Top 50 Graphic Design Photoshop Tutorials from 2011

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What a great year 2011 has been for the Photoshop community. With so many new tutorials being published daily it has never been easier to learn a new creative techniques that will help reduce your learning curve substantially.
In this yearly round-up we have… read more

Ten Alternatives to WordPress as a Blogging CMS

We all know that WordPress is an awesome Content Management System cum Blogging Platform. In fact, it is also the most popular blogging tool all over the internet. Name any other CMS – WordPress eats them all out for lunch!

However, as a web designer/developer/enthusiast, being knowledgeable about an extra CMS… read more

Book Suggestion Illusive 2: Contemporary Illustration and Its Context

The book suggestion of this week is Illusive 2: Contemporary Illustration and Its Context. This book is really inspiring, there were some amazing illustrations and you can spend ours checking them out. Another amazing thing about this book is that you can always go back and there will always be… read more

GuideGuide: Free Plugin For Dealing With Grids In Photoshop

This article is the fourth in our new series that introduces the latest, useful and freely available tools and techniques, developed and released by active members of the Web design community. The first article covered PrefixFree; the second introduced Foundation, a responsive framework; the third presented Sisyphus.js, a library for… read more

5 Simple Ways to Get Your Work Out There

One of the hardest things to do when starting out as a designer is to get your name and work out into the world. It can be an intimidating feat, as more designers are popping up all over the globe, but here are a few things you can do to… read more

6 Tips For Building a High Quality Blog Following

Shane Snow is a New York-based tech journalist and co-founder of Contently.com, a marketplace for brand publishers and journalists.

In 2010, New York City startup, Birchbox launched a blog about beauty products before it had any customers. The beauty sample delivery service – and its blog – exploded in popularity.

Today, to… read more

Beat the January Blues

Now that the holidays are over it’s back to the grindstone. However, many businesses and freelancers struggle in January to get rolling. This blog post by Carol Tice on Entrepreneur.com gives some good info on how to beat the January doldrums. I’ve taken the tips that pertain to freelancers… read more

Quick Tip: Locating Images using Mini Bridge in InDesign CS5

Mini Bridge opens up within InDesign just like a panel. Mini Bridge doesn’t hold all the capabilities Adobe Bridge does, instead it operates efficiently by navigating and working with linked files. During this tut we are going to explore the potential for locating images via another InDesign document. Note,… read more

Best of the Vector Web – December 2011

Each month, we search the web for the best vector-related content and showcase it here for you all to enjoy. This month, we showcase high quality tutorials on creating cubist style logos, speeding up your work in Illustrator and InDesign, and more. We have loads of tutorials, in addition to… read more

How One Author Found Success With Digital Books

It’s said that print is dead — and not just newspapers or magazines, but maybe short stories too. After 20 years working in print, former Chicago magazine editor Dick Babcock found the perfect platform for his short story: Kindle Singles.

Babcock’s short story tops the best sellers list on Kindle… read more

2011′s Biggest Winners and Losers in Ecommerce

In-demand products, unparalleled site design and usability, competitive search engine marketing, continuous innovative, exciting holiday specials — these are just some of the variables that make up a successful ecommerce business.

On the other hand, some of the top pitfalls for Internet retailers include lousy service, uninventive products, confusing corporate messaging… read more

Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: January 2012

We always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. And as designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one — desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the… read more

#LastTweet Collects Finals Tweets of Those Who Died in 2011

The New York TImes Magazine has scoured the web for the final tweets of some of 2011′s biggest personalities and avid tweeters who died this past year.

The magazine features tweets from actress Elizabeth Taylor, war photographer Tim Hetherington, Indy Racer Dan Wheldon, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and more.

Social media is often… read more

8 Ways Digital Will Improve B2B Sales in 2012

Guy Nirpaz is the CEO and co-founder of Totango, which analyzes user actions on SaaS applications, providing sales teams invaluable information in qualifying prospects and prioritizing people to contact who are most likely to buy or renew.

