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Kinetic typography can come in all shapes and forms. Whether it's an homage to a famous movie speech or song or an exploration of the typography itself, these creations are a feast for the eyes. If you want to create your own, our selection of free fonts and After Effects tutorials will help you on your way. Need a little inspiration? Here, we've picked some brilliant kinetic typography animations, including music videos, movie tributes and more. Enjoy! 01. Kick-ass Ryan Perera's video based on a sequence from the film Kick-ass uses a hand-drawn style to reflect the brand's comic book influences. It's a great example of how drama and emotion can be expressed with moving type. 02. Coconut woman This lively animation by Motion Surfing uses coconut-shaped type timed with the rhythm of the song to to convey personality and energy. 03. From Paper to Screen This masterpiece was, unbelievably, a graduation project by graphic designer Thibault de Fournas. The animation shows the evolution of typography from paper to screen in serious style. The first half of the video deals with the basic rules of typesetting, before moving on to the use of typography in cinema, with impressive effects running throughout – the tribute to Saul Bass being our favourite. 04. Language Designer Matthew Rogers is the man behind this kinetic typography animation of the words of British writer and actor Stephen Fry. A fan of this particular essay on language, Rogers decided to make it his first kinetic typography project using a combination of After Effects, Flash and Illustrator. 05. The 10 Commandments In just under two minutes, this kinetic typography animation reveals the 10 Commandments in serious style. The man behind the piece is designer Vit Ryznar, who completed the project using After Effects. 06. Shine a Light Let's be frank, this J-pop tune by DJ Takuma featuring Angella Guistini is pretty forgettable, and we imagine the lyrics were sugary nonsense even before they got translated from Japanese. But the vibrant typographic video by Bait makes everything better. 07. Childline: First Step Ad agency YCN Studio recently collaborated with LA-based production company Buck on this powerful animation, which encourages children to talk about and report sexual abuse. The video promotes the services of UK-based, confidential, free, 24-hour counselling service for children, Childline. Following a conversation between child and advisor, the four-minute animation uses kinetic typography and abstract art to get its message across. It's by no means an easy issue, and we think YCN Studio and Buck have done a sterling job at covering it in a powerful yet sensitive way. 08. Breaking Bad American TV show Breaking Bad has won multiple awards since it first aired back in 2008. Which is hardly surprising when it includes brilliant monologues like 'I am the danger', in which school teacher-turned-criminal Walter White convinces his wife that he's a dangerous man, capable of striking fear into hardened criminals. Graphic designer, illustrator and animator Paul Cooper decided to pay homage to the infamous scene using kinetic typography. He visualises the intense scene through a series of black and white illustrations and text, all cleverly timed to each character's lines. 09. The Hush Sound – Lions Roar Part of a two man team, designer Mig Reyes worked on this typographical motion graphic piece to The Hush Sound's Lions Roar song. Heavily inspired by motion graphics studio MK12, the duo used After Effects to time the song's lyrics to the brilliant typography and graphics. 10. Procrastination This trailer for David McRaney's international bestselling book You are Not So Smart uses cleverly animated typography to sum up its contents. Animated, designed and produced by Plus3 productions, the perfectly timed animation is all about procrastination, and it'll have you nodding in agreement and smiling all the way through. 11. The Edge Hunter S Thompson has influenced a generation of film-makers, writers and designers. This homage to the author by Piotr Kabat combines an array of design disciplines to showcase some of his finest words. 12. Apocalypse Rhyme This is an amazing piece of work considering it was all done by one person. Oliver Harrison wrote the poem, composed the music and organised it all into a splendid animated whole for Channel 4's Random Acts, and his reward was the 'Best Motion Graphics' prize in the British Animation Awards 2014. 13. Bob Oliver Smith is a 3D animator and compositor who can turn his hand at many aspects of the moving image. Inspired by 'Weird Al' Yankovic's Bob Dylan parody 'Bob', the song features Yankovic's signature style and comical lyrics. Although the amusing tune is the main influence for the video, it's Oliver's stunning array of graphic titles and typography that really stand out. 14. Anonymous This super-cool infographic kinetic typography animation tells the story of how online hactivist group Anonymous came together in 2003 and subsequently went on to stage various protest actions. The 90-second animation, which uses 3D effects, electronics and text to convey the message, was created by multimedia designer Savva Tsekmas. 15. Shop Vac Artist Jarrett Heather made this kinetic typography music video for Jonathan Coulton's Shop Vac. The humorous animation took Heather somewhere between 500 and 1000 hours to complete. At just under three-and-a-half-minutes long, the brilliant video features a number of different fonts, all perfectly suited to the story each tells. 16. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom Celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series of gigs back in 2012, the old-time rock 'n' rollers even managed to release a new track that was pretty darned good. For the accompanying music video, Trunk Animation designed this great splatter style animation, which is reminiscent of Ralph Steadman's typographic artistry. 17. Karloff Another piece from graphic designer Thibault de Fournas, who has combined modern typefaces Bodoni and Didot in this beautiful animated video exploring how two extremes could be combined into a coherent whole. Stylistically, the video is centred around a series of expanding and disappearing hairlines, with cuts complementing editorial typographic layouts. 18. Mad as Hell Peter Finch's iconic 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more' speech from Network is still relevant 40 years on, and while it doesn't necessarily need any extra weight lending to it, this kinetic typography treatment by Aaron Leming makes a pretty good fist of it. 19. Alphabet This alphabet in motion video is sublimely smooth. There's no accompanying soundtrack but the animation is so slick you don't notice. Former graffiti artist turned motion graphic artist Pavel Pavlov morphs simple but beautiful lines and graphics together to form a unique design for each letter of the alphabet. 20. Conan O'Brien Working from one solid artboard, this entertaining kinetic typography video recreates the dialogue on the final episode of NBC's The Tonight Show presented by Conan O'Brien. The camera pans between nicely set type, ending with a shot of the entire piece. The combination of eclectic typography and modern 3D letterforms achieved in Cinema 4D provides a contrast between old and new. Next page: more incredible kinetic typography... 21. Make it better Colour and morphing typography are wonderfully combined in this video. Creator Climent Canal and animator Sebastián Baptista's beautiful video brings an inspiring message to vivid life. 22. ALQUIMIA Animated Type Pavel Paratov has constructed a mesmerising piece of golden kinetic typography here. The letterforms reshuffle to the electro beat by Satoshi Yoshitake, integrating abstract shapes into the mix. 23. Back to the Future If you're anything like us, you'll already be a huge fan of Back to the Future. So, what could be better than kinetic typography of this priceless conversation between Marty McFly and his mother? It's the work of Canadian graphic designer Melanie Burgess. We love this original offering. 24. Alphagames This inventive animation quickly became one of the most popular kinetic typography videos on Vimeo when it was released. It was created by freelance editor and animator Evan Seitz, who has worked on commercials for Coca-Cola and the American Cancer Society – one of which went on to win a Telly Award at the 32nd Annual Convention. 25. Fight Club There's plenty of Fight Club kinetic typography hovering around the World Wide Web, but this particular offering from Adrian Moran is a belter. The visual FX, motion graphics and 3D artist has created this animation to accompany Brad Pitt's infamous Fight Club rule listing. We love the colours too. 26. Hello Hola Hallo Bonjour Ciao Ola This adorable kinetic typography animation was made by Spanish graphic and motion designer Daniel Moreno Cordero. Daniel created his animation using After Effects, Illustrator and some Photoshop, alongside a typeface entitled Granaina Limpia. 27. Ira Glass on Storytelling The producer and host of This American Life, Ira Glass, discusses what makes up the building blocks of a great story in this animation, made over three days by David Shiyang Lu using Illustrator and After Effects. 28. Elbow Grease - Habitat Promo Motion design craftsman Joe Dunlap created this insightful promo for the NGO Habitat for Humanity. Through creative, kinetic typography and slick, dynamic animations, this short public service announcement for Habitat for Humanity explains that it's easy for anyone to achieve something big. It has attracted a lot of love on Vimeo. 29. RocknRolla Created by Siddharth Raj, this kinetic typography animation takes a speech from Guy Ritchie's British action thriller movie RocknRolla and brings it to life. We love how Raj has incorporated various font shapes and sizes to fit perfectly between each other. 30. Pulp Fiction Gangster movie speeches are cropping up a lot in this list – it seems like they're the perfect accompaniment for great kinetic typography. This Pulp Fiction number was created by Norwegian motion designer Christian Gjerde. Watch for the particularly clever 'car' moment at the end of the video. 31. Fusion Design This animation combines motion graphics with kinetic typography to a faultless execution. There's not much information on this one by Dusan Tatalovic but we love the way he has managed to almost personify the typography throughout the musical accompaniment. 32. 29 Ways to Stay Creative Created by Japanese motion graphic design studio TO-FU, this video is by far one of the most popular kinetic typography animations out there. It's easy to see why with its inventive graphics and helpful content. 33. Kid President peptalk Motion designer Taylor English is the artist behind this fun, animated typography project, who created it for her time-based typography class while studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The 90-second video is a visual representation of one of nine-year-old Robby Novak (aka Kid President)'s motivational speeches. 34. The Alphabet (in typefaces) Designer and animator Alessandro Novelli captures his love for typography and animation in this 60-second Alphabet video. The gorgeous animation spells letters A through to Z, with a different font featured for each. The dancing letterforms are accompanied by Si Tu N'étais Pas Là by Fréhel, a track used in the movie Amelie. 35. Husbands: Dream This music video for Husbands' single Dream sees the lyrics light up as they're sung. To make it, French design duo Cauboyz created individual boxes with each word placed on the front using laser-cut and hand-cut stickers. Wires were then attached to each box, complete with a handy switch to press once the word came up. 36. Coldplay: Atlas Featured on the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, this video for Coldplay's single 'Atlas' was created by New York-based agency Blind Pig in collaboration with creative agency Hugo & Marie. The team effort has executed one of the best uses of kinetic typography we've come across in a while. Directed by Mario Hugo, the illustrations are largely based around the celestial sky map and myth by Micah Lidberg. Animation creative directors Ric Comline and Jonny Bursnell ensured that the video would be a seamless animation sequence, with both agencies providing gorgeous inspiration. 37. The Dead Words Hypenemious by David McLeod The Dead Words project was begun by Karen To Nakada in 2010 as a way to express her love of both words and type. The graphic designer, illustrator and letterer is driven to promote and commemorate no-longer-used words before they are forgotten forever. The project has generated much interest in the design community with well over 100 contributions to the project and counting, including everything from handcrafted to kinetic typography. Here is just one of the beautiful submissions, with many more to see on the website. Related articles: 5 top tips for young animators Master accessible web typography 10 typography tricks every designer should know View the full article

