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You're reading Google Announces AMP for Email, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! According to some, email was supposed to be obsolete a long time ago. Well, neither Facebook nor countless chat apps succeeded at dethroning email from our lives. More than 270 billion emails were sent each day in 2017. Today, with the launch of Google’s AMP for Email, the oldest method of digital communication gets another […] View the full article

In the year that Apple launched the first iPad, the old approach of coding one 'desktop' site and one 'mobile' site was becoming increasingly untenable. With more and more devices coming online, web design was crying out for a bold new strategy. It arrived in the form of an article by Ethan Marcotte on A List Apart. It drew inspiration from John Allsopp's article, A Dao of Web Design, and looked at architectural principles to explain how we could create layouts that adapt seamlessly to different screen environments, yet still retain the best principles of print design. 15 really useful responsive web design tutorials The rest is history. His essay, entitled Responsive Web Design, introduced a new approach that was so simple, elegant and effective that it was swiftly adopted by the industry as the standard way to design a site, and remains so today. Marcotte followed up with a book of the same title in 2011. Mashable called 2013 the 'Year of Responsive Web Design'. And today, from Bangkok to Boston, São Paulo to Sydney, whenever someone starts working on a web design, it's more than likely going to be responsive. Ethan Marcotte literally wrote the book on Responsive Web Design, as well as the original article So it's fair to say that Marcotte is entitled to feel somewhat pleased with himself. But he's breathtakingly modest about the whole thing. "It still surprises me that responsive design took off the way that it did  ," he reflects. "I say this with all sincerity: I met a publishing deadline. I wrote an article. And when I turned it in, I thought that was going to be the end of it. The way it exploded has been terrifying and humbling." He adds that, while he may have been the first one to put all the pieces together, responsive design was in some ways inevitable. "The way that the core idea resonated with people so much suggests that if I hadn't come up with it, someone else would have. Because our way of designing, it just wasn't sustainable." Still figuring it out While Marcotte continues today to curate the @rwd Twitter account, on which he shares links to useful articles and interesting redesigns, he certainly doesn't feel as though he 'owns' responsive design, or should be considered an arbiter of it. "Some years on, I think some people look to me as though I have answers for some of the challenges we have out there," he says. "But I'm very much part of a conversation that many, many people are having right now. So I don't see myself as being an owner of responsive design, in any way. I'm trying to figure out how to design responsively in my own practice on a daily basis." Ethan talking turkey with another web design legend, Jeffrey Zeldman He's still willing to share his views, of course. "Some folks have kindly asked me to contribute forewords to their books, because I've been talking about some of the topics they're interested in," he says. "And others have been kind enough to send me articles or redesigns that they think deserve a wider audience; I'm happy to help with that. But I definitely don't feel like I can control responsive design, or that it's my thing." And neither is he militant about the idea that responsive web design is always the 'right and truthful path' to creating the best digital experiences. "There's a tendency in our industry to pit ideas against each other," he says. "You can see this with responsive design versus device-specific experiences, responsive design versus adaptive design. Even something as broad as native versus web, or mobile versus desktop. We tend to think of things in these binary terms. Like it's either this, or it's this, until something better comes along." That's never been Marcotte's experience of the web, though. "In my work, there's never been one single best way to design, or to solve a problem. It's ultimately about what helps us solve problems for our clients and our stakeholders in the most effective way, given whatever constraints we're dealing with." That said, that way usually is responsive design. "I work with clients that do native work all the time," he says. "But when I'm talking to them about strategy, it's really a question of what's going to help them reach the widest audience possible. And invariably, that's the web, and creating a responsive experience for a web-based design. "That's not to say I'm not going to urge them to look for interesting native solutions if they have a problem," he says. "But generally speaking, investing yourself in a device-agnostic, beautiful responsive layout is going to be the best way to get started. And it might lead to some interesting approaches around the edges." New challenges But the world of the web is changing fast. Device-agnostic design might work when we're just talking about smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. But will responsive design survive the tsunami of new devices to come? "I feel like that's a conversation that's ongoing right now," replies Marcotte. "For instance, I worked with one client who launched a beautiful responsive redesign and then a few months later we started getting screenshots from Google Glass. This wasn't a device that hadn't even been invented when we started the site. And this wasn't maybe the best way to encounter the design or the content… but it was still accessible." Having written the book on RWD, Ethan later wrote the book on responsive design patterns And the moral is? "Thinking about the web first as a flexible design medium means that when those interesting edge cases pop up, because you've designed this as properly as possible, that frees you up in future to say: 'Okay, so here's a device that's getting some real traction with our audience, what sort of solution do we want to explore for that? Is it about refining our responsive approach, do we tune it for that context? Or maybe it's something that's more customised and discrete?'" For an example, he points to smartwatches. "What's going to happen to the web when it's on a screen that small?" he asks. "Who knows: again, it feels early, and Apple Watch isn't really a web-friendly experience right now." "But if you go on YouTube, you can find lots of great videos of people browsing through responsive designs on Android Wear devices. It may not be ideal, may not be popular. But by having that flexible device agnostic design in place, we've at least made something accessible to that audience." Staying grounded Throughout our conversation, Marcotte constantly brings everything back to client work. And it's clear that this is as important to him as speaking at conferences, writing articles for his blog, and books such as his latest work, Responsive Design: Patterns & Principles. "I've been travelling a lot, which is great, but it needs to be a mix between talking about work and doing work," he reflects. "Because I think one informs the other. There are things I've learned from speaking to people at conferences that I bring back into my practice, and things I'm designing for clients that I get really excited about and want to share with a larger audience." Balance is something he's always trying to figure out, though. "Travel takes a lot out of a person," he notes. "So this year, I've really focused on client work. I've ratcheted down a lot of speaking engagements and really tried to focus on some hands-on design and working with some good people." Interestingly, in a year dominated by 'fake news', these good people have included two innovative media organisations, Source's OpenNews project and the independent, non-profit newsroom ProPublica. Marcotte has been working with Source and ProPublica, a pair of innovative media organisations "Source is helping designers and developers who work in newsrooms across the planet to tell the stories about how they produce their work," Marcotte explains. "For example, they pulled together two years' worth of data and interactive visualisations from different news organisations on gun violence in the US." "It's a repository of all the work that's been done around this very difficult problem, but it's also helping promote any tools or frameworks or processes that might have come out of making those stories. To make them more accessible to people, so they can also produce that work, if need be." Marcotte got involved in a month-long design sprint for Source, working closely with the team to get a redesign up and running. "They'd been planning it for quite a while and had done mountains of research before I showed up for my sprint, so they did most of the heavy lifting," he recalls. "Deadlines were tight, but ultimately they were a wonderful client." As were ProPublica. "They really focus on some really tough, meaty issues, like corruption and consumer-focused stories  ," he says. "So it was nice to have an opportunity to help them out in some small way. They're a very fast-moving newsroom, so it was nice to just sit and watch them do their thing." And despite being so gifted at strategic-level thinking, Marcotte still likes to get hands-on with the code. "I generally find myself pretty involved in some aspect of the design and the front-end work," he says. "And even if I'm not directly involved in implementing a layout myself, I usually try to make sure we're adhering to some good principles. Ensuring that we're not making any decisions that are going to compromise accessibility, that will compromise building a fast, beautiful, responsive design." This article was originally published in issue 300 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 300 or subscribe here. Related articles: 10 golden rules for responsive SVGs How to design responsive and device-agnostic forms Create responsive forms and tables View the full article

