Rss Bot

The camera is probably the single most important tool in the world of CG. It is more important than modelling and animation, and if the camera is pointing the wrong way, even the lighting won’t be seen. Therefore, mastering how 3D software handles camera manipulation is crucially important. Here, we take a look at the terms and information you need to know to be able to successfully work with the camera in 3D software. If you'd like more information on the different types of software and what they do, then see our roundup of the best 3D modelling software right now. Get free admission to VERTEX 2019, the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists Focal length in 3D art Focal length information is vitally important as it determines the zoom or field of view (FOV), and this dictates what the camera is seeing. Learning about focal lengths and how they can be used for scene manipulation is incredibly important for making shots believable in terms of scale, and once this has been mastered it can become a great tool for manipulating images for more fantastical briefs. Most CG cameras default at a focal length of around 35mm, which is a very common focal length for cameras as a ‘do all’ solution. However, if the scene is of a portrait of a CG head bust for example, then a 80-100mm focal length would be more suited, as the longer a focal length the less perspective distortion occurs, making the bust look more realistic. Naturally the best way to learn about focal lengths is to use an actual camera, and this knowledge will easily transfer to your CG projects. The best camera for creatives right now Camera objects in 3D A camera object works in a similar way to real-life cameras One of the most common assumptions for a new artist working in CG is that the perspective view is the camera. While this is technically true as the software has created a virtual camera to view the scene in the viewport, this is not the same as an actual camera object. A camera object is usually identified as a film-style camera wireframe in the viewport, and typically has a properties palette full of information which makes it analogous to real-life cameras. A camera object usually has options for controlling focal length, and as it is an actual ‘object’ in the scene, it makes animating it a lot easier. Some applications allow the default front, top and side cameras to actually be seen and exported, but be mindful of these as usually they are best kept hidden. ZBrush doesn't have a typical camera object Not all digital content creation software comes with an easily recognisable camera object. A good example is ZBrush – however, the focal length can be adjusted in the main view to create more compelling renders. Also, files can be exported with camera data into formats such as Alembic and FBX, which can be imported into a wide range of applications to ensure that the camera view when using a painting application such as Substance Painter matches up with the original scene. Wide-angle lenses You can capture more in a scene with a wide-angle lens Wide-angle lenses (which tend to be classed as anything lower than 35mm) are good for wider scenes as they can catch a lot more detail. They are not great for close-up work as they distort features, so are unflattering for character work. Extreme wide-angle lenses are common in architectural work, but be mindful to straighten vertical lines; this effect can be achieved with tilt-zoom lenses, commonly used in high-end architectural photography, but can be re-created easily in software. Telephoto lenses Telephoto lenses are great for portraits Lenses that are longer than 50mm tend to be called telephoto lenses and are commonly used for character and close-up work, but they also tend to be used for macro work. Most portrait work is done in the 80-100mm range. Additionally, long telephoto lenses in the 150-200mm range can be great for certain types of scenes as they can be used to create interesting contrasts between the foreground and background. Zoom lenses A 'dolly zoom' effect can be achieved with a zoom lens Zoom lenses are often seen as the ‘poor cousins’ of prime lenses, which have a single focal length, but good use of zoom lenses in a scene can be a great way of achieving some creative effects and looks. The ground-breaking spaceship work in the TV reboot of Battlestar Galactica depended on zoom lenses, and they can be used to create a dolly zoom effect – a technique in which there is an object in the centre of the screen while the background appears to zoom in or out. This article originally appeared in issue 242 of 3D World, the world's leading magazine for 3D artists. Buy issue 242 or subscribe here. Read more: The 17 best ZBrush tutorials The 10 best 3D movies this year The top cities for 3D artists View the full article

You invest a huge amount of effort, time and resources into getting your designs right. So, the last thing you want is for them to come back from the printers looking less than perfect. That said, it’s easy to get swept up in the creative process and forget about how your artwork will translate in to print. But leaving these considerations until the end of a project can lead to costly mistakes, which is why having a deep understanding of the print process and how it can add value to your artwork - and therefore your clients - is vital. And that’s where this free booklet from Route 1 Print can help. A fantastic resource, this handy-sized guide explains and showcases multiple ways in which print can really compliment a design. The perfect finish Each page of the booklet features expert advice about the print process, all of which is printed on various different stock and finish choices, providing tangible examples for you to feast your eyes and hands on. Stock options include Mohawk Felt Cream, Ice Gold and Kraft Paper. There’s also Spot UV examples, as well as matt, gloss and soft touch lamination finishes. All you have to do is choose the print option best suited to your work and flip the page for details of the exact colour and gsm (grams per square meter). The third and final chapter of Route 1 Print’s guide, Clashes, highlights the designs and printing methods that don’t get along quite so well, and why you should try to avoid the use of excessive ink and Spot UV where possible. All in all, 10½ ways to bring Print and Design Together is a comprehensive guide to the print process. It’s (almost) pocket size means it will won’t take up much room on your desk and easily fit in most bags if you need it for reference on the go. And the best part? It’s totally free! So, what are you waiting for? Get your free booklet and have all the print advice you’ll ever need at your fingertips. View the full article

You're reading Sit at a Computer All Day? You Need These Glasses, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! If you are anything like me, you probably sit in front of a computer most of the day. (That’s just the nature of design work.) And as much as we get up, move around and do other things, there are … View the full article

A vulnerability in FireOS, the Amazon Fire Tablet's operating system, has been patched. View the full article

The life of a freelancer is a precarious one. You're never quite sure if you're charging clients enough or too much. You can't say no because you never know when your next gig will be. And you constantly worry that you won't be able to pay your bills from one month to the next. Of course, the worst thing that can happen to a freelancer is having to deal with a client who won't pay. This rolls all the issues above into one gigantic problem, as you worry about paying bills, burning bridges and the value of your work. Even worse, it often feels like there is very little you can do, since you aren't protected under the usual employment laws. 15 free resume templates After you've sent the tenth email reminding your client that they haven't paid and after they've told you they won't pay, this is what you need to do. 01. Lay your groundwork There are three steps to use with clients, says Josh Wedekind. Step 1: Force all clients to sign a NET 15 contract with late fees starting on day 16. Step 2: Set up online payment options and automatic email reminders. Step 3: Don’t work with clients who fail to follow the above. 02. Don't stress You live, you learn is an old adage that many self-employed have probably picked up the hard way. Accepting the fact that sometimes things don’t pan out is simply part of the game, says @kreativbeetle. "Make peace with the loss. Mitigate it by putting in place preventions moving forward. After making peace with the loss, remind the client of their obligation (and hopefully a signed notarised contract). Perhaps show empathy and make a payment plan." 03. Get advice There are lots of people who’ve been there and done it when it comes to trying to get clients to pay up; look to them for advice. Darren Parlett says: “@Malarkey‘s example of a debt collecting email is great, personal and without the usual business formality.” 04. Send a clarification email This email should be clear, stern and polite, but don't threaten legal action. You need to find out why exactly the client is refusing to pay. If the service or product isn't up to scratch, you need to offer to fix the problem. If they no longer want to use the product or pay for the service, then that's tough for them. They still have to pay. Keep copies of all the interactions you have with the client, and any time you speak on the phone, send a follow-up email that outlines the points you discussed and what you agreed. That way, you start to build a paper trail if you need to look at your legal options. 05. Try to get clarification again Send another email, this time both seeking clarification about their grievances and suggesting compromises that you would be happy with. Offer to amend your work. Perhaps offer to reduce the fee as a goodwill gesture. Suggest payment plans. After all, they may have run out of money and are too embarrassed to admit it. These compromises will ideally get your client thinking about how to resolve the issue, rather than steadfastly refusing to pay. At this point you still want to try to reach an amicable agreement, if that is at all possible. Again, keep copies of your correspondence in case you need it. 06. Decide if this is worth the hassle You should always value your work. You deserve to get paid for anything you've done. Sometimes, however, you can spend so long chasing up payment that it's no longer worth it. Think of it this way: you get paid a certain amount per hour, like £20. If the invoice is for £50, you could think of it as two and a half hours to spend chasing up. If you spend three hours on it, you've made a loss. If the invoice is for £1000, you could chase the invoice for six days or more. Of course, there is also the principle of the matter. You did the work, so you should get paid. It is that simple. Besides, ignoring a £50 invoice here and there isn't too bad, but it doesn't take long for it to add up. Suddenly you'll realise you're not hitting your targets because you can't be bothered to chase up invoices. Basically, at this point you have to decide what "worth it" means to you. 07. Send a legal action warning If you are still getting nowhere with your client, it is time to let them know that you are willing to pursue this in court. Do not threaten legal action if you have no intention of following through, though. Call or send another email, this time explicitly stating that you will be seeking legal advice if the payment issue hasn't been resolved in a certain period of time. Then be prepared to follow through. 08. Send a letter on legal letterhead Most of the time, a legally worded letter on paper with a law firm's name on it is more than enough to get a client to pay. See if you can get some free or cheap legal advice (available in the UK from the Citizens Advice Bureau). Or ask around to see if any of your legal friends (or friends of friends) can help you out. Since this does the trick usually, you can just wait for your client to come to their senses and pay you. 09. Go to court Legal warnings usually get clients to pay up, but they don't always. In that case, you may have to go to court. In the UK the small claims court deals with disputes worth £5000 or lower. You can also make a claim through Money Claim Online, a website set up by government to help settle claims of up to £100,000. When you make a claim, you will need to be able to show that you provided the service or product the client requested, to the standard they expected, and they still refused to pay. You will need to show too that you made every effort possible to settle the issue amongst yourselves, and the client has been unduly slow or unreasonable. Gather together any contracts and paid invoices and other documentation that shows there was a written or verbal contract in place – including emails where you outlined your fees and the client agreed to them. These demonstrate what is called reasonable expectation, which is that you had a reason to think that you would get paid by that client for the work that you did. Once you go to court, you will get a decision one way or the other. Hopefully you'll win, but you do have to be prepared to lose, especially if you can't find proof that they agreed to pay you for your work. 10. Don't give up! Dealing with a client who refuses to pay is not fun. No part of it is going to be fun. But don't feel tempted to give up. You did the work; you deserve to be paid. And remember, most of the time, clients aren't paying because they're mean; they aren't paying because they forgot to or because they need to delay payment for invoicing reasons. Thankfully, it is rare to have to threaten legal action or go to court. It's just nice to know that you can if you need to. This article comprises of tips from net magazine readers (subscribe here). Al Jameson also contributed. Related articles: How to cope with a freelance apocalypse The art of going freelance How to be a thrifty freelancer View the full article

