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Can you believe we're halfway through the first month of 2019 already? If you're feeling like time is passing you by, this creative trends report from Shutterstock should help you keep on top of what's going on in the world of design. In its latest annual report, the technology and stock photography company has analysed billions of image, video and music searches and downloads from its vast customer base. With this wealth of data, Shutterstock has been able to single out 11 styles that are set to influence and shape design throughout 2019. Top creative trends of 2019 From its research, Shutterstock predicts that the aesthetics of yesteryear are set to make a comeback. An '80s look of decadence and overindulgence is in, while cute kawaii illustrations and tempting typography are also due to hit the big time. It's not all nostalgia and retro fonts though, as trends like Beyond Plastic highlight urgent environmental issues. Each of the trends are backed up with some solid search stats, so you know that these are the terms that people crave. However three creative trends for 2019 stood ahead of the pack... 01. Yesterday's tomorrow What’s old is new again. This trend is an optimistic redux of early-tech – a focus on what yesterday’s tomorrow looked like. It’s all about the looks and sounds that defined futurism at the dawn of the digital age, like purple, blue, and pink duotone gradients, basic vector graphics, and dreamy synth music. 02. Zine culture In the digital age, zine culture lives on in the decentralised mindset of social media, where independent makers can share and niche groups can discover. Built on principles of collage and largely influenced by the invention of the photocopier, it’s paper cutouts, noise and grain textures, and rough-edged layers that define this trend. 03. '80s opulence The ‘80s is back and it’s ready to party with gold chains, animal prints, and attitude. We say forget good taste, this is about good times. Clashing is the keyword for this trend. Think leopard print and snakeskin, peacock feathers and gold chain belts, soft fur and hard metal textures. Shutterstock's creative trends report "Even the most talented creative professionals sometimes want a little inspiration for their next big project and our Creative Trends report is here to help," says Lou Weiss, global Chief Marketing Officer of Shutterstock. "With over 1.5 million fresh new assets added weekly and millions of searchers using our platform, Shutterstock has volume of search and download data to predict the hottest trends and newest fads being driven by the design world. "We can’t wait to see these 2019 design themes come to life everywhere, from ad campaigns, to the catwalk, and in movies. This year, our top three trends are influenced by the bold design principles of years past, so it will be particularly interesting to see how they evolve with modern interpretations best suited for today’s digital platforms." Check out the trends set to dominate 2019 with the report below. Click the image to see the full size infographic Related articles: 5 huge illustration trends for 2019 6 huge logo trends for 2019 4 huge visual trends for 2019 View the full article

Maybe your goal for 2019 is to find a job you love. And while crossing your fingers or praying might help – it might be time to take a step that could make your dream job a reality. The Resume Writing (CV) & LinkedIn Profile Optimization course serves as the perfect bridge to take you to your new life in your perfect gig. Though it typically retails for $199, it's available now for 94 per cent off at just $9.99. Let's face it, job hunting is rough. How many jobs have you applied to online, only to never hear back from anyone? This comprehensive course helps make the quest for a perfect job a little easier. Among the new skills you'll pick up in the 1.5 hours of instruction? Three unforgettable elements to use in your LinkedIn tagline, the highest value keywords recruiters are using to search and how to avoid your resume getting caught in the bots that are filtering out more than 70 per cent of current online applicants. Get lifetime access to the Resume Writing (CV) & LinkedIn Profile Optimization course for the low price of $9.99 here. Want your products featured in The Creative Bloq Shop? Learn more about how to sell your products online! Related articles: 5 things NOT to say in a job interview What are the best-paid creative jobs in 2019? 14 free resume templates View the full article

You're reading Top 17 Web Design and UI Trends for 2019, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! New year, new time to think about web design trends. The start of the year is a great time to look back on the previous year and your successes and look ahead to things that you want to improve and … View the full article

You're reading 15 Cool WordPress Themes You Should Use in 2019 For Your Projects, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Before you even think about starting to design a website for your business, you’ll probably spend lots of time thinking about its overall appearance and functionality. Transforming your vision into reality is understandably the hard part. You have to think … View the full article

He said that similar flaws were also found in the Dreamhost, HostGator, OVH and iPage web hosting platforms. View the full article

Take our short poll to weigh in on the state of two-factor authentication. View the full article

Researchers created a proof-of-concept escape of Docker test environment. View the full article

Without servers, the internet as we know it couldn’t exist. But these machines have a lot to live up to, with expectations of maximum availability, minimum downtime and near-flawless performance. Thankfully, the latest generation of server hardware is now being combined with innovations in cloud infrastructure to provide exceptional reliability, while also enabling highly flexible approaches to server hosting in a wide variety of scenarios. Running 24/7, dealing with large numbers of users simultaneously, and routinely handling sensitive data, servers face far greater demands than desktop machines. And when these pressures prove too much for consumer-grade technology, high availability can only be ensured by enterprise-level hardware. Models feature the latest generation of Intel Xeon Scalable processors, for top performance and reliability Specialised processors, such as Intel’s Xeon family, offer more cores and bigger cache sizes than desktop CPUs, as well as support for very large quotas of ECC RAM. With models now featuring the latest generation of Intel Xeon Scalable processors, Fasthosts Dedicated Servers deliver the performance and reliability demanded by mission-critical applications. The newest storage technologies also bring major advantages to server use cases, with NVMe drives now accessing data up to six times faster than standard SSDs. In database-driven applications such as online shops with content-rich product details, the NVMe storage on Fasthosts Dedicated Servers helps to ensure a smooth and responsive customer experience. Custom configurations Obviously, hardware is a vital factor in server performance, but it’s not the whole story. With individual servers often working as nodes in a cluster, connectivity and the underlying platform make all the difference. Fasthosts allows single-tenant servers to be combined with virtual machines to create hybrid setups; 'virtual data centres' that provide custom configurations for specialised applications. An ecommerce platform, for example, could use load-balanced VMs to efficiently manage website traffic, and dedicated hardware to securely handle customer details. Fasthosts servers also benefit from the performance and security of UK data centres, and with unlimited bandwidth, there are never any worries about exceeding data caps. A flexible solution These innovations clearly offer advantages – but do they make server hosting any more cost-effective? The good news is that the flexibility of the Fasthosts platform also extends to pricing. Dedicated Servers can be provisioned in just eight minutes and shut down at any time, and costs are tracked on a per-hour basis. VMs can handle normal traffic levels, and be augmented with dedicated hardware when heavy processing is required Again, this flexibility enables custom configurations in different use cases: if demand is seasonal, VMs can handle normal traffic levels, and be augmented with dedicated hardware when heavy processing is required at busier times of year. For intensive tasks like image rendering and big-data processing, too, the option to run dedicated hardware in short bursts is highly beneficial. Server applications can be extremely demanding, both on the machines and the wider infrastructure. But by taking cutting-edge hardware and combining it with innovative cloud-based technologies, the Fasthosts platform enables Dedicated Servers to work harder – and smarter. For server customers, the result is a better experience for end users and a more successful online presence. To find out more, please visit the Fasthosts website. View the full article

