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We're not sure what's going on with the colour (depending on who you ask) black at the moment, but it seems, for some reason, everyone is out to create the blackest black. Just a few weeks ago, we reported BMW's new X6 coupé has been spray-painted with a version of Surrey NanoSystems self-described "blackest black in the world", Vantablack, and now MIT are in on the action too. According to a recent blog post, MIT engineers have now created the blackest black ever recorded. The institute's ultrablack material is capable of absorbing at least 99.995 per cent of light, beating the previous pretender to the throne, Vantablack, which only had a 99.965 per cent absorption rate. Man falls into Anish Kapoor's painted hole installation If you've read our guide to colour theory, you'll know that pigments can trick our perceptions. Artist Diemut Strebe has done just that with his new art exhibit, The Redemption of Vanity, which features a 16.78-carat diamond coated in MIT's dark material. Created in partnership with Brian Wardle, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, and his group, and MIT Center for Art, Science, and Technology, the installation sees the normally brilliant gem disappear against a black background. Take a look at how it seems to vanish in the comparison image above. Our material is 10 times blacker than anything that’s ever been reported Brian Wardle The MIT blog post reveals the new levels of blackness were achieved with the help of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, or CNTs for short. These CNTs are microscopic filaments of carbon, kind of like a tiny forest of fuzzy trees. By growing them on a surface of chlorine-etched aluminium foil, MIT engineers were able to create what the blog post describes as "the blackest material on record." In the blog post Wardle explains: "our material is 10 times blacker than anything that’s ever been reported, but I think the blackest black is a constantly moving target. Someone will find a blacker material, and eventually we'll understand all the underlying mechanisms, and will be able to properly engineer the ultimate black." While this is a great achievement for MIT, it's sure to frustrate Anish Kapoor. The artist holds exclusive usage rights for the extremely black paint, Vantablack, which prompted artists to create their own alternative on Kickstarter. A seemingly never-ending competition, we wonder who'll be the next to come up with the world's blackest black? Related articles: A short lesson on colour theory 12 colours and the emotions they evoke The essential guide to colour correction View the full article

Independent researchers found 125 different CVEs across 13 different router and NAS models. View the full article

The demand for professional portraits and headshots has taken off in recent years and is quickly becoming a growing industry. If you've been looking to explore this niche but weren't sure how to start, you've come to the right place. Thanks to these comprehensive photography courses, you will be able to add new skill sets to your résumé as you learn how to shoot and edit portraits. What's more, each course is now only $9.99 – so pick up the best camera for creatives and start snapping! Take a look at each course below, and see how they can help you master the art of portrait photography. How to Take the Perfect Headshot with Peter Hurley Take the perfect headshot with a little help from the professionals. Seasoned photographer and former model Peter Hurley teaches you how to capture a person’s personality best. He shows you the techniques he uses to shoot, and how to sell those services, helping you land more clients in the process. The course comes complete with unlimited access so that you can come back for tips anytime you need them. Enroll now for $9.99 (65% off $29). Portrait Retouching Basics with Pratik Naik It's no secret that retouching images can be a daunting and exhausting task. Professional photo editor Pratik Naik teaches you how to make the process simple (and enjoyable) with portrait retouching basics. The 90-minute quick start class touches on developing the best photo editing workflow, as well as how to finish edits faster. Whether you are working with RAW files or JPGs, a Mac or a PC, you'll learn how to create high-end portrait edits. Enroll now for $9.99 (65% off $29). Photography Tips for Everybody with Khara Plicanic A one-woman show, expert photographer Khara Pilanic helps professionals improve their workflow woes with the magic of InDesign. Having been in the industry for 14 years, she's well placed to bring you photography tips that will take your snapshots to the next level. Eleven lectures and 1.5 hours of content will teach you how to make small changes that will help push you beyond typical snapshots. With 24/7 access, you can come back to the materials at any time, no matter what type of camera you own. Enroll now for $9.99 (65% off $29). So what are you waiting for? Start offering headshot photography services and open the door to more business opportunities. Take your skills to the next level with these three courses, now only $10. Related articles: The best camera phones in 2019 The best cameras for beginners in 2019 The best memory cards for your camera View the full article

ReversingLabs identified cybercriminals duping certificate authorities by impersonating legitimate entities and then selling the certificates on the black market. View the full article

The build up to the next Jurassic World movie kicked off recently as a brand-new short film related to the franchise dropped on YouTube. Titled Battle at Big Rock, the short film is packed with special effects that stand alongside the best 3D movies. But it also contains a frankly genius piece of logo redesign. Don't worry, Jurassic Park's iconic T Rex skeleton logo, dubbed Logosaurus by fans, hasn't been replaced. However if you look closely, you'll see that it's found its way into the Universal Pictures logo. We've all seen the Universal Pictures logo so often that it's easy to glaze over and take it for granted. You know the score, the logo sees planet Earth slowly turning through space as the word 'Universal' wraps around it. Lovely. If you look closely though, you'll see that Earth's land masses have been changed to resemble that iconic Jurassic Park skull logo. Take a look at it in action by watching Battle at Big Rock, below. According to Battle at Big Rock's YouTube description description: "The short takes place one year after the events of the last Jurassic World film in Big Rock National Park, where dinosaurs are now living in our world. The story follows a family of four whose encounter with these wild animals becomes a terrifying fight for survival." Director Colin Trevorrow took to Twitter to share his thanks following the enthusiastic reaction from fans. And in his tweet, we get to see a clearer version of the modified Universal Pictures logo with the colours boosted. We can see where one Twitter user was coming from when they pointed out that it would've been more consistent to use landmasses from the Jurassic period, but come on, a planet-sized T Rex skeleton looks much cooler. Also, it literally ties into the name of the film: Jurassic World! As far as extra touches go, this is a brilliant bit of design that helps build the hype for Jurassic World III. The film is due to be released on 11 June 2021. Related articles: Jurassic World VFX uncaged Special effects in movies: 10 stunning examples 13 best animated dinosaurs of all time View the full article

Whatever your creative profession, if you want to stay ahead of the game, you need to keep an eye on the competition. And when it comes to branding in 2019 - where great ideas are as important as brilliant execution - that's never been more true. So the latest issue of Computer Arts, issue 297, a Brand Impact Awards special, is a must-buy for anyone working in the creative industries. Because not only does it list the winners of the prestigious annual competition, it goes into real depth about how these world-class projects were conceived, and why they work so well in practice. Get your copy of the new issue! Elsewhere, we explore the art of image generation software – a super-hot trend right now – via an exclusive interview with its best-known proponent, Zach Lieberman (who also designed this month's cover). We've also got a major feature from Emily Gosling on how to harness photography to make your branding better, a fascinating look behind the scenes of creative studio Baxter & Bailey, a look at how Droga5 created a fluid visual identity for The Tide, a new cultural riverside park on the Greenwich Peninsula, and plenty more besides! Save up to 70% on a subscription now! Have a glance at what's inside below, and then grab your copy today. Computer Arts is the world's best-selling design magazine, bursting at the seams with insight, inspiration, interviews and all the best new design projects. For all this delivered direct to your door each month, subscribe to Computer Arts. Subscribe today, and you can save up to 70 per cent off the cover price! Related articles: Logo design: everything you need to know TikTok app: What is it? And why should you care? 11 ways to bag your first design job View the full article

