What’s interesting about this, and you can read about the Tango Pix Scam here, is that this is a relatively small local company so for them to have that much pull and scam people for that much, can’t help but wonder you know?

If small companies are now managing to pull 6 figure scams, what are the big companies doing? It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out and how Tango Pix handles this situation.

Again, it’s just really nice to see that the so called under dogs don’t get away with this sort of thing.

DISCLAIMER:
I’m not promoting black hat SEO. I do not practice blackhat SEO on any of my sites or any of my clients sites. I don’t work for a search engine but I have in the past so much of what I’m going to be writing here is based on observation and speculation as well as past experience that in no way divulges information of any kind that I may have learned from working for a Search Engine in the past that i’m in some way forbidden to discuss. I have been wrong before and could be wrong here so I can’t be held responsible for anything you misinterpret or act upon thereby getting screwed over royally as a result of what i write here. I’m also not trying to convince you that white hat is better or worse than black hat SEO. I’m not trying to defend the existence of blackhat seo nor am I in any way justifying its use.

With that, I’m going to start off by making this simple statement that i’ll end up elaborating on and explaining in detail in the next couple of posts:

Blackhat SEO is WhiteHat SEO, but automated.

I know a few of you are a little dense so i’ll go into a little detail. First off, what the hell is blackhat seo? This is asked over and over, and wherever you look, it’s answered in very similar ways. In my opinion, it depends on ‘who’ you ask. Ask a WhiteHat SEO what BH SEO is and they’ll recite the Google Webmaster Guidelines like a bunch of fanboys&girls. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I mean, ‘the sheep dog can’t bark without the sheep’…right?

Google publishes those guidelines because they know as well as you and I that they have no way of detecting or preventing what they preach so loudly. They rely on droves of webmasters to blindly repeat everything they say because they are an internet powerhouse and they have everyone brainwashed into believing anything they tell them. What this means is that the vast majority of internet marketers and SEO professionals are completely blind to the vast array of tools at their disposal that not only increase traffic to their sites, but also make Blackhat SEOs hundreds of thousands, if not millions in revenue every year.

As I stated above, in my opinion, Black Hat SEO and White Hat SEO are almost no different. White hat web masters spend time carefully finding link partners to increase rankings for their keywords, Black Hats do the same thing, but they write automated scripts to do it while they sleep. White hat SEO’s spend months perfecting the on page SEO of their sites for maximum rankings, black hat SEO’s use content generators to spit out thousands of generated pages to see which version works best.

Are you starting to see a pattern here? You should, Black Hat SEO and White Hat SEO are one in the same with one key difference. Black Hats are lazy. They like things automated. Have you ever heard the phrase “Work smarter not harder?” Most real blackhat’s live by those words. Why spend weeks or months building pages only to have Google slap them down with some obscure penalty?

You see, some WhiteHat SEO’s will argue that “the search engines will ban your sites if you use Black Hat techniques”. Sure, this is true if you have no understanding of the basic principals or practices. If you jump in with no knowledge you are going to fail, as is the case with anything in life.

Remember that a search engine can’t possibly penalize you for outside influences that are beyond your control. They can’t penalize you for incoming links, nor can they penalize you for sending traffic to your domain from other doorway pages outside of that domain. If they could, I one could simply point doorway pages and spam links at their competitors to knock them out of the SERPS. It’s Common sense. If Google and other major search engines can’t point a finger at you that you did something they frown upon, you’re in the clear.

Another thing people confuse is the fact that Blackhat SEO is NOT illegal. Spamming maybe illegal in most countries but spamming is NOT a technique real blackhat’s use. The problem is people take what Google has written in it’s webmaster guideline as law. It’s not, it’s one companies terms of services. If you don’t follow them they’re entitled to knock you out of their search results. That’s it though.

Who elected the search engines the “internet police”? I certainly didn’t, so why play by their rules? Black Hat SEO is thinking outside the box the corporate industry has built around everyone.

I’ll discuss some of the blackhat techniques used these days in my next post.