Firefox 69 will force users to manually install Adobe Flash as the plugin inches toward end of life. View the full article

Preferences in user interface design shift and change all the time. In this article we take a look at the big trends that started bubbling up in 2018 and look set to explode this year – these are the themes you should be taking notice of. Due to the fast transformations in the mobile industry, the boundaries of mobile app experiences are constantly changing. We’re expecting to see even more amazing innovations that will influence mobile app design trends in the upcoming year. So without any further ado, let’s have a look at six hot UI trends to stick to this year, to help you learn how to create an app that's fit for 2019. For more predictions, take a look at our thoughts on the big web trends on their way. 01. Gesture-based interfaces In 2018, we saw a rise in 'edgeless' mobiles. Recent releases of buttonless smartphones from Google, Samsung and Apple will force mobile app designers to rethink their future creations. As well as offering a larger screen and more space for the interface to fill, the loss of buttons shifts the focus onto gesture-based interaction. There are plenty of in-app gestures that can significantly change mobile UI design, making it sleeker, more modern and more effective. The above GIF shows how an encyclopedia app uses gesture-based interaction (design by Tubik Studio). Currently, the vast majority of apps use in-app gestures to speed up common interactions. For instance, you can double-tap a photo on Instagram and Dribbble instead of pressing the 'Like' button. Where the gesture/response isn't well known, your users might benefit from adding a simple animation showing how the movement works as part of the onboarding process. 02. Face ID Face ID is another recent and noteworthy addition to the UI design toolbox. It was amongst the hottest trends of 2018 will continue to grow in popularity in 2019. While Face ID-ing is currently mainly used to enable users to unlock their phones without having to enter a PIN, we're starting to see designers incorporating this technology into their mobile apps, too. Above is the PaperFace app concept by Rashid Sharif. Do you remember all your passwords? With Face ID, there's no need to. Face ID offers an amazing opportunity for UI designers to smooth out the user flow and, used correctly, helps customers feel more secure. We predict that 2019 will see this technology being much more widely used, especially within ecommerce app design. 03. Neutral interfaces Lifenr takes a stripped-back approach to app design We're seeing a rise in graphic designers stripping away decorative elements within their apps until the user interface becomes almost invisible. Content-first layouts help focus the user's attention and enable them to consume the content without being distracted. While neutral interfaces bring a lot of benefits, they also pose a challenge for app designers. The main issue is that such interfaces look very similar to one another, and it becomes harder to create a truly memorable experience. Smart use of typography is one way to overcome this issue and help give a pared-back app more personality. 04. Animated visuals According to Prezi's 2018 State of Attention report, our ability to maintain focus has actually improved over time, but the audience has become more selective in the content they choose to consume. One way to ensure your audience stays engaged is through clever use of animated visuals. The use of video on social media perfectly exemplifies how animated visuals can replace written content. Short and precise videos can retain people's attentions more easily than traditional written content, while still offering plenty of information. Mobile UI designers can tap into this theme to help keep their audiences engaged. Using videos or animation you can demonstrate new app features, show how to do a certain task, or convey other important information effectively. For inspiration, take a look that the explainer video of Swiss Fin Lab design by FireArt (above), or explore these CSS animation examples. 05. Chatbots Shojol Islam's design for an AI-powered ecommerce chatbot, E-Bot Picture this: your prospective customer is about to make a purchase, but needs your help. It might be quite difficult for a user to find the 'Contact us' button. Moreover, waiting for the answer from customer service can easily become a major barrier to a sale. A good conversational design, which takes advantage of artificial intelligence, can have a serious impact on conversion rates. The way a chatbot looks in your mobile user interface can vary, and it’s generally a matter of overall design. However, when implemented properly, it can improve the user interface tremendously. Keen to get started? Read our tutorial on how to build a chatbot interface. 06. Augmented reality 2019 will require UI designers to think outside the box – or rather, the grid. Your UI might not be fixed to a screen any longer. Progressions in augmented reality mean your users could be interacting with the real world via your interface. It is now possible to use AR to create functional UIs that allow customers to try furniture out before buying it, for example. Or, imagine, your mobile app lets users try on clothes to see how they’d look before purchasing. Augmented reality may become a perfect tool to make the online shopping process even more interactive. Above you can see a Nike AR Concept by Kelly Wagnac. Augmented reality isn't a new trend, but it's not going anywhere. Read more: Add UI animations to your site The pro's guide to UI design 10 tips for better mobile UX design View the full article

If you could create an invention that would make the world a better place, what would it be? Boring old adults would probably whip up something terribly sensible like a water purifier or a nuclear missile deterrent. But when The UK Domain asked primary school children to doodle their ideas, they came up with some wonderfully imaginative and innovative contraptions. These inventions, including a Gun Sucker Inner and a Rubbish Eater that poops trees, have been turned into polished illustrations by The UK Domain. We love that these doodles show that you don't need to know how to draw or think like an adult to come up with brilliant ideas. And although these creations might seem whacky on the surface, they're not too far off real life inventions. Take Olly the Ocean Organiser, designed by Daisy, aged 9. Equipped with sensors that detect ocean rubbish and a propellor on its head to fly about, this machine is similar to the non-profit Ocean Cleanup organisation, which uses advanced technology to get rid of plastic in the world's oceans. Check out the doodles and the illustrations they inspired by clicking left to right in the image galleries below. "It's fascinating to see the creative and often thoughtful way that children see the world," says Helen Tomes, the director of marketing at The UK Domain. "We wanted to give the founders of tomorrow a platform to show us what they think of the world today." Maybe we could all take some inspiration from these drawings and start letting our imaginations run loose when coming up with problem-solving concepts for clients? Have a look at the full selection of inventions by heading over to The UK Domain's Future Founders page. Related articles: Doodle art: 52 great examples The best children's books of all time Spot your cartoon favourites in this CMYK celebration View the full article

