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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

Want access to a seemingly endless supply of vector graphics? Look no further than StockUnlimited Vector Plan: Lifetime Subscription. This store features 500,000+ Premium vector designs, with thousands more being added every month. All content is royalty-free, and you can use it for both commercial and personal use, whether you need the vectors for web banners, newsletters, blogs, or presentations. If you're an entrepreneur, blogger, graphic designer, or advertiser, this is an essential subscription to have. There are no hidden fees, and you can download as many as you want, as often as you need. Get it now for just $34.99. Related articles: Adobe XD plugin makes vector art easier 30 top vector art tutorials The 24 best places to find free vector art online View the full article

There’s a lot of competition when it comes to jobs in the creative industries, so you need to make sure you stand out from the crowds. One of the best ways to get yourself and your work noticed is with an online portfolio, and it doesn’t need to be as time-consuming or complicated as you might think. Coding optional portfolio platform Format offers a comprehensive toolset to help you create a professional-looking website with ease. Whether you’re just starting out in the industry, or a seasoned pro, Format offers full customisation, flexible layouts and premium fonts to enable the creation of a portfolio that showcases your talent and personality in all its glory. Here are four reasons why you need to do exactly that. Easily found, easily hired The creative industry is competitive, yes, but it’s also booming, which means there’s plenty of jobs for the taking. However, the downside to this is it means potential employers have very little time to find, and therefore hire, new talent, so you have just seconds to make a lasting impression. Format’s fully flexible, customisable website themes will enable you to create an online portfolio that’s so impressive, hiring managers will race to hit the ‘contact’ button. Remember, the easier you are to find, the easier you are hire. Time is money Your clients are busy people, but you are too, right? Time is money for a creative and you no doubt have very little to spare, so the last thing you need is to be spending hours updating your portfolio. With Format, you can stay relevant at the click of a button, simply add your best new work and tailor your portfolio per application at the click of a few buttons. Simply update, save and voila! Stay ahead of the game Keeping up with the fast pace of the creative industry is vital if you want to succeed. And with Format you’re already one step ahead. As well as being able to create a kick-ass online portfolio, Format’s platform provides access to e-commerce, client proofing, marketing and blogging tools too. So if one day you want to sell your designs online or create a marketing campaign, Format has you covered. The key to success There’s still a lot to be said for traditional portfolios, however very nature of the medium means getting any feedback can be a slow and tricky process. The beauty of an online portfolio is, even though it may seem daunting presenting yourself to the world, it provides a huge amount of scope for constructive feedback. Especially with Format. The Format support team is made up of creators, just like you, who are available to answer any questions you might have about your website and how best to present yourself, so ask away and get your portfolio in the best shape it’s ever been. There’s no doubt about it, having an online portfolio is a must if you’re serious about making a career in the creative industries. Format provides all the information and tools you need to create a fully customisable, stand out portfolio, without the need to navigate tricky programming. So what are you waiting for? Get started with Format today and watch the commissions come rolling in. View the full article

Affinity Designer is a popular vector art tool. As well as Mac and Windows versions, Serif recently released Affinity Designer for iPad. Nowadays, if you are designing for the web and apps, you need to be working with multiple devices and resolutions in mind. This can lead to multiple artboards and serious headaches when it comes to keeping things uniform. Fortunately, Affinity Designer can help you streamline this process a little more, with something called constraints. In this tutorial we will briefly go into the fundamentals of constraints and how they work.

 Watch the video below for an overview, or read on for five essential tips for using constraints in Affinity Designer. Also don't forget to check out our articles on how to use grids and how to use the Export persona and how to use the Pen tool. 01. Parent and child objects

 Child objects will scale relative to the parent container Constraints work by using parent and child objects. Your selected object is the ‘child’, and the container is known as the ‘parent’.
 Child objects will scale relative to the parent object. For example, if you alter the size of your artboard and your child object is anchored to your artboard, it will respond with the change. You will need to toggle the various options to achieve your desired outcome.

