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We've all been there. You've got a project that you really need to get started on, but you're just not feeling it. Instead you find yourself researching tablet accessories you've had your eye on, hunting out new designers to follow on Twitter or deciding that now's the time to try out some desk exercises. It's amazing how much time you can kill when you ought to be getting on with something important. Learn how to break the procrastination habit with these top tips. 01. Figure out the trigger Ask yourself some searching questions. What goes through your head when you decide not to start quite yet? Do you not know where to begin? Are you worried what you create won't be good enough? Is it something more physical like tiredness or hunger? Like death, procrastination has a plethora of possible causes. If that sounds unpleasant, you could always procrastinate by doing some work instead. 02. Start anywhere Perfectionism is often the real culprit for procrastination – but it can't be perfect if you haven't actually done it. Make a start and you'll have something to play with and refine. It's daunting, we know, but you probably never think: 'I definitely don't wish I'd started this earlier. Stress is so much more pleasant than sleep.' Just do something. Anything. It'll be better once you start. 03. Turn off message alerts Some people recommend checking email just once or twice a day, which feels absurd when you're a one-person business. However, studies show it can take more than 20 minutes to get back on-task after reading just one email, so try to find a happy medium, like checking it once an hour. The same goes for Slack, Twitter, WhatsApp, or however you like to communicate. Constant alters are a sure-fire way to veer off-course. 04. Break it into chunks Don't put whole tasks on your to-do list, because that doesn't tell you what you need to do or enable you to keep track of any progress made. Break things down into individual steps. Tick them off and reward yourself for getting each one done. A word to the wise: it's best to leave the reward until after you've done the task. Rewarding yourself for thinking about the task is also pushing it. 05. Try a tomato timer Unnerved by the blankness of time stretching out before you? Try using the Pomodoro technique to contain your work (and your fears). There's a whole host of free apps out there, but they all use the same principle: work for 25 minutes, relax for five, repeat. It works so well that you might even procrastinate from taking the five-minute break. This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Subscribe now. Related articles: 12 tips to turbocharge your design career 5 simple ways to avoid creative burnout The dos and don'ts of perfect portfolios View the full article

The flaws threaten to expose corporate communications in Outlook as well as the messages of at-risk users like political dissidents. View the full article

A phishing scam fooled victims by claiming to be Apple and scooping up personal details – including financial information and Apple account information. View the full article

Samsung updates S9, Note 8 and S8 phones with 27 patches from a RCE bug to a patch that prevents an ancient peek-and-poke attack first identified in 1980s. View the full article

Mobile is becoming a primary platform for most people thanks to the availability of smartphones. If you aren’t ready for the shift, you’ll be left behind. Pick up the skills you need to develop and build for Android, the biggest mobile platform around, with the Complete Android Developer Course for just $17 (approx. £13)! If you’ve been itching to learn how to create apps for Android, the Complete Android Developer Course can help you scratch that itch. With over 31 hours of content taught by expert Rob Percival, you'll learn how to make the most out of the latest version of the Android operating system. This massive course will walk you through building 14 apps, showing you the process step by step so you can apply it to your own creations. The Complete Android Developer Course usually retails for $199. Right now, you can save 91% off that price and pay just $17 (approx. £13). It's a great price to pick up the skills you need to develop apps for Android, so grab this course today! Related articles: 18 of the best Android apps to download for creatives 8 Android apps to unlock your creativity The 13 best free Android apps View the full article

Finding a good Apple Pencil deal isn't always easy. Certainly, you’re unlikely to see a cheap Apple Pencil on sale in the Apple Store. But there are savings to be had, if you know where to look. Apple’s sophisticated digital stylus is perhaps the most amazing consumer stylus ever designed. It’s fantastic to use, with pressure and tilt sensitivity making it quick and easy to sketch ideas, create stunning images, take notes and more. However, if you’re already part of the Apple ecosystem, you’ll know that nothing comes cheap. That includes the Apple Pencil, which only comes bundled with the new iPad: if you want one for your iPad Pro you'll need to buy it separately. Fortunately, we can help. We’ve compared prices from all over the world to bring you the very best Apple Pencil deals and discounts available right now. 9 iPad Pro apps that make the most of Apple Pencil What is the Apple Pencil used for? Image: Malika Favre and Sarah Clifford for Apple The Apple Pencil is a versatile digital stylus pen that lets you take notes, sketch ideas, create illustrations and paintings, edit spreadsheets, annotate or mark up documents and more. It operates like a traditional pencil, letting you vary line weight, create realistic and subtle shading, and produce a wide range of artistic effects with impressive accuracy. Drawing feels natural, with no lag to ruin the illusion – and setup is incredibly easy. Just pop the cap off to reveal a Lightning connector, and plug it into your iPad Pro. (That's also how you charge it.) The Apple Pencil works with a range of art and design iOS apps including Adobe Draw and Sketch, Procreate, Affinity Photo and more. Related articles: The 90 best iPad apps Apple launches iPad with Pencil support The best drawing tablet View the full article

