For today’s news we showcase the best in web design navigation and menus for your inspiration.

40 Creative Navigation Menus

In this article from ProBlogDesign they have pulled together some of the best designed navigation bars (both horizontal and vertical) to help give you some ideas to enhance your own navigation.

40 Creative Navigation Menus

25 Mega Menus for Your Design Inspiration

Mega menus are a current popular web design trend that take drop down menus a bigger step forward in an attempt to make it easier for visitors to navigate through a larger site.

25 Mega Menus for Your Design Inspiration

A Showcase of Website Navigations with Serious Click Appeal

In this article you will find a showcase of websites that successfully achieve "Navigations with Serious Click Appeal" in a very stylish way.

A Showcase of Website Navigations with Serious Click Appeal

CSS Menu Samples

With over 100+ menus on display in this showcase, in every possible conceivable format (CSS, Javascript, Flash…), in almost every possible style (vertical, horizontal…), you are practically guaranteed to find inspiration.

CSS Menu Samples

A popular trend at the moment is headline grabbing over-sized typography. This type of hook is unmissable and it helps the user focus there attention instantly on your site.

Now, there is a right way and a wrong way to do this – you can't just change your CSSes <h1> tag to 100px – and the typography showcases below show you how it can be and should be achieved.

55 Examples of Huge Typography in Web Design

Web Design Trend Hunting – Big Bold Typography

A Showcase of Beautiful Typography in Web Design

15 (New) Typography-Focused Web Designs

85 Free Saint Valentine's Day Wallpapers

37 Gorgeous Space Wallpapers

70+ Super Creative Wallpapers "About Design"

49 Free HD Widescreen Wallpapers

28 Superb high resolution green wallpapers

25 Beautiful Abstract Wallpapers for the iPhone

21 Fantastic Wordpress desktop wallpapers

32 Incredibly Stunning Abstract Wallpapers

45+ Free Retro Wallpapers for your Desktop

30+ Breathtaking Dual Monitor Wallpapers

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Many times the choice that seems obvious for designers is serif fonts, due in part to the fact that they work well in the form of a headline or body content. Though with the following fonts you’ll see that we have digressed from filling up this list with serif fonts. Instead, we hand-picked a variety of well-known and a few obscure fonts that we believe do a good job of conveying readability when used for print.

Are we missing any? Let us know in your comment!

Tallys

Excelsior

Perpetua

Trajan

Akzidenz Grotesk

Geo Sans Light

Avenir

Meta

Stempel Schneidler

Vintage

Rockwell

Museo

Helvetica

Times New Roman

Stuart Standard

Houschka Pro Light

Adelle

Gylphya Std Black

Geometric Slabserif

Clarendon Light OT

Memphis

Coolvetica LT

Public Works

RePublic

Editorial Comment

Sling

Old Sans Black

Nevis

Chunk Five

QuickSand

Got a question about this article? – Ask it here!

Things

The Things interface offers very easy navigation and simple flow of tasks. It would be pretty hard to get lost, and it uses beautiful icons to get you to where you need to go. The different shades of grey in every section divides the content into a more viewable manner.

Pixelmator

Pixelmator’s GUI uses a mix of transparent features, glossy Icons and sleek hover effects to capture the attention of the users. The feature that stands out the most is the circle palette. It makes it easy to find the right color combination’s with a 360 degree rotational courser and a horizontal slider as well.

Daisy Disk

This disk visualization tool takes disk analytic’s to the next level, while keeping usability and simplicity at its highest. Being able to switch between disks is easier than ever.

iStatMenus

iStatMenus has a dark and sleek interface. The colors and gradients match well, and important sections are divided into their own boxes. Once the application is open you’ll have a quick overview in one look of how your Mac is actually running.

CleanMyMac

For a cleaning application it sure has a clean and well organized GUI. Dark shades of Grey and uncolored icons showcase the features you’re not using on the left sidebar. But when you click on a feature the icon is displayed in full color. With just three buttons as the main functions located in the apps footer, CleanMyMac conveys real usability.

Fontcase

Fontcase’s ease of use allows you to preview every font and activate only the ones you need. Every font is aligned within a grid, no matter how you’re viewing them. This makes it easy to search, find, and test the correct fonts.

Flow

Out of the numerous FTP’s I’ve come across, I’d have to say that Flow is one of the best looking and easiest to use. Most FTP’s are a bit disorganized when it comes to the seperation of folders within the directory.

Notify

Notify has redesigned their user interface so that it’s geared more towards the composing of tasks and the placement of notifications in the proper areas on your Mac.

NewsLife

NewsLife makes it easy for you to add and aggregate news with the click of a button. News feeds are displayed in a clean manner. You’re able to easily and quickly search for articles, alter the view of feeds and quickly navigate from one site to the next.

Tweetie

Tweeties is a powerful Twitter client for Mac with a beautiful graphical user interface. Navigating through the menu is as easy as scrolling through the icons on the left sidebar, and posting new tweets is purely simple.

Blogo

Blogo has a sleek interface that allows you to quickly and easily blog from your desktop. The desktop client lets you open a single window that has all of your needs for creating, and posting new articles.

Propane

Propane is a Mac client for Campire with great usability. This application quickly defines and highlights conversations, tasks, and more. The interace is uncluttered and lets you switch between conversations with ease.

Delicious Library 2

Easily catalog all of your books, movies, software, and more. Once you open the application you’ll see all of your cataloged items in an organized fashion. You can click on an item and you can see a better preview.

Snowtape

Snowtape has a beautiful interface design that has an easy to use vertical slider at the footer of the application for editing and more. You can listen and catalog songs throughout the dark interface.

TuneUp

TuneUp comes packaged with a great GUI that’s very well organized, content oriented, and easy to navigate through. You can do a number of thnings all in one window, this really helps with boosting productivity.

ScreenFlow

ScreenFlow is pretty easy to use with the various features on the right sidebar. The footer controls your a number of operations for your screencasts and offers easy of use.

xScope

This application has a great tools for your development needs. These tools are complimented by a beautiful interface for maximum effectiveness.

CSSEdit

CSSEdit is very easy to navigate through and find necessary tools. The transparent features an custom icons are a plus.

Snippet

If you’re looking for an application that allows you quickly save code snippets without a hassel then this tool is perfect. The interface design gives way to ease of usability and the dark colors allows the code to stand out a bit more.

Bodega

Bodega arranges and catalogs all of your apps in easy to find categories for quick updates. The left sidebar controls the different features and tools. Navigating through applications gives you confidence in this applications stability.

Less is More, and the following examples you are about to see, prove this to be exact. Elements of design in a website that displays minimalistic entities serve multiple functions, not just one. This reduces the use of various un-needed elements and incorporates more of a “2 in 1” approach.

Below we have an Excellent Showcase of 40 Minimalist Website Designs that will serve as inspiration for your next minimalistic project. Please feel free to comment if we’ve missed any.

Trent Walton

Trent’s website is simple, attractive, and straightforward. The homepage is the latest article published, and when you visit the Articles link, every post is displayed in a large image that becomes faded when hovered over. The site contains very little sidebars and allows visitors enough breathing space, meaning nothing seems crowded.

The simplicity of the contact page is sophisticated and professional at the same time. This is an overall good example of a successful minimalistic design.

Helvetic Brands

Helvetic Brands has a website defined by its sections. Icons instead of images and screenshots are used to display a link for more work, and the content found on the site is nicely spread out. The design and use of subtle colors is easy on the eyes which makes it a swift to find what you need.

Miller Type Foundry

Simplicity, great usability, and a clean grid is what makes the Miller Type Foundry site a beautiful example. The most noticeable aspect of this design is the focus placed on the fonts (the main subject) within the Typefaces page. Every font is well aligned and contains a page of its own with a simple navigation at the top right-hand corner.

Typographic Desk Reference

The TDR site contains a one page layout. The content is well organized and perhaps the most obvious element of all would be the images lined up for visitors to use a quick preview. Every position of the image that pops up shifts towards the opposite direction. In other words, all of the images that pop up are “pulled” to the center. There is a good balance between visual and typographical representation.

31Three

31Three uses more imagery rather than text to grab a visitors attention. The site isn’t hammered with useless text, and it only demands that the user read when absolutely necessary. The site is set out to house the Portfolio of Jesse Bennett, and that’s exactly what it does. The portfolio area divides each project with a large screenshot, and site title paired along with a testimony on the left-hand side.

Nick Robinson

Nick Robinson’s site is a one-page design that contains a short intro and quickly tries to shift your attention to his projects. The site seems to have been designed on a small grid-system, and it puts JavaScript to good use.

Kyle Sollenberger

This site has more of a text based approach to its homepage, and has a simple 3 link menu. Five sections define the site as follows: the menu, short introduction, latest project feature, services offered and testimonials, and a quick search for projects using tags.

Astheria

Astheria is the simplest, most organized content-focused blog I’ve come across. The entire blog is geared towards minimal design and usability. The site is powered by WordPress and displays an unorthodox theme containing large easy to read headlines.

Pixelbot Webdesign

Pixelbot has a clearly defined navigation menu, prominent and consistent display of work, as well as different subtle colors for every page. Content is nicely laid out and separated into an aligned section.

On

On features a minimal design showcasing previous and latest projects in a large jQuery slider. The projects are properly aligned in the portfolio section, and they don’t look messy at all. The blog section reflects the overall simple design of the site, and uses simple widget bars with text links for navigating through latest tweets, categories, and archives.

Typejockeys

Typejockey’s site puts aligned elements to work for the best. This site is structured through a grid system and it displays beautiful navigation, every menu link is a different type or style. The main focus, typography, is the first thing you notice as you enter the site. The shopping experience and cart is simplified, you don’t feel overcrowded and pressured.

80/20 Studio

The 80/20 website is defined by a clean well organized one-page layout. Every section provides just enough details for you to move on to the next. You’re not plastered with over-the-top content and distracting elements of design.

Matt Bango

Matt has a beautiful layout nestled with more links than anything, which allow you to navigate all throughout the site. The portfolio area is tabbed for every type of work, all the projects are nicely spaced out and do not overlap each other.

idsgn

The idesn blog was designed for a large visual representation of the content. The featured post is placed at the top of the home-page with a large image and the rest of the posts trickle down as they are aligned and shown in their corresponding locations.

Klipp og Lim

This is a beautiful website that divides every section with a thick (I’d say 8pt) line that makes it easier to view the different elements and features. The portfolio area is almost like an image gallery, every project has a title and description all aligned to the left while the image is centered.

Berit Somme

Berit’s website is pretty minimal, as it displays the latest project dead-center of the layout and when you click on the link for more projects (either in the Boker or Generelt section), projects are showcased as if they were in a slider, but in reality a different page loads for every project.

Monk

As you can see, the monk website wastes no time in aligning its every image and making it easy for you to scroll through. This is a one-page layout that has no menu bar or links and is divided into 3 sections, the introduction, the showcased work, and the contact/more information area.

FindMeByIP

FindMeByIP uses stunning typography, beautiful colors, and a menu bar that doesn’t move as you scroll down through the different sections. For the most part, all of the elements are properly aligned and each given enough room apart from one another to keep your attention where they want it to be.

Lemon Oak

Lemon Oak is one of the simplest informational sites I’ve come across. The content is divided up evenly and gets straight to the point. There isn’t a need for a contact page or are, there’s just a contact icon at the footer of the site.

Sveinn Davidsson

Here the portfolio serves its purpose as the homepage, and every project perfectly aligned contains a different color as you hover over it. All the explanations for projects, and links to other work, as well as text on the about page is located on the right-hand side. The site pretty much utilizes the same layout throughout all of its pages excluding the home page.

Emptees

Emptees has a simple layout, nothing complicated, and displays its designs beautifully. For the most part, every element is aligned with each other, and the site as very easy to use and find navigation.

Poccuo

Excellent design with minimal qualities such as well spaced out menu bar. Cleanly dividing every seciton, elements within the sections, and menu is a plus for this site.

Nathan Carnes

Nathan Carnes has an elegant site with a set width and height that yells out minimalism as the front page is more than straight-forward and contains easily readable content.

Huge

The Huge site takes shelter in a well organized design and grat display of content. The site makes it easy for you to scan through with your eyes and the headings with a thick weight towards the bottom allows you to quickly find the information you need.

Jesse Dodds

Great use of colors of course, however, minimalism is beyond the use of correspondent colors but rather the details of how the elements are structured. Jesse has the most important links and information nicely aligned on all counts, the header, thumbnail, and text-based description within the home page.

Awesome Note

This is a nice iPhone application website that conveys simplicity and readability throughout the entire layout. The entire site is mostly structured by large images as examples, and some have a link for further info.

Mick Fanning

Mick Fanning’s website is themed professional and displays a large image slider in the center of the layout. The informational sections beneath the slider are beautifully aligned and use two different types of fonts that define the section title and content title.

