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Researchers identified a vulnerability in National Instruments' LabVIEW software that will not receive patch by the vendor. View the full article

One of many illustrations from Iris Compiet’s Faeries of the Faultlines projectWith over two billion active users worldwide, social media offers a powerful channel for artists to connect with audiences, build awareness and increase sales. But the choices are legion: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, GooglePlus, LinkedIn... and that’s before you consider creative communities such as Behance, ArtStation, Tumblr and so on. Which options are best for getting your work out there, and how can you optimise your social media presence? To help you, we’ve put together the ultimate social media guide for artists. 20 digital artists to follow on BehanceFirst, some basics. Successful social media strategy is built on brilliant artwork, so creating the best possible work should be your main focus. Second, it’s impossible to invest time in every platform, so don’t sign up to them all – pick two or three primary channels and become an expert in those spaces. Which ones? Read on as we explore the leading platforms, with tips, tricks and techniques for increasing your social media reach... Drive traffic with Facebook 
Choosing the best platform for your work is a numbers game. Despite reports of millennials moving away from Facebook, it remains the most-used social media site among all ages, with 1.65 billion monthly active users, on average. Baby boomers are driving its current growth. According to a recent report from Pew Research Center, 79 per cent of online Americans use Facebook – with 76 per cent checking in daily – compared to Instagram (32 per cent), Pinterest (31 per cent), LinkedIn (29 per cent) and Twitter (24 per cent). But with ever-changing algorithms and Facebook increasingly wanting a slice of sales, how effective is it for artists? Facebook posts showing my newest artwork particularly generate a lot of interest. However, it’s not ideal for sales Loish “I’ve built a sizeable following on Facebook,” says Dutch artist and animator Lois van Baarle, aka Loish, whose page has over 1.2 million likes. She recommends building your profile by regularly sharing process videos, short tutorials and tips, as well as new artwork. Via these tactics, she 
has been able to successfully crowdfund her first artbook, smashing her £20,000 funding target to reach almost £250,000. “Facebook posts showing my newest artwork particularly generate a lot of interest,” she says. “However, it’s not an ideal social network for sales. "When I post a link to my online prints shop or where to buy my book, only about a tenth of my followers end up seeing it because Facebook wants you to pay to boost these posts.” Lemonade by Loish, who has over 1.2 million likes on her Facebook pageIn the past few years, organic reach has dropped by 49 per cent. Paid-for posts can be a relatively inexpensive method of expanding your reach, but there are also some creative tactics that can help increase your following organically. Facebook is still giving video top priority, for example, so try natively uploading a 30-second video for your next artwork (a sped-up screencapture, for example) with a call-to-action at the end and a link to your website. Always avoid direct sales language and links in your updates. Not only is this annoying for followers, Facebook will penalise you unless you’ve paid for an advert. And make full use of Facebook Insights to better understand your audience. Which posts do they best respond to? Once you know who they are and when they’re on Facebook, you can tailor your posts accordingly. Increase reach with Instagram “Instagram is the most effective platform for me, since it doesn’t have the same limitations on post content as Facebook,” continues Lois. “I can reach many more followers through my Instagram posts, and it has led to a boost in print and book sales.” Ilya Kuvshinov, the Tokyo-based illustrator, agrees. He has over 840,000 Instagram followers and says the platform isn’t just great for increasing awareness of his work, it’s also boosted his Patreon following – converting his audience into paying fans. “However, Instagram posts don’t allow you to insert clickable links,” he says. “If you want to send people somewhere, you have to ask them to check out the link in your profile, which isn’t as effective as having a link to tap in front of you.” “Follow other artists, and use Instagram to have fun yourself,” says Ilya KuvshinovAlgorithmic changes have hit Instagram feeds in recent months, but some basic rules still apply for growing your following. According to entrepreneur Neil Patel, hashtags are more important on Instagram than all other social media platforms. “You won’t need to worry about hashtag fatigue on Instagram,” he says in his article, How to Build a Killer Instagram Following. Instead, treat them like keywords: include relevant, popular hashtags with your updates (Webstagram has a useful list of these) and also integrate less-popular hashtags as well, so that you’re more likely to appear at the top of these search feeds. People love to see work-in-progress pictures, so give them a glimpse into your world Iris Compiet Another way to increase your reach is through ‘tag a friend’ posts, or by giving something away for free. “When I reach a certain goal – say, when I hit 30,000 followers for example – I’ll have a giveaway,” says Netherlands-based illustrator Iris Compiet. “I’ll run a share contest and the winner, picked randomly, will then receive an original piece of my art work for free.” Iris credits Instagram with increased sales of her self-published sketchbook. But better still, she says that posting images from the project also led to new commissions from big-name clients who saw the work. “Limit posts to three a day, tops, though,” she advises others. “But try to post daily, at around the same time. People love to see work-in-progress pictures, so give them a glimpse into your world.” Sell with Pinterest According to Shopify, some 87 per cent of Pinterest users have bought an item because they saw it on Pinterest, while 93 per cent have used the site to plan a purchase. With over 150m monthly users and growing fast, Pinterest isn’t just a significant traffic driver to your website (second only to Facebook), the platform can increase your sales too… with the right strategy. So how can artists get Pinterest to work harder for them? In short: with some savvy SEO. First, create boards that your target audience wants to follow, and add keywords to their descriptions. Not only do boards rank on Google, this will help the right people find your work. Furthermore, give every pin you share an engaging but strategic description, not forgetting to include keywords and a call to action. Just make sure you include your own voice as well: if you go keyword mad, Google will penalise you. Don’t just pin your own work. Share relevant content from other people to increase the chance of your pins appearing at the top of someone’s feed To increase visibility, pin every new artwork or blog on to all your relevant Pinterest boards – not just one of them. And post regularly: Kissmetrics recommends scheduling between five and 30 new pins throughout each day. However, don’t just pin your own work. Share relevant content from other people to increase the chance of your pins appearing at the top of someone’s feed. Finally, make it easy for others to share your work by adding the Pin It button to any image on your site. Whether you’re looking to drive traffic or increase sales, Pinterest is a must for artists. Use a call to action on Twitter Should artists still have a presence on Twitter? The platform’s revenue is down and shares have slumped. But monthly users rose three per cent in 2016, and opportunities to make money still exist. Iris Compiet used Twitter to promote her Faeries of the Faultlines project Hashtags are important, but require a different strategy to Instagram. Don’t go overboard, though: according to marketing agency Lynchpin, tweets with hashtags receive twice as much engagement as those without, but tweets with one or two hashtags have 21 per cent higher engagement than those with three or more. One benefit of Twitter is that its users are among the most responsive to a call to action, so they’re more likely to visit a link. However, tweets become lost quickly, so create a few different versions of each one and schedule them at least six hours apart, or over different days. Connect with YouTube With YouTube ranked as the most popular platform among UK adults online (85 per cent use it, says London agency We Are Flint, rising to 96 per cent of 19-28 year olds), it can make sense to have a presence on it. One artist reaping the benefits is Ross Tran, who boasts over 100,000 subscribers. In January this year, his Korra YouTube episode was a hit. “I uploaded an additional 1.30-minute teaser video to Facebook, which got almost 600,000 views and a few thousand shares,” he says. “This led to me receiving around 3,000 new YouTube subscribers, 3,000 new Instagram followers and new Facebook fans. My Patreon hit an all-time high – about $3,400 a video.” One of Ross Tran’s favourite YouTube episodes sees him taking on Jinx from League of Legends (click the picture to watch the video on YouTube) This isn’t just a shining example of an artist getting the most from YouTube: it’s a top-class lesson in cross-promotion to fully harness the power of social media. And that’s the point. Used cleverly, social media should connect the dots, linking your different online presences together and channelling your audience in whichever direction you’d like them to go. When it comes to YouTube, Ross has some key advice: “Attention spans are getting shorter because more and more content is being shoved in our faces,” he says. “Just accept it and learn how you can be a player.” He recommends utilising YouTube’s Trends tool. “Often when a new movie or character comes out and I create a video, it performs better. Find hot and trending topics that appeal to your audience, to help grow your numbers.” However, his last tip is crucial to all artists, whatever platform you choose. “Be yourself,” he urges. “People subscribe to you because they relate and like you. Remember: your experiences, vision and stories are unique to you. So share them.” This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 147. Buy it now. Read more: 10 digital artists you need to know about 8 inspiring digital art portfolios and why they work 6 best digital art tools of 2017 so far View the full article

Photography is a skill that is easy to learn but hard to master. Having a basic understanding of the art will go a long way, and you can always add new abilities. The Adobe KnowHow All-Inclusive Photography Bundle is here to turn you into an expert, and it’s on sale for just $64.99 (approx £51). No matter your current level of experience as a photographer, you’ll find plenty of useful information in this huge bundle. It spans 13 courses and packs in over 65 hours of actionable content. Whether you're interested in learning specific skills like snapping night shots, or hoping to dive into foundational information applicable to all types of photography, you’re sure to find what you're looking for in this bundle. With this great deal you can get the Adobe KnowHow All-Inclusive Photography Bundle on sale for just $64.99 (approx £51). That's 93% off the full retail price for an essential collection of courses for anyone interested in photography, so get 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 View the full article

Sass is a powerful tool that brings many features from other programming languages into CSS – such as functions, variables and loops – as well as bringing its own intuitive features such as mixins, nesting and partials to name a few. In this tutorial we'll be creating social icons using Sass loops, mixins and functions. We'll also be using the powerful nesting available in Sass. What is Sass?We'll be creating a list in Sass to generate our social icons, which will consist of the classname, font reference and colour first – and later the tooltip. And we'll be using mixins to create reusable Media Queries and creating a function to turn a pixel value into an em value. To do this we'll also be creating a variable for our base font-size. There are a number of ways to install and use Sass depending on your system and your build tooling needs – more details can be found here – however, we'll be using CodePen to compile our Sass into CSS to keep things as simple as possible. To truly harness the power of Sass and not get yourself into a mess of specificity and complexity a solid understanding of CSS is required. The particular flavour of Sass we'll be using is SCSS (Sassy CSS), meaning we'll still be using the curly brackets {} in our Sass code. Get the tutorial files To download the example files for this tutorial, go to FileSilo, select Free Stuff and Free Content next to the tutorial. Note: First time users will have to register to use FileSilo. 01. Set up your CodePen CSS Getting your CodePen CSS set up correctly is keyThe first thing we'll need to do is create a new pen and change some of the default settings for the CSS editor in CodePen. We'll change the CSS Preprocessor to SCSS and turn on Normalize and Autoprefixer. 02. Start writing some code Now we've set everything up we can start writing some code. Inside the HTML editor we'll create a container and a number of items inside containing the link and icon for each of our icons. The names used here will be used in our Sass list as a reference in CSS. We'll also be using the BEM naming convention for our class names. 03. Set basic styles Moving over to the CSS editor we'll start by including font-awesome, setting a variable for our base font-size and some basic styles for the page. 04. Create a basic function Next we'll create a basic function to turn a pixel value to an em value using our '$base-font-size' variable. Functions in Sass are created using '@function' followed by the name of the function and the input used to perform the function. Then inside the declaration we use '@return' to output the value when using the function. The '#{}' surrounding the calculation is used for interpolation. 05. Make mixins Continuing on with our setup we'll create mixins for simple mobile-first media queries using our 'px-to-em' function, which we will pass in a px value to return an em value. Mixins are created using '@mixin' followed by a name for the mixin. Then inside the declaration we use '@content' to output the code we put inside the mixin when calling it later in our codebase. 06. Set up a Sass list The last step in our setup is to create a list. Lists in Sass are created using a variable; after that the exact syntax is pretty loose, accepting a wide variety of ways to define it. Inside the variable we'll define the class name, unicode value and colour for each icon, separating them with a comma, inside parentheses. 07. Display your icons in a row In order for our social icons to display in row we'll add some simple CSS to each of their containers. 08. Create a shared icon style To minimise the amount of CSS we output we'll be using a CSS3 selector to find all classes beginning with 'icon' and create a shared style for them. 09. Style up button backgrounds Using the same method we'll do the same for the buttons defining our values in 'em', allowing us later to resize them using the container. 10. @each loop for our icons We’ve used our loop to generate the icons for each of our social iconsNow we have all our base styles we can use our list to generate the CSS specific to each icon. To create a loop in Sass we use '@each' followed by names for each value of each item – '$icon', '$unicode' and '$icon-background' – followed by the word 'in' and then the name of the list. Inside the loop we'll apply the '$unicode' value to the 'before' pseudo element of each icon we've created in the HTML, allowing the shared style we created earlier to take care of all the other styles needed. 11. @each loop for our background colours We’ve added the background colours as well as the icons to our '@each' loopThe icons are now all working but we still have the fallback background colour. We'll add some more code to our list to fix that. Using the same method as above we'll output the '$icon' name but this time on the 'social__icon' classes and inside that the '$icon-background' colour. 12. Use the mixins Using our mixins we've updated the font size of the container to change the icons size depending on the viewport widthUsing the mixins we created earlier and because we styled the icons using 'em' values we can apply a font-size to the container and increase it using our media-query mixin using '@include' and the name of the mixin followed by the code we want to include in the media-query. 13. Add interaction states and built-in functions We can add some interactivity to our buttons by changing the background colour when the button is interacted with either using the mouse or the keyboard. Sass has a number of built-in colour functions allowing us to take the background colour we've set in our list and mix it with black to darken the button – when interacted with. 14. Transition the background colour We can also utilise the 'transition' property in CSS to animate the differences between the background colours. We could use the 'all' value but that is both expensive in terms of performance and would not allow us to transition different values at different timings and timing-functions. 15. Add further transition effects By adding a 'relative' positioning to the buttons and a top value and adding 'top' to our 'transition' property we can ready the elements for further interaction. 16. Move the buttons up upon interaction For this interaction there's nothing specific needed to create it therefore we can add the code to the shared class. By applying a negative top value and removing the outline we have an even clearer visual cue of interaction. 17. Add a drop shadow Using transition properties we’ve animated any interaction with the buttons – moving them up, darkening the background and adding a drop shadowWe can also use the same method to create and animate a 'box-shadow' – adding a little more depth to the interaction – changing the vertical height of the shadow at the same time as the top value. 18. Add tooltips We can easily add tooltips with CSS to add further clarity for our users. The first thing we'll do is to add the tooltip value to the list. Making sure to write them in quotes to allow the use of spaces if required. 19. Modify the @each loop Due to the addition to our list we'll need to modify our '@each' loop to include the tooltip value ('$name'). We can then output that name as the content of the 'before pseudo' element on our buttons. 20. Style the before pseudo element We've added some basic styles to the tooltips again adding transitions to animate them into positionNow we have the name of each element displayed on the screen we need to style the element, adding a background colour, padding and other styling elements – as well as positioning the element and readying it for transitions and modifying the opacity and top values upon interaction. 21. Style the after pseudo element We will use CSS triangles to create the bottom of our tooltips – again positioning the element readying it for transitions – by transitioning the opacity and top values at different timings. By adding a delay we get an animation consisting of the tooltip fading in and moving down into place. The CodePen Collection of tutorial steps can be found here. This article originally appeared in Web Designer magazine issue 264. Buy it here. Read more: What is Sass? 8 CodePen features you didn't know about 5 tips for super-fast CSS View the full article