3D specialist Glen Southern will be joining us on 8 March at Vertex – the ultimate event for 3D and 2D artists. He'll share some insights into the evolution of VR creation tools and prove just how useful they can be by rapidly building high-quality creatures and environments in Oculus Medium. Find out more about Vertex speakers or sign up for a free Vertex pass here. The planet Varsi Prime has vast oceans teeming with life. We’ve been using this fictional planet to do creature design workshops for years now. What better story to tell in comic panels than how a survey team was brought down by giant squid-like creatures as they surveyed the planet? 3D models have been used in comic work for years now. This tutorial gives a little introduction on how to create basic 3D models in either VR (Oculus Medium) or inside ZBrush and then render them in a cel-shader style to create unique 3D art. Below is our final design. The final design combines 3D and comic-style rendering Download the files for this tutorial I often start my design process inside a VR headset these days. I can block out a creature or vehicle design in no time at all, and even if it is very rough looking, I can work out lots of design problems before committing any real time to detailed modelling. I will work through how to create the whole scene in VR, how to use that inside ZBrush as a guide, how to make a low-polygon ship with ZModeler and then sculpt the main squid creature. At the end, I will explore how to create materials that render out your creations as cel-shaded, comic-style pages. If you want to push your skills further, take a look at our roundup of great ZBrush tutorials. Click the icon in the top right of each image to enlarge it 01. Find the story behind the project This design will focus on destructive sea creatures This project and accompanying cover is about telling a story using a comic-style render in ZBrush. I find that it really helps to establish the story that is driving the action in the scene before you even start to build any models. I wanted to do a comic panel that had a survey team spaceship (or fleet!) being destroyed by large sea creatures. I love showing split-screen images in my work, half underwater, half above the waves, and this was a great opportunity to try that on a bigger scale. 02. Draft up an idea Sometimes it helps to sketch out a design first Sometimes I do go straight into concept modelling to get my ideas out, but very often I will sit and sketch either with Photoshop and my Wacom, with the iPad and Procreate, or more often than not just in a notebook. For this panel idea, I wanted the foreground to be dominated by a large squid-like alien grabbing a spaceship as it skimmed over the surface of the sea. I put the feature area in the bottom left and top right, which is where the eyes of the squid and the front of the ship are located. 03. Use VR to sketch out the plan Try blocking out the scene using Oculus Medium More and more now I am using VR in my design workflow. If you wish to follow along and you have an Oculus Rift, download Oculus Medium, which is a Voxel-based sculpting program. Use the basic tools to block out the whole scene before we ever get to ZBrush. This is one of the faster ways I know to create a whole scene in a really short amount of time and answer lots of layout and scale questions. The best VR headsets for 2019 04. Move into ZBrush It's simple to import your VR design into ZBrush One of the great things about Oculus Medium is that it can export out your models and any paint work you have done into a number of usable formats. As we want to use the models as a reference in ZBrush, we can use the FBX or OBJ formats. Use the File > Export function in Medium to send the models out as described. In ZBrush, the OBJ import is in the Tool panel and the FBX import can be found in the ZPlugin panel. The models come in as separate SubTools as they are laid out in Medium. 05. Lay out the scene in sections The ship, body, tentacles and waves can all be created separately Break the scene down into sections. Start with the ship, then the body, and then onto the tentacles and finally the waves. As we have a rough model to work with it is easy to remake or edit the individual section and then replace that SubTool with the new one (if you didn’t do the VR section, just use the 2D reference as a guide). Switch to a black colour in ZBrush and see what the layout looks like with a flat material. Next, build the ship from scratch. 06. Start on the ship The ZModeler brush makes it easy to create hard-edged models The ship is best built using the ZModeler brush (BZM on the keyboard). This is a great low-polygon modelling tool and it makes it easy to create hard-edged models with some speed. You can start with any shape and use MakePolymesh3D in the Tool panel. Then look for Initialize and hit QCube. Hit X to use symmetry. With B, Z, M keystrokes you are using the ZModeler brush. The core tool we will use is the QMesh feature to pull out new shapes polygon by polygon. You can use the Alt key to make temporary selections. 07. Use ZModeler to create the core model Use the different ZModeler tools to build up your design It is worth spending the time to learn all the ZModeler tools (head to Pixologic's ZClassroom for free tutorials). Add detail using the three modes (Faces, Edges and Points) based on what you are hovering over when you press the spacebar. The main actions you will use are QMesh, insert line (edges) and Split (points). These three actions will get you most of the detail you need for the core of the model. Keep adding detail to the body. 08. Block out the body Focus on creating an interesting shape rather than a perfect model The idea with this kind of modelling is to add visual interest and make an interesting shape rather than creating a perfect model. With the type of render we are going to use we need to add lots of surface detail (aka greeble). Work on the panelling, windows, vents, fins, towers etc, anything that will give some detail when we render it without getting too complex. With QMesh you can pull out slanted surfaces in steps. There are lots of different settings to play with in ZModeler if you want to spend time on this sort of detail. 09. Block out the wings Keep it low-poly to give crisp, comic-style shapes Start another QCube as a new model in the Tool panel: Tool > Initialise > QCube. Append that into the Ship ZTool as a new SubTool. Using the same ZModeler tools, shape the wing as per the reference or your VR layout model. Look at the model from all angles and get a really strong outline worked out. Put some vertical fins in using the QMesh action and then add detail to those uprights. You can have as many additional SubTools as you like to make this ship; we are going to be keeping it very low polygon to give us nice, crisp, comic-style shapes. 10. Create the engines and jets Cylinder3D is ideal for the jets To make the jets and more cylindrical parts use a Cylinder3D from the Tool panel. In the Initialize panel set the HDivide to 64, which will give you a detailed cylinder. Use MakePolymesh3D to make that editable. Turn on symmetry with settings of Radial (Little R), 64, on Y. Now you can go to ZModeler (B, Z, M) and edit the cylinders like a lathe with all the same tools as before. This method will be used whenever we need pipes, jets, tubes etc. Make a few engines and append them into the main ZTool. 11. Add visual interest We want to avoid large areas of solid colour Keep in mind that we want to make a pleasing image rather than an accurate model. A lot of the model will be in darkness, and as it is like a comic that will be a solid colour. Break those areas up with something visually eye-catching. Add jets and weapons when you think they will catch the viewer's eye or make the silhouette more appealing. Try to add different-sized engines and layer them onto each other. Remember to look from all angles and especially from the angle that we want to render from. 12. Greeble using Insert mesh brush Add greeble items to your model as needed Any little ZTools you make can be added to an Insert Mesh brush and used to add more detail. For example, make another cylinder item. Go to Brush > Create > CreateInsertMesh. Do it again with another one but use Append rather than New. If you hit M now you will see you have made a little set of greeble items. You can now add these to your model as needed. Go to Material and select the Outline material to see how the ship is looking in a basic comic style. 13. Make the alien’s main body Create a geometry version to sculpt If you have a base model from VR simply use ZRemesher in the Tool panel to create a new base for the squid alien body. If you want to make the base from scratch then use the ZSphere method. Draw out a ZSphere with symmetry turned on and add more one by one to make the curved body. Add the fins and fluke tail. You can scale, rotate and move each sphere. Once you have the volume correct go to Adaptive Skin in the Tool panel and make a geometry version. You can now sculpt on this version and begin the detailing. 14. Detail the body Shape the overall body first, then move on to the detail Use ZRemesher in the Tool panel to bring the polygon count down to a lower level and to give the model an even covering of polygons. Subdivide the model (Ctrl+D) and start sculpting using the Clay Buildup tool and the Move tool. By switching between these two you can get most of the shape detailed. Use Shift to use the Smooth brush as you go. Shape the overall body first, and flatten the fins. Add some detail around the chest and rib cage (it’s an alien squid, so take some liberties here). 15. Create squid eyes Add eyes as separate SubTools Add eyes as separate SubTools. Create a sphere, and use MakePolymesh3D. Append it into the Squid SubTool. Duplicate it twice with symmetry on so you have all six eyes. Place them into the head and re-sculpt the head area of the body to add wrinkles and eyelids as needed. The shape of the area that the eye sits into is as important as the eye itself. Make sure it suits the look of the creature. Use the Move tool on the body and the eyes to make sure they look correct. 16. Add tentacles You can sculpt the suckers using the Clay Buildup tool As with the body, if you roughed some tentacles up in VR use those with DynaMesh or ZRemesher. If you are making them from scratch use spheres again. Block out the length of the tentacle, getting smaller at the end. Use Adaptive Skin again and then sculpt on that new ZTool. Take your time and sculpt the suckers on the underside of the tentacle using the Clay Buildup tool. You can use a Torus shape and make it into an Insert brush if that method suits you better. You will have to DynaMesh the finished tentacle together. Next page: Make final tweaks and render your scene 17. Detail the suckers Duplicate your tentacle and vary the shape To make the suckers Insert brush choose Ring3D from the Tool panel. Select Make PolyMesh3D so it is editable. Using the Move tool, scale the ring along one axis so it is taller. Go to Brush and create an Insert brush as we did for the spaceship. Now go back to the tentacle and draw on the new suckers one by one. Once you have them all placed, DynaMesh the final tentacle. You can duplicate this tentacle a few times, but with shape variations to suit the composition. 18. Make waves Use a simple, primitive shape for the sea The sea can be made from a simple primitive shape. We don’t want it to be completely wafer thin, so use a Cube3D and Make PolyMesh3D to make it editable. With the Move tool, flatten it right down to a very thin profile. Divide it a few times to give you lots of polygons to work with. You can DynaMesh instead if you wish. Use the Move tool and a large brush size to get the shape of the main waves correct. Append it into the main scene and duplicate it a few times for the background waves. 19. Focus on scene composition With Perspective turned on, align the ZTool to match the initial sketch Make sure that you now have all of the models we created in the same ZTool as separate SubTools. If you have missed anything or have not duplicated something, do it now as we work out the main composition. With Perspective turned on, align the ZTool to match the initial sketch. Using the Move tool on each layer, push or pull the tentacles and waves into the best position. Make sure the tentacles grab ahold of the ship. Don’t mess with the spaceship at this point, other than rotating. 20. Render in a flat comic style We want to make our own materials to suit this project As we went along with the project we used a material called Outline. This is a default in ZBrush and it gives us an idea of what a basic comic render might look like. Now it’s time to make our own materials to suit the project. Take a look at the Modifiers in the Outline material and at the bottom, you will see that the material is using a texture that is basically a black circle with a white outline. This is called a MatCap, and it is how we will go about making our own materials. 21. Change the Matcap image As we're going for a comic style, we'll keep colours to a minimum The render style is defined by the image that you load into the texture box at the bottom of the Modifiers panel. Load in any image and see what effect it has on the ship mode for example. The image represents an environment sphere, so if you use an image with a red centre that will show front and centre on your model. As it is a comic style, we need to keep the number of colours to a minimum. The basic Outline material only has black and white. 22. Make your own images in Photoshop This stage might take a little trial and error This takes some trial and error, so be prepared to make lots of Photoshop images and to experiment with them on your models. Make a square Photoshop document. Draw a circle exactly in the centre. Outline that circle with a dark colour. For this project, I used a dark blue-green for the underside of the models and a variety of oranges for the upper parts. Replicate that in the Photoshop document with crescent shapes and lighter highlight circles. Save that image and load it into the material via the import. Get Adobe Creative Cloud here 23. Render different styles The final design will include a few different comic styles To get the overall look for this scene we need to render out a few different comic styles. The squid will be mostly dark green-blue while the sky and top of the ship will need to be a light orange. The are lots of resources online where you can acquire material images and sets. I bought some from Pablo Munoz , who has some amazing textures, materials and even templates. 24. Render passes Save each version of the images, as we'll need to composite them in Photoshop Once you have a few options for the materials it is time to render the final scene. Change the document size to 5,000 x 500 (or whatever suits). Line up your model and hit BPR render (the tiny BPR button). Once it has calculated look at the Render panel under Render > BPR Render Pass. There you will see a number of rendered images including Shaded, Depth, Shadow, Mask and others you can activate if needed. Click on each one and save them as we need to composite them in Photoshop. 25. Render background elements You'll need to render certain other elements separately You will need certain other elements in the scene, and to be able to place them individually. You can render each one separately. Turn off all the SubTools in ZBrush apart for the ship. Render this out in a position you like. Save out the renders and the mask so you can quickly cut them out. Do this for the tentacles and the body. 26. Put it all together Most layers will need to be masked out The next step is to open all the versions in Photoshop. Most layers will need to be masked out. Select and copy the mask image to the clipboard. On each image add a layer mask and paste in the mask as an alpha (Alt-click on the layer mask to edit it). Now start with the render that is closest to the desired look. Use this as the base layer for the undersea portion of the image. Colour adjust it to a dark blue-green. Make sure the one you choose has good lighting from the top. Use blending modes like Overlay and Multiply, and try to find the best look for your image. 27. Tweak the final comp Clouds and vapour trails finish off the piece As well as rendered background elements, you can add more interest to the whole piece with things like clouds and vapour trails. As we have been going for a flat, 2D look all along, draw these elements in blocks of single complementary colours. Choose a range of oranges and yellows for the clouds and sky, and try to help tell the story with the vapour of the ship that is just getting away by throttling up the engines. Explore the magic of VR at Vertex Glen Southern will be sharing his insights at Vertex Get free admission to VERTEX 2019, the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists Glen Southern runs a studio specialising in character and creature design. At Vertex (8 March, Olympia London), he'll be delivering a talk entitled The Evolution of VR Tools. In it, he'll explore how VR is quickly absorbed into film and game production pipelines, and take a closer look at the transformation modern production environments have seen from using these tools. This article appears in 3D World issue 244. Buy it here or subscribe. Read more: Gravity Sketch on Oculus Rift review How to bring a 2D character to life in VR 15 tips to master ZBrush View the full article

