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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Attackers use the approach to look like legitimate traffic and hide data exfiltration in plain sight. View the full article

Attackers use the approach to look like legitimate traffic and hide data exfiltration in plain sight. View the full article

No matter how experienced or talented you are as an artist, there’s always room to improve your skills, push yourself forward creatively, and get inspired by new perspectives. There are many excellent how to draw and art tutorials on this very site. But if you’re looking for ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’, then YouTube videos by artists are a great way to reboot your mojo. 18 best iPad art apps for painting and sketching With so much varying quality on YouTube, though, it can be difficult to know where to start. To help you out, we’ve selected the 10 best YouTube art channels to inspire you and improve your skills. 01. Proko Founded in 2012, Proko, the YouTube art channel of fine art painter Stan Prokopenko, is on a mission to teach you the basics of drawing and anatomy. A teacher at the Watts Atelier of the Arts, California, Prokopenko clearly knows his subject inside out, and his short videos are detailed, comprehensive and full of useful tips and information. While some ‘instructional’ art videos on the web are more about showcasing the artist’s own technique, Proko’s lessons are practically focused and often include tasks for the viewer to complete in their own time, making it all seem very lesson-like. That said, they’re also a lot of fun, with the artist’s lively and loud sense of humour shining through throughout. 02. Draw with Jazza Draw with Jazza is the YouTube channel of Josiah Brooks, an Australian artist who has a clear passion for teaching people how to draw, animate and paint, using both analogue and traditional media. With a strong focus on cartoon and animation styles, this channel is updated weekly, with new content including tutorials, speed paintings, streams, art challenges and competitions. Brooks’ presentational style is upbeat, friendly and personable, and while you won’t find the most comprehensive, step-by-step lessons here, you will find short, fun videos packed with tips, tricks and inspiration. 03. Aaron Blaise If you watch a lot of Disney videos with your kids, the name Aaron Blaise may seem familiar. That’s because he spent 21 years of his life as an animator on such films as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan and Brother Bear, which he also co-directed. He’s now left the movie business, but Disney’s loss is the art world’s gain, as more recently he’s turned his hand to teaching. And it turns out he’s very good at it. As well as writing books and offering paid-for courses, the animator, director, illustrator and fine artist uses his YouTube channel to share his art, techniques and tips. Videos include walkthroughs on everything from how to draw wolves to plein air painting with goauche, along with time-lapse paintings, live-streamed chats with fellow artists, and traditional animation tutorials. Most of his videos are very long; Blaise likes to take his time and show you everything he’s doing at a natural pace, which makes for an immersive and insightful viewing experience. 04. Sarah Tepes Sarah Tepes may be only 19 years old and still a student, but she’s attracted more than 200,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, and for good reason. Self-taught in digital art herself, she has a great ability to pass on knowledge to newbies in a way that’s both slickly professional and easy to follow. Alongside instructional art lessons, there are also some great time-lapse, speed painting and process videos in the mix too, and the tone is consistently encouraging and thoughtful; providing great motivation for young and beginner artists everywhere. 05. Mark Crilley Mark Crilley is an American artist, illustrator, author, and graphic novelist who’s also written instructional books about how to draw manga. His YouTube channel features how-to-draw videos on a wide range of topics, mainly around manga and anime styles. Crilley’s narrated, step-by-step drawing tutorials break everything down to fundamentals, so even if you can’t match the high quality of his artwork, you can easily see the principles behind how it’s made. His channel also features a ton of inspiring time-lapse videos, speed challenges and tips on things like different ways to begin a story. Most importantly, Crilley makes a big effort to get his audience involved, so there’s a real community feel to the channel. 06. Bayley Jae Bayley Jae is a young Canadian illustrator who worked in the animation industry for a while after graduating before going freelance. Her art is mainly traditional, with some digital, and she shares her process with enthusiasm and passion on her YouTube channel, which features speedpainting, product reviews, tutorials, and more. Jae’s videos are far from formal lessons, but her fresh, raw and energetic approach can be a real shot in the arm when you’re looking to be more creative and motivated about your art. She’s also honest and open about where her strengths lie, and often shares the process of taking on new challenges in videos such as ‘I tried hand lettering’ and ‘I tried a 3D pen’, which is a lovely touch. 07. Bobby Chiu Canadian artist Bobby Chiu works in concept and character design and has won a number of awards for his creative work, including an Emmy. He also teaches digital painting online at Schoolism.com, publishes art books, and has a YouTube channel that’s full of inspiration for those who wish to follow in his footsteps. Chui doesn’t do tutorials as such on his channel, but his lengthy, live-streamed discussions, demos and interviews with fellow artists are packed full of insight and detail. In fact, whatever a particular video is about, you won’t want to miss a moment spent in the company of this super-talented artist. 