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There's not long to wait now until cinema goers get to return to a galaxy far, far away with Solo: A Star Wars Story. A recently launched trailer (below) follows hot on the heels of a teaser trailer that premiered during the Super Bowl, along with four new poster designs. Whereas the last Star Wars spin-off movie, Rogue One, went for a more serious and gritty tone, judging by the looks of the promotional material released so far, Solo looks like it will be more of a lighthearted and humorous romp. Accompanying these trailers are the vibrant teaser posters, which put bold typography at the centre of their design. Masking the visuals of the characters inside the lettering makes use of a trend we've seen before with typography in motion graphics, and its inclusion here sets an extravagant tone for the film. We're also really enjoying the blend of old and new design elements. A flaking paper background is a striking contrast to the painted images in the sci-fi fonts. Scroll through the set of four Solo teaser posters by clicking left to right in the gallery below. It's important to remember that these aren't the theatrical posters for Solo: A Star Wars Story. Instead, they're a nice bit of extra promotional material that also contain a tidbit of exclusive information by revealing the name of Emilia Clarke's character. The saturated colours also call to mind the poster of another recent fantasy cinematic epic, Thor: Ragnarok. We're pleased that the posters for Solo take a strong yet simple approach in terms of composition, though, instead of the cluttered photo montages that left us asking if we were in the middle of a movie poster design crisis. As for the official theatrical poster, we probably won't have to wait long to see that either given that Solo: A Star Wars story is scheduled for release on Memorial Day (28 May 2018). Related articles: 4 classic movie poster designs making a comeback 10 best movie posters from the 1990s Are these vintage concept movie posters better than the originals? View the full article

At Adobe Max 2017, back in October, Adobe and Coca-Cola announced a design collaboration called Cola x Adobe x You. As a partner to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Coca-Cola gave away all its brand assets to creatives around the world, asking them to participate in a design challenge using Adobe Creative Cloud software. Save 15% on Adobe Creative Cloud now Working with Adobe, Coca-Cola invited 15 creatives to contribute to the launch of the challenge at Adobe Max 2017. Using Coca-Cola Red Disc, Spencerian Script Coca-Cola Logo, Contour Bottle icon and Dynamic Ribbon – plus their own imaginations – each was asked to create imagery. We have a look behind the scenes at how the project launch took shape. "When I attended the Adobe Max event in San Diego in 2016, I admired the scale and presence the company has with the global creative community," explains James Sommerville, the vice president of Global Design at the Coca-Cola Company. "We discussed ideas around how we could collaborate, and connect with the design community using Coca-Cola’s cherished assets, and that led us to formulate this challenge. "Coke x Adobe x You is a pre-campaign exploratory design challenge. It’s an opportunity for Coke, as a global brand, to take the pulse of the design community and see what creatives can do with our brand assets. The challenge looks towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but at this stage we have not formulated our global campaign for Tokyo 2020. "At Adobe Max 2017 in Las Vegas, we invited the design community at large to visit the site www.cokexadobexyou.com to find out more about the challenge. The brief is simple, but the possibilities really are endless. We have restricted the elements to the Coca-Cola brand colour palette, the Coca-Cola assets, and what the designer thinks of when they think of Coca-Cola, Japan and the Olympics." Artists chosen to inspire and lead A work in progress sketch by Karen Cantuq as she plans out her entry "Initially, we invited 15 creative influencers to participate, so that we would have their images at launch to inspire others," says Somerville. "It was important to us to work with people using all the design disciplines, including 2D, 3D, motion, illustration, photography and typography, in order to show the extent of this brief in terms of application. "Kouhei Nakama uses motion graphics, Vasjen Katro creates fabric graphics, Birgit Palma [who designed the Tokyo-inspired geometric design in the main image] is a type designer, and Guy Aroch is a photographer, for example. "Each of the 15 creatives has worked with the same brief and assets, and it was important that they all worked with the same elements. The Olympics brings the world together through sport, and we felt the design challenge would do the same thing through creativity. "Over the decades, many artists ranging from Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Mr Brainwash have embraced the Coca-Cola identity, and provided their unique perspective on our brand. Today the tools may be different, but the passion remains, and all of our creative influencers have been excited to participate. This work will become a moment in time, and they will be part of that, and the work may one day live in our archives. "Aside from the constraints of the simple brief, it was open for our 15 designers to take any approach. We wanted to explore what individuals can create with no firm direction from me or the Coca-Cola Design team. This is a design challenge, not a commercial campaign." The Israeli-American fashion photographer Guy Aroch created a set of provocative and colourful photos for the challenge "The assets provided include the Coca-Cola Red Disc, Spencerian Script Coca- Cola Logo, Contour Bottle icon and Dynamic Ribbon. The only colours to be used in the challenge are the Coca-Cola red, black and white. "Red is our precious colour and few brands come as quickly to mind as Coca-Cola when you think of red. While we hope to have many diverse styles across different mediums, it is important to have a thread, and our Coca-Cola red is that thread." The 15 creatives involved in the campaign launch were Asjen Katro, Birgit Palma, Kouhei Nakama, Sha’an d’Anthes, Ion Lucin, Frankie Cihi, Guy Aroch, Max Muench, Jati Pratama, Olivia Odiwe, Kei Meguro, Mike Winkelmann, David Tshabalala, Karen Cantuq and Filip Hodas. Let's see how three of the creatives made their designs for the launch of the campaign. 01. Gif design Vasjen Katro's design Vasjen Katro’s creation riffs on circles and repeated forms. "After I discovered that the Olympics are held over 16 days, I decided to create a different piece of artwork for each day of the event," he explains. "Every day is different and has its own unique qualities but also has similarities, so my approach was to translate all that into a series of different images. When you watch the final video you get an overall feeling of these differences, but you also see one element that doesn’t change, which is the circle and the Coca-Cola identity. "I began the artwork in Photoshop before moving to Illustrator to create the illustrations and elements. Each piece was compiled and merged in Photoshop. For the video, I worked in After Effects and exported the file using Media Encoder." 02. Video Motion graphics artist Kouhei Nakama explains how he created two stunning videos to inspire others: "At first glance, using red, white and a circle as required in the brief seemed quite simple, but there was a risk that my final artwork would end up looking quite similar to that of the other creatives doing the challenge. I focused on creating something simple that was also original. "In my first video, the camera zooms in to Japan’s flag. I wanted to create something that got people excited about the Tokyo Olympic games. By describing the athlete’s dynamic performances in the flag, I’m hoping viewers will get that feeling of excitement. "For the video where athletes are painted with the Coke logo, I wanted to use 3D. You can’t see the whole logo in one frame, but it fills in across the sequence. The logo is invisible in the still, but it is visible in the movie and this serves to enhance the logo. "First, I created 2D materials and textures in Photoshop and Illustrator. I then imported them into my 3D software, modified them and sorted the layout. After compositing the rendered footage in After Effects, I edited it. Then I compressed the files with media encoder and posted them. Kouhei Nakama creating the videos "The most difficult part of the challenge for me was generating the idea. I needed to come up with something original and sophisticated, something that people would instantly recognise. I spent a lot of time thinking about how the videos would work before I started producing the design. Once I had finalised my idea, the production process went pretty smoothly." 03. Geometric art Birgit Palma’s finished work looks at the Tokyo setting for the games in a different way, through the lens of Coca-Cola’s geometric forms Illustrator Birgit Palma says of her geometric Olympic artwork at the top of this article: "I was inspired by the shapes of the elements we were given, and decided to take the most important ones – the circle, the bottle of Coca-Cola and the Asakusa Kannon – as symbols to communicate the characteristics of Tokyo. In her sketches, Palma explores occlusion and the use of positive and negative space, as well as experimenting with various additions. "Those shapes were fascinating and I decided to use their symmetry as the basis of my artwork. I scribbled down some ideas, and when I had chosen one I started to compose the different elements and to sketch it out geometrically in Illustrator. "To give it more depth, I switched to Photoshop and coloured in the composition, concentrating on the colour balance of the artwork and on the details at the intersections and triangular parts." This article was originally published in issue 274 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 274 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Related articles: Coca-Cola celebrates heritage with bespoke typeface 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 60 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials View the full article

