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Melting Girl in Photoshop

One of the best things in Photoshop, in my opinion, is that we can create all sorts of effects and photo manipulations mixing regular stock photos. A few weeks ago I used a few images to come up with a sort of surrealist design of a melting girl face over a metal skull. It's still a working in progress, but I decided to share with you how I did it.

So in this tutorial I will show you how you can mix stock photos with blend modes, basic filters and tools to create a really cool design. The whole process is very simple and won't take you more than 1 hour to finish the tutorial.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document, the size I used for my is 3500x6000 pixels. Then import a paper texture into your document. The one I used is courtesy of Shutterstock and you can find it herehttp://www.shutterstock.com/pic-35221027/stock-photo-old-paper.html

Step 2

Select the paper texture and go to Image>Adjustment>Hue and Saturation. Reduce the Saturation to -100 and increase the Lightness to 42.

Step 3

Here I used a stock photo of a skull. This one I used is courtesy of Shutterstock and can be downloaded at (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-12754177/stock-photo--d-render-of-metall...). Extract the skull from the white background and place it in the center of your design.

Step 4

Now let's import a photo of a girl, again the image I used was courtesy of Shutterstock and can be downloaded at http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-30450358/stock-photo-attractive-young-wo.... Once again extract the girl from the white background and place it in front of the skull layer.

Step 5

Reduce the opacity of the girl's photo so you can align it. Probably you will have to resize it to match the alignment.

Step 6

With the Lasson Tool (L) select an area of the girl's face to delete. Then go to Layer>Layer Mask>Hide Selection.

Step 7

Go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Use Linear Burnstrong> for the Blend Mode and black for the color. For the Opacity use 35%, for the Angle use 45º, for the Distance use 5 pixels, 0 for the Spread and 10 pixels for the Size.

After that select Bevel and Emboss. For the Style use Inner Bevel, Smooth for the Technique and 110% for the Depth. For the Direction use Up, 16 pixels for the Size, 15 pixels for the Soften, then for the Shading settings use 53º for the Angle, 37º for the Altitude. For the Highlight Mode use Screen with white for the color and 100% Opacity. Then for the Shadow Mode use Linear Burn with black for the color and 35% for the Opacity.

Step 8

Now I used a photo of a close up chocolate syrup leaking on white background from Shutterstock, you can get it here (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-46414798/stock-photo-close-up-chocolate-...)

Step 9

Withe the Eraser Tool (E) delete some areas to match the face shape and make the blend well together.

Step 10

Change Blend Mode of the Chocolate Leaking image to Soft Light. The holdingCommand(Mac)/Control(PC) click on the layers thumb in the Layer Palette. You will have a marquee selection of the leaking chocolate.

Select the the girl's layer and click on the layer mask thumb. With the Brush Tool (B) and black for the color start painting the selected area to show the girl's skin that was hidden with the mask. You will have something like the image below.

Step 11

Here I used another stock photo courtesy of Shutterstock, you can get it herehttp://www.shutterstock.com/pic-44487754/stock-photo-melted-chocolate-dr.... The photo is of Melted chocolate dripping on white background and it matched perfectly with the design we're doing, the idea is to make the face sort of melting.

Step 12

Select the face and the dripping layers and duplicate them. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use15 pixels for the radius. After that change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Step 13

With the Paint Bucket Tool (G) fill the layer with black, then with the Eraser Tool (E) using a very big and soft brush, delete the center of the to create a vignette effect. Group this layer so it will be inside a folder, then change the Blend Mode of the foder to Linear Blur.

Step 14

Place the paper texture again into your document, put this new layer on top of the others and change theBlend Mode to Soft Light.

Conclusion

Just add your logo and the composition is done. You can play a little bit more with the shadows to make them more subtle. However the idea of this tutorial was to show you how to create a sort of surreal effect using some stock photos and very basic filters. I hope you enjoyed it.

Original Business Cards Idea

If you hand someone your card and they don’t say “wow”, then start over. It may be your only chance to impress.

Inspired? Grab some cards by ANV Graphics

15 wonderfully simple logo designs

by www.logodesignlove.com

It’s no coincidence that the most memorable logo designs are also the most simple in appearance. You want the identities you create to be instantly recognisable, acting as a memorable identifier for the company they represent. A consumer will normally just take a fleeting glimpse at a logo, and an overly complex mark will 

make that opportunity redundant.

Here are 15 examples of simple, successful designs.

1/ WWF
Designed by Sir Peter Scott, in 1961.

2/ Shell
Designed by Raymond Loewy, in 1971.

3/ Bayer
Designed by Bayer, in 1904.

4/ Message
Designed by Sam Dallyn, in 2001.

5/ USA Network
Designed by Peloton Design, in 2005.

6/ Innocent
Designed by Deepend, in 1999.

7/ British Golf Museum
Designed by Tayburn, in 2004.

8/ London Underground
Designed by Edward Johnston, in 1918.

