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As a web designer or web developer, you’ve probably heard of Git before, a version control system that has had a swift ascension to ubiquity due in part to GitHub, a social code repository site.

If you’d like to learn how to use Git, check out my top 10 favorite Git tutorials for beginners. At the end, you’ll also see a list of other educational Git resources.

1. Pro Git

Pro Git is a free online book by Scott Chacon, a developer working on GitHub. The book’s excellent structure and range of topics allow you to skip to the chapters that are pertinent to your level of Git knowledge. Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned pro, there’s something in this book for you.

2. Git Immersion

This Git tutorial walks you through Git basics using a step-by-step, hands-on approach. It’s a great tutorial for those who prefer to get into Git right away.

3. Git Community Book

This Git resource hosted on the official Git project site is a free web-based book written by the Git community. It’s divided into 7 parts that include an introduction to Git, basic usage, working with Git, etc.

4. Git From the Bottom Up

This Git tutorial in PDF format familiarizes the reader with Git through a conceptual approach. You’ll gain the most benefit from this tutorial by reading it in a linear fashion.

5. Git Magic

This online book on Git is well written with wonderful analogies to help beginners understand the concepts behind Git. It’s also available in several spoken languages like Chinese and French, as well as in various formats (PDF, as a printed book, etc.)

6. Git by Example

This Git tutorial for beginners assumes you already have Git installed and are ready to go. This is a great tutorial to go through if you just want to get a quick overview of how Git works functionally.

7. Easy Version Control with Git

This excellent Git tutorial on Nettuts+ gives you enough information to get started. What’s great about this tutorial is that it also has a section on using GitHub.

8. Git in Action

This screencast will show you how Git works by example; it’s only a little less than 18 minutes long, so it’s definitely worth a watch.

9. Intro to Git for Web Designers

This Git tutorial on Webdesigner Depot is geared towards web designers. As such, it outlines the benefits of version control in the context of creating websites and assumes the reader prefers a GUI for working with Git instead of the traditional command-line interface.

10. A Visual Git Reference

This Git resource is great for visual learners. It illustrates common Git commands so that you can understand what’s happening conceptually.

Other Great Git Resources

There isn’t any shortage of great tutorials and online resources for getting started with Git. Below is a list of other Git resources for beginners. If you know of a good Git tutorial that isn’t listed here, please share it with us in the comments below.

• Git Tutorial: How to Version Projects with Git: This is a beginner-level Git tutorial that includes installation instructions.
• Introduction To Git: Check out this screencast on GitHub that introduces basic Git concepts.
• How to Install Git: This is a Stack Exchange answer that covers how to install Git on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
• Git The Basics Tutorial: A two-part recorded video of Bart Trojanowski talking about Git basics (available as a PDF).
• Everyday GIT With 20 Commands Or So: Here, you can learn Git basics through the most common commands (with examples of how to use the commands in real-world scenarios).
• Starting with Git: Cheat Sheet: A quick introduction to Git that discusses fundamental activities such as committing to the repository and adding files for version tracking.
• Getting Started with Git: This 6-page cheat-sheet-style Git tutorial from technology publishing company Dzone is available as a PDF that you can print.
• gittutorial Manual Page: This Git tutorial is an official man page in the Git package.
• Git for the lazy: This guide will get you up and running on Git as quickly as possible.
• git ready: This resource collects quick Git tips categorized by level of difficulty (beginner, intermediate and advanced).
• Git_Guide: This FAQ-style Git guide covers the most popular topics for beginners.
• Introductory Guide to Git Version Control System: This guide here on Six Revisions is a quick-start resource for familiarizing yourself with Git.
• Playing Git Like A Violin: Learn how to create Git command aliases (shortcuts) to speed up your version control workflow through this online resource.
• An Illustrated Guide to Git on Windows: A wonderful tutorial on installing and using Git on Windows (using mysysgit, a GUI for Git).
• Getting Started with Git and GitHub on Windows: A guide for Windows users covering how to use Git with the popular social coding site GitHub.
• Aha! Moments When Learning Git: Kalid Azad shares some insights and lessons about his first experiences with Git.
• Version Control for Designers: This Git guide discusses the principles and concepts behind version control systems.
• A Tour of Git: The Basics: A walkthrough of Git to get you started through a hands-on approach.
• Getting the Hang of GitHub: If you’re interested in Git, chances are, it’s because of GitHub. Learn how to get up and running using GitHub through this guide.
• Understanding Git Conceptually: This Git tutorial focuses on the fundamentals of how Git works.
• Git: Your New Best Friend: This introductory guide on SitePoint introduces the reader to version control and Git.
• Linus Torvalds on Git: View this Google Talk video of Linus Torvalds talking about Git.

