CLASSIFICATIONS

The contents of a typography library can be broken down into four primary classifications: serifs, sans serifs, scripts, and decorative typefaces. Before delving into the sea of available typefaces, start by understanding the types and generally accepted uses of each classification.

• Sans Serifs are best recognized by their lack of ornamentation. With the advent of the internet and ever-evolving printing techniques, sans serifs are used consistently in almost every capacity due to their easy legibility at nearly every size. Sans serifs are most effective at quickly and concisely displaying information to the reader without any underlying emotional or visual triggers. Designers have also adopted the sans serifs’ simplicity to create a modern or minimalist feel when relevant to the design of their project. On the flipside, take extra care when using a sans serif for identity or branding efforts. The lack of decoration leaves little to brand as specific to one company or a visual identity. Common Sans Serifs: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Futura, Franklin Gothic, Gill Sans, and Univers
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• Serifs, in the most basic form, are a sans serif typeface with small finishing strokes at the beginning and end of each letter stroke. Serifs are commonly used as the default typeface by nearly everybody from the average email user to professional designers. From the design perspective, serif typefaces are often used for body copy because it is widely believe that the smooth arcs help lead the eye easily through large amounts of text. They are also a good choice for business and formal correspondence, marketing materials, and myriad media due to the under current of credibility and professionalism they project. Within this classification, there is a subset know as slab serifs, which feature block-like, heavy serifs that do not naturally run into or join to the next letter. Due to their weight, slab serifs should predominantly be used for headlines. Common Serifs: Times New Roman, Georgia, Book Antiqua, Garamond, Century Schoolbook, and Bookman (Common Slab Serifs: Courier and Rockwell)
  

• Script typefaces are modeled after handwriting, and are often used to introduce a human feeling or connection to the reader. Varying from child-like scribbles and chalk letters to elegant calligraphy, script typefaces are effective at introducing fun or sophistication to a computer-generated piece. Scripts are most often used in formal, or decidedly informal projects (see the example below). Scripts rule the world of personal design from invitations to announcements. However, the use of scripts in corporate design should be minimal, as they do not project authority and reliability. Common Scripts: Comic Sans, Monotype Corsiva, Mistral, Lucinda Handwriting, and Brush Script
  
  

• Decorative (also known as ornamental or display) typefaces typically fall into the serif category due to their highly ornamental nature. As their name indicates, they are highly decorative and best used to create or reinforce design styles and themes in large sizes (such as headlines). Their otherwise unique letter shape can be refreshing and attention getting. They can also be used to mimic the emotions and aesthetic of a specific genre or time frame. However, the intricate strokes often used to create these typefaces make them undesirable for use in large amounts of text or at smaller sizes, and therefore are not ideal for body copy.  Avoid using highly decorative typefaces in news or business reports, as they tend to detract from the neutrality for which most organizations strive. Be wary of over using a decorative typeface, or choosing a one inappropriate to the subject matter.
  
  

CONVENTIONS

When choosing typefaces its important to keep in mind the established conventions for the medium at hand. This is not to say that conventions cannot be broken — after all, design s all about breaking rules — but its important to know what the rules are before breaking them.

Websites and online projects require a typeface’s compatibility with the largest common denominator of computers, which usually necessitates the use of otherwise familiar or commonly used typefaces. As such, web standards have been quickly been defined with the use of a sans serif for body copy paired with a serif, script, or decorative typeface for headlines and subheads.

The opposite can be said for print pieces. It has become the collective opinion of most designers that the smooth arc and small leading lines of serifs helps the eye move comfortably through large amounts of text, and as a result, the serif has become the champion of body copy. In recent years, studies have proven that though serifs are not necessarily easier to read, rather our eyes are trained early on to believe they are. From this point the classic nature versus nurture paradox exists. Whatever the case, serifs remain the universal choice for body copy.

 

CUSTOMIZATION AND STYLING

To further customize or illustrate your intent, try playing with variations of weight (regular, medium, bold, heavy), width (narrow, condensed, extended), italics, outline stroke, and color. The adjustment of any of these components can severely alter the visual cues your typeface relays to the reader.

