That’s why we’ve scoured the Internet for the best websites that provide free sound effects, and we’ve rounded them in this article. Check out the sites below and find the right sound effect for your project.

Envato Elements Royalty Free Sound Effects

Find your perfect sound effect in this royalty-free directory for any application you could think of. Over 80 thousand sound effects are available and ready for use! No need to worry about having to continuously pay out royalties.

Retro Arcade Game Sound Effects Pack

Are you making a video game? Then you will need this arcade game sound effects pack! Included in this pack are the sound effects for explosions, weapons, fighting, and game-overs.

m-operator – Repository of Minimalist Free Audio

From cool techno to soft ambient sounds or radio-worthy songs, M-operator has all the musical sounds you will ever want for use in your video productions, and all of them are royalty-free.

NoCopyrightSounds

This service allows you to use their music in exchange for proper credit given to both them and the artist with no worry about copyright claims on the Twitch and Youtube platforms.

Purple Planet Royalty Free Music

Purple Planet Music has a wide array of musical scores that you can purchase or attribute. With genres ranging from Americana to Seasonal, you’re sure to find something that will be perfect for your needs.

16,000 BBC Sound Effects

The BBC has a huge database of sound effects that can be used under the RemArc License, which means so long as it’s for personal, educational, or research purposes, you’re good to go.

whatfunk Free Music

Music that you find on whatfunk is available for you to download and use for any purpose you want, with the exception of selling the original work you downloaded.

Free Music Archive

Free Music Archive is backed by WFMU, the most renowned freeform radio station in America. They offer music from the blues all the way to Soul R&B with everything in between.

Freesound

Freesound aims to give its users a whole new way of using and finding the sounds that they need. Most sounds are listed under their non-attribution license but do be mindful of their attribution and attribution-noncommercial license.

Pond5 Royalty Free Music

Pond5 has a really sweet way of getting all your needs met as a one-stop-shop. They have stock and production music, sounds, videos, and even images. If you need something, Pond5 probably has exactly what you need.

Adobe Audition Downloads

Adobe has even gotten into the game, offering over 10 thousand different sound effects, over 30 music loops, bed bundles, and Soundbooth scores.

SoundBible Free Sound Effects

SoundBible strives to make it easy for teachers, students, faculty members, and even starving artists who need sounds to get their projects off the ground. Almost every sound can be used commercially, and all the sounds are free for private use.

Conclusion

Make your podcasts, video games, or videos come to life with the right sound effect. Whether you want to add a fun game over sound or need to add an upbeat melody to your logo opener, chances are you will find a site that has the right sound effect in this collection.

The post 10+ Best Websites For Downloading Free Sound Effects appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

If you find yourself in this situation, you might be wondering if there are any tools available that can help create your own font. Or perhaps you’re interested in exploring font design as a fun side project.

Thankfully, several tools are available to help you create your own custom font. In this collection, we’ve compiled the best font design tools that will help you in creating a custom font. These tools range from beginner-friendly software to advanced tools used by professional type designers.

With these font design tools, you can create a unique font that perfectly suits your project or personal preferences. You’ll be able to experiment with different styles, characters, and layouts until you achieve the desired result.

So, whether you’re a designer, artist, or just someone interested in creating a custom font, take a look at these font design tools and get started on your font design journey today!

Best Tools for Designing Custom Fonts

FontLab Studio

The first tool on the list, FontLab Studio, is a premium font creation software aimed at professionals that want to create and edit their own typefaces. It works on both Mac and Windows and supports all major font outline formats.

FontForge

FontForge is an open-source application that can be used on Mac, Windows, and Linux computers. With this program, you can create and edit PostScript, TrueType, OpenType, SVG, and bitmap fonts, as well as convert fonts from one format to another.

FontCreator

FontCreator is a Windows-only font editor. It has an advanced set of features that make it suitable for professional font designers and an easy-to-use interface that’s beginner-friendly. You can create and edit high-quality TrueType and OpenType fonts, as well as convert, scanned vector graphics into glyphs.

Fontographer

Fontographer lets you create new fonts from scratch or customize the existing ones. You can modify and design Type 1, TrueType, OpenType, Type 3 fonts. Special features include the ability to fine-tune spacing, and kerning Fontographer is available for Windows and Mac systems.

FontStruct

FontStruct is a free online tool for designing your own fonts. This tool lets you easily create your own fonts by using geometric shapes. When you’re done, FontStruct then generates TrueType fonts, ready to download and use in any application.

BirdFont

BirdFont is another free tool for designing your own fonts, and it has advanced features that will satisfy even hard-core font designers. The tool has detailed documentation and allows you to create fonts by drawing on a grid or importing images from other programs. It’s available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

iFontMaker

If you rely on your iPad as your primary design tool, iFontMaker will come in handy. It’s an iPad app that lets you design your “handmade” typeface in less than 5 minutes using just your fingers. You can then install the font on your computers and also on your iPad & iPhone.

Pentacom’s Bit Font Maker

Love pixel-style fonts? Then check out Pentacom’s BitFont Maker. This tool lets you create your own pixel fonts, which are reminiscent of old video games. The tool has a neat gallery where you can find other fonts created with the app, or you can immediately dive into the editor and start creating your font.

TTFEdit

A TrueType font editor, this tool lets you edit and modify existing TTF fonts or create new ones from templates. TTFEdit is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux and is free to download.

Glyphr

Glyphr is a web-based font design tool that touts itself as being free and easy to use for font design enthusiasts. You can easily design your own font, ligatures, and adjust kerning and tracking.

Conclusion

Designing your own font is a great way to add a custom touch to your design project. It’s also a nice way to earn extra income if you discover you have a knack for creating fonts and enjoy doing it.

With these tools, you’ll be able to create your own font quickly, so be sure to check them out and give them a try.

The post 10 Tools & Applications for Creating Custom Fonts appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

If you have the experience in WordPress and clients see a value in the additional service, by all means, expand your WordPress business beyond the bounds of your traditional role.

One of the most common ways to branch out and offer an additional (and recurring revenue) services to clients is by selling WordPress maintenance plans. There are entire companies dedicated to this kind of service they could hire, but what do you think your clients prefer? To utilize a number of WordPress providers to manage tasks related to their website or just entrust it all to you?