Founded in London in 1975, Games Workshop has grown into a very big business. The firm best known for tabletop strategy games like Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 recorded a £1 billion market value during June 2018, and expects its profits to double this year. That’s due, in part, to the hard work and commitment of its dozens of talented artists. But that doesn’t mean it’s a stressful studio with constant deadlines to meet. “The environment is really informal, really relaxed,” says Dave Ferri, a concept artist who’s been with the company, now based in Nottingham, for about two and a half years. “It’s a very friendly atmosphere here.” Art techniques: top tutorials for painting and drawing Ferri works with two other concept artists, John Blanche and Tom Harrison, to create the 2D illustrations that inspire the digital 3D art sculptors – 29 of them in total – who lovingly craft and produce the figurines. And there’s always work to do, says design manager Sam Dinwiddy, because the company is constantly developing new lines and doesn’t want to rest on its laurels. Sketch for the Death Guard. “We try to provide the designers with a wealth of ideas,” says artist Dave Ferri “We’re always looking to excite our customers with something new,” Dinwiddy says. “We don’t just want to run through the list of ranges and update them all. That wouldn’t excite anybody. So we need to create stuff that’s unexpected, but still steeped in Games Workshop’s heritage.” That creation process often starts with a simple sketch, says John Blanche, who first began freelancing for Games Workshop in 1977 and went on to spend three decades as its art director. “Sometimes the designers like the sketch so much, they’ll actually make an image of it, but that’s unusual. I’m opening the doors up for sculptors to go: ‘Oh yeah, we could do that.’ It gives them a route to go forward.” Concept sketch for the Endrinriggers: soldiers with back-mounted machines for flying, as well as tools for airborne repair While Blanche works with physical inks and paints, Ferri creates most of his work in Photoshop CC on a Cintiq. “But the medium itself isn’t important,” says Ferri. “At the end of the day, the idea is what matters.” Typically, that design gets passed back and forth between concept artists and product designers in a process of re-invention and refinement. “It’s very organic and collaborative,” says Blanche. “We’re led by enthusiasm and deep understanding of each others’ backgrounds; it’s like one big family.” Open and willing attitude There are no ‘silos’ at Games Workshop, adds senior designer Seb Perbet. “One of the things that surprised me most was how open and willing people were to share their knowledge. I think it comes from the fact that we love this job and like talking about it.” Concept sketch of Belisarius Cawl. “We pull from different historical things and mash them into something new,” says Ferri For the digital sculptors, Perbet explains, developing the miniatures is not just a technical challenge but a creative one, too. “I think the best product designers don’t separate these two aspects: the creative mind is the one suited to solving the hardest technical problems. So for me it’s hard to distinguish between the two, because as I’m sculpting I’m deciding what it is I want and how it’ll be manufactured at the same time.” Even the 2D concept art needs to be approached with the physical end goal in mind. As Ferri points out, “These products are physically very small, and you can’t get a lot of detail in there. So our concept art needs to be bold and graphic, and most importantly, based on strong shapes." Balancing the details “That’s the hardest part: taking away the tendency to draw too much and strip it down,” Ferri continues. “You need to make the shapes interesting, because that’s where the product will succeed. So it’s important when you’re drawing something to stand back a few feet and have a look. Can you still see the details? Does it still read as you wanted it to? If not, you’ve probably made it over-complicated.” And if you’re a fan of Games Workshop yourself, then here’s some good news: the company’s hiring. “Finding good artists is difficult, because it’s so niche,” says Dinwiddy. “So we’ll always look at portfolios and we’ll always listen to people; the only thing that we can’t guarantee is a job at the end of it.” Although the artists and designers chat day-to-day, they also have regular meetings to get feedback on each others’ work There’s no particular qualification or software skill that you need to have, Dinwiddy adds. “It’s literally just: do you have an affinity with sci-fi and fantasy? Can you generate fantastic, original and unique ideas quickly and consistently, in high quality? And do you have the passion to develop new IP for a niche business?” If the answer to all those questions is yes, then you may get the chance to work in an environment where artists are constantly brimming with enthusiasm. “There’s always a good buzz in the studio, and we’re all really excited when new models come out,” says Dinwiddy. “I still get that ‘I want these!’ feeling, like I’m a little kid all over again.” This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 166 or subscribe. Related articles: How to be a better concept artist How to create stylised game artwork Why 2D artists need to learn 3D View the full article

When it comes to tying the knot, there's a lot of stress to make sure that every single detail of the wedding day is absolutely perfect. With so much to decide and keep track of, choosing the best font for your invites and place settings can often get pushed down the list. This shouldn't be the case – after all, you want something tasteful but not too bland, that ties in with the look and feel of your wedding. To make life easier for those organising the big day, we've put together a list of 10 wedding fonts that are sure to impress friends, family, and even the in-laws. Simply download and type away for gorgeous wedding paraphernalia. Some of these fonts are paid-for while others are free, but if you're after solely free fonts, then take a look at our list of best free fonts for designers. 01. Monstice Format: OTF, TT Price: From $24/£15.99 per font Buy Monstice Monstice is an elegant, decorative font family made up of five different variants: Base, Engraved, Inline, Hatched and Emboss. Any one would be ideal to add a touch of playful grandeur to your wedding stationery. You can also customise this wedding font with a range of OpenType features including swashes, ligatures and alternates. Pick up the full set for $60/£40.99. 02. Olivia Script Price: Free (personal and commercial) Download Olivia Script If it's a whimsical, romantic look you're after, look no further than Olivia Script. The designers describe it as a 'a modern calligraphy typeface', and it comes complete with 351 glyphs. This graceful wedding font is free for both personal and commercial use, and you can download it from The Font Bundles Store. 03. Paper Format: OTF Price: Free (personal use) Download Paper This charming font was made by Behance user Amy Cox. Every single letter has been cut out with real scissors to produce a quirky wedding font complete with filled-in counters. With its resemblance to confetti shapes, this playful font will add a dash of personality to any wedding ceremony. Download it free for personal use from Cox's Behance page (affordable commercial licenses are available too, wedding businesses will be pleased to hear). 04. Limon Format: OTF Price: $49/£32.99 (one font) Buy Limon Thanks to its fluid shoulder shapes and squiggly lobes, Limon is a zesty font that would be perfectly suited to a spring or summer wedding. Hand-drawn by Sabrina Mariela Lopez, this detailed wedding font took 18 months to design. The hard work has paid off, though, as Limon looks stunning. You can pick up a single font for $49/£32.99, or grab all 16 variants for $179/£128.99. 05. Blend Format: OTF Price: From $19/£12.99 per font Buy Blend In the world of coffee, a blend is a mix of beans that work together to produce a balanced taste. The creators of this font have applied the same logic to typography, and the result is a bouncing informal script that would look right at home on invites and table settings. The full set comprises 21 fonts – pick just the ones you want, or download the full set for $159/£107.99. 06. Guess Format: OTF Price: From $30/£19.99 per font Buy Guess Fun fonts are all well and good, but what if you need to impress the grownups? Don't panic, Guess could be just what you're looking for. This versatile and elegant wedding font is packed with class and style that's sure to draw admiration from even the most picky of guests. Designed by Veneta Rangelova, you can download the 16 fonts in this set for $150/£101.99. 07. Goodlife Format: OTF Price: $30/£20.99 per font Buy Goodlife Speaking of versatile fonts, the Goodlife family includes seven different styles that are "optimised to feel not just like a font but like true hand lettering". Designed by Hannes von Döhren (not Tom and Barbara from the BBC series), Goodlife is capable of handling the most complex typography challenges you can throw at it. Get your hands on the seven Goodlife fonts for $99/£70.99. 08. Burgues Script Format: OTF Price: $99/£74.99 Buy Burgues Script Sometimes you just need to play it straight and go for a font that turns the classy up to 11. Burgues Script does just that, and designer Alejandro Paul delivers a flowing font inspired by the 19th century calligrapher Louis Madarasz. 09. Storyteller Format: OTF Price: From $15/£11.99 per font Download Storyteller Script fonts really are the order of the day at weddings, but Storyteller delivers a playful variation on the theme. This family contains 33 fonts in total, and each one has been lovingly handwritten, hand-traced and developed by designer Elena Genova. Compatible with any software, this family is topped off with ligatures and contextual alternates. Download the full set for $149/£103. 10. Felt That Format: OTF, TT Price: $40/£26.99 Buy Felt That Looking for a script font that's stylish but still has its feet on the ground? Meet Felt That, a family that was hand drawn with a bullet-tipped marker by designer Jess Latham. It might be more straightforward than some of the more whimsical entries we've seen, but that doesn't mean that Felt That hasn't got an appeal all of its own. Download the single wedding font for the bargain price of $40/£28.99. 11. Bambusa Pro Format: OTF Price: From $19/£12.99 per font Buy Bambusa Pro Described as a "sturdy expressive modern calligraphy family", this set of four fonts has a unique ink-stroke aesthetic that comes from the Bambusa bamboo pen that designer Hanneke Classen used to make it. This distinctive font could give wedding messages an exotic twist thanks to its unusual spacing, accented characters and Ornaments (a set of twirly glyphs). Download the four fonts for $49/£34.99. 12. ITC Edwardian Script Format: OTF, TT Price: $35/£30 per font Buy Edwardian Script Finishing off our list is ITC Edwardian Script, a straight-down-the-line wedding font that doesn't skimp on character, designed by Edward Benguiat. Flaunting its flourishes in every letter, this family of four fonts is a safe choice if you want to give your wedding invites a touch of class and sophistication. Related articles: 50 best free fonts for designers 5 principles of design illustrated 10 fancy fonts to give your work a touch of class View the full article

