in my opinion was minimal design.

Check some of these designs out!

[source]

Metallic & Holographic Material

Alright you guys, it’s time to get to the 2 packaging designs that I’m most excited about this year.

And that is metallic and holographic material.

There’s just something so luxurious and eye-catching about this flashy material that will draw the eye of anyone onto your product.

I love the way it looks and the way each designer used it differently.

Here are some examples of what I mean.

[source]

Summing Things Up

I hope you found these packaging ideas inspiring!

Soon we’ll have an entire guide dedicated to sustainable packaging, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Til next time,

Stay creative, folks!

January 31, 2020

5 Unexpected Places to Find Inspiration For Your Next Graphic Design Project

Every single day, we have to come into our jobs needing to be creative.

And it’s hard to always have that kind of pressure on us. A lovely, lovely pressure that we obviously love having.

But sometimes, just like writers, we go through some type of block.

I like to call it a creativity block.

So today, I want to go over what you can do when you go through a creative design block, and unexpected places to find it.

5 Unexpected Places to Get Inspiration From For Your Next Graphic Design Project

So today, I want to go over what you can do when you go through a creative design block, and unexpected places to find it. Let’s do it!

1. Vintage Magazines & Posters

There’s a reason we all feel a little nostalgic and proud when we find a vintage diamond in the rough.

Everyone loves a blast to the past, and you can do that through your work.

One place that you can find unique designs and inspiration from is vintage literature.

Whether it’s a poster or magazine, take a deep look at these vintage pieces, find the smallest details and be inspired by them.

I recommend taking a stroll through your local thrift shop and take a look through the vintage literature.

You’re bound to find something there, a hidden gem, that will make your work have that extra pizzaz that you need.

2. Construction & Home Decor Stores

Another crazily unexpected place that you can find design inspiration is at construction or home goods stores.

I know, sounds crazy, but hear me out.

I don’t think I speak just for myself when I say that seeing modern home decor totally inspires my inner designer.

Some of the shapes and designs of home decor just get my design wheels spinning.

Whether it’s a shape, a color scheme, or just a walk around the store, I feel like I always come home with a good idea that I need to immediately jot down.

So my advice is that you look down an aisle with things you love, whether it’s little knick-knacks and toys, or lights and chandeliers, keep your eye out for sleek designs that you could implement into your next design.

3. Graphic Tees From Thrift Shops

Can you tell that I love thrift shops?

Listen, besides being a sustainable way to shop and dress, going, searching, and shopping for graphic tees is an amazing, and let me say it again for those in the back, amazing way to find design inspiration.

Just head on over the graphic tee section of any thrift store or vintage store and start taking a look at the t-shirts.

You’ll find some terrible, terrible designs that will definitely show you what not to do, but on the flip side, you might just find the basis for your next design project.

Shirts from the ’70s, ’80s, and 2010s will surely inspire you in one way or another.

Take it from me!

And of course, you can always purchase the shirt that inspires you so you can mark the moment.

4. Architecture

Architecture.

I love it.

There are literally millions of different designs, and each one is so unique.

So many amazing, unexpected shapes, corners, and designs everywhere you look.

I recommend using Pinterest and searching for architecture, and you’ll be presented with hundreds of thousands of creations that you can gain inspiration from.

5. Walks in Nature

And finally, we come to our last, not so unexpected place to find inspiration.

Nature is the mother of all design.

And so, it’s no surprise that the ultimate place for you to find inspiration is in your own backyard, town, and national parks.

Everywhere you look in nature, you will always find beauty.

Everything has an intricate design if you look close enough.

So take a break, take a walk, and find your inspiration in nature.

Wrapping up

So take a stroll outside, to your nearest thrift store, or scroll on Pinterest.

Beauty is all around you, all you have to do is look for it.

Until next time,

Stay inspired, folks.

January 28, 2020

Aviationstack: Real-time flight data, from the ground

Isn’t it cool that we’ve come so far in technology that we’re able to not only fly from one side of the globe to the other in a matter of hours but track the airplane that does it from the ground? It may seem like a tall order, but there’s a tool out there that makes it possible.

Aviationstack is a free, real-time flight status and global aviation data API. But how does it work and what can you expect from it? Prepare for take-off.

How does Aviationstack work?

Although it may sound complicated, I can assure you that it’s not. Once you sign up and receive your API key, you simply attach the access_key parameter to any valid API endpoint URL.

Once all is said and done, you can request real-time data for any flight at any time. Everything will be displayed in a simple, easy-to-read JSON format. This is something like what you can expect to see:

Of course, this is a very simplified example. Aviationstack is capable of displaying all kinds of information on flights worldwide.

Features

Aviationstack comes with loads of helpful features, some you may have never even known you needed. Here’s what you have to look forward to:

Live flight tracking
Historical flight data
Airline route lookup
Airport lookup
Airline lookup
Airplane lookup
City lookup
Country lookup
Aviation tax lookup
And more

As you can see, you can get basically any bit of information you need about any flight at any time. They boast quite an extensive list of flights, airlines, and related things that they can track with the press of a button.

