Drew Coffin

Articles by: Drew Coffin

Drew Coffin is editorial coordinator for Web Marketing Today. He is also an experienced graphic designer who has worked freelance on a number of web projects and currently manages GLHF Apparel. In addition to his design work, Coffin studied Integrated Marketing Communications at the University of Idaho and is currently studying Theology at Whitworth University.

4 Sources for Free Stock Photography

September 27, 2013 • Drew Coffin

Finding high-quality images can be difficult, especially if you are trying to do it on a budget. Here are four sources for free, high-quality stock photographs Read More »
Psychology and Web Design

August 15, 2013 • Drew Coffin

Our psychology affects how we interact with websites. Designers can use this to their advantage. Here are a few ways to use psychology when designing your site Read More »
4 Comment Systems: Pros and Cons

June 27, 2013 • Drew Coffin

In “What to Look for in a Comment System,” I described features like comment moderation, analytics, social integration, and dashboard settings. In this post I will review four popular comment... Read More »
10 Examples of Storytelling in Web Design

March 15, 2013 • Drew Coffin

In "Storytelling in Web Design," I explained the three most basic aspects of storytelling — character, setting, and action — and offered ways to begin including storytelling in web design... Read More »
10 Creative Contact Pages

February 21, 2013 • Drew Coffin

Contact pages facilitate questions from visitors, and otherwise help prospects locate your business or connect via social media. A well-designed, creative... Read More »
Color Psychology and Ecommerce

February 6, 2013 • Drew Coffin

Color affects our moods and states of mind. It can influence customer buying habits, making color psychology an important part of ecommerce. This article will address color psychology basics and... Read More »
Using Creative QR Codes

January 29, 2013 • Drew Coffin

QR codes can be used to display text, store product information, or direct users to websites. Most smartphones can scan QR codes with a built-in camera and a barcode scanner... Read More »
6 Tips for Newsletter Subscription Forms

December 21, 2012 • Drew Coffin

An email list is one of the best ways to connect with shoppers, announce new products, and promote sales. A key part of building a mailing list is having a... Read More »
10 Beautiful, Free Content Sliders

September 28, 2012 • Drew Coffin

One of the biggest challenges in web design is presenting lots of information in a limited space. Content sliders help solve this problem. While content sliders can be used for... Read More »
Learning from Bad Web Design

September 14, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Recognizing bad web design is often easy. But it can be difficult to know what makes it bad. In this article I will give you examples of bad web design... Read More »
18 Websites Featuring Beautiful Illustrations

July 24, 2012 • Drew Coffin

In "10 Web Design Trends for 2012," I listed large illustrations as a growing trend in web design. Website illustrations can add personality to even the smallest sites and invite... Read More »
13 Sites with Personalized Social Media Icons

June 29, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Many online merchants use social media icons to link their storefronts to social networks like Facebook and Twitter. While basic social media... Read More »
15 Personalized Shopping Cart Icons

May 28, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Custom icons can help a site design and personalize the online shopping experience. Shopping cart icons are some of the more popular icons to personalize. Here are 15 sites with... Read More »
10 Photoshop Skills for Beginners

May 14, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Adobe Photoshop is an incredibly powerful program that allows you to do professional grade image manipulations and adjustments. Whether you want to... Read More »
10 Ways to Improve Product Photos

April 3, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Online stores do not have the shelves filled with products for consumers to touch and examine like physical stores do. This makes... Read More »
25 Great Corporate Logos

March 9, 2012 • Drew Coffin

A company logo is often the face of the business. While logos come in a variety of styles, a strong logo will... Read More »
Managing a Design Project When You’re Not a Graphic Artist

March 5, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Ecommerce merchants wear many hats. One of them is designing graphics for their websites. In my experience as a freelance... Read More »
Optimizing Images to Reduce Load Times

February 10, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Not is only a site's load time factored into its search-engine rankings, the longer it takes to load the more likely it... Read More »
SVG Images: Sources to Download, Create

January 30, 2012 • Drew Coffin

In "SVG Images: What Merchants Need to Know," I explained the difference between raster and vector images and explained how SVG images... Read More »
SVG Images: What Merchants Need to Know

January 17, 2012 • Drew Coffin

Many online merchants are unaware of the benefits of scalable vector graphics, or SVGs. This article will provide a basic overview. Vector vs.... Read More »
Creating Color Schemes for Web Design

January 5, 2012 • Drew Coffin

The color-concept terms I discussed in “Understanding Color Theory,” my previous article, will come in useful here while learning about color schemes in web design. First I am going... Read More »
Understanding Color Theory

December 22, 2011 • Drew Coffin

Last month, I wrote about color psychology and its effect on emotions, in "Color Psychology and Online Marketing" and "Color Psychology Showcase."... Read More »
Color Psychology Showcase

November 29, 2011 • Drew Coffin

In “Color Psychology and Online Marketing,” I addressed how different colors and color combinations send different messages. In this article, I’ll list some sites that illustrate this principle. Red Collision Labs Collision Labs... Read More »
Color Psychology and Online Marketing

November 14, 2011 • Drew Coffin

Colors and color combinations send different messages. Oftentimes for websites, colors intuitively create a mood or atmosphere. Color psychology takes this intuition... Read More »
Website Showcase: Designing With the Fold

October 31, 2011 • Drew Coffin

In “Designing ‘Above the Fold’ Necessary?,” I offered my thoughts as to how the 600-pixel top "fold" should be viewed today. I... Read More »
Designing ‘Above the Fold’ Necessary?

October 18, 2011 • Drew Coffin

Ensuring that customers can easily find important information on a site should be a priority for online merchants. In the past, you... Read More »
How Browsers Manage Fonts

October 3, 2011 • Drew Coffin

Last month I wrote “Typography 101: The Basics,” which explained rudimentary aspects of general typography. In this article, I will explore typography... Read More »
Typography 101: The Basics

September 20, 2011 • Drew Coffin

Text is the primary method of Internet communication, making web typography important for merchants to understand. This article will cover some... Read More »
4 Free Photoshop Alternatives: Sources to Learn

August 30, 2011 • Drew Coffin

My suggestions for free Photoshop alternatives we published earlier this month, in “4 Free Photoshop Alternatives for Image Editing.” I described four free Photoshop alternatives — GIMP, Paint.NET, Aviary, and... Read More »
4 Free Photoshop Alternatives for Image Editing

August 15, 2011 • Drew Coffin

Merchants know that photos are an important part of ecommerce — whether as product images or just for site design. This makes image editors equally important. Unfortunately, not everyone has... Read More »