One of my favorite things about April is the warmer weather. I can finally put the winter months behind me, break out my spring attire, and get outside to play. However, as nice as it is to be able to be outside, the design community has managed to stay inside long enough to produce some really nice tutorials, freebies and articles for the month of April. Please take a moment to review our picks for Best of the Vector Web, April 2010.
Tutorial Wrap
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Design a Stylish Wallet Icon in Illustrator
Icon design is an art in itself. Creating a graphic that looks good blown up is easy, but producing one that looks good small can be difficult. This tutorial from Cute Little Factory demonstrates how to create a stylish wallet icon in Illustrator and is a fantastic introduction to icon design in Adobe Illustrator.
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Create a Grimy Text Treatment with a Pen Tablet
Tablets really are an essential tool for any designer who wants to learn about illustration. There are some effects that simply cannot be reproduced using any other method. This tutorial from our friends at Vectips demonstrates how to create a grimy text treatment using a pen tablet and some traditional drawing techniques.
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How to Create a Baroque Pattern in Illustrator
Baroque patterns are some of the most used and recognizable types of patterns. They are often used to produce an elegant or regal look. While they are quite amazing to look at, they can also be quite difficult to produce. This tutorial from We Graphics demonstrates how to produce a simple vector baroque pattern in Illustrator.
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Illustrator Tutorial: Vector Plasma Television
As designers we occasionally need icons to symbolize electronic devices such as mobile phones, headphones, or televisions. This tutorial from Vector Diary demonstrates how to produce a vector plasma television icon using Illustrator.
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Retro 3D Arcade Text Effect in Illustrator
Drawing text using perspective can be a difficult effect to achieve. Our brains are so used to seeing perspective in our daily lives that even a minor error in our drawing can be noticeable. This tutorial from Tutorial 9 demonstrates how to produce a retro 3D arcade text effect using Adobe Illustrator.
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Create Dynamic and Textured 3D Text with Perspective in Photoshop and Illustrator
As you already know, Adobe Illustrator comes with some pretty handy 3D tools to help us with our illustrations. While these 3D tools are quite nice, they aren’t meant to replace more powerful 3D graphics applications such as 3D Studio or Maya. This tutorial from Naldz Graphics demonstrates some truly useful techniques that combine Illustrator with Photoshop to produce results that look pretty darned close to those of more powerful 3D graphics applications.
(FREE!) Download Picks
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iPad Vector GUI Elements: Tabs Buttons Menus Icons
As you know the iPad is the hottest new electronic device since the iPhone. As designers we have to constantly keep up with and adapt to new technology. This free set of GUI Elements for the iPad by Icon Library will make an excellent addition to your design arsenal, especially if you plan to design graphics for the iPad.
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Free Travel Icons from IconShock
One can never have too many high quality icons in their design arsenal. This set of free travel icons from Icon Shock and Vandelay Design will make an excellent addition to your design arsenal. Each icon was expertly designed and available as a vector for all of us to enjoy!
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27 High Quality Paintbrush Style Illustrator Brushes Part 2
I have always enjoyed creating free Illustrator brushes for my readers to enjoy. During the months of April I released a really nice set of 27 paintbrush style Illustrator brushes on Colorburned that can be used to give your designs a sketchy hand drawn look.
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Magic Patterns – Free Resources for Photoshop and Illustrator
Our friends at Pehaa are always creating new and unique vectors for us all to enjoy. This month Pehaa released a really nice set of magic patterns that can be used in our work for absolutely free. Definitely give this set a look and a download.
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Vector Skulls
Designers can never have too many vector skulls in their arsenal. I’ve never actually known why that is but for some reason, designers love skulls. This set of human vector skulls by the T-Shirt Factory can be downloaded on QVectors for free.
Vector Articles and Inspiration
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7 Awesome Rules for Designing a Perfect Logo
Have you ever wondered how to design a perfect logo? Logo design is an art but there is also a bit of science involved. This article from 1st Web Designer illustrates 7 rules for designing a perfect logo.
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Should We Reevaluate, Redefine or Continue Regurgitating The ‘Design Blog’?
Has the design community grown too bloated? Is it too difficult to find high quality content amongst the sea design blogs out there? This thought provoking article from BK Mac Daddy discusses some of the issues confronting the design blog community today.
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Choosing Your First Full Time Position Wisely
Just like any other profession, in the design field, it is important to choose your employment wisely. Jobs can often be stepping stones to even better jobs but they can also be anchors that hold you in place. Figuring out which jobs are which can be tough. This article from Design Informer discusses how to choose your first full time position.
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Ginger Monkey’s New and Beautiful Work
Tom Lane, the guy behind Ginger Monkey, has produced some incredible works of art for big clients such as Sony Erickson, Mercedez-Benz, Coca-Cola, BT, BMW, Miller and many others. This article from our friends at Abduzeedo showcases the beautiful work of this Bristol, UK based artist.
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Design Inspiration: Showcase of Beautiful Typography and Text Effects
One can never have too much inspiration when it comes to typography and text effects. This article from DesignM.ag showcases some beautiful typography and text effects to inspire you for your next project.