Archive for 'CSS'
Desktop Wallpaper: 80+ Most Breathtaking Places on Earth
Posted on 10. Mar, 2010 by Tony.
There are many sources of inspiration that designers look to when trying to get their creative juices flowing. I think there is none better than the breathtaking landscapes that nature has to offer. In this post you will see some of the most beautiful places on earth. You will see everything from the mountains of [...]Article source: Designrfix
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Comment to Win a One-Year Membership to MediaLoot!
Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Vandelay Website Design.
Earlier today a new membership-based site, MediaLoot was launched. It is an online toolbox of premium design resources, and they have kindly offered to give five readers of the Vandelay Design blog a one-year membership to the site for free!
MediaLoot is a project of Jon Phillips of Spyre Studios and Mason Hipp of Freelance Folder. Members of MediaLoot are able to download resources like textures, icons, vectors, brushes, templates and more. The goal of MediaLoot is to eliminate the need for pay-per-use sites by offering a subscription-based service where members can download loads of great resources. There are already some quality items available for download, and more will be added on an on-going basis.
I’ve been on the site today and have already download some resources that I hope to put to good use, including textures and icons. Both Jon and Mason have contributed a lot to the design community through their blogs, so I hope you will visit MediaLoot and check out what they have to offer.
The Giveaway Details:
If you would like to enter to win one of the 5 one-year memberships (the normal price is $14 per month), please leave a comment on this post. On Friday, March 12th the five winners will be selected at random. At that time this post will be updated and the winners will be notified by email (so be sure to leave a valid email address).
Also, if you would like to design resources for MediaLoot you can find information about that on their Design for Us page.
Article source: Vandelay Design Blog
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Carbon Fibre Style Inset Navigation
Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Richard Carpenter.
Hello, welcome. Today i’ll be showing you how to create a carbon fibre style inset menu. This tutorial comes after a request from one of hv-designs readers, which i was more than happy to oblige.
What We’ll Be Creating
Once you’ve completed the tutorial you should have something like this.
In a later tutorial I’ll also be showing you how to code the navigation into a working CSS navigation, so stay tuned for that.
Inspired By Hugo
The result of this tutorial is inspired by a flash template located here. Lets get started.
Making The Background
Create a new document 1200 x 600 pixels with a transparent background. Set your foreground color to #bebebf and background color to #d2d2d2, then select the gradient tool with a linear gradient.
Once you’ve selected your gradient drag the gradient from the top of the canvas down to the bottom.
Once you’ve filled your canvas add some noise by going to “filter > noise > add noise”, use the settings listed below.
Now blur the background by going to “filter > blur > motion blur”, use the settings below.
Around the left and right edges of the canvas you should see the motion blur, blurred too much. Simply make a selection around the best half of the canvas excluding the over blurred edges.
Once you’ve made the selection crop the canvas. You should now have your lightly brushed metal background, you can fine tune the metal strokes by adjusting the motion blur settings.
Creating The Navigation
Select the rounded rectangle tool with a radius of 10px, drag out the navigation rectangle in the middle of your canvas.
Once you’ve created your rectangle add the following layer styles.
You should have something like this.
For this part we need to make our own custom carbon fibre texture. To do this create a new document 4 x 4 pixels then copy the image below.
Once you’ve created the carbon fibre pattern go to “edit > define pattern”, then head back to your navigation.
Load a selection around your navigation by selecting the navigation rectangle layer then going to “select > load selection”. Create a new layer above your navigation, select the paint bucket tool then find your carbon fibre pattern from the patterns menu. Once you’ve found your pattern select it and fill the loaded selection.
Set your carbon fibre pattern layer blend mode to “difference”, you should have something like this.
Creating The Navigation Buttons
Select the type tool then type out your navigation links towards the bottom of the navigation.
Once you’ve completed adding your textual links add the following layer styles to your text.
In between each link add two vertical 1 px lines next to each other, the lines should start from the very top of the navigation and end at the bottom. Color the first line in black and the second line white. Once you’ve created your lines set the layer opacity to 50% and blend mode to soft light.
Creating The Navigation Orbs
Select the elliptical marquee tool then drag our a small ellipse above one of your navigation links.
Select the gradient tool with a linear gradient, drag a black (#000000) to gray (#828282) gradient over the ellipse selection.
With the elliptical marquee tool once more, create another circular selection inside your last selection.
Fill your selection with the color #8e8e8e. Keep your selection active and create a new layer above your gray circle. Set your foreground color to white (#ffffff) then select the gradient tool with a radial gradient, change the gradient type to “white to transparent”.
Zoom into your selection the drag the radial gradient from the top left corner of the ellipse. Keep the drag short as you don’t want the radial gradient too big.
change the gradient type to linear also keeping the selection active. Create another new layer then drag the linear gradient from the bottom upwards.
Keep adding the highlights changing the layer opacity’s of each layer and the position of the gradients, eventually you should have something like this.
Duplicate the orb and all the highlights then move it across to the next button. Continue to do so until all buttons have there own orb.
Creating The Hover State
To one of the buttons were going to add a hover state, i’ve chosen the portfolio button. Simply add a gradient overlay to the orb using your chosen colors.
Make a selection using the rectangular marquee tool, the selection should be made around your button in between the dividers.
Once you’ve made the selection around the button fill the selection with the color #dddddd then set the layers blend mode to “overlay”.
Finally using the polygonal lasso tool create a triangular shape, fill the triangular shape in the same color as the background, then add a drop shadow using the settings below.
Your finished hover state should look something like this.
Congratulations you have finished the tutorial. In part two i’ll be showing you how to code the navigation into a working HTML/CSS Document.
Continue To Part Two…
Learn to code this navigation into a working HTML/CSS Document (Coming Soon)
Article source: hv-designs
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Astounding Ajax/CSS Forms: 30+ Modern Trends , Tips and Techniques
Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Yanuar Prisantoso.
Form is an important element in a website.The recent developments in web 2.0 scenario and the growing quantity of web apps has even make it more important. The most important point in building a form is the usability fact. Form should be easy to understand so that visitors can enter values into the form correctly without getting confused.
In this article we will explain the various techniques, tutorials, examples relating to the modern trends in building web forms to enhance the user experience.
Form Validation Techniques
when users enter values into the form, as the owner of the site must ensure that the value in accordance with the insert is expected, provide information on visitors to the validation before they are sent to the owner of the site
1. Live Validation
Live Validation is a small open source JavaScript library built for giving users real-time validation information as they fill out forms.
2. fValidator
fValidator is an open source (free) unobtrusive JavaScript tool for easy handling form validation.
3. Validation With Prototype
The basic method is to attach to the form’s onsubmit event, read out all the form elements’ classes and perform validation if required. If a field fails validation, reveal field validation advice and prevent the form from submitting.
4. Ajax form validation
This is Ajax form Validation, you can learning how to use AJAX to process and validate your forms.
5. jQuery inline form validation
6. sForm – Ajax Form Validation
This validation form is a real-time feedback to users, when they fill out the form, they will know what happened to see the color will appear. Fields that have not been properly will appear red and after validation is going to be green. This will facilitate the user when filling out the form
AJAX/CSS Forms Tutorials
7. How to make a password strength meter for your registration form
This tutorial will teach you how to make a password strength meter
8. AJAX Form POST/GET
With AJAX the browser page is not reloading, but the data is just sent to the server for processing. The server saves the data or calculates something and sends back the answer. The AJAX JavaScript either displays the answer (page) or does some action depending on the answer
9. Style Web Forms Using CSS
In this article you will look at step by step how you can use CSS to create attractive and usable forms.
