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Five flaws were disclosed Tuesday in monitoring software Opsview Monitor. View the full article

Using a known vulnerability, the threat actor is listening to a variety of ports. View the full article

With the days counting down until Apple unveils the latest iPhones at its 12 September event, it's only natural that Samsung would want to spoil the party. And right on cue, its mobile division CEO DJ Koh has revealed that Samsung's long-rumoured foldable phone could be launching later this year. Codenamed the Samsung Galaxy X – it may well have a completely different name by the time it appears – it's likely to be unveiled at the Samsung Developer Conference in November; around the same time that the next iPhones will be going on sale. So, if you're after one of the best smartphones for creatives, should you hold off on a new slice of cutting-edge Apple goodness? We don't know much about the Galaxy X, but here's what we do know. Samsung Galaxy X release date As we've already mentioned, DJ Koh has suggested that the Galaxy X will be be shown at the Samsung Developer Conference in November; it may go on limited sale before the end of the year, but don't get your hopes up. Realistically, you're unlikely to get the opportunity to buy one before 2019, which gives you a little extra time to save up. Samsung Galaxy X price And yes, you're probably going to need to save up for the Samsung Galaxy X, There's been no official word on the price but we're definitely into iPhone X territory here and probably beyond that. The smart money says that if you want to get a Galaxy X at launch then it's going to set you back around $1,500. Samsung Galaxy X design Samsung has been working on foldable displays for a while now There's a reason for the eye-watering price, and that's the Galaxy X's foldable form factor. Folded, it looks like an ordinary phone; unfold it, however, and you unleash a 7-inch screen, comparable to a small tablet, making it the ideal phone for creatives with designs to take on the road and no desire to get overloaded with tech. Why pack a tablet when you can simply unfold your phone and show your work off that way? Samsung Galaxy X rumours There's a lot that we don't know about the Samsung Galaxy X; pretty much everything, in fact. However the rumour mill suggests that it's going to be bulkier than comparable phones; understandable, given all the extra technology that's going to have to be crammed into it. It also seems likely that the foldable screens could make the Galaxy X a lot more fragile than similar phones, and we wouldn't be at all surprised if battery life and overheating became an issue. Releasing something quite so cutting-edge as a foldable screen comes with all manner of risks. However, Samsung seems confident that the technology is ready and the the market is ready for it too. We'll just have to see what it comes up with in November. Samsung Galaxy X: what we want to see Honestly, it all hinges on this foldable screen. If it's reliable and it looks as good as a tablet screen, then the Samsung Galaxy X could be an absolute godsend for creatives – especially if you can pair it with a quality stylus. That way you'd have a device that could do away with the need to carry a laptop or iPad Pro with you when you're off for client meetings or pitch presentations – just unfold the Galaxy X and you're good to go. The other issue, of course, would be performance and battery life. Love for the Galaxy X's sexy new features is going to drop off pretty quickly if it runs out of juice in a couple of hours, or overheats due to extensive use. This is all stuff that Samsung will be ironing out now, though. The Galaxy X will need to hit a sweet compromise between performance and power usage, so let's hope it gets it right. Related articles: The 28 best iPhone apps for designers 10 trends shaped by the iPhone What the new iPhones mean for designers View the full article

Whether you're a fresh-faced design school student or a seasoned art director, nobody is safe from the nightmare that is creative block. Thankfully, make it pop is here to get your design thinking back on track, increase your creative confidence and give you the skills to start pitching to potential clients. 20 ways to overcome creative block Originally founded as a side project in 2017, make it pop is a fun, card-based prompt game that challenges users to think up creative solutions for a range of problems and clients. Over the last year, the make it pop team has been testing and polishing the cards to create a game that can be used by a team or just for fun. There are cards covering tasks, clients and modifiers, and make it pop keeps things fun by chucking in ridiculous curve balls. The cards also include useful resources to help players out of a tricky spot. These may also come in handy for a future real life project. Check it out make it pop in action with the video below. If you've always wanted to design for big brands, make it pop gives you a taste of what that feels like. Although, there's plenty of fun to be had, as well as a lot of valuable lessons to learn, by puzzling out briefs for smaller and weirder clients. "When I speak to people starting out in the industry, they often gravitate towards doing their design practice for the most recognised brand they can think of, the fortune 500s," says make it pop co-founder and creative director Ade-Lee Adebiyi. "What they don’t realise is that they’re following a herd of creatives doing the exact same thing. They can easily create a more diverse and compelling portfolio by simply approaching their local florist or even creating a concept from a completely unexplored avenue." Currently, make it pop is raising funds for its launch over on Kickstarter. The pledge has already smashed its goal, but if you want to support this amazing project and secure yourself an early deck of make it pop cards, be sure to head over and make a donation. Related articles: How to be a better speaker: presenting and pitching tips 13 great tools for pitching to clients 3 top tips for pitching over Skype View the full article

