It’s been a while since I’ve put together a Funky Friday Collection of web links I’ve enjoyed and found useful. The redesign of the website saw blogging fall by the wayside while I got the site itself into order. The intention now is to get back to a regular release of links on Fridays, hopefully of use and interest to lots of people.
This Friday there’s a couple of great articles on developing your business and making your website into a genuine resource for winning new clients. Design technique advice for typography, CSS and general design, a collection of design resource articles, inspiration in the form of advertisements and architecture, and a great piece on addressing phishing scams.
Freelancing
10 Things You Don’t Know About Scoring Web Design Clients
Any freelancer lives or dies by their client list. No clients means no business and no money. So finding new clients and getting them to sign up for your services is vital. This is one of the best articles I’ve read about positioning your website so that it’s as client friendly as possible, working with others to develop a client base, and making the right impression in person. It’s invaluable.
8 Elements Of A Winning Business Website
In a similar vein, this is an excellent piece on how to ensure that a potential client’s first impression of your website is positive. Not just positive, but engaging enough to make them want to buy your services. It’s simple advice, clearly stated, but easy to overlook.
Contract Terms: None-Compete Clause
It’s common in every contract, but vitally important for a freelancer to understand. This article outlines the importance of understanding a non-compete clause and evaluating its impact on your client relationship. The idea is not to get out of what is often an industry standard clause, but about understanding the impact and making choices on that basis.
Design Technique
The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard
Most web designers know the value of white space. Often we use techniques like reducing font sizes so that we can achieve lots of white space and lots of information at the same time. The article uses a browser default font size to demonstrate the importance of incorporating more accessible text into your website. A really good piece.
Everything You Need To Know About CSS Selector Specificity
Every CSS selector has a value. If you style a selector with a low value then you might find your design specifications being overridden on the page. Perhaps you might find yourself writing CSS with “!important” tags on half your items. Learning how CSS selector weights work is invaluable to understanding your CSS files, and this overview gives you all the relevant information.
How To Create An Organic Web Design
Even with the increasing flexibility of website design, the majority of sites on the web are very stark and blocky. It’s the path of easiest resistance when styling a site. Developing a more natural and organic look can make a site really stand out. This article explains some basic techniques of organic design as well as providing excellent examples of good practice.
Design Resources
80+ Stunning Articles For Designers And Developers
Simply a selection of user submitted links to tripwire magazine. Widely varied in topic, from inspiring body art and wierd shoes to JavaScript techniques and creating an AJAX shopping cart. Great resources.
Design Inspiration
40 Mind-Blowing Cover Illustrations By Marko Djurdjevic
Renowned comic artist Marko Djurdevic is well known for his cover artwork for Marvel Comics. The designfeedr article features over 40 pieces from Marko’s book “The Marvel Art of Marko Djurdevic“. Incredibly vibrant and powerful imagery that’ll inspire anyone.
80+ Strange And Fantastic Buildings Architecture
I love architecture as a source of inspiration. Great architecture can inspire not just in terms of basic design, but in scale of construction as well. This collection of bizarre buildings was a real eye-opener for me, with fabulously imaginative structures combining functionality with a powerful visual impact.
Geek Interest
Phishing Scams In Plain English
The majority of internet users aren’t tech savvy. I’m probably not nearly as tech savvy as I think, even though I work on the web all the time. If you don’t know the tricks and techniques of phishing then it’s easy to be fooled. Here’s a great, accessible and easy to understand overview of phishing scams and how to avoid them.
In addition to all the web pages linked to here, I’m choosing one of my favourite Flickr images from the past week available under Creative Commons. This week’s original image is by Flickr user Balakov.