How can you get Aviationstack?

Aviationstack can be used on a personal or commercial level. That being said, the free version is for personal use only, so keep that in mind.

Depending on your needs, there are a few packages that you can snag. On their pricing page, they list 5 pricing options, including the free one. As the plans scale up, the number of flights you can track monthly scales up, too.

If Aviationstack looks like something that would be of us to you, then you’re going to get a killer deal. For the price and performance, there’s simply nothing else like it on the market. That’s certainly what the 5,000+ trusted companies around the world have come to find out.

To top it all off, Aviationstack is easily integrated. Any language, framework, and application is setup and running within minutes with their straightforward documentation and interactive endpoints.

The conclusion

There’s only one conclusion to draw from this review: Aviationstack is a powerful flight data API that is the best (by far) on the market.

With the amount of data you can gather on any flight in any country at any time, the price is more than manageable, too.

Check it out, poke around their main page, and give the free trial a spin. You won’t be disappointed.

January 28, 2020

Positionstack: The Best Geocoding API in the World

I think it’s safe to say that there are many benefits to geocoding. But it’s not always easy to find a tool that allows you to geocode easily and reliably. That is, of course, until now.

Positionstack is the world’s best forward and reverse geocoding API. I know that’s a big claim, but let’s talk about this a little bit.

What is geocoding used for?

At its core, geocoding is simply a list of coordinates. But, it’s what you do with those coordinates that really matters. Geocoding provides very useful data for businesses worldwide. Of course, this completely depends on the company, but here are a few uses for geocoding:

Identifying geographic patterns

This is a simple concept. But gathering many addresses/coordinates could reveal some sort of pattern that businesses can take advantage of, whether it’s in marketing or sales in general.

Targeted marketing strategies

Speaking of marketing, geocoding can help you gather customer data in order to better implement targeted marketing strategies.

Government uses

The government uses geocoding to track developmental and population growth. They take this data into consideration when deciding whether or not to build a school, public parks, and so on.

How Positionstack makes geocoding easy

In the past, geocoding has been a rather drawn-out process. Now, with the aid of Positionstack’s API, it’s as simple as typing in an address.

But Positionstack also does reverse geocoding. What does that mean? Well, instead of using an address to get coordinates, you can use coordinates to get a real address.

To put it simply: Positionstack is light-weight, scalable, and easy to use. Plus, it’s easy to integrate.

Features

So what kind of features can you expect from Positionstack? The answer might be surprising. Here’s what you have to look forward to:

Real-time forward/reverse geocoding
Batch requests
Embeddable maps
JSON, XML, and GeoJSON
Multiple languages
Worldwide coverage

The API is powered by a cloud infrastructure, which means it’s able to handle billions of requests at once. The average response time for each request is only 10-100ms. That’s lightning-fast.

The JSON format

Whether you’re familiar with JSON format or not, it’s incredibly easy to use and understand. I think you’ll honestly be surprised at the amount of data that you can get with one simple address. Take a look at this:

These are the coordinates to a McDonald’s in Vatican City. But, if you take a closer look, there’s a lot more data than just latitude and longitude.

As you scroll down, you can see the exact street, postal code, region, country, and even continent. Scroll even further down, and you will even find information on the currency used at said location:

To say that Positionstack is all-inclusive might be an understatement. With nothing but an address or coordinates, you can get more information about a location than you probably thought you needed.

The conclusion

One of the things I like most about Positionstack is how affordable it is. With the most powerful geocoding API on the market, you would expect a hefty price tag, but that couldn’t be further from reality.

No matter the scale of your business, you will definitely find a plan that works for you. Even if you just want to try it out, there’s a free version that gives you a good taste of what the Positionstack API is capable of. Go and check it out.

January 22, 2020

4 Tips on How to Simplify Your Website Design And Win Over New Customers

We’ve all seen a website so busy and unorganized that it literally makes every fiber in your being cringe.

I’m talking 0 effort in maintaining a color scheme, fonts galore, tons of pictures everywhere, no organization, and just terrible design overall.

That’s why today we’re going to go over 4 tips that explain how you can simplify your website and win over new customers!

4 Changes You Can Implement Today to Simplify Your Website Design and Make It Better

You will lose clients faster than the speed of light with a terribly cluttered website design.

I mean, just take a look at the next two examples I’m gonna show you.

So here we have a busy website, with no specific focal point, and you don’t really know where to look, and it immediately stresses you out. You lose the client because he clicks off your site.

But then, we compare it to this…

[source]

When I look at this minimalist website design, especially compared to the other, my eyes are immediately set to ease. It’s literally like the inner designer in me just had the most amazing glass of wine and I’m just enjoying myself, admiring the design.

