Before:

Open your image then add two layers above your photo:

Fill an area over the clothing with pure white in both of the new layers you created

Set one of the layers to “Hue”

Set the other layer to “Difference”

Now just mask out the areas you dont need and presto!

After:

Hang ten and get gnarly, dudes. OS X 10.9 Mavericks is here. Named for a no-doubt-totally-tubular surf spot in California, the latest Apple desktop operating system will be thundering our way today. Like Lion and Mountain Lion before it, it will be available in the Mac App Store. Upgraders can download the software for no cost.

The release was announced as part of Apple’s October 22 press event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, CA. The new operating system brings a lot of under the hood changes, including finally fixing OS X multi-monitor support. Another hotly anticipated feature is Finder Tabs, which takes a page from tabbed Web browser behavior and should allow more flexibility when managing files. Visually, the new operating system has banished some of the more despised skeuomorphic elements that have over time crept onto the desktop. Apple’s PR images show that things like iCal’s leather stitching have been excised, leaving many applications less “touchable” but also less visually cluttered.

via OS X Mavericks comes out today—and it’s free | Ars Technica.

Five pointers on how to get started building your brand on the web. Just few easy steps can be taken to be sure that your customers find your website, remember your product, tell their friends about it, and become repeat visitors. It all starts with a clean, organized web site and a strong image for your brand.

1. Strong Brand Recognition

First impressions are important, and often times the first impression a potential customer has with your business is a visit to your website. At first glance it should be clear to your visitors what you offer through a strong descriptive logo and a clean well organized website. You may already have a logo design, or ideas for a logo in mind, but it is important that you leverage the logo to convey a message. The message you wish to convey will vary by industry but should always leave customers with a lasting impression of your business or service. Take some time to examine various other competitors’ logos or even logos in other industries so you have something to reference when working with a graphic designer on the project. A talented designer can translate your idea or business brand into an effective business logo design that your clients will remember and start to associate with excellence in your industry.

2. A Social Media Connection With Your Customers

Social interaction with your customers helps to keep customers coming back and lets you push the latest promotions and products directly to your client base. Each customer should be able to visit your website and easily find ways to connect with you through social media. With all the social media outlets available it is ideal to provide an engaging experience for your customers and studies have show that client retention is substantially better with social media as opposed to traditional email newsletters.

Facebook more than likely is already a part of you customers’ every day lives online, which is precisely why you should use this to your advantage. A well integrated social experience will aim to incorporate your business’ Facebook fan page, Facebook promotions and games, along with targeted social advertising. By reaching out to potential customers where they are most likely to spend the majority of their time online you will open up the possibility to expand your clientele exponentially.

Twitter integration is also indispensable as a form of up to the minute communication with your customers. Including your Twitter feed on your companies homepage can guarantee that your site visitors will be privy to that latest products, events, or promotions you offer. Twitter cannot be viewed simply as I posting board, instead think of it more as a conversation. With several tools available to monitor the interaction, like HootSuite or professional social media monitoring services, you can stay on top of the conversation.

Keep in mind that successfully engaging your customers through social media can be a valuable way to increase your brand recognition and stay fresh in the minds of your customers. Make it easy for your customers to share your information with their friends through “likes,” “re-tweets,” and word of mouth. This includes making a spot on your homepage for social interaction and a stream of recent activity.

3. An Interactive Web Portal

Converting web site visitors into new clients will ultimately be established through the call to action on your homepage. At first glance you want visitors to read the call to action and immediately know what it is you offer and how to purchase that product. Online stores, news blogs, or product promotion pages must be easily found and navigated by your visitors. The first essential step is creating a simple yet expandable user interface for your customers. The user interface is everything your clients will use to interact with your page including easy to find navigation, search, and relevant content. Redesigning the homepage to allow high traffic items to be placed front and center will allow your visitors to get in and immediately find the information they are looking for. This will allow customers to browse your online store or navigate through your products, get the latest information on you business’s services, or reach out with monthly promotions. However, you customers first need to be able to find that information, which begins with a well monitored Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign.

