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We've all done it. You have a great experience with a company, product or service, so when you see on their site a 'Subscribe to our newsletter' button, you think: Hey, why not? Fast-forward a few months and you've got an email inbox clogged up with email newsletters you haven't even opened, and your initial enthusiasm for the company has all but died. You weren't grabbed by any of the email newsletter designs you did look at, and you just don't have the time or inclination to make the effort any more. The unsubscribe button is seeming more and more tempting by the minute. How do you avoid this happening with your email newsletter design? Read on, and find out how to make your missive something people look forward to instead... 01. Find the right tool MailChimp offers a simple way to get started with email newsletter design Before you get started you’ll need a means to distribute your newsletters easily. Although there is a vast amount of software out there for doing this, some of the most popular are MailChimp and Campaign Monitor, and Squarespace has just launched an email marketing service that looks good. The best tools offer really simple campaign and list management, make templating a breeze, and handle all the technicalities of sending lots of emails without getting blacklisted for spamming. Many also offer analytics tools so you can measure just how your campaign faired. Campaign Monitor’s World View provides an addictive live view of your mail getting opened all over the world, which is particularly satisfying. 02. Figure out who it's aimed at There are many ways to use a newsletter, depending what business you are in. It could be that you wish to notify people of a new service you're offering, or an update to an existing one. It could be that you want to shout about offers, previews or discounts. Before you launch into your newsletter's design, it's important to nail down exactly what it's trying to achieve. Your recipients have chosen to receive your updates, so make sure they're your priority. Learn who your subscribers are and always bear them in mind when creating your newsletters. What do you think they're interested in? What do you want to share with them? Think about how you'd talk to the recipients if you were with them. Newsletters are generally a friendly, casual variety of digital communications, so write how you would speak. This will make your email newsletter easier and quicker for readers to digest. 03. Decide on your format Once you've figured out steps one and two, you'll be ready to decide on the form your newsletter should take, including how it's going to look and how you're going to build it. There are many ways to construct an email newsletter template. How you go about it will depend on a number of things: Which email clients do you want to support? Do you want to provide a 'view in web browser' option? Which mobile devices do you want to support? Do you want your email to appear differently on mobile and desktop? Researching other newsletters is a good way to help you decide what’s right for your brand and your audience. Think about what makes the ones you like work better than others. A great place to see lots of examples is the Really Good Emails site. 04. Keep it focused This email from Typeform sells one story, and does it well Whether you're going for a corporate style to fit strict branding guidelines or something more creative, make sure your newsletter doesn’t come across as merely a vehicle for as much content as possible. So many brands try to shoehorn every link from their site into the newsletter. Noise is irritating. Keep your focus tight – what message do you want your reader to come away with? 05. Give your email some personality Headspace keeps things light with an amusing illustration Traditional advice is to keep your newsletter simple. However, what's more important is that at a glance your newsletter design reflects you, your company and your message. Originality – what’s wrong with that? 06. Add section headings Headings and titles are critical, but pretty tricky to master. Be mindful of what captures your attention when you're browsing a newsletter or web page. What draws you in? You can have a brilliant article, but if your heading isn’t interesting enough it could be bypassed. Content and headings are equally important. 07. Get the header right Make sure your header is clearly branded The header will appear on every newsletter you send out, so you need to spend time on getting this right. The most important thing is that it features your brand name or logo, so the reader knows instantly who the email is from. Beyond that, the header should instantly convey the brand's values visually, and ideally create an emotional response in the subscriber that makes it feel like they're getting a beautifully designed present... not a piece of unwanted spam. 08. Don't forget the footer The footer doesn't have to be over-designed, but it is space for key info As on a website, the footer is in many ways as important as the header, giving the design a rounded feel and a sense of completeness. It's where the reader will expect to find contact details. It can also include an easy way for subscribers to share the newsletter or part of its contents with friends, via email or social media. And it should definitely include a link allowing them to unsubscribe. Making it hard for people to unsubscribe is bad form and is not going to make your newsletter any more popular. It’s far more helpful to know that that those that have subscribed actually want to receive your newsletter, and it’s also much more likely that your readers will be actively engaged. It's better to have 50 newsletters that are actually read and enjoyed than 500 that are consigned to the trash. 09. Be smart with images A newsletter full of text can be very boring to look at, and images can be a really great way of communicating what you're about to your readers. If you have good photos of events, staff, or your products ‘out in the wild’, include them. If you don’t have any, think about that next time there is a launch or event. Pictures can be really evocative. Choose those that you love and you feel reflect you and your company. Take the time to make the images look as great as possible with a bit of help from Photoshop, or get an illustrator involved. Nowadays some companies embed video into their newsletters, but this can be a technical minefield, so think carefully about what kind of audience you're aiming at and what kind of technology they're likely to be using before heading too far down this path. 10. Build subscribers' expectations Newsletters are great for building a sense of expectation. News doesn’t have to be something that you have already done – maybe share some of your dreams and hopes for your company. If you have a product launch in six months, take your readers on that journey with you – the ups and the downs. Get people as excited as you are about what you are working towards. 11. Tell a story Sharing your story as your company/project grows is a very powerful way to find people who want to be part of that story too – and your newsletter can let them know how they can be. Be imaginative in how that narrative is conveyed visually – there's no rule to say that a newsletter has to be a dry list of links. 12. Keep an eye on the analytics Services like MailChimp can provide you with oodles of information about what your subscribers are doing with your newsletters, but don’t get too obsessed with it. Analytics can give you a clue as to what is working and what isn’t in general terms, but get too distracted and you’ll overthink it. There are many elements to keep in mind when you are creating your newsletter. Try and use your instinct and trust that with practice you’ll begin to feel what’s right and what's not. 13. Encourage signups Not On The High Street has a signup section in its website footer There are lots of ways to get the word out there about your newsletter, so make use of as many of them as you can. Use any social media accounts you may have, and always include a link to the newsletter signup page on your site. Events and exhibitions are another way to spread the word. However you let people know, it’s important to make sure that the signup process is as quick and easy and possible. 14. Be genuine If you don’t believe what you're writing about, neither will your readers. Blagging can be picked up a mile off – if you believe in your news, your company or your product, that will shine through in your copy. 15. Encourage feedback Physical newsletters were traditionally one-way pieces of communication, but the web should be all about two-way conversations. Digital newsletters, in other words, are a great way to get people involved. Consider introducing a competition, for example, or asking for feedback. In time, your newsletters will help build a community of sorts, and your updates will feel more like a message to a group of likeminded people than an anonymous broadcast. 16. Be a magpie Always remain on the lookout for interesting stuff to include in your newsletter. Bookmark inspiring web pages, write down captivating quotes, take pictures. Write about your experiences. It’s much nicer when you sit down to put your newsletter together to feel like you aren’t starting from scratch. 17. Stay regular Not to get all Pavlov’s Dogs on you, but if your newsletter is regular then people will start to expect and even look forward to it at certain times. Keep in mind how often your newsletter needs to be sent, though (this will vary wildly depending on its purpose) – there’s a fine line between keeping people updated and spamming them. 18. Give something back Airbnb really engages with readers in its newsletter Don’t expect your readers to only take on board messages about your company, business or sponsors. Give them more. People know when they are being sold to, and that’s okay if they want to hear about it, but why not include other things too? Supporting other causes and businesses doesn’t mean people will be less interested in you. Support businesses that you respect, and maybe they will return the favour. 19. Test before sending! Before you send out your newsletter, test it out by mailing it to yourself first. View it in different email clients, on different browsers and on different mobile devices. There are always things that can go wrong, whether that's to do with the wording, the images or the technical delivery. You're more likely to notice errors if you put yourself in the eyes of the subscriber. We like to think Creative Bloq's newsletter is worth reading. To sign up, see our homepage or our About Us page (look for 'get weekly tips and inspiration'). Read more: 10 best email newsletter tools Create perfect messages in all email clients Master HTML typography in email View the full article

Another month has come and gone, which can only mean one thing: the new issue of Computer Arts magazine is on sale now. Inside issue 281 we talk to creatives who are shaking up how they work. From challenging the conventional work ethic to redefining design styles in established industries, these creatives are bursting with refreshing insights. Buy Computer Arts issue 281 now In our special report we investigate how top designers, including Gavin Strange, Jessica Hische and Armin Vit are turning income on its head thanks to diverse revenue streams. From books to blogs and products, there are plenty of ways for designers to earn an extra bit of money. Discover how you can do the same. Broaden your revenue streams with these design skills insights Save up to 60% on a Computer Arts subscription Elsewhere in issue 281, Emily Gosling looks at how good book design can elevate content and form to beautiful heights. Following his talk at TYPO Berlin, we catch up with Timothy Goodman to hear how he bridges the gap between the personal and the professional in his murals. This issue also showcases the latest design trends and talks to tactile artist Hattie Newman, you won't want to miss it! Take a look at what's inside Computer Arts issue 281 by scrolling left to right through the gallery below with the arrow icons. Computer Arts is the world's best-selling design magazine, bursting at the seams with insights, inspiration, interviews and all the best new design projects. For all this delivered direct to your door each month, subscribe to Computer Arts. Right now you can save up to 60%, and receive a free Computer Arts tote bag when you subscribe. Related articles: How to design a book in InDesign How to make money on Instagram as a creative Let's talk about money View the full article