One of the most important ways to improve as an artist is by having your work critiqued. Sometimes you have no choice: as a student, you're critiqued by your tutor; as an employee, by your creative director. At other times, you'll seek out a critique. Either way, it's a great way to get insight into how to improve. There's just one problem. We're all human and no one likes to be criticised. "Working as an illustrator and concept artist, you always dread the moment where you show the work," admits Loïc Zimmermann, who's an art director at MPC and a teacher at Gnomon. "We all want the tap on the back." 7 biggest illustration trends of 2018 But hiding would be a big mistake. "Peer feedback for both personal and professional work is invaluable, because everyone loses perspective on their own work – both in general and on each piece as they work on it," says Drew Whitmore, a principal artist at Atomhawk. "Getting that outside context gives you a route to seeing your work with clearer eyes." Loïc agrees. "Learning to accept criticism will make you a better artist; you just have to learn not to take it personally," he stresses. "Nobody's going to hire someone who throws a tantrum each time points are raised, however talented they are." Roberto Pitturru's Laser Battle, as art directed by Sarah Robinson. She advises that, "being too aggressive when getting a crit may not get you more work" So what can you to do if critiques make you overemotional? In that case, you actually need to get critiqued more often, Drew suggests. "If you're too precious about your artwork and don't get a lot of feedback, that feedback is going to hurt if it's something you feel strongly about," he reasons. "You have to build up those calluses." See the crit for what it is It's also important to take a step back and empathise with the person giving the critique. "Getting a rough crit can feel like a personal attack, simply because you'd put so much of your time, energy, and emotion into creating the work," says US artist Daniel Warren. "But if someone cares enough to give you a well thought-out critique in the first place, then it means they're invested in your improvement and care enough to help you grow. So see this for what it is: help from a person who's probably dealing with the same things that you are." In short, while a critique can often feel like criticism, they're not the same thing. Criticism is often purely based on subjective, personal opinion – whether someone likes your work or not. In contrast, a critique should be purely objective and address one central question: does the piece achieve what the artist has set out to create? "Lots of artists tend to mix up criticism with an opinion on the quality of their work and their value as an artist," says French art director and freelancer Pascal Blanché. "But a critique isn't about you. It's a process that aims to improve the final version of your art. Once you recognise this, you can start to help and guide the person who is critiquing your work by discussing the issue and keeping an open mind." "Art director or freelancer, we all get exposed to critique," says Pascal Blanche. "It's about exposing your work to others' eyes and opinions." And note that 'discussing' doesn't mean 'arguing': this is not a zero-sum debate, but a process of constructive dialogue. That's the spirit in which Sarah Robinson, creative director for Paizo in Seattle, approaches receiving a critique. "I usually let them happen calmly," she says. "I may not agree with them, but in that case I'll just go ahead and make the requested changes to let them see how it would look, and explain to them why it wouldn't work." Above all, you should never feel singled out, because receiving a critique is something every artist has to go through. "All visual medium is open for criticism," Sarah stresses. "It's going to happen, so if you can't take it then maybe you're in the wrong business." And the pay-off is that you can use the feedback positively, to improve your art. Jumping board How you do that will vary in different situations, says Drew. "But generally, you can either implement the suggestions, or use their critique as a jumping board for being analytical about your image," he says. "Even if there are bits of a critique that I don't agree with, there's probably still something there to resolve. So I try to see if there are other routes to solving those issues, other than the suggested one, that will still retain what I liked previously." "Passion projects are where you can shine, and getting them critiqued is vital to making them better," says Loïc Zimmerman. Most importantly, never stop asking for critiques, because without them, your art is likely to stagnate, says Loïc. "I've done this job long enough that I have passionate people coming in, fresh out of school, who join and slowly fade over the years," he says. "It seems like there's a layer of dust on them, and the flame, the fire in the eyes, just fades. And this is why you need to keep a critical thinking on your own work, and show it to the people who'll help you get better." And there's no such thing as an artist who's too successful to ask for a critique. "Some of the best people I know ask for opinions," Loïc points out. "You wouldn't expect Jeremy Mann to tell you, 'Hey, what do you think of that painting?', but he does, because he's curious. The most established people, the strongest ones, still want to know." Giving something back As well as receiving critiques, as a professional artist you're often asked to critique other artists' work. But as we've already noted, no one likes hearing negative views of their art. So how do you go about it? While diplomacy is key, soft-soaping the truth is not an option, says Sarah Robinson, who regularly reviews other artists' work at conventions. "Hearing the truth is what helps," she points out. "We all want to get better, and if we're told that we're awesome all the time, then there's no chance of going to the next level." Image created by Dave Rapoza as part of a tutorial. "If the artist argues back, do listen, because they may change your perspective," says Dave Dave Rapoza, an artist for games and films who's just launched his own comic entitled Steve Lichman, agrees. "You don't do anyone a service by holding back," he says. "People are looking for someone to be honest. Remember, they're asking for critique. If they want compliments instead, they need to make that clear." Neither, though, should you simply spit out your own personal views of the work, says Loïc Zimmermann. "It's not about you and whether you like the art or not. That's not relevant," he explains. "It's about what is the artist trying to do, and how well they're working towards that goal." "A critique requires you to do more than just look at the art; it's about understanding the ambitions behind it," agrees American artist Daniel Warren, who's recently been working with Dave Rapoza on Steve Lichman. Daniel used to critique artists regularly online via Livestream and Twitch, and still does so for those who reach out via email. "I typically try to first identify what field they're trying to get into," he explains. "Concept art? Book illustration? Comics? And then I frame the crit around the needs and requirements of getting into that field." This way, there's a better chance of your critique hitting home, he adds. "It shows them that you actually took the time to observe their work and aren't just giving them the boilerplate responses you give to everyone who asks for help." Give yourself time to reply Drew Whitmore agrees that taking your time is key. "Don't immediately jump into critique," he advises. "Looking at their image a couple of times, with some time in between, gives you a better view of what the issues are," he advises. And try to be constructive rather than just narrowly critical. "Always try to have a proposed solution," Drew stresses. "Point out what you think is wrong and why, and then what you think they should do about it. If you don't have a solution off-hand, it's good to discuss it with the artist, and ask them a bunch of questions. Often, they'll think of a good solution themselves." Concept art for Injustice 2 by Drew Whitmore. "Peer feedback is invaluable as everyone loses perspective on their own work," says Drew To make sure you don't slide too far into negativity, Daniel recommends the 'crit sandwich'. "The formula is 'positive, negative, positive'," he explains. "It's very important to remember that critique is not just negatives. Identifying what works, and the strengths, is equally important. So, for every two areas of weakness, try to find an area of strength. For example: 'The anatomy could use some work; specifically the proportions in the arms. The costume design is really great, though – it's unique and makes the character pop. Maybe bump up the lighting so that it showcases the outfit more.'" Agreeing on crit limits Loïc adds that it's important from the outset to clarify with the artist exactly how open they are to criticism of their work. "So I usually ask: 'How far do you want me to go? Are you done with it and are asking politely, but ultimately you don't want to change a thing? Or this is something that you really want to improve?' I think that's a good place to start." Bear in mind that there's no 'right' answer here: yours is a second opinion, not the be-all and end-all. "Apart from the low-hanging fruit around fundamentals, such as perspective, anatomy and lighting, a lot of stuff is very subjective," points out Drew. "With client work it gets easier because, hopefully, there's a clear direction coming from the client. "With personal work, though, you need to consider where the artist is wanting to go. You can refer to other creatives who are successful at the thing this particular artist is trying to do as a jumping board for your feedback, so they know you're not trying to take them some place they don't want to go." Think big, not small It's important, too, to not get bogged down in details, says Daniel. "Stick to the three main problems you see in the work rather than overwhelm the person with every little thing you believe is wrong," he advises. "This serves to make the artist you're critiquing focus on the big, important issues and keeps them focused." "Be open to suggestions," says Daniel Warren. "But don't sacrifice your own style for someone else's just to get a thumbs up." Above all, remember you're talking to a human being, so address them in the same friendly manner you'd like to be addressed yourself. "It's not just about what you say, but how you say it," says Dave. "The important thing is to convey why something isn't working and how to improve it; you don't have to be nasty about it. It's basically balance between the two people; both need to be sensitive to each other." And Loïc is a great believer in a lightness of touch. "I think humour is something that works for everything in life," he says. "I start my class with anecdotes every time; it's like a way in. And you have to talk passionately about the good stuff. Then it's easier to say to them: 'So here, why did you screw it up? These parts are a very interesting direction, but you need to follow it the entire way through.'" This article was originally published in issues 155 and 156 of ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe to ImagineFX here. Related articles: 10 hottest illustrators of 2017 Concept design tips for artists Why you should take an art class online View the full article

