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Many people in the UK spent 24 June 2016 in a state of shock in the wake of the previous day’s Brexit referendum. Whether you're anxious or excited about the UK's future after we exit the EU in 2019, Brexit is certainly going to involve some changes. But what does Brexit mean for the design industry, and designers? We spoke to a range of successful UK design businesses – from boutique studios to vast global networks – to gauge what effect, if any, they’ve seen so far since the vote; and how they propose to weather the potential storm on the horizon. We look at the impact Brexit could have on UK design jobs and recruitment; winning and retaining clients; and studios’ cashflow and profitability. Let's discover what Brexit could mean for you, starting with a look at how Brexit is progressing so far. According to Michael Dougan, professor of European law at the University of Liverpool, the UK Government doesn’t have much of a hand to play with in the Brexit negotiations. “The UK entered its withdrawal negotiations from a position of extraordinary weakness,” he argues. “There is not only a serious degree of under-preparation, but also a national viewpoint dominated by ideology – with all its usual ignorance and arrogance – rather than informed, pragmatic policy. As a consequence, events could not be going any further from the UK Government’s ‘plans’.” An impact on multicultural design Dougan’s inverted commas speak volumes: from the outside looking in, anything resembling a coherent plan certainly seems a long way off. So how can creative businesses in the UK prepare for the unknown? For Tim Lindsay, CEO of D&AD, diversity and multiculturalism is what makes the UK one of the world’s great creative hubs – and he laments proposed measures such as fingerprinting for new immigrants. “We are becoming a country that slams the door on visitors, and turns its back on our neighbours,” he argues. “Apart from the fact that every competent authority agrees this is suicidal for our economy, it will have a seriously negative and specific effect on the creative industries.“ D&AD's CEO Tim Lindsay believes Brexit could be devastating for the UK's talent pool“It's no coincidence that great design, advertising, fashion, music, film, architecture, food and much more besides are generated in the most multicultural city on the planet,” Lindsay continues. “How can we seriously doubt that 'taking back control of our borders' will deter talent from coming here, and cause a significant exodus too?” The best-case scenario Of course, experts have been wrong before. Could the best possible Brexit outcome see the UK’s design sector even better off outside of the EU? The UK’s longstanding global reputation in this field, as well as its critical mass of world-class agencies, are two of its biggest assets. But with many of those agencies drawing on EU talent and working with EU clients, closing the borders is only likely to be detrimental. “The best outcome is an open-door policy that encourages creative talent into the UK, and the affords us freedom to do international business without layers of added administration and cost,” suggests Sue Strange, brand and strategy director at Manchester-based studio Music. Taxi Studio's recent project The København Collection for Carlsberg is inspired by the brand's Danish rootsBristol-based Taxi Studio's clients include one of Europe’s biggest breweries, Carlsberg. Its commercial director, Adam Ray, believes breaking away from collective EU policies that are perceived to be restrictive may have a positive impact: “Favourable trade agreements could help reduce barriers to global markets,” he points out. Simon Elliott, co-founder and creative director at London-based consultancy Rose Design, is less optimistic – and he dreams of a second referendum to make it all go away. “The next best thing would be a softer Brexit, allowing freedom of movement and trade, without red tape, for us, European clients and European staff.” The worst-case scenario GBH co-founder and creative director Mark Bonner fears that the UK Government will “behave petulantly” and irritate its EU neighbours by pushing for a so-called ‘hard’ Brexit deal. “I think 'tit for tat' policy restrictions could begin to throttle our ability to trade and move freely,” he reflects. “Philosophically, the referendum decision was a sad reality for us all at GBH, as we enjoy collaboration right across Europe with a whole host of clients.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Strange’s worst-case scenario is the polar opposite of what she hopes will happen: EU talent is discouraged from working in the UK, and the cost of doing business in Europe becomes prohibitively expensive for small independent agencies such as Music. Elliott concurs about the impact on smaller outfits: “Leaving Europe without a decent trade deal in place can only make life harder for businesses like ours,” he says. “We currently enjoy the freedom of working with whoever wants to buy our expertise.” With 25 offices worldwide, Landor Associates' global clients include Abu Dhabi-based airline EtihadAt the other end of the scale, Peter Knapp is global creative officer at WPP-owned branding network Landor Associates, which has 25 offices worldwide – including several in EU countries. “The worst case for us will be that the local market loses economic confidence, and local UK clients invest less in creative solutions,” he believes. “Either way, it’s really important that the UK continues to be seen as a leading global force in creativity.” Next page: What Brexit means for design jobs and recruitment Recruitment is a concern for the design industry in a post-Brexit world: rather like the Premier League football clubs that wow audiences around the globe, many of the UK’s world-class agencies have recruited from a Europe-wide talent pool to build a winning team. With immigration one of the top bones of contention in the EU referendum campaign, the question of freedom of movement is critical – not just for the risk of discouraging new recruits from crossing the Channel, but potentially for driving existing staff back to their countries of origin. How to launch a creative businessHere, we explore how Brexit has impacted recruitment and retention of staff so far, and how you can prepare for different eventualities. Free movement under debate According to EU law expert Michael Dougan, the Government simply can’t have its cake and eat it: “As the European Council has repeatedly affirmed, no relationship – no matter how close – can offer the same benefits as EU membership,“ he insists. Retaining access to that all-important Single Market for trade without agreeing to free movement – not to mention conforming with the EU’s various regulatory standards – Dougan considers impossible. “The EU will insist on a level playing field in areas such as competition and state aid,” he adds. “It will safeguard against unfair competitive advantages regarding tax, social and environmental dumping, for instance. And the UK will pay for such privileges, just like everyone else has to.” These are, says Dougan, basic and inescapable facts: “And yet, the UK Government continues to make fantastical demands in one breath, while laying down ‘red lines’ about immigration and judicial supervision in the next,” he adds, “apparently oblivious to the price that must be paid.” Clearly, while negotiations are in progress we are in no position to guarantee whether free movement will continue for your staff – but we can provide some advice for staying on top of your game, whatever happens... Try to boost staff morale On the morning of 24 June 2016, EU citizens living and working in the UK had an extra wave of insecurity about their personal situations, and in design studios up and down the country, the fear was palpable. “They were anxious and concerned for their futures in the UK, unsurprisingly,” recalls Rose Design’s Simon Elliott. Likewise, the atmosphere at Taxi Studio was “a tangible sense of disappointment”, adds Adam Ray. SomeOne created the entire 'brand world' for the Baku European Games in 2015But for SomeOne's Simon Manchipp, it’s about maintaining a positive attitude and confidence in the face of that uncertainty: “Most have laughed it off,” he shrugs. “They know their talents outshine their passport. They could work anywhere on the planet.” Focus on talent, not location The ‘brain drain’ effect has started in places: Rose has lost staff since the vote. “This time last year, nearly 50 per cent of our team were originally from EU countries,” reveals Elliott. “Several have left us, not entirely on account of the vote, but it was a contributing factor.” A collaboration with artist Mark Wallinger, Rose's Labryrinth: Art on the Underground won Best of Show at 2014's Brand Impact AwardsNot only is existing EU talent departing the UK, but in some cases they are applying in smaller volume for jobs in the first place: a phenomenon that Sue Strange has seen over the past year at Music. Interestingly, Johnson Banks has observed the polar opposite effect: “We’ve had a huge influx of applications from Europe,” reveals creative director Michael Johnson. “Applying before the wall goes up, perhaps?” A diverse talent pool to draw from can only be a good thing, but Ray points out that country of origin is only one factor. “We’d never make a concerted effort to recruit from a certain geography. Portfolio and personality are far more important,” he adds. Cast the net even wider Of course, if talent comes first then it follows that agencies should look globally, visas permitting. “We have a wide mix of people, from Malta to Malaysia,” declares Manchipp. “Diversity is important to have in any creative business, as it contributes to a richer outcome.” Like SomeOne, Johnson Banks works with clients around the world, and its recruitment policies are likewise very open-minded. “We’re still mostly British, but have taken freelance and permanent staff from further afield: the USA, Singapore, Sri Lanka, New Zealand,” reveals Johnson. Johnson Banks underwent a hugely ambitious, 'open-source' branding process for US-based client MozillaWith less than 10 staff at any one time, Johnson Banks is tiny compared to a global branding behemoth like Landor, for which the global nature of its network is reflected in the staff. “It’s a healthy mix from all over the place, which reflects our mix of clients,” confirms Peter Knapp. Don’t neglect the grass roots Recruitment of fully-fledged designers from overseas is one thing, but if Brexit has a sway on international student numbers, it could also have a knock-on effect further down the line. Strange has already observed a sharp decline in international students, and Johnson considers the potential impact of Brexit on education to be “significant”. But Mark Bonner and Simon Manchipp contend that students will continue to be drawn to the top design colleges. Manchester-based Music's recent branding for Powerleague engaged with the grass roots of football in the UK“The quality of education in the UK is a beacon, and will still be highly prized on a global stage,” argues Manchipp. “The mix of students may alter, but I've been seeing a steady rise in students from Korea, China and India prior to any mention of Brexit anyway.” “If the UK’s reputation is maintained, students will still want to be educated in one of the world’s strongest creative cultures,” adds GBH's Bonner, “regardless of our political and economic affiliation with the EU.” He cautions, however, that the current government’s lack of recognition of creative industries as key economic drivers – and an accompanying lack of investment in the arts – is in many ways a much bigger long-term concern than Brexit on this front. Next page: What Brexit means for winning and retaining clients Another crucial consideration when attempting to prepare your design business for Brexit is the effect on your clients: acquiring and retaining them domestically, across Europe, and beyond. There are no certainties here, but tertiary industries such as design and advertising are liable to be hit early if client profitability is squeezed by unfavourable trade terms, or other Brexit-related factors. 13 great tools for pitching to clients“The UK cannot simply wish away the inherent problems of international trade; especially the challenge of tackling non-tariff (regulatory) barriers to cross-border trade in goods and services,” is EU law expert Michael Dougan’s take. “When it comes to the provision of services, the UK seeks an entirely novel deal, with no clear international precedents.” Read on for some essential advice to help your studio win, and retain, a healthy balance of clients in the lead-up, and wake of, Brexit. Calm your clients’ nerves One possible side-effect of the ongoing uncertainty is that clients become jittery, and consequently risk-averse. “I’m already sensing a bit of nervousness in the client community,” admits Michael Johnson. “When clients are nervous, projects go on hold and confidence slips.” Three-quarters of SomeOne’s business is outside the UK. The agency witnessed a hiatus, but only a brief one: “Confidence was knocked,” admits Simon Manchipp. “Many clients held their breath and projects slowed, but they've realised that this is a lengthy process. Back to work.” Continue business as usual Other agencies have not witnessed any tangible effect so far, including The Partners, which landed European cultural channel Arte as a client a few weeks after the referendum (see the video above and picture below). According to UK creative director Stuart Radford, creative ambition from clients is as strong as it’s ever been. The Partners collaborated with Lambie-Nairn on Arte - the agencies will soon merge, along with three other WPP stablematesEU clients account for 55 per cent of GBH’s total business. Fortunately, it remains business as usual there, too: “They understand that we’re passionately pro-EU, and are determined to work across boundaries,” reflects Mark Bonner, who admits he spent the morning after the vote calling them to apologise. “They universally took the piss out of the UK’s decision, and continue to rib us constantly,” he chuckles. For Rose Design, those proportions are reversed and it has a more UK-centric business: 30 per cent of clients are in the EU, 15 per cent are global, 55 per cent are local. The studio has seen some budget cuts, some projects pulled, and other clients being reluctant to commit too far ahead. “Others are not as confident or brave in their commissioning as before,” reveals Simon Elliott. Despite these setbacks, he adds that Rose has observed an upsurge in EU client interest in the past year and predicts that the next 18 months could prove “quite fruitful” as a result. Consider serving clients locally Of course, if location does prove an issue for clients there may be the option to bring the team to them, setting up an overseas outpost or collaborating with local talent where applicable. As part of its 25-office network, Landor can boast outposts in Paris, Hamburg, Geneva and Milan. “We will consider opening more if and when any EU country looks like it could be a place to prosper,” says Peter Knapp. GBH set up a 'pop up' studio in Boston when working on its total overhaul of The Verb HotelOn a much smaller scale, GBH has been known to set up ‘pop up’ studios to cater to specific client projects, and did so in Boston in 2014 and 2017. “We wouldn’t hesitate to do this wherever needed, and with the growth of platforms like WeWork across the EU, it's easier than ever to operate in client cities with low overheads,” adds Bonner. “A UK hub office may continue to make sense, but it may not.” Play to your strengths One of the pro-Brexit campaign’s arguments is that breaking away from the EU – while likely sacrificing the benefits of the Single Market – could open up even more lucrative trade avenues with the rest of the world. Many of the agencies we spoke to enjoy a worldwide client base that to some extent transcends the Brexit issue. “We've become more attractive to a global audience,” agrees Manchipp. “Europe is a huge force, but China, India, America all have epic scale, and audiences that are appreciative of the transformative outcomes that smart commercial creativity can bring. As soon as we became more affordable, they pounced.” SomeOne's major rebrand of Eurostar back in 2011 had to appeal equally to customers in the UK, France and BelgiumStuart Radford emphasises the enduring reputation of the UK design scene as an attraction to clients. “I don’t see that changing as a result of Brexit,” he says, although he does predict a reduction in the total number of quality commissions for the best agencies to fight over. “UK designers are good at solving the most challenging of briefs, and often our creativity thrives from those more adverse parameters,” continues Radford. “If the economy is struggling, brands have to fight harder for their position in the market. "Creativity will be in demand, and it’s those businesses that have the foresight to invest in their brands that will not only weather any storm but thrive in it.” Next page: How Brexit may affect cashflow and profitability Recruitment issues can affect the creative output and operating model of a creative agency, while client acquisition and retention naturally have an impact on the longevity of the business, as well as its profitability. But Brexit may also have an effect on other aspects of your bottom line: from fluctuating exchange rates to operating costs, as well as client budgets that can be tied to much larger economic forces. Let's see what all of this could mean for creative businesses. Keep an eye on the market EU law expert Michael Dougan contests that the primary goal of Brexit negotiations is not to improve trading conditions with the EU, but rather to minimise the mutual loss of market access. And the outcome will have a knock-on effect on various industries, including design. “In less than two years’ time, the regulatory conditions for UK companies doing business across Europe, and vice versa, are set to become substantially less favourable than they are now,” Dougan explains. “That will actively create a vast array of barriers to trade. At best this will increase costs, and at worst it will seal off markets. Different sectors will obviously be impacted in different ways and to different degrees, but the overall effect is not in doubt.” Pay attention to fluctuating exchange rates One spin-off of working with overseas clients as a UK studio, of course, is payment in different currencies – which can be both a blessing and a curse, particularly given the effect of news such as Brexit on the financial markets. GBH has a long-running relationship with Paris-based designer Philippe Starck, and recently designed this range of perfumesAt GBH, 45 per cent of billings are in Euros, and a further 20 per cent are in other global currencies. “I expect overseas clients to move towards paying directly in GBP, if the value of the pound continues to fall,” suggests Mark Bonner. “For now, well-judged Forward Exchange contracts are our friends.” The 10 contract commandments every designer should knowRose bills less than five per cent in Euros, but US Dollars accounts for up to 20 per cent of its business. The studio experienced the effect of the erratic GBP-USD exchange rate first-hand on one large Stateside project this year, during which the dollar fluctuated from 1.35 to 1.16 against the pound over the course of the eight-month process. “We billed each stage on completion, so the rate of exchange was quite different at each payment,” recalls Elliott. “Despite anticipating – and allowing for – currency fluctuation within our initial cost estimates and agreed budgets, it was a bit of a rollercoaster and made us pay a lot more attention to foreign exchange rates than we ever thought we would.” Use a weak pound to your advantage A weak national currency can have upsides as well as downsides, most notably in that it makes UK businesses seem more affordable to overseas clients where the exchange rate is more favourable. “We’ll continue to be an attractive option for a while yet, to potential European clients wanting to buy the best of British design,” predicts Elliott. “Beyond that, it’s difficult to legislate for how tough the EU will choose to be, and how much red tape it will put in place, to make access to working with us less attractive for member countries.” "The best of British design" - Rose's clients include the V&A Museum“The depressed GBP value against the Euro and USD has made us more attractive to EU, US and Asian clients,” confirms Bonner. “We want our clients to continue to see us as terrific creative partners, and great ROI for their businesses. We have been selling Euros and USD in the Forex markets for more than 15 years, so often maximise this opportunity.” Johnson Banks has also witnessed the effect, and many of the studio’s recent clients have been Stateside. “A weakened pound does technically make us ‘cheaper’ to overseas clients in the short term,” Johnson concedes, “but I’m sorry to say that I think the UK will be financially, culturally and philosophically weaker for leaving the EU within five years.” Consider economies of scale Small businesses such as Johnson Banks certainly have fewer overheads, are less dependent on bringing in large contracts to keep staff in work, and are arguably less exposed to market forces that could buffet a larger business from all sides. “I think we will ride it out,” predicts Johnson. The Partners' stunning work for London Symphony Orchestra won Best of Show at this year's Brand Impact AwardsWPP has taken the opposite approach, with the recent announcement that The Partners, Brand Union, Lambie-Nairn, Addison Group and VBAT will all merge into a new 750-strong super-agency in 2018. “This is not as a result of Brexit, but in response to the changing needs of clients and the opportunity for growth and creative impact on a large scale,” explains Stuart Radford. “The new company will operate throughout 20 countries, so that, as a business, we will be less reliant on what’s happening within the UK – positioning us well to weather any potential downturn in the UK economy.” Next page: How to prepare for the future We conclude our design studio’s guide to Brexit with some general advice for weathering whatever may be on the horizon in the short, medium or long-term for your creative business. When it comes to a deal, EU law expert Michael Dougan is far from optimistic: “The chances of a new trade relationship being in place by 30 March 2019 were never better than zero,” he insists. “And thanks to the UK Government’s consistent mishandling of the negotiations, the chances of securing even a basic transitional deal are fast receding too.” “As Michel Barnier has warned again and again: the UK’s real transitional period began on 29 March 2017,” adds Dougan. “The time for everyone to make their preparations is now.” So what, as a creative business, can you actually do to prepare? Read on for five tips to help your studio thrive despite ongoing uncertainty… 01. Focus on creating great work For many, the key to navigating this quagmire of uncertainty is brutally simple: prove your creative prowess, and that your ability to attract clients is because of your work, not your country of origin. “Until things are clearer, the only insulation we believe in is great people doing great work,” shrugs Taxi’s Adam Ray. “It’s got us to where we are, and we trust it’ll drive our business forward over the coming years. Why? Because impactful, effective design is good for everyone.” “Like everyone else, we’ll fly the flag for the UK creative industry by working bloody hard to deliver a great product,” agrees Music’s Sue Strange. “We’ll network our socks off, and keep our fingers well and truly crossed.” 02. Seek out out the very best clients Ultimately, design is a service industry - driven by client demand. Don’t let Brexit dampen your ambitions for thinking globally and pitching high. “GBH continues to work well with EU clients, and we see no reason for that to decline, but rather every opportunity for that to thrive,” believes Mark Bonner. “Indeed, it’s possible that GBH could work entirely with overseas clients within five years,” he continues. “If we continue to find non-UK clients with open minds and wonderful projects, then we will go to the ends of the earth to work for them. If we can still find them at home, we would be doubly delighted.” 03. Be sure to hedge your bets SomeOne works across a huge range of client sectors, and Simon Manchipp warns against putting all your eggs in one basket as a studio. “It’s a great way of screwing up a business,” he argues. “We keep things broad. We are not overly reliant on any one sector: client or country. We have always done this, and it helps weather any storm as well as keeping things more interesting and fun.” “Stay lean. Stay agile. Work with a broad spectrum of projects across many disciplines, sectors and locations,” is Manchipp’s advice. Rose also boasts a significant proportion of overseas clients, and Simon Elliott advises following suit to keep the opportunities broad and avoid relying too heavily on domestic business, especially in sectors which could be hit harder by Brexit. Unlike SomeOne, however, Elliott doesn’t believe in diversifying Rose’s offer. “On the contrary, we are looking to tighten it up even more, so that international clients come to us specifically because they want what we specialise in,” he adds. 04. Have confidence in design’s resilience “Design is a barometer of the economy,” believes Manchipp. “We feel financial fluctuations first. We are the first to falter and the first to fly. It's design’s ingenuity that gets it in the room quickly, and enables it to recover rapidly.” Sue Strange agrees that the design industry is by nature a positive force on the economy, and can help address the bigger issues at hand for the country if given the investment it needs. “Creative and tech industries have a huge part to play in bolstering towns and cities decimated by austerity in the UK,” she believes. “Some might say this decimation played a sizeable role in the Leave vote.” “The government needs to pull its finger out, invest in education in our sector, and future-proof the UK talent pool for generations to come,” she adds. “Better off out? No. But with smart and sustained investment in our future talent, we’ve got a fighting chance of not going backwards.” 05. Help shape the future of UK design Until negotiations conclude, no-one knows what Brexit will bring. All of the agencies we spoke to are optimistic that they can survive and thrive in whatever climate they are left with, but they universally condemn the Brexit decision, which Simon Manchipp derides as a “dumb move”. “I can see no benefit to what amounts to shooting oneself economically in the foot for dubious ‘sovereignty’ and ‘immigration’ reasons,” agrees Michael Johnson, and while Mark Bonner can see some immediate benefits, he cautions against navel-gazing as an industry. “I think the biggest danger is that the UK creative industry forgets to market is tremendous qualities to its EU, US and Asian neighbours, and becomes an insular service industry working within its own borders,” he says. “But given its global reputation, and the intellect of its people, I cannot see such a lack of vision being likely.” “I don’t think Brexit will affect our global standing as design leaders,” agrees Simon Elliott. “On the contrary, if working in Europe becomes more difficult for successful UK-based design companies, we’ll look further afield. It won’t change the quality of what we do, it’s only likely to affect the geography and demographic who buy it.” Related articles: How to get a career in graphic design: 11 pro tips Should British designers work abroad post Brexit? 10 inspirational design cities View the full article

