Rss Bot

We all love a free font. But with so many new free fonts continually being released, it’s easy to get a little lost. So in this post, we’ve brought together our favourite new free fonts of the year. If you still can’t find you’re looking for, though, check out our list of free font resources and that should get you there. 01. IBM Plex IBM has open-sourced its alternative to Helvetica Neue, IBM Plex It’s taken a few decades, but this year IBM finally created its own bespoke typeface, IBM Plex, using it to replace Helvetica Neue on its software, websites, marketing and more, and save itself a lot of cash in the process. And as an early Christmas present for designers everywhere, it also made the font free and open source, so you could save some cash too. IBM Plex is available in 110 languages, in serif and sans serif versions, and in eight weights. Get it from IBM's GitHub site and start using it today. 02. Dubai The city state of Dubai has its own font, and you can use it for free Dubai is a free font created by the Middle Eastern city-state and tourist destination, essentially as a promotional tool. Featuring both Latin and Arabic characters, it was crafted in collaboration with Microsoft and initially released only to Office 365 subscribers, but has since been made free for everyone. Designed by Nadine Chahine of Monotype, this extra condensed display font is a good choice for titles and posters requiring big and bold lettering. You need to give your name and email address to download it, but there’s no verification, so if you’re paranoid about your details ending up on a government database, you could always use a fake one. If you have an Office 365 subscription, though, you don’t need to bother as it will have been installed automatically. 03. AtF Spark AtF Spark is a font that turns numbers into little data visualisations Now here’s something a bit different. AtF Spark bills itself as “the world's first code-free sparkline typeface”. In other words, this clever typeface turns the numbers you type into inline data visualisations. It’s all inspired by Edward Tufte’s sparklines, which are simple, word-sized graphics with typographic resolution. You can see some examples in orange, green and blue above. To use it, all you need is a font file, some text, and an application that can make use of OpenType Contextual Alternates, such as an up-to-date web browser, Adobe Illustrator or Microsoft Word. 04. Spectral Spectral can “shapeshift” to fit any responsive design Designed by Prototypo and its partner Production Type, Spectral is a parametric font, which means it can “shapeshift” to match any design. While responsive websites are its most obvious application, its makers invite you to: “Imagine shop windows that react according to the movements of passers-by. Think data visualisation mixing info and text or websites with a readability enhanced for visually impaired people.” You can learn more about this intriguing new typographical technology in this Prototypo blog post. 05. Hack Hack is specifically designed for displaying source code Hack is a free and open source typeface designed for the express purpose of displaying source code. It includes monospaced regular, bold, italic, and bold italic sets, so however you like to highlight your code, it should serve your needs. It’s also multilingual, with 1,567 glyphs at time of writing, including extended Latin, modern Greek, and Cyrillic character sets. 06. Bourbon Grotesque This beautifully retro sans-serif has a range of potential uses Bourbon Grotesque is a free sans serif typeface made available by Jeremy Vessey, a type designer and the founder of Hustle Supply Co. This versatile, vintage-style font is perfect for all your hipster-tinged projects. It’s available for free download on his website in return for your email address. 07. Pissjar Sans A deliberately disgusting font from a Swedish punk band Tired of beautiful, elegant-looking fonts? Well, here’s something that’s been designed to be deliberately ugly and off-putting. Pissjar is the creation of the Swedish punk band of the same name, which they crafted for the cover of their debut album, Apathy and Cheap Thrills. It’s free to download from their website (where you can also see a glimpse of how they made it, if you really want to). 08. Gilbert Gilbert is a tribute to the late Gilbert Baker, creator of the rainbow flag In March this year Gilbert Baker – the artist and activist who designed the rainbow flag, a universal symbol of gay pride – sadly passed away. To honour him, Ogilvy teamed up with type foundry Fontself and LGBTQI organisations NewFest and NYC Pride to create a cool new font in tribute. Baker designed the iconic flag in 1978, and so the font takes its palette choices from both the flag itself and the hues of that era. Its creators hope that it will be used for rally and protest banners. Two versions of Gilbert (a standard vector font and a colour font in OpenType-SVG format) are free to download from the Type with Pride site, along with accompanying artwork. The aim is to eventually develop it into a full font family, and you can keep an eye on progress towards this goal on this blog. 09. Zilla Slab Mozilla’s new branding came with a new font, which has since been released to the community as a free download Back in January, Mozilla released a striking new logo and branding for 2017. And more recently, it’s made the font used in its creation a free download for everyone to use. It was designed by Typotheque, which drew on its own slab serif font, Tesla, as the basis for its development. With smooth curves and true italics, Zilla Slab provides a business-like look and feel, as well as a high level of readability at all weights. The first free font to be provided by the Mozilla Foundation, Zilla Slab is also open source so you can contribute to its development on Github. 10. Noto Serif CJK The shape of particular characters in Noto Serif CJK adjust depending whether the text is vertical or horizontal If you’re creating designs that need to be translated into both Eastern and Western languages (or which combine different alphabets within the same design), you’ll be pleased to discover Noto Serif CJK, which was released in April. The result of a partnership between Google and Adobe, this font is designed to look consistent across Chinese, Japanese and and Korean (CJK) characters as well as the English, Cyrillic and Greek alphabets. It’s free to download from Google Fonts, Github or Adobe Typekit, where it’s titled Source Han Serif. Noto Serif CJK serves as a companion font to Noto Sans CJK (aka Source Han Sans), a sans serif released in 2014 that also maintains its style across CJK scripts. 11. Entra A new free font for 2017, Entra would work well in logos and headlinesEntra is an original and unusual looking font that’s designed for use in logos and eyecatching headlines. A modern looking caps-only font, its combination of sharp corners and rounded shapes is quite unique. Designed by Gatis Vilaks and Wild Ones Design, this font is free for personal and commercial use. 12. Aganè Top freebie Aganè was inspired by three classic fontsDesigned by Swiss graphic, UI and type designer Danilo De Marco, Aganè was inspired by Noorda Font by Bob Noorda, FF Transit by Erik Spiekermann, and Frutiger by Adrian Frutiger. Created for use in wayfinding signage, the inclinations in the terminals have been designed to optimise legibility from a variety of reading perspectives. This clean sans-serif would also work well in user interfaces. It’s free for personal and commercial use. 13. Cookit This tall and bold font is free for both personal and commercial useCookit is a fun display font designed by Sérgio Haruo of Jundiaí, Brazil. This tall, bold, caps-only font would work well in logos, branding and indeed any graphics that need to arrest the attention. It’s free for both personal and commercial use. 14. Leafy Use Leafy to give a handmade feel to your designsLeafy is a free, all-caps, brush font that’s useful for any design aiming at a personal, handmade feel. Brushed by Ieva Mezule and put together by Krisjanis Mezulis of Latvian agency Wild Ones Design, this font includes 95 unique, hand-crafted characters. It’s free for both personal and commercial use. 15. HK Nova HK Nova is inspired by Futura and Century GothicCreated by Dubai-based graphic designer Alfredo Marco Pradil, HK Nova is a free sans-serif font. Inspired by both Futura and Century Gothic, it’s supplied in three versions: Standard, Rounded and Narrow, and the creators urge you not to be afraid to display it “as large as possible”. This font is free for personal use only. 16. Womby Womby is a great free font for your personal design projectsWomby is a fun free font created by Cagri Kara, a multidisciplinary art director and graphic designer based out of Los Angeles. Great for graphic design, especially posters, and recently updated, this caps-only font is free for personal use only. 17. Ginora Sans Ginora Sans is a quirky and stylish sans-serifGinora Sans is a sans-serif with spacious characters and elegant circles. Decidedly quirky, it could be used in both logos and editorial design. Free for both personal and commercial use, this stylish font comes courtesy of Brazilian designer Matheus Gomes. 18. Cheque Cheque instantly summons up a vintage feelCheque is a free display font based on geometric shapes, which has a classic, vintage look to it. Designed by Mirela Belova of Sofia, Bulgaria, its Regular and Black versions are both free for personal and commercial use. 19. Manoyri Manoyri recreates the look of marker pen writingBased in Athens, Greece, Stergios Tsiamis and Iordanis Passas are the graphic designers behind this cool new free font. Manoyri recreates the look of handwriting using a marker pen, and would work well in advertising, branding, headlines and logos. It’s free for personal and commercial use. 20. Gritstone Script font Gritstone is ideal for logos and brandingGritstone is a bold display script font that features heavy, loopy characters. Ideal for logos, branding, badges, T-shirts and posters, this free font is the work of Canadian agency Pixel Surplus and is free for both personal and commercial use. Related articles: 8 great fonts to use for your portfolio The 7 best logos by design agencies in 2017 10 huge web design trends for 2018 View the full article

As the year draws to a close, it’s a good time to consider the biggest packaging design trends of 2017 – and predict the big packaging design trends of 2018. Product packaging design is one of the most dynamic and interesting graphic arts niches. It is ubiquitous, yet it demands a high level of skilled design. It influences purchasing behaviour, and it has the potential to be truly beautiful art. These elements are constants, but the rest are always changing to meet the wants and needs to consumers, and to stay with the swiftly flowing current of our culture. What exciting packaging design trends can we expect in the new year? I teamed up with one of our top level designers here at 99designs, Martis Lupus, to share 10 top packaging design trends to look out for in 2018. Opening image: Constantin Bolimond 01. Vintage Old fashioned aesthetics by Mila Katagarova for Barncrofts of London Vintage packaging designs are ideal for brands that want to appeal to consumers using an ‘old school’ approach. This kind of vintage look tells onlookers that your brand offers artisanal quality that stands in opposition to the modern-era factory age. A vintage art label has an authentic feel and an exclusive vibe; it’s clear that this is a special product, something different and bespoke. 02. Hand-drawn A packaging design featuring doodles via Packaging of the world Graphic artists are talented, and most of their hand-drawn art looks pretty perfect. It takes a concerted effort to create packaging that looks ‘doodled’ and even deliberately childlike. This is a trend in package design that appeals to everyone, though, because we all doodle, and we were all kids once. These kinds of spirited, cheery designs send us back to those days. They also suggest a pure, honest product. 03. Unusual materials and shapes Nature inspired packaging via Marcel Sheishenov. Unusual materials and shapes in packaging design automatically grabs attention, but it does more than that. It also amuses, and it often suggests a high-end product without ever revealing anything about the product inside – after all, look at how much work went into the packaging. Unusual materials and shapes can also communicate more specific messages that rely on context. For example, juice in boxes that look like fruit skin says “fresh” or “natural”; tissues in the same kind of boxes says “playful” and “silly.” 04. Photography Photography used in a collage effect, via Mariane Silva Photography enables the most photogenic products to sell themselves. It also makes it possible for brands to make more personal connections with consumers by linking a face, a place, or an item with a brand identity. Photography can also be used to create stunning, creative collages for a modern, funky look. 05. Movie poster packaging A label design by Lucadia for Connecticut Valley Brewing Company We are, after all, a Hollywood-worshipping culture, and we love to be entertained. No wonder product packaging that looks like a movie poster is so appealing to us. Using a movie poster look on a package can instantly evoke suspense, action, romance, or other strong emotions in consumers, simply by association. 06. Feminine themes A nude colour selection for ice cream by Hive – Agency Although there will always be packaging designs in both masculine and feminine styles, the feminine look in particular is making a comeback in 2018. Soothing, soft designs featuring pastels and gentler fonts are a welcome visual relief from the jarring colours and explosive fonts that have been big in recent years. They also evoke comfort, coziness and relief from stress – something we could all probably use right about now. 07. Relatable minimalism A dark and elegant packaging design by O I O O I I O I for Zenji Matcha Minimalist design is still at the forefront of the industry; that isn't going to change in 2018. What may be slightly more novel is an increase in relatability. Minimalism works because it's simple, and as such the designer has to find a way to make us relate to the packaging – and what's in it – with the easy, broad strokes of our intuition. Throw in some striking colour contrast and an appealing font, and you've got a minimalist package that everyone understands and relates to. 08. Metallics, shiny materials and holographic effects Holographic effects via Parámetro Studio Pearlescent and metallic materials and holographic foil stamping can render any ordinary box or bag into something that just looks special. This kind of shiny, flashy effect suggests high value and elegance to consumers, and the three dimensionality and depth these materials add to any package bolster this effect. 09. Brilliant gradients Enchanting gradient sunset via Vlad Likh Striking gradients from one shade to the next are coming back in 2018, adding an element of depth and shadow back into design, which has been dominated by flat design for so long. Colourful gradients add form and dimensionality to packaging, and a layer of complexity to these designs. 10. Big text Big typography via lg2 Although typically in design showing is better than telling, sometimes telling with words can work perfectly. Bold fonts, especially sans serifs that are easier to read, are usually what you see here, and they add simplicity and sometimes even humour to a package design. Paired up with the right colours, well-chosen words can work wonders for many products. Countdown to 2018 Trends in product packaging design reflect larger artistic and cultural styles, changing tastes, and patterns in consumer spending. They are the place where science and art meet, and despite the notion that packaging design is a “throwaway” design niche, this kind of work always produces some of the most interesting, compelling, and original design work. Keep your eye out for these 2018 trends, and if you end up buying something just because of the cool package, join the club. Related articles: 15 online packaging design resources 10 creative uses of photography in packaging 25 logo design tips from the experts View the full article

