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The number of vulnerabilities continues to grow. In the past year, it increased by 14 percent, reaching an all-time high of nearly 20,000, according to the Flexera Vulnerability Review 2018. This figure alone is clear evidence that the challenge of reducing the risk of exploitation of unattended vulnerabilities is not getting easier. On the contrary, things keep getting more complicated with costly consequences for businesses around the globe… Let me exemplify: Story one: a vulnerability on an operating system (OS) is disclosed – let’s say Windows Server. Patching servers’ OS can be tricky. No one wants to disrupt the business by taking down a system outside regular maintenance windows or by breaking something. The vulnerability is critical, but it has no exploit. The conclusion is not to patch now. The issue is forgotten and that patch is never applied. Then one day you get to work and you’re a victim of a ransomware attack like WannaCry. Story two: a vulnerability on an open source software (OSS) is disclosed. You build internal systems using that OSS but you do not document the use properly. That system parses customer data. Because you do not know you use that OSS, you don’t know you’re vulnerable. One day your business is making the cybersecurity headlines, like in the case of Equifax. WannaCry and Equifax were cases that made it to the news, but the fact is that those are not isolated cases. The exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities remains one of the main vectors for incidents and breaches. According to a recent study by the Ponemon Institute nearly 60% of organizations that suffered data breaches in the past two years cite unpatched vulnerabilities as the culprit in the attack. In a different study by analyst firm Forrester, IT security professionals place exploitation software vulnerabilities as the most common mean for external attacks leading to incidents. But how can you improve your practices to manage software vulnerabilities? Here are three points to take into consideration: You don’t know what you don’t know I continue to be surprised by how many organizations simply don’t know a large portion of the software they use. You can’t expect to protect your systems if you just don’t know what’s in there. Knowing what you have and where is the critical first step in the quest to stay on top of vulnerable applications. Policies and processes Doesn’t matter if it is about applying patches or mitigating the risk of exploitation of a vulnerability which can’t be patched. Policies and processes that enforce those policies are the only way to get control over software vulnerabilities and report on risk reduction. It’s a relatively simple principle: Most incidents occur long after the vulnerability is publicly known. So, processes that support a regular cadence of assessment and mitigation should do the trick and effectively reduce risk. Intelligence and prioritization It’s clear that not all vulnerabilities can be fixed as they become public. The only way is to prioritize. But do you even know when a vulnerability is disclosed for a piece of software you use? Do you have trusted information on vulnerabilities affecting your systems? Can you connect that information with your policies to determine what to do first? Without timely, accurate information on vulnerabilities – intelligence – prioritizing is simply not possible. All of this is easier said than done. But there is hope. Organizations are becoming more aware of the problem and understanding that detection systems and security teams are overwhelmed with the incidents and consequently failing to stop breaches that could have been prevented with optimized processes to regularly patch applications and systems. Flexera’s customers report that our vulnerability intelligence and our technology help them achieve visibility, prioritize efforts and remediate vulnerabilities faster and without operational overhead. They remediate the right things and reduce the risk of exploitation for their businesses effectively. Download Vulnerability Review 2018 – Global Trends today and learn more about the vulnerability landscape and our vision for mitigating risk. Learn more about our solutions for managing software vulnerabilities. Source View the full article

Getting the typography right in your web designs is a vital skill, but one that's difficult to master. These top typography tools for web designers will help you on your way. Here we've included tools to help you find the perfect font pairing and great places to download fonts, but also some handy tools to help you make your font choices work well in situ. 01. Gridlover This tools is great for gauging font sizes Gridlover is awesome at gauging font sizes and spacing on a web page when you’re considering how big your H1 and H2 titles need to be. This free tool enables you to dynamically set scaling rules that apply to your headers and tinker with the CSS. It’s also a great tool for when you need to hand over designs to a developer. The output CSS and rules are really useful for ensuring consistency between design and code. 02. Canva Font Combinations Pick a starter font and see where it takes you Canva's Font Combinations is a useful tool if you want to simply see font pairings and get some inspiration. Select your starter font and this tools will provide you with a list of useful ideas of great font pairings. A great advantage is that you can also see the pairing in situ with live examples. Although the font listing is not huge, you can count on every font being web safe and is a great starting point for inspiration. 03. Adobe Typekit Typekit offers an abundance of web-safe fonts Adobe Typekit is a healthy alternative to Google Fonts, providing you an abundance of choice on web-safe fonts. Create kits for individual projects and navigate through a variety of available fonts. What’s useful about this tool is the ability to rewrite the sample text and filter through typography styles. With a font chosen it’s really easy to install on a web page using a couple of lines of code in the head of your HTML and CSS. 04. Fonts.com This library includes more unique and unusual fonts A great resource if you want your project to be more individual and unique. Font libraries like Google Fonts and Adobe Typekit are always great, but you can count on your chosen fonts being used by others too. The wonderful thing about Fonts.com is that you can browse through a larger portfolio of fonts and see how they are being used by the font authors. It’s a great inspiration resource, especially for personal and unique fonts. Web design event Generate New York returns on 25-27 April 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 271 or subscribe. Read more: The best free fonts for designers 20 fonts every graphic designer should own 5 traits that define a typeface’s personality View the full article

Whether you're just learning how to draw, working through a set of Illustrator tutorials, or you're an illustration pro, reference images are important. But if you're not careful they can cause problems of their own. Your first order of business should be to decide what you need and then photograph accordingly. The best cameras for creatives Before I take the time to get friends together for reference, I usually make a couple of small sketches that roughly define the pose and, if possible, the lighting scheme. It can be tempting to just go outside and shoot photos until you've got something you like (and believe me, I've done it). But there are few things more annoying than thinking you've got the perfect image, sitting down to paint, and realising you have to do the photo shoot all over again because the composition doesn't work with the new pose, lighting and so on. With a little knowledge of lighting, you can even cut and paste your images together for a pose that's more dynamic than what you captured initially. "Try to focus on the painting, not matching reference," says Foti Once the image is ready, you can use the lighting information in several ways. Obviously, it'll help you to paint the main figure. Whenever I have to make something up (the crow's nest of a pirate ship, in this case) I look for anything with a similar angle and texture. When developing the pose from reference, don't get too concerned with matching things exactly. Instead of copying the image, check in with it to get the information correct while you draw the idea in your head. Using a stand-in You can't create the perfect scenerio, so improvise just to allow for perspective and size If there's a scene element you can't get a hold of (in this case the periscope), have your model hold something similar. You can find reference later on, and, to be thorough, take photos in the same setting of something with similar textures. Watch the video for more tips This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 127. Related articles: How to draw the human figure The best photo editors Free graphic design software available to you right now View the full article

Most sites you visit on the web are probably generated dynamically. That is, rather than having all their content encoded into the HTML stored on the server, they retrieve content from a database and construct pages to serve to you on the fly. Many also provide user interactivity through logins, forms and so on. Think of Facebook for an example of both of these things. To build this type of functionality yourself, you might look to a CMS such as WordPress. Web design inspiration For some use cases, however, this is overkill. Simple pages, such as a personal profile, information about a business or even a blog, really don’t need this sort of overhead or complexity. You could of course just build static HTML yourself in a text editor. And indeed, many years ago this was how all sites were built, but this rapidly becomes cumbersome to maintain when you want to scale up or make changes. Static site generators offer a solution to this, by enabling you to build static HTML pages using templates. Essentially, static site generators are command-line tools that shift the creation of the final HTML page forward from the point the user requests it to the point you write the content. When you make an update, you build the new page, which can then be served as-is to every user who requests it. This offers several advantages. Performance will be greatly improved compared to a dynamic site, since serving static HTML and CSS has a very low footprint. Your server-side setup will be much simpler, which also means fewer security worries. Conversely, however, you’ll lose the opportunity to deliver real-time content or receive user input. Static site generators have exploded in popularity in recent years, so navigating the wide range of choice can be difficult. Here, we’ve taken a look at some of the best options you should be considering. 01. Jekyll Jekyll remains one of the most widely used static site generators First released in 2008 by Tom Preston-Werner, the co-founder of GitHub, Jekyll arguably popularised the concept of static sites and remains probably the most widely used static site generator. With Jekyll, you’ll typically work with content in Markdown, a lightweight markup language designed for text formatting. The Liquid templating engine is used to place this Markdown content into a HTML template, and to combine templates representing various parts of a page (say, header, footer and content) in a modular and re-usable manner. Support for Sass is built in for those with a preference for CSS preprocessing, and it’ll play fine with libraries like Bootstrap. Also included with Jekyll is an HTTP server which can be used to easily deploy and test your static pages locally. One of Jekyll’s key selling points is its wide range of ‘importers’, which enable an existing site to be migrated to Jekyll with relative ease. If you have a WordPress site, for example, you can switch to using Jekyll using one of the importers. It’s also trivial to convert existing static HTML sites to Jekyll, which can be great if you’ve been coding static HTML yourself or see a template you like the look of. Notably, Jekyll is used to power GitHub pages, a static site hosting service which is provided with GitHub. If you have a GitHub repository, you’re able to create a GitHub pages site for free using Jekyll. This can be a convenient way to give a polished landing page to your GitHub project. The big downside of Jekyll – and this applies to most generators – is that it can seem complex at first and is a new technology to master. You might not be up and running as quickly as with a CMS. However, it’s very well documented and the learning curve is quickly overcome. 02. Hexo Be sure to write your content in Markdown for Hexo Hexo is powered by Node.js and aimed at blogging. While the JavaScript implementation shouldn’t in theory make too much difference to how you work with it, since you’ll be using with markup and templating languages, it can make installation and configuration more familiar for JavaScript developers. If you’re already using npm and git then it’s extremely simple to get up and running. Like many other general purpose generators, you’ll probably want to write your content in Markdown. The default templating engine is Swig, which is once again well suited for JavaScript developers. However, Hexo is extensible to allow other templating engines to be used if you want. The Hexo website includes a range of pre-built themes for you to try out, and one especially popular feature of the tool is its support for single-command deployment. 03. Gatsby Gatsby can be picked up quickly by developers Like Hexo, Gatsby is powered by Node.js and so will be more familiar territory for experienced JavaScript developers. However, several things set it apart from other similar tools. Gatsby uses React, which means that everything is built with components, and allows it to benefit from React’s approach to DOM rendering. This means it can be picked up quickly by developers who have worked with React, but for those unfamiliar with it, learning React will be necessary. It also utilises GraphQL at build time to retrieve data and content from data sources, which provides a modern, consistent interface to ensure that each page receives the exact data needed when it is built. Finally, Gatsby will build pages as progressive single page apps, meaning that the entire site is downloaded and subsequent navigation is immediate. 04. Hugo Whip up your site in milliseconds with Hugo Widely regarded as the ‘other’ leading static site generator, it’s only natural to compare Hugo with Jekyll. Hugo is the newer of the two, and one of its key focus areas is speed, which for some has been a complaint with Jekyll. Nobody likes waiting for a site to build, and Hugo can put together a simple site from your markup and templates in milliseconds, or even blaze through thousands of pages in seconds. With Hugo it’s also typical to write content with Markdown, and the templating engine is based on Go templates since Hugo itself is implemented in the Go programming language. Like Jekyll, it ships with a lightweight HTTP server to quickly serve your pages locally. The two tools’ build workflows are overall fairly similar. For many, the key benefit of Hugo is its quicker, simpler path to getting started, with very little need for configuration and no dependencies other than the core binary. Its documentation and tutorials are very good, and it has an ethos of maintaining simplicity which makes for a very approachable learning curve. One disadvantage Hugo has relative to Jekyll is that it lacks the extensive plugin ecosystem available for the latter. Given its wide range of built-in functionality, however, this is unlikely to be a problem for most users. It also may be marginally lighter on support on sites such as StackOverflow since it hasn’t been around as long; however, it continues to grow in popularity and many believe it may become the leading static site generator in the near future. 05. NUXT Nuxt brings a component-based approach to development Vue.js has gained immense popularity as a front-end framework in recent years, due to its combination of a gentle learning curve, high performance and powerful feature set. Nuxt.js is actually a framework for creating server-rendered Vue applications – that is, dynamic pages which are rendered by the server before being passed in their completed form to the client to display. However, it can also be use to build static sites, with a command line parameter that will build static HTML pages for all routes through a Vue project. Since Nuxt is a Vue framework, familiarity with Vue will be necessary to use it, but developers who have worked with Vue before will feel right at home. And, like Vue, it also brings a component-based approach to development of your sites. 06. MkDocs MkDocs specialises in project documentation sites MkDocs is more specialised than the tools we’ve looked at up until now. It sets out with one very simple objective in mind: to provide a fast and easy-to-use way to generate HTML sites for project documentation. And it absolutely succeeds at doing this. It’s built in Python, so you’ll need Python and pip (Python package manager) installed to get it. After that, getting started is easy. Documentation is written in Markdown, and the tool is configured using a single YAML file. The command-line build process is as simple as it could be. The MkDocs GitHub page includes a number of themes which are specially designed for documentation, or you can build HTML for your own theme. MkDocs is one of the easiest static site generators to get started with, and if documentation is your use case, there really isn’t much cause to look at other tools. 07. Pelican Pelican allows you to import your site from a variety of blogging platforms Pelican supports content written in multiple languages, including the ubiquitous Markdown. It uses the Jinja templating engine, which is both easy to use and extremely powerful, meaning that while Pelican is primarily optimised for building blogs, it is also well suited to building a wide range of different types of other sites. It’s also fast, and can comfortably handle sites with thousands of pages without making you wait for them to build. Like many of the leading static site generators, Pelican allows you to import your site from a variety of blogging platforms. This makes it trivial to convert an existing site built with WordPress or many other popular content management systems. If you’re familiar with Python, and especially if you’ve used Jinja templates before, Pelican is a very safe choice. Conversely, however, it may be a little harder to get to grips with for developers who are more familiar with JavaScript or Ruby. 08. Metalsmith Metalsmith is more customisable than other tools on this list Metalsmith takes a different approach to many other static site generation tools, in that it doesn’t try to do very much at all. Essentially, static site generators take a set of source files, manipulate them, and then generate a set of output files which is the static site itself. Metalsmith provides a framework for doing this, but leaves all of the actual manipulations to plugins. These manipulations are things which typically come out of the box with other static site generators, such as utilising templates, substituting variables, or interpreting languages like Markdown. When run through Metalsmith, all source files are converted to JavaScript objects, which means that manipulations by plugins are essentially modifications to properties of these JavaScript objects. There is, for example, a markdown() plugin which transpires Markdown to HTML. The result of this approach is that Metalsmith is immensely customisable, but requires a little more consideration during setup than some of the more monolithic tools. Don’t like Jekyll’s use of the Liquid templating engine? Here you can pick your own. On the Metalsmith page, you’ll find a lengthy list of plugins to provide a wide range of functionalities, ranging from compiling Sass to CSS through to computing a word count. If you have a preference for unopinionated frameworks, Metalsmith is about as unopinionated as you can get. 09. Middleman Middleman is flexible enough to build a variety of sites Middleman was released around the same time as Jekyll, and will be most familiar to developers who have worked with Ruby on Rails. Its default template engine is ERB (Embedded RuBy) and it also includes built-in support for Haml, Sass, SCSS and Coff eeScript, and can be extended further to support more. Some leading static site generators are heavily geared towards blogs, but Middleman sets its ambitions wider and aims to provide the flexibility to develop any type of site. It’s highly unopinionated and extensible. This means, if all you are doing is a blog, the setup is a little more complex since you’ll have to configure it. 10. Spike Spike is designed to create very simple frameworks Spike is built by the same team as Roots, which saw great popularity while it was actively maintained. It provides a familiar ecosystem for JavaScript developers, utilising webpack, Postcss, Reshape and Babel. Much like Metalsmith, Spike is designed to provide a very simple framework and allow plugins to handle your transformations. Web design event Generate New York returns on 25-27 April 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. This article was originally published in issue 271 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 271 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: The web designer starter toolkit The future of web design How to make it in the web design industry View the full article

