Maybe you can be one of us

Allow me to reveal this little secret: I was actually just a... Let say... horrible photoshopper. More accurately I can say that there are times when a designer has the lowest point of their creativity, I know, this could be happen not only in the field that I admire, it occurred in all areas of our lives.

Usually this is caused sometimes by such a tight time frame, hostility, disputes between clients, the disaster, either it was a small disaster or a large one, private or public (it occur anywhere, anytime and by anyone), or something else entirely, However.. we really should find a way to be able to anticipate things like this until we can find and return to our own comfort workplace.

What to do?

Be a critical to your own work.. Well.. I don't know.. It is difficult indeed to be able to be very critical to your own work. That's the hardest thing that we usually encounter isn't it?!?! As a designer who also manages designers team, I had the opportunity to test some techniques to work through a slump, beat fatigue, and creative challenges.. but... Not Now!!! I'm not gonna share you all about that this night, next time might be just fine :p I gotta go, I got something to do... Arrivederci :)

James Pond's

There you go again?! Howdy... I promise you this is the last part of our late advertisement tutorial. May I present to you all our new local HERO.. The one and only, The handsome full of critical damages... James Pond's 007, lmao. Subhaaanalloooh..!!!

Before you go check this one.. you should read first our previous lessons with the tittle Creating a Customized Product followed by Still on Creating a Customized Product and Long road to Pond's 007 to get all view complete on how I created this kinda facial Super Hero.. lmao.


Step 7 - Additional Details (Final Walk)

Add your own additional details for your bottle. To start, add the shiny and reflective kinda effect for the Main layer. To do this, using the Pen tool (P), make a line just like as shown in Fig.

Preparation :

First, set your Brush Tool (B) with this.. Master Diameter to about 13px Soft Round.

Second, make your Foreground color filled with White.

Back to your workspace. Is your Peen Tool still active? If so, you should see a line above the Main (bottle) layer. Right-Click while the line of the Pen Tool (P) still there, then select Stroke Path from the drop down menu. Replace the line (Stroke Path) with Brush. Leave the Simulate Pressure blank.

Press Ctrl + H to view your new line, this act will automatically hide the Path. Finally.. Decrease the layer's Opacity level to 67%.




Create a New Layer, name it Sealed. We're gonna add the magic tiny ridges for the sealed area we did earlier.

Brush preparation :

Choose Hard Round 1px from the Brush preset picker (a pixel of that, would be enuf). Draw a single line on your new layer. Ctrl + Click on your Sealer thumbnail on the palette layer to invoke the selection. Go to menu Edit > Define Brush Preset. A Brush Name box appear. Name it genial (just because I'm that kinda guy.. lol.. or whatever you like)!

Press Ctrl + D to Deselect. Remove your single line (not the Layer, just the image you created earlier) from the Sealed layer. We're not gonna need that anymore.

Now you're being totally armed, right!!! Back again to Sealed Layer. Press P key on your keyboard to activate the Pen tool. Draw a line (just like when you created a Reflection).




Press B to activate the Brush tool. Choose your genialBrush you created earlier. Press F5 to call the Brush Preset. And follow the direction from the image below.




Your Pen still active, Right-Click and choose Stroke Path, choose Brush to replace the Path (this is Brush you set up - genialBrush). Uncheck or leave the Simulate Pressure Blank.




Your image should be like this...



Add another Reflection to give more realistic to our product. Create a New Layer. Name it Reflection2 (or something like that*). On this layer, with the help of the Pen tool (P) (again.. lol) a shape like this..




Right-Click and choose Fill Path.. and pick Foreground color (#6188b9) to fill it... Add a Layer Mask on this shape.. make some blur dynamic reflection like this... don't forget to decrease the Fill Opacity to about 9%.




DONE!!! Your job is done! That's all for the main bottle.. How about the rests?!?! You guys should use your own crazy wild untamed imagination..

Fonts needed:

Century Gothic, Regular, 18pt = Committed Suicide?
Trebuchet MS, Regular, 10pt = Deep cleanses..
Trebuchet MS, Regular, 11pt = Call her NOW!

It's a wraaappp!!! The final James Pond's product is shown below. Thanks for reading!







Other sample...






Complete tutorial : James Pond's 1, James Pond's 2, James Pond's 3, James Pond's 4.

Fabulous Fashion

Ready for takeoff


The one-piece, famous made in the '70s by designers like Halston, emerged this spring with half of the blousy stylish fabrics and feminine forms of governing freedom comparison of mechanical flight. It is very comfortable, I think the only tall, skinny women can wear jumpsuits.. but that's not true is it.

Grecian turn


While you go to evening wear, it is often with a long black jacket (suitable for life in the conservative, Plenary Hall may be.. :p, felt the pull of one of this season seriously short and beautifully wrapped minidresses. You should wear one every day if it could airbrush your life.


