Introzo
Vondutch
Sarah Hyland
Casio Exilim Lab
TO CHECK OUT MORE Six Revisions
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Glossy Button-Photoshop Tutorials-Graphic Design
Start with a new image about 400x400 pixels with a background color of your choice, (the example uses white). Make any kind of wacky shape you'd like for your button (for this tutorial I will show you one particular shape, though you can use any shape you can imagine). Start by creating a new layer and using the Rectangular Marquee Tool to draw a rectangle roughly the size you want your button to be.
2.
Open the Channels palette and create a new channel. Fill the selection in with white, and deselect (CTRL+D). Now go to Filter » Blur » Gaussian Blur and use a setting of about 3.5. Click OK. Next go to Image » Adjust » Levels and drag the two bottom triangles towards the center until the button looks nice and smooth (see the example below). Click OK when done. Hold CTRL and click on the "Alpha 1" channel to select it. Click the Layers tab to return to the Layers Palette.
Example 2
3.
Create a new layer, make that layer current, and then fill your selection with your chosen color (the example uses R:255 G:126 B:0), and deselect (CTRL+D). Now to make the button more interesting go to Edit » Transform » Perspective. Drag the bottom right point inwards so that your button is shaped similar to the example (or of course feel free to experiment with other shapes).
Example 3
4.
Now, to make the highlight, create a new layer. Using the Freeform Pen. Ensure that the "Paths" options is selected in the Options bar, and not "Shape Layers". Draw a rough wiggle circle around the top of the shape as seen in the example. Once you have your path, right click and choose "Make Selection" - use the default settings. If the path is still visible under the selection, right click again and choose "Delete Path". Now create a new layer and fill the selection in with white.
Example 4
5.
Next hold CTRL and click on "Layer 1" to select it. Go to Select » Modify » Contract and enter 1. Now go to Select » Inverse. Make sure you have "Layer 2" active and hit delete. Now hold CTRL and click on "Layer 2" to select it then hit DELETE about 4 times to completely get rid of the white. Do not lose the selection.
Example 5
6.
Now press D then X to reset the colors. Select the Gradient Tool and ensure that it is set to Linear mode. In the options tab change the gradient type to "Foreground to Transparent" and drag the gradient from the top of the selection to the bottom. You should now get a highlight effect. If you'd like you can save the selection for later use by choosing Select » Save Selection » OK. Then press CTRL+D to deselect. If the bottom of the highlight isn't as well-blended into the rest of the button as you'd like, choose Filter » Blur » Gaussian Blur and add as much blur as needed to soften the edge of the highlight.
Example 6
7.
You have the highlight, now you need the dark shadow. Do the same as before, using the Freeform Pen draw a wiggly line across the bottom of your button (see the example). Again, right click and choose "Make selection", use default settings, and if applicable, right click and choose "Delete Path". Now create a new layer - don't lose the selection.
Example 7
8.
Create a new layer, select the layer and fill the selection with black. Hold CTRL and click on "Layer 1" to select it. Go to Select » Modify » Contract and enter 1. Then, go to Select » Inverse and with "Layer 3" active in the layers palette, hit delete. Now hold CTRL and click on "Layer 3" to select it, hit DELETE about 4 times to remove all the black - do not lose the selection.
Example 8
9.
Now set black as your foreground color, and using a the Linear Gradient at foreground to transparent still, drag from the bottom of the selection to the top (you may want to drag from a spot a bit below the selection and stop right at the top, so that the gradient won't appear too dark). Then Deselect (CTRL+D). Now you may want to blur the black shadow a little using Filter » Blur » Gaussian Blur (the example uses a setting of 3.0, with the layer's opacity lowered down to between 40-60). The button is now complete, so if you'd like to add a drop shadow at this point, select "Layer 1" and choose Layer » Effects » Drop Shadow, and adjust the settings to your preference.
Example 9
10.
When you add text make it the same color as the button but a lot darker. To make it look like it's inset into the button's surface, make a copy of the text layer by dragging it to the New Layer icon in the Layers Palette. Drag the new copy layer below the first text layer and change the color of the duplicate text to white. Hold down CTRL to temporarily enable the Move Tool, and using the arrow keys on your keyboard, move it up a pixel and left a pixel. Set the layer blend mode to "Color Dodge". Go to Layer » Type » Render Layer (or depending on your version, right click on the text and choose Rasterize Type), and then Filter » Blur » Gaussian Blur, choose a setting of about 1.0. Finally, turn the bottom text layer's opacity down to about 50% and you're done.
Example 10
11.
Don't stop there though. Make some whacky shapes and see the cool effects you get. Just experiment and see what you can come up with.
