The Evolution Of Icon Design From 1981-2014

With the GUI having now been around for over 40 years, today we are taking a look back in time at the evolution of an integral feature – the icon.
Since the early 70’s, when bitmapped screens were first developed with GUI’s, the humble icon has come a long way. The following is a collection of icon design in OS’s through history. This is by no means, a complete list of all the icons in every OS between 1983-2013, however I have hand-picked designs that have the most significance and popularity in icon design.

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The Evolution Of Console Controller Design (1958-2014)

A few days ago I was reminiscing about the good old days when Nintendo and Sega ruled the video game industry. Eventually I ended up playing a flash based version of Double Dragon 2 on a website dedicated to preserving the games of the golden era.
As I looked down at my backlit MacBook Pro keyboard, with all its engineering and complexities, it got me thinking about console controllers. Originally, Double Dragon was released on the Nintendo – which had a brick of a controller with 4 buttons (start, select, A & B) and a D-pad. A marvel at the time indeed.
However the humble console controller has been around for far longer than the 80′s and 90′s. The first game controller (and first video game ever) was created in 1958.
Today, we’re taking a journey through history, looking back at how console controllers have evolved. This is by no means a complete list of every controller ever released, however I’ve tried to include most of the controllers of historical importance and major influence.

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Fizz or Fame: 10 Design Trend Predictions For 2014

Yes it’s that time of the year again, closing time where every design blog under the sun pulls out the crystal ball in an attempt to make some form of definitive predictions for the coming new-year.
As with any prediction, it’s never 100% accurate, no matter the amount of market research involved. However if you keep your ear low enough to ground, you should be able to make some educated assumptions.

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30 Nostalgia Evoking 8-bit Pixel-Art Designs

 Do you remember the good old days of the 80’s and 90’s? When life was simpler, the sun shined brighter, you spent more time outdoors and used AltaVista as a search engine.

Do you remember playing DK and two-player Double Dragon on Nintendo or Prince of Persia on the Macintosh ? Do you remember going to the local arcade because the graphics were better and screens were bigger?

I remember when I was about 8 years old, I arrived home from school on day, only to find our house had been robbed. Much to my brother and I’s despondency, a colossal void lay center of the living room where our Nintendo had resided. It was a loss evocative of the damage caused by a boy losing his pet dog, leaving my brother and me with faces like a wet week-end. A few of days later, upon arriving home from school again, a pleasant surprise awaited me in the living room. A brand-spanking new Super Nintendo. It shined like the Holy Grail in a da Vinci painting, totally inundating the void that was left previously. Dad had secretly gone off and bought it for us. Boy, that was one of the greatest days of my early childhood, a memory I will never forget.

Of course you may remember it differently, depending on your age and cultural background etc.. but that’s pretty much my recollection of the times. Whatever your memory does serve up, one thing’s for sure, if you played video-games back then you would distinctly remember 8-bit style graphics and rending.

So what better way to spark reminiscence than some old-school, retro 8-bit style poster designs. Today I’ve scoured the web to bring you this awesome collection. Enjoy.

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Using Color Swatches in Photoshop

Today we will be talking about Photoshop color swatches. How to use them, where to get them and why you should be using them.
Now this may be basic, but swatches can often be overlooked by designers. If you’re a frequent user of Photoshop, having an extensive collection of color swatches can save you a valuable amount of time on your projects, particularly if you do a lot of user-interface design.

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5 Essential Tips For Creating High Quality Flat Design

As a design savvy person you’ve most likely come across the the term flat design somewhere in your online activity. Whether it be a website, an icon set, a poster or user-interface, flat design is everywhere.

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A New Design Trend: Flat Design Gets Layered

If you are a designer or developer, or just a design savvy creative, it’s almost certain you have come across the term ‘Flat Design’ at some point. But what you might not realize, is that flat design has been around for a very long time.

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20 Beautiful Examples Of Flat Design

Flat Design has become an increasingly bigger hot-topic amongst design circles over the past year. Probably the most well-known example is Microsoft’s Metro UI (User Interface). Flat design has been around for a while now and is somewhat of a controversial subject amongst passionate designers and developers; some love it, others don’t. Nevertheless, over the course of the past year we have seen a pretty large number of websites and apps adopt the design scheme, thus its popularity.

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60+ Gorgeous Free Logo PSD Mock-Ups

Logo mockups are a great way to visualize your latest design projects for both yourself and your client. Whether you are designing for a small business or a larger brand, a logo mockup will give you a good sense of your design in its context.

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