25 Beautiful Examples of HDR Photography
Published December 14th, 2011 in Galleries - 17 Comments
For those who love browsing through online photo galleries, HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographs are often some of the most intriguing. HDR photography involves taking several shots of the same subject at different exposures and then combining them in a program like Photoshop. (HDR effects can also be achieved using just one image with more post processing work.) For more information on HDR photography and how to achieve the look with your own photography, you may be interested in visiting Stuck in Customs.
In this post we’ll showcase 25 examples of HDR photography from various photographers. To see the images in a larger size, please click on them and you’ll be led to the source.
Photo credit: ISIK5
Download Elegantia, a Free Portfolio WordPress Theme from WPLegion
Published December 13th, 2011 in Site News, WordPress - 6 Comments
Our friends at WPLegion have created a free portfolio theme for WordPress with Vandelay Design readers in mind. Elegantia includes premium-quality features but can be downloaded and used at no cost. View a demo of Elegantia.
Download Elegantia (MB zip file)
If you’re reading this post in an RSS reader or in an email you will need to click through to the site to download the file due to WPLegion’s hotlinking protection.
20 Awesome Thunderbird Addons
Published December 12th, 2011 in Tools - 3 Comments
Thunderbird is a popular and free email application from Mozilla, the people behind Firefox. Like Firefox, one of the reasons for Thunderbird’s popularity is the number of quality add-ons that are available for download. While Thunderbird includes all of the necessary features for managing your email, there are tons of add-ons that bring additional functionality that may make the application far more useful and productive for you.
In this post we’ll highlight 20 add-ons that can prove to be highly useful.
Lightning adds a calendar to Thunderbird so you can keep track of your schedule from within Thunderbird.
Organize your schedule and life’s important events in a calendar that’s fully integrated with your Thunderbird email. Manage multiple calendars, create your daily to do list, invite friends to events, and subscribe to public calendars.
Limited Time: Save $30 on Your First Year of Membership at Vandelay Premier!
Published December 8th, 2011 in Site News - 4 Comments
It’s just about that time of year where most of us start to think about the new year ahead, and maybe make some resolutions about things we’d like to improve in our lives. If your goals for 2012 involve improving your results or efficiency as a designer, we’d like to help out.
At Vandelay Premier we offer our members a huge library of design resources like icons, PSD files, textures, brushes, and vectors. With access to thousands of resources our members are able to save time by taking advantage of quality design elements that they no longer need to create from scratch.
From now until December 19, 2011 we are offering a full year of membership to Vandelay Premier for the price of a six-month membership. Simply use the coupon code “vandelay2012” when signing up for an annual account and your first year will cost only $49 instead of the normal price of $79.
With this offer we hope to help you achieve your goals for 2012 with your design business. Vandelay Premier members currently have access to over 7,000 total resources, with new additions coming several times each week. After signing up you’ll have access to all of the resources already on the site, plus you’ll be able to download all new resources that are added during your membership, and we have a lot of great new resources already planned and in the works.
One of the primary benefits of being a Vandelay Premier member is that you can use our resources on an unlimited number of personal or commercial projects. The resources even come with an extended license that allows you to use them in items that will be redistributed, like website templates and WordPress themes.
In addition to the design resources, our members also have access to career resources like contract templates, invoice and proposal templates, business card designs, e-books, and interviews with successful designers.
35 Icon Design Tutorials for Photoshop
Published December 7th, 2011 in Design - 7 Comments
Icons are an important part of web design. In many cases you can buy icons or download free ones, but sometimes you may need to create custom icons to get exactly what you need. Fortunately, there are a lot of tutorials out there that go through the process of designing an icon. In this post we’ll feature 35 tutorials for designing icons in Photoshop.
How to Create a Detailed Gauge Icon in Photoshop
20 Outstanding Beach Photos
Published December 6th, 2011 in Galleries - 10 Comments
Beaches are common vacation spots, and the nature scenes can serve as an excellent source of inspiration for designers. In this post we’ll showcase 20 photos from a variety of different photographers that display the beauty of beach scenes. To see any of the photos in a larger size, please click on the image or on the credit link below the image.
Photo credit: Moyan Brenn
25 Beautiful Websites Using Subtle Textures
Published December 5th, 2011 in Galleries - 12 Comments
Textures can serve as a prominent element in a design, or they can subtly add character to a design without drawing much attention. In my opinion, some of the most effective uses of texture in web design are very subtle. While heavy and harsh textures are popular for grunge-style designs, softer textures are extremely versatile and can enhance just about any type of design.
In this post we’ll showcase 25 websites that make excellent use of textures without allowing them to dominate the design.
Making a Positive First Impression with Clients
Published December 1st, 2011 in Business - 18 Comments
When it comes to landing clients for design projects, the first impression is extremely important. With so many web and graphic designers out there, clients have a lot of choices about who to contact and ultimately who to hire. The first impression can be the difference in a client contacting you to get a quote or moving on to the next designer. And the first impression after personal contact can be the difference in the client hiring you for the project or choosing another designer who seemed like a better fit.
Most clients are a little uneasy about the process of hiring a web designer. Many are intimidated because they don’t feel like they know enough about the industry to have confidence that they are hiring the right person. Some are unsure of how much they should expect to pay for the services that they need. If you’re able to make a positive first impression with these clients and put them at ease that their project will be in capable hands by hiring you, you will be much more likely to land the project.
In addition to converting more leads into paying clients, making a positive first impression can also help designers by reducing the amount of time and effort that is needed to secure the work. It’s inevitable that you’ll need to dedicate some time to communicating with potential clients before they decide to hire you, but it can also be very frustrating when you spend a significant amount of time and then they choose to hire someone else or to put the project on hold. The less time that you spend before getting a commitment from the client the more time you will have for working on the projects of those clients who have hired you. If you’re able to make a strong first impression and the client doesn’t need a lot of time to decide to hire you, that is an ideal situation.
25 Creative Advertisements
Published November 30th, 2011 in Galleries - 15 Comments
Advertisements are a part of our culture that they often tune out, which makes the design and concept of advertisers important for grabbing attention. In this post we’ll showcase 25 examples of ads that display creativity. Hopefully they will serve as inspiration that can be beneficial in your own work. To see them in a larger size please click on the image.
Comment to Win Free Hosting for One Year from Zyma!
Published November 29th, 2011 in Site News - 90 Comments
Zyma.com has offered to give one year of free hosting to 50 readers of the Vandelay Design blog!
