1. Welcome to Psdtuts+, please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field?

Hi, my name is Matteus Faria. I’m 17 years old. I live in the city of São Paulo in Brazil, and I’m planning in the next year to attend a Graphic Design college. I don’t remember why I started in this field, I just remember that it was in 2007. I started with little works like signatures and some images for personal use. In the end of 2007, I started to work more with large scale pieces, modeling objects and scenes in Cinema 4D with post production in Photoshop.

2. With all the different routes you could have taken in terms of design, why did you lean towards creating 3D art mixed with Photoshop?

In the era that I started I saw a lot of works with this mix of 3D with some elements created in Photoshop, I liked and applied my own style. I think its cool how objects in the 3rd dimension mix inside of real things, like animals and people, it’s something very interesting.

3. “Natures Revenge” is a perfect example of seamless integration of 3D elements and natural stocks. Tell us how you managed to master this style of design.

The concept of this work was to represent the revolt of nature against humanity, it can be an overused concept but I liked the way I represented it. It was very different than what people usually do when this theme is used.

Initially its necessary to observe how the integration will be done, if it will combine or not. When I did this work I applied a material in the render made in Cinema 4D that seemed like an old branch and that combined with the stock that I would work on later. Many times I tried this integration but it didn’t work. The secret is to keep trying and searching for better alternatives to make it. You will have some works where you will not get it right on the first try.

4. The majority of your work consists of some kind of 3D elements. What programs do you use to create them. And what advice would you give to designers who would like to start creating their own 3D images.

For my works in 3D, I use Cinema 4D and just in one piece I used Poser, it’s a great program, but I didn’t have time to work more with it. What I use most is Cinema 4D. And some advice that I would give for those who are starting out is to search through the basic tutorials about modeling, then create your own technique and your own style. The tutorials are made to learn not to be copied, its a question of practice and creativity.

5. “Heartless” is a very interesting and visually amazing illustration of yours. Please walk us through how you created it, and what the illustration means to you.

My idea about this work was to create a person without feelings, without soul, “heartless,” so I was adding robot parts that are motherboard stocks, smoke, and in Cinema 4D I modeled some black wires to increase the visual of my work, it was very fun. I really wanted to know how to draw, the maximum that I do is little details and the final adjustments.

6. Throughout your experiences in graphic design, and other studies, what is the most important lesson you have learned? Why do you find it so important? And how do you apply it now to your art?

As I intend to pursue a career with what I do, I do not see this as a job, I see this as entertainment, something that relaxes me when I’m doing it, and, this was the most important thing that I’ve learned. While I have fun doing it, that’s what I’ll do, and that’s what matters. Don’t stop at the first hurdle or the first bad comment about your work, go ahead and don’t stop. This is the most important concept. I apply this in my work always trying to improve and create new things. Being happy is what matters.

7. Are there any specific techniques you use when designing that you would suggest to someone who is starting out in the same field as you?

I don’t have a “big” technique, what I do is simple. The secret is to use simple techniques but apply them carefully with details, that makes it become big.

8. Thanks again for providing Psdtuts+ with this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

You’re welcome Emil! Thanks for the opportunity. Have fun with what you do and keep practicing, never give up!

Where to find Matteus on the Web

• DeviantArt page

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This Plus Tutorial is Filled with Creative Tips

Before the advent of computers, the movie industry relied on stop-frame or stop-motion animation to bring their monsters to life; special effect artists such as Ray Harryhausen used this technique on classics such as “One Million Years BC” and “The Valley of Gwangi“. The 1950s also witnessed a 3D movie explosion — and Hollywood’s recent 3D revival means moviegoers of today can experience the next generation of 3D technology.

In this tutorial, we’ll take inspiration from these movies of yesteryear and recreate a retro B-movie styled poster. I’ll walk you through entire creation process, step-by-step using photography and 3D renders. Then we’ll take a jump into the third-dimension — by adding effects only visible when viewed through anaglyph 3D glasses. So hold onto your seats, because stunning sights really will leap at you in 3D — just as the poster says!

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Photoshop CS3 or later
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Estimated Completion Time: 6 hours

A preview of the final image is below.

Professional and Detailed Instructions Inside

Plus members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! Below are some sample images from this tutorial.

PSD Plus Membership

As you know, we run a premium membership system here called ‘Plus’ that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the Source files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! You’ll also get access to Net Plus and Vector Plus, too. If you’re a Plus member, you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the Psdtuts+ RSS Feed to stay up to date with the latest Photoshop tutorials and articles.

To celebrate this knowledge exchange, iStockphoto have created a special 15% discount for Psdtuts+ readers.

Introduction

Pixel illustrations are great for making computer icons, isometric images and even whole scenes. They can be made quickly and easily using Photoshop with a couple of quick tweaks to the preference settings.

The only drawback though, is that the pixel art looks best when each pixel has been placed by hand as opposed to using some Photoshop filter. That’s right, placed by hand — I know this sounds a little crazy especially when some pixel scenes have thousands of pixels in them. But without the hand placement your pixel art can look like a bad Lo Res image, so beware!

