Design Woop | The Web Design and Development Blog » Featured http://designwoop.com The Web design blog brought to you by Stu Greenham Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:53:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Thinking Outside the Box: Desirable Packaging Collection http://designwoop.com/2010/03/thinking-outside-the-box-desirable-packaging-collection/ http://designwoop.com/2010/03/thinking-outside-the-box-desirable-packaging-collection/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:12:02 +0000 Jared Thompson http://designwoop.com/?p=974 Design Juices. This roundup features several different types of products which all have unique packaging designs, all of which I find to be of the highest quality.]]> Within graphic design there are several disciplines, within these one of the great ways to show uniqueness and style is in packaging design. Whether you become creative with; type, illustrations or the functionality of the packaging, you can really stamp your authority on a product. The packaging can often swing a consumers mind and make one product out-sell its competitors.

This roundup features several different types of products which all have unique packaging designs, all of which I find to be of the highest quality.

Chocolat Factory by Ruiz+

Death by Chocolate by Denise Frankle

Burgia Nen by Unidesign

Laurona Wine by Impossible

Lisa & Chad Wine by Meggan Cook

Prohibtion by Noah Love

Soy Manelle by Kian

Gotta Moo by Narani Kannan

Water Bobble by Karim Rashid

Palau Water by Tridimage

Works With Water by Elmwood

Vitamin Well by Neumeister

Rimi by Silver

Breakfast Smoothie by Heather Bradley

Infuzions by Parker Williams Design

Kat Von D ‘Saint + Sinner’ by Maesa Studio

Idea Paint by Jones

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]]> http://designwoop.com/2010/03/thinking-outside-the-box-desirable-packaging-collection/feed/ 8 A Collection of 400+ Free Fonts http://designwoop.com/2010/02/a-collection-of-400-free-fonts/ http://designwoop.com/2010/02/a-collection-of-400-free-fonts/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:43:02 +0000 Stu Greenham http://designwoop.com/?p=881 Typography is an integral part of any design and getting it right can take your design from good to great. Finding the right font is the tricky part and can often take up a lot of your whilst you test out different fonts styles, etc. Font’s can also be very expensive costing anything from a few quid up to several hundred which will soon eat up your budget. Lucky for us, there are a tonne of fantastic free fonts available too which these following posts have been good enough to share with us. Here is a collection of over 400 free fonts…

90+ Amazing Grunge Typography Collection from Artatm


Visit Source: ttp://artatm.com

20 High Quality Free Fonts for Designers from Web Design Ledger


Visit Source: http://webdesignledger.com

21 Inspirational and Free Fonts for Beautiful Typedesign from Webexpedition18


Visit Source http://webexpedition18.com

35 Latest High-Quality Free Fonts for Professional Designers from Instant Shift


Visit Source http://www.instantshift.com

50 Best Free Fonts From 2009 from Creative Nerds


Visit Source: http://creativenerds.co.uk

20 Fonts Ideal for Big and Powerful Headings from Web Design Ledger


Visit Source: http://webdesignledger.com

30 Free Fonts Which Are Perfect For Professional Logo Designs from Creative Nerds


Visit Source: http://creativenerds.co.uk

21 Fresh Design Fonts Free To Download from Ants Magazine


Visit Source: http://www.antsmagazine.com

20 Best Free Professional Fonts from Listropolis


Visit Source: http://www.listropolis.com

The Best Free Fonts of 2009 from Web Design Ledger


Visit Source: http://webdesignledger.com

40 Can’t-Miss Grunge Fonts From DaFont from Spyre Studios


Visit Source: http://spyrestudios.com

50 Amazing Free Fonts For Designers from Ants Magazine


Visit Source: http://www.antsmagazine.com

There are some duplicate fonts but still plenty of amazing fonts which are worth bookmarking! Enjoy!

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]]> http://designwoop.com/2010/02/a-collection-of-400-free-fonts/feed/ 3 Two Don’t Do Tips For Twitter http://designwoop.com/2010/02/dont-do-tips-for-twitter/ http://designwoop.com/2010/02/dont-do-tips-for-twitter/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:45:54 +0000 Stu Greenham http://designwoop.com/?p=795 Okay so my post title might sound a bit negative but don’t get me wrong Twitter is great! For anyone who hasn’t joined or for anyone who is in the ‘I don’t get it phase’ well Twitter can be a great web tool, it’s not all about telling the world you’ve just had a cup of tea or something daft like that. A former work colleague used to tell me it was ‘gay’ which always used to make me laugh as I could tell they didn’t understand it, nor did they have any followers, therefore not really grasping the whole Tweeting thing.