How B2B products and services are purchased and sold is rapidly changing. Some call… read more

Apple’s Museum That Never Was: Why Does Stanford Keep it Secret? [VIDEO]

Where does the world’s largest collection of Apple-related history live? In a fascinating archive owned and operated by Stanford University.

But good luck actually finding the trove of hardware, software, recorded interviews, revealing documents, candid photos and internal videos. Everything… read more

How Freelance Interning Can Help Your Business

Looking to give your karma a boost in 2012? Why not consider working for free? Let me clarify: not working for free everyday, but donating your time and experience to help others and to learn from others as well.

Designer Roy Barber has embarked on a project whereby he spends… read more

Freebie: Free Vector Web Icons (91 Icons)

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… read more

Interview with Justin Currie

Today we are going to meet a young Canadian graphic designer Justin Currie. Despite his youth, he has great artwork and his own recognizable style that he calls Shattered Vector Painting. In this interview Justin shares the technique he uses to create this style. “An artist is always learning, always… read more

13 Location-Based Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs

Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes youth entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment and underemployment. The YEC provides young entrepreneurs with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business’s development and growth.

You want to deliver marketing… read more

So You Got a Nook Tablet? Tips for New Users

If you’re a new owner of a Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet, you’re in for a treat — the sleek device is exceptional for reading magazines and newspapers, surfing the web and storing plenty of exciting apps. Plus, it’s extremely intuitive and easy to use.
SEE ALSO: Nook Tablet [REVIEW]

It… read more

The Myth Of The Sophisticated User

As I sat in my local co-working space, shoulder-deep in a design problem on my MacBook Air, I could hear him. He was on the phone, offering screen-by-screen design recommendations to his client for the project they were working on. When this acquaintance of mine arrived at the subject of… read more

6 Game-Changing Digital Journalism Events of 2011

The year 2011 brought extraordinary progress for online journalism.

From breaking news curation to new revenue models, many an organization put its best digital foot forward. Social media became more tightly integrated into reporting and overall strategy, while mobile app creation and content optimization were no longer a nice-to-have, but… read more

Design Tips for Building Magazine-Style WordPress Themes

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The move from physical to digital magazine content is an exciting process. Over just the past few years we have witnessed thousands of new brands and templates begin to surface. Magazine editors have wisely chosen the Internet as a medium to share their news stories.

This… read more

Who Are You Trying To Impress?

As a young creative, I had dreams of being famous. I wanted to be admired, loved and I suppose part of that was also for revenge on my more obnoxious classmates. Is that shocking? Ask yourself if you were any different? Ask yourself if you still feel that way. You… read more

Teach Them How To Hit The Ground Running And Faceplant At The Same Time?

A few days ago, a tutorial on how to Create A Christmas Wish List With PHP was published on Smashing Magazine’s Coding section that frustrated me. It frustrated me as it was incredibly easy to predict the comment reactions it caused. It also frustrated me as it was a classic… read more

Retro Video Game Posters and Official Artwork

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The gaming industry has undergone some mindblowing changes in just a few decades. It seems like only last year that Super Nintendo games were skyrocketing into stardom. Yet now in closing of 2011 we’re seeing brilliant HD graphics running through custom PC rigs, PlayStation 3,… read more

So You Got a Kindle Fire? Try Our First-Timer Guide

If you’ve recently purchased or been gifted a Kindle Fire, congratulations! You’re now the owner of one of the best tablets on the market, in our opinion.

SEE ALSO: Amazon Kindle Fire, iPad’s First True Competitor [REVIEW]

Now it’s time to begin taking advantage of your device, courtesy of our handy little… read more

44 Photoshop Web Design Layout Tutorials

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In this roundup we have collected 44 outstanding photoshop tutorials. Enjoy these over your holiday!

Design a creative portfolio in Photoshop

How to create a colorful business web layout

Create A Detailed Solid Dark Layout In Photoshop

How to create a One-Page Website Design in Adobe… read more

Mashable Weekend Recap: 36 Stories You May Have Missed

With the sound of sleighbells still jangling in our half-frozen ears, we plowed through our Christmas rituals and at the same time kept on working the wires, looking for the best news the world had to offer our steadfast weekend readership. Yes, we are multitaskers.