The convenience and comfort alone will make them want to work with you, their trusted designer, before anyone else. So, if you’re interested in selling a WordPress maintenance service, keep reading for suggestions on how to do this.

Building a WordPress Maintenance Service for Clients

First, let’s talk about why you would want to sell WordPress maintenance services:

• It’s a great way to generate recurring revenue.
• It provides you with a predictable cash flow no matter how feast-or-famine your web design schedule may be.
• It gives you a chance to help clients make the most out of the website you designed for them.
• Maintenance services keep you top-of-mind with clients, so you will instantly become their go-to resource any time they need help with the site.
• They also give you a chance to be introduced to brand-new clients. Do well maintaining their website and they may look to you the next time they need a redesign or new site built.

Next, let’s focus on what your clients get out of this:

• Maintenance services are a way of protecting their digital asset from stagnation, irrelevance, and harm.
• You’re giving them the ability to prioritize things that matter most to Google–like security, performance, and updated content–so their sites can perform well in search.
• This also means you’re helping build their brand reputation with consumers, too.
• You’re assuming the responsibility of something that might otherwise take too much time or be poorly mismanaged if left in their hands.
• It’s a value-add service they might not have otherwise been aware they needed, but now can use as a competitive edge.

Clearly, this is a win-win for you and your clients. The key to doing this correctly, however, lies in which services you offer.

Decide Which Maintenance Services to Offer

Obviously, maintenance services need to be valuable. This means your clients need help managing these aspects of their website either because they don’t want to or don’t understand how to implement them.

As you go about developing your WordPress maintenance services offerings, think about how you can divide them up into packages. Maintenance, typically, isn’t a one-size-fits-all, so the more you think about the various use cases for them, the more effectively you can create packages your clients will want to sign up for.

Start with the basics and then add more based on what you believe your clients will need:

1. Backup & Restore

Capturing regular backups of a WordPress website is an important part of the longevity of that website. You can’t plan for destructive forces that threaten it harm (e.g. hackers, user error, cowboy coding), but you can have a backup in place to keep the content and integrity of the site protected regardless.

Backups are one of the easiest tasks to manage within WordPress as both web hosting plans and plugins are available to automate the process.

For the purposes of this service, I would suggest starting with a backup plugin. This way, you have full control over backing up and restoring their website if something bad should happen.

UpdraftPlus is a great choice as it:

• Is free to use.
• Allows for a variety of “backup to” storage options.
• Comes with a quick restore option.
• Enables you to schedule backups at your preferred frequency.

2. Updates

There are three types of updates issued to WordPress sites:

• WordPress core
• Themes
• Plugins

Unfortunately, these updates aren’t issued at the same time or on the same schedule as many of them happen as a way to patch an issue (which is usually unexpected). So, when it comes to managing updates, it can be a little tedious if you’re not logging into their WordPress installation on a regular basis.

That said, it’s potentially dangerous to leave updates in the hands of your clients–and for a number of reasons, too.

The client might not understand what those red update markers are in WordPress, and so those much-needed updates never happen.

The client does understand what updates are, but just doesn’t want to bother doing them because it means logging into WordPress frequently.

The client issues every single update as soon as it comes in, which, in all honesty, isn’t terrible… but making updates to a live site is not always ideal.

Which is why this service is so valuable. By taking this on for them, you’re able to test these updates in a safe staging environment first and ensure they won’t cause any problems before they go live.

When it comes to managing updates, that’s the ideal way to handle it: manually. However, if you’re offering a basic update service for low-risk websites, you could automate them with Easy Updates Manager.

With this free plugin, you can customize your updates. Do you want to automate certain plugin updates, but manually manage core and theme updates? Do you want to disable minor releases from automatically updating, so you can manage those as well? This plugin allows you to completely personalize the management of this service.

3. Security Monitoring

Backups and updates are just one small part of a website’s security strategy. There need to be other measures taken to ensure the website remains safe as does everyone else behind and in front of it.

Whether you were the one to secure the website originally or someone else handled it, there should be various measures in place to fortify your client’s site already. Now, someone needs to be responsible for monitoring it.

The easiest way to do this is through a security plugin (which may already be installed). Most of these plugins are installed for the purposes of blocking spam, malware, brute force, DDoS, and other types of attacks that tend to affect WordPress websites. But they also usually have a monitoring and reporting tool built in, which you can use for this service.

There are a number of WordPress plugins that could be used for this purpose, so I’d recommend checking with the one on the website first. If monitoring and protection are both there, then keep it. Otherwise, consider switching over to a plugin like iThemes Security.

With iThemes’ scanning and monitoring features, you can:

• Detect vulnerabilities and issue a quick and immediate patch for them.
• Monitor for known bots, agents, and others that cause trouble on the web.
• Monitor for changes in files.
• Block attacks on your database.
• Run malware and blacklist scans on your home page.
• Receive notifications if anyone exceeds number of failed login attempts.

This’ll save you a lot of time in trying to sweep the website for seemingly miniscule changes.

4. Performance Monitoring

Security is a major factor when it comes to user experience and SEO. Another factor that has just as great of an impact is performance. Again, this is likely something you (or the original designer) took care of when building the original site. Images were optimized. Files were minified. Pages were cached. But website speed isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing. You always need to keep an eye on it.

In order to monitor the performance of your client’s site, you should look outside of WordPress to do this. A page speed testing tool like Pingdom is a good choice.

[Pingdom image]

With Pingdom, you have a choice of using a free online speed testing tool or paying for one of its plans.

If you want to automate performance monitoring and receive page speed test results and reports, you’ll need to pay for it. But it’s worth it in the long run if you’re handling this for multiple websites.

It spares you the trouble of having to initiate a speed test (and remembering to do so in the first place) and will instantly alert you to issues with the site. It also lets you know when the site has gone down, so it won’t take a client noticing the error to tip you off to something being wrong.

5. Database Optimization

I look at database optimization similar to how I look at security monitoring. While it is something you could indeed do manually, it requires a lot of time and focus to be able to comb through every nook and cranny. Rather than spend your valuable time doing that, and possibly risk missing something sizable and unused that should be cleaned out, let a plugin like WP-Optimize do it for you.

WP-Optimize is a great plugin as it sweeps through both the backend data and the frontend content. It assesses whether or not the element needs to be there or if it’s taking up precious space on your server. By enabling this tool to keep your system clean, the site can run much more efficiently.

