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Research shows that colour is registered by the brain before images or type, which means brushing up on colour theory for branding is well worth your time. Successful 'ownership' of a colour in any given sector is the holy grail, and there are many outstanding examples of colour in branding that prove how effective that can be. Certain sectors have familiar colour palettes associated with them. The calm, stable, trustworthy reassurance of blue crops up frequently in the financial services and communications sectors, for instance; while attention-grabbing, energising reds and yellows are key colours in many major fast-food chains. Sometimes a brand strikes off in a totally different direction. McDonald's, long the figurehead of that zingy red-and-yellow palette, went green in many of its European branches. And Apple's white products cut through the black, grey and beige of the technology sector like a hot knife through butter. Guinness' total ownership of black is hugely distinctive within a wine, beer and spirits sector filled with greens, reds and blues. And EasyJet brings a flash of orange to the overwhelmingly red-and-blue dominated airline sector. When it comes to logo design, sometimes it pays to embrace the familiar as a visual shorthand for what you do – but stand-out will always be more challenging as a result. Read on for five examples of brands that think differently about colour... 01. Monzo Brand new banking service Monzo brings a totally fresh colour palette to the financial sector Blue can be found all over the financial services sector. Bank of America, Barclays, American Express, VISA... the list goes on. Throw in HSBC, NatWest, Santander and MasterCard, and there's also a fair bit of red. Founded in 2015, Monzo totally bucks that trend – combining teal, coral, sage green and golden beige in its in-house-designed 'M' logo. It's fitting that a "smart bank" founded with "the new generation" in mind should have a different perspective on colour, too. Digital flexibility was the key, and physical branches and cheque books went out the door – along with those ubiquitous blues and reds. According to Monzo, designer Sam Michael was looking to combine the strength and confidence that customers want in a bank, with a more friendly, colourful and human vibe. The softer, more subtle colour palette makes it more informal, and less officious compared to its establishment rivals. 02. Lufthansa Lufthansa's recent rebrand gave it a darker, more refined shade of blue, but kept the rich yellow that distinguishes it from the airline sector We've mentioned how easyJet cuts through the sea of blue and red airline liveries with a bright orange that defines the entire 'easy' franchise. Hungarian airline Wizz Air also adds a dab of purple and pink to the budget end of the spectrum. But when it comes to the big national carriers – American Airlines, British Airways, KLM, Qantas, Emirates – there are relatively few outliers for whom red and blue don't dominate in the logo and livery. Step up Lufthansa. Sure, navy blue is a significant feature of its branding, but what has always set it apart is the rich ochre yellow that complements it. The German carrier's distinctive crane emblem was originally designed a century ago by graphic artist Otto Firle, and adapted into a comprehensive identity program in the 1960s by Otl Aicher – who introduced the blue and yellow combination. Lufthansa's recent in-house refresh brings it into the digital age, refining the marque and making the main blue darker and more elegant. Crucially, that distinctive yellow remains a distinguishing factor across its various brand touchpoints. 03. Eir Moving Brands gave Irish telco eir (formely Eircom) a bold injection of fluorescent colour as part of its 2015 rebrand Another sector awash with blue is technology and telecoms. Think: IBM, HP, AT&T, O2, Intel, Samsung, Nokia, Facebook, Twitter... We've already mentioned how Apple defies its sector in more ways than one, but another, lesser-known brand to have done so is Irish telecoms provider eir, which was given a wholesale overhaul by Moving Brands in 2015. The bold, organic and flowing marque – which, like Monzo, feels much more human and approachable than the rest of its sector – was given a unique, vibrant, fluorescent colour palette that fizzes and pops across digital and print alike. This was the brand's biggest shake-up in 20 years, and Moving Brands explored unexpected colour combinations to match the dynamic, unconventional logo itself. 04. Taco Bell Lippincott's 2016 rebrand pared back Taco Bell's logo and brought a two-tone purple palette to the fore Red (often paired with yellow) is, quite simply, the colour of fast-food. McDonalds, Burger King, Denny's, Pizza Hut, KFC and many more use it as their main brand colour. It grabs attention, feels bold and urgent, and according to some researchers, may even increase your appetite – so it's no real surprise. For McDonald's, reinventing itself in a more sophisticated shade of green in its European branches was about changing brand perceptions in the face of a childhood obesity crisis – and appealing to a lucrative market of young professionals who prefer coffee to Happy Meals. But one fast-food giant changed its stripes significantly earlier. From the mid-80s until the mid-90s, Taco Bell was red and yellow too. Then the bell went pink and purple: a combination that totally bucks the fast-food trend. Taco Bell's main purple logo is also available in these six alternative colour variations Its minimalist 2016 rebrand by Lippincott stripped out the pink and left a pared-back two-tone purple logo marque, although this is also available in six more colour combinations: teal, gold, coral, light green, blue and orange. As well as a broader colour palette, Lippincott also opened up the iconic bell shape as a container device for a potentially endless array of patterns, textures and image, making it much more flexible across all manner of applications. 06. Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot champagne has sported its highly distinctive yellow label and packaging since 1877 Tattinger, Moët & Chandon, Bollinger and Krug are all world-renowned champagne brands, but they share something else in common: the combination of a green bottle and gold foil, often with a touch of red, in their branded packaging. This is where Veuve Clicquot has colour recognition absolutely sewn up: its highly distinctive yellow label has been synonymous with the brand for almost 150 years. Back in 1850, Veuve Clicquot could be distinguished by its minimalist pure white label, but as the global popularity of dry champagnes grew, it sought ownership of a brighter colour. In 1877, the first yellow label was born. Over the following decades, the yellow became richer, deeper and more orange in hue, making it easy to spot in a dark, crowded wine cellar. That brand association remains strong to this day, and definitely bucks the trend of its sector. Related articles: 5 brands so strong they don't need a logo Pick the right font for your social campaigns 4 design trends we're all tired of hearing about View the full article

Choosing the best pencils or paint brushes for your next project isn't always an easy decision. After all, different effects require different tools so it can be difficult to know which to use. To simplify the process of choosing my paint brushes, I make two major distinctions: the type of hair the paint brush is made of and the shape. If you're struggling with which paint brush to use, the best thing to do is to try the various shapes. For example, you could start with only bristle rounds. Then, try and paint with only flats, and then finally filberts. Remember, it takes time to become familiar with the various shapes. Practice makes perfect. So how do you pick the perfect tool? Here are 20 tips to help you decide which paint brush to use, for any painting. 01. Two types of hair Choose from bristle or sable The first way I categorise paint brushes is by the type of hair they use. The two main types of hair are bristle (A) and sable (B). Both come in many different shapes and sizes, and can be made either from natural animal hair or synthetic fiber. I generally use bristles for rougher marks and sables for smoother strokes. 02. Bristle brushes A bristle paint brush will hold a lot of paint Bristle brushes are made of thicker, stronger and sometimes rougher hair. They originally came from animals such as wild hogs, but now synthetic bristle brushes are very common. Bristles are great because they can hold a lot of paint. I use bristles to do the bulk of my painting, especially when covering large areas. 03. Bristle marks Create painterly strokes with a bristle paint brush To help you choose which paint brush to use, here is an example of some marks made with bristle brushes. Bristle marks tend to be rougher and the paint strokes can be easily seen. These are often called "painterly" strokes. I like the rough look for adding texture and variety to my paintings. I also like bristles for making drawing type marks because of their stiffness and durability. 04. Sable brushes Sable paint brushes are subtler Sable brushes are generally made of finer and softer hair. Sables can be made from soft animal hair such as a mongoose or mink, or from soft synthetic fibers. I like sables mostly for blending edges and creating softer and more subtle marks. I also enjoy using smaller sables for adding fine details and finishing touches.. 05. Sable marks These are the marks you'll make with a sable paint brush Here is an example of some marks made by sable brushes. Sables make very clean marks and the paint strokes tend to be hidden. Because of this sables are great for achieving a more "realistic" look in a painting. I like to use sables for making soft, airbrush like marks and for blending. 06. Three paint brush shapes Paint brushes come in three common shapes The next way I categorise paint brushes is by shape. The three most common shapes are: flat (A), filbert (B) and round (C ). All three shapes can come in both bristle and sable hair. They also come in many different sizes. It took me years of practice and experience to decide which shape worked best for me. 07. Round brushes Round paint brushes are great for mark-making The first common brush shape is round. Round brushes are shaped like sharp tear drops or large needles. I like to use rounds for drawing and making drawing like marks. I'll often begin my paintings with a small round brush to draw with, and then use larger rounds to fill larger areas. 08. Flat brushes Use flat paint brushes to define form The next common brush shape is flat. Flat brushes have a rectangular shape. Flat brushes make square shaped marks. They can also make chisel like lines, especially when using a sable flat. I use flats mostly to model form. There square shaped marks are great for defining planes and form in a figure or portrait painting. 09. Filbert brushes Filbert paint brushes are good for many tasks The final most common brush shape is filbert. Filberts are combination of both round and flat. The have the rectangular shape of a flat brush, but also come to a point like a round brush. Because of their unique shape, filberts can create a wide variety of marks. I use filberts for many painting tasks including blending edges. 10. Round bristle brush marks Bristle paint brushes make these sorts of marks Here are some examples of marks made by round bristle brush. Rounds can create a variety of marks. Like a pencil or marker, they can also go thick to thin. Because the shape resembles a pencil, I like making drawing and hatching marks with round bristles. I almost always start every painting with a round bristle. 11. Round sable brush marks Sable rounds are great for detail Here are some examples of marks made by round sable brush. Sables have finer and softer hair and they also retain their shape well. I use round sables for a variety of tasks including blending edges and for fine details. Small sable rounds are my favourite brushes for adding small details. 12. Flat bristle brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by flat bristle brush I love the square shaped marks for painting planes on forms. When I paint figures or portraits I do most of the work with a flat bristle brush. I also like the way the paint strokes are very visible with bristle brushes. 13. Flat sable brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by flat sable brush A sable flat can make square shaped marks, but with a much cleaner edge. The rough, painterly edge is gone, but instead is replaced by smooth and polished look. I use sable flats for blending edges and making softer strokes on a portrait or figure. 14. Filbert bristle brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by filbert bristle brush Filberts can create a wide variety of marks, from thick to thin and back again. Because of their versatility, they are great for drawing and for painting the head or figure. I use filbert bristles to add variety and texture to my paintings. 15. Filbert sable brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by filbert sable brush Like the bristle version, sable filberts can also make a wide variety of marks. Sometimes it feels like drawing with ink or charcoal. I like to use filbert sables for both making crisp, drawing marks and edges and also for blending edges. 16. Large brushes Bristle holds more paint Larger brushes are almost always flat shaped and made from bristle since bristle holds more paint. Large brushes like these (A) come in 1/2 inch to 1 inch in size. The large long handle flat (B) is a size 12. I use large brushes for painting large areas, but also for applying gesso and varnish. 17. Small detail brushes Small brushes can go from size 1 to 00, or even to a single hair! Small detail brushes are almost always made from sable hair, because they retain their stiffness and shape well. I use small sable brushes like these for adding fine details, but also for blending edges in small forms. 18. Build up your brush set Get the essential paint brushes Once you know which paint brush to use and when, start building up your collection. This is my personal brush set for painting indoor subjects like figures and portraits. For brushes that do most of the work, I have two of each size. I also work mostly in bristle, using small sables for detail and blending. 19. Know your tools You need different paint brushes or different tasks For painting outdoors and landscapes, I've settled on this set of brushes. I do most of the work with bristle flats so I carry two of each size. I have a small round for drawing and a large round for large areas. The small round sables are for adding details and finishing touches. 20. Three of the best My favourite paint brushes Still struggling with which paint brush to use? If I was on a tight budget and could only use two or three brushes, these are the brushes I would use. A size 4-6 flat (A) will accomplish many painting tasks and a size 2-3 round (B) will complement the flat well. I would also add a slightly larger 6-8 flat (C) for covering larger areas quickly. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX bookazine How to Paint & Draw. Related articles: How to hold a pencil correctly Free Photoshop brushes every creative must have The designer's guide to working from home View the full article

Sometimes an item pops up that you just didn't know you needed, but once it arrives it makes perfect sense. The excellent Logitech Craft wireless keyboard is one such item – which is why it sits in first place in our Best keyboards for creatives buying guide. When unpacked and plugged in (for charging or permanently if preferred) the Craft software is needed. It's a small app that enables you to define certain characteristics and keep the drivers up-to-date. The keyboard itself is a solid-feeling but very low-profile one, with a lightweight keystroke that still has good positive feedback. Another handy feature is the sensors – if you are in a dimly lit area and approach the keyboard, the backlight will turn on. It's a good, clear light but remains subtle enough to not feel intrusive if you are in a colour/light-sensitive environment. Enhanced workflow for creatives So far so good, but what really makes this keyboard special? Apart from its obvious quality, the Logitech Craft has two extra uses that make it a particularly handy input device. First, there is the Creative Input dial. This is the big knob at the top left of the keyboard, which can be assigned all manner of tasks, from simple scrolling and zooming to switching tabs in a browser, various Photoshop shortcuts and tasks, or viewport manipulation. The Logitech Craft has the ability to switch profiles depending on which app you're using. If, like me, you use a keyboard together with a tablet, it makes even more sense, as you can assign the touch ring on your tablet for one task and the Creative Input dial for another, serving to increase efficiency. It also feels good to use and navigation with it is a joy. Extra synching options Next is a feature that won't apply to all, but if it does it's a huge bonus. The keyboard is Mac and PC compatible – but more than that, it can be synced with three machines at once, so with a single button press you can swap between machines you are using. I use it on monitor with both PC and Mac, so this option means I've reduced desk clutter, improved my workflow and increased consistency of 'feel' while working. It may sound like a small thing, but this feature alone makes it worth the cost, and the fact that the keys are marked up for users of different platforms is a useful addition. For artists looking for the ultimate in simplified workflows, quality and ergonomics, this is an excellent option. It isn't cheap, but if the keyboard suits your needs it's well worth the spend. This review was originally published in issue 232 of 3D World. Also read: The best computer for graphic design 2018 View the full article

