BlogmyQuery – BMQ

We have come to the end of yet another year — just in time for another roundup of wallpapers for your New Year 2011 celebrations for your desktop! On behalf of the Noupe team, we wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that 2011 brings you much success and prosperity in all your endeavors. And don’t forget to stay creative!

New Year Wallpapers

2011 Typographic

2011

Happy Birds in 2011

2011 New Year Swirl

Noel New Year

2011

Quiet Night

2011

Winter Dreamland

Welcome 2011

2011 If You Pause

Where Snowflakes Are Born

2011

2011 Dice

2011

New Year 2011

Happy New Year 2011

2011

Winter Wide

2011 New Year

2011 Desktop Calendar

2011 Happy New Year

2011

2011 Typographic B&W

Resources & Wallpaper Sites

Here are a few tutorials on how to create your own wallpapers as well as a selection of galleries where you can download more wallpapers:

Wallpaper Tutorials:

• Create a Wavy Blackberry Style Wallpaper Design
  Learn how to create an abstract wallpaper using Photoshop only with a cool wavy pattern and interesting lighting effects similar to the Blackberry 9000 wallpaper.
• Design a Vista Styled Wallpaper
  In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a black background filled with some stylish gradients decorated with abstract shapes to create a wallpaper that is inspired by the Vista backgrounds.
• Create Christmas Ornaments Wallpaper
  Teach yourself how to create this Christmas-themed wallpaper using a selection of different Photoshop tools.
• Create Vista Themed Wallpaper
  Use the Pen Tool and a handful of other tools to create a modern abstract style wallpaper inspired by Windows Vista.
• Create an Abstract Retro-Pop Wallpaper
  Learn how to create a beautiful, vibrant retro-pop abstract wallpaper in Photoshop.

Wallpaper Galleries:

• iPhone Wallpapers Pool
  A pool/group of iPhone wallpapers on Flickr.
• All iPhone Wallpapers
  A gallery site dedicated to iPhone wallpapers!
• Creattica
  Although not actually a wallpaper site, Creattica has a couple of galleries related to the topic: “Desktop Wallpapers”, “iPad Wallpapers” and “iPhone Wallpapers”, all of which are always being updated with new and awesome work!
• iPad Wallpaper
  Another gallery site, this time dedicated to iPad wallpaper rather than iPhone wallpaper. Some really good wallpapers on this site and a bunch of different categories, you’ll be spoilt for choice!

You may also want to check out the following:

• Highly Addictive Christmas Wallpapers
• 40+ Absolutely Stylish & Creative Hand-Picked Wallpapers
• (Really) Stunning Desktop Wallpapers
• Amazing Art of Snow Sculpture
• More Stunning Snow Sculptures

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By Tim Mercer

They say the best camera is the one you have with you. Your mobile phone is always with you so I guess you could say it’s your best camera. Obviously, a mobile phone’s camera is no match for a professional level DSLR, but you might be surprised at the great pictures many people are taking with their cell phones. Not only are phone cameras getting better all the time, but there’s all sorts of apps you can get for many of them to edit and improve your pics.

In this post we’ll take a look at quite a number of outstanding photos taken with a camera phone. Some of the pics were edited using apps on the photographer’s phone while some weren’t. Feel inspired and don’t forget to take pictures!

Camera Phone Gallery

Marcelosa — A sunset always make for a good time to take a picture.

Bret Hotchkins — You don’t necessarily have to have a macro lens to take macro pictures.

Domiriel — This one has great textures and vibrant colors.

Simon Marussi — This picture has great atmosphere and a sense of calm and peace.

Yellow Flowers — Closer and closer in this photo sequence.

Somewhere in Rimini — This photo almost looks like a painting.

WHFrank — The reflection, colors and angle make this picture enchanting.

Andrew McGregor — This frog sits atop its lilly pad throne cheesing for the camera.

Amanda — Interesting composition and great color make this camera phone photo great.

Vitaly Marchenko — Never would’ve guessed that this was taken with a camera phone.

99%: “meh” — LoFi look and warm color tones.

