Download The Vector pack

Download Link: Download Now! (73mb – 12 Adobe Illustrator CS3 Files )
Preview: Jump to preview

This Vector Pack Was Inspired By

The below poster created by Double Merrick – as you can see the subtle textures used in the background create a realistic worn feel which hopefully the ones I’ve created replicate.

Vector Preview

Below are the vectors that are included in the pack – jump back to download link

Download The Vector pack

Download Link: Download Now! (73mb – 12 Adobe Illustrator CS3 Files )
Preview: Jump to preview

Something I Created

As a further example below is a poster that I created using these free vectors notably the distressed background – If this was ever printed I’m thinking gold foil!

Let me know if you find them useful either on twitter @designshard or in the comments below, thanks in advance.

These paper textures were scanned from an old manuscript that I bought – They have been scanned in at a high resolution and would be ideal for any project that requires a vintage look and feel.

You may also like these 20 Free Original Hi-Res Stained Paper Textures that I created.

The Textures On Flickr

You can preview all these textures in the Flickr set before you download any of the files below or simply use them directly from Flickr, the choice is yours.

Download The Textures (Rapidshare) (6mb Zip File)

rs-design-shard-old-paper-textures.zip

Download The Textures (Mediafire) (6mb Zip File)

mf-design-shard-old-paper-textures.zip

Make a donation?

If you found these useful feel free to make a donation of any amount, it will encourage more freebies such as these, and im eternally greatfull for all your support!

Additional info:

• Scanner: Epson Perfection 3490
• Quantity: 8 Images
• Resolution: 2000px by 2752px
• Contains: Old Brown Paper Textures

Usage Terms

Free to use for commercial and non commercial work no credit or link back needed, but please don’t redistribute or sell them as your own.

London 2012 OLYMPIC Posters

Rachel Whiteread – LOndOn 2O12

While Rachel Whiteread is best known for her sculptural work, drawing has always remained a critical part of her practice. She has described drawing as being like a diary of her work, whilst memory remains a key theme. For her print, she has composed a pattern of overlapping rings in the Olympic colours. The rings explore the emblem of the Olympic Games, and also represent marks left by drinking bottles or glasses. They act as memories of a social gathering, such as the athletes in the stadium during the opening ceremony or the spectators of the Olympic Games. [Wikipedia Entry]

Howard Hodgkin – Swimming

Howard Hodgkin describes his paintings as representational pictures of emotional situations. For his Olympic print Hodgkin has created Swimming – a deep, swirling mass of blue flooding across the page. In the darkest area of colour the outline of a figure can be made out as if pushing off after a tumble turn. The fluidity of the brushstrokes perfectly captures the movement of water and the sensation of swimming. [Wikipedia Entry]

Martin Creed – Work No. 1273

Martin Creed imposes simple rules on his creativity. He might create a painting using only paintbrushes bought in a multi-pack, or make only one mark a day with the same felt-tip pen until the whole paper surface is covered. Repetition, stacks, and intervals are familiar motifs in his work, along with ascending and descending structures. For Work No.1273, Creed has made five single brush marks using a palette derived from the Olympic colours. The marks are arranged in an ascending form that seems to represent an extended podium offering places beyond first, second and third. Creed’s image can be seen as expressing respect for the excellence of all competing Olympic sportsmen and women. [Wikipedia Entry]

Anthea Hamilton – Divers

Anthea Hamilton creates narrative environments through sculptural assemblage and collage. Her work in part is informed by the history of physical prowess and representations of the human, especially female, body. In Divers the poised legs seem to capture a gymnastic pose or show, perhaps a synchronised swimmer diver holding a balletic position. Interestingly, the only Olympic sport exclusively contested by women is synchronised swimming. Divers evokes the engaging theatricality of synchronised swimming, perhaps the most artistically challenging sport of the London 2012 Olympic Games. [Website Bio]

Chris Ofili – For the Unknown Runner

Chris Ofili creates paintings inspired by personal experience, race, folklore, biblical narrative, and, for the last few years the island of Trinidad where he lives. In For the Unknown Runner a figure, somewhere between super-athlete and mythical being, sprints past a watching crowd. The figure is framed by a vase motif – a reference to the Ancient Olympic Games, which provided an arena for artistic and cultural expression as well as sporting excellence. For the Unknown Runner is a powerful dedication to both Olympic history and the future stars of the London 2012 Games.
[Wikipedia Entry]

Bridget Riley – Rose Rose

Bridget Riley is one of the most original painters of our time and is celebrated for her optically vibrant paintings. By manipulating relationships between colours and shapes, she creates illusions of movement and light. For her Olympic print, Riley has arranged colours in horizontal stripes, indicating the direction of athletic tracks or swimming lanes. The relationships between the colours create a sensation of movement capturing the energy of sport and the Olympic Games.
[Wikipedia Entry]

