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You're reading The Ultimate UX Design of: the Credit Card Payment Form, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! The Peak Point of eCommerce and SaaS – the Credit Card Payment Form If you’re selling something online, you know it’s not the easiest thing to do. You need to find a prospective customer, present your product in a good light, drive her through a process full of forms and finally… collect her money. At […] View the full article

Love it or hate it, Photoshop continues to be the design software of choice for millions of designers across the globe for a wide range of tasks, including photo editing, graphic design, typography, illustration, 3D modelling and animation. Here, we round up the very best Photoshop tutorials from around the web covering all of these areas and more, whether you're rocking Photoshop CC or using an older version of the software. And to save you from unnecessary confusion, we've organised these video tutorials and written step-by-step tutorials and guides to suit your level of Photoshop skills. Choose your difficulty level and get started! Beginners' Photoshop tutorials (this page) Intermediate Photoshop tutorials Advanced Photoshop tutorials Photoshop tutorials for beginners 01. Master Photoshop layers: 6 top tips It may take a bit of time, but learning to use Photoshop's layer system is the key to unlocking the software's versatilityPhotoshop is a complex bit of kit, which can take years to learn properly. The language of layers can be a difficult thing to master, but having a good understanding of Photoshop layers gives you a solid foundation to build your digital art. Our Photoshop layers tutorial for beginners is here to help. 02. 7 top tips for using Photoshop layer masks These helpful layer mask tips will help to streamline your digital art workflowAs any beginner Photoshop tutorial will tell you, layer masks are one of the most fundamental parts of the software. Without them your work is sure to look flat. To help you work more quickly and easily with layer masks, we've put together this list of seven tips and shortcuts. 03. Make quick selections in Photoshop Simple cut-outs and masking tasks form the backbone of much design work in PhotoshopThe ability to perform simple cut-outs and masking tasks is a basic requirement of any designer and often forms the backbone of any Photoshop work that you may undertake. We run through three basic techniques for creating simple selections, and then cover the layer mask options and how they work a little more in depth. 04. Get creative with Face-Aware Liquify Face-Aware Liquify makes caricaturing easyThe latest version of Photoshop CC's Liquify tool has some powerful facial recognition skills, enabling it to detect areas of the face, such as the eyes, mouth, nose and overall face shape, so you can adjust and warp them with impunity. Here T3's art editor, Luke O'Neill, explains how to get the most of it, from simple adjustments to crazy facial distortions. 05. Create a kaleidoscope effect in Photoshop Drawn and photographed elements come togetherAmber Grayson reveals how to combine handmade and digital elements to create a kaleidoscope effect in Photoshop. 06. How to customise animated GIFs in Photoshop Alter any animated GIF to fit the style of your latest projectAnimated GIFs are a great way to make your designs more eye-catching. With Photoshop, you can customize any animated GIF to fit the style of your project. 07. Reduce camera shake in Photoshop CC Get to grips with Photoshop's Camera Shake Reduction filterAs a photographer, it's inevitable that you will wind up with the occasional blurry image. Fortunately, in Photoshop CC, Adobe has a special 'Camera Shake Reduction' filter to help you repair these images. 08. Age a photograph in Photoshop CC Turn any photo into an aged, sepia-toned image in PhotoshopAgeing a photograph in Photoshop is a classic technique that can turn even a ho-hum, full colour image into something striking. If your design work requires a vintage look, replicating the look of a distressed old photo digitally can work wonders. However, it’s more than merely converting a photograph to sepia tones and calling it a day. In this article, we explore how to age a photograph using the duotone technique. 09. How to use Photoshop's Image Sizing tool We explain how to get the best out of the Image Sizing tool in Photoshop CC. 10. Transform a pencil sketch in Photoshop Make your hand-drawn sketches easier to work with digitally using these quick stepsColourising a scanned hand-drawn pencil sketch to get rid of the black lines can save an artist lots of work and aggravation. Dark, black lines are hard to paint over while maintaining the sketch. Thankfully, there's an easy way to colour and soften those black lines using Photoshop. 11. Turn day into night in Photoshop Turning this daytime scene into night was inspired by the superb effects work in Lars von Trier's film Melancholia. Shooting landscapes at night can present all sorts of challenges – and even more so if you were shooting a moving image and couldn't use long exposures. 12. How to use the Burn Tool One of our own Photoshop tutorials, hosted on the Creative Bloq YouTube channel, introduces the Burn tool. In the easy-to-follow video, discover how to selectively darken areas of an image, with an overview of settings and tips on working with Shadows, Midtones and Highlights. 13. How to use the Colour Replacement Tool Another of our YouTube Photoshop tutorials, this short video introduces the Color Replacement Tool, which lets you paint roughly over an area of an image. Discover how to replace colours based on Hue, Saturation, Colour and Luminosity. 14. How to use the Content-Aware Move Tool This Photoshop tutorial introduces the Content-Aware Move Tool. In the easy-to-follow video, we reveal how Photoshop can analyse pixels and heal unwanted portions within an image. 15. How to use the Custom Shape Tool This Photoshop tutorial introduces the Custom Shape Tool. Choose from a large selection of different shapes and learn how to use various settings such as Fill, Stroke and more. 16. How to use the Dodge Tool This Photoshop tutorial introduces the Dodge tool. You'll learn how to selectively lighten areas of an image. Learn about brush options, Range, and Exposure. Brighten eyes, pick out details, and much more! 17. Make a poster from a template in Photoshop Adobe's Photoshop tutorial will show you how to make a poster from a template in less than 60 seconds 18. Add a bokeh effect to your images Create out-of-focus highlights from scratch with a little help from Photoshop CS6's new time-saving shortcuts, in this easy to follow, four-step tutorial. 19. Turn photos into simple caricatures Master Photoshop's Free Transform tool and use it to warp portraits of your subjects into comical caricatures! 20. Get the toy camera look Combine a number of different simple but effective techniques to imitate the retro, lo-fi toy camera look, using simulated light leakage and a vignette in Photoshop. 21. Make your own pop art portrait Create an Andy Warhol-style multi-image pop art pictureConvert a bland portrait into a pop art masterpiece to get creative and enliven your forgettable shots. For this tutorial, we'll be using Photoshop filters, selection tools, Adjustment Layers and Layer Masks, and the Hue/Saturation command. 22. Recreate a fish-eye effect Get a 60s psychedelic style imageGive images the super-distorted fish-eye treatment, then crop and add text to get the look of an iconic album cover. 23. Digital painting with Photoshop CC for beginners Get to grips with digital painting in Photoshop with this handy guideIf you can work on a canvas with paints, then many of the same painting techniques you use will transfer directly over to digitally painting in Photoshop. Core principles such as composition, colour theory and perspective still apply. This article breaks down the process of creating a simple digital painting, from start to finish. 24. Apply a quick vintage look in Photoshop Use Photoshop CS6's Color Lookup feature to change colours within an image, in four simple steps. 25. Add frames to photos using Photoshop and Lightroom Using a combination of Photoshop and Lightroom, here you'll discover a few ways to add frames and borders around your photos. The workflow includes using tools such as Photoshop blend modes, custom brushes and layer styles. 26. Create tilt shift photography Recreate a tilt-shift effect using PhotoshopTilt-shift photography refers to the use of camera movements on small and medium format cameras. The guys at animhut show you how to re-create this effect using Photoshop CS6. 27. Add dramatic rain to a photo in Photoshop Tony Aube demonstrates how to add a dramatic rain effect to a photo in Photoshop, then goes a step further and shows how to make the image more photorealistic by adding reflections and small puddles. 28. Make a pure white background in Photoshop In this easy-to-follow tutorial, the team at Phlearn show you how to create a perfect white backdrop without losing too much detail in your images. 29. Colourise a black and white photo Take control of your image colouring with this tutorial from Ben SecretDesigner Ben Secret show how to take control of your image colouring with Photoshop's Color Balance tool. 30. Working with video in Photoshop While Photoshop is best known as a photo editor, it also includes some powerful video editing tools. In this short, simple tutorial, learn how to use the timeline panel to apply smart filters and adjustment layers to your videos. 31. Remove skin blemishes with the Spot Healing brush Learn how to repair lips with the Spot Healing brushEveryone wants to look their best and in this tutorial you'll be able to do just that. You'll learn how to remove any skin blemishes, acne or any other problems to create the perfect image. 32. Quickly select skin tones If you want to know about the Skin Aware technology in CS6 then this is the tutorial for you. Learn how to quickly select skin tones and get to grips with this awesome feature. 33. How to change eye colour in Photoshop CS6 Check out this quick two-minute tutorial, which will show you how to change a subject's eye colour. 34. Take care of fly-away hairs This super time saving tutorial will teach you how to get rid of stray and fly-away hairs using the dust and scratches filters. 35. Change hair colour in Photoshop CS6 Here, you'll discover how to use the new tools of Photoshop CS6 to change any hair colour. From blonde to red and brown to green, the choices are endless! 36. Create a repeating pattern in Photoshop You can create all manner of images and effects in Photoshop CCHere we'll show you how to create a single 'tile' for a repeating pattern for the stripes; then you can fill as big or as small an area as you like with it... 37. Create an easy abstract blur pattern design Spoon Graphics demonstrates how to make a cool geometric gradient pattern using Photoshop and a bit of Illustrator. 38. Create a fast and simple Instagram effect Don't have a smartphone but long to create those vintage Instagram effects on your photos? This simple and quick tutorial will show what effects to add to accomplish an easy 'Instagram look'. 39. Use Photoshop Actions to apply multiple effects We show you how to record a series of edits as an Action that can be quickly applied to images, as we create a cool retro effect in Photoshop CS6. 40. Add a colour splash effect Want to mix black and white imagery with a bit of colour? This three-minute tutorial will show you exactly how to isolate a specific colour in your photos. Feeling more confident? Head to the next page for some intermediate-level Photoshop tutorials. If you're more confident than a beginner, but not yet an expert Photoshop user, then these creative Photoshop tutorials for intermediate-level designers are for you. 41. Create style frames in Photoshop Make style frames to convey the mood of motion graphicsA style frame is a snapshot of a finished frame as it would look within a longer animation. It aims to capture the overall look and feel of an animated or live action video, but in a still image. For this tutorial we'll use an example for a title sequence that would precede a new TV show. 42. Make a double exposure in Photoshop Adobe's 60-second Make It Now video shows you how to use Photoshop to make a double exposure. 43. The Refine Edge box tool explained Learn how to use the Refine Edge box perfectly every timeIf you've ever tried to change the background of a person with frizzy hair or a horizon dotted with bushy foliage, you'll know just how intensely time consuming and nigh-on impossible this can be. Luckily the Photoshop CC Refine Edge box tool is here to make your life easier. To explain this crucial tool, we run through its seven main features. 44. Combine traditional and digital skills to create a comic cover Draw and ink by hand, then go to Photoshop to do your colouringIf you like working with traditional materials, there's still plenty you can do in Photoshop to give your work more impact. Here Chris Visions explains how to draw a comic cover by hand then take it into Photoshop to colour and light it and to add eye-catching filters. 