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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

Frontend developers tend to think in rectangles; rectangles inside rectangles inside rectangles inside rectangles. We might employ tricks with borders to make circles or triangles, but really they’re still just rectangular boxes in disguise. Well this is about to change with CSS Shapes, a W3C Candidate Recommendation that will change the way you think. Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to net magazine CSS Shapes allow you to create geometric shapes using shape functions: circle(), ellipsis(), inset() and polygon(), and apply them to elements or effects such as clipping and filters. What’s more, the shapes can affect the flow of the content, allowing you to wrap text neatly around features like circular avatars. Perhaps the most powerful shape function is polygon() as it lets you create complex arbitrary shapes using unlimited points defined using co-ordinate pairs. If you’ve used SVG, this will be familiar to you. In this tutorial, we’ll be using polygons with the clip-path property to cut a geometric shape out of our text so that only the area enclosed within the polygon is visible. We’ll also add some simple transitions to bring the effect to life. You can grab the code for each step in this repo from Github, here. 01. Begin with HTML First, let’s get our HTML ready. We just need a <div>, our .clip class and our text, but as we’ll be using pseudo-elements for this effect, we’ll also add an attribute with the same value as the text so we can read it into the CSS rather than hard-coding it. Next, we want to make it fill the screen and align the text dead centre – we can use some Flexbox magic for this. Let’s also style and size the text. 02. Add some style Now we can style the ::before and ::after pseudo-elements, with each becoming a layer on top of the text. By default, ::after will have the highest z-index. The handy attr() selector will read the value of our data-content attribute. The pseudo-elements will share the position and Flexbox properties, so we can refactor our CSS slightly and leverage the power of SCSS to keep our stylesheet tidy. The font styling will be inherited. We’re using ... to denote the properties we’ve already covered. The result in the browser should look identical, because the pseudo-elements are sitting directly on top of the text. You can modify their styles in DevTools to see how they are layered. 03. Set backgrounds and colours Time to give each layer a different colour and background – let’s go for some bold, on-trend, neon colours that we’ve predefined as variables. We can also force the text to wrap onto multiple lines using a CSS padding trick rather than adding these in the HTML. This is helpful as otherwise we’d have to use two different types of line breaks: <br> inside the <div> and the more obscure \A in the attribute. The padding trick works by giving the text zero horizontal width, forcing the browser to wrap each word to a new line. 04. Clip the text Time for the interesting bit – we’re ready to start clipping our text. We’re going to create a diagonal clip, slicing the screen into two triangles from the bottom left to top right. The ::before pseudo-element will only be visible in the top-left triangle, and ::after pseudo-element will only be visible in the bottom-right triangle. Here’s the code to achieve that: This creates polygons with four points. Each point is described by a co-ordinate pair; simply an X (left to right) and Y (top to bottom) value. The value can be absolute (for example: px) or relative (for example: %). The points are referenced to the top left, so the points at 100% 100% are in the bottom right. Imagine lines connecting each of the points in the order that they are listed to form the shapes. In the ::before polygon it starts in the top left (0 0), moves across the screen to the top right (100% 0), and then down to the bottom left (0 100%). Hopefully you will be seeing your clipped text now. Resize the browser and you will see the clipping react accordingly. If you are using Chrome, you will probably see some repaint issues while resizing, caused by Chrome’s Composite Layers. Unfortunately, because the demo is full-screen, the recommended will-change: transform property and transform: translateZ(0) hack don’t rectify this. However, if you switch .clip to position: fixed; it works. Bear in mind that Chrome is trying to be helpful, and this workaround will have an impact on performance. Be sure to profile performance when doing things like this in production. 