CreativeNews: Weekly Newsletter

Editor’s Corner: Get Personal

When you were a kid, you probably doodled on the covers of your school notebooks to personalize them. Mine were so heavily covered in sketches that the ink rubbed off on my hands.

Today’s high-tech equivalents are custom skins you design for your laptop, mobile phone, and MP3 player. A slew of Web sites offer this service. You could tweak the canned images on these sites, but c’mon -- you’re a creative professional! It’s much more fun to upload your own images and text.

Here are two MacBook Pro skins I mocked-up on UniqueSkins.com:

I may order one eventually, but right now I’m having too much fun just playing with the possibilities. Give it a whirl yourself, then post your electronic device skins (real or mock-ups) in the forum thread ”Show Some Skins."

Terri Stone - Editor in Chief

Create HDR Images in Photoshop

High dynamic range imaging is one of the hottest trends in photography. Colin Smith shows you how to shoot, merge, and tone-map photos to produce those eye-catching results so in demand right now.

Related Reading: If you enjoy out-of-the-ordinary photography, read this article.

Check out these Jules Verne/Jonathan Ive Mashups

Talk about personalizing your electronics! Steampunk brings Victorian fantasy to the digital era with stunning results. Gene Gable takes you on a tour of the movement’s creations.

Related Reading: Gene Gable also researched another kind of old-school self-expression.

Slim Down Your PDFs

Donna Baker’s tips will shrink a PDF's file size and make it display faster.

Related Reading: Go here for all things Acrobat.

Spot OpenType Fonts Fast

Ilene Strizver explains how to tell whether a font is OpenType without leaving your page-layout app.

Related Reading: Wondering about the OpenType format?

Cut through Advertising Clutter with Archetypes

Advertising has changed a lot over the decades. What started as "Here's the product, now buy it!" ads in the 1950s have turned into "Here's a feeling, now feel it!" ads, in which products appear as personalities, metaphors, and emotions. Psychological theory can help you tap into archetypes that appeal to people at these deeper levels.

Related Reading: Do you need to better understand your client or product before you can understand the relevant archetypes?

News from the Past Week

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of May 12, 2008
http://www.creativepro.com/blog/get-creative-video-news-week-may-12-2008

Eye-Fi Unveils New Family of Products
http://www.creativepro.com/article/eye-fi-unveils-new-family-products

Call for Entry: HOW Magazine's Interactive Design Awards
http://www.creativepro.com/article/entry-how-magazines-design-awards

The Stock Artists Alliance Speaks Up About Orphan Works
http://www.creativepro.com/article/the-stock-artists-about-orphan-works

Illustration Conference ICON5 to Be In New York this Summer
http://www.creativepro.com/article/illustration-conference-new-york-summer

Wacky Web Site of the Week

How many TV theme songs can you name? My best score is 754. Post your best at www.creativepro.com

http://www.creativepro.com/article/creativeprose-wacky-web-site-week-archive

May 13, 2008 Volume 9 Issue 20

		Editor's Corner: Get Personal Create HDR Images in Photoshop Check out these Jules Verne/Jonathan Ive Mashups Slim Down Your PDFs Spot OpenType Fonts Fast News from the Past Week


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