document.write("" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "" + "

" + "Mon, Feb 8 2010 - 8:46 PM" + "

" + "MTV\'s New Logo: No More Music Television" + "

" + "The MTV logo is not only one of the most recognizable designs in our culture, but also one of the most flexible. Whether rendered in the classic yellow and red, pinstriped or leopard print, the logo is always identifiable. This has given the TV giant the ability to keep their brand while using the 3-D \"M\" with the spray painted \"TV\" in countless ways. The story of this famous logo project from almost 30 years ago can be read on Frank Olinsky\'s website, one of the original designers. For these reasons, I was surprised to first hear that MTV had redesigned the logo, until I saw they basically just cropped out the bottom text \"Music Television.\" This change makes perfect sense, being that MTV isn\'t what it used to be. It\'s now the place for reality TV and \"Cribs,\" not 24/7 music videos. Despite the change, the logo will still be just as flexible, able to accommodate unlimited graphics and photos as seen on this blog. What do you think of the change? MTV\'s New Logo: No More Music Televisio..." + "

" + "Sat, Feb 6 2010 - 4:17 PM" + "

" + "Extinction or Adaptation?" + "

" + "DTP may have made designers’ lives easier, but it also set us up for the ripple effect. First to go (in my time) were the phototypesetters. Next the film strippers and darkroom camera operators. Next...us? After us, the printers? Is Kindle just the tip of the iceberg? We need to learn how to adapt in this new work environment. And we need to learn how to PDQ." + "

" + "

-- sponsor --

" + "

" + "Fri, Feb 5 2010 - 7:50 AM" + "

" + "Lesson 2: Basics settings on your Drupal site" + "

" + "In this lesson you will learn how to set the basics up on your new Drupal site. All settings for your Drupal site can be set within the Administer menu that can be accessed from the menu in the left. When you click Administer you will get a large menu with many options. These menu points are broken down to 5 parts: Content Management - Manage your site\'s content. User Management - Manage your site\'s users, groups and access to site features. Reports - View reports from system logs and other status information. Site building - Control how your site looks and feels. Site configuration - Adjust basic site configuration options. read more" + "

" + "Thu, Feb 4 2010 - 2:32 AM" + "

" + "Introducing StockLogos.com" + "

" + "When I design logos for clients I present many options. By the time I come up with the ideas, sketch them out on paper and then design them on the screen I get attached to them. As a friend of mine once said your logos become your kids. We want to see them grow, become successful and famous. When the client asks me which logo among the presented I like most I feel as if I\'m asked which child of mine I like the most. I can\'t decide, I love them all. Yet, if I\'m lucky client chooses only one from the many. The rest of the kids don\'t get any love, they are tossed away as if they weren\'t good enough to represent a business, not fit enough for the world. This is unfair. These abandoned ideas deserve better. read more" + "

" + "Wed, Feb 3 2010 - 1:43 AM" + "

" + "Paragraph break vs Line break in OSX" + "

" + "If you\'re having troubles with text jumbled together when copy pasting documents the issue is most likely caused by incorrect use of line breaks and paragraph breaks. This is usually a problem with MS Word documents. To fix such documents, open them in Pages before copying. Select Edit/ Find/ Find.../ Advanced. From the drop down options select Line break for Find and Paragraph break for Replace. Once you complete the replace operation you copy the text and it will work correctly." + "

" + "Tue, Feb 2 2010 - 10:02 AM" + "

" + "Managing the Web Design Process with Notable" + "

" + "There are many project management systems out there, but Notable has found a niche by creating a great web-based application that focuses on design feedback. Geared towards web design, but certainly useful for all kinds of work, Notable allows you to take a snapshot of a website that includes the design, code and content. From there, multiple users can leave notes and feedback on specific elements of the page and discuss the design until reaching a final product. Read the full review.Managing the Web Design Process with Notable originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 10:02:03.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Mon, Feb 1 2010 - 12:38 AM" + "

" + "Featured Website: Grammy.com" + "

