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WEB DESIGN FEATURE

Leading experts in web design reveal the secrets that save them time

and speed up their workflow.

Every web designer has a secret or two. Hard-won workflows, hidden

hacks, and insider knowledge that are the mark of true experience and

the stuff that separates great web design training

(http://www.creativebloq.com/css3/web-design-training-top-10-

online-tools-812225) from good.

INDUS TR Y INS IGHT: Is di gi tal

the future o f co mics?

(/design/industry-insight-designers-comment-digital-comics-812578)

<R EAD THIS! Typo ho li c by

Vi cti on:a ry

(/typography/read-typoholic-812584)

>

30 web design tips to make your life

easier

>

13

Share

Here, we've managed to persuade some of the web's busiest devs and

designers to part with their most closely guarded tricks and tips. It's

quite a collection.

Packed with professional know-how, you'll discover secret features of

well known tools, the beta services that the design industry is buzzing

about and CSS tricks that make page design for multiple platforms easy.

So whether you're a beginner at online design or a web veteran, you're

bound to uncover one or two tips here that will change the way you

work.

01. CodeKit for browser reloading

"If you're on a Mac then CodeKit (http://incident57.com/codekit/) is a

must," says Keir Whitaker, co-founder of Viewport Industries

(http://www.viewportindustries.com). "The browser reloading feature

Faster coding>

CodeKit enables you to instantly see changes in your browser, without

refreshing

>

is worth the small cost alone. The days of hard refreshing your browser

to make changes take effect are long gone."

02. Apply global changes

Here's a coding tip from musician, producer and web dev Elliott

Fienberg (http://www.mrtunes.ca) that can help speed things up at the

early stages of your design work. Use the wildcard CSS rule - using an

asterisk as the selector - and you can globally apply changes to an entire

page. For example, to change all the fonts on a page to sans-serif, you

just need: *{font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;}

This is a great designer's trick to have in your pocket while you're going

through the design process. Of course, it's not such a great idea to leave

it in your live code, so use this trick carefully and sparingly!

03. Set garish outlines

File this in the "simple acts of genius" folder - a tip from Christopher

Murphy of Web Standardistas (http://www.webstandardistas.com) that

makes cross-platform design so much easier. "When working with media

queries, set an outline in a garish colour," says Murphy. "For example:

{outline:10px solid green/red/yellow/blue;}. This enables you to

instantly see which exact rules are being applied to what you're

currently looking at."

04. Check your character count

"45-75 characters per line is generally accepted as safe for comfortable

reading," says Trent Walton, founder and designer with Paravel

(http://paravelinc.com/). "There's a quick trick to ensure your

responsive or fluid design supports this. Place a line of dummy text on

your page with an asterisk at character 45 and an asterisk at character

75. Now test the site to make sure it resizes within these parameters."

05. Use FitVids for video embedding

HTML5 has simplified video embedding, but designers still have two

problems. The first is getting video to resize responsively, the second is

to ensure resizing degrades gracefully for Flash when HTML5

embedding isn't supported. Enter FitVids (http://www.fitvidsjs.com), a

jQuery plugin that takes care of all that for you.

06. Smushit for image size reduction

Sites with highly optimised images load faster and work better on more

devices. "SmushIt (http://www.smushit.com/ysmush.it) is a great

option to reduce image file sizes," says web developer and Microsoft

evangelist Martin Beeby (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/thebeebs/), and we

agree. You may also want to give Trent Walton's fave ImageOptim

(http://www.imageoptim.com) a try.

07. Export images as 8bit PNG

Martin Beeby makes an old-school suggestion for handling PNG image

files. "If you're exporting an image from Photoshop to PNG, and it

doesn't need to be transparent, try exporting it as an 8bit PNG," he

Dealing with images>

Smushit uses optimisation techniques to remove unnecessary bytes from

image files

>

explains. "In most cases the image quality won't be affected but you will

massively reduce the file size."

08. PNGQuant for image conversion

If you want to maintain transparency and minimise file size, there's a

service that can help. PNGQuant (http://www.pngquant.org) can

convert 24/32bit PNGs to 8bit PNGS and still maintain transparency.

