We need to be inspired to be in style. All of us are looking to give the website the edge to make it one in a million. We look for the style that allows the website to speak for itself, because a picture is tantamount to a million words. Last but not the least, it is always the first impression that leaves a touch; sometimes it might even metamorph in to first love.

Here we have showing you the top 20 designs that have inspired us; we are sharing the web app designs that have made the difference; we have been eclectic with an esoteric collection.

1) Reinvigorate

A tool to track real time traffic to your web with many features including heat sensing

2) Moodstream

A powerful tool to find you the images, footage or audio you are looking for.

3) Mailchimp

A powerful tools to manage your subscribers list, design HTML email campaigns and track and analyze email campaigns.

4) Blinksale

A very useful and easy to use tool to build and track invoices

5) GoodBarry

A complete tool for ecommerce, email marketing, CRM and analatycs

6) Wufoo

A must have, HTML form builder tool

7) Campaign monitor

Everything a designer needs to manage the subscriber emails

8 ) Kontain

A social media platform to promote your brand

9) Active collab

A powerful project management and collaboration tool

10) Proworkflow

A tool to manage your projects online

11) Aviary

A tool to create logos, webtemplates, filters and more .

12) Basecamp

A webbased project collaboration tool

13) Kuler

Explore, create and share color themes here

14) Emberapp

Best way to share your design inspiration with the world using emberapp

15) Freshbooks

Fastest way to track time and invoice your clients

16) Carbonmade

Easy way to display and manage your portfolio online

17) Notable

Easiest way for teams to provide feedback on websites

18) Evernote

Save your ideas and things you like for free on your desktop

19) Hotelmap

Get connected to each London hotel’s own reservation system

20) Photoshop

A perfect place to save and organize your online photos

Sponsors

Dreamhost: Get $50 Off with Coupon Code: WEBAPPERS

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20 Useful & Nicely Designed Web Applications originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 3, 2009.

We need to be inspired to be in style. All of us are looking to give the website the edge to make it one in a million. We look for the style that allows the website to speak for itself, because a picture is tantamount to a million words. Last but not the least, it is always the first impression that leaves a touch; sometimes it might even metamorph in to first love.

Here we have showing you the top 20 designs that have inspired us; we are sharing the web app designs that have made the difference; we have been eclectic with an esoteric collection.

1) Reinvigorate

A tool to track real time traffic to your web with many features including heat sensing

2) Moodstream

A powerful tool to find you the images, footage or audio you are looking for.

3) Mailchimp

A powerful tools to manage your subscribers list, design HTML email campaigns and track and analyze email campaigns.

4) Blinksale

A very useful and easy to use tool to build and track invoices

5) GoodBarry

A complete tool for ecommerce, email marketing, CRM and analatycs

6) Wufoo

A must have, HTML form builder tool

7) Campaign monitor

Everything a designer needs to manage the subscriber emails

8 ) Kontain

A social media platform to promote your brand

9) Active collab

A powerful project management and collaboration tool

10) Proworkflow

A tool to manage your projects online

11) Aviary

A tool to create logos, webtemplates, filters and more .

12) Basecamp

A webbased project collaboration tool

13) Kuler

Explore, create and share color themes here

14) Emberapp

Best way to share your design inspiration with the world using emberapp

15) Freshbooks

Fastest way to track time and invoice your clients

16) Carbonmade

Easy way to display and manage your portfolio online

17) Notable

Easiest way for teams to provide feedback on websites

18) Evernote

Save your ideas and things you like for free on your desktop

19) Hotelmap

Get connected to each London hotel’s own reservation system

20) Photoshop

A perfect place to save and organize your online photos

Sponsors

Dreamhost: Get $50 Off with Coupon Code: WEBAPPERS

Go to Source

20 Useful & Nicely Designed Web Applications originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 2, 2009.

Over the last couple of years, mobile devices have managed to gain mainstream popularity. With iPhone, making mobile Web applications finally usable by broad masses, web design can now be applied to mobile applications as well. In this post we are focusing on designs that are specifically optimized for mobile devices, in particular iPhone.

Though iPhone’s Safari browser is able to render any website just like you would see it on a desktop browser, the available screen area is much smaller than in common “classic” displays. This poses a new challenge for designers and developers who now can reach millions of users that use mobile Web. Websites that are specifically optimized for the iPhone utilize the screen to the fullest extent, and use less bandwidth (which is necessary, because the connectivity is not always optimal).

The iPhone browsing experience is quite different than the regular browsing experience. The buttons and hyperlinks have to be bigger because our fingers are not as sharp as the mouse pointer. Optimizing a website for iPhone is not rocket science. It’s the same HTML, CSS and JavaScript that you already know. The only major difference is the screen size.

In the showcase below we present some of the interesting, interactive and beautiful designs that are optimized for the iPhone. You will also learn about some handy tools that will help you optimize your website for the iPhone.

Also consider our previous articles:

• How to Create Your First iPhone Application
• iPhone Apps Design Mistakes: Over-Blown Visuals
• 100 (Really) Beautiful iPhone Wallpapers

1. News / Entertainment

Sevnth Sin
The unique navigation makes this site very interactive. Nice concept, nice colors.

Blip.tv
Perfectly suits the theme: video entertainment! Clean and clear typography.

NBC
The YouTube-style design makes it very easy to navigate and find shows.