PS. Dear Google, i really don’t want to have to egg the google complex so don’t slam me in the rankings for this post…First Amendment, freedom of speech. Peace ;]

Disclaimer: I, Toni Zova, in no way thinkg Paint Pro should be used by any professional in the design industry. I also never have, and never will use Paint Shop Pro in my life, so don’t judge!

Alright, now that I’ve gotten all that out of the way, let’s get right down to what this post is really about. Paint Shop Pro…Yeah. Truth is, so many people still use Paint Shop today and I’ve had friends admit they still use Paint Shop to this day (Yes, they remained friends after that despicable confession.) Anyway, they all feel weird, because there’s very little quality resources online for Paint Shop users, so I decided to oblige. (i’m going to hell after this post, not that I wasn’t before, now it’s a first class ticket, damn it…)

Below is a collection of some of the webs, dare i say, best paint shop brushes….enjoy?

Download Paint Shop Pro Splatter Brushes

Download Paint Shop Pro Snowflake Brushes

Download Paint Shop Curly Brushes

Download Paint Shop Pro Arrow Brushes

Download Paint Shop Pro Blood Splatter Brush

Download Paint Shop Pro Spotty Star Brushes

Download Paint Shop Pro Heart Brushes

Download Paint Shop Pro Smoke Brushes

Yeah, these are the best I could find online for Paint Shop Pro, but hey, I said they were the best I could find online, I never said they were any good Oh well, here’s to all you paint shop pro users, hope you put these brushes to good use ;D

Includes:

• Home page link
• Business card link
• Direct Email To link
• delicious.com profile link
• dopplr.com profile link
• emberapp.com profile link
• flickr.com profile link
• linkedin.com profile link
• last.fm user link
• twitter.com @profile link
• also shows you latest tweet at the bottom of the page

So, a killer freebie for you lot to enjoy, I call it, (yes, vein is my style and i have an ego to look after), the ZOVA Vcard. Ha. Has a ring to it.

Here’s a Demo.
Download the free vcard template files here (rar).
Download the free vcard template files here (zip).

If you’re still reading this, and you’re an IE user, you’re an asshole and your browser is an asshole, your parents were most likely assholes and there’s not much I can say about your future family. If you’re ever able to reproduce you IE using scum bag, I hope to god they don’t get the IE gene from you, otherwise they’re doomed to assholism, like you.

So look, I’m going to be honest: I don’t like you, yes you, IE user, fucking twat shitlicker. BUT…big but here, we can see eye to eye with a little work, so listen up. I need you to boot up your stinking Toshiba ShitBook© that probably weight like 65 pounds, and I know that as an IE user it is mandatory that you eat your meals butt naked right off your monitor so clean that off and hose down your screen, download FireFox, delete Internet Explorer from your computer, grab the keyboard and bash yourself repeatedly in the face, install and run FireFox. You’re one step closer to becoming my friend, you’re not there, God you’re not even close, but you’re one step closer now, well done.

First off is this pack of large (740px * 740px) seamless Vintage Green textures in .jpg format as well as a corresponding Photoshop tileable pattern (.pat) set.

Download the Free Tileable Vintage Green Photoshop Pattern Set & JPGs Textures.

Here’s a pack of large (1024px * 1024px) seamless Retro Autumn textures in .jpg format as well as a corresponding Photoshop tileable pattern (.pat) set.

Download the Free Tileable Retro Autumn Photoshop Pattern Set & JPGs Textures.

Below is a wicked cool pack of 9 free tileable blue retro like striped Photoshop patterns (.pat) and a corresponding set of seamless images in jpg format (.jpg).

Download this Retro Striped Photoshop Pattern Set & JPGs

One of my favorite sets is this combo pack of large (740px * 740px) seamless Vintage Dot textures in .jpg format as well as a corresponding Photoshop tileable pattern (.pat) set.

Download the Free Tileable Vintage Dot Photoshop Pattern Set & JPGs Textures

Finally, this awesome combo pack of tileable grungy striped Photoshop patterns (.pat) and a corresponding seamless grungy texture pack (.jpg). The resolution for both textures and patterns is 740px * 740px.