45. Rapid site prototyping in Photoshop CC Photoshop CC offers a comprehensive toolset for mocking up websites quickly and easily. Antony Kitson explains how to use the key features to get an idea across to a client or developer. 46. Cut your design time when using Photoshop CC Save time and your sanity with this quick tutorialGraphic designer Paul Tysall demonstrates how to hone your Photoshop workflow to save time on repetitive pre-press tasks. 47. Use Photoshop's Tilt-Shift filter Using Photoshop's CS6 Tilt-shift blur effect, Ben Secret explains an innovative approach to saturation by creating a miniature model village. In this Photoshop tutorial you'll learn how to simulate an exaggerated depth-of-field effect. 48. The ultimate guide to adjustment layers – curves Curves allows you to adjust the tonal values in an image, increase or decrease the exposure, or automatically colour correct. This tutorial provides a comprehensive explanation of the Curves functions and how to use them. 49. Combine colour with monochrome in Photoshop Get creative with colour, learn how to create a wider tonal range, and create classic images with added impact in six simple steps! A fantastic Photoshop tutorial to boost your skills. 50. Erase unwanted backgrounds in Photoshop Use the Eraser tool to create white backgroundsUse the Eraser tools to select and delete unwanted backgrounds - or even just parts of them. We show you how in this Photoshop tutorial. 51. Post-production fixes Photography in design can be a tricky aspect. Here, 10 world-renowned designers channel their best advice on how to get the most from your photos using Photoshop in post-production. 52. Blur backgrounds easily in Photoshop Backgrounds often ruin what is an otherwise perfect pictureWished you'd taken that shot with a wider aperture? Make it happen in Photoshop using a blur filter and a painted mask. 53. The complete guide to fixing exposure in Photoshop The majority of images benefit from a tweak to the exposure or contrastWhat is a histogram? How do you fix poorly exposed photos? We answer these questions and more with this Photoshop tutorial walking you through exposure in Photoshop CS6 and Camera Raw. 54. Design a chrome and plastic button in Photoshop Making UI elements should be part of every designer's toolbox. Here's how to make a cool looking chrome and plastic button in Photoshop. 55. Create a realistic sketch effect with Photoshop Photoshop CS6 has a fine collection of filters designed to turn photos into a variety of art styles, including a Colored Pencil filter in its Artistic filter folderWith the help of Photoshop's stamp and brush tools, we reveal how you can convert your photographs into stunning pencil sketches! 56. Recreate infrared photography in Photoshop The best way of getting a similar infrared effect is to take an image with lots of green in itYou don't need a dedicated camera to take an infrared image - you can do it in Photoshop instead. We explain how, in just six simple steps. 57. Create a Polaroid pinboard effect Transform a single image into a striking montage of Polaroid shots with this fun Photoshop layers technique. 58. Create a fashionable cross-processing effect Fashion photographers used to develop film in the wrong chemicals on purpose to create striking colour effects. Here's how to achieve the look in Photoshop. 59. How to create a dramatic digital painting in Photoshop In this tutorial Trisme Trs will take you through the process of creating a dramatic digital painting in Photoshop, and show you how to illustrate an eagle and falcon battling it out in the sky. 60. How to combine brushes with texture in Photoshop CS6 Add a touch of texture to your brush strokeMake your painting really stand out by adding a touch of texture to your brush stroke using this simple, quick guide. 61. Create a mech-inspired text effect using layer styles This great 20-minute tutorial will show you exactly how to create a mechanical inspired text effect using layer styles. 62. Create a 'text in water' effect This rather specialist tutorial walks you through how to create the effect of text submerged in water. The training will help you get to grips with the liquify filter, custom brush and free transform tool. 63. Create a Chocolate Volcano Using 3D Effects Get to grips with the 3D capabilities of PhotoshopA Photoshop volcano is awesome but a chocolate volcano? Even better. Get to grips with the 3D capabilities of Photoshop CS5 and beyond. It's at an intermediate level, so only approach this if you already know a thing or two. 64. Discover Photoshop's 3D tools Photoshop CS6 Extended incorporates a new 3D tools engine, which enables your graphics card to deliver a super fast performance. This step-by-step guide demonstrates how the new Photoshop CS6 3D engine can be used to combine 3D sources. 65. How to create a micro machines inspired scene Remember that awesome collection of little cars you had as a kid? Well, this tutorial will help refresh your memory as it explains how to utilises CS6's new 3D capabilites to create a Micro Machine inspired composition. 66. Use Photoshop's animate function It's easy to forget that Photoshop also has an 'animate' function. James Wignall shows how to create the sort of hand-made animation that a young Walt Disney might have dabbled with. 67. How to create an abstract liquid effect In this walkthrough, we'll show you how to use a photograph, some 2D elements and a 3D render to create an eye-catching, abstract liquid effect with a real sense of motion. 68. How to create a stunning magazine cover in Photoshop The Phlearn team show you how to turn a photo into a magazine cover, using V Magazine as an example. Ready for anything? Flex your skills with these advanced tutorials. If you have mastered the basic tools and techniques of Photoshop and are after some creative inspiration and more advanced Photoshop projects, then try these professional-level tutorials. You might also like these 60 best free Photoshop brushes and 60 Photoshop shortcuts to speed up your workflow. 69. Create painterly effects in Photoshop CC Learn how to create a realistic antique effectAdobe's two video tutorials help you take your Photoshop CC skills to the next level, and create painterly effects using its range of Edvard Munch paintbrushes. 70. The ultimate guide to compositing images in Photoshop Master the art of convincing Photoshop composites with this comprehensive guideOf all Photoshop projects, compositing images into one fantastic frame is perhaps the most enjoyable and creative pursuit. In this Photoshop tutorial we’ll show you how to shoot, build and finish off convincing Photoshop composites like this image of a dog crossed with a human tennis player. 71. Colour in Photoshop: top tricks Discover how to paint with muted coloursDiscover how to paint with muted colours and create a festival scene tinged with nostalgia, featuring Hong Kong’s Lion Dancers, using various Photoshop effects. 72. Turn photos into 3D animations with Photoshop Photoshop allows us to add depth to photos, even animating the results, to truly breathe some fresh air into our old still albums, using its timeline capabilities. 73. Get more from custom Photoshop brushes Discover how custom brushes can enhance your workflow and boost creativityThe things that can be done with custom brushes inside Photoshop's Natural Brush Media window are almost endless! It's amazing how you can manipulate your brush to create patterns, textures, hair, skin, that painterly feel, happy accidents and so on. 74. Create a cinemagraph with Photoshop in 60 seconds Adobe's Make It Now series video shows you how to create a cinemagraph – an eye-catching moving image – in a minute. 75. Depict light glowing through fur When painting digital light in fur, Photoshop's strong light layer styles can help. By switching between Soft Light, Hard Light and Overlay, and seeing what works best, you can achieve that very particular kind of glowing light that appears when light is scattered through and between strands of hair. 76. Make interesting vector shapes in Photoshop CS6 The introduction of vector shape layers in Photoshop CS6 has opened up a wealth of new possibilities. In this Photoshop tutorial you'll find some tips so you can make the most of them... 77. How to merge vectors with photographic imagery Learn how to merge a few basic images and then mix them in with vector shapes to create a unique editorial illustration. Sound difficult? Actually no. 78. How to design a photorealistic app icon in Photoshop Roman Jusdado explains how to use light and shadow plus layer styles and masks to make realistic artwork - in this case, a stylish record player app icon. 79. How to design an iPad app UI Want to get involved in app development? It's certainly where all the action is. In this Photoshop tutorial we create two basic user interfaces for an iPad app and develop them to a prototyping level. 80. Create a 3D typographic illustration Modern artists often use more than one application to create their work. This often means working outside of Photoshop much of the time. In this tutorial, João Oliveira will create a 3D typographic illustration using Cinema 4D to build the 3D and Photoshop for the post-production. 81. Create a summer-inspired 3D text effect Discover how to create this summer-inspired 3D text in this easy-to-follow tutorialIn this Photoshop tutorial, discover how to create a summer-inspired 3D text effect, using the image editing software's 3D features. 82. Dramatic shadows in Photoshop CC Ditch the default drop shadow! Here Abduzeedo shows you how to create a design with beautiful and dramatic shadows using the 3D tools in Photoshop CC. 83. Create amazing polygon illustrations in Photoshop Using a classic image from Jaws, Rob Redman shows you how to utilise Photoshop CS6 to create awesome polygon art. 84. How to create a fantasy fairy How to create this beautiful fairy from a single source imageUse this detailed tutorial to create a beautiful fairy from a single image. Training includes lessons on how to create a fantasy background, feathers, grass and mountains. 85. Create a fantasy landscape using digital painting techniques This extensive tutorial will take you through everything you need to know to create a fantasy landscape using Photoshop CS6. Different stages include sketching, colour, defining the background, detailing, cloud creations, themes and textures. 86. Design a mixed media portrait in Photoshop and Illustrator Anthony Neil Dart reveals how to produce creative portraiture with a mixed-media approach. 87. Create a Middle Earth-inspired landscape Calling all Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fans! This in-depth tutorial will show you how to create a lush and vibrant Middle-Earth-inspired landscape in Photoshop. 88. Design a portrait collage Create a Hockney-inspired abstract photo collage in PhotoshopOur sister site, Digital Camera World, shows you how to create a photo collage inspired by artist David Hockney's 'joiners'. 89. Create a dark, vintage style motorcycle poster design Follow this step-by-step Photoshop and Illustrator tutorial to combine photography and typography and create a dark vintage style motorcycle poster design. 90. Create a comic book image Turn your portrait into pop artOne way to create an eye-catching image is to give a photograph a stylized artistic makeover. A portrait shot against a plain background is perfect for this. By using Photoshop’s filters you can simplify the colours and tones in the picture to make them look as though they were drawn and inked by a comic book artist. 91. Combine words and portraits Make striking designs in minutesShould you be looking for interesting ways to combine text and images, why not give this Photoshop technique a go? Blending a word, phrase or quote with an image could have all sorts of uses, from stylish poster designs to internet memes. 92. Create your own lightsaber Thrill the kids with this projectIn this Digital Camera World tutorial, you'll learn how to add the perfect glow effect with the Brush tool and a few layers and filters in Photoshop. 93. Create a magical shot of a person floating in mid-air Create an incredible levitating person in two shotsThis is one of those photo tricks that makes viewers think, ‘How did they do that?’ The answer is surprisingly simple and, like all the best Photoshop techniques, the real skill begins in-camera. 94. How to bend text to portraits Warp text to the shape of a portrait in photoshopText and images are sometimes hard to pair together well. We’ve all seen the typical work of novice designers, where a black box is simply laid over the image and white or coloured text placed on top. But there’s another way to team the two, using Photoshop. 95. Get creative with Photoshop Blend Modes Photoshop Blend Modes give you the power to combine layers and images for a huge variety of effectsWith 26 Blend Modes on offer, there are plenty of effects to experiment with. Here we explore what each mode does. That's it for now! Keep checking back for more Photoshop tutorials. Related articles: 60 Photoshop shortcuts to speed up your workflow 12 top Photoshop resources Review: Adobe Creative Cloud 2017 The 60 best free Photoshop brushes View the full article