If you work in 3D you'll know full well that it pays to stay up-to-date with the latest and best hardware – or at least, the latest and best hardware you can afford. Having the best kit won't make you a better artist, but it will help you create stunning 3D art or render beautiful 3D movies a lot faster. The best computers for video editing 2018 Bearing that in mind, we've assembled five of the best bits of 3D gear you can buy for your studio right now. Have no doubt: some of this kit is eye-wateringly expensive, but if you're serious about producing the best 3D content then you'll find that this hardware quickly pays for itself. This isn't your average tablet 3D has traditionally been a hardware-intensive discipline, making it difficult to work away from your desktop. However, Wacom's stunning mobile pen computer gives professional 3D artists and illustrators the convenience of a mobile tablet – with the full power of desktop creative apps. Making the iPad Pro look more like the iPad Plucky Amateur, the MobileStudio Pro is a high-end Windows 10 PC crammed into a 13 or 16-inch tablet form factor. Powered by an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and Nvidia Quadro GPU, it's packed with features making it ideal for 3D content creation. Its Pro Pen 2 boasts increased capabilities – including 60 degrees of tilt, over 8000 levels of sensitivity and pixel-level pointing accuracy, and higher-spec models come with a 3D scanning camera. Make no mistake: this is a heavyweight machine, literally. You'll know if you're carrying it around all day, particularly the 16-inch model. But if you need to be able to create on the move, the MobileStudio Pro is the only serious choice. Also read: Wacom MobileStudio Pro review The HTC Vive is already the best of the VR headsets, but HTC is upping its game with the Vive Pro, due out in May and available to pre-order now. At $799 for just the headset – you'll need to buy base station sensors and controllers separately – it's not cheap, but if you're working in VR then you'll appreciate its new features. These include a better-fitting headset that's designed to be comfortable for extended periods of time, built-in on-ear headphones delivering 3D spatial audio, and a second front-facing camera for improved tracking. The Vive Pro also boasts a dual AMOLED display with a native resolution of 2880 x 1600, a 110 degree field of view and a rock-solid 90Hz refresh rate. And with the Vive Wireless Adapter due soon you'll be able to use the Vive Pro without all the cables. Also read: HTC Vive Pro review Buy US: HTC Vive Pro at Amazon for $799 Buy UK: HTC Vive at GAME for £799 If you're embracing a VR workflow, you'll want an effective way of building or sculpting in a VR environment. And while both the Vive and Oculus controllers do their jobs perfectly well, it's hard to beat investing in a Leap Motion VR Developer Kit. It takes the standard Leap Motion sensor and mounts it on the front of your VR headset, freeing you from controllers and tracking your hand movements to give you that extra level of precision and finesse that you might not need for gaming in VR – but could prove essential when you're in the middle of a tricky 3D build. Buy US: Leap Motion VR Developer bundle at Amazon for $89.99 Buy UK: Leap Motion Controller for £60.16 and Leap Motion Motion Sensor System for £83.63 Get a new GPU before the Bitcoin miners ruin everything The GPU market is in a very weird state at the moment. If you haven't needed to buy a new GPU in the last couple of years, you're in for a shock next time you go shopping for a 3D upgrade. Decent GPUs are in short supply and their prices have gone through the roof, and it has nothing to do with any demand for realistic 3D graphics. Rather, they're being snapped up by Bitcoin miners as fast as the manufacturers can produce them. The good news, though, is that the miners tend to concentrate on consumer-level hardware such as the Nvidia 10-series GPUs. Pro-level hardware is a little easier to acquire (although these days you'll find that the number of cards you can buy in one purchase is limited), so you shouldn't have much difficulty getting your hands on one of Nvidia's workstation cards. Nvidia's new Quadro GV100, with 640 deep learning-focused Tensor cores on top of 5,120 CUDA cores, is almost certainly overkill for a 3D workflow, especially at $8,999. But the Quadro P6000, with 3,840 cores, 24GB memory and 12 TFLOPS FP32 performance should be all you'll need for the next few years, and it's a (relative) snip at just $4,694/£4,100. Make every other screen you own look blurry and weedy by comparison We've looked at some great portable tech and VR trinkets, but let's face it: you still need a decent monitor most of the time. And they don't come much more decent than Dell's UP3218K. It's the world's first 32-inch 8K monitor, giving you unprecedented levels of crispness, and delivering exceptionally accurate colours and smooth gradation. The best 4K monitors for designers It uses Dell's PremierColor system to provide colour coverage that meets most industry standards, it boasts a flicker-free display that filters out blue light emissions so that it's comfortable to stare at all day, and its adjustable stand means that you can quickly and easily switch it from landscape to portrait view. It'll definitely give a Quadro P6000 a run for its money, and it costs slightly less; the UP3218K is available now from Dell for $3,699.99 / £3,435 Read: Dell UltraSharp UP3218K review Related articles: The best iPad deals for April 2018 Why designers shouldn’t hack their Mac Pro The best computer for graphic design 2018 View the full article

A brilliant new pocket guide to manga art inspired us to seek out the best tools around for those looking to master the form, in this month's round up. We picked out the best quality paper around, and a pack of professional-level pens that won't break the bank. Elsewhere, we get stuck into modern, illustrative mapmaking – skills that teach you how to draw your favourite places. We look at a new book exploring masterpieces that were lost, stolen and destroyed. We get introspective with an essential text on the self-portrait. Finally, another new release encourages you take on ‘sketch dares’. Let’s get started! 01. Tattoos for geeks All the nerdiest tatts around Geek Ink is a tattoo coffee table book with a bit of a difference. Inkstinct is a project that connects 380,000 tattoo studios worldwide. Its new title shows off the best tattoo art that references fantasy and sci-fi themes, maths, science, literature and philosophy, and their creators discuss how they drew them. It's the "definitive tattoo inspiration sourcebook" for geeks. 02. Stolen, looted, destroyed This book celebrates the greatest artwork that didn't make it to the modern day Noah Charney wrote bestseller The Art of Forgery. For his new book, The Museum of Lost Art, he returns to the art underworld and looks at work that was stolen, looted or destroyed in war. Some pieces featured here were accidentally lost, others damaged in natural disasters, and others still destroyed because of the images they carried. Most remarkable of all are the masterpieces recycled for their materials. 03. Art for bookworms Learn how books are used symbolically within art "As every book tells a story, every book in art is part of an intriguing, engaging, and relatable image." In Reading Art: Art for Book Lovers, David Trigg looks into how books in art are used as symbols and subjects in their own right. He considers pieces from museums all over the world in an "homage to both the written word and to its pivotal role in the visual world”. One for both art geeks and bookworms. 04. Modern mapmaking A step-by-step guide to modern cartography In The Art of Map Illustration, four artists guide you through a step-by-step exploration of contemporary cartography and mapmaking. They share their own approaches and techniques, using pen and ink, watercolour, mixed media, and digital processes. They recommended the best tools and materials for drawing intricate maps that tell stories about your favourite cities. 05. Outdoor sketch kit Everything you need to go en plein air This outdoor sketching kit is put together by ever-reliable brand Derwent, so it's good quality gear, but it won't break the bank. The wallet contains graphite, water-soluble, onyx, and charcoal pencils, plus an eraser, a blender, a sharpener, and an A5 sketchpad: everything you need to get outdoors and get started on your mapmaking. For top tips, take a look at our guide to en plein air painting. 06. Level-up your manga A neat but comprehensive guide to Japanese comic art The Little Book of Manga Drawing contains everything you need to know about how to draw manga. It starts with the fundamentals of the form, basic techniques like heads and bodies and proportions, before moving onto to props, colour, costumes, and storytelling. It contains practice pages, creative exercises, and art prompts, so there's something for artists of every level. A small but comprehensive guide to Japanese comic art. 07. Pro-level manga pens These pens are colourfast and won't bleed or smudge These Faber-Castell pens are perfect for manga art. They're colourfast and don't bleed or smudge, so they're perfect for character line work. The pack contains a range of blacks and greys, and various tips ranging from rigid to brush-like. A good stepping stone for anyone looking to move towards professional-level pens, but at an affordable price. 08. Quality manga paper Canson is a leading brand for manga art paper If you're going to get stuck into manga art, you need some nice heavyweight paper to work on. Canson is one of the leading brands for comic and manga art paper. This Comic/Manga sketchpad isn't cheap – you only get 50 sheets – but you're paying for quality and, in particular, its all-important resistance to erasing and scraping. 09. The art of the self-portrait The best self-portraits ever created, in one place Art book publisher Phaidon has given this classic 80-year-old text a reworking. 500 Self-Portraits has been revised for the first time in two decades. It's been given a smart new cover and layers, but still contains the best self-portraits every produced, across various periods and disciplines, plus essays on what they say about the artists who made them. 10. Sketch dares Push your sketching skills with this book of artistic dares Laura Lee Gulledge dares you – she dares you; she double-double dares you – to do things like draw out a feeling, sketch a piece of music, and represent yourself by drawing five objects. There are 24 dares in Sketchbook Dares. Some encourage you to get out and interact with the world around you, while others are more abstract. Read more: How to choose which paint brush to use How to hold a pencil correctly Master wet-in-wet watercolour painting View the full article

If you love the art of design, why not try your hand at it? The eduCBA Design and Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle has the courses you need to pick up new skills and put them to use. You can get a lifetime subscription on sale now for just $19 (approx. £13)! The eduCBA Design and Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle provides you with hundreds of courses with actionable lessons waiting for you – and new ones are being added all the time. You’ll have unlimited access to more than 200 courses and more than 700 hours of content that will take you through tons of media and design essentials. Learn how to work with Photoshop, InDesign, Maya, Flash and much more. The eduCBA Design and Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle usually retails for $797, but you’ll pay just $19 (approx. £13). That’s a saving of 97 per cent – a great deal for unlimited access to skills that could change your career! Related articles: 5 best laptops for Photoshop Turn photos into 3D animations with Photoshop The 10 best free graphic design courses online View the full article

