Photoshop-Week II (March)

By Dirk Metzmacher

In this series I have a look at the most current Photoshop tutorials. Sometimes there could also be classics among them. I’m sure you’ll always find great techniques and inspiration.

Arial Font is Bullshit

The very amusing video Arial Font is Bullshit shows how much typography nerds can concern themselves with fonts. And speaking of fonts: Jessica Hische did a great job with her evolutionary diagram of font taste (taste as in sense of design, not the other kind of sense).

40 sources of great design and Photoshop tutorials

Today I’m giving away some of my sources. Forty of them, to be precise, in the article 40 sources of great design and Photoshop tutorials. Next to direct links to weblogs and magazines you’ll find two current examples for each of them, as well. This way you can measure the site’s quality at a glance.

Photoshop: The first demo

It’s actually astonishing how advanced the demo was with which John Knoll convinced Adobe of Photoshop. In this video he presents the software once more, just like 20 years ago.

Photoshop Plugins: 3D and Beauty

The Noupe weblog published one of my articles: Photoshop Plugins: 3D and Beauty. Plugins have somewhat of a bad reputation, but there are worthwhile exceptions for almost every purpose. In this article I’m presenting you the best 3D and retouching extensions.

50 fresh logo ideas for your designs

In the collection 50 fresh logo ideas for your designs you’ll find plenty of inspiration for your own work. It’s amazing what some designers come to think of. You can hardly identify any trend.

Creative Block

In the Photoshop tutorial Smashing Your Creative Block Jacques van Heerden shows how to smash a typeface. Real glassed is used for the effect.

40+ creative examples for poster designs

In the collection 40+ creative examples for poster designs I gathered any tutorials that make use of Photoshop. Fairly different results, different goals, coming from different designers.

Underwater website

A website under water. Not a bad idea, and well executed too. In the article Underwater Content Box Design in Photoshop Matthew Heidenreich describes the development. A stock photo is used as a basis, then the info box is designed with a splash effect.

Combination photo/graphic

The combination of an extracted element from a photo and graphical structures is a trend that’s not too fresh anymore, but it’s always nice to look at. Here I’d like to present two examples. How to create a spattered photomontage in Photoshop uses color splashes in the background to center the person.

Another good example is Creating a Sparkle Abstract Piece. Here, lighting effects and light streaks are layered above the image. You can very easily act out your creativity this way.

Water font

The tutorial Watery at texteffects.me describes how to form type from water, and of course the water is totally digital. The only thing used is a combination of various layer styles.

Avatar drawing

Remember those blue kitten things with their USB tails? Anyway, in his article Painting Jake Sully’s Avatar, Rafael Teruel Caceres describes how he drew a Na’vi. Step by step and brush stroke for brush stroke, he creates this little masterpiece.