There comes a point in everyone's life when it's time to take more control of your destiny. If you've built your own site using free WordPress themes or Drupal themes, you might be craving more control. It's time to take an online coding course, learn to code yourself and build your site, your way. Many accessible educational tools have popped up that make learning new skills more straightforward. The daunting task is finding one that's right for you and your learning style. We've tested and reviewed some of the most popular schools being talked about on the web today, to give you a better understanding of the pros and cons of each. Here's our list of the web's best online coding courses. 01. Code School $29/mo 15 free courses available Code School offers some free courses Of all the tools we dug into, Code School – owned by Pluralsight – was one of the best. Not only does the site look great, but it offers quality content and a great student experience. You can follow a 'path', which will guide you through a succession of different courses, or you can opt for a single course on its own. The videos are quirky and fun in an after-school special kind of way, which is a refreshing break from typically dry video tutorials. It's like watching Bill Nye explain it, which is to say, comforting. After viewing a video, you work on your own tasks – relating back to the video if required. If you get really stuck you can 'buy' answers with points you've earned from other classes. Code School offers 15 introductory courses for free, so you can try it out for size, or you can buy a monthly subscription for $29/month. If you're looking to splash a few bucks on a learning tool, we would recommend spending your money here. 02. Skillcrush $499 per 'blueprint' Free 10-day coding bootcamp Skillcrush closely resembles learning in the classroom Skillcrush is a unique online coding course, and the option here that most closely resembles an actual curriculum in a classroom setting. Users enrol in their chosen three-month 'blueprint' – a bundle of three courses that build on each other. There are four to choose from: frontend developer, visual designer, freelance WordPress developer or freelance business builder. Alternatively, you can embark on a nine-month bumper programme dedicated to helping you break into tech. Once enrolled, students have access to not only a classroom setting chat forum with their fellow students, but also to office hours and one-on-one time with their instructor. Skillcrush is currently also offering a free 10-day coding bootcamp. 03. Udacity Large selection of free courses Nanodegrees from around €200 (approx $250) Udacity covers a huge array of technical subjects Udacity offers robust guides to many different topics, with seriously advanced courses on everything from robotics to design theories in everyday life. There's a big selection of free courses on offer here – and not just basic ones, either, but across all skill levels. Alternatively, Udacity has a range of 'nanodegrees', which cover in-demand skills. Current courses on offer include Design Sprint Foundations and VR Developer. Prices and lengths of course vary dramatically, but the cheapest courses start at around €200. All courses are summarised before you even begin, outlining the difficulty level, why the course is important, any prerequisites for taking it, and the project you will complete at the end. This means you can easily scan through and choose what suits you best. 04. Code Avengers From $150 (6-month plan) Free 7-day trial Code Avengers takes a simple step-by-step approach This online code school offers courses teaching you how to code or build websites, games and apps. There are lessons for total beginners, or if you have a little prior knowledge, you can start at a higher level. Code Avengers walks you through each process with very simple, step-by-step instructions, starting with minor tasks, while you watch what happens in a mini phone simulator next to your editor. The team has managed a good balance of difficulty: not so tricky you have to cheat, but not so simple you're just copy-pasting. One interesting thing about this online code school is the Code Avengers Junior section. This teaches children basic programming and computer literacy skills, via gamified courses. 05. Khan Academy Free Khan Academy is very straightforward and offers quizzes Khan Academy is a free online school that's not just focused on coding – there are a wide range of courses on offer, from economics to arts and humanities. Under the Computing section, you'll find courses on computer programming, computer science, coding and animation, all of which are broken up into specific sub-sections. What's interesting with Khan Academy is that you hear someone talking while they write the code, which feels natural, like you're sitting down with someone. The courses were straightforward, easy to follow and you can then transfer the concepts to the simple exercises. Sometimes, there are mini-quizzes following a demo, which help you think about things conceptually and understand what the code is doing a little better. 06. Hack Design Free This is a great source of aggregated content The 'courses' here are just collections of aggregated content, whether that's blogs, books, games, tutorials or videos, from around the web. There isn't anything to ‘complete' by way of tasks, but if you're after some resource recommendations to help you learn more about a specific part of design, this is a good place to turn. There are also tool lists with recommendations from people who use them. This is an excellent catalogue of design resources for all levels. It offers great introductory content for beginners and more advanced techniques for those who do this full-time. 07. Udemy Courses from free Udemy has a hude catalogue of courses and topics Udemy is an expansive catalogue, filled with thousands of other topics besides web and technology, with prices ranging from free to hundreds of dollars. We would venture to say you could find just about anything you wanted to learn about on here. The vast number of courses available (around 65,000 at time of writing) does make it tricky to dig out the good stuff. 08. Envato Tuts+ $29/mo If you want to keep growing your skills, Tuts+ is a great choice With online code school Envato Tuts+, you can learn about a number of aspects of design, from coding and web design to 3D and illustration. Users can select from courses (video-based lesson), tutorials (write-ups about different topics) or ebooks (including the popular A Book Apart series), depending on their particular learning style. Envato Tuts+'s content is access via a monthly subscription that also gives you access to design resource library Envato Elements. Next page: eight more top online coding courses 09. Treehouse $25/mo Free 7-day trial Treehouse is, hands down, one of the best learning tools around Treehouse has one of the most comprehensive libraries of educational materials on this list, while also being one of the most relevant. Not only does it offer a large variety of coding courses, but it also includes 'workspaces' you can use to try out new projects in your own time, as well as a library with videos of talks from industry professionals. It offers an iPad app to continue your learning, too. The structure is simple: learn from the video courses (which are regularly refreshed to reflect industry changes), practice your new skills though quizzes and challenges, and earn badges to reflect the skills you've already mastered. You can try a free seven-day trial on Treehouse, from then on it's $25 (£20) per month for access to all of the site's content. 10. Codeacademy Free Codeacademy is easy to use and it's free Codecademy is free and easy to set up. Straight away you can create 'goals' for yourself and find the skills you want to learn. These could range from applicable things like creating a portfolio site to silly, fun things like animating your name or building a CSS galaxy. 11. Lynda.com From $19.99/mo Free 30-day trial Lynda offers solutions for businesses, higher education and government Lynda.com is one of the more popular video tutorial sites. It offers an abundance of content that's constantly added to with new and up-to-date technologies and software. Lynda.com is a trusted resource that many turn to when they're after a tutorial to pick up a new skill. 12. Skillshare Plenty of free classes Premium access from $15/mo Skillshare offers over 18,000 classes Skillshare is a subscription-based service that offers thousands of classes taught by industry professionals. Courses come complete with material that's been created by the instructors, and there are projects for you to apply your skills. There's also an iOS or Android app that enables you to steam courses on the go, for more flexible learning. 13. Mijingo Free Mijingo is aimed at web professionals Mijingo is an online learning resource that features step-by-step video tutorials for both web design and development. These online coding courses aren't for beginners: they're aimed at helping web professionals get up to date with the latest developments. Current courses focus on things like ExpressionEngine and Twig. Alternatively you can pick a 'lesson' – these cover small, specific elements of broader topics. Stream the videos or download them to any device to watch at your leisure. The courses are cohesive and thorough, and some offer transcripts, starter files and additional resources. 14. Pluralsight From $29/mo Free 10-day trial Pluralsight offers a 10-day free trial No discussion of online training would be complete without a mention of Pluralsight. Following an acquisition spree, it now offers the world's biggest online training library. The company owns Code School, Smarterer and Digital-Tutors. Such is the size of the Pluralsight stable, if it doesn't offer a certain course then it's unlikely anybody does. A nice feature is Pluralsight's 'IQ tests', which help you determine which course is the right level for you. 15. Sitepoint $99/year Sitepoint offers a range of 'paths' to teach you particular coding skills. These lay out a clear journey through a specific subject, such as HTML and CSS, Angular 2, or full-stack JavaScript. You follow them at your own pace to complete your goals. It also offers a range of books, courses and screencasts to supplement your learning. 16. StackSkills Courses from free StackCommerce was founded in 2011 StackSkills is an online learning centre built to serve the StackCommerce community. It offers courses in a huge variety of subjects, including advanced JavaScript, Python, digital marketing and web development, all with the aim of developing a publisher's ecommerce potential. Courses range from free to $300, so no matter what your experience level or budget, it's certainly worth having a look. Related articles: 15 Twitter accounts every web designer should follow 5 top tips for speedy learning 9 of the best resources for learning HTML and CSS View the full article

If you're thinking of buying a nifty new Wacom graphics tablet, you've come to the right place. We'll update this post with all the best Wacom tablet deals, discounts and offers to help you get a great price. If you’re not sure it is a Wacom you want, take a look at our selection of the best drawing tablets of 2018. It’s packed with all the info you need to make the right purchase decision for your needs. But for cheap Wacom tablets, look no further. We’ve scooped up the best deals on Wacom's drawing tablets and accessories on this page, and our clever price finding tool will update you with the latest deals and discounts as they drop. As well as the Wacom website, the best places to bag a bargain are leading retailers like Amazon, John Lewis and Currys. If you don't mind a second-hand product, you can also pick up some bargains on refurbished Wacom devices, or take a look at Wacom's bundle offers. Read on for the cheapest Wacom deals we can find on the firm's leading tablets. Wacom Cintiq 13HD deals Wacom's ever-popular Creative Pen Cintiq tablet offers a high precision solution for all your graphics projects, whether in the office or at home. Weighing in at just 1.2kg, it's a highly portable device, meaning you can easily jot down sketches on the go, and with a 13.3-inch display, there's plenty of room to really express your creativity. It also comes complete with Wacom's powerful Pro Pen, featuring 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition. Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen and Touch Display deals Offering unparalled clarity and colour sensitivity, the Cintiq 27QHD provides true-to-life colour on a high-resolution, 27-inch display. The widescreen 16:9 display has four times the pixel density of standard HDTV, providing artists with the resolution (2560 x 1440) to handle the finest detail. Designed for drawing and painting, image editing and 3D animation, the 27QHD includes a Pro Pen, complete with a range of nibs, including felt for a smooth flow across the tablet surface. Wacom Cintiq Pro deals If you're after that natural pen-on-paper feel from your tablet, look no further than the Wacom Cintiq Pro. Designed for professional artists and designers who demand an intuitive, pen-on-screen connection to their work, the Wacom Cintiq Pro offers a resolution of up to 4K and a wide-gamut display, so you’ll be able to see your work in life-like detail. Wacom MobileStudio Pro deals Wacom MobileStudio Pro provides an entire studio full of powerful creative tools right at your fingertips. Featuring the new sensitive, more accurate and responsive Wacom Pro Pen 2, this MobileStudio provides everything you need to create at your best, from your studio desk to on the go. Available in two sizes, 13- and 16-inches, the MobileStudio Pro has been designed specifically to meet the demands of creative professionals who want the freedom to create anywhere. Backed up by powerful Intel chips, these machines have all the muscle you need to run professional creative applications. Plus, the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 model come with NVIDIA Quadro graphics and on-board memory to make even the heaviest files fly around your screen. Wacom Intuos Pro deals If you're after a quality drawing tablet but are on a bit of a budget, then the Wacom Intuos Pro might be just the solution. Simply connect this nifty but affordable device to your Mac or Windows PC with USB or built-in Bluetooth, install drivers, and you’re ready to start work directly in the software of your choice. The ultra-responsive Wacom Pro Pen 2 connects you to your creative work like never before, providing the perfect drawing space. Wacom Bamboo Slate deals Wacom Bamboo Duo stylus deals Wacom Bamboo Fineline stylus deals Wacom Bamboo Sketch stylus deals Related articles: The best deals on Adobe Creative Cloud The best cheap laptop deals for creatives How to create new character designs in Photoshop View the full article

