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Giveaway: Music Organizing Application – TidySongs

2010-02-09T13:29:51Z

If you are using iTunes to organize your music, here’s something you may find interesting. Earlier last month I was introduced to this app called TidySongs by Jennifer of Cloudbrain.

TidySongs has a pretty self-descriptive name. It an application with one sole purpose - organizes your iTunes songs. Here’s what TidySongs do:

Remove duplicated songs
Fix miss-spelled song names
Fill up the missing data – artists, years and genres (Something perfectionist collectors will love), and
The function I like most – Add missing album-art so they look cool in your cover flow.

TidySongs is an Adobe Air application, so it will work well on either Windows, Mac or Linux.

The best part is, all these can be done automatically . I’ve been using it for about a month now and I thought it’s quite a cool application. So I went ahead and asked if they can give me some free copies so I can give it away to hongkiat readers, and they say – YES :)

How to Win

TidySongs cost $39 per copy and I’ve got 5 licensed copies to giveaway to our readers. If you are interested in winning one, comment in!

Contest starts today, ends 15th February 2010. Good luck!

(Hongkiat)

30+ Artist Interpretations of Mario and Luigi

2010-02-08T14:30:24Z

By Shane Ward. Shane Ward is a contributing editor of the art/lifestyles sites: Freshbump, Collect3d, and Format Magazine

He’s short and pudgy with a thing for Peaches. He’s an Italian plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom. He is Nintendo’s mascot, and probably the most popular video game character ever. You know him as Mario.

Mario has appeared in over 200 video games, mostly bearing his name, mostly as the iconic smiling plumber with blue overalls and a mustache. But his persona is open to interpretation.

These artists have re-interpreted Mario (and his famous sidekick Luigi) into different styles and moods, offering a fresh take on the character we’ve all come to love.

Anthony Jones
In what looks like oils, Anthony Jones paints one of our favorites, interpreting Mario and Luigi as refined old-style Italian men.

Bob Dob
Mario and Luigi may look like good guys in the video games, but don’t get it twisted. Eating magic mushrooms, head-butting/destroying government property, and a streak of flower-power pyromania have landed the brothers in prison according to Bob Dob.

Darq-V
Luigi looks a little, how do we say, ‘fancy’ in this depiction and Mario looks like he’s gone off the mushroom that landed him in Bob Dob’s jail. Either way, both of them are having a good time.

Dirk Eric Schulz
It’s just a game guys and gals. When the power shuts off, it’s all love and harmony in the Mushroom Kingdom. More.

FeignJoy
He’s just a defenseless Koopa. Pick on someone your own size.

Gabe Swarr
This is what Mario would look like if he was a cardboad box to be personally assembled.

Handre de Jager
We’re not sure what style this is inspired by, but if you can tell us in the comments section you warp to world 6-9.

Javier Burgos Arroyo
The look on their faces says it all. They’re not sure where they are, and we’re not sure what this piece is about, but it sure looks cool!

Jennifer Piazza
Like playing Mario in video games isn’t enough? Next time you’re going all-in at the poker table, we hope you lose your chips for having too much Mario in your life.

Joshy Artist
This looks like Joshy Artist wants to depict a powerful Luigi throwing a fireball, but it looks more like a wimpy Luigi tired of being a side-kick, throwing a temper tantrum.

Jublin
From an artistic stand-point, this is another one of our favorites. Stylstically, it’s extremely fresh and well-done.

Julian Burford
This design is screaming to become the next poster on your wall.

Justin Coffee
We’re not sure what Mario and Luigi have to be sad about, maybe they’re upset you haven’t been playing with them lately? Turn on your Nintendo.

Karrey
Perhaps the most disturbing interpretation in this set, Karrey envisions Mario as a ballerina, who for some reason is holding a cake.

Kazcorro
This is what Mario and Luigi would look like if they were British.

LuigiL

Malinko
Mario, scared? No. Never.

Matt Synowicz
Super Mario equation; grow bigger with a red mushroom or fireball ability with spectrum flower.

Mike P Mitchell
Ya’ll best not come around here agin. Ya hear?

Mike Stefanini
Simply genius, Mike Stefanini could have illustrated mustaches on their own or on just about anyone, but there is no better choice than Mario.

NationPoo
You can call me Disco M.

Pixeloo
This is probably the most unintentionally creepy image we’ve seen in a while.

Rex Hackelberg
Mario party games.

Ryan Wood
Someday we all have to get a real job.

Serioja Inc
Is it just me or do these guys have Gary Coleman syndrome?

University of Fraser Valley
UFV’s pushpin Mario gets virtual, and some very real, attention.

Yves Bourgelas
Perhaps the hardest level ever with all these rivals.

11 Common Web Design Mistakes (Blunders)

2010-02-08T14:33:45Z

By: Brujo Owoh

There are tons of website on the Internet, and hundreds or probably thousands are created by day. Here’s a very interesting thing to ponder – What are the elements of a good website?

Image Credit: tveskov

Building a website can be daunting but the real challenge lies in making it usable. The problem is most web designers forget that the website wasn’t created for themselves but to solve the users’ needs. They give creativity priority over practicality and usability.

In this article, we would like to highlight 11 web design blunders that web developers and designers make and some suggestions how these mistakes can be easily avoided.

1. Where’s the Search box?

The web is like an archive of information. Whether it’s a corporate website or merely a blog, a search box is essential. The visitor might be looking for something that is hidden within the website, with the search box, chances are, visitors will get what they want.

Suggestions:

Google Custom Search is a neat, simple and effective way to get started. It enables visitors to search your site in an efficient manner. Just copy the HTML code from the control panel and paste it on your website and voilà, you’ve got a search function right on your website.

Here’s a simple form code to display Google’s search engine on your site too. All you have to do is change the site name to your website’s name. Plus, you can modify the submit value to anything you like.

 <form action="http://www.google.com/search"  method="get">
  <fieldset>
  <input type="hidden" name="sitesearch" value="http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/" />
  <input type="text" name="q" size="25" maxlength="255" value="" />
  <input type="submit" value="Search Hongkiat" />
  </fieldset>
  </form>

More: Designing The Holy Search Box: Examples And Best Practice- This article details guidelines for designing the search box.

2. Poor Readability & Legibility.

This is a crucial element of web design. Of course, a good interface design will grab the users’ attention but users have to read text to be able grasp the information they desire. Some websites use the most bizarre font styles and sizes that make reading a pain.

Suggestions:
Fortunately, there are simple ways that you can do to improve the users’ reading experience on your website.

Compare color schemes of most major sites and notice how the colors improve readability. A good place to try out different color schemes is Adobe Kuler.
Use a Sans serif typeface as it allows for easy reading on the web.

More: Here is a good article that will gives you more tips on improving readability – Readability – Making Web Pages Easy To Read.

3. Unorganized Content Layout.

A website’s content is what drives traffic to it. How the content is structured is what will make it a success or a failure. Users do not read unless absolutely necessary but scan through information and pick out points of interest on a web page. Some designers just put a block of text on the web page and totally neglect headings, sub-headings, bullets, keywords, paragraphs, etc.

Use an appropriate page title for each web page so users know exactly where they are. Some designers even forget to name the web page.

Overall, the worst in this category will be putting inaccurate, inaccessible, insignificant or out-of-date content on your website. The content must coincide with the overall theme of the website and be useful. If a page is under construction, why bother putting it up? If a designer really must, then it is only temporary and 3 weeks will no longer be deemed temporary.

Suggestions:
Organize content on your website using HTML and CSS should be used when creating the design of your pages.

Create enough whitespace between your text and images by using margins.
Update and be consistent. The purpose of updating is not just to add new content but to spot and correct past mistakes. Jakob Nielsen suggests you hire a web “gardener”.

Budget to hire a web gardener as part of your team. You need somebody to root out the weeds and replant the flowers as the website changes but most people would rather spend their time creating new content than on maintenance. In practice, maintenance is a cheap way of enhancing the content on your website since many old pages keep their relevance and should be linked into the new pages. Of course, some pages are better off being removed completely from the server after their expiration date - Jakob Nielsen

4. Bad Navigation.

Navigation within a website should be seamless. Users should be able to find their way around easily. While there is no standard for navigation within a website, especially now as more new web development technologies emerge, it is imperative to understand that navigation must be intuitive and consistent.

If text is used as navigation, it should be concise. Visual metaphors should not be re-invented. If hyperlinks are used, then they should stand out from the body of the text. Dead links should have no place on any web page whatsoever. This increases user confusion and wastes time. And one that is even just as worse is having a link on the homepage that links to the homepage.

Suggestions:

Make navigation smooth by using textual descriptions for all links. Provide alt text for images. Use alternative text description techniques for Flash or Javascript links.
Organize and structure your navigation in tandem with the theme of the website. Personal websites can afford to be more creative yet accessible but a business website requires more efficiency and clarity.

Remember, if users can’t find what they want in less than 3 clicks, most will leave immediately.

More: Implementing Effective Website Navigation – This article gives more insight on implementing an effective navigation for your website.

5. Inconsistent Interface Design.

Excessive creativity can be just that. Excessive! Some designers take it to another level when creating websites by creating different designs for every web page within a website. This is by no means confusing to the user. And utterly annoying. No matter how outstanding and attractive a website is, if the overall look and feel is not consistent, users cannot relate to it and feel less in control. Thus, leaving as soon as they arrived.

Suggestions:

Use a standard consistent template for every page with links to the main sections of the site.
The keyword is simple. Create aesthetically simple designs and users will never get confused on your website.

