Category: Articles
How to Write the Perfect Web Design Contract
Back in August I wrote an article about fatal mistakes freelancers should never make. The article was targeted to web design freelancers; therefore we will continue today and go a bit more into details for the same category. One of the most common mistakes by both parties was working without a signed contract, because it might lead to misunderstandings and late payments, or worse, no payments for your work.
There are many things to write into a web design contract and you might even remember some other ones after you read the article, but the ones I am going to name here are hugely important and should not be missing from the deal between you and the employer. This contract might save you from some stress, time and money, so it’s necessary that you put a lot of work into a draft and use it whenever you need it.
How to Make Websites Faster?
Websites should rank high not only in appearance and usability, but also in performance. A website that has a high load and processing time will not be popular among users because nobody likes to wait for long periods of time to view a website. Intense competition makes it imperative for websites to score high on performance and efficiency and it is the designers’ responsibility to do everything possible to achieve this goal.
The performance of a website can be broadly categorized into efficiency and processing time. Efficiency deals with scalability and the ability of a website to offer service to millions of users who may access it at the same time. A good case in point is Google.com which is accessed by millions or even billions of people every day. Processing time, on the other hand, is the number of HTTP requests that a page makes and its impact on the speed of the site. In general, the more the requests, the slower the site will be. So the designer should come up with an effective design and architecture that will allow any number of users to access the site without compromising on the speed.
Freelancing vs. studio jobs – which is better?
If you are a good web designer then there are huge opportunities for you in today’s business world, you just need to find them. One of the most difficult decisions you need to make is the kind of workplace you’re searching for.
Should it be a freelance gig or a job in a real web studio? Each one of them comes with advantages and disadvantages and we take a look at both of them in this article.
Using Twitter to Promote Your Designing Skills
Twitter is one of the social media sites that helps you to showcase your designer talents to the world. Users of Twitter communicate and interact with their contacts by sending short messages called “tweets.” It’s a simple and effective way of promoting your skills and to network with new people every day.
Twitter can also be used as a medium to gather information about the latest trends in the world of design, how your competitors are faring, the current projects that they are working on and also to build lasting professional relationships with your current and future clients.
Convince the Average User to Change to a Non-IE Browser
Internet Explorer was launched by Microsoft in 1995. Ever since that time, the browser has been included in all Windows versions. There were also some later versions or packs which were available for download. Internet Explorer, often shortened as IE, was launched in 9 different versions over the past 16 years, and even if Internet Explorer 9 comes with tremendous good features and is definitely an improvement, web developers and designers might prefer Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Opera.
Internet Explorer 10 has been announced to be in development, but we do not know anything else about the release date or its features, although pundits suggest there will be full support for HTML5 and CSS3. However, it is very difficult to convince users to change from Internet Explorer when they have used it for the last 15 years. The average user is not comfortable with another browser and might prefer to stick to Microsoft’s software, which also comes with the Windows line.
How to Promote Your Business With a Facebook Page
Facebook has more than 500 million active users and is definitely the best social network ever. The number of people using it increases every month, and it seems Facebook will not stop its ascension soon.
Facebook can also be used for some other purposes besides sharing videos, writing on the walls of your friends and keeping an eye on your employees. Facebook can actually be useful for promoting a business, company or a specific service. Sure, the target audience has to be present on Facebook for companies to achieve results there, but who is not on Facebook today?
Every page of Facebook is indexed in Google and other search engines, so if you want to be good in searches by specific keywords, you can defeat your competition by doing more work on Facebook. There are very few sites in the world that can, by different important keywords, top Facebook in this field.
9 Steps to Bring out Your Most Powerful Creative Self
One of the most basic urges of every human being is the urge to create. From the doodles and fantasies of your childhood, to the poems and paintings of your teens, your life is full of examples when you have been creative. As you grow up and strive to find your place under the sun, sometimes it feels like the creative juices are drying up.
This is all the more so if your chosen field of accomplishment is one where creativity is key, such as design or writing. Do not worry. Self doubt and an apparent inability to be creative are phases that all creative people go through. Thanks to the amazing support system and networking capabilities of the digital social media, you can now benefit from the expert advice of others who have been there and come out of it. Here are 9 ways you can take action to re-awaken your creative self.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Using Templates
Many may not agree with the title because of the proven success of templates in the design market. This success is evident with the increasing number of design templates and stock graphics websites. Many designers, and I am one of them, consider the concept of design templates one of the blessings of the web. Nowadays designers can save much time and effort by using stock design resources that other designers have created and are selling in many places on the web.
Now, the question that arises at this point is how stock resources and templates have affected the creativity and originality of design works. The nature of the designer’s work depends on creativity and unified ideas in the first place. There is no doubt that using repeated artwork or stock artwork that is done by other designers, and other people are using it over and over again can affect this flow of creativity in one way or another.
The seven sins in this articles are not real sins, they are more like guidelines for designers to understand where their creativity stands and to judge if it is at risk or not. Being aware of these seven points may help designers not to lose their creativity and turn into template users.
A List of Things Graphic Designers Should Know
Being a graphic designer does not only require skills and imagination, but also a lot of work. There are so many graphic designers in the world that it requires even more than that. The difference between all these professionals also lies in the mindset they have.
Being open-minded helps a lot for an obvious reason, but not everybody manages to hold such a mentality. Moreover, being aware of your position in the company, your importance or your skills and relationships with others make a difference as well, so therefore today we take a look at a list of things every graphic designer should be aware of.
How to Keep Yourself Updated While on the Road
Being a freelancer means you need to be online most of the time, but most of us like to travel and do this quite often; so we need some methods to keep ourselves updated while traveling. All you need is an internet connection, but I do not recommend free Wireless hotspots, because they lack security.
Mobile internet connections are quite cheap nowadays and if you use it for work purposes you will get a lot of value for that money, so it is a good idea to research the market thoroughly and pick the best mobile broadband you can find. An iPhone 4 would be a very good choice for a phone, because it allows you to create a Wireless hotspot so you can connect to it from your own computer. There are several other devices that allow you this as well, so try to find out which one is the most suitable option for you.
Tips to Improve the 404 Error Pages
If a page has been deleted, moved or renamed on the server, accessing the old address will obviously show the user an error. The technical name for this kind of error is “404”, and I am sure everybody has encountered it at least one time. The default error message for a 404 error is very technical and contains lots of information, so the basic user might get scared away by so much information. The “back” button in the browser is the only link the user can click once he sees a 404 error and the default style of the page is also colorful and very, very basic.
Today we take a look at several ways of improving the 404 pages of you blog or site. It is very good to do this, because even if your webpage doesn’t have errors, works perfectly and looks great, users will encounter 404 errors at some point in time. It’s inevitable. A customized 404 error page might not scare the user away, but bring him back to your webpage, instead of making him to click away and never come back.
