Room122

Free Texture Pack: Photos of the Sun

Nathan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:52:48 +0000

It’s been a steady 100+ degree summer here in Central Texas. So to celebrate the record breaking heat, I have a texture pack which includes nothing more than photos of the sun. You know you want to look, but don’t stare directly at them… I’m still seeing spots. Download these photos, sit back and cool off with your favorite beverage, and add some serious heat to your next design project. Enjoy!

Hand Drawn Vector Floral Patterns

Nathan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:58:47 +0000

It’s about time for another round of vector freebies. Up to the plate this time is a set of 3 hand drawn floral patterns. I created this set with a quill pen and india ink on bristol board. The resulting lines are very scratchy and uneven. (which I really like). Download this set and add a little hand drawn vector goodness to your next design.

Oh, and in case I haven’t mentioned it yet. You can share your designs in the Room122 flickr group. I would love to see what some of you are creating with Room122 freebies.

Free Hand Drawn Vector Floral Patterns | Illustrator Version 10 EPS file

Below are two samples from the set.

Free Font Found: The Work of Billy Argel

Nathan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:11:49 +0000

I’m always after great fonts, and while browsing around last week I stumbled across the font design work of Billy Argel. His designs are absolutely wonderful. The fonts are chaotic and messy, which I love. Billy’s site contains over 30 fonts all free for non-commercial use. He is featured on dafonts and 1001 fonts. Head over there and give Billy’s fonts a try. Believe me, you won’t be sorry.

Visit: Billy Argel Fonts

10 Super Cool Photoshop Brush Sets That Every Designer Should Have

Nathan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:17:26 +0000

There are SOOO many Photoshop brushes out there. Some are really really good, and very useful… and some are oh so bad. I’ve sifted through my collection and removed brush sets that weren’t up to par. I’ve collected these 10 sets as my absolute favorite. I’ve used a few of these in various design pieces, so I can say from experience that these PS brush sets definitely make the grade, and are well worth the download.

Ribbon Revolution Brushes from Rozairo | 10 brushes

Doodled Trees from PeHaa | 6 brushes

Romantic Disasters from BittBox | 10 brushes

Light Effect Brushes from Colorburned | An amazing 46 brushes

Grunge Brush Pack from Mike Martinez via PSDTuts | 12 brushes

Dirty Sprays from David Leggett via PSDTuts | 8 brushes

Beyond the Mist from midnightstouch | 8 brushes

Abstract Brushes from Krakograff | 5 brushes

High Res Spray Paint Set 2 from Spoon Graphics | 6 brushes

Abstract Grunge and Texture Pack from Webtreats Etc | 5 brushes

Ya know, I have some great Photoshop brushes of my own laying around here some place…
Ah! There they are.

Inspiration Found: The Art and Photography of Pixel Peach Studio

Nathan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:03:15 +0000

I have admired the work of Pixel Peach for many years now. In fact, I would say that they have been one of my most strongest influences. Pixel Peach is a husband and wife team of Gary (designer) and Kaysie (photographer) Dorsey. They are based near by in Austin, Tx. In recent past they have described their work as “Strangely Beautiful”… Which is a perfect description, IMO. I love the overall style, the great use of light and dark, and the sort of eerie feel of it all. A lot of the work has great texture to it as well, which gives me a feeling that real, used, and battered materials were gathered to create the designs. Viewing the gallery on their site… it’s sort of like I’m entering their world for a bit, and finding that what’s being presented feels old and weathered, yet new and modern at the same time. It’s an experience that I find myself returning to every few months for a jolt of inspiration.

I hope the work of Pixel Peach Studio has the same effect on you as it does for me.

3D Explosions - A High Res Photoshop Brush Set

Nathan — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:43:43 +0000

As you all know, I’ve been picking up Cinema 4D over the past few weeks. I’m in love with the ease of use and short learning curve. I’ve tried my hand a few times at other applications, but I feel like Cinema 4D is so much more intuitive… especially for designers, and the integration with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator is incredible. This set of high resolution 3D Explosions brush set was created after stumbling onto the Explosion FX, and playing with it for a couple of hours. For a beginner like me you simply can’t beat the fun of exploding 3D objects. I really like the controlled randomness… If that makes any sense at all.

This Photoshop brush set contains 10 high resolution exploding spheres. I hope you have as much fun experimenting with these brushes as I did creating them!

Below are larger samples from the set.

Cinema 4D: Jonah Hex Teaser Poster

Nathan — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:01:48 +0000

So I’ve been dabbling with Cinema 4D and admiring ZBrush from a far lately. I’ve wanted to pick up 3D modeling for years now but never found the time to learn. The past couple of weeks I’ve been following some online tutorials and watching the classes at lynda.com (which I highly recommend, btw). So I decided my first attempt to model something would be Jonah Hex’s Colt .44 Dragoon Pistols. For those non-comic book readers out there Jonah Hex is a western comic currently written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti. It’s one of my all time favorites, and a movie is currently in production for release next year.

So in the spirit of the old west below is my Jonah Hex movie teaser poster design featuring my dragoon pistol models from Cinema 4D. Let me know what you think. And if you know of any good tutorials, classes or books on 3D modeling with Cinema 4D, please feel free to share in the comments field below.

30 FREE Grunge Radial Vector Patterns

Nathan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:02:25 +0000

I’ve been developing this set on and off for the past several weeks, and I believe this may be my favorite vector art collection on the site so far. As I was developing this set of radial vector patterns I wanted to make sure that what I was assembling was not only eye-catching, but also useful in day-to-day design projects. I found myself going back to the set fairly often and finding something that worked in several pieces. I tried to include a variety of styles in the 30 selections that are available. I think this set is really cool and useful, and hopefully well worth the addition to your design toolbox.

30 Grunge Radial Vector Patterns
File format: Illustrator version 10 EPS

Below are larger views of a few of my favorites from the set.

These are two examples of usage from recent projects that I’ve been working on.

Album Cover Design

CD Disk Art

Dirty Knotty Wood - Free High Res Wood Textures

Nathan — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:17:31 +0000

I will freely admit that I am addicted to wood grain as a design resource. I use it whenever I get the chance. IMO, it’s the most naturally random pattern in existence. It gives a great earthy feel to a project, as well as a nice grungy tone. These photos were taken from different fence planks all from the same fence. They’re nicely weathered and include knot holes and nails. Download and enjoy these dirty knotty wood textures!

I know what you must be thinking… Yes… I have been seen with my camera inches away from a fence post… “Back off man. I’m an artist.”

Download Dirty Knotty Wood Textures

Awaken The Hero Album Design

Nathan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:16:41 +0000

Oh the feeling of holding a finished project in your hands. It’s like a jolt of excitement that says, I’m a real designer and look what I can do!! After working on hundreds of projects, it’s the same for me every time. Especially when I loved working on the project as much as I did the Awaken The Hero album art. The guys from the band were like dream clients. They had enough of a vision to send me in the right direction, but they were open to creative input at the same time, and really were excepting of my thoughts and ideas. I think that kind of collaboration is what made this project a success.

We explored several concepts (like the one below), each one was a joy to design, but none had the resonating effect of the final artwork.

The final album cover design

Disk Art Goodness!

Holding the finished project in your hands… and the resulting Art-gasm!