BlogmyQuery – BMQ

Christmas is near and the spirits are rising but why not speed it all up a bit? To make the days prior to Christmas much more exciting, we’ll provide you with something to look forward to each day for the next ten days. This year, we’d love to help you out with your Christmas presents. We have some truly smashing Christmas deals lined up for you, and with very affordable, special prices for our dear readers and customers.

We have put together extremely content-rich and valuable bundle deals at prices you have not seen at Smashing Magazine. Seize the opportunity while it lasts and if you are lucky, you might just win one out of the 10 Golden Tickets (further details below). Where’s the catch you ask? There is none — better yet: you can win a bundle deal of your choice daily with a little touch of whimsy fortune!

The Daily Christmas Deals

For the next 10 days, starting today, you will find special deals on our Christmas Deals page. Each deal is limited to 24 hours and will not be sold at comparable prices again. This is a unique opportunity to get your Christmas presents together. To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the deals, better set your alarm clock since all bundle deals run out at exactly 12pm CET midnight.

Which Bundles are Offered?

We’ve carefully assembled all the bundles which will be offered according to relevance and topics. The bundles contain eBooks, printed books and digital goodies such as a mobile apps, WordPress themes and design templates. Here is a quick overview for your convenience:

The Smashing Magazine Christmas Special: Ten Bundle Deals at truly smashing prices!

December 15th – “Smashing Digital Book #2 + Lost Files” for only $9.99 instead of $29.90
You’ve probably heard of the Smashing Book #2 — the eBook version is finally ready and here is your chance to get your copy for a special price. The book shares valuable practical insight into design, usability and coding. It gives professional advice for designing mobile apps as well as practical applications of psychology and game theory to create engaging user experiences. Get the eBook for your iPad or Kindle and feed it with the Smashing Book #2 to enjoy it on your way to work.

December 16th – “WordPress Bundle” for only $26.99 instead of $54.81
This bundle is fresh and just out of proofreading. WordPress Essentials, Mastering WordPress and WordPress Tutorials are three eBooks filled with all the knowledge you need to get a firm grip on WordPress. Additionally, this bundle comes with two WordPress themes for you to adapt, tweak and publish. Now that’s a deal worth twittering!

December 17th – “Corporate Design Bundle” for only $29.99 instead of $66.79
You don’t have a corporate design yet? Establish your brand with a consistent appearance and get set for business contingencies. Use a corporate identity pack (including a business card design, a portfolio layout and stationary), a WordPress Theme and an eCommerce eBook to get your business rolling and spice your online presence with some rad Swiss Retro Design icons.

December 18th – “Printed Smashing Books Bundle” for just $24.99 instead of $59.80
The Printed Smashing Books Bundle has never been offered at this price. Take advantage of it and get a couple of books to give to your friends and colleagues. The Book #1 looks at Web design rules of thumb, color theory, usability guidelines, UI design, best coding and optimization practices. The Book #2 gives professional advice for designing mobile apps as well as practical applications of psychology and game theory to create engaging user experiences.

December 19th – “Creative Bundle” for $14.99 instead of $30.77
This bundle deal gets you set for your first eBook production and publication. It also provides you with 29 exclusive high quality icons. On top, the two Photoshop eBooks will guarantee an improvement of your design skills and the “Professional Workflow” eBook gives valuable insights and tips on streamlining corporate as well as administrative processes. Don’t miss this bundle, you’ll regret it!

December 20th – “Web Design Package” for $9.99 instead of $23.76
Here comes one for the Web designers out there. We bundled four quality eBooks for your reading and learning pleasure. “Professional Web Design” and “Professional Web Design Volume 2″ provide you with the most important fundamentals and principles while the “Modern Web Design & Development” eBook covers current and upcoming design trends. Finally, the bundle is topped up with the “Smashing Typography” eBook to make your font choices more confident. Set your alarm to the 20th of December for this one!

December 21st – “Smashing Digital Books 1+2” (PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket) for $14.99 instead of $29.98
Get both digital copies of the Smashing Book #1 and #2 at an unbeatable price. Twist and turn it as long as you like: there just is no better offer out there for the value this bundle has to offer. That’s 50% off! We don’t have to elaborate on the pros of having a digital copy of the bestselling Smashing Books with you all the time, do we?

December 22nd – “Mobile Bundle” for just $9.99 instead of $20.93
Today Santa is mobile and so you should be, too. The “Mobile Design” eBook offers everything you need to keep up in the mobile Web game. Insights, techniques, trends and tips on getting your own mobile app set up are only a few clicks away. In addition to that, we threw in a mobile portfolio for your work. Show your customers what ‘mobile’ means and get your mock ups and designs to them in the wink of an eye.

