Starting your creative business is a multi-level dance of technical skill sets, as you balance exposure, professionalism and ingenuity in this tech-driven world.

And for so many of us, business is just not familiar territory. But 2019 is showing a strong change as many turn to tech and design industries for new and empowering opportunities.

Today, I’ve gathered four wonderful designers, illustrators and artists who are sharing their methods for taking your online portfolios to new heights.

Check out their valuable advice and lessons from their life and work.

Tati Astua

Costa Rica-based graphic designer Tati Astua uses bold colors to stand out. She makes incredible, photo-realistic 3D scenes of clever typographical pieces and shares some of her favorite portfolio advice below.

“For me, the most compelling thing in a portfolio is consistency. I find it more valuable to create a small book with high level pieces, than one with lots of work that’s not that good.”

Is your portfolio looking a little cluttered? It’s pretty understandable. And many designers have trouble letting go of past work. Tati recommends making room for the future.

“Sometimes we get attached to old work and it creates an emotional bond. And that’s okay, but we should let go a little more and include fresh pieces in our portfolio.”

And learning from past mistakes is invaluable for the growth of your business. As an avid fan of online platforms like Instagram and Behance, Tati reflects on her start online as a junior designer.

“In the beginning, we try to put all of our work in our portfolio because clearly there’s not that much, but we should try to reflect on what we have and complement it with our personal work. In most cases, this tends to show our style better.”

Gabriel Alexandre Meza

Our next bit of portfolio advice comes from graphic designer and illustrator, Gabriel Alexandre Meza. With a focus on sports illustrations for TV and digital media, his work features colorful sports portraits with exceptionally crisp details. Here are his best tips.

“Always stay busy. Post your work often because you never know who might stumble across it.”

Creative platforms like Behance are becoming the go-to portfolio choice for many designers. Since launching his Behance portfolio, Gabriel has also seen success.

“Behance has been the best platform for me to post my work. It has given me career opportunities I otherwise wouldn’t have had. Through my portfolio on Behance I have been approached by huge companies like the NBA and Aardman Nathan Love, to name a few.”

Becoming familiar with multiple design trends and software is also essential to building a professional reputation and portfolio. Gabriel, himself, mentions a love for several great design tools.

“I primarily use Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects, along with my Wacom tablet. But I have recently joined the iPad Pro world and am loving my Apple Pencil and working in Procreate!”

Lyndi Priest

Graphic designer Lyndi Priest is a multifaceted creative who has lived and worked in San Francisco for the past ten years. With a background in multiple areas, she shares the key to balancing a versatile portfolio.

“My favorite aspect of being a designer is the versatility of work. Embracing different backgrounds while harmoniously applying my own style to everything is what drives my designs forward.”

Does diversifying your projects affect the overall impact of your portfolio? She says:

“Quality over quantity. It’s common to hyper-focus on the sheer amount of content in one’s own portfolio. But as long as there is enough variety, the talent and skill will shine through effectively.”

Using social media to gain more exposure and business opportunities is also a must. Lyndi recommends online portfolios or professional websites for opening new doors:

“I’m very fond of the Behance network, and Squarespace makes it easy to deliver a portfolio quickly. But I’ve always been fond of pushing myself and going custom. My website—a custom designed WordPress site—sets itself apart and truly reflects myself as a designer.”

Ali Taylor

Creative director and designer Ali Taylor is the CEO of BelMarketing Design Studio. When he isn’t pursuing his love of design, he actively participates in local business-building activities in New Jersey. Here’s some insight into his advice on creative portfolios:

“Every good portfolio should allow the person viewing it to get an idea of who you are, your style, what you’re really good at, and a sense of your approach to problem-solving. “

Which platforms have worked the best for him? He says:

“For sales, prospecting and showcasing my work, my own website is my greatest platform and asset by far. But for discovery and broadcasting to as wide an audience as possible—Instagram is definitely the champion.”

Building a strong network of creative colleagues can also help you when making important decisions about your portfolio. Ali’s final recommendation is to be open to sincere constructive criticism.

“Get feedback from your trusted colleagues—the ones who aren’t afraid to give you honest feedback with love.”

Let’s Recap

So let’s go over a quick recap of four essential portfolio tips from these talented designers.

1. Diversify your talents.
2. Use Instagram and Behance for promotion.
3. Let go of past work.
4. Embrace honest feedback.

Now is the time to make the most out of your resources. Though it’s natural to feel stressed over your portfolio, I hope these designers have inspired you to tackle the challenge.

Thank you to all the artists who have lent their advice to this article. Feel free to explore their portfolios by visiting the links below.

• Tati Astua
• Gabriel Alexandre Meza
• Lyndi Priest
• Ali Taylor

The post How Designers Are Amplifying Their Portfolios in 2019 appeared first on Envato.

Out with the old, in with the new. 

Well, not quite yet—there’s still a week or two left before the fireworks go off and we all start making those beautiful, optimistic resolutions that shine as bright as a Roman candle before fizzling in the February gloom. But still, it’s a good time to look back on 2018 and peer forward into 2019 to spot some trends coming our way. So we asked our experts across the company what trends they expect to see in the coming year

Here’s what to watch out for in 2019:

Design & Illustration

Pantone recently set some new design trends in motion with its selection of Living Coral as the Pantone Color of the Year 2019. But design, of course, is about much more than colour. Over on Envato Tuts+, designer Grace Fussell took us through some other trends to watch out for in 2019, from nautical stripes to chiselled serif typefaces. Here are a couple more design trends you can expect to see next year.

#1: Brand Customisation

"A strong trend I expect to see more of over the next year is brand customisation and personalisation. Think custom cut fonts and illustration styles all to yourself that set brands apart and elevate them above the norm."

Steven Scott

Envato Designer

For example, why not use one of these unique fonts, or take them as inspiration for designing your own?

#2: Abstract, Colourful Patterns

"Perhaps influenced by the resurgence of 80s style, abstract and colourful patterns will be popping up in design. Think Memphis Group patterns and colour schemes."

Sharon Milne

Tuts+ Design & Illustration Editor

Learn more about the Memphis style and how to use abstract colour in your designs:

• What Is the Memphis Style?
• How to Create a Memphis Style Text Effect in Adobe InDesign
• How to Create an Abstract Pastel 3D Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop

#3: Depth and Layers

"I see that people are playing with dimension and layering again. Different to the super flat style a while back."

Kate McInnes

Quality Media Specialist

Web Design

WordPress just shook up the web design world with its launch of Gutenberg, a completely new way for people to create posts and pages on WordPress sites. Here are some of the broader changes that our experts expect as a result of that change, along with some other exciting new trends and technologies now coming to the fore.

#4: The Rise of the Page Builders

"I think we’ll see even more minimal/clean SVG types and performance-focused themes which utilise Gutenberg. Modern development techniques like WP Rig and Mythic will definitely help in theme development, which is getting more and more complicated nowadays."

Kailoon Chan

Senior Reviewer, ThemeForest

Kailoon also thinks themes could now provide a fully fledged page builder based on Gutenberg, including header/footer customisation. It’s going to be a year for content-creation tools as well, he says, with users flocking to plugins like Elementor and WP Page Builder, which provide pre-designed templates, elements, add-ons, etc.

#5: New Features, New Layout Boundaries

"Competition in the design application space has never been fiercer! Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma, Invision Studio and others are all upping their game and smashing out features to make UI and UX design better."

Ian Yates

Tuts+ Web Design Editor

Why not start off 2019 by getting up to speed with those new and improved apps?

• Sketch vs Adobe XD: Which One Should You Use?
• Figma Tutorials and Courses

In terms of actual design for the web, expect layout boundaries to be pushed further. It’s taking time to shake off old habits, but CSS Grid and Flexbox now enjoy enough browser support for designers to use them with confidence.

• Create a Broken Grid Layout Using CSS Grid
• A Comprehensive Guide to Flexbox Alignment

#6: Voice Assistants

"The use of voice assistants will continue to increase in 2019. They will remain a predominantly non-visual medium, so finding the right balance between visual cues and providing context and direction with words in the user interface will be crucial."

Lauren Macnab

Digital Content Strategist

Video

In the video world, too, a big player made a major move in 2018. This time it was Adobe, with its launch of a brand new editing app called Adobe Rush. See what our experts see on the horizon in 2019.

#7: Rush, Particle Animation, and More

"Adobe has a new NLE on the scene, Rush, which works with Premiere templates: a boon for video makers who don’t need a full-fledged production suite. Particle animation, enabled by ever-more-powerful graphics cards, will trickle down to all kinds of video projects and programs. Instagram-esque presets and quick-changing picture styles will remain popular, too."

