DTG News and Else
DT&G:   Vol. 18, Number 12,   December, 2008   ~   The eZine for Design, Typography, & Graphics   (since 1990)  

December:

The Holidays open with a bang, watch for very cool uploads to the Publishers' Warehouse, and the opening of the DTG Holiday Gift to our readers!

What's Here:

Designing the Holidays

The holidays are here -- Even though the dooms-sayers are shedding darkness all around, pay no attention. Look on the bright side, and make a positive effort to raise people's spirits! Now is the time for graphic designers to be at their very best!

Don't forget the Publisher's Warehouse "Gifts" gallery is open, so come on down and get yourself a gift -- our way of saying 'thank you' for being on board all year long! But more about that later.
Enjoy this month's offerings -- and please stay in touch

Feature: Cover Design critique, tips and tricks

The recent Wiley Design Challenge saw a great collection of cover designs for Al Ward's upcoming Photoshop for Right Brainers book. We see some outstanding Photoshop work -- but are they good book cover designs? This is a critique and a tutorial to teach and illustrate Book Cover Design Tips & Tricks

Creating a Logo Using Serif's PagePlus X3

Combining text and graphic capabilities, the PagePlus X3 Logo Studio makes it easy to produce logos and taglines either from scratch, from imported artwork, or by using one of the more than 400 template designs. Dale Cook shows how easy it is to use Logo Studio to create a logo using PagePlus

Photoshop Madness... holiday madness

Photoshop CS4 Tricks with Alex Walker * Content Aware Image Resizing * Sue's Assorted Patterns * FREE Photoshop Christmas Frame Templates * Photo Actions * Camxso Christmas Shapes * Photoshop Brushes * Photoshop Phabric * Putting a face on ... M&M'S * 220 Amazing Free Photoshop Layer Styles * Free Styles and Patterns * Adobe Creative Suite 4 prices and more. If you see a big box over on the right or left for Adobe, click on it! Enjoy this month's edition of Photoshop (Holiday) Madness

Photo Books make Great Gifts

Now is the time to start thinking about gifts -- particularly if you want very thoughtful yet fairly inexpensive gifts. Planning is important, and as you shoot -- keep your photo book concepts in mind and shoot for the purpose. Here, MJ Johnston shares some tips on photo books

Photographic Greeting Cards

You probably have a great treasury of photos that could be put to real use! Here, noted photographer John Huegel shares tips and guides you to create some truly great, high-quality cards you will be proud to send -- and your recipients will by happy to save... Photographic Greeting Cards

Using Cheap Media?

Are you ready to risk your images just to save a few bucks? Is it Ok to Use Cheaper Media in Your Digital Camera? Andrew Malek provides some advice why you should purchase memory media for your digital camera with caution and try to avoid buying or Using Cheap Media

12 Creative Photography Ideas

You'll be taking a lot of photos in the weeks to come. Here, photographer John Huegel says "Keep these ideas in mind, to get your creative juices flowing and increase your skills and value as a photographer" Just try some of these 12 Creative Photography Ideas

Photographers using Photoshop

The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers, spotlights only the critical tools you'll need most often in one compact reference -- Derrick Story teaches you how to quickly and efficiently organize and edit your photos without compromising the originals. Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers

Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business

Just starting out in business? Launching a freelance career? Here are killer mistakes to avoid when starting a business excerpted from So, You Want to Start a Business? by Ed Hess and Charles Goetz 8 Killer Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business

Gerald Gallo Art Nouveau Ornaments

Jerry has added more than 141 new fonts to the Gallo collection since we first met him way back in the Fonts Festival of 1998. Just in time for the holidays he brings yet another great picture font -- a collection of Art Nouveau ornaments culled from historic sources, built into an Art Nouveau Open Type font

Mail Bag: Icon for the Holidays?

L.M., a design professional from Anacortes, WA (USA) picks our brains whith this twister...
> I wonder how impossible it might be to come up with some
> new iconography for the holidays. For every other event, product,
> service, whatever, the idea of re-using the same graphic
> depiction every year (beyond a branded logo) would be sniffed at.
> But holidays... we go into auto-pilot rerun mode, rendered
> creatively impotent by tradition. Even if we can't design a
> new icon for worldwide or nationwide acceptance all at once,
> what about our individual projects for smaller groups or companies?
> (Step away from the clip art...)
Now, that's an excellent question. Ideas anyone?

Mail Bag: How do you spell holiday?

Dasha, a design professional from State Center, IA, sent this one in, but then requested not to be added to the DTG Newsletter list. We liked it, and we fully enjoyed her web site! Oh well. Dasha says:
Design for the holidays? It's easy!
*H - HUMOR and HAPPINESS will appear in every design project
*O - OPENNESS for everything new should be in your mind
*L - LETTERS and LINES will help you to express your ideas clearly
*I - INSPIRATION may come from everywhere: Holiday sounds, smells and textures
*D - DYNAMIC DESIGN will make your holiday posters and cards so unforgettable
*A - ANNUAL design competitions can be a good chance to share your ideas
*Y - YES! You will say it looking at your new design which you can be proud of
You can meet Dasha at her web site -- enjoy her work, particularly the "experimental" gallery:

Mail Bag: Pure essence of the Holiday

R.H. a photographer from Las Vegas, NV, USA wrote in to say:
> I look for the pure essence of the holiday in a simple
> form or composition. Using light or the lack there of to
> focus the attention of the viewer. I really enjoy finding
> a new view or angle of something that is well recognized.
> I think it should in the final say make people think about
> the intent of the holiday.
> Such an invite like "May Peace be with You", causes one
> to think with in themselves what peace means to them.
> I like think that such greetings and images desire
> to make the world a better place. Bravo, R.H., we couldn't agree more!

