When it comes to creativity, great fonts are a must. Fonts can either make or break your design. I ran into some really nice looking creative fonts the other day and wanted to share. Hope you enjoy!

1. MDRS-FD01 – by mindriders

2. SquaretypeB – by digitalAM

3. Velocity

4. Exus Pilot – by mauroh

5. Dirt To Death – by Keepwaiting

6. PT Banana Split

7. Avant Garde

8. ABC Font – by MyFox

9. Karabine

10. Val Font

Here are some other font resources you may want to check out:

1st Web Designer – 65 Popular and Professional Free Fonts

76 Dirty and Extreme Creative Fonts

Creative Nerds – 50 Best Free Fonts of 2009

In case you are new to Twitter, a feed is the time line of your live tweets. Your feed includes your messages, links, hash tags, time, and date. If you are twitter fanatic like me then it would be really beneficial to show your feed on your website. Being active in your industries community is the best way to establish your self as a professional amongst your peers.  Here is the easiest way I have found to add your feed to a static website or your facebook account.

1. Go to www.twitter.com/widgets

This is Twitters own widget creator. It is super easy to set up, implement, and it is fully customizable. With multiple display options you can show your visitors as much or as little of your feed as you would like.

2. Select “My Website”

After you select “My Website” you will see 4 display options. They all have detailed descriptions so you can pick the correct one for your needs. Select the one that works for you and then add your Twitter user name.

3. Customize as needed

You can now use the tabs on the left to customize your preferences, appearance, and dimensions of your feed widget.  When your finished select the “Finish & Grab Code” button at the bottom and that’s it! Add the code to your website, refresh your browser and now you have a live twitter feed on your static site.

When you first start using Illustrator as your design program make sure to have an open mind. Most tasks are a bit different than Photoshop and it can get a little frustrating when your not familiar with the tools and techniques. 6 years ago I taught myself how to use Illustrator and now 90% of my designs are created with this program. Below are some great tutorials and will help you get started. Hope you enjoy!!

1. Create A Cute Panda Bear Face Icon

2. How To Create Shiny Vector Dice

3. Illustrator Cs3 Vectoring An Eye

4. Design And Print Bold Promo Cards

5. Creating Geometric Patterns In Illustrator

6. Bling Bling Text Effect

7. How To Make 3D Vintage Stars

8. 3D Lighted Text Effect

9. How To Create A Landscape Wallpaper For Your Desktop

10. Creative Masking Techniques In Illustrator

11. Understanding The Pathfinder Tool

12. Illustrator Masking Tutorial

13. 3 Ways To Apply A Line Pattern Effect On Text

14. Create A Vector RSS Icon

15. Perfect Silhouettes with Illustrator’s Live Trace Feature

When it comes to good designs I usually tend to go with a clean layout and great typography and Bound By Stars has just that. The bold headers are easy to read and compliment the nice image scrolling effect to show off Jeff’s portfolio. From the logo and branding all the way to the contact form and footer this site has a great look and feel. Take a look below.

About Bound By Stars – Boundbystars.com is the online playing ground for Jeff Boshers, an ambitious twenty-something from the No Coast area of the states (Tennessee), who dreams in Illustrator and lives in CSS. Jeff brings diversity and creativity all in one package, not being shy of the off the wall and unique elements other designers seem to be afraid to tackle. Jeff is willing to take risks that he believes will benefit not only the client but the client’s customers. Taking risks is how real success is made. Jeff turns ordinary pre-existing websites into rare masterpieces that will transform the way your customers access your site.

To see more website goodness make sure to check out www.boundbystars.com. Also make sure to follow @boundbystars on Twitter. Until next time…

With the explosion of twitter users over the past few months there have been multiple applications that have been created to help manage your accounts. I have tried hundreds and everyone of them have pros and cons. Here is the simplest way I have found to set up multiple auto responses so you can focus on the content you posts.

Step 1 – Sign into your Twitter account

Make sure you sign into your twitter account. If you have multiple twitter accounts than you can set them up in a later step.

