OPEN THOUGHT...OPEN EXPRESSION

Hi, I'm Nicki, Digital Artist. Come in, poke around and most of all get a little inspired about how wonderful digital art—in it's many forms— can be.
» Please send responses and questions to ideas[at]nickihart.com
» View my complete portfolio at nickihart.com

A Sampling of My Artwork...


DESIGN LIKE A PRO: Find out the difference between RGB and CMYK colors in this overview video. Also learn how to choose which one to use for what project and how to switch between the modes in Photoshop and InDesign.

THANKS TO THE CORKSAILER FOR THE REQUEST
http://www.youtube.com/user/thecorksailor

Judging a Magazine by Its Cover


People or Art: What makes an engaging cover?

We start our adventure into magazine cover design with setting up the document. Then we move to dropping in a photo and title for our magazine in Part 1 of this multi-part series in Photoshop. I also share some cool tips like color selection, how to choose the right photo and how to bring the model’s head in front of the magazine title—a great way to create depth with this popular magazine style.

Magazine Cover Design: Part 1 (via designlikeapro)

Part 2 of magazine design is all about decisions and figuring out how to use your cover image to draw readers into your content through the use of headlines and subtext. Understand hierarchy of font sizes, styles and colors to create an eye-catching magazine cover that gets readers to dive inside for more. Learn some insider tricks as well as solutions to common problems in placing your headlines and subtext.

*Note this tutorial assumes you have basic knowledge of Photoshop layers and the text tool.

(Source: youtube.com)

Check out the progression of this abstract in four steps on nickihart.com

Check out the progression of this abstract in four steps on nickihart.com

I’ve been super busy in Photoshop over the last few weeks creating fairy tale lands for an upcoming project in 2012! Most of you know my artwork is mostly abstracts mixed with a little photography here and there. This is the first project where I literally dived head first into photo composition thus, unleashing completely new Photoshop powers. While challenging, this has been a very rewarding and fun project. As artists, we should always try to evolve our skills and sometimes that means stepping outside of our normal routine. I’ll share more fairy tale photos soon.

I’ve been super busy in Photoshop over the last few weeks creating fairy tale lands for an upcoming project in 2012! Most of you know my artwork is mostly abstracts mixed with a little photography here and there. This is the first project where I literally dived head first into photo composition thus, unleashing completely new Photoshop powers.

While challenging, this has been a very rewarding and fun project. As artists, we should always try to evolve our skills and sometimes that means stepping outside of our normal routine. I’ll share more fairy tale photos soon.

One of the many joys of being an artist is the ability to tackle many art forms. I am a designer, photographer and a musician. A lot of my personal art (art I create for myself) is abstract in nature. This is a sweet release from the corporate imagery I work to create everyday. While personal projects are easily put on hold in order to finish up client work, I’m making a true effort to complete a couple personal projects this year. I’ve posted a couple piano jams on my blog and I’m excited to announce that I plan to expand these jams into a full album in 2012. My abstract piano jams are completely improvised and never repeated. Some melodies and notes make repeat appearances, but I enjoy sitting in front of my piano and playing whatever flows. The next step is to record these abstract jams. For a musician that means time in the studio recording your tunes. For a graphic designer that means designing an album cover. For me, that means doing both of those things, YIKES! I’m ready for the challenge and can’t wait to share my progress. Check back for updates as I venture into album production.

One of the many joys of being an artist is the ability to tackle many art forms. I am a designer, photographer and a musician. A lot of my personal art (art I create for myself) is abstract in nature. This is a sweet release from the corporate imagery I work to create everyday. While personal projects are easily put on hold in order to finish up client work, I’m making a true effort to complete a couple personal projects this year.

I’ve posted a couple piano jams on my blog and I’m excited to announce that I plan to expand these jams into a full album in 2012. My abstract piano jams are completely improvised and never repeated. Some melodies and notes make repeat appearances, but I enjoy sitting in front of my piano and playing whatever flows. The next step is to record these abstract jams.

For a musician that means time in the studio recording your tunes. For a graphic designer that means designing an album cover. For me, that means doing both of those things, YIKES! I’m ready for the challenge and can’t wait to share my progress. Check back for updates as I venture into album production.