This is the third of the series recapping topics from my 2017 curated newsletter series. This one covers design and you can also see two previous to this one:
You can keep up with these and other similar things by subscribing to my newsletter – daily or weekly – its your call.
Gridulator
Do you like using grids to improve your designs? If so, you’ll like Gridulator. Just put it the width of your design and how many columns you want, and you’ll get back a nice set of grids ready for you to use in PowerPoint, Photoshop docs, or whatever design tools you’re using.
Hack Design lessons
Hack Design is a great example of an alternative delivery method for learning. Sign-up for free to get a design lesson in your inbox each week, handcrafted by a design pro. Learn at your own pace, and apply it to your work – we are all designers!
Trianglify
Trianglify is a really slick, easy to use online tool for generating your own custom “trianglified” background images. Use their colors or your own, either way, you’ll get a great looking result.
http://qrohlf.com/trianglify-generator/
Random Material Palette Generator
Any good design rests on the foundation of a great color palette. Get a jump on a great looking color scheme with the Random Material Palette Generator. Just a couple of quick clicks and you’re off!
http://www.threebu.it/random-material-palette
Stockio: Free
Yet another addition to the seemingly constant stream of great, free design resources. Stockio gives you access to thousands of free photos, vectors, icons, fonts and videos for personal and commercial use
Because Size Matters: 2 Million Free Icons from Iconshock
Icons are a foundational element for any good designer. Let Webdesigner Depot get you up to speed on all the iconshock goodness. Or skip on over there directly to tap into their wealth of great, free icons.
20 Typography Rules Every Designer Should Know
Whether we realize it or not, we are all designers. From simple emails to Photoshop masterpieces, typography is a huge element that separates the amateurs from the pros. Anyone can be a pro by following these simple rules.
https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/graphic-design-typography-rules/
A 5 Minute Guide to Better Typography
A really nice, practical guide to typography with loads of helpful before and after examples.
http://pierrickcalvez.com/journal/a-five-minutes-guide-to-better-typography
Dropbox Showcase
We can all use a good way to showcase our work. And a lot of us are already using Dropbox, which makes their new Showcase feature something you should know about. You’ll see this option if you’re on a paid version of Dropbox. This is a nice option for presenting your work on a single, professional looking page. Seems like this could also be great for using as a professional portfolio too.
https://blogs.dropbox.com/dropbox/2017/10/new-plan-dropbox-professional/
How to not suck at design, a 5-minute guide for the non-designer.
In this post, Mark Hemeon (@hemeon) shares some key design principles that anyone can learn and apply to their work. (Everyone is a designer. Most people just don’t realize it.) Definitely worth a few minutes for a basic knowledge of practical design tips you can start using today (and impress your design friends).
Almost black is easier to read than black.
Ten Tips on Typography
If those 5 minutes of design tips above left you wanting more, dive into these typography tips from Nick Babich (@101babich ) over on the Marvel App blog. If you write emails, you are designing with text and these tips can help you.
Properly using white space between paragraphs has been proven to increase comprehension up to 20%
https://blog.marvelapp.com/ten-tips-typography-web-design/
Typography That Works: Classic Fonts That Will Never Let You Down
This post by Grace Fusell (@gfussellstudio) on the Shutterstock blog suggests ten top fonts that will look great in any design along with some helpful tips for using them.
https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/classic-fonts-will-always-work
Filling Your Design Toolkit: Premium Assets on a Shoestring Budget
I’ve collected my favorite sources for finding the best photos, fonts, icons, vector graphics and more into a free ebook. Grab a free copy and start tapping into great, free design assets your next project.
https://mike-taylor.org/2017/12/13/free-e-book-filling-your-design-toolkit/
DIY Visual Design
If you ever need to do any design on your own and aren’t a Photoshop pro, you should know about Easil. (If you know Canva you’ll find it very similar) Donna Moritz (@sociallysorted) has got all the scoop on how you can design like a pro using Easil.
Mike Taylor 
2 thoughts on “2017 Curated Design Roundup”