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Apple said that macOS' native Gatekeeper security feature would protect against a Keychain attack disclosed this week, but researcher Patrick Wardle said that won't help against Mac malware signed with an Apple certificate. View the full article

When running a design business, it is impossible to underestimate the importance of client relationships. From freelance creatives whose clients are other industry firms, to agencies blessed with rostered regulars – looking after your fee payers should be priority number one. Get Adobe Creative CloudAccording to the great Paul Rand, design is futile "unless it is acknowledged by those that the designer exists to serve – the clients". At its most basic level, a good client relationship means trust, communication and accountability. Client relationships should be a mutually beneficial partnership between you and your client. Your expertise and critical opinion should be valued, while your clients should feel they can trust you in creating the most suitable work for their products. Getting to this stage takes time, hard work and investment in a client relationship strategy, but it is easily achievable for creative outfits of all sizes. Illustration: Ola VoloClient relationships can be an uneven see-saw: you can produce the best work possible, on time and to budget and still lose a client, while you can watch others produce mediocre work and enjoy repeat business. It's unfair, annoying and disruptive. But it is avoidable. Investing in client relationships leads to repeat work, more money and strengthens word-of-mouth promotion. Strong relationships enable the creation of more satisfying, worthwhile projects, which is what all designers strive for and, appropriately, the best way to increase visibility and win new work. In short, strong client relationship skills are where it begins for growing your creative reputation, generating more turnover, and ultimately creating even more fulfilling work. The figures paint an even more convincing argument: according to BDI (British Design Innovation), for every client lost, UK design businesses have to spend around 20 per cent of a project fee on new business activity through promotional means and cold pitching. For repeat work, that figure is zero per cent. Understanding people "Every client is worth holding on to. Winning clients is difficult in itself, so holding onto them is absolutely critical," says Katy Cowan, managing director at Boomerang, the creative agency with a roster that includes retailers, manufacturers and healthcare accounts. "Essentially, business is about people," she continues. "So it's about understanding how to work with people, maintain healthy relationships and be someone that people enjoy working with. Of course, it's also about offering value – ensuring the work you are doing is making a real difference to your client." Winning new clients and establishing a solid working relationship with them takes time and effort, and is traditionally looked after by an account handler or client director. Yet it's vital that all relevant staff are aware of the client and contribute towards the relationship – from creative directors to artworkers. "It's critical that everyone involved in an account knows who the client is, who the contact is, and what the client likes and doesn't like," says Mark Haynes, a new business consultant who was previously client services manager at marketing services company Chime UK. "At Chime, we worked exceptionally hard to get under the skin of our clients' brands, and offer the type of service that fosters trust. You cannot allow even one person to stray off-brief and damage that trust." For agencies and studios like Boomerang and Chime, a client retention plan is critical. This can take the form of a top-sheet of essential client information, for example: contact points for different areas of the account. A more fully-fleshed client retention plan might include a history of the client and the work you've completed for them, as well as a creative overview of the brand and information on any strategic objectives that the client has highlighted. "Being able to pick up the phone and speak to the right person is vital," explains Haynes. "There might be an entirely different person in a different office who has sign-off on artwork, while budgets and strategy are handled elsewhere. You need to keep your communication channels open and make sure you speak to the right people about the right things." It's also advisable to identify some sort of hierarchy and make sure everyone in your business is aware of it. Ideally you need to ensure that, should one of your contact points be unavailable, you know who's next in line to consult. What's more, by identifying a hierarchy within your client's business, you are more likely to be able to cut out 'middle-men' and engage directly with the decision makers - whether that be a creative head, or a strategic or financial manager. Keeping clients Retention plans also generate new business organically. If an initial client brief begins as a rebrand, it can quickly escalate to a full 360-degree project if you prove yourself in the initial stages. "Most of our clients are retained," says Cowan. "The nature of our work relies upon ongoing support, as we provide an iterative service. For instance, we might build a website or app, carry out ongoing user testing and then add new features along the way." Client relationship management isn't about 'schmoozing', as Cowan points out. In fact, very few of those we spoke with gave the impression of Mad Men-style long lunches and big nights out on expenses. Successful client relationships are about communicating and delivering on your promises: basic project management skills. "We have regular meetings and we plan what we're going to do each and every month," says Cowan. "Internally, we use systems like Basecamp to project manage and we'll track time involved using FreeAgent. For some of our clients, we might use software to ensure smooth running – for example, for our social media marketing we use apps like SproutSocial." But don't be tricked into thinking client relationship management is just for agencies and design studios, however. Freelancers too need to treat their clients with care, as the freelance illustrator Steven Bonner points out. "Freelancing is just being a small business-owner so the principles of relationship management are the same," he says. "For me there's no magic to it: you simply treat people well and do what you say you'll do for them. If you deliver on your promises, are accommodating to reasonable requests and can do it all with a smile on your face, then you'll be fine." Bonner is a typographer, illustrator and designer who was won numerous international awards. For him, building and maintaining a relationship is about being professional, and being personable. "You've got to work hard to build relationships, then harder again to make them strong," he says. "It's a small industry where everyone knows each other, so building a good relationship with someone can be a great way of networking and getting a foothold in new companies." Healthy relationships However, it's important to remember that there has to be some give and take. Unhealthy relationships can come about, for instance, if a client never listens to your advice. If that's the case, it might be worth moving on. It's obvious when you find a client with whom you work well, but it's also important to spot bad clients early on. "Clients worth holding onto are those who brief and art direct really well," Bonner says. "Vague briefing and non-existent direction are the bane of a freelancer's life, as they eat into budgets, time and quite frankly, your patience. The good client is the one who understands how to work with you." Managing your client list doesn't just mean picking and choosing who to work with, though. As well as identifying those clients with whom it's possible to have a broader creative relationship, it's also smart to avoid stage managing too much. "It's not something we budget for necessarily, but we do often entertain clients," says Cowan. "It's nice to pop out for a coffee or lunch and offer to pay. I've just had an informal lunch with one of my biggest clients, and it was nice to chat over some sandwiches. Like I said before, business is about people, so offering that bit of give and take always helps to strengthen relationships." Above all else, client relationship management is about treating other people with respect. When your client asks you for a project update; shifts a deadline or drags its feet on a decision, professionalism means you don't get fiery. In fact, according to Bonner, the best relationship technique requires general good manners, and taking an interest in the person as well as the project. "Clients are people too," sums up Bonner. "And people like to deal with people that they can relate to. I'm not saying you need to be their best friend, but it's nice to be able to have a friendly conversation about other things too." Words: Tom Dennis This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 220. Liked this? Read these! Illustrator tutorials: amazing ideas to try today! Create a perfect mood board with these pro tips The ultimate guide to logo design View the full article

Back in September 2015, Google waved goodbye to the serifed logo that had served it well for years. In its place was a chunkier, sans serif typeface, complete with a 'G' symbol used across apps and other web domains. While it didn't take long to get used to the new logo, the 'G' letter symbol has been niggling keyboard critics over on Reddit. Brought to light in a thread by Reddit user A_freakin_t-rex, the images of the symbol (above) question the mathematics behind the shape and colour of Google's 'G' symbol. And while A_freakin_t-rex claims not to have made the image (taking credit only for posting it on Reddit's 'mildly infuriating' board), a stream of comments on the thread shows that other designers have taken issue with the symbol design. But what's the problem with the letter? Everyone can read it clearly; the colours communicate the main Google wordmark. Does a great logo design – or any design, for that matter – always have to be geometrically perfect? A closer look As you can see in the images above, the 'G' symbol isn't quite as circular as it appears on first sight. Where it curves in towards the limb, the bowl is slightly squeezed in as well. On top of that, the angles between the lettering and the colours don't line up. Thanks to grid theory and principles like the Golden Ratio, we know that establishing a set of guidelines for type, and the way in which elements should be positioned within a layout, creates visual harmony and helps viewers understand a design. The problem is that design principles like these are often slapped over photos or pieces of art by commentators as a stamp of endorsement; as if by obeying this set of logical design rules – and this set alone – the image in question is of good quality. Which isn't always the case. And especially with type. Optical vs metrical design A key part of typeface design involves managing the friction between reality (what your eyes see) and optics (what your eyes think they see). Take Helvetica’s ‘H’. The crossbar is positioned ever-so slightly above the centre – but it appears to be central. That’s because for a given weight of line, horizontal lines appear heavier than vertical lines. If you positioned Helvetica’s crossbar mathematically in the centre, it wouldn’t appear to be central. Many letterforms therefore need to be optically corrected so that readers don’t notice reality – the same principle is involved in kerning. Google itself explains the decision on its Evolving the Google Identity document: "The Google G is directly derived from the logotype ‘G,’ but uses increased visual weight to stand up at small sizes and contexts where it needs to share space with other elements." "Designed on the same grid as our product iconography, the circular shape was optically refined to prevent a visual 'overbite' at the point where the circular form meets the crossbar. The color proportions convey the full spectrum of the logotype and are sequenced to aid eye movement around the letterform.” See how Google's real logo (left) compares to a geometrically perfect version by maxt0r (right)To illustrate the point, user maxt0r created a new Google 'G' symbol that stays circular and divides its colours more evenly. The result is a subtly different logo with uneven visual weighting. Other users commented that the real logo has more character. Of course, this isn't the first time a global brand has sparked designers' OCD. Back in 2012, Twitter unveiled a new logo that relied entirely on two different sized circles for the shape of its bird icon. Circles are the secret behind Twitter's current logoAs Google's 'G' symbol suggests, there's a time for maths – and there's a time for optical trickery. Related articles: How to use logos in web design 5 expert tips to design the perfect logo 11 places to find logo design inspiration View the full article

Painting a portrait can be a difficult task. Even if you've mastered how to draw a face, you can easily end up lost in details and jewellery. So before starting anything, have a basic rough idea of the final image. Here, I want to depict a portrait inspired by the Venetian carnivals, but without the mask, because we want direct eye contact. We'll be using Photoshop. Get Adobe Creative CloudLight is a key part in any portrait piece. It's how the character stands out – it brings volume, life and intensity – so it must be carefully worked. The light is challenging here, mainly because of the amount of detail. Indeed, I don’t want the detail to become too distracting, which can soon be the case when there’s a lot of it. Remember – if you're not satisfied, don't hesitate to go back and change the elements you don’t like. Sometimes I even restart the entire illustration. For me, that’s just a part of the painting process – and it’s often for the best! Download your resources for this tutorial 01. Assemble some concept sketches Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the imageThe pencil sketch is an important step. I always do a few of these before starting the real painting, to help me visualise where I want to go. I can quickly add details like the crown, or think about what kind of costume I want for my character. It’s a good base to start from. 02. Create colour thumbnails Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the imageThen I scan the pencil sketch into Photoshop and do some quick colour thumbnails. I pick a harmonious colour scheme and start to mix those colours, to see whether they work well together. The challenge when there are multiple elements is to develop something consistent; I find doing a quick colour sketch really helpful in this respect. 03. Lay down colour blocks Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image I start the face in huge blocks of colour, to quickly get everything placed correctly. I try to develop a lot of colour variations in this area because it’s the focal point of my painting and so it needs to be realistic and feel alive. I mix some red and pink for the eyes, mouth and nose to help achieve this effect. 04. Adjust the composition Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image At this point I change the composition and go for a classic dress instead of a neck ruffle collar. The dress will be covered with colourful patterns and some hints of golden embroidery. I always use a big, round, soft brush to sketch patterns, because I need to blend colours quickly at this early stage. I find it helpful to ensure all the details work as a whole and are well integrated; the soft brush is ideal for achieving this. 05. Develop the carnival-esque crown Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image This portrait is carnival-inspired, so my character will be wearing an outlandish crown with feathers. I start with a pyramid shape made up of many little baroque-style curves. I visualise my idea on another layer and start to correct the previous shape based on this. I want the crown to be completely gold, so I pick a colourful yellow/brown to paint the base. I don’t work up the light yet – before starting that, I need to refine the entire crown and add some texture. 06. Define the facial features Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Now I start to add more details to the face. I work the eyes, add eyelids and eyebrows – this is an important step because it’s now that I decide what expression and attitude I want for my character. I choose to try to make her look mysterious, so her eyes will have a lot of makeup. I use some deep, dark violet to paint the eyelids. I never use pure black for shadows or creases, because that will only make other colours look muddy. Always colour your shadows! 07. Give the skin a sense of texture Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image I’m happy with how the face looks and I can now start to work on texture. For this I use my scribbling technique. I add colour variations and volume all over the face with a one-pixel, Hard-edged brush. I work the light and shadows, but also on some details such as the eyelids. This is a long process but I like the final render – once it’s smoothed it adds a lot of tiny texture or grain. A speckled brush also gives this effect. 08. Design the costume Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image I want my character to be colourful, so I create a specific pattern for her dress with turquoise and red. I keep the design simple because I don’t want it to distract the viewer too much. I also refine the ruffles and crown. I leave the feathers very dark and blurred – they aren’t the main decorative element and must stay discreet. 09. Revise the composition Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image I decide I’m not happy with the composition: it needs to be brighter. The character’s position was too stiff, so I move her slightly to the side to develop a more natural pose. I also change the crown and the light on the upper part of the composition, opting to add more red instead of yellow, and bring in more light there, too. 10. Update costume elements Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image I now take the opportunity to change the ruffles – I found the previous design too boring. I also quickly sketch some more rounded curves to give a sense of lightness to the dress and character. I bring in a degree of transparency, which will help an object look either very light or fragile. I approach the crown in the same way, painting thinner, longer, baroque curves to break the heavy style of the previous one to help produce a more feminine, delicate look. 11. Paint a lace collar Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image I decide to add lace fabric to increase the delicate look of my character and add some mystery. Lace is intricate, but it’s easily done: I use a textured brush to roughly draw some curves and flowers – it doesn’t need to be precise. I add a few dots of light on it to create some volume so that it doesn’t look too flat and unrealistic. 12. Add more life Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image I accentuate the colour of the character’s lips and cheeks, picking a deep pink/red to do this. Red and pink are the perfect colours to add life to a character, especially on the face. Then I select a very small, precise brush and create some long, curvy eyelashes to give her eyes a more dramatic and mysterious look. I always blur the extremities to make them more natural. And finally I add some beauty spots here and there on her face – this quick extra detail is particularly effective when you want to create realistic-looking skin. 13. Introduce texture to the crown Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Now I need to add more texture to the crown, especially on the feathers. I use a basic Round edge brush (with Hardness at 100 per cent and Opacity Jitter set to 100 per cent), and then paint some little brush strokes all over the feathers, to create a myriad of colour variations that mimic the texture of their real-world counterparts. I do the same on the crown to emulate the appearance of old, slightly tarnished gold. I don’t want something clean. Including flaws helps to achieve more realism in the scene. 14. Make some final adjustments Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Now it’s time to add some extra light coming from the top. I choose to use a pink colour close to the one in the background, to retain some unity and bring in a colourful glow all over the crown and feathers. I use a big, Round, soft-edged brush to create this special effect, and adjust the layer’s Opacity if I go too far with it. I repeat the same process on the face, this time picking a pale blue to contrast with the background colour. Finally, I use a Brightness/Contrast adjustment to slightly correct the general contrast of my illustration. And we’re done! This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 147. Buy it now. Related articles: 95 top Photoshop tutorials How to make manga faces with a touch of realism Get better at figure drawing View the full article