9/ Mitsubishi Motors
Designed by Yataro Iwasaki, in 1870.

10/ Shelter
Designed by Johnson Banks, in 2003.

11/ 3M
Designed by Siegal & Gale, in 1977.

12/ Apple
Designed by Regis McKenna Advertising, in 1977.

13/ Penguin
Designed by Edward Young, in 1935.

14/ Families
Designed by Herb Lubalin, in 1980.

15/ Waterways Trust
Designed by Pentagram, in 2000.

Taste The Rainbow: A New Logo For Skittles

From: logodesignerblog.com

London designer and designers’ favorite Miles Newlyn worked with Dragon Rouge to create a new logo for the Skittles brand name of candies. His multi-colored tongue concept is a literal though stylized translation of the brand’s slogan, “Taste the rainbow.”

The official Skittles website is worth checking out too.  What are your thoughts?

Basic Typography Terminology

By Eric Miller, About.com Guide

Typeface

A typeface refers to a group of characters, such as letters, numbers, and punctuation, that share a common design or style. Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica and Courier are all typefaces.

Font

Fonts refer to the means by which typefaces are displayed or presented. Helvetica in movable type is a font, as is a TrueType font file.

 

Type Families

The different options available within a font make up a type family. Many fonts are at a minimum available in roman, bold and italic. Other families are much larger, such as Helvetica Neue, which is available in options such Condensed Bold, Condensed Black, UltraLight, UltraLight Italic, Light, Light Italic, Regular, etc.

 

 

Serif Fonts

Serif fonts are recognizable by the small lines at the ends of the various strokes of a character. As these lines make a typeface easier to read by guiding the eye from letter to letter and word to word, serif fonts are often used for large blocks of text, such as in a book. Times New Roman is an example of a common serif font.

 

 

Sans Serif Fonts

Serifs are small lines at the ends of character strokes. Sans serif, or without serif, refers to typefaces without these lines. Sans serif fonts are often used when a large typeface is necessary, such as in a magazine headline. Helvetica is a popular sans serif typeface. Sans serif fonts are also common for website text, as they can be easier to read on screen. Arial is a sans serif typeface that was designed specifically for on-screen use.

 

Point

The point is used to measure the size of a font. One point is equal to 1/72 of an inch. When a character is referred to as 12pt, the full height of the text block (such as a block of movable type), and not just the character itself, is being described. Because of this, two typefaces at the same point size may appear as different sizes, based on the position of the character in the block and how much of the block the character fills.

 

Pica

The pica is generally used to measure lines of text. One pica is equal to 12 points, and six picas are equal to one inch.

 

Baseline

The baseline is the invisible line on which characters sit. While the baseline may differ from typeface to typeface, it is consistent within a typeface. Rounded letters such as "e" will extend slightly below the baseline.

 

 

X-height

The x-height is the distance between the meanline and the baseline. It is referred to as the x-height because it is the height of a lowercase "x." This height can vary greatly between typefaces.

 

 

 

Tracking, Kerning and Letterspacing

The distance between characters is controlled by tracking, kerning and letterspacing. Tracking is adjusted to change the space between characters consistently across a block of text. This may be used to increase legibility for an entire magazine article. Kerning is the reduction of space between characters, and letterspacing is the addition of space between characters. These smaller, precise adjustments may be used to tweak a specific word, such as in a logo design, or a large headline of a story in a newspaper. All of the settings may be experimented with to create artistic text effects.

Leading

Leading refers to the distance between lines of text. This distance, measured in points, is measured from one baseline to the next. A block of text may be referred to as being 12pt with 6pts of extra leading, also known as 12/18. This means there is 12pt type on 18pts of total height (12 plus the 6pts of extra leading).

 

Good Design Is Essential

From Linda Roeder, former About.com Guide

The right design for your site is the one that's right for you. How do you know what's right for you when there are so many different styles of Web design out there? There are so many different ways you can design your site that it's easy for someone to get so lost when designing their site that they may give up all together.
You have to remember that the choices are all yours, because it's your site, and you have to decide what you like. Choices like which colors, styles, fonts, graphics and writing styles to use are all very personal choices and not to be made lightly. What you say and do on your Web site says a lot about who you are. Here are some of the basics you need to consider when designing your site.