You're reading Postcards Introduces Transactional Email Modules, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Today, we released newly designed transactional modules for Postcards. We designed and coded 26 absolutely new modules! You can start using them directly in the Postcards App now. View the full article

Whether you're working from home or in a studio, as designers and artists, we often spend long hours sat at a desk and staring intently at a monitor screen. We'll assume you know about taking regular screen breaks, but workplace wellness involves more than having a rest. With that in mind, we've put together an infographic containing 10 simple desk exercises so that you can make sure you remain limber in your studio. Click on the image to see the full-sized graphic, and feel free to share it with your colleagues on Pinterest! The best infographics around Click on the image to see the full-size infographic Illustration: Simon Middleweek Read more: 17 incredible tools for creating infographics 6 ways for designers to stay healthy Keep your hands in shape with this infographic View the full article

A penetration testing tool called Modlishka can defeat two-factor authentication in the latest 2FA security issue. We asked a roundtable of experts what it all means. View the full article

If you’re new to CGI, you may feel that there are far too many tools to choose from in a dizzying array of software. By breaking everything in CGI down, I want to arm artists with the knowledge of which tool is best. With this in mind, let's explore materials and shaders by looking at bump and displacement maps. But first, let's look at why these maps are different to normal maps. What's the difference between bump maps and normal maps? In a previous article I looked at normal maps, which are a type of image map used to add extra detail to your models. There are other image map types for adding details and relief to your 3D art: bump and displacement maps. These both use black and white imagery to create relief data for a model, making bump and displacement imagery far easier to create and manipulate in any 2D painting application when compared to the complex three-colour arrangement of normal maps. The differentiation between bump and displacement maps is in how they display the relief. 27 free 3D models How does bump mapping work? Bump maps are one of the oldest form of image map types (normal maps are derived from bump maps), and have been used for decades to add surface relief to models. Bump maps are not very resource-intensive, making them a popular choice for a wide range of relief work. The catch with bump maps is that they cannot render corner or edge detail, which makes them problematic in certain situations, for example adding brick detail to a corner edge. Bump maps are by far the easiest type of relief image to manage as they work with practically any surface, no matter the geometry. What does a displacement map do? Displacement maps, although they can be derived from the same type of image as a bump map, are much more powerful. They can truly deform geometry up to and including edge detail, making them ideal for a much wider range of uses such as terrain creation (sometimes a displacement is called a height map for large-scale deformation) and detail modelling. The reason that displacement maps are not as commonly used is that they can be computationally intensive and they tend to like high-resolution geometry to work with, which can make them less than ideal for some tasks. Either way, understanding bump and displacement maps will enable any artist to add detail to their models more quickly and intuitively than through other image-based methods. When to use a bump map A bump map modifies the surface of a geometry At its simplest, bump mapping only modifies the surface of a piece of geometry, whereas displacement mapping is actually altering the geometry. Bump maps are great at adding a lot of low-relief detail on low-polygon objects, so a one-polygon wall could show hundreds of bricks thanks to bump mapping. It can be an issue when edge detail needs to be shown, as bump mapping does not work with side detail – it only shows the true underlying geometry. When to use a displacement map A displacement map alters the geometry itself Displacement maps are a hugely powerful technique as they can intuitively allow model detail to be added with a simple greyscale image. A perfect example is when they are used as a simple method of creating the height data for a landscape. As displacement maps (also sometimes known as height maps) are modifying the underlying geometry, they need higher-resolution meshes to work with than bump maps, which can make them slower to work with. But they can produce stunning results. Combine maps Combine both maps to add a true relief Bump and displacement maps can be used in conjunction with one another. For example, when using displacement maps to add true relief to a landscape, a bump map can be used to add additional noise to the surface. This takes some of the computational weight away from the displacement map, allowing faster performance for negligible image loss. Understanding the properties of when and where to use bump and displacement maps can radically improve models and scenes. Height differences between maps Be sure to double-check displacement maps brought in from external software Both maps display height differently because of the underlying science behind each. However, this can also be true of the software being used. Displacement maps especially should be double-checked in the final render software when brought in from an external painting programme or other render software; there can be differences between how they are displayed, especially with different levels of geometry. Never assume anything until it has been tested for the specific scene or model required. Create your own bump and displacement maps Map colours help to denote height and depth One of the best things about bump and displacement maps is that visually they make sense, with white areas usually denoting the highest areas, black the lowest and 50% grey equalling no change. This means that while there are applications like Bitmap2Material that can make a good guess at creating relief, it is sometimes better to use a 2D image application. Using a high-pass filter can be an excellent way to get started in creating a relief map which can then be painted into using traditional 2D painting techniques. This article was originally published in issue 238 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 241 or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: Model luminous 3D surfaces with these texture tips Become a better 3D artist The best new 3D tools for 2019 View the full article