In this month's round-up, we take a look at some of the iOS apps that were recently updated to work with the new features in iOS 11. The best drawing tablets in 2017We also jump into some options for Windows, and we look at an exciting new tool, which is currently in beta. So without any more delays, let's take a look at the picks we have for September... 01. Pixelmator Pixelmator is an easy-to-use alternative to Photoshop$4.99 (iOS) / $ 29.99 (macOS) Primarily an image editor, Pixelmator is an easy-to-use alternative to Photoshop. With full iCloud support, you can start your work on one device and finish it on another. The team is also working on a Pro version, which promises an all-new digital painting experience. 02. Sketch Club Sketch Club is built around a community of mobile artists$19.99 Sketch Club for iOS is more than just a drawing app for your iPad – it's built around a community of mobile artists who can create and share their work. If you're new to the mobile art scene, this is a great place to start (take a look at our round up of great drawing apps for iPad for more). 03. Procreate Procreate 4 includes some killer new features$9.99 Recently updated to include support for iOS 11, Procreate is one of my favourite tools for creating art while I'm away from my computer. The new update includes a completely rebuilt painting engine and support for drag and drop. Take a look at our full Procreate 4 review to find out exactly what it can do. 04. Mischief $25 Mischief is one of those apps you don't know you need until you start using it. One of the features I like best about this digital sketching tool is how you can drop pins anywhere within your canvas and immediately be taken there. 05. Microsoft Surface Studio This sports an ultra-thin, 28-inch adjustable PixelSense displayDespite not being a Windows user, the Surface Studio is on my radar as one of those devices I'd like to see in my own studio. The zero-gravity hinge allows you to tilt the Surface Studio with the slightest touch, yet keeping it locked in place while you're using it. And that Ultra-thin, 28-inch adjustable PixelSense display... oh my! Learn more in our hands-on review. 06. Paint 3D This free drawing tool is great for beginnersFree While we're sticking to the Microsoft Windows platform, let's take a look at one of the free drawing tool options available. Paint 3D is basically a remix of the old MS Paint (which recently narrowly avoided getting canned for good). While I wouldn't say this version is fantastic, it's a nice way to ease into things if you're not quite ready for something like Photoshop and the excellent Creative Cloud (or if you spent all your money on the Surface). 07. Mental Canvas authoring system Although this software is not yet available to the general public, what I've seen so far looks stunning. It takes 2D drawing to a whole new level. If you're interested in testing it out, contact the group to do so. There's also have a player available, which you can download now. 08. Digital Art Masters Digital Art Masters comes out annuallyIf you're looking for some inspiration, grab a copy of 3DTotal's Digital Art Masters. This annual series has been around since 2005 and covers both the technical and artistic aspects of 2D and 3D art. 09. ImagineFX ImagineFX includes tutorials, interviews and plenty of fantasy art inspirationFrom $19 (quarterly) Our own ImagineFX magazine comes packed with in-depth articles, tips and tricks, interviews, galleries and more from some of the leading fantasy and sci-fi artists out there. Take your subscription to the next level by ordering the Print + Digital bundle. 10. Ctrl+Paint This website is ideal if you want to get started with digital paintingA site created and maintained by Matt Kohr, Ctrl+Paint is geared for beginners. On his site, you'll find tutorials to get you started with digital painting and drawing. Most of the tutorials are completely free – however, he does have a store where you can order in-depth tutorials on specific topics. Read more: 10 incredible online art schools How to use digital tools to create a hand-drawn look How to paint a castle with SketchUp View the full article

Photography is one of those skills that just keeps evolving alongside technology. Having a basic understanding of the art will go a long way, and you can always add new abilities to your skillset to get even better results. The Digital Photography with Adobe Bundle is here to help make your photos shine, and you can get it for 98% off the retail price! Get Adobe Creative CloudRegardless of your skill level, you’ll find plenty of useful information in the Digital Photography with Adobe Bundle. With courses that teach you the way around Adobe’s powerful photo-editing tools like Photoshop and Lightroom, plus an introduction to graphic design, you'll learn how to make your photos shine with post production flair. There are 10 valuable lessons to work through that will be sure to teach you something new, and you'll even get a degree to show what you've accomplished! This bundle usually retails for $1,580, but you can get the Digital Photography with Adobe Bundle for 98% off the retail price! That’s huge savings on a bundle that will up your digital photography game, 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. Related articles: The best photo editing laptops 30 Photoshop secrets to improve your skills View the full article

