Carrie Cousins
Design Shack
Roanoke, VA, United States
Contact Carrie
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Carrie:
How + Why to Use a Website Wireframe Template
Wireframing is one of those design processes that happens organically and intentionally. How many times have you sketched an idea during a meeting? How many times have you created a presentable wireframe for a client meeting? Both types of wireframes are equally important parts of the desi... → Read More
Are Grids Dead? Why Do So Many Websites Seem to Not Have Them?
Design elements just seem to be all over the place these days. They respond in a number of different ways, moving up and down, left to right, and even diagonally. Is anyone using a grid anymore? All of these design schemes really got us thinking about grids and their use in modern website ... → Read More
Design Trend: Text-Only Homepages
Where did all the images go? There’s a major trend right now, where designers are creating homepage hero areas that only include text, but with no images or video. It’s an interesting aesthetic that puts a lot of focus on words and lettering. It can be elegant and beautiful or turn dis... → Read More
20+ Procreate Drawing Ideas (+ Procreate Ideas for Beginners)
Procreate is a popular drawing app for iPad and iPad Pro. With the Apple Pencil and the right set of brushes, this app can help you craft amazing digital drawings and paintings. We have a feature on how to use it here, and the following Procreate drawing ideas will help you get started wit... → Read More
Candy Pastels: A Soft and Soothing Graphic Trend
Softer colors, soothing palettes, and a lighter vibe are what the candy pastels design trend is all about. More projects are using this color scheme to create a subtle and softer feel for projects, a distinct shift from many of the bold, bright colors that have been popular for the last fe... → Read More
Font Psychology: How to Use It to Create Persuasive Designs
You’ve likely heard the phrase “a photo is worth a thousand words.” If that’s true, then so is a typeface. Font selection can greatly impact what you say in through design and how easy it is to read, as well as the emotion and human psychology attached to it. Even through words are... → Read More
Tropicalism: A Design Trend Coming Back in 2023
Tropicalism is a design trend that we are already seeing quite a bit of in 2023. You’ll know it thanks to bright colors, fun illustrations, and a breezy feel that makes you think of summer (and maybe a cold drink). It’s a trend that draws inspiration from tropical landscapes, flora... → Read More
3 Essential Design Trends, February 2023
There’s a common theme in this month’s collection of website design trends – typography. All three of these trends showcase popular type elements that seem to be exploding in popularity. → Read More
10 Ideas for Using ChatGPT as a Web Designer
ChatGPT might be one of the most talked-about tools of 2023 so far. It has academics worried about cheating in classrooms, writers worried about their jobs, and everyone concerned about the authenticity of online interactions. But it does have some value, even for web designers. We’ll ta... → Read More
3 Essential Design Trends, January 2023
Minimal styles with big, bold text is the biggest trending website design element of 2023. You’ll see a lot of that here with a few other goodies mixed in. → Read More
Emailvalidation: Automate Processes With an Easy Email Validation API
Do you want to ensure that your email lists are clean and verified? emailvalidation is flexible and reliable API that can help to take that burden away from you (and do a great job of it at the same time!) Whether you are trying to validate a single email address, or an excel file containi... → Read More
Wondershare Filmora 12 Gives Creators More Freedom
Video editing is easier and more cost-effective than ever for creators with Wondershare’s Filmora 12. The easy-to-use video editing software is designed with all the features you want, plus a budget-friendly price. Here, we’re going to take a look at Filmora 12, its key features and to... → Read More
25+ Most Useful Affinity Publisher Tutorials (+ Reviews) in 2023
Affinity Publisher is a powerful design app available for Mac and Windows. It’s a standalone tool that is made for creating printed projects, such as magazines, brochures, posters, and other collateral pieces. Use it to combine images and other graphic elements to create outstanding layo... → Read More
22+ Best Final Cut Pro Tutorials for Beginners 2023
Goal: Edit videos, add effects, and create better productions with ease in Final Cut Pro. Solution: You need a stellar tutorial that walks you through all the steps in this increasingly popular video editing tool. Thanks to great tutorials from pros, you’ll be able to capture just the ri... → Read More
12+ Presentation Design Trends for 2023: Create PowerPoint PPTs With Impact
Looking to knock your next presentation out of the park? Start with one of these design trends that will help you create a PowerPoint presentation with a lot of impact. Here are some trending examples of current trends and techniques for delivering a modern presentation. From big, bold col... → Read More
12+ Creative Ideas for Your 2022 Christmas Photography
Before you know it, you’ll be sending (and receiving) holiday cards and greetings. For many families – and designers – the perfect holiday image can make your card special. So how do you level up photos to have just the right Christmas feel? It’s all about photography. Here, we’v... → Read More
CF Spark: A Powerful Text to Image AI Design Tool
Sometimes your design idea needs a little extra push to bring it to life. A new tool from Creative Fabrica allows you to create designs from text to image, backed by artificial intelligence. You can design and post images for yourself or even use the tool to create design elements that you... → Read More
5 Tips for Online Security in 2023
It’s time to revisit your online security practices. Between remote workers logging into networks, to using public wi-fi or other online tools, you need to ensure that your data and information are safe. This isn’t just a lesson for businesses either. While data integrity is vital for ... → Read More
3 Essential Design Trends, November 2022
Color and depth are design trends this month as we look at what design trends are happening across websites, and red is the primary color of choice. → Read More
Lunacy: Breeze Through Graphic Design Projects
Admit it, you are always looking for quicker, more efficient ways to complete projects – even graphic design tasks. Lunacy is a piece of free design software from Icons8 that can help you do just that. It’s packed with AI-powered tools to speed up your work, giving you a new edge i... → Read More