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When it comes to creating digital art and web designs, Photoshop (part of Adobe's Creative Cloud) has been the go-to tool for years. But this doesn't mean it's the only software for the job. In recent years Sketch, a proprietary vector graphics editor, has risen through the ranks to become a serious rival to the mighty Photoshop. With an Apple Design Award to its name, as well as being named app of the year by our very own net magazine, there's clearly something special about Sketch. How does it compare to Photoshop, though? To guide potential users and old hands through the pros and cons of both Sketch and Photoshop, MonsterPost has created this handy infographic. Covering everything from workflow efficiency to tools on offer, this head-to-head infographic doesn't pull any punches. But who emerges as the winner? Find out below. See MonsterPost's blog post about the infographic here. Related articles: 8 free tools for creating infographics 95 top Photoshop tutorials 23 top Sketch plugins View the full article

Earlier this year, Computer Arts magazine polled over 80 top creative directors, studio founders and design course leaders from across the UK to discover which industry peers they most revere and respect, to produce its annual UK Top 50 studio rankings. Now in its fourth year, this list is all about peer reputation – regardless of the studios' number of staff, operating budget or awards won. In short, the 50 world-class studios on the list are there because their fellow designers think they should be. We'll be releasing the full rankings over the coming weeks, but scroll down to see who snagged spots 31-50 in 2017. Or if you can't wait, get your hands on a print or digital version of Computer Arts magazine issue 272 now to see the whole list. As well as revealing all the winners, this special issue comes with an incredible, collectable glow-in-the-dark cover, designed exclusively by Studio Sutherl&. See how it was printed in the video above. Buy your collectable Computer Arts #272 now Read on to discover who made the cut in the UK’s Top 50 studios 2017, and stay tuned to find out which tiny studio rocketed to the top spot after an incredible year. 31. Nomad Studio Founded: 2016 Location: London Number of staff: 6 “Last year it was really all about survival,” contemplates Stuart Watson, partner and creative director of Nomad Studio. “This year it’s going to be all about the work: launching Sky Sports in partnership with Sky Creative. It was a pretty tough ask for a small studio, but we’ve made it work and we’re really proud of the team.” 32. Zak Group Founded: 2005 Location: London Number of staff: 8 “2017 has all been about us expanding our work in the digital field,” says Zak Group director, Zak Kyes. “Right now, we’re in the process of developing a flagship digital platform for M+, the museum of visual culture in Hong Kong, as well as the website for the renowned German art school, Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main.” 33. NB Studio Founded: 1997 Location: London Number of staff: 10 Nick Finney, co-founder and creative director of NB Studio, sees the last 12 months as a mixed bag: “Battles were won, lost and drawn,” he says. “Talented people left and talented people joined. Clients were wowed and records were beaten.” And the biggest highlight? “Virtual reality landed in the studio and it’s an exciting project,” he enthuses. 34. Studio Makgill Founded: 2007 Location: Brighton Number of staff: 5 “During 2017, it’s felt like we’ve had to hold on really tight at times, but as long as you enjoy the moments of calm, all is okay,” says Hamish Makgill, creative director and founder of this Brighton-based agency. “The biggest highlight of the year was two massive projects landing in the studio on the same day.” 35. Design Bridge Founded: 1986 Location: London (plus Amsterdam, Singapore, New York) Number of staff: 400 “Our new global brand identity for Hellmann’s launched in March this year, and we’re now seeing it applied to all brand communications and touchpoints,” says Design Bridge’s group brand guardian Birgitte Woehlk. Also this year, CCO Graham Shearsby has been appointed as a D&AD trustee, and the agency has been acquired by WPP. 36. B&B Studio Founded: 2009 Location: London Number of staff: 24 “2017 has felt like a year when we’ve been attracting the right sort of clients,” reflects B&B creative partner Shaun Bowen. “Brands that aren’t afraid to be challenging, like BrewDog. Brands that are willing to be challenged like Higgidy and Firefly. Brands that are defined by their ethical purpose, like Snact and Kit & Kin.” 37. Commission Studio Founded: 2013 Location: London Number of staff: 6 “In 2017 we’ve worked with fashion brands like & Other Stories and Léon Bara, speciality coffee brands Volcano and Old Spike, luxury goods companies LVMH, Rimowa, and Moët Hennessy,” says co-founder and creative director Christopher Moorby. “Working across lots of industries keeps things interesting and we also often get to cross-pollinate.” 38. Rose Design Founded: 1999 Location: London Number of staff: 8 “Despite the political climate, we’ve had an exciting, challenging, yet ultimately rewarding year,” says Simon Elliott, owner and creative partner at Rose Design. Highlights have included launching its long-awaited new website, and publication design work for the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan. 39. Moth Founded: 2015 Location: London Number of staff: 7 “This year has been a landmark for Moth, says producer Ifor Ashton. “We recently made a big shift from being a collective to a full-time production studio, and that really came to fruition in 2017. We were also lucky to spend a lot of time in New York earlier and work directly with Facebook on a big rebrand.” 40. Here Design Founded: 2006 Location: London Number of staff: 31 “The projects that stand out in 2017 are those unexpected enquiries,” says creative partner at Here Design, Caz Hildebrand. “A kombucha brewery in Suffolk, barista training for young offenders, a book on the joys of punctuation. Going into 2018, we’re planning to redesign our own company structure, to better reflect all the diverse things we work on.” Next page: Top UK studios 2017 numbers 41-50 41. Moving Brands Founded: 1998 Location: London (plus Zurich, San Francisco, New York) Number of staff: 64 “We’re working in a whirlwind of huge technological leaps and cultural shifts,” says John Faye, UK/EU marketing manager at Moving Brands. “In 2017, we’ve been partnering with some incredible leaders, entrepreneurs and organisations, such as IBM i. And we’ve taken time to boost learning and empower teams.” 42. Supple Studio Founded: 2013 Location: Bath Number of staff: 4 “This year has seen Supple Studio pass a number of milestones, says creative director Jamie Ellul. “May gave us our first D&AD Pencil. In July, we moved to a beautiful, three-floor studio. And designing the products and collectibles for the Royal Mail’s David Bowie stamp issue was a dream come true.” 43. John Morgan Studio Founded: 2000 Location: London Number of staff: 3 The scope and reach of John Morgan Studio extended further in 2017, as its titular founder began a professorship at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. The year’s biggest highlight was the launch of Four Corners Irregulars, a new series of books about modern British visual history, while 2018 will see the studio launch a new type foundry. 44. Love Creative Founded: 2001 Location: Manchester Number of staff: 52 “In the last 12 months we’ve seen our brand and packaging reset for Häagen-Dazs go live, as well as our latest packaging work for Haig Club, known as The Clubman,” says executive creative director David Palmer. “We’ve also expanded the business onto two floors and picked up a whole bunch of awards.” 45. Pearlfisher Founded: 1992 Location: London (plus New York, Copenhagen, San Francisco) Number of staff: 120 “In 2017, we’re celebrating one of the best financial performances of recent years,” says founding partner and CEO of Pearlfisher, Jonathan Ford. “Highlights included rebrands of iconic tea and coffee brand Taylors of Harrogate, audio lifestyle brand B&O Play and art product brand Reeves – its first major rebrand in 250 years.” 46. SB Studio Founded: 2009 Location: Liverpool and London Number of staff: 9 “The past year’s flown by,” says Benji Holroyd, creative director at SB Studio. “Our highlight has been the full renaming and rebrand of Innovators Hub, now affectionately known as OH. The first product of our design sprint process, all in one week. Fast, relevant, no BS and a beautiful result.” 47. Julia Founded: 2008 Location: London (and Rome) Number of staff: 3 Julia is a small London studio making its first appearance on our list this year. “We’ve been working with well-regarded institutions, that’s probably increased our exposure a bit,” reasons co-founder Hugo Timm. The studio has also just opened an office in Rome and plans to do the same in Paris in 2018, the year of its 10th anniversary. 48. Magpie Founded: 2008 Location: London Number of staff: 10 “Demand’s been high for Magpie’s services in 2017,” says co-founder David Azurdia. “Having worked so hard to keep the quality of our work so high, it’s really nice to feel as though people value it.” And he’s optimistic about 2018, despite Brexit. “As bleak as it’s all looking, we’re creative thinkers: we adapt and survive.” 49. GBH Founded: 1999 Location: London Number of staff: 25 GBH co-founder Peter Hale cites two big highlights for the agency in 2017. “Firstly launching the GBH book, Charm, Belligerence and Diversity, celebrating almost 20 years of working together,” he says. “Secondly, working with Vincross, a fanatical team of Chinese entrepreneurs and developers in Beijing on a robotics project called HEXA. 50. Together Design Founded: 2003 Location: London Number of staff: 18 The last 12 months have been a period of consolidation at Together, says brand planner Robin Kadrnka. “We won a number of design awards for different clients, and we were excited to maintain the variety of projects that we enjoy so much, including London’s Eat 17 store and restaurant chain.” Related articles: How to make it in a top studio Studio vs freelance: The pros and cons 20 tips for design interview success View the full article

You're reading Mega Navigation Menu Design Trends in Modern Websites, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! We’ve all seen mega navigations and fullscreen dropdowns online. They’re common across the web and especially useful on sites with tons of links. But designing a mega nav that works can be a real pain. There are no strict guidelines for these menus so you have to study what others are doing and try to […] View the full article

