30 Poster Design Tutorials

30 Poster Design Tutorials

Found at http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1zSf82/vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/poster-tutorials/

30 Poster Design Tutorials for Photoshop

Published September 14th, 2011 in Design
Photoshop allows designers to create amazing posters that can be used for a variety or purposes like movie promos, product promos, event promos, as well as just for fun and practice. There are a lot of quality tutorials out there that teach the process of designing a poster in Photoshop. In this post we’ll feature 30 poster tutorials from a variety of different designers. In this collection you should find at least a few tutorials that teach something that could be helpful in your own work.
Create a Vibrant Space-Themed Poster in Photoshop
Create a Vibrant Space-Themed Poster in Photoshop
Design a Professional Wildlife TV Show Poster
Design a Professional Wildlife TV Show Poster
Create a Professional Romantic Comedy Film Poster in Photoshop
Create a Professional Romantic Comedy Film Poster in Photoshop
Make a Vintage Planetary Landscape Poster in Photoshop
Make a Vintage Planetary Landscape Poster in Photoshop
Create a Dramatic Western Style Movie Poster in Photoshop
Create a Dramatic Western Style Movie Poster in Photoshop
Make a Retro Space Themed Poster in Photoshop
Make a Retro Space Themed Poster in Photoshop
Create a Stylish Retro Futuristic Poster in Photoshop
Create a Stylish Retro Futuristic Poster in Photoshop
Combine Stock Photography to Create an Abstract Poster Layout
Combine Stock Photography to Create an Abstract Poster Layout
Inception Poster with Repousse in Photoshop CS5
Inception Poster with Repousse in Photoshop CS5
Create a Rockin’ Grungy Poster in Photoshop
Create a Rockin' Grungy Poster in Photoshop
Design a Classic Serif Poster
Design a Classic Serif Poster
How to Design a 1980′s Movie Poster in Photoshop
How to Design a 1980's Movie Poster in Photoshop
Create a Vintage Memorabilia Poster
Create a Vintage Memorabilia Poster
How to Make a Funky Retro Music Poster in Photoshop
How to Make a Funky Retro Music Poster in Photoshop
Create a Refreshing Beer Themed Poster Design in Photoshop
Create a Refreshing Beer Themed Poster Design in Photoshop
How to Create a Medieval Movie Poster in Photoshop
How to Create a Medieval Movie Poster in Photoshop
Create a Black Swan Inspired Movie Poster
Create a Black Swan Inspired Movie Poster
Dark Knight Rises Poster in Photoshop
Dark Knight Rises Poster in Photoshop
Design a Retro Typography Poster in Photoshop
Design a Retro Typography Poster in Photoshop
AfterLife – Abstract Tutorial
AfterLife - Abstract Tutorial
Make a Superhero Movie Teaser Poster
Make a Superhero Movie Teaser Poster
Design the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie Poster
Design the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie Poster
Design a Grunge Vintage Poster in Photoshop
Design a Grunge Vintage Poster in Photoshop
Design a Creative Retro Poster
Design a Creative Retro Poster
Create a Vintage Steam Locomotive Poster in Photoshop
Create a Vintage Steam Locomotive Poster in Photoshop
Create a Fun Horror Movie Poster Design in Photoshop
Create a Fun Horror Movie Poster Design in Photoshop
Design a Space-Themed Poster in Photoshop
Design a Space-Themed Poster in Photoshop
Create a Remarkable Poster with Decorative Elements
Create a Remarkable Poster with Decorative Elements
How to Make a High-Impact Fashion Poster in Photoshop
How to Make a High-Impact Fashion Poster in Photoshop
How to Create an Intense Movie Poster in Photoshop
How to Create an Intense Movie Poster in Photoshop
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50 Beautiful and Effective Package Designs

Found at http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1LfFSP/www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/50-beautiful-and-effective-package-designs/
When choosing one product over another, the design of the packaging probably influences your decision far more than you realize.
Effective packaging design breaks away from the standard rules and conventions that we are accustomed to, giving the product a unique edge to stand out from the rest.
The packaging should appeal to your target market. It’s also vital to ensure that you’re conveying the necessary information about the contents and quality of the product, while triggering the desired emotion in your customer.
Here are 50 beautifully designed packages that you can draw inspiration from.






























