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“It’s great to create,” said doodleman Jon Burgerman at a recent talk at thread, a series of creative talks in Bristol run by the folk at Fiasco Design. If that’s not enough to convince you, he gave five reasons why creating is so good: It’s fun It opens up new ideas It exercises our brains It makes us happy Sharing is caring But how should you go about the creative process? Where do you start? For Burgerman, creativity isn’t about making elaborate plans or thinking ideas through before putting pen to paper. "If you don't have a plan, then you can't go wrong,” he said. “Throw away your map, and then you'll just be there." Start experimenting To create his bright and fun characters, Burgerman just starts, and finds out what he’s going to draw as he goes about drawing it. “Doodling is thinking and making at the same time,” he said. He also doesn’t believe that you need a lot of tools for creativity, and states that once you strip back all the things you think you need to create, all you’re really left with is the need for restrictions and time. “That’s why so many rich people make bad stuff, because they’ve got no restrictions,” he laughed. Imagination is also important. "Allow your imagination to be your raw material,” he advised. “It's not about what tech you have." Don’t be too precious Talking the audience through his range of quirky jokes, experiments with Photoshop and Instagram stories, Burgerman reminded attendees that once you put something out there, you don’t know how it’ll be received or what you’ll end up doing with it. “What starts as a gag becomes a little collection,” he said, talking about a series where he put his image next to those of celebrities, lined up as if he was part of the photo. “I put them online and didn’t think much of it and then it started to get picked up a lot. Once you start making something, it can take on a life of its own.” #jonsfamousfriends took off on Instagram And of course, what’s popular in one place may not be popular elsewhere, as he found when he drew doodles over images of people on the subway in South Korea. He received a lot of comments saying that taking pictures of the public was illegal, which only served to impose another restriction on him and make him come up with new ways to do his project. “You make one thing in one place and then you take it to a different place and it can be reinterpreted,” he said. In recent years, Burgerman has been experimenting more with animationBurgerman uses Instagram a lot. “It’s like a digital sketchbook that anyone can look at it.” He finds that Instagram Stories are particularly good, “because they’re just you experimenting, and a day later they’re gone. They teach you not to be too precious,” he said. And Burgerman is proof that seemingly small experiments can lead to big achievements. His “stupid pointless stories” have even made it to the Tate Modern. Keep adapting your work Burgerman has been a freelancer for 16 years now, and describes every day that he’s not doing “a proper job,” as a good day. But he also knows that developing and changing your ideas is key to survival in an ever-changing world. “To be freelance, you’ve got to grow and develop,” he said. “Move with the times: some things are popular for a while, and then they’re not.” New opportunities are constantly arising for Burgerman, who has recently been asked to ‘Instagram Story’ an event. “If you keep changing what you’re doing, you can invent new ways to make a living,” he said. So keep on experimenting, and putting your work out there, and perhaps one day you’ll be paid to doodle over people’s heads. thread is a series of creative events. The thread team are also organising new festival Something Good, which takes place on 6-7 October in Bristol. Tickets are available now from www.somethinggoodbristol.com. Read more: 20 top character design tips 5 key trends in character design 18 illustrators to follow on Instagram View the full article

Getting web performance right isn't easy; typically designers will want the best-looking site packing all the latest tricks, while developers are focused on ensuring that everything performs well, and it's hard to find an effective compromise. You can learn some great ways of balancing looks and performance at Generate London next week, on 21 September, where Patrick Hamann will share how to create a faster, more resilient experience for our users. If web performance matters to you, book your ticket now. And to further boost your knowledge, we asked Patrick and six other experts how they approach web performance. Read on and learn. 01. Create a culture of performance "I help people and organisations understand that performance isn't just a technical best practice, but rather an essential design principle," says Brad Frost. "Everyone needs to prioritise performance in their workflow, from business owners to managers, designers and developers. While establishing a culture of performance is much harder than applying clever developer techniques, it's a much more worthwhile endeavour that pays dividends in the long run." 02. Set a performance baseline You can't optimise what you can't measure, notes Guy Podjarny. "Start by running a WebPagetest test against your key pages," he suggests, "and record your favourite speed and weight numbers as a baseline. Then repeat these tests in your build system, and break the build if you've deviated from your baseline too much. With this line in the sand, you can gradually take on optimisation initiatives to raise the bar." 03. Establish a performance budget For Katie Kovalcin from Vox Product, web performance is something that should be approached by all team members from the very initial client conversations. "As a designer, I like to start by working with the developer to establish a performance budget before I begin designing, so I'm aware of the constraints I have to work within," she tells us. "We'll set a number, then have frequent internal check-ins as I design to make sure the choices I make are aligning with the project's holistic goals. If a certain pattern is compromising those goals, we'll discuss it and come up with other design solutions that will be faster but still display the aesthetic I want to achieve." 04. Inline critical CSS "We set ourselves budgets for our core performance metrics such as Start Render and Speed Index at the beginning of the project," says Fastly's web performance engineer Patrick Hamann, "and use a combination of tools such as speedcurve.com, WebPagetest and our own RUM monitoring to ensure we never break them each time we deploy. Our biggest improvement to these metrics was to inline our critical CSS into the <head> of our pages, which decreased start render times by over two seconds." At Generate London, Patrick Hamann will discuss best practices for loading assets in the browser 05. Balance aesthetics and speed The team at Etsy approach web performance by understanding that it's a major part of the overall user experience. "We find it's important to balance aesthetics and speed, and to work toward understanding the business impact of both as much as possible," explains senior engineering manager Lara Hogan. "We run A/B tests that measure design changes as well as performance changes to ensure we're building the best user experience possible for our members. We work on keeping performance top-of-mind throughout the product design process by making it easier to test and measure." 06. Lock down your frame rate "Most people just prioritise loading performance," notes Chrome developer relations advocate, Paul Lewis, but he notes that while it's important, you also really need to measure how quickly your site responds to user inputs, and whether or not it hits a solid 60fps for scrolling and other animations. "Knowing your frames per second, and how much time you're spending in JavaScript, styles, layout, paint and composite is crucial, because users really notice when frame rates dip, or things lock up. Become BFFs with your developer tools and regularly profile your projects during development. If you've never profiled before, check out this guide to optimising your sites and apps." 07. Get everyone involved "I approach web performance as a holistic, team-wide task," says frontend developer Harry Roberts. "Performance is everyone's problem, and should not be treated as one team or sprint's responsibility. I get involved with key product and design decisions as early as possible to ensure that everything is done in the best interests of the performance of the project; design treatments, feature requests and the code itself all contribute to the performance of the product. It is a fundamental, not a feature." Apart from web performance Generate London on 21/22 September will also cover animations, UX strategy, prototyping, user research, product design, adaptive as well as conversational interfaces, and loads more. There are also some tickets left for the workshops on Wednesday, 20 September. Reserve your spot today! This article originally appeared in net magazine issue 268. View the full article

The Vice President of the Apache Struts PMC says the attackers likely used an unknown Struts zero day or an earlier announced vulnerability. View the full article

D-Link router model 850L has 10 vulnerabilities that could allow a hacker to gain remote access and control of device, according to researcher. View the full article

There's no reason for you not to have a web presence. It's absolutely essential, whether you're just looking to attract an audience or trying to build a business. Even if you don't know how to code, it's easy to get your site online with Blocs 2 for Mac. You can get this app on sale for just $39.99 (approx. £31). Blocs 2 for Mac is the easiest way to get a website online quickly, without sacrificing features. This app is easy to pick up for anyone, even if you have zero experience building websites. All you have to do is pick the parts you want and drag them into place. It's incredibly intuitive and easy to use, yet you'll still be able to get all the functionality you need out of your site. It's the perfect tool to get yourself online. You can get started setting up your own space on the web with Blocs 2 for Mac for just $39.99 (approx. £31). That's a saving of 50% off the retail price for an essential app, so grab it while you can! About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com View the full article

When it comes to developing a brand, logo design is king. The power of a logo to elicit an emotional response can have a resounding effect on the way customers and potential customers view a particular product, service or company. A powerful logo may look simple but there's nothing simple about creating effective logo shapes. Get Adobe Creative CloudBe aware that the logo shapes used to portray the most visible brands in our culture have not been chosen by chance – there are some powerful psychological forces at work. In this article we'll take a look at how the informed use of shapes can be used to give your logo the desired resonance. 01. How humans view logo shapes There are few more recognisable logo shapes than Nike's Swoosh, but what does it do?Our subconscious minds respond in different ways to different logo shapes. Straight lines, circles, curves and jagged edges all imply different meanings and so a skilled logo designer can use shape to infer particular qualities about the brand. Think, for example, of the Nike Swoosh: the combination of curves ending in a sharp point offers a strong suggestion of movement. Particular logo shapes send out particular messages: Circles, ovals and ellipses tend to project a positive emotional message. Using a circle in a logo can suggest community, friendship, love, relationships and unity. Rings have an implication of marriage and partnership, suggesting stability and endurance. Curves on any sort tend to be viewed as feminine in nature. Straight edged logo shapes such as squares and triangles suggest stability in more practical terms and can also be used to imply balance. Straight lines and precise logo shapes also impart strength, professionalism and efficiency. However, and particularly if they are combined with colours like blue and grey, they may also appear cold and uninviting. Subverting them with off-kilter positioning or more dynamic colours can counter this problem and conjure up something more interesting. It has also been suggested that triangles have a good association with power, science, religion and law. These tend to be viewed as masculine attributes, so it's no coincidence that triangles feature more prominently in the logos of companies whose products have a masculine bias. Our subconscious minds associate vertical lines with masculinity, strength and aggression, while horizontal lines suggest community, tranquillity and calm. The implications of shape also extend to the typeface chosen. Jagged, angular typefaces may appear as aggressive or dynamic; on the other hand, soft, rounded letters give a youthful appeal. Curved typefaces and cursive scripts tend to appeal more to women, while strong, bold lettering has a more masculine edge. 02. How to apply logo shape psychology Three examples of simple logo shapesBefore you start designing a logo for your client, write down a list of values and attributes that the logo should convey. (This is one of the reasons you need to get to know your client and their business as well as you possibly can.) Ask your client to compile a list of corporate values or take a close look at their mission statement. Once you have a feel for the message the logo needs to disseminate, you will be able to look at how to match this up with not only logo shapes, but also colours and typefaces as well. Use these three elements in combination to your advantage: for example, if you pick a strong shape but find it too masculine, then introduce a colour or colours that will tone down the male aspect. 03. Gestalt theory The World Wildlife Fund logo uses the closure principle of Gestalt theory to describe a panda, even though the shape is not fully closedTo extend your use of psychology to a deeper level, brush up on the Gestalt theories of German psychologists from the 1920s. They hold that the human brain unifies the visual elements it sees to form a whole that carries significantly more meaning. People form patterns out of similarly shaped objects, while objects that differ from the group become a focal point of the image. Another Gestalt principle, closure, is often used in logo design; this is when an object is incomplete but there is enough detail for the human eye to make the whole picture. A good example of this is the panda logo used by the WWF, shown above. The logo shapes you incorporate into your designs become an intrinsic element in the message they will convey to the company's customers and the wider public. Once you understand the psychology behind logo shapes you will be able to use this knowledge to create powerful brands for your clients. Related articles: Get to grips with the golden ratio in this easy guide 5 ways to use shape psychology in logo design Check out these great examples of negative space View the full article