Patches are available—and should be applied—that address a critical vulnerability in Windows Search that some are calling the next WannaCry. Others aren't so ready to do that. View the full article

LockState's CEO says he is “deeply sorry” about an erroneous wireless update that bricked hundreds of smart locks. View the full article

Icons have a major impact on designs, despite their small size. An icon can catch a person’s eye with just a glance. If you're trying to attract attention to your project, do it with a lifetime subscription to Icon8's massive collection, on sale now for just $49 (approx £38)! Icon8 is one of the finest sources around for professionally-designed icons. The experts at Icon8 have put together over 50,000 royalty-free icons you can use for any project you’re working on – and thousands are being added every single year. These icons come ready to be put to use and are available in a variety of sizes and formats. You can get a lifetime subscription to Icons8 on sale for just $49 (approx £38). That saves you 91% off the retail price. It’s an offer that is too good to pass up for any designer, so grab this deal today! View the full article

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The "location-based social search mobile app" (cough – hookup facilitator – cough) Tinder has launched a new logo that gives typography the boot. Distinctively coloured with shades of orange and red, the new flame logo comes hot on the heels of a new look for Tinder, both in terms of branding and navigation. 10 best logos everGetting rid of the name is a sign of Tinder's status as a brand. No longer will it be held back by pesky words, as instead it can let a single gradient-coloured flame do the talking. Check out how the old and new logos compare by – appropriately – swiping left and right in the gallery below. (Sorry desktop users, you'll have to click.) Whereas the old logo dotted its 'i' with a version of the flame logo, the new design lets the icon take centre stage. On top of a new colour scheme that follows the colour gradient trend, the new flame is rounder than the previous iteration. Related articles: Why colour gradients are a hot new visual trend 10 commandments of logo design 15 fantastic logo fonts View the full article

Wonder Woman has been one of the most talked about films of 2017. The film – which tells the story of how the Amazonian warrior version of Princess Diana becomes Wonder Woman – has racked up box office records and inspired a legion of fans to emulate the heroine. It's also made an impression on artist Kim Jung Gi. The South Korean illustrator has already achieved global recognition thanks to his characterful and realistic sketches, which can be found in a number of collected volumes. In a recent video Tweet, though, Jung Gi shared a glimpse into his creative process by drawing Wonder Woman on a comic edition with a blank cover. The mesmerising clip sees the artist build up the illustration in ink without the need for pencil guidelines. Jung Gi's grasp of anatomy and form is breathtaking – he draws a near-perfect oval in one take for crying out loud! So prepare to be amazed by watching the video in full below. Related articles: 7 things artists can learn from Wonder Woman Pro tips for illustrators Behind the scenes on seven superhero logos View the full article