Kellyfish — What a wonderful shot of the sky in its sunset colors.

Eight M — The texture of this marble statue comes through nicely in this photo.

What it do lips — Great picture. The expression, angle and textures all make it a standout.

Sara Montour — The expression on the baby’s face is just priceless.

Joe Nobody — This lovely portrait is proof that the photographer takes good pictures – not only the camera.

Jonas Peterson — What an amazing shot! Great composition.

Sharonerde — This black and white photo perfectly captures a perfect moment in time.

Sara Montour — The depth of field and abstract nature of this one is quite appealing.

Robert — This one has a lonely feel to it. Nice perspective.

Dude, Walking, On — Close-up revealing the rough texture of a cork in a jar.

Taolston — Superb photograph; regardless of what type of camera it was taken with.

Ftlauderdalesun — Stark contrast to the violent and swift water of the beach.

Valduur — This is a nice close-up with impressive clarity.

Bit N Bobs — The radial blur in this photo make it seem to move.

Carlos Zoilo — This candid portrait is just classic.

Xell — This portrait really has superb lighting.

CricKetvn — Vivid colors.

Roman Keller — This close-up shot has great clarity and textures.

David Wignal — Ahh, the boundless wonder of children.

Niels Sangmager — The photographer had to get really close on this shot since there’s no zoom lens on a camera phone.

Marco Welt — This picture looks like something straight out of the 20′s.

Mat — Vintage look.

Naenzie — Great expressions and a LoFi filter help to make this photo really cool.

Chris Whitehead and Pancho Gutierrez — Self portrait.

Further Resources

• How to use a camera phone — 12 Tips for taking better camera phone photos.
• Camera phone pictures on Flickr — Camera phone Flickr group.
• Geek to Live: Take better camera phone photos — Learn how to take better camera phone pictures.

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Halloween is just around the corner and so is the eve of All Hallows Day. It’s HALLOWEEN season again – the time when ghost stories, horror movies, extrasensory phenomena and the supernatural, mystical prevalence everywhere. Keeping this festivity in mind, we have come up with a roundup of forty mysterious looking wallpapers to give you the actual feel of Halloween.

May it be pumpkins, spirits, ghosts, trick or treat, lanterns — scroll through and find your favourite in a jiffy! Enjoy the new look of your desktop and freshen up your mind. Feel free to leave comments below.

Exclusive Halloween Wallpaper
This wallpaper in available the following resolutions: 1024x768px, 1280x800px, 1280x1024px, 1600x900px, 1600x1200px, 1980x1080px

Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1280x800px

Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1024x768px, 1280x800px, 1280x1024px, 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Halloween Cinderella
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1920x1200px

Halloween In The Midnight Forest
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: from 800x600px, to 2560x1600px

Halloween Wallpaper
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 800x600px, 1024x768px, 1280x854px, 1280x1024px, 1440x900px, 1600x1200px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px, 2560x1600px

Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1600x1200px, 1280x1024px, 1152x864px, 1024x768px

Glowing Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1600x1200px

Halloween Wallpaper 1.0
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 836x596px

Scarecrow
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 800x600px, 1024x768px, 4096x1024px

Halloween Ghost
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Halloween feast desktop wallpapers download
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1920x1200px, 1680x1050px, 1440x900px, 1280x800px

Halloween With Taz Wallpaper
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 3840x960px, 3840x1024px, 4096x1024px

Pumpkin desktop wallpaper
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1920x1200px, 1680x1050px, 1440x900px, 1280x800px

The Red Arrows
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1280x1024px, 3840x1024px, 4096x1024px

Jack-o’-lantern picture
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Trick-or-Treat!
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 800x600px, 1024x768px, 1280x1024px, 1600x1200px

Halloween Digital Illustration
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Halloween Pumpkin
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 800x600px, 1024x768px, 1280x1024px, 1600x1200px

Halloween Haunts
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Ghosts
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: from 800x600px, to 5040x1050px

Ghostly Escape
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 800x600px, 1024x768px, 1280x1024px, 1600x1200px

