Web Design, Development, and Online Marketing News - Minnesota

Design Inspiration

2007-05-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

Freelance Switch recently posted 34 Places to Get Design Inspiration - Online and Off. Some may say looking at other people's designs can hamper creativity, but if inspiration is already lacking, then these sites may offer an idea that spurs one in the right direction. It's a comprehensive list, with everything from logos to icons to art to fashion to just inventive ideas to get your mind ticking.

Web Design Tools

2007-05-22T06:17:00.000-07:00

TLBox.com has an array of tools for both web designers and programmers. Just as any mechanic would want to have tools ready at hand, these can all be added to a Toolbox Add-on for Mozilla Firefox. That way anything you might need is easily accessible in your menu bar, just a click away. There are numerous topics to peruse, from CSS to Color Schemes, even widgets and some inspiration. So take a look and see if there are any new web tools that could be of use to you, sometimes the best things in life are free.

Coding, Design, and Webmaster Development

2007-05-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of helpful resources online that specialize in Coding, Design, and Website Development. And some of the community based websites are great places to get your feet wet or discuss ongoing issues in this line of work. AvengeX.com, for example, is set around web design, development and web applications, with its main purpose being to help people learn about backend web programming. They even offer a wide selection of web development tutorials on PHP and MySQL, the most widely used solution today.

Adobe Photoshop Masters

2007-05-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

If you use Adobe Photoshop, you know how much fun and challenging it can be. The possibilities for digital creations are limitless, which is evident in the work of 10 Photoshop Masters. These artists and designers push the feature packed software to its limits, and have created some of the most stunning visual works of art and design around.

Great Free Tutorials

2007-05-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Tutorials are a great way to learn new techniques, enhance your skills, and maybe even be inspired to try something different. Good-Tutorials.com is the perfect place for that, offering tutorials on a range of subjects, including Photoshop, Flash, CSS, HTML, and programming languages like PHP and Ruby. If you have ever had a cursory interest in any of those topics, (and there are more available on the site), take a look and see if there are any new tips worth learning today.

Color Schemed Websites

2007-05-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Tutorial Blog has a great series of posts with color themed websites. In light of warming weather, why not take a look at the intriguing orange websites this season. There is inspiration galore, and you might even find an interesting piece of code under the hood. Either way these are some top notch sites with some great design elements.

Free Icons

2007-05-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Icons are a great visual tool to incorporate in web design. While they are usually used for visual identification of computer software files, they can also be used as interesting design elements. Sometimes file downloads, highlighted text, or even logos have iconic visual identities to help separate them from the rest of the web page. In regards to the look and feel of the icons themselves, here are 100s of Free Icons available from the Wikimedia Commons.

The future of web design

2007-04-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years, new ways of coding websites have emerged, with CSS and AJAX taking a front and center position lately. Meanwhile development on HTML5 and XHTML2 have been progressing quickly and getting more stable every day. Digital Web Magazine shares some interesting insights into these new developments, and the role of the World Wide Web Consortium in all of it. Get ready for some major improvements for web developers everywhere.

Adobe Photoshop Tips and Secrets

2007-04-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

11amDesign recently posted an article about 101 Hidden Tips & Secrets For Photoshop. If you've ever wondered how to become more efficient with Adobe Photoshop, there are numerous shortcuts and key combinations to do almost any adjustment faster. While memorizing all of them would take some dedication and practice, there are many helpful hints for saving time and increasing your productivity with this amazing designer's tool.

Designing with Church Antiques in Mind

2007-04-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

MLT Group recently completed a website for church antique dealer DC Riggott Inc. While the variety of architectural and liturgical artifacts is impressive, the shear number products was a daunting amount to load quickly and efficiently onto the site. While the site can be easily updated with the help of Reynolds Gallery Utility, there are already numerous stained glass windows, altars, statues, candle stands, sanctuary lights, and votive stands available on the site. They also carry specialty church items exclusively for clergy and churches, such as chalices, ciboria, monstrances, and tabernacles. So whether you are interested in a professionally designed website and gallery utility, or authentic church antiques for sale, DCRiggott.com is worth a look.

25 Code Snippets For Web Designers

2007-04-12T23:51:00.000-07:00

This week Tutorial Blog released part 3 of their series of Code Snippets for Web Designers. There are numerous pieces of html, ajax and css that one can incorporate into web designs. And we can't forget part one and part two for extended collection of code to use in a variety of design situations.

Choosing the Right Font for the Job

2007-04-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

Experienced designers know the importance of choosing the right font for the job. This process can take time, and DesignersMind.com poses an interesting question to help you get on the right path. “What differences are there between the font and text of professional designs as opposed to low quality work?” The answers to that question and some significant designer insights are reported in the article.

