WordPress is an amazing platform, with its 5 minute install and easy customising. It is perhaps the most widely used open source platform for making clearn and simple corporate websites or blogs. Themes for WordPress are readily available that are free, but if you want high quality then you need to find premium theme designers and providers. We have put here 5 brilliant theme websites for finding themes with that little bit extra of professionalism.

For those of you looking for a great design at a cost effective price, we can now offer theme customization and simple wordpress websites based on any of the themes from the suppliers below.

Theme Forest

Graph Paper Press

Elegant Themes

Woo Themes

Templatic

Other Posts

• April 10, 2009 -- Read-Write: Use your NTFS Hard Drive with Your Mac (1)
• December 31, 2009 -- Factors To Consider When Pricing A Project – Part 2 (4)
• May 11, 2010 -- How to Avoid Over Working Yourself As A Freelancer (5)
• June 29, 2010 -- Interview with Young Web Designer Jamie Billingham (10)
• September 26, 2008 -- 10 Resources and Tutorials to Understand and Create Corporate Identity (4)
• February 3, 2010 -- Graphic Designer Arguing With Client Video (1)

As we move more and more into doing things via ‘clouds’ and online web based applications; one of the few things that I have yet to find is a truely comprehensive intermediate web application for search engine optimisation.. I soon came across one that seemed to fit the bill.

Thus, I went off on a journey and in short, I found no web based SEO applications. There are hundreds if not thousands of fairly good individual tools for various tasks associated with SEO. Some of the more popular web based tools include for instance website grader. There is a previous post I made on such tools here: 10 Great Free SEO Tools and Resources

However, after a few tweets (@AcuityDesigns) I came across Sheer SEO.

Sheer SEO

SheerSEO is an SEO software to track and analyze your SEO campaign. Also helps you with link building.

Sheer SEO is a basic to intermediate tool that offers comprehensive link tracking, and automation and an intuitive UI to help speed up tasks such as directory submission to hundreds of free high PR directories. It couldn’t definitely work as a tool to help a freelance web developer offer basic to intermediate SEO campaigns to his clients.

Have any of you had extensive experience with Sheer SEO? Any negatives?

Related Posts:

• December 13, 2010 -- Creative Expansion! Acuity Designs and 2011 … (1)
• December 7, 2009 -- 5 Articles To Understanding Your Websites Bounce Rate (13)
• July 7, 2009 -- Grade/Score/Analyse Your Blog (0)
• June 8, 2009 -- Is Alexa Traffic Rank Important – 4 resources to help you find out (10)
• April 12, 2009 -- How to translate a website – considerations (3)
• October 23, 2008 -- Check Your Google Position for a Keyword/Keyword Phrase Tool (7)

Being a web designer should hopefully come with an inherent want to produce and design websites that are great to use for the end-user. As such it makes sense to stay up to date and informed on recent developments, assertions and techniques in relation to User Experience.

The following blogs are how I keep myself informed and improve my understanding of the discipline:

The UX Booth

The UX Booth is a blog by and for the user experience community. Our readership consists mostly of beginning-to-intermediate user experience and interaction designers, but anyone interested in making the web a better place to be is welcome.

Johnny Holland

Johnny originates from the need to have a place where creatives can talk and discuss in a normal, honest and pure way. A place where they can focus and learn about the issue that’s really important: interaction (in the broadest sense of the word). It’s a place where we can get inspired, dare to make mistakes and are able to feel enlighted.

Usability Post

UsabilityPost is a blog about design. Design isn’t what something looks like, design is about how it works. Making something usable means understanding what people expect from your product and thinking of ways to make the use of the product simple and enjoyable.

UI Section – Smashing Magazine

Founded in September 2006, Smashing Magazine delivers useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers. Our aim is to inform our readers about the latest trends and techniques in Web development. We try to convince you not with the quantity but with the quality of the information we present. We hope that makes us different. Smashing Magazine is, and always has been, independent.