Alright, enough comparisons. Let’s just get things rolling over here.

Into the 4 tips we dive!

1. Simplify the Text

[source]

The most important page of all your website will be your homepage.

It’s the page that will set the tone for the rest of your site.

So it’s important that you get across what you’re trying to say quickly, efficiently, and simply.

There’s no need to clutter your website by writing so much text.

Most people just skim your website anyway! So, write your main text in bold headlines, add some details below, but not too much.

Only a small percentage of people will read the entire thing, so use your headlines to your advantage wisely!

2. Stick To A Color Scheme

[source]

A good color scheme always warms my heart, like grandma’s homemade apple pie on a summer’s day.

Maintaining a color scheme amongst your text, background elements, and images will automatically make you look more organized.

By using a color scheme, you can also bring focus to certain elements and manipulate the eye to go where you want it to.

By no means do you ever want a green font on a bright red background with orange and silver elements floating around the background. Unless you want you website to look like Christmas got a little wild at the Christmas staff party and vomited all over your website.

Go online or on any design inspiration website and type in popular color schemes on 2020, or color palettes, and save time and effort by finding beautiful palettes!

3. Limit Your Homepage To The Essentials

[source]

This kinda goes hand in hand with our first tip about limiting text.

Limit everything on the homepage and only keep what is essential.

Ask yourself, “What am I trying to achieve with this website and the homepage? What am I trying to show the customer?”

When you find the answer to that question, design your homepage accordingly.

Don’t add secondary/tertiary elements to the first bit of the homepage.

That’s what your menu tab and other secondary pages are for!

And speaking of menu tabs…

4. Scale Down Your Menu Tabs

[source]

For the love of simple design, keep your menu bar clean.

You don’t need a menu tab for every single element of your website.

We’ve seen this way too many times than we’d personally like to admit, but some people give you the option of clicking on 20 different tabs.

As an alternative, create drop-down menu tabs where you have subcategories.

This will keep things squeaky-clean and peaceful for the eyes to look at.

No one will be frantically looking around for what they’re trying to find.

When things on your site and aesthetically pleasing and well-organized, your sales will go up.

And That’s It!

I hope you found these 4 simple tips helpful and inspiring for your next minimalist website design.

Until next time,

Keep it simple and stay creative, folks!

January 16, 2020

GoDaddy Goes All-In With New Logo Design And Identity

Ah, GoDaddy.

The father of loads of website domains and the place of website hosting.

GoDaddy has been around for a long, long time. For 23 years to be exact.

And it was about time they got a little facelift.

GoDaddy Goes All-In With New Logo Design And Identity

GoDaddy was established back in 1997 and is a website registrar and web hosting company.

The company hosts over 19 million users, and if that’s not impressive enough, let me hit you with this statistic.

78 Million website domains have been registered through them.

So, if that doesn’t prove credibility, then I don’t know what will.

I personally use GoDaddy and have been using it for many years now.

Just a few months back when I was using GoDaddy, I remember thinking, “Man, this website and logo needs some help.”

(before)

And I’m happy to announce that I checked back in recently and was shocked but what I saw!

I did a double-take and thought I might be on the wrong website.

So I double-checked the domain and to my delight, it was the right website domain that I had typed in. (All those years of typing classes in 2nd grade paid off)

Their site looks so good, so modern, and so sleek now. I love it.

(after)

Here’s what GoDaddy had to say about it all.

“We thoughtfully considered every detail of our brand design system and centered it around our Design Ethos.

Our design originates from a tasteful, considered aesthetic, with every creative piece distilled down to its essential form.

The GO is a clear statement of advocacy for entrepreneurs everywhere – a symbol of empowerment that encourages them to stand on their own two feet.

Always bright and dynamic, our brand colors speak to the creativity of our customers.

Our wide palette connects with people across the globe and promotes inclusivity for all cultures. We use color to bring joy to our brand.

Our bold, serif headline font is elegant and expressive projecting a fresh, modern voice.

It presents a hint of flair for professionalism, giving the brand a distinguished feel.

We use it to establish strong moments of brand for customers.”

I personally love all of the changes that GoDaddy underwent.

The colors, the new and understandable typeface they’re using, the new logo that’s got the word “Go” in it and it’s shaped like a heart.

I really think they took a huge step in the right direction when it comes to approachability.

When you change everything about your website and logo and design, well… that can be truly nerve-wracking.

Kudos to them for taking that huge leap of faith, because I really think it worked out in their favor.

No more weird animation dude sticking out of the side of the logo. Just a really cool, well-thought-out modern logo and great colors.

I personally like all of the changes made, although I know that’s an unpopular opinion.

What do you guys think?

Let us know in the comment section below what you think of GoDaddy’s new identity and design!

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

January 15, 2020

Top 8 Fonts We Expect To See Designers Use in 2020

Fonts are used to embody the style, direction, feeling, and overall vibe you want your current design project to have.

