Most of us are intrigued by the amazing graphical character designs of our all-time favourite animated movies like the Shrek, Monster Inc., Ice Age etc. In fact, CG (Computer Graphics) character designs for computer games makes up an integral part of the gaming process. Much as we often take for granted these creatively detailed designs, there is always a tedious behind-the-scene effort needed to make this characters come ‘alive’ by first creating an animated 3D model.

The CG characters you are about to see are created with powerful 3D tools like ZBurhs, 3DMax, Photoshop, etc. In order to appreciate the beauty of our favourite on-screen characters, one should see how the 3D models are first created. In essence, it is analogous to the molding of the characters before we give life to them through animation. We hope this list will give you a greater understanding on the complexity of making 3D CG characters.

More:

You might also be interested in: Masters of Paper Art and Paper Sculptures

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“A polite alternative to the 10-foot pole. Such is the premise behind start-up company, Reality Bling’s, Ms. Taken – a new product based on an age-old concept for single women, offering them a way to protect themselves against unwanted suitors in social situations. Reality Bling engaged Hornall Anderson to develop the strategy, naming, identity and packaging for Ms. Taken’s “diamond ring” – inconspicuously packaged in the hidden compartment of a keychain fob, which serves as a delivery device for easy access when needed. We also designed an elegant, upscale ring box for additional storage that also functions as a POS display.

As an added touch of humor, we developed a series of tongue in cheek “Playaz” trading cards featuring 20 different illustrated characters representing the typical unsavory personalities that single women attempt to avoid. The result is a system of guideposts that packages and messages this product in a way that adds value, connects emotionally, and ultimately builds a community of single divas. It’s a great example of how, through strategic brainstorms, innovative thinking and inspired design, we helped bring this small start-up company’s big ideas into fruition.”

“We developed a concept basically via the hint of an idea meant to target women in their 20s and 30s with a sense of humor. The project included packaging an idea and creating a brand around it to which single women could really relate.”

– Larry Anderson, Creative Director of Hornall Anderson

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(…)
Read the rest of MSI Shows Off Dual-Screen Notebook, eReader [Notebook Has Two Touchscreens, No Physical Keyboard, Windows 7]

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An interesting concept from Soon Mo Kang

-via SwissMiss

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Every now and then we find some curious concepts that are only possible thanks to our up to date technology. Sure the Pyramids, and many other impressive buildings have been raised in a time in which technology and gadgets were not as advanced as today, or so we’d like to think. But the Boston Arcology building in the picture above will only be made possible by our modern skills.
(…)
Read the rest of Boston Arcology Building Concept Is a City of Its Own [Boa Floating Concept Ready for the Future?]

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Dans le même esprit : Origami Tea

Previously on Fubiz

• Creativi-tea Cup
• Ruiz Company
• Origami Tea

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If you’re already purchased LG’s 3D Monitor and their 3D HDTV, but still desire a bigger screen, then they’ve got your back with the new LG CF3D, a 3D high-def projector. This isn’t that crazy of a concept, if you think, for example, 3D has existed in movie theaters since the 1950’s, and those use projectors.

(…)
Read the rest of LG CF3D 3D Projector Unveiled [LG Showing 3D-Capable Projector, Full HD, 2,500 Lumens, $10,000 Price Tag]

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The guys at Concept Feedback asked me to help them get the word out for the launch of their new premium concept accounts. This new feature gives users an opportunity to get maximum exposure for their concept. Once a premium concept is live, it is featured on their homepage for 1 week, giving users maximum traffic and reviews. In addition, Concept Feedback invites their top members to review the concept, ensuring top quality feedback.

What You’ll Win

We are offering 5 Free Premium Concept Feedback Accounts. It’s a really helpful service for testing the usability of your site. Something that definitely should not be overlooked.

How To Enter

Simply follow @myinkblog on Twitter, then comment your Twitter name at the bottom of this post. The 5 winners will be chosen at random. The deadline to enter is February 8th, 2010, after that point commenting on this post will be closed. I will announce the winners in a followup post here on MyInkBlog, so it’s a good idea to grab the RSS feed to find out if you win.

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I totally get the concept that this is how adults ’supposedly’ play with toys hence the phrase in the ad ‘Come and Play’. However I’m betting any grown man or woman that plays with toys, does it with their kids.

Motor Show: Toys

Now imagine a father sees this in a magazine and thinks, ‘hot’ then looks over and sees his 6 year old playing with a doll similar to the one in the ad – there’s something unsettling about that. No one is going to think the dolls are hot but the human mind is going to replace that with real women because we have everything required to do that.

I’m willing to think I’m over-thinking this but wait… look at the background of the images. The settings are even in kids’ environments. Am I the only one that thinks there’s some disturbing about this? Look, if you’re gonna sell me through sex, do it in a way I can enjoy it without feeling weird about it. It’s that simple.

Motor Show: Toys

Overall at first glance the ad is funny and even creative but further breakdown and analysis shows that it’s not necessarily a great one. I’d love to hear what readers think because it could be me over thinking. Love it or hate it?

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Blackberry though is barely hanging in there and if I may be so bold as to out my opinion I don’t see it rivaling the success of the iPhone anytime soon as the iPhone has become such a force and icon in the business of touch phones. The only way I see the Blackberry to really gain on the iPhone is if they do something radical that will give people an undeniable reason to switch. Unless that happens I pretty much think that the Blackberry will keep on declining from it’s second place on the cool chart.