Oh, and it also happens to integrate with UpdraftPlus, so you can trigger a backup to generate before any sort of cleanup happens (just to be on the safe side).

6. Design Tweaks

As a designer, it would be odd to offer a maintenance service without allocating some time for ongoing design tweaks. It doesn’t have to be much–maybe a few hours every month. But it’ll help you account for the “quickly change this” or “make it do this” requests your clients will inevitably ask when they have regular access to you.

7. Technical Support

The level of tech support you offer to clients will depend wholly on how comfortable you are troubleshooting issues in WordPress and, further, digging into the database or control panel. While this should definitely be part of any maintenance service you sell, I would advise you to really think about how confidently you can handle different tasks and then define them well as you lay out your plans’ details.

Note: the remainder of suggestions from here on out should not be part of any basic maintenance service you offer. These go above and beyond the scope of traditional maintenance and should be used to shape more robust maintenance and support packages.

It’s also important to note that you need to have a well-rounded understanding of how to properly maintain these elements. Clients aren’t going to pay for a service if you promise something like email marketing and then, five months later, they realize they’ve lost half of their leads because the newsletters didn’t make sense.

8. Comment Moderation

For the most part, you’re going to use the Akismet plugin to monitor and manage all spam that comes into the website. That said, sometimes the plugin misses a spam bot or allows a seemingly harmless link through. If your client’s blog receives a lot of comments, a moderation service would be helpful in double-checking the work of the plugin.

9. SEO Updates

A website’s SEO efforts should be a never ending thing. The more attention that is paid to keeping content updated, adding more relevant pages, re-keywording based on the competition, building a backlink profile, and so on, the better the site will do in search.

10. Content Updates

As a web designer, you might not be comfortable writing content for the web. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t know how to optimize it for publication. Adding images, formatting with headers and lists, categorizing posts, and so on all make for better reading and are tasks you could easily manage.

11. Email Marketing

Again, if you’re not well-versed in writing or compiling any sort of messaging on behalf of your client, you could focus on the design side of email marketing. Setting up newsletter templates and formatting each week’s emails could be the kind of things you focus on.

12. Social Media Updates

Rather than take the approach of trying to comprise social media messages for your clients, you could create custom banner images for each of their accounts and update them monthly. This would give them a super professional and marketing savvy look as visitors take note of the high-quality visuals adorning their pages.

13. Analytics & Reporting

Even though your client already has a Google Analytics plugin installed in WordPress for the purposes of quickly referencing statistics in the dashboard, they’re not going to be able to tell much from it. With an analytics service, you can automate the generation of reports from Google Analytics every week and then write a custom report that explains to clients everything they need to know about the latest traffic trends on their site.

14. Consulting

A consulting add-on could go hand-in-hand with the analytics piece. With the Google Analytics report, you’ll provide clients with an overview of what is happening on-site–both the good and the bad. However, with the consulting piece, you can offer an answer to that next question of, “What do we do about this now?”

15. Training

As you take on the technical part of managing and maintaining their WordPress site, this frees up your client to create content for their blog. But without proper knowledge of the WordPress interface, this can be intimidating. By providing them with monthly training and tips inside of WordPress, you can empower them to take control over this part of their online brand.

Closing Words

In the end, WordPress maintenance services are about giving clients a valuable upgrade to the beautiful website you already built for them (or one day may redesign for them). With too many clients letting their sites stagnate and critical updates go ignored, this kind of service gives both their business as well as yours a chance to succeed long-term.

That said, some of you may be reluctant to do this because you’re worried the time commitment will be too great or the costs too high (especially if you have to invest in a whole new set of tools and develop new processes).

If that’s the case, think about using a white-labeled maintenance service like WP Buffs. In doing so, the WP Buffs pros will take on the brunt of the work and allow you to generate a recurring profit without having to do much at all outside of manage the client relationship and offer non-traditional maintenance services that interest you.

The post How to Build a WordPress Maintenance Service appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Thankfully, there are many sources online where you can download stock videos for free – a lifesaver if you have a tight budget or only need a quick clip. We’ve compiled a few websites that offer free videos for your next project. These may not always have the polished, cinematic feel you can get if you purchase professional footage, but there’s plenty of high-quality for you, and even some 4K footage files here as well.

If you’re looking for free stock photos, take a look at this collection.

Videvo

Videvo is a website dedicated to providing free HD clips for use in your projects. Videos are uploaded both by the website owners and the community, and it’s quite a diverse collection. You’re able to sort by footage or motion graphics, or even grab some music and sound effects while you’re here. You can also see a file’s detailed information, such as format and aspect ratio, before you download.

Most videos are licensed under “royalty-free,” a non-credit license that allows you to use and modify the video in your projects. There are two other attribution-based licenses as well. Remember to check the licenses before you download them.

Stock Footage For Free

Stock Footage For Free – exactly what it says on the tin. All you need to do is create an account, and you have access to some of the most impressive free footage on the web. These clips are all evenly formatted at full HD, 29.97 FPS, in the .mov file format. They’re also available for commercial use in many cases. You’ll have a hard time finding more stunning clips for free online.

Mixkit

Mixkit is a new free video resource site that offers many high-quality free stock videos, audio files, illustrations. And have also just recently added Premiere Pro templates to their collection. Mixkit is a must-bookmark website for all videographers!

Videezy

Though a freemium website, Videezy hosts a solid collection of free-for-use footage, helpfully sorted by categories such as “After Effects” and “Nature”. There’s even a section for aerial and drone footage!

The only catch: Standard (free) videos are only available for personal use and require attribution to Videezy.com. To use these files commercially or gain access to Pro-only footage, you’ll need to buy a license, credits, or a premium account. On the flip side, there is 4K footage available to standard users as well. If you have a noncommercial project, your options are many.

Pexels Videos

Free stock film, licensed under CC0, can be used for any kind of project – even commercial. What more could you want? Pexels was started as a free stock photo website, but it’s expanded to include short community-contributed video clips.

Many videos are focused on nature and cityscapes, but you can find just as many with streets and people as the subject. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, try using the search or tagging features. And remember that you can hover over thumbnails to see a preview.