Infographics are everywhere on the web, and they're increasingly interactive. On this page I've gathered together examples of the best infographics with interactive functionality, and looked at what makes them great. On page two you'll find some handy resources and libraries to help you build your own (or take a look at our roundup of top infographics tools). Read on to find out how you can create a design that truly engages with your audience. 01. Understand the psychology This infographic explains why infographics work Before you start to make your interactive infographic, it's worth considering why you're making it interactive. As the brilliant infographic Why Your Brain Craves Infographics explains, people are visually wired. We're all far more likely to be willing to read, understand, and remember a presentation that includes engaging visuals. But while visuals are arguably the most essential learning tool, they can only go so far. There is also the vital component of kinetic learning, by which people are better able to retain information through a physical activity. So it makes a lot of sense that adding interactivity to the already potent field of data visualisation should make an infographic even more memorable and effective. This combination of visual and kinetic approaches is what makes interactive infographics the data visualisations of the future. Of course, some infographic topics simply don't encourage the use of any interactive elements – but many others are vastly improved by them. Interactivity can help to make sense of the information, give control to the user, and capture the imagination in ways that a static graphic simply can't. 02. Add spice with scrolling effects Animations can make a dry topic more engaging One of the most popular types of interactivity requires just a little scrolling from its users, which usually triggers animations and transitions. It creates the same need for completion as a jack-in-the-box; users feel compelled to finish what they've started. It's a great technique for drawing viewers into a story and making them feel more engaged without overtaxing any limits of interest. The handwashing infographic above uses both subtle and flashy animations to make the journey through a rather dry topic as fun as possible. Scrolling can also be used in really simple ways, with simple narratives. For example take a look at this iPod capacity visualisation. The content is incredibly basic, but the scrolling factor does an excellent job of communicating the point. 03. Paginate for easy digestion Separating the infographic into pages means the user isn't overwhelmed with information Your Daily Dose of Water has users click through pages rather than scroll, and shows how some concepts work better with this multi-page approach. Elements on each page are interactive beyond the simple movement between topics, so clicking onto a new page more ensures the user has time to fully digest one portion before moving on to the next. 04. Let users highlight certain areas This infographic tackles the subject of tax returns Some of the best infographics are the ones that take an unwieldy amount of data and distill it into a single, manageable graphic. But these visualisations often still take some patience and perseverance to understand. Interactive highlighting of different portions can help minimise initial confusion, which is essential for attracting and retaining the average easily-distracted web user. The infographic about IRS tax returns above, How Much Goes Unclaimed Every Year, could have displayed the number of individuals and amounts of unclaimed money per state in one large chart, but featuring each one individually makes it much less confusing. Using the same functionality across pages helps bring consistency Occupational Outlook (above) which displays percentages of job openings by both occupation and education level, has a similar presentation. But this infographic includes so much information that it was necessarily split it into several different pages. However, the rollover functionality is the same across all pages, which makes the information feel like it's all of a piece. If you don't have the time or resources to build something quite as robust, you can often supplement with a few well placed animations. In a much more simple way, this business guide to intangible assets utilises scrolling animations to add pizazz to its otherwise mundane charts and graphs, helping to keep the user's attention throughout the page. 05. Hide some information Hide extra information behind clickable links for users to explore Another great way to get users to actively participate in the infographic experience is to have clicks or rollovers that offer more information. Not only does this encourage the user's sense of curiosity and exploration, it also allows them to skip over minor topics that are not of interest to them, without discouraging them from continuing on with the rest of the infographic. On the more complex end of examples is the SimpliSafe guide to home security (shown above). There's a lot more than just clickable links in this journey through the different layers of home defence, but their inclusion makes for a richer learning experience. 06. User participation is compelling Personalised information is compelling, but only right for certain situations You vs John Paulson shows an example of the type of infographic that populates its information based on the user's particular data entries. By entering your annual salary, you get a comparison with the amount of money that foreign trader John Paulson makes in a matter of minutes (along with a few other examples, just to drive to point home). Because this type of interactivity only works for a minority of topics, it's less common than the others on this list. However, it's probably also the most compelling, not only because it invites the most user participation, but also because it uses personalised information. Next page: Resources to help you bring your infographics to life The rise in interactive infographics has correlated with a similar upsurge in animation and transition tools and guides, both of which make the process of creating the most complex effects surprisingly manageable. Now you've seen what you're aiming for, let's take a look at some of the tools and resources that will help you build your own interactive infographic. 01. CSS3 = Awesome Get an overview of CSS3 Transitions, Transforms, Animation and Filters This site is helpful for anyone looking to get an overview on CSS animations, transforms, transitions and filters. It offers detailed tutorials on all these topics, and is a great place to start for a thorough technical overview. 02. A collection of page transitions This site showcases various page transition effects using CSS animations This site demonstrates various popular transitions that can be achieved between pages, which can be very useful for inspiration as well as information. 03. D3.js D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data D3.js is a JavaScript library that enables you to transform and animate data in any number of ways, using HTML, CSS, and SVG. With it you can create the collapsing graphs or spinning data points that are one of the key features of most interactive infographics. With all these resources freely available, the reasons for making a traditional static infographic are becoming less and less viable. Read more: The beginner's guide to brochure infographics The best infographics on the web today Free tools for creating infographics View the full article

A PoC shows how ships could be hacked and fooled into changing direction - all due to simple security issues. View the full article

A PoC shows how ships could be hacked and fooled into changing direction - all due to simple security issues. View the full article

Before The Partners became part of Superunion, it created a new visual identity for Shakespeare's Globe, including a new logo design that draws inspiration from the theatre's shape. The identity is deeply rooted in the Globe's experimental spirit and history and has won several awards, including a D&AD Wood Pencil. Katherina Tudball, designer director; Nick Eagleton, creative partner; and Jay Brodie, senior designer, share how they crafted the identity... 01. Find the cornerstone of the brand Following changes in its artistic direction, Shakespeare's Globe, a reconstruction of the famous London theatre where the Bard's plays were originally performed, asked cultural strategy specialists Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (MHM) to create a new brand model and a mission statement for the organisation. We were brought into the process to help develop a new brand narrative for the Globe and evolve the visual identity accordingly. It wasn't clear, initially, that we'd end up radically altering the existing identity. But the freedom to totally re-evaluate everything came about during the process. Early on, we were asked to turn the new brand narrative into words you might use in a more public facing way. In audience testing, the one word that resonated with everybody was ‘Alive'. It's the notion that going to the Globe brings theatre to life; it's visceral and unpredictable. So that became our cornerstone. 02. Experiment with different ideas The logo reflects the shape of the theatre We approached the development of a new visual identity in a quite experimental way, inspired by the idea that the Globe itself was an experiment. So we shared a lot of early ideas with the team. Given the shape of the iconic building, one theme emerged around the idea of circles, but that never quite felt right. Until one day, when we realised that the building is 20-sided and not a perfect circle. That got us excited, as it would be quite a unique-looking symbol. Another concept emerged around the idea of printing. The endurance of Shakespeare's plays is due to the historical accident of them having been printed and saved. Also, after spending a lot of time visually immersed in the theatre, we felt there should be some sort of physicality or tactile aspect to the identity, and we liked the idea of using wood in some way. 03. Tie your themes together The symbol created from the wood is integrated into all of the identity's designs We asked if any wood from the actual building might be available, and the client loved the idea. That same day, they sent over a circular piece of oak to our offices: the only piece remaining from the timber used to rebuild The Globe. We took this and made a print block out of it in the shape of a 20-sided polygon. ‘The Wooden O' was actually the nickname of the original Globe, with the phrase even appearing in the prologue of Henry V, so this tied all these various themes together quite nicely. The ‘holy relic' we'd been given was carefully cut up by furniture maker Nathalie de Leval, the wife of our creative director Nick Eagleton. Then printmaker Peter Smith, of St Bride Foundation in Fleet Street, covered it with red ink and rubbed paper down on it. So much wonderful granular texture was captured in the process that when it was revealed, there were gasps from the crowd. This print was then scanned and converted into a digital format to create the logo. We didn't really correct that much, other than create the colour suite and identify what level it can reduce down to. This symbol acts as the core ‘source of the action' in the new identity and is integrated into all of the designs. 04. Look to the past for inspiration The First Folio was used as inspiration for the Globe's brochures and printed materials Other elements of the new identity are also inspired by history. We limited our colour palette to red, black and white as these were the colours used in early printing. There's also a story – which is perhaps apocryphal – that in Shakespeare's time, when illiteracy was widespread, red, black and white flags were used to indicate what kind of play was on. The typeface, Effra, is an updated version of a typeface from 1816 called Caslon Junior. As the first commercial sans serif, this was an important family to the history of English printing, but its simplicity means it's also perfect for the multimedia age. We also took inspiration from the First Folio – the original 1623 publication of William Shakespeare's plays – to create the grid for the layouts of the Globe's brochures and other printed material. The design system is very flexible: the philosophy is to provide a kit of simple parts with very light guidance to any artist or designer and just let them play with it. This is in keeping with the whole spirit of experimentation around the project, but consistency is ensured by elements such as the limited colour palette. 05. Take your time The finished identity displayed on an ad on the London Underground What's been so great about this project is that we've had time to pause and reflect along the way; to think carefully about how all these different strands could come together. We wouldn't have arrived at any of these thoughts if we hadn't taken that time to do the research, and just mess around and learn, without being concerned about trying to make an identity and brand system. In the end, it's actually turned into a very robust system, but that wasn't our primary goal. The more time we've spent understanding this unique organisation, the more passionate and excited we've become. Ideas are surer and stronger when they're rooted in some sort of authentic truth from the beginning, and so the research on this has been fundamental to really immersing ourselves in Shakespeare and the history of The Globe. This project is ongoing, with the next big stage being the relaunch of the website later. This article was originally published in 278 of Computer Arts, the world's leading design magazine. Buy 278 or subscribe here. Read more: Define a brand with handmade type The secrets to building a world-class brand 21 outstanding uses of colour in branding View the full article

