Best Of The Web And Design In May 2015

• June 1st, 2015
• News

Wrapping up the month in our usual fashion a monthly roundup of the very best design tutorials and articles created through out May. We have included some jaw dropping Photoshop tutorials, alongside some really interesting articles about UX and prototyping. Please leave your thoughts in the comments as always we always value comments.

Photoshop

Realistic 3D Casino Style Bulb Sign Photoshop Tutorial

In today’s tutorial you’re going to play around in Photoshop to create an illuminated bulb sign similar to those used on Las Vegas casinos and Broadway theaters. The sign will be created as a standalone piece of text, using Photoshop’s powerful 3D tools to simulate a hyper realistic setting within a warehouse. We’ll then add lots of subtle lighting effects to add a series of bright bulbs. If you’ve ever wanted to see your name in lights, this is your opportunity!

Paint Realistic Long Fur Without a Fur Brush in Adobe Photoshop

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to draw natural-looking long fur with only one, quite universal brush. Once you get it, you’ll be able to use other brushes to accelerate the process, too!

Create a Funny Surreal Underground Scene With Adobe Photoshop

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a funny surreal scene using a variety of photo manipulation techniques.

Create an Amazing Escher-Like Face in Photoshop

The technique of “unwinding” a face was first explored by the Dutch artist M.C. Escher, who specialized in unlikely and impossible drawings. In this tutorial, you’ll start there and add a twist (pun intended) by including a ghosted version of the original face inside the winding helix, so you can see even those parts of the face that are missing.

Illustrator

How To Create a Vintage Text Effect in Illustrator

The process makes use of lots of useful Illustrator techniques, such as offset path, blends and the Pathfinder tool. Follow along to give your text and logos the old west type treatment.

How to Create a Cute Monster Character in Adobe Illustrator

In the following steps you will learn how to create a detailed monster character in Adobe Illustrator. For starters you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create the main body shape using basic tools and effects. Using basic blending and vector shape building techniques along with a simple blend, you will learn how to add shading and highlights for that body shape.

How to Create Isometric Vector Infographic Elements

You’ll find out how to create isometric vector infographic elements with the help of 3D effects. During our tutorial we will create a Layer chart, Column and Pie graphs. Moreover, here I’ll tell you how to draw eight simple 3D isometric shapes. I hope this will help to expand your opportunities in creating isometric vector infographic elements.

Team Awesome: From Hand-Lettered Logotype to Vector in Adobe Illustrator

Have you ever wanted to create a typographic logo for you or your team? It’s not as difficult as it seems! Many people say they can’t paint or draw, but typography is part of our daily lives. We are always writing names, email addresses, telephone numbers and the like. So we all have a good start; we are all familiar with the shapes of the letters.

Web & Design Articles

5 Prototyping Tips That Will Improve Your Process

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: In the middle of a design presentation, a puzzled audience member raises their hand and asks, Why is all the copy in a foreign language?

Designers And Developers: No Longer A House Divided

As the web continues to evolve at a breakneck, Moore’s-law pace, the divisions between traditional design and development are increasingly shifting. The “learn to code” movement is also gaining momentum among designers, but you’d be hard pressed to find a similarly strong movement for other disciplines within a team. Perhaps there should be.

BOOSTING CONVERSIONS: 11 EXPERTS SHARE THEIR SECRETS

As web designers, we are always trying to create websites that leave a lasting impression. Yet in today’s world, websites have evolved from digital brochures into fully-fledged content marketing platforms. Sites are no longer viewed as just another business expense. In fact, they are required to be lead-generators and revenue-generating assets.

The 22 Rules of UX

In 2011 Emma Coats, a former storyboard artist at Pixar, tweeted the “22 rules of storytelling”. The post has become well known and was recently re-done as image macros. As I was reading each of the 22 rules, I felt drawn to the message Emma was trying to convey. Stories create experiences — great stories make for great experiences. Put heart into your stories and consider your audience.

Extending In Sass Without Creating A Mess

The @extend directive in Sass is a powerful directive that facilitates the sharing of rules and relationships between selectors. However, it can produce undesirable side effects if it is not carefully implemented. Thankfully, there are many strategies for using @extendeffectively that can prevent these side effects and produce clean, organized CSS.