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Free Vector Brushes: download is a must!

Published September 18, 2008 Graphic Design , Inspiration , Tutorials 4 Comments

Two of my most favorite things are patterns and free stuff. Thankfully Mel sent me a link to this awesome blog/tutorial called Colorburned, with tons of free vector patterns.. I’m about to go mental.

Here are a few examples:

the most retro line illustrator brushes ever!,

50 ridiculous retro-style broken line illustrator brushes,

50 killer retro starburst brushes,

105 stunning retro tech-shaped illustrator brush,

104 incredible retro-style pixelated illustrator brushes

Hit up his freebies page to download more cool pics, swatches and vectors here.

I’d love to check out some art that you created with these brushes! Enjoy!!!

-michelle

Make a Mesh with Illustrator

Published September 9, 2008 Graphic Design , Tutorials 2 Comments
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So I was randomly searching for some mesh textures online and found this great blog post called, “Illustrator Make with Mesh” on Veerle’s blog. There are all of these little tricks about illustrator I never learned and Veerle has a ton of tutorials for the eager designer.

First:

#1. Create 4 lines using the rectangle tool

#2 Add color, reference Kuler for some killer swatch options. I used “Greenpeace Greenlife”

#3 Make a Mesh: select all lines and click Object> envelope. I used 4 columns and 2 rows. Pull and twist the anchor points with the Direct Selection Tool (A).

Before (left) After (right)

#4 Overlay Color Effect: I duplicated the layer with the mesh on top of my original mesh (ctrl+f, for a direct paste on top). Click the layer target circle icon in the Layers palette and change the layer mode to Overlay in the Transparency palette. Move the overlay layer until you reach desired effect.

#5 Play around with different effects. I used the warp option and added text by drawing a line with the pen tool and selected the Type on a Path tool to create curved text.

To see more detailed instructions, visit Veerle and all of her tutorials.

-michelle

How To: prep images for screen printing

Published August 27, 2008 Art , Graphic Design , Tutorials 3 Comments
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Great for anyone interested in the screen-printing business and especially our Collar Free designers.

1. Always use your original photograph or artwork (it’s not cool to steal other people’s work)
2. Don’t place rasterized images in your illustrator files; work in photoshop or illustrator
3. If using images, please make sure they are at least 300 dpi.

Lets start with photoshop:

Option 1: Posterize

We took a picture of Mel in color and changed the setting to grayscale (image>mode>grayscale)

Then we put a halftone filter on it (filter>sketch>halftone pattern)

This is NOT a printable image

Color separation on a halftone image is a difficult and long process, but we can limit the number of colors using the posterize effect. (image>adjustments>posterize).

This is a printable image

This is also another way to posterize:

(image>adjustments>channel mixer: to adjust the color) then (image>adjustment>posterize) no more than 4 levels

Option 2: Threshold

Threshold is an easy and fun way to make your images print ready (image>adjustments>threshold). You can easily change and select color by using the color range tool (select>color range). Once you are in that mode use the eyedropper to select the desired color and fill in with a brush, paintbucket or cut and copy to new layer.

Option 3: Livetrace (Illustrator)

Import the photo into Illustrator. (object>live trace>tracing options).

These are the levels used here. Don’t use more than 6 colors. Play, experiment and surprise us with your design.

Please Note:

Try and separate your colors into separate layers. Use the color range tool (select>color range). It’s amazing! Use the eyedropper to make your selection by color. Cut (ctrl x) and paste (ctrl v) each color into a new layer. This process is not required but we want to inform you about the prep work we do before we send the art out for production. These techniques will give you a better understanding of the screen-printing industry and makes our job more efficient.

We know everyone is not familiar working with screen-printing and we will be posting more about this industry next week. If this helped and you would like to see more tutorials in the future give us a holla or comment back.  If you have specific questions email us at: mel@collarfree.com or michelle@collarfree.com We’re here to help :)

-mel & michelle

15 Mistakes made by Designers

Published August 12, 2008 Graphic Design , Tutorials Leave a Comment
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So I just found an awesome article on GoMediazine that cover “awful mistakes made by designers in the music and apparel industry.” This is 2 of a 3 part series that is great reminder to designers of all levels.

Check out Number 7:

“You’ve always heard that communication is key. Young designers and even experienced ones lose jobs because they don’t follow directions or listen to what the client really wants.”

(This is a great image highlighting common problems we run into as designers. Click to read full article.)

There is that saying that “the customer is always right,” which can be frustrating in design. Some clients give more room for artistic freedom than others, but clearly understanding what they want before you spend hours on layout that YOU think is beautiful- helps a lot. We all know that some clients don’t really know what they want. All they know is they DON’T want what you created after 3 weeks of mock-ups and meetings. Love it. Just remember, communication is the key to success.

I also like Number 8:

Not utilizing the medium to it’s fullest.”

Here they were referring to different parts of the design and creating new ways to display things. “There is more to packaging than just graphics.” Sometimes you need to get off of that chair and down on the floor with some paint, paper and glue. I’m a painter and after staring at a computer screen all day I really need to unwind with a canvas. I think experimenting with mixed media– no not like Photoshop and Illustrator- like paper and paint -really let’s you use those same principles of layering and textures which you can then use in your graphic arts. I try to use the computer as a tool to express ideas that came from my arm and pencil. Even if you’re not into fine art, give it a try!

Check out the complete artile at GoMediazine for more info on common mistakes so YOU don’t make them! :)

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