GeeksPhone

Amazing site with stunning type and cleanly defined widgets in use. The menu bar, featured product, social widgets and footer are nicely divided amongst the layout.

Creative Online Media

This is a stunning website with effective use of whitespace. Its simple design makes it easy for you to read and navigate to where you need to go. Elements of design are large enough that they can’t be missed, and the footer is well organized.

Joe McDonald

This is a one-page site that took the challenge of knowing how to properly spread out and distribute the content throughout the layout for more visibility. This is something that is sometimes hard to achieve on a dark background. The structure of the site is fairly simple, and I must say it’s pretty hard to get lost here.

Kyle Steed

Kyles website uses images and Grey sections to separate the content. The sites elements titled Life, Design, and Faith are aligned at the top and the width, however, height wise, every section’s different and is dependent on how long the content may be.

Kim Burgess

Kim has a typographical based minimal site focused more on informing and connecting you with the proper links. The entire layout is divided within 3 sections, the logo, introduction (utilizing JS to unfold further text) and the footer that contains a line of icons that help you connect with Kim.

Ned

This site is simplicity at its best. The left sidebar contains the necessary links to display the projects to the right of that area, and even though there is no specific alignment within the elements they are well divided.

Susie McConnell

Susie’s personal website houses left and right aligned content. The site has a set width and sections are separated with a thick bold line for a more organized view.

BrandNew

The BrandNew blog divides the main content from the sidebar with a different color. Section titles are displayed with aligned icons and cap letters. The posts seem nicely laid out and maintain format.

Second And Park

This site focuses on well spaced out elements of design and great use of typography. Professionalism is kept throughout the entire layout, and I’d have to say the most noticeable aspect of the design would have to be the well organized contact area.

Martin Kristiansen

As you may know, defining specific elements within a dark background can be hard to achieve without the proper layout, use of colors, and type. Martin’s site fulfills these very requirements and manages to simplify the way the content is displayed at the same time.

Adlucent

Adlucent’s website is nicely aligned first at the section title followed by every sections conent. It’s hard to loose focus of the section you’re at since the alignment and distribution of content varies for each.

Anebstar Macht Webseiten

This isn’t the most complex site of all, but it’s definitely one of the simplest layouts we’ve seen so far. Forget hard to read content and unorganized display of projects, this site manages to demand attention from the start, and succeeds in engaging the user to visually interact.

Design Woop

Design Woop’s site is well designed and manages to divide the sites featured and main content with the use of highlighted type for the titles. Although the logo takes up a large portion of the sites front page, it makes way for the menu bar and the section for latest tweets along with the RSS subscribe button to all be aligned nicely with the rest of the sites content.

In today’s news round-up we have collected resources that showcase original, fresh and unique methods of designing a web site. Everyone will take some inspiration from these sites.

50 Superb 3D Flash websites You Must See!!!

This showcase consists of 50 3D Flash websites, that really stand out from crowd. Don’t think of this as just another list – you’ll find endless inspiration from these websites.

50 Superb 3D Flash websites You Must See!!!

WordPress as a CMS: 30 amazing examples

This post is a showcase of 30 examples of Wordpress as a CMS, inspiring stuff.

WordPress as a CMS: 30 amazing examples

11 Most Popular Blog Design Styles (With Examples)

They’ve rounded up eleven common design patterns seen throughout blog designs on the web. But, just because they’re commonly seen doesn’t mean they aren’t unique and filled with plenty of individuality and creativity.

11 Most Popular Blog Design Styles (With Examples)

40+ Examples of Horizontal Scrolling Websites

Usually, most sites share the same set-up… In terms of scrolling down, that is.. Most often, they are browsed through vertically. This article focuses on the other variety, hrizontall scrolling. Amazingly, the result is more creative and unique. As a reader, you may find it more entertaining than the usual browsing.

40+ Examples of Horizontal Scrolling Websites

The Beautiful Art of Japanese Web Design

Here is a collection of some beautiful examples of japanese websites for your daily inspiration.

The Beautiful Art of Japanese Web Design

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Even with that, with the speed at which the web moves and changes direction your prediction would still be well of the mark. Personally, I would rather sit back, and look forward to what new web design trends crop up.

I can't make a prediction about what web design will be like in 2010, but, that’s not to say its impossible to predict. In today’s news round-up we have collected some brave and honest articles that outline 'possible' trends for this year and also added some great articles with resolutions for designers, something we should all be doing!

Web Design Trends for 2010 from Web Design Ledger

Web Design Trends for 2010 from helikopterdesign

Top 10 Web Design Trends for 2010 from designtutorials4u

10 Web Design Trends for 2010 from Aaron Post

What Portfolio Designs Would We Continue to See in 2010?

Five Technologies That Will Keep Shaping the Web in 2010

New Years Resolutions For 2010 from Lee Munroe

5 Realistic Resolutions for Web Designers from Design Shack

51 New Year resolutions for Graphic and Web designers from Graphic Design Blender

What do you think?

In todays news we have collected some fresh photography showcases that illustrate professional photography at its best.

35 Expressive Examples of Stunning HDR Photography

HDR photography has become one of the most popular and beautiful forms of displaying images. HDR or “high-dynamic-range photography”, lets you capture different aspects of a photograph and use software to merge them all-together.

35 Expressive Examples of Stunning HDR Photography

100+ Beautiful Examples of Black and White Photography

Color photography was originally rare and expensive, and again often less than true to life. Color photography became more common in the middle of the 20th century, and has become even more common since. Black-and-white remains a niche market for photographers who use the medium for artistic purposes.

In this photography showcase, there are 100 Stunning Black and White Photography and Pictures.

100+ Beautiful Examples of Black and White Photography

Stylish Photography by Brandon Voges

Brandon Voges is a photographer from Saint Louis, MO, United States. He has worked on everything from digital retouching to illustration, motion graphics, art direction and interactive design until he realized that what he really loves to do was image-making at the source. Brandon has a great sense of style with some impressive portraits.

Stylish Photography by Brandon Voges

40 Awesome Examples of Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt-shift photography refers to giving the subject of a photo a miniature look or toy-like appearance. This affect can either be achieved with a special camera lens and other shooting techniques, or it can be done in post processing with applications like Photoshop. In this article have showcased 40 awesome examples of tilt-shift photography.

40 Awesome Examples of Tilt-Shift Photography

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Justin Maller

Justin Maller is a creative freelance illustrator in Melbourne, Australia. He’s been conceiving creative digital art for over 8 years now and houses his portfolio at SuperLover.com.

Alex Beltechi

Alex is a great designer we found over here. He has a strong portfolio that showcases unique characteristics within the Behance Network. A lost of his skills rely on the use of creative typography elements.

Adhemas Batista

This is the showcase of Adhemas Batista, we highlighted incredible artwork for your inspiration. Batista likes to bring several ideas together and create amazing works of art. This has led him to expand his career and work with clients such as Coca-cola, Vodka, Playstation 3 and Microsoft.

Adhemas has a style that incorporates a strong use of vibrant colors along with a variety of organic shapes that come together to create amazing work.

Joao Oliveira

Joao Oliveira, a designer and creative abstract artist shows us his extensive portfolio full of magnificent work. Joao has worked with several top-notch clients such as Addidas, which gives him a great reputation and consistent recognition within our design community.

Michael Kutsche

Michael Kutsche, an award-winning digital artist has worked for the games and film industry for several years. He had a large role in the new movie from Tim Burton titled “Alice in Wonderland”.

Michael strictly uses Photoshop and Painter for all of his conceptual art. Here are a few of the best examples we found from him.

50+ Free Vintage Photoshop Brush Sets to Download

Vintage-inspired designs are becoming popular and many designers are finding different ways of recreating the old into new. In this post they have collected 50+ free vintage Photoshop brush for your vintage-inspired designs.

50+ Free Vintage Photoshop Brush Sets to Download

High Quality Rough and Grungy Photoshop Brushes

This set of rough and grungy Photoshop brushes take on a drybrush effect, with plenty of detailed whispy lines and long strokes. You can download them for free and you can use them in your personal and commercial designs.

High Quality Rough and Grungy Photoshop Brushes

200+ Free Abstract Brushes To Use For Light Effect

The author of this article has collected an impressive 200+ brush sets with abstract patterns and light effects.

200+ Free Abstract Brushes To Use For Light Effect

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

108 Mono Icons: Huge Set of Minimal Icons

Download this Icon Set

Five Free Vector Icons: Plastic Iconset

Download this Icon Set

Free Vectors – Social Networking Icons

Download this Icon Set

Cute Blogging Icon Set

Download this Icon Set

Metalcon Social Network Icon Set

Download this Icon Set

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Elements of a Good Corporate Website

Being Clean, Well Organized and Engaging on a Visual Level

When a customer visits your site, they should notice that the site is attractive, the layout is clean, and the content is visible.

Attractive and Usable Navigation

Designing a site that revolves around simple and easy to find navigation takes some work. However, this could be the difference between a visitor and an actual customer.

Direct, to the point Content

Don’t use overly complicated and highly sophisticated words. We all know you’re smart, but truthfully, not everyone of your visitors will understand or care for everything you write. For example, the content on your site should be easy enough to read that 4th grader could skim through it with very little problem. When visitors read the content on your site, they usually only pay attention to key words and headlines.

Informative and Resourceful About Us Page

Your about us page isn’t all that makes up your site, but it does hold an important place on your site. This is where your potential customers will go to get acquainted with you. Make this page count!

Faster Load Times

You definitely wouldn’t want to keep potential customers waiting an unnecessary amount of time for pages to load. This will drive them away.

Sprinkle Penny

LemonStand

Royal Bank of Scotland

Bloglines

NewsGator

Freckle

Litmus

GLUE Interactive Media

LePush Mail

Campaign Monitor

Campfire

Checkout.App

ActiveCollab

Capuccino Wbe Framework

Squarespace

Saturized

Socialite

Versions

Water CMS

Krop

Office VP

Clear Spring

Business Catalyst

Newsberry

Gist

Onehub

Reinvigorate

Lifejacket

Light CMS

Play in Traffik

45 Advertisements You Will Never Forget

These days, ads venture on the irreverent. They cater to your physical senses and bend your mind to what is possible. In this post, there are some of the most insanely good advertisements of recent memory, broken down into ambient, billboards, commercials and print.

25 Print Ads Featuring Excellent Use Of Typography

Typography is everywhere, from the web to the print industry. In fact, there’s a lot of talk about beautiful typography in web design, but let’s not forget about the print industry – this is where it all comes from.

28 Creative Tech Advertising

40 Seriously Funny Print Ads

Humorous ads remain one of the few effective ways to engage an audience in a very saturated advertising market. This is an area where the audience is far more receptive and still willing to pay attention.
In this post, they’ve gathered 40 hilarious and really creative ads for your enjoyment.

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

30 Impressive vCard Web Designs

A vCard is an electronic business card that uses a standard format. Some individuals have taken to creating simple, typically one-page, sites that center around their vCard. These sites contain minimal content, usually just basic information about the individual (i.e. job title) and contact information. In this collection, you’ll find some impressive vCard sites for inspiration.

30 Impressive vCard Web Designs

40 Beautifully Designed Vintage Websites

Vintage styled web designs are a tribute to an era that exists only in the memories of many. What’s overlooked is that no matter how the standards for web design progress, more designers start to resolve back to old vintage styles.

40 Beautifully Designed Vintage Websites

20 Awesome Website Footer Designs

When creating your website designs, one element that shouldn’t be overlooked is the footer. In fact you can use this space to add some appropriate functions and content, this collection is a series of websites that use there footer space effectively.

20 Awesome Website Footer Designs

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

mStand

If you work on laptop for long hours you will eventually strain your eyes, neck, back, and arms. mStand is a stylish stand that the laptops screen to meet eye level for better posture and view.

mStand Homepage

Bookarc

BookArc helps you free up valuable real estate on your desk, giving you a cleaner, less cluttered, Zen-like workspace. With a footprint of 10-by-4 inches, BookArc takes up a fraction of the space your MacBook wastes just lying around. And while it takes your MacBook to new heights, BookArc rests on soft, silicone footpads that keep it from leaving any unwanted surface marks or scratches on your desk.

Bookarc Homepage

Elevator – Desktop Stand

Elevator's sturdy brushed aluminum and minimal design would blend seemllessly with any stylishly office. It holds your portable computer safely and securely at just the right height to match external monitors – and to save your aching neck.

Elevator – Desktop Stand Homepage

Backpack

BackPack is the perfect place to park portable hard drives, card readers or other USB peripheral you want to hide, but need easy access to every now and then. Set your USB hub on the shelf and tie your cables to it for a super tidy workspace. BackPack is also a handy home to stash your iPhone or iPod while charging and syncing.