Pixabay Video

Pixabay is another stock image website that dabbles in free videos, but what differentiates it from its competitors is the fair selection of 4K files – few and far between on stock film sites. While there are only a few hundred HD and 4K videos, the subjects vary from landscape footage to the abstract. It’s a small but diverse selection.

All images on Pixabay are submitted by users and licensed under CC0 so that they can be used for just about anything.

Free High-Quality Cinematic Footage

Whatever you may need footage for, these websites are here to provide you with beautiful video content – many free to reuse and repurpose as you need them.

Just make sure to check the licensing first. From there, you can start downloading the variety of free and beautiful videos that the internet has to offer.

The post The 6 Best Sites for Downloading Free High-Definition Stock Videos appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Adobe Audition is a powerful program that makes audio editing easy, and in this post, we’ve scoured the Internet for the best Adobe Audition tutorials. You will learn the basics of working with Adobe Audition, mixing audio, getting rid of the background noise, and more.

You might also like our collection of completely free sound effects.

Getting Started with Adobe Audition

This video tutorial will give you all the basics you need to know to get comfortable with using Adobe’s Audition software. Learn how to use the waveform view to how to masterfully mix multitrack audio to get the perfect mix of music, voice overs, and special effects.

How to Make Your Audio & Voice Sound Better in Audition

With this video tutorial, you will learn how to tweak your audio settings for recordings so that you can get crystal clear sounds. Perfect for anyone who uses a microphone!

The Best Adobe Audition Workflow for Beginners

Learn how to create the best workflows for you! Learn how to select your clips, trim them, and get them all prepped so you can save time on your audio editing and speed up your workflow.

How to Export a Multitrack Session from Audition

With this step tutorial, you will learn how to mix and produce your very own multi track audio files. You will learn about presets and audio channel customizations without having to create multiple mixdown files.

Get Started with Audition Audio Mixing

Improve your audio editing by learning how to perform key tasks that work in both Adobe’s Premiere Pro and Audition. This allows you to finesse audio effects, automation keyframes, track and submix routing and more!

How to Clean Up Audio in Adobe Audition

In this tutorial you will learn how to remove all those annoying noises like beeps and hisses through using a visual waveform with the Spectral Frequency Display. In the end, you will quickly be able to get better quality on all your audio.

How to Apply Effects in a Multitrack Session

With this video tutorial you will learn how to apply effects in a multitrack session as well as why and how this differs from a single audio file.

How To Work With Multitrack Sessions In Adobe Audition

Learn the features of working within a multitrack session. You will find out how to seamlessly add individual tracks to create anything from a video soundtrack to a composition or podcast.

Noise Reduction & Restoration in Adobe Audition

Everyone hates background noises. Or the background fan that keeps you cooled. With this video tutorial you will learn how to lessen and remove them from all of your videos.

How to Remove Room Echo in Adobe Audition

In this video tutorial you will learn how to remove excess ambience noises and room echo using some Adobe Audition presets. Give your videos crystal clear audio quality in a matter of moments.

Learn Adobe Audition

Whether you’re editing video files and looking to improve the audio quality or starting a podcast and need a reliable program to edit your podcast recordings, Adobe Audition has you covered. Use the tutorials on this list to learn the basics of audio editing.

The post 10 Beginner Audio Editing Tutorials for Adobe Audition appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Its popularity has soared in recent years. As a result, numerous resources that cater specifically to Sketch users have become available, which helps make the UI design process faster and more efficient.

This collection features some of the best free mobile UIs and wireframe kits available for Sketch App. They can be used as a starting point for your next mobile UI designs or as inspiration to fuel your creativity.

Mobile UI Kits for Sketch App

H1 Free Mobile UI Kit

The H1 Free Mobile UI Kit comes with an impressive number of elements that are sure to get your creative juices flowing. You’ll find 470 different elements spread out over 130 templates. You can use this kit for both Android and iOS devices.

Chameleon UI Kit

This fresh and stylish mobile UI kit includes more than 120 unique screens. The kit can be used with both Photoshop and Sketch and also comes with 15 unique themes, 70 icons, and hundreds of neatly organized components.

Fusion Free UI Kit for Sketch

The next kit on the list is a perfect choice for designing a shopping app. This template comes with 13 screens with layered and neatly organized elements that are easy to edit. Photoshop and Sketch formats are available.

Free Mobile eCommerce UI Kit for Sketch

Try this Mobile eCommerce UI kit if you need an elegant design for a shopping app or a mobile store. You’ll find eight different app pages and a web page to accompany the mobile app design.

Profile Mobile UI Collection

The Profile Mobile UI Collection is a set of 15 mobile screens that are fully customizable, well-organized, and designed with iOS devices in mind. The standout feature of this template collection is the flat design style.

Rodman Mobile UI Kit

Rodman is a gorgeous mobile UI Kit with a clean and light design. It comes with 80+ layouts in 7 categories and can be used to design any type of app.

Free Material UI Kit for Sketch

If you love Material Design, don’t miss this Material UI kit. Packed with various screens and icons, you’ll be able to knock out a mobile app design in no time with this kit.

Zoomie – Social Media Mobile App for Sketch

The Zoomie kit is another excellent choice if you’re working on a social media app design. This kit contains a grand total of 15 screens and features a modern design.

Music Mobile App Kit

This kit is the perfect starting point for mobile music-related apps. It comes with 30+ carefully designed mobile screens that will help you to prototype, design, and build any music-related app.

Relate – Clean & Simple UI Kit for Mobile

The Relate kit features a modern and minimal design with 45 unique templates, 19 categories, and more than 99 various elements. The template follows the material design best practices, so don’t miss it if you love material design.

Crypto Wallet Mobile App Concept Template

Consider this Crypto Wallet Mobile App template if you need to design a mobile wallet app. The template contains neatly organized files for the dashboard, the trading screen, and the currency trend.

Messagly Free UI Kit for Sketch

This UI kit is a perfect choice for a social messaging app. The template comes with 13 screens and dozens of unique elements to help you get started with your design.

Harmony Free UI Kit for Sketch

This UI kit was designed with a hiking app in mind. It features a clean and fresh design with over 10 iOS ready core screens designed in vector and based on symbols.