Annual reports are part of the staple diet of design work the world over, seen by many as just part of the dry, bread-and-butter grind that pays the bills and paves the way for more exciting, imaginative work. But annual reports don't have to be dull, as these beautiful examples show. From cutting-edge print techniques to stop-motion animation, artful infographics to bold use of colour and integration of classy free fonts, it's all here on display to inspire your own daily work. 01. MailChimp MailChimp's 2016 annual report is a brilliant one page responsive site that provides data through colourful infographicsKnown for its fun and imaginative designs, 2016's MailChimp annual report was no exception. Presented in a brilliant one page responsive site that provides data through colourful infographics and featuring brilliant illustrations and easy-to-read facts, it's a brilliant and engaging way to look back at the past 12 months. 02. Kickstarter Kickstarter's 2016 annual report has a nostalgic feelKickstarter has a tradition of shunning printed annual reports, preferring instead to present its 2016 annual report on a fully interactive website. Showing off its highlights of the year through a combination of eye-catching headlines and figures, big visuals and simple handdrawn animations, with links through for readers to explore more, it takes readers on a journey that puts the brand in a positive light. 03. Kuoni Kuoni's beautiful annual report secured an iF design awardOne of the biggest travel agencies in Switzerland, Kuoni doesn't do dull when it comes to its annual reports. With so much fun to be had with travel themes, design agency Noord developed this beautifully illustrated book to highlight what happened in the company back in 2014. And it didn't go unnoticed – this particular annual report won the 2016 iF design award for Communication. 04. Flywheel Flywheel's 2015 annual report came with free temporary tattoos showing a battle axe, rocket ship, T-shirt, hot dog, Diet Mountain Dew can and the Flywheel logo2015 was an epic year for the Wordpress hosting and management platform Flywheel, with one of the cofounders getting the company's logo permanently tattooed onto his forearm. To celebrate this cool act of commitment, Flywheel whipped up a free set of temporary tattoos that sum up what the company did that year. Having set that precedent, it followed up in 2016 with a competition to win a free designers T-shirt on its 2016 annual report page, itself a beautiful parallax scrolling web page. We look forward to the creative 2017 offering. Data visualisation has never been so trendy! 05. Clear Media The Clear Media annual report 2014 won the Red Dot Design Award for communication designWinner of the 2015 Red Dot Award for communication design, this beautifully laser cut annual report for Hong Kong-based advertising giant Clear Media guides readers through a vibrant tour of the company's visions and values. Designed by Phoenix Communications, the report was themed "Our Space, Your Stage," with different panels depicting a stage for clients' marketing opportunities. Topped off with an acrylic film on the cover, readers could see how all the layers worked together and fused into one beautiful picture when the report was closed. 06. Sonae Ivity Brand Corp ran with Sonae's circle motif to create cogs and moreAs one of the biggest retail groups in Portugal, Sonae places huge importance on its executive reports. With a high bar to meet, the designers at the Ivity Brand Corp focused on Sonae's corporate graphic mantras – circles – for the Sonae 2012 Management Report. Deciding that the mechanics of emotion are what retail is all about, Ivity Brand Corp created a dynamic report that cleverly represented everything Sonae stands for with interlocking gears and cogs. 07. Adris Group With a reputation of focusing on growth (and achieving it) it makes sense that one annual report wouldn't be enough for Adris. Having expanded throughout 2014, as well as purchasing shares in other companies such as Croatia osiguranje along the way, this was reflected in its tiered roundup of 2015, created by advertising agency Bruketa&Žinić OM. Four books made up this annual report – one for Adris and one for each of the three successful businesses it developed (TDR, Maistra and Cromaris). These books were then linked by an insurance plate by Croatia osiguranje, which slots through the different volumes, creatively tying together all of the company's assets. 08. Banques alimentaires Québec Tin can labels unrolled to reveal this foodbank network's annual reportGiving boring data a real world punch, this 2012-2013 report for the foodbank network Banques alimentaires Québec presented its yearly roundup as a tin can – the recognised symbol of a food donation. With a label that unrolled to reveal data printed in powerfully contrasting black and yellow, designer Albertini Romain used artistic creativity to make people aware of the association's message. 09. Seguros Pelayo An innovative take on reporting facts, figures and other corporate information from Madrid-based studio Biografica, this 2012 report for Spanish insurance firm Seguros Pelayo featured everything from cutout figures to an impromptu papercraft football match, all delivered in stop-motion animation. A great example of how a slick delivery can make even the most straightforward information appear more engaging. 10. Austria Solar Jung von Matt created the first ever annual report to be powered by the sunSometimes the client's core business can spark off an innovative idea so perfect it seems it was always meant to be. This was certainly the case with this report by German agency Jung von Matt for solar energy client Austria Solar. Proudly heralded by the team as the first ever annual report powered by the sun, its pages remained blank until you took it outside, where they flooded with type and colour. 11. L-Bank Jung von Matt visualised business data as a series of art installationsAnother example of stunning report design by German agency Jung von Matt, the 2011 L-Bank annual report this time was notable for its compelling art direction rather than its innovative print techniques. Produced for L-Bank, the State Bank of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the report visualised data as a series of gallery-style installations. Artistically arranged clusters of phones, lamps and other items, combined with stylish photography and minimal copy, told the story. 12. Zumtobel Brighten The Corners did just that with this bold approach to annual report designSet up by Frank Philippin and Billy Kiosoglou, Brighten The Corners maintains studios in both London and Odenwald, near Frankfurt. Its bold, conceptual annual report for Austrian lighting company Zumtobel comes in two volumes: one containing only the simple hard data; the other visualising a conceptual 1998 motion piece by artist Anish Kapoor, bursting with a rainbow of vibrant hues and printed using 10 neon spot colours. 13. Craft Victoria Textured paper stock and translucent section break dividers raise this annual report to another levelBorn and raised in Oslo, Norway and now based in Luzern, Switzerland, Anders Bakken completed his BA in communication design at RMIT, Melbourne. This impressive 2012 annual report design for Australian arts organisation Craft Victoria shows off his love of tactile print materials, including textured paper stock and translucent section break dividers for maximum effect. Related articles: 50 best free fonts for designers 50 brilliant design portfolios to inspire you 18 great parallax scrolling websites View the full article

Layouts, menus, forms, fonts and gestures are all things you need to consider when designing your website. However, you also need to think about how these elements are going to be viewed by visitors to your website using their smartphones and mobile devices. 10 steps to engaging user experienceHere are some key considerations that will help ensure you create the ideal user experience. 01. Include feedback where possible Add support for touch gestures in your mobile designsRollovers, hover states and animations are what bring websites to life. Add support for touch gestures, and subtle movements of iconography to draw the user’s eye. A static webpage won’t be as engaging as something that’s a bit more dynamic. 02. Forget the carousel Every time a carousel changes, the impact of the previous slide is immediately lost. Google data suggests less than 1 per cent of mobile users actually engage with carousels. Don’t hide key content behind a slider – stack it and the user will do the more natural vertical scroll. 03. Build in scope for the future If the approach is to get a release as early as possible, it’s easy to focus on only the most vital features. The problem with this approach is that it could make it impossible for developers to truly build scope. Always try to design for the most complex first. 04. Remember that less is more The mobile experience doesn’t have to be a replication of the desktop experience. Reduce certain features and content to accommodate the user’s device and screen size. For example, a long-winded product configurator to shopping basket journey could be cut down to a simple ‘quick add’ process. 05. Design for the fickle The Yazoo mobile website is bright and bold, with clearly positioned clickthroughsThere’s always a risk of mobile users losing engagement and being distracted by external variables. Ideally, try to make the interface easy to pick up from where they left off. Break big tasks and forms down, and make everything simple. 06. Reuse assets where possible One of the key pillars of user experience best practice is consistency. It is always recommended to keep a consistent library of designed UX assets across all screens, devices and resolutions. With a mobile-first approach to UX, it’s harder to ignore this rule than disregard it. 07. Listen to the best Being the unchallenged leaders of the consumer mobile, both Google and Apple have regularly maintained documentation for UX best practice. This is hands-down the best starting point for any designer. Although guidelines could be seen to stifle creativity, it’s always best to find a happy medium. See Google's Principles of mobile site design and Apple's UI design do’s and don’ts. 08. Focus on real user preferences Nest gives the perfect example of how to scale down animation/function from desktop to mobileIt’s beneficial to use real users to test if a design actually works. You can make design decisions based on fact rather than preference, and reduce the chance of confusion when articulating features to developers. Real user data is also more powerful when being challenged by the subjective taste of a client. 09. Keep text alignment readable Centred text content isn’t always bad. However, it is key to know when not to implement this. When there is lots of content, keep text to the left. If readability is a key goal of the website (it should be!), then centre-align small text blocks only. Full-page article content is almost always best being ‘left to the left’. 10. Remember the gubbins Ensuring any website has an up-to-date SSL certificate, fast loading speeds and a lightweight SVG sprite sheet guarantees a better user experience. Security warnings and unnecessarily large then scaled down imagery will put barriers up, stopping users getting to key content. This article originally appeared in Web Designer issue 263. Buy it here. Related articles: 10 best pieces of user testing software Rapid prototyping using Photoshop CC 3 ways to create website mockups View the full article

