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If you're an artist or illustrator knee-deep in client work, it's common to dream of that magical day when you'll have the time and energy to just draw for fun again. But funnily enough, when that day swings around, it's equally common to be faced with a blank sheet of paper and no clue what to actually draw.
To help you out with some drawing ideas, we spoke to a professional artists and illustrators, and asked them what they draw to relax, to practise and to stretch their creative muscles. We hope their suggestions will inspire you to forge your own drawing rituals, and reboot your creative mojo. But if none of the suggestions here spark your creativity, be sure to check out our inspirational list of how to draw tutorials.
Right, sketchbooks at the ready!
01. Eyes
Chris McFall likes to draw eyes as a way of warming up
When artist and animator Chris McFall wants to get his creative juices flowing, he has a go-to drawing idea: eyes. Lots of eyes. "Then swirly bits. Then more eyes," he explains. "Essentially I’m just warming up, and getting used to the pen and paper’s absorbency, or the computer brush’s qualities. It’s a mark-making exercise, like a singer doing scales."
But why eyes specifically? "They’re just very expressive, and can be drawn in many styles, so you can employ lots of techniques," he reasons. "Also, they sit well at the centre of a mass of swirls cross hatches and scribbles."
It’s a ritual he’s employed successfully throughout his creative career. “I used to draw on the back of till receipts when I worked in Tesco,” he recalls, “so maybe it’s a habit from then.”
Want to follow McFall's lead? Take a look at this expert video tutorial on how to draw eyes.
02. Geometric blocks
Drawing geometric blocks is like "yoga for the mind", says James OConnell
“I love drawing geometric blocks, stacked in numerous ways and perspectives,” says creative director James Oconnell. “It might sound strange, but it tends to stop me thinking about everything I've seen over the past few hours and allows me to think fresh thoughts when approaching new briefs.”
The idea came to him a year ago, he says. “I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed with workload and needed something to drive my attention elsewhere. I sat at an empty pad and started drawing shape after shape, ultimately ending with cubes.
“The process managed to eradicate the busy feeling and make me think more clearly,” he continues. “And the best part is, I can decide how much time I want to give it. It's like yoga for the mind.
“I always have a pen and pad at hand so can draw anywhere; both analogue and on the iPad. I always stumble across previous scribbles in my pad and they're a nice reminder to take personal time every now and again.”
03. Faces
Olly Lawson likes to challenge himself by drawing a range of faces
Concept artist and illustrator Olly Lawson shares the same drawing idea as many other artists, which is sketching faces.
“It's usually heads of different physiognomies,” says Lawson, who typically works on his iPad using Procreate. “I try to think of interesting variations, rather than drawing the same faces too often. This feels like a practice that has endless possibilities and fascination for me, especially when drawing faces from characters in a story I'm reading.”
He usually draws from reference. “So it's a case of finding or shooting references that look interesting and different to the generic head I might otherwise draw,” he explains. “Saying that, I do try to use the reference only vaguely; taking a chin from here, a nose from there. The fun for me is always in the challenge, so I never like to draw things I'm too comfortable with already.”
The key to drawing faces, he believes lies in “understanding the underlying skeleton and how it can vary, and knowing how the muscles build upon that. Without that solid foundation underneath, your faces or figures can quickly become ‘uncanny’. You can learn this through good figure drawing textbooks like Drawing Heads and Hands by Andrew Loomis, or the Anatomy4Sculptors books.”
04. Diner still-life
James Gurney takes advantage of the time he spends waiting for his food
"When you're eating out, the time you spend waiting for your food is a great opportunity to get creative," says artist and best-selling author James Gurney.
“Diner still life is my favourite thing to draw to get my mojo on,” he says. “With the variety of surfaces, such as chrome, glass and paper, it has all sorts of reflective and refractive qualities, which transfer to my imaginative work. Plus I'm working with a time limit, as it only takes them 15 minutes to bring the scrambled eggs.”
This involves a combination of drawing and painting in a Pentalic watercolour sketchbook. “I start with water-soluble coloured pencils, and add washes of watercolour and gouache, often with a limited palette. I generally add final accents and written notes with a fountain pen filled with brown ink, and sometimes I come back into it with the coloured pencils, or even chalk.
“With the matte surface of gouache, you can draw over it and get the best of all worlds,” he continues. “This combination of tools allows the linear marks that the pencils can provide, as well as the accurate values and light effects that you can get with paint. Also, unlike oils, this technique is unobtrusive, has no odour, is small enough to fit on a diner table, and is fast.”
05. Flowers and grass
Nature lover Kate Farley finds fun in sketching flowers and grass
Printmaker and pattern designer Kate Farley likes to unwind by drawing flowers and grass. “It keeps the hand and eyes ticking over, with no pressure to use the drawings commercially if I don't want to,” she explains. “Plus it’s an excuse to buy myself flowers!
“I think of myself as a nature-lover and gardener so it’s a subject I relate to,” she continues. “I’ll use a variety of pencils, in terms of both hardness and size.”
And her advice for anyone with the same drawing ideas as her is as follows. “Think of drawing as getting to know someone," she recommends. "Ask polite, broad questions first to get to know them; quick sketches. Over time you get more involved and know it more so you can get more detail: longer complex studies.”
06. Passers-by
Each time you walk down the street, you’re presented with dozens of potential drawing ideas. So why not take advantage? That’s just what art director and illustrator Mademoiselle Camille does.
“Sometimes I see people whose face or clothing style I’d like to remember, so I draw them,” she explains. “I have a real fascination for portraits and smiling people, which is visible in my work. And so sketching them is a way for me both to practise my art skills, and to draw on the people as an inspiration for later.
“I have a good memory, so it’s pretty easy,” continues Camille, who sketches with pencils, colour pencils, and sometimes a ballpoint pen and coloured paper. “I pay a lot of attention to detail, although sometimes in a drawing you don’t need everything to be precisely detailed: just an accessory or object can be enough.”
07. Life models
Judith Mayer loves the challenge of life drawing
Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned professional, nothing beats a good session of life drawing to reinvigorate your understanding of the fundamentals and reboot your love of art.
“When I have time, there are several drop-in figure drawing sessions here in Chicago,” says lettering artist and illustrator Judith Mayer. “Grotesque Burlesque is a good one I have attended. For $15-20, you get several hours with a live model in timed poses, from two minutes to 45 minutes. It takes me right back to figure drawing classes in college.
“I love drawing likenesses and figures for the challenge of it,” she explains. “You know right away if a person isn't recognisable or the proportion is off, and then you have to figure out how to make it right. And drawing in a group, either in a room or online, changes the solitary experience of being an artist into a more social one.”
08. Red carpet looks
Niki Groom's sketch of Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh wearing Versace and Ralph & Rosso at the Golden Globes
When fashion, beauty, food and lifestyle illustrator Niki Groom (aka Miss Magpie) wants to draw for fun, she has a very specific go-to drawing idea. “I LOVE to do quick response fashion illustrations of red carpet looks,” she enthuses. “I rarely get commissioned for this type of work but I enjoy it, and it’s a great warm-up. I see them on Instagram and then illustrate them, either immediately or within a couple of days.”
The media she uses will depend mostly on what client work she’s currently immersed in. “If I’ve done loads of detailed pen work, as I have done recently, then I’ll use a paintbrush and ink. If I’ve been doing lots of painting then I’ll use marker pens.”
She’ll usually spend anything from 10 minutes to 45 minutes on these sketches. “I just do it because I almost need to get it out of my system,” she stresses. “There’s no strategy behind it, it’s just a love of clothing and fashion. It’s a scratch I have to itch, and a good way of having a rest from what’s been my day-to-day. I’d recommend to others to do work that they are passionate about, rather than doing something for a social media high.”
09. Fan art
Zelda fan art by Genzoman
Gonzalo Ordoñez (aka Genzoman) is an artist working for the games industry on big-name titles. But a constant diet of corporate work isn’t ideal, so he likes to break things up with fan art.
“Between projects, I usually take a break to draw my own things,” he explains. “One of my favourite subjects is a character from a movie, video game or comic, or whatever has captured my attention; either by design (because I like the universe) or simply because I like the character.
“Many people see fan art as a waste of time,” he says. “But it helps me to practise my style, helping me to understand how to adapt it to other IPs, or to find an unusual twist on it, such as if a character is technological, retro-steampunk, or so on.”
10. Community suggestions
A sampling of the faces Judith Mayer drew for a 30-day challenge set by Sktchy
Still stuck for drawing ideas? Why not exploit the collective imagination of the numerous creative groups across the web?
“If I can't think of what to draw. I'll head to a prompt list online,” says Judith Mayer. “There's the popular #inktober list every October, for example. “#Folktaleweek is another online challenge. Plus this year the illustration collective I'm in, @CrushIllustration, decided we wanted to create our own October prompt list, and shared it on Instagram as #crushtober. Having everyone draw along with you is fun and motivational.
