15 Free Logo Creator Tools to Craft Logos in 15 minutes

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Custom logo designers set so high prices for their services that many startups can’t afford them. You can certainly try to draw a logo from scratch yourself, but you’ll need to master Photoshop first and borrow creativity somewhere. Fortunately, there is also a third alternative – online logo creator tools that allow you to craft a design right in the browser at no cost. The whole process is truly easy-breezy and fast. Just choose a symbol, type some words, customize them a little, and your logo is ready. You can complete it even during your lunch break.

To help you choose the right solution, TemplateMonster compiled a roundup of 15 free logo creator tools. Each of them is presented with a brief checklist of its major features, more detailed description and even examples of the logos you can design with its help.

Custom Symbols. Thanks to these elements, you don’t need to draw anything from scratch. Just choose a pre-designed symbol and customize it. The choice of custom symbols is quite wide – you can experiment with different shapes (circular, square, triangular, etc) and styles (minimalist, abstract, cartoon, etc).

Industry Categorization. To find the necessary solution in a huge amount of symbols faster, you can filter them by industries. There are multiple fields to choose from, particularly animals, clothes, erotic, legal, fitness, security, travel, and many others.

Styling Options. In terms of customization, it’s possible to edit different facets of both text and symbols, from colors and fonts to size and position. Depending on the free logo creator, you can also apply special effects to your logo such as drop shadows, glowing, reflection, etc.

Mockup Preview. A logo is a versatile element that is used not only on the site, but also business cards, T-shirts, etc. Thanks to the mockup preview feature, you can make sure that your logo design looks equally well in different environments.

Available Formats. It’s possible to download the logo design you create in JPEG, AI, EPS, PDF, PNG, SVG, and GIF. Keep in mind that different tools support different formats.

In addition to the free logo creator, you can also find some tips to follow when working on your logo design. For example, you will learn how to make it creative, choose the right colors and fonts, etc. Keep in mind that a logo is what makes your brand distinctive among competitors, that’s why you must focus on its design with due diligence. Checkwhat you need to design logos like a pro in the Monster post.

98 Best WordPress Plugins 2016 Approved by Top Bloggers

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Are you searching for the plugins that would make your WordPress blog user-friendlier and more functional? Take an exclusive opportunity to consult the experts. The team of TemplateMonster got in touch with owners of popular WordPress blogs to find out what plugins are installed in their admin panels. While some of them decided to keep that info in secret, 14 bloggers revealed the functionalities of their resources. As a result, TM compiled a list of 98 of the best WordPress plugins 2016.

The blogs that gave an insight into their back-ends include CodeinWP, FlyWheel, ShoutMeLoud, TorqueMag, WebAppers, WinningWP, WPBeginner, WPDailyThemes, WPKube, WPLift, WPMayor, WPMU Dev Blog, WPSuperstars, and WPTavern. In addition to them, MonsterPost also unveiled the plugins installed in its dashboard. For easier browsing through the list of 98 best WordPress plugins 2016, it is divided into two groups. Each group is also subdivided into categories by purposes. Here they are.

Plugins Used More Often Others

Site Performance Optimization WordPress Plugins
Navigation WordPress Plugins
Security WordPress Plugins
Comments WordPress Plugins
Contact Form WordPress plugins
Email WordPress Plugins
Social Media WordPress Plugins
WordPress Plugins for Other Purposes (e.g., SEO, editorial calendar, and push notifications)

Plugins Used by Individual Blogs

Content Optimization WordPress Plugins
Plugins to Preview Post Drafts
Similar Posts WordPress Plugins
Plugins for a More Effective Work with Authors
Caching WordPress Plugins
Social Media WordPress Plugins
Productivity Optimization WordPress Plugins
SEO Optimization WordPress Plugins
Redirect WordPress Plugins
WordPress Plugins to Manage Code
Notifications WordPress Plugins
Dashboard Management Plugins
Email Service WordPress Plugins
Security WordPress Plugins
WordPress Plugins to Manage Commercials
Plugins for Affiliate Marketing
WordPress Plugins for Ready Made Forms
WordPress Search Plugins
Other (for sticky widgets, polls, ratings, backup, meta slider, etc)

As you can see, the choice of the best WordPress plugins 2016 is really wide and embraces multiple purposes. What makes them especially cool is that they’ve been approved by the top bloggers. It means you can use only tried and tested solutions on your blog. So, proceed to the TemplateMonster post with the top WP plugins and choose. Good luck!

