When setting up your first office, I always advise starting on the cheap and then figuring out what your real needs are. Ask friends at big companies to keep an eye out for furniture that they’re getting rid of, and see if you can buy it for a discount. Similarly, as startups get bigger, they’re often…
If you’re planning to build a cool office space to impress visitors, just don’t do it! All of our furniture is used, and while our basement space is funky, it’s mostly just functional and cheap. It’s number 18 on our list of monthly expenses. We haven’t spent much on decor, but we do have a few video and…
Are your employees down in the dumps? There are few things that make people happier than puppies. Allow your employees to bring their pets to work one day, or have the local animal shelter bring some of their newest arrivals over for playtime. You will see pawticular improvement in your employees…
Having gone through several office redesigns, I’ve seen firsthand just how much design preferences can vary person-to-person. Some prefer bench seating; some prefer private offices. Some prefer couches; some prefer desks. Some prefer whiteboards; some prefer projectors. The only one-size-fits-all approach…
We all have stereotypes about what we expect the typical startup office to look like, from extravagantly fanciful notions of trampolines and fridges stocked with energy drinks and employees wandering around in jeans, t-shirts, and flip-flops, to the opposite extreme of a lone dreamer with a big idea…
Presented by ZURB (the ones behind highly-respected web tools such as Notable and Bounce), Spur enables designers to get a timely understanding of any piece of work they’re doing. We can say that Spur is a visual critique tool which works entirely on the browser, and that can be used for free. It empowers designers to perform many different operations that all lead up to the very same end: realizing how any site that they’re getting together stands from a design point of view.
For example, users of Spur are allowed to view any layout in a grayscale, to bump the contrast of pages to see which are more noticeable on first looks, to draw grid lines and figure out focal points, to have everything mirrored so as to focus on the actual design of the page and not on the text which is included on it… these are all tricks designers have been pulling for as long as the Internet has been around. Spur brings them all under the same roof, and it lets new designers pull them off as fast and efficiently as those who have designed sites all their lives.
Read more on SpurApp.com – Visual Feedback Tool For Designers…
A nifty little application, Griddle.it lets designers get their work done faster and every bit as accurately.
Specifically, what Griddle.it empowers users to do is to align layouts in half the time (and with half the hassle) it would take otherwise. This is the direct consequence of eliminating complex grid frameworks, and favoring an interface that keeps everything as elementary as possible.
Here, all that designers have to do is to put their dimensions in the navigation bar (after www.griddle.it). Upon doing so, they will get a background guide image to work with.
Designers will be able to change the default colors, specify a vertical grid and even remove the guide numbers altogether if that is what they want.
In this way, aligning layouts becomes a far more pleasurable task – it can be done faster, with less typing on your side, and without sacrificing the quality of the end product at all. And Griddle.it can be used for free from start to finish, too.
If you want to create or customize your own Twitter layout or background this site will do the trick. And it will let you do so without having to pay anything at all.
How does this service work? This is a very simple way to get your twitter background right away, by uploading a number of images in order for your Twitter page to look exactly like you want it to look.
If you do not want to create any design for you background the site allows you to have a very personalized background to go with your Twitter profile that has been already created by the system. These backgrounds look good and since there are so many alternatives you can use, you will be free to change it as many times as you want. In case you want to make use of this service you will have to give the site a visit at Twitlay.com and see which designs fit the way you are.
Read more on TwitLay.com – Get A Twitter Background At No Cost…
Doctor Twitter self-describes himself as “an obsessed Doctor that has a PHD in Twitter layout, pattern and custom theme design”. Translated into English, that means his site is a repository of stuff for you to pump up your Twitter profile page and your user experience as a whole.
When it comes to the implementation of this service, Doctor Twitter’s patterns, backgrounds and pictures can be automatically applied to your Twitter background with just one click. It actually takes but a couple of seconds for you to choose from your favorite TV shows, entertainers, celebrities and fashion lines.
Furthermore, the site includes a blog that provides a plethora of Twitter tips for you to tweet like a nightingale, while the backgrounds and layouts that have been added to the repository more recently are highlighted there as well.
