by Obaid ur Rehman

Desktop wallpapers have always been a great source of inspiration and the best way to spice up your dull desktop. Usually, Microsoft Windows includes some really nice and cool wallpapers with every new release of its Windows Operating System, which are based on the Windows version by default. But here, we have gathered 35 very classic and free of cost Windows 7 Wallpapers which you can download and add beauty to your desktop. Enjoy!

Cute Babies Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
This Windows 7 Theme has got 10 high resolution backgrounds of 1920 x 1200 pixels and will fit very well in all laptop and desktop screens.

Animal Pals Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
This theme is dedicated to the friendly relationship of animals with other animals in their natural habitat. This Windows 7 Theme will fit very well in nearly all computer screens as all the background images in the theme are of very high resolution.

Seven Wonders of the World Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Seven Wonders of the World Windows 7 Theme is dedicated to the seven wonders of the world at various points of history.

California Landscapes Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
California Landscapes Windows 7 Theme is a theme dedicated to the beautiful landscapes of California. This Windows 7 Theme contains 12 high resolution 1920 x 1200 backgrounds which will fit very well into all laptop and desktop screen sizes.

Download Nature Theme for Windows 7 Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Microsoft has updated the Windows 7 personalization gallery with another awesome theme called Nature. The theme is created from photos from Microsoft blogger Mike Swanson. You get to have a closer look at nature’s beauty with this Windows 7 theme.

Download Official Spring Theme pack for Windows 7 Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Microsoft has released a new spring theme for windows 7 to bring the feeling of season change right on your desktop.

Two Windows 7 themes by Windows Blog – The Wild & Back to Nature Download Wallpaper: 2000×1333
In this pack you will find two new Windows 7 themes. The first one is called The Wild and consists of 11 high definition wallpapers with Savanna sound scheme and default windows colour. Second one is called Back to Nature. It also consists of 11 wallpapers and has the sound scheme “Raga�.

Windows 7 Fall Leaves Theme Pack Download Wallpaper: 1920×1080
All the wallpapers are 1920×1080 (Full HD) in resolution and would fit pretty nicely on all types of displays, wide-screen or not.

Avatar Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
To download Avatar windows 7 theme pack for your desktop.

Valentine’s Day Theme For Windows 7 Download Wallpaper: 1024×768
A Valentine’s Day Theme for those who willing to give their desktop look and feel of Valentine.

Download Windows 7 Ferrari Wallpaper Pack
Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Windows 7 Ferrari Wallpaper Pack for your desktop.

Download Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard Wallpapers Full Pack Download Wallpaper: 2560×1600 1920×1200
If you don’t use Win 7 OS or Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you are missing some high-resolution wallpapers that come bundled together in OS which are pretty amazing. For you, we have collected and combined all the wallpaper from both, so you can download and enjoy them on your existing operating-system.

Official Windows 7 Wallpaper Pack (M3 Build 6801) Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Here is the collection of wallpapers that comes with Windows 7 M3 Build 6801.

Windows 7 International Wallpaper Pack 1 Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Extra Fresh Windows 7 Wallpapers that come with the international theme packs.

Download Windows 7 RC Official Wallpapers Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Another cool part of Windows 7 RC is Wallpapers, cool wallpapers which you will love to have on your desktop.

Windows 7 Official Wallpaper Pack Full HD 1090p Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Windows 7 Official Wallpaper Pack Full HD 1090p

3D Abstract Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
3D Abstract Windows 7 Theme is a theme which consists of high resolution backgrounds of abstract 3D structures. There are 10 HQ backgrounds of 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution in this Windows 7 Theme and it will fit very well into computer screens of all resolutions.

Cool Windows 7 Russia Wallpapers download pack Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
A mindblowing theme pack of Windows 7 Russia Wallpapers for your desktop.

Windows 7 RTM Official Logo widescreen Wallpapers Download Wallpaper: 1680×1050
Here are cool Windows 7 wallpapers featuring that official logo. Wallpapers are available in different colors in cool widescreen resolution of 1680×1050.

Windows 7: Modern Warfare 2 Download Wallpaper: 1600×1200
This is a Modern Warfare 2 themepack, the pack includes 6 wallpapers, the wallpaper will change everyday, or you could simply right click, and select Next desktop background.