Step 2 – Create a FREE account with Socialoomph

Socialoomph is a very popular twitter management program with tons of features for free and pro users. There are a few different steps you need to take to create this account. It’s really simple and self explanatory. The user name you create does not have to be the same as your twitter account. Also, Socialoomph uses Oauthorize to link to your twitter account. Make sure to allow the connection in the set up process. After you have verified your email address you can login to your new Socialoomph account.

Step 3 – Add your twitter account info

On the left menu bar select social accounts – add new twitter account. Even though you have already authorized your twitter account you still need to set the account up in Socialoomph so you can activate the auto responder/follower for your account.

Step 4 – Type in your auto response

Make sure you select the auto welcome feature. Now you can type in the message to your new followers. You can add one message or there are simple direction on how to rotate through multiple messages. You can also auto follow back your new followers if you would like to return the love. When you are finished, click save and that’s it!

If you have multiple twitter accounts than repeat steps 3 and 4 with your other account information and there you go.  Now your twitter account will auto respond to your new followers. Hope you enjoyed this quick tip. Happy tweeting!!

If you currently run a blog then you should already know that giving a user multiple options to share your posts is the most powerful way to get your content heard. If you are a newbie then now you know. When twitter came out people started implementing the retweet button in blog articles soon after.  Well, you can pretty much bet that Google Buzz will be just as popular soon, so there is no reason to wait. Here is a simple way to implement the “buzz this” icon in your posts.

Step 1 – Download the Wp Buzzer plugin.

This is one of the best Buzz plugins that I have found out there so far.  I am sure there will be more once Buzz starts to catch on. After you have downloaded the plugin, open up your WordPress dashboard.

Step 2 – Upload the plugin to the WordPress back end.

There are multiple ways to upload the plugin. The easiest way is to upload in wp-content/plugins folder on your server. After you have uploaded the files, head over to the WordPress dashboard and activate it.

Step 3 – Activate the plugin, adjust your settings and your done!

Below is a screen shot of the setting I use for the plugin.  You can also add your own CSS Style to adjust it to your post, and tell the plugin to place the icon at the top or at the bottom of your post.

This is a super easy way to implement the Google Buzz this icon on your blog post.  If you have any questions leave a comment or email me and I will be happy to help out. Keep checking back for more tutorials…

With new social media websites comes the demand for new icons.  Google Buzz is the latest and has generated its own followers of worker bees pretty quickly.  You can link Buzz to other social media websites to keep your followers informed at all times. This tutorial will show you how to create your own Google Buzz icon with a few easy steps in Illustrator.  Don’t forget to download the source files below. Enjoy!

Step 1 Create a new file in Illustrator. Set it to RGB and letter paper size (8.5 x 11)

Step 2 Using the shape tool draw an Oval shape with a solid color black

Step 3 Using your pen tool you will need to create the bottom section of the info bubble. There is no set size for this but don’t go over board. Take a look below.

Step 4 Select both the Oval and the bottom half of the info bubble and go to the top toolbar (window – pathfinder). While both objects are selected click the Merge feature in the Pathfinder tool. Now you have your information bubble.

Step 5 Set the object to outline mode only using a stroke of 10pts, and change the color to a light grey.

Step 6 Now, we are going to create large diamonds using the Rectangle Tool. You will need to create a total of 4 diamonds: blue, green, yellow, and red.  I like to spice them up a bit using a radial gradient to create a nice effect.

Step 7 Once you have all the diamonds created, group them together using (command + G) and place them behind the information bubble.

Step 8 Next select the information bubble object and go to the top toolbar (object – expand), and select fill & stroke. Click ok to continue.

Step 9 Select all the objects and go to (window – pathfinder) and use the Trim feature. You will now be able to double click on the excess objects around the information bubble and delete them without deleting the contents inside the bubble.

Step 10 Once you have deleted all of your objects around the information bubble you will now have a nice Google Buzz icon.

Leave me some comments below if you enjoyed this.  I would love your feedback.  Also here is the Link for the source file GoogleBuzz_Icon.eps.

Until next time…

For this basic video tutorial you will be using any version of Photoshop and some simple features. This type of editing is usually seen in wedding photography or alternative trendy photography. If you like it, leave me a comment. I will be happy to answer any questions as well. Enjoy!