Ad agencies and art directors are continually thinking of new and innovative ways to use billboard advertising to grab the attention and imagination of their target audience. Large and prominently placed, they offer a huge canvas to target the public. But cutting through the surrounding visual noise is truly an art form. The following brilliantly creative examples of billboard design do exactly that. Which is your favourite? 01. Reebok ZPump 2.0 Swedish agency Animal came up with an impressive way of drumming up publicity for Reebok's new running shoes: it set up an outdoor billboard in central Stockholm, challenging people to a human speed test. Anyone who ran past the billboard faster than 17 km/h, unlocked a brand new pair of ZPump 2.0 shoes. The billboard used a speed camera developed specifically for this campaign, which used realtime object recognition and motion detection to identify runner's movements and calculate their pace, to great effect. 100 brilliant print ads02. AIR-INK This slogan is sure to intrigue passers-byLaunched via a successful Kickstarter campaign from Graviky Labs, AIR-INK is an innovative ink made from air pollution. A device captures particles of black soot from car exhaust fumes and chimney smoke, which is then processed and transformed into safe, top-quality ink. To promote the project, the team roped in illustrator Kristopher Ho to paint a huge billboard for London's Shaftesbury Avenue, effectively 'recycling' the pollution into artwork. To make the scale of the undertaking clear, and intrigue passers-by, the billboard has a simple slogan: This art is painted with air pollution. 03. McDrive Taking advantage of the fact that in France its client, McDonald's, operates a lot more drive-through restaurants (known as McDrives over there, because France) than its main competitor, Burger King, TBWA\Paris set up this cheeky pair of billboards near Brioude in the Haute-Loire. The ludicrously tall one gives directions to the nearest Burger King drive-through, 258km away, while the little one points drivers to a much, much closer McDrive. Formidable! 04. The Human Billboard When extreme right-wing party Le Front National won the first round of the 2017 French presidential election, the country saw a rise in racist rhetoric. Leo Burnett France and Le CRAN (Le Conseil Representatif des Associations Noires) used a different type of billboard to remind the French people the lasting damage racist language can have. Racist insults were collected via social media, and tattooed onto the body of a man to turn him into a 'human billboard'. The man then walked around Paris distributing leaflets explaining the campaign and encouraging people to join the conversation. 05. Spotify Spotify's data-driven ads provided a light-hearted look at 2016Spotify had some fun creating a series of billboards worldwide under the heading, 'Thanks 2016, it's been weird'. Drawing on Spotify's vast repository of user data, the ads, created by its in-house team, are made up of posters inspired by some of the more unusual facts and figures related to the digital music service, and pointing out peculiar and funny outliers hidden amongst the data. See more here. 06. Xbox To get a little extra attention for the new Xbox Tomb Raider game during a busy game launch period, McCann London devised an attention-grabbing new use for a traditional billboard, turning it into a gripping reality show. The Survival Billboard featured gamers standing on the billboard in an endurance test, facing harsh weather controlled by the public via a live stream, and it drew thousands of viewers for the 22 hours it took to break all of its participants' spirits. 07. Unitech This Unitech advertising takes marketing to new heightsDeveloped by the team at advertising agency JWT, New Delhi, this Unitech billboard takes advertising to new heights. Here, hundreds of dummy matchboxes were produced and and stuck together in these Lego-like high-rise structures promoting new villas gated community at Karma Lakelands in India. 08. IBM As part of IBM's Smarter Cities initiative, ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Group designed "ads with a purpose", adding a curve to the billboard to create a rain shelter, bench and even a convenient ramp while promoting the technology brand - because "if cities were smarter, life in cities would be better". The billboards seamlessly blend modern design with functionality to help people while they remind them who is behind the act of generosity – a clever way to sell! 09. Burt's Bees To promote their Intense Hydration range, Burt's Bees used their own consumers to reveal a before and after demonstration with an interactive billboard in Minneapolis, created with the company's go-to ad agency, Baldwin&. This clever use of design and construction meant that the before image literally 'flaked' away as viewers peeled off the skin of coupons attached to the board, redeemable at local stockists. Eventually, all the coupons were removed and all that was left was a shiny, flat surface and a happy, smiling 'hydrated' after image. 10. Lego These bus stop billboards feature unique lego art that blends seamlessly into the surroundingsLego has a consistently brilliant, creative and fun approach to its ad campaigns, but one that particularly sticks out is Oglivy Malaysia's bus stop billboards featuring unique lego art that blends into it's surroundings. Certified Lego artist Nicholas 'Blackbulb' Foo worked with Ogilvy’s creative team to design three separate bus stop signs: Whale, Monster and Caterpillar. From the front the murals blend into the background, with lego characters parading the streets as if the board is a portal to another dimension that's entirely made of lego. Also read: How Lego reinvented itself as a super-brand 11. Leica A picture speaks 1000 words, or in this case 12 x optical zoomA picture speaks 1000 words, or in this case 12x optical zoom. These billboards designed by the team at Advico Young & Rubicam in Switzerland display exactly how simplicity can often be the most creative and impactful form of design. Each billboard is a zoomed in image (presumably 12X and taken by a Leica V-Lux 1 camera) of the object behind it, displaying the camera's superior zoom quality that doesn't miss a detail. 12. OBI DIY chain store OBI decided to do something different by placing its billboards not in the usual places but on people's homes themselves. Its thinking was based on the question: Why promote things that make our homes more beautiful, with advertising that makes everything look uglier? Instead, with the help of advertising agency Jung Von Matt/Elbe, it came up with something much more imaginative and attention-grabbing. "The big challenge was the search for appropriate run-down houses," Jung Von Matt/Elbe's Max Pilwat explains. 13. McDonald's This billboard from McDonald's 'slashes' the price difference of its Big MacLove it or hate it, McDonald's has always managed to produce inventive advertisements and this latest offering is one such example. Created by advertising agency DDB Stockholm, this billboard takes an innovative approach to 'slashing prices' on the border of Norway and Sweden. Highlighting the price differences on the cusp of each country, the advert showcases how much cheaper the Big Mac is in Sweden. 14. British Airways This design from British Airways certainly got our attention. Designed by the Ogilvy Group UK, the company uses surveillance technology to track the flights – allowing a child to point to the overhead flights in real time. BA head of marketing Abigail Comber explains, "This is a first, not just for British Airways but for UK advertising." Channelling that childlike excitement of seeing your first ever aeroplane, the billboard is a truly marvellous example of interactive design. You can see the billboards in London’s Piccadilly Circus and Chiswick. 15. OREO One of America's favourite cookies, Oreo celebrated its 100th birthday with the 'Wonder-filled' campaign, and The Martin Agency were tasked with creating a series of inspiring animations. They then teamed up with Brand New School to take over the largest advertising space in the United States - Times Square. "It’s an amazing venue that allows the work shine in a dynamic space that naturally fills people with wonder," creative director of Magnus Hierta enthuses. "This piece also takes advantage of the Times Square space by creating a visual tapestry of sharing that spreads across the screens and leaps from building to building." 16. Formula Toothcare This billboard design tears apart the usual billboard designAn utterly creative billboard design for Formula Toothcare, with the tag line 'builds strong teeth' taken to extremes. The 'broken' metal frame makes the billboard design look all the more realistic and eye-catching – ensuring a strong execution in delivery. This would certainly catch our eye if we were walking past. 17. BMW BMW pushes the electric element of its new car with halo lightingOut-of-home communications agency Posterscope developed an illuminating outdoor advertising campaign to promote the BMW i3, which is claimed to be the world's first premium fully electric car. Posterscope's Hyperspace division worked closely with BMW's creative agency, WCRS, on the attention-grabbing campaign which incorporates 'Halo' lighting into customised billboard special builds to create an after-dark glow effect around 2D cut-outs of the i3. A companion app is available to increase the experienceKey parts of the car are separately illuminated to highlight the models hi-tech eco-friendly features and electric inner workings, while a cutting-edge printing technique accentuates the contrast with the backlit skin. Part of a larger £1m campaign running on across roadside, rail and underground sites in the UK, the advertising also encourages consumers to download a companion mobile app from the App Store, enabling them to take a virtual test drive in the BMW i3. 18. Orphea Orphea4D Protection is a powerful insecticide spray for exteriors. This brilliant campaign promotes the brand by transforming a normal billboard into a huge insect trap. Transparent glue was applied on a portion of the billboard in a recognisable shape and when flies and mosquitoes got trapped there, they made the shape visible. 19. C.A.L.M. Street art can be a great way present a powerful message. To raise awareness of the charity C.A.L.M. graffiti artists Soulful Creative created these brilliant billboards. The posters aim to highlight the fact that three men under the age of 35 take their own lives every single day in the UK. The lighting is also a very nice touch - ensuring that passers-by will almost certainly take notice of the billboards. 20. Nike: Knitting To promote their latest Free Flyknit sneakers, Nike got together with advertising giants Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai to knit a humongous shoe onto a billboard. With the help of three workers, strips of neon green were threaded together to create the shoe on top of a bare foot. The live knitting sessions took place on Nanjing East Road, one of the most heavily trafficked streets in Shanghai, raising more than a few eyebrows... Next page: More impressive billboard ads you just must see! 21. iPod and iTunes There's no confusion as to what Apple is trying to say with this billboard designApple made sure there'd be no chance of missing this advertising campaign for its iTunes store and iPod. Towering several feet in the air, the attention-grabbing design features a fountain of products that can be purchased and enjoyed on the popular portable media player. Apple's message is simple: combine an iPod with iTunes and you have an endless source of entertainment at your fingertips. 22. Black Tower Home Security TBWA/Vancouver prove that people do, indeed, steal in this brilliant campaign for Black Tower SecurityIn a campaign for Black Tower security, advertising agency TBWA/Vancouver demonstrated that some people will take whatever they can get their hands on. The agency lined a 10x20ft billboard with sought-after household items like framed paintings, rugs, pillows, and cookware on a Friday afternoon. By the end of the weekend, the board was bare, revealing the campaign's simple anti-theft message: 'People Steal. Black Tower Home Security'. 23. Sky Discovery Channel This original, wind-powered billboard design was created by DDB New ZealandThis eye-catching billboard design for the Discovery Channel was developed by advertising agency DDB New Zealand. A working model, the design replicated a circuit board demonstrating how various different elements work – the wind turbine powering the batteries, which stored power until the display read 'full', activating the neon lights and finally the light box revealing the Discovery logo. 24. BBC World Clever use of corner billboards in this campaign for BBC World by BBDO New YorkWhen BBC World became available in the US, BBDO New York chose amazing photography and clever billboard placement to tell the country the international news channel had arrived. The imagery, taken from events around the world, is enough to grab your attention alone. But the BBDO team cleverly used corner billboards to show different takes on the same situation. Simple but very effective. 25. Kill Bill Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand drenched the wall, sidewalk and three shiny white cars in its promotion for Tarantino movie Kill Bill, Vol 1Advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand went all out a few years back when promoting Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol 1. The cool billboard design features Uma Thurman, her priceless Hatorri Hanzo and an impressive wall spatter of blood. The installation was erected at a busy Auckland intersection to promote a local channel's screening of the movie. If anyone was in doubt as to what the film entailed, Saatchi & Saatchi made it crystal clear with this design. 26. Miele vacuum cleaner In order to promote the power of the Miele S8 monster suction vacuum cleaner, Bratislava-based adverting agency Mayer McCann Erickson placed this brilliant billboard design over a well-known tunnel. The agency then filmed traffic over a period of time, resulting in this video that gives the impression of various vehicles being sucked into the vacuum hose. 27. McDonald's This brilliant billboard design promotes McDonald's breakfast menuThe print on this McDonald's billboard is nothing to write home about. But the addition of a sundial mounted on top turns it an innovative and brilliant piece of design. Displayed is the fast food giant's breakfast menu, with the sun casting shadow on each item that corresponds to the time of day you would normally eat it. Created by ad agency Leo Burnett, the sundial not only points out what meal you should go for, it also creates a shadow of the restaurant's famous 'M' as it does so. 28. The Economist UK-based creative agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO was the brains behind this ingenious light bulb billboard designThis simple yet ingenious design comes from UK-based creative advertising and brand management agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. The 'less is more' idea features a giant lightbulb popping out of the centre of a red background, the only words reading 'The Economist'. Using electronic motion sensors, the bulb lit up every time someone walked underneath it. A brilliant, effective way to get the message across. 29. Koleston Naturals: Change This billboard advert for Koleston hair colourant uses the sun as part of its designAdvertising agency Leo Burnett like incorporating the sun into their awesome designs, including this one for hair colourant Koleston Naturals. The innovative design features a woman's hair die-cut in the billboard to capture the variations of Koleston naturals' colours through the different phases of the day and night. The effect the sun has on this design is just brilliant, with the model's hair colour changing from blonde to black in just a few hours. 30. Bleeding billboard This billboard design 'bleeds' when it rainsThe concept for this powerful billboard design came from New Zealand-based creative agency Colenso BBDO. The team was approached by South Auckland local government bodies with a brief to create a design that would lower the number of fatal accidents on the road. Noticing that accidents had increased during a particularly wet Easter the road safety team put up this billboard that 'bleeds' when it rains. The message? 'Rain changes everything. Drive to the conditions.' If that harrowing image doesn't make people slow down, we don't know what will. 31. Panasonic nose hair trimmer Saatchi & Saatchi Indonesia incorporated real-world elements into its ad for Panasonic's nose hair trimmerWe love this comedic design by Saatchi & Saatchi Indonesia for Panasonic's nose hair trimmer. The billboards were built around actual wires and poles in Indonesia to amusingly advertise the need for the device and showcase its safety cutting system. So if you're afraid to trim sensitive nose hair, this could be just the product for you. A fun and innovative idea. 32. Colorado State Patrol Keep your eyes on the road, not this brilliant billboard by Amelie Company'Tailgating isn't worth it. Give Trucks room. It's the law.' That's the message that features on this brilliantly designed billboard by French-American advertising agency Amélie Company for the Colorado State Patrol. It's simple, keep your distance or end up looking like the billboard. This is one design that will certainly grab the attention of drivers. Although let's hope the cool campaign doesn't keep their eyes off the road for too long... 33. Science World We wonder how long it took the Rethink team to glue 9,000 diamonds to this billboard?The guys at advertising agency Rethink, Canada teamed up with the Science World Museum to create a series of brilliant billboards dedicated to promoting science in Vancouver. The Rethink team glued 9,000 glass diamonds to a billboard to promote Science World's Treasure exhibit, and to demonstrate that, compared to many other gems, diamonds aren't all that rare. Other brilliant designs include a board covered in pure gold and a stick man made from 9,000 pencils. 34. The Day After Tomorrow This innovative billboard promoted disaster movie The Day After TomorrowIn order to promote Roland Emmerich's 2004 global-warming disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow to Indian audiences, ad agency Contract submerged a billboard in the sea not far from Mumbai. The idea being to mimic the idea of Manhattan being overwhelmed by water, the team also placed a replica of the Empire State building further out to sea. Leaving just the details of the film's release and venue, the marketing campaign attracted the attention of many a passer-by. 35. Smart: Little billboard BBDO Toronto promoted Smart car's low impact on the environment with these itty-bitty billboardsThis pocket-sized design proves that when you have a good idea, size really doesn't matter. In keeping with Smart car's low impact on the environment, instead of using big billboards that pollute the environment, advertising agency BBDO, Toronto created a series of scaled down versions. The miniature street advertising boards were placed in various locations around Toronto, all of them celebrating the beauty of being small. 36. Invisible The JWT team incorporated a 'Thanks for seeing me' message behind the mannequin, in case it was vandalisedOkay, so it's not a billboard and more of a giant poster, but we had to include this brilliant yet touching campaign. The Australian Childhood Foundation partnered with advertising agency JWT to create this unique and powerful billboard design, with the aim of raising awareness of neglect as a form of child abuse. The installations were located at popular sites around Sydney, featuring a huge poster pasted over a child-sized mannequin. The design secured the JWT team the Bronze Lion at Cannes Outdoor Lions in 2010. 37. Levis Levis lets its product do the talking in this billboard designFounded back in the mid 1800s, Levi Strauss and Co has since become known worldwide for its Levi brand of denim jeans. With such a recongiseable brand and product, a simple but clever design was all that was needed for this billboard. Here, Levis lets its jeans do the talking, featuring a section of a giant pair of 501s, unbuttoned to reveal not only the the infamous numbers, but realistic detailing in the denim, stitching, buttons and rivets. 38. Heineken This eye-catching design was developed by advertising agency TBWAThis billboard for Heineken is a perfect example of how a small and simple idea that's perfectly executed can have a big impact. The three dimensional concept features a hand seemingly coming out of the background about to grab the bottle of beer. The concept for the billboard, which graced the city of Amsterdam, was developed by the team at advertising agency TBWA. 39. Absolut Vodka Absolut's long-running ad campaign transformed an ordinary billboard into a stylish NYC apartment back in 2000Absolut Vodka's long-running advertising campaign is one of the most successful consumer products campaigns in the history of advertising. Known for it creative design, the company outdid itself back in 2000 when it created this eye-catching billboard. After teaming up with fellow Swedish global brand IKEA, the company transformed a billboard in Manhattan into a stylish, but cramped, New York City apartment turned on its side - and shaped like an Absolut bottle. Genius. 40. T3 The BBDO design team constructed a visual interrogation room, using the billboard lampNew Zealand television channel, T3, went all out when promoting the latest season of Law & Order. Bringing in Colenso BBDO, the design team constructed a visual interrogation room, using the billboard lamp to spotlight the criminal. Mounted on a concrete building as a backdrop, the result is viewers find themselves dragged straight into the show itself. Related articles: 21 of the best brochure templates for designers 9 beautiful artists' business cards to inspire you 55 inspiring examples of letterpress business cards View the full article

