Author Cosima Mielke

July 31, 2023 — New month, new wallpapers! In this post, you’ll find unique and inspiring wallpapers for August 2023. Created with love by the community for the community, they come in versions with and without a calendar. Enjoy! Read more…

June 30, 2023 — Let’s welcome the new month with some fresh desktop wallpapers. Designed by artists and designers from around the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for July 2023. Enjoy! Read more…

May 31, 2023 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of desktop wallpapers might be for you. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, the wallpapers in this post come in versions with and without a calendar for June 2023. Enjoy! Read more…

April 30, 2023 — May is almost here, so what better occasion could there be for some fresh and inspiring desktop and mobile wallpapers? Created with love by artists and designers from across the globe, the wallpapers in this post come in versions with and without a calendar. Enjoy! Read more…

March 31, 2023 — With April just around the corner, we have a new collection of desktop and mobile wallpapers waiting for you to celebrate the beginning of the new month. Designed by creatives from all across the globe, the wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar. Enjoy! Read more…

March 20, 2023 — Just a few beautiful, well-crafted fonts for headings and body text that you probably haven’t spotted before. Free for personal and commercial use. Enjoy! Read more…

March 6, 2023 — Do you sometimes feel that all websites look the same? In this post, we compiled web design showcases that prove differently. They highlight some of the finest web designs, well-crafted experiences, and delightful interactions from across the web. Inspiration is guaranteed. Read more…

February 28, 2023 — Let’s get ready for March with some fresh wallpapers! Designed with love by the community for the community, the wallpaper designs in this collection are available in versions with and without a calendar. Enjoy! Read more…

February 2, 2023 — Podcasts are a fantastic opportunity to get up close with the people who know their craft. In this post, we compiled podcasts that are bound to provide valuable insights into UX and new perspectives on the field. Perfect for a short coffee break or a long commute. Read more…

January 31, 2023 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of desktop wallpapers is for you. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for February 2023. Read more…

January 18, 2023 — Get better at your craft and support the people in Ukraine — that’s the idea behind our Figma Auto Layout Masterclass with Christine Vallaure. We are donating all proceeds from the online workshop to humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Monday, March 27, 09:00AM – 12:00PM PT / 18:00 – 21:00 CET. Donate and join! Read more…

December 31, 2022 — Let’s start into the new year with a little inspiration boost: wallpapers created with love by the community for the community. Happy 2023! Read more…

December 7, 2022 — Are you ready for the countdown to Christmas? This year, the web community was once again busy creating tech advent calendars jam-packed with fantastic content to sweeten your days. But which ones to follow? We help you find the right one, whether you’re a front-end dev, UX designer, or content strategist. Read more…

November 30, 2022 — December is almost here, so why not spread some holiday love across your devices? We’ve got some beautiful wallpapers to sweeten up the last days of the year. Read more…

November 9, 2022 — Everything design systems on accessibility, enterprise design systems, Figma kits, data visualization, motion design, multi-lingual design, naming, ROI calculator and UX writing. Read more…

October 31, 2022 — November is just around the corner, and with it, a new collection of desktop wallpapers to celebrate the beginning of the month. Designed by creatives from all across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar. Let’s make November colorful! Read more…

September 30, 2022 — How about a little inspiration boost? Well, we might have something for you: desktop wallpapers created with love by artists and designers from across the globe. They are available in versions with and without a calendar for October and can be downloaded for free. Enjoy! Read more…

August 31, 2022 — Let’s welcome September with some fresh desktop wallpapers. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for the month. Enjoy! Read more…

July 31, 2022 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of desktop wallpapers is for you. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for August 2022. Read more…

June 30, 2022 — Let’s welcome the new month with some inspiring desktop wallpapers. Created by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for July 2022. Enjoy! Read more…

June 10, 2022 — DevFest for Ukraine is a charitable online conference that will bring together 20 industry-leading tech speakers in support of Ukraine. June 14–15. Read more…

May 31, 2022 — What could be a better way to welcome June than with some colorful inspiration? Well, we might have something for you: wallpapers created with love by artists and designers from across the globe. Read more…