Blade Runner 2049, out now on DVD and Blu-ray, brings back Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard; however, this time around, the government-sanctioned replicant assassin is the one being hunted in a world at the mercy of an egomaniacal scientist. Tasked to find Deckard and bury a revelation that could ignite a civil war is a Nexus-9 replicant named KD6-3.7, a hired killer for the LAPD portrayed by Ryan Gosling. Blade Runner 2049 VFX supervisor John Nelson spent two years crafting 1,190 visual effects shots and relied on the expertise of Double Negative, Framestore, MPC, Rodeo FX, BUF, UPP, Atomic Fiction and Territory Studio to produce desolate cities, holographic companions and celebrities, drone-projected advertisements, manufactured memories, analogue UI and a replicant cameo. How to model a Blade Runner-style 3D city scene Shot composition was inspired by storyboards drawn by Sam Hudecki under the direction of Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins. "The nature of our work was not to have spectacle for spectacle's sake but rather tone it down to make the visuals fit well into director Denis Villeneuve's vision (and the cinematography of Roger Deakins)." Two key members of the visual effects team were Double Negative VFX supervisor Paul Lambert and Framestore VFX supervisor Richard Hoover who were on set for the entire principal photography. "The three of us met every Saturday," states Hoover. "We went over all of the work of the week, strategised on how to do things, and who would be responsible for what." Creating the Blade Runner 2049 world Brutalist architecture was part of the overall look. "This is a dying world, so we had to paint out all of the cars and any sign of life in the streets," remarks Double Negative CG supervisor Chris McLaughlin. "We removed large factories and added a lot of favela-style buildings to fill up the green spaces as well as some megastructures to give it a sense of scale." An innovative and efficient approach was taken when populating buildings. "We built and laid out an environment in Maya using simple representations of our buildings," explains McLaughlin. Drone-projected ads light up night-time Los Angeles, based on aerial plate photography of Mexico City "Using our in-house tools, this is up-resed to a more detailed version then converted to a VDB point cloud, which is then used to instance more complex geometry within Clarisse," he remarks. Hundreds of ads projected by drones had to be created, such as one featuring a dancing ballerina. "The ads went through a bit of a design process. We ended up coming up with something that Denis called the 'patented Double Negative advertisement system', where we would take a flat advertisement, break it into several layers, layer stuff in Houdini, add a static flickering effect, output as Alembic caches, and use them as light sources in the scene." San Diego has become a massive junkyard known as Trash Mesa. "We had helicopter reference footage of the Chittagong, Bangladesh salvage yard with the ships on the beach being dismantled," states Hoover. The prevailing thematic look of the film is of a tiny man living in a gigantic and oppressive world "The crash site was a partial set built in Hungary that we extended all the way around. We started by using a particular beach in Iceland as our ground plate. Each shot was custom laid out compositionally with the same pieces: ships, beach, ground and piles of trash." Photo scans were used as much as possible for the asset builds. "With these scans, we retopologised clean meshes in Maya and prepared UVs for texture projection," remarks Framestore CG supervisor Adrien Saint Girons. "We then project back some details on our default resolution in ZBrush. Texturing was handled in Mari using polarised photography when available and our look development was created using Arnold shaders." Concept art produced by Double Negative to explore the urban environment "We started with a USGEO point cloud of actual Las Vegas and all of the buildings that were there," explains Hoover. "The Framestore London art department created a model of futuristic Las Vegas where there are still key buildings in the same location. We put newly designed buildings on top of them or blended the original and current design of the building into a Syd Mead kind of design. It was months of designing different pieces, parts, signage and putting detail in that would give it scale." The prevailing thematic look of the film is of a tiny man living in a gigantic and oppressive world. "My concept was when this bomb went off there were people outside or in restaurants or out on tables eating. We would dress the street as if they all ran away. There are chairs knocked over. Just to try to give a hint of some human level there." Difficult scenes and paint jobs An unexpected difficulty arose in the penthouse sequence when K and Rick Deckard are having a conversation. "Outside in the plates they had a physical backing where there was a printed image of the Las Vegas skyline, but that led to some wrinkles in the backing and there were some issues with depth," remarks Adrien Saint Girons. "We had to modify the backing in all of the shots and that meant a crazy amount of roto. The compositors spent the time balancing each shot to get that virtual backing to sit in it." Gas masks were also digitally placed upon the bodyguards accompanying Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), a replicant henchwoman for her maker Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), and K encounters CG bees. "We had to build a pseudo crowd system in Houdini; we had animation do clips of bee behaviour and our effects artists came up with a clever system to switch between those clips and get the bees to behave." Roger Deakins and Denis Villeneuve discuss a shot while on set "In a couple shots you see an array of these solar farms," states Adrien Saint Girons. "They shot the main one in Spain at dusk as the weather did not permit to shoot overcast. We graded it to look overcast with some soft sunlight directionality. The main tower had to be replaced with a futurised brutalist version. We had to make sure circular shapes of the lines at the base of the panels stood out that they wanted to tie in with the previous eyeball shot." The scene is followed by an aerial view of greenhouses which was also captured in Spain. "It was more of a matte painting task to fill in the holes by adding more greenhouses and then a couple of farm vehicles." Lighting tricks For the final showdown between K and Luv, a partial set was built of the seawall in a water tank located in Budapest. "That was two weeks of night shooting with simulated rain and wind," recalls Lambert. "It was absolutely miserable. The limo was on a contraption that allowed it to be pulled into the water. The practical water worked well but there were times that Denis wanted bigger waves, so we augmented with some full CG splashes on the limo. Not having moonlight or a completely lit set was key to the look of this. You could see a few waves out but then it was pitch black." Roger Deakins deployed a bunch of fantastic lighting tricks. "One of them was to quickly run lights on a cable that gave us interactive light on the inside of the limo as well as on the rain around the limo. We augmented that with the shape of K's Spinner as well as with additional light." Ryan Gosling as K in Blade Runner 2049 "There are a lot of invisible effects like the layout of the snow at the end scene when K dies," notes Nelson. "All of that background didn't exist. It's all BUF. We had the steps and part of the building but no glass on the front of the building. We shot it with practical snow and added more digitally. That whole city back there was recreated." The hologram companion of K stands out for Double Negative. "The biggest creative challenge was the idea of Joi because it took a good while; even though the final effect is subtle, it's sophisticated and hard to pull off," states Lambert. "The rain and atmospherics were huge renders so more of a technical challenge." Dealing with the orange light and the asset management were the major hurdles that Framestore overcame. "As a supervisor and doing this for 35 years," remarks Hoover, "it was inspirational to watch a crew of artists so involved and excited in making this movie work." Creating Joi the hologram Plate photography of Ana de Armas and Ryan Gosling in the rain. A live-action Joi is composited over the CG version, then the back shell is added to the transparent CG Joi For Joi, Blade Runner 2049 VFX supervisor John Nelson had the challenge of turning a companion hologram portrayed by Ana de Armas into a believable and empathic love interest for K. K buys a device that allows Joi to step outside his apartment and experience the natural elements for the first time. "The story is that her software has to learn to [react to] the rain," explains Nelson. "Double Negative took away raindrops and digitally brought them back onto Joi." Wet and dry hair grooms were created for the hologram. "One of the things that underlined all of the Joi work was that in Blade Runner 2049, digital didn't happen," notes Lambert. "It's like advanced analogue. That's why we tried to avoid any form of square compression or any form of wireframes. When you see Joi walking out into the rain there's a painterly feel to it." The hologram technology experiences severe glitches such as when the Spinner piloted by K crashes and Joi panics. "We had a witness camera on the dash and triangulated her from two angles to body track her," remarks Nelson. "Denis said to me, 'She should be emotionally flipping out at the same time as her software is corrupted.' He directed Ana to say, 'K! K! K!'. Joe Walker, the editor, removed frames to have it glitchy." A CG model of actress Ana de Armas is transformed into Joi breaking down into a series of volumetric cubes to emphasise the fact that her software is malfunctioning Joi breaks down into a series of volumetric cubes. "Our effects supervisor wrote a program in Houdini where cubes would change size and shape, and glitch based on her physical motion," explains Framestore VFX supervisor Richard Hoover. "When it was more emotional we could dial it up as well as control the transparency of the cubes." Joi hires a prostitute named Mariette (Mackenzie Davis) with the plan of temporarily merging their two bodies together. "The technique was we would shoot the real women, get them close, and where we needed a more critical lineup we would project one image onto the CG surrogate and then shim it over to line it up," explains Nelson, who placed GoPro witness cameras in the corners of the small apartment to get multiple views for body tracking the women onto CG surrogates. Mackenzie was treated as the primary with Ana mimicking her timing, actions and gestures with the help of an iPad. Every shot started out of sync and ended in sync. Rigs were produced for Mariette, Joi and their combination, referred to as 'the third woman', so as to deal with the physical differences between the two actresses. "We never changed the facial portions of Ana," states CG supervisor Chris McLaughlin. "Just the length of her neck and width of her shoulders." Replicating Rachael Along with the return of Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, the film's visual effects supervisor John Nelson also partnered with MPC to create a CG cameo of Rachael, originally portrayed in Blade Runner by Sean Young. Loren Peta was cast with her hair style, make-up and outfit replicating the look of Sean Young in the original Blade Runner. "We shot Loren coming in and talking to Harrison Ford with markers on her face," explains Nelson. "We also modelled Sean from a life cast of when she was in her thirties. That got us close." MPC recreated a sci-fi icon with the CG cameo of Rachael Not only did the CG character need to have the right look, but it also needed to have the correct mannerisms. "I love this little thing Sean does in Blade Runner where she wobbles her head. She's this beautiful nerd who is really smart and knows she is special. She needed to look confident in order to identify with the original Rachael." A secret facial motion capture session was held for Sean Young. "We shot Sean with DI4D saying the lines being directed by Denis Villeneuve and did the same with Loren." He wanted Rachael to come across as if she had met someone she hadn't seen for years, couldn't control her emotions, and then feels rejected. "We did these little stray hairs that are unkept in the groom, which adds to the verisimilitude of it." Witnessed cameras were used on Loren Peta as well as for the moving lights so to know where they were at any one time. "Rachael is entirely CG from the neck up for her face and hair. "We narrowed the body of Loren because she is an athlete while Sean is fashion-model skinny." The hard part was getting the unique and big eyes of Sean to sit properly in the CG face. "We used a new subsurface scattering renderer on the skin and really worked to get the face and make-up correct." Weathering the storm The iconic Spinner was a key part of the film's visual language Atmospherics resulting from severe environmental damage is a signature element of the Blade Runner universe, with the sequel further upping the ante by adding overcast skies, snow, sleet and radioactive haze. "Traditionally with rain you do your foreground, midground, background and you don't think about it," observes Paul Lambert. "On this one, rain took the longest to render because of the amount of light everywhere. We were forever having to tweak the size and how much rain. It just takes for the rain to be slightly off to completely break the scale and we were breaking the scale all of the time." The number of raindrops incorporated into the wide shots was massive, acknowledges Chris McLaughlin. "We had a lot of versions that had completely maxed out on the particle count and it still didn't look big enough." K approaches the desolate city of Las Vegas where he believes Deckard to be hiding A radioactive orange haze engulfs Las Vegas, which has become a ghost town. "There was an aspect of the particular filter that Roger chose which John and I categorised as a Kodak 23A," states Richard Hoover. "It's designed to remove all blue light so when you're trying to describe surfaces in that light you've got only two thirds of the spectrum to work with. Roger hand-made that filter specially to give the proper look he desired. I said, 'Lets render everything in white light and if it looks right to us then we'll apply the filter and that's what we get.'" Atmosphere was used to reveal certain elements at the right time in order to heighten the sense of mystery. "When K is walking in the statuary we ended up designing each shot as a single-point perspective as if you were looking down a long road on every shot, and then played the buildings shot by shot to be going back in the distance," remarks Hoover. "Then we would wedge the density of the atmosphere and even create pockets, so that you saw just enough to give a feeling of depth, but not take away from the environment that K was in." This article was originally published in issue 229 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists – packed with expert tutorials, inspiration and reviews. Buy issue 229 here or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: How to break into movie concept art Master the art of storyboarding How videogame graphics and movie VFX are converging View the full article

If a normal picture is worth a thousand words, just imagine how many books you'll be able to fill when you take your photography to the next level with Photolemur Spectre. Get this photo editing app that is enhanced with artificial intelligence to make your pictures pop. Its family licence is on sale for 61% off the retail price. 15 ways to improve your photography skills Photolemur Spectre makes it easy to pull out the best elements of all your pictures thanks to its advanced tools that make editing a breeze. Photolemur Spectre is the world's first automated photo enhancement tool for Macs. It's enabled by artificial intelligence that can analyse a photo and touch it up in a matter of minutes. This app will work its magic on any photo to make it ready for you to share proudly on social media. You can get a family licence for Photolemur Spectre on sale for just $19 (approx £14). That's a saving of 61% off the retail price for tool that will improve your photos with just a click, so grab this deal today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: Fix your photos with ease with new AI-powered app The 5 best laptops for photo editing The best cameras for creatives in 2018 View the full article

With hundreds of millions of monthly active users, Instagram is a fantastic visual platform for designers. The Facebook-owned social network lets you share the world around you from your smartphone, and gives you insights into what others are up to on its feed. A designer's guide to Instagram Stories To help you find the best user experience and UI design influencers to follow on Instagram, we've compiled a list of some of the most inspiring, interesting and forward-thinking creatives on the platform. Follow these inspirational web designers and get daily inspiration for your own projects. 01. @twohabitsdesign A daily showcase of best practice in UI and UX design, as curated by frontend developer Ilya Fedotov. There's inspiration from all over the world to be found here. 02. @iamnotmypixels Yael Levy is the UX expert behind I am not my pixels. On this Instagram account, she regularly shares plenty of great UX advice and insights. For more in-depth discussions, check out her website. 03. @ux_ui_wireframes With almost 40k followers, UX/UI Wireframes collects together all the best wireframe posts from around Instagram. Get inspired by web designers all over the world with this excellent account. 04. @cadabrachallenge Twice a week, app design agency Cadabra sets a design challenge. This Instagram account shows what its designers can achieve in an hour, as well as inviting followers to join in – the results are pretty impressive. 05. @agenceme AgenceMe is a product design agency with offices in San Francisco and Paris. Its Instagram feed is full of great UX/UI inspiration, with lots of clean and minimal interfaces peppered with gorgeous photography. 06. @humble_ux HumbleUX offers a curated collection of the best UX and UI wireframes. It also shares pictures of lustworthy work setups, to make you feel bad about your messy desk (speaking of which, check out these 16 super-cool design offices to stir the senses). 07. @uitrends Get daily design inspiration on this Instagram feed, which features UIs from designers across the world. It's great to see a range of different styles and approaches. 08. @uxjurgen Freelance UX designer Jürgen Leckie's Instagram feed is dedicated to showcasing his work. Take a look to see behind-the-scenes snapshots from projects and moments in time in his design process. 09. @nick_buturishvili Beautiful micro-animations and clean UI work have earned freelance product designer Nick Buturishvili plenty of Instagram followers. 10. @uxdesignmastery UX Design Mastery's feed shares UX ideas and tips, as well as interface design inspiration from leading designers and agencies. There's plenty to learn here. 11. @gifux UI animations are big news. This Instagram feed is dedicated to celebrating things that move, and regularly shares animated GIFs from designers. 12. @uxpuzzles This Instagram account collects together pictures of UX fails (and some successes), plus quotes and cartoons about design. Some of it is a bit flurry, but there are things to be learned here – and who doesn't love a good UX fail? 13. @nicholastenhue This Instagram account is run by Nicholas Tenhue, the host of The UX Blog Podcast. In it he shares a range of diagrams to help you make sense of design processes. 14. @interaction_design_foundation Follow this account for plenty of UX insights and quotes, linking to a bank of educational UX articles on the Interaction Design Foundation website. 15. @uxmemo Jessica Robbins – the woman behind this account – is a creative and UX director. In it, she shares the Post-It note insights she learns in her day job. This feed is packed with lo-fi but thought-provoking quotes on design. 16. @wireflow Wireflow is a free online wireframe tool. Its Instagram account is dedicated to curating and sharing beautiful low-fidelity wireframes, sketches and flows. Related articles: 5 top UX design trends for 2018 7 UX tools to try The pro's guide to UI design View the full article

