I don’t know about you, but when I text, I use a lot of emojis to express myself.

Maybe too many.

And there were so many times where there just wasn’t an emoji I needed to express myself, or something to describe what I was doing.

That’s why I’m so incredibly excited to announce that Apple will be adding an additional 217 emojis to the pack.

This year, they already added over 100 new emojis, including one of my personal favorites, the otter.

And now, we wait for 217 more in 2021.

If you’re a big dreamer, you’ll finally have an emoji to describe your head being in the clouds.

There’s also a mending heart, which I love, an exhaling face, and a few others!

One important thing that you should know is that 200 of 210 of these emojis are skin tone variants, which is incredibly exciting!

It’ll be amazing now that we can all find the perfect relationship emoji to describe our lives.

The update is expected to take place in January and will gradually roll out new emojis until October of next year.

And although we haven’t gotten an exact image of the new emojis from Apple, the talented designer Joshua Jones from emojipedia has made some mock-ups of what we can expect to see soon!

What are you most excited for in the upcoming emoji release?

What other emojis would you like for Apple to release?

Let us know in the comments below.

Maybe we can come together and make some emoji mock-ups and send a request to Apple to implement them.

Who knows what we could accomplish if we all come together.

Anyways,

Have you ever wondered what a bitten apple and technology have in common?

The Apple logo has become one of the most iconic and world-wide known logo, but not many people know the history and the meaning behind the bitten apple.

Today, we’re going to dive into the history of the Apple logo, so you can know all about it. 

And hey, it’s a cool party story to tell… that is, if you go to parties. I wouldn’t know.  #quarantinelife 

The first logo of the company doesn’t look at all like the actual one that represents the Apple brand.

And if you ask me, it actually gives me kind of creepy vibes.

The first logo of Apple only survived for one year before Steve Jobs asked the talented artist Rob Janoff to create something more modern and representative for Apple. 

The final logo, designed by Ronald Wayne and Steve Jobs, illustrated Sir Isaac Newton under an apple tree, and for the background, it had a poem written on the side of the drawing.

The quotation by Wordsworth that was also inscribed into the logo said: “Newton… a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought.”

The Apple Logo: How did it become an iconic image of the company?

The iconic Apple logo, the bitten apple that we all know and love, can now be found on all the company’s products.

This apple was created by Rob Janoff in the ’70s.

According to Rob, the reason Steve Jobs wanted the apple to have a bite mark in it, was so that no one would mistake the apple for a tomato.

You can also look at the bite as a clever play on words.

Instead of spelling it B-I-T-E, you can spell it B-Y-T-E, as in the measurement for digital storage.

It is, of course, a strong reference for a tech company.

The rainbow Apple Logo

So soon after they retired good old Isaac Newton and the weird first logo, the first iconic version of the bitten apple was presented as a rainbow-striped apple.

This Apple logo represented the company between 1976 and 1998.

Rob Janoff explains why Jobs opted for the rainbow in one of his interviews.

Once the personal computer Apple II was launched, it was the first computer ever that could display colors on the screen.

A huge win for Apple and for all of humanity.

We come a long way since then, huh? 

Crazy to think that it wasn’t even that long ago that we didn’t have computers that displayed colors!

The representatives of the company wanted to make this fact known by all, thus was born the rainbow apple.

Also, the colors were also an attempt to make the logo more accessible and to attract the young generation.

Here is Apple II in all of her spectacular glory.

In 1998, things started to change again, which means that the Apple logo went through a change as well.

As should all companies after a while!

Steve Jobs decided to change the rainbow apple into a monochromatic apple. 

A great, modern move on their part.

Apple always seems to be in the lead.

The rainbow colors of the apple were going to go out of fashion and just wouldn’t cut it anymore.

Especially when the decided to put the logo on the back of all their products, for everyone to see.

The new monochromatic logo matched the image of the newest products on the market better than anything else.

Regarding the name of the company, there are many speculations.

Unfortunately, there isn’t one most plausible theory among all the existent ones.

Some believe that the founder’s, Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak, wanted their start-up to appear on the first pages of the phone books.

Others believe that they wanted to stand out of the crowd with a simple name, that was easy to be remembered by.

They wanted to create a contrast between their company and all the other hard to remember names of tech companies such as TRS-80, IBM, or Cincom.

Also, the idea that the founders wanted to bring a tribute to The Beatles’ record label.

As time went on, Apple kept simplifying their logo all the more.

Now, their logo is minimalistic and you can find it in different colors across all products; Gold, Rosegold, Silver, and Black.

Despite the color changes that we’ve been seeing since the ’70s, the apple has and probably will remain intact from here on out.