A Cheshire Kitten (Halloween Night)
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: from 800x600px, to 5040x1050px

Halloween Witches
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Halloween Wallpaper
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: from 800x600px to 3200x1200px

Jack-o’-Lantern Picture- Halloween Illustration
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Halloween: Trick or Treat? (Pac-Man Edition)
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1280x1024px, 3840x1024px, 4096x1024px

Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1600x1200px

Halloween Illustration Wallpaper
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 320x480px, 1024x768px, 1024x1024px, 1280x800px, 1280x1024px, 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1080px, 1920x1200px, 2560x1440px

Think Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1280x960px

Jack-o’-Lantern Picture
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Halloween Night 2010
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1024x768px

Tangerine Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1600x1200px

Halloween Haunts
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1440x900px, 1680x1050px, 1920x1200px

Happy Howloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 800x600px, 1024x768px, 1280x1024px, 1600x1200px

Arrows
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1024x768px, 1152x864px, 1280x960px, 1600x1200px

Happy Halloween From Skellys
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1600x1200px

Halloween Wallpapers Graphic Design
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1024x768px

The Night Before Halloween
Download the wallpaper in the following resolutions: 1280x960px, 1280x1024px, 1400x1050px, 1600x1200px

By Cameron Chapman

When used well, patterns can be a great way to add an extra element to your designs that take them to the next level in terms of aesthetics. Creating your own repeating patterns is one way to go about this, but it’s not always something you want to spend a lot of time on, especially if you’re working with a tight budget. And why reinvent the wheel when there are thousands of patterns out there that could work?

The resources below can help you find the right pattern for your project. Rather than just round up the best patterns, we’ll leave finding the perfect pattern to you, since every project has different needs. And for those of you who do want to create your own patterns, we’ve included a few tutorials at the end.

General Patterns

The patterns included here run the full spectrum of design styles, from clean and modern to vintage and grungy.

PatternCooler
PatternCooler has more than 180 patterns available, and all of them can be customized with color schemes and repeat sizes to your liking.

Patterrific
Patterrific has tons of tiling patterns available, mostly organized into collections based on color.

Brusheezy Patterns
We usually think of Brusheezy as a great place for free Photoshop brushes, but they also have a great pattern selection with close to 100 patterns.

Free Photoshop Patterns
With more than 250 patterns available in a variety of different style, Free Photoshop Patterns is definitely worth browsing.

Patternhead
Patternhead offers a huge selection of high-quality vector patterns, mostly grouped by theme.

WebTreats ETC
WebTreats ETC has a great collection of patterns available, in a variety of styles. They have some of the better grunge patterns available right now.

Pixels & Ice Cream
Pixels & Ice Cream has some fantastic free patterns available, though be aware that there are a few premium patterns mistakenly included in the free category.

DeviantART
DeviantART’s Photoshop patterns category is probably the largest collection of patterns available online. Like everything on DeviantART, quality varies widely, but for the most part the patterns you’ll find here are excellent.

Alice Grafixx
This German site offers some great patterns, though registration is required before you can download them.

Colorburned
Colorburned has a small selection of high-quality patterns available, mostly for Illustrator.

Pattern8
Pattern8 has a great selection of patterns including virtually every style out there.

DinPattern
You won’t find many minimalist patterns here, but if you’re looking for something that’s visually complex, it’s the go-to source. You can preview any of hte patterns on the website’s own background.

milleseicentopercento Background Pattern Library
This site offers nearly 40 free background patterns. Each preview image shows not only the repeated version of the pattern, but also shows what portion of the preview is the actual pattern.

MyPhotoshopBrushes.com Patterns
This site aggregates high-quality patterns from a variety of sources, including DeviantART.

Free Photoshop Patterns
Free Photoshop’s patterns are varied in style, but unfortunately there’s no great way to sort through them, other than looking page-by-page.

Screentones
Screentones offers a small selection of comic-book inspired patterns, including dots and screens, lines, and static.

Klukeart
Klukeart has a small collection of very unique patterns available.