May 10, 2022 — Smart SVG techniques, from generative SVG grids to SVG paths with masks, grainy SVG gradients, cut-out effects and fractional SVG stars. Let’s look at some magical SVG techniques that you can use right away. Read more…

April 30, 2022 — Let’s welcome May with a new collection of wallpapers. Designed with love by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for May 2022. Read more…

April 20, 2022 — Who doesn’t love a good timesaver? In this post, we compiled useful productivity tips and tools that help you speed up routine tasks, enhance your development workflow, and stay organized. Read more…

April 6, 2022 — Devs For Ukraine is a free online charity conference organized by the lovely people at Remote. Two days filled with talks from engineering leaders around the globe, in support of Ukraine. April 25–26. Read more…

March 31, 2022 — Let’s welcome the new month with some new wallpapers. Designed with love by artists and designers from across the globe, they are available in versions with and without a calendar for April 2022. Read more…

March 29, 2022 — Are you a designer or developer affected by the war in Ukraine? Here are some options to consider if you’re looking for a design or tech job. Read more…

February 28, 2022 — Following our monthly tradition, artists and designers from across the globe challenged their creative skills and designed desktop wallpapers to welcome March. They come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. Read more…

February 16, 2022 — We all need a little inspiration boost every now and again. In this post, we collected inspiring resources from all across the web for you — beautiful eye candy, tips to challenge your skills, and useful tools that are bound to spark new ideas. Enjoy! Read more…

January 31, 2022 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of desktop wallpapers is for you. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for February 2022. Read more…

January 19, 2022 — What goes into creating a successful design system? How can you take your testing workflow to the next level? And what smart interface design patterns could help you enhance your UIs? Let’s figure it out. With our online workshops on front-end and UX. Read more…

December 31, 2021 — What better way could there be to start the new year than with some fresh inspiration? Our collection of wallpapers for January 2022 is bound to put a smile on your face — and maybe spark new ideas, too. Read more…

December 22, 2021 — A meaningful user experience is what can set your site apart from others. But what makes an experience truly meaningful? And how to achieve that? The tools, tips, and resources in this post not only help you to come up with a UX strategy that works for you and your team but also to circumvent potential UX pitfalls. Read more…

December 9, 2021 — Everybody loves a nice freebie, right? To get you in the mood for the upcoming holidays, we collected some winter- and holiday-themed icon sets and vector elements that you can use in your projects for free. Enjoy! Read more…

November 30, 2021 — Let’s welcome December with some new wallpapers! Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they are available with and without a calendar for the month. Enjoy! Read more…

November 24, 2021 — Instead of spending your coffee break scrolling through your social feeds, how about a lovely little website instead? We came across some fantastic ones that are just too good not to be shared. But be warned, your break might take a bit longer than intended. Read more…

October 31, 2021 — November is just around the corner, and with it, a new collection of desktop wallpapers to celebrate the beginning of the month. Designed by creatives from all across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar. Let’s make November colorful! Read more…

October 14, 2021 — Writing CSS has probably never been more fun and exciting than it is today. In this post we’ll take a look at common problems and use cases we all have to face in our work and how to solve them with modern CSS. If you’re interested, we’ve also just recently covered CSS auditing tools, CSS generators, front-end boilerplates and VS code extensions — you might find them useful, too. Read more…

September 30, 2021 — Get your desktop ready for fall and the upcoming Halloween season with a fresh batch of desktop wallpapers. Created with love by designers and artists from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for October 2021. Read more…

August 31, 2021 — New month, new wallpapers! In this post, you’ll find inspiring wallpaper designs for September 2021. They were created with love by artists and designers from across the globe and are available with and without a calendar. Enjoy! Read more…

August 17, 2021 — Your project is on a tight budget? We’ve collected some wonderful, free icons and goodies that we’ve discovered lately and that are bound to give your design the finishing touch. We’ve also just recently covered Figma plugins, SVG generators, accessible front-end components and front-end boilerplates — you might find them useful, too. Read more…

July 31, 2021 — New month, new wallpapers! In this post, you’ll find unique and inspiring wallpapers for August 2021. Created with love by the community for the community, they come in versions with and without a calendar for the month. Read more…