You're reading Alice Savoie Releases Faune: The Animal Typeface, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! When it comes to typefaces, people either do not put too much effort into them, or pick the one that they like and stick with it. Many people may not realize the intricacies of a font that can make or break a story or piece of writing. Even fewer people know the specific history behind […] View the full article

If there's one thing artists on the internet seem to enjoy, it's a challenge. We've already seen some stunning creations come out of artistic challenges like Inktober and MerMay, but whereas these events are spread over an entire month, Hourly Comic Day condenses the illustrative work down to just 24 hours. 13 imaginative web comics to inspire you The challenge can trace its roots back to a series of journal entries made by John Campbell on 21 December 2005. On this day the artist tasked himself with making a comic for every hour he was awake between 6:40AM and 9:20PM. These were simple stick figure cartoons, but subsequent runs would see his style develop and inspire other artists. Shortly afterwards a section on TenCentTicker Forums called Hourly Comic Day 2006 encouraged artists to draw an hourly comic on 1 February 2006. The challenge then grew into an event that artists on deviantArt, Flickr and personal blogs would get involved with. Fast forward to 2018, and Hourly Comic Day has become an event that artists on Twitter have fully embraced – or grown to dread, depending on how they're feeling. The premise is still simple. On 1 February, artists push themselves to create a comic for every hour they're awake. Some create literal comics that document what's going on in their lives, while others use the challenge as an opportunity to get thoughts and issues off their chest. One common theme we've noticed though is cats. Internet artists love cats. (Who can blame them?) As you would expect, the artwork is a little less refined than some of the illustrations to come out of Inktober and MerMay. Instead what we get are a barrage of raw, characterful comics telling stories from all walks of life. We've rounded up some of our favourite comics from the day for your viewing pleasure below (plus one by Aoife Duffy, above). Hourly Comic Day is a great exercise in learning just to get art down on the page, so be sure to give it a go next year. You might even appear on our 2019 round up! Related articles: How to create a manga comic strip 18 illustrators to follow on Instagram 7 biggest illustration trends of 2018 View the full article

The emergence of augmented and virtual reality in multiple industries, as well as an increasingly vested interest in artificial intelligence, are changing how we design user interfaces. UX and UI designers are entering exciting new arenas, in which they can develop richer, more immersive user experiences. While these developments in technology have given designers the ability to do much more than they’ve been able to before, it’s also pushed them to adjust their skillsets and creative approaches from both narrative and technical standpoints. A focus on movement AR and VR have inspired and changed the way we approach digital storytelling, even outside of the AR and VR space. Increasingly, designers are looking to mimic the look and feel of physical movement in the virtual space – taking the trend that started with parallax scrolling to a whole new level. The aim is to create experiences that are human-centred and guide the user on an emotional and functional level. We've already seen several innovative uses of rich animation and unique navigation that resemble AR and VR experiences. Piaget, for instance, has touted its luxe Altiplano 900P watch line by making clever use of scrubbing video through user interaction, swapping content at key points to add an extra level of focus on the product. Click to visit the site Clothing brand Diesel’s Bad Guide site, meanwhile, offers an elegant viewing and browsing experience using parallax treatments to create a playful, intuitive and in-depth look at its Bad fragrance line. Intelligent interfaces As tools like AI become more powerful, they will have a greater effect on design. For example, one of the main benefits of a strong AI is personalisation – a digital experience that learns from the user's behaviour and truly, progressively adapts to deliver something of value that improves their life. A strong AI could create its own interface for the user, one that adapts to their preferences in real time, in turn enabling designers to focus more on the emotional UX as opposed to worrying as much about graphic design and layout. It’s an intriguing challenge to truly streamline the user's experience while they’re interacting with your product Amazon and Mint have, to a certain level, attempted to adapt their experiences to a user’s behaviour. Amazon, for instance, makes recommendations for new products based on user actions, while replenishing subscription-based products like hygiene or food items. Mint, meanwhile, focuses on spending behaviour and cost savings. In doing so, the site knows which credits cards you use along with your spending habits, and in turn can tailor what users see on the app to help them save money, warn of overspending and present relevant information. Still, it’s an intriguing challenge to truly streamline the user's experience while they’re interacting with your product. The role of a UX designer will become more specialised, and require closer collaboration with designers, developers, and even support teams. The key is to identify what is relevant to the user and eliminate the rest. This will focus engagement which, in turn, can lead to higher conversion. How to bridge the gap between web design and development Future-proof skills The increasingly specialised field of UX/UI will require designers to amplify their focus, both technically and creatively. From a technical standpoint, mastering prototyping tools will be highly important. Creatively speaking, information design, visual hierarchy and consistency will all become essential for future success. As new tech like AI, VR and AR pervades our workflows and the role of UX designers continues to be redefined, the ultimate keys to survival are being nimble and adaptable. Don’t lock yourself into anything and don’t think that we’ll constantly live in a world of top-down navigation and off-canvas menus. Rules have constantly been bent and broken in art, graphic design, storytelling and interactive design, and it’s time to shake them up again. Read more: 20 tutorials to help you use VR in your design work The 5 biggest UX design trends for 2018 Top tips for scaling up AR apps View the full article

Online retailers like Not On The High Street and Etsy have significantly lowered the barriers to entry for anyone wanting to try their hand at selling their design goods online. That said, it's an increasingly crowded marketplace, and it's by no means easy to make a success of your online store. In this article, we'll offer some advice for the kind of products you should consider selling, and how to make sure your business is commercially viable. 01. Know your materials Finest Imaginary specialises in Perspex jewellery Adjusting your mindset into that of a product designer can be challenging at first, but it’s essential to have the materials available to you in mind when starting the design process, to understand the limits of what is possible. "I love the challenges involved with Perspex," reveals seller Kim Lawler, founder of Finest Imaginary. "It’s such a versatile material to work with and comes in different colours and finishes. I can’t recommend it enough." 02. Test the waters with printed goods We are out of office offers a large selection of risograph and screen prints Small-run printed items such as cards, prints, notebooks and postcards are a firm favourite among illustrators and designers, and are a popular route into the designer-maker market; such products can often be turned around in less than a day. With a decent colour printer costing less than $250/£250, printed goods are a relatively low-risk activity – but letterpressed or screen printed materials command higher prices. Whether you choose to sell online or post samples to potential wholesalers, print is a safe way to test the waters before moving on to more ambitious projects. 03. Don't buy pricey equipment to start with Outsource things like laser cutting to start with Making your own products often requires specialist equipment, which can bump up launch costs before you know if your venture is going to make any money. When you first start out, consider outsourcing the making process. Enthusiasm for DIY-style accessories shows no signs of slowing down, and transforming your ideas into sellable necklaces, earrings, patches and pin badges can be done quickly and, if you're clever, cheaply. Popular materials include lightweight wood and perspex, which comes in a variety of bright colours, and RockCakes’ Sarah Meredith (who sells the acrylic pins shown above) recommends using Yeah Laser for small runs. 04. Work with editions Designs that can be easily reproduced are typically more cost effective Working with a design that can easily be replicated is a smart idea. A black cactus pin is one of We are out of office’s bestsellers. "You do the design once and multiply it," says owner Felix van Dam. "That’s what makes a pin a nice product to work with. We screen print or risograph print the backing cards ourselves, and when the pins arrive from our supplier we spend a few hours putting pins on cards. We’ve sometimes made up to 1,000 new pins to sell in one evening, which in our eyes makes it quite a lucrative exercise." 05. Make larger quantities Producing items in bulk can help bring down your costs In some cases, producing larger quantities can be very cost efficient, particularly when working with screen printing. "Make a lot, stash it somewhere and you can sell it for a long time," advises van Dam. Setting up a screen can be a costly exercise, so where possible, printing in bulk makes sense. "Printing at digital printers is also a possibility, but screen printing is much more attractive," he says, so people are more likely to buy it. "Two years ago we bought a risograph printer and it’s one of the best investments we ever made." 06. If it's not cheap, make it collectable Karin Hagen's ceramics are all unique Purely decorative, collectable objects have exploded on Instagram and Pinterest in recent years, and designer-makers are jumping on the bandwagon. Ceramics in particular are having a moment. People are usually willing to pay more for unique or limited-edition products. However, production costs will be higher, so keep an eye on your profit margins. "If I were more into selling, I’d make moulds and cast a series of ceramic objects instead of making just one of each," suggests illustrator Karin Hagen. "At first I had pretty low prices, but then I started to calculate what the hourly rate would be and I had to make some adjustments." 07. Wear your own brand Selling clothing is a fast-track to free advertising for your brand For many pro illustrators and designers, securing a commission with a clothing label is among the most coveted jobs out there. But rather than wait for the phone to ring, why not make your own? At a basic level, applying your artwork to a plain black or white T-shirt is super-easy to do, and the buzz you’ll get from wearing your designs out in public will spur you on to experiment further. Artist-led brands such as Johnny Cupcakes and AnyForty had to start somewhere! Screen printing assures longevity for your efforts, and is a skill that can be mastered through studio workshops such as those run by Print Club London. This article originally appeared in issue 274 of Computer Arts magazine, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 274 here or subscribe to Computer Arts magazine here. Read more: 8 golden rules of handmade 16 great places to sell your design work online How to make money on Instagram as a creative View the full article