Drawing the human body without some knowledge of anatomy is like playing a board game without the rule book and some key pieces missing: It’s frustrating and confusing. After you learn all the rules and get good at the game, you can change the rules. But that’s because you understand the dynamics of the game and you can change things to improve it. Being confident with anatomy makes drawing easier and more fun! In this workshop, I’ll give you some advice to guide your anatomy studies, so you can learn how to draw people accurately, and with confidence. 01. Think first, then draw Scribbly lines are a sign your brain is still processing the image Anatomy is very specific and the difference between a drawing that’s 'right' and a drawing that’s 'wrong' can be subtle. If your drawings are scribble-like and you don’t commit to any one line, your brain is busy just processing the image, so it won’t notice anatomical mistakes. If you’re studying anatomy, you should have a good foundation in basic drawing skills already, and you should use it. 02. Ignore gesture at your peril Gesture is still essential for capturing convincing figures Gesture lies at the heart of every figure drawing. Anatomy should be a new layer, and a new way to express gesture… not a replacement for it. The anatomical forms should be designed to follow and reveal the gesture. 03. Memorise the simple forms Break down the shapes into simple forms The human body is organic. It’s full of curves, bumps and mushy-looking things. But your drawings shouldn’t look mushy. You can try to copy exactly what you see, but if the understanding and accuracy isn’t there, then it will show. A better approach is to learn to break down the body into simple forms. This is why I teach the simple form for all areas of the body. Simple forms are simple enough that you can actually memorise them, and pull them out of your pocket whenever you need to. 04. Pay attention to the skeleton Learn what lies underneath the skin It’s easy to tell when an artist doesn’t know the skeleton, even if you’re just looking at their fully fleshed figures. The muscles won’t aim to the right place. The skeleton is complicated, but there’s much less variation in the forms of the skeleton than the forms of the muscles and body fat. Knowing the skeleton makes it easier to construct the body, understand how it works, and put the muscles on top of it correctly. Take the time to learn it and your drawings will benefit for the rest of your career. 05. Review and correct Assess your work critically after every drawing After you finish a drawing, take a critical look at it to see where you can improve. You can ask a friend, mentor or online community for help. Then, actually follow through on what you notice, and make corrections to your drawings. It’s not enough for your eyes to see what went wrong – your hands have to fix it. You can do this to yesterday’s homework, or even drawings you made months or years ago. 06. Don’t just read about it Lots of drawing is the best way to improve Reading or listening to an explanation of anatomy may be enough for you to intellectually understand it, but that doesn’t mean you can draw it. We’re artists. We have a bigger job to do than just understand anatomy. You have to learn to draw it so it’s believable and interesting. And the only way to do that is to draw. Draw a lot! 07. Steer clear of snowmen Humans aren't perfectly symmetrical Don’t draw symmetrical bulges everywhere. That makes your drawing look stiff and boring. The contours tend to zigzag down the body, creating a dynamic flow. Furthermore, muscles usually work in pairs: when one side flexes the other is resting. 08. Don’t include every detail Learn to simplify what you see Remember: not every bone, tendon and muscle has to be accented in every drawing. Indeed, anatomical details in the wrong spots can make a drawing look stiff and fake. Pick and choose details that support the overall picture, and let those be enough. In general, you’ll probably choose details that are at or near the focal point, and that flow with the gesture or composition. 09. Be patient The human body is complex – learning it takes time Learning anatomy is a slow process. Learning anatomy is a slow process. Take your time on every drawing and with every area of the body. You can’t learn everything in your first pass. You’ll have to come back to review and add to your understand of all the parts every few years for the rest of your career. Don’t expect to be a master immediately. Never stop learning. 10. Be goal-oriented in your practice Focus on improving different aspects of your work There’s a lot to anatomy to study and lots of aspects of it to study. For example, if you’re practising gesture, the anatomy needs context. Make the forms work with the pose and focus on making the anatomy dynamic. If you’re studying form, use cross contour lines and shading to add dimension. Focus on constructing the body parts using simple forms and avoid organic forms you don’t understand. Pick a goal and focus on it. Make sure you’re getting the most out of your practice time. 11. Try different exercises Taking on different challenges will bring variety to your studies Anatomy tracings, drawing from life, drawing from photos, drawing from your imagination, drawing from other drawings (master copies), sculpture… Not only is this fun, but it helps your brain process information in different ways, and fills in gaps in your knowledge. 12. Get to grips with the language Learning the technical names for things can help you think about them more fluently There’s lots of memorisation with anatomy, and it can be overwhelming if you’re hearing all these terms for the first time. Terms like medial and lateral, abduction and adduction, origin and insertion, subcutaneous and so on. Consider making flashcards or other old-school study methods to help memorise the bulk of the terminology babble. When you can speak about anatomy fluently, you can think about anatomy fluently, which means you’re going to have an easier time when you’re drawing. This is the least important part of anatomy for artists, but it sure is helpful. You’ll feel a lot better when you know the terms. And of course, you’ll leave your fellow spellers in the dust on Scrabble nights! This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe now. Read more: How to draw hands Create more interesting skin tones with acrylics Art techniques: top tutorials for painting and drawing View the full article

When it launched seven years ago, PORT’s proud subtitle – The Intelligent Magazine For Men – seemed a reasonable qualifier. In the trashy, dying days of Loaded and Maxim, the qualification made sense. But arriving in a metro culture wary of tainted male celebrity, the (assumed) gender exclusivity of PORT and indeed the very notion of a ‘men’s magazine’ seems more problematic. Just what exactly is a men’s magazine? PORT's smart new look can’t conceal an underlying editorial anxiety about its own identity. A frank editorial by founding editor Dan Crowe admits that it’s “time to make some changes around here", the theme of the new issue – freedom – firmly establishing PORT's commitment to inclusivity. And the new cover does show the magazine breaking with the past. 10 ways to make your magazine cover stand out Its famously moody, mostly monochromatic covers of iconic men had increasingly teetered on the edge of Pour Homme parody, and despite a touch of revisionist self-indulgence when Crowe asks of himself “Do we always have to have a man on the cover? Who came up with that rule?” (er, you Dan?) issue 22 wisely sidesteps the issue of who’s toxic and who’s not, opting instead for a stunning photograph of novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. PORT's smart new look can’t conceal an underlying editorial anxiety about its own identity It’s a beautiful cover. Woozy, narcotic, electric typography and, crucially, nothing to indicate PORT's origins as a ‘Gentleman’s’ magazine. In fact the cover seems to suggest that maybe what interests men now is what women have to say about the world rather than traditional PORT-royalty like Daniel Day Lewis or (Mr) Steve Buscemi. Adichie is only the second female cover star for PORT. Hollywood actress Juno Calypso shared a split-run cover with Ethan Hawke but that nod towards sexual equality might have been more convincing if Calypso hadn’t been naked in a bath for her cover whilst Hawke brooded full-clothed in a Dior Homme suit. But that was then and this is now. Making Adichie – the Beyonce-sampled, award-winning writer and polemicist – the cover and centrepiece of the magazine clearly demonstrates PORT’s new willingness to adapt, and the interview allows PORT to silently endorse and adopt Adichie’s liberal, all-inclusive manifesto as its own. Adichie is only the second female cover star for PORT A welcome shift Apart from the welcome shift in tone, PORT's cultural aspirations remain reassuringly high. The opening section – The Porter – is as erudite as ever, and any reader looking for sound bytes on the latest Manic Street Preachers album or a snappy appraisal of the latest Marvel movie may be disappointed to discover instead Tilda Swinton on writer John Berger, Geoff Dyer on photographer Garry Winogrand and an all-too-brief peek inside the studio of artist Gavin Turk. The more old-fashioned diversions into traditional male tropes, such as a love letter to Havana cigars – “an hour of precious time that completely takes over your senses...” – are, thankfully, few and far between. PORT continues to demonstrate its mastery of less-is-more brutalism, with some stunning minimalist treatments In the Details section, PORT (maybe) pays its dues to its heavyweight advertisers in a lovingly-lit showcase of consumer porn. Canali sunglasses sit next to Bulgari watches and Prada clutch bags, with nothing as vulgar as a price anywhere to be seen. If you have to ask, etc. And the high-brow summit of the issue is a trio of 1949 conversations between Samuel Beckett’s and Georges Duthuti. It’s jarring, to say the least, to confront the lord of literary doom and gloom after 34 pages of glossy ads for the likes of Giorgio Armani, Prada and Louis Vuitton, but such are the culturally muddled times we live in, and all credit to PORT for holding fast to its high-minded values and bringing in the ad revenue. The rest of the magazine is just as good and impressively varied. Whilst many indie mags have burrowed ever deeper into their respective niches, PORT has become even more wide-eyed and ambitious, moving effortlessly between glossy, non-sensical fashion shoots and dense, brilliant essays without so much as a blink in tone or sincerity. If PORT cover it, they believe it, and half the fun of a magazine so esoteric is finding yourself in places you might never expected to wind up. Guest art-director Matt Willey rarely makes obvious design choices. For the key feature opener, he sucks the colour out of Mamadi Doumbou’s stunning photographs and tips all the type 90 degrees Ex-founding director Matt Willey has guest art-directed the new issue with a sensitive but sure touch. The design happily hangs between elegance and disorder, and nods towards modern graphic design trends with braver colours and extra brutalism. The idiosyncratic treatment of straps and quotes – oddly justified, randomly spaced words – can become a little wearing over time, and for a magazine so committed to the beauty of words, this design quirk seems a little out of place. But the new bespoke typeface designed by Willey is a real triumph. Squat, aggressive, menacing; it adds to the heavier, punchier atmosphere and binds the magazine together. The new font is wonderfully flexible, working well over photography but looking equally stunning in isolation Overall, the new look is more of an upgrade than a major redesign – it feels as if PORT’s loosened its tie rather than actually bought a new suit – but hopefully the brave adjustments to its own agenda will reward it with a whole new audience. Treading higher ground than its mainstream rivals is hardly a challenging ambition (the latest issue of GQ deploys the term ‘manssential’ without any hint of irony whilst reviewing a £1,000 cigarette lighter), but PORT really is in a league of its own, and only getting better with age. Buy PORT magazine here Also read: Eye on Design review View the full article