Editorial design is a highly visual medium by definition. The best magazines and newspapers use imagery in creative ways to grab attention, help tell stories, and achieve interest and pace within a layout. Whether you choose photography or illustration as the lead visuals for your design - and there are strong pros and cons for both - there are some sure-fire tips and tricks for making images work harder for you. So without further ado, read on for five ways to use images more effectively in your editorial design work... 01. Let the content lead the design Migrant Journal tells visual stories beautifully, such as this evocative photograph accompanying a story about coconut water Design and editorial make wonderful bedfellows, and when both are firing on all cylinders, the effect can be stunning: a picture speaking a thousand words, alongside a thousand words telling a story. It may sound obvious, but one of the most important things to do first as an editorial designer is read the content. Not only can it spark off specific ideas for what images to use, but the style and tone of the writing can also inform the look and feel of the piece. A classic method for using imagery to help readers engage with the content is infographics, such as this example from The Times It will also help you decide whether photography or illustration (or a combination of both) is the best choice to make. Illustration is great for communicating more abstract concepts, as well as adding colour, personality and character to an editorial design. While photography is much more effective at depicting a specific subject referenced in the piece – whether a person, an object or a place – it can also achieve powerful impact, and control tone and mood. Either way, choose what's appropriate for the content. 02. Use photography more creatively A creative, colourful and eye-catching example of how to combine relatively simple photography with illustration, courtesy of Bloomberg Businessweek Sometimes, photography in editorial design is all about being literal, and representative of a subject. A portrait of an interviewee, for instance, or a shot of a particular location discussed in the copy, is sometimes the only logical choice to make. This often requires a bespoke shoot, and this is an ideal opportunity to art direct to suit the specific layout, style and tone of the piece. Create a rough layout first and consider how and where the photography will be used, and shoot to fit the space – taking into account where typography and other page elements will be placed. Here, Wired Italia has saturated a potentially dull portrait photograph with hot pink to give the whole spread real impact But if time and budget is an issue, sometimes stock imagery is the best course of action, particularly for famous subjects where photoshoot access isn't possible, for locations that are too far-flung to afford to shoot yourself, or for news-based editorial where time is of the essence. If you do choose the stock route, however, don't plump for the default option: take the time to search a little deeper. Find an unusual angle on a well-known subject, or add some more specific search terms or filters to 'art direct' the results to suit your layout. 03. Tell stories with illustration A great example of visual storytelling from Migrant Journal, illustrating a story about immigrants journeying through Mexico into the USA There are many different types of editorial article that illustration can bring to life. For relatively dry, business-focused articles it can add a playful, more lighthearted edge, as well as communicating relatively convoluted ideas through visual metaphor. Illustration can also bring an article to life when photography is impossible or inconvenient, and explore themes and topics that photography could struggle with, such as fantastical or otherworldly environments, or fictional characters and scenarios. Here, Wired uses a quirky, playful style of illustration to explore connections between characters in the Marvel universe Commissioning illustration, like art directing photography, is a skill that takes practice. Finding the right illustrator for the task is half the battle: read the article, and find the right look and feel of illustration to suit its tone. Then pick out particular visual cues and stories, and make them part of the brief. If budget and time constraints rule out commissioned illustration, consider stock assets. These are particularly useful for smaller spot illustrations, or articles that require relatively well-established visual metaphors – again, take the time to search for the right look and feel for the job in question, and try to avoid clichés. 04. Don't be afraid to go big Bold, bright infographics can be incredibly arresting when blown up huge across a full double-page-spread, such as this Bloomberg Businessweek example In print, never underestimate the sheer drama and impact of running a stunning full-bleed image, either filling one page or even a full double-spread. Sometimes you need to give visual assets the space they deserve, whether it's a breathtaking photo of a landscape, or an intricate, complex infographic that demands to be shown large. This may require some rethinking of a layout, or even a reallocation of pages to make room to expand the particular feature you're working on. But it's absolutely worth it, particularly if you have some killer assets at your disposal. Another example from Migrant Journal, demonstrating how powerful a great photograph can be when run full-bleed in an article Don't squander a beautiful image by squeezing it into a corner of a spread packed with text, or dilute the impact of the best single asset by trying to use too many others around it. Sometimes, having the confidence to pick the most eye-catching, dramatic image and blow it up large can transform a piece of editorial design. 05. Crop images in a dynamic way Sometimes, an abstract crop of an image can draw the reader in - this example from Real Review is a fascinating study of shadow and texture Impact can be achieved by being unconventional and surprising, too. After all, two magazines or newspapers using the same image – whether stock, or licensed directly from a photographer – can achieve a very different effect depending on how, and where, they choose to use it. Full-spread images can work wonders. But so can close, macro crops and unexpected, dynamic interactions between type and image – editorial design is all about finding that perfect balance, after all. If the content suits it, don't be afraid to zoom in, crop, distort, integrate graphic elements, and generally be playful with your editorial imagery. This incredibly sensual extreme close-crop of lips about to kiss, blown up large across a spread in The Times, can’t help but grab attention This is a particularly effective way of putting a unique twist on stock imagery, to give your design a fresh twist, compared to the efforts of any other editorial designer with access to the same assets as you. Thanks to Computer Arts magazine's art editor Mark Wynne for his assistance sourcing best-practice examples. Related articles: 15 influential art and design movements you should know 6 fantastic editorial designs and what we can learn from them 4 tasks that stock imagery makes easier View the full article

As a creative director, I see a number of web design portfolios. Here are my top tips to make sure your portfolio impresses. 01. Screenshots aren't always best Obviously you’ll be chuffed to bits with your sparkling new design so you’ll want to drop it in as many iPhone and Mac templates as you can, but that isn’t always the most attention-grabbing approach. Try using client photography as the ‘hero’ image on your landing page, then of course, use your screengrabs once you’re into a particular case study. If the client’s photos aren’t all that (very probable), look at what you’ve put on their homepage. Could you use their logo and their colours to send the message as opposed to tiny images of screenshots? 02. Create attention-grabbing titles Instead of starting your case study off by saying “Look at the new redesign of XYZ.com”, you can make this more engaging by saying something along the lines of “Improved new customer interactions and conversions by 24%” by picking out key stats from Google Analytics. If they don’t have any specific statistic that you can flaunt or they’re something like a barrister, no bother, just instead talk about improving the user experience through a more simplistic navigation, more effective mobile website or even just bringing their site into the 21st century. 03. Let the client sing your praises Clients can be seen as the bad guy, so make sure you take advantage of their praise Get as many testimonials or quotes as you can directly from the person you worked with on the project. This helps enormously for people to understand your capability to work with others, not just your design/coding skills. Given how much of our work requires human interaction, it is vital for prospective clients to understand that you know how to manage yourself – and relationships. In addition, it’s useful to ask clients to add their comments to your LinkedIn. Quite often that may be a client’s first interaction with you as opposed to coming onto your website. The old adage of word of mouth being the strongest form of advertising is still alive and well... 04. All about the detail In your case studies, pick up on the small details you agonised over and the reasons why. For example, talk about the complexity of a JavaScript-driven menu that allows you to navigate to the lowest level in the site in just a couple of clicks to improve UX. As long as you don’t get too geeky, this will illustrate how you approach work – with clear attention to detail. Ask how a fine furniture maker might talk about the beautiful mahogany cabinet he’s just made that took him 3,000 hours to produce. He’d likely mention joins, hinges, handles and polishing. When you consider your work is akin to a traditional craftsman, you can begin to see more than just graphics and code. 05. Tell a story It’s easy to just explain what you did when talking about a project, but it can be far more interesting to explain why you did it. By weaving the redesign or project into a narrative you can begin to draw in the audience a little more than a simple deluge of facts and figures. For example, as opposed to “we redesigned and built the new eCommerce store for XYZ.com”, you could begin with explaining who they are, what their current scenario was and the solution you came to help evolve them out of their current predicament. 06. Don't get cocky, kid There’s nothing worse than a pretentious designer’s overly ‘designed’ website, which they’ve thrown all the bells and whistles at to showcase their abilities, but neglected to provide clear routes to see the work itself. I should know, because as a junior, I spent every waking hour redesigning my own website to chuck in more wizardry that I’d learnt, only to realise that basically all anyone needs is a nice, simple, clean looking page with a clear list of all the work completed, complete with the ability to jump into it, and an easy way of moving back to the list, or jumping to the next item. Oh – and make sure your images are big, bold and extra clear. On mobile and desktop! Don't repeat your mistakes Generate speaker Jenn Schiffer Those in tech who do not study art history are doomed to repeat its mishaps. It's time to discuss those mishaps and how we in the industry are making the same mistakes. If we want to turn things around and have a positive and profound affect on society we need to act. Jenn Schiffer is the Community Engineer for Glitch.com at Fog Creek and she is going to tell you how to avoid making mistakes in her talk at Generate New York from 25-27 April 2018. Get your ticket now This article originally appeared in Issue 270 of Web Designer. Subscribe today. Related articles: 32 brilliant design portfolios to inspire you 8 great graphic design portfolio sites for 2018 The dos and don'ts of perfect portfolios View the full article

We post reams of articles for artists and designers every week: tutorials, advice, news, features, reviews, and loads more. It's a lot to keep up with. Sometimes the front page of our site, with its ever-changing feed of information, can be a lot to take in. To make things easier, we have a weekly email digest curated from the best content from Creative Bloq and its associated brands Computer Arts, net, ImagineFX, Paint & Draw, and 3D World. Every Wednesday, we gather the best articles from the week, plus some great additional offers and info, and fire them out in a condensed and convenient newsletter format to provide you with the content that matters the most to you. Just enter your email address into the form here (we promise we won't sell your details) to start receiving the best of Creative Bloq every week. The best design magazine subscription deals 25 logo design tips from the experts The best computer for graphic design 2018 View the full article

