Russell Jack Web Design

more light streaks

russell — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:03:09 +0000

i guess i’m on a light streaks kick lately, because it’s all i do. this time i added a noisy, vintage feel. i think it turned out quite nicely.

“HEALTH WEALTH HAPPINESS” has kinda become a personal mantra of mine – i hope it inspires you, too.

i’m thinking of doing a tutorial tomorrow on how i achieve this effect. it’s pretty easy…

Wallpaper #001

russell — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:01:31 +0000

experimenting with light effects. this is 1600 x 1050 (for my macbook pro). learned the “RGB light effects” for the 2010 in a tutorial by Abduzeedo.

Quote is from Dale Carnegie – love his books.

Happy 2010!

iPhone Wallpaper #001

russell — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:40:52 +0000

I’ve been playing with the font “Gotham” lately. You’ve probably seen it around – the Obama campaign used it, SNL uses it in their logo and branding, it’s everywhere. Anyway – here’s something festive:

On another note – I’ve noticed on my iPhone that I really only see the wallpaper right before I unlock the phone. Consequently, the time and “slide to unlock” are always visible. So here’s what it looks like with those elements.

I created a template for future iPhone wallpaper projects, and you can feel free to use it to design iPhone wallpapers.

Download your iPhone Wallpaper Template.

Design Something Every Day

russell — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:01:24 +0000

Smashing Magazine had an inspiring post today about designing something every day. It got me thinking – there are a lot of projects I want to do. How many of us subscribe to dozens (or hundreds) of blogs, and see great work, but never make the time to create any of our own? No more!!

Challenge Accepted

I am going to accept this “challenge” from Smashing, and do it. It may not be every day (and not everything may be awesome), but I am going to do it, and post it. So expect more activity!! Starting with an actual design for this site!

3 Examples of Proper Shadow Use

russell — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:40:15 +0000

drop shadows are so easy to implement that it makes me cringe when i see someone who has done a poor job. give it a bit more thought than just hitting the “drop shadow” button in photoshop. honestly, the default setting is WRONG for most applications.

my philosophy is subtlety in design. drop shadows, when used correctly, can give good contrast to their object. it can give it that “pop” that our clients are always asking for (and have no idea what that actually means). however, the object should be the main focus, and not the shadow.

here are 3 ways to subtly implement shadows (click for expanded view):

1 – Subtle Accent. bring the distance way down – maybe 1 or 2 depending on the application. sometimes more is appropriate. use your brain, don’t be a robot – there is no magic number that is always right. you may also have to bring the size down – sometimes 3px or 4px looks better than 5px.

2 – The Float. the shadow that creates the floating object. just blur a black elipse.

3 – The Raised Edges. i’ve started seeing this one more, and i think it’s kinda classy. create your drop shadow, then right click the “fx” on the layer (the styles), and select “create layers.” this will separate the shadow from the object. then transform, warp, arc 10%. move the shadow down a bit, and you’ve got it. for a variation, try the arc at -10%. it gives you that “bulge” look, like it’s coming off the page.

here’s my source file, so you can see my styles directly. included are some text treatments that follow current web design trends.

Creating Web Buttons in Photoshop CS4

russell — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:51:29 +0000

Vandelay posted a gallery of web buttons the other day. I liked quite a few of them. i picked my 4 favorites, and went about re-creating them in photoshop cs4. here’s the result (click for expanded view):

feel free to download my source file so you can see how i did it.

i know this is just one of many approaches you can take to creating these web buttons. if anyone has any other ideas, feel free to leave a comment.