05. Add transitions Now that we have got our clipped text, let’s bring it to life with some transitions. The good news is that you can simply transition the clip-path property so that the browser does all of the hard work. Let’s enable transitions on the pseudo-elements, and then define four different states to transition between. State 1: This is the initial state, so let’s create three others Add each block at the bottom of your CSS as you go, so you can see what it looks like. State 2: Move the triangles apart slightly to reveal the background This will look a bit like the flag of the Republic of Congo. Removing 20 per cent from the tip of each polygon triangle will do the trick. State 3: Morph the triangles into rectangles This is similar to the French Tricolour, in reverse. What about that fourth co-ordinate pair? Well, this is where it comes in useful. It turns out that transitioning clip-path only works if the shape function used is the same (so polygon > polygon) and the number of points used is the same – the browser will transition each individual point. That’s why we have that fourth hidden point – it allows us to seamlessly transition from a triangle to a rectangle, we just reveal that fourth point when we need it. State 4: Twist those polygons Sticking to our flag theme, this would resemble ‘I require a tug’ in the world of maritime flag signalling. Here we’re twisting the polygons so they cross in the centre and form two triangles each. This is when transitions can help you to understand the co-ordinate pairs. By really slowing down the transition, you can see how each point moves across the screen to its new position, and you start to understand how the ordering of the pairs affects the transition. It actually gives you quite a lot of control over the transition. Wrap up We’re all set but we’re not yet able to change the states, meaning you can’t see the transitions in action. There are many ways to achieve this, so it’s up to you. In the repo and CodePen, I’ve used a 100 per cent JavaScript-free solution with hidden radio buttons and the ~ general sibling selector – do take a look. You can also check out this tutorial’s CodePen here. This article originally appeared in issue 298 of net, the magazine for professional web designers and developers – offering the latest new web trends, technologies and techniques. Buy issue 298 here or subscribe to net here. Special Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to net for you or a friend for Christmas. It's a limited offer, so move quickly... Related articles: 28 outstanding examples of CSS How to create a pyramid layout with CSS Shapes CSS tricks to revolutionise your web layouts View the full article

Predicting the year ahead means putting into practice lessons learned and tested in months gone by, while preparing for the shift to come. Or, gauging the change that has already happened and trying to further shift it in a desired direction. Either way, our predictions of the big branding trends for 2018 are shaped heavily by what's already taken place in 2017 – fake news and social influencers included. As we have about a year to see how these predictions manifest, we’ll be testing our own theories in work along the way. Read on to find out what's coming your way next year in branding. 01. Ethics and honesty Sagmeister & Walsh launched its Pins Won't Save the World campaign after Trump's election The rise of 'fake news' – any attempts to shroud business stories in baloney puffery – has set everyone's spidey senses tingling. It’s more important than ever to avoid that shiny, superficial layer of marketing speak. Instead, think deeply about what’s real and true about your brand, then reflect it in every aspect of your branding scheme. Or, if your proposition is more aspirational, make sure you’re prepared to deliver promises in real ways. No spin, no smoke and mirrors. This branding trend means a good product may not be enough any more. Customers and employees now often expect more corporate responsibility – authentic, genuine, and tied to your brand purpose. A 2015 study showed that 91 per cent of global consumers expected companies to do more than make a profit. They also wanted companies to operate responsibly to address social and environmental issues; 84 per cent said they sought out responsible products whenever possible; and 90 per cent said they would boycott a company if they learned of irresponsible or deceptive business practices. 02. Placemaking Jack Renwick Studio created an identity for property development Carpenters Wharf based the site's previous use as a luxury furniture workshop In an age where so much can be delivered remotely or digitally, design is becoming especially important to real-world experiences. Customer journeys and experiential thinking help to differentiate brands in the physical space. In the same way Nike approaches every touchpoint as a brand extension, players in real estate and other place-based industries – from retailers to hotels to services – will bring a new level of detail to our physical experiences. In industries such as tech, design thinking is well-entrenched in product development, and this approach will start showing up in other industries, tied to real-time experiences in the real world. Brands need to think about their channels, but bigger than that, they need to think about how design thinking can be applied directly to developing retail, hospitality, civic, or even residential environments, where the aim is to create differentiation before you even think about making a sale. Either way, branding and design thinking are part of the process of creating an experience. A bit like the drones you increasingly see capturing video from above, brands will take a bird's-eye view of the customer experience and journey. 