Backpack Homepage

Slimkey v.2

The Slimkey v.2 is perfect in every way: slim, nice and flat and beautifully designed. It has a side access USB2.0 powered hub and the perfect height of the stand provides a "home" for your keyboard, nothing will ever seem to be out of place on your desk any more.

Slimkey v.2 Homepage

DESKSET by deskology

The DESKSET is an essential set of aluminum desk accessories designed to compliment your Mac computer right down to the finish. These carefully crafted accessories will add a level of substance to your desk space that very few desk accessories can.

DESKSET by deskology Homepage

Surfacepad

SurfacePad is designed to shield your MacBook keyboard deck from dust, dirt, and oils from your skin and friction from your wrists. It preserves the showroom aluminum luster around your keyboard and trackpad, so when it’s time to upgrade to a new MacBook, your old one will still look like new underneath.

Surfacepad Homepage

Floater

Floater is designed to compactly place your notebook upright. Seeming almost afloat, this innovative, sleek and stylish design turns your MacBook as well as your entire desktop into an all-new computing system.
As long as the power is on, your MacBook can be used even when closed. Taking advantage of this technology, the Floater conveniently allows you to use your notebook as the main computer system while you productively work on a larger LCD screen.

Floater Homepage

Moshi iLynx

iLynx offers unprecedented speed to Mac and iMac users through an easy to use and aesthetically pleasing FireWire/USB combo hub that doubles their USB and FireWire ports without any external power supply.
iLynx is a FireWire/USB combo hub that can support simultaneous operation of high power peripheral devices such as external hard disc or DVD drives without the need for a power adapter. When plugged in, iLynx provides 4 downstream USB 2.0 ports (backward compatible with USB 1.1) and 2 FireWire 400 ports.

Moshi iLynx Homepage

Colony

Colony is a storage device that neatly organizes entangled cables, adapters, wires and just about anything else hanging off your desk. Simply plug all your adapters into one AC power strip and pass the main plug through the single opening at the bottom of the vase for a tidy area.

Colony Homepage

Zefyr

A subtle yet effective cooling solution, Zefyr is designed to maintain your MacBook’s system stability even under peak loading conditions.
When Zefyr is put in place, you also gain the benefit of improved ergonomics through a slight tilt to the MacBook. Overall, Zefyr is an unobtrusive thermal management solution that offers you a more comfortable computing experience.

ZefyrHomepage

Cable Drop

CableDrop gently grasps your power and peripheral cords so they do not fall off your desk every time you unplug your laptop.
Cabledrop can really blend in with your decor, use them hidden under ledges with the muted colors to match your furniture or bring them to light by using the bright ones. Beyond just preventing cables from falling off a desk, they make great cable clips on furniture legs or walls to control unruly cords.

Cable Drop Homepage

Kite

Kite is an A4 size, paper and pencil tray with a concept of “possibility” in mind. A blank sheet of paper and a simple writing utensil has the potential to stir spectacular ideas not yet present on a sheet of paper. Thus, the possibilities are endless. With Kite’s slightly unique curve, the paper appears as if it is afloat. With its amazing design, Kite can help arouse new possibilities.

Kite Homepage

Alto Express

The Logitech Alto Express Notebook Stand raises your notebook display for increased viewing comfort. You’re more relaxed—and more productive, and it’s an attractive alternative to expensive monitors and docking stations.

Alto Express Homepage

Neat Desk for Mac

NeatDesk for Mac is the high-speed scanner and software combination that will help you clean off your desk and organize all your important information on the Mac. The scanner provides a central “inbox” for all the paper that normally clutters your workspace. Its unique paper input tray allows you to insert up to 10 receipts, 10 business cards and 10 full-size documents, and scan them all in a single batch and convert them into PDF docs. This is an amazing idea.

Neat Desk for Mac Homepage

WorldCard Mac

The WorldCard Mac is a palm-sized business card scanner that combines elegance with award-winning design.Together with the bundled software you can scan business cards, automatically extract information and save it directly into a database. Mac users can also export information to the Address Book.

WorldCard Mac Homepage

Apple G4 Clock

This clock is made from the side panel of a retired Mac G4, and it has been transformed into a working wall clock using a USA made quartz drive movement. The clock measures 16"w x 16"h, and looks pretty cool.

Apple G4 Clock Homepage

MugMouse Homepage

MugMouse plays on the idea of deliberately choosing to use a slower mouse for a while. Filled with tea or coffee you have to move it more carefully than a normal mouse. Do certain tasks at the computer deserve a bit more time, reflection or personal involvement? Checking your email, visiting your favourite website or blog, reading the daily news, shopping etc. MugMouse can be seen as a reward; serving as a signal to yourself and others that you are having a little time away from your work.

MugMouse Homepage

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Popular Logos with Hidden Symbolisms

Some logos are so creative and subtle that you have to look very close to find hidden symbolism or understated subtitle. In this excellent post, the authors shows us a collection of logos and highlights the hidden meanings. Logo design at its witty best.

Popular Logos with Hidden Symbolisms

40 Breathtaking & Creative Logo Designs Just to Inspire

Designing a memorable logo is not easy, it requires a lot of detailed attention with typography, colors & shapes to convey the style the designer has chosen. Designers excel in using shadows, contrast and transparency to represent the brand they are working on.
In this inspirational post you will find a compilation of 40 beautiful and creative logo designs.

40 Breathtaking & Creative Logo Designs Just to Inspire

72 Creative And Smart Typographic Logo Inspiration

This post demonstrates how with the correct use of typography a professional logo can be created. It proves the point that less is more by simply using one or two words and selecting the correct font, it also demonstrates, perhaps unintentionally, the effectiveness and the importance of negative and positive spacing.

72 Creative And Smart Typographic Logo Inspiration

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

20 Must-Reads for Any Serious Photographer

You know, people spend thousands of dollars on fantastic cameras only to let them either collect dust or be brought out when it’s time for a wedding or birthday. And when those days come, it’s unfortunate that the majority of the pictures that are taken are usually of very poor quality. But, why does that happen? Lack of experience? Maybe. But probably the real reason is that you just don’t have the knowledge base to know what it is you’re doing.
You need to hear it from the professionals and once you know what to do, and once you’ve grasped the concepts behind great photographs, you can put those into action and practice and make your photos stand out of the crowd.

20 Must-Reads for Any Serious Photographer

Some Pioneer Photographers of All Time and Their Aspiring Works

While some of us amateurs are still trying to figure out what Photography really is, this round-up of expert and guru photographers have conquered the world of Photography. Their work is timeless, beautiful and inspiring.

Some Pioneer Photographers of All Time and Their Aspiring Works

Beautiful Black and White Photography

Today, in the era of digital technology black and white photography often awake nostalgic feelings from the 20th century, the good old times when the television was just invented, when people read colorless printed newspapers and when people were just imagining mobile phones equipped with photo cameras. But still, years later, many artists still use black and white photography for artistic purposes. It is one of the best and cheapest types of photography for beginners to test their creativity. This showcase is a tribute to this often forgotten and underrated art of photography.

Beautiful Black and White Photography

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

The Evolution of Apple Ads

Apple first started advertising their products in the late 1970s with text-heavy ads, and have slowly evolved through the 80’s, 90’s and peeking with todays modern and sleek style of advertising. This post gives you a great insight into how advertising has changed in only 30 years.

The Evolution of Apple Ads

Cool Beer Ads #2 – Brahma

The great thing about the beer industry is that they sell a “fun” and “enjoyable” product, so they] take advantage of that to unleash their imagination to produce some awesome ads. In this post they focus on Brahma beer.

Cool Beer Ads #2 – Brahma

39 Creative and Sometimes Controversial Examples of Playstation Advertising

Recent Playstation advertising has been described, in some circles, as being creative, effective and memorable. By others, down right controversial. What do you think?

39 Creative and Sometimes Controversial Examples of Playstation Advertising

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

The Studio7 Website has been featured in a number of showcases, due to its organized, creative, and captivating design. It was only right to classify it through one specific niche rarely noticed on the web.

The Vimeo site has a very subtle and calm depiction of nature characteristics.

This site purely focuses on the water aspect of nature. There are also a few other nature inspired illustrations tucked into the design, such as the mountains.

Yummy CSS decided to stick with more of a “green pasture” look with a select few colors.

The above site does a great job of putting together the clouds, feilds, and unorthodox sun rays into one spot.

Digital art goes a long way in this design, as well as the creative use of fossils.

Vidget did a great job focusing on the forest and getting the “mood” right with the choice of colors.

This is a serious yet relaxing design that offers its visitors warmth.

Switching over to the sky, this design features excellent use of the moon and clouds.

By taking just a glance at this template you can spot over 5 different aspects of nature. The mountains, palm trees, desert, forest and more.

Great design is hard to come by sometimes, so is reaching the island illustrated in the above website.

When designing a nature inspired site, many designers forget that snow and winter have just as much to do with the design process as summer and the trees.

The above site uses creativity to capture nature in a never before seen environment.

Apart from the great use of natural inspiration, this website features more than just rocks, trees, and clouds; but animals as well.

The overall design of this site goes well with the illustrated trees nested within the header.

This is an excellent example of how to combine actual photography with illustration.

This is a well organized and clean site with great use of nature illustrations to get their overall point across.

Glamping uses one of the most creative and inventive forms of illustrative nature. Take a peak at the wonderful header, if you don’t believe.

Another overlooked aspect of nature, underwater. StylizedWeb knew exactly what to do with this creative design.

Although Brad tries to create an underwater effect, it is very different from the one stylized web offered as it also featured other characteristics. All in all the website uses clean illustrations with a slight touch of vintage/retro look and feel.

9 Things You Can’t Forget When Designing a Blog

In this post, from tutorial9, they have listed nine very important design details that many blog designers overlook. The nine forgotten “things” are often thought of as so minor that it makes on your blog design. However, these features can serve to top things off, design wise, and act as some simple finishing touches that step up your blog’s presentation, and thereby, its presence.

9 Things You Can’t Forget When Designing a Blog

21 Great Shots [And How They Were Taken]

Have you ever wondered how some photographs have been shot? Just what tecniques or tricks has the photographer taken for that shot? In this great post, you can have a look behind the scenes and see how each shot has been created.

21 Great Shots [And How They Were Taken]

Seven Easy Ways to Integrate Your Google Apps

The information you keep in Google apps like Gmail, GCal, Reader, and Voice are not exclusive to each app. They can be used and integrated with other Google Apps. Get Your Calendar in Gmail or Put Your Gmail Messages on Your Calendar are just a couple of the integration tips, have a read of this post for the rest.

Seven Easy Ways to Integrate Your Google Apps

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

In this post we have collected 9 of the best MAC Inspired Furniture for your Home Office, and best of all 9for PC users anyway, most of the furniture can be used for the PC as well.

Novanta Workstation

Novanta, (translating as 90 due to its shape) is a workstation that has a completely unique style that sits perfectly with Apple designed products. Don’t be deceived by this minimal looking desk, it hides an awesome array of features. It has an inbuilt monitor stand, a really nice touch with the keyboard and mouse bay and an integrated iPod dock. The leather lined front drawers have been especially designed to accommodate a MAC laptop or A3 sized paper, or hide all the cabling that can accumulate from modern computer systems. Overall, this is an awesome workstation.

Novanta Workstation

iGo Desk / Workstation

The feature rich fashion statement that is the iGo desk is designed to fully integrate with your iMac and Mac mini with Cinema Display, so that you don’t have to compromise on the aesthetics of your environment. It is fully adjustable to allow it to be used comfortably in either a standing or seated position, it also comes with an iMac turntable so you can turn your monitor to exactly the right angle and if you but the sitting model it can be pushed around on it’s wheels. Overall, this one really cool workstation, the only thing I would worry about is could anyone sit at this desk all day, and be comfortable? Who cares, it looks good!

iGo Desk / Workstation

iDesk

Knowadys the computer replaces your radio and TV, as well as music and movies storage. It connects you to your neighbor and the rest of the world through chat and phone. And using the internet gives you access to information as well as entertainment. Your computer should be given a central and not to space consuming position. IDesk is the solution. The strong, small and minimal iDesk can be wall mounted, giving your office or living room a convenient solution to compact space and its useful drawer can be used to hide unsightly cables and peripherals that always gather around a computer set-up.

Calligaris Stealth Desk

Calligaris Stealth Desk

The reasonably priced (only £622) and elegant Calligaris Stealth Desk is among the best in contemporary Italian furniture. With its clean lines, smooth elegant curves, frosted glass surface and compact design would make this desk a welcome addition to any living room or office.

