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A pastel is a stick of pigment that you hold in your hand, and apply directly to the surface. Like trying to choose the best pencils, it can be confusing knowing which pastels to buy, with different brands available, all with different grades of hardness and varying prices. However, after a little bit of experimentation, artists often find that they use a few different types, according to their subject matter, type of mark making, and the size of their work. How to draw: the best drawing tutorials Artist-quality pastels tend to have a colour range that includes deep darks, bright lights, and a range of saturated and neutral colours. So if your paintings are looking a little flat, and lacking in depth, it may be that you need to invest in some better quality pastels. But don't let price put you off. You don’t need to buy a whole set to find which pastels suit you. You can get some of each type and experiment with different subject matter, sketching or painting, rough textures or soft blending. Remember, price usually reflects quality. Hard pastels and pastel pencils Hard pastels and pastel pencils are great for sketching and underpainting Hard pastels and pastel pencils are great for sketching and underpainting. They tend to be squarer in section with a high proportion of binder. Conté crayons are very hard, wonderfully versatile, and have sharp edges to give a variety of marks. Inscribe pastels are cheap, ideal for beginners, but are not lightfast. Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencils produce fine, delicate detail. Soft pastels Medium-softness pastels have more pigment than the harder varieties Medium-softness pastels, such as Royal Talens Rembrandt and SAA Artists Soft Pastels, have more pigment than the harder varieties. They are useful for work that requires good coverage and the pigment is not too soft, and are ideal for crisp mark-making for subjects such as animals, where fine lines and textures are needed. They tend to be round, but narrower than very soft pastels. Professional-quality pastels Professional-quality pastels are made with rich, high-quality pigments Professional-quality pastels are made with rich, high-quality pigments, and less binder. This results in wonderful creamy textures, with a huge range of saturated colours and subtle hues. Brands include PanPastels, which are applied with sponges and tools, Sennelier and Schmincke Pastels, and Unison Pastels, which are handmade in the UK. Professional pastels cost more but are excellent value for money. Read more: The best office stationery for working from home 10 sketching tips to help you make your first marks How to draw a wolf View the full article

The research team said it has shared its findings with law enforcement and victims are being notified. View the full article

Cinema 4D is one of those 3D applications that has grown over the years to cater to users of all different kinds, from shader builders and texture artists to motion graphics and simulation experts, character modellers and animators. 14 essential Cinema 4D plugins It's a vast and capable tool, but that comes with a learning curve and although it's one of the friendlier applications, you'll need to put some time in – and study some Cinema 4D tutorials – to master all it offers. With that in mind, we talked to members of Cinema 4D's large, thriving community to discover the best ways to get the most out of the software. Read on for advice that will hopefully give you a leg up the learning ladder, boost your skills and make you more productive so you can concentrate on being creative. 01. Access anything "As a Cinema 4D user myself I'll kick things off with my favourite top tip for any situation," says 3D World's editor, Rob Redman. "Cinema 4D has a multitude of options, menus, tools and tags. Memorising them all is a big task, so while you get working on that there is a simple way to access just about anything in Cinema 4D. Hold shift and C. A little pop-up input field will appear at your cursor. Start typing the command you want and anything that has the characters you typed will appear in a list. Select it and hit enter. You're done." 02. Consolidate takes Use the Object Manager to consolidate your takes "Takes are a great way of quickly working through look development in one scene file," says 3D motion designer Jason Poley. "Being able to change a model's position, materials and visibility on a take-by-take basis to iterate ideas is extremely handy. I'll often end up with five to seven takes as I work through ideas and looks. "To consolidate all these takes down once a look's approved, select the take you want, then select everything in the Object Manager. Right-click and select Remove from All Takes. This moves all the changes in that take to the main take. Delete your other takes to tidy up a move into production." 03. Organise with layers Use layers to stop things getting over-complicated "Layers are great for keeping your Object Manager under control in larger scenes. Having a system from the start of a project will help if things get complicated later," adds Poley. "Create a layer in the Layer Manager or right-click with objects selected and select Add to New Layer. Drag from the Object Manager to add to layers or hold down ctrl/cmd to add an object and all its children. "Having the ability to lock, solo or hide different aspects of your scene can make working smoother and faster. The usual layer configuration is: Camera, Lighting, Hero Geo, BG Geo and Sims/Particles," he explains. 04. Shrink wrap retop A quick retop can save you a lot of modelling time Glen Southern, of digital design studio SouthernGFX, says that one of the main ways to create stunning models these days is to sculpt the initial form in programs like ZBrush or Mudbox and then retopologise the sculpt. "This is the process for creating new geometry that is more animation friendly, more predictable with contiguous edge loops and much lower in polygon count, making it more efficient. You can of course do this in Cinema with tools like the PolyPen," he explains. "To make it even better," he continues, "you can download scripts like the HB Modelling Bundle that make Cinema 4D into a perfect retopology solution, enabling you to draw new geometry right onto your sculpt." 05. Use sculpt tools when modelling Cinema 4D's sculpt tools are ideal for perfecting your models "With Maxon developing a huge range of sculpting features for Cinema it would be silly not to utilise the toolset wherever you can," says Southern. "When you are modelling and you want to tweak an area with great accuracy, you used to have the Magnet tool and a Soft Selection falloff. Now you simply switch to the Sculpting mode, increase the subdivision levels and use the Grab and Pull tools. This is a dream for organic modellers and can be just as useful for hard-surface work. "Add to that tools like Inflate, Knife (scoring the surface) and Flatten and you have a pretty comprehensive set of tools to adjust a mesh once you have created the underlying geometry." 06. UV unwrap everything Separate your model into good UV sets and you'll thank yourself later Southern also recommends UV unwrapping a model. "Most people think a UV unwrap is just to allow you to map textures onto your mesh. This is of course true, but there are lots of scenarios where having a good set of UV coordinates helps. "Normal maps are used in most modern games, and of course you need UVs for those. There may be lots of times where you'll need to give selection sets to be used in composition further down the line. Having a model separated into good UV sets enables you to more easily select the areas you want, and not just in Cinema 4D. For example, you may need to take a model into ZBrush and polygroup it. If you have UVs you can do this with a single click. The UV tools in BodyPaint are pretty comprehensive and you can even pelt map. 07. Quads, triangles and n-gons Ditch the n-gons and Booleans for a smoother workflow "One of the big problems we have is that we often get asked to work with models that have been made in Cinema 4D, and they just don't work well subdivided or in VR programs," says Southern. "It is all too easy to just model something to look good and forget about the underlying technical requirements. Get into the habit of making things out of quads and triangles. "N-gons (polygons with more than four sides) aren't as big of a problem as they used to be, but you are still better to clean them out of your models. "Booleans (meshing two models together) leave bad edges that don't deform. Get into the habit of retopologising these areas and make them good for the whole pipeline." 08. Start with a basic idea If you're planning a headshot, don't bother modelling the rest of the body "I wanted to create a very fast doodle character concept, along the lines of a flamethrower zombie soldier trooper," recalls industrial and concept designer Michael Tschernjajew. "I started by researching older projects and picked out some geometry parts that I could reuse for building and filling up the body parts. "At the start it's good if you have an initial 'layout' so model some very raw upper body parts, just for layout purposes. If your plan is to do a headshot, don't waste time modelling anything below chest level." 09. Bash together Make your life easier with some creative recycling "After setting my character layout, I start to fill out the upper body with bash parts. I do some additional modelling as well, for the spine parts and also some hydraulics for the neck," explains Tschernjajew. "You can use anything from older projects that look interesting, as long as you arrange it together in an interesting way. But don't exaggerate it – the parts should have a function on the character when you think of it in real life." 10. Detailing Weld on some extra geometry to make your model a bit more interesting "For the skull, I used a model that I had purchased for some medical stuff I did in the past. To make it more interesting I cut the skull into three parts and added a bit of geometry to the forehead," says Tschernjajew. "This was done very quickly by welding geometry together. Thinking of the final image, I decided to put some additional stuff behind the character to gain more depth. As I knew that I wanted to use depth of field in the rendering, the weapon did not need to be super high-detailed, as it would be out of focus in the final image." 11. Post-production Add extra labels and textures in Photoshop "Post-production was done very quickly, continues Tschernjajew. "The labels and some textures were completed afterwards in Photoshop. I do this very often because it's fast and also allows for flexibility. Of course this works only when you've fixed your perspective. "I used some decal textures and overlaid them onto specific parts of the model. You don't even need masks, just blend them together with a soft brush. "In the end I added some smoke using stock smoke PNG images, and used a Z-buffer to blend it together in Photoshop. "An additional ambient occlusion map was used to contrast up some parts. Don't use the ambient occlusion layer on lights or anything that glows, because it will eat up any glow or light effect. You can mask these areas out, or just use a white brush and paint it over. Use the Multiply blend mode, but never use it at 100% – I mostly use 20-25 per cent." 12. Make use of the Polypen tool The PolyPen tool's great for a retop once you've switched on some extra options "The PolyPen tool makes it possible to do a quick retopology," says digital artist Alina Makarenko. "For this, you need to enable additional options: Quad Strip Mode, Auto Weld, Reproject Result and Create N-gons." 13. Apply Subdivision Surface Weights Use this technique to get lovely smooth shapes "The Subdivision Surface Weights tag and Subdivision Surface helps create a clean, smoothed shape with a good grid," explains Makarenko. "To do this, you need to place the final retopo mesh in the Subdivision Surface on the third subdivision editor, Loop Selection the edges and apply Subdivision Surface Weights. Moving left to right easily controlled the width of the chamfer." 14. Detail hair strands The Edge Slide tool is great for detailing hair "Use the Edge Slide tool with Shift pressed on the selected edge, and move left to right to create a groove in the geometry. It is important to work with the converts object after Subdivision Surface. This enables you to detail large strands of hair," says Makarenko. 15. Base splines on a mesh Create hair strands quickly with the Pen tool in the spline "Using the Pen tool in the spline helps to quickly create thin strands of hair," continues Makarenko. "Enabling the snap to polygons option makes it possible to build the necessary splines on the base mesh of hair. Disable Snap and Pen in free mode in order to edit the splines. Work with this tool under the Sweep Nurbs. It is a very easy and fast method." This article was originally published in issue 237 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: How to model concept art in Cinema 4D Make realistic plants in Cinema 4D 31 brilliant Blender tutorials View the full article

