LOOKS GOOD Design Magazine

I hope you find these templates useful to better your design and development process and if you have any additional resources you would like to share, please do leave a comment so I can add them to this list!

Via GEEKCHIX.ORG

Eco-friendly Printing With Pencil Stubs

Tony — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:45:46 +0000

Rollip – How to Apply Professional Photo Filters and Effects Online

Tony — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:41:53 +0000

Rollip.com has a very simple and user-friendly interface. Just sign up with your email address and you’re good to go. To take you on a walk-through of the service, I have set up an account so I can apply this very cool pencil-sketch effect on a digital photo. Here you can see the result of the effect I applied in a matter of seconds:

As soon as you log in, you can browse through and select from a expansive range of digital photo effects including vintage, black/white filters, or even make your photos look like old Polaroids. To get the sketch-like effect like the one shown above, navigate to the Extreme Stylized effects and select the pencil sketch effect.

By clicking one of the previews, it will take you to a page where you can upload your photo. It will open a window for you to easily select the image to process and after a few surprisingly short moments, it will be uploaded to the site and processed.

After the image is uploaded, Rollip will show you a preview of the effect applied on the original photo. By pressing the Click here to process in high-quality button, Rollip will further refine and process your image again, applying the full high-quality effect.

Rollip is truly a remarkable tool for amateurs and professionals alike. It brings the best out of everyday digital photos right on the web and it has great potential to become a very powerful and widely used service. Never before has a professional service for photographers been so easy and versatile. I look forward to Rollip’s future developments and prospects and experiencing its many yet-to-be announced features.

LOOKS.GD is giving away free premium Rollip accounts loaded with 30 credits (original price US$5.98). Quantities are limited and they will be distributed on a first come first serve basis. To sign up for the sweepstakes, subscribe to our feed by email here. Enjoy!

Retro-style Rainbow Design Inspiration

Tony — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:39:35 +0000

estheticcore

Francesco Poroli

Glenn Addicott

James White

Jon Mutch

kaneda99

Laachi

Lovevla

mamjed

Nicholas Guarino

seventhfury

25 Awe-inspiring Logo Designs

Tony — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:35:34 +0000

East African Playgrounds

Hello LED

Pencil

Hug a Panda

Fold It

Elephant Talk

NorthColour

talkmore

Arrowfish

Wiesinger Music – Piano Service

Greener

Elevate Night Club

Multiformat

Mouse Universe

Woodenhouse

Silent Monkey

Zip

Taurus Construction

Shift

illusion

BarCode

Ed’s Electric

Time Watch

Evolution X

Act Research

Interview with David Gheorghita, Graphics Designer

Tony — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:18:04 +0000

Welcome to LOOKS.GD! Please introduce yourself and your background. Can you tell us where you are from and how you got into this line of work?

David Gheorghita: Hi! First of all thanks for the opportunity of being interviewed on LOOKS.GD. I discovered your website a few weeks ago and since then I’m checking it regularly – I’m impressed with the quality of the articles.

I was born and I currently live in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Maybe most of you never heard of Cluj-Napoca, but is the fourth largest city in Romania and is the capital of the historical province of Transylvania. If you want to see some old pics from Cluj-Napoca you can check out www.iubesteclujul.com.

I studied journalism at university but when I started my studies I never thought that I would become a graphic designer. In 2003-2004 I started playing in Photoshop and doing wallpapers for a Dream Theater fan wallpaper website called dt-x.com (it’s still online) and since then, my interest for graphic arts constantly grew and developed. In February 2005, I heard on the radio that a music production studio from Cluj was looking for a graphic designer to hire. I put some of my works on a CD and I went to the studio. I was really nervous because I was afraid that I wasn’t experienced enough for that high level of work (and to be honest I wasn’t!), but they really liked my stuff, so I got the job instantly. From February 2005 to August 2007 I designed over 100 CD/DVD covers, made all the promoting materials for the bands, posters for tours (within Romania or European tours as well), fliers etc. The thing I didn’t like about this job is that many of the projects were urgent; sometimes I had to make a CD cover in a few hours and send it to print because the artist needed the CDs urgently. So I couldn’t experiment and create as much as I wanted so in the summer of 2007 it was time to move on. An art director job was open at an advertising agency. I got the job and working there was cool. The agency had clients from some pretty major companies and I learned many things about advertising. Unfortunately the agency had some bad management issues and I decided to leave and since then I’ve been working as a freelancer.

Have you always been artistic since childhood? Or was it something you have discovered later in life? How have you evolved as a designer since then?

