Doodling Can Help Memory
Saw this today on Yahoo Health. Maybe this explains why when I draw or paint while watching a movie or listening to a book on tape I can later look at the drawing and remember where the story was at that point. Interesting. With more and more “senior moments” happening to me every day I think I’ll keep my drawing pad by the phone now.
Photo Makeover
Excellent set of techniques from Blog.SpoonGraphics to apply to just about any photo in Photoshop and make it better.
Photoshop Malpractice
Many of us Photoshop veterans (I guess with 18 years PS experience I’m a legit veteran) have learned about bad practices the hard way. But you don’t have to if you start with this collection of common PS user mistakes. I agree with the post and the big pay off in avoiding these is in efficiency and achieving top notch professional results. Worth a look.
12 Common Photoshop Mistakes, Misuses and Abuses | The Design Cubicle.
Pepsi Packaging
This is not new news but I held off on an opinion about the new Pepsi packaging design to see how they rolled it out and integrated the new look with their marketing. My initial reaction to the design was negative as with most people. But sometimes good design grows on you and takes on a life you didn’t expect. Would the new packaging be a flop or pure genius? Well, personally, I think the pure genius category is out. It looks like the logo of a knock off brand – close but not quite right. After seeing commercials and looking at displays, I like it less now than before. From a “does-it-work” standpoint for their brand continuity, and marketing goals, I can’t imagine that it does except to create a lot of “what-were-they-thinking” buzz. The variations on the so-called “smile” are confusing and the overall look seems to distance them from any previous brand identity and equity they banked. I’m predicting a short shelf life for this “un-logo”.
This video kind of amuses me. I guess they figured it might improve if they kept it in motion.
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Find more videos like this on AdGabber
Pepsi Unveils Packaging to ‘Digital and Social Media Influencers’ - AdGabber.
Logo Design Resources
Wow! The title below speaks for itself. I’ve only just begun to go through this list.
Free Photoshop Plugins You Might Actually Use
Sometimes the exhausting Free-Everything-for-Photoshop lists can be, well, exhausting. Who has time to check out 500 sites worth of Photoshop freebies and wade through tons of marginally useful stuff to find the gems. Maybe I’m just getting too old. Thanks to Photoshop Roadmap for this list of 15 free Photoshop Plugins which is thoughtfully selected, presented and previewed. Not to mention many of these free plugins seem pretty useful.
Alltop
So what would you say if I could point you to a site that had all the top news and blogs listed for any subject you’re interested in, say Photoshop or maybe design news?
Check it:
Pretty cool huh?!
Free Photoshop Brushes
I honestly don’t know why anyone would need to buy commercial Photoshop brush packages these days. I needed some cloud brushes and didn’t want to take the time to make them. A simple Google search turned up not only several free cloud brush sets, but tons of free brush sites. And I often find digital artists and illustrators offering their brushes as free downloads. Below are some sites that’ll get you started if you’re looking to beef up your Photoshop brush collection.
Falln-Stock – a really interesting deviantART gallery of object oriented PS brush sets
The Art of Daarken – a fantasy/scifi artist gallery site with a nice set of custom paint brushes (click on tutorials >> custom brushes
Artists of Photoshop
If you want to OD on Photoshop inspiration this is the place to do it – Artists of Photoshop. The site features Photoshop artists apparently submitted by viewers and rated by viewers. Each featured artist image is a link to their web site where you can peruse their full portfolio. Be prepared to spend some time if you are a photoshop junkie.
