Joshua Johnson
Design Shack
Phoenix, AZ, United States
Contact Joshua
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Past articles by Joshua:
10 Rock Solid Website Layout Examples
Layout can both be one of the easiest and one of the trickiest facets of web design. Sometimes a designer can bust out an amazing layout in minutes and sometimes that same designer can struggle for the better part of day with the same task. Each project is unique and calls for a unique sol... → Read More
How to Design a Professional PowerPoint Presentation
Our series of tips on presentation design outlined some generic rules and ideas that you can live by to create better, more professional presentations. Today we want to follow that up by taking you through the actual process of designing a presentation from start to finish. We’ll bre... → Read More
Should We Kill the CAPTCHA?
Do you like CAPTCHAs? Don’t lie, of course you don’t. On the fun scale, you rank them right up there with dentists and IRS agents. However, as an intelligent web designer or developer, you understand that they are a necessary annoyance. But wait, are they really? Given the coll... → Read More
The Lowdown on :before and :after in CSS
We previously took a look at :active, an extremely handy pseudo-class selector that can be used to create some awesome mouse-down effects. Today we’re going to take a step back and explore some other “pseudo” items, this time we’ll be looking at the pseudo-elements ... → Read More
The Lowdown on Absolute vs. Relative Positioning
When I was first learning web development, the style side of CSS seemed straightforward and fun, but performing layout feats seemed like a confusing mess. I sort of felt my way around without a solid understanding of how things like positioning and floats worked and as a result it would ta... → Read More
25+ Awesome Responsive Blog Designs
Whether you’re a blogger looking for the perfect design for your next website or a web designer looking to get inspired for your next project, the process always starts the same way—by exploring designs made by others. We’re here to make that process easier for you. In this post,... → Read More
Mobile First Design: Why It’s Great and Why It Sucks
Historically, most web designers and their clients have approached the desktop side of any project first, while leaving the mobile part as a secondary goal that gets accomplished later. Even with the rise of responsive design, many of us begin with the “full size” site and work... → Read More
10 Tips for Designing Logos That Don’t Suck
So you’re designing a logo. It sounds like an easy enough task, right? Draw a circle, type in the company name and you’re done (I’ve literally heard a designer suggest that very process). Unfortunately, if you’re really worth the money the client is paying you, ther... → Read More
The 10 Best Script and Handwritten Google Fonts
A good script font is hard to find. I’m extremely picky when it comes to this particular area of typefaces and tend to hate most of what I see. With this post, you can skip the work of sorting through the junk, and cut straight to the best script and handwritten Google Fonts that are... → Read More
15 Tips for Designing Terrific Tables
Tables of information are boring. In a sense, they’re meant to be that way. A good table communicates a lot of information in a concise, easy to understand way. Because the emphasis really should be on the information, over-designing a table can kill the effectiveness. However, in th... → Read More
50 Wonderful Wedding Invitation & Card Design Samples
It’s astounding how many people weddings provide employment to: photographers, caterers, florists and even designers can make a great living by focusing partially or even completely on clients planning their marriage. Wedding invitation card design is one of the most creative areas of print design today. Talented designers really pull out all the stops and […] → Read More
5 A/B Testing Lessons I Learned The Hard Way – Building Creative Market –
At Creative Market, we have a strong test-first culture. → Read More
The Greatest Print Campaigns of All Time: Volkswagen Think Small
You’re a web designer living large in the 21st century. Your job is defined by screens and software. What in the world could you possibly learn about design from a bunch of old dusty print ads? The answer of course, is “a ton.” Today we’re examining one of the most ... → Read More
10 Free Color Palettes From 10 Famous Paintings
If you want to learn a thing or two about color, why not look to the true masters whose artistic work has stood the test of time? Great painters almost always possess a keen understanding of color that is truly impressive when you stop to appreciate it. Follow along as we pull color palettes from... → Read More
10 Awesome Places to Download Free Vector Art
Despite what many would think, the term web designer does not always imply artist. There are many very capable web developers and designers that are lucky to pull off a quality stick figure on most days. For those that are able to create complicated artwork, there are plenty of times when you’re up against a... → Read More
10 Great Google Font Combinations You Can Copy
The average man considers which flavor of Doritos will taste good with his Heineken. The sophisticated man considers which cheese will pair well with his choice of wine. The designer of course considers which two fonts will look great on the same page. Today we’re going to use the Google Font API as a playground... → Read More
6 Portfolio Design Mistakes That Drive Me Nuts
Your public portfolio is one of the most important things you’ll ever design. It presents you to the world and, if you’re a freelancer, tends to play a major role in whether or not people choose to hire you. I’ve viewed a ton of online portfolios and today I’d like to walk through some of... → Read More
5 Ways to Learn Web Design: Which Is Right for You?
The web design education industry has exploded from a small niche to a powerful, continually expanding force. Countless people all over the planet are interested in learning about how to build and design websites, and tons of companies are cropping up promising the ultimate solution. The good news for you is that increased competition in... → Read More
10 Awful Client Cliches That Make Every Designer Cringe
This is the third part in our series all about making fun of design related clichés that drive us all crazy. We put out the word on Twitter and asked for some of the worst things that you hear again and again from clients. The following are some of our favorites! We’ve already picked on... → Read More
5 Cliché Logo Design Trends to Avoid
Logos are one of the trickiest things to get right in the graphic design world. It takes almost zero talent to make a logo — virtually anyone can do it. However, making a good logo requires a lot of insight, artistic skill and patience. Too often we see designers falling into the trap of rushing... → Read More