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ALL-IN-ONE PALETTE GENERATOR, EDITOR AND MANAGER FOR FIGMA

Easily create harmonious, accessible-first palettes and save countless hours getting colors for your design system.

DESIGN TOOLS SURVEY 2023

AI has dramatically changed design tools in 2023. The latest tools survey shows that 65% of designers already use AI in their work, while 13% aren’t and aren’t interested in doing so. Figma still dominates the UI design tools market, followed by Photoshop, Illustrator, and Sketch.

SCROLL FADING 101

Scroll fade, a new design pattern, is an animation triggered by scrolling: new elements or content fade in or out once the user scrolls down to a certain point on the page. It can cause serious usability issues when misused. Used sparingly at relatively fast speeds, it can draw user attention, improve brand perception, speed up page loading, and divide your content into smaller, digestible nuggets.

LOST IN DALL-E 3 TRANSLATION

Models such as Stable Diffusion and Midjourney tend to amplify stereotypes about race, gender, and national identity. Likewise, DALL-E 3 has its share of biases and stereotypes. This article reveals the language-specific variations of DALL-3 and explores how it navigates diversity and transparency.

EMAIL DESIGN TRENDS FOR 2024

2023 witnessed a rise in email design trends that will continue to evolve in 2024: Interactive emails, gamified experiences, dark mode, creative typography, hyper-personalization, and less generic emails, to name a few.

THE 14 WORST FONTS IN THE WORLD

Some common reasons make graphic designers dislike a typeface. This list features the most misused/overused, ugly, boring, clichéd, and dated fonts.

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BUILDING A DESIGN SYSTEM THAT BREATHES WITH HEADSPACE

Headspace, the meditation company, has made meditation and mental health more accessible through its flagship app, serving over 100 million members globally. It adopted Figma's advanced features, including variables, to streamline its design system and accommodate growth.

PIMENTO TURNS CREATIVE BRIEFS INTO VISUAL MOOD BOARDS USING GENERATIVE AI

Many creative workers use Pinterest, Instagram, Behance, Canva, and Figma to find images online and create mood boards. Pimento aims to simplify and speed up this process by letting creatives enter instructions alongside image references, returning them suggestions like images, text, colors, and other visual elements.

GOOGLE CALENDAR WILL MAKE IT A LOT EASIER TO CREATE A TASK INSTEAD OF AN EVENT

With an upcoming update, Google Calendar for Android is set to become more user-friendly with a quick switcher feature that allows users to seamlessly switch between creating a calendar event and a task in Google Tasks within the same page. This change eliminates the need to back out and tap a dedicated "task" button, making it easier for users to manage their events and tasks within Google Calendar.

DEAR (FUTURE) DESIGNER: DON’T LEARN HOW TO CODE

FIVE-SECOND TESTING: TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Despite the lack of concrete evidence, five-second testing is often taken at face value with the idea that five seconds is just the right amount of time to gauge first impressions. This article examines how first impressions are affected by time, cognitive abilities, and the visual complexity of the tested picture and how product owners and UX researchers can ensure their users' first steps are on the right track.

HOW TO ACHIEVE CONSISTENCY IN DALL-E IMAGES

ChatGPT is now integrated with Dall-E, allowing users to ask it to modify images based on feedback. This gives users more control for creating consistent images by using seeds.

UI SCORE LIBRARY

UI Score’s Library is the ultimate resource hub for designers and developers. Projects and resources can be filtered by category or search.

GENERATE UNIQUE PATTERNS FOR YOUR PRODUCT

PatternedAI Searches and creates thousands of royalty-free patterns for any surface you can imagine.

TRANSFORM ANY WEB DESIGN SCREENSHOT TO CLEAN HTML/CSS CODE

Using the new GPT4 vision model and an OpenAI API Key, this tool converts designs from sketches, wireframes, Figma, XD, and more into pixel-perfect code. It also allows you to add follow-up instructions to fine-tune and fix errors.