Calligaris Stealth Desk

The Tank Collection Desk

The height-adjustable desk from the Tank Collection radiates lightness and elegancy. The fineness is emphasized by the urgent smoothness which combined with the sturdy materials add strength and weight. This sturdy desk has a large and comfortable working surface, plenty of leg room and the elegant adjustable legs barely touch the floor bringing a sense of lightness “resembling a ballerina” (quote from the site).

The Tank Collection Desk

SFP-302628 FP Series MACTable

Styled as a typical classroom desk, the conservative FP Series MACTables are tailor built to accommodate both iMacs and Apple Cinema Displays. Your iMacs sits on the adjustable depth shelf, were there is easy access to the drives and connections and the keyboard and mouse sit on the spacious worktop. The worktop is large enough for not only the iMAC, it also offers plenty of surface space for writing, books and the always important cup of coffee.

SFP-302628 FP Series MACTable Homepage

StudioDesk

The stylish StudioDesk is specifically designed for laptop users, with its clutter free and professional working environment, this would be a welcome addition to any home office. All peripherals and excess cables are hidden just under the sliding desktop surface and the storage compartment is therefore conveniently accessed from above. An elongated slot across the width of the desktop allows the necessary peripheral & power cables to enter/exit at any point, maintaining the clutter-free environment the StudioDesk promotes.

StudioDesk Homepage

XYZ Computer Desk

The XYZ is a marvel in desk and computer design with its modern and sleek exterior, to a high spec interior that contains all the computer components, cables and drives all neatly hidden within the thickness of the desk. Specifically made for the more functional and versatile PC (I will whisper that), but designed to be as beautiful as a Mac.

XYZ Computer Desk Homepage

MILK

MILK is a series of beautiful tables designed to match the computers that sit on top of them. The desk height can be electronically adjusted for seating or standing. Its large 140 x 80cm desktop keeps unruly cables neatly in check within a drawer, there are also four modular storage square spaces that can be used for absolutely anything (even an aquarium, just look at the image below).

MILK Homepage

i-Con I – Integrated Desk and Computer

Almost everybody with a computer has the same problem. An ugly looking skin-colored box under the desk, all kind of ugly wires, all the peripherals like sound-systems, transmitters and so on are annoying too. No matter how nice the desk looks when you buy it, by the time you have everything installed there is not much left of it. There is a solution : i-Con I is a a modern designed desk with a fully integrated computer. The only things visible are the monitor and the wireless keyboard and mouse. No wires, no mess and looks good as well.

i-Con I – Integrated Desk and Computer Homepage

OneLessDesk

OneLessDesk is a beautiful, ergonomic, space-saving computer desk. At one time, you needed a desk that could fit a mountain of paper, two-foot-deep monitor, printer, and a CPU the size of a small car. Nowadays, your computer is an inch thick, the desk has finally caught up. When the desk is put away it is only 12 inches thick!
It is available in silver, black, red, buttercup (I think thats yellow) and cream.

OneLessDesk Homepage

OneLessStand

OneLessStand's rear-facing, hidden shelf hides your wifi, cable modem, networked hard drives, and the mess of wiring that comes with them. The height of the shelf is in-line with most power and cable wall outlets – so it even hides that mess as well.

OneLessStand Homepage

OneLessFile

OneLessFile would be a perfect and necessary addition to any home office. Ideally your work area would be paperless, but if that is not possible, the One LessFile, with its convenient carrying handles and pull holes, is probably the most stylish filer money can buy.

OneLessFile Homepage

Sonic Chair

When the stress of everyday office work gets to you, the Sonic Chair offers you a great way to relax and unwind. It provides you with a unique audio experience, allowing you to sit at the very centre of a top-notch sound system. Whether you enjoy listening to symphony orchestras, rock concerts, or audio books – the integrated satellite speakers are precisely adapted to your ears.

Sonic Chair Homepage

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Techniques For Creating HDR Photos – That Work

Just in-case you were wondering how to create this special effect on any photograph, here are a few sources that will reveal the secret!

• How to create HDR Photos – (HDR/Photomatix tutorial)
• How to Make HDR Photos
• 19 Tutorials for Creating Beautiful HDR Imagery
• The Definitive Guide to (MORE) Realistic High Dynamic Range Images
• How to Create High Dynamic Range Images
• HDR 101 – One of the Most Visited HDR Tutorials

How 20 popular websites looked when they launched

Remember the days when the word Google was not interchangeable with internet? Or when every site seemed to have a Netscape icon on it? Or when Flash was still something you cleaned your floor with? Then you were clearly using the web in the mid to late 1990s when pages were rudimentary affairs containing lists of links and information. This post is a nostalgic look at web design trends gone by, thank god they have gone by!!!

How 20 popular websites looked when they launched

25 Examples of Web 2.0 and Traditional Design Rules Coming Together

At its best, Web 2.0 stands as an equal to the traditional design rules practiced for centuries, though it is no doubt a reflection of our society in its current state of hustle and bustle.
In this post you will find a collection of 25 sites showcasing how Web 2.0 and traditional design practices can come together to form truly stunning websites.

How 20 popular websites looked when they launched

50 Websites (and More) for Your Design Inspiration

50 Websites (and More) for Your Design Inspiration20 of the Worst Designed Websites In the World

By Paul Andrew from Speckyboy Design Magazine, you can follow him on Twitter

25 Excellent Handwritten Fonts

When was the last time you sent a letter? Years, I’ll bet. Email is great, but it doesn’t exactly have the personal touch, nor does convey the emotional effect of a handwritten letter. A soltion could be to use to use handwritten fonts and in this post you will find just that, 25 free handwritten fonts.

25 Excellent Handwritten Fonts

28 Free High Quality Fonts to Boost Your Typography

In this article, from WebDesignLedger, they have compiled 28 of the highest quality fonts to use in your next design project.

28 Free High Quality Fonts to Boost Your Typography

By Paul Andrew from Speckyboy Design Magazine, you can follow him on Twitter

The 50 Funniest Internet Infographics

A common site when you are browsing the internet are the abundance of info-graphics. Some are interesting, some are simply pointless, some are really funny. In this post you will 50 of the funniest info-graphics ever, I love the Mr T graphic.

The 50 Funniest Internet Infographics

30 Funny Photo-manipulations of Animals by HumanDescent

Everyone loves photomanipulations, the image editing technique that gives us unlimited space for creative ideas, especially when working with a great working tool like photoshop.Photo manipulation is the image editing technique that gives us unlimited space for creative ideas, especially when working with a great working tool like photoshop.

30 Funny Photo-manipulations of Animals by HumanDescent

By Paul Andrew from Speckyboy Design Magazine, you can follow him on Twitter

The Zen Garden created a unique website footer that not only looks good, but offers functionality in the form of a contact section.

This footer interacts with the sites viewers and offers valuable information.

The Buzz website footer has useful info and offers guidance through the sites tags.

This footer has a great design and has self-advertising.

Great footer with simple illustration and useful information.

The above footer is simple and creative, however offers no functionality.

This footer knows how to interact with its visitors.

The overall site design conveys information, the footer offers no less.

Retro footer design with great usability.

Wonderful work of art and creative lighting effects are all incorporated into this footer.

There’s no doubt that the name and meaning behind this site is conveyed correctly throughout the footer area.

The above footer is creative and features simple functions and information.

This footer has great use of illustration and points the viewer in the right direction even without a clear understanding of the text.

If you offer great design services, your website should be a pillar among examples. This sites footer design does just that.

This footer’s colors truly collaborate with the overall site design, making it a bit more appealing on the eye.

The vimeo site has unique illustration canvased out on the site. The footer showcases this unique design.

What’s most intriguing about this footer is the excellent use of white space.

A bit too similar to the Vimeo footer, especially found in the colors and style of digital art.

Great use of actual objects as a footer. Takes more creativity than an illustration.

Very simple and straight to the point. Makes it easier for the viewer to wrap their mind around.

This footer contains two sections. The illustrations found here are self-explanatory.

Besides the map, the designer was considerate enough to place the site menu and more within the footer.

Great integration between the sites footer and illustrations.

Getting your sites main point across with the use of your footer sometimes means you have to be bold.

Unique, creative, simple and effective are all words that can be used to describe carsonfied’s footer.

250+ Resources to Help You Become a CSS Expert

Everyone buys something just because its packaging? Well, these package designs are definitely one of a kind and they do make you want to buy them regardless of whatever it is inside. This post showcases 10 different types of packaging that all have something in common; they are awesome.

10 Awesome Package Designs

60+ Unusual Business Card Ideas & Designs

There is something about business card showcases that everyone loves. Maybe it is because most business cards tend to be forgotten, with there simple and bland design with basic typography. To see something out of the norm is cool. You will love this post.

60+ Unusual Business Card Ideas & Designs

By Paul Andrew from Speckyboy Design Magazine, you can follow him on Twitter

Things is one of the most sought after task manager applications for the Mac and iPhone.

This iPhone app lets you to track packages from top shipping companies such as UPS, FedEx, DHL, and more.

The Mock Draft app allows football fans to watch highlights and scout players.

Behance’s task manager and productivity software for the iPhone is free and effective. The site containing ther iPhone application specs and info has a sleek feel to it.

The Spoonjuice app for the iPhone is another development studio that has several applications in one. Their site design says a lot about their apps; crystal clear and easy to use.

This application is a great tool to help you keep track of gas mileage and maintenance records on your motor vehicle.

Tapulous, the creator of Tap Tap, and many other games as well as tools has a clean and understandable website that allows for ease of access.

Frenzic is another fun puzzle game for the iPhone that houses a colorful website with an attractive navigation.

Mustache is also an amazing development studio with three incredible apps. The sites overall design match the funny and speratic sense of humor they were aiming for.

Snow Reports displays the latest snow reports from ski mountains worldwide. The information conveyed is mostly alongs the lines of the amounts of snow, weather reports, trail information and more.

The tweetie iPhone app site is so simple that you’re forced to like its design. The user experience is fairly easy to explore.

Bottle Rocket is a simple development studio that has several working apps. The site is for the most part more friendlier to use than most corporate sites.

Firetask is another task manager application. You can manage a variety of projects and more.

Evernote is an application that helps you remember things by allowing you to create notes, take photo notes, and much more.

Where To? is a serious iPhone application that helps you find businesses based on your location. The site uses several transparent layers to complete its design.

Fieldrunners is a strategy game with exilirating graphics, developed especially for the iPhone. This sites design is more graphic/comic oriented to act as a better visual aid.

The ShareCard app is an easy way to move contact information to and from your iPhone to other iPhones through email.

The Noter2 website for the iPhone app has a dark minimalistic effect.

Parablos is a fun and interactive puzzle game with an eye catching and welcoming site design.

Zumobi is a simple and creative development firm with an assortment of iPhone apps.

This app is s shooter game for the iPhone and iPod touch. The site design isn’t incredibly creative, however it gets the point accross.

FileMagnet allows users to move files from their computer to their iPhone with ease. This sites cosmetics warrants noticing. The navigation is very easy to use and the overall content is conveyed with fashion.

45 Creative Logo Designs For Inspiration

In this post you will find a selection of some beautiful and creative logos, that will hopefully inspire your creativity and keep you up to date with the current logo design trends.

45 Creative Logo Designs For Inspiration

40 Fresh High-Quality Free Fonts For Your Designs

With the proper selection of type style you can convert a typical design into an impressive stylish art piece. With the help from this post, from instantshift.com, you will be able to use 40 new free fonts for your next design project.
Lets be honest, we all love free fonts.

40 Fresh High-Quality Free Fonts For Your Designs

20 Beautiful Examples of Urban Decay Photography

Urban Decay photography is the technique of photographing abandoned and rundown buildings. Usually these buildings were once home to active city dwellers in urban districts. Now they receive little more attention than the lone photographer exploring the bowels of their past grandeur. Amazing photography.

20 Beautiful Examples of Urban Decay Photography

By Paul Andrew from Speckyboy Design Magazine, you can follow him on Twitter

The depth infinity site blends natural colors with synthetic lighting to create a sort of “domino effect” throughout the site.

The effects on the above site are more distracting than anything, however they were still designed to be effective.

This site design mixes a dark background with bright colors that attract attention.

The 45 Royal sites are of lighting effect is located within the header. The effects originate throughout one point.

A minimalistic design, correct use of lighting, and ease of usability allow the Tao site to be one of the cleanest site designs on the web.

The above site utilizes a creative use of icons and blends it with amazing light effects.

This is a clean and crisp design with an amazing and colorful header.

PixelLight Creative’s site brings the use of lighting effects to a minimum, however they manage to attract the eyes of the visitor within the process.

The above site uses a great mix of colors to provide a clean visual of spirals and swirls with lighting effects.

FM Communication stretched their hand out far this design. The background provides exceptional use of lighting.

Matching the logo and going hand in hand with the overall site design, the light effects around the sides of this site provide a sense of warmth.