There has always been a healthy market for commercial books written by experts, and this isn't likely to change any time soon: sometimes there's just no substitute for splashing your cash and getting high quality content in return. That said, there's a growing movement towards free and freemium content on the web, and the quality of the content is often on a par with the books you'd part with cash for. 5 must-read books for design studentsObviously nobody can afford to print and distribute free physical books (with the exception of the excellent World Book Night movement), but in this age of tablets, smartphones and laptops the electronic book offers a fantastic, and very cheap, way to spread this content. So, with all that in mind, what content can you get for free in the field of design? A quick search on your favourite search engine will reveal hundreds of offerings, making it difficult to sift the wheat from the chaff. But we've saved you the trouble, so here goes... 01. The Shape of Design Frank Chimero's book will inspire you to look at what you do in a whole new lightStarting life as a talk in 2010, Frank Chimero's self-published The Shape of Design was an early design community Kickstarter success, getting funded on its first day, and has since become essential foundational reading, not just in design education but in other creative practices, too. Focusing on the mindset of making rather than tools and methods, it asks: what are the opportunities, problems and possibilities of the creative practice? And once the work is done, what happens when it is released into the world? 02. The DesignBetter.co library These three books cover product design, design thinking and design leadershipWhy settle for just one free ebook when you can have three? The DesignBetter.co library from InVision aims to help you build a strong design practice. This collection of definitive books, written by Aarron Walter and Eli Woolery, explores how the best companies approach product design, design thinking, design leadership and more. 03. Practical Responsive Typography Nail your web typography with this free in-depth volumeGetting your typography right is a key part of having a great-looking website that helps you stand out from the crowd, communicate with clarity, and cultivate a distinctive identity. The best way to learn is to roll up your sleeves and just get on with it, and this book by Dario Calonaci enables you to do just that. Practical Responsive Typography will take you from the basics of scaling and optimising screen spaces, through to using a range of different web fonts and customising typography designs to suit your identity, and while it'll normally cost you over £20, it's free for Creative Bloq readers. 04. Brand House Book The Brand House Book breaks branding down into six manageable stagesIf you're having problems getting to grips with the world of branding, this free ebook by Roger Lindeback can help you out by taking away all the jargon and relating it to everyday experience. In the Brand House Book, Lindeback aims to make branding tangible by comparing it to building a house, breaking it down into six manageable stages – dreaming, planning, starting work, designing, building and finally getting the details right – with a branding summary at the end of each stage, setting out all the important issues to think through in your brand building process. 05. The Practical Interaction Design Bundle Get three helpings of interaction design advice for the price of noneNot one but three free ebooks in one handy bundle, The Practical Interaction Design Bundle consists of three free volumes from UXPin, comprising over 250 pages of design best practices and with over 60 examples of the best UX design. Volumes 1 and 2 of Interaction Design Best Practices will take you through techniques, theories and best practices relating to the tangibles of interaction design - words, visuals and space - while volume 2 tackles the intangibles: time, responsiveness and behaviour. Topping off the bundle is Consistency in UI Design, covering how and when to maintain consistency in your design, and when to break it to draw attention to elements without suffering the drawbacks. 06. An Introduction to Adobe Photoshop What's a Photoshop? This book will tell youIf you're after a beginner-friendly guide to getting started with Photoshop, this free ebook by Steve Bark will explain the fundamentals for you, from panels and tools to layers and basic printing. If it's just a little too basic for you, never fear; there's also an intermediate guide available that covers more advanced subjects such as vector tools, smart objects and clipping masks. 07. The Building Blocks of Visual Hierarchy Learn to create accessible, intuitive layoutsIf you're designing for the web and want your layouts and interfaces to be accessible and visually intuitive, this free ebook from UXPin is an invaluable resource. It explains how size, colours, space, layout, and style affect visual understanding, provides tips for designing clear visual hierarchies, and includes 18 examples of great sites including MailChimp and RelateIQ. 08. The Freelancer's Bible From marketing to tax, plan out your freelance career with this bookWhether you're already freelance or thinking of making the jump, this ebook from Route One Print is full of useful freelance advice, with tips on how to market your business, find your USP, licence your work, manage client relationships, complete tax returns and much more. 09. Flat Design & Colors Love flat design but don't know where to start? Download this freebieThe free ebook Flat Design & Colors by UXPin dives deep into the most powerful techniques for creating highly usable yet visually interesting web designs. The design team compiled advice from experts and illustrated their points using examples from 40 companies such as Google, Squarespace, and others. 10. The Future of Product Design Learn the ins-and-outs of product design with this immersive ebookIn this report, Jonathan Follett from Invo examines from a designer's perspective the ways emerging technologies are affecting the product lifecycle, and explores various options for companies looking at new ways of approaching product design and development. Even if you're not specifically in the business of product design, this freebie is an eye-opener. 11. Everything There is to Know About Logo Design This handbook to logo design gives you a quick and thorough introductionWhether you're new to logo design or just want to swat up on some tips and tricks, the Everything There is to Know About Logo Design ebook is a great little guide to get you going. In this 25-page guide, you’ll learn the basics of what a logo is, rules for creating a logo and other things to consider, such as colours and typography. 12. Design's Iron Fist This free ebook will help you get the best out of yourselfJarrod Drysdale is a designer writer who focuses his articles on getting the best out of your work. This is a sort of continuation of his previous book Bootstrapping Design (now discontinued), in which he collects all of his previous essays into one, free ebook. Topics such as 'Think like a designer' and 'Get out of a creative rut' are just some of the titles on offer in this selection. 13. Pixel Perfect Precision Handbook The Pixel Perfect Precision ebook has had an important updateThe Pixel Perfect Precision (PPP) Handbook from leading digital design agency ustwo has come a long way since it was first released. What started as a 108-page simple guide to best practice with pixels and Photoshop has grown into handbook number 3 - a whopping 214-page designer bible. 14. The Creative Aid Handbook The Creative Aid book aims to be a mini resource for your creative projectsCreated by Kooroo Kooroo, The Creative Aid is a free book jam packed full of inspiration and available to download today. Co-founders Nicole Smith and Richard Tapp explain the concept: "It's a mini resource for your creative projects and food for your creative thoughts. We’ve included our own valuable references and resources we know and trust as a means to help you get your projects done. "We want to give you the creative push from a direction you may not have thought of, be it informative, inspirational, or simply entertaining." 15. The Vignelli Canon Learn from one of the greats of design, Massimo VignelliIconic designer Massimo Vignelli didn't just like to create good design: he was also passionate about sharing its principles, rules and criteria so others could do the same. His landmark book The Vignelli Canon uses numerous examples to convey applications in practice from product design via signaletics and graphic design to corporate design. And best of all, in 2009 he made it available for free as a PDF. 16. Type Classification eBook Grasp the fundamentals of type selectionThis excellent 27-page ebook details the 10 key classifications for typography, providing the basic understanding you'll need to gain a grasp of the fundamentals of type selection. The book covers a brief history for each of the classifications, as well as the core characteristics of the style. 17. Creative Suite Printing Guide Wave goodbye to bad printing by following this guideThis handy book from Adobe provides all the information you'll need to get the best-quality results possible when printing from Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat. Over the course of 149 pages the different tools and options within each package are broken down, illustrating how to produce files for print that will provide accurate colour reproduction, pixel-perfect transparency matting and sharp lines. 18. Breaking the Time Barrier Time is money, and this helpful tome won't take up too much of itThis ebook tells a parable, using a semi-fictional scenario to illustrate the importance of pricing your work at the right level. The book itself will take an hour or two to read, and really focuses only one core message, but it's a valuable lesson for designers starting out in business for themselves. 19. Graphic Design for Non-profit Organizations Graphic Design for Non-profit OrganisationsThe book focuses mainly on design and best prac­tices for non-profit orga­ni­za­tions, but the con­tent is a great resource in gen­eral and the teach­ings can be applied pretty much any­where. 20. The Design Funnel Learn to turn client input into something that's actually usefulAnother manifesto from the ChangeThis.com website, this offering from author Stephen Hay provides a methodology for converting client input (which may often be extremely vague!) into a meaningful design approach. As with Hugh MacLeod's book, this free PDF offers a personal insight into the process, demonstrating its value. Related articles: 3 design books we’d like to read this September How to design a book in InDesign 9 indie mags you should read View the full article