Use social media platforms right and you can boost your profile within the industry and get your work in front of entirely new audiences. These quick-fire tips will show you how to network effectively in the digital realm. 01. Create a strong profile
 Make it easy for your audience to find your social channels Make sure your profile is complete by providing as much professional information as possible. Make sure you include your name, expertise, website, online shop or Patreon page, and links to all social media and creative communities, such as deviantART. 02. Share engaging content Share good quality images, including quality works in progress Always post crisp, high-quality images of your work – a low-resolution, grainy image can make even the best creations look rubbish. Engaged followers are best, so share relevant, valuable content that will hook your audience in. Establish trust by keeping an eye on your messages and replying quickly to enquiries. Remember, the more comments a post has, the more it’ll be shared. 03. Post frequently Keep active on your social media accounts How often you'll want to post depends on your audience and what you have to say. The ideal frequency of posts also varies between different platforms, so experiment – engagement rates on Facebook are 18 per cent higher on Thursdays and Fridays, for instance. Never post for the sake of it, though. Keep it meaningful, or your audience will lose interest. 04. Cross-promote Ross Tran uses his Facebook page to funnel people towards his popular youTube channel Different platforms have different strengths, so use them in tandem for the biggest impact. Want to increase your YouTube subscribers? Do what Ross Tran did and create a teaser video to upload natively to Facebook. Looking for more Patreons? Share a tutorial on Instagram and link to Patreon. It's a little more work, but it's worth it. 05. Ditch the hard sell ... but do make it easy for those who want to buy to do so The best way to increase sales is not to actively sell. Don’t turn people off. Grow your audience organically and, as long as there’s a clear link somewhere to your work, sales will follow. Help your followers spread awareness for you by giving them what they want: visual eye candy and engaging conversation. Do make sure those people who want to buy your work can see clearly how to do so though. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 147. Buy it now. Read more: 10 digital artists you need to know about How to craft a standout portfolio 14 fantasy artists to follow on Instagram View the full article

You're reading 12 Best Color Scheme Generator Webapps for Designers, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Smart designers know it’s a waste of time to reinvent the wheel. And with so many free resources online it’s easier than ever to find tools that’ll save you time. Color selection is a big process and often requires a lot of tweaking to get just right. You can save time by using color webapps […] View the full article

It’s time to pack your lunch, do up your sneakers, brush your teeth and get back to design school. And we’ve rounded up the best tech, gadgets and productivity tools that will help you get through the toughest of assignments. From bags to cameras, laptops to printers; welcome to Creative Bloq’s back to school equipment guide. No talking at the back! Bluesmart S2 laptop bag This laptop bag comes with a built-in chargerLet’s face it, you’re going to need a decent laptop bag to be carting your MacBook or Surface (or whatever you go for) to and from your place of design education. And the Bluesmart S2, whilst pricey at 200 Euros, is pretty damn good. Why? Well, for a start it has built-in Bluetooth tracking – so if you misplace it, just pull out your phone and you’ll be able to see its location. What’s more, if you’ve lost your phone, there’s a button in the bag that rings your blower so you can find it with ease. And, let’s not forget that it comes with a removable battery (which takes 2.5 hours to charge) that enables you to juice your gadgets on the go. All this tech and it looks the part. Samsung Galaxy Note8 The Note8 sports a 6.3-inch ‘Infinity Display’If you want to make lecture notes but don’t want to lug around an iPad or use a laptop, the Note8 could be the perfect phablet. Its excellent S Pen enables you to scribble and sketch away on the incredible 6.3-inch ‘Infinity Display’ (which is basically an edge-to-edge screen with very little bezel), making notes, annotations and even doodling in Photoshop Express if the lecture takes a downward turn. When you get home, plug it into the DeX station (free when you buy a Note8) attached to your monitor and it becomes a powerful desktop PC. It’s an incredible smartphone and, unlike the Note 7, it probably won’t explode in your pocket. If you're umming and aahing about whether to go for the Galaxy or hold out for the new iPhone, you'll find everything you need to know about the iPhone 8 here. Dell XPS 13 This compact, touchscreen laptop won't weigh your bag downThe XPS 13 is a super-compact touchscreen laptop with a stunning 13.3-inch edge-to-edge display. Powerful enough to run your Creative Cloud apps on when plugged into a monitor on your desk (the base model has 8GB RAM, a Core i5 CPU and a 256GB SSD) and portable enough to throw in a bag and take just about anywhere, it really is a fantastic choice for design students. BeoPlay E8 headphones Intuitive touch controls enable you to change tracks or take callsCompletely wireless earphones are the new thing, and the ever-stylish B&O Play has just got in on the act, releasing the uber-cool E8s. Slot them in your ears, pair with your phone and you’re away. Transparency Mode enables you to let in some of the noise from the real world, while the companion app lets you fine-tune your sound. Want to change tracks or take calls? Just use the intuitive touch controls. Oh, and you’ll get four hours of play before you need to put them back in the charging case. This kind of quality comes at a price though – the B&O Play E8s will set you back somewhere in the region of £259. Epson Expression Photo XP-960 Illustrators and graphic designers will need a good quality printerAlthough we do most things digitally nowadays and it could be tempting to soft proof everything, if your course is based around illustration or graphic design, you’re going to need a high-quality, yet good value printer for hard proofs. Check out the Epson Expression Photo XP-960, which offers A3 photo printing and enables you scan and copy up to A4. A touchscreen makes it simple to use, and of course you can print wirelessly. And it gives highly professional results. Our colleagues over at Techradar gave it five stars – check out the review here. Sonos PLAY:3 The Sonos speakers are small but pack a punchYou’re not gonna be able to work without music, right? The Sonos PLAY:3 is a small speaker that packs a real punch. With Spotify Connect, Apple Music, Amazon Music and more services all integrated (and of course you can stream your own music library using the excellent Sonos app) you’ll never be without a banging tune – whether on your desk or moved into the living room for a party. Don’t like it? Return it before 100 days for a full refund, no questions asked. Want to spend a little less or have smaller digs? Check out the slightly cheaper PLAY:1. IKEA JYSSEN wireless charger A little DIY and you can add a wireless charging port to any deskWe love IKEA’s range of wireless charging lamps, but the idea of being able to turn any piece of furniture into a wireless phone charging dock is ace – just find a cool (and cheap!) desk in a bric-a-brac or charity shop, then using the £4.50 FIXA saw set you can pop the JYSSEN wireless charger in it – meaning as long as you have a Qi-enabled phone (if you don’t you can buy an adapter case from IKEA) you’ll be able to pop it on and charge without any wires. Olympus OM-D E-M10 This retro-style camera packs in plenty of high-end featuresYou’ll undoubtedly need a camera for your creative studies – even though smartphone snappers are incredibly good nowadays they can’t compare to the control you get with an interchangeable lens system. One of our favourite CSC cameras is the Olympus OM-D E-M10. Sporting retro styling with an all-metal body but packing a load of high-end features (such as 4K timelapse, a tiltable 3-inch touchscreen and the ability to remotely trigger the shutter via your smartphone, for instance), you can pick up a kit including the body and 14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses for a bargainous price. Dell S24 18HN This monitor gives you a lot of screen real estate for its sizeYou may live on your laptop during the day, but when you need to really get into a project you’re going to need a bigger display. You’re obviously not going to have a lot of space to play with, so we reckon a 24-inch model will be more than big enough. The Dell S24 18HN is a great option for students (and will pair nicely with the XP3 13), its InfinityEdge Display having virtually no bezel – and thus saving space whilst giving you a load of screen real estate. It’s not 4K, but for the price you do get a very good Full HD (1920x1080 pixels) monitor. Wacom Intuos The Intuos range of pen tablets is superbA graphics tablet is pretty much a necessity nowadays – even if it’s just to avoid RSI. There’s no denying a stylus will give you a much more intuitive and natural working environment, and the Intuos range of pen tablets is superb. They come in a number of different sizes – and for different applications (such as drawing, photo-editing and 3D). So pick the one that agrees with your discipline and budget. Logitech Craft keyboard A built-in dial gives you extra control over your Creative Cloud programmesYes, we know it’s a lot to spend on a keyboard, but if that student loan is burning a hole in your pocket you’ll get something really special with this new Logitech number. Like the Microsoft Surface Dial, the ‘Creative Input Dial’ built into this keyboard enables you to adjust brightness in Photoshop, change stroke weight in Illustrator, zoom in in InDesign and more – all with a twist (after you’ve installed Logitech’s extensions that is). Related articles: How to get into design without a degree 15 things they didn't teach you at design school Hands on: Surface Studio View the full article

With a major new release of Creative Cloud coming later this year, Adobe has dropped a sneak peak of a new and improved version of Illustrator’s curvature tool for Photoshop CC, which is designed to make your job a heck of a lot easier. Get Adobe Creative CloudA short video posted on Adobe’s official YouTube channel shows Photoshop's new Curvature Pen tool in action. The pen will be accessed under the current Pencil tool, and will enable you to click to add points that automatically form a smooth, curved shape. Easily draw designs that are 'outside the box'You won’t need to swap tools or remember shortcuts: just click, double-click and adjust your lines for the perfect shape. The new Curvature Pen tool looks to be a godsend for digital artists and photographers alike, allowing you to create paths more easily than ever before. The Curvature pen will be accessible from the main sidebarPreviously, if you wanted to select a soft or irregular shape, you’d be tirelessly working with minuscule straight lines, adjusting and readjusting the curves to create your path. Now, you can easily and quickly make a clean selection of your desired item, allowing you to move and remove aspects of your photograph or design in minutes. Check out the sneak peak below. Although there is no set date for the launch, it appears the Curvature Pen tool will be one of a whole host of new features coming to Photoshop by the end of 2017. Related articles: 95 top Photoshop tutorials The 60 best free Photoshop brushes 100 amazing Illustrator tutorials View the full article