There are many aspects to consider when tackling a painting, both technical and fundamental. What I don’t often hear about are the minor tactics that help elevate the art-making. In this workshop I’ll focus on techniques that aren’t emphasised, particularly ones pertaining to works made with acrylics and coloured pencil. Having an understanding of the basics is important, but it’s the tiny nuances that will distinguish your work. I’ve been working professionally as a freelance artist for about a decade now, and I’d like to share with you the essential tidbits I’ve learned along the way, including how I capture the natural glow of skin with acrylic glazing and wax-based pencils. In addition to sharing my painting techniques, I’ll explain what to do once a painting has been completed. Finding suitable frames and scanners are key components in preserving your art for the years to come. Every artist has their personal art-making tactics that they develop over their years of experience, so keep making art, learn, grow, grow some more, share what you’ve learned, and keep the inspiration cycle going for others. 01. Focus on the outline Try outlining in a colour other than black A common mistake that people learning how to draw make is paying too much attention to the form within the lines of an object, rather than looking at the line itself. Edges are made of coloured lines and tend to be high in chroma. Instead of contouring objects with black lines, try using something with medium to high chroma. For skin, outline the figure with Terracotta and this will give it that natural shimmer. To give objects that are catching light – for example, a blue rooftop on a sunny day – trace its rim with a True blue coloured pencil. This is also a great way to establish your focal points. The vibrant outer edges help to advance the element to the foreground and draw the viewer’s eye. 02. Create colour harmony Tone your paper with light washes to achieve colour harmony When working with an extensive colour palette, it’s easy to let it get out of hand, resulting in a gaudy painting full of dissonant colours. A great solution for this is to harmonise your palette by toning the paper with light washes of paint. After I’ve transferred my drawing on to hot press watercolour paper, I make a mixture of Brilliant blue and Cadmium red paint, and apply a few thin washes of it. The paper is now a few shades darker with a purple tint to it. Subsequent layers of colour will react to these initial washes, and by sharing this commonality, will yield a more cohesive palette. 03. Capture organic shapes Let edges bleed into each other for an organic look Water-based paint such as acrylics are ideal for capturing organic shapes, including clouds, foliage and fabric. Objects that tend to have a lot of billowing texture can be intimidating, but you’ll come to learn that the water does most of the work for you. You just have to be fearless and let go of that innate control that lives in all of us. When rendering these shapes, allow the paint washes to find the forms for you. Be loose with the control of your brush and make strokes that are haphazard and unplanned. Let edges bleed into one another. The less control you have, the more organic the outcome will be. 04. Don't treat your brush like a pencil Don't be too precise with your brush strokes An old bad habit of mine was treating the brush like a .05 mechanical pencil. I would execute each paint stroke with precision and end up with static movement in my figures and their attire. To achieve fluid, organic shapes and gradients, hold your brush loosely and use the full motion of your wrist. Execute your paint strokes by turning the belly of the brush at extreme angles. Don’t dab unless necessary. You can also vary the softness of the paint stroke’s edge by doing this. 05. Use white paint sparingly For some skintones, you can use the white of the paper instead of paint Most of the whites in my paintings are made of the natural white of the paper. On occasions, I’ll use Titanium white to highlight, but it’s used sparingly. I find that white paint comes across dull: although it’s light on the value scale, it’s low in vibrancy. I recommend that you plan your painting ahead of time, determining the placement of the highlights. For example, the shine on the female’s cheekbone is kept untouched, along with the highlights on her nose and chin. 06. Get the right pencil for the job Make sure you're using the right pencil for the right part of your work I use two different types of coloured pencils, both wax-based. The Prismacolor Premier pencils are opaque in colour and possess a creamy texture. They have a soft core and will repel water, so are only used at the end of the painting process to fix mistakes and finalise solid shapes. The Prismacolor Verithins are made of a thinner, harder wax lead that are most suitable for clean lines and fine details. They tend to be water-soluble, and thus work well with acrylic washes. The Verithins are great for pushing dark values that I find difficult to achieve with acrylic washes and sharpening lines, like the edge of an ear lobe. For more advice on different types of pencil, see our post on the best pencils for colouring, drawing and sketching. 07. Transfer your sketches Lighten your sketch to prepare it for transfer There are different options available when transferring a sketch, either with a projector, light box or my personal favourite, a large-format printer. When transferring via projector and light box, I lose the dynamism that lives in the original sketch. By printing the sketch directly on to the watercolour paper with archival pigments, you can preserve the spirit of the lines as well as saving yourself hours of work. To prep your sketch for transfer, make sure you lighten it so that it’s only barely visible – it’s meant to serve as a blueprint, after all. Afterwards, you can redefine the lines by tracing it with coloured pencil. If you're not sure which printer to go for, see this post on the best printers. 08. Use iridescent embellishment Add something extra with embellishments To add an extra layer of dimension to your work, embellish it with an iridescent quality. Gold leaf and Pebeo Paints are a few ways to give it distinction, and collectors tend to gravitate towards these. Having that extra touch of authenticity is highly sought after. Before applying the embellishments, prep your painting by adding a layer of matte medium. This acts as an isolation layer and protects the painting. It also gives the surface a bit of tooth. For Pebeo Paints, which is an oil-based iridescent medium with an enamel texture, use a pipette to leave drops of shimmery gold to your finished painting. Make sure to let it dry for at least 48 hours, especially if the application is thick. 09. Add glazes The wet-on-wet method was used to create the horse's texture Rendering with acrylics is a slow process for me. I work from light to dark with diluted washes of paint, a technique called glazing. By overlaying layers on top of each other, value is darkened and form is created. A painting usually consists of 50-80 glazes, applied with different watercolour techniques. For broad areas where a soft edge is needed, like a horse’s muscular texture, use the wet-on-wet method. For finer details that need crisp edges, like a ribbon, use wet-on-dry. 10. Blend paint strokes Blending is key to creating a smooth gradient Paint strokes can generate a painting wonderful texture, but there are times when you might prefer to develop a smooth gradient in your artwork. To blend paint strokes, I recommend heavily diluting your paint with water and executing with a light touch. Don’t go heavy with the application and be patient as you build value on the paper. Overlaying glazes upon glazes of paint on top of each other will slowly smooth out the strokes, much like an iron set on a low heat. If the paint strokes are still unyielding, use a pencil in a neutralising colour to gradually blend them away. 11. Treat acrylics like watercolour You can achieve a lot of different techniques with acrylics Acrylics are one of the most versatile water-based mediums. Because of this, I can treat them like watercolour, diluting and blending strokes. Unlike watercolour, there’s a higher level of permanence in the pigment so it doesn’t enable you to lift colour. I prefer this since I’m able to achieve a wide range of value changes. Like watercolour, you can tint certain areas to add slight colour changes. By mixing a few drops of Golden High-Flow acrylics with water, you can bring subtle hints of warmth to a figure’s cheeks. 12. Digitise your painting A lot of young artists don’t prioritise the importance of digitising the finished painting for future usage. It’s key to have a high-resolution digital scan of the final so it can be used for promotional purposes, Giclée prints, licencing rights and more. For works in watercolour, I recommend using a Cruse scanner. Access to one can be difficult, but try calling your local fine art or large-scale printing company and you may be in luck. It scans the painting without touching the art and is able to capture the nuances of the paint strokes without grainy reflections. If you don’t have access to one, an Epson 11000XL is a great second option. 13. Add a natural edge A torn edge adds authenticity to your work A great way to apply more authenticity to your original piece of work is giving it rough-cut, deckle edges. An easy way to do this is by using a straight-edge ruler to tear your watercolour paper edge as oppose to cutting it with an X-acto knife. It distinguishes the painting as an original piece of artwork and makes it available for unique framing options. 14. Frame the finished piece Watercolour paintings work well in shadow box frames Painting on watercolour paper has perks. Because it’s paper, you can frame it so that it’ll showcase its natural deckle edges. A wonderful way to frame artworks on paper is by top float-mounting it in a shadow box-like frame. The painting is adhered on top of archival foam board to make it appear as if it’s suspended in air, with space between all sides of the paper. In my example, I chose a white wooden frame with two-inch rabbet height. To have the painting float-mount like this, you’ll need ample depth for all of the different framing components including the glass, mat boards and backing. This article originally appeared in issue 166 of ImagineFX, the world's leading magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 166 or subscribe. Read more: A beginner's guide to watercolour brush techniques How to create glazes with watercolour How to draw: the best drawing tutorials View the full article