Social media users have discovered a bizarre and racy design detail in the logo for the American basketball team, the Chicago Bulls. When viewed normally, the logo looks like a bull scowling at you. But if you flip it upside down, it's not a huge stretch of the imagination to see, and there's no two ways of saying this, a robot mounting a crab. Or a robot reading a book, whichever your mind prefers. We've already covered what creators should keep in mind while making a logo design, but there's a valuable lesson to be learnt from this alternative Chicago Bulls logo observation. Namely that designers might want to consider a design from all perspectives. Don't believe us that an intimate relationship between a robot and a crab could find its way into the Chicago Bulls logo? Check out this eye-opening comparison recently shared on Twitter by writer Deniz Camp. We should warn you though, you won't be able to unsee it... While people have pointed out in his replies that Camp wasn't the first person to notice the smutty detail, he managed to capture the attention of Twitter by sharing the regular Chicago Bulls logo next to the upside down one. Considering that the Chicago Bulls logo has been in use since 1966, it's amazing that nobody has spotted this detail before. Although to be fair, the logo that's doing the rounds on social media is a single colour version. Usually the Chicago Bulls logo is white and red, which goes some way to disguising the unintentional X-rated design Easter egg. And while we've had a good laugh at this unfortunate design coincidence, the Chicago Bulls isn't the first organisation to make a logo blunder. Our list of fantastic design fails reveals that anyone can slip up when it comes to creating a brand. So the next time you think you've created the best logo ever, step back and take the time to view it from different angles just to make sure an unfortunate image hasn't snuck its way into the design. You'll thank yourself in the long run. Related articles: 6 logo Easter eggs you might have missed Can you spot the hidden symbol in this airline logo? McDonald's McFails with accidentally smutty cups View the full article

What's minimalist website design all about? When it comes to user interface design, the term 'minimalism' still causes a lot of confusion. What is it? How should we use it (if at all) and where does it fall on the spectrum alongside flat design, flat 2.0, material design and other modern-day design systems and visual aesthetics? First, let's take a look at minimalism. Is minimalism flat or flat-ish? It can be. Is minimalism white? It can be. Does minimalism mean less clutter? It can do. Minimalism can look like a lot of things but we often forget about what it aims to achieve – why do we actually need it? Fundamentally, minimalist design advocates clarity mixed with intention; in other words 'no more than what's needed' to shift user focus to the most valuable aspects of the experience, while removing focus on the aspects that may distract users. By that logic, all design should be minimal but only if we're using minimalism correctly. 17 websites that use minimalism beautifully Sure, minimalist design may look nice but it should never be at the expense of clarity – i.e. where a design displays notable minimalist qualities but without conscious thought, displaying beautiful form that lacks any intuitive function or usability. Let's walk through how you can achieve minimalism, step-by-step. 01. Limit choices Limiting choice is one way to reduce cognitive overload, in turn helping the user make decisions more efficiently. However, for usability's sake, we'll need to include a couple of things: Relevant choices Alternative choices Relevant choices Deciding what's relevant to users depends on the context. For example, if we were showing a list of new blog articles, deciding on a few to showcase might depend on whether or not the user is logged in. With the former, we could use artificial intelligence to decipher the user's reading tastes. With the latter, we wouldn't be able to tailor content to a specific user but that doesn't mean that we don't have data at our disposal. We can still list results based on traffic data. However, that's content. When it comes to UI, tracking tools such as Google Analytics help us learn more about our user's behaviour. A/B testing tools like Crazy Egg and Google Optimize can test alternative versions of our layout. Heatmaps can also indicate what users do and don't care about. Or, if you're creating an app or website from scratch, designing information architecture through usability testing would be a better tactic in the absence of data – open and closed card sorting or functional salience testing springs to mind here. So as you can see, there are numerous ways to obtain qualitative and quantitative data and combine them to make informed decisions. Alternative choices Blinkist displays a few items and then a 'see all' button If we're designing our information architecture well, we'll be offering simple ways to access alternative options. For content this could be a 'see all' button but for navigation it could be a hamburger menu (yep, the hamburger menu isn't so bad!). Even though less is more when it comes to minimalism, that doesn't mean we need to limit our overall offering, only our upfront offering. Minimal clutter = maximum impact! Interesting fact: when it came to product presentations (i.e. content), Steve Jobs famously swore by the rule of three. Generate CSS (26 Sept) is a London conference dedicated to all things CSS – ! Use the code WEBDESIGNER2 for 10% off tickets 02. Strip visual clutter This flat tap target is so stripped it completely lacks clarity Speaking of clutter, visual clutter refers to cosmetic styles that only add emotional value – i.e. they look cool but they don't offer much else. Now I do love things that look nice (don't all designers?) and emotional design is extremely important, especially in consumer-based industries, but there's a reason why it's called the surface layer – it's applied last. It's so easy to run with the wind when it comes to the surface layer – some call it over-designing. If something just doesn't feel right to you, Coco Chanel once said: “When accessorising, always take off the last thing you put on”. But if you really want to take a more sensible data-driven approach, there's a really neat trick I like to use that involves screen sharing. While sharing your screen, acquire a few users and have them decide which styles to toggle on and off. Carry on until the user is satisfied with both the visual appeal and usability. In terms of tap targets specifically (buttons, links, input fields and so on), visual affordance testing can reveal which elements appear to be clickable and which don't. You may find that the former technique is more useful though because it will also reveal solutions (i.e. which styles to remove in order to reduce visual clutter). 03. Optimise visual hierarchy Here the user learns what to do without reading the long text So we've minimised our upfront offering and optimised it visually in order to reduce cognitive overload but could we take this a step further? Absolutely but we also need to remember that users are lazy – before users read, they scan. This means where users are briefly scanning our UI and content holistically, even the tiniest visual distraction can draw users away from what's really important, making minimisation ever more important when it comes to scannability. But that aside, the elements that are left after minimisation should complement each other well. Less is only more if we make it speak volumes. Content and headings Since users precap content by scanning its headings, these headings should be extremely informative, not only hinting at what its accompanying paragraphs will elaborate on but be good enough that if users only read the headings, they would still walk away satisfied – this is still true even if it costs us in terms of SEO value. After all, what use is acquisition if we can't offer a decent reading experience once the user has arrived? Headings should also benefit from a clear typographical hierarchy, aiding users in their effort to understand how individual snippets of content form a body of information. UI and colour A similar concept applies to UI and colour. Colour can not only help with contrasting but also help to infer meaning, so when users come across these tap targets, they automatically understand what it is they do or where it is they will lead to. Getting the headings and colours right might not have anything to do with minimalism directly but it ensures that the elements we aren't willing to minimise are as effective as they can possibly be. Otherwise, we run the risk of over-designing in order to compensate. 04. Make more mean less 'Put everything on one screen. It's simpler, right?' In theory this sounds like a top-notch idea but it's not a solution that works in every case. Some designs are more complex than others and, besides, simple for who? You need to be mindful of confusing simpler implementation (making things easier for developers) and simpler UX (making things easier for the users). Consider breaking down UI-heavy components into smaller user flows. While technically this does result in more, it creates the illusion of less. Typically this means breaking up long forms into logical steps but it could also mean breaking up lengthy articles with images. Overall, minimalism is a tricky subject. Sometimes we mean it as a visual aesthetic (flat UIs, white backgrounds, etc.), other times we consider it merely a concept or even a lifestyle. In terms of user interface design, the best way to think of it is to consider the impact on cognitive load that each element has. When designing to reduce cognitive load, ask yourself these questions for every style, user flow, interaction, and feature: Is it needed? Is it over-shadowing elements that are more important? Is it being over-shadowed by elements that are not more important? It comes down to visual hierarchy – eliminating clutter and using design to indicate importance. Sometimes that means moving things out of sight if it helps the user focus on what's really important. This article was originally published in issue 321 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 321 here or subscribe here. Related articles: 8 minimal UI designs and why they work Build a Material Design app with Angular 2 14 easy ways to make your website more accessible View the full article

If you're in the market for a versatile laptop with plenty of power, but can't wait until Black Friday 2019, then we have news of a hot deal from Dell that ought to do the trick. From Monday 16 September through to 18 September, Dell is having a 72-hour sale on its high-end ultrabook, the new XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop, which will save you a cool £500 on the usual price, making it one of the best Dell XPS deals we've seen of late. The model in question is a must-have for designers keen on having the freedom to work wherever they like. It's equipped with a 10th Generation Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor, 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD, so you can be sure it can come with most design tasks you care to throw at it. This Dell XPS 2-in-1 is a powerful and versatile beast It also features a 13.4-inch 4K HDR touch display for the ultimate in clarity, and it weighs in at just 1.33kg – not much more than the latest MacBook Air – so it's ready to go with you anywhere. We're already big fans of the Dell XPS range for their unbeatable combination of powerful specifications, beautiful displays and rock-solid build, and this model's no exception. Normally it would set you back £1,899, but for 72 hours only you can get one for just £1,399. Getting your hands on this sweet deal couldn't be easier; simply follow this link (it goes live at 00.01am on Monday 16 September), and use the code MEGA500 at the checkout to see £500 knocked off the price. Don't hang around, though, this is a limited-time deal that'll end at midnight on Wednesday. Related articles: The best Dell laptops in 2019 The best 2-in-1 laptops for designers in 2019 The best laptop deals in 2019 View the full article