In many occupations, solving problems and finding ways to be more productive are top priorities. This is especially true for web designers and frontend developers who perform many micro-tasks many times over. The fact we work with open web technologies that are often used to build free and open source software means we have a plethora of web design tools at our disposal. That also means there are mountains of tools to choose from, from scripts and plugins to WordPress themes, browser extensions, native apps, web services, libraries, frameworks, website templates, graphic packs and so much more. We've sifted through the hundreds of options available to find the best tools to try – and the best part is, all of these are free. Use the boxout on the right (or the drop-down menu above) to jump to a specific area. HTML and CSS tools 01. ai2html Now you can design in Illustrator and create instant HTML and CSS This is an open-source script that converts your Ilustrator documents to HTML and CSS, from the developers at the New York Times. It looks like a really powerful and useful tool for designers who work in Adobe Illustrator. The script is a JavaScript file that you download and drop into the scripts folder of your Illustrator install. 02. Autoprefixer You're not still writing CSS vendor prefixes by hand, are you? Keep your development files clean and let Autoprefixer (now a PostCSS plugin) do the hard work for you as part of your build process. 03. Susy A Sass-based layout toolkit that has been steadily gaining steam since its launch. It has a strong community and offers lots of customisable features to suit the needs of just about any project. 04. Critical Inline CSS is a requirement for good performance. Addy Osmani's Critical is available as a Grunt plugin, and along with Filament Group’s loadCSS script, it is a great option for extracting and loading your above-the-fold styles. 05. Shoelace Shoelace is an easy-to-use Bootstrap 3 visual grid builder. Amongst its features are responsive media query views and a fully functional preview. 06. DomFlags DomFlags makes it easier to navigate deeply-nested HTML elements in the DevTools A Chrome extension that enables you to flag elements in the DOM using a domflags attribute. When the DevTools are opened, the first flagged element will be auto-inspected, and keyboard shortcuts can be used to navigate through the flags. This tool is handy for tackling a messy DOM that’s hard to navigate. 07. Sass Lint Sass Lint is a node-based code quality tool for Sass/SCSS code, available as a Grunt or gulp plugin. Sass Lint is especially great for beginners who aren't too familiar with Sass best practice. 08. SMACSS SMACSS is a scalable and modular architecture for CSS. There is nothing to download or install here, just a whole host of ideas for structuring projects both large and small. The website includes a free ebook for you to download, read and study. 09. BEM BEM is a CSS methodology that is widely used throughout the industry. The simplicity of its naming convention helps to tackle specificity problems in CSS – enabling elements to be scoped to a block name using a double underscore and modified using a double dash. 10. Object Oriented CSS OOCSS was born out of the backend development methodology. The core principle is around the reuse of code and Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) programming, the results of which are easier to maintain, with smaller CSS in your project. Next page: Free JavaScript tools... 11. Webpack Keep your JS files small and focused Webpack is a JavaScript module bundler that enables you to keep your JavaScript files small and focused. In its simplest form Webpack will then bundle them all into one minified JS file which can be included in your website or application. 12. React Facebook's popular library includes a virtual DOM and optional JSX syntax. Its reusable components are designed to to help anyone building large, dynamic web apps. 03. Vue.js Vue is a progressive JavaScript framework. It can be easily integrated into an already existing app and used in one small part if needed. Equally, it can be used to build full single page apps. The framework is approachable and the basics can be easily grasped. 04. React React is a JavaScript framework for building interactive user interfaces. The framework is developed and used by Facebook in all of its apps and websites. React aims to provide speed, simplicity and scalability for any project by providing a component based library. 05. Svelte Svelte is a component-based JavaScript framework, much like React, Angular and Vue but with a difference. Svelte compiles your code into vanilla JavaScript at build time – not at runtime like the others – which means no framework abstractions or lengthy load times, generating fast and performant apps. 16. Babel Babel enables you to use tomorrow's JavaScript today A JavaScript transpiler that lets you use the newest ECMAScript features (ES6, now called ES2015) without having to wait for browsers to catch up. 17. annyang A small JavaScript library to help you build voice-controlled interfaces. It has a really nice API that's easy to use. After including the library, you define your commands along with the behaviour in response to those commands. 18. List.js Add search, sort, filters and flexibility to HTML lists and tables with List.js This is a fast and powerful way to create search, sort and filter functionality for lists, tables or just about any type of grouped content. All you need is some HTML and a few lines of JavaScript. 19. KnockoutJS KnockoutJS is a small and lightweight JavaScript framework — weighing in at just 59kB. It enables developers to create simple data binding for interactions with automatic UI refreshing. The KnockoutJS website also includes a really nice interactive tutorial, which can help you get started. 20. Preact Preact is geared towards performance Preact is a JavaScript framework that touts itself as the 'Fast 3kB alternative to React with the same modern API'. Its small size makes it quick to download, parse and execute your application. Geared towards performance and with a handy 'Switching to Preact (from React)' tutorial on the Preact website. 21. VerbalExpressions If you’re like me and can't stand the thought of writing regular expressions from scratch, this is the library for you. It's a plain-English way to write regex, and since the return value compiles to the actual expression, it can be a great way to learn, too. 22. ESLint If you want to make sure that your JavaScript is error-free, ESLint is an essential and versatile linting tool that you'll want to keep within reach. It comes with built-in rules enabling you to get started straight away, but its real power lies in the fact that its rules are completely pluggable, enabling you to create and dynamically load the rules that you need at any time. 23. Chart.js This is just one of the many available JavaScript charting libraries, but it's certainly one of the nicest. There are six HTML5 canvas-based chart types, and all charts are responsive, modular and interactive. The library is small and dependency-free. 24. Quill This is an embeddable rich text editor supported in all modern browsers, as well as IE 9 onwards and mobile. It offers powerful customisation options through a clean API. 25. Awesomplete Awesomeplete is Lea Verou's easy-to-use form input autocomplete widget. I love that it can be used with just HTML and the library, without any extra lines of JavaScript. On top of that, it offers advanced customisation options through built-in events and methods. 26. Foundation for Apps You’ve no doubt heard of ZURB's Foundation framework. This is a separate project specifically designed for building responsive web apps. It's based on AngularJS, but doesn't require advanced knowledge of Angular. 27. UIkit UIkit's a plucky young competitor in the frameworks hood While Bootstrap and Foundation are the clear winners in terms of popularity in the framework space, UIkit is worth checking out. Its core features and interface components are right up there with the big kids on the block. 28. PostCSS PostCSS is a toolkit of JavaScript plugins that helps you take advantage of the latest standards and conveniences in CSS development. There are plugins for linting CSS, working with variables and mixins, transpiling future CSS syntax and more. It’s well worth looking into. Next page: more free web design tools... 29. Typorama This iOS app is packed with image editing options Typorama is an iOS app that enables anyone – with design skills or not – to create awesome graphics. Packed full of image editing features and beautiful typography options, it’s like Instagram on steroids. The app is frequently updated and has gathered a loyal following since its launch in 2015. 30. Sparkline Typeface The Sparkline Typeface enables you to create sparkline graphs using just a font, no need for complicated JavaScript libraries and configurations. While it can be limited, it’s also a huge timesaver. 31. Coolors Coolors is ideal for colour palette inspiration Coolors is a great little web app for when you need inspiration; fire up the app and hit the Spacebar to generate a random colour pallet. Once you find a colour you like you can ‘lock’ that colour and hit the Spacebar again to generate more colours. 32. FontBase FontBase is a font management tool which works across all platforms, offering a beautiful and intuitive UI for searching and sampling fonts. It also enables fonts to be shared among teams so you’ll never need to hassle your designer to send you the fonts ever again! Paid plans are available. 33. Google Fonts Google Fonts offers a large selection of free web fonts which can be used on any project. The interface is clean and minimal but enables you to easily see and test new fonts. It also offers a number of different ways to include the fonts in your project. 34. Adobe Capture Adobe Capture is a smartphone app – available for Android and iOS – that enables you to take photos of anything inspirational, and then generate colour palettes, vector shapes and repeating patterns, all of which you can upload to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. 35. Font Base Font Base is a font management tool which works across all platforms, offering a beautiful and intuitive UI for searching and sampling fonts. Font Base also enables fonts to be shared among teams so you’ll never need to hassle your designer to send you the fonts ever again! 36. AllTheFreeStock This is a massive single resource where you can search for free stock photography from loads of different sites. It includes popular free sources such as Unsplash, along with other, lesser-known sites, to give you plenty of options for populating your designs. 37. Transformicons Transformicons: SVG and CSS icons that can be animated with CSS transitions Transformicons is a different kind of icon set. These are SVG- and CSS-based icons that incorporate CSS transitions for an animated effect that can be controlled with some JavaScript. 38. Octicons There are countless options for icons, and GitHub has released its own nicely designed set. Octicons is available as an icon font (or web font), which is commonly inserted into a page using CSS pseudo-elements. 39. Ionic Ionic is a popular library of mobile-optimised CSS and JavaScript components One of the biggest HTML5-based mobile app development frameworks, built with mobile-optimised CSS and JavaScript components, Ionic boasts a very strong community – which is great for those looking for a good long-term option. 40. Embed Responsively A simple online tool that enables you to grab responsive embed codes for all sorts of popular media sources. It supports YouTube, Vimeo, Google Maps, Instagram, Vine and more. 41. Tablesaw Responsive tables are one of the most difficult layout considerations. Tablesaw is a set of jQuery plugins to help in this area, by means of features like stack, toggle, minimap and more. 42. Froala Design Blocks Froala has over 170 ready-made design blocks to choose from There's a strong case for using tried and tested design patterns – people know how to use them, and if your client wants evidence, there's plenty of user testing that shows them to be effective. A resource like Froala Design Blocks is ideal for putting sites together quickly, with over 170 design blocks that you can assemble into a great-looking, responsive site. 43. Site Palette Site Palette is a Chrome extension that enables you to grab the colour scheme from any website, which you can then turn into a number of useful elements, such as Sketch Templates and Adobe Swatches, or you can print or download them. 44. Atomic Design Atomic Design is a methodology for creating design systems. It breaks design into five different levels: Atoms, Molecules, Organisms, Templates and Pages. Each level can and should include elements from the previous layers to build up designs. 45. Wireframify Wireframify is a Chrome extension that enables you to turn any website into a wireframe. It works by applying a custom stylesheet onto the website, which removes all images and modifies all of the colours and borders, leaving you with what looks like a wireframe. Next page: Free animation tools 46. KUTE.js KUTE.js is a JavaScript animation framework, built with fast code execution and memory efficiency in mind. With everything from two and three dimensional transforms to SVG manipulation KUTE.js is a strong contender for creating simple and lightweight animations. 47. Anime Anime produces seamless animations Anime is a JavaScript animation library packed full of features. The library is performant and produces beautiful, seamless animations. There’s detailed documentation on the website and a variety of demos produced by the developer Julian Garnier on his CodePen. 48. Blotter Blotter is a JavaScript API for drawing unconventional text effects. Powered by three.js and underscore.js it is capable of producing some weird and wonderful animated text effects. The library offers five different material effects all of which can be customised. 49. Animate.css Animate.css is a small library of CSS animations, which can be used to add subtle (or not so subtle in some cases) animations to elements in your page. All you need to do is include the Animate.css code and then use the classes provided to animate elements in your application. 50. three.js A 3D animation library three.js is a 3D animation library built for the web. three.js works by creating a three-dimensional scene in which objects are rendered, a camera is then placed inside this scene. Some of the best animated websites on the web utilise three.js! 51. GSAP GSAP is a powerhouse when it comes to web animation. Starting life as a Flash animation plugin, it has since evolved to be one of the best web animation libraries available, enabling complex animations and time-based functions to be easily authored. 52. Vivus A dependency-free JavaScript library that animates your SVGs, giving the appearance of drawing. The on-page demos are well worth checking out. 53. AniCollection A library of CSS animations AniCollection is a library of CSS animations. It sports an interface that enables you to easily add animations to your collection and quickly grab the necessary HTML, CSS or JavaScript code to implement them in your project. You can even submit your own. Next page: Build and testing tools 54. SVGOMG SVGOMG is an online tool for optimising SVG. Under the hood SVGOMG uses the incredibly powerful command-line tool SVGO to perform optimisations, but SVGOMG does so while visually showing you any changes the optimisation has made to an image. 55. Yarn Yarn is a package manager. It works much the same as Node Package Manager (npm). Yarn caches every package making it incredibly fast to download and install dependencies, and with all of the same packages as npm so you can easily make the switch. 56. BetterBoilerplate The BetterBoilerplate offers a scaffolding for any new project. It’s packed full with build tools, file management and a robust CSS framework. The BetterBoilerplate is development environment agnostic and can be used for any project from small brochure websites to full SAAS projects. 57. Browsersync Browsersync is a powerful tool for synchronised cross-device testing and live debugging Browsersync is like LiveReload, but on steroids. It's a powerful tool for synchronised cross-device testing that will live-reload your project for every edit and save in all browser instances. It even syncs up navigation and scrolling in the browser sessions. You can add CSS outlines for debugging, and a latency option enables you to mimic a slower internet connection. 58. Google PageSpeed Insights Google Page Speed Test is an online tool used to analyse a website and give a score based on performance. You start by entering the URL of your website and running the test, Google will then suggest ways in which the site’s performance can be improved. 59. Vue.js DevTools Vue.js has optional devtools, which enable you to inspect component states, track events and access all of the data held in the virtual DOM. This is extremely useful when working with Vue.js and is a much nicer alternative to console logging all of these things. 60. Web Developer Toolbar The Web Developer toolbar has been around for almost as long as web design has, but it’s still really useful for web development today, offering a number of really handy tools, from deleting cookies to displaying an image’s alt text. 61. Gulp Gulp takes care of repetitive tasks Gulp is a frontend build tool used to perform any number of functions from compiling Sass to building SVG sprites. Gulp will save you time and perform a lot of the repetitive tasks required, enabling you to concentrate on writing code and building applications. 62. Grunt This frontend build tool is used in the same way as Gulp, with the aim of saving you time and effort when building the frontend of any website or app. These tools have become an important part of frontend development due to their ability to perform repetitive tasks. Next page: Best of the rest 63. CodePen CodePen is the go-to code playground for most frontend developers. The UI is clean and has support for most of the popular frameworks in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The ‘Picked Pens’ section on the homepage is a great place to find inspiration and see some of the amazing community creations. 64. Atom GitHub’s text editor can be customised to suit your needs The GitHub dev team's hackable text editor for modern development, Atom comes full-featured, with packages, themes, smart auto-completion, multiple panes and more. Best of all, it can be fully customised via HTML, CSS and JS. 65. Brackets Adobe’s contribution to the text editor race is an open source editor with focused visual tools, preprocessor support, and the ability to ease in-browser design through live preview. It also integrates well with Photoshop via the Extract for Brackets extension. 66. Lorem Ipsum Generator Both designers and developers rely on lorem ipsum text when producing mockups and testing type. loremipsum.io has a host of plugins for text editors and programming languages. The generator’s page has some comical alternatives too. 67. Pastebin Pastebin is great when you just need to share a snippet of code, you go to the website, paste the code, copy the link and send it. You can add optional settings such as syntax highlighting and choose how long your URL will last. 68. Let's Encrypt Let's Encrypt will help you switch a project over to HTTPS If you’re looking to switch a project over to HTTPS, you’ll want to investigate this option. It's a free, open and automated certificate authority that provides you with a hassle-free way to go secure. 69. Accessible HTML5 Video Player This is a video player from the PayPal accessibility team. It has custom controls and a keyboard-accessible and screen reader-supported UI. There are no scripting dependencies and it uses HTML5 form controls for volume and progress indicators. Related articles: Top prototyping tools The 18 best wireframe tools The best colour tools for web designers View the full article