Whatever design course you’re on, you’ve probably noticed it’s a little behind the times. And to a certain extent, that’s unavoidable. From a practical point of view, it takes some time to put together a workable syllabus, and when it comes to updating it, the gears of university bureaucracy tend to grind slowly. And actually, there’s nothing wrong with that. Ultimately, you’re there to learn the fundamentals of design, and those remain timeless. When it comes to your first job, your creative director is going to be far less concerned about, say, whether you’re au fait with the latest Adobe software than if you understand the basics of good composition and following a brief. But it’s still worth catching up with a few recent trends that may have passed you by in the meantime. In this post, we’ll bring you quickly up to speed with 5 design industry trends. 01. Design is becoming more important Turner Duckworth is one of many firms expanding in response to greater demand for design servicesWe’ll start with some good news: you’ve chosen a good time to study design. Because nowadays it’s not just the subordinate of wider business goals, but increasingly the driver of them. “It’s an exciting time,” says David Turner, joint CEO and CCO of Turner Duckworth, which has recently moved to a bigger offices in London and expanded to New York. ”We’ve seen design become more and more important in the rapidly shifting world of communications, and design excellence is more and more valued as a true differentiator.” In short, design is no longer an optional add-on or a subset of marketing, but an integral part of business strategy, says Nicki Sprinz, managing director of ustwo. “Clients are asking us to help them introduce new ways of working alongside the products and services we are building with them,” she explains. “A huge number of companies are going through digital transformation, and we're partnering with them to make the transition easier.” A good example of this is ustwo’s work with the Co-op, which has asked the Co-op to help drive efficiencies in its food business over the next five years. “These big strategic challenges are super exciting and they have the potential to make a massive difference to our clients’ business,” she says, “although it does mean that we are working in new ways and in new areas that at times take us out of our comfort zone.” This probably won’t directly impact you in your first design job; expect most of your time to be spent on commonplace tasks such as colour correction and preparing images for print. But in a broader sense, the trend means that opportunities are expanding, both in terms of agencies and in-house design departments. So rather than jumping at the first job you see, it’s worth having a look at what’s on offer and working out where you and your skillset can best fit. 02. The fundamentals of web design are being disrupted CSS in JavaScript is changing the way we think about web design. (Image by Jonathan White) If you’ve studied web design on your course, you’ll no doubt have covered the basics. So you’ll know that HTML is used for content, CSS for styling and JavaScript for animation and interactivity. But what may not have been mentioned is that there’s a new growing movement to do things differently; namely, styling your documents within JavaScript itself. Driven by the React community, this practice remains controversial to say the least. But with its emphasis on creating reusable components, it does promise to save web designers a lot of time ‘reinventing the wheel’, so it could well become an established practice in the near future. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the methods that your tutors have taught you, of course. But it’s probably worth getting an overview on this new trend too. Check out this Medium post by Jonathan White to see what all the fuss is about. 03. Disciplines are merging and regrouping Subscribers to the Creative Cloud get a wide range of software that makes it easier to switch between disciplinesIs your design course specialised into a specific discipline? Do you consider yourself a graphic designer, web designer, motion designer, UX designer animator or 3D artist, specifically? If so, that’s not a bad thing. Employers like applicants who have a clear idea about where their interests lie and what they want to achieve. But just be aware that not everyone in design has such clearly defined roles. In fact, in many ways, the boundaries between different disciplines are becoming more porous. That’s partly because of new hardware. For instance, in a world where even magazine covers and ad campaigns are being shot on iPhones, the idea that you’re not a “real photographer” unless you own expensive equipment is fast disappearing. It’s also to do with the evolution of software. Nowadays anyone who subscribes to Adobe’s Creative Cloud has access not just to Photoshop and Illustrator but to tools like After Effects and Premiere Pro, and common features and interfaces across the suite makes picking up such new skills quicker and easier. Overall, we’d call this trend good news for students. Because it means that over time, you’ll be freer to push your creative development in any direction you want - rather than having to restrict yourself to one unchanging one, the moment you start your first job. 04. Social media is increasingly central These days, employers are as likely to see your work via a social platform like Behance as through a formally submitted portfolioOnce upon a time, employers would take the time to respond to a speculative letter and check out your portfolio. Nowadays, though, they don’t necessarily need to do that. That's because they’re finding that the best work from promising graduates often appears before them miraculously, through the magic of social media sharing. So if you’re not sharing the work you’re most proud of (whether that be freelance work, college assignments or personal projects) on a social platform such as Instagram, Twitter, Behance, Dribbble or ArtStation, you’re probably going to miss out. We’re not quite at the stage of social media dominance that other creative industries have reached - not yet anyway. For example, if you’re a model these days, no modelling agency will interview you unless you have at least 10K Instagram followers. A graduate designer doesn't need to have thousands of followers, but if your work has no social existence at all, it may well count against you. That said, don’t try to do too much. If you attempt to populate all the different social media platforms, you’ll probably make a pig’s ear of it. You’re better off picking one social platform that’s right for you, and focusing all of your energies and attentions on that. 05. The industry is spreading out The critical and commercial success of agencies like Music shows that you don’t need to be in London to make a name for yourself Think you need to be in London, New York, Paris or Tokyo to find a decent design job? Well, it probably won’t hurt. But technologies like high-speed broadband have made the world a lot smaller, and the design industry a lot more diffuse, over recent years. And that’s a trend that can only continue into the 2020s. So you’ll find a number of influential design agencies outside capital cities nowadays: check out our list of brilliant Manchester agencies, for example. And even in smaller towns and cities, you’ll find a surprising range of creative agencies, web startups, print shops, animation studios and in-house design departments if you dig deep enough. So rather than think: ‘Where do I need to go to find work?’, it may be better to think: ‘Where do I want to live?’ and go from there. Good luck! Related articles: The student guide to working at a top agency 5 design agencies that do things differently 6 rock-solid ways to improve your graphic design portfolio View the full article

The Wacom MobileStudio Pro tablet PC aims to give professional designers, illustrators, artists and photographers the convenience of a mobile tablet, alongside the full power of creative apps like Photoshop and Illustrator. Get Adobe Creative CloudIt comes in two versions: a 13-inch model (£1,399.99 - £2,299.99) and 16-inch (£2,199.98 - £2,749.99). And, like the Surface Pro, the hybrid mobile computer – this is far more than just a drawing tablet – offers the full Windows 10 experience. So does it strike the right balance between usable power and portability? And should you buy it? Wacom MobileStudio Pro: portability The Wacom MobileStudio Pro is a world apart from its Cintiq range of devices. Sleeker and less boxy, it feels high-end before you even power it on. The choice of materials is exactly what you'd expect from a device of this cost, and the weight adds to the solid feel. The Wacom MobileStudio Pro isn't light, but then this isn't a casual Surface or iPad Pro. It’s a professional-level content creation machine that users will lean on heavily and, as such, needs to be sturdy. Lets face it: when it's on the desk, the weight is a definite bonus. It certainly doesn't need to be carried with a keyboard or mouse (although that can be done) as the eight fully customisable ExpressKeys, touch ring, and various switches and pots are well-placed for right or left-handers. They’re also numerous enough to enable the most common shortcuts to be programmed (globally or by app too). Wacom MobileStudio Pro: screen and pen The biggest talking point of the Wacom MobileStudio Pro is its screen and pen interface. Wacom's Pro Pen 2 boasts increased capabilities – including 60 degrees of tilt, over 8000 levels of sensitivity and pixel-level pointing accuracy. And while that might seem overkill, it really helps make the whole drawing experience feel more natural. This leads onto the most important element of such a device: the screen. The 4k display is colour accurate enough for most, and positioned very close to the etched glass screen, making it a real joy to use (and it gives out much less glare than, say, a Macbook Pro). Paired with the Pro Pen 2, the screen has just the right amount of friction to make for a consistent and enjoyable experience. The large, soft, rubber grip of the stylus helps ease fatigue, while simultaneously making all strokes – from small detail to large canvas-crossing movements – feel accurate and easy. The contrast and brightness of the display are above average, powered by good quality Nvidia Quadro GPU, perfectly suited to pro 2D and 3d work. This GPU choice is paired well with the i5 or i7 CPU RAM, depending on which model you’re using. The higher spec model has a 3D scanning camera, which some users will ignore, or at the most try out a handful of times. However, if you're a 3D artist, or have use for such a peripheral, the fact that it’s built into the Wacom MobileStudio Pro might be a bonus – especially considering it comes bundled with Artec Studio 11 software, making this an out-of-the box solution. Wacom MobileStudio Pro: accessories Our main gripe with the MobileStudio Pro is that the adjustable stand is an optional extra. This feels a bit cheap considering the initial outlay - and the stand lacks the innovation of solutions from cheaper tablets, although it does fit in with the model Wacom uses across its product range. That said, as a professional device it’s likely that some users will already have their own drawing board setup. Wacom does offer some good accessories, such as a breakout box that lets you connect to a third-party computer, opening up use as a standard Cintiq. This offering will be of more use to some than others, of course. Real world use sees an easy four–five hours of battery life, depending on the task. This isn't too far from the advertised six hours for this kind of machine, and should comfortably cover most on-the-move work. The two models cater to most users’ needs, with 8-16GB RAM, 256-512GB SSD, bluetooth, Wi-Fi and even GPS is on offer. Even if you remove the excellent display and pen capability, the remaining PC is still pretty good for a mobile machine. The cameras are functional, but nothing special. In reality they are a cheap addition for Wacom and it's rare that you'll want to use a two-plus kilo, 16-inch machine as a camera, especially when you can use the bluetooth connection or SD slot to quickly move files over. Wacom MobileStudio Pro: conclusion We like: the display and screen combo, the Pro Pen 2 and battery life. We don't like: the price or the weight (at least for travel). Also, the lower specced versions can feel a little underwhelming compared to the range topper. If you can stump the extra cash, then do. You'll not need to upgrade for some time. If you’re in the market for a portable device for light computing, the odd game and some office tasks, then the device is massively overpowered and overpriced. However, if you’re an artist or designer then you can't do better than the Wacom MobileStudio Pro. The screen interaction is a true joy (the etched glass is the same as found on the Cintiq range), the Pro Pen 2 is both fun yet detailed, and the spec of the underlying PC makes for a workhorse machine that can easily replace a notebook PC. It might not be cheap, but it succeeds at every task it was designed for. Also read: The best drawing tablet: our pick of the best graphics tablets View the full article

