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Having a website or app that simply looks good isn't going to cut it. Your users want to use apps and services that are intuitive and easy to use when they interact with them. Learn the key to creating engaging designs with the UI and UX Design Bootcamp. You can get it on sale for just $39 (approx £29). The UI and UX Design Bootcamp is a set of six courses packed with more than 39 hours of amazing design training taught by experts who know the topic best. For anyone interested in web and app design work, this bundle is a can't-miss resource that will teach you the principles of creating engaging and interactive design. It doesn't matter what you’re creating or what platform and tools you're working with – you'll pick up important concepts to help improve the functionality of your designs and keep your visitors coming back. You can get the UI and UX Design Bootcamp on sale right now for just $39 (approx £29). That's a 96% saving off the full retail price of $995 for a bundle that will improve your design projects, so grab this deal today. The six courses included in this great bundle are: Become a Senior UX Design Strategist Rapid Prototyping with Ionic: Build a Data-Driven Mobile App Android Design: Learn UX, UI & Android Marshmallow How to Build Habit-Forming Products Mobile User Experience: The Complete Guide to Mobile Mobile UI and UX Design 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

Plein air painting – or painting outdoors – is a method that has been used by the masters for centuries. That alone can make it seem intimidating. We're here to help you demystify the outdoor painting process and the gear. We'll also show you how painting en plein air will help you improve all aspects of your artistic work, including your ability to paint colour and light. Plein air painting isn't just for serious artists – it's for anyone who wants to get out in nature and have some fun. How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorialsIn this workshop we'll cover the gear that will make plein air painting comfortable and portable. We'll take a look at the keys to composition and how to hone your observational skills, then we will walk through a step-by-step painting out in the real world. Let's get started. 01. Get the right gear Don't go out until you've gathered all your gearThe equipment you use can determine whether or not you enjoy your plein air experience. You want everything to be as portable as possible. This Kelty Redwing backpack designed for trail hiking is great because it has room for everything and is comfortable. You will need a lightweight tripod as well as a pochade box to mount to it – a pochade box is a small box that unfolds and holds paintings and supplies. You may also want an umbrella to block out direct sunlight. 02. Choose your tools Use whatever paint you want, but gouache will make your life easiestPlein air painting is suitable for any medium. Gouache paint is water soluble, dries quickly and is easy to transport, so is a good one to try. Holbein gouache or Winsor & Newton gouache and only two or three brushes, are all the paint kit you need in the field. Work small, usually around 5 x 7in, and always start with the biggest brush, such as a 1-inch flat. Work down to small brushes as you get into details. A hot press illustration board is ideal for gouache. 03. Pick a location Find somewhere remote to avoid awkward conversationsBoth urban and natural settings offer a wealth of great subjects to paint, and you will be able to practise and learn the same amount from either. Do you like privacy when you're out creating your art? If you aren't comfortable with strangers commenting on your work then you probably want to head deep into nature and avoid busy streets. A good tip is to wear headphones if you want to avoid chatting with passers-by. On the other end of the scale, you could carry business cards in case people are interested in purchasing your paintings. 04. What should I paint? Look for good lighting and a subject that you can paint in the time you haveOnce you've picked a location, scout the area for a subject. Look for great lighting, but keep in mind that it may change quickly. Also consider how much time you have – don't pick something complicated if you only have 30 minutes to paint. Don't be afraid to focus on small subjects like a flower. It's a good idea to snap a photo of your subject when you first start to paint, in case you want to finish at home. 05. Set up for success Set your gear up so that everything you need is immediately to handA great plein air set-up will put all of your supplies at your fingertips. Your pochade box should be able to hold your paper or canvas, as well as a palette, towel, water, brushes, and at least a few tubes of paint. You don't want to interrupt your flow every few minutes to dig up a brush or colour. Pour out plenty of paint and mix any major colours you need before you get started. 06. Find an interesting composition Never forget the rule of thirdsYour composition is perhaps the biggest factor in whether or not you create a successful painting. Use your fingers to form a viewfinder to frame your subject, then transfer the framing to your canvas as quickly as possible in a simple pencil sketch. Using the rule of thirds and avoiding tangents will go a long way to getting a decent composition. 07. Work big to small Paint rough shapes with your biggest brush, then work in increasingly fine detailsTry painting with the largest brush possible, for as long as you can. This will help you to see shapes instead of details, and will make you focus on the overall colour and value relationships of the image. We demonstrated this technique in depth in our Capture natural light in your paintings post. When you feel like you simply can't get the detail you need with the large brush, jump down to a slightly smaller one, but avoid hairline brushes for as long as you can. 08. Observe colour Don't be afraid to exaggerate coloursOne of the most common problems for beginners is properly identifying colours. It's a lot harder than it sounds! We all know red from blue, but when you begin to get into the muddy world of browns, greys, and purples, things get a lot more complicated. Shadows can be warm, light can be cool... there are no hard and fast rules, just try to observe and exaggerate colour when necessary. 09. Just try things out Sometimes it's good to get out of your comfort zone and experimentNot every painting you do will be a masterpiece, but that's how you know you are pushing yourself. It's important to leave your ego at home and take some days to mess around. Try a new brush or a different type of paint. Set up a page of tiny thumbnails to study colour relationships. Try working big. Try mixing media. Find out what works best for you. 10. Pace yourself Be aware of how long you have, and pace your process to matchIt would be wonderful if we could spend all day painting outdoors, but chances are you will have a limited window of time. A couple of hours is enough to create a painting that captures all the major elements of most scenes. If you know you only have 30 minutes, you can approach things differently and might even be pleasantly surprised at how much looser and more alive your work feels with limited time. This article originally appeared in Paint & Draw issue 9. Buy it here. Related articles: Capture natural light in your paintings 10 tips for painting vibrant water Paint wet-on-wet in oils View the full article

'You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!' were the immortal words from Charlie Crocker (aka Michael Caine) in The Italian Job. They also form the title of web accessibility engineer Léonie Watson's upcoming talk at Generate London. But what do they have to do with JavaScript? More than you might think... 20 JavaScript tools to blow your mindIt is often said that JavaScript makes things inaccessible with a screen reader. This is not true, though. It is possible to do good and bad things with JavaScript (as with any other language – and, indeed, as with dynamite). But it helps if you understand accessibility mechanics in the browser if you want to avoid unexpected consequences (like rendering creations inaccessible – or blowing the whole vehicle up). If you have ever used JavaScript to provide keyboard shortcuts, or used the ARIA application role to enable accessible software UI interactions on the web, there is a good chance it had unintended consequences for screen reader users. When Watson, accessibility engineer at The Paciello Group, speaks at Generate London next week, she will be using code examples and screen reader demos. She will take a look at accessibility mechanics in the browser, the new Accessibility Object Model (AOM) JavaScript API, and how to use JavaScript so that you only blow the doors off. Make sure you grab your Generate ticket now before they sell out! 21 top examples of JavaScript 10 reasons to attend Generate London 2017 Léonie Watson on making accessibility integral to web design process View the full article

You're reading From Prototyping to Design Systems: Exploring an All-In-One UX Tool, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Look around the design space today and you’ll find dozens of prototyping, wireframing, and UX tools. In fact, it seems like a new tool pops up every couple weeks. What if there was the “one tool to rule them all”? That’s exactly what UXPin aims for when it comes to simplifying the UX workflow. UXPin started […] View the full article

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-security-avast/hackers-compromised-ccleaner-free-software-avasts-piriform-says-idUSKCN1BT0R9 … View the full article