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to create a piece of 3D art featuring a realistic three-dimensional text effect. You'll also learn how to edit multiple images using adjustments and basic tools. 5 best laptops for Photoshop The first part of this tutorial takes place in Photoshop CC's 3D environment, which means you have to work with three different panels almost simultaneously. The Layers panel is where you place and create the 3D text. In the 3D panel, you access the 3D commands, while the Properties panel is where you apply the extrusion effect, distort and apply different materials to add realism. Working in a three-dimensional space is fairly easy but you have to pay close attention. The second part of the tutorial is back to familiar, 2D territory, using the Selection tools, masks, adjustment layers and other basic techniques. Don't forget to download the resources. 01. Create the background Switch to the 3D workspace and load the background image First, change the workspace. Go to Window > Workspace > 3D. Now, create a new blank canvas (cmd/ctrl+N). Name it 3D Text, setting the Width to 1500px, Height to 620 pixels, Resolution to 300ppi and then click OK. Go to File > Place Embedded 'pix_117004_background.jpg', adjust the size and press return/enter. 02. Download a new font Download the font you need before going any further Go to dafont.com and download the font South Afirkas 2100 by zanatlija. Unzip the file and install on your system. Grab the Type tool (T). In Options choose the Font Type: South Afirkas, Size: 70pt and then type the word SAFARI. 03. Add texture Give your text a bit of texture Go to File > Place Embedded 'pix_2068284_texture1.jpg'. Place over the text and then clip the layers, press cmd/ctrl+opt/alt+G. Hold Shift and click on the Safari layer. With both layers active, press cmd/ctrl+E to merge. Rename the layer Safari_texture. 04. Create a 3D layer Now you can extrude your text into 3D Go to 3D > New 3D Extrusion from Selected Layer. In the Properties panel, click in Mesh, choose Texture Mapping: Scale and set the Extrusion Depth to 10mm. In the 3D panel, click on the Safari_Texture Front Inflation Material, set the Roughness to 80% and Bump to 100%. 05. Add more textures Another texture improves the look of your 3D text In the 3D Layer panel, click Safari_Texture Extrusion Material. Now in the Properties panel, click the Diffuse icon and choose Replace Texture, locate the 'pix_2068284_texture2.jpg' and Open. Adjust the Roughness to 80% and Bump to 100%. 06. Edit UV properties Tweak your texture by editing its UV properties We're now going to edit the extrusion texture. In Properties, open the Diffuse icon again and select Edit UV Properties. Set the U/X Scale to 65% and the V/Y Scale to 50% and then click OK. 07. A bevel effect Edit the Safari_Texture layer to give it a bevel effect In the 3D panel, click the Safari_Texture layer. Now, in the Properties panel, click Cap. Set the Sides to Front, the Bevel Width to 35% and change the Contour to Cone_Inverted. 08. Move the 3D text Move the camera to give the text a more three-dimensional appearance Grab the Move tool (V). In the 3D workspace click on Dolly the 3D camera (it's the third icon in the bottom left). Hold the mouse button and drag up to move the text further away. Click on the Orbit and Pan the 3D camera to rotate and move the image down. 09. Adjust the light Get a more dramatic look by adjusting the light In the 3D panel, click Infinite Light. Use the on-image controller to adjust the light, placing it in front of the 3D text and moving it around 75 degrees to the top-left corner. Render the image by going to 3D>Render 3D Layer. 10. Create a layer mask Use a layer mask and the Dune Grass brush to blend in the grass In the Layers panel, press cmd/ctrl+J to duplicate the Safari_Texture layer. Go to Layer > Rasterize > 3D. (Hide the original 3D Safari_Texture layer.) Add a layer mask. Grab the Brush tool. Press F5 and choose the Dune Grass brush, tweak the Shape Dynamics and Scattering then paint over the mask, blending the grass. 11. Make adjustments Sharpen your image and tweak the tones First, let's sharpen the image a bit. Click on the Safari_Texture thumbnail. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen More. Now adjust the tones. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels. Set the Inputs to 0, 1.15, 215 and clip the layers. 12. Place the lion Time to add some wildlife Go to File > Place Embedded 'pix_1236169_lion.jpg'. Grab the Quick Selection tool (W) and select the lion. Go to Select > Select and Mask. Change View Mode to Overlay. Set Edge Detection Radius to 15 pixels, check Smart Radius, and use the tools to enhance the selection. Output to 'New layer with layer mask'. 13. More adjustments A few adjustments will help the lion fit more naturally in the scene Grab the Dune Grass brush and paint over the mask to hide the paws and tail behind the bushes. Now, go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen. Then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels. Set the Inputs to 0, 0.95, 245 and clip the layers. 14. The Pen tool Add the elephant and use the Pen tool to cut it out Go to File > Place Embedded 'pix_602530_elephant.jpg'. Grab the Pen tool (P) and draw a path around the elephant. In Options, click Make: Selection and then click OK. Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection. Press cmd/ctrl+T and adjust the size. 15. Add more adjustments As with the lion, you'll need to tweak the elephant so it doesn't stick out Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast. Set Brightness to 30, Contrast to 15, clip the layers and then click OK. Now, make a quick colour correction. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter. Choose Filter: Deep Yellow, set the Density to 30%, clip the layers and click OK. 16. Bring in the ostrich Time for a bit more wildlife Go to File > Place Embedded 'pix_341989_ostrich.jpg'. Grab the Quick Selection tool (W) and select the image. In Options, click Select and Mask. Use the Refine Edge Brush tool (R) or the Brush tool (B) to enhance the mask, then click OK. Resize the image and place the ostrich next to the elephant. 17. Curves adjustment Use a Curves adjustment to knock the tones into shape Now, let's apply a Curves adjustment to correct the tones. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. Place the mouse cursor in the centre and drag down a bit or set the Input to 45 and the Output to 40, clip the layers and click OK. 18. Place more images All right, let's have a monkey... Go to File > Place Embedded 'pix_1224295_monkey.jpg'. Use the Quick Selection tool to select the image and the Select and Mask command to refine the selection. Resize the image and place over the letters. Use a Curves adjustment to correct the tones. 19. Add the giraffe ...and a giraffe. What could possibly go wrong? Place the 'pix_927281_giraffe.jpg'. Select and mask the giraffe. Add a new layer on top of it and clip the layers (cmd/ctrl+opt/alt+G). Change the blending mode to Soft Light, grab the Brush tool and using a light yellow colour, paint over the body to whiten the shadows. 20. Colour correction Add a warming filter for that final tonal touch Place a new adjustment layer on top of the layer stack. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter. Choose Filter: Warming Filter (85), set the Density to 25%, and click OK. 21. Create a snapshot One last adjustment and you're good to go Press shift+cmd/ctrl+opt/alt+E to create a snapshot. Now make the final adjustment. Go to Filter > Camera Raw filter. Set the Exposure to +0.25, Highlights to -30, Clarity: +10 and Saturation: +5, then click OK. This article originally appeared in issue 152 of Photoshop Creative. Subscribe here. Related articles: Working with layers in Photoshop: Layer Styles Create a repeating pattern in Photoshop The 10 commandments of Photoshop etiquette View the full article