Jackson Couse

Tuts+ Video Editor

#8: A Plethora of New Templates

"Adobe’s development of the Essential Graphics panel and Motion Graphics Template format has forever altered the video industry. Users of the once graphics-stunted Premiere Pro have been given a brand new arsenal, allowing Premiere editors to add robust, professional animated graphics into their video projects with just a few clicks."

Tyson Frantz

Senior VideoHive Reviewer

What that means is that  After Effects template authors now have an entirely new audience in which to create content, and Premiere editors have a burgeoning ecosystem of gorgeous graphics to choose from.

As more and more video editors flock to the graphics template market, 2019 could very well signal the largest period of growth for the Premiere template category.

How many templates can you handle?

This is just a tiny sample of the 50,000+ After Effects templates on VideoHive.

The newer Premiere Pro category has more than 1,500 items, with more being added all the time.

Audio

What will people be listening to in 2019? We can’t predict the chart-topping albums, the breakout acts or the celebrity feuds coming our way next year, but we do know a thing or two about stock audio. Here’s what to expect.

#9: Upbeat, Energetic Audio

"2019 is looking like another exciting year ahead, where upbeat and energetic vibes will dominate stock audio demand. Regardless of styles, from epic to inspirational, tracks that convey confidence and healthy energy will always be go-to winners, especially those with subtle but memorable leads, making room for great stories and narratives to happen."

Adrien Gardiner

Audio Content Specialist

Here are a few excellent examples that made waves throughout 2018:

• Uplifting Future Bass
• Summer Fun
• Energetic Indie Rock
• Emotional Cinematic Trailer
• Hip-Hop This

Code

The launch of WordPress Gutenberg will affect more than just web design. There’s a whole ecosystem of plugins and extensions that can now take advantage of WordPress’s new capabilities. Read on to find out how that will play out in 2019.

#10: An Explosion of Block Plugins

"In 2019, I predict we’ll see an explosion of Block Plugins for the new WordPress Editor (Gutenberg). We should see phase two of the Gutenberg project moving on from the editor to improve other areas of WordPress (like widgets and menus). I also predict that page builders like Elementor will continue to improve at an amazing pace and the eco-system around them (templates, add-ons, etc.) will continue to grow as well!"

Aaron Rutley

Product Manager

Photography

Expect 2019 to usher in a new aesthetic in photography. Some of the most popular trends have now run their course, and we could be all set for a year in which the photos we use more accurately reflect the real world around us.

#11: Ditch the Special Effects

"For 2019, the current demand for authenticity is expected to maintain its growth. The heavy vignetting, retro filtering, desaturation and added lens flares/effects will start looking old (and not in the way it was intended). This is a great opportunity to embrace diversity and inclusion, while producing natural-looking, credible images that customers can actually relate to."

Gaby Jalbert

Photo Content Specialist

Another photography trend to watch out for is drone photography, as the technology keeps evolving and becoming more accessible every year. Drone shots are now widely used in movies and advertisements, as well as on YouTube and social media. This fresh perspective on life should retain a strong presence for years to come.

A Quick Look Back at 2018

In 2018, Envato announced a new addition to the family: Placeit. If you haven’t tried it yet, you really should. The site lets you create logos, mockups, flyers, T-shirt designs and a whole lot more—all from your internet browser.

We also covered a lot of ground in other areas this year. A few highlights from the blog and elsewhere:

• Video arrived on Envato Elements, and we took you through how to make a launch video using assets from the site.
• Later in the year, audio followed suit as Envato Elements gave you access to thousands of music tracks and sound effects.
• We ran some guides for web designers, showing you how to use Elementor to speed up your project, the rules of designing UX for millennials, why voice UI is a big deal, and more.
• If you’re a graphic designer, we had you covered too. Elements continued to expand its huge library, and we discussed things like how ubiquity can be a liability for a brand, what you need to know about millennial pink, and how Comic Sans became the world’s most divisive font. 
• And we must be getting old, because we also got all nostalgic on you and started spinning yarns about the old days in a Sydney garage and reflecting on how you handle all that growth without losing your core values.

Plenty more cool stuff also happened, of course, and you can read about it all in our Year End Review.

Over to You...

As the inimitable Yogi Berra once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

Our experts are immersed in their respective fields every day and have drawn on a wealth of experience to tell us what to look out for in 2019, but they could be sideswiped by a major product launch or an unexpected cultural shift.

What do you think? Will these predictions will come true, or do you have your own ideas about what’s coming in 2019? Jump over to the Envato forums and have your say.

Want more? Read the Envato Year End Review:

In the course of 2018, we processed a lot of data about what people are searching for and buying. In our Year End Review, we crunch those numbers to reveal some interesting insights about what happened this year and what to expect in 2019.

The post Trend Predictions 2019: From Graphic Design to Web Design appeared first on Envato.

Build a presentation that's as impressive as your ideas

Default Apple Keynote templates may be enough to impress your peers as part of an internal presentation, but getting customers to take you seriously requires something more.

Keynote is the most popular alternative to the widely adopted PowerPoint by Microsoft. It comes bundled with any Mac computer, so you can start building amazing presentations the moment you boot it up! Although as an app it includes everything you need to create stunning presentations, you can always go one step further and use a template to make your presentation really stand out. All our assets are created by incredibly talented graphic designers all over the world!

Let’s take a closer look at some of the best Keynote templates you can purchase today.

Trending Apple Keynote Templates in January 2018

These assets got a lot of attention in a short span of time, which propelled them straight to the “trending item” status. If you’re looking for items that are really unique, this is the section for you!

1. Kacell - Multipurpose & Business Template by UDEA

Clear, with a metro-style masonry grid layout, this template will help get your message across quickly, but most of all – in style.

Buy now on Envato Market

2. Modern Solution by EvgenyBagro

Modern Solution comes with 12 main categories of slides: Opening Slides, Time lines, Devices, Portfolio & Infographic Slides, Illustrations, Event & Calendar Slides, Pricing Tables, Carts and last but not least Editable maps.

Buy now on Envato Market

3. Helas Minimal Keynote Template by bluestack

A fresh and well-balanced deck, with ample white space, good use of iconography and key visuals. This one is another great template that makes building boring presentations a pleasure!

Buy now on Envato Market

4. Papma Presentation Template by jason_born

Porter is a beautiful sans-serif font that comes in three weights and matching italics. While it’s extremely sleek and modern, the roundness of some characters and even proportions of each letter make it feel simple and friendly. 

Buy now on Envato Market

5. Boom Doo Creative Keynote by MooCrack

40+ Slides, 16:9 Aspect Ratio, Fully Customizable and with a few great color variations, Boom Doo Creative Keynote Template is stylish, but also easy to use.

Buy now on Envato Market

6. Ravado Creative Keynote Template by 69slides

While Photography takes center-stage here, it certainly doesn’t feel overpowering, allowing for a great balance of visual and textual content.

Buy now on Envato Market

7. Nia Pitch Deck Keynote by RitsBoys

Really refreshing use of teal as the main color for accents and layout elements. The overall nature theme made this one stand out immediately.

Buy now on Envato Market

8. Universe Creative Keynote Template by ESTE_Studio

Porter is a beautiful sans-serif font that comes in three weights and matching italics. While it’s extremely sleek and modern, the roundness of some characters and even proportions of each letter make it feel simple and friendly. 

Buy now on Envato Market

9. Cento Design Premium Keynote Template by bypaintdesign

A dark and elegant design, with multi-slide timelines, well-spaced elements and well over 100 unique slides, you can be sure that Cento is one asset you need to add to your toolkit.

Buy now on Envato Market

10. 3 in 1 Bundle ZenPack Premium Bundle Keynote by bluestack

Incredibly skilled use of custom illustrations and elegant transition animations. BONUS: Comes with 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!

Buy now on Envato Market

Bestselling Keynote Templates this month

1. 2017 Keynote Bundle by alitolama

A great template bundle, that comes with 10 super versatile Keynote Templates for any project you have in mind. This one’s a steal!

Buy now on Envato Market

2. Kacell - Multipurpose & Business Template (Keynote) by UDEA

There’s a good reason why this one made it both on the best selling list, as well as the trending items one. Check out the previews, and you’ll immediately know why.

Buy now on Envato Market

3. Quator Creative Keynote Template by ZinStudio

Beautiful minimal Keynote Presentation Template, with highlights such as well balanced layouts, soft shadows, rounded corners and synergistic color palettes.

Buy now on Envato Market

4. Bundle 2 in 1 Clean & Effective Business Keynote Template 2018 by williamhenry989

This bundle contains two excellent business-focused designs, one for business plans, the other for amazing business reports. Best of all? They can be used together, or for totally different businesses all the same.