Pantone has launched a range of full-sized single-colour sheets to help product, fashion and home furnishing designers find the right shade for their creations. The new range of TPG Sheets aims to address the need for larger physical references in design workflows and presentations. How to master colour theory The new, bigger sheets will promote better colour communication by providing a more versatile, clearer format for individual colours. TPG Sheets are currently available for the shades in Pantone's Fashion, Home + Interiors (FHI) system. Individual 8.5"x11" colour sheets are available for Pantone's Fashion, Home + Interiors (FHI) system While the company's mini colour chips are fine if you're, say, an individual designer trying to find the right special ink for your poster, the bigger sheets look likely to prove incredibly useful in presentation situations and group meetings, where individual stakeholders might need to consider the colour from afar. You can hang them up for others to evaluate or compare, or try them out in different lighting conditions. Pantone even suggests that product designers could wrap the sheet around an item to get a better idea of how it might look in real life. Each sheet comes printed with a grid on the back, for easy sharing TPG sheets are 8.5 inches x 11 inches of lacquer-coated paper, with a 1 inch x 1 inch grid printed on the back for easy cutting and sharing. Each printed square includes the colour name and number to prevent identification mix-ups. Each sheet costs $15/£12, and they're available to ship globally. You can find out more about TPG Sheets here. Read more: 21 outstanding uses of colour in branding Biggest trends in product packaging design for 2018 10 colour management terms designers need to know View the full article

There are a lot of hurdles to avoid when it comes to tackling a new illustration commission. From handling nightmare clients and distractions from working from home, to knowing the latest illustration trends and the best pencils to use, it isn't always plain sailing. Find out how four leading London-based artists – Michael Driver, Fernando Volken Togni, Jamie Jones and Josh McKenna – tackle the creative process and the practical side of freelancing in the short film below. The four illustrators, represented by agency MP Arts, also offer their hard-won advice for how to tackle an illustration brief. Read on for their tips on how to improve your creative process and make it as a professional illustrator. 01. Stay flexible throughout Fernando Volken Togni's geometric style - as seen in this work for IBM - makes complex topics more accessible "I gather up the information I need and read the brief three or four times," says Fernando Volken Togni. "I'll sketch a basic scheme of what to do, but sometimes the work changes completely in the middle. I experiment, I flip shapes, I change colours and there's not much of a line I follow. As long as you pass the right message." 02. Seek out visual clues Jamie Jones’ work for Jameson Whiskey For editorial work, Jamie Jones always tries to pull out areas of visual interest in the text for inspiration. "From there, I try to give myself as much time as I can so it can be swimming around in my head and my brain absorbs the concept within that," he explains. "I draw as much as I can and hope something comes out. That stage can either go really well or be quite frustrating. Sometimes the best time for getting ideas is on a walk, or on a train." 03. Never stop sketching Josh McKenna’s work for Converse "I have a sketchbook with me at all times," reveals Josh McKenna. "I'll get the brief and sketch up tiny, rough ideas, then develop two or three into larger thumbnails. At that point I'll usually show the client for feedback for the idea," he continues. "If it gets the go-ahead, I'll scan it in and trace the sketch using Illustrator, so I keep all the natural form that I drew by hand." 04. Save your nice pens for later One of a series of editorial illustrations by Michael Driver for Mosaic science magazine about how basketball can break down stigma around disability Michael Driver always opts for the worst drawing tool he can find when sketching initial ideas. "A rubbish pen is great. You never think: 'That mark is great!' because it's just a Biro drawing. You can just focus on the idea," he explains. "Once I've got the roughs, I usually colour them blue and sometimes add colour underneath them before sending them to the art director. It's a good point to talk about how colour can be used in compositions." 05. Prioritise at the sketching stage An illustration by Josh McKenna for Wired World 2015 magazine For Josh McKenna, prioritising is key – and the easiest point to control how much time to spend on a project is at the sketching stage. "If I have three jobs on, I'll have a day where I just do initial sketches to show the client," he says. "I develop them further in order of importance." 06. Stay on top of your deadlines In this short film, the illustrators focus on the essential art of time management and share their advice for hitting deadlines."You need to have discipline. The key is to be organised, because it's all about your routine," advises Fernando Volken Togni. 07. Pin everything on the wall Posters by Fernando Volken Togni for RBS Brazil Rather than complex project management software, Fernando Volken Togni favours a simple corkboard: "I pin everything on it," he smiles. "I need to visually know what's happening. I separate them by colour for different clients, and try to be very organised with that. It feels great to throw the Post-Its away when I finish." 08. Plan out your whole week Illustrations for CIM magazine The Marketer by Jamie Jones With multiple projects going on at once, it can all get overwhelming. Jamie Jones advocates planning out an overview of each week. "Work out what you're doing each day – maybe even split it into half-days," he says. "It sounds obvious, but the number of people that actually do that is probably quite small." 09. Don't bite off more than you can chew When you first start out, it can be tempting to say 'yes' to every job. Michael Driver learnt the hard way how tough that can be, with plenty of late nights. "That's something you're never taught at university. You can't really be taught how to be hard on yourself. Now I take short lunch breaks and get up slightly earlier." This article first appeared inside Computer Arts issue 249, a special issue looking at how to power up your skills as a freelancer and more. Subscribe to the magazine here. Liked this? Read these... 48 illustrators to follow on Behance 100 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials How to draw and paint people, animals and landscapes View the full article

Researchers have identified a hacking group behind several widescale maritime shipping industry business email compromise (BEC) attacks since June. View the full article

If you've have the chance to use one of Wacom’s large-format pen displays, you'll know why these drawing tablets are used in studios around the world. Wacom’s previous flagship model, the Cintiq 27QHD, provided artists with an impressive 27 inches of screen space at a resolution of 2,560 x 1,400 pixels. As the push for Ultra High Definition content increases, however, artists are beginning to need more resolution and screen space than ever before. Step up the Wacom Cintiq Pro 32. It isn't yet on sale – but we got our hands on the latest model in Wacom’s Cintiq family to give it a spin... The best cheap Wacom tablet deals 2018 Wacom Cintiq Pro 32: specs The Wacom Cintiq Pro 32 features a 4K UHD display spanning an impressive 32 inches, with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. With four times the pixels of a standard 1080p display, the Cintiq Pro 32 provides plenty of work space, allowing users to display important toolbars without eating into that precious screen space. Wacom Cintiq Pro 32: display Unlike the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 (another new release) and previous generation Cintiqs, which came in touch and non-touch variants, the Wacom Cintiq Pro 32 comes with touch functionality as standard. Despite the larger screen, the Cintiq Pro 32 is only 8.5cm wider and 4cm taller but uses a smaller bezel, meaning more screen space without taking over too much desk. Both Cintiq Pro models come with Wacom’s Pro Pen 2, featuring 8,192 levels of sensitivity, plus tilt-response for a more natural and virtually lag-free drawing experience. The displays also come with the ExpressKey Remote, a controller that houses the buttons and touch ring commonly found along one edge of the earlier Cintiq models. The separation of this remote from the main body of the display allows for seamless switching between left and right-handed modes, and the non-slip backing means the remote can be placed anywhere on the face of the device, with magnetic strips down either side to hold the remote in place when the display is positioned vertically. 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and unparalleled tilt recognition means that every stroke is naturally precise In order to rotate the display more freely, the optional Ergo Stand is required. This allows the display to be set vertically like a standard monitor, and horizontally at standing height or desk level. Out of the box, the back of the display features two fl ip-out legs to support the device at a 20-degree angle to the desk. Reducing glare When used in a bright studio environment, glare may present an issue. Compared to the 27QHD, which has a more reflective screen coating, the Pro 32 has taken steps towards solving this issue with an etched glass screen that diffuses those harsh reflections. This is also helped by turning off room lighting and using a desk light, or by using the Ergo Stand to angle the device away from the light source. Connectivity Towards the rear of the display, there is a panel which can be removed to reveal the various ports and sockets used to connect your display to your work machine. These include: 1x HDMI 1x DisplayPort 1x USB Type-C 1x USB 3.0 1x Power socket With four times the pixels of a standard 1080p display, users to display important toolbars without eating into precious screen space. Glen Southern Located around the side edges of the display are four USB 3.0 ports, with two on either side for device connectivity such as charging the ExpressKey Remote. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left side and a SD card VERDICT slot at the right, both located under the USB ports. At the top edge of the display is the power switch and LED power indicator. On the top left above the screen, there is a series of touch buttons that enable you to call various functions from your machine such as the on-screen keyboards, access Wacom settings or enable and disable the touch function. Extra space There is also a button that enables toggling between the display input mode for the device which was absent from the 27QHD, meaning cables no longer have to be swapped between machines. In the studio, we have a USB-C enabled laptop plugged in via the included USB-C cable, with a workstation plugged into the display through a USB 3.0 and DisplayPort cable. This means machines can be swapped with the press of a button and with no rummaging around under the desk. The use of the USB-C for this generation greatly reduces cable clutter, as both the display signal and USB connectivity can be run through one cable. Unlike the Cintiq MobileStudio Pro, the Pro 32 does not feature any external USB-C ports, which will be welcomed by those who are unprepared to upgrade all of their devices to USB-C.The Cintiq Pro 32 offers a large screen size, with the resolution perfect for displaying UHD content. The extra space is also ideal for users who require specific toolbars and custom user interface layouts without limiting canvas or viewport size. Additionally, there is also the option to transform your Cintiq Pro into a powerful standalone creative pen computer with the Wacom Cintiq Pro Engine PC module. The Wacom Cintiq Pro 32 is due to ship in Spring 2018. This article was originally published in issue 233 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 233 here or subscribe here. Also read: The best cheap Wacom tablet deals View the full article

User experience is now considered a vital, standalone discipline within web design. And with 'UX designer' fully established as a job title, and specialists still in high demand, our user experiences should be better than ever. However, as demands change and expectations rise, there are still issues facing the discipline. We asked web professionals what barriers they felt were holding us back from creating great user experiences today. 01. Too many smart devices Multi-channel experiences pose a big challenge James Davis, the head of UX at Verv, argues that the biggest challenge and stumbling block in modern UX comes from the rise in connected devices. "The growing number of smart devices is pushing the UX industry to create more dynamic and continuous digital experiences. Think booking a taxi through Uber using Alexa and checking your phone to see when it arrives," he explains. "This year will see us moving towards omni-channel UX. Creating a seamless user experience, where users can transition their brand interactions smoothly between devices, will be a tough but exciting." 02. Lack of diversity in the industry We need our teams to be as diverse as our customers The lack of diversity within the web industry is damaging our UX design, says experience design strategist Rochelle Dancel. "It’s not a ‘nice to have’, it’s a business imperative, especially if we want products and services that reach – and work for – audiences at scale," she assets. "Ensuring that we have designers, researchers and strategists who are reflective of diverse users is also especially important in a design culture that seeks to get that MVP out as quickly as possible." Dancel points out that with the rise of AI, the issue of diversity is becoming even more important. "Ensuring a diverse set of perspectives is proactively engaged in the design process is crucial (and more of a challenge) as we increasingly develop products and services with AI and automation to reflect and shape the world around us." 03. Disregard for mobile-first (still) Mobile users now surpass those using larger screens While the benefits of designing mobile-first are well documented, many web pros are still ignoring this approach. "Mobile users have already surpassed the number of people using the web from larger screens, but the digital world has yet to catch up," says UX designer Stacey K Flatt. "A site that is not responsive will lose visitors." When to ignore 'Mobile-First' 04. Lack of inquisitiveness There's more than one route to great UX Barry Woodhall, a director at Moken, believes that the main barrier holding us back is a lack of inquisitiveness for the brief. "In the field of user experience, there’s more than one route to success, and in 2018 we expect no different, with user data still informing on solid design decisions," he explains. "One exciting barrier (or opportunity, perhaps) will be the continuing rise of artificial intelligence and the consideration of AI-powered platforms during the early UX research and planning stages of projects." 05. A need to scale up Large companies such as IBM have embraced a design-led culture As more and more large companies embrace design thinking, challenges are arising as to scale up the design culture and processes. "They need to support multiple teams and platform experiences, rather than single app experiences, while also looking to maintain the same level of quality and design consistency," comments Mendix Technology's Christopher J Hodges. "The challenge is only made bigger given the shortage of UX resources for many large organisations: they tend to hire more developers than designers, with on average just one designer for every 17 developers." 06. More demanding users Users now expect more from their devices "The biggest challenge is also the most exciting opportunity for learning: users are busy and we need to display the information they need, right away," explains UX designer Juliette Pretot. "New devices such as smart speakers, watches and cars each introduce their own constraints. You can’t glance over information presented through a speaker. You can only lift up your wrist for so long before your arm gets tired. Our UIs needs to scale across all platforms. To do this, they will have to be context aware and personal." While figuring out how to meet these demands is a challenge, Pretot is confident it will pay off. "Adjusting to those new constraints won’t be easy, but will lead to better UX everywhere, not only for your smart speaker, but for your phone and computer, too." 07. Bad designers Slavishly following trends is a route to disaster We can blame circumstances and new technologies as much as we like, but for Prodlytic co-founder Will Grant, there's only one reason for bad UX: bad UX designers. "Somewhere along the way, many UX people forgot that design – UI design in particular – isn’t art, it’s design to perform a function: to serve users," he says. "Too many designers are slavishly following the latest design trend, applying ‘flat design’ to every app, or trying to be different for the sake of it, with custom-designed interfaces and arbitrary visual metaphors." His solution is simple, too: try and be objective, fight for the user, and test with real users as you go. Web design event Generate New York returns on 25-27 April 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. This article was originally published in net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 303 or subscribe. Read more: The 5 biggest UX design trends for 2018 7 UX tools to try The theory of UX View the full article