3D fonts are an eye-catching element inside your typographic toolbox. They can be used consistently across both web and print, and, implemented cleverly, will energise your designs, creating stunning work that's fit for your design portfolio. On-trend for 200 years The first 3D fonts – or ‘shaded’ typefaces – date from around 1815 in London, and were borne from intense competition between British type foundries. The first is believed to be Thorne Shaded, a tough looking fat face with sharp serifs, by Robert Thorne of the Fann Street Foundry. Since then, 3D type has evolved substantially, withstanding 200 years of changing fashions. The best free fonts for designers While recently designing my 3D font family, Rig Solid, I discovered that very little has been written about the use of ready-made 3D fonts. So here are some top tips on how to best use them in your design work. 01. 3D Fonts versus lettering This shows the differences between a basic extrude made in Illustrator, and one that has been adjusted to even out the extrude shapes and reduce heavy areas In the same way that script fonts have practical advantages over their written counterparts, so too do 3D fonts over one-off 3D lettering. Their text remains conveniently editable and it can be used across multiple platforms. A well-designed 3D font will fix the common visual issues that crop up in custom 3D lettering. Extrudes on diagonal shapes (A,K,V,W,X,Z and so on) are evened out so that an X doesn’t have one skinny leg and one fat one. The spacing and kerning will also take into account the repositioned contours of the extruded shapes. On the flip side, creating 3D lettering from an existing 3D typeface means all this work is done for you so you can focus on the fun aspects of customising it. 02. How to best use 3D fonts Energetic branding with a dominant B by Junction Studio for Brixton Brewery. A similar typographic style can be achieved with 3D chromatic fonts, Idler Pro or Prismatic 3D type was traditionally made from wood, which restricted its use to larger formats. Now 3D fonts are available wherever you want your type to stand out or add a little excitement. This makes them perfect for headlines, signage, stationary and branding. They can invigorate an otherwise dry design, add a focal point, or enhance consistency when used repeatedly. 3D type adorns the packaging of countless consumer products, attracting our attention from the supermarket shelves. It has also found a comfortable role in branding for coffee shops, barbershops, restaurants and more. Due to their ‘constructed’ feel, 3D typefaces also suit a broad range of subjects, such as architecture, technology, logistics and machinery. 03. Using 3D web fonts Mandy Michael shares her CSS code for layered type on CodePen Implementing a 3D font on the web works in the same way as a 2D font. For the broadest choice of designs, you can buy a web license and self-host with relative ease. You’ll also find a growing number of 3D web fonts on Typekit (including all of my own designs) and a handful on Google Fonts. Using chromatic or ‘layered’ fonts on your site (see below) will require some CSS skills – check out Mandy Michael’s CSS wizardry here. Font technology is quickly evolving on the web. Color fonts, which have multiple layers or images baked into them, are steadily gaining mainstream support in browsers and design software. 04. Making the most of 3D fonts Matteo Bologna of Mucca Design harnesses the power of 3D type to create this striking cover image 3D fonts are designed to catch the eye, so the bigger they are the more impact they can create. I have seen beautifully set 3D type at small sizes, on menu headings and the like, but if you choose a small setting, just be careful to make sure the details of the typeface reproduce clearly. High-quality print is pretty versatile but, as a general rule, I’d suggest keeping 3D web fonts above 30pt. For maximum effect, keep text length short with as few lines as possible. If you're setting more than a few words, ensure that there's high contrast between your typeface and its background. 05. Pairing 3D fonts Example 3D font pairings: Brim Combined 2 with Franklin Gothic URW Book, and Rig Solid Bold with Adelle Condensed Light Pairing 3D typefaces, just like pairing regular type, is often based on instincts, taste and a little know-how rather than hard rules. As your 3D font is undoubtedly your headline font, your partner will be for straplines or body copy. The simplest option is to select a 2D font with appealing contrast. Perhaps something simple and elegant to offset the volume of your headline font. 3D fonts may be based on serif and san-serif designs, so look primarily at its face when pairing. The usual guide of not pairing two sans-serif or serif fonts is less relevant because of the extra dimension with 3D fonts. However, avoid pairing with a typeface that looks similar but not quite the same. If there is a suitable 2D option in the same family then consider using it, but be wary of using the face style of a chromatic font alone as its spacing may be set to accommodate its extrude style. 06. Pimp your type The master of type and texture, Bobby Evans of Telegramme Paper Co 3D fonts offer a playground of opportunity for customisation and for adding your own twist. To give your type an extra tactile quality or a vintage feel, a boundless supply of free textures are available online from scratches to screen print. With the multiple facets of 3D type, you can even apply different textures to the face, extrudes and the background. If you want to go even further and add custom shadows, lighting, inset panels and more, you can find some great 3D lettering tutorials online. Starting with a pre-made 3D font will also help you to structure your overall composition much faster. 07. Using chromatics Suzie Eland’s Calypso Kitchen branding shows how chromatic type and illustration can seamlessly share the same colour palette Chromatic, or layered fonts have multiple styles designed to stack on top of one other. Combining these styles and assigning each a colour produces a huge variety of visual effects. Using chromatic type may seem complex at first glance but it’s actually quite straightforward: Begin, as usual, by setting your type with one of the family's styles Duplicate the type layer and then change its style and colour Repeat for each font style and colour as desired Chromatic fonts make it possible to match multiple colours from a brand palette or, if you use a chromatic font to make a logo, the colours can help form the broader identity. 08. Shaping 3D type The curved type path show is probably the deepest I’d recommend. Outline only 3D type looks fantastic reversed out 3D typefaces naturally lend themselves to being manipulated along paths, used in diagonal settings and reversed out, due to their substantial shapes. If you're setting type along a curve, keep the shape shallow and add a little extra tracking. If curves are too tight, the extrudes and any shadows will appear to come from different directions and likely look unnatural. 3D type can look fantastic when reversed out in bright colours on dark backgrounds. But be aware that if the design contains any shading to suggest light falling on its surface, it may look like a strange negative when reversed. 09. Getting creative A variety of laser cut and letterpress 3D type by Thomas Mayo Striking visual options can also be found by separating the face, extrude and outlines of 3D fonts and applying different treatments to them. Faces can be masked out to reveal backgrounds or patterns inside the letters and extrudes can be offset slightly to mimic print misregistration. Designers like Thomas Mayo, who blends new and old technologies, are taking these isolation techniques to their extreme. For example, he uses laser cutters to rout out each section of his contemporary 3D type in wood. These separate parts are then letterpress printed in a same way as traditional wood type. Related articles: Typography quiz reveals gaps in letter knowledge TypeNotes: review 23 free font resources View the full article

In the early days of the web, a designer’s toolkit was on the lean side. Other than the web design tools offered by the big players, options were pretty limited. Now there’s a tool to improve every aspect of product design, enabling us to not only create better products, but also work better. In this article, we've picked five essential tools you need to get started in web design. The tools listed here should stand you in good stead to start your journey as a web designer. 01. Research: Airtable The gallery view is great for collating design inspiration Airtable is like Excel or Google Sheets, but it can do much more. You can attach documents to the cells, such as recordings or images, which makes this a great place to collate feedback from user research sessions. The ability to add ‘tags’ makes it really easy to digest large data sets and spot popular themes. It’s as simple as creating a spreadsheet and tweaking the fields to make them relevant to your input. To share the info, all you need to do is send the link. Clients love it, and so will your colleagues. Another way to use Airtable is by switching the view to ‘gallery’ and collating design inspiration. It’s easier to use than Pinterest and there’s no barrier to entry or log in. Plus, you can attach GIFs, and who doesn’t love a GIF? 02. Collaborative design: Realtime Board With this tool you can see other collaborators' cursors If you have distributed team members or clients, Realtime Board is a great tool to facilitate a wireframe sketching session remotely. With the app, you can add a photo of your sketch and see where other members’ cursors are, which helps when explaining what you’ve drawn, as you can point to the aspect you’re talking about. You can also add a note and comment to vote on your favourite solution. 6 best collaboration tools 03. User testing: InVision or Marvel In Marvel you can link up artboards to test concepts on end users These tools are essential when it comes to testing your solution on end users. You import your screens then place clickable hotspots over the top of your designs, which you use to link up pages, or change states on hover to mimic working software. To really speed up your workflow, InVision and Marvel have Sketch plugins to import your artboards directly from Sketch. When testing on end users, the finished effect can look remarkably real, especially if you take the time to add hover effects to buttons as well as clickable areas. This means you can benefit from valid feedback very quickly, without ever having to bother writing a single line of code. 11 best pieces of user testing software 04. Prototyping: Origami Origami is helpful for mocking up animations Origami was built by the team at Facebook and is easy to pick up. While it can do virtually anything, Origami excels at mocking up microinteractions in your product, such as opening a menu, or subtle animations used to enhance the UI. They call it the ‘perfect companion to Sketch’ as you can copy and paste layers from your Sketch file straight into the app. Once you’ve pasted everything in, you need to adjust the X and Y coordinates of your assets to get them where you want them on the screen before you animate anything. Then you build up the animation step by step by adding interactions. For example: on tap, turn on an animation that will last 0.3 seconds and will transition an element. This movement is controlled by entering the position of the element at the end of the animation. So if you wanted to rotate something 45 degrees, you’ll add ‘45’ to the ‘end’ of the transition and link this to the associated X or Y ‘rotation’. 10 top prototyping tools The 18 best wireframing tools 05. Communication: Slack Keep all your conversations in one place Slack is a great way to keep all product conversations in one place. It’s excellent for teams and clients alike, and the casual nature helps with relationship building. It’s also a great tool if you have distributed staff or clients. If you need design feedback you can quickly hop on a Slack call and share your screen. This post was originally published as part of The Complete Design Toolkit in net magazine. Buy issue 303 or subscribe to the magazine. Web design event Generate New York returns on 25-27 April 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. Read more: 8 brilliant portfolios from young designers The 5 best visual regression testing tools How to make it in the web design industry View the full article

Creators require inspiration, and stock art can help kickstart just about any project. Having the right image to fit your work is important – and you can always find the one you want with Stock-Graphic's massive library. You can get a lifetime subscription on sale now for just $19 (approximately £14). Stock-Graphics has a nearly-endless library of perfect images just waiting to be put to use in any project you can imagine. There are tons of invaluable assets, from one-of-a-kind vectors to a massive collection of editable images that can be used as you see fit. There are more than 13,500 photos and 2,900 vectors with new content being added every month, meaning you'll never run out of inspiration. Download as many images as you need and put them to use in all of your projects. A subscription to Stock-Graphics usually costs $4,999, but you can get full access for a lifetime on sale now for just $19 (approximately £14). That's a massive, 99 per cent saving off the retail price for an essential asset for any designer, so grab this deal today! Related articles: The 13 best photography websites 5 reasons to use photography in your designs 15 ways to improve your photography skills View the full article