08. Emmy Kalia Emmy Kalia is a self-taught pencil artist from the Netherlands with some serious talent at creating photorealistic images using graphite. Her YouTube channel contains a mixture of tutorials and time-lapse videos that showcase and demonstrate her technique. Her results may look intimidating, but she explains the process that gets her there in a clear and straightforward manner. If you're interested in making realistic pencil art, or just curious about how she does it, then this is one YouTube art channel that's definitely worth checking out. 09. Sophie Chan Sophie Chan is a self-taught manga artist from Canada who’s best known as the author of The Ocean of Secrets series. As well as using her YouTube channel to promote this series, she also shares time-lapse videos and some excellent tutorials on the fundamental of drawing manga characters. Manga tutorials can often be overly prescriptive and grid-based, leading to everyone creating very similar-looking characters. So it's to Chan's credit that she strikes a nice balance on her channel between 'How to draw' videos, 'How I draw' videos, and encouragement to break the rules once you know them, the above video being a prime example. 10. ImagineFX No list of YouTube art channels would be complete without the channel of our sister title, ImagineFX, the world’s number one digital art magazine. Here you’ll find video tutorials by dozens of world-class artists, working in a range of styles, both traditional and digital. The emphasis in the main is on sci-fi and fantasy, game design, manga and film art, and contributors include some of the biggest names in these industries. And if you like what you see, why not take out a subscription to the print magazine and get a beautifully packaged blast of new digital art inspiration every month? Related articles: 5 sure-fire ways to develop your creative career Pencil drawing techniques: 7 tips to improve your skills 10 amazing podcasts for digital artists View the full article

Wondering how to draw a cat? You've come to the right place. Drawing animals is not an easy task but it can be lots of fun too. In this tutorial I will show you how to draw a cat so that, even in a sketch form, it can look realistic and convincing. I'll walk you through all the stages of observation, quick sketching, recognising the structure and refining your image so that it looks as lifelike as possible. For more tips, take a look at our guide to how to draw animals. The mistake many artists make is to assume that since animals are so flexible and very often furry, not much attention has to be paid to their structure and anatomy. I believe that the best recipe for drawing an animal is to maintain a good understanding of the structure underneath the fur. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the steps you need to follow to learn how to draw a cat that looks believable. 01. Collect reference photos Cats all move in predominantly the same ways The best way to familiarise yourself with a cat's anatomy is to find a number of photos of cats in random positions – the more positions you can find the better. This helps you form a better understanding of how cats move, sit, jump, and so on. You can also observe your own pets. The important thing to understand is that no matter their shape or size all cats move in pretty much the same manner. 02. Start with quick sketches You learn better by sketching than just looking Try quickly sketching some of the poses from your references. By that I mean: don't focus on the precision of the lines, try to quickly capture the essence of the moves. These initial sketches will give you a better idea of the cat's structure because we learn quicker by drawing rather that just observing. To benefit from this exercise even further you may want to slightly exaggerate the movement of the cat similar to the way it's done in cartoons. This can help you better understand the movements of the animal and the way their bodies work. 03. Pick a pose Choose what you want your cat to be doing When you've done some sketched, it's time to choose a pose. I decided to go for both a walking pose and a side view. This will show off the anatomy of the animal and make for a nice clearer demonstration of the drawing process. 04. Draw the skeleton Simplify the skeletal structure Finding the structure starts with drawing a proper cat skeleton. You can find many drawings of an anatomically correct skeleton online, but these will include much more information than you really need. Observe the proportions between skull, ribcage and pelvis as well as the distances between them. Notice how many joints cat's front and back legs have and which way they bend. Observe the tarsus bone in the back leg, protruding backwards – this plays a big role in how this part of a leg is shaped. Now draw out a simplified version of the skeleton. If you work digitally, draw your skeleton sketch on a separate layer. If you work in pencil, draw lines very lightly so that they don't overpower the final drawing, you can always erase them later. 05. Add some muscles Work to establish your cat's proportions The next step is to add some muscles to your skeleton. As before, I'm not suggesting drawing all of the muscles – this stage is about capturing the shape of the cat and establishing its proportions. Use broader strokes to find shapes of the legs and pay attention to how the flow of lines changes around joints. Make sure the shapes feel full and vigorous and avoid wobbly or uncertain lines. Under all their fur, cats are very muscular and sturdy. 06. Focus on distribution of weight Details like this will help your cat appear more lifelike Since we're drawing our cat in motion, each leg is performing a different task and carries a different load of weight. The back left and the front right leg are carrying most of the weight and help the cat with its balance. The other two opposing legs are more relaxed. The front left paw – while it still carries a bit of weight – is reaching out forwards to establish another step. The back right paw is finishing the previous step and is about to be lifted off the ground completely. Paying attention to details like this is key to creating a lifelike drawing. 07. Draw the face Don't fall into the trap of drawing what you think a cat's face looks like Getting your cat’s head in proportion is very important. Make sure you pay attention to proportions between ears, eyes, nose and mouth – it’s easy to fall into a cliched approach, and give your cat a really big nose, large eyes and cute small ears. Depending on the species of cat the size of the ears can vary. In this case the ears are bigger than one may think, so make sure to compare them with the rest of the head. Also notice how the head connects to the neck, and how the neck extends into the chest. 08. Get the eyes right Cats' eyes can appear bigger than they really are Cat's eyes often seem bigger because of the colour or patterns of the fur around them. In addition, the irises extend over the whole visible part of the eye, which also creates the feeling that the eyes are very prominent. 