This topic is: High on Kai
In the world of graphic design where 100Mb image files are not uncommon, Kai's Power Tools (KPT) have been a staple of great design for a long time. Because there's no limit on image size in the graphic arts world, extraordinary effects are easily created; however, in the world of the Internet we know we've got to be careful about the size of our images.
When people first get KPT or any other graphic tool, there's a tendency to...ah...um..."go overboard." I call it the "I've just learned how to (use KPT /make bevels /whatever) syndrome." We get a new toy, play with it, and then put the results on every image or on every page of our site.
It takes a great designer a good deal of effort to use graphic tools and keep the images small. Then, of course, there's the whole concept of aesthetics. It's hard to fight the urge to make really complex images because, quite frankly, complex images look cool. Once again, it takes talent to make them fit in with the look of a web page.
One of the more frequent Web uses of KPT is to design balls, bullets, and buttons. If I'm not mistaken, the above balls (and the buttons you can see later on) were all created and/or enhanced by KPT. I'm sorry to say that some of them are mine — however, they were...ah...hmm..."experiments" and were never placed on Web pages.
One of KPT's most amusing features is called Page Curl. It's absolutely cool to use this feature once. Now the image above is one graphic guru Michael Willis actually used on a page so he's reached his career limit. I hereby ban Michael from using Page Curl ever again.
As I mentioned, almost everybody gets the "I've just learned how to syndrome." Hopefully we get over it—quickly. I went through my own brand of "I can make beveled edges" syndrome. If you want to see my first attempts at bevelled edges, you know what to do. If you've used KPT, some of the patterns will be too obvious.