For most people, New Year’s resolutions are a matter of willpower – eating, drinking and smoking less, going to the gym more often, saving money. And by their very nature, they’re unlikely to last beyond a couple of weeks in January. But the change to a new calendar can also mean something different for designers. It’s a season where you can take a step back, look at your life and work, and think about how doing things a little differently could reap huge rewards. Here we speak to some leading designers to discover how they plan to make a fresh start in 2018. Here are their resolutions for 2018. 01. Widen my skillset Shang Dat-Tang of Purple Creative plans to skill up in the VR sphere in 2018 The start of a new year is a great time to start thinking about learning a new skill, and it was the most popular resolution among the creatives we spoke to. “It’s really important to keep learning and growing as a designer, by trying new things and new ways of working,” says Karl Doran, creative director at Flow Creative. “I’m going to personally commit some time to learning more 3D animation techniques in Cinema 4D, and I’m planning to set some training time aside for the team to learn new skills too. Graphic designer Leanne Mallinder has a similar plan. “This January marks surviving two years of self-employment,” she explains. “Entering year two with regular clients and a more consistent workflow, it feels like a good time to learn some of the other Adobe Creative Cloud apps that I already pay for, practise hand lettering more and improve my photography skills. "It might not all be Instagram worthy but I want to keep learning and developing my work, as you never know where it might lead. I also need to just pick up a pencil or pen and draw more, even if nobody sees it but me.” Garth Lee, a designer and animation director at NERD Productions, is also determined to dedicate time to learning new skills in 2018. “Sometimes, as a freelancer, you get so busy and caught up in projects that you forget about the importance of bouncing ideas off of other people and learning from them,” he says. “Not taking the time to do this with other designers and like-minded people can hinder your artistic progression. Personally, I’m going to be getting more into the 3D side of motion graphics, and brushing up on my 3D modelling skills." Shang Dat-Tang, a designer at Purple Creative, is singing from the same hymn sheet. "I plan to expand my mindset from the relative restrictions of traditional design structures like print and rediscover inquisitive playfulness for a VR-focused future,” he says. “This means learning to think on a third axis for 3D experiences and about all the methods of interacting (not just clicking mice, turning pages or swiping with fingers)." 02. Be more productive Known for his multiple side projects, Gavin Strange is making productivity a priority this year We’d all like to get more of our work done in less time. And with multiple side projects on the go alongside his day job at Aardman, digital designer Gavin Strange is making that a priority this year. “2017 has been a year of being a grown-up; becoming a parent and buying a house,” he explains. “2018 will be figuring out the balance of being as productive as possible with personal projects and our business STRANGE, all while being the best parents we can be.” Similarly Tom Morris, partner and head of creative at Fiasco Design, wants to stay late at the studio less frequently in 2018. “My resolution is to find new ways to save time and make my hours count,” he says. “This includes sleeping more, and spending more time celebrating good work well done. I plan to encourage the team and learn thoroughly from each project. Not listen to music while designing, to promote clearer decision making and greater flow states.” Janne Egeland, design and marketing manager at Data Design System, has a simple plan to be more productive in 2018: spend less time watching TV. “My resolution is: less Netflix and chill, more design and thrill,” she explains. “I have to admit that I’ve been spending far too much time binge watching one series after the next over the past few years, and I really want to cut down and start putting my personal design projects first. “One of the things that I rarely get to do in my day job is animation, and it’s something I really miss doing,” she continues. “It’s work I’ve always found enjoyable and creatively revitalising. That’s why I’ve decided to set myself a doodle challenge for the next year, one animated doodle every month. Partly because I don’t want to lose the skills I already have, but more importantly to gain some new ones too.” 03. Strike a better work-life balance Matthew Tweddle, co-founder of Only, plans to take a step back in 2018 There’s no point in becoming more productive if all you do is work yourself into the grave. So many designers we spoke to plan to improve this thing we call work-life balance in 2018. “It’s very easy when you’re running a small studio to become completely consumed by the job you’re working on,” says Matthew Tweddle, co-founder and creative director of Only. “Often, weeks go by in a relentless pursuit for perfection as everything else is put on hold. One thing I’ve learnt over the last few years is that your best work rarely comes from working in this way. “So in 2018, I would like to remember to take a step back, even when the pressure is on. If something isn’t working, not to force it – and to give myself the time to make sure it’s right. To try to ensure this happens, I’m moving our daily studio catch ups to the end of the day – the idea being that this should act as a consistent reminder to go home and rest. Rick Landers, designer at FINE, is taking a similar approach to the year ahead. He plans to: “Spend more deliberate time away from the computer to think, ideate, and create for projects. This can include making time to write, read, and look to non-digital sources for inspiration and learning; sketching; talking a walk; sketch and chat sessions with collaborators. The bottom line is to avoid turning to digital sources for inspiration and instead use the time to think through ideas more naturally. “I also plan to use my weekend time to get away: change up where I spend my time and routine to breathe new life into each work-week rather than always waiting for the bigger, fewer breaks that I have been taking. I want to make time to draw more often and do it consistently – really practice and work on the art of seeing. And I want to dedicate more time to looking at and being inspired by art, especially by going to more shows and exhibits.” And most importantly: “I plan to make sure that down time is really down time and enjoy whatever it is that I choose to do with that time; be in the moment and not distracted by work-related tasks or activities; don't suspend or put off personal activities in favour of more work.” Meanwhile, Doran is taking a nuanced look at work-life balance going forward into 2018. “When design is your job, it’s also your hobby,” he reasons. “You’re always on Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest looking at other designers’ and animators’ work, and that’s fine, but you do need to disconnect every now and again and see something of the world, away from the screens. Or just make some time to see friends and family. “This is especially important when you have kids,” he adds. “I have two and I try to see them as much as possible but there’s always more you can do. I know I'm not going to wake up one day in 10 years and think, ‘I wish I’d spent more time in work’. And I really don’t want to wake up in 10 years and say, ‘I wish I’d spend more time with my kids.’” 04. Step out of my comfort zone Sean Thomas of Jones Knowles Ritchie has a clear plan for becoming more creative in 2018 Making a fresh start in 2018 means shaking off familiar patterns of behaviour and old assumptions, and Sean Thomas, executive creative director at Jones Knowles Ritchie, has a clear plan to achieve that. "My New Year’s resolution is to try to encourage more work that makes me feel uncomfortable,” he says. “Many of our most successful projects of late have made me nervous going into the presentation or at the point of release, so it’s something I’ll be trying to foster further in the studio. Going out of your comfort zone is always exciting." Holly Kielty, creative director of Brand Language at Design Bridge, is taking a similar approach. “I want 2018 to be the year of 'go bold or go home' – if it’s been seen before, I don’t want to create it. It feels like with the political climate as it is, design has a duty to be braver, more positive and more stirring to people’s angered and affronted souls. To steal from Michelle Obama; when they go low, we must go high.” Andrew King, executive creative director at CBA, also wants to push creative boundaries in the year ahead. “In his poem New Year’s Eve, Alfred Lord Tennyson writes: 'Ring out the old, ring in the new'. “I'm currently surfing the web looking for examples of glitch art while listening to Billie Holiday. It made me realise that I get inspired when I draw on the past and combine it with emerging and future influences to create new, distinctive design solutions. So my New Year’s resolution for 2018 is to do this more often: ‘ring in the old’ and ‘ring in the new’ too.” 05. Get away from the computer Shay Hamias of NERD Productions wants to do more analogue stuff in 2018 Most of us, in our heart of hearts, feel that we probably spend too much time starting at screens. And Shay Hamias of NERD Productions plans to do something about it in 2018. “My plan is to be more analogue and less digital,” he says. “I'll divide my studio into two tables, one where I can use materials and paints and see how it feeds back into my design work, and the other table will have my laptop and maybe a massive Cintiq to paint on digitally. I also want to formulate a plan to dedicate at least 20 per cent of my creative time to personal projects where I can experiment.” Purple Creative designer Chris Grace similarly plans to try to "break away from the computer. Design in a less digital way. Pick up a pencil again, rather than crafting on screen... I think that it's important to find ways to reduce the amount of screen time rather than relying on it.” 06. Share my knowledge Tom Morris of Fiasco Design has resolved to write more about design in the coming year When was the last time that you shared your thoughts about design (positively) with others online? Many designers resolve to do that more regularly in 2018. “I want to get back into writing a blog,” says Purple Creative designer Lyndsey Ellis. “To have and give an opinion instead of just posting pretty pictures on Instagram.” Similarly, Morris has resolved to “write more about good design online.” And for him, it’s not just about how much you write, but how you write. “There are so many branding projects that are met with knee-jerk reactions, surface-level criticism and arrogance,” he opines. “I think it’s time more people were educated about what it takes to produce good design. Sure, you can waste your time on a ‘this would have been better’ redesign, but you didn’t see the client feedback/budget/deadline.” “I have a plan to make some online tutorials to share my creative process with people because lots of people are requesting this,” says Ahmet Iltas, a designer and illustrator at NERD Productions. His colleague Alicja Jasina and Lucas Borrás, meanwhile, plan to make at least one short a year, going to more festivals (they have Annecy, Zagreb, Stuttgart and Hiroshima festival in mind) and hopefully bring home some awards. 07. Refresh my drawing skills Mitchell Nelson of Jazzbones plans to take up a drawing challenge in the New Year A lot of designers we spoke to plan to pick up a pencil more often in 2018. “When I was learning to draw portraits during school I created a portrait every day for one whole year, even if it was a little five-minute doodle,” says Mitchell Nelson, lead creative at Jazzbones Creative. ”After looking back on some of my old work the other day, it’s inspired me to take up the challenge again in the new year. Keeping a sketch pad is always a good way to keep your illustration skills sharp and top of your game.” 08. Broaden my creative horizons Martyn Garrod of Carter Wong is looking to expand his perspectives in 2018 Stepping away from the screen and getting fresh inspiration from the wider world was a common goal for 2018 among the designers we spoke to. “Although it’s great to be fully immersed in the world of design, it can sometimes be more restrictive than inspiring when tackling a brief,” reasons Martyn Garrod, creative director at Carter Wong. “So, my resolution for 2018 will be to continue expanding my perspective by looking beyond the design community for inspiration. “I plan to go to that art exhibition I always seem to miss by a week, take a different route when commuting home, talk to more people in the pub or take the dog for long walks in country at the weekends, leaving my phone behind. Hopefully this will help me push ideas outside my comfort zone.” Similarly, Darren Ammar, designer at Purple Creative, has resolved to "go to more exhibitions and talks around art and design, so I can be inspired and learn from the leading people in my industry.” While Hamias plans to “Explore more. Be it other forms of creating, like pottery or photography, and also check what other people are doing... Not just online, but actually going out to galleries, studios and places. Read more books, do more Yoga, eat less cake.” Meanwhile, Katie Cadwallader, designer at Supple Studio, has a very specific plan to inspire her creatively in 2018: to watch a film per week. “Lots of creatives get their inspiration, visual cues, general knowledge and pub chat from films but I’m far from a buff,” she says. “All the major series, cult classics and must-sees seemed to have passed me by. Plus I’m a bit fed up of the eye rolling my ignorance receives. So I’m asking for 52 film recommendations. “So far, I’ve put it out to the Supple crew and our studio mates. Next stop is an open call on Twitter and Instagram. I’m going to design a weekly calendar to take any decision making out of it, plus I work better to a deadline – classic designer. I’ll probably write a little review of each one to send to the sponsor.” Titles thus far include American Beauty, True Romance, In Bruges, Layer Cake, and Amelie. “It’s been amazing to see how passionate and protective people are over their favourite films, so I’m hoping I’ll feel the same at the end of the year,” she says. 09. Say no Dave Gee of Flow Creative plans to stay no (politely) more often in 2018 While so far our resolutions have been largely positive, here’s one that’s cast in the negative: learning to say no, politely. As we explained in our article 10 good reasons for turning down work, there are times when saying no is better for freelancers in particular, but there are other reasons for agencies to say no, too. “There is an art to saying no professionally,” says Dave Gee, creative director at Flow Creative. “It’s something we're still learning and being the great bunch we are, we’ll likely always struggle with this one. “As many agencies will have found over the years, you inevitably take on projects that aren't necessarily the 'right fit' for your core strengths. Taking on such projects could be down to money, the project brief changing part way through or even just making a poor judgement call at the outset. “Either way it's difficult to say no, as we creatives always want to help and create stunning work and campaigns but we have to start asking if the job is right for us and our skill set. If it’s not, and doesn’t feel 100% right, then we have to start declining. “2018 will see us undertaking tighter due diligence before jumping in with both feet and maybe seeing us saying: "this may not be the right fit for us at this time.” This considered approach will afford us more time to focus on what we do best on the campaigns we’re exceptional at.” 10. Listen and empathise better dn&co plans to fulfil its business goals by being more “in the room”, says founder Joy Nazzari Our last set of 2018 resolutions are about the broad aim of achieving business goals, and working better with clients and colleagues. But everyone, it seems, has a different plan for going about it. For Joy Nazzari, founder of dn&co, it goes pretty deep. “My resolution for next year is, simply but significantly, to ‘be in the room’. Be exactly where we are and with the people we are with, giving the benefit of our full and undivided attention to the moment. “Being in the room will inevitably mean getting better at organising our time, thoughts, to-do lists. We will probably have to say ‘no’ more often than we normally do. Yet if by doing so we can truly be there to listen and learn from those who inspire us – the people we work with and importantly, the people we work for – we will continue to develop transformative relationships and projects in 2018.” Claire Billesdon, studio manager at Jazzbones, also has an interesting business-related resolution for 2018. “Juggling the workload of a busy studio can get pretty hectic, but my resolution is to take a step back and appreciate that not everyone understands ‘designer speak’,” she says. “My resolution is to put myself in their shoes a little more. I am also making a pledge to eat fewer digestive biscuits; I’m on a pack a day at the moment!" For Fanny Krivoy, founder/creative director at Studio Analogous, 2018 will be about listening. “I believe anything we do at work and in our personal lives can make a big difference,” she says. “More than ever before, we want our work to help reach groups of people who are often excluded – regardless of their gender, nationality, ability, age – and give them a voice. “To do that, we need to listen better to those around us, especially to those we know less about. I’ve heard that even when we actively listen, we actually retain only 13% of what was said. In order to make real change, we need to do better than that.” Jazzbones founder Nathan Sandhu says: “My resolution for 2018 is to continue smashing it for our clients. There is nothing I enjoy more than creating engaging campaigns that deliver tangible results.” Finally, Steven Bewick, founding partner and creative director of Purple Creative, has a New Year’s resolution that's short and to the point: "Stop agreeing to make logos bigger!” As is that of the entire Together Design team, who’ve resolved to: “Remember to hit Save more regularly! Sigh.” Whether you follow any of these resolutions yourself or think up your own, all of us at Creative Bloq wish you the very best for the year ahead, and good luck in all of your creative endeavours. Related articles: 10 skills graphic designers need to get ahead in 2018 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 9 tools to make graphic design easier in 2018 View the full article