“Because I like to draw likenesses," she adds, "I've also used the free app Sktchy on my iPhone, where people upload photos of themselves hoping an artist will draw them. It’s great for practising portrait drawing. They offer inexpensive classes for daily drawing too.”
Concept artist Jourdan Tuffan takes a similar approach in leaning on the web to provide inspiration. "If I'm at a loss of what to draw, I usually resort to browsing Pinterest," he says. "The assortment of different subject matters and cool ideas usually give me enough fuel to spark an idea in my brain."
Given the nature of his work, architecture is the subject matter he usually defaults to. "But I have been doing quite a lot of face studies in a bid to improve on my anatomy skills," he adds. "It's good to keep a 'To Draw' and a 'To Learn' list handy as well, to serve as a helpful reminder of what to do next, and spend less time thinking, and more time drawing."
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Adobe Illustrator has had a good run of basically owning the vector market, but increasingly it's having to fight its corner against newcomers that offer equally strong tools at more attractive prices. Affinity Designer delivered that vital first shot across Illustrator's bows, and now there's a new contender that could become the go-to choice for anyone wanting to create impressive vector art – at least, as long as they have a Mac.
Amadine is the latest vector app to have a pop at Illustrator
Amadine is a new graphic design tool from Ukraine-based developer BeLight Software. The app is aimed both at design professionals and creative amateurs, and features a set of vector drawing tools put together with user-friendliness and quality results in mind.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the volume of tools on offer in other vector apps, Amadine is likely to be a welcome alternative; BeLight has created its tool set to give you essential functionality without anything superfluous getting in the way.
It features a high-end Pen tool for creating smooth, precise curves, with multiple stroke effects and plenty of modifiers to help you get each line looking exactly the way you want it, as well as a Draw tool that combines the best of a brush and freehand pencil tool.
BeLight has designed Amadine to provide plenty of functionality without a steep learning curve
Amadine's Width tool enables you to draw with an intuitive variable stroke without the need to define its width manually, and when it comes to colouring your work it has fills and overlapping gradients with loads of hue options.
It also has a set of text tools for that all-important lettering and typography, and for those final touches there are plenty of effects for stylising your work, so you can bring everything to life with inner and outer glows, shadows and blurs.
The beta version of Amadine is available to download now
If we've piqued your interest, the good news is that you can give Amadine a test drive right now for free. The beta version was released for Mac last week; BeLight says that it's also working on an iOS version, so keep an eye out for that.
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OFFF Barcelona is back. The 19th edition of OFFF Barcelona will kick off on Thursday 25 April and finish on Saturday 27 April.
It's being hosted at the Museu del Disseny (The Design Museum of Barcelona) on Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes. Early bird tickets are all sold out, but the regular passes are very reasonable: a three-day ticket will set you back just under €200 (buy OFFF Barcelona 2019 tickets here).
Organisers are still releasing details, but what we have confirmed so far sounds exactly as excellent as we'd expect from the long-running design festival.
Bienal is the studio behind OFFF Barcelona's visual campaign
Mexican branding and communications studio Bienal has been charged with creating OFFF Barcelona 2019's visual campaign. This year, the theme is 'the OFFFTERLIFE' – because, after OFFF, nothing is the same. The campaign will explore the battle between technology and human connection.
Read on for four exciting things that await you in the OFFFTERLIFE...
01. Awesome speakers
Learn how Conrad Roset and Nomada Studio created the most beautiful video game ever
There are still plenty of surprises to follow, but there are some speaker details we're very excited about (full details here). Conrad Roset and Nomada Studio will be talking about how they created the beautiful, record-breaking video game GRIS; James Victore will return to OFFF to share insights from his new book Feck Perfuction; and Google's top senior product designer and UX engineers will be lifting the lid on the search giant's design secrets. There will also be a brand new documentary on legendary designer Dieter Rams premiering at the event, which asks why, at 86 years old, does he now regret being a designer?
02. The very best opening titles
OFFF is known for putting a lot of effort to create jaw-droppingly good opening and closing titles – if you're after proof, check out Future Deluxe's OFFF London 2017 titles above. At OFFF Barcelona 2019, award-winning visual effects and content creation studio The Mill’s creative offering Mill+ is in the driving seat, putting together the official film with director Ilya Abulkhanov. We can't wait to see what they come up with.
03. Workshops to boost your skills
To really make the most of the OFFF experience, it's worth taking a look at the workshops that will be running alongside the main talks. The year there are three on offer: a curated networking event aimed at 'drinkers with a drawing problem'; an in-depth look at how to create an original audio project; and techniques for creating a papercraft masterpiece. These workshops cost extra, but they offer a great chance to network and pick up new skills at the same time.
04. A closer look at OFFF's new-look branding
This festival will be the first to use OFFF's new-look branding, created by CROWD studio and released after the 2018 event. The designers behind the scheme will be sharing insights into the project in Barcelona, but in the meantime you can get a taster by watching the video above or checking out the Behance case study.
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To celebrate the debut of Conan O'Brien's new 30-minute late-night show on TBS, the Pantone Color Institute has worked with Team Coco (a brand name owned by Conan O'Brien's production company) to create a unique colour that defines the legendary comedian, writer and television host.
But how do you capture the essence of one of America's longest-working late-night talk show hosts – the comedic genius who has worked on Saturday Night Live, and wrote the monorail song in The Simpsons?
Naturally, there's only one colour that could sum him up. Team Coco Orange is described as an "affable, warm-hearted orange tone", one that "encourages conviviality and social interaction". As you may have also noticed, it's a pretty close colour match to the comedian's famous hair as well.
Check out how Team Coco worked with Pantone Color Institute in the video below, where Conan O'Brien explains with his typical deadpan wit the secret ingredients that went into making the distinctive orange colour (spoiler: it involves banana peel).
Team Coco Orange is set to appear in artistic displays in New York up until 22 January. These displays include street art installations, buses decked out in the unmissable colour, and illuminated billboard advertisements for the new series. It will also be the foundation colour for Team Coco's branding going forward.
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A great online portfolio is crucial for creatives of all skill levels. If you’re just starting out in the industry or a student, you can’t afford to put your portfolio off; you need to be ready to leverage crucial opportunities. And if you’re already an established designer, it’s just as important to maintain a fresh online presence.
Trouble is, setting up and maintaining an online portfolio can be a daunting and time-consuming task. But it doesn’t have to be, and you don’t need to be a coding expert either.
Format is a portfolio platform designed specifically to help creatives set up a professional online presence in minutes. An easy-to-use website builder, Format will make setting your portfolio up a cinch, showcasing your work in all its glory with one of its beautiful themes. And if that wasn’t enough, Format is also armed with integrated business features, including commerce, client proofing, marketing, and blogging tools, to help support you at every stage of your creative career.
Read on for how to create a professional, easy-to-navigate online portfolio in five simple steps.
Step 01. Choose a theme
The first thing you need to decide when creating your online portfolio is how you want it to look. Format has a variety of carefully-crafted themes to cater to your specific needs and design discipline. Layouts include:
- Horizontal scrolling
- Fullscreen slideshow
- Thumbnails
- Vertical scrolling
- Slideshow
And remember, nothing is forever. If you decide at a later date that you don’t like the theme you’ve picked, you can easily choose another. Simply select your theme of choice, go to the dashboard and here’s where the fun starts: customising your portfolio.
Step 02. Pick a colour, any colour
And a font too while you’re there. Now you’ve decided on a theme, it’s time to get creative with your design elements. Use the ‘Design’ tab to experiment with the look of your site, tweaking the overall theme, for example. The ‘General’ tab is where you can really inject some personality into your portfolio design. Fonts, colours, images, logos, you can customise them all, making for a truly personalised portfolio.
Step 03. Add a gallery
The purpose of a portfolio is to showcase your best work, and what better way to greet people than with a gallery that has it all. Think of it as a showreel for visitors to your site, a way to grab their attention and immediately give them the right impression about who you are as an individual and an artist.
The hardest part of this step is choosing what work to include. Setting it up with Format is the easy bit; simply choose ‘Gallery’ from the ‘Create New’ tab, upload your images and add captions (if you choose) and voila!
Step 04. Create an 'About' page
Aside from showcasing your work, the ‘About’ section is the second most important page in your portfolio. Once you’ve impressed with your creative talents, the next thing visitors will want to know is who you are and how to get hold of you.
You’d be surprised by how many opportunities are lost due to portfolios missing vital information. Don’t be the one who loses out – under ‘Create New, select ‘Custom Pages’ and pick/customise one of the About page templates at your disposal.
Here you can take some time to add some information about who you are, what you do and the best way for people to get in touch with you. Add your favourite mugshot too, it can go a long way to making things more personal. You could even be brave and lead with a super-sized eye-catching image to introduce yourself, as demonstrated by Anton and Irene above.
Step 05. Sync with social media
Love it or hate it, social media provides a number of handy platforms to help get your work seen and build an online following. With Format, you can add up to five icons linking visitors to your social media accounts. Located under the ‘Social’ tab, simply select the platforms you wish to use, be that a Facebook page, Instagram account or Twitter feed so visitors to your site can access them quickly and easily.
