designstripe

Automation is the theme of this month’s collection of exciting new tools for designers and developers. There are tools to make your images better, tools to create illustrations, and tools to make your workflow more efficient. Plus, a whole host of tools that are just plain fun.

Here’s what is new for designers this month…

designstripe

designstripe lets you create beautiful illustrations with no design skills. Drag and drop different elements into place, then customize them for your brand.

DesignMaestro

DesignMaestro is a free keyboard extension app that lets you automate the tasks you repeat daily. Set up a macro with a keyboard shortcut, and tap the shortcut to perform the action.

Ghost 5.0

Ghost is one of the best personal blogging platforms around, and version 5 enhances it with custom code, support for video, and performance upgrades.

Yep

Yep is a new search engine from the makers of Ahrefs. Built from the ground up, Yep will give 90% of its ad revenue to content creators.

The CTO Field Guide

The CTO Field Guide is a free ebook for anyone newly promoted to a technology officer role or looking for a tech leadership role. It’s a simple guide to making the most of your first 90 days on the job.

ASCII Art Paint

ASCII Art Paint is a free, open-source web app for creating images made up of text characters and hieroglyphs. It’s a great way to add pictures to text-only formats.

Effekt

Make your own fun, wallpaper art at up to 8k resolution using Effekt, a mix between an image editor and a visual toy.

Animatiss

Animatiss is a fantastic collection of CSS animations that you can use for free. Tailor the speed of the animation, preview it, then copy and paste the code into your project.

Skiff

Skiff Mail is an email app that features end-to-end encryption. This means your email stays private and secure, so you’re free to discuss sensitive matters.

Super Designer Tools

Super Designer is a collection of design tools for performing simple tasks. There’s a background generator, a pattern generator, a blob generator, and more—all free to use.

Web UI

Web UI is a collection of UI kits and templates for Figma and Adobe XD. Most designs are free to download and use for projects, and some require payment.

Free Online Background Remover

Use this free online background remover to quickly and easily delete the background of photos, leaving you free to paste the foreground over flat colors, gradients, or even different backgrounds.

Untitled UI Icons

Untitled UI Icons is a set of clean, consistent, and neutral icons made for Figma in Figma. There are 3,500 icons in total. The line style is free to download.

OS

Turn your Mac or iPhone into an old-school Macintosh with this retro wallpaper and icon set, and transport yourself back to 1984. OS is a premium download.

Shrink.media

Shrink.media is a free app for web, iOS, and Android that lets you reduce the size of your image file size and dimensions to reduce its footprint.

3D Avatars

This big library of 3D avatars is perfect for any project that needs staff images. There are different ethnicities, clothing, facial expressions, and accessories, so you never run out of options.

Felt

Felt is a modern map maker for the web that gives you more control, more design options, and easier sharing than Google maps.

SureScan

SureScan is a helpful app that hunts through terms and conditions for dubious conditions on your behalf, so you can spend your time doing something less boring.

Reform

Reform is a no-code form builder that you can use to create clean, branded forms for your business without any design or code skills.

Copy Foundry

Discover how the best brands evolve their messaging over time with Copy Foundry, a brand positioning, and copywriting library to help your products stand out.

The post Exciting New Tools for Designers, June 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

13 juin 2022/par Service comm.

OpenTelemetry in Action: Optimizing Database Operations

Many software developers can attest that some of the most significant issues in their applications arise from database performance. Though many developers prefer to use a relational database for enterprise applications, typical logging and monitoring solutions provide limited signals to detect database performance issues. Rooting out common bad practices such as chatty interactions between the application code and the database is non-trivial.

As developers, we need to understand how our database is performing from the context of user transactions. Ideally, we would have a common tool that can monitor the performance of both the application and the database concerning user transactions. OpenTelemetry has emerged as a popular tool for application monitoring, but it can also be extended for monitoring databases.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

7 juin 2022/par Service comm.

WordPress 6.0 Lives Up To The Hype

WordPress 6.0 has been released, and another niche jazz musician will be enjoying extra Spotify royalties next month.

WordPress 6, named for latin-jazz musician Arturo O’Farrill, is the realization of a change of direction the WordPress Foundation adopted several years ago.

All versions of WordPress now power around 42% of the web. That’s approximately 810,000,000 sites. If you looked at each site for a single second, without pausing to blink, it would take you over 25 years to see the home page of each one — of course, if you factor in how long a typical WordPress site takes to load it would take well over a century.