User testing is an intricate part of UX design. Understanding how your user interacts with your design is crucial to crafting the best user experience to help visitors to achieve their task and overall to increase conversions. Running your own user testing lab, including finding and hiring your own target audience and setting up hardware can be expensive and time-consuming. Here we take a look at some of the most useful and popular user testing software to get you started. 01. Hotjar Hotjar contains a host of useful tools for analysing your site. Crazy Egg may be the one that springs to mind when you think of heat maps, but Hotjar has them too, so you can see which parts of your interface are getting the most clicks and taps. You can see recordings of people's mouse trails so you can get an idea of how they're navigating your site, and the Conversion Funnels utility lets you know at which point people are dropping out of a purchase or sign-up process. These can be really revealing - the funnel lets you know exactly which point needs tweaking in order to get better results from your design. There are a few other great tools in here, including form analysis and feedback polls, so Hotjar should definitely be on your shortlist of usability testing suites. 02. UX Recorder Capture every aspect of your users' behaviourThis iOS testing suite enables you to capture all the user data you could wish for: as well as detailing every tap and swipe, this software records the user's facial expressions using the iPhone camera, and anything they may mutter during the process via the microphone. The result is a complete picture that gives you the best chance of uncovering areas where people might struggle with your interface. Unfortunately you can't test native apps with this; it's for websites only. 28 outstanding examples of CSS03. UXPin UX suite UXPin has everything you needUX design suite UXPin now includes a usability testing tool that enables you to record user behaviour. You can listen to their comments via voice call, see every click, and even watch their facial expressions as they navigate through your design. UXPin also provides this usability testing kit which contains templates for your test reports, scripts, consent forms and more. 04. Reflector Stream your mobile screen to your computerScreen mirroring app Reflector isn't designed specifically for usability testing, but it's useful for mobile testing as it wirelessly sends your phone or tablet screen to your PC or Mac so you can watch how people use your app. The latest version includes recording capabilities so you can review your testing sessions later. 05. User Testing Easily hire and record a user interacting with your website using User Testing softwareOne of the best and most simple ways to record users interacting with your website and to record their response is on video using User Testing. You pick your target audience and assign this user a task to perform on your website or app – your test can be run on a desktop, tablet or mobile device. In return User Testing will record real people giving their thoughts whilst interacting with your website/app to truly understand why users do what they do. You can try out User Testing for free. 06. Crazy Egg Crazy Egg offers insightful heat maps to identify what users are actually doing on your websiteUncover how visitors interact with your website with x-ray glasses using Crazy Egg. Crazy Egg provides heat map software to understand what people are doing on your website and why they may not be converting. Heat maps identify which objects on your website are being clicked on and from which traffic source they were referred from. An extremely helpful tool is the scroll map, which identifies how far visitors scroll down a page before they abandon the page entirely. Other features include providing numbers of clicks on each element of a page. 07. Inspectlet Record active users using your website as if you're over looking their shouldersInspectlet is software that records your website visitors and monitors exactly what they are doing on your website, including what links they click on, mouse movement, scrolling and key-presses on your site. You can view each visitor as if you're overlooking their shoulder. Beyond recording user interaction on your website, Inspectlet includes a heat map, which allows you to see what visitors are paying attention to. The heat map also identifies eye tracking, what has been clicked on the most and how far visitors scroll. And as an added bonus, the form analytics tool highlights which form elements are the most troublesome for visitors and where they are failing the most. 08. A/B Testing with Optimizely Optimizely allows you to optimise the user experience on your website by perform A/B testingA/B testing is an extremely effective way to test changes on a web page compared to the existing design. To determine which one produces the highest level of positive results. Of course, Google Analytics offers Experiments to allow you to perform A/B testing on your website. However, a more robust software for A/B testing is Optimizely. Optimizely offers several easy-to-use features to help you build your tests including multivariate testing – a technique to test multiple variables on a given web page. You can create personalised experiences and target specific audiences when unveiling new designs to visitors including targeting different URLs, browsers and geography. 09. Usabilla Gather visual and critical feedback from your existing visitors using UsabillaIf you would like to gather customer feedback on your website, Usabilla is a great asset to gather visual feedback. It offers a customisable feedback button which you can place on your website. Visitors can actively select particular elements on a given webpage and provide detailed feedback for improvements or highlight any bugs. Usabilla also encompasses a slide out poll, which helps to gather 'emotional' rating. All this data is summarised and can be viewed with insightful graphs all within the Usabilia dashboard. 10. User Zoom User Zoom provides premium features for user experience research and is an analytics platformUser Zoom is a premium level, fully packaged user experience research and analytics platform. Besides capturing user interaction it also provides powerful analytics data. User Zoom contains a wealth of features for collecting user experience data. With User Zoom you may test websites and prototypes plus you can remotely record users testing on your website with their feedback. You can perform market research by evaluating multiple websites and competitor websites to provide UX benchmarking. The User Zoom dashboard contains insightful reports with user actions, number of clicks, unique views, heat maps and more. 11. Morae Morae allows you to record, analyse results, and easily share your researchMorae is a fantastic testing suite for anyone wanting to manage all the user testing in-house. Morae is provided by TechSmith who also offer screen recording software. Morae is a comprehensive testing application that resides on the practitioners computer. This software allows you to perform usability testing sessions by recording the user's interaction, incorporate surveys and analysing and editing the final result. Morae allows you to easily share your research with your team. Conclusion There are many pieces of software out there designed to help you understand user behaviour and provide helpful and insightful feedback to help further develope your website or app. However, which becomes your go-to user testing tool will depend very much on what your requirements are and which interface appeals most to you. I suggest trying out the free trial versions of the suggested software, where it's available, to see how well it suits your needs before taking the plunge. This is an expanded and updated version of an article by Steven Wu. Related articles: Countdown to Christmas with this UX themed advent calendar The 6 best new UX tools of 2016 40 sets of free icons View the full article

Sure, you've got your laptop and monitor sorted. But what's the best mouse for designers and creatives? The humble mouse is probably one of the most important tools you use each day, so it's essential to find one that is both responsive and comfortable. We've spoken to many designers who still prefer to use a mouse when working on digital projects despite the continued improvement of tablets and styluses. But there are thousands of variations of computer mouse out there – including trackpads – so how do you know you're using the right one? Here we list four of the best to help make your day more efficient. 01. Logitech MX Master Logitech produces some of the most responsive mice on the market, which is pretty handy when you need a tool with precision. Its cordless MX Master model is designed to fit comfortably in your hand over a long period of time, and includes a super responsive scroll wheel that lets you browse web pages or documents at your own speed, depending on how fast you flick the wheel. Buttons located on the side of the mouse also let you flit between windows without having to use the usual Alt+Tab, and can easily program your shortcuts. The only downside to the MX Master is the pretty hefty RRP price tag of around £80 – but there are great deals to be had. Prefer a new model? The Logitech MX Master 2S Wireless Bluetooth Mouse works with Mac and Windows. It boasts high-precision tracking, a rechargeable battery (that lasts long time between charges) and customisable buttons. 02. Apple Magic Mouse 2 Apple was late to join the innovative mouse party then it created the Magic Mouse. Its replacement, the imaginitively-titles Magic Mouse 2, has a super light design and laser tracking capabilities which make it easy to flick between InDesign pages and make even the smallest changes on practically any surface. However, the downside is that it’s perhaps a little too over-sensitive at times. The multi-touch area on the top of the mouse, which lets you scroll in any direction, can sometimes become frustrating when wanting to keep your finger in the same place for a long period of time. But for Magic Mouse evangelists, there is nothing to touch it. Alternatively, a lot of designers prefer the Apple Magic Trackpad, which brings Force Touch pressure-sensitive technology (as seen in the screen of the Apple Watch) and the trackpad of the 2015 12-inch MacBook. Or for a cheaper option, try the older Apple Magic Trackpad. 03. Anker Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse Sure, the Anker Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse looks weird. It’s vertically aligned to encourage healthy neutral "handshake" wrist and arm. But once you get used to it, it’s a cheap and very comfortable way to avoid RSI. 04. Razer Deathadder Chroma Just like designers, gamers need a mouse that is sensitive and accurate, so it stands to reason that gaming mice are a good option for designers too. And the Razer range of gaming mice is one of the most responsive out there. Razer mice have three types of sensors, dual, laser and optical, and its ergonomic shape is designed to support the flow of your hand. The Razer Deathadder mouse is the bestseller, as well as the cheapest, and features an optical sensor, rubber side grips and syncs all of your mouse settings stored in the Cloud. Related articles: The best drawing tablet 5 best laptops for video editing The best monitor calibrators for designers View the full article