Even if you're done with school, that doesn't mean you have to stop learning. After all, learning is a journey that never ends. Keep educating yourself with Stone River eLearning: Lifetime Membership. This unlimited lifetime subscription gives you access to 170 courses and 2,000 hours of learning. Covered topics include everything from web programming to 3D animation, and you can even learn programming languages such as Python and MySQL. You'll also get the added benefits of personal guidance on what to learn, as well as certification exams, which usually cost at least $50 each. Advance your career, or build your hobbies, with Stone River eLearning: Lifetime Membership. It's yours for only $59. Related articles: 12 inspiring ecommerce website designs 7 things they don't tell you about the web industry How to name your app View the full article

You're reading Adobe Updates XD with Responsive Resize, Timed Transitions and more, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! The latest update to Adobe XD brings new tools to streamline design workflows with improved support for multiple devices and resolutions. Additionally, the September update introduces timed transition elements for prototyping scenarios, an enhanced full-screen viewer and spell check functionality. … View the full article

If you're looking for the best Canon EOS 5D Mark IV deals, you're in the right place. We've searched the world's most reputable retailers to find today's best Canon EOS 5D Mark IV prices, and we've got them right here. While it still isn't cheap, the good news is that this is one of the best cameras you can get. Critics have heaped enormous praise on the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV: it's more than capable of shooting in a wide range of disciplines, and an essential item in any serious photographer's setup. If you're tired of taking multiple cameras out on a job, it's probably time to invest and consolidate your setup with the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, arguably the most well-rounded DSLR camera on the market right now. The full-frame sensor shoots 30.4 megapixels through 61 autofocus points, 41 of which double down with cross-type AF too. And seeing as you can shoot at 6fps, you're more than ready to take on fast-moving subjects. The best camera phones in 2018 The improved 1,620,000 dot always-on display looks better than ever and is especially useful when shooting video, which is now available in glorious 4K. If 1080p still works for you, you can film at 120fps – excellent for super smooth slow-motion filming. As you'd probably expect for a DSLR of this quality, you're also getting built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity for transferring images. There's a dual slot for SD and Compact Flash cards too for more options away from the studio. A single battery charge will keep you going for 900 shots too. Even at these prices, some cameras struggle to cover as many disciplines with such confidence. The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV provides immaculate capture of fast-moving sports, wildlife and scenic landscapes – and you'll find today's best Canon EOS 5D Mark IV prices below, via our continually updating price comparison engine. Related articles: The best camera for photography The 10 best point-and-shoot cameras The best camera phones in 2018 View the full article

Overall seven flaws were patched - including one critical vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution. View the full article

There are a number of CSS preprocessors on the market. You’ve probably heard of Less and Sass (if not, take a look at our article on what is Sass?), but there are a number of other options that might be better suited to your needs. Here, we take a closer look at all the different preprocessor around, and the pros and cons of each one. Use the quick links on the right to jump to a particular section. A word of caution first. Back in 2007 Jon Christopher wrote a blog post entitled Please do not use CSS frameworks, and a lot of his comments stand true today. “A big problem with frameworks is when up-and-coming developers attach themselves to a framework as opposed to the underlying code itself. The knowledge gained in this case surrounds a specific framework, which severely limits the developer.” While preprocessors can undoubtedly make your life easier, there is always a danger that relying on a framework will reduce your understanding of the core language underneath. 01. Sass “Sass is the most mature, stable, and powerful professional grade CSS extension language in the world”. That comes from the makers, but it’s pretty hard to contest. For over 11 years, the team behind Sass have worked diligently to build a preprocessor that is feature-rich, has a large community to support, and develop it and its users, and has been adopted by some of the biggest names in the industry. It offers by far the most engaged community, with forums, dedicated sites, and tutorials on every major teaching platform for code – take a look at The Sass Way in particular. Sass is built on Ruby and offers two different syntax types depending on the user’s preference. Sass doesn’t use braces around selectors or semi-colons at the end of rules, but feature-wise is identical to SCSS (Sassy CSS), which still uses both of those. SCSS is the most common language choice, mainly because it doesn’t differ syntactically from plain CSS, which makes it really easy to adopt the basic principles. Additionally, every major task runner has a module to use with Sass. There is also a C/C++ port of the Sass precompiler called LibSass that decouples Sass from Ruby. It’s fast, portable and easy to build, and integrates with a variety of platforms and language. Pros Lowest barrier to entry – you can harness some of the most powerful features by simply learning a couple of new symbols New collaborators should have no trouble picking it up. LibSass (which decouples Sass from Ruby) is fast, portable and easy to build By far the most engaged community, with plenty of support and resources Cons As with any framework, there’s a danger you’ll become reliant on this approach, and not fully grasp the underlying language 02. Less Less is stylistically very similar to Sass in its feature set, and so anyone that has used one will feel right at home with the other. Its popularity got a big boost after it was used in the source Twitter Bootstrap. It has since moved to Sass in Bootstrap 5, but it has left a lot of people comfortable using its syntax. The fact it is so similar to Sass makes it difficult to advocate when Sass is more widely used, actively developed, and feature-rich – indeed this feature would be comparing the two (as many have before) if there were more differences and unique selling points about Less. It still remains a popular and strong preprocessor though. Pros Written in JavaScript, which makes setup easy GUI apps can watch and compile code for you (Crunch, SimpLESS, WinLess, Koala, CodeKit, LiveReload or Prepros) Very detailed documentation and a very active community Easy to find help or previous examples IDEs such as VS Code, Visual Studio and WebStorm support Less either natively or through plugins Cons Uses @ to declare variables, but in CSS, @ already has meaning (it's used to declare @media queries and @keyframes) which can cause confusion Time might be better spent learning Sass, due to wider use Relies entirely on mixins rather than allowing you to use functions that can return a value, which can result in slightly restricted use cases 03. Stylus Stylus was created by TJ Holowaychuk – a former programmer for Node.js and the creator of the Luna language. Its initial design was influenced by Sass and Less but it offers a wider range of features, a super-fast Node.js system under the hood, and gives users the most freedom in how they write their CSS. This freedom has a downside though. As Declan de Wet says: “It supplies the developer with no definitive direction…once you’re ingrained in variables, mixins and functions not requiring a prepended dollar sign ($) or ‘at’ symbol (@), you’ll soon start to realise that you can no longer tell the difference between them. This makes for very confusing code”. Mozilla used Stylus to redesign its developer network, and it offers most of what’s covered in the Sass section, but with a few minor differences in syntax. Pros Hugely powerful built-in functions Can do much more computing and ‘heavy-lifting’ inside your styles Written in Node.js, which is fast and fits neatly with a 2018 JavaScript stack ‘Pythonic’ syntax looks a lot cleaner and requires fewer characters Cons Too forgiving, which can lead to confusion Doesn’t seem to be in very active development 04. PostCSS Based on its approach, PostCSS is one of the biggest ‘alternatives’ to Sass, Less and Stylus when it comes to preprocessing: it leverages a modular plugin system that allows the user to customise their feature set and compilation as much as they want. This means that rather than just adopting a library in its entirety, you get to choose what it’s made of. Unlike many other preprocessors, PostCSS makes no assumptions about the features or stack you’re using. Instead, you simply add the plugins you would like based on the features you want to use. You can add plugins to give it the exact same features as a library like Sass. This modular approach means you can even use plugins completely by themselves, such as auto-prefixing and minification, rather than building a full library. Pros Un-opinionated, modular approach – can be heavily customised Written in pure CSS, so developers don’t need to learn a new syntax Speed (if you only use a few plugins) Cons Speed (again) – If mimicking another setup, PostCCS lacks the performance benefit a dedicated, optimised tool will offer Generally, more effort to install and maintain than a conventional preprocessor, because you’re relying on different plugins maintained by different people 05. Pleeease Pleeease takes a slightly different approach to preprocessing in that it tries to tackle some of the more practical issues with CSS rather than focusing purely on its syntax or layout. Its website explains: “A Node.js application that can easily process your CSS. It simplifies the use of preprocessors and combines them with the best of post-processors. It helps create clean stylesheets, support older browsers and offers better maintainability”. Pleeease provides fallbacks to common issues with older browsers out of the box, including pixel fallbacks for when you’re using rems as your measurement of choice, and filter fallbacks for IE8 when using opacity. It even has a feature to allow you to use the syntax of your favourite preprocessor like Sass or Less within Pleeease’s setup (as well as pure CSS), although this is experimental at this point. Pros Built-in autoprefixer adds vendor prefixes, using data from caniuse.com Generates source maps in which you can see the original code A tool rather than a syntax library, so you can use it with pure CSS or with another preprocessor Clear, practical uses for dealing with older browser quirks Cons Not very well known, which may make finding resources difficult The feature that allows for the inclusion of other preprocessors is completely experimental at this stage 06. CSS-Crush CSS-Crush is a standards-inspired preprocessor designed to enable a modern and uncluttered CSS workflow. It’s written in PHP and features a combination of the standard features you would expect in one of the more popular preprocessors (variables, nesting, mixins) along with some of the more tool-based approaches we’ve covered like Pleeease (vendor prefixing, minification). CSS-Crush’s PHP background means it can be used neatly in conjunction with popular PHP content management systems such as WordPress or Drupal. This is probably its biggest pro, because if you’re confined to what you can do inside a CMS, you can install it as a plugin and still benefit from some of the advantages of having a preprocessor. One bonus is that its vendor prefixes for properties, functions, @-rules and even full declarations are automatically generated. This means that you can maintain cross-browser support while keeping your source code clean. Pros Neat integration with popular PHP CMSs (WordPress, Drupal etc) Open source, so you could theoretically fix your own issues Useful plugins available, such as working with aria roles and HTML canvas Built-in autoprefixing for cross-browser styles Cons Despite a wide range of features, lacks popularity beyond the regular PHP programming community Lack of maintenance (at time of writing) 07. Garden This option is completely different to all the others because it pretty much does away with the conventional language of CSS as we know it. Garden is a library for rendering CSS in Clojure and ClojureScript. It uses vectors to represent rules and maps to represent declarations. It is designed for “stylesheet authors who are interested in what’s possible when you trade a preprocessor for a programming language.” As far as programming languages go, Clojure is known for its clean architecture and firm heritage. For CSS, this can mean great power. However, the syntax can be daunting. As an example, to set no font-weight on h1 and h2 tags, you would use: user=> (css [:h1 :h2 {:font-weight "none"}]). Pros Access to the core features of a powerful programming language in Clojure Unique opportunity to code a project entirely in the same language: Clojure for backend programming and Garden for CSS Garden Gnome plugin enables you to pipe style changes directly to the browser without reloading Cons You can't simply copy and paste CSS from elsewhere into your work – every snippet must be converted to the correct format Very different syntax to regular CSS or any other preprocessor, making it more difficult to read Learning curve for Garden is steeper than other options 08. Styled Components This last option is a pivot from conventional preprocessors. I only raise it in this context as it’s a way of writing your styles in a certain manner and layout and having it convert, alongside your component logic, as browser-ready CSS. Only the basics are covered here and its style handling. Styled Components is ‘CSS-in-JS for the CSS folk’ as Glen Maddern put it. It’s the latest attempt to make truly modular CSS by interweaving it into the JS components you write. It has a big advantage over inline React styling as you don’t have to camel case your attributes, and you declare each style block directly onto the name of the element you’ll be using it on. So for example, to create a title component that’ll render a <h1> tag with some styles, you would write this: Pros You can achieve total encapsulation of your components – every piece of markup, logic Large following, and active community and project owner Represents a fascinating shift in direction Preventing ‘append-only styles’. What are append-only styles? Cons You are back to writing plain CSS, which has its drawbacks Quite opinionated, as it’s built to work solely with the React JS library You have to handle cross-browser issues and fallbacks using other methods This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 276 or subscribe. Read more: How to structure media queries in Sass 7 things they don’t tell you about the web industry How to set up site theming with CSS variables View the full article