But, then we have “Fuse“. A new concept phone from the company Synaptics Website. When watching a demo of the phone it looks like one of the coolest little gadgets around. Yeah sure it’s a concept phone and not yet functional but the features it sports is just amazing. Some, I am sure, would just call it “eye candy” but if you look beyond that and try to see the real implementations of these features you’ll quickly understand that this will be huge when (if it does) it comes out on the market.

So, synaptics, we’d like to check it out close up so if you have one working send it over to us and we’ll make sure to give it a royal run through our gadget geek lab testing facility.

I personally can’t wait to check one out for real just to see what powers it has. Maybe it will even sport a lightsaber or a “Beam Me Up Scotty”-feature. In whatever case it looks awesome and the “eye candy” is just a plus.

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But, somehow I feel like the manufacturers of flat screens are neglecting the one step that could take us to the age of “Minority Report” in just a flash. What I am talking about is the touch screen. It was really first introduced with the iPhone and then Microsoft came out, pretty much simultaneously, with their concept screen “Surface” which I thought was the coolest thing since I bought my first computer back in the 80’s.

But, despite the fact that the tv manufacturers neglect this highly interactive feature there is still some developments going on behind the scenes to further take the touch screen to new heights. I am talking about the new concept design of a “No Touch” touch screen. Yup, there is one and its working!

I sure would like one of these badboys in my office instead of these 2*22′5 inch wide-screens sitting on my almost invisible air-shelf in front of me. With a little more development I am sure you can have “dots” on your fingers handling the point of interaction and with several even replicate the cool multi-touch feature.

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If you want to share more circular style logo designs please comment about them below. Do you want to be the first one to know the latest happenings at  smashingApps.com just subscribe to our rss feed and you can follow us on twitter and do not forget to become our fan on facebook as well. Click on the images to go from where the images has been taken and learn more about their creators and to appreciate them.

DOT Design

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Element graphics

Yamaha

Sony Ericsson

Biopharmaceutical Company

Basketball Store

WireFilter

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Temple Beth Torah

syslint

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Air Canada

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LG

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RE Digital

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Dragon and Tiger

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Do you want to advertise here? Click to get more info…

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The 3 winners have each won a copy of the Smashing Book, a must-read book for all web design enthusiasts, and a free premium concept that puts your design in front of thousands of qualified designers and developers willing to give you quality, actionable feedback on Concept Feedback.

The winners must contact Piervincenzo via email (pier.made@gmail.com) for details as to how to receive their fantastic prizes.

Well, now it’s time to check out to see if you won. Below there are the 3 lucky winners:

#4507 – amy
#4547 – Bob Hays (@purplehayz)
#4502 – Lam Nguyen

Thanks again, dear friends, for all your suggestions, comments and for reading the PV.M Garage. You rock!

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Concept Feedback is a free online review tool that gives designers, marketers and developers quality feedback and ideas on design projects (websites, logos, etc.).
They are giving 3 free “Premium Concepts” to three of our readers.

Once a premium concept is live, it is featured on their homepage for one week, giving users maximum traffic and reviews. They also personally invite their top members to review the concept, ensuring top quality feedback. You can find more details on premium concepts at http://www.conceptfeedback.com/premium/.

In order to participate for the free giveaway you just have to leave a comment below telling us one of your resolutions for this year and to consider subscribing to Pixelelement’ RSS feed (optional).

We will randomly select three winners from the comments.

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Previously on Fubiz

• The Third & The Seventh
• Eric Zener
• Robert Samuel Hanson

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“Created to celebrate the opening of our first men’s concept store in Broadwick Street, this is a fresh aromatic blend of lime, grapefruit, star anise and basil with lavender, geranium and amber in a clean, woody base of cedar leaf, patchouli and oakmoss.”

Via Space NK. Unsure of design firm.

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Remember the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project? It’s a US-based, non-profit organization which aims to create a cheap, mobile personal computer for kids in developing countries. And while their XO-1 laptop is still being shipped to countries such as Rwanda and Uruguay, the folks at OLPC are working on a next generation device, and (surprise) it’s a tablet.

Originally, the next OLPC XO was supposed to be a two-screen foldable device named XO-2, but plans for it were scrapped. The XO-3 is a bit more conventional beast, falling in line with the current tablet buzz that originated from the rumors of the fabled Apple tablet, which may or may not be what the Cupertino giant is currently working on.

It’s just a concept at this point, but it’s poised to have a 8.5 x 11 touchscreen, a camera on the back of the device, induction charger, and a foldable carrying ring on one of its corners. The design looks a tad too optimistic for a cheap device (the price is supposed to be $75), since it’s extremely thin (thinner, for example, than an iPhone), but hey, it’s a concept, why not make it beautiful while it’s still cheap.

According to Engadget, the XO-3 should be coming to the market in 2012, and the OLPC has two updates to the current version – the XO-1.5 and the XO-1.75 – slated to fill the gap until then. It’s a bit far off, but if this is the future of cheap, mobile computing, I’m hopping on the bandwagon.

Tags: Mobile 2.0, olpc, Tablet, tech

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Art Lebedev has teased a new, flexible digital camera concept called the “Fleximus”.  Lebedev, the designer of the famed Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard, created this goose neck digital camera to provide greater reach and flexibility to digital photographers.

(…)
Read the rest of Art Lebedev Teases “Fleximus” Flexible Tube Camera [Art Lebedev's Fleximus To Provide Greater Flexibility For Photographers]

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Previously on Fubiz

• Webank Campaign
• Ariane Final Launch
• Bape Store Singapore

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Lovely concept from this gift service – Toast-its. Instead of sending a card, you can send a bottle of wine chosen from their range of label designs, then sign the back yourself for the personal touch. Nice idea.

see as selection of the individual labels themselves after the jump…

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For $9.99, your premium concept goes live instantly and is featured on their homepage for 1 week, giving you maximum traffic and reviews.  They’ll also personally invite the top-rated members to review your concept, ensuring top quality feedback.

