The 10 | Kerri N


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Photobucket be damned!

I know I've been slacking on the blog lately but readers you must realize - I'm a student and laziness is part of the job. At any rate, I've found a few useful and all around freakin' sweet resources that I'd like to present to you guys. Always remember: Unless stated otherwise, all of the recourses I present are free because I'm broke and according to economical statistics so are you. Without further filler text here we go:



CARBONMADE




Carbonmade is the ultimate in free online art portfolios. The portfolios themselves are ad-free and very well stylized, so you're well presented until you can get your own web site. The only reason why I say it's a good temporary solution as opposed to a permanent one is because there are limitations in regards to how much you can present. As a free user you can have up to 5 categories with 35 images hosted, but if you're a newbie designer that should be more than enough. They also have a Whoo! (I love that) account you can upgrade to that gives you a whole lot more. For those just skimming the place here's the general deal:


    FREE
  • Cool display options

  • Five categories

  • Up to 35 images in those categories

  • Your portfolio is ad-free





    WHOO!
  • It's 12 bucks a month

  • You can have up to 50 categories

  • Up to 500 high-resolution images

  • 10 high quality videos

  • Your portfolio is of course ad-free





FILE DEN




File Den is presently the coolest thing sense canned bread (wait....) in my arsenal of artsy weapons because not only is it completely free but you can also store damn near any file type known to man. The ads are minimal, the site is simple, and the navigation won't make you want to kill a guy quite as much. Let's go over a few things:


  • It's FREE

  • It's easy to use

  • Hotlinking is encouraged

  • 1GB storage space

  • 50MG file size limit

  • 5GB monthly bandwidth





ACE PROJECT





Alright I admit it: the navigation of Ace Project made me want to chunk my precious laptop into the woods. Not because Ace Project sucks and I want it to die, but because there are waaay too many options to select when organizing a project on this site. Ace Project is a web-based project management program that helps aid in the prevention of flaking out on your occupational responsibilities as a designer. The system is actually pretty innovative but when it comes down to it, I think It's mainly used by accountants and other people with a whole lotta tedious stuff going on. Why do I recommend it? Well, because I use it myself and find it to be highly productive in the hands of your average ADD artist (and there are a lot of us). Besides, there is a check box when creating a project that grants you the service of filling in the default options for you. Here are a few of the many specifics:


  • Multiple project management

  • Task reminders

  • Multi-user

  • Job assignment

  • and other stuff like that





FORUMER





For those of us who couldn't give two shits (yes, I speak French) about a domain name and just want a freakin' forum for...I dunno...things of a forumy nature, there is Forumer. Forumer is free just like everything else, only there will be Google ads on your forum unless you're willing to toss them two bucks a month for the removal of said ads. Also, you can only have one forum, unless you do what I do and create like twenty accounts. Look it:


  • phpBB2: Choosing this type of forum will limit you in terms of customization, but they and I alike recommend creating a phpBB forum if you are unfamiliar with the anatomy and design of this sort of thing.

  • IPB: This is the forum type I chose to use for a few reasons; the main one being so I could customize to little black heart's content. This is not recommended for those unfamiliar with html, css and other codes of that nature.




Well there you have it. I hope you can find these sites and services useful in some way, both normal and to declare your love for your goat/girlfriend. Hey, I don't judge...

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Saturday, November 17, 2007

Photoshop Brushes | Installment 01

After little anticipation here are links to what I consider some of the best sites for acquiring free and royalty-free Photoshop Brushes. Just so you know I measure resource quality based on how easy it is to get what you need, how safe it is, and how not crappy the navigation and functionality of the site is. Here they are:



  • PSBrushes.net - I came here to investigate and got distracted for about half an hour. Good stuff.

  • Deviantart.com Brushes - Click on the icon and you'll be tken to a page where you can download.

  • Brusheezy.com - What they lack in quantity is made up for in quality. They have a lot of unique brushes you'll likely only find there.

  • Tutorialblog.org : PS brushes - The page takes a sec to load but it's worth it. All brushes are unique, but you have to acquire them from linked sites. The pro side is you find cool artists by navigating. The con side is you have to navigate.

  • Getbrushes.com - Navigation sucks but some things in life you just gotta work for.

  • Photoshop Roadmap.com - Another third party gettin' place, but the gettin' seems pretty good. Mind the ads.


Well there you have it. Use good judgment with third party downloads and always, ALWAYS avoid .exe files.

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Thursday, November 15, 2007

Font Resources

A good graphic designer is nothing without their fonts, and that among other reasons (boredom) is why I am linking you to some of the best places to find free and awesome fonts at your disposal.


Check out:



  • Dafont.com is presently my favorite font site because they offer a wide variety of fonts without a ton of mind-numbing ads.

  • 1001freefonts.com is probably the best known, but when downloading be careful of the word 'shareware'

  • Searchfreefonts.com is not only vast in selection but the site is quite shiny


Be wary of:



  • Urbanfonts.com - The popup windows give away a potentially malevolent purpose and when downloaded the zip files contain unidentifiable files.

  • Fontface.com - The file download format is .exe (execute) and unless you're ballsy you don't want to take a chance on what it might do

  • In fact be wary of ANY files that download as a .exe file format. If you want a virus that's hansdown the easiest way to get one


Well there you have it. Happy hunting and remember: always be wary the .exe!

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