Basic convenience methods i like to have in UIKit.

UIKit+NPExtras.h

@interface UIColor (NPUIExtras)

/**
 Generates a color with random values. (not guarenteed to be truely random)
 */
+ (UIColor *)randomColor;

/**
 Used to construct a color using values from 0 - 255 rather then 0 - 1.
 */
+ (UIColor *)colorWithEasyRed:(CGFloat)red green:(CGFloat)green blue:(CGFloat)blue;
/**
 Gray color with a density from (white) 0 - 1 (black).
 */
+ (UIColor *)grayColorWithDensity:(CGFloat)density;


/**
 See additional recommended additions: https://github.com/ars/uicolor-utilities
 */
@end


@interface UILabel (NPUIExtras)
- (CGFloat)heightToFitWidth:(CGFloat)width;
@end


@interface CAGradientLayer (styling)
/**
  Easy initializer
	@param startColor The Color at the top of the gradient
	@param endColor The Color at the bottom of the gradient
	@returns Autoreleased gradient layer
 */
+ (CAGradientLayer *)layerWithStartColor:(UIColor *)startColor endColor:(UIColor *)endColor;

@end


@interface UIView (NPUIExtras)
@property CGPoint position;
@property CGFloat x;
@property CGFloat y;
@property CGSize size;
@property CGFloat width;
@property CGFloat height;



/**
	Applies a gradient layer to the very back of the layer hiearchy. You can use preset gradient layers or call one liners to both create and apply gradients
	@param gradient The CAGradientLayer to apply
 */
- (void)setGradientBackground:(CAGradientLayer *)gradient;

@end

UIKit+NPExtras.m

@implementation UIColor (NPUIExtras)

+ (UIColor *)colorWithEasyRed:(CGFloat)red green:(CGFloat)green blue:(CGFloat)blue {
    return [UIColor colorWithRed:red / 255.0 green:green / 255.0 blue:blue / 255.0 alpha:1];
}

+ (UIColor *)grayColorWithDensity:(CGFloat)density {
    density = 1-density;
    return [UIColor colorWithRed:density green:density blue:density alpha:1];
}

+ (UIColor *)randomColor {
    NSInteger red = rand() % 255;
    NSInteger blue = rand() % 255;
    NSInteger green = rand() % 255;

    return [UIColor colorWithEasyRed:red green:green blue:blue];
}

@end

@implementation UILabel (NPUIExtras)

-(CGFloat)heightToFitWidth:(CGFloat)width
{
    if (![self.text length]) {
        return 0;
    }
    CGSize size = [self.text sizeWithFont:self.font constrainedToSize:CGSizeMake(width, CGFLOAT_MAX) lineBreakMode:self.lineBreakMode];
    
    return size.height;
}

@end


@implementation CAGradientLayer (NPUIExtras)

+ (CAGradientLayer *)layerWithStartColor:(UIColor *)start endColor:(UIColor *)end {
    CAGradientLayer *layer = [CAGradientLayer layer];
    CGColorRef endColor = end.CGColor;
    CGColorRef startColor = start.CGColor;
    NSArray *colors = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:(id) startColor, endColor, nil];
    layer.colors = colors;
    return layer;
}

@end


@implementation UIView (NPUIExtras)
- (CGPoint)position {
    return [self frame].origin;
}

- (void)setPosition:(CGPoint)position {
    CGRect rect = [self frame];
    rect.origin = position;
    [self setFrame:rect];
}

- (CGFloat)x {
    return [self frame].origin.x;
}

- (void)setX:(CGFloat)x {
    CGRect rect = [self frame];
    rect.origin.x = x;
    self.frame = rect;
    //[self setFrame:rect];
}

- (CGFloat)y {
    return [self frame].origin.y;
}

- (void)setY:(CGFloat)y {
    CGRect rect = [self frame];
    rect.origin.y = y;
    [self setFrame:rect];
}

- (CGSize)size {
    return [self frame].size;
}

- (void)setSize:(CGSize)size {
    CGRect rect = [self frame];
    rect.size = size;
    [self setFrame:rect];
}

- (CGFloat)width {
    return [self frame].size.width;
}

- (void)setWidth:(CGFloat)width {
    CGRect rect = [self frame];
    rect.size.width = width;
    [self setFrame:rect];
}

- (CGFloat)height {
    return [self frame].size.height;
}

- (void)setHeight:(CGFloat)height {
    CGRect rect = [self frame];
    rect.size.height = height;
    [self setFrame:rect];
}

#pragma mark - gradients

- (void)setGradientBackground:(CAGradientLayer *)gradient {
    [gradient setBounds:[self bounds]];
    [gradient setPosition:CGPointMake([self bounds].size.width / 2, [self bounds].size.height / 2)];
    NSInteger position = 0;
    if([self isKindOfClass:[UIButton class]])
    {
        UIButton *button = (UIButton *)self;
        if (button.buttonType == UIButtonTypeRoundedRect && [UIDevice systemVersionIsGreaterThen:__IPHONE_6_0]) {
            //A fix for iOS6 rounded buttons
            position = 1;
        }
    }
    [self.layer insertSublayer:gradient atIndex:position];
}

@end