Zinio
That’s a kit of magazines, all one-touch away!

Spin The Bottle
A simple bottle spinning game. Good use of graphics.

Daily Wallpaper
Similar to Zinio, but 2 thumbnails in a row make it more easy to navigate around.

AOL Horoscopes
Very well designed for a horoscope site. Matching color scheme throughout.

Yahoo Omg!
Fresh look, vibrant colors and lively typography make this design fun to browse and easy to read. The design also matches the celebrity gossip theme.

2. Business / Corporate

DPTO
Different tones of red make this design look very attractive on the iPhone. The 3D menu looks very nice — perfect for a marketing and design agency.

Mind Medium Creative
The use of gradients make the overall site look very shiny on the iPhone. The menu is very to-the-point. A nice composition and execution.

Redhawk Investment Advisors
This design has a very corporate feel to it. Good use of colors.

Nike Lab
Just what to expect from Nike. Sporty and energetic design.

Procab Studio
Procab studio showcases their work portfolio and other information about the agency. Well placed content. The font size is a bit too small, though.

Hotel Monterilla
The design makes you want to go there for a vacation. The design has a very comforting feel to it. A perfect color scheme.

Viget Labs
A blue background, appropriate padding and rounded corners make this simple design look vibrant and attractive.

Batali Associates
This is one of the good examples of design optimization for the iPhone. It clearly looks like it was really made for the iPhone, not just duplicated.

Ready For iPhone
A company that provides iPhone optimized website solutions. The finger on the “Go” looks intuitive.

Element Fusion
Another showcase website that provides design services. Looks like a cut-down version of the actual website.

Volkswagon
A showcase gallery for Volkswagon. Easy to navigate around. Clean and clear content.

3. Shopping / E-Commerce

Torn Robes
A nice example of a mobile e-Commerce site. Just touch your favourite design, have a look at it and buy it. Looks very vibrant.

Coosh
A single-product e-Commerce site. Branded very well.

Walmart
This design doesn’t really meet the expectations from WalMart — however, the design is still in beta. The usability is good, though: it is very easy to search for products and stores. You can also create shopping lists.

4. Portfolio / Blog

World Ending Blog (Japanese)
Although we did not understand a word there, it is very well designed for the iPhone. Every page is optimized and provides a good browsing experience.

Signal Element
Simple and clean design: just 3 pages, but very well designed.

One Crimson Splash
This is the portfolio of James Finley. The choice of colors and content placement are very good.

5. Education / Content

MIT
What else to expect from MIT? Simple, clean, user-friendly.

101 Cook Books
Not really a fancy design, but it’s the simplicity and clarity of content that makes it appear in this showcase.

Please Fix The iPhone
A good design that provides the desktop browsing experience. It is very easy to find what you are looking for.

1881
The Norwegian telephone directory online. The combination of bright blue, orange and white looks really good.

AOL Food
Heaven for those who love to cook. Just keep your iPhone with you in the kitchen, and let this nice design help you make a delicious dinner.

Deviant Art
A nice way to browse art on the iPhone. The color scheme is good, and it makes the artwork look prominent. Very easy to navigate and search. Also, appropriately sized thumbnails.

Last but not least, some words of wisdom…

Tools to design a website for iPhone

There are some libraries and kits available to help you iPhoneize your design.

• iPhoney
  iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment—powered by Safari—that you can use when developing web sites for iPhone. It’s a perfect tool to see how your web creations will look on iPhone.
• Test iPhone
  A web browser based simulator for quickly testing your iPhone web designs.
• iWebKit (Demo)
  iWebKit is a file package designed to help you create your own iPhone and iPod Touch compatible website or webapp. Comes with various ready-to-use themes.
• iUI
  iUI is a framework consisting of a JavaScript library, CSS, and images for developing iPhone web designs. It makes your web designs look and feel like iPhone’s native applications.
• Intersquash (Demo)
  Not really a helpful tool for designing, but you can instantly create an iPhone compatible site from your RSS feed url.
• WPtouch
  For WordPress users: WPtouch transforms your WordPress blog into an iPhone application-style theme, complete with ajax loading articles and effects, when viewed from an iPhone or iPod touch.
• Jaipho Gallery (Demo)
  If your website features a photo gallery, Jaipho will optimize it for iPhone users.

Further Resources

Don’t stop here. Check out these other great tutorials and guidelines.

• iPhone Reference Library
  Apple’s official iPhone reference library for developers. It has everything you need to get started: guidelines, code-examples, tutorials, etc.
• How to build a website for iPhone
  This step-by-step tutorial includes everything you need to do when building a website for iPhone. Instructions for orientation direction also included.
• iPhone Compatible CSS layouts
  Free website layouts which work in all the common web browsers including Safari on the iPhone and iPod touch.
• iPhone Interface Samples
  This includes samples for iPhone interface elements like buttons, fonts, text, design patterns, hacks 6 more.
• iPhoneWebDev Examples
  Very helpful examples for alot of things. Direction change, events, fonts, compression, etc.
• iPhone Application UI Design Patterns
• cssiphone.com
  A showcase of designs optimized for iPhone.

About the author

Adeel Raza is a young entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience on the web. He specializes in user interface, user experience and beautiful design. He loves finding gems out of dirt and showcasing them on his gallery Inspire Mix. Follow him on Twitter to say hi!