Ocean Colour Wallpaper Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
In this pack you will find a beautiful Ocean Colour wallpaper.

Fusion of Colors Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Fusion of Colors Windows 7 Theme is a theme with HQ backgrounds where fusion and amalgamation of various colors are showcased. In all the backgrounds in this Windows 7 Theme, contrasting colors are used to create great artistic backgrounds.

Lightning Windows 7 Theme with sound effect Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Lightning Windows 7 Theme is dedicated to the awesome natural phenomenon of lightning.

Saleen S7 Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Saleen S7 Windows 7 Theme is dedicated to the awesome American supercar.

Christmas Theme With Some Beautiful Christmas Wallpapers For Windows 7
Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
This Christmas theme for windows 7 has some amazing wallpapers, with some matching colors of windows interface as per the Christmas season.

The Black Wallpapers Pack Download Free Download Wallpaper: 1920×1440
The Beautiful pack of black wallpapers.

NASA Hidden Universe Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
A universe filled with kaleidoscopic colors blazes across your desktop in this theme for Windows 7, revealed by the infrared imaging of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

Space Theme for Windows 7 Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
This pack contains 31 high quality wallpapers. You can see several wallpapers from the theme pack below. Wallpapers are in 1920×1200, 1920×1080, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1280×1024 resolutions, but mostly 1920×1200 was used.

Download Siena Architettura Theme for Windows 7 Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Siena Architettura is a new official Theme from Microsoft for Windows 7. This Theme Pack consists of Background designs from the city of Siena in Italy which is declared as Historical Heritage by UNESCO.

Grab Windows 7 Box Wallpapers and Theme Download Wallpaper: 1440×900
In this pack you will find some stylish wallpapers inspired by that box design..

Horses Windows 7 Theme Pack with 10 Beautiful Horse Wallpapers
Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Horses theme pack is the latest theme addition to the official Windows 7 personalization gallery. This Windows 7 theme pack contains 10 beautiful, high-resolution horse wallpapers that every animal lovers will really love it.

Microsoft publishes creepy Halloween theme pack for Windows 7
Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
Here is gathered some of outstanding creepy Halloween theme pack for Windows 7 to spiceup to your desktop.

Katrina Kaif Windows 7 Theme Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200
This Windows 7 Theme consists of 10 backgrounds of 1920 x 1200 resolution.

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by Bhanu Ahluwalia

Designing wallpapers in Photoshop is mostly admired among designers. And why shouldn’t it be? You are free to decorate your desktop any way you like. You can go for abstract, nature, typography, simple, contemporary or any other style you want. Besides this, designing wallpapers is also a fulfilled way to master new techniques. Today’s post provides you a compilation of the techniques available in Photoshop; for beginners as well as for experts! So take your time and have a look at these tutorials — and take your creativity to the next level!

Save the Planet Wallpaper Concept — In this tutorial, all you will need is a picture of an apple and one of the earth; merging them together makes an interesting wallpaper concept.

Creating a Simple yet Creative Graphic Typography Wallpaper Design — This tutorial helps you create a simple but creative graphic typography wallpaper.

How to Make a Simple Green Wallpaper in Photoshop — In this tutorial, you can see how a simple green wallpaper is made using Photoshop.

Duality Wallpaper — This DUALITY wallpaper is inspired by an amazing fractal freeware called ContextFree.

Mother Nature Artistic Wallpaper Design — Easy techniques to make an artistic mother nature design wallpaper using Photoshop.

Create an Intensely Grungy Wallpaper — In this tutorial, the artist shows you how to create an intensely grungy wallpaper.

Forest Fairy Wallpaper — In this tutorial, the artist shows you how to make a Forest Fairy Wallpaper.

Creating nice wallpapers for your desktop — Here the artist has made a beautiful apple wallpaper and shares the technique with us.

Creating a Very Shiny Summer Wallpaper — Learn how to create shiny summer wallpapers.

Creating A Final Fantasy XIII Wallpaper — Wallpaper inspired by the game “Final Fantasy XIII”.

The Screamusic Wallpaper Tutorial — Simple techniques to help your creativity.