Plenty of filmmakers are looking for ‘organic’ forms to represent alien worlds or magical moments in their movies. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that they would seek to embrace fractals. After all, fractals tend to look like naturally occurring and infinitely repeatable objects, yet can often be simulated with mathematics. And so it is that several recent 3D movies have adopted fractals – especially three-dimensional ones – to help tell their stories. And they’ve seen use in immersive projects too, where fractal simulations can help realise complex forms for users to explore. The team at 3D World recently asked the artists at Weta Digital – who were tasked with making complex fractals for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – how they went about tackling them. Fractals of the Galaxy Put simply, fractals are complex, which is exactly why Weta Digital looked to them as inspiration for the Planet Ego sequences in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The studio carried out some early tests embedding implicit functions into its proprietary Manuka path-trace renderer via plugins, with promising results. It matched the client concept art – which specifically featured 3D Apollonian gasket-like shapes – but soon realised that relying on purely mathematical functions could be limiting. How to make a Mandelbulb “A fractal is amazing in the sense that it’s just a tiny piece of simple code, but very small changes to the inputs of fractals tend to result in unpredictable, large-scale changes in the output,” outlines Weta Digital visual effects supervisor Kevin Smith. “They’re very chaotic. This was problematic for us as I couldn’t sit in a review with a client and ask them to give notes on a piece of code, much less one that’s completely unpredictable. We knew that whatever methodology we chose needed to be art directable.” Initial development for the fractal pieces went through Weta digital’s proprietary Manuka renderer So Weta Digital considered modelling by hand, but again abandoned this approach due to the infinite detail required (“Also, the models supervisor yelled at me when I brought it up,” says Smith). That left the studio with new requirements: defining an arbitrary shape that was art directable but could still match those gasket shapes, and achieving a digital environment that felt like it had infinite practical detail. The R&D team devised a method that let artists use curves to define an axis and a profile in Maya, and then code that would use a custom sphere-packing algorithm to boolean out spheres from the first shape, to give the appearance of an Apollonian fractal in a user-controlled volume. 15 Maya tutorials to try today “For the detail, instead of trying to add infinite fractal minutia, we used an in-house piece of software called Genesis to essentially spray-paint little instances of fractal geometry all over the resulting shapes produced by the first tool," explains Smith. "The layout department came up with Genesis brush presets that used combinations of the tiny instances with different scales to essentially make pseudo-fractals. This let us add a lot of detail without incurring an infinite cost. It also helped us age the main sections of the environment, since the Planet Ego in the film was very old.” Weta digital needed to match specific fractal-looking client concept art for the interior of Planet ego for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Then, a stumbling block. The Maya plugin could not quite achieve all the shapes in the concept art. Weta Digital needed a way to generate some of the more esoteric forms from the art that had originally come from Mandelbulb software, but attempts thus far had required prohibitive amounts of memory without the required resolution. The solution, devised by senior modeller Pascal Raimbault, was to generate a 4K turntable of the relevant areas in the Mandelbulb software – instead of geometry – and then feed those renders to Weta Digital’s photogrammetry software. “It totally worked,” exclaims Smith. “It produced sharper, cleaner, higher-resolution images than we were getting with voxelisation, and allowed us to build a library of shapes we could use to dress in detail that was not just close to the concept but exactly matched it.” “Visual effects for me has always been about the combination of art and science,” adds Smith, “and it was great to be able to take a purely mathematical concept like fractals and not only make something new and different, but to use it to help drive the narrative of an awesome movie like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 237; subscribe here. Read more: The best power bank in 2018: top portable chargers to power your devices Pose a character in ZBrush: 4 top tips Master ZBrush digital sculpting with 3D World View the full article

A newly discovered malware has different capabilities for Windows and Linux systems, including ransomware and cryptomining. View the full article