July 21, 2021 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? We’ve collected some useful color tools and resources that we’ve discovered lately — to help you get the most out of your creativity. We’ve also just recently covered CSS auditing tools, CSS generators, accessible front-end components, front-end boilerplates and VS code extensions — you might find them useful, too. Read more…

June 30, 2021 — Let’s welcome July with some fresh desktop wallpapers. Designed by artists and designers from around the world, they are available with and without a calendar. Enjoy! Read more…

June 10, 2021 — We don’t need to write everything from scratch every single time. With boilerplates and starter kits, we can set up our projects faster, and get to work immediately. Read more…

May 31, 2021 — What could be a better way to welcome June than with some colorful inspiration? Well, we might have something for you: wallpapers created with love by artists and designers from across the globe. Read more…

May 27, 2021 — Meet useful Visual Studio Code extensions for web developers: little helpers to minimize slow-downs and frustrations, and boost developer’s workflow along the way. With auto log messages, auto code formatting, file utils, file labels, code snippets, highlight brackets, tags, indents and workspaces, onboarding and remote SSH. Read more…

April 30, 2021 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new collection of wallpapers is for you. Designed with love by the community for the community, the wallpapers are available with and without a calendar for May 2021. Read more…

March 31, 2021 — Let’s welcome the new month with some fresh wallpapers. Designed with love by artists and designers from across the globe, they are available with and without a calendar for April 2021. Read more…

February 28, 2021 — Our wallpapers post this month is a special one: There’s not only a new collection of wallpapers created by creative folks from across the globe waiting for you, but we’ll also award a smashing prize to the best design. Read more…

January 31, 2021 — Let’s make this February more colorful! Apart from a new collection of wallpapers, we also have a little creativity challenge waiting for you this month. It’s the perfect occasion to share your ideas with the world — and win a smashing prize along the way. Read more…

January 25, 2021 — How to stay creative, focused, and organized when working remotely? We’ve collected some useful tools and resources that we use daily — to help you get most out of your remote work. Read more…

December 31, 2020 — What better way could there be to start the new year than with some fresh inspiration? Our collection of wallpapers for January 2021 is bound to put a smile on your face — and maybe spark new ideas, too. Read more…

November 30, 2020 — Let’s welcome December with some new wallpapers! Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they are available with and without a calendar for the month. Read more…

October 31, 2020 — Give your desktop a makeover with this new collection of wallpapers. Designed by the community for the community, the wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar for November 2020. Read more…

September 30, 2020 — Get ready for autumn and the upcoming Halloween season with beautiful and inspiring wallpapers. Created by the community for the community, they are available with and without a calendar for October 2020. Read more…

August 31, 2020 — New month, new wallpapers! In this post, you’ll find inspiring wallpaper calendars for September 2020. Created with love by the community for the community. Read more…

July 31, 2020 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of wallpapers is for you. Designed with love by the community for the community, the wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar for August 2020. Read more…

June 30, 2020 — What could be a better way to welcome July than with some colorful inspiration? Well, we might have something for you: wallpapers created with love by artists and designers from across the globe. Read more…

May 31, 2020 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new wallpapers collection is for you. Designed with love by the community for the community, the wallpapers are available with and without a calendar for June 2020. Read more…

April 30, 2020 — As designers, we usually turn to different sources of inspiration, and, well, as a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one: wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. Read more…

March 31, 2020 — Let’s welcome the new month with some fresh wallpapers. Designed with love by artists and designers from across the globe, they are available with and without a calendar for April 2020. Read more…

February 29, 2020 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of wallpapers is for you. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for March 2020. Read more…

January 31, 2020 — Artists and designers from across the globe once again got out their favorite tools and created unique and inspiring wallpapers to welcome the new month. The wallpapers are available with and without a calendar for February 2020 and can be downloaded for free. Read more…

December 31, 2019 — Happy 2020! Let’s welcome the new year with wallpapers created by the community for the community. Available with and without a calendar for January, they’ll help guide you through your first adventures of 2020. Read more…

November 30, 2019 — December is here and with it a new collection of desktop wallpapers to celebrate the beginning of the month. Designed by creatives from all across the globe and available in versions with and without a calendar. Read more…

October 31, 2019 — In many parts of the world, November is a rather gray month, so what better way could there be to start it off as with some colorful inspiration? Read more…

