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Exclusive Vector Freebie: New Social Media Icon Set

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:37:39 +0000

As we are always looking for ways to show our appreciation to our readers, and provide you all with exciting and useful web design and development related resources we have a special treat that hits both of those marks. Today we have a brand new exclusive freebie for Noupe and all fans of fresh and sharply designed social media icons. From the creative mind of one of our regular Illustrator experts, Jasmina Stanojevic, comes this handy new set of vector designs.

So feast your eyes on this new exclusive freebie that can add some flair and style to your web design projects, and be sure to download it for your arsenal of resources. We hope that you will all enjoy and get some use out of these awesome icons!

The Icons

This social media icon set was created in Illustrator CS5 and contains 25 scalable vectors complete with semi-transparent shadows for use on various types of backgrounds. The download contains a .zip file with the original .ai file and an .eps version as well. Icons are available for use in personal and commercial projects.

Download

Designer Bio

Jasmina is a self taught vector illustrator from Serbia who has been working as a freelance designer for over five years now. Her biggest passion is in vector illustrations and motion graphic design. In her spare time she likes to read comic books and playing Call of Duty 2. You can check out her portfolio for more and also follow her on Twitter.

(rb)

Noupe

Freebie: Free Vector Web Icons (91 Icons)

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:25:12 +0000

Today’s freebie may be the last one for this year, but that doesn’t mean it will be the last of our freebies on Smashing Magazine — no siree! Before this year does come to an end, we are happy to present to you a fresh new Web UI set includig 91 icons created by August Interactive for the holiday season. The set is a collection of widely used UI elements, including volume, zoom, player, view, and download controls.

Designed by Tomas Gajar, the set was developed using Adobe Fireworks and has been exported as a fully editable layered Photoshop file as well. The set is clean, pixel perfect, and meant to full your everyday needs for UI design.

Download the Set for Free!

This freebie offers vectors, all scalable, Adobe Photoshop PSDs as well as Fireworks PNGs. The icon set is completely free to use for commercial or personal applications without any restrictions. Please link to this article if you want to spread the word.

large preview
download the free icon set (.zip, 3,4 Mb)

Behind the Design

As always, here are some insights from the designers:

“For us, the end of the year usually brings some precious time to reflect on our work and how our love for design remains relevant to the user interface design community. Our revelation this year is that clean, pixel perfect vector icons have become immensely important to our work. This means we typically spend the extra time to develop the icons that fit the specific need of the job at hand. As you can imagine, this ‘extra’ time takes considerable effort — effort that is often not a part of a clients’ original scope of work.

These holidays, we decided that the best gift we could offer our friends and colleagues is free access to some of our favorite custom UI icons. They are available in Adobe Photoshop PSDs, and for our really special friends, Fireworks PNGs. All vector, all scalable, all free to use for commercial or personal applications. Stay tuned for more in 2012!”

Thank you, Tomas Gajar and August Interactive. We appreciate your work and your good intentions!

(il) (vf)

Smashing Magazine Feed

Tips And Tricks: Increase The Realism Of Your Vector Images In Adobe Illustrator

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:37:21 +0000

Over the years, Adobe Illustrator has become one of the top applications for creating vector illustrations. There is almost nothing you can’t make in Illustrator. It is a powerful tool for creating vectors for all kind of logos, websites, icons, business cards, print materials, etc. One of the best features of the vector format is its ability to scale up or down to any size without any loss in quality (unlike raster illustrations).

But let’s not forget that Adobe Illustrator is complex software. Despite all of its advantages, Illustrator demands a lot of skill, work, time and patience. The software will not generate effects automatically; excellent effects are the result of trying and testing different settings. Trial and error is an effective method in achieving the desired result. Creating realistic vector illustrations in Adobe Illustrator can be fun, but it can also give you a headache if you can tell something’s missing from an illustration but don’t know how to get it.

Here is a list of things to consider when creating stunning vector illustrations:

Perspective,
Smooth lines,
Colors,
Edge highlights,
Reflections,
Shadows.

Stick To Perspective

When it comes to drawing realistic vector illustrations, perspective is paramount in importance. If you ignore perspective, the illustration will look flat and distorted and lack depth.