Whatever your political leaning may be, it’s hard to argue right now that we’re living in anything other than interesting times. The year 2016 served up two enormous helpings of the unthinkable. Firstly in the form of the referendum, which saw the UK vote by the narrowest of margins to leave the EU (read our Designer's Guide to Brexit article), and then later in the year when Americans chose Donald Trump as their president. Spin forward to now and Trump is already teetering on the verge of impeachment, while in the UK there's been a snap general election that’s blown up right in the government’s face, leaving the country with a hung parliament and Brexit talks starting for real. The only certainty now is uncertainty, and it’s perfectly natural to feel nervous in such a volatile world The only certainty now – death and taxes aside – is uncertainty, and it’s perfectly natural to feel nervous in such a volatile world. And if you’re running your own web business or trying to get by as a freelancer, this feeling is only magnified. Prospects might look bleak, but are things really that bad? We’ve been speaking to web professionals and studio heads to get a feeling for how the web industries are coping in these uncertain times, and here’s the good news: they’re broadly optimistic that things will work out. It might be a rough ride, but as players in a business where rapid evolution is the order of the day, they’re sure that they can adapt to whatever’s thrown at them in the coming years. The negatives… Which isn’t to say that everything’s fine. “The referendum itself and the election were hugely disruptive for a lot of our UK local government customers,” says Suraj Kika, CEO at Jadu. Fortunately this didn’t result in any cancelled projects; however it did result in delays that play out over months afterwards. “No one enjoys that kind of disruption,” says Kika. Delete employs team members from outside the UK, which could lead to post-Brexit problems Confusion about freedom of movement post-Brexit is another cause for concern. Alex Ellis is managing director of Delete, and employs numerous team members from outside the UK, both from Europe and further afield. “The uncertainty around freedom of movement and the effect that will have on them, as well as their family and friends, has understandably caused a lot of concern,” he tells us. “Bearing in mind the vast mix of countries that the talent within our industry in the UK comes from, this could have a bigger impact than is currently being discussed.” Brexit has slashed the value of the pound in relation to the dollar, and remote staff are far more expensive than they used to be Harry O’Connor, VoodooChilli The impact of Brexit on the value of the pound has naturally had a knock-on effect for businesses, particularly those who employ staff overseas. For Brown&co, an outsourced-model brand collective, this has already been an issue. “Many of our collaborators work and live elsewhere in the world,” explains co-founder Troy Wade. “With the weaker pound post-Brexit, we are having to pay them more than we were to match or beat their local earnings.” There’s a similar story from Harry O’Connor, managing director at VoodooChilli Design. While most of his staff work out from the main office in Hereford, the company also works closely with talented people based around the world. These workers are paid in US dollars. “Brexit has slashed the value of the pound in relation to the dollar,” explains O’Connor,“ and remote staff are far more expensive than they used to be.” … and the positives Of course, the devalued pound can have its upsides as well as its downsides. “The service industry in the UK has got significantly cheaper for overseas clients with the drop in the pound,” reveals Ellis. “Soon after the Brexit decision, we saw clients in both Switzerland and Italy re-issuing briefs to us for a number of key projects that had previously been paused. From talking to our European clients, it is being seen as another advantage.” Ellis understands that this may only be a short- to medium-term advantage, but nevertheless it’s one to leverage while it’s there, and Delete isn’t the only agency to recognise this. O’Connor notes that VoodooChilli’s quotes to American clients have become far more competitive thanks to the weaker pound, and Wade points out another positive: that foreign clients are now seeing British agencies as a more attractive prospect. “We are completely set up for remote working (with collaborators and clients) so it really doesn’t matter where our clients are based,” he tells us. “Our two biggest are currently in the Netherlands and Turkey. Through a combination of our model and the weaker pound, they can now afford to work with a top drawer British firm.” Brown&co’s outsourced and distributed model makes it well placed to ride out any local storm And it’s possible that Brexit could make life a little easier for anyone building the web; for Kika, it offers the opportunity to say goodbye to a thorn in a web developer’s side. “The Cookie Law, a piece of legislation that requires websites to get consent from visitors to store or retrieve any information on a computer, started as an EU Directive and was adopted by all EU countries,” he says. “Hopefully we’ll see that thing become part of the past!” Preparing for the future While it’s impossible to predict the future, it is at least possible to recognise potential dangers and adapt your business so that it’s ready for anything. Kika is rethinking how his company will grow across Europe, and anticipating the need for different financial processes for European customers and employees. But Jadu has been preparing for uncertainty in another way: “Two years ago we anticipated that things might start hitting the fan. We launched a cloud-based customer service platform called ‘CXM’ which focuses on helping customers connect to organisations that service them. Sort of a ‘digital concierge ’, CXM is real-time case management and instant messaging rolled into one.” Jadu’s work with local government customers has been disrupted by Brexit The success of CXM has led to a wholesale shift in Jadu’s business, seeing it becoming a cloud SaaS service provider and giving it an extra degree of diversity and versatility in the face of the unknown; an excellent survival strategy that’s already paying off. Meanwhile Jon Davie, CEO at Zone has found that despite political and economic uncertainty, most things are carrying on as usual. When it comes to post-Brexit, however, he expects that Zone will have to put more effort into attracting and retaining digital talent. Anything that makes the UK a less attractive place to live and work is a risk – we’re already in a competitive market for the best people Jon Davie, Zone “Anything that makes the UK a less attractive place to live and work is a risk,” he explains. “We’re already in a competitive market for the best people, and we’ll have to work even harder to find and keep our people happy.” Ellis agrees that there’s a danger of talent leaving the UK, and Delete’s approach to managing this is more about prevention than adaptation. “In this industry your team is key,” he says, “and we are very proud of ours; my focus will be on ensuring we continue to invest strongly into our teams at an individual level to ensure that Delete, and the UK, continues to be the right place for them.” Shall we get out of here? After the EU referendum there was plenty of talk about getting out of Britain and moving to the EU, and in the financial sector that still appears to be a likely prospect. However, as far as the web is concerned, cooler heads seem to be prevailing. “For weeks after the result, I seriously contemplated leaving the country, which may have been a knee-jerk reaction,” says Adam Cowley, a small business director with seven years’ experience as a freelance web developer and technical lead. “In reality, as a freelancer you could be based anywhere in the world. Many UK companies currently outsource to non-EU countries, I don’t see why the EU would be any different. Luckily, countries – EU or otherwise – will always be looking for highly skilled, knowledgeable workers so the option is always there if things don’t work out well.” Technology allows many face-to-face meetings without anyone needing to be physically face-to-face Troy Wade, Brown&Co Delete is taking a pragmatic approach and looks set to stay put: “Our three-year plans have not changed, so we are definitely not looking to relocate wholesale to the EU,” says Ellis. “We are continuously reviewing the market in the EU, including the number of leads we are receiving and growth of our existing clients, and will plan any physical presence in the EU around that.” The advantage of the internet, of course, is that it doesn’t matter where you are, as Wade agrees. “Technology, if used correctly, allows many face-to-face meetings without anyone needing to be physically face-to-face,” he tells us. “It also means we can work seamlessly with collaborators in any country we choose, when the need arises, and without having to have an office there.” Kira is thinking along similar lines. “We aren’t sure ‘offices’ in the traditional sense are where we are going,” he suggests, “rather we’re likely to invest in facilitating remote working regardless of location.” Brexit: The endgame There’s always the possibility, mind, that all this is just a big fuss over nothing. While Article 50 has been signed and the UK is on the road to leaving the EU, it’s not guaranteed that this will actually happen. This summer’s general election appears to have knocked the wind out the hard Brexit sails, and with a long process of negotiation ahead that no-one here seems to be ready for, who knows where we’ll end up? Ellis is hopeful about what will happen. “Ultimately I believe it will result in a deal that works for the UK,” he says, “whatever that ends up being. The UK is not just going to shut up shop and the EU doesn’t want to crush us, so despite the twists and turns I am confident about the end result. Honestly, for me the riskiest part of this is the next two years, during the uncertainty of the process, rather than the end result.” Not everyone shares Ellis’s optimistic outlook, though. “I can’t see a lot of good coming from it,” comments O’Connor. “I think long term, costs will go up for the average person in the UK, and businesses will need to charge more in order to make ends meet. I suspect prices will eventually be forced down for web designers.” Jon Davie from Zone recommends keeping up with the latest technologies as a survival strategyCowley is also concerned about how Brexit may end up playing out, believing that negotiations will be difficult and we could end up leaving the single market in order to control the free movement of labour. “This could be damaging for the tech industry in the UK if the skilled labour isn’t available,” he notes. “When I recently helped with employing a full-time developer for a London-based company, the majority of applicants were non-UK.” For now, though, we can’t be sure what will happen. “I think recent events have shown us that only a fool would try to predict what will happen next week,” says Davie, “never mind how the next two years will play out!” Are we doomed? With so much uncertainty, it’s easy to get caught up in doom-mongering. But really, is it worth it? From what we’ve been hearing, there’s plenty to be optimistic about. “I’m fundamentally optimistic about our business and the digital market generally,” says Jon Davie. “People with the skills to help clients adapt will be well placed to benefit from that disruption.” VoodooChilli isn’t spooked; 15 years in business has given it perspectiveO’Connor sees uncertainty as a great opportunity for anyone whose job is helping other businesses succeed. “Selling websites in uncertain times is like trying to sell water in a drought,” he points out, “It’s not a difficult sale!” While he thinks the next few years will be up and down, Ellis thinks this situation is temporary. “The fact is that no matter what the future brings, to prosper you need to be positive,” he says, “and with an industry that is full of creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, talent and pure grit we will survive, and I believe thrive, throughout and beyond.” Whatever happens, Wade is ready. “This is the new normal, ” he concludes, “and we’re excited about it.” This article originally appeared in issue 296 of net magazine. Subscribe here. Related articles: The designer’s guide to Brexit Should British designers work abroad post Brexit? 15 things they didn't teach you at design school View the full article

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Hyatt said its payment systems have been breached, exposing credit card data from 41 hotels in 11 countries between March and July this year. View the full article

