📝 Issue #466: 7 Trends Designers Should Know for 2021, Creating Randomness in Pure CSS, Top New CMS Plugins, 2020 Ipsum, and more…

In many ways, 2020 saw a consolidation of trends that have been building for a while; 2021 promises to be more of a challenge. InVision has produced its annual product design trends report. The 36-page download is packed with predictions, trend analysis, and advice for designers as we head into 2021.

AnimXYZ is an animation toolkit that helps you build native CSS animations for the web. It uses CSS variables to enable compound animations for multiple properties without relying on keyframes. The code is written for Vue.js, React, Sass, and vanilla CSS. It’s easily customizable, and the library is less than 3kb.

Each month we publish a roundup of the best new plugins for CMS, covering WordPress, Craft, Joomla, Shopify, and more. In the final edition for 2020, you’ll find add-ons for WooCommerce, plugins for user-generated content, a new field for Craft, QR codes, security options for WordPress, and a Bitcoin plugin.

Do you have dozens, or even hundreds, of domains floating around with different registrars? Momento is an excellent product designed to help you manage both your domains and SSL certificates. With everything stored in one place, you’ll never overlook a renewal again. You can request early access now.

Sometimes, we want to place something randomly, apply a random color, or otherwise add random elements to a design. Unfortunately, CSS doesn’t have a random function, so there’s no built-in way to do it. In this excellent tutorial, Adir SL introduces a clever trick for creating the appearance of randomness in CSS.

Are you determined to get more done in 2021? Motion is a set of tools wrapped up in an app that’s designed to win you back 1–2 hours per day — that’s over two months every year! There’s a calendar, tab management, easy-access documents, and an anti-distraction system. A free trial’s available; plans start at $20/month.

Google’s algorithm powers searches across mobile, voice, and most browsers. But monopolies like Google’s are rarely sustainable, and smaller players enter the market who may one day rival the search giant. George Nguyen asks what it will take for new search engines to succeed and where they can start.

toast.log is an awesome browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that exposes console errors without the need to dig into your developer tools. The errors are only seen by you, are fully searchable, identify the precise location of any error, and can search for a solution with a single click. Licenses start at $12.

2020 Ipsum is a hilarious lorem ipsum generator that drops in keywords and phrases that highlight the tumultuous events of 2020. Most of the keywords we’d probably rather forget: Doomscrolling, Zoombomb, frontline workers. Occasionally there’s a fleeting note of positivity, like the much-loved baby Yoda.