And you know what? We had… read more

The Pros & Cons of Google+ for Small Business

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

For big brands, Google+ is probably a good investment — but is Google+ an efficient use of time for small businesses?

Google unveiled Google+ brand pages in November,… read more

53 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

With the holidays in full swing, that means the new year is just around the corner. Here at Mashable, we’ve been reflecting on the changes 2011 has brought for technology and social media and what those changes mean for the future.

If you’ve been busy decking the halls and getting… read more

Happy Holidays From Layers Magazine!

Hey everyone. RC here – wanted to take a moment to wish all of you a very happy holidays and share a picture that I recently worked on.

We sure appreciate all of you, and we’re always so happy to be able to bring you the best tutorials… read more

Startup Brings Ecommerce Directly to Magazine Websites

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: 72Lux

Quick Pitch: Shop across many online retailers with a single checkout and shipping fee.

Genius Idea: Bringing… read more

How Do You Deal With Overstressed, Irrational Clients? An Entrepreneur’s View

As an entrepreneur who has been on the client’s side of the design and development process, I’d like to discuss the thought process of the client, as well as some effective ways to interact with them. For example, why do they ask for Shakira music on the home page? And… read more

Amazon 2012: What the Future May Hold for the Web’s Largest Retailer

For Amazon, it’s going to be hard to top 2011. After all, this was the year the gargantuan online retailer launched a cloud storage service, opened the doors on its own Appstore, and released a tablet, the Kindle Fire, that happens to be selling like crazy.

Looking at the bigger picture,… read more

4 Reasons 3D Movies Aren’t Just a Fad

Roy Taylor is a GM and EVP at Hollywood-based MasterImage 3D. You can follow him on Twitter @Roy_Masterimage.

There’s a lot of discussion these days about the viability of 3D and what the future holds for it.

Is it a gimmick? A trend? Or is it the next great frontier in… read more

The Smashing Deals Countdown: Three More Days Till Christmas

As the end of the year approaches and the holidays near, many of you might already be pondering your new year’s resolution for 2012. Before you get back to serious business in the new year, you should lean back, relax, spend some quality time with loved ones, and give a… read more

Christmas & New Year Special Giveaway: Prizes Worth Over $20,000

The end of this year is almost coming and Christmas is already on our doorsteps. It’s never too late to hang your stockings, keep milk and cookies and wait for Santa to drop in at your home with lots of gifts and Christmas cheer. It’s time for Santa’s gifts, for… read more

Freebie: New Twitter Profile Page GUI PSD

Today we are glad to release a yet another freebie: a Twitter GUI PSD for the recently released Twitter UI update, designed by Jon Darke of Every Interaction and released exclusively for Smashing Magazine and its readers. The PSD provides the full mockup with all layers in vectors, allowing you… read more

18 Freemium WordPress 3.0+ Magazine Themes

18 Freemium WordPress 3.0+ Magazine Themes

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Dear Drupal: Season’s Greetings. Love, Smashing WordPress.

Every day I work with WordPress in one way or another. My Twitter feed is full of WordPress types, and I’m a regular at my local WordPress meetup. I’m a WordPress fan.

The developer across the hall from me works with Joomla. His Twitter feed is full of Joomla types, and… read more

Hands on With Kindle Fire Update 6.2.1

Amazon Kindle Fire Prepared for Update

The tablet is ready for an update.

Click here to view this gallery.

Amazon Kindle… read more

Kindle Adds Periodicals to iOS Apps: But Will Consumers Read Them?

Amazon updated its Kindle app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Wednesday, giving users access to their periodical subscriptions and cloud-stored documents for the first time. Previously, users could only use the Kindle app to read — and, before Apple changed its guidelines, buy — ebooks on those devices.