The civil trial between pop music phenomenon Taylor Swift and former Denver DJ David Mueller (AKA 'Jackson') made headlines recently as the pair battled it out over groping accusations that may or may not have impacted the DJ's career. However, some people have been drawn to the trial by the quality of the court sketches. Drawn by Jeff Kandyba, the sketches of Swift in particular have been heavily examined and criticised by fans due to their questionable likeness. Given that the music industry is image-obsessed, it's perhaps unsurprising that these sketches have temporarily stolen the focus from the legal proceedings. Swift appears in court with her lawyer and motherSwifties and cynical onlookers were quick to take to Twitter to crack wise about the sketches. Professional writers and columnists took the time to make tiresome jokes that the singer's rival, Katy Perry, had drawn the sketches in an attempt to damage her public image, while others compared the artwork to that of Tom Brady, another court sketch artist whose work has caught public attention recently. Despite the criticism, Kandyba says that plenty of people surrounding the Denver courthouse have been saying kind things about his work. Swift as fans are more used to seeing herSpeaking to the Boston Globe, Kandyba reveals that he prepared for the trial by studying pictures of Swift. There's a problem with this approach, though. “They’re all glamour shots," he reveals. "She’s not like that in the courtroom. She’s not doing a lot of smiling.” These are likely to be the only court sketches we get of SwiftCapturing a person's likeness can be hard enough at the best of times. Add to that a high profile court case and a face that lots of people feel very possessive over, and you get a high standard that's very difficult to live up to. And now that the DJ's lawsuit against Swift has been thrown out, it looks like Kandyba won't get a chance to refine his likeness of the singer. Related articles: 10 sketching tips for beginners 10 tips for sketching moving subjects 10 top tips to improve your sketching skills View the full article

I recently chaired D&AD's Black Pencil judging, where some of the most talented creatives in the world put forward their suggestions for this most coveted creative award. One Black Pencil winner was the Dot Watch – the world's first Braille smartwatch. Conceived in South Korea and developed in Germany by agency Serviceplan, it helps connect millions of blind and visually impaired people to the internet. It's an incredibly insightful and thoughtful proposition for the over 285 million affected people worldwide. This didn't come from a multinational medical corporation. This came from a start-up and a creative agency collaborating. Dot Watch – the world's first Braille smartwatch – won a coveted Black PencilSeparately, I did a talk at the D&AD festival where I spoke about a mobile site that my team recently built to help keep refugees fleeing civil war in Syria safe. We tapped into Google's Translate, Maps and Hangouts products to make a fast-loading site that was easily accessible from the islands where they landed. It's gone on to help over 100,000 people. Creative activism My talk revolved around the idea of 'creative activism' and the thought that we, the creative community, are more powerful than we think we are. It's something I've believed in for a long time, but have only recently had validated first-hand. Designers have natural problem-solving skills that combine with our storytelling and creative capabilities to become an incredibly powerful offering. One that can be used to solve real world problems alongside all the other things we do. At the beginning of my career, I believed that a designer's domain was very much around the world of aesthetic and communications, but I couldn't have been more wrong. When I started to see that many of the injustices and the disadvantaged around me were not being aided or acknowledged through the conventional and expected channels, I did what a designer does. With a healthy dose of naïvety and a pinch of self-proclaimed invincibility, I took it upon myself to try to help out where I could. RefugeeInfo was designed help keep refugees fleeing civil war in Syria safeFrom my early days in Vancouver designing rave flyers to my most recent projects in London helping refugees, I quickly realised that the role of a designer was much more important than the role I had filled at the start of my career. It is not only our role to help shape and – dare I say – define culture, but to also help in the fair and ethical application, and in the democratic running of it. The world needs us No, really, I honestly and genuinely believe this. We as designers are best positioned to tackle some of the world's biggest problems. Not just for awards and glory, but for the good of humanity. Because the world really needs us right now. As designers, our constant dissatisfaction with the status quo, and our never-ending pursuit to make things look and work better, has meant that we've been forced to step outside the traditional realms of our discipline. We've been thrown into the wider world of helping to impact things around the globe. Economically, socially, culturally and even in education, the internet has allowed us to scale up our abilities to flex our creativity. We can make meaningful contributions across some of the most important things that make the world turn. We continue to grow through our love of learning. We innovate by always outstepping our immediate remit and applying our design thinking and approaches to things well outside of what would traditionally be considered design. Because of this, things like the information on our government websites is easier to navigate, displaced people have access to vital content and the blind now have a Braille-based smartwatch. This is the power of design and the importance of our never-ending pursuit for perfection and solutions. We are designers, and we are never satisfied and always looking to improve upon… well, everything. The world needs more people like us – more malcontents with a desire to make things better for everyone. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 267. Buy it here! Related articles: 6 creatives who are changing the world 5 new ways design can change the world 25 names every graphic designer should know View the full article