Some people (i.e., me) have been predicting the decline of WordPress for so long that sooner or later, we were bound to be correct. And, despite its astonishing reach, there are some signs that its market share may now be in decline. Even the W3C abandoned it in favor of Craft.

Of the 1,930,000,000 sites that currently make up the web, only around 400,000,000 are active. WordPress’s long-term dominance, coupled with a stalling market share, means that a disproportionate number of abandoned sites are WordPress. With site builders like Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify taking huge chunks of WordPress’ share of new sites, WordPress is facing something of a cliff edge.

What the ill-informed naysayers (i.e., me) hadn’t counted on was that WordPress had already seen the writing on the wall and formulated a plan…

WordPress’s problem has always been its legacy code; supporting out-of-date ideas and a spaghetti-like codebase has meant a great deal of work to do anything new. As a result, the last few releases have seen great ideas stifled by labored implementation. Even the most loyal WordPress user has to admit that Gutenberg, while filled with potential, doesn’t work the way it should. However, with WordPress 6, all the work may be starting to pay off.

With version 6, the block editor in WordPress is starting to feel like a design tool that, if not perfect, is at least usable. Editing content no longer feels like you’re fighting against the UI. Most importantly, the bar for creating a site is much, much lower. WordPress 6 also offers improved performance and accessibility, both areas that have traditionally been lacking. Security is still something of an issue, but that is mainly due to the ROI for hackers that massive market shares generate.

WordPress, it seems, has arrived at two conclusions: its main competition isn’t other CMS but other site builders. To maintain its market dominance, it needs to cater not to professionals but to amateurs.

Don’t get me wrong; the WordPress ecosystem will benefit from WordPress 6, at least reputationally. New sites run by amateurs eventually become established sites run by, if not professionals, then at least knowledgeable amateurs.

OK, so WordPress probably isn’t a good choice for enterprise sites. And there are certainly better options for ecommerce. And as for SEO, well, probably best not mentioned.

But in WordPress 6, we have a free, open-source site builder that lowers the bar for making a new site. It’s a credit to the community that has persevered to produce it.

The post WordPress 6.0 Lives Up To The Hype first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

3 juin 2022/par Service comm.

SAP et New Zealand Rugby unissent leurs forces pour dynamiser la transformation numérique avec un partenariat mondial

Actualités, ERP & Applications, Innovation, SAP

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) a annoncé la signature d’un partenariat majeur pluriannuel avec SAP afin d’accélérer la transformation numérique de l’Union de Rugby. SAP, tout premier grand partenaire technologique de NZR, devient à la fois un Partenaire Officiel Mondial Premium, un Partenaire Technologique Officiel, et le Partenaire Officiel des Logiciels Cloud des « équipes en noir »*, notamment les All Blacks et les Black Ferns.

Leader du marché des logiciels d’application d’entreprise, SAP possède l’expertise, les solutions et l’envergure nécessaire pour créer une infrastructure technologique plus efficace, connectée et innovante pour NZR. Les deux organisations collaboreront pour identifier et mettre en œuvre des solutions Cloud novatrices, et connecter les données dans des domaines clés, afin de fournir un avantage concurrentiel sur et en dehors du terrain aux équipes, et plus largement à tout l’écosystème de NZR.

Ce partenariat permettra à NZR d’exploiter les solutions SAP et d’innover dans quatre domaines clés : créer un système de gestion intégré pour diriger et améliorer ses opérations, parfaire l’expérience des supporters, réaliser des objectifs de développement durable pour l’organisation et explorer la manière dont l’utilisation des données et des solutions peut favoriser la performance des équipes.

Opérations organisationnelles : l’utilisation d’un hub digital de solutions SAP pour créer des systèmes interconnectés permettant à NZR de tirer le meilleur parti de la puissance de ses systèmes et des données hors terrain, afin de mieux soutenir leurs équipes en place.
Performance de l’équipe : en implémentant SAP SuccessFactors et en se dotant d’une source unique de données RH, NZR compte améliorer l’expérience de ses membres et leur permettre ainsi d’atteindre leur plein potentiel.
Expérience des fans : créer de nouvelles façons de se connecter et de dialoguer avec la base de supporters locaux et mondiaux de NZR, tout en exploitant les nouvelles technologies et plateformes, afin qu’ils se rapprochent de leurs équipes et joueurs préférés.
Impact environnemental : exploiter les solutions et les capacités numériques permettant à NZR de gérer de manière holistique ses performances en matière de durabilité, tout en soutenant la stratégie plus large de NZR en matière de responsabilité sociale et d’environnementale (RSE).