Have you ever been told to put logos before logos? Have you ever fed your client a hamburger? Ever been backfilled? Design jargon is a bit of a minefield, so we got in touch with some of our favourite designers to ask about the latest industry jargon. We wanted to know the new terms everybody's using. We were after the abbreviations, the euphemisms, the acronyms, and what they actually mean in plain English. But it turned out our favourite designers were unanimously against this idea. Design jargon, they said, has got to go. Instead, we got stories about times design jargon has led to misunderstandings, awkwardness and panic. There were terms that were well and truly lost in translation, words that have other, far more salacious definitions, and phrases that just sound plain daft. Read on for designers' tales of times design jargon has wreaked havoc on projects. That's just rude "I was once in a meeting about Iceland supermarkets," Simon Manchipp says. The SomeOne founder remembers how the team were looking at the brand and trying to work out what was unique about it. They wanted to show the company as being progressive. "I was quite new to the project," Manchipp says, "and everyone was getting more and more heated until one of the very senior members of the agency shouted at the client and told them to ‘Bog off’. At this point, Manchipp had to leave the meeting. He was shocked at how this senior person had behaved towards the clients. "I'd always been taught to treat people with respect – and particularly clients. It was some time until I realised it was an abbreviation for the sales mechanic that Iceland supermarkets had pioneered: The buy one, get one free – the "BOGOF." NB Studio's smart, simple and striking identity for The Drum Alan Dye, owner and creative director at NB Studio, also once had a client who used a particularly unfortunate term. Dye's favourite bit of jargon is a double-entendre that used to make the whole team laugh. "We had a client," Dye says, "who always used to say to us: I'll backfill you next week." Double meanings Often, a term is so widely used that its other meanings are lost. Sometimes a definition changes entirely. For example, ‘literally’ (once the most misused word in English language) is now also defined as being used ‘to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling’. That's the case with one particular word that you'll never hear David Airey saying. "I often see renowned design firms and designers being described as ‘seminal’," explains the logo design and brand identity specialist . It's meant as groundbreaking, influential, original. But that's not how Airey hears it. "It wouldn’t be my choice, considering the other definition," he adds. Yarza Twins collaborated with HP and Smirnoff to create a limited edition bottle celebrating diversity While we're on the subject of popular but unnecessarily lewd design terms, how about 'sexy'? "We find it super-funny when people ask us to make a design look 'sexy'," says Eva Yarza. Yarza is one half of Yarza Twins – the London studio she runs with twin sister Marta. Their clients include Smirnoff, adidas and MTV. The big problem here is that the meaning isn't clear – the image a term summons in a client's mind could well be very different to what it means to the designer. So any client asking Yarza Twins for something ‘sexy’ might find themselves in for a surprise. "We always just imagine," she says, "adding in a picture of Pamela Anderson in Baywatch." karlssonwilker's logo design for the Reykjavík Art Museum Peter Saluk brings a bit of class to the debate. The project manager at karlssonwilker explains he's fond of the phrase 'logos before logos'. This idea has proved useful in the New York studio's projects for clients like Samsung, Mini/BMW, and Time Magazine. But it's meaning is not instantly clear – especially when written down. It means, Saluk says: "Logic and reason first, to avoid senseless visuals. Or: think before you design." Still stumped? Trying saying it out loud. Saluk says: "It's all about the correct Greek pronunciation." Just plain weird Jamie Ellul is now the creative director of Supple Studio, but during his days at Magpie Studio, he met with a client who used a term that got him into a bit of a panic. "We had an amazing new business opportunity with a US tech giant," he says. "They said they'd like to come over and meet us and asked if we could put together a presentation to share with them at the meeting, but that it shouldn't be ‘a dog and pony show’." Ellul had to Google the term. It means 'an elaborate display or presentation'. "We then freaked out," he says, "about what was too over-the-top and what wasn't – but we got the gig, so I guess we pitched it on the right side of 'elaborate display'." Supple Studio created a set of ads that let designers know about the benefits of using recycled paper stock Snask founder and creative director Fredrik Öst had an equally confusing time with some jargon he came across while working on a film. Öst was born in South Korea, grew up in Sweden and was over in America when a few geographical terms went over his head. The set designers were stacking apple boxes for the shoot. They called out different names depending on which way the boxes went. Longways was ‘New York’. On their side was ‘Chicago’. And flat was ‘LA’. Öst eventually figured out that these terms have to do with how tall the buildings are in the respective cities – New York being full of skyscrapers, LA being pretty flat, and Chicago being somewhere in the middle. On the buzzword bandwagon Now for some terms that everyone understands, but no one likes. "I absolutely hate the term ‘on-trend’," Rob Gonzalez says. Gonzalez is a partner at London studio Sawdust, which specialises in typography, brand displays, and visual identities for companies like Nike, Apple, and Coca-Cola. What it doesn’t specialise in is things that are ‘on-trend’. But surely this one is harmless enough? It's a synonym for fashionable, popular, cool. It's meaning is clear. It's widely used. It's not wordy. What's the problem? "On-trend makes me cringe," Gonzalez says. "On-trend is here today and gone tomorrow. On-trend is for the masses, the followers and the wannabes. On-trend is no longer unique, it’s the death of an idea." These notebooks for Arjowiggins Creative Papers won Studio.Build a D&AD Pencil Studio.Build creative director Michael C Place went to town when we asked him to give a few example of jargon he hates. "What's the critical path?… I can feel a serious amount of feature creep coming here… I can feel a bit of a pain point here, guys… The CFO needs to see what his Benjamins are being spent on... Feed them a hamburger, yeah?" Most of it we understood. ‘CFO’ is chief financial officer. A ‘Benjamin’ is a $100 bill – it's money. ‘Feature creep’ is what happens when a job spirals out of control and unnecessary stuff is added to try and fix it. A ‘touchpoint’ is the bit where people interact with the project, and a ‘pain point’ is a problem, an irritation. But we needed help on the hamburger. The manager of Build, Elena Dranfield, helped us out: "Michael says it's 'a technical term for user experience'." Ah, a hamburger menu, maybe? Studio Sutherl&'s thoughtful branding and wayfinding for the St Albans Museum and Gallery Studio Sutherl&'s Jim Sutherland also has a few 'pet hates' when it comes to design buzzwords. Thinking is enough, Sutherland says. You don't need ‘blue-sky thinking’ or ‘left-field thinking’ or even ‘thinking outside of the box’. But what he dislikes most is any phrases involving fruit or vegetables – in particular ‘brand onions’. This is the process of drawing a big circle with all the different layers that make up a company. Sutherland’s message in simple: let's all use common sense and plain English. Read more: 7 ways illustration can help brands stand out What designers say vs. what they really mean Google logo sparks 'correct design' debate View the full article

Millions of people around the world use Apple products, and that's why developers are scrambling to learn how to build apps for the Apple operating system. For a crash course on everything you need to know about developing apps for iOS 12, macOS, watchOS, and more, get The Essential iOS 12 Development Bundle. In this bundle, you'll gain hands-on experience by creating your own app for watchOS and finding out how to make your app creations more user-friendly. You'll even create a weather app and a bitcoin tracker as further practice to prepare you for the world of iOS development. The best cheap Apple Pencil deals of 2018 With more than 100 hours of expert help, this course is sure to help you become a top-notch developer. Get The Essential iOS 12 Development Bundle for only $29 – that's 97 per cent off the regular price. Related articles: How to name your app 33 stunning iOS app icon designs Create your own apps for Android View the full article

Can it really be September already? That can only mean one thing – the latest issue of Computer Arts magazine is on sale now. Issue 284 is all about branding, and in its pages you'll discover what it takes to create award-winning identities. We also take a look at the 47 amazing projects in the running for this year's fifth annual Brand Impact Awards, and find out who came away with a trophy. Buy Computer Arts issue 284 now Followers of the awards will be all too aware of the tough selection process that goes into picking the winning projects. With the aim of selecting and celebrating excellence, the Brand Impact Awards are so brutal that if the expert panel aren't all in agreement when it comes to a project, then the category simply won't have a winner! Only the best of the best win at the Brand Impact Awards Save up to 60% on a Computer Arts subscription Elsewhere in issue 284, Emily Gosling talks to some of the best full-time and freelance illustrators to learn how they stay motivated and avoid drawing a blank. Meanwhile, Jacqui Oakley walks us through her fierce approach to Reebok T-shirt design, and Magpie Studio explains how investing in the happiness of its staff has led to award-winning work with a playful spirit. Sign up to the Computer Arts newsletter Take a closer look at what's inside Computer Arts issue 284 by scrolling left to right through the gallery below. Computer Arts is the world's best-selling design magazine, bursting at the seams with insight, inspiration, interviews and all the best new design projects. For all this delivered direct to your door each month, subscribe to Computer Arts. Right now you can save up to 60%, and receive a free Computer Arts tote bag when you subscribe. Related articles: Bring a brand to life with illustration How to reawaken a brand's heritage How to choose the right typeface for a brand View the full article

Bath Digital Festival is set to return on 23-27 October for its most ambitious year yet. The week-long festival of everything to do with digital technology will encompass 85 talks held in various locations around the city, and early bird tickets are available for just £10 (usually £15), which is ridiculously cheap for what's on offer. Buy an early bird ticket to Bath Digital Festival for £10 That £10 ticket will get you access of the full schedule of events, and you just need to reserve your place on the ones you want to attend (hurry though, popular talks will book up fast). Helpfully, the mammoth festival is broken down in to a different theme each day. Tues 23 – Digital creativity: Design and creativity using digital tools Weds 24 – Digital working: How tech is changing the way we work Thurs 25 – Digital for good: Digital as a force for social change Fri 26 – Digital intelligence: Machine learning and AI Sat 27 – Digital future: A glimpse of what might be still to come Within those themes are specific streams aimed at hobbyists, businesses and tech professionals, so there's a little something for everyone. There's even a range of child-friendly events for parents to bring their kids to, and get them a head-start with their coding skills. Read on for our pick on the talks you'll want to reserve your place on. 01. All-dayer for web makers This full-day event will explore the most exciting developments in the web industry and user experience design. There's a cracking roster of speakers: Jonny Rae-Evans will explore how to design for good (or, as he refers to it, 'the subtle art of not killing anyone'), Mud's Michelle Barker will dive into CSS Grid, Mike Brondbjerg will show you how to use data as a creative material, and Tara Ojo will offer a look at the web world though the eyes of a 'junior' dev. 02. AI vs Human Creativity Artificial intelligence is a hot topic at the moment, but where does it leave creatives? In this talk, Edit's Rob McGowan muses on whether AI can ever truly be considered autonomously creative, and explores a future where AI can be used as a tool to build connections in society and open up new possibilities. Following the talk there will be panel discussion that digs into the ethics around using AI. 03. The secrets of social media There's no denying the power social media can have over your career, if you know how to wield it correctly. In this talk the clever people who crafted a brilliant online presence for startups Hugg and Swoon share their insights on how to build a powerful digital brand. 04. Lego Robot Wars Love Lego? Got coding skills? Combine the two to build a fearsome bot, then battle your creation against other teams' robots until a champion is crowned. Sam Ramsay, the founder of Lego Robot Club, will be offering guidance to help you fulfil your true potential. Just beware the house bots! Read more: 25 top life hacks for designers 5 AR tools to try today 7 things they don’t tell you about the web industry View the full article