© Adeel Raza for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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Showcase of Designs Optimized for iPhone originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on September 27, 2009.

Everyone would agree that usability is an important aspect of Web design. Whether you’re working on a portfolio website, online store or Web app, making your pages easy and enjoyable for your visitors to use is key. Many studies have been done over the years on various aspects of Web and interface design, and the findings are valuable in helping us improve our work. Here are 10 useful usability findings and guidelines that may help you improve the user experience on your websites.

Form Labels Work Best Above The Field

A study by UX Matters found that the ideal position for labels in forms is above the fields. On many forms, labels are put to the left of the fields, creating a two-column layout; while this looks good, it’s not the easiest layout to use. Why is that? Because forms are generally vertically oriented; i.e. users fill the form from top to bottom. Users scan the form downwards as they go along. And following the label to the field below is easier than finding the field to the right of the label.

Tumblr features a simple and elegant sign-up form that adheres to UX Matter’s recommendation.

Positioning labels on the left also poses another problem: do you left-align or right-align the labels? Left-aligning makes the form scannable but disconnects the labels from the fields, making it difficult to see which label applies to which field. Right-aligning does the reverses: it makes for a good-looking but less scannable form. Labels above fields work best in most circumstances. The study also found that labels should not be bold, although this recommendation is not conclusive.

Users Focus On Faces

People instinctively notice other people right away when they come into view. On Web pages, we tend to focus on people’s faces and eyes, which gives marketers a good technique for attracting attention. But our attraction to people’s faces and eyes is only the beginning; it turns out we actually glance in the direction the person in the image is looking in.

Eye-tracking heat map of a baby looking directly at us, from the UsableWorld study.

And now the baby is looking at the content. Notice the increase in people looking at the headline and text.

Here’s an eye-tracking study that demonstrates this. We’re instinctively drawn to faces, but if that face is looking somewhere other than at us, we’ll also look in that direction. Take advantage of this phenomenon by drawing your users’ attention to the most important parts of your page or ad.

Quality Of Design Is An Indicator Of Credibility

Various studies have been conducted to find out just what influences people’s perception of a website’s credibility:

• Stanford-Makovsy Web Credibility Study 2002: Investigating What Makes Web Sites Credible Today
• What Makes A Web Site Credible? A Report on a Large Quantitative Study
• The Elements of Computer Credibility
• Elements that Affect Web Credibility: Early Results from a Self-Report Study (Proceedings of ACM CHI 2000 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, v.2, New York: ACM Press)

We don’t know if Fever app is any good, but the sleek user interface and website make a great first impression.

One interesting finding of these studies is that users really do judge a book by its cover… or rather, a website by its design. Elements such as layout, consistency, typography, color and style all affect how users perceive your website and what kind of image you project. Your website should project not only a good image but also the right one for your audience.

Other factors that influence credibility are: the quality of the website’s content, amount of errors, rate of updates, ease of use and trustworthiness of authors.

Most Users Do Not Scroll

Jakob Nielsen’s study on how much users scroll (in Prioritizing Web Usability) revealed that only 23% of visitors scroll on their first visit to a website. This means that 77% of visitors won’t scroll; they’ll just view the content above the fold (i.e. the area of the page that is visible on the screen without scrolling down). What’s more, the percentage of users who scroll decreases with subsequent visits, with only 16% scrolling on their second visit. This data highlights just how important it is to place your key content on a prominent position, especially on landing pages.

This doesn’t mean you should cram everything in the upper area of the page, just that you should make the best use of that area. Crowding it with content will just make the content inaccessible; when the user sees too much information, they don’t know where to begin looking.

Basecamp makes great use of space. Above the fold (768 pixels high), it shows a large screenshot, tagline, value proposition, call to action, client list, videos and short feature list with images.

This is most important for the home page, where most new visitors will land. So provide the core essentials there:

1. Name of the website,
2. Value proposition of the website (i.e. what benefit users will get from using it),
3. Navigation for the main sections of the website that are relevant to the user.

However, users’ habits have significantly changed since then. Recent studies prove that users are quite comfortable with scrolling and in some situations they are willing to scroll to the bottom of the page. Many users are more comfortable with scrolling than with a pagination, and for many users the most important information of the page isn’t necessarily placed “above the fold” (which is because of the variety of available display resolutions a quite outdated, deprecated term). So it is a good idea to divide your layout into sections for easy scanning, separating them with a lot of white space.

For further information please take a look at the articles Unfolding the fold (Clicktale), Paging VS Scrolling (Wichita University – SURL), Blasting the Myth of the Fold (Boxes and Arrows). (thanks, Fred Leuck).

Blue Is The Best Color For Links

While giving your website a unique design is great, when it comes to usability, doing what everyone else is doing is best. Follow conventions, because when people visit a new website, the first place they look for things are in the places where they found them on most other websites; they tap into their experience to make sense of this new content. This is known as usage patterns. People expect certain things to be the same, such as link colors, the location of the website’s logo, the behavior of tabbed navigation and so on.

Google keeps all links on its websites blue for a reason: the color is familiar to most users, which makes it easy to locate.