The you and igraphics site has amazing illustration using clean effects.

The background of this site can mostly be compared to a gradient and several shades of colors.

Utilizing only a fair shade of colors, okb, has provided a clean site with great effects.

Although this graphic could’ve easily inserted within the template, it’s a difficult task to create a lighting affect not only around the actual image but along the edge of the site header as well.

The light effects on this site also act as a guide to where the site owner would like you to pay most attention to, for example the facebook and twitter icons.

Very simple and creative design with an incredible background.

The poziteeve site uses natural elements of the earth to combine them with amazing lighting effects.

Studio7Designs has developed a website with creative use of colors, scenery, and lighting effects. Especially the glow around the globe.

This is another site that puts in motion the use of gradients within the background.

Notice the sleek lighting effects around the template. That allows the viewer to focus on the main content of the site more easily.

The noe site is more of a dark design with a great ability to display simple and mezmorizing effects of light.

Brain Fart I beleive to have been aiming for the old dark universe look with the sun originating from a specific point. The lighting effects within this site are exquisute.

This advertisement conveys the ability of this product to operate underwater. Although the ad could have done without the use of the actual words “ice berg”.

The above ad is creative, illustrative, and gets to the point without deviating the viewer from the main point of view.

The catch in this ad is that the details women are likely to notice first have something to do with your socks, no matter what you may be wearing elsewhere.

This ad shows you how effective these boots can be towards fighting off all kinds of weather and surroundings.

The catch with the above ad is that the super glue advertised is strong enough to save an object in the nick of time.

This ad is incredibly creative as you can see the deceased body laying on the side of the road covered by a blanket containing the label of the drink which caused this death. It’s an eye-opener.

This lotion or product is meant to be perceived as very accommodating to your skin.

This ad shows you how powerful the shutter smile effect can be with this camera. It can even capture the physically “unseen” to the naked eye.

The 3M Micro Projector is so effective that even a bird has placed one in its bird house!

The above ad is clean, organized, and shows clear use of proper colors and shadows.

This nasal inhaler is so effective that even the worst of stuffy noses can be unclogged.

This ad is very persuasive and cut-throat. It illustrates how easily one glass of alcohol can act as a blockade when operating a motor vehicle.

The irony in this ad is so great that it simply becomes eye-catching.

This ad displays organized use of dark colors and originality in its manipulation of a photo.

If it were possible this ad would take motion photography to another level. Intricate works of art such as this one are rare to find.

This ad is trying to convey the selling point of its product, mostly the slogan that states no matter the situation or surrounding “Your movistar number always survives”.

Car advertisements are a dime a dozen, however, clear and illustrative pieces such as the one above are a bit more rare.

This ad gives way to how it’s possible to use simple objects to create attractive, complex, works of art.

This ad quickly executes its purpose and leaves you with a hint of gravity defying inspiration.

How better to show how animals and humans could co-exist in an area but to show the viewer how easy it is to blend in.

This ad takes your imagination on a wild ride as it uses creative venues to create an amazing digital work of art.

The above ad conveys to the targeted audience that your cattle is safe no matter what, even from the most awkward and unprecedented of situations.

This ad not only illustrates its point through the use of objects and clothing, but it also uses motion to create a better understanding for the viewer.

The above is a creative and effective ad that has the very potential to motivate alcohol consumers to find use in a designated driver.

Modeled after a great work of art founded hundreds of years ago, this is to show you that creativity does not always come best with originality.

This ad shows the viewer that no matter how hot it may be in a room, Perierr carbonated water remains fresh and desirable.

This ad could’ve possibly been illustated a little better but it still gets the main point across. It’s basically stating that watching this channel is so suspensful that you wouldn’t know what to expect out of the commercials.

If you have ever seen a still photograph from the early days of movies, the quality and precision of each shot is perfect and, as a result, they could encapulsate the full essence of the movie within that single image. The techniques and practices are the same today as they were then, setting a standard that as yet, can not be beaten.

That brings us to todays news…A once in a blue moon website called “The Movie Stills Collection“. It is a website that is a mixture of good old fashioned quality and modern coolness, that brings the under valued art of Movie Still Photography into the spotlight for a new generation to drool over.

The collection was put together as a labor of love, by talented web designer, Christian Annyas. He has seen a lot, I mean a lot, of movies, and as a way to catalogue and remember each film he watched, he started taking screenshots from the opening titles. The website is his showcase of these opening titles, for us, it is a walk down memory lane and a chance to appreciate the hard work of its author.

On the site, the stills have been neatly organised into decades (1920-29, 1930-39… and so on) as well as into the genres “Noir” and “Westerns”. Below you will find a selection of the amazing stills you will find on the site “The Movie Stills Collection“. Enjoy.

HAUNTED SPOOKS (1920)

LITTLE CAESAR (1930)

THE BAND WAGON (1953)

SERPICO (1973)

JAWS (1975)

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977)

CADDYSHACK (1980)

GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (2004)

SIN CITY (2005)

Visit the “The Movie Stills Collection“.

Thanks to Christian Annyas for allowing us to use the above images, if anyone is looking for a web designer he is your man.

Destructed Magazine

Destructed is a free downloadable Art and Design Magzine in .PDF format. It is released quaterly and each issue deals with a unique topic from the community.

Download Latest Issue (N.20)

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Revolution Art Magazine

The objective of REVOLUTIONART is the one to serve as a inspirational source to artists, models, designers, advertisers, photographers, designers and communicators in general who wish to explore new alternatives of expression through graphical samples of design, photo, ads, fashion, music, and general visual arts.

Latest Issue (N.19)

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Proteus Mag – Art + Design Magazine

Proteus Mag encourage all photographers, painters, sculptors, graphic designers, fashion designers, illustrators, basically, all creative types to submit there work and showcases the best on the magazine. It is a place where all creatives can flex their creative muscles.

Latest Issue (N.07)

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ANTI

The aim of ANTI Magazine is to showcase outstanding visual content as an online magazine and also through future exhibitions the world over. They showcase all styles of visual media, including: illustration, graphic design, photography, drawing, painting, etc.

Latest Issue (N.09)

Download ANTI Magazine as a ZIP file
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Vektorika

If you have been living under a rock recently and haven't heard of Vektorika Magazine, here is a brief description: Vectorika is a really cool and popular vector art and illustration magazine, the magazines is filled with vector illustration, character design, graphic design, art, and everything you could possibly ecpect from vector design.

Latest Issue (N.10)

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bitFUUL Magazine

This a new magazine that shows a lot of promise. If the contents from the first issue first issue (Photos, Artwork, Illustrations, Lyrics, Money, Poetry, Pictures, Fava Beans, Music) are to go by, the future is bright for this mag.

Latest Issue (N.01)

Download bitFUUL Magazine in PDF Format

Castle-Magazine

Castle-Magazine contains the work of illustrators, artists and other creatives. Every free issue is full of weird, creative and high quality arty stuff.

Latest Issue (N.14)

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GizMag

For this 5th issue of GizMag, all the artists took the time to fill in their interview by hand. The result is a unique magazine with great artworks, handwritten answers and awesome doodles. Artists include 64 Colors, Katrin Kirojood, Michael Maitland, Titi + The German Kid, Akina, Meeshle and Slobots.

Latest Issue (N.05)

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Candy Collective

CANDY magazine was launched in 2005 to showcase Irish creativity alongside international equivalents to a worldwide audience. Since then 11 downloadable pdf format issues have been released to local and international acclaim.

Latest Issue (N.11)

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Jetpac Magazine

Jetpac magazine is a cool free pdf culture magazine, featuring photography, illustration, design, comedy, poetry, interviews, reviews… basically all that is good with the world.

Latest Issue (N.01)

Download Jetpac Magazine in PDF Format

Bak Magazine

Bak is a magazine aimed towards design and the visual arts. To date, there are 14 issues for download, with artists profiled from all over Europe.

Latest Issue (N.14)

Download Bak Magazine in a ZIP File
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Artzmania.com

Artzmania is an independent venture showcasing outstanding international creativity and culture., with a blazing passion for design. It is widely recognized as one of the most successful and popular free e-zine on the web.

Latest Issue (N.10)

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Be Different

Be | Different was founded in October 2007, and is an online magazine that focuses on contemporary art in all its forms: from the more traditional painting, sculpture to photography, street-art and digital art.

Latest Issue (N.05)

Download Be Different in PDF Format
Download Be Different in a ZIP File

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Ruby Mag

Ruby is an online mag created with the purpose of putting together differnet artists in a monthly pdf magazine in order to promote their work in order to promote their work to the rest of the world.

Latest Issue (N.38)

View Ruby Magazine in Flash Format

Etel Magazine

Etel Magazine is a quarterly independent art and design magazine, it showcases Mexican design, without living aside its influences, that for, it presents design works and other disciplines, also considering what it is done in the rest of the world.

Latest Issue

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View Etel Magazines Archives

Other Magazines you might like…

Royal Magazine

24Hour Magazine

CYAN mag

{ths} BEAST magazine

multilink

Five to Nine

NewWebPick.com E-magazine (Lite)

2ndDesign Magazine

3DH – Design with love

Design&Life

FF3300 : Design della comunicazione

Kino Mag

NOTaZINE

And I Still Miss You…

Stchi Magazine

MagWerk

Wag Magazine

True Eye – True Digital

The Phase Collective
Moloko+

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy.com).

62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business

Twitter is not only a simple messaging service it can be used for various reasons, of course, some people publicize their daily activities, some make it about link love, some share resources. The people in the know are using for business. In this article the author has listed 62 ways to use Twitter more effectively in your business. Worth a read.

62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business

The Top 100 Web Sites of 2009

Its that time of year again, the release of PC Mags Top 100 Web Sites. It was definitely the year of the web app or service, with hundreds being launching (especially involving Twitter) every month. Have a look for yourself, you may not agree with the verdict, but it still a very good compilation.

The Top 100 Web Sites of 2009

50+ Sleek, Funky and Weird Chair Designs

A chair is no longer just a chair, it is a declaration of style and an art statement. In this post from WebDesigner Depot, they take a look at chair design from an artistic point view. Some of these chairs are amazing.

50+ Sleek, Funky and Weird Chair Designs

The Starbucks website illustrates beautiful use of Flash, with attractive navigation.

This website chooses dark colors to get its deep message across. The design is simple, clever, and affecting.

Here’s a dark web site that maintains it’s entire theme with consistency and delivers easy to spot content.

The Statement is a bold blog mostly backed by stunning typography and great use of black and white styles.

This site has an outer space theme that can make you feel as though you’re floating in the design if you make eyes with it long enough.

BootB offers an unorthodox design stacked by creative colors and a gorgeous sketch theme.

Traffik showcases a terrific use of transparent layers and an organized layout.

The Cyan site lives up to its name as the entire site is laid out in the same color its business is named after.

This site really takes originality to a whole different level. The nice blend of colors and creative layout says it all.

The printhuge site gets right to the point with the large un-admissable background image.

The use of light effects and gradients within this site livens up the dark edges and its surrounding.

Not sure what language this site is written in, however one thing that can be said is that it’s beautiful. The site gives you a cozy feeling while you can’t the similarities the main design has with typography used in many flyers.

The ideafoundry displays a simple, original and minimalistic design.

2pitch seems to be on top of every aspect of its site. The nice colors and shades bring creativity to endless boundaries.

The Let It Bleed site utilizes the dark colors to bring out its smooth and elegant theme that catches the eye of most designers.

A simple and minimal design that skips across any sort of deviating track and finds its way directly to the sites main point.

This site complements the use of transparent layers with a dark and sleek design.

The Product Planner site is well organized and shows you how to properly separate content for better reading.

While the design orderedlist has developed features attractive characteristics, their homepage seems to want to offer more than it should on one page.

Movie sites (such as the above) are usually done in Flash due to the high-quality graphics utilized, however the developers for this site chose to use basic CSS and HTML attributes, this shows how powerful even the simplest of tools can be when used correctly.

Tailing along with the eco-friendly movement and viable advice listed above we’ve provided you with 30 creative and stunning eco-friendly packaging concepts.

This design showcases flexibility and efficiency all while being eco-friendly.

This packaging is more of a vintage mixed with retro style design.

This is one of those undeniably environmentally cooperative designs, it also shows great use of typography.

This packaging concept for Iams dog food heavily relies on a more natural look and feel.

Finding a clean and neat envelope design is unique in its own. However, finding one that is easy on the eyes and is friendly to the environment is extremely rare.

The pattern on this design is lacquer transferred to green paper. They come in a package of four so placed back-to-back all the little pyramids would nest together to make a larger pyramid.

This garbage bag packaging is simple, creative, yet effective.

The use of grey board is interesting, it seems like an invitation to try pencils, a way to say: this is the first support for your imagination.