When it comes to failed new year's resolutions, learning a new language is up there with attending the gym regularly and staying sober in January. To keep multi-linguists in the making coming back for more, freemium language-learning platform Duolingo has mastered the art of emotional manipulation with Duo, the green owl mascot who has a reputation for keeping users in check. Duo, along with the rest of the tool's layout and design, has been given a refresh for 2019 that aims to make the website and app more consistent and engaging. With the likes of Instagram and Twitter offering easy distractions from language study, Duolingo has also borrowed heavily from the gamification playbook. The new Duolingo mascot goes back to a symmetrical design The redesign – including the new logo design – was created by Duolingo's in-house team, and is the biggest update to the tool in five years. Duo's design has been simplified to make it easier to animate and the entire interface has been given a more cartoony refresh. Regular and intermittent users of Duolingo will already know that it relies on gamification. Heart bars encourage you to get an answer right and maintain a winning streak, while the Duo mascot helps to build a more personal attachment thanks to his reactions to user activity. Practise regularly and Duo will be overjoyed, skip a few sessions and he'll soon whip out the waterworks. The refreshed platform includes updated mascots and icons For its latest iteration, Duo has been brought to life with more positions and animations to get the most out of his connection with audiences. A closely cropped profile of his beaky face has also been used for the Duolingo app icon to really cement the connection with mobile games. Speaking to The Verge, Duolingo's head of design, Tyler Murphy, explains why Duo is being preened into the platform's version of a gaming mascot. "Games have this unique ability where you get really attached to their character. That’s why they can keep releasing new games with that same character, and people will rush out to buy them." The new Duolingo app icon is designed to resemble a game For a mascot that has gone on to inspire memes, it's fitting that Duo started out as an act of trolling. He's an owl because the bird is associated with knowledge, however his distinctive green plumage was a joke aimed at Duolingo co-founder Severin Hacker. After Hacker specified that anything was fair game for the mascot except the colour green, the creative team found the bait too hard to resist and made Duo green as a joke. It's a choice that seems to have paid off though. The green colouring makes Duo stand out, and it helps to make the platform feel even more like a computer game than an educational tool. The Duolingo team refreshed the tool's various screens so they look more consistent Duolingo currently has roughly 300 million registered users and offers 81 different language courses. Some users saw the updated app and mascot roll out at the tail end of 2018, while everyone else can expect to see the spruced up platform very soon. Related articles: The best logos of all time 6 huge logo trends for 2019 5 logo design terms you should know View the full article

If you've ever wondered how people make a living from YouTube, and wish you could do the same, you're in luck. You can get started with the Ultimate YouTube Master Class Bundle. With 28 hours of training, you'll learn how to steadily build your brand and a career on one of today's most popular online platforms. Find out how to start a channel, how to monetise it, and how to gain a loyal following. You'll also learn important shooting, editing, and marketing techniques that will ensure high production value and lots of eyeballs! Get Ultimate YouTube Master Class Bundle while it's on sale for just $29 – that's 97 per cent off the regular price. Related articles: The best computers for video editing in 2019 The best video editing software in 2019 The best memory cards for your camera View the full article

You’ve shot some quality video footage and so now it’s time for the fun part, the part where you get to fully unleash your creativity: video editing. However, if you’ve never tackled it before, editing video can be a daunting task. But never fear, creating quality videos is easier than you might think. Whether you’re new to the world of video, a creator of social videos, a professional video editor or a prosumer who needs easy-to-use video effects, Filmora9 is a video editor designed for all types of creators and skill levels. Feature-rich, including full 4K support and endless video effects, Filmora9 will enable you to create professional-looking video with speed and ease. Here are five essential video editing techniques to help you get started: Match Cut A match cut is very similar to a standard cut (when you cut from one clip to another without any transition), the difference being when you cut between clips, the subject matter in both match. It’s an editing technique which, done correctly, can really elevate a production. Watch the above video to see how effective a match cut can be. J or L cut Two common but powerful video editing techniques are J and L cuts. The J cut is when the viewer watching clip A hears the audio from clip B before seeing clip B. This audio transition is a great way of playing with the viewers senses before they see any visuals. Contra to the J cut is the L cut, which works on the same principle, only mirrored. With an L cut, the audio from a preceding scene continues to play over footage from the following scene. Discover how both J and L cut works in the demonstration above. Montage A montage is a video editing technique that signifies the passage of time, a flashback or an artistic compilation of imagery, often underscored with music. The above ‘Emotions’ video montage by Lindsay McCutcheon is a great example of how powerful this simple but effective editing technique can be. Whip Pan A whip pan is actually a camera technique, whereby the camera literally whips from one direction to another, causing a blurred shot to be created. This type of shot can then be used as an unbroken means of transitioning between two clips. Whip pan transitions are a great way to indicate the passage of time or create an atmosphere of frenzy and disturbance, as demonstrated perfectly in the above scene, again from Hot Fuzz. Sam Kolder transitions Sam Kolder is a travel influencer and a filmmaker and he’s known for his epic travel videos. He’s also known for his unique signature style, like zoom transitions. Filmora9’s toolset includes a variety of transitions to choose from, including ones inspired by Sam Kolder himself. Find out how they work, and how you can create them in your own projects in the video above. Now we’ve covered some essential video editing techniques, you can get started on your own video projects. Need some extra help? The Filmora YouTube channel has lots more video editing tips and tricks to guide you in the right direction. Filmora9 is available for Mac and Windows and is priced at $59.99 for a lifetime license or $39.99 for one year. Find more information and sign up here. View the full article

