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The flaws in the container technology, CVE-2019-16276 and CVE-2019-11253, are simple to exploit. View the full article

With Halloween fast approaching you might be tasked with any number of seasonal designs that give you the opportunity to let your dark side loose. Without the right fonts, though, your finished work might not manage to get everyone screaming. Fear not, because we've rounded up 13 gloriously ghastly free fonts guaranteed to spook everyone senseless. And not only are they all free, most of them can be used for commercial projects, too. 5 of the hottest typography trends 01. Double Feature Come up to the lab and see what's on the slab It's hard to beat The Rocky Horror Picture Show for a bit of Halloween viewing, and if you want that Rocky Horror vibe for a design then Double Feature should do nicely. Based on the Rocky Horror title font with plenty of dripping blood, it's ghoulishly bold and free for both personal and commercial use. SAY IT! 02. Nosferotica Get that sexy vampire look with Nosferotica For a sexy, vampiric vibe, get your teeth into Nosferotica. A horror font designed by Sinister Fonts, it's a terrifyingly tall and thin serif, and while it's all-caps, the lowercase set is more bottom-heavy while the uppercase is top-heavy – mix them up for an unsettling effect. It's free for personal and commercial use. 03. Buffied In every generation there is a chosen font If all this vampire talk's getting a bit much, here's the antidote: a font inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Created by GemFonts, Buffied is modelled on the Buffy title font, comes with an upper and lowercase set, and it's free both for personal and commercial use. 04. Halloween Spider Halloween Spider's more scared of you than you are of it Feeling arachnophobic? Stay away from this eight-legged font, then. Halloween Spider is a bold brush script with nice thick strokes, and adorned with both spiders and spider webs. Try layering it in different colours and cutting out the spiders and webs in the top layer to add to the effect. It's free for personal and commercial use. 05. Fiddums Family CLICK-CLICK Created by BoltonBros, Fiddums Family is gloriously gothic and inspired by the creepiest, kookiest clan of them all, the Addams Family. Featuring some excellently ornate touches, including some seriously over-the-top swashes, it's a freeware font that's good for personal and commercial use. 06. Vintage Halloween All the spooky imagery you need in dingbat form As well as standard fonts, we've also found some handy dingbat fonts that'll make it easy to populate a design with plenty of ready-made Halloween imagery. First up is Vintage Halloween from Woodcutter, with a stack of useful pumpkins, bats, spiders, skeletons and more, all fully vectorised and free for personal and commercial use. 07. Freaky Halloween ...and a little more A more stylised dingbat font, Freaky Halloween features 26 glyphs covering most of the Halloween bases, rendered in a minimal, cut-out fashion. Perfect for designs with a more simple look, it's free for personal and commercial use. 08. Wild Wood Don't go into the Wild Woods alone There are few things scarier than being alone in the woods at night, especially if you've seen The Blair Witch Project. And if you want to evoke that creepy forest feeling, Wild Wood, with its letterforms sprouting gnarled branches, ought to do the job. It's free for personal use. 09. Spiderfingers Another font to frighten arachnophobes with Ideal for Halloween designs or maybe for death metal album covers, Spiderfingers features tall, grungy letterforms that taper down to viciously sharp points. Designed by Sinister Fonts, this is another freeware font you can use for both personal and commercial work. 10. Ink and Bones Now hear the word of the Lord Nothing says Halloween like a spooky skeleton, and if that's the sort of feel you're after then Ink and Bones does exactly what it says on the tin. Its hand-drawn letters and symbols are built out of bones, and while it's all-uppercase, the lowercase letters are solid strokes while the uppercase set is highlighted by some outlined bones. It's free for personal and commercial use. 11. Castle Dracustein Stay away from the creepy castle Mix up your horror brands with this sinister font from, appropriately enough, Sinister Fonts. Perfectly evoking the look of vintage horror movie posters, Castle Dracustein is another Halloween font that tapers down for a striking visual effect, and its eroded edges just add to the creepiness. It's free for personal and commercial use. 12. Hallowen Please don't write in No, that isn't a typo. Hallowen is a spooky outline serif font by Peter Olexa, and it wouldn't look out of place on the poster for a Tim Burton film. It's an all-caps font with a set of smaller glyphs in the lower case, and it really comes alive if you alternate between them, and it features some lovely spiral terminals for added visual interest. It's free for personal use only. 13. Ill October A final helping of demonic dingbats Finally, here's one last set of Halloween dingbats. Featuring plenty of skulls, spiders, snakes and more besides, Ill October is another minimal dingbat font packed with glyphs that look like they've been carved into a pumpkin, and it's free for personal and commercial use. Related articles: 21 fonts every graphic designer should own 33 perfect font pairings 10 best free calligraphy fonts of 2019 View the full article

Some design flaws are obvious. They smack you in the face immediately; everyone tears down the designer, and the project either gets redesigned or fades into oblivion. Other mistakes are just small enough for most people not to even notice, but once pointed out they can't be unseen. It's like have a tiny pebble in your shoe you can never get rid of. What's the point of this long-winded introduction? Someone has spotted that the Send button in Apple's Messages iPhone app is very slightly wonky. Behold: The thoroughly unwanted PSA came from Anh, and it will surprise precisely no one to hear he's an interface designer. Having announced it on Twitter, he unwittingly opened the door to other fastidious designers pointing out myriad other tiny interface flaws in iOS app icons. Bjorn pointed out that the play circle in Spotify isn't really a circle at all, but an oval. Noel Cornell flagged up this glaring error: Product designer Donnie Suazo shared flagged up this blue-one-black monstrosity within the Maps app. Ugh. Take a look at the full thread here, if you're feeling brave. Of course, some are making the point that optical illusions are often used in design – and sometimes a technically 'perfect' design looks wrong to the eye. Case in point, this massive debate surrounding Google's 'incorrect' logo. It doesn't make it any less irritating once you've spotted the inconsistency though, does it? If this hasn't put you off Apple products forever, take a look at our guide to making the most of the Apple Black Friday sale. Read more: Apple’s 2020 MacBook and iPad Pros could feature all-new display tech Surface Pro 7 vs iPad Pro Why Apple's rumoured iPhone SE 2 feels like as BIG disappointment View the full article

Twitter is a popular place for artists and designers share new projects, and digital art guru Gal Shir is no exception. The talented creative currently has over 70,000 followers, and when you scroll through his inspirational Twitter feed, it's not hard to see why. It's back-to-back with the most beautiful digital illustrations, but its his most recent post that has got thousands of people talking. With Halloween just around the corner, Shir has embraced a spooky theme in his most recent videos, the latest being this adorable ghost illustration. The one-minute video where Shir pens this little guy, on what looks very much like a new iPad in top digital art software Procreate, is absolutely mesmerising. Shir starts with a simple line drawing before going on to pencil in shadows and highlights in such a way that the spooky little fellow immediately begins to pop out from the screen – and frustratingly makes the entire process completely effortless. As a final, lovely touch, Shir added a little animation to end the video with his new pal floating out of the screen in true ghost-like style. We recently posted about the best Halloween Doodles, a list this artwork would top if it were ever to land in the laps of Google bosses. Shir's videos are no strangers to countless likes, but there's something about little ghosty here that has really captured people's imaginations. At time of writing, the tweet has been shared over 30,000 times, has racked up over 78,000 likes and that shows no signs of slowing. The post also now has hundred of comments, the majority of which are commending Shir's talents, with others very appreciative but also clearly frustrated with how the artist manages to make such beautiful artwork look so easy. While another Twitter user noticed something about Shir's workflow other digital artists might find useful: If ghosts and Halloween aren't your thing, never fear, Shir's Twitter feed has hundreds of different illustrations to suit all tastes. So if you're on the hunt for some inspiration, learning how to draw or simply want to enjoy a master at his craft, this is one digital artist to follow on Twitter. Read more: The best iPad Pro deals in 2019 The 13 best iPad apps for designers The best tablets with a stylus for drawing View the full article

A luxury phone company has released a set of iPhone 11 Pros that come with a piece of Steve Job's famous black turtleneck sweater sealed in their casings. With prices starting at over $6K, these devices are not only expensive, they also fly in the face of the Apple co-founder's design principles – we don't think Jobs would be impressed. Apple makes some of the best smartphones around, and new iPhone 11 looks set to continue that trend. However the design of the device is a key part of its popularity. That's because Jobs' was meticulous when it came to the look and feel of Apple products. The best iPhone apps for designers One of his mantras was to prioritise "focus and simplicity". Hence why so many Apple releases look so sleek and elegant. These iPhone 11 Pros throw that philosophy out of the window though, as they clutter the device with a swatch of Jobs' wardrobe and an engraving of his autograph. With price tags south of $6k, you'll be paying steeply for this bastardised design too – the standard 64GB model starts at $6,290, while the 512GB Max version goes for up to a whopping $7,460. In our opinion, you're better snapping up a bargain iPhone with the upcoming Apple Black Friday deals. Created by Russian luxury phone company Caviar, the iPhone 11 Pro Superior Jobs models is "a tribute to the immortal genius". "The strict Apple design is embodied in the body of firm titanium: only clear lines and moderate color solution," it adds. You won't want to drop this phone down the toilet Nice try, but we're not buying it. We just feel that a better tribute to Jobs would be a limited edition model that exemplifies his design principles, rather than cluttering a device with signatures and fabric. If you've got deep pockets and you're looking for a new phone though, you'll need to move fast. The iPhone 11 Pro Superior Jobs range is limited to just nine pieces worldwide. Related articles: 13 creative free iPhone apps for designers The 100 greatest Apple creations The 10 most beautiful Apple products (and the 5 ugliest) View the full article

For many security decision-makers, the real challenge is communicating the ongoing IR process to their management. View the full article