The iconic apple is here to stay, with just a few modifications here and there every few years.

What do you guys think of Apple’s logo?

If you were in complete control of creating a new logo, would you totally revamp it? If so, then how?

Let us know in the comment section below.

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

Welcome back to this week’s edition of Inspirational Designer of The Week!

Today, I’m honored to welcome Aurélien Salomon to the scene.

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Aurélien Salomon is an exceptionally talented French UI/UX designer who plays by his own rules.

And by doing so, he’s been able to work with famous enterprises that favored him, such as Apple, Google, Tinder, and Uber, just to name a few.

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So what’s his design philosophy?

Well, he says, “I believe in simplicity, I love solving problems and crafting amazing experiences.”

And this shows clearly in his work.

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He has worked on loads of different design projects, extending from web design to creating IOS apps from scratch.

If you’re on Dribbble as much as I am, then you will surely recognize his work for its simplicity and originality.

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Aurélien Salomon is from Martinique (a small French island in the Caribbean), and studied engineering in Paris and Montreal.

How did he get into design?

Salomon has loved designing ever since he can remember.

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He says it all started when he was a kid, and his love for design showed through the way he played with legos.

He had always had a passion for designing and engineering, so he specialized in cognitive ergonomics, which proves to be a very useful field for a designer.

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What was his growth experience like?

In the beginning, he worked for a start-up and then moved on to a design agency.

But we all know that being your own boss can be the best thing ever, in my opinion, so he moved onto bigger and better things: freelancing.

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And in his words, once he began to freelance, he “[I] was lucky enough to work with big companies like Apple, Google, Tinder, Uber and more.

One of the projects he is most proud of and that he can share with us is this MacOS redesign concept.

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And speaking of Apple, here are some other Apple design projects and concepts that he’s worked on that we’re obsessed with.

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When Aurélien starts a new design project with a new client, he says that he always that it is vital to understand their business, what the business is trying to achieve and how you as a designer can impact their project in the best way possible.

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When he begins working with new clients, he starts by communicating clearly with the client what their goals are and what the want to achieve.

Once they get a solid foundation to work from, he then takes a look at the competition.

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After all of this, he starts to gain inspiration from various platforms, such as Dribbble, Behance, or even real-life things, such as books and movies.

When asked what is the most important element of UX design, he said… 

“The most important part of UX is to come up with a holistic approach.”

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There are many steps a designer should follow and never neglect, such as user research, understanding, brainstorming, prototyping, and testing.

A typical day in Aurélien Salomon’s life looks like this…

He starts every morning like this:

He wakes up at 8 am, brews his white tea, and then meditates.

That sounds like my morning goals, to be completely honest here.

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He then works very hard until around 7 or 8 pm.

Between the working hours, he tries to take breaks to stretch or go on runs, in order to be sure he gets sufficient exercise.

Wrapping things up

Aurélien is an inspiration to us all.

You can be anything you want to be.

To find more of Aurélien’s work, you can follow him on Dribbble and Behance.

Until next time, folks.

Stay creative!

As we continue through this eventful 2019, there are many newsletter design trends that have already come and gone. But, there are also quite a few that have stuck around, and even more that are just beginning to show up. 

So what are they? Great question. Newsletters are one of the most simple and effective marketing strategies out there, so it’s worth knowing what’s trending and what you should avoid. With that said, here are some of the best 2019 newsletter design trends that you’ve gotta know.

Interactive newsletters

Interactivity has been a trend in the design world for a while now. The reason is as cut and dry as it gets: people love to be entertained. There’s just something about being able to navigate, click, and watch the screen evolve in front of you that just can’t be beaten.

Take this newsletter from Ann Taylor, for example. It has a simple design that allows users to interact with it, see all the new products, and even go straight to the online store. Things like sidebars, drop-down tabs, and shopping links are actually taking off as a trend. This is an interactive email newsletter if I’ve ever seen one. As long as you don’t go overboard with it, this is a great trend to follow.

Simple and clean design

Minimalism is a huge trend in design right now. It’s no big surprise that it’s snuck its way into newsletter design trends, too.

There’s nothing more annoying than getting a newsletter, opening it, and finding an explosion of information that you can’t seem to click away from fast enough. The whole point of a newsletter is to grab someone’s attention quickly and direct them to the announcement.

Something like this simple newsletter design clearly shows the reader that there’s a summer sale, it’s 50% off, and then gives them a link to go shopping. There’s nothing overwhelming or misleading about it. By definition, this is a perfectly simply newsletter, and it does the trick.