Are you a graphic designer? A blogger? An entrepreneur? The Complete Learn To Design Bundle is for you. With 60+ hours of training to walk you through Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and InDesign, this bundle will make you a master at digital design. Get Adobe Creative Cloud here You'll also get up to speed on WordPress, a powerful platform that anyone who blogs or runs a website must know how to navigate. The bundle will show you the ropes for HTML and CSS, too, so you can become a pro at web development. Get The Complete Learn To Design Bundle for only $39 – enjoy the price drop while it lasts! Related articles: 80 best Adobe Illustrator tutorials 21 best free Wordpress themes 6 amazing free Adobe CC alternatives View the full article

Ahh Valentine's Day. For some the most romantic day of the year, for others, a huge pain in the ass. Whichever way you look at it, the last thing you want is to be in the proverbial dog house with your other half because you forgot to mark the occasion. But designers and artists are notoriously hard to buy for, so what can you get them to best describe how you feel? Luckily for you, we've found a number of items that are sure to make the creative love of your life smile. After something a little less 'Valentine-y'? See our list of graphic design books instead. 01. LEGO Puppy/Bee You can always rely on LEGO when looking for the perfect gift. Over the past few years, the humble little brick has been transformed into various new Brick Headz designs, which includes this adorable Valentine's Day Puppy. It may not be the furry, four-legged friend your loved one might want, but it's a pretty great – less messy – alternative. There's also a really lovely LEGO Valentine's Bee design too (click the arrow to see image above), if you prefer. But hurry, both these little guys are flying off the shelves. 02. You're my Lobster Valentine's Day card Even if Valentine's Day isn't you thing, the very least you can do is buy the love in your life a card. This You're my Lobster design is one of many fun screenprinted designs from Sarah Chapman of Little Red Sparrow. Not only do we love the illustrations, we're big fans of how Chapman has balanced the mushy love aspect with tongue-in-cheek humour. 03. Bath Tray Artists and designers are busy people, so downtime is vital. This gorgeous bath board is the perfect excuse to relax and unwind with your favourite book or movie while having a long hot soak. But forget wrapping this gift up, get it set up over a hot bath, ready and waiting for your loved one when they get home for maximum brownie points. 04. Alessi Espresso Coffee Maker If there's one thing lots of creatives rely on, it's coffee. So what better way to say I love you than with this beautifully designed Alessi six-cup espresso coffee maker. Richard Snapper is the man behind the design, which was the first espresso coffee maker in Alessi's history and the the first Alessi item exhibited at the MOMA in New York. Made of 18/10 stainless steel and a cast iron handle, this highly stylish yet functional item is sure to go down a treat with any coffee-loving creative. 05. Hotel Chocolat Valentine's Sleekster You can't go wrong with a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day, especially when they're from quality British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat. This special Valentine's Day Sleekster set is making our mouth's water just looking at them. Made to share, the box includes 27 irresistible heart-shaped chocolate caramels, fruits, tipples and pralines. 06. Solid Heart Necklace Nothing says Valentine's day quite a like a heart, so we couldn't not include one in our list. This classic silver heart necklace is perfect for those who prefer minimalist-style jewellery. An understated motif of love, this beautiful accessory is one your designer love can treasure forever. 07. Laboratory Samphire Eau de Toilette British brand Laboratory Perfumes craft unique, gender neutral fragrances, all of which are made in the UK using socially conscious, environmentally friendly and cruelty free ingredients. Add to that its 'do no harm' motto and you've got a wonderful gift that shows you not only care about the recipient but the planet too. Laboratory has a number of fragrances and candles in its portfolio, but we've chosen Samphire due to its zesty hints and juniper berry top notes, a sure favourite for any gin lovers out there. 08. Bellroy Travel Folio Help your loved one travel in style with this luxury, compact travel folio from Bellroy. Featuring a leather divider to store cards, boarding passes and cash, there's also space for multiple passports and a handy micro pen. Want to really push the boat out? Fill this beautiful gift with future travel plans for you and your loved one as very special extra. 09. Movado Watch If money is no option this Valentine's Day, these beautiful Movado watches will make sure the creative in your life never loses track of time. Simple but elegant, the woman's design is made of brushed stainless steel, featuring a white sun-ray dial with signature dot at 12 o'clock. The gents' offering features a black calfskin strap with stainless steel buckle, black Museum dial with tone-on-tone outer ring and silver-toned dot and hands. Read more: Typography meets Tinder in this type dating game The ultimate treasure chest for creatives 10 reasons to be happy you're a designer View the full article