Finding the perfect image for your project can have you spending extra hours that you simply don't have. Figuring out where you can use them and how much they cost can be a job in itself, taking time away from your creative process. Cut that time in half with lifetime subscriptions to thousands of ready to use images and assets. From travel to lifestyle, The Stock Photo Mega Bundle: 80,000+ Images brings you over 750 diverse themes, niches, and more. With a royalty-free license included and photo formats available in JPEG and PNG for extra flexibility, this bundle comes complete with animated motion backgrounds and cinemagraphs, so you can truly bring your content to life. Get a lifetime subscription for $29.99 (94% off $594). If you're looking for the perfect photo for your next project, Scopio Authentic Stock Photography: Lifetime Subscription may be the bundle for you. Commercial-friendly and royalty-free, Scopio's photos are sourced and curated from talented photographers and creators all over the world. With photos added daily, your versatile content will be continuously updated. Get a lifetime subscription for $29 (98% off $1,740). With unlimited access to more than 17,000 stock photos and vector images, the Webmaster Design VIP: Lifetime Subscription is the ideal destination for supercharging any project in need of eye-catching imagery. The subscription provides you with an endless amount of photos, textures, mockups, and more. With updates included and boundless file downloads, this subscription is a mecca for continually growing your design resources. Get a lifetime subscription for $49 (95% off $999). Related articles: 8 stock image clichés and how to avoid them 10 uses for Adobe Stock you might not have thought of 4 stock images that would cost a fortune to shoot yourself View the full article

Have we just been treated to a sneak peek of the redesigned Sonic the Hedgehog from the upcoming Paramount movie? Apparently so, if a couple of images currently doing the rounds on social media are to be believed. And while there's a chance they might not be the real deal, they're such an improvement on the original we've got our fingers crossed they're legit. Maybe the animation studio read our guide to character design for advice? In case you've forgotten, the original Sonic the Hedgehog trailer outraged fans when it dropped due to Sonic's disturbing design. With strange teeth and an unsettling texture, the speedy hedgehog looked like he'd crawled right out of uncanny valley. In fact the backlash was so intense that Paramount announced it would redesign him. 8 appalling CGI fails in modern movies So could these two images shared online by Twitter user @BestInTheGalaxy be the redesign fans have been waiting for? We hope so. While it's not exactly hard, this version works much more than the original. The eyes are larger and positioned more closely together, the texture is stylised but still looks realistic enough to work next to live action footage, and he's even wearing his signature white gloves. All of these elements are key to nailing the look of Sonic the Hedgehog, and they were all bizarrely missing from the first trailer. These tantalising images are much closer to the mark. Of course, you can't believe everything you read on the internet. But there are a couple of factors that give these images some credibility. The image of Jim Carrey, who plays the villainous Dr Robotnik in the film, also appears to be new. So unless somebody's been playing around in Photoshop (or dabbling in deepfake tech), this would suggest these pictures are somewhat authentic. Another thing to keep in mind is that character design leaks surrounding this film aren't anything new. Back in March the film's branding deck was accidentally revealed by Hamagami/Carroll, Inc, which also included a version of Sonic that's remarkably similar to what we saw in the official trailer that enraged fans. ...it really is hard to accept this Sonic design If it turns out that these aren't real pictures, Paramount better have something better up its sleeves because fans seem to be giving them the thumbs up. Perhaps we won't need to wait too long to find out. As one astute Twitter user, @pablothinghouse, pointed out: "Remember when they leaked robotniks design a day before the trailer came out? Not saying the trailers coming out tomorrow but the trailers coming tomorrow [sic]". Related articles: 27 top movie title sequences How to improve your character art The 10 best 3D movies of 2019 View the full article

These handy Blender shortcuts could transform your 3D texturing workflow. Blender is one of the best pieces of 3D modelling software around, and unlike its competitors it's available to download completely free. And while it has a bit of a reputation for being tricky to use, its most recent version, 2.80, is much more approachable, and there are loads of Blender tutorials out there to help you master its tools. Even experienced Blender users can benefit from a few tips to speed up their workflow, though. To help your texturing process along, here are ten of the most useful shortcuts; once you've committed them to memory you'll be able texture at warp speed! How to create interiors with Blender's EEVEE Local View – Numpad / This hides everything except the selected object while still being independent from the regular Hide function, so you can for example have only one object you're working on in one area and the whole scene in another. Zoom to Selected – Numpad , Almost standard, working without it doesn't seem very enjoyable to me. It centres the screen on the selected object or, when in Sculpt Mode, on the spot where you placed your last brush stroke. Maximise Area – Ctrl + Space Maximises the size of the area you're currently hovering over. Very useful when you've got plenty of areas open (timeline, references, shading editor) and want to concentrate on the model itself for once. Circle Select – C Turns the cursor into a circle brush that lets you 'paint' a selection of faces, vertices or edges. This is very useful when you want to quickly isolate certain parts of the mesh for selective unwrapping or assigning vertex colours. Grow/Shrink Selection – Ctrl + +/- This enables you to grow (+) or shrink (-) the current face selection radially in all directions. Especially when you're dealing with cylindrical objects, this comes in handy by being able to let you 'wander' the selection across the model. Pin UV Vertex – P When you're in UV Edit Mode, you can pin certain vertices to let them be fixed if you unwrap the model again. Further unwraps will then consider their position. This is very useful for cleaning up UV coordinates. Flip Brush Colours – X This lets you switch between the two active colours in Texture or Vertex Paint Mode, just like in Photoshop. When you're figuring out contours between two colours, this is especially useful and speeds up your work. Free Rotate – R + R If you're about to place leaves or other random stuff without a particle system and want to quickly alter their rotation, just hit R twice and you can nicely rotate the object trackball-like. That way randomising becomes easier. Walk Navigation – Shift + F (Blender 2.8: Shift + ^) A very cool feature in Blender is the Walk Navigation that lets you move around in your scene with the camera like you would in a first-person game. You can move with the WASD keys and even jump. Select Linked under Cursor – L When you have separated your mesh with seams (Ctrl+E), you can select the individual islands in Face Selection mode with L while hovering over them. This makes selecting larger pieces very fast. This article was originally published in issue 250 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 250 here or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: How to speed sculpt in Blender 2.80 Create stunning tileable textures in Blender How to model a complex 3D city scene in Blender View the full article

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, consumers are gearing up for another bumper sales event. We spoke to a trade and stocks analyst to get their insights on how 2019's event is likely to shape up. Here's what they had to say... With previous years seeing some of the best Apple Black Friday deals and top Adobe Black Friday offers, the event has become a staple holiday for US consumers but is slowly growing around the world. Australia and Russia are two countries that have particularly embraced the Black Friday holiday over recent years, with sales more than doubling on an annual basis. In the UK, purchases during the two events jumped from just £4.5 billion in 2017 to over £7 billion in 2018. And spending is set to grow once again this year as Black Friday falls slightly later, on November 29, when more people will have banked their pay checks. The sales event has become a larger and more extravagant affair every year. But people have been increasingly shopping in the comfort of their own home rather than heading out to the shops. For example, in-store spending fell around 7% in the UK last year while online spending reached new records. Discounts during the sale season can range anywhere from 20% to 60%, and averaged around 37% in 2018. Prices on everything are slashed but the biggest savings are usually reserved for premium products, especially tech like laptops and televisions. Argos, John Lewis and Currys PC World are among those set to launch deals at this year’s event. Top tech savings In terms of computers, consumers will not be short of choice. HP Chromebooks, Microsoft Surface devices, the Asus ZenBook 13 and the Huawei MateBook X Pro are all set to have their prices reduced this year, with discounts north of £100 seen on some models in 2018. Apple products, including MacBooks and AirPods, will also be available on the cheap but you won’t find the savings if you buy directly from the company. Instead, you will need to head to somewhere like John Lewis, which offered some of the largest discounts last year. Be sure to bookmark our best Black Friday MacBook deals and Apple Airpods sale articles to get the very best prices. You can expect deals on the new iPhone 11 or 11 Pro, as well as the Apple Watch 5, but you will find better offers for the older models, like the iPhone XR or Watch 4. If Apple is not for you then do not fear, as prices of Samsung products will also be slashed this year. Concessions on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 are touted to be particularly deep following the release of the new Galaxy 10 range of phones. Retailers to watch Amazon will remain the number-one destination for shoppers this year, having accounted for over one-quarter of all Black Friday sales in 2018, and it will continue to practically give-away its ownrange of products of smart speakers and Fire TV sticks. The online giant is expected to give away more of its own products with other purchases. Expect these bundles to include services and subscriptions too – including on Kindle Unlimited, Music Unlimited, and Audible. If you aren’t already a member of Amazon Prime, you could use the free trial period to ensure you get the best deals and free next day delivery. You will also be able to get yourself creative software at knockdown prices. Adobe slashed up to 40% off its Creative Cloud subscription last year, while Serif offered deals on its Affinty Photo image editor and Affinty Designer graphics suite. How and when to get the best Black Friday deals Black Friday is no longer a one-day sales event and has expanded into a month-long extravaganza. Deals tend to start being released at the start of November but over two-thirds of all discounts last year were launched between the Monday and the Thursday before Black Friday. Still, most people waited for the day itself to take the plunge, with transactions peaking at over 1,000 per second on Black Friday last year, but this is not necessary. You have more time to find the best deals and this means you don’t need to make impulsive purchases. Plus, you may be better off waiting for Cyber Monday, an online-only sales event famed for its tech deals, on December 2. Retailers tend to release a slew of new deals but many of the Black Friday discounts will still be available. This year’s event is expected to bigger than ever but be careful not to be swayed by false deals. Make a list of what you want to buy – including any Christmas gifts you want to snap-up early - and research the standard RRP prices to understand whether you’re getting a good deal. One of the best international price comparison sites is Shopping.com, which is part of eBay. You can already register your interest with most online retailers to make sure you are the first to know when a new deal is released. Lastly, stay in this year. Trends suggest heading out to the shops is unnecessary because it is likely that any stellar in-store deals will also be available online. Read more: The best Surface Pro Black Friday 2019 deals 10 top tips for making the most of Black Friday Best iPad Black Friday deals: Get an Apple tablet for less View the full article

