Tutorial9 » Roundups & Showcases

Creative Business Card Inspiration: 100 engaging and unique cards

vlad — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:00:56 +0000

A collection of over 100 outstanding business card designs, including a few outlandish ones (edible business cards?) Good place to start if you’re looking for inspiration for your own cards.

Creative Bookmarks: Best of September 2010

Tim Smith — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:00:22 +0000

Summer had to end eventually. However, with the coming of Fall comes an all new month with great new tutorials, articles and freebies! This is Creative Bookmarks September!

Quick Nav:

Photoshop Tutorials
Illustrator Tutorials
Web/Blogging Tutorials
Freebies, Inspiration, & Resources

Photoshop Tutorials

Nature-Themed Girl Composition in Photoshop

This great tutorial teaches you how to have some fun with vectors, custom brushes, and stock images to create a colorful and eye-catching nature themed girl composition.

Create a Detailed Ornate Heraldic Design in Photoshop

In this tutorial, by Chris Spooner, you’ll learn how to use some manipulation techniques combined with some Photoshop tricks to create an impressive Heraldic style emblem.

How to Create a Fantasy Banana Ship in Photoshop

In this great tutorial, from PsdTuts+, you’ll learn how to use a combination of photo to create a fantasy flying ship from a banana.

Create a Fantasy Girlbird Illustration in Photoshop

This great tutorial shows you how to create a make believe bird girl illustration with some Photoshop painting and photo manipulation techniques.

Create a Motorola Droid Style Phone in Photoshop

This tutorial teaches you how to use various tricks and techniques to create a realistic Motorola Droid phone.

The creation of “A Life Of Aquatic Sounds”

This great tutorial, from WeGraphics, combines the use of blending modes, Photoshop filters, and other tricks and techniques to create this beautiful aquatic manipulation.

Photoshop For Beginners: Creating Buttons for Web

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use blending modes and layer masks to create beautiful buttons for the web.
See Also: Part Two

Design a Grunge Vintage Poster in Photoshop

Another great tutorial, from WeGraphics, in which you’ll learn how to use a grid, patterns, layers styles and textures to create a vintage looking poster.

Playing with Custom Brushes to Create Magical Scenes

This tutorial teaches you how to create a custom brush and will walk you through the options of the brush to create a nice composition.

Harnessing the Power of Geometry for a Creative Nike Shoe Design

In this great tutorial, you’ll learn how to make geometric shaped brushes and apply them to create a Nike advertisement.

Make a Stylish Futuristic Textured Wallpaper in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Design Instruct, you’ll learn how to use blending modes and textures to create a wallpaper that has outerspace-futuristic look to it.

A Perfect Lie in Photoshop #2

Too many photo retouching tutorials use techniques that make the skin look fake. This tutorial, from Abduzeedo, does the opposite, presenting a tutorial that achieves a beautiful and real effect.

Illustrator Tutorials

Create an Elegant Patterned Vector Owl in Illustrator

This brilliant tutorial, by Chris Spooner, will teach you how to create an owl illustration using basic shapes and the clever use of patterns and shading.

How To Create a Gothic Blackletter Typographic Design

This hybrid tutorial utilizes Illustrator to create and modify type, then uses Photoshop to create a grungy metalic piece of blackletter type.

Creating Seamless Textures

This great tutorial shows you how to creat clean, crisp textures and patterns using the newly improved appearance panel in Illustrator CS5.

How to Create an Adobe Illustrator Brush

In contrast to Photoshop, there aren’t many blogs that publish quality tutorials on how to create Illustrator brushes. This tutorial fills exactly that need.

Create Amazing Patterns using Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the Pattern Brush in Illustrator. But wait there is more! You’ll also create your own pattern brushes and learn the right way of using them.

Create a Graffiti-Inspired Illustration Using Photoshop and Illustrator

This great intermediate-level tutorial, combines the power of Photoshop and Ilustrator to create a graffiti inspired drawing and then, bring it to life with color.

Design An Angry Vector Turtle Character In Illustrator

This excellent tutorial, from Spyre Studios, walks you through creating a vector turtle based on a photo; a technique that can be useful in the future.

Web Tutorials

Basic Beginners’ Guide to Installing a jQuery Lightbox

This is a great tutorial, from Line25, that gives you a crash course on how to setup a lightbox gallery on your website; perfect for the Javascript coding noob.

A Crash-Course in CSS Media Queries

This great screencast, on Nettuts+, show’s how easy it is to create browser width dependant layouts with CSS media queries.

An Analysis of Typography on the Web

Most designers will agree that typography is the most important part of a design. Unfortunately, it’s usually neglected online. This article/tutorial contains some very useful information on the topic.

Converting a clean magazine-style PSD template to HTML/CSS

This great tutorial, from WeGraphics, isn’t very step-by-step, however, it sheds light on the process and gives great tips and advice.