" + "With the Grammy\'s wrapping up a couple of hours ago, it may seem like an obvious website to feature. However, it\'s not the just the show, but also the design of the Grammy site that caught my attention. Overall, the site has a very modern feel, with subtle background imagery and semi-transparent blocks of content used throughout the design. A clean rotating feature area, video highlights, and social networking links are highlighted, followed by a list of nicely styled blog posts. Gold type is used for headings keep that Grammy style, and features such a tag clouds give the site a current feel. Check out Grammy.com to see the design, and the winners, and be sure to visit about.com\'s entertainment channel for more coverage. Featured Website: Grammy.com originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 00:38:57.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Sun, Jan 31 2010 - 12:44 PM" + "

" + "Lesson 1: Installing Drupal on your computer" + "

" + "I\'m starting a course with a lesson a week for non-programmers who wish to learn Drupal. Here is the first lesson. Before we start with your first lesson, let me give you a very short background about running Drupal. Drupal is a content management system designed to run on a web server which is accessible through the internet to anyone interested. To run your Drupal site you will need a hosting provider which can run your website for you. There are many to choose from. One of the biggest and cheapest ones that offer easy Drupal installation is Dreamhost. read more" + "

" + "Sat, Jan 30 2010 - 9:35 AM" + "

" + "Untrash files in OS X 10.6" + "

" + "Did you know you can move the file back from trash to the folder it was originally trashed from? The simplest way to do this is to select the file in the trash and use the same shortcut used to trash files Apple-Backspace (Cmd-Backspace). Alternatively you can Ctrl-Click the file and select the put back command from the contextual menu. This can be particularly useful if you deleted multiple files from many folders and you need to move them all back at once." + "

" + "Thu, Jan 28 2010 - 2:18 AM" + "

" + "What does iPad mean for designers?" + "

" + "Now that the iPad is out let\'s think about whether it is a useful tool for us designers. Sure it can serve all the business and entertainment needs we have, but does it have the ability to help us professionally? Can the iPad makes us more creative, more efficient and can it help us with our everyday design tasks? Let\'s take each activity we do as designers and see if iPad has a place in it. read more" + "

" + "Mon, Jan 25 2010 - 5:30 AM" + "

" + "Receive the sacred iTablets" + "

" + "Check out more work by Dale Stephanos" + "

" + "Sun, Jan 24 2010 - 9:38 PM" + "

" + "The Internet in Numbers" + "

" + "Pingdom has compiled a very interesting collection of Internet statistics from 2009. From the number of emails sent in a day (247 billion) to Internet users worldwide (1.7 billion) the blog post has a long list of stats in categories including social media and online video. While a lot of the numbers are estimates and pulled from sources all around the web, it\'s still an interesting read and a nice summary of the year online. The Internet in Numbers originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at 21:38:05.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Sat, Jan 23 2010 - 6:38 AM" + "

" + "Tips for better ideas" + "

" + "Wed, Jan 20 2010 - 11:47 AM" + "

" + "Creating Iconic Brand Identities: Staying Motivated" + "

" + "Excerpted from Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities (New Riders) By David Airey Design inspiration is a bit of a cliché. I’m asked time and again where I find the inspiration to do my job, or how I stay inspired, but it’s important to remember that what we do, as designers, doesn’t need inspiration in the true sense of the word. The ability to successfully complete the identity design process comes from the result of years of study, practice, and experience, as well as following a clearly defined set of steps. However, motivation, not inspiration, can sometimes be an issue. You’d be naive to think that at some point during a long career in design, your motivation won’t wane. A seemingly never-ending project; overly harsh criticism from your peers; the discovery that, after weeks of work, your favorite design concept has already been created by someone else for a different company; or simply being stuck at your computer for hours on end every day — all or any on..." + "

" + "Mon, Jan 18 2010 - 8:31 PM" + "

" + "What are Estimated Taxes?" + "

