Design Campus

The Future of Design Campus

2023-05-20T13:21:52.805Z

By joining Design Campus, you unlock a world of resources to nurture your design skills. Immerse yourself in a vibrant community of like-mind creators and engage in design discussions. Embrace this opportunity to expand and unleash your potential!

We're proud to announce some pretty big changes coming to the community in the upcoming week, and would like to set some goals for the future. One of the most notable changes, is the dismissal of Design Academy - say hello to Design Campus.

Step 1: Wait, what's Design Campus?

It's time to share likely the most exciting news of this article! As you may be aware, the Discord Admin Community has transformed and is now known as Discord Admins, or DA for short. As DAC/DA is quite notable, we've decided it's in our best interests to rename Design Academy to avoid any confusion.

This fresh name continues to reflect our commitment to creating a supportive environment where both seasoned and aspiring designers can thrive with one another. We've carefully considered our new name, ensuring that we continue to promote the spirit of collaboration and helping every step of the way. Introducing the all new - Design Campus!

Step 2: The all new branding for DC!

Woah, are we excited to share this with you! Our branding has received a makeover, and we aren't stopping! Get excited for a fresh wave of updates, and some other exciting updates! We want to create a server that is professional, yet cosy. But that's not everything! We're also planning to remake the icon each month with a new theme! Can you guess what we have in store for June? 🏳️‍🌈 Your input is greatly appreciated, and we would love to hear your thoughts! Together, let's create a more remarkable and welcoming place.

Step 3: Creating a welcoming community!

So we can create a more supportive atmosphere, we've made some changes to Channels & Roles. To start, we've improved the questions, by carefully curating emojis to match with titles, combining some of the design fields, adding a new question to help us learn more about you and lots more!

We've also made some changes to Default Channels to make it more logical & intuitive. This includes a new question on onboarding, to opt in/out of different channels in the server with ease. With Server Guide, we are actively working on adding new features to give it that shiny sparkle, expect some changes over the next few weeks!

To help us streamline everything, we've removed some channels, either by merging them with existing ones or removing them entirely. This allows us to create more specific channels to better cater your design needs. We understand streamlining may take time, but we're committed to building the best community for you.

Using Colors in your Designs

2023-05-13T17:52:28.768Z

By joining Design Academy, you can gain access to a variety of resources that can enhance your abilities as a designer. Also connect with like-minded creators and engage in design discussions!

Whenever you use colors in your designs or your Discord role colors, you should always watch out for those with accessibility issues like visual issues. If you watch out for them, then they will have a much better time reading the content that you have.

Understanding Color Accessibility

Color accessibility is when someone has either a low vision, colorblind, or they have a disability. If you happen to come across a user with any of these, please take the time to make sure they will be able to understand what your content is. Using contrast will help users better understand the content they are reading.

When picking out a color for your design, don't go all the way up to the top right corner of the color palette because that looks bad and it makes the variant look bad. Start with the middle or top, and work your way through it.

Resources for Color Accessibility

Role Color Preview for Discord

This website helps you preview role colors before you put it on your server to make sure that both, light mode and dark mode users will be able to see what the role is. This is always useful to ensure that light mode and dark mode users can see the text in your roles.

This article is brought to you by Crypt#0001!

Discord Display Names (Pomelo) - What's it all about?

2023-05-03T19:24:37.727Z

By joining Design Academy, you can gain access to a variety of resources that can enhance your abilities as a designer. Also connect with like-minded creators and engage in design discussions!

Discord are changing the way usernames work, it's a pretty big change for the platform. In an effort, to make it easier for users to connect and create new friends, they've decided to remove discriminators and implement display names. The co-founder of Discord closely acknowledges that some users may not like this change, but still believes it will ultimately benefit the platform as a whole. In this article, we dig deeper into Pomelo and the controversy that it holds.

In the coming weeks, users will receive a notification once they are able to set their username. Please keep in mind that account age matters.

Step 1: How are Discord rolling out this feature?

Discord said that they've thought long and hard about how they would roll this feature and about it coming into place generally. In the coming weeks, you may receive a notification about setting your new username. All Discord users will be asked to choose a new username, Discord are prioritizing longtime users and members of the partner program. They'll be assigning priority based on when you created your account.

