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Animation is an important part of modern UX and is easier than ever to implement with CSS. While it may seem limited or a lesser tool when it comes to animation, CSS is actually a really powerful tool and is capable of producing beautifully smooth 60fps animations. In this feature we'll explore everything from reasoning and planning to implementation. Read on to learn about CSS transitions, or jump to page 2 for CSS keyframes, page 3 for a closer look at animation performance, page 4 for a guide to animating SVG. Or click through to page 5 to see how to bring it all together to create a UI animation. Need some more inspiration? Take a look at our roundup of awesome CSS animation examples (and how to code them). CSS transitions Put simply, CSS transitions are a way to provide animation between two property values. For the animation to trigger, something needs to change in the application or website. CSS transitions can be used to achieve a number of animated effects, from a simple colour change to more complex transitions. Transitions in CSS are simple, we just need to choose what elements to transition and when. For example, if we have a button and we want to change the background colour gradually instead of instantly when the user hovers over the button, we use a transition. Transition syntax Transitions in CSS are made up of four properties. These give us control over how the transition will animate. transition-property This enables us to choose which properties we want to animate. We can transition a number of different properties. See a full list of transition-property properties. transition-duration This property enables us to control how long the transition from one property value to another will take. This can be defined in either seconds (s) or milliseconds (ms). transition-timing-function Timing functions, or 'easing', enable us to adjust the rate of change over time. There are a number of keywords we can use. For example, the linear keyword will transition from A to B at an equal tempo, whereas ease-in-out will start slowly, speed up in the middle and slow down towards the end. Custom timing functions can also be defined using the cubic-bezier property. See a full list of timing keywords. transition-delay Transitions can be delayed using this property and is set using seconds or milliseconds. Transition shorthand All of the transition properties listed above can be combined into a shorthand statement using the transition property. We are free to omit the values we don't need in order to set the defaults. Combining transitions You can combine multiple transitions to create choreographed animations. Check this example: Browser support Support for transitions and animations in modern browsers is really good. Everything from Internet Explorer 11 or above is going to support the majority of the code needed for animation. There are exceptions with some of the newer animation properties; CSS Motion Path, for example, or when using SVG or custom properties (CSS variables) as part of the animation. Prefixing for the most part is probably not needed unless we need to provide support for Internet Explorer 10 and below. There are several ways we can prefix code if needed. Auto-prefixer is a really useful tool that can be used as part of a build process or manually at the end of a project. It enables us to configure the browser support you need, then it will automatically prefix our code where needed. We can also check the support for any property using the amazing tool CanIUse. Simply type in the property we want to use and see which browsers are supported. Next page: A guide to CSS keyframes CSS keyframes are used for complex or repeatable animations. They enable us to define multiple property values to animate between. Keyframe animations can be reused and repeated, unlike CSS transitions. CSS keyframe animations are defined using the @keyframes syntax. This works much like a media query where we nest elements inside of the @ statement. Inside the keyframe declaration we have two options: we can use the keyword to and from or we can define our timeline using percentages. Keyword animations When the animation we're creating only has two points to animate between, we can use the to and from syntax, in fact we can use just to, providing the original property value is set on the element we're going to be animating. Percentage animations When creating animations where we need to define more than one point to animate, we can use percentages. This enables us to have precise control over our animation. Applying an animation Animation in CSS has a number of properties we can set in order to have precise control over the playback of our keyframe animations. Some, like animation-duration, animation-delay, animation-iteration-count, animation-play-state and animation-name are all fairly self-explanatory, while some of the other properties can be a little trickier to learn and utilise to their full potential. animation-timing-function Timing functions in animation are the same as transitions – we can use either keywords or set a custom timing function by using the cubic-bezier value. Take a look at a full list of timing keywords. animation-direction When applying our animations, we have the ability to play them back in a number of ways. The default value is normal, which will play the animation forwards. We can also play the animation in reverse or alternate the animations playing forwards and backwards. animation-fill-mode The fill mode value enables us to choose what should happen at the end of an animation to the value that we have changed. For example, setting the value to forwards will keep the property values from the end of the animation, whereas the default value none will return the elements to their original state after the animation has finished. Animation shorthand All of the animation properties can be combined into a shorthand statement using the 'animation' property. We are free to omit the values we do not need and want to leave as the