Photoshop manipulation is an art practiced by a lot of artists and designers. It is even used in creating print advertisements for major brands and for designing other promotional props. Every now and then, we witness several pictures on the internet that are altered or manipulated using Adobe Photoshop. But there are some pictures that baffle us into thinking they must be manipulated, even though they are not photoshopped at all.

Do you know the real secret involved in these pictures that claim not to be photoshopped? Well the answer is really simple…forced perspective. In the field of photography, forced perspective is a creative technique of taking pictures in a way that creates a visual illusion. Either the object appears to be away from its actual position or the photo is taken at the accurate moment to make it seem likewise.

Today, I have amassed a collection of 25 unbelievable not photoshopped pictures. I would leave it you guys to decide which ones are real and which are not.

1. Fall by Kristin Manson

2. Uprise of tourism by martinb1

3. Fall by A. Zahron

4. Holding on to daylight by hb19

5. Moving Statue

6. Loss Of Impulse

7. Marta’s Power

8. A Perfect Stairway

9. The Balcony

10. Kiss On The Forehead

11. Bonfire

12. I Need Time

13. Touch my sun

14. Fixing the WA Monument

15. Metamorphosis of my Wife

16. Baskeeeeett

17. In Memoriam

18. JULIO-APARICIO-GORED

19. Car on skates

20. Kicking The House

21. In Troubled Waters

22. Gravity Fools

23. Baby on the Wall

24. Levitation

25. Valentine Drawing

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Creating artworks using traditional and conservative formats isn’t such a big deal these days. A true artist is one who can create an artwork out of nothing, someone who has the creative ability and talent to put life into dull objects. One such artist that lives amongst us is Terry Border, who creates fascinating bent objects using metallic wires and other scrap metals. He has a blog where he displays some very enjoyable examples.

Terry Border is a commercial photographer by profession, but creates wire sculptures as hobby. His unique creation of bent objects involves turning a still life object into real life using wires and creating artwork created from junk. Each creation of bent objects made by Terry has a deep and conceptual story to it. Some of these creations are funny and hilarious while others are sweet and innocent. I had the best time watching his amazing artworks and look forward to his future creations as well.

Today, I would like to share 30 of Terry’s amazing bent objects creations with my readers. I am sure that graphic designers like me will find them inspiring to watch. Don’t forget to let me know in the comment section which ones you liked best.

1. Sleeping Pills

2. Bad Cheese

3. Zombie Nuts

4. Yoga Candle

5. Persius Potato

6. A Young Prince

7. Leaving

8. Dancing Queens

9. Musical Fruit

10. Horse Cork

11. Banana Peels

12. Peanut Butter & Jelly

13. Children of Candy Corn

14. Attack of the Fruits

15. Coffee Rings

16. Elf Killer

17. Party Cupcakes

18. Hamlet Was Nuts

19. Raisin Experience

20. Daddy Long Legs

21. Honeymoon Sweet

22. Macaroni Murder

23. Mother Egg

24. Pirate Marshmallow

25. Pear Fear

26. Pickle Kombat

27. Crab Fries

28. Lighter Dragon

29. Missing Oreo

30. Brush Basketball

Being in the graphic design field, I have always been intrigued to learn about various forms of artwork. Lately I came across a concept that left me spellbound…Shadow Art. Shadow Art has its root from the art of shadowgraphy, a skill of creating images using hand shadows. This technique was commonly used in Far East countries like China in shows to entertain people using hand shadows.

With the passage of time and the invention of electricity, shadow art has adopted several forms. Shadow art using a light source is one of the modern tricks these days. The contemporary shadow art technique relies on light source proceeding from the smallest possible point on an object. These objects can vary from human beings to artworks created from junk and scrap metal. The concept behind shadow art is careful placement of objects so that they reveal a meaningful message in the shadow when light filters through them.

Several illusionist and artist have mastered in the field of creating shadow sculptures. Many websites showcase shadow art that belong to various artists but fail to mention all of them. But after careful research, I have collected the masterpieces of four creative artists and have accredited each of them respectively. These include Fred Eerdekens, Kumi Yamashita, Tim Noble & Sue Webster and Shigeo Fukuda.

The following 20 shadow sculptures are hard to believe and captivating at the same time. So guys just have a look at these scintillating artworks and get amazed.

• Shadow Art by Tim Noble & Sue Webster:

Shadow Art 1

Shadow Art 2

Shadow Art 3

Shadow Art 4

Shadow Art 5

Shadow Art 6

Shadow Art 7

Shadow Art 8

• Shadow Art by Fred Eerdekens:

Shadow Art 9

Shadow Art 10

Shadow Art 11

Shadow Art 12

Shadow Art 13

• Shadow Art by Kumi Yamashita:

Shadow Art 14

Shadow Art 15

Shadow Art 16

Shadow Art 17

• Shadow Art by Shigeo Fukuda:

Shadow Art 18

Shadow Art 19

Shadow Art 20

Earthquakes, Tsunami, Floods and all other natural disasters are a constant reminder for the humanity that we are facing a massive calamity…Global Warming. The phenomenon of Global Warming explains the rising of Earth’s average temperature, resulting rise in sea levels. Even though we study about global warming and its after-effects in schools and colleges, but are comfortably numb and unresponsive to this global social issue.