Since the year has begun, we’re seeing quite a few font trends.

While many people are using brand-new modern fonts, lots of people are digging up old literature and bringing old retro fonts back to life.

8 Fonts We Expect To See Designers Using in 2020

Today we want to go over the most popular fonts in 2020 that we expect to see.

So without further ado, let’s do this.

1. Ambit

Who doesn’t love an amazing grotesque font? I know I sure do.

Ambit is a unique sans serif font that was inspired by early grotesques but has been adapted and modified to suit the 21st century.

One of the most unique parts of this font is definitely the curly letters, “r” and “f”.

But if you’re not a huge fan of the curly letters, then that’s no problem. The second set of Ambit will be the one for you!

Because Ambit is so sleek and unique, it’s perfect for packaging and branding.

Check it out here: https://cotypefoundry.com/our-fonts/ambit/

2. Helvetica Now

We all know about Helvetica.

You either love it or you hate it, and I’m on the side of the fence that loves it.

I’m a major fan of Helvetica, and Helvetica Now this is the new chapter of this era.

It comes in three different sizes, Micro, Text, and Display. Every character of Helvetica now has been refit and redrawn and they are looking mighty fine in my opinion.

Check it out here: https://www.monotype.com/fonts/helvetica-now

3. Sweet Sans

[source]

Sans, Sweet Sans.

Sans serifs always look so sleek and modern, in my opinion.

Sweet Sans is a sans serif typeface that was designed by Mark van Bronkhorst.

Sweet Sans came about after Mark was inspired by engraver’s lettering templates from the early 20th century.

Check it out here: Sweet Sans

4. Knile

Knile was designed by Atipo Foundry and is a beautiful typeface that you can integrate into your projects today!

Check it out here: http://atipofoundry.com/fonts/knile

5. Mantra

Mantra is a gorgeous Sans Serif created by Cynthia Torrez. Being the unique sans serif that it is, it’s perfect for branding, using it as a logotype, and more.

You’ll definitely stand out of the crowd with this font and have some amazing brand recognizability.

Check it out here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/81001925/Mantra-Typeface-Type-Editorial-Specimen

6. Supria Sans

Supria Sans is a unique sans serif that was designed by Hannes von Döhren.

Check it out here: https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/supria-sans

7. Plantin

Alright guys, check out this typeface.

Plantin is an old-style serif typeface that was created in 1913. A true antique font that you can incorporate in your elegant design projects.

Check it out here: https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/plantin/

8. Brandon Grotesque

Brandon Grotesque is another sans-serif typeface that we’ll be talking about that was also designed by Hannes von Döhren.

The kerning and spacing of this font were done by Igino Marini of iKern.

Brandon Grotesque is a font that I personally use weekly.

The typefaces of Brandon Grotesque include Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold and Black weights.

There are also italic version for each weight.

Check it out here: https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/brandon-grotesque

Finally…

We’ve made it to the end of our popular font list of 2020. We hope you enjoyed these fonts that we expect to see in 2020.

Let us know what fonts you’ll be using this year in the comment section below.

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

January 9, 2020

See what 15 of the Best WordPress Themes in 2020 Have to Offer

There’s no need to continue to stress yourself out plowing through a host of themes in hopes of finding something that just might suit your immediate needs.

“Just might” is not a very good description to hang your hat on.

If you narrow your search down to 15 or so of the top WordPress themes going into 2020 you should easily find what you need. Better yet, we’ve already narrowed the search for you. Add the fact that WordPress will take care of the administrative features for you, and you should be good to go.

If you won’t settle for anything less than a pixel perfect, 100% responsive, SEO friendly, modern, flexible and WooCommerce ready theme, you’ll still be good to go.

We can prove it; read on to see for yourself.

BeTheme – Responsive Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme

This premium multipurpose WordPress theme, the biggest of them all, is hard to beat in terms of its huge array of tools, features and options, performance, flexibility, and its level of support. Visit BeTheme’s website and you’ll be well into your second cup of coffee by the time you begin to have a good understanding of what this theme can help you accomplish.

The highlight is the selection of 500+ customizable, responsive pre-built websites. These professionally crafted design aids cover 30 industry sectors, all the major website types like portfolio, one-pager, etc., and a wide variety of business niches.

They also have functionality and UX features embedded right into them, plus they are customizable and responsive.

The popular Muffin Builder 3 page builder, with the WPBakery page builder as an option
A Layouts Configurator if you decide to build a page from scratch.
A Shortcode Generator and a large selection of shortcodes that, together with BeTheme’s other features, eliminates any need for coding.
A powerful Admin Panel that serves to give you all the flexibility you want.

“This theme is the best for WordPress, the layout and flexibility are perfect to develop a site.” – Joso970

Learn more about Be’s 40+ core features by clicking on the banner.