The WordPress Loop

I always love the screencast’s of Chris Coyier. In his latest he does a great job in explaining the WordPress loop and the different ways to use it.

On Designing Tumblr Themes: 7 Ways to Design a Useful & Customizable Tumblr Theme

This is an excellent article, by the great folks from A Good Company, that gives some great advice on what to think about when designing a Tumblr theme.

Professional Structure and Documentation in Web Design

As creative people, we usually don’t think about structure or organization. However, structure is needed in our projects. This article, from Specky Boy, explains why.

Five Useful CSS/jQuery Coding Techniques For More Dynamic Websites

The beauty of CSS and Jquery, is the ability to make a boring static web page into a rich user experience. This article, on Smashing Magazine, shows you how to do it.

The Look That Says Book

This great article was pointed out to my by Doug Neiner. Hyphenation is always seen in print design and I’m one to believe it should be on the web too. This article, on A List Apart, talks more about the topic.

Freebies, Inspiration & Resources

Piron

This beautiful typeface called Piron is great for both text and display use and at the moment, the regular and italic weights are free.

Social Media Sleek Icons: Icon Pack

This is a beautiful set of 25 icons that come in two different sizes that are free for your personal and commercial projects. As always, be sure to check the requirements for use.

Massive iPad Vector GUI Elements

This amazing freebie comes with every possible iPad element that you can think of. It includes not only the iPad, it also comes with buttons, alert boxes, tabs, the keyboard and more.

Weekly Vector Inspiration #88

Vectips publishes a collection of vector inpiration every week. Of the ones published, it was tough to only pick one of these. I strongly recommend you view the other showcases as well.

Creative Examples of Infographics

This is a great showcase, on Noupe, that is all about infographics. It’s the prettiest data you’ll ever see. I guarantee it.

50 Fresh and Inspiring Dark Web Designs

People liked the first collection of dark websites so much, that ,Web Design Ledger, decided it’d be a good idea to publish another. I disagree, it was a great idea.

40 Inspiring Portfolio Designs

This collection proves that a designers creativity and artistry aren’t confined to the “Portfolio” page. The whole site design can act as a showcase of one’s work.

Weekly Web Design and Development Inspiration – N.58

This great showcase, from Specky Boy has some beautifully designed websites. Also, I’m honored to say that my site forms part of the list.

Finding Success as a Self-Employed Designer

Being self-employed is tough. This great article, on Logo Design Love, gives some practical advice on how to be a successful self-employed designer.

Get Featured in Creative Bookmarks

If you’d like to be featured in the next volume of Creative Bookmarks, simply send us your tutorial, resource, or article link before the end of the month. If we think it’s a top notch link, we’ll be sure to share it with all of our readers!

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Creative Bookmarks: Best of August 2010

Tim Smith — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:45:50 +0000

August was another awesome month with great tutorials and articles oozing from everywhere. Here’s Creative Bookmarks August!

Quick Nav:

Photoshop Tutorials
Illustrator Tutorials
Web/Blogging Tutorials
Freebies, Inspiration, & Resources

Photoshop Tutorials

How To Create The Expendables Winged Skull Poster Art

In this tutorial, by Chris Spooner, you’ll learn how to re-create the sinister and gun-crazy poster for the new movie The Expendables.

Create a Cosmic-Inspired Dreamy Scene in Photoshop

In this great tutorial, from PsdTuts+, you’ll learn how to use a combination of photos, 3d elements, and other tricks and techniques to make a cosmic scene.

Design a Coffee Shop Menu Layout from Scratch with Photoshop and InDesign

This tutorial shows you how to create a beautiful coffee shop menu using the combined power of Photoshop and InDesign.
See Also: Part Two

Create a Retro Sci-Fi Movie Poster in Photoshop

This tutorial, from WeGraphics, teaches you how to use type, textures and some other tricks in Photoshop to make a sci-fi inspired composition.

Photoshop For Beginners: Understanding Layer Masks

The Photoshop For Beginners tutorial series can be very helpful. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use one of the most powerful features of Photoshop: layer masks.

Combine 3D Geometric Shapes and Flowing Lines for a Sleek iPhone Ad

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a plethora of 3D geometric shapes and abstract lines with bright colors to create a vibrant and appealing iPhone ad.

Cool Text Effect with the Puppet Warp Tool in Photoshop CS5

In this great tutorial from Abduzeedo, you’ll learn how to use one of the new tools of Photoshop CS5, the puppet warp tool, to manipulate a photo of rope into a cool looking composition.

Create a Scene with Retrofuturistic-Inspired Light Effects

This great tutorial from Design Instruct teaches you how to create patterns and vector shapes, combined with photos, to create a retro yet futuristic scene.

Create an Artistic Scene with 3D Light Bulbs and Type

This great hybrid tutorial teaches you how to use the combined features of Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and Illustrator to create a great looking 3D composition.