10. Styling File Inputs With CSS And The Dom
This tutorial will explain stylish file upload inputs via clever use of js and css. This is great tutorial form Shaun Inman.
11. Degradable Ajax Form Validation
If you’ve ever confronted the task of validating data in a form, you know about choice. Whether it’s choosing between client side or server-side scripts, or the amount of information a user should see on the screen, the results should always give the user quick and meaningful feedback, while providing a solution for when things go wrong.
12. Fancy Contact Form
In this tutorial you will learn to make an AJAX contact form which leverages modern web development techniques. You will using PHP, CSS and jQuery with the help of the formValidator plugin for form validation and the JQTransform plugin, which will style all the input fields and buttons of the form.
AJAX CSS Form Online Builder
13. Form Assembly
This is A CSS Stylesheet Collection for Web Forms
14. Web Form Factory
Web Form Factory is an open source web form generator . They will automatically generates the necessary backend code to tie your form to a database.
15. JotForm
JotForm is the First Web Based WYSIWYG Form Builder. Create and publish web forms using your browser. Its drag and drop user interface makes form building doable for anybody that wants to do it
16. Wufoo
Wufoo is HTML form builder helps you create contact forms, online surveys, and invitations so you can collect the data, registrations and online payments you need without writing a single line of code.
17. FormLogix
FormLogix is an online form builder tool for creating web databases and web forms. FormLogix is a WYSIWYG tool and it requires zero coding skills. It enables a user to easily create web forms and web databases such as: Contact us forms, Feedback forms, Events registration forms, Surveys, online Polls, Order forms, Invitations, CRM
18. Phpform
Phpform is free form builder . You can create online forms quickly and there are many color options available form
19. Formspring
FormSpring’s is easy form builder that make companies and organizations an easy to create some form online to begin the integration with the web site and data collection
20. Icebrrg
Icebrrg can easily create any kind of online forms for websites and blogs – no programming skills or special skills needed.
AJAX CSS Form Best Examples
21. Masked Input Plugin
22. prettyForms
23. Ajax Contact Form with YUI
24. Ajax Chained Select – demo
25. Instant Edit
26. Anchor Layout with Forms
27. Uploadform
28. Textarea
29. CSS-based Form Template
30. Uniform
Feel free to share your tips and techniques using comments section.
Article source: Graphic and Web Design Blog -Resources And Tutorials
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50 Hot New Tutorials (Part1)
Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Tony.
Tutorials can often be your greatest source of inspiration when trying to design that project you have been putting off. In this post, I have rounded up a collection of very useful tutorials from around the web from the month of February. You’ll find everything from a stunning retro futuristic typography, to designing a brilliant [...]Article source: Designrfix
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Top 6 Mistakes that Newbie Designers and Online Entrepreneurs Make
Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Mathew.
It’s not uncommon to hear stories of large-scale online business failures. From major companies – anyone remember Webvan? – to small design firms and marketing agencies, failure is a part of doing business. With the low costs of starting and operating a business online, many businesses that would fail under other circumstances end up getting started. Sometimes they grow into leading enterprises, but more often than not, they don’t.
We’ve identified the six most common mistakes that newbie designers, entrepreneurs, and online businesspeople make when they start their own online businesses. If you’re just starting out online yourself, use this article as a template of what not to do in your business. The best business lessons are often learned from other people’s failures, and these six should give you a good foundation for creating a long-term online business.
1. Expanding Too Fast.
You started a business, saw a relatively large amount of success, and thought that the bigger you grew, the bigger the money would get. Unfortunately, the infinite growth model rarely works for online businesses, particularly service businesses which require a lot of manual upkeep and client-based attention.
Whenever your business has the potential to expand, think through the situation as a whole. Boosting your client count or product’s reach could bring in new income, but it could also create new expenses and a lot of new headaches. Business success is about weighing the ups and downs – sometimes expansion brings in more of one than the other. Plan accordingly.
2. Overestimating Their Influence.
Control is an important factor in business. Meetings tend to move according to the most influential person – the guiding presence in the meeting and the most important factor in negotiation. As a new entrepreneur it’s easy to overestimate your influence amongst clients, business partners, and potential collaborators.
It’s not so much ego as it is a misunderstanding. Business requires a certain degree of pushiness, but too much ends up poisoning negotiations and potentially alienating clients and customers. Whenever you’re reaching out to another businessperson, client, or prospective customer, treat them like a guest and remember that you’re asking them for something, not the other way around.
3. Taking on Too Much Work at Once.
This error is most common amongst designers, but results-based business of all forms are susceptible to it. In an effort to boost revenue and increase per-client profits, many service businesses simply bite off more than they can chew. Employees are pushed to the limit, deadlines are stretched, and many clients end up unhappy.
It’s hard to suggest anything other than this behaviour, as risk like this is important for a successful company. However, whenever possible it’s best to be in control of your risk. Rather than giving hundreds of clients or customers second-class treatment, aim for top-level treatment with a smaller sample of people. Position yourself as a premium provider and you’ll end up with a more fluid, controllable, and well-rounded business.
4. Pricing Themselves Too Low, or Too High.
Charge people too much and you’ll fail to gain clients. Charge too little and you’ll end up overwhelmed with low-paying work and unable to cope with the quantity. Setting prices as a service business is a balancing act, and it’s one that can take quite a lot of time to adjust to. Whenever possible, look at your business as a premium product. Price yourself above competitors to ensure that your work is profitable and worthwhile, but don’t price yourself in a range where you’re unable to gain valuable client referrals and long-term projects.
5. Ignoring Professionalism.
Online businesses are great in that they allow entrepreneurs to work from their living rooms, and limiting in that they insulate people from the corporate world. As a designer, service provider, or B2B business, you’re bound to work with some major companies and multinational corporations. Pitching, contacting, and keeping in touch with clients requires a fine touch, and a level of professionalism that’s often lacking amongst online businesses.
Invest in what’s required to get your foot in the door. If that’s nice clothes for a business meeting, it could be worth it. If it’s a customer and client support employee for providing the impression of a big company, take it. If there’s a way for you to appear more professional and experienced, do almost anything possible to achieve it.
6. Worrying Too Much.
Let’s face it, as a newbie designer or businessperson, the natural reaction is to respond to things with caution and temperance. Sometimes business opportunities come in, and rather than reacting to them with potential planning and long-term thinking, newbie designers think that all which could go wrong because of them.
This type of thinking is good for running a low-risk business, but ineffective for running an ultra-successful business. Risk is a very important part of business, and letting it control your thinking leaves you stuck at a standstill. Sometimes it’s best to apologize for mistakes – whether to clients, customers, or business partners – than to beg for the opportunity to do something.
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21 Resources Especially for Lovers of Minimalism
Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Vandelay Website Design.
Minimalism a popular style of design because it keeps things simple and user-friendly. In this post we’ll look at more than 20 websites, blogs and books dedicated to minimalism. Not all of them are related to web design – minimalism can also be applied to other aspects of business and life.
Minimal Design Showcases:
If you want to find great and inspiring examples of minimalist design, these sites will be excellent sources.
Simple Desktops
Simple Desktops is a collection of desktop wallpapers curated by Tom Watson designed to make your computer beautiful without distraction.
Blogs:
The blogs all focus on publishing content related to minimalism.
Books and eBooks:
If you want to read about minimalism in design, business, or every day life, check out these books.
