Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

Making your own emoticons (smilies) involves using your creativity. However, in this lesson, you are going to be give a zip file filled with the basic smilies that I use for mine which I like to say are considered cute anime smiley templates. They are only the eyes and mouth and whatever comes with it, like for the idea emoticon, there is a lightbulb, and the kiss one, the eyes are hearts.

Your smilies when finished will have to be saved in GIF format. If you have a animation program and want to animate some in your own way, you can do so.

I am using Paint Shop Pro for this tutorial, but the same concepts can be applied in Photoshop as well as other graphic editor programs too.

Download Emotion Bases (for the smiley faces I use) – Emoticon Bases (517)

Step 1. First off, you have to decide what size you want your smilies to be. You do not want them too large and sometimes if they are too small, you are limiting what you can do with the image.

For a decent size, we will go with the 21 (wide) x 17(tall) pixel smilies that I use as a base for the creative cute smilies I have like the alien, bunny, panda, and bear sets. So, first, we work with a blank template of 21 x 17 that has a background color of #FFC0FF.

Step 2. Pick a color and with your pen tool, you adjust it to be 1 pixel (or in Paint Shop Pro, Size 1. Make sure your image is large as you will be able to see your small pixels as you make them. I used 4000% when making mine. Using the blank template above, you outline what you want your emoticon shape to be. In the case of this tutorial, the smiley I am making will be an ellipse.

Make the shape as smooth as possible. It may be hard to tell when you have the image zoomed in, so you can play around and zoom out to work with your image.

Step 3. Part A. Fill the inside of your emoticon with a lighter color. If you do not want any style, you can simply fill it with one color. If you want an effect to make it seem like it has depth, you with have to use more than one color. To have just one color, you can make it like this:

As you can tell, there are no effects and the image seems flat. For depth, try Part B.

Step 3. Part B. To make more depth in your smiley, you will have to apply a vector-like technique. A vector is a shape and and in make a graphic, we apply the different shapes and colors to make the depth of the object appear.

Of course, when working with the emoticons, especially this one, we want the colors to be somewhat similar, but as they are applied, next layer on top is smaller and also a lighter color than the previous.

Step 4. Now that the main base is filled, we will be making the simple smile emoticon. As provided, the smile base I use is in the zip file with the other bases. Of course, if you would like your smile to be a bit different, you can make your own. The templates are for anyone’s use.

Make sure your background is the same as the template background of #FFC0FF. Copy the smile and paste as a transparent layer onto the main emoticon template that you just completed.

Step 5. Make your image transparent. With your background still set at #FFC0FF, in your graphic editor you should be able to make your image transparent. In Paint Shop Pro, usually, you can press the keys Ctrl+Shift+V . You will get a few windows that will direct you through this. Once you have clicked OK, you can press the keys Ctrl+V to view your transparent image and then save it. You can right click on the following to make sure you are selecting the right fields in the command prompts of the graphic editor. Screenshot 1 , Screenshot 2

Your image should be finished. Of course, as mentioned, you can make your emoticons any shape, color or size, so have fun!

Have you tried this tutorial? Do you make your own smilies?

This tutorial is on how to make a guitar vexel. When you vector or even vexel, it is about your personal preference. You can put more layers to make your guitar look smooth or more realistic, or be very basic with using a few layers.

We are going to use a base image. In the case of this tutorial, the original image came from Fender. Click to download image that we will be using as a base. The concepts of this tutorial can be used in Photoship, Illustrator, or Paint Shop Pro.

You will be using the pen tool ( ) and set it similar to . You may us any color you wish for your guitar. For this tutorial I am using a blue color, but as you can see in the current layout for Blondish.net, I have a pink one.

Because the original image is huge, I will include each result as a link for you to click to see how you are doing.