Correcting Exposure with the Shadows & Highlights Tool

In this great tutorial, you’ll learn how to make the best of your photos by correcting exposure problems with the Shadows & Highlights tool.

Illustrator Tutorials

How To Create a Fun Cartoon Style Poster Design

This tutorial, by Chris Spooner, you’ll combine a character drawing with bold and blocky text, then texture it up to create a retro cartoonish poster.

Quick Tip: How to Create a Stylized Wave using Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial, on VectorTuts+, you’ll learn how to use Pathfinder, Envelope Distort with Mesh and various Gradients to create beautiful waves.

How to Make a Flesh Ripping Zombie Type Treatment

This tutorial teaches you the process of creating a scary character and a gory type treatment for this blood-thirsty illustration.

Create a Painterly Apple with Illustrator CS5’s new Bristle Brush

The versatilaty of the new Bristle Brush is quite impressive. This tutorial teaches you how to create an apple illustration using this new tool.

Create a Glowing Neon Sign using the Appearance Palette

In this tutorial, you learn how to use the potential of the Appearance Palette to create a great looking Neon Sign.

Simple Roy Lichtenstein Style in Illustrator and Photoshop

Abduzeedo is one of those sites that stays on top of the technology. This hybrid tutorial teaches you how to create Roy Lichtenstein inspired illustration using new CS5 tools.

Type Illustration Project: Experimental Digital Workflow

This excellent tutorial, from Design Instruct, that walks you through creating and polishing a beautiful illustration all in Abobe Illustrator.

Create a Polished Raised Type Treatment

Ryan Putman of Vectips is in love with the Appearance panel and this tutorial shows you how to create a polished metal look using the power of the this panel.

Distort Linear Gradients in Envelope Distorts

This tutorial teaches you how to use Envelope Distort in Illustrator. The funny thing is, the author really doesn’t see the practical use for it but, the effect is cool either way.

Web Tutorials

Post-Install Plugins to Enhance & Protect WordPress

This is a great list from Line25 on WordPress plug-ins that will help with your security, speed and SEO.

How To Add a Custom Facebook Like Box to Your Site

As Facebook becomes more and more popular, it’s essential to link to Facebook from your website. This tutorial show’s you how to make a custom like box that not only looks great but validates as well.

Building a Stylish Blog Design Layout in WordPress

This great tutorial is the third part of a series that walks you through the creation of the design in Photoshop to implementing it in WordPress.
Part One | Part Two

16 Vital Checks Before Releasing a WordPress Theme

Twitter recently released @anywhere, which allows you to easily integrate Twitter’s capabilities into your personal site. This great tutorial from NETTuts+ shows you how.

Who Needs University? The Best Nettuts+ Screencast Training Courses

Going to college can be quite expensive. However, you can go to The NetTuts+ University almost for free and learn a variety of subjects. This great post rounds up some great screencasts they’ve created.

Working With Writers: Some Insight From the Other Side

This is an excellent article, by writer extraordinare, Michelle Oxman, that clears up some common misconceptions and gives some great tips on creating a great writer-designer relationship.

Business Writing for the Web: 27 Ways to Write Better

Business writing can be quite tough as it’s objective is to persuade people to act. This great article, from Inspired Mag, gives 27 tips on how to write better business copy and therefore, get readers to act.

Giving Users Some Credit

This is an excellent Art Directed article from, Design Informer, that makes it clear that making a website easy to starts by throwing away the idea that all users are idots.

Freebies, Inspiration & Resources

Pixel Patterns

These are some amazing patterns created by Designer, Naomi Atkinson. You can download the limited set containing 16 patterns or pay only four dollars for the complete 48 pattern set.

Paper Boat

This beautiful origami inspired typeface, created originally by Bart Van Delft for a concept company, is now free for download.

15 High-Res Dirty Grid Photoshop Brushes

This is a great collection, from Think Design, that’s filled with 15 different grungy-grid brushes free for your use.

Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: September 2010

Just like every other month, Smashing Magazine, rounds up amazing and beautiful wallpapers from all over to spice up your desktop.

Twitter Background Design – Great Tips and Gorgeous Examples

A way of attracting followers on Twitter is having a good background design, especially if you’re a designer. This great article, on PsdTuts+, is a great intro on designing one.

26 Beautiful Photo Manipulations of Women

The female figure is nothing short of fascinating and that’s been proven by it’s continued use in art and design. This great collection features some amazing photo manipulations of women.

35 Purple Web Designs to Inspire You

Web Design Ledger has the reputation of finding some very inpiring works around the web and this is no exception. This great round-up showcases beautiful purple websites.

15 Logos With Hidden Messages

As if designing a logo isn’t enough of a challenge, this round-up, from Web Design Ledger, features logos that have hidden messages in them.

Blogging For Web Designers: Editorial Calendars and Style Guides

This is an amazingly detail article, from Smashing Magazine, that talks about the benefits of having an editorial calendar and style guides for your blog.