When it comes to music, you could say that the UK is punching above its weight. Despite its size, the UK has produced bands, artists and music scenes that have had a huge influence all around the world. To celebrate this wealth of talent, TotallyMoney.com has produced a beautiful interactive infographic that takes you on a tour of the best UK music. Pro tips for creating interactive infographicsIn the infographic, the names of various bands and artists cover the town or area where they hail from to make up a musical map of the UK. Many of the band and artist names are styled using fonts and logos to match the band's. When you click on an artist's name, you even get a refresher of their best song, chart performance and net worth. London has its own pull-out interactive map (Click the arrows icon to enlarge the map)"The UK music industry is one of the biggest in the world,” says Joe Gardiner, TotallyMoney.com’s head of brand and communications. “It’s a rich history, but people often think that musicians just congregate in London. Music is universal – singers and bands come from all over.” Perhaps due to London's sheer density, it does have its own pull-out map, though, for users to explore in more depth. We're not sure how we feel about the fact that the CB office seems to fall dangerously near James Blunt territory... See the map for yourself below, and be sure to head over to the full interactive infographic at TotallyMoney.com to find out about all the facts and figures behind your favourite musicians. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in all its musical glory (Click to go to the full interactive map) You might like these related articles: 8 free tools for creating infographics The 25 greatest animated music videos The 20 best album covers of 2016 View the full article

Even successful digital artists have much to learn, and you constantly need to push and develop your skills or you’ll start to stagnate and get left behind. And that’s not just about learning new software techniques. It’s also about refreshing and refining those core art skills that help you to create brilliant visuals, whatever your medium. In this post, we look at five ways to do so. 01. Sketch regularly Illustration by Christina Mrozik Whether you use a pen and paper or tablet and stylus, regular sketching is an essential way to maintain and improve your skills. American artist Terryl Whitlach, who’s known for her creature designs for Lucasfilm, says: “It’s important to get better as an artist, and to have a platform to experiment, mess up, try again – and again – and grow. Sometimes, things just don't turn out, but that is the process of getting out of one’s comfort zone, and getting better.” Regular sketching can also help you come up with concepts and ideas that you may not reach through other routes. Tony Diterlizzi, whose fantasy art will shortly be exhibiting at the Norman Rockwell Museum, says: “I often sketch random ideas conjured from a relaxed state of mind. Accessing this part of my imagination allows me to sketch out unusual ideas, which I can later incorporate into finished illustrations.” Online sketching resources For advice on how to settle into a productive sketching regime, check out these Sketching Tips for Beginners and these 10 tips from leading international artists. And don’t miss the special feature on art sketching in the next issue of ImagineFX (153), on sale 9 September. 02. Work on your figure drawing Figure Drawing for Artists by Steve Huston is accessible and comprehensive Figure drawing – the accurate reproduction of the human form in various shapes and postures – is a core skill for any artist, digital or otherwise, and always worth working on. The best way to learn the basics is, of course, by attending life drawing classes. But there are ton of books out there to help you, too: here are some of our favourites. Books on figure drawing Figure Drawing for Artists by Steve Huston serves as a good introduction to the subject. It's an accessible book that covers all the principles and practices of figure drawing without ever feeling academic or overly complex. Human Figure Drawing by Daniela Brambilla, meanwhile, is less concerned with theory and more about encouraging you to practise, practise, practise. It does this by setting a series of exercises and encourages you to learn by doing – all the while learning from your mistakes. A more suitable read for experienced artists is perhaps Figure Drawing for Concept Artists by Kan Muftic, who has created concept art for movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Jungle Book and Godzilla. In this, the concept artist outlines systematic methods to advance your life drawing: the three-tiered approach (observe, process and apply); the Reilly Method; shadow mapping; negative space and shapes; and more. Muftic also reveals how Henry Yan once asked him, “Are you a digital artist? Muftic replied, “Yes, why do you ask?”. Yan shot back, “Well, you just move your hand around mindlessly, hoping that something comes out of the mess.” If your main goal is to achieve anatomic accuracy, you may like The Anatomy of Style: Figure Drawing Techniques by fantasy artist Patrick J Jones, which uses annotated versions of his own pencil drawings to get human anatomy right, without losing sight of creative vision. Online figure drawing resources Away from the printed page, there are number of online articles that show how these principles are put into practice by top artists. In this step-by-step tutorial to improve your figure drawing, John Watkiss walks you through the compositional and anatomical techniques he uses in illustrating the classic character of Tarzan. Similarly, in our Get better at figure drawing article, Patrick J Jones demonstrates how he draws from life without slavishly copying what he sees. And in this How to draw the human figure walkthrough, artist Houston Sharp explains how she uses a few key measurement comparisons and body part alignments to accurately depict a warrior. Sticky Bones is created by animatorsFigure drawing artists' model Finally, if you want a dynamic physical reference to work on at home or in your studio, check out Sticky Bones. This crowdfunded artists' model is created by husband and wife team Erik and Lauren Baker, two stop-motion film animators. "Stickybones has been engineered to withstand anything your imagination throws its way," Erik Baker explains. "It can hit the most expressive poses quickly and easily." 03. Develop your portrait skills Borislav Mitkov explains how to create a portrait in Painter 2017 in this walkthrough Portraiture, whether drawn from life or the imagination, is another fundamental skill that every artist aims to master. Books on portrait skills One of the best recent introductions we’ve seen to this subject is Draw Faces in 15 Minutes by art expert and teacher Jake Spicer. Based on pencil drawing, this easy-to-follow book breaks down its subject into comprehensive stages. You’ll learn how to construct a basic portrait sketch, then go on to discover how to develop your drawings and make them more lifelike. Online portrait skills resources When it comes to developing your portraits digitally, the following tutorials demonstrate some interesting approaches. To create portrait art in Corel Painter 2017, check out our Create portrait art in Corel Painter walkthrough by illustrator and concept artist Borislav Mitkov, in which he makes use of custom brushes from other artists. Also using Corel Painter is Te Hu, who paints a digital watercolour portrait in this tutorial. In his article he demonstrates how to extract a subject from abstract shapes and colours and eventually end up with a fully developed portrait. Finally, this video walkthrough by award-winning Photoshop brush maker Kyle T Webster demonstrates how to create an Edvard Munch-style portrait in Photoshop CC. 04. Evolve your character drawing skills The Silver Way by Stephen Silver offers a systematic approach to improving your character drawings Improving your character drawing is largely about practice, hard work and inspiration. But there are some useful pointers to be learned from the pros as well. Books on character design One of our favourite books of the year so far is The Silver Way: Techniques, Tips and Tutorials for Effective Character Design by Stephen Silver, who’s worked on animated TV shows such as Kim Possible as well as running the Silver Drawing Academy. His fun, colourful 250-page book packs a huge amount of advice and instruction, and covers a number of unusual techniques such as ‘memory sketching’, ‘blind feeling’ and ‘throwing up on the page’ that could help you bring your character drawing to the next level. Online character design resources There’s a lot of great advice online about character design too. Check out our How to improve your character drawing tutorial by legendary artist Aaron Blaise, 20 top character design tips from leading illustrator Jon Burgerman and Mina Petrovic’s step-by-step explanation of how to hand-draw a manga character. 05. Understand composition Dan Dos Santos explains the fundamental principles that lie behind composition Whatever kind of art you’re producing, composition is key. If you’re struggling with composition, it’s worth learning or refreshing the key principles behind it, such as the Golden Ratio and the Rule of Thirds. You’ll find a quick refresher in these 12 pro tips to improve your artistic composition from artist Dan Dos Santos. However, to truly progress as an artist “you’ve got to know the rules to break”, as they say. This article by James Gurney explains how to harness compositional theory in a creative way, rather than being a slave to it. Finally, if you want to see how all of this works in practice, check out Jose Daniel Cabrera Peña’s walkthrough of How to create a dramatic composition with multiple characters. In this case, he uses an image of conflict from Greek mythology. View the full article

GitLab, the popular web-based Git repository manager, fixed a vulnerability recently that could have opened its users up to session hijacking attacks. View the full article

Trivially exploitable vulnerabilities in several Arris home modems, routers and gateways distributed to consumers and small businesses through AT&T’s U-verse service have been discovered. View the full article

Paint & Draw is off to the seaside this issue as we've got plenty of tutorials and workshops dedicated to the life aquatic. These features include tips for using watercolours in experimental ways, plus a look at how to paint some of the ocean's oldest inhabitants... Our lead feature though is a workshop by artist Tony Underhill. With his advice for using inks and watercolours, your artwork will soon start bringing the outdoors in. Thanks to his tips, you'll also get a better understanding of how the two mediums can work together for maximum impact. Buy issue 12 of Paint & Draw here Issue 12 also includes the first part of a new series dedicated to pencil drawing. Our readers have been calling out for this so we're happy to deliver. In these workshops you'll learn the essentials of how to draw with pencils, from tips on how to hold them, to different ways you can use them to make marks. Of course, the latest issue also comes with all the news, reviews and exhibition previews you've come to expect from Paint & Draw, so make sure you don't miss it. Some more of the magazine's highlights are below. Subscribe to Paint & Draw here Fun tips for painting ammonites Replicate beautiful ammonite textures in watercoloursIn this watercolour workshop, artist and author Stephanie Law shares how to paint the intricate textures of prehistoric ammonite fossils. She also guides you through how to add some sparkle to your finish for that extra-special touch. Flamingo painting and the power of 'negative shapes' This workshop shows you how to bring out main features and add interestMake your artwork stand out from the crowd with these composition tips from Marie Antoniou. With her tips for painting colours and patterns, you're sure to start giving your artwork something extra special. How to paint realistic eyes in oils Learn how to start painting perfect peepers with these tipsEyes are the most important part of any successful portrait, so it's important that you get them right. With these quick tips you'll get a better grasp of the anatomy of eyes so that your faces look more lifelike than ever. Evoke memories with a seascape Memories of the sea can create atmosphere and energyArtist Sarah Jane Brown reveals how she channels her previous maritime career into her art with this eye-opening workshop. With her oil painting tips, she shows how you can recreate the mercurial mood of the sea. More great content from Paint & Draw Buy issue 12 of Paint & Draw here View the full article

Abbott Laboratories releases software fixes for pacemakers that could allow an attacker to wirelessly access the devices and steal personal data, drain the battery and disrupt normal life-sustaining operations. View the full article