1. With your image, you will start with the body of the guitar. Right click to open in a new window – [1]

2. We want to give our guitar a little depth so we will give it some shading and highlighting. Use the pen tool and make sure to create a new layer for each. The image to the side is an example of individual layers that make up the vector. Right click to open in a new window – [2] [3]

3. Next, we will make the shape of the neck for the guitar. Right click to open in a new window – [5]

4. Add some of the features to the guitar like the whammy bar to your guitar. Right click to open in a new window – [6]

From this step on, you are basically adding more details to your guitar, like knobs, strings, and tuning features. Right click to open in a new window [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

A lot of the concept behind vectoring is making an image using shapes. With your imagination, you can even make your own vector and vexel images without a base to use. Happy vexeling!

If you freelance, you may have done the job bidding sites. For example, if you list that you work $20 per hour, then do not bid for a job any less what you are worth. However, in the same breath, do not overcharge.

If you are conducting business with a client, remember to get the agreement on some type of contract whether a digital email, or an actual signed paper by both parties. It is also important to work out a payment method whether you require a non-refundable deposit, barter in exchange for a service, or require immediate payment at the end of the contract. Also, always try to get credit for your work. That text or small graphic defining that you completed the project is proof that you did that website and could help lead to more jobs.

Here are some guidelines to consider when pricing your work:

1. What does the job entail? What kind of graphics and design work needs to be done?

2. How much time will it take for you to complete a project? Sometimes knowing ahead of time how many pages that you need to design and how much time it takes can allow you to give a quick price.

3. Does the client need the project done within a certain time? In this case, make sure you can meet the scheduled agreement before agreeing and consider how many hours you will probably designate to complete that project on time.

4. What is your experience? Can you code in php, html, xhtml? Can you design on several graphic programs? The more experience you have, you are entitled to price your projects to reflect your talent. Also, compare to other web designers. You can look online and find out pricing to determine what you should be charging for your work.

5. Are you asked to possibly be the site maintainer after the large project. Ideally, you should be paid by the hour. Remember to get this down in your original contract. You can phrase it like: “Site Maintenance done outside the contract will be done on an hourly fee basis.”

In the end, it is your work, so be honest, knowledgeable, and overall, proud. If you are, then your clients will probably even recommend you to others for more work.

What other ways do you decide what to charge clients?

The art of vexeling and vectoring are interesting as each layer created goes toward the whole look of an image. It takes careful attention to the layering, and certain techniques to make an image that draws awe from others. I have gone through DeviantArt carefully and found several amazing tutorials for those who have never vexeled, or those who would like to brush up on their techniques. Some of these are Photoshop tutorials and others are for Illustrator. However, from experience, you can use the tutorials toward either program, or even the concepts to other graphic editors.

Please note that this form of art takes time and patience. I have been known to work on a vexel for over 7 hours, just to give an example.

Vexel Eye Walkthrough-Tutorial by binjoo

VectorTutorial for Illustrator by ChewedKandi

Urban Propaganda How-To by domnx

Real Photoshop Vector Tutorial by donbenni

Basic Vexel Tutorial by photoshop-tutorials

Silhouette Vexel Tutorial by shesta713

Vexel Tutorial – Hair by VAngelLJ

Do any of these tutorials look interesting enough to try?

I saw a contest being advertised the other day while using Facebook and thought I would share it with those who design, whether web or print design. Jean M Invitations and Accessories is holding a wedding invitation design contest until November 30, 2009. The top designer could win $1500. There is also a $500 runner up, and a third place prize of $250. Designers of any designs that are well liked, but did not win, could be offered $100 for their design. The designs would be placed on the Jean M Blog and others will be able to vote on their favorite.

It is a contest you can submit as many designs to, but if you do, you need to have a separate application for each. Just think, if you submit enough designs that they like, you might get more than just a $100. I know it is just wedding invitations, but it is great practice to round yourself in graphic design – to think outside your normal creative mind. Please read the rules for their submission criteria before you submit.

I have decided to include different types of artwork and some description as there are many types of art out there and not everyone is aware of the different styles. In this entry, it is all about chibi art. Chibi art is a genre of art that some associate with a type of anime drawing. Often the head is large and the body is small and somewhat deformed. No, it is not deformed in a way that is ugly, but deformed in a way similar to that of caricature art. This type is usually digitally drawn, painted (water color) or drawn on paper, scanned, and then colored in whatever the artist uses to edit the piece. Often it is denote cuteness.