Since I have been on Twitter for a while now I thought it was right to post something about two minor things that I see on Twitter almost daily and two minor things which I think everyone should think about before doing. Please note these are only my opinions but two that I feel strongly about :)

Automatic Direct Messaging

First up is the automatic direct messaging new followers! They really bug me! Mainly because more often then not they are really cheesy/tacky. The majority of the time I will actually go back to the profile page of the sender and consider unfollowing them.

I think if your going to send auto DM’s then you should take a bit of consideration into what exactly your trying to get out of it. Sending me a cheesy message telling me how grateful you are because I followed you doesn’t really do anything for me and I think you lose that personal touch of actually taking the time to link that person into a Tweet saying simply thank you for the follow.

Just last week I got the following auto DM from a fellow Web Designer telling me this….

Now being a Web Designer myself why would I need one at my beck and call? Maybe I misread the DM but I thought for me this was irrelevant, I think a message saying hello I hope we can maybe help each other one day would have been better. Here’s another example of the type of DM’s I often get sent…

You might think i’m just been damn right picky here but come on “I’ll try to make it exciting” lol, how cheesy! This message has blatantly been sent to everyone not just me again losing the personal touch! How long does it take to add in my name? Just a thought!

Anyways before I start to rant on, I do actually think that Businesses can use auto DM’s in a good way to promote their products/services. Lets take Shutterstock as an example, the stock photography website sends its new Twitter followers the following DM…

This is a clever from Shutterstock because any new followers who maybe haven’t used or heard of Shutterstock before might now be tempted into signing up and giving the stock site a go, resulting in more sales! New followers might also spread the word amongst friends who might also then start following Shutterstock receiving their voucher code too.

I think companies can use this to their advantage plus everyone likes introdutory voucher discounts don’t they!

Following / Unfollowing Just To Gain Numbers

This is my ultimate Twitter no no! The amount of times I’ve had someone follow me then a couple of day’s later I’ve finally got round to checking out their profile page to see if I am going to follow them back only to find once I have returned the follow they then follow me again.

That might not make sense but all they are trying to do is gain a large number of followers without having to follow back. Twitter is all participating and trying to gain as many followers as possible might help more people see your Tweets but does it really make you a participant? I’d say no.

For certain people, such as celebrities I can understand that they would have lots of followers and maybe not following as many themselves, but for your average joe, I can’t. When I get a new follower, I take a brief look at their profile, decide wether or not they are at all interesting and wether or not they will be of any benefit to me having their tweets display in my feed. I would never follow someone then instantly unfollow them just to gain numbers!

My followers have always increased at a steady rate since I first joined Twitter and although its a nice feeling breaking 1k followers, it’s not something I was in a huge rush to do and the followers I have often contribute to my Tweets whether or not they are helping me or just replying to something I have said or even just RT’ing my links!

Here is the last 3 months stats on my followers (courtesy of Twittercounter)…

I personally think it’s better to gradually build up your followers instead of just adding thousands of people using some software because when it helps you understand Twitter better and will help you gain a better connection with your followers.

Conclusion

Right that is my rant over! :) I think Twitter (used right) is such an invaluable tool and for a Web Designer like myself, it’s a daily tool that I have come to depend on for resources / connections, etc. It annoys me that there are soo many ‘spamtastic’ users on Twitter clogging up the site with useless crap. Like I said, auto DM’s are handy, if used in a way that will benefit you! Does sending someone a useless cheesy welcome message make you feel good? Do you really need to add as many people as you could possible add? The answer is probably no for both!

As I said at the beginning these opinions are just mine but I would love to know what you think? Do you Auto DM? If you are currently sending out auto DM’s then I would love to know what your reasons are and what you actually send using the comments form below!