default values. Next page: Learn how to manage the performance of your animations Page speed and performance is an important aspect of any application or website. If you are using animation as part of your project, it can be a good place to start when trying to optimise performance. Animating too much or too many properties will cause animations to stutter. Firstly you can check that you're not using too many animations all at once on the page: as well as being bad for performance, it is also bad for your users' experience. Multiple animations on different parts of the page will be fighting for their attention as well as potentially causing performance issues. Being aware of the number of animations will help to address both of these potential issues. What causes janky animations? In order to achieve a smooth 60fps animation, the browser has only 16.7ms (1000ms/60) to achieve all of the work that needs to be done per frame. If the browser can't complete all of the operations needed, it will stop and move on to the next frame, starting the calculation and redrawing process all over again. This is when we start to see dropped frames, causing janky or stuttering animations. How to avoid janky animations While the list of animatable properties is extensive, at the moment we can only safely animate a handful of these properties to keep within the necessary 16.7ms. These properties are transform, opacity and filter. The reason for this is that animating any other property will cause the browser to have to repaint the page, and this is an expensive process in terms of performance and will likely take longer than 16.7ms to calculate and draw each change. We can also give the browser a helping hand by utilising the will-change property, which gives it a heads up that a property is going to change. This enables the browser to perform some optimisations before your animation even starts. The future of web animation performance The new Firefox Quantum project is taking amazing strides towards making every animatable property perform well, as well as many other improvements to rendering content on the web. It's also worth noting that the newest versions of the iPad will play animations back at 120fps, which will reduce the time in which the browser has to calculate and paint each frame to 8.35ms. Timing and choreography Utilising the correct timing and delays will produce animations that look better and are easier to comprehend. When animating any elements, it's important to choose a duration that is appropriate to its context. For example, an animation that's applied to a button interaction should be short, usually less than a second. Utilising long animations for common interactions is tedious and annoying to the user and can make your application or website feel sluggish and slow. However, providing an animation duration that is too short can cause confusion and provoke the wrong emotions and feelings for your audience. Once you have chosen a comfortable animation duration, you should use this in every aspect of your website or application. When animating, multiple elements or property delays should be used to enhance comprehension. It's much easier to see what's happening in an animation when one thing happens at a time instead of all at once. Next page: Learn how to animate SVG SVG has many benefits – its vector nature is great, and we don't get any of the problems we get with bitmap images when displaying an image too big or too small or on devices with differing DPIs. SVG is also much smaller in size. SVGs are basically instructions for the browser to draw the image contained within. How do I animate SVG? SVG enables us to create intricate drawings and images, where all of the elements inside SVG can be animated using CSS. Animation in SVG works exactly the same way as it does with any element on the page. We need some way to target the element we want to animate, and then apply the animation. The main way in which animating SVG elements differs from regular elements is the transform-origin property. Normally we would use percentages or keyword values in order to set the point at which a transform operation takes place. So if we can't use keywords and can't use percentages, how do we set our transform origin? The answer is to use pixel values. Further complications come into play because, unlike regular elements that would measure the pixels from the top left corner of itself, SVGs will measure from the top left corner of the parent SVG canvas. This blog post covers the topic in detail. Finally, a note on browser support: CSS animation when used with SVG requires the SVG to be inline in the page for the majority of browsers. This means we can't use the image tag to include our SVG and perform animations; we need to have our SVG inside an SVG tag on the page. Custom properties Custom properties, or CSS variables, can be used to create configurable parts of your animation. Animations and movement can cause motion sickness in some users. We can use custom properties in order to effectively remove animations for users who have indicated preferring reduced motion. By changing the timing to 0, we stop the animation from running when the user has requested it. While this media query isn't yet widely supported, it is by iOS. We can use custom properties to define other parts of our animation, such as the colour or size and use. This is useful if we have a part that's configurable and we're using that property as part of an animation. Next page: Bring everything together in a UI animation In this final tutorial we'll look at how we can combine all of the elements we've covered in the article into one single animation. We'll be creating a record player animation where the arm of the record player moves into position over the record, as well as rotating the record itself at two different speeds. We'll create the animation using SVG transitions and keyframes, and we'll be using custom properties in order to make our animation configurable. 