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Inspiring Typography Artwork
Anyone Up for a Cup of Coffee?
Dreamy Fantasy Art Photoshop Tutorials
Fresh Icon Sets To Improve Your Designs

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 09:59 AM PDT

Advertisement in Inspiring Typography Artwork

There are so many various styles of typography these days that allow us to communicate our ideas effectively within any type of design we are creating. In order to achieve a unique design that truly conveys our message, we need to ensure that the choice of typography being used will indeed express the desired thoughts and ideas. The combination of such effective typography, the chosen style of the design as well as the composition should also be kept in mind.

Here are just a few examples how typography can be put to use to make some remarkable artwork. Enjoy!

Creative Typography

Typography Photo

Typo-Graphic Dope

Newstand Cover for Computer Arts issue 139

Destructive Vintage TyPO experiment

Type Treatments 02

Prestige Typography – 1

Typographic illustration for D-edge Club

Stop

Colorcubic Experimental Prints

Type Design

Hyper Spectrum

Typography-B

Hand-Painted Lettering

Elektrotrash: A Found Art Typeface

Gold

Type Treatments

Typographic World Map

Extraverage x The KDU

Typography

Slinkytype

Decogrunge Type Treatment

Dealer Type(poker)face

Fruit of Life

FIVE STAR

Type Experiments

Chrome Experiments – Dip Deep

Typography – Demitric

And henceforth I will go celebrate anything I see or am, and sing and laugh and deny nothing.

Don’t Be Shtoops

KWERK Font

The After Party

Type Experiments Verison 2

(ik)

Anyone Up for a Cup of Coffee?

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 09:06 AM PDT

Following along this tutorial you'll be learning how to use the Pathfinder Panel in Illustrator CS5 with its very useful features. Combining various forms with the Pathfinder tools, we can create nice shapes. Applying the gradients and colors to those shapes, we can achieve great results by creating a nice depth and perspective. Highlights and shadows are very helpful as well and make the artwork look very realistic.

Don't forget to use the techniques wisely. Using this simple one you can create a nice artwork of a cup that can be used in a variety of ways, such as an icon in the Web design field or even for coffee shop menus. Now, let's get down to business!

This is how the end result should look like:

Final-Image-cup-of-coffee in Anyone Up for a Cup of Coffee?

Creating a Cup Shape

First, we will create all the elements needed for the cup and after that we can continue with applying gradients and solid colors.

Set the document size to 500x500 pixels:

Select the Ellipse Tool (L) from the Tool panel and create a circle:

Grab the Direct Selection Tool code>(A), select the upper anchor point of the circle and remove it by hitting the Delete key on the keyboard. This way we'll remove the upper part of the circle:

Grab the Pen Tool (P) from a Tool Panel and click on the endpoints of the shape from the previous step. That way we’ll close the path:

Take the Ellipse Tool (L) from the Tool Panel and create the ellipse as it shown in the picture below. Make sure that endpoints match. You can adjust the position of endpoints by using the Direct Selection Tool (A):

Now use the Pen Tool (P) and draw the handle for the cup. Set the Stroke to 14:

We have to make the bottom of the cup more flat if we don’t want to spill the coffee. Just grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a path as it shown in the picture below:

Select the green part of the cup and the path from the previous step and hit the Divide button under the Pathfinder Panel:

Ungroup (Shift+Ctrl+G) the green shape, select the smaller part and hit the Delete key on the keyboard:

Applying Gradients

Time to apply some colors and gradients. Since our cup is white, we will apply mostly white-gray gradients. Darker parts will simulate the shadows.

For the cup we will be using radial white-gray gradient. According to the imaginary source of the light above the cup (upper left side) so the left side of the cup should be lighter.

Let’s create the edge of the cup. Select the pink ellipse and under the Object choose the Path > Offset Path. Set the Offset to -2:

Now we have two ellipses. Set the Fill color for the larger ellipse to white ( #FFFFF ):

The smaller ellipse represents the inner part of the cup. Since the imaginary source of the light is on the upper left side, that side of the interior will be darker:

Let’s edit the handle a little bit. In that order we need to expand the path first. Select the handle and under the Object option, choose Expand:

Make sure that the handle is not too big or too small for the cup. You can add some details. Take a look at your cup at home and try to copy the look of the handle.