Are you on the hunt for a cheap Microsoft Surface Studio 2 deal? Look no further. With our price comparison tool automatically checks thousands of prices from all the most reputable retailers, you'll be able to find the best offers as and when they appear. The Microsoft Surface Studio 2 is the robust digital drafting table that many creatives have been waiting for. Building on the success of its predecessor, the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 sets a benchmark for visually-focused content creators. It's only newly been released, but we already have an eye out for the best cheap Surface Studio 2 deals, and we'll bring them to you on this page as soon as they're available. Read on for the best prices around. When it comes to high-end digital drafting tables, the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 really is in a league of its own. Despite being capable of handling pretty much all modern computing tasks, this device really excels at rendering 3D graphics, multitasking, and dealing with processor-intensive tasks. Building on the same physical design as the first Surface Studio, this model upgraded its display with drastic results. In terms of brightness and contrast, these have been boosted by 38% (515 nits) and 22% (1,200:1), respectively. This will be music to the ears of artists and designers, who will now be able to study their work in more detail. And thanks to the enhanced contrast, creators can now enjoy greater colour depth. If you're already familiar with the Surface Pro tablet styluses, expect more of the same here. Capable of being magnetically attached to the left hand side of the display, the Surface Pen stylus is identical, only now it's free to roam across a much larger surface. And because the Surface Studio 2 is a Microsoft device, it's not weighed down with third party software. This means you can start creating lightning fast without pre-installed software getting in the way. While it might not be a suitable comparison to a computer, the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 packs a punch where it matters: upgrading on its forerunner to deliver a brighter, faster creative experience. If you're looking to find the best Microsoft Surface Studio 2 deals, bookmark this page as our price comparison chart will be updated automatically with the lowest prices. Related articles: The best Microsoft Surface deals in 2019 The best laptops for graphic design in 2019 The best drawing tablets for artists and designers View the full article

Apple's iOS 12.1.4 fixes a FaceTime bug that made headlines last week. View the full article

Up to eight airlines do not encrypt e-ticketing booking systems - leaving personal customer data open for the taking. View the full article

Every 3D artist has an idea of where in the world they’d like to be, whether it’s London, Berlin, Vancouver or Los Angeles. But has anyone ever asked how these places came to be the promised lands for aspiring creators, and if they’re still relevant in an age where the internet rules supreme? In this article, we've assembled a variety of companies and creatives to discuss their respective communities and the concept of industry hotspots. Here we hear from VFX veterans RISE in Berlin, Riot Games character artist Blair Armitage in LA and Tokyo, CraveFX in Singapore, and DNEG in London and Vancouver. Get free admission to VERTEX 2019, the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists Berlin: The fresh face A still from German crime-drama series Babylon Berlin, for which RISE provided VFX “Berlin’s 3D community is still relatively young, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t up to speed or as advanced as other places,” says RISE VFX supervisor Jonathan Weber. He has been working at RISE for 11 years, joining shortly after the studio was founded in 2007. His most recent credits include massive 3D movies such as Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther and Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Dumbo. “The industry here grew at a steady rate,” he explains. “There aren’t as many companies in this region compared with cities like London or Montreal. Rise however was one of those that grew alongside the industry and remains one of the original. With the increase of film production in the area, the amount of visual effects projects coming to Germany has really taken off in recent years.” When asked how Berlin came to be such an important part of the global CG community, Weber attributes it to several factors. First of all is the abundance of nearby universities and educational programs for digital and 3D art, bringing a wealth of fresh talent through the area. He continues: “Cities like Munich and Stuttgart help by continuing to grow by passing on individuals with the necessary knowledge and expertise. There’s other incentives such as the recently updated state-sponsored tax rebate programs. It’s also still an affordable city, so if you’re deciding between here or a city like London, which has a larger number of artists and higher living costs, Berlin will continue to be the better alternative.” London: The established powerhouse DNEG created the VFX for the latest series of British sci-fi classic Doctor Who Few studios are as well placed to assess London’s place in the global CG community as DNEG, which was founded in the city back in 1998. According CG head Stuart Farley, it was formed by “a group of people who had been working together in visual effects, and aspired to produce visual effects of the highest calibre for feature films.” Farley goes on to explain that over the ensuing two decades DNEG have continued to push themselves creatively and technically, something that has allowed them to thrive in the crowded London scene. He continues: “We try to remain focused at all times on the other important things that drive us: award-winning visuals, relationships with the very best creatives, collaboration with upcoming filmmakers and pushing storytelling beyond the limits that audiences are used to. We hope this focus has given us a special place in the community.” Vancouver: The location winner Vancouver's established backbone of shoot services was one of the reasons DNEG decided to set up a base there Since 2014, DNEG has opened a number of facilities around the world, one of which is in Vancouver. “It’s proven itself to be an important hub for the VFX industry,” explains Farley. “DNEG was a natural fit for this environment. We wanted to open our doors to the wealth of talent here and bring the culture of DNEG to Vancouver.” Discussing how Vancouver came to such fruition in the industry, Farley says: “It offers a diverse workforce and an established backbone of shoot services. There’s a great range of stages and locations.” The abundance of film production has attracted many of the VFX industry’s heavy hitters, which in turn brings a wealth of talented creators to the city. Los Angeles: The diverse community LA welcomes artists of all types Originally hailing from West Yorkshire, character artist Blair Armitage relocated to the bustling CG hotspot of Los Angeles for a role at Riot Games, after working for several years in the UK and freelancing in Japan. “There are so many artists here in LA, from different industries that I had no idea about in the UK,” she explains. “I’ve met people from the animation industry and learned all about their pipelines and skillsets. My view as a game artist was very narrow and hyper-focused, being here has inspired me to learn more outside of that.” Long-established studios like Disney, Dreamworks and Blizzard, to name just a few, first attracted the diverse range of talent that has made LA such a crucial part of the global community. But what makes it unique from the host of other hotspots? “There’s tons of learning to do here. Lots of great opportunities for artist meetups, E3, ZBrush Summit, Gnomon Workshop events, and CTN animation eXpo,” says Armitage. “I’ve met people who have been working in LA their whole careers, which is odd to me as I feel like a lot of young British artists are more nomadic due to the nature of the industry.” Armitage also expresses the diversity of the community in LA, with artists from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Understand Disney's 12 principles of animation Singapore: The education hotspot CraveFX joined Singapore's CG community five years ago Animation and post-production studio CraveFX has been part of Singapore’s CG community for the last five years. “Our directors Joshua and Davier met as students in university and worked together as project officers for a year after they graduated,” says a spokesperson for the company. “Like any other fresh graduate, their dream was to land a comfortable full-time position in a large organisation. But after some time freelancing, they realised they had something unique that they could bring to the industry. That’s when they struck out on their own. We’ve since grown from a two-man outfit to a bustling studio with more than 30 people.” “The government played a big role in giving the sector an early leg-up, with initiatives and grants to draw animation studios with a global presence into the country,” says CraveFX on the subject of how Singapore became such a focal point for the industry. There’s also an abundance of educational institutions that offer courses in motion graphics or animation. “This helps with the nurturing of talented artists and animators,” adds CraveFX. Tokyo: The one to watch Major events such as Siggraph have helped turn Tokyo into a 3D destination “I keep seeing more artists go to Tokyo,” explains Armitage. “I think there might be more communities of foreign artists there in future. More studios are looking to hire from overseas and improve the sharing of knowledge. There was a welcoming game dev community when I lived there, who were so inviting and open to talking about their experience.” There’s also a wealth of events held in the city for hobbyists, fans and artists alike, not least the prestigious SIGGRAPH Asia or the Video & CG Production Expo. Armitage goes on to explain that the language barrier can be somewhat of a challenge for newcomers: “There’s so much separation between language barriers that can make it difficult to see the amazing art that comes from Japanese artists, so seeing their work in person, where you’ll likely be part of the 1 per cent of English speakers, is such a fascinating experience. For me, Japan was the best place.” Do 3D hubs still exist? The recipe for a global CG hotspot appears to be a mixture of major studios, educational institutions and government initiatives. However, there still remains the question of whether or not physical locations remain relevant in a time when everyone is more connected than ever, and budding artists can become established members of the community from their bedroom. Farley asserts that the idea of hotspots isn’t at all outdated: “Hotspots like Vancouver have proliferated because of the wealth of creative talent in the community, and because our clients recognise the advantages of placing work in different geographical locations. The creativity between studios is fed, and an environment is nurtured where everyone benefits, creating a richer community.” “There will always be hotspots,” argues Weber. “Yes, it is getting easier and easier to work from a home office setup. That however is still limiting, especially if you want to be involved in larger productions that have more opportunities to further develop your skills. If you are just starting off too you may not be able to obtain and work on the industry-standard software, and wouldn’t be familiar with the pipeline developments that make working between multiple departments more efficient.” He continues: “All this doesn’t mean you can’t learn at home, but as a functional studio you need to have a physical location that has the hardware, software, licences and more to further yourself with. Not forgetting what you may pick up from working with artists from a variety of backgrounds and experience levels.” Hotspots will continue to exist, but that will allow freelancers to try out places all over the world Sara Sarmiento, RISE Sara Sarmiento, RISE’s line producer, shares the same view. She explains: “My experience has shown me that certain tasks can only be achieved in a team setting, under a supervisor’s direction. The greater and more demanding tasks become, whether it’s 3D or otherwise, the more you need others to help realise the end result. That requires clear and efficient dialogue between departments. Hotspots will continue to exist, but that will allow freelancers to try out places all over the world.” CraveFX takes a slightly different view: “The world is shrinking, particularly the animation sector. Unlike traditional industries such as manufacturing, it’s less reliant on economies of scale and proximity. Because of our mobility, we don’t have to be clustered in one place. Good animation work is universal and can come from anywhere in the world.” For Armitage, the best place in the world for a 3D artist to be is anywhere that they can bring a laptop or a tablet, with good coffee and internet. However, she still sees some worth in the concept of industry hotspots and the studio environment. “In my opinion, you can’t beat face-to-face relationships,” she explains. “It’s much nicer to see someone’s face when you can interact with them with zero lag. Personally I find it easier to build trust with someone in real life, even if I originally knew them from the internet. “Online mingling is really important, but I would still encourage young artists to attend community events, to have fun and enjoy the vibe, make friends and connections, and see if this is a community that you want to be a part of. It’s also important to find out if you can see these people as your potential future co-workers.” So it appears that the age of the industry hotspot isn’t over just yet and there are still a multitude of reasons for studios to remain in clusters around the globe, whether it be for financial incentives, or the proximity to emerging talent. Plus, one particular aspect that all our experts seem to agree on is that there’s no substitute for the wealth of interaction that a studio environment can provide. This article was originally published in 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 242 or subscribe. Read more: How to land your dream job in 3D 20 tips to master Maya Major 3D tools join Adobe Creative Cloud View the full article

