Year: 2010
First Monthly Newsletter e-Mailed
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous My first monthly newsletter went out today! I started the series with a brief history detailing how and why I started Artistic Imposter Design and the various incarnations my portfolio went through before becoming the finished product we all know and love. For those who have not yet subscribed to my newsletter, the history is available here.
Each monthly newsletter will include a software review featuring a freeware or open-source design related software product. I will to spend about eight hours each month using the selected software, then review it based on how quickly I was able to pick it up, as well the quality of the documentation and the portability to various OS platforms. These reviews should not be considered a definitive statement on the quality of the software; merely a guide based on a cursory examination. For the first newsletter, I reviewed the open-source 3d modeling software Blender. My full review and criteria is available on the Software Reviews page of this site.
I am also including links to various conferences and events that are applicable to the design community. If anyone happens to notice an important event which I have overlooked in the calendar, please let me know.
New Newsletter Starting in November
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous While attempting to learn how to embed a YouTube video on Facebook using Facebook Markup Language, I came across an article on Mashable.com called 4 Elements of a Successful Business Web Presence. The four items listed in the article are:
- The Website
- The Blog
- The Newsletter
- Social Media Accounts
While I have some experience in the first, second, and fourth areas, I have never done a newsletter, so I decided to start one. Beginning in November, I will be sending out an e-mail newsletter around the first of each month to a list of subscribers. Since I am usually busy with my regular job and I’m still getting a toehold on the whole freelance front, I may not always have much to write about. To remedy this, I’m going to double my efforts to find new and interesting projects to work on. The newsletter will also include a list of links to my blog posts for the previous month, and occasionally I may even write summaries of interesting articles I discover relating to graphic/web design and animation.
What this means for me: I need to get up off my couch occasionally, turn off the TV, and finally do some of those projects I’ve been thinking about and planning for months and years.
What this means for you: More blog updates, More cool projects, More tutorials, and More fun!!!!
To subscribe to my new newsletter, just fill out the form in the sidebar.
Just Listed as an Official Font Vendor
Author BradPosted on Categories Fonts I received an e-mail today from Microsoft Typography informing me that I am now a registered font vendor on their site. Registration is, of course, not required to produce fonts, but I was hoping it would possibly bring some exposure and it also gives me a unique Vendor ID that I can put in all my fonts. Check out my vendor page.
Updated Site Menu
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous, Web design I changed my Web site menu a little. I changed the Animation link in the site menu to Typography to link to my new fonts page, and I moved the Animation link to the sidebar. I eventually want to make the Animation page into its own subsite, possibly with a url of its own. I’m also working on a better version of the Typography page which will pull all of the font names, pricing, and descriptions from a database so that I just have to update the database whenever I want to change a price or add a new font.
AI Circular KBW Font
Author BradPosted on Categories Fonts Working on my AI Toon KBW font inspired me to finish another font I have been working on for a while. This font is called AI Circular KBW. It is a decorative font, and all of the letters are based on a circle.
The font contains only capital letters and numbers, with all lowercase letters mapping to their respective capital letters. It is available in Windows TrueType format. AI Circular KBW is available for purchase at this page: https://www.artisticimposter.com/aicircularkbw.php. A valid e-mail address and a PayPal account are required for purchase. Once the fee has been paid, the font will be sent to the purchaser by e-mail. This font is for personal and/or commercial use. Since fonts are software, by purchasing and installing this font, you agree that you have read and understand the End-User License Agreement for software purchased from Artistic Imposter Design.
LearnKey 10 Commandments of the PC Tech Wallpaper
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous A few months ago, I wrote The 10 Commandments of the PC Tech, a post about a video created by LearnKey which I was in and helped a lot with. LearnKey’s marketing team has now created a wallpaper featuring images from the video alongside Mike Meyer’s 10 commandments. The wallpaper can be downloaded from LearnKey’s blog for those interested.
AI Toon KBW Font
Author BradPosted on Categories Animation, Fonts While working on “The Skydiver”, I decided to create a typeface to use for the text so the writing would look consistent. I’ve spent some time working on it and I now have a sample to show:
The font contains all of the letters and symbols on the keys of a standard American keyboard and is available in Windows TrueType format at this page: https://www.artisticimposter.com/aitoonkbw.php. A valid e-mail address and a PayPal account are required for purchase. Once the fee has been paid, the font will be sent to the purchaser by e-mail. This font is for personal and/or commercial use. Since fonts are software, by purchasing and installing this font, you agree that you have read and understand the End-User License Agreement for software purchased from Artistic Imposter Design.
New Animated Short Underway
Author BradPosted on Categories Animation, Illustration Over the weekend, I began working on a new idea for a Flash animated short. Several years ago, I performed an original pantomime entitled “The Skydiver,” and over the holiday weekend I began turning my pantomime into an animated Flash cartoon. Here’s a screenshot of part of the cartoon:
I’m doing some experimenting with this cartoon, and I plan to do most of the actual animation using traditional frame-by-frame methods, so it could take me a little longer to finish than it would otherwise. Once it is finished, I’m going to build a new page into my Web site just for Flash cartoons, and it will also be posted on YouTube.
Flash Basics Tutorial #3: Creating 3d Text
Author BradPosted on Categories Flash, Flash Basics Video Tutorials, Tutorials, Video Tutorials How to create 3d looking text.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsIwH3LZiq4
In this tutorial, I demonstrate how to create text and make it look 3d.
Concepts learned:
- Breaking Apart Objects
- Changing Fill Colors
- Copying and Pasting
- Snapping
- Using the Gradient Transform Tool
- Using the Line Tool
- Using the Text Tool
- Using the Zoom Tool
- Using Undo
- Working with Text
- Working with Gradients
Flash Basics Tutorial #2: Making the Ball Bounce Look Real
Author BradPosted on Categories Flash, Flash Basics Video Tutorials, Tutorials, Video Tutorials Part II of Creating a Bouncing Ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmHNh8hVMyU
In this tutorial, I demonstrate how to make the bouncing ball more realistic looking.
Concepts learned:
- Moving Through the Timeline
- Entering Keyframes
- Easing In/Out
- Demonstrating Object Materials
- Using the Free Transform Tool
To create the bouncing ball, please watch Part I of this tutorial: Flash Basics Tutorial #1: Creating a Bouncing Ball
Or download the finished Part I file here.