I think a good rule of thumb before starting off is that you should be able to see your creation clearly as a group of different colored squared bricks, but then if you squint and blur your eyes you can make it out as an image. Imagine that you’re making a tile mosaic, only you don’t need any grout.

Below is a complete piece of pixel artwork, we’ll be creating some of the more basic pieces in this work.

Software

OK let’s set up for drawing. Just in case you don’t have a copy of Photoshop, there are some free dedicated Pixel drawing programs available for free download:

• Pixen (Mac)
• Graphics Gale (Win)
• Find more apps here.

I’ve had a play around with both programs, but came back to Photoshop because I’m used to the keyboard commands.

Okay, Let’s Set Up a Page

1. First open the preferences in Photoshop and set the Image interpolation to “Nearest Neighbor.”
2. Create a new Page 300 px by 300 px at 72 dpi.
3. Select the Pencil tool at 1 pixel. The Pencil and Eraser tools are the only tools you will really need.
4. Occasionally you might use the magic wand to select an area to fill, just make sure Anti Alias is off.

If you did use the brush tool at a whopping 9 pixels instead of 1, you’ll get anti-aliasing occurring and that will spoil the hard-edge pixel effect. So stick to 1 pixel. “Keep it lean keep it mean,” as my Mother used to say.

When your pixel drawing is viewed at 100% (actual size) the pencil tool at 1 pixel wide is very small, so you might find it hard to see and manipulate. An idea is to enlarge the view to 800% so you can see what you are doing. I often have a 2nd window open in Photoshop with the same screen view at 200% so I can quickly see how my drawing looks up close and also from a little further away at the same time.

We can save our working doc as a PSD file and export for web use later as a GIF file. We can also enlarge the file afterwards and turn into a TIF for CMYK printing.

Let’s Start Drawing

OK let’s have a go at drawing something like this open book. With the Pen tool draw around the edge to create your black outline. Then fill in the flat colors of the page and book mark.

Create the idea of text on the page with some single pixel lines. See how we put a slight kink in the line to give the impression of a slight curve on the page.

Lastly add some highlights down the middle of the pages and side of the bookmark. A nice little touch is a single pixel highlight at the bottom outside corner of each page, it just gives a hint of a page edge instead of being a solid block.

Once you’ve got the basics of outlines, colors, highlights and shading, you can try your hand at building other simple shapes.

Angled Pixel Lines

Pixel icons like the ones above can be designed as a series of lines that are just 90º to each other and are very much squares and rectangles. Occasionally though, you might need a line at an angle.

Something to bear in mind is angled lines look best when they are a regular pattern. If they are irregular (like those shown below), they can appear lumpy and crude when viewed small. The second example below is much smoother Isometric angles, which look great with pixel drawings, but it’s not the 30º “iso” angle you used in Technical drawing class — it’s actually something closer to 26.5º. 30º unfortunately gives a lumpy line at 100%. If you make a line that regularly runs 2 points over and 1 point up, you’ll get 26.5º.

Shall we try drawing something else that’s a little more Geometric and uses more of those line patterns?

Let’s Draw a Pixel Log

The lines down the length are easy we know how to do those now, but how about those round ends?

These two are regular patterns but are changing from wide horizontal lines down to squares and then to vertical lines. It does look a little jagged but if you blur your eyes it does look correct!

The curve on the top-right of the log end is also the reverse pattern of the bottom-left section. I often count the pixels or remember certain combinations. The pixel combo on the circle is…

• 3 squares (across)
• 2
• 111
• 222(down)
• 6
• 2
• 1

A little tricky to get the hang of at first like using bezier curves in Illustrator but you soon get a “feel” for it. The length of the log is easy: we just use the 2 along 1 up system and make the log as long or short as we want.

Smaller concentric circles on the end give a nice ring pattern and some areas of darker shading at the bottom of the log give it some depth. We’ll give the log a flat fir color to start, then to create depth, we can create dithering by placing pixels of contrasting color either side of our high light/low light lines.

You can build up the patterns and make them more complex. Careful though — the more realistic and tricky you try and get the fuzzier the image may appear if it’s destined to reproduce at small size.

I did throw in a few more random pixels on log #3 as I wanted it to have a rough look and contrast a little with the squirrel.

For the final log I worked in an area of stripped bark and a small branch. I found it best to complete one area or style first and then work more detail into it. I don’t think I could have drawn the stripped bark log with dithering pattern from scratch — instead, I just kept adding layers over top of layers. Simple stages work best!

Irregular Pixel Drawing

Let’s move onto something a little more irregular, like a Squirrel to sit on our log. For something complicated like this, it’s best to start out with pencil and paper.

First I drew an isometric square on my page to get the right dimensions. Since we’re using this particular example for editorial purposes, I used a photograph for reference. Remember that if you’re planning to upload anything to iStockphoto, you need to include any reference material that you used. Then I start to sketch. I pay particular attention to the angle on both ears and feet as I want them to follow the isometric lines.