Mobile Wireframe Kits for Sketch App

Material Design Wireframe Kit v_02 for Sketch

This collection is perfect for any lover of Material Design. It contains an impressive number of more than 40 screens and the designers keep adding to it so don’t miss this one.

iPhone Wireframe Template for Sketch

If you need to design an iPhone app, this wireframe template is an excellent choice. The kit comes with everything you need for an app design, including screens, buttons, headers, alerts, input fields, and more.

Finished!

With so many fantastic Sketch UI kits and wireframes, you can quickly prototype and design any type of app. Use the kits in this collection as your starting point or simply as an inspiration for your next design project.

More Free UI Resources

• Free Figma UI Kits
• Free Mobile UI Kits
• Free Web UI Kits
• Free Adobe XD UI Kits
• Free Icon Fonts
• Free UI Icon Sets
• Open Source Web UI Kits
• Free HTML Web Templates
• Free Bootstrap UI Kits
• Free Bootstrap Themes
• Free Bootstrap Admin Themes
• Free Figma Dashboard Templates

The post 15+ Free Mobile UI & Wireframe Kits for Sketch App appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Not only that, but if you’re working as an independent contractor, you need to know how to protect and grow your business so you can avoid the feast and famine cycle and have a steady stream of clients month after month.

You also need to stay on top of new software and equipment, and one of the best ways to do that is by subscribing to industry newsletters.

We’ve gathered the best newsletters for videographers that will help you grow your business, hone your skills, and even deliver a few freebies for all your video projects.

1. Pond5

Pond5 is a giant resource for royalty-free video footage and music library. Their newsletter gives you access to exclusive promotions, their huge library of video and audio assets, and inspirational content to get your creative juices flowing.

2. RampantDesignTools

This newsletter will give you an exclusive discount on RampantDesign effects and exclusive access to 4K products. Perfect if you’re looking to expand your video editing library.

3. Tao Of Color

If you want to learn more about color grading, this newsletter is the perfect choice. Delivered every Sunday morning, you’ll get news and tips about the craft and business of Digital Color Grading.

4. Photography & Video Tutorials Envato Tuts Plus

Envato Tuts Plus has a wealth of tips and tricks for mastering video editing software as well as new techniques you can use. Their weekly newsletter is a summary of video and motion design tutorials so you don’t have to worry about missing them.

5. Videomaker

If you want to learn more about making, producing, and editing videos, this newsletter will be right up your alley. You’ll get advice straight from the experts, industry news, and informative articles about video-related products, tips, and exclusive discounts.

Final Thoughts

If you want to stay on top of industry news or simply get your hands on cool and free assets to use in your video projects, subscribing to various industry newsletters is a great idea.

The newsletters in this collection will help you with tons of tutorials and free resources, so be sure to join them.

The post The 5 Best Newsletters for Motion Designers & Videographers appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

At this point, consistently producing quality work is no longer enough to get ahead. What you really need is to acquire the absolute best software and strategies that will enable you to deliver the maximum value that your customers deserve.

And that, my friend, is why we’re here.

In this post, we’ll talk about the strategies and technologies that will make your web design business stand out from the rest of the pack. That way, you can scale it and take your business to greater heights.

Let’s get started.

1. Start by Defining Your Niche

If you’ve been in business for a while, you should be able to detect a trend when it comes to the types of projects you excel in.

Are you more comfortable when working with WordPress? How about e-commerce stores?

Keep in mind that, while there’s a benefit to being flexible, embracing a specific niche and establishing it as your specialty will make you more desirable to higher-paying clients.

Why? Because they are not just paying for the grunt work involved. They’re also paying for the expertise that a particular agency can offer, which takes time, effort, and persistence to build.

Picture an e-commerce client who’s trying to pick between two different agencies. The first agency has an impressive portfolio that includes an assortment of projects, such as travel blogs, law firm websites, and a couple of online stores. The second agency, on the other hand, has a portfolio that consists mostly of e-commerce websites – some of which also mention the accolades that the particular brand has achieved.

If you’re the client, you’d also go with the second agency, even if you’ll end up paying more.

Before you finalize your decision, consider doing a quick keyword research. This will help you gain a deeper understanding of the existing demand and competitiveness of your chosen niche.

Ubersuggest, for example, can show you the average monthly searches, CPC, and competitiveness level of any keyword. All you have to do is enter a “seed keyword” and let the tool do the rest of the work.

The best part is that Ubersuggest will also provide you with long-tail keyword suggestions, which are extremely helpful in developing content for your website.

2. Streamline Your Web Development Process

Now that you have decided upon a niche, it should be easier to develop a streamlined web development workflow that you can use for multiple projects. Remember, efficiency is the key if you want cost-effective scaling strategies for any company. And for web design agencies, a platform like Duda will definitely come in handy.

Put simply, Duda is an all-in-one platform that has a solution for every choke point in a web development workflow. The asset collection process, for example, can be sped up with the help of a ready-to-use content collection form, which makes it convenient for clients to submit their content as well as pertinent business information:

You can also use Duda to manage reusable “sections” that can easily be cloned and applied to different website projects. For example, if you specialize in creating professional portfolios, you can prepare a lineup of templates for a “Testimonials” and “Contact” sections:

All in all, Duda is packed with features that can help you significantly cut your build times without compromising quality. It can also be used to easily incorporate branding elements in the back end, which leads us to the next strategy for scaling a web development agency.

3. Customize the Back End

As a web development agency, it’s in your best interest to keep your brand in the minds of your clients at all times.

You can do this by providing them with a custom, white label platform that instills your brand into crucial interaction points, from the admin login screen to the main dashboard.

Doing so helps maintain brand awareness and foster brand loyalty in your clients – assuming you are able to provide them with an experience that’s memorable and beyond satisfactory.

The good news is, modern content management systems like WordPress support plugins that make back-end customizations a breeze.

AGCA or Absolutely Glamorous Custom Admin, for instance, lets you customize different areas of the admin interface without extensive coding, such as the login page, dashboard, and main menu.

4. Get Your Team on the Same Page

Now that your web development process and platforms are optimized, it’s time to focus on the lifeblood of a web design agency: the team.

Despite the abundance of online cloud-based collaboration tools, a lot of web design agencies still stick to emails as the primary means of communication.

While this shouldn’t be an issue for agencies with an in-house team, it’s definitely a problem if you outsource members from distant locations.

Let’s face it, an email inbox isn’t the most organized place in the world.

