Vector Logos vs. Bitmap Logos

Vector graphic, for those of you who didn’t know, are the graphics you create in programs like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, etc. This is in my option the best way to make a logo, due to many factors.

The thing about a vector graphic, or being the logo, is that it will never pixelate. This is ideal if you want to use the logo for bigger things like putting your logo on a bill board. Also for a designers point it is easier to modify and make changes to a vector graphic, if the client has a change of mind with colour or wants a modification done to the graphic.

If the logo had to be made as a bitmap image, it would be like a photo, but in the way you just thought. For example, when you have a photo on your computer and you zoom in quite a bit, the picture/photo get blocky, or pixelated. This isn’t good if all of a sudden you need the logo to be bigger and if you do it anyway, it will look unprofessional.

With all the new tools for vector graphic, there’s no real reason not to use vector instead of bitmap graphic logo, but so important in the long run. 

3D Graffiti

Graffiti has always been a way for people to express themselves in a creative and open why.  this culture has expanded to something extremely beautiful.

If you have look on the internet lately or even if you are lucky enough to have it in your area you will discover that graffiti artists have taken a whole new outlook on graffiti. They have turn simple pictures sprayed on a wall into a 3D picture that looks like the real thing.

It is amazing to see what some artists are able to do on the side of the road and on walk ways and even walls. They manage to take a flat surface and create such a work of art that it looks real and that it is no longer a wall but a work of art that makes you feel like you can walk around it.

There is the traditional signage that they have made 3d, were it looks like it is coming out of the wall. Or they have created a background that makes it look like its somewhere else or surrounded by something.

Then my favourite and the most unbelievable works of art are pictures of nature, pictures like a water fall, with water streaming down the sides of a road and down into a waterfall. Then there’s pictures of man made things, like a vault that is filled with items that look like you could just take them out.

Some artists have even made scenes out of our everyday lives, such as a person taking a swim in their pool.

They have also created fantasy pictures such as creatures breaking through the floor and coming out.

The best one i have seen though is of a model yacht sitting in a painted pothole floating in water.

This just shows you that technology is not the only thing that is getting better and advancing. Graffiti artists are starting to explore new and wonderful paths of creativity.

10 things not to do when creating a website

When it comes to designing a web site there are certain steps that you follow and certain steps that you avoid. Some designers just can’t get around some of the “steps” that you must not do.

Sometimes though it can’t be avoided but other times it can. What I hope to accomplish now is to try and enlighten you on the things that should really be done on a website, mainly the top 10 things you shouldn’t do on a website.

The first thing that comes to mind is the resizing of the user’s browser window. Although this can be helpful, most people find it irritating and sometimes it might even confuse them. It just better to leave the browser window the standard size, something the user is use too.

Next on the list is not having your homepage automatically load. By this I mean asking the user if they want to go to the flash home page with all the cool animations or if they want to go to the basic html version of the homepage that has little or no animations. I know you are trying to cater for high and low speed internet but this is your site and you must just pick one, flash or html. What you can do is just add a skip button on the flash that loads as the homepage.

For number 3 we to websites that are created only with flash. While this is an interesting design it seldom works. It seldom works for one very big reason, flash take a while to load especially if you have a whole web site inside it.

The next thing that some people struggle with is making your website work over all the browsers. Not everyone uses the same browser. You must cater for everyone.

 The next thing you should do should strike a nerve with everyone that uses the internet, the dreaded pop-ups. This is a huge no-no. There is no reason for a pop-up, all advertising and questions should be on the web site itself.

Another important thing to remember is the navigation of your site. Don’t use pictures to take the user somewhere. It is quicker to read text than it is to look at a picture to take you to a different part of the site.

Unless you have a forum or your site is a search engine itself, there is no reason to have a search engine in your site to find information that is somewhere in your site. A well structured and thought out site will keep them coming back.

Another thing you don’t want to do is to try and lead the user to the message of your website. What I mean by that is if you have 10 pictures for example of products and the one the user wants is number 5, you don’t want the user to have to go through all of the other items just to get to the one they want. A table of contents or a previous/next button or even thumbnails will do the trick.

If you are going to be using video for your website, make sure that it doesn’t start when the page loads. Some users have a limited amount of internet usage and they might not want to waste it on a video. The same thing goes for music.

The last thing that you shouldn’t do on a website is just use pictures. When your sire is listed in the search engine, the search engine will index certain text in the website, not pictures.

If you follow these simple guidelines you should end up with a functional site and happy users.

Best Website Tips

This website is one of the best that we have seen with, good clean tips for creating websites. The content is good it’s fresh. The descriptions along with images are inspiring to say the least. They talk about using vivid colour, and how to use them correctly. They show you to use Gradients and lighting, transparency, grunge, hand-drawn designs, watercolour effects and so how more. The only way for you to see what we mean is to go see for yourself. The amount you could learn from just going through a few would be so beneficial.

Visit Noupe where you will find all the best tips for web creation and design.

Frames are a not

The worst website ever, as the title is give, is a prime example of what not to do on a website. http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/ The website is so badly done that even in the top banner it says The World’s Worst Website. The website was done using frames which is no longer a good way to create a website. This is because there are easier ways of creating the same effect with div that are easier to control and don’t have a 90’s feel to it. Also a div loads faster than frames or even faster than tables. It also has the most unpleasant colour scheme, with the bright yellow, dark red and green font and the orange with spots. The site was creating to show how a website should never look like. It also has links on the side bar to show you more of the sites that are not very good, or sites describing how frames are not to be used anymore.

Easy 3D Tutorials

Nice and easy 3D tutorials on CGArena. This website has it all 3Ds Max, Photoshop, Maya, After Effects, Softimage, ZBrush, Mudbox and more. The great thing about websites like this one is that you don’t have to go very far to be able to find what you’re looking for. The website is also very easy to navigate and everything is in plain sight.

There are a lot of good tutorials out there and let’s be honest a lot of them are difficult to understand and follow, and you get stuck half way through. Don’t worry the website we are about to talk about today is easy to follow.

One of the many great examples on the website is the ZBrush Rough Wood Planks. The steps are easy to follow, with step by step instructions and images just to make sure your still n the right track. The site is useful even for those just starting out with these programs they are just that easy to follow. And if you go look at their website, you can then see for yourself that the end result is well worth the tutorial.

But you must always remember with a tutorial that when you’ve done the tutorial, and this goes for all tutorials unless they say otherwise, change the end result by incorporating your own ideas, thus then making it your work, and you’re not copying something you learnt step by step.

Think about it this way if you want to so your work for a job chances are they’ve seen these tutorials and you’ll look like a lazy person who likes to copy other people work.

3D Models... Free Downloading Site

All of us 3D fanatics love a good place to download free 3D content and it is very difficult to come by a good site that allows you to download this content. As well, not everyone likes to model and prefers to do things like texture, rig or animate.

Even we, here at Artificial Brilliance, enjoy it. It gives us a chance to see the work in a very personal way that a plan rendered out image can’t show. It gives us an idea on the level of skill curtain pieces have. Even we can learn new things from some of the beautiful 3D models that people have created.

3D Xtras, http://www.3dxtras.com/index.asp, have a very wide selection of free 3D models, most of which have a rating on them and how many have been downloaded. This can give you an indication of how good they are, but the proof is in the pudding. What might not be so good to some is exactly what someone else was looking for.

You have to have an account with them, but signing up is so easy. Username, Email and Password are the required information. The best way to sign up, is a quick way.

On the website, they have model of the week and the top 10 Uploaders.

Go check them out and let us know what you think of them.