Researcher Billy Rios, founder of WhiteScope, discusses medical device hacking at RSA Conference 2018 with Threatpost’s Tom Spring. View the full article

The software options for digital artists are many and varied. There are plenty of tools on the market aimed at helping you to create unique pieces of digital art or mimic traditional effects. In this post, we've rounded up and reviewed the best digital art and illustration programs around, to help you pick the right ones for you. For art on the go, take a look at our pick of the best drawing apps for iPad. There's software for Windows and macOS, and we've even included a few Linux tools too. There are also free and paid options, depending on your budget. So grab your stylus and let's get this show on the road. Photoshop is the de facto standard when it comes to digital art and graphic design. Because it's part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, you can easily share your data and access all of your assets – including brushes, images, colours and styles – across all of your devices. There's also an impressive library of Photoshop plugins available to add extra functionality to the programme. Find out more in our Photoshop CC 2018 review. Affinity Designer has everything you need to create custom designs and illustrations. With Affinity Designer, you have precise control over curves, brush stabilisation options, advanced blend modes, and best of all: one million+ per cent zoom. No, really... it's true! In fact, this might just be my favourite feature. Clip Studio Paint is quickly becoming the go-to tool for manga art and comic creation. If you're looking for a natural and traditional feel that's wrapped up in a digital drawing and painting app, this is it. Clip Studio Paint uses advanced pen pressure detection for natural, realistic-looking pen strokes. This tool comes in Pro and Ex versions – the latter offers more advanced features. Graphiter is an intuitive sketching app, with a beautiful design, that has one goal: to reproduce a real-life sketching experience. With simple tools like a blend tool, an eraser, and graphite pencils, I couldn't help but feel like I was using traditional tools to create my digital sketches. Artweaver 6 is a full-featured digital art tool available in two flavours: Artweaver Free and Artweaver Plus. Take a look at the comparison chart to help you decide which is right for you. Loaded with a large selection of preconfigured brushes, Artweaver will have you creating your masterpiece in no time. You can either use the brushes as-is, or customise and save them to your liking. Its easy-to-use interface is also highly customisable, although out-of-the-box, it's set up quite nicely. ArtRage has always been a favourite among digital painters and illustrators. It offers a level of realism for traditional paint texture and colour that not only looks incredible but is also a lot of fun to play with. Although ArtRage is primarily focused on natural media and painting, it's flexible enough that digital artists who are used to Photoshop will find it useful too. With the latest edition, you can do everything you'd expect from a digital art tool: custom brushes, layers, fills, filters, and more. Krita seems to be one of the most underrated free and open source painting apps on the market, despite it being in development for over 10 years. Krita has an intuitive and customisable interface, where the dockers and panels can be set up to maximise your workflow. The tool offers nine unique brush engines, including a Color Smudge engine, Shape engine and Particle engine. You can also import brushes and texture packs or create and share your own. As an added bonus, you can use a brush stabiliser to help get those perfectly smooth lines every time. Speaking of brushes, TwistedBrush comes packed with more than 9000 brushes! Yes, you read that correctly – 9000 brushes. But don't worry, you can still create your own brushes too. Like other digital art tools, TwistedBrush has everything you'd expect: layers, transparency, masks, extensive options for import and export, image filters, and more. It also has drawing tablet support with high precision sampling and pressure sensitivity. If you're looking for a great, free alternative to Clip Studio Paint, have a look at Medibang Paint Pro. Medibang Paint Pro is a lightweight digital drawing tool with a strong focus on creating manga art and comic books. It comes loaded with 800 free pre-made tones and backgrounds that you can use. It also has more than 50 brushes, and a huge selection of free fonts you can use within your projects. Corel's Painter has been around for a long time, but it's just had a nice upgrade. The 2018 version includes a host of improvements and new tools including thick paint, cloning capabilities, texture synthesis, 2.5D texture brushes and natural-media brushes (review all of the new and enhanced features here). Like ArtRage, Painter 2018 gives your work that natural look and feel. The way the paint interacts with the digital canvas is amazing, so go ahead and pile on the paint, push it around, scrape it off, and blend it to create a stunning, realistic digital work of art. It's all about realistic brushes, right? Not always! Black Ink has a different approach when it comes to brushes. Instead of trying to mimic traditional tools, Black Ink uses a Controller system that opens a whole new world of possibilities in brush creation and customisation. Using a simple node-based language, you'll be able to create any type of brush imaginable, which you can then save and share with the community. A slightly different app than the rest, PhotoDonut lets you transform existing photos into stunning artistic creations, using everything from pencil, ink and watercolour effects to magna and light leaks. With PhotoDonut Style Categories, you can tweak the settings until you reach the desired effect. You can even use the Freehand painting tool to give your photos that painterly feel. Another free and open digital art tool is SpeedyPainter. This one, however, strips away the non-essentials and gives you the bare minimum you need to create. But don't confuse bare minimum with a lack of features. SpeedyPainter supports Wacom digitisers to vary size and opacity of brush strokes according to pen pressure, and it includes tools like mirroring and perspective grids. It also has a neat record and export feature that you can use to capture and share your creation process. Paintstorm Studio is another easy-to-use digital art tool that has a permanent spot on my dock. One of the major features with Paintstorm Studio is its brush selection and customisation options (these include spacing jitter, texture, angle, and more). It also supports stroke post correction, which is a handy feature when you're doing line work. As far as the interface goes, it's easy to navigate and laid out exactly how you'd expect (and the default colour scheme is fantastic). However, if you're not a fan, it's completely customisable. Read more: Create portrait art in Corel Painter The 9 best alternatives to Photoshop 20 illustrators to follow on Instagram View the full article

Web developers keep the internet running. They work behind the scenes to make sure the gears never stop in any of your favourite applications and sites. It's a career that rewards structure and creativity, and you can join the ranks by working your way through the Ultimate Front End Developer Bundle. It's on sale now for just $39 (approx. £27)! The Ultimate Front End Developer Bundle is the ideal starting place for any aspiring developer to start their new career. This collection of eight expert-taught courses can help anyone learn how to code using the most important languages in web development, from JavaScript to HTML5 and CSS3. Work your way through this bundle of courses and you'll pick up the skills you need to launch a new and lucrative career. You can get the Ultimate Front End Developer Bundle on sale for just $39 (approx. £27), 96 per cent off the retail price. That’s a massive saving on a bundle that could help you find work in a growing industry, so grab this deal today! Related articles: The future of web design How to make it in the web design industry 5 articles to improve your web design career View the full article

In 2012, I learned a dangerous rule: a mobile-first approach to UX ensures users will have a consistent experience on all devices. After four years of chanting this mantra alongside UX designers everywhere, there was a recent Sunday afternoon when I realised it like a memory. In the dogmatic spread of responsive, adaptive, cross-browser compatibility – and the design process it requires – something has been lost. Choose a website builder: 16 top tools Ironically, I was meandering through my college alumni magazine, which is still quaintly printed on paper and sent in the mail. The layouts were different from web like a four-chord punk song is different from math rock. Layout itself dictated the content strategy. Layout itself dictated the content strategy in this college alumni magazine Originally, mobile-first was about user experience. Now, it’s often an excuse for using a safe, traditional layout, and lately, UX has been suffering as it’s assumed that consistency is what users actually want. Mobile-first layouts insist on simplicity and minimalism. I’m not the first to rant about the main repercussion: every website is starting to look the same. Click image to enlarge I myself have worked with designers who basically scale up their pixel-perfect mobile comps, leaving the user with a giant desktop experience. A consistent cross-device mobile experience has been the mantra, but it’s clear that banning the use of UI patterns, layouts and interactions that “don’t work” on mobile is becoming an outdated and irrelevant approach to some projects. I feel equipped to pick on mobile-first because I have evangelized it for so long. In fact, for me, this article is borderline hypocrisy. I have a reputation as a ruthless champion for usability at the expense of creativity, so I know all the excuses. Excuse #1: “Cross-device experiences help users jump between mobile and desktop” Why it’s true: If you’re designing complex user flows that require multiple sessions, mobile-first still rules. Understanding the user’s context can dictate how likely they are to be interrupted or need to pause a task. True responsive makes it easier to pick back up where you left off. Why it’s false: Your mobile experience should be usable enough that most tasks can be completed in one sitting, and each component should fit the most likely device for its context. For example, if research shows that a hospital website’s desktop traffic is more focused on researching services, then said content should be up front. Users visiting that website on mobile, however, might be more likely to need location information or ER times. Don’t promote “featured service lines” to a mobile user trying to find the nearest urgent care clinic. If the user’s needs are different on each device, the experience should be different. When it shouldn’t matter: Some designers have changed the meaning of “cross-device” by creating experiences that let different screens play together. Arcade Fire has launched “interactive films” to promote their albums. Reflektor acts as a music video for the titular track. From a computer’s web browser, the site prompts you to “Connect your smartphone or tablet.” Your computer’s webcam recognises the device’s position as you wave it, “reflecting” on the video as it plays. Arcade Fire has launched “interactive films” to promote their albums – Reflektor acts as a music video for the titular track In the same way, Paper Planes, built for Google I/O 2016, brought attendees together by letting them use their mobile devices to digitally throw paper planes at a 50-ft screen on stage. Paper Planes brought attendees together by letting them use their mobile devices to digitally throw paper planes at a 50-ft screen on stage Excuse #2: “People are increasingly mobile” Why it’s true: Think about the speed, screen resolution, and browser capabilities of your current smartphone compared to five years ago. These days, it feels laborious to explicitly type the words: “mobile usage has surpassed desktop.” The stats are everywhere. On 4 November, Google declared the switch to a “mobile-first index,” citing that “today, most people are searching on Google using a mobile device.” There’s no stronger endorsement than when Google declares you just might rank lower if your site isn’t responsive. So, if your digital strategy still relies on SEO, don’t scrap the mobile-first approach. Why it doesn’t matter: Remember that Google Search is meant to help people find information. Is your audience even looking for you? Maybe not. Users in 2017 expect information to come to them – to be sucked in through social referrals, clickhole vortexes, related content, and the unsung magic of contextual navigation. If you have a diverse visibility strategy that brings users in, the payoff for creative layouts and custom experiences might be worth the risk. Shoe company Camper built a highly visual landing page for a recent campaign, heavy on motion and video, but sparse on content. Yet, the provocative site still drove to their regular ecommerce storefront. Shoe company Camper built a highly visual landing page for a recent campaign The mobile experience is neglected. Perhaps the ROI on optimising a similar approach for mobile wouldn’t have been worth it given the short campaign window. Camper's mobile experience is neglected Maybe your project isn’t about findability or conversions. A PREDICTIVE_WORLD uses Facebook data “based on actual research capable of building a digital profile and predicting your future.” There isn’t exactly “content” to rank. There is no CTA. Further, not only is the layout intended for desktop, the experience is majorly enhanced by hover states, animations, and sound effects. A Predictive World's layout is intended for desktop, the experience is majorly enhanced by hover states, animations, and sound effects The team attempted a mobile version, but it’s so limited that they might as well have spent the time and budget elsewhere. The mobile version of A PREDICTIVE_WORLD is very limited Excuse #3: “Some people only ever experience the internet from their smartphones” Why it’s true: For billions of people, access to the internet is a luxury when it should be considered a basic human right. Low-income Americans are choosing smartphones over computers when they can only afford one or the other. Accessibility standards and best practices like mobile-first are meant to ensure equality. If your project is meant to provide people of all contexts, locations, and demographics with information and functionality they need, you’d better be practicing mobile-first. When you shouldn’t care: That doesn’t mean modern web technology as a medium should be forbidden as art. Some people only experience music from Spotify; we still have live concerts. Pharrell’s 2014 web-based “24-hour music video” wouldn’t have made us “Happy” if the cross-device experience zealots had won the argument. Williams' Happy 'doesn't work on mobile' Web technologies are also the perfect place to pay tribute to technology itself. Canadian developer Ben Feist digitised the Apollo 17 mission within a control room-like layout. The screen is cluttered with data, visuals, text, and controls, updating “live” as the rocket is launching. It’s a little overwhelming – which is probably exactly how it felt in 1972. And who wants to experience a moon landing on a 4.7-inch screen? Who wants to experience a moon landing on a 4.7-inch screen? Occasionally, it is better to make something you love for a few than to make something ordinary for everyone. It depends on the goal. These sites do serve a purpose. They are emotional, not transactional. By leaving an impression rather than driving a conversion, the effect is arguably stronger than your templated content marketing site. We’re quickly leaving the era of information-seeking. Users now expect content to appear for them contextually. Expecting them to search for, land on, and spend several minutes navigating your traditional website is no longer the right approach for every brand. Occasionally abandoning the mobile-first law can free us to embrace new ways of communicating, creative stories, and more impactful experiences. Whatever your inspiration – maybe you have free time, maybe you have abstract KPIs, maybe there’s no one stopping you – embrace it. The internet is awesome, web technologies are insane, and you have an idea. Let the medium shine. Related articles: Inside Etsy's handmade workspace Free ebook on Practical Typography Techniques The pro's guide to UI design View the full article