Creating a Wallpaper Based on Making of the Logo — This tutorial will show you how the creation of a logo can help you create the rest of the elements of the corporate style and even into a wallpaper.

How to Make a Wallpaper — Here you can make a wallpaper using produced custom brushes, colour gradients and non-standard fonts with Photoshop as a main application.

Creating A Graffiti Car Wallpaper — Here you can learn how to create a graffiti wallpaper for a hot looking car.

Create an Astonishing Soccer Desktop Wallpaper Using Photoshop — In this tutorial, the artist will be creating a very simple but nice looking desktop wallpaper.

Matte Painting Wallpaper — In this tutorial, we will make a fast matte painting wallpaper. Matte painting is actually based on a photo with different hand painted elements.

Stunning Abstract Wallpaper Design — This tutorial shows you some simple ways using the pen and brush tools to create a really cool abstract wallpaper.

Making of nine and venue wallpaper — In this tutorial, the artist shows you how to make a nine and venue wallpaper.

Create an Abstract Wallpaper for World Cup 2010 — This tutorial will show how to create an abstract glowing background using the various brushes and warp transformation tool.

Create a Futuristic Abstract Wallpaper — In this tutorial, the author shows you how you can use filters to create wallpapers with abstraction in futuristic style.

Graphic Wallpaper: Hit-Girl — In this project walkthrough the artist shows you the different techniques that went into creating a graphic featuring the show-stealer Hit-Girl.

Clash of the Titans: Medusa — The Gorgon Queen Medusa is back in the Clash of the Titans; here the artist felt very inspired and so has created a wallpaper of Medusa.

Creating Avatar Movie Wallpaper — Here is an interesting tutorial how to create an Avatar movie wallpaper.

Desktop Wallpaper Calendar February 2010 — Here the artist has created this wallpaper calander keeping Valentine’s Day in mind.

How to Create an Abstract Colourful Background with Bokeh Effect in Photoshop — In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an abstract colorful background using the bokeh effect and the rest of Photoshop’s drawing tools, blending modes, and lighting techniques.

If This is Your First Night of Fight Club… — Here you can learn the techniques on how to make a gritty fight wallpaper.

Create a Fantastic Grayscale Wallpaper in Photoshop — In this tutorial, the artist explains how to create a fantastic grayscale wallpaper in Photoshop.

Creating Your Own Custom Gaming Wallpaper — In this tutorial, you can create your own Super Paper Mario Wallpaper.

How To Draw Mother And Baby Turtle Wallpaper — This tutorial shows you how to make a lovely mother and baby turtle wallpaper.

The Warrior Angel — Here’s a walkthrough of the creation of a wallpaper featuring a mystical warrior angel.

Quick And Dirty Space Monitor — In this tutorial, the artist has created his own custom Space Monitor Display.

Creating a Celebrity Wallpaper — Learn how to create a celebrity wallpaper.

Wall-E Cartoon Style Wallpaper — You must have watched Wall-e movie. This tutorial shows you how to make it immortal as a wallpaper.

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by Robert Bowen

For over thirty years one iconic villain has reigned in the dark corners of so many hearts mdash; and not just of those who proudly parade beneath the banner of sci-fi junkies. Darth Vader has transcended the page and screen to live on in ways most characters will never achieve; but then again, most characters do not have command over the power of the force like the dark Sith Lord does. So when you are looking for a dose of inspiration from the darker areas of the imagination, turning to the artwork inspired by the face of the dark side is a fantastic way to go.

Darth Vader at Iwo Jima by: hitokirivader – before he shaped the future, Lord Vader was playing his part in shaping the past of the human race.

For generations, fans have been taking their love of this character and exploring it across artistic mediums to share with the fan base and beyond. Below is a showcase of some choice pieces from the mountains of Vader related fan art that fill the cyberspace vaults.

If you are a fan of this mythic figure then you have certainly come to the right place to get your fix of Vader’s looming artistic aura. If you are not a fan, then by the time you get to the bottom of these showcased images, you just might become one. . .

Digital Art

We have divided the images into a couple of categories for you today. The first is very much in keeping with the futuristic theme of the verse from which this character was wrought. In the following category, Darth Vader gets a retouch from some talented digital artists who have fixed their eye on this dark figure from the sci-fi side of the scene.

