25 Examples of Amazing Packaging Design
Published May 28th, 2010 in Design - 32 Comments
Packaging design can make a profound difference on the sales of a product and how it is viewed by customers. In this post we’ll provide a showcase excellent package designs for your own inspiration. Web designers often need to turn to offline source of inspiration rather than only seeking inspiration from other web designs.
You may also be interested in:
- Design Inspiration: Splatter Effects
- Showcase of “Green” Typography
- Design Inspiration: Lighting Effects – Part III
Win 500 Premium Business Cards from UPrinting!
Published May 25th, 2010 in Site News - 124 Comments
Our friends at UPrinting have offered to give 500 premium business cards each to eight readers of the Vandelay Design blog! If you’ve been wanting to impress potential clients with some high-quality business cards, this is your chance to get them for free.
Learn Photo Editing: Tutorials for Designers and Photographers
Published May 24th, 2010 in Design - 28 Comments
Photoshop provides designers and photographers with the opportunity professionally edit photos for the best results. While there are almost endless possibilities for photo editing with Photoshop, there can be a lot to learn.
Here we will present links to various tutorials on a wide range of topics related to photo editing. If you’re looking to learn more about a specific type of editing or technique, or if you are just getting started with photo editing, this post should serve as an excellent resource for you. The tutorials listed below are separated into categories to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Eyes:
Changing Eye Color in an Image
25 Beautiful Church Websites – Part IV
Published May 20th, 2010 in Galleries - 31 Comments
Over the past two years we have published three collections of the best church web designs for your own design inspiration, and today we are continuing with the fourth post in this series. This includes another 25 well-designed church websites.
If you’re interested in the previous posts:
- 50 of the Best Church Website Designs
- 35 Excellent Church Websites – Part II
- 25 Outstanding Church Websites – Part III
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
Is Freelancing Right for You?
Published May 17th, 2010 in Business - 26 Comments
Web designers face the difficult decision of whether they should work as an employee, freelance, or both. While it can be a tough decision, the good news is that they are all viable options and you just need to find the best fit for your own situation. There is no right or wrong answer and in this article we’ll take a look at some of the common purposes of freelancing and the keys to determining if it is right for you.
Common Goals and Purposes of Freelancing:
Everyone has their own unique circumstances in life and career, and not every freelancer has the same reasons for working as a freelancer. Whether or not freelancing is right for you will be impacted by a number of factors regarding your personal situation. Here is a quick look at some of the most common purposes of freelancing, along with a description of when it may be a good fit.
1. Work on the Side – One of the great things about freelancing is that it can be whatever you want or need it to be. Many freelancers have other full-time or part-time jobs and their freelance work is just a gig on the side, at least for the time being.
It may be right for you if…
- You are looking to turn your skills or hobbies into some extra cash.
- You want to expand your horizons and learn new things.
- You want to move towards full-time freelancing but with reduced financial risk.
- You are a student and looking to gain real-world experience before graduating.
- You are a full-time designer for an agency and you’re interested in building your profile and name recognition.
35 Outstanding GIMP Tutorials
Published May 13th, 2010 in Design - 15 Comments
For those who do not have Photoshop, GIMP is an excellent (and free) alternative. While there are not as many online resources and tutorials as there are for Photoshop users, GIMP users do have a number of quality tutorials to help in their own learning. In this post we’ll showcase 35 of the best tutorials for GIMP. Some of them are adaptations of popular Photoshop tutorials that show how to replicate the process in GIMP.
45 Amazing and Free Photoshop Actions
Published May 11th, 2010 in Tools - 44 Comments
Photoshop actions allow designers and photographers to automate common sequences for increased efficiency. There are countless actions available that can be downloaded for free, and in this post we’ll feature 45 of them. Some of these are individual actions and others are sets that include multiple actions.
27 of the Best Real Estate Websites
Published May 6th, 2010 in Galleries - 76 Comments
Every now and then we like to publish a showcase of well-designed websites from a particular industry, and today we’re focusing on sites that are related to real estate. The showcase includes sites of real estate companies, rental properties, housing communities, office complexes, and more.
33 Excellent Business Card Templates for Your Own Use
Published May 4th, 2010 in Marketing - 44 Comments
Business cards are a necessity for freelance designers. If you need to save some time or don’t have the experience to design your own cards, templates can be a great option. many printing companies offer templates to choose from, and you can also find others available from different sources. In this post we’ll feature 33 templates, 11 are free and 22 are premium. The premium templates generally only cost a few dollars and can be well worth the expense.
Free Business Card Templates:
5 Business Card Templates Pack (Photoshop)
Tutorial: How to Make a Photoshop Brush Set
Published May 3rd, 2010 in Design - 29 Comments
Photoshop brushes are used all the time by designers to create stunning graphics quickly and easily. While there are plenty of free and premium Photoshop brushes available for download, there are times when you can’t find an existing brush or brush pack that meets your needs. Or maybe you’ve found one that would be perfect, but it’s not licensed for use on commercial projects. In these situations you can create your own custom brushes and use them however you choose.
In this tutorial we will be going through the process of creating a Photoshop brush that resembles a realistic paint brush stroke. Although there are already a number of brush packs of this kind available, being able to create your own will give you more flexibility. Here’s a preview of what we will be creating.
