Command+N #4
⌘N — Weekly curated articles by Pizza Yap
I’m late for this issue for two weeks, looks like my daily job can’t let me commit to releasing every week. So from this issue onwards, I will make it two weeks release instead of every new issue 1 week. Hope what I curated here is still able to help you catch up what’s happening in design, web development, and other fun stuff. 🙏
On Design Tools and Processes by Viljami Salminen
Design tools and processes have evolved and change so much in past years. But actually, we all still stuck in creating in static design tools. That’s why we always have the debate about should designer code. Our process stands still at one spot and hasn’t changed for so many years. Luckily, there’s are some designer/developer, and even organization started to build tools for the modern design process. Like the latest React Sketchapp by Jon Gold and Airbnb. Hopefully, in near future, designers, developers, and shareholders can collaboration and conversation all in the same page together. Can’t wait for it! 🤞
Firstly, the web doesn’t have a fixed canvas, but for some odd reason we keep on using tools and processes that force us into thinking about these fixed containers around our designs.
Design in the absence of content is not design.
Instead of working in silos, I foresee a future where the terms designer and developer are interchangeable.
CSS Grid
Recently I have attended CSS meetup in Singapore, and there is a lot of voices talking about CSS Grid. You can find CSS Grid tutorials popping up nowadays if you have subscribed design and development newsletter. One of the best tutorials I’ve tried is Grid Garden; it is a game based playground to let you dive into CSS Grid knowledge easily. Total have 28 levels, but I’m stuck at level 26, going to ask for help from my front-end dev friends. 😅
Compositor by Brent Jackson, mrmrs and John Otander
A latest single page sites creator by the great designer and developer Brent Jackson, Adam Morse and John Otander. They have posted some workflow of Compositor in the Twitter account, and all of them looks robust and useful! If you have a Github account then give it a try, you might need single page site for your personal projects soon!
A Modern Front-End Workflow by Umar Hansa
If you’re learning front-end development like me, you might want to watch this video about modern front-end workflow by Umar Hansa. The video explains mostly how can we use Chrome to utilize his workflow. He has two websites Modern DevTools and Dev Tips that give tips too!
Building Blocks by ZURB
Design System is very hot topic this few months, it will helps the organisation speed up when using the system to build new features. And Zurb have release Building Blocks for Foundation 6 to helps whoever using Foundation to build UI components faster.
3 trends in landing page design by Muzli
No matter what business you’re in, if you have a website, your landing page are the first impression that is giving to your audience. You need to bring out your business goal and message to your audience and explain how it helps them. Plain content is never enough to catch user’s attention, and graphical explanation always helps to soothe the process. Here are 3 of the latest trends compile by Muzli, personally I very like the 3rd style.
AutoDraw by Google
After Google show off their Quick, Draw! several months ago, now they had launched another machine learning drawing tool called AutoDraw! We play this during office hour at Minitheory and are amazed by how it can be achieved! Sympli have used the AutoDraw API to build a Sketch plugin, and it works like charms too. Give it a try and have fun! ✏️🎨
New Google Earth
A new material design-ish Google Earth is launched! The Choose My Adventures is excellent; I can sit at home and view the beautiful scenery on it (sounds sad 😅). And I bet everyone will have a look their house with Google Earth too. 😂
The new 12-sided £1 Coin
I never thought of coin can have its own website for the introduction. But after stumbling upon this new UK new £1 coin website, there’s need to educate why and how the new coin can helps business to reduce the costs of counterfeits. One in thirty £1 coins today is fake, that’s not okay. When the website is loaded, the top bar will be shaking, and all the new £1 coins are dropping from it, this makes the site more approachable and makes me wants to know more about it! 🇬🇧💰
Thanks for reading until the end! Please hit 💙 if you learned and enjoyed this issue. Your appreciation makes me want to write more! The next issue of ⌘N will be available coming weeks, stay tuned!
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My name is Pizza Yap (Kwang Yik), Senior UI Designer work at Minitheory, a digital design studio based in sunny Singapore. We make software straightforward and kickass, based on how people think and behave.