01. Create and export our SVG The first step is to create and export our SVG code. You can do this using many different graphics editors (the example is Sketch for Mac). The shapes being used are simple – mostly straight and poly lines combined with circles. We want to create the SVG in the initial state of our animation. 02. Optimise our SVG When we have the exported code from our editor we need to optimise that code to make it easier for us when creating our animation. Firstly we'll run it through SVGOMG making sure to only optimise the parts we need. Once we've done this, we'll paste our code into CodePen and create some basic page styles. We'll be using Sass to take advantage of the nesting capability. 03. Edit by hand Next we will need to edit our SVG by hand. We are going to need to remove any inline transforms on elements that we are going to animate into our CSS. Doing this will make it easier to animate, because we'll be able to see all of our transform properties in one place. 04. Animate the arm We can achieve most of what we are trying to do using transitions. We will start with the record arm and animating the arm into position over the record. To do this we will need to rotate the arm of the record from -90deg to 0deg. In order to transition rotation we need to use the transform property. This means we also need to keep any other transform properties the same when changing the rotation. 05. Slowly rotate the record Next we can use another transition to complete the first, slower rotation of our record. To do this we will need to target the container and apply our transition code, much like we did in the previous step, except this time we will be adding a delay of a quarter of the time it takes for the arm to move into position. 06. Speed up the rotation In order to speed up the rotation, and for it to repeat infinitely, we'll need to use a keyframe animation. The animation we need to create is simple, we just need to rotate the record 360 degrees. Then when we're applying our animation, we need to make sure to set the delay correctly so our animation starts at the end of the container stopping. 07. Reverse the movement Everything is working now and our animation is complete – until the interaction stops. At that point, both the arm and record stop animating and jump back to their original positions. This is where the setup of our SVG is important. The record element itself sits inside of a container. By animating the container using a transition we can also perform another transition in reverse with just a couple of lines of code. 08. Introduce custom properties Now we've got our complete animation, we'll make it configurable with custom properties. We can do this by setting our custom properties on the root element in our CSS. We can then apply them to the property values where needed, making sure to provide a fallback for each one. We can also use custom properties as part of calc() functions, which is particularly useful for sizing and for creating durations and delays. 09. Make the duration configurable We can utilise the calc() function in order to make the animation duration configurable. Firstly we need to set a new custom property for our duration with a value, in seconds. We can then use this value in order to set all of the other animation time values. Given the custom property --animation-duration being two seconds becomes: By doing this for every time value in our animation, we can control the speed of the entire animation by simply changing the custom property at the top of our CSS. 10. Optimise the animation Now we can add our accessibility options for prefers-reduced-motion and add the will-change property to all of the elements. This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 282 or subscribe. Read more: 10 amazing new CSS techniques 34 web design tools to help you work smarter in 2019 Which is the best CSS preprocessor? View the full article

Designers and illustrators are always on the lookout for their next big project, hoping for that ideal commission; the one that puts their skills to the test, appeals to their passions and allows them to truly express themselves creatively. Hopefully, it will also be in complete harmony with their personal, ethical and social sensibilities. You can wait a very long time for a client to hand you that perfect commission, but instead of waiting you could go ahead and turn one of your own ideas into a reality. For many creatives, self-publishing offers the opportunity not only to elevate their creativity but also to advance their careers and earnings. 33 books every graphic designer should read There’s always the risk that your creation will be a drain on your time and resources. It may ultimately fall flat. On the other hand, you’ll use an array of skills you already have, and you’ll most likely learn a great deal about creating content, production, print processes, marketing, promotion, sales, distribution and so on. These things alone make it a worthwhile experience but, crucially, if you don’t give it a shot you’ll never know how good your ideal project could have been. Here, we talk to those who have successfully self-published books, and see what tips we can learn from their experiences. 01. Don't wait around Radim Malinic wrote, designed and sourced imagery for his book One of the latest self-published design books is Radim Malinic’s Book of Ideas – vol 2, which follows on from his first, published in 2016. Inside, the London-based designer behind design studio Brand Nu shares his advice on how to make it in the creative industries, while at the same time letting his own design approach flourish via colourful abstract illustrations, photography, typographic treatments and more. Across an impressive range of chapters, he covers how to work creatively and in a mindful way. He wrote all the copy, designed the book and provided the imagery himself. “I didn’t want to wait or look for a publishing deal — it would take years to achieve that. So I decided to take the power into my own hands and do it all myself,” says Malinic. “I’ve worked with many small independent record labels and could see that you don’t need more than one person to get something significant off the ground. I felt I had a few industry observations and thought processes to share with the world, so I decided to publish them myself.” 