As designer’s it can be really easy for us to be sucked into design trends. For example the recent trend for flat design has seen thousands of websites take on this new style. However, whilst it’s important to evolve our designs, following the latest trend can result in a sea of websites all looking the exact same!

What is noticeable is how the truly creative designers out there boldly defy whatever latest trend is popular, and instead forge their own way, pushing their own unique sense of style.

This post celebrates the designers who use design to convey their personality, their flair for visuals and their broad range of talents. None of the designs in this list are particularly similar, as they are all beautifully unique.

Take some inspiration today and find some balance in your design life.

Oleg Postnikov

This site, created by designer Oleg Postnikov, is a bold declaration of his aesthetic and design philosophy. Using typography, simple icons in a single bright colour, and an unusual, asymmetrical layout, he demonstrates a preference for illustration and a dedication to modernity.

Beta Takaki

This site takes an almost opposite approach to the one above. It features a large photograph and a small, simple font. Washed-out greys make up most of the colour palette, creating a calm, minimalist atmosphere. Like the site above, however, this site too is unmistakably modern.

Benjamin Sheppard

Welsh web designer Benjamin Sheppard created this site to showcase not only his skill in design but also his skill in front-end developing. The home page of this site is simple, but by asking the user’s name, it creates a sense of small-town hospitality. Clicking through, the user is greeted by name and paid a compliment, crystallising the sense of old-fashioned good manners. The soft colours and simple layout further enforce the feeling of friendliness and ease.

Grayden Poper

Like the others in this list, interactive designer Grayden Poper built his portfolio site to showcase his personality as a designer and his projects. He does this in a completely individual way, opening his site with faceless images of things he wanted to do when he was a boy. Scrolling down, the colour palette and mosaics made from triangles have an unexpected effect: they create a unity between the portfolio website design and the designs of his example works.

Think Luke

The image below doesn’t really do the website justice: when the viewer moves the cursor around the screen, the main image – in this example, the aeroplanes – moves around independently of the background, creating a cool, interactive 3-D effect. The sensation of movement makes the design all the more dynamic.

Evan

This website also uses independently moving layers to create a 3-D effect. It is more subtly done here, though. Paper cranes flutter around the head, creating a light, surreal feeling. The colours and fonts further emphasise the lightness and femininity of the main image, creating an elegant space in which to showcase the work.

Qais Sarhan

This website is both simple and edgy. The image on the front page just has two links, embedded in the image. Clicking on the man causes a box to pop up, and it contains links to his blog, biography and social media profiles. One of the shapes in the middle of the images contains a link to a contact form. It is restrained but also shows a sophisticated understanding of the principles of web design and interactivity.

Ian James Cox

This website is instantly fun and charming, making it a great introduction to Ian James Cox’s design style. Clicking on one of the names at the left causes the site to fly around, landing on an image drawn for the client. Almost all of his designs involve his trademark style of illustration, but they also show how he shapes the illustrations to fit the style of the client and the content they have. In that way, it is an ideal portfolio website, showcasing both his signature style and how adaptable he is.

Gregory Sujkowski

Gregory Sujkowski included a graphic of a computer dialog box on his site. Mimicking the look of a Mac, the box quickly flashes through images of his projects. The single-page site is simple, with just one or two short sentences per section. The result is minimalist, focused and concise, letting the design work do the real talking.

Denise Chandler

Most typography is minimalist and serious. This website demonstrates how whimsical typography can be. The blue tones, hand-drawn feel and the mix of fonts really seems to demonstrate the way Denise Chandler works and how much like a party it could be collaborating with her.

Thibaud

This site shows that colour accents don’t need to be silly or overly feminine. The textured background in dark grey and the grid pattern are undoubtedly masculine, and the colours pop without being jarring. The overall effect is sophisticated with a modern colour palette.

Arun

This site looks simple enough at first glance: it has a bold, unusual background colour, it has a mix of fonts and hand-drawn elements, and it has a typical navigation function at the top. Moving the cursor around the screen causes all the links to dance around the page. This little Easter egg turns the site from a simple yet impactful one into one that is encourages interaction and engagement, which is what every company wants in their website.

Andrevv

Andrew McCarthy is an interactive designer, and his site looks a little plain at first. Like the one above, however, it has some unexpected secrets. Scroll down the page, and the cat image begins to run in place as the content of the site moves past in the background. The site loops continuously, so the cat never has to stop running. This of course makes the site almost endlessly entertaining.

Nick Jones

Nick Jones has a site that shows off his responsive design skills. Instead of dragging the scroll bar down, visitors drag the entire page to see what he can do. In fact, the bar on the right-hand side pops up with a message saying it’s only an indicator when you roll over it. The result, thanks to the responsiveness and the overall design of the site, is the impression of a site on the cutting edge of cool.

Simon Foster

Simon Foster clearly appreciates the science of design. The image and the fonts call to mind old-school biological illustrations. He eschews trends and fads for classic elements like diagrams, a black and white colour palette and a simple, right-aligned paragraph. This roots the website in the basics of great design, while the fonts and the touches of red keep the design up to date.