The most important aspects of perspective are size and distance. The farther away an object is, the smaller it will appear, and vice versa. By increasing and decreasing size in this way, you can achieve good depth in your illustrations.

There are a several methods of drawing perspective.

Perspective Grid

One very useful way is to use a perspective grid, which is a new feature in Illustrator CS5. Establishing a horizon and the vanishing point is part of this. The perspective grid in Illustrator is an editable tool, so it can be adapted to suit one’s purpose. You can change the perspective simply by dragging the corner nodes of the grid. You can make the vanishing point longer or shorter and change the number of boxes in the grid. Being able to adapt the working environment to your needs will make it easy for you to do advanced drawings.

Extrude and Bevel

Some people have trouble seeing and presenting perspective in the first place. In this case, I would recommend “Extrude and Bevel,” which is a convenient tool for creating 3-D objects. You can set a value for “Perspective” in the “Extrude and Bevel” options box (either type in a value or drag the slider over). Expanding an object will make it editable. Because the Extrude and Bevel effect gives you an object with many parts and anchor points, it is highly recommended that you use that object as the reference for tracing with the Pen tool (P). This way, you’ll create clean and simple vector illustrations without any unwanted parts or any anchor points that are an obstacle in the printing process.

If you have imagination and some skill, you will be able to draw an illustration based on an estimation of perspective. Of course, this method is not quite precise.

But adding perspective alone is obviously not enough to create stunning artwork.

Using The Pen Tool For Smoother Lines

Creating shapes in Illustrator shouldn’t be complicated. To draw paths and curves, either use the Pen tool (P) or simply combine objects with Pathfinder features such as “Unite,” “Minus Front,” “Subtract,” “Intersect,” etc. Because the paths contain numerous anchor points, you will have to adjust them to create smooth lines. Anchor points are highly editable and can be adjusted with a few excellent tools. You can change the position of the path just by editing one anchor point. This takes a lot of practice; you’ll need a steady hand and patience.

Live tracing is one effective way to create vector illustrations. Try to complete a drawing with as few anchor points as possible; avoid adding anchor points at shorter intervals just to maintain the smoothness. To get smooth lines, make sure that the handle of the anchor point forms a tangent on the curve (i.e. inner or outer tangent). You can always add or remove anchor points by going to the “Add Anchor Point” (+) and “Delete Anchor Point” tools (-).

“Convert Anchor Point” (Shift + C) allows you to make changes on the anchor points themselves. With this amazing tool, you will be able to change the angle of the handle, thus enabling you to change the path of the lines. Whereas adjusting just one side of the handle will result in an angular shape.

Coloring

This part of the creative process is quite fun, but still demanding. Choosing the right colors can be a challenge. First, you have to determine what style you want. Gentle and pastel colors might work for retro illustrations, which would be rather simple and two-dimensional.

If you want to get photo-realistic, you might want more vivid colors. Good contrast can make the artwork stunning. If you don’t know how to mix and match colors, Adobe has a great website with color swatches and beautiful combinations.

There is also a swatch library in Adobe Illustrator, where you can find a lot of useful swatches and even create your own and save for future projects.

Gradients

When it comes to coloring, applying linear and radial gradients is the best way to show light sources and to give depth to your artwork. Establishing the position and angle of the light source is the first step in the coloring process. Shadows and highlights should be added according to the source of the light. Dark colors will simulate shadows and shade, while light colors will create highlights.

Besides creating shadows and highlights, gradients are the great way to simulate shape. Using color, you can give volume to an object or character. Use as many colors as you’d like to build a gradient, but just blend them well; otherwise, you’ll end up with harsh color transitions. If you tend to blend colors effectively, then try out the different “Blending Modes,” such as “Multiply,” “Overlay,” “Screen” and “Light.”

Linear gradients are mostly used to present a plane. Radial gradients are suited to ovals and round shapes.

Transitions between colors in gradients can be smooth or sharp. Smooth transitions are convenient for representing shade, shapes and forms. Sharp transitions are good for simulating gold, steel, chrome and other metals (i.e. for representing the reflection of light on these metals).

