AU Blogspot

I love the mixture of hand work and collage in Damien Correll’s work. I also feel that his experience in creating type has elevated his understanding of font in all of his projects to a level that is unique. Each letter in all of his pieces is so appropriately drawn, chosen, and/or placed.

Michael R. Nelson
Graphic Design Instructor
Ashworth University

                           Image courtesy of Front Design.

The design applications provided by the latest in motion capture/rapid prototyping technologies are empowering new designers to experiment like never before.  Front is a furniture design company based out Sweden and they have pioneered the use of this amazing technology, which allows the user to take their traditional free hand sketches and translate them into 3-D digital files; the process doesn’t end there though.  These virtual design files are then transformed into actual physical models that mirror what one originally began as a free-hand sketch!  It’s quite an abstract process to describe with words, so I’ll let the following video show you what’s it all about.  Whether you’re a graphic, web, fashion, or interior designer—you should feel excited that such tools are becoming increasingly available on the market at affordable prices.  Have you had an opportunity to work with a design program of this nature?  Let us know.  

Ryan Rode
Ashworth University  

Are you in the mood for some Action? I’m talking Photoshop Actions

They are the perfect solution to handle tasks with one click. An Action is a recording of several Photoshop operations and commands. Once the Action is created, one click is all it takes and the task will be executed. It’s very powerful, can save you heaps of time and it’s actually not that hard to create. Oh and before someone asks, this tutorial is written for version CS3. Certain things might be different in previous Photoshop versions.

In my previous article I talked about how you can apply a vintage look on a photo. Someone pointed out, “Wonderful technique. I stumbled across something sort of similar a while ago but it’s too time consuming to keep on applying” Yes, good point of course. I have to confess, I have this effect recorded in an Action, but my tutorial was all about the process on how to create this effect. The surprise that people didn’t know about Actions gave me the idea for today’s tutorial: how to create an Action for this effect, or better how to record an Action. We’ll also look at a few options you can do or add to your Action and how to save it.

Creating an Action

Step 1 : Create New Action

Open a photo where you want to apply the vintage effect on. First make sure the image is on a separate layer on top of the background layer. You could use command/control + j to duplicate it in a new layer. Open up the Actions palette. If it’s not visible on your screen, go to Window > Actions. First click the folder icon Create New Set at the bottom of the palette to create your own set of Actions. Name the Set My Actions or any other name you think is better. Now click the Create New Action icon at the bottom of the palette. Name the Action Vintage Effect and hit Record.

Step 2 : Record the Action

Notice that the red record button in the Action palette is pushed or being active. Every Photoshop handling is now recorded into the Action. Now execute all handlings explained in the Phototshop Vintage Effect article. While doing this, take your time, there is no need to rush. Photoshop only records your actions and commands. The speed in how you perform this doesn’t matter. When you’re done click the Stop button in the Action palette. The Action is now stored in the palette in the ‘My Actions’ Set.

Adding a Pause to an Action

What if there is one command in the action that you’ve recorded that is different for each individual image? For instance you need to make a selection and for each image this selection is different. This is something you can add after the Action is recorded. For example if I want to add a pause for applying the Curves, then I need to toggle the dialogue function on next to the Curves ‘Make adjustement layer’ action (see picture below).

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          Thanks to Robert Marinkovic for permission to use this Photo.

Cascading Stylesheets, or CSS, can be pretty awkward at times. It allows you total control over the presentation of a webpage within a browser; but having the resulting webpage look identical in each different browser (IE, FireFox, et al) can sometimes be difficult. Here’s a selection of handy tips I’ve found - see if they help you too.

100.01% Font Size

CSS: Getting Into Good Coding Habits says:

This odd 100.01% value for the font size compensates for several browser bugs. First, setting a default body font size in percent (instead of em) eliminates an IE/Win problem with growing or shrinking fonts out of proportion if they are later set in ems in other elements. Additionally, some versions of Opera will draw a default font-size of 100% too small compared to other browsers. Safari, on the other hand, has a problem with a font-size of 101%. The current “best” suggestion is to use the 100.01% value for this property.

Link Styling: “Love/Hate

Link Specifity says:

All of them can apply to a hyperlink, and in some cases, more than one will apply. For example, an unvisited link can be hovered and active at the same time as it’s an unvisited link. Since three of the above rules apply to the hyperlink, and the selectors all have the same specificity, then the last one listed wins. Therefore, the “active” style will never appear, because it will always be overridden by the “hover” style. (more…)

Sony Ericsson has recently launched a colorful global mini-site to promote its new W910i and W580 models. Everything is conceived around a rather psychedelic experience that mixes music and colors and allows users to create unique and personalized kaleidoscopes.

It’s a nice site, and apparently a lot of people have already created their own kaleidoscope.

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Have you ever wondered how you create a seamless pattern in Photoshop? It’s easy and it’s fun. Let me show you how…

Step 1 - Create a Color Fill

First of all create a vector illustration in Illustrator CS2. It might be just a simple dot or circle. Copy this object. Go to Photoshop and create a new document of 300 by 300 pixels. Select the Rectangle Selection Tool from the Toolbox and drag a squared selection (hold down shift) in the center of the document. Leave enough space around the square. Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer in the Layer’s Palette and select Solid Color. Select a color you like and click OK.

Step 2 - Paste your Illustrator object

Paste your Illustrator object. Select Smart Object in the Paste options. In the View menu, make sure that Smart Guides are active (Show > Smart Guides). Snap and Snap to Layers should also be checked.

Step 3 - Place your object over the border

Drag your object over the border of the Color Fill. If you see the Smart Guide and feel the object ’snapping’, release the object.

Step 4 - Drag a 2nd object on the other side of the border

Duplicate the layer (drag the layer in the Layer’s Palette onto the Create New Layer icon). Now drag the object over the bottom border of the Color Fill holding down the shift key. Again, when you feel the Snap effect release your mouse. (more…)

This is definitely not the kind of content I’m generally interested in, but the UFC 79 website for the Nemesis match tomorrow night is impressive.

The idea of creating a mini-site for an event (also streamed live online) is interesting.  The exemplary design execution in Flash succeeds in delivering a rough and engaging experience.  Click on the image above to check out this great site…

Martina Savagno
Creator of Adverblog
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger

*Martina Savagno is an interactive marketer who chronicles the latest ideas and trends throughout the interactive media landscape. We thank Martina for giving us this opportunity to share her professional insights and industry analyses. For more information on the life and work of Martina Savagno, please visit her Adverblog, where contemporary advertising is covered from an insider’s perspective. Thanks Martina!

             Thanks to wiretapstudios for permission to use this Photo.

Fans of the Pink Floyd will surely appreciate the site Bloc has just put live to promote “Oh By The Way”, the limited edition box set launched to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band.

The work with Flash is pretty cool when it comes to animation and design, but the site lacks an emotional side I would have expected to find given the story of the band. (more…)

                 Thanks to kingtaco for permission to use this Photo.

Today I thought I’d share some of the useful resources and blog posts that PHP programmers at any level should take a look at. There’s something for everyone here, from the humble beginner to the programmer whizzkid. 

For PHP Beginners 

Tizag’s PHP Tutorial is an excellent place to read through PHP information if you’re unsure about what it’s about and what it can do for you. If you currently build webpages with basic HTML, this is worth a read through to see how PHP can make your life a lot easier (and cooler). 

Zend Developer Zone: PHP 101 is a fantastic starting point for those just getting their feet wet with PHP. The extensive list of tutorials is aimed at beginners and breaks down the various aspects of getting to grips with programming in PHP into bitesize chunks. (more…)