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Have you always fancied the freelance life, but not yet had the confidence, or the opportunity, to take the plunge? Are you worried it might not be for you, or just unsure of where to start? We're here to help you hit the ground running as a self-employed pro. Read on for our essential 10-step guide to going freelance this year... 01. Make sure it's right for you It's worth dipping a toe in the freelance waters first to make sure it's the right decision for you First things first, and this is an important one: freelancing isn't for everyone. You'll likely be spending a lot of time working alone, there's no guaranteed income, and you'll have full responsibility for everything from winning new work to filing your self-assessment tax return. But having full responsibility for everything is exciting as well as potentially daunting. You can choose exactly what you work on, and when. There's no overbearing boss to tell you what to do. And, theoretically at least, there's scope to earn more money if you play your cards right. If you're currently employed, test the water first with some out-of-hours freelance. It's a great way to start putting feelers out to potential contacts, seeing what opportunities are out there and testing whether you're cut out for managing the whole process yourself. Plus, as you'll be earning some extra cash on top of the day job, it'll also help you with step two... 02. Give yourself a financial buffer Make sure you have enough money in the bank to tide you over if projects fall through, or are late paying If you've decided that freelance life is for you, hold your horses before you get over-excited and hand in your notice. Remember, you'll be losing your regular, reliable income. Building contacts can take time, as can setting up 'live' paying projects - and even if you start working on day one, invoices still tend to take at least 30 days to pay, often longer. Savings are essential to give yourself a decent buffer. Where possible, try to have the equivalent of three months' worth of salary in the bank before you leave - this is where freelancing out-of-hours first will help. 03. Think about where you'd like to work Part of the beauty of freelancing is you can work from anywhere, within reason Next, you need to think about where you plan to set up your freelance base. This will help determine what equipment you need to invest in, as well as many other factors. Working from home is a common choice, particularly if you have a spare bedroom that you can convert into an office. Tempting as it is to roll out of bed and start working in your pajamas, having a separate, dedicated area will help you draw the line between work and play. Shared working spaces are increasingly popular, and as well as providing you with a ready-made office set-up – complete with colleagues to chat to – it'll also give you a work space separate from your home. Theoretically, however, it's possible to work from anywhere so long as you have the equipment you need, and some decent WiFi. While working from your favourite coffee shop for eight hours a day is probably not practical, it's great to have as an option when you need it. 04. Invest in some decent hardware A decent laptop is an absolute must when setting up as a freelancer, as it helps you be productive on the move Here's where your setup costs can start to escalate quickly. Once you've decided where you'll be based, you'll have a better idea of exactly what hardware and other equipment you actually need. Don't be tempted to splash out on all the latest gadgets right away unless they're essential for you to start work. The last thing you want is to eat through your financial buffer and end up in debt just because Apple brought out a shinier model. Consider what you'll be doing, where and how, and pick accordingly. Remember to keep track of all your invoices and receipts at the point of purchase, as these are tax-deductible expenses now. 05. Pick the right creative software Adobe Creative Cloud is the de facto tool of choice for most creative professionals. But do you need a full subscription? You won't get far as a freelance designer without the creative software you need to actually design stuff. As with the hardware, however, take the time to consider what you actually need from day one – you can always add things at a later date. Adobe Creative Cloud is likely to be near the top of your list, and if you're a multidisciplinary designer it's a no-brainer to go for the full annual package - even if you'll only use three or four apps regularly. Be honest with yourself here, though – if you spend all your time in Photoshop, the Photography Plan is great value. If you only use Illustrator and InDesign, two annual single-app subs are cheaper. There are alternatives to Adobe, however – such as Serif's excellent Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo – so do your research. 06. Find business tools that work for you FreeAgent is a great accounting tool to help freelancers and small businesses keep track of their finances It's not all about creative software, though. When you're freelance, you have plenty of other things to worry about besides designing: things like invoicing, accounting and project management. There are countless tools out there to help with these necessary evils of self-employment, and there's often a free trial so you can test out what works best for you and your workflow. FreeAgent and Solo are both fantastic monthly-subscription tools for keeping track of expenses, invoices and other accounting necessities, while Asana and Trello both help with project management. It may be tempting to get your teeth into your first project as soon as you can – you need that money to start rolling in, after all. But you won't regret making the effort to get these things set up sooner rather than later. 07. Set up a website to get business A website will help the work keep rolling in: potential clients will expect at least a basic online presence As a freelancer, a decent website is an absolute essential – but it doesn't need to be a huge expense. Sit down and work out exactly what you need your online presence to achieve, and then explore some of the tools at your disposal. If your services include web design, then this is a good chance to practice what you preach, and you know what you're doing already. But for illustrators or designers without web skills, there are so many template-based tools to create a portfolio out there that you won't be short of options. Registering a memorable domain name is worth it too, to give you a more professional edge for your freelance email address as well as the website – this could just be your name, or think more creatively. A logo isn't necessarily essential as a freelancer, at least when you're first starting out – but it's a great chance to show off your design skills with a bit of self-branding if you do. Make sure all of the above is sorted before you invest in your stationery. 08. Get some stationery printed Image: Tim Easley. Printing firms targeted at creative professionals, such as moo.com, are a great way to get quality stationery for less Once you have your portfolio website set up, a professional-looking email address and a logo if you choose to, it's time to combine all that essential information on some quality business stationery. Letterheads and compliment slips may not be top of your list at first, but a great business card, and perhaps some self-promotional postcards or stickers to send to potential clients, are the perfect way to get your name out there. moo.com offers a fantastic range of services and packages to suit your individual needs, with business cards ranging from 298gsm cotton right the way up to extra-thick 600gsm luxe for that premium edge. 09. Get yourself out there Don't hole yourself up in your home studio. Make an effort to get out and about at creative networking events in your local area Once you have your silky new business cards, you need someone to give them to. While potential clients will love receiving a beautiful piece of self-promo in the post, there's no substitute for meeting people face-to-face and pressing a business card into their hand after an interesting chat over a beer. Regular events such as Glug run in cities all around the world, and give you a chance to chat to like-minded creative folk and potential clients and collaborators in an informal, inspiring setting. A bigger investment would be attending a full-blown creative conference, such as D&AD Festival in London, OFFF in Barcelona, TYPO in Berlin or OFFSET in Dublin, all of which are fantastic opportunities to get inspired and meet interesting people. 10. Remember to put tax aside! Don't be caught off guard at the end of the year. Make sure you save enough of your gross income to cover that tax bill! Using your accounting software to keep track of all your income and expenses will make it a lot easier to file that dreaded tax return – remember to keep all the receipts too. But a perfectly-organised tax return is no good if you can't actually pay the bill that comes afterwards. Remember, all the income you're receiving now that you're freelance is before tax – and you'll need to save a decent chunk of it (we recommend 20 percent of your income each month) to pay later. If cash flow is difficult in a particular month, it may be tempting to dip into that money to keep things ticking along. And that's fine, so long as it's occasional and you replenish the funds when you're flush again. But don't let all of the careful prep you've done to reach step 10 go to waste and end up being crippled by a tax bill you can't pay. View the full article