Creating 3D art can be expensive. But thanks to creatives developing free open source software, like Blender, everyone can get involved. In this article, we've rounded up the best step-by-step Blender tutorials from around the web. Improve your modelling, animating, rendering and compositing skills as you follow the projects and pick up tips from leading 3D designers in these video and text tutorials. We've grouped these Blender tutorials into three sections, so that as well as browsing the whole list you can jump straight to the guides that are most relevant to you (use the drop-down menu above to navigate to the page you want). Blender tutorials for beginners 01. Introduction to Blender for beginners Get started with the basics of Blender with this free video tutorial series from Blender Foundation-certified trainer Jonathan Williamson. Boasting around 13 hours of learning, the tutorials are broken down into sections. Section one is all about learning to create and manipulate objects; section two looks at how to bring your new creations to life with movement; and section three covers how to render to share your creations and add finishing touches in the compositor. 02. Blender basics: shading and lighting Before you start creating anything in Blender, you need to master the basics. This 20-minute video tutorial will walk you through Blender's shading and lighting features, and shows you what you can do with them. 03. Making sense of the 3D production pipeline This Blender tutorial unpacks the 3D production pipelineYou don't need to master the entire 3D process to create impressive art in Blender, but it is at least helpful to have an understanding of the 3D production pipeline so you're aware of what the various elements are and can communicate with people who work in other parts of the pipeline. Get a helpful overview of this here. 04. The basics of realistic texturing Blender expert Andrew Price, aka Blender Guru, reveals the secrets of realistic texturing in Blender in this detailed video tutorial. In this tutorial, Price shows you how to take a texture and creating some variations of it, using Photoshop or a Photoshop alternative, then putting them into Blender. Price has a whole host of excellent Blender video tutorials on his YouTube page. 05. Character animation toolkit Learn the basics of character animationIn this series of lessons, Blender artist Beorn Leonard explains all the fundamentals of character animation in Blender. Highlights include working with timing and spacing, overlapping motion, animation walk and run cycles and understand IK and FK. 06. Lighting and baking workflow Get to grips with the complete workflow for setting up lighting for an outdoor scene. In this tutorial you'll learn how to bake light for a blazing fast render, taking 14 seconds per frame rather than eight minutes. 07. How to create realistic reflections Getting the reflections right is key to a realistic renderNot all surfaces have the same reflective characteristics, and if you want your renders to look realistic then you'll need to ensure that they reflect light properly. In this tutorial from 3D World, Pietro Chiovaro talks through how best to create realistic reflections in Blender. 08. Greenscreen masking for VFX Add some Hollywood flair to your projects. Here you'll learn the basics of masking and chroma keying in Blender – just the thing for mixing real world footage with CG via a bit of green screen action. 09. Introduction to rigging Lee Salvemini is kind of a big deal in the Blender community. He worked on Sintel, Elephants dream and spent two years on Star Wars video game titles for LucasArts. In this free video tutorial for Blender Guru, he presents a complete beginner's introduction to rigging. The video above is part one of the series, with parts two and three available on the Blender Guru site. 10. Introduction to camera tracking Blender comes bundled with an awesome feature called Camera Tracking. Camera Tracking is a process that involves using real footage and tracking its motion so that 3D elements and VFX can be added to it. This tutorial, again from the brilliant Blender Guru, gives you a complete beginners introduction to what this tool is and how to start using it right now. Next page: Cheatsheets for creating objects and scenes 11. 17 top tips for modelling a complex 3D city scene Creating a city scene is hard work, but these tips break the process downCreating a detailed city scene is no small undertaking, and requires a significant amount of repetitive, and sometimes boring, modelling actions. Rather than just enumerating point by point what he's doing, in this 3D World tutorial Mateusz Wielgus breaks down his workflow into pieces and presents them as a series of general steps and tips that you can easily follow. 12. Create a morph between two shapes Morphing an object from one shape to another smoothly is an impressive 3D trick to be able to pull off, and in this quick tutorial from Blender Nation you'll learn not one but two different techniques for creating an amazing shape-shifting effect. 13. Create a low-poly abstract scene A low-poly look is an on-trend aesthetic to aim for, and this tutorial from Blender Skool will teach you everything you need to know about creating a striking low-poly abstract scene. To help you along it includes a finished .blend file to work with, and photo editing nodes. 14. Create a spaceship In this two-part video-based Blender tutorial from Blender Guru, you'll learn how to model a concept spaceship; how to use your own sketches as reference; and how a combination of modifiers can aid you in modelling. The Blender Guru site also has concept sketches and the finished .blend file to help you get to grips with it. And you can find part two here. 15. Create a 3D cup of coffee In this complete video project by Oliver Villar on Blend Tuts you'll learn some modelling tricks, and how to create simple and not so simple node materials in the Cycles render engine. 16. Create a realistic planet Earth This tutorial uses several textures from NASA to create a realistic planet Earth using Blender Cycles. The tutorial from Blender Guru shows you how to create easy texture mapping for spheres; how to use maps to make more convincing materials; how to create a realistic sunflare entirely in Blender; and how to add glow, colour grading and a warp effect in the compositor. 17. Make a Minion This video tutorial from Blender for Noobs is for intermediate Blender users, and covers the modelling process to create a simple version of a Minion character from the Despicable Me movies. After modelling the Minion, you'll see how to set up the camera, backdrop and lighting to finish off with a render. 18. Make realistic bread In this easy-to-follow tutorial, discover how to make tasty-looking bread in Blender, using displacement, subsurf scattering and more. 19. Box model a sperm whale See how you can use box modelling to create complex shapes. Box modelling is a staple technique for every 3D artist. Learn how to model a sperm whale suitable for use in animation or games work in this simple step-by-step guide. 20. Model a low-poly T-Rex Create your own Jurassic Park with this easy to follow tutorialThis hour-long beginner tutorial walks you through how to model, uvmap and texture a low-poly T-Rex in Blender. 21. Animate a flame using materials Follow this technique to create an amazing flame animationIn this superb Blender tutorial, Bassam Kurdali shows how procedural materials and the software's compositing tools can create movement. 22. Create a Tron-inspired light cycle effect C'mon, who doesn't love a Tron light cycle?Tron: Legacy reignited an interest in the original, ground breaking 1982 movie, which saw geeks everywhere wowed by Tron's CG light cycle sequences. Filmmaker, animator and all-round Blender tutorials supremo Bassam Kurdali shows you how to create your very own light cycle effect in this walkthrough. 23. Create an energetic fire and water scene Blender tutorial guru Andrew Price returns to show you how to simulate real-world flame and fluid effects. His digital weapons of choice? Enter Blender's fluid and smoke simulators... 24. Create a realistic off-road scene Learn to create a realistic terrain for a rally carTasks that not so long ago would have taken a long time to learn are becoming much easier to administer with a single click or a dedicated plugin as 3D software becomes more advanced. One of these is moving a car along a predefined surface geometry. In this amazing Blender tutorial, Mike Griggs demonstrates how to create a realistically rough terrain for rallying. 25. How to enhance a game level environment In this video-based Blender tutorial, 3D expert Christopher Plush shows how to create low-overhead in-game effects that won't tax your players' machines. 26. How to make metallic text Create attention-grabbing text with this Blender tutorial3D typography has a big place in the industry. In this tutorial, discover how to create a big, bold, attention-grabbing title. Next page: Essential pro techniques 27. Create stunning tileable textures Make your own tileable textures with the Dynamic Topology systemBlender's Dynamic Topology system is, amongst other things, a great tool for creating nice-looking, tileable textures. In this tutorial, Pierrick Picaut explains how to create stylised wooden and stone tileable textures from sculpted surfaces. 28. Rig a 3D vehicle This vehicle rig makes the most of bone constraintsDiscover how the rig for this futuristic combat jet was created with this expert animator's insights. You'll learn how a bone constraint works in Blender and how to set it up, and also how a bone constraint affects the animation skeleton. 29. Create a realistic water simulation This Blender tutorial by Andrew Price shows you how to create realistic fluid effects and render it using the new Cycles rendering engine. 30. Make animal fur with cycles and particle hair Jonathan Lampel demonstrates how to use multiple particle systems to add realistic hair to an animal and how to easily set up a great looking fur material using Cycles' new hair shader. 31. Create a photo-real render using cycles Create jewellery that's photo-realisticIn this series of six in-depth video-based Blender tutorials, pro 3D artist Alex Telford shows you how to create a realistic render of some jewellery. Watch as he takes you from concept to final image with the software's Cycles render engine. 32. Photorealism explained "If you're a CG artist hoping to work in the industry, photorealism is the most important skill you can focus on," says Andrew Price on Blender Guru. "It not only helps you to learn and understand how real life looks (a crucial step for creating cartoonish exaggerated styles), but is also highly in-demand for Hollywood, gaming studios and new industries." Price's guide lasts for nearly an hour, but is packed with helpful tips and tricks. 33. Roll a 3D object on its edge Use the curve editor to roll objects on their edgeThis is one of the quicker Blender tutorials in this list, where you can learn how to roll objects on their edge using the curve editor. Bassam Kurdali talks you through the technique in 10 easy steps. 34. Animate a circular swipe Bassam Kurdali's video explains how to set up a clock face-style swiping action using the popular open-source 3D package. You can also download the accompanying project files for this tutorial. 35. Camera mapping Here, Andrew Price explains everything you need to know to do camera mapping using Blender. 36. Fun with rigid bodies Bring the destruction! Andrew Price demonstrates how to go wild with Blender's rigid body simulator, making a chain, a wrecking ball and a load of stuff to destroy in an entertaining manner. 37. 13 brilliant Blender tips from the pros Experts offer 13 insightful tipsMake Blender part of your professional pipeline with this set of workflow tips and tricks from the experts. Ian Hubert (Project London), James Neal (Red Cartel), Jason van Gumster (Hand Turkey Studios), William Reynish (an animator on Big Buck Bunny and Sintel) and Nathan Vegdahl (freelance), all spill the beans. Related articles: 30 inspiring examples of 3D art How VR is revolutionising the creation of 3D art 8 of the best animated shorts View the full article

Ever slogged through creating responsive, user-considerate, and downright drool-worthy web animations? When it comes to animations on the web, it is the creative thinking that makes it stand out from the crowd. The code behind the animation is the function that makes it work. What if you could put your ideas into practice without having to learn to some heavy coding techniques? This is what Webflow aims to do: it creates tools that empower creative brains to produce awe-inspiring technical feats for the web (no code required). Leonard Souza, tech lead at Webflow, will be joining us at Generate London on 20-22 September to walk you through today's treacherous landscape of web animation. He'll also demonstrate Webflow's brand spanking new Interactions 2.0, feature designed to save you countless hours of tedious coding, give you jaw-dropping animations for your shiny portfolio, and provide a sturdy steel bridge between the world of animation and web development. Hear your clients and colleagues go from 'Yeah, that's nice...' to 'Wow! How'd you do that?' Click the image below to purchase your ticket. See Leonard Souza and a host of expert web design and development aficionados at Generate London. Get your tickets nowt View the full article

