The Chicago Web Designer » Design Snippets

Free Facebook cover graphics: Facebook Timeline

Chicago Web Designer — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:29:23 +0000

Facebook will make it’s new timeline approach to profile pages default on December 22nd. The look and feel of the profile page will change and additional functionality to visit past posts via a timeline, will be introduced. If you don’t want to wait you can easily get the new timeline visiting here , a clicking the “get timeline now” button.

The new profile page features a large cover photo which you will need to set. You can use one of your existing photos or upload something new.

The dimension of the cover photo is 850px by 315 px, if the image you select is smaller that that it will end up being stretched and not sharp.

I created a montage of contemporary graphics for my cover photo, they are the same as the ones I used to create the “Color Punch” igoogle theme.

To get you started I am offering three contemporary graphics you can use on your own Facebook profile. Download by clicking on the image and saving to your computer. They are sized correctly and ready to go.

Color Splat

Color Punch

Rays

Free printable birthday cards: Vectors

Chicago Web Designer — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:52:37 +0000

I get rather disgruntled sometimes when I go to buy a birthday card and I find nothing I like, is it just me?

So I have put my graphic designs skills to use and created my own birthday card which can download for free. I actually have this card on my personal blog ” Creative in Chicago” and was recently picked up by About.com, making it their number one choice in a list of 20 free birthday cards.

The card comes in four color combinations and works well for men, women and teens. Click on the one you like and download the pdf. Print it out on some good quality card stock and you are good to go.

The Chicago web designer on istockphoto.com

Chicago Web Designer — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:52:18 +0000

As a web designer I know an image can sometimes say a thousand words and stock photography companies like istockphoto play an invaluable tool in my web designers’ tool box.

I recently got approved as an istockphoto photographer and while photography is something I only dabble in, I like to challenge myself to take photos worthy to post online!

You can view my collection so far at www.istockphoto.com which feature photos taken in the North shore area of Chicago this past fall. I am the first to admit I am no Ansel Adams but I find the creative process fun.

A Teenage Chicago Penthouse, in my Basement!

Chicago Web Designer — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 13:32:06 +0000

Who doesn’t love a before and after comparison, I do them for web sites quite a lot, ( here here and here) to showcase how a few design tweaks can make a huge impact on the appeal of a site. But today I am going to show you how I used my graphic design skills and tools to transform a very dingy, quite disgusting Chicago basement room into a light and airy teenage “penthouse” hang out.

My canvas for this room was horrible wood paneling which has the texture of drift wood but nowhere near as pleasant. I primed then painted everything white, it took 3 coats before it looked good.

Then came the fun bit.

To be certain the skyline idea was going to work in terms of scale and look/ feel, and what colors looked best, I did a little Illustrator and Photoshop mockup.

First I designed the skyline in Illustrator. It was then imported into Photoshop and superimposed a photograph of the wall I intended to paint. ( I used the multipy function and distorted the illustrator graphic to fit the wall dimensions) After a bit of color tweaking, playing around with different shade of gray we settled on a simple black and gray color palette.

Because of the rough nature of the paneling my initial plan to carefully tape off and paint the skyline failed so I ended up painting the whole thing free hand. If you look carefully I did not stick religiously to the illustrator design but it was enough to point me in the right direction. It turned out pretty well.

I have a bit more work to do on the furniture on the other side of the room… more painting which I will share soon!

What color is Chicago Snow?

Chicago Web Designer — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:19:38 +0000

It is hard to escape the abundance of snow in the Chicago area at the moment. Ask most people what color is snow and the answer will be white. Ask a graphic designer and the answer will be, “white but also think soft grays, delicate lilacs and even dramatic blues.”

As a web and graphic designer color is one of my favorite “tools” Here are the colors I see in snow.

A new visual illusion: Silencing

Chicago Web Designer — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:04:21 +0000

I am a sucker for visual illusions as can be seen here and here. Now there is a new one: Silencing.

Play the video below and focus on the white dot in the center. To start with it is easy to see the dots are changing color, but as the disc starts to rotate they become static. Or do they? In actual fact they are changing all the time.

2011 ©: Chicago web designer

Emotions of a Typeface: A set of Dreamy Fonts

Chicago Web Designer — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:11:29 +0000

Here is the next installment in my series “The emotions of a typeface”. Today’s set features dreamy fonts.

They all convey a sense of calm, quiet and restfulness, something I could really do with after the upheaval of moving my web design business to Chicago over the last two weeks!

Think “spa, pampering, bubble bath” – any one of these would work for branding elements.

Next time I’ll showcase a set of Techno font, I’d love to hear your requests for future posts in this series

View others in “The emotions of a typeface” series : playful fonts , Energetic Fonts

Emotions of a Type Face: A set of energetic fonts

Chicago Web Designer — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:19:43 +0000

Here is the next installment in my series “The emotions of a typeface”. Today’s set features energetic fonts.

They all convey a sense of movement, get-up-and-go, pep, animation, activity, liveliness and zing

Think “boot camp” – any one of these would work for branding elements.

Next time I’ll showcase a set of dreamy fonts. View the first in the series “playful fonts“

Eye of the St Louis Web Designer: Bees

Chicago Web Designer — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:41:35 +0000

All work and no play is not conducive to creativity…ask any web or graphic designer. I took the morning off had an amazing experience with bees today.

Emotions of a Type Face: A set of playful fonts

Chicago Web Designer — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:07:58 +0000

Ask any web or graphic designer how many type faces they have loaded in their font directory and you will be boggled by the number, they are important tools of the trade and we like to have lots!

Selecting the right typeface for a project, title, button, logo, banner, call to action, etc, can be a time consuming task. What sort of emotion will the typeface evoke and will it be the right emotion?

Today I am starting a new series, the emotions of a type face, and to kick it off lets start with a set of playful fonts.

These fonts all convey a relaxed, laid back emotion. They are fun, non confrontational but functional.

Next time I’ll showcase a set of energetic fonts