UI Trends

UI Trends (uitrends.com) is intended to be

1. a dynamic light-weight repository for interesting user interface designs and trends for website and web applications
2. a place to comment on and discuss user interface designs and trends
3. a source of inspiration for designers and developers

Related Posts:

• June 7, 2010 -- Essential Resources For The Starting Freelance Designer (3)
• November 22, 2009 -- 5 Essential Books For Running A Successful Freelance Design Business (23)
• November 8, 2009 -- 20 Wonderful Photos of London Attractions (12)
• April 16, 2009 -- 5 Great Web Design Resources (5)
• November 3, 2008 -- 5 High Quality Photoshop Tutorial Websites (9)

WorkSnug is a really cool augmented reality iPhone app that enables you to find great places to work nearby, from cafes to coworking spaces, complete with reviews.

Below is a short video showing how this great app works! :

WorkSnug  is available for free download from the iTunes App Store. The app initially covers London, and is absolutely amazing.  Coverage for San Francisco, New York, Berlin and Madrid to come.

Give it a run and let us know if WorkSnug helps you to find a great place to work?

Related Posts:

• November 13, 2009 -- QuickGamma – Calibrate Your Monitor Free (1)
• September 15, 2008 -- Great Custom Adobe CS3 Icon Packs (4)
• July 27, 2010 -- 70 GigaPixel Photo of Budapest (3)
• June 7, 2010 -- Essential Resources For The Starting Freelance Designer (3)
• May 11, 2010 -- How to Avoid Over Working Yourself As A Freelancer (5)
• May 9, 2010 -- Designers – Maximising The Value Of Your Work (4)

When people look through my photography, they often ask what I do in my post processing to achieve the subtle exaggerated shadows to result in somewhat dramatic / ‘epic’ and overall better looking picture…

The process itself, is relatively simple and from it you can build to create really good looking photos which do not look over worked like the trigger happy HDR stuff we see these days.

Today we take this image of the University College of London and apply a a few simple techniques to sharpen and exaggerate shadows and contrast!

Making Photos Dramatic Using Shadows Photoshop Tutorial from Acuity Designs on Vimeo.

Related Posts:

• November 30, 2009 -- Turn A Boring Photo Into An Emotive Portrait – Photoshop Tutorial – with video (10)
• September 11, 2008 -- Adding A Rainbow To A Photo in Photoshop Tutorial (1)
• September 7, 2008 -- 30-Second Sepia Effect Photoshop Tutorial (2)
• July 27, 2010 -- 70 GigaPixel Photo of Budapest (3)
• January 26, 2010 -- Aurora Borealis Typopgraphy Wallpaper Photoshop Tutorial (19)
• December 8, 2009 -- Give Old Photos A Punchy Stylistic Feel – Photoshop Tutorial – with Video (7)

Hi all, I thought I would post up 14 blogs that have sat in my subscribe list on Google reader since the dawn of the time. Why do i think these blogs are so special? They actually provoke thought.

I am not a huge fan of sites that post lists / ‘best ofs’ 4 times a week, not a negative nor a criticism, its just not what I want waiting for me in my rss reader. The following blogs for the most part consistently strive to post articles that encourage: community, thought, continuing development, resources, laughter and advice. You might wait 4 days – 10 between posts but when they come – its worth-it.

In no particular order.

Aisle One

Subscribe – RSS

AisleOne is an inspirational resource focused on graphic design, typography, grid systems, minimalism and modernism.

Boag World

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Boagworld is the blog of web strategist Paul Boag who lives in the heart of rural Dorset (hence the cows). He produces a weekly podcast with UX consultant Marcus Lillington on building and running websites.

Design Informer

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Design Informer is a web design and graphic design blog. We feature freelance articles, tutorials, freebies, resources, and inspiration posts.

Freelance Switch

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Our blog covers a vast array of topics about life as a freelancer, from Tax Tips for Freelancers to Determining Your Hourly Rate, Transitioning from Fulltime work to Freelancing to Where to Find Freelance Work and much more. If you’re new to the blog, a great place to begin is our Explore FreelanceSwitch page which has lots of jump points to get you into the material.