Plenty of flak


I guess it take risks in life.. more than in fashion, because I was afraid I would be teased for wearing something striking. The uniform is the city - the military jacket, tank (for all mankind) and cargo pants - feels right, even as a head-to-toe uniform. I'm not sure about cargo pants with high heels, but they look very feminine together. Jumping over the fire would be a little difficult.

Long road to James 007

Today I'm gonna show you the rest of how you customized advertising product, but still.. it's not the last part of it.. Lol. There are more steps to catch doods... lmao.

Step 5 - Fix the Gap

Guys, if you done all those tricky parts, you still can see the gap between the Main bottle and it Cup. Now.. with some modification of shapes, you definitely could cover that up nicely.

Here I will show you how I put something there to do it. Prepare this first.. Set your Foreground with this #9fa5b0 color. Create a new layer above the Background layer. Create a selection like the image above told you and fill it with that color!

Step 6 - Bottle Sealed

Next to me I do is, adding the Sealed portion of the bottle. First thing first, for this procedure, I'll start by placing two base line in different layer. To do this, press Ctrl + N to create New Layer, Draw a simple line on this layer by pressing the U key on your keyboard. Pick the Line Tool from the menu, Draw it! Just like as shown in Fig.




Add the style of this layer by Right-Clicking it than choose Blending > Bevel and Emboss.




Again you'll gonna need the New Fill or Adjustment Layer. To do so.. click its button than to fill the line with a Light Blue (#74a8eb) color like I did. If you're done.. Duplicate the line by Pressing Ctrl + J! Don't forget to copy the layer style as well as the first line. Now you have two line on the Cup of your bottle with two different Light Blue (#74a8eb) color fill adjustment. Do the clipping mask to both of them!





Now I am going to add the recessed area for the cap. Using the Rounded Rectangle (my favo) tool (U) set to your need. I use this set.. Inner Shadow as a Layer Style, Blend Mode : Multiply, color : #2469c2, Opacity : 75%, Angle : -90, Distance : 2px, Choke : 0%, Size : 2px




Color Overlay as a Layer Style, Blend Mode : Normal, Color : #adccf3, Opacity : 100%




Your product should look like this (or even close.. lol.)




Tired or sumthin'? :( I AM!!!
Complete tutorial : James Pond's 1, James Pond's 2, James Pond's 3, James Pond's 4.

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It is truly a special solution for those of you who have specific websites that are critical, or require special treatment, you can contact them at Serverclub.com sales specialist.

Obviously with them you can learn to appreciate or not appreciate something just because others do it with another server, but frankly speaking I think you already know why you should consider Serverclub.com — All of your technical problems will be handled well. From worthless to priceless. You just concentrate on your service, taking care of customers, and provide technical issue to them. Isn't that good?! :)

Free Website Builders

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When you need more then a marvelous web design, you need professional website builder. Fortunately, it's exactly what you got. Remember this, you're not alone. Ucoz.com a free website builder and hosting, with a lot of default designs, unlimited disk space and other functionality is gonna be there to help you get out of your sick design problem.

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Creative Spirit

Tapping into Your Creative Spirit

On top of being a terrible writer, son, fella, dude, friend, and of course blogger, I am a creative spirit (just because I'm that kinda guy :p). How do I do that? How do I always busy with sum'thing (now it just because I'm not that kinda guy) creative..?

I always wish that I had some creative outlet in my mind, in my damn life... So far I've actually been lucky to be born like this and find a creative profession like I do now.. because it gives me the best reason in the world to express it in a way that I want to and regardless of what other people said.

It's my life. Certainly. It's my job. I don't have to always squeeze thee creativity every single morning, somewhere between my meals with my time of contemplation or reflection (Renungan Kloset, a term I often use). People like me (..what?!?!?) just think and express the art through such way. Now, if I was also thinking about patents, copyrights or any other law stuffs, then I'm sure I'd failed to make the move.

I don't even go to work.. to an office like y'all bloggoholics 9 to 5, I'm just trying to share how you could easily learn Photoshop. That's it. As simple as that. Of course.. I really admire the hard work done by others Art Workers in the real world, the craftsman for example, who always worked late at night, and so on and so on.




I've a lot of time to enjoy some of my favo coffee cup, and as an ordinary human being, self-expression like this plus a lot of laughs in the morning before going to bed, play a major role in enabling me to maintain my identity. I never felt lost role as a friend of course, because I am surrounded by thousands of thousands of great talented men from all over the world like y'all doods.. :)

Maybe.. it's just maybe.. you (especially women) have a lot of time to make a stunning family scrapbooks. Believe me, if you spend lil' time in the middle of your occupation, perform activities with an open mind and inventive spirit meet the requirements as a creative outlet that you want. The creativity ain't an act, but an attitude.





