17 Sites for Web Design Inspiration

17 Sites for Web Design Inspiration:

I never thought that I would need this, and yet in the last two years I gave input on the design of 4 websites! So yes, give these links a read. you never know ... :D


'via Blog this'

The Photoshop Effect

Read magazines? Love the looks of some movie stars or celebrities? You need to watch this clip!

Old Marilyn Monroe

What would MArilyn Monroe have looked like if she had lived to old age? Polish photographer and artist Andrzej Dragan uses photo editing software to show us his interpretation. Check out his website for more like Adolf Hitler and Bruce Lee.

How to spot a fake photo

Scientific American has a captivating article detailing 5 ways to spot a picture that has been doctored. Take a look at the photo below. If you study the light dots on the irises (specular highlights) on the four stars, you will see that two of them (Randy & Paula) are the same - which means that they were actually in the same place when the photo was taken. Simon & Ryan have completely different specular highlights. To me both these guys look pasted in - I think the lighting on Simon is all wrong too.

Surrounding lights reflect in eyes to form small white dots called specular highlights. The shape, color and location of these highlights tell us quite a bit about the lighting. In 2006 a photo editor contacted me about a picture of American Idol stars that was scheduled for publication in his magazine (above). The specular highlights were quite different.

The highlight position indicates where the light source is located left. As the direction to the light source moves from left to right, so do the specular highlights. The highlights in the American Idol picture are so inconsistent that visual inspection is enough to infer the photograph has been doctored. (Link) via Boing Boing

Women in Film

The 'morphing' is remarkable - I found some of the in-betweens so pretty too! Whoever put this together deserves some BIG accolades:

glumbert - Women in Film

Michaelangelo's David

Michelangelo's famous statute, David, returns to Italy this week after a successful 12 week, 20 city, US tour.

(thanks Michi!)

Sisters Friends

All printed paper is Basic Grey. This is the first time I am using Grungeboard by Tim Holtz (am constantly amazed at how talented the guy is...). So of course I had to give it prominence :-) I colored the grungeboard swirls with Golden Acrylics Violet interference color. The 'S' is also grungeboard. I applied Suze Gluez and then covered it with this EP called Cloisonné - easier to use than UTEE but looks just as good. The color here is Molten Granite. Wonder if anyone still makes these. I know that the company that made them shut down. I miss my Fresco ink pads too. The 'photos, snapshots' stamp is by Art Warehouse. 'Friends' alpha stickers by Heidi Swapp. I started by printing out the word 'ISTERS' on the blank cardstock and continued from there. Of course I had a rough plan on the layout already sketched on.

I have been trying my hand at digital layouts for a challenge on SS Reflections. I used the following digital kit to make all the 4 following layouts: Water color Scribbles by Christine Borgfeld (Polka Dot Potato)

Halloween 2007

All printed papers by www.geta2z.com - Junk Drawer by Nicole Iehle. Journaling font John Handy downloaded from the internet. Hero Arts alpha stamps. MM large foam stamps. Ribbon from my stash. Used the Basic Grey tool to cut the pinking edge. I put the word 'Spooky' in the photo before I sent it for printing. However the printer zoomed in too much and so the 'S' and the 'Y' got cut off partially. On a whim I decided to add the word back again after finishing the scans of the layouts.

.... YIKES! I just realized that I made a mistake with the dates on both layouts!! They should say 'Halloween 2007'

Halloween 2007: Ricky told me that this year he felt he was too old to go trick or treating. And neither him nor Lily wanted to dress up. So instead we decided to go see other folks all dressed up for Halloween. The best place to do this is in the evening (special Halloween timings) at the Hong Kong Ocean Park. The park is transformed for almost a whole month into a spooky place, full of scary characters - both real and props. They also have mazes you walk through where all sorts of things jump out at you. Weird sounds and a smoky haze in the dark make this an ideal outing for Halloween. Joe, Lily & I loved it. What we did not anticipate was how scared Ricky would be! Even though he is almost 12 this was still a bit too much for him. He was stoic while we were in the park because it was his idea. But by the time we exited, the poor guy was white with fright! Let's what he suggests next year :-)

And now something to make all of us feel good about ourselves!

Feed Yourself!

First layout done with Club Scrap Salsa kit, some stamps, CI Alpha stamps, a photo holder and the Basic Grey Notch tool. A big "THANKS!" to Yvette ~ see the curve on the layout? Guess what came in the mail today?! You made my day, girlfriend!

Second layout is again Textiles & Notions kit from Club Scrap but this layout is completely digital. I have been itching to try my hand at the digital stuff and so I decided to do this one from scratch.

Ricky had a lot of trouble doing many things. Gross motor, fine motor and so many other problems. Feeding himself was one issue that was especially difficult. We had a wonderful therapist helping us. And everyone in the family was so determined to assist Ricky achieve as much independence as possible. After many many months of hard work Ricky managed to start eating independently! He still has tactile problems with certain kinds of foods but can manage very well with cutlery.

A page in memory of Jill Wenzel. Called 'The Wenz' :-) She was really lovely and I was fortunate enough not just to know her online, but to be able to actually meet her. She even made the coolest PJs for me!

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Todays first video shows 500 years of female portraits in Western Art:

And watch this ...

Chinese Doll!

Layout done with Basic Grey Romani papers. This print is called Romany and I really fell in love with it! The red Chinese sign is hand drawn and cut with an Xacto knife. I have not yet found alpha stickers that I like so just for this post I finished up the title digitally. I could not resist the Chinoiserie paper clip either :-)

Lily in a little Chongsam suit for Chinese New Year. She looked adorable!!

A couple of videos about some new ideas inventors have come up with. I find these things so interesting! People can be so creative - such genius!!

Dance like ...

Layout uses Club Scrap Steppin' Out kit from November 2004. I also used the printed numbers paper but am not sure who makes it. I did some stippling with blue and plum dye inks to help the printed paper blend with the rest of the layout. The words 'Dance', "Music' etc. have been printed and layered but then I digitally enhanced them so that they look 3D.

The photographs in this layout date from the Summer of 2000. We are in a very small and quaint little village in the Apennines in Italy. Every year in August this small village has a 'Festa del Paese' or a town festival, organised by the local church. For four evenings there is food, music, games and dancing. People from the town and neighboring places come to eat, drink and be merry.

And every evening there is a band that plays and a great little dance floor in the open air. Before all the serious dancers get down to the business of the Cha-Cha or the Rumba, children have the whole floor to themselves. And with the band playing really fun music, there is no stopping them!

Ricky loved it! There was so much space and no one to tell him to stop, or be careful. He really loves music and dancing ~ which actually is more like jumping and twirling but always to the beat. He has an amazing sense of rhythm. And here he totally let himself go! It was exhilarating watching him. And lovely little Lily would not miss the chance to dance with her brother. Even Mum got on the floor and gave him a twirl!

Such a good brother!

And here is a layout from my daughter's birthday party but for my son's album. Papers and round coasters are from Imagination Project. White rub-on letters and buckle from Making Memories. And the 'Remember' sticker is 'Shotz by Danelle Johnson'.

I decided to put this photograph of my DD's birthday in Ricky's album because he really was very well behaved that evening. He stayed out of the way of all the girls and came to join the party only when it was time to cut the birthday cake. To keep the focus on him, I used Picasa to keep Ricky in colour and turned everything else into B&W.

My Butterfly!

I love the digital turn scrapbooking is taking. And while I am not yet completely converted to the digital scrapbook (I enjoy cutting paper too much!) I love all the digi~embellishments that I can use on the photos themselves. Here, I turned the main photo into B&W and then applied a frame and a little butterfly.