CreativePro.Com Print

Last-Second Valentine Gifts

Editor in Chief — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:20:00 -0700

Whether you believe in Saint Valentine or Cupid, whether you likes hearts or roses, whether you're in a committed relationship or not, someone you know will be expecting a token of love today. As a creative professional you may feel under even more pressure than most folks to come up with a gift that's, well, creative.

While it's too late to create something as magnificent as the Taj Mahal — built by Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal — you can still give your loved one something better than an off-the-rack Hallmark card.

Creativeprose: Wacky Web Site of the Week Archive

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:37:32 -0700

February 14, 2012
This site relives the 1970s one catalog page at a time, with a special emphasis on fashions and toys.

http://www.plaidstallions.com/

February 7, 2012
At some point, everyone needs to know how to paint a mammoth on a cave wall.

http://www.primitiveways.com/paint_a_mammoth.html

January 31, 2012

Construct a Color Wheel in Photoshop

Editor in Chief — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:12:31 -0700

Excerpted from Photoshop for Designers: Color on lynda.com.

Scanning Around With Gene: Best in the West Graphics, 1970

GeneGable — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:50:00 -0700

In 1970 I was a freshman in high school. Although I wasn't aware of graphic design as an art form, I was beginning to notice the effect design had on me as a consumer. Book jackets, billboards, record-album covers, and magazines were an important part of my life. In a few more years I would begin to appreciate the talent they represented.

Best of the Blogs: Old School and New Skills

Editor in Chief — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:23:31 -0700

Typography

InDesign Magazine: Tip of the Week Archive

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:05:34 -0600

We regularly update this compilation of the Tip-of-the-Week mailings from InDesign Magazine. To receive the tips in your email in-box, sign up here.

Make the Pasteboard Bigger

Best of the Blogs: August 1, 2011

Editor in Chief — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 02:31:01 -0600

Don't have time to read scores of blogs every day? Don't worry, I've done it for you, and picked out the best posts you shouldn't miss.

Typography

Cutting-Edge Conference for Print and Digital Publishing

Editor in Chief — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:25:20 -0700

The lengthy session list at the 2012 PEPCON print and ePublishing conference could be boiled down into one sentence: Attend this event or fall behind.

Seriously, just look at these session titles (which are only a sampling of the full list):

• InDesign to iPad and Android Apps
• Making Your Folio Come Alive: Embedding HTML and RSS
• XML for Print and Digital Publishing
• Stay on the Cutting Edge: Five Tools to Learn Now

Scanning Around With Gene: Colorful Produce Crate Labels

GeneGable — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:13:00 -0700

When railroads became a dominant form of transportation, and especially after the completion of the trans-continental railway in 1869, it was possible for farmers to ship their goods great distances. And with the advent of the refrigerated rail car, the concept of nearly year-round availability of produce became a reality.

Create a Table of Contents in InDesign

Editor in Chief — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:00:03 -0700

For many years, I made the tables of contents for my books manually. I would finish the book and then, one by one, I would open the file for each chapter and write down the name of the chapter, the name of the A Heads, and the page numbers for each. It averaged 200 entries for each book's table of contents (TOC). It was a tedious process, but manageable.

Make Text Look Like Chrome

Editor in Chief — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:15:50 -0700

Excerpted from InDesign FX on lynda.com.

A highly reflective chrome effect may look like it was tricky to create, but in reality, all you need is a simple gradient fill, using as few as three color stops to create a convincing chrome effect in InDesign.

Scanning Around With Gene: More on Children’s Safety

GeneGable — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:17:00 -0700

Last week, I looked at illustrations from a booklet on bicycle safety published in the early 1940s by the Police Safety Council. Because the booklet was intended to change behavior by frightening the readers, most of the kids in those drawings ended up badly hurt, crippled for life, or worse, very dead.

Free For All: Stock Photos, Social Media Profiles, and Calendar Templates

Editor in Chief — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:06:03 -0700

Explosions, Fire, and Fireworks Stock Photography
Let’s poke a little fun at the preposterous notion that the world will end on December 21st because a 5,000-year-old calendar allegedly expires on that date. How do we poke fun on Free for All? By giving away free stock photography, of course! Check out these 55 explosive year-starting and world-ending royalty free stock images I collected on Stock.XChang.

They're Fond of Design

Editor in Chief — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:41:37 -0700

The stereotypical student stretches out a too-short paper with wide margins and large type sizes. But this trio of graphic design students from the University of the West of England had so much material after working on a professional practice project, they made a zine with the extra material, which includes interviews with designers and artists who specialize in editorial design. It's entitled "Fond of Editorial Design," and although it began life as a printed piece, Issue 1 is now available digitally.

Is Apple's eBook Tool Right for Graphic Designers?

Editor in Chief — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:59:00 -0700

While it's true that more print books than electronic books were sold last year, eBooks are still big business, and a potential income source for graphic designers. That's one reason why Apple's new software, called iBooks Author, is worthy of your attention.