Darth Vader by: gereksiztara

Darth Vader by: NathanRosario

Darth Vader by: Cinar

Darth Vader by: DennisBudd

Darth Vader by: kidnotorious & commanderlewis

Darth Vader by: erwebb

Darth Vader Special Cover by: anjum

Darth Vader has a Posse by: 1NNU3NDO

Darth Vader by: CarlosNCT

Darth Vader by: MissLastri

Darth Vader – Star Wars by: FlowComa

Darth Vader Widescreen by: DanMed – available as a wallpaper

Lord Darth Vader by: frogmachine

Darth Vader – Death Star by: Shadrak – available as a wallpaper

Darth Vader by: particle9

Vader on Hoth by: Livio27

Typographic Darth Vader by: Bakageta-Koto

Vader by: DarthMater

Darth Vader Unmasked by: HeroforPain

Darth Vader by: Ferigato

Vader by: bazze

Darth Vader by: yigitkoroglu

Darth Vader by: raikoh14

Vader by: scrappster

Jonboy’s Vader by: Jonboy007007, Andrewchun, & pochrzas

Star Wars – Darth Vader and Co. by: jamga

Lord Vader by: Tigerblock

Lord Vader StarWars by: Thuddleston

Vader Redeemed by: Taclobanon

Darth Vader by: ashasylum

SW: The Will of Darth Vader 55 by: Brian Koschak, Dan Parsons, & Michael E. Wiggam

the Birth of Darth Vader by: avimdesign

Vader by: LastDarkAutumn – available as a wallpaper

Traditional Art

In this section of the post we have scoured through the DA gallery to find a number of traditional artists who have turned their artistic eyes and talents towards the villain who stands tall among Hollywood’s most beloved baddies. Translating this tech-driven most prodigious villain in more low-tech presentations work wonderfully for refilling your wells of inspiration.

Darth Vader by: gattadonna

Darth Vader by: RobHough

Darth Vader by: Blasterkid

Darth Vader by: Lalalae

Darth Vader V2 by: itmon

Darth Vader by: RickLacy

Darth Vader by: sullen-skrewt

Darth Vader Painting by: golfiscool

Darth Vader by: renonevada

Darth Vader – Luke Skywalker by: greatart4jeff

Darth Vader by: raulinho07

Darth Vader Unmasked by: pokefreak123

Vader Re-Imagined

Now we arrive at the final section of the showcase, Vader re-imagined which is a bit different. Here we look at some pieces where the artists have taken this iconic figure and have re-imagined him; crafting new and exciting variations of the Sith Lord.

Steampunk Vader by: Caveatscoti

Darth Vader Sugar Skull by: strongstuff

Master Darth Vaderuki by: kizer180

Darth Vader Nendoroid by: aLDoDarK

Steampunk Darth Vader by: simjoy

Zombie Darth Vader by: DoomCMYK

ReDarth Vader by: chosen-1

Alternate Darth Vader by: Movindus

Darth Vader C.XVI by: Aioras

Steam Wars Darth Vader by: sillof

Consider Some of Our Previous Posts

• The Legacy of Polish Poster Design is another great source for inspiration of a different vein.
• Finding Inspiration in Uncommon Sources: 12 Places to Look helps you seek out some other places to look when you need a little inspiration.

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by Aquil Akhter

Adobe Fireworks is a somewhat unnoticed but very useful member of the Adobe Creative Suite. It is used for multiple purposes such as to create vectors, design application interfaces, digital artwork, and create rapid prototypes of websites. There is a lot more you can do with Adobe Fireworks, including generating PDFs, exporting CSS based layouts and a variety of other things that you can explore.

In today’s post, we have collected some useful and fresh tutorials on Adobe Fireworks that will let you renew your love for this amazing member of the Adobe family. Enjoy!

Useful Fireworks Tutorials

How to Create a Magazine Cover with Fireworks CS5
This tutorial will demonstrate how to create a magazine cover with Adobe Fireworks.

Web Site Design Tutorial
In this tutorial, the artist will show you how he created a beutiful web layout using Fireworks.

How to blur background in Adobe Fireworks
In this tutorial you will learn how to blur the background of digital photos with Adobe Fireworks in a non-destructive way.