Total Theme

This WordPress theme has been around a while. It has helped more than 41,000 users build premium websites, and it comes with more useful features than you’ll find in most themes of its type and purpose.

Total is and has

Drag and drop and extremely easy to use
Developer-friendly hooks, filters, and 450+ snippets
A Theme Customizer that allows you to quickly change site colors, widths, font characteristics, etc.
100+ page builder elements and extra design modules, along with 500+advanced customizing and styling options

Total’s package includes the popular WPBakery page builder, 40+ pre-built demos, and a quick start demo importer, Revolution Slider and Layer Slider; and Total is WooCommerce ready.

Total is also compatible with most of the popular WordPress plugins. So, you won’t have to be burdened down with an excessive number of third-party plugins.

“I’ve been a loyal customer of Total theme for years. Support is impressively quick, useful and accurate. The theme will allow one to build virtually anything you want. AJ and his team are terrific, and there is no reason to buy any other theme.” – donnieweaver

Avada

Avada has been the #1 selling theme over the past 6 years. There must be a reason – or several. It could be

a Dynamic Content System that gives users tremendous flexibility
Flawless WooCommerce integration including the capability to drag and drop product designs
55+ pre-built websites to help you build and launch quickly – without coding

You can also import full or partial demos with Avada or use sections from several demos.

“There’s really NOTHING you can’t do with the Avada theme AND they have the best support team of any Theme out there – really!” – MamaSara

Click on the banner to learn more about this best-selling theme.

Houzez – Highly Customizable Real Estate WordPress Theme

Asking a multipurpose theme to provide a solution when a specialty theme is really what is needed is asking too much. Houzez has all the features and functionality a real estate agent or agency is ever likely to need, including

property listings formatting options
advanced property search capabilities
a property management system

Plus, the Houzez theme can be customized to fit an agency’s business model.

“Awesome and very flexible theme and customer support is excellent.” – mardenvato

In need of a specialized theme for realtors? Look no further.

TheGem – Creative Multi-Purpose High-Performance WordPress Theme

Some describe TheGem as having the most beautiful designs for WordPress. Others refer to it as being the ultimate WordPress toolbox for designers. In truth, both descriptions are true.

The package includes

100+ pre-built, one-click installable websites plus 400+ trendy design templates
the powerful WPBakery page builder

a ready-to-launch fashion store

I love TheGem Creative Multi-Purpose High Performance Theme. I plan to utilize it for all of my clients. I’m getting some of them to change over as I update their websites.” – acreator7

The ultimate design toolbox is but a click away.

Uncode – Creative Multiuse WordPress Theme

Agencies, bloggers, freelancers, and creatives can all benefit from choosing Uncode, as can businesses or anyone wanting to create a portfolio website, a magazine website, or any type of landing page.

Features include

a front-end editor on steroids
Adaptive image and grid systems
WooCommerce single product features

and more, but the star of the show has to be ThemeForest’s best-sellers showcase of user-created websites which tells a story of what this theme could do for you, why it claims 60K+ sales, and why it is a source of inspiration.

“Easy to use theme and customizable to ones need. I give 5 stars for theme support. Really happy!!” – rchakaipa

Click on the banner to visit the Uncode and its remarkable showcase of websites.

Bridge

Rather than trying to list Bridge’s most likely benefactors, saying that this theme is perfect for just about anyone is more than sufficient. This best-selling creative theme’s features include

420+ premade websites
open-ended customizability
huge collections of modules, design elements, sliders, and plugins including WooCommerce, as well as both the WPBakery and Elementor page builders
5-star rated support

It should also be noted that Bridge serves a community of 120,000+ happy users.

“Very flexible, the demos are beautiful!” – rebecajobs

Click on the banner for a closer look.

Brook – Multipurpose Creative WordPress Theme

The testimonial is typical and says it all. An abundance of cool features makes Brook a web designer’s dream. In the package, you’ll find a huge collection of premade templates, premium site-building plugins, shortcodes, and design elements. Also, Brook is

superfast loading
SEO optimized
easily customizable

As a bonus, there’s a library of support tutorials you can also view to find out more about Brook.

“COSTUMER SUPPORT 5++++++++++

Feature request 5+++++++++

Everything on highest level

This is first time I get this kind of experience.” – souldisco

Visit the site and check out a video tutorial or two.

XStore | Responsive Multi-Purpose WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Could you use a ready-to-go shop to get an online business started? How about 80 of them? That’s what XStore brings to the table; and there’s more:

$300+ worth of premium plugins
a single product page builder
a powerful header builder
demos for a wide variety of products and retail items

In other words, everything you could wish for to get your show on the road.

“As a Graphic Designer, not a web designer, I base my purchases on quality and customer service. I’ve purchased XStore twice and they always have the best customer service if I have a question or problem. Also, the plugins they include for this theme are fantastic value.” – Chelsdevauld

Click on the banner to check out one or more of 80 stores.