3D visual effects in the movies have evolved dramatically since their introduction in the 1980s. The art of creating realistic looking environments, monsters, creatures and buildings continues to explode, with many 2D and 3D movies now relying on the creative talent at special effects companies like Industrial Light & Magic and Weta to enhance their stories with stunning 3D art. Here's our pick of the best CGI movie moments, in no particular order. Did your favourite make the cut? 30. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Director: Guy Ritchie VFX: Framestore, ScanlineVFX, Method Studios, MPC Why watch it? Despite a cameo by David Beckham, Guy Ritchie’s retelling of the Arthurian Legends received a critical mauling and its five (five!?) sequels were immediately cancelled. However the good news is that the one sequence worth watching takes place right at the start of the film, as the massed forces of Mordred lay siege to Camelot, a huge stone fortress atop a rocky outcropping. The battle is a truly impressive spectacle with destruction on a massive scale, and featuring some of the most complex simulation work Framestore has ever done. The remainder of the film is a bit of a mixed bag, but does feature plenty of fantastical goings-on. There’s a battle with a giant snake, and some pretty cool Matrix-influenced sword fighting in the climactic encounter between Arthur and his uncle, the demon knight Vortigern – which you might want to fast-forward to. Killer sequence In a scene right out of the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Mordred’s forces approach Camelot in their thousands, accompanied by 300-foot-tall elephants. No, really. 29. Paddington 2 (2017) Director: Paul King VFX: Framestore, Rodeo FX Why watch it? Well, not only is Paddington 2 a delightful, funny and heart-warming movie – garnering 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and becoming the site’s best-reviewed film of all time – it’s also a technical masterpiece. The titular hero looks photoreal in every single shot (all 1,100 of them) and is integrated with the live-action footage flawlessly; kudos to Framestore for pulling off this incredible achievement. Indeed, as a sign of the team’s dedication, one time-lapse shot of the prison canteen changing into a chintzy tea room – a combination of CG bear, CG props and live action – took nine months to complete. But it’s one thing to make a CG creature; it’s quite another to create a performance that elicits an entire spectrum of emotions. If you don't have a tear in your eye by the end credits, you really need to see a psychiatrist. (And how long before the Best Actor Oscar goes to a CG creation?) Killer sequence When Paddington decides to earn money by washing windows, there’s some beautifully choreographed slapstick, and a shot in which Paddington uses himself as a window sponge. Hilarious and technically sublime. 28. Doctor Strange (2016) Director: Scott Derrickson VFX: Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Method Studios, Luma Pictures Why watch it? Marvel films are like Pokémon; you have to catch ’em all (at the cinema). But seriously, this slightly left-field entry in the Marvel Comics Universe really delivered in terms of an engrossing story and a hypnotic – if slightly bewildering – visual experience. When the story deals with dimension-hopping sorcerers, alternate worlds and time travel, you know you’re in for a wild ride and it took a number of VFX vendors to deliver the 1,450 effects shots. From glowing magical spells and particle effects to an artificially intelligent CG cape to Inception-style cityscapes folding in on themselves, Doctor Strange has it all. Killer sequence There are lots of great moments in Doctor Strange, but there’s one sequence in which Stephen Strange is being chased by Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) through a twisting, morphing, Möbius strip of New York City, which simply begs the question: ‘How did the hell did they do that?’ 27. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Director: Denis Villeneuve VFX: Framestore, Double Negative, Rodeo FX Why watch it? For fans of the original, it’s heart-breaking that the sequel some of us waited 35 years for has been a box-office disappointment. But that’s not for want of trying: with a production budget of $185 million, it boasts some of the most amazing, beautiful and realistic visual effects ever to grace the silver screen. The entire film is mesmerising, but highlights include the work on Joi, Ryan Gosling’s holographic girlfriend, as she interacts with the real world, plus Framestore’s amazing visualisation of the vast junkyards of San Diego, which are utterly convincing. But once again, the star of the show is the neon-festooned cityscapes of night-time LA, beautifully envisioned by DNEG and Rodeo FX, which employed hundreds of different buildings, consisting of billions of polygons. If you didn’t see Blade Runner 2049 on a big screen, you really missed out. Killer sequence… The drone’s-eye view of the ruins of Las Vegas is simply breathtaking. (And did you spot Deckard’s car from the end of Blade Runner, abandoned on the strip?) 26. Rogue One (2016) Director: Gareth Edwards VFX: Industrial Light & Magic, Hybride, Ghost VFX Why watch it? Arguably the best Star Wars film since Disney dropped $4 billion in George Lucas’s lap, it also delivered what Star Wars fans wanted: spaceships, likeable robots and tons of homages to the original trilogy. But, with the benefit of technology 40 years more advanced than that used on the first movie, Rogue One looks the business too. ILM took some brave moves with the digital recreations of Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) and a youthful Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), which were surprisingly dodgy at times. However the VFX behemoth hit its stride with some incredible space battles and the jaw-dropping destruction of Jedha City – plus most of the surrounding terrain. Throw in a handful of cameo appearances, and some seamless updates of X-Wing pilot footage from the 70s, and this entertaining sci-fi romp took fan service to another level. Killer sequence The attack on (a mostly CG) Scarif is a wonder to behold: the AT-AT walker battle on the beach, the rebel assault on the shield generator, and that bold move by a Hammerhead Corvette… (Who knew Star Destroyers were so flimsy?) 25. Pearl Harbour (2001) Director: Michael Bay VFX: ILM Why watch it? With a laboured script, leaden acting, turgid pace, and insensitive factual inaccuracies, the only reason Pearl Harbour is worth seeing is for the recreation of the infamous 1941 attack. Unbelievably, there are only four shots that are totally CG in the movie, including the two shots of the USS Arizona exploding, with the wide camera angle taking four months of constant effects work to perfect. ILM used a combination of software for the attack sequence, including AliasStudio, Maya, and Softimage for basic modelling, and employed its proprietary software, Zeno, for the many rigid body simulations. To comply with environmental rules, VFX supervisor Eric Brevig also had to write a new piece of software to create the amount of smoke plumes needed. So while it's a dreadful film, we can't help but applaud the truly brilliant CG effects. Killer sequence... A detailed recreation of the chillingly effective surprise attack by the Japanese on a US naval base. 24. Cloverfield (2008) Director: Matt Reeves VFX: Double Negative Why watch it? This may be a spin-off of Godzilla, as mysterious and severely peeved creatures attack New York, but what a spin-off it is. Cloverfield is an amazing example of how to mix hand-held live-action with quality CG effects. The most terrifying sequence happens early on, when the Statue of Liberty's head is catapulted down the road by an unknown and unseen force. Visible for several seconds in full frame, the head itself had to be built as an extremely detailed 3D model with precise texturing. Production used 4 and 5K stills of the head that were placed online following the landmark's cleaning a few years ago. These detailed the head's panelwork and areas of grime that could be used as reference when texturing the model. The genius of JJ Abrams combined with great effects is clearly a recipe for success. Killer sequence... The Statue of Liberty's scratched-up head comes sailing down a New York Street, hinting at the dangers to come. 23. Terminator Salvation (2009) Director: McG VFX: ILM, Asylum, Rising Sun Pictures and Matte World Digital Why watch it? You've got to feel sorry for John Connor: his mum was a bit mental and his only real friend was a machine that once tried to kill him and is now dead. To his credit, though, he is very determined and returns in the fourth Terminator instalment, ready to kick more shiny metal ass. Among its 1,500 VFX shots, T4 features an impressive 60ft, headless, biped robot – the aptly named Harvester – on a rampage. The huge cyborg has one of the film's most intricate rigs. ILM used techniques originally developed for Transformers to provide animators with extra flexibility when choosing which parts to control. ILM also integrated an energy-conserving shader set in RenderMan to achieve more accurate lighting and cope with the extreme contrasts of desert conditions. The ensuing segment with the truck, Moto-terminators and a giant Transporter isn't bad either. Killer sequence... The headless Harvester robot smashes up a gas station in its hunt for humans. 22. 10,000 BC (2008) Director: Roland Emmerich VFX: Double Negative (wide shots) MPC (medium and close-up shots) Why watch it? If you can ignore the script, the acting, the historical inaccuracies and the bizarre pseudo sci-fi ending, 10,000 BC is a pretty cool film, with some excellent FX work from MPC and Double Negative. The sweeping vistas over the Giza site are largely models built at 1:24 scale by Joachim Grueninger, constructed near the actual film set in Namibia, but they're enhanced with digital doubles, dust, and props. The best sequence, however, is the stampede, where a pack of mammoths is unleashed to wreak havoc among a building site with 50,000 digital slaves. Fully CG sets integrate seamlessly with live-action and model shots and, all in all, it's a suitably epic climax for a fantastically overblown movie. Killer sequence... A frightened pack of 50 captive mammoths is set loose in order to bring a pyramid building site to a grinding halt. 21. The Perfect Storm (2000) Director: Wolfgang Peterson VFX: ILM Why watch it? George Clooney may be a looker, but his character in this film isn't very smart. He plays Billy Tyne, a fishing boat captain who ignores weather warnings, in a tale that's based on the true story of the Andrea Gail from 1991. The end sequence is a CGI stonker, featuring a huge 100ft wave that finally capsizes the ship. In total, the film featured 90 completely CG shots, all of which include water elements. A further 220 shots required CG seas to be composited with live-action footage shot on a huge, moveable fishing boat set. A custom fluid dynamics system was developed to create a realistic ocean and more than 30 plug-ins were written for Maya to achieve the intricate effects. In addition to this, standalone applications for shaders and particle systems were also written in-house. In what is otherwise a slightly disappointing film, the mammoth VFX are what leave the longest-lasting impression. Killer sequence... A fishing boat and its crew run into a spot of bother on stormy seas. Next page: the countdown from 20-10... 20. Labyrinth (1986) Director: Jim Henson VFX: ILM and Optical Film Effects Why watch it? Although it may not be the most impressive effect today, back in 1986 this digital owl made quite a stir among cinema goers. It was the very first attempt at creating a realistic looking CGI animal, and we think the teams at ILM and Optical Film Effects did a mighty fine job. Although Jim Henson is more widely known for his puppetry skills (which were put to good use in the film), he managed to help create the computer-generated characters that would eventually replace them. Bill Kroyer was responsible for the award-winning design; he animated and technical-directed the flying owl, which was also produced by Alan Peach. It's safe to say that being the very first fully computer-animated animal, this opening sequence would go on to have a lasting impression on the world of CGI movie history. Killer sequence... The opening credits sees David Bowie's character Jareth the Goblin King as an owl... naturally. 19. i, Robot (2004) Director: Alex Proyas VFX: Weta Why watch it? While the huge robot punch-up at the top of the US Robotics building provides a suitably action-packed climax to proceedings, we think it's the film's other huge robot punch-up that's the more memorable. Hurtling along a suspiciously empty tunnel in his product-placed Audi RSQ sport coupe, two ominous (and beautifully designed) container vehicles glide alongside Spooner and eject their cargo of angry androids over his car. It's a brilliantly dynamic scene, featuring 90 shots and tons of destruction. Constructing the scene entirely in CG, including a digital Will Smith borrowed from Digital Domain, Weta used Maya for modelling, RenderMan for output, and Shake for compositing and some lighting effects. Killer sequence... Chicago Police Detective Del Spooner is enjoying a quiet drive home in his Audi until murderous robots attack. 18. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) Director: Roland Emmerich VFX: Tweak Films Why watch it? There's an abundance of VFX sequences in this disaster movie, but none beat the brilliant super-sized tsunami that hits Manhattan. Only responsible for five shots in the entire film, Tweak Films pulled out all the stops on the water simulation for the sequence. The small studio used its proprietary water system – a unified dynamics platform that includes rigid body dynamics, fluid dynamics and particle simulation – to create the ultra-realistic flood. LIDAR models and textures were used to build the city itself, meaning final shots were completely digital, and the resulting composition was a masterful mix of dozens of layers. Killer sequence... The massive storm causes a huge tsunami to hit Manhattan. 17. Hollow Man (2000) Director: Paul Verhoeven VFX: Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) Why watch it? The film boasts some 400 effects, ranging from simple tracking and bluescreen shots when Bacon's latex mask is seen to be empty, through to sophisticated effects where the invisible man's body is highlighted only by water or smoke. That standout VFX sequence, where Bacon becomes invisible, is a marvel too. Sony's custom volume rendering system enabled the VFX crew to replicate an entire human body in detail, where all the veins and organs move and react properly to the movement of the character. Overall, Hollow Man's not Verhoeven's best effort, but the effects are great. Killer sequence... Invisibility test subject Sebastian Caine's gradual transformation to transparency, as layers of skin, organs and bone disappear. 16. Star Wars - Episode 1 (1999) Director: George Lucas VFX: ILM Why watch it? The Phantom Menace was, at the time, the biggest visual effects project ever undertaken. The film required 35,000 storyboards and 95 per cent of the frames have digital elements in them. To visualise the sequence, ILM spent a year on R&D, working on physics systems for the destruction of the podracers plus an Adaptive Terrain Generator, which employed a level-of-detail system just so that its computers could hold the mesh data in memory. Despite the film's (many) flaws, the thrilling 320-shot podrace remains an undoubted highlight of the Star Wars canon and is well worth savouring. Killer sequence... A slave boy infested with Midi-chlorians races against aliens in an 800kph hovercraft to win his freedom. 15. Avengers Assemble (2012) cgi15 Director: Joss Whedon VFX: Weta Digital and ILM Why watch it? The visual effects for Avengers Assemble were never going to let us down – from the opening credits to the epic battle scenes, this film is truly a feast for the eyes. However, it was the particular scene of a falling Iron Man suiting up in the all new Mark VII as he descended that we found most impressive. ILM and Weta combined their talents to recreate Iron Man and this incredible sequence. ILM provided the Iron Man models, whilst Weta was responsible for creating clothes and hair for the digidoubles with their own shaders and textures. Weta used plenty of motion capture techniques, whilst the animators were responsible for the flying scenes. Killer sequence... Iron Man jumps from Stark Tower unsuited, only for his Iron Man suit to follow and dress him with centimetres to spare. 14. District 9 (2009) Director: Neill Blomkamp VFX: Weta Workshop & Image Engine Why watch it? With a modest budget of $30million, District 9 still manages to make it onto an array of top CGI movie lists thanks to the hard work of Weta Workshop. It takes a great design team to come up with a ship design that will stick and the mothership featured in the film pleased many a sci-fi fan. Image Engine completed 311 visual effects shots for District 9 and whilst these shots were predominantly of digital aliens, the studio also developed the mothership. In the cases where shots required both a background ship and foreground character animation or other visual effects, Weta would pre-comp the ship and provide the completed comp to the relevant facility. You can read more about the special effects used in the film in 'The Art of District 9'. Killer sequence... The mothership of the 'prawns' is revealed and hovers about Johannesburg, South Africa for three months. 13. Gladiator (2000) Director: Ridley Scott VFX: Mill Film Ltd Why watch it? Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were the academy award-nominated special effects created for this epic Ridley Scott Roman tale. Visual effects supervisor John Nelson quoted that "it was always our concept to treat the Colosseum like it was the Super Bowl, in that you're going out on the field with the players and you have 40,000 people screaming for your head". A model of the colosseum was about one storey high and didn't even complete the full circle. To recreate the 3D colosseum, Nelson and his team used the blueprints from designer Arthur Max and added a further two storeys, a roof, the outside wall, the back end of the colosseum and of course, the crowds. They photographed the textures, the patina and stucco used on the actual colosseum and then added those textures to the CGI movie version. The 540 degree camera shot in the film really shows off their skill. Killer sequence... Maximus Meridius (Russell Crowe) fights to the death in a re-imagined colosseum. 12. Spiderman 3 (2007) Director: Sam Raimi VFX: SPI Why watch it? The movie is packed full of knock-out effects – many of which include its other two villains, Venom and the Green Goblin – but the 2,700-frame, three-minute 'birth of Sandman' sequence manages to top them all. The Sony Pictures Imageworks team spent a year in R&D working on the tools that would enable them to fully achieve the complicated effect for Flint Marko's new form. To visualise Sandman's varying states, they used a mixture of particle and fluid/gas simulations, plus SphereSim – a custom simulation engine that helped generate natural-looking sand piles. This technology, combined with Houdini and RenderMan plug-ins, makes the VFX sequence one of the most emotional and impressive moments of the entire trilogy. Killer sequence... 'Unlucky' Flint Marko stumbles across the world's only experimental particle physics site, turning him into the invincible Sandman. 11. Inception (2010) Director: Chris Nolan VFX: Double Negative Why watch it? Inception is a surreal story about dreams within dreams that keeps the audience awake with its truly masterful VFX. When architect Ariadne starts to "mess with the physics of it all" within her own dreamscape, she casually folds up Paris in one of the film's most complicated and impressive sequences. To achieve the intricate effect, the Double Negative team spent two weeks taking thousands of stills and working from millimetre-accurate scans provided by LIDAR services to replicate a photorealistic model of four Parisian apartment blocks. Digital cars and people were also added to the upended cityscape and the Ptex mapping technique used to avoid the burden of UVs. The team also had to devise a series of cheats to fully achieve the shots needed, including hiding intersecting buildings behind other geometry and a set of careful camera moves. Killer sequence... Ariadne gains confidence in her dreamscape and folds Paris into a cube, naturally. Next page: the countdown from 10-01... 10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) Director: Michael Bay VFX: ILM Why watch it? Okay, okay we know the third film in the Transformers franchise isn't going to win any Oscars for plot or acting abilities, but there's no way you can ignore the hugely impressive special effects that grace the screen for much of the running time. ILM was already responsible for the previous two films, but the character of The Driller was going to test their abilities. The robot was almost three times as big as the Transformers and it's well known among special effects teams that tentacles are one of the harder aspects to get right. Seeing as Driller was a tentacle with tentacles (with 70,051 parts!) this was a big ask. It took a staggering 288 hours per frame to render the Driller along with the photoreal CG building that includes all those reflections in its glass. ILM calculates that it added up to more than 200,000 rendering hours per day – or the equivalent of 22.8 years of render time in a 24-hour period. Killer sequence... Driller goes on a rampage through Marina city, causing a fair bit of damage. 09. King Kong (2005) Director: Peter Jackson VFX: Weta Why watch it? We're not sure why one, let alone three, V-Rex would be interested in eating Naomi Watts: she'd hardly make a filling meal. Nevertheless, Kong has to stop his new size-8 friend from becoming dinosaur fodder in this thrilling, 10-minute-long, CG-heavy sequence. Weta doubled its capacity in terms of render farm and disc space, and took on roughly 25 per cent more people to create King Kong. The team used a Maya, RenderMan and Shake pipeline, and created custom software for the ape's fur. Since Ann gets thrown about, Weta also had to use a digital double for Naomi Watts in these scenes. Ultimately, this remake of the 1933 classic proves that good things also come in big packages. Killer sequence... The mighty ape takes on three mighty V-Rex in order to protect Ann. 08. The Abyss (1989) Director: James Cameron VFX: Steve Johnson's XFX, Inc, ILM Why watch it? This was the very first use of digitally animated water, which means it was a mile stone in CGI movie history. The aquatic aliens were the first creatures on film made entirely from water, and back in 1989 this visual effect was jaw-dropping. The 75-second sequence was divided up between seven special effects companies, but it was ILM that created the program that would simulate the watery creature with incredible realism. The combination of live action and CG effects was levelled up as actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio comes into contact with the creature – although we wouldn't recommend tasting an alien. This was a special effects milestone that helped advance the use of CGI in film for years to come. Killer sequence... The civilian diving team come face-to-face with an alien aquatic species. 07. The Matrix (1999) Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski VFX: Manex Visual Effects Why watch it? Not only is this film one of the greatest sci-fi creations, one particular scene has become renowned for its use of special effects within the film industry. The 'bullet-time' special effect is a time-rendered simulation that creates variable speed to show objects such as flying bullets in slow motion. The method used for creating this effect involved a technically expanded version of an old art photography technique known as time-slice photography, in which a large number of cameras are placed around an object and triggered nearly simultaneously. When the sequence of shots is viewed, the viewer sees what is, in effect, two-dimensional 'slices' of a three-dimensional moment. It's no wonder, then, that the team went on to win an Academy award for their efforts. Killer sequence... Neo (Keanu Reeves) dodges bullets from The Agents. 06. Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (2003) Director: Peter Jackson VFX: Weta Why watch it? Widely appreciated as one of the best battle scenes of all time, the battle of Pelannor Fields in the final Lord of the Rings film is jaw-droppingly impressive. Over 1,500 effects shots were used in the third film (more than the first two films combined) with the team at Weta relying on the model team and photography of the landscape to get the battle looking as realistic as possible. Although the charging Mmakil were initially created using real life elements, Weta decided to compile them entirely digitally due to a last minute request from Peter Jackson. The elephant-like creatures were created entirely from keyframing and the team at Weta went on to win their third Oscar in three years. Not bad at all. Killer sequence... The final battle of the Pelennor Fields. 05. Tron (1982) Director: Steven Lisberger VFX: MAGI Why watch it? Although the original Tron didn't do particularly well at the box office thanks to competition from Blade Runner and ET, there's no denying the film was a turning point in the use of visual effects and CGI movie history. It may not have aged well but the production of Tron marked the first time that computer-generated imagery had been extensively used in a feature film. MAGI used a SynthaVision process to create the computer graphics for the film; this process utilised basic geometric shapes that the computer recognised as solid objects with density. By varying the size and quantity of these shapes, MAGI could construct a limited variety of three-dimensional designs and animate them easily. Interestingly, Tron was disqualified from competition for 1982's Visual Effects Oscar because computer-aided effects were considered cheating. Killer sequence... The first glimpse of the light bikes. 04. Terminator 2 (1991) Director: James Cameron VFX: ILM Why watch it? The effects used in Terminator 2 were the most ambitious since the 1982 release of Tron. Although the CGI scenes only take up a total of 5 minutes of the film, it took a team of 35 animators, technicians and artists ten months to create. In order to make a computer model of the face of the T-1000, ILM used laser scanning technology called Cyberscan. They projected a laser beam across the face of Robert Patrick and used video cameras to build the 3D database. Robert's distinctive walk and run were also recorded and studied vigorously to make the T-1000 as realistic as possible. Unsurprisingly, the team went on to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1992. Killer sequence... T-1000 emerges from an explosion, revealing his liquid metal structure. 03. Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (2002) Director: Peter Jackson VFX: Weta Why watch it? The creation of JRR Tolkien's vision of Gollum took over 1,000 drawings to get right, and was the very first time an actor's performance and digital animation were combined to make one lifelike CGI movie character. The Gollum head model consisted of just over 2,600 polygons, which were mostly quads. Raitt also created tools that exposed 64 control points to animation artists, who then animated Gollum into the film's scenes. Initially, actor Andy Serkis was only supposed to voice the character. But after witnessing his extreme facial expressions, the team at Weta decided to scrap their first model and instead film Serkis, capturing the movements that way. It was a monumental moment in CG history and Serkis went on to work with the same methods while playing Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Killer sequence... The full realisation of Gollum. 02. Avatar (2009) Director: James Cameron VFX: Weta and ILM Why watch it? Because it's probably the most complex visual effects sequence created to date. So complex, in fact, that it needed the combined power of the planet's most accomplished FX houses to complete. Apart from some bluescreen shots of live-action actors in cockpits, it's all CG: gunships, missiles, smoke trails, water, fire, an army of photorealistic virtual characters and a giant tree made of 20 million polygons with 1.2 million leaves. The detailed explosions are entirely CG too, a technique ILM pioneered with a customised version of its fluid dynamics engine. Oh, and it's all in stereoscopic 3D to boot. But despite being the product of two teams working 6,500 miles apart and on different scenes, the action intercuts between them seamlessly. Whatever you think of Cameron's magnum opus, the 200-plus shots of the hometree destruction make for a jaw-dropping sequence and a new benchmark for VFX Killer sequence... The Omaticaya clan's deciduous condo gets a drastic makeover, courtesy of the evil Resources Development Administration. 01. Jurassic Park (1993) Director: Steven Spielberg VFX: ILM Why watch it? Because it's potentially the biggest, most eagerly awaited reveal shot in cinematic history. To tackle the task of creating dinosaurs, ILM scanned in chunks of a model brachiosaurus to create patch meshes, then used custom program SOCK (Surface Original with Continuous sKin) developed for Terminator 2, to create an overall mesh. A new app called Envelope was also created, enabling the underlying points to be manipulated – either by hand or driven by other geometry – thus recreating the effect of muscles beneath the skin. Both Alias PowerAnimator and Softimage Creative Environment 2.0 take credit for the animation in the movie, the latter employed because of Chain, the first commercially available IK system. Finally, a Dinosaur Input Device (DID) was developed by Craig Hayes of Tippett Studio. Built just like a stop-motion armature, this rig translated movement into keyframes, enabling the stop-motion artists to transfer their well-honed skills into the digital realm. Killer sequence... We finally get to see a living, breathing dinosaur – and Spielberg wrings every last second from the moment. Some of the extracts were originally published in 3D World magazine; subscribe here. Related articles: The best 3D modelling software 2018 31 brilliant Blender tutorials 25 great tutorials to improve your 3D skills View the full article