The packaging is equally impressive. A rugged military ration feel that brings to mind WWII ephemera and old typewritten forms, permeates Askinosie’s collection.

Not only are the bulbs eco-friendly, but the packaging that they’re enclosed in is too. That’s creativity.

An incredible design featuring a nifty illustration of what’s packaged inside.

This an amazing design with unique characteristics. The top of the cups aren’t made from your usual plastic called PVC, it contains a bio-degradable material that resembles plastic.

This packaging was intended to encase beauty within a simple design.

This design is simple and creative. The designer knew how to balance the right colors to create an eye-catching design.

The 360 Paper Bottle is the first of its kind in the world, and a true environmentally-friendly solution to the problem of plastic water bottles.

About 90% of the Boxed Water container is made from a renewable resource, trees, that when harvested in a responsible, managed and ethical way serve as an amazing renewable resource.

lite2go is an innovative lamp that eliminates packaging. When the lamp is assembled, the packaging itself becomes the shade for the light bulb and fixture contained within.

Tous H20 is the latest fragrance launched by Perfumes Y Diseño. Tous H20 is being billed as “eco-chic”, the glass is made from 25% recycled material and is 100% recyclable.

The packaging has a minimal quality to it that alone provides it a creative advantage – you want to look at the packaging, touch it and find out what is in it.

The agency behind this design wanted to create a natural feel to reflect the naturally sourced ingredients. They also tried to make the packaging as recyclable as possible.

The unique, boxed design holds almost twice the amount of wine that a bottle holds, isn’t susceptible to cork taint and keeps wine fresh for several weeks after opening.

This unique hanger eliminates the need for plastic to be used and produced at mass quantities. It’s as eco-friendly as possible and features a sleek design.

Great typography and a clean design. The packaging also shows you the percentage of the amount that is recyclable towards the bottom right.

This is one of the simplest and cleanest designs that offer new and innovative ways to close the package.

A geometrical design that offers an effective but complex packaging.

This design uses every inch of white space possible on the packaging. This saves money all while being creative.

These bags have entertaining facts on the back that catch the attention of the consumer.

Vintage styled design featuring simple illustration that doesn’t fail to get the message across.

This design is easy to handle, sleek and smooth.

Colorful designs are often best depending on your product. This products packaging has a little bit of everything. It showcases clear-cut typography, simple illustrations, & a smooth texture.

Because it’s fairly easy to steer towards the wrong direction when designing a registration page, we’ve provided 40 eye-catching pages for your inspiration. Each of these pages posses vital characteristics in the succession of a complete registration on your site.

1. Who you are
2. What’s your expertise and further beneficial skills
3. Your readers possible problem and your goal on fixing it
4. And, how you can be contacted

Many blogs lack information about the author/s of them. Though there exists those blogs that this would be more important than others, however, searching through the web you’ll be able to find web sites without an About page and that can be quite frustrating.

Your About Me page has the power to make or break your image, it can be the pivotal point between a prospective client walking through your door or not pursuing their interest and leaving it all behind as they exit your web site. Below you’re able to find 50+ inspiring and unique About Me pages.

As you’re in the process of designing a login form/area you might yourself face to face with a few vital questions: i.e. Will I display the name of the form as login, log in or sign in? How will I design the graphical aesthetics of the login (or log in/sign in) area? Where should the forgotten password link be displayed? What if I were to include a cancellation button? Should I use graphics and transparent properties that will match the overall design of my site? And so on..

No matter the question pertaining to your login form, there are always multiple solutions to your concerns. This is why we’ve done our research and collected 100 of the most beautiful sites with outstanding login forms for your inspiration.

Hopefully these sites will open up your mind to the endless and creative possibilities you can explore when designing this aspect of your site.

Setting up your office has to be perfect, it has got to be tailored to your professional and personal needs, it needs to get your creative and inspirational juices flowing, it has to have limited distractions, speedy access to all the tools of your trade and if possible, have all the coolest and latest gadgetry that you budget allows.

Could someone tell us why most cool workspaces seem to use MACs? Are Windows and Linux users not cool? Maybe its the MAC that makes the workspace cool.

All Systems Glow…

A cool glowing workstation from Hong Kong based photographer Mark aka Crouching Donkey.

View more and source

Geek Office Setup

Arthur Caranta’s geeky workstation, read his blog here: caranta.com.

View more and source

Elegant

This stylish and elegant setup is from Graeme Basson.

View more and source

MySpace

The workstation of freelance web designer and developer Lisa Risager.

View more and source

Home Office Upgraded

This sleek workstation is from m@rkos, he blogs here: medinaauto.blogspot.com.

View more and source

My Office

Cool, minimal and immaculate is the best way to describe this workstation from paszzz.

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My Workspace

There is a nature (maybe a jungle) theme going on here from student and freelance designer Chris Holder.

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Duncan's SOHO Makeover

This workstation from the creative Duncan Hopkins has been custom built by himself. View his professional work here: beyondbeyond.com/.

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Nuevo Sofa Naranja (and a Cool Workspaces)

The cool office from David Martinez Suarez.

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Mac Pro Monitors

The reason for all the monitors is that Mitch Haile is a software developer, view more images about this workstaion here: Office FAQ.

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My Workstation

I love this workstation, its simple yet feature rich, and simply love the flatscreen above the computer. This is from Geoff Harrison.

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Workspace

A lovely office setup from AtomicBunny.

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The Studio

A mood setting office and studio from musician sephtakular.

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My Computer Station

A great image of Jerome Slagle’s workstaion in the dark, I am not sure about the plasma ball, though.

View more and source

Brooklyn Home Office

This is the minmal workstation of Mackenzie Kosut, sleek office, nice view, Apple hardware everywhere, he must be loaded.

View more and source

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Horror seems to generates the most imaginative of posters. Have a look at the Saw posters, they are simple, but very creepy, certainly effective and they make you curious. Whereas the Cannibal Holocaust poster tells you exactly what you are going to get, gore, gore and lots of gore. Below you will see 29 amazing examples of the various types of horror movie posters.

Tales of Terror

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Day of the Dead

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Maniac

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Chopping Mall

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Beast of Blood

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Evil Dead

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30 Days of Night

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Dead Alive

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Dead Snow

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Saw III

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Apocalypse Now

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Cannibal Holocaust

Visit Source

The Abandoned

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Friday the 13th

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Somethings Better Left Unseen

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The Howling

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Visceral

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Hostel

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Humpty Dumpty

Visit Source

Alphabet Killer

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Flesh for Frankenstein

Visit Source

Saw

Visit Source

Snuff

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30 Days of Night (2)

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Happy Birthday To Me

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House of the Dead

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Skinwalkers

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Autopsy

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Nekromantic

Visit Source

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

Drupal themes aren’t traditionally beautiful, they are designed to be designed and developed upon, but we think you will agree, that the premium Drupal themes below are pretty nice.

Platino

Ligo

Kopt

ZincOut

Newspaper style

Endless XS

Copywrite

Luxe

Galapagos News/Magazine

Stingray Magazine

Pump Up The Volume

Publisher

Minimalist

Fola

Toluwaleye

Sonar

Structura

Viva Gallery

Presato

Wazoo

Heavenly Skies

Leo

UberAwesome

Clophy Shop

Fasade

Design

Publisher

Efficient

Drupal Themes from OSSKNIS.com

Drupal Themes from Template Monster

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

1. A List Apart

2. Smashing Magazine

3. ColourLovers blog

4. SitePoint web design blog

5. DevLounge

6. Noupe

7. We Function

8. Six Revisions

9. NetTuts

10. Woork

11. SmashingApps

12. Web Designer Wall

13. ShareBrain

14. Vandelay Design Blog

15. CSS Tricks

16. Fuel Your Creativity

17. Tutorial9

18. David Airey

19. Web Design Ledger

20. Design Meltdown

21. Design Mag

22. BittBox

23. CSS Vault blog

24. Design Shack

25. Apples to Oranges

26. Unmatched style

27. Mezzoblue

28. Stop Design

29. Boxes and arrows

30. Ajaxian

31. UX Booth

32. 24 Ways

33. The Design Cubicle

34. Line 25

35. 1st webdesigner

36. The Design Superhero

37. Creattica Daily

38. My Ink Blog

39. Webdesigner Depot

40. In the Woods

41. Creative Briefing

42. SpoonGraphics

43. CSS Globe

44. Brian Yerkes

45. Stylized Web

46. Colorburned

47. SimpleBits

48. From the Couch

49. Viget Inspire

50. SpeckyBoy

About the author: Mirko Humbert is a freelance designer from Switzerland. He shares his thoughts about his passion on his design blog. To connect with Mirko, you can follow him on Twitter.

Lets start with the great:

Jack in the box

The new logo for Jack In The Box is modern, fun, and quirky – just like their mascot (Jack). The brand extensions for the different types of sandwiches they offer are also fun. The only thing off about the new logo is the “in the box” text that just seems to be placed under the image as an afterthought. This project was designed by Duffy & partners.

Pyramid Beer

The redesign of the Pyramid Breweries Logo is simple and distinctive. The new logo places more emphasis on the geometric pyramid symbol. The type in the new logo is also much easier to read. The new simplified logo communicates boldness and distinctiveness. The new logo is also accompanied by several new and bold label designs.

Kentucky fried chicken

KFC has a nice refresh of their logo – The colonel has taken off his suit coat and put on an apron – like he’s ready to serve you. This version of the logo is much friendlier and inviting. The new angled backdrop to the logo also adds a nice dynamic feel and implies quickness – this isn’t a sit down restaurant! The only thing I don’t enjoy about this redesign is the integration of the type into the symbol. It feels like the type should be more of a separate element rather than attempting to integrate it with the illustration.

Detroit lions

While some may not like the logo – It seems like a step in the right direction. The old lions logo seemed flat and boring. The new re-worked illustration has more definition and defines the arms, legs, mane and face.

Sprint

When Sprint merged with Nextel a few years back they underwent massive re-branding campaign. Nextel’s attention getting black and yellow color scheme was merged with The Sprint name. The new symbol is based on sprints signature ‘pin drop’. The switch to a nice sans serif typeface also does wonders for making the logo look modern. This logo really shines when the symbol is set in motion.

UPS

Paul Rand is probably rolling over in his grave over this redesign. UPS decided to re-brand themselves a few years ago (2003 to be exact). The new design feels much more modern and and clean. That being said I could do without the 3d effects. The logo was designed by New York-based FutureBrand.

Chicago Olympic Bid

While I was sad to see the brilliant Chicago torch logo go, the new version of the logo is just as brilliant. The new logo features warm gradients that represent the sunset and cool gradients that represent lake michigan. The star is a design element that is borrowed from the city flag and represents a compass pointing in all directions radiating out to the world. Overall I think this is a great redesign full of rich symbolism.

The Bahamas

After some extensive research I could not find the original Bahamas logo, but the design itself is amazing enough to mention. This identity is fresh, dynamic, fun and colorful – much like a vacation in the Bahamas. Read more about the logo at the Duffy & Partners blog.

Argentina

I was unable to find the previous branding for Argentina. The new logo is part of an evolving and dynamic design system. The ribbons of the logo communicate passion, expressiveness and change. Designed by Guillermo Brea & Associates

Citi

Can you imagine designing a logo in just a few seconds (and 34 years of experience)? Paula Scher did just that in a client meeting with then named Travelers group insurance. The company was re-branding but wanted to maintain their distinctive umbrella symbol. This logo is simple and brilliant in the way it combines a simplified version of an umbrella and simplified type. Designed by Pentagram.

Delta Airlines

More of a realign than a redesign – this new delta logo is sharp! The colors in the new logo are more subdued and the choice of a all caps sans serif typeface makes the logo feel more modern. The new symbol also has a nice dimensional aspect to it without getting into cheesy 3d effects. Designed by Lippincott Mercer.

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems updated their logo and name back in 2006. With the shortened name and the new simplified ‘bridge’ this logo is much more bold and memorable. Designed by Joe Finocchiaro and Jerry Kuyper.

BP

The BP logo redesign takes a boring, static shield with initials and transforms it into a bright, colorful clean flower. This logo is an attempt to move the company in a completely new direction (or just reflect that in the image). Designed by Landor.

Gatorade

Gatorade is the only part of the Pepsi re-branding scheme that I actually enjoy. I love the new simplified G and lightning bolt. I’m also quite fond of the bulky slab serif font used on their packaging.

Envato

The eden/envato re-brand a logo update is refreshing and simple. I love that they kept some of the elements from the original logo and included them in the leaf. The original logo and named portrayed a sense of springing to life with creativity and this has been carried through to the new design. Designed by Collis Ta’eed.

Best Buy

Best Buy takes a step away from their large, chunky yellow price tag and ultra bold typeface for a more modern, less in your face logo. The new design still features the signature yellow tag – but in a much more subtle way.

