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Beautiful Examples of Vexel Artworks and Tutorials

Vexel art is a digital art that is an entirely pixel-based form of raster art that imitates the vector graphics technique, but is distinguished from normal vector graphics or raster images. "Vexel" itself is a mixture of two words ‘Vector’ and ‘Pixel’. Vexel designs are composed by using multiple layered shapes. It can be done in Photoshop, but vexel designs are not limited to only Photoshop; essentially, it can be done with any image editing software that has a good Pen Tool.

Below are some truly amazing examples of vexel artwork and also some outstanding tutorials that will help you to master the technique or at least get some understanding of how this technique can be used. Feel free to explore further works of the artists presented below. Enjoy and be inspired.

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Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Concepts of the future for the way we live our lives have been expressed in forms of art, design, movies, comics, and even cartoons. For many decades before man even landed on the Moon, people have been fascinated with space and the endless possibilities it could bring. The future is not only about being in space, though it has a major influence, it lies within your innovative minds and skills as the designer and artist. So, whether you go back into the past or here in the present, the future is all that we envision.

It wasn't too many years ago when amazing tools such as 3ds Max, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or even Corel Draw weren't around. Illustrations were drawn by hand using chalks, colored pencils, paints, and pens. With typography, you could find artists/ designers also using fountain pens or calligraphy pens with a large variety of nibs, along with bottles of colored ink. Even today, you will still find designers and architects who use tools such as the t-square, triangular scales, triangle, french curve, and of course, your basic compass.

Times do change and so do the concepts of what to expect in the future. We would like to share with you a collection of retro futuristic designs and tutorials that will inspire you for your future creations. If you like the designs, please take the time to visit the sites of the artist/ designer by clicking on the illustration or title.

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Typographic Layout Design Contest: Join In and Win!

As web-designers, we shouldn't underestimate the power of typography. The content is the king and typography is an extremely powerful mean that can help designers to effectively convey their messages to the audience. Recently we presented an overview of useful typographic CSS-tools and 8 Simple Ways To Improve Web Typography. And now it's your turn to show what you are capable of when using these tools.

In this post we announce the Typographic Layout Design Contest, a contest that has the goal to collect beautiful typographic (X)HTML+CSS-based layouts created by you and release them for free as a gift for the web design community. And, of course, we have some nice awards for best designs submitted in the contest.

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Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Silhouette photography is a wonderful way to convey drama, mystery, emotion and mood in a picture. A silhouette is defined as a view of an object or a scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Pictures like these often don’t convey a clear story, and leave part of the image up to the imagination of the viewer.

The key to taking a silhouette picture would be to: choose a strong subject with a defined and recognizable shape; turn off your flash to have as little light on the front of your subject as possible; get the light right by having more light shining from the background than the foreground; frame your image so that the brightest light source is behind your subject; and make sure the silhouette shapes are distinct and uncluttered by making subjects recognizable and keeping multiple subjects separate.

Below are some truly amazing examples of silhouette photography. All images are linked to the respective photographer’s websites. Feel free to explore more of their work. Enjoy and be inspired.

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

• Oversaturated Pictures and Lomography
• Shadow Photography
• The Beauty Of Urban Decay
• City Photography

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100 Obscure and Remarkable CD Covers

While recording artists and bands are busy recording their albums, a separate effort is usually being made behind the scenes to plan for the launch, promotion and circulation of the new tracks. The creation of CD cover art is an intergral part of this process.

Some CD covers feature heavily edited and airbrushed vanity photos of the musicians or recording artists. Thankfully, others are much more creative and work to create a cover image that reflects the mood, attitude or feel of the music it promotes. The most striking designs are those that capture both a buyer's attention and the essense of the music.