03. Influencers influencing both ways The Partners' #RewritingTheCode project leveraged social media to challenge attitudes that stop women around the world fulfilling their potential It will become increasingly important to direct your brand towards a particular target, not just a common one. The world of blogging and social media has made it clear that certain individuals are opinion leaders who act as filters and amplifiers to the people who follow them. People are skeptical of what brands tell them, but embrace what peers and self-selected guides tell them. These days, influencers are customers who are better placed to tell other customers about the brand, rather than the brand blowing its own trumpet. Brands need to win these influencers over, which means these venerated customer personas will help shape brands as much as they help influence other consumers. Even if a brand doesn't have a 'name' in mind to front its campaign, its can think about what consumer it wants to appeal to and then search out that ideal 'influencer' to help spread the word based on the brand's needs and desires. Now that people can share their views on an unprecedented scale, marketing is no longer one-to-one, or even one-to-many – it’s one to many... to many... to many. That’s important in a world where it takes anywhere from five to 20 interactions with marketing material to generate a sales lead, and 80 per cent of marketing reach comes from amplification via customers. In 2018, influencer marketing will continue to increase. And it's not just social media celebrities we're talking about – brands will seek to harness their customers’ ability to convert other consumers, placing an increased emphasis on story sharing over storytelling. 04. UX going physical Johnson Banks put the creation of a new Mozilla identity in the hands of the public We will begin to see data influencing online user experiences in real time, as companies managing large client-facing websites will use machine learning and A/B testing to help automate usability testing. We might even see libraries or services that developers can integrate into their own applications. We may begin to see sites morph experience as a direct result. And, if it can happen online, the same fluidity may not be far off in the real world. The use of mobile and the Internet of Things begins to blur what happens when you’re sitting at a desk browsing a website with what happens when you’re walking through a place. As that increases, there’s a greater need for companies and brands to embed tech into their DNA. Technology is not something that happens in a channel; it’s something that helps to drive, inform, and influence all channels. 05. Building consumer confidence For its Premier League rebrand, DesignStudio shifted the focus onto the sport's fans From massive data breaches to successions of natural disasters, the overarching theme of security and confidence will affect branding in ways that are both subtle and overt. Assurances behind what information is collected and stored (and why) are the obvious things. Less obvious is that consumers are looking for clues to determine whether a brand can be trusted, from the overall design quality and experiential thoughtfulness, to ratings and feedback on social media. Brands have to view all of their activities through the lens of a skittish public and a tumultuous world; particularly online. It used to be that confidence came from big companies. It was kind of a shorthand for 'reliable and established'. Now people are more adept at getting cues in more subtle ways. In tech, the rise of APIs and specialisation is one example; websites are increasingly an aggregation of other web services. But in general, the trend is toward micro-services instead of monoliths, where there is a belief that reliable brands are focused on one thing, or one person, and doing it very well. Read more: The problem with period product branding The top 10 big-brand logos 5 times brands temporarily changed their packaging View the full article

Do you know your secondary colours from your tertiary colours? How about the difference between a hue and a value? With so many different terms in the world of art and design, it's easy to forget things. That's why designer and animator Rhea Lelina Manglapus has put together this animated crash course on colour theory. Whether you're struggling with how to paint with complementary colours, or perhaps you want to choose the right colour scheme for a web project or branding design, Manglapus' video A Brief Lesson on Colour Theory will fill you in with some crucial colour terms. Working up from the basics by introducing the colour spectrum, and warm and cool colours, this short video quickly leads viewers through to more advanced terms. Perfect as an introduction or a quick refresher on the key terms, watching this video is a minute-and-a-half well spent. There are plenty of useful colour tools online and offline, which often refer to terms such as analogous and triadic when helping you pick a palette. The animation explains that these terms mean "Groups of colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel" and "Three colours that are equidistant on the colour wheel", respectively. The colour examples given throughout the animation are clear, enhancing the text explanations. Similarly, the slick, subtle animation style and background music don't detract from the lessons, but keep the video an engaging and even fun educational experience. This is definitely a video refresher to bookmark and share with friends on Facebook and Twitter. Related articles: How to master colour theory 10 colour management terms designers need to know The designer’s guide to using colour in branding View the full article