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Creative Bookmarks: Best of July 2010

Tim Smith — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:00:00 +0000

We’re a week late due to some server trouble last week. Now that we’re back to smooth sailing, we’re bringing you a new edition of Creative Bookmarks. Enjoy!

Quick Nav:

Photoshop Tutorials
Illustrator Tutorials
Web/Blogging Tutorials
Freebies, Inspiration, & Resources

Photoshop Tutorials

Create Beautiful Abstract Female Art in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from PSDTuts+, you’ll learn how to create a piece of artwork called “Beauty of Gold” that starts off with jus t a simple stock photo.

Create a Medieval Fantasy Castle Gate in Photoshop

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a medieval castle gate using Photoshop’s tools and simple photo manipulation tricks and techniques.

Create Astonishing Nightclub Themed 3D Typography

This hybrid tutorial combines the use of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Cinema 4D to create an amazing typographic masterpiece.

Create a Refreshing Beer Themed Poster Design in Photoshop

This tutorial, from Colorburned, teaches you how to use Photoshop to create a beautiful and attractive beer advertisement.

Beautiful Vector Illustration in Illustrator and Photoshop by Carol Rivello

In this tutorial, by Carol Rivello, she walks you through the step-by-step process of creating a beautiful illustration for her sister’s blog.

Design a Beautiful Cosmic Space Scene in Photoshop

This great tutorial, Chris Spooner, teaches you how to create planets and nebula for an awesome Star Trek inspired space scene.

How To Give Your Photos a Cool Retro Analog Effect

In this great tutorial by Chris Spooner, you’ll learn how to create the unique look of analog photography with some very simple steps in Photoshop.

Real Apple Logo in Photoshop

This tutorial teaches you how to use Photoshop to create an icon that combines a photograph of an apple together with the Apple logo to make the “Real Apple Logo”.

The Process of Making a Professional Set of Social Media Icons

This great tutorial, from WeGraphics, gives you an excellent look into the precision and detail that goes into creating icons. A must read for those who are interested in icon design.

How to Create a Melancholy Model Photo Manipulation

This tutorial, at first was a photo retouching tutorial that transformed into the manipulation of an image of a beautiful model that screams meloncholy and darkness.

Create an Elegant Photography Web Layout in Photoshop

This great tutorial, from Design Instruct, teaches you how to create a beautiful website layout for a photography portfolio.

Create a Realistic Pencil Illustration in Adobe Photoshop

In this excellent tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an extremely detailed pencil and paper scene that uses advanced tricks and techniques to create a photo-realistic end result.

Illustrator Tutorials

How to Create a Still Life in the Style of Primitive Art

An great tutorial, from VectorTuts+, that walks you through creating a “still life” composition and then add some style to it with Adobe Illustrator.

Getting Carried Away with Balloon Lettering

This fun tutorial, from VectorTuts+, walks you through creating, from a sketch, some shiny ballon lettering and the accompanying illustration.

How To Create a Trendy Seamless Pattern in Illustrator

This tutorial shows you how to create a seamless vector pattern that can be a useful technique for many different projects.

Create a Detailed Vector Emblem Badge in Illustrator

In this tutorial, you’ll use various vector shapes and other tools to create a cool looking emblem.

Web Tutorials

Style Your Site According to the Weather with jQuery

This is a great tutorial that uses jQuery and the Yahoo API to display the weather on your website by changing the your predesigned backgrounds.

Coding a Stylish Blog Design Layout in HTML & CSS

This tutorial on Line25, shows you how to create a working HTML page from this Photoshop layout, that will later become a fully functional WordPress theme.

25 HTML5 Features, Tips, and Techniques you Must Know

This excellent article is like a basic introduction to HTML5. As we all know, technologies are always changing and although HTML5 won’t be complete anytime soon, it’s powerful features can and should be used now.

4 Ways to Auto-Refresh your Browser when Designing new Sites

Usually when designing a website, we’re constantly refreshing the browser to see the changes. This great screencast from NETTuts+ shows you how to instruct the browser to do it automatically.

Simple TextMate Tips

In this great screencast, Chris Coyier talks about Textmate, a Mac-only text-editor, and it’s wonderful features. After watching this, I’m convinced that I need a copy!

A Beginner’s Guide To Website Copywriting

It has been reported that the majority of people on the internet scan websites for information and don’t really read the entire page. To adapt to that fact, this great article gives excellent tips on how to write for the web.

13 Ways to Better Monetize Your Blog Posts

Blogging for money can be difficult. However, it isn’t impossible. If you work hard and you give the blog time, you can earn money. This great article talks about how to make it happen.

Freebies, Inspiration & Resources

Work of Designer/Illustrator Dan Matutina

This is a beautiful showcase of Dan Matutina, an extremely talented graphic designer and illustrator from the Philippines.
See Also: Dan’s Website

HTC 1 Prototype

This amazing work by Andrew Kim reveals the process of his personal project called the HTC 1. The design of this phone and the details of his design process are nothing less than inspiring.

