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Showing posts from May, 2023
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Windows 10 is finished — Microsoft confirms 'version 22H2' is the last Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 version 22H2 will be the last. The current release will be supported until October 2025, after which users will be encouraged to upgrade to Windows 11. There will be no version 23H2 release of Windows 10 this fall. Microsoft has today announced that it has no plans to release any more new versions of Windows 10, with the current version 22H2 release being the last before the OS reaches the end of support in October 2025. This means there will be no version 23H2 release of Windows 10 this fall, but the OS will continue to be serviced with security updates on a monthly cadence.  Windows 10 has been on the market since 2015 and has received constant "new versions" in addition to monthly security updates. At one point, Microsoft was shipping two new versions of Windows 10 every year, before pulling back to a more manageable one-version release annually. Since Win...
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How do Switch Careers from Graphic Design to UX/UI Design? Changing professions can be tricky when you need a guide to the right steps. While the graphic design profession is very stable, it is okay to want a change. Whatever your reasons for a career change, it’s essential to be sure of your decision before you take action. Breaking into UI/UX design is not a walk in the park, especially in graphics design. However, by following the proper steps, fueled by your determination to succeed in the new field, you can make a smooth transition. Thus, this article will explain the steps to switching your career from graphic design to UI/UX design. Mark the Difference Graphics and UI/UX design have much in common, yet they are very different. As a graphic designer, you create professional visual content to relate messages to an audience, including images, flyers, social media posts, and print designs. Graphic designers also use vector graphics and illustrations to communicate a message in a way...
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The meaning of colors: How to use colors in your art! Everywhere you go, you see colors: white clouds in the sky, green vegetation inching up gray stone structures and red brick buildings, grounding brown soil beneath your feet. You don’t just see these colors…you feel them. Each color has a different meaning and can evoke different emotions in people. Color psychology is a branch of color theory that studies how you can use each color to create emotion, mood, and feeling in art.  Where do color meanings come from? Color meanings come from a variety of places. Some are primal, like the color green’s association with growth and fresh vegetation. Others developed later from modern environments people found themselves contending with, like the color green’s association with poison and death for 18th-century Europeans (due to the era’s green dye containing arsenic). And sometimes color meanings can change over time, like how green’s association changed from the color of poison to the c...
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Recalling Color Theory Keywords: a way to refresh your memories! The Color Wheel The relationship between colors can be shown through the use of the color wheel. The color wheel shows links between different colors based on the red, yellow, and blue content of each color. It was first developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. The color wheel’s most useful and most commonly used variant is shown in the image above, which includes red, red-orange, orange, orange-yellow, yellow, yellow-green, green, green-blue, blue, blue-purple, purple, and purple-red combinations. (Stone, 2008). Bleicher (2011) stated that the color wheel can be categorized into three main types of colors based on the combination of base colors used to create the final color, as follows: Primary colors: Primary colors - yellow, red, and blue. These are basic colors that cannot be broken down into any simpler colors. Secondary colors: Secondary colors  - are created by mixing two primary colors. The secondary col...
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What is the golden ratio? The golden ratio, also known as the golden number, golden proportion, or divine proportion, is a ratio between two numbers that equals approximately 1.618. Usually written as the Greek letter phi, it is strongly associated with the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers wherein each number is added to the last. The Fibonacci numbers are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on, with the ratio of each number and the previous number gradually approaching 1.618, or phi. History of the golden ratio. The first known mention of the golden ratio is from around 300 BCE in Euclid’s Elements, the Classical Greek work on mathematics and geometry. Euclid and other early mathematicians like Pythagoras recognized the proportion, but they didn’t call it the golden ratio. It wasn’t until much later that the proportion would take on its mystique. In 1509, Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli published the book De divina proportion, which, alongside illustrations by Leonardo da Vi...
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The graphic design you need to know! Graphic design is a creative discipline that involves visually communicating ideas, messages, and information using various elements such as images, typography, colors, and layouts. It encompasses a wide range of design projects, including branding, advertising, print design, web design, packaging, and more. Graphic designers use their artistic and technical skills to create visually appealing and effective designs that engage and communicate with the intended audience. Graphic design is the process of creating visual content to communicate messages. It is a broad field that encompasses a wide range of activities, from creating logos and branding to designing websites and apps. Graphic designers use typography, imagery, color, and form to create visually appealing and effective designs. There are many different types of graphic design, each with its own unique set of skills and techniques. Some of the most common types of graphic design include: Log...
