So today I felt like sharing some useful websites that provide pre-made color palettes (left side), as well as sites that allow you to create custom ones (right side). They can be used for graphic design, themes, art, interior design, or just something pretty to look at.
Tolga Girgin is a Turkish graphic designer and electrical engineer who experiments with calligraphy. He works as an electrical engineer at a company in his home town of Eskişehir, Turkey.
But Girgin also has a way with calligraffiti, an art form that blends traditional calligraphy with graffiti art, pioneered and named by Dutch artist Niels Shoe Meulman. His latest pieces involve a number of 3D lettering pieces that use shadow and perspective to make it appear like the letterforms are lifting off the page.
I designed these shoes with a unique goal in mind: to create a shoe as a summation of an entire culture’s art. Each shoe possesses design qualities, color palettes, and designs only found in the respective culture. This project allowed me to investigate art historical cultures in a special way by challenging myself to translate an entire style (or series of styles) onto a single object.
Conveniently, I was able to use these designs as the concentration section of my AP Studio Art portfolio and received a score of a 5!
I possess full federal copyright of these designs.
When Brazilian graphic designer Carol Rossetti began posting colorful illustrations of women and their stories to Facebook, she had no idea how popular they would become.
Thousands of shares throughout the world later, the appeal of Rosetti’s work is clear. Much like the street art phenomenon Stop Telling Women To Smile, Rossetti’s empowering images are the kind you want to post on every street corner, as both a reminder and affirmation of women’s bodily autonomy.
"It has always bothered me, the world’s attempts to control women’s bodies, behavior and identities," Rossetti told Mic via email. "It’s a kind of oppression so deeply entangled in our culture that most people don’t even see it’s there, and how cruel it can be."
Rossetti’s illustrations touch upon an impressive range of intersectional topics, including LGBTQ identity, body image, ageism, racism, sexism and ableism. Some characters are based on the experiences of friends or her own life, while others draw inspiration from the stories many women have shared across the Internet.
"I see those situations I portray every day," she wrote. "I lived some of them myself."
Despite quickly garnering thousands of enthusiastic comments and shares on Facebook, the project started as something personal — so personal, in fact, that Rossetti is still figuring out what to call it. For now, the images reside in albums simply titled “WOMEN in english!" or "Mujeres en español!" which is fitting: Rossetti’s illustrations encompass a vast set of experiences that together create a powerful picture of both women’s identity and oppression.
One of the most interesting aspects of the project is the way it has struck such a global chord. Rossetti originally wrote the text of the illustrations in Portuguese, and then worked with an Australian woman to translate them to English. A group of Israeli feminists also took it upon themselves to create versions of the illustrations in Hebrew. Now, more people have reached out to Rossetti through Facebook and offered to translate her work into even more languages. Next on the docket? Spanish, Russian, German and Lithuanian.
It’s an inspiring show of global solidarity, but the message of Rossetti’s art is clear in any language. Above all, her images celebrate being true to oneself, respecting others and questioning what society tells us is acceptable or beautiful.
"I can’t change the world by myself," Rossetti said. "But I’d love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another."”
From the site: All images courtesy Carol Rossetti and used with permission. You can find more illustrations, as well as more languages, on her Facebook page.
a strong contender to start off with. this face projects a serene warmth and friendliness. i feel a sense of calm washing over me just from looking at her. i can imagine she would give good hugs. it’s almost a shame i refuse to invest in apple products on principle, because i’ll never get the opportunity to experience sending or receiving this emoji. 7/10
not so sure about this one. the transition from a red color scheme to magenta looks tacky and clashes messily with the yellow hues that form the face. not to mention her facial proportions are all off. her eyes are so far up on her forehead that i can only see them as eyebrows, and her smile, while beautiful, is too wide to inspire any positive emotions. this emoji looks like the joker wearing a valentine’s day skin. 1/10
the black border surrounding this emoji gives her a chunky, retro vibe which i like, but the lack of shading to give her any depth feels barren and emotionless, which is the exact opposite of how i want my intended recipient to feel when i send them this emoji. at least give her a blush. 3/10
another issue of proportionality here. have the samsung graphic designers never taken an art class? her eyes, like those of the google emoji, are too high up. either that or someone forgot to give her eyes at all, and is trying to pass off her eyebrows as optical organs instead. her smile is more promising, but the way it’s distanced from the eyes, which are also spaced too far apart, is infuriatingly distracting. the four hearts are a bonus, but the way they’re so evenly spaced and scaled feels too artificial to be genuine. 2/10
absolutely ENTHRALLED by the perfection of this emoji. her features are perfectly proportioned, her blush expertly applied, and the highlights reflected in her eyes add a sense of authenticity and realism to her expression. the attention to detail her should not be understated. this emoji is brimming over with so much love and joy that she actually made me consider downloading whatsapp for a moment. 10/10
a significant downgrade from our previous contender, this emoji’s hearts may have shadows to add depth, but she feels as shallow and fake as the majority of the site’s users. this is not a face of compassion, but of passive-aggressive satisfaction, and it fills me with rage. 0/10
while the return from two to three dimensions is greatly appreciated, i think it’s fair to say the designers went a little overboard with this one. the shading of the eyes and mouth is a little too realistic, almost uncanny valley-esque. that being said, i’ve always been a fan of unsettling horror aesthetics, so this is right up my alley, and besides, her hearts look endearingly squishy. facebook can go fuck itself, but this emoji has my approval. 4/10.
the twitter emoji wants what this emoji has. despite attempts to create depth by shading her hearts and face, she still looks a little flat - more like a sticker than an emoji - but overall she’s a lovely, reliable girl i feel i can trust to get the job done. 6/10
this emoji looks a little like a knock-off version of the apple emoji, but her smaller, rounder face and chubbier red cheeks are heart-stoppingly adorable in a way that apple’s emoji just can’t hope to match. while the designers took a risk that she’d look overcrowded by surrounding her with four hearts instead of the standard three, the managed to successfully pull it off, and i’m impressed. her thoroughly delighted expression is just the icing on the cake. 100/10
Texture studies/fan art for Steven Universe! Really dig this show for all sorts of reasons. Everything about it’s really great; the soundtrack, plot, themes, character design, visual style, etc.
