May 2018 - Visual Identity

CMS Web Design: A Guide to Dynamic Content Applications aside

This post was written by Ian Spangler, Digital Designer for Toptal UI/UX techniques for the dynamic content-driven world of online media. A large majority of web applications and mobile apps, especially in the online media space, are powered by content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal, and others. These systems have come into existence to meet the needs of an internet age where content is king and dynamic—changing continuously and frequently. In the past, most websites were static—not built to evolve and grow seamlessly. Now they are considered to be living systems, and there is an optimal way to design for them. The following is a guide for digital designers looking to expand their repertoire beyond static websites and landing pages, ...

Master Hot Design Trends with These Photoshop Tutorials aside

This post was written by Miklos Philips, UX Designer for Toptal Our daily lives are are saturated with amazing images. Visual design experiments become hot graphic design trends, and suddenly we see them everywhere. Striking visual designs are plastered all over the sides of buses, posters, billboards, TV ads, magazines and of course, digital products. They have many names, including duotone, double exposure, scan lines, glitch, smudge, color channel, photo masking, vibrant-garish colors, and misprint. The graphic design trend “glitch” on a New York City subway advertisement. As with fashion, design trends are often recycled from decades past—we see them coming back again and again: Russian constructivism, Bauhaus, screen printing, 1970’s… etc. Simple, saturated geometric design patterns have been around ...

Art vs. Design – A Timeless Debate aside

This post was written by Miklos Philips, JavaScript developer for Toptal. Spend any amount of time working among professional designers and you learn that equating art with design is a surefire way to stir the pot and hear bold statements like: “Design is not art. Design has to function.” “Art is meant to provoke thought and emotions, but it doesn’t solve problems.” “Artists primarily work off instinct, whereas designers employ a methodical, data-driven process.” Unfortunately, the designer vs. artist discussion often deteriorates into ranting and raving. Lines are drawn, battle flags are raised, and productive dialogue becomes impossible. What’s really going on here? Why have art and design been pitted against each other, and why are designersso adamant that design cannot be art? ...

Usability Testing for Conversion: Stop Following Trends, Start Using Data aside

This post was written by Joel Lopez, Designer for Toptal. When it comes to designing a product, designers are looking for the best solution to ensure a product meets the needs of the user as well as the needs of the business. Making a conversion is an important business goal when convincing a potential customer to buy a product or use your service. But what role does good user experience design play—including usability testing—in ensuring the highest conversion optimization rate possible (i.e., of leads to sales)? There are a lot of articles out there that claim to hold the ultimate key to conversion. There are always new trends or fads promising that, by changing a button to one particular color, using this specific picture or icon, or ...

Monthly ArchivesMay 2018