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It's the eternal quest for graphic designers the world over: Something like Helvetica, but not Helvetica. Of course, the giant of Swiss typography – which started life as Neue Haas Grotesk, designed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann in 1957 – is ubiquitous for a reason. It's clean, bold, legible – and safe. In fact, it's so neutral that many designers default to it because of its lack of discernible personality: it can be used in countless contexts and soak up the emotion of the imagery, colours, shapes or other design elements around it, conveying that timeless Swiss style without ever dominating, and communicating a message without distraction. 60 best free fonts Helvetica is ubiquitous for a reason. It's clean, bold, legible – and safe There's no doubt that it's a versatile, well-designed typeface. But defaulting to it effectively ignores an enormous resource of potential choices that can deliver subtle twists of personality that Helvetica just can't. And the fact is, it's not always suitable for every application. The good news is that there are literally thousands of beautifully crafted sans serifs just waiting to add that something extra to your designs, whether you're looking for more personality, warmth or versatility: here are 10 of the very best Helvetica alternatives. 01. Akzidenz Grotesk Akzidenz Grotesk is the 'grandfather of Helvetica'This is one for the real type purists. Released in 1898, over half a century before Helvetica was even thought of, Akzidenz Grotesk is one of the typefaces that helped kick-start the whole neo-grotesque movement of the early 20th century. It’s the grandfather of Helvetica, basically, as well as inspiring many other typefaces in the so-called Swiss Style. Akzidenz is smaller, rounder and less dense than its 1950s successor, so although extremely clean and neutral, it's that little bit friendlier and more approachable. 02. Neue Haas Grotesk Neue Haas Grotesk shares the same typographical DNA as HelveticaReleased in 1957 in the footsteps of Akzidenz Grotesk, Neue Haas Grotesk is essentially Helvetica before the digital age: they share the same typographical DNA. But compare it to Helvetica Neue – which, after decades of tweaks and expansions to the family to cater to different platforms and uses, is where we've ended up – and the softer, more graceful curves, varied letter widths and more natural italics give it that little bit more style and character when set next to its boxier modern counterpart. It comes in a versatile family of 44 fonts. 03. Univers Univers is smaller and more spaced-out than HelveticaLike Neue Haas Grotesk, Adrian Frutiger's masterpiece was released in 1957 as a fresh take on Akzidenz Grotesk. While the modern-day Helvetica is famously dense – with tightly packed letterforms, a tall x-height and a bold, attention-grabbing outlook – Univers is smaller and more spaced-out. Subtle variations in stroke width add more interest and variety amongst the different letterforms, pulling it further out of the neutral zone that's proudly occupied by Helvetica. Different weights and variations within the family are defined by a numbered suffix, with 'Univers 55' the regular weight and width. 04. Aktiv Grotesk Aktiv Grotesk is the 21st century equivalent of Akzidenz GroteskWhereas Helvetica (or rather its predecessor Neue Haas Grotesk) was styled in response to Akzidenz Grotesk, Aktiv Grotesk is the 21st century equivalent – positioned by its designer Bruno Maag specifically as an alternative to the ubiquitous typeface that he openly despises as the 'vanilla ice cream' of a designer's type library. A relative stranger to Helvetica until moving to the UK, Maag grew up using Univers as his go-to Swiss Style sans serif. Accordingly, his self-dubbed 'Helvetica killer' is pitched somewhere in the middle of the two – with a fractionally taller x-height than Helvetica, and slightly squarer edges than Univers. 05. FF Bau FF Bau was designed to suit modern typographical needs without ever sacrificing personalityDesigned by Christian Schwartz for FontShop International in 2002, this modern alternative to Helvetica has more in common with the Swiss giant's quirkier, warmer 19th century ancestors – such as Akzidenz Grotesk – than with its modern-day incarnation. Designed to suit modern typographical needs without ever sacrificing personality at the altar of practicality (a criticism all-too often levied at Helvetica), FF Bau sports a distinctive double-storey 'g' and a lowercase 'a' that keeps hold of its tail in all available weights. 06. ARS Maquette ARS Maquette was designed to be 'unpretentiously simple'Designed in 1999 for public release in 2001, ARS Maquette has developed into one of ARS Type's flagship creations, renowned for its clean, stylish simplicity. It was described by its designer Angus R Shamal as "unpretentiously simple and universal in nature". In response to feedback from users clamouring for more versatility from the typeface, Shamal expanded the basic five-weight family further in 2010, introducing true italics and wider language support while retaining the open, readable quality of the sans serif. It’s a worthy modern alternative to Helvetica. 07. Proxima Nova Proxima Nova combines modern proportions with a geometric look and feelMark Simonson's 2005 reimagining of his now-discontinued 1994 typeface Proxima Sans is intended to "straddle the gap between Futura and Akzidenz Grotesk", and combines modern proportions with a geometric look and feel. Where Proxima Sans included just six fonts, its 21st century upgrade boasts a considerably more impressive and useful 42: six weights in three widths, with true italics. Within the character set it blends even, rational curves on letters such as the lowercase 'e' or uppercase 'G' with more playful, quirky stems on the 't' and 'f'. Its upward-aimed bowl on the lowercase 'a' is also completely unique – all details that combine to give it the kind of personality that Helvetica can only dream of. 08. National National pays homage to classic sans serif typefacesIt may be deceptively simple, humble and quietly effective, but National – only the second commercial release from New Zealand-based type foundry Klim – also has its fair share of subtle, character-building details that pay homage to classic sans-serif typefaces from the days before even Akzidenz Grotesk. It won designer Kris Sowesby the Certificate of Excellence from the Type Designers Club (TDC) in 2008, and boasts an extensive character set with a broad range of accents, numerals, alternate forms and small caps across all styles. 09. Brandon Grotesque Brandon Grotesque draws on the heritage of the geometric sans serifs of the 1920s and 30sSporting a perfectly balanced combination of sharp, pointed apexes and smooth, rounded stems, HVD Fonts' Brandon Grotesque is most often used at its thinner weights, although the bolder fonts in the family assert plenty of clout that make them more than a match for Helvetica in the display face stakes. Brandon draws on the heritage of the geometric sans serifs of the 1920s and 30s, but never feels too overtly 'Art Deco' in style, bringing its own style to the party. With just 12 fonts, the family may seem limited in scope, but it didn't hold it back from winning a TDC Award in 2011 – and its weights are perfectly considered and balanced. 10. Slate Slate is both beautiful and legibleThe work of award-winning type designer Rod McDonald, Slate is functional and legible, but also elegant and pleasing to the eye. It draws on his experiences developing two commissioned typefaces - a large sans serif family for Toronto Life magazine, and another family intended primarily for on-screen use for Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. McDonald later set out to combine the "soft, quiet" magazine face with the more legibility-focused web font approach, and Slate is the end result: a humanist sans serif that's both beautiful and exceptionally legible, and feels consistent without ever looking overly engineered. Related articles: 5 gems of type wisdom from Erik Spiekermann 10 typography tricks every designer should know The 8 biggest typography mistakes designers make View the full article

The humble pencil is a ubiquitous and versatile drawing tool. To get the most out of it, there are some important considerations when picking your best pencils, which we will cover here, followed by an introduction to the most fundamental unit of drawing – line. So whether you're just learning how to draw or a seasoned pro, these tips will provide a sound foundation for novices and some useful reminders for more experienced artists. 01. The Shakespearean question 2B or not 2B? That is the question 2B or not 2B? Picking the right grade of pencil for your drawing will help you make the best sketch possible. Graphite pencils are available in a scale of hardness from 9H (hard, pale) to 9B (soft, dark) with HB and F in the middle of the range. Typically, the H grades are suited to technical drawing, while B grades are ideal sketching pencils. Start off with a 2B or 3B pencil for the exercises in this article. 02. Sharpening Make sure you always have a sharpener on hand Some drawings require a fine, sharp point for pinning down a crisp line, others a broad, flat side to the pencil lead for blocking in tone. Sometimes, a blunt point can serve your purposes. Whatever your preference, ensure you always have a sharpener on hand – if you use a regular handheld sharpener, make sure that it is sharp and that you have several with you if you go out to draw; a desk-mounted helical sharpener will last much longer and typically grinds the pencil to a longer point. If you use a craft knife, always cut away from your body. 03. Pencil holds Experiment with different ways to grip your pencil as you draw Different pencil holds are suited 
to different marks, experiment with different ways to grip your pencil as you draw and work out ideal grips for different methods of mark making. It is important to consider where you are making your mark from – fingers, wrist or shoulder? 04. Consider your lines When you make a mark, give some thought to the speed at which you make it The kind of mark you make will significantly affect the feel and look of a pencil drawing. When you make a mark, give some thought to the speed at which you make it. Also think about the weight that you put into the stroke – a heavy line 
is dark and definite; a lightly drawn line is pale and exploratory. When you are starting out, try to avoid uncertain, feathery marks. Here are two exercises (numbers 5 and 6) 
to help you explore line – they could be applied to any subject and are great for all levels. 05. Blind contour drawing The first exercise is blind contour drawing The first exercise – blind contour drawing –
 is a common, playful exercise that helps you to draw unselfconsciously, making bold marks without feeling anxious about the outcome. Set up a subject in front of you and fix your eye on the top of it, placing your pencil on your paper. Without looking down at the paper, trace your eye around your subject, following its edges and contours, and as you do so, let your pencil follow the same journey on the paper. Draw in a single, unbroken line and don’t look back at the drawing until you are finished – it will look strange and misproportioned, it is supposed to! Repeat the exercise regularly as a warm up to get your hand working together with your eye. 06. Continous line drawing This second exercise is a development of the blind contour drawing This second exercise is a development of the blind contour drawing and involves the same continuous, unbroken line. This time as you draw, flick your eye down to the page regularly as your line explores the contour of your subject. Start with a light, playful line, and as you become more confident in the shapes that you are observing, put more weight into your mark, aiming for a variety of line weight across the picture. Don’t aim for precisely accurate proportion, instead aim for an honest process of looking and mark making, without overthinking the drawing. This article originally appeared in Paint & Draw issue 12 – buy it here. Related articles: 20 phenomenally realistic pencil drawings How to choose the right drawing tools 10 best drawing apps in 2016 View the full article

Whether you’re looking for somewhere to work or just some case-study inspiration, the United States has plenty of world-class design studios to choose from. In this post, we’ve gathered together 20 of the best design agencies of the present day. Some are huge global players, some are small and niche, and most are somewhere in-between. But all are known for their stellar work, their big-name clients and their original, innovative approaches to design problems. 01. Pentagram New York Pentagram is one of the world’s biggest names in branding and design Independently owned, global design studio Pentagram was founded in London in 1972. But its uniquely decentralised structure means its New York office, which recently moved to Park Avenue South, is its own entity. Launched back in 1980 by Colin Forbes, one of the original UK founders, the studio is behind some of the world's famous visual identities, including MasterCard, Windows, The MoMA, and Verizon. There are eight partners in the Manhattan office, including well-known names like Michael Beirut, Paula Scher and Emily Obermann, and each runs an essentially autonomous operation. Recent projects include identities for the superhero movie Justice League, pan-European sports channel Eurosport, and the new Federal Films division of Republic Records. 02. Sagmeister & Walsh Sagmeister & Walsh’s work always makes a big impact Sagmeister & Walsh is a boutique design studio in New York with just a little touch of magic about it. The studio's most recent iteration launched in 2012, when Austrian-born Stefan Sagmeister promoted his employee of two years Jessica Walsh to partner. It’s a full-service studio creating strategy, design and production for big commercial clients, as well as arts organisations, publishers, musicians and non-profits. They’re also known for some pretty quirky side projects of their own. Above all, S&W’s work is consistently attention-grabbing, stunningly original and achingly hip; lighting the way for those who believe that corporate work doesn’t have to mean bland conformity. Recent projects include an innovative visual identity for fashion brand Milly’s; ‘Ladies, Wine Design’, an initiative aimed to foster creative women; and a special cover for the New York Times Magazine themed around Donald Trump’s inauguration. 03. Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv This New York studio holds legendary status in the design community Iconic US design firm Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv holds legendary status in the world of trademarks and branding. Founded as Chermayeff & Geismar in 1957, by Yale graduates Ivan Chermayeff – who sadly passed away in 2017 –and Tom Geismar, the design agency has created logos for the likes of NBC, Mobil Oil, New York University, The Museum of Modern Art, Xerox and National Geographic. Recent projects include a major monograph, Identity and logos for the ‘Leonard Bernstein at 100’ celebrations; ClearMotion, a next-generation suspension system for cars and trucks; and the Oceano Azul Foundation, which is dedicated to sustainable oceans. 04. Landor Landor is known for both its top-class work and its influential industry reports Headquartered in San Francisco, Landor is one of the world’s biggest and most influential brand consulting firms. Founded in 1941 by Walter Landor, Landor now has 26 offices in 20 countries. It’s been a member of WPP, the world's largest marketing and communications firm, since 1989, and is known for its annual brand trends reports. Clients include the likes of Alaska Airlines, FedEx, General Electric, Huawei and Sony. Recent projects include the branding of new companies including the financial powerhouse S&P Global, formerly McGraw Hill, and Covestro, a multibillion dollar spin-off from Bayer’s materials science division. 05. Meta Design MetaDesign has spread the design principles of Erik Spiekermann and co across three continents MetaDesign is an international design consultancy founded by Erik Spiekermann. Uli Mayer-Johanssen and Hans Ch. Krüger in Berlin in 1979. Its San Francisco office was established in 1992 around Bill Hill and Terry Irwin, and the company, a member of Publicis Communications, now also has branches across three continents. Among the most visible engagements for MetaDesign in the US in 2017 included a logo redesign for Japanese food corporation Ajinomoto, and the launch of the Loggly brand, a cloud-based log management and analytics service. The studio has also been working on website redesign engagements for UCSF and San Francisco City Clinic. 06. Huge Huge has made a big name for itself in digital design Headquartered in Brooklyn, Huge is a digitally focused studio providing a range of strategy, marketing, design and technology services. Founded in 1999, it now also has offices in 14 countries worldwide. Huge is well named, in terms of corporate influence at least. Its client list covers nearly 20 percent of the Fortune 100 and includes the likes of Coca-Cola, Google, Unilever and Nike. Highlights for the studio in 2017 included winning McDonald’s global UX account, a global campaign for LG’s V30 phone, and the announcement of a new office in Chicago for 2018. 07. Firstborn Firstborn was one of the early pioneers of online design and branding Firstborn is a creative agency headquartered in New York. Founded in 1997, it focuses on delivering a wide range of digital services for big-fish clients such as L’Oréal, Mountain Dew, Bloomberg, Jet and Supercell. The medium-sized studio is a part of the global network of Isobar, as well as the Dentsu Aegis Network, a subsidiary of Dentsu Inc. 2017 was a typically strong year for Firstborn, in which it became digital AOR for Pepsi and digital consultant for S&P Global; designed a new consumer channel for health brand Nature’s Bounty; and masterminded an Instagram series for a new Adidas shoe launch. 08. House Industries House Industries combines the physical and the digital to create original and innovative work Founded in 1993 by Andy Cruz and Rich Roat, House Industries is a foundry and design studio based in Delaware. With one foot in physical design and one in digital, its offering centres around traditional skills in drawing, painting, and lettering. This studio’s client list includes Hermès, The New Yorker, Lego and Disney, and its work is in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. 2017 highlights for House Industries included a show at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and the release of its tongue-in-cheek self-help book, ‘House Industries: The Process of Inspiration’. 09. The Office of Paul Sahre The Office of Paul Sahre deliberate shuns the idea of specialisation The Office of Paul Sahre is a design consultancy based in New York City, launched in 1997 by the eponymous designer, who purposely abstains from specialisation in favour of a problem solving approach that can take any form or function. One famous example was a monster truck-style hearse built for the band They Might Be Giants. Other past clients have include The New York Times, Google Creative Labs, This American Life, Simon and Schuster Aids and Marvel Comics. The big 2017 highlight for Sahre was completing his monograph, Two-Dimensional Man: A Graphic Memoir, which documents his three decades of work as a designer. 10. Happy Cog Happy Cog has long been a thought leader in the web design community Born in 1999, during the early ‘wild west’ days of the internet, Happy Cog has built a solid reputation within the design community for its promotion of common web standards and, more recently, responsive design. Based in Philadelphia, the agency continues to design award-winning websites, digital products and experiences for nonprofits, higher education, media companies, and global brands. Notable projects in 2017 included a new design language for materials science company Gore-Tx and a digital redesign for wedding attire company David’s Bridal. Next page: 11-20 top US design studios 11. Siegel+Gale Siegel+Gale focuses on keeping things beautifully simple Founded in 1969, Siegel+Gale is a branding firm headquartered in New York City. It also boasts offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Dubai, and Shanghai. The studio is perhaps best known for its tagline, “Simple is Smart”; a principle it famously put into practice in 1979 when it helped the Inland Revenue Service simplify people’s tax forms. It’s also at the core of its highly regarded Global Brand Simplicity Index, which it releases annually every April. Siegel+Gale’s commercial clients include American Express, Disney, Dow, Four Seasons Hotels, Microsoft, Motorola and Pfizer, while non-profits include Girl Scouts of the USA, Legal Aid Society, Florida State University and the Museum of Arts and Design. 12. Hugo & Marie Hugo & Marie is a mix of design studio and artist agency Hugo & Marie is a multi-disciplinary creative studio and artist representation firm based in Brooklyn. Founded in 2008 by Mario Hugo and Jennifer Marie Gonzalez, it says it aims to “interweaves the values of its founders and artists with the character of its clients”, which include famous names such as Stella McCartney, Lorde, Coldplay and Rihanna. Recent work for the studio includes a brand campaign for Glenmorangie whisky, a visualisation project for Swedish multi-instrumentalist Thunder Tillman, and an online presence for fashion designer Mira Mikati. 13. Fantasy Interactive Fantasy Interactive is at the cutting edge of user experience and new technology Fantasy Interactive is an independently owned, digital design studio based in San Francisco and New York City. Founded in 1999, the award-winning company is nowadays firmly focused on user experience, working on everything from automotive user interfaces to artificial intelligence, consoles to mobile operating systems. Its impressive list of clients includes names such as Xbox, Google, Twitter, Spotify and Huawei. Recent projects for the studio, which is often abbreviated to f-i or fi, have included a collaboration with OgilvyOne to launch Chrome in Asia, a product site for Wacom, and a companion website for Sony’s Connected World campaign. 14. Big Spaceship Big Spaceship offers high-class digital services to discerning clients Founded in 2000, Big Spaceship is a Brooklyn-based design studio that provides a mix of product design, brand communications and content to its clients, who include Converse, Dannon, Google, Hasbro, Nestle-Purina and Samsung. Highlights of 2017 for the studio include expanding its executive team, getting selected as digital design partner for budget airline JetBlue, and winning MediaPost’s OMMA Agency of the Year award. 15. The Barbarian Group The Barbarian Group is now on an even keel after a rocky couple of years The Barbarian Group is an interactive design studio originally founded in Boston in 2001, but currently headquartered in New York City. Its most celebrated projects to date include the Subservient Chicken for Burger King, AnyFilms for Samsung, and the Beer Cannon for Milwaukee's Best. Since 2009, it’s been owned by Cheil Worldwide. After a wave of disruptive departures in 2015-2016, which led some to question the future of the company, things stabilised somewhat in 2017, with work for Pepsi, Etihad Airways and IBM being among the project highlights. 16. Stink Studios Stink Studios works across film, design, technology and strategy Found in 2009 and originally known as Stink Digital, Stink Studios is a global digital company headquartered in London and New York, which also has offices in Berlin, Los Angeles, Paris and Shanghai. The studio works across film, design, technology and strategy for clients include Google, Spotify, Twitter, Ray-Ban and Nike. Recently the studio has been partnering with WeTransfer to create “A Message from Earth”, a site paying homage to NASA's 1978 extraterrestrial communication. It’s also helped to design Facebook for Creators, a new platform designed to help video creators develop their skills. 17. R/GA R/GA likes to focus on the big picture for its forward-facing, global clients R/GA is a full service digital agency headquartered in New York. Founded in 1977 by two brothers, Richard and Robert Greenber, its global network now spans 18 countries, with 2,000 employees representing over 20 nationalities. Clients include McDonalds, Unilever, Nike, Johnson & Johnson and YouTube. Sharply focused on staying at the cutting edge of new technologies, R/GA teamed up with Verizon in 2017 to launch Verizon Media Tech Venture Studio, an incubator for companies aimed at disrupting digital entertainment and media. 18. Code And Theory Code And Theory is one of the industry’s most innovative studios Founded in 2001 by Dan Gardner and Brandon Ralph, Code And Theory is a digital-first creative agency that designs products, content and campaigns across multiple platforms. Its clients include Bloomberg, LA Times, Vogue, Hearst Publications and Comcast. Picked as one of the “10 Most Innovative Companies in Design” by Fast Company, it employs more than 375 people in offices in New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, London and Manila. Recent projects include a new global website for Maybelline New York, a campaign for Burger King; and a motion graphics theme for NBC News for Snapchat. 19. Brand New School Brand New School puts the focus on motion and interactivity Despite the name, Brand New School is not actually a school, but a creative design and production studio that creates ads, interactive media, branding and music videos. Founded in 2000 by Jonathan Notaro, it has offices in New York and Los Angeles. Clients include Coca-Cola, Apple, Google, Nike, Gillette, Ford, and Starbucks. Recent projects include animated spots for Nike to celebrate Children’s Day in China, launch imagery for Google’s new phone, and a spot-motion spot for a Quaker Oats campaign. 20. IDEO IDEO wants to use design thinking to solve the world’s biggest challenges IDEO is a design and consulting firm that is, in its own words, “committed to making a positive impact”. It was created in Palo Alto, California, in 1991, as part of a merger between three companies led by David Kelley, Bill Moggridge, and Mike Nuttall. Pronounced “EYE-dee-oh”, the studio now employs more than 700 people in nine locations around the world, and applies human-centered methodologies to ‘big picture’ challenges, such as healthcare, education and government itself. Recent projects include launching an innovation lab to help Peruvians, designing a new digital content platform for The Times and Sunday Times, and helping European fashion platform Zalando expand its services. Related articles: 10 skills graphic designers need to get ahead in 2018 5 design fails to learn from 10 designers' New Year's resolutions for 2018 View the full article

