Got (Photoshop) Gadgets? Part II

More Cool Gadgets
This week wraps up our series on Photoshop gadgets for websites. These gadgets are quite generic and can be used in many different sorts of applications. The accompanying tutorials are straightforward and detailed. The more difficult ones will take more time to build, but the results will be worth it. Enjoy!

Digital MP3 Player
mp3-stick-player
This generic MP3 player will be perfect for those in need of a gadget that represents music. There’s a funny typo in this MP3 player’s screen that says “Linking Park,” instead of “Linkin Park,” but the author of the tutorial has already said “Sorry!” to his tutorial followers. ; D

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Big Screen MP3 Player

This cool gadget will allow the buttons and screen to work on your website. It looks deceptively simple but is a nice gadget for attracting attention to your webpage.

LCD TV
lcd-tv
Here’s a gadget that has endless possibilities for promotion and messaging to your visitors. The tutorial is simple to understand and easy to implement.

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Retro Video Game Cartridge
game-cartridge-old-school
If you have ever played on the venerable Atari 2600 game console of the 80’s, you’ll really appreciate this little gadget. It’s a very good reproduction of the 8-bit game carts that many of us were all too familiar with during the “golden age” of gaming.

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MacBook
macbook
Can’t afford a MacBook? Your worries are over with this tutorial in how to make one of your very own with Photoshop. If you want to use this gadget on your website but don’t want the apple logo on the screen, just modify and replace the logo with something more suitable.

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Got (Photoshop) Gadgets? Part I

Spruce Up Your Website
Are you tired of the same old button gadgets everyone else uses on their websites? If you are, here are a few gadgets you can create in Photoshop that may bring some bling to your webpages. A big thanks to Hongkiat for assembling most of these tutorials.

Flash Drive Gadget
flash-drive-gadget
For all those tech fans out there here’s a nice little tutorial on how to make a flash drive gadget with Photoshop. You can put your own logo on the drive or change the colors to suit your needs.

Mouse Gadget
mouse-gadget
Here’s a cute gadget that looks cool and can be used in a variety of ways. It’s all up to your imagination.

MP3 Player
mp3-player
This one is one of the more challenging Photoshop tutorials but the results are well worth the effort. Take your time and you’ll be able to recreate this great gadget.

Woofer Speaker
woofer-speaker
Do you want your users to experience some music on your website? Look no farther than this woofer gadget. Hook this baby up to your favorite music or sound effects.

Next Time…
More cool Photoshop gadgets. Stay tuned!

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Things You Won’t Hear About Successful Web Designers - Part II

angry-manGot Customers?
Take the case of “Jesse,” a brilliant web designer. It’s obvious that he has serious skills in design and can run circles around other web designers when it comes to talent. But oddly enough, he doesn’t have many customers.

On more than one occasion he tells his customers that he is “overworked” and complains about what his clients are requesting from him. He likes to lecture his customers on why their ideas won’t work or why the concepts are dumb. Added to this he is often condescending in his attitude towards his customers. He fails to keep his deadlines and is obstinate in working out solutions for his clients.

He wonders, “Why don’t I have more customers?”

crowdWord of Mouth Spreads
There is an old axiom in business that states that for every customer that is dissatisfied with a service or product, that customer tells at least 10 others. And from these 10 people, they tell an additional number of friends or acquaintances, and so on.

In the city of San Francisco, the failure rate of restaurants is one of the highest in the nation. Why is this? The city has an abundance of eating establishments and as a result, clientele have many restaurants to choose from. Once a restaurant receives negative reviews or comments from customers, the restaurant in question is all but doomed. Bad news spreads quickly.

As a web designer, this is also the case. There are an abundance of web designers out there and to distinguish yourself from everyone else you have to offer outstanding customer service, excellent communication skills, and the ability to see the vision of what your customer wants.

Other Traits of Successful Web Designers
What do perspective clients want from their web designers? According to those who have responsibility for hiring them, some of the qualities they seek in a web design professional are:

* Meeting Deadlines - Clients want dependability when it comes to meeting deadlines. Your clients run businesses and are expected to deliver products and services when promised. It should be no different for you, as a web designer.

* Professionally Designed Product - There are a number of real case stories that tell about business owners who hire web designers and are presented with websites that are poorly constructed or amateurish. Make sure that your designs and coding are the best possible.

* Able to Make Changes in a Single Bound - No, you don’t have to be Superman, but it does help to be quick on your feet as far as last minute requests from your clients. Nothing drains away trust from your clients more quickly than constant excuses on why you can’t make alterations or needed changes.

* A Sense of Humor - While this quality won’t be taught in Web Design 101, it does help to have a good attitude and a sense of humor to put your clients at ease. Coding, by its nature, can be a very isolated endeavor. Just remember that web design is not just about programming and design– it is a business dealing with people.