Modelling a static plant that has the appearance of having grown in situ isn’t too hard, but creating a rig that will animate that growth is a little more complicated. Of course, the system that I’ll show you here for creating plant and foliage 3D art can be used and frozen to generate static plants too, and there is something to be said for using this method. As it’s procedural, it means you can adapt and iterate, using settings to create endless variations, rather than having to manually adjust vertices. 6 ways to speed up your 3D modelling So how can it be done? You could use any number of tools, but in my opinion, the best tool for the job is X-Particles, which has a huge number of useful tools and options for you to play with. I will use a single particle system, but you could go in deeper, adding branches or spawning emitters to add complexity and realism. A single emitter, based on geometry selections for ‘roots’ is a good place to start, with some modifiers added to control growth direction and patterns. To start with, you need a scene to work in. I’m reusing a section from an old scene but you can use almost anything – as long as you have something to emit your particles from and something for them to grow along you are fine. As a note, if you don’t have access to X-Particles, you can do something similar with Cinema 4D’s Standard Particles and MoGraph tracer, with a Sweep object. It’s not as elegant a solution and meshing is trickier, but it will get you a fair way. If you do have X-Particles, then load up your scene and let’s get started. You should also gather the files you need. If you want to grow leaves, then you’ll need a material with the textures, including alphas, which is ready to apply to the sprites. To give a quick overview of the process, you need to define a growth start point, then set up the surface the plant will stick to. Next, you need to use modifiers to control the growth itself. The final step is to add the geometry and leaves if needed. This might sound simple, and the good news is that it actually is! So let’s crack on with creating our plant. 01. Create an emitter With an XP system added to your scene, create an Emitter, set to Object, with the geometry you want the plant growing from added to the field and the selection added to the Selection field. You also need to set the Emit From setting to Points. In the Emission tab, set the Mode to Shot. Change the Speed to a suitable setting and add a little Variation so they don’t all grow at the same speed. 02. Add modifiers Add a FollowSurface modifier from the Modifiers list and drop the object in the field that you want the stems to grow along, adjusting the settings to suit your needs. Follow with a Turbulence modifier to get some controlled movement in the growth. Once you’re happy, add a Trails Generator and drop the Emitter into it, so it knows what to trace. Now you can tweak with more of an idea of the finished look. 03. Tweak the stems Add a new SplineMesher generator object and drop the xpTrail into it. This step is all about defining the look of the stems – a good starting point is to taper them off at the end and add a little twist. To do this, unfold the Size and Twist sections, to open the graph views. You can adjust these graphs, which represent the start to end of the trails, making it easy to control the thickness along the length. 04. Add the leaves There are many ways to add the leaves, but the simplest is to add them as clones. To do this, add a Plane to the scene, with your leaf material applied to it. Make this a Child of a Cloner, set to Object Mode. Drag the xpSplineMesher object into the Cloner’s Object field with the Distribution set to Surface. Then adjust the number of clones using Count and apply any effectors as you see fit. Learn more at Vertex Learn more CG and 3D skills at Vertex Vertex is the event that joins all parts of the CG community, with an Expo area where you can catch up on the latest tech, presentations in the auditorium, a recruitment fair and many workshops. To be inspired, build your network, further your career, or to learn new skills, Vertex is the place to be, so head over to www.vertexconf.com to book your ticket. Don’t miss out, book your ticket now at vertexconf.com. There are still some amazing workshops we’ve yet to announce so keep an eye on the event website, where you can also find out more about the other amazing speakers, workshops, recruitment fair, networking event, expo and more. Related articles: Learn new tricks at Vertex Why Vertex is a must for CG artists The ethics of digital humans View the full article

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Kinetic typography can come in all shapes and forms. Whether it's an homage to a famous movie speech or song or an exploration of the typography itself, these creations are a feast for the eyes. If you want to create your own, our selection of free fonts and After Effects tutorials will help you on your way. Need a little inspiration? Here, we've picked some brilliant kinetic typography animations, including music videos, movie tributes and more. Enjoy! 01. Kick-ass Ryan Perera's video based on a sequence from the film Kick-ass uses a hand-drawn style to reflect the brand's comic book influences. It's a great example of how drama and emotion can be expressed with moving type. 02. Coconut woman This lively animation by Motion Surfing uses coconut-shaped type timed with the rhythm of the song to to convey personality and energy. 03. From Paper to Screen This masterpiece was, unbelievably, a graduation project by graphic designer Thibault de Fournas. The animation shows the evolution of typography from paper to screen in serious style. The first half of the video deals with the basic rules of typesetting, before moving on to the use of typography in cinema, with impressive effects running throughout – the tribute to Saul Bass being our favourite. 04. Language Designer Matthew Rogers is the man behind this kinetic typography animation of the words of British writer and actor Stephen Fry. A fan of this particular essay on language, Rogers decided to make it his first kinetic typography project using a combination of After Effects, Flash and Illustrator. 05. The 10 Commandments In just under two minutes, this kinetic typography animation reveals the 10 Commandments in serious style. The man behind the piece is designer Vit Ryznar, who completed the project using After Effects. 06. Shine a Light Let's be frank, this J-pop tune by DJ Takuma featuring Angella Guistini is pretty forgettable, and we imagine the lyrics were sugary nonsense even before they got translated from Japanese. But the vibrant typographic video by Bait makes everything better. 07. Childline: First Step Ad agency YCN Studio recently collaborated with LA-based production company Buck on this powerful animation, which encourages children to talk about and report sexual abuse. The video promotes the services of UK-based, confidential, free, 24-hour counselling service for children, Childline. Following a conversation between child and advisor, the four-minute animation uses kinetic typography and abstract art to get its message across. It's by no means an easy issue, and we think YCN Studio and Buck have done a sterling job at covering it in a powerful yet sensitive way. 08. Breaking Bad American TV show Breaking Bad has won multiple awards since it first aired back in 2008. Which is hardly surprising when it includes brilliant monologues like 'I am the danger', in which school teacher-turned-criminal Walter White convinces his wife that he's a dangerous man, capable of striking fear into hardened criminals. Graphic designer, illustrator and animator Paul Cooper decided to pay homage to the infamous scene using kinetic typography. He visualises the intense scene through a series of black and white illustrations and text, all cleverly timed to each character's lines. 09. The Hush Sound – Lions Roar Part of a two man team, designer Mig Reyes worked on this typographical motion graphic piece to The Hush Sound's Lions Roar song. Heavily inspired by motion graphics studio MK12, the duo used After Effects to time the song's lyrics to the brilliant typography and graphics. 10. Procrastination This trailer for David McRaney's international bestselling book You are Not So Smart uses cleverly animated typography to sum up its contents. Animated, designed and produced by Plus3 productions, the perfectly timed animation is all about procrastination, and it'll have you nodding in agreement and smiling all the way through. 11. The Edge Hunter S Thompson has influenced a generation of film-makers, writers and designers. This homage to the author by Piotr Kabat combines an array of design disciplines to showcase some of his finest words. 12. Apocalypse Rhyme This is an amazing piece of work considering it was all done by one person. Oliver Harrison wrote the poem, composed the music and organised it all into a splendid animated whole for Channel 4's Random Acts, and his reward was the 'Best Motion Graphics' prize in the British Animation Awards 2014. 13. Bob Oliver Smith is a 3D animator and compositor who can turn his hand at many aspects of the moving image. Inspired by 'Weird Al' Yankovic's Bob Dylan parody 'Bob', the song features Yankovic's signature style and comical lyrics. Although the amusing tune is the main influence for the video, it's Oliver's stunning array of graphic titles and typography that really stand out. 14. Anonymous This super-cool infographic kinetic typography animation tells the story of how online hactivist group Anonymous came together in 2003 and subsequently went on to stage various protest actions. The 90-second animation, which uses 3D effects, electronics and text to convey the message, was created by multimedia designer Savva Tsekmas. 15. Shop Vac Artist Jarrett Heather made this kinetic typography music video for Jonathan Coulton's Shop Vac. The humorous animation took Heather somewhere between 500 and 1000 hours to complete. At just under three-and-a-half-minutes long, the brilliant video features a number of different fonts, all perfectly suited to the story each tells. 16. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom Celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series of gigs back in 2012, the old-time rock 'n' rollers even managed to release a new track that was pretty darned good. For the accompanying music video, Trunk Animation designed this great splatter style animation, which is reminiscent of Ralph Steadman's typographic artistry. 17. Karloff Another piece from graphic designer Thibault de Fournas, who has combined modern typefaces Bodoni and Didot in this beautiful animated video exploring how two extremes could be combined into a coherent whole. Stylistically, the video is centred around a series of expanding and disappearing hairlines, with cuts complementing editorial typographic layouts. 18. Mad as Hell Peter Finch's iconic 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more' speech from Network is still relevant 40 years on, and while it doesn't necessarily need any extra weight lending to it, this kinetic typography treatment by Aaron Leming makes a pretty good fist of it. 19. Alphabet This alphabet in motion video is sublimely smooth. There's no accompanying soundtrack but the animation is so slick you don't notice. Former graffiti artist turned motion graphic artist Pavel Pavlov morphs simple but beautiful lines and graphics together to form a unique design for each letter of the alphabet. 20. Conan O'Brien Working from one solid artboard, this entertaining kinetic typography video recreates the dialogue on the final episode of NBC's The Tonight Show presented by Conan O'Brien. The camera pans between nicely set type, ending with a shot of the entire piece. The combination of eclectic typography and modern 3D letterforms achieved in Cinema 4D provides a contrast between old and new. Next page: more incredible kinetic typography... 21. Make it better Colour and morphing typography are wonderfully combined in this video. Creator Climent Canal and animator Sebastián Baptista's beautiful video brings an inspiring message to vivid life. 22. ALQUIMIA Animated Type Pavel Paratov has constructed a mesmerising piece of golden kinetic typography here. The letterforms reshuffle to the electro beat by Satoshi Yoshitake, integrating abstract shapes into the mix. 23. Back to the Future If you're anything like us, you'll already be a huge fan of Back to the Future. So, what could be better than kinetic typography of this priceless conversation between Marty McFly and his mother? It's the work of Canadian graphic designer Melanie Burgess. We love this original offering. 24. Alphagames This inventive animation quickly became one of the most popular kinetic typography videos on Vimeo when it was released. It was created by freelance editor and animator Evan Seitz, who has worked on commercials for Coca-Cola and the American Cancer Society – one of which went on to win a Telly Award at the 32nd Annual Convention. 25. Fight Club There's plenty of Fight Club kinetic typography hovering around the World Wide Web, but this particular offering from Adrian Moran is a belter. The visual FX, motion graphics and 3D artist has created this animation to accompany Brad Pitt's infamous Fight Club rule listing. We love the colours too. 26. Hello Hola Hallo Bonjour Ciao Ola This adorable kinetic typography animation was made by Spanish graphic and motion designer Daniel Moreno Cordero. Daniel created his animation using After Effects, Illustrator and some Photoshop, alongside a typeface entitled Granaina Limpia. 27. Ira Glass on Storytelling The producer and host of This American Life, Ira Glass, discusses what makes up the building blocks of a great story in this animation, made over three days by David Shiyang Lu using Illustrator and After Effects. 28. Elbow Grease - Habitat Promo Motion design craftsman Joe Dunlap created this insightful promo for the NGO Habitat for Humanity. Through creative, kinetic typography and slick, dynamic animations, this short public service announcement for Habitat for Humanity explains that it's easy for anyone to achieve something big. It has attracted a lot of love on Vimeo. 29. RocknRolla Created by Siddharth Raj, this kinetic typography animation takes a speech from Guy Ritchie's British action thriller movie RocknRolla and brings it to life. We love how Raj has incorporated various font shapes and sizes to fit perfectly between each other. 30. Pulp Fiction Gangster movie speeches are cropping up a lot in this list – it seems like they're the perfect accompaniment for great kinetic typography. This Pulp Fiction number was created by Norwegian motion designer Christian Gjerde. Watch for the particularly clever 'car' moment at the end of the video. 31. Fusion Design This animation combines motion graphics with kinetic typography to a faultless execution. There's not much information on this one by Dusan Tatalovic but we love the way he has managed to almost personify the typography throughout the musical accompaniment. 32. 29 Ways to Stay Creative Created by Japanese motion graphic design studio TO-FU, this video is by far one of the most popular kinetic typography animations out there. It's easy to see why with its inventive graphics and helpful content. 33. Kid President peptalk Motion designer Taylor English is the artist behind this fun, animated typography project, who created it for her time-based typography class while studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The 90-second video is a visual representation of one of nine-year-old Robby Novak (aka Kid President)'s motivational speeches. 34. The Alphabet (in typefaces) Designer and animator Alessandro Novelli captures his love for typography and animation in this 60-second Alphabet video. The gorgeous animation spells letters A through to Z, with a different font featured for each. The dancing letterforms are accompanied by Si Tu N'étais Pas Là by Fréhel, a track used in the movie Amelie. 35. Husbands: Dream This music video for Husbands' single Dream sees the lyrics light up as they're sung. To make it, French design duo Cauboyz created individual boxes with each word placed on the front using laser-cut and hand-cut stickers. Wires were then attached to each box, complete with a handy switch to press once the word came up. 36. Coldplay: Atlas Featured on the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, this video for Coldplay's single 'Atlas' was created by New York-based agency Blind Pig in collaboration with creative agency Hugo & Marie. The team effort has executed one of the best uses of kinetic typography we've come across in a while. Directed by Mario Hugo, the illustrations are largely based around the celestial sky map and myth by Micah Lidberg. Animation creative directors Ric Comline and Jonny Bursnell ensured that the video would be a seamless animation sequence, with both agencies providing gorgeous inspiration. 37. The Dead Words Hypenemious by David McLeod The Dead Words project was begun by Karen To Nakada in 2010 as a way to express her love of both words and type. The graphic designer, illustrator and letterer is driven to promote and commemorate no-longer-used words before they are forgotten forever. The project has generated much interest in the design community with well over 100 contributions to the project and counting, including everything from handcrafted to kinetic typography. Here is just one of the beautiful submissions, with many more to see on the website. Related articles: 5 top tips for young animators Master accessible web typography 10 typography tricks every designer should know View the full article