10 Tools for Web 2.0 Color Palettes

2007-04-08T02:30:00.000-07:00

When it comes to designing websites, choosing an appropriate color scheme for your audience is of utmost importance. The search for color palettes that are easy on the eyes yet highlight a web site's content can be a struggle. So we found 10 Tools for Web 2.0 Color Palettes that will help get your design projects back on a color coordinated track. Each and every site is worth a glance, and possibly even a Bookmark for future reference.

Dreamweaver Tutorials

2007-04-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

Smashing Magazine has come out with a comprehensive list of Macromedia Dreamweaver tutorials. There are beginner and advanced categories that cover a wide range of uses with the software. Some of the references also contain video tutorials with more than 87 hours of professional, quality material.

Color Sphere

2007-03-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Color is an essential part every design, and we've found an amazing color sphere, which is similar to a color wheel, but with a variety of options and tools. The script offers varying types of output, color schemes, and palettes which you can export to popular image editing programs like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. You can even download the script in "widget" format.

CSS Mania

2007-03-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Finding great designs and well coded websites for inspiration can be a rare event. So sometimes we go straight to one of the best sources for XHTML/CSS website galleries; CSS Mania. They archive top notch websites designed in CSS that are thinking out of the box. They are well worth a look to see where the bar for online design has been raised.

Over One Million Free Photos

2007-03-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

If you've ever struggled looking for free photos to use in your designs or blogs, search no further. EveryStockPhoto.com now has over one million free photos available under the creative commons license, as well as other licenses. This a great resource for designers, photographers may even find some inspiring shots, and you can also add your own images to the database.

Motion Graphics Tutorials

2007-03-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

At MLT Group we are a one-stop marketing and advertising resource for your company. And that includes a variety of animation and broadcast quality video production services to fit your needs. But for those in search of motion graphics tutorials, the work and craftsmanship that goes into animation is fully appreciated in these helpful videos. So whether you are looking for a full service production company to produce, market, and distribute your video, or a just a little help with your own projects, at MLT Group "We Can Do That!"

Compare Fonts for the Screen

2007-03-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

A good designer knows the importance of fonts. The multitude of details that go in to choosing and setting up the correct font for a project are more complicated than most people realize. But we have found a tool that will help speed up the process of finding the right font and settings for your project. Typetester allows you to compare fonts for the screen, and quickly see how formatting changes affect the look of your project. You can adjust the size, leading, tracking, kerning, spacing, color, and many other attributes.

Google Code

2007-03-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

Google is continually improving its Google Code Developer Network, and we wanted to highlight a few features of their site. If you've ever wanted to “Enhance your web site”, “Reach Google users”, or “Integrate with Google”, there are a variety of APIs available for free download. Also, the Google Code Blog is regularly updated, and they provide references to Featured Projects that showcase interesting uses of their APIs.

Free Illustrator Brushes

2007-02-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

Bittbox has just posted 28 Free Illustrator Brushes for making Swooshes and Swirls. The main purpose of the brushes is for making your own custom designs. As with most Adobe products, there is more than one way to accomplish the same thing. But these free brushes really help speed up the design process by allowing the designer to focus more on composition, and less on the intricacies of the swooshes and swirls.

115 Resources to Help You Develop on the Web

2007-02-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

Degreetutor.com has posted a useful article about the Secrets of Self Taught Web Developers: 115 Resources to Help You Develop on the Web. If you are just getting started or a seasoned veteran there are many useful tools and links to peruse and a broad overview of web development. They cover all aspects of the web, from learning a coding language, to transferring files, and even navigating the new social media and video trends.

Photoshop Brushes

2007-02-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

Almost everyone in the graphic design field uses Adobe Photoshop at one point or another. And a great feature of the software is the ability to add your own custom brushes. At Tutorial Blog, they've compiled a list of some of the most creative and free Photoshop brushes available. And if you can't find any you like, they've included some links on how to create your own.

CSS Speech Bubbles

2007-02-11T22:58:00.000-08:00

This one is great fun. Learn how to make CSS speach bubbles that are customizable with square or rounded corners. Add a unique element to the blog comments area of your next web design.

Web Design References

2007-02-10T23:23:00.001-08:00

There is an extensive collection of web design references at the University of Minnesota Duluth IT website. They cover a large variety of topics, like Dreamweaver, CSS, Typography, XML, and Navigation & Labeling. And if you'd like a wide perspective of all they have to offer, check out the Web Design Sitemap. There are plenty of articles, tips, and references to keep even a seasoned web design professional learning something new. And MLT Group is proud to have headquarters in the great state of Minnesota along with high quality educational institutions like UMD.