Rss Bot

Good branding is all about communicating a company's product or meaning through design. With this in mind, we have to give the International House of Pancake's simple but effective rebrand announcement a pass. Posting on its Twitter account on Monday, the breakfast food chain announced that it's flipping the lettering in its logo design, going from IHOP to IHOb. Cue speculation as to what the mysterious 'b' could stand for in the build up to the big reveal on 11 June. Considering that pancakes are famous for being flipped (or dropped on the floor), this letter flip is a clever link between the food and the brand. Last year Golden Syrup tried to incorporate the flip into their celebratory Pancake Day packaging, although they didn't go so far as to turn the lettering upside down. If getting tossed around in a frying pan is a pancake's main selling point, at least IHOP saw this angle through in its branding. Elsewhere on its Twitter account, the social media manager is reduced to posting a barrage of strange and tenuously pancake-related tweets in an effort to drum up attention, possibly running into the same creative obstacles that face not-so-cool companies who struggle to come up with cool branding. So what could the 'b' stand for? Barnacles? Brexit? We'd be amazed if it wasn't breakfast in an effort to better reflect all of the food on offer, especially seeing as Ihop's executive director of communications, Stephanie Peterson, is reported to have said "we’re serious about the quality of food and our menu, and this name change really reflects that." It's a bold move for a company that has traded under the same name for 60 years. Sceptics are unconvinced that the decision is little more than a publicity stunt to tie into a product launch, or perhaps a temporary change in the style of Budweiser's decision to rename itself 'America' in the run up to the 2016 presidential election. Either way, it's a good lesson in how you don't need a big budget to successfully bring together a product and branding, and generate a whole lot of attention in the process. Related articles: The best logos of all time Famous logos redesigned as fonts 11 steps to better logos View the full article

To be a successful JavaScript coder, you'll need to master quite a few essential skills. You can learn them all in one place with the 2018 Essential JavaScript Coding Bundle. With this bundle, you'll learn how to create data structures and algorithms that will pave the way to building engaging websites. You'll also learn how to use the programming language to write functional and user-friendly web apps. You'll dive into the the art of developing cross-platform mobile apps, and you'll even touch upon concepts from Angular 2 and Vue.js 2. By the bundle's end, you'll have worked your way through knowledge it takes semesters to build in a four-year university course. And you'll have done it all for only $29 – 96 per cent off the regular price of $922. Related articles: Animate SVG with JavaScript Is it okay to build sites that rely on JavaScript? 5 of the best JavaScript frameworks View the full article

This environment design would suit a big-budget film This workshop and Photoshop tutorial will take you through my process for painting a grand, fantasy structure set within an epic landscape, as well as revealing some of my drawing tips. You'll see how to handle light, atmospheric perspective and depth, to create a interesting, moody scene. My goal is to produce a memorable image of an immersive setting – an epic moment taken from a big-budget film. This workshop will appeal to those with a particular interest in environment design, who are keen to also develop their composition skills. With this in mind I think it's important to play around with contrasting shapes, apply the golden ratio and then choose an interesting colour palette. I always start with a simple sketch, developing it gradually into a detailed illustration. This workshop will appeal to those with a particular interest in environment design, who are keen to also develop their composition skills It would be a mistake to underestimate the usefulness of the sketches we use to decide on a composition. There's little point working up a detailed image if it lacks a memorable composition and has a dull palette. Such problems would have been highlighted at the sketch stage. So here's my checklist: I like to make sure I have an interesting topic, and a great balance of shapes, proportions and contrasts in the volumes. I track down interesting references to inspire me: these could be photos I've taken, collections of images online or even masterpieces I've seen in museums. I prefer to use my personal photo database as much as possible to avoid copyright issues, but if you're only looking for mood reference, you can have a lot more flexibility. Films are also a great source for inspiration, especially when it comes to the lighting and mood of a piece. The final image should be an invitation to go on a voyage – a journey into a grand fantasy setting, Applying details will help to ground this epic scene, but this isn't the most important thing to get right in the painting process. Remember, composition is key. 01. Sketch on paper Drawing on paper allows for spontaneity I think it's better to sketch on paper, rather than digitally. I find that my gestures become more direct and spontaneous, and the physical connection between my pen or pencil and paper fires up my imagination. My aim at this early stage is to quickly generate a range of interesting compositions. I'll draw some sketches and try out various compositions, with either a Uniball pen or Faber Castell pencil in my sketchbook. I take the time to explore a range of options, from landscape to portrait. I want to develop some elements of composition for the foreground, but at the back of my mind is the need to present an interesting topic, achieve balance in the volumes and generate a detailed composition. I want to illustrate an immense castle with a medieval village at its base. I don't want the fortress to look too realistic, so I exaggerate the scale and the sense of classic fantasy in the composition, and place very small houses at the bottom, and huge towers, arches and buttresses throughout the castle's structure. 02. Create values and mood sketch Depth is established with a monotone sketch I do a more elaborate sketch in Photoshop, using greys, blacks and whites to develop the mood and atmospheric depth. Using a brush set to 0 per cent Opacity helps me focus on positive and negative spaces, pushing strong contrasts and the composition. I also use the Selection tool to cut out shapes, before filling them with a flat value of grey. 03. Gather references Sourcing useful images is an art in itself When painting an environment with elements such as recognisable architecture, it's important to use references – and the best inspiration is to go travelling! Being able to choose the right images to help you to create your own design is an important skill. It's a big part of the job. In fact, when I was working for film as a matte painter, finding the right photos and references was 60 per cent of the work. When you have the right elements to compose with, the work goes much more quickly and efficiently. 04. Block in the composition Images are layered as the composition is explored I put the initial drawing on the top of everything in Multiply mode, so I can follow the original concept closely. I try to keep the layers I did in grey values and I group my textures and references inside these. I don't paint every detail from scratch. This stage of an illustration is one of exploration, but you must know where you're going! This is why a sketch is so important. The other materials are just there to help efficiency and realistic rendering. I was lucky to go on a fantastic trip to the Isle of Skye in Scotland, thanks to Ian McQue. I took many photos, which I've used here. I keep the composition from the sketch, but gradually replace the drawing with elements from my photos, while keeping a homogeneous colour palette. I also try to maintain consistency with the light direction. 05. Establish colour palette Real-world sources influence the colour palette References are important for building a credible palette and atmosphere. When I bring references next to my painting, I try to choose one main direction for the colour palette and the values in the light and shade. For instance, in this painting, the colours of stone in the light and grass in the sun are important and have to be consistent throughout the painting. 06. Refine silhouettes A strong shape helps the building contrast with the scenery Now I refine the composition in the separate layers. This is also where I try to give the image a distinctive mood and style. Some details are important in the silhouette because they contrast with the sky or the brighter background. The great thing about working with layers is that you can colour balance them separately and fake atmospheric depth, as well as lose details in the distance (to create mysterious shapes). I create layers of mist between layers of architecture and backlight the silhouettes of the buildings. 07. Add details for scale reference The landscape is used for reference instead of the building I like the overall mood and composition, but it's not there quite yet. I find that a good scale reference is important, to help the viewer's immersion in the scene. In conventional architectural design, details such as windows and doors are useful for giving the viewer a sense of scale, but in this more fantastical setting, I need to define the scale in the foreground further. So I spend more time adding organic details such as grass, rocks and trees, which will add some life and proportions to the overall setting. I want to add some mystery to the picture as well: some huge trees in the mist are a great addition in among the mountains in the background. I also spend time adding highlights, some details in the rooftops and houses, reworking the perspective, and focusing on adding colour variations and local saturation – all to try and generate a richer mood overall. 08. Break the lines Shapes are broken down and loosened up Refining the shape makes everything look more painterly and is fun. It's time to get rid of the photographic texture as much as possible, and refine and stylise the volumes. I add more erosion and break the shapes, break the lines. Some elements are great for helping to set up the composition, and I like the silhouette to be simple, but it's also important to continue making the setting look less rigid and stiff, to refine lines to make them look more natural and organic. I also add colour variation: I choose more saturated values in the colour palette, but keep the luminance and add some variation in the local colour. 09. Assess your progress Taking stock is crucial before the final polish This is the moment to take a little step back. When I've spent a long time on a single image, taking a break, flipping the image horizontally and vertically is useful: you get to see the image with different eyes. In addition, before finishing a painting, it's good to show it to your housemate, partner, or even to your kids. This is the time when you can still modify important elements of your picture, before going too far in the polish! Remember that polish is good, but first you need to have a good base. 10. Commit yourself Layering down images is a big step Painting with layers is good and bad. Yes, you can work separately, change local elements without compromising the others and there's great flexibility. But it's also more rigid. It's the moment to either collapse your stack, reduce the number of layers and paint over everything (brave, but interesting!). Or you can continue to work with separate layers, but blend them with several tricks. What I recommend is picking values and colours from the background and painting them over with a soft Airbrush, at a very low Opacity. This will affect local colour and simulate a fog that brings colours together. 11. Add storytelling elements Birds help bring the scene to life Usually I add some characters to my scenes to enhance the sense of scale, but also to give a sense of storytelling. I find in this case that the fortress itself is enough and I also want to consider it as the main character of the scene. I add some life, with the birds along the huge towers and buttresses. I also want to have a feeling of a calm, grandiose landscape with an epic, mysterious architecture as a central point of interest. 12. Polish lighting Lighting helps to draw focus on certain areas To ensure that the light comes from the same direction, I accentuate some light on a few key spots: the edges of the arches, on the top of the mountain on the left, and on the side of the castle. These touches will reinforce the direction of the light source in the setting. I also want to have a stronger focal point in the scene, so I use the Dodge tool to darken some areas and lighten others. This stage is key to the whole painting process. I can really polish the lighting in various areas with this tool, and create vignettes in the corners to direct attention away from them. I use the Dodge Tool in Highlight mode, at 10 per cent. Using the Alt key enables me to switch between the darkening and brightening tool. 13. Re-crop and filter Dropping is the final part of the composition Almost done! It's time to play around with filters a bit and try to crop my image, and again take another step back from the screen. Maybe the image works better if it's cropped? Sometimes, when the focal point feels a little lost, it helps to re-centre it. And it can be interesting to test different options with the rule of thirds. Often we tend to put too much in the composition. We also might have made the corners too busy. It's time to get rid of these mistakes and crop in on the interesting parts of your image. Filters can be applied to introduce some texture and blend the colours more. I like to simplify the details with a subtle use of the Smart Blur filter. There's also a way to use textures such as Stucco in Overlay mode on a separate layer at a very low Opacity, to add complexity to the blending of the colours. And this is the finished image! I hope you like it and have fun creating your own stuff! Remember: composition first, details after. This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe here. Related articles: 10 sci-fi and fantasy art painting tips Create an atmospheric game environment How to illustrate a Star Wars-inspired environment View the full article