For this giveaway, a premium concept will be given away to five randomly selected Six Revisions participants.

How to participate

To participate, simply leave a comment about your desire to use the service to get your designs rated.

Giveaway deadline

The Concept Feedback giveaway ends on December 28, 2009. After that date, commenting on this post will be disabled. Shortly thereafter, five commenters will be chosen at random using the same method as previous Six Revisions giveaways and announced in another post.

Make sure to subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified instantly when the announcement post is published.

About Concept Feedback

ConceptFeedback.com is a free and simple design feedback tool developed specifically for designers and developers.  Concept Feedback provides third-party reviews on design and development projects, ranging from websites and web apps, to advertisements and logos.  Each member has a profile and reputation score, based on the user’s participation and quality, which can be used to determine the value and credibility of the feedback you receive.

Related Content

• 10 Excellent Feedback Tools for Web Designers
• A Simple Guide on How to Effectively Talk to Clients
• Feedback. The Creativity Killer.
• Related categories: Design Showcase / Inspiration and Project Management

About the Author

Jacob Gube is the Founder and Chief Editor of Six Revisions. He’s also a web developer/designer who specializes in front-end development (JavaScript, HTML, CSS) and PHP development. If you’d like to connect with him, head on over to the contact page and follow him on Twitter: @sixrevisions.

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2009 is almost over and we’re just days away of the year of the tablet. Whether we like it or not, I have a feeling that 2010 will bring us a bunch of new devices in our lives and a bunch of copycats and wannabes. So what do you say? Are you ready to switch your netbook with a tablet of some sort?
(…)
Read the rest of HTC evolve Android Tablet Concept [HTC Android Tablet Concept Looks Real Only It Isn’t]

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SCJ-Mr-Muscle-Clinginess-Crocodile-Print

I came upon these ads for Mr. Muscle which has a lot going for it in terms of concept. I’m always drawn to ads that tells a story, I think most people are and that’s what ads strive to do. Not all does a great job at it and this is one I feel is struggling to tell the story.

The message should be: Instantly getting rid of stubborn kitchen which are like monsters clinging to utensils.

The colours are very good. It’s smart to use high contrast colours to gain attention from a distance but I feel as if it’s lacking great execution. The execution of it is questionable and this is what makes the ad struggle to convey the story. To me the ‘monsters’ look like oil or coffee when it really should look more greasy if it’s for the kitchen. This communicates the wrong message. It’s as if this is for mechanics rather than housewives.

SCJ-Mr-Muscle-Clinginess-Octopus-Print

To communicate the message familiar imagery should be used. Imagery that women (men) can relate to. This is one reason that to me makes this ad struggle a little.

The photoshopping to me could have been better. I like the ‘Snake’ version as it’s the one closest to their message. To me the ‘Crocodile’ one seems like a reach and if the ‘Octopus’ was really clinging then it would have more than one tentacles attached, not just one.

SCJ-Mr-Muscle-Clinginess-Snake-Print

All in all I think the concept is great but in my mind I envision this being 10x better, much more graphic and realistic. Maybe budget is the reason they couldn’t go all out and that’s understandable. It’s just sad to see a concept not executed to its full potential. These are still just my perspective. What’s yours?

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In an effort to become more of a “destination” than a grab-n-go eatery, that most iconic of fast food chains — McDonald’s — is now serving up free wi-fi. Starting mid-January, the restaurant will nix the $2.95 fee that it had previously charged for two hours of Internet access (which was available at 11,000 of its 14,000 domestic locales).

And who can we thank for untangling the corporate web at The Home of the Big Mac? The currently battle-scarred AT&T, the very same company that iPhone users were recently urged to take down.

So why the switch to free Wi-Fi? Well, McDonalds is hoping to become a hang-out spot of the coffee shop variety — it also plans to start selling frappes and smoothies mid-2010. And given the fact that coffee chains like Starbucks charge customers to surf while they sip, the idea doesn’t seem all that pie-in-the-sky.

Of course, the question becomes this: Doesn’t the concept of people lingering at McDonald’s to troll Facebook negate the very concept of a “fast food” restaurant, a concept that aims to get as many people fed and out the door as possible?

What do you think? Would you plug in at McDonalds? Or are you sticking to your local coffee shop?

[img credit: pointnshoot]

Tags: att, McDonalds, wi-fi

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“VETO is a trivia game designed to be easily brought on journeys. Its strong tin can design, laminated playing cards and fairly small dimensions makes it ideal for travling and backpacking through different climates. The VETO concept is a collaboration between game makers “Spel i kubik” and design company “i/store“.

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Designed by Phil Harvey:

“Concept for Fairtrade orange juice in cartons. The orange peel imagery covering the whole pack conveys that ‘just squeezed’ freshness and the uncluttered, elementary design supports the product’s claims of unadulterated purity.”

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101 Things I Learned In Interaction Design School

Actually, I only count 19, but here’s looking forward to watching the next 82 go up. They’d probably appreciate some suggestions…

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Getting feedback on your latest design is never easy.  Whether it be finding honest criticism or swallowing your pride in the face of negative reviews, it often just doesn’t seem worth the effort.  However, despite the drawbacks, the benefits of quality, constructive feedback far outweigh the costs.  Here are 5 compelling reasons you should be looking for feedback during every step of your design process:

1. Get a Fresh Perspective

As much as you’d like to think you’re an objective observer, no one directly involved in a design project can have an untainted view of things.  That’s where a fresh set of eyes becomes invaluable.  Objective criticism can uncover new ideas, better alternatives, or, in an ideal world, further confirmation of your genius creation.  Even if it’s your mother-in-law, try to find someone who can review your work before you release it to the world!