If you’re new Photoshop, knowing where to start when it comes to removing a background can be daunting. Photoshop has many different ways you can achieve this, some faster than others, some a little more time consuming and complex. There's no right or wrong way, it’s about picking the right approach for the job in hand. In this Photoshop tutorial, we'll cover some techniques you can use to remove a background, each using different tools. We'll start with two of the most basic approaches: the Magic Wand tool (this page) and Quick Selection tool (jump to page 2). Then we'll move on to the more complex method of using channels alongside the Refine Edge tool (page 3). Finally, we'll look at using removing backgrounds using the Pen tool, paths and masks (page 4). Let's get started... Use the icon in the top right of each image to enlarge it The Magic Wand tool The Magic Wand tool is perhaps the quickest and simplest way to remove a background in Photoshop, provided your image has clearly defined edges. It works best when there is a good amount of contrast between your background and foreground and when one of these elements is a solid flat colour. 01. Start with a basic selection The magic wand tool is the quickest way to remove a flat background in Photoshop Open your image and duplicate it, before hiding the background layer. This provides an easy way of referring back to the original image should you need to. With the new layer selected, select the Magic Wand Tool from your Tool panel (Shortcut W and shift+W to toggle between tools), select the flatter area of the image and delete. 02. Adjust Tolerance levels The Magic Wand can be quite limiting as a tool for removing a background, but by making adjustments to the Tolerance of an image you can select and remove a slightly trickier background providing the part you want to cut out still has clearly defined edges. You use the Tolerance settings (found in the Options bar) to adjust the range of colour values you want to select at once: increase the value and it will select a wider range of colours, decrease the value and it will select a narrower range. By decreasing the tolerance the magic wand tool will selects less colours values For images like the one above where the foreground object and background are a similar colour, you need to reduce tolerance levels so the Magic Wand tool recognises the background as a separate colour. Here, the tolerance has been reduced to seven. Then you can use the Magic Wand tool and the shift key to select different areas of background until you have the majority of it. By increasing the tolerance the magic wand tool will selects more colour values Alternatively, in an image where there are lots of different colours in the background, but a clear contrast between the colours in the foreground and background, you need to increase the tolerance levels. For example, in this image of dark mountains against an orange sunset, tolerance has been increased to 120. Again, select a small portion of the background using the Magic Wand tool, and then shift-click any other unselected areas of sky until all of it has been selected. 03. Neaten things up with Layer Masks Creating a Layer Mask gives you more control over editing your image The Magic Wand tool is great for a quick cutout, but the downside is that it doesn’t leave you with the cleanest of edges. Plus if you’re doing a multiple selection, this technique can also leave you with stray pixels in the background. But there are couple tricks you can use to improve on both these things. For this example, we'll got back to the chair image. You've already selected as much of the background as possible using the Magic Wand tool, with tolerance set to seven. Once you're happy with the background selection, instead of deleting it, create a mask. First you need to invert your selection. Select Inverse (under the Select menu, or shortcut cmd+shift+I) and then select the Add Layer Mask button (see image) found at the bottom of the Layer panel. 04. Use Layers to pick up stray pixels Using a mask when editing your image means you have more control as it is non-destructive. This means pixels are not deleted, just hidden, so you can re‑edit the masks by removing or repainting in parts of the original image. To see clearly how neat your edges are, create a new layer using the New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers panel. Fill this layer with a solid, bright colour and place it below your mask layer. If you zoom in, you can see the limitations of the Magic Wand tool; it can leave edges very jagged and litter your image with stray pixels. 05. Tidy things up with the Brush tool Remember, when using masks black hides, white reveals Layer Masks allow you to clean up and finesse your image. In this instance, the first thing to do is get rid of any stray background pixels that were not selected with the Magic Wand tool. Do this by alt-clicking on the Layer Mask thumbnail in your Layer panel. This will convert your artboard to the black and white Layer Mask view. Set the foreground colour to black, select a Paintbrush tool and start filling in those stray pixels and tidying up the edges of your image. Use the [ ] keys to decrease or increase the brush size to cover larger or smaller areas of your artboard. 06. Finesse your Layer Mask Experiment with the tolerance in different areas of your image to get the correct selection Click back on the background image to exit the Layer Mask view, then reselect your Layer Mask thumbnail to make it active. Take some time to use the Brush tool to tidy up your image and get rid of some of the harsh, jagged edges. In areas where you have more contrast in colour, like at the bottom of the chair, you can go back to your Magic Wand tool, up the tolerance value and make a more defined selection, then apply this to your Layer Mask. Next page: Create cutouts using the Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools Another useful tool for really speedy cutouts is the Quick Selection tool. It works in a similar way to the Magic Wand tool, but rather than just selecting similar colours, it also selects similar textures and detects the edges of objects. 01. Create a selection The Quick Selection Tool is a great way of doing a quick cutout To use this approach, open your image, duplicate and hide the background layer. Select the Quick Selection tool from the Tools panel (Shortcut W and shift+W to toggle between tools). Click on your foreground object and drag. It's that simple. This tool tends to work best if you start in the centre of the object you wish to cut out and drag outwards. If you find you've selected parts of the image you don’t want to be included in your cutout, hold down alt to remove these from your selection. Use the [ ] keys to decrease or increase the brush size to control how much is being selected by the Quick Selection tool. 02. Soften the cutout edges Adding a feather can help your image sit better in its new background Let's say we want to add a new background to the image above. You might find that when you add the background, your cutout has a slight halo (fringing) effect around the edges. However, you can easily edit this. Select the cutout by cmd+clicking on the layer mask thumbnail. While the selection is active, go to Select menu > Modify > Contract. Enter a value in the Contact Selection box to trim off the edge of your image (one pixel is a good place to start). Next add a feature via Select > Modify. Invert your selection, then making sure you still have the Layer Mask thumbnail selected, delete. Your cutout now should have a much softer edge that looks more natural on the new background. Next page: How to create cutouts using channels Channels are great for images that contain fine detail such hair, fur and foliage. Like the other techniques we've explored so far, this process works best when you're working with an image that has a solid background and clear contrast between the foreground and background elements. 01. Work with channels Channels can be really effective for cutting out finer details Open your image and navigate to the Channel panel (Windows > Channels). View each of the channels, then select and duplicate the channel with the most contrast. With the duplicate channel selected, open your levels (cmd+L) and adjust to up the contrast. 02. Clean up with the Dodge and Burn tools The Dodge and Burn tool can help refine the contrast of a channel-based cutout Use the Dodge and Burn tools to clean up any areas that aren't solid black or white. Set the exposure to 100 and use the Dodge tool to paint out any areas you want to lighten. Experiment with using the different ranges until you're happy with the results. Use the Burn tool for the opposite purpose: to darken any areas that need it. When you're happy, cmd+click your channel thumbnail to make a selection. Open your Layer panel and create a mask. Hit shift+cmd+I to invert your selection and add a Layer Mask. 03. Try the Refine Edge tool The Refine Edge tool is really effectively for cutting out hair and fur The Refine Edge tool can be really useful when cutting out images with finer details – it works really effectively with hair and fur. To use the tool, open your image and duplicate the background layer. Use any tool to do a rough cutout of the foreground image (we used the Quick Selection tool). At this stage don’t worry too much about the finer detail of the hair. With the selection active, open the Refine Edge tool in your Control panel. Increase the edge detection until some of the finer detail of the hair is visible. 04. Restore detail Use the Erase refinement tool to increase the finer detail of your cutout To get some of the finer hair detail back into your image, check the Smart Radius checkbox and make sure you have the Refine Radius Tool selected. Then start to paint over the edges of your selection where the detail is missing. If you want to remove detail, switch over to the Erase Refinement tool. You can use the additional Adjust Edge option to fine-tune your selection. If you get too much of your original background showing through, use the Shift Edge tool to contrast your selection. When you're happy with the changes you’ve made, choose to output to Layer mask. Now you'll be able to edit your image further. Next page: Creating cutouts using the Pen tool All the tools and techniques mentioned up to this point have their places and can be very effective for removing a background in Photoshop. But if you want to really up your game and have ultimate control over your cutout, you need to master the Pen tool. Although this approach can be a lot more labour-intensive, with a bit of time and practice, using the Pen tool will become second nature. 01. Draw a path Reading up on Bézier curves can really help you understand how the Pen tool works Open your image and repeat the process of duplicating and hiding your background layer. Select the Pen tool (shortcut P) from the Tools panel. Chose a point on the edge of the foreground object, and start drawing your path. If you're new to the Pen tool, you may find you get a very angular path that doesn’t mirror the shape of what you’re trying to cut out. To create curves in your path, as you add an anchor point, hold down the mouse key, click and then drag. This creates adjustment handles either side of the anchor point. By holding and dragging these in different directions you can adjust and control the shape of the curve. If you get to a point where you have a curved edge that need to a straight point, alt+click on the anchor point to remove the handle on one side. 02. Save a Path The path you draw will automatically appear in the Path panel Once you’ve completely drawn around your foreground item, you need to close the path. Do this by clicking on your first anchor point. You will see a small circle appear next to the cursor to show you the point is selected; click and the path is closed. Your path will automatically appear in the Paths Panel found under Window > Paths. Double-click on the Work Path to name and save the path. 03. Edit a path Paths can be easily edited, so don’t need to be too precise to start with The great thing about creating paths is that they don’t need to be perfect right away – you can easily go back and edit the path by selecting the anchor points with the Direct Select tool. Once you have anchor point selected (selected points will turn black), you can make adjustments to the handles to change the shape of the curve. Add points by selecting the Pen tool and clicking on the path, remove points by clicking on the anchor point with the Pen tool, and convert a curved point into a straight point (or vice versa) by alt+clicking. 04. Convert a path to a mask Using a bright contrasting background colour can help highlight any errors in your path Now to convert the path to a Layer Mask. Do this by selecting the path in the Paths panel, and once it’s highlighted, hitting the Load Path as a Selection button at the bottom of the paths panel. Then, as before, open your Layers panel, select the duplicate background layer and hit the Add Layer Mask button. Create a new layer and add a bright, contrasting fill colour below your Layer Mask layer. Now you can check how your cutout looks. 05. Finesse your mask The size of your image will affect the amount of feathering you want to add The great thing about creating a paths is that the information is there to use again. If the edges appear to harsh and don't reflect the original image, you may want to soften your cutout. To do this, duplicate the background layer and move it to the top of your Layers panel, making sure the layer is visible. Select your path in the Paths panel and hit ctrl+right-click. Select Make Selection from the flyout menu. Here you'll see an option to add a feather (I’m added a feather of two here). With the selection still highlighted, switch over to your Layer panel and add a Layer Mask. 06. Merge techniques Merging techniques can really make the most of your cutouts The final thing we're going to do is to create a better cutout of the cat's fur around its right ear. To do this, we'll use the Refine Edge tool we covered earlier. Duplicate the background layer and create a rough cutout of ear and fur in that area. With the selection active, open the Refine Edge tool in your control panel. Increase the Edge Detection until some of the finer detail of the fur is visible. Don't go too far, as this area of the image is really soft. Increase the level of detail using the Refine Radius tool. Once you're happy, you can select your two Layer Masks (ctrl+click) to merge the layers together. Read more: The 60 best free Photoshop brushes The best laptops for graphic design in 2018 14 Photoshop adjustment tools to retouch your images View the full article