Related Content

• 30 Useful Open Source Apps for Web Designers
• 10 Excellent Open Source and Free Alternatives to Photoshop
• The Ultimate Guide to Version Control for Designers
• Related categories: Web Development and Tools

About the Author

Jacob Gube is the Founder and Chief Editor of Six Revisions. He’s also a web developer/designer who specializes in front-end development (JavaScript, HTML, CSS) and also a book author. If you’d like to connect with him, head on over to the contact page and follow him on Twitter: @sixrevisions.

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There are a lot of free icon sets out there for you to use. In this collection, we rounded up a few icon sets from all over the web that you can use in your design projects.

The hundreds of featured icons here are diverse in their styles: glossy, hand-drawn, realistic, textured are among the design themes you’ll find. I hope you find a handful of icon sets that you’ll bookmark, download, and use!

Note: You should read the license of each icon set before using them. Some of the icon sets featured here are available only for personal use.

If you want to discover more free icons, check out our other collections:

• 40 Beautiful Free Icon Sets
• 30 High-Quality Icon Sets for E-Commerce Designs
• 40+ Stylish and Trendy Icon Sets
• Freebie Icons category on Six Revisions

In addition, here our our collections of icon design tutorials in case you want to learn how to make icons yourself:

• 50 Excellent Icon Design Tutorials
• 50 Wonderful Icon Design Tutorials

1. Icons Pack "Web Cartoon"

40 icons – 48x48px – PNG format.

2. Near

15 icons – 170x130px – PNG format.

3. Adobe icons

5 icons – 32×32–512x512px – PNG format.

4. Blue icons

5 icons – 256x256px – PNG format.

5. So sweet

6 icons – 100x100px – ICO format.

6. Project Icons

165 icons – 32x32px (some 48px) – PNG, ICO, ICNS formats.

7. Toolbar Icon Set

35 icons – 32x32px – PNG, ICO, ICNS formats.

8. Sport balls set

6 icons -500x500px – PNG format.

9. Fruit Pack

8 icons – 16×16–48x48px – PNG, ICO, and ICNS formats.

10. 32px Mantra v2

39 icons – 32x32px – PNG format.

11. PixeloPhilia2

44 icons – 32x32px – PNG format.

12. Drinks

8 icons – 64×64-128x128px – PNG format.

13. Classy Folder Icons

29 icons (and 6 color themes) – 16×16-512x512px – PNG and ICO formats.

14. Gifts icons pack 2

3 icons – 64×64-128x128px – PNG, ICO, and ICNS format.

15. Falcon 32px

21 icons – 32x32px – PNG format.

16. Abobe CS5 Master Collection Icons

24 icons - 128x128px – PNG format.

17. Icecream icon set

6 icons – 64×64–256x256px – PNG, ICO, and ICNS formats.

18. 12 Creative Wooden Social Networking Icons

12 icons – 16×16–256x256px – PNG format.

19. Kitchen icons

34 icons – 128x128px – PNG format.

20. Folders: A Free Icon Set

9 icons - 256×256-512x512px – PNG format.

21. Gifts icons pack 1

3 icons - 64×64-128x128px – PNG and ICO formats.

22. Social and Web Icons

57 icons – 64x64px – PNG format.

23. Lovely website icons pack 1

8 icons – various dimensions – PNG format.

24. Lovely website icons pack 2

8 icons – various dimensions – PNG format.

25. Currency Stock Icons

4 icons – 64×64-512x512px – PNG format.

26. Artcore Icons Nr. 1

9 icons – 512x512px – PNG format.

27. Artcore Icons Nr. 2

7 icons – 512x512px – PNG format.

28. Mini Icon Set

22 icons – 16×16-48x48px – ICO, ICNS, and iContainer format.

29. General Vector Icons

8 icons – 32x32px – PNG and AI formats.

30. Sinem Final Version

26 icons – 512x512px – PNG, ICNS, and iContainer formats.

31. Burnt Wood: A Social Media Icon Set

12 icons – 420x420px – PNG format.

32. Gentle Romantic icons

5 icons – 512x512px – PNG format.

33. Very Emotional Emoticons

40 icons - 32×32-128x128px – PNG format.

34. Incredibly Detailed 3D Icon Set

30 icons – 128x128px – PNG format.

35. 60+ Detailed Vector Icons

60+ icons – 32×32-96x96px – PNG format.

36. “Where Are My Money” Icon Set

6 icons – 256x256px – PNG format.

37. Twitter Icons TweetMyWeb

10 icons – various dimensions – PNG format.

38. Fliraneo icon pack

5 icons – various sizes – PNG format.

39. WooFunction: 178 Amazing Web Design Icons

178 icons – 32x32px – PNG format.

40. Free Set of 25 Icons from TurboMilk

25 icons – 16×16-64x64px – PNG format.

41. Basic set

42 icons – 16×16-64×64 – PNG format.

42. Basic Set 2

42 icons – 16×16-64×64 – PNG format.

43. Office Supplies

9 icons -512x512px – PNG format.

44. Morning Pleasure

16 icons – 256x256px – PNG, ICO, and ICNS format.

