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15 must-see Photoshop tutorials

Brian — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:31:10 +0000

If you love Photoshop, you’ll love it even more after learning the techniques in these tutorials:

Coloring skin and body in Photoshop and how to mimic the natural play of light upon the body.

How to create a professional Twitter background – a quick-and-easy tutorial for customizing your Twitter page.

Remember how fun watercolors used to be? You can recreate a watercolor effect with Photoshop!

Pop art a la Lichtenstein – really cool stuff for the poppy designer!

Very, very cool Photoshop tutorial on how to transform a woman’s photograph into an eerie doll face and more.

How to design a website using the 960 Grid System, an oft-employed web design technique that looks great. This tutorial includes a free 960 GS download so you can quickly deploy an original 960 design.

A tutorial that covers how to make a DVD cover with Photoshop. The techniques used here could also be applied to movie posters.

Dioramas are cool, especially when you combine several images and blur/focus PS techniques to highlight your subject.

Want to master the Photoshop warp tool? This tutorial shows you the way…

Paint splashed over the face of a photographic subject – nice. What’s really neat is that this liquid Photoshop technique can be used in many, many design applications.

Yet another awesome website design tutorial. This has a clean Web 2.0 feel that many designers like to emulate.

A very unique and creative – yet clean and easy-to-follow – website design. The techniques employed here are invaluable.

Learn how to use the Photoshop mask tool to create this model effect from a photo.

When the outer glow blending option doesn’t quite cut it – use these tips to achieve an outstanding glow emanating from your subjects.

Super cool fallen angel tutorial that shows you how to blend a woman and a bird on a textured background.

What are your favorite Photoshop techniques?

Copywriting Basics: An Introduction

Jerry — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:37:31 +0000

New copywriters may feel overpowered by all of the different mediums they are having to learn how to write.

It doesn’t matter if you are searching for a job as an agency copywriter or a freelancer, there are five basic mediums you have to know how to write.

Print Ads

Make sure to learn about print advertising. Once you understand what makes these effective, you can move into flyers, newsletters, postcards, etc. Print ads make great additions to your portfolio.

Brochures

You need to know how a brochure fits into the overall marketing scheme before you try to sit down and write one. You have to know if it is meant to stand alone or within a larger marketing campaign. Knowing the five types of brochures will start you on your way to writing an effective brochure.

Direct Mail

After you have begun to create brochures, you will want to tackle direct mail. It will expand on your knowledge base. Not every direct mail package is the same. Some may just be a sales letter or postcard, while others may be more indepth. Some agencies specialize in direct mail, so if you like direct mail then you have a niche.

Commercials

Writing for television helps you learn how to write audio that match video. A 30 second t.v. script is an excellent copywriting experience. The writing has to end on time and match the video seamlessly. Now is a good time to learn how to write a radio commercial. Both can be used as part of your expanding portfolio

Websites

Learning how to write for websites is a standard requirement for any novice copywriter. Every company needs a website that has clear and concise copy. In steps you, the copywriter to save the day.

Website copy can be used in your portfolio, also.

These are just the five most basic forms of writing that a good copywriter needs to know. Advertising mediums take all shapes and sizes. Master them all and you will master your future.

7 elements of effective cover letter writing for graphic designers

Lennis — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:39:26 +0000

Are you in the midst of a job hunt? Don’t forget the importance of an outstanding cover letter. Here are a few points to consider:

Appearance. Keep your cover letter clean and concise. It should have a similar look as your resume. Use the same kind of high-quality paper. Also, in my opinion, it shouldn’t be longer than one page.

The addressee. It is always a good idea to target your resume to the person who will actually be reading it. Writing “To whom it may concern” just doesn’t cut it. Call the company and find out who you should address the letter to. Make sure to ask for the correct spelling.

The opening. Make sure to state the title or position you are interested in and how you heard of the job.

Keep it simple and direct. Keep your writing to the point. State your qualifications and make sure to point out the benefits you would bring to the table. Directly address their job requirements listed in the job description. Draw attention to your strengths. Remember your potential boss may be reading hundreds of cover letters so cut the fluff, and don’t forget to sign it.

Focus on the company. Make sure to focus your letter on the company’s needs. Remember they want to know what you can do for them, not what you want them to do for you.

Grammar and spelling. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. All it takes is one grammar misstep or spelling error to land your hopes in the garbage can despite your qualifications.

Be honest. Don’t lie or exaggerate in your letter. If you misrepresent yourself, you will more than likely be found out.

7 Tips For Freelance Copywriters In A Bad Economy

Jerry — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:00:27 +0000

Ad budgets are slashed and there are layoffs at ad agencies. It is still a good time to be a freelancer in a bad economy. The spending for ad is down. That is where the freelance copywriter comes in.

You have lower overhead and can bid lower than an agency can.

Getting Started

You are not the only one who is starting a freelance career. People are trying to increase their income by taking on freelance work. Freelancing is how most of the laid off copywriter are getting by while they are out of a job. You have to start off right to beat out the competition.