Having… read more

25+ Resources for Starting a Freelance Photography Business

“Photographer” is one of those professional titles that many people want. And why not? Taking pictures is fun and exciting.

However, reality isn’t so glamorous. According to a report prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “More than half of all photographers are self-employed, a much higher proportion… read more

Smashing Photo Contest “Holidays Around The World”: Best Entries!

A couple of days ago, we launched a photo contest in which you could submit a photo of how upcoming holidays are celebrated in your city. For those who have participated, thank you for taking the time to shoot the photots and sending them to us. We’ve received hundreds of… read more

Introduction To Designing For Windows Phone 7 And Metro

Microsoft’s new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 (WP7), introduces a fresh approach to content organization and a different UX, based on the Metro design language and principles that will be incorporated into Windows 8. It also targets a different market than its predecessor: instead of being designed mainly for… read more

75 Outstanding Tutorials, Quick Tips, Articles and Interviews from Vectortuts+ in 2011

As the year comes to an end and we pack up our vector tools for some well deserved rest and relaxation, let’s take a look back at some of the best and most inspiring Vectortuts+ articles and tutorials for 2011.

The following collection is just a fraction of the fantastic content… read more

How to Capture Cool Photos of People Dancing

Taking photos of people dancing at a party can be a lot of fun.

Because you’re working with a still medium, often the ways you use to get motion into the photo are crucial in setting your photos apart from the rest.

Most parties end late, so the dancing doesn’t happen until… read more

Our Freelancer Predictions for 2012

Carol Tice recently wrote a blog for Entrepreneur magazine on her picks for the Top 10 Small Business Predictions for 2012.

The end of the year is when predictions on trends for the next year surface, from small business to the most popular wedding colors. People love predictions, and I… read more

Turning Small Projects Into Big Profit, A Case Study

In the Web world, hearing businesses and freelancers alike complain about low-budget projects is not too uncommon. Let’s say that a local coffee shop needs to update its Web presence and contacts you for a redesign. It also requires a blog so that it can announce new coffees, events and… read more

How Award-Winning Travel Photographs Are Taken

Do you have a solid technical understanding of your camera and how to take a good travel shot, but lack the examples you need to take your photography to that next level?

Many of us have that understanding, but need that extra bit of practical guidance to get our photographs from… read more

Wallpaper of the Week 182 by Alex Beltechi

The wallpaper of this week is an image created by Alex Beltechi for the 5th Anniversary of Abduzeedo. Alex Beltechi is an artist and designer based in the city of Oradea, Romania. Although a student at a Visual Arts University, he also teaches the tools of his trade through various… read more

Sites of the Week #184

For this Sites of the Week we have selected some great sites such as What happens next? and Hellobar. Also we’re featuring the stylish Formfett portfolio, and much, much more! As usual we would love to hear from you, keep sending your suggestions to us and we will be more… read more

A Guide To Heuristic Website Reviews

In this article, we’ll explore a scoring system for rating and comparing websites, we’ll visualize those ratings using infographics, and we’ll see what data and structure this method provides for reviewing websites.

How To Tell Whether A Website Is Junk

We are all reviewers. We review many websites every day without even… read more

Have Internet, Will Travel: A Freelancer Case Study

Melissa Antonelli spent five weeks this year living and freelancing in Italy.

Melissa Antonelli didn’t start out wanting a freelancing life—but she found it suited her adventurous spirit.

I met Melissa in 2005 when we were both studying journalism as graduate students at New York University. She had recently graduated with… read more

10 Reasons Why Working at the Library is Better than the Coffee Shop

If you are a typical freelancer, your office may range from your home to your car to the local coffee shop. While I used to inhabit my local coffee shop—to the tune of having my drink waiting for me at the counter before I even got there—I am… read more

Six CSS Layout Features To Look Forward To

A few concerns keep bobbing up now and then for Web developers, one of which relates to how to lay out a given design. Developers have made numerous attempts to do so with existing solutions. Several articles have been written on finding the holy grail of CSS layouts, but to… read more

Kindle Fire Owners Love Their Tablet, Flaws and All

Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet is no Apple iPad — and it seems that most Fire owners are quite okay with that.

