Modbook Mac Tablet

"Andreas Haas, CEO of Axiotron, tells InformationWeek how the company turns the dowdy MacBook into its sexy Modbook Mac tablet, and why its not afraid of competition from a rumored Apple-made Mac tablet.

If you live all day in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or some other visual Mac app, Axiotron has its eye on you. The company makes the long-awaited Modbook Mac tablet, designed for designers, illustrators, and other visually creative professionals.

"It's for people who draw, scribble, and paint," said Axiotron CEO Andreas Haas. We sat down with Haas for a one-on-one interview recently.

The Modbook, priced starting at $2,290, was announced at Macworld 2007, a little more than a year ago, and finally started shipping Dec. 31.

Axiotron built the unit in cooperation with Apple. The Modbook is manufactured by the same companies that make Macs. Axiotron ships the manufacturers the pen displays, the manufacturers rip the displays and keyboards out of standard MacBooks, and then add the Axiotron display. The manufacturers keep the notebook displays and keyboards and use them to repair defective MacBooks -- displays and keyboards are the most common points of failure for notebook computers, Haas said.

Apple is reportedly developing its own tablet computer, but Axiotron isn't afraid of the competition, Haas said. The Apple tablet will basically be a bigger version of the iPhone or iPod Touch -- a consumer device with a 7-inch to 10-inch display, running a cut-down version of Mac OS X with little or no third-party application support, with an interface that's lacking in fine control, in part because it'll be controlled using the user's finger. "Finger painting is fun -- when you're four," Haas said." View Full Review

Optical Art With Illustrator

"Illustrator’s transform functions to create a stunning op art piece with a real sense of movement. Mark Mayers shows you how...Optical art, or op art, is a genre of visual art that makes use of optical illusions. Op art is also known as geometric abstraction and hardedge abstraction, although the preferred term for it is perceptual abstraction. The best-known method is the creation of illusions through the use of pattern or line where the viewer is given the impression of movement such as hidden images, vibration or warping. All these techniques trick the eye into seeing three dimensions even though the image hitting the retina is only two dimensional. This tutorial pays homage to the English painter Bridget Riley, who is one of the foremost proponents of op art and evolved a style in which she explored the dynamic effects of optical art". Go to tutorial page.

Scratch Brushes for Adobe Photoshop

A set 17 scratch texture brushes for Adobe Photoshop from daughterofsnape...

Might be of use if you are esigning a grungy scene or a distorted layer mask.

Download

Towers Vector Pack

This vector pack contains the shapes of the Eiffel Tower, The Tower In Pisa, Big Ben, Berlin TV-Tower, Burj al Arab in Dubai, Sears Tower, Tai Pei 101, Petronas Towers and Empire State Building. Download (eps format). Thanks to Nimpsher

Porn

Last night I came out with this composition. I used the concept of the Official NBA Logo, for the silhouette of the girls I actually used a Norp Icons 2 font available for download here. The actual silhouette shape is the letterform for number 7, and I made a few manipulations in Adobe Illustrator > Select the letterform , Type , Create Outlines. With the rounded rectangle tool I just created the background element and diagonally cuted it with the Knife Tool and used light blue and pink gradients for fill colors. Pretty easy and basic composition, but I really like the final result. I'm actually thinking of creating a poster with that logo, but we'll see. The wallpapers below are in 1024x768 px and 1280x800 px .

35+ brush sets (1400+ brushes) for GIMP

Well, browsing around digg.com I found a great link for all open-source lovers, especially GIMP users. 35 free artistic brush sets.

"GIMP is an open-source image editing program, one of the most popular image-editing programs. It is supported by a huge open-source community that is open in every aspect - development, source, sharing and participation.As is common to open-source applications, GIMP too has a huge repository of plugins, scripts, brushes and gradients (we’ve already covered Top 40 GIMP plugins). The open-source enthusiasts pour hundreds of hours into developing the application and its add-ons for no cost, and shares them generously with the community...

And what better way for me to admire GIMP than by presenting a list of some amazing, beautiful and stunning brushes? The name, link and description of each brush are given just below each illustrative image. There are also sections linking to huge GIMP collections and further resources aimed at every group from novice to expert."

VectorDesign : MacHeist 2 Bundle

Yesterday, TweakerSoft’s VectorDesign was revealed as the final app for the current MacHeist 2 Bundle. As Pixelmator is to Adobe PhotoShop, VectorDesign is to Adobe Illustrator. For those of us who want to be able to create and edit vector graphics (.svg, .eps, etc.), but don’t want to spend several hundred dollars, VectorDesign looks to fill the void.