" + "Almost half the people who answered our recent poll about estimated taxes said \"What are quarterly taxes?\" Estimated taxes are paid throughout the year, avoiding penalties at the end of the year. Aside from keeping away from those penalties, they are also a great way to split up your tax payments rather than owing one large sum in April. Paying quarterlies is fast and easy, and can even be done online. Calculating them is also quick, as it can be based on your previous year\'s income.What are Estimated Taxes? originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 20:31:20.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Mon, Jan 11 2010 - 3:23 PM" + "

" + "10 Early Warning Signs of a Bad Client" + "

" + "It\'s happened to many of us before... we take on job that turns out to be a giant headache and look back saying, \"I knew it!\" While you can never predict every terrible project experience, there are some red flags to look for. Check out these 10 warning signs that you are stepping into a bad client-designer relationship. If you have your own way of identifying bad clients, please share your experience.10 Early Warning Signs of a Bad Client originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 15:23:22.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Tue, Jan 5 2010 - 9:14 AM" + "

" + "Webby Awards Extend Entry Deadline" + "

" + "The Webby Awards has extended their entry deadline to January 29, 2010... so if you missed the deadline in December or just finished that next award winning site, now is your chance to submit. Personal and student work is still discounted with an entry fee of $150. Enter now at webbyawards.com. Webby Awards Extend Entry Deadline originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 09:14:10.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Mon, Jan 4 2010 - 4:58 PM" + "

" + "Reminder! Quarterly Taxes Due January 15." + "

" + "Graphic designers working as freelancers or running a business pay quarterly estimated taxes to avoid penalties and large payments at the end of the year. Don\'t forget to pay your 4th quarter 2009 estimates by January 15, and remember the rest of the due dates for this year. Please also answer our quick poll below. Reminder! Quarterly Taxes Due January 15. originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 16:58:27.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Tue, Dec 29 2009 - 8:42 AM" + "

" + "What Are Your Plans for Your Design Business in 2010?" + "

" + "The start of a new year is a great time to rethink or adjust your business plans based on results from the year. What are your plans for your design business in 2010? What will you do differently than last year? The same? Please share your strategy for the new year by filling out this simple form.What Are Your Plans for Your Design Business in 2010? originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 08:42:33.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Tue, Dec 22 2009 - 8:41 AM" + "

" + "Share Your Holiday Card Designs" + "

" + "Last week, we went over some ideas for creating custom holiday cards and where to find some holiday fonts. If you have created a holiday card to send to clients, friends or family, please fill out this short, simple form to share your greeting card designs with the about.com graphic design community.Share Your Holiday Card Designs originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 08:41:05.Permalink | Comment | Email this" + "

" + "Fri, Nov 13 2009 - 7:36 PM" + "

" + "Ten Illustrator power moves you MUST know" + "

" + "In most professions, one goes through intense training—intended to help a person develop the ability to act on instinct—where the body learns to act automatically in response to a situation without the need to mentally go through each required step. Even in everyday living, we’ve learned to adapt to our environment that allows us to perform basic functions without losing focus on the task at hand. Examples are dialing a familiar phone number, or adjusting the radio in your car. I’ve seen teenagers (like my own for example) who can literally unholster their mobile phone, send a text, and reholster the phone faster than Neo can dodge a bullet (all while holding a conversation). When using Illustrator, you want to get to a point where basic functions become instinct – you do them without thinking about it. That’s a power move. In the title of this article, I referenced ten such moves, but the truth is, I’ve broken these down into ten specific feature areas, encompassing far more than just..." + "

" + "Thu, Oct 8 2009 - 4:01 AM" + "

" + "Illustrator and Dreamweaver Integration - TAKE 2" + "

