MyInkBlog » Inspiration

Inspiration Served: 20 Websites Designed for the 2010 Winter Olympics

Jason Cho — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:58:48 +0000

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics has begun and it is certainly a spectacular event. Over 80 countries around the world are participating. In this article, you will find websites designed for the Winter Olympics from around the world. These well-designed websites beautifully demonstrate the ‘Winter Olympics’ theme. Check them out and be inspired.

Australia

Austria

Canada

China

France

Finland

Germany

Great Britian

Japan

Korea

Norway

Poland

Slovakia

Sweden

United States

MyInkBlog Flickr Group Showcase VI

Andrew Houle — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:12:31 +0000

Introduction

MyInkBlog’s Flickr Group has grown to 400 awesome members! At this point, every 100 new members will result in a Flickr group showcase; this is the sixth such showcase. If you missed the prior ones, be sure to check out I, II, III, IV and V.

Some Quick Stats

I love the inspiring work that comes from this group. Here is a quick look at the group statistics; with a shout out to the top five contributors.

Group Members – 400 Artists
Total Art – 1776 Inspiring Artworks
Top Five Contributors – Créations du Net (126), Simon’s Flickr junkyard (113), RUGRLN (93), Astro Marus (71), Ivan Kasaj (57)

MIB Around the Interwebs

I also like to use these Flickr showcases as a shameless plug for some other places on the web where you can find me. Be sure to check out MyInkBlog on Twitter and more recently onFacebook

The Showcase Already!

Ok, enough stats and intro… onwards to the showcase! The artwork is awesomely inspiring once again. If you would like to be a part of the next one, please consider joining the group. Enjoy!

Explosive Typography by Angie Bowen

Future by estheticcore

Design Is Vintage by sthursby

Hidden – Have A Nice Day by Nuok (Dario)

Digital Abstract: Sailing by Tanaka13 – Créations du Net

Las Raices del Rock by mrhash

Legend by DTH/CLR

Lost in Space by fudgegraphics

Memories by colaja

The Fiery Dove by jadgraphics

Inspiration Served, Beautiful Letterpress Business Cards

Andrew Houle — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:05:49 +0000

Letterpress, A Popular Design Trend

It’s no secret around here, that I like letterpress design, and think that it’s a growing trend (and it would seem that I’m not alone on that. I even wrote a tutorial on how to achieve the look in Photoshop. Around the design community, you can also find a tutorial on how to create the look using CSS, and plenty of letterpress design inspiration.

Armed with my fascination for this style, I combed gallery sites for business cards that showcased beautiful letterpress designs. The result is the fabulous collection featured below. Enjoy!

Final Thoughts

These cards were found at Card Observer, Creattica – Business Cards, and Flickr – Business Cards. What are your thoughts on this style of business card? Which ones are your favorite?

A Collection of 20 Stunning Nature Inspired Desktop Backgrounds

Andrew Houle — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:42:37 +0000

Desktop backgrounds are a huge source of inspiration for me. I’m constantly changing mine in an effort to keep things fresh, and keep my creativity flowing. Because of my quasi-obsessive behavior and all the cool wallpaper and photography sites out there, I’ve developed quite a large library of photos.

I thought I’d share some of my favorites here, check out this stunning collection of nature inspired backgrounds!

Autumn Sunshine

Framing the Sky

Rocky Beach

A Snowy Day

Landscape 7

Fields of Gold

Oirase Gorge

Spring Wheat

Barn to be Wild

Ghost Fog

Lazy Days II

Drops of Rain

Grass Rainstorm

First of May

Great Falls

Upcoming Fog Highway

Jungle Dreaming

Man Of War, Lulworth

Silence

Milos Island, Greece

Wallpaper Sites

All of these wallpapers were found at the following sites.

A Showcase of 3D Typography: Tutorials & Examples

Angie Bowen — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:21:56 +0000

Taking things into the third dimension can be a fantastic way to add some character and flair to your typographical designs. However, it can be a huge detractor if say you are using it on a film. (seriously, give it up and just write a decent script guys, stop relying on the gimmicks. sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. Typography.) Typography is an important design element that we are going to focus on in this post. Typography that dares to tread into the third dimension to be exact. First in the post, we are going to point you to a few different tutorials that will teach you how to do a variety of 3d typographical effects to incorporate into your work. Then we are going to show you some beautiful examples of 3D typography to inspire you into using your newly learned techniques. So buckle up your brain, and get ready to kick it into inspiration overload, as you go down through the gathered tutorials and explore delving through dimensions.

Tutorials

Stunning Neon Light 3D Typography

Create a Dream Design with 3D Typography

Valentine’s Day Photoshop Style

3D Typography Photoshop Tutorial

Candy Coated Photoshop Tutorial

How to Create a Richly Ornate Typographic Illustration

The new way to create 3D text

Kaboom! Exploding Text

Glowing and sparkling intense light 3d logo

How to Create Explosive Typographic Effects in Cinema 4D

How to Create High Quality Metal 3D Text in Photoshop

Examples

That’s all she wrote

Okay, so not literally, cause there is this wrap up bit here. Which it is about that time, and we hope that you enjoyed the post. Hit us up in the comments if you have a favorite 3D type tutorial or example of it that we missed so we can give it a gander. As always, see you around the webs.

Logo Inspiration with a Clever Mark

Andrew Houle — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:46:51 +0000

Last week I showcased a plethora of logos with clever typography. Of course a logo isn’t only about great typography, many of the most iconic ones feature a clever mark or symbol, so I decided to extend this series. I hope you enjoy the clever logos that follow!