As you can see the detail is very minimal — I just want to get the basic shape and correct angles worked out first. We’ll do the rest of the work in Photoshop.

Bring in the sketch, put on a new layer and ghost the opacity so you can see the pixels you are about to create clearly. It’s not a hard and fast rule but I find pixel drawings look best when they have black outlines.

Here I am going around my Squirrel with the pencil tool creating the black outline. One thing to be avoided is clumping up where outline pixels touch each other on more than one side. If you draw an extra square just delete it with your eraser tool (also kept at 1 pixel width, see the red circle ) it will look neater and your audience will thank you for it.

It still looks a little messy but it will shape up! Keylines inside the illustration also help to give it a bold look, just make sure they are a darkish color that isn’t black to make some contrast. Call me a radical but I went with brown on this one.

When the shape is complete fill the inner area with a nice mid tone color (soft brown) and maybe use a light color to bring out some highlights.

The black outline rule is not a hard and fast one, I did leave some black keylines below the front jaw and paw as it was getting hard to see what was going on.

Conclusion

The hand placing, removing, changing of pixels is where the skill comes in. Sometimes. But once you start to get the hang of it, you’ll be able to draw just about anything — all you need is some patience. Hope this helps, and inspires you to create great work of your own!

Additional Resources

Here are some resources for further pixel reading:

• Mark’s Pixel art tutorial (shows more detailed pixel shading and creating pixel characters called “Sprites”)
• Creating Pixel Art Painting Pixel by Pixel — Tips and Tutorials. A good list of pixel sites to visit.
• 20+ Inspiring Pixel Artists, Tutorials, and Resources – a collection of pixel art resources here on Psdtuts+.
• Some pixel files I’ve drawn and animated as gif files. See the Squirrel in action!

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Note from the Editor: Psdtuts+ Thanks iStockPhoto!

• 

  This knowledge exchange was made possible by iStockphoto. Psdtuts+ regular author Alvaro Guzman has shared some of his best Photoshop tips for iStockphoto’s newsletter subscribers, and iStockphoto have kindly shared this article in return. We know plenty of people who read Psdtuts+ would be interested in iStockphoto, and many iStockphoto users would be interested in Psdtuts+, so we hope this will be a great way to help our audiences to meet each other and cross-over.

  To celebrate the exchange, iStockphoto have created a special 15% discount for Psdtuts+ readers.

  If you haven’t heard of iStockphoto before, here’s a very quick intro: iStockphoto is the world’s largest royalty-free stock multimedia destination with a file downloaded every second. iStockphoto pioneered the micropayment phenomenon in this industry in 2000, enabling buyers to license images for as little as $1. Now the site is home to more than 5.6 million photos, illustrations, video, audio and Flash files.

How to Enter

To be eligible to win, all you need to do is leave a comment. Make sure to include your correct email address with your comment so that we can contact you. This giveaway is open worldwide, but make sure to get your comment in before midnight this Saturday, November 14th, 2009, Eastern Eastern Standard Time. We’ll be announcing the winner next week.

Please note: Envato staff and people who have written more than two tutorials/articles for a Tuts+ site are not eligible to enter.

The Prize

1,000 Graphic Elements: Details for Distinctive Designs, by Harvey, Wilson. Rockport Publishers, 2004.

Product Description

Often, the small, delightful details make a piece shine, similar to the way unique buttons on a white shirt can give it an entirely new look. This book explores 1,000 of these embellishments available to graphic designers across all kinds of projects, from books to brochures, invitations to menus, CDs to annual reports.

Exacting photography, which is accompanied by credits outlining the vendors and materials used, focuses on these details. This book invites designers to literally shop for ideas. Content is organized by type; if you?re in the market for an unusual binding, turn to the bindings section to see a wide collection of fresh ideas.

Other topics covered include fasteners, graphics, unique materials, embossing, debossing, specialty inks, type treatments, interesting color usage, add-ons, die cuts, and much more.

This Plus Tutorial is Filled with Creative Techniques

In this tutorial, I do a walk-through of the “NOMENA” Illustration of my SVSV/Pilot Mag Series. You’ll how to create unique, hand drawn lettering mixed with a photo and textures. Let’s get stared!

Plus members can Log in and Download! If you’re not a member, you can of course join today! Below is the final image we’ll be creating in this tutorial.

Professional and Detailed Instructions Inside

Plus members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! Below are some sample images from this tutorial.

PSD Plus Membership

As you know, we run a premium membership system here called ‘Plus’ that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the Source files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! You’ll also get access to Net Plus and Vector Plus, too. If you’re a Plus member, you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the Psdtuts+ RSS Feed to stay up to date with the latest Photoshop tutorials and articles.

1. Welcome to Psdtuts+. Can you please introduce yourself?

Hi there! I’m Jerico Santander, an illustrator from Canary Islands, Spain. Apart from the obvious, I also enjoy going out for a run, fishing and eating my mum’s cheesecake

2. How did you start your design career? What motivated you?

At primary school I felt way more interested in drawing than for playing with a ball, then at high school I had more communication with computers than with girls…Somehow I’ve always been connected to this world. I still can remember the first time I saw Flash and Photoshop (thanks cousin).