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Creative graduates might roll out of university armed with a fresh portfolio and buckets of enthusiasm, but one area in which they're often lacking is professional experience. Sometimes, this can lead to new graduates being treated unfairly while on placement or working in a junior position. Now, however, the recently launched Green Light List aims to combat this inequality. Unveiled yesterday, the Green Light List platform gives creatives the chance to anonymously review agencies. If the agencies in question are found to treat interns, graduates and entry-level employees fairly, they're awarded a 'Green Light' of recognition. Created by design educator Jenny Theolin, in collaboration with creative technology company rehab, Green Light also hopes to become a resource bank that will inform and educate junior staff and students about their legal rights. Whereas other sites that rate employers can become hung up on the negatives, Green Light is all about focusing on the positives and championing the agencies that treat their staff well. With the ultimate goal of stopping the poor treatment of interns and juniors, Green Light has come along just as diversity and equality in all industries has come under extreme scrutiny. Companies who undervalue our junior workforce don’t deserve them Jenny Theolin "I truly believe we need to focus on the positive, promote the awesome companies, and inspire talent," says project instigator Theolin, who's the owner of Studio Theolin. "Our junior workforce is extremely important for the future of the creative industries. Companies who undervalue them don’t deserve them. I am very pleased rehab joined me in the fight to promote the good eggs in our industry." "We’ve created a platform that we hope will help interns, graduate and juniors find great entry-level positions with companies who really value their time, talent and passion. I am fed up with the agency bullies and if this list only helps one individual, it’s a roaring success!" The CEO of rehab, Rob Bennett, adds: "The fair treatment of junior team members is of crucial importance to the future of the creative industry. At rehab we are really committed to this as without a diverse mix of young team members we limit ourselves. This is true across the industry landscape. It’s time for creative companies to stand up and take accountability." "Green Light List is an important project for us. Failing to address this unfair treatment puts us, as an industry collective, at risk of real long-term issues with talent acquisition and consequently the quality of work we are able to deliver." Related articles: 6 best collaboration tools for design studios Launch a world-class design studio with the ‘three Fs’ 7 ways to make your design studio a better place to work View the full article

Whether you're building large-scale ecommerce websites for clients or simply need a home for your design portfolio, choosing the right hosting is essential. These days the most likely choice you'll have to make is between cloud and shared hosting, but what's the difference? 12 best web hosting services We're used to seeing the word 'cloud' stuck in front of virtually every technological term out there. And while tech-savvy individuals have a decent grasp of what 'the cloud' is, the same can't be said for all its potential applications. Cloud hosting, for example, is not simply shared hosting with a cloud badge stuck on the front of it. Cloud hosting is in a league of its own when compared to more traditional forms of shared hosting, and offers many unique advantages that qualify its existence. This article will explore these differences. What is cloud hosting? The critical differentiator of cloud hosting is that it draws computing power from a pool of dynamically allocated resources across a large network of physical components, not a fixed set of hardware. What is shared hosting? Shared hosting, on the other hand, is a web hosting solution where each customer receives a portion of server hardware to run their website or application. Shared hosting is often the most economical way to get online, because the service provider houses multiple customers on a single web server, resulting in lower costs overall. While shared hosting can be perfect as a cost-effective platform for less demanding projects, it has its limits. With several customers sharing one set of physical hardware, individual users can't rely on a guaranteed level of server performance. This might not be an issue for sites and applications with minimal requirements or low visitor numbers, but when it comes to running intensive, business-critical processes, many users find that shared hosting isn't up to snuff. A bone of contention The reason shared hosting isn't suitable for intensive applications? In a word: contention. The full power of the hardware will always be pulled in several directions at once, with different websites and applications in constant competition for processing power. Imagine one customer on a shared platform gets a sudden spike in traffic. Luckily, other websites on the same server are quiet, so some resources can be allocated to cope with the extra visitors. But what happens when several websites are popular at once? The server only has a finite amount of resources to parcel out, so intensive applications will regularly struggle to get what they need. The end result is inconsistent performance, slow loading times and a shoddy experience for the end-user. If your website is a major source of leads or sales, this presents a serious shortcoming. Even with high contention, shared hosting can still use sophisticated tech to provide decent performance, at least for sites with low or medium requirements. But the fact remains: demanding sites will never get predictable, consistently high performance on anything other than a dedicated platform. The performance issue One major misconception of cloud hosting is that it doesn't offer any significant performance boost. This couldn't be further from the truth. With cloud hosting, every single resource you configure is dedicated to you alone. Processors, RAM and SSD storage provide guaranteed performance on cloud hosting, exactly the same way they do on complete servers. Like a shared platform, everything can be managed from one central control panel, but with the flexibility to also manage files via SFTP, install and update apps, manage databases and DNS, and manipulate source code. But of course, as mentioned before, the biggest difference is that unlike shared hosting, cloud hosting offers fully dedicated resources that can be scaled on demand for guaranteed performance. A kind of 'dedicated hosting' option for users who want the increased power of their own server, but don't want to deal with server management. Hopefully this exploration of 'cloud hosting vs shared hosting' has cleared up some misconceptions! This article was originally published in issue 301 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 301 here or subscribe here. Take your web design career to the next level Leading web design event Generate New York is back. Taking place between 25-27 April, headline speakers include SuperFriendly’s Dan Mall, web animation consultant Val Head, full-stack JavaScript developer Wes Bos and more. There’s also a day of workshops and top networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. Related articles: 4 tips to improve your page’s performance A web designer's guide to hosting the perfect party 7 expert tips for nailing web performance View the full article