• Navigation
  Easy to use navigation is essential to a good Web site. If people can't find what's on your site, well, they just won't stick around, will they?
• Ads
  Too many advertisements on your site make for a bad user experience. Try for well placed, highly noticeable ads instead.
• Maintenance
  After creating a Web site you have to maintain it. If you have links to other Web sites you need to check them periodically to make sure the links still take you somewhere because sometimes Web sites disappear.
• Things That Blink
  Blinking can be annoying and you don't want to annoy your readers.
• Noise
  A lot of people like to add music to their Web sites. That's all well and good, but if it's a loud song and your reader jumps out of their seat when they open your Web page they will leave very quickly and never return.
• Pop-Ups
  Not just pop-up ads but also pop-up boxes. You know the ones when you open a Web site and it asks for your name. Ok, that's kind of cute but if you have 5 in a row asking different questions or you have one on every page on your site, let's face it, that's annoying.
• Graphics
  Graphics a an important part of a Web site. They add color, attitude, theme. They're necessary, right? Right, as long as you don't over do it. Too many graphics not only make your site upload really slow but it also makes it look like a kid scribbled on your page.
• Color
  We all know that reading black and white pages is boring. That's why we add color to them. Adding the right colors to your pages makes for great, easy to read pages. You have to make sure that the background colors don't conflict with the text colors. If you use loud colors or colors that conflict, people won't want to read your page and will look elsewhere.
• Fonts
  You don't have to use the same old boring, standard font for your text if you don't want to. There are many other's that you can use to make your writing look fancier or just better.
• Your Style
  Everyone has their own writing style. You can be funny, serious or just yourself. How you write your site is up to you and you need to choose the style that's right for your site.
• Layout
  How do you want your page to look? Do you want all the text to the right and graphics on the left, or visa versa? Do you want an add at the top of the page or do you want all your ads on the side? Having the layout of all your pages look the same looks better to your readers then if you have the layout for every page different. That doesn't mean that you can't make each page different to go along with what you wrote on that page it just means that the basic layout should be at least similar.
• Content
  What is your site going to be about? What kinds of things are you going to write about? Of course, this is completely up to you. Whenever you write something make sure you spell check it and, if you have time, re-read it to make sure there are not grammatical errors.

How to Get Organized in Your Design Business

By Eric Miller, About.com Guide

When working as a graphic designer, it is important to get organized. If your business is not organized, there is a good chance your design will ultimately suffer. Keeping track of design tasks, leads, client requests, finances, emails, and phone calls is all part of getting, and staying, organized. This can be especially difficult for freelancers, who often handle all aspects of their business. Fortunately, there are ways to get organized ranging from simple tricks to helpful software.

Project Management and Time Tracking

Project management and time tracking software is one of the best ways to get organized. All of your tasks, files, and leads can be stored in one place, with reminders for you or your staff.

• Project Management Software: Several choices for managing projects.
• Time Tracking: Methods of time tracking.
• Time Tracking Software: Options for time tracking software.
• Billings Software: Track time, create estimates and send invoices.
• Basecamp: Share files, chat and remember tasks with this project management and collaboration software.
• Highrise: Remember to follow-up with clients and track leads.

ANV Graphics Graphic Design Portfolio

Our professional graphic designers on staff are able to expedite your Advertise Campaign by supplying amazing designs tools in a timely fashion. Take a look a tour online portfolio to see some samples of our work. 

How to Choose a Website Domain Name

By Eric Miller, About.com Guide

Choosing a domain name for you or a client can be a long and tedious process. With so many names no longer available, creating a new one or finding the right one requires research, creativity and sometimes a significant investment. Regardless of whether you are looking for a brand new name or considering purchasing one, the same factors come into play to determine the value of the domain name to your business.

It is important to mention that a great domain name won’t simply make your business, and a poor one won’t break it. With such a focus on search engines today, people can find your site in many ways other than typing it in the browser. However, a quality domain name can still help your business.

Relevance

For starters, a domain name should be relevant to your business. Even a great one-word name like “sneakers.com” would not serve your purpose very well if you were selling books. Try to think of a name that people will remember based on what you do, remind them of your company name (if not an exact match), and that will at least somewhat describe what is on the site. A relevant domain name will also help you in search results. There are, of course, exceptions. Many sites have created brand new words that have proved to be great successes, from Google (now a verb) to Twitter. This requires a strong sense of brand, and even when dealing with a word the dictionary has never seen, something memorable.

Length

The length of a domain name is extremely important, simply because people will remember shorter names. Shorter names may also come across as more professional and will appear better in print ads. Don’t expect to find yourself a 3-letter domain (they’re all taken), but try to think of as many variations as possible to get yourself a short domain name. Single-word domains are also few and far between, but a 2-word domain name is the next best thing. While hyphenation is not ideal, consider it as an option to grab a domain name that is already taken without a hyphen.

Extension

The most widely used domain extension is “.com” which stands for “commercial.” For many businesses, a “.com” domain is most desirable because it is the most recognized. People who remember your domain name may automatically assume it is a “.com” unless they remember otherwise. “.net” domains (for network) are intended for companies involved in an Internet-related business, but this extension is often considered the alternative when a “.com” is unavailable. Organizations and non-profits may prefer a “.org” extension, which is very common and even expected for these types of business. “.biz” and “.info” websites are also relatively common (compared to the many other extensions), but are much less recognizable than the top three extensions above.

What extension to choose will in some cases depend on your business type, and in other cases depend on what is available. A great “.net” domain might be more valuable to you than a long, confusing “.com,” which is a decision that often has to be made.

In the end, the name won’t mean everything… the promotion of the project, the quality of the website, optimizing it for searches and other factors will prove just as, and often more, important.