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Well it looks like those reports of the $199 pricing were indeed accurate, or at least partially. The now lower price will simply be a set price and there will not be a subsidy, which is actually better news than we were hoping for.

The newly announced 8GB iPhone 3G will be selling for just $199, with the larger 16GB model selling for $299. Steve Jobs also announced a new color, white, which will be available only for the 16GB model.

The iPhone 3G will be including many of the features that we have been asking for, notably included is assisted-GPS, full support for third party applications, Exchange Support and an improved battery life. The new battery will offer users up to 10 hours of 2G talk time, 5 hours of 3G talk time, 300 hours on standby, 24 hours of audio playback and 7 hours of video playback.

Other improvements and additions to the iPhone 3G will be improved audio quality, a flush headphone jack as well as solid metal buttons. Aside from the white backing on the 16GB model, both models will be sporting a sleeker overall look being thinner at the edges. The backside, both on the white and black models will be full plastic, which is claiming to offer improved reception.

Also, which comes as a given based on the new iPhone 3G name will be the included support for 3G, which is reported to be 3.6 times faster than the current EDGE network. Steve Jobs also proudly claimed that the pageloads are 36% faster than the Treo 750 and Nokia N95.

The Phone 3G will be available in Apple and AT&T retail stores beginning on July 11.

source: http://www.iphonefreak.com

Second Generation iPhone - 3G iPhone at WWDC 2008 | iPhonefreak

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Apple Sends Boxes: Not to Be Opened Until June 10th (Australia) | iPhonefreak

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Have you been working hard? Well, it is time to take a break and be inspired. Carsonified is hosting a party (actually, it is an event called Future of Web Apps) at South Beach, Miami. The event will take place between Feb 28^th — Mar 1^st. There will be workshops, conference, and beach party (yes, beer and volleyball on the beach!). Some of my favorite speakers include: Kevin Rose from Digg, Erick Schonfeld from TechCrunch, and Matt Mullenweg from Wordpress. For more details, visit their website FutureOfWebApps.com (designed by Elliot Jay Stocks).

by http://www.webdesignerwall.com

Someone emailed me and asked how did I do the illustration background on Next2Friends. It inspired me to write this article. He asked "Did I do it in Photoshop or Illustrator?" Well, it is a mixture of both. First I created the artwork in Illustrator, then polished it in Photoshop. Here I will unveil all my secret techniques. This tutorial includes 9 Photoshop techniques that will show you how to add more depth, color, contrast, and texture into your vector art.

Why do I need to polish the vector art?

Vector artworks are usually very flat, dull, and lack visual effects due to software limitations; thus they look very boring. Unless you want that "flat and dull" appearance, otherwise you should polish your vector in Photoshop. By polishing vector art, you can: make the color more vivid, bring up the contrast, texturize the artwork, and add more life and depth to the image. Here are some of my work samples (before and after polish).

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Technique 1: Lens Flare Effect

First technique, let’s start with one of my recent work on Next2Friends. I will show you how to create a stunning lens flare effect in two simple steps.

I assume you have the vector artwork ready and you want to add a lens flare layer on top. First create a new layer on top and fill it with black color. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare. Then, set the layer’s blending mode to Screen. Done. Isn’t that nice and easy?

If you want the lens flare to focus on specify area only, you can delete the unwanted area. Make a circle selection, feather the selection (Cmd + Opt + D) by 10 to 20px, inverse selection (Cmd + Shift + i), and hit Delete key.

Sometime just the Lens Flare filter alone is not good enough. You can make it even better by manually adding more colorful circles and glows.

Technique 2: Colorful and Dusty Effect

This is one of my common styles that can be found in most of my design work. Again, it is very easy. It can be done in two easy steps.

Use the Radial Gradient tool, randomly draw some soft edge glows on a layer and set the layer blending mode to Dissolve.