The words ‘stock imagery’ bring to mind cliches such as 'Woman on telephone in call centre,' 'People shaking hands' and 'Man with furrowed brow in front of laptop.' But is that all that stock libraries have to offer? It’s certainly the case that there are some poor stock images out there, not to mention poor uses of otherwise good quality photography. But that doesn’t mean that you should discount the very real strides stock libraries have made in recent years in creating high-quality imagery that can help bring your designs to life. Here we examine some of the biggest myths surrounding stock imagery, and why they’re just plain wrong... Myth 01: Stock photography lacks authenticity 'Exercising with kettlebells gym' by Ryan J Lane The overly polished, glossy and unrealistic stereotype of stock imagery is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Search for stock images today and you’ll find a range of realistic representations of how people today really live and interact. Freelance graphic designer and illustrator Gavin Campbell believes that this change has been driven in part by demand from creatives. “I’ve been using stock libraries for about 16 years,” he says. “There’s always the issue of having 'stock that looks like stock’, and I think that over the last 10 years there’s been a great need for me to get hold of stock that doesn’t look like stock; that looks more creative. So I think it’s getting better.” Myth 02: Stock imagery is unprofessional Sophie Ebrard is a commercial photographer who’s been approached by stock image librariesYou’ll often hear from designers and agency heads that they never use stock, because their clients wouldn’t accept it. But ask yourself: has a client really ever complained about the use of a stock image – or even had any clue about where an image came from? Or are you just putting your own preconceptions into their mouths? Because the idea that stock imagery is of necessity low quality is probably more in your head than anything else. “I think there’s a shift, so photographers now really care about the images that they put on stock libraries, as if they are images they would use for their own portfolio,” says Adobe’s Richard Curtis. “Photography is a very challenged market right now,” he points out. Everyone’s got a camera, everyone thinks they are a professional photographer. So I think the opportunity for photographers is to take stock seriously. The difference is quality.” Photographer Sophie Ebrard is living proof of this. “I am a commercial photographer who makes money by doing advertising campaigns,” she explains. “I’ll also shoot my personal work and on the side I’ve been approached by a stock company that wanted some of my pictures. When advertising agencies present work to clients, let’s say Corona, they haven’t shot the pictures yet, but they want to show the work in order to present it to the client – so they need to have that image ready.” Myth 03: Stock imagery is homogeneous 'Mixed race lesbian family portrait' by funky-data Advertisement It’s easy to associate stock imagery with smiling, airbrushed models and happy, 'perfect' nuclear families. But that’s very much not the case any more. In today’s stock libraries you’ll find representations of humanity in all its diversity, including single parents, gay parents, stay-at-home dads, mixed race families and blended families. This is partly a reaction to changing social trends, but it’s also about stock providers driving change themselves. For example, iStock by Getty Images has been been actively collaborating with LeanIn.Org, the women's empowerment nonprofit founded by Sheryl Sandberg, to eradicate stereotypes in stock images and present positive role models of today’s women. Myth 04: Stock imagery is a cheap knock-off These days, photographers are taking stock seriously, says Paul SandersUsing a stock image in your designs is certainly cheaper than going out and organising a bespoke shoot for yourself. But that doesn’t mean there’s anything cheap about the product itself. In fact, pro photographers are making good money out of stock these days – more so than other areas – and so are keen to put the effort in and do the best job they can. By way of example, photographer Paul Sanders notes in Professional Photography issue 17 that when he was picture editor of The Times, “There was a chap who came in and said, ‘I want to make money in news photography.’ I said, ‘There is no money in news photography. You get paid £160 a shift and some expenses and that’s it. 'If you want to make money, go to London, photograph all the street furniture, all the signs, all the road signs, all the stuff on the pavements that say, Cycle, Give Way and everything. Put it with a stock library and you’ll make money from being in newspapers. Your name will never appear next to any pictures in a newspaper, but you’ll make money from it.’ And he phoned me up about 18 months later and said he’s making £65,000 a year – this was 10 years ago.” Photographers wouldn’t be making this much money if they weren’t providing the kind of images that people are looking for, so why not check out stock libraries and see what all the fuss is about? Myth 05: Stock is just about photography Stock image libraries now often offer illustrations, video and icons If you assumed that all you could get from stock libraries was stock photography, then think again. Stock video footage, including 4K videos, stock illustrations, stock icons, stock textures and more are all on offer. In fact, some libraries are now even providing 360-degree stock video for your virtual reality projects. In short, If there’s a design asset you’re looking for, you’ll probably be able to find it in a stock library. Take a look at some of the cool visuals on offer in our 7 sources of free design inspiration from stock libraries post. View the full article

The biggest shopping event of the year, Black Friday 2017, is just around the corner – and we're here to help you snap up the best Currys Black Friday deals for designers, illustrators and artists. Last year there were offers on LG and Samsung TVs, HP laptops and even coffee machines for those times when you need to burn the midnight oil. Currys Black Friday 2017 is probably going to include similar bargains – and better – for design studios, freelancers and students, so read on to learn how you can cash in. The best Amazon Black Friday deals 2017What Black Friday deals can you look forward to? With a little bit of detective work, we can make a strong educated guess as to what the retailer might offer this year. On Currys' very own Black Friday page they're keen to point out that last year's popular deals (including Dyson vacuum cleaners, HP laptops and Samsung TVs) are due to be topped. So if you're after a new screen, headphones or monitor, Black Friday 2017 is the time to check in and start buying. Just be sure to be online at midnight on 24 November so that you can catch the best deals. It's worth pointing out that Currys' price promise states that the shop "won't be beaten on any price". You can guarantee the team will be working hard to have the very best Black Friday 2017 offers available – and that includes for designers. Currys best Black Friday 2016 deals As we mentioned above, the best deals from Currys Black Friday 2016 included discounts on LG and Samsung TVs, coffee machines, Dyson vacuum cleaners and HP laptops. For designers, though, one of the best discounts was on the Lenovo IdeaPad 510 15.6 inch laptop, with Currys offering a saving of £160.99. If Currys is true to its word and plans to outdo its deals from 2016, there's a good chance there will be similar laptop discounts. On top of this, 2016 also saw some juicy discounts on HP all-in-one wireless inkjet printers. Combined with a discount code, shoppers were able to grab the HP ENVY 4524 All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer for just £31.50. How to get the best Currys Black Friday deal Great offers are all well and good, but unless you know how to get them into your shopping basket there's no point in knowing they exist. For Currys Black Friday 2017, you're going to need all the buying-know how possible to secure those deals. Looking at last year's highlights is a good indicator of what to expect. During Currys Black Friday 2016, the offers went live at 12am, with five orders being placed per second during peak trading. Some 48 per cent of visitors made transactions over a mobile device. So if you're going to nab a bargain from Currys this Black Friday, do yourself a favour and dodge the crowds by ordering from Currys online. You'll want to stay up late to get a head start (this is also a good time to put that cheap coffee machine your picked up in last year's sale to use), plus you can also register on the Currys site for the latest info and updates of their promotions. Don't forget, with Currys, Black Friday is more than a one day event. Last year there were 10 days of Black Friday discounts. They're likely to spread the offers over an extended period again this year, so don't be disheartened if you can't secure a deal straightaway. That's all we've got for Currys Black Friday 2017 for now, but be sure to check in with this page closer to the time for your first look of the best bargains for designers, illustrator and artists. View the full article

If you’re looking to take your digital art to the next level, investing in the best drawing tablet for your needs and budget is essential. Sure, a standard tablet combined with a decent stylus – or an iPad Pro with iOS 11 – can be used. But buying a dedicated graphics tablet gives illustrators and creative professionals far greater flexibility. Of course, there is a huge range of drawing tablets on the market. From powerful, feature-packed drawing tablets that come with high resolution touchscreens and advanced features, to mid-range and budget graphics tablets that find a balance between price and power, it can be tricky to choose the best one for your needs. Also, some drawing tablets display your artwork on their touchscreens as you draw, while others plug into your PC and display your illustrations on the monitor. The first option is better for artists who like to draw on the move; the second is more affordable, and enables you to see your work on a larger, higher resolution screen. To help you pick, we’ve curated the best drawing tablets right here – so you’ll be able to find the perfect graphics tablet for your needs. Wacom is a name that will be familiar to most digital artists – and for good reason. Its excellent range of drawing tablets dominate the market. The Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 is the company's most impressive offering yet. The feature-packed graphics tablet has been specially designed for professional creatives. It boasts a gorgeous, high resolution screen that's a joy to draw on thanks to the impressive Wacom Pro Pen 2 stylus, along with powerful components that keep the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 feeling responsive. Colour accuracy is excellent, making the tablet fit for high-end print production work. And if you feel the 13.3-inch, WQHD display is a little too restrictive, you can get a 16-inch model with UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution instead. Read more: The incredible Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 is also a 3D scanner Wacom chalks up its second appearance on our list of the best graphic tablets with the excellent Wacom Cintiq 13HD. Balancing cost and quality, this is a serious piece of kit. As well as a responsive, pin-sharp and highly accurate screen, the Wacom Cintiq 13HD is very comfortable to use. And despite the 13HD Touch's party trick of being finger-operable, the star of the show is Wacom's bundled Pro Pen, which comes with six nibs and offers 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition. The Cintiq 13HD also features the familiar-to-Wacom-users ExpressKeys, which are fully customisable and are a real boon for Photoshop work particularly. Read more: Wacom Cintiq 13HDr review The Huion 1060Plus Graphic Tablet is our pick of the best drawing tablet for beginners. It has a low price, yet comes with enough features that you won’t find yourself held back once your ability and confidence grows. The graphics tablet works with both Windows and Mac machines, and despite its low price, still performs well – offering a quick response time as you use the stylus. The stylus itself isn’t as feature-packed as ones that come with (more expensive) Wacom graphics tablets, but it does the job well. It also comes with accessories including an artist glove, anti-scratch cover and more, making it an excellent choice for your first drawing tablet. If you’re on a tight budget, but don’t want to make too many compromises, then the Huion H610 Pro Graphics Drawing Pen Tablet is an excellent choice. Its low price and lightweight design mean it’s the ideal tablet to sling into your bag while you travel. It connects to your PC or Mac via a USB cable, and it comes with a good array of features despite its budget price, such as built-in keys along the side of the workspace, and a rechargeable stylus that comes with five nibs. This doesn’t come with the stylish design and build quality of more expensive drawing tablets, but considering its price, you get plenty of features and a solid performance from the Huion H610. This year’s iPad Pro is an excellent choice if you’re looking for an Apple-made tablet. Sure, it’s not a dedicated graphics tablet, but the fact that the iPad Pro can be used for other tasks as well as drawing means that despite its high price tag, it could be a canny investment. It doesn’t come with a stylus included, but you can use third party ones – or Apple’s own Pencil stylus, which along with a huge range of apps available from the App store, means you can comfortably use the iPad Pro as a drawing tablet without making compromises. As we’ve come to expect from Apple devices, the screen is excellent, and although the large display size makes this a big tablet to carry around, it’s also incredibly thin and light. Overall, this if you're looking for an Apple-made graphics tablet, this is a well built and desirable device. Read more: iPad Pro 12.9 (2017) review If you’d rather have an Android-powered tablet that can double as a drawing tablet, then the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is an excellent choice. It comes with Samsung’s S Pen stylus, and the screen is responsive enough to draw on. The Google Play Store is home to a huge amount of digital art apps as well, and there’s the flexibility that comes with a tablet that can also browse the web, send emails and much more. You may find the screen size a little cramped, but it’s bright and vibrant, with very good colour accuracy. It also means that the size of this tablet is kept down, making it easy to carry around with you. Read more: TechRadar’s Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 review The XP-Pen Artist 10S is the best graphics tablet for anyone looking for something that's small, light and highly portable. Thanks to its small design, you can carry it with you everywhere for when inspiration strikes. The design means the screen size is also shrunk, as is its resolution, but it’s a price worth paying for if you're after the ultimate portable graphics tablet. Buttons along the side of the screen enable you to quickly change settings on the go, and the drawing experience is responsive and accurate with the included stylus. There are a few niggles here – it’s a bit more complicated to set up and requires two USB cables to connect to your PC. And you may find you need to tweak a couple of settings to get the best results. But with it all set up and ready to go, you’ll be very pleased with the XP-Pen Artist 10S. Also read: The best laptops for photo editing View the full article