Angela Nash, Chief Information & Technology Officer de NZR, a déclaré : “La NZR entreprend une transformation numérique de grande ampleur qui nécessite le soutien et l’expertise d’une organisation technologique internationale, pour nous aider à réaliser notre objectif : devenir l’Union de Rugby la plus avancée sur le plan technologique dans le monde. SAP est à l’avant-garde de la transformation numérique au niveau mondial et dispose des outils nécessaires pour nous aider à mettre en place une équipe d’experts qui, non seulement partage notre vision, mais dont les compétences et les capacités sont de renommée internationale. Nous sommes ravis qu’ils soient notre premier partenaire technologique et qu’ils travaillent avec NZR sur toutes les plates-formes clés afin d’examiner, d’améliorer et de nous permettre de fournir des systèmes technologiques qui garantissent que nous sommes les meilleurs sur le terrain et en dehors.”

Scott Russell, Executive Board Member & Customer Success, commente :

“New Zealand Rugby s’est fixé un objectif ambitieux : devenir le collectif de Rugby le plus avancé technologiquement au monde. En tant que tout premier partenaire technologique de l’organisation, SAP peut aider NZR à atteindre cet objectif en favorisant la transformation numérique dans tous ses domaines d’activités et en introduisant des technologies révolutionnaires qui aideront les équipes de NZR à donner le meilleur d’elles-mêmes – et à gagner. ”

SAP et NZR mettront également l’accent sur le développement de programmes et d’initiatives supplémentaires visant à promouvoir et à célébrer la diversité et l’inclusion.

Grâce à ce partenariat, SAP bénéficiera de divers droits et avantages, notamment le marquage et la signalisation dans les stades et sur le terrain pour les matchs gérés par NZR, le marquage sur toutes les plateformes numériques, les interventions des joueurs et des rencontres exclusives avec les équipes et les joueurs.

*Les « équipes en noir » de la NZR – les All Blacks, les Black Ferns, les All Blacks Sevens, les Black Ferns Sevens, les Māori All Blacks, les All Blacks XV et les All Blacks moins de 20.

À PROPOS DE NEW-ZEALAND RUGBY
Fondé en 1892, New Zealand Rugby s’efforce d’inspirer et d’unifier les Néo-Zélandais à travers le rugby. Notre objectif est de diriger, soutenir, développer et promouvoir le jeu national de la Nouvelle-Zélande, en mettant le rugby au cœur de chaque communauté. Le système de haute performance de NZR s’efforce de promouvoir les compétitions que nos fans aiment, d’encourager les talents qui peuvent représenter nos équipes en noir et d’être leader mondial sur et en dehors du terrain.

À PROPOS DE SAP
La stratégie de SAP est d’aider chaque entreprise à fonctionner comme une entreprise intelligente et durable. En tant que leader du marché des logiciels d’application d’entreprise, nous aidons les entreprises de toutes tailles et de tous secteurs à fonctionner au mieux : Les clients de SAP génèrent 87 % du commerce mondial total. Nos technologies d’apprentissage automatique, d’Internet des objets (IoT) et d’analyse avancée permettent de transformer les activités des clients en entreprises intelligentes. SAP aide à donner aux personnes et aux organisations une connaissance approfondie de l’entreprise et favorise la collaboration qui leur permet de garder une longueur d’avance sur leurs concurrents. Nous simplifions la technologie pour les entreprises afin qu’elles puissent utiliser nos logiciels comme elles le souhaitent, sans interruption. Notre suite d’applications et de services de bout en bout permet aux entreprises et aux organismes publics de 25 secteurs d’activité dans le monde entier de fonctionner de manière rentable, de s’adapter en permanence et de faire la différence. Grâce à un réseau mondial de clients, de partenaires, d’employés et de leaders d’opinion, SAP aide le monde à mieux fonctionner et à améliorer la vie des gens. Pour plus d’informations, visitez le site www.sap.com.

