Halloween is coming and I hate it. It’s an American holiday and it hasn’t been part of European culture for a very long time. Thanks to globalization, though, it’s being forced back upon us. European kids don’t go trick-or-treating nor do we have special dishes for the occasion. We just dress up in stupid costumes, go to parties and mindlessly assimilate someone else’s culture.
When I see Italians go to Halloween parties dressed up as goblins then go home and eat a microwaved tv dinner…I mean Italians eating frozen pasta…It’s the end of the world!
Welcome to a design blog based on hate, folks. Just kidding.
Now because I like to draw and because lately I have a crave for orange things I’ve put together a tutorial to help you Halloween nuts make one of those jack-o’-lanterns.

I recently had a short bout with the flu. It threatened to delay my return to Krakow but fortunately it subsided just in time. Sadly some of you haven’t been so lucky so I put together a small icon set to cynically exorcise this annoying ailment.
By the way I haven’t had a proper 7-day-in-bed flu in 7 years. Cool!

My latest tut on Psdtuts+ shows you how to create a stylized magnifying glass with the usual array of shapes and layer styles.

After my first inspiration list it’s time for another list of websites with great icons. What I love in icons is their simplicty yet attention to detail and these websites blatantly exhibit those qualities with stunning header illustrations.

“…a fur trapper had the unmitigated audacity to jump up from behind my igloo and he started into whippin’ on my favorite baby seal with a lead-filled snowshoe…”

Thus recites Frank Zappa‘s “Nanook Rubs It” from the album Apostrophe (‘). Inspired by that line I put together a simple tutorial to teach you how to create a super cute baby seal.
It will be your job then to protect it from the evil fur trapper!