When web developers need to get their sites online with the assurance that all their designs will work as expected, they turn to Arch Hosting Web Hosting. This reliable web hosting service can get your site up and running in no time. You can get a lifetime subscription to this powerful service for just $24.99 (approx. £18). Arch Hosting Web Hosting has everything you need to get your website up and running at its peak performance. This performance-oriented web host understands the importance of having no downtime and quick load times and will optimise your site with its lightning-fast network. Get 2GB of storage space and 500GB of bandwidth for your domain, which you'll get free for a full year. You can get get a lifetime subscription to Arch Hosting Web Hosting plus one year of domain registry for just $24.99 (approx. £18). That's a savings of 95% off the retail price for a deal that will get your site up and running, so grab this deal today! About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at:deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: 12 best web hosting services 18 great web design podcasts 12 huge web design trends for 2018 View the full article

You might not know the name of the world’s most sought after set designer – but you’ll know her work. Es Devlin designed the London Olympic closing ceremony. The theatrical mastermind is also responsible for the mountainous landscape of Kanye West’s Yeezus tour, Beyoncé’s rotating cinema, and unique experiences for Adele and U2. She’s sent Miley Cyrus down a tongue-shaped slide, and created Benedict Cumberbatch’s crumbling mansion in the Barbican’s Hamlet. The list goes on. The London-based set designer, who will be speaking at Design Indaba 2018, specialises in blurring the boundary between stage design and art. She practices the ‘suspension of disbelief’ – but while redesigning traditional experiences in surprising ways is central to her craft, the theme of time is also becoming increasingly important. "I think now I'm really aware of time," she told CNN. "I have this sense of being halfway up a mountain." Es Devlin designed the London Olympics closing ceremony, which featured Damien Hirst’s huge spin painting One project where the theme of time really took shape was Devlin’s disorientating 2016 Mirror Maze installation in London (pictured below). The project used video projections and visceral sound design to explore how scent can trigger memories. As visitors wandered around the maze, which was filed with mirrors and dead-end staircases, their reflection was projected onto the walls around them. The project was inspired by an experience Devlin had while working on Adele’s Belfast arena tour. “Where we were working,” she told Creative Review,“I was staying in a hotel and I opened the cupboard door and smelled mothballs.” Mirror Maze was commissioned by ID and Chanel “I was so tired and I immediately felt like I was falling and plummeting through space into my five-year-old self smelling mothballs in my grandmother’s house in South Wales. I thought … ‘Could I make people feel that? Could I set up this kind of maze and involve people’s brain wandering around the maze, then suddenly plummet them, or remind them of what that plummeting sensation felt like?'” For Devlin, Mirror Maze also marked the start of a new line of enquiry: making the visitor part of the work. By experiencing her designs, people become the hero. In September, Devlin was awarded the prestigious Panerai London Design Medal. Previous recipients have included Zaha Hadid and Ron Arad, and a showcase of her work is planned for the V&A in celebration. She’s also been thinking about a retrospective exhibition. “I need to create some kind of thesis of my 20 years of work,’ she told Wallpaper. “I’d love to create an installation where you could travel through my stage sets. You could walk in through Kanye’s mountain, and then out through Wagner’s Parsifal tunnel and then slide down Miley’s tongue. Wouldn’t it be fun?” It gets our vote. We’ll be bringing you more from Devlin at Design Indaba 2018. The three-day creative event kicks off on 21 February, and we’ll be reporting live throughout. Related articles: Design Indaba 2018 headlines with Thomas Heatherwick 8 things you didn't know about design for film Design Indaba 2018: Building outspoken landscapes View the full article

We all know finding work in the design industry is an extremely competitive process, even if you do have a killer design portfolio. With so many talented people around, just getting noticed is a job in itself. Designers and illustrators around the world have long been coming up with unusual creative strategies to give their resumés an edge in the hunt for employment. If you're in need of inspiration for your own CV, here are some of the best creative resumés out there to help get the creative juices flowing. 01. Andy Morris Andy Morris thought small when it came to his new CV Art director, artist and designer Andy Morris caught the design industry's attention for all the right reasons with this fantastically creative resume. Rather than sticking with the traditional paper, Morris commissioned a LEGO minifigure in his own likeness, complete with a tiny laptop in one hand and a mini-CV in the other. To update prospective clients with the information they need, the packaging features a bitesized run-down of Morris' skills, plus contact details. 02. Pierre-Marie Postel Click the image to see the full CV Graphic designer and illustrator Pierre-Marie Postel – also known as Paiheme – decided to use his CV to show off exactly what he's best at. His creative resume displays his impressive illustration style, and mimics a Japanese print advert. It's not style at the expense of substance, however – this CV includes plenty of key information, plus some quirky additions such as character designs to show off Postel's personality. The monochrome colour palette ensures it doesn't become overwhelming. 03. Brennan Gleason Brennan Gleason decided to combine two passions Interaction designer Brennan Gleason was nearing the end of university and needed to get his name known by potential employers. To do so in style he brewed up a batch of blonde ale, packaged it up in a neat cardboard carrier, and printed his CV on the back. The idea being that prospective employers could sit down for a quick drink and peruse Gleason's design skills at the same time. 04. Curriculum 3D Benjamin Benhaim's 3D CV really stands out Inspired by this great-looking flat CV from Jimmy Raheriarisoa, Paris-based art director and motion designer Benjamin Benhaim set to work and made this stunning 3D rendered resumé. Created using Cinema 4D, Octane and After Effects, it covers all the bases and features plenty of playful touches, and each image took around seven minutes to render. Time well spent! 05. Tatiana Del Valle Gorodenskaia Click the image to see the full CV Design student Tatiana del Valle Gorodenskaia's colourful CV showcases her personal style perfectly. She splits her skills into those connected to her head and her heart, to give a rounded overview of what she offers. The design combines charming biro sketches, fun graphic patterns and neat typography effectively. 06. Robynne Redgrave You'd be all over this if it turned up in the post This portfolio mail package created by Robynne Redgrave, a Canadian graphic designer based in Helsinki, is a real attention-grabber. It contains not only her CV but a whole load of stuff including a hand-bound portfolio book, a letter of intent, application form and certificates. 07. Livia Natalie An animated CV is a bit of a risky proposition, but Livia Natalie's effort really pays off. It's beautifully animated, covers all the salient points that prospective employers need to know about her, and it's done and dusted in just over a minute, which makes it a lot more likely that people will sit through the whole thing. 08. Robby Leonardi Robby Leonardi's interactive CV caused a real stir when he launched it Robby Leonardi is a multidisciplinary designer based in New York City. Specialising in illustration, graphic design, animation, and front-end development, he has worked with the likes of Fox, Speed TV, FX Networks, myNetworkTV, and G4. His incredibly fun interactive design resumé will have you scrolling for hours! 09. Julia Miceli Julia Miceli's CV is testament that creativity can also be practical Julia Miceli – a graphic designer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina – managed to hit all the right notes with her creative resume. It's simple compared to many of the other in this list, but still oozes personality. The bold orange colour is unusual and eye-catching, and there isn't an element that hasn't been carefully art directed. Miceli has also considered practical aspects: the CV is a standard A4 size, but sits in a wallet that shows it off to its full potential, and there's a neat slot that holds a business card the viewer can pop out and keep. 10. Zhi Liang A simple and inventive approach to the résumé design Singapore-based student Chen Zhi Liang was set a task by his graphic design tutor to create an inventive résumé that would make him stand out from the crowd. The semester-end assignment was to create an infographic résumé and we think he's come up trumps with this design. Showcasing the all-important qualifications and skills, the résumé is eye-catching without being overwhelming. Liang's minimal approach is perfect for an overcrowded job market. We'd definitely hire him! 11. Ed Hamilton Ed Hamilton's Google Map resumé uses personalised placemarkers to highlight his skills When London-based copywriter Ed Hamilton was out of work, he decided to put his time to good use and develop a creative way to stand out to prospective employers. Using Google Maps' My Maps feature, Hamilton mapped his resumé, using different coloured pins to create personalised placemarkers, each accompanied by explanatory text. The brilliant design includes pins for where Hamilton lives, his interests and his previous employment. Related articles: The secrets of fulfilling a creative design brief How to be the designer every agency wants to hire Top tips for making design awards work for you View the full article