Today has seen the John Lewis Partnership relaunch its two retail brands as Waitrose & Partners and John Lewis & Partners. Each arm of the rejigged business model comes with a new brand identity and logo design created by Pentagram, both of which underline the collaboration between the two firms. As well as a new look, the launch also includes a groundbreaking ad campaign that tugs on your heartstrings like the much-anticipated John Lewis Christmas spots. Created by adam&eveDDB, the agency behind both John Lewis and Waitrose's recent seasonal adverts, Bohemian Rhapsody riffs on the classic Queen song and sees a bombastic school play drive home a message of connectivity. Touted by the John Lewis & Partners customer director Craig Inglish, as the "biggest ever marketing campaign outside of Christmas", the video is the first time that the two brands have released an ad campaign together. Check it out below. Beyond the advert, the campaign will continue to roll out across print ads, hero products and in-store films. At the heart of the campaign is the slogan "When you're part of it, you put your heart into it", which can be seen across all areas of the rebrand. “Our new identities bring the brands much closer together and both brands will benefit,” says Martin George, customer director for Waitrose & Partners. “From now on, when one of us advertises there will be a halo effect for the other brand as customers recognise that ‘& Partners’ means we’re the same company and that all 85,000 of us are owners.” As for the new logos, Pentagram looked to the original work for the John Lewis Partnership logotype designed by Hans Schleger and Peter Hatch in the early 60s, which at the time was centred around a pattern motif. Using the exact same weight and thickness of lines found in this diamond symbol pattern ensure the new identity continues the spirit of the brand. Shoppers in central London will already be able to see the new identity on key stores, as well as online and on certain material such as lorries and vans, staff uniforms, carrier bags and trolleys. Over the next few years the full identity will be incorporated across all John Lewis and Waitrose shops and products. 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

Humans are visual creatures, and that means we respond well to images. If you have a blog or website, you should know how important it is to include images that capture your readers' attention. With Visme Standard Plan: 1-Yr Subscription, you have access to a huge library of templates that help you create images, icons, infographics, reports, and a whole lot more. Visme can even make these visuals interactive, whether you want to add links or animations to liven them up. You can also track how well your content is performing with the built-in view-tracking function. The editor is simple to use, allowing you to add video, audio, voiceovers, and more, all within the platform. For just $49, you can try out Visme Standard Plan: 1-Yr Subscription – that's 65% off the regular price. It's a limited-time offer though, so grab it while you can. Related articles: 15 great web design podcasts An essential guide to web design etiquette The best colour tools for web designers View the full article

On Creative Bloq we're always on the lookout for talented writers to join our network of contributors. If you're a great writer with a passion for all things creative (or, if you're a graphic designer, illustrator, web designer or 3D artist who wants to share their expertise), then we want to hear from you. Here's what you need to know if you're interested in joining our Creative Bloq contributor network. What are you looking for? Creative Bloq is all about making design entertaining, inspiring and accessible to as many people as possible. We're the online face of a number of different design magazines: Computer Arts, net, ImagineFX, Web Designer and 3D World. That means we cover a wide range of different types of design, and we need passionate experts to share their knowledge and expertise. We want to provide a platform for writers that share our passion to get published. Here are some types of content that we cover: Features exploring key issues or trends in the industry Tutorials that help designers solve a specific problem Tips articles to help creatives expand their skills Reviews of the hottest new kit and apps News about the freshest projects from agencies, designers and, artists How do I join this Network? If you think you have what it takes, send an email to contact@creativebloq.com. Outline where your interests and knowledge lie, and please include some examples of posts or articles you've written. It's a great idea to approach us with a few ideas (or just one, well-formed idea!) about what you want to write for us. Take a good look around the site for ideas of articles that might fit, and make sure you're not suggesting something we've already published. We look forward to hearing from you! And if you know someone else that fits the bill, please share this amongst your friends. Note that due to the volume of emails we receive we are not able to reply to all pitches. If you haven't heard back from us, then please assume that we're not interested at the moment, though feel free to suggest a different idea in the future. View the full article

The CG Awards is a celebration of recent achievements in the world of computer graphics, from art created by the lone student artist, to the biggest Soho studios and everybody inbetween. This year we are opening the vote up to the public too, so head over to the CG Awards 2019 voting form to have your say! And the nominees are... Up for best VFX in a movie are some of the summer's biggest blockbusters, including Avengers: Infinity War, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Deadpool 2, Ready Player One and Incredibles 2. Moving over to the smaller screen, best VFX in TV sees Altered Carbon, The Expanse, Stranger Things, Westworld and Star Trek: Discovery go head-to-head. Best shortform is a varied group, with some of the best of the advertising world – in the form of Samsung Ostrich - MPC, Everything on your list, Staples - Method and Vonster - The Mill – up against cinematic excellence from the likes of Beyond Good and Evil 2 - Unit Image, Overkill's The Walking Dead: Maya - Goodbye Kansas. Gamers have a tough choice to make this year, with Assassin's Creed: Origins, Far Cry 5, God of War, Star Wars Battlefront II and Call of Duty: WWII making the shortlist in the best game category. And what about the tools? Blackmagic eGPU, iMac Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad P52, Renda G3 SWC Ultra and Wacom Cintiq Pro have all made the cut for best hardware, while the likes of Houdini, Oculus Medium, V-Ray Next for 3ds Max, X-Particles and Substance Designer compete for the title of best software. Cast your vote today! Voting closes 15 November 2018, with two nominations per category given to an expert team of judges who will decide the ultimate winner. Winners will be announced at Vertex, the ultimate conference for 2D and 3D artists, on 8 March 2019 at Olympia, London. Don't delay, help your favourites take home a prestigious CG award by casting your vote. Read more: 7 tips for the perfect gaming portfolio 25 tips for Unreal Engine 4 Model a Stormtrooper in Maya and ZBrush View the full article

A new financial service designed especially for creatives has been unveiled. Say hello to ANNA, a refreshingly human admin assistance app which lives up to its acronym: Absolutely No Nonsense Admin. It comes complete with an appropriately personable, doodle art-based identity from the minds of Michael Wolff, NB Studio and Alice Bowsher, and promises to make it much easier for creatives to stay on top of money matters. ANNA is an entirely digital platform that addresses the unique admin needs of SMEs and professionals who build their business on creativity, including anyone in the design and architecture sectors. Tailored towards creative professionals at all levels, from sole traders to full-blown agencies, ANNA combines a business account, debit card and a human and artificial intelligence assistant into the ANNA current account. It also comes with a card that can be accessed through the app. ANNA brings together AI and human intelligence By bringing together artificial intelligence with human insights, ANNA provides a range of services designed to make the lives of creatives easier. These include sending and paying invoices, analysing how much you're owed and by whom, and the ability to outsource invoice payments and details to the app. According to the team behind the app, this range of tools is something that has been sorely missing from the lives of creatives. "As a creative business strategist, I’ve observed the struggles that small business owners go through dealing with admin," says ANNA's chief design officer, Daljit Singh. "The creative industries are worth over £90 billion to the UK economy, yet there isn’t a single service out there that is specially aimed at making running a creative business easier. ANNA changes all this; it will improve productivity with the main aim of saving people time so they are freed up to do more of the things they love." The playful illustrations by Alice Bowsher reflects ANNA's creative approach When it came to designing a look for ANNA, the new way of banking needed a new approach to aesthetics. "Traditionally, there's no place for emotion in finance; we wanted the visual identity to embody the opposite of that," explains Nick Finney of NB Studio. "As a small business owner, you're there to do something you love. The identity we created features illustrations by Alice Bowsher, whose charming, playful drawings help make Anna an approachable and relatable brand. The warmth of the terracotta orange throughout the website, digital platforms and collateral stands in sharp contrast to the traditional cold blues of banks, corporations and traditional fintech." "Meticulous care has gone into developing the brand," adds designer and creative adviser Michael Wolff. "ANNA is bold yet self-effacing. It's entertaining because what's the point of being dull? It is entertaining in an apt and restrained manner. Above everything, ANNA is practical and no nonsense. Everything about the brand identity reflects the communities ANNA serves." Send invoices, get paid, and seek help, all with ANNA ANNA is currently available to use in beta and is onboarding its first 2,000 customers. Will you be one of them? If so, you'll have free access to ANNA for three years. 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

