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If you want to be a graphic designer, you'll have to master certain essential creative tools first. Luckily, you can learn how to use a whole bunch of them with one streamlined course – The Ultimate Graphic Design Bundle: Lifetime Access. You'll learn how to create awesome concept art by drawing with Photoshop (get Adobe Creative Cloud here). You'll discover aspects of real-world graphic design using Illustrator, even creating your very own flat design spaceships, practise typography, logo design, and a whole lot more to gain some hands-on experience before you launch your career. Try it out for just $29 – down 98% from the regular price of $1592. Related articles: 6 best web design tools for coding novices 29 web design tools to speed up your workflow in 2018 4 design tools you never knew you needed View the full article

Learn how to break into the games industry and revolutionise your character and creature concept art with the latest issue of ImagineFX magazine – which goes on sale in the UK today. Packed inside the pages of issue 169 you'll hear from top creatives and art directors in the industry, who are all raring to share their career-shaping insights. So if you've always dreamt of designing worlds and characters for AAA titles, be sure to pick it up! Buy issue 169 of ImagineFX here Elsewhere in issue 169, Patrick J Jones continues his detailed figure drawing workshop. This time he reveals how compression and gravity effects can be used to create more realistic looking bodies. Meanwhile, Shedworks co-founder Gregorios Kythreotis shares how to use Unity, Photoshop, Procreate and Maya LT to create a fresh approach to video game art in our cover art feature. There's also the latest news from the digital art world, plus reviews of books and tools that you need to check out. Make sure you don't miss it! Never miss an issue: Subscribe to ImagineFX here Explore what's on offer by taking a peek at the lead features, below. Break into the games industry Top artists spill industry secrets Plenty of artists want to break into the world of designing for games, but fewer turn that ambition into a reality. We hear from recruiters in the field about what they're looking for in a portfolio and how you should go about grabbing their attention. From how to go about making yourself known online to good convention etiquette, this feature gives you the low-down. Inside studio CD Projekt Red Say hello to the organised chaos of CD Projekt Red Polish games studio CD Projekt Red is perhaps best known for its fantasy RPG, The Witcher. As with lots of fantasy properties, the success of this series is built by the investment of the fans. We visit the studio to hear how it works and creates products that keeps its players happy, as well as how it runs on a pinch of creative chaos. Explore the work of Darren Bacon This month we're bringing home the bacon... Darren Bacon that is Halo's lead concept artist Darren Bacon shares his story this month in our artist's portfolio. He talks about the principals of good game design, the make or break moment that defined his career, and how he achieves the final five per cent that separates the good art from the great. Create a portrait with oils Master oil painting with this straightforward workshop Oils paints can be an intimidating medium to work with, but thanks to this tutorial by Howard Lyon you'll learn how to harness oils to produce a portrait with an academic approach. Covering everything from tools to painting techniques, you'll be creating portraits worthy of the masters in no time. How to flesh out a conecpt Train your brain with this in-depth workshop Got an idea for a piece of concept art but don't know how to take it to the next level? Lucas Staniec syas that it's all about having the right mindset, not the right artistic skills. Learn how to hone this elusive mindset with his in-depth tutorial for developing elements of a piece of concept art. Related articles: Improve your concept art skills in Photoshop How to break into movie concept art How to be a better concept artist View the full article

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Creating jaw-dropping images of the Milky Way screaming down towards the horizon is the preserve of professional photographers, right? They might like you to think that, but once you’ve got a handle on what's required and the settings you need, you will soon discover that night sky photography – like any form of landscape photography – is mostly about you, not your camera equipment (that said, even the best camera phone isn't going to cut it here, we're afraid). Finding Dark Sky Parks and dark skies around the world, and getting yourself to them, is half the job, but once you're there, you will need a basic level of equipment to take advantage of any clear nights; a DSLR camera, wide-angle (fish-eye) lens, and a tripod. You'll probably also want a good camera bag, too. None of this gear is particularly complicated, and it needn't be expensive, though like any photographic niche, you can spend as little or as much as you want. Here are some tips on great products for beginners to night sky photography, plus a few step-up products so you can see where your future may lie. We've also outlined some tips on how to get started in astrophotography (skip straight to the tips here). Do you need a really expensive camera to start taking photographs of the night sky? No, you absolutely don't, and this entry-level Canon DSLR is an excellent place to start your experiments. Known in the UK and Europe as the EOS 800D and in the US as the Rebel T7i, this reasonably lightweight camera has a 24.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor and a DIGIC 6 processor, which helps deliver decent high-ISO noise performance during long exposure shots. Okay so it's not a full-frame sensor, but it does the job if you are starting out, and the vari-angle touchscreen is both easy to manipulate and navigate. Your future may involve having to purchase a full-frame DSLR for its better ISO capabilities, but for now, concentrate on getting outside and taking photographs at night. If there's one thing that every night sky photographer needs, it's an excellent tripod that's both reliable and quick to set up/collapse. This aluminium tripod from Manfrotto is hefty enough to serve its purpose without being too heavy to carry, and has some nice touches. The ball head is easy to use, allowing quick and precise placement as well as a quick-release for your camera. The three legs use a lever locking mechanism that's easy to lock down and lift, while the central column extends at the touch of a button. Many astrophotographers and nightscape shooters will tell you that you must have a full frame DSLR, but that's not true. What is true is that by using an entry-level DSLR like the Nikon D5600 you will see more picture noise within long exposure photographs. If you're just starting out, that's not a huge issue. This entry-level camera's lightweight build makes it easy to travel with, while its tiltable LCD screen makes it simple to frame shots, and makes it possible to rely on a small tripod. Capable of 24.2-megapixel pictures, you'll eventually grow-out of its APS-C-sized CMOS sensor, but the Nikon D5600 is nevertheless a great camera to start getting out and about at night with. If you're going to take pictures of the night sky, you need a wide-angle lens. That way, you can fit a lot of landscape and sky in each image. However, such lenses often come at a premium price if you stick to buying from the camera manufacturers. So it's worth looking for a third-party lens, one of the best value being this Korean-made 14 mm wide angle lens from Samyang/Rokinon (the brand name changes between Europe and the US). Not only is this one of the most affordable wide-angle lenses around, but it's also excellent quality, and produced to fit all major brands of camera, such as Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Fujifilm and Sony. However, it is a manual lens, so you have to be comfortable with manual mode to use it away from night photography. A pricier auto-focus version, the Samyang AF 14 f/2.8 lens, is also available, but its auto-focus brings no benefit for night photography. If you're after a DSLR camera with a full frame sensor for astrophotography, it's a three-way fight between Canon (its 5D and 6D cameras), the Sony A7 Mk III, and this, the Nikon D850. At the heart of the D850 is a full-frame CMOS sensor that achieves an incredible 45.7MP, and it also allows 4K video capture. For easily lining-up shots there's a viewfinder and a tilt-angle LCD screen, though at 840g this is a pretty heavy camera. If you want to save some money, but stay with a full-frame sensor, consider finding a cheap deal on the camera the D850 replaces, the Nikon D750, which will serve you almost as well for half the money. Most photographers use exposure times of around 20 to 30 seconds to capture the night sky. Although that might seem like a long time, it can take much longer than that to gather enough light from distant star clusters and galaxies, and if you want great pictures of galaxies and our own Milky Way, you need to open the shutter for a few minutes. The only problem is that Earth rotates quickly, meaning any exposure time over about 30 seconds will feature visibly blurred stars. Cue this simple equatorial mount, which is placed between camera and tripod, and moves the camera in-sync with the Earth's rotation. That means you can use both wide-angle and zoom lenses, and expose for a few minutes without trailing stars. This one is relatively simple to use, thought it needs to be aligned to the Northstar, Polaris, using a small built-in polar scope. Another similar product is the iOptron SkyTracker Pro. Although any crop sensor DSLR camera can be used to take images of the night sky, only a full frame sensor is sensitive enough to produce images containing a bright Milky Way. The Canon EOS 6D Mark II's 26.2 megapixel dual pixel CMOS AF sensor and a huge range of ISO settings makes it ideal for capturing detailed RAW images of our galaxy – best photographed in summer in the northern hemisphere – as well as faint displays of the Northern Lights. However, the Canon 6D Mk II is a fine step-up camera for nightscapes for another reason; it weighs just 765g, which makes it much easier to travel with than most full-frame DSLR cameras. This Mk II version also has an articulating touchscreen LCD, which the first incarnation, the Canon 6D, lacks. However, if you want to save some money, go for that first version, which sells for around half the price second-hand. 5 tips on how to get started in astrophotography 01. Choose a camera Your smartphone is no good here Your smartphone? Forget it. To get decent pictures of the night sky, you need a large sensor, something you only get with a DSLR or mirrorless camera. There are two types of DSLR; crop sensor, and full frame. The latter has much better ISO capabilities, and produces a much cleaner image from long exposures. That said, full frame cameras are very expensive, and it's fine to start out with a crop-sensor, entry-level DSLR. Some mirrorless cameras are also now being used for nightscapes, such as the Sony A7 III. 02. Get a wide-angle lens Don't be afraid of choosing a third-party manual lens To photograph the night sky in all of its glory, you need the widest view possible. This means finding a wide angle lens, most of which are fisheye lenses of some kind. Aperture – how much light the lens lets into your camera – is critical, and the lower the F number of a lens, the better. Although it is possible to get down to F1.8 with some expensive lenses, most wide-angle lenses while get you to about F2.8, which is fine. Don't be afraid of buying third-party manual lenses, which are often cheaper and/or better than big brand lenses. 03. Keep everything stable and still Heavier tripods are more stable, but you sacrifice portability A tripod is essential for night sky photography. The bigger your tripod, and the heavier it is, the more stable your setup will be. However, if you are travelling light, a small tripod will just about do as long as you don't mind kneeling on the floor to line up your photo. A shutter release cable is also very useful for opening your camera's shutter without touching the camera, an so introducing a vibration that will cause blur. 04. Get your timing right The best time for night photography is six days before a new moon It's pretty obvious that you need a clear night sky to take photographs of stars, so don't bother going outside if it's cloudy or raining. You should always avoid full moon. The best time to go on a night sky shoot is from six days before new moon through until four days after new moon. That's the ‘stargazing window’ when the early evening night skies will always be moonless. 05. Sort your settings The settings required aren't as complex as you might think Think this is the magic part? Actually, apart from having to do everything in manual mode – which may be something new for you – the settings required for night sky photography are not complicated. First, put your camera into manual mode. Now turn the focus dial on your lens to infinity focus (if your picture turns out slightly blurred, you can tweak this slightly inwards). Turn the aperture dial (f number) to the lowest setting, probably F2.8, and set the ISO on your camera to 1600. Set the exposure to 25 seconds and … go! Of course, you can play around with a higher ISO, and a shorter exposure, but with these basic settings you will get more or less what you need from the night sky. 06. Compose the shot Foreground features can add drama to sky scenes Pictures of stars are boring. The first time you take an image of the Milky Way can be exciting, but any picture of the night sky is more impressive if the photo is properly composed with something in the foreground. Try an old barn, an interesting tree, or something unusual, like a rusty old car. Since you are taking the picture at night, your subject will help produce an ethereal look that the presence of stars will only add to. Read more: The Northern Lights: Top photography tips The 6 best laptops for photo editing in 2018 15 ways to improve your photography skills View the full article

