Archive for the ‘artwork’ Category

Spice up your blog design with photo or graphic illustrations to enhance the look and value to readers. This blog illustration design tutorial shows how I did just that on my personal blog Growin’ Up in Maine on a recent blog post about a childhood story called First Plane Ride Ever.

Follow the link above to read the story and see the blog design illustration.

The finished Piper Cub plane illustration is shown larger than actual size as used on the blog post to make the tutorial easier for viewers to imagine how to combine elements into an illustration.

Here is the step by step plane illustration tutorial in 4 graphics marked A through D and explained below.

• Graphic A: Original Piper Cub photo from Wikimedia Commons prior to any crop or edit of markings
• Graphic B: Graphic elements including the plane cropped, text to be added, and alternate plane markings
• Graphic C: Crop of personal sky and fluffy cloud photo I took and chose as a replacement background
• Graphic D: Final illustration actual size 300×200 as used on the blog post for a more dramatic look

The original Piper Cub photo (A) was cropped to remove the background, and then (B) graphic elements for the illustration were created: plane (resized and different angle), text caption, and new plane markings “July 1957″. The photo (C) is an original that I took recently of a blue Florida sky and fluffy clouds used as a replacement background, and then (D) shows the finished illustration actual size. Edits were done using Xara Xtreme software.

The personal blog about Growin’ Up in Maine has over 100 childhood stories that feature a photo or graphic illustration on every post. While having a graphic for every post adds pressure to staying creative, even an interesting graphic on every other post is better than none. Perhaps this blog illustration design tutorial will help readers become inspired.

It’s that time of year again when I release free custom business card calendar artwork, so the 2011 business card calendar download is now available.

As always, you do not have to register or reveal an email address, so click the card graphic to the right or use this link for your free 2011 business card calendar download (zip folder, 1.3mb size). Artwork is in 300dpi JPG CMYK 4-color ready for print.

Just like last year the zip folder includes 3 versions with your choice of backgrounds in light granite, grey marble, or plain white. The free 2010 business card calendar for this year is still available for download, also.

Each card design is oversized at 3.625″ x 2.125″ for USA standard business card size to allow bleed for 1/16th trim on each side to 3.5 x 2.0 after printing. Like the artwork? Please take a moment to comment about the free 2011 business card artwork or tell a friend and send them a link to this page. Thanks.

Struggling to add illustrations or graphics to your website design or blog posts? Consider Flickr public domain photographs.

The photos are mostly collections from public archives and as explained on the Flickr usage page http://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/ the photos became public domain for one of these reasons:

1. The copyright is in the public domain because it has expired;
2. The copyright was injected into the public domain for other reasons, such as failure to adhere to required formalities or conditions;
3. The institution owns the copyright but is not interested in exercising control; or
4. The institution has legal rights sufficient to authorize others to use the work without restrictions.

Free to use does not mean free to package and resell as a collection. Please respect copyright when using content for your projects online or in print other than material you own. The Flickr commons is a great resource for photographs to use in your website design or blog posts, but be warned to watch the clock. It is easy to become engrossed in thousands of options and you could end up spending long hours away from your design.

Graphic design is a very small part of my business, yet my trifold brochure design tutorial is very popular, and a reader recently emailed me for help with ideas for brochure template design inspiration.

For do-it-yourself brochure design, there are some online resources to consider for inspiration. If you use Microsoft Word they have a fairly good selection of standard templates for brochures with a choice of 65 different brochure templates created for various versions of Microsoft software products.

In addition to brochures, you may search for other graphic artwork ideas and templates for cards, mailers, stationery, newsletters, flyers, data sheets, and much more.

UPDATE – 2011 Free Calendars Released: Visit this new blog post for free 2011 business card artwork.

Each year I release free custom business card calendar artwork in August, and the 2010 business card calendar download is now available. You do not need to register or reveal an email address, so click the image below or use this link for your free 2010 business card calendar download (zip folder, 1.1mb size). Artwork is in 300dpi JPG CMYK 4-color ready for print.

The zip folder includes 3 versions of the 2010 business card calendar artwork with your choice of backgrounds in light granite, grey marble, or plain white as illustrated above. Readers can still download the free 2009 business card calendar for this year, also.

A special thanks to the many readers who took the time to email me to express their appreciation for the free calendar downloads, the visitors who left blog comments, and the many blog and website owners who link here, also.

The illustration below is a custom flyer for an insurance company in Florida with a custom map of Kissimmee, space for an address label and stamp, yet appropriate for a handout as well as mailing.

The background image of the company building is actually a collage with significant photo edits for a more attractive presentation. Not seen are utility poles and wires, background signs from nearby businesses, the original sky (replaced), and the card back which is identical except in Spanish.

