A selection of poster designs and album artwork by one of our all-time favs, graphic designer and illustrator Bráulio Amado (previously featured here). The word selection is really doing some heavy lifting here because I included roughly a million images. Born in Portugal and currently based in New York City, Amado has created things for outlets like The New York Times and A24 as well as artists like Andre 3000, Frank Ocean, and Robyn. You can view his entire archive of work here.

Check out more from Bráulio Amado below!

https://www.booooooom.com/2024/08/05/illustrator-spotlight-braulio-amado/

Each year, for more than 20 years, Bill Gardner of Gardner Design has been studying thousands of logos to select the strongest fit for the year’s Trend Report.

“Flat Box” logos (above) by Scorpion Rose Studio and Semi:Formal, Blue Blazes, Asterisk, and Creative Spark.

Speaking about the collection, Bill said, “As ever, this report is an observation of the logo design industry and isn’t meant as a guide for best practices. Trends are trajectories that evolve and modify over time, not a passing fad. Use these ideas to expand your design acumen while pushing your own design to the next level and keep the trajectory moving to the next iteration.”

“Radar Sweep” logos (above) by Mode, Vadim Carazan, Bram Naus, and Brandforma.

Bill points out that trendy and trends are not the same. “Trends are directions — the way in which something will most likely go. Trendy is more ephemeral. Renowned designer Tom Geismar said it best when he shared with me, ‘Nothing dulls so quickly as the cutting edge.’”

“Passages” logos (above) by Yorgo&Co, Stanislav, Khairul Islam, and Atlas Minor Design Studio.

“Bell Bottoms” logos (above) by For The People, Lantern, Avidity Creative, and John Dorcas.

One step ahead

Some years ago, Lucy Bourton, senior editor at It’s Nice That, discussed graphic design with Paula Scher. Paula let Lucy in on a secret for spotting trends and tastes that made me smile while reading: “If you look through design history and you see something that looks really radical, that’s what you’re going to be doing now. If you think it’s nice, that’s what you’ve already been doing. If you think it’s tired, that’s what you were doing five years ago. But if you think it’s ugly, that’s what you’re going to be doing in five years.”

More of the discussion here: One Step Ahead

Bill Gardner is the founder of LogoLounge.com, a repository site where members can post their logo design work and search the works of others by keyword, designer’s name, client type, and more.

For this year’s full selection: 2024 Logo Trend Report

https://www.logodesignlove.com/2024-logo-trend-report

Hello, fellow photographers. I’m Dan Harlacher from ON1, the creators of some amazing photography apps and plugins! I’m excited to show you the new Quick Mask AI tool in ON1 Photo RAW 2024.5. This tool is incredibly powerful and makes background replacements super simple. To illustrate its capabilities, I’ll walk you through three examples, from simple to complex. I also created this short video outlining each of these steps!

Example 1:
Simple Background Replacement

Let’s start with a straightforward example—a bird photo. The original background is dull and shot in low light, resulting in a noisy image. Here’s the step-by-step process to enhance and replace the background:

1. Noise Reduction and Sharpening: First, the photo includes a lot of noise and is a little out of focus. So, I used NoNoise AI and Tack Sharp AI to remove the noise and restore the details.

2. Brightness Adjustment: Next, I brightened the image using the “Tone and Color” adjustments, increasing the exposure by about a stop and adjusting the blacks to enhance contrast.

3. Adding a New Background: I selected a new background from the ON1 Extras, specifically a bokeh image, and used the “Transform” tool to fit it perfectly behind the bird.

4. Masking the Old Background: Using the Quick Mask AI tool, I clicked on the bird to keep it and removed the old background. The result was a clean separation, allowing the new background to shine.

5. Final Adjustments: Finally, I adjusted the background’s tone and color to complement the bird’s colors, creating a harmonious and vibrant image.

Example 2:
Intermediate Background Replacement with Blending

I worked with a studio shot against a neutral backdrop for a more complex scenario. 

Here’s the approach:

1. Initial Adjustments: I cropped out unwanted elements, like a soft box in the corner.

2. Layering a New Background: I added a new studio backdrop, flipped it to match the lighting, and scaled it to fit.

3. Blending Backgrounds: Using Quick Mask AI, I masked out the original background but retained the shadows and the floor’s shape by reducing the mask’s opacity. This blended the new backdrop seamlessly with the original, maintaining a realistic look.

4. Color Adjustments: I tinted the new background using a photo filter to match the subject’s shorts, ensuring a cohesive color scheme.

5. Edge Refinement: I used the Chisel tool and Refine brush to clean up any remaining halos or edges, particularly around hair, for a polished finish.

Example 3:
Advanced Background Replacement with Color Corrections

The third example involves a challenging shot with a bright blue background that reflects onto the subject’s metallic necklace and skin. 

Here’s how I tackled it:

1. Exposure Adjustment: I lowered the exposure to correct the image’s brightness.

2. New Background Addition: I selected a new background and used the Transform tool to scale and position it.

3. Masking and Cleaning Up: Quick Mask AI helped remove the old background. However, blue reflections remained on the subject, requiring further refinements.