We know, designers and illustrators love Moleskines. We do too. But a tablet with a stylus offers a world more flexibility – namely, that your notes and drawings don’t have to be created again digitally, and can be safely backed up to the cloud. All of which makes a stylus-equipped tablet the ideal alternative to a traditional notepad and pencil, whatever your preferred drawing technique. But there’s a lot of choice out there, so what’s the best option? Whether you’re looking for an iOS, Android or Windows tablet with a stylus, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we walk through the best tablets with a stylus for drawing and note-taking available right now – as well as the best budget buys – so you can make the right decision for your needs. The Samsung Galaxy S3 simply ticks all the boxes, making it an easy choice for our favourite overall slate – let alone the best Android tablet with a stylus for drawing and note-taking. With its 9.7mm screen, super slim 6mm thickness and light weight (less than half a kilo), the Tab S3 will wow you with its perfect dimensions even before you turn it on. Once you do, you'll be immediately love the vibrancy of the HDR-enabled screen – ideal for when you're turning your quick sketches into something more aesthetic. 12 essential tools for graphic designers There's only 32GB of onboard storage, so you may be resorting to the cloud more than you'd wish. But the real perk the Tab S3 has over much of the competition is that the S-Pen is included in the price, so there's no need to go shopping for a separate stylus. Just as Hoover has come to mean vacuum cleaner, iPad is a synonym for tablet to many people. When it comes to the best iOS tablet with stylus, we recommend heading straight for the big kahuna – the 12.7-inch iPad Pro. Its broad Retina display has the most colours, its A10X chip has the most power and you won't be disappointed with the sheer amount of handy programs you can download from the App Store. For the price you pay for the iPad Pro, we can't hide our chagrin at the lack of Apple Pencil – that will cost you around $100/£100 to add as an extra. But if you're already invested in the Apple ecosystem, you'll want to add the iPad to the family and, to be fair, are probably used to the cost of these things already. Read more: iPad Pro 12.9 (2017) review A quick glance at the spec sheet of the Microsoft Pro (2017) is enough to tell you the sheer power we're dealing with. An available Intel Core i7 Kaby Lake CPU, 2,736 x 1,824 resolution PixelSense display and 512GB SSD storage. The Surface Pro doesn't just wipe the floor with other tablets, it's a legitimate replacement to your laptop. Even the battery has been given a significant upgrade from the Surface Pro 4. But where's the stylus? You used to get the Surface Pen included, but not any more, so you'll have to cough up an extra $100/£100 if you want that. It's worth it though: its extraordinary 4,096 pressure levels make it a delight to draw with. Read more: Microsoft Surface Pro review If you're primarily looking for a tablet with a stylus for drawing, consider investing in a dedicated drawing tablet. Our favourite is the Wacom Cintiq 22HD: its large dimensions (it's not really one for shoving in your bag too often) mean that you get a total of 50cm x 30cm of total drawing area – perfect if you want a more detailed design than most normal tablets allow you to execute. The super sensitive stylus won't hurt to this end, either – we can't think of another drawing tablet out there that will give you more accurate results. The integrated stand means that you can adjust the angle of the tablet to suit your preferred stance and the full HD display boasts over 16 million colours. If you can afford it, the Wacom Cintiq 22HD could have a major impact on the quality of your work. Read more: The best drawing tablet We eyed the Lenovo Yoga Book with a combination of intrigue and suspicion when it was first announced. It's a kind of tablet-laptop hybrid with a digital, capacitive keyboard that doubles up as a handwriting or drawing surface. But the result is a tablet with a stylus that's well worth owning. The traditional surface is 10.1-inch 1,920 x 1,200 resolution screen, which again hits that magic number of 16.7 million colours. The second surface is that capacitive Halo Keyboard, which – despite the lack of digital keys – is accurate enough to take quick notes straight to your chosen word-processing app. Prefer the old-fashioned method? Then you can utilise the included Real Pen stylus instead and use the Halo surface as a digital notebook, with the added bonus of seeing your scribblings saved immediately into your onboard storage. We know the Yoga Book won't be for everyone (the 180-degree fold back screen means it's much chunkier than most other traditional tablets), but Lenovo's unique proposition means its well worth considering if you can't decide between a laptop and a tablet. Huawei has managed to make a genuinely good tablet at a fraction of the price you'll pay for other tablets. Despite the relatively low price point, you still get an excellent screen, sufficient power for most tasks and a sleek, light aluminium frame that's both practical and won't embarrass you if you pull it out at a coffee shop. Obviously if you rely on apps that require power-intensive rendering and processing, this Huawei MediaPad will inevitably struggle compared to the Surface Pro and iPad. Pro. And there's no stylus included with this one - take a look at the best styluses you can buy below. But if you're just getting going with using a tablet for work (or as a hobby), this is a very affordable starting point. The best stylus to buy for your tablet If you choose one of the tablets above that doesn't come with a stylus in the box, then we can help you pick out a pencil to purchase: Related articles: The best drawing tablets money can buy 4 alternatives to traditional sketchbooks How to draw: 100 tutorials View the full article

Click the image to see it full size I’m a big fan of traditional media, but it’s hard to beat the convenience, versatility and speed of working digitally. Over the years I’ve developed a hybrid process that combines pencil drawing techniques with digital colouring skills. It’s great for artists who are at home with traditional tools, but looking to branch out into digital media or gain a little bit of extra control over the look of their finished pieces. In this workshop, I’ll be walking you through the creation of my painting The Bear Wife, showing how I build up an image, starting with a detailed drawing using my best pencils and working my way up to a monochromatic traditional-media underpainting on toned paper, before switching over to Photoshop CC for a bold digital finale. Watch the video below to see my full process. These techniques are infinitely adaptable. I’d encourage you to use this workshop as a jumping-off point, integrating the tools with which you’re the most comfortable to tailor a process that’s uniquely your own. 01. Start with a thumbnail sketch A successful image starts with an informative thumbnail sketch. To avoid bland images, think before you draw. Who are your characters, and what is their story? Let the answers inform your choices! I then polish the chosen sketch in Photoshop, establishing the values and colours I’ll be aiming for in my final image. 02. Take reference photos Drawing from real life (or photos) helps ground an imaginary scene in reality. I’d avoid relying on found images or stock photos. Composing your own reference photographs will ensure that the resulting images fit your vision. Sometimes you have to get creative to gather the correct reference; I don’t have a bear cub handy, so my dog Tiki will have to do! 03. Produce a tight sketch I trace an enlarged version of my thumbnail on to a sheet of Bristol paper, then start to flesh out the drawing, incorporating visual information gathered from my reference photos. I like to use grey Col-Erase instead of graphite: it’s a little softer and more forgiving, making it ideal for the sketch stage. 04. Transfer the print I like to draw and paint on different kinds of paper. (And I hate painting directly over an original drawing – the fear of ruining it always hinders my creativity.) So rather than working directly over my pencil drawing, I print a low-opacity copy of my sketch onto tinted pastel paper, and wet-stretch it. This is an essential step when using water media on paper. 05. Create a two-tone underdrawing The underdrawing is a slightly more polished version of my original sketch. I refer back to my thumbnail value study, noting which areas are light and which are dark. For dark areas (the bear and coat) I use a black Col-Erase pencil; for light areas (the hair, skin, trees and bear cub), grey Col-Erase gives a subtler effect. 06. Apply ink flats This is another step that relies on the clear value structure I established early on. I apply a diluted wash of a brown and black acrylic ink mixture to only the dark areas of the piece. This develops a strong base value for the darks that will help keep my darks and lights separate as I begin to render the piece. 07. Render the ink Using a small, round brush, I start rendering within the newly established base tone. I’m ignoring the light areas completely at this stage, and instead focusing on building up the darker values with carefully applied ink washes. The base value ensures that the value of dark area highlights will never get too close to light areas of the piece. 08. Bring in details Once I have a nice range of values within my dark areas, I switch to black Col-Erase. Then I add fine details and textures, and re-emphasise the line art from my underdrawing. Light shading can even be used to push the values even darker at this stage. 09. Render the light areas With the dark areas completely rendered, I finally switch over to the light areas. Happily, very little additional work is required here. I block in the large areas of shadow on the face and bear cub with an extremely diluted wash of ink, then switch back to the grey Col-Erase to perfect the line drawing and add subtle shading. 10. Add highlights To add an extra layer of depth, I pick out the brightest highlights in white charcoal pencil. I stick to the light areas of the piece for a more naturalistic look. For the rest of the piece, retracing key outlines in bolder Prismacolor pencil (dark grey for the mid-tones, black for the dark areas) creates emphasis without disrupting the value structure. Avoid overdoing your highlights, though. Remember that only shiny surfaces will have hard-edged highlights, and that highlights will almost never appear in shadowy areas. 11. Scan and adjust I now have a pretty sophisticated starting point for my digital painting. Almost all of the rendering is finished, but I’ll be able to add colour and polish in Photoshop. I scan my painting, then match the on-screen image to the real-life painting using Curves and Levels adjustments to increase the contrast, and a Hue/Saturation layer to correct the colour. 12. Introduce digital tints I start slow with my colour; first, I outline the big areas of the scarf using the Pen tool, then convert the outline to a selection. Next, I fill the area with a bright red colour (alt+del), switch the layer mode to Overlay, and then reduce the Opacity for a subtler effect. 13. Brighten the whites The intensity of white charcoal never quite comes through in a scan, so to counteract the dulling effect I retrace my white charcoal highlights from the traditional phase of the painting to bring some drama back to the hair and skin. I’m using a textured, angled brush set to white on a new layer, painting around 40 per cent Opacity with a very light hand. 14. Darken the darks Since a scanner blasts such bright light at an image, there’s a similar loss of intensity in the darker areas. On a new layer set to Multiply, I use the same brush to deepen the values in the darkest areas of the piece: the bear’s face and paws, and the folds of the jacket. I use desaturated reds and blues rather than pure black. 15. Make final adjustments I finish the image with one final set of adjustment layers. I use levels to brighten the image, and Selective Color to reduce the yellow tones in the piece – skewing the colour scheme a little cooler to give the finished piece a wintery feel. This article was originally published in issue 159 of ImagineFX, the world's leading magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 159 or subscribe here. Read more: How to draw hands Colourise greyscale work in Photoshop Best practice advice for capturing human anatomy View the full article

