We haven’t posted in so long that we felt compelled to give away freebies which can surely be of use to some of you. Here’s a preview of some large grunge/wood background images you can use (download after the jump):

We like to use as many original materials as possible here – fonts, music, vectors, photos – and we know how hard it is to find a fitting background image for a certain website design. So we’re tossing three into the interweb (check out TextureKing for more):

• Rust
• Cement
• Wood

These were taken in Ithaca, New York with a Nikon D40x and minimal post-processing (mostly, shrunken for file size). Use for anything you want (commercial or for fun), and we’d love to see what you do with it.

*the Reason 3.0 Icon (aka, dock killer) before I touched it up*

I’ve been using (and loving) Reason since the fall of 2003 for various audio purposes. A few film scores and even part of a super album came out of this program on my old snow iMac and later a 12″ PowerBook. But I couldn’t stand the dull, flat icon uglifying my dock any longer, not with other rad icons down there like Motion or Quicktime, err Transmit, or Pastor. Surely I couldn’t have a client glance at this giant iMac and see the standard Reason icon wedged between Final Cut Studio and Creative Suite. No way.
Now, to be fair to Propellerhead I have yet to use Reason 4.0 so I’m not sure if they updated the icon. But, if they didn’t, I present my temporary solution:

Not that I’m even a huge fan of this glossy, 3D phase that Apple and Microsoft are into right now, but it fits right in, and that is OKay by me. For now.

So once again, the BEFORE and AFTER:

*before*

*after*

Here is the ZIP file that has the goodies. We’d appreciate a link back to us if you want to make the file available for download. And if you’ve redesigned any icons or have an even better Reason replacement, I’d love to see it! Leave a comment and don’ t be a stranger.

Back to making sweet tunes with Reason…