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In the design industry, storytelling doesn't mean reading a book; it has a wider meaning connected with communicating the story behind a product, company or brand. As Margaret Nolan, creative director at Denomination, puts it: “Storytelling is about capturing what is credible and interesting about your brand and communicating it to the consumer. It can be done in a variety of ways: with words, pictures, the brand name itself, or even product design. Denomination's label design for Squealing Pig alters the words in children's rhyme The Three Little Pigs“A few words can create a vivid picture of your brand,” she continues. “I recently saw some egg packaging that just had a single line of type: ‘Laid by Matilda, Henrietta Biscuit and Pecky.’ It said everything about the brand: small and boutique; an egg producer that knows its product intimately; and someone who loves their hens. “In short, storytelling is about letting the consumer know what the essence of your brand is about: what you stand for. And finding these stories is at the heart of all our briefs.” “We needed to position the brand as a premium boutique offering, with more of an emphasis on winemaking,” says NolanIn Denomination's work for Squealing Pig wines, "the client wanted the brand to be positioned differently from the majority of New Zealand labels, which were quite serious and featured mountains or landscapes in their branding," says Nolan. “Our idea was to use the well-known children's rhyme but change key words to link the pig both to winemaking and to New Zealand.” In this article, we hear from some leading experts in the field on how to improve and finesse your visual storytelling. 01. Dig into the brand’s DNA Jazzbones Creative used the narrative of ‘Every holiday a Masterpiece’ for Imagine CruisingWhat makes for good storytelling from a design perspective? “The most effective campaigns have a clear narrative,” says Nathan Sandhu, founder and creative director of Jazzbones Creative. “And the starting point for that narrative has to be the client’s own DNA – what makes it special and what it offers that is different from its competitors.” So you need to spend time getting know the clients first. “In the best novels, the characters drive the plot, not the other way round. Without a clear understanding of characters – who they are, where they come from, what motivates them, where they are going – how can you put words into their mouths? Exactly the same principle applies to a business narrative.” Before developing the story, then, you need to understand the company; what it stands for, what makes it special, and what makes its product unique. “A small hotelier in Scotland is not the same as a multinational cruise operator; they speak in a different voice and to a different audience,” says Sandhu. “If you don’t put in the leg work getting to know your client and what drives them, you cannot possibly tell their story in an effective and authentic way.” Jazzbones Creative helped Imagine Cruising carve out a niche in the ultra-competitive cruise holidays sector via its highly distinctive ‘Every holiday a Masterpiece’ narrative. “The aim was to stimulate customers to imagine their own dream holidays,” explains Sandhu. 02. Everyone has a story So what type of client does storytelling work best for? Every single one of them, believes Kieron Molloy, associate creative director of Conran Design Group. “We tend to find that the 'story' is the key link between most of our clients, irrespective of their discipline,” he says. “When telling a story, it’s absolutely essential to get to the crux of the issue that needs to be portrayed,” Molloy continues. “So for a FTSE client, understanding what the time-poor investor audience needs to know, and delivering it in a way that is simple and memorable, is critical to their prolonged success. "A clear, fuss-free storyline, delivered in a way that makes the narrative distinctive and memorable, is inevitably what drives the best brand building.” 03. Stick to your story The label designs for London Cru merge vine leaves with maps of the cityOnce you’ve identified your client’s story, the most important thing you need to do is stick to it, says Kath Tudball, design director at The Partners. “When you’ve figured out an engaging and real story to tell, push it and extend it, but stay true to it,” she stresses, and offers the example of their work for London’s first winery, London Cru. “In this case, the city was the story,” she explains. “Fine vintages pressed and bottled right here in the big smoke, so London had to be the visual motif. Different varieties of vine leaf were created from the fine line work of the city map, with the iconic silhouette of the river Thames forming the stem. “An immediate visual marriage of London with wine was created on the label, without needing to see the bottle itself for context. With such a strong visual narrative, anything else would complicate matters, so naturally naming followed the same train of thought.” The signature range also took on the postcode SW6 as a further local reference, with its placement on the label dictated by the geographical reality of the map. “And the individual wines were named after famous London streets that hint at the grapes themselves, such as Charlotte Street for Chardonnay,” adds Tudball. “Even the typography was inspired by the utilitarian conventions of map design.” 04. Empathise with the audience When you sit down and read a child a story, you naturally pitch it to that particular child. And you need to think about who’ll be consuming your client’s story in the same way. “The first thing I do when writing or reviewing any form of storytelling is put myself in the position of the audience,” says Beri Cheetham, executive creative director at The Gate London. “I consider the context in which they are viewing it, and above all, how we want people to think, feel or participate.” And it’s most important to be realistic. “Always remember that people are extremely unlikely to have the same passion for, or knowledge of, a brand that the client does. They don’t have the benefit of having a strategic planner explain the finer nuances of what they’re watching. "They’ve not been waiting all year for a brand to interrupt their precious time to tell them a story. And they’re probably not predisposed to give much of a shit about the message or brand either.” 05. Develop stories within stories The use of textures helped to tell the story of Amys.com, created by SuperrbWhile it’s important that your client’s story is consistent, that doesn’t mean that there can’t be stories within stories. For example, individual campaign stories can complement the overarching brand narrative. “We refer to storytelling in a couple of different ways,” says Rory Berry, creative director of Superrb. “The first is at the start of the process. It’s when we’re trying to understand the brand, so that we can figure out how we’re going to tell that story through the website. That’s about getting a grasp on the brand positioning (within the market), its purpose, heritage, values and ethos. "It’s how we go about creating an experience for the target audience, going beyond the fundamentals of a product or service." Amy’s Kitchen is a community-driven family business with people at its core. “An example of how we told this story is through use of texture on Amys.com, says Berry. “Sections are broken up with rips and paint splats. And almost every element used is hand-drawn. The stroke lines, buttons, icons and fonts; everything is custom. There’s not a single straight line in sight.” “The second way we might use the term storytelling is if we’re trying to convey a specific message. For example on Amys.com, we created a timeline mapping out the brand’s key moments, starting from the day the company began to where it is now. For other clients, it might be about how we represent a particular service offering or convey certain product USPs.” 06. Capture attention There’s no point in telling a client’s story if no-one is listening. “Remember that everything is skippable or shareable,” warns Beri Cheetham, executive creative director at The Gate London. “So you need to think about how you will make it interesting, provocative or disruptive enough to capture and hold the audience’s attention. “How will you make it as relevant as possible by connecting the audience, the brand, the media and the moment? How will you make it participative enough to ensure the message creates meaningful action, and so that it can be measured and improved upon? “What we make either enriches or pollutes people’s lives,” adds Cheetham. When you think about it in such binary terms, it becomes much easier to judge the work, whether you’re the agency or the client.” 07. Tell internal and external stories BGN told the story of what workouts were like at boutique gym V1BEWhen considering the audience for your client’s story, remember that there may more than just one audience, says Jonny Edge, strategist and copywriter at BGN. “At BGN, we may write two versions of brand stories,” he explains. “For instance, one may be for use internally to onboard staff, giving a factual account of how the brand came to be. And the other may be to use with customers, telling a more stripped back, romanticised version, peppered with the philosophy and ethos of the brand to give a greater sense of who they are as a company, as well as where they have come from. Both tell a story, but the purpose of each is very different, he continues. “And therefore so is the tone and overall content. In essence, storytelling comes into a lot of different elements of our brand strategy work, from the brand stories to the formalised proposition or elevator pitch, the campaign messaging we provide, and so on.” Storytelling has been central to BGN’s work with V1BE, a boutique studio gym offering full body HIIT workouts in 50 minute classes. “The key was succinctly explaining what makes the V1BE experience different to the traditional budget gym model, then telling a captivating story about what you can expect in each class,” explains Edge. 08. Keep everyone on board As with any design endeavour, successful storytelling means keeping everyone in the loop and feeling happy about its direction, throughout the process. “So speak to or get input from the people that know the brand best,” advises Berry. “Put together brand mood boards to show the art direction you have in mind upfront, which will help to visualise things early on in the process to prevent you chasing a red herring." If a story is particularly complex, he adds, then storyboarding it can help your client understand what you’re proposing in a way that’s not really possible with flat visuals and can save a lot of revisions and friction. “And lastly, I’d suggest getting developers involved in the concept you’re working on at an early stage, as they can really help you consider how you can bring your ideas to life digitally as well as sometimes ruling out certain options for technical reasons.” 09. Be implicit as well as explicit Design Bridge's packaging for Fortnum & Mason uses storytelling subtlyThe story you’re telling doesn’t always have to be super-obvious to the audience, says Asa Cook, creative director at Design Bridge. “I think you can make the mistake of making storytelling explicit when an implicit approach is far stronger,” he explains. “The human mind is sophisticated enough to make these connections between the visual world and the brand narrative in a subconscious way. The pleasure in discovering the design is in making these connections yourself.” For example, Design Bridge saw that high-end London department store Fortnum & Mason feels like a grand, welcoming Georgian house. “Moving from shelf to shelf is like moving from one part of the house to the next," says Cook. "So each of our packaging designs reflect a part of the rich history of the house.” The worst thing you can do is patronise people, he adds. “There are multiple examples of creative executions that feel like they’re patronising or even insulting your intelligence, particularly when they aim to tell the story of a brand with high purpose. It's often not the brand idea or purpose itself that’s the problem, but the creative expression that misses the mark.” At the other end of the scale, though, designers can sometimes make the story too complex and thus impossible for anyone to actually interpret, even subliminally. “So a story still needs to be simple enough for the design to be bold and intuitive.” 10. Maintain focus on core goals With all of this to think about, it’s important to never lose sight of your core purpose, says Sandhu. Because the ultimate test of successful storytelling is whether or not it achieves its business aims for the client. “A novelist wants his or her readers to finish the book with a smile on their face or maybe a teardrop in their eye,” he notes. “A branding and design agency’s core purpose is to get their ‘readers’ to act in a specific way after reading ‘the story’, whether that means booking a cruise holiday, making a hotel reservation, or deciding to visit a particular destination. Always remember that throughout the process.” Related articles: 6 dos and don'ts for using images in agency projects The 10 best free graphic design courses online 5 ways to use imagery to create better branding View the full article