6. Unfriendly Screen Resolution.

I’m sure we’ve visited websites where you have to scroll horizontally. This is an absolute no-no in modern web design. A good designer will develop websites that fit on most screen sizes. The current optimized layout for websites currently is 1024 x 768 pixels.

Suggestions:
It’s hard and almost impossible to cater the design to fit every resolution especially when visitors are now surfing from mobile phones and netbooks, but we can get a rough idea what are the generally used screen resolutions with these following ways:

Check your stats – Analyic services like Google Analytics provides you information about what monitor resolution they are using. These are useful information you should know before initiating your next revamp.
W3 Schools Browser Stats – W3 Schools gives clear lists of the most popular browser used by netizens and sort them according to popularity. There are other interesting and important statistics too.

7. Complicated Registration Forms.

Registration forms are tricky. How much information do you require from the user? Gone are the days where a user had to enter a zillion details to register to your website. Some websites make most registration fields mandatory and validate the fields to the extent where the user is frustrated after a few tries. Remember, users visit a website to acquire information. Not the other way round.

Someecard’s simple form makes registration painless.

Suggestions:
Compare registration forms across communities on the web and understand what basic information is required of the user during the registration process.

More: 9 Common Usability Mistakes In Web Design – This post on Smashing Magazine takes an in-depth look at registration forms amongst other usability mistakes.

8. Unscrupulous Use of Images/Animations.

Too much images on a web page is a huge turn off. Images can be used to capture users’ attention but it can also be a distraction or just plain aggravating. Images should be used to illustrate and guide the user where appropriate.

Animations are awesome and a powerful medium. Especially when used appropriately. When it’s a cycle or just too much on a web page, it gets on the users’ nerves. Users don’t have the patience, time or resources so designers must offer alternatives or better yet, the skip button, if it’s a full page animation.

More: Flash: 99% Bad – Use Flash appropriately. It’s been almost 10 years since Jakob Nielsen published this article but it’s still relevant in terms of Flash usability especially the Breaks Web Fundamentals piece.

9. Cluttered Pages, More Whitespace.

Too many designers forget about whitespace and its importance. They are so engulfed in their own design creativity that they forget that it’s not about them. Thus, they try to cram as much as they can onto a single page. End result? A busy, cluttered and unreadable page.

kylestanding make good use of whitespace in their design.

Here are few articles to give you a good idea on the importance of whitespace in web design:

10. No Background Music, Please!

Users don’t want cool, they seek efficiency. And yes, 99 percent don’t care about the music on your website. Some designers make it worse by putting different background music on every web page.

Suggestions:
Don’t use background music, but if you must, create a frame for the code and user controls. That way, the music loops continuously, instead of changing each time a new page is loaded within the website. And the user can stop or pause whenever.

11. Test, Test and Test.

This cannot be overemphasized. How many times have we been to web pages that can only be viewed on a certain browser? Web developers have to have a checklist of sorts when testing websites.

Can the website be viewed in different environments?
Is the design layout consistent in all browsers?
Can the website be viewed in different settings such as Images turned off, JavaScript turned off, etc?

Suggestions:
W3C offers tools to test for quality assurance. Check out W3C Quality Assurance Toolbox and Web Page Validation.

Conclusion:

Keep it simple, stupid (K.I.S.S).That’s bottom line. If it’s simple, it’s usable. All in all, great websites keep it simple and usable. Do your homework and it comes easy and naturally.

What are your experiences in web design projects?
What other tips and thoughts would you like to share on web design mistakes?

About Author: Brujo Owoh is a Multimedia Systems undergrad specialized in Web Design and 2D Animation. He enjoys reading fiction, hang out with his mates, and keeping up with design trends on Twitter. Visit Brujo’s blog or follow him on Twitter

Winners for Flash Content Management System (Flash CMS)

2010-02-03T14:32:46Z

We’ve got winners! If you’ve participated in the FlashMoto CMS contest earlier last week, here’s an entry you should not miss. Continue reading to find out who the winners are :)

Thanks to FlashMoto, the following winners are getting a Flash CMS that worth $199 for free.

Piscesboy01
Srikanth, and
Sun Pietro

Congratulations to the winners and thank you all for participating. If you are interested in getting free stock photos, you should know that we have a Stock Photo Accounts (Loaded With Credits) contest on progress too.

Get notified on the next giveaway: Subscribe to RSS feed or follow Hongkiat on Twitter.

28 Excellent Examples Of Typography Portraits

2010-02-03T13:43:15Z

I’m sure most of us heard of these memorable saying that goes like "A good sketch is better than a long speech" or "A picture is worth a thousand words". Sometimes, even the most complicated issue and matter can be simplified and expressed over a single image. That’s just how incredible images are; but today I want to show you something different, a hybrid of both.

Here’s a showcase of a very unique approach to portrait illustrations. These images below are mixtures of both images and typography, where the latter is used to shape the portraits while the words within have messages to deliver. It is just amazing how manipulation of font types, sizes and keywords can form a great portrait artwork with inner meaning. Full list after jump.

Burdened Barrack Obama | Dylanroscover

Self Portrait | Saluum

Mother Teresa | Dencii

Mahatma Gandhi | Dencii

John Lennon | Dencii

Martin Luther King, Jr | Dencii

Self Portrait | Stacy Benson

Self Portrait | Stacey Grove

"Screaming" | Goblina

Self Portrait | Vic198x

Self Portrait | Le0arts

Mos Def a.k.a Dante Terrell Smith-Bey | DilsJ

Lady Gaga | Skye Shettle

Scott Weiland | Steve Butabi

Erik Spiekermann | Steve Butabi

Nelly Furtado | Steve Butabi

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails | Maxdoming

Bono of U2 | CaliburlessSoul

Self Portrait | Laemmen

Self Portrait | Hworangi107

Self Portrait | Fostic-Popcorn

Self Portrait | EclecticPhoenix

E.B. Portrait | Akeiron

Morgan Freeman | Straye-Close

Marilyn Manson | CaliburlessSoul

Thom Yorke | tbwachiat

Lil Wayne | tbwachiat

humans | Miss–Dee

Resouces:

Giveaway: 10 Stock Photo Accounts (Loaded With Credits)

2010-02-09T07:42:54Z

Today we have yet another cool giveaway and we thought this is something bloggers and designers might be interested. Winners of today’s giveaway will be awarded a free account loaded with free credits to download any stock photos (or vectors) they want, courtesy of depositphotos.com.

DepositPhotos is a new player in the stock photo industry but these guys already have 600,000+ photos (and counting) in the archives with more than 50,000 added this week. Royalty photos start from 10cents per photo and you can choose from various of categories (nature, transport, abstract, industrial, holidays, etc). Find out more.

DepositPhotos has agreed to give 10 accounts to hongkiat readers, each account loaded with 50 credits so winners are able to pick any stock photos at the sizes they preferred. Each credit is equivalent to $1 USD, so considered this a pretty good deal :-)

How to Win

Either way counts, but doing both adds more weight:

Re-tweet this:

RT @hongkiat Giveaway: 10 Stock Photo Accounts (Loaded With Credits) http://bit.ly/9Xg2wl #hkfreebies
Drop a comment (below)

Note: Contest will is now closed. We will announce the winners soon :)

Valentine’s Day Design: Best Tutorials and Resources Roundup

2010-02-01T17:00:37Z

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It’s one of those holidays that presents plenty of design possibilities, from cards to website modifications. But sometimes it can be a little puzzling when trying to figure out where to start. And other times, you just don’t have enough free time to create what you had in mind completely from scratch.

That’s where the resources we’ve gathered below can come in handy. We’ve found some great tutorials that can show you how to create some Valentine’s Day-inspired artwork. And we’ve also rounded up a ton of great stock resources for you, from icons to Photoshop patterns and brushes to vector illustrations. Use them as a starting point for creating something really unique while also saving time. If you have more resources you’d like to share, please do so in the comments.

You might also be interested in: 50 Exquisite Gifts for this Valentine’s Day

Tutorials

Here are some excellent tutorials to get you started on your Valentine’s Day design projects. Most teach basic techniques that can easily be adapted to suit your needs.

Photoshop Heart Wing Logo Photo
A fairly simple tutorial that shows how to create a heart with wings completely from scratch.

Heart Angel in Photoshop
Another tutorial for creating a winged heart, very different from the previous one mentioned.

Hearts on Sun Rays Background Wallpaper
A tutorial for creating a grungy heart and sun-ray wallpaper.

Valentine’s Day Hearts
A tutorial for creating a colorful Valentine’s Day Hearts illustration in Photoshop.

Love Wallpaper for Your Desktop
A Photoshop tutorial for creating a grungy love-themed desktop wallpaper.

Create colorful background for Valentine’s Day
How to create a colorful background for Valentine’s Day, using Custom Shape Tool, Layer Styles, gradients, and other Photoshop tools.

Happy Valentine’s Day Text
Create text "Happy Valentine’s Day" from a lot of hearts.

February 2009 Calendar Wallpaper

Valentine’s Day Cards
Learn how to design the background of heartshape forms for Valentine’s Day.

Valentines Day Ideas

Simple Valentine’s Day e-Card
Create a simple Valentine’s Day e-card for your special someone.

Grunge Valentine’s Design

Valentine’s day card
A Photoshop tutorial for creating a grungy love-themed desktop wallpaper.

Vectors

Weekly Free Illustration: Floral Hearts
A collection of free, vector floral heart illustration samples.

Free High-Resolution Heart Graphics
9 full-size high resolution heart graphics.

Heart Vector Illustration
A free vector heart from Vector4Free.

Vector Heart Flowers
A vector heart illustration comprised entirely of flowers.