Catchy newsletter names

You may think that a name really isn’t part of the design, but I think that the name is the first thing that really grabs the reader’s attention. Amidst the absolute ocean of emails that some of us get daily, the subject lines can easily blend in with the background.

It helps to have a name that people not only recognize as your own but by having a name that stands out. There’s really no guideline for this other than be creative. Overall, you should just try to avoid names like (insert company name)’s newsletter.

Infographics in newsletters

If you absolutely need to give a lot of information, a nice infographic can really help maintain your clean design. One particular style of infographics that a lot of businesses are using is video infographics.

Video marketing, in general, has really rocketed forward in recent years. For many businesses, it’s their main focus. A simple video infographic is an easy way to pump out a lot of your information and still keep the target audience engaged.

Personalization

Creating a newsletter design that is easy to adapt to any reader can be hard to do, but it drives opening rates and engagement like crazy.

A good example of this would be Pinterest. For years now, they have sent you Pins via email based on the things that you like. 

On top of that, they will often use your name in the subject line. It makes it feel less like a corporate cash-grab, and more like a friendly email from a close friend. I don’t know about you, but when scrolling through my inbox, my name in a subject line stands out drastically. Many times, it’s all I look for.

Videos in newsletters

The reason videos work well in newsletters is simple: people love to be entertained. On top of that, listening to a video requires much less effort than reading.

That being said, adding a video to a newsletter can be tricky. If someone has rendering issues, or they can’t watch the video the moment they open it, then they may leave and never come back. There has to be a balance between making the video catchy enough to grab their attention and keep it and being short enough to not waste their time. Basically, keep it short and sweet.

Bright and contrasting colors

A little splash of color never hurt anyone. This statement rings true for a lot of things, but with design, it’s a little more complicated. It’s true that the right colors can really help any design. But, notice I said the RIGHT colors.

Just because you toss in some bright and contrasting colors doesn’t mean that people are going to love it. In fact, if you don’t get the colors almost exactly right, most people are going to hate it.

The colors you choose have to make sense. They have to match your brand’s tone, but they don’t necessarily have to be the brand’s colors. Take this newsletter for example:

We’re all familiar with the trillion-dollar company, Apple. They’re infamous for their simplicity in design. Most of the time, their devices are simple gold, black, grey, or white. It was quite a shock when they released the 5c, simply because they were like nothing Apple fans had ever seen.

Granted, this email newsletter design is a few years old at this point, but you can see the strategy in using these colors. They absolutely pop off the screen at you. They used the phone’s colors to highlight the phones themselves on the screen.

Or, how about this one:

Again, what we have here is an ingeniously implemented design with contrasting colors. They’re not wildly different from each other, but they certainly do a great job of highlighting the products. These colors make sense, and they look good.

Full-width images

Just like the colors, images have become the main focal point of the newsletter in 2019. And, just like the example above with Apple, the images have quickly started to take up the majority of the newsletter.

It makes sense if you think about it. Let your product do the talking for you. Even if you’re newsletter is a software or a simple announcement, you should be confident enough with what you’re proposing in the newsletter. 

This newsletter advertisement is a perfect example of this. The image of the woman in the middle takes up nearly the entire thing, from end to end. 

In fact, this particular design hits on a few of the points we talked about, so we’ll end it here. You have a nice big image, contrasting and bold colors, a simple image, and interactivity.

Get creative

As I hinted at several times throughout this article, creativity is key. Most people will scan their emails, look for only the most important emails, and forget about the rest, newsletters included.

A combination of many or all the design elements above will definitely give you a competitive edge, but don’t forget to play around a little. Just because someone doesn’t open a newsletter email of yours once, doesn’t mean they’ll never do it again. This process will have a lot of trial and error, but you will get the hang of it eventually. Especially is you use these 2019 newsletter design trends.

Dark design is and always will be a trend. The level of darkness will always vary, but basically, it’s really hard to screw up a simple, dark design. This is especially true for dark UI design.

Not everyone gets it right all the time. There are a few things you have to keep in mind when working with a Dark UI. But, don’t pull your hair out yet. We’re going to go over the elements that you need to keep in mind, and a few you’ll probably want to avoid. This is the basics to dark UI: the good, bad, and of course, the ugly.

Why use dark UI?

To be completely honest here, I don’t think every site can pull of dark UI. It is an interesting design tactic, but it sometimes just doesn’t fit the overall style or brand.

But, putting that aside, it is a very visually striking change. For starters, you don’t see lots of dark UI in the digital world. It’s way easier to put dark text on a light background. Most blogs, for example, choose to go with the light UI simply because they pump out a lot of content.

But, what about the other types of sites? I mean, even a blog can pull it off if they try hard enough. You just have to make sure the dark theme will work. And with that in mind, remember that “dark” doesn’t always mean “black”.