Repeat this step and create different color overlapping layers. Try to use bright colors such as yellow, megenta and cyan. Tips: you can control the dissolve level by adjusting the layer Opacity.

Technique 3: Rainbow

If you ever wondered how I did the rainbow effect on my Phoenix illustration (currently displaying on N.Design Studio). It is done by a Photoshop plugin, Polar Coordinates.

Create a new square dimension file (ie. 800 x 800px). Make a spectrum gradation in the middle of the document using the Gradient tool with the default "Spectrum" preset. Go to Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates. There you go, a perfect circle spectrum!

Now, you have to blur the sharp edge. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, apply 5 to 10px radius, depending on the size of your document. Bigger document size will require more blur.

If you only to show partial of the rainbow, you can use the layer mask to hide the unwanted area. In the Layer palette, click on the "Add layer mask" icon. Use Gradient tool, select the "black to transparent" swatch, drag from left to right to mask out the unwanted area.

Technique 4: Glowing Lights - Background

This is the quickiest and most easiest way to create a colorful light glowing background for your vector work.

First fill the layer with any dark gradient you desire. Use the Radial Gradient tool and start making soft (transparent) glows on separate layers. This effect works best with cyan, magenta, and purplish colors.

Experiment with the blending modes and drag the layers around (you will get unexpected results): Overlay, Color, Multiply, Screen, and Color Dodge.

Technique 5: Particles

Particle Tail

Here is a technique on how to create a tail of particles as seen in my Flow artwork. This technique is also commonly used in the fairy tale books/movies (you know, the typical magic wand effects).

Select the Pen tool, and draw an opening path. Select the Brush tool, set any brush size you want (ie. Brush size 3px). In the Brush panel, turn on Scattering and Shape Dynamics (you can play around with these settings to get different results).

In the Paths palette, right-click on the path layer and select "Stroke Path". It will fill the stroke with your active brush setting.

Tablet Drawing

Of course you can manually create the particle effect by brushing with various brush sizes. If you have a tablet, this will be fun. In the Brush panel, turn on Shape Dynamics, Scattering, or any other controls to Pen Pressure and experiment the results. If you don’t have a tablet, have fun clicking and dragging.

Technique 6: Color Dodge

Vector artworks usually look very flat, by color dodging, you can bring up the contrast and create a focus point.

Paste your vector artwork in a new layer, use the Eyedropper tool and pick a bright color from the original image. Set your Brush mode to Color Dodge and brush Opacity 5 to 10%. Gentling click on the area where you want to be dodged. Be easy and try to over-dodge the image.

Technique 7: Blurred and Darkened.

As mentioned earler, vector artwork is usually very flat. You can add more depth to the image by blurring and darkening the background objects. Examples can be found in my Flow illustration. Notice the floral patterns in the background are blurred and darkened?

Just duplicate the foreground objects and apply 3 to 5px Gaussian Blur.

Technique 8: Watercolor

As seen on this site, watercolor texture and vector can mix very well together. Here is how I did the watercolor effects.

Choose any pastel colors, such as pink, green, purple, orange, etc. Select the Pencil tool, set the brush size to about 100px, Opacity 10%, and randomly draw on the layer.

Repeat this step for different colors. This technique is also posted in the previous tutorial, Watercolor Effect Menu.

Technique 9: Vintage

Here is a technique on how to create vintage effect to give more texture to your vector work. Although I have never used this technique in my illustration work, but I have seen it a lot. So, here is it.

Paste your vector artwork in Photoshop. Select the Erase tool, set the mode to Pencil, select one of the grunge/splatter brushes, and gentling erase partial of the layer.

Credits: The brush sets used here are splatter and watercolor, from Bittbox. The icons are from my free Christmas Holiday Icon Pack.

Attitude Design Journal
Online graphic design thoughts and latest news

Ladies and Gents, hello and welcome to the Time Machine where we take a look at some examples of graphic design from other eras to help inspire and influence us. Today it’s the WW2 years and we are focusing on British design for that era.