Buy now on Envato Market

5. Cento Design Premium Keynote Template by bypaintdesign

Another template that made it both on our Best Selling and Trending items lists, and that for good reason! Pretty sure the elegant typographic highlights and image masks may have had something to do with that…

Buy now on Envato Market

• 6. Year Best 2017 - 5 In 1 Keynote Bundle by loveshkalsi
• 7. 3 in 1 Multipurpose Keynote Template Bundle (Vol.03) by Jiani_design
• 8. Monogatari Startup Keynote Template by RitsBoys
• 9. 3 in 1 Motion Bundle Keynote Template by bluestack
• 10. Heron Creative Keynote Template by 69slides

Most Popular Keynote Templates on Envato Elements

As part of your Envato Elements subscription, you get access to some pretty sweet design assets. Among those, you’ll find some pretty incredible Apple Keynote Templates as well! Check out some of the most popular ones you can download today:  

1. Fashion Keynote Template by BOXKAYU

Fashion Keynote Template is professional, fresh and clean Keynote Template. Ideal for fashion businesses or any presentations based on daily creative projects. Each page features unique layouts with strong, contemporary typography. 

Buy now on Envato Elements

2. Pitch - Keynote Template by Slidehack

This product will help you to attract your audiences to hear your stories and ideas. Then turns your ideas into real projects. Also helps your audiences and investors to know what benefits they will get.

Buy now on Envato Elements

3. Agio Keynote Presentation by punkl

Creative and Minimalist Presentation, perfect for any personal or corporate/company project. You can easily edit this presentation, as 100% of its shapes are customizable, with no quality loss.

Buy now on Envato Elements

• 4. Triping - Travel Keynote Template by inspirasign
• 5. X Note (VOL.02) - Keynote Template by Slidehack
• 6. SIMPLECO: Keynote presentation template by TITO
• 7. Cascada Keynote Modern Template by SimpleSmart
• 8. Mint Polygons Keynote Template by Jumsoft
• 9. The Keynote Project by Slidehack
• 10. Professional Keynote Template by SlideEmpire

Best Selling Keynote Templates from 2017

These templates have been at the top of the “Best Selling” list for a while now, and that for good reason! If the above options are not exactly what you’re looking for, one of these templates is sure to have the versatility to fit your specific purpose. Let’s dive in!

1. Space Keynote by alitolama

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

2. Keynote Template Professional Pack by inspirasign

Price: $20

Buy now on Envato Market

3. Swift Minimal Keynote Template Builder by LouisTwelve-Design

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

4. Organizational Chart and Hierarchy Keynote Template by SanaNik

Price: $8

Buy now on Envato Market

5. Startup Company Pitch Deck Keynote Template by slidefusion

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

• 6. Good Pitch - Elegant Keynote Template by Slidehack
• 7. 10 in 1 - Pitch Keynote Bundle by Slidehack
• 8. Bold Minimal Keynote Template by egotype
• 9. Manggadih Keynote Presentation by JYXD
• 10. Ourea - Creative Keynote Template by ZinStudio

• 11. Light - Keynote Presentation Template by 5yue
• 12. 2017 Project Keynote Presentation by BrandEarth
• 13. Report - Keynote Presentation Template by 5yue
• 14. MNML Keynote by Haluze
• 15. Keynote by Haluze

16. Project Proposal - Keynote Template by Jetz

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

17. KLOE Minimal & Creative Template by SimpleSmart

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

18. Tofu - Creative Keynote Template by bypaintdesign

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

19. Be. A4 + US Letter Keynote Presentation for Print by PixaSquare

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

20. Medical and Healthcare Keynote Pitch Deck by Spriteit

Price: $15

Buy now on Envato Market

That’s a lot of Keynote templates, but if you’re still looking for more, head to our marketplace or check out the Keynote library on Envato Elements. 

If Keynote isn’t your presentation software of choice, we also have a dedicated roundup of the best PowerPoint templates!

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The post Top 50 Apple Keynote Templates of 2018 appeared first on Envato.

As a web designer, when I ask clients about their timeline for launching their new website, the usual response is: “As soon as possible.” This makes perfect sense as every business wants to put their best foot forward when it comes to their website. But there are often challenges in taking a website from concept to finished product in short order.

For one, hurrying your way through the process can lead to mistakes. It’s often the little details in both the layout and content that suffer from your rushing around. That could show up in the form of misspellings or even a broken layout. When you’re in a major hurry, the results reflect in the overall quality of the website.

Thankfully, you can save yourself a lot of trouble by taking some steps to ensure that you can get your site launched quickly while maintaining a high standard of quality.

Don’t Start From Scratch

When time really is of the essence, there may simply not be enough of it to warrant starting from scratch. Going through the process of building an entire website from ground zero will make it difficult to get up and running on time. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still have a beautiful, highly-functional website.

There are tools and services you can use that will speed up the process. A site builder, for example, will enable you to start out with a pre-designed template that you can customize to suit your needs. While it means the look of your site may not be 100% original, you can change things up enough to make it uniquely your own.

If you’re looking for serious functionality, using a well-made WordPress theme is a great solution. All of the hard design and development work has been done for you. From there, you can integrate any necessary plugins to add those must-have features. This will let you take advantage of the powerful WordPress platform without all of the extra effort.

This step alone will put you miles ahead in terms of getting things done within your desired timeframe.

Narrow the Focus of Your Content

Beyond the design process, the biggest cause for delay in getting a website launched is developing content. So it stands to reason that the more content you have to prepare, the harder it will be to hit your deadline.

If getting your website launched quickly is a top priority, then it’s okay to start small when it comes to content. While it would be nice to start things off with a few dozen carefully-crafted blog posts touting your business – it’s a bit impractical. Instead, think about the basics that visitors will need to know like the services or products you offer, contact information, etc.

Once your site is up and running, you’ll be able to add content at a comfortable pace. This can actually be a good thing in that repeat visitors will have something new to check out. The other advantage of starting small is that you can truly focus on making the most important content the best it can be.

Enlist a Helping Hand (Or Two)

Building a website isn’t easy. There will likely be certain tasks during the process that eat up more time than you anticipated. Things that looked simple in the beginning can turn into a complicated mess in a hurry.

When you’re mired in such a situation, bringing in an expert to help can get things back on track. That will allow you to focus on other parts of the project while your hired hand(s) can take care of whatever pesky issues arise.

But you don’t necessarily have to wait for something like this to pop up unannounced. For instance, if you know that there’s a specific part of the process that’s outside of your comfort zone, that’s the time to think about getting some help. Planning ahead will help you avoid a derailment while on the way to the finish line.

Make the Hard Choices

To paraphrase an old saying: If you want something that’s good, fast and cheap – pick two. The point being that you’re probably not going to get all three of those things at once. However, that saying may be less relevant for those who are able to make some tough decisions early on.

When “fast” is first on your personal wishlist, that means that you’ll inevitably have to make some tradeoffs. Maybe that means holding off on that complicated functionality until later on. Or it could be that you’ll have to take your focus off of other matters in order to get your website launched.

By making those types of decisions, you may actually be placing yourself on a path to achieve all three traits – or at least get close to it. When you realize that you can’t have “everything now”, you can concentrate your efforts on what is doable within the allotted time and budget.

In that way, maybe “good, fast and cheap” isn’t so unrealistic.

You Can Do It!

Sure, having a tight timeline for launching your website is a challenge. But it’s far from impossible. So often, we try to cram all of our wants and needs into the tiniest of spaces. The better approach is in taking that timeline and adjusting our expectations around it.

With realistic expectations, we can then turn our attention into building the best website possible. We can use tools and services to get us off to a running start. Content can be narrowed down to focus on our most pressing needs. And, if there are areas where some extra help would be appreciated, we can be proactive in seeking it out.

Perhaps the hardest part of the process involves deciding what has to be included and what can wait. But it may well be the most important factor in getting things right.

Keep in mind that launching a website in itself is full of hurdles to get past. Doing so within a compressed timeline adds even more obstacles. But with the right approach, you’ll put yourself in a position to launch a top-quality site in less time than you thought possible.

The post Ways to Launch Your Website Quickly, Without Sacrificing Quality appeared first on Envato.

It’s been a big year. 

To recap, we’ve put together this list – curated by the team at Envato – of our top ten trends of the year, and predictions for what will be popular in 2018. Of course, there’s a lot more that happened in 2017 than what’s in this top ten.

