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Black & White Photos of Shanghai

Levan Vekua — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:43:48 +0000

April 19, 2012 From Paul0v2′S Blog

This photo series was taken back in 2010 by the Polish photographer Marvin Stavars. Shanghai is the largest city of China by population. A complete concrete jungle that you are able to experience by these photos, and get a feeling of how massive everything is. Enjoy!

For more from Martin Stavars visit martinstavars.com

Creattica Redesign: Spectacular Photoshop Magic and Freebies

Levan Vekua — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:22:34 +0000

It’s a month of new beginnings over at our design and inspiration gallery Creattica. April has seen the site undergo a complete redesign with a whole new streamlined grid-style layout for its over 50 different categories. On top of that, Creattica now has better navigation, a new UI Elements section and a growing Freebies area of now over 700 items. All this and over 14,000 featured works from some 100,000 members. It’s quite the site!

But that’s not all, let’s first take a look at some of Creattica’s top Photoshop work as well as a few PSD Freebies – and then stay tuned for some exciting news at the conclusion!

1. Authority blowing away

2. Uncorked

3. The Dancer

4. Zebras

5. Dark Surreal Illustration

6. Sitting on top

7. Life is Love

8. A Part Of Me

9. PicsMagic+

10. Vana’diel Atlas

11. Ariel

12. Life in music

13. The Crow

14. Musica e cucina

15. Casa

16. Dancer in the city

17. breakfast

18. Dragon Airways

19. Metamorphosis II

20. The Cocoon

PSD Freebies

21. Pretty Little Red Ribbon

22. Grunge Notification Box

23. Leatherly – One Page Site Template

24. Glossy text effect

25. “Admit One” Ticket Stubs

26. Corner ribbon

27. New template Workin

28. PSD Template for Portfolio & Blog

29. Vintage Web Design Portfolio

30. DigitalRust Website

The Future of Creattica

When we started Creattica (originally Faveup) back in 2007, we wanted it to be one on the top inspiration galleries on the web. And as the site has grown and changed over the years, we find ourselves with what has become one of the biggest, broadest and most in-depth galleries of design out there. So I guess we can say – mission accomplished!

Over these past few months, Envato has really started working on focusing on our core products of Marketplaces and Tuts+ sites. So while we love Creattica, we find ourselves in the regrettable position of having to put the site up for sale soon. We really want it to go to an awesome home, so if anyone would like to express interest in the sale or get more details, please contact us here.

I’m certain we’ll find some new owners who can keep Creattica growing and evolving on into the future. And in the meantime I hope you enjoy the new design and all the gorgeous work as much as I do!

How to Design a Logo: Sagi Haviv

Levan Vekua — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:44:51 +0000

A great logo is not about what one likes or dislikes. It’s about what works. And what we want to determine is: What problem is our client trying to solve? Often a company might want a new logo to freshen up its image, when really it should keep its logo but change its marketing. Look at Pepsi (PEP). It’s been years, and I bet few people could draw the new logo from memory. The old one they could, instantly. It was a perfectly good mark. Coke (KO), meanwhile, has had more success keeping its wordmark the same but constantly changing its packaging and marketing. When you want a new logo is when your current trademark is too complex, no longer relevant to your brand, or you want to unite various sub-brands. A new mark should be an uncomplicated form that can work anywhere, from a billboard to an app tile. It must be appropriate and relevant to the company and its field. And it must be memorable. Of course, the simpler the form, the less special it tends to be, so the challenge of designing an iconic logo becomes: How memorable can a design be while remaining simple? — As told to Brad Wieners

Watch Sagi Haviv explain how to design a logo at www.businessweek.com/howto/logo or in our iPad and iPhone apps

Illustration by Neal Fox; Earth: Getty Images

Haviv is a partner with Chermayeff & Geismar, which designed the NBC peacock, Chase octagon, and National Geographic rectangle.