Where do you turn to for creative inspiration? Some creatives use inspirational apps to get the juices flowing, online tools such as Pinterest, Behance and Dribble to build up a reserve of idea fuel, while others are able to use what's at hand in the world around them to ignite their imaginations. 6 ways to get out of your creative rut Regardless of how you come up with ideas, there will come a time when you hit a creative roadblock. (This usually happens when you finally get down to work and you're faced with an empty page waiting to be filled. So watch out for that.) To help creatives get over this hurdle, Matt Vojacek, creative director of video marketing and animation company Zwelly Co, made The Game of Creativity. Choose two cards from the deck to inspire your next creation Made up of a deck of prompts, The Game of Creativity is a thought connection tool. There are lots of ways to play, but Vojacek recommends creatives start out by flipping over two cards and exploring how they could solve the problem or brief they're set. Watch him guide you through the game in the video below. The prompts on the cards range from everyday objects such as "plant" and "string", through to more abstract suggestions like "8 bit" and "vintage". "I made The Game Of Creativity as a way to be more inspired by my own thoughts," Vojacek explains on the game's Kickstarter page. "I like to think of creativity as one's ability to make connections between two or more things. And The Game Of Creativity is a fun way to help you do just that, very quickly and easily." Which combination will you get? With thousands of possible combinations on the cards, The Game of Creativity is a versatile way of sparking up ideas. If you're a fan of the deck, you'll be pleased to hear that it has already smashed its Kickstarter goal. However, if you want to secure a pack or more for yourself, we recommend you head over to The Game of Creativity Kickstarter page and make a pledge. There are 26 days to go, so there's plenty of time. And who knows, if things keep going well, perhaps Vojacek will add a stretch goal or two? Related articles: 10 apps for endless design inspiration 20 pro tips for creating inspirational mood boards 13 imaginative web comics to inspire you View the full article

Video is a powerful medium, and no platform is more synonymous with video than YouTube. There is tons of footage uploaded to YouTube every single day, but you can still make your content stand out with the help of the YouTube Mastery Bundle. It's on sale right now for a special price of just $19 (approx. £14)! The YouTube Mastery Bundle is the cheat sheet you need to make sure your videos get seen. This five course bundle will teach you how to use the platform to your advantage by teaching you secrets like how to create eye-catching thumbnails and graphics that will grab the attention of your viewers. You'll learn how to master the tricks of SEO to come up in search results, how to promote your content and, most importantly, how to profit off your videos. The courses in the YouTube Mastery Bundle usually retail for $1,645 altogether, but you can get them bundled together on sale for just $19 (approx. £14) thanks to a special, limited time offer. Grab this deal while you can and get your videos trending on YouTube. 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: Meet the artist drawing millions of YouTube views 10 social media tricks you didn't know about 7 ways to craft a killer self-promo campaign View the full article

It's no good dazzling clients with design skills or an amazing design portfolio if you can't meet a deadline. Whether you're a designer, illustrator or general creative – and whether you work in a studio, in-house or freelance – here are nine top tips for managing your time more efficiently. 01. Have a system Being able to prioritise is key to staying sane as a freelancer. Assign certain periods to tasks in a calendar and have a daily to-do list that you can tick off. Websites like Lifehacker are full of great tips. There are also plenty of time management and workflow apps (most aimed specifically at freelancers) that can help you take control of your schedule. 02. Be honest about timings Be realistic about how long things will take One of the best ways to manage your time (and keep clients happy) is to be up-front about what you're working on, when you'll have time to begin working on a brief, and how much time you'll be able to dedicate to the project. Be clear, realistic and honest with your clients right from the beginning of a project. A white lie may keep everyone happy in the short term, but it'll only lead to greater frustrations later on. 03. Stick to your strengths When it comes to tight budgets and timescales, call on the skills and solutions that you know you can do well. Keep it simple and avoid laborious or untested processes. One of the most time-consuming things you can do is try to find pioneering new styles and solutions – save that for the well-paid projects. 04. Stop clients sucking up your time Clients can be demanding; that's a given. But if you find yourself spending more time responding to a constant barrage of requests than you are working on the project, then you need to let the client know – politely – that their emails or phone calls are becoming unproductive. Consider implementing a schedule for responding to clients and make this clear from the outset. 05. Make a plan Plan your goals and deadlines (Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash) Everyone works differently, but if you want to maximise your efficiency try drawing up both short-term (day) and longer-term (week and month) plans. Setting yourself goals and deadlines will help you stay focused – but don't be too rigid: things will invariably pan out differently, so you'll need to adopt a flexible attitude. 06. Mix it up Vary the work you do so you're able to jump between projects when you're fed up. If you work on the same thing all day, every day, it gets tiresome and productivity can drop. The more styles and techniques you have under your belt, the better. It keeps you excited about what you're doing. 07. Wear your other hats You really do have time for side projects Set aside a dedicated chunk of time each month to keeping on top of the other sides of freelance life: business, finance, networking and self-promo – even creative side projects. These might not bring in money directly, but they are all essential aspects of being a successful freelancer and must be factored in. 08. Automate your accounts As a freelancer, it's fairly likely that you'll spend a lot of time chasing clients for payment. It might help to set up an automated invoicing and payment system that will email regular reminders to clients and include automated payment links. Again, there are plenty of finance tools and apps available now to help you out with this. 09. Don't live in a bubble Separating work life from home life can be challenging as a freelancer. Always schedule in time for a social life – even when your workload is heavy. Factor in regular breaks, know when you're going to start and stop for the day and stick to your schedule. Illustration: Toby Triumph This article originally featured in Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Subscribe to Computer Arts now. Liked this? Try these... Why you really do have time for creative side projects The expert guide to working from home 20 tools to make your team more productive View the full article

