Hydro74 Megatron Illustration

Since the sequel to Transformers is coming up, I figured this would be great to show an illustration I came across. I thought this was a cool composition of Megatron created by Joshua M. Smith aka Hydro74. According to what he told me on twitter, it is a personal illustration, but he is working with a company on some Transformer t-shirt designs.

Graphic Design & Illustration Inspiration

Here is some images that I found through out that you can use for your own inspiration. I even have a folder on my desktop titled "inspiration" for me and I'll turn to it if I'm feeling like a creative block is near or I want to experiment with how someone else has done a technique. The designers range from Kyle of Electric Zombie, Monaux, and others. Some I do not know, but would love to give credit. You have to give credit where credit's due. Enjoy.

ShirtFight.com 10 Tips To Winning T-shirt Design Contest Sites!

I'm a fan of many t-shirt contest sites like Designbyhumans.com, Shirtfight.com, and Threadless. Each site has a nice cash prize and credit to purchase many of their designs. I like how it's a good way to test your skills, gain some popularity, and get some feedback. Shirtfight.com posted 10 tips on how to win and I believe they did a very good job.

Here is some info from the blog:
1. Survey your surroundings

Before you even begin drawing or brainstorming ideas, take a close look at the website you are going to submit to. What's the overal "vibe" of the site? Are the tees for sale focused around being funny, witty, or ironic? Are they full of fun bright colorful designs, or are things more dark and subtle? Look at what's being offered and try to fill the blank in this sentence: "This site pretty much specializes in selling _____ style t-shirts". Now of course variety is the spice of life, but you want to make sure that whatever you are about to design is going to at the very least be a good fit style-wise with the rest of the site's offerings.

2. Think outside the box

Ugh, don't you just hate that phrase? But it's so true...everyone likes a refreshing new idea, especially when it comes to cool t-shirts. It takes more than slapping a funny movie quote on a tshirt nowadays, and with the ever growing popularity of unique t-shirts, you really have to up your game to make something new and interesting. Does your idea have a twist that differentiates it from the others, something special that would make people take notice and say "oh man what a great idea, I *need* that!"

3. Think like a customer

This is a tough one, because naturally you only consider your own tastes...but you have to put yourself into the mind of the customer. Human nature is a funny thing...in general, we all want to express our individuality, yet we constantly seek approval from others to validate ourselves. There's a very specific "comfort zone" that the majority of people try to reach, and this zone applies to fashion probably more than anything else! T-shirts themselves are widely accepted by the general population...we all know how they look and fit and feel when you wear them. People then choose how to express their individuality through what is printed on the tee itself. But here again you have to keep this "comfort zone" in mind...if the design is too bright or too crazy/controversial, the general masses won't feel comfortable wearing it, and therefore they won't buy it.

I know what you're thinking..."Well gee, what's the fun in creating "safe" shirts? That seems so boring!" Keep in mind that the comfort zone varies between different groups of people. Graphic t-shirts are *typically* purchased and worn by the younger generation, so they may be more comfortable wearing brighter colors and wilder designs. Just remember than even younger folks have the desire to stand out, yet fit in with the crowd.

Also it's a good idea that the design can be self explanatory. They need to tell the story themselves...it helps the customer understand the design, and therefore gives them more comfort that this is the right shirt for them. When other people see the shirt, they too will be able to understand the design...instant peer approval! Isn't it nutty how that works?



Click to read the rest of the article.

Printshop Derisory Designs June Printing Special!

If you're looking for a printer to screen print some mailers for your business, well then you should be happy I came across this deal. Philadelphia, PA print shop, Derisory Designs, are offering a special for printing mailers. They do quality work, which is very important and it definitely adds a nice touch to your company, when most people are expecting a regular boring envelope.
A representative also mentioned that they will plan on having a new special each month. What a treat?


-Joe Baron

Herring & Herring

Photography is very interesting and having the proper art direction can make an ad campaign stand out rather than just making the photos look "good". The work that Dimitri Scheblanov and Jesp Carlsen at Herring & Herring have done in editorial and commercial fashion photography is very well done and inspiring. They have worked with many clients from Debeers to Kouture magazine. Their portfolio is one I like very much. I'm not sure if I like their editorial or advertising work better. http://www.herringandherring.com/

Teefury.com Monster Collaboration Limited Edition Available Today 5/28/09

Yes, yes y'all! Today is the day to cop this limited edition shirt designed by many multiple artists from Teefury.com. My design is the second one to the right on the top row.

Here is what TeeFury.com has to say about where the sales go to:

"The proceeds from the sale of this design will go to Save the Children organization. They are "the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world."

It is easy sometimes to forget that we are part of a bigger whole, mostly invisible to us as we toil through our affairs just keeping our own hides secure. Similar to this shirt design, it takes a collaboration of effort to make something more grand and affect more largely than what one can on their own."


So buy a shirt, it's for a good cause, it only cost $9,it makes you look fresh, and it's a limited edition since it will only be on sale for only this day.

TeeFury.Com Monster Collaboration Shirt Out On THURSDAY

Teefury.com is a cool site that features an exclusive t-shirt design that is sold for one day at $9. It promotes the featured artist and helps you get to know the artist a bit with it's questionnaire. Everyday there is a different shirt, so if your taste in the tee of the day isn't you, then there's tomorrow.

Teefury has a collaboration t-shirt with many different artists and designers for their Thursday release. The theme was "Monsters", which was inspired by the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" that is now being made into a feature film. I have submitted my monster and after seeing what the shirt will look like, I like the placement of where it is. You can actually see a piece of my creature in the picture above. Proceeds for the tee will be donated to charity. Teefury.com is currently working with causecast.org I believe that is what made me want to submit a cool monster for this design, because the proceeds will be going to charity. I would probably have done one if it was just a collaboration, but I like the idea that it is going to charity.

THURSDAY 5/25/09 PICK UP YOUR MONSTER COLLABORATION T-SHIRT!!

Printing & Prepress Basics Article @ Vectortuts

Vectortuts are having a graphic design tutorials & articles week. One article that I think is very important for graphic designers or anyone learning graphic design is how to set up your files for print like making sure your black is rich black.

Here's a brief piece of the article:

"Interestingly enough, there are actually several different types of black when it comes to printing, but the two most widely used terms are "plain black" and "rich" or "full black." Keep in mind, "rich black" has several variants, depending on your printer's preference. If you've ever created an image in Illustrator that contained sections of black, and later placed it into a Photoshop document where the image sat on top of a black you chose from the color palette in Photoshop, it's likely you've seen this disconnect.
Plain Black
When you use black in a program like Illustrator or InDesign without choosing a Pantone color, the CMYK breakdown automatically defaults to C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=100, where black is fully saturated and the other three are completely absent.
Rich Black / Full Black
As stated before, there are several variants of rich black, but what's important to know when you're designing is that the Photoshop default for black is different than other programs (where C: 75, M: 68, Y: 67, K: 90). It's likely that Photoshop will be the place you find this difference most often if you're not intentionally trying to give a piece of your design a darker, richer tone than you get with plain black.
If you are intentionally doing so, make sure to ask your printer which variant of rich black they like to use on press, usually referred to as "warm black" or "cool black," where there are higher levels of either magenta or cyan, respectively. It's generally not recommended that you use a completely saturated level of all four colors (where C: 100, M: 100, Y: 100, K:100), as this can over-saturate the paper on press and will certainly give the press operator trouble."


To Check out the rest of this useful article go here : http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing/printing-prepress-basics/