A Taste of Editorial Design Inspiration

Editorial design for me is one of the most interesting areas of graphic design. It involves making printed content legible yet, at the same time, appealing to the eyes. This is a great showcase of excellent editorial design in magazines.

Weekly Vector Inspiration ^no.81

When going through my RSS Feeds, I stumbled across this beautiful showcase that Vectips publishes every week. If you are into vector art or partial vector art, this is definitely for you.

40 Excellent Examples of Single Page Websites

It seems that the single page has been quite a trend so far this year. In this great showcase, Web Design Ledger, rounds up some inspiring single page websites.

Designing Style Guidelines For Brands And Websites

This is an excellent article by Kat Neville, that talks about the importance of creating a style guide and what to include in it.

A Guide to Popular Printing Techniques

This excellent article, from Design Instruct, talks about some really cool printing methods and how to fit them in next project’s budget.

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Creative Bookmarks: Best of June 2010

Tim Smith — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:00:27 +0000

Quick Nav:

Photoshop Tutorials
Illustrator Tutorials
Web/Blogging Tutorials
Freebies, Inspiration, & Resources

Photoshop Tutorials

Design Your Own Graphic Tee in Photoshop

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a cool looking composite t-shirt design from photos and basic drawing techniques.
See Also: Part One

Create a Magical Flaming Heart Illustration in Photoshop

This excellent tutorial will demonstrate how to combine stock images and the use of the Warp feature to create a magical flaming heart illustration.

Create a lovely textured web design from Photoshop to HTML/CSS

In this tutorial you’re going to learn how to create a beautiful web site layout and then code it into a working web page.

Photoshop For Beginners: The Power of Layers

This great tutorial, from WeGraphics, is the third part of the Photoshop for Beginners series that explains in detail the core of Photoshop: layers.

Make a Soft Grunge Product Ad Design in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Design Instruct, you’ll create as very nice looking shoe ad using stock images and basic yet amazing effects.

Create an Apple Mac Mini Using Photoshop

This tutorial teaches you how to create an Apple Mac Mini from the bottom up. You’ll learn how to use basic yet powerful tools and effects in Photoshop to achieve a beautiful end result.

Design a Space-Themed Poster with Photoshop

In this great tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an amazing TV show ad that combines different types of stock photography and excellent typography for a great result.

Photoshop Quick Tips: Light Leaks in Photography

A trend that is becoming popular in Photography is the vintage/film/retro style. This great video tutorial shows you how simple it’s is to create and apply this effect.

Simple Underwater Scene in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Abduzeedo, you’ll learn how to create a great looking underwater scene with bubbles and light effects inspired by the movie iRobot.

Create a Colorful Candy Store Website Layout in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Devise Function, you’ll learn how to create a bright and very pink candy store web page layout with a unique and creative background and header.

Recreate the Epic 80’s Metal Text Effect in Photoshop

In this excellent tutorial, Chris Spooner, teaches you how to recreate a metal text effect that was very popular in the 80′s using modern day techniques in Photoshop.

Color your Black and White Photos Easily

This excellent tutorial, by Michal Plazinski, teaches you how to color in black & white photos using nothing more than the Brush Tool and Curve Adjustments.

Illustrator Tutorials

How to Create a Lustrous Electric Guitar

An outstanding tutorial, from VectorTuts+, where you learn to create a realistic looking electric guitar using basic shapes and simple techniques.

Create a Detailed, Vector-based iPhone Illustration

This great tutorial shows you how to create a realistic iPhone illustration and walks you through creating the icons on the iPhone home screen.
See Also: Part Two

Create a Trendy Seamless Type Pattern

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a cool looking type pattern in Illustrator using some text and icons. You’ll learn tricks and techniques that can easily be applied to other projects.
See Also: Using Pattern Generator

Create a Distressed Vector Typographic Poster Design

This hybrid tutorial walks you through the making of the “Spectrum” poster; from it’s custom typograpy to the rugged look applied in Photoshop.

How To Draw a Cute Vector Dog Character in Illustrator

This tutorial, by Chris Spooner, teaches you how to take a hand drawn sketch of a dog and then add various lines, color fills, gradients and highlights to produce a vector cartoon dog.

Create a Print Ready Business Card Design in Illustrator

This great tutorial shows you how to create a great looking business card. You’ll learn how to create an illustrated character, create a background pattern and setup the file for print.

3D Text In Clouds

This excellent hybrid tutorial walks you through making 3D text in Illustrator and then making the text look real in Photoshop.

Web Tutorials

Super Cool CSS Flip Effect with Webkit Animation

This awesome tutorial takes a quick look at using the Webkit engine and some of its properties to create a cool looking flip effect.

Getting Started with Tumblr & Custom Theme Design

This article on Line25 takes a look at the basics of what Tumblr is, how to get a tumblelog of your own up and running and basic introduction on creating your own Tumblr theme.