2. Correct Mistakes and Confusion

I can’t count the number of times I’ve sent out a “final” project with a misspelled word or missing punctuation mark.  If it gets caught before it goes live, not a big deal, but if your client’s billboard ends up with the wrong phone number, you can bet you’re not getting another job from them.  In addition to simply acting as a filter, a quick outside review can reveal any deeper, underlying confusion.  Sometimes a concept just doesn’t make sense to people outside of your circle of friends or co-workers.

3. Increase Concept Performance

Feedback can help you improve the experience your client, customer or audience has with your design.  It leaves you with a final product that better communicates your value proposition and what you would like the user to do next.  Whenever you improve someone’s experience, you are also increasing your chance for a conversion (a sale, phone call, email, etc.).

4. Develop New Skills

Good feedback challenges a designer, pushing him or her beyond their comfort zone.  If you want to be stretched to the limits and grow as a professional, you need a group of people who can give you brutally honest feedback.  The more you can take (and stay motivated), the better.  I promise you’ll become a better designer and a stronger person because of it.

5. Build your Network

As you begin to reach out to friends, co-workers and the community for feedback, you will start to develop a network of people you can trust and learn from.  Oftentimes, and most importantly, these will be individuals different from yourself – people who can give you a fresh perspective, correct your mistakes, increase your performance and push you to the limits.

Giveaway

To give you a headstart, Concept Feedback, a free feedback community for designers and developers, is offering Inspired Mag readers 5 free premium concepts (valued at $9.99 each)!  Premium concepts put your design in front of thousands of qualified professionals willing to give you quality, actionable.  For a chance to win, leave a comment letting us know your favorite method or technique for getting design feedback.  Good luck!

The Authour

Andrew Follett is a small business marketing manager and founder of the new design review community Concept Feedback. You can follow Andrew on Twitter.

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These are some cool illustrations from Mike Mitchell’s portfolio. He is a 27 year old illustrator / concept artist currently residing in Los Angeles, California. I really like his skull illustrations with the big heads.

Visit Mike Mitchell’s website here.

(Seen at Surfstation)

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Android Jones, also know as Andrew Jones, is perhaps one of the most respected artists in the concept art world today. Apart from having a particularly strong resume, a unique style and a wealth of experience under his belt Andrew is also one of the founders of the respected art community ConceptArt.org. He is well known for creating 1000 self-portraits in 1000 days, an artistic record no doubt. Andrew is also a respected art teacher, having been a instructor for the ConceptArt workshops numerous times.

• Homepage
• Andrew’s Blog

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Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on The Mesmerizing Art of Concept Art Giant Android Jones

For a chance to win, leave a comment on this post letting me know what project you desperately need feedback on and why. Winners will be selected and notified by email on December 16. Best of luck! And remember, even if you don’t make the top 5, you can still sign up for a free account (make sure to add me as a contact)!

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Nokia has revealed a new concept cell phone, the UNIK. The phone part of UNIK will be a slim and slender touchscreen design, however the real feature here is the backside, which will feature a LEGO-like board where customers will be able to create designs of their own choosing on the backside with little bricks.

(…)
Read the rest of Nokia UNIK Concept Revealed [UNIK Lego-Like Cell Phone Concept Revealed]

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NYC based packaging, design, and architecture firm ESTABLISHED, has been quietly working behind the scenes on the design of our first ever Dieline Award. They have come up with some incredible ideas for the award, rethinking the very concept of an award trophy along the way. 

While many factors have to be considered in the final design, such as production feasibility, quality, weight, time, cost, and more, I couldn’t help but share each of the concepts with our readers!

Which one is your favorite? Which award would YOU want to win, and why? View all 8 concepts after the jump, and vote for your favorite in the poll. Be sure to share your feedback in the comments below.

Don’t forget, there are only 2 weeks left to submit your entries into The Dieline Awards! Click here to enter

CONCEPT 1A: box dieline in metal

CONCEPT 1B: inverted box dieline in metal 

CONCEPT 2: cast of a trophy in metal

CONCEPT 3: solid tetra milk carton statue

CONCEPT 4: unfold your own trophy

  

CONCEPT 5A: build and package your own trophy
 

 

CONCEPT 5B: build your own trophy
 
 

CONCEPT 6: individual stacked pla boxes

CONCEPT 7: winning packaging in metal foil shrink


 

CONCEPT 8: paper unfolding



       
    
   
 VOTE:
 
 

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The financial crisis has definitely changed people’s perception with regards to new vehicle models and gas-guzzlers, hence why the Germans from Volkswagen have been working on coming up with a concept car, that is supposedly the most fuel-efficient in the world.Dubbed Volkswagen Up! Lite and unveiled at the Los Angeles Motor Show, the new four wheeler is a technical extension of the L1 Concept that saw daylight earlier this year in Frankfurt.

(…)
Read the rest of Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept Debuts in Los Angeles [VW Up! Lite Concept, the Most Fuel-efficient Car in the World]

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Previously on Fubiz

• Le Coq Sportif Concept Shop
• R1 Radio
• Pocket Light

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Normally, I would ask questions/opinions from people through Twitter. But sometimes, you really need more space for the question/opinion than 140 characters. That’s why I wanted to try a new concept on Marcofolio, called Your two cents. I’ll lay down two statements (one cent each), and you’re free to share your opinion with the world. Of course, I’ll share my opinion too.