View additional examples of custom post card and flyer artwork for print in the custom post card gallery, and then email or write about affordable custom flyer artwork and printing options for your small business.

This advanced photo edit tutorial in Xara Xtreme shows an example of how to hide unwanted portions of a photograph for web graphics in custom web design. The process from start to finish took 5 minutes. In this case the web graphic needed to be revised to remove the toddler playing in the hallway. Here’s how the photo edit was done in a series of 6 illustrations marked A to E:

Photo A (below left) shows the original photo taken by the client which displays the toddler to be removed. Viewing the carpet, floor trim, and wall to the right of the baby, I selected a vertical portion taller than the person, and created a rectangular clipping mask as shown in photo B (below right).

Photo C (below left) shows the cropped vertical section of the carpet/trim/wall taken from a cloned duplicate of the photo. The original photo placed in the background has 65% transparency applied in preparation for the next step.

Photo D (below right) shows the carpet/trim/wall clipping stretched horizontally to cover the toddler and part of the background decor. To create a realistic graphic, solving the problem of the clipping covering the planter and leaves will be next.

Photo E (below left) shows less transparency on the background, and some transparency of the carpet/trim/wall for an enhanced view, and then the clipping mask drawn precisely over the planter and leaves without revealing any of the toddler. Select the mask and carpet/trim/wall graphic and use CTRL+2 to crop the masked portion.

Photo F (below right) shows the final web graphic after removing transparency of both pieces to digitally create the new photo. The carpet/trim/wall piece has feathering applied so it blends in better with the background, and now the photo is ready to insert in their custom web design.

Users of Xara Xtreme may use shortcut CTRL+K for cloning and CTRL+B and F to send pix front or back during the edit. Select the mask and photo then use CTRL+3 to crop. The only other feature needed in Xara is the feathering tool. For higher quality work for print rather than in a web design, use the steps in this photo edit tutorial to begin, and then zoom in for more precision.

Update Aug 12, 2009 The 2010 free business card calendar download has been released with 3 free versions in white, granite, and marble.

A free 2009 business card calendar ready for print is available for immediate download. You do not need to register or provide an email address, so right click and download your free business card sized calendar artwork. This is high resolution custom business card artwork in 4-color cmyk at 300 dpi jpg ready for print.

Bonus: Unlike previous years I included 3 versions of the free calendar for 2009 with backgrounds in plain white, gray marble, and white granite, so you may choose any of 3 business card calendars. The graphic above displays all three background versions of each business card calendar larger than actual size (zipped folder, 1.1 meg). Right click this business card artwork download to save yours with no cost or obligation.

Readers can still download the free 2008 business card calendar for this year, also.

The ideal talent combination for web design includes graphic art qualifications and website designs to the latest standards in xhtml and css. A new page on the main site features my diploma in commercial art from 1976, and I’ve been designing websites since 1996. Advanced techniques in seo, or search engine optimization, round out the basics for quality web designs.

The diploma was before computers were invented, so digital artwork was years away. My career in web design began in 1996, and then full time since 2004. With vector graphics software clients can have custom web graphics and artwork for print for consistent market branding and corporate image.

Certainly some web developers are corporations with a staff of designers and programmers, yet my reaction time completing projects is often faster. As a sole proprietor with low overhead, I provide one stop shopping for web design and modest pricing for custom cms web design and related artwork for print. Clients for web design and graphic artwork can expect high quality at a fair price delivered on time.

When considering a designer look for forward looking website design techniques to the latest standards of W3C for xhtml with css combined with qualifications and experience as a graphic artist. The ideal web design services will include advice and expertise in search engine optimization, also.

A new web design video tutorial demonstrates masking photographs to clip the background, and then combining two photos for a web graphic illustration. This client purchased a stock photo of a boxer being punched and wanted to convey a message about new internet users being abused in an upcoming web design. The second photo overlay in this web design graphic adds a business shirt and tie to the boxer’s bare chest to look more like an internet user.

Next, a new custom business card artwork gallery #2 features 50 more full color business card examples. Most include the business card front and back to show how card backs may be used for small ads, or a call to action. The gallery uses an advanced web design technique in CSS to display 50 cards larger than actual size in half an open browser window. Enlarged business card views display instantly as you mouse over the thumbnails, and do not use javascript or flash. In addition, each card has a caption describing the company business product or service in plain text for added SEO value.

Finally, both card galleries have a new comment for clients who want to order fewer than 5000 new business cards. The printer I recommend now offers 1000 2-sided full color UV coated cards for $30 plus tax and freight.

Watch the advanced photo edit video for web graphics on my main site, or view 100 examples of business card artwork in the original 50 card gallery or new Gallery 2 with 50 more designs, and then email me from any page with questions about custom graphic art for web design or print.