Flare for mac from the mac app store is a great image application for editing images.

I noticed the small app in the mac app store, although I use photoshop daily I was intrigued with this program. I downloaded it and started using it for quick edits to photos, it has a number of presets a bit like instagram for the iPhone. It’s a simple drag-and-drop process then you can apply the presets to your images, you can then tweak these individual presets to your liking, then save and export the image.

You can also export directly to Flickr which is very handy for the quick uploads – it maybe me but I couldn’t find a way in which to batch process images.

Choosing the image -

Choose a preset for your image

Editing the presets

Flare is available from the Mac app store or you can get it online from here.

Or visit the Flare website

“Flare is a fast, easy, and beautiful darkroom for your Mac.

With Flare, you can apply photographic effects to your photos, then save them to your Mac, upload them to Flickr, or send them in an email. Flare comes with over twenty presets that create different kinds of effects, but if the preset you’re looking for doesn’t exist yet, you can tinker with the presets or even build your own from scratch.”

If you haven’t seen Sherlock Holmes yet the best thing for me about the film (including the CGI shots of London) is the opening and closing title sequence. It a master piece of illustration and design. Read more about how it was done and by who here – Sherlock Holmes opening title sequence.

www.collectivesunited.com

www.whatcreative.co.uk/blog/

Using CSS for design and layout is a must for todays designers. Here are a few links to Grid layouts and CSS generators to get you started and saving you time when building a new site.

www.gridsystemgenerator.com

www.1kbgrid.com

www.pagecolumn.com

kematzy.com/blueprint-generator

netprotozo.com/grid/

www.designbygrid.com

www.spry-soft.com

http://ilovetypography.com/

More typography here – http://new.typographica.org/2009/features/our-favorite-typefaces-of-2008/

http://marshallalexander.net

I love this project for North Star Fund, excellent use of typography, colours and design.

Hyperakt has been charged with unifying and strengthening North Star’s branded materials. Each new North Star piece, beginning with their 2007 Annual Report, conceptually conveys the organization’s inspiring devotion to civil rights. The “Tools for Democracy” report includes typographic illustrations made from the ingredients necessary to build and maintain a democratic society. From front to back, the themes of freedom, justice, truth and unity are highlighted, bringing the organization’s strength and character into sharp focus.

 

Why not check out there site for more great work. Hyperakt

Some of their recent work, love the use of colour on BoxWish.

www.kyanmedia.com

I really like the simplicity of the service, it’s easy to set-up users from your team then create logins for clients to come in and add there comments and requests.

The one thing I have found is to delete a client you have to delete the entire project which is rather weird considering clients and there teams can change.

Other than that I can’t fault it, simple and easy to use. Get sign off is invite only at the moment, and once you do get an invite you don’t get any to share, so why not sign up!

www.getsignoff.com

Typechart