Is the Apple iPad just another gadget: a new package, an iffy name, and lots of hype? Or will it make a mark on history? We’re betting the latter. Here’s why.

This website is devoted to Communication Majors at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. For our faculty and students, the site provides a launching-off point for many of our courses and online projects. Others are of course invited to poke around!

We’re re-starting the design of this from scratch, with a new site framework, which will include:

• improved layout
• improved navigation bar (already in place, but not yet optimized for Internet Explorer 7 or 6)
• new color scheme (obviously not yet implemented at the time of this post)
• various nice touches here and there, to be gradually implemented

Interested in growing your web design skills? Here are a few choice recommendations.

Great resources for thinking about logo design.

Great resources for developing your skills in Adobe Illustrator.

Serving up some Photoshop fun: three recent tutorials.

Designed to equip students with professional-grade graphic design skills and an informed understanding of the contemporary marketplace, the degree includes coursework in Graphic Design, Web Design, and Portfolio development, as well as Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations, Business Research Methods, and Consumer Behavior.

Here are some great examples of recent design trends and tutorials for keeping your skills sharp.
Web Design Trends

Web Design Trends for 2009 — Smashing Magazine Roundup
Textures In Modern Web Design — Smashing Magazine Roundup
More Web Design Trends For 2009 — Smashing Magazine Roundup

Web Design Photoshop Tutorials

Easily Achieve the LetterPress Effect in Photoshop — Tutorial
Letterpress Effect: [...]

For those of you eager to start styling your websites with great Photoshop effects, here are three choice tutorials:

Create a Sleek, High-End Web Design from Scratch
A fantastic tutorial, with lots of carryover value. Design an entire site with elegance, simplicity, and beauty.
Web 2.0 Design Kit
How to create those little 2.0 touches: gradients, badges, and reflections.
Creating [...]

Whether you’re a color-geek or color-challenged (like me), there are a number of great tools out there to help you find and refine a color scheme. Here are a few of the best:
Color Blender
Dial in a color, and it generates a scheme of corresponding colors, complete with RGB and Hex values for plugging into your [...]

Ever need to edit a whole folder of photos in exactly the same way? Resize them for the Web, for example?
Here is a helpful and easy-to-follow video tutorial on creating your own custom actions to repeat processes in Photoshop.
There are roughly 50 bazillion other handy tools to help with such processes. About.com has put together [...]

If you like playing with Photoshop, you should consider playing with brushes. There are tons of places to get free brushes and some sweet brushes at that. Brusheezy is one of my favorites, but there are others as well.
Free Brushes

Brusheezy.com
PSbrushes.net
100 Awesome High-Res Photoshop Brushes

And should you ever feel the urge to create your own brushes, these sites are [...]

Did you know that smaller doses of caffeine at regular intervals are better than one BIG’n?
It’s true. As reported in Scientific American:
A lot of people start their day with a big cup of coffee, hoping that the caffeine will invigorate them. But … low doses of caffeine administered at regular intervals may provide improved [...]

Smashing Magazine has recently published a set of online tutorials for Adobe Illustrator. Making illustrations from a hand-drawn sketch, creating logos, vintage T-shirt designs, comic book style creations, and 3-D effects … If you are somewhat artistic, these tutorials are for you.
Also, for the fun of it, here is another post, where they have put [...]

Have you ever noticed that it’s really easy to think like a consumer, asking questions like: “What should I buy next? From where? And for how much?” Seems like such questions come naturally.
Other questions come less naturally, such as, “How are my neighbors doing? How can I help improve my town or city? Which policies [...]

I’m collecting a list of useful articles on the topic of portfolio building (including for beginning designers) and business startup tips.
Here are direct links to those I’ve collected as of today:

What Goes In Graphic Design Portfolios
What Goes in a *Beginner’s* Design Portfolio
The Benefits of a Graphic Design Blog
Tips for a Graphic Design Business
Using Word-of-Mouth to [...]

I just ran across a great tutorial for all you Photoshop nerds.
This technique has been used for years, but still creates a dynamic illusion that makes a picture appear to be jumping out of its frame. These effects never cease to impress. Although they may look hard to create, by following this set of instructions, [...]

In 1902, Ida Tarbell’s The History of the Standard Oil Company helped inaugurate muckraker journalism.
The work first appeared as a series of 19 magazine articles, later made into a two-volume book. It was credited with hastening the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911, and in 1999 the New York Times listed The History of the Standard Oil Company number [...]

This is one of many websites run by WordPress, the excellent, free, opensource Content Management System.
One of the great things about WordPress is its community of contributors and the plugins they develop to add advanced features or special customization to your site. At the moment, the WordPress Plugin Directory lists 1,573 plugins.
That’s great, but imagine rummaging through [...]

Welcome to our online resource for persons wanting to nourish their creative enthusiasm and sharpen their perspective on the contemporary mass media marketplace.
This site is run by the faculty and students of the Communication Arts Program at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
Content will start flowing soon. Until then, check out some of the news and resources we’ve noted recently, which [...]