This post is like a quick tip, but it focuses on helpful Illustrator features. Did you know, if you have a Wacom tablet, you can flip the pen over and Illustrator will automatically switch to the Eraser tool. It’s a cool little feature that can make drawing in Illustrator a little more natural. Remember, you can also set your Eraser tool to use your pen tablet pressure sensitivity.

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Birds of a feather by rickylinndesign

Ben Newman

nicktoons: iron man by strongstuff

Tougui

Ryder Revolution

The queen of shaba by doeasembilanpro

Hustler by bogielicious

Computer Arts Magazine by Steven Bonner

Doves Farm Organic by Studio h

Doves Farm Organic by Studio h

Champion Enormous by Erik Marinovich

ralph karam

Lucious by relic444

Imaginate Poster 1 by relic444

Dan Mumford

Dan Mumford

Dental Care by Glennz Tees

Joshua M. Smith

Jonathan Calugi

Jonathan Calugi

Jonathan Calugi

Animal Badges Pt. 3 by rickylinndesign

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Custom WordPress design solutions provide multiple advantages over the pre-designed WordPress templates available out there today. The customization and other capabilities created through the use of customized WordPress design really do make a difference.

A WordPress template that is pre-designed can serve as a bridge in the beginning stages. But in working with a template, the design and branding options often times become a limiting factor. As the brand begins to explore its own identity, developing a strong awareness for the type of message it wants to present, the custom WordPress solution becomes more of a necessity. It’s difficult to achieve the level of branding desired through the use of a standardized template. The template can only do so much. When a company decides ultimately on how the brand is to be represented, the custom WordPress option becomes the best option.

The template also presents a challenge for version upgrades. It is common for individuals to download a template from a site that is quite close to becoming obsolete. Because the WordPress platform continues to change and update regularly, the use of the template can present a problem for a blog. When a version of WordPress issues an upgrade, the template in use must work in harmony with the newest version of WordPress. If this does not happen, issues with the plug-ins and loading errors can occur. This could diminish the user experience, so it is best to get a customized template from a resource that can be adapted and modified as needed to perform consistently between the different types of upgrades.

Impressive templates appealing to the eye may not function well in different browsers. Because users surf the internet with a variety of different types of browsers, the template must perform consistently. In working with a template, some may find that it works with one particular browser best. In using the pre-made design, one may have to encourage the users to view the site through a particular browser. Individuals who prefer viewing certain websites through a particular browser could decide to go to a similar site without such restrictions in place. When the custom design services are used, the expert tests to make sure that the templates work across all browsers in a number of settings.

There are also plug-in considerations worth exploring. Many of the plug-ins provided through WordPress are made to work specifically with certain types of templates. Some of the plug-ins are upgraded frequently while others are not. This presents a problem for those working with templates. Because the templates aren’t maintained or tested often enough beyond the initial version, an individual may find it impossible to use the plug-ins that they want. One of the best ways to ensure that all of the preferred plug-ins are available to the user is to work with a custom designer. This means that the plug-ins selected aren’t dictated by the template itself, but rather the individual’s preference.

Advantages of working with a custom design include improved branding and functionality which become paramount to a business trying to take things to the next level. More latitude, more flexibility and more options are available to the person utilizing the custom template. The user experience is improved, and the performance is guaranteed with each subsequent upgrade.

About the Author

This is a gues post by Rodney Warner – A full time SEO & Denver WordPress Designer.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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Choosing a blog topic is the most important factor in having a successful, well-read blog post that attracts comments and attention. Here is how to choose a topic for your blog post.

The most basic way to choose a blog topic is to look for an attention-grabbing story in the news. This can then be used as part of the blog post and title. The title is the first thing that people read, and it’s the most important factor. As long as you grab their attention you will convince them to continue reading. Choosing a topic that is controversial will also help you to create a good blog post, as people love to read about controversy.

Create an angle on a popular blog topic. In order to do this, look for those topics in your marketplace that always get lots of comments and attract the attention of many blog owners in your market. You should then use the same broad theme but create an angle, in order to make it original. This is a very simple way to choose a blog topic and will ensure you have a market for your blog post.

Another solid approach to choosing a blog topic is to make it personal. People love to read about the lives of others, and are always interested if you reveal something about yourself. However, ensure that the blog topic is also related to the market and gives them information that can be put to use. You could offer a story of how you used a certain technique in order to improve your skills in something. Make it personal, reveal an unknown truth and then provide a solution.

If your market is one that enjoys humor then you can reveal a joke as part of the blog post. This will not work in all markets, but it is an effective method to choose a blog topic. The idea is to link something that your readers are interested in to a joke that they will enjoy. This has been done with great success and can be used to connect to your subscribers and readers.

One of the most popular blog topics is to make a list of seven secrets or tips. This is done every day and still works to generate attention and attract a lot of readers. When you create a blog post around seven tips, you will almost be guaranteed to have readers, comments and increased traffic.

Using the methods above to choose the topic for your blog post will make the process much easier and will ensure more readers to click and read your content.

About the Author

Pat Lindle is an avid writer and blogger for his metal deck / steel deck company in Phoenix AZ. When not writing and blogging about his passions, Pat enjoys scuba diving, mountain climbing, and vacationing with his family.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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Brand building is the only route to business success in the present global market scenario. Sales alone cannot make a business successful since they do not increase until the brand becomes a forceful tool that will launch the business into the big league. Brand building is a tough task needing an investment of a lot of time and money, and every step needs to be done right. Even then, something may hold back the branding initiative.

In such a scenario blogging may prove to be savior in helping in the branding exercise and making it successful. Blogging can help in various ways, some of which are discussed below:

• Build an online image through blogs- Part of the branding initiative includes the addition of a jingle or a catch line that is so catchy that it stays in consumers’ minds. This is often to such an extent that the very mention of the brand first brings a very distinct image of the brand and then anything else. This has been termed as creation of a “franchise” in the mind by experts, and companies spend billions to create this mind franchising exercise. One last effort can be to use blogging for increasing the branding endeavors, which will definitely help in creating an online presence for the brand and the products associated with it. Also, blogs are an open, free for all board where your brand stories can be narrated time and again, new thoughts added, and updates that help to keep the reading public in the loop. A blog is like a guided tour that continues over time. A personal perspective for a brand is possible only through blogs, and it makes people warm up to it.
• Blogs for initiating conversations- Blogs need not be a one way communication channel. It is a great way to initiate a conversation with consumers, get their views, feedback and recommendations. Often it is the end user who is able to point out flaws and drawbacks that can be rectified to improve the image of the brand and the products attached to it. Personal interaction helps to develop a personal rapport and with it comes faith and trust in the people behind the brand. A personal angle to a strictly professional or business relationship only adds to the advantages without any negative effects.
• Blogging helps in marketing by word-of-mouth- Blogs have a double effect. Besides opening a communication channel between brand owners and brand users, it also helps to create a network involving people connected to users, since all people talk to each other about good products and services. This can easily have a viral effect, since path breaking innovations will reach all the networks of the people you interact or communicate with. This word of mouth marketing is perhaps the best marketing tool there can be.
• Using connections for brand building- Blogging helps to build connections and these connections pay off in promoting brands. Blogging makes it easy to become powerful through knowledge and expertise in your field, and sharing this with others makes them see the extent of your knowledge. Once the target audience realizes this, they begin to accept your influence and warm up to the brand you promote. Connections are easy to make through this knowledge route. Being honest, letting your true self come out in your blogs, adds life to a few lines and the reading public loves that. Blogs thus become a perfect medium to showcase honesty, sincerity and expertise in your field, without any need for rhetoric or flowery writing styles. Connections will then naturally follow.
• Create communities on social networks through blogs- the impact of blogs can be extended to social networks like Facebook and Twitter as well. With shared interests the viral effect of a blog can do wonders for the brand a sword spreads, and so does the name and fame. Additional layers can be created through message boards, review sections, customer profiles and so on to form a whole community for a brand. This is assisted by social network platforms like Ning, CrowdVine and KickApps, which serve precisely this purpose.
• Using Cost effective brand building exercises- Brand building can be an expensive exercise and companies that have no dearth of resources go all out to spend on brand initiatives. However, this is neither warranted nor a necessary rule of thumb. Brands can be built on shoe string budgets, with little spending or none at all, as is the case with blogging. Many blog platform come free of cost and knowledge of blogging can improve over time to yield the best results.
• Partnerships help in reinforcing brands- Modern brands are based on the concept of distributed power. Brands are less an in-house brand expert’s forte and more can be gauged from the interactive consumer platforms where a true, unbiased picture emerges. Using these inputs to restructure and improve the brand and its image subsequently, are the way smart companies work. Partnership with meaningful participants helps. Blogging is one effective way to initiate partnerships that will help the brand.

According to Brian Solis, a famous media expert and business blogger, a humane blog with genuine and helpful advice combined with the ability to cultivate relationships and sustain them helps to form good connections, improve customer service, revise perceptions and improve the reach, resonance and loyalty of the brand in question.

About the Author

This is a guest post by Neil Jones, who Specializes in launching ecommerce sites, he is currently plying his trade as head of marketing for eMobileScan. With 18 websites based all around Europe they are on course to be one of Europe’s largest online retailers of Industrial handheld computers and label printers like the Motorola MC75 terminal or the Datalogic Memor. Neil has been an online marketer for the past 6 years and in that time he has owned and run a range of sites all built around the ecommerce platform.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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When it comes to choosing a web browser, Internet Explorer and Firefox tend to be two of the most popular. However, Google Chrome is now making its mark in the browser sector. Many people are enjoying the easy to navigate and simple Chrome features, though one problem has cropped up for bloggers.

Up until fairly recently there have not been many decent extensions for bloggers that support Chrome. If you run a WordPress blog then you will be pleased to know that there are a few good Chrome extensions available. They can help you to better manage your blog, and make it more successful.

Extension Number One – WordPress Comments Checker

When you run an online blog you will often receive comments from visitors to your blog. There could be questions asked about the content in your post, or they could be praising you for your hard work. Whatever it is, comments should be answered in a timely manner.

It can be hard enough finding the time to write the posts never mind keep checking for replies! Luckily there is a solution and it comes in the form of the WordPress Comments Checker.

This handy extension keeps track of your comments and shows you how many pending comments you have. The results are easy to see on the header section of Google Chrome. It doesn’t matter what you are doing you will always know if you have a new comment. You must be logged into your blog in order to see the number of comments that you have pending.

When you click on the counter in the Chrome header, you will be taken right to the Admin section of your blog. Currently the extension is being developed to include even more features. For more information on this feature click here.