There's fancy for you.

09. Use GuideGuide

Layouts>

GuideGuide is a columns, rows, and midpoints panel for Photoshop>

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and set your preferences here(http://www.futureplc.com/cookies-policy/)

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"The best websites are designed to a grid," says Rhys Little, director of

digital marketing agency Plug and Play

(http://www.plugandplaydesign.co.uk/southampton). Setting up grids

everytime in Photoshop can be tedious, though. He recommends Guide

Guide (http://guideguide.me/): "It makes the process a breeze and

save you a lot of time creating custom grids."

10. Use a 12-column grid

Another tip from Rhys Little: "Typically it is a good idea to use a grid

with columns nicely divisible by 2, 3 and 4. Therefore, a 12 column grid

is one of the most popular and versatile grids to use." Check out 960grid

(http://960.gs/) for more web design-friendly grid templates for a host

of apps.

11. Find colour inspiration

We’re already fans of Adobe Kuler; Martin Beeby has uncovered a use

we hadn't thought of: "I'm colour blind and so when I'm putting colour

palettes together for a project I always reach for Kuler," he explains. He

also recommends Colour Lovers (http://www.colourlovers.com) - a

creative community where members share colour schemes, designs and

ideas.

12. Typecast for typographic palettes

Web typography>

Typecast (http://beta.typecastapp.com), an app produced by the

talented team at Belfast-based design agency Front

(http://www.designbyfront.com), makes designing typographically rich

sites a breeze. "It enables you to rapidly build and compare typographic

palettes," enthuses Christopher Murphy.

13. Use Typecast with Google Fonts

Monotype recently teamed up with Google to release a new, free public

version of Typecast (http://typecast.com/fonts/google) which can be

accessed through Google Fonts (http://www.google.com/fonts). It

enables you to select any font on the Google Fonts website and then

follow the link to the Typecast app.

From there, you can work with that font on text of any length and use a

wide range of type controls to build clear, readable type systems

through adjustments such as font size, weight and line spacing. Your

work can be exported as production-ready HTML and CSS, or PNG

files, to share with others or merge with comps.

14. Font Squirrel for free web fonts

Typecast helps you build up a typographic palette quickly>

Free web fonts have really come of age. With Font Squirrel

(http://www.fontsquirrel.com), Google Web Fonts

(http://www.google.com/webfonts) and the @font-face attribute of

CSS3, there's no need to put up with the typography troubles the last

generation of web designers struggled so much with. Here's our round

up of some of the best free web fonts

(http://www.creativebloq.com/typography/free-web-fonts-1131610)

around.

15 Use Dropbox for version control

Keir Whitaker suggests using Dropbox Pro

(https://www.dropbox.com/pricing) as a simple versioning system. As

well as having 100GB of storage, you'll get versioning of your files for 30

days rolling. "More than enough to help you out with those 'accidental'

deletes," says Whitaker.

Plan the perfect site>

Dropbox Pro can be used as a simple versioning system>

16. Slow down

Visual creatives have a habit of whipping out their sketchbook first.

Aidan Martin, senior designer at Alienation Digital

(http://www.alienationdigital.co.uk/), says we all need to slow down.

"Don't start with a design: take a scenario-based approach," says Aidan.

"Firmly establish the user's goals, map out their journey and then build

the design around this."

17. Put your site on a Post-it

Does your design idea fit on a Post-it note, asks Elliott Fienberg? "One

exercise I like to do is to write down your core content on a small piece

of paper like a Post-it note," he says. "This will help you figure out what

is really important and what can be omitted. The small piece of paper

simulates the attention span of most users these days."

18. Plan your user flow

Want to know what to do with the rest of those Post-its? "You can

expand this exercise by planning out your user flow on a series of Post-it

notes," adds Elliott Fienberg. "I guarantee your project will be far more

focused." Other sticky notes are available, of course, including virtual

Sticky Notes on Windows (http://www.sticky-notes.net/windows-

sticky-notes-free.html) and Stickies on OS X

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickies_(software)).