In a recent open thread on Mashable regarding the product’s recent troubles, freshly minted Kindle Fire owners shared their stories — and mostly, love — for what could end… read more

The Smashing Deals Countdown For Christmas

Christmas is near and the spirits are rising but why not speed it all up a bit? To make the days prior to Christmas much more exciting, we’ll provide you with something to look forward to each day for the next ten days. This year, we’d love to help you… read more

Flipboard Has 5 Million Users, iPhone App Gets Million Downloads in First Week

Flipboard’s social reader app for iPhone and iPod Touch devices has been downloaded more than one million times in its first week, bringing the total number of Flipboard users up to 5 million.

Engagement with the app has also tripled: Users are set to flip two billion pages this month, up… read more

Big Collection of Free WordPress Themes with Premium Quality

Today we present you a big collection of FREE WordPress themes with premium quality to beautify your self-hosted WordPress blogs. Click on the picture to head to the info, demo and download page.

Personal Blog Themes

Ari by Elma Studio

BonPress by WPZOOM

ecoBlog by iDesignEco

Skeptical by WooThemes

Side Blog by Press75

iTheme2… read more

Goals and Achievements This Year and Into the Future

It’s coming towards the end of the year where traditionally people will set New Years Resolutions, which ultimately dooms them into failing and feeling bad and we become envious and joyful of those rare few who managed to keep them.

In today’s article, we’re getting nosey and finding out what people… read more

FreelancerPro Interview: Punky Chicken

Sometimes, the freelance world can seem like one big sea with too many fishes. There are plenty of designers, writers, crafters–but then there are a few that stand out. You know the type…you look at their work and you know they are the real deal.

Courtney Mason is that type… read more

Excellent Tips for Branding Your Blog

Branding is an important factor behind the success of all business. Whether you are selling a pen or a car, brand names work everywhere. People still prefer buying a Pelikan and a Toyota. This is because these names have grown up as big brands and people have started relating to… read more

How to Pick an Ereader This Holiday Season

Mario Armstrong is an Emmy Award winning media personality, digital lifestyle expert, talk show host, and public speaker. He’s teamed up with Staples this holiday season to spread the word about their extensive tech offerings and provide tips for making gift giving easy this year, and distributes his content through… read more

40 Fresh And Creative Print Ads

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In this post we are featuring some fresh and creative print advertisements to inspire you. Enjoy!! If you like these advertisements you might also want to check out our previous posts below.

30 Hilarious Print Advertisements

30 Creative Print Advertisements

WWF Desertification: Elephant

Aruba: Flippers

Top Gear Magazine: Ice-Cream<br… read more

The Messy Art Of UX Sketching

I hear a lot of people talking about the importance of sketching when designing or problem-solving, yet it seems that very few people actually sketch. As a UX professional, I sketch every day. I often take over entire walls in our office and cover them with sketches, mapping out everything… read more

Uncharitable Charitable Design

Like many people, I always say, “Never work for free.” Like many people, I break that rule when it comes to a good cause or meeting women. So far, I’ve only been screwed… by the good causes, that is.

This winter, I spent three days working for a nationwide charitable initiative… read more

40 Fantastic Movie Related Websites

The internet is a popular place for movie fans. It’s a place where you can read the latest reviews, watch trailers of upcoming films and argue plotlines with other film buffs. Big movie studios are vastly aware of how important the internet is to marketing their new films, and as… read more

How the #Occupy Movement Is Spurring Tech Innovation

Susannah Vila directs content and outreach at Movements.org, an organization dedicated to identifying, connecting and supporting activists using technology to organize for social change. Connect with her on Twitter @szvila.

The movement that began on Sept. 17 in New York City was initiated in Canada by a magazine editor who refused… read more

15+ Best Desktop Publishing Resources and Beginner Tips

Desktop publishing has become a critical business skill today, and the use of the Internet means that creation of print content is no longer the only consideration.