Earlier this year, the BBC commissioned independent font foundry Dalton Maag to design a font family. Starting with Latin and Cyrillic character sets, BBC Reith had to support almost 100 languages from day one. The BBC wanted a font for everyone that would echo its typographic legacy, while balancing contemporary form with function. With a diverse audience to cater to across a plethora of services, it needed high performance and a range of expression. Here, we go behind the scenes on the creation of the BBC's new font. Rationale for a new typeface The calligraphic construction that formed the basis of the serif and sans serif versions David Bailey, creative director, GEL, BBC: We decided to commission a new typeface to directly benefit our audiences, first and foremost. Previously our shared design framework, GEL (Global Experience Language), offered Helvetica as our online reading font. Gill Sans (our corporate typeface) and Helvetica were both designed 100 years ago for the printed page. Thus, they don’t perform well on modern screens, resulting in poor legibility when set at smaller sizes. A digitally-optimised typeface solves these issues. And, because we buy licences to existing typefaces, having our own one will significantly reduce our costs. The aim was also to benefit our visual identity. Helvetica is a great-looking font, but it’s somewhat anonymous. Designers love it, hence its ubiquity. One could argue its anonymity makes it the perfect typeface for a neutral public service. But an internet-fit BBC needs to be more expressive and appealing to stay relevant in a competitive market. Having a typeface in a number of weights and styles provides a wider range of tonality and personality. Our brief asked for a typeface for everyone, something that would continue the BBC’s typographic tradition of functionality, but in a more contemporary form. We wanted a beautiful workhorse, so to speak. The name emerged once the project was underway: I suggested it to our steering group as a working title. John Charles Walsham Reith founded the BBC in 1922, with a vision to ‘educate the masses’. And since reading and writing, for most of us, is a core component of learning, naming the font after him seemed fitting. Plus Reith sounds rather elegant, don’t you think? Answering the brief Before the digital work begins, the type designers explored curves and proportions, here in lower case rounded letters Bruno Maag, founder, Dalton Maag: What really grabbed us about the brief were the unique problems that the BBC faces. Every custom client is trying to enhance their visual identity and trying to rationalise their licensing and logistics, but very few have so many output channels – from print to myriad devices – where the wrong font can compromise a whole design experience at the pixel level. We proposed a handful of completely different scopes and approaches, which we felt would meet the BBC’s needs and requirements. The options remained open until quite late into the pitching process. One approach we suggested was a typographic system where each channel and service would use only one font from an extended and related family. So there would be a family resemblance between all of the channels and services, and yet a distinctive voice for each. I liked such a strong typographic solution as part of a group of related visual identities, but ultimately the selected route was a multifunction typographic toolbox, which could do all of this, and more, with fewer fonts and at a lower cost. Once this route was chosen there were still questions on design route, weight ranges, and targeted functionality. Input and feedback from David, the UX team, and everyone else was there right from the very start – during the collaborative workshop. That’s what allowed us to establish the basic design parameters for the Ideation stage. In both the sans and the serif you’ll see a calligraphic construction, open counters and apertures, ascenders that project above the cap height, regularised proportions and sharp connections between bowl and stem. The aim is to contrast features. Some anchor the design in tradition, others give a modern and progressive outlook. Together you get BBC expressiveness, which still works on small screens. Implementation A complete solution, tested in different weights from light through to extra bold, with serifs and without David Bailey: This summer BBC Sport launched their newly-harmonised branding across broadcast and online. They chose to adopt BBC Reith Sans, and we understand that it’s been well received by audiences. Technically, it’s performing great. Needless to say our researchers and accessibility specialists are running user-testing sessions as we speak. Look closely and you’ll see the rigorous craftsmanship in of the each characters’ construction We’re delighted with BBC Reith. Look closely and you’ll see the rigorous craftsmanship in each character’s construction. It’s a thing of beauty. And performance-wise it’s ticking the boxes. Having a new typeface has created a palpable buzz among colleagues. Personally, I was blown away with how well the project ran. It’s been quite a journey, but the shared belief and support from colleagues right across the BBC has been fantastic. Plus, Dalton Maag are great teachers. They schooled us in type design; its history and craft, and not just from an aesthetic point of view but also the science behind reading and how our brains absorb and process type. It really is a fascinating topic. As a designer of some 20 years, I thought I knew this stuff. I didn’t. Now at least I know some of it. This article was originally published in issue 272 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 272 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Related articles: 50 top typography tutorials A designer's guide to typography and fonts The secrets of custom font development View the full article

This month, we've got our usual round up of the best new art books. It includes a look at the career of Mexico's most famous artist (that isn't Frida Kahlo – though it's not far off) whose work feels particularly relevant today. There's a monograph about one of Britain's most innovative comic book artists. And an unusual book by an artist who's really a writer. We've got a limited edition Moleskine with a Christmasy cover. We've got a cool arty calendar and diary for 2018. And we're also looking at how to master the fine art of textures – as well as all the tools you need to do it. 01. Jamie Hewlett monograph Jamie Hewlett is the British comic book artist behind the iconic Tank Girl, and co-founder (with best mate Damon Albarn) of cartoon band Gorillaz. This new Taschen edition of Hewlett's first major monograph includes 400 pieces from throughout his career – characters, sketches, stories, strips, and loads more. A must-read for budding illustrators. 02. 101 Textures in Colored Pencil 101 Textures in Colored Pencil offers, as its very thorough title explains, 'practical step-by-step drawing techniques for rendering a variety of surfaces and textures.' As promised, it's a comprehensive guide to drawing everything from sand and water to foliage and fabrics, as well as the fiddliest texture of them all, hair. It uses coloured pencils, each page focuses on a different texture, and each texture is demonstrated in three steps. 03. Derwent Academy Colouring Pencils If you're going to sharpen your texture technique, but need new coloured pencils, try this set from the ever-reliable Derwent: a selection of bright and neutral colours that layer, blend and mix well, and are round-barrelled for better of movement and quickly putting down big blocks of colour. They're very reasonably priced too. For more options, take a look at our roundup of the best pencils for artists. 04. Ungrateful Mammals Dave Eggers is best known as a writer (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, A Hologram for the King,The Circle), but he started out as a classically trained draftsman and painter. Eggers worked as a professional illustrator and graphic designer before going into writing. In this book he pairs an animal with witty or Biblical text. The results are very funny, and at times poignant. 05. Grinch Moleskine Released earlier this year, this limited edition Moleskine-Dr. Seuss collaboration sees the iconic notebook manufacturer hook up with one of the biggest-selling authors of all time. Theodor Seuss Geisel was pretty handy at drawing too, working as an illustrator and political cartoonist for much of his career. This notebook features his most famous creation, the Grinch. A nice last-minute gift for the illustrator in your life (even if that's you). 06. Tate Pocket Diary 2018 Our pick as the smartest arty 2018 diary is this from Tate. It includes many iconic pieces by legendary British artist David Hockney. Each month has a different painting – including A Bigger Splash, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, and My Parents. It also has a slim hardback cover and week-to-view layout (plus space for notes on each page), and an envelope at the back 'for storing your exhibition tickets'. 07. Tate Impressionists Calendar 2018 Tate's reliably brilliant gift shop also offers this calendar, celebrating its recent Impressionists in London at Tate Britain, the story of the artists who fled to Britain to escape war in France. It includes 12 full-page images of pieces by those artists – Cézanne, Monet, Derain and Renoir – with the usual grid display and plenty of space for notes. 08. Diego Rivera: The Complete Murals This new book features Diego Rivera's most famous work, plus vintage photos, documents and sketches, many of which were previously unknown to scholars. The painter and muralist is, "A veritable folk hero in Latin America and Mexico's most important artist – along with his wife, painter Frida Kahlo" and celebrates "a passionate life devoted to art and communism." His work, which looks at social inequality, and the relationship of nature, industry, and technology, feels particularly relevant today. 09. Landscape Painting This new Taschen release looks at 34 pieces by the masters of landscape painting – Hieronymus Bosch, El Greco, John Constable, Claude Monet, David Hockney – with an in-depth essay to introduce the collection. A good read in itself, for beginners and pros alike, but also nice to dip in and out of when looking for inspiration. As with all Taschen books, it's beautifully put together. 10. Royal & Langnickel drawing set If all those landscapes have got you itching to re-up your traditional art supplies, you could do a lot worse that this perennial favourite from Royal-Langnickel. Particularly good for the beginner or intermediate artist, it's also perfect for anyone who's let their traditional skills slide in recent years. The 134-piece set has everything you need – coloured pencils, charcoal, pastels… Plus the wooden case they all come in is satisfyingly efficient at keeping everything neat and tidy. Read more: How to quickly sketch hands Get started with ink drawing Boost your creativity with daily sketching View the full article

World Chess has played a winning move with its surprisingly raunchy branding for the 2018 World Chess Championship match, unveiled this week. The scheme, which the association describes as 'controversial and trendy', is the work of Moscow design agency Shuka, and includes perhaps the sexiest imagining of a chess game ever created. The key illustration shows two figures fighting it out in a pose that's a lot more up-close-and-personal than is usual for a chess match. We're not big chess players at Creative Bloq, but we don't remember having to intertwine legs with our opponents. There's also a more family friendly design involving lots of hands and chess pieces. 25 logo design tips from the experts The illustrations will be used around the match venue A black and white scheme is an overt reference to the chess board, and the traditional square grid features throughout, mixed in with graphic cross and dash patterns. The scheme is striking and complex, and has definitely ramped the event up a few notches in the cool stakes. Thus far, reactions from the chess community have been less than complimentary, ranging from the skeptical "Scissor me timbers" to the more forthright "LOL is this a joke?". However, we are fans. As well as serving up a hint of Malika Favre-style mischievousness, Shuka has deftly captured the complexity of the game and the mental acrobatics involved in this level of competition. The edgy vibe is also perfect for this year's match host city of London. The monochrome design draws inspiration from a chess board Shuka's branding will appear on mugs, posters, and signage at the match in November, as well as press and communications surrounding the event. Fans can also pick up a 'sexy' limited edition print while stocks last. The design studio has form when it comes to cheeky branding, having put together a distinctly unpure scheme for dating app Pure last year. World Chess first started getting stylish in 2011 when it called in Pentagram to rebrand the association and capture the interest of a new generation, including introducing a trompe-l'oeil hexagonal logo. Shuka was involved in last year's championship match design, putting together event branding that celebrated the host city of New York. Perhaps a little injection of raunch could be all that's required to capture the attention of the general public. Read more: When to use humour in branding Big branding trends to watch out for in 2018 The best boozy Christmas ad campaigns View the full article

It's not enough for a design to just look good – they have to feel good to use, as well. Your users want apps and websites that are intuitive and easy to interact with. Learn the most important elements of creating engaging designs with the UI and UX Design Bootcamp. You can get it on sale for just $39 (approx £29)! The UI and UX Design Bootcamp is packed with more than 39 hours of essential design training taught by professionals who have mastered these skills and are ready to pass them on to you. For any person pursuing the art of design, this bundle is a must-have resource. You'll learn the principles of creating engaging and interactive design that you can use in just about any projects. It's a great way to make sure your users always keep coming back. You can get the UI and UX Design Bootcamp on sale right now for just $39 (approx £29). That's a 96% savings off the retail price of $995 for a bundle that will improve your design 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. Related articles: The best drawing tablet The best laptops for graphic design The best 4K monitors for designers View the full article