September 30, 2019 — Get ready for October and the upcoming Halloween season with a fresh batch of wallpapers. Created with love by the community for the community. Read more…

August 31, 2019 — Let’s welcome September with a fresh desktop wallpaper. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe and available with and without a calendar. Read more…

July 31, 2019 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of wallpapers is for you. Designed with love by the community for the community, the wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar for August 2019. Read more…

June 30, 2019 — What could be a better way to welcome the new month than with a fresh wallpaper? Well, we might have something for you: wallpapers created with love by the community for the community — all available with and without a calendar for July 2019. Read more…

May 31, 2019 — Let’s kick off June with some fresh inspiration! Artists and designers from across the globe once again tickled their creativity to cater for beautiful and unique wallpapers. Available with and without a calendar for the month. Read more…

April 30, 2019 — Artists and designers from across the globe once again got out their favorite tools and designed unique and inspiring wallpapers to welcome the new month. Available with and without a calendar for May 2019. Enjoy! Read more…

March 31, 2019 — As designers, we usually turn to different sources of inspiration, and, well, we’ve discovered one of the best ones: wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. Read more…

February 28, 2019 — Get ready for March with a fresh wallpaper. Designed with love by the design community for the community and available with and without a calendar. Read more…

January 31, 2019 — Why not start the new month off with a fresh wallpaper? Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, the wallpapers in this collection are available with and without a calendar for February 2019. Read more…

December 31, 2018 — Let’s start into the new year with a little inspiration boost: wallpapers created with love by the community for the community. Happy 2019! Read more…

November 30, 2018 — December is here, so why not spread some holiday love across your devices — we’ve got some truly eye-catching wallpapers to sweeten the last days of the year. Read more…

October 31, 2018 — Give your desktop a makeover with this fresh batch of wallpapers. Designed by the community for the community and available with and without a calendar for November 2018. Read more…

September 30, 2018 — Get your desktop ready for fall and the upcoming Halloween season with a fresh batch of desktop wallpapers. Created with love by designers and artists from across the globe. Read more…

August 31, 2018 — Do you need a little inspiration boost? Well, then our new batch of desktop wallpapers is for you. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they come in versions with and without a calendar for September 2018. Read more…

July 31, 2018 — August is here, so why not celebrate with a fresh wallpaper? This post features desktop wallpapers designed by artists and designers from across the globe. With and without a calendar for August 2018 and available for free download. Read more…

June 30, 2018 — Following our monthly tradition, designers and artists from across the globe have created desktop wallpapers that are bound to get you in the summer mood. Read more…

May 31, 2018 — Welcome June with a fresh desktop wallpaper. Designed by artists and designers from across the globe and available with and without a calendar. Read more…

April 30, 2018 — Let’s celebrate the beginning of May with some fresh and inspiring desktop wallpapers. Designed with love by artists and designers from across the globe. Read more…

March 31, 2018 — As a part of our recent creativity challenge, artists and designers from across the globe created monthly desktop wallpapers dedicated to their favorite songs. And, of course, we do have some spring-themed wallpapers for April, too. Read more…

February 28, 2018 — For the March 2018 desktop wallpapers, we wanted to try something different. That’s why we started a little creativity challenge and asked the community to design wallpapers around the theme “Exploring New Worlds. Here are the results. Read more…

February 26, 2018 — (This article is kindly sponsored by Adobe.) Adobe is launching a unique design challenge: Take one of three exclusive icon kits and make an app prototype that helps fellow creatives explore your city. Read more…

February 9, 2018 — (This article is kindly sponsored by Adobe.) Three world-renowned designers — Lance Wyman, Anton & Irene, and Büro Destruct — created three UX-themed icon kits that you can download and use for free in Adobe XD. Read more…

February 8, 2018 — A free icon set with everything related to space: rockets, space shuttles, meteors, stars, and everything else you might come across on a space mission. Available in SVG, EPS, AI, PNG. Read more…

February 8, 2018 — Our friends at Adobe are streaming live from Awwwards Berlin 2018. Join digital thinkers and UX professionals as they discuss current trends from the UX/UI industry. February 8th and 9th. Read more…