We’re only just over halfway through 2017, but the world of web design moves pretty darned quickly, so it’s a good time to step back and take stock of the trends that have emerged so far. In this post, we identify five of the top trends dominating web design right now, and where to go for further reading on each subject. If there’s one thread that unites them all it’s the idea that in 2017, as Chris Coyier put it in this article, “We're not building pages, we're building systems.” In other words, as things like style guides, design systems and pattern libraries become more important than the visual layout of individual pages, we’re seeing a seismic shift in what web design actually involves. And these five trends can all be seen, in different ways, as part of that overall transition. 01. The evolution of AI As chatbots become more and more sophisticated, ‘artificial narrow intelligence’ is transitioning into ‘artificial general intelligence’Throughout 2017, the mainstream media has bombarded us with stories about the cool, sci-fi possibilities of AI. But it’s not just about the future. AI has already worked its way into mainstream web design, through technologies like conversational interfaces (chatbots). Indeed, according to eBay product designer Elaine Lee, you may already be using AI in your day-to-day work without even knowing it... As she explains in this post, what’s called ‘artificial narrow intelligence’ (ANI) is already hard at work powering voice assistants like Google Home and Apple’s Siri. It also runs recommendation technologies for the likes of Amazon, Spotify and Netflix, not to mention smart home devices, self-driving cars and chatbots. And the if-this-then-that userflows that web designers are creating for such purposes, she predicts, will play a key role in the evolution of the emerging next stage of AI: ‘artificial general intelligence (AGI)’. Our recent interview with Generate speaker Giles Colborne expands further on this interplay between conversational UIs and true machine intelligence, or in simple terms: How chatbots are learning. Meanwhile if you want to learn more about creating your own chatbot, check out our How to build a chatbot interface post, How to design a chatbot experience tips and these 5 essential chatbot learning resources. 02. The shift from visuals to text Stuart Langridge’s talk ‘The UX of Text’ points to how web design is becoming less about visuals and more about wordsUX has traditionally been largely focused on the visual design of interfaces. But the rise of conversational UIs means that the new wave of apps are increasingly more focused on text. From Amazon's Alexa to Facebook Messenger, Telegram to Mastodon, web designers are now having to put much more focus on words, and that’s a trend that’s only going to heighten as time marches on. What this means is that, as Stuart Langridge explains in his talk The UX of Text: “We don’t need artists; we need poets. Authors. Wordsmiths.” To improve your understanding of the use of words in UX, take a look at Guy Ligertwood’s checklist UX Writing and How to Do it, and Making Chatbots Talk – Writing Conversational UI Scripts Step by Step by Anna Kulawik, and How to Write For a Bot by Paul Boutin. 03. The rise of CSS in JavaScript Airbnb is among those who’ve brought CSS in JavaScript into the mainstream Over the last few years, the increasing variety of experiences that web designers need to create has led to a shift in focus towards JavaScript, and a bewildering array of new JavaScript frameworks. Meanwhile, the idea of styling your documents within JavaScript itself – mainly driven by the React community – has been gaining pace too, from Facebook’s Christopher Cheadeau’s presentation outlining the problems that it solves, to Airbnb’s list of best practices for getting it right. But the very idea of CSS-in-JS has remained controversial, with the likes of Gajus Kuizinas questioning its use (although not saying you should never do so) and generating a vigorous discussion in the comments section. If you’re still not sure which way to jump, this recent article by Mark Dalgleish does a great job of trying to mend fences between the enthusiasts and the sceptics, and there’s a related talk by Mark on YouTube. Meanwhile, if you just want a basic introduction to what React is all about, check out this post by Linton Ye, this list of resources for further study, and this tutorial by Matt Crouch. 04. The explosion in prototyping tools Sketch43 has been a game changer, but other prototyping tools are (increasingly) availableSince the rise of Sketch over the last few years, there’s been a gold rush to capture the hearts and minds of web designers with new tools to help them prototype websites, apps and other interfaces. In 2017, it seems like not a day has gone past without a new app, tool or feature from the likes of InVision, Adobe XD, Figma, Axure, Marvel, Vectr and others. And that includes Sketch itself, whose open file format update, Sketch 43, has been a real game changer. (You can learn more about that in this guide). In general, the diversity of prototyping tools is great news for web designers, but it can be a little overwhelming. If you’re having trouble working out which is best for you, then check out Chris Thelwell's quick and easy guide to picking the right prototyping tool. 05. Android is winning Android has finally overtaken Windows as the world’s favourite operating systemFor as long as we can remember, Windows has been the dominant operating system for people accessing the web. No longer. In April this year, Android overtook Microsoft for the first time in terms of total internet usage across desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile combined. Android, which held just 2.4 per cent of global internet usage share only five years ago, reached the dizzy heights of 37.93 per cent market share, which put it marginally ahead of Windows (37.91 per cent) for the first time. This shouldn’t be any real surprise to the web design community, which has recognised the importance of mobile-first design for many years now. But it’s still a clarion call for anyone who could be making their web designs more smartphone-friendly than they currently are. That’s partly a technical issue, of course, and if you need a refresher, we’d urge you to check these guides to responsive web design and building progressive web apps. But it’s also a matter of considering how people are actually using your website on a smartphone and what sort of information they’ll be looking for. Pamela Pavliscak's rundown of 10 Mobile Behaviours and How to Design for Them is a good place to start with that. View the full article

Just as Dante had to struggle through the nine circles of hell in the Divine Comedy, graphic designers can find themselves in their own inferno of frustration when dealing with difficult clients. Clients who expect designers to be constantly at their beck and call, or who turn minor tweaks into full-blown emergencies, for example, can spoil an otherwise rewarding creative assignment. With that in mind, a free new ebook from Route One Print called The Design Comedy: How to deal with the 9 stages of client hell offers practical advice for taming even the most hellish client. The client isn’t always right, and your service to them shouldn’t just fall to an execution of their ideas Tyson Beck Route One Print takes a literary approach to the important topic, splitting nightmare clients up into nine types – named after the nine circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno. The nine stages of clients hell include: Greed: Clients who just want a bargain, so don’t pay designers what they are worth Violence: Argumentative and aggressive clients Fraud: Clients who think that they are designers and can therefore do everything better Treachery: Clients who agree to the terms at the beginning of projects, only to refuse to adhere to these terms once the work is underway Not only does the ebook identify the types of clients who can cause designers headaches, it also offers expert advice on how to work with them productively. With The Design Comedy, you’ll learn how to overcome common client-designer problems and turn these into opportunities for learning and improving your business skills. For example, when dealing with fraud, author Tyson Beck suggests: "As a freelancer, don’t hesitate to provide your client with a different solution to what they’re suggesting you do. The client isn’t always right, and your service to them shouldn’t just fall to an execution of their ideas." So don’t let difficult clients ruin your projects – learn how to forgive their ‘quirks’ and move forwards. Download the free ebook The Design Comedy: How to deal with the 9 stages of client hell by Route One Print and take your working relationships from hell to paradise. View the full article

You're reading Iconshock: Two Million Free Icons Later, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Icons. We just can’t do without them, can we? They are awesome little design elements that you need to choose carefully if you want your projects to have a unique feel while staying in line with current design trends. Visually expressing an action or idea correctly is critical in today’s world, and having the right […] View the full article

The latest Spider-Man movie, Homecoming, places more of an emphasis on storytelling and character than on over-the-top CG sensationalism. Achieving an air of realism while telling the story of a web-slinging superhero was no easy feat, though. Extensive motion capture was conducted to understand the movement and behaviour of Tom Holland, and a character rig allowed for the muscles and breathing to be controlled. "Dialogue lines were extracted and fed into Maya to drive the jaw so we could get as much expression through that mask as possible," says Matt Dessero, VFX supervisor at Method Studios. Tom Holland's gymnastic abilities enabled him to perform backflips and crazy stunts that could be motion-captured realisticallyIt was also important to differentiate this Spider-Man from that of previous movies. "One thing unique for this Spider-Man was the directive from our director Jon Watts that he didn't want to see him in any hero traditional poses," reveals Matt. "This is a young Spider-Man, who hasn't become one with his powers yet." A weapons deal on the Staten Island Ferry that goes horribly wrong serves as a pivotal moment that results in Spider-Man losing his high-tech suit and having to redeem himself in the eyes of his mentor Tony Stark. Digital Domain VFX Supervisor Lou Pecora and his team put together the nine-minute-long action sequence featuring the wall crawler trying to pull the split vessel back together with his webbing. Polar bear fur proved to be an unlikely but perfect material for Spidey's webbingOnce more, motion capture was integral to capturing Spider-Man's emotions. "We motion captured Tom Holland pulling on ropes, as well as his facial expressions," says Lou. "You can tell even underneath the mask when his mouth is open or his eyes are getting big. There's a cool effect that they did with the suit where the eyes worked like the thin metal blades of a camera aperture that slide up together to open and close, which gave it a real world mechanical feeling." Getting Spider-Man's signature webbing right posed another challenge, and various materials were examined in the search for the right material. "We looked at nylon and spider webs but decided upon polar bear fur, which consists of a bunch of transparent microtubes," says Lou. "The tubular quality allowed us to refract light through them in a more interesting way." This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 224; buy it here! Related articles: The 10 biggest 3D movies of 2017 How videogame graphics and movie VFX are converging The top 25 movie posters of all time View the full article

When drawing animal eyes, there are some critical – yet simple – steps and techniques to follow that will improve your illustration. Because the viewer of your image will be drawn to the animal's eyes, you need to depict them correctly. It's a good idea to practice sketching different eyes to become familiar with their structure. Draw what’s there, rather than what you think should be there. How to draw a bearHere I'll walk through the key considerations to make when drawing feline eyes, in this case a leopard, using pastel pencils on Pastelmat. The good news? These same principles will apply for most animals... 01. Animal anatomy Getting the anatomy right will help you draw the eye correctlyBeing aware of the eye’s anatomy will helps you understand where everything should be and what happens to the fur or skin covering that area. For example, the lacrimal gland over this eye will cause the fur to curve up and over it ridging slightly, forming the eyebrow and giving a shadow underneath it. Reflect that when you add the fur. 02. Eyeball emphasis Shading will help curve the eyeballThis sketch shows how the underlying structures influence form. Remember that the eyeball is a globe, and not a flat disk with the top covered by the upper eyelid. Check the pupil placement on your reference – it’s tempting to place it in the centre of the eyeball portion that you can see. Here, use a paper stump to smudge shadows under the lower lid. 03. Reflect what they see Imagine what the animal is viewing for real authenticityYou’ll only see a perfectly round white-dot reflection if the eyeball is reflecting a cloudless sky with bright sun. Typically, the reflection will contain trees or similar structures, as is the case in the example, with blue sky at the top, and a band of white cloud reflection in the iris, filled in with a range of ochres. 04. Furry surroundings The area around the eye is important in creating a lifelike drawingAt this point you can add in the surrounding texture – in this case, fur. The comparison helps to gauge the strength of the colours in the iris and adjust the values correctly. You’ll also be able to see where the shadows and highlights need to be deepened or lightened – typically on the eyeball under the brow, and in the corners. Pick up more handy illustration tips in every issue of Paint & Draw magazine. Get the latest issue here. Related articles: How to draw a horse How to start pastel drawing How to successfully draw dinosaurs View the full article