The post SAP et New Zealand Rugby unissent leurs forces pour dynamiser la transformation numérique avec un partenariat mondial appeared first on SAP France News.

30 mai 2022/par Service comm.

10 Terrific WordPress Plugins You Should Be Using in 2022

Having the right WordPress plugins on hand can do wonders for your business or online presence. WordPress offers a vast collection to choose from.

There are so many of them. However, finding those that get the best reviews and can do the most for you can be a challenge.

A plugin can give you additional functionality. It could otherwise be difficult or overly expensive to realize with your website by itself. A glance at the 10 top WordPress plugins described below can provide a powerful case in point.

Your website’s purpose or niche will usually dictate the types of essential WordPress plugins you would do well to invest in. The right ones can make your website a genuine powerhouse and, by extension, your business as well.

1. Amelia

Amelia is an excellent choice for beauty, healthcare, fitness, consulting, and businesses that might be saddled down with a manual or semi-manual booking system by saving them and their clients time while eliminating booking mistakes that often occur in those manual systems.

Clients can book appointments online 24/7, change or cancel their appointments, and receive reminders of upcoming appointments and other notifications via SMS or email.
Amelia enables business owners or department managers to track and manage employee schedules and time off.
Amelia can manage bookings for appointments, book tickets for events, and manage group bookings, all at multiple locations. There are no limits on the number of appointments that can be managed.
Booking forms can be customized to best serve a business’s needs and match its brand.

Amelia fully supports WooCommerce with PayPal, Stripe, Mollie, and RazorPay payments. Click on the banner to learn more about this time and money-saving plugin.

2. wpDataTables

wpDataTables is a premier WordPress table and chart building plugin that features virtually everything you are apt to need to build any table or chart you want.

Creating a table that is by any definition complex often requires tools that may not necessarily be easy to come by. wpDataTables uses four chart-building engines, one or more of which should suit you perfectly.

They are:

Google Charts
Highcharts
Charts.js
Apex Charts

For both table and chart building, wpDataTables can connect you to multiple database sources, including –

MySQL
MS SQL
PostgreSQL

wpDataTables can process data that exists in the commonly used formats and features various sorting and filtering options that allow you to create a host of different table types.

Both tables and charts are editable and responsive and, thanks to the wpDataTables conditional formatting feature, can highlight and color-code critical information.

Click to learn more.

3. Site Kit by Google

While your website’s performance might exceed your wildest dreams, it is more likely that there are areas that need improvement before your wishes can be met.

Determining those areas can be a challenge, but Site Kit offers a one-stop solution to deploy, manage, and get insights from critical Google tools to make your site a success by making those critical tools available to WordPress.

They provide:

stats displayed on your WordPress dashboard from multiple Google tools
quick Google tool setup without your having to edit your site’s source code
key metrics and insights for your entire site and individual posts, and
easy-to-manage, granular permissions across WordPress and different Google products

Site Kit shows you how many people have found your site, how users navigate it, etc.

Click on the banner to learn more about what Site Kit could do for you.

4. Tablesome – WordPress Table Plugin With Form Automation

Tablesome is a WordPress form database and form automation plugin that you can use to store entries from WordPress forms to a database. It can be integrated with popular forms – Contact Form 7 DB, WPForms entries, Forminator database, Elementor Form submissions, etc.

After saving, you can:

Edit, auto-delete, and export entries to tools such as MailChimp, Google Sheets, Salesforce, etc.,
Display WordPress form entries on frontend pages
Automatically export contact data using the Mailchimp WordPress Integration

5. TheDock

TheDock eliminates the need to search for just the right WordPress theme by enabling you to create your own – which can be more fun anyway.

Among TheDock’s many features, a few key ones include –

A comprehensive, option-rich Design System
A responsive design system that ensures your site looks great on all screens.
Designer, developer, and editing collaboration support.
Clean, readable code.

6. Slider Revolution

Beginners and mid-level designers can sometimes have difficulty finding ways to WOW their clients with professional-level visuals.

Slider Revolution changes all that by bridging the gap between what clients want and what you can provide with its –

200 designed-to-impress website and slider templates
25+ powerful addons and brand new WebGL slide animations
ability to import dynamic content from WooCommerce and social media outlets.

7. LayerSlider

More than a simple slider-builder, LayerSlider is an animation and website-building tool you can use to improve any website’s look and feel through eye-catching animations, contemporary graphics, and interactive features.