Short of money but still under pressure to produce an amazing print design? You're not the first designer to struggle against financial odds, and you won't be the last. Free fonts and budget-friendly images will help, but there's also a lot you can do on the business side of things. Follow these five simple steps and you'll soon find you can wring more out of a small design budget than you thought possible... 01. Manage the client's expectations Getting the most from your budget always starts with setting the right budget in the first place, and that relies on getting a good brief together. Make sure you understand what's expected, and what falls within the brief. Then manage your client's expectations as to what they're actually going to get from the project. What they want isn't always going to be what they need. It's all about trying to understand their market, and making sure they understand their own market fully, which you do by asking lots of questions. 02. Invest your time wisely You also need to make sure that you put enough time into a project right at the beginning. Often, clients will want to see your ideas really quickly, and they might not give you enough time to do the research and all the planning, or to get a good concept together and hold focus groups if necessary. You don't want to do endless amounts of planning, but spending too little time can end up costing you money in the long run. Make sure you don't rush into making decisions that may turn into problems later. 03. Plan your print run Lots of small savings can add up to big onesYour campaign should be properly planned so that you print the right amount to start with, rather than doing one print run and then having the client come back a few months later wanting a bit more (or wasting money by overprinting in the first place). Some people say there's always time for a reprint, but starting up the presses again is so inefficient. You need to identify how long the product is going to be in the marketplace for, and how many copies you really need. 04. Size up your paper stock When it comes to picking your paper stock, if the project allows it then stick to standard paper sizes – these are often most efficient and economical. You can potentially also save on paper stock, but work out if it's worth it for your particular job. Your choice of paper obviously depends on who the design is going out to – if it needs to look premium, you don't want to be cutting corners on stock. But if it's a mass mailout, you can perhaps take the stock down a bit. There's no point using 300g uncoated stock for a flyer that's just going to be left in a bar. 05. Get the best from your suppliers It's very important to have good relationships with your suppliers. This isn't so you can knock their prices down, however. Try not to do this, because everyone is already doing things on the tightest of design budgets. It's important to chat to suppliers because you want them to keep you informed. It helps to know that they'll to contact you to say: 'Maybe you've put a bit too much colour in this black', or to let you know if something isn't going to print the way it's supposed to, rather than just going ahead and doing the job anyway. Liked this? Read these: 5 things every creative needs to know about print design How to network successfully Why designers need to talk about money View the full article