And that’s it, one professional portfolio set up and ready to go!
Want to get started on your own portfolio? Sign up to Format here for a 14-day, no obligation free trial.
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We now design in a world with an abundance of tools that can fit almost every design process and meet your creative requirements. There truly is a solution out there for everyone and the possibilities are incredible. It's such a great time to explore new tools and see what's available to design and showcase your projects.
The big challenge is which ones should you use? Over the last few years, the combination of Sketch and InVision has been a popular choice for many designers, but other tools have offered competitive features and options. There has never been a better selection of prototyping and wireframe tools out there, so we thought it was a good time to have a closer look at some of the best.
Wireframing
01. MockFlow
MockFlow enables you to build basic layouts quickly
MockFlow is a suite of applications that are very helpful for a number of tasks in the typical project process. Primarily, the WireframePro app is a good alternative prototyping tool for you to use, especially if you're testing out some new ideas.
If you just need to create wireframes, then take a look at MockFlow. It's great for working on initial ideas and enables you to build basic layouts quickly, which is sometimes all you need to get thoughts into a presentable form.
02. Balsamiq
Balsamiq's drag-and-drop elements make life easier
If rapid wireframing is what you're looking for, then Balsamiq is a strong suggestion. You can quickly develop structure and layouts for your projects with ease. The drag-and-drop elements make life easier and you can link buttons to other pages. This means you can quickly start to plan your interfaces and then share them with your team or clients.
03. Axure
Axure's a great tool got more complex projects
Axure has always been one of the best wireframing tools on the market and is great for more complex projects that require dynamic data. With Axure, you can really focus on mocking up projects that are more technical and require extra attention when it comes to structure and data.
04. Adobe Comp
If you want to wireframe on the go then Comp is a must
Adobe Comp is a nice addition for those that find themselves creating and conceptualising on the go. Got a tablet with a smart pencil? This will be worth the download just in case inspiration strikes for developing a new concept for a layout when you are away from your main workspace.
UI design and prototyping
05. Sketch
Sketch is the go-to choice for loads of designers
Sketch is a very popular tool within the design community that enables you to create hi-fi interfaces and prototypes. One of the great features is Symbols, where you can design UI assets and elements for reuse. This helps create design systems and keep your interfaces consistent. From there, you can easily export your design into a clickable prototype. If you are an InVision user, make sure you check out the Craft plugin.
06. InVision Studio
With InVision Studio you can create a responsive design on a single artboard
Many UI designers' dreams are about to come true with InVision Studio. Still in its early release, this tool will help you create beautiful interactive interfaces with a bucket load of features. You can create custom animations and transitions from a number of gestures and interactions. To top that, you can stop thinking about creating numerous artboards for multiple devices because responsive design can be achieved within a single artboard. This saves loads of time, so you can think of more ideas.
07. Proto.io
Proto.io can take you from rough sketch to lifelike prototype
Proto.io is an incredible contender for creating lifelike prototypes from rough ideas right through to fully fledged designs. The tool also provides a lot of possibilities for your projects, including detailed animations and custom vector animations too. You can start by developing initial ideas with a hand-drawn style, then work them into wireframes and finish off with a high-fidelity prototype. The Sketch and Photoshop plugins really help if you want to design using other tools but Proto.io does handle the end-to-end design process well. Other features like user testing will also help validate your designs. This is an all-in-one place solution with a great number of trusted brands already using it.
08. Adobe XD
XD's a good option if you're locked into an Adobe workflow
Adobe XD offers the best environment for digital projects under the Adobe Creative Cloud collection of design tools. If you're a keen Adobe user and new to XD, you may not find the interface very Adobe-like to begin with – it is a jump if you've been designing in Photoshop for a while. But it does stack up to the other leading tools out there, and is worth it if you are a big Adobe fan.
09. Marvel
Building pages with Marvel is sublimely straightforward
Marvel is another prototyping tool that's a great choice when it comes to producing quick ideas and refining an interface. As with many of the other applications of this type, Marvel offers a really neat way of building pages and enables you to simulate your design through a prototype. There are some wonderful integrations with Marvel, which means you can insert your designs into your project workflow.
10. Figma
Figma enables you to quickly compose and design interfaces. The Figma platform prides itself on being a collaborative design tool whereby multiple users can work simultaneously on a project – this is very effective when you have multiple stakeholders in a project that are involved in shaping the outcome. This is the kind of tool that would be ideal if you have a live project where a developer, copywriter and designer, for example, need to work on something at the same time.
11. Framer X
If you're using React, then Framer X works brilliantly alongside it
Framer X is a really exciting new design tool that is certainly worth a look for experienced UI designers who want more from their tools. Prototyping and creating interactions is really easy. If you're a big React fan, then look no further as you can design and code in sync. Besides being a great tool, there's a strong community of designers behind Framer X offering UI assets and kits.
12. Flinto
Flinto is a nice and simple design tool that enables you to create unique interactions within your designs. You can utilise a number of gestures and create easy transitions by designing the before and after states. Flinto simply works out the differences and then animates for you.
13. Principle
Principle is perfect for building great-looking animated interactions
Interaction design is what Principle excels at, especially when it comes to mobile applications. Tweaking and getting animated interactions just right is a breeze with Principle. You can look at individual assets and how they independently animate, right down to timings and easing.
14. Atomic
Atomic is another interactive design tool but what sets it apart is the ability to create form elements that you can actually type into. There is also a useful feature that enables you to import data and populate your designs. This really saves some time!
15. UXPin
For larger projects and design systems, UXPin's a top solution
Described as the 'end-to-end' UX platform, UXPin is essentially another design tool but with a powerful ability to create design systems. UXPin serves larger design teams that need to work off the same styles and guides, saving time with product development when collaboration plays a large part.
16. ProtoPie
This tool enables you to create quite complex interactions and get pretty close to how you would want your design to work. Perhaps the most standout feature is the ability to control the sensors of smart devices in your prototype, such as tilt, sound, compass and 3D Touch sensors. Depending on your project, this is a great tool for encompassing native app features. It's easy as pie with no code required.
17. Justinmind
Justinmind integrates nicely with Photoshop and Sketch
This tool helps with prototyping and integrating with other tools like Sketch and Photoshop. You can choose your interactions and gestures to help put your prototype together. It also contains UI kits, enabling you to put together screens quickly.
18. Origami Studio
Origami's packed with useful features such as custom rules and logic for interactions
Given Origami Studio is built and used by designers at Facebook, you might assume this must be a great tool. And you'd be right. There's a wonderful amount of features with Origami, including adding rules and logic to your interactions. How many times have you wanted a button to display or behave differently because of something else? There's an opportunity to create a true-to-form prototype with Origami, but it is very technical and requires some learning. This tool is perfect for developers and designers working together.
19. Fluid
Fluid's good and intuitive, and comes with some excellent UI assets
Fluid is an intuitive tool to build rapid prototypes and work up designs. It packs some nice assets out of the box to get you going with rapid prototypes and, once you've upgraded, it's easy to assemble your own symbols with your preferred UI assets.
Hand-offs
20. Zeplin
Zeplin is not necessarily a prototyping tool, but it very much fits in that post-design and pre-development stage alongside prototyping. It enables you to take your design and prototypes, hand them over to developers and make sure that your ideas are executed well. You can upload your Sketch, Photoshop, XD and Figma files to Zeplin and it will create an environment for developers and designers to hand over the project, without the tedious task of creating guidelines. However, it's worth making sure that you need it first.
This article was originally published in issue 313 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 313 here or subscribe here.
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Presentations are something a lot of us will have to give at some point or another. Whether you're presenting a project for school, pitching an idea to executives, or reporting on quarterly earnings, presentations are always better when they include engaging graphics and insightful images.
Try out Slideshop: Lifetime Subscription to build presentations more effectively and more efficiently. Thanks to thousands of template slides, you'll easily captivate your audience with stunning infographics and modern designs.
Slideshop: Lifetime Subscription is yours for only $29.99 – 98 per cent off the regular price.
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When embarking on a design career, you're full of ambition and expectation. But once the humdrum of daily deadlines sets in, it's easy to forget why you decided to be one in the first place, let alone appreciate all the upsides of the job.
We're here to set that straight by reminding you of 10 reasons you should be happy to be a designer. It doesn't matter whether you specialise in print or web design; whether you make apps or physical products: these universal truths about the life and career of a designer will remind you of all the good things about your job.
So the next time you've got an impossible deadline, or you overhear someone saying their nephew can design a website or create one of the world's best logos for a fiver, keep these in mind. Your job rocks, and you should be happy about it!
01. You get paid for being creative
The most obvious reason to be happy you're a designer is that you get paid for being creative. Although sometimes design can be a procedural discipline, it does allow you to flex your creativity on an ongoing, daily basis.