Colour management is a huge topic. While it isn't something we'll be able to completely master in one sitting, this article will provide a great overview for users who are new to colour management, with practical advice for managing colours in Photoshop. Get Adobe Creative CloudOn this page, we'll show you how to convert your images from RGB to CMYK mode, and the effect this will have on the colours within your image. Jump to page 2 to find out how to customise your colour settings to suit your particular needs. Finally, on page 3 we'll show you how to sync your colour profile across all of your Adobe CC apps, add a particular colour profile provided by your printer, and preview a CMYK version of your design without losing any RGB information. How to convert RGB to CMYK When we're working on images at our computers, we are looking at the RGB (red green blue) colour space. In RGB we have access to many more colours than we do when we're going to output for print. When we're printing our images, we have access to cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK, where the 'K' stands for 'key'). When you start off with a document that's in RGB mode and you convert to CMYK, you're definitely going to lose some of the colours and some of the vividness inside that image. The reason that this happens is because the RGB colour space has many more colours than CMYK. One way to avoid this is by using Photoshop's native colour management system. Let's take a look at what happens when we convert an RGB image to CMYK for print. 01. Find your image mode Changing from RGB to CMYK is easy (Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image) To reset your colour mode from RGB to CMYK in Photoshop, you need to go to Image > Mode. Here you'll find your colour options, and you can simply select CMYK. 02. Note your colour profile Photoshop's warning pop-up will tell you the precise CMYK colour profile it's about to useOnce you do that, Photoshop will give you a warning letting you know that you are about to convert to CMYK using the specific profile that will be listed in the warning. The warning lets you know that this may not be what you intend to do and it even shows you where you can go to choose the correct profile. 03. Implement the change Once you click OK you should see a slight shift in colour. You are now in the CMYK colour space. Were you able to see the difference in vibrancy and the reduction in colours? It might be a subtle change, depending on your monitor. Hit the arrow icons above to compare the two images. Try this out on a couple of different images to see the results you get. This will allow you to get familiar with the changes. One thing that is unavoidable is a shift in colour when you're going from RGB to CMYK. In some cases the change will be more dramatic than others, so be prepared for that. Next page: Adjust your colour settings Now you're getting familiar with the conversion, here's how to have more control when converting from RGB to CMYK. For the very best result, you need to adjust your colour profile according to the particular printer, ink and paper you're using. The best practice is to get a colour management profile from your printer then install it on your machine and sync it up with the rest of your applications – you can find out how to do that on page 3. However, if you don't have that information, the following are the standard settings that will work in many situations. 01. Find your colour settings Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image To have full control over the conversion you want to find your colour settings, which you'll find under the Edit menu at the top of your screen (or use the keyboard shortcut cmd+shift+K). 02. Explore the standard options Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image If this is your first time opening the colour settings, assuming no-one has made any changes, you are now looking at the standard colour settings. These settings will work in most cases – however, if you are going to send your artwork to a commercial printer, you would want to ask which specific colour setting they would like you to go with. If you're new to colour settings, this window might seem a bit intimidating. Let's take a look at the main settings you want to look at. 03. Choose a specific region Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Starting at the top, you have a Settings section. If you click on the drop-down menu you'll find different settings. Choose your specific region. 04. Select an RGB colour space Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Next, you want to look at the RGB colour space that you will be converting from. There's not just one RGB colour space, you actually have many to choose from. You could test them out to find the one that works best for your particular monitor and workflow, but it's fine to leave it as-is. 05. Select a CMYK colour space Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Next you want to look at the CMYK colour space that you will be converting to. The same rules apply as when choosing the correct RGB colour space. 06. Explore conversion options Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image The last major setting to look at is going to be inside of your conversion options. Click on the drop-down menu for Intent and you'll see four different options. The one that works best the majority of the time is Relative Colorimetric, but make sure to try the other ones to see if they work better for your particular workflow. Remember if you're not sure which one to go with, just leave it as-is or ask your printer for their suggestion. Next page: Final tips There are a few final things you need to know about colour management in Photoshop. In this final section, we'll show you how to sync your colour settings across all your Adobe apps, add a new colour profile provided by your printer, and preview a CMYK version of an RGB image. 01. Sync your settings across apps Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image Once you get that set up, you want to use Adobe Bridge to sync up all of your applications with the same colour settings. That way you have the same experience between Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. To do this all you have to do is launch Adobe Bridge, at the top of the application, then select Edit > Color Settings. You can then choose which setting you want to sync across all your applications. Then click Apply and that will take care of everything for you – you're all synced up and ready to rock. 02. Add a new profile provided by your printer Click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image If your printer is able to provide you with the appropriate colour settings for their materials and machines, this is great. To bring them into your applications, first bring up your colour settings, and in the top right, hit the Load option. This will enable you to search for the new profile provided by your printer. Then select the correct profile, choose Open and you will see it loaded into your colour settings. Click OK to accept this change and you are good to go. You can also create new colour settings and save them for future use. 03. Preview a CMYK version If you want to keep your document and RGB workspace but you want to see what it looks like when you print it out, go into the View menu and choose proof colours. This will allow you to see the CMYK conversion without losing any of the RGB information. Some advantages of working in RGB is that file size will be smaller, and you'll be able to access all of the editing features in Photoshop. About Pluralsight Pluralsight is an enterprise technology learning platform that delivers a unified, end to end learning experience for businesses across the globe. Through a subscription service, companies are empowered to move at the speed of technology, increasing proficiency, innovation and efficiency. For a free trial and more information, visit www.pluralsight.com. Read more: 100 brilliant print adverts Create special print finishes in InDesign The designer's guide to printing a poster View the full article

In January, we shared with you some quick tips to improve your portfolio. There are, though, more deep and fundamental ways to improve your portfolio over time. These may take a little longer, but get them right and the payoffs will be immense. So whether you’re seeking to get more freelance work or a better job, follow these six pieces of expert advice and it should significantly boost your chances. 01. Showcase your personality You get a clear sense of art director and designer Frank Li’s personality from his portfolio site So you’ve got a great collection of work. But stand back a second and ask yourself: beyond that, does my portfolio give a sense of who I am? You may think your work should just “speak for itself”. But in the real world, people hire people, and they’re interested to know the person behind the designs. Agencies are often looking for a certain personality type that’s going to fit in well with existing employees. “For instance, a bit of humour, being a bit bold, a bit quirky is very much along our lines,” says Tim Smith, principal of design at ustwo. So how do you do that within a portfolio? “The style of work is one way,” says Smith. “Sometimes, if a designer has done their own website, you can see through their choice of graphic design what their personality might be or what their stylistic choices are. "And often even the little bits of copywriting – the little quirks about how they might describe a little thumbnail, or the navigation on the site, or the UI – might have some writing that conveys your personality.” Example: Art director and visual designer Frank Li offers a great example of how to showcase your personality through a portfolio. 02. Describe what you did It seems like a point that shouldn’t need to be made. But still in 2017, many designers showcase their projects through images alone. There’s little or next to no text explaining what the brief was, how they fulfilled it, what their design process was and, in the case of a joint project, what part they played. Of course, you want your portfolio to be visually stimulating eye-candy. But that will only get you so far with prospective employers or clients. As Tim Beard, partner at Bibliothèque, explains, “Design is a visual discipline and you make an immediate response based on that, but without some form of explanation it’s a bit empty. If there is a story to tell, or a context to set, then it's best explained as efficiently as you can. It’s about the journey as much as it is the destination.” Madeleine Fortescue, resource and recruitment manager at Moving Brands, agrees. “When we’re hiring, we need to understand really quickly the role an individual candidate played within a project, so the accompanying text is really key,” she says. “We want to quickly glance over the project and see some information about it, not just some images.” And we can’t emphasise this enough: get your text properly proof-read. “Spelling mistakes are always a bugbear, it’s very frustrating,” says Fortescue. “For us at Moving Brands it’s really key to be able to articulate yourself and talk about your work, to provide a rationale for what you’ve done. So not only does the work need to be perfect and have attention to detail, the text is extremely important, too.” Don’t make it too long either, stresses Tony Brook, creative director of Spin. “You’re not going to start reading an essay. It’s not great fun reading on screen, period, let alone reading long lengths of text on screen. So you have to be fairly circumspect: a small amount of explanation, a short caption, will usually do it.” Example: Creative director Jack De Caluwe gives great explanations of his multidisciplinary projects on his portfolio. 03. Empathise with your audience Visitors will often wonder how up-to-date a portfolio is. Eric Hu helpfully provides the date and time his site was last refreshed in the header These days, it seems like there’s somewhat of an arms race in terms of who can produce the most dynamic, flashy and attention-grabbing portfolio. And that’s fine if you’re a senior designer who primarily wants to appeal to your peers, and get featured on awards sites. But for most jobbing designers, that’s not the target audience your portfolio should be aiming at. If you want more freelance work or a better job, it’s all about appealing to clients and employers, and they will often have very different perspectives. Smith, for example, looks at dozens of portfolios in a typical week, but still often finds it difficult to find what he needs. “I want to know what sort of work you’re into and what kind of person you are,” he stresses. “Websites that makes it difficult to do that can be because of an ill-considered user experience, or designer ego, where they’re trying too hard to be visual and to impress. Sometimes it would be nice to be made easy and quick for me just to understand what I’m interested in.” Example: Eric Hu does a great job at anticipating what people will be looking for on his site. He even provides the date and time it was last updated in the header. 04. Ask for a critique Behance offers regular reviews to help improve your portfolio Considering your target visitor and what they’ll be looking for will get you a long way. But sometimes there will just be things you won’t think of. So it’s always worth getting another designer to critique your portfolio. That can be pretty scary, of course; nobody likes to hear criticism of their work. But let’s face it, if you don’t nip problems in the bud, people will be saying far nastier things about your work in private. And while you won’t hear that, you will experience the deafening silence of indifference. When it comes to getting a critique, you have the choice of going the formal route, by taking advantage of Behance Portfolio Reviews or similar sessions held at numerous design conferences. Or you could just ask a friend or colleague, in a more informal setting. Either way, the important thing is to explain carefully what you want your portfolio to achieve. That way the person critiquing it can analyse how well it’s performing that function, rather than just saying they like or dislike it, which is much less helpful. 05. Edit ruthlessly Victoria Spicer’s homepage is stripped back, but still makes it easy to find what you’re looking for Just as with any design work you do, your portfolio needs to be ruthlessly edited to ensure that all but the bare essential elements are included. If there’s anything that could be removed, remove it. Employers and clients won’t take kindly to having their time wasted, so prune, prune and prune some more. That doesn’t mean your site has to be minimalist, but if there’s anything unnecessary, whether that be waffly text, too many images or general graphic clutter, you need to lose it... or you’ll lose everyone’s attention. Example: Set designer Victoria Spicer’s homepage shows how little you need on your homepage while still allowing people to find what they’re looking for. 06. Be honest The point of a portfolio is to sell yourself, so the temptation is to use stereotypical sales techniques, one of which is being ‘economical with the truth’. Anonymous websites make it easy to look like you’ve had more career success than you really have, in all sorts of ways. But ultimately, that kind of approach can be counter-productive. The design industry is, after all, a small and close-knit one, and it’ll quickly become clear if you’re stretching the truth. It’s far better, in fact, to be brutally honest. If you haven’t had a lot of client work, for example, then just say so and present your personal projects as a sign that you’re keen to get on. If you didn’t have a big role in a team project, then just say what you did do, and express your enthusiasm for doing more in future. Remember how at school, if you got a maths problem wrong but you showed the right working, you still got most of the marks? It’s a similar thing with employers: it’s not just about how well the project turned out, but what you put into it. “We always like to see evidence of lateral thinking and concepts,” explains Beard. “Ideas are the most valued currency. So if there is a project that illustrates great scope, but little creativity, then share it and explain the context. "Just in the same way as an awesome idea that didn’t get any traction with the client should be shared. If you didn’t like the outcome, show us what you wanted it to be. Just be passionate about what you do, and clear about why you do it.” Sean Murphy, creative director at Moving Brands, takes a similar view. “Especially with more junior designers, we’re looking at potential,” he says. “There can be a real raw spark of something there that’s really exciting, that you know would be hard to teach, essentially. The rest you can refine. There are a lot of skills you can learn but there are some that are really difficult to teach.” Example: Andrej Cibik lists the things that he’s bad at on his About Me page. But rather than making him look weak, it’s a sign of his strength and confidence as a designer. Related articles: 10 tips for a killer design portfolio 5 ways to get more freelance work The best laptops for graphic design View the full article

Oracle released fixes for a handful of recently patched Apache Struts 2 vulnerabilities late last week. View the full article