London 2012 Paralympic Posters

Tracey Emin – Birds 2012

Tracey Emin shares her life, beliefs and feelings through her work with compassion and wit. Emin took the Paralympic values of Inspiration and Determination as the starting point for her print and created what she describes as a ‘love letter’. Two small birds, delicately perched on branches, appear to kiss beneath the words ‘You inspire me with Your determination And I love you’. The Agitos floats below them like feathers or leaves falling from the tree. Birds have frequently appeared in Emin’s drawings to symbolise freedom and strength, whilst her use of handwritten text expresses personal thoughts and emotions. Her print is an inspiring dedication to the Paralympic Games and athletes. [Wikipedia Entry]

Sarah Morris – Big Ben 2012

Since the mid-1990s Sarah Morris has been creating complex, geometric, abstract paintings derived from cityscapes and architectural detail, origami patterns and signs and symbols. To celebrate the Paralympic Games coming to London Morris has created an abstract representation of one of the city’s most iconic landmarks – Big Ben. The grids and vivid colours create a sense of dynamism and also evoke images of athletic tracks, swimming lanes, and field markings. [Wikipedia Entry]

Fiona Banner – Superhuman Nude

Fiona Banner creates nude studies from life, transcribing physical scenarios into verbal descriptions. These ‘wordscapes’ define the shapes and forms of the body as well as fleeting moments such as the tension in a second of shared eye contact, or a nervous finger tapping. Banner’s print is a nude study of a Paralympic Athlete. The title alludes to the extraordinary physicality of this body. She focuses on strength and physicality but also on the fragility of a human awaiting competition. Banner says ‘I liked the idea of comparing the athlete to a superhero, with some extraordinary prosthetic gift. Looking at an athlete naked made them powerful and vulnerable at once.’ [Wikipedia Entry]

Michael Craig-Martin – GO

Michael Craig-Martin combines quotidian objects such as light bulbs, chairs, and umbrellas with everyday words. His pairing of language and image is based on both familiar and unexpected associations. In combining the word GO with a stopwatch Craig-Martin conveys with a sense of immediacy the excitement and anticipation experienced in the moments before the starter pistol is fired, and the roar of the crowd as they encourage their favourite athlete towards the finish line. [Wikipedia Entry]

Gary Hume – Capital

Gary Hume creates paintings with distinctive colour palettes, reduced imagery, and rich surfaces. Hume has abstracted elements from an image of a wheelchair-tennis player, combining them with foliage and a soft and subtle colour palette. The large, circular form represents the wheel of the wheelchair and the black tennis ball hangs suspended in space, with the tennis racquet poised to smash the ball across the net. The large circular form can also be seen as a mouth cheering from the audience. Hume has created an aspirational image celebrating summer sport in London. [Wikipedia Entry]

Bob and Roberta Smith – LOVE

Bob and Roberta Smith use the immediacy of language to create hand-painted signs on pieces of found wood. These signs – painted in the style of community action banners, street signs, and fun fair posters – relay direct and often humorous messages. Taking the values of the Paralympic Games as a starting point, Bob and Roberta Smith propose the core elements of the athlete experience: courage, inspiration, love, and of course sweat. [Wikipedia Entry]

Which do you like?

For me it has to be Fiona Banner’s – Superhuman Nude it’s all about the words that paint the picture, although not very striking it certainly adds a different thought provoking twist to the Olympics.

Credits – Words & Images

Guardian, Telegraph, Tate, BBC, London2012

Mediafire Download (3.22MB Zip File)

Download Free Vector Pack – Paint Splatters Vol 1 (see the preview below)

Usage Terms

Free to use for commercial and non commercial work no credit or link back needed, but please don’t redistribute or sell them as your own.

Additional info:

• Scanner: Epson Perfection 3490
• Quantity: 8 .EPS files (Illustrator CS2+)
• Resolution: Vector
• Contains: Paint Splatters Vol 1

Make a donation?

If you found these useful feel free to make a donation of any amount, it will encourage more freebies such as these, and im eternally greatfull for all your support!

How to Enter

“Leave a comment below stating – Why you need a new computer or Laptop (be as creative in your answer as you like!)”

Follow @designshard on Twitter and like Design Shard on Facebook, dont forget to follow the good folk over @HP too.

Terms & Conditions

• HP sent me this laptop to keep, due to US laws i need to tell you that!
• The competiton is open to all countries so dont worry about that, although the laptop has a US layout keyboard.
• Please only leave one comment – Suspected multiple entries will be disqualified.

How is the winner determined?