Vue.js has come on leaps and bounds recently, becoming the sixth most forked project so far on Github at the time of writing, even ahead of Facebook’s own ReactJS. It’s safe to say that it’s fast becoming a mainstay in web development, and a reliable go-to JavaScript framework for use in projects. In this tutorial, we’re going to be using Vue.js to create a simple carousel component. This component will accept a number of different properties, enabling you to tweak some basic settings such as transition speed, transition type, and whether the carousel should automatically transition slides. Speed up performance with Vue.JS To get started, download the project files here and open the 'website-template' directory in your preferred text editor. Meanwhile in terminal, CD into 'website-template' and then run 'npm install' to install the projects Node.js dependencies. Finally, run 'npm run dev' to start up a development server so that you can view your project in the browser. Typically this would be at 'localhost:8080'. 01. Create carousel slide files In 'src/components', create a new directory called 'app-carousel-slide' and in it two files: 'app-carousel-slide.vue' and 'component.app-carousel-slide.scss'. These will contain the first of two new Vue.js components that we will be creating, which when used together will create our carousel component. 02. Add carousel slide SCSS From the filesilo package, copy the contents of '/support-files/step-02-slide.scss' into 'component.app-carousel-slide.scss'. This is the SCSS for the slide component, and uses the 'flex-grow' property to make sure each slide expands to fill its parent element. 03. Create the slide component In the empty 'app-carousel-slide.vue' file, add the snippet below to create the structure of the Vue.js component. We’ll use this as a foundation to build the carousel slide. 04. Add a template slot for the carousel slide images In the empty <template> element of the carousel slide, we’ll add a 'div' element to represent the slide, along with a special slot element which we will name 'image'. In Vue.js, slots enable you to interweave your own content with the component’s template without editing it. In this instance, they are used so we can later pass the image for the slide background, so the end result, when ultimately used, would look like '<app-carousel-slide><img src=’’ alt=’’></app-carousel-slide>'. The Vue.js team have recently released a style guide for the framework. This is full of useful examples, rules and recommendations that every Vue.js developer should check out 05. Add the slide text container All that remains for the slide component is to build the text container. We will be using slots again, one for the larger slide title and one for regular text. We will also be using a Vue.js directive called 'v-if' to add logic, which only renders the text container if at least one of the slots is passed content. Add this snippet in 'c-app-carousel-slide', just before the ‘image’ slot. 06. Create carousel files Back in 'src/components', create a new directory called 'app-carousel' and then within it two new files: 'app-carousel.vue' and 'component.app-carousel.scss'. These will hold the second of the two Vue.js components: the main carousel itself. The style guide is split up into four sections, providing rules which are considered Essential, Strongly Recommended, Recommended, and Use with Caution. Find out more at 07. Add Carousel CSS Copy the contents of '/support-files/step-07-slide.scss' into the empty 'component.app-carousel.scss'. This is the SCSS for the main carousel component. 08. Create carousel component Next in 'app-carousel.vue', we’re going to build the structure of the carousel component. We’re importing the ‘appIcon’ component and the 'arrow' svg for later use in the carousel's next and previous icons. These work together with the 'svg-sprite-loader' dependency to generate a basic SVG icon system, which works using SVG 'symbols' and its 'use' element. 09. Build the carousel template Let's start adding content to the empty template element. The main area of interest here is the 'c-app-carousel__container' element, which we'll shortly calculate a width for based on the number of slides found within it. We'll then move the container using CSS transform:translateX and transitions to simulate slide movement. 10. Add the carousel controls and arrows We then need to add the HTML for the carousel controls container and the previous and next arrows; the latter using the icon system and svg imported in Step 8. Add these after the 'c-app-carousel__wrapper' element. 11. Create the carousel data store and add properties We’re going add three new properties to the component’s data store: 'slideTotal' will hold the total number of slides; 'activeSlideIndex' will record the index of the visible slide so it can be used to calculate the container’s position; while autoInterval will record the interval timer which will trigger an automatic slide transition. All of these are set to null, with the exception of 'activeSlideIndex', where the '0' value indicates that the first slide should be the default slide. 12. Calculate slideTotal Add 'ref=”container”' to the 'c-app-carousel__container' element in the template and then add the snippet below as a property of the component object itself. 'ref' is used to give easy access to an element, which in this case is the container so we can count how many child elements (aka slides) it has. The presence of this logic in a 'mounted()' function means it is then automatically run when the component is first rendered. 13. Calculate container width In the component, create a new object property called ‘computed’ and within it, a new function called 'containerWidth()'. We’ll use this to calculate the width of the carousel container based on the 'slideTotal' figure. 14. Create methods Next, create another object property called 'methods' to store our carousel's functions. 'goToSlide()' is an easy way of setting 'activeSlideIndex' from Step 11, 'isControlActive()' returns true when a control's index matches 'activeSlideIndex', while 'nextSlide()' and 'prevSlide()' will simply cycle through the slides. 15. Calculate the carousel’s container position The carousel uses a percentage value with transform:translateX and CSS animation to simulate slide transition. Add the below snippet to the 'computed' object so we can calculate this value. In this test carousel Vue app, each component is documented. With some, such as the app-button component, the documentation is minimal. With others, for example the app-carousel-slide components, there's much more information that developers need to know 16. Compose inline CSS Now we have all the values to correctly position the carousel slide container, we need to construct the CSS which we'll then add to its 'style' attribute. We'll add this logic as another function in the 'computed' object. 17. Bind inline CSS Add the below snippet to the 'c-app-carousel__container' element in the template. This will bind the returned value of 'containerStyle()' from the previous step to the 'style' attribute of the carousel container, meaning that its CSS and therefore its position will automatically be updated when things change. 18. Hook up next/previous arrows We now need to add logic to the next/previous arrows so that the correct method from Step 14 is called when each respective arrow is clicked. The 'prevSlide()' snippet belongs on the 'c-app-icon-arrow-prev' element, while 'nextSlide()' belongs on the 'c-app-icon-arrow-next' element. The 'v-on' directive is just an easy way to set up event listeners in Vue.js, with 'click' being the DOM event that we are targeting. 19. Generate carousel controls Let’s generate the control elements and make them show the corresponding slide when clicked. Add the below element in 'c-app-carousel__controls' . The 'v-for' directive is used to create an amount of control elements matching the 'slideTotal' variable, whilst the 'v-bind' directive enables the 'is-active' class only when the 'isControlActive' method from Step 14 returns true. Finally, we're creating another event listener through 'v-on' so, when clicked, the control calls the 'goToSlide' method and passes its index, which should match the index of corresponding slide. If working on a Vue.js project with other developers, you need to properly document a component so others can understand how it's used. Include a brief overview of its purpose, an example usage snippet and info on properties 20. Import components Let's now go back to the top level 'app.vue' component and import everything. Just after the opening <script> tag, import the component '.vue'. files: Next, amend the 'components' object so it references these newly imported components. Finally, in the <style> tag, import our new SCSS with the rest of the component imports. 21. Add carousel and slides Finally, let’s add our new carousel component and some slides to the main app. Still in 'app.vue', replace the 'Under Construction' with the snippet below. Each <app-carousel-slide> element represents a single slide. Add as many as you like, replacing the text or image where desired. Included are 'test-photo-01.jpg' to 'test-photo-05.jpg'. Once that's finished compiling, everything should now work. Huzzah! 22. Add flexibility to the carousel Now we have a working Vue.js carousel, let's add some additional functionality so we can easily customise the duration of the slide transition, its timing property, declaring if slides should auto-slide, and if so how often. Reopen 'app-carousel.vue' and add the properties in the snippet below to the component object. 23. Amend containerStyle() The values passed to these properties should make their way to the carousel's inline CSS from back in Step 17. Now let's amend the 'containerStyle' computed function to make sure that this happens. 24. Pass data to the carousel properties The below snippet illustrates how we would pass data to these new properties to the <app-carousel> element in 'App.vue'. Once added, you should be able to pass whatever values you wish. For example, a "3.0s" duration would result in a very slow slide transition! 25. Adding auto-slide props For auto-slide, we need to add two additional objects to 'props' in 'app-carousel.vue'. 'auto' is either 'true' or 'false', which corresponds to if the carousel should continue to auto-slide. 'autoTiming' controls the time before auto-slide triggers, with the default value being 5000 milliseconds. 26. Initiate auto-slide Now we need to initiate auto-slide on component load. In the carousel's 'mounted()' function, after the existing content, check if the 'auto' property is set to 'true'. If so, create an interval which triggers the 'nextSlide()' method repeatedly once the 'autoTiming' value has passed. How the carousel works: simply put, the trick is that the slides themselves don’t move, but the container element which holds the slides in place does 27. Cancel auto-slide method Obviously, we need some way for the user to disable auto-slide if they have expressed a desire to operate the carousel manually. The first step towards this is a new carousel method called 'cancelAutoSlide'. This will simply cancel the interval created in the previous step. 28. Trigger cancelAutoSlide If the user clicks an arrow or control element, it's reasonable to assume that they wish to operate the carousel manually, so let's call the 'cancelAutoSlide' method if any of these elements are clicked. To do this, simply add '+ cancelAutoSlide()' to each elements 'v-on' directive. See the snippet below for an example using the 'previous' slide arrow. 29. Pass values to the auto-slide props Finally, let's pass some values to the auto-slide properties we've created. Back in 'app.vue', add the below snippet to the <app-carousel> element to enable an auto-slide every three seconds. 30. Finish building the carousel component Cancel the development server, or open a new terminal window, and run 'npm run build' to create a compiled, production-ready version of your Vue.js powered carousel component in the 'dist' directory. This article was originally published in issue 269 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 269 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Web design event generate London returns on 19-21 September 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your generate ticket now. Related articles: 7 essential tools for today's web designer Add a glitch effect to your website 6 amazing 'About' pages to inspire you View the full article

Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran recently removed all posts from her Instagram account, with many attributing the move to months of racist and sexist abuse over her role as Rose Tico in 2017's The Last Jedi. The Vietnamese-American star became the first woman of colour to play a leading part in the iconic series, and, while there has been no official confirmation from Tran as to why she has vanished from the photo-sharing social network, fans have already come out in force to show their support. Using the hashtag #FanArtForRose on Twitter, artists all over the globe have been paying homage to Tran and her character Rose with the most beautiful incredible artwork. And it's gaining a lot of momentum, with the film's director Rian Johnson sharing it, and Vanity Fair's Joanna Robinson calling for help to get the hashtag trending. The art community force Tran played mechanic-turned-Resistance fighter Rose Tico in the 2017 version of the Last Jedi - a film that some might say isn't the best in the iconic series. But much of the upset was fired directly at Tran, with some fans targeting her appearance and ethnicity. It's incredibly sad to think Tran has removed herself from social media due to the hate and ignorance of some others. And while the #FanArtForRose hashtag should never have been necessary, we really hope she gets to witness what has been a pretty special 24 hours of love and support. What could be better than her sharing some of this stunning artwork on her hopefully soon-to-be-reactivated Insta account? Although it may take her a while as there are literally hundreds of f stunning illustrations to choose from - here are some of our favourites... Lead image: Jen Bartel View the full article