In this workshop, we'll show you how to paint a knight using Photoshop, as well as painting with traditional media. Painting digitally of course makes it easier to make changes, fix mistakes and paint faster in order to meet those pesky deadlines. However, with a purely digital artwork you don’t have a finished painting to hold onto. So why not combine both, using Photoshop to digitally plan out your composition, values and colour, then moving onto traditional painting with acrylic and watercolours? Let me show you how I do it. 01. Obtain a photo reference Take your own photographs at events or find references online I’ve been going to local Renaissance festivals every summer for my entire life. Each time I go, I take hundreds of photographs to use as reference for my artwork. I don’t go into it thinking, “I need this exact pose from this knight for my next illustration”. I just make sure I take pictures of everything. I photograph the buildings, the costumes, and of course the armoured joust. 02. Plan the composition in Photoshop Crop in close to your subject (click the arrows icon to enlarge this image) I open a 5x7-inch Photoshop document and create a 1/4-inch border. This will be the exact size of my painting. I create a border layer and set it on top, because when I put the final painting into a frame, it crops off about a 1/4-inch of my painting on all sides. Then I drag in my reference underneath the border, and rotate and resize it until the composition is to my liking. 03. Mask the background Mask out distracting background elements (click the arrows icon to enlarge this image) Now I have to get rid of the grassy knoll with people's legs and picnic blankets in the background. I create a mask on the same layer as the photo reference and erase the background with a Photoshop brush that has soft edges. I use a mask rather than an eraser so that I can add or take away things without them being lost forever. 04. Add another photo reference Use props as references if you have them I now realise that this knight would look a lot cooler with a sword in his right hand. So I steal my brother’s collectible Lord of the Rings sword and position my hand exactly how it should look if the knight were holding it. Then I create a new layer, resize the sword and mask out the background. 05. Choose a focal point Add a gradient to draw focus to the key areas (click the arrows icon to enlarge this image) I switch the image over to greyscale and consider the focal point. Which area of the painting should I focus on the most? In this case, it’s the centre of the image (the pauldron/breast plate area). Therefore, no other area should achieve a higher level of contrast or detail. To remind myself of this, I create a transparent and white radial gradient. This fades off the less-important areas. 06. Identify landmarks Trace the most important parts Next, I use my computer screen as a make-shift lightbox and tape up my drawing paper. I’m not just tracing the image like a robot – I’m trying to find the most important visual landmarks so that I can effectively draw this knight to accurate proportion and scale. 07. Use pencils to produce a value study Pay attention to your values as you build a pencil drawing Using the initial landmarked lines as my starting point, I use Lyra Pencils in HB, 2B and 4B sizes with a blender tool to start my drawing. I begin at the top of the page and work my way down. I’m trying to get the values as accurate as possible at this stage. I have my photo reference in front of me as I work and I constantly refer to it while drawing. The best pencils for designers and artists 08. Prepare to paint Create a print to work from I scan the drawing and bring it into Photoshop. I go to Filter>Noise>Median. This will smooth out my pencil strokes and make the drawing more photographic-looking. Sometimes I even overlay the original photo on top of certain areas because I want the armour to look as realistic and functional as possible. I then produce a giclée print and mount it to board with a combination of Moulding paste and Matte medium. 09. Choose your colours Having a digital drawing means you can test out colour palettes (click the arrows icon to enlarge this image) Now I’m ready to paint, but what colours do I use? The beauty of Photoshop is that it enables me to try a whole bunch of them out before I paint traditionally. First I create a Gradient Map on top of the greyscale image, mess around with different colours, and adjust the sliders until I get them where I want. Then I take the original coloured photo and overlay it in the focal point area. 10. Achieve texture with watercolour Create texture by adding different ingredients I achieve different textures by adding sea salt, table salt, rubbing alcohol and plastic wrap to my watercolour washes. After the first wash is applied, I apply these techniques in a few specific areas. After it’s dried, I add a second wash on top and apply some of these techniques again. The watercolour repels the salt and alcohol, leaving interesting textures behind. 11. Make an abstract background Make a dynamic background by tilting your watercolours At this stage I don’t really know what will happen – I just let the watercolour do its thing. I keep the Photoshop colour version in front of me and choose a colour from it. I blob on the colour and tilt the board so that the watercolour flows in the general upper left direction (because the knight is moving that way). I apply my watercolour textures, wait until they dry and repeat. 12. Apply acrylic washes Seal the watercolour, then apply acrylics I seal the watercolour with Matte medium and use Golden Fluid Acrylics to paint on top of the watercolour. Golden’s acrylics go on thinner than regular acrylics. This is why I like them. I don’t paint with opaque gobs – instead I use a number of transparent thin layers so that I don’t lose my value study underneath too quickly. 13. Start at the top Work from the top-down when applying acrylic I begin at the top of the illustration board and work my way down. I know many artists who work all over the painting at once. I’ve been known to do this as well, but there’s something I like about the feeling of being done with one area before I move on to the next. 14. Unify the colours Unify the piece with colours Towards the end, however, I do work all over the painting. I look for different colours that might unify the piece together and place them throughout the work. This article was originally published in issue 155 of ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 155 here or subscribe to ImagineFX here. Related articles: How to create new character designs in Photoshop The best drawing tablet: our pick of the best graphics tablets How to draw: 95 pro tutorials and tips View the full article

At its most basic, logo design can be a very literal, representative thing – and that can be effective, if done well. Think Costa's bunch of coffee beans, iTunes' musical note, or Woolmark's ball of wool. Other times, the name of the brand – even if it says nothing about the actual product or service it provides – becomes a gift for a logo designer. Step up Red Cross, Shell and Apple, and a whole gamut of animal-themed brands such as Puma, Jaguar, Penguin, Dove and Red Bull. Increasingly, the trend for minimalist logo design is paring back clever illustrated symbols altogether in favour of clean, sans serif type and very simple accompanying graphics. But a whole host of brands have built up an long-running association with a seemingly random symbol that rewards a little more digging. Starbucks and McDonalds are two iconic US brands with such unusual associations. Before the Seattle-born franchise took over the world, who would have associated a green topless mermaid and a character from Moby Dick with coffee? And while the 'Golden Arches' resemble an 'M' for McDonalds, they actually echo the distinctive shape of the fast-food giant's early roadside restaurants. Read on to discover five more household brands whose symbols hide a fascinating backstory... 01. Nestlé: the family name Nestlé's distinctive bird's nest is a shrewd modification of the founder's family crest Have you ever pondered the connection between a multinational food and drink company and a bird's nest? It all comes down to the founder's heritage. Henri Nestlé was one of the first Swiss manufacturers to develop a logo for his business, and he turned to his family coat of arms for inspiration. Nestlé means 'nest' in German, so perhaps unsurprisingly, his crest featured a bird sitting on its nest. Given the company's range of products included cereal for infants, Nestlé adapted the otherwise fairly random symbol back in 1868 to gave it a nurturing twist, swapping the solitary bird for three baby birds being fed by their mother to create the ideal fusion between its name and its purpose. Over time, the logo was progressively simplified. And in 1988 the three baby birds were reduced to just two, in an attempt to represent the 'average modern family' - albeit in bird form. 02. NBC: a colourful metaphor NBC was first associated with a peacock in 1956, to express its pride in colour television It may be a stretch to associate a peacock with a TV broadcaster in the modern era. But back in 1956 NBC wanted a visual metaphor that expressed the excitement of the recent innovations in colour televisions, and positioned the channel at the forefront. Early versions showed a fairly literal line drawing of a peacock, with a graphic rainbow tail fanned out. Each of the 11 'feathers' featured a different coloured droplet on the end, creating a vibrant explosion of colours designed to encourage black-and-white TV owners to make the switch to enjoy the full experience. Besides its famously vibrant tail, the tagline 'proud as a peacock' used the well-known phrase to help express the network's pride in its colour system. Although during the 70s and early 80s – until Chermayeff & Geismar was brought on board to overhaul the brand in 1986, it was used alongside a graphic 'N' device. Chermayeff & Geismar recognised the brand collateral in the peacock, even at a time when colour televisions came as standard rather than being any particular selling point for a network. The agency pared the feathers back to six, to represent NBCs different divisions. But the master stroke was the subtle notch that simply hints at the peacock's head - a much more elegant solution than its 1950s predecessor. 03. Domino's: counting the dots Domino's was supposed to add a dot every time a new store opened... it never happened It may now be the world's most ubiquitous pizza chain, but Domino's had humble beginnings as a small, independent restaurant called DomiNicks, after its owner Dominick DiVarti. Tom Monaghan acquired the business with his brother James in 1960, but had bought him out within a year in exchange for the old Volkswagen Beetle they used for their deliveries. By 1965, Monaghan had opened two more stores, but was unable to franchise the 'DomiNicks' name without DiVarti's permission, and it wasn't granted. An employee suggested changing it to 'Domino's', and Monaghan instantly loved it: besides the phonetic similarity and visual branding potential, he was also excited about how his franchising ambitions could be represented in the logo. The three dots in the logo represent the three original Domino's locations: the plan was to add a dot for every subsequent store that opened. It was a neat idea, except the chain was vastly more successful than he could ever have imagined - had Monaghan stuck to his guns, there would now be over 10,000 dots to fit on. 04. MGM: King of the jungle MGM's association with a lion came about simply because an ad exec attended Columbia University There are few things that'll make you sit up and take notice quite like a roaring lion. In the film industry at least, that symbol - and the accompanying noise - belongs conclusively to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, better known as MGM. Generations of movie-goers were met with the roaring big cat, framed by an unravelling roll of film as part of the MGM crest. But the association with film was purely coincidental: the king of beasts was originally used as part of the 1916 trademark for Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, as a tribute to ad executive Howard Dietz's alma mater, Columbia University - and specifically its athletic team, nicknamed The Lions. When Goldwyn Pictures merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1924, the lion - an actual animal, named Slats - remained as the MGM brand's official mascot. While he didn't roar at first, he was first heard, via gramophone, at the 1928 premiere of the silent movie White Shadows in the South Seas. After Slats died in 1928, he was succeeded by a whole parade of MGM lions, including Jackie, Telly, Coffee, Tanner and George, before the best-known and longest-serving lion, Leo, took over in 1957. It's a rich branding heritage, and it all sprung from the fact that an executive went to a certain university. 05. Toblerone: the mountain and the bear Toblerone's 1908 logo combines two local emblems: the Matterhorn, and the bear of Bern Many brands draw on the history and heritage of the city or country they hail from, rather than the products they make. Toblerone is a great example: rather than depicting anything to do with the chocolate itself, the brand chose a geographical landmark - the nearby Matterhorn - as its emblem. That distinctive mountain shape is echoed in the triangular chunks of the chocolate bar itself, but the references don't stop there. Hidden within the snowy patterns on the sheer face of the mountain is the outline of a bear - the official symbol of Bern, the Swiss city where Toblerone was founded in 1908. Where the symbols used by Nestlé and MGM are closely tied to a particular individual involved with the business - the founder's name, where a particular exec studied - Toblerone's symbol demonstrates pride in its origins, and gives a little-known regional emblem global significance. Related articles: 5 logo design trends for 2018 How to price logo design services 5 expensive logos and what they teach us View the full article