Create a Vibrant Digital Poster Design with CSS3

This excellent tutorial walks you through the making of “Circlicious”, a vibrant and color poster made, amazingly enough, purely of HTML and CSS.

Did Internet Explorer get the Box Model Right?

This interesting video on NetTuts+ addresses the debate on wether or not border and padding should be applied on top of a specified width.

Multiple Borders with Simple CSS

This simple yet useful tutorial teaches you how to create multiple borders without images, just pure CSS by using the :after amd :before psuedo-classes.

The 10 HTML Tags Beginners Aren’t Using

This is an excellent article/tutorial, that talks about HTML tags that most of know about. However, this articles gives you reasons and practical ways on how to use them correctly.

WordPress 3.0 Upgrade: What to Expect

This is a great article, from Webdesigner Depot, that explains what you can do to prevent having problems when upgrading to the new WordPress 3.0.

Redesign vs. Realign

Redesign and realign. What’s the difference? This great article explains that it’s essential for designer to know the difference and that this knowledge can result in very happy clients.

Web Performant WordPress

This excellent article, by Dave Rupert of Paravel, talks about his experience with achieving page loads of under a second and, fortunately enough, shares the tools and techniques to get your website loading faster.

Freebies, Inspiration & Resources

iPhone 4 – Vector Freebie

With all the buzz surrounding the new iPhone 4, VectorTuts+, has released a vector freebie of the iPhone 4 for all of your mock-up needs.

25+ Rare Cloth Texture Pack

This great freebie, from AnimHut, comes with more than 25 cloth textures that can come in handy for your print or web design projects.

Get Inspired

This is beautiful set of twelve professionally crafted by icon artist, Parthiban Mohanraj, that can be used for both your personal and commercial projects.

Weekly Web Design and Development Inspiration – N.45

Speckyboy makes a weekly list of mostly reader submitted webdesign inspiration and, in my opinion, they do a wonderful job of curating these lists that contain so many beautiful websites.

55 Fresh and Creative Logo Designs

With the massive increase in businesses and, therefore logos, it gets tougher to create something unique and creative. This great post showcases logos from designers who were able to achieve just that.

Showcase of 55 Inspiring Typography Designs

Attention to typography and its creative use has become very important to graphic designers and rightfully so, as it form part of the core of our craft. This beautiful showcase rounds up some great uses of type.

40 Creative 404 Error Pages to Inspire You

This cool round-up on Webdesign Ledger features some very creative 404 pages that almost make you want to enter an incorrect URL.

Elements of an Awesome Artist Portfolio

This is a great article where, Angie Bowen, shares her expertise and gives some tips on elements to incluede in a great portfolio site.

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Creative Bookmarks: Best of May 2010

Tim Smith — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:00:28 +0000

May went by extremely quickly with all the new articles, tutorials and excitement. Here’s Creative Bookmarks May!

Quick Nav:

Photoshop Tutorials
Illustrator Tutorials
Web/Blogging Tutorials
Freebies, Inspiration, & Resources

Photoshop Tutorials

Hexagon Bokeh Effect in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Abduzeedo, you’ll learn how to create a digital bokeh effect with hexagons using brushes, patterns, filters and blend modes.

How to Create a Social Media UFO Icon

With most sites having a social media presence, many are unfortunately recycling the same old icons. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a unique UFO inspired Facebook icon.

Create a Magical Four Piece Stardust Composition

This tutorial will show you how to combine stock images, filters, textures and other adjustments to create a 4-piece stardust composition.

Create a Non-Destructive Vignette Effect in Seconds

This is a great tutorial that shows you how to create a simple yet striking vignette effect using brushes and blending modes.

6 Techniques to Extract Anything From its Background

Extracting an object from its background can be a tedious task, especially when dealing with hair. This tutorial, from WeGraphics, teaches you six different techniques on that could help you out.

3D Water Text Effect with Repoussé in Photoshop CS5

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a water text effect using Photoshop CS5′s new Repoussé, in which you can create 3D objects directly in Photoshop.

Mixing Brushes and Layers in Photoshop

This great tutorial will show you how to create a great looking composition by mixing simple layer effects and custom brushes.

Create a Textured Paper Photoblog Layout in Photoshop

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a textured paper photo blog layout using various Photoshop techniques such as creating patterns, customizing brushes, layer masks and more.

Design a Hand Drawn Illustrated Desktop Wallpaper

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to combine a hand-drawing with clever typography to create a nice desktop wallpaper.

Create a Clean and Modern Web Design in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Design Instruct, you’ll learn how to use simple techniques to create a clean and modern webdesign.

Create an Abstract Cloud Jumper in Photoshop

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to manipulate multiple photos and combine them with abstract elements to create a beautiful composition.