45. Social Buzz Icon Pack

12 icons – various dimensions – PNG format.

46. 3D Social Media Icon Pack

20 icons – 64x64px – PNG format.

47. NIXUS Icon Pack

60 icons – 32×32-64x64px – PNG format.

48. Vibrant Stickers Web Icon Pack

15 icons – 256x256px – PNG format.

49. Browsers – Navigateurs

10 icons – 256x256px – PNG, ICO, and ICNS format.

50. Mobile Icon Set

10 icons – 32×32-128x128px – PNG format.

Related Content

• 35 Professional Clean Fonts For Your Designs
• 30 Creative and Unique Free Fonts
• Social Sketches: Exclusive Free Hand-Sketched Icon Set
• Related categories: Resources and Web Design

About the Author

Tomas Laurinavičius is interested in web design, graphic design and web development, based in Lithuania. He’s also the founder of Iniwoo, a site about photoshop, web design, wordpress and inspiration. If you’d like to connect with him, you can follow him on Twitter.

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You may have heard the buzz surrounding Bundle Hunt, a premium resource pack aimed at creatives, offering $1,400+ worth of outstanding apps, templates, icons, eBooks, hosting plans and premium memberships, all for $49.

Bundle Hunt is a project by Noura Yehia, founder of Noupe and curated by me, Walter Apai of Webdesigner Depot, Steven Snell of Vandelay Design, Henry Jones of Web Design Ledger, Jon Philips of SpyreStudios and Ray Cheung of Webappers.

Bundle Hunt is available until August 16, 2010.

Check out Bundle Hunt at:

• http://www.bundlehunt.com

Related Content

• 10 Useful Flash Components for Graphing Data
• 15 Fantastic Finds on the Google Code Repository
• 250 Quick Web Design Tips (Part 1)
• Related categories: Resources and Freebies

About the Author

Jacob Gube is the Founder and Chief Editor of Six Revisions. He’s also a web developer/designer who specializes in front-end development (JavaScript, HTML, CSS) and also a book author. If you’d like to connect with him, head on over to the contact page and follow him on Twitter: @sixrevisions.

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An important activity that all freelancers need to do–no matter what their freelancing field may be–is to read and educate ourselves. Reading is a great source for freelancers to get motivated, inspired, and learns tips and techniques for becoming a better professional.

There are many excellent resources on the web dedicated to the Freelancer. From getting inspiration to dealing with creativity burnout, you will find it all on the internet; there is a lot of information spread throughout the nooks and crannies of the online world, covering all the topics you could possibly think of concerning freelancing.

I have organized a list of great articles that will be very helpful to freelancers, containing hundreds of tips, tools, and lessons. This article could certainly be called the freelancing treasure box because every item shared here is a gem to read.

Starting as a Freelancer

The route to starting out as a freelancer is made easy with the great advice from these articles.

1. How to Start a Freelance Company

2. A Comprehensive Guide to Starting Your Freelance Career

3. 25 Awesome Tips to Become a Successful Freelancer

4. What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Freelancing

5. Are You Just a Freelancer or a Successful One?

Freelancer Inspiration and Creativity

The essence of gathering inspiration and becoming creative could never be simpler with the tips shared below.

6. Ways for Freelancers to Get Inspiration for Design Work

7. 10 Ways to Stay Creative While Exhausted

8. 15 Ways to Improve Freelance Creativity

9. 10 Tips to Avoid a Creative Block

10. 25 Must Read Books for Designers and Freelancers

11. 33 Excellent "Out of the Box" Ways for Creatives to Find Inspiration

Freelancer Thoughts and Tips

What goes on in the mind of a freelancer? What are the best tips you can get from freelancers themselves? Check them out below!

12. Wise Words from Freelancer to Freelancer: 8 tips to Help You

13. 10 Blogs Every Freelancer Wish Existed

14. 20 Quick Tips for Aspiring Freelancers

15. How to Beef Up Your Freelancing Skills

16. Essential Habits of an Effective Professional Freelancer

17. Freelancing: How to Deal with Long Working Hours

18. 15 Tips for Freelancers: What to Do in Slow Days and Dry Times

19. Spring Cleanup: 30 Must Do Tasks for Freelancers and Creatives

Combating Freelancer Burnout

Feeling drained out? These great formulas will kick away your worst enemy: Fatigue!

20. Freelancer Burnout: 8 Great Tips to Overcome It

21. 10 Most Common Health Hazards of Freelancing

22. 30+ Things You Have to Know About Being a Freelancer

Freelancer’s Hunting Ground

Do you know where to get jobs? These are the places to get you started.

23. 50 Freelance Job Sites for Designers & Programmers: Best Of

24. Get Hired: 15 Best Job Boards for Freelancers

Promoting and Branding Yourself

Making yourself known is essential if you would like to gain more exposure and incoming business. Learn all about self-promotion in the articles below!