Facebook is the number one social media platform on the planet. Using it the right way will ensure that your posts will improve engagement and give you a boost over your rivals 01. Get local If you are only going to do one thing with social media from now on then it should be this. Join as many local community groups as possible and post regularly in them. Get known, provide advice, answer questions. Just participate. People buy from people they know. So make sure everyone knows you. 02. Use memes People love to share funny pictures. The picture itself isn’t going to get you any business, but becoming known as a person who is funny isn’t going to do you any harm at all. Social media is about interaction. Be the person that everyone likes. Try to make what you share relevant. 03. Know your audience Every single Facebook tip boils down to one thing. Get to know the people around you, and make sure they know you. Talk to people, answer their questions for free, be the guy everyone likes, the first person they think of. Then when they need something, you’ll have already sold it. Recommended app Tabsite enables you to create tabs in Facebook, so you can run competitions, sweepstakes, and special offers. Create tabs in Facebook with Tabsite 04. Integrate email marketing Do you have a regular newsletter? If not then shame on you, go start one now. Then integrate the sign up with your Facebook page. There’s no point in going to all of the effort of making people like you if you don’t leverage it to get an opportunity to pitch your business. 05. Retargeting We know it kind of goes against the ethos of this list to suggest you simply pay for adverts, but Facebook’s retargeting system rocks. And even better it doesn’t have to cost much. The more people see you the more likely they are to buy, so retarget to make sure they see you again! Engage with customers Generate NYC 2018 runs from the 25th-27th April 2018 The latest addition to the Generate NYC 2018 line-up is tech entrepreneur and customer success expert, Joseph Palumbo. With over a decade of experience, his insights into product development, service delivery, design, and user experience helped some of the largest tech companies gain a competitive advantage by listening and adapting to their customer’s needs. Listen to Joseph talk about pulling from his entrepreneurial background to effectively read each audience, employing the iterative process, building a structured journey, and setting the tone with the perfect first joke. Get your ticket now RELATED ARTICLES How to master the art of advertising on Facebook 10 social media tricks you didn't know about The design secrets of Facebook, Google and Twitter revealed View the full article

You're reading Best Free Website and Mobile UI Kits for 2018, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! The modern and frantic pace of life encourages us to come up with the ways of fulfilling tasks briskly to keep up. Rapid wireframing is a product of our acclimatization. Maybe in the beginning, this seemed like cheating yet now we can’t do without it. Any business requires an own online property. Everyone understands that. […] View the full article

Firmware versions of HPE’s remote management hardware iLO3 have an unauthenticated remote denial of service vulnerability. View the full article

26 new 10p coins have entered circulation in the UK, dedicated to celebrating everything 'quintessentially British'. Each special edition coin is based on a different letter of the alphabet, from the Angel of the North to zebra crossings. Of course, in certain cases there has been some barrel-scraping (we guess it was a toss up between a xylophone and 'X marks the spot'), but in most cases the designers have really hit the nail on the head when it comes to capturing everything the Brits love most, including tea, the Loch Ness Monster and the NHS. The coin attracting most love so far is the Q, which stands for – of course – queuing. It even features a parade of tiny, etched figures queueing polite across it. Take a look through the full collection below – use the arrows on the right and left to navigate through the collection. The Royal Mint has also released a 'Great British coin hunt' app – numismatists (coin collectors, that is) can scan any alphabet coins they find, using their phone camera, then collate them into a digital 'collection'. The app will be available for free on the App Store and Google Play. Find out more about the coins on the Royal Mint website (it's currently down due to high volumes of traffic... but you can always wait in the queue). View the full article

UK design studio Koto has shot to success impressively quickly since it launched in 2015. It has rapidly built its reputation on the global design scene, and managed to snag 11th place in the Computer Arts Studio Rankings this year (you can find out more about that here). The studio's ascent was kick-started when Coca-Cola entrusted it with a global rebrand of Fanta, and since then it has worked with the likes of Airbnb, Gumtree and PayPal. Client manager Katey-Jean Harvey handles Koto’s Coca-Cola and Airbnb accounts, and knows that multinational companies require a special touch. Here, she shares her tips for working with huge clients and keeping complex projects running like clockwork. 01. Use time differences to your advantage Koto's Fanta rebrand was a complex challenge Koto’s global rebrand of Coca-Cola-owned Fanta required a complex account management process that ranged from the main rebrand to myriad detail-orientated, research-heavy smaller tasks, like what a logo looks like in Thai or Arabic, or on a tiny label versus a massive billboard. “It’s very much a case of being a collaborator,” says Harvey. “We speak constantly on Google Hangouts, and it’s like: ‘What can we do to help you get what you need?’ We know they’re moving at a million miles an hour behind the scenes, so we use our time difference to our advantage, and make sure they wake up and have files when they need them.” 02. Embrace the chaos “No two days are the same, which could be a problem for some people,” admits Harvey. “Although some people quite like the regularity of a day-to-day job, I prefer the chaotic moments: juggling lots of different things at any given time is a really satisfying challenge. “You’re essentially a translator, and a diplomat at times – for me, that’s the most rewarding part: seeing the chaotic messages come through, and translating them into design. That’s how I get my kicks.” 03. Build relationships – and not just with the bosses “With more stakeholders involved, you may have to go through a political minefield to get answers, which slows things down,” admits Harvey. “You need to know when to respect the timeline; when to ease off and ride the wave so it doesn’t stress you out.” Although many challenges between large and small clients are similar, she points out that the larger the client-side team you’re working with, the more time you need to invest in building relationships. “Obviously you’ve got the CEOs and the people on a higher level, but make sure you make good contacts with people like producers, developers and designers too,” is her advice. “Make yourself an extended part of their team on all levels.” This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 274 or subscribe. Read more: 5 ways to create better brand imagery What happens when famous logos swap colour palettes 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 View the full article

To us at The Book Designers, the layout of the pages inside a book is just as important as its cover design. After all, the pages are what people experience as they read the book. This tutorial provides a basic step-by-step process for designing and laying out a book that's driven by its text. 22 free ebooks for designers Over the following steps we'll show you how to design a simple text-driven book using InDesign, which is part of Adobe's Creative Cloud software. However, this process can also be applied to more dynamic layouts, as it covers the basics of flowing in and formatting text for a book layout. 01. Plan the layout Click the icon to enlarge the image Plan your book layout first. Where are the table of contents, copyright page, introductions, preface, forewords and so on going to be located? If you're uncertain, ask your client or refer to books already in print to see what the standard is. Make sure the text you receive is supplied without hard formatting, otherwise you might spend a lot of time stripping out italics, bold and so on – over-formatted text distracts readers. Now open InDesign and go to 'File > New Document'. 02. Set properties The inside margins need to be large enough to accound for the gutter Set your document properties. Choose Facing Pages, set the trim size and margins, and set the columns to one. Pay attention to the inside margin as when your book is bound at the spine it will take in some of this paper. We suggest inside margins of at least one inch. We're working in inches – ctrl+right-click on the ruler to change the units you work in. Deselect the lock icon in your margin settings so you can set each – top, bottom, inside and outside – individually. 03. Drag guides Click the icon to enlarge the image You can drag guides for your layout off the rulers, just click and pull down or across. Use the Pages panel to see your layout in thumbnails and to access and apply master page items. To do this, click on the A-Master icon at the top of the Pages panel. 04. Create text boxes Once you access your master page, you can create text boxes to fit your margins as well as set up any page elements like page numbers and folio items. Whatever you do on your master pages will be applied throughout the rest of the document. Create two text boxes using your Type tool and position them within your margins. 05. Link pages Adjust your settings so the text flows from page to page Next, using your Direct Selection tool, select the text box on the left and locate the small square on the lower-right corner. Click this and you will see your cursor change to a text flow icon. With this text flow cursor icon, click on the right-hand text box and see the cursor change to a link cursor icon. This enables your document pages to link from page to page as you flow your text in. Next page: page numbers, flowing in text and more 06. Page numbers You can automate page numbering by making a text box and typing in a number wherever you want page numbers to appear in your layout. Select the number you typed, ctrl/right-click on it, and from the pop-up menu that appears select 'Insert special characters > Markers > Current page numbers'. You will see the number change to the letter A. This signifies that your page numbers are now applied to all your pages. 07. Populate opening pages The first few pages need to follow a different format Now, click on the first page of your document in the Pages panel and you'll see the items you created on your master pages have been applied. The first page is typically a 'half title' page, typically followed by a full title page with the subtitles, and name of the author and publishing house. Create these and a table of contents before flowing in the main body copy. To remove master items from a page, cmd/ctrl+shift+click on an item and it will be broken out of the master, then hit Delete. 08. Flow in text Now flow in the text. cmd/ctrl+Shift+click on the first text box and then press cmd/ctrl+D and select the text file on your hard disk. Your text will flow into the first spread. Select the second text box and click on the small box at the lower right corner. Hold Shift and it turns into an Auto-flow cursor icon. Click in the first text box on the next spread, and flow it in to the end of the document. 09. Adjust font Adjust your fonts using the Character and Paragraph panels Using your Text Selection tool and Character and Paragraph panels, adjust the font, size, colour and other character attributes that may be needed. Justified text is common for book body text. Your font size should be 10-12pt, with leading 13-15pt. Your text should have few hyphens and have an over all 'greyness' to it when viewed with a squinted eye. Good fonts are designed to have ideal kerning pairs but make sure headers, sub-headers, section breaks and drop caps get extra attention for a breathable hierarchy. For kerning tips, check out this article. 10. Tidy up Click the icon to enlarge the image You can apply any number of text treatments to your page, as well as import images to flow throughout your text. You can create any number of differently shaped boxes to import images into. Using the Text Wrap panel, set a 'runaround' so that text can flow around the images. Once done, export your book for press by packaging your document, saving it as a PDF for print, or ebook or e-pub formats. Liked this? Try these... 10 steps to freelance success The secrets to better client relationships The designer's guide to working from home View the full article