" + "A while back, I blogged about using Illustrator for web design. Specifically, I wrote about using Illustrator and Dreamweaver together, lamenting about the lack of integration between the two applications. I\'ve even had numerous discussions with the product managers for Dreamweaver over at Adobe about the topic. To summarize, I questioned the apparent lack of support for moving art quickly from Illustrator into Dreamweaver via Smart Objects. The team kept asking me why I would care to bring vector art into Dreamweaver, and whatever would I do with it once it got there? My response was that I didn\'t want the vectors - I wanted Dreamweaver to generate pixels a la Smart Objects from the GoLive days. Boy was I shortsighted. What was I thinking? Each year, Adobe has their MAX conference. Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons, I was not able to attend this year\'s conference in LA. One of the best sessions is something called \"MAX SNEAKS\" where Adobe shows tasty nuggets of technology fro..." + "

" + "Thu, Sep 10 2009 - 4:12 PM" + "

" + "TECHNIQUE: Distribute Art Around a Path" + "

" + "A reader from Poland wrote in that he was trying to recreate the European Union flag - where 12 stars are distributed in a circular pattern. This reader tried several techniques including a blend, but wasn\'t getting the result he was looking for. In reality, there are many designs that call for distributing art along a path. And while Illustrator has some nice Align and Distribution tools, and even Smart Guides, they won\'t help when you\'re trying to align your objects to something other than a straight line. Enter the Blend feature - yes - the very same Blend feature that has been in Illustrator since the beginning of time. When the main purpose for blends was to create shading or blends between colors (something we all use Gradients for these days). But blends are more powerful than people think. And more importantly, when you understand what makes a blend tick, you can use it for a variety of purposes -- including distributing art along any path -- even if that path isn\'t straight. D..." + "

" + "Thu, Sep 10 2009 - 2:37 PM" + "

" + "Summer\'s over - ready for Spring?" + "

" + "Every professions has its seasons -- and I\'ve always enjoyed the paradox that exists in the world of apparel design and fashion -- when it\'s cold and snowy out, you\'re designing the summer fashions, and vice versa. So now that Summer has officially ended, it\'s only normal to start thinking about spring... Today, Pantone published their Fashion Color Report for Spring 2010. Click on the image below to download a copy of it. I was particularly pleased to see that this year, Aurora (a derivative of my favorite color, yellow) made the top 10 list. Here are the words right from Pantone: \"Reminiscent of the first glimpse of yellow as the sun begins to rise over the horizon, this shimmering, slightly greenish yellow adds a bold infusion.\" Also making the list were Pink Champagne, Tomato Puree, and Eucalyptus. Now it\'s time to throw a few of these colors at Kuler and see what you can come up with! Say what? You don\'t have an Illustrator swatch library for the Pantone Textile Library? You mea..." + "

" + "Mon, Sep 7 2009 - 2:28 AM" + "

" + "Illustrator, the forgotten one" + "

" + "Ask people about the key to their successes and they\'ll often reply with quips like \"I never forgot where I came from\" or \"I remember what it was like when I grew up\", or \"I owe those who helped me get started\". At the same time, we all know how sometimes, things are seemingly overlooked - where credit is given to one person when maybe someone else was really the driving force behind the success. Illustrator was Adobe\'s first shrinkwrap software, and along with PostScript, helped Adobe be a part of what would become an industry-changing event with the advent of Desktop Publishing. Yet as someone who has pretty much spent a lifetime standing by Illustrator, I\'ve always felt that Illustrator somehow was always overshadowed by applications like Photoshop, Flash, or Acrobat. There are obvious reasons for this, and as I get older myself, it\'s easy to see that the younger kids are \"cool\" and get all the attention. However, I always thought that Adobe, as a company, would always recognize the..." + "

" + "Thu, Sep 3 2009 - 4:57 PM" + "

" + "ASK MORDY: Threaded Type on a Path" + "

" + "Today\'s question comes in from Donna Tracy: Is there a way to create text in a circular shape with a text flow like in InDesign text boxes? This is a great question (and kudos to Donna for also including an image in her email which made it easy to understand what she was asking for), as it exploits one of the strengths of Type on a Path in Illustrator -- which is that Path Text objects can be threaded. If you\'re unfamiliar with the differences between Point Type and Area Type in Illustrator, refer to this post. Since Illustrator CS, when the newer text engine was introduced, Type on a Path in Illustrator acts like Area Type - and can be threaded just like text frames can be threaded in InDesign. Rather than try to explain to Donna how to perform the technique she was after, I recorded a quick video, which you can view below. You can also download a full-res version of the video here. Illustrator Type on Path Tutorial from Mordy Golding on Vimeo." + "

