✏ Issue #482: Get Ready For Next Month’s Google Shakeup, Open Data Design, Uncut Open Source Fonts, Design Systems 101, and more…

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A year ago, Google was preparing to launch another huge algorithm update, and then Covid hit, and the update was postponed. It’s going live sometime in May and focuses on Core Web Vitals — metrics that Google values in websites. We take a look at what’s coming and offer some practical steps to prepare your site.

Propoze is a beautifully designed app for creative professionals who need to send client proposals. It’s fast and block-based so that you can generate documents quickly; it’s customizable with savable templates so that you can create consistent brand assets. Propoze is currently in alpha, but there’s a free-forever plan you can use right now.

Designing for government is the pinnacle of many designers’ careers. But despite evident enthusiasm for publicly accessible data, government projects are notoriously difficult to navigate. In this epic read, Damir Kotorić shares his experiences designing for publicly funded projects, with tons of actionable tips thrown in.

You don’t need to know how to code to create your own app, just hold a conversation; NoCodeZ is an innovative SaaS that uses AI to analyze your business story and responses to a few questions, then builds an app for you. It’s a fascinating approach that appears tailor-made for rapid prototyping. It’s free to try out.

If you’ve heard a lot about design systems, but you’re not quite sure exactly what they are and how they should be implemented, then check out Therese Fessenden’s excellent introduction. You’ll learn what constitutes a design system, what should be included, how it should be managed, as well as tips on how to use them successfully.

Launched this week, Uncut is an already awesome and growing collection of open-source fonts. The catalog focuses on contemporary designs and is well distributed over sans, sans-serif, monospaced, and display type. There are already 36 designs to preview and download, and you can submit your own fonts for consideration.

Creativity has a central role to play in global recovery from the Covid pandemic. From art to new graphic formats, to illustration and new technologies, the web community is vital in picking the world up and setting it going again. Ruby Boddington talks to industry professionals about how we can help shape the post-Covid world.

For freelance creative professionals, it’s never been more important to manage your business well. Milestone centralizes all your project management tools in a single place to simplify your job list, from client onboarding to invoicing, leaving you more time to create billable work. Plans start at $9.99/month, and there’s a free trial.