09. Refine the facial features Time to start using more defined lines Now is the time to draw with thicker, darker and more defined lines. If you’re working traditionally, swap to a thicker pencil and use more pressure. If you’re working digitally, switch to a new layer while keeping previous layers on a lower opacity. Refine the shapes of the eyes, mouth and nose (notice how this resembles the letter ‘T’). Add pupils to the eyes. Depending on the cat you may choose to sketch the eyes more narrow or more open. Don't forget about the whiskers – they make a huge difference! 10. Add some fur Thickness of fur will vary over the cat's body Now you have the anatomy in place all you need to do is add a layer of skin and fur to the body and refine the shapes of the head. Remember that, except for a couple of species, most cats have fur all over their bodies. Cats’ fur tends to vary in thickness depending on the body part it’s covering: it's shorter around the head and paws and gets thicker and longer in the body, especially on the belly and tail. Use small strokes to indicate texture. Also notice how the skin behaves on the animal depending on the position it’s in. In this pose, on the front left and back right leg the skin gets stretched, while behind the right front leg it wrinkles. 11. Make some final touches Remember any patterns will wrap around the body If the cat you're drawing has characteristic patterns on their fur, add these on top. Erase the more prominent sketch lines (if working in pencil) or turn off the sketch layers (for digital artists). In this case I decided to draw stripes on my cat. Be careful how dark you draw features like stripes, as they can quickly overpower the whole drawing. Use subtle shading lines, and make sure to follow the forms of the cat's body. Drawing fur patterns – especially stripes – can add a lot of depth to your sketch. However, if done incorrectly, it may unintentionally flatten the image. Try to vary the length, width and shapes of your cat’s stripes. They usually get thicker on the tail, body and upper limbs and thinner around the head and lower paws. Last but not least add a little shadow under your cat's paws to indicate the ground and voila! Read more: The best pencils Infographic: Keep your hands in shape 10 tips for sketching moving subjects View the full article

When learning how to draw people, one of the areas beginner artists often struggle with is the nose. Perhaps it is the diversity of shapes that we see every day that makes knowing how to draw a nose all the more difficult. In this tutorial, I will offer a quick step by step guide to how to draw a nose. I'll be using oil paints here, but I'm focusing on the core drawing techniques you need to know how to draw a nose in any medium. 01. Start with basic shapes Use the icon in the top right to enlarge the image First, try to establish the very basic anatomical shapes of the nose. At this point, don’t think about all the intricacies of the shades and highlights. Just focus on basic shapes: triangles, trapezoids and circles. If you're painting, it's helpful to start by tinting your canvas with burnt umber thinned with odourless thinner – this will help you judge the values of the painting better. Then use a small brush to add in your basic shapes. 02. Make the shapes more realistic Use the icon in the top right to enlarge the image You can now make use of the basic shapes you’ve sketched and build on top of them. Looking at your reference, sketch in the tip of the nose and nostril wings. Keep in mind that the nose is predominantly made of skin resting upon cartilages or is made of dense connective tissue – therefore it has a very firm structure. 03. Introduce the main colour values Use the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Block in the main values of the nose – I'm using titanium white and burnt umber. Try and think back to the initial shapes you drew in step one and observe the direction of the light and placement of the shadows. Again, don’t get lost in details. In this step, focus on the basic shapes and values. Remember, however, that the nose openings are not just dark round holes – they have a structure. 04. Move on to the details Use the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Once the block-in is done, move on to adding details. Now is a good time to observe all the things you have deliberately omitted. Look at the details that are a part of the nose’s shadows, as well as the highlights, and make sure you don’t make the nose 'too perfect'. Pay particular attention to the cartilage below the tip of the nose as this can easily be overlooked. Read more: Pencil drawing in 6 simple steps Draw a figure in under five minutes How to draw hands View the full article

Amazon Prime Day 2018 is set for Tuesday 17 July, with deals due to start rolling at midday on Monday 16 July. That’s according to our sister site TechRadar, which discovered an Amazon Prime Day 2018 banner published on the UK site “presumably in error” this morning. At 36 hours, it’ll be the longest Prime Day Amazon has run so far. Last year’s event launched at 9pm, with Amazon Prime Day deals coming thick and fast for 30 hours. If these dates are correct, Amazon Prime Day in the US is likely to follow a similar timeframe. TechRadar predicts a midday start on the 16th July EST, with a midnight close on the 17th PST – putting Prime Day 2018 at a whopping 39 hours in the US. What is Amazon Prime Day? Amazon Prime Day is the retail giant’s summer version of Black Friday, the difference being that the event is for Prime subscribers. If you’re not a subscriber though, fear not: you can still take advantage of Amazon Prime Day 2018 – and other membership benefits – by signing up for a free 30-day trial. You’re able to cancel the trial at any time before the end of the 30-day period. What Amazon Prime Day deals can we expect? Amazon Prime Day 2018 will be on the 16th July It’s highly likely that Amazon’s own devices will take centre stage this year: expect to see Amazon Prime Day deals on its Echo smart speakers – the Echo Dot and Echo Spot – as well as cheaper Kindles, Fire TV Sticks, Fire Tablets and maybe the upcoming Amazon Fire TV Cube too. For designers and artists, we’d like to see some 4K monitor deals alongside the cheap 4K TVs that normally feature highly in Amazon events like these. It’s a safe bet that a host of laptop and tablet deals will appear too, and if you’re into gaming, we anticipate a lot of console deals if last year’s Prime Day is anything to go by –especially around the Xbox One X and PS4 pro. We'll be curating the best Amazon Prime Day deals for designers, artists and creatives on this page throughout the event, so bookmark this page and check in on the 16th July... Also read: The best laptops for video editing in 2018 The best drawing tablet 8 best external hard drives and SSDs for Mac and PC View the full article

