Photoshop tutorials

There are a few things in life that you can never have too many of, for instance, shoes and handbags, Star Trek episodes and photoshop tutorials. Over the past couple of years I think photoshop tutorials is the term I have googled the most. Well here is a link to add to your browser (Thanks to Tara from Graphic Design Blog) that takes you to an ever expanding list tutorials to inspire and increase your understanding of the beast that is Photoshop. A big thank you to Laughing Lion Design for all that they are sharing.

Photoshop Tutorials : Laughing Lion Design : Web, Graphic Design & Illustration Ireland

Native Instruments Kore Player Free Download

The creators of some of the best virtual instruments on the planet are making available, for free, their kore player. This is both a stand-alone and VST instrument. It comes with some basic sounds but is also expandable by buying Kore Soundpacks.

Personally I love Native Instruments, I already use their Xpress keyboards and this new addition looks set to add firepower to my virtual arsenal… now all I need is the musical inspiration; time to look up Eno and his Oblique Strategies.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS : Products : Kore Line : KORE PLAYER

Five tips for effective creativity

How do you measure your creativity? How do you make sure you are being as effective as you can be in expressing your inner creative? If you are anything like me you’ll have projects and ideas all over the place, most of them interweaving and overlapping each other. You may be quite good at juggling your writing, art and music and by the end of the day have something you can share with the world, but have you been effective in your creativity?If you want to improve your effectiveness, these simple tips may help you:

1. Make the most of your uncreative time

You should have time for yourself , to collect your thoughts, make goals, and let your creativity shine through and help you find solutions to problems. Sometimes the only way to find time for yourself is to actually schedule it in. Why not put 15 minutes of uninterupted time into the diary, telling friends, family or co-workers that you are not available. And use it – no phone, no email, no nothing.

2. Be results-oriented

If you want to achieve anything you should really set some goals. This applies to your creative projects as well as other areas of your life. Setting goals costs you nothing apart from time and thought, but without them failure and regret lie around the corner.

3. Use your strengths

Do things that allows you to make use of your talents and interests and you will find that you are happier, healthier and more effective. If, for example, your talents and interests lie in music and singing, don’t spend your time sitting in front of a canvas. (But remember diversity can also be an outlet)

4. Focus on one or two projects at a time

Feeling overwhelmed is one the easiest ways to drain creativity away from us. As I said above I often have plenty of ideas and thoughtsd running around, but if I want to get anything done I need to focus on just one or two of them. Devote your creative time to them and then, and only then, when they are complete move on.

5. Make the decision

We often grind to a halt when there is a decision to be made. It is another sap on our creative force. When you must make a decision, get the information, ask others for input and suggestions, consider the alternatives and then make the decision.

You can create so much more than you thought possible by becoming more effective in your creativity.

Dealing with disappointment

Being a dedicated creative isn’t all fun, frivolity and artistic fecundity – yeah sure. Sometimes you have to deal with disappointment. This can come in a variety of ways, the piece you have spent hours on is actually quite crap, or you pitched for a commission and someone else got the job or you’ve gone for a promotion within the creative department you work and you didn’t get it. How we deal with disappointment can be the difference between later success and continued failure. Here are are a few thoughts to help you overcome and come back fighting.

  • Why did you fail?Whether in something you created, or something you have strived for, you need to ask this question.
  • What can I do to avoid this in the future? Once the first question is answered you can then list things to do to avoid following the same route.
  • Be direct in who you ask. To find out exactly why you didn’t win the pitch or get the job, don’t be afraid to ask direct questions to those who made the decision. Quite simply you need to now why you didn’t succeed and what would you need to do to succeed at the next opportunity.
  • Don’t give up.It is all too easy to see yourself as a failure and give up, we can do this in a big camp way or we can wallow in despair. There is nothing wrong with being upset, but we shouldn’t let it control our destiny. Keep going, find out what went wrong and work toward succeeding next time.

So dry your eyes, and go create.

Giving creativity a helping hand, with a kiss

Stuck for that creatve idea to push the project forward? Has the muse flown the nest and taken your imagination with it? Are you struggling to find the idea to hang your assignment on? Well have a kiss.

KISS, or Keep It Simple Stupid is a maxim creative people need to keep close by. Creative people often exist in one of two spaces. The scenario I outlined above or letting our ideas run away to end up with something so complicated you need a study guide to explain it. In both examples it can be helpful to rely on a KISS.

Simplicity may be the solution your client is looking for, or perhaps the idea you need to convey needs to be blatantly obvious. Clever campaigns are fine, but are useless if only those in the know understand them.

One KISS approach I have found useful in the past is to look for something else that does what I am trying to achieve and then adapt it for the media I am useing or current project. Take for example web design. You need to design a news page for a client. One way that news has been delivered in the past, that everyone knows about is a newspaper. Therefore why not use the newspaper as your starting point? What about designing your links page? Again one way that people recognise the concept of linking is on train maps, so why not use this as your creative starting point?

The point is to start simply and at square one. The muse may be gone but you can kick start your imagination by doing a little thinking and making some very basic connections. Fancy a KISS?

NaNoWriMo 2007

Just a quick note to wish everyone who has entered NaNoWriMo 2007 the best of luck. I too will be attempting to write at least 1,600+ words each day to complete a 50,000 word novel by the end of November.

And for those who don’t know what it is, you can find out by following the link.

Brainstorm, thought shower, keep creativity flowing

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”

Linus Pauling

But remember you need to capture those ideas. Always make sure you have pen and paper, or another capture device handy. With reference to the above quote, pen and paper is proabably the best. The concept is to get as many ideas out as quickly as possible, then review them later. Amongst all you have captured there may well be the gem.

Online file conversion at you convert it

A wonderful online application that could be very useful for us creative types, and will save a lot of time, can be found if you follow the link below. If you do follow it you’ll find an online tool for converter files from one type to another. So if you need to change a piece of music to another format, or an image to something more accessible then this could be for you… oh and did I mention that there is no cost at the moment!

You convert it

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Capture the idea the moment you think of it

I once had a dream. I remember the dream felt like a movie blockbuster. There was action, suspence and a fantastic story. I remember thinking in the dream that this would make a great film (don’t worry dreams are like that). The dream ended and so did my sleep. I slowly woke up, still thinking about the awesome dream. Gradually the plans and practicalities of the day ahead loomed into thought. The dream drifted to the periphery of my thought, but I still wanted to record what had happened.

I got washed, dressed and went downstairs to the desk that had my pens and paper ready to write the basic outline of my fantastic dream story. As I approached the desk I searched my mind for the story, reached out into my subconscious, grasping futilely. The idea was gone.

“Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down.”
Hector Berlioz

I now keep a notebook and pen next to my bed. I have never had that dream again, however, perhaps writing this post will enable my subconscious to leak it into my dreams again.

How to source digital images for your creativity

There is a great find over at graphicdesignblog to help with sourcing digital images for your creative work. You can find all about Yotophoto by following the link.

Graphic Design Blog » Find Free Photos on Yotophoto, the Free Images Search Engine

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