While some may think that business cards will become obsolete in a “paperless” world, the fact remains that every brand identity cannot do without them. It is an integral part of every presentation toolkit. And let’s be honest. Despite all of those brand-new nifty things, we still adore some traditional paper-based instruments. Smart, crafty business cards are one of them. There is something special in them. Something that forces us to save them, put them in our wallet or card holder.
Business cards are one of those instruments that skillfully ignore the limitations imposed by their relatively small size. Despite occupying only 7 square inches, they can contain not only vital contact information, but also lavish and intricate design. From primitive minimalistic ideas to bright skeuomorphic ones, you can stumble upon just about anything.
However, what has caught our attention is abstract art. As a rule, design is centered around the company, featuring things that are specific to the business. And abstract art is, well, abstract. There are no clear messages inside. You need to dive deep to find them. It always gives you food for thought.
Today, we offer you a dozen beautiful business cards that feature abstract art.
As you may have noticed, the design of “Bar a Pho” has a subtle eastern charm. The reason for that is simple – it was crafted for a Vietnamese restaurant. What’s more, the abstract illustrations are not just random here. They are used to portray the main dish of the establishment – the soup Pho. As a result, the business card looks fantastic as well as conveys the proper message.
These business cards by Manon Louart are marked by beautiful color combinations and bizarre, yet appealing geometric entourage. The natural motifs can be seen in all the details, starting from the background and ending with the foreground elements. It looks fresh, crisp and elegant.
Much like in the previous example, this business card by Nicole Castaneda gets its beauty from a bunch of ultra-thin lines that form curves and sleek shapes. The line art is gorgeous here; it effortlessly conveys the feminine aura of the owner.
Aline Kaori has done a great job of combining two of the most traditional tools: letterpress and calligraphy. The result is magnificent. The business card looks exquisite, sophisticated, and appealing. The watercolor paints were used to create a vibrant, artistic entourage on the back that is one of a kind for each item.
This business card oozes a powerful charm of art deco. A beautiful embossed effect in tandem with gorgeous, almost royal green, color increasingly enhances the overall impact. It looks good even in white. Though, in this color option, it feels more ordinary.
The front side of the business card created by Daniela Gonçalves strikes you as a piece that includes nothing but a scribble. However, you can actually make out facial features in here. The illustration is bizarre, yet in good way. It adds a touch of individuality to the project.
This is another business card design in our collection that breaks away from the digital tools and opts in favor of old-timey instruments such as markers. They help to instill a sense of warmth into the project and add an authentic appeal. Each card has its own drawing.
It is here where minimalism meets line art. The result is intriguing. The card has a relatively neutral design. Still, all of those typography-inspired artworks that mark the front side give their own zest. It is vivid proof that sometimes less is more.
Let’s move from a minimalistic, monochrome line style to some splashes of color and vibrant, glossy surfaces. The business card of Belen Ferreno stands in a stark contrast to the previous example. It is bright, intense and showy. You can feel the power of digital art that radiates of creativity.
This is another bright solution in our collection. Although it does not have a chaotic explosion of tones and hues, the coloring here is gorgeous. Guided by the company’s name, the designers at EVNE Developers managed to convey its essence through digital tools, coming up with this outstanding reef-inspired composition.
While all of the previous examples made sense in some way or another, this one gives us a lot to think about. The designs are grotesque. This is fantastic digital abstract art that exudes modernity and techno charm on all fronts.
This business card was created for a small local festival based in Pistoia, a city famous for production of ornamental plants. So, it comes as no surprise that the design is overfilled with natural motifs. It is bright, energetic and simply outstanding.
A Different View
Abstract art always draws attention. It makes us think and encourages us to find the hidden messages. It bears a particular gamut of emotions, to say nothing of its powerful creative atmosphere.
In the case of business cards, this only plays into its hands. When you see something extravagant like the design of the card by Ronnie Alley Design, refined like Manon Louart’s card or crafty and authentic like the card by Aline Kaori, it always makes you stop. And that is exactly what you need to achieve with your business card.
