Thursday, July 30, 2009

How successful is your logo design?

I receive many questions from both clients and other designers asking me “What makes a good logo?” Instead of focusing on what makes a logo look good (because we all know we can argue that point for days based on personal taste), I thought it would be best to focus on what makes a logo work well – a better question to ask yourself while designing a logo is “How flexible is the logo?”
Click to view.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

How to use bevel and drop shadow in PS

If you want to be taken seriously as a designer, you cannot use the Bevel or Drop Shadow tools in Photoshop. What most of these advice givers really mean to say, is that you should not use the default settings for these tools. Here I am going to show you a side-by-side comparison of the default settings and some custom settings after taking you through the tutorials to achieve the desired effects.

Enjoy!

Click for tutorial.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Creative Web/Blog Footers for Inspiration

Some of the examples shown here use visual elements to make the design of the footer more interesting, and others simply focus on providing navigation or information in the footer that will help visitors.

Click to view list.

Create Vector Type Logo in PS

In this tutorial we will explore the idea of creating custom (vector) logos in Photoshop. We will explore the idea of font manipulation as well as adding custom shapes to the mix.

(*note: This tutorial assumes you know how to use the Pen tool enough to make your way around comfortably inside paths.)

Click for tutorial.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Explaining Blending modes in PS.

The definitions used here are from the Photoshop help files, with a few bits of added explanation here and there.
The Blend Modes control how pixels in two separate layers interact with and effect each other. It’s helpful to think in terms of the following colors when visualizing a blending mode’s effect:

* The base color is the original color in the bottom layer.
* The blend color is the color being applied by the upper layer.
* The result color is the color resulting from the blend.

Click here for full article.

Friday, July 17, 2009

How to create an animated GIF insidePhotoshop CS4

In this tutorial, we'll take a look at the Photoshop animation feature to create a nice animated GIF.

Click here for tutorial.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Create a cool glowing effect in Photoshop!

This tutorial will teach you how to come up a cool glowing effects on your artworks. Lets take a quick preview first on the final result.

Click here for tutorial.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Video-How to place an image perfectly into another image!

Click for video!

Principles of Navigation Design in websites.

10 Principles Of Navigation Design And Why Quality Navigation Is So Critical

If content is the heart of every website publication, navigation is its brain and a fundamental pillar of information architecture design. When dealing with large quantities of content, the critical importance of navigation cannot be overestimated. Content that can’t be found can’t be read. If content can’t be found and read, this means a lot of cost but zero value.

Navigation is the website’s “table of contents”. In traditional publication you have page numbering to help you navigate. You can hold the publication in your hands and flick through it. If its large publication there is usually an index at the back that can be used. You can’t hold a website in your hands.

Click to view article.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Free 4 week photography course!

I’m delighted to announce a new 4-week Digital Photography Course starting in two weeks! This special course is taught by photographer John Greengo from the PBS series Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge.

July 15: Week 1 - Overview. Life of a World Traveling Photographer.
July 22: Week 2 - Your Camera.
July 29: Week 3 - Your Technique.
Aug 5: Week 4 - Composition Secrets.

Want to enroll? Sign-up here:

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Cool Splatter Photoshop brushes!

This is a set of five great-looking splatter brushes, each with a unique splatter effect, from round splatters to subtle scratches.

Click here for download.