Photoshop’s 10 Most Useful Features for Digital Artists

Levan Vekua — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:29:13 +0000

Final Product What You’ll Be Creating

This entry is part 23 of 25 in the Digital Art for Beginners Session - Show All
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Photoshop is an excellent tool for manipulating photographs but it can also be used as a means to create stunning digital art. This tutorial is part of a 25-part video tutorial series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start producing digital art in Photoshop. Digital Art for Beginners, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak will begin by teaching you how to draw in Photoshop. At the conclusion of this series you will know all you need to produce your own concept art and matte paintings in Photoshop.

Today’s tutorial Part 23: Photoshop’s 10 Most Useful Features for Digital Artists will quickly explain some useful features that Photoshop users can use to produce digital art. Let’s get started!

Create a Glowing Light Painting Effect

Levan Vekua — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:14:35 +0000

Final Product What You’ll Be Creating

In this tutorial I will show you an easy, and very fast way, to create a light painting in Photoshop.

Editor’s note: This tutorial was original published on Psdtuts in April of 2008.

Step 1

Create a new document and place the photo, you can download the one I used at: Photo 1.

Step 2

Here I placed a second image. I will use it to create the light effects. Here is the link for the next image:Photo 2.

Step 3

With the Pen Tool(P), create a path for one of the figures.

Step 4

Select the Brush Tool(B) and go to Window>Brushes or F5 to create our brush. Use 8px for the diameter and select Dual Brush and Other Dynamics. Follow the image below for reference.

Step 5

Go to the Layer Palette, create a new folder, and rename it to lights. After that create a new layer inside this folder, name it “dude”, and select it.

Step 6

Go to the Path Palette and select the first path. Then with the Path Selection Tool(A), select the path and right-click. Choose Stroke Path. A dialog box will open; select the brush and use Simulate Pressure.

After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, use 1.6px for the amount.

Step 7

Duplicate the “dude” layer three times.

Step 8

Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and create a rectangle. Then duplicate the rectangle several times. After that align and distribute them horizontally.

Step 9

Create a new layer inside the lights folder. Rename it to “xing”. Repeat Step 6 and Stroke the paths. After that select the “xing” layer and go to Edit>Transform>Distort. Now just move the vertices until the perspective is good—just follow the street lines.

Conclusion

That’s probably the easiest way to create this type of light effect; however, it depends on the color of the background. If the background is too dark, the blend mode won’t work. You’ll probably have to use another one with an Outer Glow.

You can make the lights brighter by just duplicating the layers. You can even use the Eraser Tool(E) to make some adjustments. The original concept image can be viewed at Light Graffiti In Photoshop. The final tutorial image is below.

Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers (Director: Tarik Saleh)

Levan Vekua — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:17:14 +0000

The official video for Lykke Li’s second single I Follow Rivers. Directed by Tarik Saleh. I Follow Rivers is taken from ‘Wounded Rhymes’ released on the week of 28th (Feb) globally. Goto: http://LykkeLi.com for more information.

Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: January 2012

Levan Vekua — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:47:47 +0000

A New Ending

“Wishing everyone a lucky and successful year 2012!” Designed by Lina Itskovitch from USA.

preview
with calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Red

“Photo taken at a friend’s house with one of her toys and my glass of rose wine. It’s perfect for a cold winter day, warmth for the soul and body.” Designed by Diana Samoila from Romania.

preview
with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Caucasian Mountains

“From Caucasus with love!” Designed by Ilona from Russia.

preview
with calendar: 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Bloody January

“Something to cure that New Year’s hangover.” Designed by Suety Kwan from USA.

preview
with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Back To Go To Work

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with calendar: 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Royal World

“Our first submission to the Desktop Wallpapers. To start a great new year, we designed a world that represents our goals and aspirations for this new year.” Designed by Javier Castillo from Guatemala.

preview
with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Cold Flakes To Write Home About?

