News magazine India Today has come up with a powerful cover for its Save the Taj campaign (July 30 issue) that features a cleverly-inverted photograph of the Taj Mahal and its reflection in the neighbouring Yamuna river. At first glance, the cover photo looks like an eroded image of the Taj surrounded by garbage. When flipped upside down, you realise that the eroded image is … [Read more...]
NVIDIA Develops AI That Can Remove Noise, Grain, And Even Watermarks From Photos
Researchers from NVIDIA, Aalto University, and MIT have developed an AI that can remove noise from grainy photos and automatically enhance them. This technology can be beneficial in several real-world situations where it is difficult to obtain clear image data like MRI scans, astronomical imaging, and more. Existing noise-reduction AI systems require both noisy and clean … [Read more...]
Shutterstock Comes To The Rescue Of Creatives Everywhere In These Clever Ads
Stock photography site Shutterstock is used by designers, creatives, and agencies all over the world, everyday. To highlight how important and useful the site is for creatives, agency Cazar DDB in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) has come up with a witty print campaign that plays on the idea of Shutterstock "rescuing" creatives when they need it most. The three-ad series … [Read more...]
Thermos Shows How Effective Their Flasks Are With These Brilliantly-Art Directed Ads
Thermos has come up with an excellent print and outdoor campaign in Thailand that shows how effective their insulated flasks are. The 3-ad series features visuals of internal organs covered with warm clothing. The idea is that no matter how cold the surrounding temperature is, thermos products will keep your drinks warm enough. The agency is Ogilvy Group Thailand. Check out … [Read more...]
This Clever Photoshop Trick Lets You Generate Unlimited Filters With Just One Click
Did you know that the Gradient Editor in Photoshop has a 'Randomize' feature that lets you browse through unlimited gradients which you can use as filters on your photos? In this tutorial, Photoshop instructor Unmesh Dinda shows you how to combine the concepts of Gradient Fill, Gradient Maps, and Blend Modes to create beautiful color combinations and filters automatically in … [Read more...]
Fix And Sharpen A Blurry Photo With This Clever Photoshop Technique
Most cameras nowadays have 'image stabilization' or 'anti-shake' features to reduce the likelihood of taking blurry photos. It works by moving the camera lens automatically to compensate for handheld movements. But once in a while, you do end up with a great capture that's slightly blurred and you don't really want to delete that image. What do you do then? Mumbai-based … [Read more...]
How To Rotate Or Straighten A Tilted Image In Photoshop Without Cropping The Edges
Usually, when you try to rotate or straighten a tilted image in Photoshop, you end up cropping and losing a bit of the corners and edges. Well, not anymore. Mumbai-based Photoshop instructor Unmesh Dinda has come up with an excellent tutorial that shows you how to straighten an image in Photoshop without cutting out the edges. He shows you how to use the straighten and … [Read more...]
Airtel Africa Shows How Fast Its Network Is With These Brilliantly Art-Directed Ads
Ogilvy Africa has come up with an excellent print + outdoor campaign for telecommunications company Airtel Africa. The 3-ad series features aerial photographs of a lion, a shark, and a cheetah chasing their preys at full speed in a circular path. The outline of a mobile phone is superimposed on the photograph, which makes the circular path resemble a loading ring that you see … [Read more...]
National Geographic Comes Up With An Iconic Cover To Raise Awareness About Plastic Pollution
National Geographic magazine has launched a campaign titled 'Planet or Plastic' to raise awareness about plastic pollution and the threat it poses to the oceans. For their June 2018 cover, Mexican artist Jorge Gamboa has come up with an iconic photo-illustration that looks like an iceberg at first, but is actually a plastic bag partially submerged in the ocean. The tagline … [Read more...]
Beautiful Alphabet Series Of The World’s Most Famous Cities And Their Iconic Landmarks
Indian graphic designers Rigved Sathe and Payal Jagwani have come up with a beautiful project titled "Around The World With Type" that mixes typography and photography to represent some of the world's most famous cities and their iconic landmarks. Each letter represents a city and includes a photograph of a famous landmark clip-masked within the letterform. From New York's … [Read more...]
NVIDIA Develops A.I. That Can Fix Damaged Photos And Remove Unwanted Objects With Amazing Accuracy
Researchers from American technology company NVIDIA have developed a deep learning method that can reconstruct damaged, corrupted, or partially-erased photos with realistic results. The method performs a process called "image inpainting" that can also be used in photo editing software to remove unwanted objects and fill those areas with realistic computer-generated … [Read more...]
