by Bryce Whitty

 

"I recently came across a really useful Computer Hardware Chart made by a member on Deviantart that helps you visually identify various types of plugs, ports, sockets and RAM.
Most technicians should already know how to identify many of these, but there a quite a lot of lesser known plugs and ports that I either haven’t seen before or have seen, but didn’t know what it was called.

I have provided a link to a shrunken down version for easy web viewing that is only 2mb in size and an extremely high resolution version that weighs in at 24mb."


Images:
You can also get these graphics printed as a poster to hang in your workshop over at DeviantArt via this link.

Low Resolution Web Version (2mb)

Ultra High Resolution Version (24mb)

Creating grainy textures are great for retro illustrations, typography, and logos. Alternatively, you can incorporate these effects into compelling new styles. You can always scan in similar textures and Live Trace them in Illustrator, but you can pretty easily create this type of effect all inside Illustrator!

Final Image

Here is a sample image of what these techniques can do. Further down in the tutorial, I give a quick breakdown of the process.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS5 (You should be able to create this tutorial in CS4 and CS3 but some of the tutorial images might look different.)
• Difficulty: Beginner / Intermediate
• Topics Covered: Grain Effect, Gradient, Gradient Meshes, Blends
• Estimated Completion Time: 15-20 minutes

Grainy Textures

In the following sections I’ll show you how to create these grainy textures from a couple of different elements within Illustrator. Basically you can create these textures from any element that contains a graded value of color (like a gradient). I’m sure some of you have already figured out this technique by creating some of the past Vectips texture tutorials or on your own, but for those of you that haven’t, you should have fun.

Gradients

Basic

First up is gradients. Gradient are good for creating grainy textures that don’t require any complex contours to the texture. To start, create a simple linear gradient with the default white and black color stops in a rectangle. With the gradient selected, go Effect > Texture > Grain. In the Grain Effects dialog, change the Intensity to 74 (you can experiment with this number to get the grain you desire), Contrast 50, and Grain Type to Sprinkles. That’s really all! The real magic comes when you apply color and blending modes to the texture.

Color

You can change the color stops in your gradient, but I like to place an object or new fill below the grain effect and set the grain’s blending mode to Multiply because of the white space the Grain effect creates. Let’s take a look at doing this with the Appearance panel.
Take your same rectangle and fill it with a solid color. From the pop-up menu of the Appearance panel, select New Fill. Select the top copy and fill it with a linear gradient. Change the first color stop to white and the second to a darker color than your original. With the gradient fill still selected, apply your Grain effect and set the Blending Mode to Multiply from the Opacity item under the gradient fill.

Gradient Mesh

Basic

Gradient Meshes are great for creating more complex shapes with grainy textures. To start, draw an abstract shape with a tool of your choosing and fill it with black. You can either go Object > Create Gradient Mesh and set a specific numbers of points or use the Mesh tool (U) to click on your artwork to add mesh point. I’m using the Mesh tool (U), so deselect the artwork, select white from my swatches, and with the Mesh tool (U) click on the artwork to add points. Now, apply the grain effect like before.

Color

Like with the Gradient technique, meshes work great with a color underneath and the grain’s blending mode to Multiply. Start the original shape a solid color and Copy (Command + C) and Paste in Front (F). Change the fill of the copy to a darker color of the original shape, apply the white mesh points, apply grain, and set to Multiply.

Blend

Basic

Blends tend to work great for either simple grainy textures or complex ones. It really just comes down to how you work and which is more comfortable, but the principle is pretty much the same. For the example, created a shape, go Object > Path > Offset, fill the offset with white, select both copies, and go Object >Blend > Make. Finally, apply your grain effect.

Color

Like both the Gradient and Gradient Mesh, it’s good to have an underlying color. Also like gradient meshes, you will need a copy of the original shape above the color with a darker color, grain, and blending mode set to Multiply.

Quick Tutorial

Here is a quick tutorial utilizing some of the techniques. I won’t go into much depth, it’s just to get an idea of how to use these techniques in an illustration.
First, I created a sketch, scanned it, and traced it with the Pen tool (P). Next, I filled the trace with color, and added stroked paths set with one of Illustrator new Stroke Profiles (Width Profile 1). To add more depth with the grain textures, I started with the linear gradients in the skin and hair. I used a blend for the outline grain texture face shape and used a gradient mesh for the collar of the character’s shirt. For the background I used a big radial gradient grain texture. I also used a radial gradient with the first color stop white, the second white with 0 Opacity, grain, and set the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Experiment

This is a great technique to experiment with! Experiment with different colors, shapes, blending modes, and layering of textures. Try these techniques on graphical elements other than illustrations. They work great on text, logos, UI elements, and more! You can even incorporate these effects with some of the other texture techniques I have written about.