So, you want to learn how to remove wrinkles in Photoshop? This tutorial will show you how. Before we get started, let's talk about wrinkles for a bit. Personally, I love wrinkles. They make me think of the long life story of my subject where the folds and creases have gathered over the years. Also, they evoke a strong emotional connection between myself and the person I’m photographing and have carved out their own verbose corner in the English language. Laughter lines indicate happiness, puckered lips express love, and even a furrowed brow conveys a story from the past. However, many of us see it as a sign of aging and we use creams and ointments to rid ourselves of the pesky lines. We needn’t fork out for the latest fancy moisturiser when we have photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop CC. In this tutorial I’ll demonstrate how leaving skin texture alone, but parsing out some choice crows feet and toning down a few deeper folds can enhance our look. If you fancy expanding your Photoshop skillset even further, check out CB's Photoshop tutorials roundup for more how-tos. Get Adobe Creative Cloud It’s important not to completely remove all wrinkles, they add depth and dimension to the person, as a good portrait should. Leaving skin pores and facial hair (no matter how small and inconspicuous) is essential for natural-looking portraits. But with gentle use of a few handy tools, you can get portrait subjects looking like they’re well-rested, and if you’re lucky, a few years younger. You can watch the above video for a step-by-step tutorial or read on for a written guide. Read more: How to resize an image in Photoshop All the best free Photoshop brushes The 10 commandments of Photoshop etiquette View the full article

Unknown, vulnerable systems are present in nearly every ship environment that researchers have pen-tested. View the full article

There are plenty of reasons for buying a new phone, and often one of the most pressing questions is how well it can take photos. We can help you out with our guide to the best camera phones, but right now that's all up in the air with the announcement of Google's new Pixel 4. It comes with plenty of cool features; we're intrigued by its built in radar – yes, radar – that you can use to control your Pixel 4 by waving your hand around, and it also features face unlock, voice control and a new and improved Google Assistant. What we're really excited about, though, is the camera. Google's big claim is that it can take studio-like photos, but without the studio, and it definitely boasts some impressive tech. There are two lenses doing the business, and thanks to a roughly 2x telephoto lens you should be able to take some razor-sharp close-ups without having to crop. The hardware's pretty cool, but Google's particularly proud about what it's doing in software. The Pixel 4 has a Live HDR+ feature that captures and combines multiple images to create a single, better picture, and also allows you to adjust the exposure in the viewfinder so that you can get just the right balance of highlights and shadows. The Pixel 4 also has a Portrait Mode, designed to give you DSLR-style shots with artfully-blurred backgrounds, plus a Super Res Zoom that let you take quality shots from far away. There's also a learning-based white balance to help you get the right colours every time, and for low light situations there's an improved Night Sight. It's designed to help you take photos at night without having to use a flash, and Google claims you can use it can take photos of the Milky Way (and it's provided a shot to prove it.) And if all that tech wasn't enough to get you excited, what about a celebrity endorsement? Legendary American photographer Annie Leibovitz took to the stage at Google's event earlier to discuss a year-long project involving the handset. "I just let the camera do the work, in all honesty, and I really enjoyed myself," she said. How's that for a bucket-load of credibility? If it's good enough for Annie, it's good enough for us. Add all of the above up and the Pixel 4 looks to be a serious smartphone contender for creatives. The technology and features running this device make pro photography tools accessible to everyone, potentially opening new doors for some that remained, up to this point, firmly shut. There's no doubt about it, the Pixel 4, its camera in particular, looks very impressive. We'll have a full review on the new handset very soon, so stay tuned to see just how powerful the new smartphone really is. The Google Pixel 4 is available to pre order now, however if you're not bothered about having a shiniest new Google device, you can currently get a great deal on the also highly capable Pixel 3: View the full article

The bug allows users to bypass privilege restrictions to execute commands as root. View the full article

UX design is so popular right now, the field is flooded with both new talent and seasoned designers shifting their focus to get a job. With more competition every day, it’s becoming difficult to secure a design role in user experience. At the same time, companies are still learning how to hire UX designers and what it means for their business. Given these challenges, it’s more important than ever to have a great design portfolio that sets you up for success. But that’s only the beginning – you need to position yourself and your work in a way that stands out from the crowd. Whether you’re new to the field or an experienced UX designer, here's my advice for creating a winning portfolio that will help you secure that coveted UX design job. 01. Show, don’t tell The word 'empathy' is thrown around so much in the design industry, especially within UX design conversations, it’s beginning to feel trite. In my experiences as co-founder of portfolio system Semplice, I have seen so many portfolios that lead with “empathetic designer crafting meaningful experiences”, it’s hard to remember who is who. At this point, you will be noticed for thoughtful, original writing that shows you understand UX beyond the buzzwords. Make it clear you are empathetic through your portfolio case studies, rather than spelling it out. Instead of saying you craft meaningful experiences, explain how a specific project impacted a client in a positive way. Rather than saying you care about inclusive design, show us how you approached your UX work with inclusivity and accessibility in mind. Disclaimer: Empathy is indeed relevant to design, or really any job, so feel free to mention these terms in your portfolio – especially because companies have been trained through the industry to look for these buzzwords. Just don’t lean on them. 02. Don’t deny your past Considering how many people are tacking 'UX' onto their capabilities list, you can make an impression by simply proving you have real-world experience. If you specialise in UX design and have served in that role on a project, you are already one step ahead of many other designers. Curate your portfolio to show your best UX design projects so companies and recruiters know you’re not just another designer taking advantage of a trend. Considering how many people are tacking 'UX' onto their capabilities list, you can make an impression by proving you have real-world experience However, your other design experience is still relevant here. If you have worked as an interactive designer, product designer or something similar in the past, feel free to include a couple of those projects to show your depth of experience. But aim for every project to make your case stronger, pointing back to why you’re the best UX designer for the job. To be clear, most designers are not wrong to add UX design to their offerings. For a long time, user experience was part of any interactive design job. Given the fact that UX design as a field is not only relatively new, but encompasses a wide variety of skills (strategy, design, content, and so on), it’s fair to say many 'traditional' designers can meet the job description. That’s why showing genuine passion and a specialised focused in user experience will help you stand out. 03. Be a great communicator Strong communication skills may be the most important requirement for a UX design job. You not only have to make abstract concepts tangible for your team and your client, you also touch many points of a project. In this role, you collaborate with developers, strategists, designers, copywriters, project managers and more. In some cases, the UX designer even writes UX copy. Any good design director or recruiter interviewing you will look for this skill. Show you’re a strong communicator from the beginning of your relationship with a company. Write concise, professional emails when you reach out. Speak clearly and with intention on the phone and in an interview. Create compelling case studies that tell the story of your work without rambling and wasting your reader’s time. And most importantly, proofread everything. Ask a friend to read your writing and point out typos or areas of improvement. As designers, we tend to focus on the visuals. But especially for UX designers, the content is just as important, if not more so. 04. Deepen your understanding of design It’s easy to say, but it’s the surest way to land the job you want: Strive to be the best at what you do. With a saturated field comes a range of talent. That naturally leads to undercutting, which lowers the overall quality of the work being produced in that field. If you want to rise above all this mess, you have to be great at what you do. Knowing UX fundamentals is a given. Thanks to the accessibility of digital fields like ours, we can attend a three-month UX design course and become certified UX designers. That means many UX designers today (with plenty of exceptions) have a shallow understanding of design as a whole. So what makes you stand out? A deeper, sharper grasp of our field. Beyond growing in UX design and all that comes with it (strategy, research, etc.), seek a deeper understanding of graphic design. Learn what defines good typography (CB's roundup of typography tutorials can help with this). Learn the function of layout and composition. Immerse yourself in media and culture that refines your taste (beauty is function, no matter who says otherwise). Aim to get better at copywriting, too. Combined with some common sense, research and curiosity, you'll be in high demand. Read more: The wrong way to build a portfolio The ultimate guide to user experience A designer's guide to the golden ratio View the full article

