Color + Design Blog by COLOURlovers Marketing, using illustrations, is more powerful than using text, which most people don't read. After all, they say that 'a picture is worth a thousand words.' A marketing illustration needs to have a strong message to the intended market to make an impact. Most news indicates that all illustrators are different, so what are the various marketing mistakes they need to avoid when doing their work? This article will highlight some. No smooth illustrations Illustrations use more drawings than from just the imagination. Use of the wrong file format Well, one would conclude that it's not worth spending a whole day designing a logo for a client and creating the best resolution only to download it in the wrong format. Using the wrong colors Colors are very crucial in marketing illustrations. Not using swatches While most young illustrators will try to build their own swatches to remain unique, this can use up most of your time and never achieve the best quality. Poor cropping Conclusion
Before and After Special Effects from Various Notable Scenes Special effects are crazy and if they’re overused, can be off-putting (I’m looking at your Star Wars Episodes 1-3). But used right, and special effects can make a scene and drastically reduce set budgets. Check out these before and after shots of rather notable sets that we stumbled upon, including a pair from everyone’s favorite zombie show, The Walking Dead. Related The Best Fstoppers’ Posts From January 2013 Your "Likes", "Tweets", comments and clicks all help us know which are our best posts of the month. In "FS News"
75 of the Smartest Resources for Web Designers – cmd + T – Medium A lot of these lists just cram everything and anything into the lineup. So, we decided to pick our designers’ brains to bring you the best resources that we are using on a daily basis. Feel free to add other useful resources in the comments below :) Images + Video 1. Showbox Create studio-quality video from your browser. 2. Beautiful, free videos for your homepage. 3. One of the best tools to optimize video files online. 4. The best free stock photos (and videos), all in one place. 5. A database of beautiful, high-res, free (do whatever you want) photos for creative use. 6. A photo and inspiration haven for creatives crushing their path. 7. A great way to view and test photos, dimensions and effect with overlay text, before you actually download anything. 8. Your photos, on a diet. Icons 9. A small team working to create one of the largest, searchable databases of icons in the world. 10. 11. Another hefty collection of free icons available in SVG, PSD, PNG, EPS and BASE 64 formats. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Naldz Graphics — All Designs, Graphics and Web Resources AisleOne - Graphic Design, Typography and Grid Systems Taking Credit Card Payments Online: What’s Involved? Advertisement If you’re looking to integrate a credit card payment solution onto your website, the following steps are a guide to applying for, enabling and taking payments online. At first glance, the prospect of integrating a payment solution on a website can seem unwieldy, what with the vast array of payment options and technical acronyms. This article breaks down the entire process into bite-sized pieces, helping you understand the process much better. Apply For An IMA When taking any kind of credit card payments connected to a bank account, you must apply for a merchant account with a bank. Even if you currently take “card-not-present” payments (such as for mail orders) or use in-store payment terminals (such as chip-and-pin), you still have to speak with your bank about taking payments via your website (ask your bank for an additional IMA ID). It’s worth noting that it is possible to process Internet payments manually, using your regular point of sale system. Select A PSP PayPal
Create beautiful visual quotes as images A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age. - Robert Frost After you're older, two things are possibly more important than any others: health and money. - Helen Gurley Brown Age considers; youth ventures. - Rabindranath Tagore Age is a very high price to pay for maturity. - Tom Stoppard Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life. - Kitty O'Neill Collins As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. - Andrew Carnegie As men get older, the toys get more expensive. - Marvin DavisI don't feel old. I don't feel anything till noon. פיקסל פרפקט מגזין - בית חם למעצבים
Unique SEO Challenges Facing Bloggers There are increasingly numerous challenges for bloggers to face in order to be successful. Google’s determination to clamp down on spam creates ever-changing problems for bloggers. The Panda and Penguin updates hit bloggers especially hard because they flag poor content that has been duplicated or looks spammy. Note: You Should Hire a SEO Consultant Specialist to solve all SEO Challenges you may be facing with you website or blog and take your business to next level. Image by Nadya Peek Bloggers now need a good understanding of SEO to be able to alter how they operate and create their content. Creating Great Content The main goal of a blog post is to create great content that the intended audience will find new and interesting. The challenge for bloggers is the frequency in which they have to produce great content. Another problem that bloggers face with their content is that it can be moved about a lot. Google’s Penguin Updates Blog ‘Smell’ Solutions Article by James Duval
Free PSDs & Resources for Web Designers by Orman Clark Computer Security in the Real World Computer Security in the Real World Butler W. Lampson Microsoft Note: This web page was converted automatically from a Word original. Abstract After thirty years of work on computer security, why are almost all the systems in service today extremely vulnerable to attack? In a distributed system with no central management like the Internet, security requires a clear story about who is trusted for each step in establishing it, and why. People have been working on computer system security for at least 30 years. The Internet has made computer security much more difficult than it used to be. Today half a billion people all over the world are on the Internet, including you. · Attack from anywhere: Any one on the Internet can take a poke at your system. · Sharing with anyone: On the other hand, you may want to communicate or share information with any other Internet user. · Automated infection: Your system, if compromised, can spread the harm to many others in a few seconds. Money talks, though.