The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life
The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essentials in Business and in Life
For more inspiration from minimalist design please see:
- 25 Beautifully Minimalistic Website Designs
- 25 Beautifully Minimalistic Website Designs – Part 2
- 25 Beautiful Minimalistic Website Designs – Part 3
- 25 Beautiful Minimalistic Website Designs – Part 4
- 25 Beautifully Minimalist Website Design – Part 5
- 35 Beautiful Minimal Websites – Part 6
- 40 Beautiful Minimalist Websites – Part 7
Article source: Vandelay Design Blog
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How to Create a Fancy Image Gallery with CSS3
Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Teylor Feliz.
Even though CSS3 is still in the development stages, it is the new craze that many web developers are excited about. CSS3 is something that will take web development into newer and greater heights, while modernizing the web and allowing web designers and developers to make their creativity a reality. CSS3 allows for web techniques such as: text shadows, rounded borders, animations, custom web fonts, and much more. Recently, while talking with colleagues about CSS3 animations, many of them agreed how CSS3 animation is going to replace most of the JavaScript animation once it is supported by all the browsers. However, that is the downside currently to CSS3, because right now the only browsers that support it are Safari and Chrome, even though Opera 10.50 is going to support it soon. Today, I have prepared a tutorial about how to use CSS3 to make an image gallery with animation. I recommend to use one of these browsers to see the animations; however, the gallery is going to be usable in browsers without support of the animation.
HTML Structure
First of all, we will create an HTML file with the structure below, which is a div tag with gallery as ID that has an unordered list with each item containing two images. The first image is the thumbnail with the class name “mini” and the second one is the image to display when with the mouseover action with the class name “pic”.
<div id="gallery"> <ul> <li> <img src="images/imagen1_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen1.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen2_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen2.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen3_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen3.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen4_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen4.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen5_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen5.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen6_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen6.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen7_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen7.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen8_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen8.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen9_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen9.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen10_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen10.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen11_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen11.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> <li> <img src="images/imagen12_small.jpg" class="mini" /> <img src="images/imagen12.jpg" class="pic" /> </li> </ul> </div>
Styling with CSS
The second step is styling the div tag that is going to contain the gallery. The property used from CSS3 is box-shadow.
#gallery { border: 10px solid #1D0C16; height: 300px; width: 800px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; overflow: visible; background: #272229; /*box shadow effect in Safari and Chrome*/ -webkit-box-shadow: #272229 10px 10px 20px; /*box shadow effect in Firefox*/ -moz-box-shadow: #272229 10px 10px 20px; /*box shadow effect in IE*/ filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Shadow(color='#272229', Direction=135, Strength=10); /*box shadow effect in Browsers that support it, Opera 10.5 pre-alpha release*/ box-shadow: #272229 10px 10px 20px; }
This margin given to the unordered list sets the position in the center of the div.
#gallery ul{ /* This position the ul content in the middle of the gallery*/ margin-left:-30px; }
Now to each item of the unorded list we eliminate the list style and give a padding of 10 pixels for better appearance and display inline-table to fix the position of the image to display with the mouseover.
#gallery ul li { /* In order to create the proper effect with hover we should use display inline-table This will display the big picture right next to its thumbnail */ list-style:none; display:inline-table; padding:10px; }
Here is where we create animation with the CSS property transition which is part of the CSS3. The properties from CSS3 used are transition and box-shadow.
/* This is the pic to display when the hover action occur over the li that contains the thumbnail */ #gallery ul li .pic{ /* Animation with transition in Safari and Chrome */ -webkit-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; /* Animation with transition in Firefox (No supported Yet) */ -moz-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; /* Animation with transition in Opera (No supported Yet)*/ -o-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; /* The the opacity to 0 to create the fadeOut effect*/ opacity:0; visibility:hidden; position:absolute; margin-top:10px; margin-left:-20px; border:1px solid black; /*shadow box effect in Safari and Chrome*/ -webkit-box-shadow:#272229 2px 2px 10px; /*shadow box effect in Firefox*/ -moz-box-shadow:#272229 2px 2px 10px; /*shadow box effect in IE*/ filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Shadow(color='#272229', Direction=135, Strength=5); /*shadow box effect in Browsers that support it, Opera 10.5 pre-alpha release*/ box-shadow:#272229 2px 2px 10px; }
Adding the pointer cursor to the thumbnail at the mouseover action.
#gallery ul li .mini:hover{ cursor:pointer; }
To finish we create the effect of the animated gallery, modifying the opacity and height of the image gradually with the mouseover action.
/* This create the desired effect of showing the image when we mouseover the thumbnail*/ #gallery ul li:hover .pic { /* width and height is how much the picture is going to growth with the effect */ width:200px; height:200px; opacity:1; visibility:visible; float:right; }
Article source: Admix Web
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Collection of 30+ Stunning Hand Picked CSS-based Layouts
Posted on 06. Mar, 2010 by Siva Kumar.
Power of “CSS” is to Change the appearance of hundreds of Web pages by changing just one file and CSS represent an enormous step forward for the Web.And it’s mostly used to improvise the presentation (that is, the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language.It has structure and rules to follow.
Seven main advantages for using CSS are
- Flexibility (In content submission and a web page that is well structured, allows for flexibility ) .
- Rendering (For browser).
- Accessibility (Build accessible websites./blogs)
- Separate the content from presentation (Publication of content).
- Consistency (Instead of inheritance and cascading, a global style sheet can be used to give effect and style elements site-wide).
- Bandwidth ( Cache matters).
- Page formatting (Ability to change).
- If you want to be a CSS master you have to follow some more principles and tricks.
Here we are presenting the showcase of “Stunning CSS websites” By CSS masters.
1. Davidjonsson
In their caption of the website itself they have declared creative intelligent design and they used creative images for their pages. Website about a freelance graphic designer,he love to design logos and illustrations.
2. Delibarapp
Delibar is a full featured client for Pinboard and delicious
3. Digitalmash
A mash of work from Australian designer
4. Sketchen
Elegant yellow design.Web development agency
5. Madebytinder
Simply beautiful design
in seven colors
6. Osvaldas
Just another freelancer’s website.Used some AJAX techniques
7. webdesigncompetition
8. coocoocore
Designer website.It’s Pretty cool and creative design one page website.
9. Atebits
Mobile software website.Color sense is very good in this theme
.
10. Weloveicons
We Love Icons is a project by designers Dan Wiersema and Nando Albuquerque. They started they Love Icons because, well… we love icons!
11. Alkhnsaa-world
Design by mimcomp.com.
12. Atombicycles
Atom Bicycles Ltd. is the creation of Joel, a passionate cyclist. It all started over 20 years ago, when Joel and his friends decided to try what was then a new sport: mountain biking. Customizable design.
13. Designadept
Standards compliant web design.
.
14. Alexswanson
Interactive media and web designer “Design’s portfolio”.Clean layout.
15. Fresh-canned
Jar Design is an XHTML/CSS website custom designed and built for Vermont-based logo, print, and packaging designer Lis Gerber.
16. Musicthoughts
17. Cromulent Design
A fun, unique website that allows visitors to choose a different layout based on their mood while displaying their work for potential clients.
18. Ignatynikulin
Ignaty Nikulin, European web designer and developer, Focus on designing high quality and custom created web solutions for inspiring projects.
19. Designdisease
Design Disease provides cost-effective Web design services focused on usability, accessibility and Web standards.
20. Arbel-designs
A beautiful portfolio website by
Idan Arbel.