The site has just launched, and it is already shaping up favourably. Just pay it a visit if you want to see if you can find something in there to bring your Twitter profile page into the limelight.
Read more on DoctorTwitter.com – Free Twitter Backgrounds & Layouts…
MaxTo is a small windows app that will allow you to maximize the way in which you make daily use of your monitor space. It isn’t uncommon for someone to need to visualize several active windows at once.
Sure, for this simple purpose one may simply click and drag from the edges and arrange things according to his likes. However, this can prove to be quite time consuming and (to be perfectly honest) quite annoying if you are the sort of person who likes to switch things around a lot.
To fulfil that purpose MaxTo comes to the rescue. To put it quite simply, what it does is to split your monitor into different regions. These regions will then each become a ‘maximizable’ space, to put it in a sort of invented word. What happens is that from now on every time you try to maximize a window when you are above a specific region it will only maximize to the size of that region you had previously determined. In this way you may easily and quickly handle the size and appearance of all your windows. Sometimes one is bedazzled by the sher simplicity of an app and yet how cunning it can be.
If you’re thinking of starting a website fro your business or want a team of professionals to help you out with some web applications development, perhaps you should take a look at GuruOnRails.com.
The team behind this site can help you start your internet business, providing you with all the necessary information and web development services you’ll need. From estimation of your project to support after the application is started into production, GuruOnRails will have you covered.
These professionals work with Ruby on Rails and have a wealth of experience in building websites, as well as in design and layout. On the site you’ll be able to take a look at what they’re all about by reading their blog, reading about the team and their skill sets, looking through their portfolio, the services they provide, and the platform used.
You’ll be able to see in detail some of the projects and companies they’ve worked with so you can decide if they’re the right option for your business. As well as having detailed descriptions of past work, you’ll also see images, and even testimonials from their satisfied clients.
This site provides a place where you will be able to find cool effects to add to your photos, layouts and much more. To start off in this site you can enter the effects section and select among the different categories such as Flip Vertical or Water Effect, Puzzle Back, Sketch Transformation and many more to find fun and entertaining stuff that you can use in your photos whether you have an account in Facebook, Orkut or anywhere else.
If not, you can always use the search engine bar available as well. Apart from what’s been mentioned above, in this site you can also find a wide variety of ads offering more interesting and fun applications that you can use such as text generators, glitter text, cursors and much more. A contest in which you will be able to participate in is promoted here where all you need to do is upload your photo with cool effects, so that other people can rate it. The person that wins is the one with the highest rating of all. 
This site is on the internet to provide everybody with freebies and layouts for a creative and stylish scrapbooking. Therefore, here you will find many galleries full of designs with a long list of themes available.
Browse these pages by accessing the links at the top of your screen. If you want to check the items available you should enter the Freebies section or the Gallery section; there you will find pictures of the current scrapbook themes, including templates, a detailed description of each one, and ratings by members of this community. You can post a comment on each template, rate it, and add it to your favorites. The site also has some special features, such as a forum, an events section, and a members’ area. If you enter as a guest, you can only see the members’ posts and comments; if you want to participate, you must register. However, registering is easy, quick, and for free. 
This is a great source of ideas for the modern bride. Brilliantweddingpages.
com you provides every visitor with the opportunity to create his/her own wedding webpage. If you want to have your own space where to publish all the wedding stuff that seems interesting to you, this site will conveniently assist you. By using the site’s page builder, you can start developing your own space on the internet, since it provides you with useful and easy-to-use web tools. You can choose from a variety of different styles and add-ons to create your unique, creative, personal site. This PageBuilder features preview capabilities and the ability to edit or add new options to your site at any time. To find out more about this service you should check the Bwedd Info section, where you will find detailed information about features and how-to instructions. You can also check other users’ testimonies and see some samples of what your site would be like. 
Are you looking to design a website but are unsure of where to find quality templates? Are you interested in being involved in a forum where others discuss web design openly, sharing opinions amongst each other? If you have answered yes, than Open Designs is definitely something you should check out. Boasting its community mission, Open Designs prides itself on being a free template and web design idea sharing site amongst users, designers and application developers.
