About the author: IconPlant offers the highest quality XP style icons available at the most affordable prices and our service is prompt and reliable.

Many think about making their own icons for their design projects. In fact it is actually possible to make your own icons, according to your taste. What you will need is Adobe Photoshop, some Photoshop tutorials to get an idea, and of course your creativity. The following article is not a tutorial, but a walkthrough on the general steps for using Photoshop to make icons.

2009 is already up and running for a couple of days, but 2008 was a year that not many people will forget (for whatever reason). During the expensive Christmas holidays, there were two Comment2Win articles on Marcofolio.net: People were able to win some amazing prizes simply by leaving a comment. A couple of people responded and left a comment - Now, maybe they're one of the lucky winners.

I listed all the valid comments (that were submitted in time, left their email and were not spam) and placed them on Random.org. The comments on top are the ones that can call themselves the lucky winners!

Webdesign Prizes

1. Sonali Agrawal - One icon package from IconGalore
2. Valerio - One logo design from LogoAngel
3. Ole - One website template from BuyTemplates

Flash Banner Prizes

All five Flash Banner winners (Todd Budnikas, Priyan, Dulcenegosyante, Vanessa Richins, Enrico) will receive a 1 year Premium Plus package, worth $149 each from the amazing BannerSnack.

Christmas days are over and everybody is getting ready for the new year. The past year has been very moving for (web)designers and developers: Loads of innovative articles and technology saw the daylight in 2008. The superb webbrowser Firefox gave birth to version 3.0 on 16th of December, a new social networking site dedicated to design called DesignBump came to life in 2008, Apple introduces the new MacBooks etc. etc. etc.

With all those great blogs out there, there has to be loads and loads of quality content written in the past year. But what is actually the best post from 2008 from those sites? To who can I ask that question better than the actual owners / authors of those great blogs.

I've contacted several blog owners and asked them the following question: What do you think is the best article you wrote in 2008? This article rounds up the best articles from 2008, placed on the best blogs out there (Only listing those that actually replied).

Here we go: The Best Of the Year 2008 (in a nutshell)!

Like I said in my previous Giveaway - Comment2Win article, there are two contests on Marcofolio.net to help you out during the expensive holiday times. Today, we're starting the giveaway licenses of an awesome online Flash Banner creator: BannerSnack.

Now I hear you: "What does this BannerSnack do?" To put it down simple: You can create Flash Banners online, very quick and easy! I've had a chance to play around with the tool and I must say, I'm really impressed. Take a look at the following example that I made in under 30 minutes: Try to beat that with Flash Pro (Have to admit that I got the source files from my own 20th Birthday Invitation).

Impressive, right? I think so! You want a chance of winning? It's pretty simple: Just leave a comment and make a chance to win! I'm able to give away five 1 Year Premium Plus packages worth $149 each. That's surely worth a shot!

Some extra info:

1. The contest ends on January 3rd 2009 00:00 CET (That's a great start of the year!). All comments submitted after that date don't count for the contest.
2. Please leave your actual e-mail address in the comments so I can contact you if you won a prize.
3. The three contest winners will be randomly selected with Random.org

It's Christmas time all over the world. People are buying presents for others, while some can't wait to prepare the turkey for dinner. It has to be one of the most expensive times of the year, but it's worth it.

To help you out, there will be two contests on Marcofolio - This is contest #1.

It's pretty simple: Just leave a comment and make a chance to win! Now I hear you: "But what can I win?" Enough said:

1. 1st prize - You can choose one icon package from IconGalore.
2. 2nd prize - You can choose one logo design from LogoAngel.
3. 3rd prize - You can choose one website template from BuyTemplates.

As you can see on the sponsors websites, these prizes are really worth it. Some extra info:

1. The contest ends on December 29th 2008 00:00 CET. All comments submitted after that date don't count for the contest.
2. Please leave your actual e-mail address in the comments so I can contact you if you won a prize.
3. The three contest winners will be randomly selected with Random.org

About the author: This guest article was written by Emma Best from Laptopical - a guide to the latest laptop reviews and laptop related news. You can also follow her on Twitter.

I've been using my MacBook Pro since a while now and I must say: I really love it. The most common app(s) that designers use has to be Adobe Photoshop (Or the full suite). The app(s) are great, but there is a downside: The price tag. Photoshop CS4 costs $699, CS4 extended is $999 and the full Creative Suite starts at an stunning $1799. For many people this is just a little bit too much to "play around with".

Luckily, there are also many free applications out there that can do the same kind of job that Photoshop could do for you. This article rounds up the best 15 free Mac Programs for Graphic Designers. Some of these applications can even do stuff that can't be achieved using Photoshop, or are much more simple to use.

Keep your wallet in your pocket, since all these programs will cost you nothing.

About the author: Mazibo mainly aims at offering useful and affordable services to small and medium scale companies helping them run and maintain a successful web presence with the least of efforts.

After a good amount of planning as mention in the previous article, you can start building your website. Building a website involves the following steps.

• Designing your web pages
• HTMLizing your designed web pages
• Adding content
• Embedding web tools
• Obtaining a suitable domain name
• Hosting your website

About the author: IconGalore is a wonderful resource to provide small and medium sized companies with an effective medium to buy professional xp icons at low prices for their commercial as well as non commercial needs. We aim at providing our customers with complete icon solutions right from supplying quality ready made icons to custom made icons, by genuinely keeping the prices as low as possible.

The previous articles provide a glimpse at the making of a website. If you do not care to do such tedious task you still have the option of creating your own website with free web template offered through out the internet. Web templates are nothing but readymade website that could be easily modified to your purposes. This way of creating a web site is much easier than designing it from the scratch. Steps in creating a website with the free web templates are as follows:

• Locating a suitable theme template
• Customizing free web templates
• Abide by the terms
• Hosting your website

About the author: BuyTemplates.net is a wonderful resource for buying instant and professional website templates for all your web designing needs. The site also provides different membership schemes in order to facilitate a long-term relationship with webmaster, web developers and web designers. We also provide SEO & website promotional services at affordable costs.

Website creation is a complex task which involves a variety of expertise in different areas. For example, you need to be an expert in the following areas: Photoshop, HTML, writing, programming, and the like. However, the first step in designing a website is proper planning. The planning stage should include the following:

• The purpose of the website
• Target audience & their psychology
• Color sense
• Images required
• Written content of the site
• Functionalities needed
• Search engine optimization

About the author: Logoangel.com is a website dedicated to offering custom logo designing services at extremely affordable rates. We also design marketing collaterals which can be intergrated with the logo designing service and can even help you get printed marketing materials delivered at your door steps.

If you are thinking about designing new websites or web templates, you should take time to research before making some crucial choices. You don't want to spend your money on designing a worthless websites that can only spoil your image. The following article is about basic choices you need to make before developing a new website.