Hot on the heels of the Doctor Who Christmas special, which saw the debut of Jodie Whittaker in the lead role, online fans thought they were getting a bonus treat with the unveiling of the show's new logo (above). Sadly this wasn't the case, as the new logo design was revealed to be a piece of cleverly promoted concept work by graphic designer Jake Johnstone. Tweeted by Johnstone with the tantalising caption: "So the new Jodie Whittaker Doctor Who logo is very 80s. I like it!", the design was quickly spread among fans who had been fooled by the logo. Perhaps it was the lighthearted wording of the Tweet, or maybe it was the strength of the design. Either way, the logo was well received by fans of the show. This is no mean feat. While fans were eager to welcome the new Doctor Who with amazing art, it doesn't take much for fan enthusiasm to turn. (We'll probably get a few comments pointing out that she's called the Doctor, not Doctor Who...) However, as you'll read in any portfolio guide, misleading people with false information about a project – whether by implying a personal piece was commissioned by a client or that you did everything on a team project – won't get you far in the creative industry. And a day later, Johnstone pointed out that his design was just a concept. Johnstone, a self-taught London-based designer, is no stranger to making his work take off with promotional tactics. Having worked as a freelancer on political campaigns, including a design that went viral at the last election, it seems that he knows exactly how to get his design work noticed. As for his concept Doctor Who logo, Johnstone admits that it was the product of pure boredom. "I was sat at home, had exhausted Netflix and thought I'd give it a try," he tells Creative Bloq. "I started designing [Doctor Who logos] years ago as a result of having a pretty crap Doctor Who blog, doing the website banners and such, so the show has always had a place in my heart." Designing Doctor Who logos All in all, the logo took 30 minutes to make in Photoshop, with Johnstone grabbing a few stock textures from Shutterstock. Pairing the Gotham font with a modified Josefin Sans turned out to be a winning combination, especially when he found a clever way to tie the concept design to the real show. "The colours were swatched from the recent promotional image that the BBC released of Jodie in costume as The Doctor," Johnstone reveals. "I figured that being the only official image we have seen from the new series, that the colours would instantly resonate and look familiar with other fans. I think I was right judging by most of the reactions." His hunch paid off. Hundreds of fans gave his design their approval, with some even incorporating it into fan art. Even when it was revealed to be a fake logo, the whole furore prompted other fans to get involved and share their take on the Doctor Who logo. Johnstone was flattered by the reaction, but says he felt guilty that some people thought that the logo was genuine. "Even though I suggested it was official I didn't expect it to go as viral as it did," he explains. "The excitement really reminded me of the days when I was a proper Whovian and it was fab to see that Doctor Who fans are still as passionate as I remembered. The most humbling thing is that my initial design kick-started a movement for other fans to come up with their own logo which people have shared online with each other." Setting a precedent However, there is a precedent for the work of Doctor Who fans being picked up and used by the show itself. After all, the title graphics for Peter Capaldi's run was based on a fan's concept YouTube video. So does Johnstone think he could be getting a call from the show's production team in the near future? The official logo has already been completed by the BBC's extremely talented team Jake Johnstone "To be honest, I don't think so," he admits. "I've been told by a friend that works at the BBC that the official logo has already been completed by their extremely talented team and that it's totally different to mine or any we have seen before. "I think that's the right step. The real logo needs to be much more thought-out and less obvious than the one I did, but it would be awesome to have some creative input into the show one day. I'm not expecting that to happen but it would be awesome if it did." Related articles: How fan art can get you paid Dedicated fan identifies every Doctor Who typeface The 20 biggest logos of 2017 View the full article

Whether you’re looking for somewhere to work or just some case-study inspiration, the United States has plenty of world-class design studios to choose from. In this post, we’ve gathered together 20 of the best design agencies of the present day. Some are huge global players, some are small and niche, and most are somewhere in-between. But all are known for their stellar work, their big-name clients and their original, innovative approaches to design problems. 01. Sagmeister & Walsh Sagmeister & Walsh’s work always makes a big impact Sagmeister & Walsh is a boutique design studio in New York with just a little touch of magic about it. The studio's most recent iteration launched in 2012, when Austrian-born Stefan Sagmeister promoted his employee of two years Jessica Walsh to partner. It’s a full-service studio creating strategy, design and production for big commercial clients, as well as arts organisations, publishers, musicians and non-profits. They’re also known for some pretty quirky side projects of their own. Above all, S&W’s work is consistently attention-grabbing, stunningly original and achingly hip; lighting the way for those who believe that corporate work doesn’t have to mean bland conformity. Recent projects include an innovative visual identity for fashion brand Milly’s; ‘Ladies, Wine Design’, an initiative aimed to foster creative women; and a special cover for the New York Times Magazine themed around Donald Trump’s inauguration. 02. Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv This New York studio holds legendary status in the design community Iconic US design firm Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv holds legendary status in the world of trademarks and branding. Founded as Chermayeff & Geismar in 1957, by Yale graduates Ivan Chermayeff – who sadly passed away in 2017 –and Tom Geismar, the design agency has created logos for the likes of NBC, Mobil Oil, New York University, The Museum of Modern Art, Xerox and National Geographic. Recent projects include a major monograph, Identity and logos for the ‘Leonard Bernstein at 100’ celebrations; ClearMotion, a next-generation suspension system for cars and trucks; and the Oceano Azul Foundation, which is dedicated to sustainable oceans. 03. Pentagram New York Pentagram is one of the world’s biggest names in branding and design Independently owned, global design studio Pentagram was founded in London in 1972. But its uniquely decentralised structure means its New York office, which recently moved to Park Avenue South, is its own entity. Launched back in 1980 by Colin Forbes, one of the original UK founders, the studio is behind some of the world's famous visual identities, including MasterCard, Windows, The MoMA, and Verizon. There are eight partners in the Manhattan office, including well-known names like Michael Beirut, Paula Scher and Emily Obermann, and each runs an essentially autonomous operation. Recent projects include identities for the superhero movie Justice League, pan-European sports channel Eurosport, and the new Federal Films division of Republic Records. 04. Landor Landor is known for both its top-class work and its influential industry reports Headquartered in San Francisco, Landor is one of the world’s biggest and most influential brand consulting firms. Founded in 1941 by Walter Landor, Landor now has 26 offices in 20 countries. It’s been a member of WPP, the world's largest marketing and communications firm, since 1989, and is known for its annual brand trends reports. Clients include the likes of Alaska Airlines, FedEx, General Electric, Huawei and Sony. Recent projects include the branding of new companies including the financial powerhouse S&P Global, formerly McGraw Hill, and Covestro, a multibillion dollar spin-off from Bayer’s materials science division. 05. Meta Design MetaDesign has spread the design principles of Erik Spiekermann and co across three continents MetaDesign is an international design consultancy founded by Erik Spiekermann. Uli Mayer-Johanssen and Hans Ch. Krüger in Berlin in 1979. Its San Francisco office was established in 1992 around Bill Hill and Terry Irwin, and the company, a member of Publicis Communications, now also has branches across three continents. Among the most visible engagements for MetaDesign in the US in 2017 included a logo redesign for Japanese food corporation Ajinomoto, and the launch of the Loggly brand, a cloud-based log management and analytics service. The studio has also been working on website redesign engagements for UCSF and San Francisco City Clinic. 06. Huge Huge has made a big name for itself in digital design Headquartered in Brooklyn, Huge is a digitally focused studio providing a range of strategy, marketing, design and technology services. Founded in 1999, it now also has offices in 14 countries worldwide. Huge is well named, in terms of corporate influence at least. Its client list covers nearly 20 percent of the Fortune 100 and includes the likes of Coca-Cola, Google, Unilever and Nike. Highlights for the studio in 2017 included winning McDonald’s global UX account, a global campaign for LG’s V30 phone, and the announcement of a new office in Chicago for 2018. 07. Firstborn Firstborn was one of the early pioneers of online design and branding Firstborn is a creative agency headquartered in New York. Founded in 1997, it focuses on delivering a wide range of digital services for big-fish clients such as L’Oréal, Mountain Dew, Bloomberg, Jet and Supercell. The medium-sized studio is a part of the global network of Isobar, as well as the Dentsu Aegis Network, a subsidiary of Dentsu Inc. 2017 was a typically strong year for Firstborn, in which it became digital AOR for Pepsi and digital consultant for S&P Global; designed a new consumer channel for health brand Nature’s Bounty; and masterminded an Instagram series for a new Adidas shoe launch. 08. House Industries House Industries combines the physical and the digital to create original and innovative work Founded in 1993 by Andy Cruz and Rich Roat, House Industries is a foundry and design studio based in Delaware. With one foot in physical design and one in digital, its offering centres around traditional skills in drawing, painting, and lettering. This studio’s client list includes Hermès, The New Yorker, Lego and Disney, and its work is in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. 2017 highlights for House Industries included a show at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and the release of its tongue-in-cheek self-help book, ‘House Industries: The Process of Inspiration’. 09. The Office of Paul Sahre The Office of Paul Sahre deliberate shuns the idea of specialisation The Office of Paul Sahre is a design consultancy based in New York City, launched in 1997 by the eponymous designer, who purposely abstains from specialisation in favour of a problem solving approach that can take any form or function. One famous example was a monster truck-style hearse built for the band They Might Be Giants. Other past clients have include The New York Times, Google Creative Labs, This American Life, Simon and Schuster Aids and Marvel Comics. The big 2017 highlight for Sahre was completing his monograph, Two-Dimensional Man: A Graphic Memoir, which documents his three decades of work as a designer. 10. Happy Cog Happy Cog has long been a thought leader in the web design community Born in 1999, during the early ‘wild west’ days of the internet, Happy Cog has built a solid reputation within the design community for its promotion of common web standards and, more recently, responsive design. Based in Philadelphia, the agency continues to design award-winning websites, digital products and experiences for nonprofits, higher education, media companies, and global brands. Notable projects in 2017 included a new design language for materials science company Gore-Tx and a digital redesign for wedding attire company David’s Bridal. 11. Siegel+Gale Siegel+Gale focuses on keeping things beautifully simple Founded in 1969, Siegel+Gale is a branding firm headquartered in New York City. It also boasts offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Dubai, and Shanghai. The studio is perhaps best known for its tagline, “Simple is Smart”; a principle it famously put into practice in 1979 when it helped the Inland Revenue Service simplify people’s tax forms. It’s also at the core of its highly regarded Global Brand Simplicity Index, which it releases annually every April. Siegel+Gale’s commercial clients include American Express, Disney, Dow, Four Seasons Hotels, Microsoft, Motorola and Pfizer, while non-profits include Girl Scouts of the USA, Legal Aid Society, Florida State University and the Museum of Arts and Design. 12. Hugo & Marie Hugo & Marie is a mix of design studio and artist agency Hugo & Marie is a multi-disciplinary creative studio and artist representation firm based in Brooklyn. Founded in 2008 by Mario Hugo and Jennifer Marie Gonzalez, it says it aims to “interweaves the values of its founders and artists with the character of its clients”, which include famous names such as Stella McCartney, Lorde, Coldplay and Rihanna. Recent work for the studio includes a brand campaign for Glenmorangie whisky, a visualisation project for Swedish multi-instrumentalist Thunder Tillman, and an online presence for fashion designer Mira Mikati. 13. Fantasy Interactive Fantasy Interactive is at the cutting edge of user experience and new technology Fantasy Interactive is an independently owned, digital design studio based in San Francisco and New York City. Founded in 1999, the award-winning company is nowadays firmly focused on user experience, working on everything from automotive user interfaces to artificial intelligence, consoles to mobile operating systems. Its impressive list of clients includes names such as Xbox, Google, Twitter, Spotify and Huawei. Recent projects for the studio, which is often abbreviated to f-i or fi, have included a collaboration with OgilvyOne to launch Chrome in Asia, a product site for Wacom, and a companion website for Sony’s Connected World campaign. 14. Big Spaceship Big Spaceship offers high-class digital services to discerning clients Founded in 2000, Big Spaceship is a Brooklyn-based design studio that provides a mix of product design, brand communications and content to its clients, who include Converse, Dannon, Google, Hasbro, Nestle-Purina and Samsung. Highlights of 2017 for the studio include expanding its executive team, getting selected as digital design partner for budget airline JetBlue, and winning MediaPost’s OMMA Agency of the Year award. 15. The Barbarian Group The Barbarian Group is now on an even keel after a rocky couple of years The Barbarian Group is an interactive design studio originally founded in Boston in 2001, but currently headquartered in New York City. Its most celebrated projects to date include the Subservient Chicken for Burger King, AnyFilms for Samsung, and the Beer Cannon for Milwaukee's Best. Since 2009, it’s been owned by Cheil Worldwide. After a wave of disruptive departures in 2015-2016, which led some to question the future of the company, things stabilised somewhat in 2017, with work for Pepsi, Etihad Airways and IBM being among the project highlights. 16. Stink Studios Stink Studios works across film, design, technology and strategy Found in 2009 and originally known as Stink Digital, Stink Studios is a global digital company headquartered in London and New York, which also has offices in Berlin, Los Angeles, Paris and Shanghai. The studio works across film, design, technology and strategy for clients include Google, Spotify, Twitter, Ray-Ban and Nike. Recently the studio has been partnering with WeTransfer to create “A Message from Earth”, a site paying homage to NASA's 1978 extraterrestrial communication. It’s also helped to design Facebook for Creators, a new platform designed to help video creators develop their skills. 17. R/GA R/GA likes to focus on the big picture for its forward-facing, global clients R/GA is a full service digital agency headquartered in New York. Founded in 1977 by two brothers, Richard and Robert Greenber, its global network now spans 18 countries, with 2,000 employees representing over 20 nationalities. Clients include McDonalds, Unilever, Nike, Johnson & Johnson and YouTube. Sharply focused on staying at the cutting edge of new technologies, R/GA teamed up with Verizon in 2017 to launch Verizon Media Tech Venture Studio, an incubator for companies aimed at disrupting digital entertainment and media. 18. Code And Theory Code And Theory is one of the industry’s most innovative studios Founded in 2001 by Dan Gardner and Brandon Ralph, Code And Theory is a digital-first creative agency that designs products, content and campaigns across multiple platforms. Its clients include Bloomberg, LA Times, Vogue, Hearst Publications and Comcast. Picked as one of the “10 Most Innovative Companies in Design” by Fast Company, it employs more than 375 people in offices in New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, London and Manila. Recent projects include a new global website for Maybelline New York, a campaign for Burger King; and a motion graphics theme for NBC News for Snapchat. 19. Brand New School Brand New School puts the focus on motion and interactivity Despite the name, Brand New School is not actually a school, but a creative design and production studio that creates ads, interactive media, branding and music videos. Founded in 2000 by Jonathan Notaro, it has offices in New York and Los Angeles. Clients include Coca-Cola, Apple, Google, Nike, Gillette, Ford, and Starbucks. Recent projects include animated spots for Nike to celebrate Children’s Day in China, launch imagery for Google’s new phone, and a spot-motion spot for a Quaker Oats campaign. 20. IDEO IDEO wants to use design thinking to solve the world’s biggest challenges IDEO is a design and consulting firm that is, in its own words, “committed to making a positive impact”. It was created in Palo Alto, California, in 1991, as part of a merger between three companies led by David Kelley, Bill Moggridge, and Mike Nuttall. Pronounced “EYE-dee-oh”, the studio now employs more than 700 people in nine locations around the world, and applies human-centered methodologies to ‘big picture’ challenges, such as healthcare, education and government itself. Recent projects include launching an innovation lab to help Peruvians, designing a new digital content platform for The Times and Sunday Times, and helping European fashion platform Zalando expand its services. Related articles: 10 skills graphic designers need to get ahead in 2018 5 design fails to learn from 10 designers' New Year's resolutions for 2018 View the full article