 02. Toggle constraint options

 Start by enabling constraints To enable constraints, go to View > Studio > Constraints. From there, you'll get a popup menu showing the constraint options. The inner square is where you toggle the constraints of your child object, and the outer square is your parent object.
 03. Apply constraints These options will dictate how your content anchors to the artboard As we mentioned before, anchoring objects to the artboard will cause them to resize with the artboard. However, in order to maintain the spacing between objects and avoid distortion, we need to set certain rules. In this example, I'm working with a website header, logo and menu navigation. For the header (pictured above), I enabled constraints on the left, right and top of the object. This means that the header will be anchored to the left, right and top of the artboard, no matter how the artboard is scaled.

 For the site title I enabled constraints on the left and top of the object. If you were to enable the right container/parent constraint, the design would distort. The navigation is similar, but with the right side enabled, because it sits on the right. Once you have practised this a couple times it will make much more sense!

 It might also help to watch the video above and see this in action. 04. Paste constrained items

 Pasting a design into a different sized artboard will cause it to resize My original design was based on an iPad screen. Now, when I paste it into an iPhone X-sized artboard, my header, logo and navigation button will automatically adapt to the narrower container. This is great because it keeps my design and spacing uniform across different artboard sizes. 05. When to use constraints

 Using constraints is a great tool to save you pockets of time in places. However, I would advise that you use them sparingly and carefully. They're great for simple things like headers and footers, but any content-heavy designs (and images in particular) will require some tweaking. Read more: How to create a retro logo with Affinity Designer Traditional branding is dead 6 huge logo trends for 2019 View the full article

You're reading 10 Websites with Data Visualization Driving User Experience, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! As an instrument for enriching user experience in website design, infographics have come into our life pretty much recently. But that’s not the first time that developers used stats in personal portfolios or corporate websites to win over visitors with … View the full article

You're reading Don’t miss it! On Cyber Monday, Divi creators offer their biggest discount ever, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Cyber Monday is typically chock-full of exceptional offers, deals, and bargains. Unless you’re paying close attention however, a real gem is apt to go unseen, and elude your grasp. This time around, we want to make sure you don’t miss … View the full article

The incidents affected millions, just as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday shopping season kicked off. View the full article

When it comes to digital art and painting tools, they don't come much better than Corel Painter 2019. Powerful and diverse, the software provides digital artists with all the tools needed to create show-stopping artwork. And right now, it's at its lowest ever price thanks to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. So if you're in the market for some quality new creative software, now's the time to buy! The 2019 iteration of Corel Painter includes some seriously impressive new features and updates. In this set of short videos, senior concept artist Magdalena Proszowska goes on a tour of Corel Painter 2019, including information and demonstrations on all the software's latest innovations. For more information and special offers, visit Corel Painter today. Take a tour You may have never even considered the colour of your user interface before, but the new darker UI functionality in Corel Painter 2019, which you can see in action here, may well make you sit up and take note. A feature perfect for night owls, the dark UI particularly helps with colours, making selections much easier, especially when choosing subtle shifts in saturation or hue. The video also showcases a small selection of the over 650 icons that have been redesigned to be more user-friendly, as well as a look at the new colour wheel, which is now transparent and can be placed anywhere on your canvas. Proszowska wraps this video up by demonstrating some of the 36 new brushes that have been added to Corel Painter 2019's toolset. New brushes Speaking of new brushes, want to know more? As we mentioned earlier, Corel Painter 2019 includes 36 new brushes, all of which can be easily found by typing '2019' into the search brush panel. In this video, Proszowska demonstrates some capabilities of the new oil painting brushes, including the Real Bristle Soft brush from the enhanced Sargent category. It's here you can also see one of Corel Painter 2019's performance updates in action, with Proszowska stating any users with multi-core processors, with the support of AVX2, will notice up to a 50 per cent increase in brush speed. Step-by-step In this final video, Proszowska shares her workflow within Corel Painter 2019, demonstrating how to easily navigate the UI and experimenting with blenders to create interesting textures. Want to get started with Corel Painter 2019? You can download a free 30-day trial or get a 30 per cent off the full version (limited time only) right here. View the full article