Researcher Patrick Wardle has discovered a critical vulnerability that allows an attacker to dump passwords in plaintext from the macOS Keychain. The vulnerability is in macOS High Sierra, Sierra and El Capitan, and has yet to be patched. View the full article

https://sid-500.com/2017/07/11/setting-up-windows-server-core-with-powershell/ … View the full article

Creatives have a number of essential items; a great notepad, the best pencils, efficient laptop, to name but a few. So a sturdy and secure bag to carry it all around in is vital. But, while a bag is a must-have item for a designer, finding and purchasing one is not necessarily something that might fill you with excitement. To help you out, we've found a gorgeous selection of accessories that might just make you feel differently... 01. Bellroy designer bags This slimline bag is one from Bellroy's new rangeLuxury lifestyle brand Bellroy has launched a new series of six beautiful bags, all of which will suit designers down to the ground. From a backpack that doubles as a tote, to a weatherproof work bag with expandable sides or a classic daypack with surprising detail on the inside, Bellroy’s range will help you carry your world around with greater ease and simplicity. With their slim and thoughtfully designed formats, you might find it hard to choose between the options in Bellroy’s beautiful new range. If you had to twist our arm, we’d have to go with its new slim backpack (pictured), priced at £149. Smart yet simple, formal yet relaxed, it will let you take everything you need yet nothing more. It's perfect for urban creatives who like things smart and streamlined. 02. Jimbag This rucksack makes the perfect 'studio-gym bag'The clue is in the name. Created specifically for busy, active people, Jimbag has a selection of beautiful bag designs. This rucksack, priced at £49.99, is our favourite. A briefcase, handbag, holdall and duffel all rolled into one, this rucksack makes the perfect 'studio-gym bag', holding both a laptop and gym kit comfortably – and doing so in serious style. 03. Alban bike bag If your trusty bike is your favourite mode of transport, then this is the bag for youIf your bike is your favourite mode of transport, then this is the bag for you. The stylish navy blue foldover Alban tote pannier, priced at $99.75 or £75, features a zip closure, deep main compartment for all of your everyday essentials and an internal slip pocket. Made from heavy-duty, water-resistant material, the tote comes with an adjustable shoulder strap so it can be worn across your body, carried or attached to a rear cycle rack. 04. Porcupine tote This adorable 'Nice Hair' tote is one of many by Lyndsey GreenSimple tote bags are great for holding everything that a designer needs. But that doesn't mean they have to be boring. This adorable 'Nice Hair' design is one of many by Lyndsey Green featuring woodland creatures. A high quality, 100 per cent cotton tote bag with long handles, the illustration is applied with a heat press to give a professional and vibrant finish. Plus, it only costs $9.76, or £7. 05. Brown paper bag Keep your food fresh with this fun brown paper lunch bagA designer's got to eat right? Keep your brain fuelled, energy levels up and your food fresh with this fun brown paper lunch bag, costing £12.95. It's made from a tear-proof, leak-resistant, tough and insulating material called Tyvek, which means that unlike actual paper ones, this bag won't split in the rain or let its contents fall out of the bottom – winner! 06. Ortlieb messenger bag The Ortlieb messenger bag offers a huge 30 litres of secure waterproof storageThe Ortlieb messenger bag offers a huge 30 litres of secure waterproof storage in a stable and durable format, for around £100. The backpack features a roll-top with Velcro so you can vary the pack height depending on the heft of your belongings, and can easily fit an A4 folder in there. Plus it comes in various bright colours so you’ll be seen even as the winter gloom takes hold. 07. Waxed canvas backpack This waxed leather backpack is one of the nicest we've seenBackpacks are back in fashion – and this waxed leather design, priced at $229, is one of the most attractive backpacks we've seen. Handmade and fully lined with a blue cotton fabric, this backpack will fit in all of your essential design items and make you look good at the same time. The design also comes in a variety of colours to choose from. 08. Booq Cobra brief This laptop bag provides ultimate protection and style for design professionalsThis lightweight and luxurious laptop bag, Cobra brief by Booq, provides ultimate protection and style for design professionals who navigate airports as often as offices. Priced at €295, it features a quilted laptop compartment, a water-repellent coating on its nylon outer layer and even a weather-proof zip. Related articles: Read our selection of the finest free ebooks for designers The designer's guide to working from home The designer's guide to how to start a blog View the full article

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Anyone who practises 3D art knows it can be an incredibly time-consuming process, so help in the form of free textures and ready-made, free 3D models is always welcome. In recent years, a large number of websites have appeared offering just that and, while you have to pay for the majority of them, there are many free 3D models online too. You just have to know where to look. Here, we've scoured the web for resources and found a selection of free 3D models, which will hopefully save you time on your next project. Enjoy. 01. Bugatti Chiron This 3D model's probably a lot less hassle to own than a real Chiron, anywayThe chances of you ever actually owning a Bugatti Chiron - or even a second-hand Veyron - may be pretty slim, but if you feel the need to validate your existence by being seen near one, here's your best bet. Download this excellent recreation, built in Blender by Kimz Auto, render it up and paste yourself in next to it, and Bob's your midlife crisis-afflicted uncle. 02. Octopus Tentacle You'd be a sucker not to download this modelYou might, quite reasonably, be asking why anyone would want a high end, photorealistic 3D model of a single octopus tentacle. Look at it, though. It's a beautifully detailed piece of work by Tornado Studio. And you never know when you might need one; maybe as a finishing touch for a plate of seafood, a pirate ship under attack by a sea monster, or perhaps to help out if you accidentally download a 3D model of an octopus that for some reason doesn't have any tentacles. 03. Lego Pirate Grab this nine-part Lego pirate model for free over on TurbosquidSpeaking of pirates, why put up with a boring model of a pirate when you could instead have this swanky nine-part Lego pirate? It's the work of 3dlegobricks on TurboSquid, who has a range of great Lego-based models available to buy, with a few free ones like this for good measure. You can modify all of the colours easily, and the model comes in .obj, .dxf and .3ds formats. 04. Toilet This model toilet is guaranteed to enhance your bathroom interior rendersOr to give it its full title, Toilet-Lavatory-Loo, which covers most of the taxonomic bases. Created by Ieve Lickiene from Lithuania, this is a 12-part model toilet that's guaranteed to enhance your bathroom interior renders. It comes in 3ds Max and V-Ray flavours, and it's free for non-commercial use only. Thankfully, Lickiene hasn't left the seat up on all models. 05. Ramirez classic guitar This detailed classical guitar looks worthy of a quick strumIt's easy enough to find any number of ropey electric guitar models online, but if your tastes don't run to Flying Vs and knock-off Strats, this glorious acoustic model, based on a Ramirez classical guitar, ought to do nicely. It comes in obj, 3ds and blend format, and even has its own stand. 06. Dalek It's a 2005 model Dalek so yes, it can go up stairsSharp-eyed Doctor Who fans will have instantly noted that this high-poly model for 3ds Max and V-Ray is a 2005 Dalek rather than one of the classic models from the original series. It's a good vintage, we reckon; much better than 2010's brightly-coloured New Paradigm models, and plenty threatening. 07. Rigged hand This rigged, boned and muscled hand is ready to pose however you want itHands tend to look okay until you try to manipulate them, when their deficiencies start to show up. This shouldn't be a problem with this model for Maya; it's fully rigged so that you can pose it just like a real hand, and it even comes with its own muscle system to help you pose it realistically. 08. Animal collection These low-poly animals are perfect for use in real-time environmentsAvailable in every major 3D file format, this low-poly wild animals pack is perfect for use in a variety of real-time environments, such as a mobile games and apps. The pack includes a deer, bear, wolf and boar, with the geometry on all optimised for animation. 09. Male base mesh This base mesh serves as a great starting point for you to create your own male charactersHumans are one of the hardest subjects to recreate in 3D, so save yourself some time with this male base mesh, which acts as a great start for sculpting and designing your own male characters. Available as an .obj file, this download is free for personal use only. 10. Goldfish Bring your underwater scenes to life with this free goldfish modelBring your underwater scenes to life with this free goldfish model from Turbosquid user Heidycurbelo. Available in .max and .3ds formats, this asset includes all textures and materials and should be used in accordance with Turbosquid's royalty free license. Next page: more great free 3D models... 11. UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter Download this cool UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter totally freeFree3D, formally TF3DM, offers thousands of 3D models that you can download for free. And this cool UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter by 3dregenerator is one of them. The four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter is available in .3ds, .obj, .mb, .lwo and .max formats and free for personal use only. 12. BB-8 Isn't he adorable? BB-8 here is ready rigged for animationEveryone's favourite droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been recreated and made available for free from Free3D. This BB-8 model by Steve Lalonde is rigged two different ways for animation purposes and comes complete with high quality textures, and it's available on .obj, .max and .fbx formats. 13. Wine glasses Save yourself lots of time by downloading these free 3D wine glass modelsCreating realistic looking glass in 3D is both tricky and time-consuming. Here, 3D artist Mihai Panait has done the hard work for you, creating a set of various-shaped wine glasses. Available in .max, .obj and .3ds formats, the models are offered for use under a standard royalty-free license. 14. Henry and Caroline Henry and Caroline are built with animation in mind, with plenty of controlsCreated by students at Cogswell College in San Jose, this pair of adorable characters – named after the college's founder and his wife – are fully rigged for animation and designed to be both simple to use and extremely versatile. They're part of Project Avatarah, an ongoing programme to create an assortment of 3D characters for free download. It also includes a dragon because, why not. 15. Glasses Want your characters to rock the Harry Potter look? Grab this free glasses download from TurbosquidNot wine glasses this time, but spectacle-type glasses. Creating a convincing-looking pair of glasses in 3D is no easy task, but some interesting accessories like these can add personality to your characters. So, if you fancy completing your character with the Harry Potter look, save yourself some time and hassle and grab this free glasses download instead. Note: only for use in 3ds Max. 16. Animator Starter Pack Get all the urban detail you need with this heavyweight starter packIf downloading a load of 3D models one by one is a bit of an effort then this should be welcome: it's a free pack of 90 models by Shaun Keenan, a freelance rigging, modelling and texture artist. It's packed with handy resources for creating a city scene including cars, buildings, houses, fire hydrants and other miscellaneous items. 17. NASA space shuttle Create your own space adventure with Nasa's extensive range of free 3D modelsFor everything space related, head over to the NASA website where you'll find an extensive library of free 3D models like this shuttle. There's astronauts, lunar modules, satellites and more. Most models are in the common .3ds format but there are also .lwo, .fbx, or .obj formats available in some cases. Usage guidelines apply. 18. House Find this free cool house model at ShareCG.comThis cool house is offered by ShareCG, the site that hosts the web's largest collection of free computer graphics resources including thousands of free 3D CG Models. The house is offered as an untextured .obj file but the download includes separate material files for easy texturing. Note: registration to the site is required to download models. 19. Plants Download over 100 free plant and tree models courtesy of vegetation generator application XfrogHelp yourself to 130 free plant and tree models from Xfrog, the vegetation-generation application. Choose from a list of 30 species, then click the 'Try before you buy' button for a free model. Download formats include .obj as well as files for use in Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Vue, Terragen 2, modo and Lighwave. 20. Cinema 4D model pack Find all of these models in this brilliant free pack from the guys at GreyscalegorillaThis brilliant collection of free Cinema 4D models from the Greyscalegorilla community are copyright free and ready to be used in your project. The pack includes everything from a VW camper to a Lego man from various 3D artists, including Rob Redman of Pariah Studios. There is also an accompanying demo video and details on how to install the pack. Next page: even more great free 3D models... 21. Lamp Download this free wall lamp to use in any 3D interior projectNot the most exciting of models, we know, but one of those items that will always come in handy. This wall lamp is provided by online store 3D Export, where you can buy and sell models, as well as find a library of other useful free items. This lamp, offered as a .obj file, was created using 3ds Max 2010 and rendered in V-Ray 1.5. 22. Truck Visit TurboSquid for all your 3D model needsDigital media supply company Turbosquid has literally thousands of 3D models available to purchase. But they also offer a percentage of them absolutely free of charge, although you do have to register with the site to take advantage of this service. This brilliant truck model comes in available in .c4d, .xml, .fbx, .ma, .mb and .obj formats. Photoshop textures are also available for this model. Available on a standard royalty-free license. 23. Robot Download this cool robot character free of charge at Free3DThis cool character is available at 3D asset supplier Free3D. There site has a huge selection of products, organised into categories, with everything from furniture and plants to food and animals. One of our favourites is this little robot model, which is available as a .obj file. 24. T-Rex Create your own version of Jurassic Park with this awesome, free T-Rex modelThis awesome model is another from digital media supply company Turbosquid. Registration is required to download and it should be noted that this asset is only available for versions of Lightwave 7.5 and above (formats .lwo, .lw and .lws). 25. Mini Cooper Download this cool Mini model for free from 3D digital art site OyonaleOyonale is a site about computer graphics and digital art and has a section dedicated to free 3D models. Included in this section is this brilliant Mini model, which is available either in .obj format or .c4d, the latter of which includes textures and UV templates. 26. Female head This female head model offered by Turbosquid provides a great start for any character or sculpting workFrom the over 300 free models offered by Turbosquid, included is this female head, which acts a great starting point for any 3D character or sculpting work. Available as a .max file, the site also has a male head available for sale. 27. Tricycle Check out Flying Architecture to download this cool tricycle and many more free 3D assetsThis gorgeous little retro tricycle was created by 3D artist Ivan Málek, who then shared it on Flying Architecture - a CG site that provides 3D models, materials and textures. This particular model is available for use with Rhino and Modo and there is also a .obj file for download. 28. Eames chair Add a bit of designer class to your 3D project with this cool Eames chair courtesy of Rob RedmanAdd a bit of designer class to your 3D creations with this iconic Eames chair, courtesy of Pariah Studios. Founder Rob Redman has generously offered this iconic post-war chair free of charge. File formats available are .3ds, .c4d and .fbx. Textures are also included. 29. The Other Nefertiti This Nefertiti was scanned on the sly and released for free. Fight the power!The famous ancient Egyptian bust of Queen Nefertiti is the subject of an ongoing ownership dispute between Germany and Egypt, and is on display in Berlin's Neues Museum where photography of it is prohibited. But now it's available as 'The Other Nefertiti', a 3D-printed reproduction of the bust for display in Cairo, under a Creative Commons licence. It's free for download as 100MB torrent containing a super-detailed .stl file, or as a 20MB .obj file that you can download directly. 30. PixelLab Joren Kandel has a vast collection of 3D models available to download for free3D artist Joren Kandel runs PixelLab, a blog focused on motion graphics. Having worked in the industry for nine years now, he's built up a large collection of 3D assets, many of which he generously offers as a free download. All you need to do is sign up to his newsletter and wait for an invitation to access his 3D model freebies, in which you'll find everything from Christmas decorations and digital camera lenses to robots and architecture. Related articles: The 10 biggest 3D movies of 2017 30 inspiring examples of 3D art 37 brilliant Blender tutorials View the full article