Now the documents you create likely have to be displayed in both print and on the web.

This article looks at how to determine… read more

Page Numbers in InDesign CS5

AJ Wood opens up InDesign CS5 and talks about easy ways to add page numbers, continued page numbers, and sections to your InDesign document.

read more

An Introduction To Object Oriented CSS (OOCSS)

Have you ever heard the phrase “Content is King”? Being a Web developer, and therefore having a job that’s often linked to content creation, it’s likely you have. It’s a fairly overused but true statement about what draws visitors to a site.

From a Web developer’s perspective, however, some may argue… read more

Quick Tip: An Introduction to Live Preflight with InDesign CS5

Traditionally designers would check their layouts manually for errors by using a host of different menus or panels. Commonly known as Preflight, this process has now been turned on its head by the introduction of Live Preflight to InDesign. This feature checks for errors as you work displaying errors in… read more

Top 50 Web Development, Design and Application Icon Sets from 2011

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This is now our fourth year rounding up the the best icon sets for web designers and developers. And what another fantastic year 2011 it has been! You’ll love this selection.

All of the icon sets below have been split into several categories: Glyphs & Pictograms,… read more

30 Best Magazine WordPress Themes

30 Best Magazine WordPress Themes

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Best of the Week #200

It’s time for our best news of this week. We have a lot of graphic and web design, a bit of architecture, ads, tech news, awesome reads and other crazy stuff! So take a look at the links we’ve selected for your inspiration and to keep you updated about what’s… read more

Sports Illustrated Wants You to Choose Its Next Cover

For the first time in Sports Illustrated‘s 60-year publication history, it is letting fans choose its cover.

Beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, fans are invited to visit the sports newsweekly’s Facebook page to help select the cover for the Best Sports Moment of 2011 double-issue, which hits newsstands… read more

120 Years of ‘Vogue,’ Online for $1,575

In fashion, they say, what goes around comes around. Now designers, fashionistas and historians — as well as advertisers and the simply curious — can browse Vogue‘s new digital archive for inspiration. It contains every page of every U.S. issue of Vogue published since the magazine launched in 1892,… read more

What It Takes to Build a Thriving Design Business on the Web

The Leaders in Design Series is supported by Volvo.

Jesse Thomas founded the creative agency JESS3 as a student in 2007. In a few short years, he managed to climb an impressive entrepreneurial ladder. The company has completed projects for Facebook, Google and NIKEiD, among dozens of other… read more

Zite, the Magazine That Reads You, Hits the iPhone

Hot on the heels of Flipboard for iPhone and Google Currents, social news reader Zite released an iPhone version of its app Friday.

Zite, which launched on the iPad in March, is a smart magazine that learns what you like to read, notes how long you spend reading it, and delivers… read more

Is a Design House-Style Really Necessary?

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In my previous post I mentioned that I was currently developing a website and as part of those developments I wanted to look at introducing a house-style. It seemed like a way to introduce consistency and, for the less web-savvy CMS editors, make editing easier…. read more

Bored? Sit Back and Let EventGrabber Find the Perfect Events for You

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: EventGrabber

Quick Pitch: EventGrabber matches local events with your personality.

Genius Idea: Aggregates and personalizes local events for… read more

14 free online magazines for graphic

14 free online magazines for graphic

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Photography Links You May Have Missed This Week

It’s been another great week in the world of photography, and Toad Hollow Photography has been busy compiling this list of tutorials, great photography and interesting blogs to share with everyone.  The Toad is pleased to present this comprehensive list of really great links showcasing the work of some truly… read more

Google Currents Becomes Latest News Aggregator App

Google has released its new Currents app for Android devices and iOS. The universal app offers a personalized news experience in a magazine-like format.

Google Currents contains three “editions,” including Publisher, Google trending, and favorites.