It takes time, skill and effort to build and maintain a strong, healthy client relationship. Getting it right is crucial, not just for the sake of the project you're working on, but to help ensure repeat work. However, there has to be a balance between catering to your client's needs, and being a doormat they take for granted. Likewise, you need to show you know what you're doing and wow them with your creativity, but not come across as arrogant or inaccessible – the best client relationships are forged on collaboration. It's a fine line to tread. Read on for five all-too-common mistakes that designers make that can drive clients mad – and more importantly, how to avoid them. 01. Ignoring the constraints of the brief It pays to think outside the box creatively, but constraints are there for a reason This may sound blindingly obvious, but sometimes the whiff of excitement at developing an exciting portfolio centrepiece could take your ambitions off-course. Sure, going above and beyond the brief from a creative standpoint is usually a good thing – but not if it would blow the budget, or the timeframe. If the client has set constraints in the brief, it's your challenge to over-deliver within those constraints – not to try and ignore them. Constraints can be good: they can focus your energy, and help you think outside of the box creatively, without actually smashing the box to pieces. Constraints set at a brief stage may even prove flexible as the project progresses, which can yield new opportunities. But your job is to solve the client's problem. It'll drive them mad if your outlandish solution, however awesome, doesn't do so. 02. Slipping into design jargon Don't tie your client up in knots with design jargon – explain things clearly so they feel involved If you're lucky, you'll be collaborating with a design-savvy client-side team that is on your wavelength, and you can work in tandem to take your ideas to the next level. You both know your stuff, and can second-guess each other's thoughts as you power towards the ideal creative solution. However, some clients aren't design-savvy – even if they may think they are. That's not their fault: that's what they're hiring you for, after all. They may be taken aback by how long things take, or how much they cost (see point #4). Don't assume they know what kerning is, or appreciate why spending hours doing it is important. Or why the RGB to CMYK conversion is going to make the image they've provided you with look different. Or worst of all, that they'll respond to that unique brand of over-inflated strategic mumbo jumbo that's all too common in design. As a rule, speaking in plain, clear English will help put your client at ease, and make you more approachable and ultimately easier to work with. 03. Getting too precious about the work You may love an idea, but it's a collaborative process and you can't get overly attached to it This is a big one. The client is the client – they hold the budget, and set the brief – and however attached you are to that design route, it's ultimately their call. Sure, clients make bad, uninformed decisions sometimes – but the onus is on you to make sure the pros and cons of the routes you present are properly explained. Some agencies make a point of only presenting one killer solution, and then return to the drawing board if it doesn't pass. Others prefer to go with, say, three, and give the client a choice. In this case, make sure you believe in all of them, even if you have a personal preference. Don't throw your toys out of the pram if your favourite route isn't chosen, or it gets taken in a different direction. It'll wind your client up no end. Your job is to solve a problem, not make more problems. 04. Not being transparent about the process The creative process can be long, winding, and messy – but try to explain it to the client as clearly as you can This falls into similar territory as design jargon. If a client feels like they're a meaningful part of the design process – they understand what's going on, and why – things will inevitably be smoother for you both. Again, some collaborations are closer and more fruitful than others, but you're working towards the same goal at the end of the day – so don't fight against each other. Right from the outset, explain what the different stages are, estimate how long each one will take – with the proviso that this may change – and set out what the client can expect to see at each point. Clients all-too-often get frustrated because a chunk of time has passed, and they don't know what's going on. There may not be another version of a design that's ready to present at that point, but the more transparent you can be about your activities, the better. If you're flat-out on another project, don't hide it – be honest, and be clear when you'll be back on their project. Put their mind at rest. 05. Getting angry about amends Anger begets anger. Keep a two-way communication channel throughout the process and amends should be smoother Just as you shouldn't become too precious about particular ideas and design routes, when it gets to the business end of a project and the rounds of amends start coming in, it's time to take a deep breath. Getting angry at this stage won't help anyone. If you've adhered to the advice from the previous four points, then hopefully you'll be on the same page, with some decent two-way communication flowing with the client. But endless amends can be infuriating. They may be contradictory, particularly if many stakeholders are involved, or uninformed, and ultimately not in the best interests of the project. Depending on how you've quoted for the project, and the nature of the work, it's sensible to specify that a certain number of rounds of amends are included in the price – and any more will be charged extra. But it also comes down to clear communication, and explaining why certain choices have been made at every stage. If you're both on the same journey, and the client feels part of key design decisions, the amends process should be much easier to stomach. Related articles: The design agency survival guide 8 portfolio mistakes that drive clients mad 10 ways to be more business savvy as a designer View the full article

You're reading Online Appointment booking systems: How do you choose the perfect one for your business?, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Over the last decade, it seems that everything has been happening online, doesn’t it? People like the feeling that they are just a few clicks away from whatever they need. With that in mind, if you are a business owner, … View the full article