25. The Art of Branding Yourself and Your Freelancing Business

26. Marketing Rules and Principles for Freelancers

27. 15 Guerrilla Marketing Tips for Freelancers

Dealing with Clients

Is the client your best friend or worst enemy? Read about tips and ways on how you can better work with your clients.

28. Identifying and Dealing with Different Types of Clients

29. 12 Breeds of Client and How to Work with Them

30. How to Find Local Clients for Your Freelance Business

Freelancer’s Tools

Be more productive and make your life easier with these tools at hand!

31. Cool PC Apps: The Top 50 PC Applications for Freelancers

32. Ten Essential Items Every Freelance Office Needs

33. 90 Useful Freelance Tools

34. 14 Applications for Project Management and Collaboration

35. 30 Freelance Work Websites and Resources You Should Know

36. 5 Tools for Freelancers To Manage Their Time

Freelancer’s Failures

If all else fails, pick yourself up and learn from the mistakes you made. Better still, you can learn from other people’s mistakes without the need to go through them yourself.

37. Five Ways to Guarantee Your Failure as a Web Professional

38. 20 Reasons You Shouldn’t be a Freelancer

39. How to Overcome 20 Reasons Not to Become a Freelancer

40. Critical Mistakes Freelancers Make

Bonus: Freelancing-Related Articles on Six Revisions

Here are a few articles on Six Revisions not mentioned above that will be helpful to you in your journey into freelancing.

• A Beginner’s Guide to the Business Side of Freelancing
• Why Branding Yourself is Important
• 10 Ways Designers Can Earn More from Projects
• 20 Invoicing Tools for Web Designers
• Five Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Expand Your Design Business
• The Crowdsourcing Quagmire

Share Your Freelancing Wisdom!

Whether you are a seasoned freelancer or thinking of joining the ranks soon, these articles will surely give you all the motivation you need to start and remove any doubts you have about freelancing. Which gems have you particularly enjoyed above? Are you a seasoned freelancing pro with tips you can share with us? Are you starting your journey into freelancing? What important lessons have you learned?

Related Content

• Five Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Expand Your Design Business
• A Beginner’s Guide to the Business Side of Freelancing
• How to Start a Freelance Company
• Related categories: Resources and Project Management

About the Author

Aidan Huang is one of the editors-in-chief and author at Onextrapixel. He is also a web enthusiast and front-end web developer that strongly believes in sharing exciting and noteworthy information with the community. Grab their RSS feed and follow him on Twitter as @AidanOXP for more exciting information.

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Typography plays an important role in graphic and web design. Everybody likes clean and professional-looking work and the correctly chosen fonts can help you to make your design work more attractive. These 35 clean and professional fonts will help you to achieve simple and design results.

Important: You should read the license of each font before using them in your designs. In some cases, you have to attribute the font designer or meet specific requirements for you to use the font for commercial purposes.

If you need more fonts to look at and download, check out our other collections:

• 45 Beautiful Free Fonts for Modern Design Trends
• 30 Creative and Unique Free Fonts
• 20 Creative and Unique Typefaces
• 25 High Quality Free Fonts for Professional Designs

1. Ingleby

2. Circula

3. Sertig

4. Acid

5. Apogee

6. Kaffeesatz

7. Mank Sans

8. Prociono

9. Jura

10. CREW 36

11. Motoplatio

12. Adelle

13. Raleway

14. Steiner

15. Existence Light

16. Otari

17. Merge

18. Tuffy

19. Holla

20. Sonrisa

21. Gnuolane

22. AlexandriaFLF

23. Snickles

24. Hattori Hanzo

25. DISCO

26. Colaborate

27. Surface

28. Sansation

29. Bebas

30. Franchise

31. League Gothic

32. Champagne & Limousines

33. Garton

34. Wendelin

35. Tertre

Related Content

• A Guide to Google Font API
• 20 Useful Typography Tools
• 20 Websites with Beautiful Typography
• Related categories: Resources and Tools

About the Author

Tomas Laurinavičius is interested in web design, graphic design and web development, based in Lithuania. He’s also the founder of Iniwoo, a site about photoshop, web design, wordpress and inspiration. If you’d like to connect with him, you can follow him on Twitter.

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Do you have a boring desktop wallpaper? Are you tired of looking at the same, old desktop wallpaper? Well, here’s the remedy. This collection contains beautiful, high-quality and high-resolution (at least 1900x1200px) wallpapers. I hope you will find several wallpapers to refresh and invigorate your workspace.