Starting and running a successful design studio takes guts, determination and a fair bit of business savvy. It can be hugely rewarding, but you also need to know what you're letting yourself in for. As our freelance survival guide shows, there are plenty of considerations to bear in mind when going it alone – but these responsibilities are multiplied when you're running a business and have staff, infrastructure and other things to worry about. Whether you're just starting out or are looking to build your reputation and grow your studio, we've gathered together a collection of content to give you the insight and inspiration you need to be successful. This includes creative business advice, useful insights on how to create a better studio culture and working environment for your staff, and self-promotion and portfolio ideas to get your name out there. So read on for our essential guide to how to run a more successful design studio. If we haven't covered a particular burning question for you, fear not – we will continue to add to this collection with more invaluable studio advice each month. 01. Inspirational design studios 02. Design studio business advice 03. Advice on design studio culture 04. Self-promo advice for design studios 05. Design studio portfolio advice View the full article

Parallax scrolling is no longer the guaranteed attention-grabber it used to be, but there are other ways of using parallax techniques to engage your visitors and enhance your user experience. Take a look at Mr Fisk's site, designed by BMO, and you'll notice a different sort of parallax going on: its brightly-coloured main image moves in 3D, in response to your mouse movements. 5 tips for super-fast CSS It's an impressive effect that's not too hard to implement; simply follow these steps to give your site an eye-catching sense of depth. 01. Initiate HTML The first step is to define the HTML document, which consists of the HTML container for storing the head and body sections. While the head section is primarily responsible for loading the external CSS and JavaScript resources, the body section will store the content elements to be created in step 02. 02. Content elements The technique will allow any content container using the data-parallax attribute to display the effect. Each first level child element will display with the parallax presentation. This example sets three child layers for the parallax, but you can add more if you want to. You can also add content to these layers such as text or images; PNG or SVG with transparency will work best. 03. Parallax container style Create a new file called 'styles.css'. The first set of rules in this file sets the default size of the parallax container and its position mode. It's important to use relative positioning so that the child elements can be placed in relation to wherever the container is located. The width and height are set to cover the full screen to allow for maximum interactivity. 04. Parallax children Each of the first level elements inside the data-parallax container are sized and positioned to appear centrally. Along with parents relative positioning, percentage is used as the measurement unit, allowing the sizing and positioning to be placed in relation to the parallax container. For this example, a transparent red background is used to demonstrate the effect – you can replace this with PNG or SVG image of your choice using @background: url ("your image here"). 05. Initiate the JavaScript Create a new file called 'code.js'. JavaScript will be used to control responses to the user's mouse interactions. We don't want the JavaScript to run any of the JavaScript code until the page has fully loaded, hence the code for steps 06 and 07 placing a function triggered by the load event, which activates when the window has completed loading. 06. Node search The first activity of JavaScript to execute immediately after the page is ready is to find all of the parallax layers. Firstly, the parallax containers are found, followed by their children. Each child has an index number applied to them under the 'data-index' attribute. 07. Parallax listeners The final step is to apply an event listener for any mouse movement occurring over the parallax container. Any such actions trigger a feature to calculate the new positions of the parallax layers based on the mouse position and the data-index attribute defined in step 06 – resulting in each layer updating at different paces. The result of each calculation is applied to the layers via the style attribute. This article was originally published in issue 272 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 272 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: Animate SVG with JavaScript Create liquid effects with WebGL 10 ways to avoid cross-browser compatibility issues View the full article

Whether you're an art director, graphic designer working from home or a web designer, getting your typography right is essential if you want to get your message across in the way you, or your client, intended. For an in-depth look at various aspects of typography, check out our typography tutorials. In this post, we look at common type mistakes, how you can avoid them and offer up some further reading along the way. 01. Thou shalt not use default kerning Don't trust InDesign to do your kerning for you We see it far too often: a great piece of design ruined by shoddy kerning. When setting any headline in InDesign CC, IllustratorCC or even PhotoshopCC, don't trust the software's judgement. Take your time to look at spacing between pairs of letters (kerning) and the spacing of the whole word (tracking). You have a lot of control (rather understandably) over kerning and tracking in InDesign. First, go to Preferences > Units & Increments > Keyboard Increments > Kerning/Tracking and set your required increment. Now you can use the Alt/Opt and left/right arrow keys to fine-tune your spacing. You'll find further advice in our article on kerning tricks. 02. Thou shalt not overuse script fonts Script fonts don't automatically add 'class' to a design – their use needs to be considered carefully Okay, there are times when a nice script font works (usually at large sizes; maybe in vintage logo designs or similar), but for most general design jobs they are unnecessary. Think of how many times you've seen the awful Zapfino cropping up in headlines and even body copy on amateurish posters, leaflets and other printed collateral. Yuck. And you definitely shouldn't be even thinking about using a script font of any kind in body text. Just don't do it – no-one will read it. On those occasions when script is appropriate, though, check out our collection of free script fonts. 03. Thou shalt not place type over busy backgrounds There's nothing worse than not being able to read a message because the background is overpowering it. Yes, you may have a beautiful photo that needs to go in the background, but don't hunt for a space to overlay your type: think about the treatment in a sensible manner. You may need to set your types in blocks of solid colour in order for it to stand out, or even crop the photo differently and run your text somewhere else in the design. Think about legibility. You may be able to read it – you know what it says – but your audience may just miss it. 04. Thou shalt not use many many fonts It's great having access to thousands of fonts – but you don't have to use them all at once It's the cardinal sin of type – using too many fonts. Although we all have access to thousands of free fonts to use in our design work, thanks to the likes of Google Fonts and services such as Font Squirrel, you don't need to use them all at once. Using multiple fonts across a site, magazine or, well, any piece of design can confuse and distract from your message. A general rule of thumb is to use no more than three fonts in your design (although there are exceptions, such as illustrated type pieces). 05. Thou shalt not fake small caps There are many fonts that come with small caps versions – so use them Faking small caps never looks good – in fact, it looks downright ugly. So, if you're looking to add a bit of variation to your headlines by using small caps, pick a font that has one. There are loads of free quality ones available – just take a look at these for starters. 06. Thou shalt not use fake italics Don't turn fonts automatic by skewing them – use the proper italic version Though it's increasingly rare to find a font without an italic case, if you are using one don't be tempted to skew the font to make it italic – it won't look good. At all. Your curves will be distorted, stroke weight will be all out of sync and, well, do we need to say more? Block the little Skew (False Italic) icon in InDesign out of your mind – it's for the best. For more on this, see this handy little post from type designer Mark Simonson. 07. Thou shalt not use all caps Setting all text in caps will make it difficult to read Whilst capitals can look much slicker and, dare we say it, cooler in body copy, using all caps will turn your important body copy into an illegible mess. The reason? Well, according to this article on Fonts.com, the most common explanation is that we don't read letter-by-letter, but rather by word shapes "which are in part created by the position and frequency of ascending and descending characters". So if you set something in all caps, it becomes a challenge to read. 08. Thou shalt not reverse type For the sake of legibility, avoid white text on a black background Just like commandment 07, reversing type out of a dark colour (so using it white) does nothing for legibility. As this useful guide from UXmovement.com mentions: "You should avoid using white text on a dark background when displaying paragraph text to make it easier from them to read. Forcing users to fixate on the white text for a long time can strain the user's eyes." This is because white stimulates all three types of colour sensitive visual receptors in the human eye in nearly equal amounts. However, as the article also mentions, there are times when you can use white on a dark colour to highlight a particular element on your site or in your design. 09. Thou shalt not combine serifs Some typefaces just don't go together Whatever you do, don't use a serif for a headline and the body copy that follows. It will throw your typographic hierarchy all out of balance. In fact, try not to combine any fonts that are too similar. When using a serif for a headline, try a sans for body; when using a serif in your body copy, try a slab. A lot is about trial and error, but we recommend reading our 20 perfect font pairings post to set you off on the right track. Remember… contrast, not conflict! 10. Thou shalt not use long measures Go for between 45 and 75 characters What is measure? Simply put, it's the length of a line of type – or the width of a column, if you like. Too long or too short and your reader will have to fight to construct the sentences; it can be very distracting. There are a number of different theories on the ideal line length. Eric Gill in his 1931 book An Essay on Typography suggests that the ideal line length consists of 10-12 words, whereas Robert Bringhurst recommends in his 2004 book The Elements of Typographic Style that 66 characters is best for optimum legibility, but anything between 45 and 75 is okay. Choose a theory and stick to it. And the 11th commandment... Thou shalt not use Comic Sans. (Well, we had to put it in, didn't we?). For more on this, see our post on the person who inspired Comic Sans, and what he thinks of the font. Related articles: 46 great handwriting fonts 23 places to download free fonts 43 free retro fonts View the full article