Day-to-night conversions have been around for as long as Photoshop has had adjustment layers, but mastering the effect takes lots of practice. The key to making a day picture look like night in Photoshop is in learning to navigate the various adjustments, such as the Gradient Map and Curves, to achieve a believable tone. Darkening the image to such an extent that there's hardly any detail left in the shadows is part of the technique, and we can further the effect using brushes to alter the balance of light on layer masks. The deep-blue tone is created with the Gradient Map adjustment and some of the photographic presets in Photoshop CC. Selections then come into play, swapping out the day sky for a star-filled nightscape. 14 Photoshop adjustment tools to retouch your images By the end of this Photoshop tutorial, you should have all the skills and know-how you need to transform any daytime image into a night-time masterpiece. Download the files for this tutorial. 01. Begin with the Gradient Map adjustment Find the adjustment layer icon and select Gradient Map Load up the start image 'pix_lighthouse_1872998.jpg' into Photoshop, and head to the Layers palette. Locate the adjustment layer icon and select Gradient Map. 02. Initial tint Pick Blue 1 from the Photographic Toning presets Inside the Gradient Map editor, select the Photographic Toning set of presets from the drop-down menu. From the array of thumbnail gradients, select the preset Blue 1 and hit OK. This will tint the image with a light blue all over. Get Adobe Creative Cloud here 03. Black of night Bring the opacity down to 80% then add a Curves adjustment Lower the Opacity of the Gradient Map layer to 80% to reduce the effect slightly, head back to the adjustment layers and add a Curves adjustment. Darken the image by dragging the curve downward from the centre. The idea is to darken the shadows and midtones here. 04. Darken even further Darken the image further with a Levels adjustment Add a Levels adjustment layer above the Curves adjustment. Inside the Levels dialog, set the midtones marker to 0.95. Then, under Output Levels, set to 0 and 196. This adjustment should darken the image further, making it appear as though it is night. 05. Select the sky Draw a rough selection around the sky Now we've converted the image to night, we need to swap out the sky. Press W for the Quick Selection Tool and click on the image's layer. Drag a rough selection over the sky and around the lighthouse. 06. Improve the selection Use the Quick Mask tool to refine your selection Hold opt/alt to remove areas of the selection that spill over onto the rocks and lighthouse. Press Q to load the Quick Mask Mode and preview the selected area. Use the Brush Tool to refine the edge of the mask, and press Q to return to normal view. 07. Save the selection Save the selection as an alpha channel Go to the Select menu and down to Save Selection. In the pop-up menu, set Document to the current image, and set Channel to New. Leave Name as blank and hit OK to add the selection as a new Alpha Channel (Window > Channels to view). 08. Quick copy and paste Paste in a new sky Load up the image 'pix_milkyway_2181250.jpg' from the FileSilo and press cmd/ctrl+A to select the entire image, then cmd/ctrl+C to copy. Head back to the lighthouse image and press cmd/ctrl+V to paste the new sky onto the image. Move this image to the top of the layer stack. 09. Apply a layer mask Use a layer mask to fit the new sky into the image In the Channels palette, cmd/ctrl-click on the thumbnail of the Alpha Channel created in step 7. On the new sky layer, add a layer mask to apply the selection. Click on the small chain link symbol between the mask and the thumbnail, and press cmd/ctrl+T to resize the sky to fit over the area. 10. New Curves adjustment Darken the new sky with a Curves adjustment Add a new Curves adjustment above the new sky layer and clip them together (opt/alt-click between their layers). Lower the brightness of the new sky layer by pulling down the centre of the Curves adjustment. Adding three points along the line and lowering them all slightly provides more accuracy. 11. Paint in light Use the Brush tool to paint in the lighthouse light Add in a new layer and select the Brush Tool. Set the tool to black and 0% Hardness and paint in the small light for the lighthouse. To choose the colour of the light, double-click on the layer to load the Layer Style menu, and then select the Color Overlay option. 12. Add a Color Overlay Change the colour of the light to an orangey yellow Change the colour of the Color Overlay style to an orangey yellow and set its Mode to Screen. Setting colour this way will enable you to change it later on, if needed. Hit OK and lower the Opacity of the layer down to 85% to fade it slightly. 13. Blur the light Soften the light with a Gaussian Blur Head to the Filter menu and down to Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius slider to 14px and hit OK to soften the light in the lighthouse. Load up the Free Transform controls (cmd/ctrl+T) and resize or rotate the light to fit within the lighthouse. 14. Create the reflection Duplicate the light, flip it vertically and move it into position Press cmd/ctrl+J to duplicate the light layer onto a separate layer. Go to Edit> Transform> Flip Vertical to rotate the light and flip it. Use the Move Tool to position it over the reflection of the lighthouse in the pool in the foreground. 15. Light rays Create the shape of a light beam with the Polygonal Lasso tool To add the beams of light from the lighthouse, on a new layer (cmd/ctrl+shift+N) create a long rectangle using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L). The shape should extend out from the lighthouse and across the entire image. 16. Fill with colour Fill the selection with a light yellow and reduce its opacity Go to Edit > Fill and choose Color under Contents. Set this to a yellow colour that is similar to, but lighter than, the colour used for the main light in the lighthouse. Hit OK, then cmd/ctrl+D to remove the selection, and then reduce the layer's Opacity setting down to 70%. 17. Soften and colourise Use a Gaussian Blur to soften the beam and add a colour overlay if necessary To soften the light beam, go to Filter and down to Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius for the blur to 36px and hit OK. Double-click on the layer and add a Color Overlay style to change the tone of the light, if you think it's required. 18. Double the light Brighten the beam by duplicating it Duplicate this layer (cmd/ctrl+J) and then change the Color Overlay style to a lighter yellow, almost white. Set the layer's blend mode to Screen in the Layers palette to blend into the light beam underneath. 19. Resize the second beam Resize the second beam to create a brighter inner beam Shrink the second light beam so that it's smaller than the one underneath. Lower the Opacity of this layer to 50% to make it fainter. The result should be two light beams coming out of the lighthouse, one on top of the other. 20. Duplicate and reposition Duplicate and flip the light beams to make a reflection Group the two light beam layers together and press cmd/ctrl+J to duplicate the group. Flip the group vertically (Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical) and position so the light beams are included in the reflection of the lighthouse. 21. Control with masks Tidy up the reflection with a layer mask Add a layer mask to the group and brush away the light that falls outside the water. Also, on the Curves adjustment layer's mask, use a low Opacity brush over the sea in the foreground to reveal more detail on the water. 22. Explore a different approach Fancy trying a different approach? In the video above, Ben Secret walks through his technique for how to make a day picture look like night in Photoshop. He starts by adding a Curves adjustment layer, and altering the balance of levels to make the light cooler. Next, he creates a soft, moonlit look with another Curves layer and a mask. Finally he balances the colouring and adds in a moon and clouds. Watch the full video to see how it's done. Related articles: How to use textures in Photoshop The 61 best free Photoshop brushes How to use Smart layers in Photoshop View the full article