If you're at all tapped into the world of comics and superheroes on social media, the chances are you've seen some weird and wonderful Spider-Man inspired fan art fill up your timeline lately. But why have fans of the famous Marvel hero started sharing art with #Spidersona? What exactly is a Spidersona? And how can you get involved? Well, it's all to do with the latest Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. For those who haven't seen the film (and you really should, after you've finished reading this article, of course), the story sees a range of alternative Spider-Men and -Women from parallel dimensions come together to defeat the villainous Kingpin. 14 imaginative web comics to inspire you Thanks to its funny script, tight plotting and stunning animated visuals, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse has gone down a storm with fans and critics alike. However, the film has also sparked the imagination of digital artists due to its alternate takes on the Spider-Man costume. In the film we see a film noir variant, an anime inspired design, and, well, Spider-Pig. It's these variations that illustrators are having fun with in their fan art. Taking the idea of parallel universes and running with it, artists are conjuring up their own Spider-Man personas, or Spidersonas, and creating imaginative character designs for them. Shared with the hashtag #Spidersona, these superhero creations can be split into two groups. The first one sees the artist imagine what they themselves would look like as the webbed wonder. Meanwhile the second camp take things further by imagining a completely new spin on the Marvel hero. Top artists have weighed in with their takes on #Spidersona, and the creativity on display is well worth checking out over on Twitter. Here are some of our favourites, starting with one of the earliest creations that predates the hashtag itself. Want to get involved? Just create your own Spidersona and don't forget to tag it #Spidersona on social media. Related articles: Artists pay tribute to Marvel legend Stan Lee How to create a comic page How to colour comics View the full article

One of the hardest parts of being a freelancer is the money side of things. If you've had regular pay cheque your whole life, living with no guaranteed income can be daunting. Some months you'll be working non-stop, others will be ominously quiet. The easiest way to stay out of trouble – especially when you're first starting out – is by being thrifty with your money. We asked leading freelance artists, designers and photographers for their top tips on being smart with money. Before we kick things off, here's a bonus tip: there are plenty of helpful resources online that won't cost you a penny – if you know where to find them. Take a look at our pick of the best free fonts, free iPhone apps for creatives and free graphic design software just for starters. 01. Hunt out free entertainment Entertainment and inspiration can come for free The Finish illustrator Annu Kilpeläinen, who now lives in London, says starting out as a freelancer doesn't mean putting an end to your social life. You just might have to spend a little less on going out. Kilpeläinen takes advantage of cheap or, better, completely free stuff in her local area. "If you live in a city like London there are plenty of exhibitions that are free," she points out. But Kilpeläinen has another favourite, budget-friendly pastime, something you can normally do no matter where you live: "Bingo! And you stand a change of winning money, so what's better?" If even bingo's currently out of your price range, you could always ask for a little bit of extra money: "Lots of smaller jobs have fixed fees but its always clever to try to negotiate your fees up. That £50 extra can get you many nights out at the bingo hall." 02. Buy a good printer Illustrator Valentina Remenar has saved over time by investing in a home printer The illustrator and concept artist Valentina Remenar says the big money-saver in her career as a freelancer has been owning a professional-quality printer. They're not cheap, so it meant spending quite a lot of money in the beginning. But she's made it all back and then some – and if your specialism means you need to do a lot of printing, you might find the same. "Over time I was happy to have it since I didn't have to throw huge amounts of money at professional photo prints whenever I went to conventions or sent them to other people. So, choosing a good big format printer with bigger cartridges was definitely a choice that I didn't regret." Here's our guide to the best printers around (at the best prices) to help get you started. 03. Work out what you need to live on Before she started freelancing, the typographer Nicole Phillips made a bare-bones list of household expenses – not a single luxury among them. This way she knew exactly how much money she needed to make each month to break even. "This was critical," she says, "so I didn’t spend money I didn’t really have." That doesn't mean you blow everything over the break-even point. Phillips puts a bit of money aside for her tax bill and to upgrade her tech and software when needs be. "I usually do both the tax and tech fund based on a percentage of my income for the quarter so I don’t get caught short with unexpected expenses." 04. Don't upgrade just for the sake of it Check it'll improve your work before shelling out for all the latest gadgets Jaime Zuverza says newest isn't always best. The Austin-based designer and musician says too often people upgrade gadgets and software just for the sake of it. "You probably don't need the latest greatest programs and technology if you're an illustrator," Zuverza says. "I use a nine-year-old version of Adobe CS and an eight-year-old laptop." If something's working for you, don't feel you have to upgrade just because everybody else is. Make sure there's going to be a real benefit to your work before you get your wallet out – chances are owning the iPhone one model up from yours isn't going to have a huge impact on your career. Is a slightly lighter laptop with a slighter bigger screen going to win you more commissions? That said, don't plough on with tools or software that's holding you back. Do your research into what the most cost-effective solution is for your personal needs. We have a range of buying guides on everything from the best laptops to the best drawing tablets to help you make sure you don't waste your money on features you don't need – and our automatic price-checker means you'll see the best offers around. 05. Be wary of headhunters Justin Gignac is co-founder and CEO of creative talent network Working Not Working. He says one of the best way to be a thrifty freelancer is by not working with headhunters, who will mark up your day rate. "Some headhunters and staffing companies," Gignac says, "charge anywhere from 15-20 per cent commission for placing you in a freelance gig, meaning you’re worth more than you’re charging and should be getting paid more." His solution is simple: if a headhunter brings you a job you desperately want, then take it. But ask them to be honest about their fees so you know your true day rate and can negotiate that price in future. "You don’t have to stress as much about saving when you’re actually getting paid what you deserve." 06. Be mindful of the price-effort balance Pascal Campion points out that the highest-paying jobs don't always mean the best hourly rate The artist Pascal Campion says all freelancers should be thrifty with their time: "Too often freelancers ask for too little and put in way more hours than they need into a job and don't even dare to charge these to the employer." Let's say you've a got a couple of jobs offer: one pays £100, the other £1,000. The higher fee isn't necessarily the better of the two. You need to know how much work, time and effort, will go into each, then you can work out which really pays better. "If more freelancers just ask for what they are really worth – and I am not meaning what they feel they are worth but what rationally they know they are worth – they could relax a little, focus on the job at hand and not have to scramble with 15,000 jobs to pay the rent and buy medication to keep them calm." 07. Only buy what you really, really need Worried about quitting your job to go freelance? Take some advice from Armand Serrano. The Filipino artist and animator recently went freelance after packing in his job… at Disney! Being an independent artist takes discipline, says Serrano. But "buying smart" is a discipline of its own. You need to master it. Before you buy, no matter how discounted those trainers are, no matter how good the reviews are at that new taco place, you need to ask a couple of key questions. "Whether it's for work or personal use, before I make a purchase, I always ask myself: Do I need it? Or do I want it? Always works for me." 08. Get the right insurance Illustrator Emmeline Pidgen recommends getting your professional insurance via a creative organisation For freelancers who need public and products liability insurance (which cover your business against injury you cause to a third party during business activities) or professional indemnity insurance (for claims arising out of an actual or alleged breach of your professional duty), illustrator Emmeline Pidgen recommends UK freelancers join the a-n organisation. A £38 yearly membership includes £5m PPL insurance and £5m PI insurance. "It works out far cheaper than a lot of insurance quotes on their own – plus you get access to a great creative network!" says Pidgen. 09. Reuse your work Sculptor Romain Van den Bogaer has only been freelancing for three years. Saving money isn't his goal just yet – any profit goes straight back into new equipment and software. But he's still got one eye on the future. He always looks ahead at least six months to ensure he has money coming in. That means planning for conventions where he can sell pieces and scheduling workshops where he can teach. But his best tip for being thrifty is about making your work work for you: "I try to create artworks for multiple purposes at one time. A demo piece for an educational workshop can be finished later at my studio and be part of my next resin casts releases, then the original piece can be displayed and sold in a gallery." 10. Don't live in the most expensive cities Thanks to remote working possibilities, you don't need to live in the main creative hubs any more Where you live can make a huge difference to your cost of living, and today, it's possible to have clients from around the world, wherever you're based. Photographer Maciek Nabrdalik used to live in the US. He's now back in his home country Poland, where living costs are considerably cheaper. He has few overheads and tries to work with international clients who generally pay more than domestic ones. If he travels for work, he'll often extend his stay by a few days and get some personal work out of the visit. And, vice versa, if he wants to go somewhere to take pictures, he'll get an assignment that sends him to that particular place so he saves on flight fares, hotels, and expenses. Read more: 6 ways to save money as a freelancer 5 ways to get more freelance work in 2019 10 good reasons for turning down work View the full article