As many other illustrators, I also started designing website layouts. Then someday I found the legendary Infinity Digital Vision catalog with some old school shit from masters like Mike Young or Jens Karlsson. I felt the need of getting in that digital art world. Trying to imitate them is how I started to mesh up with Photoshop in a more artistic way.

3. How do you define yourself? As I see you make use of illustrations, 3D objects and lots of other stuff. One cannot say Jerico is only an “illustrator.” You did not limited yourself to one field. Will you continue in this fashion? Also what are your future plans?

Many artists find resources everywhere. I do use photography, digital painting and sometimes, a bit of 3D. I do nothing but welding many images together building up a totally new one, I guess I understand digital art as an extension from collage?

Honestly I don’t know which resources/tools I will work with in the future, probably I’ll paint more and use less photography. I’m bored of long hours trying to find the perfect stock image. I just hope to still have fun working!

4. I think there are a lot of people wondering about this: How does your process of designing evolve? How do you start a design and how do you finish it? For instance, can you share design process of Own World?

It depends on the project. I always need to do a few sketches, then search for the main stock, rendering some 3D (if needed), putting them all together, painting lights and shadows, etc. Anyways I usually get the best ideas when I’m about finished and that can mean the need to remake a big part of the process!

5. Who are your favorite artists? How do you enrich your dream world? Can you share your favorite websites?

Traditional artists: Mars-1 and Josh Keyes. Digital artists: Alex Trochut and Microbot. About my favorite sites and inspiration sources: depthcore.com, behance.net, cgsociety, and deviantart.

6. To date what would you say is your favorite illustration that you have created? What motivated you?

From the ones in my Behance page I don’t have an absolutely top one so I’d mention two and why I like them: “Own World“: I enjoyed crafting this image for the amount of effort, frustration and headaches I had with it. I felt way free when I finally got it done. “Nereid“: I always wanted to do something like this. I had fun experimenting with the human body and light while working. But honestly I would change some parts of this piece now, maybe I will!

7. Which software do you use? Do you use a tablet? Can you share with us your favorite software and also favorite tool in Photoshop? Why?

Yes, I can’t work without a tablet. I’m married to a a Cintiq 21″, I love you baby! ;-* Software I use? Photoshop, and a bit of 3dsmax.
About which PS tool would I bring to a deserted island, I’d say the brush tool as it’s the most versatile and the one I use the most.

8. Thank you for your answers. Finally, what do you want to say to Psdtuts+ readers?

Thanks psdtuts for the interview and to their followers for reading!

9. How can readers reach Jerico Santander on the Web?

Tracing my IP address and with some hacking knowledge, I guess!
Okay, I do not have a personal site yet. I’m a lazy ass, I know. The truth is that for the last two years I’ve pushed art and design to a second plane while focused life into other things. But now I have a bunch of new artwork and I’ll release them really soon together with a new site, I promise!

In the meantime, you can check Jerico Santander on Behance with the same old stuff!

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New Exclusive High Resolution Photoshop Brushes

This new Photoshop Brushes Pack is created by Qbrushes and is available for Psd Plus members today. This is a set of 16 Brushes, which are all high resolution at around 2500 pixels by 2500 pixels. Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! A preview of the brushes are below.

See the Brushes in Action Below

Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now!

Psd Plus Membership

As you know, we run a premium membership system here called Psdtuts+ Plus that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the PSD files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! If you’re a member you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!

Subscribe to the Psdtuts+ RSS Feed for the best Photoshop tuts and articles on the web.

Tutorial Wrap

• 

  3D Typography Tutorial

  This tutorial is a very cool one, something for the more advanced users who can use C4D and Illustrator, as well as Photoshop. If you are a somewhat new designer and would like a good challenge, then definitely try this one out. It will teach newcomers some great techniques in three very important programs that are essential to a designer. So this is a must try out for everyone. The outcome is visually great and the tutorial is detailed.

  Visit Tutorial

• 

  Adding an Eastern Twist to your Art

  This tutorial focuses on how to bring a little traditional Asian culture to your art, if you are up for trying out this visual style, then you should go for it. It is a six page tutorial so there are quite a number of steps, but it is also detailed. Simple techniques are used and the outcome is visually pleasing, so this is another tutorial to try out.

  Visit Tutorial

• 

  Building a Slick User Interface

  Here we have a tutorial for the Photoshop newcomers, anyone who has been around the tutorial blogs has seen countless tutorials that show you how to make iPods, iPhones, and various other types of electronic interfaces. So if that
  wasn’t enough for you here is a different take on one. I suggest people who need some practice with getting
  familiar with layer styles check this out because a lot of that is used here.

  Visit Tutorial

• 

  Giving your Sketches a Face Lift

  We all have a bunch of random doodles that we draw out just for fun, some actually have sketchbooks but don’t go any further than just drawing them. Well this tutorial will show you how to take your drawings and create amazing digital art with them. So round up some old drawings, scan them in, and follow this detailed tutorial. See if you can make something new out of your old doodles.