As an art director, commissioning illustration can be one of the most rewarding parts of the job. But it can also be one of the most frustrating. Illustration has no limits in terms of scope, or style, or subject matter. You can communicate ideas of all kinds, whether abstract or literal – and totally change the look, feel and mood of a piece of design. It takes experience to get the commissioning process spot-on, and sometimes you don't have the time, or the budget, to do so from scratch. That's where savvy use of stock imagery can come in, or a different solution entirely. But if you do have time to go down the commissioning route, here are our eight top tips to improve your illustration commissioning skills. 01. Choose the right style Illustration can give the same design template a very different look and feel Once you've decided that commissioned illustration is the right route to take for a project, the crucial first stage is to determine what style is the best fit for that particular job. You may already have a look and feel in mind, or even a specific person (see our hot list of the best new illustrators for inspiration). But it's worth compiling a moodboard of different potential illustrators before making an approach. Test some of their previous work in situ in your design if you can. If you have a rough concept in mind but aren't sure who to do it, illustration agencies can be helpful in bridging the gap and suggesting options. Design magazines such as our sister title Computer Arts, creative conference line-ups, or schemes such as the World Illustration Awards are also useful sources of inspiration. As a commissioner, it's always helpful to use an illustrator's previous work as a reference point. It proves they can execute the concept you have in mind if they've done something similar. But remember, many illustrators aren't keen on treading the same ground, so be prepared to work with them to push the idea in fresh directions. 02. Consider composition early For this 'clients from hell' cover, Mat Roff provided a thumbnail to show how his idea would work in the template It's vital to nail the composition of the piece at an early rough stage – particularly where hand-drawn or handmade illustration is involved – as it'll save a lot of potential hassle further down the line. Sometimes this can be as simple as a quick thumbnail sketch that demonstrates an understanding of how the illustration needs to function alongside other elements of a design. It's rarely shown in isolation, after all. Roff's final cover composition stays true to his original thumbnail sketch If you have a clear concept and composition in mind from the outset, it may be necessary for you to provide this sketch as part of the initial brief to avoid confusion and make sure you're on the same page as the illustrator. 03. Set a detailed brief Toby Triumph's commission requested a multi-armed, Hindu-style 'god' to symbolise a multi-tasking freelancer There are times when giving an illustrator the freedom to develop their own concepts can yield stunning results that go beyond your wildest expectations. It's a collaborative process, and two heads are usually better than one. However, sometimes a very tight brief is the best way to deliver the concept you need for the job. A totally blank sheet of paper can be a curse as well as a blessing for the illustrator, and it can be reassuring to know that their commissioner has a clear vision in mind. If there's a particular concept or visual metaphor at play, as well as discussing the composition of the piece consider particular elements that could be included, and suggest options. Just try not to be so restrictive and controlling that you end up cramping the illustrator's style. 04. Discuss references Visual references included intricate geometric patterns from India, and the vibrant colours of the Holi festival References and visual moodboards can provide an invaluable creative steer for the illustrator, whether at the initial commissioning stage alongside discussions about concept and composition, or further down the line while adding detail. Stock image libraries can be a treasure trove for this kind of material, whether or not you end up using the assets in the final design – as can visual platforms such as Pinterest, Behance or Instagram. Triumph's final cover design blended an unusual colour palette with intricate background patterns Remember, these are only references at this stage, and the final illustration could take a very different direction. Your moodboard may only inform the broad colour palette, help determine the shape and form of certain elements, or inspire a background pattern, for instance. If you're looking to ground your commissioned illustration in the look, feel and heritage of a particular culture, the more research the better. In the interests of authenticity, use someone with first-hand knowledge and experience if you can. 05. Brainstorm concepts Daniel Stolle was briefed to explore the idea of 'sharing his wisdom' as an illustrator If your brief is more open and conceptual, provide the illustrator with enough of a theme or direction for them to explore concepts at an early sketch stage, and then work with them to develop them further. Think of it like the process you go through when developing logo ideas for a client. There may be elements of different ideas that you can combine, refine or take in new directions. Stolle's final cover develops his idea of the illustrator's head being a roll of paper As a designer, you know what it's like to be on the other side of the table with a difficult, indecisive and inarticulate client. Don't be that person: help steer the illustrator towards the best solution, and work together to find it. 06. Collaborate on layouts Daniel Stolle worked closely with the CA team, sketching layout roughs for the feature inside When it comes to spot illustrations, often the brief demands very specific dimensions to fit into predetermined boxes. If the layout is fixed at the point of commission, or if there are certain design elements the illustrator must work around, be sure to specific this very clearly at the outset. If, however, there's more flexibility in the design – such as small, moveable elements that can fit around illustration – then consider collaborating with the illustrator on something more dynamic. 07. Give direction with annotations Inspired by an existing portfolio piece, CA provided illustrator Guillaume Kurkdjian with this rough biro sketch During the collaboration process between designer and illustrator, sometimes feedback is best provided in the form of notes and annotations to steer the design in a very specific direction. This is much quicker, more accurate, and ultimately less likely to be lost in translation than just trying to describe the changes in an email or over the phone, for instance. Kurkdjian's initial design (left), and handwritten notes provided by CA art editor Mark Wynne This type of sharply focused art direction is particularly helpful once a concept is locked down, and finer details are being tweaked and refined, although broader-brush notes are also useful at the compositional stage. 08. Reuse key elements Guillaume Kurkdjian's final CA cover illustration Due to time, budget or other constraints, sometimes a main 'hero' illustration needs to take priority over smaller spot illustrations in a design. One solution is to consider the re-use of certain elements from the outset. If you're commissioning a digital illustrator, if possible make sure they supply a layered file with key compositional elements kept separate. Vector files are even better, as there's more scope to manipulate scale and colour to keep things fresh. An example of layered elements from Kurkdjian's illustration being used as part of an internal layout This isn't always possible, of course, either because the illustration doesn't lend itself to this kind of reuse, or the usage rights you've negotiated as part of the commission don't permit it. Even if they do, it's good practice to explain to the illustrator how you intend to use it – they may have some suggestions of their own to bring to the table. It's a collaborative process, after all. Thanks to CA art editor Mark Wynne, and former art editor Jo Gulliver, for their help providing images (and for art directing these covers in the first place). Read more: 5 ways to use images more effectively in editorial design 7 biggest illustration trends of 2018 6 fantastic editorial designs and what we can learn from them View the full article

One of the bugs could allow a successful attack simply by a user viewing an email in Outlook's Preview pane. View the full article

It's just the latest reported vulnerability for the secure messaging application. View the full article

You're reading Postcards – Drag and Drop Email Template Builder, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Postcards is here and we want to show them to you! Using Postcards, you can create beautiful emails/newsletters in minutes with drag and drop features and ready-made modules. Generated and exported emails are optimized for most popular email service providers and email clients (desktop and browsers). View the full article