Since public release in 2014, Unreal Engine 4 has set and raised the bar for third party engines. It's now free 
to use and there's no better time to get creating 3D art on your own. Epic's engine is capable of producing truly incredible visuals. Its deferred rendering, custom materials and advanced lighting techniques are perfect for pushing the engine – and your art – to the next level. I've worked professionally in Unreal 4 since its public release and have discovered some fantastic techniques for creating and presenting high-quality art in-engine. In this article I will share some of my personal tips and tricks I use on a day-to-day basis to help you light, texture, and render your own beautiful scenes within Unreal 4. In 3D World's online Vault you can find video tutorials as well as models and textures to get started in Unreal 4 today. 01. Importing textures into Unreal 4 Textures can be imported in a matter of clicksYou can import textures via the Import button in the Content Browser. Unreal 4 supports a large variety of texture formats, from .tgas and .pngs to .psds and .jpgs. One important tip is to make sure normal maps are compressed as TC Normalmap to prevent visual errors in engine. Also be aware that if your texture dimensions do not follow the power of two, they won't stream or have mipmaps. 02. Save memory: Channel-pack textures Unreal 4's high degree of control sets it apart from the competitionOne of the fantastic things about Unreal is the large amount of control you get to have by creating your own materials. When you're creating multiple black and white masks for textures like roughness or transmission, you are able to save memory by hiding each mask into an individual channel of a texture image and then accessing each channel of that texture separately in your material. 03. Physically-based rendering Unreal 4 leads the way for physically based renderingWith the dawn of new rendering capabilities in new engines like Unreal
 4, there has come the widely praised adaptation of physically-based rendering. This should definitely be worked with rather than against. Learning how 
to accurately represent the physical properties of materials with roughness and metalness masks can seem like a change from the way game engines worked last generation but can help keep materials consistent and believable across multiple lighting environments. 04. Texture reuse Texture reuse helps to save on memoryAnother fantastic element of Unreal 4's Material Editor is that it allows for very intelligent texture reuse. This can not only save you memory, but also time. Sometimes a red channel from
a rock albedo texture can make a great overlay for a roughness texture. A tiling cloud render texture from Photoshop could be useful for adding variation to a brick, but also to blend in a detail texture for some concrete. The possibilities are endless. 05. Don't make unnecessary textures Cutting down on textures can also spare your memoryOccasionally certain textures are 
not needed and can be left out to save memory. For 100 per cent non-metal materials like wood or dirt, a metalness texture can be substituted in the Material Editor for a simple float constant with a value of 0. The same idea can be applied for multiple versions of the same material. Three slightly different coloured bricks don't all need different normal
maps, but could share one. 06. Building a core material set Large collections of materials can be made by instancing a smaller set of base materialsOne way to save considerable time and work is by creating a basic set of materials that can be instanced out for different objects. When I start projects I create a base material for each type
of object I'll need. For example, if I was making a nature scene I would want base materials for terrain, props and foliage. There will always be outliers but it helps with the bulk of the process. 07. Iterating through material instances These can be used to create a wide variation all from one base materialA great feature of a Material Instance of a base material is its ability to parameterise values that can be changed in real time. You can use these changes to rapidly test out many different values without having to recompile a material. Whenever I have a complicated material I always have a test material instance on the side. I use the test material instance to lock in more realistic base values for the final material. 08. Material comments and organisation Basic text descriptions can accompany nodesFor very complex materials Unreal
 4 brings some very welcome organisational tools to help. Selecting 
a group of nodes and pressing C puts those nodes into a comment, which can then be moved as a group and colour coded. The comments (and individual nodes) can have basic text explanations added to improve readability. 09. Material functions Material functions can perform repeat actionsMaterial functions can be thought of in the same way real functions work in code – repeatable operations that can be called multiple times to perform a specific set of instructions. They 
are made outside of a material in the Content Browser, but can then be called on their own to help simplify materials. They can contain their own set of inputs and can be a fantastic
 way to save time when repeatable operations need to be called. 10. Foliage materials Foliage Shading Models make creating foliage easierFoliage can be one of the trickiest things to ensure looks correct in any game engine. As of UE4 version 4.7, a Foliage Shading Model exists to help make that task easier. It is highly recommended as it supports sub-surface transmission, which most leaves benefit from. I also recommend adding sky light to your scene to help balance out some of the darker areas of a foliage mesh that could be in shadow. 11. Vertex colours Vertex colours are useful for blending tiling texturesHaving access to vertex colours in materials is one of my favourite features in Unreal 4. They can be incredibly powerful when used creatively. From ambient occlusion to masking out wind and world offset for foliage,
their versatility is incredible. They're particularly useful in blending tiling textures together. Vertex colours can be imported from outside 3D software or imported and painted in editor. 12. Detail diffuse and normal overlays Secondary textures increase the material detailBecause you can customise texture UV tiling rates you can increase the details of a material by blending in
 a secondary set of textures, usually diffuse or normal maps, then tiling them at a higher frequency on top of base textures. Diffuse detail can be applied with various techniques, such as the Overlay Blend Function, while detailed normal maps can be applied by adding the red and green channels to the base as normal. 13. Texture blending in materials Epic is packed with useful material functionsWant to combine textures in the material editor but only familiar with Photoshop's blend modes? Epic has it covered. Along with many useful material functions, they included the majority of blend modes that all Photoshop users are familiar with. From Overlay to Linear Dodge, they can be found in the Palette window inside the Material Editor. They can be particularly great for adding detail and variation to your materials. 14. Knowing your light types 4 different light types can be usedUnreal offers four different types of lights to use in the environment: Directional, Point, Spot, and Sky light. Directional lights are great for outdoor areas or any kind of extreme singular light source. Point lights are omni-directional and Spot lights are similar but have their limits defined by a cone. Sky lights can be used to add ambient light to your environment by capturing distant parts of your map. They also support custom Cubemaps. 15. Adding environment fog to your scene Unreal 4 provides a fog alternative to particle effectsWhile close up fog can always be created with particle effects, Unreal 4 offers two other ways to add fog to your scene. AtmosphericFog reacts to directional lighting angles and intensity to create fog based on actual scattering of light in the atmosphere. Exponential HeightFog gives a bit more colour control and allows you to add a simpler fog effect that becomes less dense in higher parts of the map and denser in lower parts. 16. Creating clever light shafts 'god rays' can be created in a variety of waysLight Shafts or 'god rays' can be a powerful visual tool and are created by particles in the air being lit by specific light sources. In Unreal 4 they can be created in a few ways. The most common way is by enabling them from the properties of a Directional light. They can also be made using geometry and clever materials. Epic's blueprint example project contains a good example of how someone could go about doing this. 17. Taking high-resolution screenshots There are easier ways to take high-resolution screenshotsWhile custom resolution videos can be rendered out of Matinee, there is a quick and easy way to take high-resolution screenshots straight from the editor. By clicking the little downward arrow in the top left of your Viewport you can reveal a little drop down menu. At the bottom of that you can open up the High Resolution Screenshot window. From there high-resolution shots can be captured and sent to your project/saved/Screenshots folder. 18. Colour correction and look-up tables Colour look-up tables allow for complex colour transformationUsing post-process volumes, final render colours can be tweaked and adjusted based on artistic preference. While options exist for basic settings like contrast and colour tinting, custom colour correction can be done using colour look-up tables. These tables allow for complex colour transformation and can be made with a base file available on Epic's Unreal 4 documentation site and Photoshop – or other image adjusting software suites. Next page: More Unreal Engine 4 tips and tricks 19. Editing bloom and lens flares Lens flares can be customised to create your desired effectImage bloom and lens flares post processing has become popular in games and 3D and can be enabled and customised in UE4 using post-process volumes. Bloom can be highly customised in almost every sense. Size, colour, intensity, and threshold can all be tweaked and even be used to mask in dirt textures to mimic dirty lenses. Similarly, image- based lens flares can also be enabled and their shapes and intensity adjusted. 20. Creating depth of field Creating depth of field is a delicate process where foliage is concernedUnreal 4 supports both gaussian and custom shaped bokeh depth of field. Both of these options exist within the settings of Post Process Volumes. It should also be noted that while bokeh sprite weighting exists to help with blurring thin objects in front of distant objects and vice versa, problems can sometimes still occur. Care should be taken when applying depth of field to foliage and other similar shots. 21. Auto exposure and eye adaptation Auto exposure mimics real life eye adjustmentsAuto exposure control is on by default and simulates eye adjustment to bright or dark areas. The effect is awesome but can create constantly changing visual variables that are hard to stay consistent within. Adjustments to the exposure range can be made in the settings of post-process volumes and can be disabled by setting the minimum brightness equal to the maximum. Exposure bias can be used to adjust base exposure settings. 22. Light functions Light functions can create custom colour variationsOne fun feature when lighting in Unreal 4 is the support of light function materials. These materials act as masks for the light and can be used to make anything from custom colour variation in a light to cloud shadows on the ground. They are made by setting the Material Domain to Light Function in the Material Editor and can be used on spot, point, and directional lights. 23. Save yourself time by copying and pasting Unreal 4 can copy and paste any object between levelsOne fantastic trick to know about Unreal 4 is that any object in a level can be copied and pasted directly into another level within the same project. It will appear with the same properties and in the same location. What's even better is that anything copied from Unreal can be pasted into a text document. That text can then be copied and re-pasted into another Unreal 4 level. 24. View modes and buffer visualisations Toggling between view modes can track level wide ranges of material inputsKnowing what makes up your image is an integral part of working in any 3D engine and working in a deferred renderer like UE4 allows for some useful view modes. Pressing Alt and 1-8 switches between various view modes like Unlit or lighting only but if you click on the View Mode button in the Viewport you can view individual buffers. This can be useful for seeing level wide ranges of material inputs, like roughness. 25. Performance tips Turning down certain options can speed up workflowsWhile Unreal is incredibly powerful, not every workstation is created equally. If you are running into performance problems in-engine, the first place to turn is the Engine Scalability Settings within the Setting button on the Editor Toolbar. Turning down some options like anti-aliasing can really speed things up when working. Another trick is to organise large groups of assets into folders in the world outliner. You can then toggle their visibility to help with performance. This article was originally published in 3D World magazine issue 197. Read more: 9 top Unreal Engine plugins for artists Create a game environment in Unreal Engine 4 Review: Unreal Engine 4.16.1 View the full article