A few honorable mentions for trends this year:

• On WordPress and web development, we saw a focus on accessible design, simpler and more functional landing pages, an obsession with cryptocurrency, and the growth of ecommerce websites.
• In the business world, we saw the rise of more video on platforms like LinkedIn, the continued dominance of subscription services, and more remote-friendly career paths.
• In video & audio, trends included cinema-style logo reveals, Taylor Swift-inspired lyric videos, all things Cyberpunk, made-for-Youtube music, flashy Eurovision inspiration, and stock audio genres like boom-bap, tropical house, and electro swing.
• Meanwhile, designers made custom illustrations, debated the pros and cons of Figma, designed for the growing ebook market, switched to iPads, snuck 3D renders into their 2D design work, made everything into marble, and avoided Helvetica this year.
• On the Envato Blog, we analyzed the history of video game design, asked whether or not Gutenberg would change WordPress, and developed a love/hate relationship with trendy flat lay photography. Envato staff shared their expertise on everything from SEO tips for keyword research, authentic photography, and the potential legal consequences of ‘borrowing’ content.
• We also highlighted our favorite and most creative items created by Envato’s community, including music-inspired fonts, stunning landscape photography, motion graphic collaborations, and a turtle-centric design challenge.

Here’s the list of our top ten trends of 2017:

#1: Geometric shapes

"Geometric and polygon art was big in 2017. Backgrounds, textures, and more, all with regular lines and repeating patterns."

David Appleyard

Editor, Envato Tuts+

From zig-zig geo patterns to retro triangles and designs, we saw geometric patterns everywhere this year. It’s also a simple style to try some DIY design – you can learn about it in 60 seconds, or try your hand at creating your own simple geometric pattern.

#2: All tropical everything

"2017 had us dreaming of luxurious holidays, complete with lush palm trees, exotic fruit and beautiful wildlife. It was a real feast for the eyes."

Kate McInnes

Quality Media Specialist, Envato

Kate’s honorable mention in design trends: fidget spinners, which got so big this year that they made it into the stock graphics & photography scene. 

#3: Fast typography in video

"One of the biggest trends of this year is fast typography. In an era where we’re constantly overwhelmed by the amount of information being thrown at us, the popularity of templates that help deliver messages in fast, visually engaging ways has risen.

Dom Hennequin

Community & Blog Editor, Envato

Fast typography templates: 

Stomp – Typographic Intro by Mnemonick

Rhythmic Typography by blinque

Rhythmic Opener by levmotion

Urban Opener // Dynamic Open by makcinema

#4: Color fonts

"Color fonts are poised to take over the graphic design world in 2018... this unashamedly in-your-face trend promises to put the fun back into typography."

Grace Fussell

Writer, Tuts+

The Fiesta Color font (pictured below – available to download on Envato Elements or DIY with this tutorial) highlights a new trend of colorful, custom fonts. We think this trend will continue into 2018. 

#5: Future bass

"THE dominant 2017 audio trend on AudioJungle was Future Bass. While there've been a few noteworthy emergences, such as the SynthWave renaissance we're seeing, it's the contagious sub-lines, the slick sidechaining, and the catchy chopped vocals that have made Future Bass the big consistent winner this year, which is still non-stop exploding.

AudioJungle review team

Envato

Future Bass tracks: 

That Future Bass by TheQLon

Future Bass by Alexiaction

The Future Bass by OddVision

Read more: What Is Future Bass? Plus, 20 Stock Future Bass Tracks You Should Know About

What’s next in audio trends for 2018? The reviewers said that “we may expect to see a continued and rising interest in ’80s Synthwave (à la Blade Runner, Stranger Things), Hybrid HipHop tracks (sporty stuff!) and we also have the more subtle Chill-Step showing strong signs of proliferation.”

#6: Simplicity in email design

"I think email will become sharper, smarter and more simplified... there will still be GIF's, but they'll be subtle and interactive at times. Text and content will be more concise, and I think emails will be created based on that premise. I imagine we'll actually see more text-dominant emails with text links, and less overwhelming imagery."

Monica McCormick

Email Marketing Specialist, Envato

#7: Return of the 90's (and 80's)

"2017 was big on bringing back loads of 90's design, especially early 90's American pop influenced design. We're seeing more nods to the 80's creeping in. 2018 could see us rehashing more 80's & 90's pop designs, as well as grunge, earthy tones being used in creative ways."

Sharon Milne

Editor, Envato Tuts+

#8: 2D + 3D design

"We're going to see a lot more of 3D and faux 3d effects, abstract & geometrical elements flowing into the designs to help enhance the visual impact of landing pages, hero sections and newsletters. This will naturally also expand into print and out-of-home advertising platforms. With the evolution of screen technology in recent years, motion graphics will be taking advantage of this design language and have a particularly strong presence in 2018."

Calin Teodorescu

Social Media, Envato

Can you tell the difference between stock photos and 3D designs?

Check out our side-by-side comparisons: How 3D Renders Are Being Used for 2D Artwork. 

#9: More microinteractions

"These small “product-related moments” add magic to sites, delighting and surprising users, while at the same time engaging users and enhancing user experience."

Jenni McKinnon

Freelance writer, Envato

A microinteraction is a small moment that accomplishes a single task. We’ve seen them everywhere from social media sites to our WordPress themes on Themeforest, and it’s a design detail that will only grow in popularity. 

#10: Print isn't dead

"Designers feel strongly and positively about print, and print remains crucial to how professional graphic designers make a living. Print lends itself to certain audiences and offerings where communication needs to be retained, contemplated, touched or trusted."

Eric Schwartz

Content Insights Manager, Envato

According to a study done by Graphic Design USA (GDUSA), 97% of graphic designers work on print design projects, compared to 36% who work on TV, film, or video projects. The top print project types include brochures, marketing materials, cards, and direct mail. 

Agree or disagree? Let us know what your favorite trends of 2017 were, and what you predict will be big in 2018. 

NOW READ: More of our wrap-ups of 2017

•  10 After Effects Templates That Blew Us Away in 2017
• WordPress 2017: The Year in Review

The post The Top Design Trends of 2017, and Envato’s 2018 Predictions appeared first on Envato.

Default Apple Keynote templates may be able to convince your peers as part of an internal presentation, but customers you’re trying to win over need something professionally designed to even take you seriously.

Keynote is the most popular alternative to the widely adopted PowerPoint by Microsoft. It comes bundled with any Mac computer, so you can start building amazing presentations the moment you boot it up! Although as an app it includes everything you need to create stunning presentations, you can always go one step further and use a template to make your presentation really stand out. All our assets are created by incredibly talented graphic designers all over the world!

Let’s take a closer look at some of the best Keynote templates you can purchase today.

Newest Keynote Templates from December

1. Asensi – Creative Keynote Template

Highlights:

• 107 Unique Creative Slides
• Smart and Innovative Presentation Slides
• Easy Editable charts via excel
• Modern layouts Based on Master Slides
• Used and recommended free web fonts
• Vector icons 100% Fully Editable
• All Graphic Resizable and Editable
• Aspect Ratio 16:9

2. Business Projects 2018

Highlights:

• 420 unique slides
• 1000 vector icons
• 24 color schemes
• 16:9 resolution (1920×1080 px)
• 100% vector (fully editable maps, infographic, icons)
• Easy editable tables and graphs

3. Splash – Multipurpose Keynote Template

Highlights:

• 80+ Total Slides
• Animated and Non Animated
• Smart and Innovative Presentation Slides
• Easy Editable charts via excel
• Modern layouts Based on Master Slides
• Used and recommended free web fonts
• Vector icons 100% Fully Editable
• All Graphic Resizable and Editable
• Aspect Ratio 16:9

4. Pitch Deck Sale

Highlights:

• Includes 3 Keynote Templates
• 16:9 resolution (1920×1080 px)
• 100% vector (fully editable maps, infographic, icons)

5. Fresh Multipurpose Keynote Template

Highlights:

• 135 unique slides
• 540 total slides
• 6500+ icons included
• Wide HD Screen Ratio 1920×1080
• Business & Clean Modern Style
• Dark & light versions
• Drag & drop iamge placeholder
• Fully animated, no animation version included
• Easy to change color
• All content easy editable & 100% live chart
• Free font used
• Detailed documentation

6. Movic – Clothing and Fashion Keynote Template

Highlights:

• 101+ unique slides
• Aspect Ratio 16:9 no more broken images!
• Easy and fully editable in Keynote (shape color, size, position, etc)
• 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!
• Work faster with Drag and drop picture placeholder plus auto-adjustment (size, transparency, shape, etc)
• Elegant transition animations
• Elegant company profile slides
• Easy editable data driven charts (pie, bar, line)
• Effective infographics with creative visualization
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• All about maps : Europe, U.S, Asia, Australia

7. The unit – Keynote presentation template

Highlights:

• Easy to change colors, Fully editable text, photos, Shape & other elements
• Professionally designed slides
• Unique Custom Slides
• Multipurpose Slides, Clean, Unique, Creative and Simple
• Strong focus on typography and usability
• Modern Style
• Keynote file
• Size : 16:9 Ratio

8. Animus Keynote Presentation Template

Highlights:

• 200+ Modern & Unique Slides
• 16:9 Screen Ratio
• A4 Landscape Print ready
• 4:3 Screen Ratio
• 1920×1090 Full HD
• Real Device Mockups included
• Fully Editable and Customization
• Creative and Innovative Presentation Slides
• 23 Categorized 12000+ Designtuts icon fon

9. Company Project Bundle Keynote

Highlights:

• Aspect Ratio 16:9 no more broken images!
• Easy and fully editable in Keynote (shape color, size, position, etc)
• 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!
• Work faster with Drag and drop picture placeholder plus auto-adjustment (size, transparency, shape, etc)
• Elegant transition animations
• Elegant company profile slides
• Easy editable data driven charts (pie, bar, line)
• Effective infographics with creative visualization
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• All about maps : Europe, U.S, Asia, Australia

10. Pitch Deck Deluxe

Highlights:

• 393 unique slides
• 1000 vector icons
• 10 color schemes
• 16:9 resolution (1920×1080 px)
• 100% vector (fully editable maps, infographic, icons)
• Easy editable tables and graphs

Top Trending Keynote Templates this month

1. Tech – Multipurpose Keynote Presentation

Highlights:

• Welcome Message
• Agenda
• Services Slides
• Team Members Slides
• Portfolio Showcase Slide
• Circle Infographics Slides
• Step By Step Slides
• Creative Infographics Slides
• ECO Slides
• Drone Slides
• SWOT, PESTEL, AIDA Slides
• Puzzle Infographics Slides
• 3D Elements Infographics Slides
• Devices Mockup Slides

2. Confusion Creative Keynote Template

Highlights:

• Aspect Ratio 16:9 no more broken images!
• Easy and fully editable in Keynote (shape color, size, position, etc)
• 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!
• Work faster with Drag and drop picture placeholder plus auto-adjustment (size, transparency, shape, etc)
• Elegant transition animations
• Elegant company profile slides
• Easy editable data driven charts (pie, bar, line)
• Effective infographics with creative visualization
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• All about maps : Europe, U.S, Asia, Australia

3. Marketing Strategy

Highlights:

• 500+ Slides
• 250+slides for each dark and light background
• Drag & Drop Ready
• Based on Placeholders
• 16:9 HD Display
• PPT and PPTX files
• One click to Change Color
• 1000+ vector Icons
• Highly Editable Vector and Shapes

4. Red Business Marketing Keynote Template

Highlights:

• 100+ unique slides
• FullHD Screen Ratio 1920×1080
• Business & Clean Modern Style
• Drag & Drop image placeholder
• All content easy editable
• Live chart
• Free font used
• Detailed documentation

5. Point Red Presentation Template Keynote

Highlights:

• 100+ unique slides
• FullHD Screen Ratio 1920×1080
• Business & Clean Modern Style
• Drag & Drop image placeholder
• All content easy editable
• Live chart
• Free font used
• Detailed documentation

6. Instyle Creative Keynote Template

Highlights:

• Aspect Ratio 16:9 no more broken images!
• Easy and fully editable in Keynote (shape color, size, position, etc)
• 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!
• Work faster with Drag and drop picture placeholder plus auto-adjustment (size, transparency, shape, etc)
• Elegant transition animations
• Elegant company profile slides
• Easy editable data driven charts (pie, bar, line)
• Effective infographics with creative visualization
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• All about maps : Europe, U.S, Asia, Australia

7. 3 In 1 Business Goal Keynote Bundle

Highlights:

This is a great bundle for people who are looking for variety of slides into one file. You will get 3 different Keynote presentation files with more than 170000 slides. So many color options!

8. Octa Food Keynote Template

Highlights:

• Aspect Ratio 16:9 no more broken images!
• Easy and fully editable in Keynote (shape color, size, position, etc)
• 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!
• Work faster with Drag and drop picture placeholder plus auto-adjustment (size, transparency, shape, etc)
• Elegant transition animations
• Elegant company profile slides
• Easy editable data driven charts (pie, bar, line)
• Effective infographics with creative visualization
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• All about maps : Europe, U.S, Asia, Australia

9. Changes – Keynote Presentation Template

Highlights:

• Wide Screen(16:9 Screen Size)
• Free Font Used
• 62+unique slides
• Easy Customize
• Keynote ‘09 & Keynote Newest Version
• Used images are not included in template
• Image placeholders (Drag and Drop to change image)
• Vector icons
• Minimal & Creative Slides
• Clean style
• Modern style
• Trend Keynote Template
• Transition animation
• Documentation.pdf
• Maps

10. Mosvir Business Template

Highlights:

• Drag And Drop image
• Images Placeholder
• Theme Colour Option, Easy to change colors, Fully editable text, photos, music & other elements
• Vector Icons, elements & PNG included in Files
• Clean Theme Version
• Animation Include
• Help File & Tutorial

Best Creative Keynote Templates

These templates stood out for their creative layouts, stellar typography and great use of colors.

1. Humble – Keynote Templates

Highlights:

• Images Placeholder
• Drag and Drop Image
• Theme Colour Option, Easy to change colors, Fully editable text, photos, music & other elements
• Unique Custom Slides
• Vector Icons, elements & PNG included in Files
• Clean Theme Version
• Keynote files
• Full HD

2. Company Business Presentation Keynote

Highlights:

• Clean Theme
• Aspect Ratio 16:9 no more broken images!
• Easy to change colors, Fully editable text, photos, Shape and other elements
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• Modern Style
• Keynote File

3. Medical Keynote Presentation Template

Highlights:

• Easy to change colors, Fully editable text, photos, Shape & other elements
• Professionally designed slides
• Unique Custom Slides
• Multipurpose Slides, Clean, Unique, Creative and Simple
• Strong focus on typography and usability
• Modern Style
• keynote file
• Size : 16:9 Ratio

4. Elevator – Multipurpose Keynote Presentation Template

Highlights:

• 70 Unique Slide
• 700 Total Slides
• 10 Color Variations
• Light Background
• Handmade Infographics
• 500 + Font Awesome icons
• Easily Editable all Elements
• Based on Master Slides
• (16:9) Full HD
• PDF Documentation
• Easy to use

5. Propoa – Keynote Presentation Template

Highlights:

• Wide Screen(16:9 Screen Size)
• Free Font Used
• 70+unique slides
• Easy Customize
• Keynote ‘09 & Keynote Newest Version
• Used images are not included in template
• Image placeholders (Drag and Drop to change image)
• Vector icons
• Minimal & Creative Slides
• Clean style
• Modern style
• Trend Keynote Template
• Transition animation
• Documentation.pdf
• Maps

6. Luxury Multipurpose Keynote

Highlights:

• Easy to change colors, Fully editable text, photos, Shape & other elements
• Unique Custom Slides
• Infographics, chart, Icons, elements & PNG included in Files
• Modern Style
• Keynote File

7. Good – Keynote Presentation Template

Highlights:

• Images Placeholder
• Drag and Drop Image
• Theme Colour Option, Easy to change colors, Fully editable text, photos, music & other elements
• 100+ Unique Custom Slides
• Vector Icons, elements & PNG included in Files
• Clean Theme Version
• Keynote files
• Full HD

8. Arisara Keynote Presentation

Highlights:

• 50 Unique Slides
• Key & Key ‘09
• Build With Slide Master
• Full Animated
• All Shape Are Editable
• Image Plcaeholder Ready
• 16:9 HD Widescreen
• Easy to Change Colors
• Image Placeholder
• Easy to drop your images
• Handcrafted Infographic
• Free Font Used

9. Muse Creative Keynote Template

Highlights:

• Aspect Ratio 16:9 no more broken images!
• Easy and fully editable in Keynote (shape color, size, position, etc)
• 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!
• Work faster with Drag and drop picture placeholder plus auto-adjustment (size, transparency, shape, etc)
• Elegant transition animations
• Elegant company profile slides
• Easy editable data driven charts (pie, bar, line)
• Effective infographics with creative visualization
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• All about maps : Europe, U.S, Asia, Australia

10. Healthy Services Keynote Template

Highlights:

• Easy and fully editable in Keynote (shape color, size, position, etc)
• 500+ easy editable font icons kit. We know you love icons!
• Work faster with Drag and drop picture placeholder plus auto-adjustment (size, transparency, shape, etc)
• Elegant transition animations
• Elegant company profile slides
• Easy editable data driven charts (pie, bar, line)
• Effective infographics with creative visualization
• Devices mockup with drag and drop screen placeholder
• All about maps : Europe, U.S, Asia, Australia

Best Selling Keynote Templates from 2017

These templates have been at the top of the “Best Selling” list for a while now, and that for good reason! If the above options are not exactly what you’re looking for, one of these templates is sure to have the versatility to fit your specific purpose. Let’s dive in!