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Anger. Frustration. Dismay. Even boredom. The unauthorised use of imagery is taking an emotional toll on artists around the world, for sure. Every single day, artists like John Howe report on their Facebook page that their imagery has been used without permission. Exclusive offer: Save 15% on Adobe Creative Cloud now Prints, coffee mugs, T-shirts, aprons, pencil cases… you name it, pinched artwork appears in many forms on Etsy. Then there are those unscrupulous dealers who’ll scan artwork in and sell it as their own to publishers who should be buying work from the original artist. And the problem seems to be getting worse. Mike Lim's artwork, published in Portugal without permission“To be honest, it makes me mad,” says Mike Lim, AKA Daarken, whose work was lifted from Spectrum and used as a Game of Thrones cover by a Portuguese publisher. “Stolen art can be a huge problem for artists because usually the offending party is selling the stolen work for a fraction of the artist’s original rate. You can see how this could become a problem when it comes to finding work.” Howe agrees. It’s not about pride, or originality. It’s about getting paid. “Illustrators’ incomes, generally, are based on selling reproductions of their work, whether through publishing of books, posters and so on, or selling prints and such themselves. Selling a product with an unauthorised image is an attack on the artist’s livelihood.” Howe must hold some sort of record due to the fact that over a dozen different Russian death metal bands have re-used his image The Dark Tower, from his Lord of the Rings illustrations, for their album covers. And he’s got about as much chance of seeing any royalties from Russia as he has from Mordor. A T-shirt seller’s rendition of Michael Whelan’s symbol, copied straight out of the Dark Tower bookIt’s Stephen King’s The Dark Tower that lies at the centre of some of Michael Whelan’s most pirated work. “I invented a symbol for The Dark Tower character The Crimson King, and I see unauthorised examples of its use frequently on CafePress.com, Etsy.com, Ebay and elsewhere,” explains Whelan. “Each time I become aware of it I try to put a stop to it, but it’s like playing Whack-A-Mole – they keep popping up again. Friends in high places He’s dealt with the problem in two ways. When infringements occur on Facebook, Whelan’s webmaster, Mike Jackson, invokes the name of Stephen King. With a following of five million, the author and his team have a lot more clout with Facebook’s legal department and it’s banned dozens of fake fan pages that have used Whelan's distinctive art. Whelan has also signed licensing agreements: one with Sony Pictures which will use the symbol in the upcoming The Dark Tower film, the other with a T-shirt outfit called Katet 19. They will be the sole authorised producers of T-shirts featuring Whelan’s artwork. Both Sony Pictures and Katet 19 have the legal clout to prevent some of the plagiarism. Michael Whelan’s illustration in The Dark Tower: Gunslinger, and a T-shirt for sale onlineNot every artist has major clients like these to kick ass on their behalf, but just about every talented artist out there is being ripped off in one way or another. Tara Phillips is an Australian illustrator whose True Detective-inspired personal work was taken simply so that somebody in the film industry could boost their unrelated Instagram profile. Did they credit Tara? Hell no! Uncredited use of the True Detective-inspired image on Instagram“I’m aware that most people don’t know any better when they post art online, so I gave this person the benefit of the doubt and simply messaged asking for credit,” she says. “After several ignored messages from myself and others, I had no choice but to file an official report to get it taken down. By this point, the post had reached over 12k likes, and had caused a ripple effect of reposts and unintentional image fraud to follow.” Action against fraud Mis-attributed images can be spread like wildfire on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, just as misappropriated artwork can be sold on items on Etsy and eBay. To protect themselves against the claims of artists, most platforms use the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the US. The act basically means that if websites have a process that artists can go through to have plagiarised work removed, then the site is more or less immune from copyright infringement. It can be slow-moving and cumbersome, but getting used to filling in DMCA forms on sites like Etsy is the reality if you want to challenge image fraudsters. Eventually, maybe, the infringer will be banned. Watermarks – along with other measures – work for some artists, but not for others. “I think many of the steps people take in combating art theft are actually more detrimental,” says Mike. “Some people use watermarks, but everyone hates looking at art with watermarks. Not to mention that it’s pretty easy to remove them. Some people post really tiny images. Again, this is not something the general public, or art directors, want to look at.” Many seasoned artists will tell you to choose your battles, and to keep a cool head when infringement occurs. “Take it calmly,” says Howe. “There’s little point in getting upset, it’s not exactly life-threatening! If the infringement is on a platform such as Etsy, the tools are there to allow you to file a complaint. If it’s an individual’s site, then you can remind them that unless they have an authorisation, what they are doing is illegal. Where it goes from there is up to you.” One of the best things you can do is to turn to your community of fellow artists and fans for help. “The only thing I have ever found that works at all is maintaining a solid relationship with your fans,” says comic artist Colleen Doran. “Be honest with them, explain how damaging this behaviour is. It’s my fans who usually find the stuff. Fans will leave bad reviews on items that are stolen, and they’ll spread the word. They’ll support you.” This article was originally featured in ImagineFX issue 152. Buy it here. Read more: The best Wacom tablet deals for November 2017 Where to find unusual images for your design projects The best Black Friday deals 2017 View the full article

You're reading Figma Updated with Support for Pages, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! The UI design tool ecosystem is quite agglomerated. The heavyweights, Sketch and Affinity Designer, are facing some stiff competition from challengers such as Adobe XD and Figma. The latter appeared on my radar when I was surfing Quora. In case if you didn’t get your hands on Figma yet, then you should know that it’s […] View the full article

If you’re looking to pick up a hot iPad deal this November, then you’ve come to the right place. Apple's unlikely to take much, if anything, off its flagship iPad models on Black Friday or Cyber Monday at the end of the month, but there are bargains to be had right now from retailers – and we've got the best ones right here. We’ll be working hard all month to dig out the biggest bargains from the most reputable retailers, and we’ll be posting them here as soon as they launch. And if you're in the market for more creative hardware generally, don't miss the following articles: Best cheap laptop deals, Best monitors for creatives, The best Wacom tablet deals, 6 smartphone deals for designers, and our exclusive Adobe Creative Cloud deal. Read on for the best iPad deals to be had this November... 01. iPad Pro 12.9 (2017) deals Apple’s latest iPad Pro – available in 12.9-inch and 10.5-inch versions – confusingly sits alongside the older iPad Pro model of the same name. You can tell the difference from the specs: the 2017 iPad Pros sport an A10X processor, while the older one has the A9X chip. Thanks to said A10X processor, both the 12.9-inch and 10.5-inch iPad Pro models are faster than the older version. They have an improved screen, with double the refresh rate – which means smoother graphics – and increased brightness. The front camera is also better, and the rear camera has a few more megapixels, too. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2017) is around £150 more expensive than the smaller 10.5-inch model. But with its larger screen, the 12.9-inch model is a solid investment for designers, illustrators and creatives. (Read our review of the iPad Pro 12.9.) If you don’t mind the lower specs and want to save even more money, check out the best deals for the older iPad Pro further down the page. 02. iPad Pro 10.5 (2017) deals At 10.5 inches, the smaller iPad Pro brings a brand new form factor to Apple’s stable of iPads. However, in most areas – other than screen size and resolution – the 10.5-inch iPad Pro enjoys the same tech specs as the larger 12.9-inch model. Like the 12.9, it sports Apple’s ProMotion feature – which dynamically adjusts the refresh rate – and the new screen is brighter as well. It also has the same A10X Fusion processor as the 12.9-inch version. The iPad Pro 10.5 comes in silver, gold, Space Grey and Rose Gold. 03. New iPad 9.7 deals Apple’s latest iPad, the new iPad 9.7 (2017) model, is a replacement for the iPad Air 2. It’s slightly thicker and heavier than the iPad Pro and Air 2 (and the same length and width) – but boasts an improved A9 chip with an M9 coprocessor for enhanced performance, and a higher battery capacity. It’s also unexpectedly cheaper than the Air 2, so it’s perfect for anyone who wants a larger iPad without the higher price point of the Pro. 04. iPad Pro 9.7 deals More than an iPad Air 3 upgrade, the iPad Pro 9.7 instead combines the power and many pro features of the original 12.9-inch iPad Pro (including a Smart Connector port) with the thin frame of the iPad Air 2. It sports a vibrant, colour-accurate screen, impressive 12 MP camera and shoots 4k video. And while it isn’t a laptop replacement, it is the cheapest iPad Pro model out there right now (and considerably cheaper than the new iPad Pro 10.5-inch model above). 05. iPad Pro 12.9 (2016) deals With the iPad Pro 12.9 (2017) model on sale around the world, the price has fallen for Apple’s impressive first iPad Pro model. It isn’t a MacBook Pro 2016 with a detachable screen – but it is monstrously powerful, and the huge, bright, stunning 12.9-inch screen is ideal for illustrators, artists and designers. 06. iPad Air 2 deals Apple might have stopped selling the excellent iPad Air 2 (now that the iPad 9.7 is here) but there are still some fantastic deals to be had on the tablet, particularly refurbished models. The power, brighter screen, better design and upgraded OS make for a brilliant tablet even now, a few years later - and the price point gives much better value for money. 07. iPad mini 4 deals Ok, that's a lot to take in. Need a recap? Here are the very best iPad deals we brought you today... Related articles: 5 best laptops for video editing in 2017 The best drawing tablet for illustrators and artists The best Amazon Cyber Monday deals 2017 View the full article