Typography on the web allows for graphic designers to be expressive with their client’s messages. The web has come a long way with typography, from only allowing fonts that are installed on the user's computer, to now having a whole raft of weird typefaces and fun fonts available from online content delivery networks. If you’ve ever used Google Fonts, then you might notice that when you add a number of weights for the same typeface, because you would like to use it in bold etc, then Google generally warns you that adding these makes the page slow to load. This problem is because a whole typeface of every single character has to be downloaded for each of those weights, regardless of whether you use all the characters. By contrast, a CSS variable font uses variables in the CSS to manipulate the web font properties. This means that one variable font will have all weights, so as the designer you can become far more expressive in the way that you use typography in your design. It doesn’t have to end there though, because some typefaces allow the designer to alter more than just the weight of the typeface, and as such a great deal of flexibility can occur. We are using the open source Amstelvar font, which has no less than 17 variables associated with it, so that you can get some really interesting options from just one typeface. Download this tutorial's files here. 01. Opening the project Open the ‘start’ folder in your code IDE and open ‘index. html’ for editing. In the body section of the page, add the code below to give some structure and content for us to work with using the CSS variable fonts. You can change the text to suit your own needs. 02. Finish the content Now add the remaining code shown below. In our example we have a larger paragraph than shown here in order to allow you a description of CSS variable fonts in the example. You can copy that text from the finished folder or add your own as necessary. 03. Link up the style All of the CSS is going to be placed in its own separate file in the ‘CSS’ folder. As such the link to this is placed anywhere in the ‘head’ section of the code on the page. Save the ‘index.html’ page now as you are done with this and all further code will be in CSS. 04. Load the typeface From the ‘CSS’ folder, open ‘design.css’, which will be empty. Add the code as shown here at the top of your CSS. As you can see this is identical to how you would load any locally stored typeface with current CSS. 05. Style the page Remember to choose text that stands out Now the HTML and body of the page are styled with the margin and padding removed. The font that was loaded in the previous step is now applied as the default font to all text on the page. A background image is added to cover the background and the text is set to white with a slight shadow to help it stand out. 06. Centre the text The easiest way to centre text both horizontally and vertically is to use the newer CSS grid as the display object. This wrapper, which encapsulates all other tags, is set to take 100% of the vertical height with the ‘vh’ property. 07. Auto centre The variable font is applied as a normal font Now the content inside can make use of the auto for both the margin at the top and bottom as well as left and right. This means we get a text box that is going to take 60% of the screen and centre it. The text is also centred and this will help. As you can see in the browser the variable font is applied as any normal font. 08. Vary the font Now the font for heading 1 is going to be given some varying properties. The W3C would like us to use font-weight, stretch and optical sizing, but for this typeface the optical sizing doesn’t work. We’ll work around that in the next step but just check your progress in the browser. 09. Customise the font Amstelvar has lots of control options The Amstelvar font has so many variables that aren’t controlled by W3C commands, but there is a way to access them. Add this line of code that also adds the height of the y-ascender to 700 and the height of the y-upper case. In both instances, they are reduced making the type have a reduced overall height. 10. Make subtle changes The font is now almost unrecognisable from its source Now the styling of the subhead will be added. As you look at this you will see that the weight has been reduced as well as the optical sizing. When you look at this in the browser it almost looks like a completely different typeface given the characteristics have changed so much. 11. Create a separator Now a double line separator will be added between the text. This will only be 40% wide, so slightly less than the text. This is also given a slight shadow behind it. This is just to help aesthetically add a break between the first two lines and the second two lines. 12. The next line The next styling is added to help make a difference in the text. As it stands now it doesn’t look too different to anything done in the previous step, but in the next few steps more variables will be added to enhance the way this looks with some subtle changes. 13. More variables The new variables are marked in bold below. XOPQ is the x width of the letter, XTRA is the width of the curve. YOPQ is the y height of the letter, YTLC is the y height of lower case letters. YTSE is the serif height, GRAD is the grading of the letter. YTAS and YTDE is both the ascender and descender y height. 14. Yet more variables Be sure to save before you refresh The last few variables shown here in bold are the overall y-height of the letter with the YTRA property and then the paragraph weight and paragraph width. Save this and refresh your browser to see the changes take hold. The changes are subtle, but enough to make it look like a different typeface. 15. All change Lots of different styles can be generated with a single HTTP request The next line of text is styled up with this CSS now. Again the settings are being adjusted to give the appearance of a different typeface. Save this and look at the effect that has been generated in the browser. The payoff here is that you have only made one HTTP request for the typeface but generated a different style. 16. Last text The final section of text is being left in the default setting for the Amstelvar font. All that is going to happen here is that the line height is adjusted to make it much more readable on the screen. This completes the styling of all the text. Next is to show how to animate some of the properties. 17. Make it animate Let’s revisit the initial heading tag and add some animation to that. In order to do that, add in the code shown in bold. The animation name refers to the keyframes that will be defined in the next step. It will take four seconds and hold on the last keyframe. 18. Define the start The keyframes for the ‘anim’ are created. Here the starting keyframes are added. The weight of the typeface is changed to its lowest value of 100 and the paragraph weight is changed to 0 so that it becomes bolder as it animates over the duration of the four seconds. 19. Ending point The keyframes are animated from one point to another in this example. The final ending point of those keyframes is defined, which as you can see takes it back to the default paragraph weight and the weight of the typeface is set to how it was originally defined earlier in the tutorial. Test this in the browser. 20. Refine the animation When you test the animation, you will see that it is a little jittery because of the extreme change in the paragraph width. Here this is changed to 50 and the opacity is changed to 0 so that it fades in and makes the transition smoother. 21. Finish off Have fun playing with typefaces to achieve different results! The final amendment is to add the opacity of 1 so that it fades in. Refresh the browser and this works much smoother. Experiment by animating any of the properties over time and you will get some interesting results for your type. And this is all from one typeface! This article was originally published in issue 279 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 279 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: Transform your type online with variable fonts How to set up site theming with CSS variables Find your perfect type with the Tinder for fonts View the full article