02. Get a hybrid publishing deal Ben Tallon got a hybrid publishing deal for his book A similar kind of inspiration struck the Manchester-based illustrator Ben Tallon when, just as his career was taking off, he hit a barren spell. It eventually led to the 2015 publication of Champagne and Wax Crayons, the 200-page book in which he discusses the common experiences of creatives across the industry – the highs, the lows, the frustration, the jubilation. Ben worked with LID Publishing under a hybrid publishing deal to make it a reality. The company took care of printing, sales, distribution and overseas rights but Ben handled the editorial style, illustration, layout and a great deal of the promotion. Like Malinic’s books, Champagne and Wax Crayons has really resonated with young British and American designers. It has also been translated and published in Japanese. 03. Relinquish some control While it’s tempting to see a self-publishing project as your baby, and to try and do everything, what Tallon learned from the experience is that in some areas you just have to let go. “It’s crucial to find ways of working with specialists in each field – editorially, on art direction, in sales, rights management and so on,” he explains. “Asking a lot of questions and not being too proud to admit that you need to be walked through certain parts of the process in order to understand how it works is important.” Learning about the various aspects of publishing while creating the content and looking ahead to how you’ll promote your project does make self-publishing seem like hard work. It is. But if you get it right it’s certainly rewarding. 04. Take care of your finances Unit Editions focuses specifically on books about design Nearly a decade ago, Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook launched Unit Editions. They wanted to create not just one, but many books about their favourite subject: graphic design. The first was Studio Culture – a guide to setting up a studio. Since then they’ve published 40 titles, including a Paula Scher monograph, two stunning slip-cased volumes of British graphic designer Vaughan Oliver’s works, and a fascinating book of lost Soviet designs. Their next publication is a new book about The Designers Republic. Publishing is a wonderful way to lose money Adrian Shaughnessy The hard work is one thing, according to Adrian Shaughnessy. The other is that you have to keep an eye on the money side of things. Designers have most of the skills needed to be publishers, but financial management proves to be such an important factor that it can’t be overlooked. “Publishing is a wonderful way to lose money,” he says. “The third Unit Editions partner is Trish Finegan. Trish looks after the finances. Without her we wouldn’t be here. “It’s also worth mentioning the power of crowdfunding,” he continues. “We’ve had success with Kickstarter and five or six of our books have been funded this way. It has enabled us to make some important books on a scale and of a quality we couldn’t achieve without funding.” 05. Consider crowdfunding Rick Banks raised over £50,000 for his book on Kickstarter Crowdfunding has been the crux of so many fantastic self-publishing efforts. It doesn’t only give hope to someone with a fresh idea, it actually gets them really excited. Rick Banks of the type foundry Face 37 used it to support his brilliant book Clubbed; the illustrator Lapin crowdfunded his vintage car sketchbook Oldies but Goldies; and Kickstarter funding drove Laura Jane Boast’s incredible mag Design Giving. A site like Kickstarter will carry out multiple functions for a project. Firstly, it will help spread awareness on social channels. Secondly, it can help you gauge interest in your project and thereby scale your effort and personal investment in it. And thirdly, the sales revenue you receive through pre-orders will, as the name suggests, kick-start your self-publishing venture. "The book was super-successful, raising £56,000 in the end,” says Rick Banks. “Kickstarter’s back end is very sophisticated – it gives you analytics to show where all the visits come from. Facebook and Twitter were the biggest referrers. In terms of admin it was great, too. It automatically generated spreadsheets with the ability to add notes about specific customers. One of the biggest errors I made was offering free shipping. I didn’t think the book would be so heavy – by the end it was £15 to ship each one abroad.” 06. Make a digital edition first Illustrator Rohan Eason created Benice with author Metin Karayaka We all love print. We love it to death. But the cost can be formidable. The printing of Malinic’s latest book was financed through a partnership with Adobe. Another way around the issue is to launch digitally first, build up sales and awareness, then take the publication into print if it’s viable. This is the route taken by London-based illustrator Rohan Eason and author Metin Karayaka, creators of the young adult adventure Benice, which is selling now on Amazon, Google Books and Bookshout. Eason created 22 full colour illustrations plus the covers, and the book is being published by Yunka, a company set up by Metin for the project and hopefully for future titles. The book began as solely a digital edition, and has now been printed. Why digital at first? “This is to get a feel for the market size and build up a good amount of positive reviews before going to print. Metin can then publish quotes from good reviews on the back of the book, and have extra strength to push the book to distributors.” When we spoke to him, Eason had been visiting every independent bookshop in London with a box of samples to drum up interest. He was paid up front for his illustrations but will also gain a passive income through royalties based on sales. All the bookshop owners were surprised to meet an illustrator so passionate. 