Step 2: A sprinkle of controversy among servers:

This feature was only released a few hours ago and it's clear that Discord users have their own opinions. First let's go over some reasons for people opposing this change:

People are worried that people will begin to sell and buy accounts more, as select usernames are likely to be more rare.
Using a display name inevitably makes it easier for people to hide their identity and avoid accountability for their actions online.
Name duplicates seem to be a big turning point for many, some are worried they won't be able to catch their name!
People won't feel they are unique anymore, with this change it's pretty clear that you can't be as custom as you would like, which isn't great.
The idea of tags was creative and made Discord stand out among other social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
There are thousands of accounts with the same name, and now there will only be 1, which could force users to change their name if they have something common.
It's pretty common that people like to change their names, people won't want to do this as they are afraid of losing their original name, which could make Discord a bit boring.

Step 3: Why some people believe that this is a good addition:

Even though some people have hates on it, there are still some people who thinks that this is a great feature. Let's see some of the reasons:

No more impersonation: There are many people impersonating content creators and celebrities. However, with the new feature being rolled out, it's highly likely that impersonation will no longer be possible.
No more special characters in usernames: Discord currently has thousands of users with non-ASCII or unpingable usernames (e.g: 𝓓𝓮𝓹𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓯𝔂). These usernames are not only annoying for many people, but also difficult to type when adding them as friend. After the implementation of this feature, users will no longer be able to use special characters in their names, which will greatly improve user experience.
No more adding the wrong user: As Discord says, if you meet someone in real life and they tell you their username and tag as "I am Phibi One Nine Three Six!", you might attempt to add them on Discord using "Phibi#1936". And then, you discover that you have added the wrong user, as the correct username is "pHibi#1936".
Easier to memorize: This feature will be beneficial for both new and existing users, as it will help them to memorize usernames more efficiently. They will no longer need to remember each user's discriminator.

In conclusion, there are both advantages and disadvantages of this new feature. However, let's not be angry with this, instead we should welcome this new feature to the platform. Discord seem like they're sticking with their decision!

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Introducing Figma - Tips for Beginners

2023-04-30T19:30:05.945Z

By joining Design Academy, you can gain access to a variety of resources that can enhance your abilities as a designer. Also connect with like-minded creators and engage in design discussions!

Figma can take a bit to learn and get used too, but once you start learning how to use it you become addicted to it. Figma can give you a experience like no other with all the tools and plugins they have to offer, so we will go over the basics of how to use Figma.

Tip #1: Don't overdo yourself.

As you are starting to introduce yourself to Figma, don't do so much you can't handle or your just going to confuse yourself a lot. Just start with the little things and then slowly start moving up and up until you become a professional.

Tip #2: Make use of plugins.

Plugins can make your Figma experience a whole lot better if you use them right. The best part about Figma is the plugins, for example the GetWaves.io plugin can make some pretty cool waves that way you won't have to draw them yourself, as we know it can be a pain for some people.

Tip #3: Remake stuff to practice.

With the permission of the person who made it, remake a piece of their branding for practice, but don't actually use it for your personal use. All you have to do is remake it use vectors or whatever they use, show it off then delete it.

Tip #4: Make use of frames.

Frames can make stuff go a lot easier when exporting to your computer, that way with 2 clicks of a button your new Figma masterpiece will be on your computer within seconds. Before starting your project, always make sure there's a frame on there.

This article is brought to you by Crypt#0001!

Introducing Design Systems

2023-04-21T20:16:30.322Z

By joining Design Academy, you can gain access to a variety of resources that can enhance your abilities as a designer. Also connect with like-minded creators and engage in design discussions!

Design systems are pretty much a group of guidelines, concepts or standards that designers are able to use to manage design at scale using reusable components and patterns. They give designers a framework and common language, enabling them to create work that is logical, approachable and obviously user-friendly.

Step 1: Importance in brand identity and improving UX

Design systems are all about standardisation. By establishing these precise standards for all elements of design (including things like typography, colour, layout and interaction etc.) Designers are able to easily produce products with the same look and feel across platforms and devices. This is a great way that designers raise brand recognition while also enhancing the UX.

Step 2: Created and replicated at scale with ease

Another primary benefit rather than establishing visual guidelines, is their ability to provide a library of reusable components that can be implemented and used with ease. It's also not too difficult for us designers to make any necessary modifications for our projects. You can use them continuously over and over, reducing the need to reinvent and this also makes the design process quicker and more maintainable.

Step 3: Gotta' love accessibility

They are also necessary when it comes to improving accessibility for all users. You can easily create products that are simple to use for users of different ability as these systems clearly define standards for contrast, font size, and more. As a results, your products can reach a wider audience and become more inclusive!

