Web Design Blog

INFOGRAPHIC – What’s The Big Deal With Pinterest?

Doug Banks — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:05:28 +0000

If you’re a regular reader of our design blog then you’ll know that we’re pretty big fans of well designed, topical infographics. Not only are they a fantastic design exercise, but they’re fantastic examples of high quality, shareable content – particularly important if you’re concerned about SEO and social media sharing.

We recently came across this fantastic infographic, highlighting the growing popularity of Pinterest – the social media platform that has grown exponentially since its launch in 2009 and now boasts an incredible user base and monthly traffic.

What’s The Big Deal With Pinterest Infographic

Some of the statistics that particularly caught our eye include the average time on site for Pinterest – an incredible 89 minutes, which is well above Google Plus, LinkedIn, Twitter and equal to Tumblr. In fact, the average time on site for Pinterest is topped only by Facebook, which is very impressive considering some of the competition.

Another interesting stat is that a massive 95% of Pinterest users in the United States are female – something that’s even more surprising when you consider 55% of users in the UK are male.

What do you think of Pinterest? Have you started using the newest social media phenomenon yet? How do you think it compares to Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Inforgraphic design by Design By Soap

HTML5 Infographic – I’ve Seen The Future, It’s In My Browser

Doug Banks — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:10:40 +0000

For the last few years, if you wanted to create fully interactive or animated websites then Flash was the only real option available to you (or your developers). Whilst Flash is an incredible tool for creating beautiful, interactive web elements, it hasn’t always been supported by browsers (something iPhone owners will be more than familiar with) and it’s always been a no-no as far as SEO (search engine optimisation) is concerned.

These days however we’ve got the exciting option of utilising HTML5, a mark-up language that has pushed the boundaries of web design, interactivity and browser compatibility. But just how far has HTML5 come since its official launch in 2010? Is HTML5 really more compatible than Adobe’s Flash? Has the mass market begun to embrace it?

Luckily we can answer some of these questions with the HTML5 infographic – I’ve Seen The Future, It’s In My Browser:

(click for a larger version)

Here at Pixel Design Studio we’re more than familiar with HTML5, so if you’d like to commission a highly interactive website, get in touch with us via the contact form.

Sources: http://www.longtailvideo.com/html5/

Mobile Browser Usage Infographic

Doug Banks — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:22:21 +0000

If you’re familiar with the Pixel Design Studio blog then you’ll know we’re big fans of infographics, and we often produce our own for some of the biggest design sites online.

We recently had our Mobile Browser Usage infographic (included below) featured on the phenomenal Design Float website, and we thought it was about time we delivered the design to our own readers.

If you’re anything like we were when researching this infographic then you’ll probably find some mobile browsers in the design that you haven’t come across before – so why not consider trying out some new browsers on your mobile, you never know, you might find something you like!

As always with our infographics you’re more than welcome to use the design on your own blog, just please link back to Pixel Design Studio if you do.

Highdown Carpets eCommerce website launched!

Doug Banks — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:41:10 +0000

Just a quick shout to announce the launch of Highdown Carpets’ new eCommerce website. It’s another Magento build from Pixel Design studio that follows on from their content managed website we built for them a couple of years back.

It’s great to be a part of their ongoing online success. I’m sure we’ll be doing plenty more work with them in the future.

You can check out the new website here:

If you are interested in having Pixel Design Studio build you a Magento eCommerce website or want to discuss how to take your existing business online, please give us a call on 0845 630 1252 or via our content us page.

How To Create Your own Fonts

Doug Banks — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:37:48 +0000

We love fonts here at Pixel Design Studios. They can, along with several other elements, make or break a design, be it online or in print. There are a huge variety, many based on historical lettering and scripts, and at least one for every occasion!

Whilst this used to be the preserve of specialist font enthusiasts and typesetters, the Internet opened it up to everyone. Since the first digital font, DigiGrotesk, was designed in 1968 by Hell Design Studio, people have been experimenting with digital versions of traditional typefaces. With the increasing availability and use of computers, fonts were used more and more, but the mass commercialisation of the Internet in the early 1980s really brought them to the forefront. With format standardisations, web font standards and other directives aimed at making fonts standardised across all machines, an explosion in the amount of foundries and designers began. Since then lots of programs have been designed to help you make your own fonts, and people certainly have been! Here are some of the best programs around today to help you create your own unique font:

YourFonts.com
Ever thought your handwriting would make a great font? Well, wonder no more. Yourfonts.com allows you to upload a high quality picture of the characters, then splits it up and allows you to download it in OpenType format, all for free!

Fontstruct.com
This is a nice, simple, pixel based font creator, and a great place to start. The easy to use interface gives you a set of shapes for each pixel, and you can create from there. It’s really very easy to sketch and erase, so give it a go! Another nice touch with this software is that it’s fully online, so you can use it anywhere and it’s owned by one of the largest font shops, Fontshop.com. So whilst it’s free to create, you can put it on sale and potentially make some money.

Fontlab.com Fontographer
At the higher end of the scale we have Fontographer and Font Lab studio. These are paid versions costing from $150 up to over $1000, but obviously come with a lot more functions. Whereas Fontstruct is pixel based, Fontlab works on vector information, allowing you a much greater flexibility and control over the shape of each character. As well as this you can choose what kind of format you want to export the final product in, import and edit existing fonts, and tweak all kinds of variables (kerning, glyphs etc). This is a professional product with all of the features that a pro would demand, and it’s reflected in the price.