Researchers maintain Microsoft’s vaunted Arbitrary Code Guard in the Edge browser can’t stop hackers from mounting attacks. View the full article

You can create all manner of images and effects in Photoshop CC, and there are plenty of Photoshop tutorials, like this one, to help you do just that. Here we'll show you how to create a single tile for a repeating pattern, then you can fill as big or as small an area as you like with it... Download the example PSD here. 01. Create a document for the tile Your new document needs to be a size that is divisible by three Pick how thick you want each stripe to be; the only rule is that whatever you number you pick has to be divisible by three. Now you need to do some maths. On a calculator, divide 8 by 3 (you should get 2.66666667), then multiply this by whatever number you've picked for the thickness of the stripe and create a Photoshop document with this figure as the dimension of each edge. So for a 90px stripe, you'd create a document 240x240px. (Bonus tip: you can do maths in a Mac's Spotlight search field. Click the magnifying glass in the menu bar and then enter, in this example, '90*(8/3)' and you'll get the answer 240.) 02. Draw the first stripe Add a black line of your desired thickness (Click the icon to enlarge the image) Drag a guide from the ruler (cmd+R if it's not showing) and let it snap to each edge of the document (check your options in View > Snap To if they don't click to edges as if magnetically). Fill the background with yellow and then select the line tool. Make sure your foreground colour is black, enter the thickness of your stripe into the Weight field at the top of the screen (90px in our example) and draw a line from one corner to the other. 03. Create the other stripes Duplicate your stripe layer (Click the icon to enlarge the image) Duplicate your stripe layer (an easy way to do this is to drag it to the new layer icon – a piece of paper with an upturned corner – at the bottom of the layer palette) then hit cmd+T to enter Free Transform mode. Note that a crosshair icon appears in the middle of the layer; drag the duplicated stripe (not by grabbing the crosshair) so that this crosshair snaps to the top left corner of the document. Hit Return to confirm the move. Duplicate the stripe again and drag this one to the bottom right in the same way. (Save this now as a .psd if you think you might want to change it later.) 04. Define the stripes as a pattern Give your pattern a name (Click the icon to enlarge the image) Go to the Edit menu and pick Define Pattern. Give it a name and click OK. 05. Use your stripes Select the area you want to fill with your pattern Select an area you want to fill with stripes and then pick Fill... from the Edit menu. From the Use menu, pick Pattern and select the warning stripe pattern you just created. Click OK. 06. Add your own effects Add your own effects to the pattern You're done! We've also added a soft gradient on our example. Of course, you can do anything you like to the stripes – distress them, apply bump maps, or anything else! Like this? Read these: The 16 best photo editing apps 60 free Photoshop actions 55 best free Photoshop brushes View the full article

They say that change is the universal constant, but it's also the focus of this year's TYPO Berlin conference. Taking a look at the hot topics of the moment, including digitisation and personal data, TYPO Berlin will explore the role design plays in a radically shifting world. How to organise a conference Themed around the idea of triggering, this year's TYPO Berlin also looks into the mechanisms of the digital transformation, and that doesn't just mean kinetic typography. Covering current issues such as fake news and fact checking, the event will also ask the question: is it time we put people first? Hosted in the amazing House of World Cultures, TYPO Berlin 2018 is a three day event that brings together more than 60 speakers split across five stages. To help you keep on top of all the talks, we've scoured the TYPO Berlin 2018 schedule and rounded up the top 10 presentations we're looking forward to. 01. Annie Atkins Having worked on the likes of The Boxtrolls, Bridge of Spies and Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel, Annie Atkins knows how to tell a director's story through graphic design. In her talk, Atkins shares her secrets for creating designs and props for filmmaking. Catch her on Saturday 19 May at 11am in the Hall venue. 02. Ed van Hinte Acclaimed industrial designer and design critic Ed van Hinte takes to the Show stage on Saturday 19 May at 4pm to deliver his talk, Trigger Happy. Tying into the overall theme of this year's TYPO Berlin, Hinte's presentation will focus on "an arrangement of triggers to improve the prospects of humanity by replacing matter with idleness." 03. Elliot Jay Stocks Like many of us, Elliot Jay Stocks has found creativity strikes at the 'wrong time'. In his talk on Saturday 19 May in the Hall at midday, the multi-talented designer, musician and creative director reveals now has never been a better time to follow your passions and make a living from what you love the most. 04. Toshi Omagari Monotype's Advanced Typeface Designer, Toshi Omagari, looks at the benefits of creative limitations in his talk on Thursday 17 May at 7pm in the Show venue. Using the pixel grids of old video game graphics as his jumping off point, Omagari explores how restrictions are an important ingredient when it comes to problem solving with design. 05. Aaron James Draplin The legendary graphic designer, Aaron James Draplin, can be seen at the midday talk on Friday May 18 if you swing by the Hall venue. In his talk, the Draplin Design Co founder sets out to cover how graphic design has reached into unrelated areas of his life, as well as looking at the new things he's been up to. He's also hosting a workshop on Saturday 19 May where he shows you how to make a logo the DDC way. 06. Madeleine Morley What effect has digital culture had on print design? That's the question design and art writer Madeleine Morley looks to answer in her talk on Friday 18 May at midday at the Stage venue. By looking at a variety of print titles, Morley tracks the ways editorial designers have reacted to the rise of online publications. 07. Hansje van Halem Graphic designer Hansje van Halem has gathered recognition thanks to her distinctive and experimental typography. In her Magic Eye lecture on Friday 18 May at 3pm in the Hall, Halem shares her design process and 'practice makes perfect' mindset. 08. Laura Reinke Just what does it take to break into design these days? It's a complicated question, but PAGE editor Laura Reinke attempts to break through the buzzwords and deliver some practical advice as she sits down with UX, information and service designers on Friday 18 May at 4pm in the Stage venue. 09. Prof. Gerd Fleischmann Having come to typography accidentally, the discipline has now become the passion of Prof. Gerd Fleischmann. In his talk, Fleischmann examines Kurt Schwitter's famous Theses of Typography through a typographic lens, and asks what art and aesthetics mean to typography. To listen in, visit the Hall venue at 6pm on Friday 18 May. 10. Bettina Andresen Bettina Andresen is a communication designer with a passion for book design, which means she knows a thing or two about whether or not certain fonts are easier for dyslexics to read. In this talk on Saturday 19 May on the Stage at 4pm, Andresen talks through the results of her dyslexia fonts reading test to find out if certain fonts are more recognisable than others. Related articles: 5 typography trends for 2018 4 top typography tools for web designers 20 fonts every designer should own View the full article

