How'd They Do That? - DIY Duotone

In just a few minutes you can create this cool duotone effect. Simply follow the steps below.
February/March 2005 Dynamic Graphics












Effect used in “My Favorite Things” Cooper Smith & Company Des Moines visitors guide, cover with duotone (V9N6).

Migrating from FreeHand to Illustrator

Mordy Golding

This set of video tutorials shows you why you might decide to switch from FreeHand® to Adobe® Illustrator® CS3. Whether it's for Illustrator-specific features, or a company-wide software switch, this is a transition many designers have to deal with. These video tutorials walk you through real-world design scenarios, and show experienced FreeHand users how to use each aspect of Illustrator.

go to Adobe Design Center

Creating scatter brushes in Illustrator

David Karlins

Scatter brushes in Adobe® Illustrator® CS3 are intuitively named. They scatter a pattern along a path. Thinking of a leaf blower being pushed across a lawn gives you a sense of the chaos you can generate by using a scatter brush stroke to create a path of objects.

You might use a scatter brush, for instance, to populate a field of stars (Figure 1).

Figure 1: A star field being drawn using an art brush.

You can draw interactively with a scatter brush, or you can apply a scatter brush pattern to an existing path.

go to Adobe Design Center

What's the right typeface for text?

0269 | What's the right typeface for text?
How to choose a typeface for clear, easy reading over long distances. 13 pages,
1MB | Download PDF

Ornamental Vector Grunge Frame

Frame your photo with a Smart Object
by: Lesa Snider King,

Grungy, ornamental, highly-detailed vector illustrations are all the rage these days. Graphic designers are plunking them onto any and everything, and using them to spice up backgrounds, dress up the edges, and lead a viewer's eye. But it just so happens that these little works of art are also a *fantastic* option for photo framing. However, if you're not an illustrator or a high falutin' designer, the words "vector" and "illustration" probably sent chills down your spine.

Never fear, for in my quest to avoid Photo Edge Boredom, I've whipped up a tutorial on how to use these little jewels to frame a photo without so much as launching Illustrator or casting a glance toward the evil Pen Tool. And just in case you have *no* idea what I'm talking about, take a peek at the swirling, ornamental elements in the following designs. These are the type of vector grunge, ornamental illustrations I'm talking about: The Graphic Reporter

Choosing the Right Color

By Angela Cho, Graphic Designer, Shutterstock

As you may already know, Shutterstock has just introduced an exciting new feature: Search By Color. It allows you to search for images that match the specific color you need for your project--you can search by color and keyword, or by color alone. I've been using this tool regularly in my own work for Shutterstock, and it's gotten me thinking more about the role color plays in design, and in life.

When I was in grade school, I worked on a science project in which I tested out how colors affect a person's mood. The results, achieved by sitting a person down in a color illuminated room, were astounding to me but it wasn't until later when I began studying graphic design that I began to fully understand how powerful colors can be.

click here for Full Article.

Video Tutorial: Create a Photo Planet

Watch the video and learn how to create this effect in Photoshop! This kind of effect is perfect for greeting cards, to spice up wedding photography, to illustrate a magazine article, or just for the sheer fun of it. You could also make a personalized version of The Little Prince for someone, I’m sure they’d love it. As mentioned in the video, you’ll probably want to use a fairly wide photo to avoid stretched top parts, especially if there are any people in the photo. By Peter Werner.

Fit to Print

A good working relationship with a printer is one of the most important associations you will make in your design career. As a designer, you're often the middleman between your client and the end result. The client sees the final piece, and if it looks good (and is delivered on time), you look good. The printer is there to help you achieve that goal. He/she is a craftsman who takes as much pride in his/her work as you do in yours. The more organized and professional you are, the easier it is for the printer to complete your jobs on time and make everybody happy.
There are several types of printers, and it's likely that one will not fulfill all of your printing needs. But depending on the bulk of the work you do, you can find one with whom you can develop a mutually beneficial working relationship. Here are the most common types of printers:

click here for Full Article.

Animating Text

Trish Meyer
This video shows you how to animate text by animating a variety of text properties in After Effects. You learn how to use the new per-character 3D feature to animate text properties in three dimensions.















click here Animating text

Learning with DesignMentor Training

At DesignMentor Training, students interact with their instructors and other DesignMentor Training students entirely online. Classes consist of lessons, exercises, quizzes, instructor critiques, and discussion boards. Students upload their assignments and receive personal instructor feedback and mentoring through our online learning environment. Upon enrollment you'll have immediate access to a brief Orientation Class and to the classes for which you have registered. As a DesignMentor student, you will enjoy the following benefits:

• Professional Mentoring: Every class at DesignMentor includes a professional design instructor that delivers mentoring and critiquing for the entirety of the class. This one-on-one feedback and informed guidance from some of the top industry professionals is what sets DesignMentor apart from both online and traditional training providers available.
  