Step 4: The hatred towards these systems

As with everything, there are some hurdles and limitations when it comes to the creation and use cases of a design system. One reason being that it takes a lot of damn time and it requires a dedicated team to support the timeframe. They are constantly evolving and you need to have the teams to keep up. Design systems aren't always too helpful on the tin, it takes a little bit of time to teach others to use your design system as it won't be the same as the others out there.

Step 5: Well what's in a design system?

There are a few key elements of a design system, that provide a way to unify your design, and keep it consistent. And provides that smooth language often used to create high quality user experiences, streamline workflows and reduce the costs of project development.

Style Guides
Well? What are they? A style guide is a set of guidelines or constraints that define the visual design elements and brand identity of your project or brand. Style guides will typically include typography, color palettes, iconography and overall tone. The purpose of this guide is to keep consistency in all touchpoints of your brand.

Component Libraries
A collection of pre-made visual building blocks that can be used to create UI with ease. These blocks include things such as buttons, forms etc. Having a library of these visual blocks, is helpful for designers as it will generally save time and again ensure that consistency for your design.

Pattern Libraries
A pattern library is a collection of pre-designed solutions to common design problems that designers and developers can reuse. These solutions can include things like navigation menus, forms, error messages, and other common design elements. By using a pattern library, designers and developers can solve design problems more quickly and consistently.

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

The Future of Web Design

2023-04-08T12:14:52.778Z

Access a range of resources to help boost your potential as a designer by joining Design Academy! Try to engage with fellow creators who share similar interests too!

Along with the internet, web design is expanding and changing. Flat designs, minimalist designs, and even responsive designs have become a fan favourite over time. However, the future of web design seems to be getting brighter, seeming like it will become even more creative and fascinating thanks to the increased focus on immersive web experiences, enhanced reality, and the development of VUIs.

Step 1: Immersive Digital Experiences

One of the major breakthroughs in internet design is the move towards immersive digital experiences. This means creating websites that will engage your users on several levels: sound, touch, and even smell! The growing need for more personal and captivating web experiences that give them a sense of intimacy with the brands they connect with is what's driving the trend! Immersive web experiences can be created by fusing design, content, and technology, such as augmented and virtual reality.

Step 2: Increased reality

Another trend that is becoming more common is increased reality. As the tech for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) develops, web designers are coming up with creative new ways to implement these technologies into their creations. A group of websites that enable real-time user interaction with digital material as a result blur the lines between the physical and digital worlds.

Step 3: Advancement of VUIs

The advancement of VUIs may drastically change how we use websites in the future. Due to the increasing popularity of speech user interfaces, many users increasingly anticipate voice activation on websites. Website designs must incorporate speech recognition technology in order for users to interact with them using natural language commands.

Step 4: What will the future behold?

Web designers will need to be more creative and innovative than ever in the future to beat what we have already. Websites need to be designed with the user in the centre field. It needs to have that personal touch and be immersive so that users are engaged on every level. Virtual and augmented realities are making their uprise and will begin to be used frequently, and designers will need to come up with new creative methods to incorporate these technologies.

Step 5: Well what else?

As a result of the industry's growth, web design has more than a promising future. To be competitive, web designers will need to follow and understand these new technologies to the tip. More realistic web experiences, the creation of VUIs, and immersive web experiences are just the start to a better online journey. Web designers will need to be more creative and innovative than ever in the future to beat what we have already. Websites need to be designed with the user in the centre field. It needs to have that personal touch and be immersive so that users are engaged on every level. Adopting these trends, staying current with technological developments, and continuing to innovate and create stunning, user-centric, and compelling digital experiences will be essential to success.

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

Evolution of Typography

2023-04-01T14:12:33.090Z

Access a range of resources to help boost your potential as a designer by joining Design Academy! Try to engage with fellow creators who share similar interests too!

Typography is the art & technique of arranging type to make written language legible and appealing when displayed, printed or electrotonically transmitted! It has been a vital component of communication for thousands of years! It's obviously evolved over time as a result of cultural and social drifts, having a significant impact on design, advertising and user experience. In this article, we'll be taking a look at the history of typography, from its earliest forms to modern day design.

Step 1: The first known forms of typography

The first forms of typography were developed by ancient civilizations such as China, Greece and Rome. These cultures were able to develop their own writing systems, most of which being handwritten or carved into stone. The kind of typography that you see today didn't emerge till the 15th century. Pretty amazing, right? This enabled the mass production of books and other printed materials.

Step 2: The early styles: Blackletter, Roman & Italic!

In the early days of typography, fonts were limited to quite basic styles, some being mentioned in the section title. Blackletter (also known as Gothic/Old English) was a pretty popular printing style in the early days, but its complexity made it very hard to read for most. The legible and popular Roman lettering style was based on classical lettering. The italic style was invented during the 16th century so we could emphasize and differentiate titles and headings from body text.