" + "Wed, Aug 5 2009 - 2:26 PM" + "

" + "Learn to make Illustrator go FASTER" + "

" + "One of the most common questions I get about Illustrator revolve around performance. Everyone wants to find any shortcut to make Illustrator run faster. It always reminds me of that famous line from the movie Top Gun, when Maverick and Goose exclaim “I feel the need… the need for speed!” Of course, there are always things that you can do to speed up your Illustrator experience, and they generally fall into two categories: you can improve speed by using better equipment, and you can improve speed by learning to take advantage of features and techniques. One disclaimer: The information I present here applies specifically to Illustrator, so if you regularly use other applications, they should be taken into account as well when configuring your system. BETTER HARDWARE There was a time when Windows outperformed Macintosh when it came to Illustrator. However, the improvements to Mac OS X changed a lot of that over the years, and from my own experience, both platforms perform identically. F..." + "

" + "Mon, Jun 1 2009 - 5:00 PM" + "

" + "Adobe posts free public beta of Flash Catalyst" + "

" + "In late 2007, I posted about a new application that Adobe was developing, code-named Thermo, which they previewed at the Adobe MAX conference (in Chicago) that year. At the 2008 Adobe MAX conference (in San Francisco), Adobe revealed the name of this exciting application – Adobe Flash Catalyst – and even released a preview version of the application to Adobe MAX attendees. Now, you can give Adobe Flash Catalyst a try yourself – it’s available as a free public at Adobe Labs. What is Flash Catalyst? In short, it’s a design interaction tool built to help designers create interactive Flash content and rich internet applications without having to learn to write computer code. There’s a whole lot more, which I’ll cover in more detail in future posts, but for now, you can do the following: - Download the free public beta of Adobe Flash Catalyst from Adobe Labs. - Head to Lynda.com for my newest title, Adobe Flash Catalyst Beta Preview. The entire video title (15 movies comprising of over an h..." + "

" + "Fri, May 15 2009 - 6:24 PM" + "

" + "Learn to recolor your artwork" + "

" + "With Illustrator CS3, Adobe added a TON of functionality around the use of color. Initially referred to as \"Live Color\", these features included the ability to get inspired around the use of color (the Color Guide panel, Adobe Kuler integration, etc.), and the ability to change or edit colors (Recolor Artwork, etc.). With Illustrator CS4, Adobe enhanced some of these features to make them a bit easier to use and understand (more consistent terminology, contextual menu support, etc.). Most importantly, in my opinion anyway, Adobe dropped the \"Live Color\" marketing term and clearly identifies features in the program (for example, the Recolor Artwork feature opens a dialog called Recolor Artwork instead of Live Color). Admittedly, the Recolor Artwork dialog features a plethora of settings - which gives you an idea of just how powerful the feature actually is - but it can be hard to figure out how to use it to do just what you want (or need) it to do. Hopefully, I can help you out with tha..." + "

" + "Thu, May 7 2009 - 3:34 PM" + "

" + "You\'ve Been Sliced! (sorry, multiple artboards)" + "

" + "One of the headlining features added to Illustrator CS4 is multiple artboards. After years and years of waiting, users can finally create a single document with true multiple artboards - which can be of any size or orientation, which automatically become true multiple-page PDF files, and which can be easily printed - pure bliss... ...unless you\'re a web designer, that is. Here\'s the deal. When I first saw the multiple artboards feature, I immediately thought about how wonderful it would be to create all of my ad banners and assorted web graphics for a particular campaign in a single file. Being each element is a different size, it would be easy to create a variety of different-sized artboards in the same document. Which works fine. Until I am ready to export my art. When you\'re in the world of print, you can choose to print a range of pages (or artboards). Same for saving a PDF file. But when exporting web graphics, you\'re usually using Illustrator\'s Save for Web feature. And there\'s w..." + "