A professional slide deck can make all the difference between having a successful presentation or boring your audience and losing their interest. However, designing a slide deck from scratch is time-consuming, so it’s good that there are pre-made templates that can save you time.
In this roundup, we’ve gathered the best templates and themes for Google Slides so you can design your presentation in the cloud, share it with others, and collaborate on it with your team members.
The templates on this list will make it easy to get started with your presentation design, but you can also use them as an inspiration if you prefer to create your own presentation design.
If you’re looking for free Keynote templates, take a look at this collection. And, you’ll find free Powerpoint templates here.
How to Import & Install a Template into Google Slides
Google Slides make it easy to create any type of presentation and there are hundreds of Google Slide templates available online that you can use as a starting point for your presentation design. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to import and install a template into Google Slides.
Download and unzip the Google Slide template you want to use
Navigate to your Google Drive
Click the New button and then select Google Slides > Blank Presentation
Go to File > Import Slides
Click on the Upload tab and drag the downloaded Google Slide template onto the screen
Select the individual slides you want to import and press the Import Slides button
Once the process is finished, your template will be loaded in Google Slides where you can edit it
This minimal and professional Google slides template features a classic black and white design. You’ll find a variety of slide designs as well as charts, graphs, and icons that will help you present your ideas in a professional manner.
This template has tons of elements that you will need for your presentation. You will find unique layouts, maps, infographics, and charts as well as vector icons. The template includes more than 110 individual slides, 300+ editable icons, and 20+ premade color schemes.
Try this Google Slides theme if you’re looking for a colourful design. The theme includes a variety of slide designs and styles for charts, graphs, and icons. The template was designed in 16:9 screen format.
This template can be downloaded once you sign up for inverter element subscription the temperature includes 36 different slide designs as well as free vector icons that are easy to resize. The template also includes picture placeholders so you can easily drag and drop your images into the presentation.
The Magazine Google Slides theme mimics a magazine look and feel and includes more than 15 individual slide designs. You’ll also find five premade color schemes and different styles for icons, charts, graphs, and other presentation elements.
This Fashion Lookbook Google Slides template features more than a 100 unique slides and it was designed in two screen formats: the 16:9 and the widescreen format. You’ll find a variety of styles for charts, icons, and other presentation elements as well as premade color schemes and image placeholders.
If you’re looking for a minimal Google Slides template, give this watercolor Google Slides theme a try. It features 25 creative slides with minimalist design. All slides are fully customizable and easy to edit.
This colorful Google Slides theme is perfect for student and teacher presentations. It comes with 25 unique slides that are easy to edit and you will also find high quality vector graphics that you can use to spice up your presentation.
The Dion Google Slides theme is a great choice for any presentation that is centered around the topic of travel and tourism. The template features 27 unique slide designs and examples of styles for graphs, charts and tables.
The Emma template is a great choice for fashion or beauty presentations. The templates features an elegant and minimalist design style paired with subtle color schemes. The Emma template comes with more than 50 unique slides, image placeholders, and vector icons.
The Evoliova template is a great choice for any type of medical presentation. The template includes more than 50 individual slide designs, custom vector icons, and 4 premade color schemes. Each slide is fully customizable.
The Social Media template features 23 colourful slide designs which are perfect for any type of presentation that deals with social media. All of the slides are fully editable so you can easily change colours and fonts and insert your own images. The template also includes high-quality vector graphics.
The Salisbury template features a creative and unique design with 15 different slide types and premade styles for charts, graphs, icons, tables, and other presentation elements. The template was designed in 16:9 screen layout.
Try the Felipe Google Slides theme if you’re going for a more playful look. This template includes 11 individual slides with various designs and it was designed in 16:9 screen format.
The Rhombus Infographic Slides features 3 unique slide designs which can easily be customized. You can change colors and fonts and easily insert your own images. The slides were designed in 16:9 aspect ratio and include custom vector icons.
The Alpha presentation template is a perfect choice if you want to include a lot of photography in your presentation. This template is a great choice for photographers,, designers, illustrators or any other creatives that want to showcase their works. The template includes 10 different slide designs and premade styles for diagrams, charts, graphs and icons.