As a designer, inspiration can come from anywhere. But sometimes influences, attitudes and approaches converge to form a coherent movement that has a knock-on effect around the world. There have been hundreds of art and design movements of different sizes and significances over the centuries – some centred on the style or approach of a particular collective of artists in a particular place, others spanning many creative disciplines, and much more organic in terms of interpretation. Whether they happened 150 years ago or 30 years ago, the impact of many of these is still felt today – you may even have felt their influence without knowing it. These things often move in cycles, particularly with the contemporary trend for retro aesthetics. So a little knowledge of art history goes a long way. Like the 25 names every graphic designer should know, there are certain art and design movements that creatives need to be familiar with. Read on for our comprehensive guide to 15 of the most influential art and design movements of the 20th century. We've put these in chronological order, with the examples on page 2 and page 3 most relevant to graphic designers, and those on this page and page 2 likely to inspire more artists and illustrators. Use the quick links menu to jump straight to the section you'd like to explore first, or scroll on to read them in order. 01. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism Sunset on the River at Lavacourt, Winter Effect (1882) demonstrates Claude Monet's talent for capturing light and colour Developing primarily in France during the late 19th century, Impressionism was a fine art movement in which a small group of painters eschewed the then-traditional emphasis on historical or mythological subject matter in favour of depicting visual reality, and particularly the transient nature of light, colour and texture. Seven painters were at the core of this hugely influential movement: Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin and Frédéric Bazille – and worked and exhibited together. The Impressionists abandoned the established palette of muted greens, browns and greys for their landscapes in favour of a much brighter, expressive range of colours in an attempt to depict conditions such as dappled sunlight, and reflections on rippled water. Instead of greys and blacks for shadows, they used a whole range of complementary colours – and objects were depicted using dabs of paint rather than defined with a hard outline. An icon of the Post-Impressionist style: Paul Cezanne's Still Life, Pitcher and Fruit (1894) Post-Impressionism embraced many of the tenets of its predecessor movement, whilst also rejecting some of its limitations. Painters such as Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec used similarly pure, brilliant colour palettes and expressive, short brush strokes, but also sought to elevate the work to something less transient and experimental. Rather than ever-changing conditions of natural light and its effect on colour, Cezanne and the other Post-Impressionists focussed more on solid, permanent objects, with still-life paintings – such as Cezanne's Pitcher and Fruit, and van Gogh's Sunflowers – emblematic of the movement. Paint like an Impressionist 02. Arts and Crafts William Morris' famous Strawberry Thief wallpaper is a perfect example of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic As a reaction to the rise of mass production (and corresponding decline of artisan craftsmanship) during the Industrial Revolution, there was a resurgence of interest in decorative arts across Europe in the second half of the 19th century – fittingly known as the Arts and Crafts movement. At the vanguard of this new movement was reformer, poet and designer William Morris, who formed a collective of collaborators in the 1860s to try to reawaken the handcrafted quality of the medieval period. They produced beautiful metalwork, jewellery, wallpaper, textiles and books. By 1875, this collective became known as Morris and Company, and by the 1880s the attitude and techniques they practiced had inspired a whole new generation of designers, and the Arts and Crafts movement was born. While many criticised the practicality of such intricate handicrafts in the modern, industrialised world, the influence of the movement endures to this day. 03. Art Nouveau Detail from House for an Art Lover in Glasgow, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1901 but only constructed in the 1990s Following on from the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau was a primarily ornamental movement in both Europe and the USA. One distinctive characteristic of the style is the use of organic, asymmetrical line work instead of solid, uniform shapes – applied across architecture, interiors and jewellery, as well as posters and illustration. Intricate ironwork, stained glass, ceramics and ornamental brickwork were used expressively, with freeform lines taking precedence over any pictorial elements in the designs, which were often inspired by delicate forms found in nature, such as flower stems, vines, creepers, tendrils and insect wings. Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a leading exponent of the Art Nouveau movement, as well as Czech graphic artist Alphonse Mucha, and iconic Spanish architect and sculptor Antonio Gaudí – whose magnum opus, Barcelona's La Sagrada Família, has famously been under construction for more than 130 years. This striking Art Nouveau artwork by Alphonse Mucha was used to promote printing firm F. Champenois Mucha's stunning artworks, many of which were commercial commissions for advertising clients, combined the flowing organic lines and natural motifs of the Art Nouveau style with sensual portraits of women. While the decorative style fell out of fashion after 1910, it saw a resurgence in the 1960s thanks to a series of major exhibitions in London, Paris and New York, which retrospectively helped elevate a style once seen as a passing fad to the status of an international movement that influenced fashion, music design and advertising. 04. Cubism Pablo Picasso's 1907 work Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is arguably the most famous example of Cubism Two artists were instrumental in founding the Cubist movement: Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Unlike the expressive attempts to capture natural conditions in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Cubism was about flat, two-dimensional, distorted objects – sacrificing accurate perspective in favour of surreal fragmentation. The name came from a disparaging remark by art critic Louis Vauxcelles, who described Braque’s 1908 work Houses at L’Estaque as being "composed of cubes". But it was Picasso's Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, painted the previous year, that set the wheels in motion, depicting five female nudes as fractured, angular shapes. As Braque and Picasso continued to explore how abstract shapes could be used to define familiar objects, the period from 1910-1912 is often referred to as Analytical Cubism. A distinctive palette of tan, brown, grey, cream, green and blue prevailed, and common subjects included musical instruments, bottles, newspapers, and the human body. Post-1912 this evolved into Synthetic Cubism, where multiple forms are combined within the increasingly colourful artworks, which made use of collage techniques to explore texture. The visual language defined by Braque and Picasso was later embraced by many other painters, and also influenced sculptors and architects such as Le Corbusier. 05. Futurism Depicting the sensations derived from observing modern life, Umberto Boccioni's The Laugh (1911) is widely considered his first truly Futurist work Founded in Italy in the early 20th century, Futurism attempted to capture the pace, vitality and restlessness of modern life through highly expressive artwork that ultimately glorified war, Fascism and the machine age. The aesthetic style would later spread across Europe, and notably into Russia. The movement was officially announced in 1909 when Parisian newspaper Le Figaro published a manifesto by Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who coined the term to describe how his work celebrated social progress and cultural innovation. Cutting-edge technology such as the automobile was put on a pedestal, while traditional values – and historical institutions such as museums and libraries – were aggressively repudiated. Bombardamento Aereo, by Tullio Crali (1932) is a late Futurist work that glorifies the speed and mechanics of aerial warfare Two of the leading proponents of Futurism, Umberto Boccioni and Antonio Sant'Elia, were killed in combat in 1916. However, the aesthetic would go on to be expressed in modern architecture, as visions of mechanised cities defined by towering skyscrapers became a reality, while artists such as Tullio Crali kept the style going into the 1930s. Next page: Mid-20th century art and design movements 06. Constructivism Alexander Rodchenko's distinctive style of graphic design graced many Russian propaganda posters Strongly influenced by both Cubism and Futurism, Constructivism was an artistic and architectural movement initiated by Soviet painter and architect Vladimir Tatlin, who co-authored the so-called 'Realist Manifesto' in 1920 with sculptors Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo. Similar to Futurism, Constructivism glorifies technological and industrial progress, with a radical aesthetic that places function over form. As the name implies, the aesthetic is literally about 'constructing' art from a kit of component parts, like a machine. Its distinctive style was widely used for Soviet propaganda posters. Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919) is a propaganda poster by El Lissitzky, depicting the Red Bolsheviks defeating the White movement in the Russian Civil War Leading figures in Constructivism included graphic designer, photographer and sculptor Alexander Rodchenko and artist, designer and architect El Lissitzky. While Tatlin and Rodchenko remained in the Soviet Union, Gabo and Pevsner helped spread the Constructivist aesthetic to Germany, France and later England and the US. Meanwhile, Lissitzky influenced the artists and architects of the Berlin-based de Stijl movement, as well as Hungarian painter and photographer László Moholy-Nagy, a professor at the Bauhaus. 07. Bauhaus The simple shapes and primary colours of the 'Bauhaus style' is neatly summed up by this Herbert Bayer poster Founded by the architect Walter Gropius, the hugely influential Bauhaus school of design, architecture, and applied arts ran in Germany from 1919-1933, when it was shut down by the Nazi regime. The school sought to bridge the gap between art and technical craft – not unlike the goal of the Arts and Crafts movement, although the Bauhaus favoured modern mass-production over individual artisan methods. Students took a six-month preliminary course, where tutors including Johannes Itten, Lyonel Feininger, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer and László Moholy-Nagy gave them a rigorous education in both the craft and theory of everything from carpentry and metalwork to textiles, graphics and typography. While the resulting works were hugely diverse, the prevailing style associated with the Bauhaus is that of simple, elegant geometric shapes, combined with bold primary colours – an aesthetic that spread across graphic design, products and architecture long after the school was closed down. 08. Art Deco These striking London Underground posters by graphic artist Edward McKnight Kauffer embody many features of the Art Deco aesthetic A major international movement across western Europe and the US, Art Deco takes many of its cues from Art Nouveau, as well as elements of Bauhaus and Cubism. It originated in Paris, where the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes gave it its name. Style, elegance and sophistication are the order of the day in an Art Deco design, communicated through simple, streamlined shapes; stylised, often geometric ornamentation and elaborate use of expensive materials, both natural and synthetic. Spanning architecture, furniture, fashion, sculpture and more, Art Deco encapsulates the decadent spirit of the 1930s – and the Rockefeller Centre, Chrysler Building and Empire State Building were all designed in the style. Although Art Deco fell out of fashion somewhat during World War II, it saw a resurgence from the late 1960s onwards, and continues to inspire decorative arts, fashion and jewellery to this day. 09. Surrealism Salvador Dalí's seminal work The Persistence of Memory (1931) is a Surrealist masterpiece Like Art Deco, Surrealism flourished in the interim period between the World Wars. It grew out of the 'anti art' Dada movement in the early 20th century, but in place of Dada's often nonsensical, satirical vibe – a negative reaction to the horror and futility of war – it brought a much more positive creative expression. In his 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, poet and critic André Breton argued that Surrealism was about reuniting conscious and unconscious experience; bridging the gap between a fantastical dream world and rational reality. Leading Surrealist painters included Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André Masson, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, Pierre Roy, Paul Delvaux and Joan Miró – all of whom had a uniquely personal twist on the movement, and how art could express the sometimes bizarre, sometimes deeply unsettling depths of the unconscious mind. Unlike the relatively rigid visual language of contemporary Cubist art, Surrealist art was much more organic and freeform, putting the emphasis on symbolism and content rather than form. 10. Abstract Expressionism American artist Jackson Pollock was one of the central figures of the Abstract Expressionism movement Beginning in the 1940s, the Abstract Expressionism movement fuelled the development of modern art as we know it during the following decade. New York was the hub, and prominent artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko led the way. Often filling huge canvases with dynamic, powerful applications of paint that evoke everything from violence to sensuality and everything in between, Abstract Expressionist artists drew influence from various avant-garde artists who had arrived in the US in the late 1930s and early 1940s, fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. In contrast to Pollock's chaotic, energetic style, Mark Rothko's works – such as White Cloud Over Purple (1957) – are calmer and more structured, but no less expressive Unlike its predecessors Expressionism and Post-Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism didn't attempt to depict the observable world with any degree of realism, but rather convey an emotional response. While the free, spontaneous, totally abstract nature of the work is a common factor, however, the movement incorporated a broad range of styles and techniques. Known as action painting, one variation – demonstrated by Jackson Pollock – is particularly loose and dynamic, defined by aggressive, sweeping brushstrokes or partly random splashes and drips of viscous paint. At the other end of the scale, painters such as Mark Rothko worked with much thinner mixtures of paint to create large, soft-edged rectangles of flat colour. Next page: Late 20th century art and design movements 11. The International Typographic Style These beautifully simple, graphic posters by Josef Müller-Brockmann embody the essence of Modernism Although Modernism in its broadest sense encapsulates many of the avant-garde movements on this list that broke the boundaries of traditional artistic expression, the peak of Modernist art and literature occurred in the years between the First and Second World Wars. Following World War II (1945), graphic designers in Switzerland and Germany developed a cohesive, unified Modernist movement that became known as Swiss Design, or the International Typographic Style. Building on the rational approach of the Bauhaus, this movement – still embraced by many graphic designers – is all about functionality and universality. Logical, modular grid systems provided a structured framework to align different elements, something now considered essential for most forms of graphic design. The unbiased, graphic accuracy of photography was preferred over more expressive illustration, alongside neutral sans-serif typefaces such as Helvetica. One leading figure was Josef Müller-Brockmann, whose designs for posters, publications and advertisements helped define the Swiss Design aesthetic – particularly through his long series of Zürich concert posters, which combined geometric forms, bold colours and clean, sans-serif type. As the 20th century progressed, many multinational corporations adopted the clean uniformity of the International Typographic Style to create brand guidelines for trademarks, colours and typefaces, and help ensure consistent application across all media. 12. Pop Art One of the much-loved symbols of the Pop Art movement: Andy Warhol's iconic prints of Marilyn Monroe Primarily a British and American cultural phenomenon that gained traction in the late 1950s and 1960s, Pop Art was so named by art critic Lawrence Alloway because of the way it glorified popular culture and elevated commonplace, often unremarkable objects to iconic status – such as soup cans, road signs and hamburgers. Sources of inspiration ranged from television to comic books to advertising, rejecting the pretensions of 'high art' as well as the expressive, subjective nature of Abstract Expressionism in favour of bold, graphic printmaking. Although many contemporary art critics derided Pop Art as vulgar and sensationalist, its inclusive, accessible and democratic nature was praised by others – and it also drew a certain amount of influence from the 1920s Dada movement that ridiculed European high art in the wake of the First World War. Making use of the colour dots and flat tones of commercial printing, Roy Lichtenstein's stylised depictions of comic strips were another Pop Art staple Roy Lichtenstein's print reproductions of comic book scenes were a particularly striking example of the Pop Art aesthetic, as were Andy Warhol’s repeated silk-screen prints of everything from soap cartons to celebrities. These American artists' work was stark and graphic, compared to their British Pop Art counterparts such as David Hockney and Peter Blake, who took a more subjective, almost romanticised view of pop culture from across the pond. 13. Minimalism Now belonging to the Guggenheim Foundation, Frank Stella’s Harran II (1967) is a mesmerising visual interplay of line, shape and colour Characterised by extreme simplicity of form and a very literal, objective approach, Minimalism originated in New York in the late 1960s, driven by dissatisfaction with the spontaneous, messy subjectivity of Action Painting in Abstract Expressionism. For the Minimalists, this style was too insubstantial and personal – they believed art should be clean and self-contained, without external references. Hard edges, simple forms and clean lines dominated in primarily two-dimensional graphic artworks. Abstract Expressionism still had its share of influence on the movement, but primarily the calmer, more organised colour-field works of painters such as Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Ad Reinhardt. Ellsworth Kelly’s first wholly abstract relief, Méditerranée (1952) is based around a grid of nine coloured squares Ultimately, Minimalism was about exploring the essential elements of an art form, stripping away extraneous detail and emotional expression in favour of objective, purely visual elements that were open to interpretation. In its broadest sense, Minimalism has enjoyed a significant resurgence in fields such as branding, UI design and packaging – due in no small part to influential global companies such as Apple and Google prioritising a clean, pared-back aesthetic above ornament and decoration. 14. Postmodernism This cover for WET magazine (1979) by April Greiman and Jayme Odgers sums up the Postmodernism aesthetic Modernism celebrated social progress, and the idealistic pursuit of utopia. Whether religious or scientific, it was about how universal principles could make sense of the world, and Modernist artists put more emphasis on form, technique and process than on the subjects of their work. Postmodernism was a reaction against this attitude. In place of idealism and reason was scepticism, suspicion and a denial of the existence of universal truths that can describe the world around us. Postmodernist artists advocated complex individual experience and interpretation over the simple clarity of abstract principles, and the resulting aesthetic was multi-layered and often contradictory. By the late 1970s, many designers working in the Modernist tradition felt it had lost its innovative spirit, and that it had become stale and academic. Questioning the rigid 'form follows function' philosophy of the International Typographic Style, they were inspired to rip up the rule book and break grids, challenge expectations and introduce decorative, subversive, and at times eccentric design elements. April Greiman was a particularly acclaimed Postmodernist designer, often collaborating with photographer Jayme Odgers on colourful montages and innovative typographical experiments. Their WET magazine cover, for instance, collages colour photocopies with textured papers and airbrushed colour. William Longhauser put a Postmodernist twist on architect Michael Graves' name in this 1983 poster Another leading exponent of the style was William Longhauser, who worked with dynamic, geometric patterns to create stylised typographic arrangements. In one particular poster from 1983, he built the last name of Postmodernist architect Michael Graves out of geometric forms that allude to the shapes, patterns and textures found in Graves' buildings. Since the late 1990s, Postmodernism has fallen out of fashion to some extent, although a subversive 'anti design' aesthetic does enjoy popularity in some areas, such as music and indie publishing. However, despite various attempts to define the period since – including post-postmodernism, trans-postmodernism, post-millennialism, pseudo-modernism and metamodernism – none have gained mainstream traction. 15. Memphis A section of furniture and objects designed by the Memphis Group collective in the 1980s Drawing on many of the tenets of Postmodernism, the Memphis design aesthetic challenged the neutral, understated, functional Modernism that preceded it. With its roots in furniture design, the Memphis Group collective was founded by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass in the 1980s, and existed for just six years. Colourful, garish furniture was at the heart of the movement, but the aesthetic went on to influence fashion, graphic design and more. Simple geometric shapes; flat colours combined in bold, contrasting palettes; stylised graphic patterns with black-and-white stripes and abstract squiggles – these are the ingredients of Memphis-inspired design, influenced by earlier movements such as Pop Art and Art Deco. Many of the movements on this list enjoyed considerable longevity in their heyday, and influenced millions of creatives across many different disciplines. Many led to new movements, either complementary or contradictory, as new attitudes and approaches took hold. Memphis is one of the most niche examples of all: a handful of Italian designers who created a series of bizarre, kitsch products 30 years ago are influencing a whole new generation of designers today. Related articles: 7 biggest illustration trends of 2018 5 photography trends influencing designers 4 pro tips for quickly finding the perfect image View the full article