There are many tools available for the digital artist, from graphics tablets to the best software to a whole range of learning resources. However, one tool that is often overlooked is the podcast. While it may seem like an odd choice, podcasts are a great way for artists to get inspired, connect with other artists, and learn more about the visual and creative arts industries. But with so many to choose from, where do you start? Good news! We've compiled a list of 10 of the best to help get you going. So scan the list, and put one of these on in the background the next time you sit down to create. See if it doesn't help shake some of those cobwebs loose. For more info on treats for your ears, take a look at our posts on the best podcasts for graphic designers and for web designers. 01. Chris Oatley Artcast Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: Visual Development Mythbusting :: ArtCast #108 Description: "A Disney character designer answers your questions about concept art, character design for animation, digital painting and illustration." Chris Oatley's podcast provides valuable information to aspiring artists who want to become professional visual storytellers, or artists already in the business. Each episode, Oatley interviews a professional artist, past guests include Jake Parker and Stan Prokopenko. These talks are both informative and inspirational. 02. Lean Into Art Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: LIA Cast 225 - Creative Monsters of Doubt Description: "Topics and conversation that explores design thinking, creative communication, visual arts, comics, illustration, creative coding and more." Hosted by visual storytellers Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger, the Lean Into Art podcast focuses on the process of good design and living the life of uncertainty as a visual artist. The hosts tackle topics like composition, colour and the best way to communicate ideas visually. This is one of the best podcasts out there, especially if you're a comic book artist or enthusiast. 03. The Lonely Palette Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: Ep. 16 - Vincent Van Gogh's "Postman Joseph Roulin" Description: "The podcast that returns art history to the masses, one painting at a time.” The Lonely Palette podcast is more about traditional art and art history rather than digital design and illustration. Each episode focuses on a different painting, with host Tamar Avishai interviewing unsuspecting gallery visitors in front of it, and then going on to explore everything about the painting, from the artistic movement it comes from to its social context. Listening to the Avishai explain the history behind each painting and its artist immediately (and deeply) connects you with some of the most well-known artists in history. 04. The Collective Podcast Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: Ep. 174 - Marco Nelor Description: "Weekly episodes of entertaining, informative, honest discussions with creative industry professionals from around the world.” The Collective Podcast with Ash Throp is a notable choice if you're interested in learning more about the individuals behind the creativity. In each episode, Throp interviews different artists – from creative directors and illustrators to game designers and programmers – about their work, the struggles they face as a creative and how they achieve proper work-life balance. 05. 3 Point Perspective Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: 2. Am I Too Old to Get Started? Description: "Illustration, how to do it, how to make a living at it, and how to make an impact in the world with your art." Relatively new to the podcast scene is 3 Point Perspective hosted by Will Terry, Lee White and Jake Parker. All three are professional illustrators and collectively have published over 50 books. Each has also taught art and illustration at US universities. Every week, Terry, White and Parker tackle a different subject related to art and illustration from three different perspectives. They break down each topic, and answer questions like ‘My art is great, why won't anyone hire me?’ and ‘Am I too old to get started?’ 06. The Modern Art Notes Podcast Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: Episode 338: Terry Winters, Stefanie Heckmann Description: "A weekly, hour-long interview program featuring artists, historians, authors, curators and conservators.” The Modern Art Notes Podcast, hosted by Tyler Green, is another podcast that is focused more on traditional art rather than digital illustration, but the interviews are fascinating and well worth the listen. In this podcast, Green talks with artists and curators and helps listeners gain historical insight while providing a conversational style that's enjoyable and informative. Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee called The MAN Podcast “one of the great archives of the art of our time”. 07. The Creative Pep Talk Podcast Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: 177 - Are You Sabotaging Yourself? Description: "Through talks filled with bizarre analogies and Fraggle Rock references, and interviews with top creative professionals, Dr. Pizza is ready to PEP YOU UP!" The name says it all. The Creative Pep Talk Podcast, hosted by Andy J. Miller (a.k.a Andy J. Pizza), is an excellent podcast if you need a pep talk. This inspirational and motivational podcast breaks down the various processes needed to help you plan out a successful career in the creative arts industry. 08. Roundabout: Creative Chaos Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: Episode 60 - Aaron Blaise Description: "Join Tammy Coron and Tim Mitra on an epic journey. Topics include interactive design and development, animation, creative writing, technical writing, gaming, movies, music and zombies. Yes... zombies." Hosted by me (Tammy Coron) and Tim Mitra, Roundabout: Creative Chaos explores the personal stories behind what drives a person's creativity. You'll hear from different creative individuals from all walks of life about how they got started, where they draw their inspiration, and what keeps them going. 09. 99% Invisible Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: 296- Bijlmer (City of the Future, Part 1) Description: "Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we've just stopped noticing. 99% Invisible is a weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture." 99% Invisible is a fascinating look at how design and architecture has an impact on how we interact with our environment and the objects within our world. The host, award-winning producer Roman Mars, is a wonderful storyteller and creates a visual image in your brain like no other. This is an especially useful podcast if you're an environment or concept artist. 10. TECHnique Listen on iTunes Recommended episode: Episode 16 - Interactive Narratives Description: "TECHnique is a podcast where artists talk about how technology is affecting them and their practice. Sam Fry and Richard Adams speak to artists who tell their stories, explain their choices and the lessons that they have learned." Hosted by Samuel Fry and Richard Adams, the TECHnique podcast interviews artists about their use of technology and how it's impacting their work. They also discuss their creative process and the challenges they face in today's rapidly changing world of visual arts. Related articles: How to create an authentic manga comic strip Awaken Akira pays tribute to an animated classic 14 fantasy artists to follow on Instagram View the full article

Many artists dream of finding huge mainstream success while staying true to themselves and their influences. Comic book artist and designer Jamie Hewlett is one of the few to pull this off more than once, with his crisp, energetic artwork and drawing techniques shaping the look of counterculture for the last quarter of a century. Thanks to the success of his first major strip, Tank Girl, and his design work for virtual band Gorillaz, Jamie's style has become one of the most recognisable and admired among both fellow artists and the public alike. And while these both get the attention they deserve in this chaotic collection, publisher Taschen also sets aside a respectable number of pages to cover a diverse range of his other projects, some of which didn’t see the light of day. The result is a collection with a suitably grab bag feel about it. With much of Hewlett's work lost down the back of futons, stolen by editors or given to dealers, we're lucky to have what’s presented here. "The book might be terrible, but it doesn’t matter, it's just a book," jokes French fashion photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino in the lighthearted introduction. "Life's more important, right?" Russel and Noodle of Gorillaz fame in their recording studio, accompanied by a couple of hangers-on. This doesn't mean we're left with a substandard look back at the first 25 years of Hewlett’s career. What we get is a book of art that encompasses his versatile talents. Split into 12 sections, this hardback takes a irreverent approach that makes the reader feel at home in Hewlett's anarchic worlds. Each chapter kicks off with a short overview of the project in question, whether it’s an exhibition of adult cinema-themed posters or pine tree illustrations, before presenting some of its choicest cuts. Readers can trace Hewlett's development as an artist if they want, but don't expect to learn too much about how he works. Instead, it's best to just sit back and let the book take you on a ride. Topping off the collection is a batch of sketches printed on transparent animation paper and a biography that hammers out the significant dates in Hewlett's career. His work has acted as a gateway drug to other artists for a reason, so give your eyes a treat and check out this retrospective while you wait to see what Jamie does next. This article was originally published in issue 158 of ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe to ImagineFX here. Related articles: Enter mixed reality with new Gorillaz app The 27 greatest animated music videos 35 beautiful band logo designs to be inspired by View the full article