The CD cover art designs and concepts featured in this showcase present dramatic, quirky, unusual or unique artwork. This type of cover art can make a big difference when a little-known band releases an album. Captivating or iconic cover art can make a band instantly recognizable, which increases sales, which in turn boosts airplay and subsequently demand for the music. Mainstream marketing is rarely this attractive, and the wide variety of beautiful CD cover art makes browsing CDs an enjoyable experience that reaches far beyond the music.

It must be noted that a collection of this nature is never complete, and the value of art is very personal and subjective. While we may love the familiar cover art of some classic favourites because we love the bands and the music, a critical look at the cover art can often be a disappointment. For the purposes of this cross-section of remarkable and obscure cd cover art we have chosen to ignore the musical genius of the albums in favor of showcasing brilliant cover art.

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Drawing Inspiration From Music

Instead of getting into the heads of successful designers, we should be getting into the head of the audience we're designing for. There are many ways this can be done, one of which is music. Relying on senses other than your vision can evoke a greater comprehension for what feeling must be conveyed through a design.

In my early years as a student, I had a difficult time adjusting to the thought process of a designer. I'm a hands-on learner, and developing design ideas is more of an abstract art. Being able to recognize a good design versus a bad design was never the problem, but creating unique designs was for me much like an artist trying to draw purely from memory that doesn't have that capacity. For a couple of years I treated design as purely an art, simply because I lacked guidance in this area and didn't know any better, hitting the ground running with a project without methodically seeking out inspiration appropriate for the task at hand.

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40 Stunning and Creative Graffiti Artworks

Graffiti represents an art form that is unrestricted, one that rebels against conventional forms of artwork. Graffiti is intertwined into human history, dating back to the Roman Empires where they were plastered onto walls to make political statements and satirize current events.

Modern graffiti achieves many of the same things - to state a message that doesn't necessarily fit into the norms of society. In this collection, for your inspiration and adoration, we present 40 remarkable graffiti and street artwork.

This article follows and adds to an article written last year, entitled Tribute To Graffiti: 50 Beautiful Graffiti Artworks.

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20 Talented and Impressive Illustrators

A lot of what is seen on TV commercials, catalogues flyers, posters, banners and internet advertisments are made by someone in the world of design or commissioned by someone in the world of art. As time passes, the distinction between artist and designer has been blurred beyond recognition.

Now, in times of instant press and release, inspiration from great artistic measures and processes are the influence and is just as important as functionality. When we see companies like Apple and RIM, we see a collaboration between art and design where the practicality is the designated, artistic measure and process, so what looks good, feels good and works well.

Below is done in the same sight, literally where the eyes are encouraged to explore, stimulating inspiration and aspirational ambition. Below we present 40 talented and impressive illustrators – their work is inspiring, creative, original and beautiful and as such perfect for a lousy saturday evening.

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The Disturbing Beauty Of Oversaturated Pictures and Lomography

“Lomography” is a term quite unknown to most of us, but many practice it. The name was inspired and derived from the Russian “LOMO” cameras. Lomography not only refers to photographs taken with the LOMO camera, but can also apply to casual photography taken with any ordinary camera.

The characteristics of Lomo photographs are oversaturated colors, extreme optical distortions, rainbow-colored subjects, off-kilter exposure, blurring and alternative film processing, all things usually considered bad in photography. In short, Lomography is the act of taking photographs without thinking, and ignoring the established rules of “good” photography.

Just take your camera along with you anywhere and everywhere, and start taking photographs. Sometimes it will yield amazing and creative results. Because it often does, we have collected over 35 Beautiful Oversaturated Pictures (Lomography & Co.), from many amateur photographers.

The names and images below are all linked to their sources, so please feel free to check out some of the other works of these very talented photographers.

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40 Amazing Online Photography Magazines

Whatever country we live in, we're probably all familiar with the well-known photography magazines available in our newsagents and bookstores. The UK has Practical Photography, France has Photo, the Italians have Zoom and the Americans have American Photo. What you may not know is that there are many more photography magazines that are only available online. And some of them are good, very good.

