20 Clean White Letterpress Business Cards

Not too long ago I owned a site called Card Observer, which is a gallery of business card designs. Everyday I would have to look through submissions and pick out the best business cards. This was something I really enjoyed and miss doing. So I thought it would be fun to do a showcase of awesome business cards here.

For this post, I’ve rounded up a collection of 20 clean white letterpress business cards that will inspire you. You’ll notice that the clean and minimal approach taken with these designs conveys an overwhelming sense of quality and elegance. (more…)

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Pantheon: A Premium WordPress Theme

Today we’re releasing a premium WordPress theme by Viva Themes for our premium members. If you’re not yet a member, you should sign up to download this and dozens of other files.

Pantheon is a left aligned theme, but with a lot of space in the left. A narrow main column, a front page slideshow and a couple of widgetized bars. This theme comes in three different flavors, to make it easier for you to select the one that fits to your business. In the front page you can have either your latest posts or a static page. The theme comes again with an options panel that helps you configure the theme, and enable/disable different stuff. Be sure and check out other great themes by Viva Themes. (more…)

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30 Examples of Perfectly Timed Action Photography

We live in a world that is constantly in motion. Some things move very quickly and can seem like a blur, but with photography, we can freeze time and get a better look at the action. Action photography is all about timing – being in the right place at the right time. It’s also important to be knowledgeable about what you’re shooting, so you know the best moment to take the shot.

In this article, we’ve rounded up 30 examples of perfectly timed action photography. To see larger versions of the photographs and to learn more about both the photograph and photographer, be sure to click on the images. (more…)

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10 Excellent Tools for Creating Web Design Wireframes

When starting a new web design project, it’s always a good idea to begin with a wireframe. The purpose of a wireframe is to communicate the layout of a page without getting caught up in color and design elements. Wireframes can be a big time saver as they help all parties involved come to an agreement on placement of major page elements such as headers, content areas, navigation menus, and footers. The key is to get the layout nailed down so major layout changes won’t take place once detailed design elements are in place.

There are several different routes that a designer can take for creating wireframes, and there are even applications designed specifically for this. For this article, we’ve rounded up 10 excellent tools for creating wireframes. (more…)

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50 Retro and Vintage Web Designs to Inspire You

Last week, Henry posted an article with 30 Fonts Perfect for Vintage and Retro Style Design and I simply loved the first font of the list, the matchbook typefaces. By the time I saw it I could think of several good ways to use it in web design, print design on even other ways. I was so inspired that I decided to do a selection of retro and vintage websites for our weekly web design inspirational post.

I really like retro and vintage stuff… websites, posters, print, adds, everything. I think it’s amazing how an ‘old style’ still get our attention and appreciation. For this selection of retro and vintage web designs, you will see retro and vintage elements, fonts, images, colors, textures, etc. I hope you enjoy the selection. And of course, if you have a cool retro/vintage site to share with us, the comments are open. (more…)

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30 Fonts Perfect for Vintage and Retro Style Design

A Vintage or retro style design is meant to transport it’s audience decades into the past. Designers try to do this by using various design elements such as textures and patterns from a certain time period. But it’s also important to use accurate typography from the time period you are trying to represent.

In this post, we’ve rounded up 30 excellent vintage and retro fonts that you can use in your designs. You’ll notice that these font’s range from a 1920′s look all the way up to the retro typography style of the 50′s. (more…)

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Personal Branding for Web Designers

“It doesn’t matter how good you are. What matters is how good you are at showing it!” This statement represents the ABCs of personal branding, self marketing or whatever you prefer to name it. As a designer, you are so fortunate that your work is pure creativity. As a result, your self- branding strategies should be equally creative. Let’s discuss some of them. (more…)

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WDL Premium: Floral Photoshop Brushes

Today we’re releasing a set of high-quality floral Photoshop brushes for our WDL Premium Members from Designious. Floral elements are a great way to give a design an organic and inviting appearance. This brush set contains 26 brushes in all. (more…)

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10 Essential WordPress Plugins You Should Be Using

There’s good reason why WordPress is the most popular blogging platform. It’s easy to use and has tons of great features. But what’s really made this open source software excel is its passionate community. Yes, WordPress has lots of features built in, but it doesn’t have everything. The WordPress community fills this need. It’s full of talented developers that are constantly creating plugins to extend the features and make it even better.

There are many WordPress plugins out there, but in this article we’re focusing on the most essential. Below is a list of 10 plugins that every WordPress website could use. (more…)

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50 Beautifully Brown Web Designs

Last week for our usual Monday inspirational post we presented you with a showcase of web designs featuring the color yellow. Many of you enjoyed the focus on one color and even asked that we showcase another color. Since yellow is bright and bold, we thought we would go neutral this week and focus on brown. Brown is an earthy color that represents simplicity, friendliness, and dependability. Maybe it was these characteristics that caused UPS to build their entire brand around brown.

Here are 50 beautiful brown web designs that will inspire you. You will see that brown makes a great base color for a design and works well with many other colors. (more…)

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