Design Resources #1 - 22 AWESOME tutorial sites for graphics design.

[Note: This is a NEW weekly section!  Check back at the end of every week for the latest and greatest FREE design resources around the web.]

Even if you’re not just starting in on graphics design, tutorials can be EXTREMELY helpful.  Plus, the tuturial sites don’t stay popular unless they are relevant to what is currently going on in the design world, so they are a great place to keep up on trends too.

Here is a list of some of my favorite tutorial sites to keep up on.  Subscribe to them with your favorite RSS reader, and be ready for a steady flow of graphical goodness.  Have additions?  Leave them in the comments below!

1. PSDtuts.com — PSDtuts is bar-none the single best Adobe Photoshop tutorial design site on the ‘net.  Collis, Sean, and friends collect the hottest step-by-step tutorials out there for getting those ideas out of your head and onto paper.  If you get stuck, you can pay for a premium subscription and actually download the completed PSD file.  Awesome site.
2. Abduzeedo.com — A lot of PSDtuts tutorials are snagged from Abduzeedo, which is constantly a beacon for hip and high-quality designs.  Abduzeedo is ESPECIALLY relevant for special and lighting efects for Photoshop, Fireworks, and even general photography.  Check it out!
3. WebDesignerWall.com — Web Designer Wall is one of the most beautiful sites on this list, and is pretty directed: tutorials and tips for graphics design intended for integration into websites.  What are the results of this directed-ness when combined with an uber-talented designer by the name of Nick La?  A whole new level of graphically immersive web-design!  This is a MUST read for web-designers, and anyone else interested in beautiful UI graphics.
4. You SUCK at Photoshop — NO list of tutorials is complete without the webby award winning “You Suck at Photoshop” video series!  If you’re a visual learner, enjoy being insulted, hate the world and need someone to sympathize with, or just want to be entertained, check out Donnie’s VIDEO Photoshop tutorials!  The are Guaranteed to make you laugh and gain some great PS skills at the same time.
5. Vectips.com — If you’re into the Adobe Illustrator scene, then all these Photoshop tips aren’t helping a whole lot.  If you’re not in the Illustrator scene, then get there.  Scalable vector work is an extremely important area of graphic design (especially for high-def work) and there is no better place for vector / Illustrator tutorials than Vectips.com !
6. MyInkBlog.com — This one is close to my heart because, like That Indie Dude, My Ink Blog is brand new.  It’s been up a little longer than T.I.D., but it is still pretty new, and already making a big impact in the online graphics design world.  Like Abduzeedo, this is far more than just a tutorial site.  You’ll get great views, roundups, and interviews from around the web, as well as top-notch PS tutorials.  Thank Andrew Houle for a great site.
7. Vectortuts.com — VectorTuts is also a brand-new launch, and edited by Sean Hodge (who is also the main editor for PSDtuts and AiBURN.  All of these sites are updated regularly, and - believe it or not - don’t just recycle the same content.  Wow. As the name suggests, this is a vector (Adobe Illustrator) tutorial site.
8. AiBURN.com — AiBURN is the final Sean Hodge project, and also probably the least updated of the three.  That doesn’t make it any less of a great site for keeping up on the latest graphics design trends, though!  The site has been primarily focused around vector graphics design so far, but claims to have a new, more general direction in mind for the rest of its run.  Besides a wonderful tutorials section, this is also a great place to look for trends, inspiration, and other awesome info on the graphics design world.
9. kailoon.com — This is the home of Loon Design - a cartoon illustration tutorial site.  This site doesn’t get very frequent tutorial updates, but when they come, they are WONDERFUL.  Kai Loon obviously knows his stuff, and his work is worth checking out.  This site features more than just cartoon tutorials too — those are just the more original ones :)  Tutorials range across Photoshop and Illustrator.
10. blog.spoongraphics.co.uk — Next up is the personal project of UK-based Chris Spooner. Another young up and coming designer, this dude puts out some awesome tutorials.  Not only that, but his site is one of the cooler designs I’ve seen in a while!  The tutorials are mostly for Adobe Illustrator, with a few others thrown in periodically.