21. Guerra-creativa
22. Nineteen-eighty-four
An online personal portfolio website of a Graphic designer having outstanding layout and theme.
23. Pixel-Blog
The Pixel – Award Winning Creative Design Agency.
24. Robocatapps
25. Workawesome
WorkAwesome is a resource for the worker. It’s a blog for people who want to be awesome at work. It’s also a blog for people who want to find work, or simply quit work.
26. Ormanclark
27. Desigui
Desigui is an interface design studio that creates unique, well designed and optimized interfaces web applications.
28. Eyebridge
A vibrant web design from India.
.
29. Nineflavors
30. Thecolorcure
Creative team based in the Philippines. specialize in web, identity and print design.
31. Joy project
32. Beautiful2
Beautiful 2.0 is proud to showcase the best Web Design, CSS and Flash artistry for all to view and admire.
33. Cookmateapp
34. Upstruct (Design studio)
35. Yodaa
Yodaa is a San Jose based Web Design Agency that images brands through it’s creativity and simplicity.
Article source: Graphic and Web Design Blog -Resources And Tutorials
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Business Layout #8
Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Richard Carpenter.
Hello everybody welcome to another tutorial. In today’s tutorial I’ll be showing you how to make a business layout, the layout will feature a dark theme with hints of red and white. Lets get started.
The Finished Layout
Once you’ve finished the tutorial you should have something like this. Click the image below for full view.
Getting Started
Create a new document size 1200 x 1200 pixels with any color background. Set your foreground color #505050 and background color to #2d2d2d then select the gradient tool. Once the gradient tool is selected change the gradient type to radial.
Drag out the radial gradient roughly just above the middle of the canvas. The radial gradient should be fairly big in size so drag it out long.
Next, select the rectangular marquee tool or the rectangle tool and drag out a rectangle at the top of your canvas about 300 pixels in height. Fill your rectangle with any color.
Label your rectangle layer “header” then add the following layer styles.
You should have something like this.
Creating The Top Bar
Select the pen tool then at the very top of the canvas make an object like the image below.
Once you’ve created the points for your top bar fill it with the color back, you should have something like this.
Complete your top bar by adding the following layer styles.
On the top bar where it gets thicker, add a the word contact with a small white triangle. The triangle can be made using the polygonal lasso tool.
Creating The Navigation And Header
Using the rounded rectangle tool with a radius of 10 pixels, drag out a small button sized rectangle big enough for a navigation link.
Fill the rectangle with any color then merge the layer with your top bar, you should have something like this.
Add your navigation links underneath your top bar using the rounded rectangle as your hover state for one of your links.
Underneath your navigation add your website title and slogan, the font i’ve chosen for my website title and slogan is called “quicksand”. I’ve chosen a red color for my first two letters then a dark gray for the rest.
Creating The Service Box
Before creating the service box, directly underneath the header create two vertical 1 pixel lines, one colored black and one colored white. Once you’ve created the lines set the layers opacity to 40%.
Select the rounded rectangle tool then drag out a rectangle about 250 pixels in height underneath your website title.
Once your happy with your rectangle, add the following layer styles.
You should have something like this.
For this next part you will need some icons, preferably in red. I’ve chosen to use the ruby extended icon pack from dryicons.com.
Use 3 of your desired icons for your service box area, next to each icon add a heading with some dummy text.
In between each heading, icon and paragraph add two 1 pixel vertical lines on next to each other, color one line black and the other one in white. Finally set the blend mode to “Soft Light”.
Finally underneath each paragraph create a small red button using the rounded rectangle tool. Your service box should now look like this.
Creating The Sidebar
On a new layer underneath your service box create two 1 pixel vertical lines next to each other, color one black and one white. Set the layers blend mode to “Soft Light” then move the lines directly level with the last one on the service box.
Select the rectangular marquee tool then make a selection directly next to the sidebar line, make sure the line itself is not included in the selection. The selection doesn’t have to be really wide, just about as wide as you expect a sidebar to me.
Select the gradient tool with a linear gradient, the gradient should be set to black to transparent. Drag the black to transparent over the selection starting from the sidebar lines. Finally set the opacity to 15% you should have something like this.
Add a layer mask to the sidebar line and the black gradient you just added then drag a linear gradient from the bottom of the elements upwards. The look your try to achieve looks something like this.
On the right side of the sidebar line, inside the black gradient part add your sidebar items. I’ve opted for a latest news section, I’ve used one of the icons from the dryicons icon pack next to the header, then I’ve added some dummy news articles separating each one with a simple black line.
Creating The Content Area
Using one of the home icons from the dryicons icon pack, drag it under the left side of the service box. Next to the icon add your welcome heading with a couple of paragraphs of dummy text to follow after.
Select the rectangular marquee tool, underneath your main content paragraph create a rectangle.
Fill your rectangle with the color #1e1e1e then add the following layer styles.
Finally add an example image inside the rectangle leaving a gap of around 10 pixels all the way around the image.
Creating The Footer
Select the rectangular marquee tool then make a selection around the remaining half of your canvas. Fill the selection in the color #1e1e1e then add the following layer styles.
Inside your footer area add your dynamic footer dummy content. I’ve gone for a newsletter subscription form and some social networking text.
That’s it all done.
Congratulations
Thank You for taking this tutorial, hope you found it helpful. Don’t forget to Digg and Re-Tweet this tutorial – Thanks for all your support, il look forward to your comments.
Article source: hv-designs
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jQuery Resources for One-Page Portfolios
Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Vandelay Website Design.
A few weeks ago we published a showcase of one-page portfolios and pointed out some trends among them. Many of those sites are using jQuery to accomplish specific things. In this post we’ll feature some plugins and tutorials that are ideal for one-page portfolios. Of course, they can be used on other types of sites as well, but they are well-suited to match up with the trends among one-page portfolios.
Contact Forms:
All portfolio sites need to allow visitors to contact the designer, whether it is through an email address or a contact form. One-page sites face the challenge of including a usable contact form without using a separate page for it. These two resources can help for creating contact forms that will not take up too much space on the page.
Using Form Labels as Text Fields
CSS Globe provides a tutorial that is ideal for contact forms in limited spaces, which is often the case with one-page portfolios. The script can also be downloaded for use in your own work.
Creating a Slide-In jQuery Contact Form
Concealing a contact form can be very useful in situations where the page would otherwise be cluttered with a more traditional contact form. Design Shack shows us how to create a form that will slide in when clicked.
Navigation:
Although one-page portfolios keep everything on a single page, the size of that page usually requires some type of navigation that will make it easier for visitors to get from one section of the page to another.
Create a Hovering Scroll to Top Button with jQuery
Because one-page sites tend to be rather long, it’s helpful to have a link to allow visitors to easily return to the top of the page. Cherrysave has a tutorial that shows how to create a button that will hover as the user scrolls.
Beautiful Slide Out Navigation: A CSS and jQuery Tutorial
This tutorial shows how you can create a navigation menu that will be almost hidden before sliding out, which can save some space on crowded pages.
Scrolling:
JavaScript is often combined with the navigation on one-page sites to create a smooth scrolling effect. Here are a few resources.
Smooth Page Scrolling
Chris Coyier shows an easy way to accomplish smooth scrolling.
Lightbox:
One-page portfolios often use thumbnails to showcase their work, with larger images being shown when clicked. LightBox scripts are frequently used to give these images a nice look and to make it more usable for visitors. Here are a few options.