Grab the Ellipse Tool (L) from the Tool Panel and create two ellipses as such:

Holding the Shift key on the keyboard, select the handle as well. Under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Unite option:

Now we have to adjust the anchor points a little bit to make a smooth shape of the handle:

The handle should be within the shadow because it is on the right side of the cup (source of the light is the left side, and the handle is on the right side). Let's apply a darker gradient and later we can add some reflections as well:

Creating Details

Let's create two fancy golden lines! The first step would be to select the larger ellipse and duplicate it (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Holding the Shift key on the keyboard, move the copy downwards.

Now we need to remove the upper anchor point. Grab the Direct Selection Tool (A) from the Tool Panel to do that. Just click on the anchor point and hit the Delete key on the keyboard. Remove the Fill color and set the Stroke color to green:

Set the Stroke to 4 and under the Object hit Expand:

Now we have to duplicate the shape of the cup. Hit the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+F (for copy and paste-in-front). Select the copy we’ve just made and the line and under the Pathfinder Panel choose Intersect:

Apply the golden linear gradient:

Repeat the previous step to create another, thinner line:

Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the shape of the cup twice. Move to the right side of one of the copies and select both copies. Choose the Intersect option under the Pathfinder Panel:

Now duplicate the new shape we’ve just created and move it to the right side, scale it up a little bit and rotate it. Select both shapes and under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Minus Front button:

Feel free to change the position and the angle of the new shape. Play around until you achieve the right look. Set the Fill color to white and lower the opacity to 40%:

Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw the path. Set the Stroke to 3:

Under the Object hit Expand:

Select both, expanded path and the reflection and under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Minus Front button:

Using the same technique create few more highlights and shadows:

Now we can add a shadow and a highlight on the handle of the cup. Grab the Ellipse Tool (L) and create the ellipse as it shown on the picture below:

Duplicate the handle of the cup (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) and by holding the Shift key on the keyboard, select the ellipse and the copy we’ve just created. Hit the Intersect button under the Pathfinder Panel. Set the Fill color to #C2C2C2:

Creating a highlight is pretty much the same. Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the handle twice. Move around one of the copies, scale it up or down, rotate; try out several things until you are happy with the result. Select both copies and under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Minus Front button. Set the Fill color to white (#FFFFF):

Creating a Saucer

For the saucer we'll need the ellipse. We can't create a new one because we need to stick to the same exact perspective we've created for the cup. Fror that reason, we will duplicate one of the ellipses we created earlier.

Holding the Alt key on the keyboard, click on the larger ellipse and drag it downwards (don't forget to hold the Shift key for straight drawing):

Under Object select Arrange > Send Back:

Scale up the ellipse for our saucer a little bit and duplicate it (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Grab the lower middle point of the selection box and drag it downwards (non-uniform scaling up). Now we have to move the ellipse upwards to make the side points to match:

Next, duplicate the old ellipse (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Select that copy and the new ellipse and under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Minus Front button. Ungroup (Shift+Ctrl+G) the new shape and erase the upper part. You should end up with something like this:

The next step would be to apply gradients and colors to our saucer. After that we can add more details. For the lower part of the saucer we will use a radial gradient:

To the upper part of the saucer we will apply the linear gradient:

Now we need a white edge for the saucer. Duplicate the ellipse (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) twice and nudge one of the copies to the left side for 2 pixels. Select both copies and under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Minus Front button:

Set the Fill color of the new shape to white:

Do the same for the other side. Create two copies, nudge one of them for 2 pixels to the right side and create a nice white edge by using a Minus Front button under the Pathfinder Panel:

Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the big ellipse and scale it down. Set the Fill color to #EDEDED. That is the spot where we actually place the cup — the middle point of the saucer:

Duplicate twice the big ellipse (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) and nudge one of the copies downwards:

Select both copies and under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Minus Front button. Set the Fill color to #EDEDED. This way we’ve created the inner shadow on the saucer:

We need a small ellipse to put under the cup to simulate a tiny shadow from the cup. Set the Fill color to #C6C6C6:

Duplicate the middle ellipse twice (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Nudge one of the copies 2 pixel downwards. Select both copies and under the Pathfinder Panel hit the Minus Front button. Set the Fill color to #C6C6C6. This way we’ve created the inner edge of the middle part of the saucer:

Grab the Pen Tool (P) from the Tool Panel and draw the shape as it shown on the picture below. Set the Fill color to #C6C6C6 and lower the opacity to 46%:

Take again the Pen Tool (P) and draw the path as you see on the picture below.