IBM’s X-Force Research team reports hackers attacking Brazilian banks are using the Windows scripting tool called AutoIt to reduces the likelihood of antivirus software detection. View the full article

Next week, Adobe hits London to host its Creative Meet Up, and you don’t want to miss it. Join us right here on 14 November from 18.30 GMT (19.30 CET) for what looks set to be an unforgettable night of creativity. The event has attracted some of the industry’s biggest names, with Nick Knight, Kelly Anna and Kate Moross among those taking to the stage. Attendees will also get the chance to see some of the latest game-changing updates to Adobe Creative Cloud. Talking the audience through these exciting new features is Principal Manager of Creative Cloud Evangelism at Adobe Rufus Deuchler. Here he tells us exactly what’s in store... What can we expect from this year's Creative Meet Up? We will be showcasing some of the latest innovations for Creative Cloud, covering what was launched at Adobe MAX just a few weeks ago. For those people who couldn’t make the conference, the next generation of CC can be grouped into three key themes: Next Generation Experiences: We introduced a range of new Creative Cloud applications that are designed for today’s cloud workflows. We also made major performance improvements and simplified existing workflows in our flagship apps, like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Accelerating your creativity: From learning, live streaming, user assets, marketplace assets, and working solo, to innovative collaboration tools, we are making it easier than ever for users to express themselves by making what they need available when and where they need it. Introducing Adobe Sensei: Our artificial intelligence and machine learning platform brings together big data and image science to help creators go from concept to amazing experiences even faster. And with the release, we added more Sensei capabilities across the Creative Cloud experience. What applications can we expect to see in action at the Creative Meet Up? I will be demoing some of the capabilities of Adobe’s new apps, including Adobe XD, Adobe Dimension and Adobe Spark. For video, we are launching Character Animator that lets you bring 2D puppets to life. And for those into photography, we’ve launched a brand new Adobe Lightroom Cloud Photography service. We have so many brilliant updates to show that it will be impossible to cover everything in the timeframe, but I promise to choose wisely! What has been a focus for this latest CC update? We always have a strong focus on community and so for the past year, we’ve concentrated on building AdobeLive, our live streaming channel that allows artists and designers to share their creative process with each other. During this time, hundreds of thousands of viewers have engaged for hours of entertainment, learning and inspiration, which is just so exciting. We launched the channel on Behance at Adobe MAX and are increasing the number of hours of streaming so all our members can benefit from the experience. We are streaming creativity three days a week on be.net/live and my team of Evangelists have been very active broadcasting on Facebook and YouTube. If you’re not involved already, you should definitely join us, it’s a fanstastic way to be inspired and learn new techniques. What, in your opinion, is the most exciting new feature of this CC update? Adobe Dimension is a game-changer as it gives graphic designers the power of 3D, with the simplicity of working in 2D. 3D has always been a challenge for graphic designers, because it involves a steep learning curve to achieve satisfactory results. Now, with Adobe Dimension, designers can create photorealistic renderings for packaging, product shots and branding with ease. Tightly integrated with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Dimension also has a robust asset marketplace on Adobe Stock to quickly get started. It’s really exciting to see what designers around the world will soon be creating with this innovative new tool. Thanks to Rufus for this sneak peek of what to expect at the Adobe Creative Meet Up. Want to know more? Join us on 14 November from 18.30 GMT (19.30 CET) as we livestream all the action right here on Creative Bloq. View the full article

Direct mail is one of the most challenging types of marketing collateral to design. The temptation is strong to simply try to replicate past successes and stick with what you know works, but if you want to truly succeed, you have to be willing to try something new. Not every direct mail has to completely reinvent the wheel. The important thing is to find some way to set yourself apart from your competition – whether that’s a creative new type of packaging or simply an attractive logo. Here are some top tips for creating an innovative direct mail piece, along with cool designs that demonstrate those principles. Exclusive offer: Save 15% on Adobe Creative Cloud now 01. Create a mascot or character A mascot can help give your company a faceA fun character can help to humanise your client’s company and encourage people to identify with your message. This Society of Design Etiquette campaign pictured above uses four colourful mascot characters to promote good design principles. 02. Explore subtle textures A spot varnish creates a luxurious feelIt often helps to engage potential customers on multiple sensory levels. The use of foil stamping in Erre’s direct mail design pictured here is visually subtle, but gives the black envelope a luxurious texture to the stripes that recipients can feel as they handle and open it. 03. Use die cut windows creatively Have fun with die cuts, like Caroline HensonA die cut window can express the company’s purpose or values in unexpected ways. This high-concept promotional piece for a hairdresser by Caroline Henson, 'Get rid of your roots', urges the user to visually 'drain' a yellow design of its darker elements. It's an effective visual representation of dyeing brown roots out of somebody’s blonde hair. 04. Get confrontational An element of surprise can stop recipients in their tracksKengo Maeda's Night of the Living Dead direct mail design features an extra flap styled to look like a zombie’s hand. When inserted into a person’s mailbox, the hand can be left dangling out, creating the appearance of a fearsome monster creeping out from inside. It’s a confrontational image that immediately draws the recipient’s eye. 05. Tell recipients what's inside The benefit of opening this envelope is clearA solid call to action is an essential part of any direct mail campaign. Most people tend to look at the address area of an envelope first, so that’s one of the best places to put your call to action (as Tartan Marketing has done here by writing 'For the love of wind power: Member perk pack inside' on the front of the envelope). Make sure it’s clear, concise and gives recipients a reason to look inside. 06. Find engaging ways for recipients to open This direct mail begs for interactionAnother great way to encourage recipients to open your direct mail piece is to make it open in an unconventional way. Warren Hardy for BMW added a perforated pull-tab to this piece that mimics the path of a vehicle cutting through a field of snow. It’s the sort of element that begs the recipient to interact with it. 07. Try special finishes Foil stamping doesn't need to be shiny to make an impactFoil stamping is a creative and versatile imprint method that gives direct mail pieces a little something extra. Bamboo Living’s portfolio design features a white, non-metallic foil to make the logo stand out while also maintaining a natural, organic look. For other brands, a shiny metallic or coloured foil might better complement the design. 08. Show off your product Show the recipient what's inside the mailSeeing is believing, so showing off images of a client’s products or services is often much more effective than simply talking about them. Company Folders uses images of its products to engage recipients of this sample packet envelope. 09. Seal your envelope in a unique way These stickers are a fun touchSometimes the smallest touches make all the difference. For instance, instead of just sealing your envelope in the usual way, consider using a colourful sticker such as the bowling balls used for this festive envelope from Masterskaya Vkusa. 10. Think outside the box A controversial approach from TouchDirect mail marketing doesn’t always need to be in a conventional envelope. Plenty of unusual 3D objects can be sent through the mail. This hand-delivered fake blood bag from Touch is a controversial piece designed to get people talking. 11. Include a free gift Make sure your gift will survive the journey intactOffering recipients a free gift (such as a promotional product or other small item) gives them an excellent reason to look inside; it contains something they may actually want. For instance, this unique desert-themed direct mail campaign by MDG Advertising for MDVIP includes a miniature cactus. 12. Provide something useful Not all direct mail ends up in the recycling binConsider going one step further; instead of including a gift inside your direct mail piece, make the entire direct mail piece a gift. Here’s a cool example: the World Wildlife Fund mailed T-shirts to various schools with the terms of its design contest printed on them. Related articles: How to design a business card: 10 top tips 100 brilliant print adverts Create special print finishes in InDesign View the full article