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]]> http://designwoop.com/2010/02/dont-do-tips-for-twitter/feed/ 5 5 Reason’s to work directly from your Dropbox account http://designwoop.com/2010/01/5-reasons-to-work-directly-from-your-dropbox-account/ http://designwoop.com/2010/01/5-reasons-to-work-directly-from-your-dropbox-account/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:11:08 +0000 Stu Greenham http://designwoop.com/?p=686 Dropbox, the must have app for 2009! Right? Well for most of us with a brain it was and my god it's a life saver! For anyone who hasn't heard of Dropbox yet, in a nutshell, its a piece of software that allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically. Better yet, it works on Mac, PC, Linux and as from a few months back the iPhone too.]]> Dropbox, the must have app for 2009! Right? Well for most of us with a brain it was and my god it’s a life saver! For anyone who hasn’t heard of Dropbox yet, in a nutshell, its a piece of software that allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically. Better yet, it works on Mac, PC, Linux and as from a few months back the iPhone too.

Dropbox can really be a lifesaver when working on any project and here’s 5 reasons why you should be using it too:

Share Files without a Pen Stick

As Dropbox allows you to share folders with other members, this makes a great tool for collaborating with projects. Your files instantly sync to your shared contacts folders each time a file is saved or created ensuring that everyones folders look the same. Although it’s not possible to work on the same file at the same time, it removes the need for removable storage devices to exchange files or having to email files back and forth and back and forth again, thus saving a lot of time.

Reverting back with File Revisions and Undo Deleting Files

This is a great feature and one that I imagine a lot of noobs won’t be aware of, but Dropbox stores revisions of each of your files allowing you to revert back to previous versions via the web interface of your account. This is super if you accidentally overwrite a file and perfect when working on documents or spreadsheets as an example. Extending this further, Dropbox will even allow you to restore recently deleted files meaning that your covered from all angles.

On the Fly Backing Up of Files

Similar to my previous mention of restoring old files and file revisions, Dropbox also relentlessly backs up your files on the fly. For them days when your computer decides to play blue screen you have the piece of mind knowing that should your hard drive decide to pack up on you, your files are nicely tucked away over on the Dropbox servers. What differentiates this from other backup services is that the backup itself is always running, meaning that you don’t have to wait for a specific time at which point the whole backup will begin. Yes yes I know paid for backup services will probably be a safer option, but for specific folders Dropbox is perfect.

At work, I save all my concepts I’m working on straight to Dropbox as I do any code or handy scripts / plugins / links I find allowing any of the other guys I work with to access these from their machines. Once a project is complete, I then copy the files over to the Network Shared drive which is backed up securely.

Mac, Windows, Linux and iPhone Compatible

There are a lot of programs available that only built to support one OS, say Mac or Windows for example. If your in my situation where you use a Mac at home but a PC at work then you will probably have spent hours trying to hunt down similar programs that offer the same features as the Mac does for your PC (As an example, finding a To Do List as good as Things grr). Well fortunately, Dropbox has Windows, Mac, Linux and iPhone versions of its popular software and all work together seamlessly. By the time I get home from work, my Mac is already up to date with any files I have been editing at work!

Saweeet Prices and Referrals earn you Extra Storage

Dropbox offers storage from 2GB up to a whopping 100GB depending on your account and obviously price plan you choose. For a standard FREE, yes free account, you get 2GB worth of storage and you are not limited to features, meaning you can share folders / files, revert to old files and your files are backed up. What’s even better is that if you refer your friends using your unique referral link, you can earn up to 3GB additional storage.

If you have given the free trial ago and are ready for more space then you can pay $9.99 p/m for 50GB’s worth of storage and $19.99 p/m for 100GB!

Conclusion

To sum things up, Dropbox just works, and works well! What other product can you say offers you storage space with on the fly backups, file / folder sharing capability as well as the option to restore deleted files for Free? Well short answer is you can’t. I find myself constantly telling people about this tool and I have my friends, my family all using it to share / send files.

I also think for any students out there, this would be invaluable! I can remember snapping numerous pen sticks when I was at Uni and losing my work, as well as misplacing them or having them pinched and this is not a very efficient method compared to Dropbox, and your files are secure!

Finally, The iPhone app which was recently released is another feature that the guys at Dropbox dropped on us and now I can access my files on the go, literally! I can even make files available offline if I want to.

What are you waiting for, get over to http://getdropbox.com and signup for your free account now and let me know what you think.

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