  Visit Tutorial

• 

  Create a Clean Hosting layout

  Last month we featured a similar tutorial from Grafpedia showing how to make a very stylish and professional layout for a hosting website. Well if that wasn’t enough for you, here is a second tutorial on creating a sleek business template. The techniques are fairly the same as last time, but if you need more practice, then this is the thing for you.

  Visit Tutorial

• 

  Create Cool Wet ink Typography

  This tutorial has a very cool outcome and requires a small amount of effort on the designers part. This is all we could ask for, a very stylish result made with a lot of ease. There isn’t much to say about this typographic tutorial. So check it out, download the brushes needed and get to creating your own rendition of it.

  Visit Tutorial

(FREE!) Download Picks

• 

  Vintage Vector Pack

  Our first freebie of the month is a vintage serpent vector pack,
  unfortunately the pack only contains 4 images but they are still high quality and can be used many ways. The pack contains 2 serpent vectors, a
  origami type vector, and an abstract cube vector. They are all cool and unusual so everyone should check them out.

  Visit Download Site

• 

  20 Free iPhone Wallpapers

  If you are a real iPhone fanatic and change your wallpaper every month, then this is the freebie for you. The pack contains 20 very cool wallpapers ranging in many different styles for everyone’s favorite cell phone.

  Visit Download Site

• 

  Storm Cloud Textures

  Here we have a great addition to anyone’s collection of stocks. All designers use stocks of clouds and the sky so that is why these are so good. They are high resolution, which also helps when working with a big canvas. Check these stocks out and save the ones you like, you wont regret it because eventually you will end up using them.

  Visit Download Site

• 

  Hair Styles Vectors

  This is a unique freebie that not everyone might want, but it is still cool enough to feature. This pack contains vectored images of different male and female hairstyles. The pack contains 8 different high quality vectors, so check it out if this is something you think you would need.

  Visit Download Site

• 

  22 Textures from the Grand Canyon

  Here is our second and not last texture pack for this month. This one is a pack of 22 various textures found on a trip to the grand canyon. The pack features many different types of textures, it varies from rocks, water, to the sky, and shots of the terrain. So check this one out.

  Visit Download Site

• 

  Rust Texture Pack

  Now for our next texture pack we are featuring something more gritty, these rust textures are perfect for different types of grunge art. There are a bunch of different colored metals with different types of rust. They should give your art some great effects.

  Visit Download Site

• 

  80 Stunning Backgrounds for your Website

  Your website does not need to have a simple and plain background, some backgrounds can really tie in the whole feel of a website, and this freebie is here to help. This post features 80 backgrounds for many different types of themes. This is a must check out for anyone who creates layouts, or owns a website, or is just looking for a cool background for themselves.

  Visit Download Site

Article Wrap

• 

  Graphic Design Education

  If you are looking to get serious about becoming a full time graphic designer then this is your article to read, the author tells you some important steps on where to start if you want to become a designer and some of the important requirements.

  Visit Article

• 

  Showcase of Beautiful Textured Web Designs

  Here is your monthly dose of inspiration. This article showcases some great uses of textures in website designs. This is a combination with some of the textures in the Freebie section, and the layout tutorial. So check this out get inspired and try to make some yourself.

  Visit Article

• 

  5 Overlooked Features In Photoshop

  This is an interesting and informative article. The author points out 5 things that most people forget about and overlook when using Photoshop. These 5 things can be extremely helpful and should not be forgotten when designing. So check it out and make sure you know about them before you try and create some more art.

  Visit Article

• 

  Negative Space in Logo Design

  Too much blank space can sometimes hurt a logo, but the author of this article points out that some logos actually look better with some negative space. This is a roundup of some famous and not so famous logos that use negative space well. With each logo you can see who created it and what agency they work for. So check this out if you are really into logos!

  Visit Article

• 

  Top Linked Design Articles

  You do not have to sit at home or your office all day looking to be inspired. This article points out that the “offline” world has inspiration all around it, you just need to know how to look. This is an extensive article that shows you the many different types of inspiration outside of the computer screen. So this is a must read for all because we all are without inspiration at one point or another.

  Visit Article

• 

  Things to Ask your Clients for Besides Money

  This article will help you grow as a business man while still being a good designer. The author points out 7 things that you can ask from your clients that will help your career in the long run. So if you are a freelancer then this is something you should definitely check out because some of the tips here can prolong a designer’s career and bring in more business.

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Choose a Logo Designer

  A companies brand is one of the most important things that the company has. Their logo will be plastered everywhere they are, so choosing the right designer to do that logo is essential. That is why the author of this tutorial has given a few tips for the person who is looking to hire a good logo designer. 10 Tips that should find you a competent and talented designer that can create the right logo for your business.