Incredible Optical Illusion Street Art

Doug Banks — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:29:24 +0000

The wonderful thing about the Internet today is that it’s an absolute goldmine of ideas and inspiration that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see. You can now examine inspirational material from all around the world at the touch of button, and from the comfort of your own home. This in turn has brought about a phenomenon where certain items can ’go viral’, where they appeal to so many that they spread all over the world in a matter of weeks or even days.
Unless you’ve been hiding somewhere very isolated, the chances are you will have seen some of the fantastic work done by street artists such as Julian Beever, Edgar Mueller and others. They have taken the traditional chalk street picture and added another dimension, to make some utterly spectacular optical illusions. Below is a selection of some of our favourite pieces from their large body of work. Have a look at their respective personal websites for lots more examples.

There’s also a great video on the making of this last piece, which is well worth a watch here.

History Of Online Shopping [INFOGRAPHIC]

Doug Banks — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:44:27 +0000

We love infographics here at Pixel Design Studio; not only are they a fantastic way of visually presenting information, but they’re a phenomenal content-based SEO tool.

We recently designed an infographic for the high-profile Speckyboy website, entitled the ‘History of Online Shopping’. You can check out the infographic below, and let us know what you think in the comments!

If you’d like to see a larger copy, simply click on the infographic below:

Enjoy our History Of Online Shopping infographic? Please consider sharing it using the social media buttons! Feel free to repost this infographic, just please link back to us or to the original publisher Speckyboy if you do.

Balmer Direct gets a new look!

Doug Banks — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:04:26 +0000

We have just completed a refurb for Balmer Direct Ltd. They had a rather dated, tired looking eCommerce website that was in much need of improvement.

After analysing their market, competitors and Analytics data, we were able to create new look for their company that boasted many new features to ultimately improve user experience; including improved navigation, faster checkout process, good call-to-action and a clean profession look.

We had to work to a strict deadline and managed to turn the whole project around in just 2 weeks!

This is how their old website looked:

And the new….

Amazing and Inspiring Business Card Designs

Doug Banks — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:34:36 +0000

Lots of people have realised that networking is one of the keys to succeeding in business. The phrase ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is one I don’t wholly agree with, but it is certainly true to some degree. If you have a great product and no way to get exposure you will struggle, whereas if you have an average product but great connections it makes it a lot easier
Business cards are a great way to make an impact by way of an introduction, but as a creative type they themselves should be creative. There are hundreds of fantastic examples around, and below are some of the best and most creative:

1. Scratchcard Style
This is a classic idea of taking something totally unrelated to a business card and adding it in to make it a bit more fun. Giving the user some way of interacting with your card, and making it fun, is the perfect way to make then remember you! SEE MORE

2. SheetSeat
Designed to mimic the product itself, this business card looks as clever as the real product! It’s a very clever little bit of origami-style folding and you have yourself a model chair…with contact details! SEE MORE

3. Brand Doctor
I think this tongue in cheek medical business card may be my favourite from this list. Each designer was assigned a ‘medicine’ based on their name and profession, in this case ‘Ruxiten – for improving visual identity’. A brilliant idea, with even better execution; the blister pack is full of mints. SEE MORE

4. Tear Off
Designed to fit in with their website branding, these cards are designed by two German packaging designers working for Junge Schachtel (meaning ‘young box’). It brings back the interactivity element again, and the minimal design is really well offset by the hot neon pink. SEE MORE

5. Edible Cards
Unfortunately this is a concept that will only work for food based businesses, but is great fun nevertheless. I’m afraid they’ll either go stale or be eaten before anyone remembers your contact details but they really look great and would be fab for an event. SEE MORE

6.Coasters
A really nicely designed idea here, with the design screenprinted directly onto the wooden coasters, but then again we’d expect noting less from a fine graphic design company like Murillo. The best bit about these is that they will hang around in a home or office for years, always re-enforcing your brand in the back of people’s minds. SEE MORE

7. Data Card
A really great concept, the ‘BizDisc’ card may look like a (roughly) regular business card, but can be inserted into any CD drive and played like a CD too. In the same way mini-cd’s work, they are cut down versions of regular cd’s, run on the same spindle and hold 450mb of data. Enough for your CV, portfolio and lots of other things. SEE MORE

8. Ctrl + Alt +Del
A great metaphor for the digital generation, these three buttons are all about problems. What better to advertise a psychologist, and very nicely done as well. SEE MORE

9. Shuriken Cards
Inspired by the famous Japanese throwing stars, these cards by Russian designer Albert Polyakov are embossed and silk screen printed. They look great on their own, but the blood splatters really make them pop. SEE MORE

10. Brckt
Bracket is a worldwide publication that contains articles on everything from politics to design, and they supply their employees with some great cards. Minimalist outsides are squeezed to reveal the folded inner contact details. Perfect for a publication that tries to be anonymous and minimalistic. SEE MORE

eatsaver.com iphone app launched

Doug Banks — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:33:21 +0000

We are pleased to announce the launch of the eatsaver.com iPhone App.

Its been a few months in the making what with a last minute redesign of their website, but the eatsaver iPhone App is finally live and it’s something we’re very proud of. Its a great addition to the eatsaver network and truly enables users to get great deals on meals whilst on the move!

Head over to the eatsaver website or download it directly from you phone or from the App store…. its free!