The Oscars are almost upon us. Whether you indulge in the awards ceremony or think it's just a self-congratulatory pat on the back, the Oscars are a great opportunity to pause and reflect on the state of current cinema. There's also the chance there'll be a hilarious gaffe like last year's Moonlight/ La La Land mix up. There's plenty for designers to get excited about in the run up to the Oscars, with some using the awards as an opportunity to offer their own creative spin on the year's biggest films. Take illustrator Olly Gibbs, who has been creating amazing illustrations of Oscar hopefuls since 2014. "I thought it would be a fun idea to represent each Best Picture nominee by dressing up the Oscar Statue in the costumes from the films," he explains. "I continued to do this each year developing the idea a bit further by introducing props and other elements to help show the film more as in some cases a costume wasn't enough." The project started out as an Oscars game for Empire Magazine, but when this fell through Gibbs kept on creating the statues to hone his illustration skills. "Each year the statues become more refined and more detailed," says Gibbs. "If you compare the first set I did with this year's you'll see a massive difference in detail and connection with the film. I do it all in Adobe Illustrator and tend to a lot of research before hand working from trailers and released film stills." Check out the full gallery of this year's Oscar illustrations below. When it comes to creating his illustrations, Gibbs always tries to be as accurate as possible while creating a cohesive collection. "Colour is also key when creating the final piece as I try to strike a balance with all the statues so I will determine which costume to choose (if there are multiple) by how it works with the others," he reveals. "I also like it when there's one that stands out a bit more than the rest. Last year I did Amy Adams in the orange hazmat suit from Arrival and that made for a really striking image. This year Guillermo Del Toro's Shape of Water allowed me to create a non-human statue for the first time - this was by far my most favourite one to create and probably the most beautiful one yet. I worked hard to be as accurate to the costume/character as Del Toro's designs are always stunning." Having posted his Oscar illustrations since 2014, Gibbs' creations have started to take on a life of their own. "I'm always blown away by the responses each year I post these and this year was no different," he says. "I had a lot of people emailing and commenting when and if I'd be doing them which was nice to see. "As far as what's next I have a few ideas and one of them is to work with a 3D artist to create them in 3D and get them 3D printed. I've always wanted to see them turned into sculptures although I'm not sure where to begin with that! If not I'll just stick to illustrator and focus on improving the illustration technique!" The Oscars take place on 4 March. Related articles: Infographic: The Oscars by numbers Brutally honest posters for Oscar-nominated movies Brilliant posters celebrate the Oscars View the full article

The web is a wonderful thing, brimming with resources and inspiration for people interested in packaging design. But, sometimes, too much choice can be confusing, so we've picked out the top packaging design resources to help you really get to grips with it. 01. Designspiration Find and share awe-inspiring packaging designs with Designspiration All sorts of creative goodness comes together at Designspiration. Created by Shelby White, Designspiration is a hub for collecting and sharing ideas, including a whole host of interesting and innovative packaging designs. 02. Packaging World Packaging World is updated daily with articles about packaging inspiration and materials Packaging World Magazine’s website is a great resource for professionals in packaging and manufacturing automation. Updated daily with articles about packaging inspiration, equipment and materials, it's a great way to stay up-to-date with the latest news about packaging. 03. createid Discover the best of packaging design at CreateID This brilliant blog captures the best of package design, news and articles from around the globe. It's not updated that regularly, but everything that's posted here is definitely worth a look. 04. Lovely Package Lovely Package curates the very best in packaging design from around the globe If, like us, you can't resist a lovely package, then you should definitely check out this cool blog. Lovely Package showcases some leading design work in the packaging world, covering everything from wine and beer bottles to toothpaste and kitchenware. The site features work from professionals and students alike, and with over 300 pages of projects to browse through, you're sure to find some inspiration here. 05. BXP For all things packaging design related, check out this brilliant blog Formerly Package Design, Brand Experience – or BXP for short – is a fantastic resource for all things packaging design. The site features work from designers all around globe, the latest industry news, upcoming talent in the field, a resources section and much more. What more could you need? 06. Retail design blog Retail design blog has a huge archive of packaging design projects to inspire you Packaging design resource Retail design blog has a huge archive of packaging design projects to inspire you. Here you'll find everything from sophisticated alcohol branding to luxury chocolate packaging. 07. Packaging design archive Packaging design archive features every kind of project you could possibly think of If you're looking for package design inspiration, head over to Packaging design archive. Containing every kind of design you could possibly think of, this extensive catalogue of packaging is a brilliant resource. Projects are organised into categories, with the site featuring a handy side bar that allows a search by the type of design you're after, including identity by typography, shape and much more. 08. Pinterest With hundreds of images to browse through, you're sure to find some package design inspiration on Pinterest With hundreds of thousands of inspirational images in its archives, we couldn't not include Pinterest on this list. Simply type in 'package design' into the keyword search and watch the work appear. A popular subject on the social networking site, you'll find yourself scrolling down on what seems like a never ending page of packaging design projects. 09. The Dieline Find the latest top packaging designs from around the world at The Dieline If it's information and inspiration on packaging design that you're after then The Dieline is a fantastic place to start. Founded in 2007, the site aims to define and promote the world's best packaging design. The Dieline is incredibly easy to navigate. It also features a packaging directory, which is an inspiring library of different company designs. 10. Brand New Brand New focuses solely on corporate and brand identity work A division of design firm Under Consideration, Brand New focuses solely on corporate and brand identity work, and features a vast library of inspirational packaging designs. But this is not just a showcase site; as well as all the beautiful imagery featured, much of the designs here are reviewed in detail, with experts giving their opinion on if, how and why each concept works. 11. Ambalaj Check out designer Kristina de Verdier's blog for inspirational examples of packaging design Ambalaj is actually the personal site of packaging designer Kristina de Verdier. But if you want to see some inspirational examples of packaging design, then you should definitely check out her blog section. In it, De Verdier has carefully selected new works from all over the world, describing them on her site as, "Material innovation, sustainable information, structural packaging, graphic design as well as beautiful brand stories". 12. Packaging of the World Choose from hundreds of packaging designs to inspire you on Packaging of the World Packaging of the World is a creative design gallery, showcasing the most interesting and creative work worldwide. This site is really well organised; you can choose to search for projects by category, country, student work, most popular, and so on, so it caters for everyone. A brilliant resource in the area of packaging design. 13. Packaging UQAM French site Packaging UQAM is an excellent showcase of innovative packaging research Looking for packaging inspiration from slightly further afield? Then be sure to check out Packaging UQAM, a French site that collects together amazing packaging that might have flown under your radar. Here you'll find creative solutions for storing trowels, golf tees, wishbones and plenty more unusual products. It's the place to go if you're looking to shake up your research and discover original ideas. 14. BP&O Freelance designer Richard Baird shares his thoughts on new branding work on this blog BP&O is a blog run by British freelance designer and an editor of The Dieline, Richard Baird, who specialises in the development of branding and packaging. Baird picks recently developed designs, provides a short background and shares his thoughts and opinions on each. A great site for finding new work from around the globe. 15. Behance There's an awesome collection of packaging design work to inspire you on Behance Online portfolio site Behance features top work in all manner of packaging designs. Here, you'll find numerous packaging design projects, created by artists of all skill levels, in everything from shoe and pharmaceutical design to alcohol and electrical product designs. Contributions: Creative Bloq staff Related articles: Insect-inspired packaging lights up beautiful new brand identity 6 eye-catching labels for German beers 5 times brands temporarily changed their packaging View the full article

The planet's sand reserves are under serious threat. Fuelled by a worldwide construction boom and increasing urbanisation, aggressive sand mining is eroding beaches, damaging infrastructure, disrupting ecosystems and giving rise to illegal trade governed by a brutal ’sand mafia’ that isn’t afraid to kill. The UN estimates that the mining of sand and gravel may exceed 40 billion tonnes a year. The problem is that the material is being extracted at a rate far greater than its renewal: three-quarters of the world's beaches are in decline, and that’s just the start of it. But sand plays a key role in our daily lives. It’s not just in our concrete – our houses, studios, pavements and roads. Sand also makes silicon dioxide and can be found in a phenomenal range of products that we use on a daily basis: paper, glass, cleaning products, toothpaste, wine and so on. So what happens if the world runs out of sand? And what are we doing to preserve it? Those were the questions posed by Dutch designer Lonny van Ryswyck at Design Indaba 2018 in Cape Town last week. Atelier NL's Sandbank represents a study of sands from the Netherlands and beyond The Atelier NL co-founder’s latest project, A World of Sand, seeks to create stronger ties between the earth’s materials and living communities, while also drawing attention to the vastly diminishing resource. Since 2010, van Ryswyck and her studio partner Nadine Sterk have been collecting wild sand from dunes, beaches, rivers, mountains and quarries to make their own glass. The pair melt the sand specimens down to reveal the stunning, unique colours and textures of each area before reshaping them into tangible, every day objects. Atelier NL's ZandGlas line features designer glass objects made from fused sand They’ve also called upon the global community to send in samples, too. Slowly, through a process of research and experimentation, Atelier NL is mapping the earth via its local raw materials – and the studio is sharing the stories of its sand contributors. “70 per cent of the world’s beaches are disappearing,” van Ryswyck told the Design Indaba audience. “We want to help people see things in a different way. It’s about abundance and scarcity: if can find balance, it’s one way for change.” Can the world’s disappearing sand problem be tackled with design? Yes, says van Ryswyck – if we can work together on the solution. “Just like gains of sand, we all have different backgrounds and paths,” she said. “If we come together, we can make beautiful colours.” Submit your own sand sample to the project at the World of Sand website. Related articles: Be a better designer in 2018 6 trail-blazing design graduates you should know 5 ways to quickly transform your design ideas into reality View the full article

Understanding programming languages is becoming a necessary skill, even for careers that don't necessarily require you to code. Learn how to speak the language of programmers so you can keep up with the Programming for Non-Programmers Course. It's on sale now for just $10 (approx. £7). Being multilingual is always a benefit. One of the most important languages to understand in the modern workplace is code. If you have no experience with coding, it can be intimidating trying to figure out where to start. The answer is Programming For Non-Programmers. This course includes 31 lectures and 3.5 hours of content that you can access anytime from anywhere. It's the perfect starting place to get you on the right path to speaking the language of programmers. You can get the Programming For Non-Programmers Course on sale for just $10 (approx. £7)! That's a savings of 79% off the retail price for a must-have course that will get even an amateur up to speed on programming basics, so grab this deal today! About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: The 4 most in-demand programming languages What's the best programming language to learn first? 6 ways to get into creative coding View the full article