This top-rated Facebook Ads course on the web can teach you all the secrets behind successful Facebook marketing. With the Facebook Ads & Facebook Marketing Mastery Course, you'll learn marketing methods that have proven time and time again to be the most effective at getting more eyeballs on your business. You'll learn how to optimise your ad campaigns in such a way that increases profits, and you'll also discover how to effectively grow your Facebook follower base and post engagement. Learn to make Facebook work for you with the Facebook Ads & Facebook Marketing Mastery Course. It's on sale now for only $9.99. Read more: 10 social media tricks you didn't know about Make money on Instagram as a creative How to make social media work for you View the full article

Andrew Gordon worked as Pixar's directing animator for seven years, and is now co-director at Illumination McGuff and head of animation at Double Negative. He's worked on films such as The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc, so it's safe to say he's seen a few demo reels in his time. 15 pro tips for crafting the perfect showreel Here, Gordon walks through some stand-out demo reels from the last decade, explaining why each one won its creator either an internship or a job at Pixar… 01. Stefan Schumacher: Demo reel 2010 “This one was done by Stefan Schumacher, who was one of my interns a few years back,” explains Gordon. “All of the scenes are based on a simple rig that has been modified to be a character. Also, he put sets in and, in general, shows really great acting ideas. Especially in the scene at 00:30…” 02. Allison Rutland: 2009 animation demo reel “Another reel that I remember being wonderful was this one from Allison Rutland. It’s a professional reel that showed great potential at the time,” Gordon explains. “She didn’t have much feature work on her reel, but she did two personal tests that got her a job. The last one on the reel [at 00:50] I think really closed it for her. It’s a great example of believable acting,” he says. Rutland went on to win an Annie for best character animation for her work on 2015 animated film, Inside Out. You can watch her 2017 animation showreel here. 03. Cesar Tafova: Animation reel 2016 “There are many rigs out there – many are attached to schools that ‘give them away’ for free as a marketing tool,” says Gordon. “Just know that when you see the same rig over and over from hundreds and hundreds of students, it’s very hard to separate yourself from the pack. “This example [at 00:17] shows a good use of changing the scene and character. It has a good hook. It’s the Malclom rig,” he adds. “I see lot of demo reels with this guy. If you’re going to use a rig from a school, come up with a really original design and test. “Look at the rig as the actor, and you as the director who needs to put him in a costume. Make the scenery and direct the acting to tell a story.” 04: Carlo Vogele: For Sock’s Sake “Once you get past the work from schools that teach animation by using stock rigs and running you through animation exercises, the stuff that really stands out is the student films from other schools in the world,” says Gordon. “When you see a film that’s well-crafted, it means a lot. This film by Carlo Vogele was one of those you see and, right off the bat, you say: ‘That’s a great idea – using clothing to animate.” Don’t fall into the trap of being a shot animator. Try to be a storyteller “It’s so important to remember to be a film-maker and not just try to do exercises that you think will get you into this or that studio – especially when you’re a student. Now’s your time to make films, because not many people out there are going to give you the money to make a film. “I was personally hired out of school on a two-minute Flour Sack test that turned into a little story. I saw another student get an internship based off his Flour Sack film and go on to Pixar, then Disney feature animation,” he continues. “You don’t need complex rigs to get noticed. Just great ideas. Many times it’s the story telling, the entertainment value, what you bring to the work… Don’t fall into the trap of being a shot animator. Try to be a storyteller.” Related articles: Top animation tools for digital artists The dos and don'ts of animation showreels How to get clients on board with animation View the full article

Your landing page is a crucial element in your website layout. It is the first real opportunity you have to introduce your business, or the product you sell, so its design is key. Landing pages are designed with a single focused objective known as a call to action (CTA). The use of colours and images to complement the calls to action and the user experience is a must. See the working CodePen for this tutorial In this tutorial, we'll walk through how to build an engaging landing page for a fictional fashion brand. It will be centred around a split-screen design with large images and animated transitions that happen on hover. This page will have two clear call to action buttons and we'll be using HTML, Sass for styling and a touch of vanilla JavaScript that uses the ES6 syntax. 01. Get set up Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image If you're using CodePen, make sure the CSS is set to 'SCSS' in the Pen settings. You can make this change by clicking on the settings tab, choose 'CSS' and change the CSS Preprocessor to SCSS in the drop-down options. Then we can begin adding in our HTML. We're going to wrap a section called 'left' and a section called 'right' within a container class, with both sections given a class of 'screen'. 02. Finish the HTML Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image To finalise our HTML, we will add in a title for each section using an h1 tag. Underneath that we will need to add in a button, which would link to another page if this was a real-world project. We will give this a class of button to keep things nice and simple. 03. Explore Sass variables The one thing we all love about Sass is the use of variables. Even though native CSS variables are getting more support, we will keep things safe by using Sass. We will put these at the top of our .scss, and you can choose whatever colours you want, but using rgba values will give us more flexibility. 04. Adjust body styling Firstly, we will clear all default padding and margin to the body and then set the font family to Open Sans. This will only affect the button, so it doesn't matter too much what font we use. Then we will set the width and height to 100% and make sure that anything that overflows on the X axis gets hidden. 05. Style the section titles It’s time to pick a Google font for the section titles – we’ve chosen Playfair Display. Then using translateX we can make sure the section titles are always centred on the X axis. 06. Make the CTAs stand out Our buttons will act as our calls to action, so these need to be big, bold and positioned where they are easy to click. Both buttons will have a white border and an interesting transition effect. The default styles for both buttons will be the same, however we will change their colours on hover. The main buttons will have a nice simple hover effect and we will use the Sass variables we specified for the colour, which will be a similar colour to the background of the page. 07. Set the container background and screens Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image The container class will act as our page wrapper and we will set the position of this to relative, simply because we want to position the screens to absolute positioning. We will give the container a default background colour, but of course this won't be seen because we will be setting different colours to both screen backgrounds. 08. Add background images Both the left and right sections will display an image, and you can find royalty-free stock images from websites such as Unsplash, Pixabay or Pexels (which I've used in this tutorial). To make things easier, I've used a free image hosting and sharing service called imgbb that we can link to in our CSS. The right-hand side of the page will also display a background image using imgbb, and we will set the background colour to pink. Again, we set the background size to cover. This will allow us to cover the entire containing element, which in our case is the .screen class. 09. Add transitions and hover effects The animation speed for our hover effect on both screens will be controlled by a transition that holds the value of our variable $animateSpeed, which is 1000ms (one second). Then we'll finish off by giving the animation some easing, which is an ease in and out that will help to give us a smoother animation. What we want to happen now is that when you hover over the left screen, there will be a class added to that section using JavaScript (which we will write in a later step). When this class is added, then that screen will stretch to whatever the width of the variable we specified – which will be 75%, and then the right side will be set to the smaller width variable (25%). This works exactly the same as the left side, where a new class will be added on mouse hover using JavaScript, and the right screen will stretch out accordingly. We also need to make sure the z-index is set to 2 so the CTA button becomes more prominent. 10. Move into JavaScript We will be using a touch of vanilla JavaScript to help us add and remove CSS classes and we will also be using some of the new ES6 features. The first thing we need to do is to declare some constant variables. Because we will be using document more than once, we will set a constant variable called doc and store the document within that so we can keep the word 'document' nice and short. Now we need to set three more constants that will store the .right, .left and .container selectors. The reason we are using constants is because we know we don't want to change the value of these, so using a constants makes sense. With these now set, we can go ahead and add some mouse events to them. Using the left constant variable we declared in the last step, we can now add an event listener to it. This event will be the mouseenter event and instead of using a callback function, we will use another ES6 feature called Arrow Functions' ( () => ). 11. Add and remove a class In the last step, our event listener added a mouseenter event that targets the main container class and adds a new class called hover-left to the left section element. With this called added, we now need to remove it when we hover off it. We'll do this by using the mouseleave event and the .remove() method. Up until now we have done everything on the left screen. Now we will finish off the JavaScript and add and remove classes on the right section elements. Again we have used the arrow function syntax here to keep everything looking nice and tidy. 12. Make it responsive Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image No project – no matter how big or small – should avoid being made responsive. So, in this step we will add some media queries to our CSS, and make this small project as adaptive to mobile devices as best we can. It's worth checking out the original CodePen to see how this works. We've made sure that when the width of our page gets down to 800px, the font and buttons will reduce in size. So, to finish things off we want to target the height too and make sure our buttons move down the page when the page height gets below 700px. Web design event Generate London returns on 19-21 September 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. This article was originally published in net magazine issue 305. Subscribe now. Read more: 5 sensational new websites to be inspired by Create an animated 3D text effect 19 great parallax scrolling websites View the full article