Getting the right education can be the difference between bagging your dream design job and, well, not. Now successful graphic designer Christopher J Porter is a proud Shillington graduate from 2009, who has been out in the design world for almost a decade now. Porter has been killing it on the design front since graduation from Shillington’s full time course in London. Here he talks about setting up his own studio I See Sea in Falmouth and working as a freelancer at branding and packaging studio Kingdom & Sparrow. In the full interview over on the Shillington blog, Porter also discusses his latest exciting project The Collection, in which he tackles topical mental health issues with a slick collection of pins and patches – currently live on Crowdfunder. What originally made you enrol at Shillington? After school I had been working as a professional musician, during which time I had been doing a lot of ‘amateur’ design work for the band. When the music came to an end, I decided that it would be good to train in design. However, at 23 I was reluctant to sign up for three years of study. Shillington seemed like the perfect place to totally immerse myself in design and learn the ropes – and it totally was. The studio environment and fantastic support from the teachers was the perfect foundation for my future in design. Tell us a bit about one your favourite projects of your design career so far. Porter's identities can be seen in various independent coffee houses in the UK That’s like asking me to choose a favourite child..! I’m going to group a few into a category. I have worked on design and branding for a number of great cafes down here and, as a big coffee lover, I always enjoy this work. As someone who works with mainly small businesses, opportunities to see your work on printed materials can be few and far between, but when working with cafes you get to see your identity spread across cups, loyalty cards, signage - it’s a really satisfying feeling. To read the full interview with Porter, head over to the Shillington blog. View the full article

You're reading Designmodo Launches Massive Redesign and New Logo, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! This is perhaps one of the most important days in the history of Designmodo. Today, we are releasing a new version of the site, a new logo and a new vision for the future of our company. As many of you … View the full article

Research shows that colour is registered by the brain before images or type, which means brushing up on colour theory for branding is well worth your time. Successful 'ownership' of a colour in any given sector is the holy grail, and there are many outstanding examples of colour in branding that prove how effective that can be. Certain sectors have familiar colour palettes associated with them. The calm, stable, trustworthy reassurance of blue crops up frequently in the financial services and communications sectors, for instance; while attention-grabbing, energising reds and yellows are key colours in many major fast-food chains. Sometimes a brand strikes off in a totally different direction. McDonald's, long the figurehead of that zingy red-and-yellow palette, went green in many of its European branches. And Apple's white products cut through the black, grey and beige of the technology sector like a hot knife through butter. Guinness' total ownership of black is hugely distinctive within a wine, beer and spirits sector filled with greens, reds and blues. And EasyJet brings a flash of orange to the overwhelmingly red-and-blue dominated airline sector. When it comes to logo design, sometimes it pays to embrace the familiar as a visual shorthand for what you do – but stand-out will always be more challenging as a result. Read on for five examples of brands that think differently about colour... 01. Monzo Brand new banking service Monzo brings a totally fresh colour palette to the financial sector Blue can be found all over the financial services sector. Bank of America, Barclays, American Express, VISA... the list goes on. Throw in HSBC, NatWest, Santander and MasterCard, and there's also a fair bit of red. Founded in 2015, Monzo totally bucks that trend – combining teal, coral, sage green and golden beige in its in-house-designed 'M' logo. It's fitting that a "smart bank" founded with "the new generation" in mind should have a different perspective on colour, too. Digital flexibility was the key, and physical branches and cheque books went out the door – along with those ubiquitous blues and reds. According to Monzo, designer Sam Michael was looking to combine the strength and confidence that customers want in a bank, with a more friendly, colourful and human vibe. The softer, more subtle colour palette makes it more informal, and less officious compared to its establishment rivals. 02. Lufthansa Lufthansa's recent rebrand gave it a darker, more refined shade of blue, but kept the rich yellow that distinguishes it from the airline sector We've mentioned how easyJet cuts through the sea of blue and red airline liveries with a bright orange that defines the entire 'easy' franchise. Hungarian airline Wizz Air also adds a dab of purple and pink to the budget end of the spectrum. But when it comes to the big national carriers – American Airlines, British Airways, KLM, Qantas, Emirates – there are relatively few outliers for whom red and blue don't dominate in the logo and livery. Step up Lufthansa. Sure, navy blue is a significant feature of its branding, but what has always set it apart is the rich ochre yellow that complements it. The German carrier's distinctive crane emblem was originally designed a century ago by graphic artist Otto Firle, and adapted into a comprehensive identity program in the 1960s by Otl Aicher – who introduced the blue and yellow combination. Lufthansa's recent in-house refresh brings it into the digital age, refining the marque and making the main blue darker and more elegant. Crucially, that distinctive yellow remains a distinguishing factor across its various brand touchpoints. 03. Eir Moving Brands gave Irish telco eir (formely Eircom) a bold injection of fluorescent colour as part of its 2015 rebrand Another sector awash with blue is technology and telecoms. Think: IBM, HP, AT&T, O2, Intel, Samsung, Nokia, Facebook, Twitter... We've already mentioned how Apple defies its sector in more ways than one, but another, lesser-known brand to have done so is Irish telecoms provider eir, which was given a wholesale overhaul by Moving Brands in 2015. The bold, organic and flowing marque – which, like Monzo, feels much more human and approachable than the rest of its sector – was given a unique, vibrant, fluorescent colour palette that fizzes and pops across digital and print alike. This was the brand's biggest shake-up in 20 years, and Moving Brands explored unexpected colour combinations to match the dynamic, unconventional logo itself. 04. Taco Bell Lippincott's 2016 rebrand pared back Taco Bell's logo and brought a two-tone purple palette to the fore Red (often paired with yellow) is, quite simply, the colour of fast-food. McDonalds, Burger King, Denny's, Pizza Hut, KFC and many more use it as their main brand colour. It grabs attention, feels bold and urgent, and according to some researchers, may even increase your appetite – so it's no real surprise. For McDonald's, reinventing itself in a more sophisticated shade of green in its European branches was about changing brand perceptions in the face of a childhood obesity crisis – and appealing to a lucrative market of young professionals who prefer coffee to Happy Meals. But one fast-food giant changed its stripes significantly earlier. From the mid-80s until the mid-90s, Taco Bell was red and yellow too. Then the bell went pink and purple: a combination that totally bucks the fast-food trend. Taco Bell's main purple logo is also available in these six alternative colour variations Its minimalist 2016 rebrand by Lippincott stripped out the pink and left a pared-back two-tone purple logo marque, although this is also available in six more colour combinations: teal, gold, coral, light green, blue and orange. As well as a broader colour palette, Lippincott also opened up the iconic bell shape as a container device for a potentially endless array of patterns, textures and image, making it much more flexible across all manner of applications. 06. Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot champagne has sported its highly distinctive yellow label and packaging since 1877 Tattinger, Moët & Chandon, Bollinger and Krug are all world-renowned champagne brands, but they share something else in common: the combination of a green bottle and gold foil, often with a touch of red, in their branded packaging. This is where Veuve Clicquot has colour recognition absolutely sewn up: its highly distinctive yellow label has been synonymous with the brand for almost 150 years. Back in 1850, Veuve Clicquot could be distinguished by its minimalist pure white label, but as the global popularity of dry champagnes grew, it sought ownership of a brighter colour. In 1877, the first yellow label was born. Over the following decades, the yellow became richer, deeper and more orange in hue, making it easy to spot in a dark, crowded wine cellar. That brand association remains strong to this day, and definitely bucks the trend of its sector. Related articles: 5 brands so strong they don't need a logo Pick the right font for your social campaigns 4 design trends we're all tired of hearing about View the full article

Choosing the best pencils or paint brushes for your next project isn't always an easy decision. After all, different effects require different tools so it can be difficult to know which to use. To simplify the process of choosing my paint brushes, I make two major distinctions: the type of hair the paint brush is made of and the shape. If you're struggling with which paint brush to use, the best thing to do is to try the various shapes. For example, you could start with only bristle rounds. Then, try and paint with only flats, and then finally filberts. Remember, it takes time to become familiar with the various shapes. Practice makes perfect. So how do you pick the perfect tool? Here are 20 tips to help you decide which paint brush to use, for any painting. 01. Two types of hair Choose from bristle or sable The first way I categorise paint brushes is by the type of hair they use. The two main types of hair are bristle (A) and sable (B). Both come in many different shapes and sizes, and can be made either from natural animal hair or synthetic fiber. I generally use bristles for rougher marks and sables for smoother strokes. 02. Bristle brushes A bristle paint brush will hold a lot of paint Bristle brushes are made of thicker, stronger and sometimes rougher hair. They originally came from animals such as wild hogs, but now synthetic bristle brushes are very common. Bristles are great because they can hold a lot of paint. I use bristles to do the bulk of my painting, especially when covering large areas. 03. Bristle marks Create painterly strokes with a bristle paint brush To help you choose which paint brush to use, here is an example of some marks made with bristle brushes. Bristle marks tend to be rougher and the paint strokes can be easily seen. These are often called "painterly" strokes. I like the rough look for adding texture and variety to my paintings. I also like bristles for making drawing type marks because of their stiffness and durability. 04. Sable brushes Sable paint brushes are subtler Sable brushes are generally made of finer and softer hair. Sables can be made from soft animal hair such as a mongoose or mink, or from soft synthetic fibers. I like sables mostly for blending edges and creating softer and more subtle marks. I also enjoy using smaller sables for adding fine details and finishing touches.. 05. Sable marks These are the marks you'll make with a sable paint brush Here is an example of some marks made by sable brushes. Sables make very clean marks and the paint strokes tend to be hidden. Because of this sables are great for achieving a more "realistic" look in a painting. I like to use sables for making soft, airbrush like marks and for blending. 06. Three paint brush shapes Paint brushes come in three common shapes The next way I categorise paint brushes is by shape. The three most common shapes are: flat (A), filbert (B) and round (C ). All three shapes can come in both bristle and sable hair. They also come in many different sizes. It took me years of practice and experience to decide which shape worked best for me. 07. Round brushes Round paint brushes are great for mark-making The first common brush shape is round. Round brushes are shaped like sharp tear drops or large needles. I like to use rounds for drawing and making drawing like marks. I'll often begin my paintings with a small round brush to draw with, and then use larger rounds to fill larger areas. 08. Flat brushes Use flat paint brushes to define form The next common brush shape is flat. Flat brushes have a rectangular shape. Flat brushes make square shaped marks. They can also make chisel like lines, especially when using a sable flat. I use flats mostly to model form. There square shaped marks are great for defining planes and form in a figure or portrait painting. 09. Filbert brushes Filbert paint brushes are good for many tasks The final most common brush shape is filbert. Filberts are combination of both round and flat. The have the rectangular shape of a flat brush, but also come to a point like a round brush. Because of their unique shape, filberts can create a wide variety of marks. I use filberts for many painting tasks including blending edges. 10. Round bristle brush marks Bristle paint brushes make these sorts of marks Here are some examples of marks made by round bristle brush. Rounds can create a variety of marks. Like a pencil or marker, they can also go thick to thin. Because the shape resembles a pencil, I like making drawing and hatching marks with round bristles. I almost always start every painting with a round bristle. 11. Round sable brush marks Sable rounds are great for detail Here are some examples of marks made by round sable brush. Sables have finer and softer hair and they also retain their shape well. I use round sables for a variety of tasks including blending edges and for fine details. Small sable rounds are my favourite brushes for adding small details. 12. Flat bristle brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by flat bristle brush I love the square shaped marks for painting planes on forms. When I paint figures or portraits I do most of the work with a flat bristle brush. I also like the way the paint strokes are very visible with bristle brushes. 13. Flat sable brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by flat sable brush A sable flat can make square shaped marks, but with a much cleaner edge. The rough, painterly edge is gone, but instead is replaced by smooth and polished look. I use sable flats for blending edges and making softer strokes on a portrait or figure. 14. Filbert bristle brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by filbert bristle brush Filberts can create a wide variety of marks, from thick to thin and back again. Because of their versatility, they are great for drawing and for painting the head or figure. I use filbert bristles to add variety and texture to my paintings. 15. Filbert sable brush marks Here are some examples of marks made by filbert sable brush Like the bristle version, sable filberts can also make a wide variety of marks. Sometimes it feels like drawing with ink or charcoal. I like to use filbert sables for both making crisp, drawing marks and edges and also for blending edges. 16. Large brushes Bristle holds more paint Larger brushes are almost always flat shaped and made from bristle since bristle holds more paint. Large brushes like these (A) come in 1/2 inch to 1 inch in size. The large long handle flat (B) is a size 12. I use large brushes for painting large areas, but also for applying gesso and varnish. 17. Small detail brushes Small brushes can go from size 1 to 00, or even to a single hair! Small detail brushes are almost always made from sable hair, because they retain their stiffness and shape well. I use small sable brushes like these for adding fine details, but also for blending edges in small forms. 18. Build up your brush set Get the essential paint brushes Once you know which paint brush to use and when, start building up your collection. This is my personal brush set for painting indoor subjects like figures and portraits. For brushes that do most of the work, I have two of each size. I also work mostly in bristle, using small sables for detail and blending. 19. Know your tools You need different paint brushes or different tasks For painting outdoors and landscapes, I've settled on this set of brushes. I do most of the work with bristle flats so I carry two of each size. I have a small round for drawing and a large round for large areas. The small round sables are for adding details and finishing touches. 20. Three of the best My favourite paint brushes Still struggling with which paint brush to use? If I was on a tight budget and could only use two or three brushes, these are the brushes I would use. A size 4-6 flat (A) will accomplish many painting tasks and a size 2-3 round (B) will complement the flat well. I would also add a slightly larger 6-8 flat (C) for covering larger areas quickly. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX bookazine How to Paint & Draw. Related articles: How to hold a pencil correctly Free Photoshop brushes every creative must have The designer's guide to working from home View the full article