Barack and Michelle Obama returned to the limelight yesterday as their portraits were unveiled at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The event, which is usually seen as a perfunctory occasion, drew worldwide attention thanks to the portraits' striking painting techniques, which are a stark contrast to the traditionally formal depictions of American presidents. Political commentators have noticed that the distinctive portraits reflect an unorthodox presidency that saw Obama challenge and push expectations of what could be achieved in office. Painted by African-American artists of the former first couple's choosing, the two portraits were hotly anticipated by Democrats and art critics. Barack Obama chose Yale University alumni Kehinde Wiley to paint his portrait, while Michelle Obama selected Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald. Both artists are known for signature stylistic flourishes which appear in these paintings. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image For his portrait of Barack Obama, which the man himself described as "pretty sharp", Wiley incorporated the vibrant and floral motifs that have made his name. But while the former president asked the artist to tone down some of the pomp and ceremony found in his other works, he couldn't stop the painter from staying true to life. "I tried to negotiate less grey hair, and Kehinde's artistic integrity would not allow him to do what I asked," Obama joked during the unveiling. "I tried to negotiate smaller ears; struck out on that as well." Wiley is the first African-American artist to paint an official presidential portrait for the National Portrait Gallery. "What I was always struck by when I saw his portraits was the degree to which they challenged our ideas of power and privilege," Obama said. Barack Obama's life is told through the many flowers in the background of the portrait. There's the chrysanthemum, which is the official flower of Chicago, where Obama's career began. There's also a jasmine for his birthplace of Hawaii, plus African blue lilies, which are symbolic of Obama's heritage. Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Meanwhile, Michelle Obama's portrait appeared more muted and understated. Depicted with a greyed-out skin tone and wearing a patterned dress with her chin resting on her hand, the former first lady claims that her portrait will herald a new era of presidential portraits. She went on to add that the portrait will give inspirations to girls and girls of colour as they will finally be able to see people like themselves in positions of authority. Given that the Obama presidency was seen as a boundary pushing and controversial era, it's no surprise that these portraits have provoked a similarly divisive reaction. Some were quick to attack the artists by pointing out that Wiley once painted black women decapitating white women, while others praised the breath of fresh air that these portraits represent. Given that Obama's successor has also taken a revolutionary approach to the presidency, all eyes will be on Donald Trump to see how his portraits compare. Related articles: 20 phenomenally realistic pencil drawings Create a self-portrait with just 4 colours Draw Faces in 15 Minutes View the full article

You're reading Google Announces AMP Stories for Creatives, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! AMP, Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages project aimed at making mobile pages load fast, just got updated to include custom visuals. It was about time. AMP Story changes everything! The newly launched AMP Stories format is an addition to the AMP Project and allows content publishers focused on mobile to deliver news engagingly and visually. A Visual-Driven Format […] View the full article

While there are many steps in creating a website, branding is one of the most important. Whether you're working for another company or simply designing your own web design portfolio, it's vital to choose an approachable and relatable colour palette. This can seem a bit tricky, but don’t fret! In this article I'll offer some advice for finding the right colour palette for you, using psychological studies and colour theory. Know what emotions colours evoke You may have an idea of what you’d like the colour palette for your business to be, but before you set anything in stone, try to take a look at what the colours you’re thinking of using actually mean. That means asking: Do the colours convey the right emotions and are they attractive to my target market? It might seem like a silly question, but you can gain a lot of insight by looking into the psychology of colours. Think of the logos of some companies you know, like Coca Cola, Facebook and Apple. They are three incredibly recognisable brands, all of which you can likely recall the colour of their logos as red, blue, and white. For a more in-depth look at this, take a look at our article on outstanding uses of colour in branding. Click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image While a logo’s colour may seem like a casual choice made by the brand, you can be assured a lot of thought went into it. The colours used in the logos of these brands exude what they stand for – or at the very least, what they’re trying to stand for. If you're confused or lacking inspiration, the best place is to start is by playing around with some online colour tools. There are plenty of these around, and you'll find our pick of the best ones in our roundup of the best colour tools for web designers. Choose your dominant colours Once you're feeling inspired enough, you can begin choosing your main or ‘dominant’ palette colours. These are the colours that you will want your target audience to recognise you by. They will adorn your website and business cards, so it’s important to get them right. While it’s not imperative, you’ll most likely only want two dominant colours, with the others left as accent colours (we'll cover these later on). It’s also important to note that out of your two dominant colours, one will be used more than the other in your branding materials, whether it be a website, banner or anything else. Explore different tones and tints to find the right balance First and foremost, your dominant palette colours should either complement each other or contrast well together, and neither should outshine one another. If they do, you can play with tints, tones and shades to find a happy balance between the two. Here’s a quick explanation of these last terms: Tones: Mixing grey to a pure colour Tint: Mixing white to a pure colour Shades: Mixing black to a pure colour This isn’t a step that’s to be rushed, as these will be the defining colours of your brand. You’ll be happy that you spent the extra time finding the perfect colour values. Choose your accent colour(s) Accent colours play an incredibly important role – they’re supposed to draw your viewer’s eyes to something you want to highlight. A poor choice can make people miss what’s essential for you. Accent colours are usually bolder than your dominant colours. Accent colours draw attention to key elements (here, the orange CTA) For your website, accent colours are best applied to elements like your navigation menu, calls to action and other crucial items that you would like to showcase. A great example of a successful accent colour application can be found in the Design Conference template by Wix.com. The red accents on the menu show you what section of the page you are on and the bright Buy Tickets call to action is begging to be clicked. Apply with the 60-30-10 rule With your colour palette complete, it’s time to give yourself a pat on the back, but you’re not done just yet. The way you actually apply your colour scheme matters, and you can let the popular 60-30-10 rule guide you: use 60 per cent of your dominant colour, 30 per cent of your secondary colour and 10 per cent of your accent colour. When it comes to web design, you can rework the rule as 60 per cent negative space, 30 per cent content, and 10 per cent ‘call to action’ elements. This is a good rule of thumb when applying your colour palette One good way to visualise this rule comes from MMI Creative: “Think of a man in a business suit: 60 per cent is the slacks and jacket, 30 per cent is the shirt, and 10 per cent is the tie”. By following this rule, you will be able to achieve balance both in colour and content for your website. This article originally appeared in net magazine issue #302. Subscribe here. Read more: 3 huge colour trends for 2018 8 free apps for picking a colour scheme 10 great examples of web design portfolios View the full article

Whether you want to learn how to draw animals, or you’re pondering how to draw people, faces, scenery, landscapes or more, we’ve got you covered with our ultimate collection of drawing tutorials. You’ll find pro techniques and tips on how to draw anything you can imagine in this article, so bookmark it and come back whenever you get stuck, or want to sharpen your drawing skills in another area. Some of the drawing tutorials here use digital tools, while others focus on traditional methods – but there's plenty of core skills to learn from both. So no matter what you want to learn how to draw, you'll find something helpful here. On this page we focus on how to draw animals. If you’re looking for tips on how to draw something else, you can use the page drop-down or links below to navigate to any of the following sections: How to draw people How to draw faces How to draw landscapes How to draw mythical creatures Read on for these insider tips on how to draw animals… How to draw dogs How to draw cats How to draw horses How to draw birds How to draw bears PAGE 1 How to draw people How to draw faces How to draw people: Basic tutorials How to draw people: Advanced tutorials PAGE 3 LANDSCAPES AND SCENERY PAGE 4 How to draw mythical creatures View the full article

Web developers are the people who keep the world wide web spinning on its axis. They make sure that behind the scenes, everything continues to run smoothly. It's a career that rewards structure as much as it does creativity, and you can join their ranks by working your way through the Ultimate Web Development eBook and Course Bundle. Get it on sale now for just $19 (approx. £14)! For any aspiring developer, the Ultimate Web Development eBook and Course Bundle is the ideal place start learning the ins and outs of the profession. This collection of 7 best-selling eBooks and 21 hours of video content can help anyone—even a complete beginner—learn how to code using the most important languages in web development, from Angular 2 to HTML5 and CSS3. Work your way through this bundle and you'll master the skills you need to launch a new career. You can get the Ultimate Front End Developer Bundle on sale for just $19 (approx. £14), 95% off the retail price. That’s a massive savings on a bundle that could help you get a start in a growing industry, so grab this deal today! About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: 20 useful tools for web developers How to use Markdown in web development 6 must-have skills for young web developers View the full article