Why on earth you don't even give it a try!!!

Still on Creating a Customized Product

Do I should hire a professional designer to create my ad just for me? Hell No!!! Designing is a learned craft and of course I do believe that everyone has creativity. What most pro-designers (defined as anyone who writes an advertisement for now, lol) do is... dig and cultivate their insane creativity.

Really awesome ad designers aren't afraid to come up with dozens of bad ad ideas. I know I ain't good enuf on this, but still.. I ain't like that. I, my self know from experience that it's often the ones that don't work that will spark the idea for the one that will work.

OK.. Enuf with the chit-chat.. lmao! I'm gonna show you the untold part of how you create a customized product after coloring your bottle yesterday.. Still remember with the steps I wrote there?? There you go..!!!

Step 4 - Reflection

After all that base shading color for the bottle, I added another two shading layers but this time I'm going to be using a darker shade of gray with a color number of #a2a2a2.




Including the top and the bottom part of the main bottle, I think.. the shading at the upper of the bottle would be a 'lil less dark in comparison to the lower parts. So I turn down the Fill Opacity of the upper shade more than the bottom to about 51%.




Next, I'm gonna add the white strip flow across the bottle as a reflection or something. First, add a new layer and name it as Whitestrip. Pick the Pen tool (P) to create a shape just like shown below.




Make sure it is curves down elegantly and smooth enuf to emphasize the contour of the bottle. Once you've defined it, Hit Right - Click and select Make Selection. Press Ctrl + Backspace to fill it with White color. Than press Ctrl + D to Deselect.

Warning : Press Ctrl + Backspace to fill the selection with White color will works properly if you see the Black and White as your Foreground and Background color (display) on the flying menu at the left side of your workspace of Photoshop.

OK.. Unless you arrange your Cup layer and its contents below the Main layer, you'll find the chaos on your image. Don't worry.. it's all about how to arrange it into each place well.

Drag your Whitestrip to above the Main bottle (above the Gradient Fill and the Fill color adjustment #a2a2a2 bottom and upper) like I show you with this chaotic screen shot, lol.




Now you know exactly how your arrangement layer is after you drag the Whitestrip.




Next.. you're gonna need to do the Clipping Mask step on that layer to hide the unneeded part of the white color covered the Main bottle. Look at all my layers there!







After doing that favo step (Clipping Mask), turn down the Fill Opacity into your need :) Mine is around 30-50%.

Alternative : You can simply change your Blending Mode without changing the Fill Opacity, change it into Soft Light.

Got it not?

Nope?!?!? You should then read first the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd steps of this Tutorial to complete it!

To to to be or not to to to be contifuckin'nued..?

Complete tutorial : James Pond's 1, James Pond's 2, James Pond's 3, James Pond's 4.

String Bend

This is a kind of post I created in order to continue our last lesson on reading guitar tablature. This time I just wanna share you guys on how you read a bending technique on the guitar.

Do you have any idea, what the String Bend is? String Bend is a sort of techniques to raise the tone until you get the aim of the high note you want. Practice bending the strings and each direction... pushing up and pulling down. Pick a note and while it's ringing bend the string.





E -------------
B -------------
D -----4b6-----
G -------------
A -------------
E -------------

The intention of the image is the third string from the bottom you plucked (the string on the 4th fret) raised the voice up until you hear the sound of the note in the 6th fret.

Like pull-offs, string bending is totally a great exercise to build hand strength and is an obviously necessary element to lead guitar playing.




Hell yeah.. If you're still at an early stage, a beginner guitar students or whatever you name it, indeed.. this can make you feel sick at your fingertips. But... what's the daddy said, practice makes perfect, after all, it's not that painful.

Feature Image taken from : www.technabob.com/blog/2008/02/15/guitar-hero-get-in-my-pocket

Finger Memory

What? Strange to think your fingers have memory but what I mean is the coordination between your mind and the muscles in your fingers. The number one reason people give up playing guitar is because they don't get past the finger training stage. Who is the finger trainer than? You are! You are the only one that can make that connection between your brain and your fingers to get them to work together and do what you want them to.

It's just like riding a bike you had to train yourself to balance, shove off and switch to pedaling all the while keeping your balance. I can teach you where to put your fingers but you have to put them there! Only you can make yourself good at it. This is the hardest thing you will ever have to learn! But the teacher is you.. so start teaching yourself now!

Here are a few good exercises to help coordinate your brain and fingers:


Pull-offs/Trills

Pull-offs and trills are great exercises to build hand strength and are a necessary element to lead guitar playing. The idea is to: hold the string with one finger and pull it off the string to the point where it feels as if the meat of your finger is plucking the string... You'll feel the string snap out from underneath the finger and in so doing the note you hold behind the one you just pulled off from will ring.