Angular Material is a UI component framework that implements Google's Material Design specification for Angular 2 – the new, faster implementation of Angular, written in TypeScript. Although still in alpha, Angular Material already provides a set of reusable and accessible UI components based on Material Design. Angular 2 itself is designed for use across all platforms (web, mobile and desktop), and has many new technologies associated with it. At the JavaScript level we have the additional syntax of ECMAScript 2015 (ES6), typing and interface support from TypeScript, along with decorators from the Metadata Reflection API. It uses observables from the Reactive Extensions library to manage sequences of events in a functional programming way. It uses zones to encapsulate and intercept asynchronous activity to provide a form of thread-local storage, allowing Angular to automagically respond to data changes in asynchronous events to maintain data bindings. Finally, module loading is handled by SystemJS. In this tutorial we are going to use Angular 2 to create a simple to-do app with some signature Material Design elements. Get the source files here. Get set up Setting up the initial environment can be difficult. There is an angular2-seed available, as well as an angular2-starter. However, there is something even better: with angular-cli you can configure your Angular 2 project with a single command. Not only will it take care of the setup for all the technologies I mentioned in the last section (via Node and npm), it will also add in scaffolding for Jasmine unit testing, Protractor end-to-end testing, plus TSLint testing, and codelyzer static code analysis of Angular 2 TypeScript. Although you don’t have to use all of these, you definitely should. It’s so simple to use, you will wonder how you ever got along without it. Angular CLI is available as an npm package, so you will need to install Node and npm globally on your machine using npm install -g angular-cli. Now create a new Angular 2 app with ng new material2-do. You are going to have to wait a little bit, because after it generates the necessary files, it initialises a Git repo and does an npm install to download all the necessary modules into node_modules/. Take a look at the package.json and get familiar with the modules and scripts there. You have now created a new Angular 2 application that follows the official best practices. Add Material Design The default app knows nothing about Material Design (an oversight I'm sure), so we have to add it ourselves. There is a list of published Angular 2 Material Design packages in the @angular2-material library. In this example we are going to use core (required for all Angular Material 2 apps), as well as button, card, checkbox, icon, input, list and toolbar: For the vendor bundle to work, we need to add @angular2-material/**/* to the array of vendorNpmFiles in angular-cli-build.js. We also need to add the path to @angular2-material to the maps object: Let SystemJS know how to process new modules by pointing to the main files of each of the packages: Now it’s time to load the Material Design icon font in the of src/index.html. Any font will work, but we are using the standard Material Design icons: Create an MD dialog We can now work with Material Design in our to-do app. One of the components currently missing from Angular 2 Material Design is a prompt or dialog, so for our first task we will make one! Let’s create a new component using a Material Design card, a toolbar, an input and a couple of buttons. In the src/app folder of your repo, type ng generate component dialog. This generates a new DialogComponent in src/app/dialog, and adds a barrel to system-config.ts so SystemJS knows how to load it. If you look at the generated dialog.component.ts file, you will see the first line is: import { Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core'; . Component is one of the main building blocks of Angular, and OnInit is one of the interfaces it implements. However, in order to have access to communication between nested components, as well as the Material Design components mentioned above, we need to import Input , Output and EventEmitter from @angular/core; and MdCard, MdInput, MdToolbar and MdButton from their corresponding modules in the @angular2- material library. To render these Material components, we need to inject the directives our DialogComponent requires. We will add the following directives to the @Components metadata: We then declare a number of @Input variables (okText, cancelText and so on) that allow us to define the contents of the dialog. We also need to add one @Output emitter that allows us to trigger a function with a value in the parent component when the dialog is closed. Now we can replace the generated constructor in dialog.component.ts with the following code: As well as using the @Input variables inside our DialogComponent within the dialog.component.html template, the md-input allows us to accept input from the user: The md-buttons allow the user to click 'OK', 'Cancel' or whatever you decide to label these buttons: Notice the keyup event handlers, which take care of things when the Enter or Escape key is pressed. These handlers are identical to the click event handlers for cancelText and okText. Escape does the same thing as cancel (emitValue(null) ), and hitting Enter will have the same result as clicking OK (emitValue(value) ). This allows us to prompt the user for a value via an md-input, and receive emitted output. We can see examples of a number of Material Design components: md-card, md-button, and so on. We also need to add some CSS in dialog.component.css in order to achieve the layout we desire – you can view the full code in the accompanying GitHub repo. Now let's add this DialogComponent to material2-do.component.html to see what it looks like: Notice we have literal strings for all of the @Inputs. These require us to use both single and double quotes, otherwise Angular would interpret the contents as a variable name in the Component scope. We also have the one emitted @Output. This makes the dialog simple and extremely configurable. Most of the inputs would have defaulted to empty strings if omitted. Let’s modify Material2DoComponent. We need to import DialogComponent and declare it as a directive, otherwise Material2DoComponent will not be able to render it. We will also add the log function: Let's take a look at our handiwork. You can serve up the app (the default port is 4200) by running npm run-script start, which in turn runs ng server. If you open up the console, you can see what is logged: the contents of the input is emitted when you click 'Yes', and null is emitted when you click 'No'. We are now ready to use this new DialogComponent to create our to-do app. Create the main app We are going to use the following MD Components for the main app: toolbar, list, list-item, checkbox, button, icon, icon-registry, and its dependent, HTTP_PROVIDER, from the Angular HTTP library. So these need to be added to the import section of Material2DoComponent. Once again, in order to be able to render these components, we need to include them in the @Components metadata directives array along with DialogComponent, which we just added: To gain access to the MdIconRegistry, we need to inject it, along with HTTP_PROVIDERS, via the @Components metadata providers array: Now we leverage our DialogComponent, adding in enough logic for a simple to-do application. The todoDialog is called to open our dialog, either with the task to edit (todo) or null if we are creating a new one. We set up the default variables for a new task, or if we are editing a task instead we change them accordingly. We then show the DialogComponent by setting the showDialog variable to true: The updateTodo function is called when we wish to close it. The other functions (editTodo, addTodo, hideDialog) are helper methods for updateTodo. In material2-do.component.html we've given our application an md-toolbar where we have put the title, and an md-icon called add (which looks like a plus sign) for our floating action button (FAB), which allows us to create a new task: We use md-card-content to hold an md-list and an *ngFor to iterate through, and display, our todoList array as md-list-items: md-checkbox enables us to tick off items on our list. And we have two md-mini-fab buttons we can use to delete and edit our task: md-icons delete_forever and mode_edit: With a little CSS, these remain hidden until you rollover (or click). You can see the code in the repo. Going forward As Angular Material 2 is still in alpha, there are some things missing – in particular, the signature MD button ripple effect. While there may be breaking changes to the API ahead, it is very much functioning. It also lives up to the claim of having a straightforward API that doesn't confuse developers, and is easy to leverage for the creation of great looking applications. This article was originally published in issue 284 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Subscribe here. Related articles: What’s new in Angular 4? How to build a full-page website in Angular Build a data dashboard with AngularJS View the full article

Over the past few days researchers say DDoS attacks have been using memcached servers to amplify DDoS attacks using UDP-based packets. View the full article

You're reading Google Announces Flutter – Mobile UI Framework, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! This year’s Barcelona Mobile World Conference comes with a big announcement from Google: Flutter, the open-source mobile UI framework released in May 2017, is out of alpha. The framework allows developers to build native interfaces for both Android and iOS. Flutter brings together the best of two worlds, performance and platform integrations of native mobile […] View the full article

A new site has launched that offers exciting new opportunities for type designers and buyers, and could revolutionise the way we buy and sell fonts. Future Fonts is a marketplace for work-in-progress fonts, where you can buy workable early versions of the newest typefaces for bargain prices. The long – and therefore expensive – process of designing a full typeface makes it an unsustainable venture for many creatives. And the (justifiably) high prices of the resulting work can put off prospective customers – especially when there are so many great free fonts around. In short, the industry is due a shake-up. The software industry adopted a similar approach years ago, and there's no reason why it couldn't work equally well for type design. Here are four reasons the Future Fonts model could be the best thing that's happened to the type industry for a while. 01. Access to the newest fonts All the typefaces on Future Fonts are still being developed, which means they're just about the freshest typefaces around– and they won't have been used in a million ads or branding campaigns already. As well as helping graphic designers stay ahead of the curve when it comes to typography trends, there are benefits for type designers too. Only the best ideas will attract attention and customers, so this is a great way to see early on if there's a market for your design. 02. Buy in early for discounts (and free updates) Often, to get exactly what you want, you need to shell out – and the best typefaces don't come cheap. With Future Fonts, the price of a typeface goes up with each updated release. If you spot a typeface you like, you can purchase it for an early bird price, then get free updates as they're released. If you have a good eye for fonts, this is a win-win way to keep your designs fresh without devaluing the creative process. 03. Help fund the design process As any type designer will know, the process of designing a fully functional typeface is a long and arduous one. This new model effectively means customers can help fund typographers by purchasing their work earlier on in the design process. A more sustainable process lowers the barriers to entry into the type design industry, so more budding designers can get involved. And that's a good thing for everyone. 04. Collaborative approach to design Future Fonts promises to make type design a more collaborative effort. It's an online community space for type designers and fans, where experts can share their expertise by commenting on other works in progress. Although the site doesn't require type designers to finish every project, the moral and financial support provided by this approach aims to help type designers on their way over the finish line. If you're intrigued, you can find out more in this Medium post. Read more: 5 tips for better typesetting 12 fun fonts to liven up your design projects 50 top typography tutorials View the full article