Researchers said they now believe the malware has infected twice the number of router brands than previously stated and that the malware packs a much deadlier punch. View the full article

An exploit allows attackers to remotely overwrite archive files with their own content, and from there pivot to achieving remote command execution on the machine. View the full article

Photoshop CC is the creative weapon of choice for many designers. Its Pen and Brush tools are some of the most powerful, user-friendly aspects of the program. In this Photoshop tutorial, we’ll focus on the Pen tool (there’s a separate article with tips on how to use Photoshop’s Brush tool). The Pen tool is a simple selection feature that enables you to fill, stroke or make selections from whatever you draw. You can even apply brushes along the edges of selections. In this article, we’ll provide some pointers on how to use Photoshop’s Brush tool, and give advice for getting the best from it. Fill a path Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Select the Pen tool using the shortcut P. To make a selection, click two points to create a line between them, and drag a point to create a curved line. Use Alt/opt-drag your lines to change them. Ctrl/right-click your path in the Paths tab on the right, and then choose Fill Path to create a shape from it. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Change the Contents to either Foreground or Background, depending on the colour swatch you wish to use. Use Content Aware if you wish to fill with pixels from the rest of the image. The Blend mode and Opacity of the fill will determine how the pixels react with other pixels below. 50 per cent Opacity, Screen, for example, will give a subtle lightening to your shape. Use Feather Radius to soften the edges of the shape you're filling. To create a completely hard shape, leave this at 0px. Make a selection Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image As well as being a proficient drawing instrument, the Pen is a useful selection tool. You can select shapes to brush into. cmd/Ctrl+click a path to select it once you've made a shape, or Ctrl/right-click a path and pick Make Selection. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Make a new selection (left in the image above), or add (cmd/Ctrl+Shift+click) or subtract (cmd/Ctrl+Alt/Opt+click) a selection if pixels are selected on your layer. Double-click a path and give it a name to save it as a future selection (Paths palette shown on the right above). These paths will appear as a list down the Paths tab. Click the dotted outline icon in the menu at the bottom of the palette to make a selection. Alternately, use the Delete, Mask and New icons as you would in the Layers palette. Stroke a path Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Ctrl/right-click a path and choose Stroke to apply a line across the selection in whatever brush you have selected. For this particular line of the chandelier, we used a scatter brush to evenly space the dots. Use the drop-down in pop-up shown to change the tool you're using to stroke the line with – for example, instead of whichever brush file you have selected, you may wish to switch to a pencil. The Simulate Pressure checkbox applies the pressure you’d usually use when creating a stroke with the Brush tool, meaning your line will taper off at the end. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image The toolbar at the top of the interface enables you to quickly decide on the Stroke and Fill colour of whatever you create with the Pen tool, instead of having to choose it manually. This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 159 or subscribe. Read more: The 40 best Photoshop plugins 5 best laptops for Photoshop Photoshop shortcuts to speed up your workflow View the full article

Whether you're excited about the possibilities of AI in design, or are terrified that the robots will come and steal your job, one thing's for sure – the right kind of automation can save us all time. You may already be taking full advantage of pre-programmed Actions in your favourite Creative Cloud program, for instance, to speed up your workflow and cut down on repetitive tasks. Good for you. But have you considered how other time-sucking jobs could be automated? Read on for eight invaluable tools for designers that can help automate common business tasks, so you have more time to be creative... 01. Automate time-draining email tasks Email can eat up hours of the day if you don't manage it carefully. One popular technique to keep it at bay is to check your inbox only at particular times of the day, to avoid new messages acting as constant distraction. There are also plenty of ways to automate certain tasks within your email inbox to reduce that daily hassle even more. First and foremost is an autoresponder, a function available with almost all email clients. These don't have to be restricted to out-of-office alerts when you're unavailable. Autoresponders can also be used to tell people when they can expect to hear back from you (keeping anxious clients who expect immediate responses at bay), as well as outlining circumstances in which you won't reply. You can include your soonest availability – sure, you may need to update it regularly, but at least you only have to do it once each time. By setting up rules and filters within your inbox, you can also tailor responses according to key groups, such as current or past clients. 02. Do common tasks at the touch of a bttn Most of the tools on this list are digital apps that streamline how you do run your design business. But we're kicking things off with something delightfully analogue. Available in a range of colours for all your dramatic button-pushing needs, a bttn is an enormously satisfying way to automate everything from a simple action to a whole workflow, just by slamming your fist on your desk. It either comes Wi-Fi enabled, or with a 12-month 2G data plan – and can be programmed as a simple shortcut to anything from reordering supplies, to booking your favourite meeting room, to booking a taxi. 03. Automate repetitive social updates Social media is a personal, conversational thing, and to build your brand effectively online you need to engage in conversations, comment and reply to people – this is the kind of thing that can't be automated. But it is possible to automate more repetitive social tasks that are tied to your marketing and self-promotion efforts. Scheduling tweets or posts – particularly for campaigns that run over several days or weeks, any particular times of day – is an absolute no-brainer, and can be done using tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer. You can also save a lot of time by linking your social channels together, particularly for portfolio updates. Using feeds from Instagram, or Flickr, or YouTube, or whatever your platform of choice is, you can automatically populate Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn with updates, for example. As with email, to aid your productivity you can also be selective about when you do so to cut down on the constant distractions that social media notifications can cause. 04. Automate invoice chasing with FreshBooks One of the most soul-destroying, and time-consuming, tasks for freelancers is the necessary evil of invoicing clients, and even worse, chasing them up afterwards. There are many tools available to handle the financial side of running a design business, including keeping track of expenses, invoices and general accounting matters – popular tools for freelancers include FreeAgent and Solo. FreshBooks is another alternative, pitched at small businesses and freelancer. Following a 30-day free trial, payment plans start from $15/month. Not only do tools like FreshBooks and FreeAgent automate the creation process for estimates and invoices, you can also set up automatic reminders for late-paying clients, straight from the app – saving you time, as well as cutting back on awkward email follow-ups. 05. Follow-up with clients using Streak Of course, client relationships are a lot more complex than just sending and chasing invoices – and as with social media scheduling, there's a limit to how automated the process can be without losing the 'relationship' bit. That's not to say that certain repetitive tasks can't benefit from a bit of careful pre-planning, though. Simple things like a courtesy follow-up 30 days after a project is complete can be easily automated, and kick-start a conversation from there. Streak is a free Client Relationship Management (CRM) plug-in for Gmail, which enables you to organise clients into different work streams, schedule emails, keep track of projects at different stages and much more. Key stages of a project that can cause bottlenecks, such as when feedback is due from the client, can also benefit from automated reminders – just make sure the template is suitably customised and written in your voice, so it doesn't seem like a robot is chasing on your behalf. 06. Collect your business receipts with Wave If you currently collect expense receipts in a shoebox and keep your accounts in a rudimentary Excel spreadsheet, there are plenty of tools to make that easier. As well as chasing clients for you, FreeAgent and FreshBooks also give you the option to automatically import bank transactions – saving a huge amount of time keeping track of, and itemising, expenses. Another useful book-keeping tool is Wave, which comes with a free app called Wave Receipts. Just take a photo of the receipt, and it'll automatically import it for you. No more panic come tax return day! 07. Send electronic contracts with Hellosign Keeping track of contracts and NDAs can be a time-consuming nightmare, especially when amends need making at both ends before being counter-signed, or different clients need subtle tweaks to be made to the agreement. Hellosign makes multiple Word doc versions of contracts a thing of the past, by automating the process. You just upload your contract template, customising it with as many editable fields as required. Each time a client needs a contract, fill in the editable sections within Hellosign, and the app will send it out to them to be signed electronically. 08. Create a reusable project template in Asana There are plenty of project management and productivity tools for designers out there – two of the most popular are Trello and Asana. If Asana is your tool of choice, try automating part of the process by setting up a versatile project template that includes all the generic documents, files and tasks that your projects have in common, as well as a standard timeline of key milestones. It'll save you a lot of time adding these each time. No two projects are identical, but at least it will give you a stable framework to start from and customise as required to suit each client. Related articles: The freelance survival guide 10 best portfolio templates for designers 6 ways to save money as a freelancer View the full article