19. Name your layers wisely

Photoshop workflow>

Rhys Little offers a clutch of tips on sharing Photoshop

(http://www.creativebloq.com/photo-editing/photoshop-tips-and-

fixes-612316) layouts within your team. His first suggestion: "Be as

descriptive as possible when you name your Photoshop layers. It takes a

second when creating a new layer to give it a simple name that others

will be able to understand. This will save hours of forensic work later

on."

20. Bin spare layers

Throw away any extra layers in Photoshop designs, adds Rhys Little. "If

you like to save those extra layers 'just in case' then just archive a

version with the layers you want to save," he says. Your main file will

only contain the layers developers and other designers need access to,

minimising confusion.

21. Label your folders

Be as descriptive as possible when naming your Photoshop layers>

"Make sure you create an ASSETS Folder containing all fonts, images,

logos, etc used in your project," continues Rhys Little. "And ensure that

those individual folders are labelled accordingly."

22. Keep names consistent

Rhys Little also suggests that you maintain a consistent naming scheme,

where the current site design file is always has the same name, rather

than incrementally naming files. Older files should then be banished to

an archive folder. For example:

ARCHIVE

WEBSITE.PSD

23. Save everything to server

"Remember to save your work to the server," adds Rhys Little. Even

when you're taking an afternoon to tweak a file; "if you are sharing files,

you need to ensure that your most recent work is readily available even

if you are not."

24. Use Pinterest for moodboards

Keep clients happy>

Pinterest is a great way to get started collaborating on moodboards with>

While we’re talking about keeping clients on your side, we all know that

clients love moodboards (http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-

design/mood-boards-812470). They’re a great way to collect elements

together quickly and clue your client in - or even get them involved in

the initial design process. The easiest way to get started? Create a

shared board on Pinterest

(http://www.creativebloq.com/inspiration/pinterest-boards-designers-

812533) and invite your client to pin away.

25. Involve clients from the start

"Get the client involved as early as possible and throughout the design

process," says Aidan Martin. "Always remember that they know their

business best and only by combining this knowledge with your own will

you be able to develop a truly successful digital solution."

26. Focus on prototyping

Use prototyping tools to get early versions of your designs in front of

clients as soon as possible. This could be as simple as a Fireworks

prototype or as complex as a functioning wireframe made in Balsamiq

(http://www.balsamiq.com). "Get those signed off before jumping in

with Photoshop and it will make your job a lot easier," urges freelance

web designer Gavin Elliott (http://www.gavinelliott.co.uk).

27. Ask for help

your client

Boost your career>

If a job calls for an advanced skill you don't yet have, don't be afraid to

ask for help. With free collaboration tools like Trello

(http://www.trello.com) and Redbooth (http://www.teambox.com) you

don't even need to be in the same country!

28. Work on your portfolio duringdowntime

"Don't wait for other people to ask you to try something new or to

challenge you," says Ben Howdle, developer at Wapple.net

(http://www.wapple.net). "In the downtime between jobs, when you’ve

finished pitching, you should always be creating new portfolio work. The

more inventive, the better."

29. Say yes to new challenges

Ben Howdle has another strategy for keeping the work flowing: say yes

to work even if it's outside your comfort zone. "Taking on jobs that

challenge you helps you to develop and expand your skills much more

Use a free collaboration tool such as Trello to ask for help when you get

stuck

>

than any tutorial. And deadlines are a powerful motivator to learn on the

job."

30. Get feedback from Dribbble

Remember how helpful those crit sessions were at college? "Check

places like Dribbble (http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design-

tips/dribbble-designers-and-illustrators-you-should-be-following-

1232886) for inspiration," urges Ben Howdle. It's a social network for

designers, where you can share work in progress and get comments

from your peers. Sometimes it takes another designer to tell you where

you're going wrong - or right.

Words: Karl Hodge (http://spodgod.com/)

Like this? Read these!

Do you have a secret to your web design success? Don't be selfish,

share it with others in the comments below!

Tags: Web design (/tag/web-design), CSS3 (/tag/css3), Feature (/tag/feature)

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