Best Of Web And Design In March 2014

• March 31st, 2014
• News

Our monthly tradition continues with a round up of fresh new Photoshop and illustrator tutorials created throughout march 2014. We have also included some great web design articles certainly worth reading to be kept up to date with the latest web design trends, as well as web design news.

Illustrator

Create a Near Realistic Shield and Sword in Adobe Illustrator

I often hear designers say that although they love vector artwork they wish it wasn’t so inherently flat. So, to give vectors more life and add realism to your designs, I’m going to show you a simple method with the help of two powerful plug-ins from Astute Graphics; VectorScribe2 and Phantasm. This tutorial will show how to create a near realistic shield with swords by easily creating shapes using VectorScribe2 and then enhancing them with Phantasm. Find out more at the jump!

How To Create a Stunning Diamond Icon In 17 Short Steps

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a simple diamond icon in Adobe Illustrator. Using thin strokes and basic stroke properties, you will learn how to add a subtle glowing effect for the edges of your diamond and then how to easily color or recolor your diamond icon.

How to Create a Calculator Icon That Will Rock Your Next App Design

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a calculator icon using basic shapes, the mesh tool, and pathfinder techniques. I hope you learn some handy tips along the way.

Turn a sketch into vector art

One of the most satisfying uses of Adobe Illustrator is to transform your rough pencil sketches into colourful illustrations. It’s great to see your concepts come to life with crisp linework and bold colours, but sometimes the result can be a little disappointing when the vector art just doesn’t have the punch you had hoped for. Follow this step by step process to discover some of the simple techniques I’ve learnt that really help give your illustrations that pro look.

Photoshop

Create an Address Book Icon in Photoshop

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create an address book icon using Adobe Photoshop. I will begin by explaining how to set up a simple grid, and how to take full advantage of the Snap to Grid feature. Next, I will explain how to create a set of simple vector shapes and how to color them using basic Layer Style attributes and some Photoshop pattern presets. Finally, I will show you how to add subtle shading and highlights using basic blending techniques and simple effects.

Create a Fashion Mixed Media Portrait in Photoshop

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a fashion mixed media artwork. You’ll learn how to work with abstract elements, create patterns and play with shapes and colors.

Sparkling Glass-Textured Text Effect

Photoshop’s Filters can be used to create nice textures easily and quickly. This tutorial will show you how to create a simple glass texture, then use it with a couple of Layer Styles to create a sparkling shiny text effect.

Create a Mobile Downloader App Interface in Photoshop

Photoshop is a fantastic app to create mockups for mobile applications. Its vector tools, combined with Layer Style effects, allow designers to quickly create layouts for their projects. In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a downloader app design for an iPhone, in Photoshop. Once completed, you will have a good understanding of how to create modern interface elements, as well as, charts and graphs in Photoshop.

Web and Design articles

Making Embedded Content Work In Responsive Design

A few HTML elements don’t play nice with responsive layouts. One of these is the good ol’ iframe, which you may need to use when embedding content from external sources such as YouTube.

10 Reasons Why It’s Great to Date a Web Designer

Web designers…aren’t they just loveable? I won’t be bamboozled by their meticulous attention to detail and techy jargon. While some may think they’re boring or geeky, there’s something cool about someone who gets creative, regularly uses logic and can make life a little easier with the click of a mouse.

CSS preprocessors are here to stay

To simply replace CSS, preprocessors are incredibly simple to learn. In fact the three major preprocessors are actually supersets of CSS, meaning valid CSS is valid in the preprocessors (.scss syntax for Sass).

10 ways to be a faster code reviewer

How frequent is it for you to be reviewing code at 3am? When code reviewing, do you find yourself thinking: “I mentioned this before.. We should have some sort of process”.

How To Use Analytics To Build A Smarter Mobile Website

Mobile first! Responsive design! You’ve heard all of the buzzwords and catchphrases. Countless helpful and not-so-helpful articles proclaim the rise of mobile, but what practical steps can you take to make your brand more approachable for mobile users?