This bold and cheerful Google Slide template features 50+ unique slide designs. You can easily change the color to match your brand and use image placeholders to quickly replace the photos. The template also include editable vector shapes and icons.
This Corporate Google Slides theme features a minimalist and elegant design and comes with ten unique slides. It includes high-quality vector graphics and special slides for images, tables, flowcharts, and graphs.
This Google Slides template was designed with business presentations in mind. You will find more than 10 unique slide designs along with premade styles for charts, icons, and graphs. The template also comes with image placeholders.
Conclusion
Great presentation starts with a stunning slide deck. With the help of Google Slide templates on this list, you can save time on your presentation design and make sure you have all the design elements you will need to create a memorable presentation. Be sure to download them before you get started on your presentation deck.
Buggy software can certainly drive users away. But usability issues can as well, and are much more common. Potential usability issues can be detected and avoided during initial prototyping. This is a core aspect of UX design. Potential UI issues are typically addressed during the latter stages of design.
Taking an iterative approach to software design can at times be a more expensive route to take. But more often than not it will save you money in the long term. It will also produce a successful product that makes more money in the near term.
One or more of the following UX/UI tools and resources could save you a ton of time and help you avoid product redesign.
Mason gives teams a visual front-end feature building environment in which they can collaborate to create app features quickly and economically without needing wireframing, prototyping, or coding tools. The features they create can be seamlessly integrated into existing product codebases; often drastically shortening development and deployment cycles.
What this means to clients is that they can expect much faster responses to their needs for product fixes or upgrades, since they do not have to wait on the current deployment cycle or be subjected to development time delays.
What it means for product teams is the developers are free to take on complex or high priority tasks since Mason manages the coding, while producing secure, extensible, and robust solutions.
Mason also provides the tools teams need to organize extensive libraries of front-end experiences. Mason is non-intrusive and transparent. It encourages team collaboration and empowers its users, and it won’t weigh your website or app down as it’s only triggered when you need it.
UXPin is a cloud-based UI/UX design and collaboration tool to create the perfect user experience from start to finish. You can use UXPin to create visual and interactive designs, build complex interactive wireframes, and design prototypes that perfectly mimic the real deal on one platform and without coding.
Teams can share information, collect feedback, check specifications, and get approvals – all in one place, and in real time. UXPin also stores project assets, components, guidelines, and code in a single easily-accessed location. With UXPin you can even turn Sketch designs into working prototypes.
The net result is a UI/UX tool that reduces design and development time and ensures consistency of design across product lines. It is an ideal solution for design teams, professionals and even beginners. Try it out with UXPin’s new Free plan.
Interfacer is a collection of high-quality, professionally-designed, free UI design resources. Check out Interfacer’s 300 + mini libraries and you’ll find a host of fonts ranging from the usual to the highly unusual, 80+ icon mini libraries, web templates, UI kits including travel app, blockchain, and eCommerce kits, landing page and special page templates and more.
Webflow is an all-in-one website development tool you can use to design, build, and launch custom websites, create a client-friendly CMS for each site, and enjoy crazy-fast hosting that only takes a couple of clicks to set up.
Best of all? You don’t need a computer science degree to get started. You can start from a blank canvas, a template, or a community-created UI kit to prototype and/or design anything and everything without coding.
Why are these tools important?
Friendly UX = Increased Conversions
It’s likely happened to you. You’re looking for a particular product or service on the web and you check out several sites. One stands out – even though it promotes the same products or services as the others.
It was so easy to use and navigate you had no problem at all quickly locating precisely what you were after. Your experience with the site was so pleasant in fact that you bookmarked it for future use.
Wouldn’t you like your website or app to provide the same friendly UX to others?
Increase Your Brand Loyalty with Your UX Design
Let’s say you shop in a brick and mortar store and get friendly and helpful assistance. So, you naturally plan to return again when the need arises. You begin to feel loyal to the brand.
It’s the same way with your website or app. Providing seamless and friendly interactions help to engage visitors. It can also promote loyalty to your brand.