Posted in Web Design, WordPress | Leave a comment

Check out a More Effective Alternative to Magento Luma Theme

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Not long ago, Magento developers released the second version of their platform to optimize the experience of both online merchants and shoppers. Magento 2 utilizes cutting-edge technologies that include PHP 5.5.x, Apache 2.2, MySQL5.6, HTML5, CSS3, CSS Pre-processor, PSR Compliance, Magento performance toolkit, and Magento UI Library. Along with a new version of the platform, a new default theme was released, i.e. Luma. Let’s find out what features of the updated platform empower Magento Luma theme in its core.

Full Page Caching. With its help, the average time of page loading will decrease to 1-2 seconds. To compare, it takes 5-10 seconds for non-cached files to load.

More Streamlined Checkout. When existing customers log out, there’s no need to remember their passwords. Magento 2 comes without an option of choosing the credit card type, as it can identify it automatically, based on the first digit. For example, 3 is for Amex, 4 is for Visa, 5 is for MasterCard, etc.

“App” File Structure. The new structure type makes it easier to access all the layouts, templates, JS and CSS files. Thus, you can customize your site without changing its functionality.

Multi-Shopping Experience. When more than 100 customers are placing an order simultaneously, there’s no table locking. Thanks to an opportunity to compare and review a lot of items, Magento 2 provides a multi-shopping experience within a single transaction.

Visual Design Editor. This tool can let you edit containers and blocks without the need to have any special skills in coding.

While Luma is a good choice for your store, TemplateMonster released a free alternative with a more thought-out design dubbed F2. Here is a comparative review of Magento Luma theme vs F2 theme, where you can find out all the differences between their home, category, and single product pages. Here are the main points you can learn:

what makes F2 a more readable solution than Luma;
how F2 can introduce your store more effectively;
what F2 uses to show multiple items in a compact manner;
what filters Luma lacks and F2 has to facilitate the product search;
how F2 allows you to offer more related items to widen the customer’s choice.

These and other things are revealed in the detailed comparison of Magento Luma theme and F2 freebie by TemplateMonster. Don’t hesitate to read the review to find out what your Magento-powered store needs to ensure a user-friendlier experience.

Posted in eCommerce, Templates for Online Stores | Leave a comment

Outdate Your Projects with 200 Vintage Freebies

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Once popular in the hipster subculture, the vintage style has found its way to both graphic and web design spheres. Vintage doesn’t mean outdated and dull. This style is often used by designers today, as it can influence viewers psychologically. It’s believed to impart an echo of the good old days to the artwork and, therefore, stir up nostalgic feelings. The trend is notable for heavy use of rough paper, wood, expressive typography, etc. If you feel like trying any of these things in your next project, we’d like to share a cool roundup with 200 vintage freebies with you.

The roundup consists of 9 categories that embrace different types of items. Check them out one by one below, please.

40 Logo Templates. Here, you can find solutions for multiple topics, e.g. animals, food, barbershop, and camping, to name a few. You can use them as logos, product labels, etc. These fully editable and scalable items are available in different formats (PSD, Al, EPS), shapes, colors, and come with free fonts.

40 Mockups. This set has vintage solutions to show off your work in different environments. They include various stationary items, devices, documents, business cards, flyers, CD covers, hanging wall signs, smart watches and other wearables.

15 Icon Sets. These pixel-perfect items are meant for various purposes, particularly website and app design, Infographics, eCommerce, social media, etc. Icons from this category depict vintage vehicles, devices, arrows, beards, moustaches, glasses, hipster elements, etc.

45 Fonts. Feel free to an old-fashioned touch to your site typography with these 45 vintage freebies.

15 Textures. Using these free vintage textures, you can add a retro or worn-out look to your artworks. Textures of aged wood, halftone patterns, vintage post card scans, dust and starburst textures, – these and many other freebies are waiting for you.

15 Vectors. This set gives a free access to vintage vector elements. They portray mountains, forest, travel, camping, barbeque, vehicles, marine world, and much more.

10 Brushes. Look through free vintage brushes depicting nautical objects, crowns, genuine stamps, fingerprints, architectural monuments of the Old World, etc.