Shadowbox (JavaScript, but not jQuery)
Sliders and Galleries:
jQuery sliders and galleries can also be used to showcase your work without taking up a lot of space. They can give the portfolio an attractive and impressive look, and there are a number of scripts and tutorials available.
Create a Slick and Accessible Slideshow Using jQuery
In this tutorial Jacob Gube shows how to create a slideshow that could be used for showcasing your work on a one-page portfolio.
Fancy Thumbnail Hover Effect with jQuery
Soh Tanaka has written a tutorial that demonstrates a thumbnail gallery that could also be used to showcase your work with limited space available.
Create a Beautiful jQuery Slider Tutorial
This tutorial demonstrates an attractive slider to showcase your work.
How to Create a Fancy Image Gallery with jQuery
Hear you will learn how to create a simple image gallery that displays full size images when the user hovers over a thumbnail.
Coda Slider Effect
This popular tutorial shows how to replicate the slider used by Coda.
Easy Slider
This is a plugin from CSS Globe that can be used for showcasing your work.
For more resources please see:
- 15 Resources for Easily Creating Web Forms
- 35 Useful Scripts for Tooltips
- 21 Resources for Getting Design Feedback
- 60+ Helpful Resources for Portfolio Design
- 75 PSD to HTML Resources for Web Designers
Article source: Vandelay Design Blog
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Web Design: 40 Fantastic Examples
Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by Tony.
In many of my previous posts on website design I have always categorized the style of websites that I was showcasing. In this post, I have decided to compile some of the most visually appealing websites from all sorts of different design styles that are out there today. From retro inspired designs to the very creative. So if you [...]Article source: Designrfix
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Showcase of Light Texture in Web Design
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by Vandelay Website Design.
Texture is obviously a common design element that is being used on a lot of modern websites. However, texture doesn’t always have to be a part of the design that stands out immediately to visitors. Light textures can also be used to subtly improve the design of the site. In this post we’ll feature 25 sites that use texture without it dominating the design.
For more design inspiration see:
- 40 Inspiring Blog Designs
- 35+ Horizontal Websites for Your Design Inspiration
- 25 Magazine-Style Layouts for Your Design Inspiration
- 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites
Article source: Vandelay Design Blog
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10 Useful and Time-Saving CSS Grid-Layout Generators
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by Joel.
CSS is considered the “back-bone” of a website. It structures, helps embed, and styles elements. Now, if we were to code a CSS layout by hand, it would take us an unneeded amount of time that we could be putting towards other areas of our designs.
With somewhat similar concepts to the all-famous button, background, and favicon generators, today we present you with 10 Useful and Time-Saving CSS Grid-Layout Generators that will save you mass amounts of time and help you eliminate some repetitive coding.
Blueprint Grid CSS Generator
This tool will help you generate more flexible versions of Blueprint’s grid.css and compressed.css and grid.png files. Whether you prefer 8, 10,16 or 24 columns in your design, this generator now enables you that flexibility with Blueprint.
Grid Layout Generator by netProtozo
The Grid Layout Generator by netProtozo is very easy to use. You can use the form to build a grid, then be able to grab the generated CSS to use in building your layout. Also, use a snap shot of the grid in photoshop to help you tighten up your design. By doing so, you’ll find that you’ll be able to pretty much match your design using the CSS provided.
Grid System Generator
The grid system generator will create fixed grid systems in valid CSS/XHMTL form for rapid prototyping, development, and production environments. It also creates a background file that you can use in Frameworks, Illustrator, Photoshop, and more to aid in prototyping and design.
YUI: CSS Grid Builder
Yahoo’s grid builder is one of the easiest to interact with. The side panel to the left lets you edit the width of the grid, create columns, rows, and set fixed sizes. The changes you make take place in HTML format and you can hit the Show Code button and copy/paste it wherever you’d like.
Variable Grid System
The variable grid system is a quick way to generate an underlying CSS grid for your site. The CSS generated file is based on the 960 Grid System.
YAML Builder
The YAML Builder is a tool for visually creating YAML-based CSS layouts. It allows for the setting of basic layout characteristics like the number and positioning of the content columns, as well as the dynamic creation of grid-based layouts by dragging and dropping subtemplates. Not quite WYSIWYG, but close!
Grid Designer
You can get started generating grids by Filling in the number of columns, total width, gutters and margin widths, all specified in pixels – then press the design button. You can even use the Typography tab to adjust and calculate basic typographic settings for your design. Finally, on the Export tab, you can generate copy-and-paste ready CSS, and a sample XHTML template.
CSS Layout Generator by CSSPortal
This generator will create a fluid or fixed width column layout, with up to 3 columns and with header, footer and menu. Values can be specified in either pixels or percentages.
Firdamatic
Firdamatic™ is an online tableless layout generator that allows you to create and customise layouts easily only by completing forms, making creating skins for your Firdamatic-based layout a breeze. This tool is available for free for personal/non-commercial use only and comes with no technical support.
CSSCreator.com
This generator will create a fluid or fixed width floated column layout, with up to 3 columns and with header and footer. Values can be specified in either pixels, ems or percentages. To create your layout select the structural elements your site requires (header, footer, columns). Then specify a size in the field provided and choose a background color from the color chooser below.
Related posts:
- How to create an elegant web layout in Photoshop In this tutorial I will show you how to create...
- How To Create Professional Looking Website Layout With Photoshop Want to design a professional looking website template using Photoshop....
- Online Stripe Background Generator : Stripemania Trying out your photoshop skills or searching for a...
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Logo design for the Deep House Cat show
Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by veerle@duoh.com.
It doesn’t always happen that you get the chance to work on something that you personally use a lot. This time we had the opportunity to create a new logo for The Deep House Cat show.
What is The Deep House Cat show?
The Deep House Cat is an internationally streamed radio show created by "philE" from Chicago. You can listen to the Deep House Cat show on such radio stations as SSRadio, DI.fm, Housebox, Gabz FM and many more FM/AM and online outlets. Another way is by subscribing in iTunes like we do. This way you are sure you don't miss an episode.
Thinking process
The previous Deep House Cat logo was in use for almost 3 years and the client felt it had become a bit bland. When talking about this in more detail we discovered a bit of a roadblock. The client explained:
When we started the radio show we only played Deep House. This has changed over the years and we now play other sub-genres as well. The brand "Deep House Cat" however is widely being recognized and I would hate to see it go, because I do not want to start building a brand from scratch again. A new logo should incorporate the idea of toning down the "Deep" in "Deep House Cat", BUT not losing it completely.
The client did give us a few suggestions of what he thought the logo should look like. He suggested a stylized big cat (e.g. tiger, lion, jaguar, or panther). This was a good sign because we were already thinking along those lines as well. Other remarks were that it should also be recognizable in a smaller version such as an avatar or a social network user image.
Proposal 1
In the first version I tried to create a stylized cat using mostly straight lines. I ended up with a very male look which was my intention. The shape of the head and pointy ears made me also think a bit of a bat, which I also liked in a way. As for the typeface, I tried to reflect the same straight lines but added some personality to it by altering the 'H', 'E' and' A'. The word 'Deep' is treated as a separate element. This way 'House Cat' can stand on its own and 'Deep' can be removed when the time is right.
PROPOSAL 1:
Using mostly straight lines, which gives a very stylized male look
Proposal 2
For the second proposal I've drawn a classic cat, using round shapes which is also reflected in the typeface. I ended up with a logo that is way more female than I wanted it to be, but I liked its pose and elegant gracious look. So I decided to add this proposal, even though I expected the logo to be too feminine.