You're reading TypeScript 2.7 Released, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! TypeScript, the programming language that brings optional static types to JavaScript by building on JavaScript itself, just got upgraded to TypeScript 2.7. If you are not familiar with TypeScript, have a look at this post we wrote a few months ago, covering the history of the language and some basics. TypeScript emits clean, readable and […] View the full article

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Here's a riddle: I take up your spare time and keep you up late. I don't thank you yet I'm extremely rewarding. What am I? Well, there are two answers here: your job or your kids. But rarely both. I've always found it interesting how few of my close friends in the creative industries have children – or at the very least, have put procreation off until much later in life. After some soul searching prior to the arrival of my first daughter in 2013, I decided the main problem is that creative people already feel they have a proxy child in the form of their work. It bleeds out into our personal lives, we're emotionally invested, and the worry is that a mewling, needful child will take up too much time for us to focus on the important stuff – usually more work. I was two years into running my studio when Holly arrived and, despite my initial misgivings, what happened next took me by surprise: I went on to have the most productive year of my career. I didn't grow up with a dad around so had very few expectations of myself as a father, but it turned out I loved it. In fact I was besotted. And immediately after she arrived, everything else – to paraphrase Fight Club – got the volume turned down. Every cover or commission I had completed suddenly felt much less important. I was still proud of my work, but the endorphins kicked in and I was at the mercy of my hormones as much as the next gushing father. Kids can disrupt your life, says Craig Ward, but not always in the way you'd expect When our second arrived in late 2016, I was in a different place entirely, creatively speaking. After five years of flying solo, I missed the support system an agency provided, and that spring I had accepted a senior vice president role at a mid-sized agency. Overall I was feeling optimistic that I would be able to balance life as a father with the demands of New York agency life. My goodness. It was a change. The money was lovely. Having a support system and art buyers and account handlers and producers (producers!) was absolutely glorious. Initially, I felt really good about my decision to go back into agency land. I am once again master of my own destiny But sure enough, the pitches went as they usually do: a late night here, a weekend there, a holiday got cancelled, the hours became longer, and the agency’s creative ambitions no longer matched my own. After a year, I was not only disenfranchised, but I was missing my family. Many evenings would go by when the kids were already in bed when I got home and I’d see them only for a snatched hour in the mornings. So last week, just before my second daughter's first birthday, I decided it wasn't worth it and resigned from my role. This is truly disastrous timing. We've just bought and renovated a house, and now I'm exposing myself to the costs and insecurities of running my own business again. In the US, this also means finding thousands of dollars for healthcare and once again, all I can see is financial outlay. But you know what? It's 3:15pm, I am once again master of my own destiny, and I'm about to head out and pick up my daughter from preschool. And I cannot wait. This article was originally published in issue 274 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 274 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Related articles: 14 brilliantly creative gifts for kids How to break into children's illustration Studio vs freelance: The pros and cons View the full article

Creative hiring platform Easle, launched late last year, has changed the way freelancers get noticed by big brands. By vetting all talent and matching them to clients with online discovery and management tools, Easle has helped creatives avoid hefty agent fees. And as of today, Easle has added a raft of new categories to its list of disciplines. Started by Nick Gubbins (CEO) and Scott Wooden (Head of Product) in 2016, Easle uses ambassadors to review all applications to the site to maintain a high standard. Initially, Easle only catered to illustrators and graphic designers, but from today it has expanded its reach to cover photography, animation, filmmaking and product design. As well as giving opportunities to more creatives, Easle has also updated its management process with the addition of a rolodex function, team collaboration tools, plus better contract building and invoicing capabilities. In addition to stringent vetting, the platform has adopted a portfolio-first approach so candidates are judged on the strength of their work (so you might want to follow our tips to create the perfect design portfolio before you sign up). With clients like Netflix and Penguin Books, Easle is doing something right "Hiring creative talent is more than looking for checkbox skills - just because someone can use the Adobe suite doesn’t mean they’re right for the job," says Gubbins. "You need to understand their style and visual personality. Portfolios have been used to hire creative talent offline for years - but for some mad reason in tech platforms they’re not such a consideration. We’re bringing them back.” To keep up with the challenge of vetting new incoming talent, Easle has enlisted four new industry leaders to join current ambassadors Claudine O'Sullivan and Sam T Smith. The new gatekeepers include photographic director Rebecca McClelland, animator Daniel Britt, filmmaker Fred Scott, and ustwo co-founder Matt 'Mills' Miller. "What immediately drew me to Easle is the immense opportunity that the platform offers, to easily source and commission from a carefully curated pool of talent," says McClelland. "The team at Easle are looking to make the process more transparent, faster and easier by using technology whilst keeping the visual work front and centre." With its project management tools, Easle hopes to be the first answer in high quality, low cost talent sourcing. Related articles: 9 tools to make graphic design easier in 2018 4 ways to go freelance How to manage your freelance cashflow View the full article