What color should your links be? The first consideration is contrast: links have to be dark (or light) enough to contrast with the background color. Secondly, they should stand out from the color of the rest of the text; so, no black links with black text. And finally, research shows (Van Schaik and Ling) that if usability if your priority, sticking to blue for links is best. The browser’s default link color is blue, so people expect it. Choosing a different color is by no means a problem, but it may affect the speed with which users find it.

The Ideal Search Box Is 27-Characters Wide

What’s the ideal width of a search box? Is there such a thing? Jakob Nielsen performed a usability study on the length of search queries in website search boxes (Prioritizing Web Usability). It turns out that most of today’s search boxes are too short. The problem with short boxes is that even though you can type out a long query, only a portion of the text will be visible at a time, making it difficult to review or edit what you’ve typed.

The study found that the average search box is 18-characters wide. The data showed that 27% of queries were too long to fit into it. Extending the box to 27 characters would accommodate 90% of queries. Remember, you can set widths using ems, not just pixels and points. One em is the width and height of one “m” character (using whatever font size a website is set to). So, use this measure to scale the width of the text input field to 27-characters wide.

Google’s search box is wide enough to accommodate long sentences.

Apple’s search box is a little too short, cutting off the query, “Microsoft Office 2008.”

In general, search boxes are better too wide than too short, so that users can quickly review, verify and submit the query. This guideline is very simple but unfortunately too often dismissed or ignored. Some padding in the input field can also improve the design and user experience.

White Space Improves Comprehension

Most designers know the value of white space, which is the empty space between paragraphs, pictures, buttons and other items on the page. White space de-clutters a page by giving items room to breathe. We can also group items together by decreasing the space between them and increasing the space between them and other items on the page. This is important for showing relationships between items (e.g. showing that this button applies to this set of items) and building a hierarchy of elements on the page.

Notice the big content margin, padding and paragraph spacing on The Netsetter. All that space makes the content easy and comfortable to read.

White space also makes content more readable. A study (Lin, 2004) found that good use of white space between paragraphs and in the left and right margins increases comprehension by almost 20%. Readers find it easier to focus on and process generously spaced content.

In fact, according to Chaperro, Shaikh and Baker, the layout on a Web page (including white space, headers, indentation and figures) may not measurably influence performance but does influence user satisfaction and experience.

Effective User Testing Doesn’t Have To Be Extensive

Jakob Nielsen’s study on the ideal number of test subjects in usability tests found that tests with just five users would reveal about 85% of all problems with your website, whereas 15 users would find pretty much all problems.

Source: Jakob Nielsen’s AlertBox

The biggest issues are usually discovered by the first one or two users, and the following testers confirm these issues and discover the remaining minor issues. Only two test users would likely find half the problems on your website. This means that testing doesn’t have to be extensive or expensive to yield good results. The biggest gains are achieved when going from 0 test users to 1, so don’t be afraid of doing too little: any testing is better than none.

Informative Product Pages Help You Stand Out

If your website has product pages, people shopping online will definitely look through them. But many product pages lack sufficient information, even for visitors doing a quick scan. This is a serious problem, because product information helps people make purchasing decision. Research shows that poor product information accounts for around 8% of usability problems and even 10% of user failure (i.e. the user gives up and leaves the website) (Prioritizing Web Usability).

Apple provides separate “Tech Specs” pages for its products, which keeps complicated details away from the simpler marketing pages, yet provides easy access when they’re needed.

Provide detailed information about your products, but don’t fall into the trap of bombarding users with too much text. Make the information easy to digest. Make the page scannable by breaking up the text into smaller segments and using plenty of sub-headings. Add plenty of images for your products, and use the right language: don’t use jargon that your visitors might not understand.

Most Users Are Blind To Advertising

Jakob Nielsen reports in his AlertBox entry that most users are essentially blind to ad banners. If they’re looking for a snippet of information on a page or are engrossed in content, they won’t be distracted by the ads on the side.

The implication of this is not only that users will avoid ads but that they’ll avoid anything that looks like an ad, even if it’s not an ad. Some heavily styled navigation items may look like banners, so be careful with these elements.

The square banners on the left sidebar of FlashDen are actually not ads: they’re content links. They do look uncomfortably close to ad banners and so may be overlooked by some users.

That said, ads that look like content will get people looking and clicking. This may generate more ad revenue but comes at the cost of your users’ trust, as they click on things they thought were genuine content. Before you go down that path, consider the trade-off: short-term revenue versus long-term trust.

Bonus: Findings From Our Case-Studies

In recent years, Smashing Magazine’s editorial team has conducted a number of case studies in an attempt to identify common design solutions and practices. So far, we have analyzed Web forms, blogs, typography and portfolios; and more case studies will be published next month. We have found some interesting patterns that could serve as guidelines for your next design.

Here, we’ll review some of the practices and design patterns that we discovered in our case studies in this brief, compact overview, for your convenience.

According to our typography study:

• Line height (in pixels) ÷ body copy font size (in pixels) = 1.48
  1.5 is commonly recommended in classic typographic books, so our study backs up this rule of thumb. Very few websites use anything less than this. And the number of websites that go over 1.48 decreases as you get further from this value.
• Line length (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 27.8
  The average line length is 538.64 pixels (excluding margins and padding), which is pretty large considering that many websites still have body copy that is 12 to 13 pixels in font size.
• Space between paragraphs (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 0.754
  It turns out that paragraph spacing (i.e. the space between the last line of one paragraph and the first line of the next) rarely equals the leading (which would be the main characteristic of perfect vertical rhythm). More often, paragraph spacing is just 75% of paragraph leading. The reason may be that leading usually includes the space taken up by descenders; and because most characters do not have descenders, additional white space is created under the line.
• Optimal number of characters per line is 55 to 75
  According to classic typographic books, the optimal number of characters per line is between 55 and 75, but between 75 and 85 characters per line is more popular in practice.

