Best of the Web - April 2009

The month of April had a heavy dose of inspiration, from a great compilation of Omega Code Artwork, to a couple packs of amazing
Photoshop wallpapers. This post should have every designer inspired and hit with an abundance of great idea's for future artwork. And like always, we also have some great freebie's and informative tutorials for all designers alike.

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Create Ice Cold Image Effects

Our first tutorial features a very common effect that is used in
advertisements for various beverages. The author of this tutorial uses very basic Photoshop filters like Clouds, and basic Blurs to create a very professional looking advertisement. On top of all of that you will be taught how to create your own custom brush to enhance the Icy effect of the picture.

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Create a Glossy Volt Icon

This tutorial shows us how to create a very cool and vibrant icon from the movie "Bolt". The author of this tutorial uses simple tools like the Polygon Lasso tool and the Paint Bucket tool to first create a simple outline of the Bolt, then he explains how to turn it from a simple 2D Bolt, into a 3D one. After that some simple gradients turn it into a nice and glossy icon that you can use on your desktop.

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Alien Photo Manipulation

This tutorial shows you that you do not need to have tons of stocks to create a nice image using photo manipulation. You will be shown how three simple stocks are merged to create a chilling alien movie poster. Although these techniques are not that advanced, they will still help the beginner learn the basics of photo manipulation.

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Fantastic Tree Photo Manipulation

This tutorial is a bit more advanced than the last one we featured. Unlike the last one, this tutorial will demonstrate and explain how to work with a large amount of stocks. The techniques used are a bit more advanced than the ones featured in the last tutorial, but it is still a good read for those who are not so experienced in this field.

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Shading Excursive and Tutorial

Repetition and practice will help any designer excel in their craft, and this shading exercise and tutorial kit is the perfect assistant to get designers to perfect the simple craft of shading. This is a great download for beginners and professionals alike, whether you want to learn how to properly shade or you need to brush up on your skills, this is a must download for all.

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Retro Rainbow Tutorials

The style of using old retro images and rainbows is commonly used by a lot of designers and this roundup features a lot of the best tutorials that feature this specific style. While most of them are mostly for beginners, there are some hidden gems amongst the group that will show you how to get some great effects. On top of all that the author of this post also adds some great rainbow resources that you can use to create your own designs.

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Embracing Your Mistakes

An unusual motto is featured in this tutorial. Mistakes can sometimes lead to good things, and this tutorial will show you how you can use mistakes and random images to work to your benefit. The final design actually looks very well done, so this is a must read for all of us because we all make mistakes when we design; So why not take those mistakes and turn them into something positive?

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Creating Green Planet

Our final tutorial for the month features a very green design that is created from simple stocks, and simple Photoshop tools and effects. The tutorial will show you how to take Cloud, and Star stocks and use them to your advantage. On top of all of that, there are also some good blending and coloring techniques that are also featured, so give this one a read and learn something new.

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(FREE!) Download Picks

270 High Resolution Rough and Grunge Brushes

A designer can never have enough brushes in his collection, that is why this post has a collection of the best high resolution grunge brushes on the net. There are 270+ brushes featured so you will definitely find what you are looking for among these brushes. Download them all and you will eventually use them to rough up your designs.

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30 Breathtaking Fantasy Wallpapers

This is a great post because on top of having 30 great wallpapers, their is also a great source of inspiration in each wallpaper. These amazing wallpapers all have stunning fantasy scenes in them. Some are painted and others are created by using Photo manipulation techniques. Pick out one ,and set it as your wallpaper, and be inspired!

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Daniel LuVisi's Painting Brushes

Now if you are a digital painter, there is no doubt that you have to download this amazing pack of brushes created by the amazing digital painter Daniel LuVisi. Daniel put out a pack of his own brushes that he uses to create his visual masterpieces. 18 brushes are featured in this pack and they range from his basic color brush to a brush he uses to bring texture to the skin, or add clouds. This is a must download for anybody who likes to paint in
Photoshop.

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Finger Print Brushes

You probably wont be using these brushes all the time, but they will most likely come in handy once in a while. And when they do you can create something very cool, they will serve a nice purpose in a mystery centered design. This is the second pack of finger print brushes, So go get the first and the second volume of the brushes and download them.

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Spray Paint Textures

These are some custom spray paint textures that were made by taking a spray paint can and spraying paper at different angles. The creator gives us 9 very detailed and high-res textures that can be used in a lot of different ways. This pack of textures has a great range of rough paint to something softer and more subtle.

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Cracked Dirt Texture

Another texture pack provided by the good folks at BittBox. Texture Tuesday offers us a pack of 5 High-Res cracked dirt textures. There are not a lot of these types of textures online, so grab these up quickly so you can start
incorporating them into your artwork.

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40 Creative Wallpapers

If the fantasy wallpapers didn't do it for you, then you should check out this pack of 40 creative wallpapers. Their is a large variety of creative wallpapers in this pack, and just like the last wallpaper pack this is also heavy on inspirational images. So check this out and use one of these wallpapers.

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Twitter Icons

Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon and tons of people are using it. You have probably been on your own or someone's twitter today. If you need to add a nice icon to show that you use twitter, then go ahead and grab this pack of elegant twitter icons.

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600 Twitter and Social Media Icons

This is the holy grail of web-icons. A collection of 600 great icons that you will find use for. From twitter to social media websites to RSS icons. Go through all of these icons and I am positive you will find something you will like, and find useful.

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7 Way to Build Trust On a Portfolio

If you want to be a successful designer with a wide client base, your portfolio has to be accommodating to the potential client. This article describe seven adjustments you can make to your portfolio to make the client feel more welcome, and for them to feel better about hiring you to design for them.

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Ultimate Collection of Useful Photoshop Plug-ins

This is a great collection of the best Photoshop Plug-ins. The author of this article gives examples and lists the most
useful Photoshop plug-ins. A great masking plug-ins is featured, along with a lot of unique coloring
plug-ins. Read through this article and download some of these plug-ins.

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Must Read Graphic Designs Books

This is the second part of an article we featured in the past month's roundup. The author features more of his top book picks about designing, and the business end of graphic design. If you are getting serious about this field, then you should definitely check it out, and maybe even purchase a couple of these great books.

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Omega Code Posters

This article features a great source of inspiration. The Omega Code is a great project that was created to get a showcase of the best art and music. So in this post the author of this article gathers the best visuals from the Omega Code submissions. Check these breathtaking designs out and try to create one for yourself as well.

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101 Example of Text Treatments

There is an innumerable number of ways a designer can create vibrant typography. Whether its using bright colors, mixing text with stocks, or using textures, there is no end to what you can do with text. Check out a big sample of great text treatments in this article.

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5 Reasons to Contribute to Blogs

This article gives five very intelligent reasons why seasoned designers who have vast amounts of knowledge should go on blog websites and share some of their experiences. These five logical reasons should convince any designer to spend more time at his favorite blog. So read this article and pass it a long to your friends so they can share their knowledge with a design blog.

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How to Create a Better Online Portfolio

This article shows us how to create a better online Portfolio. A designer's portfolio is extremely vital to him being employed. These small tweaks can turn a bland portfolio into something interesting and attractive to an employer's eye. So give this a read and see if your portfolio needs to undergo some changes.

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