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No matter what kind of artist you are, chances are good that a pencil and a piece of paper figured prominently in your early art life. Throughout my career as a character designer and visual development artist, I have learned that having a strong respect and understanding of the process and fundamentals of drawing is essential to becoming a better artist, and what's more fundamental than pencil skills? Before you start you need to decide upon the best pencil for your drawing style. Next, follow my seven fundamental tips for next-level pencil drawing, and take a look at the video above demonstrating these pencil drawing techniques in action. If this inspires you to educate yourself further, why not head over to Schoolism.com to discover courses, workshops and more? 01. Master pencil grip Think of the pencil as charcoal in a wooden sheath When I draw, I use not the tip but the side of the lead in order to maximise its utility. Holding my pencil like I would charcoal also keeps it sharper longer. When covering large areas, I shade with my pencil perpendicular to the line I'm drawing to get wide, soft lines. For details, I hold my pencil parallel to my lines to get sharp, narrow marks. The only time I use the point is when I'm working on intricate details. 02. Mix up shading techniques Shading with unified lines versus shading in patches produces a different feel I like to shade in two main ways: the first is with all of my lines going in the same direction, which makes my shading appear more cohesive. This pencil drawing technique also helps my details pop out from the lines I'm using for shading. The second method I use is working in patches, which help define shape. Patches of lines go around the form, which help keep things in perspective. This technique is also great for backgrounds and adding texture. 03. Control line weight Line weight can help define solidity and volume The next drawing technique concerns line weight. Having control over my line weight is a great way to separate objects from one another, and can help emphasise shadows. Thicker lines can fade and disappear into the shadows, which can help convey the 3D form. I try to avoid outlining my drawings because this tends to make things look flat and deadens the 3D effect. Breaks and spaces in my lines show form in the lights and shadows. 04. Build up your sketch Use light lines to explore and dark lines to commit When I start drawing, I plan and explore using loose lines, and avoid committing too early with hard, dark lines. As I progress my lines will change, so checking and rechecking my work is vital. I darken my lines and add details at the end. I don't focus on one area for too long to prevent overdrawing. When drawing something symmetrical, I focus on the spaces between the lines, and of course keep reevaluating as I go along. 05. Check and recheck Listen if your gut is telling you something is off When I've checked my drawing, I check again. I have to nail down its underpinnings before I can add details. I really avoid guessing at the details; I want to make sure things are symmetrical and look right before putting down stronger and harder lines. I constantly ask myself, does this feel right? If anything seems off – even if I can't immediately put my finger on what it is – I trust my gut and troubleshoot my drawing before continuing. 06. Prevent pencil smudges Put a piece of paper under your hand to prevent smudges This is a valuable beginner's tip: I always put a piece of paper under my hand to keep from smudging my drawing. I also like to view my drawing in a mirror, through a camera, or step away from it. This way, I can get different vantage points on my drawing and detect if anything is off. 07. Know when to finish Is this finished? Maybe… Like every other artist I know, even after I've signed my name, I will sometimes continue tinkering with my drawings. I can always find something to change if I look hard enough, so it can be difficult to tell when a piece is truly finished. But remember that a drawing can be overdone! Eventually, I make a conscious decision to put my drawing away and start something new. That's when I consider my drawing done. Well, maybe... I hope these pencil drawing techniques have helped – join in the conversation by adding your tips and tricks in the comments on Facebook or Twitter. Related articles: Create abstract backgrounds: 12 top tips Get started with ink drawing How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials View the full article

Another year has ended and the tooling landscape has become simultaneously more exciting and more complex. There are countless new libraries, frameworks, plugins, build-related tools and more released every month, each claiming to help you improve your productivity or solve a specific development problem. As developers, we’re happy to have all these options – but the sheer quantity can be paralysing. To start the year off right, we’ve done the legwork for you, weeding through 12 months worth of new releases and updates to bring you a list of 50 of the newest, most practical and exciting tools for frontend web coders, designers, and full-stack developers. This really only scratches the surface of what’s available in the complex tooling ecosystem, but we hope this variety of practical options will be of help. We’re sure there’s at least one thing in this list you’ll personally be able to experiment with, use in your next project, or even contribute to (many are open-source!). So don’t get too intimidated with how much is out there. Build stuff and use only the tools that help you be more productive and solve your development problems. Happy coding in 2018! HTML and CSS tools 01. Input Input is a visual online form builder that makes it super-easy to create responsive forms based on Bootstrap, Materialize, or Foundation. It adds framework-specific HTML classes; you simply download and insert the code into your project. 02. Runway App Style guides are big today but many developers find them tedious to build – this online WYSIWYG editor aims to help you build and host your style guides. There's also an older version of the app that enables you to build your style guide automatically via custom CSS comments. 03. CSS Grid Template Builder The CSS Grid Layout spec is gaining in popularity and now has excellent browser support. This CodePen demo lets you visually build your grid then copy and paste the generated template string used in your CSS. 04. Animista This is a really comprehensive and feature-rich online tool for building CSS animations. There are dozens of options to create custom animations including type of animation, object to animate, duration, timing function and so on. 05. postcss-normalize A useful plugin for the popular and growing CSS processor PostCSS, which helps ensure you only use the parts of Normalize.css (the well-known CSS reset alternative) that your project requires. The plugin uses your project’s browserlist string to determine which parts of Normalize.css to exclude. 06. Mavo An extension to HTML syntax that enables you to build dynamic editable websites with just HTML. Mavo uses special HTML attributes to indicate where data should be stored and which elements on the page are Mavo-enabled. 07. Topol.io Topol.io is a visual, drag-and-drop HTML email editor for creating responsive emails. The editor is easy to use and includes components for just about everything you’d want to include in an email campaign. Smaller components include useful spacers and dividers, and you can speed up the process by choosing from prebuilt themes. 08. Vivify Vivify is one of the newest drop-in CSS animation libraries, which enables you to introduce predefined animations to page elements by adding a class name to your HTML. It includes a wide variety of unique – but not overly bombastic – animations you won’t find elsewhere. 09. Sticky Bits Dependency-free alternative to using CSS’s new position: sticky feature for making elements ‘stick’ to the top of the viewport while scrolling. Includes a pixel offset setting as well as the option to stick to the bottom of the viewport. 10. multi.js A mobile-compatible, user-friendly replacement for ugly and clunky HTML select boxes that use the multiple attribute. The user clicks the desired items and they are automatically moved to one side, rather than being highlighted. This tool includes an optional search feature for select boxes with dozens or more options. Frameworks and libraries 11. Svelte This 'anti-framework' attempts to solve the problem of bloated JavaScript libraries that slow down browsers, especially on mobile. Compiling happens during build-time rather than run-time, putting minimal strain on the user experience. 12. Building Blocks From the folks behind the popular Foundation framework, this is a library of frontend UI components that can be plugged into any Foundation project. The range includes everything from full-featured kits like dashboards and blogs, to smaller components like media elements. 13. cell For a really simple alternative to more popular frameworks, this is well worth looking into. Cell doesn’t require any environment or complex toolchain and it allows you to build pages using JSON-like structure. 14. Bojler Bojler is an email framework for developing cross-client responsive email templates. It includes components for typography, buttons, hero banners, and more. It also offers utility classes for alignment and spacing – a big requirement when developing HTML email. 15. Quasar Framework Build ES6 and Vue-based responsive websites, Progressive Web Apps, hybrid mobile apps, and Electron apps using this framework and full-fledged toolchain. It includes lots of built-in components, themes, and live reload for preserving app state. 16. Keen UI Keen UI is a lightweight collection of UI components written in Vue and inspired by Material Design. It includes custom form elements, a date picker, modal window, loading and progress indicators, tabs component, tooltips, and more. Next page: The best JavaScript tools for developers 17. across-tabs A JavaScript library based on HTML5 Cross-document messaging (which has solid browser support), to enable cross-origin communication between browser tabs. Nice API with ability to get info on the tabs and write callbacks. 18. KUTE.js KUTE.js is a JavaScript animation engine with performance as its primary feature. This one grabs your attention immediately due to the gorgeous and super-smooth animation on the homepage. The API looks elegant and well worth trying out. 19. Waypoints Scrolling animations and interactions are in demand in many layouts today. This library, available for jQuery, Zepto, or in vanilla JavaScript, is the easiest way to trigger a function when you scroll to an element on the page. 20. Siema A lightweight carousel plugin with no styling, so you can easily adjust it to match your brand’s needs. It includes some easy to use optional settings and has dragging and touch-enabled swiping. 21. Muuri A JavaScript API for responsive, sortable, filterable, and drag-and-drop Masonry/Packery-style grid layouts. The demos are really nice and there are lots of options available to customise the grid for different layout types. 22. Progressively This new option for a lazy-load library for progressive loading of images as a user scrolls. Offers a throttle setting for improving performance, image load delay, and callback functions. 23. Infinite Scroll This is an old tool but it’s been rewritten for version 3. The new version includes URL changes while scrolling, no jQuery dependency, and lots of optional settings via a clean API. 24. Timeline.js A jQuery plugin with a twist on the carousel component. Timeline.js has been designed specifically to enable you to create a carousel timeline (i.e. a slider that progresses based on chronological points) with lots of visual and functional customisation options. 25. Push Library to implement cross-browser Push Notifications (which are still not widely supported). Some browsers use older versions of the spec, or the Notifications API instead of Push, which this library attempts to normalise. 26. Draggable A drag-and-drop library that abstracts native browser events into a comprehensive API to help build a custom drag-and-drop experience. Draggable includes modules for Sortable (to reorder elements), Droppable (define where items can be dropped), and Swappable (for swapping elements). 27. Hyperform The complete implementation of HTML5’s native form validation API in JavaScript. This tool replaces or polyfills the browser’s native methods and makes it easier to validate forms using custom events and hooks. 28. SweetAlert2 A fork of the original SweetAlert, this is a replacement for native JavaScript popups like alert() and confirm(). The modals are attractive, responsive, customisable, and accessible. 29. SentinelJS A neat utility that uses CSS selectors to detect new DOM nodes. For example, when a specific type of element is added to the DOM (e.g. the <section> element), you can customise that element as soon as it’s added. Next page: React tools; Testing and coding tools React tools 30. React Datasheet An Excel-like spreadsheet component you can integrate into your React apps. Includes the ability to add formulas when a cell is edited (based on math.js) and the ability to add components like drop-down lists and buttons into the cells. 31. React Native for Web This tool brings the platform-agnostic components and APIs of React Native to the web. Components include activity indicators, buttons, progress bars, toggle switches, scrollable views, and much more. 32. Reactide Reactide is described as “the first dedicated IDE for React web application development”. It's a cross-platform desktop app that will enable you to quickly render projects with no build or server configuration, reducing the complexity of building React apps. 33. React Studio This is a visual design tool that outputs clean, high-quality React projects, without coding. You can draw graphics or import from Sketch and build React components based on the designs. A really gutsy project, and worth looking into if you're a non-coder. 34. ORY Editor A React- and Redux-based mobile-friendly content editor that you can plug into your site for rich content editing. It was originally built for a large open education platform in Germany, so the component is robust and easy to use. Testing and coding tools 35. Terminus This native terminal app available for Windows, Mac, or Linux includes theme and colour scheme options, configurable hotkeys, and lots more. It's apparently “designed for people who need to get things done”. 36. CodeSandbox An online code editor enabling you to build web apps in React, Vue, Preact and Svelte. The interface includes a split view, Prettify, GitHub integration, and a dependency management panel to add npm packages. 37. Myjson A simple JSON store for your app that offers a CORS-enabled and SSL-supported API. Has the ability to generate a URL with your custom JSON data, or you can save the JSON to a page on the Myjson server via the website. 38. CSS in JS Playground The CSS-in-JavaScript thing is pretty hot right now. This playground enables you to examine and experiment with the code for various CSS-in-JS libraries, live in your browser. 39. PWABuilder Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are a huge part of what is helping the web to compete with mobile. This online tool helps you put together the different parts of a PWA, including the Web Manifest and Service Worker. 39. Vue.js devtools This Chrome or Firefox extension adds a ‘Vue’ panel to your browser’s developer tools. This will then assist you in debugging pages and apps built with Vue.js, the popular JavaScript UI framework. 40. GitHub for Atom Atom, the popular code editor, now has Git and GitHub integration available via this package. GitHut for Atom enables you to work with branches, staging, commits, deal with conflicts, and more. The package is bundled with Atom 1.18 and up. 41. Octobox GitHub notifications aren’t useful, especially if you manage multiple projects. Octobox corrects some of the weaknesses inherent in GitHub’s notification system by using repo activity for archiving and unarchiving of the notifications. 42. Netlify CMS CMS for static sites, which seems to be all the rage right now. Enables collaborators to create, edit, review, and publish content without writing code or dealing with version control. The React-based core acts as a wrapper for Git. 44. Lighthouse Google’s automated tool for analysing page quality. Lighthouse enables you to test public or password-protected sites for performance, accessibility, and Progressive Web Apps. View your reports online, share them in JSON format, or as GitHub gists using Lighthouse Report Viewer. 45. Micro Micro is a terminal-based, configurable text editor. It's available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and aims to be easy to use while also taking advantage of the full capabilities of modern terminals. Available features include multiple cursors, strong mouse support and automatic linting. Next page: Media tools 46. BigPicture JavaScript-based lightbox designed for images and video, with built-in loading indicator and captions. Supports YouTube, Vimeo, and direct HTML5 video. Includes error handling for times when a media item doesn’t load. 47. Pasition A path transition and animation library with a clean API using minimal JavaScript. Pasition can render your shapes to Canvas, SVG, or WebGL and has support for all SVG path commands (moveto, lineto, and so on). 48. Feather Feather is a beautiful, simple, and extensive set of open-source icons in SVG format. Includes options for pretty much any navigation element or UI widget. 49. AmplitudeJS A modern JavaScript HTML5 audio player that gives you total design control, plus playlist features, callback functions, events, and live stream capabilities. The examples page is worth checking out to see the player’s design and functional flexibility. 50. svgi Command-line based SVG inspection tool that inspects the content of SVG files. Provides information about the file, the elements in the SVG and hierarchy. It can also be integrated into a project as a dependency to examine SVG in scripts. This article appears in net magazine issue #302. Buy it now or subscribe. Related articles: 10 rules of great user experience 18 top CSS animation examples The 5 biggest UX design trends for 2018 View the full article