Creating a Web Site Top Menu with CSS
A detailed and interesting tutorial in which we learn how to create a web site top menu with CSS Fireworks.

How To Create a Stylish Navigation Bar In Adobe Fireworks
The artist has created this simple yet modern navigation bar in Fireworks, and will walk you through the steps necessary to create something similar. In case some windows and panels should not be able to be seen on your computer, simply go to the ‘Windows’ menu and open them.

Interaction design and rapid prototyping with Fireworks
In the following four short video presentations, David Hogue demonstrates how to use Adobe Fireworks CS4 for information and interaction design and creating interactive prototypes quickly, and how you can use Fireworks as a design tool that fits into your complete design process, from concept to development.

Prototyping for the Apple iPhone using Fireworks
This tutorial shows you how to use a few scripts to make your Fireworks prototype work for the Apple iPhone.

Designing An Effective Gaming Clan Logo in Adobe Fireworks
In this Adobe Fireworks tutorial, you will learn how to create your own gaming logo for your website using Adobe Fireworks.

Tech Orb Interface Video
This Adobe Fireworks tutorial teaches you how to create a tech orb interface. Artist will show you some techniques on how to create a different kind of glossy button/orb and add some extra touches to the design. Although this is just a portion on a web interface / application skin.

Create a rope
Learn how to create a rope in Adobe Fireworks.

Build a Promotional iPhone App Website Wireframe in Fireworks
In this tutorial, we’ll cover the design process of creating a wireframe for an iPhone application website in Fireworks.

Adobe Fireworks Tutorial – Creating A Candy Button
In this Adobe Fireworks tutorial, you will learn how the artist created those nice looking icons ( twitter , rss , mail )

Dot Matrix Effect

Fireworks CS5 with Device Central
This brand new feature in Fireworks CS5 allows users to prototype an interface with mobile devices.

Design a Layout in Fireworks CS4
In this tutorial you will learn how to design the below layout using Fireworks CS4

Create a Slideshow in Adobe Fireworks CS4
Create a stunning slideshow gallery in Adobe Fireworks CS4 within a few minutes! Click on the image below to view the finished slideshow gallery.

Create a Collage by Fading Images in Fireworks CS4
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a beautiful header collage of 4 different pictures in a few simple steps using Fireworks CS4!

The Abduzeetles Rockband Website in Fireworks
In this tutorial we’re going to use nice commands, and what is really cool is trying to test other values on each step, other colors, other shapes, always exploring the whole potencial from every tool.

How to make items and people stand out
How to make items and people stand out through a photo manipulation.

Antique skeleton key with compound shapes
This video shows you how to design an antique skeleton key with compound shapes in Fireworks CS5.

Creating A Fading Line Effect Using Adobe Fireworks CS4
One of the most overlooked tools in Adobe Fireworks is the Eraser Tool. It is a neat tool especially if you want to manipulate bitmaps. Vector paths with fills have options to use fill colors that are gradients , or semi transparent colors.

Creating a Glass Button in Adobe Fireworks CS4
Using Adobe Fireworks, the artist shows you how to create a glassy style button/icon you might find on a mobile device or as a social media button.

Text Glow effect
A small tutorial to create a simple text-glow effect:

Fireworks CS5: FXG Files to Catalyst
The FXG file format allows for documents to be moved from one Creative Suite application to another with ease.

Creating graphics for custom wallpapers and backgrounds.
In this tutorial we are working in Fireworks CS4 creating graphics for custom wallpapers and backgrounds.

Gradient Text Logo Tutorial in Adobe Fireworks
The gradient text logo tutorial is a very easy tutorial in Adobe Fireworks, and helps you create a quick text based logo for your website in just a few steps. This technique is used in most popular websites today.

Creating a fancy text effect in Adobe Fireworks

Water Drops
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create water drops through effects from the Photoshop Live Effects and Masking.

How to Create a Page Curl in Adobe Fireworks

Masking in Fireworks CS4
Tom Green covers the basics of using bitmap and vector masks in Fireworks.

How to fast prototyping
In this tutorial, the artist goes over some of the features that help with fast prototyping, like the fit canvas button and the optimizing panel.