The Design Cubicle

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I’m Brian Hoff, a graphic designer from the always-sunny Philadelphia. I collaborate mostly on web design and brand identity, but I’m experienced in building all kinds of quality, strategic design, both on the web and in print.

The Future Buzz

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The Future Buzz is a blog about web marketing/PR strategies, spreading buzz in the blogosphere and building long-term visibility for your brand, business, and art on the web. Bloggers, marketers, freelance writers, entrepreneurs, artists, small business owners and public relations professionals will all benefit from the content here.

The Die Line

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The Dieline is dedicated to the progress of the package design industry and its practitioners, students and enthusiasts. Its purpose is to define and promote the world’s best packaging design, and provide a place where the package design community can review, critique and stay informed of the latest industry trends and design projects being created in the field.

Six Revisions

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Six Revisions is a website that publishes practical and useful articles for designers and web developers. We seek to present exceptional, noteworthy tips, tutorials, and resources that the modern web professional will appreciate.

FormFiftyFive

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Founded in 2005 by an ever growing group of young designers and vagabonds eager to collect and share the best design work they came across, FormFiftyFive soon became an international showcase of creative work.

Pro Blogger

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I started it in September 2004 mainly because I wanted to keep a record of what I was learning about blogging for money. Since then I’ve added well over 3500 articles, tips, tutorials and case studies to my archives here.

Seth Godin

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Seth Godin has written twelve books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. Every one has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything.

Noisy Decent Graphics

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First and foremost it’s a blog about graphic design and the life of a graphic designer. Sometimes the blog creeps into design in general and then some related stuff about communication, ideas and inevitably brands.

Freelance Folder

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FreelanceFolder is a community for freelancers, entrepreneurs, work-at-home business owners, and web-workers. We strive to bring you the articles, information, and community you need to succeed.

Related Posts:

• August 18, 2010 -- 30 Stunning Black and White Photos (16)
• July 27, 2010 -- 70 GigaPixel Photo of Budapest (3)
• July 25, 2010 -- Maintaining Business Standards As A Freelancer (3)
• June 14, 2010 -- 25 Amazing Photos of World Skylines (5)
• May 11, 2010 -- How to Avoid Over Working Yourself As A Freelancer (5)
• January 6, 2010 -- A Monitor for Every Budget – What Monitor for Photography and Design? (5)

Quote Robot is an app that I came across recently that seemingly streamlined the tedious task of writing proposals for lots of freelance designer’s out there. Intrigued, I signed up and have been giving the free trial a run for its uhh… money.

Essentially Quote Robot exists to:

Well, we’ve always found writing proposals to be a chore.  I (Shawn) spent a lot of time creating a good proposal template in Illustrator, and it really worked, so I gave it away on my blog. I had no idea it would become the most popular article on my blog. I talked to Jon about writing an app to create the proposals, using my template, and we both thought it would help us out, so we did it. The longest part of quoting for me were always, a) coming up with the numbers (what to charge), and b) building the proposal in Illustrator. We decided to focus on trimming the time to accomplish those things. !

I have decided to split this into four sections: Interface, Making A Proposal, Output and Pricing

The interface
Quote Robot is a very cool, slick web application and it follows all the design trends one would expect from a web 2.0 application. More than just superficially looking the part, things are easy to find and the usability of the site as a whole is intuitive and for the most part simple stupid. These are good things, considering the application’s entire purpose is to streamline and decrease the time writing proposal’s takes. The application guides you through making the proposal fairly quickly and efficiently. There are a few superfluous drag and drop features which don’t seem to really make anything faster, but hey they look nice right.

Making A Proposal
The options it presents are the core of any proposal: client / company information, the scope, budgeting and timescale and quote summary. Each field gets to the core of the information that needs to be handed to a client. Their claim of it being a quick and easy process is definitely true, minimising clicking into new text boxes, formatting titles and all the tiny little tasks that eat up time in InDesign / Illustrator are done away with. I was done filling out the various bits of information for the proposal in less than 10mins.