One winner shall be picked at random using a MySQL query on the comments for this post – one random comment ID shall be selected and that will be the lucky winner! make sure you enter your email address / Twitter ID so you can be contacted for your postal address, a winner will be announced on Friday 14th October 2011.

First Impressions & Overview

The HP EliteBook 8740w has a very distinct grey metal finish to the outer casing which makes it look particularly classy and durable. its scratch resistant and also helps protect against general wear and tear.

The weight of the laptop is something to be desired as it is particularly heavy, but to be honest this can be overlooked due the specification which out performs most desktop computers.

The HP DreamColor LED-backlit screen is very bright and makes most graphics pop, it really is better than most desktop LCD displays which makes me very envious when I’m using my desktop computer.

The battery on this thing only lasts about 1.5 hours on full charge, must be all that top notch hardware draining the power!

Technical Specification

As you can see it has a bit of a power house when it comes to hardware.

• Model: Hewlett Packard EliteBook 8740w
• CPU: Intel Core i7 @ 1.73 GHz
• RAM: 8 GB
• Graphics: Nvidia Quadro 5000M
• OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Who is it aimed at?

This laptop is targeted towards the creative industry whether it be for people using resource heavy applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator or Cinema 4D this laptop can handle it.

I’ve been using this laptop fine with multiple Adobe suite programs open such as Illustrator, Photoshop Dreamweaver and having Firefox open with multiple tabs…the laptop still runs very smooth.

What Others Think

If you want to find out more about this laptop check out what some other bloggers have been saying.

• Solid Smack many photos and lots of reading! – Read Review
• Fuel Your Creativity a series of mini reviews – Read Review
• Icrontic a more technical review with photos and videos – Read Review

Create Awesome Abstract Nebula Circle Shape in Photoshop

Covers using filters with textures such as the twirl filter and warp filter with a Nebula star texture making for impressive results.

Create a Colorful Aged Poster With Special Lighting Effects

You’ll learn how to use texture and adjustment layers to create an aging effect on a colorful abstract poster design.

Create a Surreal Girl with a Raven Composition in Photoshop Tutorial

Loads of great tricks in this tutorial. If you want to take your creative composition skills to the next level, this Photoshop tutorial is perfect for you as it involves illustration, textures and Photoshop.

The Making of “Constant Slip”

This is more a process description of making this illustration, than a detailed step by step how to, but is very detailed and can lead to some very creative ways of achieving light effects.

Achieve Brilliant Lighting Effects in Photoshop

Using default brushes, blending options and a few stock images, you’ll learn step by step a variety of techniques that you can use in your own digital artworks to achieve professional results.

Add Brilliant Light Effects to Your Work with Photoshop

Several super easy techniques for incorporating remarkable light effects to your work using Photoshop. Including making your own set of abstract brushes and working with textures.

Create a Cosmic-Inspired Dreamy Scene in Photoshop

A demonstration of how to use stock photography, 3d elements, and various techniques to create a cosmic-inspired Photoshop master piece.

Create A Gorgeous Light Effect Using Photoshop

Using soft brushes and smoke textures allows you to create simple yet effective light effect all is explained.

Creating a Surreal Smoking Bird Composition in Photoshop

Making a monochromatic scene with the subject being a bird with smoke surrounding its body. Using a high contrast stock image combined with smoke brushes.

How to enhance your subjects with striking light effects in Photoshop

A simple technique that can be used to enhance any kind of subject with stunning light effects. Using a particular selection tools, gradients and brushes to achieve the result.

MSNBC New Background Design in Photoshop

Plenty and blur effects and colours to create a simple vibrant background.

Show me the light digital art tutorial

How to use stock images to make a beautiful digital artwork with nicely colored lights, All you need for this tutorial is the provided colors in Motion textures pack and a model.

Comments

Have any favourite Photoshop light effect tutorials let us know in the comments, also if there are any that aren’t on the list that are awesome let us know in the comments or on Twitter thanks.

Download Links

You only need to download one of the files below.

• RapidShare
• http://rapidshare.com/files/433676851/8-ornate-floral-vectors-designshard.zip
• Mediafire
• http://www.mediafire.com/?qqvwok1v82n5r8t

Additional info:

• Quantity: 9
• Contains: floral & decorative Ornaments
• Created in Illustrator CS4
• Size 1.3 Mb

Usage Terms

Free to use for commercial and non commercial work no credit or link back needed, but please don’t redistribute or sell them as your own.

Living and working in Nova Scotia, Canada James has over ten years experience as a designer and has worked on an array of personal art projects and with clients ranging from Toyota to Wired & Computer Arts magazines plus various other publications.

Thanks to James for using the CC license (Creative Commons) and allowing us to showcase his wonderful work.

Comments

Seen any cool logos around? let us know in the comments