Inspiration

Finding your first web development job, be it for programming or design, is one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do. Obviously there's no exact science to it, but here's some advice from someone who had to go through it - and learned a lot along the way. About my experience and training For an article like this I think it's fairly important I give some background, so: hello! I'm Leonardo, a front-end developer in Glasgow, Scotland. This is my third software development job since finishing uni. I studied

From their signature colour scheme to their email domain, Octopus Energy's modern branding never fails to come across as effortlessly cool and novel. Here's why... What had to change? Stagnation in Energy Brand Design Founded in 2015, Octopus Energy is younger than 5 of the "Big Six" energy providers in the UK. This is probably why their site is completely devoid of hackneyed early 2000s design trends. But what is

Font pairing is a skill almost every kind of designer will have to use at some stage. But a lot of us weren't specifically trained in typography! So where do you start? Thankfully, Jack Qiao's fantastic AI-powered font pairing tool fontjoy.com is a wealth of free inspo for amateurs and professionals alike. How Do You Us

When naming your product, app or business, we all know to go for something, short, snappy and concise. But where do you go from there? How do you narrow down your options to something that's not just easy to say and iconise but something that gives the right feeling? Today, I'm going to give you some key tips on how to name an app (or anything you want!) with confidence. 1. Vowels and Consonants A word's unique "vibe" comes from much more than just its definition and connotations. It'

One of the regular challenges I come across while designing is making sure that I'm following UI patterns. Dribbble can only take you so far, and that's when I like to look for design inspiration in real apps. Here's some sites that I use daily for just that! Mobbin: Mobile Apps design inspiration Mobbin.design is my go-to inspiration for mobile app inspiration. It features an extensive library of screenshots of iPhone apps, from famous ones like T

Drawing on her background as a classic literature student, and striking self-taught illustration skills, Ophelia Po has released her first venture into comic book creation with the Gothic gem 'Blood Ties'. The comic touches upon themes close to home for many during the 2020 lockdown, including isolation and uncertainty. Today, Po talks being an artist online, and how she overcame her own uncertainty and fear to bring 'Blood Ties' to life.

Google Docs has a lot up against it. Microsoft Office, despite its high price tag, has held the monopoly over the word processing world for as long as I can remember. But with 'working' and 'online' now being more synonymous than ever, free online word processors are growing in popularity and challenging the status quo. Despite being a writer by trade, my taste in word processors is historically pretty standard. 'Word' was my daily driver for years, before being replaced with the less swish (but free) 'WPS Writer', and nothing e

The Material Icons set from Google is possibly the most famous icon set on the web. It's good, but it's everywhere. So alternative icons are sometimes worth exploring. In this article we'll explore my new favorite alternative icon set. Along with maybe the Font Awesome Icon set, the Material Icons set is the first well organised and widely used icon set on the web. Google's Material Icons are very well made and will cover most of

Picking website colours is something every designer struggles with. But there are some great resources out there to help. Here's a curated list of excellent and easy-to-use sites that could prove invaluable to your next project. Happyhues.io Happyhues is one of my go-to websites when looking for a new colour palette. While its options are quite limited compared to the other sites listed here, the way it shows the real-world application for each colour more than makes up for it. Th

Want to add a personal touch to your business? Is your blog or portfolio missing that friendly element? Then an 'About Me' page is something worth exploring. Today, we'll go through how to write an 'About Me' page without being corny. 1. Decide how important your story is to your brand. If you're reading this, you probably work solo (or as part of a small team like Ironeko). In that case, you can afford to attach your own story and personality to your brand. Is there an in