Brought to you by Bristol-based creative company thread Events, Something Good is a new festival-style event promising two days of inspirational talks and practical workshops. Taking place on 6-7 October, the event aims to celebrate “the magic of the creative process”. It'll see huge industry names descend on the south-west city, including queen of colour Morag Myerscough, minimalist designer Anthony Burrill, quirky Swedish design studio Snask, digital and analog artist Brendan Dawes, Spitting Image plasticine sculptor Wilfrid Wood, the city’s own Gavin Strange of Aardman animation (aka JamFactory) and more. Creative Bloq readers can get 20 per cent off talk and workshop tickets with the code: CreativeBloq20. To give you an idea of what to expect from Something Good, we caught up with Ben Steers, founder of thread Events. The festival boasts a stellar speaker lineup Putting on a brand new event must be exciting and nerve-wracking – what made you decide to create Something Good? Ben Steers: With thread, our mission was to create a series of events that harnessed the creative community of Bristol and the South West. The events are designed to be comfortable, open and diverse, while creating a space for creatives to come together, meet and get inspired. After a year and a half, and seven sell-out events, with talks (and quizzes) from the likes of Jon Burgerman, Mr Bingo, Animade, Hey, DesignStudio and ustwo, we’ve been blown away by the popularity of the events and the feedback we’ve had from guests. Morag Myerscough will speak about her creative process on Friday 6 October The next question was a fairly natural one: can we go bigger? In a city with a thriving creative community, which is famous for its diverse range of festivals, it seemed strange that there wasn’t a festival dedicated to the creative arts. Our mission, therefore, was to bring the ethos of thread to a larger audience and create a festival that focuses on, and celebrates, the magic of the creative process. We wanted to avoid it feeling like a conference, and instead, create a design festival that is exciting, inspiring, comfortable and open to everyone. What are you most excited about for Something Good? BS: All of it! For the inaugural year we’ve got some brilliant speakers coming from across the UK and Europe, including the likes of Anthony Burrill, Morag Myerscough, Snask and Trapped in Suburbia, super talented creatives and studios in their own right. We’ve also got a load of stuff going on throughout the day, as well as a number of surprises planned for our guests. It’s going to be a lot of fun. How is it different to other design events? BS: For a start, we’re not using the ‘c’ word: ‘conference’. The ethos of Something Good is laid back and comfortable, creating a space for creatives to come and enjoy inspiring talks and workshops while having a good time. We’re planning the whole experience around the festival, from the moment guests arrive on the Friday morning, to when they leave a workshop on the Saturday. It’s two days of creative events across the city; that’s something that hasn’t been done before in Bristol. Learn to make plasticine portraits with satirical sculptor Wilfrid Wood on Saturday 7 October Bristol has an incredibly vibrant (and perhaps competitive) creative scene. How does setting the event there affect the event’s format and content? BS: It does indeed and it’s something the city should be really proud of. I’m super proud to be part of the creative community here and there’s definitely less ego and bravado here than somewhere like London. I’ve always found the creative community to be very open and friendly, with people willing to get involved and help where they can. It’s part of what makes this city so great. See the Something Good speaker lineup See the Something Good workshop schedule The Snask team are coming over from Stockholm to speakBeing a Bristol festival, we’ve made sure that there’s plenty of diversity across the programme of events. We’ve got a really diverse team of creatives, who work across various different disciplines, speaking on the Friday, as well as a really varied programme of hands-on workshops on the Saturday. We’re also collaborating with some great local creative businesses and there’ll even be some live music to boot. You’ve managed to score some pretty big names, how did you lure them away from London? BS: Simple: we asked! It’s a bit of a cliche, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get. A good example was how we managed to secure Anthony Burrill. When we originally asked him, he was a little unsure. So I travelled to London to a Nicer Tuesdays event he was speaking at to try to convince him that it’d be a good idea. Luckily he’s a really nice guy so he didn’t need much convincing. Anthony Burrill will share his creative process in a talk and teach an intimate letterpress workshopFor others coming from outside the UK, including Snask, we were really surprised at how up for it they were. I think having a clear vision for the festival, and a good-looking identity for the festival, helps. We had a hit list of creatives that we wanted on the lineup (some were pretty ambitious) and we’ve managed to get the majority of them, which is great. The open workshops around the city sound really fun and inclusive, what was the thinking behind them? BS: That’s great that you think that because that’s exactly the vibe we were trying to acheive: fun and inclusive. The reason for the two days and the format of talks on the Friday and workshops on the Saturday, is that we give people the opportunity to get inspired and then get their hands dirty the following day. Make your own linocut tarot cards in artist Sophy Hollington's workshop on Saturday 7 OctoberOur aim was to create a programme of workshops that was diverse and covered a range of creative disciplines. Run by creative practitioners, workshoppers will get an insight into their working process, while learning new skills. Can you tell us any more about the talks – what themes do you expect to hear? BS: The focus of the talks will be on the blood, sweat and tears behind the work. Our guests can expect to get an insight into how these creatives work and how they developed their style; how they tackle commercial briefs and tricky clients; as well as creative side projects and what keeps them stimulated outside of work. Catch Something Good on 6-7 October, and get 20 per cent off the price of talk and workshop tickets on the Something Good website with the code: CreativeBloq20. Related articles: 25 names every graphic designer should know The best laptops for photo editing Top 20 new creative tools of 2017 so far View the full article

https://www.digitallife.gr/apistefto-idi-polountai-maskes-ypnou-gia-tin-prostasia-apo-tin-klopi-taftotitas-meso-tou-face-id-tou-iphone-x-81343 … View the full article

Users who run four different types of VMware products, ESXi, vCenter Server, Fusion and Workstation, are being encouraged to update to address a series of vulnerabilities, one critical. View the full article

Every autumn, Computer Arts celebrates the best branding from around the world at its annual Brand Impact Awards ceremony – which took place on 14 September at the Ham Yard hotel in London’s trendy Soho. The results are on display in an extra-special edition of CA, which showcases 47 world-class projects: 16 of which are highly commended, with just 11 of them outright winners. Buy Computer Arts issue 271 now But it’s not just about bringing home trophies. Making the BIA shortlist at all is no mean feat, and the special report at the core of CA issue 271 taps the wisdom of all 32 shortlisted agencies. Print readers can also enjoy two foils on the cover – a sophisticated matt gold, and a striking shiny copper are a nod to our Winner and Best of Show trophies. There are also two colourways: slate grey, and subtle cream. You can watch a making-of video, filmed behind the scenes at CA's print finishing partner Celloglas, here: Diversity in design The BIA ceremony puts many top creative directors in one room for an inspiring showcase of branding at its best. However, events like these can also highlight the relative lack of diversity at the upper echelons of our industry. With this in mind, and following a recent government report that further emphasised the dominance of white men in the creative sector, we’ve grasped the nettle to explore some of the barriers in place for people to enter and progress through the industry, plus advice to help your studio encourage a more diverse pool of talent. Also in issue 271 of Computer Arts In our video profile, DixonBaxi reveals why it pays to be creatively restless CA's junior designer manual series continues with a guide to retouching images Plus: the best new graphic design, illustration and motion work from around the world Subscribe today to secure your next special issue Next month is another special issue, as CA reveals the top 50 in the fourth-annual UK Studio Rankings – the result of an extensive peer reputation survey of over 80 creative directors. The collectable glow-in-the-dark cover will be designed by the number-one agency on the list, but you’ll have to wait to find out who that is: subscribe today to guarantee your copy! View the full article

