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	<title>Design Shack &#187; tutorials</title>
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		<title>Best of 2008 &#8211; Graphic Design Tutorials</title>
		<link>http://designshack.net/articles/best-of-2008-graphic-design-tutorials/</link>
		<comments>http://designshack.net/articles/best-of-2008-graphic-design-tutorials/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kishore Nallan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Graphics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2008]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[best]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[graphic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tutorials]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[As we arrive at the last month of yet another year, it&#8217;s time we revise and reflect on all the goodies this year had to offer. At the same time&#160; it&#8217;s great to practice the tips and lessons learnt for the years to come! &#160;We have brought together a series of what we feel are [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>    As we arrive at the last month of yet another year, it&#8217;s time we revise and reflect on all the goodies this year had to offer. At the same time&nbsp; it&#8217;s great to practice the tips and lessons learnt for the years to come! &nbsp;We have brought together  a series of what we feel are some of the best tutorials of 2008 from around the web. </p>
<p>    We&#8217;re starting off with the most useful graphic design tutorials of the past year. In no particular order, read on to see 33 that have stood out in particular.</p>
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<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/11_green_type.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Creating  an Environmentally Friendly Green Type Treatment</h2>
<p>&ldquo;With oil prices the way they are today, everybody is  thinking Green&hellip; In the following Illustrator tutorial, I&#8217;ll teach you how to  create a Green type treatment. It works great for logos and other design  elements.&rdquo; </p>
<p>	  Excellent tutorial, great use of highlights and shadows to  create depth.</p>
<p><a href="http://vectortuts.com/text-effects/creating-an-environmentally-friendly-green-type-treatment/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
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<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/1_illustrate_magazines.jpg" alt="Illustrate for magazine" width="150" height="150" />Illustrate  for magazines</h2>
<p><em>&ldquo;</em>Illustration is a constantly  changing field, especially in today&rsquo;s digital age. It&rsquo;s easy to modify your  work quickly and efficiently by using the available tools&hellip;. <em>Wired</em> and <em>Men&rsquo;s  Health</em> illustrator Ronald  Kurniawan shares the secrets of his artistic success, revealing how he creates  his stunning editorial illustrations.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/illustrate_for_magazines" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
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<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/2_xray_effect.jpg" alt="X-ray effect" width="150" height="150" />X-ray  effects in Photoshop</h2>
<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;Capturing the inner  beauty of an object with an X-ray is not an easy task. Only a handful of  photographers combine photography as an art form with radiology &ndash; which might  have something to do with the fact that achieving the effect requires  highly-specialized equipment. Unsurprisingly, this doesn&rsquo;t come cheap, so in  this tutorial, we save you some pennies by inviting Mark Mayers to show you how  to achieve a similar effect in Photoshop. &ldquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?FeatureID=1777" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/3_lighting_effect.jpg" alt="Magic Lighting" width="150" height="150" />Magic lighting  effect</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Create a nice light and magic effect.&rdquo; </p>
<p>	  Simple tutorial, brilliant effect.</p>
<p><a href="http://abduzeedo.com/magic-lighting-effect-photoshop" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
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<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/4_comic_strip.jpg" alt="Inking and coloring comic strip" width="150" height="150" />Inking  and Coloring the Comic Strip &ldquo;The Brads&rdquo;</h2>
<p>&ldquo;In this tutorial, we&#8217;ll walk through the steps of creating  a comic strip using Illustrator&#8217;s Pen Tool, custom brushes and masking  features. This is a fun tutorial that covers the process I use, while  showcasing the comic strip I write called &quot;The Brads.&quot;</p>
<p><a href="http://vectortuts.com/illustration/inking-and-coloring-the-comic-strip-the-brads/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/7_ps_shortcuts.jpg" width="150" height="150" /></a>Top 10 Killer Photoshop Combo Moves</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Is time kickin&rsquo; your ass? Well, learn to defend yourself!  Master these killer Photoshop keyboard combos and you&rsquo;ll find yourself with  more time for the important things (e.g. Facebook trivia questions). These  combos assume you&rsquo;re using Photoshop CS3 on Windows platform with default  keyboard shortcuts.&rdquo;</p>