We're giving away five pairs of tickets to Generate CSS, a brand new CSS-focused event for web designers and developers, brought to you by Creative Bloq, net magazine and Web Designer. The lucky winners will be chosen at random and announced on Thursday 19th September. To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets simply fill out this entry form. The deadline for entries is 5pm BST on Wednesday 19 September 2019. Good luck! About Generate CSS Venue: Rich Mix, Shoreditch, London Date: Thursday 26 September 2019 Generate CSS is brought to you by leading design magazines net and Web Designer, and Creative Bloq. Our new conference takes place at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, London. You’ll be able to catch great sessions on everything CSS, whether that’s soon-to-be-released specs, cutting-edge techniques for crafting revolutionary layouts or ways to create smooth UI animations. Not only that, but you’ll also get to hang out with fellow web designers and developers, hobnob with CSS experts, check out the latest tech and get stuck into some light-hearted breakout activities. And even once the conference is over, there’s still plenty of fun on offer: you’re all invited to join us for a drink at the Generate after party. So whether you’re an experienced dev looking to sharpen your skills or a fresh-faced designer eager to learn how to start styling up sites, there's plenty to master. Here are some of our excellent speakers, from Google, Clearleft and more! If you would like to book tickets to Generate CSS, head to the Generate website, and for a 10% discount use offer code: WEBDESIGNER2. Read more: 10 best CSS frameworks Cool CSS animations for recreate 22 best UI design tools View the full article

monday.com is a multi-functional planning platform dedicated to streamlining workflows and improving productivity within companies. Since it first launched in 2014 (under a different name), the platform has gone from strength to strength, and there's more exciting news recently announced. The company's latest round of equity funding raised $150 million and saw the company valued at $1.9 billion – nearly four times what it was judged to be worth at its previous round of funding a year ago. It's a clear testament to monday.com's success so far, and an exciting sign of what's still to come. With plenty of long-term plans for the platform, and now the cash to channel into making them a reality, the future is looking bright for Monday.com. Find out more, or try monday.com for yourself The platform can be adapted to any business structure or workflow [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] What makes monday.com stand out from competitors is its dedication to flexibility – this is a tool that aims to adapt to the needs of any user, business or workflow. Its website presents enthusiastic case studies from everyone from financial leads to creative project managers. And with major companies including Wix, Philips and Carlsberg already amongst its fans, it's certainly doing something right. This latest round of funding is going to be channeled into making the platform's team communication and management tools even better. monday.com feature focus Whether you're a studio manager or simply interested in how this tool might help boost efficiency within your immediate team, monday.com is worth exploring. Let's take a look at how the platform works. The tool centres around flexible and customisable project boards. The owner kicks off a project by building a design board that includes all the specific columns they need. When the project kicks off, the board is populated with design requests, and team members create their personal backlog to work through. Stay on top of progress by dragging-and-dropping different tasks to the appropriate group, assigning requests to different team members, and using the different views to keep track of what's going on. Flexible boards ensure everyone can track a project's progress [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] The ability to add automations is just one of the handy features to make things even more efficient. For example, you might want to automatically notify the colleague who requested a task when you've completed it. monday.com knows different teams have different needs, so you don't need to worry about shoehorning your process into a specific format. Project boards are highly flexible to suit the needs of the project. Individual team members can customise their own workflow by creating specific groups tailor-made for their process. If you are struggling with anything within the tool, you can rest assured – there's 24/7 email and phone support, with a 10-minute response time (much better than industry standard). Want to find out more, or try it for yourself? Visit the monday.com website now. View the full article

Anyone who’s kept an eye on logo design in 2019 knows the score. When it comes to redesigning a major brand’s logo, the standard route is to take the existing design and simplify it in as many ways as you can. If it features multiple colours, reduce that to just one. If it has ornate, expressive or cartoony typography, change that to a more streamlined font. If it has graphic elements, remove them, or at least make them look more geometric and app icon-like. If there are serifs, swap them out for sans-serifs. You get the idea. In short, if you end up with something that looks like all the other logos around right now, then you’re going in the right direction. This most pervasive of all the logo trends of 2019 can be seen in the redesigns of Volkswagen, Android, Sydney Film Festival, Toyota, Scotiabank, City of Vienna, Bristol CIty FC, Staples, Airarabia, All4, and many more. But it has not been entirely dominant. Some brands have decided to buck the groupthink, and dare to go in a different direction. Here we bring you 10 new logos from 2019 that stood out from the crowd, in a number of striking ways. 01. Western Sydney Airport The work of Australian design agency Traffic, the new logo for Western Sydney Airport is a world away from the clean but unexciting wordmark of its predecessor (click the right arrow above to see the previous design). Stacking the text and adding a bold new graphic element, crafted from a disjointed combination of triangles and an eye-catching gradient, this new logo has certainly divided opinion. You can learn more about the thinking behind it here. 02. Wind Mobility WInd (full name: Wind Mobility) is a Berlin-based startup that offers dockless e-scooter and electric bicycle rentals, and its latest logo was designed by London studio Ragged Edge. The new design is a bold approach that calls to mind superhero comic typography. And overall there's a clear sense of dynamism and speed to it, particularly seen in the off-key serifs on the 'W' and 'N', which befits the brand nicely. Check out the full identity and learn more about the thinking behind it here. 03. Sheffield Theatres Here's another logo design that takes inspiration from headline-style typography. Sheffield Theatres is a group of three theatres in Sheffield, England, namely The Crucible, The Lyceum and the Studio. And its new logo, created by local agency Cafeteria, is brimming with confidence and assertiveness. With its bold typography, vivid colour, and inspired use of an exclamation mark (which nicely flips on itself in the animated version), this logo design may be clean and simple, but it's certainly not bland. 04. Access Based in Teesside, UK, since 1976, Access is a leading company manufacturing startlifts for home use worldwide. It's not an industrial sector you'd normally connect with a sense of youthful dynamism. But this new identity, designed by Middlesbrough studio Better, takes an unusual approach that manages to tick a lot of boxes. Stacking the letters vertically is an obvious reference to the product in question, while the custom lettering, created in-house, reflects the innovative nature of the company's engineering. The negative space down the middle, meanwhile, recalls the crisp stencil-like silhouettes of industrial manufacturing. See the full identity and learn more about the thinking behind it here. 05. Teach First Teach First is a social enterprise registered as a charity, which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Its previous wordmark was pretty standard, but London studio Johnson Banks recently gave it a dramatic makeover. Centre-stage is the attention-grabbing T/F monogram, with its clever use of triangles and negative space, while the wordmark is now stacked, and cast in a spiky new serif. See the full identity and learn more about its creation here. 06. Desigual Desigual is a global clothing brand, headquartered in Ibiza, Spain, that's known for its use of graffiti art, asymmetry and flamboyant splashes of colour. This June it excitedly announced that it was "becoming the first brand in the world to permanently reverse its logo". What was the point of that, you might ask? According to a press release, this in-house redesign was "a tribute to the rebellious, disruptive and fresh spirit that inspired filmmaker Isabel Coixet to give us the name Desigual in 1984 because we were 'not doing the same' thing as everyone else." You can read more about the controversy surrounding this redesign in our article, Is Desigual’s new backwards logo a step forwards? . 07. M Capital M Capital is a private equity firm in France; the kind of enterprise you'd expect would favour a staid, formal and strictly corporate logo. So it raised a few eyebrows when they released this new design, crafted by Parisian studio Brand Brothers. These jagged, angular and disjointed letterforms are a world away from those in the previous logo, which evoked precisely zero personality. You can learn more about the new identity and how it was created here. 08. OBV Formed in 2014 from the merger of Flanders' opera house and main ballet company, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (OBV) is the largest cultural institution in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. This new logo, designed by London-based Pentagram partner Marina Willer, uses distorted type to turn the institution's capital letters into an instantly recognisable icon. Like it or loathe it, it certainly conveys the contemporary feel the client was aiming for, and avoids any hint of cliche. Check out the full identity here. 09. Zoo de Granby Zoo de Granby is a Quebec institution: a non-profit zoo that's also home to an amusement park and a water park. In a world of boring, samey logos, its bright new wordmark is a real breath of fresh air. Designed by Montreal studio lg2, there's a real sense of fun to its playful typography, well befitting a space devoted to amusing children and families. Learn more about the thinking behind it here. 10. Vrbo Our final example of a bland and uninspired logo being transformed into something more enticing comes from Vrbo, the most popular vacation rental site in the US. With every website logo looking very similar these days, this redesign by Texas studio FODA goes in a very different direction. It's inspired, apparently, by stripes; namely those in "the clothing we wear on vacation, from board shorts to ski clothes to the classic French breton" and "in the destinations we visit, from umbrellas on the beach to log cabins in the mountains". Visually the result is spectacular and eye-catching, although we wonder how well it reduces down on small screens. You can learn more about the redesign here. 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Sites that use the Gutenberg (found in WordPress 5.0 to 5.2.2) are open to complete takeover. View the full article