If you have beautiful imagery associated with your creative projects, showcasing it on your portfolio is by far and away the best way to grab attention and interest. The stellar success of image-heavy platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat attest to the fact that most people have time for images, even if they're too busy to read a lot. How you present that imagery, though, is almost as important as the imagery itself. Here we look at 10 portfolio sites, all new for 2017, which pull off this task creatively and effectively. 01. Verde That’s not a screengrab in the centre, it’s the full siteYou may love or loathe the way this studio presents its visuals on this portfolio, but it’s certainly different – using lush, quivering moving images of foliage as a backdrop to interactive image case studies in the centre. Verde is a digital design and development studio based in Bucharest, Romania, that works with global clients in the fields of art, design and fashion. Its homepage looks like a pretty simple slideshow, but on closer inspection, what you’re seeing isn’t just static screengrabs. In fact, they’re actual live sites, placed in an iframe and fully navigable within the slideshow. We’re not sure how useful this approach actually is, but it certainly got us talking. 02. Caava Design One of the most alluring agency portfolios we’ve seen in a long whileYou start to think that every design agency website looks the same, and then you come across that of Caava Design. A multi-disciplinary studio based out of San Diego, it has created something truly unique with the design of its online portfolio. Put simply, it combines some quite stunning photography of client projects with an energetic layout and dynamic use of typography that’s as alluring as any editorial site we’ve seen of late. 03. Erminando Aliaj An original way to frame a hero imageHere’s a great way to draw attention to the work in your portfolio: form the main navigation into a rectangle that frames the central image. This eye-catching device works brilliantly on the portfolio homepage of Erminando Aliaj, a photographer based in Brescia, Italy. Click on each menu item and the hero image changes appropriately. Essentially, it’s a website as slideshow, but done in an artful and considered way that’s ultimately successful in showcasing Aliaj’s talents. 04. Roger Burkhard Shades of grey help the colourful main image to pop outAnother original way to frame visual work can be seen on the portfolio of Roger Burkhard, a developer and interaction designer based in Bern, Switzerland. His site takes the horizontal scrolling trend and does something delightfully original with it, greying out the background and bringing each project to the fore in a colourful and aesthetically pleasing fashion. The typography adds to the sense of the austere, and further helps Burkhard’s hero visuals pop. 05. Flavien Guilbaud A cool use of transitions that never detracts from the professional feelCollage-style layouts can sometimes come across as contrived and overly hip, as can the use of transitions and animations. But Flavien Guilbaud, a digital art director and designer based in Nantes, France, manages to combine both in a way that looks refined, sophisticated and professional. With each project, two images glide on to the screen and respond playfully when you hover over them. That might sound a little OTT, but the effect is beautifully subtle and never takes away from your appreciation of Guilbaud’s work itself. 06. L’Éloi Ultra-minimalism can be fun, as this agency portfolio showsUltra-minimalism can sometimes be ultra-boring. But the stark simplicity of this portfolio site for L'Éloi, a "boutique" style production agency based in Montreal, Canada, doesn’t stop it being endlessly alluring and fascinating. Presenting large, quirky and hugely colourful images in a highly original, asymmetrical layout, the effect is reminiscent of a hip fashion magazine. A great example of how much you can achieve with surprisingly little. 07. Julia Chistiakova This Russian creative’s personality shines out of her quirky portfolio siteJulia Chistiakova is a Russian designer and illustrator now living in Philadelphia and working at HootBoard. Her illustration and web design work is bright, colourful and full of energy, and her portfolio website matches that approach perfectly. Its gallery style is almost retro in its basic simplicity, but its quirky individuality conveys Chistiakova’s artistic personality perfectly. 08. Alexis Facca This asymmetrical collage is visually enticing without being OTTIf you don’t want to use a boringly regular grid layout on your portfolio site, how about an asymmetrical collage? That’s the approach Alexis Facca, a French director, set and paper designer, has taken on his site – and it works a treat. Facca uses a muted pastel background to great effect. Also, while transitions can be overused on portfolio sites, you can’t help but admire the technique he’s employed to get you to explore his work more: hover over an image and a fun set of cartoon eyes pop up. Yes, it’s a little cheesy, but it’s also very effective in getting you to click through to the main case study. 09. Laura Makabresku This portfolio uses a simple image grid to focus attention on the beautiful photographyWhen you create a custom-design for your portfolio, you don’t want it to look like it was made with a standard portfolio service. But there’s a danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The mere fact that cookie-cutter portfolio templates are based on simple image grids doesn’t mean that simple image grids are bad in themselves. If designed thoughtfully, and combined with a careful curation of your best work, a simple grid can be highly effective in showcasing your work. And that’s definitely the case with this portfolio by Laura Makabresku, a visual artist and photographer based in Krakow, Poland. Keeping the presentation as simple as possible helps to focus attention where she ultimately wants it to be: on her delightfully provocative, fairytale-esque photography. We also love how she’s used a pastel background rather than plain white, adding an extra touch of sophistication to it all. 10. Nahel Moussi This effortlessly elegant portfolio is a joy to peruseWe end with another vertical-scrolling, slideshow-based presentation of work. This portfolio of Nahel Moussi, a French interactive and motion designer based in Paris, doesn’t really do anything that original. But what it does do, it does incredibly well. The images are all incredibly beautiful. The title overlays are elegant and inspired. And the generous use of whitespace does wonders in focusing your attention on her images. View the full article

http://www.zdnet.com/article/what-to-expect-from-the-windows-10-fall-creators-update/ … View the full article