Grunge Hearts
4 vector hearts in grunge style.

Vector Doodles

Lovely Heart Vector
Another fancy vector heart.

Flowery Hearts
Two hearts with flowers around them in different colorstyles. Ready to be used with included HQ

Free Vector Set: Red + Black + White
A set of red, white and black icons that includes a few different hearts.

Grunge Hearts
A set of four grunge heart vectors.

Valentine 1
A vector illustration of a girl holding a heart.

For My Sweet Love Valentine E-Cards
A set of 7 vector Valentine’s Day cards.

Dinner For 2
A vector illustration with two place settings and hearts.

HeartVectors
A collection of assorted heart vectors.

Valentine Card 2
A vector Valentine’s Day card.

Valentine
A vector heart with flourishes and a patterned background.

Cute Goth
A set of cute goth illustrations that includes skulls and hearts.

Vector Wallpaper 1
A vector wallpaper made up entirely of patterned hearts.

Winged Heart
A hot pink winged heart with flames and an orange background.

Flowery Hearts Vector
A beautiful heart vector illustration with a floral motif.

Icons

Heart Vector Set
A set of heart-shaped vector icons.

Heart: A Free Social Icon Set
A set of heart-shaped social networking icons from Smashing Magazine.

Valentine Love Icons
A set of twelve free heart icons.

Brushes

Hearts II Photoshop Brushes
26 brushes in total. For Photoshop 7+, Photoshop Elements 2+, GIMP 2.2.6+.

Whit Love
16 love Photoshop CS3 brushes.

St. Valentine brushes
11 valentine Photoshop CS3 brushes.

Sparkles Brushes
12 brushes in total.

Hearts Pattern Pack III
10 heart-shape patterns.

Heart Brushes
A set of 36 heart brushes for Photoshop in varying styles from XPhotoshoperX.

Happy Heart Attack
A set of 9 Photoshop brushes, in a hand-drawn style, from Eraweb.

Photoshop Heart Brushes
23 hand-drawn heart brushes.

Pastel Heart Patterns
A set of pastel heart patterns for Photoshop by Nayume.

Hearts Pattern
A set of simple heart patterns for Photoshop from XVanillaSky.

Patterns and Textures

Heart Bokeh Textures
A set of bokeh texture backgrounds from Gloeckchen.

Heart Blue Bokeh Texture
A blue bokeh texture background by Erykucciola-stock.

Bokeh Pack 5
A set of multi-colored bokeh textures from Joannastar-Stock.

About Author – Cameron Chapman is a professional Web and graphic designer with over 7 years of experience. She writes for a number of blogs, including her own, Cameron Chapman On Writing. She’s also the author of Internet Famous: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Online Celebrity.

Beautiful Helvetica Inspired Artworks (Fanart, Posters, Wallpapers & Icons)

2010-01-29T18:26:57Z

Geared with its simple and clean lines, Helvetica has become the favorites of designers from all around the world. When you walk into the streets and look around closely, you will come to realize that Helvetica is indeed used very widely. If you are in doubt, watch this trailer. How often do you see a movie being made for a typeface?

Perhaps Helvetica’s creators, Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, would have never imagined that their sans serif masterpiece could become one of the world’s design classics. Initially, they wanted to create a typeface that could be used for a variety of signage at that time. “Neue Hass Grotesk”, its original name, was eventually born. As its usage and popularity grew, the need to market the typeface internationally also grew. Hence, the Latin name for Swiss, Helvetica, was adopted to enhance its appeal. Read more here.

Image credit: Emanuele Tortolone

Today, Helvetica has evolved from a mere typeface into a visual culture. Many people would have known about the uncanny resemblance of Helvetica and Arial but few would have known the long controversy behind it. Here’s a gist of the story: Many claimed that Microsoft opted for Arial (which was created in 1982) over Helvetica as its standard font format because it was cheaper and most people would not tell the difference between both fonts. The debate still goes on, even up till today.

Characterized in a clear and easy-to-read fashion, it is no wonder that Helvetica can be easily manipulated or incorporated to create a wide array of artworks of different design styles and expressions yet from the same source of inspiration. So here is a little treat of Helvetica Inspired Artworks to satisfy the design appetites of many. If you are a fan of Helvetica, you are definitely gonna love this. If you aren’t a fan, you will probably be one after this post.

Fan art

The following artworks shows the dynamic use of the Helvetica font and the manipulation of delicate positioning and layout of typographical and graphical elements. Amazing that awesome yet varying designs can be derived from the same source of inspriration.

Contemporary art tells founding of Helvetica | goktugg

Helvetica meets in a cross | Reagan Mackrill

Bold Condensed Helvetica stands out | ECKO Design Group

Helveticas overlaps | Guilherme

Helvetica helpline | Fatmir Jusufi

A Swiss tribute | Matthias Werner

Interior design within Helvetica | Chris Labrooy

Deformed Helvetica | Muskelpiraten

Helvetica in wooden blocks | Kim Høltermand

3D Helvetica in thickness | McFossey

Paper Helvetica | Julien De Repentigny

Hand drawn illustration with Helvetica | or_livneh

Robotica | Jonathon Yule

Helvetica versus Arial in pictograms | Slimkiwi

Getting a piece of Helvetica | tym2kevinate

Water splash on Helvetica in slow motion | Leonardo Prause

Artworks

Type Study | Newklear

Helvetica within the Symbols | Ryan Brownhill

Helvetica in primary colors | Zrastrowany

CMYK and Type | tasteofpain

Die Helvetica | Megavolkan

From Helvetica book | Redsil

Number reveals the years of Helvetica | MenosKeTiago

Helvetica engulfing girl | Haniadnan

Helvetica in the mix of alphabets | Snowroll

Explaining variations of Helvetica | Whitecoffeekaw

Helvetica overflow | Silocult

Holding up Helvetica | Emanuele Tortolone

Helvetica in four colors | 2canart

“a” Helvetica poster | tsuzu-nee

Numberic Helvetica | ssri

Wallpapers

If you happen to be an avid fan of Helvetica, these wallpapers would definitely brighten up your day as you start you computer.

Inspired by Helvetica | Kevin Andersson

Helvetica within contrasting colors | Hamish

Simple Helvetica | KyleBolton

Simple tribute to Helvetica | CyrilBlack

Huge Helvetica | B-82

Helvetica family on purple pattern | Wido12

Minimalist design of Helvetica wallpaper | m4t7

Homage to Helvetica | YAWalias

Typography with Helvetica | Codenamecueball

Icons

These icons would serve as useful tools for your web design.

Moleskine Helvetica Icon -B | Bigkobe

Social networking icons | Brendon Grobler

Helvetwitca | Monika Halim

Helveticons | Goodbye Horses

About Author: Kelly Swee is a new media educator from Singapore. She specialize in video media platform and has a keen interest in digital media design artworks.

30+ Captivating Fire Dancing Photos

2010-01-28T06:15:38Z

Fire is a very powerful element. Fire in its physical form can do for you what the sun itself does for our planet. The time fire was discovered, it changed human life forever. Just think about the times you sat facing a bonfire or fireplace. There’s something enchanting about the way the blaze sizzle and pop. Then suddenly, you started staring. That’s how hypnotic it is.

Below are some cool or should we say hot collection of captivating fire photography shots. Fire dancing is a performance art form which combines equipment on fire into a spectacular dance. Many ethnicities have practiced fire dancing in a variety of forms, and fire dancing performance are growing very popular in the West, where many people are fascinated to the mixture of beauty and danger. When done properly, fire dancing is an impressive thing to gaze at, and is usually performed at night so that spectators can see fine distinctions of the presentation. Let’s view now some of this stunning photography shots of skillful fire dance performers.

Playing with Fire | Fahsi

Fire-Knife Dance | Danormansin Korea
This authentic ritual dance is performed with the pulsing rhythm of congo drums by artists weaving their baton-like fire knives around their entire body, from the feet to the palms to the mouth, in a seductively dangerous dance.

Fire Masamune | MattTheSamurai
Nickname MattTheSamurai, Mathieu shared some of the most stunning fire dancing photography we’ve ever seen in deviantart. If you are looking for more of their work, do visit Firedusk.

Summoning the Sun

Fire Slices

Fire Alphabet

Trapped in the Fire Mouth

Fire Genie | Jonathon Brown

Burning Flower | Mike ICoN
For the past 5 years Mike has traveled the country as both a performer and a teacher, sharing his passion and love for this fiery artform.

Fire Wings | larslarsen77

Burning Rings of Fire | Aadezyn

Grandma Tries it | Sam Bassett

Further References

Fire Dusk – Association of fire art, juggling and fights, offering pyrotechnic shows for any kind of event.
Bali Fire – Photos by Jean-Manuel Nadeua, fire dancing performance by Mia Watson & Jean-Manuel.
Fire Drums Fall 2006 – Small, occasionally rainy, and very fun gathering of fire dancers.
Fire poi dancing.
Nocturnal Sunshine – Santa Cruz-based fire troupe dancing on a warm summer evening.
Thailand Fire – Some special photo shoots from Pai and Koh Phangan, Thailand.

More Photography entries

Giveaway: Flash Content Management System (Flash CMS)

2010-02-02T09:32:08Z

If you are a Flash developer or into building flash sites – here’s something you should not miss. This week, we are giving away 3 copies of revolutionary Flash content management system Flash CMS. Each copy of Flash CMS is worth $199, so this is considered a very generous freebie giveaway from the developer, FlashMoto.