Only a few years ago, the idea that every digital artist could afford technology that enabled them to draw directly on to their screen was fanciful. Today, we not only have iPads and Android devices that provide this facility, but the options for artists on desktop and laptop computers have greatly increased. XP-Pen's newest drawing tablet is a case in point. It's a generously sized 15.6-inch screen that costs just under £400. The days when you had to sell your car to afford a Cintiq are over. Buy Artist 15.6 tablet Nor are there any apparent compromises that make the Artist 15.6's competitive price possible. Open the classy packaging and you're greeted with a slim but solid flat panel, with six shortcut keys down one side. Pleasingly, you can rotate the display orientation to position the keys to suit right- or left-handed use. The slim-line design of the Artist 15.6 means there's no adjustable stand to prop up the display, so you'll have buy a stand or improvise with a paperback Setting up the Artist 15.6 is a little involved, but you only need to do it once. The cable connecting your computer and the tablet uses a single USB-C port to plug into the tablet. At the other end, though, is a multi-headed hydra of leads: one HDMI to feed the video (an adaptor for Mini DisplayPort is provided); one USB to relay the pen information; and a second red USB to provide power. If you own one of the small but growing number of laptops that use USB-C, you'll need an adaptor to plug in the Artist 15.6. Note: if you use a USB-C MacBook Pro, then the Digital AV Adaptor you need is a hefty £69. You also need to install drivers, either from the provided CD or via the XP-Pen website. This includes a tool for calibrating the stylus and configuring features. It's worth noting that the Windows tool offers more options than the Mac OS equivalent. The stylus doesn't need a battery to operate. The rocker switch enables you to switch between pen and eraser easily The screen itself has a matte surface. The picture isn't as bright or colourful as you'd get from a glossy screen, but its surface is better for drawing on: it has more 'bite'. And drawing and painting on this tablet is a pleasure. The screen size frees you up to make expressive brush strokes, and the pen pressure sensitivity is responsive enough to keep your lines flowing. The Artist 15.6 isn't perfect. There's no stand included for people who prefer to draw at a slight angle; and there's a little too much visual offset between the point of the stylus and where the cursor appears on-screen. You get used to it when painting, but it makes precise work trickier. Yet these are really quibbles within the context of having an expansive drawing surface on a decent-quality screen, for relatively little outlay. The Artist 15.6 can transform your digital art experience for the better. This article originally appeared in issue 159 of ImagineFX, the world's leading magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 159 or subscribe here. Related articles: The best drawing tablet for kids 2018 10 essential tablet accessories Wacom launches new Wacom Cintiq Pro graphics tablets View the full article

Working at home and being your own boss may be a lot of fun, but it also requires a lot of self-discipline, across-the-board knowledge, and the ability to juggle many things at once. Things like launching a marketing campaign, building a website, and maintaining good accounting practices will all fall on you. The Work-At-Home Super Bundle can help you learn the skills you'll need to navigate the world of self-employment. With 23 eBooks, one audiobook, nine online courses, and four printable packs at your disposal, you'll identify the habits and skills you'll need to adopt in order to have a successful self-employed venture. You'll learn how to create a healthy work-life balance, and discover tips for maintaining the financial and legal sides of your self-employment. The Work-At-Home Super Bundle will get you up to speed for only $39.99, a saving of 97 per cent. Related articles: The expert guide to working from home 12 tips for the work-at-home ninja Expert tips for working from home View the full article

The future of PC's, as Intel sees it, is starting to turn a few heads. Introducing Tiger Rapids, the dual-screen digital notebook that could be a game-changer for designers and artists. Intel has spent approximately two years refining this prototype PC device – the design of which was based on the ever-popular Moleskine notebook – which allows users to do everything from note-taking and presentations, to creating intricate drawings and sketches. 10 of the best notebooks for designers Opening like a traditional Moleskine notebook, Tiger Rapids is super-compact, measuring skinnier than an iPhone 8 at just 4.85mm thick, with each screen sporting a small but mighty 7.9-inch LCD display. It even comes complete with a loop on the right to stash your pen. Powering this lightweight device is a Kaby Lake Core processor, with an undisclosed amount of memory. For those of you reading this wondering when – or even if – Tiger Rapids will ever be available to the masses, the good news is this is one concept that will certainly be realised. While Intel has no plans to bring it to market, the company has provided the design to select partners, with Tiger Rapids-inspired products from Asus and Lenovo set to be showcased at the Computex computing trade show in Taipei this week. Could Intel's prototype mean the end of the humble notebook? Watch this space. [Source: Digital Arts] Related articles: The best drawing tablet 2018 60 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials 10 great notepads for designers (that aren't Moleskines) View the full article

You're reading A Beginner’s Guide to Voice UX Prototyping, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! As voice technology becomes more and more prominent, we’ll need to design more and more voice apps. In this post, I will go over a general overview for those who are unfamiliar with voice prototyping. It’s not a complicated process … View the full article

An analysis of 10,000 mobile apps has found that a significant portion of them are open to web API hijacking – thanks to inconsistencies between app and server logic in web APIs. View the full article

More than 115,000 sites are still vulnerable to a highly critical Drupal bug - even though a patch was released three months ago. View the full article

Remote code execution vulnerabilities dominate this month’s critical Android patches. View the full article

