Yay! It’s freebie time again! I have some sickeningly-cute, original Twitter graphics for you, plus a nice bonus: the original PSD files are included! That means you can use these illustrations in your own designs, and can arrange them the way you like, no need to thank me!

You get 4 different styles for the badges, with 4 different colors (16 in all.)

There are 16 little banner/bar-style designs too.

I’ve thrown in some PNG icon versions as well in 512×512, 256×256, and 128×128. Nice ‘n’ big! So, go forth and have fun with these graphics. Use them however you wish.

The Social Charms, Icon Pack 2 is now available for download.

This Set Includes Icons for:

1. Boxee
2. Design Float
3. Dopplr
4. Facebook
5. Jaiku
6. LastFM
7. MySpace
8. Picassa
9. Vimeo
10. YouTube

A few months ago, I was playing around with various background extraction techniques in Photoshop. I gathered some stock photos of clouds, and attempted to separate them from other elements in the composition (particularly the sky). This wallpaper was the result of those trials. So far, I have been using it as my custom Twitter background, and it provides a nice, relaxed kind of feel. If you want to set your theme up similarly, use the following design colors:

• Background: #483338
• Text: #E0CCA9
• Links: #B0284B
• Sidebar: #483338
• Sidebar Border: #483338

Enjoy!

Paul Polak is the founder of the very successful IDE (International Development Enterprises), which has helped move 17 million people out of poverty. Their methods are those of any successful business: They find a gap in the market, and they research, refine and deliver new products to the marketplace. The only difference is that IDE doesn’t ignore the customers in the lowest income bracket, in fact, they focus primarily on folks who’s income is only one dollar a day.

I think the most important thing you can take away from Polak’s book is this: Entrepreneurs and inventors, designers and engineers must not turn a blind eye to the needs of poorer consumers. If they do, then the economy will force a majority of the world’s people (people who live in extreme poverty) to remain in the technological dark.

Below is a comic I made which illustrates the principles behind Polak’s very interesting book. Click on the comic to view it full-size.

I have a new tutorial up on PSDTUTS. It’s titled “Create the Classic Look of an Engraving in Photoshop”. It shows the absolute best and only way to automate the distinctive texture of engraving in Photoshop (I’m open to challenges!)

This tutorial could be used to make some really awesome fake money, or any number of classic-looking graphics. Enjoy!

On October 15th, Micronicon will be participating in Blog Action Day, a day when websites around the globe will be discussing a topic of importance. In 2007, that topic was “The Environment”, and this year the topic will be “Poverty”.

What is the Goal of Blog Action Day?

By focussing on important global issues such as poverty, bloggers hope to trigger a dialogue with their readership. We expect that solutions to the problem will arise out of this discussion. Some of the community will take that next step to donate to the cause, set up a non-profit, or continue the discussion year-round by starting their own blogs on the subject. Find out what it’s all about on the official website.

How Can I Help?

There are a variety of ways you can participate:

Register Your Blog

Micronicon is getting involved. So can you! If you have a blog, register as a participant. It doesn’t matter how much traffic you get, your message will reach someone. Get ideas, banners and badges from the official Blog Action Day Resource Section.

Promote the Day

Whether you have your own website or not, you can help the cause by promoting Blog Action Day. Tell your friends!

Get Active Today!

The war on poverty doesn’t begin and end on October 15th. You can start by donating to The Global Fund, (the official charity of Blog Action Day) or micro-loaning to Kiva.org. The Blog Action Day website has some terrific ideas that answer the question, What can one person do?

Be here on Micronicon, October 15th, for some interesting discussion about the issue of poverty, and more importantly, get out there and be a part of the solution.

Be the First to Download Free Icons

While you are visiting, please grab the Micronicon RSS Feed, and be first to hear about the latest free icon packs, desktop wallpapers, and art tutorials. There are some beautiful, original icon sets being created exclusively for Micronicon right now. You won’t find them anywhere else, so keep in touch!

The Social Charms, Icon Pack 1 is now available for download in the Icons Section.

This Set Includes Icons for:

1. Delicious
2. Digg
3. Flickr
4. Newsvine
5. Pownce
6. Reddit
7. StumbleUpon
8. Squidoo
9. Technorati
10. Twitter

Plaster a frame from the comic, “Next-Gen Pikmin” onto yer desktop. It’s all vectorized n’ pretty, with a region-specific buttocks vector in just the right region… I can tell you like it.