Illustration Features

Best of the Blogs: Old School and New Skills

Don't have time to keep up with design and photography blogs? Keep calm and read on. In this blog round-up you'll find the most popular fonts of 2011, an amazing type book from 1912, a Herb Lubalin video from the 1980s, and a Photoshop cooking demonstration from 2007. Plus, there are plenty of Photoshop how-tos, digital photography tips, and design ideas.

2011 Holiday Gift Guide

Flummoxed by what to buy for the creative professional on your gift list? Perhaps one of the items in the 2011 CreativePro.com Holiday Gift Guide will do the trick.

Best of the Blogs: September 21, 2011

Lately, there have been a lot of provocative questions in design and photography blogs: Are there rules for creativity? Can designers embrace fear? What's the difference between looking at and seeing typography? But there's less cerebral stuff, too, like upgrading your camera, understanding image compositing, observing the day of a graphic designer, and filling your layouts with hipster lingo. I bring you all of that content and more in this installment of Best of the Blogs.

Best of the Blogs: August 15, 2011

It's an excellent round-up this time, with Photoshop tips, typography tricks, publishing news, and much more. And read to the end to find out why you'll soon be speccing shades of orange as Apu, Garfield, or Tigger.

Best of the Blogs: August 1, 2011

Amuse and inform yourself with tidbits from design, graphics, and photography blogs culled from the past few weeks. Find out about Bodoni love, InDesign crashes, Illustrator annoyances, Photoshop freakouts, and how to make Polaroid film and illustrated manuscripts (but not at the same time).

Best of the Blogs: July 7, 2011

Mega-retailer Target meets tiny Hamilton Wood Type; Acrobat Pro X users get testy; photographers are called idiots; Photoshop warps girls' minds; and the Web is doomed. Read these and many other interesting tidbits culled from the past few weeks of design, graphics, and photography blog posts.

Free For All: The American Southwest

This month, all the free resources are inspired by the Southwest. You can choose from 120 stock photos and textures; 124 color palettes and patterns; 55 Photoshop actions, and 81 Photoshop brushes.

Best of the Blogs, June 6, 2011

Here's what you may have missed in design and photography blogs during the past few weeks: an investigation of Adobe Myriad; a rallying cry for FreeHand; ideas for busting design and illustration roadblocks; a new social networking site for creatives; and much more.

Free For All: The American Northwest

This month, everything is inspired by the Pacific Northwest. I've found 120 free stock photos and textures; 63 free color palettes; 20 free patterns; 25 free Photoshop actions; and 41 free Photoshop brushes.

Best of the Blogs: May 19, 2011

Here's what you may have missed in design and photography blogs during the past couple of weeks: a new "pay-what-you-want" font source; a compilation of LinkedIn groups for publishers; an expert discussion about resume design; a Photoshop technique to fake tilt-shift photography; and much more.

The Lust List: Goods to Get You Going

Summer is a-coming. To keep your creativity humming, check out this new crop of inspired items for graphic designers and photographers.

Best of the Blogs: May 5, 2011

In case recent events have distracted you from reading design or photo blogs, I've rounded up the best bits from the past few weeks. The items include clever text tricks in InDesign, handy retouching tips in Photoshop, attention-grabbing resumes for creatives, and 892 ways to slice up a grid.

Best of the Blogs: April 21, 2011

Here's what you may have missed in the blogosphere over the past few weeks. Get tips for caring for you camera, fending off pushy designers, and taming that pesky Illustrator. Peer into the InDesign dreams (or nightmares) of designers and see the first digital camera ever. Get up close and personal with Roger Black, Matthew Carter, and Jonathan Ive. And watch video clips of print jobs gone awry. Just think "Pink!"

Best of the Blogs: March 31, 2011

Here's what you may have missed in the blogosphere in the past couple of weeks. In this installment, you'll get killer Web tips, inventive photography ideas, and wonderful design advice, among lots of other tidbits.

Best of the Blogs: March 16, 2011

If you don't have time to keep up with all the great blogs for creative professionals, let us help. "Best of the Blogs" is a new recurring feature that compiles the most interesting items posted in our favorite blogs.

Free For All: Adobe Illustrator Grab Bag

Attention, vector virtuosos! This month's Free for All is a grab bag of cool Adobe Illustrator freebies. There are scripts galore, templates, brushes, a brush cheat sheet, application icons, and a whole lot more!

Apps for the Mobile Creative: Part 1

iPads and Androids and BlackBerrys, oh my! Discover some of the best apps for creative pros on the go. In this installment, I'll cover apps for sketching/designing, business management, and inspiration.

Taking Stock Photos to Strange New Places with Photoshop

Joonas Paloheimo has a rare talent to see new possibilities within ordinary stock photos. Peer into his process and see the evolution of one of his amazing photo illustrations.

Free For All: 623 Photoshop Brushes to Distress Images

Add texture, depth, age, and realism to your images with these grunge Photoshop brushes. All are free for personal and commercial use.

Free For All: The Halloween 2010 Edition

Get ready to be frightened by this collection of free Halloween-themed photos, fonts, sounds, and more.