Extension Number Two – WordPress Stats

The WordPress Stats extension enables you to see how many visitors your blog has at any point in time. This will give you a good idea of what time of the day your blog often receives the most traffic. You can then aim to release new posts at around that time.

Once you click on the extension, you will be presented with many statistics regarding your visitors. You can find out about your most popular posts, how many referrals your blog has, and what search terms have been used to find your blog.

You will need to be using the WordPress Stats plug-in for this extension to work properly. It will take your information from the WordPress blog via your API Key. You should find this extension really simple to use. You can find out more here.

Extension Number Three – WordPress Checker

This is almost exactly the same as the WordPress Comments Checker only it is better for those with multiple blogs. Pending comments are generally displayed the same way that they are with the other extension. It just shows you the comments for every different blog that you have in one easy to manage section. Once you click on the extension you will be able to view pending, spam and approved comments for all of your blogs.Check out this great tool at WordPress checker.

These are the best 3 extensions that support Google Chrome. If you manage a WordPress blog then it would definitely be a good idea to invest in these extensions. They will help you to better run the blogs and monitor your traffic.

If you are strapped for time then you need tools that can help you. Blogs can be very hard work as they do need to be constantly monitored and updated. Why not let the extensions monitor your blogs for you to relieve some of the pressure?

About the Author

This was a post sent to us kindly by Lior Levin who is a consultant to a PSD to XHTML service and also works with a neon signs store that sells neon and LED signs.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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Writing for the web often requires a great deal of self publishing, especially if you run your own blog or news/feature website. Because of this, there is a good chance that at some point, you will be required to find images, resize them, and add them to your articles.

Nothing can fully replace having your own photographer at your side, but there are many photographers who use the web as their digital portfolios and allow writers and website owners to use their images royalty-free. Just because an image is on the web does not mean it’s a free image and you have the right to use it, and if you start making money off your blog while illegally using copyrighted images, you could be in for a world of hurt.

There are several types of royalty-free photo sites out there. Some have their own licenses, and others use copyleft licenses like Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation License. Still others allow the users to specify the terms such as notification and crediting. The following are several sites you can use to find free images for your writing.

Where to Find Free Images?

stock.xchng – One of the most well-established free stock photo sites, stock.xchng showcases an amazingly large number of photographers. Licenses include the standard restrictions, which do not require attribution, as well as an attribution, permission, and/or notification requirement. All of the images are high-quality, and all are free of charge.

Flickr – Since Flickr itself is a photo sharing site, there are plenty photos with “all rights reserved” that are off-limits to you unless you gain the photographer’s permission. With the “advanced search” feature, however, you can locate usable photos by scrolling to the bottom of the page and checking: “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content”. If you need to use the images for commercial promotion, also be sure to check “Find to use commercially”.

A word of caution: Flickr uses the Creative Commons feature trusting that the person who uploads it will honor its terms. Unfortunately, some are prone to later change the license or upload images that they do not have permission to license in the first place. Therefore, always use your best judgment.

Wikimedia Commons – Created by the same non-profit organization that runs Wikipedia, this free image site has a plethora of usable photos and art. Because of stricter requirements for submission, Wikimedia Commons photos are all reusable under Creative Commons. Most require attribution, so be sure to credit your sources.

OpenClipArt – Although clipart may be the last type of image you want to include in your writing, OpenClipArt has some quality vector SVG artwork that may cause you to reconsider. All of the images on this site are released to the Public Domain and do not require attribution.

Google Advanced Search – Rather than an image hosting site, Google image search is a meta search tool that you can use to find reusable images. Simply click on “Advanced Search” and for “Usage rights” select “free to use or share”. Most of the images will come from Flickr, but it may also find additional ones, and best of all, it relies on Google’s speedy search interface.

everystockphoto – Another meta search tool, everystockphoto searches many of the sites mentioned above, such as Flickr and stock.xchng. Each entries clearly defines the license type, resolution, image source, and more.

morgueFile – An interesting concept, morgueFile is designed specifically for creative people looking for free images to use. The site license does not require attribution, and the collection of photos is quite impressive and high quality.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog – The Library of Congress has tons of digital images, and it would make this article unduly long to list all of the categories. If you are looking for art, historical photos, or things you might not be able to find elsewhere, LOC probably has it. Most of the old photos and art are in the public domain, but be sure to check the restrictions for each collection you use.

Now you have no excuse not to include beautiful free photos and art in your writing. Like you, a writer who shares your creations with the world, there are plenty of photographers and artists who do the same. Enjoy their work, and be sure to give them credit when they request it.

About the Author

Tavis J. Hampton is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience in writing, information services, and Linux system administration, relying on only quality web hosts like server hosting company 34SP.com.

You may also want to read: Where To Find Free Images For Your Blog
Photo credits to Miguel Ugalde

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

Go to Source

Writing for the web often requires a great deal of self publishing, especially if you run your own blog or news/feature website. Because of this, there is a good chance that at some point, you will be required to find images, resize them, and add them to your articles.

Nothing can fully replace having your own photographer at your side, but there are many photographers who use the web as their digital portfolios and allow writers and website owners to use their images royalty-free. Just because an image is on the web does not mean it’s a free image and you have the right to use it, and if you start making money off your blog while illegally using copyrighted images, you could be in for a world of hurt.

There are several types of royalty-free photo sites out there. Some have their own licenses, and others use copyleft licenses like Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation License. Still others allow the users to specify the terms such as notification and crediting. The following are several sites you can use to find free images for your writing.

Where to Find Free Images?

stock.xchng – One of the most well-established free stock photo sites, stock.xchng showcases an amazingly large number of photographers. Licenses include the standard restrictions, which do not require attribution, as well as an attribution, permission, and/or notification requirement. All of the images are high-quality, and all are free of charge.

Flickr – Since Flickr itself is a photo sharing site, there are plenty photos with “all rights reserved” that are off-limits to you unless you gain the photographer’s permission. With the “advanced search” feature, however, you can locate usable photos by scrolling to the bottom of the page and checking: “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content”. If you need to use the images for commercial promotion, also be sure to check “Find to use commercially”.

A word of caution: Flickr uses the Creative Commons feature trusting that the person who uploads it will honor its terms. Unfortunately, some are prone to later change the license or upload images that they do not have permission to license in the first place. Therefore, always use your best judgment.

Wikimedia Commons – Created by the same non-profit organization that runs Wikipedia, this free image site has a plethora of usable photos and art. Because of stricter requirements for submission, Wikimedia Commons photos are all reusable under Creative Commons. Most require attribution, so be sure to credit your sources.

OpenClipArt – Although clipart may be the last type of image you want to include in your writing, OpenClipArt has some quality vector SVG artwork that may cause you to reconsider. All of the images on this site are released to the Public Domain and do not require attribution.

Google Advanced Search – Rather than an image hosting site, Google image search is a meta search tool that you can use to find reusable images. Simply click on “Advanced Search” and for “Usage rights” select “free to use or share”. Most of the images will come from Flickr, but it may also find additional ones, and best of all, it relies on Google’s speedy search interface.

everystockphoto – Another meta search tool, everystockphoto searches many of the sites mentioned above, such as Flickr and stock.xchng. Each entries clearly defines the license type, resolution, image source, and more.

morgueFile – An interesting concept, morgueFile is designed specifically for creative people looking for free images to use. The site license does not require attribution, and the collection of photos is quite impressive and high quality.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog – The Library of Congress has tons of digital images, and it would make this article unduly long to list all of the categories. If you are looking for art, historical photos, or things you might not be able to find elsewhere, LOC probably has it. Most of the old photos and art are in the public domain, but be sure to check the restrictions for each collection you use.

Now you have no excuse not to include beautiful free photos and art in your writing. Like you, a writer who shares your creations with the world, there are plenty of photographers and artists who do the same. Enjoy their work, and be sure to give them credit when they request it.

About the Author

Tavis J. Hampton is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience in writing, information services, and Linux system administration, relying on only quality web hosts like server hosting company 34SP.com.

You may also want to read: Where To Find Free Images For Your Blog
Photo credits to Miguel Ugalde

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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The recent update made by Google (Panda) is the first major change since 2009. There were many blogs that were affected by this update. Some experienced a drop in their traffic, while some experienced a surge. Whatever change your blog experienced, I’m sure you have noticed a lot of buzz around these algorithm changes. What is Panda all about? Let’s take a look:

No gibberish

According to Google, the Panda update was made to enhance the quality of search results. This made spammy sites disappear from the results. Though there still are some gibberish sites on search results, there are many websites that were pushed down in the search rankings. The Panda update is not perfect, but it did make considerable changes.

The update targeted low quality sites with superficial and shallow content, and brought down their rankings. The websites that were hit the hardest by Panda were content farms and article sites.

Content farms

Talking about a content farm, many people generally ask what exactly a content farm is. This is actually a very hazy area. Following the definition on Wikipedia, a content farm is a website that uses a lot of freelance writers to write content in order to rank high on search engine results. These websites earn money by getting many page views and thus selling ads on those pages.

This definition brings all the article directories under the definition of content farms. There are many content farms that are still standing strong, though some were penalized.

If you allow guests to post articles on your blog, chances are that some people add low quality content just for some backlinks. If this happens, your blog might have been affected by the recent updates. Opening your blog for guest posts is a good way to encourage reader activity, but some level of moderation is required so that it does not become a content farm.

Keep it Panda friendly

There are some basic steps that you can follow to optimize your website for Google Panda. Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing CEO, prescribes four steps that can work with the post Google Panda update.

1. Evaluate your blog for these characteristics: low informative value, short form, too many ads or duplicate content. If some part is being duplicated, just remove it. If the content is not too useful, add bits of information. Remove extra panels of ads. Make sure the person doing this has enough web development expertise and SEO knowledge.

2. For subsequent blog posts, focus on high quality useful content that is not duplicated from anywhere else.

3. Promote your content in such a way that it attracts links from other blogs. You can do it by providing content in a way that makes people comment on it. When people get interested in your website, they will talk about it, or post links to it on other sites. This will increase your page rank. But remember- keep it original.

4. Offer users a chance to share your blog on social media like Twitter and Facebook. Social engagement will popularize your blog faster than other mediums. This will be useful for both your blog and your readers.

Though there are some legitimate sites that got caught up in the Panda update, it has proven to be a windfall for real content marketers – the blogs that provide great content to their readers. Continue to feed the Internet with the best content with less stress on the sales pitch, and you will stay good in the eyes of Google.