Set the Stroke to 4 and under Object select Expand:

Duplicate the big ellipse (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Select the copy and the curve we’ve just made and hit the Intersect button under the Pathfinder Panel:

Apply the linear golden gradient to the curve. Use the same golden linear gradient we used previously for the golden lines on the cup:

Using the same technique create a thinner line:

For the end we’ll create one more reflection (but if you like you can create more than just one). Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the largest ellipse of the saucer, scale it down and place it more to the right side:

Holding the Alt key on the keyboard click on the green shape and move it to the left side. This way you’ll create a copy of the green shape and change the position of it at the same time:

Select both ellipses and hit the Minus Front button under the Pathfinder Panel. Grab a Pen Tool (P) from the Tool Panel and draw the small curved path. Expand the path under Object > Expand. Select both, expanded path and the green shape we’ve just created and hit the Minus Front under the Pathfinder Panel:

Set the Fill color to white. Adjust the position, size and the angle of the reflection we’ve just made:

The last thing is to add the shadow under the saucer. Grab the Ellipse Tool (L) from the Tool Panel and create the ellipse. Under the Object select Arrange > Send Back. Set the Fill color to #C6C6C6:

And Voila! Our cup is ready:

Final Note

Just keep one thing in mind. Perspective is very important. You have to try your best to stick to it during the entire creation process. You can always add more details to the cup as much as you like. It also helps if you look at the object simultaneously while you are creating it.

Feel free to experiment and try out different things. You can easily create interesting shapes and forms using the Pathfinder Panel with all its features. I hope you liked this tutorial. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them in the comments section below.

(ik)

Dreamy Fantasy Art Photoshop Tutorials

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 06:01 AM PDT

in Dreamy Fantasy Art Photoshop Tutorials

Creating fantasy artwork requires a lot of imagination as well as expertise in softwares which are used to create such marvelous pictures. Almost anything is possible; whether it's a supernatural fairy, an old fantasy space city or an armored dragon jewelry box. All of these tutorials are useful and will definitely give you the chance to improve your Photoshop skills.

Feel free to share with us any other fantasy art tutorials you've found useful!

Fantasy Art Tutorials

Serene Fantasy Photo Manipulation
In this tutorial you can learn how to create a serene fantasy photo manipulation:

Castle in the Sky
Here is a detailed tutorial where you can learn how to create a fantasy castle in the sky:

Design Surreal Composition Fallen Angel's Dream Fly
In this tutorial we'll learn how to design a surreal composition of an angel:

Fairy Night
In this tutorial you can learn how to correct the photo's colors, change the eye color, work with the layers, apply ready brushes and designs, create your own design and also to picture the stars:

Combine Photo Elements to Create a Surreal Photo Manipulation
In his Photoshop tutorial, you will learn how to use a variety of color, lighting, and the cut-and-paste techniques to create a surreal photo manipulation. Combine your creativity with these Photoshop techniques to create your own photo manipulation artworks:

Create a Beautiful and Dramatic Scene with Photo Manipulations
Here are a number of techniques to help you add drama to a fantasy photo manipulation:

Create a Fantasy Illustration in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the artist shows you how to create a fantasy montage in Photoshop using some stock images and brushes.This tutorial is simple but the final image looks amazing:

How to Create a Fantasy Landscape Photo Manipulation
In this tutorial, you can learn how to create a fantasy landscape using some simple and easy techniques. Everyone with basic Photoshop skills can succeed to recreate this simple image using the most important thing in this kind of photo manipulation – the right image stock:

How to Create a Fantasy "Mother Nature" Scene
This tutorial is about creating a fantasy scene called "Mother Nature." We will use well chosen images, brushes and most off all our imagination in combination with Photoshop techniques to create an outstanding image:

The Creation of "Lost in Memory" Epic Fantasy Artwork in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the artist shows you the steps he took to create this epic fantasy-like artwork "Lost in Memory" in Photoshop:

Design an Awesome Fantasy Floating Mountain Scene in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the artist explains the process completed to create this really cool, fantasy style floating mountain scene in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial and some steps can be tricky, but why not have a try:

Turn a Flawless Blonde Beauty into a Sword-Wielding Fantasy Action Hero
In this tutorial we are going to learn how to turn a flawless blonde beauty into a sword-wielding survival huntress. To do this, we are going to make her skin sweaty and dirty, her dress stained and torn, we'll add blood stains to the sword, manipulate her hair, and create a post-apocalyptic background full of smoke and fire effects. Check it out:

Create Awesome Dark Fantasy Scenary in Photoshop
In this tutorial you will learn how to create an awesome dark fantasy scenary in Photoshop:

Design a Surreal, Ancient Fantasy Scene in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the artist elaborates the steps he took to create this artwork. We will take several real world objects and seamlessly blend them together. We will also use a number of Photoshop brushes to spice up the effect. The techniquses involved in this tutorial include layer blending, image adjustments, filter effects, custom brush tools, adding layer mask, etc.:

Create an Out of Bounds Fantasy Illustration
In this tutorial, we will take you through the process of creating a fantasy scene, make water pour out of a painting, make some sort of a absorption effect and end up with a really nice looking color:

Create a Beautiful Lonely Fantasy Fairy
This tutorial will explain how to make a beautiful fairy from a single source image. We will go over each step on how to make the feathers, the hat, the background, the grass and the mountains:

Design a Fantasy Style Mountain River Scene in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the artist will show you the processes to take to create such a fantasy-like mountain river scene like this one with the help of Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial so some steps can be tricky, but why not have a try:

Create an Old Fantasy Space City
This tutorial will explain how to make an old space city from a single source image in Photoshop:

Design a Black and White, Dreamy Style Surreal Artwork in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the artist shows you the steps to take to create this black and white, dreamy style sureal artwork in Photoshop. Have a try:

Making a Book of Magical Playground Scene
This tutorial will show you how to create a fantasy book scene. By using various advanced Photoshop techniques, we can try to make the composition as realistic as possible:

Create a Fantasy Scene with Death
In this tutorial the artist explains how he made this masterpiece and what decisions he made before and during making the image. Step-by-step images are provided to illustrate the techniques.Check it out:

Create an Armored Fantasy Dragon from a Jewelry Box Image
This tutorial shows the step by step process to turn a normal photo into a spectacular image, by simply using creativity and some technical knowledge:

Create a Fantasy Scene with a Sorceress and Tree Monster
In this tutorial you'll learn how to transform a normal photo of a woman walking in the park into a fantasy image of a sorceress facing a tree monster. Some basic Photoshop knowledge is required to follow this tutorial:

How to Create a Fantasy Flower Creature
In this fantasy tutorial, we are going to create a cool flower creature with Photoshop CS3. And this is exactly how to do it:

How to Create a Sparkling Fantasy Photo Manipulation
In this tutorial, we're going to create a photo manipulation using different techniques. By adjusting each layer and element, we can make a compact final image. We'll also be using multiple photos and a handful of effects to create this work. Let's get started:

Awesome Fantasy Style Castle Scene Creation in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the artist shows you the steps he took to design this awesome fantasy-like castle scene with an icy background texture, space and debris brushses:

Creating Your Own Fairytale Scene
In this beautiful tutorial we will learn how to create a mindblowing fairytale scene:

Making a Beautiful Pair of Fantasy Eyes
In this tutorial we will explore the basics on how we can create such effects with the help of Photoshop:

Making of a Forest Magical Scene
In this tutorial you can learn how to make a forest magical scene:

Mysterious Lightning
In this tutorial you can learn how to make a fantasy scene with mysterious lightning:

Beautiful Spring Fantasy Photo Manipulation
This tutorial usees different Photoshop tools such as combining stock images, using brushes and the transform tool as well as adjusting colors to create a beautiful fantastic spring scene:

Skating in Clouds – Magic Scene
In this tutorial you can learn how to create a magical scene among clouds:

Nightly Prayer Tutorial
A step by step tutorial that shows how to make a nightly prayer. It was made in Photoshop CS but should work just fine with PS 7 and other versions:

Create Breathtaking Fantasy Light Effects
Learn how to combine brushes and blur effects in Photoshop to create a beautiful fantasy scene in this step-by-step guide by Murilo Maciel:

Angel Praying Among the Clouds
In this tutorial you can learn how to create a fantasy photo manipulation with an angel who is praying high among the clouds:

The Making of Secret Pond
In this tutorial the artist explains how he created the lighting effects in the making of the 'Secret Pond':

Create a Falling Fantasy Photomanipulation Using Painting Techniques
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a falling fantasy photomanipulation using stock images and some digital painting techniques. You'll also learn how to extract, preserve and recreate flowing hair, and you'll learn how to manipulate twirling vines:

Create an Incredible Story Coming Alive Fantasy Photomanipulation
In this fantasy photo manipulation tutorial, you will learn how to start with just a few stock images and quickly build up an incredible story-based artwork. You'll see how you can manipulate images, add effects and create amazing artwork with the help of this tutorial:

Floating Island
In this tutorial the artist illustrates how simple it is to make a floating island! You will need two images for the sky and castle. You'll also need two other images for the mud and grass textures:

(ik)

Fresh Icon Sets To Improve Your Designs

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 04:35 AM PDT

in Fresh Icon Sets To Improve Your Designs

A predefined icon set collection is like a resource reservoir for graphic designers which can be used to improve the appearance of the designs they're working on. Nevertheless, these icons should be seen as an inspiration and we encourage you all to try creating your own icons for designing portfolios, blogs, corporate designs, magazines and Web applications.