According to our blog design study:

• Layouts usually have a fixed width (pixel-based) (92%) and are usually centered (94%). The width of fixed layouts varies between 951 and 1000 pixels (56%).
• The home page shows excerpts of 10 to 20 posts (62%).
• 58% of a website’s overall layout is used to display the main content.

According to our Web form design study:

• The registration link is titled “sign up” (40%) and is placed in the upper-right corner.
• Sign-up forms have simple layouts, to avoid distracting users (61%).
• Titles of input fields are bolded (62%), and fields are vertically arranged more than they are horizontally arranged (86%).
• Designers tend to include few mandatory fields and few optional fields.
• Email confirmation is not given (82%), but password confirmation is (72%).
• The “Submit” button is either left-aligned (56%) or centered (26%).

According to our portfolio design study:

• 89% of layouts are horizontally centered, and most of them have a large horizontal navigation menu.
• 47.2% of portfolios have a client page, and 67.2% have some form of standalone services page.
• 63.6% have a detailed page for every project, including case studies, testimonials, slideshows with screenshots, drafts and sketches.
• Contact pages contain driving directions, phone number, email address, postal address, vCard and online form,

Other Resources

• 15 Valuable Usability PDFs You’ve Never Heard Of
• 15 Important Research Findings You Should Know
• 10 Additional Research Findings You Should Know
• Introduction To Good Usability
• 11 Striking Findings From an Eye-Tracking Study
• 25 Incredibly Useful Usability Cheat Sheets And Checklists
• 10 Usability Findings To Increase Sales And Customer Loyalty
• Web form design guidelines: an eye-tracking study

Have any thoughts on what we’ve covered, or know of other useful usability findings? Please leave a comment below.

About the Author

Dmitry Fadeyev is the founder of the Usability Post blog, where you can read his thoughts on good design and usability. Follow Dmitry on Twitter @usabilitypost

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© Dmitry Fadeyev for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on September 26, 2009.

Learning is a process which continues throughout the life of an artist, graphic designer, and illustrator. Along the way, designers find the task of mastering Adobe Illustrator a large obstacle which requires practice and experience in using the vector-based application. Practice comes in the form of tutorials, which offer tips, tricks, and artistic styles from other designers who have mastered certain techniques based on their experience.

From these tutorials, a designer can polish their skillsets on a variety of topics which will strengthen their own artwork. Sometimes a simple tutorial has tips which may have been overlooked based on the subject of the tutorial. By looking past the subjects of the tutorials, an endless array of learning opportunities exist. Essentially, the tutorials become not only a teacher but a “class” which a designer can repeat as often as necessary to refine their skills.

This post presents 40 excellent simple to complex Illustrator tutorials and presents the overall techniques of each tutorial, summarized in a brief overview. The purpose is to pick and choose among the tutorials based on the areas that need improvment. Whether a seasoned professional or a designer just starting out, these Illustrator tutorials offer a way to brush up on one’s skills.

Illustrator Tutorials

Gradient Mesh Bell Pepper Tutorial

• Use multiple smaller Meshes to create a realistic object
• Learn to use the Eyedropper Tool (I) to sample colors from a reference photo

How to create a Television Icon

• Using Offset Path on an object
• Learn to use Gradients to create surface texture and depth
• Create a reflection using an Opacity Mask

Working with 3D Objects and Transparencies to Make a Vector Cola Bottle Design

• Learn to “cut” up an image in Pathfinder and use the pieces in 3D Revolve to create solid objects
• Map art (symbols) onto a 3D object

Create a Stylish Colorful Text Effect in Illustrator

• Learn to use Offset Stroke on text
• Apply a Pattern Swatch to text

Illustrate a Malevolent Skull in 8 Steps

• Working with a sketch and outlining with the Pen Tool (P)
• Use Outline/Preview modes during design process
• How to use the Reflect Tool (O) to save time

Create A Wood Grain Texture

• Use Raster Effects, Live Trace, and Expand to create a texture
• Learn to use the Warp Tool (Shift +R) to customize a texture

Illustrator ring shape via overlapping crescents effect

• Create abstract geometric shapes with Linear Gradients, Align, and Pathfinder
• Learn to use Smart Guides (Cmd/Ctrl + U)

How to Illustrate a Brain Icon for OSX and Vista

• For faster coloring, use the Live Paint Bucket (K)
• Bonus Lesson: How to turn art into an icon

Create a Realistic Candy Bar in Illustrator

• Tips on stacking order for the Layers Panel when using a sketch
• Create realistic creases in paper
• Where to place shadows/highlights and why

How to Create a Vector Smiley Icon

• Working with Radial Gradients
• Copy design elements for symmetry
• Learn how to use the Isolation Mode

How to Create a Radial Mesh in Illustrator and Make a Vector CD

• Create a radial mesh from a Radial Gradient and the Mesh Tool (U)
• Learn the finer points of selecting mesh points
• Create a Clipping Mask