Photoshop is an easy tool to use and a difficult one to master, but help is at hand with our comprehensive list of tips, tricks and fixes for Adobe's showpiece software. Get Adobe Creative Cloud nowWhether you're looking for tips on using layers, advice on mastering the pen tool, a guide to using RAW, or ways to improve your brush work, it's all here. Most of these tips were originally published in Practical Photoshop magazine – now part of Digital Camera World. If you're a photographer, we recommend making DCW a rest stop on your travels around the web. Here are the best Photoshop tips, whether you're using an older CS version or the very latest Creative Cloud software. We've grouped them by category to make it easier for you to find the stuff that's the most relevant to your work right now, but be sure to check them all! 5 best laptops for PhotoshopLet's get started… Quick Photoshop tips 01. Easier marquee selections Hold down Alt to start a selection at the centre point with any Marquee tool, and then hold Space to temporarily move the selection around. 02. Undo, undo, undo You probably know that Cmd/Ctrl+Z is Undo, but you may not know Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+Z lets you undo more than one history state. 03. 1000 history states Go to Edit>Preferences>Performance to change the number of History states up to a maximum of 1000. Beware though of the effect that this has on performance. 04. Cycle blend modes Shift + or – will cycle through different layer Blend Modes, so long as you don't have a tool that uses Blend Mode options settings. 05. Rotating patterns Photoshop tips: Rotating PatternsYou can make amazing kaleidoscopic patterns with the help of a keyboard shortcut. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T lets you duplicate a layer and repeat a transformation in one go. To demonstrate, we've made a narrow glowing shape by squeezing a lens flare effect, but you can use any shape, image or effect you like. First, make an initial rotation by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+T and turning slightly, then hit Enter to apply. Next, press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T repeatedly to create a pattern. 06. Combine images with text Photoshop tips: Combining images with textThere's a really easy way to overlay an image on top of text. Drop an image layer over a type layer then hold down Alt and click the line between the two layers in the Layers Panel to clip the image to the text. 07. Bird's eye view When zoomed in close, hold down H and drag in the image to instantly dart out to full screen then jump back to another area. One of the best Photoshop tips for viewing work! 08. Funky backgrounds Photoshop tips: Funky backgroundsWant to change the default grey background to something more funky? Shift–click over the background area with the Paint Bucket tool to fill it with your foreground colour. Right-click it to go back to grey. 09. Close all images To close all of your documents at the same time, Shift-click any image window's close icon. 10. Spring-loaded move While using any tool, hold Cmd/Ctrl to temporarily switch to the Move tool. Release to go back to your original tool. Note that spring-loaded keyboard shortcuts work for other tool shortcuts, too. 11. Interactive zoom For interactive zooming, hold Cmd/Ctrl+Space then drag right to zoom in, or left to zoom out. The zoom targets where your mouse icon is, so it's one of the quickest ways to navigate around an image. 12. Diffuse effects Photoshop tips: Diffuse effectsThe Diffuse Glow filter can give highlights a soft ethereal feel, especially when you combine the effect with desaturation. Hit D to reset colours then go to Filter>Distort> Diffuse Glow. Keep the effect fairly subtle, then go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/ Saturation and drop the saturation down to complete the dreamlike effect. 13. Step by step: select sky with channels A: Copy Blue Channel Photoshop tips: Copy Blue channelGo to Window Channel then drag the Blue Channel to the New Channel icon to duplicate it. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+L to access Levels, then drag the white and black point sliders in dramatically to make the sky totally white and the land black. Now use the Brush tool and paint with black to tidy any bits in the land. B: Load a selection Photoshop tips: Load a selectionHold Cmd/Ctrl and click the Blue Copy Channel to load a selection of the white areas. Click back on the RGB Channel then go to the Layers Panel and add a Curves Adjustment Layer. The selection is automatically turned into a mask. Drag down on the curve to darken the sky. Next page: Essential Photoshop shortcuts Best laptops for photo editingEssential Photoshop shortcuts Mastering these shortcuts will help you work smarter, save time, and graduate to true Photoshop guru level! (These are tips 14–42.) Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E will merge a copy of all Layers F Cycle through workspace backgrounds X Change your foreground and background colours D Reset foreground and background colours to black and white ] and [ Change your brush tip size Cmd/Ctrl+J Duplicate a layer or selection Space Bar Hold Space and drag to navigate around the image TAB Hides or shows all panels and tools Cmd/Ctrl+T Transform a layer Cmd/Ctrl+E Merge selected layer down, or merges several highlighted layers Cmd/Ctrl/Ctrl+Shift+Opt+S Save for web & devices Cmd/Ctrl+L Bring up levels box Cmd/Ctrl+T Open Free Transform tool Cmd/Ctrl+M Open Curves Cmd/Ctrl+B Edit Colour Balance Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Opt+C Scale your image to your preferred state Cmd/Ctrl+Opt+G Create clipping mask Cmd/Ctrl+0 Fit on screen Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+>/< Increase/decrease size of selected text by 2pts Cmd/Ctrl+Option+Shift->/< Increase/decrease size of selected text by 10pts ]/[ Increase/decrease brush size Shift+F5 Fill the selection }/{ Increase/decrease brush hardness ,/. previous/next brush </> First/last brush Cmd/Ctrl+] Bring layers forward Cmd/Ctrl+[ Send layer back Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+[ Send layer to bottom of stack Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+] Bring layer to bottom of stack Next page: Tips for working with Layers Layers tips 43. Converting layer styles Converting a Layer Style to a normal pixel-based layer gives you greater control to edit the contents. To do so, add a style then right-click Effects and choose Create Layer. 44. View one layer If you're working with multiple layers and you want to view one layer on its own, there's no need to hide all the others manually, simply hold down Alt and click the Eye icon of a layer to make every other layer invisible. Hold down Alt and click again to reveal them. 45. Invert a layer mask After adding any Adjustment Layer, hit Cmd/Ctrl+I to invert the Layer Mask and quickly hide the effect, then paint back over the image with white to selectively reveal the adjustment. 46. Unlink layers and masks You can move either a mask or an image independently of one another by clicking the link between the two thumbnails in the Layers Panel. Highlight the thumbnail you want to reposition, then grab the Move tool. 47. Quick copy Hold down Alt and drag a mask, style or layer to quickly duplicate it. 48. Convert the background Double-click the Background Layer and hit OK to convert it to an editable layer 49. Adjustments Always use Adjustment Layers rather than directly editing a layer. This gives you three advantages: you can edit it at any time, control the strength with Opacity, and use a mask to make it work selectively. 50. Move query When using the Move tool, right-click over a point in the image for a list of all the layers you're hovering over. 51. Panel Options The Layers Panel is the most important box in Photoshop, so you'll want to make sure it's set up properly for your needs. Choose Panel Options from the Fly-out menu to select different thumbnail sizes and content. 52. Move layers up or down You can move layers up or down the stack in the Layers Panel while watching the image change. Hold down Cmd/Ctrl and press ] or [. Add in Shift to move a layer right to the top or bottom. 53. Fill shortcuts You can press Alt+Backspace to fill a layer or selection with the Foreground colour, Cmd/Ctrl+Backspace to fill a layer or selection with the Background colour, or Shift+Backspace to quickly access the Fill Options. 54. The 50% grey layer A new layer filled with 50% grey is useful in lots of situations. For example, you can dodge and burn with it, add texture, or manipulate a Lens Flare effect, all in a completely non-destructive way. To create a 50% grey layer, make a new layer then go to Edit>Fill, then set the Blend Mode to Overlay. 55. Layer group shortcut Layer Groups are incredibly useful, but don't bother clicking on the Layer Group icon, as you'll have to add layers to the new group manually. Instead, you should highlight several layers and either drag them to this icon or alternatively hit Cmd/Ctrl+G. 56. Edit multiple type layers Photoshop tips: Edit multiple type layersTo apply a change of font or size to multiple type layers at once, hold down Cmd/ Ctrl and click the layers in the Layers Panel to highlight them, then simply select the Type tool and change the settings in the Options Bar. 57. Layer mask views Photoshop tips: Layer mask viewsHold down Alt and click a Layer Mask thumbnail to toggle between a view of the mask and the image. Hold down Shift and click to turn the mask on or off. 58. Quick full layer masks You can Alt-click on the Layer Mask icon to add a full mask that hides everything on the layer. 59. Lightning fast layer copies Hold down Cmd+Alt and drag any layer to instantly make a copy. 60. Colour code layers Use colour coding to organise your Layers Panel. Right-click over a layer's eye icon to quickly access 8 colour code choices. 61. Select similar layers To quickly select all layers of a similar kind, such as shape or type layers, highlight one of them and then go to Select>Similar Layers. 62. Change opacity When not using a painting tool, you can change layer Opacity simply by pressing a number key. Hit 1 for 10%, 5 for 50%, and 0 for 100%. 63. Quick masking You may be familiar with Color Range in the Select drop-down menu. But did you know that you can access a similar command through the Color Range button in the Masks Panel? (Window>Masks). This allows you to quickly make a mask by sampling colours, which can be used for making a quick spot colour effect. 64. Step by step: blend fire effects A: Copy in the fire Photoshop tips: Copy in the fireOpen a portrait image and a generic fire image, then grab the Move tool and check Auto-Select Layer and Show Transform Controls. Drag the fire image into the girl image to copy it in, then change the Blend Mode of the layer to Screen. B: Position and warp Photoshop tips: Position and warpClick the bounding box to transform the fire layer, then resize, rotate and position the layer. Right-click while in Transform mode and choose Warp to wrap the fire around the body. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy the fire layer and transform again to build up the effect. Next page: Tips for mastering Photoshop's tools Tool tips 65. Right-click for contextual menus Almost all tools have a contextual menu that's accessed with a simple right-click. This usually gives you the tool's major controls and a few handy shortcuts. As well as the tool you have active, where you right-click affects the menu, too. For example, a right-click over a layer thumbnail or mask thumbnail gives different options. 66. Speedy navigation Being able to quickly and easily move around your image and zoom in or out will speed up your workflow more than anything else. Use Cmd/Ctrl and + to zoom in, Cmd/Ctrl and – to zoom out. Hold the space bar to temporarily access the Hand tool and drag around the image. 67. Crucial selection shortcuts With any selection tool, hold Shift to add to an existing selection and Alt to subtract from it. Shift+Alt together allows you to intersect selections. 68. Fixed ratio selections The Rectangular Marquee tool has a useful 'Style' setting in the Options Bar that lets you make a selection at a fixed ratio or size. This is helpful if you want to select a specific area to use as a wallpaper or for web pages. 69. Transform a selection You can transform a selection in just the same way as a layer. Just go to Select>Transform Selection. Right-click to choose from familiar transform modes like Skew and Warp. 70. Paste in place Cut and paste a selection to a new layer and Photoshop will place it in the middle of the screen. If you want to paste it to a new layer, but keep the position the same, use Cmd/Ctrl+X to cut and Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+V to paste in place. Similarly, you should hold down Shift while dragging layers between documents with the Move tool to keep the same position. 71. Hide the marching ants Press Cmd/Ctrl+H to hide or reveal a selection's 'marching ants' line. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+H does the same for a Path line. 72. The amazing cmd/ctrl+click Use the Cmd/Ctrl+click shortcut on any layer thumbnail, mask thumbnail, Channel or Path to load its shape or contents as a selection. 73. Switch lasso When using the Lasso tool, hold Alt then release the mouse button to temporarily switch to the Polygonal Lasso tool. 74. Pen tool rubber band If you're new to the Pen Tool, this is one of the best Photoshop tips out there! As a new user it can be frustrating when plotting anchor points, as often you're not entirely sure how your next curve will behave. There's a useful feature hidden in the Options Bar that can be a godsend for beginners. Click the 'Geometry options' drop-down (next to Auto Add/Delete) and check Rubber Band. Now, as you use the Pen tool you'll see an interactive preview of your next curve before you add it. 75. Non-destructive crops Photoshop tips: Non-destructive cropsA little-known feature of the Crop tool allows you to hide, rather than delete cropped areas. To do this, you'll need to make the Background Layer editable first, so double-click it then hit OK. Next, grab the Crop tool and drag a crop window, then instead of applying the crop, check Hide in the Options. Now you can re-crop at any time by dragging outside the window to reveal the previously cropped areas. Next page: Tips to help you master the Pen tool Pen tool tips 76. Tweak anchor points When using the Pen tool, hold down Cmd/Ctrl to temporarily switch to the Direct Selection tool. This lets you move anchor points and control handles. 77. Add a point To add a point, hover over the existing path line and the Pen tool will automatically change to the Add Anchor Point tool. 78. Remove handles Remove handles from a point and make it into a sharp angle by Alt-clicking over it. 79. From selection to path Turn any active selection into a path by clicking the 'Make Workpath from Selection' icon at the bottom of the Paths Panel. 80. Add handles Add handles to a point by holding Alt then dragging outwards from the point. 81. Path options Once you've made a path with the Pen tool, right-click for lots of options, including Make Selection, Fill Path and Stroke Path. 82. Magnetic pen For a magnetic Pen tool that behaves just like the Magnetic Lasso tool, choose the Freeform Pen tool from the Tools Panel then check 'Magnetic' in the Options Bar. Next page: Brush and painting tips Brush and painting tips 83. Try Adobe Eazel For tablet owners, Adobe Eazel is both fun and a serious painting tool. Finger-painted brush strokes have a fluidity that's difficult to create on a computer. Wireless transmission between tablet and Photoshop streamlines the painting process. 84. Change the brush angle When using a non-circular brush, you may find the need to change the angle of the brush tip. To do this, click the Brush Panel in the Options Bar then highlight Brush Tip shape and drag the circle to change the angle of the brush. You can also flip it horizontally or vertically with the check boxes. 85. Rotate the clone source Clone around corners by rotating a clone source. To do so, use Shift+Alt+ < or >. It helps if you have Show Overlay checked in the Clone Source Panel, so that you can see the rotation. 86. Real paint ridges The Bevel and Emboss filter is often used by digital painters to make brush strokes look like ridged layers of paint. Merge a copy of all the layers, then set the Blend Mode to Overlay and apply the Bevel and Emboss filter. 87. Interactive brush settings When using the Brush tool, hold down Alt and the right mouse button for a preview of the Brush tip's size and hardness. Drag down and up to increase or decrease hardness, and drag right or left to change the size. 88. Tilt canvas Photoshop tips: Tilt CanvasPhotoshop tips don't just come in the form of shortcuts. When painting, it's often easier to rotate the canvas rather than try to bend your wrist into an uncomfortable position. Just as a sketcher would angle a piece of paper, you can angle your canvas by holding down R then dragging it around. Release R and you'll flip back to your original tool. To revert back to normal, hold down R and click Reset View in the options. 89. Smudge painting Smudge painting is quick and immensely satisfying. To paint with the Smudge tool, fill a layer with an off-white tone, duplicate the Background Layer and set it at the top of the stack, with Opacity at about 13%, then highlight the Smudge tool, check Sample All Layers, and start painting. It's that simple. 90. Add texture to paintings Photoshop tips: Add texture to paintingsAs a finishing touch, you can make your paintings look much more authentic by adding a paper texture. Copy a texture on top of your image, then experiment with Blend Modes and Opacity until you get the right effect. The Darken or Multiply modes will usually provide you with good results. 91. Create a brush You can create a brush tip from any image you like. Simply convert to monochrome, then make a selection and go to Edit>Define Brush Preset. Only dark parts are recorded; any parts that are pure white aren't included in the brush tip. So if you want the shape of the brush to be clear, you need to isolate the object or shape against a white background. 92. Make sketch lines Photoshop tips: Make sketch linesIf you want to turn a photo into a painting, adding sketch lines can make the effect look more realistic. To do so, duplicate your layer then go to Filter>Stylise>Glowing Edges, then invert the colours, desaturate and use the Darken or Multiply Blend Mode. 93. Experiment Photoshop tips: Experiment!The Brush Panel is the control centre for hundreds, if not thousands, of different brush effects and settings. The best way to find out how it works is to grab the Brush tool, choose a colour, open a new document and start painting. You can take this further by trying painting on different layers and using different Blend Modes, or adding Layer Style effects to your painted layer. 94. Step by step: quick brush effects A: Set up the Brush Photoshop tips: Set up the brushLoad up a generic portrait image and then load the Square Brushes from the Brush Picker drop-down menu. Select a square brush, then open the Brush Panel and use these settings: Brush tip shape: Spacing 631%. Shape Dynamics: Size, Angle, Roundness Jitter – all 100%. Scattering: Scatter 638%, Count Jitter 50%. Colour Dynamics: Foreground/ Background Jitter 20%, Saturation Jitter 20%. Brightness 30%. B: Paint mask and colours Photoshop tips: Paint mask and coloursUse the Lasso tool to select the girl then hit Shift+Backspace and choose Fill: Content-Aware. Hold down Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon then set Foreground colour to white and paint on the mask over the girl to hide parts of the body. Next, add a new empty layer and hold down Alt to sample colours from the girl, then paint to add coloured fragments. Add a second new layer, paint larger strokes, then blur slightly with Filter>Gaussian Blur. Next page: Get precise with colour and lines Precise colour and lines 95. Draw straight lines To draw a straight line with the Brush tool, hold down Shift and then click two points. 96. Sample a colour With the Brush tool selected, hold down Alt and click to sample a colour and then set it as your Foreground colour. 97. Precise painting Press Caps Lock to switch your cursor to a crosshair. 98. Cycle through the brushes Use , and . to cycle left or right through the brushes in the Brush Preset Picker. 99. Dodge or burn When painting with the Burn tool, you can hold down Alt to switch instantly to the Dodge tool. 100. Get a pen and tablet If you're into digital painting, but don't own a graphics tablet, you're missing out on a whole new world of creativity. There are plenty of good, entry-level tablets available, but if you want mid-range features that include multi-touch input, treat yourself to a Wacom Intuos 5. 101. Change hardness As you probably know, the ] and [ bracket keys change your brush size, but you can also use Shift+ ] or [ to change the brush hardness. 102. Quick opacity change When using the Brush tool, press any number between 0 and 9 and the Brush Opacity will set to it. 1 for 10%, 9 for 90%, 0 for 100%. Press Shift and a number to adjust Flow. Next page: Do more with Adobe Camera Raw and Bridge Adobe Camera Raw and Bridge tricks 103. Use select all Photoshop tips: Use select allThe following Photoshops tips focus on Camera Raw. To quickly batch process a group of images, open them all in ACR (the easiest way to do this is through Adobe Bridge) and then click Select All. Now, any changes you make to one image will be applied to all the open files. 104. Open smart objects Hold down Shift in ACR and the Open Image button switches to Open Object. Now the file opens as a Smart Object, which means you can double-click the layer thumbnail in Photoshop to go back and edit the layer in ACR. 105. Mask sharpening Photoshop tips: Mask sharpeningThe Masking slider in the Detail Panel lets you control which areas of an image are sharpened, but it's impossible to judge unless you hold down Alt as you drag. This displays a greyscale view, in which black areas are protected from sharpening, enabling you to isolate the sharpening to edge areas. 106. Reset the sliders quickly Photoshop tips: Reset the sliders quicklyDouble-click any slider to reset it to 0. If you click once, then the slider jumps to the point you're over. So if you keep the mouse still, you can single-click, then double-click over a point for a quick 'before and after' view of any adjustment you've made. 107. Crop ratios Photoshop tips: Crop ratiosSquare crops can help to make your images stand out from the crowd. For a list of different crop ratios, hold down the mouse button over the Crop tool. Remember, like everything else in ACR, cropping is non- destructive, so you can try out different ratios and adjust the crop at any time. 108. Exposure before colour It's always best to adjust exposure before you move on to colour correction. 109. Adjustment brush controls Photoshop tips: Adjustment Brush controlsThe Adjustment Brush is perfect for selective toning in ACR. The brush works by setting pins, each linked to a painted mask that specifies the area you want to tweak. You'll need to view the mask when painting, and hide it when using the sliders to adjust the area. Hit Y to switch the view of the mask on or off. 110. Erase masks When painting with the Adjustment Brush, hold down Alt to erase parts of the mask. 111. Clip the blacks Deep blacks give an image extra punch, so it's okay to clip the blacks a little. For deep blacks, drag the Black point slider inwards while holding down Alt until a few dark spots appear. 112. Straighten horizons Hold down A and drag a line to straighten your images. 113. Clipping views Hold down Alt while dragging the Exposure, Blacks or Recovery slider to see any clipped pixels, or click the icons at the top right and left of the histogram to see them all the time. 114. Screen real estate Make the most of your screen size by hitting F to switch the ACR display to Full Screen Mode. 115. 3D carousel view Photoshop tips: 3D carousel viewLooking for Photoshop tips to view images in interesting ways? Look no further. All you need to do is hit Cmd/Ctrl+B to see your images in a snazzy 3D carousel. Scroll through the images with the left and right arrow keys and hit down to remove an image from the view. 116. Paste ACR settings Photoshop tips: Paste ACR settingsYou can copy ACR treatments from one file to another in Bridge. Right-click any file with the circular ACR icon, then go to Develop Settings>Copy Settings. Right-click another file (or hold down Cmd/Ctrl and click to select more than one) then choose Paste settings. 117. Stack similar images Photoshop tips: Stack similar imagesStacks can help you keep your workspace tidy and easier to navigate by grouping similar images together. Select a group of files (hold down Shift and click the first and last) then go to Stacks>Group as Stack. 118. Open in ACR Photoshop tips: Open in ACRRaw files open automatically into ACR, but you can open JPEGs and TIFFs, too, by right-clicking them and choosing 'Open in Camera Raw', or simply hit Cmd/Ctrl+R. 119. Open as layers Photoshop tips: Open as layersYou can load a group of images into layers of a single document by going to Tools> Photoshop>Load Files into Photoshop Layers. 120. Step by step: solarisation in ACR A: Make a cone-shaped curve Photoshop tips: Make a cone-shaped curveOpen an image in ACR, then click the Tone Curve Panel. Drag all the points off the curve to delete them, then make one single point in the middle. Drag this down, then drag the bottom left of the curve to line up to the top, making an inverted cone shape. B: Convert to mono Photoshop tips: Convert to monoClick the HSL/Greyscale Panel and check 'Convert to Black and White'. Use the sliders to tweak the black and white conversion. If you want to add some colour, go to Split Toning and adjust the sliders to add colour to the shadows and highlights. One of the top mono Photoshop tips! View the full article

