All the elements are on a transparent background so you should be able to drag and drop them straight onto your own designs.

You can download my web design elements psd right here.

The general feeling on this one from the world’s web designers is that the fold doesn’t exist and to a degree they’re right. Obviously computer screens and monitors don’t fold, the terminology has been adopted from the graphic design world where newspapers were folded for display purposes – hence the important information being displayed above the fold.

Another reason why the fold is considered not to exist in web design is the various different screen resolutions that monitors can display information at, because of this there is no one cut off point after which users have to scroll, it varies from screen to screen.

So while the actual fold doesn’t exist, the concept of the fold does and it has an important place in web design. Not every user that visits your site is going to scroll, that’s a fact, so in general it makes sense to place your most important information at the top of the page where it will be seen by the most eyes. Take a look around a few sites, where is the navigation placed? where is the shopping basket? the logo? All important pieces of information and all at the top of the page.

Obviously you can’t have all your information at the top of the page, you need to prioritise the information that appears on your site and arrange it accordingly, but make no mistake the top of the page remains the most important area on a website.

I love to read design blogs and there are some very good ones out there. There are an awful lot of that offer all kinds of advice and ideas to people in the industry. I respect that, it’s great to give something back. Unfortunately there seems to be little separation between designing and blogging about design.

Most of the prominent web designers out there, the ones who I see appearing in the industry magazines on a regular basis have what I consider to be average portfolios. I’m not going to name names as this post isn’t about that, it’s about looking beyond the best design bloggers, it’s about really finding the best designers out there. The truth is, most of the designers I really respect, those that consistently produce excellent work aren’t blogging about design, they’re creating it and for that very reason they’re often overlooked.

Over the past 4 years I have established a method to my work, a set of rules that have formed my working code which have now become habit…

• Communicate Well And Often – in my opinion this is the single most important attribute a freelancer has, I value it higher than quality of work. If you effectively communicate on all levels this can alleviate the fears of clients. You need to communicate, what you do, how you do it and the way you work. Communication is often the key to retaining clients and being re-booked.
• Work Quality & Consistency – you don’t have to be the world’s best designer to make a freelance career, what you need to do is be consistent. As with any industry there are requirements for all levels of capability. If you continue to produce work at a consistent level, this will define your standard and it takes the risk away from hiring you.
• Maximise Your Possibilities – if people don’t know of your existence then it doesn’t matter how good you are at what you do, you won’t get booked, you won’t get any work. Get your folio online, start using services like Twitter, LinkedIn, comment on blogs, keep in touch with everyone you meet – hand them a business card – you never know when they might need your services or know someone that does!
• Be Adaptable – all agencies and clients differ in the way they like you to work. You need to adapt to their methods and quickly. You may be asked to do things that may not be your niche from time to time, if you effectively communicate this but also adapt to the requirements then this will reflect favourably on you.
• Use Your Initiative – hugely important in the design world. There will be times where if you’re working in-house there will be no-one around to answer any questions you may have. You need to take the initiative in these situations and use your experience to make the right decisions.
• Be Pro-Active – when you’re closely involved in a project you will see opportunities to aid your project, you need to recognise these as early as possible and capitalise on them.
• Listen To Your Instinct – there are good clients and bad clients, you need to work out which category any potential new clients fall in to before you agree to work with them, this is usually a lot easier than it sounds. Look for signs in early communication you have with a client, whether it’s on the telephone, by email or even face to face – the signs are almost always there to see and they’re not usually hard to spot. As soon as the alarm bells start ringing you need to take action fast, your instincts are usually spot on.

Hopefully these methods may help you out with your freelance career. They’ve kept me busy over the years!

The way I see design, it’s all about educated decisions. From the very start of a project you will make numerous decisions and you will discount certain things based upon a combination of the current brief, your experiences from the past and what you believe is right for the project. Producing multiple varying visuals goes completely against this.

Putting myself in the clients shoes for a moment, were I to receive 3 different visuals from the same agency I would question it. It would send me the message that the designer/agency weren’t confident in their approach and trying to cover all their bases. I would question whether it was the best use of time and resources. If I’m paying someone to design something for me, I’m paying them to make these decisions and present me with their answer to the brief.