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Which ones are your favorites? How does package design influence your decision on a product? Please share your comments with us!
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Creating a Graphic Design PDF Portfolio

These days, it seems like every designer has a website to showcase their work. While online portfolios certainly are effective, they are expensive to develop, require technical knowledge, and can be extremely time consuming to create and maintain. Additionally, they are not always the best option to showcase print work, and they may display differently from browser to browser and computer to computer.
An excellent alternative is a graphic design PDF portfolio. Many graphic software programs, such as InDesign and Illustrator, have the option of exporting a design as a PDF. This allows the designer to create a custom brochure-style piece showcasing their best work, which can be emailed to prospective clients or employers.

Selecting Work

As with any portfolio, perhaps the most important decision is what design work to include. Think about what types of projects you are looking for. If you have a specific focus, such as book design, select your best work in that area. If you are early in your career and don’t have a focus (or don’t want one), choose your best work across the board. It is ok if you only have design school projects or personal projects to showcase. The work itself, and not necessarily a client or publication name, can impress just as well. However, if you do have some “real-world” design experience you are proud of, include that as part of your portfolio.
Remember that the goal here is not to show everything you have ever done. Stick with a “less is more” philosophy, choosing a small selection of your favorite work. Each piece should serve a purpose, showcasing a particular style, technique or industry.

Content to Include

Before getting into the design, create an outline of what to include in your PDF portfolio. For each piece of design you have chosen, consider adding:
  • Client name and industry
  • A project description
  • Your role in the project, such as designer or art director
  • Where the work appeared
  • Any awards, publications or recognition related to the project
Along with the project features, the portfolio can include:
  • A cover letter, bio, mission statement or other background information
  • Contact information
  • Client or industry list
  • Services offered by the designer or firm
Consider hiring or teaming up with a professional writer to help prepare your content, as it will be the voice of your portfolio. If you need your pieces photographed, also consider a professional. Once you have prepared the content, it is time to move on to the design phase.

The Design

Treat the design like you would any project for a client. Come up with several designs and tweak them until you are happy with the result. Create a consistent layout and style throughout. Using the grid system may be helpful here. Remember that the design of the PDF itself is just as much a showcase of your talent as the work within it.
You can use your favorite graphics software to create the initial design, and turn it into a PDF later. InDesign and Quark are great options for creating a multi-page layout, and Illustrator would work well for graphic and text-heavy freeform layouts. Think of the flow of content…start with a quick overview, and then go into project examples with all of the content you came up with earlier. Try using several images per project, and be sure your contact info is very easy to find.

Creating the PDF

Once your design is complete, you can export it to PDF out of many programs. Be sure to save the original file so you can add and edit projects later. One thing to think about here is file size, as you will be emailing this often. Play around with the compression options in your software until you reach a happy medium between quality and file size. You can also use Adobe Acrobat Professional to piece together several pages of design (in many formats) and to reduce the size of the final PDF.

Using the PDF

Now that you have a portfolio in PDF format, use it! Potential employers and clients will want to see your work and you can email the PDF directly to them, skipping the need for them to visit a website. Since it is a standard supported file format, you don’t need to worry about people not being able to view it. You can also print the PDF and bring it to meetings, especially when you won’t have computer access. As long as you keep it up-to-date with your strongest work, a graphic design PDF portfolio is sure to be a powerful marketing tool for your design business and goals.