Learning React, the JavaScript library for creating user interfaces from Facebook and Instagram seems nuts until you give it a chance. Things get much easier when you understand five key concepts. I call these the five mind shifts. They are: components, JSX, state, lifecycle methods and one-way data flow. 01. Components Components are chunks of code that can be combined to provide more complex functionality. When you divide your application into components, it makes it easier to update and maintain. In React, components are even more important: you don’t just program them, you design your app by thinking about how these components fit together. Let’s use the interface below as an example. You can see how it can be divided into three pieces: a box for booking a new appointment, a list view that lets you view the existing appointments, and a search box for looking through them. You can easily see how to structure this app into reusable components In HTML, you might think of this application as a series of elements, like this: And that’s also what you’d do in React. You create a single tag ( <div id="petAppointments"> ) that calls a petAppointments component, which then calls the other sub-components as needed. To pass along a configuration object like this, you use the createClass method of the React object. There are two render methods. In the MainInterface class, we declare the items that will be sent to the browser and the ReactDOM.render method replaces the <div id="petAppointments"></div> element in your HTML with React’s code. We would then write the code that handles each of our three sub-components. Components make code easy to write and maintain. Once you learn to think of and organise your apps as a series of composable components, building complex applications becomes simpler. 02. JSX JSX is probably one of the biggest mind shifts and one of the reasons why the library seems so weird. JSX is an extension to JavaScript that allows you to combine XML code with JavaScript. This is sort of what happens with templating languages like Mustache, which let you include JavaScript within HTML. But JSX gets translated (transpiled) into JavaScript. So you are not just building a template but a structure that gets converted into a series of JavaScript statements. Unlike templating languages, it doesn’t have to be interpreted at runtime. Let’s look at an example. We can use this code to output our appointments. This feels a lot like using a regular templating language, so other than learning a few minor idiosyncrasies about JSX, you can pick it up quickly. The odd part about using JSX isn’t learning the language itself; it’s getting over the fact that putting HTML within your JavaScript code just seems ... well, wrong. But it’s really nice to have all the code for each component living in a single place. 03. State Clicking on one of the red Xs is captured at the component level but references a method in the main component through props The third mind shift is learning to work with state in React. State is stored on the topmost component of your application and manages what’s happening in your app. There’s a special method called getInitialState where you can configure what happens when your application starts. In my sample application, the initial state is set up like this: It looks like I’m setting up global variables for my application but modifying these variables actually controls how components render. If something in my app changes the value of a variable, my components will re-render. If the value of orderBy changes, for example, the list of appointments will reorder. When you write a component, it’s easy to modify the application’s state. Writing components is easier since you’re only focused on what the component does. Here is my app’s final list component: The component is only concerned with two things. First, showing the list of appointments based on the current state of the application. Second, handling a click on one of the red ‘X’s. Clicking on the ‘X’ will push a change to the application state, causing this component to re-render. I’m not worried about what’s happening with the data, simply with how the current data will be displayed. The list component is only concerned with listing things. It doesn’t have to worry about what’s happening elsewhere. It’s a brilliant way to build applications and once you get the hang of it, you’ll see why it’s a superior way to code. 04. One-way data flow Here the search component is only concerned with changing the state of the data. The list will re-render with the new data on the fly The next mind shift is to learn to love a one-way data flow. In React, the state of your application resides in the topmost component. When you need to change it in a sub-component, you create a reference to the topmost component and handle it there. This is a bit hard to get used to. Here’s an example: This is a simplified version of the module that creates a list of appointments. Our list has a Delete button, which we manage through an event handler. This is a special React version of onclick. Our event handler calls the function handleDelete, which is local to the sub-module. Our local function simply creates a reference to another function in an object called props. Props are how main modules communicate with sub-modules. In the main module you’d create an attribute to the tag you’re using to represent the module. It looks just like passing an attribute to an HTML tag: And then you create your own method in the main component to handle the change to the application’s state. Keeping state in the main module helps make your sub-modules more efficient. It’s also easier to maintain code because most of the action happens in one place. 05. Lifecycle methods One of the best things about React is the way it manages the rendering of your modules. Your modules don’t have to worry about updating the DOM, only about reacting to the state of your application. When state changes, React re-renders your application’s components. It does this by creating its own version of the DOM called a Virtual DOM. But sometimes you need to be able to do things in response to the rendering lifecyle. Enter lifecycle methods. These are ways to ask React to handle tasks at different points in the application’s execution. There are, for example, lifecyle methods that allow you to load external data through AJAX requests: Here, componentDidMount enables you to execute something after the initial rendering is complete. This is a great place to load AJAX contents, set up timers and so on. There are lots of other lifecycle methods that allow you to trap the execution of the application at different points. They are necessary because of React’s Virtual DOM, which is a great timesaver when building apps. Rethinking react React requires a rethinking of the way you work with web applications but if you focus on mastering the benefits of these five mind shifts, you’ll quickly learn why the library has become so incredibly popular and is a fantastic way to build interfaces. This article – illustrated by Ray Villalobos – was originally published in issue 286 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Subscribe to net. Want to further refine your React skills? Kristijan Ristovski is giving his workshop Learn How to Think in React at Generate London from 19-21 September 2018 If you're interested in learning more about React, make sure you've picked up your ticket for Generate London from 19-21 September 2018. Having founded React Academy to teach React around the world and launched sizzy.co and ok-google.io, Kristijan Ristovski will be delivering his workshop – Learn How to Think in React – in which he will explore React best practices and teach you solutions to real problems that you might encounter in the process of building an app. Generate London takes place from 19-21 September 2018. Get your ticket now. Related articles: 10 expert ReactJS tips that you need to know today Create a dashboard app with React Build a simple music player with React View the full article

Photoshop CC is one of the best photo editor apps and is the creative weapon of choice for many designers. Its Pen and Brush tools mean Photoshop is more than capable of creating wonderful illustrations, making it suitable for digital artists, too. Top Photoshop tutorials The brushes are responsive and easier than ever to control, thanks the CC 2017 update, which introduced smoothing effects. They’re located in folders too, and you can load your own custom brushes for specific, unique effects. In this article, we’ll explain how to use Photoshop’s Brush tool, including guides to what each of the icons in the Brush palette mean. There’s a separate article on how to use the Pen tool, or for more core Photoshop tools knowledge, check out our 2-minute tool school series. Create a basic outline Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image The Brush tool is great for laying down outlines, no matter the nature of project. Begin by creating a new layer in the Layer palette, press B to select a brush and then begin drawing. If necessary, create a guide layer on a new layer, and set it to a lower Opacity level so you can see your work over it. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Use the crosshairs icon to change the direction in which the brush drags across the image. This is particularly useful if you’re working with custom brushes. Below the crosshairs icon is an area that displays your recently used brushes. This is handy if you’re working on a project that requires a small set of brushes for a range of requirements. Your brushes are sorted into folders so you can more easily find the one you want. You can edit the folders to suit your workflow. Blend brushstrokes Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Activate the Mixer brush by ctrl/right-clicking on the Brush tool icon. This can help blend the shades you apply to your piece. You can also alter the Opacity and Flow settings of your brush. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image The Blend mode dictates how the brushstroke reacts to the pixels below it. Use Overlay mode to mix in the light and dark strokes, or Multiply to make the strokes darker, for example. To the left of the Smoothing dropdown, you'll find the Airbrush Style Effects icon. This is great for creating more realistic brush strokes, with more natural looking edges and flicks on the end of them. The Smoothing feature can help you to create less jagged lines by enabling you to slowly drag your brush around the page, instead of pulling it in short, sharp motions. Use brushes to mask Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Some of the most exciting possibilities in Photoshop come with masking, and the brush can certainly combine for stunning effects. Click the Mask icon, and use brushes to show or hide areas of your layer. This can become particularly fun to experiment with when it comes to adjustments. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Use the Brush settings tab to adjust everything about your chosen brush, from the smoothness of its edges to the amount of Scattering. You'll also find the collection of different brush types displayed in rows. This is a throwback to older versions of Photoshop, but can help to show you whether your brushes are big enough for the project, and what shape they’ll appear in. At the bottom of this tab is the Brush preview. This is the best way to get a feel for how the stroke will look when you apply it to your image. It also changes as you tweak the settings. This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 159 or subscribe. Read more: The 40 best Photoshop plugins 5 best laptops for Photoshop Photoshop shortcuts to speed up your workflow View the full article