On top of conversations with clients and remote team members, you also have to deal with social media notifications, auto-generated reports from services you use, and newsletters you don’t even remember subscribing to.

That’s why, regardless if you hire in-house or outsource, you should make room for task management and collaboration tools in your web design workflow.

Trello, for example, is a simple yet powerful tool that lets you organize tasks into cards, manage them using lists, and consolidate them into project boards.

You can also use Trello to assign cards to team members, set deadlines, share files, and communicate within the platform. Thanks to the fluid and intuitive interface, the learning curve is basically non-existent.

Aside from Trello, here are additional collaboration and communication tools you ought to try for your web design agency:

• Slack – A communication tool that allows you to organize topics into channels, share files, and use integrations with third-party platforms.
• Basecamp – If you want something more powerful than Trello, then you should check out Basecamp’s comprehensive project management features.
• Google Drive – In terms of file sharing, nothing beats a cloud storage service like Google Drive.

5. Invest in Marketing

Finally, a web design agency won’t grow through referrals alone. You need a marketing campaign that actively brings in new leads and establishes your authority.

Unfortunately, there’s no specific marketing recipe that works for everyone. Only you can piece together the strategies that align with your brand’s objectives.

To get the ball rolling, below are some of the best marketing strategies you should know about:

• Build a web design blog to prove your expertise to your prospects.
• Request testimonials from your past clients.
• Document your successful projects into case studies.
• Submit guest posts in popular blogs and publications.
• Launch a web design newsletter to nurture existing leads.
• Build a social media presence.
• If you have the budget, invest in a PPC campaign.

Conclusion

There you have it – how to scale a web design and development agency in an ever-toughening competition.

Your success probably won’t happen overnight, nor will it come easy. But with the strategies above, your growth is guaranteed. You just need to focus on one step at a time and be patient.

The post How to Scale Your Web Design Business appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

When WordPress themes came along, they were immensely helpful for WordPress users. And this wasn’t just for novice users. Professional web designers and agencies who wanted a solid design and well-coded base to start from could use WordPress themes to their advantage.

That’s why it’s nice to see Pagely do a roundup of the top WordPress theme designers. While users can access information within the WordPress repository as well as theme marketplaces to determine which theme designers and, consequently, themes are best to use, it takes time to sift through it all. Pagely helps WordPress users cut through that noise with this list of the 20 best WordPress theme developers and designers.

WordPress theme designers aren’t the only ones who need to be vetted though. For some WordPress users, a theme isn’t enough. They need the assistance of a professional designer to construct a WordPress website on their behalf. And it’s those WordPress designers we’re going to look at right now. Specifically, the 10 best WordPress designers working in 2018.

10 Best WordPress Designers of 2018

Curious to know why these particular designers and agencies topped the list of the best WordPress designers of 2018? Well, it took quite a bit of research as well as a little assistance from WordPress itself. Specifically, I looked at:

• Google
• Other WordPress designer roundups
• Business guides to WordPress agencies
• Awwwards
• WordPress’s list of agency partners

I then narrowed my research down based on the quality of the designer’s website and samples, the awards won for their work in WordPress, their client lists, and their commitment to WordPress as a content management system.

Curious to see who won after all that? Let’s take a look:

1. 10up

10up is a digital agency that specializes in three areas: strategy, design, and engineering. With over 120 members on their team, there’s a lot 10up can do within those areas. To start, they’ve designed a frontend component library for other WordPress users. 10up is also one of Pagely’s agency partners, so they really know their stuff when it comes to designing high-performance websites.

2. Alley Interactive

Another WordPress VIP partner, Alley Interactive provides strategy, design, and development services to clients; specifically, in the areas of big brands, publishing, museums, and non-profits. Their website is chock full of examples of high-traffic websites they helped take from “okay” to absolutely stunning through a system of user research, data analysis, site strategy, and more.

3. Bop Design

Although this agency might not have the name-brand recognition that some other designers on this list do, they’re fully committed to WordPress web design and development. As they state on the website over and over again, WordPress is the most user-friendly CMS. So, not only do they want to provide clients with amazing websites, but they want to build them within a tool they can use on their own.

4. Build in Amsterdam

I ran into this agency in my travels around the Awwwards website, where I discovered that this e-commerce expert has won 24 awards for their web design work. Although Build in Amsterdam doesn’t exclusively work in WordPress and WooCommerce, those are indeed the platforms they prefer to use when designing websites for clients.

5. Dekode

The team of developers and designers at Dekode aren’t just self-ascribed WordPress experts, they have WordPress’s VIP partner status to back it up. Because of their WordPress expertise, their service offering goes above and beyond traditional web design services, too. For companies that want a customly designed plugin, Dekode can do this as well.

6. Ironpaper

At first glance, you might just think Ironpaper was a digital marketing agency like any other. However, dig deeper into their services and you’ll quickly discover that WordPress powers everything they do for their website clients. And with their focus on helping businesses grow, it makes sense that they’d rely on WordPress to do that.

7. Kristin Falkner

Kristin Falkner might not have the name of an agency behind her, but her dedication to WordPress–everything from PSD conversion to the development of custom WordPress themes–makes her a web designer to take seriously. With clients like AT&T, Tom’s, Sony Music, and Kimberly Caldwell on her side, you can see how far this reputation has taken her in the enterprise world.

8. Modern Tribe

Modern Tribe’s list of clients is vast and impressive, which includes the likes of MTV, Harvard Law School, Verizon, Holiday Inn, and SAP. With extensive experience building websites and software applications for Fortune 500 companies, Modern Tribe has certainly made a name for itself as an expert WordPress design agency to trust.

9. WebDevStudios

WebDevStudios is a WordPress agency that builds end-to-end experiences for clients of all sizes, from the small startup to the booming enterprise (like Viacom, Microsoft, and Campbell’s, to name a few). They also handle the development and support piece of WordPress, giving clients not only the chance to work with a talented design team, but also one that’s fluent in performance and security.

10. WerkPress

This Minnesota-based agency is my final entry to this list. They’ve worked with big-name companies like Aveda, Whirlpool, and NASA, handling everything from enterprise WordPress development to custom design requests. WerkPress also actively partners with a number of WordPress theme and plugin developers in order to ensure the products they design are top-notch every time.