• Portfolio-quality Projects: Each class includes projects that are designed to help you build a very strong portfolio of work.
  
• Flexible Scheduling: There are no specific start dates for classes...start when you like. Once you have enrolled you will have immediate access to your class and six months of access to complete your class projects.
  
  The average student will spend approximately 30 hours of design time on the 6 projects included in DesignMentor classes. (Some classes are 3 lessons and therefore have 3 projects.) How much time you invest is up to you, but about 5 hours per project on average.
  
• Certificate of Completion: While your portfolio projects and your instructor relationships are the real value and benefit of the DesignMentor classes, we also recognize the importance of a formal recognition of your accomplishments. Every class is awarded with a digital transcript. If you enroll in one of DesignMentor's Portfolio-Builder Programs you are awarded with a Certificate of Completion that holds the respect of the design and education industries.

How to cool a hot photo

0472 | How to cool a hot photo
When your photo can't be changed, surround it with cool color. 19 pages, 2.3MB | Download PDF

The Basics of Design

Basic design principles for the design challenged

Lesa Snider King
Feb. 13, 2007

It ain't rocket science, but by gosh it can feel like it: You've got a brochure to create, maybe an ad for a newspaper or magazine, and no matter what you do, the layout just doesn't gel and quite honestly, it looks like crap.

What do you do? Where do you even start? How, I ask you, do graphic designers create such works of beauty? What are their secrets?

Hear me now, dear grasshoppers, when I say that if you can memorize the following four principles you have what it takes to be a good designer. Truly. If you've never even driven past an art school (much less gone to an actual design class), you can create layouts that are visually pleasing, easy to read, and memorable—as long as you stick to the following four basic principles we're about to cover.

click here for Full Article.

Clipping Groups

The Contact Sheet tip of the week

By Lesa Snider King:

Ever wanted to create your very own warp trail? If so, here's your chance (plus you get to use the oft ignored Single Row or Single Column Marquee Selection Tools).

Just grab a photo, perhaps a dude on a scooter, use the Single Column Selection Marquee to grab a row of pixels. Press Command +T (PC: Ctrl + T) to summon Free Transform and grab the center handle. Pull it to the edge of the document in the opposite direction that your focal point is traveling. Press Return and poof! Warp factor 10 has been engaged.

Lesa Snider King, The Graphic Reporter, is iStockphoto's Chief Evangelist.

Photoshop CS3: Clone Source

Description
In this excerpt from the dmts™ JumpStart, Instructor Jeffrey Morse applies the new Clone Source Tool in Photoshop CS3 to combine various elements, images and masked selections into a composition.

watch now

Vector Drawing with Illustrator: Easier Than You Think

By David Karlins.
Jan 11, 2008
Article is provided courtesy of Peachpit Press

You've probably been creating bitmap art fo years, or even decades. David Karlins think it's about time you investigated th possibilities of creating vector drawings. Th concepts and terminology are a bit less lik working with paint on canvas - but the technology is a lot more powerful.

Selecting, Adding, and Deleting Anchors
To select, move, and delete individual anchors, you use the Direct Selection tool. The easiest way to select a handle and activate the control lines is to click an anchor point with the Direct Selection tool. As you hover over an anchor point, the Direct Selection tool cursor displays an open square.

To delete anchor points manually, click the Delete Anchor Point tool in the Pen tool flyout, and then click an anchor to remove it. Alternatively, you can select the anchor with the Direct Selection tool and press Delete (or Backspace).

To add an anchor point, select the Add Anchor Point tool in the Pen tool flyout. Click anywhere on a path to generate a new anchor. The new anchor point adopts the attributes (curved or straight) of the anchors that define the path you clicked. For example, if you click a straight line segment with the Add Anchor Point tool, you’ll create a new straight corner point.

Print Publishings

Peachpit www.peachpit.com

Graphic Design Portfolio-Builder: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator Projects

As the first Photoshop and illustrator guide to focus on building a design portfolio, this book fills a hole in designers' bookshelves. Each chapter contains a lecture and project on a graphic design topic -- from logo design to magazine layout.

Self-paced, self guided instruction is all well and good, but at the end of the day, most people could use a little feedback - especially when they're ready to build a design portfolio and hit the job market. Not to worry, this book provides actual instructor feedback along with the self-paced, individualized instruction in Photoshop and Illustrator that designers need. Written by the faculty of New York-based, accredited online design school Sessions.edu, the book uses the school's trademark project-based curriculum to teach essential design concepts with Photoshop and Illustrator. After a brief intro to the world of graphic design, the Sessions instructors provide quick "refresher course" chapters on the two programs. Then, armed with Photoshop and Illustrator basics, readers tackle a series of projects involving logo design, magazine layouts, illustrations, poster design, digital imaging, book cover design, packaging design and more. Best of all, readers have access to all of Sessions' online content and instruction-which means they can participate in real classroom instruction. They can even get expert feedback from Sessions.edu faculty by posting their work on the site.

Source: Sessions