In a nutshell, Flash CMS allows anyone to build an interactive Flash website easily without hassle. You don’t need Adobe Flash or knowledge in Actionscripts programming to create a nice looking Flash site. With Flash CMS, everything is basically drag-drop, WYSIWYG.

Website built with Flash CMS is also optimized for SEO and Google Analytics is integrated to track user clicks. Click here to learn more about what Flash CMS can do.

More: Try a demo | Watch video

How to Win

If you like to win yourself a copy of Flash CMS (worth $199), drop us a comment below. We’ll randomly pick 3 lucky winners. Contest starts today, ends 1st Feburary, 2010. Good luck.

Update: Thank you for all your participation. Contest will now close and winners will be announced soon :)

50 Exquisite Gifts for this Valentine’s Day

2010-01-26T06:32:53Z

Christmas may be over but here’s another reason to shop; and this time it is for your love ones.

Valentine Day is just around the corner and now is the perfect time to start planning what you want to buy for your loved one. Now, a dozen roses or a box of chocolates may be appreciated for a while, but if you really want your sweetheart to swoon, here are some low cost Valentine’s Day gifts for all the loved ones on your list.

Gifts For Her

Progressive International Microwavable S’Mores Maker | thisnext.com
Whipping up a batch used to be a hassle but not any more. This S’mores cooker creates two scrumptious delights at a time – one for you and one for the geek who’s still sitting at the computer at midnight.

iRobot 560 Roomba Vacuuming Robot | iRobot
No more dust bunnies under the bed with iRobot’s Robot Vac. Just turn it on and let it go. This smart vacuum hugs walls, works around the furniture and gives your kitty a ride around the house.

Pac-Man Oven Mitt | Perpetualkid
No more burned fingers in the kitchen. This oven mitt, shaped like your favorite game character, PacMan, keeps your fingers cool when taking out another batch of S’mores from the oven.

USB Foot Warmer | Gadgets.co.uk
Keep your gamers feet warm with this USB powered foot warmer. It’s safe, it doesn’t use a ton of juice and it keeps your geek’s feet toasty warm.

Seksy Electra White Face | watchesshop.com
This wrist watch will put a smile on your sweetheart’s face. It’s modern, stylish and ideal for the ladies on your list. You can adjust the size of the bracelet for the perfect fit.

i-Wallet Digital Photo Viewer | allieverdreamedof.com
This wallet comes complete with a digital display to show off your favorite pictures. You get a 1.4 inch, full color screen & an audio recorder function (narrate your slide show in stereo).

The Ex-Unique Knife Holder | thinkgeek.com
Who says a knife holder can’t show a little attitude? This holder is shaped like a human (maybe your ex-sweetie?) and comes complete with five knives in all shapes and sizes.

HTT Panties | thinkgeek.com
What’s your sweetheart’s status? How about a 403 Forbidden error message? Make a statement (a coding statement) in these comfy, helpful status code undies.

Eggling | brooklyn5and10.com
It looks like a plain old egg, but when you crack open the top your girlfriend is in for a surprise to see inside is a complete growing environment.

Computer Care Screen Wipes | vat19.com
Forget the scratchy paper towels for wiping off your geek’s computer monitor or HD TV screen. Computer Care Screen Wipes are little chamois cloths that come in a funny ducky, gorilla, giraffe or tiger case.

Headphonies | headphonies.co.uk
These cute little speakers turn any iPod into a party. Just plug in your MP3 player, crank up the volume and get clean, clear sound from your Headphonies.

Tengu | tengutengutengu.com
Tengu reacts to sounds – your voice, music, even the clicks of a computer keyboard. It comes in lots of colors and you can customize your own little buddy using stickers and other bits.

A Girl’s Guide to Dating a Geek | thinkgeek.com
Ever feel misunderstood? Is your honey confused when you start talking in HTML code? Here’s the perfect gift for your girl, guaranteed to provide a little insight into the mind of a true computer geek.

Mino Camcorder | store.theflip.com
It’s small, comes in cool patterns or straight up black, the Mino camcorder stores up to 60 minutes of video on the go. And it’s small enough to slip into a pocket or purse.

Timex Ironman Fitness Tracker | timex.com
Strap on the Ironman Fitness Tracker and get all the metrics from your latest workout: number of steps, distance, calories burned, lap manager – this thing does everything but take that 5K morning jog for you.

Space Invaders Cutting Board | thinkgeek.com
Well, someone came up with cutting boards that display our little Invader friends. Made of solid walnut and maple, this kitchen accessory will keep your countertop slice free while adding a little fun to making dinner.

Candy Basket | cookiepots.com
Send your favorite couch spud a Candy Basket filled to the brim with all of his (or her) favorite candies. You can also add brownies, coupon books and an "Add 52 Weeks of Romance Game" for a few extra bucks.

Sweet Pink Cigarette Flask | homewetbar.com
Okay, it looks like a hip flask but it’s actually a cigarette holder to keep you smokes fresh and unharmed, even when you’re in the middle of your weekly mud wrestling competition. It comes in a feminine pink and makes the ideal gift for the every girl in your house.

I Love You Toaster | iwantoneofthose.com
Now you can declare your undying love on a piece of toast. Simply toast your sweetie’s bread and use the plastic stamper to show her how you feel everyday.

NeoCube Alpha | iwantoneofthose.com
This desktop plaything is a collection of magnetized ball bearings that can be configured in an infinite number of patterns to let your inner self show through.

Infinite Candle | treather.com
This award winning design takes the simple candle into the new age. Simply place a tea candle between the two-mirrored surfaces to produce the appearance of infinite candles all flickering in sync.

Your Hearts key ring | pressiesforprincessess.co.uk.
It’s not just a key ring. It’s a statement of your love – something she’ll think of every time she starts up the Subie. Don’t just tell her you love her, show her everyday by giving your heart to your favorite girl geek.

Jewel Diamante Handbag Umbrella | treather.com
Slip it into a purse or knapsack and stay dry even during monsoon season. It comes in black, turquoise or Electric Pink.

PoGo Instant Photo Printer | firebox.com
Simply plug PoGo into your digital camera and make prints of all your favorite pics. One very cool feature? Sticky back paper lets your post pics anywhere without a thumb tack.

Milano Electronic Cigarette | iwantoneofthose.com
The Milano Electronic Cigarette has no flame, no tobacco and no dangerous carcinogens, but you still enjoy the smoking experience. It tastes like a cigarette without stinking up the place and sending you to an early grave.

Teddy Speaker | iwantoneofthose.com
Aww, an MP3 speaker system built into a teddy bear. She’ll love it. They’re cute and cuddly and they deliver decent sound through speakers located in teddy’s footpads.

Gifts For Him

LED Car Sign | iwantoneofthose.com
How many times have you wished you had a sign to tell some tail gater to back off, or an LED light up to thank some courteous driver for letting you slip in line? This little gizmo attaches to your rear windshield and sends out a variety of messages – both nice and not so nice.

Tetris Tie | wildties.com
Your boyfriend will love this tie that displays the retro game – Tetris. Let your sweetie show where his heart is, and just how good he is at placing that L-shaped Tetris block.

PSP go | Playstation
Your boyfriend will love this tie that displays the retro game – Tetris. Let your sweetie show where his heart is, and just how good he is at placing that L-shaped Tetris block.

Klipsch HD 500 Hi-Def Theater System | newegg.com
This is something that’s going to deliver clean, clear surround sound to go with that new big screen TV. Bring you popcorn & enjoy your movie.

Marc Ecko Men’s Chronograph | watchesshop.com
And who says you can’t buy yourself something cool at an affordable price. Marc Ecko’s Chronograph is rugged, it has all the bells and whistles a geek could need and it looks just plain cool.

Butt Station Desk Tidy | gadgetsco.com.uk
Sure, it’s goofy but the Butt Station keeps your geek’s desk a little neater. A tape dispenser, pen holder, post it notes holder and other storage – all in a funny little package. It may look like a gag gift, but any geek will love it and USE it.

PowerMat | powermat.com
Any self respecting geek has lots of rechargeable gadgets – from iPhone to portable gaming consoles. The PowerMat charges all these battery powered gadgets quickly and without taking up all the outlets in the condo.

Lilliput Mini USB Monitor | thinkgeek.com
The Lilliput Mini USB Monitor delivers the extra space you need. Simply plug the Mini into any USB port and you’ve got a little monitor to track incoming email, code strings, SMSs – anything you need at a glance.

Pocket Pint | lazyboneuk.com
You just never know when it’s time for a short sip of your favorite beverage. The Pocket Pint collapses into a thin disk or extends to a full, pint sized drinking glass ideal for the next round of Guinness.

Football Cocktail Shaker | firebox.com
Mix up a batch of extra dry martinis during Super Bowl or any time with this cocktail shaker shaped like a football. This will REALLY get you in to the spirit of the game.

Arsenal Dressing Room Photo | personalizedfootballgifts.co.uk
Your favorite football (soccer) star will love seeing his or her name on the uniform hanging in the Arsenal’s locker room. Just enter your footy’s first and last name and you’ll get an autographed picture showing your geek’s uniform up there with his favorite players.

Ice Tankard Frosty Mug | otherlandtoys.co.uk
Simply place the Frosty Mug in the freezer for an hour (upside down and don’t ask me why) and your geek’s favorite brewski will stay icy cold for hours. No more warm beer!

Gorillapod | thinkgeek.com
Forget the camera tripod or unipod. Gorillapod secures your digital camera to anything so s/he can be in the picture, too. It twists and swivels to hold tight to any surface so no one is ever left out.