Knowing how to make an app has never been more vital. We've covered the best iPhone apps and iPad apps for designers elsewhere on the site – but here we're looking at how to make them. Why? Because apps are everything. Without an app, a PC is a typewriter, and a smartphone or tablet is a slab of glass and metal. If you’ve been bitten by the app bug and hanker to make your own, getting started can be intimidating. This feature points you at tutorials, explainers, resources, and videos that can help you learn how to make an app. Get Adobe Creative Cloud nowWe’re not forcing you towards Apple’s maw either. Although we do cover how to create apps for iOS and macOS, there are also tutorials for Android and Windows here, along with a cross-platform list covering concepts and ideas every app can benefit from, and technologies that can be deployed across a range of platforms. In some cases you’ll gain knowledge, but some tutorials even leave you with a complete (if simple) app to mess around with. You can skip to the section you want using the dropdown menu above. The only restrictions on your part are the kit required to work on the tutorials (which may be as little as a device like an iPad Pro to watch videos, and a whirring brain to take everything in) and time. Money isn’t generally an issue, because all of these tutorials are freely available – or at least freely accessible using trials. How to make iOS apps for iPad and iPhone Apple’s iOS platform remains the best bet on mobile for innovative and production-oriented apps. If you want to learn how to make an app for iPhone or iPad, check out the links below. 01. Watch Apple developer insights Get some background to app-making with Apple developer insightsRather than immediately delving into making an app or game, it pays to find out what makes them successful. Apple’s developer insights videos have creators of hit apps share how they built sustainable businesses, cultivated communities, and kept their products fresh through regular updates and feature innovations. 02. Create a Messages stickers extension If you’re desperate to get cracking and make something, this YouTube video by The Code Lady is a good place to start. In just a few minutes, it leads you through the process of using Xcode to fashion a simple Messages extension. It’s not a ‘proper’ app, sure, but it’s a toe in the water. 03. Start developing iOS apps This course breaks down the elements of building an appThis course by Apple is broken down into sections that give you a grounding in building interface elements and working with table views. The end result is a simple meal-tracking app, with which a user can add, remove or edit a meal, along with specifying a name, rating and image. 04. Make iPhone apps (even if you have no experience) These tutorials are a great way to start making an appChris Ching’s guide for his own Code with Chris site is a series of videos to take you through the process of creating an app. Unlike many guides, it starts with no assumptions. But in carefully working through the friendly tutorials, you’ll learn Xcode, Swift, interface design, user interaction, and computer logic. 05. Develop iOS 10 apps with Swift You'll need a bit of coding knowledge for this courseAvailable through iTunes, Stanford’s course on developing for iOS has been updated for iOS 10 and Swift. The course comprises a series of lengthy video-based lectures with supporting material. Note that you will need some knowledge of C and object-oriented programming to be comfortable with the course. 06. Create your first iOS game In this series of seven videos from Awesome Tuts, you go through the process of creating a simple endless runner gravity flipper game. What you end up with is basic, but gives you insight into working with backgrounds, players, character movement and collectables. Keener on apps? Check out Awesome Tuts’ Uber clone. 07. Design for all Apple screen sizes This will help you get a handle on Apple's screen real estateAlthough penned during the iOS 8 days, this article full of developer insight remains relevant to those targeting multiple Apple screen sizes. And you should – the best modern apps work on anything from the smallest iPhone to the largest iPad. Savvy developers also think beyond, to the world of the Apple TV and even Apple Watch. 08. Understand iOS accessibility Accessibility is all-important when making appsAccessibility is a fundamental component of all Apple’s output, and iOS devices are no exception. The best apps are aware of – and utilise – key accessibility technologies. This video series runs through many of them and also how to audit apps to ensure their functions are discoverable to and useable by all. (You’ll need a free trial to view this Lynda tutorial – or sign up and subscribe.) Next page: How to make an Android app Android is the Windows of the mobile world, enjoying a colossal user base and huge market share. To get in on the Android app action, check out the links below to learn how to build an app. 01. Watch Android developer insights Gen up on Android with the developer insightsThe Android Developers YouTube channel is a great starting point for immersing yourself in everything about Android development. It houses videos from live events, along with a bunch of demos and tutorials, covering everything from improving accessibility for all users through to dealing with the ins and outs of Android Wear. 02. Build your first Android app Get stick right in to Android app-building hereThis rather comprehensive official Android website offers a slew of training guides. Work through the documentation and you’ll learn how to create an Android app, support various device types, deal with interface elements, and more. Also related and noteworthy: the Material design site, outlining the platform’s modern vision for aesthetics. 03. Follow the 10-day Android app program 10 days to learn how to build an app? Sign us up!Looking at swathes of documentation? Not sure where to start? Adam Sinicki’s post for Android Authority breaks down the process of Android app development into 10 simple steps. Well, mostly simple – one is ‘learning the basics of Java’. But although 10 days is perhaps pushing it, a few weeks isn’t, if you’re dedicated. 04. Create a voice-controlled Android app This course will teach you how to build a voice-controlled app in 12 minutesOne of the futures of apps involves bellowing at devices rather than stroking them with a digit. This course runs through how to create a voice-controlled Android app in just 12 minutes. The course costs $3, but you can watch for nothing if you sign up for a free trial. 05. Understand responsive Android app interfaces Get responsive with this app-building tutorialA weakness in many Android apps is their inability to scale well. And yet Material Design lends itself neatly to responsive designs that should work on any device, from tiny smartphones to huge tablets. This tutorial gets you started on creating apps that more fully adapt themselves to varied screen dimensions and orientations. 06. Learn about Android’s thumb zone The most fun you can have with one handOnce, smartphones were small enough that the average thumb could reach the entire display. Not so much now. iOS suffers from this problem, but Android more so, due to the tendency towards increasingly large devices. This Smashing Magazine feature outlines how best to cater for one-handed smartphone usage. 07. Switch from iOS to Android app development Perform the old app switcheroo with help from this articleFor the most part, iOS is where the money is, but Android’s where most users are. It’s therefore a smart move to at least consider shifting iOS apps across to Android. If you’re wavering, this article outlines the main considerations for making the move, noting that you can in fact utilise a great deal of your existing experience. 08. Discover Android app dev dos and don’ts This broad advice on how to build an app is pricelessJessica Thornsby’s piece for Tuts+ is quite general in nature, but it offers vital and sage advice on subjects such as designing for multiple devices, considering languages, accessibility concerns, and thorough testing. You won’t end up with an app after reading it – but any apps you do make will be better. Next page: How to make a Windows app Although Microsoft’s mobile aspirations were all for nothing (sorry, Windows Phone fans), Microsoft’s still dominant on the desktop. Moreover, its ambitious universal approach to development means apps you create potentially have reach across a wide range of platforms. 01. Get started with Windows apps Head to Windows Dev centre to kick things offMicrosoft’s Windows Dev Center is the natural starting point for anyone keen to make windows apps – for PCs, tablets, phones, and more. There are explainers about Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app development, insight into Windows conventions, and a bunch of code examples. 02. Understand Windows app development This great series will help you expand your app-making skillsFor those entirely new to Windows development, this set of dozens of videos walks you through the process of creating UWP apps. Neatly, the series is also peppered with challenges to help improve your skills. (Note that it assumes you know the basics of C#.) 03. Create your first Windows app Learn how to make an app that speaksIf you want to quickly get something working, this tutorial has you create a simple ‘Hello, world’ app for UWP using XAML and C#. Also, rather than just fling up a dialog to say hello, this little app will speak. 04. Make a Windows clock app Creating this simple app will teach you plenty of skillsAnother tutorial for creating an app, but this one for Tuts+ goes a bit further. Vivek Maskara leads you through the process of making a clock, where the background gradually shifts colour by converting the time to a hexadecimal value. 05. Learn the basics of universal Windows app development Another great Lynda.com app-building courseThis Lynda.com course introduces you to the concepts behind UWP development – and it also helps you learn C# along the way. By the time you’re done, you’ll have a fully working app you can install – and ideas for taking your skills further. 06. Create a UWP game with DirectX Learn how to craft a game with this tutorialSadly, this tutorial from Microsoft doesn’t leave you with a playable game at the end. Still, you do at least learn to work on the major components of a game: creating a game loop, rendering, controls, audio, and adding imagery. 07. Make multilingual Windows apps This 12-minute video rapidly leads you through the process of creating a multi-language Windows app. The example has a text button that can be displayed in more than one language, but the general principles extend to any app. Next page: How to make macOS apps for Macs Apple is perhaps more known for iOS apps these days, but the Mac’s still going strong – and importantly for app developers, has an audience keen to pay for quality software. So make some! 01. Check out the Mac App Programming Guide Don't let the lack of recent updates put you off checking this out Alarm bells might ring on spotting the lead image here, which sports an old-style OS X Dock. And indeed, Apple’s guide’s not been updated since 2015. However, it still provides a decent overview on the fundamentals of creating Mac apps, so give it a read. 02. Learn about macOS Human Interface Guidelines The HIG is the bible of MacOS developmentA key factor in the Mac’s success has been the intuitive nature of Mac software, driven in part by consistent interface components. Much of the magic is down to the Human Interface Guidelines, which should be considered a bible of sorts for any serious Mac developer. 03. Create apps with Swift 3 Learn the basics of building an app for MacOS hereThis Lynda.com series takes you through the basics of building a Mac app. It starts with Xcode, and introduces the important concepts you’ll need to learn in order to create a Mac app. You’ll also learn how to get apps on to the Mac App Store and optimise them for the Mac’s full-screen mode. 04. Create your first macOS apps This series for beginners is pretty comprehensiveWe’re in full-on developer mode in this raywenderlich.com series for beginners. The first part leads you through a tour of Xcode before building a ‘Hello, world’ app. After that, you’ll create a timer, beefing up your interface and user interaction smarts. 05. Master macOS windows Windows are key to understanding Mac app building (ironically)Still on raywenderlich.com, this feature focusses purely on windows – the containers for Mac apps. It explores apps with single windows, library-style interfaces, and multi-window demands, and how to work with them all. A related (and more recent) tutorial delves into view controllers, which are useful as building blocks for complex user interfaces. 06. Build a show/hide macOS app If you just want to get on and build a quick project, this six-minute video is ideal. Crack open Xcode, follow along, and you’ll end up with a little app that shows/hides all other apps. 07. Create a word reversing macOS app Another super-quick project, this video takes under ten minutes to lead you through the entire process of building an app that reverses text strings you input. Hungry for more? Check the author’s feed, because she’s uploaded a bunch of other Swift tutorials for macOS and iOS. 08. Add Touch Bar support to macOS apps The Touch Bar is Apple’s most recent Mac-oriented input innovation, and we like what developers are doing with it. Want to enhance your own apps with Touch Bar goodness? This quickfire video tutorial from Zappy Code shows you how. Next page: App dev tips and cross-platform thinking This final grab-bag of links is all about articles with general advice on making apps, and those technologies that enable you to create once and deploy to multiple platforms. 01. How to build a Progressive Web App PWAs combine the benefits of native and web experiences Progressive Web Apps combine the benefits of native apps with the perks of the web. PWAs can be saved to your homescreen (just like a native app) and thanks to Service Workers, they can run offline. However, unlike native apps, they don't need updating – which is a win for UX and for security. This tutorial shows you how to build a Progressive Web App for yourself. 02. How to name your app Naming your app is not to be rushedWhat’s in a name? Quite a lot as it turns out. What your app’s called isn’t only important from a search standpoint, but also in terms of recognition in stores and on a device. This Creative Bloq article outlines how to pick the right name – and the difference doing so can make. 03. Get to grips with mobile app onboarding The right onboarding process can make sure people engage with your app The majority of people's phones are littered with apps they installed, played around with once, then forgot about. If you want to make sure your app doesn't end up being abandoned, take a look at this guide to mobile app onboarding. It walks through how to show users how your app works, and (where necessary) get them to commit to it without putting them off. 04. Design better app icons Getting your app’s icon right is of paramount importance. Icons are what grab people’s attention on stores, and what they prod on a device display. Michael Flarup’s talk from Generate outlines best practice for icon creation. And if you need a little inspiration, check out our feature on the best iPhone app icons. 05. Understand the power of colour Colour usage is key to usability, accessibility and brandingGiven the penchant for relative minimalism in modern operating system interfaces, colour is vitally important. Nick Babich’s feature explores how to create an effective colour scheme through utilising colour theory and strong use of contrast. Need some apps to help? Check out Creative Bloq’s favourite free apps for picking a colour scheme. 06. Discover the best wireframing tools Wireframing helps you turn your sketches into a workable appYou can’t – or at least really really shouldn’t – just delve into making an app without thinking things through. One of the more important components of planning an app is wireframing – stripping down your intended product to focus on functions and interactions. This Creative Bloq piece lists 20 tools to help you do so. 07. Build a game in Unity You need to learn Unity if you want to build a gameHow often have you fired up a great game and seen the Unity logo appear? This is for good reason – Unity is a powerful tool for cross-platform games development. At raywenderlich.com, there are explainers on the technology, along with how-tos that enable you to create your own Unity games. 08. Discover GameMaker GameMaker is another great utilityGameMaker is another tool for creating games that can be exported to a range of platforms. The link above takes you through to a page housing videos that help you get to grips with the technology, creating an exciting arena shooter while doing so. 09. Build an app using NW.js Learn how to create a web app with this articleAlthough we never quite hit the moment where web apps became ubiquitous, many apps do have a foundation of native web technology. In Julian Motz’s Sitepoint article, you’ll use the NW.js framework for creating a cross-platform desktop app. 10. Develop cloud apps using Xamarin This is for advanced app-buildersXamarin is another cross-platform framework, albeit aimed at mobile. Adrian Hall’s free and open-source book is intended for C#-savvy users who’ve already built with Xamarin, and want to take their efforts further by utilising cloud services. If you’re not there yet, the introduction links to resources for getting that foundation first. Related articles: The beginner's guide to flat design Top movie-making apps for iPhone and iPad The best typography apps View the full article