February 6, 2018 — Join our Creativity Challenge and win a smashing prize. All you need to do is design a wallpaper for March 2018 around the theme “Exploring New Worlds.” The deadline is Sunday, February 25th. Read more…

January 31, 2018 — Unique and inspiring desktop wallpapers that celebrate the month of love, Chinese New Year, and the small things that make us happy. Created by artists from across the globe and available with and without a calendar for February 2018. Read more…

January 16, 2018 — 13 live webinars. Four days. That’s the Design Systems Virtual Summit which our friends at UXPin are hosting from February 13th to 16th. Join free from anywhere, and learn from experienced practitioners how to build and maintain a design system efficiently. Read more…

January 3, 2018 — A few weeks ago, we asked the community to use everything they could to make their websites and projects perform blazingly fast. Today, we’re happy to finally announce the winner. Read more…

December 31, 2017 — To welcome 2018, artists and designers from across the globe created unique desktop wallpapers for you to indulge in — with and without a calendar for January. Time to give your desktop a makeover and start the new year off freshly inspired. Read more…

December 20, 2017 — A free icon set created by the creative folks at Vexels. 32 office motifs, four formats (AI, EPS, SVG, and TIFF). Read more…

November 30, 2017 — Slowly but surely, 2017 is coming to an end. And what better way could there be to celebrate the last few weeks and the upcoming holiday season as with some cheerful wallpapers? Read more…

November 20, 2017 — Slowly but surely, 2017 is coming to an end. Time for some end-of-the-year wallpapers! Read more…

October 31, 2017 — November is a rather gray month in many parts of the world, so what could be better as some colorful inspiration to start it off with the right foot? Read more…

October 24, 2017 — Not too long ago, front-end performance was a mere afterthought. Something that was postponed to the end of a project and that didn’t go much beyond minification, asset optimization, and maybe a few adjustments on the server’s config file. But things have changed. Read more…

October 6, 2017 — CSS Grid is becoming the new layout standard for the web, and we are all still experimenting with what we can achieve with it. Read more…

September 30, 2017 — Bright, colorful leaves, rainy days, Halloween. That’s October — at least if you’re living in the Northern hemisphere. To provide you with some fresh inspiration even when the weather is gray, artists and designers from across the globe once again challenged their creative skills to design beautiful, one-of-a-kind (and this time around also spooky) wallpapers for you to indulge in. Read more…

September 26, 2017 — 60 icons with everything from transportation and equipment to nature, activities and other motifs that are bound to awaken your wanderlust. EPS, AI, SVG and PNG formats are available, so it’s easy to customize the icons to your liking. Read more…

September 11, 2017 — Design doesn’t scale as cleanly as engineering. It’s not enough that each element and page is consistent with each other — the much bigger challenge lies in keeping the sum of the parts intact, too. And accomplishing that with a lot of designers involved in the same project. If you’re working in a growing startup or a large corporation, you probably know the issues that come with this: The big-picture falls from view easily as everyone is focusing on the details they are responsible for, and conceptions about the vision of the design might be interpreted differently, too. What we need is a set of best practices to remove this friction and make the process smoother. A strategy to scale design without hurting it. Read more…

August 31, 2017 — As designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration, and, well, sometimes the best inspiration lies right in front of us. With that in mind, we embarked on a special creativity mission nine years ago: to provide you with inspiring and unique desktop wallpapers every month. Wallpapers that are a bit more distinctive as the usual crowd and that are bound to fuel your ideas. Read more…

July 31, 2017 — Could there be a better way to welcome the new month as with a tidy desktop and a fresh wallpaper? Well, we’ve got you covered. To help you start into August freshly inspired, artists and designers from across the globe once again challenged their artistic skills to create unique desktop wallpapers for you to indulge in — wallpapers that are a bit more distinctive as the usual crowd. Read more…

July 4, 2017 — What comes to your mind when you hear the word “business”? White collars, cubicle offices, and encrusted habits? Not when you ask the folks at Vexels. Their Business Concept icon set manages to break free from the conceptions that are stuck in our heads and paints a fresh and creative picture instead. One that captures the liveliness of today’s startup world. And, well, we are very happy to present you the icons as a freebie. Colorful, friendly, but nonetheless straight to the point, that’s Vexels’ take on the business subject. There are 28 icons in the set in total, depicting concepts that help a business thrive — from vision and strategy to teamwork and competition. All icons are available in AI, EPS, SVG, PSD, and PNG formats. Read more…