You're reading Alice Savoie Releases Faune: The Animal Typeface, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! When it comes to typefaces, people either do not put too much effort into them, or pick the one that they like and stick with it. Many people may not realize the intricacies of a font that can make or break a story or piece of writing. Even fewer people know the specific history behind […] View the full article

If there's one thing artists on the internet seem to enjoy, it's a challenge. We've already seen some stunning creations come out of artistic challenges like Inktober and MerMay, but whereas these events are spread over an entire month, Hourly Comic Day condenses the illustrative work down to just 24 hours. 13 imaginative web comics to inspire you The challenge can trace its roots back to a series of journal entries made by John Campbell on 21 December 2005. On this day the artist tasked himself with making a comic for every hour he was awake between 6:40AM and 9:20PM. These were simple stick figure cartoons, but subsequent runs would see his style develop and inspire other artists. Shortly afterwards a section on TenCentTicker Forums called Hourly Comic Day 2006 encouraged artists to draw an hourly comic on 1 February 2006. The challenge then grew into an event that artists on deviantArt, Flickr and personal blogs would get involved with. Fast forward to 2018, and Hourly Comic Day has become an event that artists on Twitter have fully embraced – or grown to dread, depending on how they're feeling. The premise is still simple. On 1 February, artists push themselves to create a comic for every hour they're awake. Some create literal comics that document what's going on in their lives, while others use the challenge as an opportunity to get thoughts and issues off their chest. One common theme we've noticed though is cats. Internet artists love cats. (Who can blame them?) As you would expect, the artwork is a little less refined than some of the illustrations to come out of Inktober and MerMay. Instead what we get are a barrage of raw, characterful comics telling stories from all walks of life. We've rounded up some of our favourite comics from the day for your viewing pleasure below (plus one by Aoife Duffy, above). Hourly Comic Day is a great exercise in learning just to get art down on the page, so be sure to give it a go next year. You might even appear on our 2019 round up! Related articles: How to create a manga comic strip 18 illustrators to follow on Instagram 7 biggest illustration trends of 2018 View the full article

The emergence of augmented and virtual reality in multiple industries, as well as an increasingly vested interest in artificial intelligence, are changing how we design user interfaces. UX and UI designers are entering exciting new arenas, in which they can develop richer, more immersive user experiences. While these developments in technology have given designers the ability to do much more than they’ve been able to before, it’s also pushed them to adjust their skillsets and creative approaches from both narrative and technical standpoints. A focus on movement AR and VR have inspired and changed the way we approach digital storytelling, even outside of the AR and VR space. Increasingly, designers are looking to mimic the look and feel of physical movement in the virtual space – taking the trend that started with parallax scrolling to a whole new level. The aim is to create experiences that are human-centred and guide the user on an emotional and functional level. We've already seen several innovative uses of rich animation and unique navigation that resemble AR and VR experiences. Piaget, for instance, has touted its luxe Altiplano 900P watch line by making clever use of scrubbing video through user interaction, swapping content at key points to add an extra level of focus on the product. Click to visit the site Clothing brand Diesel’s Bad Guide site, meanwhile, offers an elegant viewing and browsing experience using parallax treatments to create a playful, intuitive and in-depth look at its Bad fragrance line. Intelligent interfaces As tools like AI become more powerful, they will have a greater effect on design. For example, one of the main benefits of a strong AI is personalisation – a digital experience that learns from the user's behaviour and truly, progressively adapts to deliver something of value that improves their life. A strong AI could create its own interface for the user, one that adapts to their preferences in real time, in turn enabling designers to focus more on the emotional UX as opposed to worrying as much about graphic design and layout. It’s an intriguing challenge to truly streamline the user's experience while they’re interacting with your product Amazon and Mint have, to a certain level, attempted to adapt their experiences to a user’s behaviour. Amazon, for instance, makes recommendations for new products based on user actions, while replenishing subscription-based products like hygiene or food items. Mint, meanwhile, focuses on spending behaviour and cost savings. In doing so, the site knows which credits cards you use along with your spending habits, and in turn can tailor what users see on the app to help them save money, warn of overspending and present relevant information. Still, it’s an intriguing challenge to truly streamline the user's experience while they’re interacting with your product. The role of a UX designer will become more specialised, and require closer collaboration with designers, developers, and even support teams. The key is to identify what is relevant to the user and eliminate the rest. This will focus engagement which, in turn, can lead to higher conversion. How to bridge the gap between web design and development Future-proof skills The increasingly specialised field of UX/UI will require designers to amplify their focus, both technically and creatively. From a technical standpoint, mastering prototyping tools will be highly important. Creatively speaking, information design, visual hierarchy and consistency will all become essential for future success. As new tech like AI, VR and AR pervades our workflows and the role of UX designers continues to be redefined, the ultimate keys to survival are being nimble and adaptable. Don’t lock yourself into anything and don’t think that we’ll constantly live in a world of top-down navigation and off-canvas menus. Rules have constantly been bent and broken in art, graphic design, storytelling and interactive design, and it’s time to shake them up again. Read more: 20 tutorials to help you use VR in your design work The 5 biggest UX design trends for 2018 Top tips for scaling up AR apps View the full article

Online retailers like Not On The High Street and Etsy have significantly lowered the barriers to entry for anyone wanting to try their hand at selling their design goods online. That said, it's an increasingly crowded marketplace, and it's by no means easy to make a success of your online store. In this article, we'll offer some advice for the kind of products you should consider selling, and how to make sure your business is commercially viable. 01. Know your materials Finest Imaginary specialises in Perspex jewellery Adjusting your mindset into that of a product designer can be challenging at first, but it’s essential to have the materials available to you in mind when starting the design process, to understand the limits of what is possible. "I love the challenges involved with Perspex," reveals seller Kim Lawler, founder of Finest Imaginary. "It’s such a versatile material to work with and comes in different colours and finishes. I can’t recommend it enough." 02. Test the waters with printed goods We are out of office offers a large selection of risograph and screen prints Small-run printed items such as cards, prints, notebooks and postcards are a firm favourite among illustrators and designers, and are a popular route into the designer-maker market; such products can often be turned around in less than a day. With a decent colour printer costing less than $250/£250, printed goods are a relatively low-risk activity – but letterpressed or screen printed materials command higher prices. Whether you choose to sell online or post samples to potential wholesalers, print is a safe way to test the waters before moving on to more ambitious projects. 03. Don't buy pricey equipment to start with Outsource things like laser cutting to start with Making your own products often requires specialist equipment, which can bump up launch costs before you know if your venture is going to make any money. When you first start out, consider outsourcing the making process. Enthusiasm for DIY-style accessories shows no signs of slowing down, and transforming your ideas into sellable necklaces, earrings, patches and pin badges can be done quickly and, if you're clever, cheaply. Popular materials include lightweight wood and perspex, which comes in a variety of bright colours, and RockCakes’ Sarah Meredith (who sells the acrylic pins shown above) recommends using Yeah Laser for small runs. 04. Work with editions Designs that can be easily reproduced are typically more cost effective Working with a design that can easily be replicated is a smart idea. A black cactus pin is one of We are out of office’s bestsellers. "You do the design once and multiply it," says owner Felix van Dam. "That’s what makes a pin a nice product to work with. We screen print or risograph print the backing cards ourselves, and when the pins arrive from our supplier we spend a few hours putting pins on cards. We’ve sometimes made up to 1,000 new pins to sell in one evening, which in our eyes makes it quite a lucrative exercise." 05. Make larger quantities Producing items in bulk can help bring down your costs In some cases, producing larger quantities can be very cost efficient, particularly when working with screen printing. "Make a lot, stash it somewhere and you can sell it for a long time," advises van Dam. Setting up a screen can be a costly exercise, so where possible, printing in bulk makes sense. "Printing at digital printers is also a possibility, but screen printing is much more attractive," he says, so people are more likely to buy it. "Two years ago we bought a risograph printer and it’s one of the best investments we ever made." 06. If it's not cheap, make it collectable Karin Hagen's ceramics are all unique Purely decorative, collectable objects have exploded on Instagram and Pinterest in recent years, and designer-makers are jumping on the bandwagon. Ceramics in particular are having a moment. People are usually willing to pay more for unique or limited-edition products. However, production costs will be higher, so keep an eye on your profit margins. "If I were more into selling, I’d make moulds and cast a series of ceramic objects instead of making just one of each," suggests illustrator Karin Hagen. "At first I had pretty low prices, but then I started to calculate what the hourly rate would be and I had to make some adjustments." 07. Wear your own brand Selling clothing is a fast-track to free advertising for your brand For many pro illustrators and designers, securing a commission with a clothing label is among the most coveted jobs out there. But rather than wait for the phone to ring, why not make your own? At a basic level, applying your artwork to a plain black or white T-shirt is super-easy to do, and the buzz you’ll get from wearing your designs out in public will spur you on to experiment further. Artist-led brands such as Johnny Cupcakes and AnyForty had to start somewhere! Screen printing assures longevity for your efforts, and is a skill that can be mastered through studio workshops such as those run by Print Club London. This article originally appeared in issue 274 of Computer Arts magazine, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 274 here or subscribe to Computer Arts magazine here. Read more: 8 golden rules of handmade 16 great places to sell your design work online How to make money on Instagram as a creative View the full article