1. Stonehenge

2. Bamboo

3. Dragonfrog

4. Laniakea Sunset

5. The Monastery

6. Krump It

7. Stand Alone

8. Sahara

9. Magenta Morning

10. Without Darkness

11. Romantic Cottage

12. Croatian Boat

13. Lazing Leopard

14. Spring Is Coming

15. Torrent

16. Jiangnan

17. Light

18. Abstract

19. Construction

20. Muriwai Gannet Colony

21. Meow

22. Azure Serenity

23. Blupper wallpaper

24. Couches / Layers

25. Smarties HD

26. Background

27. Audi R8 Gold

28. White Cherry

29. Cloud Minimal

30. SNZ – 19

31. Bokeh Lightning

32. Tabac

33. HeadShot

34. New York

35. Gazed Upon By Angels In Their Flight

36. Abstract

37. Pier To Nowhere

38. Sunset

39. Ocean Colours

40. All Alone In This World

Our Other Wallpaper Collections

• 50 Stunning and Beautiful Desktop Wallpapers
• 45 Beautiful Dual-Screen Wallpapers
• 20 Incredible Sunrise Wallpapers Caught in Space
• 40 Beautiful Grunge Style Wallpapers for Your Desktop

Related Content

• 25 Elegant Workstations for Your Inspiration
• The Remote Designer: How to Work While on the Road
• 40+ Stylish and Trendy Icon Sets
• Related categories: Resources and Freebies

About the Author

Tomas Laurinavičius is interested in web design, graphic design and web development, based in Lithuania. He’s also the founder of Iniwoo, a site about photoshop, web design, wordpress and inspiration. If you’d like to connect with him, you can follow him on Twitter.

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Everyone love free fonts. If you want to be a bit different, you can use these creative fonts to make sure that your designs will stand out.

Note: Before using any fonts on your projects, it’s important to read the licensing agreement!

Interested in seeing more articles about fonts? Also check out the following related articles:

• 45 Beautiful Free Fonts for Modern Design Trends
• Comic Sans: The Font Everyone Loves to Hate
• 25 High Quality Free Fonts for Professional Designs

1. MDRS-FD01

2. Labrat

3. TYPORM01 Round ans Square

4. SquaretypeB

5. Knarf art font

6. Velocity

7. Synthetique

8. Amputa Bangiz Standard TTF

9. Giant Head

10. Snickles

11. Times New Yorker

12. Vintage

13. GOCA LOGOTYPE

14. Parallello

15. Karabine

16. Infected

17. Facet

18. Drift Type

19. Multistrokes

20. Cat Basah Kental!!!

21. Que FONTita

22. Confessions

23. Madredeus

24. Vtks Revolt

25. Exus Pilot

26. VAL

27. Outlaw

28. Kilogram

29. Ballpark

30. Orial

Which ones are your favorite? Did you discover any new fonts that you downloaded and will use in your design projects?

Related Content

• 10 Free Apps for Managing Your Fonts
• 20 Websites with Beautiful Typography
• 20 Creative and Unique Typefaces
• Related categories: Resources and Graphic Design

About the Author

Tomas Laurinavičius is interested in web design, graphic design and web development, based in Lithuania. He’s also the founder of Iniwoo, a site about photoshop, web design, wordpress and inspiration. If you’d like to connect with him, you can follow him on Twitter.

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When designing for the screen, people tend to underestimate the importance of type. You would be wrong to think that only print designers have to kern, adjust, weight and organize type meticulously.

That’s exactly what separates semipro’s from high standard professionals. Let’s talk about minuteness for a bit.

It is strictly a lie that motion designers don’t have to spend hours on adjustment and alignment on type.

It is starkly a lie that motion designers don’t have to kern, weight and organize type.

Obviously, we can’t bring typography to perfection for every single frame, but the important key frames should show a sense of aesthetics when it comes to typography.

We’ll share with you the do’s and don’ts of typography used in animation.

Do’s and Don’ts of Typography in Animation

Do: use sans serif fonts when the type you are displaying is not easily legible due to terms of timing or composition. Serif fonts are harder to read and become a plight rather than the originally intended information bearer.

Always keep in mind that you are designing for the screen. In opposition to printed work, the user can easily resize your screen design, and you sure as hell do not want to lose your serifs due to the user’s high screen resolution. Using sans serif typefaces retains the readability even at smaller font sizes.

Don’t: stretch fonts disproportionally. The thick strokes will get way out of proportion fast, so will the curvatures. Squeezing type could even put your job in jeopardy.

Do: limit yourself to two or three different typefaces per piece of art. More than that will destroy the feeling of a clear concept and make you look like an amateur. This tip is generally held as a basic guideline for typography in any media, whether its print design or web design typography.

Don’t: use faux italic or faux bold. Those are the buttons for bold and italic in Photoshop and any other Adobe product. They will try to simulate the type style of the font but never succeed entirely as it can’t elicit what the intention of the font’s creator was. And yes, in most cases, faux italic and faux bold are noticeable.

Instead, look for the typeface’s italic or bold style. In the example below, you can see the difference between the real versus the faux bold style.

Do: kern your type. A big leap between L and T, for example, simply looks foul. Use your Alt/Option key in combination with the arrow keys to change the kerning between letters in any product of Adobe.

Don’t: make text oriented vertically unless you’re targeting an audience that is accustomed to reading them this way. Especially in animation, it is irritating and takes time to read since most viewers are used to reading from left to right.