PROPOSAL 2:
Working with round shapes, which shows the more an elegant, feminine and gracious look of a cat.
Proposal 3
For the third proposal I wanted to try a tiger, or more preferably a panther so I would end up with a male looking logo. After looking at a lot of photos of panthers and tigers, I decided the face of a panther would fit best. When experimenting on how I would incorporate the 'Deep' part, I ended up with a circle surrounding the cat's face, which also makes it a perfect fit for an avatar or small icon. It could remind you of a record, or even the seventies Afro wigs disco style :) Somehow I felt this link with music, because I know that a lot of deep house music has disco influences into it.
As for the name, I was thinking of using a heavy sans serif typeface as it feels more male and gives the right balance to the logo. Gotham Ultra felt like the perfect choice in combination with the narrow Neon Extra Condensed for the 'Deep' part which adds this nice typographical contrast. Playing around with the letters 'C' and 'A' in combination with a different color, resulted in a different separation of the 2 words instead of using a space in between.
PROPOSAL 3:
Trying to find a balance between the female elegance, while making sure the cat looks male, which ended up in the face of a panther.
Feedback
The client liked proposal 2 and 3, but requested some changes before he could make a definite choice between one of them. As I kind of expected, I had to try to make proposal 2 a bit more male like. As for for proposal 3, the client suggested to show the panther's teeth as he looked a bit too friendly. For proposal 2, I did tried to make the cat more male looking by changing the eyes and the way he looks, smart and gracious. I've also added some subtle gradient effects. It was hard not to loose the charm of this logo and still make it look male, while changing proposal 3 was way more doable. The friendly looking cat was turned into roaring panther exactly what the client suggested and it did the trick. The last change I did was squinting the eyes a bit so the roaring looks more natural.
FINALIZING the logo:
Turning the friendly cat into a roaring panther by showing its teeth and squinting the eyes.
Final & approved design proposal
The roaring panther makes it more interesting, plus judged by geometrics, also better balanced. The tough edge makes it a more appealing logo.
Article source: Veerle's blog: full articles
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Web Design Layout #14
Posted on 28. Feb, 2010 by Richard Carpenter.
Good evening everybody welcome to another tutorial by HV-Designs. In today’s tutorial I’ll be showing you how to create a sleek web design company style web template.
The Final Layout
Once completed you should have something like this.
Lets Get Started
Start off by creating a new document with the following dimensions “1200 x 1400″, don’t worry if the document seems big as you can crop the canvas when finished.
Select the rectangular marquee tool and make a small selection across the top of the canvas, the selection should be the width of the canvas and no larger than about 10 pixels.
Once you’ve made the selection fill it using the paint bucket tool with the color #1c5e82. Now add a stroke to the rectangle using the following settings.
Were now going to create our main header, select the rectangular marquee tool and drag out a selection about 200 pixels in height. Set your foreground color to #133b50 and background color to #0c2635. Select the gradient tool with a reflected gradient.
Fill your selection with the reflected gradient, start dragging from the middle of the selection and drag outwards towards either the left or right of the canvas. You should be left with something like this.
Header Elements
Now that our head is all set and ready lets begin to add some of our elements. Start off with the type tool and add your website title and slogan.
On the right side of the website title and slogan add a small rounded rectangle, using the rounded rectangle tool with a radius of the 15 pixels.
Once you’ve created your rounded rectangle add the following layer styles.
Repeat the process again only this time make the rectangle a lot smaller.
Once again add the following layer styles to your smaller rectangle.
You should have something like this.
Creating The Navigation
Using the rounded rectangle tool, create 5 rounded rectangles next too each other. Then using your desired cutting tool cut off the bottom of each rectangle.
You should have something like this.
Now add the following layer styles to just your first tab.
On the remaining tabs add the following layer styles.
Finally label your tabbed navigation using the type tool, you should have something like this.
Creating The Featured Area
Zoom into your navigation bar then move each button up 3 pixels from the bottom of the header.
Using the line tool or the rectangular marquee tool create a 1 pixel line across the canvas directly underneath the buttons.
Next, select the rectangular marquee tool and make a selection the width of the canvas and about 285 pixels in height. Set your foreground color to #31a0c9 and background color to #277ca6, select the gradient tool with a radial gradient. Drag the gradient from the middle of the selection outwards. You should have something like this.
Inside your featured area add some example featured text with a title. Underneath your featured text add a small green button the same as your search button.
For this next part you’ll need an icon or image of a imac, you can grab one from HERE. Once you’ve source your desired imac drag it on onto your featured area.
Duplicate your imac then drag the duplicated layer underneath its original, resize it by going to “edit > transform > free transform” then finally add a subtle blur by going to “filter > blur > guassian blur”. You should have something like this.
For this next part you will need a twitter style icon, the one i used is from smashing magazine’s practika icon set. Drag your twitter icon onto your canvas, resize with the free transform tool then place the icon onto of the imac monitor.
Create a little speech bubble next to your twitter bird with the words “follow us on twitter” inside of it. You can use a speech bubble from photoshop’s custom shape’s library.
Creating The Content Area
Directly underneath the featured blue rectangle, on a new layer create two 1 pixel lines on top of each other. Color the top line in black and the bottom line in white. Both lines should span the width of the canvas.
Set your foreground color to #ededee and background color to #ffffff, then select the gradient tool with a linear gradient. Drag the linear gradient from the bottom of the blue featured rectangle down towards the bottom of your canvas. About half way down.
First this next part your going to need some nice looking icons. My icons of choice are some icons from Woothemes free icon pack. Pick out 3 icons then place them onto your canvas in a line, next to each icon add some dummy text.
Underneath each icon and its label and some more dummy text.
Were now going to add some divider in between each item. Firstly create two 1 pixel lines vertically next to each other colored black and white, then set the layer blend mode to “overlay”.
Add a layer mask to each of the divider layers then drag a linear gradient from the bottom of the divider to about half way up. You want the bottom of the divider to blend in with the background leaving the top visible.
Creating The Image Gallery
Using another icon from the Woothemes icon pack, create another text heading. Underneath the heading add a small paragraph of dummy text.
Select the rectangle tool or the rectangular marquee tool and create a white filled rectangle underneath the small paragraph. Once you’ve created the rectangle add a 1 pixel stroke using the color #dedede.
Load a selection around your rectangle by going to “select > load selection” then contract the selection by 10pixels, “Select > modify > contract”. Paste an image of some kind into the selection by going to “edit > paste into”.
Duplicate the gallery as many times as needed. From the Woothemes icon pack add the left and right arrows underneath the middle image.
Creating The Footer
Using the rectangular marquee tool make a big selection around the rest of the canvas, fill the selection using the color #0c2635.
Select the rectangular marquee tool once more and drag out a selection about 300 pixels in height, leaving a gap of about 10pixels or so from the last rectangle you created. Set your foreground color to #133b50 and background color to #0c2635. Select the gradient tool with a reflected gradient.
Fill your selection with the reflected gradient, start dragging from the middle of the selection and drag outwards towards either the left or right of the canvas. Finally add a 1 pixel stroke using the color #164662. You should have something like this.
Towards the bottom of the footer create a horizontal divider using two 1 pixels lines, top one colored in black and the bottom one colored in white. Set the dividers blend mode to “Soft Light”.
Add a layer mask to the footer divider then drag a reflected gradient from the middle towards one of the edges. The divider should blend in with the background towards the edges.
