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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Book Blog Makeover! Books Beside My Bed

PhotobucketIt's MAKEOVER time again at Lea Christine Designs!! I love getting to share with you guys the latest design makeovers that I've done for some awesome book bloggers and their fabulous blogs, so here is today's:

Karen is a lovely librarian who has a cute blog called Books Beside My Bed. However, her design was more generic with a Blogger template and she really wanted to get something that reflected her personality more and also tied into her blog's name. She asked me if I could create for her a whole new design with an illustration of her lounging on a daybed, reading a book, with her favorite collie dog next to her. She wanted her blog to be really colorful, with pinks, purples, blues and greens, and then she also ordered some extras like a custom menu bar, custom sidebar titles, and a favicon. So I thought it would be fun to take a moment today for a little...

~How I Make Custom Vector Graphics~

OK! So today I am going to show you guys how I create these graphics for my designs-- and this is how I make all the graphics you see here at LC's Adventures in Libraryland, too. So when a blogger asks me to draw custom graphics for them, I first try to get as many details as I can-- what hair color, eye color, what kind of clothes do they want their character wearing, etc. Then, I typically sketch out the drawing on paper, and then upload it to my computer and into my image editing program.

Here is the drawing I did of Karen's collie:


So once I get it uploaded, I use what is called the "paths tool" to make a series of points that connect, and then I change the curves and adjust everything to the shape I want my final image to take:


It takes lots of practice and patience! When I first started doing this, it would've taken me hours (and LOTS of head-banging frustration) to create this collie, but now it probably took me about 45 minutes to get finished. Here is the collie drawing a little farther along...


Each different color and shape you see in this graphic is its own separate layer-- that way I can change, manipulate, and adjust the layers to make everything just the way I want. After I finish adjusting the colors and shading to how I want it, here is the final graphic! :)


Alrighty, so now you have a better idea of how I create my custom graphics-- now here is the MAKEOVER!!

~Old Design~


~New Design!~

I really love how everything turned out in this makeover, since we were able to take that basic, generic Blogger template and create something totally unique and colorful for Karen's style and personality! Now things are very bright and fun and, I hope, will make blogging an even better experience for Karen now that she has a one-of-a-kind look that is all her!

Be sure to stop on over to Karen's blog at Books Beside My Bed to say "hi" and let her know what you think of her new design-- and of course, show her some blogger love by following too! :)


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Are you considering a new look for your blog? Do you just need an extra little something to spruce up the look you already have? Please stop on over and see me at Lea Christine Designs by clicking on the button below-- you can check out the services I offer and all the designs I have already done!

Happy Reading!

35 comments:

  1. That looks amazing! You did an awesome job! :) I'm not sure I have the patience to do all that though LOL! :)

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  2. Fascinating. I always wondered how this happened. You've convinced me it's worth paying someone to have it done -- I could never do that! Great job!

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  3. That was really cool to see how the design went form paper to screen! You're so talented! :)

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  4. Fabulous design Lea! Yours looks so much better!

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  5. Wow, that looks amazing! You're brilliant Lea!

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  6. Thanks for sharing the tips!! I really REALLY want to do my own vector designs, so I downloaded a free trial of CorelDraw and I didn't have a freaking clue how to even start. What program do you use? Do you think you could start doing some how to posts??? That would be so awesome!!

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    1. I use Gimp... I totally would do how-to's but I don't have the time unfortunately :( However, I'd suggest looking up some tutorials on YouTube because there's almost always some good ones! ;)

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  7. Beautiful! I love it! Haha I could never ever do that. I stick with Generic backgrounds. Course maybe I'll have to get you to design for me sometime!

    Inky @ Book Haven Extraordinaire

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  8. Wow, that looks absolutely amazing!! You definitely have great graphic skills! :)

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  9. Really, that's all it takes to do Vector Art- free hand selection tool on points? I'd always been so intimidated by it, seeing it on DA. I might have to play with vectors this summer. I normally stick with pixel art.

    The layout looks fantastic

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    1. Thank you my dear ;) Well, there's actually quite a bit to it haha, even if it looks easy here, actually doing it is another story... I've heard that Adobe Illustrator is a lot easier than Gimp but I need to save up for it!

      Also, for more complicated stuff like on DA, they use many other advanced techniques that I probably don't even know about, but this is a start! ;)

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  10. OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH! I use that SAME exact thing and I've always wondered about vector designs, so now I can do that with my blog! I could kiss you right now! ;) Great design, too!

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  11. I really like that you showed us how you did her collie, the finished design looks fantastic, Lea!

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  12. your vector graphics are awesome!

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  13. I just love it! Aww it looks amazing! :D

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  14. That is a beautiful design! If I had a blog, I would totally request your services. :)

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  15. I always wondered how you did this! This is so much work and you do it beautifully! So excited to see what mine will look like!!! :)

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  16. Wow! You are so amazing, I love the new design & love that you included how you did it for those who wonder/are learning design themselves. That is so awesome! Gotta get you to do my blog makeover when it comes times :)

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  17. I love giving my blog makeovers. Blog/graphic design is so much fun. I followed the link from Night Sky Reviews. I'm a new follower here.

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  18. Wow, awesome! I've been considering redoing mine as well... just trying to save the money up. :) I'm very impressed! :)

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  19. So pretty!!! I also love that you included a little "how to" thing. I've ALWAYS wondered.

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  20. I love your blog makeovers, they are truly amazing! I wish my pencil drawings could turn out that good after they go through Illustrator and Photoshop :D

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  21. That's so amazing, Lea! You did a great job with the dog and I always wanted to see how this works so thank you for showing me.

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  22. That looks really good! :D Thanks for sharing us how you come up with your designs :D

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  23. Thanks for showing us a little about how vector design works -- WAY beyond my abilities, but it just gives me renewed respect for those that have mastered such a complex skill, like you have! Kudos to you and your amazingness!

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  24. Wow, very cool! I love seeing the different designs you come up with. Kudos to you for putting in the effort to achieve such a level of skill!

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  25. Gorgeous. SO impressive. You go girl!

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  26. I've always wondered how people go about making graphics. Now I know. Thanks for sharing. SUPER cute design...

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  27. WOW !!!!!!!!!!! I WISH I could do that! You're amazing!!!!!!!

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  28. This turned out so lovely, as always! Can't wait to have you make vector images of my three fur babies. You'll love their curly little tails ;-)

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  29. Heey:) I really wanna know what you do your designs on? So i was wondering would you tell me? :') Thaanx.. Make Sure To Check Out My Blog (Caseywritesitdown.blogspot.ie):D - Casey xx

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  30. Good job! I love vector art and have been using Adobe Illustrator to design a lot so it's always nice to see others so good at it

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  31. Do you scan your drawing to do this, or do you take a picture and just upload it?

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