1. Space Keynote by alitolama

Price: $15

2. Keynote Template Professional Pack by inspirasign

Price: $20

3. Swift Minimal Keynote Template Builder by LouisTwelve-Design

Price: $15

4. Organizational Chart and Hierarchy Keynote Template by SanaNik

Price: $8

5. Startup Company Pitch Deck Keynote Template by slidefusion

Price: $15

6. Good Pitch – Elegant Keynote Template by Slidehack

Price: $15

7. 10 in 1 – Pitch Keynote Bundle by Slidehack

Price: $22

8. Bold Minimal Keynote Template by egotype

Price: $18

9. Manggadih Keynote Presentation by JYXD

Price: $17

10. Ourea – Creative Keynote Template by ZinStudio

Price: $15

11. Light – Keynote Presentation Template by 5yue

Price: $15

12. 2017 Project Keynote Presentation by BrandEarth

Price: $12

13. Report – Keynote Presentation Template by 5yue

Price: $15

14. MNML Keynote by Haluze

Price: $15

15. Keynote by Haluze

Price: $16

16. Project Proposal – Keynote Template by Jetz

Price: $15

17. KLOE Minimal & Creative Template by SimpleSmart

Price: $15

18. Tofu – Creative Keynote Template by bypaintdesign

Price: $15

19. Be. A4 + US Letter Keynote Presentation for Print by PixaSquare

Price: $15

20. Medical and Healthcare Keynote Pitch Deck by Spriteit

Price: $15

That’s a lot of Keynote templates, but if you’re still looking for more, head to our marketplace or check out the PowerPoint library on Envato Elements.

Recommended video

The post Top 50 Apple Keynote Templates – December 2017 appeared first on Envato.

When you’re just getting started as a freelancer, it can be hard to justify adding any new expense to your fledgling business. In the early months of going out on your own, it can take some time to become profitable (and get paid!) and at the beginning, your focus is primarily on making rent and praying that you’ll be able to eat more than oatmeal and ramen noodles for every meal.

Luckily, for many freelancers, this survival state mentality is only temporary. Eventually, you’ll get to the point where you’re wasting time and money by not adopting the use of some paid tools that make it possible to run your business more efficiently.

If you’re ready to scale up your toolset with paid subscriptions that will enable you to be more efficient with time, here are our top picks for any freelance business:

Bookkeeping: Quickbooks

Image Source: Quickbooks

As you add clients and additional expenses to your business, it will become increasingly more difficult to keep track of these things without a system in place. The best bookkeeping systems include reporting features and the ability to search for individual transactions in need of follow up.

Using a tool like Quickbooks allows you to integrate all related financial accounts, like a business bank account, credit card, and/or Paypal account, so no transactions slip through the cracks. Most CPAs are very familiar with Quickbooks, which will come in handy come tax season when mistakes can result in numerous fees for your freelance business.

Quickbooks plans start at $10/month and scale up depending on the specific features your freelance business requires. An alternative paid bookkeeping option is Freshbooks, and a popular free option, if you’re still pinching pennies, is Xero.

Design Tools: Creative Cloud

It’s not the tools that make the artist, but the right equipment can help you bring an idea to life as it was intended. Whether design makes up the majority of your job or not, people in the creative space often find a need to access tools like Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Dreamweaver.

The barrier to entry is low now that Adobe has switched these applications to subscription pricing that starts at $19.99/month for access to a single app and $49.99/month for access to all of Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps.

If you’re still in survival mode and don’t necessarily need advanced graphic design features, a popular alternate image creation tool is Canva.

Design Assets & Education: Envato Elements

The best design tools won’t get you very far if you don’t know how to use them. That’s why a subscription to Envato Elements includes access to hundreds of design ebooks and courses. Envato Elements also grants access to hundreds of thousands of stock photos and other graphic assets that will help you to distinguish yourself on your next client project.

Social Media Scheduling: Buffer

Image Source: Buffer

To continuously drive leads to your freelance business, you need to stay top of mind with your audience. Creating a solid social media strategy is an essential element of inbound marketing that can take an hour or less of your time each week—with the right tools.

Buffer is a social media scheduling tool that will allow you to batch out the task of content scheduling, with tons of useful features, like the ability to add content to a publishing queue (perfect for content curation efforts) and a built-in post time optimization feature, based on data from your own social profiles. Buffer’s free plan is pretty limited, so upgrade to their Awesome plan for just $10/month.

Popular social media scheduling alternatives include Hootsuite and Sprout Social.

Conference Calls: Zoom

Image Source: Zoom.us

If you work with individuals, connecting to discuss project details is as simple as placing a call. But when you’re working with teams or companies where each employee works remotely, it’s a bit tacky (and potentially problematic) to be using your phone to merge multiple calls.

Zoom provides the perfect online/video/call-in conferencing solution. Free plans are available, but you’ll get cut off if a group call goes longer than 40 minutes. Zoom’s Pro plan costs just $14.99/month with unlimited meeting times for each call, for up to 100 participants.

Email Service Provider: MailChimp

Image Source: MailChimp

Offering services to clients is just one way to make money in your freelance business. Once you start to make a name for yourself, you can use the power of your influence and audience to make money with passive income opportunities: online courses, affiliate marketing, and the like.

In order to make these money generating activities work, you’ll need to be building your email list from the start. It all comes together with a good email service provider (ESP). MailChimp is a great ESP for beginners, as they offer free plans up to 2000 subscribers. Unlike many other ESPs on the market, they also offer free email automation capabilities.

Other popular ESPs include ConvertKit, InfusionSoft, and AWeber.

Project Management: Basecamp

Source: Basecamp

If you adopt just one app for managing client projects and contractors, let it be Basecamp. You can use Basecamp as a hub for everything relating to client projects, with features that allow for easy communication between parties and file sharing. If you work with contractors, a tool like Basecamp takes the most important information out of your head and makes it easy to document progress so that you have a larger available capacity to think creatively.

Basecamp offers a flat rate of $99/month with no limits on projects or users. Asana is another popular project management alternative that offers similar functionality with free and low priced premium plans.

Task Management: Todoist

If projects and business activities are made up of a lot of little tasks, you might instead organize activities using a task management tool like Todoist. Todoist operates on a slightly more bare-bones basis than the aforementioned Basecamp but is ideal for quickly assigning tasks to yourself or contractors. Deciding between Basecamp, Todoist, or a combination of these types of tools ultimately comes down to personal preference and your own ideal workflow.

Todoist is free and offers a Premium version available for just $28.99/year. Wunderlist is another popular task management alternative.

Freelance Tools Worth Paying for To Grow Your Business

As a freelancer, you have to play most, if not every role in your business—including taking on administrative tasks you never thought you’d ever have to deal with. If your business is just getting started, you can get by with free tools and by patching processes together. Eventually though, you’ll want to enable your growth by investing in tools that can help you to be more purposeful with the time you spend managing your business.

What are your favorite subscription tools that have played an important role in your business? Tweet your thoughts at @envato and we’ll share the best suggestions!

Read next: How the subscriber share model is disrupting the subscription economy

The post Subscriptions and Freelance Tools Worth Paying for To Grow Your Business appeared first on Envato.

Creating the written content for your online portfolio can seem like an overwhelming prospect when considering the entire process as a whole. Each page requires multiple necessary elements for telling the story of your business and work, while also encouraging visitors to get in touch with you to discuss business opportunities. If writing really isn’t your thing, the idea of sitting down and getting everything done can be something that ends up getting pushed back indefinitely.

Don’t let overwhelm get in the way of creating a design portfolio website that’s perfectly representative of you, while driving leads for new business opportunities. Here’s how to DIY the copywriting for your design portfolio website, one manageable page element at a time:

Home Page

The homepage is arguably the most important page for your business, where visitors first land to learn more about you. As such, it should be constructed with care, incorporating multiple conversions factors encouraging visitors to move deeper into your website (or get in touch), while also telling the story of what makes you unique.

