Saturday, February 28, 2015

Button styles inspiration

Button styles inspiration


A collection of fresh button styles and effects for your inspiration, built with CSS transitions and pseudo-elements for most of the effects. Coded by Codrops.


The post Button styles inspiration appeared first on Freebiesbug.



Button styles inspiration

WhatsApp OSX concept – Sketch

WhatsApp OSX concept - Sketch


Here is WhatsApp design concept for OSX designed with Sketch app. A freebie designed and released on dribbble by Roman Kornikow.


The post WhatsApp OSX concept – Sketch appeared first on Freebiesbug.



WhatsApp OSX concept – Sketch

The Dead Simple Guide To Basic Logo Design

When you think logo what comes to mind? A golden arched M, a bunch of lines and circles, or maybe just a cute small shape? Then why must "logo design" be a task restricted to only a highly professional computer geek with knowledge of all sorts of fancy programs? To be honest, I never understood this myself.


Through my own experience as a logo designer, I can safely concur, that a logo design can be made by anyone with imagination and using any kind of software – even Microsoft Words (no kidding!). To prove my point, we will be looking into some basic steps to design a simple logo using three different commonly used software:


  1. Ms Words (for level 1 "designers")

  2. Ms Paint (for intermediate level)

  3. Photoshop (a little more advanced)


1. Using Microsoft Word


If you want to avoid using fancy and perplexing software for your design, MsWords might just do the job for you. However, keep in mind that you certainly can’t make anything even slightly complicated in this program. Your target must be a simple looking logo. Here’s an example.


Open Microsoft Words and select the Insert tab at the top menu. Click on shapes and choose the shape you want. I chose this parallelogram and skewed it using the yellow handle.


Description: word.jpg


Now I repeated this process by copying and pasting the shape above and filling it in with black color in Shape Fill then a shadow effect to make this logo for the made-up company, Aryan:


Description: aryan.jpg


Alright, I know. It’s not my best design, but you can experiment around with a lot of other shapes. Using the Format tab (in drawing tools) you can mess around with a lot of options such as colors, size, shadow effects, outlines, shape fills, etc. Was that too difficult, or very different from the one below?


Description: adidas.jpg



2. Using Paint


If you are looking for a more intermediate level of logo design, Ms. Paint can do the job. For all of you Paint lovers, Microsoft’s No. 1 drawing application, Paint, has everything you need for an easy-to-make logo design. Here’s another one I made.


After opening Microsoft Paint, first I wrote down a make-believe company name in the font I liked most. Next, I used the Rectangle Shape to make a red square next to the name. I filled in the square again with smaller white star and made something like this:


Description: ms-paint.jpg


That wasn’t too difficult either. Again, compare it to a very simple yet professional-looking logo.


Description: swatch.jpg



 


3. Using Adobe Photoshop


If you are going the few steps further into your logo design, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are the type of programs you’d want to use. These ones are sure tricky, but once you get the hang of it, the immense number of options in these programs will allow you to make literally ANY shape, design, or logo you want. I roll with Photoshop CS6, but these techniques will work on any not-too-ancient Photoshop software.


Photoshop not only has Custom shapes to choose from similar to the Words and Paint, you are free to design your own shapes using the Marquee tool, Lasso tool, or Pen Tool.


Using the Marquee or Lasso tool, you can make a selection then fill it in with the color of your choice to turn it into a shape.


Always remember to create a new Layer (Layer tab in the menu > New Layer) every time you make something new or any changes in your project. This will allow you to easily edit and delete those changes without using the "undo" option. This is one of the most useful way to edit your designs easily.


The marquee tool or polygonal lasso tool lets you make simpler custom shapes, which are just a little more advanced than the ones above. For something completely customized and unique, you’ll have to use the Pen tool. This is definitely more advanced and you’ll need a separate tutorial (like this one) to learn the Pen tool and how to manage those anchor points.


Using the Pen tool, custom shapes, and several Blending options (in the Layers Panel at the bottom right corner), I managed to make my first ever logo: lady in purple!


Description: photoshop.jpg


I used the pen tool to make the lady’s hands, face, neck and body (all in separate layers). I decided to use a few inbuilt custom shapes such as the circle and tear drop to make her pearl jewelry but I went with a ready-made hair image to draw the hair using the Brush tool on a separate white layer. I have used several Blending Effects such as Stroke, Outer Glow, and Drop Shadow to finish off the look. You can experiment with tons of Blending Effects/ Options or Filters in the top menu to add some final touches.