The dark months of the year are a good chance to hunker down and build your knowledge before spring brings opportunities that will distract you. To that end, this month’s tools focus heavily on learning resources. If you haven’t got into progressive web apps yet, there are two books from great writers that will get you up to date and show you what can be achieved. There’s also a performance checklist with all the resources you need to learn about speeding up your sites, some design case studies that show how things were done at some big sites, and a huge survey exploring how design has impacted business performance at thousands of organisations. 01. Best of 2018 UX Design Case Studies In-depth accounts of real-world UX design scenarios This round-up from the Case Study Club provides some fantastic learnings from some of the most interesting web design case studies of the last year. Every scenario has its unique challenges and constraints, and these deep-dive articles explore how some of the industry’s top designers handled their particular project. You’ll read about the process of redesigning the New York Times homepage, Chrome’s new look, the Mailchimp dashboard and lots more. Web design tools to help you work smarter in 2019 02. Velocity A ready made design system to help you get off the ground Building your own design system is an intimidating task, so using something like this as a framework to get started makes life a lot easier. Velocity is a UI kit and design system for a fictional self-driving car company that works with InVision Studio, Sketch and Photoshop. It contains 30 screens for common app functions such as sign-in, settings, map, chat and so on, and they come in small, medium and large sizes so you can see how components will work on different devices. There are over 70 components and over 300 UI elements that you can mix and match to build your app. 03. FBT An internationalisation framework for JavaScript If your website or app needs to work in different languages, FBT can help. It’s a JavaScript internationalisation framework that facilitates grammatically correct translated texts in dynamic applications. It’s used by Facebook, and you can find more useful tools and projects over at Facebook Open Source, Facebook’s developer community. You’ll find all kinds of useful tools related to artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, security and more. 04. Static Site Boilerplate An ordered workflow for static sites This great boilerplate provides an ordered workflow for creating static sites and has a built-in development server – no need to have one already on your computer – so you can get up and running with minimal fuss. Your code is automatically linted, concatenated and minified, you can use Sass or Less without vendor prefixes, and images are automatically optimised. There are various other useful features that make life easier, and overall it’s a handy tool for doing static sites without reinventing the wheel. What is Sass? 05. Front-end performance checklist 2019 A thorough round-up of resources and advice for web performance best practice For the last few years, Smashing Magazine have been keeping this massive resource on web performance and it’s been freshly updated for 2019 with the best advice for making your site as fast as possible. It covers everything from changing the culture of your organisation to prioritise performance to dealing with the technical challenges and trade-offs required to keep the functionality you need while shaving seconds off load times. Today’s web is slower and clunkier than ever because of heavy, poorly optimised pages. Let’s make it better! Also read: 5 ways to speed up your websites and apps 06. Learn JavaScript Interactive lessons for learning JavaScript basics Jad Joubran, a Google Developer Expert and Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, has created this online interactive JavaScript course that’s suitable for beginner developers with basic knowledge of any programming language. You learn JavaScript basics via a series of challenges that are based on real-world projects to ensure your learning is practical and relevant to modern applications. The first 40 lessons and challenges are free. 07. The New Design Frontier Data from thousands of companies on the relationship between design and business outcomes If you need some hard data to convince leaders at your organisation of the transformative power of design, this industry wide survey from InVision on the impact of design practices on business performance will help. It has data from 2,200 organisations spanning 24 industries from all over the world. There is information from small businesses, large enterprises, non-profits and even governments, and each has reported how design has reshaped their products and practices. The data explains the extent to which different companies have benefited from greater integration of design in their business (it varies a lot), and there’s analysis that seeks to understand why the efforts of some companies have been more effective than others, so you can learn how to use design in a way that has the most impact on your bottom line. 08. Pixel Mob Free-to-use images from various sources Pixel Mob is an aggregator that pulls in high-quality royalty free images from multiple sources including Unsplash, Pixabay and Pexels. It serves up a great selection of images and also suggests related search terms that might help you find what you’re looking for. It will definitely save you time if you find yourself opening multiple tabs and comparing results from different services. 09. Progressive Web Apps by Jason Grigsby Learn about the advantages of using Progressive Web Apps Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) look and behave like native apps, but you don’t need to deal with app stores because they’re web-based. Your app is available to all devices and you’re free from the restrictions of proprietary platforms, so there’s a strong case for using them – but they come with a different set of challenges. In this book, Jason Grigsby explains how to make the case for PWAs in your organisation, how to grow your audience and how to create the most value for your users. 10. Progressive Web Apps: The Future of the Mobile Web A free ebook with some great case studies Here’s another great resource on Progressive Web Apps – this time it’s a free ebook that’s the result of a collaboration between Microsoft, Google and Awwwards. You’ll learn why PWAs are important, how to build one and how to assess the results. Usefully, this book explores some interesting case studies from Lancome, Trivago, BMW and Pinterest, so you can see some real-world results and learn from their successes. It’s also useful data you can use to make the case for PWAs in your organisation. Read more: 10 best new web design tools for December 2018 The 7 deadly sins of web design 27 steps to the perfect website layout View the full article

No conversation about branding in the digital age is complete without Instagram. This social media platform makes for a powerful branding tool, and that's what Postable Instagram Automation Charlie Plan: Lifetime Subscription aims to capitalise on. Designed with bloggers, marketers, and entrepreneurs in mind, this Instagram automation tool allows you to schedule posts in advance, thus automating and streamlining the maintenance of your Instagram page. You can even automatically follow, like, comment, and message other users, and the included analytics reports help you track the growth of your social following. Try out Postable Instagram Automation Charlie Plan: Lifetime Subscription for just $39 – that's 88 per cent off the regular price. Related articles: A designer's guide to Instagram Stories How to make money on Instagram as a creative How to change the font in your Instagram bio View the full article