Where do you turn to for creative inspiration? Some creatives use inspirational apps to get the juices flowing, online tools such as Pinterest, Behance and Dribble to build up a reserve of idea fuel, while others are able to use what's at hand in the world around them to ignite their imaginations. 6 ways to get out of your creative rut Regardless of how you come up with ideas, there will come a time when you hit a creative roadblock. (This usually happens when you finally get down to work and you're faced with an empty page waiting to be filled. So watch out for that.) To help creatives get over this hurdle, Matt Vojacek, creative director of video marketing and animation company Zwelly Co, made The Game of Creativity. Choose two cards from the deck to inspire your next creation Made up of a deck of prompts, The Game of Creativity is a thought connection tool. There are lots of ways to play, but Vojacek recommends creatives start out by flipping over two cards and exploring how they could solve the problem or brief they're set. Watch him guide you through the game in the video below. The prompts on the cards range from everyday objects such as "plant" and "string", through to more abstract suggestions like "8 bit" and "vintage". "I made The Game Of Creativity as a way to be more inspired by my own thoughts," Vojacek explains on the game's Kickstarter page. "I like to think of creativity as one's ability to make connections between two or more things. And The Game Of Creativity is a fun way to help you do just that, very quickly and easily." Which combination will you get? With thousands of possible combinations on the cards, The Game of Creativity is a versatile way of sparking up ideas. If you're a fan of the deck, you'll be pleased to hear that it has already smashed its Kickstarter goal. However, if you want to secure a pack or more for yourself, we recommend you head over to The Game of Creativity Kickstarter page and make a pledge. There are 26 days to go, so there's plenty of time. And who knows, if things keep going well, perhaps Vojacek will add a stretch goal or two? Related articles: 10 apps for endless design inspiration 20 pro tips for creating inspirational mood boards 13 imaginative web comics to inspire you View the full article

Video is a powerful medium, and no platform is more synonymous with video than YouTube. There is tons of footage uploaded to YouTube every single day, but you can still make your content stand out with the help of the YouTube Mastery Bundle. It's on sale right now for a special price of just $19 (approx. £14)! The YouTube Mastery Bundle is the cheat sheet you need to make sure your videos get seen. This five course bundle will teach you how to use the platform to your advantage by teaching you secrets like how to create eye-catching thumbnails and graphics that will grab the attention of your viewers. You'll learn how to master the tricks of SEO to come up in search results, how to promote your content and, most importantly, how to profit off your videos. The courses in the YouTube Mastery Bundle usually retail for $1,645 altogether, but you can get them bundled together on sale for just $19 (approx. £14) thanks to a special, limited time offer. Grab this deal while you can and get your videos trending on YouTube. 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: Meet the artist drawing millions of YouTube views 10 social media tricks you didn't know about 7 ways to craft a killer self-promo campaign View the full article

It's no good dazzling clients with design skills or an amazing design portfolio if you can't meet a deadline. Whether you're a designer, illustrator or general creative – and whether you work in a studio, in-house or freelance – here are nine top tips for managing your time more efficiently. 01. Have a system Being able to prioritise is key to staying sane as a freelancer. Assign certain periods to tasks in a calendar and have a daily to-do list that you can tick off. Websites like Lifehacker are full of great tips. There are also plenty of time management and workflow apps (most aimed specifically at freelancers) that can help you take control of your schedule. 02. Be honest about timings Be realistic about how long things will take One of the best ways to manage your time (and keep clients happy) is to be up-front about what you're working on, when you'll have time to begin working on a brief, and how much time you'll be able to dedicate to the project. Be clear, realistic and honest with your clients right from the beginning of a project. A white lie may keep everyone happy in the short term, but it'll only lead to greater frustrations later on. 03. Stick to your strengths When it comes to tight budgets and timescales, call on the skills and solutions that you know you can do well. Keep it simple and avoid laborious or untested processes. One of the most time-consuming things you can do is try to find pioneering new styles and solutions – save that for the well-paid projects. 04. Stop clients sucking up your time Clients can be demanding; that's a given. But if you find yourself spending more time responding to a constant barrage of requests than you are working on the project, then you need to let the client know – politely – that their emails or phone calls are becoming unproductive. Consider implementing a schedule for responding to clients and make this clear from the outset. 05. Make a plan Plan your goals and deadlines (Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash) Everyone works differently, but if you want to maximise your efficiency try drawing up both short-term (day) and longer-term (week and month) plans. Setting yourself goals and deadlines will help you stay focused – but don't be too rigid: things will invariably pan out differently, so you'll need to adopt a flexible attitude. 06. Mix it up Vary the work you do so you're able to jump between projects when you're fed up. If you work on the same thing all day, every day, it gets tiresome and productivity can drop. The more styles and techniques you have under your belt, the better. It keeps you excited about what you're doing. 07. Wear your other hats You really do have time for side projects Set aside a dedicated chunk of time each month to keeping on top of the other sides of freelance life: business, finance, networking and self-promo – even creative side projects. These might not bring in money directly, but they are all essential aspects of being a successful freelancer and must be factored in. 08. Automate your accounts As a freelancer, it's fairly likely that you'll spend a lot of time chasing clients for payment. It might help to set up an automated invoicing and payment system that will email regular reminders to clients and include automated payment links. Again, there are plenty of finance tools and apps available now to help you out with this. 09. Don't live in a bubble Separating work life from home life can be challenging as a freelancer. Always schedule in time for a social life – even when your workload is heavy. Factor in regular breaks, know when you're going to start and stop for the day and stick to your schedule. Illustration: Toby Triumph This article originally featured in Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Subscribe to Computer Arts now. Liked this? Try these... Why you really do have time for creative side projects The expert guide to working from home 20 tools to make your team more productive View the full article