Grassy Lawn Charging Station | thinkgeek.com
This one is a complete charging station for all your rechargeable gadgets. Just place up to three units into the astro turf filled planter, plug it in and charge you geek’s fav gadgets in no time flat. Frees up sockets in the apartment for other things, too.

Me Couple Tees | findgift.com
These two tees fit together like the pieces of a puzzle, creating a complete couple – his and hers. 100% cotton comfort and a very sweet message your mate will love.

Talking Remotes | baronbob.com
You don’t have to waste time messaging your partner. These talking remotes are loaded with lots of precorded messages (and sound effects) to let your baby know what you need.

52 Weeks of Naughty Nights | needapresent.com
This little satin bag contains 52 scratch offs for him and her. Just reach in to the bag, pick your prize and scratch and win. You never know what you’ll pull out of this grab bag, but you can bet they’ll be some grabbing going on that night.

Moo Mixer Self Stirring Mug | thinkawesome.com
Looking for a glass of chocolate milk? How about a nice cup of coco? With this little bauble, you can simplify the process with complete, 100% self-stirring to save your wrist for more coding in the spare room office.

Romantic Bath for Two Giftbox | treather.com
Set the mood for romance with this all in one love fest in a box. It comes with mood setting candles, bubble bath (for two), massage gel (with aphrodisiacal essence), Organza massager and a CD of soft, romantic tunes – all in an attractive gift box.

Voltaic Solar Powered Backpack | voltaicsystems.com
You’re never without power with this solar powered backpack. It produces 4.5 watts as you trek through the forest – more than enough juice to run your iPhone.

Grillput | gofastandlight.com
Take your grill with you wherever you go with Grillput. It folds into a narrow tube, but when deployed, its grill is large enough to cook kabobs for the whole gang, or maybe a romantic cookout for two in your favorite secret spot out in the country.

Kindle Wireless Reader | amazon
Yep, lots of people still read books. Everyone just want to read them on the go, in a format that’s simple, functional and wireless and that’s what it does.

USB Rechargeable Batteries | usbcell.com
Batteries come in all sizes from AAA to C and D and are charged through a simple USB connection. You’ll also find battery recharger units that can handle cell batteries, 9 volt big boys for flashlight power when you need it.

Undercover Laptop Sleeve | iwantoneofthose.com
Slip your laptop in to this undercover laptop sleeve that looks like a plain old, beat-up manila envelop. Hey, who’d want to rip off your old mail? The perfect disguise when your laptop has to go with you but you don’t want the hoodies to know you’re carrying.

Well, there you have them – 50 gift picks for the boys or girls on your shopping list this Valentine’s Day. You don’t have to spend a lot of cash for a thoughtful gift. Just a little creativity, a credit card and you’re covered.

Who knows, you may get lucky – lucky in love, that is. A happy Valentine’s day to all of you who are reading this :)

This post is written by Edward Khoo, a tech enthusiast based in Malaysia. He blogs at EdwardKhoo.com & would love to hear from you on Twitter.

Calendars for 2010: Printable Calendars and Wallpapers

2010-01-22T15:06:58Z

With more than 11 months to go for year 2010, we certainly hope this article isn’t too late. Not too long ago we’ve put on a showcase of 49 innovative calendars created by creative designers all over the world. Today we are giving you some calendars, but the difference is – you can use them.

In this article, you’ll find more than twenty beautiful calendars for the 2010 that you can print as hardcopies and use as desktop wallpapers. Full list after jump.

Printable Calendars

Firefox calendars for 2010
The kind of Firefox that stays when you turn off your computer.

D.I.Y 2010 Calendar
Your very own “wallet and earth-friendly desktop calendar” to spice up any desk or wall!

Compact Calendar 2010
A simple printable calendar created using Microsoft Excel’s date calculation functions and presented like a candy bar o’ time.

Tiger 2010 Calendar
Tiger calendar for the Chinese tiger new year.

Spin Calendar
Print off, tack up, spin on.

2010 Calendar

Microsoft 2010 Calendar Templates

2010 Calendars
Enjoy 2010 from January till December with artworks from Vladstudio!

2010 Accordion Calendar
A papercraft calendar by Bryan.

2010 Calendar Hexahedral

Foldable Calendar 2010
Calendar 2010 made with “~vorad0r” eps template.

2010 Vertical Desk Calendar

2010 Dodecahedron Cube Calendar

Calendar Wallpapers

2010 Calendar Wallpaper
Available size(s): 1920×1200

2K10 Desktop Calendar
Available size(s): 1920×1200, 1600×1200, 2560 ×1600

Fluid 2010 Wallpaper Calendars
Available size(s): 1024×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200, 1680×1050

2010 – sub88 + mpk
by *mpk
Available size(s): 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Heavy Equipment Calendar
A production of Bauforum24 – Daily News from the Equipment Industry. Available size(s): 1024×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050

2010 Desktop Calendar – Pin Up
The package has the 12 months, sizes 1440×900 and 1280×800, plus Brazilian and American holidays.
Available size(s): 1440×900, 1280×800

2010 Wallendar
12 beautiful calendar wallpapers for iPhone and iPod Touch

More 2010 Calendars:

Here are more calendars you should also know:

Free printable calendars – Calendar Labs
Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: January 2010 – Smashing Magazine
21 Calendars & Wallpapers for 2010 – Designi1
Downloadable 2010 Calendars – Threadbanger

21 Raw and Stunningly Realistic 3D Character Models

2010-01-22T06:19:31Z

Most of us are intrigued by the amazing graphical character designs of our all-time favourite animated movies like the Shrek, Monster Inc., Ice Age etc. In fact, CG (Computer Graphics) character designs for computer games makes up an integral part of the gaming process. Much as we often take for granted these creatively detailed designs, there is always a tedious behind-the-scene effort needed to make this characters come ‘alive’ by first creating an animated 3D model.

The CG characters you are about to see are created with powerful 3D tools like ZBurhs, 3DMax, Photoshop, etc. In order to appreciate the beauty of our favourite on-screen characters, one should see how the 3D models are first created. In essence, it is analogous to the molding of the characters before we give life to them through animation. We hope this list will give you a greater understanding on the complexity of making 3D CG characters.

Warhammer Rider | Joe Deng
This is my Warhammer rider character without textures, rendered in mental ray with SSS shader. – Joe Deng

Demonic Prince | Rami Ali’s
This is a concept of a demonic prince designed solely in Silo and ZBrush on the fly as I developed it. Much inspiration was drawn the from art and style of the worlds of Diablo, Warcraft and Oblivion. I used Silo to build all the base meshes for attire/accessories, and ZBrush to shape, pose and sculpt everything. – Rami Ali

Backstabber | Gregory Callahan
I’ve been wanting to do a Gladiator fantasy type project for some time now, since it’s not a style I would normally do. Mostly done in ZBrush; I used 3ds Max for the base meshes for some of the hardsurface objects. – Gregory Callahan

Troll | Dankatcher
This is a Troll I made Using Zbrush and Maya. I am still learning all the technical stuff involved in making digital figures but I hope that some of my traditional skill have shown through. – Dankatcher

Roller Bunny | Gregory Callahan
I was watching a lame documentary on Venice Beach a few weeks back (I don’t have cable) and thought it would be cool to capture the fluid motion of a roller dancer skating along the beach. Here’s what I came up with: “Roller Bunny” – Gregory Callahan

The Masked One | Alejandro Mendoza
Sculpted in from Zspheres, polypainted and rendered within ZBrush, then composited in Photoshop. – Alejandro Mendoza

Badass Girl | Michal Suchnek

Titan | Raul Teleki
The image pictures the fall of a titan. The image was done in 3ds max and rendered using skyraider3D’s e-light script.Bump maps and spec maps have been made in Photoshop. – Raul Teleki

Tauren | NeoGeoAes

Darth Necros | RedHeretic

Barbarian | Konartist3D
A barbarian base on a concept found on Blizzard’s website. XSI for the base modeling. ZBrush for sculpting. – Konartist3D

Black Hand | John Cheang

Sakura from Naruto | Cheebees
Sculpted in Zbrush 3.1 over the course of…around 8 hours or so I guess. Render took 20 mins to complete. I tried to capture the “features” she has on her face in the anime…but working from a strictly 2D reference, especially anime…with all the simple lines and renditions of everything…is challenging. I finally was happy with the way the face looks and feel it kinda captures her appearance. – Cheebees

Rock Climber | Kirill Boutourlin

Knight | Dani Garcia
It’s a low poly character I’ve done using a confrontation figurine as reference. 7887 tris with normal mapping. – Dani Garcia

Flamethrower SU | Andrei Cristea
This character was inspired by some medical units from WW1. The gear is a mix from diferent periods and regions. – Andrei Cristea

Franck Zbrush | Ced66

Blitz | Chemb0t
I took the lineart of my character ‘Blitz” and used it as reference to sculpt the him in Zbrush. I used the project to learn the software and its production pipeline. – Chemb0t

Sweet Mary Jane | Poboyross

Dark Templar | Konartist
I found this cool concept on Blizzard’s website of a Protoss Dark Templar with armors made of Zerg skulls. It was too cool to pass up. I couldn’t find a concept of the back and some areas that were in shadows, so I took some liberties. – Konartist

Black Widow | Mr. Vicious
She was my fav ;] Lots of love went into her, and her pose. I had no reference what so ever with the pose so I used myself kind of. Think It turned out great. – Mr. Vicious

You might also be interested in: Masters of Paper Art and Paper Sculptures

50 Absolutely Beautiful and Creative Pixel Arts

2010-01-19T14:41:08Z

Pixel art, where images are created and edited at the pixel level, seems to be the trademark for old-school computer games rather than the sophisticated visual graphics of contemporary games. Thanks to advanced technology, the simplicity of pixelated images that was prominent during the early days of computer technology may be irrelevant to most of us today where sharper graphics can be created. Still, others may be jaded by all the complex graphics we take for granted today and instead adore the retro feel that pixel art brings.

