26 Aug 2007,
Jay Hilgert
Ive worked long and hard to bring you the latest version of BittBox. I would have been able to launch the redesign weeks earlier if it weren’t for Internet Explorer’s refusal to conform to web standards. (thanks, Microsoft) But anyway, I normally would see no reason to post about a design change, but BittBox IS a design blog, and I realize a lot of you might want to comment on the new design. Read more about the changes and upcoming new features below.
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22 Aug 2007,
Jay Hilgert
**This post marks the birth of a new BittBox category: Resources**
In case you might have missed this in the social-media scene, I wanted to make sure everyone knew about IconFinder.net, an essential bookmark for every web designer (in my opinion). Iconfinder is a simple, elegant icon search engine that’s easy to use, and has tons of icons in its database. All icons are licensed with either Creative Commons, GPL, or LGPL. Below is a quick screenshot tour, and If you are a Mac OS X user, they have a Dashboard Search Widget you can download as well.
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20 Aug 2007,
Jay Hilgert
Every once in a while we might find ourselves needing to get that “inset” or “beveled” look for text, probably more often for buttons and web design, than anything else. But whatever reason you might need or want inset text, here’s a quick tip to get that effect without using a filter, effect, layer style or appearance. Why? By not using filters, your file is more solid and reliable, you can open it in previous versions of the same software with less headache, and if you send vector files to print it will give you less errors by only using paths instead of filters/effects. I will be using Illustrator in the example, but this technique can be applied to just about any software you use to set your typography.
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15 Aug 2007,
Jay Hilgert
Time for another free vector pack folks. These vector flowers are available in AI, EPS, and SVG for your designing pleasure. I never get to use shapes like these, but I like making them, so hopefully some of you can put them to good use.
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8 Aug 2007,
Jay Hilgert
You may or may or may not know/use this Illustrator feature, but Layer Masking is a very under-used feature of the Adobe Illustrator series of software. I’m not talking about making a clipping mask. This is entirely different altogether. By making a “layer mask,” you can save precious time by not having to release and reapply clipping masks, and even better – there’s a toggle button in the Layers Palette! Tutorial below.
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6 Aug 2007,
Jay Hilgert
You read the title right. I totally dweebed out on you and made a set of Photoshop buttons inspired by the elegant iPhone interface. These buttons aren’t meant to be exact copies of the iPhone interface, but some of the translucent menus were a big inspiration. Available in PS CS3, CS1, and PNG. Hope you like em.
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30 Jul 2007,
Jay Hilgert
It’s that time again folks. I have been itching to make some more Photoshop brushes, so here’s a set to digest. I took a trip to the store, got a bouquet of flowers with a nice variety (I can’t grow flowers to save my life), whipped out my Nikon D-80, and went to town + a few hours of Photoshop tweaking. These are 100% original and REALLY BIG brushes, available in CS1 and CS3 formats, as well as a full set of PNG’s for everyone else. Anyway, hope you like em.
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