There is an almost endless supply of fonts whirling around the web. No matter what you're after, whether it's handwriting fonts or calligraphy fonts, you can bet it's out there somewhere. But what if you're looking for something a bit more... fun? That's right, fun fonts are the order of the day. We've scoured the web for 10 of the most fun fonts to liven up your projects and put a smile on your readers' faces. There are plenty of free fonts here as well as premium ones. Explore the list below and don't worry – Comic Sans didn't make the cut. 01. Escafina This fun font was inspired by mid-century advertising Format: OTF Escafina is an upright script font that reinvents the lively 1960s-70s serif swash cap aesthetic for the digital age. It also draws inspiration from vintage signage and mid-century advertising. This fun font was created by type designer and lettering artist Riley Cran, who's also the man behind Lost Type. 02. Buffon Buffon is a reverse-contrast font with a modern twist Format: OTF The playful Buffon is a reverse-contrast typeface designed by The Australian Graphic Supply Co. It comes with four weights, a generous character set, and ligatures and stylistic alternatives. It's available to purchase through Lost Type, which comments that it "shrugs off the tired Spaghetti Western stereotype so often associated with reverse-contrast – but could make a very nice Wanted poster, if the need arose." 03. Rocher Yabba dabba doo, is this fun font for you? Format: OTF Rocher is a rock-solid fun font family that has been made to feel like stone. If you take a closer look though, you'll see that there's nothing obviously stoney about the design. That's because the creators used rounded edges and the right amount of roughness to make sturdy letterforms that feel like stone, but don't resort to cliches like cracks and rubble. Buy it for £43.99. 04. Masqualero Masqualero comes with six weights and italics Format: OTF Taking its inspiration from the life and work of Miles Davis, Masqualero is at the classy end of the fun font spectrum. Designed by Monotype, this dual-natured serifed typeface packs the flair of Davis' electric funk and rock sounds. It can be yours to own and use for £169. 05. Marshmallow This fun font looks good enough to eat Format: OTF With its fat shape, the super high-contrast script typeface Marshmallow looks just like the squidgy, tasty treat it's named after. Marshmallow might not be suitable for every occasion, but with 820 characters and a range of stylistic alternatives, it's certainly carved out a sybaritic niche. You can download it for £37.99. 06. Konga Rock Let's all do the Konga (Rock) Format: OTF If you're familiar with the delightfully bubbly Konga Pro font that was released in 2012, you'll love the more rough and ready version: Konga Rock. Dotted with little stylish imperfections, Konga Rock has a screenprinted feel that is sure to give your projects a handmade feel. Grab the complete family for £64.10. 07. Argö No, not the Ben Affleck film Format: OTP Just like Masqualero, the Argö typeface is a fun font that veers towards the sophisticated. Initially designed as an Art Deco display font, Argö is a serif typeface whose horizontal lines have been replaced with Medieval-style ascenders to create greater flow and versatility. It can be yours for just $30. 08. Quarz 974 Quarz 974 is a chiselled font perfect for logos and posters Format: TT The geometric Quarz 974 takes its inspiration from simple lines and triangles. This has resulted in a jagged, spiky font that has a lot of fun translating different word forms into its signature style. It's only composed of capitals and numbers, but this makes it the perfect eye-catching choice for posters and logos. Download it for £29.99. 09. Rosecube There's more to Rosecube than meets the eye Format: TTF Looking like a font from a Wild West wanted poster, Rosecube is a deceptively odd seriffed font. Its chunky capitals look like refined enough, but when placed side by side the letters have a sort of higgledy piggledy scruffiness about them. Rosecube has been a stalwart fun font since 2005, and you can download it for free. 10. Duke We love the shadows on this font Format: OTF When it came to designing Duke, creator James T Edmondson was inspired by the signage for the Cup & Saucer luncheonette in New York. Available as a pay-what-you-want font for personal use (or from $30 for a commercial license) Duke includes three layers: fill, shadow, and fill plus shadow. You can even try out Duke on the Lost Type site to see how you like it. 11. Ribbon Ribbon started out as a numeral set Format: OTF The road to release has been a long one for the Ribbon font. It started life as a purely numerical set, before creator Dan Gneiding expanded it into a complete display face that you can download for personal use at a price that suits you. Commercial Licenses start at $40. 12. Kitten This is the purr-fect font for cat lovers Format: OTF Rounding off our list of the best fun fonts is a special feline themed set. Say hello to Kitten, a multi-weight script family with a range of variants, alternates and ligatures. With its curvy, bouncy shape and variety of weights, this sassy font can be tailored to fit logo designs and longer text blocks. Available in 40 languages, Kitten is available to download from €58. This list is only the tip of the fun font iceberg. We're bound to have missed your favourite, so why not recommend your fun font of choice in the comments below? Related articles: The secrets of typesetting 40 free retro fonts 19 top free brush fonts View the full article

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, starting in 2001, heralded several watershed moments in visual effects. It showed off the talents of Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, it kicked off the mocap career of Andy Serkis, and it saw the development of the Massive crowd simulation software. 30 inspiring examples of 3D art Massive was the brainchild of Stephen Regelous, who while at Weta Digital built the system to enable armies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and Orcs to battle it out, seemingly autonomously. In fact, that’s exactly what Massive was designed to do; its fuzzy logic capabilities enabled computer-generated ‘agents’ to respond to their surroundings and other agents, appearing to fight, and sometimes even take flight. After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Regelous continued to develop Massive as a product that could be licensed to other visual effects and animation studios. He and his team have added countless features to the software, including, most recently, a ‘horse and rider’ agent function to add to the ‘ready-to-run’ agents already in the program. That required a custom motion capture shoot and several adaptations to Massive itself. Here Regelous breaks down how to quickly generate a crowd in Massive for Maya by loading agents, adding terrain, running a sim and rendering a result. 01. Load an agent Agent and group nodes are grouped under the Massive node Click on the agent icon in the Massive shelf. This opens the file select browser. Select an agent and click on the Open button. The agent should appear in the viewport, visible as segments, and its group node should appear under the Massive node in the Outliner. 02. Add terrain A simple polygonal grid gives the scene geometry Add geometry to the scene. In this case we have added a polygonal grid. Click on the terrain tool in the Massive tray to make the geometry active terrain in Massive. 03. Place the agents Add points to the polygonal generator until you're happy Click on the Place tool icon in the Massive shelf. This opens the Massive Place tool. Select the polygon generator icon in the Place tool. Click on the add button in the Place tool. Add points to the polygon generator by clicking on the terrain in the viewport. Press the enter key to finish adding points. In the Place tool, set number to 80, distance to about 150 and angle variation to about 160. In the Attribute Editor for massiveAttribs, under the view section switch on geometry and switch off skeleton. Click on the Place Agents icon in the Massive tray. The agents should appear, with their geometry and texture maps visible. 04. Run the simulation By making the geometry active terrain in Massive, the agents can then be placed on the terrain and are able to walk on it Click on the Maya play button to see the agents move. Click play again to pause it. The agents move much quicker if the skeletons are displayed instead of geometry and texture maps. So switch off geometry and switch on skeleton in the Attribute Editor. Clicking on the play button again we can see the agents walk, avoiding each other but with no preferred direction. 05. Add a lane By creating a lane, we can effectively guide the agents where we want them to go We can add a lane to guide the agents. Click on the Lane tool in the Massive tray to begin adding a lane to the scene. Click on the terrain to add lane points. As soon as the lane is started a lane node will appear in the Outliner. Press the enter key to finish adding lane points. Set the lane width in the Attribute Editor to 1,000. When playing the simulation the agents will follow the lane. Drag a lane point to adjust the lane. This can be done interactively while the simulation is running. Now the agents will follow the new direction of the lane. 06. Record the simulation The software also allows for the recording and playback of simulations, with easy scrubbing In the Attribute Editor for massiveAttribs, under the sim pass parameters section, set End Frame to 200. Next switch on the Sim checkbox under Output, and make sure that the directory shown in the text widget to the right already exists, or change it to one that does. Click on the record button. Click on the play button. The simulation will now be recorded, and it will stop at frame 200. If we look in the Sim directory we will see the APF files that have been written. Switch on the replay button in the Attribute Editor. This will cause Massive to read back the motion files instead of simulating. Now we can play back the simulation more quickly, and we can scrub the timeline to get to any frame of our recorded simulation. 07. Preview render Switching off the geometry can save memory and processing time First we add lights to the scene. Here we have added a sky dome light and a directional light. Scrub to somewhere around frame 140, and position the camera in order to better frame the agents. Click on the Massive node in the Outliner. Then in the Attribute Editor, under render passes select the Arnold render pass. Next select the preview render icon. The render should appear with the agents. Note that it isn’t necessary for geometry to be switched on for it to appear in the render. This can save a lot of memory and processing time when dealing with large scenes. 08. Batch render Remember to change Maya to Rendering mode Click on the render settings icon. Set the image format to TIF. Set the filename pattern in Frame/Animation ext. Set the frame range. Change Maya to Rendering mode in the dropdown. Click on Batch Render under the Render menu. Soon we should have our rendered frames. Related articles: The best 3D modelling software 2018 How to model a complex 3D city scene in Blender Behind the scenes of Blade Runner 2049 View the full article