Graphic design is a fast-paced, ever-evolving industry – and the road to career advancement isn’t always easy. Sometimes it can feel as though you’re producing excellent work but not being rewarded. That could be because, while you’re strong on core graphic design skills, you might be neglecting other areas employers are focused on. So what skills do graphic designers need to get ahead in 2018? Collaboration is king Before we take a look at the key graphic design skills that will get you ahead in 2018, it’s worth mentioning the importance of developing collaboration skills. In a post-digital age, the complexity of projects, timelines and pace of innovation means you can only really achieve excellence with a cross-disciplinary team. Being able to collaborate with creatives with different skill sets – while under pressure and potentially in different time zones – is the one skill that will truly future-proof your career. Focus on areas you're good at When it comes to practical skills, it’s important to focus on areas you’re good at, or enjoy. “Constantly changing software, channels and end user terrain mean that nothing stays still for long,” stresses Mick Dean, creative director and lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University. “So it's important to know your strengths and play to them.” "You can't know everything about everything, but when you recognise either a commercial or academic need, and you also have the passion to drive yourself into new areas, then on completion of that journey you will be a better designer, teacher or practitioner.” As Bill Strohacker, principal director of Strohacker Design School, puts it: “The role of a designer is continuously changing, now more than ever due to a revolution in the way we live and work. So it’s extremely important for designers to keep up with these changes by continued professional development. Design is evolving, and we need to adapt across the digital experience and be relevant.” In this article we’ll look at some key skills you might focus on in 2018, to help boost your career and open up new opportunities. 01. Learn to speak the language of UX design Interface design work by Taxi Studio for Dolphin Solutions As the design industry becomes ever more focused on digital, user experience (UX) design is becoming more and more important. “Designing the part of products that people interact with is increasingly in-demand among employers,” says Strohacker. “Data has become central to many products, which has created a need for people with user interface design skills who can make those products easy for customers to use.” So what is UX, exactly? “The role of the UX designer is to take every opportunity to enhance the other person’s enjoyment of an end product, not just visually but cognitively too, removing obstacles and easing the experience,” explains Alec East, founder of Narrative Industries. “UX design is not graphic design nor web design; it’s a different discipline that goes much deeper and is more aligned with human behaviour – but it is something that many designers are well equipped to perform if they have the discipline.” And it’s not about pursuing a career change to become a UX designer, but boosting your ability to do the job you’re currently in. “I believe graphic designers should aim for a wide and deep ‘T-shape’ with knowledge and appreciation for other disciplines but with a specialism (and therefore a point of view) that they excel in,” says Lee Carroll, senior interaction designer at Seymourpowell. “So it’s about graphic designers learning to speak the language of UX designers, and to communicate their point of view better, not to replace them.” Get started by learning some of the basic rules of UX design and check out some of these great TED talks on UX design. 02. Use coding for faster idea iteration Follow the advice of Jessica Hische and Russ Maschmeyer: don’t fear the internet but embrace it As it is for UX, so it is for coding. Nobody is expecting someone focused on graphic design to build a website from start to finish – that would make them a web designer – but the more you can understand about the coding process, the better you can collaborate with developers and programmers on your digital designs. “I hate the ‘you must code’ dogma,” says designer, developer and artist Mike Brondbjerg. “But learning to code at some level – even if that’s scripting in Illustrator or Sketch – can help designers to generate and iterate through ideas faster, and opens up a world of design complexity that is not possible manually.” As Dean puts it: “All these skills – or knowledge of what they are and how to design with those aspects in mind – are useful. However, programming is such a vast area that the need to know how to program is less important than the need to understand how and what a programmer needs to create an outcome within a designed environment.” Indeed, these skills are in such high demand now that your employer may well provide time at work for you to develop them. Nelson Bostock Group certainly sees things that way, says lead designer Laura Gibbons. “Here, our personal development plans identify areas of interest and important new skills to learn,” she explains. “We believe in self-learning; encouraging our people to use Lynda.com and SkillShare.com alongside their day to day work. We protect this personal development time and offer ‘creative days’ to inspire or realign their thinking and passion. We also encourage partners and suppliers to share skills – this happened recently with an external developer sharing their insight into HTML and responsive coding.” And even if you can’t get time at work, something as basic as HTML is pretty quick and easy to pick up. There are many good online courses, including the free ones provided by W3Schools. And if you want to go a little further, check out Don’t Fear the Internet, a learning resource from by Jessica Hische and Russ Maschmeyer that’s specifically aimed at print designers, photographers and other creatives. 03. Experiment with new technologies UX and coding have been around for quite some time now, but other, newer technologies are also becoming important to design agency work, including VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), mixed reality and AI (artificial intelligence). Every graphic designer needs to keep a close eye on developments in such fields, stresses Vanessa Eckstein, D&AD Design Jury president 2018 and principal at Blok Design. “We are designing identities and branding that need to be expansive and seamless and to cross many platforms and experiences,” she says. “This means we all need to get more savvy and knowledgeable about what technologies and innovations are taking place and how these could align with the needs of a particular brand. And then try to rethink the opportunities instead of repeating patterns. “We can’t avoid being both in awe and overwhelmed about the big shifts taking place in AI, for example. This will affect many spaces we inhabit and the ways we interact with each other and society as a whole. "But the key is not only to learn about it but to understand that the movement is so rapid that whatever we think we understand today might not be so in five years; while remembering that creativity and storytelling will always be at the core of everything.” Get started by checking out 20 tutorials to help you use VR in your design work, learning how to mock up AR graphics with After Effects and how to design for artificial intelligence. 04. Hone your print skills Print specialists Celloglas applied soft touch varnish and foils to issue 271 of Computer Arts magazine Many experienced graphic designers have told us they feel behind the curve on digital skills. Conversely, however, there can be a skills gap with younger designers when it comes to print design. Despite the rise of digital, the importance of print media to the design industry is still strong, so understanding how to properly set up your screen designs for the physical world is still a vital part of a designer's knowledge base. “I would encourage a junior to visit a print production house,” says Gibbons. “These guys know it all; they can share their knowledge and experience on the print process, artworking, paper stock, use of colour, finishing, and more. If you are fortunate enough to have a say in the final execution, this breadth of knowledge could really benefit you when it comes to initial idea generation and finishing specs. "Many designers nowadays are too narrowly focused, and this vital breadth of knowledge can really help you stand out from the crowd.” Get started by reading 5 things every creative needs to know about print design. 05. Push your problem-solving skills As Steve Fisher puts it: “Design is about solutions, not visuals” We’ve already established that in 2018 it’s important for every designer to focus on specific software and technological skills. But Eckstein fears that some of the more important design skills may get lost along the way. “I believe we are losing our ability to think expansively about problems in ways that accept uncertainty and paradox and raise new questions,” she says. “If we rely on data and measurability too much, we lose the deep understanding and insights that are at the core and essence of new thought.” But if our problem solving skills are important, what can we do to hone and develop them? “Get uncomfortable, be humble and go out and experiment with something you have never done,” she recommends. “Create projects that will push your boundaries and that of the idea in your mind. See how far a concept can go, and then take it there! In my case I love collaborating with great thinkers, artists, architects etc, and I learn by doing.” This article by Steve Fisher develops the theme that design is about solution, not visuals, while this article from the Interaction Design Foundation also provides some hints and tips to help you sharpen your problem solving skills. 06. Stretch your mind with expansive thinking D&AD has established itself as a leader in disseminating information and advice about new trends within the profession Along with problem solving, Eckstein cites the "ability to think expansively" as a useful skill for designers to develop. Unlike other skills, which require formal study through books, courses or tutorials, this is more about constant and daily practice. “It is not what you do but a way of seeing and relating to the world,” she explains. “It can begin by stimulating your senses and an awareness about what is happening within our profession, a space where D&AD had established itself as a leader for us all, as much as reading about very diverse subject matters and in many cases trying to analyse situations from different perspectives.“ “It involves everything from constantly feeding our curiosity through art, poetry, architecture or being part of conversations happening in our communities, through to being involved in projects of social justice, for example,” she continues. “Open yourself up to experiencing diversity versus falling into your usual patterns of actions and thoughts. At the core of thinking expansively lies the elasticity of our own minds.” 07. Focus on time management Improving your time management is essential for career advancement Even if you create world-class graphic design work, unless you’re able to deliver it within an agreed timeframe, you’re no use to anyone. So working on your time management skills is vital if you want to advance your career in the long term. That’s partly about ‘recognising you have a problem’ and making a determined decision to resolve any issues you have with meeting deadlines. But it’s also about developing clear, definable systems that will work to keep you on track. That may mean, for example, working on productive tasks in the morning and creative tasks in the afternoon, or vice versa. It may mean disabling distracting apps at certain times of the day, and only answering emails during a certain daily time slot. It may mean finding time management apps that fit your needs and incorporating them into your workflow. Either way, everyone’s different, so it’s about creating systems that work for you. For more ideas about improving your time management, check out these tips for improving your time management skills and these ways to work smarter not harder. 08. Invest in your interpersonal skills Improving your communication skills can have a big impact on your future job prospects In one sense, graphic design is all about communication: your job is essentially to communicate ideas and information effectively using text and visuals. But many designers can be skilled in this area, yet lack the complementary human communication skills they need to really advance their careers; including diplomacy, team-working and collaboration. It doesn’t matter how adept you are with Photoshop if you can’t discuss a brief with a client, collaborate with colleagues or talk to your boss without rubbing them up the wrong way. So developing your interpersonal skills is an essential part progressing up the career ladder. This is less about studying and more about doing, but you’ll find some ideas for improving your day-to-day office communication skills in these articles: How to design teamwork, How to collaborate with other designers successfully, Golden rules for talking about your design work and 4 ways to improve your client relationships. 09. Understand how brands are using social media A basic grasp of how social media platforms like Instagram work is essential in 2018 In the last 10 years we’ve seen a seismic shift, with brands following their audiences from print to the web, and from websites to social media. So it stands to reason that anyone working as a graphic designer in 2018 needs to have a handle on the most popular social media platforms and how they function. That doesn’t mean, of course, that you have to spend every waking hour on Snapchat, or that you won’t get a job if you have fewer than 10,000 followers on Twitter. But at the same time, if you don’t know the difference between posting on Instagram and Instagram Stories, or how big brands are making use of Facebook Live video, then it’s a sign you’re behind the curve, and that may ultimately restrict the career opportunities that are open to you in the long term. There’s no book to read or course to follow here: it’s all about keeping up with an environment that can see major changes on a daily basis. So it helps if you regularly use one or two social apps yourself, whether that’s for fun or business (for the latter, follow our 6 tips for social networking and our guide to How to make social media work for you). It also doesn’t do any harm to keep up with new tools and developments on blog such as Mashable or Social Media Today. 10. Get networking When it comes to your career, learning to network at design events can be one of the most important skills you can develop One of the most important skills involved in career progression is that of networking. Those with a sensitive, artistic temperament might recoil at the very word, associating it with sleazy, sales-like techniques. But networking doesn’t have to be like that. You’re much more likely to prosper by simply approaching other designers in the same way as you would anybody else, whether that’s online or at real physical events (a mix of both is best, of course). The more you practise networking, the better you get at it, and in the long term, the quicker you’ll find that job or freelance gig that’s a perfect fit for you. Again, networking skills aren’t really something you can learn from a book: it’s more about getting out there and doing it. But you will find some useful pointers in our posts How to Network Successfully and 3 tips for successful networking. Related articles: 20 tools to make you more creative in 2018 10 huge web design trends for 2018 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 View the full article

The United States government is officially blaming North Korea for the WannaCry ransomware outbreak in May that infected nearly a quarter-million computers in 150 countries. View the full article

This month we're taking a look at what you need to get started with digital illustration. For those artists who are already set up, this is your chance to see if you're missing out on something epic. In this buying guide we've got tools aimed at studio recluses (if you're going to hide out and get creative in your own space, that space had better have useful tools), as well as tools for digital artists on the go (or those who have a small studio space) and a bonus tool that's good for everyone. 01. Wacom Cintiq touch The Cintiq 22HD touch is an incredible device that makes for a great entry-level pen display. While you can start with the smaller Cintiq 13HD model, it's likely you'll outgrow that graphics tablet sooner rather than later. Alternatively, and if you can afford it, the Cintiq 27QHD is really the best way to go. Check out our Wacom tablet deals post for the latest deals, and our best drawing tablet guide for a comprehensive roundup of different models. 02. Wacom Intuos Pro Paper Edition Another great choice for the studio is the Wacom Intuos Pro Paper Edition. What we like about this pen tablet is that you have the ability to use the drawing paper of your choice. In doing so, there's a lesser chance of losing that hand-eye connection that is so often lacking when using pen tablets. 03. Clip Studio Paint EX Clip Studio Paint is my software of choice for digital art and illustration. Although you can add custom tools to your setup, the standard pencils, pens and brushes bring the feel of traditional drawing to the digital space. In short: very few tools feel as natural as this one. If you need help in getting started, check out this round-up of Clip Studio Paint tutorials. 04. ImagineFX magazine subscription If you're looking to stay up-to-date on the latest digital art trends, check out our own ImagineFX magazine. Available in print and digital formats, ImagineFX is the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. With a one-year subscription, you'll receive 13 issues packed with interviews, news, product reviews, workshops, and galleries. There are some mega discounts available right now too – save up to 47% on a subscription for you or a friend for Christmas if you act quickly. 05. Wacom MobileStudio Pro Although I still haven't had an opportunity to play with one of these myself, several of my colleagues have – and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. A word of caution, though: if you do plan on getting one of these, you'll need to shell out. Choose between the 13-inch model (Intel Core i5, 64GB) and the 16-inch version (Intel Core i7, 512GB). Which one should you get? Simple! The best you can afford, in the size you want. Again, there are some great offers on both in the Wacom tablet deals post. 06. iPad Pro & Apple Pencil Not looking to drop that much money on a mobile studio? No worries! A great, and slightly cheaper alternative, is the combination Apple iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. To find out what we thought, take a look at our review – we gave it five stars, and were especially impressed with the new dock. A personal tip is to pick up a couple of Apple Pencils (when you can afford it), so you're never without a fully-charged one. 07. Clip Studio Paint EX for iOS Quite possibly my favourite item on this list is the newly released Clip Studio Paint EX for iOS devices. That's right, Clip Studio is now available on the iPad! What's nice about this is how seamlessly you can move from your iPad to your desktop – that is, if you even want to do that, because the iOS version is 100 per cent complete, without limitation. 08. Procreate Another excellent tool for the iPad is Procreate. Many artists I know swear by this tool. Will Terry of Society of Visual Storytelling (SVS) has this to say about it: "Procreate on the iPad Pro has enabled me to take my studio anywhere on this planet. I can go from thumbnail to finished drawing – and/or finished art – without needing to visit the art store, or without the aid of a light table or printer. "The iPad Pro is light years ahead of the first version of the iPad, and with Procreate, it's a fully-fledged professional tool for professional artists. I created all of the finished art on the iPad for my last children's picture book. If something happened to my iPad, I'd order another one today." 09. Adobe Creative Cloud No list of digital illustration tools would be complete without the industry-standard Adobe Creative Cloud. With Creative Cloud, you'll have access to some of the best tools available on both desktop and mobile platforms – read our review of the whole Creative Cloud suite here. At a minimum, you should sign up for the Single App plan and choose Photoshop. Alternatively, and definitely a better deal, consider signing up for All Apps instead. With this plan, you'll have access to the entire Adobe Suite of tools, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and loads more. 10. Astropad Last, and certainly not least, is Astropad. Astropad lets you turn your iPad into a graphics tablet for your Mac, and it's available in two versions: Astropad Standard ($29.99/one-time) and Astropad Studio ($79.99/yr). Which version you choose depends largely on how you plan to use it. To help you decide, find out the difference between Astropad Standard and Astropad Studio in this blog post. Read more: Going viral - what's it worth? Best free Christmas vectors for your festive designs The 40 best Photoshop plugins View the full article

Google’s Project Zero team dubs a new WPAD-related attack as an “aPAColypse Now” that allows a local attacker to compromise a targeted and fully patched Windows 10 PC. View the full article

You're reading From Top to Bottom: Vertical Orientation is Gaining Popularity in Web Design, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! From left to right (or for such languages as Arabic or Persian from right to left), from top to bottom that is our accustomed path of exploring things in the books, documents, websites, advertisements, pamphlets, etc. In general, horizontal orientation comes first. So when the things are arranged according to the y-axis, it always feels […] View the full article

Part of mastering image editing in Photoshop is learning how to save time with image manipulation tricks and useful tools. Here we share five hard-earned tips from professional designers that will help to put you on track to work more efficiently. Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to Computer Arts magazine 01. Learn smart objects Converting layers to Smart Objects is a smart move “One of my top tips is to learn how to use Smart Objects,” says Andrew Kitchener, junior designer at Ragged Edge. “Keeping things editable is the key – there’s nothing worse than trying to edit a file that’s all unnecessarily rasterised.” 02. Get your shadows right Compare your shadows to real-life objects“With retouching and mock-ups, it’s all about the shadows,” adds Kitchener. “Drop shadows are handy and quick, but for 99 per cent of things, they’re totally inaccurate. Always look at how light and shadows work on objects in real life, and try to apply that on-screen.” 03. Manage your time Good planning relies on setting realistic targets“The biggest mistakes you can make are bad timing estimation, lack of organisation and rushing the job,” believes Elena Morán, a UX/UI designer at London digital agency atom42. “Every task has parts you won’t enjoy as much as others. But don’t neglect them in favour of the parts you do enjoy. Give each step its necessary importance, and you’ll get there in the end,” she advises. 04. Put in the hours The more you put in...“Education gives you a solid foundation, but becoming skilful is a matter of time,” says Morán. “You need hours and hours of practice until you are efficient. Nobody can skip that part of the journey. Working in a fashion-related company helped me a lot; there is so much image manipulation to do there!” 05. Ask questions Asking for help can often save a lot of time and frustration“Be patient,” advises Harry Gahagan, a graphic designer at Centaur Media in London. “It can be really frustrating but you’ll get the hang of it. Making mistakes and asking for help is the best way. Also, YouTube tutorials are very handy; you should bookmark videos and web pages so that you can go back to them.” This article was originally published in issue 272 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 272 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Special Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to Computer Arts for you or a friend for Christmas. It's a limited offer, so move quickly... Related articles: How to prepare a file for print The ultimate guide to image resolution 5 best laptops for Photoshop View the full article