Typer – Amazing Theme with Multi Author Publishing Features

Typer may just be the ultimate WordPress theme for publishers in general and bloggers in particular. The 100% Gutenburg optimization provides powerful support for creating blog posts while the Elementor visual page builder enables Typer users to create attractive, professionally-design landing pages.

No coding knowledge is needed
Typer is optimized for speed + real lazy load images
unlimited Header style and unique page and post options

You can also expect to receive premium support should you require it.

“Theme is awesome! Exactly what I needed for my site! Definitely recommend this purchase.” – chriscurran

Click on the banner if a premier publishing theme is on your wish list.

Pofo – Creative Portfolio, Blog and eCommerce WordPress Theme

As its name suggests, Pofo is an excellent choice for anyone in need of building an attention-getting and engaging online portfolio. After all, a good portfolio design is often a key factor contributing to a business’s success.

Pofo is blazing fast, fully responsive and Gutenberg compatible
This theme offers a wide selection of home and demo pages, design elements, and valuable and useful plugins

Features include the WPBakery page builder, Revolution Slider, and detailed online documentation.

“Pofo is beautiful in design, layout, UX/UI, and color scheme. It’s truly 5 stars. However, with such a great product without a great customer support, it can mean nothing because it won’t allow you to achieve what your needs are. My 5 stars go to customer service!” – KARCIS

Click on the banner to discover more about this multi-purpose theme.

Schema

Schema is not your run-of-the-mill premium multipurpose theme. It has many if not most of the features of other premium themes along with one very significant difference: SEO functionality

Schema knows what search engines seek
Schema guides search engines through your site – content element by content element
Schema checks for clean code and other factors that can affect website rankings

Schema is also fully responsive, ultra-fast, and is compatible with multiple page builders.

“Gorgeous design, super-fast response to my question too. thank you for a wonderful theme :)” simonehow

If SEO is a pain in the neck for you, click on the banner for a solution.

Leadinjection – WordPress Landing Page Theme

With Leadinjection, you can do something well that can be very tricky or even impossible with most WordPress themes. Leadinjection is a landing page theme that is uniquely capable of adding a landing page to an already up-and-running website.

Leadinjection is

WordPress Multisite Compatible
Conversion Focused
WPML and Translation Ready

This is a good tool to have if you have one or more websites to maintain.

This theme has some very cool features, and most importantly it is pretty well-documented and very well supported. The developers have been very helpful every time I’ve had a question. -frankdl98

Add Leadinjection to your web design toolkit.

TheFox | Responsive Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme

It may or may not be a stretch to call TheFox the smartest of ThemeForest’s WordPress themes. But, it certainly has the essential features and elements to back up such a claim.

Maybe it’s because TheFox’s design takes into account the tiniest of details. Whatever the reason, this multi-purpose theme has a solid track record and is a good investment.

“I have been very impressed with TheFox theme. The design and customizability are great and very straight forward. The Customer support is top notch.” – bc hughes

Hongo – Modern & Multipurpose WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Hongo’s new look makes it especially noteworthy, plus the package features plenty of demos, templates, and other creative design elements, WPBakery, one-click demo import, and custom shortcodes.

Out of the box premium eCommerce features included
Conversion optimised and modern looking product listing and product detail page styles
Hongo designs are awarded at many well known awards like awwwards.com, cssdesignawards.com and many others

“Simply the great designs and best theme for WooCommerce, loading fast, customisable and easy to use with the detailed documentation. Their support team is technically sound and very kind to guide wherever needed. We have bought some other themes from ThemeZaa now and they have never lets us down, thanks!” – diyaatps

So don’t wait and start selling your products with Hongo!

*****

The emphasis in this article is on multipurpose themes. It is what many designers, and especially beginners, tend to look for. We’ve included several more specialized themes, one of which serves a particular niche, and others that can be used for a variety of website types.

All 15 themes have many things in common such as excellent flexibility and performance, speed, ease of use, and a large and varied selection of design aids. What this means to you is that you really can’t make a poor choice and should have little difficulty in making the best one.

Please feel free to share this article with a friend or on social media. We’d love to hear about your shopping experience.

January 8, 2020

4 Ways to Optimize Your Design for Google Images

Google Image Search has millions of users.

In fact, nearly a quarter of all Google search queries return an image. Visual search on multiple online channels will also continue to grow.

Just look at how social media has shifted from text to images and videos.

Using more images is a very clear call to action for businesses looking to drive more traffic to their websites.

“Images play an important role in your website design,” Garry Grant, CEO of a global SEO services company explained. “They allow your business to capitalize on more keywords while increasing total online visibility.”

However, optimizing images is no simple endeavor. There are a few ins-and-outs you will need to know and leverage.

For instance, those free stock photos you can get from sites like Pexels or Pixabay may not drive the traffic you want from Google Images.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t use them, because they still serve a purpose. But designing your own images may have better Google Images results.