Pixel-Style Patterns

Pixel-style patterns aren’t as popular as they were a decade ago (when bandwidth and tiny file sizes were a huge consideration in web design), but that doesn’t mean they don’t still have a place in more modern web design. Here are some great sources for finding pixel patterns.

Velvet Factory
Velvet Factory offers a big collection of pixel patterns, many that are obviously influenced by fractal art.

Squidfingers
Squidfingers is a great place to find free repeating pixel patterns in a variety of styles and colors.

Ava7 Patterns
Ava7 is another great place to find a variety of pixel patterns. Unlike many other sites offering pixel patterns, though, they offer ways to sort by shape and color.

K10K Pixel Patterns
K10K has pixel patterns from a variety of artists. Licenses vary depending on the creator, so be sure to check before using them.

Pattern Tutorials

Even with all the resources for finding patterns above, it’s possible you might not come across a pattern that fits your project perfectly. In that case, you might need to make your own. The tutorials below can help you do just that.

Complex Repeating Patterns
This tutorial from PSHERO shows how to create a complicated repeating pattern in Photoshop from an image (in the example, they use part of a wallpaper pattern).

Create a Themed Repeating Pattern in Illustrator
This tutorial shows how to create a repeating pattern entirely from scratch using Illustrator.

Create Beautiful Repeating Patterns – Classic Illustrator Tutorial
This tutorial from Digital Arts shows how to create very complex repeating patterns using Illustrator.

How to Turn a Texture into a Seamlessly Tiled Background
This Psdtuts+ tutorial shows how to take almost any texture and turn it into a seamless pattern.

How to Make a Perfect Seamless Vector Pattern
This tutorial from BittBox shows how to create a vector pattern in Illustrator that tiles seamlessly.

Conclusion

There are a ton of pattern creators out there, and thankfully a large number of them put their work up on sites like DeviantART, making it easier for designers to find good patterns to use in their work. Make sure you check licensing terms on all the patterns you use, as they vary widely between creators.

By Cameron Chapman

Propaganda is often thought of in negative terms. It evokes thoughts of wartime and misinformation campaigns by governments trying to deceive people or bolster support for what might otherwise be unpopular policies. But propaganda and the techniques it uses are prominent throughout our modern lives.

Every time you see a political poster, you’re seeing propaganda. Advertising in all forms almost always uses at least some of the usual techniques used by propagandists. Virtually anything created to persuade a person to do a certain thing or think a certain way has roots in propaganda.

As designers, it’s important that we understand the principles behind propaganda and the way it’s designed if we want to create more effective designs. After all, most designs are created with the end goal of getting people to take specific actions. Even if your designs don’t outwardly resemble propaganda, incorporating the techniques and principles behind successful propaganda pieces can greatly improve the effectiveness of your designs.

Background Information

It’s important, when studying propaganda design or designing your own propaganda, to have a basic understanding of what ‘propaganda’ actually means and what its goals are. The resources below have some excellent background information.

Propaganda Critic
This is a great primer site on propaganda. It covers common techniques, wartime propaganda, and modern examples.

What is Propaganda
Another analysis of what propaganda is and how it works:

Inspiration

Before we get into any propaganda design tutorials and resources, let’s take a look at some propaganda from the past hundred or so years. Below are collections of propaganda from around the world, most of it war-related. There’s also a section of fictional propaganda, mostly created around pop culture.

Amazing Propaganda Posters
This post from Oddee offers up a bunch of examples of propaganda posters from around the world. Included are WWI and WWII, posters from Cuba, Vietnam, and Chile, and even modern propaganda posters from the last ten years.

Propaganda Posters: United States of America
This gallery from FirstWorldWar.com offers a ton of propaganda posters from the US used during WWI. There are roughly 400 posters included in the collection.

Propaganda, Posters and Postcards
This site offers up propaganda posters from around the world, mostly from WWI and WWII, thought some date from before and after.

‘Unintentional’ Propaganda Posters
This post from Cracked.com pokes fun at a number of propaganda posters from around the world. It provides great examples of what not to do when designing propaganda.