The creative industries are famously competitive, and getting your first design job can feel like a bit of a minefield. In this post, we offer some top tips you can follow in order to get your foot in the door. The aim of this article is to help you arm yourself with the essential tools you need to snag a job at a design agency. While specifics have changed over the years, the main principle remains: you need to show off your talent and amplify the message that hiring you would benefit the agency. Let's get started. 01. Smarten up your portfolio First and foremost, you need to get your design resumé up to scratch. While you may need to print work to bring to an interview, we're mainly talking digital here. Make sure you use this space to show off your best work. Bad or partially finished content will just make you look amateur, so clear out any useless works-in-progress that don’t show you in a great light. Creating a portfolio of work to show before you've actually started your career is a tricky business. For advice on this, take a look at our article on how to start building up your design portfolio. 02. Network creatively Networking, both online and in real life, is essential The idea of networking might not fill you with joy, but it's a vital way to get your name known and your skills out into the world. Social media has made it much easier to network online, but you need to be smart about how you use it. Start off by following these golden rules for social media. If you're going to include social links on your website, make sure you keep those channels professional. Be yourself, but spruce things up a bit and keep the focus on your work, or industry discussions. You want to come across as human, but there's no need to bare your soul. Of course, you're also going to need to make connections in person occasionally. We have a whole article dedicated to that: how to network successfully. 03. Harness your creativity Which candidate would you interview: one who sent a plain text resumé, or the above? You need to treat looking for work and applying for jobs as a design brief in itself. Show that you are what you’re trying to portray: creativity. For inspiration, have a look at our roundup of the most creative resumés around, or our article on inspired self-promo ideas. All the examples featured here showcase times designers have really thought outside of the box in order to stand out. Let your particular skillset drive what you produce. If you’re a graphic designer, make something as visual as you can. If you’re an illustrator, pick up your pencil and paper and turn that into something that represents your style. Skilled in motion graphics? Set about crafting the perfect showreel that outlines your skills as well as your visual experience. This is your chance to combine the two wonderfully indulgent worlds of creativity and narcissism. So get to it! 04. Use portfolio sites Get your work on sites like Behance, and link it up with your own blog or online portfolio Behance, DeviantArt, Dribbble and Cargo are all great tools for getting your work out there. But just uploading some pics to these sites is no guarantee anyone will look at them. So make sure you also match your uploads with supporting posts on your personal blog and/or online design portfolio. It's good to be active on the web and use a range of channels to get your message out – after all, you never know where your next opportunity might come from. However, there are some caveats to this. First, don't prioritise quantity over quality. And second, make sure you're not focusing on sharing your message at the expense of actually creating great work. 05. Get experience Many people find that paid design internships are a great way to get a foot into the industry. If you snag a good one, what you learn and the connections you make can be invaluable. Of course, the trick is turning this into a more long-term gig – and for that, take a look at our article on how to transform a design internship into a job. A slightly more controversial approach is offering to work for free, via volunteer work. While many designers will find themselves offering their services out of the goodness of their hearts (and in a bid to get something into their portfolio), we advise caution here. Working for free has detrimental knock-on effects for the whole industry, so think before you sign up. 06. Do your interview prep They've seen your portfolio already, so bring something else to show your interviewers. A sketchbook, maybe? So. You've tidied up your online presence, made a tasteful yet eye-catching design portfolio, and found a job you’d love. You've applied, got the call, and they want you to attend a job interview. It's showtime. If there’s one piece of advice we'd give at this point, it's to be yourself. That goes for what you should wear. The majority of agencies don't expect their employees to wear formal businesswear – suits, jackets, and so on – so neither should you. That said, it’s still an interview, so they don’t want to see you in your battered trainers and ripped jeans. Just look the best you can, and keep a hint of your personality in how you present yourself. Ensure you prepare some decent material for the day as well. The interviewer will have already seen your portfolio, but here's your chance to add some weight to what you've already shown them. Agencies often like to present you with a brief to work on before the interview. If that's not the case, then do something nice you can leave with them. If you can relate it to the agency's brand and it shows off your skills, then you’re on to a winner. For more tips on interview, see our post on tips for design interview success. 07. Go the extra mile Following this advice alone will certainly get a good way down that long and winding road of establishing yourself a career path, but it might not quite snag you a job. The extra 10 per cent that lands you the perfect job comes down to you. Think about the type of person you'd be looking for if you were in your interviewer's shoes: a passionate, versatile, excited, self-motivated person who can work as a part of a team and is willing to go that extra mile to achieve real world results. It's likely that your interviewer has considered lots of people for just one role, so you need to stand out. With this in mind, don’t be afraid to mix things up a little and step outside of your comfort zone. Read more: Top designers reveal their first paid commissions Build a better personal brand How to become a junior designer View the full article

A researcher who discovered a flaw letting him steal passwords in MacOS is not sharing his findings with Apple without a macOS bug bounty program. View the full article

Graphic designer and Type Tasting founder Sarah Hyndman has been finding ways to make typography fun and exciting for a mainstream audience for years. Previous explorations have looked at how fonts taste and feel, but for her new type psychology dating game, What's Your Type: The Type Dating Game, Hyndman has started a conversation using a language we can all understand: the language of love. Designed to test how type-savvy you are and to help players understand type in a totally new way, What's Your Type is a new card game from Laurence King Publishing that explains font 'personalities'. Players can choose from four different styles of play, including a typographic twist on the ever-popular 'snog, marry, avoid'. Buy What's Your Type: The Type Dating Game for $19.99/£15.99 here The set includes 50 cards, each featuring a different font. By making a selection, or turning down an unlucky typeface, players find out about what attracts them to a certain style, and even what their choice says about their character. It's a whole new way to think about font pairings. Each card includes a humorous character breakdown of a certain font "I started researching type and perception a few years ago," Hyndman tells us. "One of the earliest things I wanted to find out was whether I’m the only person who sees personalities in typefaces, like a weird form of typographic synaesthesia, or whether everybody does." To test her theory, Hyndman created a font census based on the results of online surveys. And while she discovered that most people do indeed see personalities in typefaces, she was surprised to learn that, for the most part, we all project similar identities into them. 76 free fonts for designers There are, of course, exceptions to the rules. "When I first started to look at the results I was perplexed to see Bauhaus described using words like 'silly, a clown, friendly, doughnuts'," Hyndman explains. "As a graphic designer I associate this typeface with architecture, the art school of the same name and an ideology that inspired Modernist design. I was both mortified for Bauhaus, and worried that somehow the survey results had mixed themselves up." "However, on looking closer, I found that there are some typefaces, like Bauhaus, that might receive different answers from designers and non-designers. As designers, we often hold a typeface in higher regard due to its history, but a non-designer will judge it purely on its appearance." What's Your Type creator Sarah Hyndman was surprised by how different people interpreted typefaces What's Your Type is more than just a fun way to essentially swipe left or right on typefaces though. Each card details the top three personality traits for a font, so they also help designers decide on an appropriate typeface for their project. Speaking about how she turned fonts into dating profiles, Hyndman reveals that she spent nearly a month behaving like a typographic method actor, "I 'got into the head' of different fonts and wrote their dating profiles in what I imagined would be their voices. When I got stuck I found my friends were happy to make suggestions, so this led to a few very funny evenings of smutty typographic innuendos." However, this doesn't mean that What's Your Type is targeted at typography nerds. "I’ve played it with lots of people and it’s the non-designers who really have the most fun," Hyndman adds. "It's great to watch people discover that they have really clear ideas about font personalities, they just might not have realised it. And how they’re delighted if what's written on the card matches their ideas." "What's even more fun is that they get to giggle at us designers while we agonise over the choices of which font to date, ditch or friend — especially if the dates dealt are Curlz, Papyrus and Comic Sans." Buy What's Your Type: The Type Dating Game for $19.99/£15.99 here Related articles: 5 fonts we love to hate (but maybe shouldn't) 20 typography terms you might not know Discover your 2019 Pantone with this quiz View the full article

The elevated privilege flaw exists in Microsoft Exchange and would allow a remote attacker to impersonate an administrator. View the full article