AVOID OVERUSE

Finally, and this can never be said enough — think twice before using the following typefaces: Comic Sans, Curlz, Papyrus, and Times New Roman. This is not an editorial on their quality or usefulness in the proper context. When observed in a vacuum, each font has its merits. Unfortunately, the designer needs to account for all external influences and these fonts have been overused to the point that even the most unobservant passerby can probably identify them by name. The last thing a designer wants when presenting information is to allow the message to be obscured by the typeface.

When choosing typefaces, classifications and best practices should merely be a guide to jumpstart the creative process. Good Luck!

With the employment of graphic and web designers set to expand by between 7% and 13% by 2018 this infographic will give you a better idea about the areas in which you should be honing your skills in order to improve your salary.

Average Salary for Web Design and Web Developer jobs

Dona Collins is an infographic artist, blogger and financial writer at CreditLoan.com. When she is free you can find her on twitter and other times you can find her writing articles for creditloan blog.

Creating a card

The registration and setup process is really simple it literally takes a minute to fill in all your contact details and create your card. You are then guided to fill in the rest of your details step by step.

Customization

There are some great looking themes to chose from so you can quickly add some personality to your business card. An html editor is on the way soon so you will be able to take full control of the design.

Portfolios

One of the coolest things about Identyme is the ability to upload a portfolio of your work which you can separate into albums allowing you to easily showcase different projects. To accompany your portfolio you can if you wish also add a resume to your Business Card, fill in the predefined questions and/or upload a pdf or word document of your full resume.

Social profiles and contacts

Easily collect all (and I really mean all, Identyme is compatible with 150 social networks) your social profiles and contacts into one place. Indentyme allows you to upload and search all your contacts in one place.

Conclusion

In summary Identyme is a handy tool for easily sharing examples of your work and collecting all your contacts together. The portfolio feature is specially useful and the collection of customizable themes are genuinely novel and well designed. The service is available to try out for free but there are a number of paid upgrade options available.

Do you know of any similar services to Identyme? or have you had any good or bad experiences with this app? Please let us know in the comments!

There are more to benefits to these apps than just staying organized. Some of these apps enable small businesses to take the kind of control of their finance that was once just the preserve of big businesses with dedicated accounting departments.

Below we’ve compiled a list showcasing what we believe are the best 20 invoicing tools for web designers/developers in no particular order. However a word of warning’ be sure to choose your app with caution, once you have started using one it can be difficult to migrate if you later encounter limitations. Always sign up to free trials where available and compare a few alternatives before making a decision.

Billing Boss

Billing Boss allows anyone from freelancers to a small businesses to quickly and efficiently bill clients with an unlimited number of invoices. This app lets you add as many clients as you need to your database and help you stay organized by instantly saving and cataloging you invoices.  Billing Boss seamlessly integrates with Paypal so you can reach clients worldwide with its great support for multiple currencies.

Simple Invoices

Simple Invoices, a static web-based invoicing application that allows itself to be installed on a web-sever or a Windows PC. It can also be hosted by one of the following service providers as well.

LessAccounting

Not only can you invoice but you can easily keep track all of your business expenses with LessAccounting. You can put organize your expenses into categories, add notes and even upload a pictures of your receipts for each expense.

FreshBooks

Streamline your business with recurring invoices. Set up auto-billing to automatically charge your client’s credit card. Quickly and easily invoice clients in any currency. Create your invoice, select your currency and you’re done.

Blinksale

Blinksale is a great looking web application that has a powerful feature set. Blinksale has a quaint option that allows you to send invoices via snail-mail, whatever that is!  You can also customize your invoices by uploading your very own logo or if you have some time on you hands design your own invoices with CSS.

Billing Manager by Intuit

Billing Manager is a web-based invoicing solution that lets you create invoices, send professional estimates, and helps you get paid online.

In addition to online invoicing and estimates, Billing Manager lets you send PDFs of your invoices, send reminders to your customers, process eChecks, accept all major credit cards online and choose currencies.

Simply Invoices

SimplyInvoices integrates seamlessly with Basecamp so you can easily invoice clients the exact amount of time you have spent on a project..