Keep in mind these are just opinions from me (and hopefully others in the comments) and not facts. If this concept gets loads of response, I’ll continue thinking about other statements.

Here are the two statements on which I’m very curious about what you think about them:

“Animation properties, as added in CSS3, don’t belong there.”

Webkit based browsers (Safari and Chrome) support CSS animation (transition and animation). It allows the designer to animate an element across a given timespan.

“Lazyloading images should be implemented on every website.”

Lazy loading delays loading of images in (long) web pages. Images outside of viewport (visible part of web page) wont be loaded before user scrolls to them.

So, what do you think about these two statements? Join the discussion!

Read more…

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I’ve asked two of my favourite up and coming designer/illustrators to talk to me about mixed media illustration, specifically about the importance of telling a visual story with your pieces and what makes them tick. I’ve highlighted some of their best pieces and asked them to explain the deeper meaning behind them.

This multi person interview is a new type article on Designfeedr, if you want more of this stuff you know what to do, comment and let me know!

Thanks for taking the time to do this feature article. For starters please introduce yourself to the readers.

First, a big thanks to designfeedr for having Kode and I for this little dialog. My name is Anthony Harmon, I’m 25 and currently living in San Diego, California. I surf, snowboard, fly fish, eat a ton of chile relleno burritos, do my best to stay up on the latest discoveries with science, enjoy philosophy and discussions revolving around consciousness and claim The Big Lebowski as my all time favorite movie.

Names kode, I’m 23 from melbourne australia i run the company BossLogic. I have been a graphic designer well over 5 years now but I’m also studying Communication design and photography to expand my skill set.

Consciousness is a representation of how I imagine energies flowing in and out of the body during meditation. I incorporated the image of the Buddha for clarity of the concept. This was a really fun piece to make and has gotten a great response within the community. – Anthony Harmon

Respect is part of a 2 part series I did with the talented anthony. It depicts a powerful figure standing above the bleeding earth on the day of decent – Kode Abdo

It seems the line between design, illustration and art keeps on blurring. Blogs are calling illustrations “designs”, illustrators are referring to themselves as artists and artists are suddenly all over design sites. What is your take on this?

I think a distinction in language is important especially from the artist/client perspective. There needs to be a mutual understanding of what the client is asking for and what he/she should expect from an artist. That being said, I think this “blurring” of terminology is stemming largely from the fact that many artists, illustrators and designers are themselves putting their hands in several creative cookie jars. The dynamic flexibility offered in today’s applications lends itself to experimentation and the crossing of creative fields. It’s a natural and necessary progression that is/will continue to produce fresh approaches to design.

I agree with Anthony on this though I also believe that clients need direction at times and as designers and creative minds we should listen and paint the picture of their image, be that design, illustration or anything in between. That way we can go from pitching to actually producing.

What did you see is the image of the man that is left alone in this world. He saw all the wars, the agony and poverty yet could not change a thing – Kode Abdo

New illustrators often focus solely on style and forget to imbue a piece with a concept or story. What advice can you give in this respect?

That’s where I found myself when I started. These days I can only do design if it means something to me or the person viewing it. Style is what divides us from other artists but I can’t do a piece anymore without incorporating it with story.

My advice is that eye candy design is great to look at but with a story behind it you’ll feel something which puts the work on a whole other level.

I think lots of people view coming up with a concept as the expendable cherry on top while it’s actually the essential foundation for any successful piece to stand on. I’m not saying there aren’t plenty of aesthetically rich pieces without a concept, but when we “separate the men from the boys” the great designers consider every aspect of a design. The concept ties a piece together. It stitches the individual elements into one cohesive piece. It gives a sense of richness and completeness sometimes even on a subconscious level.

Getting into the habit of coming up with a concept as part of the initial design process will pay off in spades as you progress as an artist. It’s something that won’t go away and is certainly worth your effort, so do it!

Once you’ve found the inspiration for a new piece how do you proceed to flesh the concept out?

I’ll usually start with a very rough compositional sketch. Then I spend hours upon mind numbing hours searching for good quality stock photography (the fun part!). Next I crop out the elements of each image I’m going to use (the other fun part!). I then put the piece together layer by layer like a delicious 7 layer bean dip. After that I work on blending, the lighting and end with coloring and color correction.

See, Pen and paper for the win I too always start with my best friends the sketchbook and the pen. I basically draw out what I call blueprints, kind of like how movie makers do story boards. I then get the resources I can find online and bring out my Canon 5D MKII for the ones I can’t find.

Eden came about after reading a book on the indigenous shamanistic cultures in South America. In the book it discusses the Shaman’s ability to control the elements and in particular the weather. The concept was to have someone summoning the spirit of the earth. – Anthony Harmon

Need for greed symbolizes the higher power in the world today. Money is the only thing on their minds while we await the savior that will never come. – Kode Abdo

Follow the white rabbit obviously revolves around the Alice in Wonderland story. A little cliche, but whatever. I tried to join unusual perspectives from the stock to give a disjointed surreal effect. – Anthony Harmon

What is the one piece of advice you’d like to give struggling illustrators? Struggling how?

I know they’ve have heard it a million times before but don’t give up if you love doing it. Trial and error is what makes you great in the end, even if you keep getting bad feedback on your work build off that point and challenge yourself to do better on your next project. I have done hundreds of pieces I didn’t like in the end but still learnt a lot from since trial and error is key.