If you're a new graduate looking for a job, or even a seasoned designer looking for a new challenge, having an amazing design portfolio is essential. However, employers are also looking for a personality that will slot in and work well with the team dynamic. We asked leading creatives at top design studios – the people who you might aim to be hired by, if you're good – to share what they look for in potential candidates. After more careers advice? Explore our guide to bagging your first design job or our tips on becoming a junior designer. And of course, don't forget to check out our jobs board for all the best new openings. 01. High energy “Energy and enthusiasm is important,” says Tim Beard, a partner at London creative consultancy Bibliothèque. “Execution skills are always great to have, but other talents come first. We always want to see something that challenges us, or pushes us in a new direction. We don’t want to see guidelines and exclusion zones.” 02. Chemistry “We look at who juniors are, as much as their work,” says Aporva Baxi, co-founder and executive creative director of London branding agency DixonBaxi. “We look for passion, energy and a positive attitude; a drive to want to learn, and work hard, to develop their craft. We’re interested in their influences, and what they care about from a design point of view. It reveals a lot about who they are and how they might fit into our team. Chemistry is a big thing.” 03. Originality “In a portfolio, we look for flair, originality and a distinct point of view,” adds Baxi. “With the tools designers have today, it’s almost too easy to make things look good on the surface. But it’s much harder to express a simple idea and develop a design or brand with a narrative that feels unique and surprising.” 04. Team player “We generally know by about lunchtime on an intern’s first day if they’re any good,” says Alan Dye, before going on to qualify that statement: “They have talent, they’re a people person and they get on well with the team. Believe me, if you want to get on at NB, then you need to be bloody friendly, a great team player and be very, very talented.” 05. Wow factor “With graduates, and with all creative recruitment really, we’re just looking for great ideas that are well executed,” says Ben Brears. “It sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. We just want to be wowed.” This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 294 or subscribe. Read more: 31 books every graphic designer should read 4 things you should NEVER do in a design studio 10 graphic design memes designers will love View the full article

There's nothing like a hot new logo design to get our hearts racing, and all the more so when it's a big name like Lucasfilm, the now Disney-owned production company behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. Well, that's not quite the case here. The new logo design in question actually belongs to Lucasfilm Animation, best known for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon that ran from 2008 to 2015, and which has been revived for a final season next year on the Disney+ streaming platform. 10 iconic logos with hidden meanings The new logo, complete with dark helmet The previous Lucasfilm Animation logo wasn't much to write home about, featuring a serif wordmark and an abstract yellow walking figure similar to the one from the LucasArts (the video games wing of the Lucas empire) logo. We're pleased to note that the new logo has ditched the yellow figure, but we're surprised by just how similar it is to the older version; the wordmark looks almost identical. The big difference, of course, plays on Lucasfilm Animation's biggest success: The Clone Wars. And it does this by replacing the 'O' in 'Animation' with a stylised helmet that'll look instantly familiar to everyone who's seen a Star Wars, ever. It's a peculiar choice. That helmet doesn't look especially O-shaped; in fact we think it looks more like an A than an O. We reckon it would have looked better if the helmet had been put in place of the second 'A' in 'Animation', as it would look slightly less incongruous and also positioned in the centre of the logo rather than off to one side. But hey, we're sure that the Lucasfilm designers know best. The old logo; spot the near-identical typography The new Lucasfilm Animation logo has yet to be officially unveiled; the news about it comes courtesy of Blast, which found the details in a Disney trademark filing from 5 September. The filing describes the logo as, "a stylized word LUCASFILM above the stylized word ANIMATION, with the O of ANIMATION depicting a helmet", and it's accompanied by the image shown above. What isn't clear, though, is whether the image is the finished version of the logo, or a reference image included for reference purposes. Given the typographic similarity between the new and old logos, we're inclined to believe that this isn't actually the final logo, and that when Lucasfilm Animation reveals the finished version it'll look a little more inspiring than this version. Related articles: Understand Disney's 12 principles of animation 8 iconic American logos that changed branding forever 5 brands that hit nostalgia hard View the full article

To call modern move posters a bit of a mixed bag would be putting it kindly. For every magnificently psychedelic Wonder Woman masterpiece, there are 20 Spider-Man Photoshop aberrations. And while movie poster design is often crippled by the forces of Hollywood, so to do many could-be-great movies bite the dust before they can make it to the big screen. Designer Fernando Reza, aka Fro, has created a range of posters for movies that never made it past pre-production, but which we'd definitely like to see if these magnificent designs are anything to go by. The range includes unrealised work from Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro and Tim Burton. Scroll down to take a look at our favourites, and get ready to mourn for the masterpieces that never made it. Movie fans might also want to check out our guide to graphic design in film. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the posters Alfred Hitchcock's Kaleidoscope was planned as a sequel to the director's earlier film Shadow of a Doubt, and be told from the perspective of the existing film's 'Merry Widow Murderer'. Hitchcock went as far as to photograph and film silent test footage, but the project was deemed too violent and sexually explicit to go ahead. Reza's vibrant poster features the main character (a bodybuilder) and twists the movie's proposed set pieces into a psychedelic world that plays on the film's title. The Vega Brothers, also known as Double V Vega, was first planned as a followup to Pulp Fiction, and would extend the stories of Vic and Vincent Vega. The movie remained a potential option for some time, but it seems to increasingly unlikely that it'll ever make it to the big screen (and if it does, Tarantino will need to find a way to explain its now considerably older stars). We'll have to console ourselves with this poster, which oozes the same laid back, cool vibe as the brothers themselves. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the poster Tim Burton's Superman Lives is one of the most infamous movies that never was, but we're sold if this poster is anything to go by. Mechanical spiders! Polar bears! A flaming skull! Nicolas Cage! What's not to like? Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the posters At The Mountains of Madness would have seen Guillermo Del Toro tackling H.P. Lovecraft's iconic sci-fi horror novella. The story follows an expedition to Antarctica and the discovery of an alien race of creatures. Tom Cruise was to be the hero, James Cameron was lined up as producer, and we're pretty confident it would have been epic. This poster does a great job of weaving an unsettling feeling into the bleak Arctic landscape. Another could-have-been sci-fi masterpiece is Clair Noto’s The Tourist. In the plot, modern-day Manhattan is the front for a secret alien world. Sound familiar? This movie has influenced a host of other films, from Blade Runner to Men in Black. The poster might be our favourite of the bunch, overlaying an other-worldly, fiery figure against the city skyline. Read more: From 2017: Are movie posters in a design crisis? How iconic fantasy film posters were made 8 appalling CGI fails in modern movies View the full article