Lighting is one of those things that can make or break an illustration. It can set the mood, establish a sense of photorealism, tell a story, and even guide the viewer towards certain areas in your work. To fully understand how light works, you have to study it in detail, and a great way of doing this is by creating your own lighting reference. Because I tend to paint a lot of warriors, both for clients and personal work, I always end up having my fellow HEMA (historical European martial arts) friends pose for me. The references you see here come from those photo sessions. Whatever your photography skills, you can do this yourself with pretty much any camera – in most lighting situations even your smartphone camera will do. Find the perfect lighting conditions for your reference folder and start snapping those photos with your friends. Once at home you can use the Eyedropper tool to sample a colour palette. While doing so, try to capture every angle possible. Parts of the body that are exposed to the sky can have wildly different shadow colours than those areas facing down. Even in the tiny curves and wrinkles of the face you’ll find that light scatters, reflects and bounces around. I’ll be showing you my process and point you towards the right direction. Work with it or adapt it to your own process – the choice is entirely yours! 01. Prepare your lines Line art can be rough because it won't be seen Create a line art sketch in a style that works best for you. I like outlining areas that indicate which parts will come forward or get pushed back. This helps me determine how to shade the character later on. None of this line art will be seen in the finished image, so there’s no need to make it pretty or clean. 02. Create your own reference Time to call in a favour from your photogenic friends Have one of your friends pose for you. I’m lucky to have a group of very photogenic friends who enjoy posing for me. I often go out and do photoshoots with them for my Gumroad reference packs. When taking these photos it’s good to have a plan about what you’d like to paint. If your character is in a forest, go on a trip to the forest for the correct lighting conditions. 03. Understand your reference Your photo will set the tone for a colour palette I study my reference and create a colour palette based upon the colours and lighting. Consider the bounce light in the shadows. A shadow under the chin will have a different colour than one on the forehead or cheekbone. 04. Use flat colours as a guide to painting Flat colours provide a good starting point to build on As an intermediate stage, I usually create a flat colour version of my work before applying the lighting. This means that I simply give everything its neutral object colour. This might come in handy later on, when you might have to blend colours together. 05. Tackle the most prominent shapes Paint in broad lighting details with a big brush I begin by using a big brush to roughly paint the most important shadows and lights. Don’t get stuck on the small details like tiny hairs, eyelids or wrinkles just yet. Keep it simple. In addition, make sure to paint while zoomed out. Have your whole illustration visible on screen at all times during this early stage. 06. Check the likeness Working under line art can maintain a good likeness Keep an eye on your character reference (if you’re using one), to ensure the likeness is on track. Sometimes while applying light and colour to a line sketch, the essence of your character can become lost. This is why I begin by working underneath the line art. For this stage you can start working on a new layer, above your line art. 07. Check your values Switching to black and white helps identify mistakes Go to Image > Adjustments > Black & White. Make sure this effects layer is above all the layers. This black and white or greyscale view enables you to compare the values in your painting with that of your reference photo. If there’s a big difference in a particular area where it shouldn’t be, you should be able to spot it. 08. Bounce light on white Light and white have a unique relationship White, and other light colours, react differently to a light source compared with dark colours. In the highlights they usually maintain the original object’s colour. 09. Bear in mind the qualities of hair Make your hair shine – because you're worth it Hair is always interesting to paint. Whether it be dark or light, healthy hair is shiny and also has a translucent quality to it. The darker the hair, the more pigment it possesses and this usually means it’s less translucent, too. Yet when light hits someone’s hair, it’ll scatter through it. So whenever you paint hair, think about its translucency, shine and possible bounce light. 10. Create realistic eyes The eyes should lack defining dark lines Unless make-up’s involved, the eyes will lack defining dark lines. Even dark lashes will more likely be painted with some interrupted brushstrokes. Look at your photo reference and take note of the gradients that shape the curves and wrinkles of the eyelids. The eyeball itself has a glossy texture to it, so it won’t be made up of just a singular colour. Light-coloured eyes can even appear quite dark under certain lighting conditions. 11. Balance the look of the lips Blend edges to avoid a lipstick look Depicting lips can be tricky, especially when painting ones with a natural skin tone. They can easily end up looking like the person is wearing lipstick! That’s why gradients play a vital role. With either the bottom, or top lip, or even both, blend the edges with the skin tone. Start from the corner of the mouth and paint towards the centre. 12. Apply a mix of approaches to edge work Play with a contrast of soft and hard edges I always make a conscious effort to place sharp edges and soft edges correctly in my paintings. My usual strategy is that strong, brightly lit edges receive a soft bloom, whereas very dark edges are gently blended in with the background colour. Anything between dark or light can either be soft or hard, depending on the mood that I’m in. 13. The finer details Save fine details for important areas This is where I commit to painting the textures of the skin, the eyeballs, the clothing and any other material that may be included in the image. I keep in mind that a smart painter keeps the highest detail ratio and the tiniest brushstrokes in the area of most importance (the focal area) and leaves the more unimportant parts loose and free from causing a distraction. 14. Carry out one final check Time for a quick once-over Before calling a painting finished, go through all these steps. Is the likeness correct? The contrast? The bounce light coming from the environment? The colour gradients? The material expression? The detail ratio? These days we’re often too eager to share our newest piece with the world. Keep it to yourself for a week and trust me, you’ll find some elements to improve before you’re ready to show it off. This article was originally published in issue 159 of ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Buy issue 159 here or subscribe to ImagineFX here. Related articles: Octane Lighting Essentials review 12 tips for realistic 3D lighting Capture natural light in your paintings View the full article

