2014 has been a very busy year for the Design & Illustration section of Tuts+ and here's why:
We've successfully merged into one unified site to provide all content within the Tuts+ family in one glorious site! This helped give you all your design content within one wonderful section... Design & Illustration.
We've ventured into more niche areas of content, such as fractal art and Arabic calligraphy.
We've been expanding our content for smaller software brands, such as Sketch, Inkscape, Pixelmator and iDraw.
We've been reaching out to more of our community by translating our most popular tutorials into a variety of languages, such as Portuguese, German, Arabic, Russian and Spanish.
And there's so much more to mention, but the main thing is, we provide all this written tutorial content for free!
The Top 40 Design & Illustration Posts of 2014
So apart from all of these highlights of 2014, what exactly were the top tutorials posted in the Design & Illustration section? Well in no particular order, it's my pleasure to share with you our top 40 tutorials.
Vector
How to Create Banner, Label and Badge Templates in Illustrator
Nataliya Dolotko
Modo
Create a 3D, Fruit-Textured, Text Effect
Tomasz Lechocinski
Tools & Tips
10 Things You Need to Know About Smart Objects in Photoshop
Martin Perhiniak
Pixel Art
How to Create an Animated Pixel Art Sprite in Adobe Photoshop
Gleb Polikanin
Vector
How to Create a Retro Fox Illustration in Adobe Illustrator
Nataliya Dolotko
Vector
How to Create a Surreal Poster Design in Adobe Illustrator
Mary Winkler
UI Design
Designing an Elegant Blog Layout in Photoshop
Tomas Laurinavicius
Animation
Create an Animated Interface GIF in Adobe Photoshop
Mohammad Jeprie
Adobe Photoshop
The A to Z of Adobe Photoshop
Mary Winkler
Patterns
How to Create an Abstract Low-Poly Pattern in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
Mary Winkler
Poster Design
Create a Post-Apocalyptic Movie Poster in Adobe Photoshop and InDesign
Mark Mayers
Print Design
How to Create a Promotional Flyer in Photoshop
Róbert Šarudy
Logo Design
Comparing the Logo Creation Process Between Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
Mary Winkler
Drawing
Human Anatomy Fundamentals: How to Draw Hands
Joumana Medlej
Text Effects
How to Write in the Sand in Adobe Photoshop
Rose
Vector
Design a CD Cover in Low-Polygonal Grungy Style in Adobe Illustrator
Yulia Sokolova
Adobe InDesign
Create 5 High-Impact Typography Effects in Adobe InDesign
Grace Fussell
Portrait
How to Render Short, Detailed Hair in Adobe Illustrator
Sharon Milne
Text Effects
Create a Retro Gold Leather Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
Rose
Sketch
The A to Z of Sketch
Armando Sotoca
Halloween
Create a Mysterious Halloween Scene in Adobe Illustrator
Yulia Sokolova
Halloween
Create "The Walking Dead" Inspired Grungy Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
Rose
Halloween
Create a Spooky Forest Setting in Adobe Photoshop
Kirk Nelson
Color
Experiment With Color in Adobe Illustrator to Create an Abstract Rose Illustration
Masha Goubar
Adobe Illustrator
The 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Adobe Illustrator Users
Cheryl Graham
Tools & Tips
10 Ways to Optimize an Animated GIF File
Martin Perhiniak
Photo Effects
How to Add Realistic Falling Snow to a Photo in Photoshop
Tony Aube
Text Effects
How to Create a Chalk Logo Effect in Photoshop
Lindsey Meredith
Illustration
Create an Illustrated Watercolor and Ink Photo Effect in Photoshop
Sheridan Johns
Poster Design
Create a Mixed Martial Arts Event Flyer in Photoshop
Wojciech Pijecki
Text Effects
Create a High-Gloss, Bubble Gum Text Effect in Photoshop
Samuel Mensah
Poster Design
How to Create an Ornate, Vintage, Poster Design in Photoshop
Benjamin Mounsey
Web Roundups
The A to Z of Adobe Illustrator
Mary Winkler
Comics
Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Draw Cartoon Hands
Carlos Gomes Cabral
Comic Art
Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Draw the Female Form
Carlos Gomes Cabral
Illustration
Create a Large Face, Cat Illustration from Stock in Adobe Illustrator
Sharon Milne
Illustration
Create a Tattoo Style, Grunge, Day of Dead Girl Poster in Illustrator
Sergey Kandakov
Typography
Mastering Calligraphy: How to Write in Roundhand Script
Megan Eckman
Typography
Mastering Calligraphy: How to Write in Cursive Script
Megan Eckman
Character Design
Create a Fun Cartoon Character Face in Adobe Illustrator
Andrei Marius
Happy New Year and All the Best for 2015!
As always, if there's something you want to learn, no matter how simple, complex or niche it is within the Design & Illustration world, drop us a comment and we'll be sure to consider it.
If you're interested in seeing if your skills and educational content can make the cut for the Top 40 posts of 2015, then why not get in touch!
I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best for 2015, from Team Awesome (the ever-so-talented Design & Illustration Instructor Team) and myself. We hope you join us in 2015 for more inspirational and original content!