Best of the web for Design and Web Development September 2017

• October 2nd, 2017
• News

Rounding up the end of another month in our usual fashion with the best web articles to read that where published from throughout September. In this compilation we have also included some great Photoshop and Illustrator tutorials from designing a minion illustration to a lens flare illustration. As always this is certainly a must-read blog post, and a great way to catch up on the past month.

Illustrator

How to Draw the Minions in Adobe Illustrator

Today’s tutorial is going to be an absolute blast since we’re going to take a look at the process of drawing and illustrating the Minions, some of the funniest characters that have ever made an appearance on the big screen.

How To Create a Distressed Vintage Style Logo Design in Adobe Illustrator

I recently received a great tutorial suggestion from a reader named Alix, who asked if I could show how to make a vintage style logo design in a similar style to the fighting T-Shirts over at Roots of Fight. I’ve produced a few vintage logo tutorials in the past, but since I’m a big fan of this design style, I’m always happy to play around with that kind of artwork! Follow along with today’s tutorial to create a distressed type based logo design in Adobe Illustrator. We’ll apply a range of adjustments to form the layout using fonts, then finish the artwork with texturing to achieve the aged look.

How To Create Colourful Gradient Orbs in Illustrator

I’ve been playing around in Adobe Illustrator blending together vibrant colours to produce some cool gradient effects. In this tutorial I’ll show you how to use the Gradient Mesh tool to create a colourful circular orb, which can also be modified into a cool abstract shape with Illustrator’s Warp tool. Being vector based means these graphics are extremely versatile, so they can be used for all kinds of branding projects, or just to create fun artwork.

How to Make a Cute Bear Icon in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial we’ll be creating a cute flat teddy bear using simple geometric shapes and various tools and functions, which will help us to modify these shapes, creating facial features.

Photoshop

How To Create an Infrared Photo Effect in Adobe Photoshop

A couple of weeks ago I created a showcase post of breathtaking infrared photography with surreal colours. Those featured examples were authentic infrared photos that were shot on infrared film, or digitally with an infrared lens, but I’ve been playing around in Adobe Photoshop to find a way to replicate the effect with a standard image. In today’s tutorial I’ll show you how to reverse the colours of a landscape scene to switch the greens to vibrant pinks to mimic the popular false-color infrared style.

Create artistic 3D type

Here, illustrator Charles Williams shows you how to create an elegant logotype with a 3D finish. You’ll then learn how to integrate it successfully into a photograph to give a naturalistic result.

Create realistic lens flares

Photoshop’s Lens Flare filter is an effect that’s been so over used over the years, it’s become something of a cliché in digital illustration. Which is a shame, since in the right situation, it can provide a powerful lighting enhancement to a piece.

How to Create a Wood Engraved Logo Mockup in Adobe Photoshop

Learn how to take advantage of Photoshop’s Smart Objects to mock up your logo with photorealistic results. Thanks to the use of multiple layer styles, we’ll carve your logo into wood!

Web and Design articles

Why I Switched To Sketch For UI Design (And Never Looked Back)

User interface design has changed dramatically in the last few years, as traditional computers have ceded dominance to smaller screens, including tablets, mobile phones, smartwatches and more.

A 10-Step Guide To Improving Website Loading Speed

It’s a fast and furious world we’re living in these days and speed makes a huge difference when it comes to building a successful website.

Vue.Js Vs. Jquery: Use Cases and Comparison with Examples

What is Vue.js? How is it different from jQuery? Should I stop using jQuery if I learnt Vue.js? Can you use it outside Laravel? If you are a beginner or you just started learning Vue.js you are probably asking yourself the exact same questions or probably confused and wondering what does it do and what are its use cases. If this is you, then this article will help you get over that.

The Ultimate Guide to Web Fonts

Historically, choosing the right font for your email has never been too hard, considering the limited number of web safe fonts to choose from. But recently, things have changed. More and more email designers are pushing the boundaries and embracing the same development techniques that web designers have been using for years—implementing web fonts in their emails.

9 Things You Didn’t Know About Firefox Dev Tools

Firefox’s own dev tools have come a long way, and they are still being continually upgraded. They are now definitely on the same level as any other dev tools and boast some fantastic features, including a few you won’t find anywhere else at present.

The E-Commerce Benchmark KPI Study 2017: 15 Essential Takeaways

Wolfgang Digital’s 2017 E-Commerce Benchmark KPI Study is out with an even bigger sample size than ever before. Analyzing 143 million website sessions and $531 million in online revenues, the study gives e-commerce marketers essential insights to help benchmark their business’s online performance and understand which metrics drive e-commerce success.