If you are looking for something that would let the Panda update work in your favor then use all the organic SEO strategies that you know, and stop building low quality links. Maybe some content farms have been spared by Google, but judging by the direction Google is taking, their next update might not be so kind.

About the Author

June Buckley is an SEO specialist and avid blogger. She likes writing about social media, business blog hosting, internet marketing and mobile technology.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

Go to Source

The recent update made by Google (Panda) is the first major change since 2009. There were many blogs that were affected by this update. Some experienced a drop in their traffic, while some experienced a surge. Whatever change your blog experienced, I’m sure you have noticed a lot of buzz around these algorithm changes. What is Panda all about? Let’s take a look:

No gibberish

According to Google, the Panda update was made to enhance the quality of search results. This made spammy sites disappear from the results. Though there still are some gibberish sites on search results, there are many websites that were pushed down in the search rankings. The Panda update is not perfect, but it did make considerable changes.

The update targeted low quality sites with superficial and shallow content, and brought down their rankings. The websites that were hit the hardest by Panda were content farms and article sites.

Content farms

Talking about a content farm, many people generally ask what exactly a content farm is. This is actually a very hazy area. Following the definition on Wikipedia, a content farm is a website that uses a lot of freelance writers to write content in order to rank high on search engine results. These websites earn money by getting many page views and thus selling ads on those pages.

This definition brings all the article directories under the definition of content farms. There are many content farms that are still standing strong, though some were penalized.

If you allow guests to post articles on your blog, chances are that some people add low quality content just for some backlinks. If this happens, your blog might have been affected by the recent updates. Opening your blog for guest posts is a good way to encourage reader activity, but some level of moderation is required so that it does not become a content farm.

Keep it Panda friendly

There are some basic steps that you can follow to optimize your website for Google Panda. Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing CEO, prescribes four steps that can work with the post Google Panda update.

1. Evaluate your blog for these characteristics: low informative value, short form, too many ads or duplicate content. If some part is being duplicated, just remove it. If the content is not too useful, add bits of information. Remove extra panels of ads. Make sure the person doing this has enough web development expertise and SEO knowledge.

2. For subsequent blog posts, focus on high quality useful content that is not duplicated from anywhere else.

3. Promote your content in such a way that it attracts links from other blogs. You can do it by providing content in a way that makes people comment on it. When people get interested in your website, they will talk about it, or post links to it on other sites. This will increase your page rank. But remember- keep it original.

4. Offer users a chance to share your blog on social media like Twitter and Facebook. Social engagement will popularize your blog faster than other mediums. This will be useful for both your blog and your readers.

Though there are some legitimate sites that got caught up in the Panda update, it has proven to be a windfall for real content marketers – the blogs that provide great content to their readers. Continue to feed the Internet with the best content with less stress on the sales pitch, and you will stay good in the eyes of Google.

If you are looking for something that would let the Panda update work in your favor then use all the organic SEO strategies that you know, and stop building low quality links. Maybe some content farms have been spared by Google, but judging by the direction Google is taking, their next update might not be so kind.

About the Author

June Buckley is an SEO specialist and avid blogger. She likes writing about social media, business blog hosting, internet marketing and mobile technology.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

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While podcasting is much bigger than it was a few years ago, it’s still not as big as a could be. Many bloggers have yet to get into the art of podcasting. Some are shy and aren’t ready to take that next step, while others want to, but just don’t know how to take that step.

Whatever your reason may be for not adding a podcast to your blog, you may want to consider the benefits. Podcasting is not just a marketing tool, it’s also a way to set yourself apart from the competition and really get in touch with your subscribers. So before counting it out, take a look over these reasons why you should add a podcast to your blog.

Educate Yourself

Having a weekly podcast can be a great learning experience for you because you’ll get to learn about new topics from the people that you talk to and interview. What better way to expand your knowledge than by talking to experts in that area? Your new-found knowledge is also a great way of increasing your authority and establishing yourself as a great source and leader in your industry. You’ll be able to expound in greater detail on the topics that you cover on your blog and build more trust with your readers.

Expand Your Reach

Through your podcast you’ll be able to network, connect and get noticed by new people. You’ll really get to do a lot of expanding because the people that you invite on your podcast will of course share the podcast with their network. It only gets better from there because some of those people will then share the podcast with their networks and so on.

Also, with the ability to publish podcasts for free on iTunes and other places, you’re bound to reach an entirely new audience. It’s a great way to build your brand and increase your exposure. People that may have never even heard of your will come across your podcast just by searching or browsing within your category.

Convenience

Your readers will now become listeners and they’ll really appreciate the convenience of being able to listen to your content on the go (via a mobile device) or while multitasking right at home or in the office. Listening actually takes less cognitive effort than reading, plus the Web has really made people more lazy. So, it’s only natural that your readers will enjoy listening to your podcasts because it will save them time and energy.

Build Relationships

Your podcast will give you the ability to improve your relationship with your current readers and build new relationships as well. It’s much easier to build a personal connection to a human voice than from writing; text can be so impersonal. Hearing your voice will let your listeners into your life and get to know the real you. You can also interact with them more and even respond to questions, remarks or feedback that they send.

If you’re now ready to take that next step, there are numerous resources on the Web to help you get started. Some methods are easier than other; so just be sure to find the method that best suits your needs and you’ll be a podcasting pro in no time!

About the Author

This post was written by Lior who advises to a live chat support software company called iAdvize. Lior Also works for an MA in Israel studies program.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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Article writing is more than just sitting down and writing out your thoughts. In order to get people to keep on reading you have to almost instantly capture their interest. You must get your reader interested enough and curious enough to be able to get your message across to them.

The most important ingredient in putting together an article is creativity. Some people are just naturally very creative, while others go crazy while suffering from a seemingly endless bout of writer’s block. It can be extremely frustrating and aggravating when the words that you are looking for just don’t seem to want to come. But you must learn to relax and let them come.

Writing words that magically transform themselves into an image in the mind of the reader is an art form in and of itself. Your words need to be crisp, clear, and concise. You can use metaphors to help yourself out, but the way an article is woven together word by word and sentence by sentence is how it develops its essence and personality.

You are sitting there and you just can’t seem to get any words to come to mind, what do you do now? Since the beginning of the written word, all writers have faced this situation. There is no perfect or guaranteed answer to the problem of writers block. One secret that I use, as well as a lot of other writers, is to keep a notebook near you at all times and write down any ideas as they come to you. Write down everything you think of, everything you see, and everything you hear that might prove useful. You can use this notebook for future reference when you are in need of an idea.

Another thing that you can try is to simply relax and empty your mind. We all from time to time end up with a head full of life’s little worries. If you are having some sort of problem or difficulty in your life it will make it very hard for you to concentrate and keep focused on what you are trying to do. Every time you sit down to write, take a moment to relax and clear those troubling thoughts from your mind.

The area in which you work is very important and can have a direct effect on the quality of your work. A cluttered workspace can be a distraction and hinder your productivity. This doesn’t mean however that you have to have a sterile and drab work area. Put up some pictures that inspire you. Place some small objects on your desk the bring back those kinds of memories that you just can’t help but smile when you think of them. A peaceful work area will greatly increase your output.

Figure out how you work best

A good place to start is the speed with which you write. Some writers once they get going, the words just fly across the paper. Other writers are much slower and more methodical. You need to find your own pace. Some writers having a never-ending cup of coffee always on the desk, while some have been known to sip on a glass of wine or put away a few beers while they write. There is no right or wrong way, there is only you finding your own way.

And if it all gets to be too much, and no matter how hard you should try the words just won’t come, get up and walk away from it. Take a break, go for a walk, do something that is unusual and will break up your normal routine. Once you have let go of all those little things that are bothering you, the writing process will flow effortlessly.

About the Author

Thomas Alling runs a blog where he writes about how you can make money from blogging. He also writes articles in the internet marketing niche. To read more from Mr. Alling, visit his blog MakeMoneyHelper.com

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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For those people who have been using WordPress for years, the first plugin that they would recommend anyone starting out with the WordPress format would be the All in One SEO Pack. All in One SEO Pack was one of the first comprehensive WordPress plugins and since it was launched has been downloaded over 8 million times. It is without doubt the daddy of all WordPress plugins and the one most people download first when they set up their WordPress blog.

All in One SEO Pack allows you to quickly and simply configure the meta tags, meta description and Title for each and every post that you write for your WordPress site. This is particularly useful because WordPress will use your blog tag as a keyword. Thus the plugin is brilliant for customizing every post or webpage to get the maximum benefits of optimization. This automation of the SEO process is brilliant for beginners, because it not only generates the correct tags but it also avoids duplicate content.

However, the problem with being the top dog is that someone always comes along and tries to steal your crown. And lately another SEO package has been getting a lot of attention. The WordPress SEO by Yoast is the most recent, and certainly most discussed, SEO plugin around. Boasting a whole raft of new features it promised to be less high maintenance than All in One SEO Pack. And it comes with a good pedigree with Yoast and his team being a reliable source and having been downloaded a great deal as well.

Indeed it is well designed and very easy to use with a bunch of great options for tweaking your search engine optimisation settings. The page that takes the place of the old All in One SEO Pack page works extremely well and allows you to simply customize the titles for differing page views, with numerous options for flexibility. However, there are also some problems with Yoast at this stage, that still need ironing out. Some category tags and templates didn’t work once the plugin was enabled, and after the installation of the plugin the category permalinks also stopped working. In addition there were problems with sitemap functionality and a few other minor teething problems that still need to be sorted out.

To be fair Yoast’s SEO plugin has not been around anywhere near the same length of time as All in One SEO Pack so it needs some time to bed in. But for a plugin that does one basic job – generating and organizing meta description, title and keyword tags – and does it well, All in One SEO Pack is still the only plugin worth installing.

About the Author

Alex Simmonds is a copywriter and journalist based in the UK.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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Hello friends and readers of Blogsessive! Today I have an announcement to make and with this occasion, launch a debate with you, Blogsessive’s community.

Blogsessive has been around for a while, sometimes more active, sometimes less active, but right now it’s time for a major change. And this change will start off with a redesign of the blog.

Since I’ve always treasured the voice of my community, I’m launching an open debate (this post will remain sticky) on this step in Blogsessive’s existence with a few questions:

• What do you like and dislike most about the current design?
• What would you want to see implemented in the future design?
• Are there any elements/functionalities that you find hard to access right now?