The aim of this piece was to produce a piece of 3D art that's ready to go straight from the frame buffer, with little or no post-production. Zagreb-based Studio Niskota (now Polymachine) created the project as a test bed for their no-post pipeline, and all the assets are modelled and textured with such detail that they could be used for a close-up render – despite ending up hundreds or thousands of metres from the camera in the final shot. How to create epic environment designs Scenes on this scale containing hundreds of thousands of detailed assets can put a burden on your renderer, and working with billions of polygons in the viewport in a way that enables fast iteration is nearly impossible. Enter Forest Pack and RailClone by iToo Software, two of the most popular plugins for 3ds Max that specialise in instancing almost limitless geometry while maintaining a fully procedural workflow. Forest Pack enables users to scatter hundreds of thousands of objects, each with millions of polygons, while a point-cloud display mode and several optimisation features keep the viewports fast. RailClone shares Forest Pack's instancing capability but uses parametric arrays instead of scattering algorithms to distribute, manipulate and deform geometry. In this tutorial we'll illustrate how these two tools were used to create Studio Niskota's scene, and share some invaluable tips along the way for anyone planning to create large-scale environments. 01. Model the foreground terrain 3ds Max is perfect for modelling landscapes quickly The landscape is probably the biggest contributor to the overall balance of the image, so it's always a good place to start. There are many excellent dedicated landscape modelling applications on the market, but for speed nothing can beat poly modelling in 3ds Max. At this early stage, try to create the landscape in a way that encourages experimentation by maintaining good edge flow, using as few edges as possible to define the basic shapes and only then adding a TurboSmooth or OpenSubDiv modifier to add refinements. 02. Use placeholder geometry Simple placeholders can help you work out your camera angles Once you have the terrain roughed out, add placeholder geometry for the major elements to help work out which camera angles you plan to use. In this scene, the landscape was modelled with a lake in the foreground and a flat section to showcase the architecture in the mid-ground, which gives way to rolling tree-lined hills in the distance. 03. Split up the terrain Make your life easier by breaking the terrain up into manageable chunks It's tempting to model a landscape as one large surface, but when your scene is measured in kilometres, that's not always a sensible approach. If you only model the sides of the hills facing the camera you significantly reduce the number of trees and objects scattered later on, speeding up render times. You can use the same approach to add scan data that fills in the background. 04. Add the buildings Make sure to get some variety into your buildings With the composition worked out, you can create the buildings. Poly modelling is used throughout for the building structure, which is then populated with a mixture of high-quality stock and bespoke models. For believable renders, it's important to add subtle variation. For example, you can use the RandomByElement modifier with multi-sub object materials to randomise the textures. 05. Keep everything parametric Parametric models will be easier to update if you need to For this project we want to retain the ability to experiment, so it's important to make sure that anything we add is easy to update. One way to achieve this is to make models parametric. For example, tucked away in the trees in the final render is a power line that we'll create using the RailClone plugin. RailClone also instances geometry automatically, so even though the object ended up barely visible in the final render, you'll have a reusable high-quality asset that's easy to edit and suitable for close-ups in future projects. 06. Create the power lines Use RailClone to make the power lines Draw a spline across the background of the terrain to define the path. Create a new RailClone object, open the graph editor and create a one-dimensional array by adding an L1S Generator. Wire the pylon geometry to the Generator's Start, End and Evenly inputs. Wire the cable geometry to the Default input and change the Default Mode so the cables are scaled to fit between the pylons. 07. Create the boardwalk You can also use RailClone to build the boardwalk The boardwalk is also created with RailClone. Draw a spline above the terrain to describe the centre of the path. Several plank models are distributed along the spline using a one-dimensional array with a Randomise operator. A second one-dimensional generator distributes the posts at evenly spaced intervals. The Generator's Mirror and Y Offset options are used to copy and move the array to both sides of the path, and a Surface node is added to both generators so that the boardwalk follows the topology of the landscape. 08. Add variation to procedural objects Randomise your planks to give them a more natural look Just like the building's cladding, this boardwalk mustn't look too perfect. Add some chaos to the planks using the transform randomisation features found in the Segment node's settings. You should also randomise the textures used on each plank, but instead of using a modifier, you can use RailClone Color which retains full instancing and has other advanced options. 09. Source plants and other assets Randomise rotation and scale of your vegetation to keep things natural-looking The vegetation used in the scene comes from a mixture of library models and bespoke plants created using SpeedTree. Landscape artists often ask themselves how many plant models they need to create believable variation. It's not really the number but the differences between the models that's important. You can hide a lot of repetition by simply randomising rotation and scale. Ideally, you should only include additional variations of a plant species if they look sufficiently different to justify the extra resources. 10. Scatter the trees Bring in your trees as a new Forest Pack object After you've added the main compositional elements, it's usual to work from large to small elements. The trees occupy the largest area, so create those first by adding a new Forest Pack object that uses the terrain as a surface. Add the tree models to the geometry list and enable Rotation and Scale randomisation. A scale range between 50 and 150 per cent will disguise repetition effectively. 11. Remove trees from the scatter Get rid of trees that are where they shouldn't be The trees are also scattered inside the buildings, on the boardwalk and in the lake. Draw closed splines from the top view and add them to the Forest Pack object's Areas list. Set the mode to Exclude and the items inside the splines will be removed. Remove trees from under the power lines by adding the spline used by the RailClone object to the Areas list and increasing Thickness. 12. Create grass patches Bring in grass and small plants as Forest Pack objects Small plants and ground-cover vegetation are normally modelled as individual plants. If we were to scatter individual plants in this scene, it would take over 6.5 million of them to fill the desired area. The solution is to use two Forest Pack objects, one to create a small patch of grass, and a second to distribute the patch on the terrain. To create a patch, use a small circular spline one metre or more in diameter as an Area to scatter grass with Forest Pack. Use the area's Density Falloff to thin out the scatter as it approaches the spline. 13. Scatter the patches Use Translation randomisation to avoid a grid effect Next, create a second Forest Pack object using the terrain as a surface and add the patch to the Items list. Add Exclude splines to remove grass from inside the buildings, on the lake bed and under the boardwalk, as well as creating clearings. A grid-like appearance can sometimes be visible – to break this up, add Translation randomisation as well as the usual Rotation and Scale. 14. Cull items that aren't visible Save on rendering time by losing everything that's not visible to the camera There's little sense in wasting resources calculating items that aren't seen in the final render. Go to the Camera rollout and enable Limit to Visibility and Auto Assign to Active View to use the current camera to remove items that aren't visible. If you still need some items to be retained for reflections, you can extend the scatter beyond the frustum slightly using Expand. 15. Add layers of ground cover Mix layers of ground cover for a more realistic look Realistic ground cover is achieved by mixing several layers of plants to add visual complexity. Using the same optimisation tricks as the grass, create new Forest Pack objects for long grass, dead leaves, sticks and twigs, mushrooms and tall weeds. Create believable interaction between the layers by drawing unique Exclude areas and experimenting with different distribution maps. 16. Place grass around the boardwalk Add longer grass and weeds where the lawnmower won't reach Grass grows taller around the boundaries of objects where it cannot be trampled or cut. Create a new Forest Pack object to add long grass and weeds around the boardwalk. Add the same spline used by the RailClone style to the Forest Pack object's Areas list and set the mode to Include. Increase the Thickness until the grass area is slightly wider than the boardwalk. Then, to remove the grass from under the boardwalk itself, add the same spline again, set mode to Exclude and change Thickness to roughly the width of the planks. 17. Paint the reeds Use Forest Pack to paint reeds onto the landscape We can hand-paint areas using Forest Pack. Here we'll create a new Forest object to add reeds. Go to the Areas rollout and add a new Paint area. Click the button to activate Paint mode then click and drag on the terrain. It's important to understand that you're only painting an area – the plugin remains fully parametric so you can adjust geometry, density and randomisation at any time. 18. Add lights to the boardwalk You can add lights to the boardwalk with Forest Pack... The final Forest Pack object adds light geometry to cables strung along the boardwalk. In the top view, draw a zigzagging renderable spline between the posts. Divide all the spline segments in half and lower the new vertices slightly to create downward curves as though the cable is affected by gravity. Create a new Forest Pack object and add light geometry and transform randomisation. To array these lights along the spline use Path Distribution mode and set the distance between the lights using the Spacing value. 19. Scatter V-Ray lights ...then scatter them using V-Ray There are more than 350 lights scattered along the boardwalk. No-one wants to place that many objects manually, but unfortunately Forest Pack can't scatter non-geometric items such as lights. Fortunately there's a workaround. Select the Forest Pack object used to distribute the lights geometry and use Forest Tools to convert it to native instances. You can now use Max's built-in Clone and Align tool to add an instance of a new V-Ray light that matches the position and orientation for each of the bulbs. 20. Manual placement Add the last few hero objects by hand Now you can complete the composition by placing hero objects in the mid to foreground. A Forest Pack object can be useful here too. Add all the items you need to the geometry list and add the surface. Enable Custom Edit mode and you'll be able to choose and place items that will have the benefits of using Forest Pack's point-cloud display, randomisation and instancing features. 21. Add the lanterns Add the foreground lanterns manually, too The lanterns in the foreground are created using groups that contain geometry and a V-Ray light to illuminate the scene. Manually instance and position the lanterns so that slightly more than half are sat on the water surface and some are drifting into the sky. To add blur to the airborne lanterns, add a short animation and enable Motion Blur in the renderer and camera settings. 22. Ripples in the water Create ripples with a VRayDistanceTex map To create ripples where the lanterns touch the water, first model wavy discs and then place them just below the surface, one for each light. Use these to add displacement to the water using a VRayDistanceTex map to create a greyscale output based on the surface's distance to the disc's geometry. To move a lantern, just move the disc to update the displacement automatically. 23. Position lights Make sure that all your lighting comes from a believable source Studio Niskota's no-post philosophy applies to lighting too. Pay close attention when lighting the buildings to create a believable mood, with the aim that you could create close-up or even interior renders if needed. Ensure that lights are added where there are fittings so that they originate from a believable source, but feel free to also use invisible lights to add accents. For example you could add lights facing away from the buildings to boost their illumination of the surrounding environment and backlight the nearby trees. 24. Add atmospheric perspective V-Ray Aerial Perspective will give your scene a sense of depth and scale without huge rendering overheads Finally we need to create a sense of depth and scale. This effect is commonly added in post using a Z-Depth Pass, but it can be achieved at render time too. Some artists like to use V-Ray Environment Fog to achieve this, but unless you really need volumetric light and shadows you can use V-Ray Aerial Perspective which approximates the same effect but renders more quickly. This article was originally published in issue 234 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 234 here or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: Create an atmospheric game environment 6 expert tips for better 3D renders How to render a photorealistic sky View the full article