For starters, pixel art are typically categorized into isometric and non-isometric type. Isometric pixel art is created in a near-isometric dimetric projection (i.e. about 30 degrees angle from horizontal), as seen in some old games where they provide a 3D view of scenes. Non-isometric pixel art refers to those that are not isometric, for example, views from top, side, front, bottom or perspective views. Don’t worry, we’ve separated these two categories to provide you with a better understanding of the two kinds of pixel art.

Here’s the collection of wonderful pixel art from all over the web. Enjoy!

Isometric Pixel Art:

Boxed Town 2
via Howling

The Ultimate Maze
via Xluluhimex

Don’t Forget To Fix Your Polaroids
via Pixellent

Medieval Castle
via Docdoom

City Work
via Pandaemas

Fast Pixel Food
via Jujuqui

BASH City
via Ajiebash

Coke Studios Moscow
via Polyfonken

Coke Studios Goa

Coke Studios

Bugpixel
via Bugpixel

Protomen 1

Reader’s Digest Art

Steampunk Factory

Beachside Marina

Reo Resort

Época SP – O Melhor de São Paulo 2010
via Marcus Penna

Pixel Candy City
via MisaCharisma

Poster
via Simon Page

Christmas Pixel Art

TechnoTron Inc.
via Zoanoid

Trocaire Village
via Kaiusdesign

Blogger’s City
via Noyz Isobar

Pixeltown
via Stridenoble

Butron Castle Pixel Art
via Chocolerian

Gaumont District
via Hellagood88

Coca-Cola
via eBoy

Edge Pixel Poster
via Edge-Online

Salford Uni Poster
via Army of Trolls

In The Middle Of Nowhere
via Fool

Orange
via Orange Label

Large City
via Love Pixel

Army T-026

Aircraft Carrier

Yard The Water-Mill
via Zi

Non-Isometric Pixel Art:

Anita Blake Pixel Dolls
via Nekomancer-Tei

Pixel Wars
via Deviantdash

Crocktown
via Fool

Colossal Katamari
via Snake

Depp Trilogy
via Jaeden

Protomen 2
via Bug Pixel

Everyone
via Simon Page

About Author – Michael Poh is a freelance blogger from Singapore. He is currently an undergraduate in National University of Singapore majoring in Psychology. He is an enthusiastic video gamer and has a keen interest in CG artworks.

Importance of Web Interactivity: Tips and Examples

2010-02-08T09:24:44Z

By Poonam

There are many elements that go into the creation of a website. A website is the best medium to communicate with users from all over the world. It is therefore essential, it should be designed in such a way that users should be attracted and be engaged on the site. This is when a website can reach its users effectively.

Designers have often wondered about the secret ingredient to make a website appealing. The combination of design and functionality is something every designer wishes to implement in a site. Many successful websites have one main secret ingredient, not every designer is aware about. That element is website interactivity.

What is Web Interactivity?

A simple example can illustrate this point. Picture this: 2 shopping stores are right next to each other. However, one attracts more customers than the other although both have the same goods. This is only because of one reason. The one shop that attracts more customers uses the concept of interaction with people. This is in terms of consumer suggestions, attractive offers, contests and displays. The whole scenario draws people as the overall environment makes a customer feel more comfortable.

In terms of web design, the concept can work in the same manner. The trick lies in a subtle use of web interactions to attract users and cause them to engage on a page.

Here, we can take another example. A radio button or hyperlinks are elements of a web interface. Contrast these with a 3Dimensional Cube or a 3Dimensional Flip Book, both being examples of interactivity. They are complete experiences of doing stuff that engages users with web pages whilst the user is going through the information displayed on the website. This is what makes these examples stand out. The use of interactivities woven very creatively with website content makes them successful in capturing user-attention.

How does one achieve website interactivity?

There are many elements that can be focused upon to achieve web interactivity that attracts users. The main subject of the website should be taken into consideration. This can give a clue as to the kind of interaction to be used. For example, a product website will have various categories on display. The range should be presented in an interactive manner rather than plain rows of products. A 3Dimensional Flip Book can be used to its advantage to showcase a range of products with the relevant information. A user gets engaged whilst flipping through the book.

The creation of these website interactivities requires time to be spent on technical details. However, in the recent times, designers can create these interactivities within minutes without any programming with rapid interactivity software that is available in the market.

Examples of great interactivity websites

Infinit Colours
This example shows the creative use of design and content. The design of the website is such that it engages users from the first moment itself. A user can change the background of the website. Besides, the menu is simple and hangs freely at the bottom area. It can even be dropped down if required. The color and layout used is clutter free. The text is neat without seeming too overpowering yet giving the message to be conveyed. The company is an advertising based company that conveys to users about the abundance of creativity.

Starbucks Coffee at Home
This brand sure does know how to impress its users with loads of creativity that is used generously on its site! A user can simply know the kind of coffee taste he/she is more suited to by taking a simple Find my Perfect Coffee quiz. It makes browsing the site fun and interactive. A user can view the different types of coffee available by moving the cursor over the coffee packets as shown in the image.

Square Circle
This creative agency does know how to connect with its users. Prospective clients are bound to be impressed with the way the site engages the users; one needs to pan through the page and zoom in to view details.

Roth Aniko
This artist manages to display the portfolio in an interactive manner. In this website, users can find a good balance of color, layout along with the interesting presentation of information that engages users.

Harry Potter
Harry Potter lovers will surely love this interactive site which has used interesting elements for display. The picture gallery is used in an interesting way with the pictures revolving around the main figure as shown in the image.

Cathy Beck Communication
The home page of this website involves little interaction. But as a user clicks on the tabs, the layout unfolds into an interesting layout with a zoom panel in the corner; a user can zoom in and out and is engaged on the site!

Magnivate Interactive Boutique Agency
This creative agency has used a unique approach on their site. The site has a cartoon character which takes a user through the various segments in a very interactive way.

Data Fisher
The company information is presented through an interactive 3Dimensional book. This book has a very creative mix of visuals and company information, the combination of which makes the content very readable!

Mercedes A-to-S
This site is one of the perfect examples of a creative and intelligent use of interactivities. The various features of the Mercedes car are explained through a very intelligent use of Flash. The quality of leather can actually be ‘felt’ once the cursor is clicked and dragged over the surface as shown in the image.

Nokia 3110 Evolve
This Nokia website has a very interesting and engaging interaction, where in a user can move the cursor over the mobile phones and the entire angle of the phone changes.

In the same website, a click on the phone enlarges it, as shown in the image. The phone can be viewed in a 3Dimensional way which definitely appears more interesting as compared to a display of images.

Aparte Graphique
The website has a great combination of interactivity. There is a cartoon character along with an engaging way of presentation of information.

Monoface
This creative agency knows how to display its creativity rather than talk about it! The main image can be played around with, by changing the facial features to try many funny combinations!

Unfortunate Events movie
This popular movie needs no introduction as it is full of creative effects. The website is created on the same lines; users can move the cursor over the elements to know details. These are shown in a very creative fashion keeping in mind the concept of the movie.

Website interactivity thus forms to be a very important ingredient for web design. Has this idea made you have a second glance at your website? I would love to hear your response about website interactivity.

Let us share our experiences right here, keep the comments rolling in!

About Author: Poonam works as Product Manager at Harbinger Group and looks after Raptivity Web Expert. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and is an active blogger.

25 Breathtaking Examples of Nature Photography

2010-01-13T15:33:54Z

If you’re a nature lover you definitely going to like this collection. This post highlights 25 of the most stunning shots of nature photography. There are plethora of places and scenes on this earth we must at least see for once. Nature photography tends to put a more importance on the aesthetic value of the image than other types of photography. Most nature photographers prefer no human present in their photos, they want to attain pure, immaculate landscapes that are devoid of human influence. Below we present to you a collection of nature photography shots that would really took your breath away.

Here are more related articles we’ve previously published that you might be interested:

Full list after jump.

Autumn by poolside | Better Photo

Nature | Socwall

Canadian Rokies | Mattaweb

Red Planet | Low Approach

Yosemite Winter Storm | Tarzan Panorama

20 mins copyfiltered | Incredimazing

Horseshoe Bend | Wikipedia

Landscape | Veryveryfun

Farewell to fall | Photosight

Nature | wp.li.ru

"I just told you my dreams.." | Bighugelabs

Crater Lake | Photosight

National Parks | Veryveryfun

Tree Of Light | Low Approach

Mossbrae Falls | Lighttheexpedition

Glen Canyon Revealed | Frogview

Snow lake | 1x

Mountains | Panoramio

Azalea | Best quality wallpapers

Portfolio Natural

Athabasca | lamus.com

Andalusian landscape | Gornabanja

Sherman Tree | Watchthisspace

Loch Morlich and the Cairngorms | Freeskiing

50+ Most Wanted Blogger Templates

2010-01-13T13:24:38Z

It’s hard to distinguish between a WordPress and a Blogger powered blog because of the various themes being used. If there’s a beautiful WordPress theme available out there, chances are it has already been ported over to Blogger as well. Therefore, there’s no excuse to have a dull looking design on a Blogger.

In this post we’ll be featuring 52 most wanted Blogger templates according to its impressive design, advanced features and attractiveness – something you wouldn’t want to miss. Give your blogs a fresh new look and start hunting for your favourite template.