A trill is the process of hammering a finger down on a string and pulling of repeatedly. The hammer action causes a note to sound and pulling it off so that the note fingered behind it sounds. The only difference between a pull-off and a trill is that a trill is repeatedly really fast.

Creating a Customized Product

I recently finished a How To Create An Effective Advertisement post for some folks where I had to take a kind of long explanation without giving them vector piece of stock of art or something and even customize how it looks like in Photoshop style of magic, lol.

Doods.. This tutorial is some basic shape transformations, using the Rectangle tool (U) with color fill or adjustment layer to create a fresh-looking stuff to achieve the final result. Fellas... Just sit back, buckled up.. kick your feet up and watch the magic I'll give y'all. Let’s get started!

Step 1 - Background Preparation

I’m working with a 580px wide and 700px height at 72ppi document.

For a print quality file, 150-300ppi is just great, but still.. it depends on your printer’s desired file size.

Use the Gradient tool (G) for the next step and set it up to Radial Gradient, as shown in the image below..



Apply then the #eef5fd for your Foreground and #84b2ed for your Background.




Step 2 - Rectangle Tool Implementation




Now... on two separate layers, create two main shapes using Rectangle tool (U) you've set up earlier (see the image above) and don't forget to name each.. (1) Main, the body of the bottle shape layer and (2) Cap, for the cap or head of the bottle.



My both shapes above created by repositioning the upper side of the Main layer as well as the Cap layer by Transforming the Perspective of each shapes wider.





Step 3 - Coloring (Fill or Adjustment Layer)

Now we're gonna add the color and also the shadings for the main shapes we made, both of 'em. First we should activate your Main shape or Cup shape by clicking on their layer (you just pick one of 'em, lol)... (I just couldn't think of anythin' funnier to put there.. Sorry).

After that, click the Create New Fill or Adjustment layer button at the bottom of your Palette layer. We will add a gradient color to cover the shape. Choose Gradient.. there is little pop up windows come up, set like the image below..

The color combination I put on the box is the color I used on the Step 1. It's all arranged with that way (...of life, again I just couldn't think of anythin' funnier to put there..) just because.. we wanna make the cylindrical illusion in that shape.

Rasterize that Gradient fill layer by Right+Clicking on its layer, than hit Rasterize Layer. Hold on..! Why you should do that? It's because you will rotate the Gradient Fill layer and fix it with the Cup (The Cup of the bottle). Just because I'm so lazy on adding it by way a selection or something like that (or just because I’m just that kind of guy).. so I lose my mind with this?!?! Lmao! You should Rasterize it first so you can edit just like what you want :p (Did you notice.. how many Rasterize words in this paragraph???)

OK..(still.. no better joke) Take a breath for a moment guys...!

While you're done preparing your hot delicious coffee with a djisamsoe or something, sit back and complete your work flow... Now.. I'll give this two alternative in coloring. First.. You can use your Brush tool (B) set to a size of about 90px, color the Main shape (the bottle layer) you made with this two color #252525 and #FFFFFF, and change the Blend mode into Hard Light, and turn the Fill down into about 37%..

Or you can add a New Gradient Layer above the Main layer to cover up the bottle just like I did with the Cup.. Here I use the second (just because that's the point.. that what I', talking about) to apply the color (of course with the same sets as you use for the Brush's).




Let's get back to our Cup.. we have something to do with the gap between the Cup and the Main bottle... First, Ctrl+click your Cup thumbnail to invoke the selection of it. While the selection is active, click the gradient layer above the Cup layer, we're gonna add another Gradient Layer above it. Done? Ok, don't go anywhere, you should do click Create New Fill or Adjustment layer on the bottom of your palette layer, then choose Gradient! Fill it with #002350 and transparent, Style = Linear, Angle = -90. Leave the Scale 100% and Check the Align with Layer.




Then your product will become like this...

That's not good, is it?!?! Who's the one that agree with me... it's not good enuf! Raise your hands. lol!!! Let me tell you this.. you'll need this to fix the prob.

Click Ctrl+T to invoke the Transform tool.. Drag your bottom Gradient Fill (you've created above the light blue gradient) just like I show you here.. watch this carefully!!!




Put your Cursor between Gradient Fill1 and Gradient Fill 3, hold it there, press Alt.. than you'll see the icon of people wearing headset, lol (shit.. I dunno what to say doods!!!) D'ya know what I mean?!?!

That's what we called Clipping Mask fellas.. Take it easy! If you see that damn ghost, Hit your cursor (click it)!

Your image would look like this.. If it doesn't work..?!?!? Repeat until you get that, lmao!




To be Continued...


Complete tutorial : James Pond's 1, James Pond's 2, James Pond's 3, James Pond's 4.