<p>      Killer moves alright!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/08/13/top-10-killer-photoshop-combo-moves/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/5_filter_less.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Filter-free  art in Photoshop</h2>
<p>&ldquo;In this  step-by-step tutorial, we&rsquo;ll create a photomontage in Adobe Photoshop CS3 using  only the layer palette. Our goal is to achieve stunning results without using  any of Photoshop&rsquo;s filter options.&rdquo; </p>
<p><a href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?featureID=1683" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/14_frilly_type.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Super Cool Frilly  Bits Typography</h2>
<p><strong>&ldquo;</strong>In this tutorial I will show you  how to mix some vectors with letters to create a really nice design.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Another creative tutorial on fiddling with typography to  create interesting effects.<strong> </strong></p>
<p><a href="http://abduzeedo.com/super-cool-frilly-bits-typography" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/8_3D_text.jpg" width="150" height="150" />The  new way to create 3D text</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Typography is huge at the moment in illustration, and 3D  text is a big part of that. It literally gives the artist another dimension to  play with, and the power of 3D programs provides a sense of realism that 2D  typography just can&rsquo;t match. This allows for seamless blending with photos and  other renders. 3D text needs the right depth,  lighting and texture. Nik Ainley tells you how to do this without re-rendering  nightmares.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d__and__animation/the_new_way_to_create_3d_text" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/9_crash_effect.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Speedy  shatter effects</h2>
<p>&ldquo;This technique, which its creator Eric Sin calls the &lsquo;layer  duplication effect&rsquo;, is perfect for creatives who need to spice up a photo in a  hurry. Give your photos an edgy, shattered makeover  in under an hour, using layer duplication.<strong>&rdquo;</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?featureID=1753&amp;pn=1" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/10_vivid.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Vivid Imagery In Modern Web Design</h2>
<p>&ldquo;By using  vivid images designers can draw user&rsquo;s attention, communicate a  message effectively and leave a memorable first impression. Practically all websites  use images in their design, but few use vivid images to achieve maximum  results.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/29/vivid-imagery-in-modern-web-design/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/12_metal_gun.jpg" width="150" height="150" />GunMetal  Interface</h2>
<p>&ldquo;&hellip;A rather simple Photoshop&nbsp;tutorial. &nbsp;However, it  does give quite a good foundation to those who are interested in starting  metallic interfaces with Photoshop&hellip; You can really do a lot with this tutorial  using different shapes and methods.&nbsp;This is just the basic introduction,  the same way that you start to learn animation with the beginner&rsquo;s step of  adapting the color to change under a sequence of frames.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pstut.info/tutorials/simple-gunmetal-interface/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/13_composting.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Seamless  compositing in Photoshop</h2>
<p>&ldquo;No matter how many tricks and shortcuts you know, Photoshop  has plenty more, making complex and fiddly tasks far more straightforward. In  this tutorial, Jeric&oacute; Santander shows how you can make use of a few of these  tricks to create a stunning surrealist-style image, giving a chameleon a Mad  Max makeover and making him stalk through a mountain range.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?FeatureID=1750" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/15_photomontage.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Create  amazing photomontages</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Perhaps because of the overtones of freshness and vitality,  water-based effects are always in demand. In this tutorial, Nik Ainley provides  step-by-step guidance on how to make a stunning, dynamic effect that recreates  the look of a figure dissolving in water, with some clever use of Photoshop and  some found images. Although the finished image appears hi-tech, it is just a  very clever photomontage constructed from just two images, using relatively  simple Photoshop techniques.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?featureID=1704" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/16_collage.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Complex  Collages</h2>