Casey Britt

Whilst it works on regular browsers, this site is optimally designed to be viewed on an iPad. On that device, users can swipe left or right to see the projects Casey Britt has worked on, and then swipe down to see more information. This gives him the space to get into the detail of how he and his design agency created the sites he features. The design of the site, meanwhile, is tasteful and modern, but it is also anonymous, making it clear that he will be able to turn his hand to almost any design brief.

Jim Ramsden

Jim Ramsden was clearly a designer with a dual approach to his craft: on the one hand meticulous and well-planned, on the other, free and open. He addresses this duality with the design of his site, and not just in the main image. Throughout the site, fonts that nod to digital displays and textbooks sit nicely alongside modern colours and icons.

Rich Brown

This website takes all the work out of a portfolio site. It has an image carousel that rotates through four of Rich Brown’s latest works. He plays with the way the projects are represented in the images, ensuring that although they range from photographs like the one above to delicate illustrations, the overall feel remains consistent.

Rick and Drew

Many designers work as part of a team, but how can are they supposed to demonstrate the individuals that make up the team? Rick and Drew did it by taking a short video clip of both of them standing there, occasionally looking to the side, and splicing their images together to create a moving background that is both unified and a literal look at both of them individually.

Sawyer Hollenshead

Designers always say less is more, and no one shows that off to greater effect than Sawyer Hollenshead. The front page of the portfolio site is just a series of images of his projects. Visitors can click on an image to get slightly more information (basically just the client name and a link), or they can click on one of four ghostly icons in each corner to see his photographs, writing or biography or return to the home page.

Andrew Jackson

Giving the above example a run for its minimalist money, designer Andrew Jackson’s portfolio site only shows one example at a time. Viewers of his site must use their arrow keys to switch from one project to another. It creates the impression of a site designed to slow the visitor down to encourage deliberate thoughtfulness. The soft grey colour palette maintains the meditative tone of the site.

Shaun

Starting with a pun for a title and not letting up from there, this site could not be accused of being subtle. Shaun Kosijer’s enthusiasm for design explodes off the screen in a riot of graphics, textures, colours and fonts. This website should not work in theory, but it is impossible not to get swept up in the giddiness of the site.

Oasim

This site has some of the humour and riotous colour of the above example, but it shows off Oasim Karmieh’s work much more softly. Still, the design is deceptively simple. The shapes bow when you roll over them, revealing their content, and a business card in the corner of the screen occasionally bounces into view, urging the user to click on it. All of these add up to a site that is both fun and restrained.

David Bastain

A lot of creatives prefer to have portfolio websites that show off their work with a mosaic of images. David Bastian takes this idea and pushes it a little further. Not content to simply display images of his work, he takes high-quality photographs of his work on devices, puts them on a simple background, then pops them into the layout. The effect is one of a collage created by a computer, marrying the digital with the traditional.

Matt Luckhurst

Matt Luckhurst clearly loves colour, but he knows how to use colours elegantly. He takes a delicate font, leaves in plenty of white space, and adds touches of Kandinsky-esque shapes and squiggles to create an impression of refined celebration. When visitors roll over letters, though, his projects explode out of the site, adding a sense of excitement to what could in other hands be an overly simple site.

What Do You Think?

Do you think design trends are over-rated? How do you work to find your own personal sense of style?

Let us know in the comments below.

As a design savvy person you’ve most likely come across the flat design trend.

From Windows 8 to the blogging community, flat design is HUGE. And it’s only getting bigger…

As designers it’s important to stay on top of design trends. Good designers don’t stay stationary. We learn, evolve and master new skills and trends.

There have been a few articles circulating giving some solid examples of flat design. However, I felt it was important to explain exactly how to achieve the coveted flat design look.

Keep reading to learn the 9 key principles that will help you master flat design:

1. Bold Colors

A signature element of flat design is bright, bold colors.

Take a look at the examples below. Large, brightly colored panels of color are a key element of flat design:

So how do you choose a suitable color palette?

Well you can always play around in Photoshop, but to make your life easier, DesignModo have put together FlatUIColors.com. The site provides a series of color swatches that you can easily click on to have the hex code copied for your usage.

The site has become so popular that these colors have come to define the trend. Check them out by clicking the image below:

2. Multi-Color Panels

To extend the bold color technique, you can get a little more varied with your color palette.

Generally speaking I like to limit my website’s color palettes to a minimal number of colors.

However, flat design often uses a variety of bright colors, often in the form of background panels.

As long as the colors are complimentary, you can combine multiple colors and background panels in a beautiful series:

3. Typography

Typography is a huge part of successful flat design. Often elegant typography will become the centerpiece of the design, as the flat background colors don’t detract from the textual elements.

Uppercase Lettering

It’s interesting to note that many successful flat design sites use uppercase lettering.

Take a look at the example below. Many sites are using uppercase text for navigation items and key headlines.