* Keep the Tech-Speak Down to a Minimum - Your clients want good results. Try not to over do it on technical terms that they don’t understand. As an example, instead of saying, “This Java app is conflicting with the display routine on the main page,” perhaps you could rephrase it to “There’s a problem with the first page on the website but it should be easy to fix.” Remember, your clients are just regular people. Communicate to them as non-web designers.

Now You Know
Successful web design is a combination of talent, communication, and good people skills. Talent can always be improved upon. Clear communication with your clients is crucial in producing a good product. Good people skills may be the difference between getting a web design project or not.

It’s important to get a good graphic design education, but don’t forget about honing the qualities of how to get along with people.

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Things You Won’t Hear About Successful Web Designers - Part I

brain-scanWhat You Need
If you ask most employed web designers what factors were most important in their development as a web designer you’ll probably hear “experience” and “school” at the top of their lists.

Outside of coding skills there are other elements that make a web designer successful. The following traits are things that you won’t usually hear about successful web designers.
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modern-sculptureDesign Is Everything
Most aspiring web designers are very talented in coding. They have a thorough grasp of various programming languages and are accomplished at putting together tight code. But this is only part of what you need to become a successful web designer.

A web designer must have a good eye for design, color, and composition. These qualities can be taught to a certain extent, but without a real innate understanding and talent for the art of design, the web designer is only achieving half of his or her potential.

If there is any doubt about this a quick glance on the Internet provides unlimited examples of technically flawless websites with a total lack of graphic design expertise or inspiration.
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The forum editor of PC Advisor stated very candidly and accurately:

“I’ve always believed that although you can teach the technical aspects of site construction, site design is an entirely different thing, and to a large extent your success or failure in that field depends on whether or not you have an innate sense of design.

Many people don’t, and although they can pick up many design do’s and don’ts they will probably never become designers in the true sense of the word. I say that in no way to infer any sense of elitism - it’s a simple fact of life.”

A web designer needs as much graphic design education as possible. This can be done formally by attending classes or through training seminars, online education or other resources.

two-people-and-computerGood People Skills
You probably won’t find this as a course at your local graphic design school or in your code textbooks but this is a very important quality that successful web designers should have — good people skills.

Unfortunately the stereotype of the nerdy-arrogant web programmer is sometimes too real. This individual balks at taking advice from clients and is insistent about the only right way to design a website — his way. Customer service is essential in any successful business and this means good communication skills.

The ability to listen, work with your client, and understand their needs should be something that is second nature to you. A client doesn’t need to know why a certain app or plugin is hard to implement or is illogical, all they want is results. You, as a professional, can guide them into better solutions but this takes finesse and good people skills.

Next Time…
We’ll delve into some more unspoken qualities that successful web designers possess. Until then, keep on coding.

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How to Select a Good Web Design College

Some Guidelines and Tips
If you are seriously considering going to college for your graphic design education or web design degree you already know that there are no shortages of available colleges, universities, and online education centers that constantly vie for your attention. But how can you distinguish between the good schools and the bad ones? The following tips may help you to decide.

Visit the Campuses
You wouldn’t buy the first house you walked into and neither should you sign up for the first college you show interest in. The college you attend has to feel comfortable and right to you. A visit to the campus can give you a hint on how well the student body gets along, the quality of the instructors, and how efficient the administration is in helping students.

Ask students what they like and don’t like about the college. They’ll give you as honest an opinion as you’ll find anywhere.

What Do They Offer?
Does the college or online education center give you the career training and instruction you need to qualify for jobs after graduation? The crucial factor here is the quality of the teaching staff.

While many institutions of learning have programs and courses that may be specific to your needs, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the teachers are able to transfer this knowledge to you successfully.

Check for student reviews of the professors teaching these classes. Many universities and colleges offer real-world evaluations of professors and instructors by the students who take their courses.

If you see a trend of consistently bad reviews for teachers in the web design or computer programming departments you should look for another graphic design school or web design college.

headset-and-faceGrill the Online Counselor
If you are considering an online college for your bachelor’s degree, be certain of what you are getting into. Ask the online college counselor direct questions about your field of study.

Are the courses accredited and if so by which accreditation body? Has the online school received any recommendations, positive reviews or awards for excellence? What does this online college offer that other similar colleges do not offer?

Pay attention to how well your online counselor speaks and presents the information to you. If the counselor speaks in street jargon or is evasive in giving you answers to your questions, you may want to move on to another online college — if the counseling staff isn’t professional, what does this say about the school?

Check the Internet
Look for independent, reliable sources for college reviews. Every college and online education center has good marketing and public relations materials, but the quality of the education cannot be deduced just by ads alone. Check for the latest reviews of the colleges you are considering and see what their ratings are.

pressure-gaugeDon’t Be Pressured
The number of online and technical schools is constantly growing and as a result there is high competition for education dollars. When speaking to a college representative or counselor try to make sound decisions based upon facts — the school’s track record, how long they have been in business, and how respected their programs are.

Don’t be pressured into signing up because “room is filling up fast.” If they are legitimate, there will be available spots at a later time.

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