You're reading A Look Back at 2018. Our Plans for 2019., originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! A year in review is a great way to compile everything and appreciate how much we have accomplished in the previous year. In this post, we’ll take a look back at 2018 and share our plans for 2019. View the full article

Many of us now have some kind of voice assistant around the home, whether it be an Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod or a Google Home. It seems that voice is going to have a huge impact on the way we go about our daily lives, and as web developers we need to ask ourselves, what are the ways we can improve user experience by implementing voice into our websites and web applications? In this tutorial, we are going to be building a simple Alexa skill that updates the news content on a website. The category type will depend on the voice input by the user. It would help if you have some experience with AWS already, but there is a lot of documentation out there to help you out if you get in a pickle. 10 steps to an engaging user experience What will I need? First, find the files for this tutorial on GitHub. You will also need to register for an Amazon Developer account and an AWS account. Firebase will be used to store our user input, so make sure you sign up for a Firebase account. We will also be using the News API to get the latest news stories, so get yourself a free API key at newsapi.org. Intents, utterances and slots Here are the utterances we have setup inside the Alexa Developer Console for our skill. Feel free to add more Once you are set up, navigate to developer.amazon.com/alexa/console/ask and click on Create Skill. The first thing we need to do is set up Intents, Utterances and Slot Types inside the Alexa Developer Console. An intent is what the user of the skill is trying to achieve. Utterances are specific phrases that users will say when talking to Alexa, for example: 'What day is it?'. A slot is a variable that relates to an utterance, for example: 'What time is it in {place}?'. This would make {place} the custom slot. Select Intents from the left-hand side of the dashboard and click Add Intent. Make sure Create Custom Intent is selected and type ContentUpdate in the text box: this will now become our function name later on. We now move on to utterances, which is where we are going to need to take the category of the news that the user wants to update to. We will be using category as our slot name and then set up the following utterances: Finally, we need to create a slot type, where we will write out a couple of inputs that we expect to get from the user. From the left-hand side of the dashboard, click Add next to Slot Types. Type in 'NewsType' and click the 'Create custom slot type' button. Under Slot Values, you will need to add in some news categories. We will use Sport, Business, Technology and Politics. Once you are finished, make sure you have selected NewsType from the dropdown as the slot type for category. AWS Lambda function We will now head over to Lambda inside AWS. Select Create Function and then select the Blueprints radio box. Make sure you select the alexa-skill-kit-sdk-factskill from the list and click Configure. Give your function a name and then create a new role. When finished, click Create Function at the bottom of the page. You will need to select Alexa Skills Kit as a trigger for your function, then we can move onto the function itself. We won't be using the built-in code editor for this project; instead we will be writing out the functions locally and then uploading a zip file. Make sure you copy the contents of the index.js file inside the Lambda editor, as we will paste this inside our local project. Create a local project We will start by creating a new Node project locally. Inside our own index.js file, we will paste the contents we just took from Lambda. We need to import Firebase and the Alexa SDK using NPM. Make sure you include the references at the top of your index.js file. You should have some default code already there, one of which is called 'LaunchRequest'. This is used to welcome the user to the skill. All you need to do here is change the welcome message to 'Welcome to website update'. If you use the :tell command then Alexa will end the skill after the message, whereas if you use :ask then Alexa will listen for eight seconds for the next prompt. We will be using :ask, so that Alexa is ready to listen for our update prompt. Firebase configuration Next, we need to add our Firebase configuration details at the top of the index.js file. ContentUpdate function The Alexa simulator is a great way of testing your skill on your machine without needing an Amazon Echo device Earlier in the tutorial, we created an intent called 'ContentUpdate'. This means we need to create a ContentUpdate function, where we will respond to the user input based on the Utterances we created. So, if the user said 'Update to sport', then this function would be called. We begin by creating a variable called categoryType, which takes the voice input of the user. We then store the category type inside the Firebase database and get Alexa to tell us the name of the category we updated to. After you save your index.js file, you will need to zip up the project. Navigate to the project folder from the command line and type the following command. Head back to your function inside Lambda and scroll down to the Function Code section. From the drop-down box for code entry type, select 'Upload a .zip file'. You will now be able to upload your zip file. Before you test your project inside the Alexa simulator, take the ARN on the top right of the Lambda page and input this inside the Endpoint section of the Alexa console. To test your skill, all you need to say is 'Open web update' and Alexa will respond with 'Welcome to web update'. If you now say 'Update to sport', Alexa should say 'you updated to sport'. The word 'sport' should also appear under preference inside your Firebase database. News page Here is what the final HTML page will look like. It will display the category that you requested through Alexa Finally, download the news page I created (index.html) from the Alexa Project – HTML folder on GitHub. Open up the main.js file and enter in your own Firebase configuration details on lines 1-8, like we did earlier in the tutorial. You will also need to enter your News API key from newsapi.org on line 11 of the main.js file. If you now open the index.html file, it should load in some news stories from your chosen category. Every time you tell Alexa to update with a new category (sport, technology, business or politics), the news story category on the page will change. Alexa, onwards! This is only a small example of what you could achieve with Alexa and hopefully gives you a good foundation for any future voice projects. You could always add in more slot values to get more categories from the API or even update the project so that it pulls in your own website news/posts. I can't wait to see how web and app developers will include Alexa in their projects. This article was originally published in issue 313 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 313 here or subscribe here. Related articles: Why voice UIs are the next big thing in web design Voice prototyping added to Adobe XD The ultimate guide to all Amazon devices View the full article