You've probably taken online courses before, but it's unlikely you'll have done one like those offered at Shaw Academy. This online course database is comprised of more than 740 hours of interactive content in all kinds of subjects, from photography and technology to health and wellness to finance and business. With a Premium Lifetime Membership, you get access to all existing content, as well as all future courses that are yet to be released. Whether you want to brush up on your current skills or build new ones for your creative resume, Shaw Academy can get you up to speed and help you reach your goals, while also helping you earn important certifications in the process. A Premium Lifetime Membership is only $99. Related articles: The 10 best free graphic design courses online 16 top online coding courses 10 incredible online art schools View the full article

If you find yourself frustrated by the short time limit of Instagram Stories and videos, then you'll be pleased by Instagram's latest announcement: the launch of IGTV. That's right, Instagram TV. This exciting new tool lets you watch and share videos of up to an hour in length. Using IGTV, you can watch longform vertical video either within the Instagram app or on the dedicated new IGTV app. As a tool for graphic designers, we think it could prove interesting... How does IGTV work? The new feature starts playing as soon as you open the app – just like when you turn on the TV – and you can watch videos from those you already follow on Instagram on their 'channel' (sound familiar?) or choose channels or videos from sections such as Popular or For You. You can also send and receive videos via direct message, and like and comment as you would on your usual Instagram feed. The interface for IGTV, with the video playing full-screen and suggestions below How can creatives use IGTV? This feature offers another way for designers on Instagram to reach their followers, and could end up being another way for creatives to make money on the platform. Like with YouTube, users could use it to showcase step-by-step tutorials, make promotional videos of their work or create video diaries of life as a designer. At the moment, it isn't clear whether there will be ads within the platform, but as Instagram now has over a billion users, it seems likely that creatives will be able to monetise content on IGTV in future. Users will also be able to link out to other content in the description of their videos, a feature that many will likely find useful (the ban on live links within photo captions has long been a frustration for Insta-fans). Note that smaller accounts or those new to Instagram won't be able to use IGTV just yet, but Instagram says there are plans to change this in future. The full-screen video of early adopter of the platform, Stefan Kunz Should I start using IGTV? If you've already got a lot of followers on Instagram, we think it's worth becoming an early adopter of IGTV. You never know where it might lead you. If you're a prolific YouTuber with a loyal following on YouTube, you'll probably want to wait a bit longer to see how IGTV pans out, and what features are added, before you decide if it's worth switching over. Overall, it seems that the vertical orientation of videos and the potential for highly curated content for each user may be the main pull over YouTube, but as with any new feature, we'll just have to wait and see if IGTV takes off. We have a feeling that it will. Read more: 20 illustrators to follow on Instagram How to break the rules on Instagram How to use Instagram as a digital sketchbook View the full article

In an ever-evolving digital world, it’s easy to overlook the power of print. But the medium is far from dead, as many a designer will tell you and these amazing print ads prove. Here, freelance designers Clementine Carriere and Caterina Bianchini, reveal the best ways to get the most out of your next print-based project. 01. Befriend your printer “Sometimes the client wants something very specific, but it might not be possible physically or in terms of budget,” admits Carriere. “Being able to talk freely with your printer is fantastic. Ask as many questions as you can – if they can’t do it for a certain price, they might be able to help you find a better option.” 02. Test finishes and paper stocks “It’s a question of budget,” adds Carriere. “Can you afford it? If you can, which option is going to best serve the final project? Depending on the topic and design itself, the most appropriate finish or stock may quickly become clear, but if you don’t know, test.” Caterina Bianchini’s posters for Sub Club in Glasgow 03. Understand the print process “You need to understand how certain stocks will take ink. Sometimes if you have a cream stock, a light colour will sink in and actually become a lot darker,” points out Bianchini. “Understand texture and the printing processes – embossing, debossing, painted sides, whatever – and how that stock will hold ink, or a deboss.” 04. Match stock to the product “A stock should have the same feel and aesthetic as the product,” says Bianchini. “If it’s a premium brand, it should be heavier. You could use a sandwich stock, such as a gold fill within a three-layered paper. For a music company, you might use something more interesting, like a textured stock with, say, glitter or a holographic aspect to add an element of surprise.” 05. Limitations can be helpful “Limitations can push you to be more creative,” argues Carriere. “If you can only use one type of paper, maybe you could go crazy with colours inside. Maybe not. If you’re using risograph printing, you’re limited in terms of colours. You can go more crazy with stock, but this technique tends to be quite specific as to what goes into the mesh and what doesn’t. Limits push you to constantly rethink your project, and question why you’re doing something one way and not another.” Watch the video: Designers Caterina Bianchini, Clementine Carriere and Filip Pomykalo share their enduring love of print and give some top advice for making the most of the medium, from choosing the right materials to building a relationship with your printer. Presented in association with Route 1 Print. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts, the world's leading design magazine. Subscribe here. Read more: How to prepare a file for print 3 tips for crafting stunning print promotional material 30 eye-catching flyer templates View the full article