You're reading Free iPhone X Mockups (PSD, Sketch, AI, Adobe XD), originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! The web is teeming with highly realistic iPhone X mockups with outstanding quality. We’ve handpicked some of the best in this roundup that includes 15 freebies that are ideal for app exhibitions, to make presentations in different styles (realistic or sketchy) and in different programs (Photoshop, Sketch, Illustrator, PowerPoint, and Keynote). For multiple generations, devices […] View the full article

Over the years at Dalton Maag we have modified and developed brand fonts for many organisations, big and small, playing a key role in helping them to craft their unique band identity. This has led us to create a clearly defined and collaborative process for developing fonts from scratch. It is broadly divided into five key stages: research, ideation, design concept, concept refinement, and execution. We always start by identifying and mapping our clients' needs by discussing emotional expression, technical, linguistic and logistical requirements in a workshop. The findings are compared to timing and budget constraints, and an informed decision can be made to advise the client on a font solution that will match their needs exactly and serve them for many years. Top typography tutorialsResearch informs the different design directions that we will submit in a first round of ideations, each of which will be critically discussed with the client and slimmed down to preferred concepts. Depending on the linguistic requirements, we'll produce concepts for key characters of other writing systems. From a design point of view, this helps us identify which Latin design features can be carried over, and conversely, design features from other writing systems may influence details in our alphabet. Detailed annotations focus on the fine, expressive details of each letterformAt the concept refinement stage we'll increase the character set to include a wider range of glyphs and enable dummy copy setting, explore the most suitable font weights for the brand's needs, and conduct testing of our design assumptions against technical and production requirements. Depending on the size of the project, such as number of font styles or writing systems, many parts of the design process happen in parallel. Although the client may need certain font styles to be delivered first, this approach ensures that key parts of the project are concluded at the same time. Once a decision is made on the final design concept, and refinements have been applied, we will begin with the execution, designing and engineering all necessary fonts in the family, including relevant OpenType features such as ligatures, pre-composed words, sets of proportional and tabular numerals, and accented characters to support European languages and beyond. Fonts are then optimised for digital environments and once ready, are then delivered to the client with a full transfer of IP, allowing them full flexibility. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 267. Buy it here. Related articles: How to make your own font: 18 top tips 20 perfect font pairings 5 steps to building a lasting brand identity View the full article

At the Reasons To: creative festival in Brighton, UK, this month, traditional artists were out in force. Hattie Newman, who specialises in paper art, muralist and hand-letterer Vic Lee, professional doodler Jon Burgerman, quilling queen Yulia Brodskaya, and illustrator and maker Chrissie Macdonald all took to the stage to share their expertise for creating handmade projects. Here are the golden rules that we learned from these experts of handmade. 01. Bite off more than you can chew Vic Lee took on a project for The Famous Grouse despite a painfully short turnaround timePaper artist Yulia Brodskaya's whole career can be traced back to one slightly rash decision. She'd just started experimenting with quilling and sent out some basic designs to people she wanted to work with when Richard Turley, then at G2 magazine, got back in touch asking her to create a cover. Until that point, she hadn't taken on any client projects and neither had she timed her personal quilling experiments. They had four and a half days before the magazine went to print. "I kind of jumped into the water without really testing the temperature," Brodskaya smiles. It paid off: the cover raised her profile so much that she hasn't really had to pitch for work since. Muralist and illustrator Vic Lee has a similar story, from a job designing a limited-edition packaging and bottle illustration for The Famous Grouse. Despite a painfully short turnaround time, he remembers it as one of his favourite projects. He suggests not being put off by timescales: "If someone asks you to do something, unless you really, really, can't do it, I'd urge anyone to say yes," he says. (Although we have to add that there are sometimes good reasons to say no). 02. Brief your clients properly Paper designs like those Yulia Brodskaya makes can't be edited like a digital piece canIf your client doesn't work with handmade artists often, they may not realise the difference that physical mediums can make to the project workflow. During one memorable project for the French transport service, Brodskaya spent days creating a quilled paper design of a typographic slogan surrounded by colourful paper paint. When she was finished, the client decided to change the wording. Now Brodskaya makes sure that she emphasises that all edits and tweaks must be made at sketching stage, as one the paper's stuck down, it can't come back up again. To keep everyone happy, it helps to ensure that the client has the best possible idea of what the finished product will look like. For example, Brodskaya sends over examples of previous work so that they can see how a sketch might compare to the final thing. Multimedia maker Chrissie Macdonald has a different approach: "I've discovered that doing quite rough roughs is a good idea because it leaves a bit of ambiguity as to what you can do," she smiles. 03. Let your mind wander Chrissie Macdonald's characters for Orange were the result of playing about with different objects in the studio "Exercise for the brain is just as important as physical exercise," asserts doodle artist Jon Burgerman. Doodling doesn't have to just be about filling a space or keeping your hands busy during a boring phone call, it can be about channeling your thought process. Burgerman suggests trying to think and make at the same time (although he emphasises that the thinking part is important: it's not just randomly doing things). Macdonald took a similar approach in her high-profile project for Orange. She'd never done character design before, but rather than painstakingly sketching out her ideas, she sat down with her assistants on-set and played about with a collection of different objects – a shuttlecock, tennis ball, light bulb – to see what worked and what didn't. 04. Beware of risk assessments Vic Lee's giant hand-painted murals tend to raise some health and safety issuesThink paper and paint are relatively safe? You're wrong. Making physical stuff introduces a whole plethora of dangers that those designers sat safely behind their Macs can barely comprehend – and with them, a fair share of health and safety red tape. "I was a 60s kid. You basically knew what was safe to stand on and what wasn't. Now you can't get on a box without a certificate," Lee sighs. He tells a story of one wall mural project for a company that made him bring his own stepladder with him, to pass health and safety regulations. The company was unconcerned that he had to carry it with him on his bike as he cycled to the job, though. Jokes aside, both paper artist Hattie Newman and Macdonald bemoan back backs and poor posture from spending days hunched over their paper models. So perhaps there's something to be said for taking up yoga or similar healthy hobbies to make sure you don't end up crippled by your work. 05. Embrace basic tools Jon Burgerman warns against getting too tied up in complex toolsAnalogue creations can be hugely complex, but they don't have to be. Several creatives say that being limited in your tools can be a good thing, because they mean you can work anywhere. Macdonald also points out that if you're working with paper, you can work on into the night to get a job done, because you don't need to rely on anyone else or any specialist tools being available. "Allow your imagination to be the raw material," echoes Burgerman. 06. Get assistants (so you can sleep) Hattie Newman ropes in assistants to tackle the hundreds of windows in her cityscapes While it can be difficult to let go, handmade projects can be incredibly time-consuming, so if the budget allows then it's worth outsourcing any simple, repetitive tasks. Newman has learned, for example, to get assistants in to make the straightforward window frames of her 3D paper cityscapes. Macdonald echoes the sentiment: "I realised I could get some sleep if I got in an assistant to do some cutting out," she smiles. 07. Enlist a proper photographer The right lighting can make all the difference, says Chrissie Macdonald There's one thing that all the creatives – especially those working in 3D – agreed on: that it's worth getting in a professional photographer to capture your work. Practically, not everyone's going to see your work in situ (and some of it might be headed for the recycling bin as soon as the promotion is over), so it's worth taking time to make sure you have good shots for your portfolio. Brodskaya also points out that with 3D work, you can photograph it in different ways, with different lighting, to create totally different effects. Macdonald regularly collaborates with photographer John Short to get the best from her designs. "As much as I can have an idea of what I want to create, the shifting of a light or the movement of an object can make a big difference," she says. In the project shown above, Macdonald's original plan was to make the shadows out of paper, too. In practice, it didn't work, but the photographer was able to capture the effect she was after just by using the right lighting. 08. Let people see behind the scenes With social media, there is an opportunity to share behind the scenes insights much more easily than before. And these days, everyone's fascinated by a making-of film, photo or story. If the client doesn't have the budget to commission something properly, a simple time-lapse video can be a really effective way of showing how a piece came together. And it serves to emphasise that it's a real, handmade thing; no digital trickery here. Read more: 21 incredibly cool design office murals Inside Etsy's handmade workspace 10 top traditional art tools for September View the full article

Web developers are the skilled professionals who build and maintain the apps and services that people count on every day. If you want to be one of the people who help keep the digital world turning then you need to check out the Full Stack Web Development Bundle. You can get it now for a price you pick. The Full Stack Web Development Bundle is the perfect starting point for any aspiring web developer. This impressive collection of courses is one that you won’t want to miss and is guaranteed to fit your budget, thanks to this deal where you can pick the price. You'll learn how to work with the most important languages in web development, including frontend development standards such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery. There are eight courses in this bundle with over 122 hours of content that will get you up to speed in no time. The eight courses are: The Full Stack Web Development Course (Handle Every Facet of An App's Development) Projects In ReactJS: The Complete React Learning Course Projects in JavaScript & JQuery ReactJS and Flux: Learn By Building 10 Projects Projects in MongoDB: Learn MongoDB Building 10 Projects Projects Using PHP Frameworks Learn NodeJS by Building 10 Projects Projects in HTML5 You can get the Full Stack Web Development Bundle on sale right now for a price you pick. Beat the average to unlock all the courses, get on the leaderboard, or just pay what you want. You can't go wrong, so grab it today. Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. View the full article

As web designers, one of the most important choices we make has to do with our colour selections. Choose the wrong ones, and you might just lose out on an opportunity. It's true – the colours we choose can have a psychological impact on those who view them. For example, red is generally viewed as a high-energy colour, while blue implies calmness and peace. To illustrate this point, consider the colours you might use on a website selling children's toys versus a site for a law firm. Chances are, you'll go with bright, vibrant colours for the former, and muted tones of blue and grey for the latter. But how do you know which colours work well together? Luckily, you don't have to be a master at colour theory to put together a workable colour palette. To help you with the important task of colour selection, here are some of the best free colour tools on the web (plus one special bonus at the end for Mac users). 01. Adobe Color CC This has been around a while, but is still incredibly usefulFree tool Adobe Color CC has been around for a while, and it's one of the best colour tools out there for picking a colour palette. Not only can you create your own colour schemes, but you can also explore what others have created. Select a colour from the wheel or from an image and apply colour rules such as only using complementary colours, monochromatic colours or shades of the colour you select, to generate a colour palette. Or, click on each colour and explore the colour wheel to customise the selection. As an added bonus, you can save the themes you create to your Adobe library. 02. Colordot Use simple mouse gestures to build up your colour paletteColordot by Hailpixel is an excellent free online tool for creating a colour palette. Using simple mouse gestures, you can select and save colours. Move your mouse back and forth for hue; up and down for lightness; scroll for saturation and click to save a colour to your palette. Click the tog icon to see each colours RGB and HSL values. It also has a $0.99/£0.99 iOS app that allows you to capture colours with your camera. 03. 147 Colors This free tool runs down the standard CSS coloursWhen you're responsible for generating easy-to-read CSS, sometimes using standard colours and colour names is the way to go. Thanks to 147 Colors by Brian Maier Jr, you can get a glimpse of all of them, and pick the ones that work for you. It contains the 17 standard colours, plus 130 other CSS colour names. Filter the results by shades of blue, green and so on, or choose from the full rainbow of 147 colours. 04. Color Palette Generator This colour tools from Canva is useful for creating a colour palette based on an imageThe Color Palette Generator by Canva is perfect if you're looking to create a colour palette from an image. With this tool, you can upload an image and the generator will return a palette of the five main colours contained in it. You can click on the colours you like and copy the HEX value to your clipboard. 05. Material Design Palette Create a palette based on Google's Material Design principlesWith the Material Design Palette you can select two colours, which are then converted into a full colour palette for you to download, complete with a preview. The company also offers Material Design Colors, which enables designers to see the different shades of a colour, along with their corresponding HEX values. 06. ColourCode Save and export colour palettes as SCSS, LESS or PNG filesColourCode by Tamino Martinius and Andreas Storm is similar to Colordot, but it offers a bit more guidance. With ColourCode, you can set different options along the colour wheel to create a different combination. You can also save your palette or export it as a SCSS or LESS file. You can even export to PNG, if you'd like. 07. Color Calculator Select a colour and a colour harmony, and this tool will generate a colour paletteThe Color Calculator is straightforward: you select a colour and a colour harmony option. In return, you get back the results of your recommended colour scheme. What's nice about this site, however, is that it also goes into a little bit of detail about colour theory and how it relates to your colour choices. 08. HTML Color Code This suite of tools includes a list of standard colour namesThis bulging free suite of tools by Dixon & Moe includes an in-depth colour picker with plenty of explanations of colour rules; a series of colour charts featuring flat design colours, Google's Material design scheme and the classic web safe colour palette; and a list of standard HTML colour names and codes. This site also offers tutorials and other resources for web designers, and options to export results from its tools as HEX codes, HTML, CSS and SCSS styles. 09. W3Schools: Colors Tutorial This free tutorial includes links to a number of handy colour toolsIf you're looking for an all-in-one solution that includes a guide to colours, as well as a number of different tools, then the Colors Tutorial at W3Schools is the perfect choice. Not only can you learn about colour theory, colour wheels, and colour hues, but you'll also be able to use the other tools it has, such as the Color Converter. With this tool, you're able to convert any colour to-and-from names, HEX codes, RGB, HSL, HWB and CMYK values. 10. Digital Color Meter (Mac) Mac's built-in tool lets you grab colours from your screenOK, Mac users... this one's for you. With your machine's built-in Digital Color Meter tool, you can 'grab' a colour from anywhere on your screen, then get the values for that colour as a decimal, hexadecimal, or percentage. Plus, you can even 'copy' the selected colour as a text or image. Read more: If celebrities were Pantone colours The world’s favourite colour revealed 7 tips to manage colour better on the web View the full article