Gradient Mesh Tool

Because gradients are limited to linear and radial shapes, we sometimes have to find ways to use gradients in unconventional ways. Creating a gradient for an irregular shape is complex, because it involves blending colors between uneven forms with the use of linear and radial gradients. This can be a lot of work, but the Gradient Mesh tool is handy for this purpose.

The Gradient Mesh tool is a powerful tool that enables you to split up any part of an object by adding editable points and applying solid colors to those points. This way, you are able to create a gradient that follows the actual shape of the illustration.

While gradients make illustrations more realistic, there is always room for improvement. A great illustration is made up of many well-integrated details. Mixing and matching colors and shapes is not easy, but it does lead to a beautiful result.

Highlighting The Edges

When you are done with the gradients, your illustration should be ready for some nice edges. There are a few ways to create them. If your illustration has straight edges, the best way to highlight them is with the Pen tool (P). This enables you to create simple shapes that can be blended (via gradients) with the rest of the illustration. Or you can create a sharp white edge and turn it into the reflection using a low-opacity setting. Either way, you will be emphasizing the shape of the object.

Creating a highlight for curves is not much different. The most important thing is to make the shape of the highlight follow the shape of the object. The Pathfinder panel has a lot of features for creating curved highlights; doing it with the Pen tool alone would be tricky.

Reflections

Besides edge highlights and shade, light sources can create many reflections and shadows. Take a good look around you and you’ll see all kinds of reflections: on glass, plastic, wood, metal, clay, even in liquid. Reflections come in various forms. The most important thing, again, is to follow the shape of the object. For those skilled with the Pen tool, curved highlights shouldn’t be a problem. If you are unsure how to draw highlights with the Pen tool, try combining different shapes in the Pathfinder panel.

Even though the most common color for reflections is white, with reduced opacity, try out different color combinations.

Highlights are useful for showing off the material of an object. With a careful color combination and reflections in the right places, you can simulate the look of a surface quite well. The result is a nice illustration with a glossy surface.

The Final Touch: Shadows

The main purpose of a shadow is to create an illusion of three-dimensionality. Without shadows, the illustration is not really complete. The shadow “defines” the illustration in a way. Like reflections, shadows are created by the influence of light sources. The intensity or softness of the shadow depends on the distance between the object and the light source. A light source above an object will cover almost the entire object. Uncovered parts of the object will cast shadows on surfaces below and on objects nearby.

You can create a shadow with a solid color (for a sharp shadow) or with a linear or radial gradient (for a soft shadow).

If your object is complex, the best way to create a shadow that follows the entire shape of the object is to use the Blending tool.

There is one rule about the Blending tool, and that is to create two objects or paths with the exact same number of anchor points. This way, you ensure that every anchor point on one object (or path) has a corresponding anchor point on the other object (or path). The result will be a shadow with nice color transition.

Summary

Although there are just six rules to follow, there is the danger of too much detail. Try not to exaggerate the details, or else the illustration could look messy and overcrowded.

Light is your greatest ally. It will lead you through the whole creation process, connecting the different parts of the illustration and making them come alive.

Just keep the illustration simple and clean to minimize mistakes.

(al)(rb)

Noupe

Digital Signage Graphics Easily Convert Bitmap Images To Clean Vector Art

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:51:04 +0000

by SweetCapture

Digital Signage Graphics Easily Convert Bitmap Images To Clean Vector Art

Some digital signage software solutions prefer vectored rather than bitmapped images because they scale much better on larger screens. Some of the better Flash animations make wide use of vectored images to help create smooth animations. But what if the only image you have is a small bitmapped JPG image? One solution may be Vector Magic.

Vector Magic (http://www.vectormagic.com) is an easy online service that will convert your images to EPS, PDF, SVG and PNG with just a few clicks of a button. There is also a desktop application version.

When I tested the service, I uploaded a somewhat dirty image. I wanted to see how well the service was able to correct for bad color degradation and other issues. I was surprised at how well VectorMagic cleaned up the image. The service does its best to fix a wide range of image problems. If you don’t like some part of the image conversion, there is a very simple pixel-level editor that will let you clean up any last bits. If you are not confotable editing your image yourself, VectorMagic does provide a service to hand-outline and draw your image.