Finding Clients

For new freelancers, small businesses that can’t afford an ad agency retainer are a great source for that first job. Even in a stable economy these companies are a great resource.

A seasoned freelance may want to begin to re-contact and try to connect with businesses that did not have work for you a year ago. The situation may have changed. You are at an advantage simply because you have contacted them in the past.

Create Writing Samples

You have to have writing samples to get work as a freelance copywriter. If you are just starting out, create a few spec ads or rewrite a news article.

You will not get work based on your pretty logo or letterhead. Clear, concise writing samples are what you have to have in order to get work.

Portfolio Preparation

Always have a portfolio prepared and on hand. Every potential client is going to want to see samples of your work. Send them to your website, email the portfolio, or fax it.

Just be sure to have your portfolio ready before you make customer contact. Be prepared and yu will get more clients.

Do Not Change Your Rates

It is hard to set your rates. It is hard to know whether to charge by the hour, job, or to offer both options. Do not lower your rates because the economy is off. Offer specials or one time discounts. This way, you help your clients with strained budgets and have a way to go back to your old rates when things turn around and not have to explain yourself to your clients.

Contracts

No contract, no work. Never start work without a signed contract in hand. 99% of clients will pay on time, but you never know which one is going to fall into the 1% category.

Deadbeat Clients

The economy is not an excuse for a client to skip out on payment. Do not let yourself think that paying you should be at the bottom a a clients list or an option they can ignore.

You lived up to your part, now they must live up to theirs.

Remember, this situation can be very temporary. You may get called back to work at any time. Freelancing can be a good way to get a boot in the door at a new agency when the economy starts up again.

If you intend to keep on freelancing, now is a good time to get new clients and establish long term relationships.

Portfolio applications for graphic designers

Brian — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:13:48 +0000

If you’re a graphic designer, you know you need an online portfolio. You probably have one already. And if you don’t, you can always find free Flash, JavaScript and plug-ins for popular CMS systems such as Wordpress, Joomla! and others.

But there’s more to building a great online portfolio than simply uploading some images to your site or a dynamic framework that showcases your skills in fluid motion.

Social networking.

If you haven’t engaged in social networking for your portfolio, you’re in for a treat (assuming you’re good at what you do. You are good, right?). There are many, many ways to socially network your skills online.

Why spread your portfolio into the vastness of the web when you can update it on a central server? Exposure, traffic, sales; in that order.

Do you get a quarter million visitors a month like behance.net does? It might be worth your while to post your portfolio there. Here are a few other graphic design portfolio websites your work should be listed on:

Designer’s Toolbox
Carbon Made
BeHance
Deviant Art
CPU Luv
Coroflot
Flickr
MySpace
Facebook
Elance
Guru

Productivity software for graphic designers

Brian — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:06:10 +0000

Productivity software is generally described as software that makes businesses (or people) more productive. Simple and self-explanatory. But each niche profession (or personality) has a unique set of tasks that productivity software can automate or otherwise make more efficient. For graphic designers, programs such as Adobe’s Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Flash), QuarkXPress, and MS Virtual Basic would all be considered productivity software.

But what about the simple, time-intensive tasks graphic designers tediously undertake? Things such as identifying a font, changing a CSS style, or choosing a complimentary color can take hours away from more “important” tasks such as creating your designs and choosing imagery. The creative can be stifled by the banal.

Some of my favorite productivity software for graphic designers include:

FileZilla — An FTP application that lets you instantly edit server-side files. This comes in handy when you need to make a simple CSS change or swap a banner image.

7-ZIP — Lets you compile, compress, and unpack a myriad of file types that the built-in Windows application can’t. If you work with large file transfers, Z-ZIP and FileZilla are necessities.

IdentifFont — Identify a font by name, style or by answering a series of quick questions.

Open Source CMS systems — Content Management Systems, once put in place, save time and money. When you need to make a portfolio update, you simply fill out a form and upload your file. If you want to change content, add products or do anything else in a flash, there’s probably a CMS that facilitates the action. Learn to design and find a good developer (if you don’t code) for systems such as Wordpress, Joomla! and Drupal. Content is still king, and Open Source CMS is here to stay.

Color scheme generators/color wheels — Here’s a great list of 25 color scheme generators.

Whatsitscolor.com — Upload an image or submit a link to an image and Whatsistscolor generates a color scheme based on the colors in the image. This is valuable if you like the look of a website, brochure or postcard and want to emulate its color scheme. Color Hunter does the same, perhaps slightly cleaner.

Don’t forget that Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Quark and other software have add-ons, plug-ins, actions and a whole host of other time-saving devices available for free download. Try this list of Photoshop plug-ins for starters.

Of course, software suites such as Microsoft Office and OpenOffice deserve a mention, as well as the many commercial project management applications. For free and simple project tracking, check out FreeMind.

Image CC License Flickr.