Free Illustrator Brushes

Bittbox has just posted 28 Free Illustrator Brushes for making Swooshes and Swirls. The main purpose of the brushes is for making your own custom designs. As with most Adobe products, there is more than one way to accomplish the same thing. But these free brushes really help speed up the design process by allowing the designer to focus more on composition, and less on the intricacies of the swooshes and swirls.

115 Resources to Help You Develop on the Web

Degreetutor.com has posted a useful article about the Secrets of Self Taught Web Developers: 115 Resources to Help You Develop on the Web. If you are just getting started or a seasoned veteran there are many useful tools and links to peruse and a broad overview of web development. They cover all aspects of the web, from learning a coding language, to transferring files, and even navigating the new social media and video trends.

Photoshop Brushes

Almost everyone in the graphic design field uses Adobe Photoshop at one point or another. And a great feature of the software is the ability to add your own custom brushes. At Tutorial Blog, they've compiled a list of some of the most creative and free Photoshop brushes available. And if you can't find any you like, they've included some links on how to create your own.

CSS Speech Bubbles

This one is great fun. Learn how to make CSS speach bubbles that are customizable with square or rounded corners. Add a unique element to the blog comments area of your next web design.

Web Design References

There is an extensive collection of web design references at the University of Minnesota Duluth IT website. They cover a large variety of topics, like Dreamweaver, CSS, Typography, XML, and Navigation & Labeling. And if you'd like a wide perspective of all they have to offer, check out the Web Design Sitemap. There are plenty of articles, tips, and references to keep even a seasoned web design professional learning something new. And MLT Group is proud to have headquarters in the great state of Minnesota along with high quality educational institutions like UMD.

8 Web Design Tactics to Help You When You're Stuck

There are times when website design can be frustrating. You've tried looking around for inspiration in all the usual places, but the design just isn't working. With all the possibilities for a great design, like those featured in the web design portfolio, you'd think constructing a unique and professional site would be simple. But the truth is it's not. So when you are stuck, check out SEOMoz's 8 Web Design Tactics to Help You When You're Stuck. Hopefully you'll be on your way to design success in no time.

Abstract, Surrealism, Impressionism Art Galleries

MDE-ART.com has posted quite a few galleries of art for inspiration and enjoyment. Even web designers can find design ideas amidst the closely related realm of art. The art galleries are presented in numerous styles, like abstract expressionism, abstract surrealism, speed paintings, and concept art. And the subject matter expressed ranges from animal art, portrait art, landscape paintings, and even polymer clay sculptures. The website is updated frequently and the art blog is a great resource for artistic inspiration and news too.

Quick CSS Mockups with Photoshop

A List Apart has posted an excellent article about Quick CSS Mockups with Photoshop. If you're a designer that needs to create mockups quickly with standards-compliant code and tools you already use, then you'll get the most out of this article. This is also an alternative to tables based code that Adobe Photoshop or ImageReady create.

Tingelets, Color HTML

There is an interesting free service for web designers and web developers, like MLT Group, that can be added to HTML. It's called Tingelets; helpful bookmarklets that add a little of color to tags and CSS classes or ids on the site you are currently visiting. This makes it possible to quickly compare website layouts on a number of different browsers.