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As a creative professional you live and die by the quality of your design portfolio. It sums you and your work up and is the first port of call for anyone looking to hire or commission you. It needs to show the breadth of your output, your skills and experience, how you generate and execute ideas, basically your whole creative process. Get Adobe Portfolio free with Creative CloudWhen done well, a creative's portfolio should impress and surprise the viewer, demonstrating how you and your work will be an invaluable asset to the viewer, whether that be as a full time member of staff or on a freelance basis. There are lots of varying opinions on exactly what a design portfolio should contain (especially what format it should take) but there are some golden rules and theories that will set you in good stead when putting yours together. Read on for my 10 top tips for creating a killer portfolio, gleamed from over a decade's industry experience as a commissioning designer and art editor, not to mention my own experience of preparing portfolios and attending interviews. I'll also showcase some portfolio examples from fellow designers that I think work particularly well. 01. All killer, no filler This should really be common sense, but you'd be surprised how often it isn't followed. Only ever show your very best work in your portfolio and if you aren't 100 per cent happy with the outcome then don't feature it. It's fine to show a creative journey through your work but people don't want to see way back to your college years (unless of course you're a recent graduate) and the old adage that 'you're only as good as your last job' should spring to mind. It's often hard to self-edit, but it's important to be quite ruthless when selecting the work to ensure that all of it is up to scratch and of a standard that you're happy with. 02. Start and end with key pieces Photographer Valerie Phillips makes a lasting impression on her landing page through the use of full window imagery that cycles though different images as you hover over the sections This is something that I learned quite early on: to begin with a really strong killer piece that will grab people's attention, and then finish on a similarly striking talking point that will leave them wanting more. It's easy to see how this can apply to a traditional print portfolio, but the same thinking can be applied to an iPad folio or indeed a simple PDF attachment in an email. 03. Leave them wanting more As mentioned above, its important to leave the viewer wanting more, especially on initial application as you don't want to arrive at a meeting or interview with nothing left to talk about. Also, remember not to overdo it in certain areas of your portfolio. If you've done some infographic work then feature a few key pieces and then show something different, the last thing you want is to bore someone with 100 examples of the same kind of work. 04. Get an online portfolio There is simply no excuse for not having an online portfolio in this day and age, even if you are predominantly a print designer. You don't have to know any code to take advantage of the features that sites like Cargo Collective and SquareSpace offer, not to mention an abundance of ready made and beautifully designed Tumblr and Wordpress themes. Not forgetting the social portfolio platform behemoths, Adobe Portfolio and Behance. Cargo is a great platform enabling creatives to quickly set up an online portfolio and customise it by editing the CSS or HTMLIf you do wish to edit the look and feel of some of these sites then most allow you to edit the HTML or CSS directly and it only takes a conversation with a code savvy friend to learn the (very) basics. Or failing that, Google is always your friend. 05. Let the work speak for itself Don't be tempted to over-embellish your online portfolio (or printed portfolio for that matter). Allow the work to do the talking by making projects easy to view in large formats. I spoke to Rob Gonzalez from the UK based design studio SAWDUST and asked him why they chose to design their portfolio site the way they did: "The idea was essentially to make viewing work as easy and accessible as possible. We wanted all of our projects on one page at the same time, which would allow anyone commissioning us to easily be able to scan projects until finding the desired reference." SAWDUST's slick portfolio site has proved to be a great calling card for the cutting edge design outfitSAWDUST's site is a great example of a clean and concise online portfolio that's easily navigable and puts the work at the forefront. I can speak from experience and say that on more then one occasion I've ended up not commissioning someone because the user journey was too convoluted or it took too long to load the images. 06. Curate for the job you want If sending out a PDF sampler or curating your portfolio for an interview, always make a bespoke selection of work each time that's tailored to that specific client. Although it may be the thing that you're most proud of, a potential corporate client probably isn't interested in the experimental fashion shoot you've just worked on. This applies to whole selections of work on websites as well; only show the kind of work that you want to get commissioned for or hired to create. 07. Self initiated work I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard fellow creatives state how important self initiated work is to their practice. Potential employers are also interested in seeing you flex your creative muscles and express your individual voice, to the point that I actually saw it specifically stated as a requirement on a job ad. Colour and the Kids use their bluff alongside their main portfolio site to showcase personal and work in progress pieces Including self initiated work helps the employer to see where your passions lie and the kind of work that you'd choose to do if not restricted by a tight client brief. Also, unless you're at a senior/art director level then it's sometimes hard to tell how integral a role someone played within the creation of a large project, and whether or not they were working to strict guidelines and design systems. 08. Show your working Along with seeing self initiated projects, its can also be valuable to show your working and the journey you went through to realise the outcome to a given brief. This may be the journey from marque creation to implementation within a branding project or the craft based process behind an analogue piece of work. Kyle Wilkinson showcases behind the scenes shots on his portfolio site, giving an insight into his creative processI asked Kyle Wilkinson, who often works with real world materials, why he thinks it's important to show the process behind his stunning images. "Showing things going off behind the scenes when creating your work gives an instant understanding to the viewer on how it was made, as well as the depth and level of your capabilities as a designer." "And unlike showing your working in a maths lesson, demonstrating your techniques and craft can be beneficial - as the image style may not be quite what a potential client is looking for, but they now know you are equipped with the skillset they're after that you could apply to their brief." 09. Choose the right format To iPad or not to iPad. The general consensus is that the traditional print portfolio is redundant when attending interviews, and that displaying work on an iPad is a much easier, convenient and contemporary way to display your work. My personal advice would be to take both, but perhaps a box folio for actual printed matter is preferable to the traditional leather flip book. There's nothing wrong with a PDF on an iPad or indeed a keynote presentation, but when dealing with print I think wherever possible it's nice to see the actual pieces and feel the tactility of the product. It makes sense that printing out digital projects is a pretty pointless activity, and photoshoots and illustration both look great on iPad, but if you've been working with different paper stocks and finishes it's nice to see those pieces in the flesh. Ultimately use your common sense and choose the best format to display the kind of work that you produce. 10. Be confident and tell your story Finally, the key to any portfolio presentation is the ability to deliver and talk confidently about the work within it. There's nothing worse than going through someones portfolio who has little or nothing to say about their work. Ensure that all the pieces that you include are ones that you're very proud of and can talk confidently and enthusiastically about in a meeting, explaining the back story and journey you went through to get there. Go get em! Related articles: The best laptops for graphic designers 8 great examples of graphic design portfolios The best laptops for photo editing View the full article