There are some limitations that should be pointed out. The online service cannot remove backgrounds from your uploaded image (for transparency), but they report the desktop version does have this feature. I limited my test to the online version, so I cannot speak to this reported functionality. Also, Vector Magic does not have the ability to convert gradients to gradient vector shapes, but may have this feature in the future.

Using Vector Magic was very easy, no signup was necessary, and it’s free to try it out.

Simply:

1.) Upload your image. Vector Magic automatically figures out what settings to use and traces the image right away.

2.) Download the result! You can review the result in detail online before downloading it, and there are several tweaking options for improving it as well.

There is a short tutorial from Vector Magic that you can view at http://vectormagic.com/support/tutorials/how_to_use_it

All in all, I was very happy with the service and believe many of us with limited graphic image editing skills will find the service useful.

James Sinkiewicz has extensive experience in computer technology, including keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) switching, remote access equipment, data center rack power, digital signage and more. Visit his digital signage blog at http://www.digitalsignageinfo.com or you can email him at james@digitalsignageinfo.com and follow on twitter at http://twitter.com/digitalsignpro

Vector Metal Icon Buttons: Illustrator Tutorial!

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:28:48 +0000

Check this video out at Hi-Res here: www.tutvid.com Create these nice little metal buttons that can also be used as icons. Everything we make in this video is 100% vector so it can be used virtually anywhere! Check out www.tutvid.com for more great video tutorials!

Cool Vector Tutorials images

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:16:12 +0000

Check out these vector tutorials images:

vector_landscape

Image by Brent Nelson
Fun with vector. Inspired by vector landscape web designs.
Tutorial now available at VectorTuts.com
vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-create-…

Cnidarian Planet Demonstrates triple-x Hot Nematocyst* Action

Image by jellywatson
"Should you get stung, don’t let anyone pee on you until AFTER the doctor gives you the thumbs up. After that, it’s ENTIRELY up to you." -me

I’m just learning about vector drawin, doing tutorials and stuff. I got this one from:

The planet and stars and spacedust:
www.freepotoshop.ca/tutorials/effects/photoshop-space-and…

*nematocysts are stingers found in cnidarians such as jellyfish and sea anemones. On their tentacles, these creatures have little sacs. Inside the little sacks are folded-up stingers, just waiting to jump out an sting you when you stop poking it with a stick and start poking it with your hand. When provoked, the stinger pops out of the nematocyst "womb" and goes straight into the skin of whatever was scrwing with it.

Related Blogs

Vector Swirls, Swooshes, and Florals: Illustrator Tutorial

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:16:22 +0000

Check this video out at Hi-Res here: www.tutvid.com Learn how to create vector swirls and swooshes which can be easily re-used by using these fairly well known techniques! Have fun with it and please check out www.tutvid.com for more great videos!
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Related Blogs

Know of any good vector art tutorials?

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:17:53 +0000

by ·S

Question by xxxnascar17xxx: Know of any good vector art tutorials?
I’m an aspiring artist and lately I have been interested in vector art. If anyone knows of any good vector art tutorials, PLEASE let me know and send me a link. So far there have been a few that I was using, but haven’t really helped me much. Thank you for you’re help.

Best answer:

Answer by jcsthree
Adobe Illustrator is the program I use to compare all other drawing programs with. There are tutorials and a free trial at the link below.

Give your answer to this question below!

Related Blogs

First Vector Illustration

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 04:01:40 +0000

Check out these vector tutorials images:

First Vector Illustration

Image by edknowles
Yey!!
So I’ve fallen in love with psd.tutsplus.com only because I’m at home and havn’t got After Effects.
I made the illustration above on Adobe Illustrator CS4 its all vector shapes, lines and gradients. Just wanted to share my new love for one of my forgotten programs!

cloud_tutorial

Image by plusonetwo
Tutorial at www.pointsandpaths.com/tutorials/13/cartoon-clouds

clover_tutorial

Image by plusonetwo
Tutorial at www.pointsandpaths.com/tutorials/16/create-a-lucky-clover…