4. Local Color Adjustments: I used local adjustments to desaturate the necklace’s blue reflections and repainted the skin edges with a flesh color using the paint with color option. This corrected the color cast without altering the luminosity.

5. Final Touches: The result was a natural-looking edge with the correct colors, eliminating unnatural blue hues.

Conclusion

These examples highlight the incredible versatility and power of the Quick Mask AI tool in ON1 Photo RAW 2024.5. Whether dealing with simple or complex scenarios, this tool makes background replacements and composites much easier.

About ON1 Photo RAW

Elevate your photo editing game with a 30-day free trial of ON1 Photo RAW—no credit card required. Perfect for photographers of all skill levels, ON1 Photo RAW offers an intuitive yet powerful platform that blends speed, versatility, and quality into one AI-powered application. It’s the ultimate AI photo editor and includes everything a photographer needs in one application. Try ON1 Photo RAW for free and experience why it’s the top Lightroom Alternative, giving you the ultimate control to bring your photographic visions to life.

https://layersmagazine.com/easily-replace-backgrounds-in-photos-with-on1-by-dan-harlacher.html

Each year, the students of SVA’s Masters in Branding program spend 100 days documenting their process with a chosen creative endeavour.

This year, Print Mag has been showcasing each student. Here are a few 100 Days projects that stood out from a logo perspective.

Kaylin Ingram’s fun Brand Castles is a hint at the ephemeral nature of business, like castles in the sand. Follow on Instagram.

Marisa Goldberg takes a craft approach with The Brand Blanket, knitting 100 logos. Almost finished on Instagram.

Brand What Ifs is a series by Deane Cruz who wonders what well-known brands would look like if they branched into new markets. Also updating through Instagram.

More projects from the Masters in Branding students on Print Magazine’s SVA 100 Days page.

https://www.logodesignlove.com/100-days

There are plenty of ways to make neon signs with glow effects in Photoshop, but creating ultra-realistic neon signs usually involves advanced 3D modelling or having a genuine neon sign made in real life. However, the advances in AI technology now make it easy to generate highly realistic neon signs, complete with the intricate details of mounting hardware, cables, texture of the glass tubes, and an illumination with much more depth and vibrancy than a basic Photoshop Outer Glow effect. Follow along with this tutorial to learn how to transform your basic lettering into a realistic neon sign, with the help of the new AI tools in Adobe Firefly.

► Download the Smoothy Font – https://spoon.graphics/3fg4Dlw

Subscribe to the Spoon Graphics YouTube Channel

Check Out My Photoshop Neon Effect Tutorials

https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/videos/how-to-use-ai-to-easily-create-neon-sign-effects-in-adobe-firefly

The key to creating authentic looking vintage designs is using the right assets, but genuine vintage tools and resources can be difficult to find! Thankfully this bundle has you covered with a variety of resources that are derived from various authentic sources, so you can inject a piece of history right into your design work for the most realistic results. The Vintage Lover’s Artistic Collection gives you access to a complete toolbox of vintage resources. You’ll find high quality textures, old papers, fonts and illustrations scanned from antique source materials. With a $368 discount reducing the price to just $29 you won’t find better library of vintage tools.

When vintage style designs rely so much on third party assets, it’s important to consider the licensing terms. Every single item in this collection is completely covered with an extended license that allows you to use any of the resources in your commercial and client work, as well as artwork for sale, such as merchandise, posters, or prints.

Buy The Vintage Lover’s Artistic Collection for $29

https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/latest_news/nail-the-vintage-look-with-this-new-bundle-of-design-resources

Join my mailing list and
receive a free design
resources bundle!

https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/videos/grainy-xerox-grunge-effect-photoshop-tutorial

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/the-future-of-design-and-ais-role-in-creativity-with-canva/

How do you fancy getting your hands on a hand-picked selection of fantastic fonts to take your design projects to the next level? Design Cuts have put together another deal packed full of top quality fonts and squashed the price down by 91%, so much so that there isn’t much left on the price tag! This is a great opportunity to acquire $316 worth of fonts in a variety of styles for just $29.

Every one of these fonts has been expertly crafted by type designers and foundries with a serious passion for typography, which is clear from the pro-grade quality. If you’ve only ever used free fonts in your design work, you’ll see the difference immediately with the wealth of weights and styles, plus the advanced OpenType features that are available when they’re used in professional design software like Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign. Have a browse through this collection and imagine the kinds of artwork you could create with them.

Buy The Designer’s Fantastical Font Collection

https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/latest_news/download-all-these-fonts-for-just-29

Prepare for any design project that you might face this summer with a huge upgrade to your resources library. This new Creative’s Shining Summery Collection contains a variety of tools that help you create cheeful styles and effects. Improve your illustrations with detailed brushes; add stunning text to your designs with expertly crafted fonts; and easily add watercolour effects to your work with ready-made assets. This bundle includes timeless tools you can rely upon to create hot artwork all year round, but the limited-time discount will expire in just over a week!

All the tools in this bundle are backed by an extended licence so you’re free to use them in all your personal and commercial project work. It’s only available for a limited time with a massive 93% price reduction, so be sure to pick up this unmissable deal at $29 before the discount expires.

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https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/latest_news/make-your-designs-shine-with-this-new-summer-themed-bundle