02. You work in a constantly changing field
One of the very best things about the design world in general is that it's constantly evolving and redefining itself. Not only does the discipline itself mature, in terms of the media you'll find yourself working with, but you'll also see shifts in aesthetic approach and fashion over time.
This constant reinvention and willingness to try new ideas means designers are exciting people to be around. So lap it up! And if you're not sure exactly what's happening in the field right now, then don't miss our post on graphic design trends for 2019 or the typographic trends of 2019.
03. You influence the bottom line
Dyson's designs genuinely revolutionised the vacuum cleaner
As a designer you're often tasked with producing work that acts as the interface between a company and its customers. So whether you're working on a layout for a magazine, crafting a website or work in industrial design, you're the person who controls the user's experience.
This can have a substantial effect on a company's performance – think in terms of Jonny Ive at Apple, or the Dyson range of vacuum cleaners. It's an important and incredibly rewarding position to be in.
04. You can pick your projects and clients (well, eventually)
In the beginning, you have to accept every scrap of work that comes along. But once you have some experience under your belt, you should be able to manoeuvre yourself a position where you can start to pick and choose both your clients and projects.
This is an empowering and affirming place to find yourself, so if you're not there yet, it's something to look forward to. And if you are, be happy – you've made it!
If you're not quite getting the freelance clients you're after, then see our piece on 6 things to know about getting freelance clients.
05. Every day is different
A lot of jobs are 'Groundhog Day' treadmills that make you feel that every day is the same. For design, not so. In the main, every day brings new challenges, problems to solve and projects to get creative with. This constant supply of fresh requirements makes for an interesting and stimulating job. And if you do feel you're stuck in a rut, then check out our tips on ways to transform your creative thinking.
06. You can make a positive difference to the world
There are several organisations that champion diversity in the design industry, why not join one of them?
Your role as a designer doesn't need to be a purely commercial one. Your skills can also be directed towards altruistic ends, and have a dramatic impact on the world.A great example of this is the (RED) project, which donates money raised from branded products to HIV/AIDS programmes in Africa. As a designer, you're well placed to be able to contribute meaningfully.
For more on how you can make a difference, and not just through your work, see our post on 6 ways you can give back to the design community.
07. You get to see people interact with your work
As a designer you get to observe people interacting with your work regularly. And whether it's seeing someone lap up a book you typeset, or enjoy a website you designed, seeing your work in action on a daily basis can be both gratifying and motivating.
08. You can work flexible hours
Whether you prefer to work in the morning or the evening, you'll probably find your design career can fit around your schedule
This one mainly applies to freelance designers, but if you work for yourself, or even sometimes when you work on contract, you're able to choose when and where to work. This offers an excellent opportunity to strike a work-life balance that suits your circumstances and needs. And it also means that if you're a night owl and can work more effectively at 11pm than at 11am, you can incorporate this into your working routine.
09. You can create your own specialism
Regardless of the field of design you work in, there's always scope to develop and specialise within your area of expertise.
Some designers focus on a particular style or technical approach to work – by using specific materials, a vernacular approach or a limited palette. Others will look at specific skills such as typographical engineering or working with paper in 3D.
As a designer there's no limit to your ability to use your creativity to find your own unique style, approach and specialism.
10. You can find inspiration everywhere
Is there inspiration lurking in your local supermarket or department store?
Designers can find inspiration and ideas all around them. Whether it's a walk in the woods or a trip to the supermarket, you can find shapes, colours, type and imagery to inspire you everywhere you go. This ability to experience the world and draw it into your work is phenomenally rewarding, and also means you can justifiably claim that you're working while browsing Creative Bloq...
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The Fallout EK has added the latest Flash vulnerability to its bad of tricks, among other tune-ups.
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A default configuration allows full admin access to unauthenticated attackers.
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For version 6 of Boris FX’s planar tracker, roto-masking and visual effects tool, there’s a new naming convention (named by the year) signalling future major releases will be annual. The first thing you’ll notice about Mocha Pro 2019 is the redesigned interface and addition of four workspaces. Designed for newcomers, the default Essentials workspace presents a simplified layout that’s streamlined to focus on the bread-and-butter tasks of tracking and roto.
Existing users will be at home with the Classic workspace. There’s also Roto and Big Picture workspaces, so you can pick the one that suits your 3D art workflow. Sadly there’s no option to create your own custom workspaces. The interface has been tweaked, becoming darker and a lot sharper as Mocha Pro has got better at taking advantage of high-DPI resolution screens, including Retina displays.
New spline tools have been added that you’ll soon come to rely on
To expedite roto work, new spline tools have been added that you’ll soon come to rely on. For quick garbage mattes, the Freehand spline tool is a useful timesaver. It lets you click-drag draw a loose shape that’s converted to an X-spline on completion. To increase or decrease the amount of tangents generated, there’s a Detail parameter.
Similar to Photoshop’s Magnetic Lasso tool is the new Magnetic Spline tool. It reduces the amount of clicks needed as you simply trace an outline around the edge of the area you want to roto. Should the magnetism get confused when tackling difficult areas such as blurred edges, simply click to manually add anchor points until you get back on track or you can click-drag to temporarily switch to the freehand tool. Generally speaking the resulting X-spline tangent handles will need a fine-tune. Ellipse and Rectangle roto shapes have also been added.
Mocha’s Remove Module, which is used to track and remove objects from shots, is now enabled for Open CL-based GPU acceleration to give a significant rendering speed boost compared to using only processing power.
With this release, Mocha VR is no longer available as a unique product, instead the upgrade to Mocha VR is now Mocha Pro 2019
During reviewing, the speed increase is obvious and Boris FX has benchmarked rendering speeds that can be up to four to five times quicker, depending on hardware. VR artists can also take advantage of the GPU-accelerated Remove module and new roto tools as Mocha VR (Boris FX’s toolkit for spherical 360/VR video post-production) has been merged into Mocha Pro as a standard feature.
The focus on faster and more efficient working – specifically with Mocha’s core tools, coupled with the addition of Mocha VR without a price increase makes this release excellent value.
- Buy Mocha Pro 2019 from Boris FX
- Get free admission to VERTEX 2019, the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists
This article was originally published in 3D Artist magazine.
Read more: The best new 3D tools for 2019.
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If you've ever tried to explain the intricacies of a design to a colleague or client, chances are you'll have found that sometimes words can fall short of the mark when it comes to specifying what you're talking about. That's where some wonderfully bizarre terminology comes in, and the field of typography boasts plenty.
The varied and obscure vocabulary surrounding typography might seem pernickety on the surface. But when you know the anatomy of your letter shapes, you'll not only have more authority when working with others, you'll also be able to diagnose problems with your type more easily.
That's the thinking behind this infographic of 20 lesser-known typography anatomy terms put together by Toptal, a marketing place for visual interaction designers. Like all the best infographics, this one makes its data immediately understandable. Clear illustrations by Micah Bowers pinpoint a collection of letter parts that every designer should know, but which can often fly under the radar. How many do you know?
Click the image to see the full size infographic
Have you memorised them all? Why not test out your knowledge by examining the anatomy of the best free fonts online?
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You're reading Free Essentials for Designers: Textures, Patterns, Shapes and Backgrounds, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+!
We are living in an era where everything is digital and artificial. However, there’s still room for old-time crafting tools. CSS-based illustrations, SVG icons and images, WebGL-powered pieces and dynamic effects of all types and kinds are the most popular …
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Many logos cause controversy when first unleashed into the world, but that doesn't mean they won't be remembered fondly. But what is it about certain logos that mean they'll last forever?
With this in mind, we asked five designers to share the logo design they most admire, and tell us what it is about that logo that inspires them. Some picked classic logos, while others went for more recent work. If this post gets you thinking, feel free to share your favourite logo with us on social media.
01. Mozilla
Mozilla's rebrand was created by Johnson Banks, with the help of the internet
"One recent logo design I really admire is the new Mozilla branding done by brand agency Johnson Banks," says Mimi Van Helfteren, designer at Coley Porter Bell. "Not only does it have a real smile-in-the-mind idea within the mark (the ‘ill’ of Mozilla is made out of URL characters), it was also created in a really forward-thinking way, asking the general public for input."
"The idea itself puts Mozilla at the heart of the internet, and is simple enough that it conveys their internet ethos of being open and free for everyone; while the typestyle is reminiscent of coding. Using the general public as a sounding board throughout the design process also ties into Mozilla’s values of transparency and participation that lets people all over the world have the creativity and freedom to publish opinions and ideas, and to collaborate without the restrictions of location. It feels well-rounded in both design and process, and true to the brand.”
02. CBBC
CBBC's brand was refreshed by Red Bee agency
"Like many social media users, I was initially a little skeptical when the BBC unveiled its new logo for the CBBC channel," says Matt Smith, art editor at Mac|Life magazine. "Its previous incumbent had become tired, dated and inappropriate for a modern digital age, so a refresh was definitely on the cards. However the new direction had strong overtones of corporate design and was admonished by the CBBC Controller herself for 'not screaming children's TV'.