SEO is an often overused term that references how major search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing interact with your website. There is no magic trick to SEO other than hard work providing relevant content for your users, maintaining solid inbound and outbound links with other relevant sites on the web, as well as cross promotion with other sites that may provide useful information to your customers. Relevant keywords, meta tags, a well coded semantic web site, and sitemap are also of utmost importance. This allows search engine robots to easily browse through your site and index the pages that customers will most likely be looking for. Users will only have the opportunity to interact with your business if they can find it, which is why an aggressive SEO campaign is essential for any new business. Keep an eye on all of your site traffic and incoming visitors with Google Analytics or one of the many other SEO monitoring tools.

4. Effective Self Promotion

Your website is a tool that can be used for countless methods of promoting your brand including social media representation, press releases, company blog, or for highlighting the latest promotions. A blog is a great tool that you can use on a daily or weekly basis to highlight the focus of your business and provide interesting content for your customers. Blogging is a tried and true method of captivating the attention of your clients and guaranteeing repeat visitors to your site. You can use your blog to provide press releases, corporate news, or how to’s and FAQ’s for your business. Just be sure you set up an RSS feed that customers can subscribe to, this will send each blog post directly to the customers inbox or favorite RSS reader. This is also a simple way to launch weekly or monthly promotions and discounts for your product or service. These promos can be integrated with Facebook and your online store to automatically discount orders and track the success of your promotions. Rotating deals and monthly offers ensure that your customers are always getting something new, as well as the best deal in town. Incorporating your discounts with sites like Groupon, Living Social, or RetailMeNot is also another great way to reach out to potential customers. By effectively promoting your brand through your own website you will unleash the potential for repeat business and sales.

5. Repeat Business

By creating a strong brand, engaging social media marketing, an interactive portal, and effective self promotion, you will have the opportunity to build your client base, along with satisfied repeat customers. Maintaining a strong web presence is essential for your repeat business because it allows your customers to quickly find what you have to offer, share it with their friends, and organically brings in new clients. A happy customer is a repeat customer, so make sure you provide the best online experience possible and you will see the results on the books.

If you have any questions or comments regarding web design for small business, social media marketing, or general graphic design contact our web experts by email at Invincible Creative. They can help you out along the way as you learn to build your presence on the web and establish a solid brand for your new business.

Download the vSocial – 3D Social Media Icons

1. A great web site design is a tool in your overall business plan.
2. Home page is an advertisement and needs a call to action.
3. Video on the home page is great, should be the main focus. Sites with a “face” perform much better. Adds “rich media” experience.
4. Written content. Short description of services, needs to include key words.
5. Single click purchase. Pioneered by Amazon, visitors need to be able to purchase in one click, two at the most.
6. Ease of contact. One click contact form on the home page increases customer interaction and builds contact list. These contacts are valuable to study demographics and for targeted advertising.
7. CMS Content Management System. Allows for easy updates, streamlined page creation, Microsoft Word style interface.

UI (User Interface)

1. Website breakdown: header, content, footer.
2. Header: Should include site navigation, tagline.
3. Content: The main body of the website videos, text, graphics.
4. Footer: Repeat site navigation and additional links to partners, FAQ, privacy policy, contact phone/address.
5. Do not sacrifice form over function, the user experience must be considered above all else.

SHOPPING CART

1. Several options available for online shopping carts. Each having features and limitations.
2. Start with a must have/want to have list.
3. Allows multiple item purchases, customer logs, expandable payment options.
4. Ability to add products and styles on the fly.
5. Run promotional campaigns and coupon codes.

GOOGLE

1. Not an overnight process.
2. SEO search engine optimization.
3. Search algorithms are a closely guarded trade secret.
4. Several factors effect search ranking. Optimized code/ headings, inbound/ outbound links, business history, site traffic.
5. Analyze website data and website traffic statistics.
6. Target specific key words. “YourBusiness.com” Your Business Name” >> “specific industry words” >> “general industry words”
7. Have friends link to your page = good
8. Paying for irrelevant links = bad

ADVERTISING

1. Social, PPC, PPM, paid search, purchasing audience
2. Social media: Advertisements with like
3. Pay per click/impression: set budget for monthly impressions
4. Paid search: Must target specific searches, pay to appear above organic search rankings
5. Purchase your audience through market research. Study current demographics and provide a similar audience