More and more frequently, designers and developers are acknowledging the importance of motion design in the context of user experience. Animation on the web is no longer a way to delight and wow the user but a functional tool that makes experiences easy, fun and memorable. Animation in the context of user interfaces is still a very new field. There aren’t many resources out there that teach best practice or show common patterns of UI animation that we can follow. Most of the time, it’s about experimentation, user testing and perhaps a bit of trial and error. 15 responsive web design tutorials So in this tutorial, we will create something that doesn’t confuse, follows common patterns and is stylish. This will be the team profile section that you often see on company websites. The idea is to show a little more information on the team/staff member when each one is hovered over. Throughout the tutorial we will be using CodePen, but of course you can use your own favourite editor and development environment instead. 01. Get set up Begin by opening up CodePen and creating a new pen. We’re going to be using Bootstrap 4 and Sass (.scss), so make sure that within the settings you include the Bootstrap CSS and JS as your resource links and also set the CSS to SCSS. Another resource link you will need to add is Font Awesome, which we will use for our social icons. 02. Create containers, rows and columns Containers are what Bootstrap uses as its basic 
layout element and they are required when you’re using the default grid system. Within containers, you need to add in a row. Rows are wrappers for columns and you can specify the number of columns that you want out of a possible 12 and what the breakpoint will be. In our case, we want an element that has a medium-sized breakpoint and fills three columns in width. 03. Set profile image and colour The first profile UI element we will start with will be for a female team member and she will be part of the blue team. The colour will be specified using a class called blue and the actual colour will eventually be defined using Sass variables, which we will do in a later step. Then we will need to add in a photo and give it a class called photo. 04. Add profile name and title One final piece of HTML will add a name, title and social icons The last bit of HTML to be added will be for the name, title and social icons, which will be added underneath the last div tag we just added in the last step. For the social icons, we will be using Font Awesome and these will be placed within an unordered list. 05. Set Sass variables If you are following along using CodePen, then you will already have Sass installed and ready to go. You just need to click on the pen settings icon/button and choose SCSS as your CSS preprocessor. Then we can go ahead and add in some variables that will store all of our colours. We’ve used rgba as the colour values to allow us more meaningful control of all the colours’ opacity. 06. Upload a background image To make things look more appealing, we will place a nice background image on the body. Here we can use our first set of variables and give the background image a pleasing gradient overlay that goes from light green to blue. Then to make our background image fully responsive, we will set the view height to 100vh. 07. Pick a profile background and image Each team profile will be given the same styles and the class team will be used for this. The background will be white, all content centred and we need to make sure the position is set to relative. Then we can include the CSS for the profile image. For best results, make sure the original image you use has dimensions no bigger than 200px square. However, we will change the height and width of these within the photo CSS rule. 08. Add the animations We can control how much of the blue circle can be seen by setting a bottom percentage for its position The first piece of animation we will add will be at the top of our profile element. The idea is that when we hover over the whole element, a blue circular shape will animate down. We can control how much of the blue we can see by specifying the position of this to have a bottom percentage. So play around with this percentage and you’ll get a better idea of how this works. You never know: you might even discover a better effect! 09. Animate the team photo The team photo is our focal point in this UI and is probably the most obvious element that you would expect to animate in some shape or form. The CSS we will add in this step will first turn the photo into a smaller circle, then when hovered over there will be a light blue border added to it and the photo will scale down together with the border. With the transitions added, we get a nice fluid animation. 10. Tweak the profile name and position When hovered over, a light blue border will be added to the photo The profile name and position need a little bit of tidying up. These won’t be animated but that shouldn’t stop you from adding your own animation to these if you’d like. Perhaps scale them up slightly on hover, as you’ll have enough space due to the resizing of the photo. 