Wrap-Up

Even if you’re not in the market to hire someone to design a WordPress site (because, perhaps, you are a WordPress designer), learning about who the best of the best are in 2018 can be helpful. The above 10 best WordPress designers have incredibly impressive portfolios and client rosters as well as a true commitment to using WordPress to design better websites. Draw on their experience and let it serve as motivation and inspiration in your own work.

The post 10 Top WordPress Designers to Watch in 2018 appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

And if you had no prior experience in web development, chances are you had to employ a web developer to help you with all of this, only adding to the cost of building a web directory website.

But all of that has changed thanks to the amount of web directory solutions that have hit the market designed to help WordPress website owners create their own, unique directories. No longer are people required to rely on outdated and difficult to manage directory software of the early nineties that offer very little by way of customization and extendibility.

However, despite the number of WordPress directory solutions available today, and the ease they offer website owners looking to build and scale a web directory, it is still challenging to figure out which one is the right one for your own individual needs.

That’s why today we are going to look at few of the very best web directory plugins and themes available for WordPress users today. We’ll take a look at each solution’s top features, as well as some disadvantages so that you can make the best decision for your web directory needs.

Top 3 WordPress Directory Themes

1. ListingPro

ListingPro is a premium, all-in-one web directory solution that holds true to the philosophy, “No paid plugins needed. Everything inside!”

ListingPro is a WordPress theme created with everything you could possibly need to create a web directory website. There is almost never a need to use any additional plugins for any directory related functionality, as ListingPro comes with it all.

For instance, users can access their listing profile from the frontend of your website and manage their listings as they see fit from an intuitive user-friendly dashboard.

There is an advanced search functionality for browsing your web directory, as well as clear categories for site visitors to click on and browse, built-in payment integrations options such as PayPal, Stripe, and 2Checkout so you can monetize your directory, and even grid and list views so site visitors can see your listings in their preferred layout.

Display stunning thumbnail images of business listings, include Google Maps markers for site visitors to click on, and even implement an extensive search function for narrowing down search results based on things like price, operating hours, location, best match, ratings, and more.

With built-in membership give site visitors the option to choose from free or paid plans which kind of listing they would like to invest in with you. Include features such as listing duration, social links, website, FAQ section, images, location, contact information, map display, target keywords/tags, video display, and more.

From there, those wanting to submit a listing in your web directory simply fill out their business information and submit it to your for approval. Business owners needs to claim listing before they can make any changes they want which adds a layer of security so someone doesn’t try to exploits their competitors business.

Additional features of ListingPro include:

• Easy setup assistant wizard will get you up and running in few minutes.
• Emotion based review and rating system, including image uploads and voting
• Multi-ad spots for extra monetization
• Translation ready for reaching a global audience
• Built-in front-end submission support (FES)
• Drag & drop technology for easy directory building
• Multi-operational hours listings so site visitors always know when businesses are open
• NearMe location searching within a radius or as an exact match

As with all things, ListingPro does not come without its disadvantages:

• Doesn’t support WooCommerce out-of-the-box.
• As it’s built from scratch you can’t use other 3rd party plugins without the help of a developer, unless you are one.
• It is a theme rather than a plugin so you must commit to the design and functionality of the theme

Launched: April 2017

Price: $69

The Verdict: For those looking for a comprehensive web directory solution with a tight budget, ListingPro is an excellent option. It caters to those hoping to create a web directory website that site visitors can rely on, without the need for any external tools or plugins.

2. Listify

Listify is an easy to use directory theme for WordPress site owners that can have your directory website up and running in less than five minutes thanks to the built-in demo importer. You can customize your homepage and listings using the convenient drag & drop editor, brand your site using the built-in style kits, and even enable the geolocation feature so users only see listings that make sense to them and where they’re at.

Not to mention, you can enable ad spots for monetizing an otherwise free to use directory site, charge users for booking appointments with listing on your site, add private listings and charge for access, help users make reservations with their favorite local hotspot, and even create an entirely monetized listing site that requires all user to pay to list their business on.

Add a large hero image of each business listing for site visitors to enjoy. In addition, add a short description, include ratings and reviews of previous customers, and enable the booking functionality so site visitors can book appointments or reservations right from your listing site.

One of the coolest things about Listify is it’s easy to access blog section that site visitors can view. Add valuable content about the local area to get site visitors excited about booking with businesses in your site. Or, encourage business owners to add their company to your directory so they too can be featured in your well-trafficked blog content.

Additional features of Listify include:

• SEO optimization for higher search engine rankings
• WooCommerce compatibility for additional monetization opportunities
• Location or zip code search functionality
• Business listing submission without logging into site’s backend
• Easy social sharing of business listings
• Optimal speed and performance for exceptional user experience
• Dedicated support team to help you with your questions and concerns

Despite the impressive feature list, there are some of the downfalls that come with using Listify as a directory solution:

• To access some features users are required to purchase premium plugins in addition to the theme purchase
• When asking for support you will have to deal with several different plugin vendors.
• The theme’s focus on site monetization may take away from your free listing directory desires

Launched: NOVEMBER 2014

Price: $69

The Verdict: In the end, Listify offers people a solid theme solution for creating a fully monetized directory website, despite the added costs that you may have to invest to get it up and running the way you want.

3. Listable

Listable is a WordPress directory theme designed to help you manage a local or global directory website.

This theme boasts simplicity on the surface and power underneath, and comes with a bunch of different features. For example, take advantage of the built-in plugins you can use to extend the functionality of your site. In addition, organize your listings in a neat and tidy way using Listable’s exclusive card system.

You can also monetize your listing site using the free WooCommerce plugin and payment gateway extensions. Create a subscription based plan, charge for individual listings, allow vendors to sell products and services through your site, and even charge site visitors to book an appointment or reservation. Not to mention, each business listing comes with reviews and ratings, booking calendars, map functionality, and more.

Additional features of Listable include:

• Drag & drop interface for easy site creation
• Advanced filtering system so site visitors can find what they’re looking for
• Easy editing of content in the sidebar and content section by dragging content across sections
• Customization options for your directory to match your own brand, including fonts and color schemes
• Built-in Style Presets for a little visual help and inspiration
• Fully widgetized front page

Though claiming to be the perfect site directory solution, there are some things to consider before investing in Listable:

• It’s simplicity may cause the theme to be a little feature slim, relying only on premium plugins to bulk up its functionality
• The price point is considerably higher than most WordPress themes, regardless of niche

Launched: NOVEMBER 2015

Price: $85

The Verdict: Though Listable comes highly recommended by users and experts alike, and it does provide all the necessary features needed to make an extensive directory website, the price point it comes in at may cause those on limited budgets some issues.