Aside from these questions, feel free and encourage to express your opinions as feedback is always kindly appreciated. Also, another change of policy is to open up Blogsessive to more guest post articles. It is an excellent way to help Blogsessive’s readers get to know each other better and I am 100% positive that everyone has a wonderful point of view, experience and tips to share with us all. So, go ahead and write a wonderful guest post and contact me.

Lets talk

Looking forward to reading your comments and setting the base of Blogsessive’s future together!

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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Facebook and blogging, if both are done right, can be a powerful combination. Linking up your Facebook Page with your blog is a great way to get your blog readers more involved with your Facebook community, and it’s also a great chance to let your Facebook fans know what’s going on over on your blog.

It’s not difficult to link up your Facebook Page and your blog, in fact some of it can be set once and then will automatically continue to work for you. It’s just a matter of getting the pieces in place so that both your blog and your Facebook Page are communicating with each other and your people can easily connect with you where they are most comfortable interacting.

Let’s start with some things you can do on your Facebook Page.

Automatically Post Your Blog Updates

Every time you write a new blog post, you can have Facebook automatically publish that on your Facebook Page. This is a great way to let your fans know that there is new content over on the blog, and they can get a quick sneak peek to see if it’s something they want to check out or not.

All you need is a Facebook Page app that posts from an RSS feed. RSS Graffiti is a good example of one that is completely free and easy to set up.

Blog Directly In Facebook

Most bloggers will want to continue to have an external blog outside of Facebook, however, Facebook’s Notes app can act like a blog inside Facebook. With Notes you can write and post an article, include images and links, and post it right to your Facebook Page Wall. The Notes app is automatically added to any new Page, so you can easily find it by going in to the Apps section in your Edit Page backend.

The Notes app can also be used to import your blog and works great if your blog is primarily written. {Videos do not import properly, so if your blog has a lot of video, then I recommend just using the RSS Graffiti app for your blog.} The Notes app will import your new blog posts right into Notes, so that it’s now in your Facebook Page and your fans can comment on it there.

There are also a number of things you can set up on your blog to point to and connect to your Facebook Page.

Facebook Share Button

There are a number of good plugins for WordPress that add a Facebook Share button to each post on your blog. You can have one that shows the number of shares, or one that simply has the Share button with no count.

A Facebook Share button is a quick and easy way for readers to share your post if they like it. They are able to add their own comment, and Facebook pulls in the title, URL, short description and thumbnail, so it gives your blog some great exposure to the Share-er’s friends.

Facebook Comments

Adding Facebook comments to your blog can be a great way to bring some more interactivity with Facebook to your site. Facebook comments sync between your blog and Facebook so that user’s comments are posted to their Personal Profile when they comment.

Readers who are not on Facebook are not able to comment, however, so some people use Facebook Comments alongside the regular WordPress comments, or only use the Facebook Comments on certain pages of their blog.

Facebook Like

You can also add a simple Like button to each blog post. When readers click Like, it publishes a quick story to their profile saying that they Like it. The Like button also typically shows readers if any of their friends already like the post, so it can be a great way to show them that their friends are already interacting with your blog {if they actually are, of course}.

The Like button doesn’t let them add a comment or share the actual post, but it does give your post just a bit of visibility on Facebook. And visibility equals new fans and more interaction from current fans. Use it as well as the Facebook Share button to give your readers two easy ways give you some Facebook love.

Facebook Page Icon or Like Box

Many of your blog readers would love to be fans on Facebook, as well. Give them the option to do so right from your blog with a Facebook Page Like Box, which has the Like button right on your site, so they don’t have to leave your blog.

Or if you prefer to have them leave your site to go to Facebook, then use a Facebook icon that links to your Facebook Page. You can use just a plain text link, too, but if people are looking for how to connect with you on Facebook, they’ll be looking for the blue Facebook “F”. Don’t be shy about displaying that icon!

How to Find Apps and Plugins

If you’re not familiar with finding and installing new Facebook Page apps and WordPress plugins, just start doing some searching. You can use the search bar in Facebook to search for apps – just start typing what you’re looking for and Facebook will show you a list of suggestions. If looking for WordPress plugins, you can do a search on WordPress.org for plugins.

And don’t forget that Google is your best friend. You can search for Facebook apps and WordPress plugins right in Google, as well, and will find recommendations from others, as well as the actual apps and plugins on Facebook and WordPress.

Your Turn

Are you already using some of these tools and techniques? Which new ones are you going to start implementing? And are there any other techniques that you would like to add to the list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Image Credit: Anirudh Koul

About the Author

Jess is a quirky entrepreneur who helps fellow quirks EXPLODE their business on Facebook. She loves all things Facebook and being able to help business owners learn how to build an active audience to grow their business through Facebook. If you’d like to learn more, you can attend her FREE webinar, The Facebook Explosion Blueprint, or join The Facebook Explosion community on Facebook. You can also follow Jess’ blog and website over at www.jessilicious.com.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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Hello everyone! My name is Alex. Most of you, readers of Blogsessive know my name and clearly know what this blog is all about and that’s great. Others don’t and that’s fine too. But there are those cases in which not knowing who I am is a bad thing, and yes, now I’m talking to you Mr./Ms. Internet/Email Marketer. Unfortunately, I have absolutely NO idea what your big business opportunity was all about because I have just deleted your email. Why, you ask? Because…

My name is Alex

Not admin, not webmaster. I have a name and if you really want to reach ME, think of me as a person with an identity. I am not defined by my status in regards to how I technically operate this blog or website, but by my thoughts, actions, writing and virtually all that in the end constitutes my identity in the eyes of my community. You can start by simply using my name.

My blog is called Blogsessive

Not http://blogsessive.com, not ‘your website’ – the one that you ‘stumbled’ across by some sort of accident and decided to pitch me. Call me arrogant but I love my blog and have put a lot of work and passion into it. Show me respect by using its name, just like you should when addressing me. It is part of my identity and if you did not get it by now, I couldn’t care less about what you have to propose as long as you show that you have no idea who I am, what my blog is about and I’m basically just another ID in your database of contacts.

You did not pitch me with a win-win

The second you decide to pitch me it is clear that you have something to gain. In case you don’t realize, like it or not most times that puts me in a position of power. Make sure you clearly state what you offer and make sure it’s at least decent. Under certain circumstances I will promote stuff out of my own belief because you pointed it out, but statistics say that most likely I’m not running a charity, nor pushing big amounts of BS to my community. Thus, all you have to do is to follow these simple rules:

• Offer something of value to me and my community;
• Offer something of virtually the same value with what you are asking for;
• If you cannot provide any of the above, make sure you state why and think of alternatives.

You did not pitch me with something fit

If you take a moment to browse my blog, you’ll see what it is all about and see if your proposal fits in. I will not go out of my way to help you with something and by doing that, disrupt the flow of this blog. Make sure you pitch me with the right stuff.

So, the next time you pitch me via email and don’t get a reply, know that it went straight to the trash bin and that’s why I have just deleted your business opportunity email.

What should you do?

Other than following the 4 common sense rules above? You could first consider the following relational pattern: Me <-> My blog <-> My community. If you get that, I’m sure you’ll be able to personalize your business opportunity email in less than 5 minutes and chances are that I’ll read it and reply. Also, let me give you an example of how it’s done.

A couple of days ago I was approached by a person offering a subscription to a pretty major website, asking for a review of their service. They used my blog’s name in their pitch and their offer clearly stated what I had to win out if it. A decent free subscription. Yet, their service is not that new to me as it relates to my job of over a decade – a web designer. Being a member of similar services, out of courtesy and respect of their approach I replied back asking for a similar subscription to offer one of my readers too in a contest after I’d review their site. Of course, we came to an agreement and everyone will be happy. It’s just a matter of common sense. And with this, stay tuned to Blogsessive in the next couple of weeks as I’m preparing the contest I previously mentioned.

Photo credits to Dan Mulligan

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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In most industrialized nations, literacy is well over 98%. This means that nearly everyone is capable of reading and writing and, as such, are capable of being writers.

However, only a very small fraction of people who can write ever attempt to actually become serious writers and, of those who do, only a fraction ever become successful at it.

There are many reasons for this, some of which include natural talent, time and other issues over which there is little control.  However, there are several habits that separate those who become successful writers from those who never go anywhere with their writing.

In short, while taking on these habits may not guarantee that you’ll become a successful writer, not having them will virtually guarantee that you won’t. As such, they are crucial for any writer to have if they want to make a career or even a reputation out of their writing.

1. Writing

Successful writers write almost constantly. It’s important to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) at least once a day to keep your mind in the writing mindset.

Try to set a word count goal for yourself every day, even if it is a low one at first, and try to hit it. Not only is this a great way to tackle longer projects, such as a novel, but it forces you to write even if you don’t have a deadline looming, letting you work on projects along and along rather than rushing to completion.

2. Editing

Most great writers are also avid editors. While it’s important to have others read your work and to take their suggestions humbly, you have to be your own best editor.

Learn how to edit your work carefully, reading the words aloud as you go back over it or even reading it backwards to ensure you take your time and look at what was said. Very few great works come out as diamonds in the first draft and most need a lot of polish to make them shine.

3. Reading

To be a successful writer, one has to read as much, if not more, than they write. Reading not only lets you see what works and what doesn’t but also lets you feel the natural cadence of the written language and bring that into your work.

It’s important, however, to read a variety of content. Newspapers, books, blog posts, etc. all have different styles and different elements that you can incorporate into your work. Exposing yourself to all of the content you can is crucial to having a broad understanding of writing and being able to bring in the best of all worlds.

4. Focus

Writing is hard work and there are many distractions that can cause you to lose your focus. Finding ways to keep on target and keep putting words on the page is crucial to completing projects, which, in turn is essential for being a successful writer.

Whether you use a full screen word processor or just sheer willpower, finding a way to stay focused on your words will help you immensely as you try to hone and improve your writing.

5. Self Promotion

This one is a problem for many writers as marketing is not a skill that comes naturally with writing talents. However, in order to go from being a talented writer to a successful one, one has to be prepared to tastefully trumpet themselves.

Marketing and promotion is far from easy, but the quicker one masters it, the faster their career will grow.

6. Delivery

Finally, all of the above habits mean nothing if the writer isn’t capable of delivering what they promise on time every time.

A writer who hasn’t submitted a completed work hasn’t written anything at all. So getting into the habit of meeting deadlines and constantly turning out excellent work when you do is the habit that will build your reputation and help you climb the ladder of success.

Conclusions

All in all, there’s no real magic to becoming a great writer. It’s all about working hard at your craft and constantly churning out high quality work in a timely fashion.

However, these are not skills that one develops so much as they are habits, habits that become ingrained by making an effort to do them over and over again.

