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January 2015

Fonts, Hand Lettering, Products, Roundups, Typography

I think this blog makes it pretty obvious I’m a big fan of anything handmade 🙂 And I loveeee typography – it’s the reason I got into design in the first place. So, if we put those two together, we get this post! Handmade fonts are gaining popularity in a big way, especially on Creative Market (the best seller from all of last year was a handmade font!). So here are 8 handmade fonts to add to your collection, all of which happen to be super affordable, too!

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Freebies, Photoshop, Roundups, Web Design

One page websites have gotten really popular these days! When I got hired at my current job, I split my time between design + working production for the first year. During that time, I looked at a lot of designers’ files and it taught me sooo much. My point to saying this is – even if you’re not looking to code up a psd, just download one or two of these 5 free one page website psds and check them out. Digging into even one file could inspire and even help with learning how to design your own.

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Freebies, Photoshop, Tutorials, Typography

Happy Tuesday! In this week’s tutorial, we’ll create a retro text effect in Adobe Photoshop from scratch, inspired by the 80’s. I’m also giving away the exact style we create as an .asl file (layer style file) and in the tutorial I’ll show you how to save your own layer style and install it so you can have the exact settings that were mentioned. So it’s a 2 for one this week! Tutorial + freebie 🙂

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Products, Roundups

I remember when I received my first Wacom tablet in the mail. I was filled with pure excitement to finally interpret my doodles directly on screen. The brush tool in both Illustrator and Photoshop immediately became my favorite thing. Since then, I’ve used the tablet to create lettering professionally, edit detailed photography, and apply a hand drawn feel to other projects. As a designer, you typically think ‘expensive’ when you hear the word Wacom. Maybe because they’re known to be the best brand of tablets for designers that money can buy, but you’d be surprised to find out an affordable Wacom is within reach! So, if you’ve never owned a tablet before and you’ve always wanted to draw, edit or doodle on screen, it can be done for less than $100. Seriously!

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Freebies, Illustrator, Personal

As Spence and I continue brainstorming our wedding invites, I’ve had flourishes and frame elements on the brain a lot lately. It’s so much harder (but so rewarding!) when you’re designing something for yourself! This past weekend I designed a whole set of flourishes + frames in my pursuit to exhaust every option. 🙂

My flourish extravaganza has led to this week’s freebie: a set of vector flourishes and frame elements for Illustrator, CS3 or newer.

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Fonts, Typography

It’s always a good idea to have some reliable fonts in your arsenal with a bit of character – in this case retro flair – and that’s just what Haymaker + Roper provide. While Haymaker offers users a pay-what-you-want option, it’s limited with weight and texture. That’s where Roper comes in. Roper’s similar in style, but is packed with options, and at $12 a pop for any version you’re looking for, it’s affordable too.

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Personal

Just wanted to post a little note wishing everyone a happy 2015! Our 2015, well.. our Christmas started off a little rocky. On Friday the 19th, our office held its annual Christmas party and we were excited leaving the office that night to begin our holiday vacation (we hardly take any time during the year so we can take extra time for our families during the holidays). The next day (the 20th), Spence and I were planning to hit the road at 4am to tackle the 17 hour road trip to my parents’ house in upstate NY. When we got home, we were greeted by our excited dog, Nuna. She was full of anticipatory wiggles and we played around with her as usual. We went to the bedroom to begin putting our suitcases together, still playing around with her when she went under my feet and I clumsily fell trying to avoid falling right on her or hitting the laundry basket right next to her. I landed directly on the left side of my left hand and Spence and I both heard a big crack/snap as I hit the floor.

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Freebies, Hand Drawn, Holiday, vector

Happy 2015! To ring in the new year freebie-style, this week’s freebie is a set of 5 unique hand drawn vector bursts. Use these on invitations, web banners, social media posts and more. I’ve found they’re perfect for creating more energy in your layouts, as well as providing a focus wherever you let the center of the burst lie. Download includes all 5 bursts as an ai and eps file for versions of Illustrator, CS3 or newer. Read on for the download link + larger preview images!

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