If your dream job is to create beautiful 3D art, but you're not entirely sure where your skills fit in a CG pipeline, never fear. Here Jon Neill, Bruce Sutherland and Ewan Wright of AXIS Animation explain the main job roles – what they involve and what skills they need – so you can find the one that suits you and fully tailor your resume and portfolio to help you land that dream job in 3D. Character artist You could design unique characters like this (Image courtesy of Fabricio Moraes and Guilherme Formenti) Character artists are responsible for creating the main focus of any piece: the characters. You should have a thorough understanding of anatomy, and the appropriate technical skill and knowledge of relevant software. An ideal character artist is someone who can take a model from concept to fully realised CG character with realistic shading and grooming. Check out our articles on 20 top character design tips, How to improve your character art, How to create new character designs in Photoshop and our ZBrush character design masterclass for character art tips. Environment artist Skilled artists can be a huge asset to environment creation (Image courtesy of Jakub Javora) This role requires a skilled artist with a broad background creating different types of assets using both hard surface and sculpted techniques. A thorough knowledge of modelling, sculpting, texturing and shading, as well as the ability to troubleshoot technical problems, is a must. There are more opportunities to begin your career with an entry-level position as an environment artist. Check out our environment art articles Meet the artists changing the landscape of environment art, 13 tips for making a VR gaming world, How to paint explosive environments and How to create colourful worlds that tell a story. Rigger/Animator Bring characters to life as a rigger or animator (Image courtesy of Antony Ward) Riggers create the joints of a puppet, and animators control the strings that move them. Rigging relates most directly to the skeleton and musculature of a model, which animators can then use to bend, contort and direct movements. Riggers need a solid understanding of maths, while success as an animator depends more on achieving a sense of rhythm, flow and movement. Read our articles 10 ways to create more expressive character rigs and How to rig a face for animation for essential tips. Lighter Lighting roles involve a mixture of artistry and physics (Image courtesy of Djorde Ilic) Lighting artists do what you might expect – they light – but that means far more than simply adding fluorescent strip lights to a scene. It means working with highly complex render engines to give a sense of physicality and space to digital environments, replicating the real-world lighting that surrounds us every day. If you can grasp the complex physics of lightning, then a number of technical CG jobs will open up to you later down the line. Check out our 12 tips for realistic 3D lighting and How to depict light glowing through fur for useful pointers. Compositor Compositors bring everything together seamlessly, and add the finishing touches (Image courtesy of Mateusz Wielgus) Compositors are the artistic maestros at the end of the process that take the work of all the departments before them and layer them into one final beautiful shot. The challenge is in blending various stratums of work – such as FX and matte paintings onto plate photography – without the seams ever being visible to the audience. Compositors should have a robust understanding of 
colour, real-world photography and 
image composition. Check out our Stitch and composit 360 footage and How to model a complex 3D city scene in Blender articles. This article originally appeared in issue 228 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists – packed with expert tutorials, inspiration and reviews. Buy issue 228 here or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: 5 tips to give you the edge when job hunting 12 mighty Maya tutorials to try today 30 free 3D models View the full article

You're reading Online Tools & Services That are Really Serving, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! There are many free and paid business tools available nowadays that can streamline your business processes. These tools can speed up and improve how you do things in every aspect of your business, and bring it to the next level. Here are five online tools and services we highly recommend because they really deliver what […] View the full article

Buying a Christmas gift for a graphic designer is a minefield, which is why we've given you some great ideas in our 2017 gift guides such as The best Christmas gifts for graphic designers and The best Christmas gifts for design students. But to ensure that you're on the right track (and with tongues firmly in cheeks), we've created this handy infographic guide to what not to buy. Carry this list with you when you head out to the Christmas market or do your last-minute dash around the supermarket's seasonal aisle. And if you're a graphic designer, make sure you share this far and wide on your social media channels to avoid disappointment on the 25th. Click on the image to see the full-size infographic The good news is, we have the solutions to some of these problems here. Our 8 useful Christmas card templates, for example, are ready and waiting to be used to create a tasteful homemade Christmas card, if you prefer the personal touch. These 12 best pencils for designers and artists would all make thoughtful gifts, rather than budget art materials from the supermarket. And although there are plenty of books with 'design' in the title that run the risk of offending experienced designers with their beginner-level content, there are also these 26 great books that every graphic designer should read. You know that one of the nine most annoying things that all designers do is spending ages critiquing the design of a restaurant menu while you sit patiently, tummy rumbling, waiting to order. So to make everyone's lives easier, avoid taking them out for a 'nice meal' and get them something tasty to eat at home instead. As long as it has nice packaging. These 40 awesome packaging designs should provide inspiration. Illustrations: Simon Middleweek Related articles: The best laptops for graphic design 2017 12 things no graphic designer should be without The 10 best graphic design podcasts View the full article

It’s hard to make your photos stand out on social media when feeds are already filled with all sorts of pictures. Picovico can take your pictures and make them into eye-catching slideshows and videos. Get it on sale now for just $49.99 (approx. £38). Picovico understands that while we’re in the age of visual media, it’s all about videos right now. Take your favourite still photos and turn them into incredible videos with the help of this powerful tool. It makes it easy to add text and music to your favourite pictures and transform them into professional-quality slideshows and videos that will look great on social media. You can get a lifetime subscription to Picovico Web Pro Plan on sale for just $49.99 (approx. £38). That’s a saving of 95% off the retail price for a great tool to make your photos stand out, so grab this deal today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: The best laptop deals for Christmas 2017 The best Wacom tablet deals for Christmas 2017 Photography cheat sheet helps unlock DSLRs' potential View the full article

Whether you're creating a rough draft of an illustration, learning how to draw, or sketching out a mockup before hitting the wireframe tools, you'll need to know what the best pencils are to get your work looking great. Fortunately, a solid, reliable set of pencils is not the most expensive item in the designer's toolkit, so you can afford to try out a few different brands in your search for the best pencil. Here we've gathered together our selection of the very best pencils to get you started – then why not pair up your choice with one of these designer notebooks to die for? In the pencil world, Blackwing has an impressive pedigree. It developed something of a cult following before being discontinued in 1998. In 2010, Palomino bought the brand, and the result is more than worthy of the Blackwing name. There are three main pencil options to choose from: the Blackwing (similar to a 5B), Blackwing Pearl (4B) and Blackwing 602 (3B). The leads have wax added to them, making them super-smooth to use, and create velvety dark marks. We gave them five stars – you can read our Palomino Blackwing pencils review here. Derwent is well known for making good quality, reliable pencils. Procolour is its latest range of colouring pencils, released in 2017. The pencils themselves feel substantial, with a sturdy circular shaft. The leads aren't too waxy or too brittle and have a high pigment level for wonderful gradation of colour, even with a light touch. We gave them four and a half stars in our Derwent Procolour review. Staedtler claims to have invented the colouring pencil, so it should know a thing or two. These watercolour pencils come in sets of 12, 24, 36 and 48, they have high-pigment, break-resistant leads and a good quality wooden shaft that sharpens well. Of course you can use them dry, or add water for extra fun. These are a reliable brand and a great option for beginners or more advanced artists. We gave these five stars in our Staedtler watercolour pencil review. No, you haven't misread that price. And yes, that's the correct picture. The Caran D'ache Graphite Line gift box really does come with fewer than 20 pencils, plus graphite sticks and accessories, at a price that would make even Jeff Bezos blink, but what you're paying for here is top-quality graphite. The Graphite Line has been carefully developed and perfected in the Geneva workshops of Caran d’Ache to explore all the different shades of black and deliver thick and thin lines, gradation, flat-wash, blurring and watercolour effects. It's an insanely expensive set of pencil, but we suspect that once you've tried it, you won't want to use anything else. If colour is your thing, you can't go wrong with this beautiful set of colouring pencils from BIC Conté. These high-quality art instruments have a wood-free, synthetic resin design, which make them completely splinter-free should they break. But this is definitely not a case of style over substance, as these pencils also boast a 3.2mm pigment-based lead, providing smooth, even and consistent coverage for artists of any age. For a much more reasonable price, this set of hexagonal design pencils from Lyra is the ideal way to unleash your shading skills. The full Rembrandt Art Design set covers 17 grades from 9B to 6H, and this box features a good, representative sample, enabling you to really get creative with your shading. Each pencil is encased in pure cedar wood and packs an ultra-fine graphite lead that's also suitable for more rigid technical drawing techniques. This beautiful metal drafting pencil is truly one of the best pencils for pros. It features a hexagonal body and a circular cross-hatch metal grip. The cushion point mechanism allows the sliding sleeve to give slightly under pressure to reduce lead breakage while writing. The pencil includes a clip and eraser under the cap. It's a fantastic mechanical pencil suited for layouts and typography. The Faber-Castell Grip Mechanical Pencil has won several design awards and has become deservedly popular. This wonderful pencil feels second-nature thanks to the perfect-sized triangular barrel covered in raised rubber dots, which allow for a firm and comfortable grip. Furthermore, the pencil comes with a handy extra-long twisting eraser and 0.7mm HB lead. The Cumberland Pencil Company has been making some of the best pencils around since 1832, and it shows in the quality of its Derwent brand. These pencils, which are sold individually and in sets, make smooth, easy lines on the paper, making them ideal for bold line drawings and freestyle sketches. This set is named after the famous German artist Albrecht Dürer. These are very carefully made using only the highest quality materials, including vibrant pigments and a unique binder medium, and they offer over 100 years of fade resistance. These pencils are perfect for both drawing and painting techniques. They come in tins of 12, 24, 60, and a full range of 120 watercolour pencils, and are ideal for any artist. This pencil set is suited for students and entry-level artists. Soft, thick cores create a smooth colour laydown for superior blending and shading. The pencils are a true art medium with thick, soft leads containing brilliant permanent pigments that are smooth, water-resistant and lightfast. Colours are easily blended on all art surfaces to form an infinite variety of hues and shades. Their thick leads resist breakage so you may get as dramatic as you dare. As an alternative to using a pencil for sketching and illustration, have you considered using graphite powder? The Cretacolor Charcoal Powder is made using a special deep-firing method to produce a dense, rich charcoal. Develop large-scale drawings or mix with water and a binding agent for additional tonal effects. The graphite powder produces luminous light and dark shades of grey, it slides easily, smudges, blends, and rubs off like chalk. Fixative must be used on the final artwork and is suitable for wet or dry techniques on paper or canvas. Artist Kelvin Okafor is an avid user of the product, and his portfolio of drawings is spectacular. Related posts: Tools of the experts: Eva-Lotta Lamm 20 phenomenally realistic pencil drawings Drawing techniques: 7 fundamentals of pencil drawing View the full article