Getting into motion design with After Effects can be quite intimidating, but there are a lot of similarities between Adobe's motion graphics, animation and video editing tool and Photoshop. After Effects is a complex, huge application – just like Photoshop. But there are plenty of After Effects tutorials around to help get you started, so with a little time and patience, you can master the basics. A seasoned Photoshop user should be able to get up and running with After Effects within a weekend, if not a day. Get Creative Cloud After Effects presents the features you need to create stunning moving images and motion graphics; it's up to you to provide the ideas and software solutions to make them happen. Just like in Photoshop, a little experimentation goes a long way. 01. The Timeline Click the arrows icon (top-right) to enlarge the image Probably the most unfamiliar thing about After Effects will be its timeline. After all, you're now dealing with moving, not static, imagery. If you've played around with Photoshop's Timeline (perhaps when making an animated GIF) you're already on the right track. Take a look at the After Effects timeline in the screenshot above: you'll notice there are layers just like Photoshop (this is explored in more detail below) along with details of the properties of that layer. Next to each property is a stopwatch icon. This enables you to set keyframes that determine such properties as position, opacity, scale and so on – meaning you can animate these over time. Auto-keyframe You can also set the timeline to auto-keyframe (the stopwatch icon second from the right, circled in the screenshot). This means when you move a layer, mask and so on in the Composition window, your keyframe will be recorded at that time. It's handy for tweaking movement. So, with that in mind, import an image (JPEG, PNG or whatever) drop down the arrow next to the image name in the timeline, hit the stopwatch icon next to Position, drag the timeline marker to 01:00s and then move the image in the composition window. Play back to see how it moves and experiment with different properties in the same way. Bringing keyframes closer to one another will speed up the animation. 02. Layers Think of Adobe After Effects' timeline as equivalent to Photoshop layers A common feature across Photoshop and After Effects are layers. But in After Effects they work in a different way: there's no Layers panel, so layers are dealt with on the timeline. Layers in After Effects can be animated independently, and you can animate properties such as position, scale, rotation and opacity by using the drop-down arrow next to the layer name on the timeline. When importing a multilayered PSD file, you are asked whether you want to merge layers or select an individual layer – choosing to keep or ignore layer effects (you can add the equivalent of these in After Effects and animate them independently). In short, you can think of the timeline as your Layers panel in which you build up an animation or motion piece, just as you would a still in Photoshop. 03. Adjustment Layers Adjustment Layers are probably something you're very familiar with in Photoshop – and in the image-editing app they work in a relatively formulaic way. You choose to add a new Adjustment Layer, then choose the type (Photoshop has preset options such as Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, different filters and so on) and adjust your opacity or create a mask as appropriate. In After Effects, Adjustment Layers do the same thing but are much more flexible. By going to 'Layer > New > Adjustment Layer' you set up a blank layer that you can then apply any effect to (by dragging the effect from the Effects and Presets panel directly onto the Adjustment Layer name in the Timeline). The Adjustment Layer affects – like Photoshop – the layers beneath it in the stack. Just like Photoshop, you can use After Effects' masking tools to only reveal part of the adjustment layer (ctrl+Right-click on the Layer and choose 'Mask > New Mask' before drawing a freeform or set shape). Then you can animate either the adjustment layer, the mask (including feathering, opacity and shape) or both, by using the arrow drop-down to the left of the layer or mask name. 04. Filters and effects You can mask and apply filters in After Effects, too After Effects has a myriad of effects and filters for things like creating special effects, tweaking footage or correcting colours. Just like Photoshop, you apply your effect to a layer or group of layers, but unlike Photoshop, you use a mask to hide or show the effect rather than applying it to a selection in the first place. There are two ways of quickly applying an effect to a layer. You can either drag it from the Effects & Presets panel directly to the layer in the composition window (a bounding box will appear showing you which layer it will be applied to); or, if you have many layers, you can simply drag it from the Effects & Presets panel onto the layer name. Its properties can then be animated over time in the normal way. You can apply multiple effects to a layer, and the result will be determined by how the effects are layered in the stack. 05. Masks Masks in After Effects work in a similar way to Photoshop or any image-editing application, in that they show or hide what's on the layer they are attached to. Like Photoshop, you can set up multiple masks on an After Effects layer. And of course you can animate the properties. As explained in tip 03, you add a mask by either selecting the Layer and going to 'Layer > Mask > New Mask' or ctrl+Right-clicking on the layer in the timeline and selecting the same option. Masks are drawn either using the Shape tools or the Pen tool found in the main tools panel. You can also paint masks by selecting the Brush tool, going to the Paint panel and chaining the channel drop-down to Alpha. Then, in the timeline, double-click the layer you want to be transparent. Next, paint black for transparent and white for opaque – the same as you would do when creating a layer mask in Photoshop. 06. Rotoscoping Another option for masking is the Rotobrush tool (CS5 or later, found in the main tools panel), which acts very much like Photoshop's quick selection, enabling you to isolate a moving object over time with relative ease (although you will need to clean up points). To use this, first select the tool from the main Tools panel, then double-click the layer in the timeline you wish to work on and begin to paint over the object you want to cut out. You can change the brush size by ctrl or cmd-dragging on the canvas (rather than using the [ and ] keys as you would in Photoshop). There are many other masking options in After Effects, but these are the basics. Masks and selections are indeed a little more complex than in Photoshop, but adhere to the same basic principles. 07. Rendering Rendering is an extra step you'll need to take in After Effects Unlike Photoshop (unless you're creating a movie or 3D file) when you've completed a sequence in After Effects you'll need to render it. This essentially means taking all the objects and footage you've animated and putting it together as one file (or a sequence of files). After Effects has a RAM preview, which allocates RAM to play video and audio in the Timeline, Layer or Footage panel at real-time speed. You can, for the most part, just use Spacebar to preview your project at any time – but this depends on the speed of your Mac or PC. To Render, you need to set up the composition in the Render Queue. This is tabbed by default with the Timeline. Go to 'Composition > Add to Render Queue', then click on Best Settings next to Render Settings to choose a size and the quality (this is using the Render settings at its most basic). Hit OK and then click Lossless next to Output Module, choosing a format. When you're done, click on the name of your composition next to Output To to specify a save location. Related articles: Brilliant Photoshop tutorials How to prepare Illustrator graphics for After Effects Best laptops for video editing View the full article

It would have seemed unbelievable even a decade ago. But nowadays, filming high-definition, broadcast-quality video is in the reach of anyone with a modern smartphone. And when it comes to editing, you don’t even need a powerful desktop computer running video editing software like Final Cut Pro. (That said, if you do want to upgrade then take a look at our round up of the best laptops for video editing.) There are a number of mobile apps on the market that can do some pretty impressive stuff when it comes to editing your video footage. Here we bring you six of our favourite mobile apps. 01. iMovie Apple’s own video editing app is surprisingly capableiMovie is Apple’s very own video editing app, and it’s come free with new i-devices for a while now. But if you’ve used it in the past and found it wanting, do take a second look because recently it’s been beefed up, most significantly adding 4K support for the iPhone 6s and iPad Pro. More generally, iMovie offers a clean, intuitive interface that lets you edit footage easily, as well as adding titles, music, voiceovers and photos. It also offers 10 video filters, eight TV-style themes with matching titles, transitions and music, and even 14 templates for Hollywood-style trailers, with graphics and original scores. 02. Pinnacle Studio Pro Pinnacle Studio Pro serves an audience somewhere between hobbyist and proWhile iMovie is mainly aimed at home use, Corel’s app for iPhone and iPad, Pinnacle Studio Pro, offers a step up in terms of features. Costing $12.99/£12.99, its interface may be similar to iMovie’s, but on the whole it’s closer to a professional grade tool; in their words, “easy enough for the hobbyist, powerful enough for the pro”. As well as video filmed on your phone, Pinnacle Studio Pro lets you import footage from Box, Vimeo, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. To enhance it, you can add slow- and fast-motion effects for video and audio, and maintain audio pitch, with support for 120 and 240fps slo-mo video files. The app also offers templates to create multi-layer 3D animations, transitions, and titles, as well as 16 types of transitions, including dissolves and fades. Plus you can generate professional-looking motion titles and graphics with control over text, font, colour, size, position, and rotation. 03. Power Director Free app PowerDirector is a solid choice for Android usersSo what about Android devices? Cyberlink’s PowerDirector is a good bet, being quite similar to iMovie. And as it’s free, it’s certainly worth a try. The app’s easy-to-use interface lets you arrange and edit your scenes on a timeline, as well as add titles and transitions. There’s also a good selection of effects, the ability to add background music and voiceovers, a photo collage maker, and support for slow motion. The downside of the free version is that you’ll have watermarks added to your videos, but a one-off $5 in-app purchase will remove these, as well as letting you export at 1080p rather than 720p. 04. KineMaster Pro KineMaster Pro offers a rich selection of features for Android usersKineMaster is probably the most pro-level video editing app we’ve seen for Android. Supporting multiple layers of video (on supported Android devices), images and text, as well as multi-track audio, the app enables you to trim video clips and layers precisely at frame-by-frame granularity, while audio clip timing can be adjusted with sub-frame accuracy. KineMaster also offers instant edit previews, precise volume envelope control, colour LUT filters, speed controls, chroma key compositing and 3D transitions. Like Power Director, it’s free to download, and given that it’s more powerful and feature-rich, might seem like the obvious choice between the two. But note that with this app, removing the watermarks means subscribing to a premium account at $5 a month, rather than just a one-off purchase. 05. Splice From the makers of GoPro, this iOS app is completely free with no hidden chargesThe main draw for iPhone and iPad video editing app Splice is that it’s free, with no ads or watermarks. From the makers of the GoPro, Splice is aimed at people editing footage from that action camera, but it began life as an all-purpose video editing app and continues to serve that role well, whether the footage comes direct from your iDevice or elsewhere. On the whole then, Splice is pretty similar to iMovie, letting you import, trim and arrange video clips, and add transitions, text overlays, filters, titles and "documentary-style effects". Plus you can change the speed of your clips, which has obvious appeal to the GoPro user. Splice also lets you lay down multiple audio tracks, offering you the use of free songs and sound effects, as well as syncing with your iTunes library. It’s iOS-only for now, but GoPro also offers a free (though more basic) video editing app for Android users in the form of Quik. 06. Adobe Premiere Clip Premier Clip is a lightweight but useful video editor, particularly if you’re a CC subscriberBoth iOS and Android users can download Adobe’s video editing app Premiere Clip for free... but don’t be misled. While it may bear a similar name to the company’s Premiere Pro CC (one of the most powerful desktop editors around), Premiere Clip is a fairly simple and lightweight app for stitching together photos and video clips on mobile. Still, it does offer a straightforward interface that lets you drag and drop your media in a timeline interface quickly and easily, as well as adding transitions and music. And it does have one unique feature, in that you can import custom special effects from other Adobe CC tools. Plus, as you’d expect, it’s easy to export your finished videos to the Creative Cloud when you’re done. View the full article

You're reading Are You a Creative? Uncode will Help you Create Stunning Websites, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Are you a busy creative person? if the answer is positive, you should understand the meaning of the adage – “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” Try as you might, you never seem able to find the time to showcase your own work. Showcasing your work solidifies your professional standing. You’ll go from being busy […] View the full article

Hosting specialist Fasthosts has introduced a new service that promises to free its users up from dealing with server admin. CloudNX is an ideal platform for all virtualised services, and comes with a number of managed options that mean users without server admin experience – or those who simply would rather focus their energies on something more creative – can hand over tedious server administration tasks to Fasthosts to deal with. There are three different options, depending on the level of control you want to maintain. Read on to find out how each one works. 01. Root Servers Root Servers are typically unmanaged, which means you need to install a complete set of software before you can put your virtual machine to work on the task at hand. Fasthosts provides the Linux or Windows operating system, plus a cPanel or Plesk control panel if needed, and the rest is up to you. This solution is perfect if you want to build a highly customised hosting environment. However, if you're not comfortable with the technical requirements of server management, it might not be the best choice for you. 02. Managed Stacks Managed Stacks are custom software bundles that include everything a web project needs to run on the CloudNX platform. To start coding, simply select your preferred database, web server and scripting language, and Fasthosts will take care of the operating system, software updates and security. The managed part of this option refers to everything Fasthosts does behind the scenes. Managed Stacks enable you to launch your software stack on a powerful, dedicated platform, without the stress of dealing with the admin that usually comes with it. 03. CloudNX applications CloudNX applications are designed for customers looking for the benefits of Managed Stacks, but with the simplicity of content management within a single app. Rather than messing around with code, you just need to focus on providing the content for your site. Popular CMS applications including WordPress, Drupal and Joomla can be pre-installed on the platform on an optimised software stack. You just need to ensure your chosen app is updated regularly (or that automatic updates are configured) and Fasthosts will manage the rest of the stack for you. CloudNX Applications are ideal for anyone who wants a specific CMS on a managed underlying platform, with dedicated performance and no shared resources. The next generation of cloud platforms CloudNX offers a tailored environment for your scripting language or app of choice without you having to worry about the overhead of maintaining that environment. Take a look at the Fasthosts website to find out more about the different management options. View the full article