MacHeist aims to bring the best shareware from the brightest independent Mac software developers to the masses. We’ve already highlighted the contents of the bundle, but since then all of the original apps have been unlocked - Speed Download has been included, and two games from FreeVerse have been added as well. So now VectorDesign has been included as well.

As it now stands, the bundle has a value of nearly $500 worth of quality Mac shareware for under $50. not to mention that $300,000 has been raised for charity! Read more

The Best Of : Adobe Flash Tutorials Around The Web

Although usability evangelists often consider Flash to be a usability nightmare, used properly, Flash can provide users with a rich and interactive interface which would be impossible otherwise. Today Flash is the de-facto standard for interactive elements on the Web as most users install Flash plug-in by default. And in fact, there are many paths creative designers can take to create a more interactive and user-friendly interface.

Searching for ‘flash tutorials’ via Google & Co. won’t provide you with the results you expect. Not that you won’t find any relevant results, on the contrary — you will be directed to a large number of Flash repositories which offer everything: sometimes useful, but mostly not. Besides, browsing through these repositories isn’t that much fun — as you sometimes need to figure out whether a link you see is a hidden AdSense-block or the actual tutorial. And it’s really hard to find something “refreshing” and new simply using some standard keywords.

This article provides hand-picked professional Flash tutorials which can enrich your design skills and improve the quality of your works. We’ve tried to select most interesting and useful tutorials. Most sources can serve as the entry point for further tutorials. Full Article

Puzzle Brush

Puzzle bursh set for Adobe Photoshop The set includes 64 BIG Brushes (1400-2438px). Download from here. Author's profile

The New Corel DecoStudio®

Wilcom International, a leading developer of embroidery and decorations technology, and Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: CREL; TSX: CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today introduced DecoStudio®, a revolutionary new graphics and embroidery technology ideal for users in the apparel and promotional items industries, as well as embroidery hobbyists. Offering the industry’s most comprehensive solution for multi-decoration design, DecoStudio offers the ease-of-use and full creative power of CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite while delivering the digitizing quality and flexibility of Wilcom ES.

With DecoStudio, users can effortlessly combine embroidery and print, moving easily between vector art and embroidery elements, while keeping everything in one file for production purposes. In addition, designs can now be layered with different techniques including screenprint, direct-to-garment, print embroidery, applique and more, making linear workflows a thing of the past. Read full article

The Four Elements

Cris Vector

Halftone Background in Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

Using both Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop together can produce some original designs. I’ll go over a technique of creating a shape in Illustrator and then using it as a clipping mask in Photoshop, which is then partially hidden for a nice background effect. Full tutorial

Free Baroque Floral Pattern for Adobe Illustrator

A free seamless Floral pattern for Adobe Illustrator from Giboo. You might use it for composing backgrounds or achieve Baroque Style look in your design composition.

To use, load the PDF file with Adobe Illustrator (use the File>Open Method, not Click + Drag) and bring up the Swatches Panel (Window>Swatches).

This resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Download

Crown Collection

Here is another free vector crown collection that works with any low cost web hosting. To use, load the PDF file in Adobe Illustrator by choosing File>Open (not click and drag).

Download

Cartoonic Skulls Brush

Cartoonic skulls brush for Adobe Photoshop. The set contains 9 shapes, that can be easily vectorized. Download Author's profile

Classic Movie Monsters By Design

The ADIM Conference is a complete hands on, project based event that will help improve your design workflow and make your Creative Suites projects more efficient. You’ll learn from some of the best designers and instructors in the industry while using your newly acquired knowledge to create real-world projects. You will interact and play with 120 graphic designers, art directors, and photographers from around the world. Be prepared to work hard, play hard, and become a “Monster by Design”.
www.adimconference.com

The focus of the 2008 event is Photoshop, InDesign and Flash. Using newly acquired knowledge and sharpened skills, participants will create their own, highly personalized designs for a classic horror film. Participants will design, print, paint, and construct their final project during the event.

Each day there will be a special guest speaker to inspire attendees with their latest portfolio project and ignite the creative monster in all of us. Final projects will be displayed at the closing dinner and Monster Costume Ball where we’ll compete for best monster costume and best table performance. This experience will fill your brain with knowledge and creativity to be your own Dr. Frankenstein – It’s Alive!