What were the biggest web design trends of 2017, and what will be big in 2018? As the year draws to a close, we asked leading designers and studio heads to share their views, perspectives and predictions. Just as when we brought you 10 huge graphic design trends for 2018, this isn’t about following the creative herd: it’s about taking stock of where the industry is right now. So whether you follow these trends or not, it’s useful to know what they are… 01. Web animation This animation by Chris Gannon is part of Twitter's official GIF app “Animations have been huge this year; they’ve really been taken to the next level,” says Mireia Lopez, creative director at digital creative agency DARE. “We’ve see design teams animating, prototyping and learning neat coding to use more intricate prototyping tools like Framer in order to communicate concepts to clients and explain digital journeys to developers. There are lines starting to be blurred between designers and developers, and I definitely think we’ll see a rapid blend in the year ahead.” Bruno La Versa, senior digital designer at social media management platform Lightful, agrees. “Storytelling and personality is something that new and old brands are working on in order to capture users’ attention, and animations are starting to play a bigger role in this,” he says. “Animations have shown and will continue to show the brand's strength in our digital world, giving a strong personality to the brand, making it less static and more dynamic.” And as a part of this trend, we’re seeing the return of the animated GIF. “It seems the world is ready (and indeed is crying out for) animation of everything, whether it be comedy loops of cats falling off tables or adding a sense of fun to the logo in your email signature,” says Lee Fasciani, founder and director of Territory Projects. “The basic animated GIF is here to stay, for now, due to its ability to be read by almost anything,” he adds. “Now designers are harnessing this ability to enliven HTML emails, messages, web pages and so on. A well designed, crafted and executed GIF sequence can make any user take notice, and there will be more to come in 2018.” To get on board with the trend, check out our 5 steps to mastering web animation and 10 brilliant web animations by Chris Gannon. 02. More adventurous colours Design Studio’s work for the Premier League is full of bold colours “Over the past year we’ve seen an increase in the use of bold colours being used across digital platforms,” notes James Bearne, creative director of Kagool. One great example is that of DesignStudio's new branding scheme for The Premier League's 2016/2017 season. "A confident departure from the previous identity, the striking visual treatment didn’t stop at the website or its app; it came roaring onto the pitches with billboards, social media and more.” And this won’t slow down in 2018, Bearne predicts. “With new tools like Khroma helping us to find more interesting ways of using colour, it seems likely we’ll see more designers exploring how colour can be used to deliver exceptional experiences. "What will be interesting to see is how colour can be used alongside customisation and personalisation to create truly unique experiences for consumers that tick several boxes at once.” 03. Inventive typography The typography cutout trend in action on the Danbury website In the battle for eyeballs, typography is a powerful weapon, and its use on the web has broadened out this year, says Kelly Morr, senior manager of content strategy at 99designs. “Typography is powerful and the bigger the better. So while neo-grotesque sans-serif styles like Helvetica remain in vogue, designers are branching out, turning to the huge variety of typefaces available.” She predicts that 2018 will see the return of serifs to the screen. “We’ll also see more and more sites using contrasting serif and sans-serif fonts to create dynamic parallels in the name of UX, take for example GE’s gorgeous web design.” The fact that device resolutions are getting sharper, amping up the legibility factor, is also opening the door for a rise in custom fonts. “Designers are opting for typography with tons of personality not only for emphasis, but also for aesthetic effect. All of this, plus the drama afforded by oversized typefaces, goes to show that 2018 will not all be about subtlety, and we can expect to see bold trends continue to develop.” Another type-related trend identified by Gee Guntrip, studio manager at Hyped Marketing, is that of typography cutouts. “The technique uses a block of colour over a still or moving image that appears through clear lettering,” she says. “Choosing the right typeface and limiting the number of letters is paramount to making this work. “For example, Danbury has done this really well with a bright text cutout that draws the user’s attention to its video. Comedie Francaise uses the typography effect on text hover. And Nurture Digital showcases video through letters.” 04. Data storytelling IKEA and Apple recently teamed up on an augmented reality home design app “2017 has been a great year for design,” says Craig Taylor, senior data visualisation design manager at Ito World. “We’ve witnessed a boom in animated visualisations and an increased appetite for data representation from a 3D perspective. But what use is this data, beautiful or otherwise, if it’s not digestible and ultimately usable?” Enter what Taylor calls the information storyteller. “There is now a huge emphasis on effective storytelling through design, conveying often complex information as simply and as engagingly as possible to a variety of audiences,” he explains. “Designers are thinking outside the box with new, bespoke creations – the muted palettes of old ditched in favour of vibrant colour transitions paired with minimalist yet bold typography.” So what does 2018 hold for information design? “Greater accessibility to new technology will undoubtedly see an increase in the number of designers using animation as a means of storytelling,” believes Taylor. “And with AR and VR advancements ushering in the prospect of simulated exploration of virtual models, it’s important that we remember to keep information and data at the heart of what we do. If we get this right, the overlapping spheres of data science and design will allow for ever increasingly informative, grounded and clear examples of data visualisation.” Lee Fasciani agrees that AR and VR have much more to offer going forward. “Technology has enabled us to more readily mix our real world with our screen-based world,” he says. “We’re moving on from an increasing desire to add video to our digital experiences; layering them with a depth and richness unachievable not so long ago. "A mixed reality brings us firmly into the ‘new’, with large tech firms committed to innovating in AR, future design will need to consider our world in all four dimensions. We are seeing the start of this mixed reality in popular games and more function applications such as IKEA Place.” 05. Standardisation between design tools InVision Studio is the latest addition to the explosion in design tools we’ve seen this year In 2017, it seems like not a day has gone past without a new app, tool or feature from the likes of InVision, Adobe XD, Figma, Axure, Marvel, Vectr and others. And that includes Sketch, whose open file format update, Sketch 43, has been a real game changer. (You can learn more about that in this guide.) “Let’s just say that, if you’re still using Photoshop for UI Design, you probably need to take a look around you,” says Bruno La Versa. “2017 has been the year of the new design tools: Figma, Webflow, InVision Studio just to name a few. The explosion in design tools highlights how design is becoming a core element to how businesses operate.” Bearne, however, notes that this trend does pose a particular challenge for agencies. “2017 has seen a plethora of tools race forth in the hope of being the ‘chosen tool’ for the industry, but simultaneously, the flood of products has become frustrating, as all have claimed to live up to huge expectations. "This has created an issue for inter-agency working, where teams have different processes, as each was tested to discover if it could replace Sketch. The market has, in turn, become saturated with options but little guidance on how to create efficiencies. “The launch of InVision Studio – set for January 2018 – will be interesting, as we’ll see if it can use its collaborative platform to finally bring a standardisation to the design process. What will happen to Sketch if InVision is as good as it looks? Has Photoshop’s fight for survival finally come to end?” To learn more, read our post 30 web design tools to speed up your workflow in 2018. 06. Flat design 2.0 Flat design is giving way to semi-flat design, aka Flat 2.0 Flat design isn’t dying, but in 2018 it’s certainly having to learn to adapt to stay relevant, believes Morr. “This new, so-called Flat 2.0 or semi-flat design, relies on adding nuance and depth to its prior ascetic identity. How is it doing that? By indulging in a few design taboos: gradients and shadows. But don’t worry, it’s only in moderation.” Since 2007, gradients have conjured images of corporate Powerpoint presentations, 00s era web headers, and dated logo designs. “But in 2018 they’re back, albeit evolved,” Morr continues. “Gradients are now rocking vibrant, updated colours palettes and softer, subtler transitions. They’re making a splash on brands like Instagram, Stripe, and even Apple’s iOS icons. "Thanks to headway made in web browser functionality, we’re also seeing a revival of shadows. Like gradients, shadows were shelved in favor of minimalism and 2D design. Realism and skeuomorphism are still out, but in 2018 designers will be experimenting more and more with updated, softened, and stylised shadows in their work.” She offers the Scale website by way of example. “The interface has a strictly minimal layout, but features soft, oversaturated gradients, and makes heavy use of shadow-based microinteractions,” she explains. “Not only are many of the clickable buttons accentuated with elongating shadows, but shadows also emphasise media and break up the page. Depth helps determine visual hierarchy, and can point users to input fields and calls to action on screen.” Flat design was a radical departure from the skeuomorphism and hyperreality of the 00s, but has the pendulum swung too far? “In 2018, we’ll continue towards a best-of-both-worlds situation,” Morr believes, “in which clever reintroduction of shadows and gradients can add both functionality and beauty.” 07. Playful illustration In a web of cookie-cutter sites, illustration helps a brand stand out We’ve been seeing a lot more illustration on websites in 2017, and that’s no coincidence. “Brands want to stand out and illustrations are a fabulous way to inject personality into a website,” says Morr. “They are visually engaging without getting in the way of functionality and simplicity; illustrations come in infinite shapes, sizes, styles, and are a dynamic element to look out for in 2018 and beyond. We’re learning not to neglect playfulness in the name of a straightforward user experience.” This trend isn’t only about being whimsical, though. “Illustrations can be extremely practical ways of presenting or explaining information. Nobody wants a boring website, and custom drawings are a human touch that can breathe life into otherwise dry content. "The marketplace is saturated and competitive, and web design needs to strike a balance between personality and functionality; illustrations are the perfect way to showcase who you are, just look at funemployed.life.” 08. The evolution of AI As chatbots become more and more sophisticated, ‘artificial narrow intelligence’ is transitioning into ‘artificial general intelligence’ Artificial intelligence is no longer a matter for sci-fi. AI has already worked its way into mainstream web design, through technologies like conversational interfaces (chatbots). Indeed, according to eBay product designer Elaine Lee, you may already be using AI in your day-to-day work without even knowing it. As she explains in this post, what’s called ‘artificial narrow intelligence’ (ANI) is already hard at work powering voice assistants like Google Home and Apple’s Siri. It also runs recommendation technologies for the likes of Amazon, Spotify and Netflix, not to mention smart home devices, self-driving cars and chatbots. “As people become more accustomed to interacting with bots, we are seeing a rise in the use of conversational interfaces in design,” says Jim Bowes, CEO and Founder of Manifesto. “Looking forward, machine learning and AI will be introduced into many of the systems we interact with over the next couple of years. “As a medium, design will adapt to this in a number of ways,” he predicts. “In some cases it will aim to demonstrate artificial intelligence, and sometimes design will work to make AI seem natural and invisible. I think we will see a large amount of design that will seek to demonstrate greater intelligence when, in actual fact, no true AI is being used. This will often be achieved by making better use of context in digital journeys.” If you want to learn about creating your own chatbot, check out our How to build a chatbot interface post, How to design a chatbot experience tips and these 5 essential chatbot learning resources. 09. Asymmetric layouts Spotify kicked off this trend back in 2015, and it's been growing in popularity ever since The responsive design movement of the 2010s has revolutionised web design and enabled designers to build sites that adapt seamlessly to different devices. “This year, we’ve seen an increase in designs that rebelled against the constraints of responsive design with an attempt to be more ‘creative’,” says Bearne. “You could almost hear the client feedback, saying: ‘Can it be less boxy’, and designers responded.” New technologies meant that in 2017, the traditional rules of web design were getting broken left, right and centre. But Bearne suggests the trend is approached with caution. “Designs that pushed limits in asymmetry really came to the fore in 2015,” he notes. “In that year, Spotify used an asymmetrical design to deliver its ‘Year in Music’. It felt right in that situation, and added to the creativity and bold character of the brand. Unfortunately, its most basic form has started to become a normal approach and has made its way onto more websites, and not necessarily for the better. “What has been highlighted in 2017 is a drive to constantly differentiate and break away from rules. Good designers accept rules; they like them, they work with them. But they also find ways to push them and to create new ways of presenting content. It’s something I hope continues into 2018.” 10. Making the most of mobile Mobile is only going to become more important to web designers in 2018 2017 was a landmark year for the mobile web, as its usage finally overtook that of desktop browsing. And that means web designers will be more focused than ever on the mobile audience next year and beyond. “As we move into 2018, I expect innovations to fully utilise mobile functionality we’ve never seen on the desktop,” says Morr. “2018 will continue to see designers develop clever ways to organise information beautifully and intuitively, leading to more sophisticated user experiences, with focuses on micro-interactions and gestures over icons and buttons. "Simply put, intuitively navigable sites convert better; G-Star has put this into practice extremely well.” Lopez offers a specific example of how mobile-first is not just an airy principle but something that needs to be baked into the core design process. As we mentioned earlier, animations are now more and more present in web design – “but sometimes, it’s too much. There’s a danger of overdoing it and relying on motion to define an experience. "Designers need to consider how mega animations and transitions are going to translate into browsers and devices like mobile, where there’s no hover states and content needs to adapt to reduced screen sizes.” Check out these 10 tips for better mobile UX design to learn more. 11. Kinetic emails Kinetic emails are improving the way brands like Adidas communicate with customers “This has been the year that, in the UK at least, people finally moved on from just making their emails mobile-responsive and started looking at what comes next,” says Rob Pellow, head of digital design at Adestra. “In fact, while there are still brands that come to us to ask about making their campaigns and templates mobile responsive, nearly all of them are asking the question: ‘What else can we do?’” It’s been the first year, he says, that Adestra has seen regular use of ‘kinetic’ emails: using CSS3 and HTML to create interactivity within an email. This trend stems from the fact that users are so comfortable with the UI language of mobile apps and websites, they’re happy to see it in other places, including email. “With these new opportunities have come the first steps towards treating a single email campaign as a journey in itself; B&Q treated us to another impressive carousel that worked in more email clients than ever before, Litmus gave us the ability to have a basket process in its summit email and Rebel (formerly Rebelmail) is now selling the ability to complete the whole checkout process within the email – the only web page you see is a confirmation page at the end. "This is starting to change what email means to people because, if we can deliver these sorts of experiences here, we can combine these things with a level of personalisation that websites can only dream of. Who says email is dead?” Related articles: 30 web design tools to speed up your workflow in 2018 5 free apps that can boost your creativity 10 visual storytelling tips from top agencies View the full article

They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but it's just not true. It's never too late to learn a new skill. It doesn't matter if you're hoping to further your career or just want to pick up some skills for fun. The eduCBA Tech Training Bundle has the courses you need to pick up new abilities that you've always wanted, and you can get a lifetime subscription on sale for 95% off the retail price. When you log in to the eduCBA Tech Training Bundle, you’ll see more than 800 courses, all packed with actionable and professionally-taught lessons waiting for you. Topics include programming, web development, software testing, mobile apps, networking, ecommerce, design, data and more. New courses are being added all the time so you'll never run out of skills to learn. You’ll have unlimited access to it all, including mock tests and quizzes, giving you the ability to learn whatever you’d like, whenever you'd like. Work your way through these courses that cover everything tech, from coding to design to IT and much more. A lifetime subscription to eduCBA Tech Training Bundle usually retails for $797, but you’ll pay just $39 (approx. £29). That’s a saving of 95% off the full retail price, a great deal for unlimited access to skills that could change your career, so grab it today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: Upgrade your design skills in 2018 The best January deals for designers and artists 20 tools to make you more creative View the full article

In an increasingly digital age, an innovative business card has the power to make a real impact on a potential client, collaborator or employer. Take a chance encounter at a networking event, say. Sure, you could follow them on Twitter and give them your LinkedIn profile, but maybe the Wi-Fi is patchy – what then? A physical card in their pocket the next morning is a sure-fire way to jog their memory. Working in tandem with a brilliant design portfolio and creative resume, your business card shows people what you're about – as well as how to get in contact with you. But there are rules to abide by. Follow our commandments and make your business card the best calling card there is... 01. Thou shalt not bombard Stripped-back business card for Luka Žanić Photography designed by Studio8585 It’s very tempting to try to cram as much as possible onto your business card, trying to sum up exactly what you or your company does. Don’t. Keep it succinct, maybe with just your brand message and logo on one side and your contact details on the other. Remember, if someone has your business card, it’s very likely they have met you and already know what you’re about. A card simply serves as a reminder. So keep it simple – you just want to jog their memory and point them to your website, or somewhere they can find more information. 02. Thou shalt not be too social You exist on all social media platforms, right? So why not tell people? Well, because it's important to exercise caution. Don't put your personal Facebook or Instagram on your business card – your prospective clients don’t need to know what you had for breakfast or that you spent the weekend at the boozer. And you really don't want to direct potential clients to a Twitter stream full of work rants. Only include social accounts if they're professional. If your social media accounts show off your work and industry knowledge, go ahead – your clients will have another avenue to reach you. 03. Thou shalt not use old stock Hey Studio designed these beautiful business cards for Estampaciones Fuerte There’s nothing worse for a client or prospective employer than getting a crumpled, smudged business card that you’ve had at the bottom of your bag for months. So keep them in the box they were delivered in or get yourself a cool business card holder (you don’t have to reveal this if it seems a little over the top). Also, if your contact details have changed (maybe you’ve changed phone number) get your cards re-printed; don’t try to patch up your cards or write your new number on the back – it looks scruffy and unprofessional. 04. Thou shalt not design for everyone It’s very easy – with economies of scale – to design and print one business card for everyone, but it might not always be the best idea. Think about your client base; is it all the same kind of companies in the same kind of industries? Nope, thought not. Business cards for typography designers shouldn't look the same as business cards for UX designers, for example. So if you’re looking at pitching to more heads of marketing and fewer creative directors, tailor your cards accordingly. And if you’re pitching to luxury clients, your card needs to reflect that (check out these gorgeous examples of letterpress business cards for inspiration) as a flimsy stock will just get binned. 05. Thou shalt reinforce your brand Make your logo the only image on your business card – like Snask has done Try to make your logo or branding the only image on your business card. If you're printing double-sided (which you should do), the reverse needs to include your contact details. You are synonymous with your brand and your clients or peers need to associate you with it immediately. So don’t stray from your brand’s colours in any way – it’s just confusing. 06. Thou shalt not scrimp on legibility Make sure your name and contact details are clearly displayed – as with this card for Tag Collective Unless you’re a calligrapher, there’s no reason whatsoever to use a script font on your business card. It may look fancy but if it can’t be taken in at a glance you’ve just negated the point of your card. Our advice? For your details use a clean, sans-serif typeface. But not Arial, please. (That said, a well-chosen serif will also look fantastic.) In summary, just make sure your name and contact details are clearly displayed. And keep your main text above 8pt. 07. Thou shalt not gimmick (unless it’s a really good one) Giving your business card a gimmick is a great way to stand out – just make sure it's a good one It’s very tempting to give your business card a gimmick – and if it’s a good one that suits your business it can be a good way to stand out. Many illustrators and designers over the years have used different materials to great effect – metal, plastic, you name it. But – and it's a big but – don’t push it too far. A business card is designed to put in a wallet, purse or pocket – so an odd shape could make it hard to store and ultimately cause it to be discarded. Your card should make people people to raise their eyebrows, in a good way. 08. Thou shalt not over-complicate Go back to commandment five – where we preach about you reinforcing your brand. Oh, and go back to commandment four as well, where we tell you not to design for everyone. This commandment kind of combines the two – you need to be very careful not to influence your clients into thinking you only work in a certain style by the graphics and typography you use on your card. If in any doubt at all when going to meet prospective clients, keep your card very simple, with your mark on one side, your contact details on the other, and perhaps a special finish such as an emboss or spot varnish. 09. Thou shalt not go budget If in doubt, keep your card simple and classy – as Firmalt did for its business cards for Atelán Whatever you do, get your business cards professionally printed. Even if you have a top-of-the-line printer, your cards will still look unprofessional due to inconsistencies in cutting. Go to a local printer and explain exactly what you want – even the likes of Vistaprint offer metallic and foil finishes and spot UVs –and make sure your card is printed on top-quality stock. Costs are reasonable, and well worth it. 10. Thou shalt be original This is perhaps the most important commandment of all – the ‘thou shalt not murder’ of business card design. Whatever you decide to do with your design, make it about you. Make it original and make it memorable. Whether this is through your unique message, a well thought-out format or a subtle die-cut, make your clients remember you and ensure your card doesn't get throw into the bottom of a bag to be recycled six months later. Related articles: How to design a business card: 10 top tips 10 reasons to be happy you're a designer Best business card fails View the full article

A researcher with the Twitter handle ‘Siguza’ published details of a macOS local privilege escalation vulnerability dating back to 2002 that could give an attacker root access to systems. View the full article

VMware released three patches fixing critical vulnerabilities affecting its vSphere cloud computing virtualization platform. View the full article