White Text Over Background

It’s also very popular to use white text over either a flat background color or a photographic background.

4. Use Vector Illustrations

As we’re dealing with flat colors, this is perfectly suited for vector artwork. Vectors are inherently constructed by flat shapes and clearly distinct areas of color.

By adding some simple vector style illustrations you can accentuate the flat nature of your site.

Check out The Noun Project for some great flat style icons and illustrations.

5. Subtle Background Patterns

If you’re a fan of great design being in the details, then don’t worry, you can still have these awesome details within your flat design.

Often flat designs add extra details to the panels of flat background color. These can often be more visually impactful than a basic gradient.

The important thing is to make these extra details or patterns flat in themselves. This way your background will still be very clean.

6. Large Elements, Lots of Padding

This technique is nothing new, but it’s very prevalent in flat design.

Make your page elements large and give them a lot of padding.

This way you avoid a cluttered, busy look and give your page a clean, minimal look, which perfectly fits with the flat design trend.

7. HTML 5 and CSS3 Awesome Transitions

Another common feature of flat design is taking advantage of advancements in HTML and CSS.

Flat designed websites may be typically very simple, but the visual spectacle is often achieved by inspired transitions and other page effects.

Click through to the site below and scroll down to see a great example:

8. Panoramic Background Photos

Whilst it’s not strictly ‘flat’, many flat designs are using panoramic photos.

Not only are these a strong visual centerpiece, but they often make the overlaid elements of your design (such as the headline text) look even flatter through contrast.

9. Flat Design UI Kit

I’ve personally been using DesignModo’s Flat UI kit for some of my recent designs.

It takes a ton of the hassle out of designing from scratch, but is versatile enough to allow you to create highly original, professional designs.

DesignModo are absolute god’s in the UI design world, and are the go to place for huge, practical UI kits.

Check out some of the features included with this UI kit:

• Both .psd and HTML versions of the UI kit
• Built using a responsive, mobile friendly framework
• Over 50 icons and glyphs are included
• Perfect for rapid prototyping
• Build with color swatches included, to make changing color palettes a breeze

Click here or on the image below to check out their Flat UI kit.

A ton of you showed interest in our recent giveaway with our new network sponsor Sticker Mule.

Their die cut stickers are clearly something that would help many of you in promoting your own businesses.

Then I started thinking… many of us may not have designs that are sticker ready yet.

Some people just have their logo converted into sticker format, but there are MUCH more interesting things you can do with your sticker designs to make them stand out.

Luckily, if you’re looking for inspiration then Sticker Mule have launched a Sticker Gallery, showcasing some of their customer’s best sticker designs.

The Sticker Mule Sticker Gallery

The Sticker Mule sticker gallery is a great place to get inspired for your promotional designs.

You can browse through the designs based on recent designs, popular designs, and even specific categories, if you’re looking for more specific inspiration.

Users also star favorite designs and exchange comments, it really is a cool little community of sticker-obsessed folk!

Check out the gallery by clicking here or on the image below:

Our Favorite Sticker Designs

The quality of Sticker Mule’s stickers speaks for itself, but we wanted to take the time to highlight some of our favorite designs from their gallery.

Hopefully this will get your creative juices flowing!

Mailchimp Freddie Viking Stickers

More Stickers

Gnomegang Blonde Ale Stickers

Cloud Shopper Stickers

Haraka Stickers

Appboy Football Stickers

Galata Labs Stickers

Gifted by Choice Stickers

Gametime Salsa Stickers

Art of Manliness Stickers

Check out Sticker Mule Today

I wouldn’t get behind Sticker Mule if I didn’t have total confidence in their services. Remember, we wouldn’t work with just any company as our main sponsor, we want a sponsor who will help our readers to improve their design careers.

If you’re considering getting any sticker prints done to promote your business then check out Sticker Mule today. Let us know how your experience with them goes, and if it’s anything like our own you’ll be over the moon.

At the FanExtra network we believe that the best way to learn is from experts in your field. That’s why we employ some of the best tutorial writers and bring you regular quality content.

Tutorials are great, but I often find myself looking at work from some of the world’s top digital artists and wondering about the thought processes, techniques and workflows used to create such incredible art. I always think ‘if I only I could get my hands on their original Photoshop files I’d be able to break down exactly what makes their work so awesome!’.

Well that’s exactly what we aim to offer you guys, as part of our new series ‘Artist Breakdown’. We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s most respected digital artist’s and offering an insight into how they’ve created some of their most popular works. We’ll also provide a full .psd source file for our FanExtra members to explore. This will allow you to look through every layer, object, blending option and technique used. It’s a true behind the scenes look into some world-class work, and we hope you enjoy it!

Artist Breakdown #9. Nik Ainley: Jade (Source File Available)

Today we’ll be talking with Nik Ainley about his awe-inspiring piece Jade. You can check out more of Nik’s work at his portfolio Shiny Binary.

1. Jade is a very striking piece. Could you tell us a little about the concepts behind this work? What are you trying to portray?