More Blogger templates we’ve previously showcased:

Full list after the jump.

Arclite | demo | download

Arto | demo | download

Blogger Press | demo | download

Blogger Tube | demo | download

Bulletin Board | demo | download

Burn Out Bright | demo | download

Cosmetic Girl | demo | download

Christmas New Year Eve | demo | download

Cupcake Cookie | demo | download

Edens Garden | demo | download

Evidens White | demo | download

Falkner Press | demo | download

Fashion Press Lite | demo | download

Gamma Ray | demo | download

Grante | demo | download

Grunge Girl | demo | download

Healthy Lifestyle | demo | download

Hybrid Gallery | demo | download

ImpreZZ | demo | download

Ink Stain | demo | download

Irresistible | demo | download

Leopress | demo | download

Letter Frame | demo | download

Ligneous | demo | download

Marikit | demo | download

Massive Attack | demo | download

Masunurin | demo | download

Mosaicus | demo | download

Music Globe | demo | download

Mystique | demo | download

Noteboook | demo | download

Paper Craft | demo | download

Panorama | demo | download

Peach Bloom Spring | demo | download

Photoplus Light | demo | download

Presents | demo | download

Red Light | demo | download

Rockstar | demo | download

Schemar Mag | demo | download

Scrapbook Mania | demo | download

Scrappy | demo | download

Showcase Light | demo | download

Spring | demo | download

Starlite Diva | demo | download

StudioPress Red | demo | download

Tequilas Flamejantes | demo | download

Theater Room | demo | download

Treasure Hunters | demo | download

Urban View | demo | download

Water Color | demo | download

Wooden Fence | demo | download

Woody | demo | download

Community Galleria | demo | download

About Author – Agape Wu is a social media marketer, and a serious blogger who’s addicted with Blogger template. She likes to study social media and Blogger design, while sharing her very personal thought in her Wretch’s blog. You can contact her through seriphimofsarov@hotmail.com.

Marketing Your Blog: 10 Essential Tips You Should Know

2010-01-19T14:34:05Z

Well, a new year is upon us, it’s also the start of a new decade within the blogosphere. More and more people are building blogs, and that means there are lots of blogs competing for the same eyeballs and your blog is just one of many. Try finding accurate figures on how many blogs there are and you will know it’s impossible to find a verifiable number because bloggers and their blogs come and go. Look around. It’s certainly a disheartened moment when you see blogs with quality articles that have been abandoned by their creators.

With all of these blogs out there, and all those information available at no cost, how do you make your blog stand out? No problem, just follow these tips and your blog will blossom in this new era when you stay ahead of the rest of your competitors.

1. Target your content to a specific readership

Image: via Dat Le

Unless you want to throw all of your marketing budget and precious time on people who could care less about your blog, then you must pay attention to determine the preferred audiences to whom you would like to target. Before posting any piece, determine if it hits the sweet spot of your demographic.

2. Be original, be honest

Don’t follow the herd within your sphere of interest. Followers aren’t innovators and innovation keeps readers reading. So, don’t simply spin the same old post. Take an original slant on a common topic.

Be honest. Verify your facts and provide links to additional verification. Readers trust you to be a good reporter, instructor, mentor or inspiration so keep it honest at all times.

3. Don’t be afraid of a little controversy.

Controversy sells. You and I know that. If it is a part of your business model, be prepared to engage others with differing opinions because, guaranteed, lots of readers will disagree, and you may even encounter a few trolls and haters who frequent blogs for no other purpose than to post inflammatory garbage.

4. Post as a guest blogger

Image: via AjDreams

Don’t post to just any blog within your realm. Submit your best pieces to the prestigious blogs – the ones that already have a substantial following. For example, Hongkiat.com is considered by industry insiders to be one of the best blogs for designers, marketers and freelancers. Getting one of your posts published on a top of the line blog is a great way to drive traffic to your blog where readers can find tons of content – all your archives – just waiting for a bookmark.

Of course, getting published on a well-established blog requires insight and something new to be added to the discussion. A rehash of conventional wisdom, regardless of the field of endeavor, won’t make the cut with top tier blogs within any industry or area of interest.

5. Simplify subscriptions

Don’t hide your RSS button down the page together with your Wordpress theme credit links, make them visible & clear for your reader’s eyeballs by taking the following approaches:

Add an RSS chicklet at the top of your sidebar so visitors can easily load your posts into their RSS readers.
Offer email subscriptions.
Provide links to mobi feeds so readers can access new content from their cells or iPhones.
Provide one click subscriptions using reader links to PageFlakes, Google Reader and other remote site readers. You can build a big following fast if you make it easy to find your blog again. And again, and again.

6. Social Media Marketing

The expansion of social media and the evolution of multi-generational media apps are only going to pick up steam. Social media sites have taken off, providing bloggers with an arsenal of tools based on the guerrilla-marketing axiom: Use the resources of others to your advantage.

A few years back, Twitter didn’t exist. Today, not only is it ubiquitous, it spawned a whole new level of web innovation and interactivity.

Follow the rules & open accounts at Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter. Every time you make a new post to your blog, let your readers know about it by posting to these popular sites. Update your status with interesting & latest news that fascinates your readers.

7. Create different profiles for each social media site

On LinkedIn, you want to be all about business. On Facebook, show a little of your personality – the carbon-based life form behind the blog. On Twitter, shine the spotlight on your blog. Each profile should be designed to show a different facet of you and your expertise.

8. Don’t oversell. Teach, too

If you post to social media sites all day long, flogging your latest blog post, it won’t be long before your Facebook friends hit the hide button next to your name. It can’t be all selling and no sizzle. Instead, post information on a new blog piece, but also post news from other sites that you think will benefit your readers. Know when to stop pushing for a larger readership and when to start giving away information to drive more readers to your blog.

9. Long tail keywords get you found

Image: via Wiki

If you maintain a book review blog, a broad keyword like books will keep you buried in the backwash of Google’s SERPs. Instead, narrow the focus of a search engine search through the use of terms and phrases, broadly referred to as long tail keywords.

So, instead of using “books” as a primary keyword, use a long-tail keyword like “independent book reviews” or “book reviews of current bestsellers.” Sure, not as many people will use these long tails when conducting a search but those who do will discover your blog at the top of page 1. And that’s just where you want to be.

10. Optimize your blog – Both for readers & bots

Cut the clutter of 23 affiliate banners, animated adverts and other distractions. Remember, your site should be attractive to human sensibilities.

Indeed, it’s important to look good to readers who follow you. It’s just as important to look good to search engine spiders. Conduct keyword research using tools like Google’s keyword generator that provides keywords used by actual Google users over the past 30 days. Place those keywords in headlines, sub heads and a few of them in your blog posts.

If you don’t know much about SEO, grab yourself a cup of coffee & start reading the comprehensive list of search engine ranking factor provided by Seomoz.

The pace of innovation is only going to increase in this new decade so, if you’re standing still you’re losing ground to competitor bloggers. Stay current, use all the new tools and follow all the new rules.

Your blog space is your real estate. It has value. Make the most of it.

This post is written by Edward Khoo, a tech enthusiast based in Malaysia. He blogs at EdwardKhoo.com & would love to hear from you on Twitter.

Simple Numbers, Complicated Dates: 49 Innovative Calendars

2010-01-13T13:56:44Z

It’s that time of the year again when we kick off our shoes from work and enjoy the festive season. As we welcome the year ahead, I’m sure most of us have made some kind of resolutions for ourselves. Needless to say, many of us have been unable to stick to our previous resolutions to go on a diet or keep to an exercise regime, perhaps due our hectic schedules. What then, is more important than a calendar in order to manage time well and stay organized?

Unless you switch one, you will be looking at your new calendar for the new year for the next 365 days. Why not get a thought-provoking, creatively designed or aesthetic calendar that you can appreciate each and every day? Here, we have compiled some of the best designed calendars over the recent years to let each of you have an idea on the variety of calendars that designers have came up with. Enjoy!

Ink Calendar
via Oscar Diaz
This innovative calendar lets the ink from the bottle diffuses across the days of the month.

Square-Comics Calendar 2010
via Alone-zino
A comic-inspired calendar.

Spiral Calendar 2010
A unique calendar design in the form of a spiral.

Scratch A Date
via Yanko Design
Welcome each new day by scratching off to reveal the date!

Russian Creative 2008 Calendar
via Fenyu
Interesting calendar where each month is a different traffic scene as viewed by a trucker.

Calendar 2009
via Rekord
Each color corresponds to different days of the week.

2008 Calendar
via Tim Pokrichuk
A unique calendar with a web-like design.

Spiral Calendar
via Carlos Coelho
Yet another spiral calendar with colors assigned to each individual day of the week.

Calendar Made of Matches
via Yurko Gutsulyak
Every date is made of matches.

2010 Bubble Calendar
via Perpetual Kid
Enjoy pressing bubble wraps? You should get this.

Barometer Inspired Calendar
via Lindsey_muir
As you can tell, you have to turn to circles to represent the correct month, date, day and even the weather.

An Apple A Day
via David Weik
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Peel off the label of each apple you eat and stick it to the date.

Happy New Year From Happy Milo
via Jonathan Davies
A spectrum of color across the months.

March 2008
via Jennifer Daniel

Helvetica Calendar
via Guilherme Pontes
A calendar that uses the Helvetica typeface and an enticing range of colors.

Moma Perpetual Calendar
via Gideon Dagan Design
A 3D structure as a calendar.

Edible Calendar
via Dmitry Kutlayev
Chocoholics, limit your intake of chocolates with this edible calendar.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories: Calendar
via Sudler & Hennessey
The message of this calendar: Smoking shortens your life span.