VR sculpting takes some getting used to, but the payoff is well worth the effort – you can create incredible things in VR. Plus while you work you can pick up and rotate your model, walk through doorways and experience your work in a whole new way. Here are 10 tips to get you started with sculpting in VR. 01. Stay comfortable when working Be sure to adjust the headset straps, tilt it up and down and adjust the lens slider until the image is as clear as possible. Don't expect to be standing up for hours on end in long sessions. 02. Change the scale Remember that you can work on pieces that are tiny in your hands or a gigantic piece that dwarves you when you need extreme details. 03. Share your workspace With VR sculpting we are able to invite others into our workspace, so we can instantly show and explain our ideas to others visually and audibly. 04. Stay close When sculpting you are in front of your model, making the experience much more realistic. Not only can you pick the model up and rotate it, but you can put it down and walk all around it. 05. Take your work anywhere You're no longer chained to your desk; you can work anywhere with the headset It is liberating to be able to simply put on a headset and work in a quiet, relaxed workspace anywhere. 06. Experiment with the move tool Compared to move tools in traditional 3D software, you have the full freedom of movement from your hands, so make the most of it. 07. Try out different software Get to know different software options' pros and cons. Some recommended tools are Oculus Medium, MasterpieceVR, Quill and AnimVR. 08. Speed up your workflow Using hand controllers means no pen, mouse or keyboard shortcuts. For concepts it is an amazingly fast way to get your ideas down. 09. Use yourself as a scale You are in the scene you're creating, enabling you to build the scene with human scale in mind. Wondering if the door you're making is tall enough? No problem, just see if you can walk through. 10. Combine with traditional tools Use your traditional 3D rendering packages for presentation of your VR sculpts. As of now, there's still no rendering solutions in VR, so use some of the tools you already know to make your work shine. 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. Liked this? Read these: VR: is it the future of design? 5 must-see short VR movies 25 great tutorials to improve your 3D skills View the full article

You're reading Free WordPress Page Builder – Qards, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Three years ago, we released Qards, a page builder plugin for WordPress. This year we decided to offer the free version of this plugin, and you can download it directly from WordPress.org plugin directory. About Qards Free Qards Free is a WordPress plugin that allows you to select individual pre-designed content cards (hence the name, […] View the full article

The Vibrant Digital Future summit is a brand new, flagship conference that promises to give you a glimpse into the future of digital, teach you how to stay ahead of the curve and innovate – no time machine required. Run by Nominet, the summit packs 30 industry-leading speakers into one insight-filled day. The event will take place on 31 January 2018 in the Business Design Centre in London, and right now you can get a massive 50% off your ticket to the summit with the code FUTURE50. Get 50% off your Vibrant Digital Future ticket with code FUTURE50The Vibrant Digital Future event boasts an impressive, diverse speaker lineup, including key figures from Microsoft, IBM and Government Digital Service. They'll be tackling a diverse range of topics – everything from how to beat the hackers, to the brave new world of AI, to exactly what new tech is actually worth your attention. As you'd expect, there's an expo hall packed with amazing stuff to investigate, a wealth of practical takeaways and core information to absorb, and networking opportunities aplenty. In short, if you're a tech influencer or IT decision-maker, you need to get yourself down there on 31 January. The event boasts a varied and impressive speaker lineup The talks are split between three carefully curated tracks, so you can tailor your day to suit your interests exactly – or split your team between different talks to benefit from the full breadth of knowledge on offer. For busy tech professionals who don't have time to go to six conferences a month, this summit is ideal: in just one day you'll discover everything you need to know to stay safe, secure and productive, right now and in the future. Save 50% on your ticket Powered by Nominet – which has spent the past 20 years keeping the UK internet safe – this event is a one-stop-shop to get you up to speed with best practices and prepare you for the future. It might well be the best day you can spend out of the office - so grab your ticket now – and don't forget to use the code FUTURE50 at the checkout to save 50%. View the full article