IOActive analyzed 21 mobile stock trading platforms and found vulnerabilities that put transactions and personal information at risk. Of the 13 firms notified, only two acknowledged the disclosure. View the full article

Smartphones and art galleries haven't always been a match made in heaven, but thanks to the launch of Smartify this could be set to change. Released yesterday, Smartify is a free app that uses image recognition technology to scan and identify artworks in certain museums and galleries. Its aim is to give people a greater understanding of the masterpieces they're looking at. In short, it's like Shazam for the art world. Unveiled yesterday at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, Smartify is now in use at over 30 of the world's major galleries and museums. The app is also open to having other venues involved, all you'd have to do as a venue is get in touch with the Smartify team via its site. 10 apps for endless design inspirationAs well as providing current, quality-checked information on pieces of art, either via text or rich audio commentary, Smartify gives users the chance to save their favourite works into a personal collection. The app also provides recommendations of potential galleries that people should visit based on their activity. Fire up an image on Smartify and you are seriously looking at that image. This one's Paul Emsley’s portrait of HRH The Duchess of Cambridge (2012) at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 2017. © SmartifyOn its website, the Smartify team explains that the app came about through a group of four friends who enjoyed visiting museums and encountering art. This first-hand experience and artistic appreciation can be found at every stage of the Smartify app and its business model. "Our values reflect those of a business started by a band of creatives, and the straightforward and inclusive style they promote," the team explains. "The approach we take towards product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility, letting the artwork tell its story." Oh look, it's Frans Hals’s The Laughing Cavalier (1624) at The Wallace Collection, London, 2017. © SmartifyThanks to the creative team's love of art, they donate their time, services and a portion of profits to venues around the world who are struggling with limited resources. "Staying true to our core values has helped us create a company we’re proud to run and work for," they explain. Related articles: Spotify for typographers font library launches The 30 best iPhone apps for designers 20 best iPad art apps for painting and sketching View the full article

There was a time, not so very long ago, when art schools and ateliers were your only options for attaining a higher art education. Typically providing a strong, foundational background for artists with varied aspirations, they were (and still are) a fantastic direction to take when seeking out a career in the creative arts. Unfortunately, that rounded, long-term education comes at a cost, and particularly for those living outside of Europe, that cost could be prohibitively high, leading to mounting debt and insecurity at the pivotal point in a young artist's career. Luckily for our wallets, online art schools have emerged over the past few years that offer a vast range of courses Luckily for our wallets, online art schools have emerged over the past few years that offer a vast range of courses that can rival the bricks and mortar schools in scope... as long as the student is willing to develop a strong work ethic and the drive to work from home (and for some of the best art individual tutorials around, see our roundup of 100 brilliant painting and drawing tutorials). Online education options differ dramatically, from the more traditional foundational courses that can last several months, to individual lessons tailored to fit one subject, from class-based seminars to inspirational podcasts and more. Through this article we'll explore 10 of the most exciting schools and courses available online right now, tackling a wide range of subjects to give you a feel for the potential open to you. Whether you aspire to work as a concept artist or 3D modeller in the games industry, a matte painter or animator for films, or a freelance illustrator who gets to paint monsters all day long while still in your pants, there's an online school for you. Hopefully, this selection will help you pick a path that best suits your personal goals and budget, supplementing existing studies or creating a plan for you to follow from beginning to end. 01. Schoolism Kei Acedera's acrylic painting Arya. Although mainly focusing on digital art, there are traditional media courses availableSchoolism has rapidly become one of the best-known online art schools. This is thanks in part to its prolific founder Bobby Chiu being a well-known and supremely well-respected artist himself, and the diverse team of instructors it has collected. The roster includes the likes of Craig Mullins, Terryl Whitlatch, Nathan Fowkes and other titans of the entertainment industry. The courses available are as diverse as the people teaching them, covering more traditional topics such as gesture drawing (essential for aspiring animators and concept artists), oil painting techniques, anatomy and colour and lighting fundamentals, as well as character and creature design, watercolour techniques, digital painting and storyboarding. Basically, pretty much all areas of expertise that you can think of in the industry are covered here. Schoolism operates around a one-year subscription model for $29.95 per month. Within that year you're able to work on a single course, but have the option to switch at any time for a minimal fee. It's a smart system that enables the student to cover several topics within that year if they have time available and are able to work efficiently. It's also possible to receive video feedback from the tutor directly, but this costs $998 per year, and positions are limited. Registering for a class gives you access to pre-recorded lectures, which are then available to be streamed throughout the duration of the subscription (assuming you don't switch course) and there's a Facebook group available in which to share work for critique by students. 02. SmArt School The school offers full mentorship courses with artists such as Rebecca LeveilleSmArt School, "A Smarter Art School", has an illustration-focused curriculum with a seriously impressive roster of teachers including Donato Giancola, Todd Lockwood and Greg Manchess, alongside a varied selection of special guests such Lauren Panepinto and Jon Schindehette. It was founded by Rebecca Guay, known for her work on Magic: The Gathering and other high-profile clients. She says that, "SmArt School brings some of the most recognised, celebrated artists and illustrators working today to the small-scale teaching format. "In these small classes, students truly mentor interactively with these great artists in very personal, productive ways to the great benefit of their work and their possible successful future in the art world or illustration industry." Unlike the more traditional online school structure that typically revolves around pre-recorded tutorial videos with space for critique, SmArt School's classes are taught live using GoToMeeting. Classes are taught over 13 sessions across three months, priced at $2,500 for each course. And while the majority of them focus on illustration techniques in a more traditional teaching environment, there are also bootcamp classes for new students who haven't had comprehensive lessons in how to draw figures, or any other foundational experiences. 03. CG Master Academy Mahendra Suryadi, who created this image, is one of CG Master Academy's featured students CGMA, or Computer Graphics Master Academy to give it its full name, is unique in the online art school space in that it offers three comprehensive curriculums, which operate in a similar manner to a more traditional art school, with a heavy emphasis on structured learning. The three main programmes available are Foundation and Design, Character Design, and Environment Design, and each begins with foundational training before taking the student through every necessary step to become adept in that particular field. This is achieved by undertaking a series of individual masterclasses presented in a set order, which are taught by an impressive range of industry professionals including character designer Nate Wragg, senior concept artist Aaron Limonick and Dreamworks' head of story Steven MacLeod. Students are presented with a certificate upon completion of their chosen program, along with individual certificates for each class attended. You may also take masterclasses in isolation, rather than as part of the full course. They cover topics including analytical figure drawing, Perspective, character design for film and games, building a personal brand, fundamentals of design, animal drawing, and many other areas of skills that are crucial for developing a successful career in the entertainment industries. Classes last 10 weeks and are priced at $699. 04. Vilppu Academy Glenn Vilppu is an industry veteran with half a century-worth of figure drawing experienceThe name Glenn Vilppu is well known among artists across the globe, particularly with animators who often study his methods of gesture drawing when they begin their artistic journey. As a veteran educator with over 50 years of teaching experience on the human form, it should come as no surprise that his school, Vilppu Academy, centres around figure drawing and anatomy. These skills are vital for artists in most fields, a deep understanding of the figure being crucial for concept artists, illustrators, modellers and animators, and Glenn's focus on communication through drawing sets it apart from the other schools listed here. "All artists must deal with the differences in their interests and the order of importance they give to various elements," says Vilppu. "I don't teach a style, I teach tools of communication and give direction to acquiring knowledge. Knowledge coupled with the development of skill and feeling is what creates the magic. There are no rules, just tools." Vilppu Academy offers seven courses with subjects ranging from drawing essentials through figure drawing, anatomy, sketching and composition. Each course lasts from six to 10 weeks, with prices ranging from $600 to $900. "This classical-based programme provides artists of all levels with the fundamental tools of visual expression – understanding of movement, form, light and composition – to be applied to their particular style and genre through streaming lectures and demos, critiqued assignments and live video chats," says Vilppu. 05. Learn Squared Jama Jurabaev leads the introduction to 3D concept design class Learn Squared was founded by veterans of the entertainment industry, and the site aims to innovate in the education space with its unique approach: rather than having a single tutor leading a class, here you're presented with two top-level professionals, one of whom teaches the other. Students receive the same tutorials and guidance that you would expect on a traditional course, with the added perk of watching another artist put the knowledge into practice. As Learn Squared co-founder Andrew Hawryluk explains, "The core concept we hope to get across to our students and the artistic community at large is that everybody has to start somewhere. The skills you'd learn from these other, new fields of art might benefit your main artistic endeavours in ways you would've never previously imagined." It's a fascinating angle on education, shedding light on the process of learning itself. Each course contains eight weeks of video tutorials across a range of subjects including environment painting, 3D concept design and title designs for film. Modern art techniques are at the forefront of most of the courses, with a heavy focus on creating an effective pipeline for working in the entertainment industries. Pricing falls into three categories for all courses: $65 for the basic package, which gives you access to a single course of video lessons and community access with lifetime access; $125 for the Learn Squared package, with over 10 hours of tutorials and the ability to download files; or $500 for the Professional package, adding weekly live mentorship sessions and homework review. 06. Gnomon With over 20 years' experience in games, Pascal Blanche's 3D Character Concept and Design course is popular Certainly one of the best-known art schools, Gnomon was founded in 1997 by 3D artist Alex Alvarez. Gnomon's online courses are designed for artists seeking visual effects training direct from Hollywood, USA, with the added convenience of learning from home. They cover a wide variety of subjects from 3D character concept design to compositing, modelling and sculpting both traditionally and in 3D, and pretty much any other avenue of training for the entertainment industry. The range of professionals teaching at Gnomon is similarly vast, with big names including Pascal Blanche, senior art director at Ubisoft Montreal; Maddie Scott-Spencer, texture artist at Weta Digital; and Craig Elliot, production designer at Sony Pictures Animation. Gnomon's online courses are taught live through its slick interface, which features webcam integration and screen sharing. Classes last 10 weeks and tuition costs between $993 and $1,323, depending on the course. It's worth noting up-front that Gnomon's online courses are only available to residents of California and those living outside of the United States. 07. CGWorkshops Rob Chang, who featured in early issues of ImagineFX, offers Becoming a Better Artist CGSociety is a social art hub featuring industry news, features, forums and challenges, as well as a strong body of workshops dealing with the more technical side of artistic training. These CGWorkshops cover subjects such as advanced matte painting, FX for video games, rigging techniques, stylised character creation and cloth simulation, taught by a collection of film and game industry names such as lead character technical director Wade Ryer, award-winning animator and previs artist Bevin Carnes and CG artist Rob Chang. Courses last between five and 10 weeks, and prices range from $499 to $998. They operate along the same lines as other schools: each week students are presented with a pre-recorded lesson with homework and a social space to share work and critique. There's scope for exposure on several courses with some teachers sharing their student's work online, and student work is often featured on the main page of the website. 08. Ctrl+Paint Matt Kohr has created a great, largely free resourceMatt Kohr takes a slightly different approach to the other online schools listed here, as his website, Ctrl+Paint, is predominantly free. This makes it accessible for artists of all levels, and the fact that most of the material is available through YouTube just adds to that philosophy. It's a fantastic place to start developing your artistic skills. Ctrl+Paint focuses on digital painting, and its lessons are placed in order so that students are taken from an overview of digital painting and the basics of traditional art techniques – learning how to study, draw shapes, crosshatch – through to using advanced digital painting tools and techniques, using colour, constructing a portfolio and more. It's an incredibly thorough resource with well-explained lessons condensed to engage with the varied audience it no doubt attracts. New videos are released regularly and there's free access to Matt's Photoshop brushes and tools. Premium lessons offer an in-depth look at key subjects over several episodes, with prices running from $10 to $55. The Concept Art Starter Kit, as an example, contains videos on design basics, creating boss and house designs as well as icons and general world design, and would be ideal for artists interested in working for an indie game studio. 09. Gumroad Espen Olsen Sætervik is one of hundreds of artists making the most of Gumroad Okay, this one isn't actually an online art school, but over the past couple of years Gumroad has become the de facto place to go for art tutorials and thus deserves a mention in this article. It was started as a space for creative types to share and sell their work, but more recently has been heavily adopted by professional concept artists, illustrators and 3D modellers as a space to sell their own tutorials. Gumroad doesn't offer up a syllabus or comprehensive series of lessons in the manner of the other art schools discussed here, nor does it offer anything in the way of classroom support or feedback outside of email. Instead, it functions as a pathway directly into the minds of your favourite artists. There is an enormous range of topics available through Gumroad, with an equally vast range of presentation styles. A typical Gumroad video might offer an hour or more of video footage with voiceover describing the process, bundled with the actual source files so that the student can open them up and tinker around, deconstructing the artist's process. Prices and quality can vary wildly, but are typically around $3-$20. Think of Gumroad as a nice way to supplement a more complete course. 10. The Oatley Academy Founder Chris Oatley has created a brilliant school Founded by Disney artist Chris Oatley, this school has a slightly different feel to the others in that its approach deals as much with the psychology and thought process behind becoming a professional artist, as it does with the actual lesson structure. "We believe that education should mean transformation," says Oatley. "There are many places where you can pay for information, but not many places that actually offer a true, transformative art education. We say that if we're not changing lives, we're not doing our job." Community involvement plays a large part in this experience, with the site placing a heavy emphasis on engaging with fellow students and learning to critique each other's work in order to grow as artists. Courses fall under two categories: Mentored or Self-Guided. The mentors include Chris Oatley, Dreamworks' visual development artist Jenn Ely, Nickelodeon visual development artist Sarah Marino and illustrator and storyteller Maike Venhofen. Two main ongoing courses, The Magic Box and The Storytellers’ Summit, are priced at $17 per month and $19 per month, respectively, while individual online workshops are also available. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 135 and has been updated. Subscribe here. Related articles: 10 of the best free Udemy courses for designers How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials 4 first-class ways to make your design education count View the full article