Example 11
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Illustration
What is Art .... ?
.... What is an Artist ?
What makes a good illustration?
by Alan M. Webber
Since editors are by nature a cranky sort (and since I am, by nature, cranky even by editor standards), let me turn the question around and tell you what makes a *bad* illustration. An illustration is, by definition, bad if it is intentionally cryptic, self-referential, or so "deep" that you have to read the article to figure out what the illustration is doing there. This is called "trying too hard" and earns an immediate vote of no confidence. An illustration is bad if it is fussy, prissy, pretentious, or requires a magnifying glass to find and identify the internal elements. This is called "trying to soft" and creates an image where the effort to look at it is disproportionate to the satisfaction that the image delivers.
What makes a good illustration?
by Alan M. Webber
Since editors are by nature a cranky sort (and since I am, by nature, cranky even by editor standards), let me turn the question around and tell you what makes a *bad* illustration. An illustration is, by definition, bad if it is intentionally cryptic, self-referential, or so "deep" that you have to read the article to figure out what the illustration is doing there. This is called "trying too hard" and earns an immediate vote of no confidence. An illustration is bad if it is fussy, prissy, pretentious, or requires a magnifying glass to find and identify the internal elements. This is called "trying to soft" and creates an image where the effort to look at it is disproportionate to the satisfaction that the image delivers.
OK, now that I've got that out of my system, what makes an illustration good? Well, take a look at the two illustrations by Brad Holland in the February 2002 issue of Fast Company. The accompanying articles ask two questions: What is courage? And whose business is national security? What Brad Holland has produced are strong, compelling images that connect immediately and viscerally with the reader, that complement the articles perfectly, and that are so striking and evocative that they are also powerful stand-alone works of art.
The question of courage is a timeless one; the piece is an interview with a book author who has traced courage from the days of the ancient Greek warriors to the battlefields of Vietnam. The image that Holland has produced immediately suggests the history of courage (in the suggestion of a Greek-styled helmet), the individuality of the warrior (in the light in the soldier's eye), and the underyling question before us concerning courage (in the question-mark like shape of the opening in the helmet). It's full-page, full-bleed, arresting, dark, and textured.
The second illustration-the one that accompanies the piece on security-has the same kind of energy. The image is again timeless: To me, it suggests both a cave painting and a drawing of American cavalry troops riding across the prairies. The texture contributes to this effect: It could be on a rough surface or a weaving. It is subtle, suggestive, but again, drawn strongly and powerfully, with a presentation that suits perfectly the tough topic of national security.
These are both dramatic, energetic, compelling illustrations. You look at them and immediately you know what territory you are in. They help to sell the articles. They fit the magazine. What can I say? I love them!
About the Author: Alan M. Webber is the founding editor of Fast Company.
Read more!
.... What is an Artist ?
What makes a good illustration?
by Alan M. Webber
Since editors are by nature a cranky sort (and since I am, by nature, cranky even by editor standards), let me turn the question around and tell you what makes a *bad* illustration. An illustration is, by definition, bad if it is intentionally cryptic, self-referential, or so "deep" that you have to read the article to figure out what the illustration is doing there. This is called "trying too hard" and earns an immediate vote of no confidence. An illustration is bad if it is fussy, prissy, pretentious, or requires a magnifying glass to find and identify the internal elements. This is called "trying to soft" and creates an image where the effort to look at it is disproportionate to the satisfaction that the image delivers.
What makes a good illustration?
by Alan M. Webber
Since editors are by nature a cranky sort (and since I am, by nature, cranky even by editor standards), let me turn the question around and tell you what makes a *bad* illustration. An illustration is, by definition, bad if it is intentionally cryptic, self-referential, or so "deep" that you have to read the article to figure out what the illustration is doing there. This is called "trying too hard" and earns an immediate vote of no confidence. An illustration is bad if it is fussy, prissy, pretentious, or requires a magnifying glass to find and identify the internal elements. This is called "trying to soft" and creates an image where the effort to look at it is disproportionate to the satisfaction that the image delivers.
OK, now that I've got that out of my system, what makes an illustration good? Well, take a look at the two illustrations by Brad Holland in the February 2002 issue of Fast Company. The accompanying articles ask two questions: What is courage? And whose business is national security? What Brad Holland has produced are strong, compelling images that connect immediately and viscerally with the reader, that complement the articles perfectly, and that are so striking and evocative that they are also powerful stand-alone works of art.