Step 3: The changes thanks to the Industrial Revolution!

During the industrial period, a time where significant technological advancements, economic growth and social changes occurred, typography also went under some significant changes. As new printing technology was developed, typefaces become more refined and versatile. There were serif and sans-serif fonts, with sans-serif fonts gaining a whole lot of popularity thanks to it's clean, modern appearance.

Step 4: Digital Age's role in Typography

Digital age has brought a lot of significant changes. Thanks to new software like desktop publishing software, designers are easily able to create and modify typefaces, creating an explosion in new fonts and styles. Designers have also been able to experiment with new typographic forms thanks to digital typography, such as kinetic typography, which involves text animation.

Step 5: What about User Experience?

Typography has had a massive impact on user experience, often in digital media. As poor typography is hard to read and unappealing, while good typography would be legible, appealing and even engaging! Typography is critical for creating a seamless and enjoyable user experience. It's also important that you take into consideration factors like varying screen sizes and lighting, as well as accessibility needs for users with things such as vision impairments.

Step 6: Readability & Other Uses

Another factor to consider when it comes to typography is readability. Font choice, line length, and paragraph spacing are all important considerations. Text should be easy to read and understand, especially when it comes to longer documents. To add, typography can also create hierarchy and emphasis by using different font sizes, weights and styles to highlight and vary information. (This article might come in handy!)

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

The Fundamentals of Server Branding

2023-03-24T17:43:50.645Z

Access a range of resources to help boost your potential as a designer by joining Design Academy! Try to engage with fellow creators who share similar interests too!

Discord has earned fame as a platform among gamers, content creators and other communities. To start afresh or remake your discord server, it is completely ideal that you establish powerful branding tactics. By creating distinctive visual elements, you can entice followers to join while you foster closeness within your community. This article dives deep into crucial pointers towards designing impeccable branding strategies for your server.

Step 1: Define your brand personality

Before diving into creating your visual identity, it is crucial that you take the time to pinpoint and define the distinct personality of your brand. This could mean identifying the specific characteristics that make it's style different from other communities out there. Humour, subversion or clever wordplay are some ways that expression can take place. Although, expression can also be serious and show your knowledge through logical observation. Consider the following:

What is the purpose of your server?
What kind of people do you want to join?
What kind of tone do you want to set?
What kind of experience do you want your members to have?

Step 2: Choose your brand colours

One of the most important decisions you'll have to make is deciding what colours you will use alongside your brand. Your brand colours will be used in your server's logo, banner, invite splash etc. This is why its so important that you reflect your brands personality. You might find it helpful thar you use a colour wheel or other online tools to help you choose complementary colours that work well together.

Step 3: Design your logo

Your server logo is honestly one of the most important elements within your branding. You need to make sure that your logo is simplistic, memorable and reflective of your brand personality. You need to make sure that your branding works well at different sizes and resolutions. This process will be easier you remember the following:

Keep it simple
A simple logo is easier to remember and easier to recognise. This might help.
Make it scalable
Your logo should look good when put into different sizes and resolutions.
Use your brand colours
Your logo should use your brand colours, this is helpful as a way to reinforce your overall brand identity.

Step 4: Create your banner

Your server banner is also a pretty important element of your branding. Your banner should be eye-catching and reflective of your brand personality. It should also give a clear idea of what your server is about. Remember to consider:

Use your brand colours
Your banner should use your brand colours to reinforce your visual identity.
Include your logo
Your banner should include your server logo to help with brand recognition.
Make sure it's high quality
Your banner should be high-quality and look good at different resolutions.

Step 5: Introducing your community

It's important that you have a good server description for your branding. It should be informative, reflective of your brand personality and overall engaging. It should give potential members a clear idea of what your server is about and what they can expect. When writing your description, keep the following in mind:

What makes your server different from others in the niche?
It's imperative that your description accurately mirrors not only the tone of your community, but also embodies all elements unique to what defines your particular brand.
It's also pretty important that your description is rather concise and straightforward, aim to get rid of ambitious vocabulary.
Use keywords in your description that can give potential members the opportunity to find your server when searching for related niches.

Step 6: Clear brand guidelines

Once you've established the visual identity for your community, it's important that you set guidelines for your brand. These will show you how to use your logos, colours, fonts consistently. When it comes down to creating the guidelines, keep them clear, consistent and up to date as your server evolves. By doing this, you can ensure that your branding is consistent and recognizable across different platforms.