Cashboard

Quickly invoice for time logged against a project, materials, or other goods. Create invoices for your projects with one mouse click, or set up recurring invoices to bill your customers automatically.

Bill My Clients

BillMyClients is a hassle-free way for businesses to quickly & easily create and print invoices and bills online. It makes it a breeze to send those same invoices via e-mail and the United States Postal Service – all without leaving your desk.

The Invoice Machine

The Invoice Machine takes a new clever approach to online invoicing. It’s beautiful and simple-to-use interface makes producing professional looking invoices a very pleasant experience. Create new invoices in a snap. Set options like currency, taxes, shipping, discounts, language, notes and more.

InvoTrak

Invotrak is a full-featured online invoicing and timesheet tracking application that can save you time and money. It’s also includes many of the features you need to speed up your billing tasks.

BillingOrchard

BillingOrchard provides enterprise electronic billing solutions through a simple, secure interface, supported by top notch service and priced for small businesses.

Invoice Journal

Use the client list to enter your customers into the Invoice Journal system and easily retrieve them later when you need them. When its time to create a new invoice simply type your clients name, company name or email address and Invoice Journal will show you which clients match your criteria.

Browse, sort and search all of you invoices quickly and seamlessly. Since there are no limits or restrictions on the invoices you create there is never a need to delete or archive invoices.

SmartInvoice

Smart Invoice is an easy to use, full featured, web based billing and time tracking system designed specifically for small businesses, freelancers, and other independent contractors. Use the recurring billing feature to send regular invoices to clients automatically – no extra effort required.

MarketCircle

Billings powerful application for the Mac features with stylish designs so you can send elegant invoices right out of the box. Choose from any of the customizable templates, or create your own with the built-in WYSIWYG designer. Either way you’ll send polished professional invoices in seconds. Billings also has a fantastic looking iPhone App.

InvoicePlace

Manage your billing and quotes from the office, home or on the road. Create invoices and quotes for any type of product or service. Use Invoiceplace no matter what you sell be it paint, jumping castles, hardware supplies, or cell phones.

Time 59

Time59 is web-based software that let’s you track billable time and expenses, create and e-mail invoices, and record payments. Time59 keeps everything perfectly organized. Critical details and totals are instantly available. Time59 on your mobile device is included FREE with your account.

PaySimple

With PaySimple billing and receiving payments is safe for you and your customers, all information is securely stored with 256-bit encryption and SSL protection.

ProfitTrain

With ProfitTrain you’ll easily be able to keep contact information up to date, store reoccurring services and products, send estimates and export to spreadsheet for more exotic totaling.

Harvest

Harvest lets you and your staff track time and send invoices from one integrated application. Use Harvest’s visual reports to see the distribution of your company’s resources at a glance. Create an online invoice and easily bill your client. Get paid faster by collecting online payments from your clients instantly and securely via the web.

Do you know of any other invoicing tools that work great for designers/developers? or have any good or bad experiences with any of these apps?  Please contribute and share with us what you’ve found.

1. Adobe Photoshop CS5

Adobe Photoshop CS5

You all knew this was coming first, right? What’s a top 10 list without Adobe Photoshop? With the release of Creative Suite 5, Adobe has boosted Photoshop’s features and delivered more flexibility and design options. And web designers know that a powerful graphic and image editor is essential to be effective at work. With holiday season discounts from Adobe, you can snag a copy of Photoshop CS5 starting around just $600.

2. Apple iPad

Apple iPad

Not only are Apple iPad’s the hottest item since sliced bread, but they’re less than half the cost of a quality laptop. They’re essential to have around if you’re designing for mobile devices, applications and varied device resolutions, and not to mention (we drool over how cool they are). If you really want to make a web designer happy this season, surprise them with an iPad (starting at just $499).

3. SanDisk Ultra® Backup 16GB USB Flash Drive

SanDisk Ultra Backup 16GB USB Flash Drive

SanDisk has introduced the SanDisk Ultra® Backup USB Flash Drive which is the first USB flash drive with a backup button. With three models available: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, web designers can store lots of files, images, drafts, proposals and more. Buy online from Staples.com starting at $89.99!