These days, we’re all used to getting things for free. Why buy a newspaper when you can read The Metro, or get the news online for nothing? Why buy a CD when you can listen to the album without charge on Spotify? And there are so many free design resources online, it’s easy to get into the habit of not having to pay for anything here either. You won’t find this sort of photography on free sites, but you can get high quality images at very affordable prices from iStock by Getty Images But there comes a point when, as a professional designer, you have to draw the line. After all, there’s no point in saving a few pennies if it lowers the quality of your work and could potentially lose you valuable clients. So while the lure of freebies may be strong, when it comes to photography, illustration and video, it’s actually a false economy. In this article we highlight why investing in low-cost, high quality images from iStock by Getty Images is a much smarter choice. 01. Quality iStock images offer far higher quality than freebies, both technically and artistically It may sound obvious, but it’s still worth saying: images from iStock by Getty Images are just better quality. They’re better quality technically, in terms of things like colour, lighting, cropping and so on. And they’re better quality artistically too, feeling more contemporary, authentic and relevant than the typical images you’ll find on free sites. And that’s no coincidence. Photographers don’t upload their work to iStock out of the kindness of their heart: they do it to make money. The best way to do that is to provide what the market wants, so they’re under constant pressure to upload better and better images. iStock further helps you find the best stuff through its specially curated ‘Signature’ collection, which features the highest quality images the site has to offer. 02. Range You won’t find images as unique as these on free sites Free stock image sites generally don’t have a lot of images to offer. So even if you do find something that’s suitable, there’s a very good chance that your chosen image will have been used in countless other people’s designs. That’s not going to reflect highly on you as a designer. In contrast, with more than 160,000 global contributors, iStock by Getty Images can offer you literally millions of affordable, unique, royalty free images to choose from. So the odds are far greater of finding an image that’s the perfect fit for your design – rather than trying to shoehorn in a free image that doesn’t really work. And once you’ve found that perfect image, you’ll also find it’s surprisingly affordable. With images starting at only £9 (or $12 or 11 Euros), you’re getting incredibly good value for the quality that’s on offer. 03. Versatility iStock images are available at very high resolution and at a range of sizes Many of the images you’ll find on free sites aren’t just of low technical quality, but are normally only available at one (low) resolution and size. With iStock by Getty Images, though, you can access images at very high resolution and at a range of sizes. This means that whatever your project - from digital to print to 4K video - you’ll be able to find relevant assets at the size, resolution and format you require. Remember, also, that with a high-res image, there’s much more scope for creative cropping without losing too much in the way of resolution. 04. Legal protection You won’t have any legal worries with iStock’s images The site you’re looking at might say the images are available for free. But how do you know, really? The internet is pretty much the Wild West, and there are plenty of unscrupulous website owners willing to scrape other people’s copyrighted material, make it available for free download and make money off the advertising... setting you up for potential legal action in future. Even when the site is legitimate, things can get tricky. Flickr, for example, is filled with images made available under Creative Commons licences, some of which are even available for commercial use. However, we’ve heard from design bloggers, for example, who’ve used such images only to find months later that the licence has been updated, and they’re no longer available for free use. Do you or your client really want to keep checking back on Flickr to make sure your “free images” are still free? With iStock by Getty Images, you have no such worries. Every image you download is yours to use, however you see fit. Plus your iStock contract comes with a $10,000 legal guarantee that when you use content within the terms of the license agreement, it won’t infringe on any copyright, moral right, trademark or other intellectual property right, or violate any right of privacy or publicity. So apart from anything else, isn’t it worth paying a small amount of money just to be able to sleep at night? 