Ever wanted to type the copyright icon, or do an accent over an A without having to resort to some character palette? We have, and it takes time and is an effort. So we put together a series of help sheets that reference all of the characters that aren’t listed on your keyboard, along with their shortcut keys to make your life easier.
Listen up Mac users. You may already know this, but I didn’t until the other day, and it really comes in handy. Safari has a little tool called the Activity Window, which can be accessed by going to going to “Window > Activity” (shortcut: alt + apple + a). In here you can see every file that the website you are viewing is calling upon. The brilliant thing is that by double clicking any one of these files, it will download straight to your desktop.
Considering you would most likely want to download a file containing video or audio, look in the column on the right to see its size. By process of elimination you will see that the biggest file will be the one you want.
So if you happened to be on YouTube, you could download any video you wanted. Similarly, if you were on MySpace, and had no respect for copyright law, you could download anything you wanted.
This, if you didn’t know it already, could save a lot of people a lot of time (and money).
You might also like 165 Vector Icons, 50 Ways to Become a Better Designer, 77 Vector Buttons
Everyone seemed to like our original set of vector icons, so we thought you might like some more. 165 more to be precise. In 5 colours. So, I suppose that actually makes 825 icons. As always, they’re free for you to use as you wish. Oh, and this time, as you asked nicely, we are giving away an svg as well. Hope you like ‘em!
Being a successful creative has a lot to do with the way you work. Sure, you can’t teach good design, but it never hurts to learn a few new tricks, or simply make the most of your talents. So without further adieu, here’s 50 ways to be more successful as a designer. Take ‘em or leave ‘em.
Don’t get stuck before you’ve started: get some good ideas.
Great ideas can stem from using themes and metaphors. Basing a site design around the idea of a school, for example, can open up a whole avenue of ideas. A great design works because the theme houses and conveys the content seamlessly.
It always helps to throw ideas around with a colleague or friend (as long as he knows what he’s doing). Try to have a couple of short sessions of brainstorming rather than one massive one as ideas can quickly go cold.
Sometimes it’s best to just have a break. Leaving the computer can seem like going on holiday in rush hour, but it usually helps if you just take a 10 minute break and get some fresh air. If you can’t do that, try listening to some music, or taking your jumper off.
A lot of creatives work from home, but that doesn’t mean they can’t talk to anyone. There are a lot of really helpful and talented people out there willing to have a chat about design, you just need to find them. Here are some of my favorite forums:
Graphic Design Forum (one of the oldest and largest forums on graphic design)
Smashing Magazine Forums
Layers Magazine
Designate Online
DevLounge (OK, it’s not a forum, but it’s a really decent site)
Try going to a few courses on branding, as brand thinking is vital to developing the way you think. Keep your ideas squeaky simple, and 9 times out 0f 10 they will work. Thinking in terms of branding means you can develop key words to stem your ideas from. Complexity just doesn’t work.
I almost always start with ideas that I have scribbled down in my trusty sketchbook. Whenever I get an idea I just make sure I get it down on paper. This always helps as whenever you’re stuck at a later date, you don’t have to go out and buy another book, just refer to your own! Don’t just keep it to ideas though, put URLs, book titles, words, and all the sketches down that you can. It will develop into your creative mind, on paper.
Always ensure you know the media you’re going to be using at the start of working on a project. Knowing that there’s going to be photography involved means you may need to think about locating a shoot. 3D may mean getting some help to make it look that little bit better. Taking it to print in the last minute is also not advised: things never go to plan! Ensure you know the scale of production you’re going to be dealing with, and research the printing processes you’re going to use.
I find it helps to visualise the brief. Highlight key words and phrases, and jot them down in your trusty sketchbook. Then see how these ideas could link up by drawing lines between them and branching out from those core ideas. Pretty soon you’ll have enough on the page to sketch out some decent ideas.
Once you have THE idea, and it’s on paper, try putting it together at low res on the computer. This way you can see what you might need to rethink or improve to get the job done well. At this stage you don’t need to worry about perfect dimensions or colours, just see how it goes.
No, not because your odor is putting your colleagues off, but because (apparently) running water increases brain productivity. Try not bring the brief in with you, but spending time in a place that you feel really comfortable in can greatly help those ideas flow. Read the rest of this entry →
Can’t be bothered with making buttons? Want some new ones to add to your collection? Need a little inspiration? We’ve put together a little set of 77 buttons that we hope will lend you a hand in your times of button making breakdown. There all here to download in Adobe Illustrator format, just like our icon set. Alternatively, if you’re not a fan of Illustrator, you can get a JPEG or an SVG, just follow the link. We hope you like them!
Get the Adobe Illustrator CS2 File (1.9MB)
Don’t have Illustrator?
Here’s the SVG version (425KB).
For those of you new to GoSquared – we help people improve their websites. GoSquared real-time web analytics enables you to understand what’s happening on your site right now. We run this blog, on design, technology and marketing to share our thoughts and content with wonderful people like you in the hope that you’ll also try GoSquared.
We put considerable effort into the resources we make. We’re asking anyone who actually gets some use out of these icons and buttons to pay for them, and for the time we spent creating them. We won’t set the price point, so pay whatever you like. Hate them? Don’t pay anything!
If you want to use these icons and buttons commercially (on your company’s website, in client work, in any scenario where you’ll be profiting from the work they’re in) then we kindly request that you donate at least $40 to justify the time and effort we’ve put in to creating them. It wasn’t a small job, and your money goes directly back in to creating more quality design resources.
Here you go, the icon set by GoSquared. 165 hand drawn icons that you can use for whatever you like. Most probably your website. We have worked pretty hard to get these done, so we hope you like them.
For those of you new to GoSquared – we help people improve their websites. GoSquared real-time web analytics enables you to understand what’s happening on your site right now. We run this blog, on design, technology and marketing to share our thoughts and content with wonderful people like you in the hope that you’ll also try GoSquared.
Get the Adobe Illustrator CS2 File (1.9MB)
Don’t have Illustrator?
Get the SVG here. (471KB)
Get the jpeg here. (256KB)
Oh, and here’s a little preview:
We put considerable effort into the resources we make. We’re asking anyone who actually gets some use out of these icons and buttons to pay for them, and for the time we spent creating them. We won’t set the price point, so pay whatever you like. Hate them? Don’t pay anything!
If you want to use these icons and buttons commercially (on your company’s website, in client work, in any scenario where you’ll be profiting from the work they’re in) then we kindly request that you donate at least $40 to justify the time and effort we’ve put in to creating them. It wasn’t a small job, and your money goes directly back in to creating more quality design resources.