4. CSS3 For Web Designers

CSS3 For Web Designers

A Book Apart continues its web design book series ‘…for people who make websites’ with Dan Cederholm’s masterfully written “CSS3 For Web Designers”. With the emergence of new methodologies like HTML5 and CSS3, it’s always important for us designers to study up on the semantics so we can stay ahead of the game. Purchase “CSS3 For Web Designers” as paperback, ebook or a bundle of both.

5. Basecamp

Basecamp | 37Signals.com

Basecamp is a robust project management software solution for managing almost any type of web project. Millions of people already use Basecamp, and it’s the preferred project management tool of several multi-million dollar brands. Don’t have a large organization? That’s okay too. Basecamp starts with a “Small Group” plan that costs only $49/month.

6. Apple Magic Mouse

Apple Magic Mouse

The Apple Magic Mouse is a must-have for Mac-lovers. It’s a wireless, bluetooth-dependent multi-touch mouse that allows for seamless operation. Make sure you have the required hardware and software before buying the Magic Mouse. Details can be found on the Apple website or by clicking the link above.

7. Typekit Portfolio Plan

Typekit Portfolio Plan

Typekit is a really cool web service that allows web designers to use a large library of stylish fonts that were previously unavailable for use on websites. For web designers who have started using CSS3 on a regular basis know that in order to use a large variety of fonts on their projects, they must adhere to license agreements for font usage on the web. Typekit makes the “licensing agreements” a non-issue, allowing designers to stick to what they do best — using great typography. Purchase a “Portfolio” plan for a friend and spend only $49.99/year.

8. The Smashing Book

The Smashing Book

The Smashing Book is a byproduct of Smashing Magazine which is an awesome read for designers. It’s a printed book that covers best practices in modern web design. And as a treat, The Smashing Book also shares some exclusive information about the background of Smashing Magazine. This is a must-have gift for web designers!

9. Custom Laptop Skins

Laptop Skins

Surprise someone with a custom or pre-made laptop skin from Schtickers.com. Schtickers gives you total flexibility; allowing you to add custom graphics, text and backgrounds to their removable and reusable laptop skins. Create a custom laptop skin to fit the dimensions of your specific laptop! Very affordable, thoughtful gift for a web designer.

10. Quality Headphones

Headphones

Last but not least of the great gifts for web designers are a set of quality headphones. Lots of web designers enjoy listening to music while working. However, a set of half-broken headphones that barely work anymore aren’t going to get the job done. Do someone a favor and get them a quality pair of headphones that will last the test of time. The Amazon.com Headphone Department has a great selection. Get shopping!

There are plenty more great gifts for web designers that could have been included in this entry, but I decided to narrow the list down to the top 10. Any web designer would be lucky to receive any of the above. I know I would be. Happy holidays and happy shopping!

You can leave your thoughts, tips and insights in the comment section below, or you can leave your answer on the original question on Answers here: CSS validation, How Important Is It

This question was originally asked by Ben G.

Here is the best answer, as voted by our users, so far:

So, what do you think, how important is CSS validation?

Thanks to everyone who asked a question, but most importantly thanks to everyone that took the time and effort to offer helpful and useful answers.

The Square Grid

The Square Grid is a simple CSS framework for designers and developers, based on 35 equal-width columns. The grid is equiped with a 28px baseline-grid for a smooth vertical rhythm with each block (DIV) defined with a margin of 1 square (28px) from the next block.
The Square Grid

FEM CSS Framework

The FEM CSS Framework is a 960px width 12 column grid system. It is based on the 960 Grid System, but with a twist in its philosophy, making it more flexible and faster to play with boxes.
FEM CSS Framework

Formalize CSS

Formalize CSS is a useful framework for giving your forms a cross-browser uniformity.
Formalize CSS

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboyand speckyboy@twitter).