Mario and Lugi are heading for the big screen after Universal’s Illumination Entertainment reached an agreement with Nintendo to produce a feature-length film. Nintendo confirmed the film in a tweet in the early hours of this morning, adding that it will be co-produced by Shigeru Miyamoto,creator of the Mario series of video games, and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri. It’s one of the highest-profile licensing deals by a Hollywood studio in years, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier. The project is the latest move by the Japanese game company to diversify its earnings in different revenue streams. Pokémon characters appeared in the wildly popular AR game Pokémon Go, while in 2015 Nintendo agreed that Universal Universal Parks and Resorts could build attractions based on Nintendo characters. A Nintendo-themed area of Universal’s Osaka theme park is planned to coincide with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Earlier this week, Nintendo reported its biggest third-quarter operating profit in eight years. Of course, this isn’t the first time the iconic plumber brothers have starred in a film series. A 1993 live action film featuring Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper and John Leguizamo – described by its director as “a harrowing experience” – bombed at the box office. Thankfully, Nintendo is sticking to animation this time. A release date has yet to be announced. View the full article

Young people today have a huge advantage when it comes to digital – as natives who have grown up surrounded with the internet, Wi-Fi and smartphones, they live and breathe mobile communications. But being properly equipped to get a job in digital doesn't always come so naturally. I'm often asked what skills are needed to work in a digital agency, and how can one go about preparing for a career in this rapidly evolving industry? 5 tips to give you the edge when job hunting A career in digital doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a Photoshop genius or that you can code in your sleep. Successful teams are made up of all sorts of disciplines, and people come from all sorts of backgrounds with complementary skill sets. Some of the skills that I prioritise when looking to take on new individuals are: Good listening skills Clear communication Able to manage own time Proactive idea suggestions Problem-solving skills Good listening skills We don't look for all of those skills in everyone we take on, of course. More than anything, we're looking for individuals who are passionate about what they do. You can teach skills like programming, frontend development and project management, but passion is just something that's there. You can cultivate it, encourage it and foster a conducive environment, but ultimately it comes down to the individual. If you've got an eye for detail, you may have noticed I listed good listening skills twice (give yourself a biscuit if you did). That's for good reason. My experience in this industry has taught me that if you don't listen closely to your client then you might as well pack up and go home. There's a surprising amount of psychology at work in successful digital agencies, and often you can tell a great deal from what someone doesn't say. Watch a good crime TV series or movie – the cops always let people talk at length, and that's how they uncover the truth. In an average digital creative agency you can expect to find some really varied folk who are not easily defined by their job title. There are those who excel in planning and organising people and projects (usually project managers), those who love interacting with existing and new clients (as client or account managers), those who eat and sleep pixel perfection (the UI or graphic designers) and those who feel perfectly at home up to their necks in code (web and mobile developers). Rigid job titles, however, are becoming less of a 'thing', so don't be put off if you don't feel you fit into one way of working. If you're handy with InDesign and Illustrator, but also love delving into Google Analytics then fantastic, make sure this is highlighted on your resume. Tailor your resume A lot of CVs/resumes land on my desk during an average week. A few are interesting, concise and creative. Many are dull carbon-copy templates that describe the candidate as "a hard-working, enthusiastic individual who works well in a team and thrives under pressure" (if I had a pound for every time…). I've got pretty good at quickly filtering through these CVs and finding the real individuals, the genuinely stand-out people who are worth following up on. Frequently, I'll turn it straight over and read the very last paragraph, because this is the interesting part. This is where everyone writes about their hobbies and interests, but this is one of the best bits! This is where I discover the kind of person you are, not just the things you've done. If we're going to be working in the same room every day I want to know about your love for photography, your collection of porcelain frogs or your YouTube channel where you review Japanese confectionery. My opinion is that you could do a lot worse than tell me about your passions right at the start of your resume. 5 tips for getting a digital job So, some practical advice for getting into the digital creative industry: 01. Discover your passion You can't learn passion – you just have it. Find the thing that excites you and pour your energy into it. 02. Do stuff in your own time You may not have a huge portfolio of commercial work you've created, but you can show off work you've completed on your own. For certain roles, it doesn't matter if you haven't worked on a 'live' project, but it's much better to show something over nothing. Try analysing new advertising campaigns, websites or apps – redesign them or detail how you'd approach it differently. If design isn't your thing, tell me how you'd improve it through code, or how you'd plan out the project. 03. Make your resume stand out Research has indicated that it takes just six seconds for an employer to make a decision from looking at a CV/resume. With this in mind you have to work hard to make yours last longer on someone's desk. If you're going to post it or hand deliver it, make sure it's printed on good quality paper, covers no more than two sides of paper and includes a short covering letter. Beyond this, make sure it conveys your unique personality. If all else fails, learn from the dude who disguised himself as a donut delivery man to get past reception, and pasted his CV inside a box of donuts – genius! 04. Cultivate your own digital presence Chances are you're on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram. Make sure the content you're creating or sharing is the kind of thing you'd want a potential employer to see. If you've shown an interest in us as an agency, don't think I won't come looking for you online to see what image you're projecting. 05. Practice makes perfect Lastly, if you're successful in securing a job interview, make sure you're prepared. Ask a friend to test you with some example questions. Do your research on the company - look them up on every social media channel you can find. It's also good to find a common point of connection – if you can find out who you'll be meeting with, find out about them; do you both have a cat? A shared hobby? Went to the same school? These last few sound weird, but are no less important - give a good handshake, keep eye contact (not all the time - you're not a snake), smile and don't talk too fast. The only other thing I'd suggest is make sure you have questions to ask your interviewer - it shows you're interested, engaged and curious. This article was originally published in issue 299 of net, the magazine for professional web designers and developers – offering the latest new web trends, technologies and techniques. Buy issue 299 here or subscribe to net here. Illustration by Kym Winters Related articles: The dos and don'ts of perfect portfolio sites 15 free resume templates 20 tips for design interview success View the full article