"While some of the criticisms had merit, I love the bold, colourful, playful approach, with the innovative placement of the 'B's. The abstract shapes also expanded the potential for fun idents and creative video transitions, which would appeal to a broader audience.
"Do kids really care about logos? Possibly not, but I love this logo. Viewed as a whole I think the redesign was smart and classy, and will hopefully be fondly remembered. After all, time is a great healer; how many classic logos were universally loved when they were first conceived?"
03. Led Zeppelin
The symbols here each represent one of Led Zeppelin's band members
"The logo I admire the most is a combination of the original 1973 band logo for Led Zeppelin and the Led Zeppelin IV emblem with the four occult symbols, from the band’s nameless fourth album," says Ashley Milligan, art director of FINE.
"The letterwork, wordmark and the system of four symbols are iconic: one symbol for each member of the band steeped in their own personal mythology. Both the band’s wordmark, as well as the Led Zeppelin IV logo, have a simple black and white colour scheme that has stood the test of time. Maybe the symbols you see and love in your formative years stay with you in a way no other marks do, but I scrolled and doodled this logo on countless notebooks in school, proud to wear the mark on merch while sharing the secret of the symbols with others. One instantly feels cool surrounded by these iconic marks, and no other logo does that.”
For more music-related logos, see our post on beautiful band logos.
04. Empress Litho
Print company Empress Litho's current identity was created by Supple Studio in early 2019
"Which logo design do I admire most? The energy of the Nike Swoosh? The iconic colouring of Coca-Cola? The simplicity of Apple? These are classics all worthy of the top spot, sure. I allow my number one, though, to be ever-changing as brands are created and identities refreshed. So what’s caught my eye lately? It’s the rebrand of Empress Litho," says Ross Middleham, content lead at the Met Office.
"It does the basics right – it's legible, clear and versatile. The black and white use of negative space strikes a perfect balance between modern and traditional. The combination mark – with the two elements of graphic and type – allows for great flexibility. The crown, derived from a rotated ‘E’, gives the name importance and acts like a stamp of quality.
"It looks gorgeous on vehicle wraps, stationery and clothing, but translates just as effortlessly into the digital world. The simple shapes and angles can be broken apart to create dynamic animations for social or used to reflect precision and accuracy in print. It’s a winner for me because those elements help unify its appearance across everything – from a huge banner right down to the tiniest social avatar."
05. I heart NY
Milton Glaser's classic logo has a fantastic story behind it
"For me it has to be the ‘I heart NY’ logo by Milton Glaser, which shows that the emoji phenomenon is not a new concept, and has a great story behind it," says Jade Trott, art director at OLIVER.
"In 1976, the American graphic designer originally designed a different version of this logo. And just as the designs were being printed, he hailed a cab to go home. And then he noticed something: little graffiti love hearts everywhere. The graffiti in New York never said the actual word ‘love’. There was only ever a love heart and a couple of initials either side. And then it dawned on him: the essence of New York was shortening all words into symbols. The kids in New York didn’t have any time for words.
"He drew ‘I heart NY’ on the back of an envelope, which is now on display in the MoMA, New York. And he raced back to the printers, stopped the press and changed it to the design we all know and love today. It’s timeless.”
A shorter version of this article was originally published in issue 286 of Computer Arts, the world's leading graphic design magazine. Buy issue 286 or subscribe here.
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In this tutorial, we'll show you how to create a glitch text effect. Special effects and animations can help websites stand out, creating an immediate impact on the user before they've had a chance to get into reading the main content. If your homepage needs to wow visitors, you can create tons of different effects using just CSS.
Our process for creating glitch text here is actually pretty similar to working with animation software. We'll place keyframes at specific points, and use these to control the action. The difference with the keyframes in CSS is that they are written as percentages for the timeline of animation in the code. This isn't anywhere near as daunting as it sounds – once you try it, it's relatively straightforward to achieve good results.
There will be a small amount of JavaScript used in the tutorial – to remove the loading screen once the images load onto the page – but the main focus here is on CSS animation. We'll also use CSS Grid to position elements on the screen.
- Download the tutorial files from FileSilo (free, login required)
01. Get set up
To get started, open the start folder from the project files inside your code editor. Open the index.html page, which contains just a barebones skeleton HTML page. In the head section, the fonts need linking up so that the design displays correctly. Add the style link for the fonts.
02. Link the CSS
The basic layout in CSS has been started in the site.css file, but all of the important parts relating to the glitch effect are going to be added later. In the head section of the document link up the CSS so that the basic design of the page is in place.
03. Set up a loading screen
This screen will display while the page loads
Now move to the body section of the page. This contains all the visible elements of the page that show up in the browser. Here add in a div that will hold the 'preloader screen' until everything on the page has loaded. This will display a logo in the centre of the page.
04. Add a header bar
The basic elements of the design, before the glitch text effect is added
Along the top of the screen will be a small header containing an SVG logo for the site on the left with a text heading. Then on the right-hand side of the screen, an inline menu will be in place for easy navigation. The structure of the code here adds those elements onto the page.
05. Add images
Now the section that follows contains several versions of the same image in the glitchit class. What this will do is have different parts of these images turned on and off at different times in order to give a glitch effect. Following this is the text that will sit over the top of the images.
06. Trigger the glitch text effect
At the end of the body content the JavaScript tags are placed. All this does is check that the page has loaded and then removes the loading screen, which in turn triggers the glitch effect animation to start by adding a class to the body to affect the relevant glitch sections.
07. Set up CSS Variables
Save the page now and move over to the site.css file in the CSS folder. There is already code here, but right above any other code add in the variables shown below. These CSS Variables will hold colours and sizes that will be used later on in the design.
08. Experiment with Variable settings
As you will see, these Variables are assigned to the body tag so they can be used by any tag on the page inside the body, which is essentially all the visible page. Here the transparency and blending modes are set up for the different images. There are five images and you can experiment with these settings to get different results.
09. Fill the screen with images
To keep the code neatly together, scroll down to the comment that mark steps 9 to 13 in the CSS file, adding in this code. Here the glitch code positions the div containing all images to fill the full screen and be positioned absolutely in the top left of the screen. Note it gets its width and height from the CSS Variables.
10. Adjust image positioning
The glitch effect uses repositioned copies of the same image
As the glitch effect is made up out of copies of the same image, this code positions each div in the page and makes it slightly larger than the screen. It positions it off the top and left to account for it being bigger, and the image is then placed in the background to fill the image.
11. Select images
The code here selects every image except the first image. This is because the first image stays on the page, while the others turn on and off over the top with the keyframe animation. These top images are hidden until they are needed with the opacity set to zero.
12. Adjust images two and three
The second and third image are set to animate in this code. They are given the respective blend and colour modes so that they show up differently. The biggest difference here is that they are given different keyframe animations to follow to mix.
13. Adjust images four and five
This time the next two images are set up quite close to the others, but again this time there is different blending modes and animations for these images to show up. The keyframes have not yet been created for some of these animations and that will come next.
14. Add the first set of keyframes
The keyframes work by grabbing different sections of the image and clipping it down so only that will be visible. The opacity is turned on and off at different times so that parts of the image are visible at different times to the other animations and thus creates the glitch effect. The image is moved slightly on the x-axis.
15. Use the clip-path
The clip path is taking a rectangle so the first two numbers are top left, then top right. This is followed by bottom right and bottom left. By moving these numbers different parts of the image become visible at different points.
16. Speed up the movement
By moving the clip path so quickly over a number of the keyframes, the effect builds up and different parts of the image appear to flash around in an erratic fashion. Add that more layers of images are also doing this and the effect works very well at what it does.
17. Finish up the image glitches
After 22% the image is turned off until the animation plays back again. This completes the glitch-1 effect with glitch-2 and glitch-3 already being supplied in the code. The next section will glitch the text that is over the top of the image as well.
18. How to create glitch text
The text is only clipped briefly, to ensure it's still readable
This code works extremely similarly to the previous code except that it flips the text upside down and then clips it, to give a jumping effect that is moved dramatically. Following that the clip path is revealing only smaller sections, with the fast movement through the keyframes.
19. More clipping
The effect continues in this section of code by rapidly changing the shape of the clipping path. The clip-path also comes with the -webkit- prefix but for brevity this has not been shown in any of the code here. At time of writing, Clip Path is currently not supported in IE, Edge or Opera Mini, but is in all other browsers.
20. Flip the text back
In the final text glitch animation the text flips back to its original position and waits for the keyframes to come around again. As you can see all of the animation takes place in 10 per cent while it stays dormant for 90 per cent of the time, giving the text the right amount of distress and allowing it to be readable.
21. Create a quick flash
The glitch effect runs every few seconds to give a distressed look
The final step is that one image is given the glitch-flash animation, and this series of keyframes just place the image on the screen with a 20 per cent opacity for a short period just to give an offset of the original. Save the CSS file now and the effect should start playing once the content loads in the browser.
This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 281 or subscribe.