Phono – jQuery Phone Plugin

Phono is a simple JQuery plugin and JavaScript library that turns any web browser into a phone; capable of making phone calls and sending instant messages. You can even connect to SIP clients; all with a simple unified API.
Phono – jQuery Phone Plugin

Wijmo – jQuery UI Widgets

Wijmo is a complete kit of over 30 jQuery UI Widgets. It is an extremely dangerous mixture of jQuery, CSS3, SVG, and HTML5 that when combined become an unstoppable force on the web.
Wijmo – jQuery UI Widgets

SlideNote – A jQuery Plugin For Sliding Notifications

SlideNote is a customizable, flexible jQuery plugin that makes it easy to display sliding notifications on your website or in your web application.
SlideNote – A jQuery Plugin For Sliding Notifications

IMGr – jQuery Image Rounder

IMGr is a jQuery plugin for rounding image corners. The script utilizes CSS3 in modern web browsers, and VML in Internet Explorer 8 and below.
IMGr – jQuery Image Rounder

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboyand speckyboy@twitter).

In this article we’ll analyze the current design trend when it comes to slideshows. We’ll start by taking a look at common uses of slideshows but also alternative and creative solutions. As you probably know, we can define a slideshow as a collection of items that can slide within a container. The content of every slide will be revealed for a fixed amount of time within the container.

A slideshow is a great solution to save space in a web layout and to catch the user’s eye with animations. Since slideshow scripts for popular javascript libraries are everywhere, this technique is becoming a little bit overused. This is the reason why, we would like to show you how you can still use a slideshow to make your website stand out without falling into mediocrity.

The Standard Slideshow

The first example is dedicated to the standard slideshow pattern. As you can see from the picture, it’s an animated slideshow with a non numbered navigation. Although this is the most utilized slideshow pattern of all, let’s try to understand why this example stands above the rest. First off, the animation is not a common fade or slide. It’s a slide with a subtle easing, that gives to the animation a personal look.

There’s a lot of space around the slideshow and the controls that creates a very elegant and subtle feel. The last important detail is the number of slides. By using a small amount of slides you’ll be able to ensure that all the slides will be viewed. If you use too many slides the user will be probably be repelled.

The Left/Right Slideshow

This is another very common slideshow pattern in web design. The container shows a fixed number of slides and the left and right controls make it possible to scroll left or right and reveal the next slides. Apart from the websites great design, there’s a detail in this example that makes this slideshow uncommon: the image at the center will never slide.

Your users are not expecting it and it’s a detail that you’ll never forget. Basically when you scroll left or right, in a normal slideshow all the three images will scroll in the selected direction. In this case the featured project in the center will remain in the same position, and the three slides will scroll behind it. If you take a look at the website you can delve into it and understand why it’s so different.

Another stand-alone detail is the slide up effect that every project name has. If you click on a project name, the description will slide up, without the necessity to go to the actual project page. It’s a slideshow with a different approach and an internal slide up effect. This is a great example of how it’s possible to use a common design pattern and take it to another level.

Different Location Slideshow

This pattern was very common when the first version of Flash became readily available. When you click on an element, something changes in another part of the website. In these days it seems to be less popular, but it could be useful in some cases. If you take a look at our example, when you click on the thumbnail images at the bottom of the page, the main image will be revealed in the iPhone illustration.

This is a clever slideshow example. The designer probably needed to show some screenshots of the iPhone app, and instead of using an overused lightbox effect (that is what the user probably expects) found the solution to show the screenshots directly in the iPhone illustration.

This approach has two main goals: avoiding images overlay and showing the screenshots in their real environment, an iPhone. When you click on the thumbnails you get the feeling that you’re currently seeing the real application on the iPhone, and you can better understand how the application works. When you use a screenshot outside the context (the iPhone in this case), it’s not so immediate for the user to understand it.

The Hover Slideshow Effect

This is another really common slideshow pattern that uses a small amount of space withiin the area of design. It can also relay quite a bit of information if you hover over the labels. In this particular example from Threadless, hovering over the labels will show an image related to that specific label.

If you click on the label you’ll be redirected to the right section of the website. It’s like a navigation menu with more information associated to the menu item. There’s a big debate on the Internet these days on subject matter of hover effects and hiding information beneath hovering.

The reason why these techniques are so discussed is that in touchscreen devices like the iPad or the iPhone there are no hover states. If this is true, it’s also true when you tap on an element containing a hover effect, the information will be shown on devices such as the iPad. And at the second tap you’ll be taken to the link specified. Point being, you shouldn’t avoid hover effects because you believe mobile devices do not have the capability of supporting them, as this is untrue.