December 23rd – “Coding Bundle” for $9.99 instead of $17.82
Coding night, jQuery bright… This bundle is a treat for all truly smashing coders. It covers CSS, jQuery and JavaScript at an intermediate level. The eBooks are all authored by experts of the respective field and offer the Smashing quality you are used to. Two of the three eBook have just been published. Be one of the first to enjoy the still dewy read!

December 24th – “Smashing Book Super Bundle (Print + Digital)” for $34.99 instead of $89.96
Here comes the ultimate Smashing bundle deal and the grand finale of our countdown to Christmas Eve. Get Smashing Book #1 and #2 both in printed and eBook versions for an unbeatable price with 56% off. Make sure to get it while the offer lasts! And we wish you a merry Smashing Christmas!

What is a Golden Ticket?

Are you subscribed to our Smashing Magazine Newsletter yet? If not, you should subscribe to our email newsletter to get a chance to win a Smashing Golden Ticket! It allows the winner and owner of the ticket to choose one of the ten offered bundles  —  completely free of charge.

Subscribers to the Smashing Newsletter can win a Golden Ticket daily.

The daily winner of the Golden Ticket is drawn from the pool of all newsletter subscribers and will be contacted via email. The winners can use their ticket within the 24 hours upon receiving the winning notification, so make sure you keep an eye on your inbox!

Stay Tuned for Updates!

We will be sure to keep you posted about the daily deals via Twitter, Facebook and Google+ as well as in our email newsletter. So, if you are not subscribed to our channels yet, hurry up to catch the bundles you are keen to call your own!

Let’s Get Merry!

Now you are all set to get your special Smashing bundle deals. We sincerely hope that you’ll find our offers valuable and useful for you and your colleagues, and perhaps you’ll be able to find the presents that you were looking for anyway.

On Smashing Magazine, we pay a lot of attention to quality of our work. The bundles feature high-quality products as offered in our Smashing shop. Please keep in mind that all Christmas deals are valid only for 24 hours and will then be offered at the normal price.

If you prefer to buy an eBook as a standalone product, feel free to get our eBooks on Amazon or on iTunes. We wish our worldwide Smashing community a blissful last couple of weeks of the old year. Enjoy the countdown to Christmas Eve and always remember to stay Smashing!

Yours sincerely,
The Smashing Team

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© Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2011.

Employing seamless patterns are an extraordinary way to give your design some additional depth and personality. Either by delicately highlighting important areas or for producing a background that will elevate your layout design to top notch status.

In this post you will unearth all types of assorted patterns; for example fabrics, arithmetical shapes, fancy, retro, vintage, grunge, swirls, lines, paper… and much more. We are fairly certain that this vast a collection should be able to satisfy any and all of your pattern cravings. Each set in this compilation contains a variety of popular formats such as .ai, .eps, .pat, .png, and .jpg.

The Pattern Sets

Vector Patterns Set 12 Patterns (.ai, .png & .pat)
This set contains six seamless vector patterns in blue and brown colors. The files are available in: .AI, .PNG and .PAT.

Grunge Stripes Patterns (.jpg and .pat)
12 Free High Resolution Grunge Stripes Photoshop Patterns in one set. They range in resolution from 512px x 512px to 512px x 1024px.

Spring Pattern (.ai, .eps and .svg)
Have fun adding this to backgrounds, illustrations, or your next design project that calls out for a bit of decorative flair, available in AI EPS and SVG format.

Floral Vector Pattern (.ai, .png & .pat)
This set contains six floral vector patterns. Since patterns are in vector format you can change their size and adjust the color to suit your needs. The download includes 6 vector patterns, 6 PNG files and 6 Photoshop patterns.

Geometric Vector Pattern Set (.ai, .png & .pat)
This set contains six vector geometric patterns. This set contains .AI file, 6 PNG files and .PAT file which includes 6 Photoshop patterns. The patterns are made in cyan-blue but you can change the color and size according to your needs.

Renaissance Spring (.eps, .png, & .psd)
This set contains 1 Damask Pattern with 3 Color Options, included EPS, and 300dpi PNG, JPEG, PSD files.

Abstract Patterns (.pat .png)
This pack contains 16 abstract patterns that includes PAT file and 16 PNG pattern images.

Paper Flowers Pattern (.ai)
A set of 7 patterns inspired by floral paper-cuts. Created in Illustrator.

Diamonds and Gears Pattern (.svg)
A cool muted colored seamless pattern featuring diamonds and gears. Great for web backgrounds and print materials.

Abstract Patterns (.pat and .png)
This pack contains 20 abstract patterns that includes PAT files with 20 PNG pattern images.