Hailing from the heart of the Lake District, Derwent is the quintessential UK brand when it comes to artists’ quality pencils. Derwent has been crafting pencils since 1832, so should know a thing or two about what makes a good one. Always drawn to perfection, its previous coloured pencil ranges have been highly acclaimed among pencil enthusiasts worldwide, made famous by the company's innovative approach to product ranges, pigment-packed leads and top-quality wooden shafts. Following Derwent’s popular Artists, Coloursoft and Studio ranges comes the brand-spanking new Procolour range for 2017. Available in an array of tin quantities, there’s a set to fit most budgets and any of these would make a handsome addition to your studio set-up or sketching kit. Pencil performance The 72-pencil set should definitely be on the studio wish-list, though. This comprehensive set is presented in two vac-form trays tiered within a sturdy metal tin, perfect protection for carting about across dale or on a more urban trek. UK: Get Derwent Procolour Pencils tin of 72 US: Get Derwent Procolour Pencils tin of 72 The tin itself is adorned with the new Derwent branding of the dark-blue toned Union flag design, which makes it instantly recognisable and looks pretty cool, too. The product design makes for a pencil that feels substantial, with each one having a sturdy circular shaft that slots well between the fingers. They look the part too, sporting a sleek matte-grey body embossed with silver type declaring the country of origin, brand, inventive moniker, a handy reference number (for when you drop the lot and need to put them back in order) and finally a lovely gloopy wedge of colour for quick and easy identification. The wooden shafts and leads sharpen effortlesslyWhen it comes to pencils the proof is always in the drawing and the new Derwent Procolour don’t disappoint. Due to its substantial design, the pencil sits comfortably in the hand and its sturdiness gives you the confidence to wield it with unabashed fervour. The lead also feels well balanced on paper. Not too waxy (you can get softer pencils from Derwent if that’s what you’re after) and not too brittle. The high pigment levels are evident from just the lightest of touches, and applying increments of greater pressure gives a wonderful gradation of pure colour without pushing into the surface of your paper or support. The pencils obviously blend wonderfully, but the colours might be best served using a build-up of cross-hatching that allows the purity of each colour to sing out. Sharpening is also a doddle with the wooden shafts and leads reacting effortlessly to a quality metal sharpener or scalpel. There’s a special relationship we artists have with what goes on between the tip of a pencil and our minds’ eye – it’s a subtle balance of trust and experience. If you’re new to the world of pencils, you won’t go far wrong with Derwent. And if your allegiances lie elsewhere, it might be time to gift yourself the chance to try something new. UK: Get Derwent Procolour Pencils tin of 72 US: Get Derwent Procolour Pencils tin of 72 This article originally appeared in Paint and Draw issue 9. Subscribe today. Related articles: How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials How to hold a pencil correctly How to improve your character drawing View the full article

The concept for this project, Mushroom Goblin, comes from a drawing by my friend Adrian Smith. I have been working on making this concept into a 3D printed collectible for the site Industria Mechanika. Prep your work for 3D printing: 8 top tipsI used ZBrush to create a 3D sculpt, Polypaint for quick texturing and V-Ray for rendering. I will share my entire process with you, explaining how I took a 2D concept and turned it into a 3D illustration. 01. Study the drawing The original concept for this project is by Adrian Smith Before diving into any project, it’s important to do what I call a ‘warm up’ to get the hang of the character. This warm up could be drawing the character from different angles or messing around with clay for some basic forms, for example. Warming up first means that the digital sculpting process becomes more free-flowing. I also try to draw roughs of the character in T-pose if not provided in the concept so that I can get a good sense of the proportions. Always try to nail the proportions of a concept because they are what make the character look cool in the concept art. You can modify the original later if required, but it’s a good idea to stick to original proportions at least at first. 02. Create a base mesh Sculpt a base mesh using ZSpheres I usually make a base mesh in Maya and get it ready to be sculpted in ZBrush, which is kind of an old-school method. But for this project, I use ZSpheres to make the base mesh. Zspheres mean I can quickly extrude body volumes and create an armature in minutes. This armature acts as my base mesh. You can choose whichever method you like to get your basic mesh. 03. Basic sculpting Keep checking the concept when sculpting I start sculpting basic forms on the base mesh, but only add secondary forms after I feel it’s time to unwrap and pose. The rest of the detailed sculpting can follow later. It’s important not to hesitate when changing proportions and forms in the process. Keep visualising the form, check how it reads in the concept art and try to fill in the third dimension. A good understanding of anatomy is essential while sculpting a character. So if you don’t know much about anatomy then at least refer to reference. 04. Retopologise model Using Maya's Quad Draw Tool is a quick way to retopologise Retoplogy of the basic sculpting can be done directly in ZBrush. I used to prefer TopoGun but I now I tend to use Maya’s latest Quad Draw Tool, which is really handy and quick. Try to capture mid-level details while retopologising to get better results after subdivisions. This is also useful when projecting details later. 05. Sculpt secondary details At this stage, focus on getting the details right Secondary forms help to add details to the existing primary forms by giving it a more finished look. So when you zoom out, the primary forms should read neatly, and when zoomed in a bit, the secondary shapes should just complement rather than supersede. 06. Unwrap your model There is more than one method for unwrapping your model There are various ways to unwrap your model. I use Maya for basic unwrapping and then UV Master in ZBrush. I define the seams of the UVs where necessary in Maya, and then in ZBrush press Unwrap, keeping the existing UVs, and it’s done. ZBrush does the relaxing of UVs quite effectively, especially if the seams are defined properly. 07. Pose using Transpose Master This model is posed sitting on a mushroom After unwrapping the model, I start to pose the character using Transpose Master – a simple masking method – and the rotate tool. It’s not always 100 per cent accurate, but is a quick way to get a pose for illustrative purposes. Posing will help you realise if you need to make any further changes to the proportions – do so now if necessary. After posing there will be areas to clean up. Next, you can move onto adding more details. 08. Add detailing The artist created some of his own alphas for this stage For detailing, again it’s important to retain the secondary shapes and any detailing should complement the forms instead of just using of random alphas. I use the DragRect stroke with alphas. 09. Polypaint in ZBrush Polypainting adds instant life and realism to the model Polypaint in ZBrush is an amazing tool that helps to quickly paint over your model in layers. I use the Spray stroke and Alpha 07 in ZBrush to paint the basic colours to get the overall character covered. Then I keep adding layers of colours and strokes until I feel that it’s close enough to the concept artwork. 10. Extract maps Some of the maps used for this project Multi Map Exporter in ZBrush helps to extract different maps as required. I usually extract some basic maps such as diffuse, specular, SSS, displacement and normal maps. These maps can be then be used to plug into the various render engines. I use V-Ray for this. 11. Set-up in Maya Scaling various elements of your project is vital Using a real-world scale for your models helps you to get accurate results when rendering. But sometimes you have to deal with scaled-down models for specific needs. My goblin character is around two-feet-tall when standing up and in this case, the lighting, exposure, and other factors need to be adjusted accordingly. I don’t recommend using displacement maps if your machine is not super-powerful. Instead, it’s better to export a decent high-res model from ZBrush and normal maps, especially if it’s for a fixed camera angle. That way, you will get quicker results. However, if your machine is powerful enough, then you should go for displacement maps. For this project, I have varied subdivision levels from subtool to subtool exported as per the distance from the camera, which is fixed in Maya. 11. Render in V-Ray Keep testing before finalising the lighting set-up I use VRayLightRect and VRayLightSphere lights to light the scene. Now it’s time to test lots of rendering before finalising the lighting set-up. I place a few area lights from the top. Their intensity and angles vary. Not all of the lights actually light the character. There are a few that are exempt from lighting different parts and a few are included to light the hidden areas. This is not a traditional three-point lighting set-up, but it works for the look I am aiming for. For the grass, I used VRayFur, which is super-fast and gives decent results with a few tweaks. 13. Start compositing A selection of render passes done for this project I do various render passes in Maya with V-Ray, including Diffuse, Specular, SSS, ZDepth and fur pass. It’s also good to have a selection pass, which is helpful to select regions in Photoshop. Play around with the Layers in Photoshop and try to go through and check all the filters (I use Dissolve, Multiply and Overlay between different Layers) to get the desired output. It’s fun. For me, there is no specific method to achieve a specific look. I’m always experimenting and the compositing process is constantly evolving for me. This way of working often leads to happy accidental results that I try and embrace if I can. 14. Final render Colour correction adds the finishing touches Once I am happy with the final look of my piece, I usually export a high-res .tiff file as the master file. Then, with all the Layers merged, I try to colour correct a bit more to enhance the overall look. Usually this means playing around with the colour balance settings in Photoshop until I’m totally happy with my project. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 224. Buy it here. Related articles: Sculpt realistic anatomy in ZBrush The 10 best ZBrush plugins Top tips for sculpting a creature in ZBrush View the full article