Much of the guidance available to young, aspiring creatives is a feedback loop of inane maxims and idle advice, constantly spinning the same strained clichés. Craig Oldham's new book makes a genuine and honest attempt to bridge the gap between graduates and the creative industry. It covers education, portfolios, freelancing, salaries and how much you should be charging. Oldham is completely honest about the good, and the bad, in your chosen career path. And because all great ideas start in the pub, the book is printed on beermat board in neon ink. Oh Sh*t What Now? is published in April 2018, but we have five copies to give away, worth £17.99 each. How to enter For your chance to win a copy, simply tweet @ComputerArts using the hashtag #HonestAdvice, including the most brutally honest piece of advice you have either given, or received, as a designer. We want you to catch our attention, make us laugh and/or make us think. Be creative! We must receive your tweet (remember to use #HonestAdvice) by Tuesday 3 April 2018 (midnight GMT), and our five favourites (based on the criteria above) will be selected as the winners, and notified within two weeks. Good luck! Terms and conditions Entrants must be aged 18+. Judges’ decision is final. Entries to be submitted on Twitter via @ComputerArts using #WhatNow? by midnight GMT on Tuesday 3 April 2018. Twitter has no liability in connection with the competition. Read full competition rules View the full article

Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom are standard for photo editing and more. To be the best artist you can be, you need to know how to make the most out of these powerful tools. You can learn how with the Ultimate Adobe Photo Editing Bundle, on sale now for just $19 (approx. £14) for a limited time. Whether you’re a designer looking to pick up some time-saving tricks or a creative person hoping to learn how to turn your hobby into a career, you’ll find the information you need in this eight-course bundle. You’ll gain a better understanding of fundamentals and can work your way up through the 41 hours of instruction on the most useful features of Photoshop and Lightroom – including layers, filters, and much more. A lifetime membership to the Ultimate Adobe Photo Editing Bundle usually retails for $566. Right now, you can get it on sale for just $19 (approx. £14) thanks to a special price drop. It’s an unbeatable price for in-depth courses on the programs and techniques you need to know best. 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: 12 top Photoshop resources 60 free Photoshop actions 95 top Photoshop tutorials View the full article

Inspiration is essential for every creative person. If you are in the right mood, it can come from almost anywhere. However, when you feel tired or distracted, your imagination may need additional sources to get inspiration from. Brilliant design portfolios to inspire you Having scoured the internet, we've collected a selection of what we think are the best apps to give your inspiration a boost. So, if you sometimes feel a lack of positive emotion or suffer from creative block, download these amazing apps and you'll find something outstanding. For an extra boost, take a look at our articles on the best iPad apps for designers, the best free Android apps for creatives and the best art apps for painting and drawing. 01. Coolors Find a colour palette in seconds $1.99/£1.99 Coolors is a super-popular app that does its one thing extremely well: it generates colour palettes. If you're having trouble finding the right aesthetic for your design, simply hit the spacebar to scroll through Coolors' collection of colour palettes. You can then adjust the temperature and hue, and export your palette in a number of different formats. As well as an iOS app ($1.99/£1.99), you can now use Coolors as a Chrome extension ($1.99/£1.29) or plug it into Photoshop CC or Illustrator CC ($5). It was designed, developed and is maintained by one man – Fabrizio Bianchi – and has amassed over 320,000 users. 8 free apps for picking a colour scheme 02. Fabulous Develop a healthier lifestyle Free Award-winning app Fabulous aims to help you form healthy habits. Use it to increase your energy levels, sleep better, and generally become healthier – all of which are conducive to getting your creative juices flowing. While there are lots of apps around that are geared towards forming healthy habits, this one is backed up by actual science (it was incubated in Duke's Behavioral Economics Lab, we're told). Available for iOS or Android. 03. Facebook Local Get out and about Free Facebook has updated its events app and relaunched it as Facebook Local. Everyone knows that there's only so much inspiration you can glean from sitting at your desk – getting out and about and interacting with people is a top way to get fresh ideas. This app includes an interactive map you can use to find events and activities happening near you, and filter them down by time, category, location and more. It also offers recommendations based on what's popular with your friends, so you might discover something new. 04. Oak Try meditation Free Perhaps the best way to fill your mind with wonderful new ideas is to first clear it of any niggles, stresses and worries. Oak is a meditation app based around techniques that have been practiced for centuries. It offers guided meditation sessions of different lengths (got a deadline? Perhaps go for the 10-minute option), as well as yogic breathing exercises to help calm you. 05. Windy $0.99/£0.99 Meditation is great, but nothing beats a good night's sleep for helping focus your mind. Windy masks unwanted noise with high-quality wind sounds recorded in psychoacoustic 3D, accompanied by mesmerising parallax 3D illustrations. Featuring natural wind recordings in partnership with Emmy-award winning nature sound recordist Gordon Hempton, it's a cool alternative to a white noise generator. Also great for drowning out annoying colleagues so you can apply yourself to the task at hand. 06. Frax HD $1.99/£1.99 It's hard to beat the sight of a lovely rendered fractal image, and all the more so when it's animated, allowing you to dive down into it to reveal ever more details. Frax HD does exactly that and more: you can choose different fractals, adjust the texturing, lighting and colour settings, and best of all you can set everything in motion and steer your way through the fractal landscape by tilting your device. Best viewed on a recent iPhone or iPad Air, it's a psychedelic delight that'll get your inspiration glands firing. 07. Bicolor $1.99/£1.99 Bicolor is a perfect choice for those who want to give their brains a workout with a puzzle game, but can't stand the cluttered, frenetic interface that often comes with it. As you'd expect from its name, Bicolor is a game app in only two colours. Enjoy over 240 puzzles to kickstart your cranial activity. If you have a client who wants to have something unusual, install this app and let the ideas flow into your mind. 08. Monument Valley 2 Monument Valley's Escher-esque world is hard to resist $4.99/£4.99 The follow-up to ustwo's smash hit from 2014, and featuring the same dreamy aesthetic, Monument Valley 2 is a game with some serious design credentials. In this version, you journey through surreal worlds with a mother and daughter, navigating impossible geometry and optical illusions. Take a 10-minute break, explore, and marvel in the incredible design. 09. Inkflow Visual Notebook Free One more great app to help you arrange your thoughts and generate a mind-blowing project: Inkflow Visual Notebook combines the feel of pen-and-paper note-taking with the flexibility of digital. Take notes within the app, then scale and move your notes about to organise them into a coherent page. It's ideal for brainstorming your next big idea. 10. Yummly Yummly will get you cooking delicious new recipes Free An empty stomach is the enemy of a busy mind – focusing on being creative when your stomach is growling for attention is almost impossible. Yummly to the rescue – this popular recipe app displays photos of amazing dishes together with delicious recipes. Choose what you want to cook, the app will generate a shopping list with the ingredients, and show the number of calories and the amount of time you'll spend on cooking. Related articles: The 28 best iPhone apps for designers 6 ways to get out of your creative rut 7 underrated apps for freelance creatives View the full article

Being synthetic, acrylic paints can tend towards a somewhat plastic texture and feeling – especially if you attempt to emulate oil paint by applying the pigment thickly. Things can quickly become glue-like and frustrating. I work around this by treating the acrylic as the water-based medium it is, building up many thin layers of subtle colours. It requires patience, but the results can be gorgeous, and you can achieve much more lively and compelling skin tones. The key to this painting technique is to keep the pigment very thin on the brush – barely there at all. I mix the paint very thinly as well, and often wipe everything from the brush. A wet palette is vital when mixing, but even though this is a wet effect, I call it 'dusting', because the final result can have a soft, powder-like texture. Each quick wash can have a great effect, and the more you add, the richer the effect. Tight control of your palette can help control things as you progressively stack the washes. Naturally, it's important to allow drying time between washes so that successive applications of colour don't damage the previous ones. Those drying times are fairly short, though, since the layers are so thin. Be patient. Follow these steps for thinly washed acrylic skin tones. 01. Draw faint pencil outlines Two coats of gesso and a soft pencil 'Dusting', as I call it, works best on a gessoed composite panel board – it absorbs fast and can take a fair bit of abuse. I do a pencil sketch on two coats of gesso, using my father's old mechanical pencil and a 2B/4B lead. Then I use a kneaded eraser to lift most of the pencil back off. 02. Lay down a thin wash Build up your base I then cover the entire board with a thin wash of Ultramarine and Burnt Umber. This seals the pencil from smearing any more, and I find the colour is a nice base for building skin tones on. I use a wide flat brush and try to create interesting marks to lie beneath everything. 03. Build lightness and darkness Get the values nailed down at this stage Now I block in the values (lightness or darkness), using the same mix but adding some Titanium White for more opacity. Even in the darkest areas, it is still very thin! At this stage I want to nail down the values so that in the next phase I can think about colour alone. 04. Finish the colour Now you can concentrate on skin tones For skin tones, I use a very light wash of Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow Light, with Venetian Red and Titanium White added to alter temperature (Venetian Red is ideal here as it's so easily pushed warm or cool). I keep more saturated colours near the shadow transition edges. This article was originally published in issue 1 of Paint & Draw magazine, the magazine offering tips and inspiration for artists everywhere. Buy back issues of Paint & Draw here. Related articles: How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials 5 things you need for oil painting How to draw movement: 16 top tips View the full article