The life of a happy and fulfilled designer is all about learning new skills and pushing your creative energy in new directions. But there are certain core talents everyone needs to know to get the most out of life. That's the message behind this infographic from Business Insider, which runs through 30 of the most important traits every 'grown up' should have under their belt. Ranging from money management tips to interpersonal skills, this infographic also includes artistic talents, such as picking up Photoshop tutorials. While some of these skills are a bit more difficult than others (learning a foreign languages requires a bit of travel before it truly sticks), it's worth noting that there isn't an age target on this infographic. As long as you're pushing yourself and trying new things, it's all good. One of the strengths of being a creative person is possessing a diverse range of skills, but how many of these essentials have you mastered? Click the icon in the top right of the infographic to see the full-sized version. Click the icon in the top right of the infographic to see the full-sized version While there are undoubtedly useful skills on this infographic, we can't help but think that there needs to some more artistic entries. Especially seeing as making art – any art – has been proven to improve a person's mental wellbeing. Pick up your best pencils and give it a try. View the full article

The dawn of a new year is a good time to evaluate how your career is going and how you can bring it to the next level. So what should you learn, and how? There's no easy answer. The skillsets of senior designers vary enormously, and almost everyone has knowledge gaps in some areas. In this article, we'll explore photography, animation, business skills, coding, and prototyping and UX. Whether you're a freelancer aiming to secure better commissions or a jobbing designer looking for a promotion, mastering any of these will help take your design career to the next level. We'd recommend you start by weighing up the pros and cons of the different study areas that appeal to you. Ask yourself: Do I already have some experience or knowledge in this area? How much will training cost? Can I get the boss to pay, and let me train in work time? And – perhaps most importantly: How much does it excite me? Once you've answered all these questions, your choice of what to study should be crystal clear. Read on to make 2018 the year you take charge of your design destiny. Photography Photography is an invaluable skill for all creatives Most designers can take decent pictures, and with a high-quality camera on every modern smartphone, you might think that's enough. But working to improve your photography skills can really help boost your career, says graphic designer Jacob Cass of Just Creative. "As a designer, it helps you become more aware of composition, colour, light and allows you to start thinking in a different visual medium," he points out. "It also allows you to reduce your dependency on stock photos and earn more cash by charging for your services." For Mark Dearman, design director at True, the latter was the clincher. "I was finding relying on stock photography very limiting," he explains. "Often clients wouldn't have the budget to commission their own photo shoots or bespoke illustration, so I was limited to stock. I decided to improve my photography skills to allow me to create my own assets." 01. Trial and error Learning new skills could make you feel superhuman (Illustration: Flavio Montiel) How did he go about it? "I own a lot of books by photographers and I've read plenty of articles, but it was trial and error mainly. I'd take some photos, then analyse them and work out what I needed to do to improve." "I've learnt a lot from my mistakes. There really is no substitute for taking lots of photos. I always liked the famous quote by Henri Cartier-Bresson: 'Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.'" 02. Ask questions Another thing you can do, says graphic designer and photographer Matthew Holland, is ask questions. "I'm on Twitter and Instagram a lot," he explains. "I share a lot of other people's work, ask them how they've achieved this or that, as well as reading blogs or magazines and looking at YouTube. I recently came across Digital Rev TV, who are very funny and put a great twist on learning photography." 03. Study the fundamentals In general, it's a case of practice makes perfect. "Start shooting and never stop," Cass advises. "Study the fundamentals from books and online. Understand how light works and how you can make it work for you." Once you've done that, it's time to learn how to edit your photos. There are plenty of apps available for that – take a look at our list of the best photo editor apps to figure out which is the best one for you. 04. Read up Learn what's what on your DSLR There are plenty of resources about to help you improve your photography skills, whether you're a hobbyist looking to up your game or a total beginner. If you're looking for the right tools, take a look at our guide to the best cameras for creatives. Then check out these resources: Photography cheat sheet helps unlock DSLRs' potential The best photography websites 10 ways to improve your photography How to shoot print work for your portfolio Build your first in-house photo studio Next page: Learn animation Chris Gannon makes animations like this for the web Motion graphics and animation are becoming more and more integral to design and branding, and learning those skills yourself has obvious benefits. "In simple terms it makes you more visible," explains award-winning illustrator Simon Spilsbury. "Nowadays, with moving imagery all over social media, it's even more important to have the ability to make your work move." Rob Hampson, designer at digital agency We Make Awesome Sh, had a specific reason for wanting to learn the fundamentals of animation. "I've always found explaining to clients and developers my animation ideas for UI elements quite difficult," he explains. "I thought I would learn the basics of After Effects so I could very quickly explain my ideas visually." Illustration by Flavio Montiel It's a similar story for designer and illustrator Jessica Draws. "I'd been creating static infographics, illustrations and graphics for a while," she explains. "But I noticed an interest from clients in interactive and animated videos, which I had no skills or experience in. I knew it was important to stay on top of these skills, otherwise clients were going to look elsewhere." 01. Take a course She and her husband invested in a week-long course in After Effects. "It was extremely effective, but what really pushed our skills was actually doing the work," she says. "We took on a couple of personal motion graphics projects to practise with and offered a regular client, who we were creating static infographics for, a free animated version." 02. Learn by doing "I really think the best way to learn is by doing," she says. "Don't be put off by the financial commitment. Really, you don't need to invest anything more than your time. Put some time aside each week to learn the software but set yourself a brief first as it's much easier to learn new software if you have a goal to get to." 03. Watch tutorials "There are so many great tutorials and videos online," Hampson adds. "Typically I would just video search for what I wanted to achieve in Google – something like 'create a pulse animation in After Effects'. "I prefer to watch video tutorials because I can see exactly what the author is clicking on and the micro-steps it takes them to achieve a task. This video was very useful, for example." 04. Read up Illustration by Flavio Montiel 40 amazing After Effects tutorials How to move over from Photoshop to After Effects A beginner's guide to designing interface animations How to prepare Illustrator graphics for After Effects Export After Effects animations to HTML5 Get started with animation in After Effects Understand the 12 principles of animation Next page: Illustration: Flavio MontielIt's not just creative skills that can help boost your career; getting a handle on the business side of things can be just as important. When he joined Moving Brands as a design intern, Jed Carter never thought he'd be very involved with copywriting, but it's a skill he's developed through the creation and curation of presentation decks and the agency's weekly newsletter. "It's certainly the most surprising skill I've picked up," he says. "I now understand and appreciate the fine art of crafting a sentence that has the potential to persuade someone to buy your idea." 01. Business writing John Simmons of branding and UX consultancy 3sixty was inspired to attend a business writing course from Dark Angels. "From lengthy proposals to a simple headline, we have to read and write at work," he says. "Making it compelling communicates our thinking and makes work more productive and fun." He describes the course as life-changing: "It provided a safe place to discover hidden abilities. Each of us left confident we would transfer these skills to work." 02. Analytical skills Analytical skills can also make you more useful to your employer. Yuriy Oparenko, a designer for Sennep, recently added a Google Analytics Individual Qualification to his skillset. "I've always been interested in not only making things look beautiful, but how to make them work," he explains. "Being able to understand Google Analytics allows me to learn how people behave online and make more informed design decisions." 03. Qualifications Oparenko studied through Google Analytics Academy. "I wouldn't say it's too challenging, but it requires some preparation and prior experience with Analytics," he says. "The exam is 90 minutes long and you can't pause it, so you need to dedicate a decent amount of time to it." 04. Read up Illustration: Flavio Montiel7 pricing models – and which you should choose How to work smarter not harder 20 top tools for freelancers Learn the art of negotiation How to market yourself as a freelance designer: 7 top tips How fan art can get you paid Illustration: Flavio MontielYou're a graphic designer, so you don't need to worry about web design, right? Wrong. It's an increasingly important skill for designers – and it can be the thing that sets you apart when you're competing with other designers for a job. "You can find jobs as a graphic designer if you don't know how to code, but I still think it's a crucial skill for designers – maybe even more than ever before," says freelance graphic and web designer Mirko Humbert. Don't panic, you don't need to be a fully fledged programmer, "but you do have to be 'code-literate' to do anything related to building websites or apps," says Humbert. "This is what will help you land a job, or new projects if you are a freelancer." 01. Start with free resources There are plenty of resources to get you started. Creative director Matt Rice of London studio Sennep recommends Codecademy. "It a great place to start for beginners and the lessons are free," he explains. CodePen is another good place to start experimenting. "It's a good resource for inspiration in terms of more playful things you can do with code," Rice adds. 02. Study the masters That was more or less how Rice originally approached coding. "I took people's cool experiments, looked at the code and tried to work out how they were done, or a least manipulate them to create something myself," he explains. 03. Learn by doing Coding is largely a question of learning by doing, Humbert believes. "Build real-life projects that give you results you can share in your portfolio," he advises. "For example, you can try to build a WordPress plugin that you can then share with the community, and get some feedback from an experienced developer." 04. Read up Illustration: Flavio Montiel16 top online coding courses Nail your HTML with this cheat sheet 9 of the best resources for learning HTML and CSS Illustration: Flavio MontielMany people find coding is a lot easier and more fun than they imagined, but it does depend on where your natural talents lie. If your brain just doesn't work in that way, fear not: you no longer need to be able to code to bring your interactive ideas to life. 01. Start prototyping A moving prototype is a great way to see how your design might work in reality. "Making static designs come to life helps you understand pain points in your design and discover what works and what doesn't. Some tools we've been using at Sennep include InVision, Marvel, Flinto, Pixate and Atomic," says Sennep's Matt Rice. For a more in-depth look at some tools that help you design moving prototypes without dabbling in code, look here. 02. Do an intensive workshop A related field is UX, or user experience. UX is essentially about designing systems that users find easy and pleasurable to interact with. Rosie Isbell, senior experience designer at Wolff Olins, boosted her UX skills a few years ago by completing a UX workshop run by Adaptive Path. "It was 'intensive' but really hands-on, which meant I was able to bring it back into the work I was doing the very next day," she says. "It really encouraged me to continue to focus on service and experience design and push this within my projects and career." The latest iteration of the course is called SX Intensive, and explores how to design multi-channel experiences. 03. Read up Joseph Bramall of Well Made Studio first embarked on learning UX and frontend development by searching around the web and Twitter for courses and workshops. "I ended up buying A Practical Guide to Information Architecture by Donna Spencer and going on a UX Bootcamp course run by Leisa Reichelt, who has some amazing projects under her belt. From there I went on a massive self-initiated learning drive," he recalls. "It's helped my career loads. I've been able to take more responsibility for projects, communicate better with suppliers and other designers and have more control over the way things work and who we work with." 04. Be inquisitive For those wishing to boost their UX stills, Bramall advises: "Be inquisitive, read as much as you can, and remember to focus, UX is a broad field and you won't be able to cover it all. Take small steps and you will get to where you want to be. Join UX and web design groups and take an active interest in it." 05. Read up Illustration: Flavio MontielThe 20 best wireframing tools 10 top prototyping tools How to prototype a mobile app with Adobe XD 5 ways to improve your UX design View the full article

The term 'artworker' can mean different things to different people. But in general, it's more of a technical, detail-oriented role than that of an illustrator or graphic designer, both of which are more focused on conceptual ideas and creativity. An artworker, in turn, will take those creative design concepts and edit and rework them, format them, and then package them into a finished piece of work. This usually involves such tasks as adjusting colours, tweaking typography, addressing inconsistencies, correcting spelling and grammar, and getting files print-ready. Note though, that artworking isn't just done by those with an official 'artworker' title. Even if you're a junior designer, the chances are you'll get handed a lot of artworking tasks. What artworkers do each day Dane Beasley, artworker at Hogarth Worldwide in London, offers an insight into what day-to-day life of an artworker looks like: "We work on editing documents that have already had the creative and design signed off," he explains. "We then use the rules of the client to implement a far stricter layout. "Headlines, body copy, logos and imagery should all be working together in a way that respects the client's brand guidelines and the print specifications. Everything should be aligned, with no widows at the end of paragraphs. The copy should be tracked to fit within the space required. In short, we're the middlemen between creative and design." Beasley says he's worked with a range of brands as an artworker. “The bulk of the documents I’m involved in are brand internal communications, so brochures and research documents across an array of different markets. My daily tasks range from minor copy changes, text positioning, removing unwanted letters and spaces to resizing documents, delivery checks, print/proof checks and creating first-stage artworks.” Dane Beasley's daily tasks range from minor copy changes through to delivery checks and creating first-stage artworks Artworking is usually highly formalised. At Birmingham agency LIFE, everyone has an artwork spec sheet for every job. "It's a basic guide and means nothing is missed," explains Glynn Harvey, creative artwork group head at LIFE. "You read it constantly as you artwork a job and then again before you do a PDF to print. It's vital to read, read and read again." You also need to keep communicating throughout the process, he adds. "As most jobs are time pressured, it's important everyone with a stake in the job knows and understands what stage it's at, and how much resource is required to get it to the printers." How artworkers perfect print designs That final stage, preparing files for print, is of crucial importance, says Elizabeth Lennon, artworker at Hogarth Worldwide. "I'd typically check that the artwork matches the print spec and the page size is correct with bleed on images," she explains. "I'd check the correct fonts are being used and give a quick overview of line endings. If the file has cutter and fold guides, I'd check these work correctly, but if unsure, I'd create a mock-up. "I'd also check that any spot colours will print correctly and check the colour separations in Acrobat. I'd then package the open artwork and print PDF, ready to send on through to the printer or to the client." There are a number of standard tasks you perform every time you prepare files for print, says Michele Stocks, in-house designer for PR agency Nelson Bostock. "For instance, you make sure everything's in CMYK, and that there's at least 3mm bleed. You make sure all the artwork and important information is housed within the set margins. If you haven't done this, you risk your text, artwork or logos being cut off by the cropping process, or for white lines to show around the edges of your pages because you didn't have any bleed on it." Back and forth There's also a lot of back and forth involved, Stocks adds. "You'll often have to liaise with the printers – or the clients if they're having it printed themselves – to make sure you understand the nuances of how they want it printed. "For example, with one client I have to have a specific amount of colour density, because their paper is so thin, you can't have too much colour or it won't look right." Wieden+Kennedy's FINLANDIA social media campaign was based around outstanding characters whose combined ages made 1,000 years It's also about having a wider appreciation of what the design is aiming to achieve, points out Jody Burson, artworker at Wieden+Kennedy London. "Whatever job you're working on, it's essential to know where it will sit in the world," she says. "There are different considerations when artworking a print job for a billboard poster rather than a digital file for social media or a piece of 3D packaging. Plus you always need to refer to the client's brand guidelines to ensure you're adhering to their requirements." “The FINLANDIA social media campaign [pictured above] was based around outstanding characters whose combined ages made 1,000 years,” says Burson. “I had to create individual posts for Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, taking into account how they could work across all three platforms. The files were set up in the RGB colour space and all images had to be in RGB too. “I made minor adjustments to graded images to ensure the copy was legible on such busy backgrounds. I also cropped the images and considered the logo’s placement so it was consistent, adhered to brand guidelines and would be prominent enough on all types of devices.” In summary, artworking is not just a narrow technical role, but something that should draw on the broad range of your design knowledge and creative skills. "The work is often fairly meticulous, but there are also opportunities to be creative and free," stresses Burson. "Every job I work on challenges me and gives me new opportunities to learn." Harvey concurs. "It's not just sitting in front of a screen resizing ads, which is what I once thought an artworker did," he says. "You take the big creative idea and use your knowledge and experience to not only point out what can't be achieved, but to enhance projects and add that wow factor, especially with print finishes and cutter guides." Five tips to be a better artworker 01. Communicate “I’d advise any new designer to communicate properly with the print company,” says Kayleigh Cripps, marketing graphic designer at Find Me a Gift. “Every printer is different, and they all have their own set of guidelines: don’t just assume they all expect a 3mm bleed! Allow yourself extra time for error, and don’t rush.” 02. Do a test print first “I’d also strongly recommend doing a test print first, especially if you’re producing brochures, booklets, or anything else where you’ll be printing a large quantity,” adds Cripps. “It will save you time, and money, in the long run.” 03. Understand your tools “Creative suites are continually updated, so you will never know everything there is to know about a single program, like InDesign,” says Burson. “But the more you practise, the more you will discover easier and quicker ways of working.” 04. Seek advice from colleagues “Don’t be afraid to ask questions,” adds Burson. “Most of what I’ve learned has been from continually speaking to those around me and always asking questions. There are always multiple ways of achieving the same result. By speaking to others you’ll discover the most efficient.” 05. Get into a flow “Learn to focus and be methodical, as you’ll need a keen eye for detail,” says Beasley. “Feel the flow of the work and you’ll fall right into it. It can be robotic, especially handling a large amount of files, so start slow and then you’ll flow into the work a lot smoother and faster.” This article was originally published in issue 272 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 272 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Related articles: The essential guide to colour correction The 10 best design books that aren't about design A designer's guide to typography and fonts The designer's guide to image editing in Photoshop View the full article