In these days of digital media, it's easy to overlook the art of print ads. But the medium is still as relevant and powerful as vintage posters ever were, whether small scale magazine ads or huge billboard advertising. As Paul Arden states in It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be: "Print advertising should be recognisable at a hundred paces, and it should be obvious who it's an ad for without seeing the brand name." No matter what the medium, you still need a concept that's going to stick in people's minds. We think these examples of print advertising do just that. 01. KFC Kill it. Kill it with fireIf there's one thing we all know about KFC, it's that it's finger-lickin' good, and it's this irrefutable fact that's inspired this series of frankly unsettling print ads. In them, everyday objects suddenly sprout mouths wherever your fingers might touch them, in the hope of licking off a little of the Colonel's chickeny goodness. It's the work of Zane Zhou, along with LamanoStudio in Chile. Thanks for tonight's nightmares, guys. 02. Kiss with Pride Thought-provoking stuff from AbsolutIt's been 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales, but today it's still illegal in 72 countries around the world – and punishable by death in eight. To highlight this fact, Absolut, in collaboration with LGBTQ charity Stonewall and BBH London, created this series featuring close-up shots of same-sex kisses, with many of the subjects coming from the countries where these kisses could land them in prison, or worse. 03. Pass the Heinz Feeling a sense of déjà vu?If these clever adverts for Heinz look kind of familiar, it's with good reason. They originally featured in an episode of Mad Men where Don Draper tried to pitch a series of ads showing food that goes great with ketchup, but without the ketchup itself visible. Draper argued that people would fill in the gaps for themselves and create a stronger association in their mind, but Heinz wasn't going for it. Now, however, the company's changed its mind and, with DAVID Miami, rolled out these near-exact reproductions of Draper's pitch; talk about a man ahead of his time. 04. Burger King Maybe get a takeaway rather than eat in, yeah?Burger King prides itself on flame-grilling its burgers rather than frying them, but we all know how fire can misbehave if you don't keep a close eye on it, right? Burger King holds the record for the most restaurants that have burned down since 1954, and that's the brilliant angle seized by DAVID Miami in one of its many innovative campaigns for the company, using genuine photos of blazing BKs to emphasise how it cooks its burgers. 05. Delta Dating Wall Most of this print ad was hand-painted by Colossal MediaAccording to Delta, world travellers are more likely to attract right swipes on Tinder, but what if you can't afford to go away to snap that perfect profile pic? That's what Delta – along with Wieden + Kennedy New York and Colossal Media – addresses with the Delta Dating Wall, an epic advert in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, featuring exotic backdrops that you can stand against for a selfie, instantly making you a lot more windswept and interesting. 06. Chambord Like a randomly placed cabbage? Go for it! No reason needed.Wieden+Kennedy London was tasked with raising the profile of Chambord among a target audience of women aged 24-35. It used the campaign to push back against the pressure on women to conform to certain rules with its "Because No Reason" tagline that encourages people to do what they like, just because they like it. 07. TK Maxx It's true: there is crazy knitwear in TK MaxxYou never know what you'll find when you go shopping in TK Maxx, and this aspect of the designer discount shop is brought to the fore by this campaign emphasising the "ridiculous possibilities" that lie inside. 08. Jeep Deer or penguin? You decide. The meaning of the tagline "See whatever you want to see" is smartly turned on its head with a series of images that can be seen in two ways: one way it's a deer, the other way it's a penguin. 09. Penguin Audiobooks The Miami Ad School saves paper with this clever print adYou've got to give it to the Miami Ad School – taking a company that have made their worth through the selling of paper books, this print ad is a bold step but one that we think works really well. The intricate illsutration in the bark is a lovely touch. 10. Gripex Ogilvy & Mather lend their talents to another successful print adOgilvy & Mather once again prove themselves as print advertisement masters with this clever approach to allergy medicine. Using simple yet effective colours and simple illustrations means that this is an ad that pops from the page. 11. UNEP: Skyline This print ad brings the message of global warming homePrint advertisments raising awareness of important causes such as global warming have to be instantly striking. This offering from Vinay Saya and Siddarth Basavaraj cleverly uses Photoshop to produce a skyline within the ice. Bringing the campaign closer to home will enable the viewer to recognise the message quicker and more effectively. 12. Fevikwik Instant Adhesive: Teapot The monochrome colour scheme perfectly compliments the outputOgilvy & Mather are known for creating some of the best print advertisements around the world. This is just another example of their brilliant work. Created for Fevikwik Instant Adhesive, it's one of a three-part print advertisement series that uses clever illustration and a monochrome colour scheme to its fullest potential. 13. Rolling Stone Rock music meets photoshop with this simple and sleek print adCreated by DLV BBDO in Milan, Italy, this simple execution works wonders for music magazine Rolling Stone. With a brilliant tag line 'We are made of rock,' the brand's attitudes, product and ethos are effortlessly put across with this print advertisement. Using a signature-like font also showcases the rock star aesthetic. 14. Ashtanga Yoga This brilliantly inventive ad hones in on the benefits of yoga practise for your backCreated by Israel based advertising agency McCann Erickson, this print ad for Ashtanga Yoga hones in on the benefits of yoga practise for your back. With a tag line "Before your back attacks you, Ashtanga Yoga at the Garage fitness club", it's a brilliantly inventive ad. 15. Clinica Mosquera We love how Ecuador advertising agency BBA has applied playful imagery to a sore subjectAlthough this print advertisement might be a bit too graphic for some, we love how Ecuador advertising agency BBA has applied playful imagery to a sore subject. The 3D rendering is brilliant with everything from the colour to the shading popping out of the page. 16. Penguin Books Last year, Penguin Books promoted its audiobooks with a brilliant print ad campaign featuring illustrations of three well known authors - William Shakespeare, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde - acting as headphones and whispering in the ears of their listeners. Developed by team at McCann Worldgroup India, the campaign went on to won a Gold Press Lion at Cannes International Festival of Creativity 17. Moms Demand Action Moms Demand Action as if a Kinder Egg is banned in the US to protect children, why not assault weapons?Moms Demand Action, a collective of mothers calling for gun law reform, was behind this hard-hitting ad campaign, which focused on children in schools. 'Choose One' features children carrying weapons, alongside classmates holding either a Kinder Surprise egg, the book 'Little Red Riding Hood' and a ball from the schoolyard game Dodgeball. One child is holding something that's been banned in America to protect them, with the audience asked to guess which one. 18. Expedia This ingenious pad campaign by Ogilvy & Mather for travel brand Expedia uses airport IATA codes to great effect. The idea came about after the team noticed a woman walking through Heathrow with the word FUK hanging off her suitcase. With over 9,000 airports around the world, each with its own three-letter code to choose from, the team created a series of prints, using a tagline in the form of passport stamp, which says 'Find whatever floats your boat'. 19. Whiskas The 'Big Cat, Small Cat' campaign depicts a small furry feline as a big cat in the wildAbbott Mead Vickers BBDO Whiskas campaign features a household cat in various scenarios in the wild of Africa. Highlighting the basic instincts in a cat, the clever 'Big Cat, Small Cat' campaign was shot by photographer George Logan. Depicting a small furry feline as a big cat in the wild, the series of prints include the domestic animal hunting down gazelles, elephants and zebras in the wild. And we're particularly fond of the ad that shows fully grown male lion bonding with the same cat as if they were family. 20. Mini We love this clever Halloween-inspired Mini campaignWhen you have such an iconic product as the Mini, you don't always have to do something particularly clever or involved to make your point. And this silly campaign, casting the much-loved motor in an uncharacteristically sinister light, struck just the right note of fun for us last Halloween. 21. WWF BBDO Spain created this powerful print ad to highlight the issue of extinctionEarlier this month, BBDO Spain released this powerful print ad campaign for the World Wildlife Fund. Featuring a white polar bear in a garage workshop, the aim is to highlight that there are no tools that can fix extinction. 22. Velo marathon AD McCann Vilnius designed this clever print ad for the annual Velo marathonWe love this design for the European Velo Marathon, an annual biking event in which around 10,000 cyclists take part. Designed by McCann Erickson, Lithuania, the clever concept features a city-like scene set on the gears of a bike, accompanied by the tagline 'Move the City'. 23. Volkswagen Turn on your adventure with this new print ad campaign for VolkswagenTo advertise the fact that you can get more than 620 miles out of single tank of fuel with Volkswagen's Amarok, ad agency Below developed a series of print ads, inviting people to 'turn on adventure'. The clever concept features three images with the groves of the car keys transformed into a city, safari and mountain landscape. 24. Alzas Bajas magazine This beautiful print ad was developed by JWT for Argentinian magazine Alzas BajasThis beautiful print ad was developed by JWT, Buenos Aires for Argentinian magazine Alzas Bajas. The team created four paper art images, including this gorgeous wildlife scene. Each are accompanied a small amount of explanatory text followed by the tagline 'more information, less risk'. 25. McDonald's TBWA Shanghai developed this cool new print ad featuring a box of fries carved out of a potatoMcDonald's is constantly coming up with innovative new ways of advertising, this brilliant print ad being its latest offering. The eye-catching design, created by TBWA Shanghai, features a box of fries, carved from the very ingredient from which they're made. Next page: 25 more brilliant examples of print ads 26. Duracell We love print ads that come out of left field - and this is certainly one of themTerrifying but brilliant, this is one of those print ads that shouldn't work but somehow does. The advertisement for Duracell features a sinister-looking doll in the doorway of a little girl's playroom, accompanied by the tagline 'Some toys never die'. Developed by advertising agency Grey in Singapore, this is certainly a unique way to promote longer-lasting batteries. It's a bit left-field, and completely terrifying, but we love it nonetheless. 27. Dog Chow There aren't many print ads that treat dogs so badly - but no animals were harmed in the making of this commercialThe best print ads manage to combine brilliant art direction whilst still maintaining the brand's image and ethos. And here's a great example that instantly put a smile on our faces. Dog Chow is a brand new dog food from Purina and Columbian designer Cristhian Ramírez was tasked with creating a series of ads for its latest campaign, entitled 'Stop treating your dog like a trashcan'. The creative director and head of art at Publicis, Ramírez produced a number of striking character designs that really hit home when it comes to the health of your dog. 28. SANCCOB Inspired by the artwork of Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, these print ads feature clever optical illusionsA species in rapid decline, the African penguin needs help. South African advertising agency Bittersuite and SANCOOB, a non-profit organisation that aims to protect threatened seabirds, recently developed this innovative series of print ads to raise awareness of the penguin's critical situation. Inspired by the artwork of Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, two of the designs feature clever optical illusions to draw the viewer in for a closer look and get their message across. The third draws inspiration from optometrists' eye charts, featuring a timeline of different sized penguins to show the decline in the species. 29. Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) The cartoon-style characters and graphics in these print ads maintain a fun, tongue-in-cheek elementAd agency McMillan encourage animation lovers to rediscover the child inside with this new print ad campaign promoting the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). Each of the five print ads features a gorgeous illustration and the tagline 'Get in touch with your inner child'. Some of the drawings contain mature content but the cartoon-style characters and graphics maintain a fun, tongue-in-cheek element to the campaign. 30. Dumb Ways to Die From digital to print - Dumb Ways to Die works perfectly with bothBack in November, Melbourne Australia's Metro train system decided to take a different approach to public safety video. Their ad 'Dumb Ways to Die' – featuring animated characters playing out the lyrics of a comedy song about idiotic deaths – quickly became a viral hit and won a series of awards. The campaign, created in conjunction with Melbourne ad agency McCann, has now inspired a series of print ads - and they're just as brilliant. We love how the cuteness of the character designs is balanced by the goriness of their deaths. 31. Publinews Braille Edition Lady Gaga's illustration is accompanied by the braille caption 'She recovers in a golden wheelchair', which refers to her recent request for one after hip surgeryInternational journal Publinews recently commissioned ad agency el Taier/Tribu DDB and creative director Jorge Solórzano to create a set of prints to advertise its braille edition. The minimalist ads feature illustrations of Lady Gaga, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong, Lionel Messi and Pope Francisco among delicate fingerprints. Each is accompanied by a caption relating to recent news about each individual. 32. Wacom Bamboo Creativity has no boundaries in this new print campaign for Wacom BambooTo promote design tablet king Wacom's popular Bamboo products, art director and illustrator Maria Molina developed this set of prints under the tagline 'Creativity has no boundaries'. The series includes three illustrations, each featuring various designer tools with a twist. Bright colours, minimal text and simple graphics work perfectly together in this campaign. 33. Holes Ad agency Grey New York developed this hard-hitting print campaign for non-profit organisation States United to Prevent Gun ViolenceThis hard-hitting print ad campaiging against gun violence comes from advertising and marketing agency Grey New York. The campaign, which features three human targets, including a small baby, calls for an update to the USA's antiquated gun laws. The ad, commissioned by non-profit organisation States United to Prevent Gun Violence, features the tagline 'Bullets leave bigger holes than you think'. 34. SMS mistype Get the message?We all know the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving. But we really like the simple but clever way ad agency Gitam BBDO points out the obvious facts in this road safety message from car manufacturer Opel. The cool print has a black background, replicating a phone while at the same time making the white box of text all the more prominent. A simple but really effective concept. 35. Pie Chart The Guardian shows its readers that with its publication they get the full storyUK newspaper The Guardian recently commissioned advertising agency BBH London to create this eye-catching print to show its readers they get the full story. The print is clean and cleverly designed to convey its message. With a purple background, the piece features a simple pie chart, The Guardian logo and a legend with the words 'the whole picture' next to each colour. 36. Dallas Farmers Market Fresh veg makes up a box of fries in this clever campaign for Dallas Farmers MarketHealthy foods at affordable prices. That's the message behind this clever campaign from ad agency Firehouse for Dallas Farmers Market. Illustrations of fresh fruit and veg cleverly make up a box of fries, hamburger, bag of sweets, and an ice cream in the series of colourful posters. 37. Powers Whiskey Taylor James and Andy Glass joined forces to create this cool print campaign for Powers WhiskeyPowers is the second biggest whiskey brand in the Republic of Ireland. To promote it, photographer Andy Glass collaborated with creative production studio Taylor James, resulting in a series of gorgeous prints depicting its honey notes, earthy tones and distinctive barley essence. The Taylor James team integrated Glass's landscape photography into the liquid and retouched the four images to create a beautifully photorealistic look for the outdoor print campaign. 38. Schusev State Museum of Architecture Discover the full story of some of Russia's most famous buildings at the Schusev State Museum of ArchitectureThis beautiful illustration of St Basil's church in Moscow was created by ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi to promote the information available at the Schusev State Museum of Architecture. The campaign features a series of beautiful photographs of famous Russian landmarks, all of which travel underground and feature the tagline 'Discover the full story'. 39. OndAzul NGO: Sardine Click the image to see the full size ad With a tag line of, "Is it what you expect to find in the sea? Neither do the fishes", there's plenty you can work with. Advertising agency Quê based in Brazil went with this strong idea across three print ads. The photography is exceptional, with the clashing colours and careful shadow work. We especially fell in love with the font used for the hard-hitting slogan - almost childlike, it evokes the innocence of nature and the danger that the sea faces. 40. Parma Dairy Products: Story Click the image to see the full size ad Dairy products often try to target the parent market as we all know that kids need it to grow big and strong. Sometimes, these ads can seem a little forced and often appear a bit too cutesy for our liking but this effort from El Taier/Tribu DD is brilliant. Using two instantly recognisible stories for both parent and child, this advert will appeal to both. The simple illustration makes it clear and consise without being too busy. The campaign features cameras and games consoles but it's this sweet story approach that really caught our eye. 41. Baruel Foot Deodrant: Puppet dumped Click the image to see the full size ad At first glance, we didn't quite get this ad. But a little look closer and we can see the attention to detail and brilliant art direction that's been gaining this ad a lot of love. As it's for a foot deodorant, the puppets are actually being controlled by feet instead of hands; a humourus touch to a not-so-sexy brand. Created by advertising agency Z+ Comunicação in São Paulo, Brazil, the whole series features a number of dumping situations including bosses and landlords. We fell in love with the puppets themselves - click on the image to see the incredible detail. 42. Wrigley's Orbit: Chicken Click the image to see the full size ad Wrigley's have a history of doing some great print advertising work and this campaign is no exception. The colouring and illustration are what initially caught our eye but the silly slogan it ties in with works perfectly. "Don't let lunch see breakfast", just look at the poor chicken's face! The illustration was crafted by Gabi Kikozashvili, with advertising agency Gitam BBDO leading the campaign. The other ad features a cow mourning its milk but we like the chicken best! 43. MasterCard Canada: Women's Golf Click the image to see the full size ad Tackling women's sport in advertising can be tricky. If you over-feminise, it can mean the wrath of many but if you don't experiement enough, it could mean a lousy campaign. Thankfully, Mastercard have mastered the subject matter with this clever and cute ad for the Women's golf tournament. Applying their well known 'priceless' slogan, this campaign was created by Canadian advertising agency MacLaren McCann. The photo editing and treatment of the colours are what makes this one. 44. B&B Hotels: Bacon Click the image to see the full size ad This smart ad from creative German agency Publicis is a work of art. Bed and breakfast adverts can often be dull and regurgitated in their concepts but this campaign is a feast for the eyes. Engaging the reader with quirky manipulation, it takes a while for the art direction to really sink in but once it does, we instantly fell in love. The rest of the series features a cheese sandwich as well as sausages on toast but we picked this purely for the egg yolk pillow! 45. National Geographic Kids Magazine Click the image to see the full size ad National Geographic are arguably the most well-respected nature experts but kids these days may not take notice of them thanks to the ever-expanding array of distractions in games consoles and social networking sites. Cape Town's advertising agency FoxP2 took matters in their own hands and decided to combine the two - nature and technology. The instantly recognisible blue bird, crafted in 3D software juxtaposed next to the beautiful real life bird makes nature stand out for all the right reasons. Instantly eye-catching! 46. Pilot: Water Restraint Click the image to see the enlarged ad With a tagline of 'Pilot. Water Resistant,' the possibilities were endless. However, advertising agency GREY from Barcelona decided to take the simple approach; and it certainly paid off with this bright and nostalgic print advertising campaign. The colours are what instantly draw you in, with the undertones of blue miming those of the pen. The text within this ad can either be nostalgic for the reader or hugely identifiable for parents, which ensures that it speaks to a wide range of consumers. A perfect balance of purpose and execution. 47. ThaiHealth Promotion Foundation: Bike Click the image to see the full size ad We've all seen the television campaigns and disturbing print advertisements for driving awareness. It seems to always feature an image of a recently deceased pedestrian or a horrific crash. But instead of using these traditional tactics, advertising agency BBDO in Bangkok came up with this hugely creative idea. The 'Don't Drive Sleepy Project' is one that adheres to all drivers and the simple illustrations ensure the seriousness of this print advertising campaign hits home. The tag line 'sleepiness is stronger than you' couldn't be executed more perfectly. 48. Bosch Click the image to see the enlarged ad Hats off to the effects team behind this brilliant piece of print advertising for Bosch. The wood effect is striking for all the right reasons whilst still being able to ensure it doesn't look overdone and ridiculous. The tagline for the campaign, 'unexpectedly powerful', is expertly showcased; the power of the drill has actually spiralled the wall. Now, we know most consumers wouldn't like this to actually happen to their wall but the point is put across. The colour blending is also hugely impressive. This print advert is instantly eye-catching, which after-all, is pretty important in this business! 49. Kitchen Aid Blender Click the image to see the enlarged ad This quaint ad didn't need any frills to get its message across. It's for Kitchen Aid, a high-tech blender which is used for smoothies and such. Of course, bananas and strawberries will get throw into the mix and this campaign simple executes the finished product: a strawana? a banaberry? Anyway, we love the use of colour; the attention to detail; and the expert shadow effects. The small details are what could make or break a print advertising campaign, and we think it's a winner. 50. Band Aid: Hulk Click the image to see the full size ad The recent release of Avengers Assemble saw Hulk thrust into the spotlight once more. We're certainly not complaining (he's awesome!) and it certainly calls for endless creative executions. This print advertising campaign from Band Aid showcases the ability of using a well-known character to the maximum effect. There's no text or tag-line; just the clean image of Hulk's hand, along with the product in the bottom left-hand corner. It perfectly executes the product's strength thanks to applying it to the world's strongest character. No words needed! Next page: 25 more brilliant examples of print ads 51. Perrier Click the image to see the enlarged ad This campaign for Perrier water made quite a stir on the ad circuit and rightly so, as the art direction is quite simply stunning. You can almost feel the heat from the page, with the bottle of water looking more desirable than ever. There are some really nice touches here; such as the melting records in the background, the drooping disco ball and the second placement of the product on the waiter's tray. The UK's leading integrated advertising and marketing communications agency Ogilvy were the brains behind this piece of print advertising, with photographer JeanYves Lemoigne taking the reigns for the imagery. 52. Hubba Bubba Click the image to see the enlarged ad Another great example of print advertising from the folks over at DDB, this time for bubblegum Hubba Bubba. The use of colour is what sparked us to feature it: just look at its depth! The focus on the lips is nicely executed, as they still look realistic (albeit a little freaky too.) This print ad focuses on the length of the bubblegum (180cm) although the campaign may not really interest children. It seems to be trying to gain an older audience, still in-keeping with their playfulness. For us, it works well. 53. Utopolis Group of Cinemas: Titanic Click the image to see the full size ad This made us choke with laughter as soon as we saw it. It may not be the most beautiful or artistic campaign we've ever seen but it sure does grab your attention, for all the right reasons. Belgian advertising agency Duval Guillaume were behind this quirky take on our cinematic fantasies, which we all know, sadly, never really live up to our expectations. The series also features a spin on Free Willy that's just as amusing. In this particular ad, inspired by Titanic, we love the small details of the cloudy weather and the less-than-spectacular boat. Reality sucks and that's something everyone can relate to. 54. Lego Click the image to see the full size ad After our recent Lego art feature, we couldn't help but include a print advertising gem for our favourite toy. Our infatuation with Lego starts at a very young age and it's our imaginations that really bring it to life. This campaign brings out the child in us all; showcasing what we actually see when we play with those coloured blocks. There is no text included within this ad, a decision which we at Creative Bloq woukd completely agree with. There are no words needed to portray the love of the product. This is a case where simple imagery speaks to itself and we think it speaks volumes. 55. Monopoly Click the image to see the enlarged ad Another well-known and well-loved product, Monopoly, has had endless print advertising campaigns since it first came out in 1923. Admittedly, this ad is aimed at consumers that already know the product well and for those that do, this campaign works extremely well. Obviously playing on the parts of the game, in this case the red hotels, it opens up the reader's imagination. It was important to ensure the same colour was used throughout the entire page so that the clothes of those in the picture could juxtapose and highlight the intensity of the red. A simple, sweet print ad. 56. Sanzer Hand Gel Click the image to see the enlarged ad If the first thing you think when you see this ad is along the lines of 'Yuck!' 'Euw!' or 'Gross!' then they're onto a winner. Sanzer is a brand of anti-bacterial hand-gel and it's certainly got its product's importance across with this campaign. The tag line 'What you really touch?' is portrayed perfectly with the filthy fingers and un-kept pay phone. We love the Photoshop skills used in this great example of print advertising, down to the nitty-gritty in each of the nails. The typography is also used effectively, as the image can pretty much speak for itself. It definitely reminds us to wash our hands! 57. DeliFrance Click the image to see the enlarged ad The French are known for being a rather quaint and sophisticated bunch, which adheres perfectly to this campaign from DeliFrance. The use of the baguette mixed with the slippers, portrays a sense of comfort, which sums up the tag line perfectly: 'Ready to bake at home.' The shadow work within this campaign is exquisite and the tiny little cracks in the baguette really convey the rustic and comforting notion of baking at home. Also, this ad is careful not to focus on the female or male market, which ensures it speaks to any baking enthusiast. 58. Print India Click the image to see the full size ad When faced with the tagline 'The identity of young Chennal,' there could be a gush of endless creative ideas. What does 'identity' even mean anyway? We think that this print advertising campaign from Times India sums it up in the most simplistic of ways possible: the fingerprint. Although simple, it sincerely executes what the product is and what they're about. The fingerprint made up of newspapers is showcasing that metaphorically, their newspaper makes up the identity of the young generation. This ad speaks volumes to the consumer, as it is connecting something so personal (their identity) to their product. Very clever! 59. Nike Click the image to see the enlarged ad We could feature almost all of Nike's print advertising campaigns, as over the years they have come up with some of the most innovative and ground-breaking ads we've ever seen. Obviously, we could only feature one and this Nike Liquid campaign really stuck with us. The effects used to create this stunning visual are clearly where the success lies. Just look at the reflection of light in the pink liquid, or the droplets placed to perfection to ensure the image looks as realistic as possible. This print advert is aimed to showcase the versatilely and dynamic aspect of the sneaker. Nike has got itself another winner. 60. WeightWatchers Click on the image to see the enlarged ad When you think of influential print advertising campaigns, WeightWatchers doesn't really spring to mind. However, after scouring through hundreds of print ads, this is one that really stood out from the bunch. The perfectly made-up lips clashed with the greasy batch of fries makes for quite a stomach-churning effect. Without the excess number of fries, this would probably be semi-enticing but the simple addition really gets the message across. It isn't telling you to stop this or stop that; it's telling you to 'treat yourself better.' A simple and very personal print ad that works. 61. India's Nilkamal Plastic Chairs Click on the image to see the full size ad At Creative Bloq, we don't think there's enough illustrated print advertising campaigns out there. That's why we were delighted to stumble across this gem from Nilkamal plastic chairs. Yes, the elephant standing on one of the products obviously shows off its stability but the illustration makes it much more. The beautiful colours and drawings were brought to you by brand communications agency Makani. The attention to detail is really what brings this piece together: just look at the fear in the elephant's eye (who, might we point out, is also staring straight at the product.) 62. Faber-Castell Click the image to see the enlarged ad This awesome print advertising campaign from Faber-Castell not only features this little dog; it also uses the likes of a shark and an aubergine. It's somewhat freakish nature entices the reader enough to want to know what the product is, whilst still oozing a sophisticated approach. The lighting in this advert really makes it, as well as the reflections from the dogs fur and the colouring pencil itself. The typography is a traditional one, which to the reader can showcase a trusted brand. 63. Feltrinelli Reading Click the image to see the full size ad Another illustrated print advertisement, this one's for Feltrinelli books and showcases their passion for reading. It's often hard to advertise books these days, thanks to the likes of the Kindle but this sweet illustration goes back to the roots of why reading is great. The juxtaposed colours of the typography with the hands and the book sums up the tag line perfectly: 'Reading means resisting.' Together, you and the book are shutting out the sounds of the world and to most of us, that sounds like a pretty nice idea. 64. M&Ms Click the image to see the enlarged ad Ah, M&Ms. Probably more well-known for their television campaigns, it was this simple print ad that really caught our eye. Most people nowadays instantly recognise the layout of a keyboard and this campaign is a sweet and playful way to showcase a well-known product. It's not just for M&Ms in general: this print advertising campaign was to raise awareness of consumers being able to customise their very own M&Ms. The tag line of 'communication just got sweeter' perfectly mirrors the sweetness of the campaign itself. 65. Mebucaine Click the image to see the enlarged ad You know when you have one of those really sore throats? When it feels like your swallowing glass with every gulp? We've all been there and this campaign from Mebucaine, a sore throat medicine, really brings that feeling to life. The print advertisement campaign features also features a pizza made of glass (ouch!) The colours of the glass and the structure of the pineapple is stunning with the product placement easily placed. We don't even think the tag line was needed but we still love it! 66. Yum Yum Peanut Butter Click the image to see the enlarged ad Dramatising Yum Yum Peanut Butter as the smoothest peanut butter in South Africa, this print advertising campaign was led by Cape Town based design agency 34 Degrees. Creative director Richard Phillips took haul of the whole campaign and we love it. Am I Collective were in charge of the illustration side of things; we love their brash and bold approach juxtaposing the teeny, tiny peanut. The whole campaign is an absolute winner. The 3D work on this particular character is just perfect; take a look at that shadowing! 67. Poly-Brite Click the image to see the enlarged ad We have to admit, it took us a little while to get this print advertising campaign but as soon as we did, we loved it! Poly-Brite wants to be known for its 'super-absorbant' cloths and this clever imagery showcases that important branding. Ogilvy & Mather was the agency behind the campaign, which includes a vase and a spilt cup of tea. All three print advertisements complement each other perfectly. Its important within this sector to get the balance right between the purpose of the product and the way it is creatively showcased, and this campaign is a perfect example. 68. Church End Brewery Click the image to see the enlarged ad Everyone's gone Olympics mad in Britain and many businesses and companies have jumped on the sporting bandwagon to attract new customers. Being bombarded with Union Jacks can soon become creative overkill, but this print advertisement from agency Rees Bradley Hepburn hits the nail right on the head. The whole campaign manages to capture the essense of Britain's culture in one swift photograph, whilst encorporating the sporting aspect without being too obvious. The image also complements the tag line 'Sporting Gold: A winning blend of British hops.' 69. McDonald's Click the image to see the full size ad McDonald's has had some brilliant campaigns over the years but it was this collection that really put the smile on our faces. The series features three 'kids' (in this case, little monsters) that every parent has had some sort of experience with. This print ad is successful as it immediately relates to the parent with a light-hearted approach. We couldn't help but fall in love with character design involved. DDB was the impressive team behind the entire campaign, with Carioca in charge of the illustration and photography. A perfect combination! 70. Seitenbacher Musli Cereal Click the image to see the full size ad This ad had us gawping at our screens: just look at that 3D illustration! There's so much attention to detail in this piece, which is something that a lot of print adverts can forget about. The dogs; her hair; the smoke... they're all exquisitly done. The series sees a collection of various characters but it was this colour scheme that really caught our eye. The deep blue really makes the illustration by Monty Aji Hardito jump out from the page. A job well done by advertising agency JWT Jakarta. 71. Play-Doh Click the image to see the enlarged ad Every kid loves Play-Doh... heck, everyone loves Play-Doh. This simple print ad works wonders on playing on the imagination; with its old-school style and bold product placement. The sticker effect is one that's been played around with many times over the years in a number of ads and this example proves it still works wonders. Advertising agency DDB is once again behind this creative campaign. The strong colour scheme and simple approach make it an absolute winner. 72. BIC Click the image to see the full size ad BIC is a well-known brand that's had some new life thrust into it thanks to advertising agency BorghiErh/Lowe. This adorable campaign, which showcases the product's ability and strength, really grabs the reader's eye. The 3D work here is great, with the campaign also including a broken button. The only qualm we have is that the lighting is a little dark and could do with brightening up a little. 73. OMO Washing Detergent Click the image to see the full size ad This print advertising campaign is for OMO washing detergent, so what better way to showcase its cleaning capabilites than dirt? The entire series, which includes a space scene and dinousaur digging, is made completely from dirt. We found this one most impressive due to the 3D aspects of the tree and the intricate details (including the apple falling from it). This is absolute stunning work and it's all down to the fantastic art direction of Karen Vermeulen at advertising agency Lowe. A truly innovative approach to advertising washing powder! 74. Anador Click the image to see the enlarged ad We absolutely love this quirky illustration from Bruna Guerreiro and Robison Mattei. Most painkiller advertisements feature a disgruntled looking figure who longs for the tablet. So it's great to see this approach from design agency BorghiErh/Lowe. This series features a number of situations in various shades of pastels that complement each other very well indeed. If we saw this advert whilst flicking through our favourite magazine, we'd definitely be giving it a second look. 75. Abbott, Ensure Active M2 Click the image to see the enlarged ad Now this is a print ad you really have to look at. The hilarious series, which features a footballer and a tourist, had us laughing in seconds. We also loved the distinctive character design: you're not going to see creations like that everyday! The simple colour scheme allows the concept to shine whilst the subtle product placement in the bottom left-hand corner is a nice touch to keep things understated. The fantastic team at JWT were once again on hand to give their creative touch to a stunning print advertising campaign. Next page: 25 more brilliant examples of print ads 76. McDonald's Click the image to see the full size ad Illustrator Helen Musselwhite worked with legendary advertising agency Leo Burnett to create this awe-inspiring paper illustration. The design is based around McDonald's upcoming collaboration with DK Books in conjunction with their Happy Meals. 77. Bioenergy Nutrition Click the image to see the full size ad Italian heath supplements company Bioenergy Nutrition wanted to promote the benefits of low levels of cholesterol and triglyceri. Milanese advertising agency Alch1m1a ADV created this macabre series of print ads casting butter as the baddie in an instantly recognisable way - sculpting three well known horror icons out of the fatty spread. 78. Royal Legion Image © Taylor James. Click the image to see the full size ad Following the First World War, the poppy became a symbol of the war dead in Britain and Commonwealth countries - because the bright red flower was one of the only plants to grow on some of the worst battlefields. The Royal British Legion adopted it in 1921 to help it raise funds for war veterans, and the tradition of wearing one on the 11th November (the anniversary of the end of the war) began. The buying and wearing of poppies remains central to British life and culture, but last year, The Legion felt the campaign needed an extra push. So it created this 2012 Poppy Appeal advertising campaign. To reinforce the message that everyone in UK society should be wearing a poppy, each ad featured a cut-out poppy revealing several different backdrops from around the capital. The campaign was the work of Simone Micheli (art director) and Rob DeCleyn (copywriter) of The Gate (see their other work here) while the CGI work came courtesy of Taylor James. 79. Brucciani: Wi-Fi Click the image to see the full size ad The message behind this print ad might not be immediately obvious, but as soon as we got it we just had to share it with you. The subtle shading and use of colour is what makes this ad pop - just look at the Wi-Fi signal in the coffee cup! It was created by UK advertising agency Big Communications, with executive creative director Dylan Bogg and creative director Billy Mawhinney. Art direction was taken care of by Ed Bentinck and designers Duncan Bancroft and Simon Dilks. 80. Master Trap: Casino Click the image to see the full size ad This clever little ad has been getting a lot of love and we can see why. It's simple, effective, and funny and those are three things that make print advertising work. With the tag line, "fatal attraction", it works perfectly with the casino and Master Trap affiliation. Advertising Agency Ogilvy & Mather, based in Bangkok, Thailand took care of the campaign and we think they've done a great job. Creative directors Wisit Lumsiricharoenchoke and Nopadol Srikieatikajohn have already collaborated on a number of successful ads and we think this one for Master Trap is certainly one of their best. 81. Jeep - Earth Day The team at ad agency Draftfcb ask a good question...To conincide with Earth Day this week, ad agency Draftfcb in Tel-Aviv, Israel created this simple but effective poster design for Jeep. Using a symbolic green background, simple graphics display a Jeep falling off the side of the Earth, with the poignant tagline 'If there is no planet, where will you drive?' underneath. Good question. 82. Champion Dog The Champion Dog campaign encouraged people to adopt a dog in need at ChristmasThis adorable campaign by Lowe Porta for Champion Dogs really pulls at the heart strings. Wanting to encourage people to adopt (rather than buy) a dog at Christmas, the Chilean-based ad agency developed a series of touching scenes featuring super-cute, present-shaped puppies. 83. Jim Rickey Click the image to see the full size ad Christian Aslund drew on the spirit of platform games such as Mario for this print advertising campaign for sneaker brand Jim Rickey. The photographer shot the models in awkward horizontal positions on the streets of Hong Kong, using a telelens to make the images appear flat and the scenes vertical. Aslund served as both creative director and photographer on the project, dubbed 'Honkey Kong', alongside Jan Andreen, Loa Bie and Sofia Cederstrom. 84. Aizone Click the image to see the full size ad Sagmeister & Walsh have been creating campaigns for Beirut luxury department store Aizone since 2010, with a focus on only black and white executions. This time, they decided to mix things up and add a splash of colour. Whilst Sagmeister & Walsh took care of the art direction, Henry Hargreaves worked as the photographer on the project. If you'd like to see more imagery from the campaign, you can visit the Sagmeister & Walsh official site. 85. Quebec Automobile Insurance Society Click the image to see the enlarged ad Driving safety is a daunting task for any creative agency - it has to provoke a strong and lasting impression with an important message whilst still being creatively sound. This campaign from Lg2, an agency based in Canada does all these things and more. Although a somewhat vintage idea, the seatbelt is used to showcase the important message and incourage young drivers to ensure their own safety. Creative direction and copywriting was overseen by Luc Du Sault and the campaign features a further two ads. 86. The Guardian US This clever campaign shows both sides of each argumentUsing illustrations by Noma Bar, these print ads for the American launch of British newspaper The Guardian depict both sides of core political debates in the US, such as internet privacy, gun control, women in the military and the use of condoms in the adult film industry. Appearing at key locations throughout the country as outdoor ads and mobile billboards, each illustration represents one opinion of the issue. When the poster is flipped, it effortlessly illustrates the opposite view. 87. Exito Don't let your water to taste like the contents of your fridgeThere's nothing quite like a glass of fresh, ice-cold water straight from the fridge. Aware of this, Latin American supermarket Exito recently developed a special bottle with seven layers, designed to preserve the taste of the H2O inside. In a print campaign to promote the new product, advertising agency Sancho BBDO developed this clever series of ads, featuring some of the more pungent things one might keep in the fridge, including salmon and green onions, being poured into glass containers. 88. Academia do rock classics Rock classes now for kids in this adorable print campaignThese adorable print ads created by Brazilian based agency Yeah! aim to portray "rock classes now also for kids." Featuring The Beatles as well as a host of other bands, this simple print ad approach is colourfully eye-catching as well as appealing to kids and grown-ups alike. We especially love the Ozzy Osbourne tribute. 89. Sharpie We love the comic book execution of this print adPen giant Sharpie has produced some marvellous print ads over the years and kept up with design trends galore. Brazilian based agency Draftfcb creates these clever print ads with the tagline 'One story. Two Points'. In the ad above, the Sharpie is depicting the two sides of the sucess of Facebook. We love the comic book execution. Which side will you believe? 90. CSI Using evidence as a maze, this print ad promotes the popular TV show CSIFans of the hugely successful TV show CSI will love these print ads promoting it. With the slogan 'let the clues show you the way', this design by Publicis uses evidencial marks as mazes to a corpse, brilliantly summing up the investigative show's appeal. 91. The Potting Shed Print ads don't have to be technically sophisticated - this brilliant campaign uses just two lengths of thread and some pinsAdverts for wealth management companies often show dull stock images of businessmen standing about. But these print ads for Jersey-based firm Affinity Wealth Management are a world apart. Created by design agency The Potting Shed, each of these beautiful and elegant images was designed by the group and then created by junior designer Sam Falla using just two lengths of thread and some pins. The beauty of the concept lies in its simplicity particularly in its choice of two colours and a set of simple images. 92. FedEx: USA - Brazil Click the image to see the enlarged ad FedEx have had plenty of campaigns in the past but this simple execution of its services really does the job. The use of colour used for the U.S.A. and Brazil against the wall colour ensure this print advert looks realistic yet artistic. The campaign also ensures that the FedEx package is the centre of attention without being too bolshy. This series also features China - Australia and London - Spain but the contrasting colours of the countries with the walls seem to let them down; unlike this highly original example of print advertising. The 'express' is also boldly executed thanks to the quick passing of the package. 93. Zoo Safari Click the image for the enlarged ad This print advertising truly lives up to its tagline: 'Blend In.' The photography, along with Photoshop expertise and the gorgeous colours, make the campaign cute yet sophisticated. DDB is known for its innovative take on products and campaigns such as this Chuppa Chups advertisment and its breast cancer awareness series. The Zoo Safari series also features a tiger and a gorilla (which are both equally humorous) collating the three print ads as one of the most creative campaigns we've had the pleasure of placing our eyes upon. 94. Electro Recycling Robot Click the image to see the full size ad Look! A robot poos electronic stuff! Ha ha! But really, this print advertising campaign from Euro RSCG is a tongue-in-cheek execution of quite a serious issue (electronic recycling). You may be wondering how an excreting robot is relevant but it all becomes clear with the tag line, 'potty train your e-waste'. The artistic direction is simple yet effective. The font at the bottom of this print ad is also big enough to entice the reader's attention and ensure the message has firmly been executed. 95. Pizza & Love: Fight for the Amazonas Click the image to see the enlarged ad Most companies have been jumping on the green bandwagon for some time now (and so they should!). But one that is probably least likely to do so is a pizza restaurant/take-away. This campaign was designed to raise awareness of its eco-friendly packaging (100 per cent recycled pizza boxes) and its use of only organic products. The execution is brilliantly done, from the broccoli forest to the greasy planet in the background. Also notice the peace logo in the bottom left hand corner: it's another pizza! Little touches such as these is what makes print advertising so innovative. 96. Beck's: Art in Progress Vault49 bring their illustrative skills to the table once againBritish born, New York-based design studio Vault49 brought its inimitable style to this illustration-led campaign for Beck's beer. Reflecting a growing trend for production-line-style visuals that reflect the creation process - also noticeable in Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe campaign - the ad explores the different elements that go into a bottle of Beck's, from an imaginative, conceptual viewpoint rather than a literal representation of the production process. 97. Pantone: Rain Edition Rainwater is given a splash of colour in this print adA collaborative effort between Italian creatives Giuliano Lo Re and Matteo Gallinelli, this inspiring campaign for Pantone puts colour front and centre, as you'd expect for the kings of the special ink. But rather than play the well-worn rainbow card, the duo opted to explore the relationship between colour and water - particularly rainwater. 98. Marmite: Don't Forget It You won't forget Marmite in a hurry with this series of print adsAdam&EveDDB have gone one step further with the 'Love it or hate it' theme in this latest print and TV campaign for Marmite, satirising animal cruelty appeals by "raising awareness" of woefully neglected Marmite jars across Britain. You can watch the accompanying TV commercial here. 99. Scribe pencils From extinct to mythical creatures, anything is possible with Scribe pencilsThe illustrations in this beautifully executed campaign for Scribe pencils do all the talking. The idea being to 'Bring your ideas to reality', artist Hernan Marin created three eye-catching drawings of a dinosaur, mermaid and unicorn, which almost have a lifelike, 3D quality to them. Conceived and executed by Bogota-based ad agency Melborp, the campaign highlights the endless creative possibilities with these pencils. 100. French Ministry of Health Ice cream, anyone?This ad campaign for the French Ministry of Health highlights the growing the growing issue of obesity in children. An original concept, the illustration, art directed and copy written by David Lesage, features an image of an ice cream, topped with a big belly. The copy reads "L'obesite commence des le plus jeune age," meaning "obesity starts at a young age." Related articles: 40 must-see examples of billboard advertising 30 stunning poster designs to inspire you How to get into design without a degree View the full article