One of the first things you should do when setting out to achieve a goal is to map out how you want to get there. You might think it's as straightforward as getting from point A to point B, but you never know what might change along the way. That's when Timelinr Personal Plan can help. This handy project planning tool allows you to put together high-level roadmaps that loop in all your team members and stakeholders. Know exactly which tasks are still at hand, which resources need to be allocated, and a whole lot more. Best of all, you get to have it for life for just $49.99. Related articles: Top tips for nailing project management How to discover a brand's USP The 22 best business card designs View the full article

Three new pieces of Banksy street art have been discovered in Paris, to join the three we already know about. And while eager Parisians are on the hunt for more, one of the pieces has already been vandalised. Banksy's 'blitz' on Paris combines highly politically charged works (many of the new designs take aim at France's tough anti-migrant policy, with president Emmanuel Macron taking an uncompromising line on refugees coming into the country), and simpler artworks featuring Banksy's signature rats. Scroll down to see all six Parisian artworks. The first of Banksy's trademark rats shows a shifty rodent sporting a Minnie Mouse bow. Many of the rat designs interact with existing architectural features or graffiti in the capital. This one prepares to blow something up. A third design shows a rat riding a cork that has been shot from a champagne bottle. The three designs discovered first take a more overt political angle. Here, a businessman saws of the leg off an obedient dog, before offering the eager pet a bone, with the saw still tucked behind his back. This design references the famous portrait of Napoleon crossing the Alps to invade Italy, but the general's red cloak has been rearranged to cover his face, effectively blinding him. Napoleon is synonymous with French power and influence. Some noticed the similarity between the cloak's arrangement and an Islamic headscarf, and speculated that this design is a comment on the controversial ban on the wearing of the niqāb in France. In the final of the six designs, a young black girl sprays a pink patterned wallpaper design over a swastika. This artwork – a reimagining of 2008's Go Flock Yourself – has already been vandalised. The artwork is located near the Porte de la Chapelle metro station – the location of Paris’ official refugee centre La Bulle, until it was finally dismantled for good in August 2017. The sleeping bag and teddy bear on the pavement next to the new design suggest this is also an immigrant, struggling with racism. This French journalist questions whether the vandalism is a deliberate act or ignorance on the part of the vandal. Although none of the works have been signed – in line with the rest of Banksy's most recent works – experts say they look genuine. View the full article

For many designers and illustrators, creating and selling products online can be a rewarding side project that brings in some extra income. There are many options available, which we'll set out below – but when you're setting up your online shop, it pays to present them professionally. In an ideal world, everyone would commission a studio photoshoot and art direct their product collection beautifully and consistently. But not everyone has the time or the budget to do so. Luckily, with some smart and savvy use of premium stock images and a bit of time in Photoshop, you can do your designs justice – for a fraction of the price. So read on for our guide to the best images to use to sell four common products online, complete with top recommendations from iStock by Getty Images. Digital assets Click to view image on iStock Digital wallpapers for desktop, tablet, or mobile are a great place to start, especially for illustrators, as there are no production costs involved. Depending on your reputation, you're unlikely to be able to charge much for them –but it's a good way to spread your work around. Click to view image on iStock When it comes to presenting them in an online shop, a stylishly shot setup, featuring several blank screens, is a great way to show them off in context. You simply need to take screen grabs on your various devices, and mock them up on the screens. This image is particularly effective, as it feels part of an aspirational creative work environment. Prints and posters Click to view image on iStock When it comes to physical items, prints featuring your artwork are one of the simplest to produce, especially if you go for digital printing, which is much more economical for short runs. Again, showing off a print in some kind of context is worthwhile here, as it helps potential purchasers imagine it in their own home or studio. Click to view image on iStock Premium stock images such as the one above, when carefully mocked up with your design, bring your work to life – without the need to splash out on a photoshoot. If you have the money, high-end techniques such as screenprinting or letterpress will take your prints to the next level – and limited-edition, signed, and numbered versions feel much more collectable. With more tactile products like these, especially if you're charging a premium, it's definitely worth shooting close-up details to show off the quality. T-shirts and apparel Click to view image on iStock The next stage up for designer products is apparel, and one of the most accessible ways of making your designs wearable is to print them on a T-shirt. At its most basic, this will involve screenprinting onto a blank, generic tee. These can be notoriously difficult to photograph without getting a model involved, and it's your design you're showing off here – not the shirt itself. Click to view image on iStock A premium stock image gives you the natural shape and feel you need to show off your design to best effect – it will take a little more Photoshop skill to make it look more convincing than a flat print, however. Of course, if you're going the distance and creating your own range of bespoke merchandise, you'll need to photograph it properly to do it justice – especially if there are unique features to show off. Books and magazines Click to view image on iStock Any kind of printed publication – whether it's a self-published zine, or a full-blown book – will benefit from an image that shows it in all its physical, tangible glory. As with T-shirts and prints, if there's a generic size, shape, and aspect ratio involved, premium stock images can be a great way to present a publication in a professional way, without the cost or hassle of shooting it from lots of different angles. As well as page and cover dimensions, always consider the thickness too, if the spine is in shot. It doesn't have to be identical, but you need to present the product as authentically as possible. Click to view image on iStock Besides the cover, stock images of folded spreads are another great creative shortcut—and with a bit of Photoshop work, look much more appealing than a flat graphic of the page artwork. If you like the look of all the images above, you're in luck: iStock by Getty Images is offering new customers 12% off all credits by using code 12CBLOQNEW at checkout. If you’re looking for product mock-ups specifically, check out their range here. So go on – give your online shop an overhaul! View the full article

When it comes to creating a stunning graphic design portfolio, there are a number of tips you should follow, but there’s no ‘one correct way’ to lay it out. In a way, that’s good; it means you’re free to experiment and showcase your creativity in designing your website. But it can also create a tyranny of choice: with so many possible avenues to go down, it can be difficult to find the right direction for you. The best laptops for graphic design It can, however, be helpful to look at the graphic design portfolio created by your peers – not only to get inspiration from their work, but to discover the self promotion methods they've used. In fact, even deciding you don’t like something about their portfolio may help you clarify what you want yours to achieve. Why not start with this selection of great graphic design portfolios? 01. Alex Coven Coven uses some simple tricks to make his portfolio distinctive Alex Coven, in his own words, “wears three hats”, as a freelance graphic designer, letterer and frontend developer based in Chicago, USA. He illustrates those hats literally on the homepage, which is a brilliantly simple way to convey the depth of his skills and experience. Scroll down on his site to see his work, and across on each one for more information about that project. Clever use of colour overlays again acts as a simple device to keep things distinctive and interesting. 02. Rafael Kfouri This minimal one-page site gives Kfouri’s colourful and impactful visuals room to breathe Rafael Kfouri is an award-winning graphic designer currently working for AlmapBBDO. He previously worked at Wieden+Kennedy Portland. The one-page portfolio site is a tricky thing to pull off, but Kfouri succeeds well in giving his colourful and impactful visuals – including single images and collages – room to breathe. Giving them almost the entire width of the screen, with just a couple of slim sidebars for context, allows visitors to enjoy and appreciate the wide scope of his work at a leisurely pace. There’s only the barest of information about each project, and to be honest, we’d like to have seen more. But as a way of showcasing graphic eye-candy smartly and with minimal (if any) clicks needed to get to the goodies, this portfolio offers a lot of inspiration. 03. Heather Shaw Heather Shaw marshals her work with simplicity and elegance With almost 20 years' experience in design, Heather Small designs brochures, menus, business cards, books, annual reports, Powerpoint and Keynote presentations, responsive websites, applications… anything her clients need, in short. And her impressive portfolio site marshals all this diverse work with simplicity and elegance. 8 inspiring digital art portfolios and why they work Overlaying photos of each project with a block colour provides an element of visual consistency. Meanwhile, the big, bold typography and simple but effective design make it all very easy to navigate. 04. Stefanie Bruckler There’s a touch of old-fashioned elegance to Stefanie Bruckler’s portfolio Based in New York, Stefanie Bruckler is an Austrian designer and illustrator with a particular interest in branding and editorial design. Passionate about building cohesive and strong brands as well as typography and packaging, she’s applied a touch of old-fashioned elegance to her website. Its minimalist, grid-based layout, muted colour palette and restrained use of type are all enclosed within a fixed, single-line frame. 05. Peter Komierowsk There are acres of white space in this restrained layout Peter Komierowski is a visual designer working in Vancouver, British Columbia who specialises in illustration, branding and identity design, and interface design. With many high-profile clients, including The Huffington Post, NBA, Telus, and YouTube, there’s a lot to fit in here. Komierowski’s homepage takes a quite radical approach, featuring just a small number of logo designs, surrounded by acres of white space. It’s a strategy born of (justified) confidence in the high quality of his designs, and it works brilliantly. 06. Tobias van Schneider This creative director’s portfolio is strongly type-focused Tobias van Schneider is a multidisciplinary designer and creative director born in Germany, raised in Austria and currently living and working in New York. Focused on branding and interactive design, he’s had some big-name clients including Red Bull, BMW, Google, Wacom, Sony, Toyota and Ralph Lauren. When you’re working at this level, the work tends to be beautifully photographed. Schneider takes full advantage of that, with a portfolio design that contains plenty of beautiful images. Plenty of lovely typography ties everything together – there is an unusually large amount of text here for a graphic design portfolio – and overall this site succeeds in conveying the breadth of Schneider’s experience and the depth of his work. 07. Grant Burke The case studies on this portfolio site reveal just enough information about each project Grant Burke is a Toronto-based freelance graphic designer and illustrator specialising in logo design, brand identity and illustration. In the past he’s worked both as an in-house designer for large corporations and at an agency. Like van Schneider's, Burke's homepage proves that you can use a lot of text in a portfolio, however if you scroll down or click on Portfolio in the top menu you’re greeted by a strong selection of work in a picture-grid format. Hover over each square for a brief summary, and click through to a full case study. These serve as a model for sharing the right amount of information about a project on a portfolio site; not too little that it leaves you hanging, not too much that it overwhelms. 08. Alessandro Scarpellini There’s a real air of sophistication to this portfolio design Italian designer Alessandro Scarpellini has worked for a wide range of clients around the world in the fields of art direction, branding and visual identity, magazines and packaging design. He’s also the curator of Visual Journal, an inspirational blog about the best in branding and graphic design, so you’d expect him to know a thing or two about curating great work. And his portfolio doesn’t disappoint. There’s a real air of sophistication to its design, which showcases examples of his work in a restrained sideshow and offers a personal biography in bold type below. Comprehensive it is not, but you certainly get a clear sense of this creative’s personality and approach to his design work from this minimalist portfolio. 09. Nicolas Paries This portfolio boasts an original layout and some quite spectacular scrolling effects Nicolas Paries is a young French art director who’s been working since 2008 with premium brands such as Chanel, Lancôme, Dior and Nespresso. The layout of his portfolio site is quite original, and the graphic effects as you scroll down are visually spectacular and hugely impressive. In short, this portfolio website is a real one-off. 10. Jennifer Heintz Heintz’s portfolio site makes great use of colour Jennifer Heintz is a designer and illustrator living in Boston, USA. A recent graduate who majored in graphic and information design, she’s also creative director of the Northeastern University Political Review. When you’re a recent graduate, you typically don’t have a huge amount of work to draw on, so careful curation and imaginative presentation become paramount. Heintz’s site scores highly on both, with a great use of colour, delightfully smooth scrolling and a snazzy eye motif. These work together to make each individual project much more enticing than it might have seemed on a more cookie-cutter site. Related articles: 8 portfolio mistakes that drive clients mad 6 rock-solid ways to improve your graphic design portfolio 32 brilliant design portfolios View the full article