Sometimes an item pops up that you just didn't know you needed, but once it arrives it makes perfect sense. The excellent Logitech Craft wireless keyboard is one such item – which is why it sits in first place in our Best keyboards for creatives buying guide. When unpacked and plugged in (for charging or permanently if preferred) the Craft software is needed. It's a small app that enables you to define certain characteristics and keep the drivers up-to-date. The keyboard itself is a solid-feeling but very low-profile one, with a lightweight keystroke that still has good positive feedback. Another handy feature is the sensors – if you are in a dimly lit area and approach the keyboard, the backlight will turn on. It's a good, clear light but remains subtle enough to not feel intrusive if you are in a colour/light-sensitive environment. Enhanced workflow for creatives So far so good, but what really makes this keyboard special? Apart from its obvious quality, the Logitech Craft has two extra uses that make it a particularly handy input device. First, there is the Creative Input dial. This is the big knob at the top left of the keyboard, which can be assigned all manner of tasks, from simple scrolling and zooming to switching tabs in a browser, various Photoshop shortcuts and tasks, or viewport manipulation. The Logitech Craft has the ability to switch profiles depending on which app you're using. If, like me, you use a keyboard together with a tablet, it makes even more sense, as you can assign the touch ring on your tablet for one task and the Creative Input dial for another, serving to increase efficiency. It also feels good to use and navigation with it is a joy. Extra synching options Next is a feature that won't apply to all, but if it does it's a huge bonus. The keyboard is Mac and PC compatible – but more than that, it can be synced with three machines at once, so with a single button press you can swap between machines you are using. I use it on monitor with both PC and Mac, so this option means I've reduced desk clutter, improved my workflow and increased consistency of 'feel' while working. It may sound like a small thing, but this feature alone makes it worth the cost, and the fact that the keys are marked up for users of different platforms is a useful addition. For artists looking for the ultimate in simplified workflows, quality and ergonomics, this is an excellent option. It isn't cheap, but if the keyboard suits your needs it's well worth the spend. This review was originally published in issue 232 of 3D World. Also read: The best computer for graphic design 2018 View the full article

3D fonts are an eye-catching element inside your typographic toolbox. They can be used consistently across both web and print, and, implemented cleverly, will energise your designs, creating stunning work that's fit for your design portfolio. On-trend for 200 years The first 3D fonts – or ‘shaded’ typefaces – date from around 1815 in London, and were borne from intense competition between British type foundries. The first is believed to be Thorne Shaded, a tough looking fat face with sharp serifs, by Robert Thorne of the Fann Street Foundry. Since then, 3D type has evolved substantially, withstanding 200 years of changing fashions. The best free fonts for designers While recently designing my 3D font family, Rig Solid, I discovered that very little has been written about the use of ready-made 3D fonts. So here are some top tips on how to best use them in your design work. 01. 3D Fonts versus lettering This shows the differences between a basic extrude made in Illustrator, and one that has been adjusted to even out the extrude shapes and reduce heavy areas In the same way that script fonts have practical advantages over their written counterparts, so too do 3D fonts over one-off 3D lettering. Their text remains conveniently editable and it can be used across multiple platforms. A well-designed 3D font will fix the common visual issues that crop up in custom 3D lettering. Extrudes on diagonal shapes (A,K,V,W,X,Z and so on) are evened out so that an X doesn’t have one skinny leg and one fat one. The spacing and kerning will also take into account the repositioned contours of the extruded shapes. On the flip side, creating 3D lettering from an existing 3D typeface means all this work is done for you so you can focus on the fun aspects of customising it. 02. How to best use 3D fonts Energetic branding with a dominant B by Junction Studio for Brixton Brewery. A similar typographic style can be achieved with 3D chromatic fonts, Idler Pro or Prismatic 3D type was traditionally made from wood, which restricted its use to larger formats. Now 3D fonts are available wherever you want your type to stand out or add a little excitement. This makes them perfect for headlines, signage, stationary and branding. They can invigorate an otherwise dry design, add a focal point, or enhance consistency when used repeatedly. 3D type adorns the packaging of countless consumer products, attracting our attention from the supermarket shelves. It has also found a comfortable role in branding for coffee shops, barbershops, restaurants and more. Due to their ‘constructed’ feel, 3D typefaces also suit a broad range of subjects, such as architecture, technology, logistics and machinery. 03. Using 3D web fonts Mandy Michael shares her CSS code for layered type on CodePen Implementing a 3D font on the web works in the same way as a 2D font. For the broadest choice of designs, you can buy a web license and self-host with relative ease. You’ll also find a growing number of 3D web fonts on Typekit (including all of my own designs) and a handful on Google Fonts. Using chromatic or ‘layered’ fonts on your site (see below) will require some CSS skills – check out Mandy Michael’s CSS wizardry here. Font technology is quickly evolving on the web. Color fonts, which have multiple layers or images baked into them, are steadily gaining mainstream support in browsers and design software. 04. Making the most of 3D fonts Matteo Bologna of Mucca Design harnesses the power of 3D type to create this striking cover image 3D fonts are designed to catch the eye, so the bigger they are the more impact they can create. I have seen beautifully set 3D type at small sizes, on menu headings and the like, but if you choose a small setting, just be careful to make sure the details of the typeface reproduce clearly. High-quality print is pretty versatile but, as a general rule, I’d suggest keeping 3D web fonts above 30pt. For maximum effect, keep text length short with as few lines as possible. If you're setting more than a few words, ensure that there's high contrast between your typeface and its background. 05. Pairing 3D fonts Example 3D font pairings: Brim Combined 2 with Franklin Gothic URW Book, and Rig Solid Bold with Adelle Condensed Light Pairing 3D typefaces, just like pairing regular type, is often based on instincts, taste and a little know-how rather than hard rules. As your 3D font is undoubtedly your headline font, your partner will be for straplines or body copy. The simplest option is to select a 2D font with appealing contrast. Perhaps something simple and elegant to offset the volume of your headline font. 3D fonts may be based on serif and san-serif designs, so look primarily at its face when pairing. The usual guide of not pairing two sans-serif or serif fonts is less relevant because of the extra dimension with 3D fonts. However, avoid pairing with a typeface that looks similar but not quite the same. If there is a suitable 2D option in the same family then consider using it, but be wary of using the face style of a chromatic font alone as its spacing may be set to accommodate its extrude style. 06. Pimp your type The master of type and texture, Bobby Evans of Telegramme Paper Co 3D fonts offer a playground of opportunity for customisation and for adding your own twist. To give your type an extra tactile quality or a vintage feel, a boundless supply of free textures are available online from scratches to screen print. With the multiple facets of 3D type, you can even apply different textures to the face, extrudes and the background. If you want to go even further and add custom shadows, lighting, inset panels and more, you can find some great 3D lettering tutorials online. Starting with a pre-made 3D font will also help you to structure your overall composition much faster. 07. Using chromatics Suzie Eland’s Calypso Kitchen branding shows how chromatic type and illustration can seamlessly share the same colour palette Chromatic, or layered fonts have multiple styles designed to stack on top of one other. Combining these styles and assigning each a colour produces a huge variety of visual effects. Using chromatic type may seem complex at first glance but it’s actually quite straightforward: Begin, as usual, by setting your type with one of the family's styles Duplicate the type layer and then change its style and colour Repeat for each font style and colour as desired Chromatic fonts make it possible to match multiple colours from a brand palette or, if you use a chromatic font to make a logo, the colours can help form the broader identity. 08. Shaping 3D type The curved type path show is probably the deepest I’d recommend. Outline only 3D type looks fantastic reversed out 3D typefaces naturally lend themselves to being manipulated along paths, used in diagonal settings and reversed out, due to their substantial shapes. If you're setting type along a curve, keep the shape shallow and add a little extra tracking. If curves are too tight, the extrudes and any shadows will appear to come from different directions and likely look unnatural. 3D type can look fantastic when reversed out in bright colours on dark backgrounds. But be aware that if the design contains any shading to suggest light falling on its surface, it may look like a strange negative when reversed. 09. Getting creative A variety of laser cut and letterpress 3D type by Thomas Mayo Striking visual options can also be found by separating the face, extrude and outlines of 3D fonts and applying different treatments to them. Faces can be masked out to reveal backgrounds or patterns inside the letters and extrudes can be offset slightly to mimic print misregistration. Designers like Thomas Mayo, who blends new and old technologies, are taking these isolation techniques to their extreme. For example, he uses laser cutters to rout out each section of his contemporary 3D type in wood. These separate parts are then letterpress printed in a same way as traditional wood type. Related articles: Typography quiz reveals gaps in letter knowledge TypeNotes: review 23 free font resources View the full article

In the early days of the web, a designer’s toolkit was on the lean side. Other than the web design tools offered by the big players, options were pretty limited. Now there’s a tool to improve every aspect of product design, enabling us to not only create better products, but also work better. In this article, we've picked five essential tools you need to get started in web design. The tools listed here should stand you in good stead to start your journey as a web designer. 01. Research: Airtable The gallery view is great for collating design inspiration Airtable is like Excel or Google Sheets, but it can do much more. You can attach documents to the cells, such as recordings or images, which makes this a great place to collate feedback from user research sessions. The ability to add ‘tags’ makes it really easy to digest large data sets and spot popular themes. It’s as simple as creating a spreadsheet and tweaking the fields to make them relevant to your input. To share the info, all you need to do is send the link. Clients love it, and so will your colleagues. Another way to use Airtable is by switching the view to ‘gallery’ and collating design inspiration. It’s easier to use than Pinterest and there’s no barrier to entry or log in. Plus, you can attach GIFs, and who doesn’t love a GIF? 02. Collaborative design: Realtime Board With this tool you can see other collaborators' cursors If you have distributed team members or clients, Realtime Board is a great tool to facilitate a wireframe sketching session remotely. With the app, you can add a photo of your sketch and see where other members’ cursors are, which helps when explaining what you’ve drawn, as you can point to the aspect you’re talking about. You can also add a note and comment to vote on your favourite solution. 6 best collaboration tools 03. User testing: InVision or Marvel In Marvel you can link up artboards to test concepts on end users These tools are essential when it comes to testing your solution on end users. You import your screens then place clickable hotspots over the top of your designs, which you use to link up pages, or change states on hover to mimic working software. To really speed up your workflow, InVision and Marvel have Sketch plugins to import your artboards directly from Sketch. When testing on end users, the finished effect can look remarkably real, especially if you take the time to add hover effects to buttons as well as clickable areas. This means you can benefit from valid feedback very quickly, without ever having to bother writing a single line of code. 11 best pieces of user testing software 04. Prototyping: Origami Origami is helpful for mocking up animations Origami was built by the team at Facebook and is easy to pick up. While it can do virtually anything, Origami excels at mocking up microinteractions in your product, such as opening a menu, or subtle animations used to enhance the UI. They call it the ‘perfect companion to Sketch’ as you can copy and paste layers from your Sketch file straight into the app. Once you’ve pasted everything in, you need to adjust the X and Y coordinates of your assets to get them where you want them on the screen before you animate anything. Then you build up the animation step by step by adding interactions. For example: on tap, turn on an animation that will last 0.3 seconds and will transition an element. This movement is controlled by entering the position of the element at the end of the animation. So if you wanted to rotate something 45 degrees, you’ll add ‘45’ to the ‘end’ of the transition and link this to the associated X or Y ‘rotation’. 10 top prototyping tools The 18 best wireframing tools 05. Communication: Slack Keep all your conversations in one place Slack is a great way to keep all product conversations in one place. It’s excellent for teams and clients alike, and the casual nature helps with relationship building. It’s also a great tool if you have distributed staff or clients. If you need design feedback you can quickly hop on a Slack call and share your screen. This post was originally published as part of The Complete Design Toolkit in net magazine. Buy issue 303 or subscribe to the magazine. Web design event Generate New York returns on 25-27 April 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. Read more: 8 brilliant portfolios from young designers The 5 best visual regression testing tools How to make it in the web design industry View the full article