Hoping for a new Mac Pro or maybe an even bigger iPad Pro? Forget about it, at least for the time being. Apple's WWDC announcements are rarely about the hardware, and this year is no exception. The best cheap Apple Pencil deals of 2018 In fact this year's WWDC offered up a big plate of pretty slim pickings all round; nothing earth-shattering, rather some incremental updates and improvements to existing software. But if you're a designer there are a few cool reveals from WWDC that might improve your life; here's what we've found. iOS 12 It's all about the numbers There's not much to say about iOS 12; the big headline is that it's faster and more powerful, which is welcome enough. There are a few stand-out features that might excite designers, though: ARKit 2 ARKit 2 allows for shared augmented reality experiences Apple's still keen on augmented reality, and its new version of ARKit in iOS 12 is designed to help developers create even more immersive AR experiences that can be experienced by multiple people simultaneously. ARKit 2 uses a new Pixar-developed file format for AR content, called usdz, which should make creating and sharing AR creations a lot easier, and which is going to be supported by major developers including Adobe and Autodesk. Another clever AR feature coming in iOS12 is called Measure, which enables you to use AR to work out the size of objects by pointing your iPhone or iPad's camera at them and dragging a finger across them. Quite how accurate it is, we don't know, but at the very least it's a fun feature that could have plenty of useful applications; in Apple's demonstration it was used to size up a photograph for framing. FaceTime group calling Group calling works on both iOS and MacOS, making conference calls easy to set up Another new iOS 12 feature, which you'll also see on the Mac, is a new group calling option in FaceTime. With it you can set up a call of up to 32 people, with a moving tile display of faces that move into greater prominence when someone's talking. It looks like a great way to set up remote meetings and conference calls without any hassle, although we wouldn't suggest it with 32 people; you'd never get anything done. Memoji What's that? You need animated emoji that look like you? Well, if you have an iPhone X then your dreams are about to come true; the latest type of Animoji allows you to create your own Memoji that match your personality and mood, to use in messages and FaceTime. Happy now? MacOS Mojave If you like things dark, Mojave's here to delight you There's a bit more to be excited about in the new version of MacOS. Not a great deal, but Mojave's packing a few features that should make life easier - or at least a little more comfortable - for designers. Apple seems to be particularly pleased with itself about Dark Mode, which sees all its first-party apps take on a darker hue, matching what you already get by default in Adobe's Creative Cloud apps and hopefully resulting in reduced eye strain during those late night sessions. Apple's also tackling desktop clutter with Desktop stacks, which you can use to tidy up your screen by gathering together related icons into piles that you can expand with a tap. Finder is also being given a welcome upgrade in Mojave, introducing a Gallery View that enables you find files visually, using big previews that make it much faster to locate a particular image, as well as a Quick Actions option that lets you work on files from within Finder. With it you can do things like rotating images, adding password protection to documents or trimming video, without having to open another app; time-saving stuff! Quick Look lets you perform everyday editing tasks without the need for a specific app It goes further with the new Quick Look option; with this you can crop or rotate images and PDFs, mark them up with notes and send them off via Mail or Messages, all without needing to launch a specific app. Other improvements in Mojave include better screenshot capabilities that'll let you capture the entire screen, a window or just a selection, as well as enhanced screen recording that allows you to record the whole screen or a specific window. And Apple's making it easier to get photos from your iPhone to your Mac, too; with Continuity Camera you can take a photo or scan a document and have it appear instantly in a desktop app. Will this do? That about covers it for new creative tools and features; consider us just about whelmed. If you want to know about Apple's other announcements from WWDC, head over to TechRadar for the fuller picture. Related articles: 9 iPad Pro apps that make the most of Apple Pencil Why designers should reject Apple’s love of minimalism Apple launches the iMac Pro View the full article

Ever feel like you need to organise your thoughts? Take your scattered ideas and turn them into organised chaos with Scapple. This freeform mind-mapping software allows you to record all your thoughts and ideas, then find connections among them that will help you draw conclusions. The platform is easy to use, and gives you the ability to make notes, trace lines or arrows to connect related thoughts, group different ideas together, and even share your mind map with other people. And, unlike with paper, you won't run out of space for all the thoughts floating around your head. Get Scapple for only $9.99. Related articles: 8 simple productivity tools for designers 20 tools to make your team more productive 22 ways to boost your productivity View the full article

Facebook is again in hot water after an article alleged it struck deals with device-makers to access users' data. View the full article

You don't need to attend an expensive four-year university to become a great coder. With Code Avengers Pro Subscriptions, you can get your hands on an intuitive platform that will teach you the most important coding languages of today. You can use your newfound coding knowledge to build engaging websites, fun games, and useful apps, and perhaps even launch a coding career. The program will teach you the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and more, and you'll practise creating simple apps and games. With eight courses, hundreds of lessons and guided projects, and quizzes to test your knowledge, you'll be a skilled coder in no time. Use Code Avengers Pro Subscriptions for only $79.99, saving 93 per cent. Related articles: The web designer starter toolkit The future of web design is code-free The future of web design View the full article