The Full Screen Slideshow

Now we’re entering to the top chart zone. This is an example of one of the best full screen slideshow ever designed. You have two arrows at the top right corner of the website and when you click on one of them, the entire product page will shift and slide, revealing yet another product. This is beautifully designed and it gives the feeling as though you’re purchasing the product from a live store.

If you don’t immediately warm to the slideshow idea, there’s always a normal menu at the top left corner that will let you navigate between products within the slideshow. The combination of a great slideshow and a menu fallback is a state of the art full screen slideshow.

Numbered Slideshows

We’re closing this article with a great example of all previous patterns combined in one slideshow. Take a look at the screenshot to understand the power and simplicity of this approach. The slideshow on this page is the entire website. You have multiple controls, the left/right arrows and the numbered controls at the bottom.

After the numbered controls you have the website menu items, that will show the content of every section directly in the slideshow viewport. It’s the perfect slideshow. You can’t miss a section of the website, the navigation is clear, you’ll be totally captured by the slideshow and after navigating through it you visited the entire website.

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The most common mistakes made in designing a website are:

Too Much, Too Soon

Ever opened a website and felt dizzy seeing too much content, color, intricate borders and graphics? The top web layouts always have just one or two focal points, nothing more. In the first place, you don’t have to limit the website to just one page. However, you should also not bombard your main home page with too many directional guides and links to the other pages. If a web design has too much going for it, it will be its own worst enemy. Remember that a visitor to the website has a million other site choices, and so your window of opportunity to keep him interested is so small and be just a matter of seconds. The general idea is that a person should be able to tell within 4 seconds after opening a site what it’s all about.

Using The Wrong Design Elements

You may know a lot about web design, but you do not have to use them all at once. Neither should you be random about which design elements to use.  For instance, if the website has products to sell, then do not let design detract from the product so much so that the person looks at the design rather than the product. Neither should you have elements that stop a person from buying by using “come on,� “wait,� or “there’s more� kind of tactics.

Getting Drunk on Contrasts

The use of contrast is a great design technique, but it can get in the way, especially if you try too hard to create a visual smorgasbord battling for attention. On the other hand, many designers tend to disregard the use of contrast because they know the content by heart, and fail to look at the design from the angle of a visitor.  Thus, they look at the overall effect, and end up using too light text color that affects visibility and readability.

Inconsistency From Top To Bottom, Side to Side

Often a web design gets attention because it has no focus, which means it’s not a compliment. Think of it as a room – you cannot have gothic mixed with country because they do not work together at all. It’s wrong to have a different theme for every page in your website, just as it can get to be too much if you keep changing the color scheme.

Creating a Navigational Maze

Web navigation refers to links to different parts of your website. An inconsistent web design uses different kinds of navigational designs in one page, or even in the entire website. Again, you need to maintain consistency. At the same time, the navigational keys should be concise and simple. This is the wrong aspect of the web design to “decorate.� It should be as easy for a 10 year old as it is for a 70 year old to figure out how to get to the Home Page or About Us page.

Making Web Design More Important Than the Content

Unless you are creating a design or artsy website, then content should reign supreme. The web design should not be the main selling point. It should be whatever the main focus of the site is. If anything at all, design should enhance content, and by doing so, get its due recognition.

Using Flash Techniques Improperly

A web design that incorporates a video that automatically pops up when a person goes to the Home Page should always have a Skip option. Making visitors go through the same Flash animation every time is abusive and inconsiderate. It will also cause a drop in interest. The same applies with music, especially in game sites. Not everyone wants to listen to the same tune again and again. There should be the option to lower the volume or put it in mute mode.

Playing Around With Text

Adding design to the fonts is generally a bad idea. People just want to read the content, not be impressed with its font, size, or color. It will also cause a problem with optimization. Thus, it is important to choose a font that is easy to read, and not be too small or too big.

Web design can easily go overboard, so the best way to avoid this problem is to have an objective independent person give you his or her point of view. If you get several opinions, you can come up with a consensus. Just choose your critics well.