June 30, 2017 — July is almost here, and that means, well, new wallpapers. It’s been nine years already since we embarked on this mission to welcome the new month with a fresh batch of desktop eye candy, with wallpapers that are a bit more distinctive as the usual crowd. And it wasn’t any different this time around. Bound to spark new ideas, artists and designers from across the globe once again challenged their creative skills and created a lovely collection of wallpapers for July 2017. All of them come in two versions — with and without a calendar — and can be downloaded for free. Now you only need to decide which one will make it to your desktop. Enjoy! Read more…

May 31, 2017 — Where do you seek inspiration? In the bright colors that nature is showing at this time of year? A conversation with a friend maybe? Or a journey you recently went on? Well, we also might have something for you: Our monthly desktop wallpapers post is an opportunity to refuel your creative battery and get a little in-between inspiration shot — since nine years already. Read more…

May 26, 2017 — How about an icon set that gives your UI designs just that finishing touch they need? One that stands out while keeping the design clear and legible? Vincent Le Moign spent two years on designing such a set, and we are very happy to feature part of it as a freebie today. Read more…

May 16, 2017 — To get better at your craft, there’s nothing more valuable as learning first-hand from the experience of others. What little tricks have helped fellow designers, design leaders, and developers become more efficient? And how do they overcome hurdles in their projects? Conferences are a brilliant opportunity to get up close with the pros and exchange tips and ideas. But they aren’t the only one. To spread expert knowledge between people who are hundreds, even thousands of miles apart, our friends at the full-stack UX design platform UXPin brought the first free virtual summit to life a few months ago. Now the second edition is on its way, and we are very happy to help make it happen: the Agile UX Virtual Summit, focusing on all things Agile UX. Because, well, we all know that building a UX team with agile organization can be quite a challenge. Read more…

April 30, 2017 — We always try our best to challenge your creativity and get you out of your comfort zone. A great occasion to do so is our monthly wallpapers challenge which has been going on for eight years already. Read more…

March 31, 2017 — Time is running! The first quarter of the year lies already behind us and a new season is in full swing. But no matter if April means blooming colors and embracing the warmer weather in your part of the world or getting cozy for autumn, our new batch of desktop wallpapers is bound to cater for some fresh inspiration regardless of that. Read more…

March 28, 2017 —

We are all craftsmen in a way, no matter if you create delightful experiences, snappy performances, or innovative products. While our tools now fit into the thinnest laptops or even the cloud, we still have much in common with the stonemasons and the carpenters who lived centuries before us. We share our knowledge to get better and more efficient at what we do, like in a guild.

And what place could be better for a guild of web designers and developers to get together for a friendly conversation, to learn from each other and to spark new ideas at a location that lives and breathes centuries of crafted skills? We are headed back to the Historic Merchants’ Hall in our lovely hometown Freiburg, and we’d love you to join us there for SmashingConf Freiburg 2017!

March 10, 2017 — What would life be without surprises? Pretty plain, wouldn’t you agree? Today, we are happy to announce a freebie that bubbles over with its friendly optimistic spirit, bound to sprinkle some unexpected sparks of delight into your projects: Ballicons 3. If that name rings a bell, well, it’s the third iteration of the previous Ballicons icon set created by the folks at Pixel Buddha. This icon set covers a vibrant potpourri of subjects, 30 icons ranging from nature, travel and leisure motifs to tech and office. All icons are available in five formats (AI, EPS, PSD, SVG, and PNG) so you can resize and customize them until they match your project’s visual style perfectly. No matter if you like it bright and bubbly or rather sleek and simple — the set has the makings to become a real allrounder in your digital tool belt. Read more…

February 28, 2017 — Sometimes all we need is a little inspiration kick to get our creative juices flowing. Maybe your secret is to go for a short walk, have a little chat with a colleague, or scroll through your favorite eye candy resources. Whatever it might be that helps you get new ideas, we, too, have something for you that could work just as good: desktop wallpapers. Read more…