07. Use it as a chance to experiment Creatively, the attraction of this self-published project for Eason was the opportunity to experiment. Black and white, highly detailed ink illustrations are what he normally produces and that’s what most publishers commission him to do. With Benice he’s been able to extend his style on his own terms. “A publisher will require you to give them exactly what they want, giving little scope for experimentation or exploration,” he says. “In this book I added colour ink in blocks to my black and white images. It’s a new method for me, and I’m happy to say it’s been very successful.” 08. Do your research Design Giving has four sections: Design, Thinking, Thoughtful and Giving Imagine an illustrator trudging across London, meeting booksellers directly and pitching an independently published book to each of them over and over again. The true level of commitment required to self-publish begins to become clearer. Your skills and creativity will go into the project. You’ll more than likely spend some money on it. Passion is essential. But it’s also going to eat into your time. Tallon spent three years writing and revising his book. Malinic also spent years building up to the release of his first Book of Ideas. Boast, the Manchester designer behind the magazine Design Giving, spent six years developing what turned from an embryonic idea into the beautiful publication you can see today. At every level it has been lavished with care and consideration. “First came the name, Design Giving, which I derived from the compression of the phrase ‘where design thinking becomes thoughtful giving’ – which was my way of being able to describe a process and a way of designing that is more considerate to both people and the planet,” she explains. “This phrase shaped both the structure of the magazine’s four feature sections – Design, Thinking, Thoughtful and Giving – informing the brand’s aesthetic and the type of content featured.” A deep interest in independent, environmentally-focused design is what inspired Boast, and over time she identified a wide range of creators and companies to work with. “When I was ready for content, I had a big list of designers I’d admired from afar, or had previously met at design fairs that I wanted to feature. After the initial email outlining the idea, we worked together to individually tailor the stories and interviews based around the magazine structure.” Now that the first issue is out, the style has been defined and Boast has built up a network of contacts and a following via the Kickstarter campaign she used to fund it. Her next step will be to publish editions annually. 09. Involve readers from the beginning Readers were involved in every step of Works That Work magazine Based in The Hague, Netherlands, Typotheque founder Peter Bil’ak wanted to go even further when he started publishing the magazine Works That Work. Focusing on functional design in unexpected places, the magazine had a team of five and a variety of contributors were heavily involved in its creation. More than that, Works That Work recruited its readers to participate in its distribution. And it worked. “We involved our readers all the way,” says Bil’ak. “They would contribute content to the magazine, they fully financed it and they helped to distribute it. Forty per cent of the print run – 5,000 copies – was sold using our unorthodox ‘social distribution’ method. This meant we bypassed any distribution and shops, and readers would buy boxes of magazines for their social circles, for schools and offices. The feeling of inclusivity and community involvement was the main motivation for people to help us Peter Bil’ak ”Readers who supported the magazine in this way were rewarded as well, receiving the same cut as a distributor would get for its work. “But more than the money, the feeling of inclusivity and community involvement was the main motivation for people to help us,” continues Bil’ak. 'If it worked so well, then why did it close after 10 issues?' you might be thinking. The answer illustrates another important point about self-publishing. Bil’ak always planned to close Works That Work after 10 issues – its very lifecycle was by design. A self-publishing project begins with a celebration, but even a runaway success can eventually start to feel like regular job, an obligation, possibly even a slog for those responsible for its founding. This way everyone who contributed to Works That Work could enjoy it while it lasted, and never consider it to be a burden. 10. Focus on the positives Rumi Hara sells her children's books and comics on Etsy Still, for those who haven’t even started self-publishing yet, thinking about the end perhaps isn’t the best beginning. The main thing to focus on is positive reasons to launch your project, rather than the reasons to avoid pursuing it. Illustrator Rumi Hara is enjoying growing success creating her own children’s books and comics and selling them on Etsy. She offers the perfect endnote: “I’ve actually met a lot of people who want to self publish, but won’t actually do it,” says Hara. “There are so many reasons not to, like, what’s the point? Why spend so much time and energy on something that may not lead to anything? But you’ll end up with a real, physical book that you made yourself and someone can read it. That’s an incredible thing.” Read more: The best children's books of all time How to illustrate a children's book How to design a contemporary book cover View the full article

You're probably aware of the pain of having to scour the web for design resources every time you have a project. To streamline your design process, do yourself a favour and get a Webmaster Design VIP subscription for an extensive package of designer assets. A gold mine of design elements, this offer grants unlimited access to thousands of stock photos, textures, mockups, vectors and so much more. Once you download an asset, you're free to use it forever. Plus, you'll also get to download every addition to the collection in the future at no extra cost. Start beefing up your resource collection and snag a lifetime subscription to Webmaster Design VIP today for only $49 – 95 per cent off the usual price. Read more: Art techniques: top tutorials for painting and drawing The best online art classes right now The 23 best places to find vector art online View the full article