Around 2010, I was hanging out with a group of tattoo artists, discussing the rising popularity of tattooing. We thought it was a wave that would soon crash, leaving only the diehard behind. How wrong we were. In the last seven years, the tattoo world has exploded. With the help of television, as well as social media, tattooing has been dragged out of the shadows and into the global spotlight. Where once it was looked on as an outsider art form, it is now considered at the forefront of creativity and development. If you look back over the history of art, whenever an art form becomes popular, it attracts artists from outside of the medium – artists who recognise that there is potential to play and expand their own creative path. This is true for the current trend in tattooing; one where commercial illustrators and designers are crossing over into the tattoo world. And conversely, where tattoo artists are lending their skills to commercial projects. Designing the outcome Nomi Chi, a tattooist and visual artist based in Vancouver, showed an interest in illustration early on. At the tender age of 12, she was trying to sell commercial art, and at 15, Chi discovered tattooing through a combination of a rebellious teenager’s attraction to the subversive side of art, plus the burgeoning growth in tattooing and the run of tattoo-related television shows and social media. Chi attended university, where she studied illustration, but over the years found that she had distanced herself from illustration as an applied art, and moved into an area that straddled the line between gallery art and illustration. “Tattooing seemed like a pretty organic development, although at the time I was determined to do concept art for video games and movies,” says Chi. “I had a lackadaisical apprenticeship, which I landed through sheer luck. At the time, I had very little knowledge of tattooing or tattoo culture, and I had only ever seen a tattoo machine once before.” Tattooing was an organic development for visual artist Nomi ChiMartha Smith, a tattoo artist based in London, who studied Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts, also found the move into tattooing a natural progression of her artistic development – the freedom of process found within tattooing being just one aspect she was drawn to. While at college, Smith quickly realised that the course was incredibly concept-led. Preferring process-based work, she started printmaking, and it was with this medium that she began developing an aesthetic that would later translate into tattoos. “I always had an interest in tattooing, but before I attended art school, most of the tattoos I saw were traditional, or realism tattoos, which never really appealed to me,” she says. Martha Smith’s interest in printing ignited the aesthetic that she now translates into her intricate tattoo designs“Then, Sang Bleu Magazine came out and I was exposed to new artists such as Liam Sparkes and Maxime Buchi, who came from illustration and graphic design backgrounds, but were tattooing in a similar way to the way I printed. It was then that I thought it would be something I’d like to pursue.” Smith points to many parallels between the process of printing and tattooing, citing the permanence and strength of line, the understanding of the tools and the medium as examples. “There are also many similarities in the way a brief is structured in tattooing and illustration,” she adds. “It felt like a natural pathway into full-time illustration work, but with constant briefs and a sustainable income.” Guaranteed income Both Chi and Smith moved into tattooing while keeping their illustrative careers going at the same time. The guaranteed income from tattooing gave them the freedom to pick up side work in visual art and illustration, something which is echoed in many other tattoo artists’ careers. The converse of this approach is seen in artists such as Ollie Munden, who works as a lead designer for ilovedust, as well as having his own studio, Megamunden. His beautifully illustrated book, The Tattoo Colouring Book, came out in 2013, and was an opportunity to combine his love of illustration and tattoo design. Unlike Chi and Smith, Munden doesn’t actually tattoo. Aasen Stephenson is another tattoo designer, but not a tattoo artist. His work came to prominence when he used a tattoo machine to etch his designs onto a range of stylish leather shoes. A pair of engraved shoes by Aasen Stephenson “I’d been doing some bits of artwork for Jeffery West, and we started to throw around the idea of customising a shoe once it had been made in-store, in front of the customers,” he recalls. “It took a while to figure out what would work and give the best results, but engraving seemed to be the best option.” Stephenson tried using several engravers until he hit upon the idea of using a tattoo machine, which gave good results, “and also looked cool in-store.” Although new to tattooing, Stephenson created all the designs freehand, without using stencils. “I just ordered a kit online,” he recalls. “Originally, we went with the cheapest, as I still didn’t know if a tattoo machine would give the best results. The kit was £55, you can imagine how bad it was! But it was a start and since then I’ve bought better machines.” Liz Clements has always loved traditional tattoosWith previous experience as a body piercer, Liz Clements took a slightly different route into tattoo design. Having enjoyed the studio environment of piercing, she did a pop-up shop with Occult Tattoo in Brighton, who ended up taking her on as an apprentice. “A lot of my illustrations were inspired by tattoo culture, so in terms of the themes there isn’t a lot of difference,” she says. “I have always really loved traditional tattoos and I think that’s evident in both my tattoos and my illustrations.” Transferrable skills But what can artists interested in combining the two mediums expect when they start to move between them? As with all artistic endeavours, there is no limit but the imagination. However, Smith believes that her college introduction to illustration helped make the transition easier. “My studies certainly helped with tattooing,” she states. “Illustration projects have a quick turnaround with a quick brief. This helped when it came to working alongside customers to develop their custom tattoo designs.” Smith also cites printmaking as having helped her tattooing. “For one, it strengthens your arm and shoulders, as well as getting you used to the permanence of an image. People that are used to drawing in pencil, or painting in oils, have a transformative way of creating, where things can be edited, evolved and manipulated. With a woodblock, or a piece of lino, once that mark is carved, it is carved, much like a tattoo,” she explains. Martha Smith’s unique tattooing style was born of her love of graphic design and printingAs with any crossover in art, the challenge is in identifying what works in the change of mediums, and what has to be adapted. For Chi, these differences are nothing more than a mindset – a different approach to a similar outcome. “My tattoo process is very particular. I try to be very transparent with regards to my interests and the stylistic direction in my portfolio,” Chi explains. “When I tattoo, I feel people know what they’re getting. When I am taking project requests, I look primarily at the subject matter and secondarily at the narrative behind the subject, if my client provides one. When working as a visual artist, I work best when I’m given some preferences for subjects and stylistic direction, and am allowed to compose the elements however I see fit.” Design challenges Liz Clements found the move across to tattooing a little challenging. “The practical side is totally different, so I have to balance the complexity of my designs to correspond with my skill set, which I have found quite tough,” she says, adding that designing to fit a body part is totally different to working on a flat surface. “I often do three or four tracings when I’m creating the stencil for tattoo, so the image kind of builds up in layers, and you have to rearrange as you go through the design process. For this reason, Clements thinks that tattoo design is a lot more complicated and long-winded compared to designing for print. For Stephenson, moving completely into the world of tattooing is a path that remains unexplored for the moment. “I’ve thought about it a lot, but not made the step yet,” he says. “I guess it’s because I enjoy getting tattooed. I think if I learned how to tattoo, I may not look forward to getting tattooed.” Aasen Stephenson hand-engraving leatherExplaining this idea further, Stephenson recalls his previous experience of learning the guitar. “I was always in awe of people who played, but then as I started to learn, I viewed guitarists differently,” he says. “I’d think to myself, ‘Ah, I know how to do that now!’ It kind of took the magic away. Therefore, I guess, I will always want to get tattooed, rather than actually do it,” he smiles. But this hasn’t stopped people getting Stephenson’s designs etched into their skin. Besides his paper cutting work, he has also drawn up a few designs specifically for tattoo purposes. “I love the idea of getting my work tattooed on skin, it’s such an honour for someone to give you that trust, to be with them forever,” he remarks. Munden has also had his work tattooed onto clients, but has reservations about this approach. “Prior to creating the book, I’d designed quite a few tattoos for people. It was, and still is, something I’m on the fence about, as I’m not a trained tattooist,” he explains. “There are so many amazing tattoo artists out there, I find it a bit backwards coming to me for the design. I always tell anyone that asks that it is the most expensive way to get a tattoo and probably not the best.” Ollie Munden’s tattoo themed colouring book features over 100 designs inspired by Japanese and Western tattooingMunden did, however, design his left sleeve piece, and learned a lot about placement and how much detail should be included, or left out, along the way. Since the release of The Tattoo Colouring Book, he has also started to see more of his designs tattooed on other people. “I’ve seen the book pop up in various tattoo parlours and I’ve had lots of people tag me on Instagram in pieces they’ve had tattooed from the book. Some people write to me and ask permission, some send me a picture once it’s done, either way it’s all good with me. I love seeing that the work has been well received and people are getting tattooed,” he grins. When to say no Managing expectations and knowing when to back off a brief is important, whether you are working on or off skin. As Chi points out, tattooing is high demand work. Unlike a commercial brief, you are often expected to come up with ideas on the fly. But at the end of the day, a brief is a brief and knowing your limits is important. “At the moment, I struggle to keep up with demand, as a result I have to turn down most proposals which are sent to me,” says Chi, who does not show her drawings to clients prior to the day they’re getting tattooed. “I have had many frustrating years of back and forth interactions between clients, and from that I developed my intake process and bedside manner,” she explains. Many of Nomi Chi’s tattoos feature animals, or hybrid animal/human formsThough Stephenson doesn’t tattoo, the approach to his illustrative process is similar to that of a tattoo artist, where compromise and reworking are often a necessary evil. “All my work is commission-based, so I do have to go through it with the client to ensure that we are both happy. Sometimes customers can come in with some crazy ideas, which is great! But once on paper it doesn’t always work,” he admits. Over time, Stephenson has learned to avoid briefs that he can’t do technically, or doesn’t want to put his name to as he doesn’t think they’ll work. “Getting things wrong is all part of the journey,” he says. “And being self-employed, there is no boss you can ask when you get stuck. Over time you learn and hopefully it gets easier!” Munden has also learnt what will work and what won’t over the years. “In my commercial illustration work, I’ve passed projects over to fellow illustrators because I’m too stretched for time and would rather someone else give the client a better end result. Other times, I don’t feel I’m right for the project,” he explains. Four back piece designs feature as large-scale prints in high-end Japanese restaurant Tattu in Manchester, UK“It’s important the work I do take on is close to my interests,” he says. “I want to make sure I’m giving each project 100 per cent dedication. It’s a nice position to be in as I’m not solely relying on Megamunden to pay my bills, but it also means anyone coming to me for what I do will get a quality end result. I make sure of that.” So what does all this mean for artists, on skin and off? It’s unnatural for creativity to be limited, and art should ideally have no boundaries. Therefore, any crossover or middle ground for artists to explore should be nurtured and encouraged. And with the art world turning towards tattooing as a new field for expansion, the crossover is creating a generation of artists who continue to blur the lines. This allows for more growth in creativity in general, and a lot more people sporting beautiful designs that will stay with them forever. Related articles: 3 tips for designing tattoos 45 inspirational examples of tattoo art 23 designers and their awesome tattoos View the full article