When it comes to building websites, WordPress is a popular platform for good reason. All you need is a professionally designed theme from Visualmodo to give your site the style and function you want right off the bat. You can get lifetime access to these top-rated themes right now for just $39 (approx £30). The WordPress themes put together by the experts at Visualmodo make it easy to streamline any web project you're working on. The service's library of expertly crafted themes are easy to plug in at any time and immediately get a wide variety of features that you need. The themes are customisable and flexible, made to fit just about any project. But if you're having trouble making one work for your site, the award-winning customer service from Visualmodo can help you get everything online. You can get a lifetime of access to WordPress themes from Visualmodo on sale for 84% off the full retail price. That makes your total just $39 (approx £30). It's a great offer for themes that will make your site look and feel even better, so grab this deal today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: 25 brilliant WordPress tutorials 20 websites that use minimalism beautifully View the full article

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For most of its early life, thanks to technologies such as PostScript and laser printers kick-starting the desktop publishing revolution, Apple was the natural and obvious choice for creatives. But with the arrival of the iPod in 2001, the appeal of the mass-market started to seduce Apple. Today – with apps such as InDesign and Photoshop running with feature-parity on Windows as on Mac; with PC makers finally waking up to our desire for beautiful hardware; with Apple’s focus being directed away from raw computing grunt at the very high end; with over half of Apple’s revenue coming from the iPhone alone; and with new platforms like VR making such huge demands on hardware – Apple has to work hard to reassure us not only that it cares about creative pros, but that it cares about the Mac at all. Get Adobe Creative CloudAnd so at its developer conference this year, it teased the iMac Pro – what it calls a workstation-class computer in the iconic iMac all-in-one design. iMac Pro: release date Expect shipping of the iMac Pro in early 2018Apple says that it’s coming in December. Be warned, though, that the last time Apple introduced a pro-level Mac, the ’trash can’ Mac Pro, supplies were so constrained that although orders opened mid-December, ship dates quickly slipped to February and then April. It’s unlikely this will happen with the iMac Pro, though, both since it should be simpler to make, being based on a familiar chassis, and also because there’s not quite the same level of pent-up desire for it as there was for the Mac Pro following years of neglect of the metal tower design. Expect shipping early in 2018. iMac Pro: rumours It looks just like the existing 27-inch iMac 5K, save for the fact that it’s black – ‘space grey’ – and dammit, Apple, your juvenile little trick has worked. It looks awesome – the shiny black glass bezel now playing with the matt dark grey ‘chin’ rather than fighting the silvery aluminium. There’s a black trackpad and mouse too, and a black keyboard which now also includes a numeric keypad. Powerful components generate a lot of heat, though, and that’s part of why slim all-in-ones like the iMac have often used laptop-grade CPUs, GPUs and so on. The iMac Pro has implemented two huge – though probably very quiet – fans as well as a large heatsink and extra venting to give it an 80 per cent increase in thermal capacity; basically, ’things can run hotter and it will be okay’. You can run two additional 5K displays off the iMac Pro.And that’s good, because you can configure the CPU up to 18-cores (up from the default 8, or 10), Turbo Boost-ing up to 4.5GHz. Graphics is courtesy of a brand new chip making its debut in the iMac Pro, the Radeon Pro Vega (in 8 or 16GB), offering up to 11 teraflops single-precision computing power – three times faster than the previous best iMac GPU. You can run two additional 5K displays off it, for a total of more than 44,000,000 pixels. Plus, RAM config now tops out at 128GB, double the previous iMac limit. I/O is fast too, with four Thunderbolt 3 ports (sharing two controllers) and, for the first time, 10Gb Ethernet – though of course your network has to be spec-matched if you want to take advantage of this additional speed. Vast power So there's vast power to be tapped, but remember that even if you're a creative pro at the top of your game, you might not need – never mind be able to access – all that power. An 18-core CPU doesn’t necessarily mean ’things will be faster’; the apps you use have to be programmed to run across multiple cores. The best laptops for video editingIf you do a lot of compute-heavy tasks, such as 3D rendering or video exporting, or if you’re working in visual effects or VR, the CPU/GPU pairing here is going to make your life easier. But for more traditional 2D or print-focussed designers, plenty of RAM and a fast SSD in a less meaty machine would be more relevant. We don’t know how much the configuration options will be – although you can be prepared for costs to mount. And we don’t even know how much it will cost in a currency other than USD (thanks, Brexit). But we do know it will start at $4,999. That’s a big number, but – apples-and-oranges and incomplete though the comparison may be – Apple says a comparable built PC is a couple of grand more, and of course wouldn’t run macOS. As beautiful as the iMac and its wide colour-gamut 5K Retina display is, though, it might simply be the wrong set of compromises for compute-heavy, it’s-never-fast-enough pro users. You’re dependent on Thunderbolt for expansion and future-proofing, and despite the improved thermal conductivity, there’s an inherent dichotomy in putting the very most powerful components in a slim all-in-one. Happily, Apple also teased that, basically, they’re having yet another crack at getting the ‘Mac Pro’ right, saying that they are “working on a completely redesigned, next-generation Mac Pro architected for pro customers who need the highest-end, high-throughput system in a modular design, as well as a new high-end pro display.” That’s all we know for now, but Apple definitely has our attention. Is the iMac Pro the ultimate desktop for creatives? Whether the iMac Pro, in the interim, is the ultimate desktop for creatives depends on each creative’s needs. It’s certainly going to be powerful and capable, it has good headroom for nearly all creatives save the most demanding 3D, VFX and VR workers – thanks to that 128GB RAM ceiling if nothing else – and, let’s embrace our inner 12-year-old, it would look pretty badass in a studio. However if your work requires apps or specialist hardware that aren’t available for macOS, needs or would benefit from a touchscreen, takes you away from the desk a lot, or demands more flexibility than an all-in-one design allows, it’s not going to be for you. The Surface Studio, custom-built towers from specialists or rigs from big brands, and even cloud computing render farms might be more what you need. And of course the iMac Pro might simply be overkill for the kind of work you do. Still, we’re happy that Apple is, at worst, merely giving the appearance that it still values us in the creative industries, and recognises that we have specific needs that consumer-grade hardware can’t address. Some have jumped ship already, and the siren song of the iMac Pro may not be exciting enough to lure them back, but at least Apple’s singing it. Related articles: Review: iPad Pro 12.9 (2017) Review: Microsoft Surface Book The best graphics tablets of 2017 View the full article

There are many ways to approach creature design and ideation, and it all depends on what you want your end result to be. Look to the natural world for inspiration, as this can help you come up with some odd-looking creatures. One of the best places to spark off ideas is with a Google search – try exploring deep sea fish, unusual birds and bizarre insects. How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorialsWhen designing a fantasy creature, always have in mind where this beast’s habitat might be, what it might eat, whether it’s nocturnal, and whether it's something's prey or a predator. All of these things will influence the final design. For instance, if you had a large herbivorous animal, ask yourself what does it eat? Who hunts it? If it has natural predators then what – if anything – has it evolved to protect itself? Speed? Armour? Poison? All of these questions should go through your mind at some point. They’ll ensure your creature feels like it might exist in real life, and that’s when the magic starts to happen... 01. Mix'n'match with care Combine aspects of different animals to make a new oneTo help fill your brain with creature ideas, watch nature documentaries and look through wildlife photos on Pinterest or general Google searches. There’s nothing quite so strange as the natural world and you can combine aspects of different creatures to make a completely new one. But try to avoid making a chimera, which is to take the body of one animal and the legs of another and the head of yet another: it doesn’t really feel like it’s something that could exist. Instead, imagine what would happen if two of those creatures had babies. What would they look like? 02. Combine flora and fauna The mushrooms on this craggle's back help him hide in the undergrowthA fun way to make something new is to combine flora and fauna. For this craggle (a cannibalistic fairy caterpillar) I wanted a creature that could hide in plain sight to ambush his prey. His prey, the wiffle, are fond of psychedelic mushrooms, so the craggle hides among these mushrooms, and is able to do so because there are fungi-like growths on its back. The wiffles don’t have a chance! 03. Design with logic in mind Tusks help this tarlak defend himselfThis is a tarlak, one of the inhabitants of the world that I created for my upcoming book Strangehollow. This bristly, hairy chap has been influenced by warthogs and wild boar. I wanted a forest-dwelling vegetarian that was pig-like and used his tusks to dig the ground for delicious root vegetables of some kind. He also needed to be able to look after himself if he was attacked by one of the local predators. His tusks would make formidable weapons against even the most persistent of carnivores. 04. Make the most of the eyes Big eyes are a fast track to cutenessFor creating something super cute, go for big eyes because they’re a sure-fire way of conveying the ‘awwww’ factor. This little chap was inspired by squirrels and pugs. His snub nose and big wide eyes give the impression that perhaps he’s not too bright, and most definitely a little highly strung, too.
 05. Reimagine mythical beasts Look outside the reptilian world for inspirationDragons. Who doesn’t love them? I like the idea of a dragon that’s evolved to live in forests and so has developed growths that look like branches – the ideal camouflage for an ambush predator! For inspiration for dragons you can look at all kinds of creatures. The usual ones to study would be Komodo dragons, crocodiles and other lizards, but check out less obvious creatures that will leave you with an unconventional dragon, which hopefully will have more variety. Birds are great for that dead-eyed, carnivorous stare – even a chicken has that... 06. Look at animal skeletons This dragon contains aspects of the hippopotamus skeletonAnother way to make your dragons more interesting is to take aspects of mammals and other toothy creatures and add those to your dragon. For this red beast I used inspiration from animals with tusks, wild boar and particularly the crushing jaws of a hippopotamus. I used to live near a natural history museum that was filled with the most amazing animal skeletons. If you have anything like that near you, take some time to go there with your sketchbook to gain inspiration for your creatures. The hippopotamus skull was particularly amazing to see and definitely influenced this dragon. 07. Create a story This creature hibernates for years at a timeIf you’re not sure where to start, think of the story behind the creature. I created this dragon who eats dead trees. I started with the idea that he would go around eating the dead wood in the forest, then I thought, well, what happens when he’s eaten it all? He hibernates! Sleeping for years at a time while grasses and plants and small trees grow all over him, camouflaging him while he’s away in dreamland. 08. Remember to bring the fun This cheeky brownie distracts forest walkersWhen I was designing my brownies, I imagined them as annoying little beings who try to distract you as you’re walking through the forest, in order to lead you off the safe path to where they can rob you of all your belongings. I imagined them leaping about, maybe yelling compliments (of a sort) to you as you went on your way through the forest. This is the creature that appeared as a result. If in doubt, adding a nude pink bottom is highly amusing. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 151. Buy it now. Related articles: How to paint outdoors 15 tips to improve your brush skills How to draw a dragon: 7 pro tips View the full article