Cinema 4D is great at many things, but it can slow down when it has a lot of objects in the scene, which is a real problem when rendering geometry. Redshift, the GPU-powered, biased render engine, has become popular with many 3D artists because of its blisteringly fast render speed and ability to handle much more geometry than other GPU render solutions. The integration of Redshift into Cinema 4D doesn't just give users a quick render engine – with the use of Redshift Proxies, the creation process can be vastly sped up as well. How Redshift Proxies work If you are familiar with using XRefs in Cinema 4D (which one of our Cinema 4D tutorials walks you through), Redshift Proxies work in a similar way. A Redshift Proxy is an embedded link within a master Cinema 4D file to an external .rs file, which can be created from another Cinema 4D scene. The Proxy file has a much lower memory overhead than having the actual geometry within the master Cinema 4D scene. This means viewport speed is vastly improved, admittedly with the loss of viewport texture colour, which will hopefully be addressed in an update for the plugin. Proxies can be either still or animated scenes. Where Redshift Proxies are really useful is for geometry-heavy elements, which are only of secondary importance to the scene, for example trees and foliage. If you are a Redshift and Cinema 4D user, learning to get the most from Redshift Proxies can speed up your workflow and reduce the computational load of your scene. Redshift Proxies in Cinema 4D offer several advantages over the native instancing tools. Aside from the better viewport and render speed, a Redshift Proxy offers the ability to reference different materials within the master scene by changing the prefix of a material. Using this is perfect for cars, rocks, crowds as well as various types of foliage where one Redshift Proxy in the Object List can be duplicated many times in the master scene. Each Redshift Proxy duplicate is then assigned its own material set, which when mixed with Cinema 4D's mograph tools, can allow a lot of variation in a scene with the minimal amount of geometry being loaded. If the Redshift Proxy is from an animated Cinema 4D file, the specific frames required can easily be selected in the master Cinema 4D scene. If you are a Redshift and Cinema 4D user, learning to get the most from Redshift Proxies can speed up your workflow and reduce the computational load of your scene. 01. Select the geometry Start with a mesh and export it as a Redshift Proxy [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] To create a Redshift Proxy, start with a mesh in its own Cinema 4D file, and make sure that all the textures have been converted to Redshift as this helps with both stability and predictability. When you are ready, select the mesh or meshes in the scene that you want to create a proxy from and select File>Export>Redshift Proxy (.*rs). Choose the location that you wish to save the Redshift Proxy to. 02. Export settings Be sure to select Add Proxy to Scene [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] On the Redshift Proxy Export dialog box, make sure that you are only creating a Redshift Proxy of the meshes you want by choosing Selected Objects in the Export drop-down. Be mindful of the Proxy Origin drop-down; if your model is centred, just choose World Origin. Make sure Add Proxy to Scene is also selected, so that the Cinema 4D model scene has a copy of the Proxy in it for reference, then select OK. 03. Check it is working Follow these steps to make sure it's working [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] With the Redshift Object in the original Model scene, in the Attribute Editor, change the Display/Preview to either Bounding Box or Mesh, dependant on your hardware. In the Redshift IPR, if you move the Proxy object, the Proxy object should render properly. If the Cinema 4D master scene is in the same directory, select and copy the Redshift Proxy Object to the master scene. 04. Copy the Redshift Proxy Finish off by duplicating the proxy [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] With the Redshift Proxy now in the master scene, copy the materials for the model in as well, duplicate the materials and give a prefix to each of the new materials. Duplicate the Redshift Proxy object and in the Materials menu, ensure the Material From drop-down is Scene (Match by name and prefix), and that each respective Redshift Proxy Object has the Correct Prefix in the Prefix dialog. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 225. Buy it here. Related articles: How to sculpt in Cinema 4D 14 essential Cinema 4D plugins Cinema 4D tutorials: 34 projects to up your 3D skills View the full article

Whether you're into 3D, illustration, graphic design, animation or photography, there are plenty of addictive – and free – iPhone apps to boost your creativity. If you're looking for the best photo apps for iPhone and Android phones then check out that article, but here we pick 10 of the best free iPhone apps that you can download today! 01. Assembly Developer: Pixite If you want to create vector designs without all the traditional pain of working with vectors, Assembly is a must. Rather than laboriously building shapes yourself, you work with a set of over 180 basic shapes that you can layer, stack and position to create your own designs. With the latest version you can even create and share stickers to use in iMessage. 02. PhotoScan Turn all those old prints into pristine digital files Developer: Google Many of us have a load of pre-digital photos lying around that we can't be bothered to scan, but Google's Photoscan app makes it a whole lot faster and easier to preserve those fading snaps. Just shoot each print from a few different angles, and Photoscan stitches everything together as a pristine digital copy. 03. Brushes Redux Classic creative iPhone app Brushes gets a modern revival Developer: Christoffer HoelBrushes was the original poster child for creative iPhone apps, and although the original developers have long given up on it, Christoffer Hoel is keeping it alive with a new version that's been rewritten from the ground up. Brushes Redux features a responsive OpenGL painting engine, records every stroke so you can replay your process, and is packed with all the brushes and settings you need to create amazing artwork at up to 4096 x 4096 resolution. 04. Snapseed Fix your photos and learn how to take better ones that need less fixing Developer: Google Another great free photo app from Google, Snapseed is designed to be a complete and professional photo editor, with 26 tools and filters, all of which can be stacked and tweaked to help you get the perfect result. There's also an Insights feature with tips and tricks about both Snapseed and general photography, so you can take better photos to start with. 05. The app formerly known as H _ _ r Developer: Reality Jockey Can't concentrate in a busy studio? The app previously known as Hear but now without a name (we suspect trademark shenanigans), this app filters what you hear in helpful and entertaining ways. There are seven settings with different effects, including an Office setting to help you detach and focus, and an Auto Volume that mutes background noise but still enables you to hear people when they talk to you. Best of all, though, you can use it to add trippy audio effects to everything you hear, and turn wherever you are into a surreal soundscape. 06. Prisma Photo Editor A simple way to create artistic masterpieces Developer: Prisma Labs The easiest and most useful app so far to take advantage of AI-powered imaging techniques, Prisma can quickly turn your photos into stunning and sometimes surreal artistic daubs, and makes it simple to share the results. 07. Adobe Illustrator Draw Illustrator Draw is one of many free apps from Adobe... Developer: Adobe Adobe has shifted up a gear recently when it comes to free apps; all of them require a Creative Cloud ID, but they're almost all worth the effort. Illustrator Draw is ideal for creating vector art on your phone, and boasts several configurable pen tips, layers, merge options, shape stencils, stylus support, and 64x zoom, as well as layer blend modes and PDF export. 08. Adobe Spark Post ...and here's another Developer: Adobe Also from Adobe is Spark Post, built to offer a fun and fast way to make stunning graphics. Just get a photo, add some text and then apply themes to instantly create beautiful images for all occasions, then share them via social media, text or email. 09. 3DMark Sling Shot The real fun lies in running the benchmarking tests Developer: Futuremark 3DMark's a benchmarking tool that's been putting PCs through their paces since the 1990s, and this iOS version will give your iPhone (or your iPad) a proper 3D workout and award it a no-nonsense score. The real fun lies in running the benchmarking tests, which are beautiful mock-ups of a detailed and action-packed 3D game. They're a delight to watch, and once they're done you can find out how many frames per second your device can manage and just how good it is at simulating 3D physics. Sling Shot is aimed at up-to-date devices; if you want to give your old iPhone 5 a bit of a workout then go for 3DMark Ice Storm instead. 10. Fontli Use Fontli to discover inspirational photography of type throughout the world Developer: Pramati Technologies Fontli is a social network for type lovers, enabling the community to collect and share inspiring examples of typography from everyday life. Using integration with MyFonts database, its iPhone app also features type tagging on pictures, and the latest version has a new feature called 'The Wand' that uses deep learning techniques to create stylised text based on the the characteristics of your background image. Related articles: 10 apps for endless design inspiration 55 best free fonts for designers 31 stunning iOS app icon designs View the full article

Adobe is letting users download a pre-release version of Illustrator CC 2018 to fix issues with macOS High Sierra. The pre-release also come with a Puppet Wrap tool and a new Properties panel. The decision to launch a pre-release came after Adobe was made aware of issues between Illustrator CC 2017 and the latest version of macOS 10.13, otherwise known as High Sierra. In this macOS, users found Illustrator to be unusable. And with no option to roll back to macOS 10.12, and new Macs only coming with the latest OS, they were stuck. Get Adobe Creative CloudAs well as running smoothly on macOS 10.13, the Adobe Illustrator CC 2018 pre-release comes with two new key features: the Puppet Wrap Tool and an updated Properties panel. There could well be some technical improvements that we can't see at the minute, but for now these are the standout improvements. Vector assets can be manipulated with the Puppet Wrap tool The Puppet Wrap tool (located under the Free Transform tool) looks like a vector-specific version of its Photoshop namesake that made its debut in Photoshop CS5. This tool enables you to wrap individual objects by placing pins on an element and pulling them around to achieve the desired shape. Tools and parameters find a new home in the updated Properties panel Meanwhile, the new Properties panel combines tools and parameters linked to the tool or object you've selected with what usually sits in the control bar. Quick Actions can also be found in this panel to deliver a more streamlined workflow. It's not just Mac users who have had trouble with Illustrator CC recently. Wacom tablets and InDesign reported similar issues, both of which have been resolved with a new Wacom driver and a macOS update. Adobe Illustrator CC 2018 is available to download as a pre-release here. When you click on the link you'll be taken to a sign-in page. Once you're in there's a chance that you'll have to give yourself an Adobe Forums Name before finally getting to the download page. There's no word yet as to when Illustrator 2018 will be officially launched, although we're expecting to hear something at the Adobe Max conference in Las Vegas next week. Our money's on a launch between next week and the end of November. Creative Bloq will be there, so as soon as we can, we'll let you know more. Related articles: The 17 best Adobe Illustrator plugins New Illustrator plugin lets 2D designers easily work in 3D 100 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials View the full article

Some people find mixing for shadows tricky, often trying to mix a whole new colour. Unfortunately the result can end up murky and lifeless and not related to the rest of the painting. But when approached properly, shadows can be packed full of colour and can sit in harmony within their surroundings. It’s a lot easier than you might think. Follow these tips to learn how to paint shadows accurately every time. 01. Work with complementary colours Start with your tube colourI start with my tube colour – in this instance Yellow Lake – and then look for its complementary colour, Ultramarine Violet. All shadows have an element of blue, so I choose Ultramarine Blue because it’s warm in tone and leans more towards the violets and reds. We don’t want our yellow shadow to go too green. 02. Refer to your colour wheel Shadows include the local colour, its complementary colour, and a blueAlways refer to your colour wheel when mixing shadows. Shadows are made up of local colour (the colour of the object the shadow falls upon – in this study a yellow cube), the local colour’s complementary colour and a blue. If the object is orange, only blue will be added. The object and type of orange will determine which blue to choose. 03. Mix from your local colour To keep things harmonious, avoid mixing shadows separatelyWhen mixing a shadow it must always be mixed from its local colour. Don’t mix it as a separate colour as it will not be in harmony with the local colour and will stick out like a sore thumb. Don’t just mix these as two unconnected blobs of colour, either. By mixing the local and shadow colours, you’ll create all the gradients in-between. 04. Tweak according to lighting Lighting can differ a lot, so you'll need to adjust your shadow coloursLighting can differ greatly around an object, so there will be instances where you’ll need to tweak your shadow colours. Here I had a slightly warmer light hitting the top of the cube so after referring back to the colour wheel, I chose to add a little magenta to create a new branch of shadow colour that was pushed further over to the warmer side of the wheel. This article originally appeared in Paint & Draw magazine issue 10. Buy it here. Related articles: Level up your painting skills with a mahlstick How to paint outdoors Paint like an Impressionist View the full article