Illustrator full spectrum spirograph

• Using the Rotate Tool (R) to create abstract shapes
• Learn to use Transform Again to save time

How to Make a Cartoon Style Cereal Box Logo in Adobe Illustrator CS3

• Effectively use Strokes, Align Stroke, and Selection Tool (V) to modify fonts
• How to use 3D Extrude & Bevel Options to Create 3D Text

How to Create a Gearbox Settings Icon Using Simple Shapes

• Use the Rotate Tool (R) to rotate shapes relative to another shape
• Create a metallic texture using shapes and Radial Blur
• Design a perforated metal backing using Gradients

3D Effect Extrude and Revolve

• Learn to use simple shapes to create a 3D object with Extrude & Bevel

Illustrator Tutorial: Realistic Orange

• Learn to use Plastic Wrap Effect and Sponge Effect to create an orange peel texture
• Effectively use Opacity in an illustration

How to Create Semi-Realistic Scissors in Illustrator

• Using shapes and Gaussian Blur, create an aged metallic texture
• Learn to add highlights on metal contours

How to Create a Hippy Van Vector in Illustrator

• Trace a photo with the Pen Tool (P)
• Expand strokes to add Gradients

Illustrator Quick Tips #1 – Complex Symbols with Pathfinder

• Use the Gradient Tool (G) to create a 3D effect
• With the Pathfinder Divide, create abstract shapes
• Learn to use the Blending Mode Multiply

How to Make a Vector Diamond Ring in Illustrator

• Use Pathfinder to create a compound shape
• Create a metallic finish with Gradients
• Create a diamond with Linear Gradients

Create Fun, Eye-catching Text with Adobe Illustrator

• Use the Free Transform Tool (E) on text to create depth and perspective
• Highlight and shadow placement on text

‘Women and Cats’ How-To Advanced Tutorial

• Learn about shading/highlights in vector portraits
• Use of Transparency and Opacity Masks

Turn Any Font Into a Sketch Font

• Learn to use the Scribble Effect and Roughen to create a font
• Create a custom Graphic Style

How To Create A Realistic Pendrive in Adobe Illustrator

• Learn how to align objects to the Artboard
• Create a realistic metallic surface using Linear Gradients

How to Create a Rainy Window Vector Background

• Create an abstract background with the Mesh Tool (U) and circles
• Use Gradients, Inner Glow, and Warp to design raindrops
• Learn to make a Symbol from artwork

Draw a Cute Purse Using Simple Shapes

• Modify shapes using the Warp Tool
• Use Pathfinder Exclude to create new shapes
• Learn to design a simple pattern
• Quick Tip: Horizontal Align to align anchor points

Make a Christmas Light Bulb in Illustrator

• Create a quick glossy orb using Gradients and the Blend Mode
• Add an image to a round surface using Pathfinder

How to Create Shiny, Vector Dice in Illustrator

• Learn to use the 3D Extrude & Bevel
• Create highlights on a 3D object with the Gradient Mesh Tool (U)

Create a Cute Vector Monster from a Pencil Sketch

• Learn to rough in a character using the Pen Tool (P)
• Use tapered brushes to create a sketch style

Drawing a chinese fan

• Create symmetric shapes using the Rotate Tool (R) and Ctrl+D
• Overlay images using Symbols and Color Burn

How to Draw A Realistic Vector Light Bulb From Scratch

• Create a metal thread contact with Effects and Gradients
• Use the Zig Zag Effect to create wires

Create a Character Mascot with Adobe Illustrator CS4

• How to set up an Adobe Illustrator file to trace with a sketch
• Create a Custom Art Brush

Hit the Mark with a Realistic Vector Dartboard

• Using Transform Effect to create segments
• Save time with Live Paint
• Learn to create bent wire numbers

The Shane Harper way to go Lineless!

• Add details to a drawing with the Pencil Tool (N)
• Alter shapes quickly using the Knife Tool

Illustrator Tutorial: How to Make an Icy Cocktail

• Simulate “glass” using Color Burn and Gradients
• Create Water Drops quickly

Create a Simple Vector Creature in Illustrator

• Learn to use Guidelines effectively
• Use the Reflect Tool (O) for symmetry
• Change end caps on Strokes to alter paths

Create an easy landscape scene in Illustrator

• How to use the Crystallize Tool to create shapes
• Learn to use the Free Transform Tool (E) to create perspective

How to Create a Killer Chainsaw Bunny Character

• Learn to trace with vectors
• Block a character in using the Pen Tool (P)

Blueprint-Style Text in Adobe Illustrator

• Use Scribble Effect to create a hand drawn font
• Learn to use an Opacity Mask with a Gradient

Create a Cute Lipstick Tube

• Working with shapes and Pathfinder
• Learn shading tips for 3D Objects
• Design a Reflection on a shiny surface

Conclusion

These Adobe Illustrator tutorials are just a sample of some of the free learning opportunities available online. Learn to look past the tutorial subject and find what skills the tutorial covers. After all, it’s never too late to go back to school!

Further Resources

• 22 Very Useful Adobe Illustrator Tutorials
• 125+ Ultimate Round-Up of Illustrator Tutorials
• 15 Really Great Illustrator Tutorials
• 16 Design Blogs For Learning Illustrator
  
• Illustrator and Vector Tutorials
• 10 best Illustrator Tutorials

About the author

Melissa Scroggins is a freelance graphic designer who loves designing icons, creating vector illustrations, and playing survival horror video games. Follow her on Twitter where she posts on a regular basis.