The Right UX Design Can Prompt Word of Mouth Referrals
You know you’re doing something right when an increasing number of users comes to your site by others. People buy into pleasant experiences. In doing so, they naturally like to share those experiences with others.
You can’t control whether people will tell others favorable things about your site and brand. But you can certainly design a UX that makes them want to do so.
Conclusion
What you expect from a UX or UI tool or resource will naturally depend on your particular needs. But those presented here have several things in common. They should encourage you to check them out.
Each can save you lots of time and often a ton of money. The four tools we’ve discussed are fast and efficient. The libraries of design aids can help you avoid constantly reinventing the wheel. You will not have to search far and wide for a particular icon, font, or easy to work with UI kit.
As per the latest study by Persistence Market Research (PMR), the global weight loss dietary supplements market is anticipated to witness healthy growth. The market is likely to register 6.0% CAGR throughout the forecast period 2017-2026. The global weight loss dietary supplements market is also estimated to bring in US$ 37,177.6 million revenue by 2026 end.
With obesity becoming a global health concern, weight loss continues to be one of the most focused areas. Hence, increasing number of companies are coming up with the new products in weight loss supplements. The increasing consumption and demand for weight loss dietary supplements, regulations on the production of these supplements along with ingredients used are also gaining traction in various countries. The government in various countries are also focusing on the quality and quantity of ingredients used and if any of these ingredients can have severe side-effects, affecting the health of the consumers negatively.
Increasing use of Natural and Organic Ingredients in the Weight Loss Dietary Supplements
The negative effects of being obese and overweight are resulting in the increasing use of weight management products. Consumers are also adopting weight loss supplements in forms of pill, liquid, and powder. Hence, with the increase in the use of these supplements, manufacturers are also trying to produce safer products, thereby using organic and natural ingredients and plant-based ingredients. Among various ingredients, green tea extract is considered as one of the most popular and safest ingredients in the weight loss dietary supplements. Similarly, Garcinia cambogia is also being considered as an ingredient in the weight loss supplements. However, these ingredients have been reported to have adverse effects like a headache, constipation, UTI. Hence, there has been an increase in the investment in the research on other organic ingredients that can be used to produce weight loss supplements.
Global Weight Loss Dietary Supplements Market: Segmental Insights
The global weight loss dietary supplements market includes various segments such as end-user, form, ingredients, distribution channel, and region. Based on the form, the market is categorized into powder, liquid, and soft gell/pills. Soft gell/pills are expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. By the end of 2026, soft gell/pills are expected to exceed US$ 18,500 million revenue.
Based on the end-user, the segment consists of men, women and senior citizen. Among these, women are expected to be the largest users of weight loss dietary supplements. Women segment as the end-user is estimated to create an incremental opportunity of more than US$ 7,900 million between 2017 and 2026.
By Distribution Channel, pharmacies drug store is expected to emerge as the largest distribution channel for the weight loss dietary supplements. Pharmacies drug store is estimated to account for more than one-third of the revenue share by the end of 2017.
Based on the ingredients, the segment consists of amino acids, vitamins minerals, botanical supplements, and others. Vitamins minerals are expected to emerge as one of the largest used ingredients in the weight loss dietary supplements. By the end of 2026, vitamins minerals are estimated to exceed US$ 16,900 million revenue.
Region-wise, the market is categorized into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Latin America, Japan, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Among the given regions, North America is expected to dominate the global weight loss dietary supplements market throughout the forecast period 2017-2026.
Global Weight Loss Dietary Supplements Market: Competitive Assessment
Key players in the global weight loss dietary supplements market are Amway (Nutrilite), Abott Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Glanbia, Herbalife International, Pfizer, American Health, Stepan, Nature’s Sunshine Products, and FANCL.
The U.S. government is taking on fake Amazon reviews.
On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had reached a settlement in the agency’s first ever case against fraudulent Amazon reviews.