Route One Print has put together an ebook that contains everything you need to know to successfully market yourself as a freelance graphic designer – and it's totally free to download. Download The Freelancer's Marketing PlaybookGetting your name out there is one of the trickiest – but most important – things for a freelance graphic designer to master if you're to build a successful business and win the clients you want. The Freelancer's Marketing Playbook is packed with useful tips to make that happen. It covers a whole range of different marketing strategies. There's advice for striking the right notes with your digital strategy, but there's also a thorough guide to marketing yourself offline, as well as advice for networking effectively. What's inside? By downloading the ebook, you'll learn everything you need to establish a consistent personal brand to attract the right clients. While a solid digital foundation is all-important, a personal approach is far from obsolete. There are plenty of tips for networking with confidence and honing your offline marketing skills. Once you've started making contacts in the real world, they'll need to find you online so they can see what you're capable of – that’s why The Freelancer's Marketing Playbook also includes advice for improving the SEO of your website and other digital marketing strategies. Your new contacts will have no trouble finding your digital portfolio. Download your copy today to start building trust and nurturing relationships with prospective clients, so you can supercharge your freelance business. About the makers Route One Print is the UK’s largest trade printer. Its aim is to make trade-print easy for graphic designers and print resellers with white label packaging, reseller tools and a smooth order process that helps its clients' businesses grow. View the full article

Imagined scenes that leave you with a sense of wonder make you want to find out more and see what’s just around the corner. Good world building is all about gathering up enough information for you to discover the story inside a composition, and become immersed in it. When drawing and painting a world, ask yourself how the world functions, the relationships between characters in it, and the overall mood and feel you want to set. This allows you to logically and organically develop the story and design. How does the air taste? What can you hear? How do characters get around? Defining your image with subtle rules gives it some authenticity and life. This piece captures the life of someone living in a quirky cliff-top home that overlooks misty, expansive plains. The environment has a sense of personality, spring freshness, and calm, and a cohesive visual language. Through seeing the thought process behind this image's creation, you'll gain an understanding of how to build stories in your paintings. 01. Throw down shapes Find inspiration in shapes and colours to get things goingGather references that inspire and interest you, to use as a visual anchor to refer back to during the painting process. Also consider the mood and theme of the scene: if you want it to feel fresh and bright, throw down shapes using dawn colours such as periwinkle blue and pale yellow. This part is always a mess, but it’s worth it. 02. Define story through line Add the details that tell the storyNow you have a rough stage, start to tell the story. Working over the top of the thumbnail, consider where you want this world to be set. This scene is high up in the mountains, clouds drifting far below, with a house organically built into trees. To imply the mechanics of daily life here, I added in a couple of delivery aircraft. 03. Introduce rough colours Use colours early to bring ideas to lifeWork with what gives you the most inspiration. I put in more colour pretty early. Although many people work in greyscale initially, I find it holds my imagination back and leads to fewer happy accidents, so I play around with colour combinations and look for exciting contrasts – like the coral orange of the gestured-in rooftops. 04. Streamline your image to help with the painting process Set the scene with item placement and a sense of spaceExpand and reduce the detail in your image until you find a balance you're happy with. Define the planes of the environment a little more clearly so that it gives your brain the mental breathing room to process – too much information is overwhelming. It'll also enable you to clean up your lighting to get the mood you want. 05. Identify your setting Create solidity with your selection of sceneryGood world building means the materials and environments should be in keeping with the story you’re trying to tell. I want this place to feel safe and secure even though it’s high up and precarious, so I bring in deep-rooted trees and moss-covered rocks to make this location feel like it’s stable and has been here a long time – and it won’t go anywhere fast. 06. Develop focal points Achieve cohesion through repeating shapesRepeating shape language throughout an image makes it cohesive, so when I create the ship silhouettes, their design is influenced by the shape of the rooftops and greenhouse bubbles. The ships transport plants around in a whimsical way, which will require sunshine and water. I also add details like airbrakes and a rope ladder, for practicality. 07. Carve away Carving shapes with brushes for focal pointsWhen rendering I’ll create shapes and then carve into them with textured or square brushes, defining sharp edges that create focal points. I do this especially for grass trims around cliffs, or on craggy rock formations. Because of this I rarely use lots of layers, preferring the organic approach of painting over forms before erasing them. 08. Flip your image Change the perspective with a mirror imageA trick as old as the invention of the mirror, but flipping your image to check its composition is wholly necessary, as it's a great way to pay attention to your little quirks of drawing. I tend to tilt my compositions due to the hand and angle I draw with, and thus the composition can slide off the page. I darken the rocks in the corner and pull the foreground cliff edge up to balance the image. 09. Get into the details Make a house more of a homeNow it’s time to make this world feel personal, I ask myself how the inhabitants would decorate their treehouse. In my mind they grow mountain flowers for sale, so I dot baskets around outside and fill the ‘bubbles’ with foliage. Those rooftop platforms would experience lots of rain, so I cover them in plants, too. There’s so much beauty to be found in messy details – make use of it. 10. Make changes where necessary Move things around until it feels rightDon’t be afraid to drastically change your composition if it isn’t sitting right. Here, I need something that balances out the bottom left, and the combination of the house and the airship is getting too busy. I use Free Transform to move the ship, and change its colour palette to the white of the clouds and the pink of the roof tiles, which connects it more to the scene. 11. Consider verticality in the scene Use tools to help bring a sense of depth to the settingThe two ground planes are sitting at the same height, which makes the image dull to look at and doesn’t communicate scale well. I increase the airship size even further and use the Free Transform tools Perspective and Skew to warp the bridge into an angle that implies downward traversal, which then pushes the mid-ground down and back. 12. Add figures for scale Indicate scale by adding a figureAdding figures is a universal way to communicate scale to a viewer. I gesture in an airship pilot with a thought to what they’re doing; I want this piece to capture a relaxed moment during a routine morning pickup. When adding someone to a piece, their posture is the most telling thing about their character. I act out this pose to achieve the exact, unhurried vibe I want. 13. Hint at a story and raise questions Inferred relationships between figures adds to the storyI add another figure to provide context as to who lives or works at the treehouse, but also to imply a relationship between the two figures. Raising questions is the best way to pull a viewer into a scene. What is the nature of their relationship? Do they have a history? The over-the-shoulder glance implies a bit of a crush, and that’s a cute detail I can’t resist. 14. Polish the composition Let compositional flow lead the viewer onAs humans we naturally follow the eyeline of other people, so I have a pleasant compositional loop happening through the pathway and the gaze of the figure in the distance. I emphasise that loop by adding airship contrails, which has the added effect of implying there’s a bigger world out there than just these two. That’s always incredibly exciting – just imagine what it could be! This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 151. Buy it here. Related articles 20 best iPad art apps for painting and sketching How to use digital tools to create a hand-drawn look 6 manga artists to watch out for View the full article

While you can create textures yourself, there are several great sites that can provide you with new and interesting textures for 3D work. One of them is Creative Bloq, as we've got 40 superb free textures for you to download and use today. But if there's something specific you're looking for, here are 10 great websites where you'll find thousands of quality, high-resolution textures for 3D work to choose from. 01. 3D Textures At 3D Textures you get those all-important maps, tooJoão Paulo's collection of free 3D textures isn't as big as some other libraries, but the quality of them is great and they come with the added advantage of diffuse, normal, displacement, occlusion and specularity maps. You can download them one by one, but if you buy Paulo a coffee he'll give you a link to the folder containing all of his textures so you can grab them all easily. 02. Texturer Visit Texturer for a comprehensive selection of high resolution texturesTexturer is a creative resource for 3D artists, designers, web designers and animators, providing a comprehensive selection of high resolution textures. For ease of use, all textures are organised into categories and sub categories, featuring everything from brick, buildings and doors to animals, food and fabric. 03. Texturemate Designer Bill Scott shares his resources on TexturemateTexturemate is the online repository of Bill Scott, an electric engineer who also works as a web designer and graphic designer. Here, Scott shares textures, stock photos, brushes and other design resources he creates. The site has a fantastic library of free textures, all organised in named folders so you can easily find exactly what you're looking for. 04. 3D Total 3D Total has thousands of free textures available3D Total is a brilliant resource for CG artists, which includes training, an inspiration gallery, 3D assets and a free textures library. Currently, 3D Total has 16,631 free high-res royalty free images, which you can search through by category or using the search tool provided on the site. Note: images offered here are subject to this License Agreement. 05. Marlin Studios Computer graphics company Marlin Studios has been providing low poly 3D models and textures to the community for over 15 yearsMarlin Studios has been providing low poly 3D models and textures to the computer graphics community for over 15 years. Head to the site's Samples page where you'll find freebies from its texture packs. It offers less generic textures, including samples such as sci-fi textures, textures of Asia, classic architectural ornaments and much more. 06. Textures.com Textures.com features everything from animals to X-RaysFeaturing everything from animals to X-Rays, Textures.com features a wide array of textures for 3D work that you can download once you've registered for an account. You can browse by texture type or view the latest additions to the site. There's even a small selection of tutorials for you to try. 07. 3D Texture 3D Texture includes categories such as cloth and fabric and glass and metalLike CG Textures above, the 3D Texture gallery is a showcase for texture libraries and backgrounds. Browsable categories include cloth and fabric textures, glass and metal textures, sky textures and vehicles/car textures. You can also view new and the most popular images, as rated by the site's members. 08. TurboSquid TurboSquid's good for textures as well as modelsNot only is TurboSquid an extensive library of pro-grade 3D models, but it also hosts "the world's largest collection of textures". It's certainly crammed with stuff and encourages its users to submit their own textures for sale. Simply search for what you need, then narrow down your choices by checking compatibility with 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Maya and many more modelling apps. Related articles: 13 best SketchUp textures 22 mighty Maya tutorials to try today 30 inspiring examples of 3D art View the full article