Blue Patterns (.jpg and .pat)
This is a set of some beautiful blue patterns. Includes the pat file for Photoshop as well .jpegs.

Seamless Camouflage Pattern Background Vector (.eps)
This set contains free seamless camouflage vectors and Photoshop pattern backgrounds in 4 colours.

Pattern Kit One (.ai)
This beautiful set contains 6 patterns that are sure to dress up your next project.

Free Christmas Seamless Pattern (.ai, .eps and .jpg)
This set contains a beautiful free Christmas themed seamless pattern.

Seamless Flower Patterns (.eps)
Set of 5 nice vector seamless flower patterns for your spring designs. EPS stock vector clip art.

Horrific Pattern Vectors (.ai)
Horrific Patterns contains 4 Illustrator CS5 patterns with Halloween elements.

Hand-drawn Floral (.eps, .jpg and .pat)
A subtle hand-drawn seamless vector pattern that you can download and use in your own work. The pattern repeats on all sides so you can use it to fill shapes and areas in your designs.

Christmas Frames (.ai)
This set contains some beautiful Christmas frames patterns to help with all of your seasonal needs.

Gray Seamless Pattern Set for Web Designers (.png and .pat)
This set contains 12 elegant seamless pattern sets in shades of gray.

TipClique Patterns (.Pat)
This set contains high quality 500px x 500px seamless patterns. Ready to use with the paint bucket to fill with the pattern, or use them in a style with the pattern overlay, and bevel texture options.

Vector Seamless Christmas backgrounds (.eps)
This set contains 5 cute vector seamless Christmas backgrounds for your greeting cards, covers and other holiday designs. Format: EPS stock vector clip art. Free for download.

NixVex Free Jagged Pattern (.ai)
This set contains beautiful jagged-edged patterns made in Illustrator CS3.

Four Seamless Vector Patterns (.ai)
These free vector patterns are a combination of waves and squares. The file is available in AI vector format.

Vintage Floral (.eps, .png and .pat)
Here’s a beautiful vintage-style seamless vector pattern that you can download and use in your own work. The pattern repeats on all sides and you can use it to fill shapes and areas in your designs.

Vector Pattern Set 02 (.ai, .png and .pat)
This seamless vector pattern set contains six different patterns. The files are available in: .AI, .PNG and .PAT formats.

Zebra Print Vector Pattern (.ai)
This set contains a simple zebra print vector pattern you can use to make your designs a little wilder.

Branches (eps and png)
A high contrast pattern with detailed branches that would be great for layer overlays in your Photsoshop design works. Or use as is for a high impact background. As usual, repeats on all sides so will fill any areas in your designs.

Free Vector Guilloché Patterns (.eps)
This set contains 6 beautiful vector guilloché patterns.

Seamless Floral Backgrounds Vector (.eps)
Set of 5 beautiful vector seamless floral backgrounds with colorful flowers and leaves. Colors: pink, green, lilac (violet, purple) and brown.

Colour Pattern Pack (.pat, .psd and .png)
Each pattern can be changed in colour in the PSD file, and the jpeg files included can be used for website backgrounds. This download includes 8 jpegs, PSD files of patterns and the PAT file.

Free Seamless Vector Pattern (.ai, .png and .pat)
This seamless vector pattern set contains three different patterns in two colors. The available files are: .ai, .png and .pat.

Mandala Madness Vector (.svg)
This set contains beautiful mandala type vector patterns that can help add an interesting bit of flavor to your designs.

Patterns With Flowers Vector Set (.ai and .tiff)
Set of 3 nice vector seamless patterns with some flowers for your summer related designs and backgrounds.

Planes and UFO Pattern (.ai)
It contains seamless patterns filled with planes and ufos in vector and raster formats

Compositions Patterns (.pat)
This set contains some beautiful patterns made from scans of notebook paper and a good ‘ol composition book, the .pat file and 5 .pngs.

Assorted (.Pat)
17 Adobe Photoshop Patterns in one .pat file (most of them are vertically striped). These patterns were made with Photoshop CS.

Baby Pink Pastel Tileable Patterns (.jpg and .pat)
It is a free combo pack of seamlessly tile-able baby pink pastel patterns in .jpg format as well as a corresponding Photoshop pattern (.pat) set.

Photoshop Pattern Pack (.pat, .psd and .png)
Each pattern can be changed in colour and opacity in the PSD file. This download includes 6 pngs, PSD file of patterns and the PAT file for Photoshop.

Indonesian Batik Vector Pattern 04 (.ai, .eps, .svg, .pat)
This wonderful set contains an Indonesian Batik vector pattern. Contained in the zip file are the various formats mentioned above.