In the FTC’s complaint, it claimed that defendant Cure Encapsulations, Inc. and the company’s owner, Naftula Jacobowitz, paid a third-party website called “amazonverifiedreviews.com” to post fake reviews for its weight loss supplement on Amazon. Along with the falsified reviews purporting to be from actual customers, the FTC also alleged that the company made “false and unsubstantiated claims” for the pills known as Quality Encapsulations Garcinia Cambogia.
Garcinia cambogia is a tropical fruit found in Indonesia that has been used as a natural aid for weight loss. As The Verge points out, use of the herbal supplement has associated with acute liver failure.
“People rely on reviews when they’re shopping online,” said director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Andrew Smith in a statement. “When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules.”
According to the FTC, Jacobowitz had paid the fake Amazon review seller $1,000 for 30 reviews in order to bump the product’s ratings. The defendant claimed that at least a 4.3 out of 5 stars was needed in order to make sales.
“Please make my product … stay a five star,” the FTC says the defendant wrote in an email to the review provider.
In the reviews and on the product description, Cure Encapsulations fabricated claims about the supplement. The defendant stated that the product “Literally BLOCKS FAT From Forming” and caused “significant weight loss.”
As part of the settlement with the FTC, the defendant is banned from “making weight-loss, fat-blocking, or disease-treatment claims for dietary supplements, food, or drugs, unless they have reliable scientific evidence from clinical trials in humans.” The company must also inform its customers of the allegations and tell Amazon which reviews were faked.
The settlement includes a fine of $12.8 million. Cure Encapsulations will immediately pay $50,000 to the FTC and the remainder will be dependent on how much money the company has based on hand in the event it misrepresented its financials.
Fake, paid Amazon reviews have long been a scourge to the e-commerce giant. In recent years, Amazon has decided to go so far as suing fake reviewers and review-selling websites.
However, the problem doesn’t seem to be going away.
Just last month, Facebook employees were caught leaving 5 star reviews for its video conferencing device, Facebook portal. While not quite the same as paying for ratings from individuals who never even used the product, Amazon’s reviews are clearly intended for customers who purchased the product. In fact, according to Amazon, offering compensation for a review or reviewing your own products is a violation of its terms.
This first of its kind FTC case on fake Amazon reviews will likely not be its last.
UPDATE: Feb. 27, 2019, 1:37 p.m. EST An Amazon spokesperson provided the following statement to Mashable regarding the FTC case:
We welcome the FTC’s work in this area. Amazon invests significant resources to protect the integrity of reviews in our store because we know customers value the insights and experiences shared by fellow shoppers. Even one inauthentic review is one too many. We have clear participation guidelines for both reviewers and selling partners and we suspend, ban, and take legal action on those who violate our policies.
The FTC has successfully brought the first-ever case against a supplement company that allegedly boosted its Amazon ratings through a third-party firm that crafts fake “verified” reviews.
According to the settlement, Cure Encapsulations sold a supplement on Amazon touted as an “appetite-suppressing, fat-blocking, weight-loss pill.”
One of the ingredients in the supplement is an Indonesian plant called garcinia cambogia that has been linked to acute liver failure.
“People rely on reviews when they’re shopping online. When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement.
The FTC claims the company’s founder turned to amazonverifiedreviews.com — one of the hundreds of websites that writes fake five-star reviews for a fee.
Cure Encapsulations must now inform Amazon that it paid for reviews and must notify all customers who purchased the so-called weight-loss supplement.
The FTC is imposing a $12.8-million fine, with only $50,000 due and the remainder used as a way to enforce the judgement.
WATCH: Tips from a marketing expert about how to spot fake reviews
Research shows that 91 per cent of consumers rely on online reviews for their purchases, and it takes about 10 reviews before a consumer can start trusting a business or product.
But a lot of those reviews are unreliable, and experts say it can put consumers at risk.
Fakespot, a website that identifies fake reviews, estimates 30 per cent of product reviews on Amazon are inauthentic.
Recognizing this is a widespread problem, Amazon has taken the matter into its own hands. As an Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch, the company has filed suits against more than 1,000 defendants for “review abuse” since 2015. They’ve also sued the third-party sites that write them.