You know the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks?" It's not true: it's never too late to learn a new skill, whether it's to further your creative career or just for fun. The eduCBA Tech Training Bundle has over 500 courses you need to pick up new abilities that you've always wanted, including software, development, testing, networking, programming, 3D, design, CAD and more. You can get a lifetime subscription on sale today! When you log in to the eduCBA Tech Training Bundle, you’ll find hundreds of courses with actionable and professionally-taught lessons waiting for you – and new ones are being added all the time. You’ll have unlimited access to it all, giving you the ability to learn whatever you’d like, whenever you'd like. Work your way through over 500 courses that cover everything tech, from coding to design to IT. Learn to develop web apps using HTML, CSS, PHP & Javascript and master coding languages such as: C, C++, C#, Java, Ruby, Python, and PERL. A lifetime subscription to the eduCBA Tech Training Bundle usually retails for $2,999, but you’ll pay just $49 (approx £37). That’s a saving of 97% off the full retail price; a great deal for unlimited access to skills that could change your career, so grab it today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: Get unlimited access to over 3,000 tech training courses 10 of the best free Udemy courses for designers 95 top Photoshop tutorials View the full article

Picking the top 50 studios out of a pool as rich and diverse as the UK design industry is no mean feat, and putting them in a meaningful order is trickier still. Computer Arts' method for deciding its annual UK Studio Rankings is simple enough: it’s all about peer reputation. The Players’ Player Award, if you like. And judging by the feedback the team has received, it genuinely means something to have the rest of the industry agree that you’re on the top of your game. Buy Computer Arts issue 272 now! The newest issue of CA boasts the magazine's fourth UK Studio Rankings, providing a fascinating snapshot of UK design over that period. It features the steady performers, risers and fallers, and the occasional young pretender out of left-field that wows everyone. Industry titans The Partners and Pentagram occupy fourth and fifth place respectivelyAs in previous years, stalwarts such as Pentagram and The Partners rub shoulders with smaller boutique outfits, such as previous winners Graphic Thought Facility, Made Thought and North. Studio Sutherl& tops 2017's UK Studio RankingsThis year’s rankings-topper, Studio Sutherl&, is one of the smallest and youngest: a two-person outfit, three years old, powered by wit and ideas. Collectable glow-in-the dark cover This venture may be fresh, but Jim Sutherland himself is a veteran – cutting his teeth at The Partners and HGV before co-founding the multi-award-winning hat-trick. Studio Sutherl&'s beautiful execution of the cover for CA 272 proves the power of a simple, smart idea that doesn’t need a big agency behind it. You can watch the making of the stunning collectable cover – with glow-in-the-dark varnish applied by CA's print finishing partner Celloglas – above. Make a successful transition into freelance life, whichever path you chooseNo doubt many of you would kill to land a job at one of the studios on this year’s list. But if you’re eying up a freelance career instead, our other main feature this month charts four possible routes into self-employment, and is packed with advice for getting the most from whichever one you choose. Also in Computer Arts issue 272 CA issue 272 is packed with insight and inspiration as ever, including: Studio Sutherl&'s design for 2017's D&AD Annual is featured in the Showcase section Behind the scenes with Dalton Maag on the creation of the BBC's brand new typeface CA's junior designer manual series continues with a guide to smarter artworking Studio Output and SomeOne discuss the fine art of resource management, in association with Resource GuruSubscribe to CA today from just £16/$37 Buy Computer Arts issue 272 here. And to make sure you never miss an issue of Computer Arts, subscribe here today! View the full article

If you work in any area of design then you'll know it's an industry where you never stop learning. There's always a new technique or piece of technology to master, but picking up these skills can often be expensive and time consuming. Thankfully, this list of Udemy course coupons is here to take the edge off the price tag that's often linked to career-progressing classes. Posted on Reddit by user commandrbond, this list of 250 Udemy course coupons covers a range of topics, including web development, video production, motion graphics, photography, marketing, video editing and much more. The list of coupons is dead easy to use. All you have to do is choose which Udemy course you like the look of on the list, click on it, and then you're taken to a landing page where you can enrol for free. You need to be quick, though, as this list of coupons is time-sensitive and will expire soon. The list was only posted yesterday (12 October), so most of them should still be working properly. The full list of coupons was compiled by Reddit user commandrbond The list of coupons has gone down a storm on Reddit, with plenty of users eagerly exploring the free courses on offer. Some users were keen to point out that Udemy is good for providing a basic understanding of a subject, so you might want to choose a topic you've always been interested in but never had the time to investigate before. Keep in mind that these coupons aren't first come first served either, so there's no rush to grab a discount. Users can sign up to as many courses as they like, so if you've been looking to expand your skill set on the cheap, this could be the time to do it. Related articles: 16 top online coding courses How to press start on your game art career 10 of the best free Udemy courses for designers View the full article

For filmmakers, product placement is an increasingly lucrative sideline to hike up those all-important profit margins. It’s like the movie equivalent of native content, slotting the sponsorship right into the action and getting the ultimate endorsement from the silver-screen heroes themselves. Treated with a deft hand, it can feel relatively seamless and give brands a boost by subtle association. But as the Truman Show expertly parodied back in 1998, when it becomes too blatant we suspend our disbelief and have a chuckle at the brand’s expense, or perhaps even get frustrated by the disruption to the action. Read on as we name and shame five movies that took things a little too far. 01. The Bond franchise There was an uproar among Bond purists when he chose a bottle of Heineken over a vodka Martini"Leave Bond alone!" you may cry. This seemingly immortal franchise, gearing up for its 25th outing in 2019, has forged some truly iconic associations with luxury goods, from fast cars to flash gadgets to premium booze. Nor does it try to hide it: take a look at the Partners section of 007.com and you’ll find a long list that includes Aston Martin, Bollinger, Heineken, MAC Cosmetics, Tom Ford, Belvedere Vodka, Gillette, Jaguar, Omega, Land Rover and Sony. Bond’s overt link with the luxury watch brand Omega is certainly not classifiedSure, you might turn a blind eye to the camera lingering a little too long on the badge on a car’s grille; close-cropping on a smartphone screen or carefully placed laptop lid; maybe even our hero swapping his signature vodka Martini (shaken, of course) for a bottle of beer. It’s understandable that brands are falling over themselves to be associated with Bond’s effortless cool. But when it strays into the dialogue itself, the heavy-handedness breeds hilarity. A case in point, the exchange between Bond and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale: “Rolex?” “Omega.” “Beautiful.” 02. The Transformers franchise To demonstrate how ‘transformium’ can morph into literally anything, Stanley Tucci chooses… a Beats PillYou get the feeling that Michael Bay and the Transformers production team go into every product placement negotiation with dollar signs in their eyes. While Bond trades off class and sophistication – albeit treading a fine line between savvy and sell-out at times – Transformers is essentially a giant, explosion-filled toy box. For a movie franchise packed with vehicles of all shapes and sizes, it’s no surprise that the most ubiquitous product placement comes from a car brand: General Motors. And the badge shots are the subtle bit. At one point, in response to a disparaging comment about Bumblebee’s current form as a battered old Camaro, our hero defiantly transforms into the very latest model, straight off the production line and into the on-screen showroom. After a conveniently placed Bud Light truck is smashed to pieces, the distinctive blue bottles are strewn everywhereTransformers: Age of Extinction already boasts the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the series at 18 per cent, but alongside some fairly unsubtle centre-frame inclusions for Victoria's Secret and Beats By Dre, there’s that incredible scene in which a Bud Light truck is smashed to pieces, scattering its distinctive blue bottles all over the road. Of course, Mark Wahlberg can’t resist a quick swig mid-chase, although the fact that he then chucks the rest of the bottle on the floor doesn’t say much about the taste. 03. Jurassic World OK, this Jurassic World battle Merc is pretty cool, we’ll grant youTo be fair, Jurassic World clearly has its tongue firmly in its cheek when it suggests that Verizon Wireless could sponsor ferocious cross-bred predator the Indominus Rex, and you could certainly argue that the movie’s increasingly in-your-face product placement is wittily self-referential. After all, Spielberg’s iconic 1993 film was all about the danger of trying to harness and commercialise the unpredictable, terrifying side of nature – and once again, the lesson was not learnt and utter chaos ensues. Beats By Dre and Mercedes Benz get plenty of airtime in the 2015 movie, keeping the kids entertained through prominent headphones and zipping our heroes at breakneck speed through the dino-infested jungle respectively. Jurassic World, proudly brought to you by Samsung. Just don’t let them provide security for your dino cagesBut perhaps the most amusing – or unfortunate – brand association is with Samsung, which has seemingly kitted out the entire park and all its residents via Jurassic World’s very own Samsung Innovation Center. This includes the security system, which features front and centre as the bloodthirsty prehistoric antagonist breaks loose. Oops. 04. I, Robot Audi created a special concept car worthy of the streets of 2035 Chicago for I, RobotFilms set in the future can be a difficult sell for specific product placement, since no brand wants their most cutting-edge wares to look outdated in the context of a visionary world. Luckily for Audi, the dystopian universe of I, Robot was the perfect arena to take its specially designed concept car for a spin. With spheres instead of wheels and reverse butterfly doors, the Audi RSQ got free range of Chicago in 2035, with Will Smith at the wheel – garnering a healthy chunk of screen time in the process. That’s investment, and positions Audi as a future-thinking brand. We can’t quite see them, Will – can you raise your foot a little higher?But the scene in which Smith awkwardly hoists his foot onto a chair and proudly declares he’s wearing “Converse: vintage 2004” is a step too far by any standards. Again, when product placement enters a main character’s dialogue it immediately jars. 05. Cast Away Tom Hanks lives off FedEx boxes in Cast Away, and Landor’s much-lauded logo gets its fair share of airtimeIt’s testament to Tom Hanks’ acting prowess that he can carry the vast majority of Cast Away’s screen time single-handedly. Of course, Hanks is not marooned entirely alone on the island – he has some brands for company. First of all, he’s a FedEx employee, on a FedEx plane, filled with FedEx packages. Branding aficionados certainly have plenty of chances to fawn over the ‘hidden’ arrow in Landor Associates’ much-loved FedEx logo, as it’s almost as ubiquitous as the sand on the beach that he calls home. Wilson! Wilson! Wilson!And then there’s the other main ‘character’, and probably the most-spoken single word in the whole script: Wilson, the Wilson-branded volleyball. While some of the other brands on the list manage to find their way into the script, not many have the privilege of being bellowed at full volume by an Oscar-winner. However, director Robert Zemeckis has insisted that neither FedEx nor Wilson actually paid for their products to be shown – although they were provided free of charge, of course. So although a FedEx plane was seen crashing, and a Wilson volleyball got pretty badly battered, both brands did pretty well out of it, all told. Liked this? Read these: 10 things designers say that normal people don’t 10 top design-related movies 8 things you didn't know about design for film View the full article