An advert for the British Library has caused upset on Twitter, and it's all to do with a comma, or lack of. The billboard advert was created by Tom Sharp of The Poetry Of It All. We think it's an extremely clever piece of copyrighting and deserves to be up there with our favourite pieces of billboard advertising. Although there was a lot of love for the campaign on social media, the middle section of the ad enraged some. It reads: "The whole wealth of human knowledge, endeavour and experience to date." Some people think this sentence requires an Oxford comma, which is used to separate the penultimate item in a list of three or more things. So they think the ad should read: "The whole wealth of human knowledge, endeavour, and experience to date." Those people are 100 per cent wrong in our eyes, but we'll highlight their opinions below, so you can agree with us. Of course, if you are American – where the Oxford comma is more prevalent – you probably won't agree with us. You might even think that "endeavour" is misspelled. The Daily Mail has reported this small number of tweets about the Oxford comma as "social media meltdown". And while we wouldn't like to say how many tweets constitute meltdown, we asked Sharp to comment on the Oxford comma situation. He said: "The advert doesn’t have an Oxford comma because the advert doesn’t need an Oxford comma. "Over 30,000 likes on social media versus a handful of tweets about a bit of punctuation isn’t really a ‘meltdown’, but hey," he continues. "The majority of commentators on the Daily Mail article share my point of view. So that’s a first." Sharp's work for the British Library also includes this rather lovely piece on how whatever you do in a library is research. If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this post, we suggest you go straight to the British Library to do some research on the rules of English punctuation. The differences between American and British English might be a good place to start. Read more: 8 brands that rule at social media Has Diet Coke lost the plot? The best print adverts ever View the full article

Graphic design is a discipline in flux. Technology influences aesthetics and aesthetics impact on form. Ultimately, ideas of all kinds – commercial, philosophical or functional – have determined the practice and styles of graphic design. In this article, we've focused on three of the main ideas to have shaped graphic design as it stands today. For those of you wanting to read more about graphic design, here's our roundup of the best graphic design books around right now. 01. Motion Motion is the most rapidly growing method. A new discipline has emerged at the crossroads of film, video, animation and film title sequences, which borrows from all these. Motion graphics may be as important as typography. Singing and dancing visuals are to graphic design what the talkies were to silent films. Kyle Cooper's title sequence for Seven (seen above) is one of the most prolific examples of modern motion graphics. 02. Audio Saul Bass elevated the movie title sequence with his work for Alfred Hitchcock The addition of audio, more than that of movement, propels graphic design into this dimension. The earliest experiments with what was once called ‘eye-music’, coincided with the sound cinema in the mid-1920s. Motion graphics came into their own in the 1960s with movie title sequences by Saul Bass. He created for Alfred Hitchcock a series of semi-abstract film titles and expressionistic graphic style was in perfect sync with the repetitive motifs of composer Bernard Herrmann’s scores. Today, more hybrid animated graphic styles are emerging. All forms of design signal timeliness. In this sense the second of the key ideas, “forced obsolescence”, is essential to signalling a contemporary veneer. In the 1920s it was called “style engineering”: to increase consumer interest by making products more stylish. The advertising artist and industrial design pioneer Raymond Loewy referred to this notion as MAYA (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable). The MAYA principle promoted colours and shapes that transmitted the idea of “new and improved”, but was a safety net to prevent a shock of the new. For most US designers, modernism was a bag of tricks the artist could use to make new even newer, including futuristic “decoration” accented by contemporary typefaces with enticing names such as Cubist Bold and Novel Gothic. Forced obsolescence was a costume that artificially stimulated growth. 03. Colour Josef Albers' Interaction of Colour work helped launch the psychedelic trend The third idea is vibrating colour. During mid-1960s the psychedelic style began with the Bauhausler artist Josef Albers. Through his Interaction of Colour work he helped to launch the trend that would typify the psychedelic poster and tie-dye graphic concepts. Victor Moscoso, who studied under Albers at Yale and was one of vibrating colour’s founding fathers, claimed that he likened Albers’ famous Color-aid paper exercises to the futility of learning algebra in high school. Psychedelics trashed and restated the rules. ‘Don’t use vibrating colours’, for example, became ‘use them whenever to excess’. The tenet that ‘lettering should always be legible’ became ‘disguise the lettering, make it difficult to read’. One significant element of Albers’ theory was the relativity of colour: that colour changes in direct relation to its surroundings. Colour produced deceptive and unpredictable effects, with multiple readings of the same hue possible depending on what colours surround it. Vibrating colour was an affront to the senses, forcing the viewer into a kinetic, dynamic relationship with the two-dimensional picture surface. Vibrating colour is now one of the many tools in the colourist’s kit. Learn more about colour theory here. These are three of the 100 ideas that changed graphic design. Doubtless there will be more changes in the future. Plus ça change! Steven Heller has authored a wide range of graphic design publications, find out more here. This article was originally published in issue 294 of Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 294 or subscribe here. Read more: The best laptops for graphic design Amazing new graphic design tutorials The best free online graphic design courses View the full article