Until November 2014, I was editor-in-chief of Creative Bloq's sister Apple titles, MacFormat, MacLife and more. Then I decided to go it alone, and spent the next year-and-a-half working from home as a freelance writer, speaker and consultant. That leap – from secure full-time employment to uncertainty – wasn't one I took lightly. But it's fair to say that however much my wife and I tried to rationalise the pros and cons, and do our sums to see if it was financially viable, it really was a leap; I screwed up my eyes, balled my fists, and jumped into the unknown. And let me tell you, there's a lot people don't tell you. I was prepared for a lot of what freelance life brought – the need for good bookkeeping, the benefits of having a dedicated office space you could close the door on, the process of pitching stories, broadening my client base and keeping myself engaged – but I've learned a lot in my time spent freelancing that I've never heard anyone say. So if you're thinking about making that leap into the gig economy, let me show you where a few landing spots are. 01. You need less money than you think Making your own lunches and avoiding aimless wanders through shopping centres will save you money We did some calculations and worked out what the minimum amount of money I would have to make as freelance would be, to ensure we covered bills and some very basic food; it was tiny. (I am lucky that my wife works too, and so was offsetting the amount of money we needed as a household, even though I had been the higher wage earner. If you don't have a partner, though, read on.) In the first month of freelance, I made nearly 10 times my minimum. To be clear, I'm still earning less, gross, than I was when I was employed, but for all the usual reasons – self-determination, reduced pressure of work, flexibility and so on – I'm vastly more happy. The bigger point, though, is that although my earnings have dropped, my savings have rocketed. What? Partly, that's conscious; we were understandably cautious about spending money when we didn't know how freelance would go. But also, I found I just spend less money now; because I work from home (and since there are no shops around me). I'm forced realistically to buy my week's lunches when we do the one big grocery shop – and to make smarter use of leftovers. And because there's not the constant temptation of a £3 coffee, a lunchtime pint, a burrito treat and so on, freelancing is simply a cheaper lifestyle for me. 02. You get playtime back It's far too easy, both in full-time work and when working freelance, to feed the beast. But play is really important, especially for those of us working in creative industries. That's not just because it's rewarding but because if you're pushed for time you'll only do the things you know will work – and that leads to mediocrity. Play, discover, explore. Build playtime, whatever that means for your industry, right into your day and it will bear fruit. (And if you try something and it doesn't work, celebrate – that's what it's there for.) 03. Made enough money? Stop working Reward yourself with treats now and then – you're your boss!After a few months (and by tracking your invoices even just on a simple spreadsheet, as I do), you start to get a feel for how much money you make in a typical month, and whether that's sufficient. And the really great bit? When I can see that magical number looming, I know I can ease off the gas a bit. It usually doesn't mean I stop pitching or writing or doing other ancillary stuff, but I can take a day off here or there, take a long bath, go for a walk, or better still… 04. You have a routine – but you can break it I get up every day at 6:15am, drive my wife to the station, come home, make myself some breakfast and eat it on front of my Mac, catching up on feeds and the news of the day. Shower, dress and ready to work by 9:30am. This is good, as otherwise I know from some other freelancers that the lure of the sofa and daytime TV is strong. But at the same time I need to keep reminding myself: I don't work in an office. Bad night's sleep? Lie in. Glorious sunshine? Take my laptop to the pub. Nothing pressing today? Go for a drive and visit a town I've never been to before. 05. You get vastly more done in a day than you think Away from an office/team, there are fewer distractionsWithout phones ringing, emails pinging, senior colleagues dumping new initiatives on you and junior colleagues needing help and support, you get so much more done in a day than you had been used to when you did a regular job. Especially if you've drifted into a senior position at work, you'll recognise the feeling that you spend more time writing emails and juggling spreadsheets than you spend doing the creative thing that you love. At a stroke, you can cut all that stuff out; for the first few weeks, I'd portion out work for the day yet be done by mid-afternoon, since all I was doing was the fun, creative stuff. 06. You get fat The 10,000 steps per day target is a lot harder to meet from the sofaMy commute used to be a three-mile daily walk, and that wasn't counting pounding the office floor to talk to colleagues or walking between buildings. I was never slim, but this helped keep the paunch at bay. Now, I could commute from my bedroom to my office with one step, and my Wi-Fi scales have been tracking the inexorable consequence. I'm trying to force myself to exercise more, but it's always optional, and that's a problem. 07. You need to appoint an HR manager The best HR managers promote training, mandate holidays, support sick leave and more. You don't have that when freelance, but someone needs to be looking out for you or else you'll burn yourself out doing the thing that was supposed to stop you burning out. For me, it's my wife. For you, it might be a friend or relative. If you have the will, your HR manager could even be yourself, but you need to explicitly take stock every so often to check both your professional development and your mental and physical health. 08. You get your weekends back Get the boring stuff done bit by bit mid-week, freeing up the weekends for funWhen my wife and I both had office jobs, weekends were for catching up on chores and straightening the house out. Now, as I work from home, I can keep things ticking over during the week. It doesn't mean I'm explicitly blocking out times to do housework, but you'd be amazed at the cumulative effect of taking that plate through to the kitchen when you're going through anyway, sticking a load of washing on while a bath's running, or throwing together a big pot of stew in the afternoon that you'll freeze in batches. Basically, I follow my 'commit to commitment' mantra, and when the weekend comes around, I get to spend quality time with my wife. 09. You discover your real interests There are other constraints besides routine when you work in an office. Even if it's a job you like, you're still told what to do each day, more or less. When you're freelance, you start every day with "what shall I do today?", and that presents an unparalleled opportunity to discover what it is you want to do that day – and the next. So that's what I've discovered, and I hope, if you're eyeing the chasm that is freelance, that it proved useful – maybe even encouraging. Liked this? Read these: The ultimate gift guide for freelancers 20 top tools for freelancers 4 ways to cash in as a freelancer View the full article

While most of us are winding down for the year and looking forward to what 2018 has in store, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics organising committee is planning even further ahead with the launch of the official logo designs for the games. As the name suggests, Beijing 2022 is due to take place in five year's time. The official emblems for the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games were announced on Friday in a special ceremony at the Chinese capital's National Aquatics Centre. The pair of logos were designed by artist Lin Cunzhen, and blend together aesthetic elements from both traditional and contemporary Chinese culture. Each emblem aims to embody the "passion and vitality of winter sports" according to the official Olympics site. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics logo as seen on the Olympics website Western readers might not be able to immediately understand all the elements of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games emblem (above) seeing as it's based on the Chinese character for winter: 冬. But once you know the shape of the character, it's clear to see the stylistic similarities. On top of this, the Winter Olympics emblem is designed to resemble a skater at the top and a skier at the bottom, with the host country's mountains running between them. Colour in branding is of course a powerful tool, and here colour also plays an important part in the logo, with blue representing dreams and the wintery weather, while red and yellow mirrors the colours of China's national flag as well as standing for youth, passion and vitality. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics emblem (left) is accompanied by the Winter Paralympic Games logo (right) Meanwhile, the Winter Paralympics logo, named Flying High, takes its inspiration from the Chinese 'fly' character, which looks like this: 飞. The design is said to conjure up "the image of a wheelchair athlete surging towards the finish line and victory." Cunzhen, whose Beijing 2022 logo designs were chosen from a batch of 4,506 submissions from around the world, previously co-designed the emblem for the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing in 2014. "The two Beijing 2022 emblems vividly illustrate the vitality and passion of winter sports, the resilience of the participating athletes and the spirit and beauty of contemporary China," says the president of the Beijing 2022 organising committee, Cai Qi. "They also express the wishes and hopes of 1.3 billion Chinese people that Beijing 2022 is a success." Related articles: Japan's Olympic mascot hopefuls are all winners The 10 greatest Olympic Games logos of all time 25 logo design tips from the experts View the full article

The web is an exciting place, with new developments happening all the time. You can get in on the action by picking up the skills you need to become a web designer with the Learn to Web Design 2017 Bundle, which is on sale now for a price that you choose. No matter which area of web design you're interested in, the Learn to Web Design 2017 Bundle is packed with the know-how you need to become a talented developer with the skills to succeed. It's packed with dozens of hours of actionable content, all spread across nine professionally-taught courses on everything from using Photoshop to coding with HTML and CSS. Boost your skills so you can create great works online for fun or get a promotion and add some more income to your paycheck by expanding your skillset. The courses in the Learn to Web Design 2017 Bundle usually retail for $1,238. Right now, you can pick the price you pay for it. Beat the average to unlock it all or get on the leaderboard. The price is up to you but you can't go wrong, so grab it today. The courses in this bundle include: Learn Photoshop, Web Design & Profitable Freelancing 2017 Adobe Photoshop CC: Your Complete Beginner's Guide Responsive Web Design: Made Easy The Complete Bootstrap Masterclass Course: Build 4 Projects jQuery UI Ultimate: Design Amazing Interfaces Using jQuery UI UI Design in Photoshop: Start Designing Web & Mobile Apps Building Websites: Learn Bootstrap for Rapid Web Development Web Design: Make a Single Page Website Carousel Controls Design a Website From Scratch: HTML, CSS, Responsive Design About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: The best laptop deals for Christmas 2017 The best Wacom tablet deals for Christmas 2017 11 huge web design trends for 2018 View the full article

As a designer, chances are you use Photoshop as part of your Creative Cloud package (although there are alternatives to Photoshop available). And at some point in your career you will have a job or project where the end goal is to pass your Photoshop files onto someone else. Many of us have been on the receiving end of that relationship. And many of us will remember a time when we've opened up that PSD file and thought: What on Earth is this? So if you want to avoid damaging relationships and getting yourself a bad rep within the design community, you need to understand, and follow, these basic rules of Photoshop etiquette. They may seem like a pain, especially when you're used to working in your own way, but if you get into the habit of sticking to them, they'll save you a great deal more pain in the long run. 01. Name your layers The first rule of Photoshop club: name your layers As boring and mundane as it sounds: name your layers. This is the most basic rule of them all – even if it's a simple, descriptive name such as 'Arrow'. There's nothing worse then trying to find a certain layer within a file containing countless duplicates of 'Layer Copy'. Once labelled, organise these layers into group folders, allowing you to move and show/hide various large sections with ease. Layers such as backgrounds or other solid elements that you wish to be preserved should be locked to ensure they don't get clipped or moved accidentally. Once you've completed your task it's always worth having a quick glance over your file to filter out and delete any unnecessary empty layers (a good way to check if a layer is empty is pressing cmd+T). You'd be surprised how many crop up. 02. Structure your files logically Establish a simple naming convention that not only works for you, but would also make sense if your granny had to read it. Naming conventions such as 'New', 'Latest' or 'Website-Final' won't cut it (you can almost guarantee that it won't be the 'final'). An example of a good naming structure could be: 'Name_Type_Size_Version'. Why this structure? The company name is the first thing you see to identify the brand of the file. 'Type' illustrates what the file is intended for (Website, Email, etc). 'Size' is only applicable in certain cases such as banners, whereby you will have various sizes (for example: 120 x 600 or 300 x 250), and finally 'Version', which could be simplified to 'v2', 'v3' and so on, can be applied when making revisions to the original file. It's good practice to save each progression as another file, in case you need to refer back to previous versions. Including these variables in the file name is a smarter way to organise your files and will definitely eliminate any future confusion. 03. Mask once Group layers then apply a mask This refers back to point 01 and grouping layers: why apply 10 masks on 10 layers when you can group the lot and mask once? Work smarter, not harder. 04. Save your paths The Pen tool to a designer is like the lightsaber to a Jedi. The better you are at using it, the more powerful your skills become. So once you're done spending hours making the perfect clipping path, be sure to save it, otherwise you risk having to do it again later in the job. 05. Don't stretch text or images Keep a sense of proportion; avoid the temptation to stretchNever stretch buttons or vector shapes out of proportion; especially ones with rounded corners. Always redraw them to ensure you get the correct and consistent shape and style. Don't stretch images either; scale (down, never up) and transform but don't stretch out of proportion. The same applies to fonts; kern, track and scale but whatever you do, absolutely do not stretch. Ever. It's very unprofessional. Using smart filters where possible will ensure vector shapes can be made bigger and smaller with no distortions. It's handy to bear this in mind when designing for mobile and Retina displays. 06. Snap to something One sign of a good designer is alignment, so switch on those rulers and get snapping: Snap to grid. Snap to Pixel. Snap to Layer. Snap to something! This ensures both that your designs are pixel-perfect and that all elements within them are easy on the eye. 07. Apply effects gracefully Avoid the temptation to apply Color Overlay, Drop Shadow, Bevel, Outer Glow and Strokes to each and every element of your design. It's a tool job – know the difference between each one and when to use it. The main objective should be to use effects that complement the design and elevate your user experience. Subtlety is the key. If you're applying the same effect on numerous elements then its always worth copy/pasting the layer styles to ensure the effects are exactly the same. Also, be aware of the Global Lighting option and when this needs to be applied. When in doubt, turn it off, so you can customise each element and effect to your liking. Otherwise one day you'll be wondering who changed all the styles in your design. 08. Collect up unused styles and images After experimenting with various styles or images, it's good practice to put all these unused elements into one folder titled something like 'Unused'. Have it switched off at the bottom of the original file (it can be deleted on copied revisions thereafter to keep file size down). This rule is an exception to the general rule about removing unused layers. It follows the same logic as keeping various little elements such as icons and small imagery handy just in case you need to make quick changes or additions. 09. Proofread your designs Many designers are bad at spelling, so check your text and grammar thoroughly. Ensure everything is spellchecked (and that includes the brief and copy provided) so your work can clearly be read and understood. 10. Make everything easy to find Once you're all done with your design, be sure to store it in a relevant location with all stock imagery, web files and so on nearby – not in a random folder called 'design files' or 'misc'. You'll probably never find it again, and others certainly won't. For more on Photoshop Etiquette, check out Dan Rose's excellent website PhotoshopEtiquette.com, which provided much of the inspiration for this article. Related articles: 95 top Photoshop tutorials The 60 best free Photoshop brushes The best Photoshop plugins View the full article