A dark background can be a variety of colors. As long as it’s not completely light, or at least has more than half its elements in a dark color, you could consider it to be a dark UI theme.

To be fair to those who don’t choose dark UI, you have a little more maintenance with a dark background. You have to choose everything (fonts, font size, icons, images, colors, etc.) perfectly. If you have a font that’s too small, it will be engulfed by the dark background. If you have a color that contrasts just a little too much, it can make the entire design theme look cheap.

So, why use dark UI? It’s bold and awesome.

Good examples of dark UI

I’m always a fan of examples, so this is where that portion is going to start. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of horrible dark UI examples, but let’s save those for the finale. For now, let’s talk about good examples of dark UI and discuss what they’re doing right.

Spotify

Welcome to the Spotify app. This is the application window that you get when you download Spotify to your device. Spotify is notorious for their dark UI, and it’s for good reason.

For starters, “dark” doesn’t always mean black. There is a slight color gradient that breaks up the normal “black” scheme. It’s very smart because they only integrated the gradient into the middle and right side. If you notice on the left, the sidebar is still solid black, outlining it subtly, but just enough.

Netflix

Here’s another name we’re all fairly familiar with: Netflix. Netflix has a beautifully dark UI throughout. Most of us already know the dark UI they have when selecting a show to watch, but few of us probably remember the signup screen.

The reason I selected this screenshot is to highlight another element of dark UI that you need to remember: consistency. You simply cannot have a dark UI in one area, and then switch to a light. Visually, this is kind of an eye sore.

Sony

Here we have Sony’s main site. The dark background draws your eyes instantly to the center where all the content is gathered. It’s very, very simple, but it does the job. Plus, Sony’s logo is notoriously white, so a light background would’ve been a poor choice.

So what is Sony getting right? The lack of elements. The dark UI is contrast enough, and they know that. They don’t need to load up their main page with gradients and contrasting colors. They went with black, plain and simple. 

The bad and ugly dark UI

In order for there to be good examples of dark UI, there also has to be at least a few bad ones, too. Honestly, we can probably learn the most from bad examples. They teach us what not to do instead of giving us examples that we just copy. 

I don’t really like calling anyone out, so we’ll avoid names here and just jump straight to what’s wrong with the UI. To do that, let’s play a little game involving the image above. I like to call this game: Spot the tablet. Believe it or not, there are 2 tablets in that image. Can you spot number 2?

The point of this is to show you that not all images work well with dark UI. Sure, they could of had limited options. But this all points back to one of our original points when using dark UI – pick your images wisely. The fact is that the tablet blends in almost perfectly into the background. It doesn’t work.

This one I want you to really look at. From a glance, it looks pretty okay. There’s nothing special about it, but it’s certainly not the worst thing I’ve ever seen.

What they did wrong here is the overuse of contrasting colors. Bright redish-pink, lime green, and neon blue all come clashing together to make this app look like the inside of a cheap nightclub. It simply doesn’t work. 

Now, if they had gone with fewer colors, or maybe turned the intensity of the colors down a little bit, this could work very well. But, as it sits now, there are better designs out there.

Additional things to avoid with dark UI

We hit the basics on things to avoid with dark UI (too much color, poor image choices, etc.) but there are a few guidelines that I want to leave you with here:

• Avoid a lot of text

We briefly mentioned how choosing the right size font makes a big difference. Well, the amount of text does, too. If you have too much light colored text on screen, it can be hard to focus.

• Avoid a lot of content

In general, you’ll probably want to avoid too much content on screen at one time. Again, it can be very hard to focus.

• Don’t use too many colors

Even if the design has nothing but dark colors, using too many can cause a lot of headache. With a dark UI, your brain will automatically be attracted to anything that stands out. Including varying colors. The quick change for your eyes can and will be straining.

There you have it everyone: dark UI. Overall, it can be quite a challenge to pull off dark UI design. But, if it’s done right, it will definitely make you stand out. But of course remember, dark UI is absolutely not for everyone.

Seeing all the time, effort, emojis, drawings, and true works of art put into an Insta story, we know for sure stories are not what they once were. They’re no longer just pictures and videos shot in real-time. Stories have become a true marketing platform, with intensely strategic moves behind each piece of content published. Every Insta story most likely has a cool (maybe expensive) story app that was used to produce the content.  

With Insta stories looking more polished and aesthetically pleasing than ever, as a designer, you have to be on top of your game. But to what end and to what cost? 

I’m here to help you save a good buck. I’ve got the 10 best free Insta story apps for you to use to improve your Insta stories game without breaking the bank. Without further ado, let’s jump right in.