As a designer, inspiration can come from anywhere. But sometimes influences, attitudes and approaches converge to form a coherent movement that has a knock-on effect around the world. There have been hundreds of art and design movements of different sizes and significances over the centuries – some centred on the style or approach of a particular collective of artists in a particular place, others spanning many creative disciplines, and much more organic in terms of interpretation. Whether they happened 150 years ago or 30 years ago, the impact of many of these is still felt today – you may even have felt their influence without knowing it. These things often move in cycles, particularly with the contemporary trend for retro aesthetics. So a little knowledge of art history goes a long way. Like the 25 names every graphic designer should know, there are certain art and design movements that creatives need to be familiar with. Read on for our comprehensive guide to 15 of the most influential art and design movements of the 20th century. We've put these in chronological order, with the examples on page 2 and page 3 most relevant to graphic designers, and those on this page and page 2 likely to inspire more artists and illustrators. Use the quick links menu to jump straight to the section you'd like to explore first, or scroll on to read them in order. 01. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism Sunset on the River at Lavacourt, Winter Effect (1882) demonstrates Claude Monet's talent for capturing light and colour Developing primarily in France during the late 19th century, Impressionism was a fine art movement in which a small group of painters eschewed the then-traditional emphasis on historical or mythological subject matter in favour of depicting visual reality, and particularly the transient nature of light, colour and texture. Seven painters were at the core of this hugely influential movement: Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin and Frédéric Bazille – and worked and exhibited together. The Impressionists abandoned the established palette of muted greens, browns and greys for their landscapes in favour of a much brighter, expressive range of colours in an attempt to depict conditions such as dappled sunlight, and reflections on rippled water. Instead of greys and blacks for shadows, they used a whole range of complementary colours – and objects were depicted using dabs of paint rather than defined with a hard outline. An icon of the Post-Impressionist style: Paul Cezanne's Still Life, Pitcher and Fruit (1894) Post-Impressionism embraced many of the tenets of its predecessor movement, whilst also rejecting some of its limitations. Painters such as Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec used similarly pure, brilliant colour palettes and expressive, short brush strokes, but also sought to elevate the work to something less transient and experimental. Rather than ever-changing conditions of natural light and its effect on colour, Cezanne and the other Post-Impressionists focussed more on solid, permanent objects, with still-life paintings – such as Cezanne's Pitcher and Fruit, and van Gogh's Sunflowers – emblematic of the movement. Paint like an Impressionist 02. Arts and Crafts William Morris' famous Strawberry Thief wallpaper is a perfect example of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic As a reaction to the rise of mass production (and corresponding decline of artisan craftsmanship) during the Industrial Revolution, there was a resurgence of interest in decorative arts across Europe in the second half of the 19th century – fittingly known as the Arts and Crafts movement. At the vanguard of this new movement was reformer, poet and designer William Morris, who formed a collective of collaborators in the 1860s to try to reawaken the handcrafted quality of the medieval period. They produced beautiful metalwork, jewellery, wallpaper, textiles and books. By 1875, this collective became known as Morris and Company, and by the 1880s the attitude and techniques they practiced had inspired a whole new generation of designers, and the Arts and Crafts movement was born. While many criticised the practicality of such intricate handicrafts in the modern, industrialised world, the influence of the movement endures to this day. 03. Art Nouveau Detail from House for an Art Lover in Glasgow, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1901 but only constructed in the 1990s Following on from the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau was a primarily ornamental movement in both Europe and the USA. One distinctive characteristic of the style is the use of organic, asymmetrical line work instead of solid, uniform shapes – applied across architecture, interiors and jewellery, as well as posters and illustration. Intricate ironwork, stained glass, ceramics and ornamental brickwork were used expressively, with freeform lines taking precedence over any pictorial elements in the designs, which were often inspired by delicate forms found in nature, such as flower stems, vines, creepers, tendrils and insect wings. Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a leading exponent of the Art Nouveau movement, as well as Czech graphic artist Alphonse Mucha, and iconic Spanish architect and sculptor Antonio Gaudí – whose magnum opus, Barcelona's La Sagrada Família, has famously been under construction for more than 130 years. This striking Art Nouveau artwork by Alphonse Mucha was used to promote printing firm F. Champenois Mucha's stunning artworks, many of which were commercial commissions for advertising clients, combined the flowing organic lines and natural motifs of the Art Nouveau style with sensual portraits of women. While the decorative style fell out of fashion after 1910, it saw a resurgence in the 1960s thanks to a series of major exhibitions in London, Paris and New York, which retrospectively helped elevate a style once seen as a passing fad to the status of an international movement that influenced fashion, music design and advertising. 04. Cubism Pablo Picasso's 1907 work Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is arguably the most famous example of Cubism Two artists were instrumental in founding the Cubist movement: Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Unlike the expressive attempts to capture natural conditions in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Cubism was about flat, two-dimensional, distorted objects – sacrificing accurate perspective in favour of surreal fragmentation. The name came from a disparaging remark by art critic Louis Vauxcelles, who described Braque’s 1908 work Houses at L’Estaque as being "composed of cubes". But it was Picasso's Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, painted the previous year, that set the wheels in motion, depicting five female nudes as fractured, angular shapes. As Braque and Picasso continued to explore how abstract shapes could be used to define familiar objects, the period from 1910-1912 is often referred to as Analytical Cubism. A distinctive palette of tan, brown, grey, cream, green and blue prevailed, and common subjects included musical instruments, bottles, newspapers, and the human body. Post-1912 this evolved into Synthetic Cubism, where multiple forms are combined within the increasingly colourful artworks, which made use of collage techniques to explore texture. The visual language defined by Braque and Picasso was later embraced by many other painters, and also influenced sculptors and architects such as Le Corbusier. 05. Futurism Depicting the sensations derived from observing modern life, Umberto Boccioni's The Laugh (1911) is widely considered his first truly Futurist work Founded in Italy in the early 20th century, Futurism attempted to capture the pace, vitality and restlessness of modern life through highly expressive artwork that ultimately glorified war, Fascism and the machine age. The aesthetic style would later spread across Europe, and notably into Russia. The movement was officially announced in 1909 when Parisian newspaper Le Figaro published a manifesto by Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who coined the term to describe how his work celebrated social progress and cultural innovation. Cutting-edge technology such as the automobile was put on a pedestal, while traditional values – and historical institutions such as museums and libraries – were aggressively repudiated. Bombardamento Aereo, by Tullio Crali (1932) is a late Futurist work that glorifies the speed and mechanics of aerial warfare Two of the leading proponents of Futurism, Umberto Boccioni and Antonio Sant'Elia, were killed in combat in 1916. However, the aesthetic would go on to be expressed in modern architecture, as visions of mechanised cities defined by towering skyscrapers became a reality, while artists such as Tullio Crali kept the style going into the 1930s. Next page: Mid-20th century art and design movements 06. Constructivism Alexander Rodchenko's distinctive style of graphic design graced many Russian propaganda posters Strongly influenced by both Cubism and Futurism, Constructivism was an artistic and architectural movement initiated by Soviet painter and architect Vladimir Tatlin, who co-authored the so-called 'Realist Manifesto' in 1920 with sculptors Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo. Similar to Futurism, Constructivism glorifies technological and industrial progress, with a radical aesthetic that places function over form. As the name implies, the aesthetic is literally about 'constructing' art from a kit of component parts, like a machine. Its distinctive style was widely used for Soviet propaganda posters. Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919) is a propaganda poster by El Lissitzky, depicting the Red Bolsheviks defeating the White movement in the Russian Civil War Leading figures in Constructivism included graphic designer, photographer and sculptor Alexander Rodchenko and artist, designer and architect El Lissitzky. While Tatlin and Rodchenko remained in the Soviet Union, Gabo and Pevsner helped spread the Constructivist aesthetic to Germany, France and later England and the US. Meanwhile, Lissitzky influenced the artists and architects of the Berlin-based de Stijl movement, as well as Hungarian painter and photographer László Moholy-Nagy, a professor at the Bauhaus. 07. Bauhaus The simple shapes and primary colours of the 'Bauhaus style' is neatly summed up by this Herbert Bayer poster Founded by the architect Walter Gropius, the hugely influential Bauhaus school of design, architecture, and applied arts ran in Germany from 1919-1933, when it was shut down by the Nazi regime. The school sought to bridge the gap between art and technical craft – not unlike the goal of the Arts and Crafts movement, although the Bauhaus favoured modern mass-production over individual artisan methods. Students took a six-month preliminary course, where tutors including Johannes Itten, Lyonel Feininger, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer and László Moholy-Nagy gave them a rigorous education in both the craft and theory of everything from carpentry and metalwork to textiles, graphics and typography. While the resulting works were hugely diverse, the prevailing style associated with the Bauhaus is that of simple, elegant geometric shapes, combined with bold primary colours – an aesthetic that spread across graphic design, products and architecture long after the school was closed down. 08. Art Deco These striking London Underground posters by graphic artist Edward McKnight Kauffer embody many features of the Art Deco aesthetic A major international movement across western Europe and the US, Art Deco takes many of its cues from Art Nouveau, as well as elements of Bauhaus and Cubism. It originated in Paris, where the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes gave it its name. Style, elegance and sophistication are the order of the day in an Art Deco design, communicated through simple, streamlined shapes; stylised, often geometric ornamentation and elaborate use of expensive materials, both natural and synthetic. Spanning architecture, furniture, fashion, sculpture and more, Art Deco encapsulates the decadent spirit of the 1930s – and the Rockefeller Centre, Chrysler Building and Empire State Building were all designed in the style. Although Art Deco fell out of fashion somewhat during World War II, it saw a resurgence from the late 1960s onwards, and continues to inspire decorative arts, fashion and jewellery to this day. 09. Surrealism Salvador Dalí's seminal work The Persistence of Memory (1931) is a Surrealist masterpiece Like Art Deco, Surrealism flourished in the interim period between the World Wars. It grew out of the 'anti art' Dada movement in the early 20th century, but in place of Dada's often nonsensical, satirical vibe – a negative reaction to the horror and futility of war – it brought a much more positive creative expression. In his 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, poet and critic André Breton argued that Surrealism was about reuniting conscious and unconscious experience; bridging the gap between a fantastical dream world and rational reality. Leading Surrealist painters included Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André Masson, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, Pierre Roy, Paul Delvaux and Joan Miró – all of whom had a uniquely personal twist on the movement, and how art could express the sometimes bizarre, sometimes deeply unsettling depths of the unconscious mind. Unlike the relatively rigid visual language of contemporary Cubist art, Surrealist art was much more organic and freeform, putting the emphasis on symbolism and content rather than form. 10. Abstract Expressionism American artist Jackson Pollock was one of the central figures of the Abstract Expressionism movement Beginning in the 1940s, the Abstract Expressionism movement fuelled the development of modern art as we know it during the following decade. New York was the hub, and prominent artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko led the way. Often filling huge canvases with dynamic, powerful applications of paint that evoke everything from violence to sensuality and everything in between, Abstract Expressionist artists drew influence from various avant-garde artists who had arrived in the US in the late 1930s and early 1940s, fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. In contrast to Pollock's chaotic, energetic style, Mark Rothko's works – such as White Cloud Over Purple (1957) – are calmer and more structured, but no less expressive Unlike its predecessors Expressionism and Post-Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism didn't attempt to depict the observable world with any degree of realism, but rather convey an emotional response. While the free, spontaneous, totally abstract nature of the work is a common factor, however, the movement incorporated a broad range of styles and techniques. Known as action painting, one variation – demonstrated by Jackson Pollock – is particularly loose and dynamic, defined by aggressive, sweeping brushstrokes or partly random splashes and drips of viscous paint. At the other end of the scale, painters such as Mark Rothko worked with much thinner mixtures of paint to create large, soft-edged rectangles of flat colour. Next page: Late 20th century art and design movements 11. The International Typographic Style These beautifully simple, graphic posters by Josef Müller-Brockmann embody the essence of Modernism Although Modernism in its broadest sense encapsulates many of the avant-garde movements on this list that broke the boundaries of traditional artistic expression, the peak of Modernist art and literature occurred in the years between the First and Second World Wars. Following World War II (1945), graphic designers in Switzerland and Germany developed a cohesive, unified Modernist movement that became known as Swiss Design, or the International Typographic Style. Building on the rational approach of the Bauhaus, this movement – still embraced by many graphic designers – is all about functionality and universality. Logical, modular grid systems provided a structured framework to align different elements, something now considered essential for most forms of graphic design. The unbiased, graphic accuracy of photography was preferred over more expressive illustration, alongside neutral sans-serif typefaces such as Helvetica. One leading figure was Josef Müller-Brockmann, whose designs for posters, publications and advertisements helped define the Swiss Design aesthetic – particularly through his long series of Zürich concert posters, which combined geometric forms, bold colours and clean, sans-serif type. As the 20th century progressed, many multinational corporations adopted the clean uniformity of the International Typographic Style to create brand guidelines for trademarks, colours and typefaces, and help ensure consistent application across all media. 12. Pop Art One of the much-loved symbols of the Pop Art movement: Andy Warhol's iconic prints of Marilyn Monroe Primarily a British and American cultural phenomenon that gained traction in the late 1950s and 1960s, Pop Art was so named by art critic Lawrence Alloway because of the way it glorified popular culture and elevated commonplace, often unremarkable objects to iconic status – such as soup cans, road signs and hamburgers. Sources of inspiration ranged from television to comic books to advertising, rejecting the pretensions of 'high art' as well as the expressive, subjective nature of Abstract Expressionism in favour of bold, graphic printmaking. Although many contemporary art critics derided Pop Art as vulgar and sensationalist, its inclusive, accessible and democratic nature was praised by others – and it also drew a certain amount of influence from the 1920s Dada movement that ridiculed European high art in the wake of the First World War. Making use of the colour dots and flat tones of commercial printing, Roy Lichtenstein's stylised depictions of comic strips were another Pop Art staple Roy Lichtenstein's print reproductions of comic book scenes were a particularly striking example of the Pop Art aesthetic, as were Andy Warhol’s repeated silk-screen prints of everything from soap cartons to celebrities. These American artists' work was stark and graphic, compared to their British Pop Art counterparts such as David Hockney and Peter Blake, who took a more subjective, almost romanticised view of pop culture from across the pond. 13. Minimalism Now belonging to the Guggenheim Foundation, Frank Stella’s Harran II (1967) is a mesmerising visual interplay of line, shape and colour Characterised by extreme simplicity of form and a very literal, objective approach, Minimalism originated in New York in the late 1960s, driven by dissatisfaction with the spontaneous, messy subjectivity of Action Painting in Abstract Expressionism. For the Minimalists, this style was too insubstantial and personal – they believed art should be clean and self-contained, without external references. Hard edges, simple forms and clean lines dominated in primarily two-dimensional graphic artworks. Abstract Expressionism still had its share of influence on the movement, but primarily the calmer, more organised colour-field works of painters such as Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Ad Reinhardt. Ellsworth Kelly’s first wholly abstract relief, Méditerranée (1952) is based around a grid of nine coloured squares Ultimately, Minimalism was about exploring the essential elements of an art form, stripping away extraneous detail and emotional expression in favour of objective, purely visual elements that were open to interpretation. In its broadest sense, Minimalism has enjoyed a significant resurgence in fields such as branding, UI design and packaging – due in no small part to influential global companies such as Apple and Google prioritising a clean, pared-back aesthetic above ornament and decoration. 14. Postmodernism This cover for WET magazine (1979) by April Greiman and Jayme Odgers sums up the Postmodernism aesthetic Modernism celebrated social progress, and the idealistic pursuit of utopia. Whether religious or scientific, it was about how universal principles could make sense of the world, and Modernist artists put more emphasis on form, technique and process than on the subjects of their work. Postmodernism was a reaction against this attitude. In place of idealism and reason was scepticism, suspicion and a denial of the existence of universal truths that can describe the world around us. Postmodernist artists advocated complex individual experience and interpretation over the simple clarity of abstract principles, and the resulting aesthetic was multi-layered and often contradictory. By the late 1970s, many designers working in the Modernist tradition felt it had lost its innovative spirit, and that it had become stale and academic. Questioning the rigid 'form follows function' philosophy of the International Typographic Style, they were inspired to rip up the rule book and break grids, challenge expectations and introduce decorative, subversive, and at times eccentric design elements. April Greiman was a particularly acclaimed Postmodernist designer, often collaborating with photographer Jayme Odgers on colourful montages and innovative typographical experiments. Their WET magazine cover, for instance, collages colour photocopies with textured papers and airbrushed colour. William Longhauser put a Postmodernist twist on architect Michael Graves' name in this 1983 poster Another leading exponent of the style was William Longhauser, who worked with dynamic, geometric patterns to create stylised typographic arrangements. In one particular poster from 1983, he built the last name of Postmodernist architect Michael Graves out of geometric forms that allude to the shapes, patterns and textures found in Graves' buildings. Since the late 1990s, Postmodernism has fallen out of fashion to some extent, although a subversive 'anti design' aesthetic does enjoy popularity in some areas, such as music and indie publishing. However, despite various attempts to define the period since – including post-postmodernism, trans-postmodernism, post-millennialism, pseudo-modernism and metamodernism – none have gained mainstream traction. 15. Memphis A section of furniture and objects designed by the Memphis Group collective in the 1980s Drawing on many of the tenets of Postmodernism, the Memphis design aesthetic challenged the neutral, understated, functional Modernism that preceded it. With its roots in furniture design, the Memphis Group collective was founded by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass in the 1980s, and existed for just six years. Colourful, garish furniture was at the heart of the movement, but the aesthetic went on to influence fashion, graphic design and more. Simple geometric shapes; flat colours combined in bold, contrasting palettes; stylised graphic patterns with black-and-white stripes and abstract squiggles – these are the ingredients of Memphis-inspired design, influenced by earlier movements such as Pop Art and Art Deco. Many of the movements on this list enjoyed considerable longevity in their heyday, and influenced millions of creatives across many different disciplines. Many led to new movements, either complementary or contradictory, as new attitudes and approaches took hold. 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