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We're gearing up to bring you the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2017 discounts on creative tools in just two weeks, but in the meantime, we've got you a great daily deal on a Photoshop mastery course bundle. Adobe Photoshop is the standard for photo editing and so much more. You can make your work stand out by learning to use this powerful Creative Cloud design tool by learning from experts with the Adobe Photoshop and Editing Mastery Bundle. You can get this collection of courses on sale now for just $41 (approx £31). Photoshop can be an intimidating program when you first fire it up. There are tons of tools and features that might look foreign at first. This bundle will take away your fears by quickly teaching you the ins and outs of the app so that you can master every aspect of it. You'll get access to five courses packed with 31 hours of instruction on everything from utilising vectors to colorising photos, and much more. Your photos will look incredible once you finish working your way through this bundle. The Adobe Photoshop and Editing Mastery Bundle usually retails for $306, but you can get it on sale right now for just $41 (approx £31). That's a saving of 86% off the retail price for an unmissable bundle for any creative, so grab this deal today. With our exclusive offer to save 15% on Adobe Creative Cloud now, it's the perfect time to tackle Photoshop. 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: Save 68% on a great tool that converts images to vectors 14 brilliantly creative Christmas gifts for kids Get 15% off Adobe Creative Cloud with our exclusive deal View the full article

Some people start to get that festive feeling the second that the shops clear the Halloween decorations from their shelves, while others wait for the launch of heart-warming Christmas ad campaigns or a good old-fashioned advent calendar to start the Christmas countdown. You'll usually find chocolate in advent calendars, but artist and king of the creative side project Mr Bingo has decided to shake things up with his 2017 Advent Calendar. Instead of a tasty treat hidden behind an infuriatingly difficult to open door, the Hate Mail illustrator has decided to draw 25 naked people and cover them in his own personalised rub-removable opaque gold ink that users scrape off throughout the month like a sexy scratch card. This isn't the first time that Mr Bingo has created a scratch and reveal advent calendar, but the 2017 version does have a few notable exceptions. Unlike before, everyone on the advent calendar is a real person who sent pictures to Mr Bingo. (Just to make it clear: he did ask for them. He hasn't just made the most of a barrage of unsolicited nude photos.) On top of this, everyone on the calendar is dancing, plus the whole thing is printed on high quality paper, which – according to Mr Bingo – makes is "a bit more fucking arty." The artist himself treats people to his own naked form on Christmas day. As well as plenty of nudity, the calendar also comes with a separate track list of the tunes each person is dancing to. Alternatively, you could listen to them yourself in this Tweet. Each calendar is hand screenprinted and signed by Mr Bingo. And don't worry if you've got children, according to the artist "it's just naked people dancing, there's nothing perverted and no hidden surprises!" If you want to get your hands on Mr Bingo's 2017 Advent Calendar, you've got until 10am on 28 November to order the piece of art for £38.50 (around $50) including worldwide shipping. Related articles: Count down to Christmas with this UX themed advent calendar 10 amazing calendar designs How far is too far when it comes to self-promotion? View the full article

It's a moment that, for better or worse, has come to mark something of a milestone in the festive countdown: the John Lewis Christmas advert 2017 is here. A two-minute emotional rollercoaster, accompanied by a slowed-down acoustic version of a classic tune and the niggling awareness that you are being manipulated for commercial gain. This year's advert is tells the heartwarming tale of a young boy who befriends the noisy monster – Moz – under his bed. The 2017 campaign pulls out all the stops. Once again John Lewis has partnered with advertising and design agency adam&eveDDB and this year has also called in Academy award-winning screenwriter Michel Gondry, known for directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, no less. With music videos for the likes of Björk and Daft Punk also featuring on his CV, perhaps this particular director was intended to add a little edge to the year's commercial spot. Exclusive offer: Save 15% on Adobe Creative Cloud now As usual, there's also some notable special effects efforts. While the studio has gone back to basics with Moz, who has been brought to life in true Sesame Street style by two men in a monster suit (we like to think one was sat on the other's shoulders, but perhaps not). His facial expressions were later added with CGI and mo-cap technology. The campaign is part of an advertising splurge from John Lewis, whose budget has risen by £140m to bring the total figure to almost £6bn in the last quarter of 2017, according to the Advertising Association. It marks a trend for businesses to go all-out in the festive season in a big to make up for flagging profits. Won-over viewers can pick up their own plush Moz toy from John Lewis stores (although the likeness between the advert version and the toy equivalent is not exactly uncanny) or share their thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #MozTheMonster. The advert is the latest in a long and effective run of Christmas collaborations between John Lewis and adam&eveDDB. Last year's advert CG showdown included Buster the Boxer bouncing on a trampoline with all his woodland friends, while in 2015 a lonely man on the moon made an unexpected friend in a young girl with a telescope. It has also worked its magic on another major 2017 festive project – Virgin Atlantic's Where I Want for Christmas. The clever campaign enables the airline to get in on the gift-giving game by offering a way for people to contribute to the cost of a flight for their loved one. However, so far #MozTheMonster has garnered a mixed response, with viewers left disappointed and commenting on a muddled message (we agree with this one – why does it end with the boy losing his special friend?). If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, let us know on Facebook or Twitter. Related articles: 14 brilliantly creative Christmas gifts for kidsView the full article