It's hard to believe that we're hurtling towards the end of 2018. It feels like only yesterday that Pantone revealed its enigmatic Colour of the year, and over the last twelve months we've seen the creation of the world's most unignorable colour and a trend for bold and saturated hues. Designers and fans of colour theory are already wondering what 2019 has in store, and now Shutterstock has the answer. Today, the global marketplace for images has released its 2019 Color Trends report based on pixel data and image download data. By studying the actions of its users, Shutterstock has been able to identify the top three universally popular colours, as well as pin-pointing local favourites from different countries from around the world. And just as we saw with the rise of vivid hues back in the summer, it looks like people can't get enough of turbo-charged colours if this report is anything to go by. According to Shutterstock's data, a trio of neon colours have surged in popularity year-over-year and look set to shape 2019. The three colours in question include; Proton Purple, a vivid colour that "represents the palpable positive charge of our daily lives"; UFO Green, which "evokes lush countrysides alongside whirling rows of binary code. It’s both natural and supernatural"; and finally Plastic Pink, a sizzling colour with lots of depth "that captures the electric glow of cities at night". Check out the colours in the visual report below, along with the most popular colours from countries all over the world. Click the image to get a better look at 2019's colour trends "Whether it’s conscious or not, the colours we choose to represent any given occasion reflect more than just current trends in fashion or design – they have a larger cultural significance," said Lou Weiss, CMO of Shutterstock. "If we look to the ideas influencing culture today, technology stands at the forefront. There's tons of energy driving this movement, so it's no surprise that the top trending colours pack a real digital punch." Related articles: 12 colours and the emotions they evoke How to manage colours in Photoshop Create a simple colour chart View the full article

People across all different industries need to make presentations at some point or another. So why not get your hands on a tool that will help you create presentations more efficiently? Slideshop: Lifetime Subscription is on sale now for just $29.99, and it features more than 15,000 presentation templates for PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides. The designs are modern, pre-made, and gorgeous, and unlimited downloads are at your fingertips! Utilise the platform's simple editing tools to create a presentation that's uniquely tailored to your needs. Get Slideshop: Lifetime Subscription for 98% off the regular price right now. Related articles: How to be a better speaker: presenting and pitching tips 5 inspired self-promo ideas for design agencies 9 tips for breaking onto the speaker circuit View the full article

It's free delivery week at Amazon! From today (30 Nov) to Wednesday 5 December, all Amazon UK customers can get free standard delivery on all their purchases – all you need to do is pop the code FREEDELIVERY in at the checkout. Head to Amazon now to get free delivery There's no catch here, but here are the details anyway. This promotion applies to all items listed as 'dispatched' or 'fulfilled' by Amazon, and there's no minimum spend (that means there's no need to scrabble around bulking out your order in order to reach the free delivery limit – hurrah!). You can also use the code as many times as you like over the course of the week. Ideal for Christmas shopping If you – like us – are a little behind on your Christmas shopping, this is the perfect opportunity to make a dent in your list. Stuck for ideas? Take a look at our Christmas gift guides for graphic designers, illustrators, freelancers or kids. There are plenty of items to buy through Amazon on our roundups, so you can take advantage of this sweet delivery deal. It's also worth noting that Amazon is still running Cyber Monday deals this week. You might be a little sick of it by now, but if you can get over that there are some incredible deals still to be had. Now could be a great time to pick up that Amazon smart device you (or a loved one) have always wanted. For more on that, take a look at our ultimate guide to all Amazon devices. If this week gets you hooked on the joy of free delivery, you should probably think about signing up to Amazon Prime. Prime membership costs £7.99 per month or £79 annually, and you can test it out with a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial. As well as free delivery, you'll also benefit from super-fast shipping, and access to thousands of free movies and TV shows – plus a few other unexpected perks. Read more: 75 best free fonts for designers Save almost 40% on Adobe Creative Cloud with this mega deal Fun but brutal quiz will test your designer's eye View the full article