  Visit Article

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1. Creating a Knob in Photoshop

2. How to Make a Menu Interface for a Fantasy Themed iPhone Game

3. Create a Promotional iPhone App Site in Photoshop

4. How to Create a Slick and Clean Button in Photoshop

5. Simple Button

6. How to Create a Detailed Audio Player in Photoshop

7. Create an Apple IPhone case from scratch

8. iPhone Style Icon Tutorial

9. Create the Glass Shelf Dock from Leopard OS in Photoshop

10. Build a Slick Rich User Interface in Photoshop

11. Loading Interface

12. Make a Web Interface with Car Images

13. Zoom Player Design Skin

14. Volkswagen Inspired Navigation

15. MP3 Player Interface Design

16. Blackberry Fruit phone

17. Interface Navigation Tutorial

18. Create a Mac Style Interface Button in Photoshop

19. Nokia 5300 Cell phone interface

20. Photoshop Tutorial: Audio Interface

21. High-Detailed Plastic Navigation Bar

22. Aqua Interface

23. Nav Bar Interface Tutorial

24. Content Box

25. Interface or Skin Tutorial

26. How To Create a Stunning Vista Inspired Menu

27. Create a Web App Admin User Interface in Photoshop

28. Creating Inset Buttons for Interfaces

29. Modern Web Layout

30. Creating Smooth Metal for Interface Design

31. Create a Zune MP3 Player

32. Interface Orbs

33. Design Your iPhone Widgets

34. RCA Lyra X3030 portable media player

35. Video Player Skin

36. Designing a Black Audio Player Interface

37. MP3 Player Interface

38. Design Mico Buttons

39. VCarbon Style Icons and Buttons

40. Create a Speed Gauge and Watch Icon in Photoshop

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Aetuts+ – After Effects Tutorials

• 

  Simulate a Realistic Sniper Scope Perspective – AE Plus

  My tutorial deals with a VFX shot that’s easy to attempt but hard to master: A convincing looking sniper scope view.
  I will outline the assets that I provide in Photoshop and the principles of accomplishing the intended outcome. In After Effects I’ll make use of pre-compositions, motion tracking and some easy expressions. For clarity’s purpose I’ll get into details about optical phenomena when necessary.

  Continue Reading

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  Form a Unique Transition

  In this tutorial we are going to reveal how to create a cool particle transition between 2 videos using Trapcode Form. We will cover the importance of layer maps while using this plugin as well as how to create a stylish displacement of the particles.

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  Making Your Color Scheme a Whole Lot Kuler!

  Adobe Kuler is a great resource for color themes that is perfectly integrated in all Adobe CS4 software – except for After Effects. But this has changed now.

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  The Best Sound You’ll Ever See!

  Satya is back with a new tutorial that will help you look as good as you sound. This technique has many options so sit back and learn how to create an attractive visual generated from your audio spectrum.

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  Terminate Your Footage With Expressions

  Sep 21st in VFX by Ben McEwan If you’re wanting to help to save Sarah Connor then maybe this tutorial will give you an insider’s perspective on what to do. Ben McEwan has created a 3 Day Series crammed full of useful expressions to create the UI found in the Terminator.

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Nettuts+ – Web Development Tutorials

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  11 Classic CSS Techniques Made Simple with CSS

  We’ve all had to achieve some effect that required an extra handful of divs or PNGs. We shouldn’t be limited to these old techniques when there’s a new age coming. This new age includes the use of CSS3. In today’s tutorial, I’ll show you eleven different time-consuming effects that can be achieved quite easily with CSS3.

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  20 HTML Forms Best Practices for Beginners

  Working with XHTML forms can be somewhat daunting; they not only use some niche HTML elements, but also blur the line between static content and user interaction. Let’s review some things to remember when creating your next form.

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  Search Engine Optimization 101

  Your website may be top notch but what’s the use of an online presence if no one can find it? In this quick start guide to search engine optimization we’ll review an assortment of tactics to increase your page ranking.

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  How to Design and Code a Flexible Website

  In this tutorial, we’re going to be designing and coding a simple blog-style web-page. We’ll pay special attention to making our design flexible and accessible by using clean and simple XHTML and CSS. This tutorial is aimed at beginners, and anyone looking to improve the accessibility of their web designs.

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  Getting Clean with PHP

  Data security is important and often undervalued by designers, developers, and clients alike. Since PHP 5.2.0, data sanitization and validation has been made significantly easier with the introduction of data filtering. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at these filters, how to use them, and build a few custom functions.

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Psdtuts+ – Photoshop

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  Render a Cereal Box Cover from Scratch Using Photoshop’s 3D Tools

  Hi everyone! This time I’ve got for you a fun tutorial, we’ll create a cereal box design from scratch, using only Photoshop. We will render several fruit flavored cereal loops using the Photoshop’s CS4 Extended 3D tools, apply textures to the loops, bump the surfaces and mock-up them into a real 2D image. Are you ready?

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  Create a Big Air Event Poster with Photoshop and Illustrator – Psd Plus Tutorial

  We have another Psd Plus tutorial exclusively available to Plus members today. If you want to take your Photoshop and Illustrator integration skills to the next level, then we have an exciting poster design tutorial for you. Learn more at the jump!