Welcome to our pick of the best Walmart iPad sales and deals in 2019. The iPad in all its various guises is a brilliant tool for creatives, and Walmart often has some great deals on Apple's versatile lineup of tablets. There are plenty of reasons why designers and creatives should consider buying an iPad. First of all, they are brilliantly-built bits of kit, and models such as the iPad mini are small enough to easily carry around with you. The iPad Air, meanwhile, is thin and light, again, making it a great device for carrying with you if you do a lot of travelling. If you fancy something larger – and more powerful – then the iPad Pro is the one to get, combining large screens and fast components, making it ideal for digital artists, especially when paired with the Apple Pencil stylus. Make sure to bookmark our best Apple Black Friday deals post for all the latest offers on these products. Meanwhile, the standard iPad is a great all-round tool. No matter what type of iPad you go for, you'll have access to the App Store, which houses thousands of brilliant apps, including some from the biggest names in art and design. Check out our best iPad apps for designers guide for a taste of what an iPad can do for designers and digital creatives. But why buy an iPad from Walmart? For a start, Walmart is one of the biggest retailers in the world. This means it has a huge selection of iPads on offer, so you can be pretty certain that you'll find the iPad you're after at Walmart. Because of its size, it also means its very competitive when it comes to price, and we've often seen Walmart iPad sales and deals which offer the lowest prices for iPads anywhere on the internet! To save you having to browse through Walmart's huge website to find its iPad deals, we've put together this guide that gathers the very best Walmart iPad sales and deals so you'll never miss out on a bargain. iPad As we mentioned earlier, there are several different varieties of iPads these days, but if you want the best all-rounder, than the standard iPad is the best. It's portable, powerful and well-priced. What's not to love? Since Apple launched the original iPad way back in 2010, Apple has continually refined its tablet, whilst not straying too far from its original design. This makes the iPad a brilliant tablet PC for designers and creatives. In 2019, Apple released a new iPad with a 10.2-inch screen, a step up from the 9.7-inch screen of the iPad 2018. Apart from the bigger screen and slightly more RAM, the 2018 and 2019 models are pretty similar. So, if you don't want the larger screen, getting last year's model is the way to go, and Walmart has some brilliant deals on the older version, making it even better value. iPad Pro The iPad Pro is the bigger, more powerful version of the standard iPad. As the name suggests, this is an iPad that's aimed at professionals, and its increased screen size and powerful components makes it a brilliant tablet for creative designers and artists. We're still waiting to see if there will be a new version of the iPad Pro for 2019, but last year's models are still excellent devices, so if you're after a big-screen iPad, you should be able to buy the 2018 models safe in the knowledge that they won't become obsolete any time soon. The 2018 model of the iPad Pro comes in two sizes, an 11-inch version and a 12.9-inch version. If you want the biggest and fastest iPads in the world, these are the ones to get. However, it's also worth noting that these are also the most expensive iPads. Still, we've managed to find some great deals in Walmart. iPad Air The iPad Air is back for 2019. After Apple neglected this version of the iPad for a while, it surprised us all with a brand new version for 2019. The iPad Air sits between the iPad and iPad Pro in Apple's lineup. That means it's more powerful than the standard iPad, but it's not as fast as the iPad Pro. When it comes to price, it's also nestled between those two iPads. The iPad Air gets a 10.5-inch Retina display and upgraded internals, and it's the thinnest and lightest iPad (apart from the iPad Pro), and in our view this is the perfect iPad for people who want a bit more power than the standard iPad, but don't want to splash out on the iPad Pro. iPad mini The iPad mini is, as the name suggests, the smallest iPad on sale. The 2019 edition comes with a 7.9-inch screen, making it the easiest iPad to carry around with you. You can slot it into a bag without any issues, and it's excellent for one-handed use as well. It weighs just 300g as well, so if you're after an iPad for travelling with, the iPad mini is the one to get. However, its small size doesn't mean you're missing out much in the ways of features and functionality. It still supports the Apple Pencil stylus, so it's great as a portable doodle pad, and of course it runs all the apps that larger iPads can run as well. It also features some of the hardware found in Apple's iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max smartphones, including the A12 Bionic chipset, which means it offers excellent performance on par with the larger iPads. However, while it is the smallest iPad, it's not the cheapest (that's the standard iPad). But you don't have to spend more to get a smaller tablet, as the brilliant iPad mini Walmart deals below demonstrate. View the full article

Apple could be set to release a super high-end iPad Pro and MacBook Pro with brand new mini-LED screen technology, according to reports. If the rumours are true, the new devices could be a great option for those looking for top-quality display at larger sizes, for use over long periods. The devices are likely to be released towards the end of 2020 or the first half of 2021. If that's too long to wait, take a look at our predictions for this year's iPad Black Friday offers, Black Friday MacBook deals, or our general guide to nailing the Apple Black Friday 2019 sale. Back to those rumoured devices though. Notes from trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, shared on MacRumours, reveal that the cutting-edge displays will use mini LED rather than the current OLED technology. They will incorporate up to 10,000 tiny LEDs – for comparison, the Pro Display XDR monitor in the upcoming Mac Pro uses just 576 LEDs (and that's one of the best monitors around). Why Apple's rumoured iPhone SE 2 feels like as BIG disappointment What are the practical implications of that? Essentially, it will enable manufacturers to offer a top-quality display in a thinner, lighter screen. Kuo's research notes explain: "We believe that mini LED, compared to OLED, will be a more suitable solution to offer wide-color gamut (WCG) / high-contrast / high dynamic range (HDR) / local dimming features because of its longer life and no burn-in issues for Apple's medium- and large-size products targeting at productivity positions." Kuo's notes state that the iPad Pros will sport 10 or 12-inch displays, and could be with us late next year. The MacBook Pros will feature 15 or 17-inch displays, and are likely to be released slightly later, in the first half of 2021. Competition-wise, it's also good news for Apple. Currently, it relies on Samsung for its OLED displays. The mini LED screen are likely to be sourced from a number of component suppliers, and produced by LG Display. Read more: 10.2" iPad lands in stores – and we can't believe how cheap it is Surface Pro 7 vs iPad Pro: which should you buy? Apple's butterfly keyboards could soon be replaced View the full article

Aaron Blaise has a good story for you if you've ever wondered what it was like working at Disney during the 1990s. He’d just finished Aladdin (1992) – the movie before was Beauty and the Beast (1991). Disney was on one of the great streaks in cinema history. It began with The Little Mermaid (1989), ended with Tarzan (1999), and included many of the biggest animated films of all time. Blaise was promoted to supervising animator on The Lion King (1994). He was in charge of his own character, Simba’s best friend, the young Nala. The anatomy had to be perfect. This lion cub needed to move the way that lion cubs really move. So Blaise went to a kind of workshop, a kind of figure-drawing class, the kind of thing that could only happen at Disney during the 1990s. (If you're in need of some inspiration for creating great characters, check out our how to draw tutorials and article on character design.) Different times These were different times. No internet, no video conferencing, no emailing images back and forth. Blaise worked at the Disney studio in Florida, but the California studio was also working on the movie. That’s a whole country, a whole timezone apart. Blaise photocopied his designs, numbered them and sent them by courier to Los Angeles. It was the same with tapes of animation. Meetings with directors took place on the phone the following day when the stuff arrived. By then, Blaise was on to something else. If things needed amending, he had to switch back to the previous design or animated clip. So a full week’s work might have equalled only a few seconds of finished movie; one or two shots. A film like The Lion King was 90 minutes long and contained 4,000 shots. Before he could begin, Blaise needed to know the script inside-out. He needed to make sure that his designs matched up with the art director’s vision. And he needed Nala to be believable: a character, not a caricature. That, he says, was what Disney did well: it made believable characters by “pulling from reality.” So how did Aaron go about creating a believable lion? At Disney, during the 1990s, it was done like this: “We would draw them from life,” Blaise says. “They would bring the lions right into the studio for us. They’d walk them back and forth across the stage, and we would analyse their movements and anatomy, and everything else, and get it down on paper.” Wild Child Aaron’s development work for The King of the Elves, a Disney project based on a Philip K Dick story. (Elven Explorer) Blaise grew up in Florida. His family lived in little trailer north of the Everglades, near a place called Corkscrew Swamp. He was “a wild child” who never wore shoes or a shirt and was often covered with ticks. Florida was his own private paradise. He always drew and painted, but he couldn’t see anyway of making a living from it. Then, aged 17, Blaise’s home burned down. Things got “a little rough.” He was ready to give up art and get a job in forestry. But Blaise’s stepdad persuaded him not to waste his ability. Blaise graduated with a certificate in illustration from the Ringling College of Art in 1989. His first professional job, aged 20, was an internship at Disney. There was just one problem: he couldn’t animate. He knew drawing, he was good at that. But he couldn’t get his head around movement. He had this dream job, but he almost quit. Then mentor Glen Keane told him: ‘Keep trying. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen.’ And then three weeks later, it happened, it clicked, and seemingly out of nowhere Blaise understood arcs and timing, and slowins and all this other technical stuff. “I could see it happening in my head just because I was living it, breathing it, dreaming about it.” “Here’s a gluttonous grizzly bear hunting for salmon and unwilling to share his catch.” (The Glutton) He went full-time at 21 and worked his way up to director, earning an Oscar nomination for Brother Bear (2003). Then Disney’s great streak came to an end. It closed the studio in Florida which employed 365 people. Everybody was laid off except Blaise and nine others, who were then moved to California. “Things change,” Blaise says. “The market changed, the finances for things changed. It was very hard to see my friends and people that I had grown up with, spent the past 20 years with, to see them all of a suddenly without a job and scattered to the four winds. And so that was my first big blow." Blaise, his wife Karen and their kids all moved to California. They started over and pretty soon Blaise was making movies again. Then Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer. Disney helped Blaise set up shop at home. Some co-workers joined him and he was able to work and look after Karen. “But, ultimately,” Blaise says, “two and a half years into it, on 11 March 2007, she passed away in my arms, and that was a devastating blow for me. I mention this a lot in my talks: how you need to be driven to do your work. And, after I lost Karen, I lost my drive. She was my soulmate. She was the love of my life and I was completely lost and heartbroken and my kids were a mess as well. And so trying to go back to work with that mental baggage and heartache and pain, and trying to make a movie and direct those people, for me, it was almost impossible. It was impossible.” Losing my identity “I’m always trying to give characters some kind of expression or attitude that we can relate to as a viewer.” (Teatime) Blaise stuck it out for a couple of years. But his desire was gone. Studio bosses removed him from the movie he was working on and said he was done as a director. They wanted him to stay with Disney in another role. Blaise quit. “It was the most difficult and scary decision I’ve ever made in my life because I didn’t know anything other than Disney. My whole identity was my family and Disney, and Disney was falling apart, and my family was falling apart. So I was losing my identity.” What did he do next? First, he went home and he panicked. Blaise had a big mortgage but no longer had the director’s big salary to pay for it. Next day, he went into work and cleaned out his desk. There was a job offer waiting for him – in Florida. “It was unbelievable, the timing of it all.” The company was Digital Domain, a visual effects and digital production company. Director James Cameron was one of the founders. Still, this wasn’t Disney. There would be no lions brought in for figure-drawing classes. Blaise was three years into a movie when the company went bankrupt. He was jobless again. The artist considered going back to Disney. Then he got thinking about the way Glen Keane used to push young artists. He wanted to do something similar. Blaise and business partner Nick Burch came up with CreatureArtTeacher, offering lessons and tutorials based on Blaise’s long and illustrious career. “I decided that I really didn’t want to place my career – my future – in the hands of any executives anymore. I wanted to be the director of my own life.” Blaise uses charcoal to create large-format pieces Blaise works digitally and in most traditional mediums. From Alaska to Africa, he’s photographing wildlife for reference. It’s important to see subjects in person. Working traditionally, he starts with thumbnail sketches to figure out composition. He draws the image on to the canvas, tones the canvas, then works through the rendering. But digital’s different. Sometimes he sits down to draw without knowing where it’s going to go. This brings another dimension to his work. Working digitally helps him find compositions he would never have found working traditionally. Memento from Disney “A lion and tiger cosying up to one another. I designed a lion cub for The Lion King and a tiger for Aladdin.” (Best Friends) His studio is at home: a small room that’s divided into into two spaces. One side is for digital work, comprising a desk, Mac Pro, Cintiq 32-inch and a couple of monitors. He uses Photoshop and TVPaint Animation. These day, all animations are done digitally. But he keeps his old desk from Disney – the very desk he used working on all those great movies. He uses it for painting with watercolours now. Blaise’s traditional setup continues with an easel for working with oil, acrylics and charcoal. There’s a large bookcase that’s full of books, and lights and cameras used for shooting video lessons. Twice a week, he does a livestream show with his son Nick. Routine is important. These days, he’s at his desk at 10am. He could be painting, drawing digitally, making a video or working on lessons his teaching courses. But he sticks at it until he’s “mentally spent.” Could be a couple of hours, could be 10 hours. The thing is to be working consistently every weekday. Being his own boss takes a lot more discipline than the structured nine to five at Disney. “Before I start I feel the mood of a piece. I try to get that mood into the character or the animal that I’m creating.” (The Birthday Present) So does he ever regret leaving? Would he do anything differently? People often describe Blaise's art as Disney-esque. He doesn’t mind. He started at the studio when he was 20 and left when he was 42. Disney was a big part of his life. But his time there went hand in hand with the biggest part of his life. Blaise often wonders what might have been had Karen been diagnosed earlier: “If Karen had lived, then what would my life be? I can’t compare it.” Professionally, maybe he’d still be at Disney. Perhaps he’d be directing his fourth movie now. Who knows? But what he does know is that working for himself is ultimately more rewarding than working for a studio. “This digital piece is personal character work, looking at the Indian rhino, which is a vulnerable species.” (Indian Rhino) So the short answer is no. He doesn’t regret leaving Disney. “It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. But, you know, it’s funny, I don’t know that there’s anything I could do differently. I look at where I am right now, and, creatively, I’m happier than I’ve ever been because I’m able to draw, paint, animate, whatever I want to do to my heart’s content. But it all came about because of the death of my soulmate. “It’s a little sappy, but there’s truth in this. I was thinking about my wife Karen and what she would think about me going on to do whatever I was going to do. I really felt strongly – I still do – about doing something that she would be proud of, that she would want to do, that would drive her, because she was always this very giving, loving individual. And so that was also a big part of our decision-making process in creating CreatureArtTeacher.” This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe to ImagineFX. Read more: How to move from animation to illustration Animated music videos: 28 awesome examples 10 ways to create better character animations View the full article

