Archive for April, 2007
In my opinion, one of the most underused features of Illustrator is the creation of custom brushes. You can literally make ANY shape into an Illustrator brush to get all kinds of cool effects. I put together a set of 35 abstract brushes for you to play with. The example below was made only with the brushes I provided in the set, and I only used 3 shapes: Mostly circles, a couple starbursts, and a spiral or two. Every bitt of detail in the example is created from the brush strokes alone, on different sized shapes/stroke sizes. (I also played around with blending modes of certain shapes. Download the source file below.)
I was playing around with some butterflies this weekend and I have another set of freebies for you. Once again, I haven’t actually had the chance to use these for real, so I think I will just have to start making some designs on my own as case studies to practice. After all, that’s one of the reasons I started BittBox, so I can enjoy designing, without having a client that needs it. Anyway, here are the butterfly vectors I’ve been playing with, maybe you can find a use for them.
Illustrator comes standard with some default brushes. Most of us probably use these brushes as they were intended to be used, but what happens if you push the limits of stroke size? You get a really easy way to create some cool abstract effects in Illustrator. Check out the example below, made with very simple shapes. The complexity is created by taking the stroke way beyond normal with an artistic brush stroke from the brushes palette.
We all need inspiration every once in a while, and I have a few favorite sites I’d like to share with all of you. Some of these may be obvious, some may not, but I’m including the obvious ones because I realize a lot of people who read BittBox may be new to design. If you fall into that category, bookmark these sites (a couple of which are in my sidebar). We all get stuck sometimes, and when that happens, I like to stop everything, sit back and surf for inspiration. Or just to try and take in some new ideas.
I’ve never gotten a chance to use something like this in an actual design for a client, but I love wings none the less. You see wings in design all the time, and I’m itching to use them sometime. I was playing around with some images, and ended up putting together a few vector wings. Have fun with them, and I envy you if you get to actually use them for real! The example below contains only the 3 pairs of wings provided (download below). . .
I started BittBox in January 07, and it’s been a learning experience to say the least. There have been many challenges, and tons of challenges still ahead. I wanted to spill my guts and try and give my story and perhaps persuade a couple of you to start your own blog, despite the ups and downs. Here’s what I’ve experienced so far:
It’s been a wild ride the past 3 months, and I think I can honestly say I’ve never been busier. I’m just like you. I work a normal 8-5 design job, and blog on the side in my spare time. I started this blog so I could share what I know about design with the rest of the world, but I was surprised as to how much I’ve learned just from blogging.
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- New Blog Post: How To Create A Set Of PS Brushes From A Single Texture Photo: Creating Photoshop brushes is rath... http://t.co/ljZ39pJf
- New Blog Post: Free Texture Tuesday: 5 Split Wood Textures: http://t.co/GcEkrC6z
- New Blog Post: Freebie Friday: 6 Abstract Lines Brushes: Happy Friday everyone! Today I’m releasing this set of... http://t.co/xhCZBTPq