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There's not long to go now until Apple launches the much-anticipated iPhone 8. Apple fans have been speculating wildly about what to expect from the new device, which is predicted to ship on September 12. Thanks to some careful investigation and leaked specs, it looks as though the iPhone 8 is heading towards a radical overhaul – including a very different design and new components. iPhone 8 screen One of the biggest questions for creatives is how good will the screen be? Fans have been calling out for a larger screen that looks more stylish and has a higher resolution than the iPhone 6 display. If the rumours are to be believed, we could be in for a treat: it's predicted that the iPhone 8 will have a smaller frame that allows for an edge-to-edge 5.8-inch screen. The screen is also tipped to switch from LCD to a richer AMOLED display, which would deliver better contrast, more vibrant colours and be better suited for VR and AR. Finally, there's talk that the iPhone 8 could additionally sport a mild 2.5 curved edge (think along the lines of what we saw with the iPhone 7) although it won't be as sloped as those on Samsung phones. Fans are speculating about how the forehead and home button could lookThe idea of an edge-to-edge screen has met with a mixed response. Some are overjoyed at the prospect of playing around with the screen display; others are concerned this design will just make it easier to break. What does seem certain, though, is that the iPhone 8 will have a small lip of bezel coming down from the top of the phone. This is likely to contain the earpiece, front-facing LED flash and camera. There's no news yet on whether or not the headphone jack will make an appearance after controversially being dropped in previous models. Given that Apple isn't prone to making U-turns, we're not holding our breath that it'll miraculously return. All-glass body Another big design upgrade users can expect to see is an all-glass body, instead of Apple's traditional aluminium models. One of the most exciting possibilities behind this design choice is that it could allow users to charge their iPhone 8 devices wirelessly. There are even images floating around the internet of wireless charging components supposedly headed for the iPhone. Could the days of stretching your power lead for bedtime browsing be over? Will we see a return of the much-missed headphone jack?No physical home button Topping off the list of rumoured design changes is the idea that the iPhone 8 won't have a physical home button. This ties into the prediction that we're headed for an edge-to-edge screen. So where would the home button live? The likelihood is it will be replaced by an on-screen home button, or could be bumped to the back of the phone just like the Samsung Galaxy S8. However, there's also the option that the home button could be situated on the side, like the sleep/wake button found on certain Sony phones. And if we're going all out on speculation, there's even a possibility that Apple could forgo fingerprint censors and rely on facial recognition to unlock. This would be a huge shake up, though, for the iPhone, so we're going to file this under 'unlikely'. For the latest information on the iPhone 8 launch, release date, price and more, head over to our sister site TechRadar here Related articles: The 26 best iPhone apps for designers 13 top movie-making apps for iPhone and iPad 10 trends shaped by the iPhone View the full article