If you are struggling for ideas, can’t quite get things to look the way you want or are feeling plum out of creative juices (no pun intended) it may be time for a break. I have days where I’m so utterly upside down in what I’m doing that I drastically overwork a piece or waste hours upon hours “polishing a turd”. Sometimes the best thing to do is take a step back, take your mind off of art and go do something that makes you happy. Sometimes I drop everything and go surfing for an hour or two, come back and gasp at the monstrosity I thought was a stroke of genius hours earlier. Take a break and come back to it later.

World Domination shows the earth has reached it’s demise with evil being the victor. This version was straight out the mind of anthony – Kode Abdo

How important are trends in design and illustration? In your opinion does embracing the hot new thing as it comes along get you more exposure or can it actually work against you?

I think trends are an inescapable part of anything creative and they have their place and value. Trends help to propel the industry forward particularly from the consumer stand point. Personally I enjoy keeping tabs on the mainstream circuit. Experimenting with popular techniques and aesthetics keeps me in touch with what I am often asked to produce from clients. I see it as another trick in my bag, but am careful to not become absorbed or lose track of personal style. Depending on how you walk the fine line, trends can either put you in the lime light or sink your battle ship. Watch yar step mateys.

Exactly. It’s a double edge sword, you can get exposure out of it or you can be labeled a trend follower. In my opinion it’s the trend setters that shine in the end.

Fast forward five years into the future: What will illustration be like and how will you have adopted to this?

I think we are on the cusp of some serious revelations within the world of technology. I’ve been seeing more and more on the multi-touch screens that Microsoft claims will replace the need for keyboards and mice. Obviously this would open up a pandora’s box for software developers everywhere. I foresee much more hands on, interactive, animated design taking the front lines. I hope the good people at Adobe are having some serious brainstorming sessions as how to best utilize something like this.

A lot of designers are converting to 3D which is seeing more and more use. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, just that it will possibly be what design is in five years.

Thanks for the time guys. Be sure to check out the portfolios of both Kode Abdo and Anthony Harmon.

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A few days ago I showed you a totally inspiring credit card concept, the Live Checking Card, which should, at least in theory, take care of all your credit card related needs. While the Live Checking Card might not be available anytime soon, the Piece of Cake concept I just found sounds like a more feasible gadget.
(…)
Read the rest of Pay for Your Share with Piece of Cake Concept Device [Goind Dutch with Credit Cards Easier Than Ever]

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At this moment, the iPhone and the HTC Hero are, quite possibly, the coolest, feature rich and the most advanced commercial mobile phones available. What is next, though? What is the next step in mobile evolution?
In todays post we have ten mobile phone concepts that are not only technologically advanced, but look damn good as well. Can you imagine yourself in the next five years having a mobile like the ones below?

Kyocera EOS Kinetic Flexible OLED Cell Phone

The Kyocera EOS can be used in its folded-up shape for simple phone calls, unfolds to reveal a wide screen, and derives its energy from human interaction. The more you use the phone, the more kinetic energy is turned into an electric charge through an array of tiny piezoelectric generators. In other words, you’ll never have to worry about leaving the house with a semi-charged cell phone again.
Still in its early design stage, but Kyocera hope to integrate concepts from the device into cell phone lineups in the near future. Maybe future versions of the EOS will follow Samsung and LG’s lead and use solar power in addition to kinetic energy.

The iida Polaris – Robot and Phone

Mixing robots and cell phones? That’s what Japans second biggest mobile phone provider KDDI au thought and presented the iida Polaris, a robotic cell phone. The idea is to offer some kind of life recorder that monitors your health, by processing diet data, keeping a record of your physical activity, giving tips on when and what to eat etc.
And it does that in a supposedly “intelligent” way, meaning the Polaris “learns” over time and is able to adjust to your personal lifestyle.

The Conduit

The Conduit is a concept phone from Korean cell phone company SKY/Pantech that has been designed to work both as a mobile workstation and as an elegant fashion accessory.
The unit has a 2×3 inch display is customizable in three forms: compact, slim (a third of the phone can be detached) and as a PDA with stylus.

Mobile Script

The Mobile Script has been designed to act both as a mobile device and as a laptop in your pocket. All of the laptop functions are located on the large screen (9.5 inches), which is located inside the phone in a minimized state. To access these functions all you have to do is pull the flexible screen from the main phone and you have your laptop.

Magic Stone

The solar powered Magic Stone, with its classical minimal looks, and its holographic features is perhaps the most advanced mobile concept in this post.

Sony Simplicity

The Sony Simplicity Concept is a mobile phone, just a phone, nothing else. It’s made for people that don’t need the modern functions like SMS, Organizer, Camera, E-Mail, surfing and so on, it’s made for people that just want to communicate via phone. Just like in the good old days. Revolutionary, I like it!

Cobalto Mobile Phone Concept

The design of the Cobalto has been inspired by Sci-Fi movies like Minority Report. Its flexibility comes from its deformable metal, were you can have either the usual number buttons or an iPod styled dial.

Wild Fold

Velocity Mobile

FromTo Phone

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Finally we give away a new must-own title for every creative mind. Our friends from Thames & Hudson are kind enough to offer you a copy of The Advertising Concept Book, hands down the best advertising & inspiration book I have ever read! Read on and enter the giveaway.

The Author – Pete Barry

Pete Barry is a prolific author, art director and teacher (that’s why the book is a complete advertising guide, not a coffee table book). He began his advertising career as an art director at Ogilvy, London, works as a copywriter in New York since 2000 and teaches Advertising Design at Syracuse University (you lucky students!)