Here are some important elements to include on your design portfolio website’s homepage, with a few tips for writing them:

• Heading: The h1 tag of your website is just as important to search engines as it is to your website’s human visitors. You should use it to incorporate your most important keyword while also using it to communicate the purpose of your website and the type of clients you serve. For example, my portfolio might use a primary heading saying something like, “Maddy Osman is an SEO Content Machine who works with Fortune 500 companies”.
• Slider Content: Many modern portfolio themes involve the use of a slider to immediately grab a visitor’s attention. If you’re using a theme with a slider, you’ll have to come up with slider content that includes headings, a phrase or short sentence, and a call to action for each slider. Use your slider to call attention to something new and exciting (like a new portfolio piece/case study), or an important action/page you want to guide visitors to (like your blog or contact page).
• Feature Items: In many ways, feature items act like slider content: drawing attention to desired conversion activities. Unlike sliders, they tend to be more permanent page elements. Use your feature items as an opportunity to send visitors to your most important web pages: your portfolio, your contact page, and a blog or about page. Give them a title, sentence or two descriptions, and relevant calls to action (“Learn More” would do just fine).
• Testimonials: Testimonials shouldn’t live on their own page, but rather, should be strategically woven throughout your entire design portfolio website. The good news? You don’t have to create any original content! The bad news? If you don’t currently have any testimonials to work with, you’ll have to start asking past clients and collaborators for their input. For best results, ask people to leave public recommendations on LinkedIn as a public record, then copy over for use on your homepage, service pages, and wherever else they’re most appropriate.
• Email Newsletter Call Out: Not everyone looking through your website wants to be a client right now, so you’ll want to incorporate some type of conversion mechanism for staying in touch. Create compelling copy for why someone might want to sign up for your emails: general copy about “email updates” will not interest anyone. Consider creating a lead magnet that brings value to subscribers in exchange for their email address.

Other homepage elements you may want to include (but don’t necessarily need to create copy for) include:

• Features for your most recent or most popular blog posts
• A feature area with links to relevant case studies or recent portfolio additions
• Client logos to show social proof for working with you

About Page

Writing an irresistible about page is no easy feat, so consider making the job a bit easier by separating your writing into a few distinct pieces:

• Who You Are & Why You Design: Though your about page should honestly be more about connecting with your visitor than launching into a detailed autobiography of your life, most visitors click through to this page because they want to learn more about the person behind the portfolio. Take some time to talk about some of your quirks and what got you into this profession. You could also talk about where you live and your industry involvements. Just remember that brevity will be key when it comes to talking about yourself so as not to distract from your design portfolio website’s conversion goals.
• Who You Serve: Tell the story of your business through the examples of the clients you’ve worked with. As long as you don’t have an NDA with them, feel free to name drop some of the companies you’ve designed for, and some of the positive things you’ve helped them to achieve through your work. This is also an ideal place for weaving in another compelling client testimonial or two.
• What You Do: Give people an idea of what to expect when working with you. What areas do you specialize in? What are your favorite types of projects? Have you won any awards for the work you specialize in? Use this part of your about page to answer any questions clients might have about working with you—you could even incorporate the use of a FAQ area if you’re frequently being emailed about certain questions from prospective clients.

While you’re working on the copy for your about page, you might also consider drawing inspiration from examples of awesome about pages.

Services Page(s)

A service page or individual service pages give context to how you provide that given service as an individual.

If you have just one service page, it’ll probably need:

• A heading with your most important keyword
• A subheading for each offering
• A 1-2 paragraph description of each service offering, with a call to action to get in touch after each one

If you have one page per service area (recommended), you’ll want to think of content in terms of:

• A heading with your most important keyword
• A quick 1-3 sentence description of the service
• 3+ “Feature Items” that focus on unique and compelling elements that you bring to providing that service

More so than any other page on your design portfolio website, it’s a good idea to directly embed contact forms on service pages.

Contact Page

Your contact page won’t require a lot of copy, but rather the smart arrangement of multiple options for getting in touch.

If your graphic design business targets local business, it will be essential to provide the NAP on your contact page (and footer). This abbreviation refers to the company’s official name, address, and phone number. You’ll get bonus points with local SEO if you also embed a Google Map with your businesses location on your contact page.

Here are a few ways you can encourage people to get in touch on your contact page:

• Phone Number and Address: Especially if you work with local businesses.
• Contact form: Conversion best practices suggest that the less fields, the better, but when it comes to B2B services, it’s recommended to ask for the contact’s name, phone number, email address, a subject line, and a message.
• Calendar scheduler: A tool like Calendly can empower potential clients to book time to talk to you based on your own calendar availability.

Blog Page

The main consideration for creating copy on your blog page is the blog itself, which is definitely outside of the scope of this article! That said, there is one particular page element worth focusing on that you may have to create some copy for—the sidebar.

Some people choose to go without a sidebar, preferring not to distract from the actual blog content. But here are a few blog sidebar content elements you might consider incorporating:

• A search bar: If you have a fair amount of content on your blog, this will help visitors find the articles most relevant to them. In terms of necessary content, you might create a custom title for your search, like “Search through our content archives”.
• Related posts: This functionality can be accomplished through the use of a WordPress plugin or a built-in theme feature. Again, all you really have to do is give it a relevant title.
• Email signup: If people are digging the content you create, make it easy for them to subscribe to get more. Include a compelling call to action or lead magnet, similar to what you’ve already written for your homepage.

Hiring Yourself to Write the Copy For Your Design Portfolio Website

Broken up into bite-sized elements, the prospect of doing the copywriting for your own design portfolio website seems completely achievable. For best results, give yourself enough time to focus on each individual element. Don’t try to rush the process, which can break down under a tight deadline.

What other tips would you give to a person undertaking the task of copywriting their own design portfolio website?

The post Hire Yourself to Write the Copy for Your Design Portfolio Website appeared first on Envato.

Last week, one of my clients, a business consultant, told me he was this close to closing his biggest deal yet. The only problem? He doesn’t have a website.

“They don’t think I’m the real deal because they can’t find me online,” he said. “I need my site finished already!”

We’ve been working on his new site for a few weeks now and it will be launched next month – “two years too late!” according to my client.

But he does bring up a valid point: If you’re a consultant or coach and don’t have a website, does your business exist? Or are you just a person with a phone?

It’s 2017 and using the internet is more than just a part of everyday life – it’s the medium we use to access every piece of information we need to go about our day, from checking our emails to reading the news and shopping online. Our social lives and careers rely on the connections we make online.

So having an online presence for your consulting or coaching business is crucial since everyone who might want your services will turn to Google when they need help.

But before you go and get yourself a new website, here are a few key site features to keep in mind when choosing a WordPress theme.

What to Look for in a Coaching / Consulting WordPress Theme

When you search for “consulting” in our theme marketplace, 322 results are returned. That’s a lot of themes. So where do you start?

Well, the kind of theme you choose all depends on the kind of work you do. For example, if you’re a life coach you should look out for themes that match your niche, so steer clear of business themes.

No matter what kind of consulting or coaching you do, it’s also important to consider the services you offer and what functionality your website will need to provide them online. For instance:

• Do you offer courses? You’ll need a learning management system
• Do you run events? You’ll need an events plugin
• Do you want to accept appointments? You’ll need a bookings plugin

Let’s take a look at some of the website features to look out for when choosing a theme as well as some great examples you’ll find in our theme marketplace.

1. Contact Form

Let’s start with one of the most important element your website absolutely can’t do without: a contact form.

The reason you want to get your business online in the first place is so people can get in touch with you. Whatever types of contact information you choose to share, make sure it’s really, really easy for people to contact you by providing lots of different options, such as:

• Email address
• Contact form
• Phone number
• Links to social media accounts, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
• Physical address

A fantastic example of a theme that has nailed its contact page is Business Consulting – Coaching, Business Training & Consulting WordPress Theme. This theme has it all – an eye-catching Google Map of the business’s physical address, as well as multiple other different ways to get in touch. There’s also space for a FAQ so you can answer any common queries and quell any concerns.

For more on creating a killer contact page, check out The Essentials of Crafting a Killer ”Contact” Page on WordPress.

2. Testimonials

The success of many businesses hinges heavily on word of mouth. When potential clients are researching you online, they’re getting to know you by way of the content on your site. If they’ve never heard of your business before, no doubt they’ll be skeptical and hesitant to trust you.

Testimonials serve as a way to put site visitors at ease by showing how others have benefited from your services. Positive quotes that affirm the quality work you have completed and how easy you are to work with provide a powerful social cue, establishing trust and eliciting action.

Take Advice – Consulting & Business WordPress Theme by ThemesChannel | ThemeForest for instance. This business consulting theme displays testimonials in a slider that site visitors can scroll through. It can also automatically rotate between a number of quotes of your choosing. The large font size is eye-catching and the photo puts a face to the words, helping to humanize the message.

Tribe Coach – Feminine Coaching Business WordPress Theme also displays testimonials really well, as you can see here:

The quotes are easy to read, and like the Advice theme above, each testimonial displays the person’s name, role and business so you know the quote is legit.