Studying design is about crafting a great design portfolio that will wow potential employers, right? Well, yes. But don't discount the importance of astute creative thinking, and expressing yourself eloquently through the written word. In short, your design dissertation matters. "I don't believe that design students should be focused entirely on portfolio work," argues Myrna MacLeod, programme leader for Graphic Design at Edinburgh Napier University. "They should also be able to demonstrate an interest in the contexts that underpin their work, and the histories and connections that have informed our practice." 5 top tips for graduate designers"Think of a dissertation as an opportunity, not a burden," urges Craig Burston, Graphic and Media Design course leader at London College of Communication (LCC). "It gives us visually-minded people an opportunity to demonstrate that we too can construct arguments and distil complex notions." As Burston points out, this is not just an academic exercise: the power of persuasion is often key to success as a commercial designer. "Clients seek clarity, and project concepts or proposals need to be put into context," he says. Read on to discover some top tips from leading tutors and their students for nailing your design dissertation first time… Treat it like a design brief "A great dissertation should be a designed artefact, and portfolio-worthy in its own right," believes Burston. And like a design brief, it should be about solving a problem: "Make sure it has clearly stated aims, strong focus, and doesn't lack opinion or rhetoric," he adds. "The value of a designed dissertation as portfolio piece is that it is a holistic view of the individual," agrees Sarah James, senior lecturer in Visual Communication at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB). "It shows, type, editorial, research, and aesthetic skill, as well as the personal interests and convictions of the individual." For her AUB dissertation on responsive type, Maarit Koobas conducted an extensive research processJames identifies AUB student Maarit Koobas, who investigated responsive type in both her dissertation and final project, as a particularly strong example of this. "Her design version was one of the most authentic, restrained and elegantly expressive I have ever received," she enthuses. Koobas conducted a huge amount of initial research into both the contexts in which responsive type can be seen – such as advertising, product design, science and material cultures – and the theories behind its analysis, including semiotics, philosophy and politics. "Creating and analysing ideas, before they end up in your portfolio, is what design is all about," argues Koobas. Write about your passion "To develop essay questions, AUB students are asked to consider what they love, hate, or are puzzled by in their practice – essentially, what moves them," explains James. "A poor dissertation is inauthentically chosen for ease as opposed to interest," she adds. "It rambles and blusters, using complex language to mask insufficient research." "You can tell a mile off when the writer isn't interested," agrees Burston. "How can you expect the reader to care about it if you don't? Write about something that reflects your interests, focus and direction. I've read fascinating dissertations on topics as diverse as patterns in nature, and Brutalist car parks. Make me interested in what interests you." Research by Napier graduate Fiona Winchester on typography in graphic novelsFor Edinburgh Napier graduate Fiona Winchester, this topic turned out to be typography in graphic novels. "I love reading them, but I think people still don't take them seriously as an art form, which is a shame," she says. For her dissertation, she conducted qualitative interviews using modified pages with and without imagery (shown above). Her advice is simple: "Narrow down your idea to be precise as possible. The smaller your question, the easier it is to research and try to answer it." If you're struggling to get the ball rolling on the actual writing process, Winchester advocates starting with whichever bit you have ideas for. "If you're stuck, it's so much easier to write in whatever order it comes to you, and then edit it into a dissertation, than to try write straight through from beginning to end," she insists. Don't be afraid to talk to people "I always think my students get the most out of the new streams of knowledge they find from talking to people," says McLeod. "It breaks down barriers and allows them to find answers to problems. Hopefully they will adopt that approach when designing for people also." In some cases, this can involve interviewing your design heroes: "Students are very surprised when they send a question to Stefan Sagmeister, Milton Glaser or Michael Wolff and they reply with the most precious nugget of knowledge," smiles McLeod. But remember: it's your dissertation, so don't get lazy and expect your interview subject to do all the heavy lifting. Kaori Toh's CSM dissertation on Mapping as a Creative Agency: Revelations and Speculations in the Age of InfrastructureIn other cases, it could be as simple as asking friends or family to help proofread. "It is quite daunting writing such a large body of text," admits Kaori Toh, a recent graduate from Central Saint Martins, whose dissertation explored the politics of design and technology. "I often felt I'd get lost in all that text and research," she confesses. "Therefore, I would often send my drafts to a couple of friends to have them look through, and keep my writing cohesive." Reflect on your design practice Most of all, dissertations are an opportunity to reflect on, and develop, your creative process as a designer. "Ultimately, it's your job to make your work relevant and credible, and the dissertation helps you learn how to do this," adds Burston. Of course, writing doesn't always come easily to visually minded people – and Burston highlights the fact that dyslexia is not uncommon amongst designers. "You're not on your own – in our profession, quite the opposite in fact – so do seek academic support, and just enjoy thinking and writing about 'stuff' that informs your practice," is his advice. Entitled New Faces, Tom Baber's thesis at LCC discusses the craft of type design in the 21st century, inspired by his own experience creating a working typeface: Elephant GroteskOne of Burston's stand-out students from this year, Tom Baber, welcomed support from the university to help with his dyslexia. Baber's dissertation focused on type design, and particularly the extent to which the longwinded design process is worth the effort, compared to using an existing typeface. "I saw it as an opportunity to approach other type designers and see what they thought. Turns out I'm not the first to ask the question," he smiles. "Writing my dissertation helped me change from a 'maker' mentality to a 'designer' mentality, and be more critical of my ideas." Related articles: 15 things they didn't teach you at design school The skills every design graduate needs 5 alternative routes into design education View the full article

Adobe applications are still the gold standard for designers after all these years. These are the tools you'll absolutely need to know how to use if you want to get work as a graphic designer, and you can master these programs with Graphic Design Certification School. Get it on sale for 96% off the retail price! You're going to need to have at least some familiarity with Adobe products if you want work as a graphic designer. The Graphic Design Certification School will teach you how to make the most of Adobe's powerful design tools – including Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. You'll get tons of actionable lessons that will teach how to take your ideas and bring them to life on screen. You can also get certifications to prove your skills after each course you complete! The Graphic Design Certification School is valued at over $1,197, but you can get this incredible bundle of courses on sale for 96% off the retail price! That means you pay just $39 (approx. £30) for a bundle that will help you improve and certify your skills, 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

Fonts come in all manner of designs – retro fonts, handwriting fonts and script fonts, to name a few. In this article, we're focusing on brush fonts, which can add a playful, human approach to your designs. Plus, they look great printed. Here, we've scoured the web to find 20 top examples of free brush fonts to put to good use in your projects. Enjoy! 01. Atmosphere Atmosphere's slightly dry brush texture really brings it to lifeThere are plenty of reasons to love Yasir Ekinci's brush font, Atmosphere, not least that it's free for both personal and commercial use. The font features both uppercase and lowercase characters, as well as numbers and all the punctuation and symbols you'll need, all of them hand-drawn with an authentic and wonderfully scratchy brush texture. And as an added bonus, Yasir has thrown in a set of 20 watercolour splotches to help liven up your work. 02. Rustico Rustico is a great statement font with an energetic feelMade by Hustle Supply Co., Rustico is a bold brush font that's designed to help you make an eye-catching statement, whatever you're creating. Free for both personal and commercial use, its all-caps letterforms are drawn at a slight italic slant, and the rough and realistic brush texture gives Rustico a lively and energetic feel. 03. Westfalia Westfalia provides an authentic hand-drawn feel with its messy edges and varied line thicknessA hand-painted, free brush font, Westfalia was created by the team at Pixel Surplus. Providing an authentic hand-drawn feel with its messy edges and varied line thickness, Westfalia is great for any outdoor and exploration-themed design work. 04. Wild Youth Wild Youth is a modern font with the distinct influence of adventure and the great outdoorsWild Youth is beautiful hand-drawn brush font from designer Jeremy Vessey. Available on Behance, Wild Youth is described as 'a modern font with the distinct influence of adventure and the great outdoors'. Perfect for logos, quotes, stationary, apparel and much more, Wild Youth is free for both personal and commercial use. 05. Banaue Banaue is a handwritten brush font with a homemade lookHand brushed by Ieva Mezule, Banaue is a handwritten free brush font with a homemade look. The name is taken from the Philippines, Banaue being a place in the north where rice terraces stretch around mountains, hence the lady in the blue raincoat, a local rice planter, featured in the main image. Banaue features 104 characters, with all the basic glyphs. 06. Brusher Brusher is a bold and modern brush fontCreated by Vlad Cristea and Raul Taciu, Brusher is a bold and modern brush font. It includes 100 glyphs (including full uppercase and lowercase sets) crafted with precise strokes and smooth lines to give a fresh, modern look. The uneven letter sizes and shapes create a pleasingly hand-drawn effect, while still remaining neat and controlled. 07. Summer Hearts Summer Hearts brush fonts is great for a variety of print and digital projectsSummer Hearts is a hand-painted, all-caps brush typeface designed by Hustle Supply Co, aka Jeremy Vessey, a type designer based in Charlottetown, Canada. The slightly spiky nature of these letterforms would make this free brush font great for a variety of print and digital projects, including posters, branding and logo design. 08. Selima Selima is free for both personal and commercial useThis font was designed by Jroh, is a creative agency based in Aceh in Indonesia. Selima is beautiful and elegant brush font, which is free for both personal and commercial use. Its curved letterforms are combined with slightly raw edges to give a haphazard, free feel. 09. Rissa Rissa is perfectly suited to stationery, logos and much moreWith an authentic brush, handcrafted feel, Rissa is perfectly suited to stationery, logos and much more. This free font comes from Maulana Creative, a graphic design and typography collective from Indonesia. 10. Kust Kust was created using a thick brush using pure black inkKust was created by fashion designer and painter Ieva Mezule. The letters were drawn on hard paper with a thick brush using pure black ink. Featuring 80 characters, every letter has a unique structure, with a distorted look. Next: 10 more great free brush fonts 11. Beacon Beacon is a beautiful hand drawn fontBeacon is a wonderfully fluid serifed typeface created by Cuong Truong Van. Free to download for both personal and commercial use, this font is packed with idiosyncrasies that are sure to add some personality to your work. We particularly like how the open letters and uneven curves give this font a rough wobbly finish. 12. Ampad Brush This scratchy font comes in different stylesThanks to its fading brush marks, Ampad Brush creates a distressed look as the letters appear to be scraped across the screen. Made by Gene Gilmore, Ampad Brush is the go-to typeface if you're looking to inject a sense of horror to your artwork. Ampad comes in four different styles, so you can pick the best one to suit your project. 13. True Lies Create slick, edgy text with True LiesScreeching over the page like a car burning rubber, Jonathan Harris' True Lies font is free to download for personal use. As well as covering the alphabet, thie typeface also includes numbers, symbols and punctuation marks. With a gritty, uneven finish and not a serif to be seen, True Lies is sure to make your text look rough and ready. 14. Goatskin Brush Add a touch of Asian influence with this flowing fontThe broad ink strokes in Måns Grebäck's Goatskin Brush are ideal for artists looking to add a splash of Asian influence to their work. Carefully simulating the type of marks you would expect to find in East Asian calligraphy, Goatskin Brush is the best of both worlds as it adapts the style to fit the English alphabet. Including uppercase and lowercase words, plus a selection of punctuation marks, Goatskin Brush is a must-have typeface for your toolkit. 15. Surfing Capital Surfing Capital has a suitably washed out lookLooking as if it's been bleached by the sun, Surfing Capital is a pleasant, relaxed font created by the Branded Quotes. Thanks to the different layers of shading, Surfing Capital has a greater sense of texture than your average typeface, making it a sure-fire way to add a spot of personality to your message. 16. Levi Brush This paint splatter-style font comes in two free varietiesThis free brush font was designed by the Romanian designer Levi Szekeres. The paint splatter holds similarities to album covers from David Guetta's 'One Love' to Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida'. A variation called Levi ReBrushed is also available for free and includes variations on the paint splatter. 17. Brush Hand New Brush Hand New is a refinement of Edwin W Shaar's Flash BoldBrush Hand New is a free brush font based on Flash Bold, a typeface created by Edwin W Shaar in 1939. K-Type's New version simplifies, lightens and smoothes out ragged edges. Outlines are improved to remove any remaining harshness, resulting in softer, smoother flowing glyphs ideal for titles and display purposes. 18. Paint Hand Distorted brush font Paint Hand is ideal for child-focused designDistorted and ragged, Paint Hand is a free brush font designed by Ursula Hitz from Switzerland. The typeface we feature here is playful and ideal for child-focused products or content. Hitz has cultivated diverse talents in typography, graphics and cheese making. Since moving to London a decade ago, her work has focused on location and place, and has been exhibited in a range of galleries. 19. Cylburn Cylburn offers a nod to the art of sign paintingCylburn is a semi-connected script by Dai Foldes. Cylburn structurally based on Roundhand but written with a pointed brush and restrained tension that separate it from its traditional roots. Dai Foldes lives in Baltimore, applying his background in painting to lettering and type. We love this free brush font for its balance between the imperfect hand and pixel perfect rendering – a nod to the art of sign painting. 20. Mothproof Script Mothproof Script has a visual weight similar to traditional blackletter formsMothproof Script is a expressive and broad calligraphy typeface designed by Diego Quintana. This free brush font has a visual weight similar to traditional blackletter forms, with better legibility. Quitana is a self-made freelance graphic designer and self-taught web programmer. He enjoys projects that try to change and move people over selling them products. Related posts: 7 new typography tools for 2017 How to choose the right typeface for a brand 20 perfect font pairings View the full article