Next, select the rectangular marquee once more and make a selection underneath the divider selecting the rest of the footer. Select the color #0c2635 and fill your selection.
Finally fill up your footer with all the information you need. I’ve opted for a newsletter subscription and some social icons.
All Done
That’s it you’ve completed the tutorial, thanks for reading. I’ll look forward to your comments.
Article source: hv-designs
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15 Free And Useful Typography Tools For Web Designers
Posted on 28. Feb, 2010 by Joel.
Typography is one of the most important components that make a design complete. This aspect of your design can effectively engage users when used properly. It can also help you enhance the visual appearance of your website, print/graphic designs, and more.
Here we have 15 Free and Useful Typography Tools for Web Designers that’ll help you in a variety of ways. Alright, now lets begin exploring these tools.
FontStructor
FontStuctor is an easy to use free web-based typography tool that allows you to create your own fonts. It has a beautiful interface that is simple to interact with.
CSS Type Set
CSS Type Set is a wonderful tool that lets you visually and actively style your text that it can generate efficient CSS.
WhatTheFont
WhatTheFont lets you interactively scan a URL or upload an image that has a font(s) and it will then tell you what the font is. It’s a great way to find out what fonts other designers are using to create amazing designs.
Font Burner
Font Burner allows you a simple and efficient block of code so that you can embed in your webpages giving the option to convert your headlines to whatever possible font you choose.
PXtoEM
PXtoEM is a calculator that does conversions of pixels, em’s, points, and percentages.
Typetester
Typetester is an online application for comparison of the fonts for the screen. Its primary role is to make web designer’s life easier. As the new fonts are bundled into operating systems, the list of the common fonts will be updated.
Font Tester
Font Tester is a free online font comparison tool. It allows you to easily preview and compare different fonts side by side with various CSS font styles applied to them. It is very useful for web developers who are looking for just the right font/style/color to use in their pages.
TypeNavigator
TypeNavigator is the world’s first interactive visual font search system.
Typechart
Typechart allows you to navigate through, preview and compare web typography and then grab the CSS and embed it into your web designs.
Flipping Typical
Flipping Typical is a smart way to explore the popular typefaces you have on your computer.
CSS-Typoset Matrix
CSS-Typoset Matrix actively displays font sizes, line-heights, and margins for a variety of base font sizes. It can also output the CSS code depending on the data you insert.
Linotype Font Finder
Answer a few simple questions and the artificial intelligence of the FontIdentifier will help you find your font.
Identifont
The Identifont expert system enables you to identify a typeface from a sample by answering a series of questions about key characteristics.
Serif Font Identification Guide
Serif Font Identification Guide is an incredible visual font identification application that displays various images allowing you to choose from whichever match the font you’re trying to recognize the closest.
Font Picker
Font Picker lets you browse all the fonts available on your computer. You’re able to quickly view a font that you may want to use in a design, or a project. It’s quite useful.
Related posts:
- 56 Free Resources for Web Designers The following is a collection of free resources for web designers....
- 9 Websites to create Free Logos Online We have compiled a list of 9 FREE websites that...
- Excellent Fresh Free Fonts For Designers Fresh fonts are always a need for graphic and web...
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Digital Art: 80+ Most Beautiful CG Girls On The Web (Part 1)
Posted on 28. Feb, 2010 by Tony.
I have said it in the past and I will say it again, the talented artists and their outstanding works that I showcase on designrfix.com never cease to amaze me. Today I have assembled an amazing collection of beautiful CG girls in 2d, most of these great works are created in Photoshop and Painter. This [...]Article source: Designrfix
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How to create an elegant web layout in Photoshop
Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by Ionut.
In this tutorial I will show you how to create an elegant web layout in Photoshop using thin lines, subtle gradients and beautiful typography.
Final Result
Have a look at the layout that we’ll be creating in this tutorial.
Step 1 – The 960 Grid System
First, download the 960 Grid System and unzip the archive. Then go to the “photoshop” folder (you will find it inside the “templates” folder) and open the “960_grid_24_col.psd” file in Photoshop. This .psd file has a grid of 24 columns.
The red bars that you see are located inside the “24 Col Grid” group. When you want to hide/show the grid, you can simply click on the eye icon of this group. We will create our layout between these red bars.
The file also contains guides that are very helpful when designing a web layout. To show/hide the guides, go to View > Show > Guides (Ctrl/Cmd + ; ).
Step 2 – Increasing the size of the canvas
Go to Image > Canvas Size and set the width to 1920px and the height to 1250px.
Now we will change the color of the background to a light yellow. Click on the “Background” layer to make it active. Then use the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill the background with the color #f6e8bc.
Step 3 – Creating the header
Create a new group (Layer > New > Group) and name it “header”. Then make sure that your Info panel is opened (Window > Info – F8). You will need it to see the exact size of the shapes that you will create in this tutorial.
Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and create a rectangle with the height 10px and the color #3c1927 at the top of your document. Name this layer “top bar”.
Step 4
Use the Rectangle Tool (U) again to create a rectangle with the height 120px and the color #542437 beneath the one from the previous step. Then double-click on this layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image.
Step 5
Select the Line Tool (U), set the weight to 1px and the color to #2f141f. Then hold down the Shift key and drag a horizontal line from the right edge of your document to the left one. Move the line at the bottom of the first rectangle and name this layer “1px dark line”.
Duplicate the line layer (Ctrl/Cmd + J), select the Move Tool (V) and hit the up arrow once to move this new line one pixel up. Change the color of this line to #4e2133 and name the layer “1px light line”.
Step 6 – Writing the name of the layout
Select the Type Tool (T) and write the name of your web layout in the header. I used the font Garamond Premier Pro Bold with the color #ecd078. Then double-click on the text layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image.
Note: make sure the guides are visible (Ctrl/Cmd + ; ) and move the text to the left edge of the layout. Take a look at the next image for reference.
Step 7 – Adding a subtle gradient under the name of the layout
Now we will create a white to transparent gradient under the text. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient and use the settings from the following image. To move the gradient, click on your image and move the cursor while the Gradient Fill window is opened. Set the blend mode of this layer to Overlay 25% and put it beneath the text layer.
Step 8 – Creating the navigation bar
Create a new group and name it “navigation bar”. Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and create a rectangle beneath the header with the height 40px and the color #c02942. Double-click on this layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image for Gradient Overlay.
Step 9
Select the Line Tool (U) and set the weight to 1px. Then create two horizontal lines at the top of the navigation bar. For the dark line use the color #4e121c and name this layer “1px dark line top”. For the light line use the color #ed3453 and name this layer “1px light line top”.
Step 10
Create two more lines with the weight 1px at the bottom of the navigation bar. Use the color #972437 for the dark line and #e3314e for the light one.
Step 11
Select the Type Tool (T) and write the name for your navigation menu items. Use a bright yellow color (#f2e9cc) and a serif font (I used Garamond Premier Pro Semibold).
Step 12 – Creating separators for the navigation bar
Create a new group inside the “navigation bar” group, name it “separators” and set its opacity to 75%. Select the Line Tool (U) and drag a vertical line from the top of the navigation bar to the bottom using the color #8a1e30. Then create a new line next to the first one using the color #d72e4b.
Select these two lines, duplicate them (drag them over the ‘Create a new layer’ button from the Layers panel) and move them to the right, between the first two navigation menu items. Repeat this process until you have as many separators as you need.