Illustrator Tutorials

Create Interlocking Motifs in Illustrator

In this great tutorial, from Computer Arts, you’ll learn how to plan out your artwork to create a type of jigsaw puzzle composition.

Using the Blob Brush and Eraser for Character Lines

This is a great Quick Tip from VectorTuts+, in which you’ll learn how to use a drawing tablet, the Blob Brush and Eraser tool to create a digital drawing.

Keep the File Size Down and Spice-up our Vectors with Bitmap Textures

The problem with vector based textures is that they can make your file pretty big. This tutorial shows you how to create bitmap textures that look great!

Dress Up Your Desktop with a Sharp Dual Screen Wallpaper

In this tutorial, talented illustrator Andrea Austoni, walks you through making a dual screen wallpaper that you’ll be proud to call your own.

Create a Cute Baby Monster Character in Illustrator

This great tutorial uses Illustrator’s basic shapes together with gradients and other effects to make this baby monster come to life.

Create Beautiful 3D Graphs and Charts in Illustrator

Unfortunately, graphs tend to be boring and visually unappealing. Not in this tutorial!! You’ll how to put some make graphs in Illustrator and how to make them look great.

Web Tutorials

5 SEO Tactics That Make You Look Like a Douche

With that title is there really a need for a description? People tend to go way to far with “optimization techniques”. This article talk about five of them.

Designing an Infographic with HTML, CSS & jQuery

Talk about taking things to the next level! This great tutorial on Line25, teaches you how to create a beautiful and interactive infographic.

Spice Up Your Web Typography with @Font-Face

@Font-Face is an awesome technology that allows you to embed new great looking fonts into your websites. This tutorial shows you how simple it is to implement it.

Google Fonts API: You’re Going to Love This

Google recently released its Google Fonts API which allows you to use any typeface in Google’s Font directory by simply linking to it. This screencast show’s you how amazingly simple it is to do it.

CSS DIY Organization

To improve your workflow, it’s essential to write and organize your CSS well. This great tutorial explains why and how you make it happen.

Efficiently Rendering CSS

This is an excellent article/tutorial, from Chris Coyier, that answers a simple yet important question: How efficient is the CSS that we write, in terms of how quickly the browser can render it?

Best Practices with Dynamic Content

With AJAX you can dynamically load content without the need of refreshing the page. This great screencast teaches you the correct way of using this technology.

A Designer’s Guide To Effective Proposals And Invoices

If your proposal isn’t created carefully, it can lead to misunderstandings and unhappy clients. With that in mind, this article gives some excellent tips on how you can create effective proposals and invoices.

Freebies, Inspiration & Resources

Ink Squirts PS Brushes

This is a great brush set from WeGraphics, that includes 15 different brushes. Although the complete set is for purchase, you can download a free sample for free.

Hand Drawn Sketchy Icons of Your Favorite Social Sites

This an excellent collection, from Chris Spooner, that contains 16 sketch social icons that includes every social networking site you could possibly think of.

Get Inspired

This is an amazing collection from Media Militia that’s filled with inspiring artwork that is guaranteed to get your creative gears working.

Weekly Web Design and Development Inspiration

This is an excellent collection from Specky Boy filled with beautiful website designs that are sure amaze you.

30 Stunning Examples of Long Exposure Photography

This is a great round-up from Web Design Ledger, of long exposure photography that in my opinion is such a beautiful form of photographic art.

50 Red Web Designs to Inspire You

Red is a beautiful yet powerful color. This amazing round-up compiles 50 red web designs that are sure to amaze and inspire you.

A Showcase of Letterpress Invitations for Inspiration

This is a great collection of beautiful letterpress invitations that are sure to inspire. Letterpress is a beautiful type of design that definitely make a great impression.

On Going Different and Pushing Boundaries

This is an excellent article on the newly re-designed, Design Cubicle, where Brian Hoff urges you to push the boundaries and and let go of your design inhibitions.

Bojan Stefanovic, AKA Logoholic

This is a excellent interview by Michelle Oxman, with Bojan Stefanovic. I absolutely love her writing style. She did an amazing job! It’s a must read!

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Creative Bookmarks: Best of April 2010

Tim Smith — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:00:17 +0000

April was an amazing month with spring creativity oozing from everywhere. Here’s Creative Bookmarks April!

Quick Nav:

Photoshop Tutorials
Illustrator Tutorials
Web/Blogging Tutorials
Freebies, Inspiration, & Resources

Photoshop Tutorials

Create a Retro Urban Gig Poster in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from PSDTuts+, you’ll learn how to create a poster for a dance party using a textured and retro look that has become so trendy.

How to Create an Incredible Typographic Illustration

In this two-part tutorial you’ll learn how to create a typographic illustration without using any photos. You’ll build this composition from scratch using Cinema 4D and Photoshop.
See Also: Part Two

Create a Sleek and Stylish MP3 Player in Photoshop

This tutorial shows you how to create a sleek and stylish MP3 interface using many of Photoshop’s tricks and effects that add depth and realism.