Once that happens, there’s almost nothing that can stop you from finding success as a writer. At that point it is only a matter of time and patience.

About the Author

This was a guest post by Lior who works for an applicant tracking software and who also advises to a neon signs store.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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New technology seems to arrive at the speed of thought, and it can be difficult for the casual web user to keep up with all of it. If you have ever shied away from a conversation that steered toward anything web-related or have ever shrugged your shoulders when you heard terms like social networking, tweeting, status updates, wikis, blogs, or social media, you are not alone, and this guide should help you get a basic overview of what social media is and how it is used.

A clear definition

The first problem with social media is that it means different things to different people, but it is important for someone trying to understand it to have a clear definition of what it means. Social media, in this context, refers to any site on the web that relies on participatory input and interaction among its visitors. Part or all of the content is created by the users.

Social media has taken over the web in a very short amount of time. Nearly all of the top sites on the web are participatory in essence, excluding the search engines, and nearly all sites have at least some participatory elements (such as comments).

Types of Social Media

While there are many forms social media can take, one can basically divide them into five categories, and each category has several sub-categories with accompanying examples:

1. Collaboration:

• Wikis — Easily editable encyclopedias. Often open to any users, although some are more restrictive.
  • Example: Wikipedia
• Open Content — Content licensed for reuse and sharing
  • Example: Creative Commons
• Social Bookmarking — Sites that allow users to bookmark, share, and discover websites.
  • Examples: Delicious, Google Bookmarks, Stumbleupon
• Social News — Share links to news and comment on stories
  • Examples: Digg, Slashdot, Reddit

2. Communication:

• Blogs — Services or software for easy user publishing, comments, and more
  • Example: WordPress, Blogger
• Micro-blogging — Very brief blog updates, often shorter than 140 characters
  • Examples: Twitter, Identi.ca
• Social networking — General social interaction, sharing, and friendship building.
  • Example: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn

3. Multimedia:

• Photo sharing — Publish photos for the world to see, comment, and share
  • Examples: Flickr, Smugmug, Picasa
• Video sharing — Publish your own videos online
  • Examples: YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion
• Live streaming — Stream live videos
  • Examples: Livevideo, Justin.tv, USTREAM
• Audio and Music sharing — Share favorite music streams
  • Examples: Last.fm, Like.fm

4. Reviews and Opinions:

• Product Reviews — Rate products for quality and price
  • Examples: Epinions
• Questions and Answers — Anyone can ask and answer questions
  • Examples: Yahoo Answers
• Employer/Educator reviews — Find out how good an employer, professor, or other authority figure is
  • Example: Rate My Professor
• Real Estate — Rate apartments, houses, neighborhoods, and commercial property
  • Examples: ApartmentRatings, Neighborhood Scout

5. Entertainment:

• Virtual Worlds — Create avatars and live out virtual lives
  • Example: Second Life
• Social Gaming– Play games online with other players
  • Examples: Browser-based games like Farmville and MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) games like World of Warcraft

Beyond websites and services specifically designed for social media, many personal, non-profit, and commercial websites incorporate social media elements. For example, many shopping sites like Amazon.com and eBay allow users to review products, rate them, and even resell items. Most news sites, even from corporate media, now give readers the ability to comment on articles, audio, and video. Furthermore, many sites incorporate elements from established social media sites. For example, a site may have a Facebook “Like” button or a Twitter sharing button. Some may even allow you to share their content on several different social media sites.

Although social media as a concept is relatively new, the actual implementation of online participatory elements predates the term. Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), for example, date back to the 1970s, and chat rooms have been a part of the Internet from the beginning. With a steady evolution, most interactive features of the Internet (such as email) are now integrated into the web. Because of this, some people use computers and never close their web browsers.

According to web experts at UK dedicated hosting 34SP.com, when the web was created, it was intended to be a participatory tool that anyone could use to create and innovate. Social media is just a step in the direction of realizing that vision of a participatory culture, where a free exchange of ideas and knowledge flourishes.

About the Author

Tavis J. Hampton is a librarian and writer with a decade of experience in information technology, web hosting, and Linux system administration. His freelance services include writing, editing, tech training, and information architecture.

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Vintage by Rory Phillips

Sensation Comics 94 by Megan Kelly

feed-me-my-pill—mister-critical-mixtape by amatic HK

Why Is an Owl Smart? by Lim Heng Swee

:s.o.u.r. p.u.s.s: by flashparade

mr.FIFTYSIX

WIENERSCHNITZEL POSTERS by Kevin Tong

Gypsy Pillow by Pale Horse

Dia de los Muertos by Madeleine Göranzon

Water Geishas: Jellyfish by cynthiafranca

Welcom To The Jungle by SpaceJelly

Whacha Lookin by mljarmin

Urban by Leterme Dowling

Please Pick Up After Your Petsby Phil Jones and David Soames

Cross My Heart by theyellowcoyote

THE FP by Tyler Stout

Nate phelps

Colombian Birds by Camilo

Dayne Henry Jr

Dayne Henry Jr

Dayne Henry Jr

Dayne Henry Jr

Dayne Henry Jr

Noise Pop 2011 by Skinny Ships

METAL GEAR SOLID 2 by STUBBORN SIDEBURN

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Hey guys, today I’m proud to announce that through my design studio – QBKL Media – I’ve released Bold, a smart, minimal and clean CV / resume template packed with nice features.

Bold is a minimal and clean one-page CV / resume template featuring print-ready and mobile-ready versions, downloadable PDF version generated on-the-fly, working Ajax contact form, jQuery lightbox gallery and social media section. It is also very easily editable and configurable.

You might wonder how Bold could help you, the blogger? Well, behind every blogger is a professional and truth is, no matter how much information you add to your resume and how much expertise you have, presentation is a key element.

The setup and configuration of the template is easy and straight forward and basically the time between the moment you finish downloading and the moment you have your full CV online is just a matter of how fast you type!

The Bold CV/resume HTML & PHP template is available for sale through the ThemeForest marketplace at the low price of $10 ($8 for the registered users with cash deposits).

It’s time to look good, be that online professional that everybody talks about!

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

As a subscribe reader of Blogsessive, this is my gift to you: a guide to corporate blogging (but not only) that will help you in your blogging adventures! Download now, for FREE!

©2008-2010 Copyright by Blogsessive – Blogging Tips. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so that we can take legal action immediately.

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

45Royale Promo Tees by Jared Nickerson

45Royale Promo Tees by Jared Nickerson

Entity Fall 2011 by Jared Nickerson

Entity Fall 2011 by Jared Nickerson

Entity Fall 2011 by Jared Nickerson

Batman by Doaly

Who Will Fight With Gato? by myarmcanfly

Fifty and Fifty – KANSAS by LUKE BOTT

Fifty and Fifty – DELAWARE by KEN BARBER

Fifty and Fifty – LOUISIANA by A. MICAH SMITH

mstr by CarlosFernando

Neil Webb

Neil Webb

Firmorama

Unos con tanto y otros… by Studiom6

Naughty by mrudowski

Prison Planet II by Nick Barfuss

Motorcycle Safety Posters by Like Minded Studio and Pierre

Mnk Never Die by Mnk Crew

Mnk Never Die by Mnk Crew

Amalgamation Tour- A Joe Ledbetter Solo show by Tina Ziegler

ROBBER BANK Wallets by Filter017

ROBBER BANK Wallets by Filter017

If I Were A Mountain… CD Illustration by Jonathan Patterson

SHORT

Water Geishas: Axolotl by cynthiafranca

Sécurité Routière by Benoît Barennes

Tropical Fish by Go Peskimo

The Kraken by Gaks Designs

Aimia Foods by SMR Creative

Disco by Zzanthia

Water Geishas: Koi by cynthiafranca

Yellow Jacket Bar-B-Q Sauce packaging by Kendrick Kidd

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

45Royale Promo Tees by Jared Nickerson

45Royale Promo Tees by Jared Nickerson

Entity Fall 2011 by Jared Nickerson

Entity Fall 2011 by Jared Nickerson

Entity Fall 2011 by Jared Nickerson

Batman by Doaly

Who Will Fight With Gato? by myarmcanfly

Fifty and Fifty – KANSAS by LUKE BOTT

Fifty and Fifty – DELAWARE by KEN BARBER

Fifty and Fifty – LOUISIANA by A. MICAH SMITH

mstr by CarlosFernando

Neil Webb

Neil Webb

Firmorama

Unos con tanto y otros… by Studiom6

Naughty by mrudowski

Prison Planet II by Nick Barfuss

Motorcycle Safety Posters by Like Minded Studio and Pierre

Mnk Never Die by Mnk Crew

Mnk Never Die by Mnk Crew

Amalgamation Tour- A Joe Ledbetter Solo show by Tina Ziegler

ROBBER BANK Wallets by Filter017

ROBBER BANK Wallets by Filter017

If I Were A Mountain… CD Illustration by Jonathan Patterson

SHORT

Water Geishas: Axolotl by cynthiafranca

Sécurité Routière by Benoît Barennes

Tropical Fish by Go Peskimo

The Kraken by Gaks Designs

Aimia Foods by SMR Creative

Disco by Zzanthia

Water Geishas: Koi by cynthiafranca

Yellow Jacket Bar-B-Q Sauce packaging by Kendrick Kidd

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

WILL YOU MARRY ME by Hyaku aya

Self-Inflicted by pyrotensive

Game Room_Splash Series by Kumico

Price

Price

Crazy Nightby by Naolito

Lucky Invader: Blue Buffy by GuGGGar

Kimono by Man-Tsun

The Lost World by BubuSam

Jeff T. Owens

Night Owl by Zadok44

topps: stormtroopers by strongstuff

CAKE gig poster by RONLEWHORN

V-Festival by Jared Nickerson and Alan Wardle

Good Work Takes Hard Work by Brent Couchman

Queens of the Stone Age Poster by Ken Taylor

Sky Girl by brade-s

Paul by Tom Whalen

Revenge Of The Sushiby by Teddy Baudoin

Fat Thursday by freakart

Management Today by Rod Hunt

liza xyxpa

liza xyxpa

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

NSRG 2-2011 by pseudo-manitou

forager 2 by MisterISK

polar bear by drud-studio

UN1FY by Sandro Tanneberger

Serpanther and Mariachi Shirts by Pale Horse

Serpanther and Mariachi Shirts by Pale Horse

El King Black Bat by Blackbat13

Dragon’s Brew by Winter-artwork

MK Avontoer and Zinkplaat by Reinier Rademan

Santa Tupper by Dr. Zamenhof

Dudleya by Chris Leavens

My emo puppy by Zzanthia

vector vexel FB group collab

Cake Poster by DKNG

AT MONOGRAMS by Alex Trochut

AT MONOGRAMS by Alex Trochut

Loved and Lost by leonryan.com

Progression 2011 by Jonny Wan

mondo: steamboat willie by strongstuff

Nokhookdesign by Anukun Hamala

Mattson Creative

Mattson Creative

Sweatin Poster by Graham Erwin

Black Moon by zutto

Soap Bubble by zutto

Roque / Bloochy by Ezequiel Matteo

SuperNova by dismecha

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Good night by TokyoCandies

The Boys – The Sherman Brothers by Zadok44

DDB London – Gutenberg & Paperhat by Jonny Wan

Dashing Fox by Leon Ryan

Lez Dreux by pyrotensive

NIDO by MARTA CERDÀ ALIMBAU

Matt Black Sessions by Reinier Rademan

Kevin Tong

Aseo by zldz

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Fantasy-Fi Playing Cards by Wes-Talbott