Since we all live in the same world, responsibility lies on each one of us to control this menace. Regardless of country, color or creed, this is a problem on which the whole world must unite to resolve. As graphic designers, we can also play a part by spreading awareness of global warming through our skills of graphic design. Print advertisements that spread awareness of global warming are one place where designers can use their creativity to play their part in this fight against this global threat.

In order to create awareness, I have amassed a collection of 30 creative print ads that are responsive towards the issue of Global Warming.

Legambiente: Global warming

Stop Global Warming: Pig

Greenpeace: Global warming

Young Global Leaders Earth Love Movement Foundation: Act now

Greenpeace: New York

WWF: Fish

Glacier Society: Face

DHL: Small World

Global warming awareness: Earth

WWF: Homeless Seal

Greenpeace: White Roofs, Polar Bear

WWF Brasil: Tsunami

Stop Global Warming: Eggs

Greenpeace: Snow globe

WWF: Lungs

Global Warming: Iscream

Fight Global Warming

Help Stop Global Warming

Global Warming – Evolution

Global Warming – Stop It Now

Surfrider Foundation: Grenade

WWF: Bubbles

Global warming PSA – time

Anti Global Warming Campaign

Greenpeace Greece: Air conditioner

Greenpeace I Climate change

Flex Your Power: Legacy

AlAin AD

WWF Polar Bear

Ecology

The first thing that pops up in graphic designers mind, when they get a project is how to get started? Should they start searching the internet for ideas or grabbing a paper and pencil will be a better way to kick off? Should he solely rely on inspiration to start with a graphic design project or should he work hard from scratch to conceive an original idea?

Based on the process of accomplishing a graphic design project, there are three major types of graphic designers. The first are the ‘Lazy Workers’ who directly scavenge the web for ‘inspiration’ and try to pass off the work as ‘original’. The other type is the ‘Hard Workers’ who toil and sweat to drain out original ideas from their brain. The last type of designers is what I would like to call the “Smart Workers” who combine the effects of both inspiration and hard work. Which type of graphic designer should you avoid being?

But before you reach to a conclusion, let us analyze the dual outcomes of both aspects… ‘inspiration’ and ‘hard work’.

• Outcomes of Inspiration in Graphic Design:

Each day, more and more sites are evolving that provide access to graphic design inspiration. No doubt, these sites provide graphic designers a lot of help to get their creative juices flowing, but they also pose some disadvantages. Following are the positive and negative effects of inspiration on graphic design.

1. Saves Time and Effort:

For those graphic designers who are looking for a quick guidance for their graphic design project, inspiration is a wonderful tool to save time and efforts. Although it is not prudent to rely solely on inspiration, nonetheless it does save your time on brainstorming and conjuring up logo design ideas. For those designers who like to procrastinate or run short of time, it is a shrewd way of getting the job done.

2. Limits Creative Power:

As said earlier, inspiration has its advantages but also yields some drawbacks too. When you become overly reliant of ‘inspirational sites’ to give you design ideas, your creative and thinking power becomes restricted. For any graphic designer, it is not a good sign and also limits your ability to grow as a designer.

3. Higher Chances of Plagiarism:

On the downside, using inspiration can cause serious issues of copyright and plagiarism. Since you are just amending some aspects of an already existing design, there are chances that your design will look similar. One of the biggest personality types of graphic designer is uniqueness. This cannot be achieved by solely using inspirational material.

4. Learn About New Trends:

Regardless of the fact that inspiration limits your creative thinking, it gives you a lot to learn as well. Since thousands of creative designers upload their design concepts and ideas on inspirational platforms, it gives you a diverse spectrum of graphic and logo design trends to learn.

5. Causes Distraction:

The thing about using internet for ideas is that it causes a significant distraction. Considering the myriad blogs and websites that offer design inspiration have chains of ‘related stuff’ on each page, graphic designers are bound to keep on clicking one after the other. Moreover, the social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook will always be a constant waste of time.

• Outcomes of Hard Work in Graphic Design:

Having discussed the dual effects of inspiration, let us now turn our focus to the other side of the story. Those designers who work hard using their brain to generate a concept from scratch also reap various benefits. But there are a few drawbacks to this as well. Following are the dual outcomes of only using your head in graphic design:

1. Generate Unique Ideas:

Firstly, when you don’t take aid from any source, you are bound to generate ideas that are unique, fresh and distinctive. The concept that you create using your head will be something that hasn’t been done before.

2. Boundless Creativity:

As I highlighted earlier, inspiration bounds your ability to think as a graphic designer. Hence, by working solely on the basis of your own intellect you can employ boundless creativity and ingenuity. Since your thinking is not limited to the designs you search on the net, you will have freedom over your creative though process. You can brainstorm for novel and fresh ideas, which is an important stage of developing a creative design idea.

3. Sense of Pride:

4. Create Your Own Trend:

Design inspiration is all about following already existing trends and movements in graphic design. But when you use your intellect and brain power, you create an entirely new trend. Instead of being a trend-follower, you will become a trend-setter.

5. Requires Relatively More Time:

On the downside, relying solely on your intellect is relatively more time taking. Since these types of designers follow a comprehensive process, it involves more time that the designers who directly take inspiration from various sites and finish off the project.