It can be easy to get stuck in a rut as a designer. You find a style or niche that makes the most of what you're good at, and before you know it your graphic design portfolio is starting to look a little... samey. So how do you add a new dimension to your work and break out of the mould? Here six practical and achievable ways to help you improve your graphic design skills. 01. Study design theory A proper understanding of concepts such as grid theory can transform your work Graphic design is a profession, not a trade. While there is plenty you can learn by doing, a proper understanding of the fundamentals of the discipline, including concepts like grid theory, colour theory, typography and the golden ratio, is vital. For many designers, this is where a formal design education really shows its value. There are plenty of options, from full university degrees to focused short courses to distance learning setups. Alternatively, you can do the legwork yourself – take a look at our article on how to get into design without a degree for more tips. 02. Learn how to get more from feedback As creatives, one of the most emotionally draining things we can do is deal with criticism. And yet, it’s absolutely essential if you’re to improve your skills. Positive feedback is great when it’s deserved, but you don’t really gain anything from it other than an inflated feeling of self-worth. And when it’s knee-jerk and undeserved (see: mutual backslapping on many forums), it can actually be counterproductive to your continued development. So whether you’re posting your designs on Dribbble, Behance or Facebook, or just sharing them with a few select friends or colleagues, it’s important to choose your words carefully in order to elicit the maximum (constructive) criticism. There's a fine art to getting the most from feedback For instance, rather than just saying ‘What do you think?’ (sample answer: ‘It’s great’), it’s better to ask specific questions. For example, 'This is the brief, do you think I’ve fulfilled it?' or 'Which part of the design did your eye focus on first?' That way people will be able to critique your work in a constructive way, without coming off like a boorish troll. It can also be useful for you to give your feedback on other designers’ work, helping you to empathise and improve your critical skills in ways that you can apply to your own work. Check out this article on how to get more from creative criticism. 03. Start a side project Conran Design Group had some fun on May 4th Doing the same thing over and over again in your nine-to-five job can lead to your skills getting stale and your enthusiasm waning. So keep up your motivation to learn new things by starting your own side project. Learning a new design skill is always far easier if you need it to create a specific thing, particularly if that’s something personal to you. So a passion project can lead you to learn new skills you’d never even thought of, without needing the kind of self-discipline associated with formal study. No clue where to begin? Read our 6 tips for better side projects, or explore some awesome agency side projects. 04. Experiment In the world of web startups, there’s a saying: Fail fast. In other words. it’s only by trying out lots of experimental design ideas and putting them into practice that you find out what works best and what you’re good at. It’s an approach graphic designers can learn from when it comes to experimenting with new media, skills and techniques. So, rather than always using the same fonts, colours, layouts or software for every design you tackle, mix things up a bit and try something new. Throw in a crazy new typeface. Try 3D rather than 2D. Pick up some new design software. Sketch with a ballpoint pen or charcoal rather than a pencil. Break a rule and see what happens. Ask yourself: how would this design have been approached in a bygone age? Use illustration not photography. Double the amount of whitespace. In short, throw convention up in the air and see what lands. Most of the time, what lands will be a hot mess. But sometimes, you’ll hit gold. And even if you don’t, the very process of experimenting will help free up your mind, to better see which of your creative skills need improving, and why. 05. Talk to other designers Behance is a great way to discover other designers in your field One of the best ways to develop as a designer is to interact with a lot of other designers. But sometimes that can be difficult. You might be the only designer in a big company, a freelancer who works from home alone, or perhaps you’re employed by a two- or three-person studio. But really, these are all just excuses. There are many easy ways to get out there and chat with other creatives. Go to meetups, events and conferences. Hit people up on social media. Check out forums. Make friends. Talk design. Discuss problems, challenges, questions. Collaborate on a project. Email a designer you admire. Ask them to be your mentor. Appear on their podcast, or start your own so you can interview your heroes. In short, force yourself to just get out there. You’ll meet some fascinating people, and learn more than you could possibly imagine. 06. Read a book Michael Bierut’s How To showcases over 35 of his projects and reveals his philosophy of graphic design Even if you have a degree, as the saying goes: ‘Education is for life’, and you never stop learning. So next time you have a long train journey, put your phone on silent and curl up with a good book on graphic design. It will certainly be a better use of your time than snarling at trolls on Twitter or looking at food pics on Instagram. There are plenty of informative and inspiring reads to explore. But if you really don’t know where to start then check out our list of the best graphic design books. Read more: 18 things they didn't teach you at design school 12 of the best places to live as a designer What time should designers get up in the morning? View the full article

UK department store Debenhams has been given an identity overhaul courtesy of Mother Design, including a new logo design that will replace the design that has been in place since 1999. The rebrand forms part of an ongoing transformation dubbed 'Debenhams Redesigned', with the aim of injecting some of the joy back into the shopping experience. It comes alongside a playful marketing campaign from Mother, which asks customers to 'do a bit of Debenhams'. "There are so few high street icons, and Debenhams is certainly one of them," says Mother's Ana Balarin. "It was a unique opportunity to revisit such a loved and established brand to reflect the modern business it has become." Mother Design worked closely with Swiss Typefaces on a new logo for the retail giant (take a look at the gallery below to compare the old and new logos). The final design uses a custom typeface based on SangBleu, creating a more approachable, modern look that still contains echoes of Debenhams' 200 year heritage. The logo is supported by a vibrant colour palette and fresh illustration style. Mother's accompanying above the line campaign is designed to provide a point of difference and help mark Debenhams out in a crowded and competitive marketplace. It features product photography with an unexpected twist, such as a pair of shoes dipped in tins of paint, or a coat being plucked out of a pile of teddy bears by a fairground claw. Each also features a humorous slogan based on the theme 'Do a bit of Debenhams'. An accompanying campaign aims to reclaim the joy of shopping “When talking about shopping, consumers told us of the real joy that they experience when exploring and trying new things in store," comments MD of Marketing and Beauty Richard Cristofoli. "Many lamented that shopping had lost its role in our culture... We wanted to present a rallying cry to consumers to celebrate the joy of shopping and reclaim it as the rich, experiential and joyous experience that brings family and friends together.” The campaign will appear in still and GIF format across social and digital channels, alongside print brochures in several national magazines. Meanwhile, the rebrand is already live on Debenhams' site, and will be rolled out stores across the country in coming months. Read more: 5 big-brand logos that pass the silhouette test How to reawaken a brand's heritage 11 steps to better logos View the full article

It's not easy editing photos, creating graphic designs, or putting together entire videos. Luckily, The Complete Adobe CC Training Bundle will teach you how to use many useful apps within Adobe Creative Cloud. You'll discover how to edit pictures professionally on Photoshop CC, how to string together videos like a wiz on Premiere, and how to generate creative graphics on Illustrator CC. You'll practise putting together newsletters and banners with InDesign CC, and you'll learn the art of visual effects through After Effects CC. With The Complete Adobe CC Training Bundle, you'll take your design skills to a whole new level. Get it now for just $29. Related articles: Adobe adds 665 fonts to Creative Cloud How to use Adobe Capture CC Adobe and Erik Spiekermann revive lost type sets View the full article

You're reading Modern Take on Patterned Backgrounds in Web Design, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! First, brutal designs then, gradients and now there is another trend from the past that excites creatives. Geometric patterns are becoming a go-to design element. To start, let’s take a look at Trump’s Xmas Meltdown to refresh our memory on … View the full article

Life as a freelancer can be full of freedom and opportunity, but it comes with its fair share of hurdles and frustrations too. A lot of that is down to the fact that you are responsible for every aspect of your business, and the phrase "that's not my department" must be erased from your vocabulary. These frustrations can be relatively minor, such as having to keep hold of your expense receipts, or Wi-Fi dropping out for a few minutes; or game-changing to the point that everything grinds to a halt – such as a string of clients not paying you, or work not coming in at all. Fortunately, there are some simple tools for designers that will help with at least some of these things. Read on to discover five of them... 01. Keeping track of paperwork is a nightmare Bonsai helps you stay on top of contracts, invoices and more This one's a bit of a catch-all. Admin tasks can suck up large amounts of your time as a freelancer – and by that we mean everything from expenses to invoices to contract negotiations. And the worst bit is, it's not billable time either – you need to figure that into your day rate. There are various tools to help you automate common design tasks, and plenty of productivity and project management apps to smooth things over – it's worth taking advantage of some free trials to find out what works best for you. One catch-all tool that's particularly useful for the admin side of things is Bonsai. This web-based app is perhaps best known for its ability to generate hassle-free freelance contracts, but also covers off the whole gamut of admin-related tasks, including proposals, invoices (and payment reminders), expenses and time-tracking. You can even automatically set up late fees for tardy clients. Its interface is beautifully clean, simple and calming too. 02. You're constantly getting distracted Brutally simple app Effortless keeps your head in the game Procrastination is the bane of the freelancer. Whereas when you're on a salary, you can sneakily poke about on Facebook or chat with colleagues in the kitchen safe in the knowledge that you'll get the same pay cheque at the end of the month – so long as you do your job, of course – every hour counts when you're your own boss. If you find yourself drifting onto other things, or struggle to focus and prioritise the task at hand, there are plenty of simple productivity tools that can help keep you on track, as well as tools to save you time on common or mundane tasks. One of the simplest and most single-purpose tools we've seen to keep you focused is Effortless (Mac-only). Type your task in the pop-up window, and how many minutes you estimate it will take, and a countdown timer will appear in your taskbar. If you need longer, you can add more time in five-minute chunks. Toggle between tasks to check how long you have remaining, and mark them as done when they're done. That's literally it, but the fact that there's no complex interface or suite of features to worry about means your only concern is the time you have left to complete the task. 03. Your tax return is an annual headache Discover what you can claim against tax for various different freelance professions with 99 Deductions While tools such as Bonsai will help you keep on top of your expenses and minimise the hassle of the annual freelance tax return, even with the best will in the world, it's still a source of stress for most. Hiring an accountant will help, but if you're a relatively new freelancer unsure about what you can claim for, there are tools to help. 99 Deductions is an invaluable resource that tailors advice for what expenses are allowable, depending on your role. This includes plenty of non-creative freelance roles, but designer, developer, copywriter and photographer are all covered. It's a US site, so some of the advice is tailored accordingly if you're based elsewhere – it's always worth checking what applies in your local territory. In the UK, HMRC's own guidelines for self-employed expenses are worth a look, for instance. 04. WiFi keeps crashing out while working remotely A mobile Wi-Fi tool could save you from Wi-Fi woes One of the best things about being a freelancer is the capacity to work anywhere – within reason. Whether that's a couple of hours in a coffee shop in between meetings, working from a bench in the park on a sunny day, or taking it to the extreme and running projects while travelling the world – it's all possible if you manage your time, and your clients' expectations. There are various tools to help you work remotely as a freelancer, but one of the biggest sources of stress and frustration – especially if you're away from your trusty broadband connection a lot – is unreliable Wi-Fi. You may strike it lucky, and find the perfect spot with super-fast Wi-Fi on tap, in return for a flat white and a muffin to munch while you work. But you can't pin your business on that, particularly in more far-flung locations. Accordingly, one of the most important tools you need is Mobile Wi-Fi (or Mi-Fi if you prefer). There are plenty to choose from: check out our sister site Techradar for a comparison of five of the best mobile WiFi tools on the market today. 05. Work is a constant cycle of feast and famine Timely uses automatic time tracking to increase your profitability, productivity and efficiency This final point takes some getting used to, especially if you're a new freelancer. No longer are you guaranteed a predictable income – as well as completing the projects on your slate, the onus is on you to win the work at the start, and chase for payment at the end. If either of those critical stages of the process fails, you could end up with a cash drought – hence the well-trodden advice to have three months' savings in the bank before taking the plunge. At the other end of the scale, after a period of scarcity, suddenly several big projects could come along at once. This is a potential feast, but you may be forced to turn some of it down if you don't have the capacity. You need to be super-organised and productive to plan your time and deal with this unpredictability, and fortunately there are some tools to help you there too. Pitched at "those who trade in time" – which is any freelancer, really – Timely enables you to squeeze the most out of every hour in the day through automatic time tracking. As it learns more about how you work, Timely makes suggestions about how to increase your profitability, productivity and efficiency – an ideal way to deal with the notoriously feast and famine world of freelancing. Related articles: 4 pros and 4 cons of being a freelance designer 4 design tools you never knew you needed The freelance survival guide View the full article