WHY DESIGNERS QUIT — 2023 REPORT

A report looking into the reasons why designers leave their jobs found that 14.3% of them were laid off, 10.2% of them were unhappy with the work they had to do, 9.6% lacked career progression opportunities, and 8.9% struggled with the low UX/Design maturity of their employer.

HIDDEN WORKSPACES IN FIGMA

As of next week, Enterprise accounts in Figma will be able to designate workspaces as "hidden" for better control over sensitive content. Non-members of the hidden workspace won’t see it but will still be able to interact with individual documents they've been added to.

THE BRAUN + PAUL SMITH WATCHES ARE WORTHY OF DIETER RAM’S APPROVAL

The Braun watch follows Dieter Ram's ethos by being minimalist, uncluttered, and clean. Braun + Paul Smith BN0279 Watches feature a matte gunmetal stainless-steel case, black PU straps, and a monochromatic design.

DESIGN SYSTEMS DATABASE

Best-in-class Design Systems with components and foundations references from top-tier tech companies and leading UI teams.

USERINTERFACETYPOGRAPHY

A free online book about how to do good user interface typography, from basic things and principles to building layouts and various design elements.

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Discord announced on Tuesday that it's dropping a new mobile app designed from the framework up for mobile devices. The most noticeable change is a revamped layout that puts the Discord servers and messages on different tabs but maintains a vertical layout for servers that lets users quickly switch between them if they have multiple chats going on at a given time.

VISUAL ELECTRIC LAUNCHES AN AI-POWERED IMAGE GENERATOR WITH A DESIGNER WORKFLOW FOCUS

Visual Electric has launched an AI-based image generation tool designed specifically for designers. The tool focuses on non-linear creative workflows and offers features like mood selection, iterative design, and a community-sharing model, with plans to differentiate itself in a crowded market of generative AI tools.

A DISABILITY ADVOCATE PRESERVES HIS VOICE WITH IPHONE

Tristram Ingham, a physician and disability advocate with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, uses Apple's new speech accessibility features to preserve his unique voice as his condition progresses. Apple's Personal Voice and Live Speech, integrated into its latest operating systems, enable Ingham and others with speech impairments to maintain communication autonomy and identity.

THE UX SYSTEM OF THREE CONCEPTS

Continuous design career growth involves a simple three-vertice system to help you engage with challenges at work. Complementary and timeless, they are about understanding context, developing a cadence of innovation, and articulating tools to drive impact.

DARK DESIGN PATTERNS CATALOG

The Government of India's regulations outlawed many dark design patterns in November 2023. A total of 13 dark design patterns are listed in the rules. This article explains them in depth.

THE FUTURE OF UX RESEARCH IS BRIGHTER WITH AI

In this discussion, two senior UX researchers explain how their teams are thinking about and using AI in UX research and offer tips on how UX researchers can navigate the hype and make informed choices.

UI SKELETON GALLERY

A free customizable collection of SVG skeleton loader UI elements for design wireframes & mockups.

THE STYLING SYSTEM THAT POWERS META PRODUCTS

StyleX is the styling system behind products like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It's a simple, easy-to-use JavaScript syntax and compiler for styling web apps.

DESIGN SYSTEM ROI CALCULATOR

This design system online calculator lets you understand and project cost savings by employee and component usage.

HOW PSYCHOLOGY DESIGN PRODUCTS THAT WIN CUSTOMERS

Users usually follow a predictable flow when interacting with your product, such as filtering information, analyzing it, deciding what to do with it, or storing bits of it in their memories. Understanding biases and heuristics affecting those four decision-cycle steps is vital to improving the user experience.

THE FUTURE OF PROMPTING IS MULTI-MODAL

For creatives, prompting still feels very far from ideal. The creative process within any AI tool feels constrained when communicating ideas, unlike interacting with humans. tldraw, a web-based whiteboard app, provides a glimpse of what multimodal tools will look like, offering better support to creative endeavors.

ON-SCROLL SLICED TEXT ANIMATION

A demo of a scroll-triggered sliced text animation where segmented elements reunite while scrolling.

STRUCTURING WEBSITE CONTENT WITH AI (2 MINUTE VIDEO)

A video on using AI to organize and process various content types, such as videos and audio, for enhanced user interfaces focusing on accuracy and efficiency in AI-generated content.