If you can work on a canvas with paints, then many of the same painting techniques you use will transfer directly over to digitally painting in Photoshop. The good news is that core principles such as composition, colour theory and perspective still apply – so once you're all set up with your Creative Cloud subscription, you just need a little know-how and you're good to go. How to draw: the best drawing tutorials This Photoshop tutorial will break down the process of creating a simple digital painting, from start to finish. However, it's important to remember that most artists will develop their own unique workflows. 01. Start with a sketch Sketching is an essential part of many artists' workflows Sketching is essential to many artists, both traditional and digital. The benefits of sketching before painting is that it allows for quick iteration of ideas without committing to the longer process of painting. Things can be worked out in rough form ahead of time. Sketching digitally can take many different forms – it can be a traditional pencil sketch or (as in this case) a quick painting. When working on quick sketches, try to give yourself time limits, both per sketch and for the overall sketching process. This will help you avoid spending too much time on any one idea and get you into painting faster. 02. Establish perspective and set the mood Every element you paint should recede towards the vanishing point Once a sketch has been finalised, it’s a good idea to lay down some perspective guides before you paint anything. Perspective is such an important part of painting – even in paintings like this one where there aren’t a lot of visual cues. It’s something I make a habit of doing in every painting, as it helps with the flow of the image. Every element you paint should recede towards the vanishing point. This is quick and easy to do in Photoshop CC with the Line Tool. You’ll also note that in this image above I’ve applied a simple gradient behind the perspective lines. This is something I like to do for exterior paintings as it does two things. First, it implies the direction of the primary light source in the image (in this case, the sun). Second, it gives me a bit of direction for the colours I want to start painting with. I’ve opted for cool, muted blue tones. 03. Choose your brushes Click image to enlarge As you start using Photoshop’s Brush tool and Brush panel for the first time you might feel a little overwhelmed. The amount of customisation and control you have over what your brush looks like and the way it behaves can be something that sidetracks you if you're new to digital painting. My recommendation is to limit yourself when first starting out to two brushes. Here, I’ve highlighted both the Soft Round and the Hard Round brush in both the Brush panel and the Brush pop-up. It’s also worth mentioning that painting in Photoshop feels infinitely more natural when you use a pressure-sensitive tablet. I use a Wacom Cintiq but can also recommend its Intuos product line. Photoshop actually has tools built in to take advantage of this hardware. The two options marked in the Options bar at the top of the image correspond to pressure control over the brush’s opacity and size. 04. Build the foundations Shapes and silhouettes allow you to focus on the composition and flow of the image As you start to think about translating your sketch using these two brushes, it’s easiest to start with simple shapes and silhouettes. This allows you to focus on the composition and flow of the image without getting bogged down in the details. Here, I’ve used the Hard Round brush with pressure-sensitive size control to shape the silhouettes. This can be done rather quickly by applying paint with the Brush tool and subtracting it with the Eraser tool. It’s also worth noting in this image that I’m breaking the composition apart into layers. In the Layer panel I’ve created layers for background, midground and foreground. When painting silhouettes for these layers, I’ve also considered the effects of atmospheric perspective in the colours I’ve chosen. These silhouettes can serve as a base to build detail upon later. 05. Turn on the lights With the silhouettes established, it’s a good idea to define your main light source Now it’s a good idea to define your main light source. In an exterior painting like this, the primary source of illumination is typically the sun. It's vital to establish the light source because it will influence the way you render out the details on top of the silhouettes as it will affect colour selection and shadow placement. For this step, I used a large Soft Round brush, first with red, then orange and finally yellow. I shrunk down the brush as I changed from one colour to another. 06. Find the details Photoshop’s clipping layers will help find the details in each layer of the composition The next step can easily be the most time-consuming: we need to find the details in each layer of the composition. Here, Photoshop's clipping layers will be helpful. If you create a new layer above the layer with a silhouette on it, you can alt+left click the space between the layers and clip the new layer to the existing layer. Any paint applied to the new layer will now only be visible where the silhouette layer underneath it has opaque pixels. By doing this you can begin to quickly apply paint to the new layer without worrying about cleaning it up later. Now using the Hard Round brush, start by adding some random organic shapes to define the tops of all the rock faces. These will be the portions of the rocks that the light illuminates the most. If the silhouette layer underneath isn’t dark enough, you can then follow up by painting some shadows between the recesses in the rocks. Repeat this process for each of the defined layers of the composition. Remember, as you move further back in the composition details should become less and less apparent and colours should desaturate. 07. Polish and distribute details TThe first thing you should do is to take a hard look at the painting During this step, the first thing you should do is to take a hard look at the painting and ask yourself what could be better. Maybe a detail you’ve already painted could use a bit more work. Maybe you feel like the image is missing something. For this painting, I wanted to add some ships flying through the canyon and some clouds to break up the sky a bit. For the ships, use the exact same process you used earlier with the rocks: silhouettes or shapes first, then detail. For the clouds, start with the Hard Round brush and in the Brush pop-up adjust the Hardness to around 50%. On a new layer begin painting your clouds using the pressure-sensitivity of your tablet to create variation. Don’t forget to define colours for the lightest areas and darkest, shadowed areas of the clouds. If your clouds feel too bold, adjust the opacity of the layer in the Layer panel. If your painting doesn’t turn out just like this one, don’t be discouraged. Digital painting (just like traditional painting) is something that takes a lot of practice. Related articles: The 60 best free Photoshop brushes The ultimate guide to Photoshop filters The 38 best Photoshop plugins View the full article

The two apps are created by headset software company Sennheiser HeadSetup. View the full article

This issue, along with our usual reviews, inspiration and regular Q and A sections, we review Blackmagic Design's eGPU, teach you how to create monstrous machinery with Cinema 4D, and look at Gravity Sketch and GSG Light Kit Pro. Buy 3D World 242 today We take a look inside the issue to find out what else is in store... Feature: Global VFX hotspots! Discover the place to be to work in visual effects We talk to a group of visual effects artists to discover the most hip and happening places to work in the industry, find out why those hubs sprang up and look at key projects to come out of them. Feature: VFX of First Man Take a closer look at the final frontier, with our behind the scenes on First Man In this feature we talk to the team behind the visual effects of First Man, discovering how they recreated one of mankind's greatest achievements. Training: Create stunning Keyshot renders Master Keyshot with our top tips Take a look at our massive Keyshot tips collection, where our top artists share their secrets to success. Training: Model an Akira style bike using Gravity Sketch Make scifi models in VR Precise modelling can be tricky in VR but in this issue Mike Griggs shows you how to use Gravity Sketch to create a stunning Akira styled scifi motorbike. Training: Create hard surfaces in VR In this tutorial our expert VR artist, Martin Nebelong, shows you how to make hard surface models in a VR project, expanding your skillset. Buy issue 242 or subscribe to 3D World here. Read more: How to model concept art in C4D Top 40 free textures to download today 6 expert tips for better renders View the full article

Anyone who's ever done any coding knows that it requires a huge amount of concentration. This also means that even if you're using as many web design tools as possible in order to automate or speed up processes, you may still find it hard to switch off after a long coding session. To find out how you can relax your brain and get to sleep after an intense coding session, we spoke to web designers and developers to see how they do it. 01. Get some exercise "One of the challenges I have is switching my brain off, either so I can relax or switch gears and work on something new," says experience design strategist at Rochelle Dancel. "So it’s always good to get the blood going again. I took up bouldering [a form of rock climbing] a couple of years ago; I love it because my brain and my muscles have to be in perfect harmony or I’ll literally fall off the wall. I’m not very good at it but it’s the perfect reset button for me. It’s also a great way to spend time with your team that doesn’t involve alcohol." 02. Work on a different creative project "It’s always difficult to unwind after a code sprint," says front end developer at 50,000ft, Anthony Miroballi. "I usually work on a creative project in a field outside of coding. For me, that’s electronics, video editing or designing 3D models for printing. This helps my brain shake off the stress while leaving me with another thing to feel accomplished on. The secondary effect is to prevent stress build-up from getting behind on other projects. After this process, I will usually be ready for bed or a quick nap before starting the next sprint." 03. Don't finish the day mid-task "It can take some hours to snap out of the concentration required for long coding sessions, particularly if you’ve had to leave a problem unsolved or a task unfinished," explains Tim Whitlock, maker of Loco. "It’s not uncommon for me to watch a two-hour film while still thinking about code the whole time. Because of this, I make sure I finish work at least three hours before sleeping but most importantly, I try to finish the day at a satisfactory point. The latter can sometimes be difficult to plan but I find that avoiding new tasks in the late afternoon can really help. If you need to start something big and it’s past 3pm, simply save it for the next day and tackle something smaller or easier instead. 04. Use a sleep sounds app "When I became a freelance web developer, I promised myself I would keep sensible hours. If I am honest, I still keep longer hours than I should," says Leonie Winson, a freelance web developer for Line and Form. "This results in too many nights awake and thinking very loudly. To relax, I use a sleep sounds app. My favourite ones are river sounds. The knack is to find a sound you can concentrate on. It can’t be too fast and you have to get the volume right. I set my timer for 40 minutes, concentrate on the sound and 95 per cent of the time I’m asleep before the sounds stop." 05. Write down your thoughts "The evening after finishing a strenuous coding deliverable, your mind is still racing, thinking about code optimisation, best practices and design patterns," says Demetrios Kontizas, director of web development technology at Mirum. "You lie awake in bed or toss and turn, despite being mentally exhausted. Even if you are able to get some rest, often it’s the case that you struggle to stay asleep. So my strategy is simply to write things down. I feel as though having a brain dump of the code utilised on the project – even if it’s a high level sketch of the design pattern – helps to release the code from my conscious mind and therefore enables me to get a good night’s rest." 06. Embrace your creative time "It’s hard for me to fall asleep after coding during the day. The catch, though, is my brain feels the most relaxed, creative and free during that 30 minutes or hour it takes me to fall asleep," says Jay Ainsworth, junior developer at FINE. "In terms of mental stimulation and satisfaction, it’s my favourite time because it feels like a rare opportunity to analyse the thoughts my brain subconsciously has throughout the day. The only downside is that I end up lying there trying to decide if any of the potential solutions to code challenges are worth getting out of bed for. This article was originally published in net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 311 or subscribe to net here. Read more: 5 mindfulness apps to save you from creative burnout How to balance life and work 5 ways to speed up your websites and apps View the full article