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Copywriting is an art form. It can make or break sales when it comes to marketing a product. So why not make sure you're at the top of your game with Modern Copywriting: Writing Copy That Sells in 2019? It's on sale for 94 per cent off the $199 MSRP at just $10.99 today.
From crafting the perfect headline to learning exact formulas that will help prevent writer's block, Modern Copywriting: Writing Copy That Sell in 2019 will set you up as a copywriting pro. This online course includes seven hours of training that you can access at any time. That's right, you can improve your copywriting game from the comfort of your couch whenever you feel like it.
Beginners are welcome, as this course covers copywriting basics, persuasion tactics and hitting the right tones among many other essential copywriting skills. Whether you're hoping to up your copywriting game for your website, email or social media, the intricacies and differences of every type of copywriting are also covered within these 66 lectures.
Get lifetime access to this vital info for just $10.99 here.
Want your products featured in The Creative Bloq Shop? Learn more about how to sell your products online!
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DVD may seem a bit 'old school' these days, but sometimes it can be handy to have your work or design portfolio to hand - you never know who you might bump into, right? They can also be handy for storing files if that's your preferred method.
For those of you born post DVD, it's an abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc, an optical storage disc that can store huge files sizes, like that of a movie, games and software install programs.
A standard storage capacity of a DVD is 4.7 GB, while a rare double-sided and double layered one boasts of 17.08 GB, so it's easy to see why they have been, and still are, a popular choice among movie and video makers and musicians.
How to burn files to DVD using Wondershare
Wondershare DVD creator allows you to burn videos like MP4, MOV, FLV, ASF among others to DVD. It is available for both Mac and Windows operating systems as a free version and paid version. Simple, fast and efficient, Wondershare DVD Creator also allows you to personalise DVDs before burning them. Learn how to burn your files to DVD with this simple step-by-step guide.
Step 01.
First, you need to visit Wondershare website and download Wondershare DVD Creator for Windows or for Mac and install it. It is a lightweight software and therefore quick to download. From there, read the terms of the software and accept them to install.
Step 02.
Following installation, double-click on the program to open it. You will see a home window that let us you to choose disc or burn DVD by one click. If you opt for “One-click to Burn DVD” you will burn the videos without menu settings. Therefore, go for “Create a DVD Video Disc
Step 03.
You will then see a new window with source menu activated. Now, click on the add button at the centre of the window. This will enable you to upload the MP4 video/s that you want to upload and burn. The upload of files to the program is instant.
Step 04.
Next, the uploaded MP4 videos will appear at the left side of the new window. You can then add a title of your videos. Click on the pencil like button the video to get options to crop, trim, add effects as well as add watermarks. After making the changes click on OK and move to the next step.
Step 05.
From there, you have to customise the menu of your DVD. You can browse the template menus on the right side and then select one that fits your preference. You can then add texts, change menu structure and edit the background music.
Step 06.
After all the changes and adjustments, you can now preview the MP4 videos before burning them.
Step 07.
On this last step, you need to set the output settings. Define the folder path, Disc label and others on the list before clicking on the “Burn” button. The program will then burn all the MP4 to DVD within a few minutes.
Other useful features of Wondershare DVD Creator
You have seen how useful Wondershare DVD Creator is when it comes to burning of videos. This multilingual DVD burner also features other powerful functionalities that you might find useful.
01. Burn image to DVD burner
This DVD creator does not just burn videos but it can also burn images to DVD. This option is useful when you have photos of an event and you want create photo slideshows. It supports different image formats and you can upload the images as a batch for burning.
02. DVD to video creator
Wondershare DVD Creator can also convert the DVD to high-quality video formats like MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV, VOB, WMV and MTS among others.
03. Burns files to data disc burner
In a situation that you have images, videos and audios that you want to burn them to a disc as a backup, then Wondershare DVD Creator has the data disc feature. The data disc option allows you to burn files within a simple click.
04. ISO to DVD burner
With this software, you will be able to burn your ISO files to DVD easily.
Wondershare DVD Creator is an all-in-one DVD burner that can burn audios, image, and audios to DVD and also convert DVD to video formats. Moreover, it also allows to customise DVD menus and edit videos before burning them. -
Microsoft is offering rewards of up to $20,000 for flaws in its Azure DevOps online services and the latest release of the Azure DevOps server.
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In this tutorial we're going to take you through the process of making your app accessible and user friendly for people around the world. Only about 20 per cent of the world speaks English, so providing other language options can improve your user experience and greatly increase your app's reach. We're going to take a look at Angular's built-in internationalisation tools and show you how to correctly use them.
We've created a very simple demo app to demonstrate the process. Clone it from here and then follow the installation instructions.
Start the app to familiarise yourself with it. It just displays and updates random numbers and values with different contexts, e.g. currencies, dates etc. We'll cover some of the pipes and features used during the tutorial.
01. Key terms for supporting languages
If your site's just in English you're missing out on a big audience
There are two words that are often used interchangeably when talking about translating an app – internationalisation and localisation – however, they actually mean slightly different things. Internationalisation refers to the process of preparing your app for supporting different languages. In contrast, localisation refers to the process of actually translating your app into your required languages. Essentially internationalisation is something you do once per app, and localisation happens once per locale – at least that's the plan.
These terms might also be familiar in their shortened versions: i18n (where 18 is the number of letters between the first 'i' and the last 'n' of internationalisation) and l10n (where 10 is the number of letters between the 'i' and the 'n' of localisation).
02. What's localisation?
There are over 6,000 languages used around the world today, most of which are only used by very small groups of people. Yet even if we only focus on the top three languages – Mandarin, Spanish and English – there will be significant differences in date formatting, grammatical structure, pluralisation and number formatting.
If we include the fifth most widely used language – Arabic – we encounter another difference; Arabic is a right-to-left (RTL) script which means the UI will also have to be mirrored.
So during localisation we have to consider grammar, layout and formatting differences, and of course, we also have to change the text itself. Angular can help with much of this but you'll still need to manually translate the text.
03. Locales in Angular
We will need to localise for each locale we need to support. A locale refers to the general set of preferences for the considerations mentioned above that tend to be shared within a region of the world, typically a country. Each locale is represented by a Unicode locale identifier, which specifies the language code and the locale extension.
Angular's default locale is 'en-US', which is the language code 'en' (English) as spoken in the region 'US' (United States of America). An app localised for 'en-US' will be subtly different from an app localised for 'en-GB' which is English as spoken in Great Britain. For example, in the US dates are (bafflingly) formatted mm/dd/yyyy, whereas here in the UK we use the more sensible dd/mm/yyyy approach. This minor difference can result in a major error in comprehension.
To make things interesting let's localise our demo app for Arabic as spoken in Iraq, aka 'ar-IQ' and English as spoken in the UK, aka 'en-GB'. We'll use English as the default this time.
04. Build configuration
Our demo project was created using Angular CLI, which includes some useful tooling. We're going to use the Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compiler for this project so we need to make some changes to the CLI's configuration file: 'angular.json'. If you want to use Just-in-Time (JIT) you need to configure things slightly differently.
With an AOT build you get a small, faster rendering ready-to-go application which loads without the need for asynchronous requests to fetch things like templates and stylesheets. As a result you must create a build for each locale and serve the appropriate build using the URL or some kind of server-side language detection logic. The simplest approach is to create a directory for each locale, e.g. www.example.com/en-GB and www.example.com/ar-IQ. The trade off is that you can't switch language on-the-fly, but in reality that is unlikely to be something required by real users.
First of all we need to add a build configuration for our Arabic locale. In the JSON file look for the 'architect.build.configurations' object. Add the following block to define a configuration for the locale:
This configuration tells Angular where to output the compiled build and which translations file and format to use. It also sets the locale and tells Angular which directory the app will be deployed to.
We also need to modify the default options in 'architect.build.options' to use the 'en-GB' locale. Set the following properties as shown. Note we're enabling AOT here across the board so it will be used for production and development builds:
Angular supports a number of locales. Make sure you use the correct value for the 'i18nLocale' property. You can see the complete list here.
Behind the scenes the above configurations simply load and read from one of these locale preference files.
05. Serve configuration
In addition to configuring the build output we also need to set up the configuration for the 'ng serve' command for development. This is more straightforward as we can simply reference the build configuration we just added. In 'angular.json' add the following block to 'architect.serve.configurations':
Here we are referring the build configuration options using the 'browserTarget' property, and we're also setting the 'servePath'. Before we can either serve or build the Arabic app we need to create the translations file referenced in the 'i18nFile' property above. Angular CLI includes a tool for extracting flagged text into an industry-standard translation source file.
We'll cover these files in more detail later on in the tutorial but for now we just need to export the basic, empty file to allow us to compile.
We'll use the 'ng xi18n' command with the following options. This is the only time we'll include the locale ID in the '--out-file' filename:
This should create a file in a src/locale directory. From now on we'll always output the file named 'messages.xlf' and manually copy it over the version with the locale ID in the name. The reason for this is to prevent the extraction tool from overwriting any existing translations we've added to the file.
