Contact details
Address: 3 Bowyer House
Vermont Road
London SW18 2AE
Telephone: +44 (0)20 31382049
E-mail: hello@shapeshed.com
4 Jun 2008
Grids are everywhere in the world. Appreciating grids can give you a visual language to understand how many designs work and in my opinion can help you greatly improve your own designs. Read more
22 May 2008
If you have lots of images you want to resize Photoshop can take care of it for you. Using Actions and Automate you can do it once then put your feet up. Here's how it works. Read more
7 May 2008
When designing in Photoshop there are a couple of options that allow you to review your design without noise around it. Here's a quick overview of how you can take a step back from the digital canvas. Read more
26 Apr 2008
Guides help you to line control objects and paths easily in Illustrator. Here's a short overview of the options and how Smart Guides can take it a step further. Read more
21 Apr 2008
Mobile versions of websites can be better than their bigger, richer web versions. Moreover user-focussed, task-driven mobile sites can inform and improve their bigger brothers. Read more
21 Apr 2008
Smart Objects can save you a great deal of time if you are designing for the web in Photoshop. Furthermore they allow you to manipulate images without destroying the original. Read more
20 Apr 2008
Until recently I'd been using desaturate to convert photographs to black and white in Photoshop. In fact there is a much better non-destructive method. Read more
10 Apr 2008
Creating a grid to base your designs on is invaluable for giving structure to the page. Here's a quick introduction to grids and how you can speed up creating them in Photoshop. Read more
17 Jan 2008
A short tutorial on creating realistic highlights in Illustrator using clipping masks. The tutorial covers creating a path, adding a gradient and then creating a clipping mask. Read more
18 Dec 2007
Here's some wallpaper for the festive season, that I have also sent out to friends and clients. Thanks to jlwDesign and Spoon Graphics for the vectors. Read more
30 Oct 2007
Leopard, Apple's latest version of the the OSX operating system was released last Friday. In my opinion some of the interface changes are a step backwards. Read more
27 Oct 2007
Often designs need a background to fill space behind navigation or other page elements. Here one way to create them. Read more
19 Sep 2007
I'm not often moved to criticise other designers work. It is their livelihood after all. But the new Photoshop logo falls well short of the mark. Read more
19 Aug 2007
The twirl tool is a great tool that can make complex and eye-catching objects in no time. Here's one way to use it. Read more
14 Aug 2007
The star tool and opacity masks make it easy to make eye-catching glossy badges for websites and user interface designs. Here's an example of how to do it, including a downloadable Illustrator file to work with. Read more
9 Aug 2007
In part two of looking at Pattern Brushes in Ilustrator we look at how to expand brushes to add shapes to corners and the ends of paths. Read more
7 Aug 2007
Pattern Brushes in Illustrator are a great way to create complicated designs in no time. Part one shows an example of how to use Pattern Brushes with circles. Read more
2 Aug 2007
Making circular shapes and patterns in Illustrator is straightforward using a simple technique. Here's how to save yourself some time. Read more
27 Jul 2007
Here's a simple tip I came across for quickly creating repeating shapes in Illustrator. Give it a try it. Read more
26 Jul 2007
Icon design is something I have wanted to explore for a while. Today I'm releasing a free black and white icon set, the first of many I hope. Read more
18 Jul 2007
The blend tool is a great way to build out shapes and design elements in Illustrator. Here's a quick overview of how it works and some techniques to apply. Read more
12 Jul 2007
Designing for the web in Photoshop has one thing missing - dotted lines. Here's how to create dotted lines so you can show clients how links will look. Read more
7 Jul 2007
Using a simple technique you can round the edges of pretty much anything in Illustrator. Furthermore with the Graphic Styles Panel you can reuse your style over and over again. Read more
6 Jul 2007
Custom Brushes in Illustrator are an excellent way to add to designs. Here's a short tutorial how they work and how to use them. Read more
29 Jun 2007
A short tutorial on creating a vector-based comment icon in Illustrator. The tutorial includes a downloadable illustrator file to work through the example with. Read more
28 Jun 2007
Drawing symmetrical shapes in illustrator can be a little bit tricky but once mastered it is a technique you can use over and over again. Read more
26 Jun 2007
Tessellation has been used for many years in wallpaper and other design environments where a large space of indeterminate size needs to be covered. Using CSS similar techniques can be used to deliver designs that look good and stretch to the width of the screen. Read more
19 Jun 2007
Pattern Swatches are a hidden gem in illustrator. You can use them to quickly fill shapes with patterns and illustrations. Here's a short tutorial using a t-shirt design. Read more
21 May 2007
Often clients deliver images that are not really good enough for use on the web. Photoshop comes with some less well known features that can improve image quality drastically in a couple of clicks. Read more
8 May 2007
Managing colour schemes in CSS can be difficult. With a bit of PHP you can take control of colour schemes in your stylesheets. Read more
3 May 2007
Apart from a huge amount of client work I've been working on a redesign of shapeshed.com. With a few things to clean up it goes into the wild today. Read more
21 Mar 2007
Designing with grids is commonplace in design but the danger is that everything looks a bit ordered. Using grunge effects you can keep your grid and mess up your hair to look a bit cooler. Read more
26 Feb 2007
One day you might just be insane enough to want to write concentric text in Photoshop. It is quite illegible and likely to give you a headache but if you still want to do it read on. Read more
21 Feb 2007
A less well known feature of Photoshop is that you can create custom vector shapes and use them throughout your designs. Here's an of examples of how to do it. Read more
17 Feb 2007
Patterns area hidden gem in Photoshop. Here's a short tutorial showing you how to make your own and how to use them in your designs. Read more
13 Feb 2007
Glossy buttons, reflective logos and beta buttons are everywhere. Designers have become magpies taking anything shiny and using it without thinking whether it makes a website better. Read more
31 Jan 2007
Here's a quick look about how you can give your site some wallpaper. Whilst you are moving the furniture around there is also some traditional wallpaper design for inspiration. Read more
29 Nov 2006
A well designed promotional graphic can be a great way to drive traffic through your site. Here's one way to do it. Read more
22 Nov 2006
Choosing a colour scheme, or swatch, is one of the first things you need to do in planning a design. Thankfully Adobe provides a number of tools that make creating and managing swatches simple. Read more
20 Oct 2006
I get a lot of search engine referrals from people looking to create curved images or curved rectangles in Photoshop. So here's a quick tutorial to show you how. Read more
8 Sep 2006
More and more print designers are making the switch to the web which is breathing life and creativity into designs around the web. Often however print designers are unaware that the medium is very different from the print environment. Here are ten tips to get your design for the web on the right track. Read more
9 May 2006
A Homepage is like a shop window. It is invariably the most commonly visited page and if it does not draw customers or viewers in, it has failed. This paper looks at what makes a successful Hompeage. Read more
5 Apr 2006
Getting branding right is a difficult process. Often both clients and designers fail to understand what each party needs or is looking for. This article seeks to give some advice on how to issue a brief and issues to consider for small to medium sized enterprises. Read more
Address: 3 Bowyer House
Vermont Road
London SW18 2AE
Telephone: +44 (0)20 31382049
E-mail: hello@shapeshed.com