This is made possible in part through the use of –

160+ website, slider, and popup templates
LayerSlider’s modern and intuitive editing interface

Plus, you can count on professional one-on-one customer support.

8. Download Monitor

The Download Monitor plugin helps you sell your digital products by offering a ready solution for tracking file downloads, gating content to generate leads, build your audience, and ask users for personal information in exchange for valuable content.

Download Monitor lets you –

add any type of file you need to your website
link a page to all your channels and promote your social media networks
place ads – and more.

9. Ads Pro – Multi-Purpose WordPress Ad Manager

The biggest ad manager for WordPress, Ads Pro gives you everything necessary to manage and sell ads.

Ads Pro’s admin panel makes managing ads straightforward for you and your users.

Key ad features include 25+ ad templates and 20+ ad display options.
CPC, CPM, CPD billing and PayPal, Stripe, and bank transfer payment methods are built-in.
Geo-Targeting lets you show/hide ad spaces based on countries, provinces, cities, and Zip Codes.

10. Ultimate Membership Pro

If selling content is your objective, Ultimate Membership Pro is the tool you’ll want to take your website and convert it into a powerful content selling platform.

The Ultimate Membership Pro plugin enables you to –

Create unlimited subscription levels, including free, trial, and paid member subscriptions
Control customer access to content based on their subscriptions
Send emails to welcome new members and send notifications and reminders to regular subscribers.

The WordPress plugin directory is already stuffed with almost 60,000 plugins. This guide has been published to narrow things down to 10 top WordPress plugins for your use.

We consulted with experts to create this list of excellent plugins for WordPress. It can help you with content strategy, SEO, site security, and even social media marketing.

Installing plugins and getting the functionality they provide can add immense value to your use of WordPress.

[- This is a sponsored post on behalf of BAW Media -]

The post 10 Terrific WordPress Plugins You Should Be Using in 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

24 mai 2022/par Service comm.

9 Ways To Drive Traffic To Your WordPress Blog

Actualités, Actualités, SEO

WordPress has made it easy for everyone to launch a blog, but even though launching a blog isn’t a difficult task any longer, driving traffic to your blog certainly is!

In this article, I’ll share some tried and tested strategies that have worked well for my clients’ blogs. You do not have to be an expert or a marketing guru to get traffic to your WordPress website. Follow the helpful tips I share in this article and watch the visitors start pouring in.

Tip 1: Use Powerful Headlines

The first thing related to your blog that a user reads in the search engine results is your article headlines. Of course, nobody wants to click on a boring article title. But a powerful headline stands out from the rest and gets you more clicks.

In most themes, your article headlines are translated into meta titles for the pages. Meta titles indicate the topic of your articles to Google and other search engines.

Tip 2: Build an Email List

Consider offering your visitors a newsletter signup form through which they can subscribe and get notified about new posts on your blog. You can offer them an incentive for free to persuade them to subscribe to your blog. It can be anything from an e-book, membership, useful templates, or an e-course.

Building an email list gives access to the inboxes of your visitors. You can share your blog content with this prospective audience every time you post a new article. This will help you get consistent traffic to your WordPress blog.

Tip 3: Use Free Giveaways and Contests

Free giveaways work as an incentive for your WordPress blog visitors. To offer an entry to your blog’s free giveaway, you can ask your visitors for an email subscription, comment on your blog posts, share it on their social media channels, and ask for other such things.

The trick is to think about the actions of your visitors that will increase traffic to your blog and provide them with one or multiple giveaway entries for such actions.

Tip 4: Optimize For Keywords

All successful bloggers optimize their content for keywords. You need to perform proper keyword research to find sentences and words that your target audience is typing in Google and other top search engines.

Instead of guessing the keywords for your articles, consider using some helpful tools like SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool and Google Ads Keyword Planner. This way, you can find the terms people are genuinely interested in and the keywords that do not have too much competition.

You must ensure to choose the keywords that have some excellent traffic volume but, at the same time, have less competition. Such keywords will help in the better ranking of each of your articles.

Tip 5: Optimize WordPress Site Speed

It has been proven that loading time is a ranking factor for SEO, as Google tends to assume that fast sites are high-quality sites.

Signing up for a hosting provider specializing in WordPress guarantees you get the best optimization features for your WordPress site. However, that alone is not enough because you need a hosting provider that can also handle a high volume of visitors.