UNEARTHING THE WORK OF IRIS ALBA, THE “MISSING LINK” IN LATIN AMERICA’S BOOK DESIGN HISTORY

Iris Alba designed many book covers that are instantly recognizable for their avant-garde illustrations and playfully contrasting typefaces. Flecha Books' upcoming monograph examines the life and work of the little-known designer and art director whose work helped define modern Latin American publishing.

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ROKU OS SET TO RECEIVE USER EXPERIENCE ENHANCEMENTS

A significant update to Roku's operating system will introduce the new "What to Watch" feature, which displays content in distinct rows under three categories: Recommended, Continue Watching, and Save List. The feature is rolling out in a few weeks on Roku's streamers and players, while Roku OS TVs will receive it in the coming months.

UBER EATS RIDICULED FOR LISTING STRANGE AI-GENERATED IMAGES OF FOOD

The internet’s attention perked up after X user Online Boy shared screenshots of the online menu for Roma Pizza, a New York City eatery. Instead of actual meals, the listings featured peculiar pictures of lattice pies and other pastry variations, suggesting some confusion from the AI in its understanding of “pie” in the context of pizza.

AMAZON INTRODUCES ITS OWN AI IMAGE GENERATOR, AND IT CAN EDIT PICS TOO

Amazon’s all-new Titan Image Generator turns English text prompts into detailed images. It is an asset for those in advertising, e-commerce, and entertainment, enabling them to whip up “studio-quality” images. What makes this tool stand out is its knack for handling tricky prompts. Whether juggling multiple objects or zeroing in on specific attributes, Amazon says the generator can churn out spot-on and lifelike results.

FUTUREPROOFING UX IN THE AGE OF AI

UX has the explicit responsibility and capability to hold businesses, users, and society to high ethical standards when using AI-powered products and services to achieve goals. Designers should start with AI learning now and evolve their UX processes and customer experiences with AI.

THE DESIGN IMPACT FRAMEWORK

IMPACT is a revolutionary framework that empowers designers to use their unique skills beyond traditional boundaries. Regardless of your corporate structure's constraints, each component - Illustrate, Mobilize, Prototype, Articulate, Cultivate, and Teach - contributes to a practical application of design thinking.

PRODUCTIVITY HACKS FOR DESIGNERS: FINISH THE YEAR STRONG

Long hours, demanding projects, and looming deadlines can take a toll on everyone. A productive and robust finish in 2023 depends on focusing on your priorities, progress, and self-care.

BUILD INTERACTIVE ANIMATIONS THAT RUN ANYWHERE

Rive is a design tool that lets you create functional graphics with characters, props, and UI for your products, sites, and games.

CREATE AI-POWERED WIREFRAMES IN SECONDS

Thread is an AI-powered wireframing tool for speeding up ideation and prototyping.

GENERATED PHOTOS

Search a gallery of high-quality, diverse photos of people or create unique models in real-time using your parameters.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TOOLS

Whether it’s a Katana sword, basketball shoe, or digital tools that build software, what you use and how you treat it has the utmost reflection of how you value your craft. Design decisions in how software is built also reflect the consideration of craft.

CREATING WITH PLAY

Play helps designers create mobile apps by combining the power of iOS and SwiftUI. Play is available on macOS, iPadOS, and iOS. It combines Apple's native interface elements, like toggles and date pickers, with animations and haptic feedback. Designs created with the tool are automatically rebuilt in Swift, resulting in more natural and usable prototypes.

BILLING GROUPS IN FIGMA

Figma org admins will be able to sort users into billing groups based on cost center in the coming week. As a result, they will be able to keep track of costs while collaborating and organizing content in workspaces.

CONTINUOUS ELEGANCE: RAFAEL SERRA'S INSPIRING LETTERING SERIES FOR OUR INSPIRATION

Rafael Serra's lettering series showcases his design skills, turning everyday objects and profound quotes into visual art. Each stroke tells a story, reflecting his talent for finding beauty in the mundane without thematic constraints.