Chimay Triple is an import ale from Belgium, brewed by the Cistercian monks of the Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey. This is a sharp crisp ale with a quick bitter hoppy finish. This ale tastes more of fall with its sweetness and sharp finish a reminder of harvest and evenings that hint at frost. Continue reading
Let’s start with the future. Some sneak peaks at some new features to be included with Illustrator CS6:
First, Pattern Creation. Love how it updates live as you work.
And this one is absolute magic! Gradients on Strokes. Such an awesome feature, no more Blends or Appearance workarounds.
Defiantly a mixed bag of resources this week. The usual tutorials, some resources (high res images & vectors), Design Theory, and some inspiration. Enjoy.
Masking Patterns in Illustrator.
Psychedelic Portrait using the Width Tool, Stroke Profiles & Custom Brushes.
A whole bunch of video tutorials you should watch.
Using Styles to control text in Illustrator.
Create a Geometric Flower.
Great site for resources, business/motivation & tutorials: Design Instruct.
I like this article on working with Visual Weight.
Infographics to help with Typography, Colour Theory and Web Design.
How about a summer reading list?
A Graphic Design Primer, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Japanese Graphic Design from the 1920s & 30s.
Scandinavian Logo Design from the 1960s & 70s.
The sun’s come out, the Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, another term is wrapping up.
Time for something that hints of warmer, leisurely days to come. Morland’s Old Speckled Hen is a refreshing ale with that welcome crisp/bitter finish that reminds me of early summer evenings. Brisk and refreshing, a fitting end to a nice hot day. Continue reading
Winter’s holding on and refusing to go, but I found something to warm me up.
Winter Warmer from Halifax’s (Garrison Brewing) is a great way to banish those late spring cold snaps. Effervescent and almost fruity, this dark amber beer is a welcome companion when a winter chill makes a sudden return after a warm spell of early March.
Continue reading
My students are embarking on a new project for the remainder of the term: they are creating a personal email newsletter to promote themselves as designers.
To support their efforts, instead of the usual tutorial and tip links, I’ll be sharing links on personal branding and networking, those essential design skills that aren’t discovered looking at a monitor.
5 tips for making your brand stand out.
You don’t learn everything in design school.
Social networks can benefit you, 5 reasons to use Linked In.
Zerply, a more creative approach to networking.
How to effectively email busy people.
Please read and adopt the Email Charter.
You need to have a plan. You are a business.
Not everything costs money. Get out there and participate.
3 top traits of a great freelancer. And Design isn’t one of them.
No resumes please, send a link to your web presence. and The resume is dead.
Resume or bio, you still need to present yourself. Some tips.
Yes, Illustrator is a web design tool.
If you are a Lynda.com subscriber, check out this course.
Tips for setting up your Illustrator document for a web design project.
Antialiasing: What it is and how to set up your properly Illustrator files.
More on antialiasing and some troubleshooting tips.
Wireframes & multiple artboards.
Illustrator & Dreamweaver integration.
Illustrator and HTML5/CSS3
Some awesome quick tips from Jeff Whitchel.
Convert CMYK to Spot Colour on the fly.
Doing the Impossible: Apply a Gradient to Live Type.
Two Impossible Things in a Day: Apply a Gradient to a Stroke.
Get your Graph On. This week it’s all about using the Graph Tool to present boring data in eye-catching ways.
Creating Graphs with Illustrator.
Using Shape Builder to create a Celtic Knot.
Applying Width Profiles to Strokes and using the Width Tool.
Draw Inside & Draw Behind modes.
Quick review of the 3D tool. Like the text effect created here.
Using the Bristle Brush to create textures in an illustration.
Color Guide – remapping colours in an illustration.
Create a retro-futuristic chrome type effect.
Drawing a lotus flower using Gradient Mesh.
Creating a volume bar for an application or web interface. As a challenge, try to create this object using as few shapes as possible utilizing the Appearance pallet.
Eye popping explosion effect. Includes my favourite trick, using the tilde (~) when drawing.
40 posters, logos, portraits and more.
15 text effects. How many of these can you use for other applications?
70 Tips & Tricks covering type fx, icons, portraits & more.
One of favorite tutorial sites, Lynda.com presents Deke’s techniques: Drawing Swirls.
More retro: using Smart Guides to create type.
Using Symbols to create a kaleidoscopic effect.
Create a cartoon character with the Width Tool.
Lighting Effects using Color Dodge.
Create a fun Ice Cream poster.
Create a Jellyfish using Custom Brushes.
Give an isometric poster a distressed, retro feel.
Controlling Layers to create unique effects.
25 Text Effect Tutorials. Why just use these techniques for text?