If you're learning how to paint, and you're a fan of science fiction and fantasy art, these pro tips will help you to hone your painting techniques. To help beginners learn how to draw sci-fi and fantasy scenes, artists who contributed to 3dtotal Publishing's book Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting in Photoshop: Sci-Fi and Fantasy have shared 10 great pieces of advice. Read on to learn more… 01. Create a dynamic composition Symmetry (while having its own merit in certain situations) is the enemy of dynamism "Ever since the Baroque period, artists have noticed that if you want an artwork to feel dynamic, a great way to achieve this is to pose the scene diagonally," says Bram Sels. "The rider I am creating in this case could have been running straight towards the camera, with legs almost in vertical lines. By tilting the stag and the rider, the figures become unbalanced, adding a lot more movement and action to what they’re doing. Note that there is clear space outside the figures which is irregular to make the composition even more dynamic." 02. Create a story I decide that my fantasy character will be planning to poison the king! "One of the biggest gifts of being an artist is the ability to tell stories without using words. Every line of your pencil and every stroke of your brush carries an intention; they mean to say something," explains Caroline Gariba. "The more you create a background story for your character or scene, the more easily and quickly you will be able to produce a new piece of art. Being able to fully understand the storytelling in a scene is key to achieving the best results in these sorts of illustrative pieces." 03. Consider the mood of the image I use Hue/Saturation, Color Balance, and Curves adjustment layers to make the mood of this image drearier "Mood is just as important as composition when it comes to telling a story. The colour palettes that you choose play an important role in defining the mood," says Wendy Yoon. "Although our interpretation of colour is subjective, there are certain colours with common associations originating from nature, personal experiences, and tradition that are perceived universally. As an artist, you can manipulate the colours in your painting to convey a particular mood to the viewer. Fortunately for us, Photoshop makes it incredibly easy to change things so you can play around with a wide array of possible palettes." 04. Ground your ideas with logic I paint the jewels on the left-hand side of the image like ellipses in an effort to adhere to the idea of water eroding the rock formations into more rounded shapes "If you wish to paint a believable sci-fi landscape, it is incredibly important that you have a good idea of the world you are creating," recommends Oscar Gregeborn. "Here we are dealing with an underwater alien world, so this tells us a number of things: the lighting should be soft and scattered; water scatters light much more effectively than air, so the atmospheric perspective should be pushed; the rock formations should be smooth, as the water grinds away at them over millions of years. The intention of a list like this is to make the world you paint more cohesive. Physics and logic still apply to this image, even though you are painting an alien landscape." 05. Practise perspective I select a horizon line and two vanishing points to start off my perspective "A futuristic sci-fi city demands an accurate use of perspective in order to convince the viewer to suspend their disbelief, engage with the subject matter, and let their imagination run free," says Christopher Balaskas. "A good knowledge of perspective, and its rules, is a critical foundation skill for an artist, so I encourage you to explore and study the great wealth of information and tutorials available either for free or low-cost on the internet or in books dedicated to the subject. If perspective is implemented incorrectly, it’s often the first thing that a viewer will notice, and the rest of the image will suffer." 06. Create more contrast Luminous parts of the sky against the dark areas of the giant’s body will help to make the scene more dynamic and energized "Remember that dark objects can be viewed more clearly if they are placed on bright backgrounds; similarly brighter elements become more visible on darker surfaces. If you don’t consider this, you will probably end up with a flat, dull, or even boring image," explains Sina Pakzad Kasra. "In this image I paint a cloudy sky in the creature’s background and position the brighter parts of the sky where it can help make the shape of the creature more distinct. This will mean that the creature will have higher contrast and as a result gain more prominence in the scene." 07. Use gradients for atmospheric effects You can also play around with different layer modes for the gradient, such as Color Dodge, Vivid Light, and Screen, to really make it pop "Atmosphere is a significant element in conveying a particular mood in a painting," says Yoon. "Use the Gradient tool on a new layer with Opacity set to 14–20% in order to further separate the background from the mid-ground. Simply select the tool and click and drag across the canvas. When you open up the Gradient tool you can choose from a number of gradient types, such as Linear Gradient, Radial Gradient, and Diamond Gradient. I tend to use the Linear Gradient for environment effects (fog, haze, dust) and Radial Gradient for special effects (light blooms). This will help to create atmospheric perspective, which is when objects far away take on some of the atmosphere’s colours and become hazy." 08. Create magical props I want the wand to look aged so I bring out the cracks and add in porous holes, then weave in a handle showing where the character would grasp "It is important to give a wand character to distinguish it from an ordinary stick. Play around with simple silhouettes using the Lasso tool to find a wand that speaks to you," advises James Wolf Strehle. "After choosing your design, select the shape by Ctrl+clicking on the layer thumbnail, then use the Brush tool to rough in the colours. Use a colour palette that helps to describe the wand and its user. Use the Smudge tool to shape the wood, twisting it and bringing out the natural look of the material. Follow the strokes and add details to define the wood. Blue rim lighting rounds out the form and helps define the shape." 09. Loosen up with traditional materials Use traditional media to create textures to be scanned and digitally collaged "After countless hours of screen-time working hard on your digital painting, it can be refreshing to throw some real paint around and make a mess in your living room," says Anna Dittmann. "While your housemates may not agree, the resulting textures can be both fun to create and worthwhile for your digital work. "Occasionally I like to refresh my texture library with new material by testing out assorted stains and drips. I scan these marks I have made with traditional materials into my computer in a high resolution for the best quality." 10. Make sure your animal anatomy is accurate This is important for imaginary creatures and aliens as well "Animals and their anatomy are a really complex thing to recreate, so you should never try to do it without looking at a selection of references," recommends Sels. "Before I begin to work on this animal, I look at how the muscles in deer and horses work and try to understand and then translate the shape, positioning, and movement into the illustration. The anatomy of the head is really important as well, so look closely at how the bone structure of the skull gives shape to the fur on top. These tips come from Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting in Photoshop: Sci-Fi and Fantasy from 3dtotal Publishing, which is aimed at aspiring digital painters and concept artists. Related articles: How to master creature anatomy How to use the rule of thirds in art The best pencils: colouring, drawing and sketching View the full article

For well over a year BuzzFeed UK has been polishing its visual style. As part of the brand refresh, the site has been developing its typography, photography and illustrations to give the site the feel of a glossy magazine. The latest piece of the rebrand, includes a new logo design and bespoke typeface inspired by the jagged trending arrow. Created by Tim Lane, Buzzfeed's first in-house art director outside of the US, the distinctive new logo and typeface are described as a big step towards cementing the platform's redesign. In an exclusive interview with It's Nice That, Lane reveals that he imagined that the arrow was a character in a typeface and built the design from there. "I feel this design is more reflective of the UK's visual output. It gives us our own identity and aesthetically separates us from the rest of the world. It's still 'BuzzFeedy' but with a UK twist. It’s well overdue that we take ownership." The logo has already been rolled out to BuzzFeed UK's social media channels Another key part of the design is the distinctive 'BuzzFeed red' which helps to keep the new logo consistent with the rest of the global branding. At the moment BuzzFeed's bespoke typeface is only being used for the UK logo, although it is expected to be used in article headers across the site. While it isn't the only font BuzzFeed will be using, the site is expected to significantly reduce the number of typefaces readers will see. The full set of arrow-inspired typography Considering that 75per cent of BuzzFeed readers access the site on smartphones, Lane ensured that the rebrand, along with the rest of the platform's design work, is mobile-first. At one point the stripped down design saw the logo become 'BF UK', but it was decided that this strayed too far from the main brand. With a mix of sharp angles and curves, the 'Buzz UK' font is a strong blend of elements that reflects the mix of content BuzzFeed readers have come to enjoy, all while staying in-keeping with the overarching BuzzFeed style. [Via It's Nice That] Related articles: BuzzFeed's new typeface will be your new most hated font The best logos of all time Famous logos redesigned as fonts View the full article

You're reading Best and Free JavaScript Plugins for 2018, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! To be a good developer means not only produce good products but also to stay on top of changes in the field. Keeping up with the ever-changing world is a key to success. But, it does not mean that you … View the full article