Archive for August, 2010
30 Cool Websites with Vector Like Background
In this post we’ll be looking at some awesome site backgrounds that have been created in Adobe Illustrator or in other similar programs, and have an unmistakable, specific ‘vector look’ which is very trendy currently. They usually use shiny looking illustrations as part of the background graphics, or collages of various decorative elements, again with a digital look.
In this case it is very important what image you choose to feature on the background: creativity is more than necessary in the choice you make. It is enough to rightly place one illustration whose drawing style and original subject is astounding and you will convey a special personality and character to the whole site.
Simple ISO Guide for Beginner Photographers
Everyone loves his brand new camera. However, most beginners have no idea what some features actually mean. Let’s take your SLR camera for instance. On the display you’ll come across some letters.
ISO is a feature that stands for image sensitivity to light and speed film. It comes from International Standards Organization and it has the power to slow cameras down, or make them work faster.
10 Popular Design Competition Websites
The irony of any website design is that the name of the designer is relegated right down to the bottom of the page and that too in small font sizes that are barely legible. And in some cases, the name of the designer is simply not there or is taken over by the client. Designers spend days and months designing websites for their clients and what they get in return, most of the time, is payment for their work.
So, how does a designer like you show the world what you are capable of? There is a simple but highly effective method to brand your work – enter a design competition. Using the popular search engines will give you an enormous list of design competitions that can help you getting hunted by prospective clients rather than you hunting for them.
15 Websites to Showcase Your Design Portfolio
There are thousands of designers like you out there trying their best attract the attention of potential clients. In this highly competitive industry, it could be rather difficult trying to beat all of them and landing a lucrative web designing contract. For this purpose, a portfolio website is one of the best tools to showcase their work.
Creating a portfolio website is a must for any designer. No one out there will know about you unless you market yourself as a brand. And this is precisely what a portfolio website does for you. You can easily design your own portfolio website if you are an artist. What really is more important is marketing your portfolio website.
23 Tips for Good Business Card Design
Everyone should bear in mind that designing a good business card does portray a good sense of your client’s business. A good business card must be devised with great care to obtain as well as get the attention of new clients to purchase the item you are selling as well as use the assistance you are providing. A good business card should not be taken for granted as an item for announcements, to connect with your clients or a way for you to obtain connections. Business card is a form of self promotion and relays the information about you and what you do or rather what your company is all about. If your business card doesn’t provide you with sales or make your business stand out, this just proves that your business card isn’t effective at certain level.
A lot of individuals think that business cards are the sole advertisement method that is effective; though this thought is mostly common among people who are just new comers in the world of commerce. The general method of idea is that a business card is easily thought up as well as generated from the comfort of one’s house or one’s desktop and that is sufficient enough for new business associates to get recognition or sales from clients. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
30 Impressive Surrealist Website Designs
In this article we’ll be looking at another awesome and very popular trend in web-design: that of creating an entire graphic world that one should explore! Entering the site is like visiting a strange planet or an unknown house – you never know what to expect, what will cross your way or what will pop up in front of you! We’ve seen that before in our previous articles but this time we’ll be looking at a different procedure and technique for creating this spectacular alternate reality: it will no be a world that is drawn or illustrated; the baffling element is that this time the unreal world is created from very realistic images, combined in a strange or unexpected way.
The effect is dazzling – you will feel like stepping into an unusual dream where all your familiar realities are recomposed and, generally, juggled with in the most unexpected way! Sometimes the site graphics stays closer to a recognizable reality and other times it just creates an alternate world from scratch but it uses very realistic pictures to do that and the contradiction is shockingly beautiful!
40 Cool Twitter Background Designs
Twitter is a continually growing trend with a shocking popularity worldwide so it’s impossible to avoid a Twitter-related article here (the Twitter icon on the right side of this very article is enough proof of my statement, and very hard to ignore, indeed!).
This time we will discuss about Twitter from a designer’s perspective and we’ll be referring to Twitter background designs – something you really shouldn’t take for granted if you care about giving a clue of your personality to your followers, and that at the first glance! So we’ll be looking at some Tweeter backgrounds that are impressive because of their original and very well-balanced graphics, and, in fact, because they have style! A Twitter background is much less demanding than that of a site or blog, but considering that thousands of people could relate to you through that, you should give it a bit of thought, however.
32 Extremely Original Retro Style Illustrations by Dan Page
In this post we’ll be looking at some excellent examples of retro-style illustration: those belonging to Dan Page. He is an illustrator who has managed to combine the simple, descriptive graphics of the retro style with illustration concepts that span from surrealism to extremely intelligent puns. The result is striking and hard to shake off: the visual effect of his illustrations is all the more powerful because of this unusual combinations of the retro style, that conveys conformism to a fixed set of social rules and a certain rigid mentality and the often very controversial, unconventional and mind-blowing subjects adopted.
The concept behind each illustration is in fact essential to Dan Page. As he admits himself: “At the core of what I do is the ‘idea’ behind each image, communication with pictures or creating a thought provoking image is what makes me move forward.”
Dan Page is a very successful illustrator precisely because of this brilliant way of creating his drawings. His client lists include: Time, Forbes, Business Week, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Popular Science, New Scientist and many others.
40 Exceptional Digital Illustrations by Patrick Morgan
The subject of this post is the portfolio of a young and very talented illustrator: Patrick Morgan. This time we will not be looking at an illustrator who completely bans the computer from his work process, but quite the contrary: Patrick Morgan’s illustrations are exquisite examples of digital illustration that manages to keep the complexity of the hand-sketch and combine it with the special effects of the digital tablet. He describes himself his creative process, in a few words: “Illustrators stand on the shoulders of giants pushing fashion, photography, design. I work using all this knowledge and then applying it to my book of wonders (my sketch pad). Once collecting the images needed either from found material or location drawing I am ready for my Mac. I scan my drawings in, maybe bitmapping for a raw edge of just playing with the levels to get real hard black” I hope this description helps you if you feel that you’d like to use the same technique in your own work.
As for Patrick Morgan’s career brief, he graduated Kingston University (London) in 1998 (a Degree in Graphics and Illustration with Commendations for Print Making) and he has been working as a freelance illustrator since, quickly becoming very famous in the field. He has been collaborating with clients from all over the world, including Transport of London, Cingular, Starbucks, Bacardi, Smirnoff, Coca-Cola and Waitrose.
The Inspiring Works of Illustrator Superstar: Olaf Hajek
This article will throw spotlight on the work of a German artistic illustrator, who is already extremely famous in the field and one of the reasons for that might be the fact that he has managed to always reinvent himself and has adopted an extremely original style and working process. First of all, we will mention from the very beginning, if you were wondering how the illustrations displayed in this collection were done: none of them is digital! Olaf Hajek prefers to work as a painter for all his illustrations (some of which are quite close to the fine art aesthetics, actually) and his medium is acrylic on cardboard, paper or wood.