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We all know what it means to hack a computer or website, and it's usually not a good thing. But a 'life hack' is something much more positive. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one's time and daily activities in a more efficient way.” And let's be honest, that's something that most of us could probably benefit from. Who wants to work late, fretting over a design that doesn't quite work, when you could be out having fun? In this post, we've gathered together tried-and-tested life hacks from creative pros across the industry, to help you create better designs in less time. Some of them relate to tools for graphic designers, but many are about the way you work and manage your time: we've divided them up into four sections: day-to-day design work, pitching your projects, productivity, money matters, and our bonus quick-fire life hacks to make it easier to find the life hack you're looking for. Day-to-day design work Follow our expert's advice to improve your day-to-day design work The problem with doing the same kind of work every day, even if you enjoy it, is that you tend to slip into familiar patterns and rely on tried-and-tested approaches. So every now and again, it's wise to question the way you do things, and ask whether you can improve your approach. Here are some suggestions that might boost both your workflow and the quality of the results. 01. Save your fonts “When you back up work for long-term storage and archiving, save the fonts in there, too,” advises Patrick Foster, professor of design at Vancouver Island University. “You’ll almost never have the same font library in a year or whenever you need to revisit the work.” 02. Learn the file requirements “After 20 years, I still have difficulty convincing people of this: every print process is different,” says the Canadian graphic designer and illustrator who goes by the name of Sketcher Doodle. “Large format, offset, silkscreen and digital printing all have different file requirements,” he says. “Follow the supplier’s specs: 300ppi/.125" bleed is not a catchall. Digital print/large format print are very new compared to offset lithography, and have very different requirements. A 20-foot billboard has very different resolution and bleed requirements than a business card. Raster four-colour Jpegs won't work for two-colour silkscreen. “Despite being provided instructions,” he adds, “I have seen numerous designers' files rejected because they are built to offset standards instead of product specific requirements. So my advice is: don't miss a deadline because you can't follow instructions.” 03. Correct your crop marks "Crop marks should start outside the bleed, never inside,” adds Sketcher Doodle. “Crop offset should always be set the same distance as the bleed. There is up to .125" of variance on the trim accuracy on prints cut on a guillotine, he explains. “They move under the pressure of the blade. The bottom sheet on a stack of prints can be up to .125" different from the first sheet on a stack. This is why crop marks must be outside the bleed. If they are in the bleed, they may show up in the final image after trimming. “This problem is compounded by the fact that Adobe has set the default crop setting in InDesign at less than .125", which makes no sense,” he continues. “This is an even greater problem when producing large-format graphics, such as canvas wraps, or vehicle graphics. A canvas wrap can be 2-3" thick and can require up to 4" bleed. Crop marks will be visible on the side of the canvas if they are left in the bleed.” 04. Guides aren’t everything Do not rely solely on guides to align elements accurately,” says Sketcher Doodle. “X and Y coordinate fields are the most precise. You can also use math (+ - * /) in these fields to position objects precisely.” As useful as snap to guides/snap to grid is, it is still dependent on your hand motion of clicking and dragging, he notes. “The slightest slip of the hand and you will have misaligned art. I've seen this mistake on two-sided prints not aligning from side to side, and exhibits where elements are supposed to line up on the edge of a panel. “Set the reference point to the side you are aligning,” he recommends, “and you can see in the X and Y fields the exact position on the page. If any of your elements has a different coordinate, simply enter the desired position in the field. If you need to move something precisely, don't use the cursor or click and drag. Go the the coordinate field and add or subtract the distance you need to move. Enter + or - after the current number in the field and add or subtract your desired distance.” 05. Use 1:10 for large graphics "When building very large graphics, like a bus wrap, building banner, or billboard, the dimensions exceed the maximum allowed in most software,” says Sketch Doodle. “If you need to work at a reduced scale, use 1:10 because you simply have to move the decimal one position to calculate measurements and positions. Using a scale other that 1:10 makes your life unnecessarily difficult. Do you know what 372.625" is at 1:3 scale? Neither do I. But I know that it is 37.2625" at 1:10.” 06. Exploit The Noun Project The Icon Project is a free source of great icons “I find that when you need to fit a lot of copy into a small space, it’s better if you can say it in fewer words, or no words at all,” says Jade Trott, art director at in-house specialists Oliver . “The best way to get a big message across clearly, so that it transcends language is to use a piece of graphic design. And there’s only one place in the world to find millions of amazing, royalty free graphic designs: The Noun Project. It has icons for everything; over a million of them, created by a global community.” Chloé Holden, designer at London-based global design agency Conran Design Group, is also a fan. “I wish I had known about The Noun Project sooner,” she says. “When you're pitching for work, you don't always have time to make perfect icons. But using The Noun Project means you can get the idea across for now; they have icons for everything. And then you can make a bespoke suite of icons for a client if you win the job.” 07. Check for accidental plagiarism “I see a lot of work, especially in logos and branding, that is very derivative,” says John Atkin, head of PR for Serif, the makers of Affinity Designer. “When you’re young it’s tempting to think that you’ve come up with a brilliant idea for the very first time, and that’s great enthusiasm, but it’s very rarely the case. "A few minutes spent Googling the key elements of a design (‘camper van in front of mountains with sun’ or ‘skull with auto tools crossed underneath’ spring particularly to mind) can stop you wasting hours creating something for a client, only for them to come back and say ‘But it looks just like…’ – or worse, for you to get a client into trouble over IP theft.” 08. Symmetry vs bleed “Avoid symmetry close to the bleed,” urges Johannes Obermayr, owner of Austrian design agency Artischock. “It probably won’t be symmetrical any more after cutting. ”I had my fair share of misprints in the early years of my career,” he admits. “Some were caused by that symmetry vs bleed thing, and some were because of (my) bad colour management knowledge in 1997. Having to be precise when others are allowed to be imprecise – that's what the bleed is for, after all – is just not a good idea. “For example, if your design gets cut too much on the left by a millimetre, your design is cut too little on the right. Imagine a nice 3mm border around a sheet. It could end up with two on one side and four on the other. Bye bye, symmetry." 09. Colour management saves you money “Did I mention having had my fair share of misprints?” says Obermayr. “I don't know if anyone had implemented good colour management in their work flow back in '97. I hadn't, and I hadn't seen it in specialised prepress companies then. You had to rely on very expensive equipment and experience of several people. It was a mess, especially when trying new stuff. “Some printing companies still fail sometimes but who doesn't? With proper colour management in your workflow, you minimise failure and see what you will get while working. The colour management education work of cleverprinting.de (founded 2004) was a big step forward for many designers as it was for me. Sadly I don't know an English version of such a company.” 10. Boost creativity through bookmarking If you want to boost your creativity and improve the quality of your design work, you need to read stuff you wouldn't normally be interested in, urges Christophe Brumby, creative strategist at Amplify. “Why? Because creativity is everywhere. It usually comes from applying something from a certain area into another area and bookmarking interesting links while adding relevant keywords that you can then easily research later in Chrome (cmd + D is my favourite shortcut) and saving key quotes in the Notes app – also including keywords that you can easily look up." 11. Immerse yourself in culture Expanding your horizons isn't just about what you read, of course. “The smallest things can influence your ideas without you even realising," adds Beth Anderton-Allen, creative at Amplify. “So make sure you take time to go out and immerse yourself in culture. Grabbing a copy of a listings magazine on the way into work, such as Time Out in London, is always great to see what's going on." Pitching your projects Pitching isn't every designer's favourite task, but there are ways to improve your chances of success Most of us are happy enough sitting at our desks, working on crafting beautiful designs. But having to stand up and sell them, whether that's to clients, stakeholders, colleagues or your boss, can be less fun and much more stressful. Here are some tips to help you find pitching success. 12. Bring your own monitor “I take my massive Apple screen to pitches,” says Ben Long, creative director at Dare, an experience, design and engineering company based in London and Bristol. “You can never trust someone else’s IT, especially when their mini projector presents your hard work at a 45-degree angle, looking like it’s been wrung out after a dirty bath. I swear by my heavy-duty Apple monitor; it looks like I’ve stolen it on the way to the pitch, but if I stick it in the middle of the boardroom table, nobody’s looking anywhere but the screen.” 13. Create 15-second animations “A short animation is a great way to get an idea across to a client and get them as excited as you are about it,” says Holden. “However, it only makes sense to do if you can do it in 15 seconds to create maximum impact. Animations help tell your story and bring your concepts and ideas to life. Not only will they help tell your story, they get your message noticed and remembered.” 14. Just present one idea “One thing that we as a studio have learnt over the years, sometimes the hard way, is to never present anything to a client that you are not in love with,” says Alun Shooter, creative partner at Cambridge-based creative agency The District. “The idea of presenting three concepts, or indeed any arbitrary number of concepts, is flawed. “If you put in that idea to 'satisfy' the client, the chances are it will do just that; 'satisfy' the client,” he continues. “Our view is that whilst satisfying the client with respect to timescales, budgets and general project management is important, an idea should do much more than satisfy. “It should challenge, excite, and certainly take the client to a place that they wouldn't naturally go themselves. Otherwise you are not adding value. Equally this idea is unlikely to be the one that captures the imagination of the studio, which in the development of an idea is as important as inspiring the client.” 15. Train in public speaking Training in public speaking could have huge impact on the success of your pitches “Enroll in Toastmasters,” says identity specialist Lisa Stewart. “Seriously. It builds your confidence when speaking to an audience of one or many.” If the idea seems terrifying, don't worry: Stewart had the same reaction initially. “As an introvert who easily implodes in public, I was told, ‘TM is fun! They bring you to the front of the room and ask you questions. You're to speak off the cuff.’ But that was not my idea of fun. What I didn't realise is that they also provide you books with structured speeches and a host of other tiny tasks throughout the meeting hour. You get two books, you get coaching from anyone in the group, you get mentored, you get gentle evaluations on everything you do to show you how to improve.” And in the end, it was all very much worth it. “Speaking gives you confidence,” Stewart stresses. “This skill helps you give presentations to a client or a group of clients, helps you defend your work, and helps you find other speaking gigs to position yourself as an expert. Because ultimately, you want to grow your career and the way to accomplish this is through speaking.” 16. Learn how to justify your design decisions When you sell your designs to a stakeholder, you can’t just say, “it looked cool,” “the story just makes sense this way,” or “these types of icons are really popular right now,” says Jesse Virgil, a graphic designer based in Indianapolis. “They’ll want you to provide an overview of your design process and may ask questions that require you to justify some, or most, of the decisions you made. You can do that by providing granular-level details based on objective data: for example, ‘I chose this colour scheme because they’re the primary colours in the company’s branding guidelines, and the accent colours are reserved for specific services and client industries that aren’t part of the presentation’s content.’ “As designers, we need to ground our decisions in design theory, best practices, and human psychology,” Virgil adds. “So spend time learning about these subjects, and design as much as possible. Start with books like Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug, and The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman. Just like the learning how to use the pen tool in Illustrator CC or Sketch, it’s a skill that you develop over time with practice and commitment. Productivity Get better at planning your workflow and you'll have more time for fun There's a direct correlation between how quickly and efficiently we get our work done and how much time we get to spend at the end of the day enjoying life. So boosting your productivity is something you need to think about a lot. Here's some advice that might help... 17. Note ideas with the microphone button Long recommends you make use of the microphone button next to your iPhone’s spacebar. “You speak the idea and it transcribes for you; a properly essential tool when you just need to get an idea down,” he says. “Yeah, you have to say ‘full stop’ when you want a full stop, but that doesn’t really matter. You get the pure, stream-of-consciousness idea on paper straight away. I was never good at punctuation anyway.” 18. Keep hold of thoughts with Dropbox Paper “Dropbox Paper is insanely good for an influx of thoughts and ideas for various uses; from project planning, transcribing interviews to recording insights,” enthuses Cellyn Tan, junior product designer at digital transformation consultancy Red Badger. “I started using the tool a few months ago after reading a Medium article on how designers and copywriters have used it to document their designs and iterations. ‘It helps to organise my thoughts and kudos to its inline formatting tools. For example, checkboxes helped me loads in fleshing out tasks and to-dos. It embraces the use of emoji, not just for frivolous decorations but to call attention to specific sections, and extremely helpful in communicating statuses. “I use Paper to quickly get my head around meeting and workshop outcomes. It is effortless to create tables, drag visual artefacts into Paper and type away with a clean, simplified interface.” 19. Handle Post-its correctly The correct way to remove Post-its “Learning how to peel off a Post-it correctly is one of the most useful things a designer can master,” says Clementine Brown, product designer at Red Badger. “Many people peel them off in an upwards motion, causing the paper to curl and fall off the wall. Instead, you should peel them off horizontally, as in the gif [shown above]. Also, write your on post-its in Sharpie, so people can read your words from further away.” 20. Break tasks down with Asana “I started using Asana a couple of years ago and it’s become a really helpful tool for staying organised and on track with my work,” says Philip Demir, designer at app design company Potato. “It does so by breaking everything down into smaller, more manageable tasks that can be grouped into categories. “An example would be breaking an email campaign down into tasks based on my typical design workflow: concept sketching, digital rendering, amends, etc. Each can have due dates and priority tags set so I can stay on track with my progress. It’s changed the way I work for the better – I have a work (Potato) account, one for my freelancing, and even one for my personal admin.” 21. Productise your assets "As I’ve been a design strategist for many years now, there are specific diagrams, flow charts and models that have become integral to my practice,” says experience design strategist Rochelle Dancel. “I used to waste a lot of time attempting to design something completely original for every document that added very little value,” she explains. “When I’ve worked in an agile team, I’ve found that my work against the ‘just enough just in time’ principle is greatly enhanced if you productise the assets that you constantly produce. “Now I have clean versions of specific assets I use all the time in a number of formats – Sketch, Keynote and Illustrator – with very basic styling, which makes it easier and faster when I can hand over work for someone else to style, leaving me free to concentrate on the content.” Money matters Follow these tips to make sure you're reaping the full rewards of your design work Much as we love our work and don't like to think about the financial side, we all need to pay the bills and keep the lights on. But keeping your bank manager happy needn't be such a chore. Here are some tips to help boost your finances. 22. Don’t do your own accounting “If you are the creative type like me, there could be a little bit of chaos in you,” says Johannes Obermayr, owner of Austrian design agency Artischock.at. “Book keeping doesn't go well at all with even just a little chaos. In my first year, I just tried to do a part of it and my misunderstanding of the tax system led to more work for my tax advisor. Let him or her do his or her job; these guys are way more effective. If accounting would have been your thing, you would have become a tax consultant. Do what brings you joy.” 23. Raise your rates “However much you charge, there will still be people that find your price quite affordable,” points out Obermayr. “That doesn't mean you should charge £1,000 per hour, but some people who start cheap and attract the attention of low budget customers get stuck with a ‘cheap’ reputation, which they can’t escape for fear of losing clients. I’d recommend instead that you calculate what your earnings should be and double or triple that to find your hourly fee. After all, you cannot sell all the hours you can bill for, because there are a lot of other administrative tasks you need to do beside the design work. “Charging a high rate means you can also afford to invest one or two extra hours in the design, so you can be satisfied and confident about the excellence of your creative outcome. Customers can sense that – which makes relationships much easier. Also don’t forget that one day an unexpected bill will land in your inbox; so make sure you have some of that money set aside. 24. You don't have to subscribe Affinity now has an alternative to Adobe InDesign, in the form of Affinity Publisher One more money tip from Obermayr… “Your work is still worth something a year or some after you've created it,” he points out. “You created this value. You should be able to access your own work at anytime unconditionally. If not, you have basically just rented your own work. “For this reason, I started the transition from Adobe to Affinity three years ago; now, the only Adobe CS6 Apps I still launch regularly are Acrobat for preflight and InDesign. And the Affinity Publisher beta already has its place in my Mac’s task switcher and will replace InDesign early next year.” 25. Be your own client “Treat your own business like you would a client's,” says Nottingham-based graphic designer Jenny Lamacraft. “Schedule and prioritise time for your own branding and marketing materials. Resist the temptation to keep putting the project back and set a firm deadline, otherwise you'll never do it – I've learnt from bitter experience! Obviously paying work has to come first, but I've found that applying this attitude does help.” Bonus: quick-fire life hacks Need more advice ? Here are some bonus, quick-fire tips from Bristol-based CRM agency, Armadillo …. Mock up your ideas. No one is a mind reader (sadly), and some people will struggle to understand your idea without context. Know what you do. As in, really know what you do. Master your craft and everything around it. Get organised. Stay on top of deadlines, stay on top of admin, stay on top generally. Teamwork makes the dreamwork. Ignoring the cliché, collaboration makes the best work. Make use of those around you and their skills and knowledge. Be open to new ideas. Sometimes the best work comes from the most unexpected places. Stay in the know. The latest trends, the newest technology, the successes and the failures – make sure you know what’s going on in your industry. Get out of your own head. Look for inspiration in areas outside of your own field. A cup of tea fixes everything. Read more: The essential guide to tools for designers 6 Instagram hacks to transform your feed 5 simple tools to make life easier as a freelancer View the full article