"Dorogaya" Magnetic Calendar
via Serhiy Chebotaryov
Magnetic calendar that you can place on your fridge.

Dodecahedral Calendar
via Dave Gray
A twelve-sided polygon as your calendar for the year.

Calendar Gregory
via Calendar-Game
Connect each line to a new date everyday. Kids will love this.

Camera Lens Calendar
via Sharad Kaksar
A camera lens inspired calendar for avid photographers.

Calendar Tells Me Everything
via Maksim Biriukov
This calendar tells you the present year, month, date, day and even the time.

Napkins Calendar 2009
via Stas Aki
Napkin and calendar combined.

Corian Calendar
via Niels Kjeldsen Design
Plastic blocks with dates and months.

Office Calendar
via Qaaim Goodwin
This wooden structure is a creative switch from the usual paper-style calendars.

Recycle Bin Advent Calendar
via Kelanew
A hand-crafted calendar using recycled materials.

Kalenteri 2008
via Pulse247
Circular calendar with a spectrum of colors.

Teacup Calendar
via Takeshi Nishioka
Drink tea from this calendar.

Typographic Tear-Off Calendar
via Parachute
Check out the different typefaces each day of the year.

Tickler Calendar For The Slip Method
via Judyofthewoods
Slip in your appointments and to-do lists into each date.

Voskhod: Calendar
via Voskhod
Yet another scratch calendar, but this time it reveals funny pictures, jokes, riddles, etc below each date.

Typodarium 2010
via Slanted
See a new typeface for each day.

Twelve Calendar
via Thomas Williams
A unconventional layout for a calendar. Those dates that are shaded are the weekends.

Calendario 02
via Quintohache
A 3D calendar made of Lego-like bricks.

Google Lego Calendar
via Keso
Another lego-inspired calendar by Google.

Axe Schedule
via Elma+Alt+Shift
A cute calendar showing each date with people in a building.

Nie Auction Calendar
via Iheartlinen
A calendar for you to feel and appreciate the texture of linen.

October 2009
via The Digichick
A hand-drawn calendar with photos of family.

Perpetual Calendar
via Etsy
A calendar display of cards for month, date and day.

Pink Letterpress Calendars 2009
A cute calendar with cute messages and pictures.

Pop-up Calendar
via Johann Volkmer
Open each new month and be dazzled by the fine craftmanship of pop-ups.

Spin Calendar 70s
via Presentandcorrect
Turn each ring to indicate the correct dates and months.

Human Calendar
via Human Calendar
An amusing use of photographic portraits of people for each squares of the calendar.

Finn & Rockwell’s Counting-House Calendar
via DezinHQ
An old-fashioned calendar design.

2008 Map Calendar & Poster By Lart C. Berliner
via Little Otsu Publishing
Each month is drawn in manner to make it look like individual regions of a map.

2008 Calendar
via Kate
Another hand-drawn calendar using only black ink.

Timor Calendar
via Unicorn Graphics
Classic 20th century design desk calendar inspired by railway signs.

Urban Calendar
See the entire year in a towering skyscraper-like wooden calendar.

11 Most Popular Blog Design Styles (With Examples)

2010-01-19T14:24:51Z

Even the most unique blog designs usually follow, at least in part, some sort of predefined or established style. And there are plenty of design styles to choose from if you’re looking for inspiration. Whatever your personal style, there are design patterns out there that can be adapted to suit your own aesthetic ideal and the needs of your site. And often working within a predefined pattern can enhance your creativity by helping you focus.

Below we’ve rounded up eleven common design patterns seen throughout blog designs on the web. But just because they’re commonly seen doesn’t mean they aren’t unique and filled with plenty of individuality and creativity. Figuring out how to make your own unique mark on a widely-recognized style can prove to be a creative challenge for nearly any designer. Read on for inspiration and ideas for your next design projects.

1. Hand Drawn: A Relaxed Yet Artistic Style

Hand drawn blogs are all over the place. Some of these designs are very doodle-esque, while others are more like fine art. They can lend a more relaxed feeling to a blog’s design, as well as a healthy dose of creativity. One of the best parts of this style is that it’s so customizable. The illustrations used can really reflect the style of the owners or writers.

More on hand drawn design:

Low Impact Girl

Mark Forrester

SketchBlog

U.S.E. 19 Clothing

Blog Me Tender

Douglas Menezes

Hugs for Monsters

A Crayon’s Life

Biggest Apple

Demain J’arrete

Cog’nition

Kris Colvin

2. Grunge: Not Just Dirty

Grunge style has been around on the web for a few years now, and it’s still going strong. A couple of big trends in grunge design include minimalist grunge, where the theme is very minimal with the exception of the grunge elements, and more refined grunge that isn’t as messy as early incarnations. Again, this is a style that has tons of room for creativity and individual expression.

More: 100 Greatest Abstract and Grunge Fonts (Free)

CSS Religion

Brooklyn Slate Company

Triplux

Ritchie Linao

The Blizzards

Impresario One

Kevin Lucius

Gone Fishing

Manuel Romero

BienBienBien

3. Minimalist: Where Less is Definitely More

Minimalist designs can be some of the hardest to pull off well, despite their simplicity. When less is more, every single element becomes vitally important. Some of the hallmarks of miminalist design are lots of white space (or negative space), simple typography and few images.

More: 100+ Clean, Simple and Minimalist Website Designs

Moon Themes

Lounge4

Dolce Touch

Surfstation

Huwshimi

Guillermo Esteves

Design Intellection

ShareSomeCandy

Devlounge

Verbalized

4. Grid and Magazine-Style: Bringing Order to Chaos

Grid and magazine-type themes have also been around for a few years now. They’re excellent when you have a very information-heavy site (like many blogs) and add a sense of order and structure to a design. But they also leave plenty of room for creativity, as is illustrated in some of the designs below.

Champagne Warehouse

Edition – We The People

Juice

The Golden Pineapple Blog

CreativeDepart

Cynosura

Kineda

Reform & Revolution

Jason Santa Maria

Sushi & Robots

DFCKR

Post

5. Collage: Unique, Personalized Mashups

Collage styles are as varied as the blogs they style. Basically, these are designs that take a number of elements (often photographs or realistic illustrations) and combine them to form a background that might resemble a bulletin board or messy desk. It’s a unique style that allows for a lot of individual expression through what’s included in the collage.

Web Designer Wall

Baia dos Golfinhos

Blup!

Tarek Shalaby

Hatch

By Land, Sea or Air

The Klog – Koodoz Design

WorkAwesome

Fran Fernandez

Mesonprojekt

Designlab

Narfstuff

6. Gallery: For the More Visually-Inclined

Gallery blogs aren’t limited to just displaying images. Many blogs that focus mostly on text are using gallery layouts for their home pages, as a way to fit more information in a smaller space and leave things looking uniform and organized. Of course, there are plenty of sites out there using gallery layouts for what they were originally intended: photos, illustrations, and design work.

Foliotastic

Phototastic

Shocas.com

CHRISMDAY

Fernando Leite

Hugh Peachey Photography

IINSIGHT

Nocturn

Hell Biscuit

Wide Angled

7. Beautiful Typography: More Than Just Pretty Lettering

Excellent typography can really set a blog apart from its competitors. Not only is it more aesthetically pleasing, good typography also makes your blog easier to read.

Ocon Design

Rustin Jessen

EightHourDay

Elysium Burns

Iokon Media

Questionable Characters

The Personal Disquiet of Mark Boulton

The Art of Non-Conformity

Posh CSS

Der Gentleman

8. Awesome Textures and Patterns: Bringing Life to Otherwise Simple Designs

Unique combinations of textures and patterns can lead to a very creative and exceptionally beautiful theme. There are thousands of textures available out there, many free for personal or commercial use, so this style is largely accessible to all sorts of designers.

Barton Place Austin

Comfort Brothers

Mark Jardine

Think Design

Guns and Donuts

Brown Blog Films

TehCpeng.net

Henry Jones

Missy

David Hellmann

SimpleBits

9. Bold Artwork: More Formal Artistic Appeal

Bold illustrations and graphics can make a big impact on blog visitors. Bright colors, original illustrations, and vector artwork are hallmarks of these blogs.

Pirata London

Kallianos Diving Centre

Sushimonstr

The World of Silas Toball – Duirwaigh Studios

Tendencias do Design

WebScienceMan

Langgatan 3A

Blog What? Design

Badass Ideas

Brian Jeremy

10. Transparency: Adding Polish Without Weighing Things Down

Transparency can add an extra bit of polish to any blog design. When combined with a unique background, transparency creates a whole new level of elegance many blog designs lack. Some blogs use transparency throughout their designs, while others use it only in select locations to add a little extra flair.

Go Media Inc

Push The Brand

Darren Hoyt Dot Com

Mateus Neves

Level Opacity

LeBloe

Dezine Zync

Agenturblog

11. 3-D Designs: Simplified Trompe l’Oeil

The designs featured here use 3-D elements: folded paper, letterpress effects, and similar design elements. This is a newer trend in blog design (especially the letterpress effect) that has only started emerging in the past couple of years. It’s a beautiful style, and can be combined with a lot of other unique design elements (it’s often seen in collage and grunge designs, for example).

Matthew Achariam

Bitter-Coffee Studio

DAunion

Design Commission

Mike Matas Blog

Sanimani.com

Markup & Style Society

Cocoia Blog

31Three

Marcel Muller

Adii Rockstar

Is there any other interesting blog design trend you’ve spotted recently?