CategoryAnimation

August 3, 2015 — Whether it’s playful refresh states, subtle icon movements or complex transitions, beautiful animation is all around us. Once considered an aesthetic luxury, animation is now used so commonly in modern web and mobile applications that entire websites are dedicated to UI animation patterns. While animations may have great visual appeal, they also make app experiences more intuitive and engaging. Animation can make an app feel more fluid and responsive by providing feedback on user interaction. This means that, for designers, creating authentic animations is increasingly becoming a part of the job description. Read more…

June 19, 2015 — While animation in Photoshop is not a new concept, it definitely has come a long way in the last few years: The Timeline panel has been overhauled, video layers have been introduced, as has the ability to create keyframe animation. These additions have really upped Photoshop’s game. Even though Photoshop is still a long way off from being able to create the high-end and cinematic animations of such programs as After Effects, it still has enough power to create complex animation — which is especially useful if you don’t want to spend time learning a new application. Read more…

June 8, 2015 — Animation, like any other facet of the web, must be designed. As web developers, we think about the effects of typography, layout, interaction, and shifting viewports, but when incorporating animation we have another factor to consider: time. Read more…

May 14, 2015 — This article contains many video examples that show functional animation. Therefore, it may take longer to load on slow connections. Read more…

November 18, 2014 — The post-Flash era is hardly free of animation. CSS animation is quickly becoming a cornerstone of user-friendly interfaces on mobile and desktop, and JavaScript libraries already exist to handle complex interactive animations. In the wake of so much “CSS versus JavaScript animation” infighting, a new API specifically for web animation is coming out that might just unite both camps. It’s an exciting time for web animation, and also a time of grave miscommunication and misinformation. In 2014, I had the chance to travel the world to talk about using animation in user interfaces and design. I met and interviewed dozens of people who use and champion both CSS and JavaScript. After interviewing so many developers, designers and browser representatives, I discovered a technical and human story to be told. Read more…

March 5, 2013 — Everyone likes stuff that moves about on the Web, right? Remember how you cried joyful tears when you first used <marquee>? I do. I nearly sobbed all the water out of my body as I gazed upon “JAKE’S COOL WEBSITE” bobbing back and forth in uppercase serif. Read more…

October 30, 2012 — Growing up, weekends were about worship in the Hinman household. Sunday mornings were reserved for a laborious worship ritual dictated by my parents. It required dressing up in uncomfortable clothes, going to church and pretending to listen to long-winded sermons about Jesus (while I drew doodles in the hymnals). Read more…

April 25, 2012 — Thanks to CSS3, we can create effects and animations without using JavaScript, which will facilitate the work of many designers. Read more…

October 4, 2011 — In school, I hated math. It was a dire, dry and boring thing with stuffy old books and very theoretical problems. Even worse, a lot of the tasks were repetitive, with a simple logical change in every iteration (dividing numbers by hand, differentials, etc.). It was exactly the reason why we invented computers. Suffice it to say, a lot of my math homework was actually done by my trusty Commodore 64 and some lines of Basic, with me just copying the results later on. Read more…

September 23, 2011 — Read more…