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Conveying your emotional response to a subject as an artist can really engage viewers. There are a number of brushwork techniques that will help you achieve this, lifting a simple observation to an exciting work of art. How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorialsThese are things that you can begin using right away in your own paintings. For this article we're using oil paints, but these techniques can be used with a variety of other media as well. A number of factors affect the success of various stroke techniques, including paint viscosity (how buttery or stiff the paint is), the volume of paint on the brush, the angle at which the brush is held, and the pressure used when making a stroke. Let’s have a look at those now... 01. Have some fun 'Painting by the pound' can add energy and emotion to a painting. Use thick gobs of pigment on the brush, then place them on the canvas with a soft touch, keeping the brush nearly parallel to the surface. Lightly drag it across the painting, because too much pressure flattens the stroke. Let the paint stand proud to create texture. 02. Prepare your paint When painting by the pound, the viscosity of the paint is crucial. Paint that’s too stiff or too thin doesn’t work. A consistency that’s similar to mayonnaise is perfect, along with an adequate quantity of paint on the brush. Strive to place 'pieces of paint' on the surface of the painting. 03. Use a knife A palette knife will also help you to achieve a similar effect. Again, use a thick load of buttery pigment on the bottom of the knife and apply it lightly to the surface of the painting. Don’t press or scrape. Hold the blade flat to the canvas and let it skip and jump as it skitters lightly across the surface. 04. Be generous Load paint on the knife using only the bottom of the blade, not the top. Be generous and use enough paint to make a powerful mark. When you place a stroke, be bold and make a dramatic statement, then leave it alone. Too much correcting leads to a muddy effect instead of the lively look we’re after. 05. Create a mood Thinly painted areas with soft edges create a gentle, restful mood. For this you can use large filberts to cover big areas of a painting. Blend one shape or colour into another and work back and forth, wet-into-wet. Use enough medium in the paint to keep it soft and juicy when striving for this effect. 06. Try fingerpainting When you want to soften smaller areas or edges in a painting, using your fingertip offers more control than a brush, especially in small areas. If you’re using toxic pigments, it’s a good idea to wear a rubber glove for this. 07. Try crisp edges Strokes with crisp, well-defined edges contrast nicely with softer areas of a composition. Use brights for these strokes (a short-bristled version of a flat). Press firmly when making the stroke, then leave it alone to avoid blending and to maintain crisp edges. 08. Add a new twist You can use riggers to create two very different effects. The first is that when painting a tree limb, get a thick load of paint on the brush and then drag it lightly over the canvas. By slowly rotating the brush in your fingers and simultaneously jogging left and right, you can create an angular, textured stroke... 09. Be graceful The second is when using a rigger to create a soft, graceful stroke, use thinned-down paint and thoroughly wet the entire length of the bristles. Then, slowly drag the brush over the surface, allowing the bristles to trail along in a smooth line. When the brush runs out of paint, the stroke is finished. 10. Add some sparkle At the finish of a painting, bring it to life by adding little accents or 'clicks and pops'. Plan ahead to deliberately maintain some areas of soft, diffused strokes and subtle hues. Into these areas, place a few tiny strokes of lively hues and brighter values that add a subtle sparkle to the piece. 11. Fool the eye Optical colour-mixing is another great technique, which involves layering dry-brushed strokes of colour lightly over an underpainting that’s a different colour. It’s important to let the brush skip and jump over the underpainting so that both hues remain visible. The eye reads them as a blended colour that isn’t actually present on the canvas. 12. Use the underpainting technique Begin by underpainting several areas of thin paint and then wait while they become either tacky or completely dry. Then mix your colours that look interesting with those underpainted hues and lightly drag a brushload across the surface, allowing it to incompletely cover the underpainting. This is another way to add extra sparkle to your work. 13. Explore different strokes This piece (above) uses several techniques – soft, blurry edges of gently blended colours contrast with thickly textured paint placed with bold strokes. There are little clicks and pops in areas that would otherwise be uninteresting. And it also combines richly saturated hues with relaxed areas of desaturated colour. 14. Combine techniques The example above uses the painting by the pound approach as well as a variety of clicks and pops. Notice that these small accents of colour were placed in spots where they stand out, and also notice that many of the hues used seem foreign to the colour scheme used elsewhere. This works well when used in small amounts. 15. Mix and match techniques Here, optical colour mixing was used in the background, while the face uses a combination of softly blended areas contrasted with crisp-edged strokes. If you look closely you’ll see a few other techniques as well. Why not give some of these brushstroke techniques a try today? This article originally appeared in Paint and Draw issue 9. Buy it here. Related articles: Paint realistic waves Paint like an impressionist How to convey sound in a painting View the full article

Assessing which is the best laptop for photo editing can be a confusing task. It's simpler from the Mac side, but the choice of PCs can be overwhelming. We've gone for a broad selection here, offering up a couple of more powerful models with Intel's beefed-up Iris graphics. If you're into pro editing you'll probably need a laptop with dedicated Nvidia or AMD graphics on board. We've also covered which is the best laptop for photo editing under £1,000 as well as the best laptop for photo editing under £500. Be warned though, at the lower of those price points you're looking at distinctly amateur rather than pro photo editing. If you're after a laptop for professional use, you'll need something with power – and yes, that involves spending more money. 15 essential photo editor appsPutting this buying guide together did raise more than a few questions – such as: what's the minimum spec you need for a decent photo editing laptop? The answer is that you definitely need to be looking for 4GB of memory, as well as at least an Intel Core i3 processor (preferably Core i5 or i7). You want plenty of on-board storage, too. Many laptops now have solid state drives (SSDs) but these tend to have lower capacity than traditional hard drives. Either way, we don't recommend less than 256GB. If you're going to be pro editing your photos, you want a top notch processor as well as 8GB of memory plus some fairly capacious storage. Again, no less than 256GB . Right, let's check out our list of the best photo editing laptops. The 5 best laptops for photo editing Go into any coffee shop and you'll see a MacBook. They're pretty ubiquitous. The 13-inch version with Touch Bar is the one to have, although we're typing this very article on a 13-inch without the Touch Bar and very good it is too. The MacBook is now so thin and relatively light that it will give pretty much any ultraportable laptop a run for its money. Of course, the key difference is the Touch Bar – a thin OLED display at the top of the keyboard that can be used for any number of things, flicking through photos or paying for stuff with Touch ID. The drawback is that the MacBook Pro is an expensive choice. But you do get a tremendous laptop for your money. Be warned that the new MacBook Pros all have USB-C ports (with Thunderbolt 3 support), so you need adaptors for old devices. There is no microSD card slot, either. Read the full review: Apple MacBook Pro with touchbar (2017) This is the best laptop for portability and so is our choice for on-the-go photo editing. It's not one for pro editors, but it is a super machine for everyone else and Dell has just updated it with Intel's latest processors to boot. The 13.3-inch touchscreen display has such a slim bezel (Dell calls it 'Infinity Edge'). The best thing is the size of the chassis; it's extremely compact. There's a Thunderbolt 3 multi-use Type-C port as well as standard USB 3.0 and a micro SD card slot, too. The most expensive versions have QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800 pixel) screens plus Core i7 processors while others have Core i5 and Full HD displays. Put simply, it's a brilliant laptop. Read the full review: Dell XPS 13 This is for those who want something like the XPS 13 above, but need to plump for something a little cheaper. But you don't compromise that much for something that's around £450 less. For one thing, the Zenbook isn't as portable. It also isn't so powerful, with a Core i3 processor, but there is a Core i5 option. So it's not as svelte, but all the essentials are there and you won't have any issues getting your photo editing done on it. Asus is a formidable brand to look at for a photo editing laptop under £500. And if this is a little too expensive, then the Core i5-toting Asus VivoBook is a great choice. Read the full review: Asus Zenbook UX310UA Forget about the ageing MacBook Air, the MacBook is where it's at. There are a few issues, though – the base level processors aren't quite good enough for Pro work and there's a single USB-C port. Aside from the processor, the spec is actually pretty good, but then you should expect that for this kind of money. The screen size will also be an issue for some creatives doing photo work on the move, but it's still a thing of beauty. If you're willing to sacrifice almost anything in favour of portability, this is the laptop for you. Read the full review: Apple MacBook review Although the awesome Surface Book is really rather superb, it's also very expensive. That's why we'd plump for the HP. It's super thin and light, but will perform a full 360 (clue's in the name) and convert to a tablet. You're then able to use it with a stylus to make Windows 10 really sing (and Windows Ink is a big part of that, of course). As with the XPS 13, it comes with a Full HD display by default, but a 4K one is also available as an upgrade – both are excellent for photo editing on the go. Naturally, performance is also on the money. It's a terrific package. Read the full review: HP Spectre x360 Also read: 5 best laptops for Photoshop The best laptops for graphic design The best video editing software View the full article

Stockholm-based design studio Snask is known for being playful, quirky and anything but dull. So it’s a surprise to learn that sometimes the team have ideas that are just too whacky – even for them. Described by Paul Sahre as “like Titanic played backwards” and by Thomas Both as “the designers we all want to be”, we’re pretty excited about seeing Snask in person at Something Good in Bristol, UK, next month. We’ll be reporting on the high points of the event then, and as a Creative Bloq reader you can get 20 per cent off tickets to come along too with the code: CreativeBloq20. In the meantime, we caught up with Snask for a quick interview. Asked whether the team ever have ideas that are too whacky to follow up on, they reply that there are many. “Almost every week we come up with some funky horse shit that no-one would ever keep working on for more than giving it a laugh,” they say. “But sometimes one of those grow and become a real thing. A real horse shit.” Snask is certainly talented when it comes to turning unusual ideas into reality. Some notable works include its own shower beer, its own pink bike and even a rebrand for North Korea. Beyond that, Snask creates branding and design work, stop-motion and live action video for clients including H&M, Samsung, Universal Music Group and Microsoft. The Snask team members all look ridiculously greatSo what is the secret of the team’s success? “We look ridiculously great, like Ryan Gosling,” they tell us. “No, probably the opposite, and since we don’t look amazing we have to try harder, make more jokes and develop our personalities. Get some ambition and drive and hope someone will marry us because of that. "Other than that I think we care about our own agency brand a lot.” Looking back at its early days, the team says there were some mistakes. “Our whole business is based around messing up actually. That’s how we learn things, since we’d rather come up with our own solutions than listen to a conservative industry.” Snask built this interactive paper city for the Swedish Association of Public Housing It is perhaps this independent, pioneering and optimistic spirit that attracts clients and fans to Snask. The studio's work is fun, colourful and full of life, and certainly original. “We don’t believe that much in colour theory,” the team reveals. “Blue is depressing but also used for IT as well as being the colour of the sky and the ocean breeze. Yellow is the sun and a way to say forgive me as well as death in China. Red is anger and hot and danger and also the colour of Norwegian and Virgin airlines. Snask designes the branding, identity and store concept for Norwegian eyewear brand Kaibosh “We love pink, of course. But we love a lot of colour. At the same time we dress quite non-colourfully.” Catch Snask at Something Good in Bristol, UK, on 6-7 October, where you can expect: “Inspiration and rock'n'roll... Perhaps some rap.” Creative Bloq readers can get 20 per cent off tickets with the code: CreativeBloq20. Related articles: 10 rules for running a killer studio How to turn your design studio dream into reality How Hey Studio seduced Apple with geometric shapes View the full article