It's no secret that Instagram can be a very powerful marketing tool. Use it right, and it can help you grow your brand and tap into entirely new audiences. But like any promo tool, getting the best from Instagram can be tricky. Someone who has well and truly mastered the platform is Dot lung, the self-styled 'Mother of Social Media Dragons'. Earlier today, she revealed her fail-safe formula for gaining and retaining followers to a packed room at Digital Design Days, and we caught up with her afterwards to find out a bit more. Here are five hot tips for hacking the Instagram algorithm. 10 social media tricks you didn't know about 01. Talk, talk, talk Rule one is: create a dialogue. "Social media is not a one-way street; it's a two-way tango," says Lung. Instagram shouldn't just be you putting out content and forgetting about it. Read your comments and start conversations with your followers. The more people speak to you, the more you'll grow your reach. If you're a brand, you're probably going to need to make announcements from time to time, but make sure you balance this with conversations. Make sure your followers are getting something back. To help with this, it's time to get opinionated. Figure out what your brand stands for and let people know; opinions help open up a dialogue. 02. Make your audience feel something Keep your content relevant, and remember, emotional content is much more relatable to people. "Everything you create should make your audience feel something," says Lung. While what will resonate most with your audience will of course vary hugely from group to group, there are some universal human emotions that the internet loves. "One of them is humour. If you can make them laugh, it's automatically shareable," says Lung. "If you can make them say, 'Oh my god, me too', that has the possibility to be viral." Further to that, use what you know about your audience to tailor your feel to what will make them tick. 03. Don't be perfect The key thing with Instagram is that what you put out genuinely reflects your brand personality. Real and organic wins out over perfect and packaged every time, says Lung. It's might require a bit of a mental shift, given that crafting the perfect image is something that companies have historically invested an awful lot of time and effort into. She goes on to qualify her earlier statement that a little. "Research shows that millenials trust brands that are authentic. So that might be raw and real, or you might be authentically polished and prim - that's OK too." The message is to find your authentic voice, and be consistent in your messaging. Keeping things consistent is key to brokering that trust with your audience. Remember: Your vibe attracts your tribe. If you push out a fake persona, you're not going to attract genuine followers. How to change the font in your Instagram bio 04. Niche down On Instagram, the more curated your content is, the better. Don't believe us? Take a look at House of Magazines, which curates content from super-niche Instagram communities. Whether you're into cacti, David Bowie, or the colour yellow, there's a dedicated magazine on here for you. The follower numbers are testament to just how popular very specific channels can be. So how do you find your niche? "What is your true passion? What are you so hot and crazy about, and would geek out to... figure out what you don't mind spending hours and hours looking at and thinking about," suggests lung. "You have to be obsessed. I mean... you don't have to, but it's easier if you are." 05. Try new tools There's a bunch of tools to help you create slick content and ensure your posts jump out in someone's feed. As well as the hugely popular VSCO filters ("everyone has them"), Lung picks out Unfold as the hottest tool right now. Use it to create professional-looking Stories quickly. CutStory is another favourite - used for chopping your videos into 15-second chunks - but Instagram has recently rolled out a feature that does this automatically. "I still like to use it because you don't always need to post everything," Lung adds. To make your Stories creative, Lung suggests exploring the features within the app itself. "It's crazy - there are so many features and so much stuff you can do with Stories." Read more: A designer's guide to Instagram Stories 5 golden rules for social media strategy How to make money on Instagram View the full article

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It goes without saying that coding is one of the most incredibly marketable skills today. If you've always wanted to learn how to build websites and digital products, you can get ample training from The Complete Web Developer Course. This fully immersive learning package features over 30 hours of content to cover everything code. On top of getting you to grips with the fundamental programming languages like HTML5, CSS3, Python, and PHP, you'll also get hands-on training by building 25 different websites. You'll develop blogs and ecommerce sites, as well as a Twitter clone to put your newly-acquired knowledge into action. As a bonus, you'll also get free unlimited web hosting for one year. The Complete Web Developer Course can be yours today for only $11.99 – that's a 91 percent discount off the usual price. Related articles: 20 awesome books for web designers and developers Agile development: why and how to use it in your web and app workflow 6 must-have skills for young web developers View the full article