There's nothing more rewarding than being your own boss. If you want to get into business and pursue a career that you'll truly love, then you need to grab the eduCBA Business and Entrepreneurship Lifetime Subscription Bundle. It contains all the keys you need to succeed, and you can get it on sale now for 96 per cent off the retail price! If you're interested in launching your very own business or just learning how to climb the ladder at your current job, you'll find information that will help you succeed in the eduCBA Business and Entrepreneurship Lifetime Subscription Bundle. This massive collection of courses contains over 900 lessons and 1,500 hours of content that you can access any time. Learn about sales, marketing, management, daily operations, and much more The eduCBA Business and Entrepreneurship Lifetime Subscription Bundle usually retails for $797, but you can save 96 per cent off that price right now. That means you pay just $29 (approx. £21) for a great bundle that could launch your own business, so grab this deal today! Related articles: How to design for startups The 16 best startup logos 8 essential tips for launching a startup company View the full article

You could be the best creative director, with the best design portfolio in the world, but it might not make a difference to a client who likes to play it safe. As part of a series from Computer Arts, the team at London-based branding and communication studio NB provide some top advice on how to get clients to take more risks when it comes to branding strategies. 01. Involve the client early "When you've got a new client, it's all about earning trust," says NB co-founder Alan Dye. "We like to get clients on board very early on so they're part of the creative process. You get a better result than you would just presenting a concept to them. it makes it their concept as well as your concept." 02. Problem-solve together Throughout the project, work collaboratively through the issue, problem or question set out by the client. "We'll start with a workshop, or several workshops," says NB co-founder Nick Finney. "Whereas in the past we might have been able to sketch something and think, 'it's going to be that,' nowadays, you have to keep an open mind and work with your client towards an end goal." 03. Ask a lot of questions "When we get a brief, we start questioning what we've been set," adds Dye. "You ask a lot of 'why' questions and generally end up rewriting the brief with the client, making it better by finding out what they really want." 04. Open communication channels "Clients are people as well. They've got their own ambitions for their role and what they want to achieve," points out brand strategist Tom Moloney. "Build up your relationship so that they can say, 'Oh, I'm having trouble with X from this department.' Keep those channels open. It works both ways, because you can then show half-formed thoughts and have discussions. You can have a much more open and honest conversation." 05. Know when to walk away "For Tom and I, the most difficult part of our job is saying, 'Maybe we shouldn't be working with this client. Maybe we shouldn’t get into a relationship with them,'" reflects Moloney's fellow brand strategist Dan Radley. "We're best when we're working with people who are really enlightened and have a bit of courage themselves." This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 252 in 2016. Check out the Computer Arts' YouTube channel for more video insight into leading design studios, or subscribe to the magazine here. Related articles: 6 things to know about getting freelance clients 8 of the most successful independent design studios Launch a world-class design studio with the 'three Fs' View the full article

The GandCrab ransomware continues to virulently spread and adapt to shifting cyber-conditions, most recently crawling back into relevance on the back of several large-scale spam campaigns. View the full article

As an independent creative professional, and because of the number of hours per day I work, I face the very real potential for burning out. The secret of avoiding burnout isn't luck, it's a deliberate decision to keep the fire burning. Burnout is a state of total exhaustion that not only effects you emotionally, but also physically and mentally. It happens when you work yourself too hard. It also happens as a result of being stressed for long periods of time. It doesn't matter whether you're working from home or as the creative director of a big agency, burnout evaporates your motivation. To put it simply, burnout sucks the life out of you. Watch your stress levels Stress might very well be unavoidable. There are times when our careers and our personals lives crash in such a way that we feel stressed. For example, imagine your boss or client is expecting the project you've been working on to be done this weekend. That same weekend, your relative is having a big birthday party they've been planning for months, and the family is expecting you to not only be there, but to host the party. What do you do? Maybe you're lucky. Maybe this is a rare thing. But imagine you're faced with demanding work deadlines and demanding family responsibility or other stressors all of the time. If left unchecked, this stress can lead to burnout. But it doesn't have to be family vs. work. Work vs. work is a thing too. Dealing with tight deadlines and heavy workloads time and time again can lead to burnout. Taking on new responsibilities at work can be a good thing, but taking on too much can lead to burnout. How to avoid burnout Stress, heavy workloads and daily responsibilities cannot always be avoided, but protecting yourself from burnout isn't impossible. Small changes might be all it takes to keep that fire burning. Over the years, and after a few burnouts of my own, I've come up with some techniques to keep myself in check. So far, so good. 01. Take breaks Weather permitting, I try to walk for at least two hours a day. That may seem excessive, but I work long hours and this is a relatively small amount of time in the scheme of things. For me, those two hours (which sometimes are not always consecutive) allow me to recharge my batteries. For you, it could be as simple as making sure you take a 15- or 30-minute walk at lunchtime or before work. 02. Be kind to yourself Be nice to yourself. Sometimes you can't always do as much as you need/want/think you can do in one day. It's okay. It doesn't mean you're a failure. It may, however, mean you've agreed to do to much. It can also mean that you didn't manage your time properly. If that's the case, find out how to fix that problem; don't waste your energy beating yourself up. 03. Learn to say no A friend recently told me that 'No' is complete sentence, and 'Hell no' is a full paragraph. This advice couldn't be more spot on. Limiting your responsibilities is an important part of avoiding burnout. The bottom line is: don't take on more than you can handle, and if you do, see if you rearrange things so that you're not doing too much. 04. Be sociable This one seems kind of obvious, right? Humans are meant to have connections; without them, bad things have a tendency to happen. If you don't have time to be sociable – and by that we mean seeing people in real life, not just online – adjust your schedule. Build in enough free time that you can spend it with your friends and family. 05. Be mindful of your health Okay. I won't lie. This next one feels a bit hypocritical for me since I don't necessarily practice what I preach here. That being said, it's important to eat right, sleep right and exercise. Like a well-oiled machine, the human body runs a lot better when its owner takes care of it. At least that's what my mum keeps telling me. Related articles: 5 tips for taking guilt-free holidays as a freelancer 10 stress relief gadgets The expert guide to working from home View the full article

Apple, Microsoft, Red Hat and others have built an uncannily similar privilege escalation flaw into their Intel-based products. View the full article