You need an image for your design quickly. But sometimes you don’t know quite what you’re looking for. You want something offbeat, unusual or just plain weird… but you have a feeling you won’t know what it is until you find it. In such cases, it helps to be able to browse a load of images to give you ideas and inspiration. Here are some places you can go. 01. Stock image libraries These days, stock libraries are less about airbrushed models than authentic shots of real peopleYes, we know. Many designers think ‘stock image’ and they think ‘polished’, ‘airbrushed’ and ‘anodyne’. But actually, the stock business has come a long way in the last few years. As creatives have demanded more down-to-earth, realistic images that represent real-life, not some idealised version of it, it’s responded in kind. And now you can expect to find the kind of images that look more like something you’d have art-directed yourself than “obviously stock”. For example, check out this ‘Gritty Women’ collection by iStock by Getty Images. To hone in on the good stuff, try adding search terms that fit the kind of you’re looking for: ‘authentic’, ‘real life’, ‘’individuality’, ‘standing out from the crowd’, ‘offbeat’... whatever fits with your brief. 02. The British Library This image was taken from page 13 of 'Round the Hearth [and other verses] ... Edited and arranged by R. E. Mack', and comes with “no known copyright restrictions”Want to bring imbue your designs with the spirit of the past? Well one solution might be to recycle some of the most evocative images of centuries gone by, and do something creatively original with them. And the good news is, The British Library has made a surprisingly huge amount of such imagery available to download online. Its images collections on Flickr Commons offer access to millions of public domain images, including maps, paintings, photographs, advertisements and illustrations, which they encourage you to explore and re-use. With categories including everything from flora and architecture to ghostly scenes, there’s bundles of inspiration on display here, whether you actually incorporate it into your designs or use it as a springboard for your own photographic or illustrative ideas. 03. SpaceX Concept art of sending Dragon to Mars, one of the many public domain images on the SpaceX Flickr accountSpaceX is at the forefront of the new wave of commercial rockets and spacecraft. And its official Flickr account provides a ton of official images to the public and news media with no copyright restrictions. Most of these, naturally, involve rockets taking off, as well as space flight mockups. So whether your project is literally centred around a space or sci-fi theme, or you just want to associate a brand with concepts like futuristic thinking and the breaking of boundaries breaking, there’s a lot of great imagery here that might help bring your designs to life. 04. Jay Mantr This image by Jay Mantri comes with the hashtags #parking and #dtla and is free to download and use in your projectsJay Mantri is a designer based in Santa Monica who releases seven new photos every Thursday under the Creative Commons CC0 license. (This is basically an updated version of public domain, which means you’re free to use them in both personal and commercial projects without charge.) You’ll find a lot of cool landscapes and architectural details amongst this collections, including some quite abstract images like the above. 05. Realistic Shots The free photos from Realistic Shots show a less airbrushed side to lifeRealistic Shots is a project founded in 2014 by Henry Reyes @henryreyes9, a web developer and founder of Commit 2 Design. As part of the backlash against airbrushing and overuse of Photoshop, it provides exactly what it promises: a range of stark photography showing the nitty gritty of life, warts and all. Subscribe for free and you’ll get seven high resolution photos for personal and commercial use, every week, on constantly changing themes. Reyes just asks that you “make something creative” with them in return. 06. Life of Pix This shot of French fries in New Caledonia by Slike is free to download for use in your projectsEvery week Leeroy, an advertising agency in Montreal and its network of photographers, adds a bunch of high-resolution photos to its ‘Life of Pix’ library. These range wildly in subject but are all professionally shot and often offbeat and interesting. Not to mention they’re all public domain and can be downloaded for free and used in both commercial and personal projects (with the exception of mass distribution). Life of Pix also offers a great way to discover new photographers: every week it puts forward a new ‘Photographer of the Week’ and highlights 10 of their images on the site and its social media channels. 07. PicJumbo Prague Metro Subway Public Transport Station by Viktor Hanacek “I just want to make the internet a more beautiful place,” says Viktor Hanacek, a 22-year-old living in the Czech Republic. “I was a web designer, photographer and WordPress developer, and a few years later there were no free high-resolution images.” So he set up Picjumbo, which now houses more than 1,500 of his images in high resolution, for designers, bloggers and entrepreneurs to download and use for free. Hanacek has quite a unique style and take on the world, and his site is full of fun and quirky shots, such as ‘Feeding Fallow Deer by Hand’ and ‘Woman Holding an Ice Cream in Front of Her Face’. Related articles: 5 tips for using stock imagery in your designs The 16 best websites to download stock art The 5 biggest myths about stock imagery in design View the full article

Equifax has temporarily taken down one of its consumer-facing credit report services after the webpage was compromised and serving adware via a phony Flash Player download. View the full article

This WebGL tutorial demonstrates how to create a 3D environmental simulation that shows what happens to the world as CO2 levels change. (You can see more WebGL experiments here.) The user controls the levels using a HTML input range slider. As the user adds more CO2, more smog will appear in the scene, the water levels will rise as the increase in temperature melts more polar ice caps, then trees will disappear as they become immersed in water. The elements are animated in and out using a tween library and dragging the slider in the opposite direction will reverse the effects. If only it was that easy in real life! 01. Display elements The basic layout of the page is shown here before the 3D scene has been added. The image is a transparent PNG at the top of the screen and there is a range slider at the bottomTo start the project, open the 'start' folder in your code IDE. Open up index.html and you will see there is a basic page scaffold there with some code already. In the body section, add the display elements here that will be used as the interface to the 3D content. 02. Linking up the libraries The 3D content is being displayed through three.js, which is included here. A Collada model will be added to the scene later. The extra library to load this is included, along with a basic tween library. The next lines all link up to post processing effects that will add the finishing polish. 03. Post processing shaders After the scene has rendered each frame, a number of post process effects will be added. These are the libraries that empower the film grain effect, a tilt shift blur at the top and bottom of the screen, then finally a vignette to fade out to the edges of the screen. 04. Adding the variables Some of the code has been completed for you. You will see a comment where to add the rest of the tutorial's code. A number of variables are used in this 3D scene, which look after screen resolution, various 3D models and post processing. Two important variables are the waterHt for the water height and the lastVal, which remembers the last position of the slider. 05. Initialising the scene The init function is a large part of the code, ensuring the scene is set up with the right look at the beginning. A container is added to the page, and this is where the 3D scene will be displayed. A camera is added and some background fog to fade out the distance. 06. Setting the renderer The renderer is given a background colour and the resolution is set to the same size as the pixel ratio of the screen. Shadows are enabled in the scene, and it's placed on the page in the container element. A hemisphere light is added, which has a sky and ground colour. 07. Shader variables The variables that will control the shader post process effects are given their values here. These variables will be used later to add values that will control the look. If you look in the params function you will see this already completed for you. 08. Composing the effects The effects have to be stacked up in something called an effects composer. This takes each effect and applies the styling to it. Then it is all displayed as a final scene on the screen, which you will see when the render function is added later. 09. Loading the cloud image The params() function is called in step 9, which sets the parameters for the post processing vignette and film grain effectThe params function is called and this sets the individual parameters for the post effects. A new group is created and this will hold all of the scene content within it, to make it easy to rotate the group of objects. A transparent PNG image is loaded as a cloud material to be used as a sprite within the scene. 10. Double for loop Eight groups are created inside the first for loop. These eight groups all get 35 clouds added to them in the second for loop. Each cloud is placed in a random location above the scene. The groups will be turned on and off with the slider by the user to show smog being added and removed in the visualisation. 11. Scaling the cloud The first group of clouds can be seen in the scene. The others are hidden and will be visible when controlled from the slider by the userThe cloud is scaled up to a size that allows it to be visible in the scene. Every group of clouds after the first group is scaled down so that they are virtually invisible to the renderer. This is how they will be made visible later by scaling them back up to their full size, as this will give a good tweening effect. 12. Loading the model Now the Collada Loader is set to load the scene.dae model. When it finishes loading, the model is scanned and any object that happens to be a mesh is made to cast shadows and receive shadows to give some extra depth to the scene. 13. Finding specifics in the scene As the model is now ready for display it is set to the right size to fit the scene. The code needs to specifically control the height of the water so the water model is found in the scene and passed into the global variable. Similarly the main light needs to be found so that it can be set to project shadows. 14. Light settings The model has been added with the main light set to emit shadows onto the scene. There is something substantial to look at in the scene so the tilt shift blur effect can be seen at the front and back of the sceneNow as the spotlight is found the specifics that make it cast shadows into the scene are set up. The fading of the light at the edges of the spot is also set here. Finally, as the model is the biggest element to load in, the rest of the scene will be set up before this code is run, therefore the render function can be called each frame. 15. Last initialising code With the mouse and touch events set up, the scene becomes reactive to the mouse movement, zooming in and out while being able to tilt the scene up and downThe final part of the init function sets various mouse and touch inputs that will move the camera based on their position. An event is also registered to listen for if the screen is resized and this will update the rendered display. 16. Rendering each frame The render function is set to be called as close to 60 frames per second as the browser can manage. The group, which contains all the models, is set to rotate by a small amount each frame. The camera's position is updated from the mouse or touch input and it continues to look at the centre of the scene. 17. Updating the display The shader time is a variable that just goes up by 0.1 each frame and this is passed into the filmPass so that the noisey film grain can be updated. The effects composer is updated and rendered to the screen. Finally the tween engine is updated too. 18. Getting user input The input range slider, added in step 1, calls the showVal function, which is defined here. When the user clicks on this it just checks that the slider has been moved. If it's moved up then the next cloud group is scaled up with a tween over 0.8 seconds. The water height is updated and this is also tweened up to the new height. 19. Grabbing the trees The temp variable finds the current group of trees it should eliminate from the scene and here it scales them down with a tween on the y axis only. An elastic easing is used so that this springs out of sight on the screen for a pleasing effect. As more water and clouds are in the scene, the trees disappear. 20. Opposite input The first content checked if the slider was slid upwards, or to the right. Now the code detects the user sliding to the left. The clouds are scaled down with a tween and so is the water level to show a cooling effect on the earth. 21. Finishing up With everything working, you can see the background fog clearly as you move the mouse so that the camera gets a higher vantage point on the sceneThe final step is to bring the trees back, so they are scaled back to their original size with an elastic tween. Save the scene and view the web page from a server either hosted locally on your own computer or on a web server. You will be able to interact with mouse movement and the slider to change the scene display. This article originally appeared in Web Designer issue 265. Buy it here. Related articles: How to code an augmented reality marker 20 amazing examples of WebGL in action 9 brilliant uses of 3D in web design View the full article