Seamless Christmas Backgrounds Vector (.eps)
Set of 5 beautifully designed Christmas backgrounds with gifts, bells and other Christmas decorations for your holiday designs (cards, postcards, posters, covers, etc). Format: EPS stock vector clip art.

Skulls and Hearts PS Patterns (.pat)
This set contains 3 whimsical pink, black and white Photoshop skull patterns that can be used in various ways.

Flower patterns vector 2 (.eps)
Set of 5 beautiful vector flower patterns that are simply perfect for your spring designs.

Vintage Retro Grunge Patterns (.jpg and .pat)
Free combo pack of seamlessly tile-able vintage retro grunge wallpaper patterns in .jpg format as well as a corresponding Photoshop pattern (.pat) set.

Snowflake Patterns (.jpg and .pat)
This is a set of 12 assorted simple snowflake patterns. Included are the pat file for Photoshop as well as 600 x 600 jpegs for those of you who do not have Photoshop.

Seamless Vintage Floral Backgrounds Vector Set (.eps)
Collection of 5 beautiful vintage floral vector backgrounds with ornaments for your designs.

Flower Pattern Pack (.pat and .jpg)
Want to have a funky website background? These flower patterns are great at adding colour and design to any work. This download includes 8 jpgs of the flower patterns and a PAT file for Photoshop.

Feliz Navidad (.eps, .pat and .jpg
This set contains 1 damask pattern with 3 different color options. Includes the EPS, PAT, and 300dpi transparent PNG, JPEG

New Seamless Pattern Background (.jpg)
This seamless pattern background is designed to be used for large posters or at least printed in high resolution. This free pattern is in JPG format.

Micro Patterns (.pat)
The Micro Patterns set contains a staggering 54 Patterns for Photoshop

Gold Free Pattern (.jpg and .pat)
A wonderful set of six Photoshop patterns for any of your artworks, cards or websites that could use some golden accents. There is one Photoshop .pat file and six individual and seamless .jpg files. The patterns are made on PS CS5.

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I hear a lot of people talking about the importance of sketching when designing or problem-solving, yet it seems that very few people actually sketch. As a UX professional, I sketch every day. I often take over entire walls in our office and cover them with sketches, mapping out everything from context scenarios to wireframes to presentations.

My desk.

Although starting a prototype on a computer is sometimes easier, it’s not the best way to visually problem-solve. When you need to ideate website layouts or mobile applications or to storyboard workflows and context scenarios, sketching is much more efficient. It keeps you from getting caught up in the technology, and instead focuses you on the best possible solution, freeing you to take risks that you might not otherwise take.

Many articles discuss the power of sketching and why you should do it, but they don’t go into the how or the methods involved. Sketching seems straightforward, but there are certain ways to do it effectively. In this article, we’ll cover a collection of tools and techniques that I (and many other UX and design folks) use every day.

Sketching ≠ Drawing

Some of the most effective sketches I’ve seen are far from perfect drawings. Just like your thoughts and ideas, sketches are in a constant state of flux, evolving and morphing as you reach a potential solution. Don’t think that you have to be able to draw in order to sketch, although having some experience with it does help.

• Sketching is an expression of thinking and problem-solving.
• It’s a form of visual communication, and, as in all languages, some ways of communicating are clearer than others.
• Sketching is a skill: the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it.

When evaluating your sketches, ask yourself, “How could I better communicate these thoughts?� Getting caught up in evaluating your drawing ability is easy, but try to separate the two. Look at your sketch as if it were a poster. What’s the first thing that’s read? Where is the detailed info? Remember, the eye is drawn to the area with the most detail and contrast.

Just as one’s ability to enunciate words affects how well others understand them, one’s ability to draw does have an impact on how communicative a sketch is. The good news is that drawing and sketching are skills, and the more you do them, the better you’ll get.

OK, let’s get started.

Work In Layers

Often when I’ve done a sketch, the result looks more like a collage than a sketch. Efficiency in sketching comes from working in layers.

Quick video showing how you can use layers to effectively build your sketches.

Technique

Start with a light-gray marker (20 to 30% gray), and progressively add layers of detail with darker markers and pens.

Why?

Starting with a light-gray marker makes this easy. It allows you to make mistakes and evaluate your ideas as you work through a problem. Draw a crooked line with the light marker? No big deal. The lines will barely be noticeable by the time you’re finished with the sketch.

As the pages fill up with ideas, go back in with a darker marker (60% gray) or pen, and layer in additional details for the parts you like. This is also a great way to make a particular sketch pop beside other sketches.