Best of 2008? You could be a winner ...

Our top three entries this month will receive a nice gift from DTG just for sharing their thoughts with you. (Guys, we need your addresses!)

If you too would like to share with DTG readers, and are selected to be published here, we'll send you out a 'thank you' gift as well. For our next issue we're looking for your favorite discovery in 2008 ... best download, best web site, best promotion, best what ever so long as it relates to the graphic design field. Just tell us what it is and why it's your best discovery of 2008. Here's where to send in your posts

Deke is back... and even better

The One-To-One series is the best in the market for learning any of Adobe's Creative Suite. Read the lesson. Watch the video. Do the exercises, and you'll learn Adobe InDesign CS4 from expert and Adobe guru Deke McClelland. Deke McClelland goes One-on-One with InDesign CS4

GPU-Powered Photoshop Alternative

Pixelmator is the revolutionary GPU-powered image editing tool that provides everything needed to create, edit, and enhance still images - Magic Wand, Paint Bucket, and Magic Eraser tools; improved Hue and Saturation, Replace Color, and Colorize tools; Smart Palette Hide; and more. The upgrade is free. Pixelmator gets better

60-Seconds: Change is coming

Although attempting to stay out of politics all together during November, I had to post this 60-Second Window because it does relate directly to the internet, internet users, and your security and safety. The change is coming, folks ... the question is will it be good change or bad change 60-Second Window: Change is coming

Site of the Month: Crumpler ABC

Very cool letters and more -- Someone sent this in and we did not catch the name or address, but it's really cool enough to pass along. This web site created by the Crumpler bag maker presents a stunning array of letters built of mostly unusual and creative pictures. The twist is, you can pick the letters you like most, then spell a word and click to have it output to a file! It's probably the most exciting and creative typesetting available on the web! (Albeit slow and tedious.) You can get there at www.crumplerABC.com

&ELSE... freebies and cool stuff

This month's &Else includes: * Gift ideas: Photo Books, Photographic Greeting Cards * Using Cheap Media * 12 Creative Photography Ideas * Adopt an Author * Nikon D300 * Canon EOS Digital Rebel * Photoshop CS4 * Make a Splash on YouTube * Cook some Adobe Air * Be a Geek Goddess * VectorDesigner * Pixelmator * Resizing Images Online ... and a dozen others! News, Reviews &Else!

The Publishers' Warehouse "Gifts Gallery" is open. See below on how to get there.

Here's to YOU ...

In the words of the famous Jimmy Buffett song ...
      "I really do appreciate the fact you're sitting here,
          your voice sounds so wonderful"

... and while Jimmy wasn't talking about quite the same thing, I quote him to invite you to continue sending those comments, suggestions and thoughts to share with all DTG readers. Your voice will be heard and appreciated!

While clicks are down, and our Amazon and Google revenues are dwindling to reflect this 'adjustment' in the economy, I'm happy to report that visits are up, and the readership of DTG is still expanding. As I said before, now is the time for all graphic artists, designers and visual communicators to be at their very best. It is the communications community who does the most good during economic hard times!

And, if you do happen to fall prey to the main stream media's dooms-day rhetoric, stop for a moment and think about those who are much less fortunate than you are. Give them a hand, and you'll see your world turn much brighter. You don't realize how well off you are until you touch the lives of those who aren't.

From all of us at your Design Center and DTG Magazine, to all of you who help us spread the wealth of information
-- we wish you
a wonderful holiday season, and a better-than-ever new year!

thanks for reading...

Fred Showker

Fred Showker, Editor / Publisher, DT&G Magazine

A Thought for December is about doing the right thing...

The things that will destroy us are:
  politics without principle;
    pleasure without conscience;
      wealth without work;
        knowledge without character;
          business without morality;
            science without humanity; and
              worship without sacrifice.
                    -- Thomas Jefferson

PS: if you've made it this far, excellent! The Publishers Warehouse have been very busy getting ready for the holidays and Thanksgiving. They've posted the loading dock, saying 'ho-ho-ho' ?

You can contribute and get your voice heard: When you make your contribution to the Design Center, you not only help us continue the mission... and you get lots and lots of traffic and visitors to your web site! Google metrics evidence 611,387 pairs of eyes saw our Partner's buttons last month. Need we say more? Take a look for yourself

Participate in your Design Center

Lots of fun and information for all... don't forget, any community is only as good as the participation of its members. We invite your tips, tricks, comments, suggestions and camaraderie.