11. Add social icons The social icons will first be positioned off the bottom of the page by -100px. Then when we hover over it, the bottom position will be set to zero and with a transition added, this will give us a nice smooth animation as it moves back up into view. The icons will be given their own hover state, setting their background to white and the icon to blue. 12. Make the green team member To mix things up a bit, we can begin to add more members to our team. The colour we’ll use for this next one will be green. But first go back into the HTML section/file and all we need to do is copy the col-md-3 class – not the row – down to the last div tag under the social icons and paste it in. Once you have changed the blue class to green, we can finally add in all the CSS that will give us the same animation. And the beauty of this approach is that you can repeat as required for many different colour classes, enabling you to subtly theme your UI animations as is required. This article was originally published in issue 307 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 307 or subscribe to net. Want to learn more about the ins and outs of UI animation? Steven Roberts is giving his talk CSS Animation: Beyond Transitions at Generate London If you're interested in learning more about how you can make your sites pop and sparkle using sleek UI animation, make sure you've picked up your ticket for Generate London. A front-end designer and developer currently working as creative developer for Asemblr.com, Steven Roberts will be delivering his talk – CSS Animation: Beyond Transitions – in which he will show you the best tools for the job and recreate some of the best animations the web has to offer, while discovering the possibilities and limitations of animating with just CSS. Generate London takes place from 19-21 September 2018. Get your ticket now. Related articles: How to use animation in mobile apps The pro's guide to UI design A beginner's guide to designing interface animations View the full article

Depending on where you're reading this, Pride parades are probably either already happening or about to take place. Designed to celebrate all aspects of LGBT+ culture, pride events tend to take place in June to commemorate a landmark moment in the community's history, the Stonewall riots. Pride festivals are conventionally more of a celebratory event, where people take the opportunity to let their flag fly, literally. If you've ever been to a Pride event, chances are you've seen attendees proudly flying flags that represent them, many of which incorporate colour theory and symbols important to their cause. Perhaps the most well-known Pride flag is the rainbow flag, which recently made the headlines thanks to a prospective Kickstarter redesign, which aimed to make it even more inclusive. There are dozens of other flags you're likely to spot if you go to a Pride event. To help you identify some of the most commonly seen designs, and maybe spot a flag that best represents you, we've rounded them up in this handy guide. Quick disclaimer – this list is by no means covers every niche! There are many, many flags catering to everything from rubber to bear brotherhood pride. But we hope this round up acts as a handy jumping-off point. Rainbow pride flag The original rainbow flag had more colours than it often has today As mentioned above, the rainbow flag is probably the most famous LGBT+ movement flag. Not surprising really, considering that it's designed to be as open and inclusive as possible. In fact it's such a recognisable shorthand for all things Pride that you'll often see the spectrum of colours used by brands in the run-up to festivities, with Skittles temporary rebrand being a notable exception. Designed by Gilbert Baker, the original gay pride flag first flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on 25 June 1978. Whereas today's rainbow flag often has six colours, the original design had eight thanks to the inclusion of pink and turquoise stripes. Baker even assigned a meaning to each colour. Pink stood for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic/art, indigo for serenity, and violet for spirit. It's these meanings which have lead to artists creating variations that celebrate a specific audience or minority. If you're going to a Pride parade, you're certain to see the rainbow flag. Bisexual pride flag The bisexual pride flag is 20 years old While the rainbow flag serves for the LGBT+ community as a whole, designer Michael Page decided that the bisexual community deserved its own flag to increase its visibility. And so it was that on 5 December 1998, the bisexual pride flag was launched at the BiCafe's first anniversary party. Taking inspiration from his work with nonprofit bisexual community organisation BiNet USA, Page's flag sees pink and blue bands overlap, with a purple stripe forming in between them. Many people have interpreted these colours in terms of their traditional masculine and feminine associations. However, when speaking about the history of the bisexual flag, Page revealed his intended meaning. "The pink colour represents sexual attraction to the same sex only (gay and lesbian). The blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex only (straight) and the resultant overlap colour purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes (bi)." Pansexual pride flag Pansexuality challenges societal prejudices Continuing the band of colours approach, the pansexual pride flag has been around since 2010. As well as increasing the visibility and recognition of the pansexual community, the pride flag also helps to distinguish it from bisexuality. This can be seen in the use of colours on the flag. Instead of a purple band sandwiched between blue and pink stripes, the pansexual pride flag opts for a bright yellow. The choice of colour in this case symbolises that pansexuals have romantic attractions and relationships with people of different genders and sexualities, including androgynous, agender, bigender, and genderfluid people. Yellow can be read as more of an ambiguous colour, which makes it perfect for representing non-binary attractions. The pink stripe stands for those who identify within the female spectrum, while blue represents the male spectrum. Intersex pride flag No stripes or traditional 'gender colours' here Not all Pride flags are based around striped designs. This flag represents the intersex community – defined as people who "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies," according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Created in July 2013 by Organisation Intersex International Australia, the Intersex flag cleverly eschews colours with loaded gender meanings. Relying on yellow in a similar way to the pansexual pride flag, this design also uses purple as these colours were seen as appropriately hermaphrodite colours by the creators. Free for use by any intersex person or organisation who wishes to use it in a human rights affirming context, the flag has been picked up by multiple media outlets and groups. Asexual pride flag The asexual flag was fairly chosen by members of the community Since 2010, the asexual flag has come to represent individuals with a low or absent desire for sexual activity. Since the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) first participated in an American pride