<p>	  Create a complicated collage using various Photoshop  techniques.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jeremyshuback.com/tutorials/ComplexCollages.php" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
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<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/17_improve_tips.jpg" width="150" height="150" />How to improve  your Photoshop skills</h2>
<p>&ldquo;There&#8217;s nothing better than to play with the tool if you  want to learn it&hellip;. I think the best way to learn is trying to recreate images  and effects we like. Here I list my 10 tips to improve your skills in  Photoshop, but they can be applied to other tools as well. &ldquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://abduzeedo.com/how-improve-your-photoshop-skills" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/18_beauty.jpg" width="150" height="150" />40  Cool Beauty Amplifying Photoshop Effects</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Beauty retouching is one of the most sought-after skills in  Photoshop arts today. The techniques here are used not only on magazine covers,  but in advertising campaigns, digital artwork and professional photography.  Here are 40 excellent tutorials to help you add this skill to your arsenal.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://psdtuts.com/articles/web/40-cool-beauty-amplifying-photoshop-effects/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/25_grid.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Grid masking</h2>
<p>&ldquo;This grid masking seems like an interesting technique to  take a closer look at. I&rsquo;m sure there are many ways to excecute this technique  and you could do this both in Illustrator or Photoshop&hellip; In my version of this  technique I decided to use both Illustrator and Photoshop to my benefit and  create the mask in Illustrator and then apply it on the photo(s) in Photoshop.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/grid_masking/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
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<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/19_neon.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Create  cool neon effects</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Whether it&rsquo;s the speeded-up glow of car headlights in a  night-time city scene, an alien spacecraft or a deep-sea jellyfish you&rsquo;re  recreating, this far-out neon look is a highly useful trick to master. It  conveys a sense of movement and energy, and the colours can be tweaked to give  a surprising range of effects.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?featureID=1709" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/20_rainbow.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Create  a magical rainbow color flame in Photoshop</h2>
<p>&ldquo;One of the things I&rsquo;ve seen around quite a bit lately is a  transparent rainbow gradient effect on a dark background. It seems to me that  flashy transparent gradients are in these days. They make me think about magic.  Today I&rsquo;ll show you how you can create a magical rainbow color flame. OK, maybe  I&rsquo;m using too many words in a row here, but it&rsquo;s the best I can do to describe  this.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/create_a_magical_rainbow_color_flame_in_photoshop/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/21_artistic_poster.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Make  an Inspiring Artistic Poster with Drawn Elements</h2>
<p>&ldquo;In this tutorial, we&#8217;ll create drawn elements, use design  brushes, bring them into Photoshop, and merge them into a unique poster  composition that feels hand-made, stylistically unified, and personalized. The  techniques here are focused on creating an original artistic illustration.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://psdtuts.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/make-an-inspiring-artistic-poster-with-drawn-elements/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/22_grunge.jpg" width="150" height="150" />How  to Create a Grunge Web Design in Photoshop</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Photoshop is often the right tool for web design,  especially if you&#8217;re creating a design using numerous images and brush effects.  In this tutorial, I&#8217;ll show you how to create a complete grunge home page  design. We&#8217;ll design the header, sidebar, body, footer, and style everything to  work together in a heavily textured and worn design.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://psdtuts.com/tutorials/interface-tutorials/how-to-create-a-grunge-web-design-in-photoshop/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/23_badass.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Badass  Bling Effect in Photoshop</h2>
<p>&ldquo;This tutorial will show you step by step on how to create a  &ldquo;Badass Bling Effect&rdquo; using layer styles in Photoshop. Once you create the  layer style, you can easily &ldquo;blingify&rdquo; any layer. There is also a video  tutorial as well.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gomediazine.com/tutorials/badass-bling-effect-in-photoshop/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/24_slow_shutter.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Slow shutter 2</h2>