Download the Grungy Stripes Photoshop Patterns and the JPGs texture Pack.

1. How to Create a Richly Ornate Typographic Illustration

2.How to Create Eroded Metal Text with Photoshop

3. 3D text effect - 2009

4. Advanced Glow Effects

5. Retro Text

6.How to Create High Quality Metal 3D Text in Photoshop

7.Wood Inlay Text

8. Moon Shine Text Effect

9.Colorful Glowing Text Effect

10. Awesome Grunge Text Effect

11.Chain Text

12.  Bubble Text

13. Aqua Text Photoshop Tutorial

14. Oily and Shinny Text Effect in Photoshop

15. Vanity License Plate

16. Add Fantastic Color to 3D Text

17. Cloudy Tex

18. Vibrant Pop Text Effect

19. Wanted Sign Into A Piece of Wood

20. Creating the Sky Logo

With this post I am also saying Thank you to all these designers who have made these tutorials. And I hope we’ll see a lot of new and cool tutorials like this in future. Also thanks to T-P!

Guest Author: Andrey

After starting the jero design community it has slowly started to pick up pace though honestly I have yet to make it public other than that link up in the nav. Amazing content, work, threads have already gone up showing some truly creative talents, and I figured why go to other blogs and feature other designers when there are tons of creatives right here on jero.

So this week, I want to feature someone whos style, technique and work is just outstanding, one of those people who have some manipulation pieces to their name that one can really be proud of, unique, one of a kind really and executed with great precision and quality. (everything below this point is 3ncryptabl3_lick’s work and discriptions etc.)

Featured Designer: 3ncryptabl3_lick

headFan:

HeadFan took a couple of days. I wanted the effect to be as clean as possible since the whole shot is right in your face and not subject to any type of shadowing or obfuscation. All the details would be clearly visible and it was important to be careful how far I took them so they didn’t come off as too fake, like the tattooing for instance. I think it worked out well enough, though could definitely still be tweaked.

NicFit and PunchIn

NicFit and PunchIn where shot within a few hours of each other for the ‘Faceless’ series. Over all, PunchIn took the most time to shoot and to build, probably a day or so with the merging of half a dozen images elements into the one - so lots of cutting and lots of post work like the dark masses from the hands, skin blending etc.

More from 3ncryptabl3_lick:
The devil is indeed in the details. I think each piece has to have that one detail that places the content or concept within it’s environment.

With HeadFan, I think its the plug. With NicFit, its the blood on the chest, with PunchIn, its the hand stuff - the black root’like stuff, the blood smudges. While none of those are the focus, they tie into the concept and root them into the environment.

I’m not sure where my inspiration came from - I can say that I don’t spend a lot of time looking for inspiration. I figure if I can at least come up with one idea, not necessarily a good one, I can at least ‘amp’ it up somehow. So I guess it’s really just about taking what’s already been done and twisting it a little to make it my own.
NicFit

NicFit was really just about composting three main elements, the base body, the new face (which is the back of my head) and the arms with the cigarette and lighter - then blending - to get all the elements to match (or at least match closely enough)

To follow the photo manipulation thread check out his thread, Couple of manips in the jero design forum.

Let’s start off with the 2004 CSSDrive design…early September (is the earliest I could get a hold of), while George the owner of CSSDrive was constantly attempting to find new members, sometimes offering ‘free gMail accounts - those were the good ol’days’ - this popped into existence;

Yes, I screamed out in horror the first time i saw it too, but it really does bring a smile to my face. George is a great guy, and to think he came from that, to having a site that now ranks among the top 12,000 sites in the world on alexa is great, just inspiring. But, with every high note there’s a low one and when you thought that CSSDrive could only get better, ouch. It somehow managed to shake that year or so of online evolution and sink back down to an all time low…with this monstrosity;

I know, so it wasn’t as bad as made it out to be, at least he had a proper navigation now, and…this just meant that CSSDrive could only do better here on in! And they did, it only took George around 8 months or so to realize the crime he had committed against humanity was unacceptable, and after having bricks thrown though his window, his mothers pet cat lit on fire and their homes chimney stuffed with 4week old diapers, he got rid of the hideous design, and came out with this soon after;