Creators require inspiration, and stock art can help kickstart just about any project. Having the right image to fit your work is important – and you can always find the one you want with Stock-Graphic's massive library. You can get a lifetime subscription on sale now for just $19 (approximately £14). Stock-Graphics has a nearly-endless library of perfect images just waiting to be put to use in any project you can imagine. There are tons of invaluable assets, from one-of-a-kind vectors to a massive collection of editable images that can be used as you see fit. There are more than 13,500 photos and 2,900 vectors with new content being added every month, meaning you'll never run out of inspiration. Download as many images as you need and put them to use in all of your projects. A subscription to Stock-Graphics usually costs $4,999, but you can get full access for a lifetime on sale now for just $19 (approximately £14). That's a massive, 99 per cent saving off the retail price for an essential asset for any designer, so grab this deal today! Related articles: The 13 best photography websites 5 reasons to use photography in your designs 15 ways to improve your photography skills View the full article

3D visual effects in the movies have evolved dramatically since their introduction in the 1980s. The art of creating realistic looking environments, monsters, creatures and buildings continues to explode, with many 2D and 3D movies now relying on the creative talent at special effects companies like Industrial Light & Magic and Weta to enhance their stories with stunning 3D art. Here's our pick of the best CGI movie moments, in no particular order. Did your favourite make the cut? 30. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Director: Guy Ritchie VFX: Framestore, ScanlineVFX, Method Studios, MPC Why watch it? Despite a cameo by David Beckham, Guy Ritchie’s retelling of the Arthurian Legends received a critical mauling and its five (five!?) sequels were immediately cancelled. However the good news is that the one sequence worth watching takes place right at the start of the film, as the massed forces of Mordred lay siege to Camelot, a huge stone fortress atop a rocky outcropping. The battle is a truly impressive spectacle with destruction on a massive scale, and featuring some of the most complex simulation work Framestore has ever done. The remainder of the film is a bit of a mixed bag, but does feature plenty of fantastical goings-on. There’s a battle with a giant snake, and some pretty cool Matrix-influenced sword fighting in the climactic encounter between Arthur and his uncle, the demon knight Vortigern – which you might want to fast-forward to. Killer sequence In a scene right out of the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Mordred’s forces approach Camelot in their thousands, accompanied by 300-foot-tall elephants. No, really. 29. Paddington 2 (2017) Director: Paul King VFX: Framestore, Rodeo FX Why watch it? Well, not only is Paddington 2 a delightful, funny and heart-warming movie – garnering 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and becoming the site’s best-reviewed film of all time – it’s also a technical masterpiece. The titular hero looks photoreal in every single shot (all 1,100 of them) and is integrated with the live-action footage flawlessly; kudos to Framestore for pulling off this incredible achievement. Indeed, as a sign of the team’s dedication, one time-lapse shot of the prison canteen changing into a chintzy tea room – a combination of CG bear, CG props and live action – took nine months to complete. But it’s one thing to make a CG creature; it’s quite another to create a performance that elicits an entire spectrum of emotions. If you don't have a tear in your eye by the end credits, you really need to see a psychiatrist. (And how long before the Best Actor Oscar goes to a CG creation?) Killer sequence When Paddington decides to earn money by washing windows, there’s some beautifully choreographed slapstick, and a shot in which Paddington uses himself as a window sponge. Hilarious and technically sublime. 28. Doctor Strange (2016) Director: Scott Derrickson VFX: Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Method Studios, Luma Pictures Why watch it? Marvel films are like Pokémon; you have to catch ’em all (at the cinema). But seriously, this slightly left-field entry in the Marvel Comics Universe really delivered in terms of an engrossing story and a hypnotic – if slightly bewildering – visual experience. When the story deals with dimension-hopping sorcerers, alternate worlds and time travel, you know you’re in for a wild ride and it took a number of VFX vendors to deliver the 1,450 effects shots. From glowing magical spells and particle effects to an artificially intelligent CG cape to Inception-style cityscapes folding in on themselves, Doctor Strange has it all. Killer sequence There are lots of great moments in Doctor Strange, but there’s one sequence in which Stephen Strange is being chased by Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) through a twisting, morphing, Möbius strip of New York City, which simply begs the question: ‘How did the hell did they do that?’ 27. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Director: Denis Villeneuve VFX: Framestore, Double Negative, Rodeo FX Why watch it? For fans of the original, it’s heart-breaking that the sequel some of us waited 35 years for has been a box-office disappointment. But that’s not for want of trying: with a production budget of $185 million, it boasts some of the most amazing, beautiful and realistic visual effects ever to grace the silver screen. The entire film is mesmerising, but highlights include the work on Joi, Ryan Gosling’s holographic girlfriend, as she interacts with the real world, plus Framestore’s amazing visualisation of the vast junkyards of San Diego, which are utterly convincing. But once again, the star of the show is the neon-festooned cityscapes of night-time LA, beautifully envisioned by DNEG and Rodeo FX, which employed hundreds of different buildings, consisting of billions of polygons. If you didn’t see Blade Runner 2049 on a big screen, you really missed out. Killer sequence… The drone’s-eye view of the ruins of Las Vegas is simply breathtaking. (And did you spot Deckard’s car from the end of Blade Runner, abandoned on the strip?) 26. Rogue One (2016) Director: Gareth Edwards VFX: Industrial Light & Magic, Hybride, Ghost VFX Why watch it? Arguably the best Star Wars film since Disney dropped $4 billion in George Lucas’s lap, it also delivered what Star Wars fans wanted: spaceships, likeable robots and tons of homages to the original trilogy. But, with the benefit of technology 40 years more advanced than that used on the first movie, Rogue One looks the business too. ILM took some brave moves with the digital recreations of Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) and a youthful Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), which were surprisingly dodgy at times. However the VFX behemoth hit its stride with some incredible space battles and the jaw-dropping destruction of Jedha City – plus most of the surrounding terrain. Throw in a handful of cameo appearances, and some seamless updates of X-Wing pilot footage from the 70s, and this entertaining sci-fi romp took fan service to another level. Killer sequence The attack on (a mostly CG) Scarif is a wonder to behold: the AT-AT walker battle on the beach, the rebel assault on the shield generator, and that bold move by a Hammerhead Corvette… (Who knew Star Destroyers were so flimsy?) 25. Pearl Harbour (2001) Director: Michael Bay VFX: ILM Why watch it? With a laboured script, leaden acting, turgid pace, and insensitive factual inaccuracies, the only reason Pearl Harbour is worth seeing is for the recreation of the infamous 1941 attack. Unbelievably, there are only four shots that are totally CG in the movie, including the two shots of the USS Arizona exploding, with the wide camera angle taking four months of constant effects work to perfect. ILM used a combination of software for the attack sequence, including AliasStudio, Maya, and Softimage for basic modelling, and employed its proprietary software, Zeno, for the many rigid body simulations. To comply with environmental rules, VFX supervisor Eric Brevig also had to write a new piece of software to create the amount of smoke plumes needed. So while it's a dreadful film, we can't help but applaud the truly brilliant CG effects. Killer sequence... A detailed recreation of the chillingly effective surprise attack by the Japanese on a US naval base. 24. Cloverfield (2008) Director: Matt Reeves VFX: Double Negative Why watch it? This may be a spin-off of Godzilla, as mysterious and severely peeved creatures attack New York, but what a spin-off it is. Cloverfield is an amazing example of how to mix hand-held live-action with quality CG effects. The most terrifying sequence happens early on, when the Statue of Liberty's head is catapulted down the road by an unknown and unseen force. Visible for several seconds in full frame, the head itself had to be built as an extremely detailed 3D model with precise texturing. Production used 4 and 5K stills of the head that were placed online following the landmark's cleaning a few years ago. These detailed the head's panelwork and areas of grime that could be used as reference when texturing the model. The genius of JJ Abrams combined with great effects is clearly a recipe for success. Killer sequence... The Statue of Liberty's scratched-up head comes sailing down a New York Street, hinting at the dangers to come. 23. Terminator Salvation (2009) Director: McG VFX: ILM, Asylum, Rising Sun Pictures and Matte World Digital Why watch it? You've got to feel sorry for John Connor: his mum was a bit mental and his only real friend was a machine that once tried to kill him and is now dead. To his credit, though, he is very determined and returns in the fourth Terminator instalment, ready to kick more shiny metal ass. Among its 1,500 VFX shots, T4 features an impressive 60ft, headless, biped robot – the aptly named Harvester – on a rampage. The huge cyborg has one of the film's most intricate rigs. ILM used techniques originally developed for Transformers to provide animators with extra flexibility when choosing which parts to control. ILM also integrated an energy-conserving shader set in RenderMan to achieve more accurate lighting and cope with the extreme contrasts of desert conditions. The ensuing segment with the truck, Moto-terminators and a giant Transporter isn't bad either. Killer sequence... The headless Harvester robot smashes up a gas station in its hunt for humans. 22. 10,000 BC (2008) Director: Roland Emmerich VFX: Double Negative (wide shots) MPC (medium and close-up shots) Why watch it? If you can ignore the script, the acting, the historical inaccuracies and the bizarre pseudo sci-fi ending, 10,000 BC is a pretty cool film, with some excellent FX work from MPC and Double Negative. The sweeping vistas over the Giza site are largely models built at 1:24 scale by Joachim Grueninger, constructed near the actual film set in Namibia, but they're enhanced with digital doubles, dust, and props. The best sequence, however, is the stampede, where a pack of mammoths is unleashed to wreak havoc among a building site with 50,000 digital slaves. Fully CG sets integrate seamlessly with live-action and model shots and, all in all, it's a suitably epic climax for a fantastically overblown movie. Killer sequence... A frightened pack of 50 captive mammoths is set loose in order to bring a pyramid building site to a grinding halt. 21. The Perfect Storm (2000) Director: Wolfgang Peterson VFX: ILM Why watch it? George Clooney may be a looker, but his character in this film isn't very smart. He plays Billy Tyne, a fishing boat captain who ignores weather warnings, in a tale that's based on the true story of the Andrea Gail from 1991. The end sequence is a CGI stonker, featuring a huge 100ft wave that finally capsizes the ship. In total, the film featured 90 completely CG shots, all of which include water elements. A further 220 shots required CG seas to be composited with live-action footage shot on a huge, moveable fishing boat set. A custom fluid dynamics system was developed to create a realistic ocean and more than 30 plug-ins were written for Maya to achieve the intricate effects. In addition to this, standalone applications for shaders and particle systems were also written in-house. In what is otherwise a slightly disappointing film, the mammoth VFX are what leave the longest-lasting impression. Killer sequence... A fishing boat and its crew run into a spot of bother on stormy seas. Next page: the countdown from 20-10... 20. Labyrinth (1986) Director: Jim Henson VFX: ILM and Optical Film Effects Why watch it? Although it may not be the most impressive effect today, back in 1986 this digital owl made quite a stir among cinema goers. It was the very first attempt at creating a realistic looking CGI animal, and we think the teams at ILM and Optical Film Effects did a mighty fine job. Although Jim Henson is more widely known for his puppetry skills (which were put to good use in the film), he managed to help create the computer-generated characters that would eventually replace them. Bill Kroyer was responsible for the award-winning design; he animated and technical-directed the flying owl, which was also produced by Alan Peach. It's safe to say that being the very first fully computer-animated animal, this opening sequence would go on to have a lasting impression on the world of CGI movie history. Killer sequence... The opening credits sees David Bowie's character Jareth the Goblin King as an owl... naturally. 19. i, Robot (2004) Director: Alex Proyas VFX: Weta Why watch it? While the huge robot punch-up at the top of the US Robotics building provides a suitably action-packed climax to proceedings, we think it's the film's other huge robot punch-up that's the more memorable. Hurtling along a suspiciously empty tunnel in his product-placed Audi RSQ sport coupe, two ominous (and beautifully designed) container vehicles glide alongside Spooner and eject their cargo of angry androids over his car. It's a brilliantly dynamic scene, featuring 90 shots and tons of destruction. Constructing the scene entirely in CG, including a digital Will Smith borrowed from Digital Domain, Weta used Maya for modelling, RenderMan for output, and Shake for compositing and some lighting effects. Killer sequence... Chicago Police Detective Del Spooner is enjoying a quiet drive home in his Audi until murderous robots attack. 18. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) Director: Roland Emmerich VFX: Tweak Films Why watch it? There's an abundance of VFX sequences in this disaster movie, but none beat the brilliant super-sized tsunami that hits Manhattan. Only responsible for five shots in the entire film, Tweak Films pulled out all the stops on the water simulation for the sequence. The small studio used its proprietary water system – a unified dynamics platform that includes rigid body dynamics, fluid dynamics and particle simulation – to create the ultra-realistic flood. LIDAR models and textures were used to build the city itself, meaning final shots were completely digital, and the resulting composition was a masterful mix of dozens of layers. Killer sequence... The massive storm causes a huge tsunami to hit Manhattan. 17. Hollow Man (2000) Director: Paul Verhoeven VFX: Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) Why watch it? The film boasts some 400 effects, ranging from simple tracking and bluescreen shots when Bacon's latex mask is seen to be empty, through to sophisticated effects where the invisible man's body is highlighted only by water or smoke. That standout VFX sequence, where Bacon becomes invisible, is a marvel too. Sony's custom volume rendering system enabled the VFX crew to replicate an entire human body in detail, where all the veins and organs move and react properly to the movement of the character. Overall, Hollow Man's not Verhoeven's best effort, but the effects are great. Killer sequence... Invisibility test subject Sebastian Caine's gradual transformation to transparency, as layers of skin, organs and bone disappear. 