Back when Mickey Mouse was drawn by Walt Disney in 1928, it was all pencil and paper, and the frequent use of the ever dependable eraser. More than 80 years has passed and yet we still see Mickey Mouse cartoons all around the world.
That 80+ years has also brought advances in computer technology and software which now allows us to move away from the pencil, paper and the ever dependable eraser, to advanced drawing applications and input (drawing) devices. In this edition/article, we’ll be featuring the best 40+ tutorials on drawing cartoons with Adobe Illustrator and we hope it would expand your creativity and imagination to be the next Walt Disney.
Here are some related post you might be interested:
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First of all, we’d like to thank all readers who had participated in the Billings Mac application contest. It’s an upsetting task considering the fact that we can only choose 3 winners out of more than 250 interested commentators.
Anyway, we have good news for participants who did not make it, or readers who came to know about the contest after it’s closed. If you are still interested in getting Billing application, you can now buy it at a discounted rate.
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Bright colors can scare off a lot of web designers, especially when you use a few of them together. It takes more care and precision to create a design that uses eye-popping color well, without being overwhelming or looking amateurish. And if you’re combining contrasting colors, extra care needs to be taken to prevent your design from being jarring.
The blog designs featured below make excellent use of bright colors. Most use multiple colors together, though a few take a more monocromatic approach. Some are set against dark backgrounds; others are set against white. And in case you don’t want to jump into an original design like these, there are a number of blog templates at the end that use similar bright color schemes.
Here are more examples of beautiful blog design we’ve previosly showcased:
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Vintage-inspired designs, when done well, can end up looking even more current and relevant than an entirely new and modern design. Whether it’s only taking inspiration for your typography, color scheme, or other elements, or whether you create a design that would feel entirely at home in the 1950s, 1920s, or any point before, using vintage and retro styles can be fun and challenging.
Below are forty designs inspired by retro, vintage, and antique elements. They range from campy to completely professional, and everything in between. Use them as inspiration for creating your own vintage designs.
Here are more retro and vintage related articles we’ve previously published:
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There’s an ancient Chinese proverb that says "工欲善其事，必先利其器"; the direct English translation means "In order to do a good job, once must have a good tool." When it comes to the design industry, the tool is Photoshop.
Photoshop is truly a designer’s best friend. It is used to design almost anything, be it icons, websites, photo enhancements, etc and the list goes on. In fact, in one of our earlier post "Stunning Apple Concept Design", most of the gadgets were created with Photoshop too. It’s never a tough job learning how to create a gadget when you know the basics and the next thing you probably need is – good tutorials in conversational tone.
Here’s a list of 31 wonderful Photoshop Tutorials that gives you step by step tutorial how gadgets are created. Full list after jump
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Today’s giveway is an utmost useful application for both freelancers (programmers, designers, photographers, etc) and small business owners. The name is Billings and we figured it’s pretty self-explanatory already.
Billing is a Mac application that allows you to deal with your clients smartly – track timing and expenses, issue an invoice or statements, keep an eye and easily identify which client has an overdue balance, generate report and much more. Billing also provides you with variety of beautiful invoice template so you’ll look more professional when you send an invoice or statement over.
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Meet Fluzzy, yet another high quality free Twitter icon set released exclusively for Hongkiat readers from our friend at Iconshock. You might also want to check out Blitter Twitter Icon set we previously released no long ago.
![fluzzy [Freebie] Fluzzy Twitter Icon Set](http://media02.hongkiat.com/fluzzy-twitter-icon-set/fluzzy.jpg "[Freebie] Fluzzy Twitter Icon Set")
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To most people, making a paper plane could be one of the simplest thing to do. It’s the simplest and easiest form of paper art, for this case a flying art. However, there’s a special minority who takes thing to the next level. They can turn the basic form of origami – which is folding a paper in half – together with a little cutting, folding, bending, shaping, and more paper folding, into an utmost creative artwork you have ever seen.
Credit: Sculpture by Simon Schubert
In this post, we will attempt to show how these minority, creative minded folks turn a very thin slice of wood – paper – into wonders, and bringing paper art to the next level. Without further ado, here’s an impressive showcase of paper art and paper sculptures by some the best paper artistes in the world. Full list after the jump.
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Joomla is an award winning open source content management system (CMS) that allows you to build websites of different varieties like blogs, personal portfolio site, photo galleries, e-commerce sites, etc. Joomla is easy to customize and thanks to the Joomla community, there are plenty of beautiful templates to choose from so you can have a great looking Joomla powered website and online application.
This following post is dedicated to Joomla users and those who wish to start with Joomla. Here are some beautiful and professionally looking Joomla templates you should know.
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We love tees because they have so many rooms for creativity in terms of design. As designers who always strive to maintain originality and uniqueness, we are sucker for creative stuff, that includes what we put on.
When was the last time we you walked down the street and people start checking out your attire? It doesn’t have to be something branded, a creative and catchy t-shirt will do, really. Here’s a collection of creative t-shirts you can buy and add to your wardrobe this holiday season. Full list after jump.
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Insect photography is challenging under the best circumstances. Think about it: you’re taking photos of something that is likely smaller than your little finger (and at largest is still probably smaller than your hand), has no reason to cooperate, and likely views you as a predator or is oblivious to your presence entirely. And even if you’re taking photos of dead insects, it still takes a lot of skill (and a good macro lens) to get the right focus and lighting.
The photographers who managed to snap the photos below all deserve some serious respect. They’ve managed to capture the beauty and complexity of some of the most beautiful specimens in the insect world. Look at their coloring, their structure, the way their bodies are segmented, and let them inspire your designs. Whether you simply borrow a color scheme or go for something a bit more obvious, insects can serve as a wonderful source of artistic inspiration, one that is often overlooked.
Here are more photography related entries you might be interested:
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A well designed newsletter/email template can be the difference between success an failure. Whether its to update customers about a product, or to share information, having a well designed template can be a great starting point to guide your readers and give them a clear coherent flow when they read your email. This is crucial, considering how important the first impression is.
Here is round-up of some of the best free HTML newsletter templates on the Internet you can download without paying a penny.
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Breadcrumb navigation is often overlooked in the design and development process. Some people may see it as unnecessary while others may feel it is too big of a hassle for what its worth. Fact of the matter is, breadcrumb navigation will greatly increase the usability of a website. Breadcrumbs give users an alternative method of navigation, allow them to see where they stand in the hierarchy of a website, and will reduce the number of steps needed to navigate to a higher-level within a website.
Outlined here are the different types of breadcrumb navigation being used today, why they are important, and how they should best be implemented online. Also included here for your reference are over 30 examples of how breadcrumbs are being used online today. Remember, while it is likely that breadcrumb navigation will not make or break a website it will provide an added benefit to your users by increasing the overall usability and functionality of your website.
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Minimalism has been a popular website design style for years. It has so many benefits; minimalist sites load faster, take fewer server resources, and are often faster to develop than more graphically complicated designs. Plus, they give a professional, clean impression to visitors.
Many people still view minimalist designs as boring. But there’s a real art to effective minimal website designs, something not all designers can effectively master. When you limit the number of graphic elements you use and put the focus on negative space and typography, a good eye for spacing and proportion becomes crucial.
Below are more than 100 excellent examples of clean, simple and minimalist website designs. They run the gamut from simple brochure-style sites to e-commerce sites and portfolio pages. What they all have in common is a design aesthetic where less is more.
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