The Publisher – Thames & Hudson

Thames & Hudson is one of the world’s leading publishers of illustrated books on art, architecture, design and visual culture. So this is one of our favorite publishers ever, with tons of books published over the last 60 years on our ‘must read’ list. Every designer should own at least a few titles from Thames & Hudson, not to impress his friends with some coffee table books, but to get inspired and learn new techniques from the most creative minds in the world.

The Advertising Concept Book: Think Now, Design Later

Long story short, The Advertising Concept Book is an invaluable resource for students, teachers and creative professionals in design, illustration, copywriting and advertising. As I said earlier, it’s not the average inspiration book, with lovely graphics and some caption text. Au contraire! It’s a must read theory book, an Advertising Bible, a manual for creative souls, filled with tons of insights, enlightening explanations and nearly 400 award winning visuals reduced to their essence – concept drawings made by Barry himself. I guarantee you’ll love this book and read it from cover to cover with maximum interest. This is also the perfect gift idea for any design enthusiast and at just $19.99 on Amazon is a steal!

More

• Download a Sample
• Buy it from Amazon

The Giveaway

Enter to win the The Advertising Concept Book:

• tell us in the comments why do you deserve the most comprehensive and stylish book about design and advertising
  
• tweet this message: Win The Advertising Concept Book from Thames & Hudson and @InspiredMag RT to enter the giveaway!

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Previously on Fubiz

• R1 Radio
• Honda EV-N Concept
• Ora Concept Watch

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Previously on Fubiz

• Fiat Ducato Campaign
• Michael Paul Young
• Plane Stupid : Polar Bear

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 A unique packaging concept from 94Wines:

“94Wines is recognizable, contemporary and a high quality wine. Every
wine has its unique color and number, through which the wine drinker
can easily come to the right choice. The different numbers represent
the variety of tastes that are all featured by a high quality. If you
don’t know which wine to buy, no problem! Just take the WIneID test and
after six short questions you will discover which numbers will fit you
most.”

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Previously on Fubiz

• Wall Clock
• Energy Aware Clock
• Alarm by Mesai

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A great concept every designer can appreciate!

Via Thoughtful

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ConceptFeedback.com could be a great idea for marketers, designers and developers, provides a free and simple tool for getting third-party reviews on design concepts. Concepts may be posted publicly or privately and can include websites, logos, advertisements, videos, and more.

Quickly Upload and Share a Concept

Post whatever marketing project you’re working on:

• Website Designs
• Advertisements
• Logos
• Flash Presentations
• Videos
• Landing Pages
• Banner Ads
• And More!

Start Collecting Feedback Today

• Receive tips and unique insight from qualified community members
• Each reviewer has a reputation score, helping you pick the best feedback
• A standard review template keeps feedback consistent
• Easily share your concept with friends, co-workers and clients

Experience the Benefits of our Community

• Improve your final product, catch mistakes and expand your point of view
• Build your network, get inspired and learn from other experienced professionals
• Improve your Reputation Score by posting and reviewing concepts
• Collecting feedback is free (we only ask that you return the favor!)

Brought To You By

Do you want to advertise here? Click to get more info…

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Our today’s post consists of some selected inspirational 2d creative illustration and concept art from cgsociety, which you do not see usually. These are the wonder creation of designers who use their creativity with a different angle and approach to get the result that makes a difference.

We are always inviting and welcome creative designers to share their work for Creative Inspiration that our readers may like.

If you don’t want to miss out our next posts, you can Subscribe to the 2Experts Design Blog or follow us on twitter

Arctic Express 2008 by Raphael Lacoste

Ladies Of London by Linda Bergkvist

The Saint by Sinad Jaruartjanapat

Elena Formal Portrait by Lunatique

Gears Of War Concept Images by John Wallin Liberto

The Wax – Dragon by Natascha Roeoesli

Pepper Tundra by Skan Srisuwan

Happiness Is A Blue Bird by Jose Manuel Oli

Brume by Melanie Delon

Chat by Tranchefeux

The Fallen by John Kearney

Ravene by Marta Dahlig

The Dark Spire by Daniel Kvasznicza

Invaders! by Alexandre Bonvalot

The Rock City by Sergey Skachkov

Leaf Messenger by Julia Castelo Branco

Queen Of The Eternity by Kuang Hong

The prayer by Xiao Bing

Portrait Of Erica by Christine Kotlark

Boundary by Song Jae Hwon

Battle Angel by Tariq Raheem

RHYTHM, Hong, Ji hoon

Hokukage by Stacy Michalcewicz

Environment: Post Apocalypse by Daniel Kvasznicza

Master & Servant: Spoiled by Linda Bergkvist

The Wicked by Per Øyvind Haagensen

Becky IFX by Warren Louw

Knowledge And Wisdom by Wei Chen

Oiran by Srisuan Skan

Day Watch.Twilight by Pavel Lagutin

The Gate by Bruno Gentile

Pearl by Melanie Delon

Promise Promo Painting

Path To The Gothic Choir…by Raphael Lacoste

Enjoy this Post? Subscribe to the 2Experts Design Blog or follow us on twitter

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These posts are often helpful and I learn from many of them myself. However you usually don’t find a lot of good articles on the abstract concepts that drive a design and combine the various parts into a unique and successful whole.

Hopefully this post will help you with a few higher level thoughts and ideas behind creating a design for your site.


photo credit: helenadagmar

Concept, Conveyance, and Theme

As you can tell from the heading above I want to talk about three ideas in design.

• Concept: The idea behind your design.
• Conveyance: The delivery of your concept
• Theme: The coordination between all your design elements toward a unified whole

Design solves problems and visual design solves the problem of how to communicate ideas visually. It’s important to remember that your design doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A good design is not solely a matter of aesthetics.

