We here at WebDesign.com are always on the lookout for great deals for our members and people involved in developing for the web. There is an amazing deal going on over at the Envato network right now. They have put together a limited-time designer bundle containing over $500 worth of design items for only $20. The offer ends on Friday, so you don’t want to miss out on this great bundle.

This bundle is jam-packed with design-related items like:

• Photoshop Add-ons
• Product Mockups
• Specialized Graphics
• Print Templates
• Web Elements
• Vector Art
• Presentation Templates
• Icons
• Fonts
• Textures
• Stock Photo and Art
• and more…

Don’t miss out on this solid design bundle deal for only $20.

Note: There are no affiliate links in this article. We just really think this is a good deal.

Everyone who used to color in coloring books raise your hands. Keep your hands raised if you did color-by-number. Keep your hands raised if you STILL color-by-number or color in coloring books. For those of you who still have your hands raised and for all of you who like a little guidance and help in creating a better aesthetic appearance on your website, this little tip is for you.

Modular Grid

The modular grid website gives web designers and developers an incredibly useful tool that offers total control over making a layout grid. Choose the number of modules, the gutter size in between each module, the height of each block, and so much more. But it doesn’t stop there. Once you create the perfect grid layout you can save it as a PNG pattern, a Photoshop pattern, or a Transparency mask. The downloaded file of your customized layout grid can then either be applied to your graphical design of the site or directly to your site as the body tag background image to help you align your site correctly.

There are even some special features to the modular grid site like the ability to download a full-blown Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extension. Have fun and start getting grid-y on your site today.

It’s part of the WebDesign.com premium membership. Join today to get access to more than 250 hours of training tools that can help you do business better.

You are just in time for the Photoshop®: Creative Layer Effects webinar on Tuesday, June 14th at 2pm Central Time.

In this webinar we’ll be discussing various ways to create and edit non-destructive layer effects like glows, shadows, bevels and borders in Adobe Photoshop. We’ll cover the basics of the Layer Styles panel first and then we’ll get into a few projects to put what we’ve learned to the test.
INSTRUCTOR: Justin Seeley
LENGTH: 1+ hour
REGISTRATION LINK: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/781311331

If you are a member of WebDesign.com, you may want to start off by viewing the webinar recording “Working with Photoshop Layers”. This is a basic design webinar that will helps you understand how layers work and what you can do with layers. The 67-minute webinar will focus on Photoshop but will also cover how to use layers in other design programs as well.

It’s part of the WebDesign.com premium membership. Join today to get access to a growing library of resources that can help you do business better.

Today’s Internet has become a social environment. Like it or not, that’s just a fact. As a designer you should be aware of the various social spaces that are available to you and your clients and try to learn as much as you can about them. You need to be able to integrate their various customization schemes into your (or your client’s) brand strategy.

The first thing you’ll need to do is create a plan of attack. By this I mean that you need to research and find the correct networks for you or your clients. Finding the right audience is half the battle when it comes to social media. Don’t waste your time on networks that don’t have relevance for you or your client.

In other words… If you’re a dog… don’t try to be a kangaroo!

Once you’ve determined which networks are right for you, you should study those networks and learn the ins-and-outs of their platform. You’ll need to know the limitations such as screen sizes, customizable area size, level of interactivity, and a host of others. The more you know about your chosen platforms, the better off you will be.

The next phase is creating what we call a “Unified Message” through design. By this I mean that you want to develop your designs (logos, colors, slogans, etc.) and build a core set of graphics that will work across multiple social spaces.

Consistency is key when it comes to the web because consistency creates awareness.

Once you’ve developed your core set of graphics and/or branding materials it’s time to put your plan into action. Go to your chosen networks and use your knowledge of their platform to design some memorable landing pages/profiles.

The final phase focuses on the importance of “social cross pollination.”