Those involved can also promote themselves and their work on Open Designs and can keep track of the latest news, which is always updated and is located on an easily accessible panel. The latest designs and posts are featured on the homepage so that users can easily access everything offered on Open Designs fast and efficiently.
Read more on OpenDesigns.org – Design Websites and Share Ideas…
Freeldsart.com is a premium source for free religious art manifestations, focused on LSD clipart, Mormon clipart, and LSD art for latter days saints.
All the material you will find here is for church LSD callings, and it comprehends diverse items, such as t-shirt transfers, stickers, MySpace layouts, greeting cards, bookmarks, and others. You’ll also find an assortment of fun LDS sub-culture products. Products featured at this site are mainly oriented to church members, BYU students, and Missionaries, who will find something for everyone in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At the homepage you will see the most popular Mormon items available; however, if you want to carry on a more specific search, you should click the links on the left hand side of you screen to access each item’s section. If you feel identified with Mormon’s commitment, you can help the site keeping these resources for free by donating. 
Spacecursors180.com is the site that will allow you to make your own personalized site.
It aims to provide visitors in general with 100% easily, totally free stuff ideal for My Space and personal websites. This means here you will find everything you need to bling your page, including layouts, cursors, backgrounds, contact tables, and extended network. At the homepage you will realize the large amount of resources available; you won’t stop scrolling down, finding more and more fun and colorful stuff for your page. There are some special features which are also offered for free, such as glitter graphics and glitter text generators, music players’ profiles, and over 10,000 free smilies. If you are interested in making your layout hot, you should insert your email address in the yellow frame, and receive the ultimate hottest stuff in your mailbox for free. Have in mind that this site isn’t associated with MySpace or any other social net. 
If you enjoy personalizing and customizing your Myspace, or like to share and discover new features for you or your virtual community, here you have an extensive Myspace source. Contactsformyspace.
com has a large database of Myspace features, and aims to cover all your Myspace needs. Items available include a large variety of topics for layouts, contact tables, banners, and other stuff. At the homepage you will find the most popular and ultimately released items, which are mostly related to sports and cars. However, you can search items related to a specific topic you like by accessing the different categories on the left hand side of your screen. There you will find layouts about sports, brands, movies, singers, TV, and much more. Click any link to see the items available, and select the one you like the most to get its code. All codes are available for free, and within each specific section you will be guided on how to transfer it to your space. However, if you join the site you can access special benefits for members. 
Read more on Contactsformyspace.com – For All Your Myspace Needs…
Myspacecodesworld.com is a blog full of Myspace stuff to download for free.
Here you can find tons of free, animated, and unique Myspace layouts. New layouts are been added frequently, so you can daily check what the site offers. At the homepage you’ll realize how big this site’s database is, since it has many kinds of items in incredible amounts. There you will find a long list of layouts of different topics, including sports, celebrities, cartoon, cars, and a lot more. Click any item’s image to see a full sized picture, or click the link beside to get the item’s code. This link will lead you to another page outside Myspacescodesworld.com, where you will be able to get the code for free. On the right hand side of your screen you will see a long list of links; they represent the many categories of layouts you can access for free. 
Read more on Myspacecodesworld.com – Myspace Stuff For Free…
Explore the infinite customization possibilities this site allows for your personal profile in social networks like Friendster or MySpace. While you can get some general graphics and comments, FriendsterLayouts.
org is really about layouts, and carries several for each taste, ranging from cartoons or science to emo and girly options. I was happy to see that you can browse the site by taking a look at the thumbnails for each category, or even better select the preview options and explore the layouts one by one as if it were a slideshow. That’s really what you are encouraged to do, because the thumbnail option displays only four per page, and has a nagging pop up page requesting a password, which you can go on to ignore, but doesn’t do much for the site’s credibility or usability. Once you’ve found a layout that matches your mood, just click the eloquent ‘Get Code’ button, copy the HTML code and paste it on your Friendster or MySpace profile (they offer both codes). 
Read more on FriendsterLayouts.org – Better Friendster Looks…