<p>	  Shotgun Mag teaches you how to create this beautiful slow  shutter text effect. </p>
<p><a href="http://shotgunfront.com/mag/2008/10/30/slow-shutter-2/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/26_stock_texture.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Add  Stock Textures to Images for extra &lsquo;Oomph&rsquo;</h2>
<p>&ldquo;In this little Photoshop tutorial we&rsquo;ll be designing a  quick art piece, then we&rsquo;ll be adding some texture to it, this is to  demonstrate the use of texture in artwork&hellip; Obviously this method will work  better with some things and not so well with others, so please try to use it in  moderation, if you will.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.photoshopstar.com/effects/add-texture-to-improve-artwork/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/27_peel.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Peeled Back  Sticker Effect II</h2>
<p>	  This tutorial shows you how to create a peeled back sticker  effect using Photoshop.</p>
<p><a href="http://pshero.com/archives/peeled-back-sticker-effect-ii" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/28_scanline.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Scanline  Text</h2>
<p>	  This tutorial does a great job of &ldquo;&hellip;teaching you how to  achieve the all important glowing effect which people can&rsquo;t seem to get enough  of. Here we will create a style I&rsquo;ve named &lsquo;Scanline Text&rsquo; which is basically  text which glows like bright scanlines, with a smart reflection as well.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://psdlearning.com/2008/08/scanline-text/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/29_energy_sphere.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Creating Energy  Spheres in Photoshop</h2>
<p>&ldquo;For this tutorial you&rsquo;ll want to find a photo of someone  doing something that looks a bit larger than life.&rdquo; :) Nice one!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.developertutorials.com/blog/design/photoshop-design/creating-energy-spheres-in-photoshop-119/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/30_funky_sticker.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Funky  Stickers</h2>
<p>&ldquo;This will show you how to create that slapped on sticker  effect I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;ve seen popping up around the internet. It&rsquo;s simple to make  but looks really good in pieces of art and also on webpages for example as an  image link to an RSS feed.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://psdlearning.com/2008/08/funky-stickers/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/31_space_lighting.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Space  Lighting Effects in 10 Steps</h2>
<p>&ldquo;In this Photoshop tutorial I will show you how to create a  space scene with some nice Lighting Effects in 10 Steps.&rdquo;</p>
<p>	  Amazing effect.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.abduzeedo.com/space-lighting-effects-10-steps-photoshop-tutorial" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/32_luminiscent.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Luminescent Lines</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Here we will create some thin flowing lines that look as if  they emit light. This technique is fairly simple and is a great way to create  an abstract wallpaper or looks good integrated into another image. This  tutorial will mainly explore the brush engine and you will also learn how to  create custom brushes and use them effectively, combined with some interesting  layer styles.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://psdlearning.com/2008/06/luminescent-lines/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/33_retro_text.jpg" width="150" height="150" />Retro Text</h2>
<p>&ldquo;Retro Text and Video Layers Retro text like this looks  great but isn&#8217;t easy to create in Photoshop alone so here we use a mix of  Photoshop and Illustrator, raster and vector to create some unique text. The  second part of this tutorial explains video layers, something which is  relatively new to most people. The final result will be an animated image that  could be used for a web header.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/text-effects/retro-text.html" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div class="toptutorialitem">
<h2>
<img src="http://www.designshack.net/postimages/top2008/6_text_effects.jpg" width="150" height="150" />50  Creative Photoshop Text Effects</h2>
<p><strong>&ldquo;</strong>Learn how to soak your text in  bubbles, splatter it with blood, turn it to glass, then to ice, melt it into  water, grow it into grass, cut it from metal and riddle it with bullets. These  50 incredible Photoshop effects will create text that explodes from the page  (or the screen).&rdquo; </p>
<p>	  Yes yes, it&rsquo;s more of a list than a tutorial but this was  too good a list to let go!</p>
<p><a href="http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/50-creative-photoshop-text-effects/" class="smallbox">Visit tutorial</a></p>
</div>
</div>
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