" + "Tue, May 5 2009 - 3:46 PM" + "

" + "FREE!! - The Joys of Live Paint" + "

" + "Illustrator is filled with powerful features that many people overlook. Since its introduction in Illustrator CS2, I\'ve preached about how wonderful the Live Paint feature is. However, the feature itself still is misunderstood at best, and that may be due to the fact that the words \"live paint\" don\'t necessarily describe the functionality found within the feature itself. Trust me -- if you took a look at Live Paint once before and didn\'t think much of it, you may be missing a lot of what the feature has to offer. At a basic level, Live Paint allows you to draw and edit art in Illustrator without having to think about anchor points, bezier curves, or even vector objects as we know it. I like to refer to this as being able to draw \"visually\" -- meaning drawing by what you see on screen rather than understanding how the overlapping vector objects are built. I\'ve been known to say that since I\'ve started using Live Paint, Pathfinder is dead to me (ok, maybe not dead, but it\'s writing a wil..." + "

" + "Mon, Apr 6 2009 - 2:59 AM" + "

" + "Clipping Drop Shadows in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign" + "

" + "On my Mordy.com blog, I made note of my quest to create an iPhone skin entirely in Illustrator. In the process, one of the elements I had to create – the alert dialog – presented an interesting “problem” in that the dialog had an opaque stroke and a transparent fill. OK, so we know that in Illustrator, you can easily apply an opacity setting to fills and strokes independently, but the dialog also has a drop shadow. And if the fill of the object is transparent, you can see the drop shadow through the fill, which isn’t called for in the design. Before we learn how to make this work in Illustrator, let’s take a look at two other Adobe applications – Photoshop and InDesign. Why? Because interestingly enough, they both have something that Illustrator doesn’t have. Photoshop has two opacity settings: Layer Opacity, which applies to the entire layer, including its layer effects; and Fill Opacity, which applies only to the pixels that are drawn in the layer, and not its layer effects. In our..." + "

" + "Fri, Apr 3 2009 - 7:59 PM" + "

" + "My Vector iPhone" + "

" + "I decided I couldn\'t wait for Flash to come to the iPhone, and so I brought the iPhone to Flash. Head over to my Mordy.com blog for more information on how I created the iPhone in Illustrator (you can download the file) and see some cool examples of how I actually made the iPhone into a functional SWF." + "

" + "Fri, Apr 3 2009 - 5:37 PM" + "

" + "Illustrator CS4 Beyond the Basics now live at Lynda.com" + "

" + "I\'m thrilled to announce that my latest video training title, Illustrator CS Beyond the Basics is now live at Lynda.com! I\'ve always wanted to share the \"deeper\" side of Illustrator, and in this video title, I\'ve tried to provide a range of content that would appeal to just about any intermediate and advanced Illustrator user. This title, nearly 10 hours in length, features in-depth analysis of a variety of topics: - The Joy of Live Paint - Converting Pixels to Paths - Adding Dimension with 3D - Advanced Transformations and Effects - Using Graphic Styles - Advanced Masking Techniques - Working with Color - Understanding Transparency - Prepress and Output - Distorting Reality - Working with Blends - Creating Charts and Graphs - Making Sense of Gradient Mesh - Adding Flair with the Flare Tool (yes, you read that correctly) Feedback, as always, is welcome - if I can offer more information about how to use Illustrator, please let me know!" + "

" + "Fri, Mar 20 2009 - 12:25 AM" + "

" + "Great tutorial on recoloring art" + "