For many designers and artists, the process of creating something can be a great way to escape from the world and focus the mind. However, that doesn't mean we're immune to stress – there's nothing like a client breathing down your neck and a looming deadline to pop your meditative bubble. Can pro artists achieve mindfulness through art?These mindfulness tools are all designed to help you focus your mind, channel your creative energies, and escape when it all gets a bit much. 01. Headspace The headspace app is hugely popularLaunched by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe, Headspace now has millions of users in oner 190 countries. Comprising a website, app and book (Get Some Headspace: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day), Headspace offers plenty of resources, including themed meditation sessions on everything from stress to sleep, short 'SOS' exercises for emergencies, and tips for a mindful living approach. 02. The Art of Breathing This book aims to help you find peace and take time to breatheAward-winning author Dr Danny Penman has produced 'The Art of Breathing: The Secret to Living Mindfully' as a guide to letting go and finding peace, simply by taking the time to breathe. "Escapism, to me, is escaping from the ‘here and now’, whereas mindfulness is being fully connected to the present moment," he explains. "Lots of clinical trials have shown that connecting to the present moment using mindfulness dissolves anxiety, stress and depression." 03. Wherever You Go, There You Are The guide offers ways for you to incorporate mindfulness into your own lifeJon Kabat-Zinn is an internationally known meditation teacher. In this easy-to-follow starter book for new meditators, he includes practical explanations on mindfulness and awareness. It promises "Brief, humourful chapters full of stories and poetry, [that] convey the heart and the spirit of mindfulness practice and encourage you to find your own ways to incorporate mindfulness into your life." 04. The Power of Now The Power of Now aims to free you of your own ego'The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment' is a manual for anyone who’s ever wondered what ‘living in the now’ means, or how to free yourself of your ego. Written by spiritual teacher Eckhart TolleIt, the book is a number one New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 33 languages. 05. WildMind The WildMind site contains plenty of mindfulness resourcesThis Buddhist meditation website offers free guides, news articles, online classes and resources for practicing mindfulness. Bodhipaksa, a Buddhist teacher and author, launched the website back in 2000, and it's packed with tips for getting more from meditation. 06. Mindfulness for Creativity This book is especially aimed at artist and designersThis is a guide to help creatives 'adapt, create and thrive in a frantic world'. In it, Dr Danny Penman outlines three simple mindfulness techniques that artists can enhance their creativity, problem-solving and decision-making skills: open your mind to new ideas; consciously notice these ideas and their relevance; and follow them wherever they might. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 151. Buy it now. Read more: Making art can reduce stress – no matter how good (or bad) you are Following this creativity cycle could save you from burnout 10 stress relief gadgets for designers View the full article

Drawing with ink produces vast possibilities. There are simple yet effective ways to create beautiful, organic textures, using only one colour of ink, which we'll explain in this workshop's text and in the video at the end. The theme of this black and white drawing is nature – an incredible source of inspiration. Use real objects for your artworks as often as you can. Collecting various natural objects – such as sea shells and snails' shells – make it possible for you to take a closer look, to touch and feel the surface. If you don’t have a real object, it’s great to use reference photos. Gather as many visual materials as you feel necessary, since they will nourish your artistic imagination and give you useful information about the texture and details. Exploring real natural objects, such as these shells, will help you understand their texturesYou could use these reference images and objects to create samples of textures before proceeding to the clean copy drawing. This is an excellent exercise for developing your artistic skills and power of observation. Ink liners are convenient because they are portable and clean, but if you would prefer, you can also follow the steps in this tutorial using nibs and liquid inks, because the principles are similar for both materials. Follow these 13 steps to create your own organic textured ink drawing. 01. Make an underdrawing Sketch your composition in pencil first [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] We'll begin this ink artwork with a pencil underdrawing. This method enables you to build the composition thoughtfully. Start drawing with light pencil lines and general shapes, then add the smaller features. As soon as you feel confident with your sketch and detailing, it’s time to start inking. So to create a pencil underdrawing, first mark the hill and add rough shapes for the snail’s body and shell. Then draw the leaf and the acorn. The peculiarity of this composition is that the snail is looking at the acorn, as if with curiosity. As a final touch, refine the snail, adding the spiral of the shell and the horns. 02. Outline the contours Vary the width of your lines with the soft brush pen [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Using an SB brush pen, outline the contours with organic lines, varying the width from thin to thick (SB means ‘soft brush’ and provides a thin, flexible brush-like tip). Let your hand be relaxed and have fun. There is no need to draw all the contours with this tool, so leave some pencil lines uncovered. We will come back to them very soon. 03. Work on the shell Use long rounded lines to accent prominent parts, and short hatches to convey a 3D shape [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Use a small (0.3mm thick) ink liner such as this Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen, size S, to reveal the relief of the snail’s shell. On the image above, you can see two types of ink strokes: long rounded lines accent the prominent points of the shell, and groups of short hatches unobtrusively emphasise the three-dimensional aspect of this object. 04. Draw the moss Use short hatches for the moss [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Begin the work on the texture of the moss that the snail is crawling along. With the S ink liner again, add groups of short hatches and dots to the hill area. The layering of hatches creates interesting effects and increases the contrast in the drawing. The closer you get to the bottom part of the artwork, the fewer hatches you should apply. This trick helps to create a beautiful fading effect. 05. Create the texture on the snail Add the texture of the snail’s body using an ultra-thin liner such as this 0.05mm Uni-Ball Pin Fineliner. This texture consists of small oblong elements that are closely adjacent to each other. Also add thin hatches to the area of the snail’s body under the shell. By carefully accenting the shadows like this, the drawing starts to look more realistic. 06. Add dots Groups of dots make the texture on the shell more interesting [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Draw dots onto the shell using an ink liner like the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen F liner. The groups of big dots will make the texture more interesting and credible. Then accent the sides of the shell and the borders of the spiral to give it more contrast and make it varied in terms of value (this means that you have darker and lighter objects). 07. Finish the shell marks Use contour hatching for depth [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Add rounded hatches to the sides of the shell and near the spiral line, using the 0.05mm ink liner again. This type of hatching is also known as contour hatching, and it works perfectly for accenting the three-dimensional aspect of objects. 08. Refine the snail's body Drawing shadows with hatches works well in black and white ink drawings [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Using the 0.05mm ink liner again, work on the snail’s body. Thin hatches help to reveal the relief of the animal and emphasise its three-dimensional qualities. The groups of parallel lines can go in different directions to form layers of hatching. This way of creating shadows is particularly good for black-and-white ink graphics. 09. Draw an acorn Leave a thin white edge around the acorn to help it stand out [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] With the S liner again, add dots and rounded hatches to the acorn, accenting the sides of the object. It is important to leave a thin white line on the edge because that will separate the acorn from other objects in the drawing. Having this in place guarantees that the artwork will look realistic and three-dimensional. 10. Develop the acorn Add a few strokes at a time to avoid overdoing it [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Add thin hatches to the acorn, using the 0.05mm liner. The goal is to give the acorn some contrast but to leave the highlights. Drawing with ink is a process of gradually raising the value and contrast, so it is better to apply fewer strokes at a time than too many of them at once. 11. Create a leaf texture Add small dots to create a velvety texture [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Now work on the leaf. With the S liner again, add some dots to create an organic, velvety texture. Dots always work well when it comes to natural objects and smooth surfaces; you can also use dots of different sizes in your artwork to achieve amazing graphic effects. 12. Accent the leaf Add a shadow under objects to separate them [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Using the 0.05 liner, mark all of the dark places of the leaf. It is important to separate the leaf from the acorn with a distinct contrast shadow. Trust your eyes and hand; they will suggest the direction of hatching and the level of value in your drawing. 13. Refine the mossy texture Make sure each object in your ink drawing is separate [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image] Lastly, work on the relief of the mossy hill. Hatch with the 0.05 liner to create darker spots. Especially accent the shadow from the acorn and ensure that the borders between the objects in the drawing are clearly visible. Once that's done, the artwork is complete. Watch the video of this snail artwork coming together below. This article originally appeared in Paint & Draw issue 10. Buy it here. Related articles: 17 stunning examples of ink drawings Get started with ink drawing How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials View the full article

There are no shortage of jobs out there for the tech savvy. You just need the skills to get the position, and you can get just that from the OSTraining Developer Courses. Get a lifetime access to thousands of tech courses on sale now for just $59.99 (approx. £46). Whether you want to explore a new career as a developer or just want to pick up some new skills that you might be able to put to work at your current job, then you need to go through the professional courses offered by OSTraining. You'll learn to build and launch amazing websites and apps using languages like JavaScript, HTML, Drupal, Joomla and more. There’s over 3,000 videos to teach you everything you need to know. The OSTraining Developer Courses usually retails for $2,000. This comprehensive course that could land you a new job can be yours for just $59.99 (approx. £46). Don’t miss an opportunity for a new career, get this deal today! 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. View the full article