In this tutorial we will go over some basic principles that will help communicate the idea of large scale in your own pieces. I'm using pencils and oils for this tutorial, but you can also apply these principles to your digital artwork. Conveying a sense of scale isn’t just a matter of drawing huge objects within your scene. Those objects must appear correct relative to other elements, through the use of value, colour theory, repetition, viewpoint and so on. Photographic lenses and their relationship to apparent scale is a little-understood aspect of illustration and will also be covered. As always, basic lighting design, colour choices and composition will strengthen your work. How to draw: the best drawing tutorials A couple of the matte paintings I worked on for the film The Fifth Element are, to my eye now, failures of scale. Perhaps one day I’ll correct them, but for now my goal is to help you avoid some of the mistakes I made back then. This is by no means a comprehensive study of scale, but hopefully a good beginning. So let’s get started... Get free admission to VERTEX, the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists 01. Determine a point of view Think of the environment you want to draw like a director shooting a scene This is one of the most difficult aspects of all illustration: where do I view my scene/subject from? What point of view (POV) best communicates the concept? Would we paint a portrait of a person from directly above or from the floor? Of course not. However, a lower angle looking up at a large object quickly conveys height. This can also be communicated from above, by inducing our own fear of falling! Which one is right for the scene will depend upon the original idea for the work. When creating any scene, I do my best to visualise myself within the environment and wonder where would I be if I were to ‘shoot’ the scene with my camera. Where would I be standing as the action unfolds? These two sketches show two takes on the same scenario. One is a lower view from the position of the figures travelling towards the rock formation, while the second is from atop the rock looking down. Both convey scale, so it’s now a matter of seeing which POV best fits the story. For tips on sketching, see our 20 sketching tips to help you make your first marks. 02. Choose the right lens Lenses allow details to be left to the imagination This tip requires a whole article for itself, but suffice to say that longer focal length lenses, for example a 150mm zoom, provide a visual compression of perspective, a flattening of elements within the scene and starts to show a truer indication of relative scale. One side effect is the cropping of objects beyond the picture frame that would otherwise be visible with a wide-angle shot. A longer lens enables you to visually edit out most of the information in front of you, yet still show an enormous portion of the landscape within the scene. Anything that breaks the frame can be left to the imagination and is usually perceived to be larger than it might actually be. I use this to effect in my painting, Desert Wreck. Different lenses edit out certain details In the sketch above you can see the original painting frame and the view if I had composed with an imaginary wide-angle lens. If you'd like to use real, rather than imaginary lenses to capture a scene and then work from a photo, then don't miss our guide to the best cameras available right now. 03. Repeat objects Different versions of the same object help to establish the size of a scene Here, you can see how the repetition of objects work in the scene. While we don’t see the foreground ship and landing platform as complete objects, there’s enough visual information to let the viewer know that the docked ship at the platform in the background is a repeat of the first. The tiny figures seen on the foreground platform convey the size of the docking environment. You can also see this principle applied in my painting Rendezvous (tip #9). 04. Use values to create a varied atmosphere Light overrides shadow when it hits distant objects Value is one of the easiest ways to help convey scale of objects in the distance. Atmosphere through dust, pollution and smoke lifts the value of shadows as they recede into the distance. The amount varies depending on how thick the atmosphere is and where it’s concentrated. Light rays reflecting off objects within a shadowed area don’t have the power to overcome the intensity of the light striking the atmosphere itself, which is between you and the distant shadowed areas. Light hitting countless atmospheric particles overrides any detail that might otherwise be seen within those shadows. To see this principle in action, refer to the lighter shadowed areas of the background wreck (the circled #4 area in the painting). 05. Play with the same object at different sizes A viewer can piece together the scale mentally once the same object is used twice at different sizes This relates to the repetition of objects within a scene. What looks like a small detail on a distant object can turn out to be a large feature when seen up close. The juxtaposition of a human figure against such ‘minor’ details will also strengthen the overall sense of scale. Take the beams in the image above: the figures on the foreground platform attached to the heavy beam gives the viewer an idea of the scale of the beams seen within the belly of the mid-ground ship. 06. Vary your line weight Even the smallest sketch can communicate an epic scale This is related to tip #4’s value and atmosphere advice, in that you want to convey distance and scale even at the smallest thumbnail stage. Varying your line thickness and weight of shading will help quickly communicate atmosphere and scale. Use a harder 4H pencil and a light touch for background objects, and go for a softer 4B for the foreground details. To give you an idea of how much visual information even a thumbnail sketch with varied line weights can convey, this image is only 12cm across. 07. Contrast foreground and background details Don't let detailed backgrounds overpower the viewer and confuse the sense of distance The level of detail apparent in the foreground tower provides all of the information needed to tell us what the details might be on the distant mid-ground tower. There’s no need to paint things in distant objects if you can describe them in close-up elements. If you need to paint distant details, keep them confined to the lit areas of the object, and suggest them loosely and sparingly. 08. Minimise details within shadows Details in shadows only need to be suggested at slightly The amount of detail should also be kept to a minimum within shadows. In my painting Dust Devil, the details are merely suggested in the shadows and are progressively reduced by the time I get to the background vehicle. Even though the distance from foreground figure to the background vehicle isn’t that great, I still want to keep the details to a minimum. This helps keep the focus on my main character. 09. Convey scale with a human figure Human figures are a convenient reference point we can all relate to Placing a human figure into a scene is an easy way to help convey scale relative to other objects in the environment, even if those objects are fantastical in nature. In my painting Rendezvous, the figure next to the wheels of the foreground rover enables the viewer to understand the true scale of the background rover – even though we don’t see the entirety of the foreground one. 10. Introduce a range of textures Keep textures detailed up close, and loose when further away Texture can provide an artificial sense of detail and thus a closeness that you may not want in distant objects. The sky appears to us to be texture free and smooth compared to the rocks at our feet. Here, I’ve kept the background atmosphere smooth so as not to draw attention to itself. It can be hard to eliminate this when painting with oils on canvas, but very easy to control digitally. As the rock cliffs recede into the background, the amount of detail and texture is reduced. 11. Make edges do the heavy lifting Soft edges can enhance overlapping objects Decreasing sharpness where it’s not required can help to separate foreground objects from background objects, particularly where those elements overlap. John Singer Sargent was the master of edges – study his paintings! 12. Use a neutral colour palette Distant objects are best painted with a more neutral palette With the understanding that colours will decrease in intensity the further away they are, communicating scale and depth can be helped by limiting the choice of colours of distant objects to a more neutral palette. Restrict the more intense colours for your focal point and allow the receding elements to progressively become less intense. In my painting, Sky Burial #3, I set out to showcase the bold colours of the foreground wreckage against predominately muted colours. A lot of landscape painting is primarily the art of painting with a variety of greys that have been shifted towards a particular colour. Think of a grey of the required value mixed with a hint of colour, rather than a raw bright colour dulled down. It’s faster to start with a neutral grey and tint it with pigment – traditionally at least – than drag a full-blown colour down to what’s needed. 13. Bear lighting design in mind Focal points don't always need to be illuminated Good lighting design isn’t restricted to scale, but is needed in all good picture-making, so I’m briefly covering the topic here. I start with a light/no light situation, rendering either digitally or traditionally, and establish what will be in light and what will be in shadow. This is done at the lowest resolution level of the picture. So in this sketch there are two values: white for light and a grey (pencil or marker) for shadow. The justification of that lighting scenario can come later. Don’t get hung up on the ‘how’ at this point – concern yourself only with the design of the relationships between light and shadow. The focal point is not always in light and can very often be in shadow against light. 14. Keep it simple Basic compositions and pictures can achieve really dynamic effects This tip is pretty self-explanatory but it’s always good to be reminded of it. Keep it simple. Simple composition, simple concept, simple execution, simple tools and materials and simple presentation. Those points combined will, more often than not, produce powerful results. They are also achievable, which means you’ll finish the piece and that’s the point. Finish the work, learn from it and move on to the next one. This article was originally published in issue 167 of ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 167 or subscribe. Related articles: The best pencils for colouring, drawing and sketching 10 essential oil painting tips and techniques 80 best Adobe Illustrator tutorials View the full article

Emoji fans will have a smile on their face when they see the final list of 230 new emojis approved by Unicode Consortium. Set to appear on major platforms later in the year, the new emojis include greater representation for people with disabilities, as well as more inclusive gender couples and a wider range of skin tones. The update, known as Unicode 12.0, is the sixth major emoji release, with the last taking place way back in 2014. Emojis have come a long way since their humble beginnings as pieces of pixel art, and anyone keeping a close eye on them will know that updates to skin tones, hair colour and more gender inclusive designs have been introduced gradually over the last five years. However Unicode's announcement yesterday suggests that the documentation for all of the new emojis is ready to roll out in one go. The batch is made up of 59 individual new emojis, but when all 171 gender variations and skin tones are taken into account, users will be able to choose from 230 options. Check out the full set of 2019 emojis in the image below. Click the image to see the new emojis in all their glory As you can see, on top of gender neutral people and increased disability representation, 2019 will also see emojis for waffles, Hindu temples and even a drop of blood. There's also some new animals – including a flamingo, a skunk and an otter – some rather grimy-looking pants, and an erm... an axe. The possibilities are endless... The good folks over at Emojipedia have also previewed the differences in emoji designs as they appear across Android and iOS. If you like the look of these emojis, you won't have to wait long to start using them. Unicode Consortium will release them on 5 March 2019, and they're expected to appear on major operating systems in the second half of the year. Related articles: How to design app icons Discover the origins of everyday emoji Custom emoji builder lets you design how you feel View the full article

Your DSLR can be a great tool, but it's a waste if you're not using it to its fullest potential. That's why every photographer needs to own The Essential Digital Photography Master Class Bundle. You'll get an introduction to digital photography, and you'll learn how to use the awesome editing tool Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 (get Adobe Creative Cloud here). Transform your pictures from average snaps to one-of-a-kind masterpieces with this crash course that every amateur and professional photographer can learn something from. The Essential Digital Photography Master Class Bundle is yours for only $19 – that's 90 per cent off the regular price. Related articles: The best camera for creatives in 2019 15 ways to improve your photography skills Photography cheat sheet helps you take better photos View the full article

You're reading Gmail Big Redesign for Android and iOS, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! After it was announced that Google is pushing a new redesign, we should definitely take a look to see the differences between Gmail 8 version and the new one (Gmail version 9.x). The important thing is that both Android and … View the full article

This issue, along with our usual reviews, inspiration and regular Q and A sections, we review the Wacom Cintiq engine and the latest version of Ziva, teach you how to create cityscapes in 3dsMax and master colour theory. Buy 3D World 244 today We take a look inside the issue to find out what else is in store... Feature: Discover Megascans Discover Quixel Megascans and what they can offer your projects. We talk to Quixel to find out what makes Megascans, along with its suite of bridging and creation tools, so special. These tools are rapidly gaining popularity amongst the CG community. Feature: Shadow Go behind the scenes on the historical action film Trevor Hogg delves behind the scenes of this historical visual effects spectacular, uncovering some of the tools and techniques used to solve problems in recreating some breathtaking action sequences. Training: Master colour theory Master colour theory and have an emotional impact on your viewers In this tutorial, we show you how to master your colour theory, allowing you to control your viewers emotion response, making your work more impactful. Feature: Replicas Delve into the making of Replicas In this feature, we uncover the tools and techniques used by the artists behind the visual effects of Keanu Reeve's latest action film. Training: Create cityscapes with 3dsMax and Railclone Create cityscapes with 3dsMax Subscribe to 3D World today Veteran trainer and 3D World regular Paul Roberts returns this issue to teach you how to create sprawling cityscapes using 3dsMax and Railclone, in order to easily distribute your assets across a large scene. Read more: Become a better 3D artist The 10 best 3D movies of 2019 The best new 3D tools for 2019 View the full article

Eleven critical bugs will be patched as part of the February Android Security Bulletin. View the full article