Frameworks like React only send JavaScript down to clients, which is then used to create the elements onscreen. The HTML that loads on the page is minimal, as all of the content is generated on the client side after everything has loaded. In projects that have dynamic data, such as a blog or a shop, the JavaScript has to come down first before any other data can be fetched. Even when using speed-boosting techniques such as code splitting, if the bundle fails to download, the entire site will stop working. 34 web design tools to help you work smarter Static-site generators take dynamic content and create pre-built pages ready to serve. If the data does change, the project can be rebuilt and the new content served. The end result is improved speed, scalability and – without constant connections to a database – security. While the approach is not ideal for constantly changing data such as a rolling news site, many projects can benefit. Gatsby is a static-site generator that is built upon React. Through the use of GraphQL and plugins, it can take data from different sources and pass them into components. Once this is done, it analyses the project and generates HTML files to serve to clients, while React and the application logic gets downloaded in the background. Download the files for this tutorial. 10 best static site generators Get started After it has been initialised, Gatsby provides an example site to get started, including two basic page components To start off, we can have Gatsby scaffold out a basic project for us. It provides a development server we can use along with a few useful developer tools. Make sure Node and npm are up-to-date and run npx gatsby new gatsby-site on the command line, with "gatsby-site" being the folder to build into. Within that folder, Gatsby provides a few commands as part of the initialisation process. Running these will make building the site much easier. Run npm run develop to start the development server and see any changes update automatically in the browser. All content lives within the /src folder and any setup files are prefixed with "gatsby-" in the project's root. Everything works through components, which do not need to have any additional structure or behaviour in order to be pre-built with Gatsby. The contents of the /src/pages folder is special. Gatsby will pick up any component within that folder to create a page. Open up index.js and clear out the contents of the component. Notice that the page updates in the browser as we save. Build a page Each blog post needs its own page. It's possible to make a page component for each new post but this creates a barrier for those not used to React and will also require more maintenance in the future as designs change. Gatsby has a library full of plugins ready to change the way it generates pages, which can be found at gatsbyjs.org/plugins. There we can find two types of plugin – 'source' and 'transformer'. A source plugin will take data from a source and convert them into 'nodes', which is how Gatsby deals with the information within a site. The data can be fetched locally for files like images or remotely for external data such as a database. A transformer plugin can then take these nodes and create new ones to make things easier for Gatsby to work with. For example, YAML files can't be parsed by default but a transformer plugin can turn the nested syntax within them into objects to read inside components. Markdown is a common format used for text because it's versatile, easy to read and can be converted to HTML. The source plugin "gatsby-source-filesystem" can take files locally and convert them to nodes, while the transformation plugin "gatsby-transformer-remark" uses Remark to convert Markdown into something we can pick up and query with GraphQL. The starter project already comes with the source plugin. Install the other by running npm install gatsby-transformer-remark. Please note that the development server may need to be restarted for it to be picked up. Set up plugins With the plugin installed, Gatsby needs to be told how to use it. All this logic is held within the "gatsby-config.js" file generated at the start. It comes with a few plugins already set up out of the box but we need to add ours to the mix to be able to pick up and use Markdown. Simple plugins that have no set-up procedure can be added in as strings. As the transformation plugin has only one job, it does not need setting up. However, the source plugin has to be told where to find the posts. Add them to the bottom of the plugins array. Because each post will become its own page, it makes sense to add them to the src/pages folder. These setting options are telling Gatsby to look into that folder and pull out any files. Create a blog post Helmet can be used to add <meta> elements on a per-post basis, such as using post tags as keywords With the plugins in place, we can create our first post. Create a folder called "my-first-post" and add a "my-first-post.md" Markdown file within it. This convention enables us to add any related files – such as images – alongside the post itself. We need to add some Markdown to this post so we know that it's working as expected. The content between the dashes at the top of the file is called 'front matter'. This will contain metadata around the post that is being written, such as the date and title. All of this data will be picked up by Remark and can be queried for within GraphQL. The crucial piece of front matter in this case is the path value. This is where the post will live and will need to be unique. Gatsby will read the path and make a new page there. Before we can show the posts, we need a page component to display the post. It will need to be able to take the values as props and display the content as a block of HTML. Create a new component at "src/BlogPost.js". The information about each post will come through as a data prop from GraphQL. The "react-helmet" package bundled with Gatsby enables us to update values that would usually live within the <head> of a HTML page. Here we are setting the title of the post to be the <title> of the page itself. There are plenty of other options it accepts, which you can find out more about at github.com/nfl/react-helmet. Query for data Gatsby comes with GraphQL, which can be used to help test out queries. Run the