Full name: Audrina Cathleen Patridge 

"I am not an attention whore. I’m not going to release naked photos of myself just to get attention. I’d rather get different attention and be respected."

DOB: May 9, 1985 
Place of birth: Placentia, Calafornia, USA
Occupation: Actress

Her History in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women

2011 #27 | 2010 #16

Audrina Patridge facts

• Nude pictures of Audrina were published in 2008.
• She was on the 2010 series of Dancing with the Stars but was eliminated in week six. Boo.
• She has not one, but two, hot sisters.
• Audrina was on the cover of FHM in April 2010.

Who is she?

Audrina Patridge was born in Placentia near Los Angeles and has lived in Orange County ever since. Why leave when it offers a daily natural suntan, a bevvy of rich, attractive boys and more parties than Caligula could handle? That was all she lived for before becoming the star of quasi-reality show The Hills - which features her doing much the same as everyday, only knowing more people are watching her do it.

To list all her boyfriends would be an exercise in futility, but it does mean she goes on a lot of dates so everyone stands a chance. Theoretically. She has also acted in many TV adverts and films such as Sorority Row and Into The Blue 2: The Reef - a straight to DVD movie. It didn’t really match up to Jessica Alba’s efforts in the original, but we think the gist of the film is the right idea.

Not one to pass up an opportunity though, Audrina is gong to be starring in her own reality television show in 2011. Tinie Tempah isn’t one to miss a trick either, giving her a shout out in his 2010 hit Pass Out, along with Heidi Montag. We’d put you in one of our songs too Audrina, although if we wrote a song it would probably just be about different girls, pizza and the feeling that you’ve achieved something when you make the walk from your bed to the sofa and turn the TV on in a hungover state on a Sunday morning.

credits to http://www.fhm.com/

What is InfoGraphics?

Infographics are traditionally viewed as visual elements such as signs, charts, maps, or diagrams that aid comprehension of a given text-based content. Often more powerful than words or imagery alone, infographics utilize visual elements of design and words to convey a message in such a way that context, meaning and understanding are transcended to the observer in a manner not previously experienced. However, visual representation of information can be more than just the manner in which we are able to record what has been discovered by other means. They have the potential to become the process by which we can discern new meaning and discover new knowledge. The observer becomes enlighten, having learned from the visual feast and is motivated to seek out more knowledge in this medium.

Since the days of the fire evolution, we’ve been using infographics, as visual shorthand to convey information to the viewer or readers that might take paragraphs or pages to explain in words. It’s not easy to represent the whole story in one single page or paragraph but it’s far more effective then reading entire book. There are number of infographics out there on every street. Infect, we interact with infographics on a daily basis, from the stick figure telling us when to cross the street, to icons in a web navigation designs.

Little History of InfoGraphics!

In prehistory, early humans created the first information graphics: cave paintings, later maps and now charts. Throughout most of this history, image and text have remained inextricably mixed. Later map-making began several millennia before writing, and the map from around 7500 BCE. After that icons were used to keep records of cattle and stock. The Indians of Mesoamerica used imagery to depict the journeys of past generations. Illegible on their own, they served as a supportive element to memory and storytelling.

Wow… That’s enough for history unless you really want to get die with boredom. Let’s move further.

Why Using InfoGraphics?

Because “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Information graphics can be done for several reasons. Along with them we can highlight the following important ones to enlighten the mystery.

• To transmit or communicate a message.
• To present large amounts of information in a compact and easy to understand way.
• To reveal the data. Discovering cause-effect relations, knowing what’s happening.
• To periodically monitor the evolution of certain parameters.

Elements of Information Graphics

There are many theories available by which you can identify number of entities that can be considered as the elements of infographics but the basic and key material of an information graphic is the data, information, or knowledge that the graphic presents with limited resources. However, In the case of data, the creator may make use of automated tools such as graphing software to represent the data in the form of lines, boxes, arrows, and various symbols and pictograms. The information graphic might also feature a key which defines the visual elements in plain English. A scale and labels are also common.

Type of InfoGraphics

There are many types of InfoGraphics available out there. Many information graphics are specialized forms of depiction that represent their content in sophisticated and often abstract ways. In order to interpret the meaning of these graphics appropriately, the viewer requires a suitable level of understanding. In many cases, the required understanding involves comprehension skills that are learned rather than innate. At a fundamental level, the skills of decoding individual graphic signs and symbols must be acquired before sense can be made of information graphic as a whole. However, knowledge of the conventions for distributing and arranging these individual components is also necessary for the building of understanding. Here we are conceding some major type of InfoGraphics to understand its usability.

