Saturday, February 27, 2010

058-Abstract2

Basically just experimenting with linear gradients and blending modes from this tutorial. Once again all vector.
Font: Rockwell Extra Bold

Friday, February 26, 2010

057-Abstract

Watched this tutorial today. Was surprised to see how many tutorials are on YouTube. This blew my mind. Such a cool effect and way to achieve it. All vector.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

056-Deep Numbers

Checked out this website and got inspired. Hand drawn numbers and no extrusion effect.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

055-Caramel

Another tutorial. Amazed at how simple it was to create something this cool and vector.

054-Wavy Halftone

Followed a cool tutorial tonight. Basically created a halftone from a linear gradient, live-traced it then manipulated it. Used Envelope Distort for the first time.

Monday, February 22, 2010

053-Peeling Letters

Saw this website and got inspired.
Font: Bodoni Old Face Bold

Sunday, February 21, 2010

052-Pattern

Just playing around.

051-Drop Cap E

First attempt at a drop-cap. Harder than it looks especially if you are not inspired.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

050-Depth

Simple study in depth.  The shadows really help.

049-the final frontier

Another doodle during a long meeting. Space. Pencil on black paper.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

048-spirograph

Followed this tutorial tonight. The hardest part was making the color pallet. I also have a new hero, Andy Gilmore.

047-Sketchy Trees

My first non-vector post.
Doodling during a meeting. Abstract trees, hills and sun. Pencil on black paper.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

046-Another Stripe

Made something like the white shape at work today. Thought I would try running a stripe over, under and through it tonight. I'm digging the one pixel strokes for subtle shadows and hi-lites.
Font: Myriad Pro Bold

Monday, February 15, 2010

045-3d Lighted Text

Followed this tutorial. It took too long and I don't think I did it right and am not happy with the results. It happens. Did notice that using a complex gradient mesh significantly increases your file size.
Font: Avant Garde

Sunday, February 14, 2010

044-Pie

I ran across a pie chart this weekend and liked the way it showed depth by using only hilights and shadows. Tried to recreate it in Illustrator.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

043-Coffee

Hardest thing about this was not drinking my model.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

042-Blueprint

Another tutorial tonight. Gets the job done. Used a gradient mesh as a mask which is a pretty cool idea.
Font: Zurich BT Ultra Black

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

041-Rays

Found this Photoshop tutorial and thought I'd try and do it with all vectors instead.
Font: Bureau Agency Bold

40-Kiwi

Another tutorial. Some symbols, some brushes, a few raster effects.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

039-Rope

Ran across this tutorial about how to make a climbing rope pattern brush. Very cool (as long as you don't let the ends show). Feeling a little weird about basing my numbers off of the font Giddyup.

Monday, February 8, 2010

038-Weber

Started this on Saturday when I was grilling some chicken skewers. Another study in simple shapes but with some reflections this time. Vector on the left, photo on the right.

037-Battery

Followed this tutorial. Opacity masks are cool but cumbersome.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

036-Pencil

Not much to say here. Some basic shapes and a few shadows.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

035-New

Ran across the book cover for New Typographic Design and got inspired. Found out that to extrude two or more objects at the same time in the same way, they need to be a compound path first.
Fonts: Helvetica Neue 45 Light, 77 Bold Condensed

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

034-Inspiration

Saw these desktop wallpapers and got inspired. I don't understand why the shapes get all effed up after you expand the extrude effect. Vector texture in the background, too.
Font: Myriad

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

033-Swirls

This took way too long to have it turn out like this–a mess. Followed this tutorial on swirls. Did learn about the Feather effect and replacing the spine in a blend. Good stuff to know.

Monday, February 1, 2010

032-Diamond

Another tutorial. Pretty simple but learned that you can make a layer a Template layer that will lock and make a graphic transparent for easy tracing.