Layout for the web has always been limited, there really has never been anything truly dedicated to making content easy to display in a format that makes sense. Back in the '90s when the web first took hold, designers who were used to laying out content on a grid, found the only way to get the same result in the browser was to use the table. Merging cells led to complex website layouts, but this played havoc with accessibility and SEO. Fast forward and today there are all manner of ways to place content with floats, flexible boxes and so on. CSS3 has really pushed the capabilities of the web forward and since 2014 there has been CSS Grid Layout. This currently has 75 per cent browser support, so it’s getting to the point when it’s time to give it serious consideration. Zurb’s Foundation 6 framework has got on board and is using that to power its grid. This tutorial will focus on creating a magazine-style feature that will show you how to perfect responsive web design for medium and small screen sizes. Download the tutorial files here 01. Get started Open the file ‘grid1.html’ from the start folder in the project files. The HTML layout for this has five div tags, simply named item1–5 as CSS classes. These will be the content placed into the grid. The container wrapping this will define the grid, which will have four columns. 02. Check CSS for the grid Looking in the head section you can see that the 'container' has been told to be laid out as a grid, with auto height for the rows, while the columns are to be set to four with each set to 25 per cent of the browser. Check this in the browser and you will see that each item is automatically assigned the next available grid position. 03. Define grid positions Now take a look at the 'grid2.html' file. It's the same as the first file, except 'item1' and 'item2' are given specific positions. The first is positioned in row 1 and ends before row 2. The column starts at 1 and ends at 3 so it spans two columns. The second starts at column 3 and takes the next two columns. The remaining items fill the next available grid slots. 04. Use a grid template Open 'grid3.html' and look at the body of the HTML. You'll see that there is a layout with a header, sidebar, main content section and a footer. You can add more text into the content to see what happens when this is placed in. The grid will use a template feature to make these sections into a layout. 05. Define the template Look at the CSS for the container. It is again defined as a grid. The top row will be 200px high, the middle will be auto-sized and the last row will be 100px high. The columns are set to be 33 per cent wide and to autofill the rest. The template states the header will fill both columns. The next row will be the sidebar in the first column and the content in the next. The footer goes across both. A simple webpage layout is created using the grid-template-areas to define that the header and footer span two columns, while the sidebar and webpage content take up one column each 06. Link the template to the class To link up the class to the template, the code shown here defines this. Each grid area is named and the link is created. The content isn't shown here, but it's in the 'grid3.html' document. Look at this in the browser to see the layout of the grid. Because two columns are defined, the template needs two areas in each of the inverted commas. 07. Make it responsive To make 'grid3.html' responsive, a media query is inserted and the top row is kept at 200 per cent, while the remaining rows will automatically be sized. There is only one column, the full width, so the template has one word in each inverted comma to define the layout. These can easily be reordered without shifting any of the HTML. By simply redefining the grid layout in a media query all the elements can reflow with just a few adjustments 08. Work on a real layout Now open 'index.html' – all of the HTML for the content has already been created, as has some of the CSS for the design elements. Add this grid to the style tags in the head section. Doing so creates a three-column grid with the template for each section. Note the full-stop for the empty grid sections. 09. Link up the template As with the previous step, this links the header with the template. The header is told to span all three columns of the grid, then the standfirst is set to take two columns and have an empty column on the left. If you check the browser, that column is filled because the remaining content autofills the next available space – it won't do this when it's all set up, however. 10. Add the next areas Now the first article, the pull quote and the focus image are placed into the design. The pull quote and image are side by side on the same row. At this stage, article2 hasn't been placed so it's taking the first available space on the grid which is next to the standfirst. When the first grid is finished, the design fits just right on a desktop display, even fitting in well with background image elements 11. Finish the first grid Adding the second article's CSS enables all of the first grid to be placed correctly. Looking at this in the browser will show that the layout works with the background image and creates the kind of layout seen in magazines, where the designer works around a large background image. 12. Add a white background Before starting the second grid, you may wonder why there is a need for two grids. The reason being is that this grid is going to have a white full width background so this CSS will wrap the second grid. This is to give this section the feeling of a second page in the design. 13. Make a second grid The second grid is simpler than the first. There are three columns, with an automatic height on the rows. The content is going to fill a column each so there is no need to define the template areas. However, when the tablet design is added, this needs to switch to two columns, so a reflow is required and the names will be important. With both grids placed on the screen, the design can be scrolled through as everything is in the correct order 14. Add the columns Each of the CSS classes in the second grid is told to link up with the relevant column, as defined in the grid template. The article text colour is changed just to make it stand out against the lighter background of this section. With only the footer to complete, the design of the magazine-style layout is almost in place. 15. Perfect the foot of the page Finishing off the page will place a full width div across the screen, which will be filled with a black colour and the text is just centred. This completes the desktop version of the design, but move the screen down below 1200px wide and the site starts to break. 16. Adjust for medium screen design A media query is inserted here to look after the design when the width of the browser is less than 1200px. The code for Steps 17 and 18 will be placed inside the brackets where the comment is. This will be a case of changing both of the grids' layout structure. 17. Reflow the first grid The first grid is set to now fill the full width of the browser with just two columns instead of three. The order of the sections is placed into the template, with the articles switching sides, since this fits in better with the background image at this screen size. The tablet-sized design is in place with just a reflow of both of the grids on the page. Adjusting these grids is one of the easiest ways to redesign for smaller screens 18. Test your layout The second grid is also resized to take the full width of the browser and two columns added. The images are placed side by side on the row above the text so that it fits neatly onto the display. You can test this layout in the browser by resizing your browser below 1200px width. 19. Tweak design for mobile Any browser that has a width of less than 769px will get the code that is added in the final steps. All we need to do here is ensure that each of the grids has a single column layout so that the content can be viewed properly within the smaller space. 20. Check single column grid Now the first grid is set to a single column of 100 per cent of the browser's width and the order of the sections is added in the template areas. Check to see how the first part of the page is working on mobile screens. Just telling the grids to have one column is virtually all that needs to be changed for mobile screens 21. Finish the layout Here, the second grid is also made to fill a single column and the layout of sections is defined. Now save the finished design and view it across different-sized screens to see the full layout capability of the CSS Grid and how easy it was to just reorder the content for different widths. This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 271 or subscribe. Related articles: 5 tips for super-fast CSS Understanding the CSS display property How to create a pyramid layout with CSS Shapes View the full article

When we looked at last year's CorelDRAW Graphics Suite it was the new features added that stood out the most. Notably, the LiveSketch tool which is an innovative line drawing solution for designers and illustrators that want to bypass producing thumbnails on paper and freely sketch-out vector art at the source. LiveSketch's functionality really shines when using a small surface area tablet, where smaller gestures can hamper fluid line drawing. Acknowledging its positive reception amongst users, Corel has made further under-the-hood improvements to this unique drawing tool for the 2018 edition. Buy CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2018 Other quality-of-life enhancements to existing tools include usability improvements to Fills and Transparency management – now you can delete and mark favourites to filter out unwanted swatches. The Envelope tool (which functions like the Photoshop Warp Transform) has seen several improvements too – users can now distort grouped vector and imported bitmaps. Plus, the Copy envelope properties option duplicates existing envelope settings from within the document – cutting out the need to repeat the same manipulation, which is handy when creating mock-ups. These are all welcome updates certainly, and by no means the sum total of improvements to existing features, but let's take a look at CorelDRAW's new toys... Fresh features of CorelDRAW 2018 Corel has always favoured a more measured and incremental approach when making updates to its software. Where other developers can sometimes add new bewildering features and overburden their flagship software, Corel prefers to give users a smaller set of very defined tools. This approach to development often manifests existing tools found elsewhere in other creative apps (with a Corel twist, of course) or as solutions that combine a subset of common tasks into a one-click tool. CorelDRAW 2018 offers a bit of both. Kicking things off is the Block Shadow effect, which generates an instant 3D extruded shadow to type and objects. You can opt to input values into the Properties bar to manage the effect, but the drag-and-draw tool method is impressively quick and intuitive to use. A nice detail with the drag-tool is a colour picker pop-up for the shadow hue, though being able to apply gradients here also would be a welcome addition in the future. We can see this tool becoming a huge timesaver when creating infographics. Results with the Block Shadow tool are instantaneous, with the effect respecting keylines assigned to the target typeface The next standout feature is the Impact tool which generates speed-lines and bursts commonly associated with traditional comics and manga art. The effect is non-destructive and defined as either Parallel or Radial. You can edit line weights, line style and wide point position, start and end widths and spacing steps. Even with a starting set of only two editable lines, the variation once you begin altering these parameters offers some pleasant results. Saving the best for last, there's the new Symmetry drawing mode, which allows artists and designers to build up drawings and create designs quickly by mirroring a drawn path and/or object(s). Anyone familiar with Corel's powerful real-paint emulator Painter will recognise similarities to the Kaleidoscope tool. You can edit the number of Mirror lines and source angle, while using a mix of elements including objects with varying patterns and transparency settings. Symmetry drawing is a fitting example of what to expect from CorelDRAW 2018's newly implemented tools – they're all familiar yet practical additions A nice inclusion is the ability to add a new object to the symmetry group by clicking 'W' when you drag the new shape over the active symmetry area. This has real-time results. Again, it's one of those tools that once you adopt it into your workflow, you begin to see the timesaving benefits, and it can be a good starting point for generating designs or kicking off elements within a composition. It's these new features and improvements that call us to bang the same drum as we did last year and ask Corel to make CorelDRAW an affordable standalone option. Read more: 95 tutorials on how to draw View the full article