Ever wanted to design and publish your own books? We certainly have. Leading designers Tony Brook and Adrian Shaughnessy thought the same too. So, in 2010, frustrated at mainstream publishers, they launched Unit Editions. Since then the progressive independent publishing venture has gone from strength to strength, proving with its high-quality books on graphic design that print is far from dead. The success of Unit Editions also shows that, despite the market for free ebooks, you don't have to be in the money to tackle the print sphere and publish your own books. Here, we talk to Shaughnessy about how he and Brook ventured into the world of self-publishing without losing money, and how, with a bit of self-promo savvy, you could design and publish your own books too. 01. Find your audience online Manuals 2: Design and Identity Guidelines followed hot on the heels of Unit Editions' sellout Manuals 1 The success of Unit Editions has been made possible by the internet. Bar a few bookshops around the world that the duo have a personal relationship with, the books are only available through the Unit Editions website. "If we couldn't do that, we wouldn't be here, or we'd have to borrow half a million pounds to set up a publishing company. But because of the way the internet has blown away so many barriers, we can do it," explains Shaughnessy. "We bypass [the book trade] completely and deal directly with the people who are interested in our books. So if we produce a book on, say, Total Design, the Dutch group, there's probably only 2,000 people in the world that are interested. We can find those people, through social media and the internet. If we had to use conventional media channels it would be prohibitively expensive." 02. Pool your resources Unit Editions' Type Plus investigates the practice of combining typography with images to increase effectiveness and impactWhen we spoke to Shaughnessy [in February 2015, when this article was originally published], Unit Editions had just three permanent staff: a designer, an editorial coordinator and social media specialist. However, Unit Editions is lucky in that it can also rope in extra help from the Spin team when required, to bump the numbers up to five or six. "Somebody once said a really good thing to me: nothing succeeds without the right number of people. I think you can muddle along for a while with just a few hands, but at some point you need the right number of people and I think we're moving towards that," says Shaughnessy. 03. Think global Unit Editions' Supernew Supergraphics is a collection of the best architectural, environmental and interior graphic designIn the company's early days, because money was tight, the pair outsourced printing to China. "Chinese printing is fantastic, and very sad to say, substantially cheaper than printing in the UK and Europe," says Shaughnessy. However, since then it has started printing in Europe sometimes. "I would love to print everything locally, but it does push the price up," he continues. "We'll still print in China for certain things, but where possible we'll print in the UK or Europe, simply because we get it quicker." 04. Be your own client The compact edition of Unit Editions' wildly successful deluxe version of Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer (1918-81)Going it alone does come with plenty of perks. "We don't have anybody breathing down our necks. We don't have anybody telling us how our covers should look or we've used the wrong colours," smiles Shaughnessy. "It goes back to our frustrations with mainstream publishers who will tell you things like: 'Oh you can't do that cover because it needs a photograph on it.' Or 'I want to see what a manual looks like.' We know designers don't need that kind of signposting, so we can just go ahead and do it, but it's having the confidence to do it. "You have to be very confident about what you're doing and also you have to be respectful of your audience. You have to know what people want and what they feel and what they think. And if you make a mistake, it's your fault – it's your problem." 05. Be prepared to put in the hours Type Only, published by Unit EditionsShaughnessy's closing advice to would-be publishers? You can do it yourself. "You can. You really, really can. The internet, social media, allows you to tell everybody that you've done this and I would just urge people to realise that they can do it themselves." That doesn't mean it's going to be easy – you'll need to be prepared to put in the legwork. "I did four hours on Christmas day," he continues. "I can't step off the treadmill at all. It's constant, constant work. But it's what I want to do, so I don't find it a strain. So I would say to people: just do it yourself, if you can!" Watch the interview Watch the rest of our interview with Adrian Shaughnessy of Unit Editions in the video above. This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Subscribe to Computer Arts here. Liked this? Try these... How to design a contemporary book cover The 10 best design books that aren't about design 26 books every graphic designer should read View the full article

You may be forgiven for thinking that the Oculus Rift VR headset was created solely for use as a gaming device. That is no longer the case, as there are now lots of creation tools springing up, including VR sculpting and painting apps. This project will show you how virtual reality can be used in a character concept pipeline. We will explain how to sculpt in VR and how to paint a character model, in this case a robot from a mining colony. We will be using a few concept sketches and paintings that are imported as reference planes. The final model and scene is 'photographed' in VR with a number of different lighting scenarios. These are then taken into Photoshop for compositing into a final render. The software we will be using is Oculus Medium, which is an immersive virtual reality experience that lets you sculpt, model, paint and create objects in a VR environment. The software enables you to create expressive works of art, whether you're a total beginner, an aspiring creative or a professional artist. Using Oculus' Touch controllers enables the user to employ intuitive hand gestures and movement for a natural, tactile experience. The final sculpt will be a character that can be posed and exported with painted colour detail, for use in another app or for 3D printing. 01. Set up Oculus Rift Take a while to get your VR legs before jumping in The video to accompany this tutorial (which you can download here) is recorded in VR and the experience that you will see on screen is not representative of the full experience. Once you have your Oculus Rift and sensors all set up it would be beneficial to spend some time understanding how to hold and use the controllers. Open up Oculus Medium. The first video starts as we enter the Oculus Medium scene. 02. Import reference images Find some robot concept art to use as reference On your computer, look for the default Medium folder and look for a folder called _Import. In there you will find a folder for images and a folder for meshes. For this tutorial we bring in some robot character concept art to use as a guide in the scene. Pull back on the Support hand thumbstick and click the reference button at the bottom of the panel, which resembles a book. This will bring up the References panel. Click Import to add any images that have been saved to the _Import folder. They are now available to use as reference. 03. Add the reference imagery to the scene Select 'Move with sculpt' for your reference images After selecting the images you imported, they should appear in the VR scene. Pull back on the Support hand thumbstick to exit the reference panel. To move an image, click on one and it will display a green outline to show it is selected. Pressing the green button on your Tool hand will bring up options for the reference image. Now hit the green gear button and select 'Move with sculpt'. Move the reference image to a position that works for you and enables you to model in front of it, and repeat this for each of the reference images. You can also delete images from the scene using this options panel. If you don't select 'Move with sculpt' the image will lock to a position in the scene. This can be useful for adding signs and graphics to your VR scene. 04. Block out the base of the robot Enable the mirror function to save time on your sculpt We will do a very rough layout model. Push forward on your Support hand thumbstick to bring up the tool radial menu and make sure you have the Clay tool selected. Pressing the trigger on the Tool hand adds clay to the scene. As the robot is symmetrical, we need to enable the mirror function by clicking the yellow control panel button on the Support hand and selecting Mirror. 05. Change default stamps You can customise the brush shape to suit your needs We started sculpting with the Clay tool and with a default sphere shape. Although this is the most basic sculpting tool in Medium, it can be customised with a variety of different brush shapes. To change brush shape, press the green gear button on the Tool hand controller and at the top of the panel you will find the default brush shapes. Select one to make it the active shape at the end of your sculpting tool. Medium comes with a large catalogue of stamps, which are located in the menu below the default brush shapes. 06. Split the model into parts Split your model into layers using the Cut tool Use the Cut tool and slice up the model, which automatically creates a new layer for each part. Push forward with the Support hand thumbstick and select the Cut tool on the radial menu. Remove the head first by moving the line through the neck while pressing the Tool hand trigger down. If you have done it correctly the head will be in a separate layer. 07. Navigate layers Make sure you know which layer is which Pull back the Support hand thumbstick and make sure you have the Layers panel selected, the first button on the row of icons at the bottom. From here you can rename, delete and merge your layers. For example you can use the eye icon next to the layer to hide individual layers as you work. If you point your Tool hand at a part and hit the trigger, you will automatically select the relevant layer, indicated by the yellow highlight. To cut a particular layer, re-select the main layer and continue cutting the model into individual parts. 08. Adjust environment settings With the scene settings you can configure the world to your liking So far we have been using the default environment settings. You may want to configure your environment to suit your own style. To do this, pull back on the Support hand thumbstick and click the button that resembles the world. From here you can change the sun colour, adjust the sun brightness, turn off the Skybox and change the background colour. You can also turn off the ground plane and just see the background colour you have chosen. Configure the world to suit your style and play around with the settings until you are happy. 09. Adjust material settings Each model per layer can have its own material, enabling you to mix things up Seeing as though we are making a robot, let's change the material to a metal shader. You can set a material for each model per layer so you will have to choose each layer and adjust it to suit. To do this make sure you are on the Layer menu again, then select the part you wish to change the material of. With the layer selected, press the green settings button on your Tool hand. On this menu, change the material by clicking Metal at the top middle. Now you can change the roughness, diffuse settings and the occlusion of the material. 10. Pick a colour Use the colour palette to choose colours, or just grab one you've already used with the colour picker As we are about to start working on each layer at a more accurate level, we might want to change the colour as we go along. Make sure you have the Clay tool activated and click the colour palette button on the Tool hand. Use the picker from the top to select an existing colour from your sculpt, or select black or white. Any clay you add from now will be the colour you have selected. 11. Increase layer resolution Make your sculpt less blocky by increasing the resolution For some areas of the model that carry a lot of detail, you may notice that when adding clay, the resulting brush stroke is blocky and jagged. To solve this, it is worth increasing the resolution of the layer. Go to the Layer menu. On the right-hand side, you can find the Increase Res option to increase the resolution of the selected layer. Every time this is done, the layer bounding box gets smaller, increasing the density of the voxel grid. Doing this in a physically large layer could result in it being cropped to fit inside the bounding box. 12. Apply clay in strokes Create a continuous brush stroke by holding down the Tool hand trigger If you hold down the Tool hand trigger with the Clay tool selected and move your hand, this will create a continuous brush stroke. This can be changed by pressing the green gear icon on the Tool hand and selecting a single stamp at the top right of the panel. You can also enable line mode, which will lock the brush stroke along a line that protrudes from the Tool hand. 13. Define the shape of the torso Use sphere and cube brushes to create the chest and abdomen To begin creating the detailed parts of the robot we will make a start with the torso. Looking at the reference start building up the shape using the library of stamps at your disposal. Make sure mirror is activated as shown earlier. Use a combination of the sphere and cube brushes to create the form of the chest and abdomen. To subtract parts of the model double-click the green gear button and the colour of the shape at the end of the tool will turn red. This will now remove clay from the sculpt and can be used to create shaped recesses in the sculpt surface. 14. Use the line mode to add bars Lay down protective bars in line mode At the bottom of the torso we want to add some protective bars. Use the cube stamp for a hard edge and go into tool settings and select the line mode. Lay down the bars and make sure they intersect where needed. Edges can be neatened by using the subtract clay mode in conjunction with the line tool to remove clay from the sculpt and to add a chamfer to the edges of that layer. 15. Utilise stamps Try combining stamps to create interesting effects Press the green gear button to bring up the Tool Options menu. There are a large range of stamps available, arranged by category. For this project we will mainly be using the Mechanical stamps. When using a stamp, the shape added will reflect the resolution of the layer you stamp it on. Try a range of stamps in add and subtract modes to create interesting shapes. Next page: Finish off your VR character 16. Create the shape of the head Build your robot head out of mechanical stamps Make sure you have the head layer selected and pick some stamps that give you a cylinder and the rim for the shape of the head. Mechanical stamps are a great place to start for stamps of this nature. For the top of the head layer we use the subtract mode to create the hollow in the top. Use basic square shapes to add the grids at the front. This is best done with the 'single' brush mode. 17. Add shoulder pads Put the shoulder pads in their own layer so you can position them separately to the arms The shoulder pads can be created using some of the built-in stamps. Choose a shape that reflects that curved shape and apply to a new layer. This means you can position the shoulders separately to the arms. The shoulder pads on the concept appear to have a rough surface, so we can add the rough texture using a basic Clay tool with an organic stamp. Using the 'surface' mode found under the Brush Options menu, the brush can be applied directly to the surface of the model. The stamp will follow the surface normals. 18. Define the shape of the arms Change the brush size with the Tool hand thumbstick The arms are made up in the same way as the rest of the sculpt. The best stamps to use here are still the Mechanical ones. Start by creating some cylinders using the line brush method to create the basic arm structure. Remember you can push forward or pull back with the Tool hand thumbstick to increase and decrease the size. Add a lot of visual interest with really complex stamps and make sure that the layer resolution is set high enough before adding clay in order to avoid rough or jagged edges. 19. Establish the shape of the hands Model the hand separately from the arm if that makes life easier for you The hands are made using a combination of stamps. Add a block of clay to represent the base of the hand. Add in lots of disk shapes to represent the knuckles and each finger joint, followed by small cylinders to represent each finger bone. Add a thumb on the side in the same way. You can split the model down further if you like and use the Cut tool to separate the hand from the arm. We only need to make one arm and leg as we will be duplicating and mirroring the limbs across the world axis. 20. Define the shape of the legs Check to make sure your legs pose looks good from the side The legs are comprised of very simple shapes, compared to the upper body. They are basically a group of cylinders with some complexity to add detail. Make sure when you are building them that you get the pose correct from the side. Adding cogs and wheel shapes among other greeble to the back of the knee gives the sense of a functioning robot joint. 21. Determine the shape of the feet Adjust the position of the feet to ensure that the pose maintains balance The feet of the robot are essentially a metal cage. Using a cube or square stamp, select the line brush mode. Begin to create the base shape of the cage, remembering to adjust the layer resolution as needed to ensure that the edges are crisp. Keep adjusting the position of the sculpt's feet to ensure that the pose maintains balance. To do this, select the foot or leg layer you wish to move, then using the inner grips of the controllers, you can move that layer around independently from the rest of the model. 22. Add high levels of detail Use the Smooth tool to cover up seams and jagged edges Once the shapes for all the layers have been defined, any additional details can be added, as well as sharpening any edges which are jagged due to low resolution. The Smooth tool can also be used to blend any seams together, where different brushes meet. Remember to make sure that layers don't clip due to bounding boxes shrinking when increasing resolution. 23. Photograph inside Medium There are plenty of options for capturing images and footage of your sculpt There are a few methods to capture images from inside Oculus Medium. You can capture stills, record video or record live scenes for playback in VR. These methods can be accessed by pressing the yellow control panel button on the Support hand. When capturing a photo or video, the camera can be locked to the sculptor's hand, to follow the headset or free float in the scene. This last method is useful as you can take multiple exposures of the same scene using different materials or lighting setups in a way that is similar to multi-pass rendering. These 'passes' can be combined to create interesting effects in Photoshop. 24. Paint and comp Take lots of photos them comp them in Photoshop In the Control Panel there is a Photo button. Lower the FOV to 0 to stop distortion. Lock the Photoframe to the world with the small Globe icon. Hit the Photo button to take a picture. Now move the lighting and retake. Keep repeating until you are happy. These images were brought into Photoshop where I composited them using the VR Photographs and layer blend modes. 25. Export for other programs Medium can export in FBX and OBJ formats The options for export can be found by pressing the yellow Control Panel button on the Support hand and selecting Export. The options include the ability to reduce polycount through a process called decimation, which involves setting a target polycount that the application will try to match. The formats you can export as are FBX and OBJ with the ability to export colours as a texture map or by vertex colour. With these options you should be able to export the file in a format that most software is able to read. This article was originally published in issue 228 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists – packed with expert tutorials, inspiration and reviews. Buy issue 228 here or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: 13 tips for making a VR gaming world Convert a photo into a VR set 5 tips for sculpting in double-quick time View the full article

There’s really no limit to how much you can learn when it comes to drawing and painting animals. However, this workshop will be less about how to draw anatomy and technical approaches and more about how to boost your art and take it to the next level. Spending too much time working on mastering techniques and lead you away from prioritising stories and original approaches, resulting in strong painting skills, but fewer good ideas. Mastering the skill of creating personal art can significantly boost your own commercial artworks. This workshop will give you some useful tips and tools, so you can turn up your art and character designs a notch. After all, every artist wants the viewers to care about their art. Hopefully, these tips can help you make progress in that direction. 01. Repeat, repeat, then repeat again It takes a lot of goes to get the perfect sketchI rarely nail a sketch at the first attempt, so don’t be afraid to produce several revisions. I’m a perfectionist (for better or for worse), so over the years I’ve developed a habit for revisions. It’s become a good habit, because I’m not only improving with every sketch I make, but I also end up with lots of versions I can go back to, merge together with a new one, and create the best possible results. 02. Be creative with your selfies Selfies are a perfect source of referencesStudy yourself in the mirror, or record yourself on video. It’s beneficial to make creatures feel more human, which can be influenced by our own expressions. I like doing this, since I get an excuse to make funny faces without being questioned by people who think they know better. 03. Study real animals There are a fair few animal videos on the internet you can studyWatch photos, online videos and nature programmes, study your own pets. Why not try recording them in different situations? After all, a frozen frame from a video is much more authentic and natural than a staged photo. 04. Be personal Use your life to inform your artYour memories and life experiences are priceless. Find your inspiration and tell your own stories through your characters or creatures. What makes you smile, laugh or cry? Consider adding your own pet to your art, or maybe something funny and embarrassing? I tend to draw lots of horses, foxes and cats, since I used to be one of those typical girls who hung out a lot at the stable, and the fox is a common animal here in Sweden. And I see our two silly cats doing stupid things every day, so it’s hard not to get inspired by that! 05. Don't be afraid to ask 'what if...?' Keep your work spontaneousTake my piece with the tiger chasing the balloon for instance. It all started with that tiger alone, reaching for something. I wanted to try something different, and started thinking that it would be hilarious to paint something about a tiger and a scared balloon. Totally random! Asking “what if?” helps you explore more ideas, for creating interesting creatures and characters. 06. Know your anatomy Anatomy can be accurate and exaggeratedThe anatomy doesn’t have to be 100 per cent perfect. But it does still has to be believable. Luckily, many animals share similar anatomy, so you only need to figure out the significant features of the specific animal you’re drawing: proportions, posture, significant details and so on. The bones and limbs are attached in a similar way, so if you learn how to draw one animal, you’ll get a shortcut to a bunch of other ones, too. 07. Play with light to add story Lighting can communicate different moodsTry out different variations before settling on the final one. Think about the mood, and ask yourself, what do you want to say with your piece? Cute or romantic pieces work well with a sunny, backlit magic hour light, while dark, hard shadows may be more suitable to indicate danger. Study colour scripts for films to see how the studios have solved certain situations and moods. Using actual photos as a base for colours is also helpful if you want to create realistic lighting. 08. Remember Pinterest can inspire, but also trap Don't get sucked into the world of PinterestDon’t get too caught up in browsing other artists online for inspiration. Sites like Pinterest or gallery sites like ArtStation are great for boosting your own inspiration, but I would always say to use your own stories and ideas as a base. This is something I’m constantly working on. 09. Include a sense of interaction Interactions are a brilliant way to tell a storyI like art where you can see some kind of emotion in the characters, because that’s something we all can relate to. The characters or creatures can be cuddly, comforting, angry, sad… It doesn’t really matter, as long as you feel something. Take the painting I Love You Bro (above) for instance: some couples have said to me that they remind them of their kids, or even themselves. 10. Use strong body language Body language says as much as a facial expressionIt all starts with definite body language, so try to nail that before diving into the details such as facial expressions. To help do that, try to imagine how your character would pose themselves if it didn’t have a face. I know that sounds a bit creepy, but it makes sense, since body language tells you much more than one might think. Play around with different poses in your rough sketches, then you’ll be able to pin-point which one will be the most suitable to tell your character’s or creature’s story. 11. Paint glossy, realistic but cartoony eyes 12. Ensure that viewers can relate to your paintings Timing can make a piece relatableWith my Hobbit cats piece, people could relate to it because it was funny and familiar. I even used my own cats as models. Things just suddenly fell into place – my cats resembled Bilbo and Gollum! It’s not a coincidence that I painted this during the same time as The Hobbit was showing at the cinemas. The timing was perfect and inspiration struck hard. 13. Use economic brush strokes Transparency can make brush strokes look more confidentOne way to make paintings or sketches look cleaner is to lock the Transparency on some of the layers and keep painting within brush strokes. I do this a lot to keep things nice and clean, and the brush strokes look much more confident. This technique can also be a lot of help when painting hair or fur. You’ll gain more control over smaller strains of hair, whiskers, eyebrows and so on. 14. Visualise the line of action Lines of action are useful for conveying moodsTry to think of your character or creature as one simple line of action and build the pose around that. This goes hand in hand with my tip on body language (see number 10). Straight lines indicate a more aggressive pose, while softer curves exude a sense of calm. 15. Work with a limited colour palette Single colours really leap of the screenExperiment and see what complementary colours work with your piece. I like to decide on one significant colour and let that be the most saturated one. And I pick a less-saturated complementary one to support it. The fastest way for me is to start with a monochromatic painting and save the bright colours to the last. Or just settle with the monochromatic scheme. This article was originally published in issue 140 of ImagineFX magazine, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists – packed with workshops and interviews with fantasy and sci-fi artists, plus must-have kit reviews. Subscribe to ImagineFX here. Related articles: 7 must-know painting techniques for artists 20 best album covers of 2017 13 imaginative web comics to inspire you View the full article