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  Create an Intense Movie Poster in Photoshop

  Designers love to be critical about movie posters, and while you may think you have better ideas about how to sell a movie to an audience, how many times have you actually tried doing it? In this tutorial, we’re going to create a poster for a fictional movie called “Fugitive.” The movie is meant to be a suspenseful thriller that features one’s escape under the cover of darkness, despite man’s attempt to capture the lone hero. Thin and cheesy plot? Check. Awesome opportunity to better your PSD skills? You got it!

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  How to Create Eroded Metal Text with Photoshop

  In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create an eroded metal text effect. Throughout this tutorial we’ll make use of various drawing techniques, channels, and patterns.

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  Add Fantastic Color to 3D Text – Part I

  This is the first part of a two part series. Part two will be released tomorrow. In this piece you will learn how to bring a simple text to life and place everything in fantastic, colored and glowing 3D space. Some neat techniques covered here will allow you to bring your art to the next level. Don’t miss it! There are two parts to this tutorial: Part I and Part II.

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Vectortuts+ – Vector & Illustrator

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  How to Create a Golden, Vector Compass in Illustrator

  In this tutorial I will take you through the steps and techniques of creating a golden compass. For this tutorial I’ve used just Adobe Illustrator and a heavy dose of ingenuity.

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  How to Create a Yellow Submarine Icon with Gradient Meshes – Vector Plus Tutorial

  We have another great Vector Plus tutorial available exclusively for Plus members today. If you want to learn how to use gradient mesh, pattern brushes and other advanced Illustrator tools to create a shiny submarine, then we have an awesome tutorial for you. Learn more about this tutorial at the jump!

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  Build a Promotional iPhone App Website Wireframe in Fireworks

  Fireworks is a great tool for creating a wireframe and while it doesn’t work perfect with Photoshop, you can export over there and then build off your wireframe. We’ll cover the design process of creating a wireframe for an iPhone application website in Fireworks. For those of you not familiar with this program, it will be a good jumping off point for using it to wireframe your web design projects. This is a multi-part series and will be fun! Here is Part I of and Part II.

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  How to Create a Caramel Ripple Effect

  In this tutorial, we will create a hot chocolate caramel effect using some distort tools and the 3D revolve tool. This is a simple and effective technique to obtain a quality vector ripple effect quickly. Here we go!

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  How to Create an Energy Saving Bulb in Illustrator

  Here we’re showing how to create an energy saving bulb with the help of the Illustrator’s Mesh Tool. At the beginning it could be quiet hard to work with, but if you get used to it, it’s fairly simple.

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Activetuts+ – Flash, Flex & ActionScript Tutorials

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  Create a Unit Converter Application for Flash Lite Enabled Devices

  Flash Lite is an implementation of the Flash runtime for mobile phones, consumer electronic devices, and Internet-connected digital home devices. According to Adobe, the number of Flash Lite shipped devices will reach 1 billion in 2009 and more than 2.5 billion by the end of 2010, so if you are a Flash Developer it is important to know how this technology works and how it differs from Flash Player for the desktop.

  In this tutorial I’ll guide you through the basics of Flash Lite using the 1.1 version; sacrificing features, but ensuring compatibility.

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  Build a Mini Golf Game with ActionScript 3.0

  In this tutorial I´ll show you how to create nice Mini Golf Game with ActionScript 3.0. We´ll work with Event Handlers, Functions and also the Timer Object which is a really cool feature in AS3.

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  AS3 101: Loops

  Welcome back to AS3 101, the fifth edition! At this point, you should be comfortable with the concepts of variables, functions, conditionals (branching), and Arrays. Not only should you be comfortable with the concepts, but you should also be fluent in how ActionScript 3 implements these concepts.

  For this fifth episode, we’ll be adding to that catalog of skills the various looping structures found in AS3. You’ll find some dependencies on the information learned in AS3 101 Part 4, on Arrays, so if you’ve skipped that one or need a refresher, please review that tutorial before continuing with this one.

  For our final project, we’ll combine loops and arrays, to make a simple shoot-em-up game.

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  Improve Your Memory With an Away3D Game

  In this tutorial we’ll build a 3D memory game. Along the way we’ll look at adding variables and mouseEvents to Away3D objects. Let’s get started..

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  Build a Photo Viewer Using Flex and the Flickr API

  In this tutorial you will learn how to use the as3flickrlib library to create a Flash Flickr photo viewer.

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Phototuts+ – Photography & Post-Processing Tutorials

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  Photography Kick-start Guide: Adjusting Your Camera’s Settings for the Photo You Want

  Cameras vary in terms of functions offered. There are differences from one brand to the next and even from one model to another of the same brand. By necessity, this tutorial will have to generalize but let’s try to de-mystify some of the more common settings found on cameras today, what they mean (to the camera) and how to use them.

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  Mastering the Art of Black and White Photography

  In the early days of photography, photographers had no choice but to shoot in black and white, as it was the only available medium. Then, in 1936, the invention of kodachrome gave colour photography to the world. But black and white photography didn’t die off, instead it flourished. Modern black and white photography at it’s best is art, and many photographers regard it as the purest form of photography.