Sketching in layers also keeps you from getting caught up in details right away. It forces you to decide on the content and hierarchy of the view first. If you are sketching an interface that contains a list, but you don’t yet know what will go in the list, put in a few squiggles. Later, you can go back in and sketch a few options for each list item and append them to the page.

Caution

If you start drawing with a ballpoint pen and then go in later with a marker, the pen’s ink will likely smear from the alcohol in the marker.

As you get more confident in your sketching, you will become more comfortable and find that you don’t need to draw as many underlays. But I still find it useful because it allows you to experiment and evaluate ideas as you sketch.

Loosen Up

Technique

When sketching long lines, consider moving your arm and pen with your shoulder rather than from the elbow or wrist. Reserve drawing with your wrist for short quick lines and areas where you need more control.

Why?

This will allow you to draw longer, straighter lines. If you draw from the elbow, you’ll notice that the lines all have a slight curve to them. Placing two dots on the paper, one where you want the line to start and one where you want it to end, is sometimes helpful. Then, orient the paper, make a practice stroke or two, and then draw the line. If you look closely, you’ll see this in the video above.

A bonus to drawing from the shoulder is that much of the motion translates to drawing on a whiteboard; so, in time, your straight lines will be the envy of everyone in the room.

Play To Your Strengths

Technique

Rotate the page before drawing a line in order to draw multiple angles of lines more easily.

Why?

Very few people can draw lines in all directions equally well. Rotating the page allows you to draw a line in the range and direction that works best for you. Don’t try to draw a vertical line if you find it difficult; rotate the page 90 degrees, and draw a horizontal one instead. It’s super-simple but amazingly powerful.

Caution

This does not translate well to a whiteboard, so you’ll still need to learn to draw vertical lines.

Sketching Interactions

Technique

Start with a base sketch, and then use sticky notes to add tooltips, pop-overs, modal windows and other interactive elements.

Why?

Using sticky notes to define tooltips and other interactive elements lets you quickly define interactions and concepts without having to redraw the framework of the application. They are easy to move around and can be sketched on with the same markers and pens you are already using.

• Define multiple interactions on one sketch, and then strategically remove pieces one at a time before scanning them in or copying the sketch.
• Use different colors to represent different types of interaction.
• Is one sticky note not big enough for your modal window? Add another right next to it.
• Is one sticky note too big for your tooltip, user a ruler as a guide to quickly rip the note down to size.

Explore a variety of interactions and ideas in a single sketch using sticky notes.

Upon photocopying various versions of a sketch, each with different sticky notes, you’ll end up with various distinct sketches.

Copying And Pasting For The Real World

At times, you may want to manually redraw a UI element multiple times in a sketch. This is not always a bad thing, because it gives you the opportunity to quickly iterate and forces you to reconsider your ideas. That being said, an all-in-one scanner or photocopier could dramatically increase your efficiency.

Technique

Use a photocopier to quickly create templates from existing sketches or to redraw an area of a sketch.

Why?

A photocopier is the old-school version of Control + C, Control + V. It makes the production of templates and underlays more efficient. It also boosts your confidence, because if you mess up (and you will mess up), you can easily fix it.

• Does one part of your interface need to be consistently redrawn in multiple sketches? Run a few copies, and then sketch directly on the print-outs.
• Did you mess up a part of the sketch? No problem. Cover up that portion of the sketch with a piece of paper or with correction fluid, run off a copy, and then start sketching directly on the print-out.
• Are you working on a mobile project? Or do you want to make a series of sketches all of the same size? Create a layout and copy off a few rounds of underlays. Easier yet, print off underlays of devices or browsers; a good selection can be found in the article “Free Printable Sketching, Wireframing and Note-Taking PDF Templates.â€�
• Do you want to change the layout of a sidebar in your last five sketches? Sketch the new sidebar, run off a few copies, and then tape the new sidebars over the old ones. It’s that easy.
• To use a sketch as an underlay of another similar one, adjust the density or darkness setting on your photocopier to run a copy of the sketch at 20% of it original value.

Another advantage to photocopies is that marker will not smear on a print-out the way a ballpoint pen does. So, whenever you have an area of a sketch to highlight or add color to, run a few copies first.

Caution

Paper cuts.

Sketching over a photocopy of the original to reevaluate the sidebar.

The final sketch. Notice how the sidebar and its detail are darker than the photocopy. This is intentional, because it allows you to explore ideas in the context of the overall design.

The Design Is In The Details

Use a ruler; specifically, a quilting ruler. Quilting rulers are translucent and are normally printed with a ⅛″ grid screen, letting you see the line you’re drawing relative to the rest of the sketch.