February 14, 2017 — The sharing spirit in the design community is remarkable. Designers spend countless hours on side projects and without asking for anything in return, they share their creations freely with the community. Just to give something back, to inspire and to support fellow folks in their work. When working on a project yourself, freebies like these can come to the rescue when you have to get along on a tight budget, but, more often that that, they simply are the missing piece that’ll make your design complete. Read more…

January 31, 2017 — Time flies by! February is already here and artists and designers from across the globe have once again diligently created a potpourri of unique wallpaper calendars to freshen up your desktop. This monthly wallpapers mission has been going on for eight years already and we are very thankful to all the creative minds who challenge their skills and contribute to it each month anew. Read more…

December 15, 2016 — With the holidays almost here and the new year already in sight, December is a time to slow down, an occasion to reflect and plan ahead. To help us escape the everyday hectic for a bit and sweeten our days with a delightful little surprise each day up to Christmas, the web community has assembled some fantastic advent calendars this year. They cater for a daily dose of web design and development goodness with stellar articles, inspiring experiments, and even puzzles to solve. To make the choice of which ones to follow a bit easier, we collected a selection of advent calendars in this Quick Tip for you. No matter if you’re a front-end dev, UX designer, or content strategist, we’re certain you’ll find something to inspire you for the upcoming year. So prepare yourself a nice cup of coffee, cozy up in your favorite chair and, well, enjoy! Read more…

December 9, 2016 — Christmas is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than with some free goodies? We sifted through the web (and our archives) to find holiday-themed icon sets for you that’ll give your creative projects some holiday flair. Perfect for Christmas cards, gift tags, last-minute wrapping paper, or whatever else you can think of. All icons can be downloaded for free, but please consult their licenses or contact the creators before using them in commercial projects. Reselling a bundle is never cool, though. Have a happy holiday season! Read more…

November 21, 2016 — Some like it loud, others need some steady beats to stay focused, others calm tunes. A while ago we asked on Twitter and Facebook what music the web community is listening to when coding and designing. The answers were as diverse as the community itself and certainly too good to live an existence only in a Twitter discussion. That’s why we’ve compiled those hand-crafted playlists, favorite artists, and loved soundtracks in this article to see which tunes fuel the web, and, well, first and foremost, to provide you with some new ear candy to get you through lengthy coding and design sessions, of course. Get your headphones ready! Read more…

September 23, 2016 — Designing with “big data” is a challenging task. Matan Stauber, however, took it to the next level. With an impressive outcome. Having studied Visual Communication at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Israel’s national school of art, Matan realized a very ambitious final project: an interactive timeline of our galaxy’s history — 14 billion years, from the Big Bang to today. We talked to Matan about Histography, about the idea behind it, and how he managed to bring it to life. An interview about stretching the limits of what’s possible. Read more…

September 14, 2016 — Let’s say you want to quickly sketch out your idea of a website, or just quickly whip up a small site for testing purposes. Also, neither should take a lot of time to build nor should they need a full-stack toolkit. So, where and how do you start? Have you tried creating a website with some Dropbox-powered hosting tools? Well, they certainly can provide a fast and easy solution for these occasions. You don’t have to fiddle with servers or bother about deployment, some of them even come with pre-configured templates that you can use or customize to spare you coding time. Read more…

July 18, 2016 — Computers and human beings don’t speak the same language. So, to make interaction possible, we rely on graphical user interfaces (GUIs). But GUIs come with a natural barrier: People have to learn to use them. They have to learn that a hamburger button hides a menu, that a button triggers an action. But with technology evolving and language recognition and processing improving, we are on a path that could make interaction with digital services more intuitive, more accessible and more efficient — through conversational interfaces. Read more…

July 6, 2016 — Every designer has their favorite prototyping tools. However, when it comes to UX wireframing and prototyping, there is often more than one tool involved. Sooner or later, you find yourself switching from one tool to another to cherry-pick the best ones among them. Read more…

May 4, 2016 — Vintage design is an endless source of inspiration. Seeing how fellow designers tackled their job decades ago, with a limited set of tools, and how timeless, even classic, some of the pieces are still today, is fascinating. With this Quick Tip, we want to leave behind current trends and indulge in the aesthetic of past times. We’ll dive into wanderlust-awaking travel posters, design manuals that wrote history, and, last but not least, we’ll bridge the gap to today by looking at how a mid-century design movement still influences designers. Buckle up… and off we are to a journey through pre-Photoshop, pre-Sketch and -Illustrator times! Read more…