10 Photoshop Actions. With the help of these free filters, you can add various retro effects to your imagery.

10 Text Effects. With these vintage effects, you can create volumetric outlined letters, diagonal text patterns, plain striped shadows, metallic glows, halftone shadows, strokes, etc.

Are you impressed? Then, go to the roundup of 200 vintage freebies and choose the necessary elements for your artworks.

Important! Before using any of these vintage freebies, read license terms carefully. While the majority of mockups can be used both for personal and commercial purposes, some fonts require authors’ attribution or contacting them directly to get their consent on commercial use.

Posted in Freebies (other than templates), Web Design | Leave a comment

Hot Release of TemplateMonster GPL WordPress Themes

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Nick Campbell

A lot of web design companies release ready-made themes under the GPL license. This type of license allows you to use them on unlimited sites and even resell as your own designs. Not long ago, TemplateMonster also started developing 100% GPL WordPress themes that cost $45. It is much less than the price of single-site WP themes available in the TM inventory. To celebrate this landmark, the company has released a bundle of 5 GPL WordPress themes. It costs $75, but you can also buy it for only $45 from March 29 to April 8. Isn’t it awesome to get five GPL themes for the price of one?

GPL WordPress themes

Let’s find out more about the themes from the bundle. To make the right decision, check out their main features in a brief overview below.

WordPress Live Customizer

These GPL WordPress themes are integrated with WP Customizer. It will let you adapt the default design to your personal needs in less than an hour. What’s cool about this intuitive tool is a possibility to preview all the changes live, without waiting for the page to reload. Not only does it provide comfort, but also helps save time.

While tweaking the layout, you can set up your website’s logo and Favicon, show or hide its tagline, add or remove a top search bar, etc. To add a unique feel to your resource, you can change the color of various elements, from links and buttons to headings and backgrounds. In terms of typography customization, it’s also possible to adjust the font size, line height, letter spacing, etc.
Continue reading →

Posted in Promos and Discounts, WordPress | Leave a comment

Top 10 Premium eCommerce Templates

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Irene Fatyanova

Want to build an online store that will engage more clientele and generate revenue, but don’t have any knowledge of web development? Well, in case you didn’t know, there’s plenty of ready-made solutions waiting for you to cast a glance upon! All it takes is to review a selection of the Top 10 Premium eCommerce Templates created for multiple online commerce engines such as Magento, PrestaShop, VirtueMart, Zen Cart, OpenCart etc. Just take a closer look at these professional eCommerce templates and choose the items that will fit your business concept perfectly!

Fashion Clothes Store Magento Theme

Ketty is one of the best Magento themes for building a fashion clothes and apparel online store. This Clothing Store Magento Theme has numerous features such as Megamenu, grid based content layout, retina ready images and modern typography to highlight the best offers in your online store. Fully responsive design, SEO-friendly features and cross-browser compatibility will help your business venture to create a solid online presence with minimum effort!

Continue reading →

Posted in eCommerce, Opencart Templates, PrestaShop Themes, Shopify Themes | Leave a comment

5 Responsive Landing Page Templates with Drag-and-Drop Builder

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Every marketing specialist knows that a killer landing page is an effective instrument to generate leads and sales. But only few marketers are aware of the possibility to build custom landing pages without third-party help. Today, I’d like to tell you how to do it promptly, in around 30 minutes. TemplateMonster released 5 landing page templates with drag-and-drop builder. The tool allows you to experiment with your design at the frontend. No knowledge of HTML, CSS, or any other coding tricks is required.

The templates are meant for both end users and developers who want to speed up their workflow. With the HTML builder, the whole process of customization goes in 6 easy-breezy steps. Here they are.

Enter the panel of the tool.
Choose the necessary pre-defined blocks in the burger menu on the left.
Drag and drop them to the blank canvas.
Change the position of each block by dragging and dropping.
Delete unnecessary blocks one by one or all at once with a single click.
Edit titles, text, images, videos, icons, links, etc.

That’s all. Just take a few easy steps, and your landing page is ready to promote your campaign.

Now, let’s take a closer at the drag-and-drop HTML builder integrated into these landing page templates. The tool utilizes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and a flat UI kit allowing you to design a clean, user-friendly layout. There is also a PHP file to export the markup you build. Below, you can find pre-defined blocks it comes with. Take into account that each template has its own number of blocks.