Optimizing your WordPress website will help in the faster loading of your blog pages. Images are generally the biggest culprit in slowing down your website. So you must first optimize them through an image optimization plugin like Smush, Imagify, or Optimus.

Enabling caching on your WordPress blog will considerably improve its speed. You can store your website data locally with caching, thereby reducing your server load to a large extent. Your website will, therefore, load faster on your visitors’ end, especially when they are repeat visitors.

Tip 6: Take Advantage of Social Media

Try building your presence on some of the top platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Post multiple times a day on these websites and share your blog articles.

You must also include social sharing buttons with your blog posts to make sharing easier for your audience. It will allow your blog visitors to share your post on different social platforms. This dramatically increases the chances of your blog post going viral.

Tip 7: Internal Linking Strategy

The only key here is to link articles that are closely related to each other. Your visitors might be interested in such related content and read more of your blog posts, thereby increasing your page views. It also increases the chances of visitors sharing your blog content since they find it valuable.

Tip 8: Be a Guest Blogger

Guest blogging involves creating content for other websites for mutual benefits. It helps you establish your authority in the blogging world while attracting more visitors to your WordPress website.

Becoming a guest blogger allows you to spread the word about your blog to a new set of audiences and bring in organic traffic. It expands your work portfolio and helps build or enhance your online reputation.

Tip 9: Pay for Traffic

Consider using Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Microsoft advertising, and other top advertising platforms when paying to bring traffic to your blog. Be aware of your blog audience and use the most suitable criteria to target it.

I’d recommend setting a weekly budget for paid ads and tracking the ad performance at the end of the week.

If you are satisfied with the traffic results, use the same criteria for the next week. On the other hand, if the ad performance is not as per your expectations, try different criteria to reach your target audience.

Conclusion

Getting traffic to your WordPress blog is an incentive for all the hard work that you do in creating content and managing your website. It builds a name for your blog and improves its search engine ranking. All this leads to better user engagement and revenue.

Featured image via Pexels.

The post 9 Ways To Drive Traffic To Your WordPress Blog first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

20 mai 2022/par Service comm.

What Even Is Web Design in 2022?

The term “web design” refers to the process of planning, organizing, and editing content online. On the surface, it seems like a simple enough concept. However, the reality is what we consider “web design” can change over time, influenced by our perception of the “web.”

In 2022, a professional web designer might create custom websites from scratch, but they may also be responsible for:

UX Design: Creating elements focused on user experience
App design: Building digital components of a website or online experience.
Theme design: Creating visual tools for supplementing web design.

Web design isn’t just about making a site look attractive anymore. The definition goes beyond the aesthetic to include a complete consideration of the functionality, performance, and abilities of countless assets we engage within the digital world.

What is Web Design? The Definition Today

Web design is the practice responsible for creating a website’s overall look and feel or web asset (such as web and mobile apps). It involves the process of planning and building elements of your project, from structure and layout choices to graphics and presentation.

Web design has various components that work together to create the final “experience” of a website, including graphic design, interface design, user experience design, search engine optimization, content creation, etc. These elements determine how a web asset looks, feels and performs on various devices.

Though the definition of web design in 2022 has evolved, it’s still different from web development, which refers to the actual coding which makes a website work. When you’re building a website, you’ll need web design and web development.

Elements of Web Design in 2022

When designing a website, modern designers need to consider two overlapping concepts: the overall appearance of the website and its functionality. The proper connection between these elements will maximize the site’s overall performance and usability, and make a design more memorable (for all of the right reasons).

Let’s break down the elements of web design into its visual and functional components.

Visual Elements of Web Design

Visual elements of web design influence how a design looks. The various visual components of a design should still follow the basic principles of graphic design. In other words, designers should be thinking about contrast, balance, unity, and alignment simultaneously. The visual elements of web design include:

Written copy and fonts: A website’s appearance and the text on the site often go hand in hand. Designers need to work together with content writers to ensure written copy makes sense structurally and uses the correct fonts for legibility.
Colors: Colors for web design are usually chosen based on factors like color psychology, which demonstrates a color’s ability to affect how someone feels, and branding. Most brands have specific colors they use consistently throughout their visual assets; this helps create a sense of cohesion and unity in designs.
Layout and spacing: Layout and spacing influence how content is arranged in an app, website, or another visual asset. The right layout helps to create a visual hierarchy, guiding a viewer through a page and drawing their attention to the correct information in order. Spacing helps to separate components on a page and create legibility.
Images, icons, and shapes: Images, icons, and shapes help convey significant amounts of information. The right ideas and icons can strengthen a brand message, direct a customer’s attention using a web app, and bring context to a design.
Videos and animations: Videos and animations are becoming increasingly common in today’s web design strategies. Videos can include 360-degree videos, which help immerse someone in a space, video streams, and short content clips.