Some of the most exciting speaker sessions of Design Indaba 2018 came from the global graduates. Throughout the three-day creative conference, 10 hand-picked young designers – all of whom are making waves in their respective fields – took to the stage to share their ground-breaking design work. Here, we bring you six of our favourite projects and introduce you to the designers behind them. Make a note of their names: these are tomorrow’s design stars and you’ll likely be seeing them again. 01. Renata Souza: Thomy insulin kit for kids Thomy helps children with Type-1 diabetes have fun while managing their condition. Mexican product design graduate and healthcare innovator Renata Souza developed an insulin kit for children after her young cousin Thomas was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes. Named Thomy, the kit is designed to facilitate the administration of insulin into the body. It features an insulin pen that’s been ergonomically designed for a child's hand. And it uses playful, non-toxic temporary tattoos to help children remember where they’ve injected insulin before. The idea is to help kids aged four and over manage the condition by bringing a sense of fun and intuition to the process, reducing any fear of needles and creating a product that children would be proud to carry in their backpack. And it seems Souza, who’s a graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, is onto something: last year Thomy was a United States national finalist in the James Dyson Award 2017. Read more: Thomy insulin kit uses design to help kids with diabetes 02. Shaakira Jassat: thirTEA for ONE It takes 30l of 'virtual water' to make a 150ml cup of tea For every 150ml cup of tea made, 30l of water is required throughout the chain process. That’s according to South Africa-born and Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Shaakira Jassat, who created a ceramic installation, thirTEA for ONE, to illustrate the dramatic hidden waste associated with the deceptively simple daily act of making a cup of tea. Jassat’s installation highlights the amount of “virtual water” used to make one cup of tea with a series of ceramic cups connected in an inverse pyramid. The top cup requires constant water until the very bottom cup is filled. The project was particularly poignant at Design Indaba this year, given the water crisis currently being faced in Cape Town. "We take a lot for granted," she says. "That is, until it is gone forever... Water is our most precious element and it is contained in almost everything around us. Sadly, water is scarce." 03. Tomo Kihara: Street Debaters Street Debaters helps build bridges between different levels of society Japanese design researcher Tomo Kihara aims to challenge and reframe issues in society through playful intervention – and he’s received international recognition for his efforts. His project Phonvert, which urged people to find alternative uses for their old phones and reduce material waste, was nominated for Design of the Year 2016 by the London Design Museum. And Kihara is a 2017 WIRED Creative Hack award-winner too. More recently, Kihara – who’s studying for an MSc in Design for Interaction at TU Delft in the Netherlands – has been looking to create a social alternative to begging, by encouraging conversation around a topic of public interest in exchange for donations. The idea, he says, is to allow homeless people to earn money without sacrificing their dignity. His project Street Debaters aims to break too stigma of being on the streets by using a set of scales to pose topical ’yes’ or ‘no’ questions to the public as they walk past. For example: “Is Brexit ok?”, “Trump or Clinton for president?” and “Latest Harry Potter film – good or bad?” People passing by are encouraged to drop a coin into the side of the scale they identify with. The results? Not only did the project spur more people to make a financial contribution – Kihara found that homeless people were able to make up to £13.50 per hour – it also sparked conversation, with 12-13 people stopping every hour to chat. “Now people are talking about politics and Star Wars – and not about being homeless,” says Kihara. “Equal conversations are essential to keeping one’s dignity. Now people aren’t invisible.” Want to get involved? You can download the open-source design files to make your own scales from wood, cardboard or paper. 04. Aleksandra Gosiewski: AlgiKnit bioyarn AlgiKicks is a revolutionary sustainable sneaker that rapidly degrades after the product has finished its useful lifetime Fashion designer Aleksandra Gosiewski is a founding member of AlgiKnit, a New York-based biomaterials research group devoted to developing wearable textiles from readily abundant biopolymers. Fed up of the fashion’s linear economy - fashion is the world’s second most polluting industry, with most clothing ending up in landfill – Gosiewski and her team have created a highly flexible, rapidly renewing biodegradable yarn from kelp. Not only can the bioyarn be woven into apparel, when you’re finished with the item of clothing, it can be easily broken down by microorganisms and fed back into the earth. “Kelp is one of the fastest growing organisms on earth,” explains Gosiewski. “It’s available globally and sourced sustainably and there’s a lot around.” “When [the clothing] is worn out, or you don’t want it, it can be broken down by microorganism and the nutrients reclaimed to feed the next generation of product,” explains Gosiewski. “We see our material beyond just fashion,” she adds. “There are more possibilities. We developed the yarn – we’re excited to see what people make with it.” Read more: Why your next shoe could be made from seaweed 05. Leroy Mwasaru Leroy Mwasaru delivering his Design Indaba talk He might be only 19, but Leroy Mwasaru already boasts an impressive CV. The social entrepreneur is the founder of Greenpact, a social enterprise providing bio-gas solutions to the nine million Kenyan households (that’s 72 per cent of all Kenyan households) struggling without access to affordable renewable energy and proper sanitation. Working between renewable energy, e-commerce and human-centered design education, the One Young World ambassador and Royal Commonwealth Society fellow started Greenpact as a high school project. He also runs CampBuni, a social enterprise teaching design thinking to high school students; and CommCycle, a trade platform to facilitate peer-to-peer trading. 06. Simon Dogger: The Emotion Whisperer The Emotion Whisperer helps partially sighted people 'feel' other people's emotions Product designer Simon Dogger created the Emotion Whisperer after losing his sight and finding himself unable to read body language. When in conversation, the tool translates the emotion of the person through a series of subtle sensory signals. The product comprises a set of glasses with a built-in camera, an “emotion recognition” app – which uses facial recognition technology and algorithms to detect the intensity levels of the base six emotions: happiness, fear, anger, sadness, disgust and surprise – and a small, handheld device. The app analyses and translates any emotion detected into a sensory signal, and instructs the electronic device to give out a specific vibration. That means that with Emotion Whisperer, a user can effectively feel someone smiling. “My work is about turning emotions into haptic signals. With Emotion Whisperer, you can feel someone smiling,” says Dogger. “My job is to make something that turns around the quality of the dialogue, and the quality of life.” Related articles: Be a better designer in 2018 Design Indaba 2018: Building outspoken landscapes 3 design projects that just changed the world View the full article

So you want to know how to draw a rose? Well, you're in the right place. When it comes to drawing flowers, there are many different ways to start the process – and many angles to choose from. In the video below, I unpack some ideas for how to draw roses to make them a little less daunting. I provide a list of written tips further down the article that outline the key drawing techniques involved, too. You'll also find some additional resources covering how to draw roses for beginners and more advanced artists at the very bottom of this article. How to draw a rose Roses are the most popular flowers in the world, so it’s not surprising that they are often found in art as well. However, learning how to draw a rose can be complicated and intimidating for two reasons. First, a rose’s shape continually changes as it blooms making it difficult for the artist to answer the most basic question, 'What shape is it?' Second, it's a soft and delicate object; communicating that requires considerable skill and sensitivity. Follow these pro tips to learn how to draw a rose... 01. Draw draw draw! Understanding comes through repetition Begin by sketching the subject from different angles and reference pictures. This will give you a good sense of whatever it is you’re drawing and help you look for new insight. Your 100th drawing should always be better than your first one. Drawing something over and over again is necessary for drawing with power and authority. Also, by drawing something repeatedly, you will become more confident of the subject, which will allow you to take chances. So draw with abandon and don’t worry about how good those initial sketches are. Draw to learn; each drawing is leading you closer to the perfect rose. 02. Successful thinking leads to successful drawing Don’t just see; think about what you see Successful drawing is more about logical thinking than having a trick up your sleeve. Start by observing your subject and asking the most basic question: What is the shape of this thing I’m drawing? Is it round? Square? Roses are complicated shape-wise because their unfolding petals distract us from its basic shape. The obvious fact is that a rose is an unfolding bud, so it’s egg-shaped: wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. So start by drawing the egg-shaped bud and then add in all the petals unfolding and opening around it. Make sense? Now that's an example of great thinking surpassing simply drawing what you see. 03. Good reference, good silhouettes Shapes are our friends Not all reference is created equal. Sometimes rose pictures that you find might not be helpful to your drawing because they look wilted and not heroic, or be strangely shaped and not very rose-like. Make sure the photo you choose to draw from has a shape that can be instantly recognised as a rose. Once you get drawing, you can turn your rose into a silhouette to see its overall shape and discern if it effectively communicates a rose. If you’re working from good reference, checking the silhouette will keep you on track. 04. Form Good form makes your rose believable If your drawing has good form, that means it has a three-dimensional quality to it that makes it look real and believable. The best way to render (i.e. draw) form is to make sure that you think about what part of the rose you're drawing so that your hand movements follow the same curves of the petal or the roundness of the stem. Making round movements around a round object clarifies form; if something is round, use circular strokes to give the illusion of curvature. 05. Story Everyone loves a good story – even when you're drawing roses You might wonder what 'story' has to do with a rose. Everything! Whereas an amateur artist might draw a stiff stem and leaves (boring), an experienced artist will see the stem and leaves as a chance to tell a story because that’s what will connect them with the viewer emotionally. You can turn the mundane into something magical through exaggeration. Even though the differences between the two roses (above) are slight, the one on the right is much more interesting than the one on the left. Just by adding a few exaggerated bends in the stem, tilting the bloom, and injecting a little wonder into the leaves, my drawing goes from stiff to lively. Here are some additional tips to take your roses to the next level... How to draw a rose: beginner tips If you’re brand new to drawing roses, this screencapture walkthrough breaks down the process into basic shapes. This tutorial is aimed at children and beginners – by the end you’ll have a basic grasp of how to draw a rose. How to draw a rose: advanced tips For expert insight into how to draw roses, this six-minute video tutorial provides a masterclass for sketching a realistic, eye-catching rose with crisp petals. If this 'how to draw a rose' article inspires you to educate yourself further, head over to Schoolism.com to discover courses, workshops and more. It’s an amazing way to study with the pros. Related articles: How to draw: 95 pro tutorials and tips How to draw hands 12 best pencils for designers and artists View the full article