If you haven't heard already, we're now just one month away from the debut of our CG event Vertex. You really can't afford to miss it and here's why... 01. Chris Nichols will explore the creation of digital humans With the rise of digital humans in mediums such as film, what role will this type of CG play in the future? Chaos Group Labs director Chris Nichols will take an in-depth look at CG Labs’ Wikihumans project and what they have learnt along the way. 02. Digital Domain founder Scott Ross will discuss the effects of Brexit on the London VFX industry VFX veteran Scott Ross will speak to 3D World editor Rob Redman about the state of the industry in Soho and what the future holds for the workforce and the economy after Brexit. The discussion will take the form of a fireside talk and if you’re currently working in the VFX industry or aspiring to be, this talk is an essential listen. 03. Explore new ways of working with our workshops The best way to get your skills up to scratch is by attending one of our expert masterclass workshops, from the likes of The Mill’s Adam Dewhirst to VR extraordinaire Glen Southern and the VFX geniuses at Saddington Baynes. 04. Get inspired at our Expo area You’ll be able to discover and even try out new tech and software in our Expo area in the East Hall. The latest advancements will be on show so make sure you give them a go! 05. Allegorithmic CEO Dr Sebastien Deguy will bring Substance to Vertex Artists working in the videogames industry are no stranger to the Substance suite of tools, but the VFX industry is being shaken up by the texturing software too! In his talk, Dr Deguy will discuss how tools like Substance and others are empowering today’s artists. 06. Boost your career prospects Whether it’s our recruitment fair, networking event, Portfolio Review sessions or Ask An Artist spot, there are countless ways for you to upgrade your employability at Vertex. You’ll meet experts from Creative Assembly, RARE, Framestore, MPC, Double Negative and more, helping you to get your next job, troubleshoot your skills and make your portfolio even better. 07. It’s the first time 3D Artist and 3D World are working together That’s right, it’s the first time that our two sister magazines will be working in tandem to bring you the best event we can. We’re super excited and we can’t wait to see you there! Get your tickets now! Read more: What will Brexit mean for the British VFX and CG industry? Upgrade your textures in Substance Designer China: the new Hollywood? View the full article

Adobe's Creative Suite is an essential set of tools for graphic designers. They are the apps all the experts rely on and are packed with tools to help make your work truly take off. You can master these programs with Graphic Design Certification School. Grab it on sale now for just $39 (approx. £28)! Adobe's suite of creative apps have become the go-to tools for bringing digital art to life. You can learn why experts love and rely on these tools with the Graphic Design Certification School. You'll find three courses packed with information that will teach you how to make the most of Adobe's powerful design tools, including Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. You'll get lifetime access to expert-taught lessons that will show you how to take your ideas and bring them to life on screen—plus you'll get certifications to prove your skills after each course you complete. The Graphic Design Certification School is valued at over $1,197, but you can get this incredible bundle of courses on sale for just $39 (approx. £28)! It's a deal you won't want to miss, so grab it while you can! 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: The best free graphic design software 32 graphic designers to follow on Instagram The best laptops for graphic design 2018 View the full article

The attack could have been averted through a technique called subresource integrity, according to researcher Scott Helme. View the full article

When it comes to talking about money, logo design is one of the most contentious areas of graphic design. After all, how much work can it possibly take to design a logo? How can it cost companies millions to commission logo designers, when a straightforward tick seems to work well enough for the likes of Nike? Understandably, this sort of attitude can push graphic designers over the edge. Designing a great logo is, of course, much harder than it might appear to the untrained eye. But how do you tell your client that creating a logo takes a fair bit of time and money? Pricing yourself is a common problem – especially when you're just starting out. Luckily brand strategist and Blind founder Chris Do is here to help creatives secure themselves the best deal. 10 ways to find logo design inspiration Recorded as part of a Money Talk workshop, this video sees Chris explain how to pitch your logo design services. Running at half an hour, this in-depth video tackles the vagueness of logo design pricing with the help of real-world examples, as well as providing some useful tactics creatives can use in the future. Check out the full talk below. Related articles: 25 logo design tips from the experts How to create a retro logo with Affinity Designer How to take your vector logo from 2D to 3D View the full article

For a long time, offline functionality, background synchronisation and push notifications have differentiated native apps from their web counterparts. The Service Worker API is a game-changing technology that evens the playing field. In this tutorial, we'll use it to build a page that can serve up content even while there's no internet connection. Download the code from FileSilo 01. An HTTPS server The easiest way to think about Service Workers is as a piece of code that is installed by a site on a client machine, runs in the background, and subsequently enables requests sent to that site to be intercepted and manipulated. Because this is such a powerful capability, to work with Service Workers in a live environment you need to be running over HTTPS. This ensures they can't be exploited, by making sure the Service Worker the browser receives from a page is genuine. For development purposes, however, we can run without HTTPS since http://localhost/ is permitted as an exception to this rule. The simplest way to get started is with the npm http-server package. 02. Set up a basic page There's nothing on the server right now, so let's make a basic page to serve up. We'll create a new index.html file, and when we run the server it will now be accessible at http://localhost:8000. At this stage, you'll find that if you terminate the HTTP server and refresh the page in the browser, you'll get an error page since the site can't be reached. This is entirely expected since we haven't cached any offline content yet. 03. Register a Service Worker We've now got a fairly unremarkable page running, and it's time to start thinking about implementing a Service Worker. Before we get coding, it's worth taking a moment to understand the lifecycle of Service Workers. The process kicks off with the 'registration' of a Service Worker in your JavaScript, which tells the browser to start installing the worker – the first step of its lifecycle. Throughout its lifecycle, a Service Worker will be in one of the following states: Installing: Once a Service Worker has been registered, its installation is typically used to download and cache static content Installed: The worker is theoretically ready for use but does not immediately activate Activating: An installed Service Worker will activate itself if either there is no existing Service Worker, or certain conditions lead the existing one to expire; activation is typically used to clear old files from cached offline content Activated: The Service Worker now has control over the document, and can handle requests Redundant: If the Service Worker failed to install or activate, or if it is replaced by a newer Service Worker 04. Check you're registered Let's register a Service Worker. This effectively points the browser to the JavaScript file which defines the Service Worker's behaviour. Registration is done using the serviceWorker object which is the entry point to the API. We'll also check the API is actually present in the browser before trying to do so. The register() function can safely be called every time the page loads, and the browser will determine whether the Service Worker has already been registered. 05. Implement Service Worker Next we need to implement the Service Worker itself. Service Workers can listen for a range of events related to their own lifecycle and activity on the page. The most important ones are install, activate and fetch. Let's start by creating a listener for the install event, which triggers once the worker's installation is completed. This enables us to instruct the Service Worker to add some offline content in the current folder to a cache. We also need to name our cache – since old caches can persist, updating/versioning this cache name enables you to serve up newer versions of content later on. 06. Fetch event Our page will now cache content when loaded, but we need some mechanism to intercept requests and redirect them to this cache. To do this, we need to listen for fetch events, which are triggered when a request such as obtaining our index.html file is made across the network. We then match the request against the cache, and serve up the cached resource if found. Otherwise, we fall back to a Fetch API request to the server. It's worth at this point noting that we have a heavy dependency on JavaScript Promises to work. These can be a little tricky, so are worth familiarising with if you haven't used them before. 07. Extend fetch event If you test it out now (terminate the HTTP server and refresh the page), you should find that your page works both online and offline. It's likely, however, that you'll want more intelligent offline behaviour, with different content or functionality available when the server is unavailable. To achieve this, we can extend our fetch event response further to check specifically for navigation requests and respond with a different offline page when one is detected. This index_offline.html file can be a variation of your online page, or something completely different, and can also use other resources you've cached such as custom.css. 08. Delete cache There's one more thing we need. If you now try modifying your offline content, you'll find it doesn't update when you test out your page – you still get the old version! This is because the older files are still cached. You need to implement something to clean out outdated files from the cache to prevent them being served up. This is done by responding to an activate event and deleting all caches which do not match the name specified in currentCache. You can then add a version number to currentCache each time you modify your offline content, to ensure it is refreshed. This article was published in Web Designer magazine issue #268. Subscribe now. Read more: A coder's guide to APIs Get started with WebGL using three.js 12 huge web design trends for 2018 View the full article