Responsive web design and web accessibility have come of age, and new modes of presenting text to online users have emerged. As a result, accessible type selection is more important than ever. The plethora of information regarding accessible type design, application and code methodology is quite staggering, but one thing is clear: readability of content is the main goal for almost every website. Fontsmith has worked with Mencap to research, test and design accessible typefaces for those with disabilities. Here are some of our findings. 01. Typeface design Legibility vs readability Legibility is concerned with questions like: Can you recognise this letter or word? Can you interpret and comprehend this word? Readability is concerned with: How comfortable is the reading experience? Accessible type design is both legible and readable. Serif vs sans Our research with Mencap indicates sans-serif fonts are the most accessible style, as the detailing within serifed letters is considered complex by those with reading disabilities. Sans fonts have a simplified structure; they sit closer to our learned handwriting. Mono-linear sans forms display clearly and in a more robust fashion at small pixel sizes, even in the harshest rendering environments. Fontsmith’s FS Untitled makes a clear distinction between I (eye) and 1 (one)Letter shapes Choosing a typeface with strong character recognition qualities aids legibility. Those with visual impairments can find certain letters confusing, so it is important those letter shapes are clearly defined. Common offenders are the ‘I’ (capital eye), ‘i’ (lower-eye), ‘l’ (el) and ‘1’ (one). A closed ‘C’ can look like an ‘O’. Open counter shapes aid reading. The combination of ‘r’ and ‘n’ can read like an ‘m’. Long ascenders and descenders are important, too. They help to define outer word shapes that the eye can scan and interpret swiftly. Font proportions A large x-height and moderate-to-wide proportions are most accessible. A larger x-height often infers a greater white space inside a letter, which can aid definition and clarity. Often, condensed and compressed width styles are promoted as enabling a fluid and more responsive layout, but it is important to realise that by using a condensed font where space is limited (eg on mobile) you could also be reducing accessibility. Hinting Hints describe the degree by which pixels should be turned on or off to improve the quality of a letter at a specific pixel size. Despite improvements in screen resolution, font hinting is still an essential type design process. Most foundries automate hinting and achieve very good results, but keep expectations in check: no amount of hinting will make a heavy weight look good at 12px. 02. Type application Size is important. Be mindful that actual sizes can vary hugely between fonts Weight Establish a hierarchy by assigning roles for each font. A hierarchy enables the eye to break down information into a clear experience. Use open, midrange weights for subheads and body. Set up a test to evaluate across browser platforms – weight can change dramatically from one environment to the next. If desired, implement Type Rendering Mix to balance out appearance. Size Size is important. Be mindful that every font sits at a different scale on the type-body, and actual sizes can vary hugely between fonts: 14px in one font can be equivalent to 18px in another. The average size for body ranges from 14px to 16px. As a general rule, 16px-plus is considered the most inclusive. Font size can also impact on rendering quality. Find the sweet spots that deliver the best rendering results for your primary platforms. Line-height and length Give type room to breathe. Your eye needs to be able to track from one line to the next with ease. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) recommend a line height of 1.5 for body copy. Evaluate, reduce or increase as necessary. Scanning long lines of text is testing for your eyes. Research indicates that the average online line length is around 70-80 characters. Limit lines to no more than 16 words. Colour Like all visual elements, type must have adequate contrast. Grey type on a white background can be difficult to read if the greyness and font weight is too light. Fontsmith’s FS Untitled has finely ‘graded’ weights to help users balance its appearance. White type on a dark background will ‘glow’ on-screen making it appear tighter, and some fonts may require letter-space adjustments. 03. Type technicals Fontsmith’s FS Untitled has finely ‘graded’ weights (click the arrows icon top-right to enlarge this image) Font loading strategies Slow connections and large font files make for slow text load times. A single WOFF file with a full European character set will size 36-50KB. The states of FOUT (flash of unstyled text) or FOIT (flash of invisible text) need consideration. FOIT is the predominant browser default and in aesthetic terms FOIT is desirable, but in accessibility terms FOUT is certainly the way to go. That's because seeing some content is better than no content at all. Aim to show text in a fallback font until all web fonts load, which avoids any ongoing juddering of multiple elements on the page. Implement with Web Font Loader and set a cookie, as this minimises FOUT further into the site. Fallback fonts Selection is limited particularly on mobile. Jordan Moore’s mobile fallback compatibility table illustrates the problem. When selecting a fallback, shoot for similar weights and proportions. Tweak fallback metrics to match your chosen font size. Inform your selection decision by overlaying an accessible font on the fallback and judge. Text-rendering Use optimiseLegibility to enable kerning and improve rendering quality. This setting also enables ligatures, which you can disable if necessary by setting .classname { font-feature-settings: "liga" 0; } . Protecting fonts It takes years of effort and investment to develop a high-quality typeface. It’s only fair, given the important role that type has in all web projects, that you take steps to protect the investment in them. Use CORS to deploy fonts, ensuring only permitted sites have access to the files. We aim to make type as accessible as it can be. We have worked with signage and environmental groups to create a 21st century wayfinding typeface, FS Millbank, aiming to aid navigation in busy environments. With FS Untitled we aim to create a more readable web, ensuring that accessible typography is open to all. This article was originally published in net magazine issue 286. Subscribe here. Related articles The 40 best free web fonts Get started with web accessibility 10 essential tools for freelance UX designers View the full article

That portal effect in Dr Strange was very special. It was pretty much the only effect in the movie that didn’t lean more towards motion graphics than visual effects so, in this Maya tutorial, we’re going to recreate that amazing look. We’re going to start by talking about nParticles in Maya. It’s hard to underestimate how amazing nParticles are, especially due to their Nucleus node, which brings all simulations on the same node, be it particles or cloth or anything else, into the same physical realm. This means the same rules and attributes of physics will apply to all of them, which is a thing of perfection. We’re going to start by generating simple particles and setting up a working physics system, that is in the Nucleus node. Later, we’re going to change the particles to look and act like sparks, as seen in the movie. Then, we’re going to make the emitter orbit a point to create the same sort of portal that we saw in the movie. We’re also going to talk about instancing particles with custom geometry to replace them for an artistic or rendering reason. In addition to all of that, we’re going to cover orienting particles in the correct way. So enough of the talk, let’s get started… 01. Set up the scene It all starts with a simple circleThe first thing that we’re going to do is create a curved circle. Rotate it by 90 and increase the radius if you need to. This will later serve as a path for our particles to be generated from. Think of this as the shape of the portal. If you want to go really crazy, you can also do a polygon of some sorts, but that’s obviously not what they did in the movie. 02. Initial particles It's time to experiment with wind and gravityChange the interface module to FX in order to get access to the particles and dynamics-related menu bars. Go to the nParticle menu and select Create Emitter. Now you’ve got an initial emitter. Play around with the Nucleus node, and turn on the ground plane to get the particles to interact with the ground. Experiment with some other settings like the wind and gravity as well. This, however, isn’t the final particle setup so don’t worry about the look of the particles. 03. Motion path for the particles We need to send these particles spinning!Change the interface module to Rigging. Select the emitter first, then the path, go to the Constraint menu, select Motion Paths and then Attach to Motion Path. This will give a single loop, which is a very good start but not what we want. So select the circle, now the motion path, and in the Channel Editor go the motionPath1 node and select the UValue. This is the position of your emitter at the current frame. Animate or use an expressions loop (like fast and forever). 04. Create the sparks Change the Line Width attribute to see sparksYou should have an emitter emitting spheres while orbiting a circle. Click the emitter, in the Attribute Editor, go to nParticleShape node. Go to Shading, change the particle render type to Streak. You probably won’t see much difference until you change Line Width attribute. Below these are the colour settings. Change gradient to red-orange and the colour input to Age. 05. Reorientate the particles Tweaking Lifespan and Opacity will make your sparks shineAlso play with settings such as Lifespan and Opacity. Use these to make it look like sparks. At this point, you might have an issue – the particles aren’t generated in the right orientation. Use an expression on your emitter’s rotation (X or Z, based on your setup) and tie it to the UValue of the Motion path. 360 * UValue is the basic logic. 06. Play with physics Change Mass for realistic spark movementThings should be shaping up now. Let’s move to nParticleShape node and change Mass (0.3, in this case) under the Dynamic Properties tab. This should make your particles light so wind can displace them, the way real sparks behave. Move to the Nucleus node and under the Gravity and Wind tab, change the Wind Speed, Wind Direction and Wind Noise (2.747, all to 1, 50, in this case). 07. Duplicate the emitter A single emitter just won't cut itA single emitter, in this case, just wasn’t very effective, even if we bumped the particle rate all the way up to a high amount. So we decided to duplicate the emitters, which can be a bit tricky. Create a new emitter, it’ll ask for the nucleus node you want to use, give it the nucleus you have already. Now, to copy an attribute from the existing emitter, all you need is to select the node, click Presets in the top-right corner, save the preset and then load it to the new emitters. 08. Instancing the geometry Instancing might take out the colour, but you can put that back in laterIf you’re using Maya 2017, which ships with Arnold, you might’ve noticed it doesn’t work well with some nParticles. So you can either use another renderer or use geometry instancing. It’s a simple process. Just create a geometry, select it first and nParticleShape later and in the nParticles menu, select Instancer. This’ll take out the colouring effects but at least you’ll be able to render. 09. Rendering Instance motion blur before you renderTo render this out, we suggest using V-Ray. We got the best results from V-Ray but if it’s out of budget, to render just the particles, try and use Maya’s software renderer or any other built-in renderer. That is fine for just the particles and you can deal with the rest in post. You can’t render motion blur with just the particles so instance it before you do, or add it in post. 10. Compositing It's time to bring all the elements togetherCompositing this is fairly simple. You only have to add some motion blur to the particles, some glow and roto on the footage inside the portal. We would suggest duplicating the portal. Make one on them white, using something like a choker to cut it on the edges and the other one orange and then adding a lot of glow on it with high radius. However, this might not work if you’re rendering using V-Ray. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 226. Buy it here. Related articles: How to sculpt in Cinema 4D How to simulate explosions in Maya Build a custom Maya interface View the full article