Do: use a grid to align your type elements. Relate them to each other in size and position and make sure the spaces between them are equal or follow the same pattern. (Learn more about grid layouts.) Use tracking and leading to bring the spacing to perfection.

Don’t: use Comic Sans or Papyrus. We don’t care how funny they might look. Do not ever use them. Since Microsoft released Comic Sans back in 1994, it has been used in any possible (unintended) way.

It was originally designed to imitate Comic book lettering, and that’s the only occasion you should ever even consider using it. And even then—you’re better off with another font. (Read more about the History of Comic Sans.)

Summing Up

Don’t look at type as if it is a "must", but rather, see it as another powerful graphical element that will not only help to convey your message and information, but also support the overall visual impression. And—when worse comes to worst—you can still ask Max Kerning.

What are your own experiences with typography in motion design such as Flash movies? What tips can you share with us? Share it in the comments.

Related Content

• A Basic Look at Typography in Web Design
• 20 Useful Typography Tools
• 20 Websites with Beautiful Typography
• Related categories: Resources and Tutorials

About the Author

Jake and Dan is the design and postproduction team of Jake Rathmanner and Dan Borufka, based in Austria and the Bay Area. They are the founders of creatogether, a site where they share articles and tutorials on design and coding. As freelancers in web design and postproduction, they are driven by challenge. Catch Jake and Dan on Twitter as @jakeanddan.

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Computers have wedged themselves into every facet of our lives—they are what we would use as the symbolic representation of the modern world.

But did you know that the history of computers dates back to the 1800s?

Indeed, the history and evolution of computers is quite extraordinary—and with many early computing technology innovations tied to defense contracts, much of this information were kept secret from the public for decades. In this article, we explore the development and progression of computers.

Mid-1800s-1930s: Early Mechanical Computers

The first computers were designed by Charles Babbage in the mid-1800s, and are sometimes collectively known as the Babbage Engines. These include the Difference Engine No. 1, the Analytical Engine, and the Difference Engine No. 2.

The Difference Engine was constructed from designs by Charles Babbage. Photo by Allan J. Cronin

These early computers were never completed during Babbage’s lifetime, but their complete designs were preserved. Eventually, one was built in 2002.

While these early mechanical computers bore little resemblance to the computers in use today, they paved the way for a number of technologies that are used by modern computers, or were instrumental in their development. These concepts include of the idea of separating storage from processing, the logical structure of computers, and the way that data and instructions are inputted and outputted.

Z1 was used to take the U.S. Census in 1890.

Other important mechanical computers are the Automatic Electrical Tabulating Machine—which was used in the U.S. Census of 1890 to handle data from more than 62 million Americans—and the first binary computer: Konrad Zuse’s Z1, which was developed in 1938 and was the precursor to the first electro-mechanical computer.

1930s: Electro-Mechanical Computers

Electro-mechanical computers generally worked with relays and/or vacuum tubes, which could be used as switches.

Some electro-mechanical computers—such as the Differential Analyzer built in 1930—used purely mechanical internals but employed electric motors to power them.

These early electro-mechanical computers were either analog or were digital—such as the Model K and the Complex Number Calculator, both produced by George Stibitz.

Stibitz, by the way, was also responsible for the first remote access computing, done at a conference at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He took a teleprinter to the conference, leaving his computer in New York City, and then proceeded to take problems posed by the audience. He then entered the problems on the keypad of his teleprinter, which outputted the answers afterward.

Z3 used floating-point numbers which improved the accuracy of calculations.

It was during the development of these early electro-mechanical computers that many of the technologies and concepts still used today were first developed. The Z3, a descendent of the Z1 developed by Konrad Zuse, was one such pioneering computer. The Z3 used floating-point numbers in computations and was the first program-controlled digital computer.

Other electro-mechanical computers included Bombes, which were used during WWII to decrypt German codes.

1940s: Electronic Computers

Colossus—whose name was fitting for its size—was developed during World War II.

The first electronic computers were developed during the World War II, with the earliest of those being the Colossus. The Colossus was developed to decrypt secret German codes during the war. It used vacuum tubes and paper tape and could perform a number of Boolean (e.g. true/false, yes/no) logical operations.

Williams Tube used RAM for its computations.

Another notable early electronic computer was nicknamed "The Baby" (officially known as the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine). While the computer itself wasn’t remarkable—it was the first computer to use the Williams Tube, a type of random access memory (RAM) that used a cathode-ray tube.

Some early electronic computers used decimal numeric systems (such as the ENIAC and the Harvard Mark 1), while others—like the Atanasoff-Berry Computer and the Colossus Mark 2—used binary systems. With the exception of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, all the major models were programmable, either using punch cards, patch cables and switches, or through stored programs in memory.

1950s: The First Commercial Computers

The first commercially available computers came in the 1950s. While computing up until this time had mainly focused on scientific, mathematical, and defense capabilities, new computers were designed for business functions, such as banking and accounting.