The premise of this theory is that by referencing your various social profiles on ALL of your sites, marketing materials, and (seemingly) benign places like email signatures or business cards, you will be able to capture a new segment of users or simply expose your existing user base to a different side of you. By doing this you will constantly give people new ways of interacting with you and keep them “on the hook” by giving them fresh ways to get interesting content from you no matter where they may be on the web.

As you can see, I’m very passionate about this subject and fully believe that the internet is headed down a road that will only become more social. Now is the time to act on this and get up-to-speed with these technologies. If you don’t you run the risk of being left behind, and as we all know… If  you’re not at the party, you can’t dance with the pretty girl!

Below are the slides for the “Designing for the Social Web” presentation:

This is how you actually build a site, with an emphasis on working through the design process with a client—and avoiding the headaches that can cause. The 154-minute recorded training webinar will cover how to get started, tools you can use and creating elements within WordPress. It will dive into some code, but don’t worry—heavy coding isn’t the focus.

This in-depth lesson is part of the WebDesign.com premium membership. Join now to access a growing library featuring more than 250 hours of web know-how.

(WebDesign.com members can view the video recording of the webinar in your members area.)

Buttons are the “call to action” areas of your site—“buy now,” “watch the demo,” “order”—and they should look good. This webinar demonstrtes the skills to create more striking visual images—we’re going beyond simple blocks of color. We’re talking gradients, rounded corners, lighting effects, texture, edges and more.

These are the basic building blocks of your site and you should be able to create them yourself without calling in a professional (and expensive) designer to do it for you. Plus, the skills you learn in this recorded webinar can be applied to all kinds of graphic design work in Photoshop®. You’re learning how to make buttons, but you’ll have the skills to make headers, backgrounds and just about any graphic element you need.

Call it “Photoshop 101″. It’s part of the WebDesign.com premium membership. Enroll today to learn how to make your own buttons and access a growing library of web design knowledge.

Trying to find the right web designer or developer to help you to create and build a strong online presence can be an overwhelming task, especially if you’ve heard the countless stories of people being taken to the cleaners on their web development projects. Today, I’m going to give you a few great tips on how to hire the right web designer for your next project.

This is going to hurt but I’ll say it  … I agree that designers are getting lazy.  I feel that in many ways we have neglected the true creativity that is hidden within us and settled for mediocrity in order to pump out our work.  Things have changed and it reminds me of the first MTV music video I ever saw, Video Killed the Radio Star, at the age of eleven.  Digital killed the the artistic star.  Terrible, I know!  However, on the other hand the advances of technology have been extremely beneficial for graphic and web designers.  Who remembers burnishing Letraset for ads or coding on the Tandy TRS-80?  Some things in the past were just a pain in the butt to do and now we can be more creative in certain areas, more quickly.

How does this relate to WordPress themes for web design?

Simple.  There are those discussions where the purists thumb their noses at the kids who “cheat” and use a template, theme, or stock art.  But is it really cheating?  Can we blame some designers for finding ways to be more productive and for making more money by not creating everything from scratch?  Here are some considerations:

• It takes a lot of energy and time to create something from nothing
• The world has devalued true artists and the worth of creativity to who can do it for less
• The economy really sucks and those ‘cheap bastards’ have gotten cheaper
• Many people wait to the last minute and then need it yesterday
• Business is about being profitable not winning design awards
• Solopreneurs or small shops are limited by time
• There really isn’t too much new or original under the sun

If you just consider these true and valid thoughts, then it absolutely makes sense to streamline the creative process or development.  Time IS money. You either can sell your custom artwork or creativity for a very high and lucrative price because you do less projects and time is limited, or you can sell efficiency and good enough work for less and bang out more projects.  As long as the client who is paying your fee is happy, why does it really matter?

Please know that I value custom artwork and the lost arts and crafts we once knew.  I also value the ability to make quick money and getting on to the projects that I really love that might not pay.  My belief is that using WordPress themes or stock artwork is definitely not cheating or wrong – it’s smart business!

How do you feel about it?