It's hard to go too long without a new helping of iPhone gossip. With the dust settling after the iPhone 11 launch it's finally time for some fresh whispers about an upcoming launch in early 2020; something to bear in mind if you're thinking about grabbing a new iPhone when the Apple Black Friday deals roll around. Apple Insider is reporting that according to analyst Ming Chi Kuo, the next iPhone to come out of Apple is going to be the much-rumoured iPhone SE 2 – a smaller, less ludicrously powerful model at an affordable price. And honestly, we're feeling pretty disappointed. The 21 best iPhone apps for designers It's hard to fault the projected specs. Kuo believes that the iPhone SE 2 is going to pack the same A13 Bionic chip that you'll find in the iPhone 11, with 3GB RAM and a choice of 64GB or 128GB of storage. The iPhone SE 2 is expected to feature similar tech to the iPhone 11 Like the iPhone 11 it's said to feature Haptic Touch rather than 3D Touch – a distinction that'll probably be lost on many users, we reckon. And the iPhone SE 2 is expected to come in three colour options: Space Grey, Silver and Red. The detail that's going to catch most people's attention, though, is the projected price: $399, which we assume would be for the 64GB model. That seems like a pretty sweet deal to us. Who knows, maybe it will make it in to our list of the best camera phones soon. However, it's also reported that the iPhone SE 2 is likely to be the same size as the iPhone 8, and that's where the disappointment kicks in for us. Because what got us excited about the possibility of an iPhone SE 2 was the idea that Apple might produce a lovely small iPhone to stand out from all its dirty great phone slabs. Remember when phones didn't have to be enormous? The original iPhone SE was a fantastic size; roughly the same form factor as the iPhone 5, which for our money was the best-looking iPhone ever. It was the perfect size for anyone to comfortably use single-handed, and it was absolutely guaranteed to fit into even the daintiest pocket without falling out 30 seconds later. That's not something you can say about the iPhone 8 that the SE 2 is supposed to be modelled on. We speak from experience. We get that big phones are the thing these days, and we suspect that part of the size deal is so that manufacturers can fit in all the fancy tech that consumers apparently demand, as well as enough battery to run it all. But we'd be a lot more excited about an iPhone SE 2 that compromised on power and features enough to fit into a much smaller case. Of course, that might be just us. We can't help but feel that Apple's missing a serious trick here, though; doesn't anyone else fancy a smaller phone? Can't wait for the new iPhone SE to arrive? Here are the best iPhone models, at the very best prices. Related articles: 13 creative free iPhone apps for designers 4 things we love about the new iPhone 11 Is iPhone XS the best camera phone for designers? View the full article