3. Case Studies

Well-written case studies take testimonials a step further. Plus, here’s a stat for you: 88% of consumers trust online product reviews and posts on social networks as much as personal recommendations before making a purchase online.

So leverage your testimonials as much as you can and turn them into in-depth case studies that detail how you’ve helped your clients, further establishing proof that what you’re offering is valuable and of good quality.

LifeGuide – Personal and Life Coach WordPress theme is an excellent example of case studies displayed really well. The homepage demo points to a case studies landing page where you can display a number of different case studies.

4. Bookings and Appointments

If you would like potential clients to make appointments directly through your site, you can do this by installing a bookings plugin with your WordPress website.

You’ll need to install a bookings and appointments plugin separately to your theme, though many themes will tell you which plugins they are compatible with.

A great example of this is (again) LifeGuide – Personal and Life Coach WordPress theme. The latest version of the theme integrates nicely with the free Booked Appointments plugin so site visitors can make appointments and you can easily manage any bookings made through your site.

It offers calendar or list view, the ability to customize the confirmation email, a powerful appointments management calendar, and a responsive design so you can view upcoming bookings right from your phone.

An example of the bookings calendar in LifeGuide – Personal and Life Coach WordPress theme.

5. Events

For many consultants and coaches, events plan an important role of their business – my own business consulting client included, he runs seminars for business leaders. So whether you plan to organize tax forums or run health and wellness workshops, ensuring your theme is compatible with an events plugin is essential.

Life Coach and Psychologist Personal Theme by AncoraThemes | ThemeForest provides integration with the Events Calendar plugin for its stunning events calendar. Its events calendar offers functionality for browsing months and you can also search dates and keywords.

Check out our plugin marketplace for more events plugins.

6. Online Learning

If you run workshops for your clients IRL, why not offer them online? Not only will you open your business up to a wider audience, but many potential clients will also find it convenient being able to access your materials from the comfort of their own home.

What you need to look out for are themes that include integration with a Learning Management System (LMS). LMS plugins for WordPress allow you to create and manage courses.

Take Speaker and Life Coach WordPress Theme | Coaching WP by ThimPress | ThemeForest, for example. This theme is compatible with the free LearnPress plugin so you can create lessons and quizzes, communicate with students, and sell access to courses.

What’s great about how this theme integrates LearnPress is that you can customize how your courses are displayed right down to how many students have signed up for a course.=

Conclusion

Whether you’re a career or skills coach, help businesses or executives, or simply want a website for your life coaching, you’re bound to find a design with the functionality you need in our theme marketplace.

If you find a theme you love that reflects your business but it doesn’t include all the features you need, don’t stress! There are hundreds of plugins in our marketplace that can add just about any functionality you need to your site.

The post Consultant Websites: How to Choose a Coaching and Consulting WordPress Theme appeared first on Envato.

The term “digital nomad” gets thrown around a lot as the ideal for making money doing what you love, in a way that makes you location independent. Severing your connection to physical locations and time zones enables you to make world travel more than just a once-in-awhile vacation plan. As a digital nomad, you can bring your work just about anywhere you please, jumping from country to country as often as you’d like.

It’s not all fun and excitement—a digital nomad lifestyle certainly takes discipline and processes to be effective. Here’s what you need to know to get started:

Digital Nomad Lifestyle Basic Needs

As part of a transition to a digital nomad lifestyle, you’re going to have to downsize—a lot. But don’t get rid of everything! Here are some essential physical possessions you’ll need:

• A Good Computer: Digital nomads conduct the majority of their work through their laptops. Stray away from Chromebooks: you’ll need something with as much (or more!) computing power than a good desktop computer.
• A Stable Internet Connection: Ok, this isn’t technically a physical possession, but it’s definitely a need on par in importance with your computer. Before settling into a coffee shop for the day in your country of choice, make sure to test the free wifi to see if it will suit your needs. Traveling and working domestically, you might opt to invest in a hotspot so that you never have to rely on anyone else for internet access.
• Chargers: If you’re posting up at a coffee shop or coworking space all day, you’ll want to make sure you have everything you need to get work done, without getting shut down because of low battery issues. Remember to pack your laptop charger, phone charger, and chargers for other gadgets you want to keep at full battery.
• Reusable Water Bottle: No matter where you work, it’s important to stay hydrated. Traveling with a reusable water bottle makes it so that you always have a receptacle to hold water.
• Headphones with a Built-In Microphone: Headphones and music make it easy to block out the noise around you so that you can settle in and get work done. With a built-in microphone, they also enable you to take client calls that you can hear clearly in public places.
• A Good Computer Bag: The standard laptop bag probably isn’t big enough for a digital nomad who may plan to be out and about all day long. Instead, opt for a backpack with a pocket for your laptop, a water bottle holder, and various zippered areas to organize everything else. An affordable option is Mancro’s Laptop Backpack on Amazon (their bestseller in the category).

The Essential Digital Nomad Toolset

Once you’ve got the basics covered, you’ll want to start thinking about what tools you need to make use of to help bridge the gap between your new digital nomad lifestyle and your existing business.

Here are a few essentials to get you started:

Skype

Once you start traveling internationally, you won’t be able to rely on cellular data to stay in touch with clients and other collaborators (unless you can stomach the bill for doing so!). One of the most popular tools for communicating with people around the world is Skype. It’s reach and popularity make it ideal for setting and executing meetings—whether using audio or video. Skype is free to use so long as you and your contact are using wifi, but you can also purchase credits for calling phone numbers through Skype.

Zoom is another tool you might consider investing in for making it easy to conduct meetings with clients from anywhere in the world, as you can call in via phone or computer.

Paypal

Image Source: Paypal

Adopting the digital nomad lifestyle means that you’ll probably pick up clients from different corners of the world. Normally, collecting payments from international organizations can be a challenge. However, Paypal transcends international boundaries and makes it straightforward to accept payments from practically anywhere.

One potential caveat involves a payment processing fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) or international fees (4.4% transaction fee plus a fixed fee based on currency received), but both of these fee types can be considered a cost of doing business. In most cases, you’ll be able to claim these fees as tax deductions—just make sure to confirm with your accountant. 

Google Drive

Image Source: Google Drive

If you’re sharing documents with clients, you need a solution for doing so that is both convenient and secure. There are plenty of options for cloud-based document sharing, but Google Drive has it all:

• The ability to collaborate with others in real time
• The ability to set permissions and various levels of access to documents
• Version control and commenting/suggestions

Though you’re limited to 15 gigabytes of data for free, you can upgrade your data access at any time starting at $1.99/month for 100 gigabytes. Dropbox is another excellent option for cloud-based document sharing. 

Calendly

If you make frequent use of Google products, it’s probably safe to assume that Google Calendar is one of your go-tos. When you’re working with clients all over the world (or just in a different timezone than you), you’ll need an easy scheduling solution that doesn’t require you to calculate time differences. Calendly shows clients your availability, and allows them to set meetings in their own timezone. You can get by with the basic free plan, but there’s additional functionality in their Premium plans, which start at $8/month.

Traveling Around

A final area of consideration when it comes to living the digital nomad lifestyle is the aspect of travel. The following tools can help you find the best deals on flights as well as city-specific information you’ll need to properly rock the digital nomad lifestyle.

Hopper

Hopper is a mobile app that tells you the best times to fly from place to place based on historical data. It’s ideal for someone with a flexible schedule, making it easy to plan flights when pricing will be at it’s lowest.

Scott’s Cheap Flights

Hopper relies on big data, but Scott’s Cheap Flights relies on actual people who scout out mistake fares and other ridiculously low priced flight options. You set your desired departure cities and Scott’s team sends email alerts for ridiculously cheap international flight deals with instructions for how to book—often through multiple emails each day. It’s ideal for serendipitous travel, which is perfect for the digital nomad lifestyle.

Nomad List

Planning your next digital nomad move? Nomad List gives you an idea of what to expect in each city as far as internet accessibility, rent, nightlife, weather, and even safety.

Workfrom

Wondering where to spend your day? Workfrom provides location-specific options for getting work done, remotely. It provides a number of search filters for picking a location based on noise levels, public or private accessibility, and which options are open late.

The Digital Nomad Lifestyle

If you’re just starting to consider the digital nomad lifestyle, this list is really just the tip of the iceberg as far as what you’ll need to be successful. Before selling all your possessions and breaking your current lease, make sure to do your research and plan out exactly how you’re going to pull this off.

If you’re ready to break into the digital nomad lifestyle, know that you’re not alone in doing so. Leave your questions in the comments below to connect with other digital nomads!

The post Live a Digital Nomad Lifestyle with These Tools appeared first on Envato.