Manga is a comic art style originally developed in the late 19th century. Although it started in Japan, it has become popular around the world. We've rounded up some of the best up-and-coming manga artists from around the globe who are all taking the traditional style and putting their own spin on it. Scroll down to take a look at their work and find out about their inspirations. Impressively, many of these artists are self-taught. So if you're inspired to have a go yourself, take a look at our guides to how to draw manga by hand, how to colour manga art, or how to put together a manga comic strip. 01. Mina Petrovic Petrovic's reimagining of the White Queen and Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland Serbia-born Petrovic works under the studio name Mistiqarts. A manga enthusiast, she runs a manga school, shares tutorials on her popular YouTube channel, and has published a book on the subject: Manga Crash Course. With the help of her assistants and colleagues, Petrovic also organises Serbia’s biggest fan conventions, with manga and anime as the main theme. Petrovic often reimagines classic or popular characters in a manga style. "This work [above] is heavily inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but with manga styling, and my own twist on the characters’ concepts and personalities," she says. 02. Alexa Pásztor Although Pásztor works full-time as a graphic designer in Hungary, her passion has always been for illustration and comics, and she aspiring to one day make a living off of her art alone. In her spare time, she creates art under the pseudonym Lüleiya, and she has been involved in various art book projects and comic anthologies. Although she starting out in traditional art, she has since switched completely to digital art to develop her unique style, which she describes as "a mixture of semi-realism and manga." Aquamarine is a crossover between the world of Nagi no Asukara and Bleach Aquamarine (above) is a personal project. “I was mesmerised by the world of Nagi no Asukara – the underwater scenery, the story, the emotions – but I was still high on my love for the Bleach fandom, thus this crossover fan art was born!” Pásztor smiles. 03. Timothy Kong Timothy Kong is a self-taught artist based in the UK, who is trying to combine his passions for eastern manga and the Old Master style of painting. He has worked in-house as a games artist and a graphic designer, and is currently going it alone as a full-time freelance illustrator and concept artist. "I love creating believable and fun worlds with my illustrations and character design," Kong explains. "I always try and create a distinct emotion or mood, as I feel it gives the piece more depth. I incorporate elements from daily observations into my work to try inject a bit more life and believability into them." Kong tried out a brighter colour palette to paint this pieceTo create Akemi (above), Kong explored a new visual direction. "I used a brighter colour palette and created the design in line art first," he explains. "I worked with warm colours to develop a feeling of serenity and beauty.” 04. Laica Chrose Chrose has a truly international outlook: Japanese by heritage, she was born in Brazil, studied design in Tokyo and is now based in Hong Kong. She uses digital media for professional work and traditional for personal projects, like her manga. Original characters from personal project White Spell White Spell is a personal project inspired by Celtic motifs, which Chrose has been working on for a while. These original characters were drawn with pen and pencil on paper. "The background was especially fun to work on," says Chrose. "I added layers of graphite and made random marks with a putty rubber to create the texture." 05. Jessica Prando An updated version of Prando's Lady Winter subject Prando has loved the fantasy genre since she was a child. “Art is a little bit magic… just pick up the pencil and cast the spell! That’s my motto,” she says. She studied graphic design before teaching herself to paint in oils by replicating characters from her favourite anime – her first drawings were of Trunks, from Dragon Ball. However, her interest in computers brought her full-circle, and after many years working with traditional methods she shifted over to digital art. "I love to play with bright, vivid colours and create fantastic worlds and creatures," she says. Prando paints a version of Lady Winter every year, to see the evolution and progress of her style. Above is the painting created in 2016. 06. Jodie Snow Known on the comic con scene as Kit Jo Yuki, Snow specialises in paintings of women. The majority of her works is created entirely digitally, using a Wacom Cintiq 13HD and Adobe Photoshop. "While I prefer to paint colourful, fanciful pictures of ladies, my love of the natural world has recently opened my eyes to the joys of animal and landscape painting," she says. Bird of Paradise was inspired by perfume ads in magazines “For this image I wanted to paint something a little bit ‘high fashion’," she says of Bird of Paradise (above). "In particular I was inspired by various perfume ads in magazines.” These artists were originally featured in ImagineFX magazine. Subscribe here. Read more: 14 fantasy artists to follow on Instagram Meet the artist drawing millions of YouTube views How to improve your character drawing View the full article

Social media is the place to be if you're an artist looking to get involved with a community, share work and get noticed. We've already seen how month-long challenges and briefs like Inktober and MerMay can give artists the motivation to get creative. The recent #DrawingWhileBlack tag aims to celebrate and show appreciation for black artists – and it's gone viral. Created by Twitter user Abelle (or, to use their frankly amazing handle @sparklyfawn), the rules for #DrawingWhileBlack are simple. You need to be black, you need to be an artist (of any level, this isn't just for pros) and you need to share some images of your work and Tweet them with the hashtag. Perhaps the most important rule is the last one: have fun. The hashtag was originally meant to run from just Friday 15 September through to Sunday 17 September. However thanks to the hashtag's success, you can still find artists posting their work on Twitter. We've rounded up 10 of our favourite artists who contributed to #DrawingWhileBlack below. With #Inktober fast-approaching, will you be share your own artistic creations on Twitter and Instagram? 01. Charles Chaisson This amazing illustration of FKA twigs turns the musician into a medusaCharles Chaisson is a freelance illustrator currently based in Brooklyn. Originally born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Chaisson moved to Florida to gain a B.F.A in illustration before heading to New York's School of Visual Arts to receive an M.F.A. Outside of academia, Chaisson reveals on his Twitter page that he's a lover of science, nature, surrealism, science fiction, politics, social activism and dancing. These interests are plain to see in Chaisson's work, which plays around with the boundaries between reality and imagination, such as his fantastical portrait of FKA twigs (above) which is complete with hair that morphs into snakes. 02. Daniel Isles Isles' work is crisp and precise but still packs a lot of movementNot familiar with the name Daniel Isles? Perhaps you know the artist by his alias DirtyRobot. Based in Japan, Isles is an illustrator and comic artist whose gorgeously clear work incorporates plenty of original science fiction imagery - it's not everyday you fight a tiger person in a bomber jacket after all. Working chiefly with pencils and inks, Isles is a prolific artist who recently drew a picture every single day for a year. If you like the look of his work, you can even sponsor him on his Patreon page for the chance to win some original art. 03. Benjamin Kwashie That's an amazing level of detail to capture with just a ballpoint pen...What do you do with a humble Bic pen? Scribble down notes and leave it to dry out by the phone (if you still even have a landline, that is...) In the hands of Benjamin Kwashie, a Bic pen is a tool to create incredibly realistic artwork. The illustrator from Ghana kept things pretty humble with his #DrawingWhileBlack contribution, as he decided to let the images themselves do the talking. But with such ridiculous talent for a 20-year-old, we're sure to hear more from him in the future. 04. Nana Yaa This fisher-boy character is the star of Nana Yaa's very own mangaThe talented Nana Yaa is an illustrator and mangaka from Germany who flits between full time and freelance work. As well as being an amazing artist with shonen publications under her belt, Yaa is also an author with her own manga volumes in the works. The image above gives a sneak preview of what to expect from her Goldfisch manga, which is due to be released in January 2018. With a vibrant art style that blends colours skilfully, it's sure to be an entertaining read. 05. Xia Gordon We can't get enough of Gordon's abstract art styleXia Gordon is an illustrator and comic-artist currently based in Brooklyn, NYC. Having earned a BFA in Cartooning & Illustration in 2016, Gordon has gone on to work with publications including Lenny Letter, New York Times, and Narratively. In her #DrawingWhileBlack Tweet, Gordon reveals that she has an interest in abstraction, figures and likeness. These interests play off one another, as seen in "The Women Contemplate Man" (above) to create beautiful, stylised work that's like nothing else we've seen before. Gordon also has a Patreon you can contribute to if you want to help her create more work. 06. Laura Wilson Laura Wilson loves to draw skeletons and dogs... or occasionally dog skeletonsJust like Benjamin Kwashie, Laura Wilson keeps it brief with her #DrawingWhileBlack contribution. The illustrator and animator from Texas found plenty of amazing artists through the Twitter tag so decided to join in the fun herself. Tweeting "Hi I'm Laura I hang out and paint weird dogs," gives us a quick insight into her sense of humour and subject matter. Working both in black and white and colour, Wilson creates fantastical illustrations that often see hounds and skulls taking centre stage. If you want to see more of Wilson's work, be sure to check out her art in the fantasy anthology Poor Wayfaring Strangers Volume 1. 07. Xenson We love the bold colours in Mbasakidde (Are You Questioning My Hard Work?)Just when you thing you've got #DrawingWhileBlack figured out, along comes this curve ball from Twitter user Dorothy Nabunjo. Instead of sharing her own artwork, she decided to share images by Xenson. Also known as Samson Senkaba, Xenson is a multi media artist, fashion designer, contemporary and graffiti artist, and poet from Uganda. With a distinctive look that includes vivid colours and stylised subject shapes - see Mbasakidde (Are You Questioning My Hard Work?) above - we're glad to have been exposed to the artist's work through a hashtag. 08. Jeannette Arroyo The shadows and eye lighting give this piece a great sense of depthJeanette Arroyo is a freelance artist skilled in creating character designs and layouts for animations. On her site she explains that she wants to "express my creative vision and meld into a team effort for the completion of innovative and creative productions." And with a charismatic and playful drawing style, we want to see more Arroyo collaborations, too! Capable of giving people, demons and animals characterful expressions, as well as being a master of colour and monotone art, the worlds Arroyo create look like an enchanting place to explore. If you're won over by Arroyo's art, be sure to support her supernatural comic Blackwater on Patreon. 09. Paul Peart Smith We could gaze at Paul Peart Smith's detailed ink art for hoursHe's a bit late to the party, having posted his #DrawingWhileBlack Tweet a few days after the weekend, but we'll let that slide because Paul Peart Smith's art is so darn good. Originally from London, Smith now lives in Tasmania and creates outstanding ink illustrations. As an artist, designer and cartoonist, Smith has worked on projects such as One Plus One, Junkyard song, Edge of Extinction and the upcoming Kanan. His art has a wonderfully loose style that still perfectly captures the essence of his subjects. Scroll through Smith's art on his site. 10. SOZOMAIKA Self-taught SOZOMAIKA channels a love of fashion into her artSpecialising in both 2D and 3D art and design, SOZOMAIKA (the alias of Maika Sozo) is a self-employed artist based in NYC. Having begun painting digitally since she was 16, SOZOMAIKA is entirely self-taught and currently works as a character artist for Yuumei. SOZOMAIKA's main inspiration is fashion, having collected fashion magazines and books from a young age. This fascination is clear to see in her work, as characters are often adorned with desirable wardrobe choices. If you like SOZOMAIKA's style you can order prints and pins from her shop, and you can even order commissions. Related articles: 18 illustrators to follow on Instagram How to be an award-winning illustrator Is it time for designers to leave Twitter? View the full article

In this month's roundup, we look at a new book explaining how to make your mark in hand lettering, plus all the kit to get you started. It's also your last chance to check out a remarkable exhibition at the Tate (we flick through the accompanying book), and we take a look at the Japanese craft of turning random blots into art. We've got a great how-to on expressive flower painting, a cool new coffeetable book exploring the world of urban potters, and finally – maybe we're a bit early, but we've also got an arty 2018 pocket diary. 01. Urban Potters A look at 30 ceramicists in six different citiesOne for the coffee table here, as design writer Katie Treggiden looks at the revival of pottery. She visits six cities – including New York, London, Tokyo – and over 30 ceramicists, who open up their studios and share their work. The book also includes a list of places to buy handmade ceramics in those cities. 02. Get started with hand lettering Browse over 50 complete alphabets in different stylesThis new book offers everything you need to know to create your own bespoke lettering. Artist, illustrator and hand-letterer Thy Doan Graves is your guide. He shares over 50 complete alphabets in a range of styles, tells you what kit you need and how you get started, and the also book contains 16 'your turn' practise pages. 03. Hand lettering starter kit Everything you need to try out hand-lettering for yourselfThe Wildflower Art Studio is an expert in hand-lettering. The Texan creatives have created a kit based on its highly popular classes. It contains watercolours, chalks, Sharpies, and loads more, including a Moleskine sketchbook. There's also a guide on how to use them all. 04. Queer British art at Tate This exhibition closes at the start of October – so get your skates on!Tate's first exhibition dedicated to queer British art celebrates works relating to LGBTQ identities and marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England. It includes art from 1861-1967 by artists such as John Singer Sargent, Dora Carrington, Duncan Grant and David Hockney. It closes 1 October. 05. Queer British art book This book accompanies the exhibitionIf you can't make it to the exhibition, a new book celebrates all the exhibited work and "explores coded desires in aestheticism; the impact of the new science of sexology; queer domesticities; eroticism in the artist's studio; intersections of gender and sexuality; seedy dives and visions of Arcadia; and love and lust in sixties Soho." It features by Simeon Solomon, Clare Atwood, Ethel Sands, and Francis Bacon. 06. Mixed-media, expressive flowers This 128-page book is dedicated to honing your flower-painting skillsArtists and art teacher Lynn Whipple explains how she creates her "loose, free, contemporary style." This 128-page book focuses on specifically on flowers, covering everything from mark making and layering techniques, to colour methods and painted backgrounds, as well as how to work from life, all while using a variety of media. 07. A mixed-media kit on a budget A great travel kit for established artistsThis Faber-Castell set includes the manufacturer's Pitt artist pens and Albrect Duerer watercolour pencils, all in a variety of colours, plus a paint brush to use with the pencils. The pencils layer well, don't need sharpening often, and are easy to combine to produce subtle shades. This is good kit for those looking to try a new media, or as a travel kit for the more established artist. It won't break the bank either. 08. A mixed-media kit to splurge on This 104-piece set is ideal if you want to invest in your art gearThis Royal & Langnickel 104-piece set contains, paints, pencils, and pastels, all stored in a three-compartment wooden chest. The chest folds out into a table-top easel. The mast and holders are easy to put up, and can be stored away just as easily to make the set more portable. It's a great collection of tools for the pro or more advanced artist. 09. Plan ahead Get prepped for 2018 with this beautiful diaryWe might be a bit early on this, but Tate's David Hockney 2018 pocket diary is so smart we had to feature it. It has a hardback cover, a week-to-view layout, space for notes on each page, and aw white ribbon marker. Each month is illustrated by some of Hockney's best-known and most-loved works – A Bigger Splash, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, and My Parents, among others. 10. Draw what you see Turn your surroundings into art with this guideHirameki, which means brainwave or flash of inspiration in Japanese, is the art of "turning a random blot into something amazing, just by adding a few dots and lines." This new books offer a good way to get started in drawing, to get back into it after some time away, or as a way of getting your creative juices flowing before starting a bigger project. These doodles could even inspire a bigger project. Read more: Banksy murals remember an American art legend How to paint outdoors Review: Derwent Procolour Pencils View the full article

