A good website is one of the most important factors in online marketing. It needs to be well-organized, eye-catching and have great content. But designing an effective website isn’t easy. In addition to a creative eye, you need a working knowledge of programming, HTML and a good deal of other specialized areas. So what are the best online resources for web design tips and tools of the trade? For today’s Friday Favorite feature, they turned the blog over to me, TMR’s web designer and here’s what I’ve got..
WebDesigner Depot – This site has a lot of articles geared toward web designers and inbound marketers, from tips to improving your site to dealing with terrible clients. They have a lot of other great content as well, including free downloads of cool extras to round out a web designer’s toolkit: icons, patterns, textures and more. In addition, every month they have a “What’s New for Designers” feature, where they showcase the latest tools of the trade for that given month—from new jQuery plugins to frameworks to online tools. Best of all, they cover topics from all different aspects of web design, from apps and design tips to the business side of things to small but important things like the Arial vs. Helvetica debate.
Codrops – Codrops has all the basics like articles and tutorials, and features a lot of cool CSS, jQuery and HTML snippets. It’s full of not only great resources, but great ideas for different designs and features you can incorporate into your site. Then it lays out the code you need to grab these ideas and integrate them into your own designs quickly and simply. They provide great inspiration if you are stuck with the “same old, same old” in terms of user experience and user interface design. Their playground area features experiments and other fun web development projects (including a lot of cool 3D stuff) to get the imagination going. They also offer a list of coupons and deals from their sponsors for apps and other web design resources.
Smashing Magazine – Smashing Magazine is great for current design trends. It’s got sections on coding, web design, mobile design, graphics and using WordPress. In addition, their e-book library is a cornucopia of (DRM free) web development resources. The site also features a job board for both fulltime and freelance positions around the world.