When figuring out how to draw animals, an important step is to conduct muscle studies. Vertebrate anatomy is consistent and, as you study, you'll notice that muscle groups between different animals are very similar, if not the same. Just like with the skeletons, it's only the shapes and sizes that differ between different animals. Despite a few differences, vertebrate bodies all share the same basic muscle systems. In this article, I'll show you how to simplify these basic muscle groups to start building up an animal's form. For this example, I'll be drawing a canid (a dog) walking. 01. Start with a wireframe Don't worry about detail, but focus on getting the proportions right We need a skeleton to attach our muscles to, so I begin with my 2H pencil and lay out a quick gesture. I'm not worried about detail; I just want the shape, proportion and motion at this stage. Wireframes are the easiest way to jot down an animal's pose. This technique is not only useful for foundation drawing like this, but also life drawing at the zoo. Using a harder lead for this will help keep the drawing light and workable as you move forward with your muscle study. 02. Add in skeletal details Now that I've got my wireframe in place, I can introduce a few details. These are what I call landmark bones, such as the scapula, the ribs and the great trochanter. These are bones where muscle groups attach. I keep my touch light here still. I'm only looking for landmarks that'll help inform where my muscles need to attach to the skeleton. You'll notice that my canid skeleton isn't detailed, but the gesture and proportions are in place so that I can build on top of it. 03. Find the large muscle groups Focus on including the main muscle shapes This is probably the most valuable and important step. We know that there are complicated muscle systems in place, but we really just want to find the major shape so we can begin to see the whole shape of the animal. Using an HB pencil, I lay in those large groups over my skeleton. When I draw muscle groups, I'm only thinking about large shapes that house lots of different, smaller muscle shapes. This keeps things simple and helps you see the entire shape of the animal. 04. Work in smaller muscle systems Smaller systems fit around the main muscle groups Now that I've got my basic shape, I find those muscle systems around the body. This is where textbooks and diagrams will inform you. Remember that muscles pull from bone. They're directly attached, and push and pull the skeleton around. I begin to find those smaller muscle systems inside of the larger muscle groups. I'm always looking to see where the muscle is attached to the bone. At this point I switch to my red Col-Erase pencil. These pencils are great because you can easily range from dark to light. However, they do wear down quickly, so if you're drawing from life, it's a good idea to have a few ready to go with sharpened tips, just so you can switch them out quickly and not waste time sharpening. 05. Finish the details Details indicate how the muscles work together It's time to find those muscle details. I show the different ligaments and texture of the muscle, which help indicate the direction in which things move around. I'm careful to keep my pencil loose so as not to lose that 'flow' as I draw. I begin to find those smaller muscle systems inside of the larger muscle groups. I'm always looking to see where the muscle is attached to the bone. Adding detail such as texture and value can help make your study more readable. The advantage of using different colours in pencil is that you can always reference both the skeleton and the muscles, to see where they’re attached. This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe now. Liked this? Try these... Perfect your figures with our anatomy masterclass En plein air painting: 5 tips for painting moving objects Get better at figure drawing View the full article

Recently, we took a look at why every graphic designer needs to master user experience. Although most commonly associated with web design, UX extends way beyond the web, "flowing end-to-end, through the customer journey," says Matt Theakston, experience design director at TH_NK. 11 best pieces of user testing software Here are five expert tips to help users get what they want – and expect – while interacting with your designs. 01. Stay nimble While the principles of graphic design might be immutable, UX is a different beast. As Theakston puts it: “Print design is like tennis, it’s individual and heroic, even. Digital service design is more like football, but played on a constantly moving pitch, without a fixed playing time, where the rules keep changing.” 02 If in doubt, reduce “Design for strong centre-of-use first,” says Theakston. “Every service and product has a core journey, so start here. Ask ‘What is our user’s intent, at every point?’ and design for it. And if you’re stuck, take as much out of the interface as you can for it still to function. Adding is easy.” 03. Psychology is the foundation There are six common, basic Gestalt Principles, which you can read about here. As UX is focused on users, understanding psychology is crucial, says Lee Carroll, senior interaction designer at Seymourpowell. “Graphic designers already use psychology in visual design – in Gestalt theory to name an obvious example – to communicate a message or direct a viewer. So they could arguably be very well placed to use the same principles to design a user experience with a machine.” 04. Good UX is invisible “Most of the best user experiences work so seamlessly in tune with your expectations that you barely notice them,” notes Alec East, founder of Narrative Industries. “So the goal is to understand what the user wants and expects from interacting with your design, then make sure your design helps them achieve it.” 05. Stand up for UX "You may need to fight for UX within the process," adds East. “Sometimes it gets overridden by other, more tangible commercial factors. But anything that performs better than its competitors must, in some way, be better designed for its purpose. As Enzo Ferrari said, ‘Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.’” Related articles: New skills in UX design How to make it in the web design industry Here's how hackers are stealing your data View the full article

The theme of our roundup this month is speed and efficiency: a few of these tools will do amazing things for your workflow by cutting out tedious, frustrating tasks that have nothing to do with design. Take Stackswell – it automates all the annoying bits of doing responsive design in Sketch. Another of our tools speeds things up for you by extracting and organising all the assets from a .sketch file. On top of that there’s a cool new billing product from Stripe, a great networking tool for creatives by Tina Roth Eisenberg and a fantastic tool for measuring things on your screen in pixels. 01. Design Systems Repo Everything you need to approach any aspect of working with a design system If you’ve been tasked with working on some of the ingredients for your organisation’s design system, or perhaps even building or codifying the system itself, you’ll want to get up to speed with the latest resources on the topic. For this, Design Systems Repo is your friend. It’s a collection of books, articles, talks, websites, tools, design systems, pattern libraries and style guides that you can use to get an understanding of how top organisations and leading thinkers are doing things. 02. PixelSnap Measuring things on your screen is no longer slow and annoying PixelSnap is a very nifty app that makes measuring things on your screen much, much less annoying. Put your cursor between two elements such as an image and a heading, and it automatically tells you the number of pixels between them. Draw a rectangle around an element and it snaps around it and tells you its dimensions. Yes. You can measure things that quickly. Check out the video on the homepage to get the idea. The app is priced at $15, and the only drawback is that it’s only available as a Mac app for now. But if you’re a Mac user, it’s a great thing. 03. Sketch.The.Ripper Get all the assets out of a Sketch file with a single click Exporting and preparing assets from Sketch to hand over to another team can be a real drag, so the prospect of a tool that does it for you with one click is rather exciting. Sketch.The.Ripper extracts and organises the screens, copy and raster images from all the artboards in a .sketch file, and presents them in a convenient manner. You can see an example of the output from a ripped file here. This tool is web-based so it works on any OS, which can remove some friction from your workflow if people are using different systems. It’s made by Icons8, and you can read more about it here. 04. Stackswell Automate the boring aspects of creating a responsive design in Sketch Stackswell speeds up your responsive design workflow by bringing media queries into Sketch, and automating the process of updating type styles and symbols for each breakpoint. Instead of doing this work manually, when you adjust the width of an artboard the styles automatically update. Stackswell also spares you the work of having to check your vertical spacing for each breakpoint, so you get consistent spacing with minimal hassle. You can read more about it in this article. 05. Variable Fonts Discover and experiment with variable fonts Variable fonts enable you to use many different font weights and widths without having to include a separate file for each: you include one file and then modify the font using CSS. It’s a great situation because it enables you to use typography to its best effect in your designs, without having to increase your page weight. Not all variable fonts are equal though; some are more flexible than others. This tool enables you to find different fonts and experiment with them to see if they suit your needs. For further information on variable fonts and to get an idea of what can be achieved, try this demo. 06. Stripe Billing Build your own flexible billing system using the Stripe Billing API Stripe’s new billing product for online businesses offers a third way for companies considering the dilemma of whether to build or buy a billing system (for more on this, take a look at our article on online shop solutions). The Stripe Billing API integrates easily into an existing site and enables you to use building blocks to create a flexible system tailored to your needs. When your system is set up, everything is managed from a dashboard where you can keep on top of subscriptions, invoices and financial reports. You also get powerful features such as Stripe’s global payments system, which handles different currencies and credit cards, and the flexible billing components that let you experiment with pricing. 07. CreativeGuild A directory of creative companies, individuals and jobs LinkedIn for creatives CreativeGuild is a spin-off of CreativeMornings, a free monthly lecture series founded by Tina Roth Eisenberg in Brooklyn a decade ago. The concept was a hit and there are now CreativeMornings chapters in over 185 cities all over the world, each with its own vibrant community that nurtures and inspires its members. CreativeGuild is intended to bring some of the community aspect online so that it’s accessible to more people. You can think of it as being a bit like LinkedIn, but for creatives. There’s a directory of creative companies, individuals and jobs, and you can search by location to find opportunities in your city. 08. Mobbin Browse mobile design patterns to find inspiration for your own projects Mobbin is a gallery of mobile app designs that you can use to get ideas for your own projects – instead of installing lots of apps, you can browse them in one place to see how others are solving design problems. Six screens for each app are displayed so you can get an idea of the user journey and design pattern for each one. There’s also a sidebar displaying job listings. 09. HueSnap Generate colour palettes from photos by taking or uploading images You never know when inspiration will strike; perhaps the decor of a hotel or the light in the park will feel like the right colour scheme for your work. If that happens, you can snap a photo and use HueSnap to extract the colours from the image and make them into a palette. The app is aimed at mobile usage so works best on your phone, and you can save and share your palettes with others. There are various features to help you modify a palette, such as options to choose complementary and compound colours. Your palettes can have up to six colours each. For more, take a look at our roundup of the best colour tools for web designers. 10. Eggradients Nice gradients with weird names in egg-shaped containers Whoever put together this collection of beautiful gradients has a great eye for colour and an interesting sense of humour. Each gradient is displayed in an egg-shaped container and given a name which may or may not relate to the colours in some way. If there is a relation, we haven't been able to decipher it. Example names include 'Successful Immigrant' for a turquoise gradient, 'Wozniak’s Broken Heart' for a pale blue and 'Merciful Enemy' for a yellow to green transition. Get your ticket to Generate New York Leading web design event Generate New York is back. Taking place between 25-27 April, headline speakers include SuperFriendly’s Dan Mall, web animation consultant Val Head, full-stack JavaScript developer Wes Bos and more. There’s also a day of workshops and top networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. Read more: 22 free ebooks for designers and artists Could Craft 3 become your go-to CMS? How to make it in the web design industry View the full article

Typography can make or break a poster. No matter how perfect the imagery, if the right information isn't conveyed in the right way, the design has failed – which is why the typography in poster design is so important. Whether you're designing gig or movie poster, a product advert or digital campaign, these examples of typography in posters are sure to inspire you. 01. Solo: A Star Wars Story As snazzy as they are, these posters were called out for plagiarism Before they caused controversy, these posters for the forthcoming standalone Han Solo movie caught the world's attention with their inventive yet nostalgic typography design. Placing the character illustrations within the typography itself is a great way to grab the eye, while also making the type more than just a way to convey the title. Keeping the Solo stamp at the top of each poster is a clever way to keep the branding present, too. 02. NRMAL Keeping the brand type consistent throughout these posters is what makes them pop NRMAL is an annual music festival taking place in Mexico City. Keeping the brand typography running throughout the poster designs strengthens the identity, and these examples show how you can do that while also being playful and creative. The zine-like, cut-and-paste placement of the type, along with the festival name in the right-hand corner, makes these typography posters a great example of clean, consistent design, while still staying true to the youthful and edgy style of the festival. 03. OKJA Okja’s characters are described with choice cut typography More and more movies are going direct to Netflix these days, so it’s important to get the advertising on point to attract new viewers. Last year’s Okja tells the tale of a young woman and her quest to prevent her giant pig from heading to the slaughter house. These clever typographic poster designs describe the film’s three main characters using cuts of meat – just like a butcher would. The chalk-like effect on the type also harks back to butcher boards. 04. Alzheimers A prominent, powerful message is echoed through this typography A poster campaign for a charity needs to be eye-catching, but it also needs to send a strong message of the charity’s aims. These powerful typography-led posters for the Dutch Alzheimer Foundation were created by Studio Dumbar and provide a striking, heartbreaking visual of what Alzheimer's disease can do to the brain. The disease often causes small brain lesions and this is transported to the typography design, with spots causing the type to become less clear. It’s a powerful choice. 05. Mogwai This eye-catching typography poster was designed by Afonso de Lima Mogwai is a relatively well-known band that made it onto our best album artwork list. They're known for their artistic output, so it’s not surprising to find them here. Designed by Afonso de Lima, the water-inspired typography is an innovative, playful way to promote the gig, making for a unique yet attractive typography poster. 06. Get Out This typography poster makes clever use of colour Get Out was undoubtedly one of the biggest films of 2017, going on to win a number of awards, and the praise of fans and critics alike. As a movie focusing on race relations, the typography design on this particular poster offers a clever indicator of its themes and tongue-in-cheek yet serious approach to the subject. 07. Axfood A tasty typography poster from Swedish agency Snask This Snask project for Axfood caught our eye because the typography is created entirely out of food. The colour-coded style on each letter makes the whole word stand out, while the type design at the top keeps a clean-cut feel. Another stellar project from some of the most playful designers around. 08. Sydlexia Typography takes centre stage in these posters from communications specialists BBDO Dubai Much like the Alzheimer Foundation posters created by Studio Dumbar, these typographic posters aim to highlight the difficulties that come with living with dyslexia. Created by BBDO Dubai, type and origami is used to present the problems people with dyslexia face, with words broken and rearranged. By unfolding the original word, type then appears scrambled, making for a powerful message that's translated through innovative type design and layout. The logo placed at the bottom, with its optimistic outlook, ensures the posters also provide a positive solution. 09. Isle of Dogs Using both the Japanese and English titles makes this typography stand out When it comes to Wes Anderson, you can always rely on a quirky, innovative product. For his latest movie, Isle of Dogs, the posters compliment the film’s setting in a futuristic Japan. It could be difficult to make the typography stand out with all the main characters staring directly at the viewer, but thanks to a bold colour choice and using not one but two languages, the title of the film is as prominent as can be. Anderson is a keen user of yellow and red in all his movies, so it’s not surprising to find the Japanese and English versions of the title presented in these shades. 10. American Express Pentagram provides a refresh for an American giant Designed by Pentagram’s Abbott Miller, the new visual identity for American Express brings in some bold new type. It marks the first update to the company’s design in 37 years – and the poster brings the font to the forefront. Keeping to the brand's iconic blue and white colour schemes, the poster design pushes the brand name to new heights. Related articles: 50 top typography tutorials 5 typography trends for 2018 Are movie posters in a design crisis? View the full article