When you're starting out as a freelancer and haven't quite found your feet, it's tempting to say yes to any work that comes your way. You'll soon discover, though, that it pays to discriminate a little. 25 tips for staying sane as a freelancerDisqualifying clients who don't seem like a good fit for you should be one of your first priorities when you meet a potential client. You save the time and energy that you would spend learning about the client and their business. As a result, that time and energy can be spent finding better clients and bigger pay cheques. To help you spot a client who isn't a good fit, we've put together this list. You should say no if the client does one of the following 10 things: Requests free work, work 'for exposure', or any other type of work that doesn't provide value to you. Asks for an impossible solution, product or asset. Requests for you to work below your normal rate. Offers to pay in the form of project proceeds or other services. Keeps expanding the scope of the work without extra pay. Wants you to work on areas outside of your expertise. Owes you money. Has unclear objectives. Has unethical or illegal requests. Is uncomfortable signing a contract. Also, if your gut is telling you not to go with a particular client, listen to it. In general, you should pursue work that you want to do more of. If the client, industry, or style of work doesn't interest you, it's a problem. The resulting portfolio piece, case study or referrals will lose relevancy if you drift in a different direction, so always ensure you are properly qualifying your clients. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 268. Buy it here. Related articles: How to overcome freelance hurdles 20 top tools for freelancers Why designers need to talk about money View the full article

You're reading 6 Creative Ways to Use Repeat Grids in Adobe XD, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! AdobeXD recently made a big splash during their announcement because of a few unique features, including the “Repeat Grid.” This magical button that turns any group of elements into a grid that repeats those objects. That’s not the best part, though. Using repeat grids, you can easily populate text and images so each grid has […] View the full article

Now that iOS 11 has finally landed, if you want to launch an app that can climb the charts as people make the move to the latest operating system, then you need to grab the Definitive iOS 11 Developer Bundle. Luckily, it's on sale right now for 95% off the full retail price. The Definitive iOS 11 Developer Bundle is packed with everything an aspiring app developer could require to jump start your career. This bundle includes seven unique courses that will cover everything from the fundamentals to the tips and tricks that experts count on. You'll learn how to work with Swift, Apple's developer language; go hands on to see an app come together in real time; and even learn how to integrate machine learning into your apps. The Definitive iOS 11 Developer Bundle is valued at $1,224 but you can get it on sale now for 95% off the retail price. At $49 (approx £36), that is a huge saving off a collection of courses that could launch your next career, so grab this deal today. Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. View the full article

As a young graphic designer or would-be junior designer, it's tempting to imagine there's a single set of rules to follow that will enable you to achieve gratification, recognition and success. Get Adobe Creative CloudOther designers' life stories (especially when told with the benefit of hindsight and some judicious biographical editing) often seem to suggest this is how things work. And we all want to emulate our design heroes and see our names and images appear in bookshelves and blogs like theirs. The truth is, though, that life has a habit of not following neat narratives, and what worked for one person doesn't always work for another. However, that doesn't mean there aren't broad lessons to be learned. Some pieces of advice will almost always come in handy - whether you're a design student, recent graduate or just starting out in the field. In this article, I'll look at some common ways to turn your dream of a successful career in graphic design into reality. These aren't mutually exclusive: quite the opposite, in fact. Pursue as many of these avenues as possible, with vigour, passion and determination, and you stand a far greater chance of getting to where you want to be. How to become an art director01. Join design organisations and/or volunteer at their events Getting involved in a respected design organisation like AIGA can really help to open doorsTake advantage of the discounts you get while still a student to join design organisations such as AIGA. The benefits of interacting with like-minded people and networking are extremely valuable. Participating in design organisations will provide a rich understanding of the field, who's who in our industry, and give you the chance to speak to inspiring people. The opportunities for learning and growth are tremendous. It's important to soak up all the possible knowledge and advice on offer; to get noticed and respected by colleagues. 02. Work for charities One way to start a network base, add solid work to your portfolio and get noticed is to offer your design skills to charities in your community (not to mention the great cause that you support, of course!). These projects could potentially lead to both non-for-profit and for-profits paid work. Approach a local gallery or business, an animal shelter... do good work for a really good cause close to your heart. 03. Get internships Design agencies such as Mark Boulton Design run internship programmesAn internship with a good design studio or at an in-house department can offer invaluable experience that you will draw on throughout your design career. You'll become seasoned in how design organisations are run; have a better understanding about client requests and how work load works. With luck (and bear in mind you need to make most of your own luck), you'll get to show your skills and commitment to the company and turn your internship into a full-time job, gain some skills and start your own network. How to transform a design internship into a job04. Nurture a network of peers This tip may seem obvious, but in practice we tend to see our peers as competition instead of supporters or collaborators. Instead, actively nurture our network of peers: it really does pay off. The project that someone passes on due to a busy schedule or a short budget can be a project that is a good fit for you – and a great piece to add to your portfolio that eventually opens doors to bigger opportunities and new ventures. How to network successfully: pro tips05. Send fan mail We all like getting notes from admirers: it lifts the spirits and strengths us as an industry. So why not let your design heroes know that you respect them and their work? Sending genuine short emails (either notes or a good-looking promo mailer) to people who you admire can lead to many opportunities. You may even be just what they are looking for – when firms are hiring, for example, or needing someone to commission for a project that matches your skillset. Of course, that won't always happen, so don't get discouraged if the phone doesn't ring immediately. It's always good to send a follow-up material showing your newest work; this keeps recipients interested and reminded of your availability. 06. Create an online presence A portfolio service such as Behance can help you get an online presence quickly without any need for web design skillsThis is obvious, but an online platform to express yourself – and maintain a constant dialogue with other people interested in you work – is a must. And we're not just talking about a Twitter account or Facebook page. Prospective employers will expect you to have either your own bespoke blog or website, or to use an online portfolio service like Behance or Squarespace. 50 brilliant design portfolios to inspire you07. Exploit your other skills If you have illustration or photography skills to add to your graphic design skillset, this can also lead to significant work under the art direction of very talented people. Put together your best pieces in a simple yet elegant PDF, or in print format, and get ready to mail it to all those agencies that you're interested in. 08. Submit work to awards schemes Having some accolades under your belt will certainly help you to build a reputation and get under the radar art directors and editors. It will also help a hesitant creative director to make a decision on choosing you over another talented designer. 09. Be nice, be bold, be humble Asking polite questions and creating good relationships is keyWe're in a business where making human connections is vital to our growth, regardless of whether we're doing online or off-line work. So being genuinely friendly and interested will hands-down help you to land a job in a team and to attract repeat clients. Quite simply, building relationships and communication is at the core of our profession, so you can't shy away from it. The secrets of great client relationships10. Start your own projects You're creative. You can do so many things as a creative person, so if no doors are yet opening then make your own projects. Divide your day between looking for traditional ways to get your work out while also creating your own projects. These could be ebooks, postcards, great pack icons for free distribution, CMS themes, anything you can think off to get you started. Doing things on your own is risky but worthwhile. There is certainly merit on creating your own opportunities. The tools to connect with friends, colleagues and like-minded people are available, and you can freely explore your creativity and skills using them. The online culture we observe today is changing the rules of the game, so get on board and make it work for you. Why you should make time for creative side projects11. Keep going One final piece of advice: keep moving forward. Keep up your task of calling, emailing or whatever you do on a constant basis. Don't take rejection personally and discard envy. A rejection today could land you a job tomorrow or a new client further on. Related articles: The best laptops for graphic design How to get into art college How to be a creative director View the full article

Want to know how to do something in After Effects? The web is brimming with tutorials for people wanting to learn about Adobe Creative Cloud's 3D, motion graphics and animation software. But sometimes it can be an uphill struggle finding the tutorial that's right for you. Get Adobe Creative CloudThat's why we've collected together the best After Effects tutorials on the web for you, divided into handy sections for you to scroll through. You'll be able to find what you're looking for here, whether you're using an older version of AE or are signed up to the Creative Cloud. Enjoy... Getting started with After Effects 01. Adding special effects to a video Let's start off with some cool special effectsEven if you're only just getting started with After Effects, it's only natural to want to create some impressive effects straight away, and so this tutorial from Adobe is just the ticket. Aimed at After Effects CC, it explains the basics of motion graphics and video compositing, and teaches you how to use layers, blend modes and effects, as well as some basic animation and even a handheld camera shake effect. 02. Beginner's guide to After Effects These After Effects tutorials from Digital Tutors take an introductory look into the software and compositing in general. 03. Introduction to After Effects This easy-to-follow video tutorial from the Greayscalegorilla team explains the basics of animating and pre-comping in After Effects. 04. Learn some basic effects in After Effects If you're fairly new to After Effects, you might want to take a look at some of Video CoPilot's basic training tutorials. In this project, Andrew Kramer shows you how to use some simple effects for some great results. 05. Starting with After Effects Pascal Verstegen, aka Enkera from Noa Studios, shows you how you can get started with Adobe After Effects with only a basic knowledge of programmes such as Photoshop. The result is a simple but effective animation. 06. After Effects CS6 in 6 minutes If you're eager to get started in CS6 but don't have a lot of time on your hands, take a look at the video below. Next page: Compositing 07. Advanced masking If you want to do really cool stuff with After Effects then you'll need to get your head round masking. Here Tobias Gleissenberger of Surfaced Studio talks you through mask animation and interpolation, and explains advanced techniques including using the variable width feathering tool, managing mask modes and ordering, and more. 08. Creating and using masks in After Effects Adobe After Effects: Learn how to mask objects efficientlyAndrew Devis explains how to mask in an efficient way using After Effects. In this After Effects tutorial, Andrew demonstrates the tools needed for masking along with some handy keyboard short cuts. 09. Put together a realistic composite Adobe After Effects: Superimpose a District 9 style space shipAdding outside elements into a scene can be a tedious task that most of us find frustrating. Take a look at this tutorial, where Youssef Sarhan shows you some composition techniques to superimpose a District 9 style space ship. 10. How to add a light wrap to keyed footage Tom Skelton presents a versatile technique for light wrapping, a common visual effects task. Next page: Working with motion 11. Start animating with Adobe After Effects Andrew Kramer is at hand to show you how to use animation techniques in Adobe After Effects. An extremely useful tutorial that will introduce you to the basics of animation in After Effects. 12. Camera Solving For Moving Objects in Mocha 3 Product manager Martin Brennand takes you through how to use the camera solver to get the 3D data of a moving planar object. You'll also learn how to export 3D to After Effects and attach 3D particles from Trapcode Particular. 13. Pixel-perfect camera move transitions Discover how to master pixel-perfect camera move transitions with this video tutorial from GreyscalegorillaWant to know how to how to fly a camera around in After Effects and land on full frame video? This tutorial will show you how, helping keep your camera moves and transitions accurate and ready for a perfect edit. 14. How to animate a stream of objects along a path In this After Effects tutorial, Andy Davenport shows how to generate a flowing animated sequence based on one object. 15. How to animate characters into real-world scenes Have you ever seen a commercial where an animated character is painted onto a real background and wondered how it was done? This tutorial provides the answer and delve into the nuts and bolts of blending modes and Track Matte functionality. 16. How to create and rig a realistic puppet overview This is a quick overview of Aetuts+'s 'How To Create And Rig A Realistic Puppet' series. It's a great way to get a feel for all 17 tutorials (yep 17!) only using Adobe After Effects. Genius! Next page: Working in 3D 17. The naked truth about 3D rotations Have you ever wondered what the difference is between rotation and orientation? This After Effects tutorial explains the way rotations in 3D space work. Once you understand the concept – it will be easier for you to tame rotations in After Effects and beyond. 18. Create easy 3D reflections Want to create easy 3D reflections with no plug-ins in After Effects? This video tutorial will show you, as well as how to simulate reflective falloff and blurry reflections. 19. How to mix stop motion with 3D layers This After Effects tutorial will teach you how to capture footage with Dragon Stop Motion, experiment with basic keying in After Effects and show you how to manipulate 3D layers. 20. Create a virtual 3D set with After Effects Rob Mize shows you how to create a whole new world with this 3D space tutorial. You'll be able to build realistic, sophisticated environments, where actors can actually interact with your creation. 21. Advanced 3D light rays This video tutorial from Video Copilot explains exactly how to create 3D light rays and add light beams to 3D camera tracked footage within After Effects. 22. Use 3DS Max to create a ball shattering with RayFire Impress with this great tutorial from the team at Video Co-pilot. You'll learn how to use 3DS Max to create a shattering slow motion glass ball effect whilst compositing the passes in After Effects. 23. Create a train crashing inside After Effects & 3ds Max This explosive training features three video tutorials, totally over two hours of training on how to create and composite a train crashing inside After Effects and 3ds Max. 24. Create 3D cloud motion from still images In just a few simple clicks, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to take a 2D image of clouds and use it to create realistic 3D cloud motion. Next page: Manipulating text 25. All things text in After Effects This Digital Tutors series will teach you everything you need to know about creating, controlling, and using text in After Effects. 26. Create a smokey type effect in After Effects In this step-by-step tutorial, Steve Holmes explains the process of creating a smokey effect to your type designs in After Effects. 27. Create a logo using vintage typewriter keys Create a cool logo with these vintage typewriter keysThe Video Copilot team explain how create this cool logo using vintage typewriter keys in Element 3D. Using the particle order mode, you can create any word you choose. Next page: Special effects 28. How to experiment with particle effects Vivian Kim shows you how experimenting in After Effects with the Trapcode Form plug-in can create some beautiful results. 29. Create a highly detailed digital terrain scan Adobe After Effects: Create a futuristic 3D terrain scannerIn this tutorial, you'll be creating a futuristic 3D terrain scanner. You'll also be discovering the difference between the old version of FreeForm (the DigiEffects version, bundled with AE CS5) and the new FreeForm v2. 30. Time freeze Here, the team at Video Copilot explain exactly how to simulate a frozen world around one person. 31. Create an illuminated skin effect This 20-minute After Effects tutorial explains how to create an illuminated skin effectIn this video tutorial from Video Copilot, Andrew Kramer explains how to create an illuminated skin effect, inspired by Iron Man 3. 32. Create a realistic glass reflection It's important in After Effects to get things looking realistic; especially when it comes to give-aways such as reflection. Get it right with this handy tutorial which includes use of a free plugin. 33. Create realistic smoke trails with particular particles In this 21-minute After Effects tutorial, you'll learn how to create realistic looking smoke trails as well as the ability to randomise cloud texture with 3D turbulence. Could be used for Superheros or space ships! 34. Throw a grenade in After Effects Adobe After Effects: Create an awesome action grenade throwGo out with a bang with this awesome tutorial from the wonderful Andrew Kramer. In this video guide, he'll show you how to use slow motion and explosive techniques to get a realistic grenade throw. 35. Get blown away with an explosive corridor blast In this beginner to advanced After Effects tutorial, you'll learn how to blow things up! Surely there can't be a better use for After Effects? With these moves you'll be on your way to After Effects stardom in no time. 36. Create the amazing Spider-Man title sequence In this After Effects tutorial you'll be using ShapeShifter AE, whilst combining shape layers and layer masks, to model and animate Spidey's symbol. 37. Create a complex energy scene Adobe After Effects: Create a complex energy sceneYou know the parts in Superhero movies when the evil guy drops down to Earth with a surge of energy? Well, now you can make that scene yourself! Cool, huh? You'll even be able to animate the particles in 3D with multiple instances. 38. Leap into a Hancock-style super jump effect This tutorial is a great exercise for intermediate After Effects users. It has some awesome new techniques to try out as well as showing you how to use a Difference Matte to roto out an actor and then composite various HD elements in front and behind an actor. 39. Become a storm chaser Pt.1 The first in a two-parter tutorial, you'll learn how to composite a Tornado and unique point of view using only still pictures. You'll be able to add effects like cloud twirling and distant lighting. 40. Become a storm chaser Pt. 2 The final part in the storm chaser tutorial, you'll be concentrating on the puppet tool as well as the camera focus options. Best of all, there are no external plugins required! Related articles: The beginner's guide to After Effects 11 top plugins for After Effects Review: Adobe After Effects CC 2017 View the full article