If you've ever wanted to be in a pop video, now's your chance. Sort of. To promote its new song, Tonite, LCD Soundsystem got together with Google's Data Arts team, as well as artists Jonathan Puckey and Moniker, to create a VR dance party that's a moving piece of 3D art that you can take part in. 5 ways VR is changing web design todayDance Tonite is a web-based experience that works with everything from mobile VR systems such as Google's Daydream View to room-scale gear like the HTC Vive, to a flat screen. In it, a camera flies through a series of virtual rooms, while minimalistic representations of dancers strut their stuff. Dance Tonite lets you bust some moves in virtual realityWith handheld VR, you're on stage, watching the dancers around you, while on a flat screen you see the action from a bird's eye view and can click on performers to see their view. It's when you use a room-scale VR system like the Vive or Oculus Rift that things get really fun, though. With the right VR gear you can record yourself and add to the funWith one of these in play, Dance Tonite can work as a basic motion capture setup and record your moves so that they can be incorporated into the experience where everyone can see them. And by recording a whole set of terpsichorean antics in one go, you can even become your own virtual dance troupe. It's all built using WebVR and some clever coding; you can read a detailed breakdown from co-creator Jonathan Puckey on how it was all put together. And if you're really keen on seeing how it all works, it's an open source project so you can get all the code on GitHub. Enough of all that technical stuff, though: let's dance! Related articles: Hands on with the ultimate VR experience VR: is it the future of design? The 6 best VR headsets for 2017 View the full article

There’s no reason for you to not have your own website online. Whether you're hosting a portfolio site, launching a blog, or setting up a storefront, Dragify Website Hosting is the perfect place to turn to for your hosting needs. You can get a lifetime of service for just $49.99 (approx £40) with today's deal. Dragify Website Hosting has everything you need to get your website up and running. This web hosting service lasts a lifetime so you won't have to worry about it ever again. Dragify Website Hosting features unmetered bandwidth and unlimited email accounts with 500MB of storage. You'll also get great tools and resources to keep your website safe and make sure it's never overwhelmed by traffic. You can get started setting up your own space on the web with a lifetime subscription to Dragify Website Hosting for just $49.999 (approx £40). That's a saving of 83% off the full retail price for an essential service, so grab it while you can! 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 View the full article