If you're a working illustrator then there's no reason why you shouldn't expand your remit to include tattoo design. But having an incredible design portfolio doesn't necessarily mean your work will translate well onto bodies. So before you jump straight in, you should take some time to consider the differences between illustration and tattoo art. To help you out, illustrator and tattoo aficionado Ollie Munden, aka Megamunden, shares three important lessons he's learned about tattoo design over the years. 01. Keep the tattoo design simple Munden's tattoo-themed colouring book has over 100 designs "As with any brief, whether tattooing or illustrating, you need to design with the size and location of the area being covered in mind," says Munden. Another thing to consider is that tattoos blur over time, so it's important to make sure the line work has room to breathe and you're not trying to pack too much detail into a small space. "I've had quite a few people come to me with endless ideas that they want all compressed into one tattoo, which won't stand well," he says. 02. Respect tattoo tradition One of two tattoo-inspired guitars Munden collaborated on with Jeff Nichols After previously failing to understand why so many people had similar imagery on their tattoos, Munden has now learned to respect traditional tattoos. "I used to wonder how more contemporary illustrative and graphic work would look tattooed, but the more I've researched, drawn and learned, the more I've fallen in love with classic designs," he says. Munden has now added his own twists on the 'classics' and says he finally understands how they got their name. 03. Be bold with your tattoo designs T-shirt design for motorcycle lifestyle brand Monday Mo Co Whether you're illustrating or tattooing, the end result should be bold, striking and make a statement, says Munden. "At the end of the day, I want all my artwork to be a strong piece of design, so I've learned to try to strip back ideas into the bare essentials and always have a focused eye on the end result being bold, eye-catching and cool-looking," he explains. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts magazine, the world's leading design magazine. Subscribe here. Related articles: 36 inspirational examples of tattoo art 48 free tattoo fonts for your body art 70 best free fonts View the full article

The Roku streaming video device and the Sonos Wi-Fi speakers suffer from the same DNS rebinding flaw reported in Google Home and Chromecast devices earlier this week. View the full article

The Roku streaming video device and the Sonos Wi-Fi speakers suffer from the same DNS rebinding flaw reported in Google Home and Chromecast devices earlier this week. View the full article

If you're after some fantastic free textures to use in your 3D art, you're in the right place. There's no catch: all of these free textures can be used in both personal and commercial work. You can't sell on the images, or distribute them via a link or any other means, but other than that your are free to work them into your future projects, at no cost. In this pack you'll find free textures including rust, paper, fabric of all kinds, water, grass, walls, and many more. And they're all high-resolution and top quality. To get your free texture pack, simply hit the link below, and the download will start automatically. > Download 40 free textures here We can't wait to see the work you start creating with these great free textures. The terms and conditions below are similar to those you'll find attributed to royalty free images around the web, but are worth reading anyway. If you're after some inspiration for how to use your textures with your preferred 3D programme, check out our round up of awesome Maya tutorials, Cinema 4D tutorials or Blender tutorials. Terms and conditions All images provided specifically for free download by Creative Bloq are owned by Future Publishing Limited and all rights in the images are protected by international Copyright Laws. Your use of any of the images shall comply with all applicable laws in the country in which You operate and will be subject to the following conditions: You are solely responsible for determining whether Your use of any free CreativeBloq images requires the consent of any third party or the licence of any additional rights. Creative Bloq grants You a licence which gives You the right to use the free image(s) an unlimited number of times for Yourself, or on behalf of Your client(s), but NOT to sell on the image or to sub-licence or redistribute the image(s) to anyone else. Manipulations, deviations and modifications of free CreativeBloq images is allowed as is including images in composites. You may not sell or redistribute these images where an original free CreativeBloq image is distinguishable in the compilation as a primary component. Images used in manipulated, modified or altered form in a composition that are so completely incorporated that they are not reasonably identifiable are not subject to these restrictions. Ownership of the Copyright of manipulated, deviated and modified free Creative Bloq images remains with Future Publishing Limited and may not be assumed by any other person if the original image is still identifiable in part or in whole. Downloading a free CreativeBloq image does not transfer any Copyright only a licence to use the image for the purposes stated above. You may not claim that the image is Your own. The following types of use of free CreativeBloq images are NOT PERMITTED: Redistribution or resale as standalone digital or physical images Products or merchandise, whether free or paid for e.g. greeting cards, mugs, T-shirts, calendars, jigsaws, puzzles, artwork for resale, wallpapers etc. Inclusion within web templates for mass distribution, whether free or paid for e.g. websites, brochures, business cards, greetings cards etc. Logo, trademark or other corporate identity Pornographic, unlawful, defamatory purposes By downloading any free textures from Creative Bloq you agree that you understand the Licence terms and agree to adhere to and be bound by these terms. Related articles: 30 free 3D models The 10 best 3D movies of 2018 Upgrade your textures in Substance Designer View the full article

Brazilian footballer Gabriel Jesus is no stranger to street art. Back in 2014, when he was the tender age of 16, Jesus was photographed painting the streets of his São Paulo neighbourhood following host country Brazil's semi-final defeat to Germany. Fast-forward four years and Jesus is in Russia playing for his country. Back home, he's on the streets again, this time as a mural. Paint The Streets – The Gabriel Jesus Mural sees Adidas football celebrate the amazing journey of Jesus as he achieved his dream of playing for his beloved Seleção (Brazil's national team). Brought to life in collaboration with a local street art collective and the local community, the giant mural was painted across 20 houses in the player's hometown of Jardim Peri. "I began playing football on the streets," Jesus explains in the accompanying Paint The Streets video. "My mother gave me a ball, and from then on there was only football in my life." Check it out below. This is the latest in a series of artistic tributes to the World Cup, with other favourites including a series of competition-themed designer beer mats. What we like about this mural, though, is that it aims to inspire other young footballers to follow their dreams, just like Jesus. Having come a long way from painting the streets of São Paulo green and yellow as a reference to his country's team, Jesus still remembers where he started out. "Brazilians are very creative, not only in football, but in life as well," says the prodigious player. "At the end, I owe my creativity to Peri, it's what got me here." Fingers crossed Jesus can do his country proud in this year's competition. Related articles: 22 incredibly cool design office murals 40 best graffiti fonts Best world cup logos ever View the full article

Built on the foundations of the Pro Pen 2, the Wacom Pro Pen 3D is only partially a new device. This means that it benefits from many similar specifications to its sister product, which is itself a step up from the, already excellent 3d art tool, the Wacom Pro Pen. The physical product is very similar, utilising the same materials and design aesthetic, with combinations of hard plastic body and bezels, with soft-touch rubber buttons and grip. It feels sturdy and robust for prolonged sessions at the tablet but is light enough to not encourage too much fatigue. The grip itself is well shaped, which aids in this area too (and is also replaceable should it wear out). The best cheap Wacom tablet deals for 2018 The nibs Wacom supply are the same as others in the range and there are a number of spares included in the cigar-like storage case, which is beautifully designed and has two small nubbins to prevent it from rolling off your desk. This case is solid metal with a dense foam insert and should offer protection from most knocks and drops. It feels sturdy and robust for prolonged sessions at the tablet but is light enough to not encourage too much fatigue Rob Redman In previous iterations of the Pro Pen, along with the nib, there were two buttons under your index finger, with a third at the opposite end, usually set up to switch to the eraser tool in apps like Photoshop CC. This was great for certain tasks but fell short for 3D artists who spend more time modelling. That's why Wacom developed this version, which removes the rear ‘eraser’ and adds a third button on the side of the stylus, meaning that three buttons fall within easy reach of your index finder. For many 3D applications, this is huge. The buttons can be set up in the usual way, often for simple mouse replacements: left, middle and right click. The Wacom settings allow full customisation too, so if you wish to create a unique key combination assigned to a button, then that is also possible. This article was originally published in issue 234 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 234 here or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: Wacom Cintiq Pro 32: hands on review Apple patents stylus that draws in mid-air 5 ways to improve your digital art skills View the full article