ADIM Day 1
Thursday, May 1

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Advanced Adobe Photoshop - Russell Brown
Special Guest Photoshop Expert – TBA

6:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Open science laboratory with pizza dinner in the evening

8:30 pm Evening speakers:
Adam Pratt
Colin Fleming

ADIM Day 2
Friday, May 2

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Advanced Adobe InDesign – Michael Ninness
Special Guest Designer – TBA

Open science laboratory with dinner on your own.

8:30 pm Evening speakers:
Michael Ninness
Mordy Golding

ADIM Day 3
Saturday, May 3

9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Apple Computer Presentation

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Special Adobe Technology Sneak Peek for designers!

4:00 pm: Movie poster judging with prizes

6:00 pm: Closing Dinner and Costume Monster Ball

1. Best Monster Costume Competition
2. Best Table Performance Competition

Pulp Fiction in Typography

A clear example of how designers can imply additional emoitoins in any concept by using the power of type and motion.The "What does Marsellus Wallace Look Like" scene in Pulp Fiction portrayed using nothing but typography. By Jarratt Moody.

Zune Vector Logo

I don't know if anyone have tried microsoft's ipod alternative - zune , but here is the logo if needed. Download

Stamp Template

Free circle Stamp Template from pakaku. Well organized layers for easy editing. Download link The Zip file download comes with: one grape flavoured layered PNG, one lemon flavoured layered PSD and One paper flavoured text document.

Morning Coffee Brushes for Photoshop

Here we've got "10 fairly large format (most brushes are between 200 and 700 pixels in width or length) coffee stain brushes" from photoshopranger. Download from here. Enjoy !

Product Box Design Tutorial For Illustrator

I noticed that there are really few posts about package design. I found this simple Adobe Illustrator tutorial from Layers Magazine.

"Companies must often begin promoting their products before they’re actually produced. One way to promote goods before they’re completed is to generate the package art and create a 3D box shot.

Now this is something we see all the time. In fact, just recently this was prominent on the Adobe website where they had all the Creative Suite box shots displayed. We’ve also seen it used on the Apple website for a lot of their products. So let’s create our own virtual box shot in Illustrator." Full Tutorial

San Francisco Webblog Interface

Feedback needed. This is a beta version of a picture webblog interface. Background from link , font name "Tondo". Composed in Adobe Photoshop CS3. I used a photoshop brush for the wings brush set available here.

Copyright Protection

Be it a copyright, trademark or patent, ideas have a monetary value. Briffa solicitor Silas Brown explains all to Graeme Aymer

The protection of intellectual property rights is critical to our work, to software companies, and to designers everywhere. Nothing’s more annoying than to see someone using your creation without permission or mimicking your style. We all know that illegal downloading of software occurs but it is a crime punishable by law and also has a negative impact on the entire industry. So what can be done to protect your work and ensure you don’t accidentally subject yourself to IP infringement?

The Gowers Report last year brought some important updates to copyright laws and we are frequently asked by illustrators and designers how to best retain copyright on their work. Even when you’re taking photos for background and reference, you should be wary of what actually gets used in your creations.

For an update on the current legal situation, we turned to Silas Brown from Briffa, a leading law firm specialising in copyright, trademark and intellectual property cases. Full interview

Vector Masikng with Adobe Fireworks

Fireworks vector masking effect to create intersecting letters. This tutorial is part of a 5 hour training CD on creating masks and selections in Adobe Fireworks. www.cbtcafe.com

Vector Babe 2

by tarqDZ

Vector Silhouette Brushes

27 Vector Silhouette Brushes for Adobe Photoshop. Download Author's Profile

Vector Eyes tutorial for Adobe Illustrator

Nowadays drawing a vector character or a portrait is pretty easy, except the eye drawing part. For vectorizing the body of the character you can easily trace the object of vectorizing with "Live Trace" (Object>LiveTrace>Tracing Options) in Illustrator or using the Artistic "Cutout" filter in Adobe Photoshop. Eyes are very important for expressing emotions. For creating live looking characters illustrators have to manipulate or draw detailed eyes. Here you can take a look at a basic tutorial for drawing vector eyes in Adobe illustrator, once you got the basics everything is improvisation. Enjoy !

Speech Bubbles Brush Set For Illustrator

A free and very useful brush resource for those who are dealing with comics and storyboarding. The brush set contains 33 vector brushes. You can use them as an independent design elements by ungrouping them (Objetc>Ugroup).

Supported in Adobe Illustrator CS3, CS2, CS, 10, 9, 8 versions. Download

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