And finally… anyone who has submitted multiple design variations to a client in the past will know that inevitably the same thing will almost always happen. The  client will select elements from each of the designs submitted and ask you to put them together – something that you should have done in the first place.

If anyone out there has any interesting takes on this I’d love to hear them!

A quick search for web design trends will return you a huge amount of results. Many of these show examples of these so called trends in use – big fonts, photographic backgrounds, handwritten fonts to name but a few. It’s very easy to focus on a particular element of a website you like and to find other websites that also do this (the countless css galleries out there will help you out), but that to me is more indicative of the scale of the web design industry than of designers jumping on a particular style bandwagon.

Of course, we operate in a very fast developing industry and technology will play it’s part in dictating some of the guidelines but design to me is not about trends, it’s about solutions. It’s about finding the best possible solution to the brief regardless of current techniques and trends.

Anyway, here is a round up of 5 sites that I’ve stumbled upon lately that I think for one reason or another really make the best of texture.

Envisionext
This is the first site I came across that I thought really executed some very controlled use of texture.

Jared Campbell
I don’t know who Jared Campbell is but he’s got himself a tidy little website. I particularly like the way the texture is carried through to the typography without going over the top.

Starbucks Coffee at Home
I must have seen a hundred websites that attempt to recreate a chalboard effect over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one as sweet as the Starbucks site – I love the chalk marks and the use of colour on the board.

Von Dutch Originals
Ok, I admit it, of the 5 this is my least favourite of the designs shown here, but there is still something about it that I like. Somehow this site feels like it’s on paper rather than screen – achieving that is very difficult!

Guillaume Pacheco
Initially, I didn’t like this site – then I clicked a couple of the buttons. I love the transitions between different textures and the use of typography – well worth a look!

A few years ago I accidentally stumbled on a very simple technique that seems to combat design block and as a result I’ve never suffered from it since.

It happened when I was working on some graphics for an online kids game in Illustrator. I hit the invisible wall, I tried all the usual techniques to combat design block – made a cup of tea (old design favourite), had a surf around for some inspiration, tried stepping back from the screen a bit – nothing worked. Then it happened. For some reason, I zipped the file that I was struggling on down to the dock and sat behind it was the last project I was working on, a very corporate site for a solicitors. I knuckled down to do some work on the site and everything was going great, design block gone! I was flying through it. A couple of hours later I switched back to the game graphics and again I was flying through it. It seems that the contrast of work style did something to my brain that took the block away.

To this day I still use this technique, I always try and work on two contrasting projects simultaneously. Obviously it’s not always possible to work on such contrasting projects, but it is usually possible to work on contrasting parts of different projects – i.e. if you’re struggling with design on one project, switch to coding on another project or if you’re struggling with some code, put your design hat on for a while.

Ok, it’s a fairly obvious technique in theory, but in practice we designers are stubborn beasts. We hit the block and we keep pushing against it not getting anywhere because we become consumed by the problem. So the next time you hit the wall – give this technique a try, I’ve been using it for years and it’s never failed me yet!

An insight into life as a web designer. Recorded with the built in camera on my MacBook Pro and edited with iMovie. I have to say a big thank you to my friend Nicola Campbell for her input. Hope you like it!

Your client is an integral part of the design process, they know more about their own business than you ever will, but it’s important to recognise that they are not the person you should be thinking about when you start the design process.

Your clients’ clients (or customers) are the key to their business. Without them the business would cease to exist. These are the people that your client worries about, these are the people that you need to worry about.

Over the years I’ve heard numerous cases of clients saying things like ‘I really like green’ or ‘I don’t like that font’. The reality of it is, it doesn’t matter what they like or don’t like. You should never let a clients’ personal taste get in the way of what you think and know is right for the project. As designers we are paid to make decisions based on the knowledge we have.

Amends is usually a word that sends a shiver down a designer’s spine. But it shouldn’t be. You and your client are striving for the same goal. So how do you go about letting your client know that you don’t think one of their amends will benefit the project? You back up your opinion with facts and figures, you explain why you don’t think it will aid the project in business terms, you talk about their customers expectations and habits. Clients identify with this, they appreciate your knowledge, rationale and your business sense.

Ultimately, by designing for your clients’ clients, you will find that your projects perform better, and as a result your own clients are happier.