In this tutorial I’ll show you how to mock up a fresh looking blog theme in Photoshop that is designed to be used within the 960 framework. This tutorial was designed more for web design theory than Photoshop technique. It is for that reason that I don’t go into great depth on each Photoshop step, but spend considerably more time on design theory and application. Photoshop beginners may find it somewhat tricky to follow along. Let’s get started.

Pressed lettering is showing up more and more these days in web design. Like any other trend, you have to be careful not to over use it. Already you can recognize those people that are doing it well and those that are not. Recently, I read a post at Smashing Magazine that highlighted pressed lettering as one of the Web Design Trends for 2009.

The other day I was writing a roundup style post here on MIB that required a bunch of screenshots. I was capturing the shots, bringing them into Photoshop, then tediously editing each individual one. It didn’t take me long to realized I was wasting a lot of time. A commodity which us designers never seem to have enough of. The simple solution was to create a Photoshop action to handle the dirty work of repetitive steps. PS actions are beautifully suited to save time for us lazy (I mean productive) designers. The result was so simple and easy, I wanted to share it here with you.

This tutorial covers the use of filters, brushes, the pen tool, masks, and maybe a couple other techniques; all in order to create a realistic sandwich bag from scratch.

This tutorial will cover a lot of ground (that may or may not be a bad play on words :) ). We will use both Illustrator and Photoshop to create a cool winter background. The focus will be showing you how to create custom patterns in Illustrator and custom brushes from these patterns in Photoshop. I think you’ll find a lot of these techniques very useful.

In web design, it can be tricky to decide how to present your layout to a client. There are some designers who believe you should skip Photoshop and go straight to coding. I disagree. At the very least you should sketch out your ideas with a pencil and pad before ever opening up a text editor. For me, my workflow is: sketch / Photoshop / code.

Mel over at Acuity Designs was kind enough to lend some time and write this guest tutorial here. It covers the basics of how to utilize Photoshop adjustment layers. This is a non-destructive, flexible way of making adjustments to your photography.

This tutorial is in response to another good suggestion I received from one of my readers via the Community Suggestion Box. Here’s what Caroline had to say…
Hi – some fantastic tutorials here – thanks – learning so much :-) Please could I ask for a simple way to write text that fits around shapes? People [...]

Illustrator is an amazing tool for building scalable vector art. With the sudden icon craze, it is ideal for creating these little doodads. Many of them are shiny, glossy, icons, but I must admit that I sometimes get tired of them. With a little help from a suggestion by Tarains in the Suggestion Box, I’ve [...]

I’m thrilled to announce this is my second tutorial that is a direct result of someone using the Community Suggestion Box. Here’s what tripdragon suggested…
BIG Crazy text typography. Like those seen in articles like ilovetypography and http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/25/breathtaking-typographic-posters/

I know how to do it. Create outlines in illustrator. But, I seek tips on using text the most [...]