The most exciting part of working with watercolours is watching those luminous colours come alive and react to water on paper as you experiment with painting techniques. However, the fun dies down when the watercolours you’re trying to use just aren’t doing what you want them to, and that can happen often. Every watercolour has different properties for different uses, and so part of understanding what works best for you involves a lot of practice and experimentation. A basic understanding of the colour wheel, colour theory and a starter palette of colours will go a long way. Colour schemes are like shortcuts for guaranteed colour harmonies or provocative compositions. However, integrating a limited colour palette is my favourite route to a successful painting, using only a few colours to create a wide range of possibilities. In this article, we’ll be looking at how to combine the properties of watercolour along with colour schemes and palettes to get the results that make watercolour so special, and how to avoid the pitfalls of combining ill-suited watercolours. 01. Not all colours are equal Watercolours are either transparent, semi-transparent or opaque. With transparent colours, the white of paper will show underneath. With the opposite, the luminosity is diminished and layering becomes difficult. Another characteristic you’ll see is staining versus non-staining. With staining colours, the watercolour won’t readily be lifted after being applied to the paper, which will make any stray marks a pain to deal with. Lightfastness determines how well the pigment stands up to sunlight and acids over time, so ratings of I and II are recommended. The properties of watercolour may seem intimidating; however, with practice, you’ll understand which properties in watercolour to look for when formulating a palette. Different colours have different properties Let's go through the colours and their properties, starting with the Prussian Blue on the top left (above) and working clockwise. Prussian Blue by Schmincke is a semi-opaque, staining cool blue watercolour. Its flow need a little work to get moving and mixing, but its vibrancy makes up for it. It does well with water blossoms and salt, but layering is limited because it’s not transparent. Cobalt Violet Deep by Daniel Smith is a transparent, low-staining watercolour. While the colour is gorgeous and its high granulation offers possibilities for achieving texture, the flow is limited, making it difficult to spread. However, because it’s a transparent colour, it’s easy to lift off the paper when needed. Cadmium Yellow Medium by Daniel Smith is a semi-transparent and low-staining, vibrant, warm yellow watercolour. Its flow is decent and it mixes really well with vibrant, transparent colours. Because this isn’t a transparent yellow, its layering properties are a little hindered, but because it’s so rich, you won’t need to layer it too heavily. Daniel Smith’s Indigo is one of my favourite colours to mix and add depth to my work without muddying it up. It’s a transparent colour and offers a very high range in value. However, it’s a low-staining colour, so any stray marks with this one and you’ll have to get creative in removing it! Permanent Rose by Winsor & Newton is a transparent, staining but brilliant colour and one of my favourites to work with. It’s easy to control and its flow is fairly high, which makes it easy to mix. It also reacts with water seamlessly and because it’s transparent, it’s an excellent colour to glaze with. 02. Understand colour Before choosing your palette, it’s important to develop a basic understanding of colour theory and how colours relate to one another. This will aid you in choosing appropriate colour palettes for your paintings, to evoke a mood or emphasise a concept. This is also essential in choosing the tubes you mix new colours with. Colour temperature, hue and purity are all characteristics to consider when developing your painting. A colour’s hue is simply the name of the colour in its most basic form and describe its location on the colour wheel: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet The purity, or intensity, of a colour is its saturation. On a colour wheel this is the colour at its purest form. To dull a colour, simply add its complementary colour, or its opposite on the colour wheel. The more vibrant a colour, the more attention it draws – especially when it’s a transparent or semi-transparent colour. Dulling hues will reduce tension and lessen the mood. Meanwhile, the temperature of a colour is the suggestion of warmth or coolness. Warm hues are inviting, active and come forward in a composition. Cool hues are relaxing, refreshing and tend to fall back. On a colour wheel, reds, oranges and yellows are considered warm hues, while greens, blues and violets are cool hues. However, any colour can be warm or cool in relation to another, such as red violet (cool) versus red orange (warm). 03. Build your palette A traditional palette comprises a warm and cool version of the primary colours, together with any additional colours that supplement mixing. In general, try not to overload your palette with too many semi-transparent or opaque colours, since these won’t lend themselves well to mixing and layering. For more intense colours, transparent and staining colours will make up most of your palette. For a dull palette, earthier staples such as burnt sienna, indigo and sepia will be prevalent, but expect to dilute to avoid muddiness. Warm and cool palettes work together The warm side of the palette can be found at the top. This includes Permanent red, Cadmium yellow, Ultramarine blue, Sap green, Permanent rose and Neutral tint. On the bottom side you can see the cool colours, such as Pyrrol crimson, Lemon yellow, Prussian blue, Viridian green, Quinacridone purple and Indigo. In the top right corner you can see the Neutral tint. Neutral tint is essentially the perfect mixture of all primaries that complete the full colour spectrum, which when mixed together work to cancel out the light value in each other. To use Neutral tint, try adding it slowly to an intense colour and watch it become a duller shade, without having to add its complement. Quinacridone purple is excellent for glazing I keep Quinacridone purple close by at all times, because it’s become an excellent colour to mix with. I’ve found violets in the past difficult to mix without losing intensity. It’s excellent for glazing because it’s transparent. 04. Colour schemes One reason it’s important to understand how the colour wheel works is in using it as a map to help you choose a colour palette. Using a colour scheme is an excellent place to begin that process, with many offering tried-and-true combinations of colours that help determine the mood and assist in expressing the idea. Here are a few of my favourites, working clockwise from the yellow on the top right corner of the image below. Colour palettes set the mood of a painting This complementary colour scheme involves two colours that are opposite of one another on the colour wheel. In my example, I’ve added lemon yellow with my Quinacridone violet. These opposites enhance each other and also pack solutions for contrast by mixing the two to create duller colours. Split complementary colour schemes like the one on the bottom right are ideal for creating an intriguing mood. This is achieved by choosing one colour and then the two colours surrounding its complement, such as yellow, red violet and blue violet. Analogous is a colour scheme that makes use of three to four colours that are next to each other in the colour wheel. In my example, I’m using Quinacridone purple with Prussian Blue and Permanent Rose to develop Violet, Red violet and Blue violet. Invariably, this results in using the warm and cool versions of a colour and lends itself to bright, harmonious palettes because the mixtures don’t dull or offer contrast. Instead, you have to rely on value range to determine contrast. Monochromatic is an easy solution for guaranteeing colour harmony in a piece, because it depends entirely on a range of values to offer contrast. When choosing a watercolour to do this with, look for a deep colour that offers a wide range, such as Quinacridone purple. 05. Unify your palette Now that your palette is set up and you understand how various watercolours interact with one another, let’s choose a limited palette. Often what results in a muddy painting lacking colour harmony is when the artist chooses too many colours to work with. The easiest path to a harmonious use of colours is by limiting it to between two and four colours. A wide range of colours can be created with very little, but pack a huge punch in a final painting. For the example below, I’m using Lemon yellow, Permanent rose and Pthalo turquoise – a triad of sorts. Together, these create six distinct colours, including a spring green, peach and a moody violet. The potential with this combination is huge! When I’m choosing a colour palette, I do tests similar to those in the top right, where I practice combining the colours in my palette to see how they react with one another, layer, and blend together. Keep the number of colours down for a clean palette If you begin running into problems with colours you’ve chosen, try to figure out what’s causing it. That's what I've done with this lattice of colours. Is one of your colours opaque and mixing it makes the colours muddy? Could one of your colours have high granulation and that’s causing your blending to be funky? Do you have too many unsaturated colours? Try introducing a vibrant, transparent colour. For better chances at a balanced colour palette, ensure that at least one of your chosen colours has a wide range of value. This is why I often use indigo (on the bottom right) in my colour schemes, because it produces one of the richest deep values I can make without muddying everything up. For mixing purposes, try to keep your darkest valued watercolour either transparent or semi-transparent. This article was originally published in issue 164 of ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 164 here or subscribe to ImagineFX here. Related articles: A beginner's guide to watercolour tools A beginner's guide to watercolour brush techniques Paint a mischievous hare in watercolour View the full article