Let’s take a closer look at a few ways to optimize your design for Google Images.

1. Image Filenames Are Important

Image optimization actually begins before you even upload an image to your website during the site design process.

This is where adding a strong filename to your image makes an impact on your Google Images visibility.

The image itself, or text within the image is not read by Google crawlers (as far as we SEO professionals know). This means you want to give Google as much information as possible using the image filename.

To optimize this process, you want to think like a user. What would you type into the Google search bar to find your image.

This includes keywords, action happening in the image itself, and more.

For example, if it is a construction worker at a job site, your image filename could be this: commercial-construction-worker-job-site-inspection.

2. Optimizing Images During Website Design

With a strong filename, you are ready to upload the image to your website during the design process. This is an essential point when it comes to optimizing design for Google Images.

If you are using a CMS like WordPress, you will notice a number of image attributes you can enter once you upload an image. These include title, alt text, and description.

All of these are important to optimizing website design for Google Images, but alt text, also known as alt tag, remains the most valuable for SEO.

The alt text gives you the opportunity to describe the image in more detail. You can put the same text as your image filename, or you can do a bit of variation. It is up to you.

Just be sure to fill in that alt text to get maximum search visibility for your website images.

3. Ensure Website Images Are Compressed

This is a very important way to optimize your design for Google Images. You can have the right filename, perfect alt text, but if your image is slow to load, it can do more damage to your website design than good.

For example, if you upload an original design image that is 4000px, it will surely increase the load time for the page that image is on.

Google will also flag it and not show the image in Google Image Search results.

How do you ensure this doesn’t happen during your site design process? First, you want to upload an image that is the size you need. Not larger. Then you want to compress it.

You can use WordPress plugins like Smush to compress your image and optimize it.

4. Add Top Images To Your Website’s Sitemap

This way to optimize your design for Google Images is a lesser-known tactic. You may have already indexed the pages of your website, but what about the images?

Image sitemaps work the same way as page indexing, only they highlight the images you want Google to focus on.

For instance, a few of your homepage images are probably top on your list, so you will index them along with a few other images from other pages using an image sitemap.

You will only want to index your top images, because doing all is not going to have a major impact on your Google Image Search results.

Wrapping Up . . .

The above ways to optimize your design for Google Images is not the be-all, end-all by any means. However, the above are a quick roadmap to optimizing your site’s images for maximum effect.

Pay close attention to filenames, alt text, and image compression, as these are what many SEOs believe Google looks for. Do you have an image optimization tactic?

January 7, 2020

5 Productivity Tools You Can’t Be Without in 2020

Welcome to the new year, people!

Are you ready to make 2020 your year?

Without proper planning, all the best and most enthusiastic ideas can come to a complete halt, or never even begin at all.

Proper planning and productivity tools can be life-changing and can help you and your career thrive this year.

If you’ve found yourself in a creative rut, then you’re in luck. We just shared our 5 tips and tricks on how to get and stay creative this year.

Once your creativity wheels are spinning, it’s time to make those creative ideas come to life.

5 Productivity Tools You Can’t Be Without in 2020

Alright, let’s talk about it! Here are the 5 productivity tools you need in your life this year.

1. Evernote

Ah, Evernote. The place where all my best ideas go first, but not only. You can also capture and prioritize ideas, projects, and to-do lists. In this way, nothing will ever fall through the cracks.

Evernote helps you prioritize everything and focus on what matters most to you. From big business plans or projects to personal endeavors, you can organize and schedule the things that matter most.

You can also share your ideas with anyone using Evernote. Take voice memos, copy and paste images, make mental notes that make sense to you however you choose. It’s amazing.

Evernote offers you a free basic plan, and from there you can upgrade to premium or business. The prices are very affordable and definitely worth it in my opinion.

Check them out here: https://evernote.com/

2. Trello

If you’re working closely with other designers on a team project, or you’re managing a team of designers, then Trello is a great app for you to consider using.

With most things on Trello being free, you can see the status of any project that any designer is working on.

You can set up tasks for yourself and others and set due dates and receive reminders via email or notifications on your phone.

Trello works on desktop, iOS, and Android.

Our team has personally used Trello and we swear by it. It helps you stay focused, and get things done in an organized and timely fashion.

Check them out here: https://trello.com/

3. Airfocus

Next up on our list of productivity tools that you need to use in 2020 is airfocus.

Airfocus is a roadmapping prioritization tool that will help you glide through the year with ease.

Using airfocus is pretty much the most powerful way you can prioritize what to do and you can build more effective roadmaps. If you have a whole team or are working with multiple designers, you can share views and have everyone aligned so that you can get the right stuff done on time.

They have tons of unique features, but my personal favorite is the chart view. Once you plug in all of your tasks, you can click on the chart view and see where each task and its priority falls.

You can use airfocus with your team for free for 14 days, and then once you fall in love with the product just like we have, you can upgrade your plan to a starter plan, team plan, or enterprise plan!