Amazon typically leads the way when it comes to best Cyber Monday deals, and this year is no different. The online retail giant has been sharing discounts since early November, and today there are some great Amazon Cyber Monday deals for you. There are a whole load of deals on offer, but we’re here to help. In this post you'll find our pick of the very best Amazon Cyber Monday deals. To make the most of these offers, we’d recommend signing up for Amazon Prime, if you’re not a member already. This gives you access to Amazon's Lightning deals 30 minutes earlier than everyone else. If you don't want to commit to Prime, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial – just make sure you cancel the trial before the 30-day limit. Scroll down for our pick of the best Amazon Cyber Monday 2018 deals. Aside from bookmarking this page, if you’re serious about bagging a bargain this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you'll need an Amazon Prime subscription. One of the key benefits is that you'll get access to Amazon's Lightening deals 30 minutes earlier than everyone else, giving you a better chance of success. Lightning Deals are time-sensitive promotions that last until the deal expires or the available stock runs out. Amazon launched extra Lightning Deals every day leading up to and over the Black Friday weekend last year – the best ones can start and end in minutes, so those extra 30 minutes are often invaluable. Prime membership will set you back $12.99/£7.99 per month ($6.49 if you're a student) or $119/£79 annually. But if you're not a Prime subscriber already and don't want to commit, you can sign up for a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial and you'll be eligible for Lightening deals (as well as all the other Prime benefits). You can then cancel any time within that 30 days with no strings attached. Just don’t sign up yet – wait until 1st November. 11 of the best Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals last year To give you an idea of the sort of discounts we’re expecting this year, here’s a selection of some of the best savings we saw last year – and the good news is we saw similar price cuts over Prime Day this summer. While we can’t promise that we’ll see these deals again, this information should help you make a better judgement call now as to whether a deal is worth grabbing. Looking for something specific? Here are the best Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday prices on our favourite gear for designers, illustrators and artists... Stay with Creative Bloq to get the best Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals in 2018 We’ll be working around the clock to curate all the best Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for designers, artists and creatives on this page. We don’t know how good this year’s discounts will be - but we can tell you that our expects will be picking through all Amazon’s offerings and posting only the best-value deals here. So bookmark this page and check back in November. Related articles: 10 top tips for making the most of Black Friday Microsoft Black Friday 2018: What to expect The best laptops for graphic design in 2018 View the full article

Did you miss the chance to snap up a huge bargain on Black Friday? Never fear, there's still time to save on a range of top tier creative and design products thanks to Cyber Monday. We've been busy curating a list of the best Cyber Monday 2018 deals for all your artistic needs, however we thought this amazing Wacom Cintiq Pro 24" discount deserved extra special attention. Wacom Cyber Monday 2018: the best deals Wacom leads the way when it comes to creating world-class pen displays, and with the Cintiq Pro range digital artists get to bring their work to life in a way that feels traditional and intuitive. This is because Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 offers Wacom's most powerful range of tools and capabilities, all in a 4K creative pen display. Users get to take advantage of industry-leading color accuracy (99% of Adobe RGB), plus with the LCD display artist get to examine and modify even the tiniest details of their creations. What's more, the Wacom Cintiq 24" comes with a Wacom Pen 2. This popular tool is Wacom's most accurate and sensitive pen, packed with tilt recognition and able to deliver virtually lag-free tracking. Shoppers in the US are able to save a whopping $500 on the Wacom Cintiq 24" when ordering from Newegg, with other sites offering a similar reduction, too. At this price its uncertain how long stocks will last, so if this is the product and price for you, be sure to add it to your cart. Related articles: The best drawing tablet for kids 2018 The best drawing tablet: our pick of the best graphics tablets in 2018 The best Huion drawing tablet of 2018 View the full article

If you like to unwind after a hard day designing with a spot of gaming, you're certainly not alone. And the good news is that there are plenty of Cyber Monday deals on games and gaming just waiting to be snapped up. The best we've seen on the Nintendo Switch is Nintendo Switch Neon and two games: The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 for just £299. This saving of £50 is really pulling people in though, 322 of these have been sold in the last hour alone. So act now if you want it! Read more: 5 games for web designers Wacom Cyber Monday: the best deals The best Cyber Monday monitor deals 2018 View the full article

