The design community comes up with quality links month after month and November was no exception. It was a challenge deciding which ones would make the cut. So without further ado, here’s Creative Bookmarks November.

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Photoshop Tutorials


Master Special Finishes

Tony Harmer draws on simple techniques for adding spot colours, varnishes and special finishes to your layouts



How to Create a Realistic IES Lighting Effect in Photoshop

I was amazed by how real this one looked. Using Photoshop CS4 and some free plugins, you can make one for yourself. A definite must read!



Create a Funky Perspective of a Model Riding Digital Volume

An amazing tutorial on PSDTuts that teaches you how to make an excellent composition giving you the feeling of depth and motion.



How to Create a Contemporary Style Illustration Without Drawing Skills

Can’t draw? That’s ok. This tutorial teaches you simple techniques in Photoshop that will help you make a great looking illustration.



How to Create a Magician’s Hat in Photoshop

Using the pen tool and some shapes, this Photoshop tutorial walks you through making a very nice magician hat icon.



Creating the Spoiled Princess Fashion Poster

This is a great tutorial that shows you how to combine images the right way. A very easy to follow tutorial with a great end result.



Design a Vintage Poster with Vector Pack 16

This tutorial, by GoMedia, is a hybrid tutorial that combines the capabilities of Illustrator and Photoshop to make an awesome vintage poster.



How To Design a Thanksgiving Pumpkin in Photoshop

Using filters and layer styles this great tutorial by Stephen Petrany shows you how to make a great looking pumpkin icon.



Easy Star Light in Photoshop

This is an awesome hybrid tutorial using Photoshop and Illustrator by Abduzeedo. It uses pattern overlay’s and light effects to create a great desktop wallpaper.



Old Style Typography Sign in Photoshop

Another hybrid tutorial that uses Illustrator and Photoshop to walk you through making a custom font and then applying several textures to give a grungy and vintage look.



Learn How to Create Your Own Set of Splatter Brushes for Photoshop

This is a video tutorial by Colorburned that walks you through making your very own splatter Photoshop brushes.



Design an Intense Particle Illustration using Photoshop

I was personally amazed by the photo manipulation by Media Militia. This tutorial teaches you how you can use brushes and lighting effects to accomplish a similar look.



Illustrator Tutorials


How to Create a Funny Insurance Agent

A great tutorial on AiMonkey that teaches you how to use basic shapes and the pen tool to create an insurance agent illustration.



Draw an Angry Little Samurai in Illustrator

Another great Illustrator tutorial from AiMonkey. This time to create a samurai character.



Create a Rolling Stones Inspired Tongue Illustration

In this tutorial, Chris Spooner shows you how to replicate the iconic Rolling Stones tongue starting with a sketch and finishing with a vector illustration.



How to Create a Crafts Inspired Vector Kids Illustration

This tutorial by Chris Spooner teaches you how to create kids illustrations using simple shapes in Illustrator.



Create an Iconic Logo Design

In this tutorial, logo designer Jacob Cass, shares his expertise and teaches you how to make a simple yet striking logo.



Web Tutorials


Making an Interactive Picture with jQuery

A great tutorial from the great guys at Build Internet that teaches you how to use Jquery to make an image that has tooltips and other helpful information.



Building an Image Gallery with Progressive Enhancement

This tutorial by NETTuts will teach you how to make an awesome image gallery using progressive enhancement techniques.



How to Create an Author Info Section in Wordpress

Most big blogs have this feature to showcase the picture, bio and homepage of their writers. This tutorial on Line25 teaches you how to implement the same feature on your blog.



Selling Ad Space: Tips from Top Design Blog Owners

An excellent interview on Line25 that talks to some of the best design bloggers around. Great tips on how to successfully sell ad space. By the way, our very own David Leggett was part of the interview!



The Four Key Components of a Great Web Design

What are the key principals of a great web design? This article on Web Design Ledger claims that there are only four and that they are indispensable for an excellent website design.



Leveraging Your Blog to Promote Your Services

Blogging has the ability to improve your business. However, you’ve got to put effort into it. This great article on FreelanceSwitch shows you where to focus that effort so that the results are positive.



Blogging: Secure Your Spot as the “Go-To” Blog

There are millions of people that blog. However, to stand out, you have to know how to blog effectively. Rob Bowen gives some excellent tips on how to do it in this article.



How To Run a Successful Series of Articles

Although running a series of articles requires a lot of planning, preparation and work; it can be a great way to communicate to your readers. This article, written by Brandon Cox, talks about the essentials of doing it right.



Freebies, Inspiration & Resources


Bokeh Effects Pack

Media Militia is featured three times in our bookmarks this month and that’s because they’re constantly coming up with great stuff. One of their newest packs “Bokeh Effects” has 42 excellent images free for your use.



Distressed Grunge Pack

Media Militia released this grunge pack that comes in two different formats. You can get the pack in Photoshop brushes, as vectors or both!



Creativity Runs in the Blood Wallpaper

With the return of Arbenting came the week of wallpapers and I was fortunate enough to have a wallpaper I designed featured in their series. You can download seven different sizes that should fit any moniter plus an iPhone version.



Free Icon Pack: November Seasonal Icons

The designers over at IconShock shared some great looking, fall inspired icons this month that are free for your use.



26 Inspirational Vector Posters from Creattica

It continues to amaze me how Creattica is always featuring some stunning work from around the design community. This post on VectorTuts rounds up the best of the best for your inspiration.



Inspiration in Purple: The FYC Edition

This is a excellent series by Rob and Angie Bowen where they round-up creative works in a specific color scheme. This time it’s purple. The works featured are jaw dropping.



Three Big Mistakes that Can Make or Break Your Design Career

This is an excellent article by the Editor of Fuel Your Interface, Jonathan Cutrell, that lists some mistakes that can hamper your design career.



How to Use Retro Colors in Your Designs

The vintage/retro feel is a trend that is coming back. This article on Six Revisions showcases some retro themed web designs and teaches you how to replicate the style for yourself.



Interview with Rogie King from SpectrumDNA

This is an awesome interview on Fuel Your Creativity with Rogie King where he talks about his everyday life, who inspires him and what plans he has for the future.



Interview with Ryan Putnam, aka Rype

Ryan Putnam is an illustrator that I really admire. In this interview with him on VectorTuts, Ryan opens up about how he started in design, his illustration styles, and his current and future projects.



Get Featured in Creative Bookmarks

If you’d like to be featured in the next volume of Creative Bookmarks, simply send us you’re tutorial, resource, or article link before the end of the month. If we think it’s a top notch link, we’ll be sure to share it with all of our readers!

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