Reckon you're a hot-shot designer? Think you've get that keen eye for design that can align images without the need for a grid? Put your sight and design thinking to the test with this quiz from digital service agency Supremo and find out how well you really see. This fun and frustrating quiz, called 'It's Centred That', sets the deceptively simple task of asking whether a dot is plotted in the middle of a series of 10 shapes. Sounds straightforward, right? Well, thanks to strategically placed shapes and off-putting colour combinations, you'll find that your eyes will be thrown off. Factor in that the dots can be off-centre by a couple of pixels and you'll realise that this friendly looking quiz isn't as forgiving as it first appears. What's more, get a question wrong and you have to start again from the beginning. And because the quiz generates the questions at random, you won't be able to memorise the right answers and bluff your way to the end. Be warned: this quiz is not as easy as it looks Players will go through the motions of being amused, frustrated, and doggedly determined in a matter of minutes when playing this game. Answering incorrectly sees a distressed turd emoji fill your screen, which is a sight you're going to see an awful lot on your way to the tenth question. Note that the triangle ones are the trickiest. Good luck. Related articles: Typography quiz reveals gaps in letter knowledge QUIZ: Guess the extreme close-up logos QUIZ: What sort of creative are you? View the full article

Editing photos can really up their quality, but it's a time-consuming process that can be hard to master. So why not let software do the work for you? Photolemur 3 is a nifty tool that uses image recognition and artificial intelligence to make photo editing a total breeze. This automated editing solution enhances your pictures for you, even if you don't have the time to do it yourself. Edit photos with a simple drag and drop, and effortlessly share them directly to your favourite social media platforms. Get Photolemur 3 for just $19 – that's 45% off the regular price. Related articles: 15 ways to improve your photography skills Improve your smartphone photography with this handy guide The 13 best photography websites View the full article

You're reading Free Responsive HTML Email Newsletter, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Our free responsive email newsletter is a perfect start for whatever campaign you have in mind. Whether you want to provide new information, promote special offers or reconnect with subscribers, it will do the trick. And most importantly, it will … View the full article

You're reading Ending soon: 10 great Cyber Monday deals for designers, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! It’s that time of the year again. The time of amazing discounts that will help you get exactly what you need for a lower price. Everybody has heard of the Black Friday, but do you know what Cyber Monday is? … View the full article

You're reading Codester Has Everything You Need to Start Design Projects Fast, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! No matter what your level of design is – from beginner to master coder – there are times when you need ready-to-use web development assets. Codester is a one-stop-shop for everything from PHP scripts to app templates to themes to … View the full article

The patch addresses a flaw in Cisco's WebEx platform that lets hackers gain elevated privileges. View the full article

Got plans tonight? You do now. And they're plans that will well and truly fire up your creativity - right from the comfort of your own sofa. Tonight at 7PM GMT (8PM CET), you can join some of the UK's most creative minds at the Adobe Creative Meetup London via Adobe's live stream (above). In what's set to be an awe-inspiring night of creativity, Adobe will be celebrating all the latest innovation to its Creative Cloud apps, regaling insights from its recent Adobe MAX conference and welcoming some of the UK's top creative talent to share their expertise. Stellar line-up Taking the stage at the beautiful One Marylebone venue in London is Adobe's very own Principal Manager of Creative Cloud Evangelism Rufus Deuchler, who, with a career spanning over 20 years in the industry, is best placed to demonstrate how Adobe's next generation of Creative Cloud tools can take your next project to new creative heights. Joining Deuchler is one of the fastest-growing lifestyle YouTubers in the UK, with a following of over three million, Patricia Bright. And Bright's accomplishments don't end there. This multi-award winning woman is a self-made entrepreneur, having launched a hugely popular beauty product with MAC Cosmetics, and is gearing up to launch her own book ‘Heart & Hustle’, which shares her secrets to success, early next year. When Bright isn't taking over the world with her creative talents, she also somehow finds the time to be a mum and a wife too. Add all that up and that's one talk anyone - especially working parents - will want to hear. Last, but by absolutely no means least on the speaker list, is graphic design duo Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima aka MinaLima. These guys first started collaborating back in 2002, when they were tasked with imagining and creating the graphic universe of the Harry Potter film series. Yes, you read that right. Since then, the creative couple has continued their involvement with the Harry Potter franchise through numerous commissions, including designing all the graphic elements for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley at Universal Orlando Resort. They now find themselves designing the graphic props for the Fantastic Beasts film series. Tonight MinaLima will be presenting their specialist knowledge in graphic design and illustration, which we have no doubt will include insider insights and advice money simply can't buy. Need we say more? Join in the creative conversation tonight at 7PM BST (8PM CET) via the Adobe live stream. View the full article

Gone are the days when designers could rely solely on their talent to come up with their best work. There’s nothing wrong in believing your skills, but if you can save time and effort as well, that's the icing on the cake. And that’s exactly where things like photo editor software and free fonts come in really handy. With ever-advancing technology, designers are pretty spoilt for choice when it comes to design software and resources. So to help you out, here is a list of eight top design tools that will help you get the most out of your talent. 01. ProofHub Get your files reviewed and approved quickly with ProofHub ProofHub is an online project management and collaboration software that is highly useful in getting your files reviewed and approved quickly. You can save time and effort by instantly sharing files and receiving feedback on them. This software offers markup tools for highlighting errors in a file, thereby eliminating any confusion about required changes. This way, you can get rid of painful email threads for file proofing. 02. ColorZilla A Mozilla extension, ColorZilla helps web and graphic designers when working with colour-related tasks, and can assists with both basic and advanced work. ColorZilla enables you to get colour readings from images, web pages and other content on the internet. After that, you can make adjustments to the colour and use it in any other program, such as Photoshop CC. 03. Framer Framer assists you with interactions and animations on desktop as well as mobile A prototyping tool, Framer assists you with interactions and animations on desktop as well as mobile. The tool integrates with Photoshop, making it easy and fast to export graphic files, thereby helping you to keep a project organised. You can also create animation in full 3D, with space spring physics and bezier curves. 04. WhatFont WhatFont is a software that allows website developers and designers to identify a font of their choice in an easy way. The software removes the need to spend hours inspecting the font using a search engine. It’s the easiest, quickest and the most elegant way to find out details of a font in any webpage. 05. Canva: Font Combinations Find perfect font combinations with this handy online tool With this online tool from Canva, you can find great font combinations to use in your projects. You also get to see examples of different font combinations on various websites, to give you a better idea regarding how a font combination looks. After just three steps/clicks into the tool you can find the font combination of your choice. 06. Flinto Flinto assists you in quickly creating interactive prototypes of web and mobile applications, as well as enabling you to share these prototypes with anyone. You can collaborate with your team members on the prototypes, and control the access level of everyone working on those prototypes. 07. SmartDraw You can use SmartDraw to create business charts, mindmaps and other visuals. The software includes drawing tools and example templates to help you draw even complex diagrams with ease. You can edit these in-built templates to create your own visuals. 08. Flaticon Flaticon is a tool that offers you free icons that you can easily edit to fit your needs. The software has thousands of icons available in SVG, PNG, EPS, PSD and BASE 64 formats, and well as offering a premium plan that gives you access to even more, exclusive icons. Related articles: Pixel art: 37 great examples 24 pro tips for creating inspirational mood boards 12 essentials tools for graphic designers View the full article

