What are you waiting for…..hit the jump already.

That’s right FREE. As in no cost to you. Gratis. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

These 50 vectors (25 line drawings and 25 shaded vectors) are brought to you by Official Classic.com who have a ton of fantastic vectors available at cheap prices.

Have you ever searched for hours trying to find a WordPress template the suites your needs?

Or have you ever just wanted make certain modifications to an existing theme but didn’t know how? Well you might want to pick-up a copy of “WordPress 2.8 Theme Design” written by Tessa Blakeley Silver. Not only does this book give many illustrations on how to set-up well defined code that is SEO optimized, but it also shows you how to choose practical color schemes, build layout’s from scratch, debug and validate, package your theme, and many other tips and tricks necessary to design a well articulated and functional WordPress website.

Take note, this book doesn’t require any knowledge of CSS or PHP coding, but will require the designer to have a strong familiarity of how WordPress operates and a basic understanding of text and graphic editors such as Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop. So if you want to dive into the WordPress abyss, and put your design skills to the test, we urge you to give this book a try.

I am sure many people are wondering if WordPress has an ecommerce plug-in that can compete with other shopping carts on the web. Well, the answer is YES! The Wordpress E-commerce plug-in for is an easy-to-use, customizable plug-in that adds e-commerce capabilities to any Wordpress site with ease.

With its multiple tools, including some of my favorites such as themes settings, ship by weight or flat rate, multiple payment options, cross marketing, size and color variations, sales tracking, and hundreds more, this plug-in has it all! It even has a premium upgrade feature where you can purchase additional tools such as selling MP3’s, drag and drop shopping cart, and member’s only module. So if you’re deciding on setting up a WordPress website that needs a flexible yet easy to operate ecommerce module,give the WP E-commerce plug-in a try!

Do you know of some different plug-ins? Do you currently use an e-commerce plug-in? Leave a comment and let us know!

More tutorials are to come which will cover some of the many additional functions that allows Wordpress to be so user-friendly and all around awesome.

Leave a comment with additional questions and feedback!

Creativity in branding and identity is something that makes one really appreciate the creativity and ingenuity of the design industry. More so, great logo work inspires us (and hopefully you) to step up our game and try and refine our work. Websites like LogoPond and LogoMoose showcase tons of great logos that are there for your viewing pleasure. One look through these galleries is sure to jump start your creative engine.

Knowing this, I’ve gone ahead and compiled a solid list of 30 great logos from these various sites. These are just a few of the great logos in these galleries and I’d love to see your own work you’ve done or any other suggested sites and logos.

Feel free to comment away and enjoy!

These logos were compiled from a few of these awesome logo inspiration sites:
www.logopond.com
www.logomoose.com
www.creattica.com
www.logofaves.com
www.logogala.com

Who doesn’t like FREE things? When people hear FREE they go into a blood frenzy. It’s human nature. SWAG, stickers, shirts, frisbees, etc. We all love free stuff and designers ESPECIALLY love the word FREE. So knowing this, here are 10 FREE textures that you can use to your hearts content.

Hit the jump for the full list of textures and click on the image or the texture credit to be taken directly to the download page.

Texture courtesy of Whiteblot on Flickr.com

Texture courtesy of nejellaphotoart2009 on Flickr.com

Texture courtesy of ShaireProductions on Flickr.com

Texture courtesy of ImageAbstraction.com

Texture courtesy of Six Revisions on Flickr.com

Texture courtesy of Spiteful Pie Stock on DeviantArt.com

Texture courtesy of adamned.art on Flickr.com

Texture courtesy of BittBox on Flickr.com

Texture courtesy of aboutbettertimes on Flickr.com

Texture courtesy of ~KillxThexScenexStock on DeviantArt.com

We all have those trusted resources that we turn to. Books on topics ranging from business, cooking, art, or other sources of inspiration. The ones with the well-worn covers and the broken spines. With all of the information available to us via the internet, there’s nothing like thumbing through a familiar book and flipping to the exact page you need to see.

Hit the jump below to see my top 5 design books complete w/ pics, book details and more! *All prices based off Amazon.com

1) Book Title: The New Big Book of Color;Author: David Carson; Price: $35.99
One of my favorite books to go to when I’m looking for that perfect color combination for anything from an identity, to a flyer, or even a website. This book contains tons and tons of visual examples of other design work sorted by color categories such as “Classic”, “Pastel”, “Natural” and “Modern”. In addition to this sorting, the book displays the colors used in each piece along with their CMYK, RGB, and Hex color mixes. This is the perfect solution for that time when you can’t quite find the right color combinations, or when you have a vision of a color, but just can’t seem to duplicate it. A must have a for any designer.

2) Book Title: Logo Lounge: Volume 3;Author: Catharine Fishel & Bill Gardner; Price: $25.65
You can never have enough logo/identity inspiration. It’s hard for me not to get jazzed about designing a logo when I look at all of the ones in here and the intense amount of creativity that they display. It almost sets a challenge each time I set out to design a logo, trying to create a logo that is worthy of being in a collection like this. One day….

3) Book Title: Colossal Design;Author: Clare Warmke; Price: A Ridiculous $.01
A great book of case studies for numerous types of projects and campaigns ranging from flyers, cds, package design and more. The book gives the reader a detailed view of the process behind each of the projects which serve as great examples of successful and deliberate planning and careful execution. A nice read if you’re looking for some insight into the corporate design world.

4) Book Title: Dutch Design Annual;Author: unknown; Price: unknown
This giant book is one of my favorites simply because of the sheer variety of artwork contained within. Granted the book is entirely in Dutch, but you don’t need words to understand the awesomeness of some of these designs. With over 400 pages of flyers, logos, posters, brochures, and more it’s harder to NOT find something you’ll like in here.

5) Book Title: The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines; Author: The Graphic Artists Guild; Price: $35 for non-members of the G.A.G. and $29 for members
G.A.G. releases a new one of these each year, each with updates to help ensure that graphic designers are being protected and within their rights. It also has great tips on any designer looking for tips on how to bill their clients. This book contains many of the essential information and tips that are sure to keep the new graphic designer in the know or to keep the veteran designer updated on their rights as a designer.

Do you have some go-to design books in your shelf? If so, leave a comment below and let me know what they are!

Just a quick note here to showcase one of our newest Twitter Backgrounds to be designed. Kim Masoner (@beachcleanup), of Saveourbeach.org, needed a background to spruce up her plain ol’ Twitter BG, and to help put out her information in a more stylish way. She wanted to incorporate an image similar to that of her avatar (sandy beach, footprints, waves) and also wanted to layout her contact info and bio in a much more stylish way. After a few revisions, some tweaks, and a couple of discussions, we were able to get Kim a background that we are proud of, and she is thrilled with!

I did try to change my bg and paid a small amt, but was never able to upload it….so I’m tickled pink with my new bg. – Kim Masoner, Founder of Saveourbeach.org

We’re happy too Kim and we look forward to seeing you at a future beach cleanup!

Client: Campus Menus.
Date: July 2009
Special Features: Custom designed stickers and magnets

Client: Johnnie O Clothing.
Date: June 2009
Special Features: Custom spot UV and die cut