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Okay, so there haven't been any definitive studies that prove designers live longer than people in other jobs. But we reckon it's a pretty sure thing. Here are 10 solid reasons to believe us designers will keep going, and going, and going. 01. We have a sense of purpose Designers live for design. We're passionate about it. We think about it constantly. It's the thing that makes us get up in the morning with a spring in our step. And while it might cause a few issues if we become too obsessive (see 10 reasons not to date a designer), it's this fired-up sense of purpose that's ultimately going to make us live longer. While it's natural to think of our body and mind as separate entities, they're deeply interdependent – so it's a case of healthy mind, healthy body. This article from Lifehacker explains how the women of Okinawa, Japan are known for having a positive outlook on life and pursuing their 'ikigai' ('reason for being'). And it's no coincidence that the Japanese have an average life expectancy of 83, the highest in the world, with Okinawans the longest-living of all. In short, having that new project to do, or design that's going to change the world, doesn't just make life worth living right now. It should help you live longer too. 02. We drink lots of water and tea Moscow agency Catzwolf created this cool kettle as part of a campaign for Curtis We designers are constantly filling up on water, tea and coffee. Admittedly too much of the latter can cause poor health, not to mention a shaky hand on the mouse and the need to remortgage to pay for all those mochas. But the antioxidant flavonoids in tea are recognised as being beneficial to cardiovascular health, along with bowel regulation and weight control. Yes, a cup of tea is likely to make you live longer. And green tea, or water, is even better for you. 03. We don’t have time to socialise (and get drunk) Even though those deadlines might tire us out, the long hours – and reams of personal projects we want to complete – mean we don’t go to the boozer every night, thus significantly cutting down our chances of liver and heart disease. If we do go for a drink, it’s usually at a networking event where we can meet other designers and up our freelance game, thus giving us a greater sense of purpose (see point #1). 04. We're more educated As a community, designers value education We don't like to brag, of course. But in general, we designers are highly educated beings. And highly educated people (according to this report) live longer. That's partly due to the sense of goal-driven purpose, mentioned in point #1, which following a course can give you. So maybe now is a good time to re-energise yourself with an evening class or two. 05. We like a laugh Hands up who wants to go to a bar with a bunch of corporate lawyers and accountants? Anyone? Okay, that might be a little mean, but it's certainly true that designers are more renowned for their ability to laugh than other, more staid professions. Maybe that's because we get a lot of practice dealing with bizarre client requests (you have to laugh or else you'll cry). According to research, the more you laugh, the healthier you'll stay and the longer you may live. So next time a client asks you to "design the site and we'll put the content in later" (see things you should never ask a designer) don't stress, have a good chuckle – and keep prolonging that lifespan. 06. We don’t spend too much time watching TV Although we do need some downtime, we don't spend hours in front of the box According to research done in 2011, every hour of watching TV can shorten your life by 22 minutes. Luckily we don’t have much time to watch rubbish shows – we’re too busy swotting up on the next job or interacting with other designers on Twitter. If there’s one thing us designers don’t like, it’s numbing our brain with useless information. Everyone needs some downtime though. If we do want to spend some time in front of the box, it’s usually with a movie or two – and maybe the odd videogame. 07. We’re always helping other people Okay, sometimes we don’t think of clients as ‘people’ – especially after that 10th revision – but the truth is that in our jobs we’re always helping people achieve their goals. And that feels good. And doing good for others may increase how long we live. Why not take it a step further and donate your services to a local school or university – it’ll make you feel good, teach others your skills and raise your profile. Win win win! 08. We do a lot of cycling Aardman's Gavin Strange loves his bike Cycling is very popular among us designers – and it's one of the best forms of exercise around. As everybody knows, exercise helps you live longer; this Taiwanese study, for example, suggests just 15 minutes of exercise per day can add three years to your life. If you've not ridden a bike since childhood, we'd certainly recommend it. Cycling fits in with the designer lifestyle down to a tee, plus it gives you the chance to wear stuff like these awesome Milltag jerseys designed by one of your peers. 09. We don't live dangerously In 2017/18, 144 workers were killed at work in the UK. The industries that have the highest death toll are agriculture, manufacturing and construction. In comparison, the design community is pretty safe. When was the last time you had to handle dangerous substances or lift heavy objects as part of your day-to-day routine? Yes, design can be hard work, but it's unlikely to injure or kill you – and for that we should be thankful. 10. We have everything to live for Minor gripes aside, we love our jobs. We earn a decent living from them (at least once we're past the design intern stage). The industry as a whole is expanding; there's always new stuff to learn and boundaries to push. We'll certainly never be bored. Even when we retire, we'll probably carry on working in some way or other. Yes, we know we can't live forever – but we're damn well going to stick around as long as we can, because design is our dream. And when it comes to keeping the Reaper at bay, that counts for a heck of a lot. Related articles: What time should designers get up in the morning? 6 ways for designers to stay healthy How to balance life and work View the full article

Sometimes the more common rebranding strategies of incremental change or reawakening brand heritage just aren't working, and you need to switch up your design thinking and considering starting again from scratch. In this case, you can treat the client almost like a startup. But how do you know when you've reached that point? And what should you do about it once you make the decision to scrap an old brand and start again? We spoke to three creative pros to find their tips for starting afresh. 01. Know when to let go Richard Buchanan of The Clearing uses two main measures to decide when to start again: saliency, or the ‘meaning’ associated with a brand, which can be both positive and negative; and awareness. “When the saliency is negative and unhelpful, and your awareness is really low, you go: you have fundamentally pissed people off and they don’t particularly like you,” he reasons. “Then what’s the point in hanging onto it?” Chris Moody of Wolff Olins agrees that it usually takes some kind of fundamental brand crisis, or some kind of major organisational change, like a merger, for a brand to start again. “This is a shame, because you end up starting from a bad place,” he argues. “The branding work done for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was intriguing, as it was an identity that made sense of something that previously nobody had thought of. I suspect we will see more of this.” Sign up to the Computer Arts newsletter Moody believes that customers are actually more forgiving than we give them credit for, and that it tends to be the clients who refuse to let go of the past. “The world moves incredibly quickly, so brands need to be more agile. That should include identity,” he insists. “Imagine wearing the same clothes for 25 years. You’d look out of touch and stale. “The argument against radical rebranding is perverse, as it’s often claimed that big changes erode hard-won trust. But look at it another way: would you trust someone who seemed decades out of step with the rest of the world?" 02. Tailor your process The Clearing gave Royal Ascot a premium overhaul According to Michael Johnson – creative director and principal of Johnson Banks, rebranding is a very different beast from branding a new company, and your creative process should be tailored accordingly. “For a while I approached both in a similar way,” he admits. “The penny dropped a few years ago that for ‘new’ projects it made more sense to start at the core – why they are here, what do they stand for, then work outwards. Conversely, when realigning existing brands we often start from the edges and talk about ‘how’ they work, and what they believe in, before we tackle the trickier and more essential stuff at the core.” 03. Get the client on-side Johnson emphasises that truly radical change must be a collaborative decision between agency and client. “I think there’s a very naive view out there that designers should ‘persuade’ their clients to be more adventurous,” he says. “I can only do a radical piece of work if, client-side, they are on the same page.” He adds that graphic design alone is rarely enough to persuade: you need solid strategic foundations, based on a clear need for major change. “Walking into a boardroom with a clutch of new logos and a presentation you could précis as, ‘Wouldn’t this be cool?’ is asking for trouble,” he smiles. 04. Consider the cost When Fitness First came to The Clearing, Richard Buchanan says it was "broken". "We kept the name but for everything else we started again," he explains As ever, wider economic factors often come into play with any root-and-stem changes to a brand – especially for a well-established, global one. Johnson gives the example of Virgin Atlantic, when both he and the CEO began on the same page in terms of a radical shake-up of the company’s livery. “When someone pointed out that repainting just one plane cost a quarter of a million pounds, and my jolly little presentation had just ‘spent’ £10 million in implementation fees, that was a killer blow – and illustrates how the hopes of a graphic designer can sometimes run headlong into everyday realities.” The Clearing faced a similar challenge, albeit on a slightly different scale, with its rebrand of Royal Ascot – which needed to be signed off by the Queen. “They had a really old, tired-looking marque, and we wanted to move it into something quite premium,” Buchanan recalls. “We designed a total creative vision, mapped out every single touchpoint: product, service, internal culture, environment, communications. “When it came to sign-off, she didn’t approve the logo, because it was 2011 and we were still in what people thought was a double-dip recession. She was concerned that they were seen to be spending money on what wasn’t broken. You would have had to change every sign on the racecourse, and wayfinding and signage becomes really expensive.” The Clearing successfully revisited and refreshed the marque at a later date, but like Johnson’s Virgin Atlantic example, that initial reticence to change was grounded in practical realities. The cost, and associated risk, of wholesale change of a brand can be prohibitively expensive in any sector – and in most cases, a brand needs to be fundamentally broken to consider it. This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 279 or subscribe. Read more: Bring a brand to life with illustration 5 rebranding hurdles designers face today Define a brand with handmade type View the full article