Functional Elements of Web Design

Functional elements in web design are the practical components designers need to consider to ensure websites and assets work as they’re supposed to. A website, app, or any other web asset needs to function correctly to be accessible to users.

Functional elements of web design may include:

Navigation: The navigation elements of a website or app are among the main components determining whether a site is functioning properly and ensuring a good user experience. Audiences need to be able to move around the app or website quickly.
User interactions: Your site visitors may have multiple ways of communicating with your web app or website, depending on their device. You’ll need to make sure people can scroll and swipe on smartphones and tablets and click on desktops. If your website has VR or AR elements, you’ll also need to consider these immersive components in your design.
Speed and performance: While web development elements can also influence a web design’s speed or performance, it’s also essential for a designer to show elements of the composition don’t weigh down the functionality. Designs need to load quickly and correspond with the demands of browsers on various devices.
Structure: A website’s structure plays a critical role in user experience and SEO requirements. Users need to easily navigate through a website without encountering any issues like getting lost or ending up on broken pages.
Compatibility: A good design should look perfect on all devices, from a wide range of browsers to the various devices users might leverage today.

What Does Good Web Design Look Like in 2022?

More than ever, achieving high-quality web design is crucial to success in any industry or landscape. More than half of the world’s population is active online. If you’re not appealing to this audience correctly, you’re missing out on endless opportunities.

Notably, while elements of good web design can be subjective, such as which themes or colors someone might prefer for their website, the underlying foundations of strong web design are the same for everyone in 2022.

Good web design is any design that looks good, performs as it should, and delivers the best possible experience to your target audience. Effective web design should include components like:

Effective use of white space for organization and structure.
Clearly presented choices and navigation options for the user.
Clear calls to action to drive user activities from one page to another.
Limited distractions and a straightforward user journey.
No clutter or unnecessary components irrelevant to the needs of the user.
Responsive, flexible design accessible on any browser or device.
High-quality content and images are designed to hook a reader’s attention.
Appropriately sized fonts and legible typography.
A good balance between images and text on a page.

Other elements like eye-catching imagery and professional photography can help your web design stand out. Using the right building blocks, like a strong color palette and the right shapes or icons in your design is helpful.

Of course, there is some scope for variation in good web design. A web designer in 2022 needs to be able to adapt their use of the various essential elements of design to suit a specific target audience or the unique identity of a brand.

What Doesn’t Work for Web Design in 2022?

Just as web design elements seem to appear consistently in all excellent examples, there are also parts of web design we’ve left behind over the years. Simpler, more straightforward designs have replaced cluttered spaces, flashing images, and endless animations.

The focus in 2022 is on creating an experience that’s simple, engaging, and intuitive, capable of speaking to the right audience without confusion or being visually overwhelming. In most cases, some of the top components to avoid include:

Clunky performance: Non-responsive website design, slow pages, and other examples of clunky functionality are a no-go in 2022. Websites need to be quick and responsive.
Distracting content: Flashing images, animations, and complex backgrounds are a thing of the past for a good reason. Websites today need to be clean, simple, and clear. Any elements which don’t add to the value of the design should be removed.
Generic content: Filler text, irrelevant stock photos, unclear buttons, and links can be removed from today’s website designs. A web design should be specific to the audience’s needs and the brand’s identity. Generic components don’t work.

Creating Web Designs in 2022

Today, the underlying definition of web design has a lot of similarities to the definition we’ve known for several years already. Creating a great website or web asset still requires focusing on user experience, aesthetic appeal, and functionality. However, today’s web designers generally have more components and different devices.

Web design in 2022 is about creating high-quality experiences for customers that can support various environments and devices. The best web designs are aesthetically appealing, functionally reliable, and capable of adhering to the latest trends in web creation, like augmented reality, 360-degree video, and ultra-high resolution.

Featured image via Pexels.

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