Digital creatives usually have two main choices when they consider buying an all-in-one PC to work on. If they’re Mac fans, than the iMac (or iMac Pro) is the obvious choice, while Windows users (who have a few more options) mainly go for the Microsoft Surface Studio 2. Those two options have a lot in common, both featuring high in our list of the best computers for graphic design. They are powerful and stylish all-in-one PCs (which means the computer is built into the screen) – but they are also very expensive. The Lenovo Yoga A940 is pitched as an alternative to both, and while it does a few things the same as its main rivals, there are some important differences as well. The biggest differentiator of the Lenovo Yoga A940 is price. In the UK, the Lenovo Yoga A940 starts at £1,999. It comes with an Intel Core i5-8400 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive and 256GB SSD and AMD RX 560 GPU with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. That’s a fair bit cheaper than the Surface Studio 2, which starts at £3,549, and the iMac Pro, which begins at £4,899. However, Apple’s latest 27-inch iMac just beats it in the value stakes at £1,749. The relatively low price of the Lenovo Yoga A940 compared to its competitors should definitely make it a compelling option if you’re after an all-in-one PC for your studio, but are on a tight budget. Of course, the Lenovo Yoga A940 isn’t exactly cheap, but it offers some pretty good value for money – on paper at least. But undercutting the competition by so much should surely mean compromises have been made. Does that impact how good the Lenovo Yoga A940 is as a workstation for digital creatives? Let’s find out. Lenovo Yoga A940: Power and performance One of the reasons why the iMac Pro and Surface Studio 2 are so expensive, is that Apple and Microsoft, respectively, have put some of the latest and most powerful hardware in their devices. Meanwhile, Lenovo has kept costs down by using older, slightly less powerful components in the Yoga A940. For the model we reviewed, the A940 came with an eight-generation Core i7-8700 six-core processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and an AMD Radeon RX 560X graphics card with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. That’s not a terrible selection of components, but compared to the Surface Studio 2 and iMac Pro, they just can’t compete. But that’s not to say they make the Yoga A940 a poor performer. For a lot of tasks, the Yoga A940 does a fine job of keeping up. But there are definite compromises that have been made that keep it from being a real powerhouse of a workstation. For a lot of tasks, the Yoga A940 does a fine job of keeping up. But there are definite compromises that have been made that keep it from being a real powerhouse of a workstation Take the processor. The Intel Core i7-8700 was launched at the end of 2017. In terms of CPUs, that makes it pretty long in the tooth. There have been a number of processor launches since then that bring more power and less power consumption – two key features for an all-in-one PC, as their compact designs mean you want a powerful PC, but one that doesn’t produce too much heat. Despite its age, the processor isn’t that bad, with six cores and a base frequency of 3.2GHz and a turbo frequency of 4.60GHz. Those extra cores are useful for multitasking – running multiple apps and performing more than one task at the same time – which is certainly handy for digital creatives – such as video editors who want to edit and preview footage, while also working on other parts of the project. In certain markets you can also configure the Lenovo Yoga A940 to come with a more recent CPU, like the Intel Core i7-9700 eight-core processor. While this ups the overall price of the PC, in our view it is worth doing as it leads to even smoother performance. However, this option isn’t available in all markets, so you may have to check what specifications are available before you buy. While the processor is old, but still decent, the GPU of the Lenovo Yoga A940 is more concerning for digital creatives that do a lot of graphic work. That’s because it comes with the AMD Radeon RX 560X with a rather paltry 4GB of GDDR5 memory. This is a mid-range graphics card that’s aimed at consumers, rather than professionals. If you’re looking for an all-in-one workstation for doing intense graphical tasks, such as 3D rendering or high resolution video editing, then the Radeon RX 560X just won’t cut it. Meanwhile, the iMac comes with one of the best graphics cards, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, which is AMD’s professional series GPU, and a much better performer. Lenovo Yoga A940: Display What’s perhaps most disappointing is that while the GPU isn’t great, the Lenovo Yoga A940 comes with an absolutely fantastic 27-inch 4K screen. It features 100% Adobe RGB support and Dolby Vision – with the former especially important for creatives that need accurate colours, such as photographers. Why is this disappointing? Because, while the screen is so good, it feels like a missed opportunity to not back it up with a powerful graphics card. When working at 4K resolutions, the AMD Radeon RX 560X will struggle due to its limited memory. However, for less graphically demanding workloads, the GPU will be fine. But we do wish Lenovo had splashed out a little bit more on a better graphics card. Above the display is a 1080p webcam, which can be used to log on to Windows 10 with a glance, while also offering excellent video quality if you make video conference calls using Skype or Google Hangouts. Lenovo has also included Dolby Atmos speakers in the display, and while these don’t match external speakers, they are some of the best we’ve heard in an all-in-one. While music producers and soundtrack editors may still prefer to plug in external speakers, for many people, the built-in speakers of the Lenovo Yoga A940 do a fantastic job. Lenovo’s Content Creation Dial is a lovely touch Another neat touch is that on either side of the screen is a USB port (covered by a magnetic cover). You can plug in Lenovo’s Content Creation Dial, which is included in the set. You can use this dial for various things, such as scrolling through pages, zooming in and out, opening programs and changing the audio volume. It supports a number of creative apps, such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and you can set it up to work with other apps as well. Best of all, it can be plugged into either the left or right-hand side of the screen, making it comfortable to use no matter if you’re left or right-handed. Perhaps the best aspect of the display from a digital creative’s point of view, is that it is a touchscreen, and a digital stylus is included. The screen can be angled and tilted up to 25 degrees, and its dual-hinge design makes it easy to position the screen so that it can be used as a digital canvas. Artists will be particularly impressed with this aspect – and it makes it a much more useful tool than the iMac, for example, which does not come with a touchscreen. By positioning the screen as low as it can go, you can comfortably draw on it. As the Lenovo Yoga A940 runs Windows 10, you have access to a huge selection of drawing tools, such as Adobe Illustrator, as well as built-in inking tools. Plus, with the vibrant 4K 27-inch screen, you’ve got plenty of workspace to draw on. Digital art looks particularly impressive on the Lenovo Yoga A940’s excellent display, and the touchscreen is fast and responsive, despite the underpowered GPU, and the included stylus is of decent quality. It’s battery-powered, with a button that can be used to switch drawing tools when used, and with a good level of sensitivity. The touchscreen also has a decent palm rejection feature, so even if you accidently rest your wrist or palm on the screen as you draw, it shouldn’t cause issues. Pair the stylus with the Content Creation Dial, and you’ve got a seriously useful – and enjoyable – all-in-one PC for digital artists. Lenovo Yoga A940: Key features While the adjustable touchscreen is undoubtedly the main feature of the Yoga A940 for creatives, Lenovo has done a fine job of kitting the PC out with some other nice little touches. For example, a button on the right-hand side of the display turns on a series of LED lights beneath the screen. This, Lenovo says, is to allow you to work comfortably in low light conditions – such as at night. It’s a nice feature, and while we’d still prefer to have a desk lamp when we’re working late, it shows the level of thought that has gone into this device. The Lenovo Yoga A940 also features a built-in wireless charging mat. This is actually one of our favourite features of the PC, as it allows you to easily charge a compatible smartphone or device by simply placing them on the mat. We popped a Galaxy Note 9 on the mat, and it started charging quickly. It’s a really useful feature – as long as you have the gadgets that can take advantage of it. There is also an indent next to the mat where you can store the stylus. This is helpful for preventing it getting lost, but it doesn’t charge the stylus, as it only uses a removable AAA battery. The Lenovo Yoga A940 also features a built-in wireless charging mat The keyboard and mouse are also wireless, though they can’t be charged by the wireless charging mat either. It’s a shame, as that would have been a useful feature. Instead, the mouse uses replaceable AAA batteries, while the keyboard charges via USB cable. As for the peripherals themselves, they do the job fine, but neither the mouse nor keyboard feel particularly brilliant. We’d be tempted to swap them out for alternatives instead – such as any of the entries in our best mouse or best keyboard guides. As for ports, the Yoga A940 offers a very good selection, with a USB-C Thunderbolt, USB 3.1, 3-in-1 card reader (great news for photographers) and audio jack. There’s also a LAN port, HDMI and four USB 3.0 ports on the rear. It’s always good to see a large selection of ports on devices geared towards creatives and productivity, as it lets you easily plug in the tools you need without having to pay extra for dongles and converters. Apple take note. Lenovo Yoga A940: Should you buy it? So, should you buy this device? The answer to that is quite simple, really. Lenovo has made an excellent all-in-one PC that comes with some great features for digital creatives. If you’ve been after a stylish all-in-one for your creative work, but have baulked at the high price of the iMac Pro or Surface Studio, then this is a fantastic alternative that provides some genuinely innovative and useful touches, while costing less than its competitors. Digital artists will be especially taken with the adjustable 4K 27-inch touchscreen – it really is lovely to draw on. However, this isn’t for everyone. If you want an absolute power house of a workstation with cutting edge components that can handle seriously intensive workloads – especially when it comes to graphic rendering – then you’re going to be disappointed with the Lenovo Yoga A940’s specifications. Sadly, it feels in some respects that Lenovo has made too many compromises when it comes to the hardware – especially in the GPU area. The hardware performs well for day-to-day tasks, but if you want something more powerful, then paying a bit more for an all-in-one with more recent components will pay off in the long run. View the full article