Icons play a major role in design. As well as telling users what to do, they can create a memorable image that people will associate with your product. Make sure you always have the perfect icon for any occasion with Iconscout. You can get a one-year subscription now for just $29.99 (approximately £22). Iconscout is home to a nearly endless supply of professionally designed icons across dozens of categories, all ready to be used in your next project. These come in a variety of formats, filetypes and sizes so you can download them and put them to use any way you’d like. Sift through more than 840,000 icons – with more being added all the time – and find the exact style you require, no matter what you're working on. You can get a discounted one-year subscription to Iconscout for just $29.99 (approximately £22). That saves you 74 per cent off the retail price. For any designer working on any platform, it’s an offer too good to pass up. Related articles: 5 huge trends in app icon design 5 killer icon design tips Create product icons in Illustrator View the full article

Version control was originally aimed at developers working with code, as a way for multiple developers to work on the same codebase at the same time with the ability to roll back to earlier versions if needed. It means that multiple versions of the codebase (earlier and current) aren’t scattered around the computer systems of various developers with no accountability and no clarity as to who is working on what. And now, Abstract has brought this functionality to designers using Sketch. But, if version control has been common practice for years, why are designers only getting access to it now? Designers have shied away from version control for a number of reasons. Firstly, version control usually requires you to learn how to use Git and operate it using command line (Windows) or Terminal (macOS), and since designers tend to favour the use of GUIs (graphical user interfaces), version control has remained favourable with mostly developers. Abstract solves these issues for designers. So say goodbye to design.sketch, design2.sketch, .designfinal.sketch and designfinalfinal.sketch, and say hello to Abstract instead. 01. Create an organisation The first thing you’ll want to do is create an organisation, which establishes a clear divide between the work that you do in the different teams that you’re in. Click on your username in the top-middle region of the desktop app window, then choose the ‘+ Create new Organization’ option. Click Create Team when you’re done and then switch back to the desktop app so we can invite our team. 02. Invite members Build your design team online by adding members to your group Revert back to the username dropdown and switch to the organisation that we created (shortcut: Cmd+2). Then, from the sidebar on the left-hand side, click the Invite button. First, decide what sort of permissions the invited users will have. Viewers will be able to review designs, leave comments and export files untracked, whereas Contributors can also create branches, commit changes and edit files. Only admins of the organisation (that’s you) can invite Contributors. 03. Create a project Projects are the different things that your organisation is working on, such as a client’s website or another client’s iOS app. Click the New Project button in the top-right corner. Give it a name, a description, a colour to identify it by (which could be the primary hex code from the design itself). 04. Import a Sketch file Projects are started when you click on the card and select either Import a Sketch file or Create Sketch File. Sketch files created in Abstract can be exported out of Abstract later. In order to track and version your .sketch files, you must first open the file via Abstract. To avoid any confusion when you are working with imported Sketch files, we recommend that you move the original to somewhere where you won’t accidentally open it and begin editing without thinking. Sketch files created in Abstract are automatically versioned. 05. Create a branch Create a branch to represent the version you're working on Before we can begin designing, we must create a branch first. A branch extends from the master and represents your version that you’ll be working on. Click the New Branch button in the top-right corner or, alternatively, click Edit in Sketch, where you’ll be asked to create a new branch anyway (you should never commit unreviewed changes to the master). First thing’s first, write the name and description for the branch. Branches are opened for experimentation, so you’d create a new branch each time you work on something new and they’d be named something like ‘login-redesign’ or ‘social-links’. This lets others know what’s being worked on and reduces the risks of having two conflicted versions of the design later on. Once you’ve added a branch name and description, the file will open in Sketch, where we can be working on it. 06. Commit your changes When you’re ready to say “I’m done for now”, hit the Preview & Commit button that appears in the Abstract toolbar in Sketch, where you’ll be switched back to Abstract automatically. Give the project a title and description explaining what you’ve done in this branch, then click the Commit Changes button. 07. Comment and review phase Next click the No Status drop-down box in the upper-left corner and change the selection to Open for Feedback if you need some direction or Ready for Review if you think this branch is ready to be merged into the master (ie you think what you intended to do in this branch has been honoured). Contributors and viewers can then see in Abstract’s main dashboard that this branch needs reviewing and can quickly add their own comments. 08. Share feedback Add comments by clicking through to the branch from the dashboard, selecting the relevant page (as defined in Sketch) and writing a comment in the Comment sidebar on the right-hand side. To make comments on a specific aspect of the design, click the annotate icon (shortcut: A) at the bottom of the Comment sidebar and drag-select a region on the design. After that, type your comment and hit return. If you’re speaking to somebody directly, make sure to @mention them and they’ll receive a notification about it. Also, make sure to check out the history sidebar on the left-hand side, to see (visually) what exactly has changed. 09. Merge into master When the time comes, merge worked-on branches with the master Click Merge Branch in the top-right corner of the interface. We’ve now deployed these changes to the master. Other designers, should they create a new branch from the master called, say, ‘navigation-redesign’, they will now have access to the changes you made and be able to build upon it. The master should only ever contain changes that you’d be happy to let other designers use and build upon. Our old branch no longer exists. 10. Don't sweat mistakes Should you need to roll back to an earlier version, navigate to the master – or even an earlier commit of a branch, if you haven’t merged it yet – click on the Commits tab, traverse through the history and then hit the Restore Commit icon. You can revert back to older versions of the master and also older versions of branches as long as they haven’t been merged. This article was originally published in issue 298 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 298 or subscribe to net. Want to learn more about managing your informational architecture? Abby Covert is giving her talk How to Make Sense of Any Mess at Generate New York from 25-27 April 2018 Businesses are spending more time and money on digital than ever before, and seemingly less time developing clear communications in the language they use and structures they create. Designers encounter challenges with merging these languages and structures, often from more than one organisation and across multiple channels. In her talk at Generate New York from 25-27 April 2018, Abby Covert, information architect at Etsy, will show you several ways to approach these challenges, and introduce you to tools and concepts that will strengthen your information architecture. Generate New York takes place from 25-27 April 2018. Get your ticket now. Related articles: Get started with Git version control Streamline your Git workflow with Tower Master version control with Git View the full article

Established in 1860, Battersea is a much-loved British charity that cares for cats and dogs across the UK. Originally known as the Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs, the charity's identity has been tweaked over the years, with the organisation most recently titled: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. Today, Battersea unveiled a new identity, created by Pentagram partners Marina Willer and Naresh Ramchandani, which drops the 'Dogs & Cat's Home', instead opting for a new brand line: Here for every dog and cat. Battersea's new (left) and previous (right) logo design The refresh also includes a new logo design, made up of a family of hand-drawn, abstract watercolour images by Japanese illustrator Hiromi Suzuki, designed to emphasise the charity's commitment to every animal in its care. 5 brands so strong they don't need a logo Retaining Battersea’s signature blue, the illustrations – made up of five dogs and five cats – are used in varying combinations, making the brand more accessible to different platforms. The illustrations are complimented with a sharp Franklin Gothic wordmark. Battersea's new identity gives the flexibility to tell a rich and diverse story across all of its platforms The Pentagram press release states: "Pentagram’s approach was to strike out against some of the negative connotations associated with the language and tactics of the charity sector, which often leans into a world of shock tactics, euphemistic language, well-worn tropes and overly-sentimental language." "Instead, the new Battersea brand deploys honest and straightforward language, expressed by a tone of voice that speaks with joy, principles, expertise and endeavour'." Related articles: 4 design trends we're all tired of hearing about 8 brilliant portfolios from young designers Eye on Design: review View the full article

You might have a strong skill set and a reputation for delivering outstanding creative, but if you’re looking to win more work, grow your client list or move into new markets, you need to master the fine art of self-promotion. Whether you’re a freelance designer or illustrator, or the head of a creative studio, getting your work in front of the right people is a skill in itself. So how can you elevate your design status and catch the attention of the people who count? Here, we share our top tips for savvy self-promotion. Read on to find out how to project your work onto the global design stage… 01. Pimp your online portfolio Velvet Spectrum, aka Luke Choice, has a montage of colourful thumbnails on his homepage, which lead into stunning, bigger examples of his work (like Terraforms, pictured above) Sure, you’ve got a portfolio website. But have you optimised it to promote your skills and win new work? You have around seven seconds to catch a visitor's attention before they leave your website, so it’s important to give people what they want, fast. Make sure your portfolio is easy to navigate, with clear categories so that prospective clients or employers can quickly find what they’re looking for. You’ll also need a snappy About page that explains who you are, what you do, and how to get in touch. Most importantly, only show your best work. And remember that clients commission what they see, so if you’re looking to win more branding, web design or illustrative work, for example, make sure you showcase work in that field. (Don’t have any yet? Self-initiated work is fine – just make sure it’s clearly labelled.) Of course, there’s no point having a stunning portfolio if the work never changes. Give visitors a reason to come back by making time to add new projects regularly. 02. Shout about it Illustrator Tim Easley features his website URL prominently on his business cards, which were printed by moo.com So you’ve put some serious effort into your portfolio: you make time every month to update it and you’re pleased with the work inside. Then you need to make sure potential clients, employers and collaborators see it. Include your website URL on your business cards, printed promotional materials, email signature and social media accounts. Do you host your work on any other portfolio or creative showcase sites, such as Behance or Dribbble? If so, add a clear portfolio link. Make sure your entire online presence and any promotional print material point people back to your website. 03. Make savvy use of social media Sawdust studio doesn’t just share its own work on Twitter – it also shares work from other creatives that it finds interesting With over two billion active users worldwide, social media should be a crucial part of your content strategy: after all, there’s no point publishing projects on your portfolio site if you don’t tell people they’re there. It’s impossible to invest time in every platform, though, so work out where your audience is, choose two or three primary channels and become an expert in each. The best way to build your social profile is to post frequently. Update your status, ask and answer questions, request permission to join like-minded groups such as the brilliant Designers League on Facebook, and generally get stuck in. What’s the best way to share your work without annoying people? One best-practice technique comes from content marketing platform Rallyverse, which analysed customer data in a wide range of industries to find an optimal ratio: 30 per cent your own original content (so your work and ideas), 60 per cent other people’s content (links to relevant opinion or resources that your audience will find valuable), and 10 per cent purely promotional (featuring a call-to-action). But think outside the box, too. You can also share Dropbox files on Twitter, for example, so why not upload a PDF portfolio? 04. Create stunning project images Striking, high-quality images are extremely shareable When it comes to self-promotion, one of the best things you can do is create striking, high-quality imagery to showcase your projects in the best possible light. Not only will this keep your portfolio website looking sharp, it makes your work more shareable – and we’re not just talking about on social media. The design press is always looking for exciting new projects to showcase. Make their job easier by creating high-res images and well-lit photography that’s screaming out to be published in a creative magazine or on a leading design website. 05. Get featured by the design press Making it onto the homepage of a global website like Creative Bloq will give you an instant worldwide audience Of course, it’s one thing to be discovered by the design press – but what can you do to increase your chances of being featured by a global design blog or publication? Journalists receive dozens of emails every day. If you want to get your work in the design press – and onto the radar of creative directors, commissioning editors and studio heads around the world – you need to cut through the noise. Here's how: Do your research Journalists can tell if you’ve never been on their site in the first sentence. Never start your email with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ – seek out an appropriate contributor instead. Know your angle Find out what stories a blog or publication covers, and angle your email appropriately. There’s no point sending straight news to a tips-based website, or a motion project to a typography showcase site. Find the right blog and the right angle. Keep your email short and concise Get to the point. You know who you’re talking to, so explain why they'll find your work interesting, who you are, and where to find more information. Don't clog the recipient's email with huge images Attach two or three low-res project JPEGs, and include a download link for high-res images and a URL taking people to the work to see more. Never harass people Don’t bombard blogs with every single project you do, and if you don’t get an answer, don’t aggressively pester publications – you’ll be blacklisted quickly. Do follow up pleasantly Don't be disheartened if you don’t get an answer first time, though. Journalists are busy and don’t always see the first email. A polite follow-up might just get you noticed. 06. Enter relevant award schemes Wolff Olins won a Wood Pencil at the 2017 D&AD Awards for a series of animated GIFFs for Telia Company When it comes to effective self-promotion, winning an award can put you on the creative map, generating precious column inches in print and online, and making Twitter explode overnight. But it’s important to only apply for awards that matter the most to you, your practice and your client base – and to read the entry criteria thoroughly before starting. When's the deadline? How should the work be submitted? Is there an entry fee? If you win, consider the promotional potential of your award. Blog about it, tweet it and include it in your newsletter – and don’t forget to add ‘award-winning’ to the About section on your website. There’s another advantage to awards, too. If you consider every project an opportunity to win one – no matter how small the client or brief – and go the extra mile, your portfolio (not to mention client) will quickly thank you. Remember: great work is always noticed, eventually. If you’re looking to project your work onto the global design stage and get it in front of the right people, everything starts with first-rate creative that goes beyond the brief. Step up your self-promotion by heading over to digital print and design company moo.com. You’ll find a wealth of fun, affordable, easy-to-use tools for creating premium business cards and stunning self-promotional material that will project you onto the global design stage, and get your work in front of the people who count. Related articles: 10 steps to go freelance this year The pro's guide to creating memorable business cards Create better business cards in less than five minutes View the full article