In this Illustrator tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a calculator app icon in Adobe Illustrator CC. We’ll use different shape tools, pen tool, along with the 3D features of Illustrator. Hopefully you will learn few handy tips along the way. You will also need to download a couple of free fonts for this tutorial: DS-Digital and Bebas Neue. If you don't already have it, you can get Adobe Creative Cloud here. But first, let’s have a look at the final result: 01. Open a document Click image to enlarge Create a new document in Illustrator with 600px width and 450px height. 02. Create the background Click image to enlarge Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and pick #44484D fill color to draw a rectangle covering the canvas as the background. 03. Make the base Click image to enlarge We’ll start by creating the icon’s base. So select the Rectangle Tool (M) and click the canvas to view options window. Enter 280px width, 265px height and hit OK to draw a rectangle as shown below. Pick #E7DED0 as the fill color. Next, we’ll convert it into a rounded rectangle. Select this rectangle with the help of Selection Tool (V) orby clicking the ring-shaped target present at right side of respective layer. And go to Effect > Stylize > Round Corners. Enter 50px for the radius and hit OK. Click image to enlarge 04. Set effect Click image to enlarge Select this rectangle and go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. Apply given settings here. 05. Apply a gradient Click image to enlarge To apply subtle gradient over the base, draw a rectangle covering the entire 3d shape using any fill color. Now convert it into a rounded rectangle with 50px corner radius. Now replace its fill with a Black-White-Black gradient using Gradient Tool (G). Change its blending mode to Color Burn with 20% opacity in the Transparency Panel (Shift + Ctrl+F10). Click image to enlarge 06. Create another rectangle Click image to enlarge Next, draw another rectangle with 280px width and 178px height using #E9E3D9 fill color and white color stroke. Choose 1pt stroke weight from top control bar. Now convert it into a rounded rectangle by 40px radius. Click image to enlarge After that, apply following gradient on it and change its blending mode to Multiply with 50% opacity in the Transparency Panel (Shift + Ctrl+F10). Click image to enlarge 07. Make rounded rectangle Click image to enlarge Draw another rectangle of 230px with and 35px height using #BCBA95 fill color and for stroke apply light to dark grey gradient as shown below. Select 3pt stroke weight from top control bar. Convert this rectangle into a rounded rectangle by 10px corner radius. Click image to enlarge 08. Make a glow effect Click image to enlarge Next, select this new rectangle and go to Window > Appearance to view the Appearance Panel or press Shift + F6. Now select the fill attribute and click the icon of Duplicate Selected Item at the bottom of Appearance Panel to duplicate the fill. And replace this new fill with Black & White gradient at 90 degrees as shown above. Keep this rectangle selected and go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Apply given settings here. Once you are done, change gradient fill blending mode to Multiply with 30% opacity. Click image to enlarge 09. Copy rectangle Click image to enlarge Select this new rectangle and press Ctrl+ C to copy and press Ctrl+ B to paste in back. Drag this copy 1-2 steps downwards. Now remove its fill attributes by dragging them to Delete icon at the bottom of Appearance Panel and give it 3pt stroke of #D1D2D4 colour. 10. Add text Click image to enlarge Next, we’ll add some text over the screen. Pick the Type Tool (T) to type the text using #404041 fill colour. I have used DS-Digital font here. Now press Ctrl+ C to copy and press Ctrl+ B to paste in back. Drag the copied text 1-2 steps downwards and change its fill colour to #808284. Click image to enlarge 11. Make the base Click image to enlarge Next, we’ll create button’s base. Select the rectangle tool to draw a rectangle with following dimensions using #847D72 fill color and same light to dark grey gradient on the stroke as used in step 7. However, choose 1pt stroke weight here. And convert it into a rounded rectangle by 25px radius. Click image to enlarge After that, duplicate its fill attribute in the Appearance Panel and apply Black & White gradient at 90 degrees. Change its blending mode to Multiply with 50% opacity. Click image to enlarge Next page: The final steps to creating an icon app in Illustrator... 