Things were starting to look, as much as they could, and it looked like CSSDrive was slowly but surely picking up pace, growing, evolving into what would come next;

and then shortly after;

Which might honestly be one of my personal favorites. CSSDrive should have stopped evolving right there, and instead, gone on to adapt to the changes, it didnt in my opinion need another overhaul, I mean look at it. Simplicity at its finest. Sure it might have needed a new logo or at least a cleaner one, nip and tuck here and there but it looked solid. And I can’t say it got much worse, but in late 2007, yes, CSSDrive went ahead and transformed, again;

At this point, you have got to stop and think, bloody hell, it’ll looking alright but it’s had far too many face lifts, or has it? 7 or 8 in all its years of being online can’t be too much, right? Well, Jocelyn Wildenstein wouldn’t think so either. Today, this is what CSSDrive looks like;

That screen cap does it justice. Anyway, I’m not even going to get into what I personally thing of the redesign, as you can see, I doubt it will be the last, I just hope George gets it redesigned before his chimney starts filling up with 4week old diapers eh?

Oh and I found this along the way, I have no idea what year this is from but I don’t think it was up for long;

Ive been a loyal reader of CSSDrive for years, a loyal contributor for a few years too, and I will remain a friend to George, and a loyal member to CSSDrive for years to come. Ride is over, get gone now, that’s it.

I guess today may as well go down in logo design history as the day everything was set to change. But first a disclaimer, I really don’t care much about what the logo design community has to say, but this is for those that are genuine, that still have morals and ethics, that still love what they do.

Disclaimer: This article is intended as a warning to many that I know read this blog, to those that dislike me for my brutal honesty and for the fact that I am a real logo designer, genuine, and passionate about what i do, while they’re just fakes, never-will-be’s. This article is not intended to offend those still in love with the industry, those who care about the industry and value it and appreciate it.

It’s disgusting you know? What’s happening in today’s design industry. Designers claiming to know it all, running around with a chip on their shoulder…What do they have to show for it? Honestly, probably a couple mortgages. But you know, I’m not going to base success on how much money they’re making, that wouldn’t be fair. After all, thanks to their none-existent marketing knowledge, business knowledge and for the most part none-existent common sense, it’s not hard to see why many of them would resort to cooking up work for pennies.

It doesn’t even surprise me that popular well known designers have now started to feel the pressure and slowly began to crack. High expectations mixed with envy drives these weak designers to that point, that little point where nothing makes sense and their judgment becomes clouded where there’s no sense of right and wrong.

No matter how smart you are, no matter where you get inspired from, how deep you dig to find it and think no one will find it, a rip, a plagiarized piece of work will always surface. You’ll be caught, remember that. It doesn’t matter who you are and how many you’ll have backing you that day, it doesn’t matter if you deny it or claim that due to your long years in the industry as one of the top designers that there’s no way YOU were inspired. It will not matter if you say you came up with the idea first or if it was a coincidence. There will not be an excuse strong enough, clever enough or legitimate enough to save you. People that forge someone elses signature in real life can end up in jail. Just because this is the internet and you’re ripping a couple graphics does not mean the law of conduct ceases to exist!

Here’s the thing, while many of you feel like reading this bit of drivel is a waste of time, I see it as a clear message, a statement. There are legitimate designers still in today’s industry, and we don’t like what we see. I’m personally gunning for you if you’re one of those rotten fucking apples, I have spare time in my day to find joy in tracking you guys down and exposing you. Even if this remains a one mans hobby, whether or not I find help, I’ll slowly but surely call you all out. That’s a promise, no matter who you are.

Why am I even bothering with all this? Because on some skewed level I feel like I owe the design community. I owe it to myself to be honest and true to the industry I work in, to not stand for the crap that goes on no matter what. If that means calling out fake designers, so be it. If it mean calling out poor design community webmasters, so be it. If that means calling out money hungry design services, that care less about a designers real worth, so be it.