Cursive, or handwriting-style, lettering can be joined up in a smooth and flowing manner, or feature a mixture of joins and pen lifts. It might be hand-drawn or based on one of the many handwriting fonts available. Being more casual than a serif or sans serif typeface, a cursive logo can be a good option for any brand wanting to come across as friendly, approachable, and family oriented. Here we select our favourite examples of cursive logos from global brands. 01. Harrods High-end London department store Harrods strikes a balance between formality and friendlinessSince 1834, Harrods has been the premier department store of London, England. Occupying the high end of the market, the store occupies five acres of land and contains 330 departments. But for many years, that caused a problem, because these all had different visual identities and there was a lack of a consistent brand message. In 1967, Marcello Minale and Brian Tattersfield – aka Minale Tattersfield – were tasked with devising an overarching identity for the store. The understated design they created, based on the store owner Charles Harrods' signature, hits the perfect sweet spot between austere tradition and friendly inclusiveness. Relatively unchanged since, it now adorns not just the storefront but numerous products, from bags to apparel, so has a high monetary value in its own right. 02. Virgin The Virgin logo was a child of the punk eraIn the early days of Virgin Records, its original logo was about as different from its current one as you could imagine. Designed by the great English artist and illustrator Roger Dean, this psychedelic extravagance featured a naked set of Siamese Twins and a suggestive-looking dragon. But when owner Richard Branson signed the Sex Pistols to his label in 1977, whose generation-defining slogan was ‘Never Trust a Hippy’, it was clear that a new design was needed. A stark red, graffiti style design was the result, and was much more in keeping with the times. It’s a sign of how quickly punk style was adopted by the mainstream that it’s survived pretty much intact ever since, and now promotes such mundane fare as fizzy drinks, air travel and insurance services. You can read more about the development of the Virgin logo on the company's website. 03. Paul Smith Paul Smith’s autograph-style logo has helped propel his fashion empire to greatnessSignature-style logos work well when the brand and its owner are inseparable, and that’s certainly the case with the famous logo for British fashion designer Paul Smith. Known for his idiosyncratic take on traditional English tailoring, Smith has grown an empire of more than 300 shops worldwide with an annual turnover of £200 million (around $263 million). And this quirky but elegant logo fits in well with his ethos of ‘classic with a twist’. As elegant as his shirts and suits, this cursive logos speaks to the style and panache of the genius behind the brand. So it’s surprising that it’s not actually based on his signature at all: it was designed by a friend of his called Zena. 04. Kleenex Saul Bass’s classic logo for KleenexSince Kleenex tissues came on the market in 1924, it has been the number one brand of facial tissue in the world. So it’s not surprising that its logo is so recognisable. But what you may not know is that one of the best-known iterations of Kleenex’s logo was designed by iconic designer Saul Bass in the 1980s. His upbeat and friendly design (above) used a style of joined up lettering that’s subliminally full of ‘smiles’, striking the right emotional note for a product otherwise connected with weeping and illness. The redesigned version by Sterling Brands in 2008The Bass logo was subtly redesigned in 2008 for owner Kimberly-Clark by Sterling Brands, curving the logo itself to add to the lighthearted sense of bounciness in the design. 05. Barbie Barbie’s current logo is little different from the 1959 originalFirst created in 1959 by Ruth Handler and inspired by a German doll named Bild Lilli, Mattel’s Barbie has been the best-selling toy brand in the world for more than five decades. That’s partly down to a ruthlessly consistent approach to branding. This has resulted in Barbie virtually ‘owning’ the colour pink, while her handwritten logo has become one of the most instantly recognised in the world. First introduced in 1959 at the New York Toy Show, this cartoony cursive logo has gone through many iterations, but the current version is almost identical to the original, highlighting just what a clever creation that was. There’s a real verve, playfulness and confidence to this design that speaks to the subtle sophistication at the heart of the Barbie brand. 06. Kellogg's The Kellogg’s logo has remained broadly consistent over the last centuryMany cursive logos come with company-approved backstories, and the Kellogg’s logo is no exception. Legend has it that in the early 20th century, founder William Keith Kellogg would sign each packet of his corn flakes personally, as a guarantee of their quality. This signature style logo began to become standardised in the 1910s and 1920s, and quickly became one of the globe’s most recognised logos. The latest version was created by the Kellogg’s marketing team in collaboration with Interbrand in 2012. The changes over the years have been so incremental, though, that few people outside the design world (or the very advanced in age) are likely to have noticed any difference. And that’s a good thing. Brand consistency is hugely important with a product like breakfast cereal, where the goal is to sustain people’s love for their favourite brand (often hard-wired during their formative years) throughout their lives. 07. Ford Many assume Ford’s logo is based on Henry Ford’s handwriting, but it was actually his chief engineer’sWe like to think multi-tasking is something new, but people had it covered in times past too. Take the classic stylised Ford script, which was developed by the company’s first chief engineer, Childe Harold Wills, in 1909. Wills, the chief contributor to the design of the Model T Ford, was also known for designing and printing business cards, so used the calligraphy from his own cards to crate the letters of the Ford logo. The oval was added in 1912, and not a huge amount has changed since, the most recent update being carried out by The Partners. The Ford logo is now inseparable from the brand, and even though the company has never claimed it to be the signature of its founding father, Henry Ford, the cursive style still helps to evokes a warm, friendly and familiar connection to the brand. 08. Wendy's Wendy’s has switched from all-caps to a cursive style Founded in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy’s has since become the world's third largest hamburger fast food chain, behind Burger King and McDonald's. Its logo has always offered a more family-friendly vibe than those of its rivals, with an emblem based around a stylised portrait of founder Rex David Thomas's daughter Wendy. Until recently, the wordmark was based on all-caps, classic Western-style lettering. But its most recent redesign in 2013 changed this to a hand-drawn, marker-style cursive logo. This update makes the logo both simpler and more streamlined, and more personal and family-oriented, and was accompanied by a similar clean-up of the girl-in-pigtails emblem. 09. Disney Is it Walt’s signature or not? Well, yes and noSo what about Disney’s logo? Surely that was based on founder Walt Disney’s signature, right? Well, yes and no. Firstly, this now-classic logo didn’t actually come into existence until almost two decades after Walt’s death. And secondly, photos of the founder’s original signature show little similarity between that and the logo. What it does seem to be based on, though, is his “official” signature, which was signed on his behalf by an employee, Hank Porter, thousands upon thousands of times, to save Walt time and energy that he could better devote to business matters. Either way, that doesn’t stop Disney’s world-conquering logo being a must-include on our list of world-conquering cursive logos. 10. Coca-Cola Coca Cola’s Spencerian script has become an icon of modern design Many products that are world-famous now didn’t actually pay much attention to branding in their early days. But for Coca-Cola, it was a key ingredient right from the start. Way back in 1885, just after John Pemberton had come up with a new drink based on kola nuts and coca leaves, his partner and bookkeeper Frank Mason Robinson came up with the name and a logo based on script lettering. Robinson suggested the name Coca-Cola because he felt that two capital C’s would look good together in advertising. He couldn’t have been more right, and that decades-long headstart means that rival brands have struggled vainly ever since to break Coke’s hold as the world’s go-to cola. Related articles: The 17 best startup logos of 2017 The top 10 big-brand logos The 10 best free graphic design courses online View the full article

Developers using the Twillo platform to build enterprise mobile communications apps have put call and text data at risk for exposure. View the full article

If you are an artist learning how to draw and paint in a representational style, chances are that you have used a reference image in your work at some point. Having a photo reference can be a powerful tool. However, it can also hinder you if you don’t know how to compensate for the photo’s inadequacies and distortions. Every project is different, but these are the key principles you should follow to use references correctly. 01. Don’t copy the reference exactly Don't be tempted to copy every pixel of a photo referenceThe temptation to copy every pixel of a photo reference is always there for an artist. People and things in obviously don't look the same in a photo as they do in real life, so remember that a reference is there for you to gain information about the proportion, values, edges and colours. In order to get a realistic result, you will most likely have to deviate from the reference. Sometimes that deviation will be extreme and other times it will be subtle. 02. Ask if a photo reference is necessary Sometimes it's better to work from lifeThis may seem like a simple question, but it’s important to ask yourself this up-front. Working from life will give you the most realistic and effective result. That isn’t always possible, but make sure you aren’t just using a photo reference by default. If you can quickly set something up in your studio, without too much hassle, then do it that way. 03. Take the reference photo yourself Don't settle for an almost-right imageWhen possible, you want to take the reference photos yourself. Each project demands something a little bit different from a reference. It can be tempting to just search quickly on the internet and work with a reference that is not quite what you need. If at all possible, take the extra time and photograph the reference yourself. 04. Look for 'weird' elements When we see something strange in a photo, we readily accept it. We don’t question the oddity, because of a camera’s inherent ability to document reality. However, as an artist, we need to watch out for those things that might look strange when transferred to canvas or paper. Forced perspective, odd angles or lighting, or even heavy lens distortion can show up in photos. If you are on the lookout for those strange areas you can compensate accordingly. 05. Avoid over-exposed references Over exposure covers a multitude of flaws in the faceI often see artists utilising references from fashion photographers and other focused fields of photography. Most of the time, this type of reference will not provide what they need. For instance, fashion photographers purposefully eradicate shadows on the face in order to give the model a pristine and flat look. This covers a multitude of flaws in the face, but provides the artist with no information on the structure. 06. Focus on lighting Lighting should be the most important considerationThe lighting in a reference photo should be the most important consideration for an artist. In order to understand the structure of what you are drawing or painting, you must have proper lighting. The lights and darks need to be clearly visible and understandable. The more straightforward the lighting, the better it will translate to a work of art. 07. Remember that photographs harden edges Photographs naturally harden the edges of each objectPhotographs naturally harden the edges of different values, unless a filter is applied. A soft transition from shadow to light on a model’s cheek will often look quite harsh in a photo. When you draw or paint from a reference, make sure you err on the side of soft edges. That little bit of compensation will help keep your art from looking flat and unrealistic. 08. Do colour studies separately The distortion of colour in photographs can range from subtle to extremeVirtually every one of us has taken a photo with the wrong white balance setting, only to find later that our picture is an overwhelming shade of blue or orange. The distortion of colour in photographs can range from subtle to extreme. The best way to combat this problem is to observe the objects in real life, gather as many references as possible, or do colour studies separate from your reference. Related articles: How to get harmonious colours in paintings How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials 7 must-know painting techniques for artists View the full article