parade in 2009, members consulted as many people in the community as possible to create a flag. The chosen design can trace its roots back to visuals found on online forums outside of AVEN. This flag was also settled upon via a survey, making it one of the truly most democratic flags we've ever heard of. Lesbian pride flag This bold design has ancient origins There are a variety of flags for lesbian members of the LGBT+ community, but this one jumped out at us thanks to its bold design. Gone are the multicoloured stripes so often associated with Pride flags, they've been replaced instead with a labrys. The labrys, or double-bladed battle axe, used to be a symbol found in the ancient, fairly matriarchal civilisation of Minoan Crete. It makes sense then that over the years the axe has come to represent lesbian and feminist strength and self-sufficiency, as well as appearing on flags since the 1970s. Transgender pride flag There is no wrong way to fly this flag Individuals with a personal identity and gender that does not correspond with their birth sex have had a flag to call their own since 1999. Designed by transgender woman Monica Helms, the transgender pride flag was first flown as part of a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona in 2000. Once again we see pink and blue stripes used to represent females and males. In between these colours is a white stripe that stands for people who are intersex, transitioning, or have a neutral or undefined gender. Thanks to the way the flag is designed, there is no incorrect way to fly it, which Helms says signifies finding correctness in our lives. Read more: How to encourage diversity in the design industry Rainbow flag designer commemorated with free font family Cheeky Arse Vase supports HIV charity View the full article

This month’s round up of the best new graphic design tools introduces a new keyboard for creatives that aims to dramatically speed up your workflow. We’ve also picked our favourite new free fonts, Illustrator brushes, Procreate brushes, iPhone apps and graphic design books. And there’s a new laptop for graphic designers on the block, too, which squares up to the MacBook Pro. Read on for the best tools for graphic designers in June… Designed to make your shortcuts even shorter, the Delux Designer keyboard claims to increase productivity by a whopping (and perhaps wild) 80 per cent. While we can’t vouch for the figures, the mechanical keyboard itself – which you can now preorder – does look promising. You can program complex multi-step command sequences into a single keycap, or use the multi-functional dial to take precise control of your artwork. It’s compatible with Wacom and other graphics tablets, as well as most major creative software. And at half the size of a normal keyboard, it sits a lot more comfortably on your desk with your drawing tablet. Preorder the Delux Designer for $69 While we're on the subject of new hardware for designers and artists, Dell released the Precision 5530 at the end of May – a MacBook Pro rival aimed at professional creatives who need power, portability and reliability. Replacing the Precision 5520, it's Dell’s thinnest, lightest and smallest 15-inch mobile workstation, and it's more powerful than ever with the top-line model boasting an Intel Core i9 processor and 32GB RAM. Available in platinum silver or brushed Onyx, the pro laptop comes with either a 4K, 100 per cent Adobe RGB touchscreen, or a Full HD display, with Nvidia Quadro P2000 graphics. The best 4K monitors for designers If you’re looking for a new graphic design laptop that balances power and portability, the Precision 5530 is worth a look. That said, we’re still holding out for Dell’s backflipping – but less powerful – new Precision 5530 2-in-1, due out in August... US: Buy the Dell Precision 5530 from $1,529 UK: Buy the Dell Precision 5530 from £1,484.39 The Procreate Pocket iPhone app has received a major update, taking it to version 2.0 – and adding almost every Procreate feature from the iPad app, including 3D Touch, 136 brushes, more time-lapse options, a revamped interface and more. Powered by Silica-M – the same graphics engine that powers Procreate for iPad – Procreate Pocket v2 makes it easier than ever to create detailed art on an iPhone. If you already own the app you’ll get the update for free; otherwise it’ll cost you $4.99 new. US: Buy Procreate Pocket for $4.99 UK: Buy Procrate Pocket for £4.99 Add depth, grain and gritty accents to your vector artwork with the Grain Shader Brsuhes for Illustrator – 25 texture Illustrator brushes created by True Grit Texture Supply. This high-res brush set comes with bonus grainy overlay textures, is compatible with Illustrator CS6 and above, and will set you back $19. There’s also a Grain Shader Brush set for Photoshop, and one for Procreate too. Buy the Grain Shader Brushes For Illustrator for $19 The Curiosities bundle of 40 early 20th century-inspired fonts is bursting with stunning scripts, sans-serifs, serifs, hand-drawn fonts and more, designed by Hustle Supply Co’s Jeremy Vessey. Perfect for adding a timeless feel to logos, beer labels, posters and more, this pack has a font for everything – plus three bonus free fonts from RetroSupply Co, including popular Palm Canyon Drive script, Authority, and modular type system SOLID70. That’s over 40 quality fonts for $49. Buy the The Curiosities Font Collection for $49 In On Color, authors David Scott Kastan and Stephen Farthing investigate colour from numerous perspectives – literary, historical, cultural, anthropological, philosophical, art historical, political and scientific – in this fascinating mediation on colour. Sometimes provocative, sometimes playful, each of the 10 chapters is a devoted to a different colour, with the authors looking at the various ways each has – and continues to – shape our social and moral imaginations. This is a lively, intelligent and well-written book that anyone with an interest in colour will enjoy. US: Buy On Color from Amazon for $20.58 UK: Buy On Color from Amazon for £19.54 2D artist Rodd Lopes created the Procreate Character Design Brush Set. Inside this pack of 22 Procreate brushes you'll find everything you need to draw and paint characters, from soft and hard brushes to textured, line-art, oils, blend brushes and more. There’s a wide variety of different effects here – all you need is an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to get started. Buy the Procreate Character Design Brushes for $8 Read more: The 21 best free cursive fonts iMac Pro review XP-Pen Artist 15.6 graphics tablet review View the full article