An agency’s online design portfolio has to tick a lot of boxes. It needs to present a wide range of clients and an impressive breadth of skills. It needs to showcase what it can do for new clients in the digital space. It needs to be good looking and user-friendly. It needs to make full use of large, high-end screens but also work well on small ones and low-bandwidth connections, as well as conforming to accessibility standards. In truth, not more agency websites can claim to have a perfect scoresheet in all of these areas, especially accessibility. But that doesn’t stop us from learning from, and being inspired by, the areas they do score highly in. In this post, we look at seven of the coolest new sites from agencies in the Big Apple this year. We hope they inspire your own agency websites. 01. BRAVÒ BRAVÒ’s new website makes it clear what they’re all aboutBRAVÒ is a multidisciplinary team of creatives led by Ivan Olita, specialising in developing films for both editorial and commercial outlets. Based on West 16th St, its impressive rosters of clients (including Adidas, Hugo Boss, Condé Nast, Campari and Rémy Martin) is usefully listed on the homepage in the centre. Appropriately enough, this is set against some beautiful video backgrounds, so you’re left in no confusion about exactly what BRAVÒ is about. 02. Form& Form&’s new site is beautifully art-directedBased at 200 Hudson, Form& creates innovative, high-end branding for clients including Ebay, Havas and World of Watson. Its new website is beautifully art-directed, with sparing use of huge type, a wonderfully off-kilter layout and an uber-confident use of white space. There are some kinetic bursts of movement, from the most unexpected directions, to keep things interesting too. 03. Croscon Croscon’s site makes brilliant use of geometric shapesCroscon is a digital product studio that specialises in designing and building digital businesses, located at 134 W 26th St. There’s a smart focus on geometric style on its new website, which carries forward from the homepage throughout the site. The inventive method of presenting screengrabs from projects, shown in the example above, is used across all the case studies, and adds an original touch to a colourful and attractive website. 04. Zero Studios Zero uses full-screen imagery to create a cinematic viewing experienceZero is a digitally driven design and branding studio based at 442 Broadway, with clients as diverse as Stones Throw Records, Dune Resorts Branding and Concord Music Hall. Rather than the normal approach of chucking lots of imagery on their homepage, Zero’s new site simply lists the clients, making for a cool looking monochrome experience. Hover over any one of them, however, and a beautiful piece of full-screen photography or video appears. It’s a cinematic approach that really pays off and marks Zero out as a studio with creativity in their DNA. 05. Coop Brand CO OP’s new site makes it easy for you to find what you’re looking for, quickly and easilyWith studios in New York (at 75 Broad Street) and Boston, CO OP is a full-service creative company with the tagline 'We Make Brands Work'. Its new website presents everything in a fairly standard image grid, but it’s an elegantly constructed one, with some nice transitions on hover. The studio has also done a stand-up job of categorising everything so you can find what you need quickly: you can filter either by type of work (industry, real estate, media, and so on) or capabilities (visual identity, art direction, photography). 06. The Future Forward The Future Forward’s site has some quirky touchesBased in Brooklyn, The Future Forward is a creative agency helping brands achieve greater influence through strategy, design, and technology. And it's got a smart and slightly quirky new website for 2017. The grid-based homepage makes full and unrestrained use of the colourful and high-end photography from their various projects. We also love the cute little symbol in the top-left corner, which spins when you jump from page to page, and that the site is '© 2021'; a cheeky little reference to the company's name and associated ethos. 07. Canvas United Canvas United’s retro-themed website riffs off the notion of new technologyWith clients including Showtime Networks, Credit Suisse, BBC Worldwide, and Estee Lauder, Canvas United is a full-service digital agency located at 104 and 5th. While some agency homepages assault you with a blast of vibrant colour, Canvas United’s new website takes a somewhat different route. Riffing on the notion of being at the cutting edge of tech, it uses a fuzzy and distorted black-and-white video background to add a touch of the avant garde. Combined with a retro-futuristic colour scheme and typography, it works quite brilliantly, and is carried through the whole site with admirable consistency. Read more: 10 brilliant image-led portfolio sites for 2017 Create the perfect design portfolio: 30 pro tips 8 common portfolio mistakes (and how to fix them) View the full article

Anton & Irene will be presenting a special 'Concept, Create & Sell!' workshop at Generate London next week. Here are Irene Pereyra's three favourite websites... The Goldfinch Made by This Page Amsterdam Maybe I’m biased because I am Dutch, or maybe it’s because we all love to root for the underdog, but a site that celebrates a small tiny painting of a tiny bird in a grand scale really tugged at my heartstrings. I knew the painting, but before diving into this interactive experience I did not know the painting was by Fabritius, who is widely considered to be Rembrandt’s most talented pupil. As you scroll through the site, beautiful and simple animations reveal contextual and historical content for the user – like how back in the 17th century goldfinches were kept as chained pets in small cages, never allowed to fly. We also discover how the goldfinch appeared in other historical paintings, and what its role was in Christian symbolism. The musical score sets the right tone and the interactions invite you to dive deeper into a story you never thought you’d be interested in. You come away from the experience feeling like you’ve learned something new and a newfound appreciation for something you may have never otherwise noticed. Shantell Martin Made by Anton & Irene Shantell is a good friend of ours, and also a fantastic and influential emerging artist who is known for her playful, illustrative drawings. So we wanted to create something playful and original that didn’t follow current web trends and really captured her and her style while also giving fans a way to personally interact with her artwork, beyond just case studies. At the beginning of each chapter there’s a Campaign Status ticker showing the amount of money donated to this cause so far. This makes it clear the issue is not someone else’s problem, and moves this project from simple storytelling to advocacy. You navigate around her ‘body of work’ and zoom in and out of the website’s sections that are positioned around her body. The art on the interactive homepage reacts to the user’s mouse movements, and by clicking on the word ‘play’ you launch a hidden Easter egg panel where you can control the way the illustration reacts to your interactions. A is for Albert Made by Studio Lovelock Inspired by his first child, creative director Joe Lovelock created a typographic homage to parenting that takes the viewer through all the letters of the alphabet accompanied by little stories that all parents can relate to. When I first saw the site, I was immediately drawn to the flat, geometric illustration style and the simple animation. The big letters are all made of circles, squares and triangles, and the illustrations are made of simple shapes. The colour palette combines in multiple ways but remains consistent in every variation. And yet the words, and how they animate to tell a story, are what really makes this project sing. By the time I got to the bottom I was double impressed by the fact that this was a labour of love, an unpaid side-project that was done in-between client work. When I contacted Joe and asked him why he decided to do this personal project, he told me that he really just wanted to do something for his own satisfaction that would let him push his skills further, without any of the constraints from a commercial brief. He also thought it might garner some attention for the studio, and that long shot panned out – Studio Lovelock is currently working on animations they’ve won directly off the back of this project. This article originally featured in issue 293 of net magazine. Buy it here. Anton & Irene will be presenting a special 'Concept, Create & Sell!' workshop at Generate London next week. You’ll learn how to sell your idea, make a convincing argument, tell a compelling story, and present effectively in front of a large group of stakeholders. There are a limited number of tickets for the workshop still available. Make sure you grab your ticket now before they sell out! Interview: Anton & Irene 5 Classic designs that inspire Irene Pereyra Irene Pereyra on the USA Today redesign View the full article