Output
The template generated is a neat and tidy PDF that looks clean and modern. You can upload your own logo, so it is completely white labelled and looks like a PDF you have made the long and hard way in another desktop program. You can download the PDF so that you can attach it to an email or alternatively send it straight away to the client from the application itself.

Pricing
The easiest way to review the pricing is $24 a month and this gets you ‘unlimited’ everything that Quote Robot offers. Simply analysed, the SMALLEST job of lets say one billable hour – is more than the $24 charge. If you use the application to send one proposal a month, your fee is covered and the time you save can be used to do other projects or just sit back and have a coffee.

At Acuity, it’s something we will definitely be making use of!

Related Posts:

• July 25, 2010 -- Maintaining Business Standards As A Freelancer (3)
• February 21, 2010 -- Don’t be another washed up freelancer – The Freelance Lifecycle (1)
• February 3, 2010 -- How do your organise yourself as a freelance designer? – Part 2 (2)
• December 29, 2009 -- Freelancing From Home and Staying Productive (14)
• December 7, 2009 -- What Should You Include In A Design Project Proposal? (5)
• December 2, 2009 -- Does a successful freelancer have to be a good sales person? (6)

Hi all, thought I would share a list of resources which help me along my way. From business to the theory of branding, there is a lot contained within these great resources by their respective authors. Take the time to have a good read through them and if you find the list useful make sure to share it on.

Related Posts:

• August 9, 2010 -- 5 Quality UX Blogs Designers Should Read (2)
• August 5, 2010 -- WorkSnug – Finding Places To Get Design Work Done On The Go (3)
• December 7, 2009 -- What Should You Include In A Design Project Proposal? (5)
• November 22, 2009 -- 5 Essential Books For Running A Successful Freelance Design Business (23)
• November 13, 2009 -- QuickGamma – Calibrate Your Monitor Free (1)
• November 11, 2009 -- 10 Ways To Score and Evaluate A Client (6)

Websites are no longer expensive and difficult things to create. The open source movement has given web users and web designers the tools they need to create sites for free, and the possibilities are almost limitless. Just take a look of some of these fantastic sites created using Drupal, Joomla, Magento and Zen Cart to find out more.

Drupal

43 Folders

43 Folders is the brainchild of Merlin Mann. The site is a breath of fresh air when compared to other sites about how to be more productive. As is fitting of a site about getting to the point, the design is as no-nonsense as the content, with a simple blog-style front page and three tabs. Everything about this site is neat, short and sweet, designed to get you the tips you need and get you back to work again.

MichaelBuble.com

Contrasting the stark neatness of 43 Folders is fellow Drupal creation MichaelBuble.com. The singing sensation’s website is dark, glossy and covered in high-quality images of the man himself, along with Flash moving banners, video and audio. The site also has a fan forum, which, as you can imagine, is a high traffic one. This site demonstrates how Drupal can be used to create sites that can handle high levels of community activity.

Whitehouse.Gov

Barack Obama’s presidential election campaign transformed the way politicians publicised themselves. The Obama team used web technology with such confidence and ingenuity that politicians have been scrambling to copy it ever since. The president’s website is a perfect example of what a political website should look like. The design is clean and well-branded; six neat headers create an efficient user journey; just the right number of high-quality images play in a looped slideshow; and below, the latest news and legislation from the Obama administration is listed in classic newspaper style. If ever a site screamed “transparency!” it was this one.

RedRoom.com

RedRoom is perhaps the best example of Drupal used to create a community site. The site for authors presents a busy but clean front page, with a large main feature, a section for interviews and a Best of the Day list. Aside from this, there are search facilities and categories for authors, books, genres, podcasts, videos and events, demonstrating the sheer amount of content available. Aside from this, the site is a community for writers as well, with writers being able to sign up, create profiles and clubs (groups), and message each other.

WishingWellGiving.com

This site is a prime example of how Drupal can be used to create sites centred on users creating their own pages. With WishingWellGiving, users sign up and have a page created about their good cause, which they can then email to friends and receive donations through. The design is simple, up-beat and clean, and the volume of content, not to mention the amount of interactivity handled, is truly impressive.