Obviously these were difficult years but they called for strong messages to be communicated. The simplicity and cleverness with which many of the below designs have been executed can only be marveled at. Many elements of the design were originally hand drawn and in regard to style we can see influences from modern art being made into expressive visual statements. Notice how the messages are clear and concise – something that’s worth bearing in mind in all marketing communications. Enjoy…

If you liked this Time Machine post then you might also like this one: Time Machine Part 1 / Victorian Design

February 22nd, 2008 - Articles, Attitude Design, General Design

Logos are everywhere. The marks that define a business or company. The general idea is that they are recognizable and portray a feeling for what the company behind them is all about. Nearly all designers hold to the idea that “keeping things simple” is the best way forward. Clutter is a thing of the past and clean design is the thing to aspire to. The question for the modern designer is, “In a world so full of logo designs what is it that we should put into a logo design and what should we leave out? Here are a few of our ideas on logo design for the modern business…

Stop Being So Literal - Literally!
Consider some of the worlds most famous brands. Do they depict what the company literally does. Does “Nike” have an emblem of a trainer for it’s mark? Does “Coca-Cola” have a picture of a glass of liquid for it’s logo? Does “Vodafone” have a mark depicting a mobile phone, “Apple” or “IBM” a computer? No. Why is this you may ask? Well for a start the products and services of a company change over time which may mean that a literal logo would need to change on a regular basis. Why not an abstract representation then, you may ask. Well, the truth of it all is that the modern logo is not something that depicts EVERYTHING that a company does. The modern logo is more about how the company does it.

A logo needs to embody the culture of the company and most of the time the culture of a company has little to do with the products it sells. For example apple are a computer company but their name and emblem has nothing to do with computers. Their mark is an apple with a chunk taken out of it. This maybe suggests having a ‘bite of the apple’, getting ‘your teeth into something special’. Normally the brand is very clean and non obtrusive. This again gives the feeling that this company creates products which integrate seamlessly into their customers lives and that they offer a slick and professional service. All of these things are portrayed in the simplicity of their logo.Coca Cola on the other hand have a brilliantly swirly typographic logo. This gives the feeling of history, movement and fun. Again these are all attributes of the culture of their business but does not depict the literal products which they produce.

So when considering a new logo, or even an update from an old logo, why not try to think about the culture and qualities of your company rather than what you literally sell. What your logo doesn’t say can be more important than what it does say! Your logo will become cleaner, more attractive and will have longevity. It will also have a quality about it, a self assurance which breaths professionalism.

Placement Of The Logo

“Hang on a moment”, we hear you say, “but if my logo doesn’t say exactly what I do then how will people know exactly what I do”? Well, this all comes down to placement.

How many times do you see a logo all alone? Not many at all. Logos are often placed alongside an image and a marketing message which normally display, more literally what your company delivers. On a website for example, your logo will appear but will be accompanied alongside information which tells people what you literally do. On an advert your logo may appear next to an image of a product you are promoting. Again the literal is seen in the image and message but not in the logo.

This way of communicating is far more effective than trying to communicate everything literally in a logo. For a start you can keep your message very simple and direct it to a key audience. For example you may deal differently with a blue chip client than you would with a small or medium sized business. If you can target who is looking at your messages you can make sure you are appealing in the right way to the right people. A simple logo will be able to appeal to all audiences even though it may be placed on advertising directed to different classes of consumers.

Other Ways To Portray What You Literally Do

It’s also a good idea to remember that what you literally do or sell can be adapted an built into your over-all branding style. For example you could develop a series of icons which depict different product areas. You could also have a slogan or catch phrase which you can sit next to your logo. These things can be updated or changed at little or no cost.

Conclusion

So we have shown that what you include in the design of a logo can be just as important as what you leave out. We have seen that in a modern logo, aspirational ideas, rather than literal ideas, are portrayed and that this has many benefits.

