Your creative world of design
Web designers typically turn to other websites for design inspiration, but sometimes it is good to look at other mediums to get a different perspective on design. One of my favorite alternatives for inspiration is poster design. By looking at great posters, you can learn a lot about composition, typography, and use of color.
Here is a list of beautifully designed posters guaranteed to leave you inspired.
Did you like my previous CSS tutorial on how to create gradient text effects? I’m using the same trick to show you how to decorate your images and photo galleries without editing the source images. The trick is very simple. All you need is an extra <span> tag and apply a background image to create the overlaying effect. It is very easy and flexible — see my demos with over 20 styles, from a simple image icon to a rounded corner to a masked layer (both decorative and complex).
A few weeks ago I wrote a tutorial introducing you to Papervision 3D. The tutorial explains how to create the beginnings of a simple 3D Gallery. If you want a fully functional 3d Gallery, you could do one of two things: pick up where the tutorial leaves off and put in a few hundred hours of development, or simply let us give you one of three copies of Flashloaded’s 3D Wall.
About 3D Wall3D Wall is a Flash CS3 component that allows you to create engaging and highly interactive 3D environments for images with no ActionScript skills needed. Some of the key features include mouse and keyboard interactivity, depth of field, and external XML file support. With over 60 customizable settings, this component allows you to ...
If you’re a regular visitor, you should know that Web Designer Wall is always giving out free Flash components. This time, we’re giving out 5 copies of 3D Wall from Flashloaded. 3D Wall is a Flash CS3 component that lets you create an interactive wall that looks 3D! It’s very flexible, easy to use, and is a cool addition to any gallery/portfolio sites (check out my samples: Demo 1 and Demo 2)
If you missed our free PhotoFlow component draw last time, you don’t want to miss this one!
Update: The contest is now closed and the winners are: 91, 221, 658, 825, and 980. (more…)
When I first saw the Viget Inspire Blog, I was very impressed. The background just grabs and pulls the reader right in. After studying it for a while, I still couldn’t determine if it was made from an actual painting or if it was all created from scratch in Photoshop. Regardless of how it was created, it makes for a great looking design. In this tutorial, I will you show you my own technique for creating this type of background.
The End ResultHere is a preview of the background we will be creating.
Step 1Before we get started, you need to grab a couple of freebies and put them in your Photoshop brushes folder:
There are steps in the web design process that aren’t as fun as creating a beautiful design or coding an ajax rich interface, and for this reason they are often neglected or completely omitted. These steps may not be necessary to take a site from concept to production, but in terms of achieving the objectives defined by the project’s stake holders, they could make all the difference.
Define and Completely Understand Site ObjectivesHow many times have you started designing a website based on less than detailed requirements, only to find yourself frustrated later by numerous changes and additions? This can be avoided by taking extra time with the client to learn what the site is all about and what it’s objectives are. In most cases, this should be achieved before ...
According to a poll I conducted, just over 1 out of 10 people don’t think SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is mandatory as a designer; and what really surprised me is about 24% don’t even know what SEO is! If you’re among the quarter of people who don’t know what SEO is or understand how it can help you, you should really read this article. This is an SEO guide for designers who want to learn about making it easier for websites or blogs to be found by search engines. I’ll explain the common mistakes made by designers and developers. Then I’ll provide some basic tips that you should be practicing to optimize your site for search engines. (more…)
Vector illustrated characters are a great way to give a web site personality and make it more inviting. Not only are they fun to look at, but they also allow a site to be more identifiable. In a lot of cases, these vector characters can become synonymous with a brand.
Below is a showcase of the best vector illustrated characters on the web.
You are currently browsing the Dawti weblog archives for the month May, 2008.
Longer entries are truncated. Click the headline of an entry to read it in its entirety.
Silverback 
Eanka 
Wired Games Cafe
Simple Startup 
Vector This 
Blogsessive 
Fat Guy
Swizzle Designs 
Yaili 
Photoshop Lady 