Technique

Use a ruler and a light-gray marker to draw an underlay for a detailed sketch.

Why?

This lets you quickly draw a series of lines that are offset a set distance from each other. This works great for elements such as lists items, charts, buttons and anything else that needs to be evenly spaced. It’s like an analog version of “smart guides.�

Quickly creating evenly spaced lines with a quilting ruler and 30% gray marker.

Technique

After using a light-gray marker to lay out a sketch, use a ruler and ballpoint pen or black marker to finalize it.

Why?

When sketching in layers, you want the final design or layout to “pop.� A ruler enables you to be more precise in detailed areas and ensures that long edges are straight.

There is no shame in using a ruler. The key is knowing when to use it. Don’t start sketching with a ruler; rather, bring one in when you need the detail and precision. Remember, you’re sketching, not drawing.

Using a ruler to make sections of a sketch drawn with a 70% gray marker pop.

Technique

Use a ruler to quickly rip paper or sticky notes by firmly holding the paper with one hand and ripping away the edge with the other hand.

Why?

It’s quicker then grabbing scissors; you already have the ruler with you; and you can take it through airport security.

After lightly sketching an interface with a light marker, finalize it or make one area pop by using a ruler to lay down darker lines.

Ripping a sticky note with a ruler.

Tell The Whole Story

Technique

Draw the application in the context of where and how it being used, or frame it with the device it will be used on.

Why?

This forces you to think about the environment that the application will be used in, instills empathy for your users, and establishes understanding of the challenges unique to this application.

I get it. No one wants to sketch out a monitor every time they draw a wireframe. I’m not saying you have to, but a few sketches with context go a long way. Especially with mobile devices, the more context you add to a sketch, the better. Moreover, I always sketch the device for a mobile interface as an underlay, and I often try to sketch the UI at full scale. This forces you to deal with the constraints of the device and makes you aware of how the user may be holding the device.

Caution

Drawing the surrounding environment can be challenging and requires a higher level of sketching competency. Don’t let this intimidate you. If you’re not comfortable sketching the environment or you find it takes too long, use a picture as an underlay instead.

Sketching ideas for a mobile application in the context of where it will be used.

Ditch The Sketchbook

Technique

Draw on 8.5 × 11″ copy paper.

Why?

Sketches are for sharing. You can easily hang 8.5 × 11″ sheets on a wall to share ideas with others or to see a project in its entirety. When you need to save a sketch or two, you can easily batch scan them into a computer without ripping them out of the sketchbook. Still not convinced? Copy paper is cheaper; it allows you to use sketches as underlays without photocopying; and you don’t have to choose between book-bound or spiral-bound.

One of the many walls of sketches in our office.

What Are You Waiting For?

Sketching is not reserved for designers. Developers, project managers and business analysts can get in on the fun, too. It’s the best way for teams to quickly communicate, explore and share ideas across disciplines. Also, I’ve found that others are more receptive to give feedback and make suggestions when shown sketches than when shown print-outs or screenshots.

Remember, it’s about getting ideas out, reviewing those ideas and documenting them, not about creating a work of art. When evaluating your sketches, ask yourself, “How could I better communicate these thoughts?� Getting caught up in evaluating your drawing ability is easy, but try to separate the two, and know that the more you do it, the better you’ll get.

It’s worth repeating that sketching is the quickest way to explore and share thinking with others. It focuses you on discovering the best possible solution, without getting caught up in the technology.

Go for it! Don’t get caught up in the tools. Make a mess. And have fun!

Tools

Here are links to some of the tools described in this post.

• Quilt Ruler – Collins Quilt & Sew Ruler 2″X18″
• Prismacolor Markers – Cool Grey Prismacolor 12/set

All images by Michael Kleinpaste.

(al) (fi)

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© Peiter Buick for Smashing Magazine, 2011.

The internet is a popular place for movie fans. It’s a place where you can read the latest reviews, watch trailers of upcoming films and argue plotlines with other film buffs. Big movie studios are vastly aware of how important the internet is to marketing their new films, and as a result they spend a lot of money developing interactive websites to help promote new releases.

Today we would like to showcase 40 movie related websites: 20 movie information websites and blogs and 20 official websites from popular movies over the last 10 years. Both sides of this movie website coin are charged with inspiring examples that are sure to please.

20 Movie Blogs, Fan Sites & Award Websites

1. The Internet Movie Database

The largest movie website on the internet was founded in 1990 by self-confessed movie geek Colin Needham. Even though IMDB was sold to Amazon in 1998, Colin is still the Chief Executive of IMDb. More surprisingly, he still runs the company from his home. The site has gone through dozens of design changes over the last 21 years.