Intel has issued stable microcode to help protect its Broadwell and Haswell chips from the Spectre Variant 2 security exploits. View the full article

The Oscars are fast approaching, and this year marks the award ceremony's 90th birthday. Over those nine decades there have been some pretty incredible stats attached to the Academy Awards. To mark the occasion, Stylight has put together this infographic that represents this prestigious event in numbers. The best infographics This impressive infographic shows you the actors that got paid peanuts for their award-winning performances, the most watched acceptance speeches, the child prodigies and late bloomers, and more. The gender pay gap is still raging Aptly for a year in which the movie industry (and its biggest events) is being shaken up by the long-overdue #TimesUp revolution, there's also a depressing look at the Academy Awards' gender stats. It's still a boys' club when it comes to individual nominations – overwhelmingly so in the best director category, and payscales are still way, way out of whack. The three highest-paid actors all earned well over twice as much as the highest-paid women in 2017, but perhaps the most surprising stat here is that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is currently the second biggest earner in Hollywood. We'll leave that to sink in for a minute. Streep is top of the class when it comes to best acting noms Despite this disparity, women still win out when it comes to best acting nominations. The indomitable Meryl Streep has racked up a ridiculous 21 nominations across her career. Trailing behind in the men's category is Jack Nicholson, who has pulled in a frankly embarrassing 12. Click on the image to see the full infographic To see the full infographic, click on the image above. The Oscars will take place on Sunday 4 March – if you're still not up to speed on the flicks set to win big, take a look these brutally honest Oscar movie posters. Read more: 5 outrageous product placements in movies Are movie posters in a design crisis? 15 influential art and design movements you should know View the full article

There's so much that can be achieved natively in the browser using CSS3 or the Web Animations API, in JavaScript. Simple animations and transitions are well suited to CSS3 – whereas more complex animations need to be accomplished using JavaScript. The problem with the Web Animation API is browser support and the current feature set. Being a fairly young specification, this will improve in the coming years. The complete guide to SVG In order to combat this feature and browser support deficit, we can turn to animation libraries, such as GreenSock (GSAP). GSAP gives us the ability to create complex animations and multiple timelines, with the ability to animate almost any element or property/value pair – all achieved with a simple and intuitive syntax. In this tutorial we're going to use the GSAP library to create a few animations. The main and most complex animation we'll be creating will be transitioning the scene from day to night, we'll see how easily we can chain together multiple transitions to create complicated animations. We'll also be creating a few simple animations we'll be running constantly. Download the files for this tutorial. 01. Document setup To start, we need to fork the GreenSock Pen in order to trial its premium plugins. For the tutorial we'll be using an SVG which has already been optimised and pasted into our HTML editor. However, if you're using your own SVG you'll need to make sure that all of the elements have unique IDs. 02. Create the first timeline GSAP offers two timeline types: TimelineLite and TimelineMax. The TimeLineMax version offers access to additional features, such as the ability to repeat animations, as well as playing them in reverse among others. Our first timeline will be the water, which we will repeat infinitely and yoyo back and forth. 03. Create the first animation In order to animate the water we have another path in our SVG, hidden with a '0' opacity. We'll utilise the morphSVG plugin to transform our original water path into the new water path. We'll move the water element '12px' down on the y-axis. The two numbers at the end of the property represent the delay and the start times respectively. 04. Reusable properties Since we will be reusing a number of properties and values a number of times we're going to create variables for these properties. 05. Console logging The GSAP library offers us the ability to get a number of properties from any given timeline. We can log these in the console to make sure that everything is working as we expect it to. 06. Cloud timeline and console log For every element we wish to animate separately and constantly we need to create a new timeline. We also want to log that timeline in the console as we go. 07. Cloud animation Now that we have our timeline ready, we can create our cloud animation. The section of animation which takes the new properties can handle multiple property/value pairs separated using commas. Our cloud animation only needs to be subtle, so we only need to change the values by a small amount. 08. Create the night time animation Next, we'll start to create our day-to-night animation. We'll create a variable for the cycle time and the day. The 'yoyo' setting in GSAP also enables to us to delay the animation before repeating. 09. Animate the overlay layer Inside our SVG we have an overlay layer made of a rectangle covering the entire image with the same background gradient as our night-time background. The overlay applies the 'multiply' blend mode in order to darken the entire image. Our animation simply transitions the opacity of this element. 10. Animate the gradient GSAP offers other tweens on top of the common 'to' and 'from' types. The tween type we need in order to animate our gradient is the 'staggerTo' tween. We can also use the 'cycle' property in order to rotate the colour wheel around to our new values. 11. Animate the sun We can keep adding animations to our 'toNight' animation. This time we'll add a new 'to' tween in order to set our sun. We'll set the display time to be a fraction of the cycle time in order to animate the sun before the moon. GSAP enables us to set almost any attribute. We'll use this in order to animate the 'cx' and 'cy' properties to below the hill on the right. 12. Animate the moon We'll use the same technique we used to animate the sun out of view (see Step 11 above) in order to animate the moon into view. We could achieve this using one tween, of course, but in order to create a faux arc we'll do this is in two parts. In both parts we're also going to apply a new value to the scale property. 13. Animate the moon - part two The second part of the moon animation waits for the first section to finish before it begins. Note: these two parts of the moon animation are chained together inside the animation code along with the other day-to-night properties that we're using. 14. Animate the stars The only part left of our day-to-night animation are the stars. We'll animate the stars into view by transitioning a number of properties. The first of them is to simply bring them into view by animating their opacity. 15. Animate the stars - part two Next we'll use the 'from' tween in order to move the stars up and rotate them from a negative angle as they animate into view. We're using some simple maths in order to calculate our animation time and delay, all based on our 'day_night_cycle_time' variable. 16. Create the stars timeline and the console log Now we've created our day-to-night animation we can create another constant animation to make our stars blink. We'll create the new timeline and then log the timeline duration in the console. 17. Animate the stars Now we've created the timeline ready for animation, we need to create our blinking animation. The animation is really simple – all we want to do is reduce the opacity value. Thanks to the 'yoyo' property the opacity will animate on and off and so will make the stars look like they are blinking. 18. Delay the blinking In the last step we're targeting the stars group in order to apply our blinking animation, however it would look much better if the stars were to blink one at a time instead of together at the same time. We achieve this by targeting each star separately and applying a different animation. 19. Additional elements - snow! That's it! Our day-to-night cycling animation is finished and it looks awesome, but we don't have to stop there. Since the image is in SVG we can easily add new elements to our landscape. Let's add some snow. We'll do this using two separate layers. Each layer has a collection of ellipses large enough to cover the landscape and then the same collection repeated above. 20. Create the snow timelines We create two separate timelines for our snow in order to be able to animate them over different durations. We'll also log their durations to the console. 21. Animate the snow In order to animate our snow layers we want to move the two layers along the vertical axis. By differing their durations we will get the appearance of the layers moving at different speeds. The animation works by moving the collection of ellipses along the vertical axis until the second collection is in place of the first. We then repeat the animation. Find the full collection of tutorial Pens here. This article was originally published in issue 269 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 269 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: 21 top examples of JavaScript Create and animate SVG Polygons 12 common JavaScript questions answered View the full article

Web developers have the power to shape the future of the internet. They create and maintain the apps and services that you count on every day. If you want to join the ranks of those important people who help keep the digital world running, then you need to check out the Complete Full Stack Developer eBook Bundle. You can get it on sale now for just $29 (approx. £21)! The Complete Full Stack Developer eBook Bundle is the perfect starting point for any aspiring web developer. This bundle of eBooks will help to lay the foundation for your next career. By working through this bundle of 16 books from SitePoint, you'll learn how to work with the most important languages in web development, including front-end development standards that help strengthen the back-end tech of your sites. You can get the Complete Full Stack Developer eBook Bundle on sale right now for just $29 (approx. £21)! That's a savings of 93% off the retail price for a bundle that will give you a start on your web dev career, so grab this deal today! About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: The future of web design 5 articles to improve your web design career How responsive web design changed the world View the full article