Creating AIR Applications with Adobe Fireworks
In this tutorial, Tom Green shows how to design a simple Flex application and export it from Fireworks.

Photoshop Image to Web using Fireworks CS4
Tom Green shows off how to bring a Photoshop image into Fireworks and exports it as a html document.

Create a Vibrant Digital Collage Mixing Buildings and Vector Shapes on PaperS
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Fireworks CS3 and Illustrator CS3 together. You’ll create some illustrative vector elements to add to the final composition. You’ll also mix in photos and light effects. Learn how to use a cool paper background and tips to improve your workflow.

Creating Fading Light Vectors in Fireworks
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create some cool effects with fading light linear vectors in Fireworks. It’s really easy to do and takes just a few minutes. Create fading lights using vectors, then convert these vectors into bitmaps, and learn to use effects from Fireworks CS3.

The Abduzeetles Rockband Website in Fireworks
We are going to use nice commands on this tutorial, and what is really cool is trying to test other values on each step, other colors, other shapes, always exploring the whole potencial from every tool.

Creating an amazing Palm Pre icon on Fireworks

Awesome Floral Type in Fireworks and Photoshop
In this tutorial we will use Adobe Fireworks and Adobe Photoshop. Actually the whole effect will be done in Firewors, then in Photoshop, we will add some textures and a old paper background effect.

LED Cinema Display in Fireworks
In this tutorial, the  artist will teach you how to created a beautiful LED Cinema Display in Fireworks.

Twist and Fade Technique
In this tutorial you are going to learn how to create some fun abstract effects using Adobe Fireworks CS4. This tutorial explains how a single Image/Vector can be converted into various Images/Vectors using the properties such as Steps, Spacing, Rotation and Opacity. The image below shows how we have applied twist and fade effects to a honey bee.

Highway Sign

Create a Night Scene
In this tutorial we will learn how to create a beautiful night scene in fireworks.

Page Curl in Fireworks Tutorial
In this tutorial artis will show you how to add a stylish page curl to the corner of your image. To start, lets get an image that we can add the page curl to.

3d Text
A beautiful tutorial where you will learn how to create a 3D Text in Fireworks.

Awesome Light Effects in Fireworks inspired by the James White’s O series
This tutorial is simple, just playing with some circles, blend modes and a bit of color!

Barcode
This tutorial will show you how to create a barcode for any purpose.

Mobile workflows using Fireworks CS5 and Device Central CS5
In this tutorial Liz Myers will show you how to harness the power of Fireworks combined with Device Central in these common workflows:

Making of Darth Android

Designing a Website in Fireworks CS4
At this MAX session, XD’s Paul Dorian showed attendees how to use Fireworks CS4 to rapidly prototype websites, application interfaces, and other interactive designs, then output their designs to Adobe AIR, Flash CS4 Professional, Flex, HTML, or CSS-based layouts. Paul also shared tips on making the most of the new Fireworks user interface and core functionality, such as consistent text handling, via the Adobe text engine.

Useful Resources & Articles

• The Power of Adobe Fireworks: What Can You Achieve With It?
• The Ultimate Round-Up of Fireworks Tutorials and Resources
• Adobe Fireworks: Is It Worth Switching to CS5?
• An Explosion of Adobe Fireworks Resources
• Fireworks Developer Center
• Craig Erskine’s Fw tutorials
• FWKit – Fireworks extensions, styles, and templates.
• CommunityMX – Fireworks articles, tutorials, and extensions
• Voidix Fw tutorials – Cool collection of Adobe Fireworks tutorials.
• RapidFire Fw tutorials – Rapid Fire is a series of detailed Adobe Fireworks tutorials aimed at intermediate and advanced users.

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by Justin Johnson

As web designers and/or developers we have a certain luxury afforded to us with the location and times; where and when we work. Ours is an industry that allows us to sit at home and work at whatever times (and in whatever conditions) are convenient to us. However, in today’s economic times it can be harder to find enough contract work to support a comfortable lifestyle.

If you’re a recent college graduate or a freelancer looking to transition into work as a full-time designer/developer at a company, the following tips in today’s post will help you ace the interview and land the job. Note that a lot of the tips listed below are for larger scale companies. Whether small or large scale, most companies tend to interview in a more “standard” method — so we’ll stick to exactly those kind of guidelines.

