What better motivation to divulge some personal information than a promise of a little custom tailored Starbucks in your cup? That’s right, visit starbuckscoffeeathome.com, answer a few questions to figure out what sort of coffee best suits your tastes, fill out a form, and get some free coffee.

Genius.

With the workflow improvements that Adobe continues to bring to Photoshop, and the high level of experience required to master and efficiently use the tool, it is no wonder that there is such a high demand for training on this prolific and highly revered digital editing software.

Unfortunately, nothing is more frustrating for a novice than confronting a tool that has hidden secrets (keyboard shortcuts/layers shortcuts, new slim interface), a pool of icons (only labeled on still rollover) and 1 million capabilities.

For those of you who attended the recent Spunlogic Lunch and Learn [Photoshop Basics & Essentials], I challenge you to continue playing with Photoshop – bring in your personal photographs, play with filters, explore the keyboard shortcuts (hold down the control, alt and shift keys with various other keys), cut out objects and make collages. The rewards of advancing in Photoshop are not restricted to designers.

With the influx of affordable high resolution personal cameras and widespread blogging, the invitation of digital manipulation is open to anyone who would like to put a mustache on their uncle Fred or share last night’s breakdancing photo session with their buddies.

And for those of you who are well-rounded in Photoshop, don’t get stuck in the last version of Photoshop – that is so CS2! Continue to seek knowledge from your peers and share the love as well.

As promised, the Photoshop Seminar notes & Training files are available (to Spunlogic Employees), just ask me for them!

A couple of my friends and myself got together on Valentine’s Day, and started asking the age old question … What is Love? Really.

Ok. Maybe not. But I love Jib Jab and it has gotten a lot easier to use. You should all check it out!

I recently came across an interesting article featuring portfolio samples and an interview with Dan Wheaton, one of the matte artists from the films Babel, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Number 23.

The amount of imagination and attention to detail associated with matte painting never ceases to amaze me. View his website & portfolio here.

Believe it or not, fonts have a distinct persona that visually communicates something about who you are or what you are trying to verbally express.

For this reason, designers must carefully select fonts that are appropriate for the occasion or brand. Various societal associations, such as standard industry fonts, as well as the usage of a font in other industries play a vital role in influencing the audience perception of your brand. Other important factors that a designer must consider are audience, readability, and the “fontosphere” (what fonts and graphics currently exist within the design).

Consider illustration 1.0 of the Archer font by Hoefler & Frere Jones. What associations come to mind for the Archer font in a and the handwritten Akbar font in b? What are some differences in the actual performance of the font (legibility, style)?

What do your fonts say about you? Look for your font on signs, online, in the market, and in literature to discover more about how people may be perceiving you or your brand.

Want to learn more about typography? Check out the links below.

i Love Typography
Typophile
TypeNeu

Very rarely am I as intrigued with online, flash-driven games as I was when I found the “Got Milk: Get the Glass” online masterpiece. The characters are well developed, the game board is fun and engaging and the plot is integrated with learning about the benefits of the product in an interesting way.

The Challenge (Get the Glass):

The Plot & Characters:

(Close up of Character Description):

It’s Your Roll! …