Jade is actually the third in a series of illustrations that I started about 3 years ago. The first two were made at the same time as part of a collaborative project with a celebrity photographer and are called ‘Gold’ and ‘Silver’. At the time I always envisaged a third based on the ornamental stone jade but had more pressing work and had to leave it. It’s only recently that I remembered the idea and I felt compelled to finish the series off as I always intended.

The concept is fairly straight forward, it follows on from the first two in using ornate features surrounding a central figure, with a simple colour scheme. I love jade for its translucent qualities and this, along with its use in eastern art and jewellery, inspired the finer details. As with the others a few abstract elements found there way in, as I like to do with a lot of my images just to give it a bit more interest.

2. Would you mind giving us a brief overview of the workflow in creating a piece such as this?

For a photo based image such as this the first step is by far the most boring one. Searching for the right photos to start with can take quite a while, and finding and deciding on the girl alone probably took a day or two. Then came the slightly more interesting task of gathering the decorative elements. I downloaded so many Chinese dragon photos and other similar interesting statue pictures I almost didn’t know where to start. It’s good to have a good selection to work with though rather than having to constantly search for what you want online.

When I finally got into Photoshop the first step was to extract the girl from her background and do some retouching. Getting all the hair out nicely was a fiddly business but in an image this dark I didn’t need to be overly accurate. In addition she had a tattoo covering most of her back that didn’t fit with what I had in mind. There was so much of it that I didn’t really have the option of painting or cloning it out. In a case like this the best option was to find a photo of another girl’s back and paste it over the top with some careful masking and colour correction. The same goes for half of her left leg which was cut off in the original photo.

The next step was the bulk of the image creation. Cutting out elements, bringing them into the composition and just playing around to see what works. I try to not have too solid an idea before I start so I can have some fun experimenting. I do general colour and lightness adjustments as I’m working, Along with the ornamental items I added in some more abstract and atmospheric elements. Textures and subtle particle stuff, as well as the fragmented shapes coming across her body. Those are the only 3D elements in the image and were brought in from Illustrator via ZBrush.

The final touches are fairly quick as I didn’t want to make any drastic changes. After flattening down I did some small retouches, soft blurs before sharpening it all up at the end.

3. Are there any particular favorite areas for your with this piece? Perhaps some parts of the image that you felt were the most successful?

I don’t have any particularly strong feelings about the different areas of this illustration. I guess the central area is probably where I concentrated a lot of the more interesting details and the better decorative elements. I think the recoloured tattoo works quite nicely as well and helps link the shape on her back to her body. The bottom area I found I kept darkening and darkening as I worked on the image. Not because I didn’t like it in particular but because it was just a distraction from the focal point. It’s also largely there to hide the fact that most of her foot and a lot of her leg are missing.

4. For aspiring photo manipulators what would your advice be for combining so many different elements together into a cohesive whole?

A picture like this that isn’t strictly photo realistic but more illustrative is actually fairly easy to make cohesive.You don’t need to pay as much attention to getting exactly the correct lighting, perspective etc. You can just do whatever looks good and claim any oddities as artistic licence! You still need to do work to get some cohesion though, the most obvious of which are the luminosity and colouring. With a central figure as in Jade, each element brought in can be matched to this using whatever adjustments you feel best. Generally I use curves and shadow and highlights adjustments for the luminosity, and a whole array of different adjustments for the colours. I nearly always have a stack of adjustment layers at the top of my layer stack to give an overall tinting to the image. These can really help unify the colours.

Obvious mistakes to avoid are things like using images of completely different quality (noise, compression etc) or not extracting items from their backgrounds properly and having haloes around your brought in elements. Try not to mess with scale too much either, shrinking down a mountain to look like a small rock is going to look strange and vice versa. Try to match light direction if possible, but in an illustrative picture it’s not essential. Mixing elements with really defined shadows and those without is a bit more troublesome but only if it obviously looks bad.

By carefully masking an object you can make it appear as though it is both in front of and behind another object. The dragon by the girl’s breast in Jade is an example of this. Although above the girl in the layer stack, the lower end is masked off to make it appear it is disappearing behind her. A small shadow painted on top of the dragon where it disappears helps the illusion. Adding shadows underneath and on top of elements can really help them fit in and not look like they’re floating on top.I try to add a little noise to any shadows I paint in, shadows in real photos are never the perfectly smooth ones you get if you just use a flat colour. Only a very little is needed, it’s almost a subliminal thing. Small touches like that can add up to a surprisingly big difference by the time you’re finished.

Source File for ‘Jade’

FanExtra members are able to access the .psd source file for Jade, allowing them to see the specific workflows and techniques being used to construct the piece. (If you’re not already a FanExtra member you can sign up today.)

Existing members can login here to access this source file.

At the FanExtra network we believe that the best way to learn is from experts in your field. That’s why we employ some of the best tutorial writers and bring you regular quality content.