D.G.: It’s weird because during my childhood, I kinda sucked at drawing and stuff; my drawing teachers’ old-fashioned methods didn’t really attract me and we were never challenged, so I wasn’t passionate about it. But the taste for art grew when I started to work as a designer; the whole perspective about visual arts has changed because I was starting to be a part of it. Doing design almost every day for the past four years helped my skills evolve and develop a lot.

What does your typical day look like? Do you follow a specific routine or schedule?

D.G.: Being a freelancer has some advantages and one of them is that you can use your time however you want, make your own schedule that fits your needs. I hate routine, you know, waking up at 7 AM going to work at 8 AM, coming home really tired at 5 PM and so on. Doing this for a few years can really drive you mad. Usually I work in the morning taking breaks for checking what’s new in the design world. This is the same for working in the evening or at night. I also like to go out every day even if it’s just for a few minutes to go buy something to drink or something.

Can you describe your work? What is your favorite style of digital art?

D.G.: I’m attracted to traditional painting and drawing techniques like brush strokes, stains, splatters, watercolor, paper, textures and so on, so that’s what I’m trying to reproduce in my works. I also like vintage style in graphic design. I dream of having my own art studio with traditional painting tools and Wacom tablet to make the transition between traditional and modern techniques easier. I don’t know if my works are good enough to be called art but I really like to think that there are people out there who would like one of my works on their walls.

Who are some designers you admire and why? Have you ever had opportunities to work with any of them? If yes, how was it and what did you work on?

D.G.: Designers I admire? Wow, there are so many great artists out there that it would be really hard to name all of them. I love the works of David Carson, Lasse Hoile, Robert Lindström, Si Scott, Raphael Vicenzi, Alberto Seveso, Vlad Gerasimov and many, many others.

I didn’t have the opportunity to work with other designers, but I’d like to. Although, I did work a few years ago with an amazing artist, the sculptor Liviu Mocan. I designed a CD cover with one of his works on the front cover, and it turned out great.

How are you inspired? Any websites, artists, or things in real life that are your favorite sources of inspiration?

D.G.: Most of the time, my inspiration comes from the internet – there are tons of galleries and articles that showcase best the designers out there. Twitter also can be really useful when it comes to inspiration, there are many designers that tweet inspirational articles and other useful resources. Of course I can also be inspired by the things in real life, such as things I see around me and in nature. A flock of birds for example can be really inspirational; I use birds in many of my designs.

Music also can be really inspiring – it can take you to a certain mood and influence your work a lot. I love well designed CD covers; for me music and visual arts were always connected. Interpreting a piece of music visually is a real challenge.

Paintings also inspire me, I have some favorite contemporary painters that I admire like Joan Miro, Jackson Pollock, Wasilly Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gustav Klimt and so on.

Which project in your career are you most proud of? What are you working on right now? And what would you see yourself doing in 5 years time?

D.G.: I think my favorite stuff from my portfolio are the personal projects, which I made for myself and not for a client so I was not limited by anything. I’m proud of my Mutatio Mentis poster, and PT series posters (lazarus, what happens now & heartattack in a layby). I’m also really satisfied with the poster I made for Paula Seling’s concert. I think those are the designs that I’m most proud of.

Right now I’m working on a web design project and two logos that need redesigns.

Besides design, music is a really important component of my life. I’m currently playing drums in a band so in 5 years I see myself touring with my band or working in my art studio that I was talking about earlier… who knows?! Both sound great : )

What is your opinion on social media and how has it influenced your career?

D.G.: I didn’t pay much attention to it and didn’t realize its importance until a few months ago. I’m still learning how to use it and I continue to be amazed by the fabulous power of social media. I started using twitter just a few months ago when I didn’t really know what twitter was about and now I’m blown away by the amount of information that comes to me within seconds! Unbelievable! I’m still a beginner when it comes to social media but I started to understand how to use it. By the way my twitter username is @colourofair, if any of your readers want to follow me (I tweet most about design and occasionally about good music).

Thank you for providing us the opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts and advice you wish to share with our readers?

