Author: Marc Brophy

Illustration representing whitespace

#UserInterface

4 Reasons Why Whitespace Is Important

Whitespace, or negative space, is empty space used in Design between the layouts, paragraphs and any other elements presented. Clients usually push and argue that content should be condensed to reduce scrolling in order to present the user with more valuable information at once. This myth of “less scrolling” can have negative impacts on usability. While many consider whitespace to be a waste of Design real-estate, I will explain why it is just as important as any other element.

Illustartion showing woman working at computer to reap the benefits of UX Design.

#UserExperience

Benefits of UX Design

User Experience (UX) Design is a term that has become more and more common over the last two decades. Yet, some people are still questioning what exactly are the benefits of UX Design? UX is not just a bunch of rules and a trend to follow. Rather it is the entire experience a User gets while using a product. Perfecting this experience is the critical key to success for a product.

Illustration representing Motion Design

#UserInterface

Going Through the Motions with UI Design

In a sea of millions of apps and websites it can be hard to make your product stand out. Good User Interface (UI) Design no longer just ends with rigid grids, buttons and content. Motion Design elevates these elements and conveys further storytelling. It brings life and excitement to otherwise static objects which can be easily overlooked by the User. In real life we can manipulate objects in a variety of ways, and the same can be done online through animations and motions.

Illustration of man throwing clock in the bin representing bikeshedding.

#Design

Bikeshedding Is The Enemy Of Design!

Is it possible to deliver high quality Designs in a tight timeframe? We have all heard of the saying “Tempus Fugit”. This applies to designers as much as anyone else. A good designer can craft beautiful products that look awesome and satisfy User needs, as well as managing their time effectively. Here I am going to share some tips on managing your Design time effectively while avoiding the villain of good time management – bikeshedding.

The Dublin Tech Summit 2018

#Events

Where Today‘s Leaders Meet Tomorrow’s Technology: Dublin Tech Summit 2018

Starting in 2016, the Dublin Tech Summit has gone from strength to strength each year. Held in the Convention Centre Dublin, at the heart of Dublin’s Silicon Docks, over the two days 10,000 people attended the talks and panels. A large variety of subjects were discussed in this time. Hot tech matters like IoT, Smart Cities, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Branding and Customer Experience were all covered. I was there for the two days on behalf of Graphic Mint and decided to share with you the four talks which really inspired me.

5 Sketch Plugins for Designers

#UserInterface

5 Sketch Plugins All UI Designers Should Have

Sketch has become a core tool for User Interface (UI) Design. This is down to its simplicity and range of functionality. Some of this functionality can be greatly extended to improve a designer’s workflow thanks to the countless number of third-party plugins that are available to be installed. In this blog post I will take you through our top five most useful Sketch plugins that we at Graphic Mint use in our day-to-day Design within the Sketch app.

Illustration of the Z-pattern

#UserInterface

Reading Patterns: From F to Z

Time is precious and people want to be informed quickly. Websites need to be geared to be as captivating as possible, as it is unlikely any User will read all of the content but instead they will scan through it. In order to address this, eye-scanning patterns should be considered when designing a successful User Interface (UI).  

Design-Collaboration

#Design

What is Interaction Design (IxD)?

Differentiating User Experience (UX) design, User Interface (UI) design, Interaction Design (IxD) and User-centered Design (UCD) can be hard. With different design approaches being used interchangeably, the understanding of them all tends to get diluted. This blog post focuses on Interaction Design (IxD), explaining what it is, examples of Interaction Design and the principles of the practice.

Microphone-studio-podcast

#UserExperience

10 UX Podcasts You Need To Listen To

Thanks to technology, the ways in which people access content to further their knowledge has changed, namely through How-To videos, Webinars and Podcasts. At Graphic Mint we love getting our hands on a great Podcast that is both interesting and offbeat. We went around the office, asking everyone about their favourite UX Podcasts to help you choose your next show to listen to.