Create a Cosmic Sci-fi Poster Design in Photoshop

This tutorial, from WeGraphics, teaches you how to use Photoshop, Illustrator and Cinema4D to create a sci-fi inspired composition.

Clash of the Titans Text Effect in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Abduzeedo, you’ll learn how to create a text effect inspired by the Clash of the Titans posters and artworks that will take you close to no time to accomplish.

Combine 3D Shapes and Vectors for a Dynamic Composition

This tutorial teaches you how to use brushes, custom shapes and stock imagery to create a dynamic and eye-pleasing piece of artwork.

Create a Vibrant Colorful Alcohol Product Ad in Photoshop

In this great tutorial from Creative Fan, you’ll learn how to create a vibrant and colorful ad that combines different types of stock photography for an excellent result.

Simple & Cloudy Portfolio Layout in Photoshop

This tutorial teaches you how to use Photoshop’s various tools to create a practical and effective portfolio layout with a cloud-type theme.

Create an iPhone App Website in Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Devise Function, you’ll learn how to creat a simple yet practical app website in Photoshop. Plus: The complete Photoshop file is free for download.

Add Brilliant Light Effects to Your Work with Photoshop

In this tutorial, from Design Instruct, you’ll learn how to use simple techniques and brushes in Photoshop to create an amazing composition.

Creating Retro Folded Typography Using Photoshop

Using real strips of paper as a model, this tutorial, teaches you how to create a retro-looking piece of type that uses Photoshop’s tools and techniques excellently.

How to Design a Speedometer Icon in Photoshop

In this excellent tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an extremely detailed speedometer icon in which you’ll learn many tricks and techniques essential to icon design.
See Also: Part Two

Illustrator Tutorials

How To Create Outstanding Modern Infographics

An outstanding, from VectorTuts+, proving that data can be beautiful. You’ll learn how to use graph tools and other techniques that will definitely come in handy.

Create a Grimy Text Treatment with a Pen Tablet

In this tutorial, on Vectips, you’ll learn how to get grimy and create a text treatment using Illustrator’s Blob brush, Live Paint, and a pen tablet.

Create a Simple Storefront Icon

This tutorial teaches you some simple techniques, such as basic shapes, effects and gradients to create a great looking store icon.

Vector Plasma Television

In this great tutorial, from Vector Diary, you’ll learn how to use basic shapes and gradients to create a realistic television.

Create a Typographical Logomark

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to go through the process of creating a typographical logo from scratch.

How To Design a Sweet Linework & Typography Combo

This great tutorial from VectorTuts+, inspired by the guys at Mulheres Barbadas, combines the use of Flash, Illustrator and Photoshop to create this brilliant illustration & type combo.

Designing a Typeface, With Illustrator and FontLab, from Start to Finish

This an excellent three-part tutorial that walk you through the process of designing a typeface from inspiration to completion.
See Also: Part Two | Part Three

How to Create a Baroque Pattern in Illustrator

Starting from a sketch, this tutorial teaches you how to create a stylish pattern with Illustrator in only ten easy steps.

Retro 3D Arcade Text Effect in Illustrator

Illustrator’s 3D capabilities are amazing. This tutorial tutorial teaches you how to use them the right way to create a retro, arcade-looking, typographic effect.

Web Tutorials

Build a Simple Image Slideshow with jQuery Cycle

Image slideshows can be a very useful technique to display multiple photos and maximizing space. This great tutorial, walks you through creating one of these using jQuery.

Coding Up a Web Design Concept into HTML & CSS

This tutorial on Line25, teaches you how to create a website from a Photoshop design into a coded website in HTML and CSS3.
See Also: How To Build Your Own WordPress Theme

The Intricacy of Simplicity: CSS3

This great screencast and written tutorial combo explains how to create great looking effects with CSS3 instead of using images, therefore, allowing for much more flexibility.

Using Twitter’s @Anywhere Service in 6 Steps

Twitter recently released @anywhere, which allows you to easily integrate Twitter’s capabilities into your personal site. This great tutorial from NETTuts+ shows you how.

15 Useful HTML5 Tutorials and Cheat Sheets

HTML5 is a new technology that is changing and will continue to change web design. This is a great round-up of tutorials, from Web Design Ledger, that will help you embrace this new technology.

Grid-Based Web Design, Simplified

This is an excellent article/tutorial, from Design Informer, that explains and teaches you how to implement grids into your webdesigns. Not only is this article great; it’s custom design is incredibly impressive.

Different Stylesheets for Differently Sized Browser Windows

Also known as “resolution dependent layouts”, this tutorial by Chris Coyier, teaches you how to implement different CSS styles depending on the screen size.

How to Make a Screencast for Your Website

Screencasts can be a great tool to engage with readers or teach in-depth techniques. This helpful article, from Webdesigner Depot, gives some excellent tips on how to do it right.

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