16. Star Wars - Episode 1 (1999) Director: George Lucas VFX: ILM Why watch it? The Phantom Menace was, at the time, the biggest visual effects project ever undertaken. The film required 35,000 storyboards and 95 per cent of the frames have digital elements in them. To visualise the sequence, ILM spent a year on R&D, working on physics systems for the destruction of the podracers plus an Adaptive Terrain Generator, which employed a level-of-detail system just so that its computers could hold the mesh data in memory. Despite the film's (many) flaws, the thrilling 320-shot podrace remains an undoubted highlight of the Star Wars canon and is well worth savouring. Killer sequence... A slave boy infested with Midi-chlorians races against aliens in an 800kph hovercraft to win his freedom. 15. Avengers Assemble (2012) cgi15 Director: Joss Whedon VFX: Weta Digital and ILM Why watch it? The visual effects for Avengers Assemble were never going to let us down – from the opening credits to the epic battle scenes, this film is truly a feast for the eyes. However, it was the particular scene of a falling Iron Man suiting up in the all new Mark VII as he descended that we found most impressive. ILM and Weta combined their talents to recreate Iron Man and this incredible sequence. ILM provided the Iron Man models, whilst Weta was responsible for creating clothes and hair for the digidoubles with their own shaders and textures. Weta used plenty of motion capture techniques, whilst the animators were responsible for the flying scenes. Killer sequence... Iron Man jumps from Stark Tower unsuited, only for his Iron Man suit to follow and dress him with centimetres to spare. 14. District 9 (2009) Director: Neill Blomkamp VFX: Weta Workshop & Image Engine Why watch it? With a modest budget of $30million, District 9 still manages to make it onto an array of top CGI movie lists thanks to the hard work of Weta Workshop. It takes a great design team to come up with a ship design that will stick and the mothership featured in the film pleased many a sci-fi fan. Image Engine completed 311 visual effects shots for District 9 and whilst these shots were predominantly of digital aliens, the studio also developed the mothership. In the cases where shots required both a background ship and foreground character animation or other visual effects, Weta would pre-comp the ship and provide the completed comp to the relevant facility. You can read more about the special effects used in the film in 'The Art of District 9'. Killer sequence... The mothership of the 'prawns' is revealed and hovers about Johannesburg, South Africa for three months. 13. Gladiator (2000) Director: Ridley Scott VFX: Mill Film Ltd Why watch it? Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were the academy award-nominated special effects created for this epic Ridley Scott Roman tale. Visual effects supervisor John Nelson quoted that "it was always our concept to treat the Colosseum like it was the Super Bowl, in that you're going out on the field with the players and you have 40,000 people screaming for your head". A model of the colosseum was about one storey high and didn't even complete the full circle. To recreate the 3D colosseum, Nelson and his team used the blueprints from designer Arthur Max and added a further two storeys, a roof, the outside wall, the back end of the colosseum and of course, the crowds. They photographed the textures, the patina and stucco used on the actual colosseum and then added those textures to the CGI movie version. The 540 degree camera shot in the film really shows off their skill. Killer sequence... Maximus Meridius (Russell Crowe) fights to the death in a re-imagined colosseum. 12. Spiderman 3 (2007) Director: Sam Raimi VFX: SPI Why watch it? The movie is packed full of knock-out effects – many of which include its other two villains, Venom and the Green Goblin – but the 2,700-frame, three-minute 'birth of Sandman' sequence manages to top them all. The Sony Pictures Imageworks team spent a year in R&D working on the tools that would enable them to fully achieve the complicated effect for Flint Marko's new form. To visualise Sandman's varying states, they used a mixture of particle and fluid/gas simulations, plus SphereSim – a custom simulation engine that helped generate natural-looking sand piles. This technology, combined with Houdini and RenderMan plug-ins, makes the VFX sequence one of the most emotional and impressive moments of the entire trilogy. Killer sequence... 'Unlucky' Flint Marko stumbles across the world's only experimental particle physics site, turning him into the invincible Sandman. 11. Inception (2010) Director: Chris Nolan VFX: Double Negative Why watch it? Inception is a surreal story about dreams within dreams that keeps the audience awake with its truly masterful VFX. When architect Ariadne starts to "mess with the physics of it all" within her own dreamscape, she casually folds up Paris in one of the film's most complicated and impressive sequences. To achieve the intricate effect, the Double Negative team spent two weeks taking thousands of stills and working from millimetre-accurate scans provided by LIDAR services to replicate a photorealistic model of four Parisian apartment blocks. Digital cars and people were also added to the upended cityscape and the Ptex mapping technique used to avoid the burden of UVs. The team also had to devise a series of cheats to fully achieve the shots needed, including hiding intersecting buildings behind other geometry and a set of careful camera moves. Killer sequence... Ariadne gains confidence in her dreamscape and folds Paris into a cube, naturally. Next page: the countdown from 10-01... 10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) Director: Michael Bay VFX: ILM Why watch it? Okay, okay we know the third film in the Transformers franchise isn't going to win any Oscars for plot or acting abilities, but there's no way you can ignore the hugely impressive special effects that grace the screen for much of the running time. ILM was already responsible for the previous two films, but the character of The Driller was going to test their abilities. The robot was almost three times as big as the Transformers and it's well known among special effects teams that tentacles are one of the harder aspects to get right. Seeing as Driller was a tentacle with tentacles (with 70,051 parts!) this was a big ask. It took a staggering 288 hours per frame to render the Driller along with the photoreal CG building that includes all those reflections in its glass. ILM calculates that it added up to more than 200,000 rendering hours per day – or the equivalent of 22.8 years of render time in a 24-hour period. Killer sequence... Driller goes on a rampage through Marina city, causing a fair bit of damage. 09. King Kong (2005) Director: Peter Jackson VFX: Weta Why watch it? We're not sure why one, let alone three, V-Rex would be interested in eating Naomi Watts: she'd hardly make a filling meal. Nevertheless, Kong has to stop his new size-8 friend from becoming dinosaur fodder in this thrilling, 10-minute-long, CG-heavy sequence. Weta doubled its capacity in terms of render farm and disc space, and took on roughly 25 per cent more people to create King Kong. The team used a Maya, RenderMan and Shake pipeline, and created custom software for the ape's fur. Since Ann gets thrown about, Weta also had to use a digital double for Naomi Watts in these scenes. Ultimately, this remake of the 1933 classic proves that good things also come in big packages. Killer sequence... The mighty ape takes on three mighty V-Rex in order to protect Ann. 08. The Abyss (1989) Director: James Cameron VFX: Steve Johnson's XFX, Inc, ILM Why watch it? This was the very first use of digitally animated water, which means it was a mile stone in CGI movie history. The aquatic aliens were the first creatures on film made entirely from water, and back in 1989 this visual effect was jaw-dropping. The 75-second sequence was divided up between seven special effects companies, but it was ILM that created the program that would simulate the watery creature with incredible realism. The combination of live action and CG effects was levelled up as actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio comes into contact with the creature – although we wouldn't recommend tasting an alien. This was a special effects milestone that helped advance the use of CGI in film for years to come. Killer sequence... The civilian diving team come face-to-face with an alien aquatic species. 07. The Matrix (1999) Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski VFX: Manex Visual Effects Why watch it? Not only is this film one of the greatest sci-fi creations, one particular scene has become renowned for its use of special effects within the film industry. The 'bullet-time' special effect is a time-rendered simulation that creates variable speed to show objects such as flying bullets in slow motion. The method used for creating this effect involved a technically expanded version of an old art photography technique known as time-slice photography, in which a large number of cameras are placed around an object and triggered nearly simultaneously. When the sequence of shots is viewed, the viewer sees what is, in effect, two-dimensional 'slices' of a three-dimensional moment. It's no wonder, then, that the team went on to win an Academy award for their efforts. Killer sequence... Neo (Keanu Reeves) dodges bullets from The Agents. 06. Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (2003) Director: Peter Jackson VFX: Weta Why watch it? Widely appreciated as one of the best battle scenes of all time, the battle of Pelannor Fields in the final Lord of the Rings film is jaw-droppingly impressive. Over 1,500 effects shots were used in the third film (more than the first two films combined) with the team at Weta relying on the model team and photography of the landscape to get the battle looking as realistic as possible. Although the charging Mmakil were initially created using real life elements, Weta decided to compile them entirely digitally due to a last minute request from Peter Jackson. The elephant-like creatures were created entirely from keyframing and the team at Weta went on to win their third Oscar in three years. Not bad at all. Killer sequence... The final battle of the Pelennor Fields. 05. Tron (1982) Director: Steven Lisberger VFX: MAGI Why watch it? Although the original Tron didn't do particularly well at the box office thanks to competition from Blade Runner and ET, there's no denying the film was a turning point in the use of visual effects and CGI movie history. It may not have aged well but the production of Tron marked the first time that computer-generated imagery had been extensively used in a feature film. MAGI used a SynthaVision process to create the computer graphics for the film; this process utilised basic geometric shapes that the computer recognised as solid objects with density. By varying the size and quantity of these shapes, MAGI could construct a limited variety of three-dimensional designs and animate them easily. Interestingly, Tron was disqualified from competition for 1982's Visual Effects Oscar because computer-aided effects were considered cheating. Killer sequence... The first glimpse of the light bikes. 04. Terminator 2 (1991) Director: James Cameron VFX: ILM Why watch it? The effects used in Terminator 2 were the most ambitious since the 1982 release of Tron. Although the CGI scenes only take up a total of 5 minutes of the film, it took a team of 35 animators, technicians and artists ten months to create. In order to make a computer model of the face of the T-1000, ILM used laser scanning technology called Cyberscan. They projected a laser beam across the face of Robert Patrick and used video cameras to build the 3D database. Robert's distinctive walk and run were also recorded and studied vigorously to make the T-1000 as realistic as possible. Unsurprisingly, the team went on to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1992. Killer sequence... T-1000 emerges from an explosion, revealing his liquid metal structure. 03. Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (2002) Director: Peter Jackson VFX: Weta Why watch it? The creation of JRR Tolkien's vision of Gollum took over 1,000 drawings to get right, and was the very first time an actor's performance and digital animation were combined to make one lifelike CGI movie character. The Gollum head model consisted of just over 2,600 polygons, which were mostly quads. Raitt also created tools that exposed 64 control points to animation artists, who then animated Gollum into the film's scenes. Initially, actor Andy Serkis was only supposed to voice the character. But after witnessing his extreme facial expressions, the team at Weta decided to scrap their first model and instead film Serkis, capturing the movements that way. It was a monumental moment in CG history and Serkis went on to work with the same methods while playing Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Killer sequence... The full realisation of Gollum. 02. Avatar (2009) Director: James Cameron VFX: Weta and ILM Why watch it? Because it's probably the most complex visual effects sequence created to date. So complex, in fact, that it needed the combined power of the planet's most accomplished FX houses to complete. Apart from some bluescreen shots of live-action actors in cockpits, it's all CG: gunships, missiles, smoke trails, water, fire, an army of photorealistic virtual characters and a giant tree made of 20 million polygons with 1.2 million leaves. The detailed explosions are entirely CG too, a technique ILM pioneered with a customised version of its fluid dynamics engine. Oh, and it's all in stereoscopic 3D to boot. But despite being the product of two teams working 6,500 miles apart and on different scenes, the action intercuts between them seamlessly. Whatever you think of Cameron's magnum opus, the 200-plus shots of the hometree destruction make for a jaw-dropping sequence and a new benchmark for VFX Killer sequence... The Omaticaya clan's deciduous condo gets a drastic makeover, courtesy of the evil Resources Development Administration. 01. Jurassic Park (1993) Director: Steven Spielberg VFX: ILM Why watch it? Because it's potentially the biggest, most eagerly awaited reveal shot in cinematic history. To tackle the task of creating dinosaurs, ILM scanned in chunks of a model brachiosaurus to create patch meshes, then used custom program SOCK (Surface Original with Continuous sKin) developed for Terminator 2, to create an overall mesh. A new app called Envelope was also created, enabling the underlying points to be manipulated – either by hand or driven by other geometry – thus recreating the effect of muscles beneath the skin. Both Alias PowerAnimator and Softimage Creative Environment 2.0 take credit for the animation in the movie, the latter employed because of Chain, the first commercially available IK system. Finally, a Dinosaur Input Device (DID) was developed by Craig Hayes of Tippett Studio. Built just like a stop-motion armature, this rig translated movement into keyframes, enabling the stop-motion artists to transfer their well-honed skills into the digital realm. Killer sequence... We finally get to see a living, breathing dinosaur – and Spielberg wrings every last second from the moment. Some of the extracts were originally published in 3D World magazine; subscribe here. Related articles: The best 3D modelling software 2018 31 brilliant Blender tutorials 25 great tutorials to improve your 3D skills View the full article