Step 7: To conclude...

Finally, designing the branding for your discord server is an important aspect of building a strong community. By developing that unique personality, you can attract and retain members while creating these sense of community. With the tips listed in this article, you can easily make that strong brand you're reaching for.

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

The Power of Simplicity

2023-03-17T17:53:41.985Z

Realize your potential as a Designer today by becoming a member at Design Academy! Try to engage with fellow creators who share similar interests too!

The importance of simplicity cannot be exaggerated in today's world. From minimalist design to cut-down branding, simplicity has simply took over the world. What about simplicity makes it so powerful? This articles goes over the overall importance of simplicity in the world of creativity!

Step 1: It's just memorable!

To begin, simplicity is effective because it is memorable. When you find overly complicated designs, it's often difficult to remember. This is most important when it comes down to branding, where the goal is to get a clear brand identity.

Step 2: Convey your message like a pro

Next up, simplicity is often effective in conveying a message to your audiences. A simple design will allow the message to shine through. A cluttered design will generally make understanding the message more difficult, whereas a simple design would make it clear and concise. This is especially important in advertising where your main goal is to quickly communicate the message.

Step 3: The timeless benefit

Another advantage of simplicity is it's timeless nature. Trends often come and go, but a good design is likely to last a lifetime! This is often true when it comes to branding, where your goal is to establish a long-term identity with your audience. Keeping things simple is a way for brands to stay in the spotlight and not become an outdated trend.

Step 4: Achieving the idea of Simplicity

Of course, removing elements from your design is not the only way to achieve simplicity. It all boils down to selecting the most appropriate elements to convey this strong message and/or establish that long-lasting brand identity. To be successful in any field of work, you need to have the necessary skills and knowledge to go along with it, it's also vital that you understanding what your audiences would want.

Step 5: To conclude...

Finally, the importance of simplicity in design shouldn't be overseen! For success, everything from creating that long-lasting brand identity to communicating your message must be simplified. Remember the Power of Simplicity when you're creating a new design or working on your latest brand strategy.

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

Novice to Pro - Places to Learn Graphic Design

2023-03-11T15:49:50.553Z

Unlock your potential as a Graphic Designer today - Join the Design Academy discord server and connect with like-minded creators!

Want to learn graphic design but don't know where to start? You're not alone. As someone who has went through this I understand the difficulty of diving into creativity without guidance. In this article, we'll explore some of the best places to learn graphic design, regardless of your experience. Let's get started!

Step 1: Daily creative challenges on Adobe Live

Are you ready to level up your photoshop skills? Behance's Photoshop Challenge is a must do! Each challenge tests your skills in a range of areas of design and gain access to a community where you can showcase and get feedback on your designs. This is also a great way to network with other designers!

Step 2: Coursera fundamentals course

Looking to develop a better understanding of the graphic design fundamentals? Check out this handy course over at Coursera! You'll learn the essentials and techniques of graphic design! There are even a few hands-on projects so you can apply your learning. By the end of the fundamental course, you'll have a solid foundation in graphic design!

Step 3: Design schools

It's common that people like to have a more structured approach to learning, attending a design school will likely be the most feasible option for you. With design colleges and universities, you can gain a comprehensive education in the field. Graphic design schools offer experienced instructors and interaction with like-minded students. But it can be costly and not accessible to all.

Step 4: Canva design school

Are you struggling to explore the field of design, I'm sure that the Canva design school will help you! As someone who has struggled with finding the places to learn, their tutorials, courses and templates are sure to take your designs to the next level.

Step 5: Design Academy

This online discord guild is an inclusive design community dedicated to providing helpful resources and insights to help improve your designs and gain the experience to get your name out there. This community is built with a collective of seasoned and new designers who want to learn and grow together. Join this discord community today and get started on your journey for FREE!

Design Campus

The Future of Design Campus

Using Colors in your Designs

Understanding Color Accessibility

Resources for Color Accessibility

This article is brought to you by Crypt#0001!

Discord Display Names (Pomelo) - What's it all about?

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Introducing Figma - Tips for Beginners

Tip #1: Don't overdo yourself.

Tip #2: Make use of plugins.

Tip #3: Remake stuff to practice.

Tip #4: Make use of frames.

This article is brought to you by Crypt#0001!

Introducing Design Systems

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

The Future of Web Design

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

Evolution of Typography

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

The Fundamentals of Server Branding

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

The Power of Simplicity

This article is brought to you by: Mr.Raza#1087

Novice to Pro - Places to Learn Graphic Design

This article is brought to you by: Ducky™#3811!