Effective social media campaigns need to catch people's attention quickly, and get a message across in a simple, but on-brand way. Finding the perfect images for social is a big part of that, as is crafting the right message to cut through the noise, in as few words as possible. But you also need to employ your typography skills to make sure that message punches through and has the desired effect. So read on for our pro advice for picking the right font for your next social campaign... 01. Keep text to a minimum Short, punchy statements that complement the image are very effective, such as this witty example by mattress brand Casper First things first: social media graphics aren't geared up for large amounts of text. That's partly due to the invariably small canvases you have to work with, and partly because people won't stick around long enough to read it. Striking visuals can grab attention more quickly, so when it comes to the message itself you'll need to cut to the chase and pare back all the clutter. Remember, you have the accompanying post to communicate more information – so typesetting on the image itself should in most cases be restricted to short, punchy statements and calls to action. 02. Go big and bold Vice Scandinavia went big and bold on the type for its LikeWhatYouHate campaign, making use of negative space A strong hierarchy helps your social media graphics grab attention, especially if people are skimming their feed quickly and don't have time to second-guess you. If all else is equal, people will always process information from top to bottom, and most cultures will read from left to right. But variations in font weight, size, style or colour can disrupt this natural processing and draw the eye. Research shows that US consumers spend an average of five hours a day on their mobiles, with roughly half of that time using social media apps. It's not just the canvas for the image that's small: often the size of the screen will squash it down even further, so keep the font as large and bold as you can. Novecento is an extensive all caps font family that's perfect for grabbing attention, and works equally well shouting your message in bold, chunky letters as it does in a more subtle, light, wide-tracked application. 03. Consider readability and legibility Sometimes simple is best. This campaign for The Honest Company by Serina Morris uses clean, legible type on white Bear the above points in mind when it comes to choosing a font for your social graphics. Clean, legible sans serifs abound in this type of work, often set in all caps to ensure maximum standout – especially when set over the top of an image. For this kind of use, impact and clarity is more important than aesthetic appeal. Fonts such as Helvetica or Open Sans are safe choices if you want neutrality, but if you'd prefer to choose something with more personality to suit your brand, consider a more friendly, geometric alternative like GT Walsheim. To improve readability, place type in an area of negative space where possible to give it more room to breathe. Let the design help frame it, so it doesn't fight with other elements in the small space – there's no point obstructing a carefully chosen image, or making a beautifully written line of copy unreadable. As a rule, display and headline varieties of fonts can be effective as they're designed specifically for standout and impact for a line or two of large text. Body fonts may make larger chunks of copy easier to parse, but they run the risk of receding in a more promotional context. 04. Convey the right emotions Nike has a distinctive all caps brand font that's bold and punchy with plenty of attitude With so few design elements to play with in such a small space, your choice of font can play a very important role in setting the tone of a campaign, as well as communicating brand voice. If the brand in question has an existing association with a particular typeface – or even its own bespoke typeface – that decision is made for you, of course. A more humorous brand campaign could benefit from a font that has a bit more character and charm to it, so long as it's not at the expense of readability, legibility or impact. If there's a more serious undercurrent, such as an awareness-raising campaign for a cancer charity, then it's wiser to stick to something more neutral. A useful exercise is to create the same design with three different fonts, and compare them in context. The actual emotional impact of each one may vary significantly once you see them in situ. 05. Be consistent across all graphics Merriam-Webster uses social graphics for its 'word of the day' campaign, tying a diverse range of images together with a clear structure and a consistent typeface If your social campaign runs as a series, consistency and clarity throughout is key. Don't assume that people will engage with the campaign in a linear way: they might miss half the posts, or join the campaign halfway through. Each message should make sense as a self-contained graphic, and not rely on earlier posts to make sense. To test this out, try showing a graphic from mid-campaign to someone not involved with the project, to get a fresh pair of eyes. A coherent style of art direction, consistent design structure and unified colour palette will help tie multi-part campaigns together, but committing to a particular typeface across the series will also aid brand recognition. Related articles: 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 20 best free fonts of 2017 How to use imagery more effectively in app design View the full article

Blackmagic Design has launched DaVinci Resolve 15, the latest incarnation of its industry-standard grading and editing software. Aimed at editors, colorists, VFX artists and sound designers, the update has been released as a free public beta. The biggest news is the inclusion of motion graphics and compositing software Fusion. Fusion is a node-based software with tools for working with footage, generating particles and effects, and a suite of painting tools, as well as a set of keyframe tools alongside a curve editor. 6 best laptops for video editing 2018 The move to bring it into Resolve is a huge deal, enabling artists to stay in a simple interface with the same UI styling, without having to roundtrip to add titles and effects. For compositors and mograph artists, there is now the ability to edit and grade footage using the software, as well as audio tools to take advantage of. New Fusion tab adds over 250 tools The new Fusion tab in DaVinci Resolve 15 brings with it over 250 tools from Fusion 9. While there are too many new features to cover here (we will look at these in more detail in the near future in 3D World magazine), it's worth pointing out that this update will please many users of both applications. Managing files and projects has become instantly easier, system overheads are lower, and for indie film makers or animators, workflow is more streamlined – meaning there’s more time to focus on creating, instead of admin. For Fusion users, there’s nothing to be concerned about. The tools still live together in the Fusion tab and work in the same way, with the same node graph, settings panel and shortcuts that you know and love. It’s just that now they sit alongside a suite of other, powerful tools. You can download DaVinci Resolve 15 for free. There's also a studio version of the public beta available for $299/£229, which adds collaborative tools and spatial noise reduction. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k Blackmagic’s Pocket Cinema Camera is back, with new 4k video powers Shipping with DaVinci Resolve 15 is the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k – one of a number of new hardware items also announced by the company. The new camera takes the original model and updates it beyond recognition. Paired with Resolve Studio, it could be the core of an indie VFX studio, letting you shoot, edit, grade, and add effects and titles, all for one price with the pro level of interoperability you would expect from a single developer. The camera, which won't be available until September, will land with a 4k Micro Four Thirds chip. Housed in a compact body, it'll include a mini XLR jack with phantom power for pro audio capture. The Pocket Cinema Camera 4k also promises an excellent ISO range of up to 25,600 for low-light shooting and frame rates up to120fps, 13 stops of dynamic range and RAW options. The body will ship with an MFT mount, but adapters will be available for other systems. Should you wish to use the glass from your favourite Canon or similar, you'll be able to. On top of this, the camera has a USB-C port so you can record directly to your editing drive, or use the SD and CFast 2.0 slots built in. There's a five-inch touch display too, which, although fixed, should be good for many situations and grants access to the familiar menu system from the Ursa. The body also has Bluetooth wireless control, HDMI for connecting field monitors and, best of all, will ship with Resolve 15 at a cost of just $1,295. More information Look out for more on DaVinci Resolve 15 – plus a review of the Pocket Cinema Camera 4k when it ships – in up-coming issues of 3D World. For more information, or to download DaVinci Resolve 15, visit the Blackmagic Design website. Related articles: The best 3D modelling software 2018 6 best laptops for video editing 2018 The best video editing software 2018 View the full article

Designing for the web is a constantly evolving art, which means that superb developments are always around the corner. And with innovations catered towards accessibility, sensational designs can be more than just visually pleasing. To give you a taste of some of the latest web design inspiration to come our way, we take a look at six stunning sites that have pushed the boundaries. Read on to discover why they work. 01. Smashing Magazine Smashing Magazine's new redesign relies on the colour of authority After 18 months of redesigning, Smashing Magazine launched its website in a big way. By not shying away from red, a colour associated with authority and strength, it chose to stand out against typical editorial websites that predominantly utilise white as a backdrop. People often associate user experience with design but it's equally relative to the platform's architecture as well. Visitors make instant subconscious decisions that drive their opinion on the value and trust of a website, with a fundamental influence being loading speed. Because of this Smashing Magazine chose to move away from using a combination of WordPress, Kirby, Rails and Shopify. By moving to JAMstack: a methodology for front-end web development driven by JavaScript, reusable APIs, and streamlined markup, it was able to improve issues with usability, scaling and caching. The company collects anonymous user behaviour data using Hotjar to assess pain points that expand beyond technical frameworks. Over time it hopes to remove all advertising from the site and focus on the readers. 02. Slack Slack lures users in with its refreshingly simple style Slack, the fastest growing business application in history, updated its website in 2017 to better reflect its core values and company culture. Although the website is simplistic in structure, one of the first elements you notice are the vibrant, stylised illustrations from designer Alice Lee. "Trying to capture the playful and collaborative aspect of the culture and given how warm and friendly the tone of these are, I wanted to push it beyond your standard 'people working at a desk' imagery," she explains. It's an interesting direction, as it conflicts a bit with the actual application's design, but better embodies the personality of the company. It raises the question: does the marketing site and application truly need to share fonts and design elements or can they both represent the same idea differently? The Slack team tackled vital improvements like accessibility and decoupling asset dependencies between the web-based Slack client and the marketing site with a behind-the-scenes code overhaul. To accomplish this a new UI framework (spacesuit) was created. Slack's spacesuit framework is class-based and utilises reusable components and utility classes, reducing CSS load by 70%. It is inspired by the BEM naming convention where classes are in one of three groups – Block, Element and Modifier – and uses single letter namespaces. 03. Ubersignlanguage.com Uber incorporates accessible technology to give deaf users opportunities A strikingly simplistic approach to driving home Uber's integration of accessibility into the company culture; this website is a stellar example of design with restraint. A common approach to design is to explain value, but it's another to rely on interaction to educate. Uber has given the deaf opportunities to become drivers since 2015 by incorporating accessible technology directly into its app, such as flashing trip requests notifications instead of an audio prompt, text-only communication options, advance notifications to inform the rider that their driver is deaf or hard of hearing, and an additional request for the rider to enter their destination in advance. It has now brought that another step forward with ubersignlanguage.com. You are prompted to enter your name and are greeted with common phrases like 'yes', 'no', 'turn left', and even your name. What makes this experience stand out is the visual feedback, or short form videos, which instruct you on how to sign each phrase. It shows you don't need long form clever copy in order to convey a strong message for your organisation. You just need to understand the goal of the end user and deftly provide solutions. 04. The Savvy Backpacker The Savvy Backpacker's intuitive design helps it stand out in a competitive landscape The Savvy Backpacker, a budget focused travel blog, follows husband and wife team, James and Susan, as they backpack to Europe. They package online city guides as their key point of value and do a great job pulling that user pathway out of the main navigation and placing it next to their logo as a primary touch point. Each guide acts as an archive of past visits where they break down topics in great detail, like the best hotels, travel costs, and how to pack your luggage. Ben Bush, co-founder of FHOKE, elaborates: "It really was that, a focus on the City Guides making them front and foremost on the home page, a dedicated landing page for them, and clear and separate navigation links that were quick to browse, too". Travel blogging is a competitive space. To further establish themselves as a legitimate resource, they needed to do more than simply take nice photos and generate an incredible amount of content. They needed to guide visitors to the proper content intuitively. Ben adds: "The key is not being too alternative and placing these in areas users are familiar with. If they have to search around for something, you've lost them already." 05. POM Wonderful POM Wonderful takes visitors on a museum-like tour It would have been easy for POM to rely on its polarising bottle design or existing marketing campaigns to drive the digital experience and play it safe with the website. In an inspiring move, once you venture beyond the home page, it chose to create a museum-like experience, focusing on the history and art of the pomegranate. In the History section you will find fully voiced stories for 68 unique entries. Andrès Conde, group director of Digital POM Wonderful, states on his website: "Understanding our target and their particular interests, drove a lot of the UX, especially as the site is also the first time the brand will sell the product online. We had to be able to weave the content-centric brand site with a functional shopping experience." The website is bold, colourful, and always seems to be in motion. The site was built as a single-page app that loads assets in the background to achieve smooth transitions between sections of the site. 06. Packwire Packwire's bold colours help give the impression of childlike exploration Packwire's marketing site, packwire.com, shows little restraint in its attempt to make a strong first impression. With its use of vibrant colour and scroll-powered movements, users are left with a sense of childlike exploration. Rounded buttons and playful hover interactions bolster this as you dig deeper. The real gem of this website is the service itself: the set up of your own custom made-to-order box. Who would have thought customising a box would be so intuitive? But what exactly makes this intuitive? The separation of manufacturing information and design, for starters. On the left you have fulfilment details such as box type, size, quantity and price. The right side focuses solely on the creative implementation of your custom creation. This mirrors the hemispheres of our brains as well: left brain for logic and right for creativity. Beyond that, the company also makes an attempt to understand the end user and their needs by offering two fully functioning non-checkout options: Get Link and Save. Get Link enables you to generate a bit.ly URL to share your custom work in progress, generate a .jpg or share on social media. Save enables you to save your work to resume later. How does this help? It means creatives can generate mock-ups that can easily be shared with the client or stakeholder for approval, which then increases the likelihood of a purchase through the service. It's really well thought out as a service for the user. Pay a visit to a sample net magazine box we had fun creating here. This article was originally published in issue 303 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 303 or subscribe to net. Related articles: 10 inspiring ecommerce website designs 10 innovative agency websites to inspire you 15 great parallax scrolling websites View the full article