development server and head to localhost:8000/___graphql At this point, Gatsby has no data powering this page. We need to fetch data from the Markdown files to populate this information. To do this, we can use GraphQL – a querying language created by Facebook that pulls in relevant data into React components. In short, GraphQL defines the structure the data will be returned through the use of nested objects. That way, we only query for data we will actually be using. Gatsby provides a template literal function that can interpret the queries. It will detect any use of it and pass its results as props into the component. This means we can add the query within the same file and keep related logic together. Inside this query, we are asking Gatsby for all the Markdown nodes with a path that matches the page we are on. If it finds one, it will then pass the rendered HTML, date and title of the post on to the component. Writing queries this way is limited only to page components. Any other components that need query for nodes must use <StaticQuery> and load it up front. At this point, the development server may warn about this for the BlogPost component, but this is because it is not aware it will become a page component yet. Let's change that. Generate pages If you see a "getNodesByType is not a function" error, an outdated version of Gatsby has been downloaded. Running npm update fixes this By default, Gatsby only makes pages for components within /src/pages, meaning that we need to create pages some other way. Gatsby exposes a few methods from its build process to help access the data nodes. These can be accessed through "gatsby-node.js" in the root of the project. In this case, we will use GraphQL to fetch all the blog posts and let the createPages callback generate a page for each one. As this is an asynchronous action, we need to return a Promise so Gatsby can carry on with the build process. The first part of the callback is a query that fetches the path for each post, as each individual page will then get its own data. The GraphQL call returns a Promise that will contain all the posts. We can use the data from that to generate some pages. If the query encounters an error, halt the build process to figure out why. If everything is fine, fetch the component made and call the createPage method to generate a page at the provided path. With the pages generating, all that's needed now is a way to find them. We can use a query on the existing index page component to do that. In this query, we are only interested in the titles and path to the post. We also pass some parameters to Remark to get the most recent posts in reverse order. This query in particular is checking the date from the front matter on each post. The syntax for each query will depend on the plugin used to generate it. With the content in place, the blog can be styled using any CSS technique, including CSS-in-JS solutions such as styled-components Lastly, the component needs updating to make use of the data. The "Link" component supplied by Gatsby enables it to know which components it needs to render that link and will make sure it fetches the right bundles accordingly. With that, our blog is done. All that remains is to smarten it up and have Gatsby build a production-ready website. By running npm run build it can strip out any enhancements used for development and generate bundles ready to deploy. Once finished, the "public" folder can then be uploaded anywhere that can serve static sites. This article was originally published in issue 314 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 314 here or subscribe here. Related articles: The 16 best free blogging platforms Use WordPress as a headless CMS How to code faster, lighter JavaScript View the full article

Marvel's promotional website for its latest film, Captain Marvel, will either fill you with a warm nostalgic glow, or serve as yet another reminder that you are now very, very old. In line with Captain Marvel's 1995 setting, Marvel has launched a retro website that tells you everything you need to know about the upcoming superhero movie starring Carol Danvers. That's as long as you're willing to navigate your way through an old-school website layout and eye-straining font choices. For visitors who grew up on a diet of Pogs and Tamagotchis, the website is a charming throwback to an era when accessing a website meant that you couldn't make phone calls. Meanwhile, younger visitors will get a kick out of this glimpse at the archaic aesthetics that 'old people' once enjoyed. Explore the Captain Marvel website here You can practically hear the dial-up tone Familiar elements from the internet of yesteryear include a guestbook, hit counter and a modem-crippling amount of animated text. All it's missing is a flock of flying toasters. However, in terms of promotional design, this website is so bad it's good. Some of our favourite touches include the old lady Skrull who pops up every now and then – visitors can click to punch her in the face. The ancient Windows Media Player and underwhelming quiz are sure to raise a smile too. And while it might look like zany fun on the surface, this site is practical as well – a 'get tickets' button is in prime position when you land on the page. Remember WordArt? Tongue in cheek internet killjoy and executive editor at The Verge, Dieter Bohn, has pointed out that this site isn't an exact replica of a nineties website because it clocks in at a whopping 10MB, which would have taken forever to load on the era's 28.8k modems. He also highlights the fact that its guestbook is filled with references to events that happened after 1995. This doesn't ruin our enjoyment of the site though, especially when you learn that the whole thing was built in FrontPage and hosted with Angelfire. Related articles: New Adidas site takes it back to the '90s The 7 deadly sins of web design The good, the bad and the ugly of movie posters View the full article

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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