When you're working on a new logo design and you need a little something to fire your creative processes, it’s natural to head to a modern-day gallery to grab a bit of logo design inspiration But the principles of good design are timeless. And if you only focus on the very latest work, you’re missing out on decades-worth of beautiful, functional and brilliant logo design from the industry’s most famous designers. In this post, we look back at five logos created by some of the 20th century’s greatest creatives, and consider what lessons they contain for designers working today. 6 of the most iconic drinks logos 01. Chupa Chups logo by Salvador Dalí How many brands can boast a Dalí logo? When you're producing a range of confectionery and you're not happy with its branding, it can be helpful to have one of the world's top artists as a friend. And while Salvador Dalí isn't largely known for his graphic design skills, he was quickly able to help Enric Bernat, the founder of Chupa Chups, with some lightning-fast work. The story behind the Chupa Chups daisy logo is the stuff of fairy tales. Bernat and Dalí were sitting in a pavement café, and Bernat asked his friend to lend a hand with his logo design; Dalí got straight to work, scribbling on an old newspaper that was lying around the café, and came up with his design inside an hour. The logo used today is largely the same as Dalí's design; the only change to it has been to abandon the serif lettering used for the first half of the name, and to set it in the same script style as the second half. It's a good-looking logotype; simple, colourful and guaranteed to appeal to its target market, but the really clever bit was Dalí's insistence on how it should be displayed. Knowing that if it was displayed on the side of a lollipop, the logo would get distorted, Dalí decreed that it should instead be put on the top where it would remain intact. It was a branding masterstroke that helped elevate Chupa Chups from a small Spanish brand into a global success story. Lesson learned: An understanding of how a logo is going to be used is an essential piece of information to take into your design process. Dalí's insight into the placement of the Chupa Chups logo arguably helped build the brand's prominence; modern designers need to be aware that a logo is likely to be used across any number of touchpoints and at all kinds of sizes, and design accordingly. 02. Nike logo by Carolyn Davidson The original Swoosh cost $35 Carolyn Davidson was a graphic design student at Portland State University when Nike founder Phil Knight chanced upon her, working on a drawing assignment in a hallway. He needed some design work doing for an upcoming presentation, and offered her a couple of dollars an hour to create some charts and graphs. Later, Knight needed a logo for his shoe boxes; again he called on Davidson, asking for a design that suggested movement. She came back with a number of designs, including the now-iconic Nike Swoosh, but Knight wasn't taken with any of them. With a print deadline approaching his shoe boxes, Knight had a make a call, and despite not loving it he opted for the Swoosh. Davidson submitted an invoice for just $35 and continued to design for Nike until it was too big for her to handle on her own, at which point Nike appointed a full-service agency. Davidson was later rewarded handsomely for her design, when Knight surprised her with a gold Swoosh ring with an embedded diamond, plus an envelope containing Nike shares. And while her design may not have have fired Knight's enthusiasm at first, its simplicity and energy have proved to have significant, long-lasting appeal, signifying the Nike brand in the most beautifully minimal way. Lesson learned: It's easy to overthink things and get bogged down in indecision over a selection of potential designs. But sometimes all it takes is a deadline to focus the mind and make a choice. 03. Windows 8 logo by Paula Scher Paula Scher’s logo for Windows 8 returned the brand identity to its core values Born in Washington DC in 1948, graphic designer Paula Scher began her career in the 1970s creating album covers for both Atlantic and CBS Records. In 1991, she became the first-ever female principal at Pentagram, and has created identities and other memorable design work for clients including Citi Bank, Coca-Cola, the Metropolitan Opera, the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Philharmonic. In 2012, Scher was working with Microsoft to design a logo for its Windows 8 operating system. Early in the development process, she asked a simple question: “Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?” As you can see in the examples below, the company had been using a flag symbol for many different Windows logos over the years. Earlier logos had strayed too far from the original Windows metaphor Previous logos for the operating system (including the one shown top left) had featured a window. However, over the years this had evolved into a waving flag, presumably in response to corporate requests for more 'energy' and 'dynamism'. In the process, the design had lost all connection with the original meaning behind the name ‘Windows’, which represented a metaphor for seeing into screens and systems, and a new view on technology. Scher’s design for Windows 8, then, brought the logo back to basics, re-inventing the somewhat gaudy four-colour symbol as a sleek, modern geometric shape. Using the classic principle of perspective (lines receding into space to suggest dimensionality), the new design offered a neutral container that still conveyed a sense of movement, while looking more modern and returning to the original concept for the brand. Lesson learned: Dynamism and energy aren’t 'add-ons', but stem from an underlying strong and clear concept for a logo. Once you have that, everything else will follow. 04. Brooklyn Brewery logo by Milton Glaser A name change lay at the heart of the success of Brooklyn Brewery Born in New York in 1929, Milton Glaser is one of the world's most celebrated graphic designers. The co-founder of Push Pin Studios (1954) and New York Magazine (1968), he established his own studio, Milton Glaser, Inc. in 1974. Over the years he personally designed and illustrated more than 300 posters, including the famous 1966 poster for Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits LP, and is probably best known as the creator of the I Love New York logo. In 1986, Steve Hindy and Tom Potter came to him looking for an identity for their new brand, Brooklyn Eagle Beer, named in tribute to the famous newspaper once edited by Walt Whitman. Glaser responded: “Why sell a bird when you’ve got the whole borough?” It was a good question, and as a result of the conversation that followed, the pair settled on the simpler word ‘Brooklyn’ as the name and identity for the beer. Brooklyn Brewery went on to be a huge success, and Glaser did pretty well out of it too. At the time, Hindy and Potter couldn’t afford to pay him, so they gave him a stake in the firm instead. It’s now worth millions. Lesson learned: The key to successful logo design lies in truly understanding the company and brand. And in practice that means asking questions of clients, including awkward ones. 05. IBM logo by Paul Rand Talk about longevity: Paul Rand’s 1972 logo for IBM is still in force today Brooklyn-born graphic designer (1914-1996) Paul Rand was one of the first American commercial artists to embrace and practice the Swiss Style of graphic design. And he soon became world-famous for his corporate logos, creating designs for the likes of IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, and Steve Jobs’ NeXT Computers. 7 classic logos that should never have been changed In today’s world, where tech companies routinely redesign their identities year on year, the fact that Rand’s 1972 logo for IBM is still in use stands testament to the brilliance of its design. Using horizontal stripes to replace the solid letters of the previous logo (to suggest "speed and dynamism"), it’s become one of the most recognised logotypes in the world, and is widely imitated by others. But while the design may look simple, it was by no means quick to create. Having changed the font of the previous 1956 design (replacing Beton Bold with City Medium, lengthening the serifs and tweaking the shape of the ‘B’), Rand spent more than a decade experimenting with variations in the logo, before introducing the iconic stripes. Rand also put a lot of time and effort into creating a detailed pamphlet and poster, showing the various sizes of the eight-bar logo and providing careful instructions on how to use them. That he continued to keep a close oversight of IBM’s branding for decades meant that his original designs were never abused, and have continued to be applied cleanly and consistently to this day. Lesson learned: Good logo design doesn’t happen overnight. Patience is required to create not just a successful design, but also a robust and durable system for ensuring its careful and consistent application. 06. AT&T Bell System logo by Saul Bass Saul Bass’ 1969 logo for AT&T was an early example of a simple, scalable logo Born in The Bronx, New York, Saul Bass (1920-1996) was a graphic designer and film-maker whose influence continues to be felt in both spheres today. Best known for his credit sequences for movies such as Psycho, North by Northwest and Man with the Golden Gun, he also created iconic logos for companies such as Continental Airlines, Warner Communications and Geffen Records. An analysis of his designs in 2011 by Christian Annyas showed them to have extraordinary longevity, with an average lifespan of 34 years. In 1969, Bass designed the logo for the AT&T Corporation, which then held a monopoly on phone service in the United States and Canada through a network of companies called the Bell System. He simplified the previous 1964 design and – at a time when most logos were intricate and detailed – created a fuss-free emblem that was instantly recognisable. The previous design, the fifth Bell logo, 1964-1969 The rollout of the new logo was to be the largest corporate identity program in the history of the US, involving the redesign of 135,000 Bell System fleet vehicles, 22,000 buildings, 1,250,000 phone booths and 170,000,000 telephone directories. So the company had to be sure it was doing the right thing. To convince the firm, Bell made a half-hour film pitching the design – which you can watch in full today on YouTube. In the film, Bass explains his vision for a broad identity that would feature on everything from letterheads and print ads to the cufflinks that executives wore. Making a logo that works at both small and large sizes is a principle often emphasised in today’s multi-device world, and it’s testament to the vision of Bass that he applied it just as vigorously in the pre-digital age. The adaptability and scalability of his 1969 logo is one of the main reasons for its longevity, and it would probably have lasted a lot longer had Bell Systems not been broken up in 1983. Once that had happened, Bass was invited back to create the famous AT&T globe logo, which remained in place until 2005. Lesson learned: A logo that’s simple is also scalable, so it can be adapted to a huge variety of uses, even those that haven’t even been thought of at the time of its design. And that’s going to ensure its longevity like nothing else. 07. American Airlines by Massimo Vignelli Massimo Vignelli's American Airlines logo takes a simple idea and executes it superbly Born in Italy, Massimo Vignelli (1931-2014) moved from Milan to New York in the 1960s and became one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. Focusing on simplicity through basic geometric forms, he designed Bloomingdale’s signature brown paper bags, the Ford Motor Company logo, the 1972 New York City subway map and branding for the likes of Xerox, IBM, Gillette and Ford. In 1967, Vignelli was introduced to American Airways by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, who was consulting for the then-fledgling airline. He was soon recruited to design the logo and branding for the company, and his approach was guided by two principles: legibility and nationality. To ensure the former, he used Helvetica. For the latter, he cast the logo's two letters in red and blue. “It looked great,” he told Bloomberg in 2013. “The typeface was great. We proceeded by logic, not emotion. Not trends and fashions." This no-nonsense, straightforward approach resulted in a true design classic, although Vignelli was keen to stress the eagle emblem was forced upon him (he refused to design it himself, so Dreyfuss’ office did the honours). Despite this, his design has become one of the most popular and by far longest-lived logos in the history of airlines. Lessons learned: Keep it simple, stupid. Steering free of gimmicks and keeping your design as straightforward as possible are key ingredients in creating a longstanding, successful logo. Related articles: 38 beautiful band logo designs to be inspired by Nike brings back old Swoosh logos Design a killer logo in Illustrator View the full article

These days, everyone loves a dark mode. Why dazzle yourself when you're getting in a bit of late-night browsing under the covers, when you could give your eyes - and your phone's battery - a rest with a soothing, low-light display? The latest mobile operating systems now support dark modes, enabling you to turn down the lights on both iOS and Android apps, and Instagram has just joined the dark forces. Its latest release enables you to go fully dark, but if you've already installed it, you might be having trouble figuring out how to turn it on. And to be perfectly honest, we had exactly the same problem. Not to worry, though, because after a bit of hapless faffing around in Instagram, we worked it out. It turns out you can't turn dark mode on from within the Instagram app; you need to go into your phone's settings to sort it out, because why on earth would they make things easy for us? How to repost on Instagram: A complete guide Whether you're foxed by dark mode settings, or simply didn't even know about dark mode and like the sound of it, here's what you need to do to turn it on – not just for Instagram, but for any app that supports dark mode. Dark Mode on iOS Dark Mode has just been included in iOS 13 Make sure you're updated to the latest version of iOS 13. Download the latest Instagram update. Go into Settings > Display & Brightness. There you can turn Dark Mode on, or set it to switch on and off automatically; either to match current daylight hours, or to your own custom schedule. Start up Instagram and enjoy the darkness! Dark theme for Android Android's dark theme is easy to activate You'll need to be running Android 10 and – of course – have the latest version of Instagram installed. Go into Settings > Display and tap Advanced Select Dark from the Device theme menu Start up Instagram and glory in the gloom! And when you're done, don't forget to follow Creative Bloq for some regular design inspiration! Related articles: 9 agencies to follow on Instagram How to change the font in your Instagram bio 10 must-know Instagram tips for creatives View the full article

NYC photography store Adorama has ditched its clunky, spiky old logo design in favour of a radical new look – but it's not entirely successful. The new wordmark makes overdue steps towards modernisation, but is coming under fire for everything from its stubby ascenders to its oddly speckled 'O'. Let's take a look at what the brand got right, and where it went wrong... The old logo took its cues from an outdated shutter-style 'O' US readers might know Adorama from its bricks-and-mortar NYC store, but the photography brand is more widely known for its online shop (its competitive prices mean it often appears in our best camera buying guides). The old logo (above) was all focused around the distinctive 'O', which was styled like a camera shutter, the angles of which were reflected in the rest of the letters. Not only was the jagged lettering looking rather dated from an aesthetic point of view, but the focus on the camera shutter also gave of a decidedly analogue vibe and failed to reflect the company's shift into digital products and services. So a redesign was certainly overdue. The new look has not gone down well We'll also applaud Adorama's confidence in maintaining some personality in its new look. We've seen far too many bland, identikit logo redesigns of late. However, other than that we're not too impressed by the new look. The spots on the new 'O' suggest pixels, but jar with the rest of the letterform Like the old logo, the 'O' is the focus here. The shutter design has been replaced by a dotty pattern, perhaps to suggest pixels. It makes sense for a company with a focus on digital image-making. However, the execution is sloppy. The dots don't relate to the shape of the letterform, instead being placed in a grid format that's jarring in context. There's also a solid border around the perimeter of the counter, but none on the outer edge of the 'O', which again looks messy and illogical. Finally, Adorama has committed the cardinal sin of not creating a logo that scales well: at small sizes, the dots don't read well at all, looking more like a low-res design than an active style choice. Elsewhere, the mix of rounded and non-rounded corners, and stubby ascenders create a design that lacks harmony. Commenters have suggested it looks more like a children's clothing or craft store than a cutting-edge photography business. What do you think of the new look? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook. Read more: Facebook sued over copycat Calibra logo Are these reimagined logos better than the real deal? The surprising story behind the Joker logo View the full article