" + "Ian Giblin, one of the awesome dudes on the Illustrator team posted a nice tutorial on using the Recolor Artwork feature in Illustrator (CS3 and CS4). Brenda Sutherland, one of the awesome dudettes on the Illustrator also recently posted some great information on the feature as well over at Infinite Resolution, which is the Illustrator team\'s new blog. Take a look! Hopefully we\'ll see lots of great stuff there. Just as an FYI, I recently completed an in-depth article on how to use the Recolor Artwork feature for iStockPhoto. Once the article is live, I\'ll post a link to it." + "

" + "Wed, Mar 18 2009 - 5:12 AM" + "

" + "New Site, New Learning Group" + "

" + "I have two \"announcements\" to make. First, I\'ve mentioned several times in the past that while Illustrator is my first love, there are plenty of other areas in the technology arena that I play in. I usually keep those things to myself, mainly because I want to keep this blog focused on Illustrator. I\'ve attempted to keep a variety of blogs open on different topics, but until I can find a way to clone myself, that simply isn\'t realistic. So I\'ve taken my own personal site, Mordy.com, and have relaunched it. The site, under the mantra \"Technology for Designers\" also has a blog, which will become my main public voice. The Real World Illustrator blog will continue, but will be focused on Illustrator-related content only. Many thanks a million times over are owed to my friend Von Glitschka, who designed the logo and the brand for the new Mordy.com. Second, A short while ago, I proposed a call to action. A call for people to expand their skillset and to learn something new. To take it upon..." + "

" + "Wed, Feb 25 2009 - 6:11 PM" + "

" + "A call to action - join me!" + "

" + "Like many people across the USA and the world, I watched President Obama address Congress. I was particularly inspired by a statement on the subject of education that the President made: It is our responsibility as lawmakers and educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country – and this country needs and values the talents of every American. As a trainer myself, I certainly do understand the value of furthering one\'s knowledge and capabilities. At the same time, I\'m just like everyone else in that I have th..." + "

" + "Fri, Feb 20 2009 - 3:52 PM" + "

" + "I\'m not one to beat my own chest, but..." + "

" + "I have just completed recording all the movies for my next Lynda.com title - Illustrator CS4 Beyond the Basics. I\'ve always wanted to go beyond what I normally cover in my Essentials Training video title, where the goal is simply to give people the knowledge to get up to speed with using Illustrator. But as we all know, there\'s so much more that Illustrator has to offer, and likewise, I have so much more to share. This title will contain over 120 individual movies and there are entire chapters devoted to Live Paint, Live Trace, and 3D just to name a few. I also go into extreme detail on transparency, prepress issues, and also an entire chapter on color (including the elusive Recolor Artwork feature). And yes, I even cover Gradient Mesh :) I don\'t know how long editing and the like will take, but I imagine the title will be online and available at Lynda.com within 4-6 weeks. Naturally, I\'ll post here when it goes live. So now my next question is, what\'s next? I have a few other things I..." + "

" + "Thu, Feb 19 2009 - 3:29 AM" + "

" + "Are you a \"Font\" or a \"Typeface\"?" + "

" + "My buddy Thomas Phinney has posted an interesting survey on his blog about the use of the word font and typeface. The question is, are they synonymous? Are they two different things? Thomas also has several other interesting questions on his survey, and he promises to share his findings after his analysis is complete. I look forward to seeing the results. In Thomas\' own words: I’ve noticed over the years that there isn’t a perfect consensus on the use of certain terms, such as “font” and “typeface.” I am of the opinion that there is a strong majority usage, and historical precedent, but I’m curious to understand better current usage, and how it differs by degree of font expertise (a.k.a “geekiness”) and/or geographic location. - Thomas\' blog post. - Direct link to the survey." + "

" + "Wed, Feb 18 2009 - 2:28 PM" + "

" + "Public beta for Gridiron Flow now available" + "

" + "Gridiron Software has released a public beta of their revolutionary new workflow software called Flow. Their website contains lots of information about the product, some videos, and the like, but most importantly, you can now download a beta version and see the thing firsthand for yourself. Today, only the Mac version is available, but the company claims a Windows version is on the way shortly (probably within a week or so)." + "