Final Thoughts

It was really a lot of fun searching out these logos. Which is your fave?

Logo Inspiration With Clever Typography

Andrew Houle — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:12:37 +0000

I love logos! They encompass so much branding identity into one tiny graphic. They are incredibly difficult to create, but when done correctly, they stand the test of time. Well-created logos often look seamless and effortless, but you can be sure that a ton of time went into the planning, research and development.

I also rather enjoy beautiful typography. I find clever typography within a logo design to be awe inspiring. This post was created to showcase many such clever typographic logos. I hope you enjoy and are inspired as much as I was!

Where to Find Inspirational Logos

These logos were grabbed from these helpful logo gallery sites.

MyInkBlog Flickr Group Showcase V

Andrew Houle — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:43:15 +0000

Introduction

MyInkBlog’s Flickr Group now consists of over 300 awesome members! At this point, every 100 new members will result in a Flickr group showcase; this is the fifth such showcase. If you missed the prior ones, be sure to check out I, II, III and IV.

Some Quick Stats

Here are some quick stats about the group.

Group Members – 301
Total Art – 1,030 Inspiring Artworks
Top Five Contributers – Tanaka13 – Créations du Net (76), RUGRLN (67), Astro Marus (60), Ivan Kasaj (59), estheticcore (38)

The Showcase

This compilation will show off some of the best and most inspirational work from the group. Enjoy!

Hollow Crown

The Like You Like Me Series

Composicion Tipografica

Observers – The Starting

Flame

AE

3D Text with Extreme Lighting

Light Burst

Mount Unable

Nebulae

Light

Y-a bon OGM! #3 / Yummy GMOs! #3

The Other Side of the Brain

Stronger

Conclusion

I’m so thankful that the folks featured here and the others in the group who are willing to share their work; it’s truly inspiring to see all the creativity on display. No worries if your art wasn’t showcased here, I wanted to keep it to a select few. I hope that you’ll continue to post your designs, and if your not already in the group that you’ll join up and feature some of yours.

Your Turn

What design was your favorite? What inspires you?

Inspiration Served: Hand-Drawn Effects In Web Design

Andrew Houle — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:25:48 +0000

Overview

I love the look of hand drawn effects in web design, and I don’t think I’m alone in this. I have no idea what gene that’s in us web geeks, but I’d say most of us have it.

With that in mind, I’ve compiled this list of the best inspirational sites, resources, freebies and tutorials that utilize hand-drawn effects. There is so much more available, but these are many of my faves. I hope you enjoy!

Inspirational Sites

These sites utilize hand drawn effects to just the right amount. They are fresh and original. That is what’s so great about this style, by it’s very nature, it’s unique.

Freebies & Resources

You don’t always need a pencil and pad to make this style work. Sometimes a quick fix is utilizing free resources.

Free Hand Drawn Doodle Icon Set for Bloggers

45+ Most Wanted Beautiful Free Hand Drawn Fonts

Vector Freebie: Hand Drawn Wings

120+ Free Hand-drawn Vector Arrows

Handycons: A Free Hand Drawn Social Media Icon Set

Hand Drawn Social Vector Set

Tutorials

Alright, so now your inspired to create some of these effects, well here’s how.

Photoshop: Hand Drawn Design

Technique For Creating A Hand Drawn Website Style

How to: Make a Hand-Drawn Font

Create a Sketchy Hand-Drawn Camera Illustration in Illustrator

Your Turn

I’d love to getting feedback; let me hear your thoughts. What do you think of this style? Are you tired of seeing it, or are you loving the uniqueness of it?

Beautiful Watercolor Effects in Web Design

Andrew Houle — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:50:06 +0000

Overview

Web design trends come and go. You should be very wary not to jump on the latest ones that have no real staying power. An over abundance of glossy-iconed 2.0 sites are sure to look really outdated, real soon. I’d argue they already do. However some trends, can look awesome long after the trend has peaked. I think watercolor designs, when done right, are one of those trends.

Recently, I’ve spotted more and more gorgeous watercolor effects in web design. I’ve created this post to serve as a bookmark for inspiration, resources and tutorials on designing these effects.

Inspiration Web Designs

Here is a showcase of some beautiful examples of watercolor effects in web design.

Agami Creative

Brad Candullo

Viget Labs

Platin

Matt Mullenweg

Billy Hughes At War

Squawk

Webstock

Happy Cog

blog.critical

Electric Pulp

Resources

A bunch of awesome freebies that will help you produce the look.

Free Watercolour Brush Strokes: Hi-Res PS Brushes + Source Files

106 Delicious Water Color Illustrator Brushes

Photoshop Freebie: Watercolor Brush Set

Free High-Res Photoshop Brushes: Grungy Watercolor

WaterColor .1. Brushes Pack

Splatter and Watercolour Brushes For Photoshop

Tutorials

A list of some great tutorials to help you learn how to create watercolor effects

Watercolor Brush Tutorial

Create a Watercolor Vector Flower Illustration

Create Cool Watercolor Effects in Photoshop

Design Watercolor Effect Menu

Create Convincing Watercolor Effects Using Photoshop

Final Thoughts

This compilation could have included even more resources, but I wanted to focus on some of the best that I’ve found and not flood it with average ones. I hope you find this useful. Let me know what you think of watercolor effects in web design. Is the trend here to stay?