Use the right structure and methodological approach, and you can make fast turn-around animation look great. It’s all about working smarter, not harder, and getting more out of the early stages of animation rather than delaying the inevitable and trying to fix things later. By understanding the underlying basics and principles of animation, you can bypass a lot of the time spent tweaking the perfect animation, trying to retrospectively fix animation that’s fundamentally wrong from the start. Here are eight tips for reliably producing great animations to very tight deadlines. 01. Use your time wisely Work in short bursts for better productivityWe all get lazy and can waste some time here and there, but there really should be no reason why there is a struggle to finish off the shots we have in time. Maintaining a clean work method is key, as is working in short blasts of energy, with breaks in between. You might be able to work hard for a good 45 minutes to an hour non-stop, with full focus. Have a break for 10 minutes, and come back at it when you're good to go again. Working in blasts means you'll end up finishing more animation. Say you’ve worked on five shots today. Don’t stay late into the night trying to finish up the sixth, because you will come in exhausted tomorrow and be unable to do decent work. If you feel you can go on for a little bit longer and finish the sixth shot off quickly, do that; if not, call it a day and come in with a fresh set of eyes the next day. (Of course, this guideline only applies if you're on schedule.) 02. Keep things simple Figure out the best set-up for your shot and keep it that wayMake life easy for yourself and make your motions simpler. Avoid space-switching (world vs local) and IK/FK blending if possible. Try to figure out what is the best set-up for your shot and keep it that way. Animate smart by hiding or un-referencing what you’re not working with. Focus and don’t give yourself excuses. And when you’re working, keep things clean for when you might need to make changes, or in case someone needs to open your shot in the future. 03. Identify trends in your work Examine your work carefully to look for common errorsNoting down every flawed frame in your animation is great for really polishing a shot, but doesn’t actually help you improve much as an animator. A better approach is to identify (or have someone else identify) a common trend in your work. You might notice that you tend not to have very strong anticipations, for example. Once you’ve made a note of this, you can go into your next sequence focusing on correcting that one trend. After a while, it will work its way into your animation muscle memory, and you can look back over your work and find a new trend to work on. 04. Aim for one pose per emotion Too many poses can look over-complicated and messyAn easy trap to fall into is thinking that you need a new pose for every accent in the dialogue, then ending up with a shot that is over-animated and messy. Instead, listen for changes in emotion and create just one pose per emotion. For example, if the character is happy, put them in a happy pose and keep them there until they become sad or angry or whatever the next emotion is. To take this further, look for more subtle changes in emotion. For example, there might be moments when the character goes from happy to really happy. In this case, you might just switch to a more pushed or extreme version of your existing pose. Use these ups and downs within a single emotion to keep the character alive if you need to, then only create a new pose if the emotion changes into something new. 05. Focus on the face Most viewers will look at a character's face, so focus your efforts thereA lot of animators animate the body brilliantly, but then come to the face and make it robotic and basic. This is the most important part of the performance, so don't brush over it. Put keys and breakdowns in the face just as you would the body. The energy you get and the consistency of the pose looks so much better if you treat the face as just as important (if not more) than the body while you are laying out your poses. So if you're on frame one, and adding a pose, also add the pose that mouth shape is in, and the facial expression with it. Lip sync and facial animation shouldn’t be a pass you add on top, but a key foundational part of the main shot structure. Most of the time people watching your animation will stare at the face, so put the effort there. 06. Use a timing template Dopesheets might seem old-school, but they workDetailed dopesheets – those old classic animation sheets of paper that have notes and numbers scribbled all over the place – sound old school. You may be more naturally drawn to using a fancy part of a 3D package that shifts keys around. However, animating shots according to dopesheets works surprisingly well. Dopesheets give you a pattern of timing that works as a guide and template, and can help you to speed up your animation process. If all goes well, you won't need to rely on playblasts or real-time playback to check that your timings are working. Every shot is different, but this is a simple way of timing a standard dialogue shot that works most of the time. Go grab a dopesheet and try to work with it and see how things were done before computers and playblasts came in. 07. Avoid complicated breakdowns Flipping between three poses helps maintain focus Don’t waste time trying to work out a complicated breakdown that may not work. If you’re tight for time, take your two poses and get one pose smack in the middle that is a linear tweened pose. By flipping between the three poses, you focus on the main thing (usually the hips). If Pose A is leaning left, and pose B is leaning right, the breakdown between those two has only two options of where to go, either up or down. Using an arc in the motion, take the hips down (or up) in a nice arc and watch how the motion is now more interesting. 08. Create an acting library Make sure you observe others to build your 'acting library'One tip that's always repeated to animation students is to act it out and use video reference – but the truth is that tight schedules don’t often allow time to shoot reference material. So how can you get good acting? Spend time outside of work studying people and films – you can learn more from them than from your own video reference or an animation class. Learn to observe and collect information in your head so it’s accessible to you when you need it. In this way, build your own acting library in your head. Then when you're working you can listen to the shot’s audio a number of times, and pull out a pose from the acting library in your head that matches up. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 224. Buy it here. Related articles: How to animate the Disney way Understand the 12 principles of animation Create storyboards for web animations View the full article

Design sprints, popularised by Jake Knapp, a design partner at Google Ventures (now called GV), have fundamentally changed how startups and large organisations alike design products, services, and experiences. To put it simply, a design sprint is a framework created to optimise your chances of creating something that people actually want. Here we'll explain how design sprints work and why you should consider a design sprint for your brand or business. Design sprints maximise short timescales Influenced by Eric Ries' Lean Startup principles, design sprints emphasise short time constraints and prototypes, using small, cross-functional teams to quickly iterate and validate ideas. This eliminates, or at least reduces, the odds that a product will be found to be completely useless to the end user after a significant investment of time, effort, and money. Design sprints have not only been used by Google Ventures to accelerate growth at startups like Slack and Nest, but internally at the parent company to create Gmail and Google X products. Knapp himself describes the five-day sprint as follows: Day 1: Understand - Dig into the design problem through research, competitive review, and strategy exercises. Day 2: Diverge - Rapidly develop as many solutions as possible. Day 3: Decide - Choose the best ideas and hammer out a user story. Day 4: Prototype - Build something quick and dirty that can be shown to users. Day 5: Validate - Show the prototype to real humans (in other words, people outside your company) and learn what works and what doesn't work. In only five days, the team uncovers issues, brainstorms solutions, makes strategic choices, prototypes, and observes real users experiencing the product. These cross-functional teams focused on the consumer, data, design, and technology short-circuit longer waterfall processes and incorporate agile thinking to do better work, and faster. The business constraints, teamwork, and outcomes of a sprint can inspire and ignite teams forward. Knapp is the first to admit this model is based on the design thinking methodology created by Stanford's d.school and innovation firm IDEO, now used by creative organisations the world over to create human-centred products and services. Design sprints can build brands Not unlike other practitioners of design sprints and thinking, at Digital Surgeons we've primarily used our constrained framework (that includes game storming techniques developed by Dave Grey) to build better products, services, and experiences. But what about brands? Brand building is typically viewed as part of a long-term engagement. Organisations, and their internal, agency, or consultant teams invest in a discovery (typically through an agency briefing process), a visual exploration or moodboard, and a brand and identity strategy that culminates into a 'big idea' campaign with brand guidelines, strategic planning, a website, a communications plan, and media buying. Design sprints create artifacts that help focus teams, brands and designsWhile these artifacts are incredibly valuable, and necessary, a design sprint offers immediate clarity that can then be used as a creative springboard into other key deliverables. We've had great luck 'cracking' big idea programs in single sprints that have led to multi-year campaigns that attack various business challenges. It's ultimately all about transforming brands with velocity and allowing the sprint to act as a rally cry that connects people from multiple departments and points them towards what's next. Brand-focused teams can take inspiration from product teams and use design sprints to eliminate brand dogma and validate ideas in quick, inexpensive bursts of time and energy. Design sprints should happen regularly At Google Ventures, Knapp recommends that product teams hold at least one sprint a quarter to gut-check the status of long-term projects. A sprint can challenge long-held, and possibly false, assumptions within your brand strategy to separate what's working, from what desperately needs triage. And best of all, at the end of a design sprint, you're left with designed brand artifacts to help keep up with the rapid race to create 'real-time' and opportunistic content. I recommend that sprint teams use a 'war room', a set aside space with walls that can be covered in sticky notes, tape, images, and other outputs to capture the thinking of the team. Mimic your favourite detective show and cover a wall or board with forensic thinking. Not only does this provide a canvas for shared work, it helps visual and kinaesthetic learners to absorb and retain information. By the end of a sprint, the walls of your war room will be covered in low and high-fi deliverables ready to be used as content. Learn how to run design and content sprints at Generate London in a few weeks Why you should hold a design sprint Here are five of the reasons you should consider a design sprint for your brand or business: 01. To gauge creative chemistry Creativity is a team sport so it's critical that teams work well together. One benefit of a design sprint or study is you can work together and see if you are creatively compatible before jumping into a long term engagement. 02. To get alignment across disciplines Design is also a team sport. A cross-functional sprint gets UX designers, engineers, marketers, and communications professionals on the same page from the start. Getting input from key stakeholders throughout the process shields a design team from the dreaded scenario in which weeks are spent on a project, only for the all the work to be scrapped by a HiPPO (highest paid person's opinion). A design sprint also creates brand alignment with a shared visual language. Google's Material Design is a fantastic example of how a well-articulated visual language can revolutionise a brand's design. Mailchimp's Voice and Tone demonstrates how a shared language can be used to drive best-in-class content strategy. 03. To produce actionable artifacts Everyone has moodboards or style sheets, but these are often made up solely of inspiration from other places. A design sprint takes this to the next level so you are owning it yourself and not just copy catting. 04. To gain validation Empowered by the convergence of digital platforms, today's consumers control brands. Brand loyalty is an increasingly scarce commodity, and today's fickle consumers live in micro-moments. As a result, brands must grow and evolve constantly. Just as you must break and learn from your prototypes in agile product development, it is critical to 'break' your brand and challenge outdated assumptions. 05. To get maximum value from minimum time Constraints drive creativity. A design sprint builds brand transforming velocity by introducing constraints that force teams to focus on outcomes, not outputs. When a team only has a week or two, they are forced to focus on solving the challenges that matter most to the bottom line. Drive immediate conceptual and design value through a sprint that produces ideas, concepts, and visual language that reveal opportunities for businesses and brands in record time. Steve Fisher, experience architect and founder of The Republic of Quality, will run a full-day workshop on design and content sprints at Generate London on 20 September, followed by a keynote talk on 22 September. Discover how to get the right setup for a successful sprint, how to create a testable prototype, and much more. Book now and save £95 on a combined workshop and conference pass! Related articles: Steve Fisher reveals how to run design and content sprints The secrets of Google's five-day design sprint 7 ways to improve teamwork with design View the full article

Procreate 3.2 is a powerhouse of a mobile digital art app, with system requirements to match. You don’t just need an iPad to run it: you need an iPad or iPad Pro capable of running the very latest iOS version – iOS 10 or iOS 11 beta – which limits the range of models that Procreate is compatible with. This is because Procreate developer Savage Interactive has invested in a state-of-the-art rendering engine before applying a raft of tools and options on top. This is no ordinary painting app. The basic template for this version was established with Procreate 3.0 in 2015, and version 3.2 builds on top of that release with some major new features. Procreate 3.2 specs Silica 64-bit rendering engine 16K maximum canvas resolution (on iPad Pro) Over 120 brush presets that are customisable Smudge and blend controls Streamlined inking system Layers system with groups Includes layer transformations Video capture with narration Video streaming support with an external app Photoshop document import Requires an iPad or iPad Pro running iOS 10 or later You can now import full Photoshop documents and retain their layers and blend modes: for example, iPad keyboard users can work faster with the help of keyboard shortcuts. Get Adobe Creative Cloud The big two changes, however, are layers and video capture. Redesigned layers panel The new layers system makes it easy to select multiple layers, create layer groups and moreA redesigned layers panel gives you more control if you’re creating complex illustrations, where having lots of layers is pretty much a given. You can now select multiple layers simply by swiping to the right on each layer you want to choose. This swiping mechanism is faster and easier than picking at checkboxes, and makes the Layers system feel more intuitive in use. The introduction of multiple layer selection leads to a host of possibilities. As well as moving them in the stack or deleting several layers in one go, for example, you can now group your selected layers together, then apply the same effects to the entire group. You can also use Transform functions on individual layers or groups, such as moving an element across the canvas or distorting its shape. New video support You can now record yourself as you workThe second major change is designed for artists who like to share their working process. Video support means you can now record yourself as you work; a switch preference enables you to choose whether to record your voice narration through the iPad’s microphone at the same time. You can then export the video file to edit in another app, or share it online. Better still, you can also stream your working process direct to the internet. This relies on the presence of a compatible streaming app, such as Periscope or Mobcrush, which use iOS’s Extensions system to appear as options within supporting apps. The execution is much simpler than the description: once you’ve got a streaming app installed, you just select Procreate’s streaming option, choose the streaming service you want to use, then 3, 2, 1... you’re live! Procreate 3.2 performance If Procreate 3.2 has a fault, it’s that it’s in danger of becoming too powerful. The iPad app has so many tools and options that playing with them can distract from the artwork you’re supposed to be making. There’s an overwhelming choice of ways to customise any brush preset, for example. If you paint on your iPad because you want a spontaneous, rapid creative fix, you might find that working with Procreate is biting off more than you want to chew. But if your vision of your iPad is as a substitute for your Windows or Mac OS computer, and you’re looking for the slickest, most powerful art app around, Procreate is a strong contender for the title. This review originally appeared in Imagine FX magazine. Subscribe today. Related articles: iOS 11 preview for designers: release date, news and specs The 12 best iPad apps for designers 9 iPad Pro apps that make the most of Apple Pencil View the full article

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A previously undocumented kill switch for a remote management feature baked into many Intel chips can be switched off. View the full article