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What benefits of Design Systems for Designers, Developers, Product Owners, and Teams? WHAT IS A DESIGN SYSTEM? A design system in its most basic form is a collection of design and code decisions that everybody uses. Like a style guide but with components (like buttons or cards) as design and code resources. It’s a framework of building blocks, based around centralized design decisions. A design system can have a positive impact on business goals, workflow, team and user happiness, and on shaping the brand experience for the customers and the employees. Knowing the benefits can be useful when you try to convince your management that a design system is not a waste of money. Or when you want to convince your designers that it will not replace the creative part of their job. BENEFITS OF DESIGNING SYSTEMS FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THE TEAM 1. Scalability Most companies run into issues when scaling up their products. The main issue is a non-linear increase in effort. This often happens both during...
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Best Prototyping Tools For UI/UX Designers - How To Choose The Right One? There are many different prototyping tools available to UI/UX designers, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The best tool for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences. Here are a few things to consider when choosing a prototyping tool: Your budget: Prototyping tools can range in price from free to hundreds of dollars per month. It's important to choose a tool that fits your budget. Your skill level: Some prototyping tools are more complex than others. If you're a beginner, you may want to choose a tool that is easy to learn and use. Design goals and complexity: Consider the complexity of your design project. Are you working on a simple mobile app or a complex web application? Some tools excel at creating simple prototypes, while others offer advanced features for complex interactions and animations. Prototyping fidelity: Determine the level of fidelity you require for your proto...
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How To Improve Your Website’s UX Design For Maximum Conversion Rate? UX has a long history… going back way beyond the digital era. Restaurants have always been concerned about User Experience, and so have museums and hotels. The chef, the curator, the innkeeper—these people have always had a vested interest in your comfort, your enjoyment… your experience.  UX design is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, efficiency, and accessibility of a website. Also, the conversion rate is directly proportional to the UX design of the website. But, a good UX design includes much more than an intuitive user flow and an eye-popping layout. A great User Experience will instantly elevate the browsing experience of the users. This, in turn, will lead to more traffic and an increase in conversions. Improving your website's user experience (UX) design is crucial for maximizing your conversion rate. Here are some tips to help you enhance your website's UX design a...
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How to use Midjourney to design a brand identity? Midjourney is a powerful AI tool that can be used to create a variety of creative content, including brand identities. Here are the steps I took to use Midjourney to design a brand identity for a fictional company called "The Greenery": Define the brand identity. What are the company's values? What do they want to communicate to their customers? I started by creating a mood board to capture the company's visual identity. This included images of nature, sustainability, and wellness. Research and inspiration: Explore various sources of inspiration, such as competitor brands, industry trends, and design styles. Midjourney can provide a wealth of inspiration through its curated collections, case studies, and design examples. Create a mood board: Compile images, colors, typography, and design elements that align with your brand's vision. Midjourney can assist you in creating digital mood boards that visually represent t...
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How Collaboration Makes You a Better Designer! The concept of the solitary creative genius is a myth. When I first began as a designer, I felt like my designs had to be complete before I could show them to anyone. I think this vulnerability stems from a feeling that we as designers have to think through every element before we can call a design complete. As a result, it can be tempting to withdraw — to fully embrace the solitary designer stereotype — and assume the problems we’re facing are uniquely our own. But here’s the thing: usually another person on your team has dealt with similar challenges. Ideation techniques that you can use during design collaboration sessions include: Brainstorming—when everyone shares ideas verbally. Mind mapping—when people create visual ideas and use free association to add more thoughts connected to the original idea. Storyboarding—when the group makes visual storylines that show how your product might work. Worst possible idea—a rather fun approach th...
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 What Is a Pixel ? A pixel, short for "picture element," is the fundamental unit of a digital image. It is the smallest controllable element that displays or represents color and information in a digital display or image sensor. A pixel, also known as a picture element (pix = picture, el = element), is the smallest adjustable point of a rasterized image. Each pixel can take on properties of over a million different colors—and when grouped together, they can portray an unlimited range of shapes and images. Essentially, pixels are the building blocks of the digital world, allowing designers to manipulate and set them to specific coordinates to bring an image to life. In visual design, it is important to understand the overall structure of a pixel and how it can be manipulated to benefit the quality of your designs. To avoid common problems like pixelation and decreased web page loading speeds, let’s take a closer look at a single pixel and answer some important questions that w...
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Principles of Design ? The principles of design are the rules that designers follow to create effective and attractive compositions. How does the use of the principles of design factor into universal design practices? According to the Center for Universal Design (CUD) at North Carolina State University, universal design is: The design of products and environments is to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without adaptation or specialized design. The principles of design help designers achieve this goal, as the foundation of these principles promotes user-friendliness and inclusivity. The principles of design are a set of fundamental guidelines that are used to create visually pleasing and effective compositions in various artistic and design disciplines. These principles help artists, designers, and creators organize and arrange elements such as lines, shapes, colors, textures, and spaces to achieve balance, harmony, and visual interest. While different sources ma...