CategoryGraphics

November 10, 2016 — I have been drawing desktop wallpapers for Smashing Magazine’s monthly collections for over a year now, and every time it’s a very fun and challenging mission. In this article, I would like to share how I approach all stages of the process and provide general techniques for creating vector illustrations in Adobe Illustrator. Hopefully, you will find these techniques useful. While referring to a particular drawing — the illustration for the “Understand Yourself” desktop wallpaper, which was featured in May’s wallpaper collection this year — I’ll also highlight key takeaways from my experience as an illustrator and designer. Read more…

October 31, 2016 — Sometimes the best inspiration lies right in front of us. With that in mind, we embarked on a special creativity mission eight years ago: to provide you with inspiring and unique desktop wallpapers every month. Wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd and that are bound to fuel your ideas. Read more…

October 18, 2016 — Whether or not you celebrate Halloween, there is something magical about that special spooky day, surrounded by mystery, horror, scare and trick-or-treat candies for kids and adults alike. In this post, we celebrate the creative side of Halloween with those of you who are also planning to celebrate with friends. The post features artists around the world who have been creating wonderful illustrations dedicated to Halloween. Read more…

September 30, 2016 — A new month means new wallpapers! This journey has been going on for eight years now, and each time anew artists and designers from across the globe challenge their artistic skills to cater for some fresh inspiration on your desktop. And, well, it wasn’t any different this time around. Read more…

August 31, 2016 — We all love a good wallpaper to polish up our desktops. So to provide you with fresh artwork on a regular basis, we embarked on our desktop wallpapers mission eight years ago. Each month we challenge you, the design community, to get your creative juices flowing and produce some inspirational and unique desktop wallpapers. Read more…

August 17, 2016 — It’s been almost five years since Photoshop Etiquette launched, which officially makes it a relic on the web. A lot can happen on the web in a few years, and these past five have illustrated that better than most. Read more…

July 31, 2016 — Since eight years, our monthly desktop wallpapers challenge is a Smashing favorite that wouldn’t be possible without the tireless efforts of talented designers and artists from across the globe. On a quest to cater for wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd, we challenge you, the design community, to get your creative juices flowing and produce some interesting and inspiring designs each month anew. And, well, it wasn’t any different this time around. Read more…

July 27, 2016 — In this tutorial, you can learn how to create a set of office icons for a new app with XD’s new features to interact with your newly-created user interfaces during the prototyping phase. Read more…

July 6, 2016 — Every designer has their favorite prototyping tools. However, when it comes to UX wireframing and prototyping, there is often more than one tool involved. Sooner or later, you find yourself switching from one tool to another to cherry-pick the best ones among them. Read more…

June 30, 2016 — To help you start into July freshly inspired, artists and designers from across the globe challenged their artistic abilities and created desktop wallpapers for you to indulge in. This monthly creativity mission has been going on for eight years now, and each month the enthusiastic work of the community brings forth interesting, beautiful, and unique results. Wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. Read more…