The question of courage is a timeless one; the piece is an interview with a book author who has traced courage from the days of the ancient Greek warriors to the battlefields of Vietnam. The image that Holland has produced immediately suggests the history of courage (in the suggestion of a Greek-styled helmet), the individuality of the warrior (in the light in the soldier's eye), and the underyling question before us concerning courage (in the question-mark like shape of the opening in the helmet). It's full-page, full-bleed, arresting, dark, and textured.
The second illustration-the one that accompanies the piece on security-has the same kind of energy. The image is again timeless: To me, it suggests both a cave painting and a drawing of American cavalry troops riding across the prairies. The texture contributes to this effect: It could be on a rough surface or a weaving. It is subtle, suggestive, but again, drawn strongly and powerfully, with a presentation that suits perfectly the tough topic of national security.
These are both dramatic, energetic, compelling illustrations. You look at them and immediately you know what territory you are in. They help to sell the articles. They fit the magazine. What can I say? I love them!
About the Author: Alan M. Webber is the founding editor of Fast Company.
Read more!
GrpahicS Design By PHOTOSHOP
Reflective Bubbles
Tutorials http://goscreative.blogspot.com/2007/09/tutorial-reflective-bubbles.html
Stone Statue
Tutorials http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161354 Read more!
Graphics & Illustration Designs
Links For More Graphics & Illustration Designhttp://brandnumedia.co.uk/
Links For More Graphics & Illustration Designhttp://www.neilduerden.co.uk/ Read more!
GRAPHIC DESIGN: A CAREER GUIDE
What is graphic design?
What is graphic design? from AIGA Career Guide
Suppose you want to announce or sell something, amuse or persuade someone, explain a complicated system or demonstrate a process. In other words, you have a message you want to communicate. How do you “send” it? You could tell people one by one or broadcast by radio or loudspeaker. That’s verbal communication. But if you use any visual medium at all—if you make a poster; type a letter; create a business logo, a magazine ad, or an album cover; even make a computer printout—you are using a form of visual communication called graphic design.
Graphic designers work with drawn, painted, photographed, or computer-generated images (pictures), but they also design the letterforms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines, and menus; and even on computer screens. Designers create, choose, and organize these elements—typography, images, and the so-called “white space” around them—to communicate a message. Graphic design is a part of your daily life. From humble things like gum wrappers to huge things like billboards to the T-shirt you’re wearing, graphic design informs, persuades, organizes, stimulates, locates, identifies, attracts attention and provides pleasure.
Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. The main tools are image and typography.
Image-based design
Designers develop images to represent the ideas their clients want to communicate. Images can be incredibly powerful and compelling tools of communication, conveying not only information but also moods and emotions. People respond to images instinctively based on their personalities, associations, and previous experience. For example, you know that a chili pepper is hot, and this knowledge in combination with the image creates a visual pun.
In the case of image-based design, the images must carry the entire message; there are few if any words to help. These images may be photographic, painted, drawn, or graphically rendered in many different ways. Image-based design is employed when the designer determines that, in a particular case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.
Type-based design
In some cases, designers rely on words to convey a message, but they use words differently from the ways writers do. To designers, what the words look like is as important as their meaning. The visual forms, whether typography (communication designed by means of the printed word) or handmade lettering, perform many communication functions. They can arrest your attention on a poster, identify the product name on a package or a truck, and present running text as the typography in a book does. Designers are experts at presenting information in a visual form in print or on film, packaging, or signs.
When you look at an “ordinary” printed page of running text, what is involved in designing such a seemingly simple page? Think about what you would do if you were asked to redesign the page. Would you change the typeface or type size? Would you divide the text into two narrower columns? What about the margins and the spacing between the paragraphs and lines? Would you indent the paragraphs or begin them with decorative lettering? What other kinds of treatment might you give the page number? Would you change the boldface terms, perhaps using italic or underlining? What other changes might you consider, and how would they affect the way the reader reacts to the content? Designers evaluate the message and the audience for type-based design in order to make these kinds of decisions.
Image and type
Designers often combine images and typography to communicate a client’s message to an audience. They explore the creative possibilities presented by words (typography) and images (photography, illustration, and fine art). It is up to the designer not only to find or create appropriate letterforms and images but also to establish the best balance between them.
Designers are the link between the client and the audience. On the one hand, a client is often too close to the message to understand various ways in which it can be presented. The audience, on the other hand, is often too broad to have any direct impact on how a communication is presented. What’s more, it is usually difficult to make the audience a part of the creative process. Unlike client and audience, graphic designers learn how to construct a message and how to present it successfully. They work with the client to understand the content and the purpose of the message. They often collaborate with market researchers and other specialists to understand the nature of the audience. Once a design concept is chosen, the designers work with illustrators and photographers as well as with typesetters and printers or other production specialists to create the final design product.
