Subscribe via Dark Matters: Free January 09 Wallpaper
Every month I give you a new Calendar Wallpaper. The idea behind the monthly calendar wallpaper series is that you don’t have to open a program to find out what day/date it is. Just look at your desktop et voila. Furthermore the wallpapers should inspire you. Looking at the same image over and over again is not very stimulating. Hence having a new wallpaper every month should get your creative juices flowing. This month’s design is called “Dark Matters”. Oh and before I forget: Happy New Year to all of you!
As always a non-calendar version of the wallpaper is also included and the following resolutions are available:
1920×1200 (suitable for 1440×900)
1600×1200
1280×1024
320×479 (iPhone)
Previews:
Messy Watercolours: Free Hi-Res Photoshop Brushes
I love making Hi-Res Photoshop Brushes and giving them away, free for personal and commercial use. In order to reach a bigger audience I have decided to release the Messy Watercolours Brushes in conjunction with Smashing Magazine. With over 100k subscribers it is the perfect blog. The set has been split into two parts. Part 1 is released on Smashing Magazine. There are 12 high resolution brushes between 2156px and 2294px.
Part 2 contains 18 brushes and is available from fudgegraphics. These brushes are between 2136px and 2500px. Please continue reading to get to the download links.
Part 1 Preview (Smashing Magazine Exclusive):
Seasons: Free Christmas Print
Let me start of with wishing you all a very jolly Christmas. Today is the traditional Christmas present day. Though I don’t have a tree nor wrapping paper I still want to give you a present to celebrate the festive season. Rather than giving away another set of Photoshop brushes or textures I decided to make something more special: a “free” print design. I would have loved to send you all a finished print, but my financial means did not allow this. Instead you have the possibility to download the hi-res pdf (A3, 300dpi) of the print design entitled “Seasons”. Grab it and take it to your local print shop or simply use your home printer. You can choose between a blue or brown version (or both). I hope you like the present and don’t worry, I don’t expect anything in resturn. Happy Holidays!
Blue Seasons
Never Love Again Wallpaper released on FYC
I have released my latest wallpaper exclusively on Fuel Your Creativity. Adelle Charles, founder of FYC, kindly asked me to contribute to her blog and I was more than happy to comply. I absolutely love giving away free stuff. The wallpaper is entitled “Never Love Again” which is a reference to a song by one of my favourite bands: Cherbourg. It comes in 3 different colour schemes (green, blue and red) and is available in these resolutions: 1920×1200 (suitable for 1440×900), 1600×1200 and 1280×1024. Download it from FYC.
Visual Guide to Layer Blending Modes in Photoshop
The most essential feature in Photoshop is the ability to work with layers. Mastering the blending modes is key for every designer/graphic artist. There are quite a few articles on the web explaining how the different blending modes work. That is all very nice and interesting, however they always only show one example. From experience I know that the blending modes depend very much on the images you use. Hence I decided to showcase the different blending modes in action using 3 different images as overlay. You’ll notice the differences.
Self-Blending:
The first series shows the effect of the blending modes when you use it on the same image as the background. All you have to do is duplicate the background layer and change the modes of the top layer image. Here’s the results. You can click on the images to view them in original size.
Tutorial: How to make retro/futuristic curves in 10 Steps
As promised when releasing the December 08 Calendar Wallpaper I’ve written a tutorial on how to make it. This is my first ever tutorial and I hope you’ll like it. If there’s anything which is not clear please ask. I’m here to help. In order to achieve the space like scenery with the glowing lines we will use Illustrator and Photoshop. You’ll learn how to add subtle effects using textures and different blending modes. So here we go.
Step 1: Draw Lines in Illustrator
We’re starting off in Illustrator to draw the lines. Create a new document with the dimensions 1920×1200. The other settings don’t really matter since the vectors will be imported into Photoshop anyway. Draw a nice smooth curve with a 4px black stroke. Draw another curve, this time with a 1px black stroke.
Read more
Featured: Colorcubic Studio
Colorcubic is the vision of founding partners Christy Lai and Michael John. The design studio is based in Portland, OR, United States. I did not find any more information on them. Ah well, just look at their beautiful design and get inspired. What I like most about the art is that each piece is different and yet they manage to keep a consistent syle (if that makes any sense). For even more inspiration visit Colorcubic on Behance and Flickr.
Stellar Storm: Free December 08 Wallpapers
Every month I give you a new Calendar Wallpaper. The idea behind the monthly calendar wallpaper series is that you don’t have to open a program to find out what day/date it is. Just look at your desktop et voila. Furthermore the wallpapers should inspire you. Looking at the same image over and over again is not very inspiring. Hence having a new wallpaper every month should get your creative juices flowing. Since it’s Christmas season and it’s all about giving I decided to go the extra mile and prepare two different versions. The December 08 Wallpaper comes in blue and orange. As always you also have the chance to download non-calendar versions of the wallpapers (entitled “Stellar Storms”) in case you want to use it at a later time. That is not all though. For the first time ever I included iPhone versions as well. Now you’re probably wondering what resolutions are available. So here we go:
1920×1200 (suitable for 1440×900)
1600×1200
1280×1024
320×479 (iPhone)
Blue December 08 Preview:
Featured Artist: Erik Jonsson
Erik Jonsson is a 26-year old graphic designer and art director from Sweden. Parallel to running his own agency Elapse he works freelance and studies Digital Media. So yes, he is a busy boy, and a talented one at that. I can’t say that I like every of his designs though. Some are to “corporate” for my taste. His more experimental art however is just my cup of tea. I like the retro and grunge feel. Get a taste for Erik’s art here and then head over to his portfolio.
Vote for fudgegraphics on Blogging Idol 2
As mentioned in the latest news post I am a contestant to become the next Blogging Idol (2). The contest is run by BailyBlogTips and there are three criteria which determine the winner: the blog with the greatest increase in subscribers gets points, there is a jury and the public can vote for their favourite blog. The voting session has just opened and will close on the 28th November. I could really use some help with that. I’m number 59 in the list. Thank you so much for your support!
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