April 27, 2016 — SVGs are perfect for responsive web design and, since users can zoom in without sacrificing quality, meaningful from an accessibility-centered point of view. Read more…

April 12, 2016 — CodePen has become the playground for developers. The sandbox where you can build whatever your imagination fancies. Practical things, experimental concepts — it’s a treasure chest, bound to fuel your ideas. For this Quick Tip, we have done some digging around and found some interesting UI demos and concepts for you to indulge in and build upon: dialog and modal windows, signup and login screens, navigation and menus, sliders and toggles. Small bits of delight that make the user’s interaction with a website or app more pleasant. Enjoy! Read more…

March 30, 2016 — What makes a great conference? It fuels your ideas and polishes up your skills. It fosters your professional growth and takes your work to the next level. Luckily, a lot of conferences provide videos of their talks after the event has ended, some do even stream live to pass on their knowledge even if you couldn’t attend. The videos collected in this round-up revive the spirit of the conferences they were recorded at and cater for a lot of fresh insights and light-bulb moments to make the learning never stop. As a very special goodie, we’re very pleased to also feature the live stream of this year’s Build 2016 Conference, taking place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA, right here on Smashing. Read more…

March 8, 2016 — It’s the small details that make a project shine. Solid typography, well-crafted with attention and care is one of them. A harmonious visual rhythm, typographic subtleties like soft caps, margin outdents or the correct use of hyphens and dashes — there are a lot of things that add up to it. In practice, however, publishing on the web is supposed to be fast, and the little details are often overlooked, which is a pity, because they are not only pleasing to the eye but also improve the reading experience. Read more…

March 3, 2016 — The most inspirational things are often right in front of us. It might be the typography on a book cover, the colors of your favorite music album, the opening titles in that movie you saw yesterday. To celebrate all those little moments of inspiration, we have compiled some resources for you which honor the beauty of graphic design and the ideas behind it. Perfect to squeeze into a short coffee break. Enjoy! We learned not to judge a book by its cover, but, honestly, there is nothing quite like browsing through a bookstore, soaking up covers, their colors, their typefaces, their layouts, every little detail. The variety is endless, and sometimes you’re lucky and find a little piece of art shining through the sheer mass. Read more…

February 24, 2016 — Free icons are a great way to spice up your work with small effort. While some of them are plain useful, others give a project a fun twist. The following collection of free icon sets offers both — payment provider icons just like summer goodness to help you over a rainy day. All icons can be downloaded and used for free. Read more…

February 23, 2016 — Flexbox gives us a new kind of control over our layouts, making coding challenges that were hard or impossible to solve with CSS alone straightforward and intuitive. It provides us with the means to build grids that are flexible and aware of dynamic content, and thus, give us the freedom to focus on the creation process instead of hacking our way towards a layout. To give you a head start into Flexbox and provide you with ideas on how to use it to master common coding challenges, we have collected tips, tricks, and tools that help you get the most out of its power already today. The list is by no means complete but includes the resources which we found helpful and useful. Read more…

February 17, 2016 — Photoshop is still a favorite among a lot of web designers, and the right tools make it even more powerful as it already is. To help you boost productivity, save time, and, obviously, nerves, we have picked some valuable Photoshop resources, plugins, and scripts for you. Some of them will speed up routine tasks so you can concentrate more on your actual work, others build a bridge between Photoshop and code so your design mockups can benefit from the best of both worlds. Unless otherwise noted, the resources are free to use. Read more…

February 12, 2016 — Typography can make all the difference. However, if your project has to get along on a very limited budget and you need to rely on free fonts, good ones are never easy to find. Luckily, we stumbled across some real gems lately. Read more…

February 4, 2016 — _Smashing Magazine is known for lengthy, comprehensive articles. But what about something different for a change? What about shorter, concise pieces with useful tips that you could easily read over a short coffee break? As an experiment, this is one of the shorter Quick Tips-kind-of articles — shorter posts prepared and edited by our editorial team. Read more…