It's a perennial question in the web industry. Should you specialise in one specific language, discipline, web design tool or methodology or offer a broad range of design and development skills? There's no simple answer that applies to everyone. But there are some clues as to which route might suit you better personally. In this article, we speak to experts across the sector to get their advice on how to choose the best path for you. Legwork is a small studio working with big clients. Due to its size, it employs only generalists and brings in specialists as freelancers There are many obvious benefits to being a specialist, believes designer and developer Matt Wiggins. "You get to master the skills you love and, if you're good enough, people will seek you out for these abilities," he says. But there's also a downside. "Frankly, it's going to be harder to get a full-time job," he explains. Wiggins offers up himself as an example. "I own a small creative studio, Legwork, in Denver, Colorado, and I use specialists all the time… but only as freelancers," he says. "I'm certainly not looking to hire someone who isn't well-rounded, especially when times are tight. I always look for generalists in the people that I hire." There will, of course, be more full-time opportunities for specialists in larger firms. "There are certain roles that require a high degree of technical aptitude or design capability, where it's vital to remain a specialist," says Maggie McKosky, head of UX and product design at Shutterstock in New York. "For instance, some organisations have dedicated visual designers or frontend UI engineers dedicated to a singular focus, such as working on a design system, specialising in visual design or frontend CSS styling. Information architecture, localisation and copywriting are other examples of areas where specialists are in demand." Get hired It's not just about what jobs are available. It's also about how you get hired, something else that can differ wildly depending on whether you're a generalist or specialist. "What you often find when recruitment is left to a company's HR department or a recruitment agent is that they search based on the widest range of buzzwords they know," says Leon Brown, developer and owner of Nextpoint, an educational content company that's based in Liverpool. "So if your CV doesn't mention all of the keywords they can think of, there's a high chance they will skip past it without speaking to you. In these circles, being a generalist definitely pays off." [As an established specialist] reputation allows you to get direct recommendations, bypassing the barrier that is HR and recruitment agents Leon Brown, Being a specialist, however, pays off once you build up a reputation for yourself. "People who require specialist skills tend to be the department managers, who speak to other people in those circles," explains Brown. "Reputation allows you to get direct recommendations, bypassing the barrier that is HR and recruitment agents. You also benefit from the credibility of people who recommend you; it's assumed you must be good if you're recommended by someone the hiring manager trusts." What about when you've actually got the job? What does the cost/benefit analysis look like then, when choosing between a generalist and specialist path? Undoubtedly, depth of focus is a definite boon for the specialist. "The main benefits of being a specialist are being able to complete specific tasks at a very high level of quality, being seen as a master in your domain and a go-to individual within your organisation," believes McKosky. "On the downside, there is the potential loss of context on projects, since you're only being brought in at specific points throughout the product development cycle." Stock image library and creative platform Shutterstock aims to strike a balance between hiring generalists and specialists, depending on the needs of the organisation at the time Conversely, she sees the main positive to being a generalist as being able to bring perspective from a range of other disciplines. "You're able to handle a variety of tasks, while having the experience to see a problem from different and unique perspectives," she says. Meanwhile, the obvious downside is being less well-versed in each area you apply yourself to. "The risk is that you're good at many things but rarely truly exceptional at one thing and potentially have lower velocity, due to juggling multiple areas at once." The risk is that you're good at many things but rarely truly exceptional at one thing, and potentially have lower velocity Maggie McKosky, Shutterstock It all comes down to that age-old phrase ‘jack of all trades, master of none' – the idea that as a generalist you'll never be particularly amazing at any one area, just competent at best. "Whether we call them generalists, unicorns, full-spectrum designers, triple-threat designers or whatever, some would argue that no, it's not possible to master several areas at once," says McKosky. "I tend to agree but I also know designers with exceptional experience or skill who can master the generalist role because they have a strong understanding of the other roles around them and what is required. "That said, although they are able to ‘do it all', they also need to spread their knowledge across multiple fields and remain focused on a few areas in particular. Otherwise they may fall into a trap of being really good at everything but not truly excelling at anything." Not a binary choice Right now, though, we should probably take a time out. Up to this point, we've treated the choice between being a generalist and a specialist as a simple, binary decision. But actually it's wrong to think too strictly in terms of pure generalists and specialists. In reality, most web designers and developers exist somewhere on a spectrum between the two. Even so-called generalists usually still have specialist skills and interests. "Most generalists I've come across have one area they're better at and more passionate about than others," McKosky points out. "For example, some designers have excellent qualitative research, moderator or coding skills. And that's a good thing: it allows them to be more rounded, sharing their specialities to mentor their teammates, level any gaps and maintain a level of expertise that sets them apart from others. So it's all a matter of striking a balance and understanding that generalists bring breadth over specificity." Armadillo recruits both generalists and specialists, but knows the importance of good communication between people in all areas Conversely, most specialists have knowledge and understanding in more than one area and commonly benefit from what's known as a second-string specialism. "So even if you're an amazing Perl developer, it helps to have some good understanding of other languages or work on your management, communication or project management skills," says Rob Pellow, digital design director at Bristol CRM agency Armadillo. "That way, you are offering yourself as more than just a specific type of developer." "Being a proper specialist is hugely valuable," he continues. "But the wider you can cast your net with secondary skillsets, the greater your chances of making yourself invaluable in the long term and the more you will stand out in the crowd." Choosing a specialism So if you do decide to specialise, how do you decide what to specialise in? "In my experience, people naturally gravitate towards a specialism when it's something they are good at and that inspires them," says Nadia Turan, executive creative director at DAM Digital, a London user-experience agency. "In other words, if you enjoy a particular discipline and you've got a knack for it, you'll work at it and it will become your specialism." Rather than looking specifically for generalists or specialists, DAM Digital focuses on hiring people who can adapt quickly Pellow agrees that the decision should not be about cold-hearted business logic but about following a personal passion. "You can chase the big pay cheque of a creative director or a senior JavaScript developer… but if that's all you're interested in, you're in for a slog," he says. "It's important to find the bit that you love doing. The more you enjoy it, the better work you will produce." Philadelphia-based designer, author and speaker Kevin M. Hoffman, currently VP design at Capital One, offers some similar advice. "Ask yourself what kind of role gives you confidence and a sense of psychological safety," he recommends. "What kinds of work can you have endless conversations about with people who do that work? That's what you should choose." What if you don't have a particular passion? There's no need to stress. Often the urge to specialise will come later on in your career. "Designers and developers who specialise tend to either follow or find their path," says Brown. "Those who follow the path to their specialism are people who've had a specific idea of what they wanted to do from early in their career. Those that find the path to their specialism, conversely, are products of the opportunities they've come across." Specialising was a natural progression. I've always been someone who rolls with opportunities, rather than setting out specific goals Rob Pellow, Armadillo For Pellow, it was the latter. "For me, specialising was a natural progression," he says. "I've always been someone who rolls with opportunities, rather than setting out specific goals to achieve. I never thought that email would be the thing I specialised in. But essentially, it is just a new medium to apply creative thought to." It's been a long journey from his beginnings as a generalist. "When I took my first few steps into the world of web, I assumed I was going to be amazing at everything from design through to database development," he recalls. "That was clearly naive and I found my own sweet spot covering the middle ground of UX, frontend code and being able to work with the people at different ends of that spectrum. That doesn't make me a generalist though: it means my specialism is acting as a conduit between those personality types." "Web design seems to be moving in the generalist’s favour because technology is growing at such a rapid rate,” says RED Academy’s Ashleigh More-Hattia And you needn't worry too much about picking the ‘right' specialism. "There is a long-standing argument in the industry about which programming languages are the most relevant and which design software is being used," says Ashleigh More-Hattia, web developer instructor at RED Academy, a technology and design school with campuses in Vancouver, Toronto and London. "But the truth is that someone, somewhere out there is still using one or the other and if it is being pushed out of the economy, a specialist will surely know about it. Part of being a specialist means you should have the ability to know what and when to change or upgrade, in order to keep things relevant." Adapt to survive That leads us on to another important point: choosing between generalism and specialism is not a ‘one-and-done' decision you'll be stuck with forever. As the industry continues to get more diverse, with new tech such as AR continually shaking things up, you can only benefit from staying adaptable. For this reason, Toby Pestridge, creative director of Bournemouth studio Createful, believes that designers and developers need to follow Bruce Lee's advice and ‘be like water'. "We should all follow the famous martial artist's advice," he says. "Because a failure to do so is to shackle oneself to the past. I don't need to remind you of the pace of technological growth, adoption and innovation. I'm sure I'm not unique in discovering this as my career has unfolded before me." The more skills you can pick up quickly, the more you can solve problems and keep customers happy Anton Balitsky, freelance UX designer And being able to constantly adapt your skill set isn't just about reacting to new technologies. It's also because clients often change their minds about what they want you to do. "In my experience as a freelancer, most customers have only a vague idea of what they need," says Anton Balitsky, a freelance UX designer based in Warsaw, Poland. Consequently, he has become what he describes as a "specialist on the outside, generalist on the inside". "Project requirements can change overnight or even after the initial call," he explains. "So the more skills you can pick up quickly, the more you can solve problems and keep customers happy." If this all seems overly complicated, there's one thing most people we talked to agreed on. It's usually best to start your career as a generalist, even if you become a specialist later down the line. "My advice is that if you're jumping into the idea of becoming a web designer, try to form a well-rounded set of skills," says More-Hattia. "Be a generalist first and use those avenues and opportunities to discover your interests and potential specialities through that journey. You might not know what you want to do, so why not try as many as you can?" Pellow offers some similar advice. "Start with a broad understanding of the whole process, then specialise – but don't leave everything else behind," he urges. "We all work on designing and developing stuff for humans to use. All the best people I've worked with understand that and can apply that level of thought to how they are going to approach a task or a challenge." There is room in any organisation for a hybrid of the two. Specialists have a tendency to turn into generalists without trying Maggie McKosky, Shutterstock At the end of the day, as long as you're doing fulfilling work and following your passion, it doesn't really matter whether you move backwards or forwards on the spectrum between generalist and specialist, believes McKosky. "There is room in any organisation for a hybrid of the two," she says. "Specialists have a tendency to turn into generalists without trying and in some cases out of necessity. Perhaps a designer working at a startup is required to wear many hats or there are shifts in the organisation, requiring them to take more on and learn other skills. "It ultimately comes down to the individual and the craft but I suggest all designers strive to strike an ongoing balance of thinking strategically, acting like a generalist who can explore many problems while also delivering designs that speak to a specialist's focused expertise," she adds. Do both In fact, if you're a quick enough learner and have a long enough career, it's even possible to become both a generalist and a specialist. "A generalist can incrementally grow certain skills enough to become an elite specialist," points out Shane Mielke, an award-winning creative director based in California and author of LAUNCH IT. "A specialist who is forced to change skills can become a multi-talented generalist. So you can have a fun and amazing career as a generalist, a specialist or both if you're in it for the long game." And he offers himself up as an example. "20-plus years into my career, I've been fortunate to achieve industry recognition for design, Flash, animation, photography, HTML, JavaScript and WebGL development because I chose to both specialise and generalise," he says. "As a result, I'm making more money, having more fun and securing better creative opportunities than ever before. So don't be afraid to specialise or try everything. Do it your way. Just have fun and stay in the game as long as possible." This article was originally published in net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 311 or subscribe. Read more: 10 web skills that pay The best online coding courses 7 hot web trends for 2019 View the full article