Infographics are typically bright, colourful and flat, using 2D vector drawings and concise text bubbles to explain a topic in simple terms. They're easy to read and eminently shareable. But that doesn’t mean you have to follow the crowd and do exactly the same with every infographic you create. In this post, we look at five infographics that all incorporate 3D elements, in very different ways, and learn how they were created. 01. How a car engine works Click on the image to see the full infographic This brilliant infographic explores the inner workings of a car engine in detail, making great use of 3D line drawings, colour and animation to make things clearer. It’s the work of designer Jacob O'Neal, the brains behind Animagraffs. “Animagraffs are designed to be popular content,” he explains. “When companies buy content, they have less opinion on how it's designed as long as it attracts viewers. So often, clients have a general area of interest (like cars, tech, nature, etc) and we'll propose topics we think might be popular online. Then we handle the rest, from writing to final visual design.” It’s not easy work, he stresses. “Animagraffs projects are hard work from start to finish, not only due to tech involved, but just researching things properly and getting visuals right. Every step of these projects takes intense effort.” For this infographic, O'Neal used Blender to create the models and set up the 3D scene, then exported everything using Blend4Web to allow it to be able to display within web browsers. That last stage can get pretty involved, he notes. “Browsers use WebGL to display 3D content, and it's still pretty new technology. Our projects generally work across devices and platforms, and optimising projects for various scenarios has honestly been very difficult work. "But it’s all worth it when I can pull out my phone and show people the works of art we make – rotating objects right on the phone.” 02. The flow of international trade Click on the image to see the full infographic This animated 3D infographic uses figures from the UN’s Comtrade database on the multi-trillion global market for imported goods. Its interactive moving map shows where those goods come from and where they go, with each dot representing $1 billion in value. Types of trade, such as food, minerals and plastics, are colour-coded so it’s clear what type of goods are going where. And best of all, you can spin the globe and select a country to see the flow of goods in and out of that country. It was built by Max Galka, who teaches data wrangling/data visualisation at the University of Pennsylvania, using his own dynamic maps software, Blueshift. You can watch him creating it in this video. 03. SWANH Click on the image to see the full infographic From the serious to the slightly silly... this infographic tells the entire story of the first Star Wars movie and is 123 metres (403.5ft) long. Yes, you read that right: the size of this thing is simply enormous. Once you’ve had a scroll through it, you won’t be surprised to hear that it took Swiss illustrator Martin Panchaud a year and a half to produce in Illustrator CC, using 157 images across 22 separate files. “I never thought it would take so long,” he admits now. “To be honest, I think I was only able to do this extensive work because I managed to mislead myself. Initially, I made an estimate at 8m, then at 20 and then at 60, and then I just stopped counting.” Nor was it a trouble-free process. “I quickly realised that my Illustrator files had too many elements and crashed my poor iMac. So I had to create new files in order to continue working.” Perhaps surprisingly, Panchaud didn’t create the entire infographic in the same order as the movie. “I began by taking some key scenes of the movie, and imagined what they would be like, with this graphic language,” he explains. “What interests me the most is the narration, how to illustrate actions and dialogues in infographics. “I then watched the first part of the movie and made a storyboard. Then, I dived into the mechanics of making the movie. The decor, the characters, the costumes... Luckily, this movie is very well documented and it wasn’t too difficult to find what I was looking for. My red thread was the script of 1974 (since there were several versions of the film, I preferred taking the first one).” He’s regularly asked whether he’ll do another infographic based on The Empire Strikes Back. “The idea is there,” he responds. “But for the moment, I'm working on my graphic novel with the same narrative style. It will be released at the end of 2018 and it will have about 250 pages.” In the meantime, SWANH will be exhibited in 4K at Onassis Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, as part of the Science Fiction: A Journey into the Unknown exhibition from 9 October to 14 January. 04. Brexit VR infographic Click on the image to see the full infographic Infographics are now entering the world of virtual reality, and here’s a great example. In the run up to the UK referendum on leaving the EU, Google Labs created this 360-degree data visualisation, which illustrates the top questions being asked in each country on search. Designed for use with the Google Cardboard VR viewer, it was created in collaboration with Wes Grubbs and the team at Pitch Interactive (who built the original infographic) and coder Michael Chang (who turned it into an immersive VR experience). You can learn more about how the infographic was created, and what lessons the team learned from it, in this blog post. 05. Income inequality in LA and Chicago Click on the image to see a larger version When does an infographic become a work of art? This astonishing creation by Herwig Scherabon somehow manages to tick both boxes. It’s basically a visualisation of income inequality in Los Angeles and Chicago, using the heights of buildings in different areas to represent how poor or wealthy they are. The biggest challenge was to create a two dimensional base map that would retain the quality and detail of the city’s street grid. “Most of my time went into this phase of the design,” says Scherabon, “And it took a while to learn to control the relationship between two dimensional map and three dimensional outcome.” The 2D map was colour coded and later translated into height values. Scherabon then used Cinema 4D for generating and rendering the 3D image: “It really enabled me to design the look and feel of the image exactly the way it had to be,” he says. Another big challenge was to balance the aesthetic appeal of this visualisation with the accuracy of the data. “Ultimately, what these visualisations are about is the more immersive aspect of it and experiencing them as actual large scale prints (150 x 75cm),” he explains. “Accuracy is important and a top priority for me. However, my focus was definitely on the visual and experiential aspect of the divide.” View the full article

Apple released a number of patches, including a security update for iOS 11, which is available today. View the full article

Creating and compositing 3D explosions is usually a task for two different artists or studio departments, but here we'll blur that line by using the V-Ray for Nuke plugin. Instead of working with rendered explosions from a VFX application, we’ll instead show you how to use .vbd files exported from Houdini. 30 inspiring examples of 3D artThe advantage of this workflow is it allows compositors to work with the explosion’s volumetric data with tools to change the look and orientation of the asset, without having to send back to the VFX artist or department for changes. Before you start, you'll need to download the relevant files from the 3D World Vault. Download the files you need from the 3D World Vault In the Vault, you'll find that Steven Knipping of Applied Houdini has provided 72 .vdbs. Each .vdb contains (density) containing smoke, (velocity), (heat) where the fire is, and (temperature) how hot it is. The grids are 300 voxels max in the Y direction to bring down the voxel count and file size, while still providing decent resolution. The provided .hipnc file shows a preview of the .vdb colouring in Houdini and the .mov file is a quick and dirty Quicktime movie preview of a playblast of the .hipnc. Knipping’s ‘Volume V - Combustion Simulation’ video tutorial on his website covers how to make this. Now, follow these 12 steps to create realistic explosions in V-Ray for Nuke. 01. Import the explosion Import your explosion from the Vault before you get started Add a VRayVolumeGrid Node in the Node Graph. In Properties, Input, click the folder icon next to Input Cache File and ensure Sequences is enabled to import all 72 frames. Go to the Stadium folder and select explosion.appliedhoudini.1.vdb, then click Open. With VRayVolumeGrid1 selected, press [1] to view it. Scrub through the Timeline to see the imported .vdb explosion. 02. Set up V-Ray network Once you've imported your explosion, you can set up your network in V-Ray Add a TransformGeo Node to VRayVolumeGrid1’s output. This is useful if you want to rotate or reposition the volume, set rotate y to 180. Add a VrayRenderer Node, pipe its obj/scn input to TransformGeo1. Add a VrayCamera Node, in its Properties, Axis tab, set translate z to 100 then pipe it to VrayRenderer1 cam input. Add a Constant Node and pipe it to VrayRenderer1 bg input. In Constant1’s Properties, set color to 0.5. Then select VRayRender1 and view it. 03. Set rendering properties There's no smoke without fire, so your explosion will need both With the cursor over the Viewer Pane, press [Tab] to switch from 3D view to 2D. Scrub through the Timeline to see the explosion smoke plume. In VRayVolumeGrid1’s Properties, switch to the Rendering tab. The options in this tab control how the VRayVolumeGrid effect is rendered. Set Render preset to Fire/Smoke.vdb from Houdini. This will introduce fire. In Smoke, set Simple smoke factor to 0.6 to adjust the Smoke Opacity. 04. Set up the fire You can choose how stylised you want your fire to be in the Fire tab Go to the Fire tab, which controls the emissive colour (fire) of the volumetric shader and the light emitted by VRayVolumeGrid. The Physically based parameter can produce either an artistic look (value 0) or realistic physically based intensity (value 1). A higher value means strong brightness for the hot parts of the fire. Set Physically based to 0.8. Set fire multiplier to 1. 05. Fine-tune the fire Use reference to get the hues of the fire correct Fire Color and Opacity/Intensity in the Fire tab has a gradient for controlling colour and a curve for setting intensity or opacity. Click Expand (bottom right) to get a larger window. From the left, leave slider 1 as is. Select slider 2 and put it at 10. Right-click the slider>Change Selection Color and choose an Orange shade. Put slider 3 at 15, with its Hue at 39. Put slider 4 at 25. Hit Play. 06. Render the explosion Render your explosion to see how it's looking To make the Nuke network lighter, render the explosion as a .tiff sequence. Pipe a Write Node to VRayRenderer1. In its Parameters, set channels to rgba. Click the folder next to the file and choose a folder to render to. Append the file path with Explosion.###.tiff (filename/frame padding/file format) and click Save. Set compression to none and click render. In the pop-up Render dialog, change the Frame range to 1-72, then click OK. 07. Lighten the network Clean the Nuke Node Graph by selecting File>Clear Select File>Clear to clean the Nuke Node Graph. Add a Read Node, go to the Stadium folder and select backplate Stadium.jpg, then Open. With the backplate selected, press 1 to create a Viewer and view it. Select Edit>Project Settings and change full size format to 6000 x 4000 to match the backplate resolution. Set frame range to 1 and 72. Add another Read Node and use it to bring in the rendered explosion .tiff image sequence. 08. Comp the explosion Compositing your explosion is an important step Add a Premult Node and pipe to the explosion Read Node to multiply the explosion sequence’s RGB channels by its Alpha. Then Add a Merge Node and pipe its A input to Premult1 and its B input to the backplate Read Node. Select frame 41, view Merge1 and you’ll see the explosion is composited over the backplate. Add a Transform Node and a Crop Node to the network as shown in image 08. With Crop1 selected, press 1 to view. 09. Position the explosion Decide where you want your explosion to take place in your scene In the Crop1 parameters, set r to 1920 and t to 1080, and enable reformat. Open the Transform1 Node’s Properties and either reposition the backplate manually with the Transform Handle or set translate x to -1110; translate y to -560; scale to 0.6; center x to 1500; center y to 1000. Add a Transform after Premult1 and view Merge1. Reposition manually with the Transform2 Handle or set translate x to 315; translate y to -568; center x to 1044; center y to 928. 10. Roto the roof Add a roof to your scene to give the explosion context With Transform2 selected, add a Merge Node. This will automatically pipe using the A input. Open Merge2’s parameters and set operation to out. Deselect Merge2, add a Roto Node. View Crop1 and select the Roto’s Bezier Tool. Click to place points along the ridge of the roof and at the bottom of the backplate to form the shape pictured. Pipe Roto to Merge2’s B input, View Merge1. 11. Match colour Experiment with both the multiply and gamma nodes in the Grade Node Pipe a Grade Node between the explosion Read Node and the Premult1 Node. We will use this to adjust the explosion to better integrate the blackest and whitest points with the backplate. Click the colour swatch alongside lift, hold [Ctrl] and pick the darkest pixel on the black plate. Repeat for Gain but pick the brightest pixel. Using the gamma slider in the Viewer helps identify the darkest and lightest pixels. For fine-tuning, experiment with both the multiply and gamma values in the Grade Node. 12. Output the render Your explosive scene is now ready to make a bang Usually the blackpoint and whitepoint don’t need to be adjusted. You can add a Saturation Node after Merge1 and set saturation to 0, then fine-tune these values before deleting the Saturation Node. Add a Clamp node after Merge1 to constrain RGBA between 0 and 1. Select the Crop1 and press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[X] to extract from the network and pipe it after the Clamp. Pipe a Write node to the Crop1 and refer back to Step 06 for the process of rendering out the sequence as a .tiff sequence. Your explosion should now be ready. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 224. Buy it here. Related articles: V-Ray for Nuke: 12 advanced techniques How to simulate explosions in Maya Create a meteor shower in 3ds Max View the full article