How To Blend Images Seamlessly And Create A Perfect Composite In Photoshop
One of the most skillful tasks in Photoshop is to blend objects from multiple images that have different colors, tones, and lighting, into one single image and make it look perfect. This is one of the key differentiators between the work of a professional designer and an amateur. Photoshop instructor Unmesh Dinda from PiXimperfect has come up with a brilliant tutorial that … [Read more...]
This Hidden Feature In Photoshop Lets You Convert Low-Res Images To High-Res
There are times when we as designers have no choice but to work with low-resolution images. Perhaps an asset from a client is too small, or we need to scale something up to fit a larger layout. The usual result is exactly what we expect: loss of sharpness, visible artifacts, and an overall drop in quality that no amount of clever retouching can fully fix. Photoshop … [Read more...]
10 Clever Tricks Used To Make Food Look Delicious In Photos And Ads
Did you know that scoops of mashed potatoes are dyed in different colors and used in ice cream ads because they don't melt during long shoots under hot studio lights? Cereal ads often use glue instead of milk because it doesn't make the cereal soggy. Shaving cream is used instead of whipped cream because it has a consistent thickness and doesn't melt. Top Trending has come … [Read more...]
This Clever Photoshop Trick Lets You Stretch Backgrounds Without Distorting Your Subject
The Content-Aware Scale tool under the Edit menu in Photoshop lets you stretch or scale an image seamlessly by filling the selection with surrounding pixels and blending them together. However the tool has a stretch limit, beyond which, the subject of the image starts getting distorted. In this short tutorial, Mumbai-based Photoshop expert Unmesh Dinda shares a few useful … [Read more...]
5 True Stories Behind Famous Hollywood Studio Logos
Before the opening credits of a film, there is usually a short animation of the logo of the film studio (also known as production logo). Some famous examples include DreamWorks, Paramount, Columbia, MGM, and Disney. You must have seen the logos of these major film studios many times, but have you ever wondered about the story behind them? For example, why does the DreamWorks … [Read more...]
Volkswagen Hires Photographer To Shoot Their Classic Beetle, He Uses A Toy Car Instead
Volkswagen and agency DDB Hamburg commissioned Mexican photographer Felix Hernandez to shoot a series of photos of their 1968 Classic Beetle. Felix, known for his realistic miniature photography, used his signature technique and came up with some stunning shots using a scale model of the Beetle. The shoot took place at Felix’s studio. He used a Canon camera, miniature … [Read more...]
Brilliantly Art-Directed Coca-Cola Ads Make You Look Closer To See What Their Bubbles Are Made Of
Coca-Cola's advertising has always been about bringing people together. In this campaign from Coca-Cola Middle East, agency Memac Ogilvy Dubai came up with a series of print and outdoor ads that show Coke cups, glasses, and bottles filled with crowds of people that look like they’re at a concert. The photography, art direction, and post production makes them look like … [Read more...]
Testing Photoshop’s New ‘Select Subject’ Tool That Lets You Select Objects In Just One Click
To make selections in an image in Photoshop, designers use either the Pen Tool, the Lasso tool, the Quick Select tool, or the Magic Wand. All of these require a certain level of effort. To make life easier for users, Adobe has released a new feature called 'Select Subject' in Photoshop CC 2018 that lets you select objects from plain and complex backgrounds, in just one … [Read more...]
How To Cut Out Hair From Busy Backgrounds In Photoshop
Jesús Ramirez from Photoshop Training Channel has come up with an excellent tutorial that shows you how to mask hair from busy backgrounds in Photoshop. The tutorial begins with a quick crash course on layer masks and the Select and Mask workspace. Ramirez then shows you how to cut out hair from solid and busy backgrounds. You will also learn how to create brushes in … [Read more...]
Magazine’s Epic Photoshop Fail Leaves Oprah Winfrey With 3 Hands, Reese Witherspoon With 3 Legs
From acting, directing, and producing, to running companies and businesses - how do Hollywood A-listers Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon manage to play so many different professional roles? How are they able to multitask and get so much done in 24 hours? Turns out that, unlike the rest of us mere mortals, Oprah and Reese are gifted with an extra set of limbs. Vanity Fair … [Read more...]
25 Brilliant Ads With Incredible Art Direction And Post Production
In advertising, the magic often lies in how the message is visually delivered. A campaign can have the best creative concept, but if the art direction misses the mark, it cannot be a success. It's imperative for designers, illustrators, and art directors to ensure every visual detail works harmoniously to captivate the audience and make the ad memorable. In this article, … [Read more...]