When it comes to drawing believable creatures, you need to focus on the skeletal, muscular and vascular systems. This process becomes even more interesting once you start working in 3D. So, first things first: to follow this 3D creature anatomy project, you'll need the right 3D software – we'll be using ZBrush. I had the privilege of working with American scientific and academically trained illustrator Terryl Whitlatch. You can also find the Pyrosuvious in Terryl’s book, Principles of Creature Design. The purpose of this project is to create an anatomy of a believable imagined creature. Creating a creature that does not exist is already a challenging task, especially since we see creatures in movies, commercials and games, all the time. Making a non-existing creature look believable and convincing is the hardest part. There are plenty of resources available on the human anatomy for artists, but not so much for imagined animals and creatures. This project focuses on modelling a popular style of imagined creature: a bipedal dinosaur hybrid. The Pyrosuvious is basically a mixture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spinosaurus and Dromaeosaurids-like creature. Luckily, I had Terryl’s scientific illustrations and collaboration to serve as a great conceptual foundation for an inspirational and educational challenge. In this tutorial you can follow my step-by-step sculpting process in ZBrush, and advice on how to create a 3D print-friendly file. 01. Using references Chicken parts act as as a real-life limb study It’s helpful to find real life animal references for the part you are focusing on at a given time. For example, when focusing on the small, detailed scales, I relied heavily on the Carolina anole lizard and neighbouring species for reference. Many dinosaurs share anatomic features with chickens, especially in the limbs. In this case, I even kept many frozen chicken parts to have on hand as a real-life limb study. I also recommend Unfeathered Bird by Katrina van Grouw as a reference book. 02. Design story Terryl's sketches inspired by The Lost World The Pyrosuvious was originally created by Terryl’s rough compositional doodle and sketches based and inspired by the 1925 film, The Lost World. The Pyrosuvious is a combination of at least six or seven different dinosaur species and is designed to be a scaly reptile. The chapter about the Pyrosuvious is in Terryl’s latest book, Principles of Creature Design. 03. Zsphere base mesh Use ZSphere to start the main base mesh I use ZSphere, a ZBrush tool, to start my main base mesh. Depending on the project, sometimes I start with DynaMesh, but since I have incredible line drawings from Terryl I started with ZSphere to have a little bit more control over my mesh. I turn off the perspective view and start to build my spheres. You can press [A] to see what your mesh looks like at any time. You can add volumes by creating more ZSpheres. Press [Q] to add more ZSpheres. 04. Skeletal anatomy Skeletal side view Initially, building the skeletal anatomy wasn’t required for this project, but I think it helps to understand the muscles and their transitions into bones, as well as understand the structure of the overall mass. Terryl provided me with skeletal front and side view drawings for this task and I built them in ZBrush. If your final sculpt does not call for skeletal structure, I might still suggest completing it to help guide the rest of your muscle and tissue development. 05. Block out the main shapes Working on the silhouette I have front and side view drawings, my base mesh and skeletal system. Now I’ll spend time on the overall silhouette using the Move brush. Concept drawings should give an idea of body mass and shape, but don’t get too hung up on the details yet; it’s important to have a low-resolution model in the beginning while you are making big changes. Press the shortcut BMT for the Move Topological brush (to move vertices) and shortcut BMV for the Move brush (to move big mass). 06. Add muscle mass Adding muscle with the Clay Buildup brush I use the Clay Buildup brush to add muscle mass. Next I isolate the areas that I want to focus on and work on them separately. Use the Clay Buildup brush, smooth it and gently draw muscle lines with the Dam_Standard brush. Slowly build up the fines of the form and move to a different part. Change the Imbed Intensity to 5 and Brush Intensity to 10 for the Clay Buildup brush. Go to Brush>Depth>Imbed. Imbed controls how much deformation the brush stroke will give you. 07. Adding weight Loose skin Weight is one of the most important elements in organic forms. It defines the heaviness and gives us the sense of how this creature would fit into our world. Usually the areas that are intersecting, articulating or the loose skin and membranous parts will need the most time and polish here. If you don’t add weight onto your sculpt it will look less organic. Try looking at your model with a shader that has specularity to see the surface highlights. 08. Surface detail Adding scale patterns Surface detail should be added last to make the surface look rich and vibrant; it shouldn’t change the silhouette of the model. At this point I create the main scale patterns by hand, and for the rest of the details I use skin alpha brushes which you can easily find on ZBrush Central. You can also paint your surface details and convert them into Displacement maps to be projected in ZBrush. Both methods are very useful for creating surface details. 09. Anatomy side carving Carving the surface Once I’m happy with the overall weight and mass on this creature, I start carving my surface. As you start working on the major muscle groups and their relationships with the skeletal system, having access to your concept artist or using real animal references is helpful. I mainly used the Dam_Standard, Clay Buildup and Clay brush here. Working with layers at this stage is very important. I can keep everything organised with layering and take control of the blending. 10. Exaggerate finer details Fine details get lost when 3D printed Details will often need to be exaggerated in order to be readable when printed. Fine scale details might look good on your screen, however when you 3D print them they usually get lost. The good news is, when you take advantage of your layers in ZBrush, you can adjust the exaggeration levels before you send it to be printed. I recommend giving an extra 2mm offset on finer details. Go to Tool>Layers then select the layer and change the layer intensity. 11. Decimation master Pre and post decimation I’ve included the decimated printable écorché of the Pyrosuvious as an .obj file. To buy the original ZBrush file with separated layers and subtools, go to here. Decimation Master is simple to use: enter the number of polygons needed for the mesh or the percentage of the decimation needed. Go to ZPlugin>Decimation Master and hit Pre-process Current first and then Decimate Current. You can enter different numbers to re-calculate the decimation. 12. Final The end result, a perfect Pyrosuvious The more information and background you have about your creature, the more believable it will be. Nature is always the biggest inspiration and provides the guidelines for these types of projects. However, I hope that the Pyrosuvious can also be a tool to guide artists in understanding their creature subject inside and out. This article was originally published in 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Subscribe to 3D World here. How to draw anything: 95 pro tutorials and tips Drawing techniques: 7 fundamentals of pencil drawing Review: ZBrush 4R8 View the full article

When you need to decide between illustration and photography in your design work, sometimes the choice isn't clear cut. Both have their pros and cons creatively; vary in the costs, time and resources required; and can also communicate your message in very different ways, whether abstract and conceptual, or realistic and literal. To help you make the right decision, read on for our five reasons to choose illustration over photography for your next design project. 01. You want to express something abstract This illustration by Neil Webb visualises some of the different approaches to branding strategy Sometimes, the nature of the idea or concept you're trying to convey will determine whether illustration is the best course of action. Abstract themes, or topics where specific visuals don't come to mind, will often lend themselves better to an illustrative treatment. An interview with a specific person about their business strategy, say, would probably demand photography of the interviewee. It's about access to that individual, and expressing their personality. But a piece about strategy in general could be much better illustrated, to bring a potentially dry subject to life as well as visualise various abstract ideas. Likewise in an ad campaign: sometimes photography is necessary to ground a particular claim in reality, and make it more accessible. Perhaps there's a specific person that needs to be shown – a celebrity endorsement, for instance. But if you're trying to get across more abstract brand values, such as 'playfulness' or 'innovation', illustration could be a perfect way to get that across. 02. The subject is too ambitious to photograph The Partners crafted a beautiful illustrated brand world for The Connaught Sometimes you need your imagination to be the limit, not the budget or the practical logistics of what you can shoot, where and how. The simple beauty of illustration is that you can depict literally anything you like. Futuristic, surreal, or fantastical scenes are all possible with photography in theory, but could cost a small fortune. If some degree of realism is important, consider a middle-ground of photomontage illustration or collage, where stock assets could prove invaluable. Pick the right style of illustration, however, and there are no boundaries for what kind of world you can create. But if you're commissioning bespoke illustration, make sure your brief steers the illustrator in the direction you need. 03. You want to tell a story NB Studio's character-led branding for banking app Zhuck is quirky Storytelling may have become a buzzword in branding and advertising, but the fact remains that a compelling narrative can be enormously effective when it comes to engaging consumers, and getting across a brand's personality and purpose. Illustration is great for taking people on a journey, whether you're literally walking people through a brand's story using illustrated scenes or characters, or constructing a subtler narrative across various brand touchpoints. Characters, or mascots, don't have to be twee or childish. They can be an effective way to represent the attitude of a brand in a tangible, easily relatable way, as well as providing countless options for expanding across different platforms. And illustration can also convey particular processes, or key issues that are important to a brand – its eco-friendly credentials, or educational initiatives, for instance – in interesting, eye-catching and totally bespoke ways. 04. You have some data to visualise Stefan Sagmeister's Happy Show raised a smile with its cheeky illustrated infographics Infographics have absolutely boomed in popularity over the last decade, with visual sharing platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram helping to spread the most engaging and thought-provoking examples far and wide – although some of them do stretch the definition of 'infographic' somewhat. At their core, infographics are about making complex information easier to digest and understand by converting them into a visual form. And here's where illustration steps up to the plate in a way that photography never could: with a touch of creativity, a tedious spreadsheet or list of facts and figures can become a treat for the eyes. Whether it's visualising corporate statistics for an annual report, providing a fresh perspective on a global phenomenon or clarifying a complex process, infographics are definitely here to stay. 05. A particular style is required Aart-Jan Venema's illustrated branding for Green Man Festival was overall winner at the World Illustration Awards 2017 The best photographers may have a distinct trademark style and approach to their subject, but ultimately the camera never lies. The subject will always be the star, and while a carefully art directed photographic campaign will help give a brand coherence, it will never be as distinctive as a particular style of illustration. Illustration can unify a design and totally transform its look, feel and mood – whether it's a multi-platform campaign, a series of graphics for an event or a simple brochure. And this is where picking the right style – whether you're commissioning bespoke illustration, or researching stock assets – is paramount. Commissioning a full-blown, carefully art directed photoshoot can be unattainably expensive. However, as cameras increase in quality and decrease in price, and the quality of stock imagery increases, decent-quality photography is becoming more and more accessible to brands of all shapes and sizes. Illustration can help a brand stand out from the crowd in a much more distinctive way, carving a niche defined by personality and individual attitude. Read more: 5 ways to use images more effectively in editorial design 15 influential art and design movements you should know 7 biggest illustration trends of 2018 View the full article