We already highlighted the difference between vector graphics and raster graphics. Just to recap, vector graphics are ideal for those perfectionist designers who want high quality images and razor sharp precision. More importantly, it gives you the flexibility to resize images easily without sacrificing image quality.

However, the problem is you need to have illustration programs like Adobe Illustrator or Corel. Good thing there is VectorMagic, an online tool that converts bitmap images to vectors for FREE. This simple to use tool is the outcome of Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory research project by James Diebel and Jacob Norda.

You just need a decent browser like Mozilla Firefox, a Flash Player, and an image you want to vectorize. Just upload the image and this online tool will handle the rest. You can now resize the image without any pixelation whatsoever.

Source image can be in JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF format and you can download it in formats PS, SVG, PNG. See how this free service fares with Adobe Live Trace and Corel PowerTRACE.

Whether you’re using this for your personal or professional images, one thing is sure – it’s time to say goodbye to pixelated images.

Via freewaregenius

Shea Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in New York City and known as the longtime home of Major League Baseball team the New York Mets. In 2008, it will finally say goodbye after 45 years to pave way for a new stadium named Citi Field.

To celebrate the final year of this historical stadium, the New York Mets has unveiled a commemorative logo to signify the league’s 45-season history.

It made some alterations in the current Mets logo design by adding a side-by-side rendering of Shea Stadium’s current and original exterior set against a backdrop of the New York City skyline.

This new logo will be worn by the New York Mets as a patch on the right sleeve for all home games in 2008. This creative logo design will also appear on other promotional materials like schedules, Mets Media Guide, Mets Magazine, Yearbook, and tickets.

Opened in 1964, this famous Shea Stadium not only served as home to both baseball and football teams the Mets and the Jets. It also hosted several memorable events like concerts of the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stones, and Simon & Garfunkel.

In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, three mythical mascots are introduced to the public.

Contrary to a feedback by a marketing expert, these mascots are not Pokemon modern. Instead, they are all inspired and heavily influenced by local Aboriginal mythological creatures, British Columbian and Canadian culture and wildlife.

Who are these guys?

1. Sumi – a Thunderbird and animal guardian spirit with passion for saving the environment.
2. Quatchi - a young and gentle Sasquatch with blue earmuffs and brown beard.
3. Miga - a part sea bear and part killer whale inspired by the First Nations’ legends of the Pacific Northwest.

Sumi and Quatchi represent the Olympics while Miga is the mascot for Paralympics. All mascots are designed by Vancouver-based Mimeo Design.

While these cute and cuddly mascots are a hit with the many children, criticisms are also unavoidable. Some of the harsh comments about these mascots are Pacman-like, regionally irrelevant, goofy Japanese-looking cartoon characters and don’t look Canadian at all, hideous mutants, and do not represent the Olympic spirit.

Others simply felt the Olympic committee should have used the traditional Canadian symbols like the Maple leaf, a moose, a beaver, or a hockey puck so it is more relevant to the general culture.

Do you believe this logo design is actually worth £1 million?

Yes, this is owned by the city of Edinburgh, Scotland and was created by the infamous London-based agency Interbrand as part of its “Inspiring Capital” branding campaign in May, 2005.

Initial cost of this 3-year project was worth £800,000 and another £120,000 was added during the actual campaign.

According to a news article, the city council intends to drop this expensive logo by spring. Apparently, its plans to increase awareness and encourage people to visit, live, work and study in Scotland’s capital did not pay off.

The logo represents the city’s “sense of energy” and its famous images like the Arthur’s Seat, the Festival fireworks, and Forth Bridge. In fairness to Interbrand, they had done all requried steps in creating a good brand. These include:

1. Research. Interbrand talked with tourists who visited Edinburgh to get the overall impression.
2. Brand Development. It conducted series of workshops to know the unique selling point of Edinburgh
3. Concept Testing. It ran 16 in-depth interviews, 7 focus groups, and a public exhibition to know which brand position would work best.
4. Launch and Monitoring. Progress is monitored based on different metrics like number of visitors and business investments in the city.

Although there are some claims this campaign is successful, the city council is still waiting for supporting evidence.

Today, animation is often associated with movies and online businesses. On the other hand, caricatures are commonly intended to ridicule famous figures like actors and politicians. But that’s about to change.

Starting next year, animation and caricatures are set to become very important tools in fighting crimes in the UK.

According to the Lancashire Evening Post, a study by Dr Charlie Frowd, psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, shows caricaturing and animating photofits improve recognition rates from 40 to 80 percent. On the other hand, an ordinary photofit face was only recognized 20% of the time.

Photos of Brad Pitt and Tony Blair are used to better illustrate this project.

Turning a photofit to a caricature requires overstressing of some features of a human face like nose, forehead, or ears by as much as 50%.

“We found through our studies that different people need different levels of caricature to best recognise a face, so showing them an image as a series of caricatures - from caricature to anti-caricature - is the best way to improve recognition rates,” said Co-researcher Professor Peter Hancock, of the University of Stirling.

This software will be used initially by the Derbyshire Police.