How to Tattoo Anyone with Photoshop

By Wes Kozalla, August 3rd, 2009 in Photoshop, Tutorials | 4 Super Comments

Long ago, tattoos belonged in the domain of bikers, servicemen, and maximum security inmates. Over the last 25 years or so, we can find body art on everyone from soccer moms to the mail man. We’re going to learn how we can use Photoshop to put tats on just about anyone. Let’s dive right in with the two images below. The first is our subject about to get inked, from Faestock. The second is some vintage flash from my collection.

Summoning the Inner Tiger

In order to show a wild side to this demure young lady, we must first prepare our tiger. To save us time from doing lots of erasing on picture 1, we’re going to use the Lasso Tool to highlight around our noble beast in image 2. Then we go to the top menu bar and select Edit/Copy. From there we bring image 1 back up and select Edit/Paste.

“But dude,” you say. “That tat looks way too big for her arm. She looks more like a ballet dancer than a power lifter.” At this point it’s all good, because this is about way more than cutting and pasting. It’s about formfitting our body art to the model’s arm. Can’t you just hear the buzz of the needle and smell the green soap? Our Photoshop tattoo parlor is open for business! (more…)

Accessible Design: the Web for Everyone

By Michelle Shull, July 31st, 2009 in Design Articles, Web Design | No Comments Yet

Today I am writing about a topic which is close to my heart: accessible design. In simplest terms, accessible design is making sure your web content is available and understandable to all audiences, including people with visual or other disabilities.

Accessible web design allows individuals who are visually impaired or non-readers to experience web content through screen readers, which translate text into speech. The practice of accessible design also includes modified or unique interfaces, like single button computer input devices and touch screens. It is a part of a larger movement called Universal Design, which seeks to make all parts of the world accessible for all people, regardless of ability.

This article will focus on web design. Future pieces may explore various computer interface devices designed for individuals with disabilities, but today we’ll be limiting our focus to how designers might better address the needs of all readers. (more…)

40 Highly Creative Headers

By joelreyes, July 25th, 2009 in Showcase, Web Design | 12 Super Comments

Good header design requires both creativity and consistency with a website’s overall theme. A great header captures and holds the attention of visitors, and hopefully even lingers in their mind long after they have left the site.

Here are over 40 beautiful and creative headers that do just that. Some stimulate emotions and aggressively capture attention; others are more simple and elegant. There are many different header styles in this showcase. We hope you see something you like and get inspired to try something new!

Dorotheu

Magouya

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Make Colors Pop: Mingling Color Scales in Photoshop

By Wes Kozalla, July 21st, 2009 in Photoshop, Tutorials | 4 Super Comments

Pick up any magazine, or sift among the movies at the video store, and we often see black and white images with elements in color. Advertisements, comics, films and more set apart people, objects, just about anything as a way to draw our eyes to exactly what the artist wants us to focus on. This is usually done in Photoshop by adding color to black and white photographs. This often produces a retro hand-tinted effect.

What if we want more organic natural color to leap out from the grayscale? The answer is not to add color to black and white, but rather to add black and white to color. We will also use filters and layer effects to insure that we manipulate the color spectrum to set the tone we are looking for.

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Contact! 30 Case Studies in Contact Form Design

By Scott, July 17th, 2009 in Showcase, Web Design | No Comments Yet

Think about it: your contact page is what many prospective clients will be looking as they debate whether or not to get in touch with you. It may be your last chance to make a good impression!

But contact pages are where things can get a little sloppy sometimes–especially if you use a contact form. A poorly designed or generic-looking contact form can create a negative impression, especially if the form look clashes with your carefully constructed design.

Contact form design may be as simple or as elaborate as you like, in keeping with the style of your site. Just make sure the form is seamlessly integrated, both visually and textually, with everything else.

Here are 30 examples of contact forms done right. There is something to be learned from each these about creative messaging and elegant design.

Christian Sparrow delivers a contact page that is simply stunning, down to the moving shadows on the drifting clouds. The hand-drawn form fits perfectly.

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Graphic Design and the Digital Revolution

By Michelle Shull, July 14th, 2009 in Graphic Design, Interviews | No Comments Yet

I recently sat down with Rob Zambrana, a graphic designer and marketing director from Charlotte, NC to talk about how the field is evolving. As virtually all media become increasingly digital, where do designers and professionals who cut their teeth in print fit in? And what should young graphic designers do to make themselves relevant and hireable in the market today?

Michelle Shull: Let’s start by talking about how you came to be a graphic designer. What led you to the career path?

Rob Zambrana: Well, I started very young as an illustrator. My first commercial art sale was at 13. In 8th grade I started picking up all the production stuff I could. The company I worked with did everything from paste-up to darkroom. We did generic design, we burned plates, ran a 2 color press, screenprinting – you name it we did it, and all when I was very young.

Michelle: In addition to being very competitive, success in illustration seems to be more about who you know than talent – the environment seems very incestuous. . . (more…)

Design Tutorial: 1950s-Style Movie Poster

By Wes Kozalla, July 11th, 2009 in Photoshop, Tutorials | 14 Super Comments

Hello, and thanks for joining me in my very first photoshop tutorial. I’ll be coming to you weekly with tips and tricks you can use to polish your existing graphic design skills. Our first project involves making a 1950s-style B movie poster, also known as a one sheet. First, we’re going to a movie memorabilia site, in this case movieposters.com, to get a feel for how color, geometric shapes and text were utilized for maximum impact. Remember, we want people to laugh along with us in this spoof, not at us. We won’t look like we know the 50’s if we have multicolored psychedelic fonts, or some dude jamming out to his Ipod at the bus stop in bullet time.

For our walkthrough, we will make a standard romantic potboiler. The fun begins when we round up our jpegs (royalty-free at stock.xchang). Our cinematic opus is entitled “She Wore Heels!”

“But wait,” you say. “There are only two jpegs here, and they don’t exactly make the blood boil, let alone a pot.” Yes, that’s true, but remember daddy-o, we’re in the 50’s now. Two people kissing in public and a pair of female legs uncovered well above the knee spells STEAMY! Now that we have our purpose, an idea of our style, and finally our photographs, the pixelpushing begins. (more…)