Allwords.com defines chibi as:

1. a child-like character with exaggerated features, particularly in anime
2. a style of cartooning in which the characters are drawn to be very small and cute

I went out and found a selection of great artwork on DeviantArt that I think best conveys this style of art.

Queenie by celesse

Mei by Danime-chan

Puffy Puffy by kamiyoshi

Ellen Nightly Chibi by kawaiihannah

Chocolate box II by meago

Chibi by Miriamele

HJ: Natsu Matsuri by MoogleGurl

Sweet Lolita Heetteri by QueenofDorks

Chibi Fruit Ninja-Deidara by Red-Priest-Usada

My Lucky Star by trenchmaker

Cute enough? Have you heard of this style of art? If so, anyone you like that you would recommend to those who enjoy viewing this type of artwork?

Well, I won the WordCamp NYC logo contest by more than 50 votes on my individual piece. My entry was #2 (I will include a pic of it too – to get a larger view, right click to open in a new window.) However, they decided to go with 4 similar logos from several people.

This is a case of: Why bother to put a contest in the first place. The vote was given to the people and should have been followed as the contest said. Each of those logos were said to have been looked at and judged if it could be put on shirts and other printable material.

I could care less if those logos looked similar. So did many others. There were even other logos that included the city skyline and the Statue of Liberty. This was something that was given out to the public. Even major brands that hold contests do not mess with that unless they want havoc and wank on their hands. And whether or not they decide to hold rights, which I really see none in the original announcement about the beginning of the WordCamp NYC 2009 logo contest. The following comes from the link I just gave out for the contest’s announcement.

The WordCamp NYC organizers will make the final selection based on a combination of community votes and technical considerations (does the logo still look good at both small and large sizes, does it grayscale well, will it be easy to print on a t-shirt, etc.).

My logo was printable, good on grayscale and could be fine tuned (which I had planned on revamping and detailing better the skyline). So clearly it did not have any technical issues. I met the requirements.

It is the principal of the concept of allowing the public to choose who they liked the best and that should have been the winner. AND, even if it was not myself that won, by heck I would have still blogged about it and shared it with others because it is the right thing to do. I use to be in website competitions in 2003 and 2004 where the vote was up to the people for every stage, up to the annual finals that decided the Site of the Year. Never had this ever happened to anyone and it was done fairly.

Whether or not you voted, feel free to drop a line at the blog entry announcing the WordCamp NYC logo contest “winners”. You can either congratulate or voice your opinion on the unfair dealings. Although I am not sure if it would even help or hurt, I sent a letter to Matt Mullenweg over the situation. By the way, Matt was not running the contest, so please do not contact him. I already did.

This is something that needs to be addressed. I think it would be awkward to attend this event, which makes me feel like I am not welcomed to even come to the event in November by this executive decision.

How do you feel about this? What if it was your logo that clearly won?

I love to look at art and one of my favorite forms to look at and even dabble in is the art of vectoring. There are quite a few talented vector/ vexel artists out there. Of course, I could list a lot, but I did some digging beyond what I normally have access to and found 15 vector art pieces that really knocked my socks off. The images are merely slivers of the whole piece of artwork, and beneath each will list the DeviantART user’s name and the title of the piece as well as a link to be able to view the entire piece.

Pepper Vector by Artgerm

Baby on Fire by Beachblonde

Bondage Beauty by ChewedKandi

All The World’s A Stage by DarkExodite

Mustang Mach 1 by DaemonX

Vector Comic Project Colored by elflling

Saya Vector by Eye-crazy

Frangipani by Ikue

Cherry blossom by justa

Strawberry blonde pin up by kinkei

Vector Kid by Lawnz

Vector Art – In My Past Life by rames

Golden One by stlcrazy

Psychedelic Sunfall by surflogic

Geisha by vivalanat

What do you think? Did some of these pieces knock your socks off (not exactly literally, but I am asking if you were a bit impressed)? Do you recommend any vector artists and their pieces from DeviantArt that I have not listed?