11. veerle.duoh.com — Veerle is possibly the coolest first name mentioned on this list.  On top of that, she’s easily the most accomplished chick on this list, having founded Duoh! and been listed in the Adobe® CS3 Web Workflow Guide (p. 62 - 63 of the PDF).  Way to go Veerle.  This site is packed with all sorts of design tips, inlcluding some of the best tutorials on the ‘net.  Check out her stuff: you’ll like it.  Awesome Photoshop, Illustrator, and general tutorials await.
12. digitalartsonline.co.uk — Digital Arts is an entire online digital art magazine.  Their byline is “Inspiration for Digital Creatives” and they sure do deliver!  On top of constant great articles and inspiration, Digital Arts delivers some top notch tutorials.  Put this one on your RSS feed — you won’t regret it!
13. computerarts.co.uk — #13 is another great UK-based online digital art magazine, and it too pushes some awesome tutorials.  The interesting thing about Computer Arts, is their tutorials often focus around font design and usage (an area often left in the dust) AND you can download PDFs for most of their walk-throughs!  Definitely a great place to learn some design theory and basics from.
14. CGarena.com — The next featured site is a stomping grounds for all things CG — that is 3D modeling and rendering.  CG Arena covers the gamut for CG info, and if you click “Tutorials” under the “Free Stuff” tab you can find a barrage of community submitted guides for your favorite modeling/rendering programs.  This is a wonderful site for those of you looking to take your design to the next “dimension” (sorry… bad pun :P).
15. PStut.info — Photoshop Tutor is a rather mysterious site, so I can’t say a whole lot about it.  They don’t update very frequently (every few weeks), and their tutorials are on the more basic side, but they are quality nonetheless.   Congrats to Michael on a great intro site!  Put this one in the feedreader under “Quality Photoshop Tutorials”.
16. PhotoshopStar.com — Photoshop Star is run by the young prodigy Eli Burford, and is AMAZINGLY well established for such a short site life and young designer.  On top of an array of great tutorials, there are also some other articles from the design industry.  Keep up the good work, Eli!
17. PhotoshopTutorials.ws — Don’t let the simple name mislead you: this site is home to some of the raddest photo-manipulation tutorials out there.  If you want to figure out a good way to make stock or personal photography really pop in your graphics work, then look no further.  Lots of these tutorials could be used for some killer print ad design.  Also expect to find other general Photoshop and Elements tutorials, and even some good photography how-tos.
18. PhotoshopLady.com — This is the last site with “Photoshop” in the title — I promise!  Photoshop Lady really doesn’t have any (that I know of) tutorials herself, but does a wonderful job of collecting the best around.  If you’re looking for the hot of hot, Photoshop Lady is wonderful hookup.  Plus, the site graphics are great!
19. TutorialsRoom.com — Tutorials Room is similar to Photoshop Lady: it collects a lot of the best tutorials around the ‘net.  Tutorials room, however, also has some wonderful tutorials of their own.  Tutorials cover Photoshop and Flash, with some web-development tips disbursed in there too.  Tutorials Room is definitely worth checking out.
20. FlashMyMind.com — Flash My Mind is one of the best basic Adobe Flash tutorial sites out there.  I don’t follow Flash nearly as close as Fireworks, Illustrator, and Photoshop - but I’ve definitely found some of the tutorials listed on this site pretty useful.  Give it a look — you’ll like what you find!
21. EntheosWeb.com — Entheos Web makes thier money by selling web and graphics templates and components, but on the side has compiled a great list of beginner to intermediate tutorials for Photoshop, Flash, Fireworks, and Dreamweaver.  Just click “Free Resources” to see their list.
22. FlashComponents.net — Flash Components has put together one of the best continually updated tutorial sites.  It is a community driven effort, so unlike other tutorials sites, it is based entirely on user submission.  Because of this, some of the tutorials aren’t so hot.  BUT, you can also find some of the most advanced and rediculously cool Flash tutorials out there.  When you’re ready to step up a level, head over to Flash Components and click “tutorials”.

That’s it!  If you add all of these to your feedreader, you should get a pretty good daily dose of awesome graphics design tutorials.  Have any you think should have made the list?  Drop them in the comments below!

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Tags: art, design, fireworks, flash, illustrator, photoshop, resources, tutorials

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 6th, 2008 at 10:27 am and is filed under design, favorites. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.