Swisscom

The new swisscom logo is dynamic and simple at the same time. The new word mark includes a simple sans serif with curves on the I and the M that reflect the curvature in the mark. This logo really shines when it is set in motion and applied to packaging. Check it out here. Designed by Moving Brands.

NBC

Probably one Americas most well known logos – The NBC peacock logo is iconic. The simplistic and stylized illustration of the peacock with its head reversed out of one of the feathers is brilliant and distinctive.

Burger King

The new Burger king logo takes a dynamic spin on a classic logo. This new design takes some cues from food packaging that features white highlights. The logo retains part of the color scheme and includes a new yellow and blue.

Starbucks

The original Starbucks logo sported a wood cut type illustration of a siren from Greek mythology. Today the current incarnation of the logo is much more streamlined and and memorable.

And now the not so great:

Sierra Mist

The sierra mist design was not great before, but now its just a blurry mess. This is a far to literal interpretation of the brand.

Tropicana

The new Tropicana redesign has been almost universally rejected by designers and the customer base. This redesign was an attempt to make the brand appear simple and down to earth. In the end Tropicana went away from its signature iconic image: the orange with the straw in it – making it difficult for customers to spot the brand at the store.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin department of tourism decided to undergo a re-branding of their state in order to help attract visitors and display a positive image of the state. First off – the typeface is very strange. I’ve never seen a W or an N quite like that. The text is also warped to show a faux-3d effect. The effect is not taken far enough so it just makes the text look off. The man doing a cartwheel symbol is also cheesy. This logo could have been approached in an entirely different manner and been much more successful. I’m sure there were other more iconic aspects of the state of Wisconsin (cheese???) that could have been incorporated into this logo.

Walmart

Walmart updated their corporate logo last year, transforming its identity from a 70’s looking heavy typeface to a much friendlier sans serif. I’ don’t mind the typeface update, but the orange star burst says nothing. Much like Kraft’s random-swooshy-flower thing – this new symbol for Walmart says nothing. Its too generic and looks like stock art. Walmart was trying to renew their image, but IMO they failed horribly.

Kraft

The Kraft re-branding is wrong in so many ways. It is slightly reminiscent of several non descript-random-swooshy pharmaceutical logos I have seen time and time again. While the original logo may have not been stellar, it was a staple for such a long time that the decision to re-brand seems like it was made on a whim. Perhaps a refresh would have been a better option rather than a complete re-branding. This project was designed by a combined effort of consumers, employees, and Nitro Group.

Mountain Dew

The new ‘MTN DEW’ design is part of the pepsi re-brand. I’m not digging the text-message style rename or the ultra slanted and abstract illustrations on the new can.

Recovery.gov

This isn’t really a redesign at all, but I think this logo misses the mark a bit. The recovery of our economy is a complex process, but this logo could be simplified and unified. The Recovery.gov type gets lost in the detail of the logo. I think the type should be a separate element from the symbol.

London 2012

I have no doubt that hours of thought and hard work went into the design and research of this logo. The result however looks very amateurish and trendy. The shapes that make up the ‘2012′ aspect of the logo are almost illegible. The typeface that ‘london’ is set in reflects the edginess of the logo – but is still difficult to read.

Capitol One

Capitol one joins the army of nondescript swooshes in the vast sea of logos. (Look up any medical related logo and watch the swooshes abound!) I’m not sure what the swoosh means or what it does for the logo. The only thing I like about this logo is the addition of the red – it ads some contrast and character.

Xerox

At first glance this logo looked vaguely familiar – distinctive X and a sphere. Looks sort of like the Xbox logo. I much preferred the older ‘pixilated’ version of the logo. It was so much more distinct.

Quark

While the last iteration of the Quark logo was less than original (see the scottish arts council logo, or the bahamas logo) – this new logo is just as generic. Faux bevel and emboss with a shiny metallic effect. Next Please.

AT&T

I like the updated symbol of the ATT logo, but i don’t understand the lighter blue circles within the globe. Looking at all the circles makes me slightly dizzy. I also preferred the all caps typeface from the pervious version of the logo.

Google

I use Google every day for email, search and calendar. While their services are amazing their logo is not. Although it is extremely distinctive (because of popularity of their services) Google’s logo is horrible! Drop shadows, beveling and emboss make this logo horrifying on the eyes. Maybe this is a case where bad design can be successful?

Citroen

The new Citroen logo misses the mark by going the route of an overused metallic 3D graphic effect. The typography looks futuristic and cheesy. I do like the new softer shape of the arrows. Less 3d and a better typeface choice would do this logo good.

Sunkist

The lettering of this new logo has a nice swirly quality to it. I’m also enjoying the nice u-n ligature. While I enjoy the lettering the amount of swirls are completely overwhelming and cause my eye to move around the design way to much.

Fanta

I think the bold type sans the perspective of the previous logo is a step in the right direction but all the other elements in the design make it far to busy.

Toronto Blue jays

Another great classic sports logo has bit the dust. This new logo design misses the mark – removing the maple leaf and the red makes this logo less distinctive and boring.

Dollar General

The original logo was not very eye catching or distinctive and neither is this iteration. I do however like the updated typeface. The containing shape represents a stretched dollar, but I think this gets lost in the details.

The new world trade center memorial foundation logo bland and not memorable. It almost seems to light for such a serious topic. I much preferred the footprint and building mark combination of the previous logo.

By Niki Brown

Browse image bookmarking websites

Design bookmarking sites are probably the most popular among designers. My favourite is by far FFFFound, a social media site where selected designers (you must be invited to get an account) share designs they loved around the web. One of the best features about the website is its keyboard based navigation. Other great image bookmarking networks are Dropular, Typeish, We Heart it or vi.sualize.us.

For typography lovers, John Boardley, the author of “I Love Typography “, created with a friend “We Love Typography“, an bookmarking website targetting specifically typography related stuff. You will for sure find a lot of inspiring design work there.

Ask questions

Interaction is what web 2.0 is all about. Sometimes all you need to do is communicate, that’s what Twitter, Blurtit or Yahoo Answers are for. I often ask my Twitter followers when I’m looking for ideas for a blog post. You can even take this further by using services like Twittpoll. People will most likely be happy to help you out, they are usually glad when they can show their expertise.

Read blogs

This can sound like obvious advice, but it has to be mentionned as blogs are one of my biggest inspiration sources. There are two types of blogs that I find better to find inspiration: people who share designs that they like, for example Design You Trust or Smashing Magazine, or tutorial blogs like NetTuts or PSDTuts.

Browse Flickr

Flickr by itself is just a good social photo site and isn’t so helpful to find inspiration. What makes it really amazing are the cool mashups that have been created around the website. My favourite mashup is by far the color palette generator that allows you to extract colours from one of your Flickr photos. Another Flickr related colour mashup is available on the Multicolr Search Lab , where you can look for interesting pictures that contain specific colours. If you simply want to search images more efficiently, take a look at Compfight.

Watch conferences

One great resource for inspiration is to listen to inspiring and successful people, watching conferences is a good way to do that. TED is the best conference for people looking for anything related to design, entertainment and technology. They bring every year brilliant speakers and share talks on their website. Another good source for design speeches is the AIGA video section, where they put videos of conferences organized by the association. Last but not least, Talks@Google offer a wide range of inspiring talks, most are not by designers but are still interesting.

Search for keywords on social bookmarking sites

It is no secret that people bookmark webpages that they find inspiring or useful, thus searching social bookmarking sites is a great way to find inspiration. In my opinion, Delicious and Stumbleupon are the best places for designers to find inspiration, obviously because they are the most used by other designers. In Delicious, you can perform searches by tags, then narrow you search within this tag. Another great way to make the most out of Delicious is to find power users and browse their bookmarks (for example Adobe).

For Stumbleupon, you’ll find inspiration for sure by stumbling the Graphic design, Drawing or Fine Arts categories. For more specific topics, just search for a keyword and stumble pages tagged with this keyword.

About the author: Mirko Humbert is a freelance designer from Switzerland. He shares his thoughts about his passion on his design blog. To connect with Mirko, you can follow him on Twitter.

Better and more intuitive devices interaction

The Microsoft Surface video demo created a real buzz on the web, it even got its own hilarious parody. The object is already available for sfale, but I sincerely doubt it will go big with the actual pricing and format. On the other hand, I think that the intuitive interface with object interaction will be used broadly in a near future. Another good example of what can be achieved with sensitive multi-touch interface is the stunning Perceptive Pixels technology.
For those of you who are into music, the Audiopad is a great example of the power of interactive multi-touch technology.

Everyday devices connected to the Internet

In 2020, there is no doubt that access to the Internet from the television will be very familiar. But what about kitchen devices? Wouldn’t be great to give the ingredients to your oven, then get appropriate available recipes you can cook with these ingredients. A concept for such a kitchen already exists, and there will be even better than this by 2020.

Multi-touch, without touching the screen

Remember the movie “Minority report” and the cool screen interface Tom Cruise was working with? You probably thought that you would never see this in action. Well, get ready to have your mind blown by this video demonstration of the Oblong technology, and maybe in 2020 it will be affordable, who knows?

Microsoft SideSight is another interesting project that takes the iPhone’s multi-touch one step further. You can use it without touching the screen (demo), which means a cleaner screen. Now let’s see where Microsoft will take this by 2020.

Interactive and intuitive user interfaces for better browsing

A few very interesting demos are available on the web to give a glimpse of what the future computers user-interface could look like. One comes from Mozilla Labs and is named Aurora , it’s a concept video showing a lady browsing the web and her everyday Internet experience. It’s arousing to see how they imagined the icons organized into some kind of overlapping clouds. Even better, the way the lady gets her browsing going from one interface to another.
Another cool prototype of the future’s interface is the BumpTop 3D Desktop. This interface is inspired by real-world organization of your desktop, allowing to create and organize piles, re-size files and toss them around. The demo is really worth watching.

Gesture based interfaces

The Wii-mote by Nintendo was certainly the first step towards gesture-based interfaces, but probably not the last one. Apple seems interested in taking that path too. In fact, they recently patented a new technology that would allow to mix multi-touch with voice, camera and force sensors. This would open a new world of computer-human interaction, making the whole process much more natural.
Another prototype has been released recently, it was showcasing a wearable gesture interface . It uses a camera, a projector and colour markers that you wear at the tip of your fingers to let you interact with anything you look at. The project is named SixthSense, and you should definitely take a look at the demo.

Interfaces aware of context

In this video, David Merrill demoes the latest technology his team developed. The Siftables are interactive computers the size of a cookie. In the video, you can clearly see how far this could take us by 2020, the devices are aware of other devices and react accordingly. For now, the only examples given are used for gaming or educational purposes, but the technology looks very promising and could definitly influence mobile interface of the future.

New materials that will influence UI

Ever dreamt of a folding phone? Well, this could be commonly used in 2020, along with Napkin PC or realistic e-paper. The Napkin PC especially caught my attention since the concept has been created for creative professionals and seems to be perfect for brainstormings. The use of napkin PC as an alternative to printing also amazed me.

About the author: Mirko Humbert is a freelance designer from Switzerland. He shares his thoughts about his passion on his design blog. To connect with Mirko, you can follow him on Twitter.

Multi-touch everywhere

The rise of the iPhone made the multi-touch technology very popular. Now many devices are using it: MP3 players, GPS devices, laptops,… This brings much more intuitive interfaces, making it so easy that even one year old children can use it. In 2009 we will for sure see new multi-touch devices appear.

Web applications get out of the browser

Mac OS X or Yahoo Widgets have already gotten the internet out of the browser for quite a while, but the trend is getting bigger. Think of Twitter and Twhirl, and you’ll get a good example of how a website’s usability can be improved by taking it to an independent interface. Many external apps now support web services like Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed or Seesmic, will we see smaller websites getting out of the browser in 2009?

New controllers for improved usability

The Wiimote and the Logitech MX Air mouse are good examples of the way our interaction with interfaces will be changed through new intuitive navigational controllers. Removing the wires to the mouse was a first step towards more freedom of movement, being able to handle it in the air is a second step. The gaming industry has already been revolutionized by it, professional usage should be next.

Buttons go away for minimalist designs

The new iPod Shuffle recently stirred up controversy because it was considered too minimalist. The product is really easy to use, but some would argue that it loses functionality by over-simplifying the design. Another great example of simple minimalist interface would be Mino, the coolest video camcorder.

The trend of minimalist designs doesn’t only apply to products design, but also to web design with grid-based designs getting popular. In every aspect of design, the ease-of-use becomes the ultimate goal.