Hey, it’s OK to be a dummy sometimes; especially when it comes to the complexities and nuances of the increasingly vast Adobe Creative Cloud suite. So as a creative (or indeed anyone whose career or hobbyist interests rely on making things with image and text that look clear and pretty) what better gift than the power of mastering these essential tools? What’s great about this particular well-known brand of reference guides is that it’s written by experts, rather than writers speaking to experts (so in this case, designers). As such, the tips and guidance are spelled out in a way that’s not only comprehensible to those in the design industry, but in a way that is tailored to those looking to work in it. The authors Jennifer and Christopher Smith certainly have pedigree: Jennifer is a UX consultant, designer, educator, and author of 12 or so books on digital imaging and web publishing; while Christopher is president of the American Graphics Institute and author of numerous books on web, interactive, and print publishing technology, including many official Adobe training guides. Seven mini-books Adobe Creative Cloud All-in-One For Dummies (Second Edition) is divided into seven mini-books across a hefty 800 pages, and covers InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC, Acrobat Pro, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe XD. While there’s no doubt this book is aimed more at those at the beginning of their creative software journey, it’s undoubtedly helpful for those already proficient in their tools. There's advice on using advanced features, and of course, helping a Photoshop whizz incorporate other tools and work across different programmes to make their lives easier and their work sparkle. What’s potentially off-putting for a book about how to design well is that it certainly isn’t the most beautiful, or indeed well-designed book we’ve ever seen: the icons are ugly; and the typographic decisions leave a lot to be desired. It’s also slightly misleading to bill the title as as 'all-in-one', when it doesn’t actually cover programmes like Lightroom, Premiere Pro and After Effects. But in fairness, it’s probably wise to master the less complex programmes before tackling moving image and animation software. Adobe Creative Cloud All-in-One For Dummies is certainly aimed more at the beginner end of the spectrum, although there’s definitely a few gems in here for the more advanced. However, it might take a bit of slightly frustrating rifling through this hefty tome to get there. Related articles: Review: Dieter Rams - Ten Principles for Good Design 26 books every graphic designer should read 5 must-read books for design students View the full article

With the new year upon us, we can’t think of a better way to refresh your workflow with our brilliant masterclasses and workshops at Vertex, our event to bring the CG community together! We have a broad range of sessions to attract any artist and they’ve been carefully curated. From games and VFX through to VR, we’ve covered all the bases including character concepting, real-time creation and more. You’ll be able to take away skills to upgrade your skills immediately with leading industry pros and learn from the world’s best creative studios no matter which area you specialise in. Glen Southern - Creation for VR, in VR VR genius Glen Southern will be showing the process of concepting a character, using tools such as Oculus Medium in his ‘Creation for VR, in VR’ workshop. This will cover initial setup, learning the UI and setting good practice rules for working in this space, then will look at sculpting in 3D, using stamps and navigating with your body and hands, as well as texturing and output for other formats, including 3D printing. Adam Dewhirst - How to build a human in one day Modelling supervisor Adam Dewhirst from The Mill New York will teach you how you can create a digidouble in less than 24 hours in his workshop ‘How to build a human in one day’. Using a range of techniques from photogrammetry and mesh wrapping to The Mill’s custom human rig, Dewhirst will delve into The Mill’s ‘master human set up’, and highlight how they’re investigating the future challenges of CG human models. Saddington Baynes - Mass customisation of visual imagery Saddington Baynes CEO Chris Christodoulou and senior digital artist Marc Shepard will present everything you need to know about the mass customisation of visual imagery and discuss how technology can help creativity to flourish. The duo will demonstrate the technical backbone and processes that sit behind mass customisation, alongside the tools and software that can help artists work faster (with emphasis on Maya and Nuke). A High Elf from Total War: Warhammer Danny Sweeney – Total War: WARHAMMER character development From Creative Assembly is character artist Danny Sweeney who will reveal some of the workflows and challenges of working on the game Total War: WARHAMMER 1 & 2. Sweeney will talk about the character development pipeline and techniques at Creative Assembly, as well at how some of the High Elf, Dark Elf, and Skaven units were developed, re-purposing existing assets, detailing your high-poly sculpts, creating hair and fur within technical limitations, creating ragged cloth, getting the most out of your UVs and more. Bader Badruddin – A Blue Zoo masterclass in Cartoony CG Character Animation for TV Blue Zoo series animation director Bader Badruddin will be revealing the animation secrets of the award-winning studio. Badruddin will take you through a shot from beginning to end showing you the thought process behind animating a character shot in a short amount of time without sacrificing quality. Forget everything you were told about how to animate and get ready for a fresh new way to approach your work. Mike Griggs - 3D fundamentals workshop CG generalist Mike Griggs will bring his 20 years of CG experience to Vertex in his 3D fundamentals workshop. Following his popular Bootcamp, Fundamentals and Basics sections in 3D World, Griggs will guide you through the process of laying down the foundations of becoming an efficient and effective artist. Don’t miss out, book your ticket now at vertexconf.com. There are still some amazing workshops we’ve yet to announce so keep an eye on our website, where you can also find out more about the other amazing speakers, workshops, recruitment fair, networking event, expo and more. Read more: Why Vertex is a must for CG artists How to land your dream job in 3D 12 mighty Maya tutorials to try today View the full article

User experience is not magic. You don’t run a simple test that Becky the marketing intern read a blog about once and uncover quick-fix solutions to generate huge growth. UX strategy is a science: a science that has been around since long before the first computer blipped into existence and long before UX became a buzzword. All scientific theories begin as a hypothesis. The assumption of purpose. Why are these events happening? Then you test the hypothesis by collecting data to validate or invalidate the hypothesis. It then becomes a theory. 10 essential tools for freelance UX designersA theory is a validated explanation of why something is happening. A theory is not based on bias, nor is it based on what 
the loudest person in the room is saying. It’s based on factual data collected through a replicable method. Without that structure, it’s easy to run a test and fallback on confirmation bias, or data manipulation, to get the feedback you want. That’s not how this works. We don’t control the outcome. We find a means to communicate the complex nuance of user behaviour in a simple way. Sometimes the data proves us wrong and that’s OK. The goal isn’t to always be right; it’s to uncover the facts. Google User Explorer is a great first step in formulating ideas on what users want and how they expect to find it User data solutions like Google Analytics rely heavily on assumption. You can export records and use a service like IBM Watson to find correlating trends. However, don’t confuse data with fact. Predictive modelling or assumptions are the first step, but they don’t answer the golden question of why. Why a user is motivated to take an action is the central focus of UX. This is the inherent problem with user experience. Everyone thinks they have all the answers. UX then becomes guided by perception bias. Think of it this way. The sales team thinks they know what customers want to buy and the marketing team thinks they know how to convince customers they want it. Management has an approved budget based on what 
they assumed the teams would need a year ago and it likely didn’t include budget for UX research. Sound familiar? Each organisation, department or employee has their own perspective on what should be done based on their own experience with customers. The problem is they’re all right. The bigger problem is that they’re all wrong too. Organisations that fall into this perception trap often find themselves avoiding the conflict of a heated debate and try to serve everyone. The problem with trying to serve everyone is that you’re not serving anyone. The job of user experience is to remove that bias and help the group to understand a bigger picture: the needs and expectations of the customer. So how can we reframe the conversation and make it less about opinion? Let data do the talking. Collecting data The process of collecting data is misunderstood by the vast majority of people. It does not need to be devoid of emotion, nor does it need to focus strictly on usability. What it needs to have is a purpose. What kinds of data are you collecting and why? There are two core types of data to collect: Qualitative: Non-numerical, emotional feedback from participants – think first reactions or personal opinion-based feedback. What you liked and why, and descriptions instead of numbers. Qualitative = quality. Quantitative: This is numerical, scientific feedback – 'Perform this action and rate the ease of completing the action on a scale of one to 10'. This is the basis for systems like Net Promotor Score (NPS). Quantitative = quantity. Quantitative data If you’re tasked with creating a baseline for customer satisfaction on member sign-up or checkout in a shopping cart you’re going to need quantitative data. This lets you collect unbiased numbers that show a clear progression from where you began to where you ended months or years later. This is crucial in showing the importance of investing in UX within an organisation. Many organisations will see the initial improvement and not understand the value in retesting. Seeing an increase in signups, revenue or drop in support requests is fantastic but there are many variables that could influence results. Attribution is your friend. It’s also the friend of the departments that you will be working with to showcase explicitly that the testing performed and subsequent changes were validated. This goes back to the scientific validation we discussed earlier. Collect the data, make the change and validate that the change was accurate. If it wasn’t, create a hypothesis as to why it wasn’t and begin again. The trick is to always try to prove something wrong. Qualitative data If you’re redesigning a consumer facing website without a long-term UX plan it may be okay to focus on qualitative feedback: descriptions and emotions. This works well for design-centric UX like landing pages for marketing or blogs. This does not work well for long-term strategy as trends are fluid. What works today for a tested demographic may not work well next year, so be careful. Set up targeted questions to get feedback on crucial pages in your UX flow Qualitative feedback is harder to distil into strategy because what users say they want and what they actually want are two completely different things in most cases. It requires a lot of foresight into when to peel back the layers of feedback and dig deeper with follow-up questions or facilitation. Without the context of motivation, you become trapped in a feedback loop. This tends to lead down the perception trap again. If you’re stuck without direction you will try to find meaning in the data by applying bias. Once that happens, you focus on the wrong meaning and the data becomes useless. Finding the right meaning Let’s take a look at another example: Tenants in a New York office building would complain because, in their opinion, there was too much time in-between pressing the button and when the elevator would arrive, ding and open. Several tenants threatened to move out. They wanted a faster elevator to solve the problem. This is qualitative feedback and emotional responses. Management requested a feasibility study to determine cost and effectiveness, which means hard numbers and quantitative data. A different perspective from someone in the psychology field focused on the tenants’ core needs by digging deeper than their initial feedback. They 
ignored the numeric feedback of the financial study because it was not cost-effective to replace the elevator and rebuild the structure to accommodate the tenant’s suggestions. Once you understand the needs of your customers you can quickly map out the most intuitive path to their solution The psychologist determined that finding a way to occupy the tenants’ time would offset this frustration. They suggested installing mirrors in the landing area. The manager agreed due to the low cost and quick fix to see what would happen. Miraculously, the complaints stopped. Now you see mirrors installed in hotels and office lobbies throughout the world as a cost-effective way to appease the frustration of elevator users. Your data is only as valuable as the questions you ask and to whom you ask them. Asking the right questions Let’s assume you are in the process of redesigning a website for a client. You’ve been asked to perform a user test to help define the direction the design needs to take. Think broad stroke details: colours, fonts, layout, sizing and so on. You propose a qualitative test. Don’t compose a questionnaire for the survey without thinking about how a user may first respond. This is why you need to formulate your hypothesis first. It provides important direction. If you want to collect feedback on three website homepages you could run a set of questions and repeat them for each. The repetition is important for collecting similar feedback on each website. But what would those questions be exactly? If you test 10 participants and eight of them come back with completely different feedback it makes your job harder than it needs to be and falls back on bias to prioritise the data. Ask questions that are very pointed to get actionable feedback. Instead of asking 'What do you like about the homepage?' ask 'Without scrolling, do you know what this website is marketing?' Instead of asking 'What do you like about the menu navigation?' ask 'Looking at the menu, is it clear this website has information on careers?' You also have to factor in how you propose the questions. Is the question that you’ve asked leading them toward the goal itself? For example: Leading: 'Find the careers link in on the top of the page. Click on it to view information about the available careers.' Less leading: 'What link at the top of the page would you click on to view information about the available careers?' Ideal: 'How would you expect to locate information about the available careers on this website?' Instead of guiding the user towards a goal, you are moving the decision-making back onto the user themselves. From this, you will get a better understanding of how that user, and their specific demographic segment, will expect to navigate the website. If you asked one of the first two questions you lose out on all of that data. It’s not always about the question you ask, but how you ask it that defines the result. If you are unable to compose such defined questions, you are moving too quickly through the process. Take a step back and think about the pain points of the users in which you’re trying to communicate. Each decision you make should be working toward providing an effective solution for not only the business but their customers as well. Organisational UX maturity At Candorem we have a straightforward system for understanding the UX maturity of our clients. This enables us to quickly define the need for additional data collection, what type of data to collect and how quickly we can begin providing guidance. It’s also a great way of understanding the existing perception of the value of investing in UX. This can also break down into four core levels of data that they will have available for us to start assessments. Level 1 data: Google Analytics 
and heatmaps Level 2 data: Curated customer data (email, gender, location and purchase history by customer segment) Level 3 data: Customer survey data (likes, dislikes, ratings and interest levels), anonymous website recordings Level 4 data: User testing sessions, customer persona profiles and quantitative data Businesses will have some variation of what we’ve outlined above. If they don’t, get them set up with Level 1 and allow adequate time for collection of some low-level data. Mining this data is crucial in creating your own hypothesis. When an organisation unfamiliar with the nuance of UX defines the goals for a project without supporting data to guide them, it limits the potential outcome. Setting a goal is easy, but defining the right path takes time and experience. Increasing revenue is not a goal, it’s an idea. Set specific goals like increasing revenue ten per cent for a segment of customers aged 24-35 that are shopping for a specific category of product. This consists of specific requirements that can be tested to generate a hypothesis, validated to create a theory and initial baseline, and then retested to validate the plan for growth over time. User experience is about understanding the needs and expectations of your customer and collecting the necessary data to tell the story in an unbiased way. This article originally appeared in net issue 298; subscribe here. Related articles: 11 huge web design trends for 2018 Quiz: What CSS framework should you use? The 14 most exciting open source projects on the web View the full article

On 23 June 2016, the UK voted in favour of leaving the European Union and putting restrictions on the free movement of EU citizens into the country. While Parliament is currently collating its report from an inquiry on ‘The impact of Brexit on the creative industries, tourism and the digital single market inquiry’, some are already considering the effects that Brexit will have on the VFX and CG industries. The creative industries According to the Creative Industries Federation (CIF), the creative sector makes £87bn a year that would be at risk if we were to restrict immigration and movement, due to the industry’s heavy reliance on freelance staff, many of whom are from the EU. A survey of 250 firms conducted by the CIF found that three quarters of companies employed EU workers and two-thirds said they could not fill those jobs with British recruits. With the potential restriction of talent from EU countries, the visual effects and animation industry in the UK will undoubtedly be heavily affected. In 2014, the then-business secretary Vince Cable said: “The UK’s creative industries are amongst the strongest in the world, worth £71.4 billion per year to the UK economy and supporting more than 1.7m jobs. Visual effects and games in particular are a great British success story.” UK & Ireland is also currently the largest market for animation in the EU with average 30.5 million admissions between 2010 and 2014. Impact on employment In a recent interview with 3D Artist, Blue Zoo cofounder Tom Box said: “We noticed that out of everyone that applied for animation roles in our studio, less than 10 per cent were of a standard we’d consider ready for employment.” “I heard same from other studios too. This is tens of thousands of people which is crazy when there’s a skills shortage and studios are struggling to recruit. This will be amplified with Brexit closing off freedom of movement because an average 35% of studios’ staff are non-UK.” According to Creative Skillset, employment in the VFX industry is expected to reach 7,600 in 2022 with the gross value of production in the UK expected to rise from to £323m by 2022. Some of the shots in Star Wars: The Last Jedi were completed by UK studio Jellyfish Pictures The level of EU talent Phil Dobree, head of Jellyfish Pictures, said in an interview with The Guardian: “If the industry is among the world’s very best it is because it has easy access to the very best. More than 30% of people working in the UK sector, including at Jellyfish, are EU nationals. Brexit could wreck that.” Jellyfish Pictures recently completed work on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as well as having previously worked on Black Mirror and Rogue One. “We have EU animators, modellers, riggers, lighters, compositors, CG supervisors,” Dobree said to The Guardian. “All the key skill areas. From Spain, Italy, France; from junior to very senior. These people are difficult to train and extremely sought after.” “Often, when you’re doing a short-term job – a commercial, a TV series – you need people for a month or two.” “Right now, we can fly them in pretty much the next day. So what happens after 2019?” Opportunities abroad On Sky News, Manuel Reyes Halaby, a computer graphics supervisor, said that the uncertainty over his immigration status has made him consider other options. “It makes me feel uncertain about what is going to happen, so you start checking out other possibilities.” “There are all the other places in the world you can work, and there’s a lot of work going on, so you always tend to have more cards up your sleeve.” While the UK is currently a global powerhouse for visual effects, if the talent from the rest of the continent cannot live and work in the country, then they will simply look for opportunities elsewhere and take the quality of work with them. As Dobree concludes in The Guardian, “Britain’s CG and VFX industry will simply move on.” Scott Ross will be speaking at Vertex about VFX after Brexit Hope for the future But at a select committee culture secretary Karen Bradley says, it’s not all doom and gloom: “I have met a number of people in the creative industries – I’m not going to say who they are as it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to say – who have told me that they’re not worried about the loss of freedom of movement because they believe the sector will thrive.” At Vertex 2018, Digital Domain cofounder and industry veteran Scott Ross will discuss British VFX after Brexit with 3D World Editor Rob Redman. Ross will offer up his insights into the way studios are managed, people/talent are recruited, trained, cared for, as well as the logistics of modern VFX houses. He will look at what is considered to be a threat: the workforce, which is historically a migratory one and how non-UK nationals might find that they are just as able to work for the big studios as they do now but also how a non-EU based trade deal could open up opportunities for other partnerships. Listen to his expert views at the Olympia, London on 13 March. Book your ticket now at vertexconf.com, where you can find out more about the other amazing speakers, workshops, recruitment fair, networking event, expo and more. Read more: 30 free 3D models Network with industry experts at Vertex The ethics of digital humans View the full article