Welcome to Creative Bloq's guide to the best smartphone lenses around. A phone has now become the only camera in many people’s pockets, but that’s not to say it’s all the camera you could want. Until fairly recently, most phones only had a single rear-facing camera, usually with a wide-angle lens. If you wanted to shoot more distant subjects, your only option (short of relying on image-degrading digital zoom) was to get your skates on and physically move until the subject was distant no more. But there is an easier solution: the add-on smartphone lens. There’s no shortage of these cute little lenses that can attach to your phone, converting the typical wide-angle view to a variety of focal lengths. Choose from lenses that’ll let you see even wider – to the degree of a bulging, wraparound fisheye perspective – through to mini telescopes that offer in excess of 20x zoom. Unlike lenses for conventional cameras, these miniature marvels tend to be surprisingly cheap, and most simply clip to your phone. Some more advanced smartphone lenses may instead attach via a custom phone case, giving a more secure fit and ensuring the lens consistently lines up with your phone’s camera. Pair it with one of the best smartphone tripods, and you've got yourself a great bit of photography kit. Of course with most flagship phones now sporting at least two rear-facing cameras, it may seem like the days of the add-on lens are numbered (take a look at our guide to the best camera phones for a taste of what you can pack into a handset these days). But more niche optics like fisheye, telephoto zoom and video-orientated lenses can still produce effects that can’t yet be matched by built-in camera phone hardware. 6 expert smartphone photography tips One word of caution, however. Adding an extra lens in front of your phone’s camera will inevitably have a detrimental impact on image quality. A premium lens will minimise any unwanted softness or distortion, but an el-cheapo kit containing a dozen lenses all for the price of a KFC Mega Bucket will almost certainly give questionable quality. These lenses can still be fun to use though, especially if you dig the low-fi grungy look. Read on for our pick of the best smartphone lenses around at the moment, or check out out guide to the best photo apps to take your snaps one step further. The big advantage with the AllClip system is its universal adjustable design. This enables it to be used on any smartphone with a width between 58 and 80mm, including all iPhones from the 4 through to the XS Max. The trick is a spring-loaded sliding clamp that fits the clip to differing phone sizes, and the lens mount can also move to position the lens perfectly in front of your phone’s camera, whether it be the front or rear-facing snapper. While you can get the clip separately and fit one of BitPlay’s many compatible lenses, this particular kit pairs the AllClip with Bitplay’s Premium HD Wide Angle lens. With it’s quality aluminium lens barrel and glass that includes an aspheric element, it feels solid and image quality lives up to the HD claim. The lens also noticeably increases the field of view of a typical rear-facing phone camera, giving a much wider perspective. This triple-lens set from long-established smartphone lens manufacturer Olloclip contains a fisheye lens that gives a huge, spherical 180-degree field of view, albeit with typical bulging distortion. You can minimize the latter by switching to the Super-Wide lens. It’ll increase your camera’s field of view to an expansive 120-degrees – significantly wider than the iPhone XS’s bare wide-angle camera. You still get some distortion, but it’s only noticeable when shooting geometric subjects. The last lens in the trio is a macro lens that magnifies a close-up scene by 15x, revealing microscopic details almost invisible to the naked eye. The trick works best at the centre of the image frame, with the periphery being slightly blurred, though this can help distinguish your main point of interest. The interchangeable lenses attach to Olloclip’s Connect X clip which simply slides over the top of your phone and enables the lenses to work with both the rear and front-facing cameras. When the time comes to expand your photographic horizons, other Connect X-compatible lenses including telephoto optics are available and clip straight into the holder in this kit. The lenses can also be used with many Android phones if you attach them via Olloclip’s Multi-Device Clip (sold separately). Moment lenses have a strong reputation for quality, and it’s easy to see why. This macro lens is made from aircraft-grade aluminium surrounding hand-polished glass. There’s even a diffuser hood attachment included that helps soften the light surrounding your subject, and its 1-inch length serves as a guide for how close you can get while maintaining focus. It all adds up to stunning close-ups that you simply can’t get with a standard phone camera, though as with any macro lens, depth of field is tight, so you’ll need a steady hand and accurate focussing to get a sharp shot. The only possible drawback is, unlike many add-on lenses that attach to your phone using a clip system, this lens can only be attached via one of Moment’s M-Series phone cases. These are also top quality though, and they enable fitment of Moment’s other top-notch M-Series lenses. Different cases are available to fit most iPhones, as well as recent high-end Galaxy and OnePlus models. Confusingly, this smartphone lens and accessory bundle is called a 4-in-1 kit in the UK and a 9-in-1 kit Stateside. It’s the same deal though, with four separate lenses, along with extras including an eye cup, carry case, cleaning cloth, micro tripod and a basic phone holder, plus the all-important clamp to attach the lenses to your phone. These include a macro, wide-angle, fisheye, and the most interesting of the quartet: a telephoto lens, giving an advertised 20x magnification. That’s enough to zoom in far closer than with the 2x telephoto camera on an iPhone XS, though inevitably for such a cheap lens with plastic internals, corner sharpness is poor. You’ll also need a super-steady hand, as even if your phone’s camera has optical image stabilization, it won’t have been designed to work with a lens this long. But, if you’re after fun and versatility over outright image quality, this kit is well worth the money. So you’d like to create cinematic video footage on your phone? One of the easiest ways to get more immersive content is to shoot in an ultra-widescreen 21:9 aspect ratio (also referred to as 2.35:1, or CinemaScope), rather than your phone’s native 16:9 format. This add-on lens does exactly that, but it doesn’t just cut off the top and bottom of your footage and call it quits. No, this is an anamorphic lens, so it optically compresses the camera’s perspective along the horizontal axis. Once the footage is re-stretched out to 21:9 using editing software (Filmic Pro, Premiere Pro), you get distortion-free video that Spielberg would be proud of (luck, and talent, may also be required). An added bonus of the anamorphic process is horizontal lens flare, adding to the Hollywood look. The lens itself is built to a high standard, with an aluminium barrel and German Shott glass that maintains good image sharpness. The included metal clip maintains compatibility with all recent iPhones, Galaxy S-series models, and many other phones. Read more: The best camera for creatives in 2019 Lightroom vs Photoshop: What's the difference? The 10 most Instagrammable places in the world View the full article

Not only do female employees make significantly less money than their male counterparts, but they are also subject to a ‘pink tax’ on consumer goods. You read that right, female consumers are given less money and then made to pay more. Shaving startup Billie has launched an unexpected marketing campaign that aims to bring extra attention to the issue. Enter blue wine. The packaging design is nothing to write home about and the drink itself is in a hue more akin to mouthwash than wine (but that's also reminiscent of WKD – a saving grace?), but Château de Blué does make an important statement. It's priced 13 per cent lower than the average bottle of rosé, to represent the difference in the price of a standard razor marketed at women (Billie's own razor subscriptions are actively in line with the male versions). Billie founder, Georgina Gooley explains how her company wants to counteract these issues: "We wanted a simple, playful way of showing what the Pink Tax is. Not enough women know that they're overpaying for products marketed to them." She says that Billie wants to "raise awareness around this ridiculous pricing discrimination and encourage women to purchase from companies that are fair to them." We were concerned that this campaign strategy would come across as a little stomach-churning, but Bille has nailed the tone with lighthearted wit. Taglines describing the wine as a 'robust, full-bodied feast for the senses – including the sense of fairness' and 'contains notes of crushed blueberries, oak, and just a hint of gender bias' make the point with a sense of humour. People are loving the strategy on Twitter, with April S' thumbs up showing the campaign will definitely be good for business as well as making a great point about equality: Bille created the wine with KDM Global Partners, a creator of private-label wine based in California – an apt choice of location given California was the first state to ban gendered pricing back in 1995. And given the wine sold out in just eight hours, the message certainly seems to have hit the right note. Read more: Traffic-stopping examples of billboard advertising Are trends any good for branding? 8 brands that rule at social media View the full article

Earlier this week Apple launched three new iPhones at its highly anticipated event in California. They might be the best camera phones we've seen, but we'd like to draw your attention to another device for a moment. The announcement attracting a lot fewer headlines is the new Apple Watch. It may not have three cameras in the shape of a fidget spinner, but the Apple Watch 5 packs some standout new features. First and foremost, this new model will tell the time, all the time. Don't underestimate the significance of this. Until now, due to battery life issues, Apple Watch screens would automatically shut off when they thought you weren't looking at them. If you managed to catch your device unawares, you had to jiggle your wrist around to get the screen to light up. Not ideal. There's a new titanium finish for that always-on screen The Apple Watch 5 includes new display technology that means the screen will remain on all the time. There are some clever power-saving touches that make this possible, including automatic adjustment of frame rate depending on what's being shown on screen, dynamic screen brightness, and subtle differences to what's shown when the device is in power-saving mode (for example the animated second hand vanishes when you're not looking at the watch). Second, there are two new finishes to choose from, which is good news for anyone who wants a smartwatch that fits with the rest of their wardrobe and doesn't stand out like the chunk of tech that it is. Apple has been doing well with this for a while now, but we especially like the new titanium and ceramic options now on offer. Apple is also updating watchOS with a selection of cool new smartwatch features. Many of these are focused on health and fitness applications – a big draw for a lot of smartwatch owners. There's an Noise app that monitors ambient sound levels and flags up if you're somewhere that might damage your hearing, and new Cycle Tracking feature that is not (as we originally assumed) for recording bike rides, but for monitoring your menstrual cycle. There's also a compass. The only disappointment is the continuing absence of sleep-tracking capabilities. Prices for the Apple Watch Series 5 start at $399 for the 40mm GPS model, and $499 for the LTE version. It goes on sale on 20 Sept, but preorders are open now. Not sure you need an always-on face? There are some bargains to be had on older models right now. Take a look at the best deals on the Series 4 and 3 below. Read more: The 100 greatest Apple creations The best MacBook Pro alternatives for designers 20 best iPad Pro apps for use with Apple Pencil View the full article

You're reading Send an Efficient Black Friday or Cyber Monday Email Newsletter, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook! Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) is one of the biggest events of the year. Everybody is looking forward to it. While offline retailers and online entrepreneurs see it as an excellent opportunity to maximize revenue and get rid of … View the full article