Equifax divulged on Wednesday that the culprit behind this summer's breach of 143 million Americans was an Apache Struts vulnerability, CVE-2017-5638, patched back in March. View the full article

The Vecteezy Editor is a free vector editing suite that runs right in your browser. This tutorial covers the basic shape tools and editing tools you can use to edit any vectors on the site. This way you can build badges, buttons, logos, or anything else with relative ease. The GUI for this editor feels similar to Adobe software, so if you already use Photoshop or Illustrator, you'll have an easier time learning the ropes. But even complete beginners can dive into this and pick up the basics from scratch. Get Adobe Creative CloudWe're going to use these shopping icons from Vecteezy. Just visit the icons page and click the 'Edit & Download' button. This opens the editor right in your browser so you can customise and build upon these graphics. For this tutorial, we'll show you how to nab some of these icons and convert them into a larger progress bar graphic – the perfect choice for any eCommerce homepage. So with those shopping icons open in the Vecteezy Editor, we can get started! 01. Pick the icons Click into the icon group and select one icon, then click Duplicate at the topDouble-click on the icon group to select all the icons (you might need to double-click twice). I'll use three specific icons for this tutorial: the shopping bags, the credit card and the gift box. Select the shopping bag and click Duplicate at the very top of the page. This should give you a duplicate of the whole icon. Move this up towards the top and duplicate the other two. Note: the gift box isn't fully grouped, so when you click to duplicate you'll only select a piece of the icon. To fix this, just drag a selection box over the entire gift icon, then at the top click Edit->Group. Now, you can duplicate the whole present icon with one click. Once you have duplicates of all three icons, double-click anywhere on the empty canvas. This brings you outside the group of icons so you can select other objects on the page. If you click any of the older icons, you'll select the whole group. This is perfect, because you'll want to drag them down off the canvas so they're out of sight. 02. Clear the rubbish Change the background opacity if you want it to be white instead of transparentDouble-click on each duplicated icon to access the individual shapes inside. We only need the main icon, so you should select and delete the colourful circle backgrounds and drop shadows. To do this, simply zoom in very close and select the background circle. Then press Delete, and it should disappear. If the entire icon disappears – don't panic. Just click Undo near the top or press Ctrl/Cmd+Z and try again. You may need to double-click to get inside the icon group. By the end, you should have three clean icons ready to use. If you don't like the transparent background you can always access the Background panel in the left-hand menu (third button down) and increase the opacity to 100 per cent for a pure white background. 03. Adding text Add text labels under each icon with the same font settingsThis progress bar will be incredibly simple; just advertising three stages of an eCommerce shop. To emphasise this process, let's add labels underneath each icon. In the left-hand toolbar, find the Text tool (second button) then click underneath the bag icon to add a text block. Add the text 'SHOP' and hit Enter on your keyboard. This auto-selects the text so you can move it around and find a good position. But if you select the Text tool again, you can change the font family, colour, size, letter spacing and other features. I'm using Open Sans Semi-Bold size 30 with a -1.50 letter spacing. Text colour is #525252. Duplicate this text twice and place the duplicates under the other icons. Use the text 'PAY' under the credit card icon and 'RECEIVE' under the gift box. You should use the Select tool for repositioning the icons above the text. Also, space each icon close to equidistant apart if possible. 04. Adjusting graphics Shift+click to select the ribbon shapes and change the background colourBefore creating the progress bar, you can alter any colours you like in the icons. To do this, double-click to enter any icon group, then select whatever shape you want to change. In this case, I'll edit the gift box ribbon to change the colour from blue to green. Once you're inside the icon group, hold Shift while clicking to select more than one item at a time. I'll select the horizontal and vertical rectangles, plus the bow shape at the top. In the Select panel (first icon in the left-hand menu) find the Fill settings. You'll see the default colour is #2e3192. Click that Fill menu to access a drop-down colour wheel. Here, you can either drag around to find the colour you want, or enter a hex code directly. Enter #518531 and hit Enter. This should save the result and update all three shapes at once. Feel free to play around with any other colour settings you'd like to change! 05. Starting the progress bar Click the top-left circle in the Elements panel to add a new circle to the canvasTo create a progress bar, you only need two shapes: circles and rectangles. Thankfully, both of these are available in the Elements panel located at the very bottom of the Tools menu. Click to Elements panel and select the circle shape, which is the very first item in the list. It'll automatically place a dark grey circle in the centre of your workspace. You can resize the circle by dragging the little white square boxes in the corner or the select boundary. This works well, but it's not as precise as the direct resizing feature. So instead go back to the Select tool and make sure your new circle is selected. At the very top of the Select tool panel, you should see a selection size with a height and width value. Enter 100 in both fields and drag your first circle under the first icon. 06. Duplicating circles Resize the circle and duplicate twice, then move them under each shopping iconWith your circle shape selected, click Duplicate in the top menu. Now, reposition this duplicate so it aligns closely with your original circle. Try to get it right on top of the first circle so they look like one shape. Now, if you hold Shift and click, you can drag this duplicate circle in a straight line horizontally. This lets you perfectly align all your circles together in a straight line (or close enough to one). Do this until you have three different circle shapes at 100 x 100, each placed underneath the three icons. 07. Add some connecting lines Select the rectangle shape and arrange it behind the three circlesMove back to the Elements panel and find the square shape. Click to add one square onto the canvas. With this shape selected move back to the Select tool and find the width/height size panel. Since this rectangle should span the entire width of the progress bar, we just need one really long shape. So change the height to 10 and the width to whatever number you need to connect all your circles together. Mine is 750 wide. Now, with this rectangle in position, look towards the bottom of the Select panel where it says Arrange & Flip. Click the second icon in the top row, which lets you move any selected shape behind the other shapes. Note: you may have to click the Lower button a few times to get the rectangle behind all three circles. But now the connecting rectangle is only visible between the circle shapes, so we can add text into the circles later. 08. Recolouring Recolour all the shapes and include a small stroke on the three circlesThe current progress bar looks a little dark, so let's alter the colour a bit. Click to select the long rectangle and find the Fill Settings in the Tools panel. Change the colour to #c5c5c5 and hit Enter. Now, click anywhere off-canvas to deselect the rectangle. We also want to change the circle colours, and they should be lighter, using the darker grey as a border colour. Hold Shift, and click each of the three circles. Adjust the fill colour to #f5f5f5, hit Enter and then click the X icon to close the fill colour select panel. Below, you'll find stroke settings. Change the stroke fill to #c5c5c5 and hit Enter. Click the X icon to close this colour selection panel, then change the stroke size to 6. At this stage I also recommend grouping all the circles and the rectangle together by dragging a selection box and going to Edit>Group. Now, you can adjust the position of all shapes at once with ease. 09. Adding progress steps Add a text label into the first circle and duplicate the text for all three shapesLet's add some numbers into each circle to finalise the progress bar design. Click the Text tool and enter the number 1 into the first circle. I'm using Open Sans Extra-Bold, size 45 with the colour #c5c5c5 to match the borders. Drag this text so it's positioned in the centre of the circle. Duplicate the text element and move it into the second circle with the text '2'. Do the same for the third circle with text '3'. 10. Highlight the first step Recolour the first circle blue so it appears like the active progress stepAs a finishing touch, let's highlight the very first step using a lighter blue outline. First select the number '1' you just created, and change the fill to #4976a3. Then click to select the circle behind the text. Find the Stroke Settings and change the stroke colour to #4976a3. This should add a dark blue border around the circle. With the circle still selected, click the Fill Settings and change the colour to #e2ebfa. And that's it! Now you can export this as a PNG/JPG using the Download feature in the top-right corner. You can also hide the white background to export this as a transparent PNG and change the overall document size using the Background panel (third button in the left-side menu). Or if you'd like to save this for future changes, just go to File>Save For Later. You'll have to create a free Vecteezy account but it's a great way to keep your hard work saved for future reference. This article originally appeared in net magazine issue 295. Buy it here. Read more: 10 golden rules for responsive SVGs Explore the exciting new features in SVG 2 Supercharge SVG animations with GSAP View the full article