" + "Thu, Feb 12 2009 - 9:41 PM" + "

" + "Aviary\'s Raven \"flexes\" vector muscles" + "

" + "Cloud computing is all the rage in today\'s world. Whether it\'s Gmail, Acrobat.com, Kuler, Basecamp, or any of the other thousands of online hosted services and applications out there, the concept is simple. Instead of tying your work directly to the desktop, your information lives on the internet (a.k.a., the cloud), easily accessible from any computer, no matter where you are. Most of you are probably familiar with Adobe\'s Kuler application - what Adobe likes to refer to as an RIA or a Rich Internet Application. You can access kuler through your web browser from just about any computer and see the colors that you\'ve created. You can also create your own colors, and search through colors that others have created. But Kuler is really a \"small\" application - can you imagine if Adobe Illustrator itself was a hosted service - where you could actually use powerful vector drawing tools in your browser from any computer, share your art, and view art from others as well? On some level, Adobe h..." + "

" + "Thu, Feb 12 2009 - 7:06 PM" + "

" + "Art Files and Sneak Peek Pro updated for CS4" + "

" + "If you use Art Files to collect your files for output or archiving, or if you use SneakPeek Pro, a QuickLook plugin that allows you to preview native AI, EPS, and INDD files from just about anywhere on a Mac running Leopard, you\'ll be happy to know that both have been updated to support CS4. More information can be found on Code-Line Software\'s website." + "

" + "Tue, Feb 10 2009 - 6:51 PM" + "

" + "Deke McClelland\'s Illustrator One-on-One movies released" + "

" + "Lynda.com just released Deke McClelland\'s first of three Illustrator One-on-One video training titles, Fundamentals. As always, Deke presents Illustrator\'s features thoroughly, and methodically, in his trademark style. One my favorite parts of this particular title is when Deke compares Illustrator\'s anchor points to boys and control handles to girls. Deke must have had Valentines Day in mind when he recorded that. As always, if you\'re a Lynda.com subscriber, you already have access to this title. If not, you can get a free 7 day trial to Lynda.com here." + "

" + "Mon, Feb 2 2009 - 2:33 PM" + "

" + "Gridiron Flow Public Beta coming February 18!" + "

" + "You\'re DEFINITELY going to want to check this one out. There\'s a new product on the horizon - one that has gotten much attention - and for good reason. Gridiron Flow is a product that you install on your computer, which then provides the kind of stuff you\'ve always wanted from your computer. Its main feature is something called a Workflow Map, which visually shows you how all of your files are connected. It\'s quite incredible, considering that you don\'t have to actually DO anything. Here are just a few of the things that Flow does: - Select any asset on your system - for example, an InDesign file. It builds a visual map that identifies all of the files that are placed into that InDesign file (and likewise, all files that were created FROM that InDesign file, such as PDF documents, etc.). - If you try to delete a file from your system, and that file is currently placed into another document, Flow will alert to that fact, so you don\'t accidentally delete files you need. - If you need to ..." + "

" + "Thu, Jan 29 2009 - 3:02 PM" + "

" + "Border Patrol: Framing your artwork" + "

" + "My buddy David Blatner recently blogged about creating interesting frames and mattes in InDesign (mainly using the Custom Stroke Style feature). Naturally, someone also pointed out that Illustrator, with its ability to add multiple strokes, can also create some interesting frames as well. In reality though, when it comes to frames or borders, there\'s something even more powerful in Illustrator: Pattern Brushes. But before we get there, let\'s first explore a few ways to easily add some interesting border effects to placed images in Illustrator. Yes, we\'ll use the Appearance panel to do so, and naturally, we\'ll save our appearances as Graphic Styles, so that we can easily apply them to photos and artwork at will. As you may know, Illustrator can apply fill and stroke attributes to vector paths, but an image in Illustrator isn\'t a vector path at all. As such, we\'ll need to employ a few \"tricks\" to allow us to accomplish our goal. I\'ve actually covered parts of this concept in a previous p..." + "

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