Joomla

Duirwaigh.com

The main point worth noting about this site is its gorgeous design. Duirwaigh Studios is a collection of artists, writers and film makers that creates creative products. As you would imagine, a company like that needs a striking website, and this site rises to the challenge. The homepage’s rich colours and swirling Rococo theme draws on classic architecture and theatre imagery to make an impression. This site demonstrates how a site created on open source software does not need to follow the same old boring colour schemes and shapes.

WorkingWonders.com.au

This site is the online home of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, and has a real “I can’t believe it’s Joomla!” factor. The site achieves the right balance of heartwarming pictures of youngsters receiving medical care, and upbeat colours and gadgets to help well-wishers make a difference. The site features real-life stories of children with serious illnesses, as well as sections for events, online donations and information on projects.

MetroDining.ca

MetroDining.ca represents what a funky and modern restaurant’s website should be. The site is designed in rich, dark colours with a view of the inside of the restaurant cleverly build in to the front page. This view includes a large window that displays the Vancouver landscape, but moves to show different images when the user hovers over different tabs. With a focus on user functionality, the site includes useful features such as the opportunity to download menus as PDFs or book online through quick and easy reservation system, boosting this site into the top ranks.

FriendswoodDevelopment.com

This site is the online home of Friendswood Development Company, which builds master-planned communities across Houston, Texas. The company’s site is a great ad for the communities it builds. The landing page throws up a sumptuous rolling header image, taking up the top half of the page, which flicks through sun-drenched images of parks, streets and lakes. The colour scheme consists of warm browns and earth colours, and in a whimsical twist, butterflies appear sporadically on the pages. Additionally, there is a subtley placed blog and an easy-to-use listing of the communities on offer.

RustedFables.com

This is a site that will appeal to the little cowboy inside all of us. Rusted Fables is a company that creates leather gun and knife accessories such as holsters, cartridge belts and so on. The site draws on all the Wild West imagery you can imaging, from the frayed paper background to the sepia effect photos and the swirling fonts. The images of the products are high quality and the ordering process is simple and straightforward. The page dedicated to explaining old West slang is good for a quick laugh too.

Magento

Mydeco

Believe it or not, this wildly popular interior design store was built on Magento and makes good use of its features. The design of the site is calm, funky and modern, with a shopping, forum and blog section. Particularly notable is the use of Magento product attribute features. Users can click on the shopping tab and select a room, such as kid’s room. Then the site guides the user through a filtering process using colours, retailers, designers and price range to find exactly what they are looking for.

Zumiez

Zumiez, the skate apparel retailer, is well represented on this site with its gritty grunge style, bold text slogans and logo size. The site is a good example of how to bring in fresher, younger styles such as grunge whilst maintaining clean lines and an easy-to-navigate site.

FredPerry.com

Even brands as big as fashion retailer Fred Perry use Magento to create online stores. The site makes great use for Adobe Flash and JavaScript to bombard the user with images of pale, androgynous models in polo shirts. As well as this, the site includes a Subculture section with music and gig information, and it also makes good use of Magento’s grid when it comes to category pages.

Hello! Lucky

Hello! Lucky, the San Francisco based stationery company, uses Magento to create a website drenched in cutesy imagery in pastel colours that is reminiscent of homemade greetings cards. The site is also a good example of having a good correlation between products sold and the design of the website selling them, the most basic principle for all ecommerce sites.

GotMojo.co.uk

Glaswegian t-shirt company Got Mojo produces clothing with bold colours and cheeky slogans, and the design of this site reflects that. The site uses a white background with large red and black text to grab the eye, whilst the content is punchy and to the point. Searching through t-shirt designs is easy with good categorisation, and the purchase process is simple too.

Zen Cart

LifeBaby.com

LifeBaby is a designer kids’ online clothing store. The calming greys and browns used in the background of the page, complete with images of ridiculously hip, cute children modelling the clothes, gives the site a sophisticated feel. LifeBaby’s integration of social media into the site is particularly exemplary too.