Having only graduated last summer, I’m still pretty new to the world of freelance illustration. My style and process, however, are things that I’ve been developing for quite some time now. I dabbled with paper art during my A-levels and Art Foundation, but university was where I truly fell in love with the material. Initially, I cut everything using a scalpel and produced a lot of layered, two-dimensional illustration. This process was extremely time-consuming and the end result always looked very handmade. As I progressed, I started working with a laser cutter – this gave me the advantages of speed and precision but it burned the edges of my paper. Now, I cut my papers using a plotter. The plotter also facilitates speed and precision but, instead of a laser, it cuts with a blade, which eliminates the unwanted burn. 01. Start planning The first stage of every project is planning; in this stage I make lots of rough sketches and notes. However, paper (like any material) has properties that sometimes pose constraints. These constrains don’t always become apparent until I begin making my creations; so I keep my initial designs loose, and leave space for the paper to make some of the decisions. 02. Gather inspiration It’s all in the planning, and when the idea comes, the visual research follows. Once I have a basic idea of what I want to create, the visual research begins. I usually start by looking on Behance, Instagram and Pinterest. That being said, I don’t like to get all of my inspiration from other illustrators and paper artists. Though I am inspired by and admire their work, ultimately I want to create something different, so I like to look for other sources of inspiration too, for example using architecture, fashion and still-life photography. Sign up to the Computer Arts newsletter I collect all of this research in a file until a style or theme begins to emerge. I then print off the relevant images and put them up on the wall in front of my table, which is where they stay until all of the models for that project are complete. 03. Choose a colour theme In this stage, I also put together a colour palette. I love the colours used in Toilet Paper Magazine and in the work of Jessica Walsh or Aleksandra Kingo. Their use of bold tones and unexpected combinations is very striking and as a result, their work often features heavily on the inspiration walls for many of my projects. Specialist paper can be ordered at a sheet at a time 04. Buy your paper Once I’ve decided upon a colour palette I then buy the papers. For personal projects, 210gsm multipack card usually works fine, but it does limit my colour options. When I need something more specific, I order it from Arjowiggins, which has a great selection, and I can order as little as one sheet at a time. This is useful for small scale projects or one-off models. 05. Make a model With my colour palettes chosen, illustrations planned and paper selected, I take to Illustrator CC. The artwork is made up of paths split between two layers – one layer has the paths I want to cut out, and the second has the paths to score/fold. Since most of my work is three-dimensional, I begin by designing nets. In my mind, I visualise how the net will fit together and then artwork that vision using the paths and layers described. Having chosen the colour palette, the model is fired up in Illustrator with cut out paths planned out Once I have the basic design, I cut out and test it, but the first draft is rarely ever perfect. So then, I use a process of trial and error until the net is exactly how I want it to be. For this part of the process, I use cheap card and work on a very small scale to limit waste. Once I’m happy with the net, I can then scale it up or down. This stage can be relatively quick and easy or very long and challenging. It depends on the project, the scale and the level of complexity. 06. Work out the details Now the detailing. I take the faces of the net and work out which details will go onto them. Then I cut the details out and stick them to the unassembled net using all-purpose glue. Finally, I stick the pieces of the net together to complete the model. Mel Edwards finds the gluing part of the process trickier than the cutting – far too runny and prone to staining! People assume that cutting is the trickiest part of the paper process, but for me gluing requires the real patience. The glue is extremely runny when it first comes out of the tube so I have to remain focused to ensure it doesn’t get on to any exposed sections of the model. Once it’s dry, the glue leaves an unwanted shiny stain on the paper so if it does run, I have to discard and re-cut all of the affected pieces. This is both time-consuming and wasteful, which explains why precision is so crucial at this stage. 07. Turn physical to digital A lot of the time, the digital elements of my process can take just as long as the physical ones, and if I’m working on an animation, then sometimes they take even longer. Once the model is dry and stain-free, it’s photographed and worked on in Photoshop Photographing the models is the first step towards turning my models into digital artwork. Though I am keen to work with more photographers in the future, at the moment, I shoot most of the models myself. To do this, I use soft box lighting, and a camera set up on a tripod. Then, to complete the process, I edit the images in Photoshop. This article originally appeared in issue 280 of Computer Arts, the world's leading design magazine. Buy issue 280 or subscribe here. Read more: 10 beautiful paper portfolios to inspire you Create a folding paper animation 7 steps to creating striking paper art View the full article

Muse are well-known for making a scene, just ask anyone who's ever been to see one of their dynamic live shows. And in similar grandstanding fashion, the rock band caught the attention of the internet yesterday as it announced the launch date and cover art for its upcoming album, Simulation Theory. If you put 'Muse' into the Twitter search bar, you'll get bombarded with memes, wild praise from fans, and snide remarks from people who can't believe what they're looking at. So what's the fuss? Well, it can't have escaped your attention that design seems to be going through something of an 80s revival at the moment, and depending on your point of view, the cover for Simulation Theory is either a groovy continuation of this trend or an aesthetic abomination that would make even Kavinsky cry. Have we entered the era of bad graphic design? With its neon airbrushed visuals, vehicles that look like they've come straight out of Tron (ask your dad), and a retro font that a lot of people would more readily associate with 80s nostalgia trailblazer GTA Vice City, the Simulation Theory artwork is perhaps a bit too on the nose. It doesn't help that the word 'retro' is literally spelt out in the first video from the album, below. Is all the online cynicism going a bit too far though? After all, the designer of the album cover, Kyle Lambert, has previously created posters for hit Netflix show Stranger Things, a series that has been praised for getting the '80s look just right. We can't deny that Lambert has done a good job. If Muse hired him to create the pop cultural culmination of the decade with their faces on it, they definitely got what they asked for. But while the look and feel of the '80s was baked into the story of Stranger Things, here it feels as if Muse is belatedly jumping aboard the throwback bandwagon. Perhaps it's the timing that has irked some fans. This announcement follows in the wake of Ready Player One – a film which relies on similar imagery and has a poster that bears a striking resemblance both in terms of aesthetics and composition – so perhaps we're all just going through design fad fatigue. Or maybe it comes down to personal preference (and when you were born). Muse have always been a bit of a statement band, with previous album covers being as subtle as a sledgehammer (Drones, we're looking at you). Fans of the band are going to continue lapping up what they puts out, while others are going to laugh this cover off with the 'How do you do, fellow kids' meme. Then there are those stuck in the middle, oscillating between adoration and weary resignation. Related articles: How to create a retro logo with Affinity Designer Ready Player One gets suitably retro movie poster Is your design retro… or just dated? View the full article

Colour tools are many and varied, but we've never seen anything like this before. Picular is a new online tool that gets its data from Google Images, and enables you to generate a colour palette for any subject you can imagine. The latest addition in the ever-growing range of tools for graphic designers, Picular essentially harnesses the online hive mind to suggest colour schemes for your design projects. Users can type any topic into the search bar, and it will scrape the top image search results and provide a selection of shades based on the colours that appear there. The search suggestions provided on the site aren't that imaginative (no prizes for guessing what colours pop up for 'water' or 'forest'), but that doesn't mean you can't be. Picular will create palettes based on anything you can search for, from countries to abstract concepts. While you're of course going to need to use your own skills to find the right combinations, this tool provides a helpful jumping-off point for anyone trying to craft branding for a product – whether you want to embrace the colours your market associates with that particular product, or actively go against the grain. The tool was created by Future Memories, a digital studio in Sweden that specialises in strategic design and technology. Try Picular out here, or take a look at our roundup of other great colour tools for more inspiration. Read more: 21 outstanding uses of colour in branding Adobe shares Pantone's summer trending colours Famous internet logos get a retro makeover View the full article

Want to bring your images to life in a fun way? Get a lifetime licence for Next FlipBook Maker Pro for Windows. With this tool, you can use customisable templates that help you create flipbooks in no time at all. Show ideas to clients or share memories with friends by giving them the experience of flipping through a book – except that it's on an electronic device. You can create an even more visually engaging experience by embedding YouTube videos, music, charts, and more, and also incorporate any PDFs or images into your flipbook, bringing those pictures to life. Try Next FlipBook Maker Pro for Windows for only $19. Related articles: The best cameras for creatives in 2018 Photography cheat sheet helps you take better photos 5 reasons to use photography in your designs View the full article