With the addition of Text Type Tool, some fancy font, along with a few more custom shapes (swirls made by the Pen tool), I finished off the logo and gave it a final "Logo design" feel. (Hey! This was my first!)


Description: lady-in-purple.jpg



You Can be a Logo Designer Too


Luckily, logo designs vary from being almost anything such as simple shapes (boxes and lines) or even just a letter i.e. the golden arched M, to more complex custom shapes. Just a little bit of practice and a lot of imagination can go a long way to make your perfect logo design.


For more logo inspiration, check out:


Editor’s note: This is written by Preston Pierce is a marketing professional and a blogger with interest in writing about freelance, designing and writing. He is currently working for a business logo design firm, Logo Ping. You can follow him on Twitter.











The Dead Simple Guide To Basic Logo Design

45 Unusual Artwork Made From Cigarette Boxes You Need To See

There are various material that can result in beautiful and interesting creations. Upcycling is a great way to not only get creative but it also helps out the environment as one doesn’t use new items. One doesn’t normally associate smoking with art but you’d be surprised at what a couple of recycled cigarette packs can be turned into.



With a little creativity, imagination and artistic flair, those little boxes can be transformed into beautiful pieces of art. Here, we’ve put together a collection of 45 cool creations made from recycled cigarette packs. From sculptures to functional wallets, take a look for yourself. If you know of any that we’ve missed, let us know in the comments.



More on Hongkiat.com:



Bugatti Veyron car made up of 10,280 empty cigarette packets. (Image Source: China Pictorial)





Dress. (Image Source: Coroflot)





Bracelet. (Image Source: Weebly)





Colorful Lunchbox. (Image Source: Weebly)





Mini Air Jordans made from cigarette packs. (Image Source: Campus Mercante)





Blue elephant. (Image Source: Weebly)





Red and white chair made up of 400 cigarette packs. (Image Source: Environment Team)





Colorful batman symbol. (Image Source: Weebly)





Blue and white mushroom. (Image Source: Weebly)





Red and white Egyptian pyramid. (Image Source: Beach Packaging Design)





Red starfish. (Image Source: Weebly)





Wallet. (Image Source: Pinterest)





Green and white turtle. (Image Source: Weebly)





Folding photo frame. (Image Source: Etsy)





Penguin. (Image Source: Weebly)





Lamborghini Reventon. (Image Source: Trend hunter)





Perching blue parrot. (Image Source: Weebly)





Green and white box. (Image Source: William Eric Gallery)





Gold and green trippy glasses. (Image Source: Weebly)





Vintage handbag. (Image Source: Modern 50)





Blue and maroon frog sitting on a green box. (Image Source: Weebly)





Colorful mushrooms on a triangle. (Image Source: Weebly)





White and gold robot. (Image Source: Pinterest)





Giraffe. (Image Source: Weebly)





Red and white heart decoration. (Image Source: Ladies Of The Grove)





Wall decor. (Image Source: Weebly)





Jet plane. (Image Source: Xcite Fun)





Colorful iguana. (Image Source: Weebly)





Circle with chevron design. (Image Source: Etsy)





Colorful fishes. (Image Source: Weebly)





Cigarette pack sketchbooks. (Image Source: Great Green Goods)





Butterfly. (Image Source: Weebly)





Blue dinosaur. (Image Source: Weebly)





Set of photo frames. (Image Source: Live Auctioneers)





Bunnicula – The vampire rabbit. (Image Source: Weebly)





Retro robots. (Image Source: Pinterest)





Little dog. (Image Source: Cigarette Packet Dog)





Camel. (Image Source: Weebly)





Japenese umbrella. (Image Source: Mingei Arts)





Monster owl. (Image Source: Weebly)





Miniature football kit. (Image Source: Who Ate All The Pies)





Case for mini accordian. (Image Source: Scrappando)





Typography. (Image Source: Colossal)





Crazy eyed panda. (Image Source: Erica’s Cigarette Pack Art)





Little flowers. (Image Source: Weebly)























45 Unusual Artwork Made From Cigarette Boxes You Need To See