When you’re creating a design for a website you have to start with an understanding of the goals for that particular website and an understanding of the audience for that a site. A site aimed at generating a lead for a service based business is going to end up looking very different from a site aimed at teaching young children math. The two sites have very different audiences and very different goals.

Without an idea behind your site and a way to deliver that idea in a cohesive whole your design fails.

Concept

concept (noun) — an abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances; a scheme; a plan

What’s the purpose of your design? What’s the idea behind it? What is your design supposed to do? Who is it for? What is its function?

As you answer these questions you’re forming the concept of your design. You’re developing the idea for the site and the purpose you hope to achieve. You’re creating the central message your design hopes to get across to visitors.

Concept is direction. It’s the roadmap you use to get to the finished design. Concept is abstract, yet without its binding forces your design fails. Concept is the glue that holds everything together in your design. It’s what defines every decision you make about how your site will look and feel.

photo credit: JFeister

Conveyance

convey (verb) — to transport, to communicate, to impart, to make known.

Concept is a abstract, but it needs to get to your visitors in some tangible way. That way is conveyance.

Conveyance is the delivery of your concept. It’s how your abstract concept connects with your audience through your design. Conveyance is your choice of elements and how you style those elements in order to deliver your message.

Everything conveys meaning according to rules and context. Sometimes that meaning is obvious and sometimes it’s more subtle. The words “Click Here” convey the message to click those words. Blue underlined text on a web page conveys the same message without being as direct.

Different elements convey different messages and different styles to the same element convey different messages. Red and Blue are both colors, but each conveys a different message. Red is impulsive, while blue is calming. If your goal is to convey ideas of trust and stability, blue is probably a better choice for a dominant color.

Hard edges and and angles are seen as more masculine, while curves and soft edges are seen as more feminine. Long horizontal lines are static, Angled lines are dynamic. Whitespace conveys elegance, sophistication, and luxury. Lack of space can convey crowded and chaotic. Everything conveys meaning.

If you were designing a wedding invitation which font below would you be more likely to choose? Why?

Your choice is one of conveyance as is every other choice you make about the various components that make up your design.

Conveyance is relative to your audience. For example in western cultures black often represents death and funerals. The opposite is true in eastern cultures where it’s white that represents death and funerals. Your choice of white for a bridal site will convey a very different message in the United States as it will in many Asian countries.

While many elements will convey the same message regardless of audience (a smile is the same in any language), many will be audience dependent. Txt speak likely works well for your gaming site. It would be seen as sloppy for a corporate site. Understand your audience in order to understand what visuals resonate with them and what meaning they’ll derive from your elements.

Remember you’re trying to connect with a specific audience and to convey a message to them you need to speak their language, both verbally and visually.

Mastering conveyance is part instinct and part understanding visual language. Learn what you can about the visual meaning of various elements and symbols, but even more use your own observations and experience of life.

Always be asking how the visual symbols you see around you communicate to you and others.

photo credit: cavitt

Theme

theme (noun) — a subject of discourse; a unifying or dominant idea; a recurrent idea; a motif

Do your elements work together? Does your color scheme convey a message of warmth and openness, but your contact information is nowhere to be found? What does the lack of contact information say about how warm and open you are? Are your elements working together or are they sending mixed messages?

Concept is conveyed through a theme. Your theme is the agreement between the distinct parts of your design. Do your buttons send a similar message as your background images? Do your font choices mesh with your color scheme?

Theme is the tone, the emotional appeal of your design. Your theme of warmth and openness calls for a warm color palette, with plenty of whitespace to create an open layout. You would likely choose curves and soft edges over right angles and hard edges. Each of those choices reinforces the same central message. Your visitors may not be conscious of the specific message conveyed by each element, but taken together they will connect with your overall message.

The more your elements point toward singular theme, the more your design and your audience will connect.

Design elements united in the message they convey and all pointing to your central concept, deliver a strong theme that will resonate and connect with your audience and will turn your design into something that is more than the sum of its parts.

Summary

With a few minutes of searching you can find many great tutorials on how to create a grunge texture or how to create a metallic button. You can find tutorials on how to add hand-drawn imagery, how to create realistic lighting effects, how to create ice, how to create fire, how to … well you get the idea.

You can find great tutorials for creating many different design elements, but how do you best make use of those elements in achieving your overall design.

The answer lies in concept, conveyance, and theme.

Determine the purpose of your design and the main concept behind it, understand the messages various elements convey to your audience, and combine them into a singular theme that supports your main concept.

Web design is much more than making a few elements look good and slapping them together on a page. Web design is about solving a problem of communication between website and audience.

Concept is what you want to communicate. Conveyance is how you will communicate it. Theme is how well you coordinate it.

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Emote is a concept of sharing emotions, built over microblogging with full functionality of a social-networking site and a beautiful scrolling TIMELINE.

Emote is a microblogging service; which is a platform to:

• Broadcast and share your emotions with your family, friends and with the entire world.
• Make yourself heard, comment on news, stories and current affair.
• Share your experiences, memories and events with your friends and family.
• Connect with different people with similar emotional attributes as yours. (ex: if atrocities on animals make you sad, connect with others who share the same feeling)
• Make new friends based on location, interests or emotional characteristics.
• Jot-down your experiences. You usually have so many things to say – a constant stream of thoughts, comments and observations running through your head continuously.
• Turn yourself into a BRAND by promoting your knowledge and gain readership as an expert in your field.
• Promote your business, product or blog.
• Organizations can grow their bidirectional digital interaction directly with the customers and analysts.
• A wonderful TIMELINE that arranges your notices in a chronological order date by date.

http://www.emote.in/

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