With over 700 million users per month, and the highest per-follower interaction rate of any social network, Instagram is a big part of many people’s lives, and is therefore big business. There are currently one million active advertisers on the platform, 80 per cent of users follow a business, and as people increasingly use Instagram to find designers or illustrators to work or collaborate with, or buy from, using the platform well is vital for creatives. If you want to make money through Instagram, you need to create engaging posts that reach as many people as possible. But it’s not quite as simple as it sounds – using the platform well isn’t all about cramming your posts with hashtags, taking stylish photos of your breakfast or even necessarily having the most followers. In 2016, as well as introducing the hugely popular Stories, the platform made some changes to its algorithms. The change means that users’ feeds no longer show photos in chronological order, but according to a user’s interests and relationships. In other words, the more relevant and engaging Instagram thinks your posts are to your followers, the more they are prioritised – meaning that creating the right sort of post is now more important than ever. So how can you harness your feed to make more money? Read on for our eight top tips... 01. Switch to a business account Switching to a business account is straightforward The quickest and easiest way to get insight into your Instagram account is to switch from a personal to a business account. This provides you with insight into your followers, enables you to see how your posts are performing, and create promotions. It also means you can add a ‘contact’ button to your account. To switch your account to ‘business’, go to Settings, and select Switch to Business Profile. In order to do this, you will need to have a business Facebook page, not just a personal profile. 02. Write a clear bio with a link Gavin Strange succinctly explains his multiple projects and skills in his bioYour bio needs to tell users who you are, what you do, and to show your personality. As Instagram is a visual platform, an out of focus, grainy profile picture will not do. Use a clean image that shows who you are/what you are selling or promoting clearly. Your bio is the only place on Instagram where you can post an active link, so choose that link wisely – linking to your website, shop or perhaps a recent project. If you are likely to continually change where you want people to look, you can use a Bit.ly link, and then update where the Bit.ly directs to rather than having to keep updating your bio with a new link. Gavin Strange, a senior designer at Aardman with over 12,000 followers, has an extremely effective bio. It tells you what his day job is, the name of his alias (JamFactory), mentions his book, shop and other projects. He also piques interest and uses humour to make you want to find out more, and includes a link to his website and shop’s account. 03. Treat your feed like a portfolio Your feed should be as visually cohesive as possible and should get across your sense of style. “I think followers like it when it’s a bit of a consistent feed, so that they know what to expect,” says illustrator Bodil Jane, who has over 140,000 followers. "Be a curator and take an outside look at your feed – it's your portfolio," is Strange's advice. Doodle artist Jon Burgerman, who also has over 100,000 followers, agrees: “It takes people a long time to recognise your work, and people find it difficult to associate you with more than one or two things. So it’s smart, if you’re only concerned with building up an audience, to do the same thing over and over,” he says. He does, however, add that he becomes bored of posting the same thing. “My primary concern, however, is to entertain myself. If I’m not engaged in what I’m posting, how can I expect others to be?” he says. To achieve this ‘visual cohesion,’ approach your feed like you would your portfolio. Think about how your shots will look next to each other, and add variety. Don’t take them all from the same angle, consider using a ‘colour theme’ and think about the filters you’re using and what they say about you and your work. Add carefully curated behind-the-scenes or ‘work in progress’ posts to show your personality and make users feel they are getting unique insight. 04. Use captions and hashtags Instagram might be a visual platform, but the right caption can complement your image and further engage your followers – often a short caption and a relevant emoji or two is enough. Occasionally include a call to action in your posts, such as reminding people where they can buy your work or asking them what they think. Research and use trending hashtags to increase your posts’ visibility, but don’t go overboard, as 10-15 hashtags is enough. Mike Kus, who has grown an audience of over 800,000, says that getting a balance between more generic and specific hashtags is key: “The more generic your tags, the more people will be using them. For example, millions of photos are tagged #sunset, so the chances are your picture of a sunset will be buried in seconds. "If you tag your pictures very specifically, using something like #hamspteadheathsunset, there will be fewer pictures but also fewer people searching that tag. It's about finding a balance.” 05. Use video and Instagram Stories Videos tend to get more comments than photos, so use apps such as Hyperlapse and Boomerang to create short clips. Instagram Stories, which disappear after 24 hours, are another fun way to engage with your followers. Since Instagram’s algorithm change, Burgerman now prefers to use Stories, and has even been approached about ‘Instagram Story-ing’ an event. “I enjoy posting on the Stories feed more now, I think there’s more room to be creative in that space than in the actual main feed,” he says. 06. Engage with others A smaller number of engaged followers is preferable to a large number of unengaged ones, so interacting with others on Instagram is key. “Anyone who leaves a comment, I like that comment to acknowledge that I've read it,” says Kus. “If someone leaves a conversation comment or a question, I get back to the user. It's fun interacting with your following and people appreciate you getting back to their questions.” Never comment asking for likes, but do follow other people who do similar work to you and be supportive of them. You can also use the Repost app to repost other’s posts, for example, your customer’s pictures, and experiment with creating your own hashtag – encouraging people to use that hashtag when they post about you. 07. Post regularly and at the right time Post once a day or more, but don’t jam people’s feeds by posting too many images at once. According to Sprout Social, Monday to Friday at 2am, 8am or 5pm are optimum times for posting. Mondays tend to drive the most engagement and 3pm is the least optimal time to post. You can schedule posts through Later if these times are tricky for you. If you are hoping to reach an audience in another timezone, think about how you can adjust these times accordingly. 08. Act as if you were an influencer Being an Instagram ‘influencer’ is one way to make money from the platform. Kus, who has partnered with brands such as Land Rover, Getty and LG, suggests considering such partnerships as you curate your feed. ”Try to post regularly and post material that you're passionate about and would like to do more of. This way, when you do get approached by a brand, it will hopefully be a brand that has some kind of connection to the work that you put out,” he says. Bodil Jane also suggests choosing who you partner with carefully. “I feel like I have a responsibility to just support brands that I really like, not just selling everything to my followers,” she says. “When I’m browsing through Instagram I don’t like to see clearly sponsored posts. So, I feel like there should be a creative side to it.” Related articles: 5 golden rules for social media strategy 7 ways to craft a killer self-promo campaign What are the next big branding trends? View the full article