Choosing the right colour palette is a fundamental part of creating an eye-catching brand that people want to interact with. Get your colours right and you've got a brand that will last for years and boost your business. Get it wrong and... well, you'll be hiring another graphic designer sooner than you think. When it comes to deciding which colours will work for your brand, you'll need a solid grasp of colour theory. With this knowledge, you'll be able to determine which colours are suited to your sector and what the different hues imply. It's all too easy to brush off colour theory as a pseudoscience, but the team at Printsome have set out to prove just how important it is to pick the right colour scheme for your business. In the third series of GIFs created by the T-shirt printing agency in collaboration with graphic designer Natasja Van Dinther, the colours of famous logos are swapped to create strange and unsettling alternatives. The designer's guide to using colour in branding Take Airbnb and Booking.com. They're similar companies, but with branding colours at opposite ends of the spectrum. Swap them around and Airbnb starts to look like some Silicon Valley startup, while Booking.com's web address name is at odds with the warm Rausch pink of its competitor. We're sure this won't irritate hardcore comic fans Printsome has described the colour swap between Marvel and DC as the least dramatic switch, but we're sure that fiercely loyal fans of each publication will disagree. Marvel seems to lose its dramatic impact with a blue logo, while DC's chunky typography looks over the top with a red palette. Asda and Tescos might run similar operations, but their mission statements have resulted in contrasting logo colours. Asda's focus on freshness has lead to a refreshing green logo, whereas Tesco has an emphasis on helping people, which resulted in a palette more reminiscent of an airline or a bank. Changing them round simply doesn't work because the typography and graphics have been tailored towards each supermarket's goal. Colours have a huge impact on how customers perceive taste. By switching the colours of Guinness and Stella Artois around, we expect different flavours from the brands. The heavy taste of Guinness suits the uncompromising black colour scheme, but with a red background the beer comes across as having a lighter flavour. Stella Artois doesn't look too bad with a black finish, but it doesn't reflect the drink's piquancy. [Via Printsome] Related articles: 21 outstanding uses of colour in branding The designer’s guide to using colour in branding A short lesson on colour theory View the full article

It's still early in the year, so no doubt you're keen to learn some new web design skills to carry you into 2018. We have various learning resources in this month's round up of new web design tools, as well as tools that make it easier to do hard things, such as transition to CSS Grid, or build a progressive web app. As well as that there are colour tools, cheat sheets, and lots of little things that make life easier. 01. JavaScript Object Explorer An enjoyable interface for exploring JavaScript objects Instead of digging through the docs, use this tool by Sarah Drasner to find the object method you need. Use the drop-down menus to explain your situation and what you want, and you get a concise explanation of what you need as well as a link to the docs, should you want to delve deeper. 02. Workbox Workbox takes a lot of the hard work out of building progressive web apps This set of JavaScript libraries and Node modules from Google help you build better progressive web apps by making it easy to add offline support. 03. Kap 2.0 Simple screen capture utility that generates great quality results Kap is an open-source GIF and screen-recording app for MacOS. It’s great for capturing GIF, MP4, WebM and APNG files, and it exports easily to Giphy, Imgur, S3 or the clipboard. The newest release has some useful new features including trimming, plugins, full-screen capture and window capture. 04. Pigment Great for building logos This colour palette tool is a good choice if you’re creating something with two main colours and you want to see how one stands out against the other. You can adjust the intensity of the colours as well as the lighting to get a different range of options, and each colour pair comes with two additional, related palettes. 05. Duotone Make any image duotone Duotone is another one from ShapeFactory that helps you to convert an image to a duotone. Select any two colours and drag the sliders to get real-time results. 06. Learn CSS Grid Get going with Grid in just four hours With sponsorship from Mozilla, Wes Bos has created this video series for free that will get you well on your way to being proficient in CSS Grid in just four hours. The course consists of 25 videos and a collection of starter files and exercises to teach you how to use the new web layout system. 07. Basin Get forms up and running easily Save yourself the bother of writing form backends by using Basin instead. It’s easy to set up and has lots of useful features for handling submission data and tracking conversions including spam filtering, auto responses, CSV export and the facility for form-users to attach files. 08. CSS Gridish CSS Gridish generates useful resources for your team that smooth the transition to Grid This tool from IBM aims to make it easier for teams to take advantage of the power of CSS Grid sooner by creating several useful resources to smooth the transition. Check out this post to get an idea of what it can do for you. 09. Scrimba Interact with screencast code Scrimba is a tool for teaching and learning code using interactive screencasts that enable users to play around with the code they’re learning. It’s a good platform if you have something you want to share, and also great for picking up new skills. 10. CSS Cheat Sheet Click through to get further information from the Mozilla Developer Network Your choice of CSS cheat sheet will come down to personal taste. But allow us to offer this one by Adam Marsden for your consideration: it’s nicely laid out and provides links to further detail on the Mozilla Developer Network. Related articles: 30 web design tools to speed up your workflow in 2018 View the full article

The eyes are the most important element of any successful portrait, but many people struggle to know how to draw them correctly. In this article, I will run though some tips for painting sparkling human eyes, with the focus on achieving a realistic effect. I’ll teach you about the importance of judging values and observing the anatomy of the eyes so that your portraits can come alive. I've also included some videos to show you exactly how I do things. 01. Tint the canvas Although it may not seem important, it is crucial to avoid working on a white canvas. I recommend tinting the canvas with a wash that is a mixture of thinner and any oil paint (in this case, burnt umber). This is to help you judge values more efficiently. It also eliminates the natural fear of putting the first brushstroke onto a clean surface. 02. Consider the anatomy of the eye Establishing an anatomically correct sketch is very important. Every eye is different and looks different from different angles. Keep in mind that the eye is a round ball with an iris, covered with a cornea shaped like a dome. The eyelids have thickness as well and they will form shadows on the white and iris of the eye. 03. Block in colours To block in first colours or/and values, you need to try to look past the details that will always try to grab your attention. Squint your eyes and block in similar adjacent colours and values in one go. Don’t worry, this is only a base for the details that will come later. Pay no attention to eyelashes and wrinkles. Think big. 04. Add detail Now is the time to start adding details. If you blocked in the base colours properly, you will now only need to worry about refining details and adding paint where it will make a difference. Adjust shapes and apply textures. Don’t overdo it though – it is easy to forget yourself and render too much. Paint only what you see and not what you think should be there. This article was originally featured in Paint & Draw issue #12. Buy it here. Read more: Paint a portrait in oils 10 sketching tips for beginners Create a fast and anatomically correct sketch View the full article