05. Ease of use It’s easy to find what you’re looking for quickly with iStock iStock by Getty Images doesn’t just provide you with access to millions of royalty-free images, it makes it quick and super-easy to find what you’re looking for. Sophisticated search tools allow you to really hone your search in the way that works for you. For example, you can use negative search terms, conceptual search terms, technical search terms or search with images not words. Specify photos, illustrations or videos. Search by ‘Best match’, ‘Newest’ or ‘Most Popular’. Narrow your search according to licence type, colour, image size, orientation, or the number of people in a shot. Most importantly, the interface is extremely intuitive and easy to follow. So there’s no learning curve; just start searching and tweak as you go. Brilliantly, you can also search by images. So for instance, if you’ve found a free image that’s close to what you want, but not quite right, why not upload it to search for something similar on iStock? Special discount for Creative Bloq readers Finding the right image can make or break the success of your design. So don’t waste your time and energy looking at free image sites: head to iStock by Getty Images for a guarantee of high-quality, low-cost stock imagery. Right now is a particularly good time to do so if you’re on an annual budget and time is running out to spend it. Why not use up the money you’ve still got to buy iStock credits, which you can then use into 2018 and beyond? To give you an added incentive, we’ve teamed up with iStock by Getty Images to offer Creative Bloq readers 10% off all iStock credits. Just use code ZNKPC46N on any credit pack today at istock.com to take advantage of this incredible offer! Related articles: 10 hottest illustrators of 2017 20 tools to make you more creative in 2018 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 View the full article

Want to meet Hollywood bigwigs and veterans from the CG industry? Come to Vertex's networking event and you'll be able to mingle with some of the world’s leading artists, creatives and developers. You can exchange contacts with professionals, and who knows – you might even be able to land your next dream job! The networking event will take place after our panel discussion and it is a fantastic opportunity to speak one-on-one with experts and cultivate new relationships after spending the day attending the recruitment fair, listening to engaging talks and learning new skills in our workshops. The who's who of CG Some of the amazing speakers we have attending Vertex include the likes of CG Labs director Chris Nichols, Digital Domain co-founder and industry veteran Scott Ross, Allegorithmic CEO and founder Dr Sébastien Deguy, VR genius Glen Southern, Danny Sweeney from Creative Assembly, freelance 3D artist Maya Jermy, Bader Badruddin from Blue Zoo and much more. Scott will be speaking to 3D World editor Rob Redman about the future of British VFX after Brexit, looking at the pitfalls and opportunities. Our line-up of amazing speakers have some really inspiring talks for you Educate and inspire Don't forget we also have an incredible workshop from The Mill's Adam Dewhirst, who will walk you through how to create a digidouble in a day, using a range of techniques from photogrammetry and mesh wrapping to The Mill’s custom human rig. Dewhirst will delve into The Mill’s ‘master human set up’, and highlight how they’re investigating the future challenges of CG human models. Meanwhile, Saddington Baynes' Chris Christodoulou and Marc Shephard will demonstrate the technical backbone and processes that sit behind mass customisation in a special duo workshop, alongside the tools and software that can help artists work faster (with emphasis on Maya and Nuke). The mixer is only available for Access All Areas ticket holders so get your tickets now! Get your ticket to Vertex 2018 now! Vertex is the event for the CG community. Book your ticket now at vertexconf.com, where you can find out more about the other amazing speakers, workshops, recruitment fair, networking event, expo and more. Related articles: Scott Ross to talk at Vertex! Why Vertex is a must for CG artists The ethics of Digital Humans View the full article

Malware intended for a “high-impact” attack against safety systems likely would of caused physical damage to a targeted company located in the Middle East. View the full article

While there’s certainly no shortage of books on Dieter Rams, a hefty new tome cuts to the chase with surely what all designers really want to hear: the titular Ten Principles for Good Design. But alongside concise, helpful lessons from the great Rams, the volume also shows (as if we didn’t know) exactly why he’s the man to be learning from, discussing his role as part of the birth of the Braun design ethos in the mid-1950s; and showcasing his product design work from the Jorrit Maan Collection. There’s also a clear, helpful timeline of key points in Rams’ life and career, revealing just how talented he was at such a young age: the designer wasn’t even 30 years old when was appointed head of the Braun Design Department in 1961. The volume opens with what it titles 'an important question'. As editor Cees W. de Jong writes, “back in the late 1970s, Dieter Rams was becoming increasingly concerned by the state of the world about him – ‘an impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.’ Aware that he was a significant contributor to that world, he asked himself an important question: is my design good design? As good design cannot be measured in a finite way, he set about expressing the ten most important principles for what he considered good design.” Rams was ahead of his time in taking an approach to product design that not only brought aesthetics and functionality to the fore, but also prioritised durability and ease of use for those they were designing for. It’s this legacy and those all-important principles that this book presents so beautifully. The quiet, confident layout designs let Rams’ work speak for itself while showcasing imagery of 100 items in a detailed, considered way Alongside contributions written by Rams himself, including his Tokyo manifesto and an essay entitled ‘Design – Ritual of a Hopeful Society?’, the book also publishes interviews such as an in-conversation piece with Erik Mattie, and a contribution about the importance of teamwork to industrial design by the Braun Design Team. Naturally, the book design, layout and typesetting (by de Jong, VK Projects, Naarden & Asher Hazelaar, and Dutch studio Puls Ontwerp) takes Rams’ aesthetic principles and shows them in action, in book form. A few of these – as outlined in his 10 principles – are “good design is innovative; good design is aesthetic; good design is useful”. The quiet, confident layout designs let Rams’ work speak for itself while showcasing imagery of 100 items in a detailed, considered way. Among these are, of course, Rams' famous coffee grinder, but we also see less celebrated objects like shelving systems and cigarette lighters. In another helpful nod to design as a utopian idea that should be as easy to use as it is beautiful, the final part of the book presents a chronological overview of Rams’ designs, categorised by function, presenting a narrative of not just of his work, but also the evolution of industrial design. View the full article

To draw hands, you need to look past the complexity of the hand's anatomy and recognise simple rules that will help you draw from a model or even your own imagination. Although they're notoriously tricky to get right, there are some sketching tips and tricks you can use. To help you, in this short tutorial we'll break the process down into four simple steps to create a quick sketch. We'll start by exploring the structure of the hand, and then look at how to translate this into a drawing. Watch the video below, and follow my written steps beneath that. We also have a more in-depth guide on How to draw hands, which breaks hand gestures into shapes for a more refined and realistic style. This guide is more concerned about creating sketches that capture the essence of a hand, at speed. Read on for four simple steps. 01. Consider how hands work To draw hands properly you need to understand their anatomy The most important thing in drawing hands is to understand their anatomy. Look at your own hand – it (usually) comprises of a palm, thumb, index finger and the three remaining fingers, which even though they can be moved separately, work together when it comes to grabbing objects. Move your hand and notice how your fingers and thumb bend and move, and what happens to the palm. 02. Find the right gesture Try out loads of gestures until you find one that really catches the eye Before you start drawing a hand, make sure you pick an interesting gesture. Try to experiment a lot at this point. A well-drawn gesture can communicate more than a hundred words. Be your own model and actor. Perform a gesture and notice what happens to your hand. Try to emulate those gestures in some fast and loose sketches. 03. Construct your sketch Start sketching with bigger shapes, observing how all the elements of the hand work together Once you choose the gesture you want to draw, start sketching it in a more precise way. Ask someone to pose for you or observe your own non-drawing hand. Start with bigger shapes; don't focus on small wrinkles or fingernails yet. A sturdy well-constructed sketch will go a long way. Observe how the elements of a hand work together and what happens to the skin and muscles. 04. Work in the details Refine your sketch and add in details such as wrinkles, fingernails and veins When you are happy with the first sketch, start refining it. Enhance the lines that are important and erase those that aren't. Add wrinkles, fingernails and veins if they are visible. When drawing fingernails, remember that they are not pasted on top of the fingers, they are well embedded in the tips of the fingers. Drawing them correctly is very important. This article was originally published in issue 12 of Paint & Draw, the art magazine offering tips and inspiration for artists everywhere. Buy it here. Related articles: How to choose the right drawing tools Sharpen your sketching skills How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials View the full article