The origins of pin-up art can be traced back to the late 19th century, but it became more widespread in the 1940s and 1950s, often appearing on posters and calendars. Defining characteristics of the artistic style include a cheerful face, a mix of humour and sex appeal, but without crossing the line into becoming provocative. The final pin-up art we're working towards Over the years, there have been changes in character portrayal, not only in relation to style of hair and clothing, but also in how the artist has rendered pin-up art to appeal to audiences of the time. Yet modern-day pin-up art often includes many retro references. If you want to improve your drawing skills before you get going on pin-up art, check out our how to draw post that collates the best drawing tutorials out there. Otherwise, read on to discover how to create your own pin-up art. 01. Create the initial concept Draft your early ideas It’s a good idea to get down a few early drafts, either on paper or digitally – whatever suits your creative approach. This will help you choose a design to take forward. For this workshop, the theme is a pin-up girl, so I want the character to channel the two distinct features for this type of artwork, which is to be sweet and sexy. This is a reference to its 1950's origins. 02. Create clean sketch lines Use Photoshop to create the outline I transfer my scanned drawing into Photoshop (get Creative Cloud here) and go to Brightness/Contrast. I choose 18 and 55, respectively, to create a clear contrast between the lines. Then I open a new layer, go to Channels and choose Cyan, then click Select > Inverse. Next, I create a new layer and go to Edit > Fill, selecting black with 100 per cent Opacity, which creates clean line art for me to use. 03. Fill the drawing with flat colour Use the Magic Wand tool to apply flat colour I enjoy working directly with colour rather than in greyscale. I’m all for technology and the digital tools we have available, mainly because they enable me to save time. Yet I still use traditional media such as pencils, inks or markers, both for my initial drawings and laying down the final lines. Here, I’m creating my lines on paper, but the process that you’ll use for colouring will be the same as if the lines were digital. So you can ignore my scanning clean-up stage. Staying on the layer of my lines, I remove the old layer and create a new one under my lines. I select the Magic Wand tool and click the outer part of my drawing. Then I go to Select > Inverse and then Select > Modify > Contract Selection by three pixels. Staying on the layer that I’ve created, I fill in with any colour. Finally, I check that the whole drawing is filled with colour on the inside. 04. Distinguish the areas of the body Switch to the pen tool to apply different colours After I’ve created my colour layer, I duplicate it and fill it with a different colour. Next, I switch to the Pen tool and use this to select the areas that I want to reveal, for example just the character’s skin, and then mask off surrounding areas. Now I select the Lock Transparent Pixels option, which enables me to accurately paint in specific areas. I follow the same process for the hair, clothing and other key elements of the artwork. 05. Generate hair volume Colour the shaded parts of the hair I select the hair layer with the Lock Transparent Pixels option checked. Next, with a default brush set to zero per cent Hardness, I colour the shaded parts of the hair, choosing which parts will be dark. I follow the same process, alternating between a darker colour and then a lighter one. The variety of colours help to give the character’s hair a sense of volume. 06. Add details to the hair Create another layer to add details to the hair I create another layer over my coloured hair layer and I draw some details with a default Photoshop brush, increasing the Hardness to 85 per cent, which introduces a sense of lustre on the hair without going over the top. I also decide that there will be lighting on the back of her hair, so on another layer, and again with an increased Hardness setting, I create lighting that follows the direction I want the hair to have. 07. Make the flower look natural Use custom brushes for the flower Transparent Pixels checked, I apply a flat lilac colour to the flower and I paint the bottom part with a simple blue brush. Next, I select one of my custom brushes called marker 1 and play around with the colours – just enough to give the flower a more natural look. Then with a default Photoshop brush (see free Photoshop brushes for some ideas) set to 100 per cent Hardness, I draw small circles on the petals, also randomly. 08. Colour the clothes Use different shades of colour I choose to make the character’s clothing blue. Still with the Lock Transparent Pixels option checked, I select a default brush with 0 per cent Hardness and paint the some areas of her clothes a dark blue. Then I paint the lighter parts of the clothes with a blue that’s a couple of shades lighter. 09. Give the clothing interesting texture Use custom and simple brushes to create different effects After completing the dark and light parts of the clothes, I select my custom lolo1 brush, set its size between 30 and 60px, and Hardness to 90 per cent. Then with the Other Dynamics > Opacity Jitter option checked, I start to paint using the same colours. The result is that the clothing now looks as though it’s covered with sequins. Then, using a simple brush, I draw more distinct small circles in white, to highlight areas almost randomly. 10. Refine the main facial features Use a new layer for facial features to make them stand out Once I’m happy with the character’s clothes, I turn my attention to the face and create a new layer for the eyes, lips and teeth, so that they stand out from the base colours in each particular area. Then, after painting them, I unite them on a single layer. I select a basic medium tint for the skin that’s neither too dark nor too light. 11. Add colour, light and shadows to the skin Give the face and body a 3D appearance by using light and dark shades Now I paint the shaded parts of the face and body, using a colour that’s slightly darker than the one I have selected for the skin. I repeat the process until I’m happy with the results. Next, I again select the skin’s main colour and lighten it slightly, before painting the lighter parts of the body. This gives the face and body a 3D appearance. I take care not to overdo the lighting and shading during this stage. 12. Give the lines a smoother appearance Paint with a simple brush to make the lines appear smoother I select to the layer with the lines, which is the uppermost layer and in Multiply mode. With Lock Transparent Pixels checked I paint them with a simple brush, using a dark brown colour for the body lines or a dark blue colour for the clothing lines. I want to make the lines smoother. 13. Apply a tattoo Draw the tattoo in another file and layer it onto the skin I draw the tattoo in another file, before bringing it in my main file, on a layer over the skin. I turn the tattoo layer to Multiply mode. I also add a 1px blur by selecting Filter > Gaussian Blur. Next I go to Edit > Transform > Warp, and adjust the tattoo so it matches the shape of the arm. I then create a layer mask and fade the tattoo slightly where the light hits it. 14. Make final touches Add final details on the top layer The final details usually are added on the layer that should be over the line art. On this layer, I usually paint some lustre for the hair, lips and eyes. I also add some lighting on the skin and the clothes in general, as well as some wavy lines to create the impression of separate hairs standing out. This article was originally published ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe here. Read more: How to find your art style Pixel art: 34 retro examples How to draw a wolf View the full article

In Sweden, McDonald's has adapted its billboard advertising to make it a little more eco-friendly. In May we reported on the McHive, a tiny McDonald's restaurant for bees (actually a fully functioning beehive), and now it looks like the insects of Sweden will have their accommodation sorted too, with several billboards around the country being converted into mini hotels. Many of Sweden's wild bees are under threat due to a lack of resting areas. The new campaign includes dedicated wooden billboards with holes drilled into them for wild bees and other insects to make their nests in. All McDonald's Swedish franchisees have been offered the opportunity to create their own bee hotel billboards and choose their own message. One existing example reads 'Always open' – a clever reference to both the bee hotels and the 24/7 McDonald's restaurants. Outside Stockholm, another billboard has had six big bee huts added to its reverse side. The advertisement side faces south, and the huts are on the north-facing side, where bees prefer to nest. Six boutique bee huts have been added to the reverse of this billboard The project forms part of a larger initiative that sees McDonald's Sweden working to protect and preserve the country's bee population. Several restaurants have beehives on their rooftops, and there are plans to scale up the new chain of bee hotels in 2020. Just like the McHive, this project comes from NORD DDB, a creative agency with studios across several nordic countries. For this initiative, the creatives teamed up with outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux. Read more: The best print adverts ever These ridiculous ads show sexism is still alive and kicking Has Diet Coke lost the plot? View the full article