Light is something that always inspires painters – whether it’s the sun shining on the stones of a building or a flower in a vase catching a ray of sunshine. In fact, a dustbin in an interesting light could make a better artwork than a beautiful landscape in a dull light. How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorialsDepicting light with oils can be challenging, but it is always rewarding. It has more to do with tones than colours. Getting a correct relationship between all the different tones of the painting is what will make the light effect credible. A typical mistake is to paint elements in their original colour rather than the colour they appear to be – for example painting a house white, while in fact it looks rather grey as it stands in the shade. Observe well and constantly compare things in connection to others (is this tree lighter than the house? Is the house lighter than the car? etc…). As a general rule, the values are closer together in the background, while in the foreground they are more contrasted and can showcase the lightest and darkest tones possible. With all this in mind, here are a few tips to help you depict light in your oil paintings. 01. Work thick Use thicker paint for light areasTo paint light with oils, use thicker paint for the light areas than for the dark ones. Start on a toned canvas or board that can work as your mid tone. That way, both light and dark brushstrokes will be visible. Then thinly paint the darker areas, making sure some of the background is still showing through to give it depth, then gradually build layers of lighter colours with more paint, finishing with thick impasto marks for the brightest highlights. This will create a strong focal point, as the eye is naturally attracted to the lightest colour and the thickest brushstrokes. 02. Work thin Working thin can work well for areas with lots of lightAn alternative to working thick is to cover the canvas with a light and warm background, such as pink, then build darker layers but leave the background showing through for the lightest areas. This is similar to the watercolour technique that uses the white of the paper as the white in the painting. Obviously it only works if the colour you want to achieve is the colour of the background. This technique might not have the impact of the impasto but it has a delicate, ethereal quality that works very well for subjects such as sunsets. 03. Mix light and dark Capturing interesting shadows will also emphasise brighter areasLight only exists in contrast to dark. Whatever you’re painting, you’ll probably have to make sure you include plenty of dark areas to make your light stand out. Whenever you want to make an element lighter you have two choices: use lighter paint or make its surrounding darker. Highlights are fun to paint, so the challenge is often to make the shadows interesting. If you observe closely you’ll see they contain a lot of subtle nuances of light reflected in them, so it’s best to keep them thin, and possibly let some of the ground colour show through. 04. Consider the colour of light Sunlight isn't always yellowBeginners sometimes make the classic mistake of thinking light is always yellow, putting thick yellow highlights everywhere, regardless of whether the sunlight is falling on blue sea or on a green jumper. But light can’t be painted on its own – it depends on the colour of the elements it hits. The key is to observe and avoid assumptions. It is also tempting to use a lot of white but sometimes it will make the colours cooler and less vibrant. Use the minimum needed, especially when painting bright red to avoid turning it pink. 05. Paint the path of light Light travels in interesting waysThe light will be convincing in a painting only if the painting is considered as a whole. Try depicting the path of light across the whole canvas – see what it hits, where it runs, and keep it consistent. It can be easier to group elements as masses rather than as individual objects, for this. Focus on painting the light falling onto planes from one corner of the canvas to the opposite one, as if you're following the flow of a river. A highlight will occur every time a plane changes direction, such as the corner of a table or the edge of a face. This article originally appeared in issue 9 of Paint & Draw magazine. Buy a copy here. Related articles: How to get started with oil painting 10 essential oil painting tips and techniques 26 phenomenally realistic pencil drawings View the full article

Typeface collections are a fundamental yet expensive asset, which leads to lots of creatives (whisper it) stealing them. Thankfully, a new cloud-based font library called Letrs is here to help fight piracy and shake up how designers work with typefaces. Touted as a "Spotify for typographers", Letrs offers an enormous library of fonts for a monthly fee. It means designers will no longer have to buy fonts – instead you'll just use what you need. It offers a way to easily manage a library of fonts and there's also the option to collaborate with a team, so you can share groups of typography styles with your co-workers nice and legally. Best free fonts for designersThe app (which has been in Beta up until now) is ever-growing and currently offers roughly 2,400 fonts from different foundries for users to play around with, all for a single monthly fee. Letrs hasn't revealed exactly what this monthly fee is yet, but we have asked for this information. With a launch date scheduled for tomorrow, we shouldn't be left waiting too long to find out what the damage will be. The service already has thousands of fonts free for subscribers"We plan to change the way agencies, design studios, and independent professionals consume digital fonts," Letrs says on its Twitter profile. To use Letrs, simply download the app, install the software and register. From there you'll be able to use any of the fonts from the catalogue, or even to use and manage your own typefaces by dragging and dropping them into the system. Once you've downloaded Letrs you'll be able to access your fonts from any computer. Letrs is also totally compatible with all Mac OS apps. To choose a typeface, simply click on a style and you're away. Watch the Letrs team explain everything that the app has to offer in the video below. The idea of a cloud-based typography library is a great one, and Letrs provides a handy alternative for designers who don't want to sign up to Typekit. Just like Letrs, Adobe's Typekit is an online subscription library of high-quality fonts. As it is, Typekit offers more typefaces but its pricing structure varies depending on how many styles you want to access. Letrs could be an alternative for designers who don't want to go through Creative Cloud, and if the catalogue's collection continues to grow, it could even work out to be more cost-effective. (It all depends on that mysterious subscription fee.) Related articles: Smart typography tool generates font pairs in an instant 50 top typography tutorials The 28 best typography apps View the full article

As we click back into action after the summer holidays, we’ve been focused on buying guides this month on Creative Bloq. Whether you’re looking for a new graphics tablet, or the best laptop for photo editing or graphic design, we’ve got you covered. 11 tools every graphic designer should have in 2017But what about new tools for graphic design out this month? Happily, there have been plenty of new releases that aim to speed up your workflow or increase your industry knowledge. From brilliant new books to brushes, actions, hardware and software, you’ll find nine of the best new graphic design tools right here... 01. The Elements of Logo Design: Design Thinking, Branding, Making Marks Buy The Elements of Logo Design, UK: £24.99 Buy The Elements of Logo Design, US: $25.21 Designer Alex W White has put together this new, comprehensive guide to learning the art of logo design. With over 400 examples taken from across advertising, editorial and web, the book seeks to give readers a clear understanding of universally shared graphic design principles, before applying these principles to logo design. Chapters cover everything from logic in design to hierarchy and structure; how to build a logo using type, image and space; semiotics; and more. If you’re interested in learning more about the art of branding, The Elements of Logo Design: Design Thinking, Branding, Making Marks will make for a fantastic resource. Also read: 25 logo design tips from the experts 02. iPad Pro (2017) with iOS 11 With the final release of iOS 11 this month, Apple's top-end iPad and the wonderful Apple Pencil have received some significant updates, turning the pair into an unbeatable portable companion for your desktop. The new dock has support for drag and drop, and is supported by Split View functionality, which powers up multitasking capabilities to provide desktop-like functionality. And thanks to Apple's A10 X processor, this is a seriously powerful tablet. Meanwhile, iOS 11 updates to apps such as Serif’s Affinity Photo and Savage’s Procreate help make the iPad Pro a fantastic tool for photo editing, designing and illustrating on the move. Also read: iPad Pro (2017) with iOS 11 review 03. The Design of Dissent, Expanded Edition: Greed, Nationalism, Alternative Facts, and the Resistance Buy The Design of Dissent, UK: £16.99 Buy The Design of Dissent, US: $16.37 A new, expanded edition of Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic’s 2005 tome has been released this month – this time with celebrated designer and writer Steven Heller’s input, too. Within the 296-page book you’ll find a global collection of socially and politically driven graphics that voice dissent, challenge status quo and speak truth to power. From the Arab Spring to the Obama presidency, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, the election of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin’s continuing influence, the Women’s March, the ongoing refugee crises, immigration, environment and humanitarian issues, and much more, this title totals over 550 images. It not only stands as a testament to the power of imagery, but also acts as an urgent call to action. 04. Really Big Bundle of Illustrator Brushes Buy the brushes: $29 Guerillacraft has bundled up 367 Illustrator brushes for a bargain $29. Inside the bundle you’ll find a 1950s artist brush pack, pencil craft brushes, mid century-inspired brushes, ornamental style and a lot more. (They’re suitable for Adobe CS3 and above.) 05. Notes: Colorful Geometric Pattern Notebook Buy the notebook UK: £6.09 Buy the notebook US: $7.98 As the weather changes we’re still in back-to-school mode, which makes this colourful new geometric-patterned notebook from Nifty Notebooks especially timely. It’s wide-ruled, with 175 white pages. And at 6 x 9 inches it will fit in your bag as well. If you’re looking to offset the approaching winter with a splash of colour as you jot down ideas and notes, this one’s for you. 06. 18 Procreate Smudge Brushes Buy the Procreate brushes: $8 Seeing as the redesigned Smudge tool has been greatly improved in Procreate 4, Swiss-based Creative Market user MiksKS has created a set of brushes specifically for smudging and blending. So what do you get? The 18 brushes include a range of textures and colour blending effects, such as charcoal and pencil, paint and watercolour and more. However, they’re best used in Procreate 4, so you will need to update to that version before using these brushes. Also read: 30 of the best Procreate brushes 07. Fog Effect Photoshop Action Buy the fog effect Photoshop action: $4 Speaking again of changing seasons, this handy fog effect Photoshop action will speed up your autumn designs no end. It’s just $4, adjustable, compatible with CS3 and above, and comes with a useful Help file as well. Also read: 60 free Photoshop actions 08. Lightning and Electricity Brushes Buy the lightning and electricity brushes: $6 You get 102 high-res lightning and electricity Photoshop brushes in this $6 pack. If you’re looking to add drama to a thunderstorm or some extra shock into your latest design, this bundle is worth a look. 09. Pioneers of German Graphic Design Get Pioneers of German Design, UK: £70 Get Pioneers of German Design, US: $77.90 Author Jens Müller explores the relationship between the groundbreaking early inventions of Germany's graphic design pioneers and the nation's explosive politics in this fascinating 384-page title. Telling the story of German graphic design from the late monarchy to the Wirtschaftswunder after World War II, the book looks at how Lucian Bernhard prompted a revolution in poster design, and how Wilhelm Deffke and Karl Schulpig invented the modern logo. It also includes a section on Herbert Bayer, who expanded the language of form at the Bauhaus, as well as celebrated typographer Jan Tschichold. This is a highly recommended read for anyone with a deeper interest in graphic design. Related articles: 5 must-read books for design students The 60 best free Photoshop brushes 10 top design-related movies View the full article