Tutorials are great, but I often find myself looking at work from some of the world’s top digital artists and wondering about the thought processes, techniques and workflows used to create such incredible art. I always think ‘if I only I could get my hands on their original Photoshop files I’d be able to break down exactly what makes their work so awesome!’.

Well that’s exactly what we aim to offer you guys, as part of our new series ‘Artist Breakdown’. We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s most respected digital artist’s and offering an insight into how they’ve created some of their most popular works. We’ll also provide a full .psd source file for our FanExtra members to explore. This will allow you to look through every layer, object, blending option and technique used. It’s a true behind the scenes look into some world-class work, and we hope you enjoy it!

Artist Breakdown #8. Eric Vasquez: The Kraken (Source File Available)

Today we’ll be talking with Eric Vasquez about his stunning piece The Kraken. You can check out more of Eric’s work at his portfolio.

1. The Kraken is a really interesting piece with a lot of detail. Could you please explain the concept behind the piece and your main artistic aims?

For this piece my original idea was to create a pirate ship or ghost ship on stormy seas. I did a lot of researching and probably saw hundreds of images that were pretty much exactly what I was envisioning. While it’s great to have so much inspiration readily available I also realized that this type of image has been done over and over again. With that in mind I started to ask myself ‘How can I do this in my own way to make it different from all of the images I have seen?’

From here my concept started to evolve into something else which involved more than just a boat on the ocean. I wanted to tell a different kind of story, and by having the ship play more of a supporting role as opposed to being the main focal point it allowed me to take a slightly different approach.

2. It’s quite interesting how typically in this type of work the ship would be the main focus, but you almost incorporate it as part of the background. The main scene in focus is the tentacles and treasure chest. Could you tell us a little about the depth in this piece and what you were going for with your framing?

Absolutely. With many of the images that I looked at you are exactly right – the ship is almost always the main focus, but to give the ship some context I started to ask myself things like ‘where is the boat going?’ Or ‘where is it coming from?’ Because often times it just appears stranded at sea with no real purpose other than navigating through a storm. I decided to use the mythological sea creature known as The Kraken to help tell the story and also to give the ship more of a purpose. The ghost ship is traversing worlds and coming from a sunny and bright environment into a cold and desolate one in search of a lost treasure which is being taken by the giant squid.

This also allowed me to show different planes and really create the depth that you mentioned. I wanted to keep the sharpest and most detailed images directly in the foreground closest to the viewer and then by the time you get out beyond the ship to the distant seagulls and land formations you can see the effect of the atmospheric perspective. I felt that by having this amount of depth it would help capture a moment of impact and energy in an otherwise calm setting.

3. There are a lot of layers in this piece (hundreds actually). Could you tell us a little about your workflow and how you built up the image. I’d particularly love to know how you achieved such stunning lighting.

I did get a little carried away with this one. With most of my work I generally try to keep things pretty organized but once I started to build up the composition I found that I would just start creating without any real inhibitions. I think that when most artists have an idea or concept in their mind that they are really excited about they can just kind of go on autopilot and start designing frenetically once they get in the zone.

Each time I would add an element like the treasure chest or the bones washed up on the beach I would find myself using several adjustment layers to help it blend into the composition that I had already started to build and then tweaking the colors and brightness of things in an effort to make it more believable. In some cases I would just make layers and start painting on top to help push it even further.

As for the lighting, I knew that I wanted it to be dramatic and also cinematic in a way that you would expect a cut scene in a video game or a scene in a movie to be. What I find really helps is when you can achieve just the right amount of contrast by getting these rich and deep colors and then placing complimentary colors around it. Even when you zoom in really closely on a photograph it’s like no two pixels are the same, and in this case I just kept messing with the colors and mixing things together until I could achieve a balance that just felt right.

Source File for ‘The Kraken’

FanExtra members are able to access the .psd source file for The Kraken, allowing them to see the specific workflows and techniques being used to construct the piece. (If you’re not already a FanExtra member you can sign up today.)

Existing members can login here to access this source file.

At the FanExtra network we believe that the best way to learn is from experts in your field. That’s why we employ some of the best tutorial writers and bring you regular quality content.

Tutorials are great, but I often find myself looking at work from some of the world’s top digital artists and wondering about the thought processes, techniques and workflows used to create such incredible art. I always think ‘if I only I could get my hands on their original Photoshop files I’d be able to break down exactly what makes their work so awesome!’.

Well that’s exactly what we aim to offer you guys, as part of our new series ‘Artist Breakdown’. We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s most respected digital artist’s and offering an insight into how they’ve created some of their most popular works. We’ll also provide a full .psd source file for our FanExtra members to explore. This will allow you to look through every layer, object, blending option and technique used. It’s a true behind the scenes look into some world-class work, and we hope you enjoy it!

Artist Breakdown #7. Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen: Escape From Reality (Source File Available)

Today we’ll be talking with Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen about his stunning piece Escape From Reality. You can check out more of Olli-Pekka’s work at his Behance profile.