The winners of the Brand Impact Awards 2019 – Computer Arts' annual celebration of the very best branding from around the world – were revealed last night at the Ham Yard Hotel, Soho, London. As ever, the bar was set high by the discerning judging panel, who whittled down a record number of almost 200 entries – leaving 55 projects by 27 different agencies. The Brand Impact Awards are judged on the following criteria: a compelling, appropriate idea; beautiful, consistent execution; and work that stands head and shoulders above its market sector. Read on to find out more about the 14 wins of the night (covering 11 projects), and then check out the highly commended projects. And be sure to check out all the shortlisted entries on the next page! Best of Show: BBC Two by Superunion BBC Two by Superunion Agency: Superunion Winner: Best of Show Winner: Collaboration Winner: Culture, Entertainment Shortlisted: Public Sector Best of Show is the highest accolade at the Brand Impact Awards, picked by the judging panel from a shortlist of three category winners. And, for a second year running, Superunion bagged the ultimate trophy. Brand Impact Awards 2019: Winners The following 11 projects all received at least one winning trophy at the Brand Impact Awards 2019... 01. Petit Pli by NB Studio Petit Pli by NB Studio Agency: NB Studio Winner: Fashion Shortlisted: Social Impact 02. Anna by NB Studio Anna by NB Studio Agency: NB Studio Winner: Financial Services 03. No Fuss Fundraising by Bond & Coyne No Fuss Fundraising by Bond & Coyne Agency: Bond & Coyne Winner: Not-for-Profit 04. Equal Justice Initiative by Turner Duckworth Equal Justice Initiative by Turner Duckworth Agency: Turner Duckworth Winner: Social Impact Award Winner: Not-for-Profit 05. Trademark.com by Texture Trademark.com by Texture Agency: Texture Winner: Professional Services 06. Alphaputt by Sennep Alphaputt by Sennep Agency: Sennep Winner: Self-Branding Shortlisted: Best of Show 07. Creative Discomforts by Taxi Studio Creative Discomforts by Taxi Studio Agency: Taxi Studio Winner: Self-Branding 08. ESL by Superunion ESL by Superunion Agency: Superunion Winner: Sports & Leisure Highly Commended: Entertainment 09. The Fife Arms by Here Design The Fife Arms by Here Design Agency: Here Design Winner: Transport & Travel Shortlisted: Best of Show 10. The Surrey Copper Distillery by Nude Brand Creation The Surrey Copper Distillery by Nude Brand Creation Agency: Nude Brand Creation Winner: Wine, Beer & Spirits Brand Impact Awards 2019: Highly commended The following 23 projects received highly commended trophies on the night... 01. McDonald's by Turner Duckworth McDonald's by Turner Duckworth Agency: Turner Duckworth Highly commended: Bars & Restaurants 02. Mandela and Me by B&W Studio Mandela and Me by B&W Studio Agency: B&W Studio Highly commended: Culture 03. London Symphony Orchestra 2019/20 by Superunion London Symphony Orchestra 2019/20 by Superunion Agency: Superunion Highly commended: Culture Shortlisted: Entertainment 04. All 4 by DixonBaxi All 4 by DixonBaxi Agency: DixonBaxi Highly commended: Entertainment 05. Kellogg's by Landor Kellogg's by Landor Agency: Landor Highly commended: FMCG 06. Jacob's by Pearlfisher Jacob's by Pearlfisher Agency: Pearlfisher Highly commended: FMCG 07. Tillamook by Turner Duckworth Tillamook by Turner Duckworth Agency: Turner Duckworth Highly commended: FMCG 08. Christie Proton Beam Therapy Centre by Music Christie Proton Beam Therapy Centre by Music Agency: Music Highly commended: Not-for-Profit Shortlisted: Social Impact 09. Parkinson's UK by Texture Parkinson's UK by Texture Agency: Texture Highly commended: Not-for-Profit 10. Manual by Onwards Manual by Onwards Agency: Onwards Highly commended: Pharmaceuticals & Toiletries Shortlisted: FMCG 11. Medivet by Turner Duckworth Medivet by Turner Duckworth Agency: Turner Duckworth Highly commended: Professional Services 12. Amsteldok by VBAT/Superunion Amsteldok by VBAT/Superunion Agency: VBAT/Superunion Highly commended: Property 13. The Great War Centenary by Hat-trick Design The Great War Centenary by Hat-trick Design Agency: Hat-trick Design Highly Commended: Collaboration, Public Sector 14. Simple by Here Design Simple by Here Design Agency: Here Design Highly Commended: Publishing 15. The Drum by NB Studio The Drum by NB Studio Agency: NB Studio Highly Commended: Publishing 16. FOX Sports Netherlands by DixonBaxi FOX Sports Netherlands by DixonBaxi Agency: DixonBaxi Highly Commended: Sports & Leisure 17. Wolverhampton Wanderers by SomeOne Wolverhampton Wanderers by SomeOne Agency: SomeOne Highly Commended: Sports & Leisure 18. Celebrity Fitness by The Clearing Celebrity Fitness by The Clearing Agency: The Clearing Highly Commended: Sports & Leisure 19. Brach Hotel by GBH London Brach Hotel by GBH London Agency: GBH London Highly Commended: Transport & Travel 20. The Hangry Duck by Superunion The Hangry Duck by Superunion Agency: Superunion Highly Commended: Wine, Beer & Spirits 21. Carlsberg by Taxi Studio Carlsberg by Taxi Studio Agency: Taxi Studio Highly Commended: Wine, Beer & Spirits Shortlisted: FMCG Next page: shortlisted projects... Brand Impact Awards 2019: Shortlisted Being shortlisted at the BIAs is an accolade in itself – if no projects in a category meet the strict judging criteria, that category is cut altogether! The following 23 projects made the grade this year... 01. Fresh Awards by Rose Fresh Awards by Rose Agency: Rose Shortlisted: Artisan 02. Le Collectionneur by GBH London Le Collectionneur by GBH London Agency: GBH London Shortlisted: Bars & Restaurants 03. Super Lyan by Magpie Super Lyan by Magpie Agency: Magpie Shortlisted: Bars & Restaurants 04. Noc Coffee Co. by Superunion Noc Coffee Co. by Superunion Agency: Superunion Shortlisted: Bars & Restaurants 05. Tim Hortons by Turner Duckworth Tim Hortons by Turner Duckworth Agency: Turner Duckworth Shortlisted: Bars & Restaurants 06. Remembering D-Day at Bletchley Park by Rose Remembering D-Day at Bletchley Park by Rose Agency: Rose Shortlisted: Culture 07. St Albans Museum + Gallery by Studio Sutherl& St Albans Museum + Gallery by Studio Sutherl& Agency: Studio Sutherl& Shortlisted: Culture 08. Deliciously Ella by Here Design Deliciously Ella by Here Design Agency: Here Design Shortlisted: FMCG 09. YQ by Yoplait by Pearlfisher YQ by Yoplait by Pearlfisher Agency: Pearlfisher Shortlisted: FMCG 10. A Flag for Bankside by NB Studio A Flag for Bankside by NB Studio Agency: NB Studio Shortlisted: Collaboration Shortlisted: Not-for-Profit 11. Combat Stress Magazine by Texture Combat Stress Magazine by Texture Agency: Texture Shortlisted: Not-for-Profit 12. Monument by Jack Renwick Studio Monument by Jack Renwick Studio Agency: Jack Renwick Studio Shortlisted: Professional Services 13. Moo Handshake Don'ts by MOO Print Moo Handshake Don'ts by MOO Print Agency: MOO Print Shortlisted: Professional Services 14. Dot, Dot, Deloitte by Superunion/VMLY&R/Deloitte Dot, Dot, Deloitte by Superunion/VMLY&R/Deloitte Agency: Superunion/VMLY&R/Deloitte Shortlisted: Professional Services 15. An Anarchy of Chillies by Here Design An Anarchy of Chillies by Here Design Agency: Here Design Shortlisted: Publishing 16. Picture the News by Johnson Banks Picture the News by Johnson Banks Agency: Johnson Banks Shortlisted: Self-Branding 17. Bristol City Football Club by Mr B & Friends Bristol City Football Club by Mr B & Friends Agency: Mr B & Friends Shortlisted: Sports & Leisure 18. 10Bet by Rose 10Bet by Rose Agency: Rose Shortlisted: Sports & Leisure 19. Foyers Lodge by Alphabetical Foyers Lodge by Alphabetical Agency: Alphabetical Shortlisted: Transport & Travel 20. The_Modern Hotel by GBH London The_Modern Hotel by GBH London Agency: GBH London Shortlisted: Transport & Travel 21. Journeysmith by NB Studio Journeysmith by NB Studio Agency: NB Studio Shortlisted: Transport & Travel 22. Level Destination Posters by Superunion Level Destination Posters by Superunion Agency: Superunion Shortlisted: Transport & Travel 23. Equinor by Superunion Equinor by Superunion Agency: Superunion Shortlisted: Utilities Related articles: Generate better ideas with Computer Arts Are trends any good for branding? Starbucks' style guide reveals subtle brand refresh View the full article