Freelance life can be enormously rewarding, but it's not always easy. You have full freedom to choose everything from your clients to your working hours, but you're also responsible for everything else. You're your own boss, and you can work from a coffee shop or even a beach if you want. In most cases, you can charge more. Sometimes a lot more. But to offset that, there's no holiday pay or sick pay. You have to bring in every bit of work yourself. And handle all that pesky admin too – like invoices and tax returns. To help you out on this exciting, but also daunting, journey of independence, we've gathered together a collection of content to assist on everything from managing your finances to getting yourself out there. So read on for our essential guide to how to succeed as a freelancer. If we haven't covered a particular burning question for you, fear not – we will continue to add to this collection with more invaluable freelance advice each month. 01. Business advice for freelancers 02. Self-promo advice for freelancers 03. Portfolio advice for freelancers View the full article

Learning how to draw with mixed media is not easy. However, experimenting and combining various materials for original mixed media art can be hugely rewarding (not to mention fun). In this tutorial I'll be creating a piece inspired by The NeverEnding Story, with the spirit of the Golden Age. You can see the final artwork below. I'll mostly be using graphite, so you'll learn some key pencil drawing techniques, but I'll also show you how to apply gold leaf to add a special touch to your work. Click the icon in the top right to see the full-size artwork The illustrators of the Golden Age, the Symbolist painters and the Pre-Raphaelites have all influenced my art. There's a wide palette of emotions in these images tinted with lyricism and sprinkled with symbolism. I've been working with graphite and gold leaf for many years now, creating bright ornamentations or golden backgrounds. This approach enables me to create the illusion of depth, despite the two dimensional canvas. I like to add a natural touch, symbolised by the petals that I fasten on paper. 01. Start sketching Producing rough sketches enables me to visualise on paper the image I've mentally built up. It's an interesting step that highlights the limits of my materials. In contrast, there are no limits in my mind: I can change the shape, colour and proportions of objects. It's now time to choose an idea and confirm that my intuition is correct. 02. Consider the composition Composition is an art unto itself, a domain where you can play with shapes and guide the viewer. Everything must serve the idea. You have to give the illusion of life on a two-dimensional canvas. To check that the composition is working, I use gold paint to indicate where the gold leaf will eventually be placed. This saves time – and money – later on. 03. Prepare the paper Because I plan to use a graphite wash technique, I need to stretch my sheet of paper to prevent it from crinkling. I soak the back of the paper, then flip it over and fasten it with strips of kraft. As it dries, the paper will shrink and take its final dimensions. 04. Generate a detailed drawing My art process always involves developing an initial sketch, which will be loose, enabling me to develop the composition as I see fit without any limitations. I organise the primary elements, and this gives an impulse, a movement, to the scene. I use pencils ranging from 3H to H. 05. Establish an atmosphere I create an atmosphere using a graphite wash. This stage has two functions: it helps to get me into the topic, and it defines the lighter areas of the illustration. I prefer to retain the white of the paper in my art, in a similar manner to painting with watercolours, and so I use a special type of watercolour graphite. 06. Get into the subject I always start the detailing stage by tackling my main subject first, which I shape slowly. I want Falkor to evolve throughout the painting process; I have the idea that he's living as I paint, growing stronger with each step. I work with pencils, graphite wash and some white gouache, which gives the graphite a light blue tone. 07. Develop the second background Based on the appearance of Falkor, I work out the shades of grey I'll need to create the different background planes in my image. I decide that I need a second dark background to bring out Falkor. It also gives me a larger palette of nuances to help develop the final background. I work on this with my graphite wash. 08. Add the third background I move on through the planes in my image. The final one is a little odd because it shows the Ivory Tower. I have to create the illusion of a massive construction that's far off in the distance. I use several dry pencils, ranging from 5H to 2H, and a graphite wash. 09. Create light For this step I use oxidised silver leaf, which has a beautiful water-green tone. I use it to give the illusion of reverse lightning. I define two little green moons, which helps me to add depth. These simple geometric shapes enhance my composition. 10. Prepare the ornamentation I draw in the details of the ornamental figures that surround my central medallion. I'm keen to accompany the movement to create a style on its own that also matches the main subject. I like my illustrations to suit the spirit of the Golden Age of Illustration. 11. Apply gilding and glue Now that my Arabesque decorative motifs are in place, I apply gold mixtion to one bit of the pattern at a time. There are many different kind of mixtion available, with various drying times. I mostly use the illumination mixtion manufactured by Kölner. I also use the three- and 24-hour mixtions, depending on the pattern I'm working up. 12. Apply the gold leaf When the mixtion is finally ready to receive the gold leaf, I cut it meticulously and apply it with a brush. The gold leaf is fragile, and needs to be handled with care. I use a filbert sable brush to place the gold leaf on to the glue. This brush also enables me to remove any excess gold leaf. 13. Make precision cuts Using a scalpel, I define the gold leaf's outlines. This stage is all about removing the last bits of excess gold leaf and refining the contours of the motif. I use a range of different sized scalpel blades, depending on where I am in the creative process. A good, sharp tool is needed, especially on this step where precision and a light touch is all you can rely on. 14. Enhance the medallion Very slowly, I gild my pattern, going around my medallion. I maintain a balance in the final pattern by rubbing some parts with an agate, which creates gradations within the gold. I gild some parts of my image early in the process, so that I'm able to create these gradations. Indeed, using the graphite wash obscures my first gilding efforts. 15. Adjust contrast In this final step, I rely on my gilding work to adjust any visual nuances in the piece. Some parts of my image need to be darkened, while others should be enhanced. In this case, I decide I have to bring out more of Falkor. So I apply white gouache to him using an airbrush. Because the light from the gold leaf is so strong, it needs to be balanced by other areas in the image. Then I step back from the artwork and call my take on The Neverending Story finished. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX How to Paint & Draw bookazine. Related articles: How to start pastel drawing The best pencils for designers and artists How to choose which paintbrush to use View the full article