Tutorials on how to create your own icons (almost everything is possible!) are available after the jump. Here, all icon sets are free. Nevertheless, please be sure to read the license agreements carefully before using all icons since this can change from time to time. Enjoy!

IC Minimal Icon Set – by Design Deck – Available in 28 Icons in total all PNG & JPG format and a size of 64x 64.

Android Icons – Shape Package – Vector shapes collection in one package.

Mail Icons / Elements – A set of vector mail icons.

Web Icons Tile-Style – A clean set of stylish web icons in 256 x 256 pixels.

Weather Icons – A set of beautiful 'weather' icons.

Shopping Icons – Set of 12 shopping icons in 256 x 256 pixels.

Glossy: Free Icon Set – This free icon set has 20 high quality semi-transparent and glossy icons.

Free Vector Net Icon Set – Here you'll find the EPS and AI file in the zipped folder:

Cutie – 20 High Quality Web Icons – "Cutie" consists of 20 icons, available in 48×48, 64×64, 128×128, 256×256 and 512×512.

Kaching – Exclusive Free eCommerce Icons – The icons are available as PNGs (48×48 and 400×400) and more:

Facebook, Twitter & RSS Feed Icons – The set consist of the Facebook, Twitter and RSS Feed Icons and are available in two different sizes – 64 x 64px and 128 x 128px.

Winter Writers: A Unique and Free High Quality Icon Set – This high-quality icon set features 10 icons, all in PNG format, ranging from 32×32 px to 512x512px.

Vector Weather Icons – Vector weather icons are provided in .AI (Adobe Illustrator CS3) format.

Medical Icon Set – Available in PNG: 24×24, 32×32, 48×48, 64×64, 128×128, 256×256, ICO, ICNS: 128x128px.

MySecret 10 icons – A set of 10 beautiful icons.

Colorful Heart Icons – 10 color variations of a stylish heart icons in a fully layered PSD.

Settings – ICO, ICNS and PNG files available inside the zip.

The Lost Props – Movie based OSX icons.

Free Computer & Mobile Icons – A set of 9 game and mobile icons in 256 x 256 pixels.

Free Aircraft Icons – A set of 18 free aircraft icons. PNG's and Vector files can be downloaded for free.

Small Icons – can be used in any application.

Minecraft Icon Replacement – A set of awesome Mac / Windows Icons.

Free simple icons – Zip file including PSD and PNG files.

Free Food Icons – Looks good enough to eat: A set of 12 food icons in 256 x 256 pixels.

Vector Funny Emoticons – Funny emoticons are provided in vector .AI (Adobe Illustrator CS3) format.

MySecret – A set of 10 beautiful icons.

Fashionable Handbag Icons – Brighten up a fashion site or blog with these fashionable handbag icons. Set of 12:

Free Social Icon Set – 3 folders with PNG icons in different sizes . Available sizes : 64×64,
128×128, 256×256.

Twitter Icon for Mac – Beautiful twitter icon for Mac.

Blue Print Icon Set – Detailed blue print icon in 4 sizes available as transparent PNG files: 64 x 64px, 128 x 128 px, 256 x 256 px, 512 x 512 px.

Music Instruments – A set of 9 music instruments in 256 x 256 pixels.

Cute as a Button. Cats 2 – This collection contains 6 icons with large resources for Windows & Mac OS X.

Comic iPad Icons – Including Mac, Windows and PNG files.

Free Icons: Multimedia – A nice set of 9 multimedia icons in 256 x 256 pixels.

Vector Social Paper Icons – Awesome collection of free vector social icons from the web 2.0 family:

Developpers Icons – 105 icons contained in a wonderful set.

i Icons – Icons contained in a set (62 total) / Free for personal desktop use only.

Free Web Icons – A set of 3D Web icons in 256 x 256 pixels.

More Icons:

Useful Icon Packs for Your Creativity: Still searching? You'll be sure to find one here.
Best Photoshop Icon Design Tutorials: Here are some great tutorials on learning how to create your own icons. Let your creativity flow!
50 Remarkable Free Icon Sets Released in 2010: Another great collection of icons.

(ik)