1. Before we get down to anything else, I’d love to know what Escape From Reality is all about. It’s a really interesting, but very unusual piece.

What I had in mind was this concept about post-apocalyptic version of Noah’s Arc with a surreal twist. The woman in the middle is the master key holder on some futuristic planet where all the last animals from earth have been rescued due to extinction, pollution or an uninhabitable environment caused by humans.

By opening the cages, the key holder not only sets the animals free but also releases them from not being dependent on humans indifference. This was originally made for Slashthree’s exhibition entitled “Unleashed”.

2. Beyond the main subject, there is a lot of detail in this piece. How do you choose which elements to include in your compositions?

I often, and this wasn’t an exception, choose only the main elements before I start working and the smaller, supporting elements come during the process and after testing different things. I tend to change things all the time while working on the piece because that way I usually get more ideas that feel better than the one I planned at the beginning.

Nowadays when I start something I make a sketch with pencil, sometimes really refined one and sometimes just a rough one with base lines, but I try to think of all the elements before I scan it for Photoshop. I feel if I have everything thought upfront on the sketch phase I don’t have to waste time on trying things and I can concentrate on the “big picture” from the very beginning. This also naturally makes the final outcome more coherent. And experience have taught me that the saying “Well planned is half-done” is something to follow.

3. Despite so many elements that perhaps shouldn’t fit together all that naturally, the image is blended to perfection, giving the impression of a single cohesive scene. Do you have any tips for blending so many images so cohesively, or perhaps could you share some of the difficulties you faced in the blending of this piece?

I can’t remember facing any difficulties, but of course it takes some time to fix all the colors on elements to make them look as if they belong there. Especially on this where everything should look like cold and icy and none of the original stock photos are like that. But I guess patience is the key here. As a tip, pay attention to the light source. Elements won’t blend that well unless the lighting and shadows are right.

4. If you had to give a quick summary of your workflow for the entire piece what would that look like?

Concept/idea -> finding the main stock photos -> cutting and placing them -> making the background, texturing & creating the overall feeling for the scene -> sketching some ideas on top of the main elements to see which combinations could work -> adding more elements by painting, using photos or 3D modelling -> color adjustments and blending -> painting and refining details -> lighting & color adjustments and emphasizing the overall atmosphere -> final small details to add depth and the feeling of a realistic scene.

5. Do you have any favorite aspects of this piece? Perhaps small details that the rest of us may not notice, but that were a challenge or achievement in it’s creation for you?

My favorite part on this one was the koalas. I always want to challenge myself when working on a new piece and I hadn’t painted realistic looking animals from scratch digitally before in a way where they should work together with photos.

Source File for ‘Escape From Reality’

FanExtra members are able to access the .psd source file for Escape From Reality, allowing them to see the specific workflows and techniques being used to construct the piece. (If you’re not already a FanExtra member you can sign up today.)

Existing members can login here to access this source file.

At the FanExtra network we believe that the best way to learn is from experts in your field. That’s why we employ some of the best tutorial writers and bring you regular quality content.

Tutorials are great, but I often find myself looking at work from some of the world’s top digital artists and wondering about the thought processes, techniques and workflows used to create such incredible art. I always think ‘if I only I could get my hands on their original Photoshop files I’d be able to break down exactly what makes their work so awesome!’.

Well that’s exactly what we aim to offer you guys, as part of our new series ‘Artist Breakdown’. We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s most respected digital artist’s and offering an insight into how they’ve created some of their most popular works. We’ll also provide a full .psd source file for our FanExtra members to explore. This will allow you to look through every layer, object, blending option and technique used. It’s a true behind the scenes look into some world-class work, and we hope you enjoy it!

Artist Breakdown #6. Sergey Akinflev: Ballad About War (Source File Available)

Today we’ll be talking with Sergey Akinflev about his stunning piece Ballad About War. You can check out more of Sergey’s work at his Behance profile.

1. Ballad About War is a near perfect example of matte painting at it’s finest. First of all, can you tell me a little about how to selected the various photographic elements required for this piece?

It started with a basic picture – it was a boy from the backstage short film. Then I got the idea. Other source pics that I used in this piece are from photostocks and google. Finding the right pics is very difficult and time-consuming task. You must find source pics with similar lighting (or to do new lighting – and it’s very difficult).

2. I would argue that the little details in this piece are as important as the huge landmarks. For example, the red flowers in the patch of grass add a beautiful subtle element of color. Do you have any tips for how to focus on details such as lighting and structural elements?

Yep, the demon is in the details. After long work with light, perspective and other parts of your pic you have to take a pause. And on other day with a fresh eye you make last finishing touches. There is no need to hurry when you work with details – it’s very important not to be sloppy when you do that.

3. What would you argue are the key points to consider when constructing a successful matte painting?

As I said earlier, you should find source pics with similar lighting (or to do a new one which is very difficult). The more pictures you have, the more difficult to collage them. They all should have similar perspective, especially if you collage landscape and people in the same piece. You can use various techniques to hide mistakes: fog, tone, tall grass, lensflare, etc.