01. Statistical Based InfoGraphics

Information graphics are visual devices intended to communicate complex information quickly and clearly. The devices include charts, diagrams, graphs, tables, maps and lists. Among the most common devices are horizontal bar charts, vertical column charts, and round or oval pie charts, that can summarize a lot of statistical information. Diagrams can be used to show how a system works, and may be an organizational chart that shows lines of authority, or a systems flowchart that shows sequential movement. Illustrated graphics use images to related data. The snapshots features used every day by USA Today are good examples of this technique. Tables are commonly used and may contain lots of numbers. Modern interactive maps and bulleted numbers are also infographics devices.

02. TimeLine Based InfoGraphics

Timelines are another type of infographics uses where visual representation of information and events that happen over time. A timeline is the presentation of a chronological sequence of events along a drawn line that enables a viewer to understand temporal relationships quickly. Sometimes it is also referred to chronology that is in tabular, year-by-year paragraphs, or other form.

03. Process Based InfoGraphics

These types usually can be seen in workspaces of factory or offices. You can also catch them in cooking magazines which shows their recipes using graphics. Have you ever wonder why most of the food products have InfoGraphics instead of detailed procedure at the back side of their cover or box. Out of many there is one important reason is to give you understanding about its uses in limited space. Using images to related data it can produce a good example of particular process so it’s easy to understand.

04. Location or Geography Based InfoGraphics

It’s the most common type of infographics which you can find everywhere starting from your school map to complicated astronomical graphs. City and country maps can also consider as a good example of geography based infographics. These types of graphics include symbols, icons, diagrams, graphs, tables, arrows and bullets. You must be remember that there are many types lines (parallel, dotted, straight) used in maps to define subways, streets, highways, and railway tracks. Also many symbols and icons used for specific landmark like school, church, hospital, bank etc. scale is the important parameter here as everything marked according to particular scale or ratio.

How to Create InfoGraphics?

Three main Questions needs to be answered before start making any information graphics which is Why?, How?, Does it Work? Making good information graphic consist of facilitating the understanding of complexity, instead of complicating what is simple. And this cannot be achieved without the clear understanding of what goal we pursue, who our audience is and a good deal of work and reflection.

Question 1: Why?

It’s the most important question out of three that why you want to create InfoGraphics? What is it for? What is the goal? Is it for research, for discovery, Or for monitoring the data?

If you can able of answer these queries then only you can able to collect the relevant data. This determines the type of relative data to gather and about which we have to ask what type it has to be (quantitative, sequential, categorical, analytical etc.) and more importantly: are they relevant for what we want?

Question 2: How?

If you done with “why?” part then you need to think about How you going to refine your data and in what way we will represent the data. A fundamental aspect of this section is that information graphics are interesting because they reveal differences. For this reason refining them and representing the data derived from their statistical treatment often reveals aspects that otherwise would result confusing which often leads to wrong conclusions.

Once data is refined now you have to choose the most effective visual metaphor. Mostly, for a little data, a table or even a sentence can be clearer that a chart. In certain occasions changing the color palette or the type of chart can clarify the situation enormously.

Question 2: Does it work?

Now this is a critical section where you have to identify if the outcome is fit the goal or not. if it doesn’t fit the goal that we have defined in the first step, we will have failed and again start with first step. There is no documented rule which says how to verify your results but after thoroughly answering all three questions you must able to judge if the result is favorable or not. The key resides in revising and experimenting with what we have done until we find an improvement.

Selection of Colors, Typography

A perfect layout, a good selection and nice resource can produce a creative output. Layout, textures and typography are used more often than one may think but the outcome of different combination can result verity of designs. Professionalism is built upon knowledge and experience. Typography is one of the most important key aspects of any design project. Among other things, effective typography always manages to achieve some of the important objectives of projects like corporate identity, attractiveness of the project, enrichment of visual appearance, trust and interest of viewers etc. Also it’s helps you to represent the bound emotions of your graphics.

Varying the colors, reducing the saturation of what is less important and increasing it for the most relevant data, modifying the typography, the size of fonts, eliminating everything that doesn’t contribute to showing and clarifying the data (irrelevant grids, redundant data, and unnecessary labels) without losing relevant information sometimes provides surprisingly improved results.

Some Examples and Best Practices

credits to http://www.instantshift.com/