2. Rotten Tomatoes

Launched in 1999, Rotten Tomatoes is a movie review aggregator that works out a rating for each movie by collecting scores from movie critics. The ‘TOMATOMETER’ tells you the percentage of critics that gave a film a positive review. Films with low scores are given green/rotten tomatoes whilst popular films are displayed using red/fresh tomatoes. The website also displays an average rating from Rotten Tomatoes’ users for each film.

3. Metacritic

MetaCritic works in a similar way to Rotten Tomatoes by aggregating scores from a number of different sources. Unlike Rotten Tomatoes, MetaCritic also covers games, TV and music. Each film is given a rating out of 100. Just like Rotten Tomatoes, a user rating is also displayed.

A link to each review that was used to calculate the score of a fim, album or game is listed underneath the score. It’s worth noting that some reviewers, that are considered more important, are given more weight when scores are calculated.

4. ComingSoon

A colourful website that links to the latest trailers of upcoming movies. The site also publishes production stills, DVD reviews and the latest movie related news. They haven’t integrated their great design into their popular discussion forums, which is strange as it’s prominently linked from the main navigation menu.

5. Movie Mistakes

Arguably the best website on the web for finding mistakes from popular films. Visitors can search for mistakes from their favourite movies or browse through popular mistakes or films with the most errors. Many mistakes also have images attached to show exactly what went wrong.

6. Chasing The Frog

A great website that focuses on films that were based on true stories. Each film is compared to what actually happened in real life and pictures of each major actor in the film is shown next to their real life counterparts. It’s a great way of knowing more about the true events that inspired your favourite films.

Google Adsense and Amazon advertisements are discretely integrated throughout the site and related videos for each movies are also linked to each film.

7. The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences (Oscars)

The official Oscars page has an elegant design that showcases upcoming events and lists information about the academny and all past Oscar ceremonies.

8. Festival De Cannes

The respected Cannes film festival has a website design that is not a million miles away from it’s North American counterpart, sharing the same colour scheme and basic website structure.

9. The Razzies

The Razzies is for those who want to reward the worst the movie industry has to offer. Their website breaks most modern conventions for developing a website with every link and image on the home page linking to either their forum, an advertisement or an article from another news website. What else should we expect from The Razzies?

10. AllMoviePhoto

One of the largest collections of movie photographs on the web. The site features images from old and upcoming films. Visitors can search by film or by actor.

11. Horror Movies

A popular Canadian horror movie community that features reviews, news, discussion forums and a large archive of horror films. The site uses a dark colour scheme that fits it’s genre well.

12. Bad Biology

A dated looking website that highlights biology and science related mistakes from popular films. Don’t let the poor navigation and design put you off as there are a lot of interesting facts to be found on the site. Plus it’s refreshing to browse a movie related website that doesn’t have advertisements everywhere.

13. Empire

The UK’s most popular film magazine has a fantastic design that makes navigating the site a breeze. Empire features news, reviews, videos, images, interviews, forums and more.

14. Film School Rejects

Film School Rejects is a great movie blog that features news, reviews and interviews about Hollywood and upcoming films.

15. Fast Rewind

If you grew up in the 80s, you’ll love the 80s Fast Rewind. There are listings for close to 600 films released in the 80s. Each film has a review, details of the music used in the film, triva, bloopers, filming locations and a look behind the scenes.

16. Screen Rant

What started off as a place for owner Vic Holtreman to rant about dumb things that happened in films has grown to be a great resource for the latest movie news and reviews. The site shares a similar design to its sister website Game Rant.

17. Kids In Mind

Kids In Mind provides objective information about the content of films so that parents can decide themselves whether a film is suitable for their children or not. A rating between 1 and 10 is given for sex and nudity, violence and gore and profanity; and descriptions of each scene in the film that the parents might have concerns about are provided in detail.

When browsing the film archives you can quickly see the ratings of a film at a glance. Alternatively, you can read the complete analysis if you need more information.

18. Hulu Movies

Launched in 2007 as a joint venture between companies such as NBC, Fox, Viacom and Disney; Hulu is an online video service that lets you watch movies in full. It also shows clips, trailers and documentaries.

19. The Quentin Tarantino Archives

The unofficial Quentin Tarantino blog that has official status was launched back in 1999. It remains the best place on the web to find out about the latest Tarantino films in progress and is lucky enough to count the man himself as a fan.

20. Roger Ebert

You may not always agree with his reviews but there’s no disputing the experience of film critic Rogert Ebert; the first film critic to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. His personal website features his latest reviews and commentaries.