WPP, the world's largest communications services group, has announced that five of its top brand consultancies and design agencies are being merged to create a massive new global brand agency. The new agency will have a network of 750 people in over 20 countries, with client billings in excess of $100 million worldwide. 25 logo design tips from the expertsIt might seem a strange decision to create an enormous new agency at a time when the trend seems to be for small, agile operations staffed by a handful of creatives at most. But WPP says that the decision has been made as part of a client-centric plan for growth. "It will enable clients to engage with a wider array of specialists, provide a more connected set of services, and will make the strategic, creative and client-focused excellence of each of the five agencies accessible at scale," the company explains in its announcement. The Partners' branding for the London Symphony Orchestra won Best of Show at the Brand Impact Awards 2017One of the five agencies involved in the new super-agency is The Partners, which triumphed at the recent Brand Impact Awards 2017, winning the Best of Show accolade for its work with the London Symphony Orchestra. It also scooped the prize in the Entertainment category for its Arte branding, created alongside another agency that's part of the merger, Lambie-Nairn. As well as The Partners and Lambie-Nairn, the other agencies coming together will be Brand Union, Addison Group and VBAT, and each one has been chosen to bring a specific strand of expertise to the new Voltron-style branding outfit. The Partners and Lambie-Nairn also won in Brand Impact's Entertainment category, with their work for ArteWPP explains: "It will combine Brand Union's strategic strength and global influence, The Partners' award-winning creative excellence, Lambie-Nairn's unparalleled history in identity and motion graphics, Addison's unique understanding of corporate audiences, content development and digital delivery and the premium packaging offer of VBAT (which will continue to operate under the VBAT name)." The new agency will be led by Jim Prior - currently CEO of The Partners and Lambie-Nairn - as Global CEO, and Simon Bolton - CEO, Worldwide of Brand Union - as Executive Chairman. As yet it doesn't have a name, but there's plenty of time to sort that out, as it's not launching until January 2018. Related articles: How to craft a brand voice How to build a brand the KLF way How to create effective brand guidelines View the full article

Heading off to uni this year, and looking for recommendations for books to keep you inspired? Or just bored of the set texts on your reading list and keen to expand your mind further? 26 books every graphic designer should readThe following five books will add real-world context to your studies, give you that extra spark of inspiration, and help you hit the ground running as a more rounded designer when you enter the industry. 01. How to be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul Adrian Shaughnessy is a no-nonsense bible for design studentsDesign consultant and writer Adrian Shaughnessy’s seminal text is a no-nonsense career manual to help lead you through the perks and pitfalls of the modern design industry. As the title implies, at the core is the premise that once you graduate and take your first steps into professional life, there’s a risk of settling into mindless and unfulfilling bread-and-butter projects if you’re not careful. Shaughnessy’s book is a manual for independent-minded designers who prefer to work on something more meaningful and rewarding, and as such is packed with the kind of advice you won’t get taught at college. This revised 2010 edition includes chapters covering professional skills, the creative process, and global trends: including green issues, ethics and the rise of digital culture. 02. A Smile in the Mind Beryl McAlhone, David Stuart and Greg Quinton update the seminal design guide of the 90sA Smile in the Mind was fast-established as one of the most influential design books when it was published in 1996, and was given an overhaul 20 years later under the watchful eye of The Partners’ ECD Greg Quinton. While How to Be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul will shore up your business savvy and get you ready for the machinations of the industry, A Smile in the Mind is visual stimulation for the mind: a springboard for ideas-driven design. Ultimately, the book establishes wit as the magic ingredient to develop a truly engaging brand, as illustrated by an extensive selection of inspirational projects from around the world over the last four decades. All told, a great reference for developing and strengthening your ideas. 03. Branding In Five-and-a-Half Steps Track the process of a design mogul as he graciously reveals his processJohnson Banks’ recent ‘open-source’ rebrand of Mozilla put the award-winning agency’s thorough creative process firmly in the public eye, inviting comment and critique from the public at large. In a similar spirit of transparency, creative director Michael Johnson lays bare the wisdom of over two decades at the forefront of the branding industry with his 2016 book Branding In Five-and-a-Half Steps - an invaluable manual about the creative process. For Johnson, there was a perfect sweet-spot in between the many dense tomes on brand strategy, and the equally prolific inspirational showcases - a book that demystifies the links and overlaps between the two, and is both practical and inspirational. In it, he breaks down the five steps in Johnson Banks’ branding process - including a fluid ‘half—step’ between strategy and design - and explains how it all works, from the perspective of a world-class studio. 04. How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry, and (every once in a while) change the world Michael Beirut: a man of few wordsIf the 10-word title of Shaughnessy’s book isn’t quite wordy enough for your newly established design bookshelf, up steps Michael Bierut to triple it. In 2015, the veteran designer and Pentagram New York partner puts a fresh twist on the conventional monograph here, by treating it as a combination of manual and manifesto. Using 35 projects by way of demonstration, Bierut illustrates the varied role that graphic design plays in the modern world, from his own invariably entertaining perspective. By including rough sketches and rejected ideas alongside the finished work, he also makes the towering success of his career much more accessible to anyone at the start of theirs - and the book is packed with insights into the creative process. 05. Graphic Design Rants and Raves Steven Heller's text explores design from a cultural and psychological perspectiveSo far your new bookshelf will help you refine your creative process and forge a meaningful career in design that’s driven by ideas and substance rather than eye-candy and fluff. Our final recommended addition is also the newest book on our list: a fascinating 2017 anthology of thought-provoking essays by art director, author and lecturer Steven Heller that will help hone your critical edge and question the changing role of design in the wider world. Covering the full spectrum of graphic design and related art and culture, Heller’s 40-plus essays cover everything from the relationship between design and sex to the role of design in the recent US Presidential race. Read these five highly-recommended books, and you’ll be well on the way to becoming a well-rounded, 21st-century designer when you graduate. Related articles: How to become a junior designer How to create the perfect design resumé 100 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials View the full article

You're reading Exit Intent Modal Windows: Design Trends & Examples, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! It seems like exit intent modals are the norm with every major blog, SaaS product, and digital ecommerce shop. These exit intents are modal windows that appear on top of the page once your mouse cursor leaves the website. It’s used as a marketing technique to draw people back to the page, or to convert them into […] View the full article

British designer and artist Brendan Dawes mixes digital and analogue materials to explore the interactions between people, objects, technology and art. As well as authoring two books on interaction design – Analog In, Digital Out and Drag, Slide, Fade – Flash ActionScript for Designers – he's worked for clients including Airbnb, Google and Twitter. Next month, Dawes will be speaking at Something Good – a new two-day design festival in Bristol, UK (Creative Bloq readers can get 20 per cent off tickets with the code: CreativeBloq20). We caught up with him ahead of his talk. How to start a side project: 21 pro tips Dawes was commissioned by EE to create a digital portrait for each city formed from millions of bits of data as people talked and interacted about the biggest events of the day How would you describe your work? The feedback I often get is my work seems very human, even though I work mostly within the digital world, which maybe sometimes can seem quite cold. I'm not sure it's a conscious effort on my part, that's just how I am and how I think about things. Did you have any bumps in the road or make any cringey mistakes in your early career? (Our first commissions article has a classic mistake, for example.) All the time, but that's how you learn. Very early on I'd do work without a contract, which I wouldn't advise anyone to do. But when you're starting out you're just excited to be working on something so you think asking the client to sign a contract might in some way sully that relationship, which of course it doesn't. Also try to avoid working with sociopaths. Do you make time for personal projects, or have any habits to nurture your creativity outside of your main work? Yes all the time, or at least when time allows, though really they're all part of my work output – I don't really separate the two. Often even when I have a deadline I might spend the morning doing something seemingly unconnected because at that moment I feel the need to do something else. That might be something physical, maybe an electronic thing or just simply writing a letter to someone and taking time to get the paper and envelope just right, or it might be writing some code for an idea I have that I might use at some point later on. Personal projects for me are important because they act as a beacon for what I'm about, like the Plastic Player I created, born out of my love of both analogue and digital music and how I might merge the two. That project got quite a bit of attention and so I would encourage anyone else to do the same if you're trying to get your name out there. Exploring Deep Cyberspace – created for The Atlantic in partnership with Seagate – visualised the real-time flow of data through five of the internet's biggest platforms What’s the secret of your success? I wish I knew! I don't think there's any one thing, I guess it's more of a collection of things: put work out into the world that deserves to exist; be prepared to fight for your work; realise that clients are not the enemy – most want to help you make great work; and practice, practice, practice. Also don't be a dick; learn new things all the time; don't worry what everyone else is doing; become an expert (as much as you can) in your own work; stay off Facebook; be curious and be interested in things other than your immediate work; be yourself; and be generous. Local Murmurs was a story-sharing installation for Airbnb at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival How do you deal with vague creative briefs? It's up to me to dig deeper. Have a conversation with the client. I mean an actual physical conversation. When you talk to someone there will be nuanced moments that will arise and they might be the gold you're looking for. That rarely happens on email. Together with that, I sketch what I'm thinking – sometimes in pencil, sometimes as little coded things. I make lots of iterations early on that I show the client, creating something to criticise so that I can get that conversation going. Dawes in front of his EE portrait of LondonWhat sorts of themes or advice can visitors expect from your talk/workshop at Something Good? Well to be honest I'm still figuring out what I'm going to talk about, but I think a theme that constantly runs through my talks is attempting to create work that resonates with people in more nuanced ways rather than huge but vacuous epic moments. If I had a barometer made from film directors, I want to be at the Terrence Malick Malick end rather than the Michael Bay end of the scale. Hear more of Dawes' story at Something Good in Bristol, UK, on 6-7 October. Creative Bloq readers can get 20 per cent off tickets for both Friday's talks and Saturday's workshops with the code: CreativeBloq20. Related articles: Why you should make time for creative side projects Brendan Dawes on stories hidden in data Anthony Burrill interview: Why minimalist design speaks to more people View the full article