Tribute to Al Hirschfeld by MissMatzenbatzen

The Hotel (Desktop Pack) by Jared Nickerson

HotAndCold by JrDragao

Stevie by ChewedKandi

Friday by entdroid

vector lion face by depot-hdm

Valentine by lanitta

Madness Inked 2 by romidion

Jr Mint cover by sebastien CUYPERS

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Good night by TokyoCandies

The Boys – The Sherman Brothers by Zadok44

DDB London – Gutenberg & Paperhat by Jonny Wan

Dashing Fox by Leon Ryan

Lez Dreux by pyrotensive

NIDO by MARTA CERDÀ ALIMBAU

Matt Black Sessions by Reinier Rademan

Kevin Tong

Aseo by zldz

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Fantasy-Fi Playing Cards by Wes-Talbott

Tribute to Al Hirschfeld by MissMatzenbatzen

The Hotel (Desktop Pack) by Jared Nickerson

HotAndCold by JrDragao

Stevie by ChewedKandi

Friday by entdroid

vector lion face by depot-hdm

Valentine by lanitta

Madness Inked 2 by romidion

Jr Mint cover by sebastien CUYPERS

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Good night by TokyoCandies

The Boys – The Sherman Brothers by Zadok44

DDB London – Gutenberg & Paperhat by Jonny Wan

Dashing Fox by Leon Ryan

Lez Dreux by pyrotensive

NIDO by MARTA CERDÀ ALIMBAU

Matt Black Sessions by Reinier Rademan

Kevin Tong

Aseo by zldz

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Chinese Zodiac by Helen Huang

Fantasy-Fi Playing Cards by Wes-Talbott

Tribute to Al Hirschfeld by MissMatzenbatzen

The Hotel (Desktop Pack) by Jared Nickerson

HotAndCold by JrDragao

Stevie by ChewedKandi

Friday by entdroid

vector lion face by depot-hdm

Valentine by lanitta

Madness Inked 2 by romidion

Jr Mint cover by sebastien CUYPERS

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

Dudes Factory x DXTR / “One Wish” Collection 2011 by DXTR

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Final Image

Before the digital age, my work was mostly created by ink on paper, but nowadays everything is computerized. I have shifted to vector art and feel no medium can allow me to create line art with such freedom and fluidity.

Recently, I was briefed to create an illustration featuring one of the famous districts in Hong Kong – Sham Shui Po.

Here are the tools for creating this illustration: Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Illustrator CS3 and a pack of M&M’s, just to keep myself awake…

Step 1

Before creating the work, I visited the site to capture characteristics of the area. It really helps the concept and composition of the illustration.

Step 2

Like most illustrators, I start with a quick sketch on Photoshop, just to outline the rough characters and the composition. Further details will be created in Illustrator.

Step 3

Here comes to the most interesting and time-consuming part to me. Based on the rough sketch, I illustrate the characters in detail. I create very fluid lines by using the Pen tool. Somehow, it looks very Japanese Manga to me, which I like it a lot!

Step 4

The Paintbrush tool can easily draw any hairstyle, but before working on it, I create a custom brush to draw very thin lines with pointy ends. Once these lines are grouped together and overlapping, the hair will look rich and less chunky.

Step 5

By now the first character is done. I repeat steps 3 and 4 for the rest of the characters….

Very soon the whole family is ready. Since there are some extra details in the last two steps, I change on the positioning slightly.

In order to fill up the gaps in between characters, I pick a few characters from my other works to squeeze into the layout making the street look packed.

Step 6

In most of my illustrations, I don’t create detailed backgrounds. To be honest, I just don’t really like working on it…

However, this project is about a famous district, so there is no way I can skip the background. Therefore, based on the reference picture, I put some major features together.

Step 7

Most of the drawing part is finished and it’s time to start the coloring. I am really addicted to pale colors, however, it looks odd without any gradient and shading on top. Once I apply more layers of shading, it begins to look more comfortable.

Step 8

This illustration is very much close to finalized. The only two things left are the company names on the signs and the sky.

Step 9

Now, all the vector work is done. Just before showing this to the client, I jump to Photoshop and apply a very light blur on some random areas, just to give a bit of a illusory touch to it. This is what I usually do before finalizing on must of my works.

Hope this is inspiring to you!

Final Image

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Elektra: Assassin by Giovanni Costa

Yes We Can Cun by lerms

Da’ Monk by Mnk Crew

TOTEM! by Frankenstian

Güateque poster by L.E.GRÁFICO

Terras Gauda contest by L.E.GRÁFICO

G6 Monkey by Y0o

Tewana by Sergio Saucedo

KangaROOS by Sergio Saucedo

Smokin by romidion

couture 50′s red dress by BreeLeman

Desire by toysinthe

Esquire Magazine – “The Best Bars in America” Coasters by Sam Soulek

A Bunch of Random, Awesome Stuff from Kevin Tong

DXTR

DXTR

DXTR

2011 Calendar by Alex Westgate

John Chastain

Il Sole 24ore by LA TIGRE DESIGN&DIRECTION

Little Idol like Matryoshka by Bogul3

Highway by Price

Wall Street Journal – Ask Teri by Charlene Chua

French maid by Zzanthia

Impaksii Maloklusi by bogielicious

Album Illustrations 2010 by Diego L. Rodríguez

Maniac by Ken Taylor

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Jolly Good Kettle | Upper Masses by sockmonkee

Malice in wonderland by nobeak

sham_graphics by Konrad Kirpluk

Kawaii Sushi and J Cuisine by ValentinaCrespo

Centipede by Ken Taylor

Hellboy by Ken Taylor

Summer Book Preview by Jessica Hische

Big Rumble by bubblefriends

Hard Working Rosie The Riveter by SCOTTY REIFSNYDER

Jolly Cream by henriquepl

Lab Partners

Princess G-Force by Hand Drawn Creative

Migros Magazine by Lindedesign

Zayka by MARiKaArt

Gennady by Dmitry Groshev

Cadillac Burger by Jared Nickerson

Animal Badges by rickysaurus

Bat Mobile by Glennz Tees

Marie Antoinette by iAngell

Time by István Szugyiczky

011120.* by Josue Martinez aka Omegaz

Black Sheep* by Josue Martinez aka Omegaz

Tetris Typography by Tiago Augusto da Silva

Joan Jett tribute by Giulia Santopadre

how lovely she rests by flashparade

Saint Old Cool by muloyoung85

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Schildkröte city by Puhl

Taming Light: Stanley Kubrick by Martin Ansin

sa: “language shapes thought” by strongstuff

Ravens by TTCortez

ASB Creating Futures by Walter Hansen

KLEENEX by MARTA CERDÀ ALIMBAU

IMMIGRATION NATION by Like Minded Studio

Adidas Originals by Sweaty Eskimo

Night Shifts and Lattes by Celina de Guzman

Break Freeby by Alex Solis

Siblings by HumanNature84

Oops i did it again by Zzanthia

Winter by ivan-bliznak

Gaming Guru by cronobreaker

Denis Carrier

Se Dibujan Tuits Vol.2 by El Grand Chamaco

Color Flow by Yang Yang

Planet Fire app by Diogo Machado

Naxo Garcia

A Tribute to Mucha by ChewedKandi

Astronaut Chimp by mendigo-amigo

Reading rainbow:v4 by MisterISK

Cuando los angeles lloran by Giovani Ktorz

CHICKEN HOUSE by MARTA CERDÀ ALIMBAU

Se Dibujan Tuits Vol.1 by El Grand Chamaco

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

GLASS BAST’RD on gray by pop-monkey

Waiting For You by Alejandro Roman

Crazy Monkey by mendigo-amigo

Which side are we in? by caramelaw

OldSkull by JrDragao

LA DOLCE VITA by Boris Pelcer

Hot Doggers by Jared Nickerson

Circus by SockMonkee

Grinderman by Ken Taylor

Kannon-God of War by Aleix Gordo Hostau

HM6 by Cesar Guevara

theRAM by Jackson Armstrong

soap bubble by zutto

Laila by dimary

Lonely by JrDragao

MonoCromatico by JrDragao

Infographics & such by Loulou and Tummie

Infographics & such by Loulou and Tummie

Guilty of love by Rob House

TMNT by Jeff Proctor

The Bad Cloud by Winter-artwork

SteamPunk 1852 by Winter-artwork

Dream by JrDragao

So Happy Together by Rob Denis

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For the past couple of months I’ve been working on a site called Vector Mill. For $30, you get a “Crate” full of vector icons, art brushes, pattern brushes, seamless textures, textures, text graphic styles, graphic styles, seamless patterns, a random vector illustration, and a special file. These are perfect for every Illustrator user. The thing is, I need is some testers to test the elements and in return, the testers gets the Crate they test free!

Whats is Required if you are a Tester

If you’re picked, you will receive the files via email and will have 3-6 days to test the elements under certain scenarios (scenarios will be written and accompany the file). After you are done testing, you are required to fill out a quick questionnaire and report back with any problems. After that, you get to keep the crate free! There are some terms to use the elements, but they will be included with the files.

Becoming a Tester

I’m not sure how many testers I need, but I need testers with a range of abilities and tester using Illustrator versions CS3, CS4, or CS5. If you are interested in becoming a tester, fill out the form below.

Announcing The Testers

I won’t be announcing the testers on Vectips, but if you become a tester you will know by January 25th or 26th via email.

How Does Vector Mill Affect Vectips?