4. Do you have any favorite aspects of this piece? Perhaps small details that the rest of us may not notice, but that were a challenge or achievement in it’s creation for you?

You are right, little red flowers were hard to add to that piece and I thought for a long time what flowers I want to plant there. Also, I personally like reflection in the water and the mountains in the distance. It all turned out to be really beautiful, after all.

Source File for ‘Ballad About War’

FanExtra members are able to access the .psd source file for Ballad About War, allowing them to see the specific workflows and techniques being used to construct the piece. (If you’re not already a FanExtra member you can sign up today.)

Existing members can login here to access this source file.

As web designers it can be easy to fall into a rut or a comfort zone in our daily Photoshop work. Today’s article highlights 20 features that are crucial to an effective design workflow in Photoshop. Are you using all of them in your work?

Sometimes, it’s better to stick to the basics. More often than not, web designers go for flash over substance. While it’s true that people are attracted to bright visuals more than bland text, it doesn’t give designers the license to go for overkill. Using the tools available to you can help understanding the fundamentals of web designing.

Adobe Photoshop is one of the best software for web design, but its potential has not been tapped completely by the designers. With this in mind, here are the 20 most overlooked features of Photoshop for web designers.

Start with Sketching

Before you start using Photoshop for a project, take some time to sketch out the design you plan to create. It gives you a solid idea of what you are looking for. Then, scan the sketches and translate them on to Photoshop. Designing becomes that much easier when you have a blueprint in front of you.

Helpful Resources:

Sketching Human Form

Basic Drawing on Photoshop

Video on Sketching

Use Grids

Using grids helps you align and place your sketches perfectly. Often, web designers don’t use grids, looking to use the fancy features to come up with a quick design. There are grids available on Photoshop in various sizes and dimensions. You can select one according to your requirements.

Helpful Resources:

Tips on Using the Grid in Photoshop

How to Setup a Layout Grid in Photoshop

Using Grids

How to Create a Grid Quickly with Photoshop

Snap, Snap

Snaps work very well with grids. They increase the scale of your design, providing easier viewing. You can see your work in a larger size, decreasing the strain on your eyes. As a web designer, sitting in front of the computer is your bread and butter but that doesn’t mean you should ruin your eyesight. By turning the Snapping feature on, you ensure your design is accurate.

Helpful Resources:

Snap on Photoshop

Snapping

Snapping Tips

Organize Your Files

Organizing your PSD files on Photoshop isn’t even a feature in the true sense of the word. It is the most basic of functions, yet most designers feel they are too cool for school. They don’t want to spend their ‘precious’ time organizing their files. God help any designer who has to take over the project from them!

Helpful Resources:

Keeping Photoshop Files Organized

How to Effectively Organize Your Photoshop Layers

How to Organize Your Photos in CS5

Take Shortcuts

If you feel you are wasting your time organizing your files, using the shortcuts available on Photoshop will enable you to save some. Like all computer programs and software, Adobe has provided a number of shortcuts for users on Photoshop. It is a simple matter of finding them out and using the ones you need.

Helpful Resources:

Photoshop CS5 Shortcuts

Photoshop Shortcut Commands

Keyboard Shortcuts

Create Versions

You don’t have to stick to just one design when you are working on Photoshop. You can create multiple versions of the layout you are designing by using the Layer Comps feature. Photoshop has a feature called Smart Objects which will help you keep all the layouts in one place. That way you don’t have to worry about organizing or losing anything.

Helpful Resources:

Create Versions in Photoshop Elements 10 Organizer

Mask Your Folders

‘Masks’ has to be one of the most inconvenient features of Photoshop for a web designer. Yet, you can make it work for you by creating folders in which you save all your files. For instance, you can organize the files and images related to one project and place them in a folder, putting a mask on it. This way, you avoid the hassle of placing a mask on each layer while also getting to know the purpose of each mask.

Helpful Resources:

Clipping Mask to a Layer Group

How to Mask Groups in Photoshop

Using Photoshop Layer Masks

Creating Mask over Multiple Layers

Speed Photoshop Up

This is a goldmine for any web designer. No longer would you have to wait for Photoshop to respond to your action or command. Waiting for an image or file to load is frustrating. You can take care of that once and for all by speeding up Photoshop. You only have to change a couple of settings:

• Change the save option for Image Previews to ‘Never Save’
• Set the Cache Levels to 1

That’s it! You just made Photoshop faster for you.

Helpful Resources:

2 Settings to Speed up Photoshop

Tips to Speed up Photoshop

9 Tips to Speed up Processing Time

Add ‘Subtle Patterns’

Subtle Patterns is available outside Photoshop but you have the option to download the files and import them to Photoshop. It is a collection of patterns and textures which you can add to the background of your designs, albeit ‘subtly’. There are virtually endless combinations you can create and use.