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In this tutorial, we take the mechanical drawing toy Etch A Sketch as an inspiration and attempt to implement these features for modern devices, with web technologies. Using the (aptly named) canvas, we first focus on tablets, which are akin in shape to the authentic toy. We can take advantage of touch events to control the dials, and device motion events to erase the content. Not leaving phones out, we will also explore how to use WebSockets to enhance the possibilities by splitting the controls and drawing area. 01. Get the assets This tutorial will use Node.js. Before we get started, go to FileSilo, select Free Stuff and Free Content next to the tutorial – here you can download the assets you need for the tutorial. Then run the commands below, which will install the dependencies and launch the server. We're using Node to create a localhost, and it will also serve us later for WebSockets. 02. Use the draw() function In main.js, the draw() function will be the centre point of our application. We use canvas to draw a line between two points; the origin (x1, y1), being where we last left our drawing, and the destination (x2, y2), the new point we want to reach. We now need to trigger this function to observe any form of drawing. 03. Implement keyboard events Before we implement dials, let's quickly add a keyboard listener that can trigger our draw function. You've already been provided with the different keyCodes in the example, but you will need to amend the listener slightly to trigger the draw() function we defined previously. Now refresh your browser and see what you can draw with the arrow keys. 04. Resize the canvas You may have noticed that our canvas element doesn't have a size assigned to it yet. For our drawing board, we will want a bigger space, maybe even the whole window. The code below takes care of the resize event, but don't forget to call adjustFrame() in init() as well. 05. Add a frame We want the application to look like the original toy as much as possible, so we want to add a frame around the drawing area. To do so, we can define a margin value and amend the CSS for #sketch to margin: 20px auto; to centre the canvas horizontally and keep a bigger space at the bottom for the dials. 06. Create the dials We've already given you the CSS for the dials in public/css/styles.css, so feel free to have a look. Next, add two <div> tags under the <canvas> in the HTML file, as described below. As a convention, we will use the left dial for horizontal drawing, and the right for vertical. We're also adding new variables to the init() function to prepare for touch events. 07. Use ZingTouch The canvas with added dials, tied to the draw() functionZingTouch is a JavaScript library capable of detecting various touch gestures, and will also handle mouse events. It is provided for you in the /public/lib/ folder, as we use it to control our dials. Below is the implementation for the left control; you will need to replicate and amend it for the other side. 08. Implement dial bounds To block the lines from going off-screen, we use the canDraw() function, which returns a boolean. We pass it the direction, either 'horizontal' or 'vertical', and the value of either the horizontal or vertical variable. We call this function in the 'rotate' listener of both dials, and only if 'true' do we increment the angle and call the draw() function. 09. Avoid dial problems With the bounds we've just implemented, there is a chance the dial might get stuck at one end if the value goes over the limit, even by a decimal point. To avoid this situation, we should handle the case where canDraw() is false and reset the value to a previously valid one, as shown here for the horizontal controller: 10. Get the drawing board on your tablet It is always recommended to test on your targeted devices as early as possible. Our application is now in a good shape, and can respond to touch events. Follow the steps on accessing localhost remotely to get the drawing board on your tablet. Next, we will use Safari and the Develop menu to inspect the application on an iPad. For Android devices, use chrome://inspect. 11. Test the accelerometer Testing the accelerometer in Safari [click the icon to enlarge] Connect your tablet to your computer via USB and inspect the application using the developer tools. With the code below in place, you should be able to see the various acceleration values, as you move your device around. In order to reset the canvas, we've decided to consider an acceleration on the x axis over 5, and slowly decrease the opacity (eraseRate). 12. Shake to delete We've seen in the previous step how to check for motion and acceleration. We now need to call fadeDrawing() when our condition is met. In this instance, we redraw an exact copy of the canvas at a different opacity. Reset the globalAlpha to 1 in draw() and set the globalCompositeOperation back to source-over. 13. Make it look like the real deal Our application with shake-to-delete functionalitySo far, our application looks quite bland and flat. In order to give it some depth, we will add a frame colour, a shadow inside the frame and a bit of volume on the dials. The CSS for the dial shadows is already provided, but you will need to add those two elements at the end of the body. Complete the CSS for the elements suggested here: 14. Use WebSockets At the beginning of this tutorial, we briefly mentioned using WebSockets through our Node server. Now that you have a standalone drawing pad for tablet, we will look at making it available for your phone as well. However, phones might be too small to display both the screen and controls. We are therefore using sockets to communicate between phone and computer screen. 15. Detect the device size In the main HTML file, replace main.js with extra.js. The latter contains all we've done so far, with modifications to handle devices and sockets, which we'll inspect in the following steps. Have a look at detectDevice() – this method now gets called on load instead of init() and will decide which 'mode' to handle for the application. Below is the particular case of a phone being detected: 16. From phone to computer From phone to computer, remotely drawing through socketsThroughout extra.js you will notice bits of code such as socket.emit() or socket.on(). These are the emitters and listeners for our controls (phone) and screen (computer) instances. Every emitted event needs to go through the server to be re-distributed to all connected sockets. In server\index.js add a few more listeners in the 'connection' function and restart the Node server. 17. Fix phone orientation Visit the localhost on your computer, while accessing it remotely with your phone (like you did previously from your tablet). You should now see a line being drawn on your screen while turning the dials on your phone. You will notice, however, that the dials don't fit properly if the phone is in portrait mode. We can fix this with some CSS: 18. Make the toy more realistic Touching your tablet leaves some temporary fingerprintsLet's get back to our tablet version. Sadly, the Vibration API is not available on iOS, so we can't implement haptic feedback when the dials are turned. In the original toy, though, you could leave temporary black fingerprint marks on the screen if you pushed it. We can add a touch event on the device to replicate this feature. Set these listeners in init() and explore the functions they call: 19. Save a copy of the canvas In the drawFingerPrint() method, before we do anything else, we save a copy of the current state of the canvas to a hidden element that we use to restore our drawing when clearing the print. That only happens on first touch, and not on the subsequent calls that increase the size of the print every 100ms. 20. Run the application offline You could now make the application truly standalone by saving it to your tablet as a Home Screen app. We won't be able to do the same for the phone, as it requires connection to the server. In /public, locate the file named sketch.appcache and replace all the instances of 'localhost' by your IP address. Now, amend the HTML to read as follows: 21. Save the application Now visit the application again on your tablet and select the Add to Home Screen option. A new icon should appear on your desktop. Open it once while still being connected to your localhost remotely. The cache manifest we set up previously will download all the necessary files for offline use in the background. Turn the Wi-Fi off and open the app again. Voilà! This article originally appeared in Web Designer magazine issue 263. Buy it here. Read more: 15 Web APIs you've never heard of A beginner's guide to designing interface animations A guide to writing better CSS View the full article

Watercolour is a versatile and flexible medium that can yield a variety of results. Also known as aquarelle, it's a painting technique in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle. Dating back thousands of years, watercolour is a tricky medium to master, but there ares various watercolour techniques you can adopt to help, and it's certainly a skill worth pursuing. When you create a painting in watercolours, light reflects off the white of the paper and bounces up through the colours, giving it a luminosity that can be truly magical. Get to grips with the medium with these must-know watercolour techniques. 01. Buy a range of brushes It's important to have different brush optionsIt's important to have a range of brushes. Your choices will depend on how large or small you work. I tend to work on the smaller side so my brushes range from 000 to 6. Experiment with different sizes to work out what your favourites are, but I'd also recommend getting hold of brushes that are smaller than you think you'll use. These will come in handy for those little details you don't anticipate. 02. Get some good quality paints Good quality watercolour is an investmentIt's important to invest in good quality watercolour. It will last longer and won't yellow or degrade as much over time. There are lots of different brands and levels available in stores and online. I use a variety from Holbien and Winsor & Newton. Buy a few colours from different brands and find out which you prefer. Start small: you can mix a variety of colours using a limited palette. 03. Explore dry versus wet Manipulate the paint's pigment by adding different amounts of waterThere are two major factors to consider when painting with watercolours: wet and dry. As the name suggests, watercolour is a water-based medium. We can manipulate the darkness and saturation of the pigment depending on how much water we add. There are many ways to paint in watercolour and as you try them, you'll find the ones that work best for you. I've found working dry to wet helps me achieve more control. 04. Work from light to dark Working from light to dark takes a lot of planning but the results are worth itAnother important watercolour technique to remember is that we're working from light to dark. This means that anything we're keeping white or light in our painting needs to stay that way for the whole duration of the work. We'll build our values up layer by layer to arrive at the effect we want. This does take a lot of planning but the results will be worth it. 05. Stock up on paper towels The paper towel almost acts as a kneaded eraser for watercolourOne very important tool to have in your kit when working with watercolours is a paper towel. This almost acts as a kneaded eraser for your watercolours. Laying down a wash of colour and then lifting parts of it up is a great way to add layers of detail gradually. Paper towels are also very useful for correcting mistakes or redirecting the paint. 06. Splatter your watercolours Using your index finger, pull back on the bristles and let them snap forwardOne handy trick to add some energy to your watercolour painting is to use a splatter watercolour technique. This can help suggest water spray or floating dust. Hold your paintbrush between your thumb and middle fingers. Using your index finger, pull back on the bristles and let them snap forward. This method is a bit unpredictable, but can yield some very fun results, so I’d urge you to give it a try. 07. Bleed colours into one another A good way to bleed colours into one another is through 'blooming'A good way to bleed colours into one another is through the 'blooming' watercolour technique. Add a good amount of water to the pigment in your brush and apply it to the paper. When the stroke is still wet, add in another colour with the same amount of water. You can manipulate the colours to where they need to be at this point. Allow this to dry and you'll notice that there are subtle gradients throughout the stroke. Take a look at our guide to the wet-in-wet watercolour technique, too. 08. Get the textures right It's important to try to depict objects and materials with their textures includedYou'll notice that working in watercolours on a rougher paper does have its advantages. One of the obvious ones is that you don't have to work to hard to achieve a nice texture. That said, it's important to try to depict objects and materials with their textures included. This means using lights and darks as well as wets and drys. 09. Pull in colour Pulling in colour is a great way to show form and indicate a light source or edgeWhen you apply a dry, more saturated stroke, you can pull from that stroke with just water. This watercolour technique is a great way to show form and indicate a light source or edge. Apply a stroke using very little water and more pigment. Before the stroke is dry, take a moderately wet brush and pull the colour out from the darker stroke. You can pull the colour quite far depending on how dry that initial stroke is. 10. Layer your colours Because watercolour is a thin medium, you'll need to build up colour graduallyBecause watercolour is a thin medium, you'll need to build up colour gradually. This is another advantage to the medium as you can do some colour mixing right on the paper. Take one colour and lay it down. Allow it to dry and then revisit with another shade. You'll notice where they overlap, the pigment mixes and you're left with a different colour. This is great for building up flesh tones. Next page: 8 more watercolour techniques to try out 11. Try scumbling Scumbling is a watercolour technique used create soft hues of layered pigmentScumbling is a watercolour technique also used by many oil painters to create soft hues of layered pigment and light. You're essentially layering the colour in soft, indirect layers to create the hue and look you want. Simply lay in semi-wet strokes of paint in watercolour. As I apply more colour, I'm careful to keep adding water so the colours blend and stay soft. It can be easy to overwork and produce a muddy look, so less is more. 12. Lift the colour You can lift away colour to correct a mistake or adjust the lighting in a pieceSometimes you'll need to 'erase' your watercolour. While you can't return the paper to 100 per cent white, you can lift away colour to correct a mistake or adjust the lighting in a piece. Work with an already dry swatch of watercolour and using clear water, paint in the shape you'd like to lift out. Let it set for a just a minute then dab away the water with a paper towel. You'll see the colour lift out in the shape you painted in. 13. Use salt to create texture Salt can provide an interesting texture with little effortWatercolour is all about layering and texture. Salt can provide an interesting texture with little effort as the salt crystals absorb the water, leaving a unique pattern in the pigment. Lay down a swatch of watercolour and while the paint is still wet, sprinkle over salt. Let this sit until mostly dry and simply wipe or blow away the salt. This technique is useful for adding texture to natural surfaces like rocks or tree bark. 14. Apply paint using a sponge Another household item you can use to apply watercolours is a spongeAnother household item you can use to apply watercolours is a sponge. Simply mix your pigment in a small dish or tray, dip the sponge into the paint and blot onto your paper. You can alter the wetness of your paint and achieve different effects – a drier look would be suited for plant life or scaly skin, while a wet application might be more suited for waterscapes or clouds. 15. Explore negative painting Think about where you'd like your whites and lights before you apply paintWatercolour is about planning. Think about where you'd like your whites and lights before you apply paint. It's vital to keep control of your brush as you paint in the edge of where you'd like your negative space to begin. Load it with semi-wet pigment and paint along the edge of where you'd like your negative space to begin. Then pull the colour away from the edge of the stroke to fill in where you'd like pigment. For more tips, take a look at our guide to negative painting in watercolour. 16. Use tape to add clean edges Use tape to mask of areas you'd like to keep clean and whiteYou can use tape to mask of areas you'd like to keep clean and white. This watercolour technique is useful for hard edges involving machinery or architecture. Just lay down the tape where you'd like the paper to stay white. Use a tape that won't rip your paper, such as drafting tape or painters' tape. Paint over and around the tape. Once your paint is dry, remove the tape slowly and you should have a straight, clean line. 17. Use a 2H pencil for your underdrawings A hard pencil will withstand the addition of waterHere I've used a pencil with 2H lead to ensure my guide drawing will withstand the water from painting. Then I can go in and lay in some light paint strokes with a medium sized brush. My paint is very watery so won't stain the paper right away. 18. Save your darkest darks for fine detail Save your darkest darks until the endResist the temptation to use your darkest darks until you reach the end of your painting. Because watercolour painting is a transparent medium, you'll need to make sure you keep your lights light, and save the darks and details until the end. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX bookazine How to Paint & Draw. Subscribe to ImagineFX here. Read more: Choose the right brushes for watercolour painting Top tips for keeping watercolour paintings fresh and loose Choose the right paper for your watercolour painting View the full article