Top 10 Free Icon Fonts for Web Design

May 16, 2012 by admin    No Comments    Posted under: Design Tutorials

Every now and then we try to publish some of the top free resources available all over the internet related to your web design requirements. We make sure that you are able to garner ample benefits from our publications.

Today we were able to gather top ten awe-inspiring free fonts along with icon sets that will tip you in creating out of the box design. We know that designers have to pay heaps for icon fonts; however you should be able to snatch all of these listed below without spending any moolah

We are sure that they can help pep up the look and feel of your website. Here are the top 10 icon fonts available for free:

1. IcoMoon
   
2. Heydings
   
3. Iconic Icon Set
   
4. Signify Lite
   
5. Entypo
   
6. Social Media Icons
   
7. Social Logos Font
   
8. Web Symbols Typeface
   
9. Heydings Common
   
10. Modern Pictograms
    

Hutton Hotel Identity Designed by Tractorbeam®

Mar 17, 2012 by admin    No Comments    Posted under: Design Firms

Here is a preview of for Hutton Hotel’s stunning identity designed and created by Dallas, Texas based design firm Tractorbeam®, which is not about tractors or anything else, but only about creative designs.

Graphic designers at Tractorbeam® have gone an extra mile to design a good-looking identity for Hutton Hotel, a Nashville boutique hotel which accommodates exclusively to guests of Vanderbilt University and entertainment industry.

What do you think about the above designs? Let us know your thoughts below.

5 Tips for Graphic Designers to Sketch Wonderful Icons

Jan 18, 2012 by admin    No Comments    Posted under: Design Tutorials, Graphic Design Tips

Summary: An effective guide on the process of wonderful icon designing.

Icons help us in navigating and emphasizing on some of the key aspects of web content as they are more of general separators and indicators. Icons work similarly like road signage’s and you would know that very well if you have ever been on the road, driving.

Icons help you in guiding through web application or a website to locate necessary information and resources in a timely manner.

Web icons should be clear in first few seconds of scanning, and express the apparent meaning of the web content. They do not distract from general web content while making navigational process simpler outlining important features of the website.

Image Courtesy: Charles Chan

The main values of icons usefulness are general project draft, steady lightning, outlook, considering the market, symbol, etc. Here are some of the important design tips for creative icon designing.

1. Consider clear symbol – Make it a point to portray the exact web icon for better presentation of web content.
2. Widen your potential market – You should be able to display supple and precise images as icons in place of comprehensive clip arts. Icons published on the page should be identifiable and fit the exact business areas. Simple and recognizable icons should go well with your web projects.
3. Use remarkable color blend – You should consider testing different colors and shades. Attention grabbing colors with the unusual images will fetch your visitor’s interest with the desire to click on those icons. Design and create outstanding icons. Keep in mind that flash colors are annoying for the plain interface.
4. Always think about prospective clients – Think about using common images that are standard and easily acknowledged by website visitors from any part of the world. You web icons are considered universal regardless of traditions, religions, boundaries and groups.
5. Follow a streamlined process – Work on a basic concept and draw a sketch with the help of effective colors and forms. Seek help of a neighbor or a friend in order to find out if you were successful in designing a great web icon concept by grasping their attention within initial 1 or 2 seconds.

You can add some wonderful icons to your website and instigate visitors by being creative and artistic, in our opinion.

5 Useful Business Tools for Graphic Designers

Jan 15, 2012 by admin    No Comments    Posted under: Design Tutorials

Graphic designers will find hundreds and thousands of useful design tutorials on how to work with different business related tools; however you will hardly get introduced to new and effective business constructing tools.

In this article, we have tried to introduce 5 useful business tools for graphic designers who want to freelance in the design industry.

1. RememberTheMilk.com

Busy graphic designers get beleaguered quickly when there is no task manager available to keep track of different projects. Remember the Milk is an incredible online task manager, which means you can browse it from any part of the world. At times, you have so much to do that you tend to miss on important deadlines while working on numerous design projects.

2. EchoSign.com

Ever tried EchoSign.com to get contracts signed online? It is presumably the easiest and most convenient option available over the internet to get job contracts signed over the web. You wouldn’t need to print or sign a contract over and again every time a new project is started by you.

3. Skype.com

Skype is a great instant messaging service along with a feature of making free video calls to other subscribers. It’s an incredible voice over internet protocol app which can be used to make cheap international calls using your own professional number assigned by the company.

4. MailChimp.com

You should definitely consider using email marketing as it is the most effective way to engage web traffic. Mailchimp is one of the best email marketing options offering the tools you might require in creating a mailing list where you can send appealing newsletters and can also analyze traffic right after every newsletter campaign.

5. TextMate at MacroMates.com

Used by almost every Mac developer, TextMate is perhaps one of the best text editors available online these days. And keep in mind that if you work online, you should be aware of how to use a text editor.

We would love to hear from you about any of the business tools you might have used out of the ones mentioned here or any alternatives. Please feel free to leave your thoughts below in comment section.