Humans are visual creatures, so it stands to reason that most projects, presentations, and advertisements could be made even better with some creative images that pop. With the StockUnlimited Vector Plan, you'll gain access to a huge collection of premium vector designs, from which you can download as many and as often as you like. The royalty-free graphics are sure to boost any website, banner, newsletter, blog, slideshow, or app you may be working on, and you can use them for commercial or personal purposes without any hidden fees or licenses. If you're a graphic designer, small business owner, advertising employee, or work in any other position that requires regular use of visual aids, you can boost your projects with the 500,000+ vectors from this StockUnlimited Vector Plan. Get a lifetime subscription for only $34.99 (USD). Related articles: Easy ways to add texture to vector graphics in Photoshop Learn how to animate Scalable Vector Graphics The best free graphic design software View the full article

Johnny Earle's cupcake and crossbones logo and vintage 1950s cartoon style has hit the big time. But how did a college drop-out with no formal training end up with an international following and a multi-million dollar brand? “It was never intended to be a business. I started it as a joke from the back of my beat-up ’89 Toyota Camry,” Earle admits. “I was given random nicknames at work almost every day – I guess ‘Johnny’ is an easy name to throw a word onto the end of – so one day I made a couple of random t-shirts that said ‘Johnny Cupcakes’ for the fun of it. Everyone at work wanted one, and most of the customers did too.” Word soon spread. “People were curious when they saw me wearing my shirts, so I’d tell them about my brand, and then about my website, and so on,” he explains. Some of Earle’s original customers were touring bands who wore his gear across the globe, building up both a national and international curiosity in Johnny Cupcakes. And with the advent of his first ecommerce website, sales grew exponentially. All Johnny Cupcakes' t-shirts are limited edition, collectable items, and have been designed to catch people’s attention Cupcakes and crossbones Fast-forward two years, and interest in the brand was so high that Earle, who was himself touring with his own band, made the pivotal decision to leave the group and focus 110 per cent on the business. At the heart of his empire is the distinctive cupcake and crossbones logo design, which can be found in various guises across his range of apparel, accessories and promotional materials. First developed when he started out back in 2001, the vintage cartoon-style emblem is a simple concept that pokes fun at popular culture by replacing familiar icons with cupcakes. The iconic cupcakes and crossbones logo has captured a global audience It is now so popular that more than a few dedicated customers sport tattoos of the symbol, and Earle attributes much of the brand’s success to its design. “My logo was my big break,” he says. “It’s a great conversational piece – very memorable and causes a lot of curiosity.” “I initially sketched up so many ideas: a Statue of Liberty holding a cupcake instead of a torch; a plane dropping cupcakes instead of bombs. At the time, the skull and crossbones were all over the place. I’d always see these guys who were too cool for school so I figured, hey, why not make fun of them by replacing the skull with a cupcake.” It’s a simple idea, but it worked: guys thought it was funny, and girls thought it was cute. The design has had a facelift or two over the years, Earle admits – in some of his earlier t-shirts the top of the cupcake was too close to the cup, giving the logo an accidental “breast-like” appearance; on other occasions it bled in with the rest of the image. Essentially, however, the design has strayed little from its original concept and remains the same clean, bold logo that Earle first created – testament indeed to its success in an industry where even the best logos need frequent revamping to stay relevant. Earle's exclusivity A career-defining crunch came in 2004, at Earle’s first trade show. Looking around, he noticed a lot of kids wearing the same trainers that he was. “It got me thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have my shirts everywhere,” he recalls. “People like to have what nobody else has. I decided then and there to keep them out of chain stores, and to be very, very selective of which shops I’d like to keep my brand.” People like to have what nobody else has Johnny Earle The decision has been tested over the years: “I had a chance to make a lot of money and sell my t-shirts through Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom’s, Macy’s and more. But I decided not to. My friends and family thought I was nuts,” he grins. “I wouldn’t sell out for all the money in the world.” Since then, Earle has built a multi-million dollar business from his doodles, encompassing everything from t-shirts and ties to posters, jewellery, handbags and even water bottles – without taking the “sell-out, lazy-man’s” route. “Most companies cut corners and are overly cautious,” says Earle. “They only think about numbers and don’t take risks. I’ve managed to build a strong, fun and different home- grown business without taking the traditional path. Most of my customers are repeat customers: I build memorable experiences for them, whether it be an event, or in the packaging design or detail I put into everything.” Setting up shop These days, Earle has his own store to house his designs. Two, in fact. His website also invites people to host their own pop-up shops: "you invite the people and we'll bring the tees!" Opening his first store on Boston’s Newbury Street was a huge risk: partially due to its astronomical rent, and partially because Earle, in keeping with his non-traditional business ethics, had fitted it out as a bakery-themed boutique. “My dad and I installed hardwood floors, stainless- steel baking trays and curved glass bakery cases displaying my t-shirts. The rent was high and I was opening up a bakery that didn’t sell real food,” he laughs. “At the time I didn’t know I was going to make three months’ rent on the opening day. It’s a dream come true.” When Earle’s LA store celebrated its first anniversary, a queue of people camped outside prior to the event stretched around the block and into residential areas. Earle recalls setting up the shop: “The idea behind the project was to create a memorable experience and destination spot; the ultimate shopping experience. I wanted to transform an empty retail space into a Willy Wonka-inspired bakery, on steroids,” he remembers. Johnny Cupcakes’ LA store, which has now closed. “My inspiration was 1950s bakeries, Willy Wonka, and level four in Super Mario Bros 3" I re-drew the space over and over again with different set-ups. One idea led to another. The build was only supposed to take four weeks, but it ended up taking six months – first impressions are everything, and I didn’t want to rush or half-arse anything.” As with everything Johnny Cupcakes, attention to detail is key. The checkout is set up like a stove, while one wall is kitted out in custom-built 1950s-style Johnny Cupcakes ovens that randomly open to shoot out smoke and steam. “Plus there’s a 12-foot vintage oven that secretly opens up as a passage to the stock room,” says Earle. This meticulousness is evident throughout the brand, from the design of his shop-floor ‘experiences’ right down to the individual buttons on his polo shirt range. Of course, they’re not any old buttons – they glow in the dark, and there are four of them, rather than the usual polo-style three. “I wanted to create a classic polo with special Johnny Cupcakes ingredients,” he explains. “Something constructed well, with subtle, unique details. Something I’d like.” These extra ingredients, along with elements such as Earle’s bakery-box packaging, are what have made the brand so popular. Earle's polo range don't have just any old buttons, there's one more than usual and they glow in the dark! The secrets to success So what’s the secret to Earle’s success? “Consistency and simplicity are important, but keeping things collectable and personal is what sets my brand apart,” he says. “It’s more important to me to have a brand that people appreciate, and that has longevity, than making a quick buck and being another fad. Staying in touch with my customers is very important. I wouldn’t be here without them.” It’s more important to me to have a brand that people appreciate, than making a quick buck and being another fad Johnny Earle As such, Earle always makes a point of talking to his customers, be it on the shop floor, on social media – or during one of his hugely popular events. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, and Earle has learned some difficult lessons along the way – such as not to hire your own friends.“More than likely it’s not going to work out, and it isn’t easy parting ways,” he says. “Being in a relationship when you’re trying to put 110 per cent into your brand is near impossible too,” he adds. “Also, getting your product sampled before you give the go-ahead is crucial. Even if it costs a little extra money and time, it’s well worth it to obtain a physical sample before production.” So what’s Earle’s golden rule for building a brand? “Don’t rush: first impressions are everything,” he advises. “Don’t get bummed out if you go broke either – you have to spend money to make money. If you don’t have much to start out with, take pre-orders for your product.” And what’s next for Johnny Cupcakes? “More fun events, unexpected products, collaborations, and a lot more,” he says.“I still have to save some surprises, right?” This article was originally published in Computer Arts. Subscribe here. Read more: How to succeed as a designer maker 10 ways to be more business-savvy as a designer 25 tips for staying sane as a freelancer View the full article

There are a lot of interesting effects that can be added to a page to increase engagement, but it is important to pick effects that combine well with the overall aesthetic of a site. Here we demonstrate how to introduce displacement ripples with JavaScript. Check out MustafaCelik for a great example of the effect in action. 1. Create ripples In order to create ripple effects PixiJS will be used since this provides simple displacement effects. Here the JavaScript code sets up the variables needed and loads the images to create the effect. Once the images are loaded the ‘setup’ function is called. 2. Create the displacement In the ‘setup’ function the displacement sprite is created that will create the ripple effect and this is added to a displacement filter. It’s then set to move its anchor point to the centre of the image and positioned on the screen. 3. Finish the setup To finish off the ‘setup’ function, the displacement filter scale is set and the background positioned. Notice the scale is ‘0’ for the displacement, that’s because it will be set to a height as soon as the mouse moves. 4. Get the mouse The next code just grabs the position of the mouse on the x-axis whenever the mouse moves. This will be used to trigger the amount of ripple displacement effect when the user moves their mouse. More movement will make the ripple bigger. 5. Make it move The ‘loop’ function continually updates the screen. A velocity for the x-axis is worked out using the position of the mouse and the ripple. This is then mapped onto the filter to give a value between 0 and 120. 6. Finish the code At the end of the ‘loop’ function the sprite is scaled to the amount of displacement and filter scaled to the amount of depth it should have. Finally, the map function is declared that maps value ranges to new values. Find the full code for this tutorial on FileSilo. This article originally appeared in Web Designer magazine. Subscribe here. Learn more at Generate London 2018 Get to see Sarah Parmenter, Bruce Lawson, Richard Rutter and more talk at Generate London 2018 Special effects and beyond is where the web is heading and Generate speaker Marpi Marcinowski’s creative work revolves around building 3D worlds, creating immersive AR, VR experiences and storytelling in style with a difference. His talk will take you on a journey through all interactive media and technologies and look at it from the perspective of the user. Don't miss out, get your ticket now Related articles: Is it okay to build sites that rely on JavaScript? Perfect JavaScript in 1,000 projects How to manage CSS classes with JavaScript View the full article