Making a successful character rig depends on careful preparation. MPC lead rigging technical director, Stephanie Wagner, shares the three steps she takes before beginning a character rig. One of her many projects was overseeing the rigging on the pangolin puppet rig made for The Jungle Book, one of the many 3D movies MPC has worked on. The finished character in the 2016 version of the Jungle Book 01. Reference is key Whenever I pick up a new character, I start gathering a lot of references such as slow-motion videos, skeleton images, and learn about the species history and specifics on Wikipedia/YouTube. I have been looking at birds recently; I’m trying to gather a lot of knowledge about their anatomy and how it defines their motion, for example the role of the wishbone and how the pectoral muscles are involved in the lifting of the wings. I like to be informed when I start working on a character so I can rig it with confidence and also assist other departments like animation if questions come up. 02. Place geometry I start by placing skeleton geometry inside the model followed by a joint layout, skin cluster and a first puppet build. For the puppet, I choose the modules (legs, spine, arms, etc.) needed for the character and add features (e.g. a space switch) based on animation feedback. The core of any rig is still based on joints and a skin cluster. The joint layout is essential to the production of a movie from start to finish. Being confident in placing joints and painting skin weights is a core skill of every rigger in the team, along with scripting, maths, modelling and an interest in anatomy. 03. Work on caching rig After the initial puppet building and animation/rigging feedback phase, I start working on the caching rig which will later be used on screen. When I am working on a hero character I tend to add a muscle rig as well as correctives and several skin simulations to highlight the most important aspects and anatomical features of the character. It’s still my favourite part of rigging to see a character progress in rigging and come to life in shots. MPC’s rigging department is a candy store of rigging tools artists can choose from. We pretty much have every commonly used Maya tool on steroids and a lot more! This article was originally published in 3D World. Buy issue 239 or subscribe here. Read more: How to rig a face for animation How to create custom rig controls for Maya 30 top examples of 3D art View the full article

It's a busy time in the world of rugby. 2019 sees the Rugby World Cup take place in Japan, and next year's annual Six Nations Championship is just around the corner. Ahead of these events, Engalnd fans just have enough time to get used to the recent rebrand of England Rugby courtesy of London-based studio Onwards. Created to encompass everything from poster designs to social media platforms, the new look is centred around diversity. England Rugby, formerly known as Rugby Football Union, was keen on the idea of diversity because it reflects the changing and more inclusive nature of the game. What was once seen as an upper-class, elitist sport has evolved into a more open and multicultural game. The new identity captures the changing nature of rugby To get this message across in its rebrand, named 'The Game of Our Lives', Onwards developed an identity based on a timeline device. "This linear system creates a home for storytelling in the brand, enabling us to showcase in a huge array of diverse content - from social posts to grassroots imagery to elite footage, while always remaining on brand," says the studio. These themes are brought to life with imagery from social media and the sans-serif typeface Tusker Grotesk. This typeface is used throughout the branding in a range of weights and styles to communicate that people of all shapes and sizes can get involved with the game. Its bold style also reflects the tough nature of the game, with different textures and layering systems evoking its rough and ready nature. Text is used in a dynamic way throughout the rebrand Fans will be relived to see that the logo of the England rose has remained unchanged. The red and white's distinctive colour palette has also been retained, by and large. England Rugby's head of brand, Ed Curran, is confident that the new identity is the perfect showcase of where the sport is at the end of 2018. "Onwards have designed an outstanding identity that enables us to communicate flexibly to all our audiences and has breathed new life into our brand. "As an organisation we have a wide remit and this new brand gives us a platform to speak in a far more engaging way to supporters and players alike." The new identity has been specially built with social media in mind Related articles: Carlsberg: probably the best rebrand in the world? Wahaca rebrand looks good enough to eat Mailchimp rebrand does away with script wordmark View the full article