Astronomy.co.uk

This site took the basic concept of the online store, using Zen Cart, and took it to the skies. Astronomy.co.uk allows users to purchase a star and have in named after themselves or a friend. As well as this, the site offers astronomical facts and news, a cafe, and a bookstore as well.

ElvisStuff.co.uk

This site highlights how a simple design and a good product is all you need to make a successful business using Zen Cart. The site sells Elvis Presley memorabilia, and apart from an image of the King himself in the top left corner, decoration is largely ignored. Instead, the site uses good categorisation, clear layout and a few web freebies (like an Elvis clock image to embed on your own site) to build its success.

Duvino.co.uk

This online beer and wine store is smart, sophisticated and clean. It combines logical layout, with links to the essential information in all the right places, with plenty of exposure of special offers and images of the products themselves on the landing page.

EthicalPartyBags.com

This site shows how far you can get with a good niche. The site sells ethically produced and traded kids’ presents and sweets, and uses a simple flower design to drive the hippy overtones home. Products are divided into seven simple categories with large buttons to click through to them, and the payment process is made clear from the start.

This post was written by Tom Walker, a writer and designer who works with a UK based ecommerce store offering ink next day for the creative print industry. He runs their blog about vintage art, old school advertising and print media design.

Other Posts

• December 1, 2009 -- General Rules For Doing Free Freelance Work (6)
• November 5, 2009 -- 11 Articles To Stop You Making Designer Mistakes (7)
• September 18, 2008 -- Art/Illustration: Artistic Realism vs Abstract Concepts (1)
• April 9, 2009 -- 5 Ways To Copyright Your Work (4)
• February 3, 2010 -- Graphic Designer Arguing With Client Video (1)
• March 3, 2010 -- Interview with Illustrator and Artworker – Liam Barry (2)

Thanks to a smashing article on six revisions about setting up goals in Google Analytics - we delved further into the subject and found these great 5 articles to help you get to grips with just the same.

1.http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2007/03/google_analytics_tutorial_4_wo.htm

Almost 100% of those who’ve contacted me since I started doing these has asked for a presentation on using goals.

View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

2. http://sixrevisions.com/tools/google-analytics-in-depth-goals-and-funnels/

In this article, we’re going to delve into Google Analytics and start to tailor your account settings so you can get information you need much more easily. Google Analytics in Depth is my series of Google Analytics articles where we will explore Google Analytic’s beneficial features to help you get the most out of this powerful and free web tool.

3. http://blog.joshbaker.com/2009/01/15/using-goals-in-google-analytics-to-track-conversions/

A simple non-technical explanation is that Goals count the number of unique pageviews of a specific url that you predetermined during the Goals setup process. When a visitor reaches that predetermined page, Google Analytics increases the numerical count by one for that particular goal. A goal is incremented only once per single visit, so if a visitor during a single visit reaches that predetermined page more than once, the goal count is only incremented one time so as to not inflate your goal count.

4. http://www.business.com/guides/setting-up-goals-conversion-tracking-in-google-analytics-9181/

* Log into your Analytics account and make sure you are on the “Analytics Settings” screen.
* Under the desired website profile, select “Edit” under the settings column.
* Under the “Conversion Goals and Funnel” section, there are four spaces for setting up goals.
* Select a goal that has not been configured and select “Edit” under the settings column.

5. http://www.maine-seo.com/google/measuring-success-through-conversions-creating-google-analytics-goals

Conversions are more important than rankings – they are the goal. Sure, good rankings should lead to higher conversions; but being #1 should not be your first priority. Using Google Analytics, you have the opportunity to set up a total of four goals for each website (should you have multiple sites) to track your conversions.

Click the edit button on the Dashboard page in your Analytics. There, you’ll find all of the settings for your account. What we’re interested in are the Conversion Goals and Funnels.

Related Posts:

• May 25, 2009 -- Google Analytics Explained Almost (9)
• December 7, 2009 -- 5 Articles To Understanding Your Websites Bounce Rate (13)