Carrie Cousins
Designer. Writer. Editor.
Freelance designer, writer and editor. Stickler for details. My day job is in communications and content marketing.
PROJECTS
The Freelancer
5 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started Freelancing
Not too long ago, I had to fire a client. The relationship had grown untenable over time. Invariably, the scope of their projects would grow, but the budget never did. So when the bill came, there was conflict and frustration on both sides. It was a relief to let them go, to draw a line in the sand on my value as a freelancer. The only thing I regret is how long it took me to get there.
I’ve learned a lot about business in the last 10 years. In the early days, I had no clue, but along the way...
The Freelancer
A Smarter Way to Price Your Freelance Projects
The hourly rate. It’s the go-to billing plan for many freelancers, and it needs to stop. Hourly billing doesn’t incentivize you to work efficiently or charge clients what a project is truly worth. This is especially true as you gain more experience and become an expert in your field.
As you mature in your career and take on increasingly complex projects, consider moving to value-based pricing. In this model, your rate is anchored by what you provide—not how long it takes you to provide it. If...
webdesignerdepot.com
6 Things to Put in Your Design Guide Right Now
Design guides are an invaluable tool for maximizing design team output, and for ensuring a consistent brand identity. We look at six essential components of successful design guides.
A design guide is more than just a document that comes with a new website or brand identity. A good design guide is a work of art in itself and has practical application in everyday design work. It showcases what your project is and aspires to be. It should bring elements of design, voice and even code together i...
designshack.net
10 New Year’s Resolutions for Designers
Happy New Year! Today, we’ve got a nifty guide to resolutions that are specifically for designers. What changes do you hope to make in 2018?
Did you know that people have been making resolutions to improve themselves and their lives since the time of ancient Babylonians? I’ll admit to making a few of these myself… now if I could only manage to keep them all year! Good luck with your resolutions and have a wonderful New Year.
1. Update That Portfolio
Admit it. You haven’t added a new project t...
Co.DESIGN
A Practical Guide To Invisible Design
When you examine the most successful interaction designs of recent years, the clear winners are those who execute fundamentals flawlessly, like Gmail’s autosave function and Uber’s credit card entry form. They feed off natural human behavior, then quietly remove barriers without us ever noticing.
When we talk about invisible design, we aren’t just describing minimalism. Minimalist interfaces are certainly a way to achieve invisible design, but they are not the goal.
The goal is to create an i...
blueridgecountry.com
Youngest Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Coming Home
Given that little Ellie Quirin took her first actual steps on the trail, it’s a pretty certain thing that this Virginia girl will be the youngest ever to complete the Maine-to-Georgia path, which she covered with her mom and dad.
webdesignerdepot.com
10 Things Every Designer Hates to Hear
It’s happened to every designer at some point: A client or co-worker makes an absolutely cringe-worthy comment about your work.
Feedback is important. And often the problem with some of these elements no designer ever wants to hear is that they cause a roadblock in the communication process. So here we look at some real-world situations (with a spark of humor) and ways you can handle what comes across as tactless, thoughtless comments with grace.
1. I Don’t Like It
This might be one of the mo...
webdesignerdepot.com
7 Ways a Design Kit or Template Can Save Your Project
You do not have to start—and finish—every new website design from scratch.
Seriously!
Before you scowl, think about it for a minute. How many times have you done the exact same thing to start a project? How many times have you created the exact same icons or user interface elements with subtle changes?
That’s where a design kit or template can come in and totally change the way you work. For many designers the benefits can outweigh some of the loss of control issues that come with prepackaged...
webdesignerdepot.com
10 Ways for Designers to Woo Developers
Hey designers, are you driving your developer peers crazy?
Chances are that you have some habits that don’t translate particularly well to code, and it is making life tough for the developer working with you on projects. Want to be a better coworker (and friend)?
Learn how to better communicate and design so that developers will love you. It will speed up projects and make work life easier. And it’s not a matter of bringing candy to meetings either. You can make developers love you by making ...
webdesignerdepot.com
Design Bucket List: 10 Projects Everyone Should Try at Least Once
It’s easy to get caught up in the everyday routine if you are a website designer. Whether you are managing sites for clients or taking care of a company website, it is important to step back from the daily grind to keep your design chops fresh.
Working on projects outside of that primary role is a great way to stay inspired, fresh and even bring new skills and ideas back to your primary work. But where do you start? We’ve got a list of 10 “side” projects that every web designer should try at ...
designshack.net
10 Rules for Perfect Type Design, Every Time
Do you ever notice that some projects just seem to glow with great type? Some designers have a certain knack for designing perfect typography for every project.
You can do it too. With a handful of simple rules, you can improve the look and design of typography in all your projects, digitally and in print. If you struggle with picking typefaces and pairing fonts, these rules will help you design perfect type, every time. (Just make sure to follow them.)
1. Set Goals for the Project
Good typog...
designshack.net
Design Trend: Dark Color Palettes & Animation
Have you taken note of all the super dark design patterns lately? Designers are experimenting with some funky, dark design patterns that feature animation in the same color scheme.
These animations include everything from simple movements that happen on their own, to hover effects and full cinematic experiences. Let’s dive into this website design trend and explore a few ways to make it work for your projects.
About the Trend
Dark animation is a trend that combines two elements in a distinct ...
designshack.net
5 Design Tricks to Make Your Mobile UX Shine
Have you looked at your website analytics lately? Chances are a significant portion – maybe even more than half – of your users are coming to your website via mobile device.
Whether you are focusing mobile efforts on a website or app, you need to ensure that the design creates a stellar user experience for every one of those mobile users. You don’t have to start from scratch to do it either. Thinking about the mobile user and how they interact with the design will help shape the way your inte...
designshack.net
The Anatomy of a Perfect Push Notification: 7 Tips
1. Make It Timely
The first element of a perfect push notification is that the message must should contain information that is relevant to the user when they want or need it.
A push notification is a microinteraction that users glance at to get information immediately. An alarm is a prime example or the most common microinteraction. A good push notification takes this microinteraction just a step further, with more information, such as a sports score or reminder that a package is due to arriv...
designshack.net
Is the Static Logo Dead?
There’s a bit of disruption happening in the world of logos. The single static logo isn’t enough to carry your brand anymore. You actually need a library of logos to meet all the needs of your brand.
This idea has been evolving for a while; just think of the variations for a website, social media and even that tiny favicon in web browsers. It can be a lot to think about. So let’s try to organize those logo thoughts.
The Starting Point: Traditional Vectors
The starting point for logo design ha...