Photoshop’s New ‘Select Subject’ Tool Lets You Select People And Objects In Just One Click
To select people or objects from an image in Photoshop, designers use either the Pen Tool, the Quick Select tool, the Magic Wand, or the Lasso tool. All of these require a certain level of effort. To simplify workflow for users, Adobe has released a new tool called 'Select Subject' in Photoshop CC 2018 that lets you select people or objects from plain or complex backgrounds, … [Read more...]
The Art Direction Is Amazing In These Clever Ads For Three Mobile’s Unlimited Data Service
Irish mobile network Three Mobile wanted to promote their unlimited data service. They commissioned Dublin-based agency Boys And Girls to create a series of print/web ads that showcased the benefits of unlimited data service for the consumer. Using CG and stock photography, the agency came up with a three-ad campaign that shows a swimming pool, a soccer field, and a music … [Read more...]
The Story Behind That Iconic Photo Of Steve Jobs
Albert Watson is an award-winning, widely published Scottish photographer known for his iconic portraits of celebrities. Perhaps his most famous portrait is the 2006 shot of Steve Jobs that is seen everywhere - from print to the internet. It has been used on the cover of the Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson. It was also the photograph Apple used on their site … [Read more...]
Adobe Scribbler Is A Powerful Tool That Can Colorize Any Black & White Image Within Seconds
Have you ever wanted to colorize old black and white photos of yourself or your loved ones? The conventional process involves meticulous preliminary research followed by hours and hours of work in Photoshop. Hundreds of layers of color are added and blended together with precision. The physics of how light works also needs to be taken into account. … [Read more...]
Guy Accepts Tough Photoshop Challenge To Remove A Crane From A Building Photo In 2 Hours, Here’s The Result
Illinois-based photographer Paul Frederiksen posted a photo of the Domino Sugar factory in Baltimore to the /r/photography IRC channel but he wasn't happy with it because a crane was obstructing the view. He wanted a clear shot of the building but the crane had been parked there for months and wasn't going anywhere. UK-based photographer Denyer stepped in and said he could … [Read more...]
Beautiful Images Of Everyday Objects Organized By Color
Caroline South is a photographer and content-creator based in West Sussex, UK. A graduate of the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, Caroline loves to paint, draw, and craft artwork using natural or 'found' items. She spends a lot of time exploring the Southern Coast collecting pottery and sea glass which she often uses in her photography. Color is an important aspect of … [Read more...]
Top 10 Websites To Download Free Photos For Personal And Commercial Use
Finding free images for your projects can be quite a pain. Most of the "free" stock image sites come with terms and conditions that don't allow photos to be used for commercial projects, or require permission/attribution, or the images are just not good enough. … [Read more...]
Google Creates Algorithm That Removes Watermarks From Stock Photos
Watermarks are used to mark and protect the copyright of millions of images on the web. They are extensively used by stock image services in their image previews and are usually added with low opacity so that the image content is still visible. Removing a watermark from a single image can be extremely challenging specially if the background is complex. … [Read more...]
Photographer Captures Beautiful, Minimal Photos Of California That Have A Soothing Effect
Ludwig Favre is a French photographer specializing in landscape photography of American cities. His images have been used for advertising campaigns, magazine editorials, books, galleries, and more. … [Read more...]
Check Out The Art Direction In These Delicious Ads For Handmade Ice Cream
Agency PPM in São Paulo has come up with an exceptionally well-crafted campaign for Habib's handmade ice cream. The 3-ad series features different flavours of ice cream in the shape of famous sculptures of the Greek Goddess Artemis, Easter Island Moai, and The Thinker. The tagline reads "Introducing the all new creamy masterpiece". Check out the ads below. … [Read more...]
Convert Any Image Into A Stylish Duotone With These 7 Free Photoshop Actions
Duotone images are the rage nowadays in graphic and web design. But creating the perfect duotone image in Photoshop can be quite a challenge. You need to adjust the colors, brightness, contrast, opacity, create gradient maps, and more. … [Read more...]
31 Funny Photos Taken One Second Before Disaster
A picture of a dog in a pool is cool. But a picture of a dog diving into a pool…is priceless. Photographers wait days, weeks and months to capture the perfect shot but sometimes, the most epic moments are captured by accident. And the timing is so damn perfect that those photos can never be recreated. … [Read more...]
How To Stay Creative, Even When You’re Not In The Mood
Every artist faces creative block at some point or the other. In this short video, filmmaker and photographer Sean Tucker discusses how he deals with the three major resistances to his creative work - perfectionism, rationalization, and fear. Watch below. … [Read more...]