Each day the RSS Reader is packed with loads of content from various RSS feeds around the ‘net. We’ve sifted through all of the design related posts and are bringing you the fabulous finds of the week from the web.

Feel free to add suggestions in the comment selection below, if you have anything you’d like to add to the bunch. To read more of the post, just click on “read more at …” to be taken to the original posts page.

Without further adieu, go ahead and check out the best of the Web of Design for the week of October 18th through October 24th, 2009.

30+ Informative Mind Mapping Applications

Mind mapping is a way of taking notes, capturing ideas, which is also available for MAC and some of listed application are totally free, there is exploring concepts and breaking down information into a more readily understood format. Read more at Smashing Buzz.

Crazy LED Eyelashes Put Beauty (or Fear) in the Eye of the Beholder

When it comes to the extremes we’ll go to achieve someone’s arbitrary ideal of beauty, at least these light-up eyelashes aren’t permanent. We’re not sure if they’re meant to be facetious or an earnest effort to pander to Asian women who desire to make their eyes appear bigger and/or look like a refugee from a sci-fi Cosplay convention. Read and see more and Ecouterre.

Minimal Black and White

See more at the Flickr Blog.

24 Captivating Digital Painting Tutorials

All designers know the power of photoshop and the fantastic stuff they can create using it. There is always more to learn in photoshop, if you want your sketches to get painted Photoshop is best tool. Digital painting is a beautiful art that requires too much experience and talent. Find more at Pelfusion.

31 Fresh Photo Manipulation from DeviantArt

Photo manipulation is an art of editing images using different techniques to pictures in order to create a surreal or illusion effect using digital means. Photo manipulation is fun and very inspirational to designers. Here is a stunning 31 examples of newly created photo manipulation recently from DeviantArt. Check them out at The Design Mag.

Color From The Berlin Festival Of Lights

Finishing up this weekend is the 2009 Berlin Festival of Lights: “For the fifth year in a row Berlin will sparkle as a range of illuminations and projections light up more than 50 famous landmarks and spaces, including Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral and the radio tower. For the first time, the landmark Europa-Center, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the west of the city will be illuminated.” See more at Colour Lovers.

Website Design Showcase Of 21 Popular Brands

Where do you go normally when you are planning to start your new web design project? Today, we are listing down 21 Website Designs Of Popular Brands. This list is not long in numbers but I promise you that when you start browsing them in details it will surely refresh you. Check out more at Smashing Apps.

Wise Warriors, Artfully Attired

For the Japanese samurai, dying well was the best revenge. This elite warrior class began to play a central role in Japan’s history and culture around the eighth century and in time evolved into the country’s ruling caste. Read more at the New York Times.

Create a Clean Business Web Template Design in Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you’ll see a method for creating a professional web design mockup that’s perfect for a modern business or e-commerce website. This tutorial assumes that you know the basics of Photoshop. Read more at Six Revisions.

44 Examples of Nature Inspired Website Designs

Most of us find it soothing to be out in the nature. It’s such a relaxing view that we tend to get in touch with ourselves. Despite the modern times, nature images don’t ever go out of style. Hence, it just got more and more creative. Applying nature scene in web design are getting trendy these days that’s why we compile another list of websites that focus on this concept.

Mud Stencils Create Environmentally-Conscious Graffiti

DIY graffiti doesn’t have to be ugly– it can be thought-provoking, challenging, and perhaps most importantly, temporary. Jesse Graves, an artist based in Milwaukee Wisconsin, has harnessed mud as an artistic medium to take his green graffiti to the streets, and he encourages others to do the same. See more at Inhabitat.

75 Creative And Unique Business Card Designs

When it comes to promoting your business offline, having a unique business card design will definitely helps you. Business card speaks for your brand, and creative business card will help you gain a better impression from your potential clients. See more at Web Design Booth.

130 Halloween Pumpkin Carvings for Your Inspiration

Halloween is arriving on our doorstep in just under three weeks, and it is always exciting to see the new Costumes which thrill us, the new Pumpkin Carvings that inspire us, and all the Haunted Houses that horrify us.  The Ultimate Pumpkin collection consists of 130 Halloween Pumpkin Carvings for Your Inspiration which hopefully give you some cool and creative ideas for Halloween 2009. It includes Star Wars characters, Video Game themes, Geeky Pumpkin Faces, Horror Movie tribute pumpkin collection and also a Mixture that is perfect for everyone.  Read more at WalYou.

Pierre David: Naucier

At the completion of French artist Pierre David’s residency last May at the Modern Art Museum of Bahia in Brazil, he left behind a interesting and thoughtful exhibition celebrating color and the uniqueness of multiracial cultures. In Naucier, Pierre, commenting on racism, photographed 40 people, employees of the Musuem and art students from El Salvador, and displayed their images in classic color swatch fashion. Each individuals color was also formulated into a paint. See more at Colour Lovers.

7 Things Web Designers Hate Hearing from Clients

One of the most difficult aspects of being a web designer is dealing with clients that “just don’t get it”. In this article, we’ll discuss seven things that often make the job of web designers difficult when dealing with unreasonable demands from clients. The goal in this article is not only to identify these common situations, but also to share with you some ways to avoid them and explain to your clients why their demands can’t or won’t be met. Read more at Six Revisions.

Call to Action Buttons: Examples and Best Practices

Call to action in web design — and in user experience (UX) in particular — is a term used for elements in a web page that solicit an action from the user. The most popular manifestation of call to action in web interfaces comes in the form of clickable buttons that when clicked, perform an action (e.g. “Buy this now!”) or lead to a web page with additional information (e.g. “Learn more…”) that asks the user to take action. Read more at Smashing Magazine.

and just in case you missed it…

Some great posts from Designora recently:

360+ Free Flora and Fauna Brushes

Nature – the greatest inspiration. From landscape paintings to “A Rose is a rose is a rose” – mother nature is there to tingle our creativity. Although it is slowly disappearing from the planet, it still has a big role in all art work, graphic design included. Read more by Sheer Ganor.

WP Happy Halloween! WordPress 2.9 Has Media Tricks & Treats

WordPress may be giving out great new treats out by Halloween. With the WP 2.9 beta going live and the official WordPress 2.9 release scheduled soon after, we are really in for multimedia treats that many have long wanted. Read more by Poppist.

Perfectly Sized Wallpapers to Fit Your Android Phone

A great feature of an Android platform for cellphones is the ability to scroll through three screens. That means there are three different sections in which to put folders and quick links to applications. But what does that mean for your background image? Finding a wallpaper that looks good across three panels without getting pixelated and still having a sense of style is not always easy. We’ve taken care of that for you. See more by Ariela Ross.

A Box Toilet? Save Water with this Funky Design

So what’s the idea of “Box”? It is a modular bathroom system made from several parts. This means you can add and remove parts according to your needs. Despite its limitations, the “Box” seems to be a great idea to replace those disgusting chemical toilets you find here and there in public spaces… and to improve the ecological performance! Read more by Adrian Singer.

The Angel of Death Has Arrived: Ghastly Grim Reaper Graphics

Considered dark or even fantasy art, people appear to be fascinated with the Grim Reaper which in English the name was given as the sign of death back in the 15th century. Other cultures call it the Angel of Death. He is easily recognized by a dark cloak covering a skeleton typically with only the front part of his skull and hands showing while carrying a large scythe. You will see the Grim Reaper in drawings, paintings, digital illustrations, 3D designs, flash and animations. See more from J. Luzatto.