Do you agree? Or maybe dis-agree? If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment below…

February 22nd, 2008 - Articles, Attitude Design, General Design

The single largest problem that continues to hinder interactive design from really coming into it’s own is the fact that designers allow their work to be led more by technology or production techniques and not creative thinking.

As a creative director I have had tons of interactive portfolios come across my screen over the years and I see the same problem over and over again. Unfortunately most of this work has been produced in Macromedia Flash and that technology has taken a huge amount of criticism over the years. I personally believe that pointing to Flash as the reason for ineffective web design makes about as much sense as blaming paper for creating junk mail or the telephone for creating the solicitors who call during dinner. The fault should fall to the designers who have not taken the time to use a creative strategy as the basis of their work.

A good on-line creative strategy should define the values and brand attributes that need to be communicated to the consumer in a distinctive and compelling way that takes advantage of the medium. I use answers to the following list of questions as a starting point when I meet with a new client or start on a new project.

What are we advertising and why?
When you meet with your client about a new project, get a thorough understanding of the focus of the communications efforts such as: the brand, a specific product or service, a promotion or new news. Make sure you understand their reasons for wanting to be on-line. Often the rationale clients provide are expressed as marketing objectives not as communications objectives. Communications change the way people think and influence their behaviors. That is the difference between a marketing objective and a communications objective. What is it they are trying to achieve? Increase market share? Drive awareness? Increases frequency or penetration? Increase sales? Focus on uncovering the single most important obstacle the communications must overcome.

What is the brands communication past?
Get a clear understanding of where the brand has come from and where it is now is critical to determining where the brand needs to go. Look at the brands past advertising to gain a solid understanding of the it’s positioning, personality and focus. Research if the target of the brand’s activities have shifted and why. What are the reasons for this change?

What do we need to do?
It is a simple as it sounds. What are the deliverables that need to be created to fulfill the clients marketing and communications needs?

Who are we talking to? (Demographics)
What are the physical characteristics of your clients market? Your client should be able to provide you with some statistics that provide a snapshot of the consumer you will target with the creative work. Common demographics include: age, gender, religion, income level, education, and family composition.

Who are we talking to? (Psychographics)
What are the mental characteristics of your clients market? Your client should again be able to provide you with some information that provides a snapshot of the consumer’s mindset regarding: their personal values, their beliefs, their habits and their activities. Psychographics are often more powerful influences upon how a consumer views your clients category, brand or product as attributes often affect behavior, and attitudes typically cross age groups. Take time to know your consumer so your creative will be more impactful.

What is the personality and tone?
A brand’s personality should be a reflection it’s behavior, character, and manner. This personality should drive the style and tone of all our communications in writing, photos/illustrations, typography and style.

What is the selling idea?
The selling idea is a way of saying the most persuasive thing you can say to get consumers to alter their behavior towards a client’s category, brand or product. The selling idea should be the starting point for the development any compelling, original, and successful creative ideas. The selling idea can be about: ways of using the product, disadvantages of not using the product, satisfying needs (physical, social, psychological, new ways), product heritage / where or how it was made or generic benefit you want to own.

What do we want the consumer to do?
With any advertising you want to be able to evoke and emotion or action. What is the emotion you want them have? How should they feel about the brand? What do you want them to do?

Conclusion
This list is just a starting point. To create a great strategy you have to be able to distill and refine the answers to get at the insights and core brand attributes. The more accurate and concise you are able to become the better your ideas will be. I also recommend if possible to share your answers and thinking with a team of your peers or co-workers because the more people thinking about a project, the more new ideas can be generated.



Written by Stephen Gates
Stephen Gates is an interactive creative director with t:m interactive and founder of StephenGates.com. His work has been recognized by the Clios, Ad:Tech, the New York Festivals, Communication Arts, National ADDYs and Macromedia.

Labels: brand, brochure, business card, design, product design, web, zatik