06. Switch configuration
By switching configuration you can default to location-specific currencies
At this point we can now compile the project and see what happens, but we need to tell the 'ng serve' command which configuration to use. First let's take a look at the English version. No changes here because English is the default:
As you can see it looks much like the original version, which uses Angular's default locale of 'en-US'. The notable difference is the currency now specifies US$ instead of just $. Okay, now let's try the Arabic version. Stop the English version and run:
As you'd expect there are more obvious differences in this version, in particular the date is now written in Arabic. Angular can do this because the names of some things, such as months and days, are from a set list and ultimately they relate to a known number. Everything else, however, is still in English.
07. Locale-aware pipes
Take a closer look at the source code of 'app.component.html' and you'll see that we use a number of different pipes. The following Angular pipes are locale-aware, meaning that they adapt their output based on the current locale: 'DatePipe', 'CurrencyPipe', 'DecimalPipe' and 'PercentPipe'.
If you use these pipes carefully Angular will handle a lot of the localisation legwork for you. By carefully we mean use the available predefined options wherever you can. A good example is the US vs UK date formatting we mentioned earlier. If you're in the UK and you want to display a date using the (sensible) day-month-year format, you might be frustrated to find that the predefined ''shortDate'' option renders as m/d/yy (eg. 10/9/18) and be tempted to hardcode your desired format like this:
But we now know that we get the m/d/yy format because Angular uses the 'en-US' locale by default. So instead of hardcoding the format we should use the ''shortDate'' option and localise our app to use 'en-GB'.
It takes a tiny bit more effort but then we can add locales to our heart's content and always have a user-friendly date format.
08. Overriding the predefined options
Unfortunately it doesn't seem that there is an easy, built-in way to override a predefined format. For example you can't just decide that you'd prefer the ''shortDate'' format to be dd/mm/yyyy instead of dd/mm/y as there is no way to modify the format at runtime. Also you can't add your own predefined options.
For these edge cases you could create a custom date pipe which wraps the Angular 'DatePipe' and handles any custom formats per-locale. Anything it doesn't recognise would be passed on to the built-in 'DatePipe'.
09. CurrencyPipe
Off the shelf the 'CurrencyPipe' will format a number as US Dollars, trim to two decimal places and add groupings as defined in the locale's preferences.
You'll notice that in both our locales the currency is always in US Dollars. It doesn't magically switch to Sterling (GBP) when you use the 'en-GB' locale. The reason for this is that £10 is not the same as $10, so you must explicitly specify the currency your number refers to.
Let's update 'app.component.html' to use GBP throughout. When specifying the currency code you must use the correct value from the ISO 4217 standard (list available online).
Modify the two currency pipes by adding ':'GBP'' like so:
And you'll start seeing the £ symbol instead of US$.
Remember, it doesn't do anything clever like automatically convert USD to the equivalent value in GBP if you change the currency – it just changes the symbol it uses.
10. Translation workflow
Okay, so we've got our two locales configured and Angular is helpfully doing some of the work for us out of the box, but the text is all still in English. Angular can't translate this automatically, sadly, but it can help us with parts of the workflow. This is what has to happen:
- Flag static text in all components for translation
- Export translation file containing this static text
- Modify the translation file and add the relevant translations
- Merge translated translation file back into app
Angular helps us with steps 2 and 4, but as developers we need do step 1 manually. Step 3 would typically be completed by a translation professional or agency, using special software to read and update the translation file.
11. Axis details
To achieve this we have to add a special attribute to every element that contains fixed text to be translated. To be clear if the content arrives from an API then that isn't fixed text and you'd need to localise that in the API. You only need to add the attribute when the text is written directly in the HTML template in your source code. A key point here is that you should try to keep your TypeScript files locale-agnostic – in other words, avoid putting any text that needs to be translated in the component logic and keep it all in the templates. Otherwise the extraction tool won't be able to extract it. It's good practice anyway to separate your concerns – in life and in code.
Let's open up 'app.component.html' and start with the 'Current value' title. Simply add the 'i18n' attribute to the element that directly contains the text.
It's important to understand that this is just a 'dumb' custom attribute. It isn't an Angular directive that triggers anything at runtime, in fact ,the compiler removes it after translation.
Anyway, let's see what happens when we run the extraction tool again to regenerate the translation file. Remember '--out-file' is just 'messages.xlf' now:
Open up the output XLF file and you should see a new translation unit block that looks something like this with some additional context information:
Great, that means the tool picked up the 'i18n' attribute. That long ID is generated by the tool and will stay the same unless the text changes. If you have multiple instances of exactly the same text they will all get the same ID. Don't edit this ID!
If you prefer, you can specify a custom ID within the 'i18n' attribute. If you do this the ID will remain the same even if the text changes, so you need to be sure you don't have any ID collisions throughout your app. Use the '@@' prefix to set a custom ID. Here the ID will become 'title':
12. Add some context
To ensure the translator is able to provide an accurate translation they will often need to know the context that the text is being used in. The 'i18n' attribute allows us to define a description and a meaning to help the translator. The format is as follows:
Let's update our title with a meaning and description:
That should give the translator enough context to provide an accurate translation. Regenerate the translation file and you should see these values have been output. It's worth noting that if you don't use a custom ID the generated ID takes the meaning and the text into account. So the same text, but with a different meaning, will get a different ID. The description, however, has no impact on the ID.
13. Text with variables
Let's move on to the intro section. The first paragraph contains text and a variable which will be interpolated at runtime. How do we handle this?
Well happily it is quite straightforward. Again we need to add a meaningful 'i18n' attribute to the containing element. Add it directly to the paragraph element:
See how the variable interpolation has been detailed in the output. The nice thing about this is it allows the translator to modify the grammatical structure of the sentence if necessary, without breaking the binding. For example, there may be a language where the sentence would be best written: X value was yesterday's closing, ie with the variable at the start.
14. Pluralisation
Moving on to the next paragraph you'll see some intimidating syntax. This is called ICU Message Format and it allows you to specify different chunks of text based on the value of a variable.
You can use this to add the 's' to words in English when the value is zero or not one. For example, if 'seconds' is a variable containing the number of seconds we can use this ICU pluralisation expression:
Which will output:
- 0 seconds
- 1 second
- 2 seconds
It doesn't appear to be documented but you can also use the 'AsyncPipe' inside the pluralisation syntax to work with Observables.
In that example 'one' and 'other' are pluralisation categories. There are a number of categories to choose from, but beware! Not all locales support all the categories, and Angular doesn't tell you if you try to use a category that isn't supported by the current locale. It is easy to end up thinking that you've done something wrong because the 'two' category isn't working in your 'en-GB' locale and instead you are seeing the 'other' text. Inexplicably 'en' (and many other common languages) only support 'one' and 'other', even though 'zero' and 'two' are explicit values.
Check out this file to see what's actually supported.
15. The multiple radial bar charts
We can work around this limitation by using numbers instead of categories. Just prefix the value with an '=':
This is already set up in the demo app, we just need to add the 'i18n' attribute to the containing paragraph:
Run the extraction tool again to see how this looks. You'll see that this is output slightly differently. It will create two translation units; one for the ICU expression itself and one which interpolates that expression into the original string.
16. Select expression
If you want to display different text depending on the value of a variable you can use a 'select' ICU expression which is very similar to the 'plural' syntax demonstrated above. In our demo app we monitor the change applied to the value and create an Observable stream called 'trend$' which outputs 'up', 'down' or 'stable' depending on whether the change is positive, negative or zero.
We then hook up our 'select' ICU expression to output a different string depending on the stream value. Here you can see the 'AsyncPipe' in use:
This is a somewhat cleaner syntax than using 'ngIf' or 'ngSwitch' to manipulate the DOM, plus it also plays nicely with the extraction tool. Add the 'i18n' attribute to the containing element:
Regenerate the translations file and you'll see the approach is similar to the plural output, with two translation units created. ICU expressions are pretty handy once you get used to them, plus you can nest them to create more complex outputs.
17. Add translations
Once you've marked up all your text that needs translating you can generate a translation file
One more 'i18n' attribute to add:
Now we've marked up all the text that needs translating we can generate the translation file one last time. Once it is created rename it to 'messages.ar-IQ.xlf' and replace the previous incarnation. This is the file we'd be sending to the translation professional, but for the purposes of this tutorial, Google Translate will be standing in!
Open up the XLF file and duplicate every '<source>' element, renaming it '<target>'. Unfortunately it can be quite untidy so it might help to beautify the contents.
To check we've got them all, save the file and start the app with the Arabic locale:
If you see any messages in the terminal like this that means you've missed one:
Hopefully you won't have any errors and you'll be able to see the app in the browser. We've not added any actual Arabic yet so it won't look much different.