12. Add depth Click image to enlarge Now we’ll give some depth to the button’s base. So, select the shape, press Ctrl+ C to copy and press Ctrl+ B to paste in back. Drag the copy 2-3 steps upwards. Keep the copy selected and change its stroke color to #E2E2E1 with 2pt stroke weight and fill color to #DDD9D3 in the Appearance Panel as shown above. 13. Create 3D button Click image to enlarge Next, I’ll show you how to create a 3d button. Pick the Rounded Rectangle Tool (M) to draw a 60 x 38px rectangle using #C5BCB4 fill color. Select it and make its corners rounded by 12px. Select the button and go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Apply given settings here. And apply Black & White gradient on it with Multiply blending mode and 40% opacity as we did in step 11. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge 14. Extrude and bevel Click image to enlarge Select the button and go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. Apply given settings here. 15. Make the button's shadow Click image to enlarge We’ll create button’s shadow now. To do so, duplicate the button. Select the bottom copy and remove all the effects in the Appearance Panel. Now change its fill colour to black and hit the down arrow twice to move it down. Duplicate it and change fill colour of the copy to white. Hit the down arrow on your keyboard 6-7 times downwards as shown above. Select both the black and white shapes and go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Choose Specified Steps with the value of 20 and hit OK. Once again, go to Object > Blend > Make to blend them. Once you are done, change blended shape mode to Multiply with 60% opacity in the Transparency Panel. Click image to enlarge Select the shadow and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Apply 8px Gaussian blur effect on it. Click image to enlarge 16. Apply the symbol Click image to enlarge To apply symbol over the button, draw a small rectangle with #56524C fill color. Select it and go to Object > Transform > Rotate. And rotate it at 90 degrees and hit Copy option to make the + symbol. Make its copy, turn the backside copy white and drag it 1-2 steps upwards. 17. Make more buttons Click image to enlarge You can make as many buttons as you want by using the same technique. And make the shadow of icon the same way as explained in step 15. 18. Fill in colour Click image to enlarge Now pick the Rounded Rectangle Tool, click the canvas to view options window and enter 210px width and 8px height here. Give it #404041 fill colour and #F1F1F2 colour stroke (Stroke weight: 1pt). 19. Make the paper Click image to enlarge To make the paper, draw a rectangle with following dimensions and #F7F5E8 fill color. Pick the Pen Tool (P) to draw a small line using any colour as a stroke. Select it and go to “Effect”> “Distort & Transform”> “Zigzag”. Apply given settings here to make the path wavy. Now draw a rectangular shape by clicking one end of the wavy path using Pen Tool (P) and close it on the other end. And give any fill colour to the resulting shape. Click image to enlarge Now place this shape over the top edge of paper, select both shapes and hit “Minus Front” in the Pathfinder Panel (Shift+ Ctrl+F9). Click image to enlarge 20. Apply gradient to paper Click image to enlarge Select the paper, duplicate its fill attribute in the Appearance Panel and apply given gradient on the copied fill. Change gradient fill blending mode to “Multiply” with 40% opacity. Click image to enlarge 21. Add text Click image to enlarge I’ve used “Bebas Neue” Font to type some text over the paper with given settings. To make dashed line, draw a straight path using Pen Tool (P) with no fill color and #404041 color stroke (Stroke weight: 1pt). Now apply given settings below in the Stroke Panel at the top control bar. Click image to enlarge To make paper shadow, draw a rectangle as shown below with black fill. Apply 8px Gaussian blur effect on it and change its blending mode to “Multiply” with 30% opacity. Click image to enlarge 22. Draw a knob Click image to enlarge Next, we’ll draw a knob. Draw the following path using Pen Tool (P) and give it #DF7F5E color fill with no stroke. Select the shape and go to “Effect”> “3D”> “Revolve”. Apply given settings below. Click image to enlarge 23. Place the knob Click image to enlarge To place the knob parallel to the calculator we have to rasterize it first. Select the knob and go to “Object”> “Rasterize”. Apply given settings above. After that, rotate the knob at 90 degrees and hit “OK”. To reflect it you have to rotate it at 180 degrees and hit “Copy”. Click image to enlarge Now position both knobs as shown below. Click image to enlarge Related articles: 75 best Adobe Illustrator tutorials How to make an app The 17 best Adobe Illustrator plugins View the full article