There's an age-old question when it comes to analysing a piece of art: where does the artist end and their art begin? Separating the creator from their work is usually a matter for scholars, but on social media artists and their masterpieces have been brought together with the hashtag #artvsartist. Having erupted on Twitter and Instagram over the last week, #artvsartist sees creators posting images of their work along with a photograph of themselves. Typically these posts follow a template that sees a group of eight images framing a selfie of the artist in the centre. Despite taking off recently, the hashtag can be traced back all the way to 2016. On 8 May 2016, Twitter user @LaLadybugTV posted examples of her manga art along with a selfie and the caption "#artvsartist This day is just full of the trend on Insta!". From here the hashtag was picked up by Tumblr users and YouTube animators, before seeing a large-scale revival earlier in April this year. @LaLadybugTV's original #artvsartist message It's perhaps no surprise that this hashtag been picked up so enthusiastically. There are already plenty of popular hashtags for artists to get involved with, but typically these involve creating new images of robots, mermaids, or anything illustrated with ink. With #artvsartist, however, there's comparatively little work. Artists can simply upload images of existing work, chuck in a selfie, and they're ready to go. Considering that artists can spend a lot of their time working in isolation, #artvsartist is a great opportunity for creatives to put themselves out there online. It also gives viewers scrolling through the hashtag a good chance to put a face to a name and connect with a bunch of artists you might not have discovered otherwise. Here are a selection of the many, many artists who caught our eye with #artvsartist. Why not give it a try yourself and see who finds you? Related articles: The illustrator hotlist 2018 7 biggest illustration trends of 2018 5 dos and don'ts for new illustrators View the full article

Eschewing the current trend for oversized, format-busting grandeur, the debut issue of Eye on Design magazine arrives in a beautifully compact, sub-A4 format. From the (literally) eye-popping beauty of the inspired, die-cut cover, across the 160 pages of crystal clear layouts, to the brilliantly executed themes, this debut exudes quiet confidence and an air of self-assuredness. Eye On Design is published by AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts. The institute is the largest of its kind in America, and its website has become home to some of the very best industry insight and analysis since it launched in 2014. With the pedigree behind it, it’s no surprise that rather than being another glossy showboat of tastefully curated design porn, Eye On Design is a crisply designed think tank of articles and essays; more literary journal than design showcase. Gender politics and technology live alongside grid theory and designer existentialism, with a gently liberal and enquiring take on the international design community. Without wielding an ideological axe, Eye on Design presents a varied collection of writers who question what designers think as much as what they do. Latent Tensions is a collection of fascinating photomontages by Nate Lewis questioning racial visibility Issue one is themed around ideas of invisibility, promising to reveal “the code, data, and grids lurking behind our designed interfaces... intangible subjects like identity and mental health.” Hidden agendas, concealed data and transparency in the information age couldn’t be more timely issues, but the editorial steers clear of manifestos. In Greetings From The Invisible Borderlands, Madeleine Morley investigates antiquated surveillance techniques, and their potential resurgence in a digital era. In Bauhaus Meets Binary, Liz Stinson re-visits the 1980s to show how an MIT research group turned code into design. And in Portfolio, Margaret Rhodes discusses the (invisible) presence of the computer and software as collaborator, with three artists demonstrating how process informs their work. Delayed Gratification, meanwhile, is a welcome tribute to five women in the design industry who, as the ‘other half’ of famous design partnerships, have until now been overlooked in favour of their male collaborators. And a fun article, Resurrect The Rejects, invites designers to reveal work that wasn’t accepted, and asks them to explain why. Crisp layouts The articles are delivered in mainly monochromatic, less-is-more fashion, with welcome disruptions of ‘did-they-mean-to-do-that?’ Wrong Theory shrewdly paced by art editor Maziyar Pahlevan. Formal minimalism is frequently attacked by a layer of designer-graffiti punk The crisp layouts are occasionally flung upside down and back-to-front, as if the magazine has been vigorously shaken then laid flat and allowed to settle. Weird anomalies enliven the minimal aesthetic, engage the eye and, crucially, suggest it was as fun to make as it is to read. Weird anomalies enliven the minimal aesthetic, engage the eye and, crucially, suggest the magazine was as fun to make as it is to read. Type is mainly set at an unusually large point size, and whilst this friendly legibility is initially refreshing, the supersize body copy can hinder at times. Getting Rid of the Grid – a celebration of Josef Müller-Brockmann’s legendary Grid Systems in Graphic Design – can’t do his profoundly influential book justice with such a low word count spread over a mere five pages. And closing the short feature with a criminally indulgent blank page – save a page number – rubs salt in the wound. When the editorial standard is this high, a few longer articles (i.e. regular sized body type) would be welcome. Relentless precision However, complaints are as minor as they are subjective. More often than not, the layouts of Eye On Design deliver with relentless precision, and occasionally ambitious treatments hint at a more playful, off-grid direction for subsequent issues. How Not To Be Seen (introduced as: “A fucking didactic educational .PDF file“) riffs off the work of satirical video artist and critic Hito Steerl, exploring ways to disappear in the age of surveillance with that Kim Kardashian cover variously pixellated, warped and redacted to play on Steerl’s original tips for invisibility in the modern age (“Be female and over 50”). Visual metaphor, minimalism and playfulness blend seamlessly on this Kim Kardashian-themed satire on social visibility It’s fun, smart and a perfect example of editorial and design in perfect harmony. It’s also the sort of design that works better in print that on screen, and like the dreamily tactile cover, is a love letter to print design in its own right. Mostly, the art department step back and let editorial rule. Mixed-media artist Nate Lewis’s ominous, self-vandalised photos are simply printed and unadorned, the better to consider their content. Elsewhere, a stand-out article by Meg Miller about the power (and loss) of sight, lets the words and a few carefully chosen photographs tell the fascinating story of iconic graphic designer Alvin Lustig and his wife, artist and designer Elaine Lustig Cohen. Did we mention how beautiful Maziyar Pahlevan’s cover is? Our Cover of The Year (so far...) With previous editorial experience at the likes of Interview, Art Forum, V Magazine and The Paris Review, founder editor Perrin Drumm is well qualified to tackle the near-impossible task of creating a literary design journal that reads brilliantly, without being earnest or dull, and looks fantastic without being too showy. (Are there any design critics more vicious than designers themselves?) Her debut issue effortlessly plugs into the zeitgeist to deliver an ultra-cool reading of the hearts and minds of the design community. A subscription is obligatory for anyone interested in the deeper currents of contemporary design. Issue one of Eye On Design is available from the Eye on Design website for $19, or you can save 20 per cent with an annual subscription. Also read: Review: Typenotes magazine View the full article

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For most freelancers who have been at it for a while, there is a sense of comfort in being small. It's easy to control your own projects, and work with the same types of clients you're used to. But wearing all the hats can weigh you down, and limit your potential for growth. It doesn't have to be this way. You've probably had daydreams about starting your own creative agency. If you have a large workload, and you've seen even one season of Mad Men, the prospect is alluring. In many ways, it's the obvious next step in the evolution of a freelancer. If your current project scope is limited to what you, yourself can dream up and execute, it might be time to think a little bigger than just yourself. In this article we'll look at some reasons why it might be time to start your own agency, then we'll move on to how to get started (hop straight to page 2 for this). While not for the faint of heart, starting a creative business can be wildly fulfilling. An agency model offers many advantages over life as a freelance creative. Here are just a few of them. 01. You can focus on your strengths The life of a creative freelancer is built upon the concept of 'DIY'. As a one-person operation working from home, you have no choice but to do it all yourself, sometimes to the detriment of your business. You are responsible for design, development, client wrangling, and all the admin that goes with in. As part of a bigger team, you can concentrate on what you love to do – and what you do well. Love to design homepages, but hate the tedium of designing every internal page? Hire (or contract) another designer to do it. Are you terrible at selling? Enlist a dedicated salesperson. No matter where your strength lies, you can focus on that, and fill in the gaps around you. 02. You can think longer-term As a studio, the potential for growth is much stronger. Operating on design island, you are likely too bogged down with the day-to-day requirement of your current workload to even think about branching out – or plan too far in advance. But hiring other people will free up some hands and minds to come up with a growth strategy. 03. Billable hours will increase As a freelancer, you are limited to how many hours you can personally bill per week. When you start hiring other designers, developers, and administrative assistants, you can bill for all the hours they work as well. The resulting increase in productivity allows room for more projects, which leads to even more billable time. 04. You can learn new skills Even if you choose to focus purely on what you are already good at, being in close proximity to other professionals contributing with their skillsets will open your eyes to all elements of a project. Over time, you will probably start to pick up some of these skills yourself. 05. You can take on broader projects By recruiting specialists in different fields, production on a larger scale becomes possible. Got a coder, a graphic designer and an animation specialist? You can hit many more points of a project than you'd be able to tackle on your own. And that means you can work with bigger brands, because your offering will be broader. Next page: How to get started launching your own agency So you've decided it's time to build your own team. How do you get started? There are number of questions to answer and elements to organise before you can launch your first agency. Let's take a look at a few of them. Find your niche In the overcrowded current creative world, it is generally advised for you to find your niche rather than generalising. Maybe you already have one as a freelancer, maybe not. If so, it usually makes the most sense to continue it into your agency. After all, you already have the work samples to prove your expertise. A niche can be industry-specific (i.e. specialising in food service businesses) or discipline-based (i.e. specialising in only web design, or even more specifically, landing page design). If you don't have a niche already, that's OK. You don't even have to narrow your focus yet. But, ideally, you will want to work your way toward a niche over time. This can either be an active process (you can do some research and decide what you want to focus on) or it can happen naturally, as you see what kinds of work you naturally gravitate towards. You need to decide how niche you want your work to be No matter what your niche is or how you arrive at it, you'll want to start to market to that niche sooner rather than later. Even if you don't have a plethora of work samples to show, you can still pursue it with detailed case studies of the few examples you do have, and a solid marketing plan. The more great work you do in a certain area, the more of that kind of work you will attract. Establish your brand When starting your own agency, the first thing you want to consider is the branding. One of the first things to do is to brainstorm a name. You can certainly go with your own name if you like, many firms do – or you can think of something more creative that fits the voice of your agency. But beyond that there is plenty to think about. What is the overall personality and voice of the new business? Since it's coming from you, these elements should be congruent with who you are and your key values. Here are a few things to consider to help you find your brand voice: Think of three adjectives to represent your brand: Ideally, these should accurately represent you as well, since you are the face of your agency. Any incongruences might read as inauthentic to your clients. Keep it timeless: The last thing you want is to have to rebrand a few years into your agency because you went with something too trendy or unambitious. Nod to your niche, but don't overdo it: Let's say you plan on going after the pet industry as a niche. You might call your agency Red Dog Creative. This works, because it plays to the niche, but it would also work if you ever decided to pivot to a new niche for any reason. Just be careful your name or branding isn't locking you into anything that may not work out. Then you need to start work on your own logo design, website and company collateral. For any designer this is the fun part, but it can also be draining. Designing for ourselves can spiral out of control based on the sheer number of options. I recommend putting a deadline on each phase, and treating it like a project for any client. Remember, 'perfect' is often the enemy of 'great'. Assemble a creative team Recruiting new studio members is the part that most creatives stress over, but if you're going to grow, you need a killer team on your side. Choose your collaborators carefully, as they can propel your agency to the top, or sink it like a stone. The success of your venture rests on picking the right people You have a choice here. You can either hire employees outright, or start by simply hiring contractors as needed, per project. For those just starting out, with no real capital, I recommend going the contractor route to start with. This allows you to grow slowly, and try different people out until you have assembled your dream team. There are many types of contractors you may want to bring on, from other designers to web specialists, project managers, marketing people, accountants and copywriters. You may choose to work with people in your local area, but these days it's really not a requirement, because, you know, the internet. Figure out a workflow Once you start putting your team together, you need to get a process in place for managing everybody and their workflow. You may not have a brick and mortar workplace where everybody can collaborate under one roof (or even one time zone), but you can simulate the experience using the right software. There are many online apps that will allow you to delegate work to your team, make lists, share files and keep track of what remains to be done. Most are not free, but when you consider they are freeing you from the overheads associated with a permanent workplace, the cost is negligible, and well worth it. Take a look at our list of the best tools to help you work remotely. Adjust your pricing Once you have made up your mind to ditch the freelancer title in favour of 'owner', you'll want to alert your current clients of the switch, as well as any pricing changes that have taken effect. Most agencies do charge more per hour than freelancers, so you are well within your rights to do so. You will probably need the extra money to pay your contractors (or employees), since multiple team members will now be working on a single project. You may lose some of your current business due to the price hike, but now you can start going after bigger clients with bigger projects, and the budgets to match. Liked this? Read these... 6 best collaboration tools for design studios How to build a thriving studio UK top 50 studios 2017 View the full article