© Melissa Scroggins for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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Back-to-School With 40 Excellent Adobe Illustrator Tutorials originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on September 23, 2009.

What if you had a nickle for every time you heard: "I have the perfect idea for a great application!"? It’s the buzz on the street. The iPhone has created unprecedented excitement and innovation from people both inside and outside the software development community. Still for those outside the development world, the process is a bit of a mystery.

This how-to guide is supposed to walk you through the steps to make your idea for an iPhone app a reality. This post presents various ideas, techniques, tips, and resources that may come in handy if you are planning on creating your first iPhone application.

1. Have an idea – a Good Idea

How do you know if your idea is a good one? The first step is to even care if your idea is solid; and the second step is to answer the question does it have at least one of the indicators of success?

	Does your app solve a unique problem? Before the light bulb was invented, somebody had to shout out “Man, reading by candlelight sucks!” Figure out what sucks, and how your app can make the life of its user more comfortable.
	Does the app serve a specific niche? Though there aren’t any stats on the App Store search, the usage of applications is certainly growing with the explosion of App Store inventory. Find a niche with ardent fans (pet lovers, for example) and create an app that caters to a specific audience.
	Does it make people laugh? This is a no-brainer. If you can come up with something funny, you are definitely on the right track and your idea may be the golden one. Heck, I hit a red “do not press” button for 5 minutes yesterday.
	Are you building a better wheel? Are there existing successful apps that lack significant feature enhancements? Don’t be satisfied with just a wine list, give sommeliers a way to talk to their fans!
	Will the app be highly interactive? Let’s face it, most of us have the attention span of a flea. Successful games and utilities engage the user by requiring action!

Action: Does your app fall in to one of these categories? If yes, it’s just about time to prepare the necessary tools.

2. Tools Checklist

Below is a list of items you’ll need (*starred items are required, the rest are nice-to-have’s):

• join the Apple iPhone Developer Program ($99) *
• get iPhone or iPod Touch *
• get an Intel-based Mac computer with Mac OS X 10.5.5,
• prepare a Non-Disclosure Agreement (here’s a sample) *
• download and install the latest version of the iPhone SDK if you don’t already have it.
• a spiral bound notebook*

Action: Load up on your required supplies.

3. What Are You Really Good At?

What skills do you bring to the table? Are you a designer whose brain objects to Objective C? A developer who can’t design their way out of a paper sack? Or maybe you are neither, but an individual with an idea you’d like to take to the market? Designing a successful iPhone application is a lot like starting a small business. You play the role of Researcher, Project Manager, Accountant, Information Architect, Designer, Developer, Marketer and Advertiser – all rolled into one.

Remember what all good entrepreneurs know – it takes a team to make a product successful. Don’t get me wrong, you certainly can do it all. But you can also waste a lot of time, energy and sanity in the process. Don’t go crazy, reference the checklist below and ask yourself: What roles are the best fit for you to lead? Then find other talented people to fill in the gaps. The infusion of additional ideas can only enrich the product!

Skills Checklist

• Ability to Discern what works/doesn’t work in existing iPhone Apps
• Market research
• Outlining App Functionality (Sitemap Creation)
• Sketching
• GUI Design
• Programming (Objective C, Cocoa) (we assume here that we are creating a native application)
• App Promotion and Marketing

Remember to have contractors sign your non-disclosure agreement. Having a contract in place tells your contractor "I’m a professional that takes my business and this project seriously. Now don’t go runnin’ off with this idea."

Action: Select skills that are a good fit for you to lead. For those roles where you cannot lead, hire professionals.

4. Do Your Homework: Market Research

Market research is a fancy way of saying "Look at what other people are doing and don’t make the same mistakes." Learn from the good, bad and ugly in the App Store. Coming up with creative solutions in the app concept development and design starts with analyzing other (maybe similar) applications. Even if you encounter a lot of poorly designed apps, your mind will reference these examples of what not to do.

Action: Answer these questions:

• What problem does your app solve?
• What products have you seen that perform a similar task?
• How do successful apps present information to users?
• How can you build on what works and make it unique?
• What value does your app bring to your audience?

5. Know the iPhone/iPod Touch UI

If you want to create an iPhone app, you need to understand the capabilities of the iPhone and its interface. Can you shoot a .45 caliber bullet out of your iPhone? No. Can you shoot videos? Yes!

The good news is that you don’t have to memorize the encyclopedic Apple User Interface Guidelines to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t in iPhone Apps. Download and play with as many apps as you can, and think about what functionality you want to include in your product.

Take note of:

• How do well-designed apps navigate from screen to screen?
• How do they organize information?
• How MUCH information do they present to the user?
• How do they take advantage of the iPhone’s unique characteristics: the accelerometer, swiping features, pinch, expand and rotate functions?

Action: Download the Top 10 apps in every category and play with all of them. Review the Apple Guidelines for UI design and list at least 5 features you’d like to incorporate into your app.

6. Determine "Who will use your app?"

We assume here that you’ve already determined that your app will bring value and that you will have a raging audience for your app. Well, fine, they are raging fans, but who are they really? What actions will they take to achieve their goals within the app?