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  Freezing Time: 80 Inspiring Examples of High Speed Photography

  In our last roundup, we covered a selection of amazing HDR images. This time we move onto something completly different, with stunning high speed photography. These images freeze time, and allow us to observe scenes that the naked eye would struggle to capture. It’s definitely worth a look for some great inspiration!

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  8 Tips for Taking Sports Photos Like a Pro

  Are you looking to shoot better sports photos, and make an impact? Sports photography presents you with many opportunities to capture dramatic and vivid imagery that will last a lifetime. No other medium presents you with heart-pounding action, vivid color patterns and unique shooting opportunities.
  The steps and guidance featured in this tutorial cover a broad range of areas – from perfecting shutter speed, to making sure you don’t miss the action.

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  How to Photograph Waterfalls

  Waterfalls are some of the most beautiful natural features you will ever get the opportunity to photograph. But though they can look simply stunning, photographing waterfalls is not easy to do well. How do you avoid your photos being too dark? How do you deal with clipping in the water? How do you compose your photos to capture the authentic beauty of the scene?
  In this tutorial, nature photography expert Steve Berardi shares his best tips for photographing waterfalls.

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Cgtuts+ – CG Tutorials

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  Model and Texture a Posh Living Room Scene in Maya

  In this tutorial you will go through the process of modeling and rendering a Living Room in Autodesk Maya. You will also learn to use Mental Ray (along with the new architectural materials), create realistic fur, and implement studio lighting to create nice and soft shadows and highlights.

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  Using Splines to Add Detail to Your High-Poly Model in 3ds Max

  Splines are an often-overlooked aspect of 3ds max when it comes to game art. Most people know that you can use a spline for a wire – but you can also use it for things like grooves, whole objects like handles, and even text! In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at some of these advanced ways that splines can be used to save a lot of time on tasks that would otherwise have to be done by hand.

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  Create a Rocky Video Game Terrain in Blender

  In this series of tutorials you will learn how to create a finished environment for Blender’s Game Engine. The main focus of the series will be texturing and lighting, with the use of some custom 2d filters to enhance the result.

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  Model a Photorealistic Swiss Army Knife in Modo

  Subdivision modeling is an extremely powerful tool that can allow you to add high levels of detail to your models in a relatively short amount of time. In order to use it effectively, however, one must know when, and more importantly, when not to use it. In this three part, beginner to intermediate tutorial series, professional Modo artist, Matt Braeley, will demonstrate how to model a photorealistic Swiss Army knife, using polygonal and subdivision modeling in Luxology’s Modo 302.

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  Build an Advanced Drifting Car Rig in 3ds Max

  In this advanced level tutorial, you will learn all of the steps necessary to build a fully functioning car rig in 3D Studio Max. This rig features working suspension, steering and body roll, as well as some functionality for drifting and powerslides. You will learn how to set up internal functionality through links, constraints, expressions, and parameter wiring. The final result will be a robust rig with easy, and accessible controls.

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Audiotuts+ – Audio and Music

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  Introduction to Polyrhythms

  The usage of simple, common time (4/4 time signature, where there are four beats to a measure, and each quarter note gets one beat) is pervasive in Western popular music, including rock, blues, country, folk, pop, and various forms of electronic music including many sub-genres of house and trance music. The four-on-the-floor mindset can be difficult to escape, but every musician and composer can benefit from a study of rhythm that includes a wider variety of time signatures and rhythms.

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  How to Design Reeses and Hoovers

  Have you ever wondered how your favourite dance music producers create those amazing sounds that make you jump on the dance floor? Well, it usually takes a lot of experience and a huge amount of time spent on experimenting and processing sounds a ridiculously high number of times.

  But it’s quite hard to reach the stage of experimentation if you don’t even know the basics behind some kind of sounds often heard in dance tracks. This tutorial will teach you how to design from scratch a DnB trademark, the reese bass, and how to reproduce the infamous hoover sound, introducing you to the technique of resampling.

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  A Beginner’s Introduction to Home Recording

  Home recording technology seems to get better and cost less every year. It puts power in the hands of ordinary people. You’ve probably found this article because you want to get into home recording.

  Most of our tutorials here at Audiotuts are at the intermediate or advanced level. And that’s OK, because you won’t be a beginner forever. But we do have some more basic tutorials and articles aimed at the beginner. This article will refer to many of them, and hopefully give you an overview of what’s involved in getting into home recording.

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  A Basic Guide to Subtractive Synthesis (Part 1)

  This screencast is the first tutorial in a series on synthesis. This first installment shows a basic guided tour of Subtractor in Reason and covers oscillators, filters and envelopes.

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  Is the Public Capable of Recognizing Quality Music?

  Can the average music listener recognize quality? Can they distinguish a virtuoso from a mediocre musician? Can they recognize a “hit” that will still be esteemed a masterpiece in a hundred years? Does “popular” mean the same as “quality”?

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