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1152×860, 1200×800, 1600×1200
without calendar: 800×532, 1024×768, 1152×860

Winter Melancholy

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with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

The Year Of Dragon

“Dragon is the legendary animal in the Chinese zodiac calendar.” Designed by Cheloveche.ru from Russia.

preview
with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Delicate Frost

“Don’t let Jack Frost nip too much at your nose but do let him decorate your windows!” Designed by Tirelessweaverfrom Canada.

preview
with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800,1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1440×1050, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200,1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720,1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1440×1050, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080,1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Resolution Libs

“It’s time for New Year’s resolutions! And the best way to keep them is by writing them down and keeping track of your progress. So this wallpaper is a recreation of the chalkboard in my house.” Designed by Illuum Design Team from Canada.

preview
with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Carry Warmth Carry Each Other

preview
with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080,1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080,1920×1200, 2560×1440

What’s On Your Mind?

“Sometimes it seems that girls are from another planet. I just can’t figure out, whats going on in their heads…” Designed by Kristjan Ait from Estonia.

preview
with calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Facts

“I was reminded of a simple fact while I was browsing for inspiration for this wallpaper. I’ve read on Wikipedia that January is the coldest month on most of the northern hemisphere and the hottest one on most of the southern hemisphere. I found it fascinating that someone in Australia is enjoying a surf while I am watching the first snowflakes of the winter. I was hoping to create a wallpaper that will serve as a reminder of the fact that we live in a fascinating world full of varieties and contrasts. The old-worn-out-encyclopedia style hopefully emphasizes the educational theme of the wallpaper .” Designed by Danijel Gajan from Serbia.

preview
with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200,2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200,2560×1440

Memorize Me

“This calendar has 4 sheets. Each sheet shows 4 months.The Sundays of these 4 months are colored in the order of the rainbow colors.If you commit these columns to memory, you won’t need to resort to any pocket calendar or electronic device to know when the next holiday is, to know the date of the first Monday of the next month….” Designed by Araz Kelian from Lebanon.

preview
with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Soft Wishes

“Let yourself be carried away by the delicate desires of your heart…” Designed by Katia Piccinni from Italy.

preview
with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800,1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×900
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720,1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×900

Bonsai

preview
with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1440
without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1440

Owl

“The first month of phpfaber’s calendar for 2012 with our hero Owl.” Designed by Katerina Bobkova from Ukraine.

preview
with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Great session to start your photoshop jurney

Levan Vekua — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:01:50 +0000

Are you new to Photoshop? Have you been trying to teach yourself the basics of Photoshop but have found the amount of educational material available on the net a bit overwhelming? Photoshop Basix, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor Martin Perhiniak, is a series of 25 short video tutorials, around 5 – 10 minutes in length that will teach you all the fundamentals of working with Photoshop.

40 Great Photography Portfolios For Inspiration

Levan Vekua — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:53:30 +0000

Here is a collection of fantastic photography portfolios. I think this will be worthwhile for anybody who is looking for some inspiration.
Jeremy Cowart

Koen Demuynck

Mitchell Kanashkevich

Your Beautiful Photography

Daniel Kennedy Photography

James Day Photography

Evaan Kheraj

David Vasiljevic

25 Outstanding Minimalist Website Designs

Levan Vekua — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:41:36 +0000

Minimalism is popular with many designers, primarily because the lack of clutter can help to create a positive user experience. While it is not a style that works in all situations (and what style does?), minimalism can be extremely effective when it is done effectively. It would seem that minimal websites would be easy to design due to the lack of excess, but achieving a high-quality minimal design can prove to be more difficult than expected. In this post we’ll provide some inspiration for you own work by showcasing 25 beautiful, minimal websites.

Co:c0llective

Epic Paul Snowden

Gravity Framework

Craig Coles

Upperdog

Young Turks

Purty Pixels

Decorated Playlists

Ben Bate

Bit This!

Viljami Salminen

MmDesign