D.G.: Well this was my first interview so I hope your readers didn’t fell asleep while reading this : ) And thank you for taking interest in me and my works, I had a great time sharing this stuff. In the end I have something for your readers, a quote by Pablo Picasso that somehow represents me: “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

Thanks again to David for doing this interview with us, here is where you can find him on the web:

Smart Advertising – 30+ Bizarre and Creative Ads

Tony — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:12:48 +0000

Denver Water Conservation

Nike Run

Mars Chilled

BMW of Bridgeport

Coop’s Paint (Nationwide Insurance)

Silberman’s Fitness Center

Cingular

Smart ForFour

Coca-Cola

Bic Shavers

Puma

WWF Paper Conservation

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Chocolate

McDonalds Open 24 Hours Campaign

Nestle Chocolate Products

96.3 Rock Radio

Duracell Batteries

Bergmann Funeral Services

Sharpie Permanent Fineline Markers

Mr. Clean Crosswalk

Lego Building Crane

Guinness Beer

Sony PSP

IKEA Billboard Ad

FedEx

Liquid Paper

The Day After Tomorrow (Film)

Anti-Drunk Driving Advertisement

Formula Toothpaste

Miele Vacuum Cleaner Billboard

Eskom Energy Conservation Ad

Floralp Butter

Bergmann

Sources

14 Creative Advertisements – Toxel.com

Clever and Creative Billboard Advertising – Toxel.com

Creative Ads – Zuzafun.com

Creative Advertisements Around the World – Hemmy.net

15 Creative Ads in Unusual Places – Oddee.com

15+ Handpicked Stylish Desktop Wallpapers

Jef — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:35:55 +0000

1. Aurora Borealis

2. Catwave

3. Colourful Autobahn

4. Composition #72

5. Cubes

6. Currently Occupied by David Lanham

7. Hexo

8. Helvetica by I Love Typography

9. Illumination

10. Influx

11. Retro Wood Wall

12. Sous-Verres

13. -Stop-

14. Untitled by Super Silo

15. Untitled by Volll.com

16. With

17. X3 Studios Wallpaper

Rocking Shell Chair Concept

Brad Reiken — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:12:36 +0000

The first thing you notice about this chair is its ergonomic streamline design. But what’s really special about this particular rocking chair is that it is fitted with a dynamo that provides enough electricity for a LED lamp specially designed for reading. In other words, this chair is completely power independent and movement from rocking the chair can generate sufficient power for reading or whatever you’re doing.

(Image courtesy of Novague Design Studio)

Rocking Shell Chair by Novague Design Studio. You can check out more of their works at http://www.novague.com/

Illustrations and Mascots in Modern Web Design

Stevo — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:51:31 +0000

First off, I would like to make a clear distinction between illustrations and mascots because people often get confused with the two and the terms are used quite interchangeably. Although they both have similar functions for evoking emotion and making the design more lively, they are very different things. Mascots can be animals, people, abstract creatures or even robots! On the other hand, illustrations can be any of these things but are not limited to them – in other words, illustrations are just there to enhance the design and to liven up to mood. What makes a mascot different from other illustrations is that it defines the brand and serves as some sort of corporate identity and in websites, they appear on all or most of the pages. Take a look at Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves) – their mascot, Jeeves has been used to guide users and help them with their search queries. It wasn’t until March of this year, that Ask.com has resumed the use of Jeeves since their re-branding in 2007.

Contrastingly, if you look at volll.com, you can see the site uses a lot of comic-like illustrative elements but they are not necessarily used for branding purposes.

The following is a list of websites I have compiled that creatively uses illustrations and mascots to enhance their design and build their brand.

MailChimp

The MailChimp mascot not only effectively represents its company and product, but also depicts the company’s efficiency and competence. The great visual appeal of the mascot makes customers want to use the product and trust the brand. This is easily one of my favorite mascots on the web.

Freelanceswitch

In one form or another, this mascot appears on every single page of this website. Having different variations of the mascot (for example the same character doing a different action or holding a different prop) throughout the site makes it more interactive and fun for the audience.

Joyent

Joyent.com uses characters in a cartoon style although they were not intended to be used as mascots as different characters appear on each page. These illustrations are merely used to embellish the site design.

branded07

Rob Palmer’s represents himself with a cartoon puffin bird as a mascot in his web portfolio. The bird appears throughout the site in different variations – sometimes holding up signs and sometimes burrowed in the sidebar.

Cork’d

Another example of a simple, yet effective mascot. This one depicts a person holding a wine bottle. It is positioned beside the site features to encourage new users to sign up to the site.

volll

I want to conclude with this particular site because not only is it beautifully illustrated, the site layout is so creative and ingenious.

Putting characters and mascots in your designs can effectively change its look and feel. There are no definite rules for implementing mascots/characters in a web design, but keep in mind that you should always design to fit the purpose. If it is a company mascot, it should convey confident expressions and shouldn’t have negative expressions as it must represent the company in a positive way.