Have A Resume

Most job postings you find online will require you to submit a résumé (or CV if you’re outside the US). So it’s important to be sure that you have this in a digital format; PDF or Word Documents are typically accepted.

Most of the time the first person who gets to see your resume will be one of the HR representatives and not the person who will actually be doing the hiring. As such, there are hundreds of resumes that cross the desks of these individuals daily and so it is very important to stand out. With this being said, it may be worth the effort to spend some time in making your resume stand out visually.

Along with your resume, you’ll generally want to include a cover letter that states (in the first paragraph) why you would be a good hire. The second paragraph can include what position it is that you are applying for.

This may seem like an obvious statement but one that needs to be said: don’t lie on your resume! One particular thing to mention is your experience level. If you choose to list out all the languages you know, be sure to list your experience with them as well. Most good developers know at best a handful of languages. Compare the following two lists:

The list on the left gives a clearer picture of what languages you know and what your current level of expertise is with that skill. It’s very easy for us as web developers and designers to paste a large list of languages in the hopes that we’ll be able to be hired and figure out the ‘nuts & bolts’ of the language as we go.

Also remember that knowing a CMS tool such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.. and being able to customize it does not mean that you are a PHP expert. If you know PHP then you’ll be able to sit down and write PHP code from scratch.

Have A Portfolio

When asking for a resume, employers may also often ask for an example of your work. For most of us, since we are web designers/developers, we probably have a web based portfolio (this URL should be on your resume).

Sometimes however, if we are just starting out or we’ve just been too busy with client work, we may not have our own portfolio website in place yet. In this case, it’s perfectly acceptable to make a PDF / Word Document with screenshots and a few bullet points about key projects that you want to showcase for a potential employer.

The Phone Interview

If all went well in submitting the resume and cover letter then you’ll be contacted by the company to set up a time to meet. Some companies will speak to potential employees via the phone first, in order to minimize the amount of time they have to spend in face to face interviews. Some companies won’t do this, and may just meet in person first, but a phone interview can be your first step into the door, and it’s your chance to make a good first impression on a potential employer.

The phone interview is really about you as a person, you probably won’t be presenting any work at this point, mainly answering questions about your skillset. It’s important to be polite to the interviewer. While it’s essential to use your manners here, it’s also important to make sure there aren’t distractions in the background of your call: dogs barking, loud music playing, and the list can continue!

More on Smashing Magazine: Group Interview: Expert Advice For Students and Young Web Designers

The Face-to-Face Interview

If all goes well, then the interviewer will set up a time to meet with you in person. This is where the rubber hits the road and it’s important for you to make a lasting impression with your personality and your skill set. In smaller companies you may be interviewing with one person, but in larger companies there could be as many as 3-5 people interviewing you. Or you may have several interviews with multiple people in each interview.

It’s always important to have some type of leave behind or handout to give to those interviewing you, and it’s perfectly acceptable to ask how many people will be present at your interview so that you can prepare materials. You will want to have printed copies of your resume for everyone present and you don’t want to assume that there will be a computer present — so you’ll want printed copies of your work.

The last point about a computer not being present may raise a few eyebrows, especially in the web design and development industry but it’s always a possibility and it’s best to try and be prepared for all circumstances.

Most companies will also give you some type of test to determine your skill level. This test will more than likely be different depending on what job your applying for. A ‘front-end’ web developer can expect to answer questions about the box model, javascript, other front end technologies, or be prepared to write code on the spot. A ‘back-end’ web developer could expect you to answer questions or write code in regards to database access, looping over queries, performance issues, or any other number of issues.

Remember, not all companies will do this, but most will as it is a good measure of how well you know the technologies that you have on your resume and how well you’d be able to fit in skill set wise to the current development team.

The Followup

After the interview, it’s always important to follow up and thank the interviewer for their time they’ve invested in meeting you as a candidate for their firm. Writing a quick handwritten note and dropping it in the mail can go a long way to making you look good in the eyes of a potential employer. In the age of email and texting, writing a quick letter and dropping it in the mail may perhaps show the interviewer how much you respected their time.

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