20 Movie Websites

The vast majority of movie studios are using flash to design their websites these days. This allows them to integrate videos of the films trailer into the content and make the website more interactive. Many of these websites showcase a trailer on the home page and encourage the visitor to ‘Enter The Site’. This area usually features more information about the film, cast and crew and details of how visitors can see the film (cinema, Blu-Ray etc).

21. Avatar

A colourful website that lets you learn about the Avatar movie in a number of ways. Through the small navigation menu at the top left hand side of the page you can view images, videos and download screensavers and background images for your computer. There is very little information on the website itself, with the vast majority of links on the page opening up external websites that are dedicated to specific areas of promoting the film.

22. Iron Man 2

The Iron Man 2 website has a beautiful interactive futuristic design. Images, videos and clips can all be shown via the navigation menus. The visitor can switch between the Iron Man and War Machine suits to find out more about them.

23. How To Train Your Dragon

A family friendly design that has lots of games and other activities for kids to play. You can find out more about each dragon in the film too.

24. Saw

Most websites are designed to promote just one film, however the Saw website promotes all 7 Saw films. When you click on a specific film on the right hand side of the page, a sub menu appears in the centre of the page that allows you to find out more about the film, view DVD features, trailers and more.

25. Tron

One of the best designed movie websites online today. Packed full of features, games and information and very easy to navigate. Daft Punk music from the film is played whilst you use the site also for that extra bit of immersion into the world of the film.

26. Donnie Darko

This was one of the first films to use a website to further the plot of a film. Known for it’s complicated plot, the website acts as something of a companion to the story giving you more hints as to what happened in the movie. Some consider it a stroke of genius whilst others find the website even more frustrating than the film. You decide for yourself!

27. Ice Age 3 – Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

A fun website that kids are sure to love. It’s easy to navigate and has lots of interactive material such as videos, images and downloads.

28. District 9

When a visitor views the District 9 website they have to choose whether they are human or an alien. You are then shown a map of Johannesburg. If you click on a restricted area you are warned about unauthorised access and you are then redirected to the Sony page which promotes the film. A great website that’s a good example of how you can make a movie website fun and interactive and still promote the film effectively.

29. Simpsons Movie

An interactive website that allows the visitor to browse around Springfield to find out more about the characters. It has lots of fun games and you can also create your own Simpsons avatar.

30. Transformers – Dark Of The Moon

The home page features links to buy the latest Transformers DVD. The main site plays footage from the film in the background and has a small nav menu that lets you view trailers, images and downloads.

31. Star Trek

As you would expect from a Star Trek website, the website for the latest Star Trek film has a futuristic design. Images, videos and downloads can all be viewed via the great looking nav at the left hand side of the page. You can also see 360 degree panoramic views of the Star Trek set.

32. Predators

A great website that Predator fans are sure to love. When you use the site your regular cursor is replaced by the infamous 3 beam laser sighting that the Predator uses for targeting. As usual, visitors can view trailers and images and download background images for their computer. There’s also a fun Facebook game.

33. The Social Network

An elegant website design that displays a photo gallery of all the actors and contributors to the film. Clicking on a person allows you to view more information about them. Annoyingly, when you click to enter the main site from the entry page, it loads it up in a brand new browser window.

34. Alice In Wonderland

Another colourful website from Disney that is full of entertaining games, information, images, downloads and more. Go ahead and fall down the rabbit hole…if you dare.

35. The Hurt Locker

A unique page that allows users to navigate the site using the bombs on the home page image or via the navigation menu at the top of the site.

36. The Last Airbender

Different areas of the site are transitioned beautifully with fire effects as you move around the site. It’s packed full of information, videos, images, games and more.

37. Inglourious Basterds

A cool looking website that lets you find out more about the various characters from Tarantino’s re-imagining of the film Inglourious Basterds.

38. Shrek

Everyones favourite Ogre has a quick loading website that includes games, downloads, news and more. Information about all 4 Shrek films can be found here.

39. The Expendables

The Expendables website shows all of the stars of the film in a large image that moves from side to side. The navigation menu has been integrated into this image. All you have to do is click on the skulls to find out more.

40. Inception

One of the biggest films of last year has a stylish design that is easy to use. Most of the interactive features such as the minute mazes and Inception Dream are hosted on external websites though.

Do you know of a great movie website that wasn’t included here in our list? If so, feel free to share it with other Noupe readers in the comment area :)

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As the year draws to a close, we asked some A List Apart readers to tell us what they learned about the web in 2011. Together their responses summarize the joys and challenges of this magical place we call the internet. We need to continue to iterate, to embrace change, and challenge complexity to keep shipping. Above all, we must continue to reach out to one another, to teach, to support, to help, and to build the community that sustains us.