My journey into making 3D art started a couple of years ago when my brother told me to try ZBrush. Since then I’ve got to know amazing people and talented artists to learn from and to collaborate with. I've always been passionate about drawing and wanted to be able to bring an idea to life. This passion led me to become a 3D artist, turning ideas and illustrations into captivating 3D models. 01. Examine your reference Marylou Faure's original 2D illustration The first thing I do is to search for references to build a 3D model, or I draw one myself. I was lucky to collaborate with the amazing French artist Marylou Faure for this piece. Marylou wanted to see how her illustrations would look in 3D and I was looking for an opportunity to practice my skills on a non-realistic drawing. The basic rule of building a 3D model is the more references the better, especially from various angles. However, Marylou only handed me two reference images, so this was an amazing opportunity to experiment with creating 3D structure in a new way for me. Sign up to the Computer Arts newsletter The main problem with a non-realistic 2D drawing is that the original artist usually doesn’t consider turning the model around, so there might be a missing foot for the sake of composition, or there might be an element that serves a graphic purpose from only one point of view. This has to be solved when working with a sculpture. 02. Start from a sphere The model is made up of various spheres ZBrush is fairly intuitive and easy to use with some practice. I usually start from the sphere. I could use any primitive form but in many cases the sphere is the best choice, especially when sculpting a humanoid shape as it enables conferring organicity to it. I start the project with a basic shape using as many spheres as I need, deformed for the purpose I am using them for. But it’s important to remember that the human body isn’t made out of spheres, so it is necessary to squeeze, move, trim and carve them as appropriate. For this project I didn’t start with making a T-posed shape with symmetry, to preserve the artistry of the original picture. In fact, in this case, taking that kind of approach might have prevented me from pursuing the artistic result I wanted to achieve: the body in her illustration was purposely not proportionate but there was a balance to it. 03. Start sculpting When creating 3D models, you'll need to think about how your subject looks from all angles When happy with the shape, it's good practice to merge the different parts in order to create one whole piece using the DynaMesh button at the resolution needed. I then proceed with some form of retopology to lower the polycount, either using external software or hitting the Zremesher button in ZBrush. With the basic shape ready, it’s time for the sculpting process. Sculpting a human face requires study and practice to learn where the concave and convex parts of the face are and above all, to find the right process that suits your needs. I always move the model around to check the front, side, three-quarter, up and down views to make sure I’m not sculpting in just two dimensions at the time. A second way to examine the progress while working is to compare the 3D model with the original reference by overlapping them, to check the shapes. But the changes done this way are not to be relied on too much since the model is then going to be rotated, showing all the flaws of this approach despite looking good from the point of view of the reference. 04. Think about composition The model after merging the pieces and then welding them using DynaMesh Dealing with composition means figuring out issues that may arise from the 2D, static pose of the original illustration. A good 2D composition doesn’t always mean it’s going to work in a 3D environment, because they respond to different criteria. I decided to slightly change the model according to the many views I needed. The front and the back views had incompatible visual needs and conflicting elements for the composition – the breasts, shoulders and clouds. Wanting to get two images from two separate renders, I decided to modify the mesh to fit the visual purpose of the views, resulting in two 3D models; one to be rendered from the front view and the other one from the back. Another possibility I could have considered would have been finding a compromising point between different shapes and sculpting a single piece. This is the option I would take if I needed to print in 3D or to show the product in motion, for example, with a turntable display. 05. Render your sculpture Render test to check light intensity and colours before applying the materials Before rendering a model, use the polygroup function of ZBrush because it enables grouping every element together, which will then be assigned with the same material. I grouped together all the parts that were going to be red, then nails, hair and the mole for the black group, and so on. I then merged all subtools and exported the file. The program I normally use for rendering is Corona for Cinema 4D, mainly for its versatility for both photorealistic renders and more cartoonish ones. I check that I have selected Corona as the rendering engine, set Full Denoise at 0.7, activate the Global Illumination effect and then set the height, width and resolution. It is then time to import the mesh and start setting the scene, placing a Corona Camera in the relevant view for the render and creating or loading materials. 06. Think about lighting The final model with different polygroups, ready to be exported The shiny look on the skin was incredibly easy to achieve: I created a new Corona material, selected the Diffuse colour and checked the Reflection box. What makes a render so magical is the lighting. One thing to remember is not to place too many lights. It’s generally best to not use more than five, although this does depend on the model structure, especially with such reflective material. Before hitting the final render button, it is useful to enable the multi-pass function and activate the ID Pass, because it creates flat colour for each region, based on the previous polygroups. This makes it easy to select each region with the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop. For this project I used this technique to adjust the redness of the body, which was initially too bright, without altering the red component in the other parts of the image. To get the two images, I started the render by clicking on Render to Picture Viewer and while the engine was working, I started post-producing on the Corona VFB window. When the render was done, in the same window, I selected the Stop button so the program 'de-noised' the scene and lastly I saved both files as PNGs. At this point I had two images ready to be loaded in Photoshop for the final adjustments, such as exposure, contrast and tonal values. This article was originally published in issue 281 of Computer Arts, the world's leading graphic design magazine. Buy issue 281 or subscribe here. Read more: Why 2D artists need to learn 3D 5 mesmerising uses of illustration in branding Pose a character in ZBrush: 4 top tips View the full article

