For the past few months, Tim has been tasked with the important job of curating selections of high quality links every weekday. In addition to managing our new link submission platform, Tim has also begun handling other administrative processes at Tut9, and is continuing to become an important part of our development.

About Tim Smith

Tim is a web designer working from sunny San Diego, California, where he works as the Lead Designer and Co- Founder of an awesome new start-up called Bundly. Tim tells us that “Bundly is revolutionizing the way you have fun and share new experiences with the people that matter“, and we’re excited to see where it goes. In the past, Tim has collaborated with some amazing companies, most notably Fuel Brand Inc as Editor-In-Chief of Fuel Your Blogging.

You can find out more about Tim, and what he’s up to on his personal site, and from his Twitter.

Be sure to say “Hi” and check out Tim’s other projects. He’s constantly around the site making sure things are operating smoothly!

We know how it is, which is why we’re finally offering a new way of following Tutorial9.

Now you can Follow Tutorial9 on Twitter.

Yeah, we know: “Social Media” can be a big pain. Trust us, we’re not hear to blow your eardrums with lots of useless retweets and unnecessary plugs. If you want the fastest way to keep up with Tutorial9, this is for you.

I was already following Tutorial9…

Great! We’ve had a presence on Twitter in the past, but we’ve given it zero commitment. We recognize now that Twitter is a legitimate means for distributing updates, and want to offer something to our fans that is valuable and informative.

Twitter can be a lot of things. We’re not looking to be one of those painfully-obnoxious tweeters, but rather provide a useful service for our users.

Give us a follow if you want the most up to date freebies, tutorials, and announcements from Tutorial9.

We’ve learned a lot in these two years, and today we’d like to celebrate self-education. Tutorials aren’t about how you can become more like someone else, but instead how you can teach yourself important skills, and then apply the right processes and your own ideas to the right project. We stand firmly on the idea that self-education is one of the most important principles of our time…when the world says you should be more like someone else, and when mediocrity is praised, we believe in striving to be the best you can possibly be in whatever interests you.

Tutorial9 is a platform that enables self-education, and doing what is right.

And we’ve learned a thing or two ourselves these past few years…

Tutorial9 Re-thought

We’re in the process of rebranding Tutorial9, and shifting some of our fundamental building blocks. Right now, we serve over 50,000 users a constant stream of new tutorials and resources, and we do a pretty good job at it. These tutorials however are often very specific. While they are useful teaching tools, they only offer a small slice of an overall practice at any given time.

In the new Tutorial9 we want to offer both small slices, as well as comprehensive sets of tools for entire projects. These Tool Boxes will provide all the necessary knowledge and means for completing complex projects of your own.

Want to create a WordPress theme from scratch? A WordPress Theme Toolbox might contain all the building blocks for designing a theme in Photoshop, putting it into code, and then offer a plethora of extras such as incorporating featured posts, or adding custom template files.

The idea here isn’t to show you how to build a specific site, but rather while you’re building a site using Tutorial9 as a reference where you can quickly find the right tool to get the job done. And this isn’t just a concept for website designers… For example, there could be tool boxes for:

• Model Photography – Forms needed, lighting setup, useful equipment
• Business Cards – Where to print, Coupons, Best Practices
• Retouching Photos – Photoshop Tools, Case studies, Enhancements

The possibilities are endless, but the idea is that for every project, a specific set of tools can be used to get the job done quicker and better.

New Look

There will be plenty of changes and improvements around Tutorial9 alongside Tool Boxes, but one of the most noticeable changes is going to be the new look. We’re changing everything to better reflect who we are, including our brand.

When we’re ready, it will be time to say goodbye to the old cloud, and hello to the new:

All of Tutorial9 is becoming more streamlined, faster, easier to use. We know how people use the site, and there are plenty of improvements we are making so that you waste less time, and find what you need more quickly.

When will it be ready?

We’re working hard to prepare the new Tutorial9 experience, but as you may imagine, there is a lot to be done. We’re in no rush to get this out before it’s ready, and there is a good chance you won’t see any big changes around here until late 2010. We can’t share any more details about the new Tutorial9 at this time, but we can listen to your thoughts about the current experience here. If you want to influence the new Tutorial9, please contact us and tell us what you’d like to see. We’ll definitely see a lot of people requesting one feature or telling us how another feature should be scrapped, and as usual, the truth will be somewhere in the middle. Your thoughts are important to us though, and do help us deliver a more useful experience.