That's the great thing about online publishing. It's cheap, it's easy, and just about anyone with a PC and an internet connection can take part. The difficulty lies in putting together a quality publication, something that rivals the best commercial magazines for content and quality (we hope you think that Smashing Magazine just does that!)

As an introduction to the wonderful world of online photography magazines, we put together a list of the biggest and best that we could find. You won't find these magazines in your local bookstore, they're only available online. From photojournalism to portraiture, from landscapes to lomography (and everything in between), you'll find the most amazing photography and discover the work of some of the world's best photographers, both famous and unknown. Dive in and enjoy their work.

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40 Captivating Photos That Depict Human Emotion

Though we differ in the way we look and things we believe in, there's something we all share: emotion. Human emotion is innate in all of us; it's something we're born with and something we die with. Happiness, sadness, love, hatred, worries, and indifference - these are things that constantly occur in our daily lives.

Today we share with you 40 powerful depictions of the human emotion. In these photos you'll see celebrations, sadness in defeat, raw anger, and everything else in between that makes us what we are… human.

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40 Beautiful Skateboard Designs

The skateboard has been a favorite medium of artists for decades. Not only does it provide a sturdy surface to paint on, but it offers a great way to have your artwork be seen in the community. Skateboarding culture, which was once looked on as a short-term fad for rebellious teens, has established itself in society.

A wide range of artists have opted to put the canvas aside and go with the unique shape of the skateboard as a way to get their artwork out. In this article, we showcase 40 amazing skateboard designs that blend various design styles. Whether you used to skateboard, currently skateboard or have never stepped on one, these skateboard designs will surely lend inspiration.

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Beautiful And Creative Logo Designs For Your Inspiration

Last week we already presented our first selection of beautiful, clever and creative logo designs. This post presents the second part of our selection, featuring even more beautiful and creative logos that will hopefully inspire you or at least give you the idea of what the current logo design trends look like.

Just as last time, we focused on logos that use creative methods to represent the brand through color, shapes, and typography. Every design presented below tells you something about the company that it is supposed to represent. Also note the brilliant color palletes and unique patterns used in many of these. Finally, pay attention to the typography, especially font selection and coloring.

Below you'll find a collection of 40 more beautiful and creative logo designs to inspire you. Browsing through the showcase, you will notice many trends. Some of these include the usage of simple shapes to create something complex, origami shapes, coloring and transparency trends, and many more. You may want to take a look at the post Logo Design Trends 2009 for further reference.

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Horror, Morbid and Mystic Art Pictures

It is true that art communicates what words can not and art is the language that communicates with the soul. Morbid art stands for works that illustrate a very deathly and deathlike mood. It has many variations starting from its gore scenes to its dark and depressed atmosphere – and sometimes its daydreams, night screams, corpses and horrifying imagery.

As such, it has some similarties with the mystic art that is also quite "charismatic" in terms of its themes and motifs. The beauty of mystic art is the simple fact that it captures your attention at the very first glance, provides you with the imagery of something that doesn't exist, looks surreal or even bizarre and hence impresses you in a very mystifying way.

In this post we present some amazing examples of morbid and mystic art. Hopefully, you'll love some of them or at least will find them creative or inspirational. Please explore the further works of the artists linked below and also feel free to suggest other artworks in the comments to this post.

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• Bizarre Surreal and Dark Art Pictures

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Drawing Inspiration From Creative Logos

As designers, we are always in constant need of inpiration. Whether it be Web or graphic design, other work to fuel our creativity is essential. Logo design requires the most amount of inspiration, however.

Below we present a showcase of over 40 beautiful, clever and creative logo designs that will hopefully inspire you. If you take a closer look at the showcase below, you will notice many trends. Some of these include use simple shapes to create something complex, oragmi shapes, coloring and transparency trends, and many more.