I’m currently an exclusive contributor at iStockphoto.com. Because of my exclusivity, I am limited to doing things like selling stock on other sites. This exclusivity also has limitations on releasing stock via creative commons and free models. My exclusivity with iStock will end at the end of the month, letting me pursue project like Vector Mill. Moreover, it will allow me to release more freebies such as brushes, styles, and vector images. So Vector Mill won’t negatively affect Vectips at all! If anything, there will be a lot more content on the way! Although January has been a little slow on new posts (because of Vector Mill development), in the future there should be no effect.

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Sergio Saucedo

SHORT

SHORT

Dudes Factory by PEACHBEACH

Dudes Factory by PEACHBEACH

Dudes Factory by PEACHBEACH

Dudes Factory by PEACHBEACH

jeffo alternate by Bobby Haiqalsyah

Bobby Haiqalsyah

d3signer by bortwein75

Romantic by Walter Hansen

Grzegorz Domaradzki

Grzegorz Domaradzki

Grzegorz Domaradzki

Niklas Coskan

Niklas Coskan

Niklas Coskan

Andy Kaufman by Dave Perillo

My Tetris Heart Longs for Your Push by Kevin Tong

Eighty-Third

Eighty-Third

a little things – ied show by Jonathan Calugi

Ammo Magazine by Pablo Lacruz

Astro Animals by kevin picaso

Typhon – ImagineCup2010 by Bruna Imai

Typhon – ImagineCup2010 by Bruna Imai

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What is better than a whole week dedicated to vector art… not much in my opinion! If you feel the same, deviantART’s Vector Week is running between January 16 to 22. It will include some cool contests, articles, and chat sessions with CrisVector and me!

About

Vector Week is ran via a concept from “Project Educate”. Each gallery on deviantART has a week planned to help teach others about the gallery and the medium/genre. It’s aim towards everyone on deviantART, so whether you’re familiar with the medium/genre or not, there is something for everyone to get involved with.

Events

• The announcement of the Golden Pen Award winners, which honors those who have contributed art to the various vector galleries on deviantART.
• The start of a big vector contest, the theme to be announced at the beginning of the week.
• Themed articles showcasing the amazing talent within deviantART’s vector galleries including an A to Z of vector.

dAmn (The deviantART Messaging Network) Events

The following events will take place in dAmn – the deviantART Messaging Network (also known as their chatrooms). The specific locations will be announced closer to the time.

• A featured chat with vector artist and writer Ryan Putnam (aka RypeArts) of Vectips – Monday 17th January (9pm GMT)
• A featured chat with Vector Artist Cristiano Siqueira aka CrisVector – Wednesday 19th January (7pm GMT)
• A live “Vector Orgy” ran by the vector/vexel dA group Vexelove. Similar to Photoshop Tennis, a vector orgy is a collaboration on a large scale. To take part, you join the chat, wait your turn, and you’ll have 30 mins to contribute to the vector file with your own style and then you pass it onto the next person. The collaboration welcomes people of all abilities. It’s meant as a social and a learning exercise and can often lead to amazing results – Thursday 20th January (usually an all day event)
• A vector orientated trivia event ran by the vector/vexel dA group Vector-Artists. With some great prizes to be won including devwear! – Sunday 16th January (time to be announced)

How To Participate

You don’t have to be a member of deviantART to view the articles, but you need to be a member to participate in the chats. To stay up-to-date with times and links, “watch” ChewedKandi’s page on deviantART.

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Thriller by guideki

Orange by guideki

Disco Diva by ChewedKandi

HardPop by Face.

Happy New Year 2011 by burcu gunister

Queens for Lays by Elena Dolgova

The Candy King by Gaks Designs

Skaters by Charlene Chua

where you gonna go by MisterISK

The Black Keys Poster by Jeff Proctor

Manzanita by Chris Leavens

FreeWill by TTCortez

Wallpaper Hardcore Graphic by BBTaro

Mike Lemanski

Thorsteinn Beer Brand by Thorleifur Gunnar Gíslason, Hlynur Ingólfsson, Geir Ólafsson

Vectorfunk Rorschach Posters

PIMPARTSWORKS poster limited edition by Gabriel Farsetti

Characters by Mike Friedrich

hair by MisterISK

Mr Paul Pringle by ChewedKandi

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Last week I posted the Daniel Swartz Illustration Friday Interview and Book Giveaway and today I am happy to announce the winner! Congrats to the winner and thanks to everyone that participated. Check below to see if you won.

Winners

The winner’s contact info will be sent to Daniel Swartz and he will be contacting you soon about your loot.

And the winner is…

Kevin Yowell

Book Discount Codes

If you didn’t win, you still have time to get $10.00 off of any order over $29.95 unitl the end of today. That means you can buy the hardcover for about the price of the softcover!

• USD $ coupon: CHEER
• GBP £ coupon: CHEER1
• EUR € coupon: CHEER2
• CAD $ coupon: CHEER3
• AUD $ coupon: CHEER4

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Baetulona Project by Kristy Anne Ligones

Santa Fe Reporter – Winter guide by Charlene Chua

Like A Lightbulb by Michael Myers

Ecce Homo by Carlos Cigarro

Tron and Tron: Legacy Posters by Eric Tan

Tron and Tron: Legacy Posters by Eric Tan

i am you by mahasesen

Poster Selecion, 2010 by Official Classic

bison by Baranzy

Trendy Fashion by BreeLeman

Happy holidays! by Charlene Chua

Design 9 – UU Theory by Nathan Walker

Summer Sizzle by Nathan Walker

Hell yeah! by TokyoCandies

illustration for 20th anniversary aikido academy by David Sossella

Trixy and Treats by KWESTONE

123KLAN MASSIVE UPDATE! by 123KLAN

Palenquera!

Funny Bunny by lanitta

Clint Ford

22nd Century by Rémy PONTZEELE

Veljko Zajc

Magic of the Indian dance by Prokofyeva Tatsyana

DAFT TRON by Jackson Armstrong

Jthree presents Electric Poutine’s “Forest Demon” by Jared Nickerson

Philip Tseng

Lucky Invader :II by Alongkorn Sanguansook

I want to ride my bike by Goran

portrait – vibrant colors by LimKis

Star Wars Posters by Tyler Stout

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Last week I posted the Vectorious.net contest and today I am happy to announce the winners! Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone that participated. Check below to see if you won.

Winners

The winners’ contact info will be sent to Vectorious.net and they will be contacting you soon about your loot.

• Alexandros Savvides
• DougieDM
• Claudia Dunitz

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This whole week I’m rounding up my favorite vector tutorials, tips, tricks, freebies, articles, and inspirations for 2010. For the last day of the roundup, I pick my favorite Illustrator tutorials. These tutorial contain great artwork and great techniques!

Tutorial: “Lady Luck” T-Shirt Illustration

Create interlocking motifs in Illustrator

Make Artistic and Elegant Vector Artwork with Illustrator

Explore New-Folk Illustration Styles

Illustrator Tutorial: Design symmetrical character art

Create summery poster artwork using Illustrator CS5

Create a Glowing Neon Sign using the Appearance Palette

3D type with a street art edge

An Illustrator’s Project: From Start to Finish

How To Design a Sweet Linework & Typography Combo

Create lush, glossy vector images

Explore illustrative typography

Fan Art Illustration Tutorial

How To Create a Detailed Vector Sugar Skull Illustration

Draw a Creepy Tombstone Using Adobe Illustrator

(This is one I wrote, but it is pretty fun)

Create Cartoon Figures With Ease

How To Create Detailed Gothic Linework Typography

Create Lady Birds Insect Tutorial Using Adobe Illustrator

What is your favorite Illustrator tutorial of 2010?

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This whole week I’m rounding up my favorite vector tutorials, tips, tricks, freebies, articles, and inspirations for 2010. This post is featuring vector and Illustrator freebies. There are some great vector icons, templates, and other useful Illustrator resources so read on to see my favorites!

User Interface Design Framework

This is a massive set of User Interface elements! There is over 250 icons, 200 graphics styles, tons of GUI elements, and more. This set of elements is great for creating quick wireframes, mockups, and prototypes. Highly recommended!

Vector Social Media Icon Set

There have been many social icon sets released this year, but nothing touches the quality and depth of this set released by IconDock. Moreover, they are continuously updating the set with new networks.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 HTML5 Pack

This pack from Adobe Labs adds the ability to parameterize SVG, create multi-screen SVGs, mark object as canvas is SVG, export named character styles as CSS, export artwork appearances as CSS, and included selected Graphic Styles as CSS in SVG. Pretty powerful stuff! If you are a web designer that uses Illustrator, you defiantly want to check this out.

Mad Pattern: Seamless Pattern Generator

If you want an easy and quick way to create seamless patterns, download Mad Pattern. Crazy thing is, it’s not a plugin or script, it’s just a template file! Not sure how it was done, but it works great! Check out my tutorial used with this resources.

360 degree vector iPhone 4 Illustration

This is another amazing freebie. This vector file utilizes Illustrators 3D effects so you can view the vector iPhone 4 from any angle!

Export Layers as Images Illustrator Script

I get a lot of emails and questions about exporting layers as separate files. This script does just that, pretty useful!

iPad vector GUI elements: tabs buttons menus icons

If you are creating iPad apps, this is a good resource for mockups and layouts. It’s also fun to dissect these elements so you can apply the style to other projects.

Free Travel Icons from IconShock

A nice set of travel icons from IconShock.

30 New Free High-Quality Fonts

One of my favorite free font roundups of the year. Great free font for a range of styles and projects.

AI2Canvas plugin

This plug-in enables Illustrator to export artwork directly to a HTML5 canvas element. It provides drawing, animation, and coding.

1985 – A Free Vector Pack of Your Favourite 80s Icons

A nice set of retro icons!

OSX Leopard GUI set

These are really fun to play with! Great for mockups, prototypes, and breaking down style.

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This whole week I’m rounding up my favorite vector tutorials, tips, tricks, freebies, articles, and inspirations for 2010. This post is dedicated to my favorite tips and tricks. For beginners, it good to learn best practices and for expert users, it’s fun to fill in your gaps in your knowledge!

Jean-Claude Tremblay’s llustrator Tips/Tricks & Tweets day

On January 28th, Jean-Claude Tremblay spent the day tweeting about Illustrator tips and tricks. On his site, he had rounded up the more than 200 tweet into a handy pdf. Essential!

Scripting Illustrator Part 1 – How to Convert a Flat Process Color into its Matching Gradient

Great intro article about scripting in Illustrator. For the example project, you learn how to covert a flat process color into its matching gradient.