In a blog post, Google said:

We strive to give you beautiful and simple ways to experience all… read more

Best Of 2011: A Beautiful Collection Of 50 Free WordPress Themes

In this article, we have composed a beautiful collection of some of the best WordPress themes that we have seen in 2011. As a matter of fact, finding some wonderful and free to employ WordPress theme is like a cherry on the cake for the reason that you can spruce… read more

Clear Indications That It’s Time To Redesign

Redesign. The word itself can send shudders down the spines of any Web designer and developer. For many designers and website owners, the imminent onslaught of endless review cycles, coupled with an infinite number of “stakeholders” and their inevitable “opinions,” would drive them to shave their heads with a cheese… read more

So You Want To Build A Software Product

If you like the idea of being your own boss (I certainly do), chances are you get the itch sometimes to create your own product — a product whose direction you control, that you do not have to compromise on with someone else, and whose fruits you get to fully enjoy, instead… read more

Why The InstantShift Website Has Been Down for The Last Three Days

Many of you have been wondering what happened to our site, why it was down and why we are not responding to emails related to InstantShift.com. In short, our website was hacked.

Because of this vicious attack, InstantShift.com has been down the last three days We have been continuously updating… read more

20 Amazing Implementations of HTML5 Canvas

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In this article, we explore some of the most awe-inspiring implementations of HTML5′s canvas element so far. From all of the new HTML5 tags, canvas is likely to be the most powerful.
In a nutshell, the canvas element is a drawable region defined in… read more

Design Focused Fab.com Raises $40 Million and Continues to Grow

Hot on the heels of rapidly growing membership base and a growing number of transactions, Fab.com has just closed a $40 million Series B funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz.

It was just six months ago that Fab.com pivoted from a social network and deal site targeting gay men into a… read more

Hollywood Heroes Become Villains in Online Video Gallery

Ryan Gosling as a shadowy stranger, Gary Oldman as a ventrilloquist’s doll, Brad Pitt as a moth-obsessed freak — these are just a taste of the bizarre-brilliant villains that the New York Times Magazine has collected as part of an unusual online video gallery: “Touch of Evil: Cinematic Villainy from… read more

Judge Hits Blogger With $2.5 Million Charge for Not Being a Journalist

In a case that’s sending a frightening message to the blogger community, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that a blogger must pay $2.5 million to an investment firm she wrote about — because she isn’t a real journalist.

As reported by Seattle Weekly, Judge Marco A. Hernandez said Crystal Cox,… read more

Mixing Up Illustration: Combining Analog And Digital Techniques

In the digital age, don’t forget to use your digits! Your hands are the original digital devices

— Lynda Barry

People often ask how I arrived at a finished illustration. Honestly, it’s different every time, but it always starts with a hand-drawn sketch. Sometimes, I paint it completely by hand; sometimes I’ll… read more

Anchoring Objects in InDesign CS5.5

Learn the basics of anchoring objects inside text using InDesign’s anchor options.

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10 Tips To Optimize Your WordPress Theme

The beauty of WordPress is in how easy it is to adapt for different tasks. One can extend it with just a couple of lines of code. In this post, we’ll review 10 shortcode snippets that will tweak and optimize your WordPress theme. You can add all of these code… read more

Holidays Around The World: Smashing Photo Contest

2012 is around the corner and the year is (already!) coming to an end. We’d like to know how upcoming holidays are celebrated in your city. Just send us a photo of your kind of Christmas or New Year’s Eve and with some luck you may be the winner of… read more

How Not to Put Your Foot in It When Creating a Photo Portfolio [With 34 Examples of How to Do it Right]

A portfolio of your works is a very important thing that every photographer has to create. As a true photography geek (or a professional photographer) you probably never part with your camera and take many photos per day. Obviously, there are good and bad shots in your reserve. So what… read more

Flipboard Re-engineers Itself for the iPhone

Flipboard, a popular social newsreading app for the iPad, is launching its long-awaited iPhone app Wednesday.

The app, which displays feeds from both formal news sources and social networks in a magazine-like format, has been entirely reengineered to serve the unique habits of newsreaders on the iPhone: That is, users who… read more