From pencil drawings to bold photography, this year's best album covers showcased a huge range of styles. It was a year where album covers sparked debate (three releases in the first half of the year prompted us to ask whether we had entered the era of bad graphic design), and it seems the way in which music artists package and present their work is more important than ever. Take a look at our pick of the best album cover designs from the past 12 months. 01. Björk – Utopia Utopia is a strange and inspiring work of art Björk returned with her ninth studio album this year, and as one of the most visually compelling artists around, her album cover artwork was of course breathtaking. The Icelandic songwriter teamed up with self-taught artist and musician Jesse Kanda, who has previously worked with the likes of FKA Twigs and Arca. 02. Girlpool – Powerplant Jaxon Damme produces another illustrative wonder for Girlpool Jaxon Damme has worked with LA duo Girlpool for the past few years, producing hand-drawn, interesting designs that depict different characters in a childlike, inquisitive manner. This latest design – for their second album Powerplant – saw the band steer away from bright and bold colours in favour of a more subdued, doodle-like illustration that reveals more depth the more you look at it. 03. Thundercat – Drunk The shot for the cover was taken in Flying Lotus' pool This 70s-style album cover for Thundercat's 'Drunk' certainly catches the eye. The vinyl edition also features individually designed sleeves for each side with artwork created by the musician's friend, Atlanta illustrator and comedian Zack Fox. The photograph for the main cover was taken in Flying Lotus' pool, with Thundercat telling the Independent that the shoot "felt totally natural". 04. Gingerlys – Gingerlys Notice the band name and title written in graffiti font Comic book artist and illustrator Eliza Walton created this brilliant album cover art for Brooklyn-based five-piece band Gingerlys. Depicting a city scene with bold shapes and striking characters, Walton's choice and use of colour is perhaps the biggest thing to take away from this work. The graffiti font used for the band name and album name is also a particularly nice touch. 05. Beck – Colors The Deluxe Vinyl edition cover features a central hexagon die cut with varied coloured shapes Speaking of his creation, album cover artist Jimmy Turrell said that Beck commissioned both him and Steve Stacey to create the entire visual representation of his latest album. Packed full of bold colour, Turrell says he and Stacey looked back to their youth for inspiration, considering what stimulated them visually as kids. The Deluxe Vinyl edition allows fans to remove and change pieces to create their own bespoke cover. 06. Julien Baker – Turn Out The Lights The freehand font style complements the painting style of this sleeve This painted cover for Julien Baker's second album is as beautiful as they come. Using a colour palette that's perfect for the emotional vulnerability present in Baker's songs, it's a design that seamlessly flows through to the vinyl sleeve design, with illustrative flowers delicately placed throughout. 07. Wolf Parade – Cry Cry Cry A simple but extremely successful design for Wolf Parade Marking the Canadian's band first album in seven years, Wolf Parade's Cry Cry Cry is a great example of how simple linework and straightforward graphic design can produce an album cover that is not only successful but striking. The grid-based layout is a classic style but one that works especially well here – particularly when it comes to the bold colour choice. 08. Half Waif – form/a Half Waif also featured in our 2016 best album cover round-up We featured Half Waif's 2016 release in our roundup of the best album covers 2016 and songwriter Nandi Rose Plunkett has once again produced a beautiful album cover for her 2017 EP form/a. The cover photograph was taken by band member Adan Carlo and hand-stitched by Chilean artist María Aparicio Puente, who is known for her avant-garde embroidery. 09. Little Simz – Stillness in Wonderland McKay Felt created this immersive illustration for Little Simz This in-depth album cover illustration for UK artist Little Simz is strikingly detailed, offering an emotive look into the inspirations of the album. The design shows Little Simz's head split open, revealing trees from the roots below her chin, and surrounded by a cityscape of her hometown of London. It was created by McKay Felt, who has previously worked with Thundercat and Flying Lotus. 10. Moses Sumney – Aromanticism A simple photograph speaks a thousand words in this album design Not featuring the name of the artist or album on the cover art is always a risky move but sometimes, the image speaks for itself. This statuesque, beautiful photograph of Sumney in a blank and bare room is perhaps a metaphor for the album's deeply moving content. The fact we are unable to see Sumney's head in the piece also makes it much more stimulating and intriguing. 11. Brother Ali – All The Beauty In This Whole Life This album cover art was a created by hip-hop head Daud Sutton Classical Islamic geometry was used throughout the packaging for rapper Brother Ali's latest release. Adorned with arabesque ornamentation it was created by Daud Sutton.The english lettering was done by Qasim Arif, and Rhymesayers – Ali's record label – in-house designer Alex Everson. 12. St. Vincent – Masseduction St. Vincent chose model Carlotta Kohl to feature on her album cover This bold album cover art set off the beginning of St Vincent's – aka Annie Clark's – visual representation for the whole Masseduction campaign. The model used in the photograph was Carlotta Kohl, who also features in another campaign photo with Clark. Placing Kohl off-centre, to the right-hand side of the cover is a brilliant choice. 13. Caddywhompus – Odd Hours Illustrator Max Seckel creates beauty in rare places Acrylic artist Max Seckel works primarily with subdued, pastel tones, and he uses his work to explore the beauty of the everyday. Weaving the outdoors with the indoors, his work juxtaposes material items against lush, natural settings. This piece for Caddywhompus is particularly striking. Placing the band name and album title in the sign is a great touch. 14. Lorde – Melodrama Artist Sam McKinniss and Lorde reportedly bonded over their love of Prince Brooklyn-based artist Sam McKinniss painted this intimate, blue-lit portrait of Lorde for her second album cover. Inspiration for the piece came from the album itself, which is all about 'nighttime attitudes' and the before-and-after of city parties. McKinniss worked from a photograph taken of Lorde in a friend's apartment in Brooklyn. 15. Jay Som – Everybody Works A mismatch of images makes this Jay Som cover stand out This screenprinted, primary coloured album cover art was used for Jay Som's debut album Everybody Works. Featuring layered imagery that combines an owl's face and soccer balls, the fresh, unique approach is what makes this design stand out. The overlapping imagery on top of an otherwise classic layout makes for a modern approach. 16. Feist – Pleasure Feist runs towards colour in this album cover art The front cover of Pleasure is adorned with bougainvillea, its vibrant colours contrasting against a darkened sky that pretty much perfectly sums up the album's shifting tone – of seeing the light despite the darkness shrouding your mind. Feist was living in Los Angeles last winter and drove past the bougainvillea building almost every night; it was two weeks before her eureka moment. 17. Alvvays – Antisocialites A National Geographic photo was used for this cover art Canadian band Alvvays used a National Geographic photo for the cover of its second album. The original photo was taken by B. Anthony Stewart, and enitled 'Campers await breeze to sail fiberglass dinghies, Camp Sebago Wohelo, Sebago Lake, Maine'. The updated version features bright colours and a high contrast. 18. Jane Weaver – Modern Kosmology The font used on Modern Kosmology is as inspiring as they come It's this album cover's use of typography that really makes it stand out. The mirrored writing and complimentary colours mean it maintains its impact no matter which angle you view it from, while the soft font chosen for the album's title at the bottom contrasts nicely with the rest of the design choices. It's a brave and bold design. 19. Hand Habits – Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void) An album cover design that's both flat and deep Featuring Hand Habits – AKA Meg Duffy – sitting strong and nonchalant, in an abstracted room, this is an album cover design that's both flat and deep. Using bright colours for the walls of the room and then black and white, blurry imagery for Duffy and her belongings makes for an emotive reckoning and a design that stays with you long after you've looked at it. 20. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN Lamar's cover art was one of the most controversial designs of 2017 Love it or hate it, the release of Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. was an album cover design that made waves in both the design and music communities. It sparked a huge range of 'DAMN.' memes that spread across Twitter and saw Lamar's design beginning to break down the wall between himself and the audience. Read more: Selena Gomez releases worst single cover ever The 20 best album covers from the 70s Artists redesign their top 10 albums of 2016 View the full article

Giving your portfolio a quick once-over to freshen it up is always a great idea, and as we start a new year, what better time is there to get on with it? We've made it dead easy for you, by having a look at the portfolios of some heavyweight designers to see what they do particularly well. So here are five quick – genuinely quick – tips to smarten up the way you present your work to the world. 01. Cut, kill, destroy Shelby Hipol's portfolio site only features his best work This is one of the tougher tips to follow, but it's possibly the most rewarding. If you've got your portfolio looking pretty lean as it is, further cutting is going to be hard, hard graft. Do it anyway. Cut, kill and destroy 10 per cent of whatever you think of as being finished. Portfolio 20 pages long? Get it down to 18. Got 40 projects on your website? Make it 36. You have to exercise caution here, as you don't want your body of work to appear too light. But, generally speaking, give your portfolio one last brutal edit and it'll really sing. Check out the portfolio site of Shelby Hipol, the NYC designer currently at McCann NY: there's no wasted word or image here. We're guessing Hipol could easily triple the content on his portfolio. But he mirrors its minimal design by only including his very best projects. 02. Tell a new story Herbert Matter's portfolio site opens with a bold intro image The simplest way to refresh your portfolio without adding any new work to it is this: rearrange what you've already got. Think of it like a film. Screenwriters talk about 'plot points' – the tent poles upon which they hang their story. You can tell a new story by simply moving around your plot points, which are your projects. This method works particularly well with physical portfolios, but the principles work just as well online. Should your career-defining work go first or last? Do you really want your favourite project lost in the middle? What's the very last thing you want the reader to see? Check out the portfolio site for the late Herbert Matter. It starts with a big, bold intro page. You enter and then land on a video about his visual language. It's the story of his life and his work. 03. Be an agent provocateur George Lois' website features a prominent carousel of quotes endorsing him It doesn't get much quicker than this: make a list of your most satisfied clients, your favourite commissions, the design teacher who gave you the best grades. Email them and ask for a recommendation, a quick quote explaining how creative you are, or how you brought the project in under budget, or how you never missed a lecture and smashed all of your exams. Go steady with it. You definitely don't want to overdo this. But the odd recommendation can make a big difference to a potential client or possible employer. Check out the portfolio site of the legendary designer George Lois: "the agent provocateur who triggered advertising's Creative Revolution," goes one quote on his front page. How could you resist looking through his stuff after reading that? 04. Make it easy to use Ryan Booth's site gives a concise rundown about him, key clients and awards on one page, with clear links to his key projects and contact details You could have a lean, well-organised portfolio, complete with plenty of great recommendations from clients. But one really obvious thing could be letting you down: is you portfolio easy to navigate? If your portfolio is online, don't sacrifice usability for overly convoluted or gimmicky design. If you have a print portfolio, think about page numbers, chapter headings, colour co-ordination, maybe even a ribbon bookmark, anything that helps the reader out. Hopefully, whoever's reading it will be looking at your work more than once, flicking from this project to that one and back again. Do them a favour. Make it easy to read, chronologically or otherwise. Have a look how Ryan Booth does it: about, clients, recognition – all on the homepage. Done. Simple. Really easy. You know who he is and what he's done and you don't need to click into loads of different pages. 05. Don't look like your dog just died Ed Fella's handwritten-style portfolio site puts his photo centre stage This one's open to debate. But, at time when more people are familiar with our Twitter name than they are with our face, a photo could make all the difference. A proper photo, that is. Not an illustration. Not a multilayered photo-manipulation thing. And definitely not some arty, clipped, black and white shot in which you look like your dog's just died. A portrait – head and shoulders. A photo can stop your portfolio looking cold and clinical, and help the reader get a feel for who you are. Sometimes it's nice to see the whites of a person's eyes. Look at the veteran designer Ed Fella. Click on his site and you get a real feeling for who he is and what he does. And his photo helps with that. Liked this? Then read these: 32 brilliant design portfolios to inspire you 8 great graphic design portfolio sites for 2018 20 tools to make you more creative in 2018 View the full article

Industry experts reveal what it takes to succeed in the games industry in ImagineFX 157 – on sale now! Computer games graphics and art styles have come a long way since Pong and Pac Man, and there are plenty of opportunities for artists to get involved and shape how digital worlds look. Take Raphael Lacoste for example, the art director behind the huge Assassin's Creed series. We talk to him to discover how he tweaks the world around him into an immersive space that players can spend hours exploring. Buy issue 157 of ImagineFX here Elsewhere in issue 157 we look inside Giorgio Baroni's sketchbook and discover why he likes to mix concepts from the past and the future, plus in his workshop, Elijah McNeal shows you how to create a futuristic weapon. On top of that there's reader's art in our FXPose, and reviews of all the latest tools and books. Bursting at the spine with creative inspiration, you won't want to miss ImagineFX issue 157! Check out what's in store with a look at the lead features, below. Never miss an issue: Subscribe to ImagineFX here Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to ImagineFX Small is beautiful Discover what life is like in a small studio Small studios have got their work cut out for them. Not only do they have to compete with triple-A studios, but they also have to achieve amazing results with fewer people. It's not all hard work though, as we find out when we chat to artists from small games studios and discover their unique benefits. The Art of Assassin's Creed Origins Art director Raphael Lacoste reveals what it takes to make a virtual world Reality is all around us, so why try and recreate it? That's the thought process of Raphael Lacoste, the art director behind the phenomenally successful Assassin's Creed franchise. Discover how he uses reality to create new environments with our in-depth interview. Artist portfolio: Jesse van Dijk Explore the world of Destiny 2's art director With his work as a video game art director, Jesse van Dijk wants his work to be three things: relatable, memorable, and surprising. While it's rare for one image to nail all three, a voyage through his portfolio reveals how he successfully created a "mythic science-fiction world" for Destiny 2. Create your own character IP Create a playable avatar with this workshop Ever thought about creating your very own video game character? With this workshop from concept artist and illustrator Devon Candy-Lee you'll learn how she creates an avatar with a character and an identity all of its own. ImagineFX is the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists – packed with workshops and interviews with fantasy and sci-fi artists, plus must-have kit reviews. Special Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to ImagineFX for you or a friend for Christmas. It's a limited offer, so move quickly... Related articles: How to press start on your game art career 6 great concept game art tips How neuroscience and UX impacts video game design View the full article

As with any component-based library, managing state in Vue can be tricky. While the application is small, it’s possible to keep things in sync by emitting events when values change. However, this can get brittle and prone to errors as the application grows, so it may be better to get a more centralised solution in from the start. If you’re familiar with Flux and Redux, Vuex works much the same. State is held in one centralised location and is linked to the main Vue application. Everything that happens within the application is reflected somewhere within that state. Components can select what information is relevant to them and be notified if it changes, much like if it was part of its internal state. A Vuex store is made up of four things – the state, getters, mutations and actions. Changing state The state is a single object that holds all the necessary data for the entire application. The way this object gets structured depends on the project, but would typically hold at least one value for each view. Getters work like computed properties do inside components. Their value is derived from the state and any parameters passed into it. They can be used to filter lists without having to duplicate that logic inside every component that uses that list. The state cannot be edited directly. Any updates must be performed through mutation methods supplied inside the store. These are usually simple actions that perform one change at a time. Each mutation method receives the state as an argument, which is then updated with the values needed to change. Mutations need to be synchronous in order for Vuex to understand what has changed. For asynchronous logic — like a server call — actions can be used instead. Actions can return Promises, which lets Vuex know that the result will change in the future as well as enabling developers to chain actions together. Getters work like computed properties do inside components. Their value is derived from the state and any parameters passed into it Working with commits To perform a mutation, they have to be committed to the store by calling commit() and passing the name of the mutation method required. Actions need to be dispatched in a similar way with dispatch(). It’s good practice to have actions commit mutations rather than commit them manually. That way, all updating logic is held together in the same place. Components can then dispatch the actions directly, so long as they are mapped using the mapActions() method supplied by Vuex. To avoid overcomplicating things, the store can also be broken up into individual modules that look after their own slice of the state. Each module can register its own state, getters, mutations and actions. State is combined between each module and grouped by their module name, in much the same way as combineReducers() works within Redux.pport. Speed up the first load to improve performance By default, the entire contents of the application end up inside one JavaScript file, which can result in a slow page load. A lot of that content is never used on the first screen the user visits. Instead it can be split off from the main bundle and loaded in as and when needed.Vue makes this process incredibly simple to set up, as vue-router has built-in support for lazy loading. const AsyncAbout = () => import(‘./About.vue’); const router = new VueRouter({ routes: [ { path: ‘/about, component: AsyncAbout } ] }) Vue supports using dynamic imports to define components. These return Promises, which resolve to the component itself. The router can then use that component to render the page like normal. These work alongside code splitting built in to webpack, which makes it possible to use features like magic comments to define how components should be split. Want to make your website faster? Developer Jason Lengstorf offers a workshop on modern front-end performance strategies and techniques Jason Lengstorf is a developer who is all about improving performance in his code and his work life. To find out more why not attend his workshop at Generate New York from 25-27 April 2018. Here he will be teaching strategies and techniques for improving perceived load times, as well as actual load times, using only front-end techniques including: The skeleton loading pattern Better loading for static assets Lazy loading Service Workers Better build processes and more! Want to join Jason? Then get your ticket now Related articles: 7 expert tips for nailing web performance How to improve the performance of ecommerce sites 3 top tools for testing web performance View the full article