Helpful Resources:

70 Subtle Patterns for Minimal Design

Subtle Pixels

Learn to Use the ‘Pen’

Using the ‘pen’ on Photoshop is akin to learning to write. Web designers in general don’t feel the need to add anything to their existing designs. This is why they avoid making the effort to learn using the ‘pen’. However inconvenient the learning process might prove to be, the ‘pen’ can prove to be very useful in the long run.

Helpful Resources:

How to Use Pen tool

Pen tool Selections

Basics of Photoshop Drawing and Layouts

Pen Tool Comprehensive Guide

Check Color Accuracy

Oftentimes designers have to use the same color several times in a layout or template. To the naked eye, the intensity and shade of the color may appear consistent but you can be mistaken. That is why you should check the color accuracy to ensure the same color has been used.

Helpful Resources:

Accurate Web Colors

Accurate Color Correction Made Easy

Selections

Customize Photoshop’s Settings

Again, this might not be a Photoshop feature but is one thing web designers should be familiar with. You should customize the settings according to your needs. While it is convenient to go with the default settings but they are for elementary users. If you wish to use Photoshop professionally, change the settings.

Helpful Resources:

Photoshop Preferences

Photoshop Color Settings

How to Reset Photoshop Settings

Selection Workflow Basics

Expand Your History

A great reason for changing the default settings is the History States. The History States is set to 20, which means you can only view the previous 20 steps you have performed. For complex designs, you might need to go back 30 or even 50 steps, which is only possible if you change the settings on the History feature to expand it.

Helpful Resources:

Expand Your History

Undoing History

Photoshop History tips

Remove the Blur

If you don’t know how to do this, you need a basic Photoshop tutorial. One of the best features of Photoshop is that you can remove the blur from any image. This is particularly helpful if you have received an image from an external source and it isn’t of the quality you desire. You can simply sharpen it up a little using High Pass.

Helpful Resources:

Correcting Blur

Adjusting Image Sharpness

Removing Blur Video

How to Remove Blur

Select the Font You Want

There are a number of plug-ins and font solutions you can add to your Photoshop. That enables you to select from a wide range of fonts and use the one you feel suits your design the best. Focusing on the design doesn’t mean you should overlook the font to use.

Helpful Resources:

Photoshop Fonts

500 Photoshop Fonts

Troubleshoot Fonts CS5

Vector-ize

How many times have you gone back to change the design and found that the original shape is no longer there? It is a common headache faced by designers. You have to then make some changes to the design to get the shape you are looking for. The solution to that is using Vector Smart Objects. It will retain the shapes of every part of your design.

Helpful Resources:

Vector Smart Objects

Illustrator Smart Objects

Photoshop Smart Objects

Go ‘Pixel Perfect’

Photoshop is a complete all-round tool for web designers. Once you have completed your work, it wouldn’t hurt to spend some time checking for any errors or oversights. With all the features and tools, you can easily clear any blurry edges, shadows or consistency issues.

Helpful Resources:

Fade Pixels

How to Draw Hand Crafted Pixel Art in Photoshop

Troubleshoot Fonts

Be the Boss

Not exactly a feature per se, but you will find that Photoshop becomes easier to use once you have modified it sufficiently. Change the layout and settings of the interface to suit your needs. It will make you feel more at home using the software.

Color Up!

There is an active community by the name of ‘Kuler’ which provides you the answer to any questions you have regarding color themes and how to use colors in Photoshop. An extension is available through Photoshop to access it!

Helpful Resources:

Kuler

Customize Photoshop

With endless features and tools, you can customize Photoshop settings to suit your needs. Remove any features you don’t need and add plug-ins and extensions you have use for. Make Photoshop your one-stop solution and provide great designs to your clients.

Helpful Resources:

How to Customize Photoshop

Customizing Photoshop

A word of warning for web designers: be selective. With so many features, you might be tempted to use all but you have to restrict yourself to only the ones you actually need to use.

Merry Christmas PSDFANs! We hope that you all have a great day. If you have a little time away from family and presents then we hope you’ll check out today’s wonderful featured artist to give you some design inspiration for after the festive season.

Ludovic is a fantastic digital artist from Paris, France. His work often features very dark themes, such as fire, hell and death, but he produces some truly beautiful photo manipulations.

Ludovic’s work has been featured in top publications such as Advanced Photoshop Magazine. Ludovic has a great eye for lighting and subtle details in all his works.

I recommend that you go and check out Ludovic’s full portfolio as he has plenty more great work to offer.

Spasms of Upheaval

Humanaut

Temple Ov Depression

The Shadow Compendium

Inferno

Shattered Sky

The Final Chapter

Behemoth

Year Zero – The Astral Pathway

Necropolis

Silenoz

The Arrival

Time Capsule

The Lunatic Fringe

We, The Fallen

As designers we have to be aware of the growing mobile market, and change our design habits accordingly. With over 1 billion smart phones now on the planet we need to start adjusting our thinking about design. This exclusive smartphone infographic gives us designers some hard facts.

This Infographic is Co-produced by CouponAudit and the FanExtra Network.