10 Simple and Impressive Design Techniques | How-To | Smashing Magazine

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- Some of these advanced
  effects can add plenty of depth to designs, but when used in the wrong
  place, they do little more than distract viewers from the project’s intended
  focus. These effects may be precisely what a design needs to have the impact it
  requires, but even in these cases, they should be complemented by simpler
  effects.
- Color
- 19 more annotations...
- - With a “less is more” mentality, we’ve selected 10 very simple and
    impressive design techniques that can drastically improve the
    performance and appearance of your designs.
  - Add Contrast
  - Gradients
  - moderation and subtlety are the keys to the design’s success. The logo,
    headlines, buttons and backgrounds all have subtle or minor gradients to
    emphasize their content. The most complex gradients on the website are found on
    simple 120 pixel-wide buttons that are intended to grab attention.
  - Much like choosing a sensible color palette, designers should carefully choose
    only a few types of gradient for each project.
  - When working with gradients, it is important to keep a nice visual flow: use
    gradients sparingly or subtly. And most importantly, use them only when they
    complement the overall feel of the project.
  - Stick to simple four-color palettes unless you’re really confident the design
    calls for more.
  - Letter Spacing
  - As in uppercase and lowercase. Changing case requires nothing more than pressing
    the Shift or Caps Lock key, and yet so few designers take
    advantage of this technique’s potential.
  - Anti-Aliasing
  - Though technically a much more complicated process, anti-aliasing can be
    summarized as the smoothing out of edges, and it applies to all aspects of
    design. In the world of Web design, anti-aliasing is partially determined by
    whether the text will be in HTML or shown as an image. Complicating things a
    little more, some Web browsers and operating systems automatically smooth out
    HTML text a bit, but as a general rule, HTML text has no anti-aliasing.
  - Imperfection
  - If you’ve ever been stumped with the predicament of how to make something stand
    out more, stand out less, or nearly disappear, take a look at using blurs in
    different ways. By blurring objects in the foreground, background or by blurring
    the entire design, you can dramatically increase the impact of your project.
    Focus is, at least in part, relative
  - Blurs can also be used to give a sense of depth or layering.
  - Alignment
  - Altering the alignment of design elements can make them more memorable, more
    talked about and, consequently, much more effective.
  - This can greatly increase the speed with which concepts are turned over to
    clients; but all too often, it also restricts creativity — especially with
    regard to alignment.
  - Trim Fat
  - Perhaps the most important and under-appreciated design technique, trimming
    unnecessary parts of a project, is also one of the hardest to do.
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- 10 Simple and Impressive Design Techniques
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Contrast, gradients, color, letter spacing, anti-aliasing, imperfection, blur, alignment, trim fat. Examples for each.

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- 10 Simple and Impressive Design Techniques
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Complex design techniques are often time-consuming and, well, complex. Some of these advanced effects can add plenty of depth to designs, but when used in the wrong place, they do little more than distract viewers from the project’s intended focus. These effects may be precisely what a design needs to have the impact it requires, but even in these cases, they should be complemented by simpler effects.

Simple effects and techniques are the building blocks of today’s designs. For example, what good is a stellar lighting technique if you can’t decide which colors to use or which text-based effects to use in conjunction with the effect?

With a “less is more” mentality, we’ve selected 10 very simple and impressive design techniques that can drastically improve the performance and appearance of your designs.

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Complex design techniques are often time-consuming and, well, complex. Some of these advanced effects can add plenty of depth to designs, but when used in the wrong place, they do little more than distract viewers
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Complex design techniques are often time-consuming and, well, complex. Some of these advanced effects can add plenty of depth to designs, but when used in the wrong place, they do little more than distract viewers

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Complex design techniques are often time-consuming and, well, complex. Some of these advanced effects can add plenty of depth to designs, but when used in the wrong place, they do little more than distract viewers
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10 Simple and Impressive Design Techniques

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02 Apr 09

Melissa Ward
Complex design techniques are often time-consuming and, well, complex. Some of these advanced effects can add plenty of depth to designs, but when used in the wrong place, they do little more than distract viewers

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secret lou
Mostly stuff I know already, but a good reference nonetheless

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