Thanks for another great year folks!

We’ve made it through 2009, and what a fantastic year it’s been for us. In the past 12 months, we’ve grown by over 400%, have enlisted many new talented contributors, and have helped tens of thousands of new designers around the world.

We’re very proud of what’s been accomplished, and have everyone here to thank for it. Without the wonderful contributors here at Tutorial9, our friends from around the web, and the loyal support of our viewers none of this would be possible…so we say both Thank you, and Fantastic Job.

Our Gift to You

It’s been a tough year for many of us. The state of the economy has tragically caused millions of people to lose jobs, and while we all hope for the best it’s still uncertain for many how to pull through.

The recession has also been troubling for many great charitable causes around the globe. With less people being able to give this year, international and local charities have had trouble meeting their needs this past year.

In response to the economic climate, and the great support you’ve given us over the past year, Tutorial9 is donating $1,000 on behalf of the incredible design community we’ve cultivated over the past year and a half.

We’re donating this money to Save The Children, an organization that helps create lasting change for children around the world. With government awarded grants, the United States Agency for International Development will typically provide $1-4 for every dollar used by Save The Children—potentially giving back up to $5,000 that can be used to help kids around the globe.

It’s not much, but we’re more than happy to give back thanks to all you’ve given us.

You can Help Make a Difference Too!

It’s 100% understandable that many people can’t give back right now, and for them we have high hopes that the new year brings new and exciting opportunities. If you are in a position to give though, right now charities could use a little extra push.

Whether you can give time, some extra cash to your favorite organization, or even donate to Save the Children… Every little bit helps.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

Thanks for another great year folks! <3

We wish you all the best in 2010, and look forward to an even better year than 2009. Thanks again for all of the help so far, and for your continued support into the new year.

<3,
Tutorial9

Preview

Download for Free

Usually, this theme costs $25.This week on Tutorial9 you can get this theme, a free subscription to our new Tutorial9 Newsletter, and hundreds of other freebies for free.

Download for Free in the Ultimate Resource Pack

We’re talking hundreds of freebies, all packed into one big download. Exclusive Icon packs, Unreleased PSD’s, Premium WordPress Themes… It’s sort of a big deal.

You can get all the details here if you want to grab this download.

This is Your Captain Speaking

Hey folks, it’s Leggett here thanking you all for an awesome first year in serving the design community.

Many of you have been here since the start, and many more joined the party sometime after we kicked off, and it’s been a total pleasure serving everyone and getting to know some of you rather well.

In just 12 short months we’ve become one of the top tutorial and resource publishers on the web, currently serving over 16,000 subscribers, and tens of thousands of designers around the web. We don’t attribute this success to our kick-butt awesome tutorials, but to the culture of friendly folk constantly striving to help one another.

It’s our community that separates Tutorial9, and truly makes it a Blissful experience.

What’s In Store For The Future

Our plan for Tutorial9 is to keep doing what we do best. Rather than spread ourselves too thin, we’re going to stay on course and continue providing more and more outstanding resources for the design community.

Do one thing, but do it well. That’s one of my beliefs for making this a sustainable resource for years to come.

We will of course expand and grow as it becomes possible, and we depend on your help to make that happen. When you share Tutorial9 with a friend, help people subscribe to updates, and participate in the discussion, it really does make it easier for us to provide you with more resources.

Finances are always one of the less fun things to talk about in communities, but so far we’ve done well. We believe in strong investments in our contributors since sharing knowledge is what makes Tutorial9 such a great place, but we’re wise about our spending which keeps the experience optimal for our viewers. There are discussions about creating a premium membership program here, but I will always keep the Tutorials themselves completely free. A premium membership would simply allow us to enhance the experience by sharing even more resources with our viewers.

Want To Make Tutorial9 a Better Place?

There are lots of ways you can get integrated in the community:

• Subscribe to Tutorial9 (RSS or by Email)
• Follow Tutorial9 on Twitter
• Share your thoughts, or help someone in the comments below a post on Tutorial9
• Write a tutorial, or publish a resource on Tutorial9. We’ll pay you up to $300!
• Let us know what you like most about Tutorial9 in the comments below so we can focus more on what the community likes best!

Thanks Again

Thanks again for the wonderful year folks. It’s been absolutely fantastic working with all of you, and I hope you’re all excited for another year of Tutorial Bliss :)