Choosing Christmas gifts for kids can be tricky, especially this side of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you're tired of buying the little people in your life presents that become discarded just a few days later, then we've just the solution. We've scoured the internet to bring you some brilliant gifts that will really get your kids’ creative juices flowing. Whether they’re aged two or 12 (or 22), we’ve found Christmas presents for kids of all ages. We’ve covered all bases as well. From stocking fillers to under-the-tree extravaganzas, there's something here to satisfy even the most inquisitive of younger minds. And if you're looking for consumer electronics for bigger kids or adults, take a look at the following articles: The best Wacom tablet deals, The best laptops for graphic design, The best monitors for designers and The 6 best smartphones for designers. By the way, we know it's early for Christmas chat – M&S started it, so blame them. Read on for our pick of the best Christmas gifts for kids... Best Christmas gifts for kids under £20/$25 01. Trunkaroo Ages: 3-8 Price: £20/trunk or a monthly subscription If you've ever felt at a loss as to how to keep your kids entertained, or you're on the hunt for that extra special gift to spark their creativity this Christmas, look no further than Trunkaroo. This brilliant DIY brand offers all the necessary materials, instructions and ideas for a craft project in a single ‘trunk’. With a strong focus on making STEAM (science, technology engineering, art and maths) interesting and magical, trunks include everything your kids need for hours of hassle-free fun and learning. You can purchase single trunks or join Trunkaroo on a monthly subscription, for which you’ll receive two trunks direct to your door. It’s a fantastic, hands-on way to keep little ones entertained. --- 02. Tynker Ages: 7+ Price: From $8 per month (yearly subscription) If your kids are digital whizz kids, they’ll appreciate a subscription to Tynker this Christmas. Suitable from ages seven and up, Tynker is a complete learning system that teaches kids to code, giving them crucial 21st century skills. The first level sees kids starting to experiment with visual blocks, using a Lego-like visual language to learn fundamental programming concepts. They then progresses to JavaScript and Python as they design games, build apps, program drones and make incredible projects. "My son Woody began experimenting with coding in the past year or two," says illustrator and designer Ben O'Brien. "I really like the look of Tynker, which sells itself as more gaming or toy-based, as kids can use it to code things for Minecraft, for robots or drones and to build games." Fancy a free coding option? Scratch is aimed at kids between 8-16. It lets them program their own interactive stories, games, and animations – and share their creations with others in the online community. --- 03. Farmer Christmas picture book Ages: 2-8 Price: £8.99 Get your kids in the festive mood with this beautifully illustrated, large-format children’s picture book, Farmer Christmas. The magical tale follows three children as they set off on a festive countryside adventure. It'll have your kids peering out of their bedroom windows on Christmas Eve to catch a glimpse of Farmer Christmas and his trailer full of presents... --- If your little ones have a passion for drawing, who better to teach them than celebrated illustrator Quentin Blake? This little sketchbook would make a great stocking filler for any budding young artist. With lots of tips and hints from the brilliant man himself, there's plenty of room for kids to unleash their creativity and draw amazing illustrations. It also comes complete with a quality sketching pen and two watercolour pencils in a handy attached case. --- Help your little one learn about the world around them with these fun-filled activity cards05. Mindful Kin Ages: Whole family Price: $12.89/£9.50 Ok, so a box of cards might not seem like the most exciting present for your kids to open. But there’s so much more to these than meets the eye. A set of 20 simple and fun mindfulness-based activities written for young children – but suitable for the whole family to do together – these cards help little ones learn about the world around them. They explain how to help manage thoughts and feelings, and teach a range of relaxation techniques too. Guaranteed that after you’ve tried a couple of these with your little ones, it won’t be long before they’re wanting you to read them another card. --- Make learning with your kids fun with this beautiful infographics bookInfographics make learning easy and fun, and this series from Big Picture Press and Simon Rogers is no exception. Bright, colourful and full of information to keep enquiring minds occupied, these are a brilliant way to engage curious young adults. And you might even have some luck with older kids who aren't particularly excited by science and education. This one focuses on technology, but the series also looks at the human body, animal kingdom and space. --- Best Christmas gifts for kids under £50/$75 Nothing sparks the imagination quite like LegoWe couldn’t write a list of creative gifts for children without including Lego – a toy that will no doubt be on top of many a kid's (er, and adult's) wish list this Christmas. The popular little brick has exploded in recent years, with Lego sets available in pretty much every theme you could think of. It's hard to pick a favourite, but for this list we're going for Red Creatures, from Lego's three-in-one Creator sets. Each of these sets comes with enough Lego pieces to build not one but three models, which means more play time and great value for money. Prices vary depending on what set you choose, but themes include: --- This fun, hands-on kit teaches kids how circuits and electronics workIf music is your kid's jam, then this lovely little synth kit would make the perfect Christmas gift. It's a fun, hands-on kit that teaches children how circuits and electronics work. "I had to help my little boy build this – he's seven", says Ben O'Brien. "But there was enough for him to do in the building, and then it's just fun to play with. This company make lots of other things too, all of them are ace." "Great packaging, too, for design-savvy parents," he adds. --- These fun play houses will keep kids entertained for hoursHow many times have you bought your kid a lovely gift, only for them to be more interested in the box it came in? Well, here's a gift where the box is essentially the present. Paperpod produces a fantastic range of innovative, highly interactive, safe and affordable cardboard playhouses; designed and manufactured in the UK from recycled corrugated cardboard. Great for letting kids' imaginations run wild, you can choose from designs including a rocket (pictured), teepee, aeroplane and car. Environmentally friendly and guaranteed to keep kids entertained for hours, what more could you possibly want? --- The Wacom Intuos is a brilliant tool for young ones to get started with digital art. Designed for both right and left-handed users, budding artists can easily draw, paint and sketch on a computer with the ease of pen. Intuos Draw also comes with ArtRage Lite drawing and sketching software, and online tutorials to get your little ones off to a flying creative start. --- Best Christmas gifts for kids under £100/$125 Kids can bring their creations to life using all manner of mediums at this luxury art easelAfter a more traditional drawing and painting method? Look no further than this gorgeous, small person-sized art easel. Here, tiny fingers can experiment with paint, chalk, pens, crayons, markers, and more, all at one convenient station. It’s also designed to let children use several different art media: on one side is a chalkboard, on the other is a dry erase board, and in between the two easel sides is a dowel for holding a butcher paper roll. The easy-to-clean design makes it very parent-friendly, and with not one but two available art stations, there will be no arguments about who gets to use it first. Winner. --- It's impossible to ignore how tech-savvy kids are, with little ones often about to use digital devices more efficiently than their parents. If you're after a tablet for your kids this Christmas but can't – or don't – want to spend hundreds of pounds, then the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet is an excellent choice. It comes complete with one year of to Fire For Kids Unlimited, giving you access to over 5,000 popular apps and games, videos, books and educational content from Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street and many more. Built specifically for kids, there are also easy-to-use parental controls and a kid-safe browser that keeps them safe from inappropriate content. And the best bit? The Fire 7 comes with a two-year, worry-free guarantee that means if they break it, simply return it to Amazon and the company will replace it for free. No questions asked. --- Best Christmas gifts for kids over £100/$125 We already had Lego, we know. But this is educational Lego – so it scores extra points. Deigned to help develop coding and constructions skills, this STEM toy lets children build, code and play with five different robots: Vernie, The M.T.R.4 (Multi-Tooled Rover 4), The Guitar4000, Frankie the Cat, and The AutoBuilder. It comes with an interactive motor, colour and distance sensors. Simply download the free app and control your creations. We're impressed. --- 14. Mud Kitchens Watch the look on your kid's face if you surprise them with their very own Mud Kitchen this Christmas Ages: 2-7 Buy: £250-£530 In this ever-growing digital age, there's nothing quite like getting back to nature to spark creativity. Mud Kitchens provides the perfect space to encourage kids to get outside and explore the world around them. “The benefits to playing with mud are vast. Research has shown that it can make children healthier, smarter and happier,” says Mud Kitchen founder Natalie. “They’re not just for mud but can encourage other sensory play such as water, foam, bubbles, dried foods and sand.” Every kitchen is handmade using quality timber and comes fully assembled. Prices start at £250, which includes UK-wide delivery (surcharge applies to Ireland and Jersey), personalisation and utensils. A two-month payment plan is also available to spread the cost and still guarantee a Christmas delivery slot. The team will be taking orders for Christmas until December 10 (subject to change), so make sure to get your order in asap. Only available in the UK. Liked this? Read these: How to get the best Cyber Monday deals 2017 The best drawing tablet The best laptops for graphic design View the full article

At its core, design is all about solving problems, and a well thought-out client brief with genuine depth and substance can be the perfect catalyst for great design. But what if you’re the problem? Self-branding can be one of the hardest exercises for a designer: it’s just too close to home. And issue 273 of Computer Arts will help you tackle just that, as part of a self-promotion special. Plus there are no fewer than four covers to choose from, featuring different self-promotional phrases in striking, vibrant colourways – see above. Buy Computer Arts issue 273 now! In a special report, CA issue 273 explores different approaches to ‘brand you’, and how finding that distinctive niche to occupy can become the cornerstone of effective self-promotion. Pro advice for branding yourselfBalancing out this more holistic approach is a guide to the art and science of social media, and how to get the most from different platforms. It’s not an exact science, but a bit of insider knowledge can make all the difference. Master social media, including 26 pro tipsGreat self-promo doesn’t have to be about crowing your own brilliance from the rooftops, though: sometimes it can pay to ditch the ego and let the work speak for itself, like Ragged Edge. The studio has been biding its time and growing steadily stronger since it was founded a decade ago, until breaking cover with its D&AD Pencil-winning Camden Market rebrand – as revealed in a video profile in CA issue 273. Ragged Edge reveals how to run a studio with no egoAnd after Jamie Ellul’s rousing column a couple of issues back extolling the virtues of a small but perfectly formed studio, this month it’s Greg Quinton’s turn to pitch the counter-argument: with The Partners due to merge with four other WPP stablemates to form a 750-strong mega agency, he argues that bigger can be better, creatively speaking. Also in Computer Arts issue 273 FutureDeluxe discusses its surreal and stunning OFFF London titles Behind the scenes on SomeOne's rebrand of The Inner Temple The hottest new design, illustration and motion work Part four of the junior designer manual covers digital asset creationSubscribe to CA today from just £16/$37 Buy Computer Arts issue 273 here. And to make sure you never miss an issue of Computer Arts, subscribe here today! View the full article

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Staying abreast of the latest design trends is essential if you want to produce work that catches people's attention, but when you're fully focused on the creative process it can be hard to keep tabs on how aesthetic tastes are evolving. So to give you a bit of expert advice, we chatted to Brand Impact Awards judges Caroline Till and Stuart Youngs. Caroline is one half of FranklinTill Studio, which provides Computer Arts with a monthly update of the latest design trends, while Stuart is creative director of Texture – a pioneering studio blending human ingenuity with AI. If you want to keep your work up-to-date, heed their words in the video above and the written Q&A interview below. What are the biggest aesthetic movements in design and branding at the moment? Renders that are indistinguishable from reality are a major current trendCaroline Till: At FranklinTill, we've been talking a lot about 'digital real' – designers making rendered images look as real, textural and three-dimensional as possible. Playing with perceptions of what is digital, and what is real. So much communication is now screen-based, so we're interested in branding experiences that bring products to life digitally, and make them both dynamic and textural. How can designers embrace emerging technologies in meaningful ways? Pokémon GO is a brilliant example of AR done really wellStuart Youngs: Being open-minded is the first step. There's a nervousness about AI taking all our jobs, but I don't think it's about that. AI can fit into the branding process. Take tone of voice. A machine can learn what that tone is, what kind of words they use, and create a filter for any writing for that brand to run through. It can then give recommendations for adjustments to make it more on-brand. It's a relationship of man and machine, rather than man versus machine. CT: When it comes to an emerging technology, think of it as a tool. If the brief is: 'We want to use this type of technology', rather than it being applied in a meaningful way, there's a danger of it becoming a gimmick, and you risk losing your audience. The best examples add another dimension to the project, and are in tune with the experience that you're trying to create. SY: I couldn't agree more. When you look at where VR has been most successful so far, it's in gaming. It really does enhance the experience. With augmented reality, the standout example is definitely Pokémon GO. Where you've seen it used as a platform to really engage people, it's super. If it adds to the experience that you're trying to deliver, then use it. If it doesn't, find another way, frankly. We've got a role as designers to try to create brands that are more engaging, have some substance, and add meaning to peoples' lives. At the moment, there's just too much vanilla. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 270. Buy it here. Related articles: Why colour gradients are a hot new visual trend VR: is it the future of design? When to use humour in branding View the full article

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