Top 3 WordPress Directory Plugins

1. Gravity Forms Directory

Gravity Forms Directory is an addon to the popular Gravity Forms form plugin. It is designed to give Gravity Forms users a way to turn their existing WordPress website into a fully functioning web directory. It’s user-friendly and packed with most of the features needed to create a web directory of any kind. For example, create a business, restaurant, service provider, real estate, or even a job board directory.

To do so, simply create a Gravity Forms form on the frontend of your website asking users for all of the required information of a listing. Users will then fill out the form when they visit your website and submit it to you. From there, you will click a few buttons on the backend of your site and turn the form information into a directory listing to be displayed on the frontend of your website.

Display these shortcode generated listings anywhere on your website, and rest assured that they will render seamlessly for all site visitors regardless of the device they are accessing your website from. Manually or automatically approve all listings, so you can accept multiple listings at once, or take a proactive approach to filtering out spam submissions.

In addition, customize the look and feel of your directory using custom CSS, and implement a highly advanced search function so site visitors can browse your directory and find exactly what they’re looking for every time. Plus, display individual listings in page or lightbox views for a minimal viewing experience that site visitors are sure to appreciate.

Additional features of Gravity Forms Directory include:

• Lightbox support for uploaded images
• Listing editing by logged-in users
• Sortable and easy to reorganize columns
• Pagination for easy directory navigation
• Interactive map view, list view, and table layouts

Despite being an easy to use web directory solution perfect for WordPress website owners, Gravity Forms is not without its drawbacks:

• Despite Gravity Forms Directory being a free addon, you must invest in the core Gravity Forms plugin to use it, which starts at $59/year
• If you want to create a paid web directory you’ll need to invest in the Pro or Elite Gravity Forms plugin ($159/$259 a year respectively) or some other payment solution that integrates with Gravity Forms

Price: FREE-ish

The Verdict: If you are already using Gravity Forms for your website form needs, this web directory plugin is the perfect solution since Gravity Forms Directory is free. However, it is limited in functionality and should only be used for a simple web directory, making it difficult to scale or monetize.

2. Business Directory

Business Directory is a free directory plugin meant for use by WordPress website owners. It’s one of the most popular free directory plugins on the market, and aims to boost visitor interactions, improve business listing retention, and gives you the chance to monetize your web directory by accepting payments through your site using the fully integrated Authorize.net payment gateway.

Add images using convenient drag & drop technology, enable sticky listing functionality for an upgrade fee, and even implement reCAPTCHA so you don’t get spammy listings placed on your website ruining your site’s integrity.

Display categories for site visitors to browse, show an interactive map for choosing listings that are nearby, and even add a star rating and review system so site visitors can see how others feel about a business before they take a chance on it.

Additional features of Business Directory include:

• 100% responsive and mobile-friendly design
• Advanced search function with location options
• Built-in CSV import and export functionality for adding multiple listings
• SEO optimization and Yoast SEO support for higher search rankings
• Create multiple listing plans for businesses to choose from
• Frontend sorting capability
• Listing editing without needing to log in to WordPress dashboard
• Multi-language and WPML support for translating listings
• Fully customizable form fields for unique listing descriptions

Business Directory is an exceptional free solution for website owners looking to create a web directory, though there are some things to consider before using it on your website:

• You’ll need to invest in premium addons if you want access to premium features such as zip/postal code search functionality, rating and review systems, Stripe/PayPal/2Checkout payment integrations, claimable listings, user PDF uploads, and discount codes to be used by site visitors interested in visiting a business found in your directory

Price: FREE

The Verdict: For those on a limited budget, that need an adequate amount of web directory features, Business Directory gets the job done. It has enough functionality to make your web directory user-friendly and easily monetized, without overwhelming those new to building web directories from scratch.

3. Sabai Directory

Sabai Directory is a premium WordPress plugin catering to those that want to create a web directory like Yelp.com, Google+ Places, or Yahoo! Local. It comes with a highly advanced search function that allows site visitors to filter according to categories, keywords, distance, and location.

It even features an auto-suggestion functionality to help site visitors find exactly what they’re looking for. No to mention, the sticky map that scrolls with site visitors makes finding a listing nearby a cinch.

Display your listings in a grid, list, or map view. Site visitors can post their own reviews, upload images, and comment on other reviews, which is helpful to those that are new to your directory. Enjoy full reCAPTCHA support to prevent spam listings, mobile-friendly design catering to those on the go, and the ability for site visitors to bookmark their favorite listings, reviews, and images.

Enable featured or sticky listing functionality for businesses that pay extra, provide the option for business owners to pay on a recurring basis using popular payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, 2CheckOut, and Authorize.net.

Lastly, give business owners the option to claim their listings and verify for site visitors they are who they say they are.

Additional features of Sabai Directory include:

• Built-in CSV import and export capability
• RTL language support for international site visitors
• Easy shortcode embedding
• Multiple listing creation
• Multi-location support
• Directions display on maps
• Flexible role-based permission settings
• Geolocation functionality for targeting site visitors where they are
• 11 widgets for added customization

Though this premium plugin comes with plenty of built-in features that aid website owners in creating a complete web directory with an exceptional user experience, it does come with two major downfalls:

• Extended support that extends beyond that of the initial 6 months is a paid service
• It centers around business listing making unique web directories more difficult to create

Price: $29 (extended support $9.38)

The Verdict: For a premium plugin, Sabai Directory is a great option for WordPress website owners looking to create a business web directory, complete with monetization opportunities, great user-experience, and a nice local feel.

Final Thoughts

Creating a WordPress web directory doesn’t have to be as challenging as you might think, especially if equipped with the right directory solutions to meet your needs. Whether you want to add a directory to your existing WordPress website, or create a complete web directory website with the ability to make you some money, tools like ListingPro and Gravity Forms Directory are there to assist.

Take a look at the above-mentioned options, evaluate what your needs are, and start building a WordPress directory today!

The post Top WordPress Directory Themes vs Plugins: Weighing the Pros and Cons appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.