Why are these logos so excellent? All of these logos use very creative methods to represent the brand through color, shapes, and shape typography. Look at how each of these logos can tell you something about the company. Also note the brilliant color palletes and unique patterns used in many of these. Finally, pay attention to the typography, especially font selection and coloring.

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How To Create A Great Web Design CV and Résumé?

The economy is bad. No one's job is really 100% safe, so it’s time we all bucked up and got our recession bags packed (just in case!). Your portfolio is already gorgeous, but have you created a drool-worthy resume?

This flimsy one-page document is more important than many people think: the resume is the first portfolio piece that potential employers see, and if they're not impressed, chances are they won't look at the rest of your portfolio. "But I’m not a print designer!" you moan. It doesn’t matter, and I don’t want to hear your excuses! You need to conquer this, because if you’re a great Web designer, you don’t want your first impression to be mediocre.

Everyone likes a competition. How about one in which ten good Web designers have to design the same resume in only a few hours? Meet Steven Stevenson, a fictional Web designer, doesn’t have a resume. Rules: each designer must translate his work experience, education and interests into their own unique style. Watch and learn, people. At the end is a summary of good tips for Web designer resumes. (If you're interested in taking the challenge yourself, check out misterstevenson.com for all the rules these designers followed, Steven Stevenson's raw data and the chance to add your own entry.)

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Weird, Confusing and Irritating Photography

We daily come across with so many photos some of them are good while some are not happening. Some photos are so ordinary that you hardly keep them in mind while some of the photos are simply outstanding and awesome pieces of photography that you reminisce them again and again, and just wonder how photographer has taken such a beautiful picture. You always summon up these photos to muster some clue that how these photos have been taken.

Here we are sharing photos that can boggle your mind. Some of the photos among them are perplexing and mystifying. So are you ready to get bewildered?

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Beautiful Pictures For Spring Inspiration

Inspiration is all around us: you can derive new ideas from people you meet, places you visit and observations you make. Sometimes it is enough just to take a look around and observe the beauty of nature surrounding us everywhere. For instance, spring is often considered the most beautiful and inspirational period of the year, with its refreshing, colorful, vivid imagery and structures. And this post hopes to prove just that.

In Web design, you can explore various facets of spring: the flourishing beauty of the environment; the time of passion, emotions and love; the time of warmth and the refreshing evening breeze; but also rainy storms and muddy ground.

Below, we present a showcase of 35 outstanding pictures related to spring. Hopefully, these will give you a new perspective and maybe provide some ideas for your next design. Please notice: every image is linked to the source from where it was taken. Feel free to explore further works of the talented photographers and artists presented here.

You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:

• The Beauty Of Urban Decay
• Beautiful Examples Of Rain Photography

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35 (Really) Stunning Photos and Pictures

We love beautiful photography. In photos, the beauty isn't necessarily reflected in an eye-catching combination of colors; perspectives, angle, composition and, most importantly, the idea behind the shot or the situation in which the shot was taken, are particularly important when it comes for our showcases.

Over the last months we have covered a variety of different photography arts, such as shadow photography, night photography, city photography, arial photography, urban decay and many others (you can find them in our section Inspiration). This time we present you a "mixed bag" of some truly outstanding photos and images, created by talented photographers and designers across the globe.

Below you'll find 35 truly stunning, beautiful and unusual photos. Every image is linked and leads to the source from which it was taken. Please feel free to explore further works of the talented photographers presented above.

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

• (Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos
• Beautiful Black and White Photography

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20 Beautiful Video Motion Pieces

A show reel is the motion picture equivalent of an artist's portfolio. It is typically used as a tool to promote an artist's skill, talent and experience in a selected field, such as acting, directing, cinematography, editing, special effects, animation, video games or another graphic-related field. It is conventional in the film industry to have one, and it is the main tool by which an artist promotes her or his own work.

In this episode of our inspiration series, we present 20 examples of beautiful motions pieces: stop-motion, experiments, show reels, demos, paintings and more.

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