10 Best Free Insta Story Apps

1. Unfold

Unfold is an amazing Insta story app that is free, but also has in-app purchases if you fancy a certain look and template theme. With many texts and elements to choose from, and themes spanning from elegant or retro, there’s something for everyone.

Try it out today for free: https://unfoldstori.es/

2. Jane

A very underappreciated and not talked about enough app, in my opinion, is Jane. The app is free and has very many free beautiful templates for you to use to spice up your stories. They are quite girly and are perfect for maintaining an elegant or playful story vibe. Create amazing videos with royalty-free music and amazing visuals. Again, this app is free but has in-app purchases. 

Try it out free today: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/%E7%AE%80%E6%8B%BC-jane/id891640660

3. Canva

Canva is hands-down one of the best online CMP’s out there. It’s great for beginner and advanced designers alike. With tons of templates to choose from and customize, you’ll surely find the one that suits your style best. The mobile app is free and has in-app purchases, although you can totally rock with all the free elements and templates and just tune them to your liking.

Try out this app out for free today:https://www.canva.com/app/

4. Hype Type

With a vast and wide collection of fonts, you can do some serious designing with this app. Hype type is absolutely killing the font game. If you’re focused on spreading a message, then this is absolutely the app for you. The app is free with some paid features, but it’s up to you to decide if they’re a necessary buy. 

Check out their app now: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hype-type-moving-text-photo-s/id1152687277

5. Cut Story

Another great app for managing your stories is Cut Story. Cut Story’s is an amazing video editing app where you can create engaging videos and add music, texts, elements, your logo and more to your video. There are special features that you can buy to enhance your UX, but only if you deem necessary.

Try out their free Insta story app now:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cutstory-for-instagram-stories/id917630934

6. Mojo Story Maker

Mojo is the way to go for Insta stories because they have 100 templates for you to choose from! Customize your stories with text to create relevance, engage with your followers and make them feel what you feel, and share the message you want to portray with them. A huge plus to this app is that you can share your new and improved story directly to your Instagram and also your Snapchat!

Try this Insta story app now: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mojo-stories-editor/id1434861974

7. InShot

For all my influencers out here, Inshot is the app for you. We don’t always have time to film, import, and edit our footage on our laptops or computers, so having this app will be a valuable asset for you. Edit all your video content in a single app on your phone and import it directly to your Instagram. This app is truly a gift to all of us creators out there.

Give it a try if you haven’t already: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.camerasideas.instashot&hl=en 

8. Adobe Spark Post

Adobe, king of all things editing programs, in my own personal opinion. Adobe has great editing programs, from video-editing to photoshopping images, and when they saw an opportunity to create an app to help you create amazing stories to tell your followers, well, we all know they wouldn’t pass that up. With this app you can do more than edit stories photos, you can also edit video and image posts. The app is initially free and then they offer you the chance to upgrade if you end up falling in love with the app.

Go ahead and give this Insta story maker a go: https://spark.adobe.com/features 

10. Over

And last, but not least, we have the app called Over. I love that when you visit their webpage, it’s just absolutely inspiring. It inspires you to be different, to stand out, the influence others. A great app for you to use to for free to make your Insta stories more engaging for your followers and for you to really create a brand name and grow your recognizability.

Stand out of the crowd and try this amazing app free today: https://www.madewithover.com/

Now that you have 10 new and fresh apps for you to choose from to start stepping up your Insta story game, it’s time for you to hop on it. Download any one of these apps and tag us in any of your Instagram stories for a chance to be featured on our stories. Our Instagram handle is @webdesignledger.

Don’t sleep on these amazing free Insta story apps! Try them out today. 

Until next time, 

Stay creative.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcMAD7OJy7g]

Fly Me to the Moon Landing Page in Adobe Muse. No Coding Skills Required.

Hey, what’s up Muser! Today we are going to create a unique landing page using a few different animation widgets from http://museforyoushop.com. The landing page we’ll be creating can be found here:

http://bit.ly/2imMqtd

In this video tutorial we’ll be doing the following:

• Morphing icons with the Muse Morph Widget powered by Greensock’s SVGMorphPlugin.
• Fading in text with the Muse Motion 2 Widget powered By Greensock’s Animation Platform (GSAP).
• Adding audio to the site with the Mute-Unmute Audio Widget.
• Adding particles to the background to create a star effect with the Particles.js Widget.
• Adding a background image from http://unsplash.com.

I thought this video came out a good time seeing how there was just a recent solar eclipse.

For more video tutorials and widgets for Adobe Muse visit http://museforyoushop.com.

Happy Musing!