Intro Blocks

landing page predefined blocks

Intro block layouts vary depending on the goal of your marketing campaign. You can choose from designs highlighting product details, showing the countdown to your discount expiry, stimulating prospects for subscription, and many others.

* * *

Continue reading →

Posted in news, One-Page Layouts | 1 Comment

20 Free Valentine’s Day PSD Flyers to Attract Lonely Hearts

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Everyone longs for attention on Saint Valentine’s Day, be it hearty congratulation with a postcard or invitation to a romantic event. No one wants to stay alone on the Day of Love, that’s why a lot of parties are arranged throughout the world. If you are planning an event for this holiday, one of the first things to focus on is its promotion. This is when my hand-picked selection of 20 free Valentine’s Day PSD flyers will come in handy.

First of all, let’s figure out what advantages these holiday freebies provide.

Money Saving. These flyers are meant for those of you who stick to a tight budget. Any party arrangement requires a lot of money, so you will have an opportunity to save some at least on invitations.

Versatile Nature. You can use these flyers to promote various events, particularly a grand-scale gathering, club bash, restaurant dinner, home party or anything else.

Variety of Styles. The flyers from this selection are designed in different styles. Whether you need a classy invitation for a romantic evening or a splashy one for a night of revelry, you’ll easily find what you’re looking for.

Unlimited Customization. These layered PSD templates can be edited in Photoshop in any possible way. From colors and images to text and objects, you can experiment with their designs as long as your imagination permits.

Now, look through 20 free Valentine’s Day PSD flyers and choose the one that can help you spread the word about your upcoming event efficiently.

Valentine’s Day – Club and Party Free Flyer PSD Template

This free Saint Valentine’s Day flyer boasts an elegant composition with 3D elements, e.g. hearts that are half-full of love elixir. Its dimensions are 1275 px x 1875 px (or 4” х 6” with 0,25” bleed). You can easily edit any part of this well-layered PSD, from its text and imagery to palette and objects. The fonts used in its design include Wolf in the City, Fontdinerdotcom Luvable, and Bebas Neue. For ease of use, the template comes packed with a help file.

* * *

Continue reading →

Posted in Freebies (other than templates), Print Design | Leave a comment

Modicate Multipurpose HTML5 Template: Get All You Need in One Package

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Are you tired of searching for third-party tools to extend your template functionality? There is a solution for such a problem. TemplateMonster has released a multipurpose HTML5 template that will let you have everything required for building a full-featured site out of the box. Dubbed Modicate, the template is a versatile solution for any website type, be it a blog, portfolio or online store.

Modicate is packed with 50+ ready-made HTML5 pages, various UI elements, header & footer styles, CSS3 animations, transition effects, live search, contact forms, and much more. As you can see, the choice is really wide. Regardless of such a huge pack, the theme has optimal loading times due to a valid code complying with W3C and SEO standards.

Read an overview of Modicate to find out how your site can benefit from it. To check its features in action, view the demo.

Main Pages

The package of Modicate has templates for pages that can help you introduce your company in full. They are as follows: about, team, team member profile, clients, pricing, FAQ, services, and contact page available in 2 versions. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.

Team Member Profile

The team member profile is a good complement to the team page. With its help, you can introduce each employee individually with a photo, some text, social links and progress bars to display their skill levels.

* * *

Continue reading →

Posted in news, Website Templates | Leave a comment

Is Your Admin Panel Still Dull and Non-User Friendly?

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Nick Campbell

Formerly, admin panels had the same look and served only for functional needs. But the world moves on, and so does the sphere of technology. Today, it’s possible to swap a standard admin interface for a visually appealing, functionally powerful and structurally thought-out alternative. Not long ago, TemplateMonster released a cool Bootstrap admin template to help developers build stylish and user-friendly dashboards with ease. Read on to find out what this innovative product offers to users.

First of all, let’s dig into the core of this admin template. Built with HTML5 and CSS3, it features a clean and valid code that can optimize your website loading times in all the modern browsers. Integration with Bootstrap 3 provides a responsive grid making the dashboard accessible on different devices. To extend CSS properties of your site, the template also makes use of LESS.

Now, take a closer look at what’s inside the package of this Bootstrap admin template.