Step 13
Now we will use a mask to make the separators fade away at the top and at the bottom. Add a mask to the “separators” group (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All) and set the foreground color to black. Then select the Gradient Tool (G), hold down the Shift key and drag a vertical black to transparent gradient at the top of the navigation bar. Repeat this for the bottom area of the navigation bar as well.
Step 14 – Adding a gradient beneath the navigation bar
Create a new layer. Then select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and create a selection like the one you see in the following image. Select the Gradient Tool (G), hold down the Shift key and drag a #b6aa86 to transparent gradient from the top of the selection to the bottom. Hit Ctrl/Cmd+D to deselect. Use the Move Tool (V) to move this layer 1px beneath the navigation bar. Name this layer “gradient” and set its opacity to 25%.
Step 15
Write a text beneath the navigation bar using the Type Tool (T) and the color #542437.
Step 16 – Creating a content carousel
Create a new group and name it “featured”. Create another group inside the first one and name it “top separator”.
Use the Line Tool (U) to create two horizontal lines with the weight 1px. For the first one use the color #f7efd3 and for the second one use the color #c7bc98. Set the opacity of these two layers to 60%.
Create a new layer. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and create a rectangular selection right above the two lines. Then hold down the Shift key and drag a #b6aa86 to transparent gradient (G) from the bottom of the selection to the top. Set the opacity of this layer to 15% and name it “gradient”.
Step 17
Add a mask to the “top separator” group (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All). Then drag two horizontal black to transparent gradients (G) – one in the left side of the separator and another one in the right side. Take a look at the following image for reference. You can also activate the guides to help you drag these gradients.
Step 18
Duplicate the “top separator” group by dragging it over the ‘Create a new layer’ button from the bottom of the Layers panel. Then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical. Move this new separator down at a distance of about 240px from the first one. Change the name of this group to “bottom separator”.
Step 19 – Adding the featured images
Open three images in Photoshop and move them into your first document using the Move Tool (V). I used images of some of my previous works.
Activate the grid. Then crop the images and use Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to change their size. I have chosen to make the middle image bigger than the other two ones. My middle image has the dimensions 360px by 200px and the other two ones have 280px by 166px. Take a look at the following image for reference.
Step 20
Now we will add a double stroke effect to the images. Double-click on the middle image layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image.
Step 21
For the other two images use the same Layer Style settings, but change the size of the Inner Glow to 5.
Step 22 – Creating a shadow beneath each image
Select the Ellipse Tool (U), hold down the Shift key and create a small circle in the middle of your big image using the color #847c63 (1). Go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and stretch the circle as you see in the following image (2, 3).
Right-click on this layer and select Convert to Smart Object. Then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and add a 3px gaussian blur (4). Name this layer “shadow 1″, move it beneath the layer of the image (5) and set its opacity to 20% (6).
Step 23
Repeat the previous step for the other two images, but set the opacity of the shadow layers to 15%.
Step 24 – Creating the navigation arrows
Now we will create two navigation arrows for the content carousel – one in the right side and one in the left side.
Select the Ellipse Tool (U), hold down the Shift key and create a circle with the dimensions 50px by 50px and the color of the layout’s background (#f6e8bc). Move this circle in the right side of the third image, as you see below.
Double-click on this layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image for Outer Glow and Stroke. Name this layer “right circle”.
Step 25
Convert the “right circle” layer into a smart object (right-click on it and select Convert to Smart Object). Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to select the right half of this circle. Then erase the selected area by going to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide Selection.
Step 26
Duplicate the “right circle” layer (Ctrl/Cmd + J). Then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Name this layer “left circle” and use the Move Tool (V) to move it in the left side of the content carousel.
Step 27 – Creating two navigation arrows for the content carousel
Copy this symbol “»”, select the Type Tool (T), click on your image and paste it. I used the font Garamond Premier Pro Bold with the size 48px and the color #542437. Depending on which font you will use, your arrows will look different. Move this arrow in the middle of your right circle and name the layer “right arrow”.
Duplicate the “right arrow” layer (Ctrl/Cmd + J). Use the Move Tool (V) to move it in the left side of the content carousel. Then replace the first symbol with this one “«”. Name this layer “left arrow”.
Step 28 – Creating a vertical separator
Create a new group and name it “vertical separator”. Select the Line Tool (U) and create a vertical line in the middle of your layout with the height 600px and the color #f7efd3. Name this layer “light line”. Duplicate this line layer (Ctrl/Cmd + J) and change its color to #c7bc98. Then select the Move Tool (V) and hit the right arrow once to move this new line 1px to the right. Name this layer “dark line”.
Step 29 – Creating the ‘Services’ area
Create a new group and name it “services”. Then select the Type Tool (T) and write the word “Services” with the size 32px and the color #542437 in the left side of the layout.
Step 30
Add three representative images beneath the word “Services”. Activate the guides to help you arrange the images. Then crop each image to have the size 140px by 180px. Add a double stroke effect to each image using the Layer Style window and the settings below.
Step 31
Use the Rectangle Tool (U) to create a rectangle with the dimensions 138px by 30px and the color #94516b. Double-click on this layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image. Duplicate this layer two times (Ctrl/Cmd + J) and put a rectangle beneath each image. Then select the Type Tool (T) and write three names of design services on your buttons using the color #fbf9f4.
Step 32 – Creating the ‘About us’ area
Create a new group and name it “about”. Then select the Type Tool (T) and write the words “About us” with the same font, color and size that you used for the word “Services”.
Add an image beneath the words “About us” with the dimensions 455px by120px. To add a double-stroke effect to this image, copy the layer style from a previous image (right-click on its layer and select Copy Layer Style), and then paste it to this layer (right-click on the layer and select Paste Layer Style). Then change the size of the Inner Glow to 6.
Select the Type Tool (T) and add a text beneath the image using the font Georgia, the size 14px and the color #673046.
Step 33 – Creating the ‘Blog’ area
Now we will create an area for recent blog posts. Create a new group and name it “blog”. Select the Type Tool (T) and write the word “Blog” beneath the ’services’ area with the same font, color and size that you used for the words “About us”.
Add two images with the dimensions 220px by 100px. Then copy the layer style of the image from the ‘about us’ area and paste it to these two layers to get the same double stroke effect.
Use the Type Tool (T), the font Georgia and the color #683147 to write a text next to each of these two images.
Step 34 – Creating a contact form
Create a new group and name it “contact”. Then select the Type Tool (T) and write the words “Contact us”.
Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and create a contact form like the one you see in the following image using the color #fcf8ec. Add a 1px stroke to each rectangle using the color #ddd0a4. Then select the Type Tool (T) and write the name of each field of the contact form using the font Georgia and the color #ddd0a4.
Use the Rectangle Tool (T) to create a send button beneath the contact form. Use the same settings which you used at step 31 for the buttons from the ’services’ area.
Step 35 – Adding a copyright statement in the footer
Select the Type Tool (T) and write a copyright statement in the footer of your layout using the font Georgia and the color #c8bfa4.
Final Result
Well, we’re finished! In the following images you can see the final web layout (with and without the grid). I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and you learned something new.
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25 Portfolio Site Designs Using Illustration
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by Vandelay Website Design.
Portfolio sites often showcase creativity and the skills of the designer. If you browse around at current portfolio sites you’ll see a lot of illustration being used in the design. In this post we’ll feature 25 portfolios that use illustration. To see more portfolios please visit our gallery site Folio Focus.
For more design inspiration please see:
- 25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites
- 25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites – Part II
- 25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites – Part III
Article source: Vandelay Design Blog
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