Symbols, logos and logotypes
Symbols and logos are special, highly condensed information forms or identifiers. Symbols are abstract representation of a particular idea or identity. The CBS “eye” and the active “television” are symbolic forms, which we learn to recognize as representing a particular concept or company. Logotypes are corporate identifications based on a special typographical word treatment. Some identifiers are hybrid, or combinations of symbol and logotype. In order to create these identifiers, the designer must have a clear vision of the corporation or idea to be represented and of the audience to which the message is directed.
Graphic Design: A Career Guide and Education Directory
Edited by Sharon Helmer Poggenpohl
Copyright 1993
The American Institute of Graphic Arts Read more!
What is graphic design? from AIGA Career Guide
Suppose you want to announce or sell something, amuse or persuade someone, explain a complicated system or demonstrate a process. In other words, you have a message you want to communicate. How do you “send” it? You could tell people one by one or broadcast by radio or loudspeaker. That’s verbal communication. But if you use any visual medium at all—if you make a poster; type a letter; create a business logo, a magazine ad, or an album cover; even make a computer printout—you are using a form of visual communication called graphic design.
Graphic designers work with drawn, painted, photographed, or computer-generated images (pictures), but they also design the letterforms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines, and menus; and even on computer screens. Designers create, choose, and organize these elements—typography, images, and the so-called “white space” around them—to communicate a message. Graphic design is a part of your daily life. From humble things like gum wrappers to huge things like billboards to the T-shirt you’re wearing, graphic design informs, persuades, organizes, stimulates, locates, identifies, attracts attention and provides pleasure.
Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. The main tools are image and typography.
Image-based design
Designers develop images to represent the ideas their clients want to communicate. Images can be incredibly powerful and compelling tools of communication, conveying not only information but also moods and emotions. People respond to images instinctively based on their personalities, associations, and previous experience. For example, you know that a chili pepper is hot, and this knowledge in combination with the image creates a visual pun.
In the case of image-based design, the images must carry the entire message; there are few if any words to help. These images may be photographic, painted, drawn, or graphically rendered in many different ways. Image-based design is employed when the designer determines that, in a particular case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.
Type-based design
In some cases, designers rely on words to convey a message, but they use words differently from the ways writers do. To designers, what the words look like is as important as their meaning. The visual forms, whether typography (communication designed by means of the printed word) or handmade lettering, perform many communication functions. They can arrest your attention on a poster, identify the product name on a package or a truck, and present running text as the typography in a book does. Designers are experts at presenting information in a visual form in print or on film, packaging, or signs.
When you look at an “ordinary” printed page of running text, what is involved in designing such a seemingly simple page? Think about what you would do if you were asked to redesign the page. Would you change the typeface or type size? Would you divide the text into two narrower columns? What about the margins and the spacing between the paragraphs and lines? Would you indent the paragraphs or begin them with decorative lettering? What other kinds of treatment might you give the page number? Would you change the boldface terms, perhaps using italic or underlining? What other changes might you consider, and how would they affect the way the reader reacts to the content? Designers evaluate the message and the audience for type-based design in order to make these kinds of decisions.
Image and type
Designers often combine images and typography to communicate a client’s message to an audience. They explore the creative possibilities presented by words (typography) and images (photography, illustration, and fine art). It is up to the designer not only to find or create appropriate letterforms and images but also to establish the best balance between them.
Designers are the link between the client and the audience. On the one hand, a client is often too close to the message to understand various ways in which it can be presented. The audience, on the other hand, is often too broad to have any direct impact on how a communication is presented. What’s more, it is usually difficult to make the audience a part of the creative process. Unlike client and audience, graphic designers learn how to construct a message and how to present it successfully. They work with the client to understand the content and the purpose of the message. They often collaborate with market researchers and other specialists to understand the nature of the audience. Once a design concept is chosen, the designers work with illustrators and photographers as well as with typesetters and printers or other production specialists to create the final design product.
Symbols, logos and logotypes
Symbols and logos are special, highly condensed information forms or identifiers. Symbols are abstract representation of a particular idea or identity. The CBS “eye” and the active “television” are symbolic forms, which we learn to recognize as representing a particular concept or company. Logotypes are corporate identifications based on a special typographical word treatment. Some identifiers are hybrid, or combinations of symbol and logotype. In order to create these identifiers, the designer must have a clear vision of the corporation or idea to be represented and of the audience to which the message is directed.
Graphic Design: A Career Guide and Education Directory
Edited by Sharon Helmer Poggenpohl
Copyright 1993
The American Institute of Graphic Arts Read more!
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