“Welcome to your new apartment!”

WWII: Intense Propaganda Posters
This collection from LIFE magazine includes some of the most graphic and intense propaganda posters from both sides created during WWII.

Soviet Posters: Revolution by Design
The International Poster Gallery offers not only a collection of Soviet propaganda posters, but also a fairly extensive history of the time periods in which the posters originated. The posters on the site are all for sale.

Powerful Messages: Inspirational World War II Propaganda Posters
This short roundup from The Inspiration Blog showcases some very high-quality propaganda posters from WWII, all from the Allied countries.

Propaganda Design & Aesthetics: Soviet Retro Posters
Here’s another roundup of Soviet propaganda posters, with a bit of explanation for each one.

We Love Propaganda
Here’s a Flickr set that’s filled with propaganda posters from around the world. There are more than 500 images included.

Propaganda Inspired by Pop Culture

The propaganda posters here are based on video games, TV shows, and movies, but display many of the same characteristics of real-world propaganda designs.

Propaganda Posters, Showcase of Dramatic Artwork
The posters here have been created by graphic designers from all over the world. Some are based on fiction but others are based on previous real-world conflicts (and some combine the two).

Victory…
Here’s a propaganda poster created based on the Dalek race from the TV series Doctor Who. It’s designed in a style that would fit right in among WWII era posters.

Incredible Star Wars Propaganda Posters
Star Wars has been such a huge part of popular culture since it debuted in the 70s, that of course there would be propaganda posters created to exist within its world. There are posters here from both sides: the Empire and the Rebel Alliance.

Propagit – Propaganda and Agitation Posters
This roundup from Abduzeedo features Soviet-style propaganda posters designed by Propagit (The Department of Propaganda and Agitation).

Tutorials and Techniques

The tutorials featured below teach you how to create mostly vintage-style propaganda posters, reminiscent of posters created during WWII.

Design Tutorial: Creating a Propaganda Poster
This tutorial walks you through step-by-step instructions for creating this Hope is the New Black poster in Photoshop.

Create a Constructivist Inspired Poster
This Photosohp tutorial from Psdtuts+ shows you how to create this poster in the style of Russian Constructivism.

Create an Inspirational Vector Political Poster
This Illustrator tutorial shows how to create an Obama Hope-style political poster.

How to Create a WWII Propaganda Poster in Photoshop
This tutorial shows how to create a patriotic WWII War Bonds poster.

Constructivist Propaganda Poster
Here’s another tutorial for creating a Russian Constructivist-style poster, this time based around the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign.

Make a Russian Propaganda Poster in Photoshop
This tutorial shows how to create a Russian-style propaganda poster in Photoshop using filters, shapes, and other tools.

Create a Retro Style Poster with Shapes, Patterns, and Eagles
While not strictly a propaganda poster, the imagery is definitely in line with traditional propaganda design in the poster in this Illustrator tutorial from Vectortuts+. Just add a propaganda message and it would fit right in with posters from WWII and the Cold War era.

Tools and Resources

Here are some tools and resources for creating your own propaganda-style artwork and designs.

American Propaganda Fontpack
This fontpack from Chank includes more than a dozen fonts reminiscent of those commonly seen on propaganda posters. The only downside is that it’s $99.

Propaganda Font
A free, slightly-distressed free font from DaFont.com.

Grunge Textures
Many propaganda posters, especially those that are meant to look vintage, make use of grungy textures to give a more authentic look. This site offers up more than 1400 free grunge textures.

Australian War Memorial Collection
A lot of propaganda designs use military imagery. This collection of photos from the Australian War Memorial is available through Flickr’s The Commons project.

World War I Panoramas
This collection of panoramic photos from The Library of Congress is available through Flickr’s The Commons.

Dafont.com Russian Fonts
DaFont has a number of Cyrillic-style fonts, perfect for a Russian or Soviet-inspired propaganda design.

FontSpace Propaganda Fonts
FontSpace has a small collection of interesting fonts for propaganda design, including some really great symbol fonts with appropriate imagery.

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