Found at:  http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/buildingaportfolio/a/pdf_portfolio.htm
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16 Tips to Improve as a Graphic Designer

Tips to improve as a graphic designer
Graphic design is a field that is quickly changing, both creatively and technically, and while it is easy to get caught up in learning new technical skills, it is just as important to focus improving and pushing the limits of our creativity.
While in design school, it was easy to surround myself with inspiration and engage in activities that helped my understanding of effective design. Once I graduated I feared losing it, since I was no longer surrounded by a learning environment. I made it a point to continue educating myself as much as possible and become more active in the field of design. I was determined not to let my designs grow stagnant, but rather transgress and improve with time. Here are a few tips, exercises and practices that have help me continue learning, strengthen creativity and become an all around better designer.
Become a collector.  Each time you see a design that inspires you, collect it, bring it home and file it away. I have hundreds of brochures, posters and other collateral that I have collected over the years that is stacked away in folders and boxes that I can quickly access – great source of inspiration when needed. Even Starbucks gives out creative weekly mini-newspapers.
Buy books.  Having an extensive book collection is always essential to learning. I try buying a new book at least every 2 weeks that range from inspirational, educational and technical topics.
Read design-related blogs.  I can’t stress enough how much information I have learned by reading other great designers blogs. The web in an invaluable resource of information – take advantage of it and actually use it!
Start a design blog. Having started this blog only a couple months ago, I have found it to be extremely useful and educational for myself. It has made me more aware of the design community and more analytical of my own work.
Join and be active in the design community.  As a freelance designer, joining the online design community is a must. Not only does it keep you up-to-date in the design world, but is also great for feedback and critique. Being your own boss is great, but not having anyone to answer to as a freelancer also has it’s down sides. No one to criticize your work and help you improve.
Take lots of photos.  Solves the problem of not being able to take home designs you like – Camera phones are great for this kind of thing. Just snap a photo and file it away for later. I use Evernote for this type of thing; pictures of building designs, textures, shapes of shadows on walls. Basically anything that interests me from a design stand point.
Create fake projects.  Whenever I find myself with free time (which is getting less and less lately) I create fake projects. Create a fake brand for a company. Design a logo, stationary, brochure, website – the whole nine yards. It’s good to do this once in awhile because it keeps design fun and let’s your creativity run wild without limitations. It’s often easy to get caught in a rut when clients start dictating and your work no longer becomes “yours”.
Redo other people’s design.  Don’t want to create a fake brand to design? Try redesigning other people’s projects. This help’s you evaluate what “they” did wrong and what you could do better.
Redo your old designs.  I know what it feels like to look at your early days of design and think “Oh my! What was I thinking?! I need to get rid of that immediately”, but is important to keep that work. It will help you see if you’re moving forward and improving your skills. Instead of throwing away or deleting old projects, try reworking them.
Attend lectures.  Every few months I make it a point to attend lectures of other designers speaking at local schools and universities. Always learn a new thing or two.
Network with other designers.  Attending lectures is a great way to meet other designers. I always try to search out the designers that have more experience and talent than I do. I know – it’s hard to admit someone else is better than you, but networking with people of higher skill levels will push you to work harder and learn more.
Take classes.  Many local college allow you to register for classes without enrolling full-time. It will not only teach you some new things technically, but also put you back in a classroom of your peers.
Interview other designers and studios.  A year ago, a friend of mine, started a ‘national studio tour‘ where he toured and interviewed with over 100 different design studios. He said the experience was amazing and learned so much by asking questions that design school could have never answered. He also met a valuable useful contacts ;)
Travel.  Every time I travel to another country, I come back feeling extremely inspired. I usually find myself designing all day for a few weeks straight. Experiencing new cultures and seeing their artwork, opens your mind to a whole new world. Just wish I could travel more!
Learn something new.  Whenever I am in a creative slump I try something new or do something completely unrelated to design. Getting your mind off things and into something new, usually has a funny way of working itself back around.
Grab a sketchbook.  Helps you work through ideas quickly and without limitations of design software. Has made a HUGE difference in my designs. See what other designer’s say about the importance of sketching here and here.
Found at:  http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2008/11/16-tips-to-improve-as-a-graphic-designer/