If it’s a game, maybe they want to beat their high score. Or perhaps they are a first time player – how will their experience differ from someone who is getting a nice case of brain-rot playing your game all day?

If it’s a utility app, and your audience wants to find a coffee shop quickly, what actions will they take within the app to find that coffee shop? Where are they when they’re looking for coffee? Usually in the car! Do present an interface that requires multiple taps, reading and referencing a lot? Probably not! This is how thinking about how real-life intersects design.

Action: Line item out the different types of people who will use your app. You can even name them if you want to make the scenarios you draw out as real as possible.

7. Sketch Out Your Idea

And by "sketch" I mean literally sketch. Line out a 9-rectangle grid on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and get to sketching!

Ask yourself:

• What information does each screen need to present?
• How can we take the user from point A to point B to point C?
• How should elements on the screen be proportioned or sized in relation to each other (i.e. is this thing even tap-able?)

Image credit: Cultured Code

Thumbnailing your ideas on paper can push your creativity far beyond where your imagination might stagnate working in an sketching application! You can also buy the iPhone Stencil Kit to quickly sketch out iPhone UI prototypes on paper.

Action: Create at least one thumbnail page of your application per screen. Experiment with various navigational schemes, the text you put on buttons, and how screens connect. If you want to transfer your sketches into digital format, iPlotz is a good tool to check out.

8. Time for Design

If you are a designer, download the iPhone GUI Photoshop template or our iPhone PSD Vector Kit. Both are collections of iPhone GUI elements that will save you a lot of time in getting started. If you’ve solidified your layout during sketching, drawing up the screens will be less of a layout exercise and more about the actual design of the app.

If you are not a designer, hire one! It’s like hiring an electrician to do electrical work. You can go to Home Depot and buy tools to try it yourself, but who wants to risk getting zapped? If you’ve followed steps 1–3, you’ll have everything you need for a designer to get started.

When looking for a designer, try to find someone who has experience designing for mobile devices. They may have some good feedback and suggested improvements for your sketches. A few places to look for designers: Coroflot, Crowdspring, eLance. When posting your job offer, be very specific about your requirements, and also be ready to review a lot of portfolios.

Action: If you are a designer, get started in Photoshop. If you are not a designer, start interviewing designers for your job.

9. Programming

Even though this how-to is sequential, it’s a good idea to get a developer on board at the same time when you line up design resources. Talking with a developer sooner than later will help you scope out a project that is technically feasible and within your budget.

If you are a Objective C/Cocoa developer crack, open Xcode and get started! A few forums to join if you haven’t already:

• Apple Dev Forum
• iPhoneSDK (moderated by Erica Sadun)
• iPhoneSDKForum
• iPhoneDev Forums
• iPhoneSB

If you are not a developer, you know what to do – find one! Specify the type of app you want to produce – whether it is a game, utility or anything else. Each type usually requires a different coding skill set. A few places to look for developers: Odesk, iPhoneFreelancer, eLance and any of the forums listed above.

10. Submit your application to Apple Store

OK, so how do you submit your application to Apple Store now? The process of compiling your application and publishing the binary for iTunes Connect can be difficult for anyone unfamiliar with XCode. If you are working with a developer, ask them to help you:

• Create your Certificates
• Define your App ID’s
• Create your Distribution Provisioning Profile
• Compile the application
• Upload to iTunes Connect

Action: If you are a developer, map out a development timeline and get started. If you are not a developer, start interviewing devs for your job.

11. Promote Your App

If a tree falls in the middle of the woods and nobody was around to hear it does it make a sound? Apps can sit in the store unnoticed very easily. Don’t let this happen to you. Be ready with a plan to market your app. In fact, be ready with many plans to market your app. Be ready to experiment, some ideas will work, others won’t.

Strategies for maintaining/boosting app sales:

• Incorporating social media. If your users make the high score on his or her favorite game, it is a good idea to make it easy for the user to post it to Facebook or Twitter. Think about how your app can incorporate social media and build that functionality into your app. At a minimum, set up a fan page for your app on Facebook and Twitter and use them as platforms to communicate with your users and get feedback on your app.
• Pre-launch promotion. Start building buzz about your app before it has launched. E-mail people who write about things that relate to your app and see if they will talk up the upcoming release of your app.
• Plan for multiple releases. Don’t pack your app with every single feature you want to offer in the very first release. Make your dream list for the app and make sure that the app is designed to incorporate all of the features at some time in the future. Then periodically drop new versions of the app to boost app store sales.

Action: Make a list of 20 promotional strategies that target the audience for your app. Take action on them yourself or hire someone who can!

11. Stay Focused and Don’t Give Up!

It’s easy when you are working on your first app to get all AppHappy, dreaming up a zillion new app-ideas. Dream, but don’t get sidetracked by new ideas. Your first app needs to make a big splash and getting involved in too many projects at once can dilute your passion for making your first application a success.

Action: Get out there and go kick some app!

About the Author

Jen Gordon is the owner of Atlanta-based iPhone app design studio Clever Twist. She specializes in usable interfaces, beautiful design and straight talk. She loves her family, the iPhone and periodically dreams that she’s close friends with Dolly Parton. Follow her on Twitter or drop her a line to say hi!

© Jen Gordon for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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How to Create Your First iPhone Application originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on August 11, 2009.