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past week, you'll know that Apple recently announced its next generation of iPhones: the iPhone XS, XS Max and iPhone XR. The popular smartphone has undergone a number of updates for its latest iteration, and there's been a lot of excitement around its new photography options in particular. Always searching for the best camera phone around, the team at our sister site Digital Camera World have wasted no time in getting their hands on the new iPhone XS and XS Max to write a full review , focusing in particular on the iPhone's new camera specs. Highlights include a 12MP camera, backed by a bigger sensor measuring 1.4µm, to help negate difficult shooting conditions. The XS also has two lenses: a six-element, wide-angle f/1.8 lens, and an f/2.4 telephoto optic in front. True Tone flash and optical image stabilisation are present, too. Meanwhile, the front TrueDepth camera has seen some improvements as well, with a new 7MP sensor and f/2.2 lens. The iPhone XS includes Smart HDR, a new manually adjustable depth control option Enhanced Smart HDR Some particularly interesting features for photographers include Smart HDR, a new manually adjustable Depth Control option, and improved bokeh with Advanced Picture mode. Many of the new improvements are powered by the much-discussed iPhone XS A12 Bionic chip, which, Apple claims, means the iPhone can make a trillion operations per photo. Impressive stuff. With all this added functionality, it's not hard to see why people are excited by the camera's possibilities. And artists and designers should be as well. New and improved depth of field and bokeh options, coupled with enhanced speed and sensors means the iPhone XS offers much greater control in post production, too. Find out how the Digital Camera World crew got on with the iPhone XS and its new camera capabilities – and read the full review – over on the DCW website. Read more: The best cheap Apple Pencil deals of 2018 45 best photo apps and photo editing software The 10 best point-and-shoot cameras in 2018 View the full article

The past two years have seen an explosion in interest for VR and AR technologies. Interest levels are showing no signs of decline, with many major tech companies rumoured to be working on new top secret devices. It’s also no surprise that AR has arrived on the web, thus presenting designers with some important new areas to consider for content creation. If you're interested in exploring AR, there are a number of web design tools around to help you. Here are some of the best. 01. AR.js AR.js is the definitive library leading the way for bringing AR to the web browser. Use either three.js or the simpler A-Frame to display your content with this library. While at the moment it is mostly marker-based AR content, there is an example of it working with Google’s Tango platform. 02. Google AR Google has developed two browsers for AR (WebARonARCore for Android and WebARonARKit for iOS). If your phone can support these browsers you can install them. Build 3D augmented reality content with three.js, making use of your phone’s abilities to see flat surfaces and position your 3D content on them. 03. Jeeliz Face Filter This tool specialises in facial filters This is still technically AR, but focuses purely on detecting faces and augmenting 3D model content on top of the detected faces. Think of all those filters you see in social media applications that put animal ears and noses on selfies, and you'll get a good idea of what you can expect to do with this library. 04. Awe.js Awe.js has some sophisticated features that make this worth looking into – notably the location-based AR (although this can be replicated with the Geolocation API using any other library). It isn’t quite as well supported as other libraries as there isn’t quite the same community around it. 05. Argon.js Argon.js runs on browsers that are able to run AR natively Argon has its own browser – the Argon4 web browser – but it also runs on browsers that are able to run AR natively. This makes a good fallback if you are targeting a demographic that might not have a blisteringly fast phone, but you really want to be inclusive with your technical solution. For more on AR and other current trends in web design and development, don't miss Generate London – buy your ticket today! This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 276 or subscribe. Read more: AR.js is bringing augmented reality to the web UX for emerging experiences 17 mesmerising projection mapping demos View the full article

Giving the perfect pitch is never easy. You have to know your subject inside-out. You have to grab people’s attention and know the answer to all their questions. And throughout it all you have to keep smiling, even if you’re dying inside. The good news is there are lots of tools to help the whole experience run smoothly. In this post, we’ve gathered together some of our favourites. If we’ve missed out your preferred tools though, please let us know! Presentation tools Use Powtoon to create animated presentations and explainer videos To truly wow your clients with your pitch, you’re going to have to ‘show’ as well as ‘tell’. Whether that means a series of slides or a short animation, there are a number of tools to help you put together a visual presentation quickly and easily. These apps take your words, images and videos and join them together to create a smooth and elegant slideshow or explainer video: Prezi: This visual storytelling presentation software offers an alternative to the restrictions of the traditional slideshow format. Instead, it gives you a limitless zoomable canvas and the ability to show relationships between the big picture and fine details. Powtoon: A powerful, cloud-based platform for creating animated presentations. Using templates, drag and drop and in-built voice elements, this app enables you to create a professional looking demo or explainer video in very little time, without any technical skills. There are plenty of other tools on the market, of course. So if the above don't float your boat, check out this list of free presentation tools. Prototyping tools Figma is a popular browser-based tool for building interactive prototypes If you’re developing a web app or site, just showing stills of what it will look like may not be enough to satisfy a potential client. When they ask: “What happens if you click this button?”, telling them verbally can be a bit clunky. It’s much more impressive to show them, via a working prototype. And the best news is, you no longer have to spend a lot of time and budget on developing one. The last few years have seen a ton of tools landing on the market that make it quick and easy to get a prototype up and running. They include: Sketch: A Mac-only tool focused on interface design that’s taken the design world by storm since its release in 2010. All the alternatives below are very much playing catch-up with Sketch. Adobe XD: Adobe XD is Adobe’s answer to Sketch. Its most obvious point of difference is that it’s available for Windows as well as OS X. Figma: An interface design tool based in the browser, this free app makes it easy to collaborate on a prototype, even if your team is distributed around the world. Subform: A CAD-inspired design tool centred around the unique constraints of UI/UX design, Subform puts a strong focus on the creation of responsive layouts with consistent styles, using real content. 8 free apps for picking a colour scheme Moodboard tools Moodboard has a range of templates for creating digital mood boards When the design ideas you’re pitching to a potential client are more nebulous, freeform and open to discussion, it can be difficult to know what to show. This is where mood boards come in. Rather than a mockup of a finished product, mood boards communicate creative concepts in a more abstract fashion. Featuring a collection of textures, images, text, fonts, colours and more, they’re about representing themes and encouraging discussion. Mood boards can be analogue or digital, and when it comes to the latter, there are a number of apps that can help you create them. We’d recommend the following: Moodboard: Unsplash’s free app for creating moodboards. You can start with a blank moodboard or use one of a series of templates, then share your moodboard with others via a link. Boards by Invision: A plugin for users of the prototyping app Invision that helps you to creative mood boards collaboratively across teams. The Matboard: A social bookmarking hub for the creative world often described as ‘Pinterest for design work’. Among other things, this cool app offers an easy way to collaborate on creating moodboards remotely. Style Tiles: This online tool has been specifically designed for pitching web design projects. Style Tiles allows you to create digital moodboards featuring different fonts, colors and interface elements. Want more options? Then check out this list of mood board tools. Projectors The Cube LED projector is powerful and portable If you’ve put a lot of effort into creating a cool slideshow, animation or video, you’re going to want your potential clients to see it in the best possible quality, even in daylight. Currently, one of our favourite projectors is the Cube LED projector, a tiny device that transforms any screen (including smartphones) into a cinematic experience, with a fine quality image of 120 inches and an LED life of 20,000 hours. For more options, you can check out more of the latest and greatest business projectors here. Read more: 20 tools that make freelancing easier The essential guide to tools for designers 13 incredible tools for creating infographics View the full article

Are you an illustrator, artist or creator? Then you could probably use CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO in your life. This tool will help you draw better comics and cartoons, thanks to specialised features designed specifically for digital drawing and painting. It's our pick of one of the best digital art software around, and right now you can pick up a copy for half price. You can access and download 10,000 brushes, tones, 3D models, and more. Integrate the software with Photoshop for even more effective and productive workflow. This all-in-one tool will make you a better digital creator than you could have ever imagined. Get CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO for just $29.99 – 50% off the regular price. View the full article

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