Get an insight into how to create distinctive characters brimming with personality in the latest issue of ImagineFX – on sale now! Inside issue 153 you will find out how the magazine's stunning cover art was created, thanks to a tutorial from Ramón Nuñez. Thanks to his insightful character art tips, you're sure to pick up a new skill that will help with your own character creation. Buy issue 153 of ImagineFX here Elsewhere, issue 153 of ImagineFX also contains a glimpse into the sketchbook of Chantal Horeis, a look at how illustrator Atey Ghailan creates a sketch workflow, and a core skills tutorial to help you paint with gouache. And that's not all. Take a look below at the main features heading up the latest issue of ImagineFX. You won't want to miss it. Click here to subscribe to ImagineFX Sketch artists share their secrets Sketching pros share their secrets and tricks of the tradeIdle sketching isn't a waste of time. In fact, the pros do it all the time to loosen up and generate ideas. To discover more about the joy of sketching, we talk to pro artists including James Gurney and Terryl Whitlatch about why they scribble away every single day before turning their attention to the job in hand. Develop a distinctive character silhouette Blizzard Entertainment artist Tan Zhi Hui guides you though silhouette secretsA recognisable silhouette is one of the cornerstones of a strong character design. Tan Zhi Hui shows you how to create an outstanding character outline in this Photoshop tutorial. Greg Ruth interview The star-studded world of Greg Ruth includes work for Barack Obama and PrinceGorge yourself on page after page of sublime artwork from Greg Ruth, the American illustrator to the stars. Meet the sculptor who creates clay faerie kingdoms Vicky Stonebridge shares her pottery skillsTake a trip to the land of the faeries with this clay video workshop by Vicky Stonebridge. Here she demonstrates her skills with a potter's wheel and shares tips for firing and glazing a miniature metropolis. Order your copy of ImagineFX issue 153 today. See your artwork in the pages of ImagineFX The next issue could feature your artworkHave you ever wanted to see your artwork in print? Or maybe you want to share your digital art masterpieces with likeminded readers? Well, you're in luck! ImagineFX is always open to readers' submissions. Just send your art, a headshot, and a short biography to fxpose@imaginefx.com. Related articles: 8 inspiring digital art portfolios and why they work 6 best digital art tools of 2017 so far Best drawing apps for iPad View the full article

You know just how powerful your Mac is. It's time to harness that processing power to make incredible videos. CameraBag Cinema is an editing tool designed to make the most of the Mac's capabilities, and you can get this essential tool on sale now for 51% off the full retail price. Could you imagine what it would be like to edit a blockbuster film right on your Mac? Working with CameraBag Cinema can give you a solid simulation of that experience. This stand-alone video editing software is capable of working with 4k footage, with professional features such as colour grading and film emulation. It's packed with tools that will change the way you edit and interact with video, and just might help you go from amateur editor to professional cinematographer. You can get CameraBag Cinema on sale for just $24 (approx £19) rather than $49. It’s a 51% saving off the retail price of a powerful video editor that will help add polish to your projects, so grab this deal today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com View the full article

Working in the 3D industry, it’s easy to become blinkered to your own studio’s tools, procedures and processes. But there are many different ways of achieving the same result, and new techniques and tools coming onto the market all the time. Check out these top tutorials, all posted on Creative Bloq in 2017, and you may well discover new ways of doing things that save you time, energy and budget. 01. Create a realistic digital portrait in ZBrush and Maya Design a digital double using ZBrush and MayaDeveloping a digital double is one of the most intricate and challenging tasks that a 3D artist can ever face, but with increasing demand for this kind of service within the industry, it’s a good time to delve into the practice to see what’s involved. In this walkthrough, Aybars Turan explains how to create a realistic likeness using ZBrush and Maya, beginning with a base mesh. 02. Simulate explosions in Maya Make an arresting explosion using Maya and FumeFXThere’s nothing that can bring a game, TV show or movie to life better than an impressive explosion. And the good news is that software is becoming increasingly sophisticated in helping 3D artists create them. In this tutorial, Syawish A Rehma shows you how to craft a convincing-looking explosion using Maya’s nParticles and FumeFX. 03. Make realistic plants in Cinema 4D A quick way to add plants to your archvizOne of the biggest problems with archviz is that however well developed, your models can end up looking overly geometric, clinical and bland. A good way to add a touch of humanity is by incorporating some plants and trees into the scenes. Here, 3D World magazine editor Rob Redman reveals how you can make use of Cinema 4D's MoGraph tools to create 3D foliage quickly and easily. 04. Create a meteor shower in 3ds Max Fill the sky with flying rocks using Max and FumeFXYou don’t have to have a doctorate in astrophysics to light up the sky with a photorealistic meteor shower. In this tutorial, Syawish A Rehma explains how to design a realistic 3D meteor shower using 3ds Max and FumeFX. 05. Create ornate tiles in Substance Designer Generate a beautiful tiled pattern using Substance DesignerCreating geometry-based assets like flooring is exactly the kind of thing that CG software excels at. In this tutorial, Chris Hodgson shows you how to combine mask textures using Substance Designer to generate a modifiable ornate tiled floor. 06. Create realistic CG cloth in Maya, Nuke and Redshift Create cloth that still looks believable, close-upStimulating cloth and fabric in 3D is all about achieving a convincing level of detail. In this Maya, Nuke and Redshift tutorial, Jesus Fernandez uses a semi-procedural technique to create the fabric strands, based on a library of models. 07. Groom an irresistibly furry creature in Maya, ZBrush and Redshift Discover how to create this cute little fellaWhen you’re creating a furry creature, you don’t just want it to look good: you want people to want to reach out and stroke it. In this video tutorial, with supporting files, Jesus Fernandez walks you through his process for creating an irresistibly furry creature in 3D using Maya, ZBrush and Redshift. 08. Sculpt realistic anatomy in ZBrush Learn how to sculpt people whose bodies fall outside of the normHumans come in all shapes and sizes, and once you’ve mastered basic anatomy, improving your people-sculpting skills is all about becoming adaptable. ZBrush is a great tool for this because it provides you with the kind of freedom required when shaping forms. Jakub Chechelski demonstrates by walking you through a sculpt of Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps. 09. Sharpen your hard-surface modelling Learn how to create this drop ship in MaxIn this tutorial, Victoria Passariello create a 3D version of a sci-fi drop ship concept made by designer and illustrator Virnard Magpantay. The aim is to demonstrate that you can create any hard-surface piece using simple tools in 3ds Max, or similar software. 10. Create hair in Cinema 4D Learn how to craft a realistic barnetIn this step-by-step tutorial, digital artist Jason Knight shares four of the things he’s learned over the previous 18 months about creating 3D hair. There’s also an accompanying video so you can see Knight at work creating convincing locks. 11. 5 steps to a faster workflow Discover how to streamline your workflow from someone who learned by necessityAnimation graduate Martin Nabelek has been getting rave reviews for his 3D sci-fi short OFF, which was made with a very tight turnaround. Here he shares his top tips for improving your own 3D workflows. 12. Move between DAZ Studio and Cinema 4D Zip between the two tools easily by following Knight’s adviceIt’s great to see so many 3D programs on the market, but switching between them can prove clunky and tedious in practice. Jason Knight mainly works in Cinema 4D, but often move his characters in and out of DAZ Studio. Here he presents the best four-step process for doing so: the result of countless hours of trial and error. 13. Create stunning tileable textures in Blender Use Dynamic Topology sculpting to generate geometry on the flyWho doesn’t love the free 3D software suite Blender? In this tutorial, Pierrick Picaut shows you how to use its Dynamic Topology system to create stylised wooden and stone tileable textures from sculpted surfaces. 14. Texture an authentically worn K-2SO droid Learn how to make the worn-metal look feel authenticOne of the most acclaimed new characters to appear in Star Wars prequel Rogue One was the sarcastic and sullen K-2SO. In this tutorial by Andrew Entwistle demonstrates how to texture the droid using Substance Painter, making him slightly reflective, yet dull and worn. 15. 5 tips for sculpting in double-quick time Discover how to work at super-speed by following Sae Eua’s exampleWith budgets constantly dropping and client demands rising, 3D artists constantly need to find ways to work faster. In the video masterclass at the top of this tips post, Krystal Sae Eua shows you how to sculpt a model of a Nubian ibex in just one hour. 16. Convert a photo into a VR set Create a 360-degree experience from a photoThere are many applications for AR and VR beyond video games. In this tutorial, Joshua Kinney reveals how to use Photoshop, 3ds Max and Unity to create a 3D photo that’s suitable for viewing through Google VR. 17. Create a pouring water effect in RealFlow and 3ds Max Use RealFlow and Max to make your liquid look spot-onRealFlow is one of the most popular tools for creating flowing liquid effects. In this tutorial, Vikrant J Dalal explains how to simulate the pouring of water using the software in conjunction with 3ds Max. 18. Render a photorealistic sky in Vue xStream Make your skies fluffy with this cloud creation software Used by a number of animation and visual effects studios, Vue xStream has a special section for clouds, with a range of adjustable parameters. This tutorial by Vikrant J Dalal focuses on the key stages and settings you need to know to create a believable cloudy sky. 19. Turn your 2D designs into 3D with Felix Bring 2D and 3D together with Adobe’s toolAlthough not strictly aimed at 3D artists, Adobe’s Felix is still a great tool for compositing 2D and 3D shots. This tutorial by Lance Evans explains how to do so in 10 simple steps. 20. Model Darth Vader in ZBrush Discover how this cool version of Vader was createdCombining both 2D digital painting and 3D sculpting techniques, this walkthrough by Riyahd Cassiem demonstrates how he used ZBrush, KeyShot and Photoshop to build a cool Darth Vader figure. 21. Design and model a fantasy creature in ZBrush and Quixel Improve your creature creation process by following this walkthroughUsing ZBrush and Quixel, this detailed tutorial by Tyler Smith walks you through his pipeline for designing, sculpting and rendering a fantasy creature. 22. Build a custom Maya interface Take charge of Maya by building your own UILike all sophisticated 3D software, Maya offers a quite staggering range of tools, commands and options. For many, this can be bewildering and off-putting, so one solution can be to create your own custom UI. This tutorial by Rob Redman shows you how to do so. 23. Create a low poly wallpaper in Cinema 4D Make this desktop wallpaper using Cinema 4D and PhotoshopCreating the kind of low poly facet-style render popularised by Justin Maller is relatively straightforward in Cinema 4D and Photoshop. This 12-step guide by Simon Middleweek takes you through the process. 24. Use blend shapes to animate characters Discover how to set up some simple blend shapes and use them effectively in your animationsWhen you’re giving your 3D model facial expressions, it can sometimes be more efficient to create a few blend shapes than trying to make weight maps work properly for every situation. This quick step-by-step by Rob Redman shows you how to do it. 25. Create a splash effect in RealFlow Harness the Crown Daemon to build a movie-style splashYou know when, in blockbuster movies, a large object like a comet strikes the ocean, creating one almighty splash? In this tutorial, Rob Redman explains how to create exactly that effect using RealFlow’s versatile Crown Daemon. View the full article

A new 13-track album from the late king of pop Michael Jackson is set to drop later this month. And who better to design the album art than UK illustrator and king of posters Matt Taylor? According to Sony Music, Michael Jackson: Scream will be a collection of the singer's “all-time most electrifying and danceable tracks including Ghosts, Torture, Thriller, and Dirty Diana." No pressure for Taylor, then. Negative space The final artwork is hauntingly stunning – which is appropriate, given the September 29 release is just in time for Halloween. MJ’s eyes grip your attention, staring out of a partially obscured full moon that uses negative space to cleverly build layers of eerie texture and meaning. Some shapes cut recognisable silhouettes – the descending crows, for example – while others suggest otherworldy creatures lurking in the shadows. Inline text introduces the artist with the title, Scream, painted in blood red and breaking the limited colour palette. Scream posters reportedly first appeared in Germany. Jackson's official Twitter account, @michaeljackson, tweeted out a 15-second-long video on Monday that featured black cats, full moons and other imagery commonly associated with Halloween. Watch it below. View the full article