The best iPad apps for creating digital art selected for this list prove that Apple's tablet has moved beyond just being for media consumption and is fast becoming ripe for content creation. The iPad Pro with iOS 11, teamed with an Apple Pencil, are now powerful creative tools to rival a desktop with design software. If you're an illustrator, artist or graphic designer, you can now work effectively on the move – sketching, painting, prototyping, and annotating photos. Try one of these amazing apps for creating art on the iPad... Get Adobe Creative Cloud01. Zen Brush 2 $2.99/£2.99 The sequel to the popular Zen Brush takes what its predecessor does best - emulating the feel of painting with traditional Japanese calligraphy brushes - and builds upon it, with a new drawing engine that's smoother and more fluent than before, making it even easier to lose yourself in the process of creating beautiful Zen art. As well as the new drawing engine, Zen Brush 2 has a gallery feature that enables you to save your work in progress, as well as an ink dispersion effect to give your drawings an added feeling of depth. There's support for pressure-sensitive styluses (not to mention Apple Pencil if you have an iPad Pro) and best of all you're no longer restricted to black ink – now you can use red ink too. 02. Pixelmator Pixelmator's the next best thing to a full Photoshop for iPad$4.99/£4.99 If you need a full-fat iPad alternative to Photoshop, Pixelmator is about as good as it gets. Whether you simply want to enhance or touch up some photography, or go the whole hog and paint detailed, layered images from scratch, it has you covered with a heavyweight set of tools, brushes and effects. How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorialsIt'll even open layered Photoshop images, so you can start work on your desktop and then carry on with it while you're on the move. And if you have an iPad Pro you'll find full Apple Pencil compatibility, featuring palm rejection, pressure, tilt, and acceleration sensitivity. 03. Assembly Baffled by Béziers? Assembly makes it easy to create vector artFree Assembly is a great way to create detailed vector graphics, icons, logos, scenes and characters without all that fiddly mucking about with vectors and Bézier curves. Rather than painstakingly draw everything out yourself, you can choose from an enormous selection of ready-made shapes and stick them together to create your vector masterpiece. You can layer, stack and position shapes however you want, and even create your own building blocks by cutting out, combining and intersecting existing shapes. If you need to prototype in a hurry, it's an ideal tool for getting professional results fast. 04. Photoshop Sketch Photoshop Sketch ditches the heavyweight features and just lets you, yeah, sketchFree Rather than try to recreate the full Photoshop experience on iPad, Adobe has instead focused on the platform's strengths to provide a powerful tool for sketching and painting. Photoshop Sketch features tools including a graphite pencil, ink pen and watercolour brushes, with adjustable size, colour, opacity and blending settings. You can layer and rearrange your images, use perspective and graph grids to help align your creations, and there's support for pretty much any stylus you care to think of. And you can export your work to Illustrator or Photoshop CC; naturally you'll need a Creative Cloud account, but if you're planning on using Photoshop Sketch as a stand-alone app then you'll only need the basic free version. 05. Graphic Graphic is packed with tools to take your digital art to the next level$8.99/£8.99 Promising a desktop-class standard of editing, Graphic has been touted as the iOS answer to Adobe Illustrator. As well as containing all of the drawing tools you need to create amazing art and detailed technical drawings, Graphic now comes with variable-width brush strokes and pressure-sensitive drawing support for the Apple Pencil. Developed by Indeedo, this easy to use iPad app is compatible with both the Mac and iPhone versions by using iCloud and Dropbox, letting you save your masterpieces on the go for straightforward editing across devices later down the line. 06. Forge Brainstorming app Forge comes with raw art tools$3.99/£3.99 Forge might not be the most comprehensive digital art app, but its selection of essential tools make it perfect for quickly getting your ideas down on the screen. Best suited to creating concept art, Forge lets you annotate ideas, share images and generally make the iteration process easier. Released by Co Interactive, Forge includes instinctive layering functions that allow you to add, re-order, merge and adjust the opacity with ease. Simply swipe through your layers thanks to Forge's Fluid Paper to get to your best creations. 07. Tayasui Sketches Tayasui Sketches joins the list of very capable drawing and painting iPad apps on offerFree Tayasui Sketches is one of the most delightfully simple drawing and painting iPad apps that we've found. It features eight brushes along the left-hand side, ranging from pencil and charcoal to felt pen and watercolour brush, with a further two available in the pro version. Each one exhibits its respective characteristics brilliantly, meaning it's simple to just pick a brush and start sketching. Although limited in terms of editing options, they're a delight to use, and in the pro version you're at least able to increase the size and shape as well as edit the blend mode. 08. Asketch $4.99/£4.99 Asketch is a simple black and white procedural sketching program, created by Andrew Kern. Bringing the experience of charcoal drawing to your iPad, this app is brilliant for both beginners and advanced artists. An easy-to-use tool, with ASKetch you can create everything from figure drawings and cartoons to abstract masterpieces. 09. Inspire Pro Choose from 60 high-quality brushes with Inspire Pro$7.99/£7.99 Paint, draw and sketch on your iPad with Inspire Pro. Suitable for artists of all skill levels, this app includes 60 high-quality brushes to choose from, divided into six sets: oil paint, airbrushes, basic shapes, graphite pencils, wax crayons and markers. And these can all be used as a wet or dry brush or eraser. Developed by KiwiPixel, the team says its creation delivers "an amazing painting, drawing and sketching experience to your iPad." "While the strokes of a wet oil paint brush look beautiful on their own," it says "the breathtaking blending effects of a dry brush will absolutely stun you." 10. Paper by Fiftythree Free If you're looking for something to make quick sketches with, with the minimum of fuss, then Paper by Fiftythree is well worth checking out. Its uncluttered interface - no menu bars or buttons here - strips back the sketching experience to the bare essentials and turns your iPad into a selection of virtual journals, with pages to thumb through for easy viewing. Designed exclusively for landscape mode, this iPad art app is no good for creating polished pieces, but to get down quick sketch concepts when creating art on the iPad it's definitely worth a look. 11. Penultimate Penultimate might sound like a rubbish biro superhero, but it's in fact a spiffy iPad note-taking appFree While lacking the natural media input of Paper, Penultimate is nonetheless an excellent note-taking and sketching app. The feel of the tools is surprisingly tactile, and you can add new paper types (for gaming, music notation, and so on) via IAP or install your own custom designs. 12. Art Set This cool app is like having a virtual art set inside your iPad$1.99/£1.99 This cool app is like having a virtual art set inside your iPad. Having made it to number one paid iPad app in over 30 countries since its release, Art Set has all the tools an artist could possibly want, including chalks, charcoal, oil pastels, wax crayons, graphite pencils, coloured pencils and marker pens. The multitouch pinch and zoom functionality enables you to add fine detail with ease. You can also choose from different paper colours and textures, or import your own photos. 13. Inkist This digital art app for the iPad is currently free to downloadFree Inkist benefits from a simple but stylish interface that's been designed to be highly responsive and artist-friendly. In the app, which is based on its Mac cousin, you build up layers of colour and flatten them down on the background rather than relying on multiple layers. Although it might not be to everyone's taste, for many traditional artists, this will be of real benefit. Inkist has a range of simple, customisable brushes. Support for pressure-sensitive styluses is available natively (accessible through the ever- present tool palette) so you do have some more flexibility with your strokes, although with a standard stylus we found simple, quick taps were not always tremendously effective. 14. Adobe Illustrator Draw Express yourself in vector format wherever you go with Adobe Illustrator DrawFree Adobe Illustrator Draw is a digital sketchbook that enables you to express yourself in vector format wherever you go. The app has a simple UI, designed for quickly sketching out ideas and concepts. It offers a range of features, including simple vector-based drawing tools with separate drawing and photo layers as well as being able to sync to Adobe's Creative Cloud. With this feature, you can also download Adobe Illustrator compatible files and work with them. The app enables you to draw perfectly straight lines and geometric shapes, rename layers, and use shapes from Adobe Capture CC. An enhanced perspective grid also lets you map shapes to a perspective plane. 15. SketchBook Artists of any skill level can create digital art with SketchBookFree SketchBook by Autodesk is one of the most popular iPad art apps with digital artists. As you'd expect from Autodesk, SketchBook has all the swagger of a pro-grade painting program, but with an experience designed for those looking to create art on the iPad. There's a wide range of digital pencils, pens, markers, and airbrushes to choose from, all accessed via a simple but intuitive UI that lets you pin toolbars to the screen for easy access. It's flexible and fast, too, enabling you to work with layers, transparency options, annotations and advanced blend modes. With Dropbox integration plus the ability to import and export Photoshop-friendly files, it's an ideal iPad art app for working on the move. With a good stylus, a good digital artist can create a variety of art on the iPad, from a quick sketch to a more involved and detailed digital painting. 16. Procreate $9.99/£9.99 Procreate incorporates an unobtrusive UI with easy access sliders, which enable you to quickly adjust the size of your brush/opacity as you work. It saves time and lets you concentrate on what you're painting rather than getting distracted by pop-up menus. Like many of the other iPad art apps here, there's an easy-to-use colour picker (with customisable swatches), layer options, a fast and responsive zoom, good smudging/blending options and great undo functionality. Procreate has over 120 brushes available by default, with 12 pre-set brushes featuring advanced 'paint loading' and 'wetness' settings for a more realistic look. Plus there's a built-in a brush editor for creating custom brushes, which enable you to define brush shape and grain. Procreate is a powerful app. In the right hands, it will let you create some truly stunning digital art on the iPad. See our Procreate 4 review 17. ArtRage $4.99/£4.99 Like the PC and Mac versions, the ArtRage app for iPad art is overflowing with options. There's a variety of canvas presets and paper options, plus a wide array of brushes, pencils, crayons, rollers, and pastels. In its quest for realistic art on the iPad, you can paint directly onto the screen or apply a glob of paint with one tool and smear it around with another. ArtRage also features a dedicated watercolour brush option, which can produce some striking effects. Once you've familiarised yourself with the interface, it's easy to change brush sizes, bring up the colour picker, work with layers and blend/smudge different elements together. Unfortunately, there's some noticeable lag when moving and scaling your artwork. This takes the shine off what is an incredibly flexible painting program for creating iPad art. 18. ArtStudio $4.99/£4.99 While its interface isn't as intuitive as some of the other iPad art apps here, ArtStudio for iPad rewards patient exploration of its features. And it's jam-packed with them. There are over 20 different brushes, various different canvas sizes and options that include layers, layer masks, filters and effects. ArtStudio also includes step-by-step drawing lessons/tutorials plus the handy ability to export your artwork to Photoshop for further fiddling. 19. Auryn Ink $2.99/£2.99 Auryn Ink is a dedicated iPad art app for watercolour painting, and it has a limited set of options when compared to many of the meatier apps here. That said, it has most of the basics covered for watery art on the iPad. You can pick different tip shapes for the brushes and specify different bristle effects. You can also adjust the texture of the canvas and the amount of water on your brush. The end result of using this iPad art app is a realistic watercolour, with paint that fades as you paint with it, mimicking the effect of the paper soaking up the ink. 20. Brushes Redux Free Legendary artist David Hockney has been spotted using the Brushes app when creating art on the iPad. It's an oldie, but a goodie, designed specifically for Apple's tablet and now updated with the 'Redux' suffix. Using a basic toolbar at the bottom of the screen, you can bring up a colour wheel/picker, work with layers and switch between various brushes. Best of all, perhaps, Brushes is fast and responsive to the touch so it's easy to work quickly. A useful feature of Brushes is the ability to record each brush stroke, enabling you to play back exactly how you created each piece of iPad art via the Brushes viewer. 21. Inspire Pro At first glance, it's difficult to see what Inspire Pro offers that its rivals don't. But play around with it and you'll soon discover that this is one of the more intuitive iPad art apps available. Before you know it, adjusting the paint load and customising brushes (by rotating the bristle pattern) becomes second nature. What we like most is the dynamic colour picker. Simply press and hold a colour you've already used and Inspire Pro will switch the current colour to the new selection. It's UI design elements like this that make for a fluid and fast experience. 22. Sketch Club Create cool digital art with Sketch Club's great toolset$2.99/£2.99 Sketch Club has a great set of tools for creating beautiful digital art. The app has a unique set of flexible digital brushes (44 in total, but more can be made), pens, vector tools, old school pixel art, and fun procedural tools. Sketch Club has an uncluttered user interface, with lots of settings to customise the app to your own unique preferences. A particularly great feature of this app is the integrated online community. Here you can upload your sketches to let others rate and comment on your work, as well as enter daily challenges and fun weekly competitions. Related articles: 10 sketching tips 100 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials 9 iPad Pro apps that make the most of Apple Pencil View the full article

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