Aug 4 2010 26 Comments By Heinritzh Sales

Learn the process of making a tribal-style illustration using only some fundamental techniques in Adobe Illustrator. This is more of a process overview than a play-by-play tutorial and thus, some basic skills in the program are needed in order to follow along. The main goal here is to show a workflow process, and from there, it’s up to you to add your own style and aesthetical preferences to your piece. I encourage you to let loose and experiment while doing this project!

Aug 2 2010 13 Comments By Ionut Ciursa

In this graphic design tutorial, we will combine Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and Illustrator to produce a composition that includes elements such as 3D text, 3D light bulbs (which we will create from scratch using only a reference photo), and florid ornaments. My concept for this scene started from a simple thought: “ideas are all around us.” We are constantly surrounded by ideas wherever we are and everywhere we go — we just have to find them and make the best ones happen.

Jul 31 2010 27 Comments By Supratim Nayak

This free set of social media icons has 20 icons of popular social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon. Each icon has dimensions of 48×48px and is in PNG format. It’s perfect for blogs and content-centric websites (it also includes an RSS feed icon). It’s available to you, Design Instruct readers, for your commercial and personal work; attribution is not required but is greatly appreciated. You may not redistribute or resell the files and this icon pack.

Jul 29 2010 18 Comments By Jacob Gube

Even the most talented designers in the world receive negative feedback on their work. Design is, to a large extent, a matter of taste — and the people we work for sometimes dislike the flavors we employ in the designs we make for them. We asked a few designers and artists how they handled feedback to get a glimpse of the strategies they use for handling critical appraisals of their work.

Jul 27 2010 39 Comments By Ciara Panacchia

In college in Waterford, Ireland, one of our class projects was called “Techniques.” The brief was to become familiar with every printing technique we could and show them through physical pieces. It was a fun project. However, when you leave school, you don’t always get the chance to work with these really amazing printing techniques or even figure them into your budget, but what I will talk about in this guide are popular and affordable. Consider them in your next print project!

Jul 25 2010 17 Comments By Isaac Gube

Six months ago, my brother and I launched Design Instruct to serve as a place for designers and digital artists to get inspired, share techniques, and learn more about their craft. That was the basic idea we worked with. We had no idea where this would take us. Today, 6 months after the fact, we could not be happier with the way the design community has embraced our site.

Jul 23 2010 12 Comments By Jacob Gube

Retro-futuristic art, which refers to how artists in the past envision the future, bring to mind classic movies such as Mad Max, Star Trek, and The Terminator. When today’s designers and digital artists — armed with digital graphics software such as Photoshop and Illustrator — interpret retro-futuristic styles from the past, the results are quite enthralling. For your inspiration, feast your eyes on this collection of retro-futuristic digital art.