There’s a special art to illustrating food. Because you’re not just trying to please the eye and grab people’s attention: you’re ideally trying to engage their senses and make their tastebuds tingle. "Food is such an emotive subject," says Caz Hildebrand, Creative Partner at Here Design, who has worked on multiple food books for Nigella Lawson, Yotam Ottelenghi, Oliver Rowe, and her own books including The Geometry of Pasta and An Anarchy of Chillies. "Pretty much everyone has a response to images depicting food, but not everyone will feel the same way." To get a clear message across, the most important thing about your illustrations is, she says: "Do they look good enough to eat? Are they appealing or repelling? So many images, both photographs and illustrations, make food look very unattractive and may well be unsuccessful if they are off-putting, rather than seductive." Of course, your intention might actually be to turn people off. "If for example, you want to convert the audience to veganism, then there might be a case for making certain ingredients look especially ugly. But in general, if the intention is to create a positive response in your audience, then consider whether you'd want to eat whatever you've drawn. If not, it’s likely that no one else will, either." Read on, as we offer some expert tips on how do so... 01. Use abstraction Judith Mayer makes good use of abstraction in this depiction of a banana split Chicago-based illustrator Judith Mayer follows a golden rule when it comes to drawing food. “Simplify the details to hint at texture and pattern,” she says. “Don’t always try to draw every speckle, nook, fiber, bump, seed, or candy sprinkle.” Obviously there’s a balance to strike between including too much detail and too little, and that balance will vary from illustrator to illustrator. “I think a lot depends on your style,” says Mayer. “I prefer the less-is-more approach, so my illustrations have more abstraction. I add only enough details to feel right, no more. Check your work as you go is a good rule. If you prefer a more detailed look, you would add more details. Neither is right or wrong.” 02. Minimalise detail for motion Minimalising details was crucial to making this motion graphic by Al Boardman work When it comes to turning your illustration into motion graphics, simplifying and minimalising often becomes even more important. Al Boardman, an illustrator and motion designer based in Winchester, UK, faced this challenge when creating this animation for a client. “I produced a whole set of the food elements,” he recalls, “only to find out that there was too much detail in them which not only wasn't coming across once they were animated, but made it difficult to see what they were upon animating. "So I had to really try and make them as minimal as possible in order for them to work when moving. I think it’s an issue that’s even more marked with motion than with static images” 03. Limit your colour palette Judith Mayer stuck to a limited colour palette for this illustration of mint ice cream When it comes to the colours you use, Mayer again recommends keeping things simple for food illustration. “Choose a smaller colour palette - sometimes just three colours - that includes a highlight, main colour and shadow to apply to the shape of the subject to describe its volume,” she advises. “This forces you to look at how light describes the form and less at surface details." Sometimes, of course, the client will ask you to limit your colour palette even more, and that can be a big challenge, says Andrew Gibbs, the award-winning graphic designer and illustrator also known as SODAVEKT. "I work in a flat vector style, usually in one colour, and I’m often commissioned to create icons," says Gibbs. "When I have had commissions involving food in the past - like the Wagamama menu I illustrated a few years ago - I’ve found it can be challenging illustrating food in one-colour. So how does he manage it? "I always concentrate on shape, form and detail first, before adding colour," says Gibbs. "This is a general rule I apply across all my work. It helps me to consider what kind of visual details are unique to that object or food that I’m trying to represent." 04. Unnatural colours CAN work This illustration by Judith Mayer shows how unnatural colours can work in a food illustration It might seem the obvious choice to match the colours in your illustration accurately to those of the real-life foods. But perhaps surprisingly, Mayer believes that unnatural colours can often work well if used thoughtfully, such as in the example above. “Natural colour versus unexpected colour is purely a decision for the artist based on their style,” she believes. “As long as the highlights and shadows are applied logically, lemons can be blue and still read as lemons... but shape and texture are even more important when you take this liberty.” 05. Harness emotion and storytelling "This one is a good example of something that couldn’t be captured with a photo," says Salli Swindell, "because it doesn’t quite exist in real life." Salli Swindell is a food illustrator based in Ohio who’s also the producer of theydrawandcook.com, an online collection of food artists, and the author of several books including They Draw & Cook. ”My top advice for illustrating food is to try and create an illustration that can’t be captured by taking a photo,” she says. “An illustrator has the ability to add more emotion, storytelling and exaggeration to food illustration.” She offers some examples. “Make the food appear like it’s being prepared right before your eyes by showing chopped veggies flying across the page and into the skillet. Capture the essence of watermelon by merely painting a swash of pink and green with a few black drops. An egg yolk can be made extra glossy with exaggerated highlights. Scale and perspective can be playfully altered in an illustration.” In short, don’t just focus on recreating the food accurately. Think about what story you want your scene to tell, and what emotion you wish to convey. On a similar note, UK illustrator Carly Allen-Fletcher feels it’s useful to add in some context to her food illustration: where it's from, the culture, or the scene that it’s part of. “I find it interesting to learn about different places, and the dishes that come from different cultures,” she explains. “So depending on the brief, I like to add that into my illustrations, to add a bit of local flavour, if you’ll pardon the pun, as in these examples.” 06. Draw from (recent) memory When drawing food, Salli Swindell looks at it for a few minutes, then puts it away Most illustrators agree that you should draw food from life... but that needn’t necessarily mean sitting and staring at it the whole time. “My personal technique for rendering food is to look at the real food - or a photo of it - for a few minutes then put it away and draw it how I remember it in my mind,” says Sally Swindell. “That way I’m not tempted to over illustrate it and my personal style shines through a bit more.” That’s not the only way to approach a food illustration of course. “I truly love every single style of food illustration from graphic to stylized to animated to gestural to realistic,” she adds, “as long as a photo can’t capture the same vibe (or better),” she adds. “So if you are attempting to try a hyper realistic illustration of food you need to make it even MORE realistic than the real thing.” You can read more food illustration tips from Swindell in this article. 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What is visual development? Well, it’s designing anything that can help to visualise a story. In this workshop I’ll be focusing on pre-visual development, which is about painting scenery. In the pre-visual development phase, artists paint a lot of scenes that can help visualise the world of the story. I’ll cover what the different art techniques you need to focus on when you’re working on your painting. I consider this as one of the most enjoyable roles in vis-dev work, and I recommend that everyone tries their hand at doing it. When you paint, the most important thing to consider is the concept of values (take a look at CB's guide to colour theory for more on this). My mentor at Pixar once told me that, "A painting will still look good - even with bad colours - as long as its value is perfect." In this workshop I’ll pass on my advice on values, composition and colours that will help to improve your art. Let’s go through the steps to help you visualise your imaginary worlds… 01. Gather references You never know when a reference will come in handy One of my hobbies is travelling, and I’ll take photographs when I see a landscape that inspires me to paint when I get back home. Even if you’re not keen on travelling or photography, you still need a good source of real-world reference to help you paint imaginative art. Try looking around online for reference that will help take your painting project to the next stage of development. 02. Produce thumbnail sketches Keep it small to make the frame fit I begin drawing thumbnails on grey rectangles that match a cinema screen’s proportions (2.39:1). I prefer working at theatrical film ratio because it helps me check that my ideas will look interesting on the big screen. I have a tendency to work small, so I can see the whole composition within the frame. I identify and then correct any composition issues at this stage. 03. Enhance the basic composition Divide your composition into three Composition helps to lead the viewer’s eyes to where you want them to be. The basic composition tool is the Rule of Thirds, which divides your painting into sections. It’s recommended that you place your focal point on the division lines, which you overlay on your frame. 04. Place diamonds and zig-zags Establish direction and variety with these shapes You can place a diamond frame around your focal point by creating lines of direction. Each shape exists to help the viewer to follow it. Zig-zags help you to organise your shapes and create visual variety. They also encourage the viewer’s eyes to move in certain directions. 05. Perfect value studies The lightest or darkest point should be the focus This is the most important part of the painting process. The values have to look correct before the addition of light or colour. Viewers should be able to read your focal points even at a distance. Make sure you work small so you can check them. Your focal point should be the lightest or the darkest in your values study, or both. 06. Group values sensibly Value ranges guide the viewer's eye Even if there is light or shadow, value always works within a similar value range. Neither light nor shadow should break the value range that you choose to work with, unless there’s a good reason. For example, shapes within that value range can also help to lead the viewer’s eyes. 07. Create contrast through the use of opposites Contrasting values are eye catching You can contrast value by using the lightest and darkest colours in the scene. They will capture the viewer’s attention right away. Our eyes tend to focus on either the most saturated colour in the painting, or grey that’s surrounded by strong colours. Opposites attract the eye, and the same principle applies to shapes, too. 08. Building up the structure of the scene Create a sense of depth by overlapping shapes I always divide my values into three sections: fore-, middle- and background. Each structure divides into more values within the range of the group. You can generate more depth by creating an overlap of shapes. I recommend designing your shapes within a larger structure. 09. Creating a sense of space Group your values with the Brightness/ Contrast tool My image will help you see how I create a sense of space between each ground structure. Overlapping light and dark values will help to create depth. You can adjust your value range in Image>Adjustment>Brightness/ Contrast. This approach will help you group your values. 10. Local colour considerations Take care to use harmonious colours You can use any colour you like, but it’s crucial to focus on your value structure. Furthermore, try to use a colour or hue that’s next to each other on the colour wheel. It will help to create harmony in the scene. Don’t be afraid to play around with colours. You can always use a Hue/Saturation layer to change them. 11. Refine colours and add lighting Special adjustments can control the light and colour I add more blue and purple to my local colours. You can change your colours by using the Hue/Saturation tool or Color Balance adjustment layers. Next, I use a Hard Light adjustment layer to light the scene: this will mix colours of light and the local colour of your choice. 12. Start painting into the environment Working with colour is identical to building up a value structure First, I use the Mixer brush to generate variations of colours. I add the local colours of an object and then design shapes that enable you to direct the viewer’s eyes. Note that to achieve this, your shapes must stay within a similar value zone. Working with colour is identical to building up a value structure, and you can spend time playing with individual colours within that particular range of colours, to see what works best. 13. Identify compositional flaws There's still time to make huge adjustments I make a huge change at this point. The ghost girl’s value is too close to the column on the back. My solution is to remove the column and make a zig-zag shape instead (refer back to my advice from step four). Remember that light over dark shapes generates depth and makes an object easier to read. Here, the sky and the forest are framing elements that work together to enhance my focal point. 14. Read it once, then read it again Your image should reveal more than you see at first glance The first thing that catches your eyes in this painting is the ghost girl, and the second is the grave-side objects next to the column in the foreground. The girl’s bright red shoes help to make the connection with the tombstone. And so this scene is about a little girl who passed away in this pond. She’s looking at the pond, but she can’t see her reflection. And that’s my story in a single painting! This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe to ImagineFX. Related articles: The best digital art software right now The best Photoshop plugins The top alternatives to Photoshop View the full article