Oscar-winning directors, chart-topping bands, and budgets larger than some movies: Christmas adverts have never been bigger. But, as this list proves, the best Christmas ads 2017 were the ones that played with the form, took chances, and did something a bit different. There's still a big emphasis on making you bulb, but we also liked action ads, comedy ads, and otherworldly ads. We've looked at the best of British – where the Christmas ad has blown up in recent years – but have also taken in commercials from the US, Europe, and further afield. In no particular order, here's our pick of the best Christmas ads of the year. 01. A Very Merry Mistake, Host/Havas Santa's a sort of bigwig sitting behind a massive desk. He takes calls from kids all over the world. He's fluent in all languages, you see. Then kids from New Zealand start calling. The Kiwi accent – clipped, vowel-swapping – proves too much for Santa. A boy named 'Bin' apparently wants a new 'biscuitball'. Fortunately for all, the Air New Zealand cabin crew are on hand to translate. Easily the funniest ad of the year. 02. Gogglebox Meets Coca-Cola's 'Holidays Are Coming' Gogglebox, if you haven't seen it, is a TV show that points a camera a people watching TV shows. Sounds rubbish; actually brilliant. Here the Gogglebox families watch Coca-Cola's Holidays Are Coming ad – which is now over two decades old. Say what want you about Coca-Cola, but for many of us, that ad signals the start of the Christmas season, as the Goggleboxers' reactions prove. A recent study found this the most engaging ad of the season. 03. Toyota R+S Holiday Commercial, Saatchi & Saatchi Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without multinational corporations trying to sell you stuff by making you cry. That's Toyota's play here: it got Emmy-winner Lance Acord to direct this Sundance-style, indie-movie tearjerker. Man: "So your folks took it pretty hard, huh?" Woman: "They loved that tree." A minute and a half later the whole family is gathered around said recently fallen tree. But, wait, it's been given a new lease of life and the woman's folks couldn't be happier about it. Cynical maybe, but it's deftly done. 04. Bring Everyone Together, CLM BBDO Remember that old M&Ms Christmas ad? Santa bumps in to Red and Yellow (those walking, talking, M&M characters). Both Santa and Red faint. It came out in 1996 and this is the sequel. What happens next is Yellow steps in to delivery Santa's presents, but, being a chocolate covered nut with no experience in complex intercontinental logistics, he gets them all mixed up. Did he ruin Christmas? No. Course not. "I think," Red says, "you made it even better." 05. Parking Lot, Venables Bell & Partners Two flustered men drive to into the parking lot of a mall for some last-minute Christmas shopping. Thing is, there's only one parking space left. They're both driving souped-up Audis and they both appear to be world-class stunt drivers. What follows is perhaps the best car chase in the history of advertising. It's nicely scripted too, as the ending mirrors the beginning when the two men meet again, this time while pushing shopping trolleys. 06. Paddington & The Christmas Visitor, Grey London This Paddington bear ad – for British supermarket Marks & Spencer – has a pretty familiar plot. Paddington mistakes a bearded burglar for Santa Claus. The bear helps him take back all the presents he's nicked. The thief sees the light … but then, according to some complaints, swears at Paddington. A spokesman for M&S said it's obvious the words are actually, "Thank you, little bear." 07. Moz The Monster, adam&eveDDB Current heavyweight champion of the Christmas ad in the UK is John Lewis. Moz the Monster is about a boy who makes mates with the creature that lives under his bed. Industry figures suggest its the department store's least successful Christmas campaign in five years. But when it comes to big names, it doesn't get much better: it's directed by Academy Award winner Michel Gondry and soundtracked by Mercury Music Prize winner Elbow. 08. J’ai tant rêvé, Romance French supermarket Intermarché went for something a bit different this year. A boy decides Santa's trademark big belly is doing him no good. The boy administers a diet of fresh fruit and veg, all from his favourite supermarket chain, of course, and bonds with his sister in the process. It's all nicely shot, with a Henri Salvador’s lovely J’ai tant rêvé providing the title and the soundtrack. 09. Danielle, Leo Burnett Iberia Most epic ad of the year goes to the Spanish national lottery. The Oscar-winning director Alejandro Amenábar directs Danielle, an 18-minute spot about an alien who comes to earth and takes the form of a woman. She tries to get to grips with modern life in Madrid. She meets Daniel, who thinks she's a foreigner, can't speak Spanish, and so mistakenly thinks her name is Danielle. It's a visually stunning ad which manages to incorporate the client into the story in a really creative way. 10. #YouShall Find Your Fairytale Christmas, J. Walter Thompson British department store Debenhams does a modern take on Cinderella in one of the most lushly shot ads of the season. Boy and girl meet, boy and girl lose each other … The two attempt to track each other down using social media. The whole thing goes viral. But still the pair can't find each other. That's when good old fashion fate steps in. It's all narrated by Ewan McGregor, who pops up at the end with a cameo that gives fate a helping hand. Read more: When to use humour in branding 10 advertisers that use creativity to boost their brand 40 traffic-stopping examples of billboard advertising View the full article