Dusty Fields » Resources

Designer Toolbox: Critique

Dusty — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:44:11 +0000

This is the Designer Toolbox series where I’ll share tools that I find useful as a designer. You can view the previous Designer Toolbox post about Color.

Design is a true community. We all use each other for inspiration and help each other out via collaboration, critique, and support. Sometimes, especially freelancers, don’t really have the opportunity to share process work with fellow designers. I wanted to share some venues that I find useful in receiving feedback. Of course, you may not want to share freelance projects, but it is great for personal projects.

1. Flickr – This is a no brainer. Flickr probably has one of the largest communities on the internet. But a lot of designers assume it is only for photos. You can also post illustrations and designs. Request feedback. In no time, you’ll be receiving excellent feedback. Of course, there is more support for photography, but go ahead and give it a try.

2. deviantART – This is an excellent site that focuses more on artistic designs. The community is known for critiquing and collaboration. The free account gives you almost unlimited power. The paid account gives you some more useful features, but isn’t necessary. The key to making communities like deviantART and Flickr work, is to provide feedback as well. Duh, community!

3. LogoPond – For logo designers, this is a great place for both inspiration and critique. Share your logo designs and receive/give excellent feedback. I’ve noticed there are a lot of people who just say “Good job” or “Looks great!” Try to provide more constructive feedback to make it a much more useful community.

4. Twitter – Almost everyone has a Twitter account today. If you are a designer, you are probably following designers. Try to use Twitter as a feedback tool. Post process work and ask for feedback. Also post asking if anyone wants to share their work that you can provide feedback. Be available and you will receive the feedback you’re looking for.

5. Please Critique Me – This is a VERY interesting concept. Submit URLs to your designs, and receive constructive feedback from professional and popular designers. This is a really useful and interesting idea. So if you need a break from the general community and want a more professional response, this is the way to go.

Designer Toolbox: Color

Dusty — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:07:17 +0000

I’m starting a series called Designer Toolbox featuring various tools that I use frequently, as a designer. All the tools are web based and may include organization tools, resources, downloads, tutorials, etc. Today, I want to share the color tools I use quite often.

Adobe Kuler

When I am creating color schemes, I enjoy using Adobe Kuler. A Flash web tool, Kuler allows users to create color schemes utilizing color properties such as monochromatic, triad, complementary, etc. Users can save, share, and download their color schemes for use in Adobe Creative Suite programs.

A very neat feature is the ability to choose colors from an image. The user can upload an image or choose one from Flickr, and Kuler automatically retrieves an editable color scheme.

The themes community is a nice way to share color schemes or find inspiration. Users can download or save other color schemes, share and tag their own, or discuss the color schemes.

Use Adobe Kuler

Colour Lovers

In many ways, Colour Lovers is much better than Adobe Kuler. Kuler is good if you want to just quickly create a color scheme. Colour Lovers allows the user to create and share colors, palettes, and patterns. The pattern creator is amazing. The user can specify their own colors and styles to create beautiful patterns for design projects.

The community at Colour Lovers is large. There are many different groups, blogs, boards, and ways to share colors and patterns. It is a great place for color research, color inspiration, and designing new schemes.

There are too many features to explain here. Definitely give Colour Lovers a try, especially if you love…color.

Multicolr Search Lab

Need to find Creative Commons Flickr photos with specific colors? This tool is extremely useful.

The user selects a color or colors and photos from Flickr are immediately retrieved with the specified colors. If you only choose blue, photos that are mostly blue are retrieved. If you choose blue and purple, photos with blue and purple are retrieved. You get the idea.

Check out the Multicolr Search Lab

There are dozens of useful color tools on the web. Share your favorites.

February 2010 Wallpaper

Dusty — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:41:04 +0000

Every month, I make a desktop wallpaper to experiment with both Photoshop techniques and calendar layouts. This month I turn the usual vertical grid horizontal.

Download Feb 2010 Wallpaper

139 Design Blogs with RSS and Twitter

Dusty — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:16:15 +0000

I’ve compiled a list of some of the best design blogs and resources that I read on a regular basis. I’ve also included RSS feed links and Twitter links for easy access to all of the content.

You can follow all of these blogs on a Twitter list I created.

You can also download an OPML file to subscribe to all the RSS feeds. Right click on the link and choose “Save as…”

Of course, here is the master list:

Social Media Icons: Onyx

Dusty — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:12:43 +0000

I have a “happy 2010″ gift for you all: free vector social media icons. I know there are hundreds of social media icon packs out there, and I though I would throw another pack in the pool. Download it, modify it, share it, do whatever you’d like.

Download JPEG

Download AI

Download EPS

January 2010 Wallpaper

Dusty — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:20:43 +0000

Welcome to a new decade and another new month. I like creating desktop wallpaper to experiment with different styles and keep my Photoshop skills alive and kicking. But, more importantly, I like to experiment with calendar style/designs different from the standard grid.

This month, I created an ice style mimicking my personal branding you see on this site. The calendar is linear with no type of vertical grid.

Download 1440 X 900

If you want to browse some really exciting wallpaper/calendars, Smashing Magazine has a new post every month regarding desktop wallpaper inspiration.