The J. Lyons Company, which was a British catering firm, invested heavily in some of these early computers. In 1951, LEO (Lyons Electronic Office) became the first computer to run a regular routine office job. By November of that year, they were using the LEO to run a weekly bakery valuations job.

The UNIVAC was the first mass-produced computer.

The UNIVAC was the first commercial computer developed in the U.S., with its first unit delivered to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the first mass-produced computer, with more than 45 units eventually produced and sold.

The IBM 701 was another notable development in early commercial computing; it was the first mainframe computer produced by IBM. It was around the same time that the Fortran programming language was being developed (for the 704).

The IBM 650 would cost you $4 million dollars if you bought it today.

A smaller IBM 650 was developed in the mid-1950s, and was popular due to its smaller size and footprint (it still weighed over 900kg, with a separate 1350kg power supply).

They cost the equivalent of almost $4 million today (adjusted for inflation).

Mid-1950s: Transistor Computers

The development of transistors led to the replacement of vacuum tubes, and resulted in significantly smaller computers. In the beginning, they were less reliable than the vacuum tubes they replaced, but they also consumed significantly less power.

IBM 350 RAMAC used disk drives.

These transistors also led to developments in computer peripherals. The first disk drive, the IBM 350 RAMAC, was the first of these introduced in 1956. Remote terminals also became more common with these second-generation computers.

1960s: The Microchip and the Microprocessor

The microchip (or integrated circuit) is one of the most important advances in computing technology. Many overlaps in history existed between microchip-based computers and transistor-based computers throughout the 1960s, and even into the early 1970s.

Micochips allowed the manufacturing of smaller computers. Photo by Ioan Sameli

The microchip spurred the production of minicomputers and microcomputers, which were small and inexpensive enough for small businesses and even individuals to own. The microchip also led to the microprocessor, another breakthrough technology that was important in the development of the personal computer.

There were three microprocessor designs that came out at about the same time. The first was produced by Intel (the 4004). Soon after, models from Texas Instruments (the TMS 1000) and Garret AiResearch (the Central Air Data Computer, or CADC) followed.

The first processors were 4-bit, but 8-bit models quickly followed by 1972.

16-bit models were produced in 1973, and 32-bit models soon followed. AT&T Bell Labs created the first fully 32-bit single-chip microprocessor, which used 32-bit buses, 32-bit data paths, and 32-bit addresses, in 1980.

The first 64-bit microprocessors were in use in the early 1990s in some markets, though they didn’t appear in the PC market until the early 2000s.

1970s: Personal Computers

The first personal computers were built in the early 1970s. Most of these were limited-production runs, and worked based on small-scale integrated circuits and multi-chip CPUs.

The Commodore PET was a personal computer in the 70s. Photo by Tomislav Medak

The Altair 8800 was the first popular computer using a single-chip microprocessor. It was also sold in kit form to electronics hobbyists, meaning purchasers had to assemble their own computers.

Clones of this machine quickly cropped up, and soon there was an entire market based on the design and architecture of the 8800. It also spawned a club based around hobbyist computer builders, the Homebrew Computer Club.

1977 saw the rise of the "Trinity" (based on a reference in Byte magazine): the Commodore PET, the Apple II, and the Tandy Corporation’s TRS-80. These three computer models eventually went on to sell millions.

These early PCs had between 4kB and 48kB of RAM. The Apple II was the only one with a full-color, graphics-capable display, and eventually became the best-seller among the trinity, with more than 4 million units sold.

1980s-1990s: The Early Notebooks and Laptops

One particularly notable development in the 1980s was the advent of the commercially available portable computer.

Osborne 1 was small and portable enough to transport. Photo by Tomislav Medak

The first of these was the Osborne 1, in 1981. It had a tiny 5" monitor and was large and heavy compared to modern laptops (weighing in at 23.5 pounds). Portable computers continued to develop, though, and eventually became streamlined and easily portable, as the notebooks we have today are.

These early portable computers were portable only in the most technical sense of the word. Generally, they were anywhere from the size of a large electric typewriter to the size of a suitcase.

The Gavilan SC was the first PC to be sold as a "laptop".

The first laptop with a flip form factor, was produced in 1982, but the first portable computer that was actually marketed as a "laptop" was the Gavilan SC in 1983.

Early models had monochrome displays, though there were color displays available starting in 1984 (the Commodore SX-64).

Laptops grew in popularity as they became smaller and lighter. By 1988, displays had reached VGA resolution, and by 1993 they had 256-color screens. From there, resolutions and colors progressed quickly. Other hardware features added during the 1990s and early 2000s included high-capacity hard drives and optical drives.

Laptops typically come in three categories, as shown by these Macbooks. Photo by Benjamin Nagel

Laptops are generally broken down into a three different categories:

• Desktop replacements
• Standard notebooks
• Subnotebooks

Desktop replacements are usually larger, with displays of 15-17" and performance comparable with some better desktop computers.

