If you’ve been to my portfolio, or you saw my recent article on Using Channels in Photoshop to remove backgrounds then you have probably seen my International Compost Awareness Week poster contest submission!

Well the great news is my design is a finalist in the final run; now it’s up for a public vote and I need your help in making mine the winner! What’s in it for me you ask? well unfortunately I’m just a poor graphic designer… I can’t offer monetary compensation – but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are part of why I won! That should be enough to hold you over with excellent karma for at least half a year! What a deal!

But in all seriousness: I put a lot of time and love into that design (even found a way to help others learn from it) and would really love to have it published and printed (nationwide too!).

Please take a moment and vote for my design here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ICAW_2011_Poster_Poll

I really appreciate it!

Say hello to Chubbs!

Chubbs can be a lovable little boy, an officer of the law, a 1970′s prom date, or a ghetto-fabulous teenager! All Chubbs’ costumes are available in transparent PNG files at 512 x 512

Get Chubbs 01 (182)	Get Chubbs 02 (187)	Get Chubbs 03 (185)	Get Chubbs 04 (177)

If you like Chubbs, please ReTweet this – Thanks!

I have noticed that my post a while ago about how frustrating CS4 can be has been one of my most popular articles to date. I took this as you folks have some questions about CS4 and Illustrator in general.

Recently, with the help of Media Militia, I put out a call for your questions to be answered here. I’d like to personally thank everyone who sent in an email with questions. If you have a question that you’d like me to answer then send me a note; I’m happy to add you to the list for Round Two in the future

Illustrator CS4 Questions/Answers Round One

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Here are 2 simple ways you can dramatically reduce filesize of your Illustrator production files:

Step one:

Before exporting your Illustrator file to another more universal format (such as EPS), or even if you are sharing the .ai file you can remove unused swatches, brushes etc from your document; these unused components add to the size of your document!

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I wanted to write out a quick tutorial on how to create dynamic pattern text using Illustrator CS3.

This will really just cover how to add a pattern to the text, without much fuss or sweat; I did notice that the pattern I chose turned out to not work great in this instance, so be careful on the pattern you choose beforehand to make sure it will tile well (within text).

Okay, let’s get started: First off head over to a really kool site Patternwall.com to find a good tilable pattern.

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I have some dynamic text for you to download; with a choice of 5 different camouflage patterns. These can be typed into any words/sentences you need – using any font you want! I made these in Arial Black since most people will have that font by default, but feel free to play with the fonts/sizing/offsets to get the just-right look you need.