Check it out here: https://airfocus.com/

4. Momentum

Momentum is a personal dashboard designed to eliminate distraction and provide inspiration, focus, and productivity.

The internet is full of distractions. Social media and YouTube distract me daily if I’m completely honest.

We’ve all been there. You tell yourself, just one more meme. One more video. And then three hours have gone by and you haven’t been productive at all.

Momentum is the perfect solution for anti-procrastinating. Add the extension on Google Chrome or Firefox and be saved from all the sites that you lose hours upon hours on.

When you add Momentum to your browser, it will replace the new tab page with a personal dashboard that will show you your to-do list, the weather, and some inspiration.

Every time you open a new tab, you’ll be reminded of your goal for the day.

Try it out here: https://momentumdash.com/

5. Noizio

And finally, we come to our last productivity app of the day. Noizio.

I love to listen to music when I’m working. It helps me stay focused.

But sometimes, I get sick of listening to the same songs every single day. Or in the other extreme, I’ll get to hype and lose focus and have my own karaoke time.

So here’s the solution. You can listen to the relaxing sounds of nature or places and adjust any sounds you want to be louder or quieter.

Not only will it make you more productive, but you can also use it to help you fall asleep sooner.

Try it out here: https://noiz.io/

Wrapping up

We hope you found these productivity apps interesting and helpful!

Let us know in the comments what you think about these apps and what other apps you guys use to stay productive during the work day.

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

January 6, 2020

5 Ways to Boost Your Creativity as a Graphic Designer in 2020

New year, new me.

Or for me, as a graphic designer, new year, new designs.

Just like writers, sometimes we get a major creativity block.

It’s hard to be creativity 24/7, especially when your job depends on it.

Sometimes the ideas will just come to you out of the blue, and other times, it comes down to discipline and trial + error.

Today we’re going to go over 5 different ways you can boost your creativity and thrive as a graphic designer in 2020.

5 Ways to Boost Your Creativity as a Graphic Designer in 2020

So let’s get right into the nitty-gritty of it, shall we?

1. Read Loads of Design Blogs

From Dribbble to Behance, and back to Dribbble, you need to be on these websites daily.

The internet has so much to offer us. From people who love to design using flat-design, to incredible 3D art, you’ll find just the thing you’re looking for.

Just scrolling through these design websites will surely inspire you and you’re bound to find designs that you admire and would like to recreate with your own twist and style.

It’s like being on the Instagram of Design. And speaking of Instagram…

2. Follow People and Designers Who Inspire You

You don’t have to be on a designated graphic design website to find your inspiration and creativity.

Social media platforms are a great place for you to find that spark of creativity that you’re desperately looking for.

Search for design trends and styles via hashtags and find people who just simply inspire you.

Follow people who have different styles than you.

If you always keep yourself limited to the style that you’re comfortable with, you risk not growing any further than you’ve come.

Follow hundreds of designers, and over time, find out who are some of your favorite designers and unfollow the rest.

Great websites and apps to use would include Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and more.

3. A Design a Day Keeps Creativity at Bay

You’ve heard the saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”.

Well people, I’m taking it one step further and tweaking this little saying to, “A design a day keeps creativity at bay.”

Practice makes perfect.

And that doesn’t exclude designing.

Even if you don’t have a lick of creativity left in you, design something. Draw something, do something cool with typography. Take 5 minutes to create something, or take 2 hours.

It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you just keep designing.

The more you practice, the more creativity will come to you.

In my experience, not every time will one of my daily designs become a masterpiece, but it turns into a discipline, which in the long-haul will only make me a better person and designer.

It’s definitely something I recommend every design to at least try.

Try for a month and let us know in the comments how it goes for you!

4. Back to Basics: Keep a Sketchbook

Sometimes, you’ll just be enjoying a book or coffee in the middle of town, without your laptop or tablet, and you just have this brilliant design idea come to mind.

You’ve got to jot it down, and quick.

Go back to basics and carry a little sketch pad with you so that you’re always prepared to jot down your next great idea.

Whether you’re on a walk and you see something in nature that inspires you, or you’re looking through a classic magazine and see a beautiful design trend that you want to bring back, keep that sketchbook with you and use it to your advantage.

5. Challenge Yourself

Finally and most importantly, challenge yourself.

Growth never happens when you’re comfortable.

It happens when you push yourself outside the box.

So this year, challenge yourself.

Challenge yourself to one design a week that doesn’t necessarily fit your style, or try a new design trend you never tried before because you were scared of failure.

Watch yourself grown and thrive daily.

Wrapping up

Take 2020 into your own hands and make this your year to thrive and grow.

We wish you all this best in 2020 and we’re excited to see what all this year holds for each of us.

We hope you enjoyed our 5 tips to boost creativity. What are some things you do when you’re feeling like you’re stuck in rut? Let us know in the comment section below.

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!