Standard notebooks usually have displays of 13-15" and are a good compromise between performance and portability.

Subnotebooks, including netbooks, have displays smaller than 13" and fewer features than standard notebooks.

2000s: The Rise of Mobile Computing

Mobile computing is one of the most recent major milestones in the history of computers.

Many smartphones today have higher processor speeds and more memory than desktop PCs had even ten years ago. With phones like the iPhone and the Motorola Droid, it’s becoming possible to perform most of the functions once reserved for desktop PCs from anywhere.

The Droid is a smartphone capable of basic computing tasks such as emailing and web browsing.

Mobile computing really got its start in the 1980s, with the pocket PCs of the era. These were something like a cross between a calculator, a small home computer and a PDA. They largely fell out of favor by the 1990s. During the 1990s, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) became popular.

A number of manufacturers had models, including Apple and Palm. The main feature PDAs had that not all pocket PCs had was a touchscreen interface. PDAs are still manufactured and used today, though they’ve largely been replaced by smartphones.

Smartphones have truly revolutionized mobile computing. Most basic computing functions can now be done on a smartphone, such as email, browsing the internet, and uploading photos and videos.

Late 2000s: Netbooks

Another recent progression in computing history is the development of netbook computers. Netbooks are smaller and more portable than standard laptops, while still being capable of performing most functions average computer users need (using the Internet, managing email, and using basic office programs). Some netbooks go as far as to have not only built-in WiFi capabilities, but also built-in mobile broadband connectivity options.

The Asus Eee PC 700 was the first netbook to enter mass production.

The first mass-produced netbook was the Asus Eee PC 700, released in 2007. They were originally released in Asia, but were released in the US not long afterward.

Other manufacturers quickly followed suit, releasing additional models throughout 2008 and 2009.

One of the main advantages of netbooks is their lower cost (generally ranging from around US$200-$600). Some mobile broadband providers have even offered netbooks for free with an extended service contract. Comcast also had a promotion in 2009 that offered a free netbook when you signed up for their cable internet services.

Most netbooks now come with Windows or Linux installed, and soon, there will be Android-based netbooks available from Asus and other manufacturers.

The history of computing spans nearly two centuries at this point, much longer than most people realize. From the mechanical computers of the 1800s to the room-sized mainframes of the mid-20th century, all the way up to the netbooks and smartphones of today, computers have evolved radically throughout their history.

The past 100 years have brought technological leaps and bounds to computing, and there’s no telling what the next 100 years might bring.

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About the Author

Cameron Chapman is a professional web and graphic designer with over 6 years of experience in the industry. She’s also written for numerous blogs such as Smashing Magazine and Mashable. You can find her personal web presence at Cameron Chapman On Writing. If you’d like to connect with her, check her out on Twitter.

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Icon design is an essential element in web and interface design. In this massive round up, you will find top notch Photoshop and Illustrator icon design tutorials that will show you how to make amazing and highly detailed icons.

You should also see our previous collection of icon design tutorials.

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Design a Stylish Mail Icon in Photoshop

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Create a Shiny Psdtuts+ Folder Icon in Photoshop

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How To Create a Detailed Apple iPad Icon in Photoshop

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Creating a Modern, Glossy Mouse Icon in Photoshop

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Make a 3D Pencil and Paper Icon in Photoshop

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How to Create a Magician’s Hat in Photoshop

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How to Create a Realistic Fountain Pen

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How to Create an Envelope Icon in Photoshop

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How to Design a Beautiful Google Calendar Icon

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Create A Stylish And Sleek PlayStation Portable Icon

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Create a Leather-Textured, Realistic Briefcase Icon

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Photoshop Laser Printer Model

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Design a 3D Box Icon in Photoshop

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Create a Glossy High Tech 3D Speaker Icon

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Monitor Icon Design

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How to Create a Basic House Icon in Photoshop

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Sleek Icon Design

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Compact Disc Icon

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New Quicktime Icon in Photoshop

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Share This Icon

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Create a Glossy Volt Icon in Photoshop

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Render a Realistic CD in Photoshop

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How to Create a Stylish Pair of Headphones

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How To Build a Vector Clock Graphic in Illustrator

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How to Create a Photorealistic iMac and Magic Mouse

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Draw a Classy 3D Poker Chip in Photoshop

Illustrate a 3D poker chip in Adobe Photoshop starting from scratch.

Halloween Pumpkin

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How to Create an Energy Saving Bulb in Illustrator

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How to create a Television Icon

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Create a Stylized GPS Icon

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Create A Briefcase Icon

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How to Create a Recycling Paper Bag Icon

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Create a Fun Icon of Frozen People on Ice

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Ibrahim Cheurfa is a young graphic and web designer (he’s only 16) based in Algeria. He’s a self-taught Photoshop artist. You can get in touch with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, or follow him on Twitter: @berhouma.