Master dynamic gradient techniques

Some great gradient tips from one of my favorite vector artist Alexandra Zutto. He discuss how he uses radial gradients, linear gradients, and gradients meshes to create one of my favorite pieces of the year.

New HTML5 “canvas” support for Illustrator

Illustrator is becoming a essential tool for web design. Now Illustrator supports HTML5′s “canvas”.

Illustrator’s Type Tool: A Comprehensive Introduction

Typography is an important element in most every design project. Moreover, it essential to have a firm grasp on how to use one of Illustrator’s most important tools.

An Introduction to Illustrator’s Color Tools

Another important feature of any design or illustration project is color. This article is a great introduction, but also great to fill in the blanks if you are an more experienced user.

Turn the background of overlapping shapes transparent using the Pathfinder’s Trim option

Some of the greatest tips are the ones we might already know about but explained and applied in a compelling way. This articles does just that!

Master perspective drawing in CS5

The new Perspective Grid tool in Illustrator CS5 is very useful. With any new tool, it is great to see how other artist use them.

Quick Tip: How to Set Illustrator Actions

Actions is one of the most time-saving features in Illustrator. If you haven’t incorporated Actions into you workflow, I highly suggest this article.

Fridays with Mordy

I know I already put Fridays With Mordy in the Inspiration and Articles Best Of, but this series is too essential not highlight again in the Tips and Tricks category.

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Creating grainy textures are great for retro illustrations, typography, and logos. Alternatively, you can incorporate these effects into compelling new styles. You can always scan in similar textures and Live Trace them in Illustrator, but you can pretty easily create this type of effect all inside Illustrator!

Final Image

Here is a sample image of what these techniques can do. Further down in the tutorial, I give a quick breakdown of the process.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS5 (You should be able to create this tutorial in CS4 and CS3 but some of the tutorial images might look different.)
• Difficulty: Beginner / Intermediate
• Topics Covered: Grain Effect, Gradient, Gradient Meshes, Blends
• Estimated Completion Time: 15-20 minutes

Grainy Textures

In the following sections I’ll show you how to create these grainy textures from a couple of different elements within Illustrator. Basically you can create these textures from any element that contains a graded value of color (like a gradient). I’m sure some of you have already figured out this technique by creating some of the past Vectips texture tutorials or on your own, but for those of you that haven’t, you should have fun.

Gradients

Basic

First up is gradients. Gradient are good for creating grainy textures that don’t require any complex contours to the texture. To start, create a simple linear gradient with the default white and black color stops in a rectangle. With the gradient selected, go Effect > Texture > Grain. In the Grain Effects dialog, change the Intensity to 74 (you can experiment with this number to get the grain you desire), Contrast 50, and Grain Type to Sprinkles. That’s really all! The real magic comes when you apply color and blending modes to the texture.

Color

You can change the color stops in your gradient, but I like to place an object or new fill below the grain effect and set the grain’s blending mode to Multiply because of the white space the Grain effect creates. Let’s take a look at doing this with the Appearance panel.

Take your same rectangle and fill it with a solid color. From the pop-up menu of the Appearance panel, select New Fill. Select the top copy and fill it with a linear gradient. Change the first color stop to white and the second to a darker color than your original. With the gradient fill still selected, apply your Grain effect and set the Blending Mode to Multiply from the Opacity item under the gradient fill.

Gradient Mesh

Basic

Gradient Meshes are great for creating more complex shapes with grainy textures. To start, draw an abstract shape with a tool of your choosing and fill it with black. You can either go Object > Create Gradient Mesh and set a specific numbers of points or use the Mesh tool (U) to click on your artwork to add mesh point. I’m using the Mesh tool (U), so deselect the artwork, select white from my swatches, and with the Mesh tool (U) click on the artwork to add points. Now, apply the grain effect like before.

Color

Like with the Gradient technique, meshes work great with a color underneath and the grain’s blending mode to Multiply. Start the original shape a solid color and Copy (Command + C) and Paste in Front (F). Change the fill of the copy to a darker color of the original shape, apply the white mesh points, apply grain, and set to Multiply.

Blend

Basic

Blends tend to work great for either simple grainy textures or complex ones. It really just comes down to how you work and which is more comfortable, but the principle is pretty much the same. For the example, created a shape, go Object > Path > Offset, fill the offset with white, select both copies, and go Object >Blend > Make. Finally, apply your grain effect.

Color

Like both the Gradient and Gradient Mesh, it’s good to have an underlying color. Also like gradient meshes, you will need a copy of the original shape above the color with a darker color, grain, and blending mode set to Multiply.

Quick Tutorial

Here is a quick tutorial utilizing some of the techniques. I won’t go into much depth, it’s just to get an idea of how to use these techniques in an illustration.

First, I created a sketch, scanned it, and traced it with the Pen tool (P). Next, I filled the trace with color, and added stroked paths set with one of Illustrator new Stroke Profiles (Width Profile 1). To add more depth with the grain textures, I started with the linear gradients in the skin and hair. I used a blend for the outline grain texture face shape and used a gradient mesh for the collar of the character’s shirt. For the background I used a big radial gradient grain texture. I also used a radial gradient with the first color stop white, the second white with 0 Opacity, grain, and set the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Experiment

This is a great technique to experiment with! Experiment with different colors, shapes, blending modes, and layering of textures. Try these techniques on graphical elements other than illustrations. They work great on text, logos, UI elements, and more! You can even incorporate these effects with some of the other texture techniques I have written about.

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Quickly Navigate Artboards

On your keyboard, press Shift-Page Up and Shift-Page Down to navigate from one artboard to the next.

Other Handy Artboard Tips

• Quick Tip: Selecting All Artwork In An Active Artboard
• Quick Tip: Guides In Multiple Artboards
• Awesome Multiple Artboard Scripts for Illustrator CS4

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The 100th Vectips Weekly Vector Inspiration post is coming this week and I wanted to do something a little different, so I’m opening the 100th WI post to you guys! Let us know what is you favorite vector art piece or your favorite piece you have create and I’ll post it.

How To Contribute

To contribute, simply leave a comment with a link to your favorite vector art piece or your favorite vector art piece you created. I’ll try to include as many as possible in this Friday’s Weekly Inspiration and it does not matter if it has already appeared on a Weekly Inspiration post. I will still edit through the links if something is obviously not vector art or if it is just too offensive. I know this might seem a little arbitrary, but I’m going to use my own discretion .

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Entropy Falls by Jared Nickerson

Mega-Yema-Man by Yema-Yema

Cities by Vesa Sammalisto

Nike T-shirt: Type by Charles Williams

Daniel Ting Chong

Six String Sirens Volume One by handdrawncreative

Petrolhead Postcards Volume 3 by handdrawncreative

Creative Humans by Bram Vanhaeren

Anna & Marina by province

Varoom by Alex Trochut

New York – Where’s Stig? by Rod Hunt

‘Flames’ limited edition print by Seb Lester

Darling, I Hate You by Mark Wahlsten

SlipMad by Alex Trochut

50 Things we Love by Alex Trochut

Happy Birthday Olivia by shiropanda

Up a tree in the park at night with a hedgehog by Adam Simpson

weapony artworks

line on bike and more by Jonathan Calugi

Priolo App Icon by Chicho

Swampland by zutto

David Sossella

Joystick Ski Pole by Eli Horn

Aleksandra Marchocka

Aleksandra Marchocka

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There are a number of great tutorials, freebies, and articles related to vectors coming out on the web daily. Each month, I roundup some of the best posts I have found useful. I can’t include everything I’ve seen throughout the month, but you can follow my Twitter feed to get all the daily links. Post comments with links that I have missed so everyone can see them!

Tutorials

Create Candy Cane Typography with Photoshop and Illustrator

Create Cartoon Figures With Ease

Illustrator inset effect on text in combination with clipping mask

Make Artistic and Elegant Vector Artwork with Illustrator

Create type from a single path

Tips and Tricks

Anatomy of a Logo Style Guide

Quick Tip: Create an Axonometric Image Without Guides or Grids

Quick Tip: How to Set Illustrator Actions

Vector Freebies

OSX Leopard GUI set

Free Camouflage Patterns for Illustrator & Photoshop

Christmas Wave Vector Graphic

Best Free Fonts of 2010

Free Vector Animals

Vector Inspiration and Articles

R2D2 Process Video

30 Must See Text Effect Illustrator Tutorials

Open the Door into the Science of Color Theory

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Murderous Intent by Predrag Milankovic

Carlin by Teo Beng Wee

Blog Mag calendar 2011 by Lindedesign

Zitone

Ballads of the Nightmarian by Samuel Sinaga

Stit by Samuel Sinaga

Birdcycle by Methane Studios

Mercedes Crespo

Mr Gauky

Manifesto ‘08 by Mola & Friends by Vasco Durão

“Black Bart Gets His” Art Print by Joshua Budich

“A Linch Pin Droid” R2D2 Star Wars Print by Kevin Tong

Jack Vanzet

Kevin Dart

Summer Bash by NIARK1 FERAUT

Pass-Pass 5 years by NIARK1 FERAUT

Roaster by NIARK1 FERAUT

Circus by NIARK1 FERAUT

Paul Sizer

Luko:The Germ Sweeper! by GuGGGar

Autumn stories II by Zzanthia

seaGirl by stenkat

YLLV . Karol Gadzala

YLLV . Karol Gadzala

Mattson Creative

Stay all right by Fantastic Hysteria

DStv Online by Kronk

Gazelle Poster by Kronk

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Tom Whalen

Tom Whalen

Nocturnalis / Durinalis by Marcel Buerkle

greenmonster ??? by ~wendrutzzz

Cannabis by MkDsg

obsesseD by Cesar Guevara

Octo-Prime by Cesar Guevara

Bob Dylan Poster by Ken Taylor

Seb Lester

Flying Mouse

UP AND DOWN – OLD AND NEW by Jonathan Calugi

Nemeums Last Stand by jfe

NSRG 11-2010 X-mas in July by pseudo-manitou

Cranky Monster by bogielicious

outdoor model. magazine illustration by elena merenkova

Sneakers lover 2 by julien renault

My friends become ugly Docilus by kepalakardus

Giant Sushi by SockMonkee

Designer Dudes by cronobreaker

Ray-Ban Rare Print 2010 by David Sossella

Geomagnetic Cosmic X-Ray Specs by Jared Nickerson

HEARTLESS by Juan Carlos Bueno

“A Wretched Hive” Star Wars Print by Martin Ansin

PEACHBEACH

PEACHBEACH

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