The mobile Web gets bigger, interfaces get smaller

The mobile Web has been trying to develop for a few years without being able to extend its reach. The first iPhone came out in 2007, it was a huge success from the start with its revolutionary multi-touch interface. However, the iPhone’s potential really expands with the release of the iPhone 3G and the App store. Over 20′000 apps are now available in the store, and this number keeps growing, giving mobile design more importance everyday.

With Safari for the iPhone, Apple’s mobile device has also popularized mobile browsing. Many major websites have created a mobile version just because of the iPhone. Other mobile phones constructors have also been forced to improve the usability of their phones and to make their devices more attractive.

Blog engines and CMS are also starting to release plugins to make it easier to publish for the mobile web. For Wordpress, you can try the iWPhone WordPress plugin and theme or the WordPress PDA & iPhone plugin.

Written by Mirko Humbert

If you find that Wordpress is a little overblown for your current project, why not give Textpattern a try. Installation is easy, you can design a unique template or theme in a snap, and it will manage all your posts, pages and rich media as well as any other blogging CMS. If you want that traditional blogging feel back, go with Textpattern.

Beautiful free themes are not just limited to Wordpress, have a look at these themes below, they were all developed using Textpattern, and just like everything else involved with Textpattern they are free to download and use.

My Wishful Thoughts Textpattern Theme

Aleksandr Textpattern Theme

Fireplay Textpattern Theme

thinkr uppr Textpattern Theme

Information Architects Textpattern Theme

Text My Pattern Textpattern Theme

Textpattern Gaia Textpattern Theme

White and Wild Textpattern Theme

Blueprinted Textpattern Theme

Textplate Textpattern Theme

TXP_Dilectio_Theme Textpattern Theme

Merdeka Textpattern Theme

Yellowmint Textpattern Theme

Falling Away Textpattern Theme

Rin Textpattern Theme

Flexy – Developer Template Textpattern Theme

The Flexy is a blank template built especially for developers, it is simple and intuitive and if you use elements from this template you will soon learn how to develop using Textpattern. Follow the eight step “How To Use As A Template” guide and you will be well on your way to developing your first Textpattern theme, it is a lot easier than you think.

Textpattern Resources

Textpattern Homepage

Download Latest Version of Textpattern

Textpattern System Requirements

Official Textpattern Weblog

Textbook – Community-Powered User Manual

Textpattern Development

Textpattern Official Forum

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboy and speckyboy@twitter).

drewwilliams27@twitter

boagworld@twitter

stephenfry@twitter

Jonathan360@twitter

FreelanceSw@twitter

cheth@twitter

farrhad@twitter

csstinderbox@twitter

Hicksdesign@twitter

k@twitter

MrTweet@twitter

ComputerArts@twitter

collis@twitter

djuro@twitter

ilovetypography@twitter

cameronolivier@twitter

napwarden@twitter

artoffreelance@twitter

anousone@twitter

chadengle@twitter

votetime@twitter

haleystar@twitter

netdivermag@twitter

natalie@twitter

EllisLab@twitter

Free Twitter Background Resources

Twitter Patterns
MyTweetSpace.com – Free Twitter Backgrounds
TwitterGallery.com
TweetStyle
Twitbacks
Twitter Treats
Twitter Backgrounds – a set on Flickr
26 Awesome Backgrounds for Twitter Fanboys. (and Girls).

Twitter Background Tutorials – Create your own

How to create a Twitter background image (blueleafcreative.wordpress.com).
How To Create A Custom Twitter Background (searchforblogging.com).
Make a Good Impression with a Custom Twitter Background.
How to Create a Twitter Background (ehow.com).
Create a Twitter Background Using Powerpoint (theclosetentrepreneur.com).

By Paul Andrew

There is no magical formula to generate great and inspiring type, but these sites below seems to know about one. Every headline, every single sentence and all the way down to every single letter are perfect.

Its not a case of wishing you had designed these sites, its a case of wishing you could.

GOOD Magazine

EightHourDay

Alpha Multimedia Solutions

Daniel Mall

Rich Morris

Elysium Burns

Information Architects

Typechart

Cognigen

Jaredigital

Jason Santa Maria

A List Apart

Quipsologies

Designr.it

SimpleBits

ilovetypography

By Paul Andrew

Theme Design Lessons

How To Create A Wordpress Theme From Scratch

Good walk through in detail on creation of themes.

The 5 Minute Theme

Fast way of making simple a simple wp theme.

Turn Any Web Template Into a Theme

This flash tutorial shows how to turn any web page into a wordpress theme. The flash movie is pretty distorted but gives a good idea of what can be achieved.

Mocking Up a Theme In Photoshop

A bit of self promotion! This tutorial shows how to mock up a modern theme in photoshop.

16 Lessons On Theme Creation

Covers all bases in detail, really comprehensive lessons on all aspects of Wordpress theme creation from header to footer!

4 Step Theme Design Guide

Part 1 – Pulling it apart; Part 2 – Complete design, header, and footer; Part 3 – The sidebar; Part 4 – The content.

Basic Intoduction To Themes

Good post breaking down how the themes work for those new to Wordpress.

Offical Wordpress Documentation

The Wordpress.org Codex with theme design documentation.

Wordpress Templates For Redesign

Premium Theme Design with Thesis

Want a head start in your new theme design? Thesis will cost you $87 but it been typeset extremely well and is simple to customise the design for stunning results quickly. You’ll save the purchase price in design time with Thesis. (disclosure: URL contains our affiliate tracker)

Create Flexible Themes

Free to use selection of Wordpress themes, good for customization.

100 Free Templates

Helpful Software and Cheats

Theme Editor For Dreamweaver

Now when you open a wordpress theme in Dreamweaver the whole thing is visable – legend.

Inspiration

We Love WP!

Showcase of Wordpress powered websites.

Ready Made Swatches

Great selection of swatch and color scheme ready to choose from.

CSS Galleries

Go to the bottom of this post for links to lots of CSS galleries for design inspiration.

Freebies

Free Stock Images

381k free images, an awesome free collection.

Creative Commons Images at Flickr

50 million plus creative commons images for use, make sure to check the iicences for usage permissions.

Basic Theme Creator

Basic online theme design tool, change the element color in real time then save your theme.

More Theme Resouces

40 more resource links for Wordpress theme design.

Free Social Icons

Free social icons to use on your blog.

Validation and Testing

w3c Validation Service

Well know and classic, but worth a mention.

Cross Browser Checking

View screenshots of your finished theme in all the browsers.

Planet with Solar Glow

Beginning with a simple rock for texture this design created a new world with clarity and great detail.

Planet Rings

Create your own Saturn.

Planet With Glow

Similar to the top example but re-enforces the techniques.

Planet With Habitation

Starting with a satellite image from Nasa.

Fire Planet

5 minutes to make this make this planet explode into fire!

Space Explosion Tutorial

We think Psdtuts rocks! And so does this tutorial firely explosion with two planets colliding.

Deep Space Nebula

A colorful Space Nebula using noise with Gaussian distribution and difference clouds.

Photo Realistic Earth Type Planet

This excellent jpg tutorial shows how to make a replica Earth from scratch.

Nebula Tutorial

With realistic gas clouds. Scroll down the target page to find the tutorial.

Land Planet Training

Scroll to the on the target page to the Land Planet by artist Robert Proctor.

Detailed Star Field

According to this tutorial the secret to stunning star fields is “never stopping”, the more layers of stars the better it will be.

Gas Planets

Create a detailed gas giant complete with surface turbulence. Scroll to the gas planet link on the target page.

Asteroid Photshop Tutorial

Simple and quick asteriod with from no source file. Scroll to the asteriod tutorial.

Flaming Planet

Excellent jpg tutorial explaining how to make a flaming planet.

Solar Eclipse

The half way image looks better than the finished one in this tutorial.

Space Ship Attack

Well if we stretch our imagination in the space theme this tutorial of a flying saucer attacking earth just fits. Eitherway, we think that you will agree that the resulting image looks awesome.

Space Lighting Effects

Colorful Nebula with stars and a lens flare for full effect.

Make The Sun

Video on youtube showing how to make the sun.

Starburst

Make a starburst using the cloud filter, ping and then some lighting effects.

Planets and Stars Video

This video tutorial works through quickly, but gives a good feel of each tool and stroke.

Hyperspace Effect

Starting with no source file this tutorial explains how to make a warp effect with ease.

Planet and Space Scene

Comprehensive tutorial covering making a space and planet scene from scratch with a colorful end result.

Unusual Space Enviroment

Fxencore takes a produces and unusual planet image with stunning light streaks.

Space Landscapes

To follow this tutorial make sure you click on the image on the target page to load the whole tutorial. Also at the bottom there are links to the other parts. The finished image is impressive.

Fantasy Space Scene

Produces a planet & cloud scene which is more fantasy than photorealistic.

Creating a Planet

Relax to the music vibe whilst learning to build a planet with this video tutorial.

Stars and Nebula

Create a beautiful space scene.

Broken Planet

Learn to create a planet which is breaking apart with a firery core.

Putting It All Together

Combining techniques.

Space Explosion With Color

Radial exploding effect with shockwaves.

http://www.ths.nu/beast/

“The Bible of Inspiration”: Beast was one of the first online PDF submission Magazines ever created. Put together by Thomas Schostok {THS} back in 2001, it’s still considered one of the greatest PDF art/design collections to date.

Beast is a free “magazine”. It WAS published, every month, (for one year long, 12 Issues) as a PDF file. No HTML, no Flash, no content, no sponsors, no banner, no ads. Main focus is on design, typography, art, illustration, photography, mind & matter and all kinds of creative exhausts.

http://www.cru-a.com/

http://www.blanketmagazine.com/

http://www.destructed.info/

http://bastardmagazine.net/blog/?page_id=127

http://www.etelmagazine.com/

http://www.proteusmag.com/

http://www.molokoplus-mag.com/

Additional PDF Magazines

http://lokidesign.net/2356/category/2356-issues/

http://www.2nddesign.it/

http://www.grafikal.org/english/

http://bajigurkreatif.blogspot.com/

http://www.bedifferent.it/english.html

http://www.artzmania.com/

http://www.daheim-magazin.de/index.php?n=46e2a21f&edition=0014_SCHEITERN

http://komma-mannheim.de/?ausgaben

http://www.txtnein.com/

http://www.designandlife.com/

http://mis.vlepvnet.bzzz.net/

http://www.codemagazine.be/en/numerosparus.html

Article written by Omar the Radwan

The Eco Zoo

Franck Sorbier

MCBD

White Void

Spectra Visual Newsreader

Play > Smart

Wirtualne Centrum Sztuki

Park.seasons

This one is more of an experiment, but I included it because it looks incredible.

Motorola Razr2 :: Gondry’s Dream

Coca-Cola Brasil

Audi RS 6

The Neighbourhood

XX3

Nitro

Karim Charlebois-Zariffa

Key design elements such as color, composition, lighting, and texture can all be found in photography. So examining a great photo is a good way to spark the creative process. Here are 10 amazing photo sets found on flickr that possess quality guaranteed to leave you inspired.

Click on the images to view the complete sets.

land- and seascapes – Uggla

Nature – Siebe

European Bug In – Andreas Reinhold

Uribe Kosta – ssabin

Your favorites – Lars Trebing

Landscapes – broadview

Top 100 – Your Superset of Faves! – Stuck in Customs

Water Colors – GeorgeAugustine

Most Interesting – EJP Photo

Most Interesting – slimmer_jimmer

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003 – The Origin

In 2003, which seems like an eternity ago in terms of web design, Ingo J. Ramin launched the portfolio site for 247 Media Studios. The site and it’s portfolio pieces were revolutionary in the way that finely detailed textures and rustic design elements were used to create a vintage look and feel.

Even though the site remains virtually unchanged, there has been a promised version 2 coming for about 4 years. With 135 pieces in the portfolio section, the lack of a redesign could be because Ingo is too busy, or because the design still holds up.

So what makes an incredible workspace? Take a look at the showcase below and find out.

• 
  The office of LouLou and Tummie, illustrators and “goodie makers”.
• 
  Many companies have claimed to have started in the garage. Fling Media is really doing it. If mine looked like that, I would work out of the garage too.
• 
  Sometimes it is all about the view, off-screen and on.
• 
  This 350 year old room provides all of the atmosphere needed for a great workspace.
• 
  The home office of one time Microsoft Futurist David Lu.
• 
  This is where Mattmo works, a crossmedia concept and design agency.
• 
  Another organized workspace with a good view.

Here is a list of beautifully designed posters guaranteed to leave you inspired.

Below is a showcase of the best vector illustrated characters on the web.

Silverback

Eanka

Wired Games Cafe

Simple Startup

Vector This

Blogsessive

Fat Guy

Swizzle Designs

Yaili

Photoshop Lady

CV Spot

Matt Davey

Reducto Start

Cindy Li

VG Design

The Found Bin

Netnova

Book Keeping in a Box

Global Zoo