18. Google Translate
Google Translate is an easy way to create translations for your site
Let's start with something easy – the 'Current value' title. Google Translate tells me it should be (Arabic text here) so update the value in the '<target>' element:
So far, so good. Now let's do one with interpolation. Here is "Yesterday's closing value was…" (hopefully!):
Use a number when you translate so you can see where the interpolation should be. Notice that when you see the translated result in Google Translate it will appear reversed – ie the number at the start – but when you copy and paste it into the translation file it will return to the original order. This is happening because Arabic is an RTL language so the script is (almost) entirely mirrored. Google Translate does this by adding a 'dir="rtl"' attribute to the containing element. We'll learn how to do this in the next step. The rest of the translations are available in the demo repo, 'tutorial' branch.
19. Script direction
We need to manage the script direction in our app because Angular won't do this automatically for us. There also doesn't appear to be any way to detect if the current locale is an LTR or RTL language, so we'll need to hardcode this. It'd be great if Angular offered a built-in directive for this.
Open up 'app.component.ts'. Import 'Inject', 'LOCALE_ID' and 'HostBinding' from ''@angular/core''. Then set up the 'HostBinding' as follows. This will add a 'dir' attribute to the AppComponent and set the default language direction to 'ltr':
Next add a constructor and inject the 'LOCALE_ID'. Remember this is set by our configuration because we're using AOT.
And finally add the following snippet to the existing 'ngOnInit' method. Here we are checking if the 'LOCALE_ID', ie 'ar-IQ', starts with 'ar' and if it does change the direction to 'rtl' instead.
If you plan to support more locales then you'll probably need to refactor this to make it more scalable, however, as there are only about ten RTL languages in use today this approach shouldn't be too unwieldy. Start the Arabic app and you should now see that the UI is mirrored – the £ sign should be on the right.
20. Production
The final step is to generate and check our production builds. First, though, we need to make another quick modification to the 'angular.json' configuration.
In 'architect.build.configurations' duplicate the existing production object and rename it '"production-ar-IQ"'. Then copy and paste the properties from the existing '"ar-IQ"' configuration into the object, so you have both the production options and the 'i18n' options.
You also need to update 'architect.serve.configurations' too. This time duplicate the existing '"ar-IQ"' object and rename it '"production-ar-IQ"' and change the 'browserTarget' value to point to your new 'production-ar-IQ' configuration.
Now you can build and serve your production Arabic locale with this command:
Okay, we're done! We've successfully internationalised our app, and localised it for 'en-GB' and 'ar-IQ' audiences. Angular makes the process remarkably straightforward for the developer, in fact, the hardest bit is figuring out what the translations should be – apologies to any Arabic speakers if anything is wrong!
This article was originally published in issue 281 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 281 here or subscribe to Web Designer here.
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Just when you thought the internet might go a day without having a meltdown over something seemingly innocent, Slack came along and revealed its new logo. The workplace chat app unveiled its redesign yesterday as part of a general refresh, but judging by the negative reaction of social media, it looks like the multicoloured hashtag logo is going to be missed by many.
Created by the app's in-house design team in partnership with Michael Bierut and the team from Pentagram, the new logo design keeps the colourful palette we've come to associate with Slack, but it's traded the hashtag motif for a design that more closely resembles a pinwheel.
Sold by the Slack team in a blog post as an evolution rather than an overhaul, the new logo is designed to be easier to use and more cohesive across multiple platforms. Meanwhile the previous logo, which is either a hashtag or an octothorpe depending on your vocabulary, worked okay on a screen, but struggled to perform elsewhere.
"It was also extremely easy to get wrong," the Slack team explain. "It was 11 different colors – and if placed on any color other than white, or at the wrong angle (instead of the precisely prescribed 18º rotation), or with the colors tweaked wrong, it looked terrible. It pained us."
This clunkiness makes sense when you consider that Slack's original logo was created before the company was even launched. How many first draft logos could you imagine working seamlessly once they've hit the big time? And as for the updated identity, Slack wants it to look new but also reassuringly familiar.
"It uses a simpler color palette and, we believe, is more refined, but still contains the spirit of the original," says Slack. "It’s an evolution, and one that can scale easily, and work better, in many more places."
Makes sense, right? Well, try telling that to the legions of online commentators currently tearing strips off the redesign. Search for the Slack logo on social media or give it a quick Google, and you'll see articles saying it's 'simply awful', 'really wrong', and one even comparing the new icon to penis swastikas.
You might be attached to the hashtag logo, but it had a lot of flaws
This sort of kick-back isn't anything new, even the best logos can be met with a frosty reception. As Slack explains though, this isn't change for the sake of change. The old design, while recognisable and distinctive, simply wasn't fit for purpose.
The Slack team put it perfectly when they said that "a good reason to change a logo is that it’s not doing the job you want it to do – and because a simpler, more distinctive evolution of it could do that job better."
The new logo works better off screen, plus it lends itself to some creative interpretations while remaining distinctly 'Slack'
Yes, a hashtag logo for an app that's all about hashtags makes sense, but isn't the whole point of logo design to try and find an imaginative, sophisticated and succinct way to represent a brand? The hashtag worked well enough for Slack's early days, but looking back on it, the design was perhaps too straightforward and weighed down by its colour palette.
The new design, on the other hand, calls to mind a flurry of speech bubbles coming together to communicate. A pretty good summary of the app if you ask us. And by working in the core colour basics and they way they're laid out in the hashtag logo, the transition from the old look to the new is made as smooth as possible.
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The year is 2019, and it's about time you knew how to build your own website. The Complete Front-End Developer Bundle gives you all the knowledge you need to begin creating web pages from scratch. This bundle has a MSRP of $1419.97, so you're going to want to nab this deal at 97 per cent off and get it for $41 today.
In order to build a website, there are some basic building blocks you need to master. Don't have any prior experience? No problem! These nine courses give you over 66 hours of training in these front end fundamentals, and the breadth of information means even a beginner can get into the swing of things while taking in the classes.
Let this bundle of courses introduce you to the world of website building – schooling you in JavaScript, CSS, Adobe Design Tools and more. Whether you're interested in building a website for your very own business or starting a new career and building for others, all of the knowledge in this bundle will pay for itself in no time.
Get all of the knowledge included in The Complete Front-End Developer Bundle today for just $41 here.
Want your products featured in The Creative Bloq Shop? Learn more about how to sell your products online!
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If you're an artist or a recent graduate looking to kickstart your career, Adobe's Creative Residency could be the opportunity you've been waiting for. The year-long programme, which gives selected artists the chance to develop their career through a personal passion project, is now open for applications for creatives from Canada, Germany, the US, UK and Japan.
Offering artists the support of a full salary, health benefits, mentorship and access to its software, Adobe's Creative Residency is a fantastic chance to build your dream career around your creative vision. On top of this, the course also includes valuable speaking opportunities and project-specific support to help make your work the best it can be.
Applications for the 2019 Adobe Creative Residency run until 7 February. The programme welcomes a variety of ideas and projects, however Adobe has specified that they are keen to work with candidates who have a strong focus on UI/UK, short-form online video, illustration (digital drawing and painting), design (digital and print) and photography.
Can't see your speciality on that list? Don't worry, Adobe will still welcome your portfolio. The company wants to see work that you believe in, and that you would still pursue even if you didn't get into the programme. It's that sort of work that stands out.
The 2019 Adobe Creative Residency welcomes a broad range of styles
How to apply
If you're interested in applying, Adobe has put together a bunch of useful resources to help you out. The Creative Residency site is packed with useful information, including an FAQ page and a whole section dedicated to how to apply.
When applying, be sure to ask yourself some questions about what your project wants to achieve, and what materials or support you will need. There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to applying, so feel free to let your creativity loose and play up the strengths of your style.
Adobe will also consider your previous work when judging your application. This includes your flexibility to try new things, previous work experience, and drive to take on new challenges. Three past projects will be taken into account, so it's a good idea to include links to your online portfolio. If it's in need of an update, be sure to take a look at our beautiful examples of design portfolios for inspiration.
To help you get started with your application, previous resident Anna Daviscourt has put together a video (above) of 5 things to keep in mind before you submit your work.
Meanwhile, previous Creative Resident Isabel Lea had this to say about her experience on the programme. "I run a creative studio called ATYPICAL and with day to day client work it can be hard to focus on more experimental work. The Adobe Residency gave me a year to really push the boundaries of what’s possible with design."
"This year I’ve been exploring how we make language visible through typography in a more playful and experimental way. The programme doesn’t just accelerate your creativity in your field but your career as a whole. Not only have I made typefaces, design products and installations but I’ve also been given platforms to share my journey through conferences, workshops, talks and livestreams."
"All of this combined has helped me push my work forward in unexpected ways and connect with opportunities I never thought possible."
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How to Import HTML Email Template from Postcards to Convertkit (YouTube Tutorial)
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You're reading How to Import HTML Email Template from Postcards to Convertkit (YouTube Tutorial), originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+!
Welcome to a new video tutorial where we’ll learn about how to upload a customized email newsletter to Convertkit. In this tutorial, we’ll use Postcards to build a customized email template and Convertkit to send an email to subscribers.
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