Heading to college and not kitted out yet? Maybe you're looking for an upgrade. Either way, this handy list of the best laptops for graphic design students will take you one step closer to being perfectly equipped for your university course. (A student subscription to Creative Cloud will take you another.) When choosing a laptop for your daily design work, there are many things to consider. One is power versus portability: you need something that’s thin and light enough to throw in your backpack, but also powerful enough to run your suite of creative tools. And you need to decide whether macOS or Windows is right for you. The former used to be the staple of creative professionals, but it really doesn’t matter what platform you use these days. Whatever your preferences, each of the three machines here will give you all the power and performance you need to hit the ground running with your studies. Read on for our pick of the best laptops for graphic design students. Microsoft's Surface Book is an incredible machine – even in its lowest spec option. The fact that you can use it as both a tablet and laptop makes it the ultimate digital sketchbook. Just detach the screen and draw using the included Surface Pen, or buy the innovative Surface Dial for £90 and get an intuitive way of controlling your creative tools. Even better, flip the screen around, reattach it and you can use it to draw at a more natural angle. It’s on offer at £1,299 for the lowest spec at the moment – which is a bargain for such a versatile, powerful creative machine. Read our review of Microsoft Surface Book. The MacBook might not have a lot of ports (one USB-C to be precise). And it might not have the power or screen size of the MacBook Pro. But for £1,249 it’s a great option for designing on the go. A 12-inch screen is at the heart of the MacBook, but you can of course plug it into an external display using an adaptor (via USB-C). And at 2304 x 1440 pixels there’s plenty of real estate. If you’re feeling a little flush, you can configure it with up to 16GB RAM – plenty for all but the most demanding tasks. Light, powerful and utterly stylish, the MacBook is a fantastic option for design students. The Surface Laptop is one of the best laptops for graphic design students. Even the lowest-end model at £949 is powerful enough to run Photoshop and Illustrator on a daily basis, and the fact you can use the optional Surface Pen to draw directly on screen makes it even more appealing. Bear in mind that if you want to run Creative Cloud apps, you’ll need to switch to Windows 10 which is free until early 2018. (The Surface Laptop comes with Windows 10 S – which only enables software from the Windows Store to be installed.) Still, with its sleek looks and fabric keyboard, the Surface Laptop looks great and performs excellently. View the full article

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With a bit of photographic know-how, a half-decent DSLR and a sprinkling of art-direction flair, there's no reason why you can't shoot pro-quality images of your printed works that will do them justice on screens and online portfolios. "Don't worry if you're not the most skilled photographer or don't have the best camera on the market," advises photographer Neil Watson. "These days even the most basic cameras and equipment will get you a long way; any entry-level DSLR or high-end compact camera with an external flash can be used to get great results." So let's find out how to photograph printed and tangible design projects professionally. 50 brilliant design portfolios to inspire you01. Set the stage 
 "The way in which we photograph our projects is a part of what defines our visual style," says graphic designer Patrice Barnabé. "First of all, be aware that photography, as much as design, can be a victim of trends." "Remember the trend of holding a giant poster with your fingertips in front of you? Or framing all of your posters? A few years ago everybody was doing it and now it looks completely outdated. Don't be tempted to imitate a photographic trend; instead, find your own way to do it and your pictures will stand the test of time." 02. Consider background colour carefully Try using a colour background that relates to the look and feel of your project, like Robot Food did for this projectChris Logan of The Touch Agency likes a neutral colour for the background: "It works well when you have a variety of projects of different size, colour, print finish and scale to accommodate. It also allows for consistency across all of our project shots." Barnabé warns against creating something too clinical. "When you create your set, make sure it doesn't look like a laboratory. White or pale grey backgrounds can be cold and inexpressive. Don't be afraid to incorporate a colour background that relates to the look and feel of your project; it will help create a cohesive set of pictures." 03. Think about your theme "You can adorn your set with objects that give an indication of the project theme. For example, if you designed the identity for a flower shop, a few rose petals distributed harmoniously next to your stationery can add a sensible and fun touch." Think about adding props to indicate a theme, as Neil Watson has done hereWatson echoes this: "I sometimes like to add props that create a sense of an environment. This could be something as simple as a shadow from a plant, or even a cup of coffee." But don't go overboard with your accoutrements; Julian Zimmermann of Deutsche & Japaner stresses that it's important to stage the work in a well-balanced way: "Don't over-stage the imagery; let the work shine in the foreground." 04. Lighting matters You can make your own mini studio with white card and a light source, like WatsonWhen you've worked out your set or backdrop, you'll need to think about lighting. Watson has a clever technique for creating a miniature studio that works with a DSLR and an external flashgun (also called a speedlight). "Place a large sheet of white card against a white wall and set up the work you wish to photograph on the card. Attach the external flash to the hotshoe of your camera. Most speedlights have a rotatable head; point this upwards so it is facing the ceiling. Take the picture by standing above your work, looking down onto it so the flash is pointing directly at the wall. "Shooting with a flash in this way uses the wall to create a softer light source that will make a shadow below the item you are shooting, and shouldn't create too much reflection on it. "You can also have another sheet of white card balanced against your legs, facing back into the shot, which will act as a fill light, softening some of the shadows at the lower half of the frame." (A fill is a light source used to reduce contrast.) If you don't know much about lighting and don't have any special equipment, Barnabé recommends natural daylight. "Cloudy days and afternoons are ideal since they create smooth shadows and they reduce high contrast. Create your set next to a big window and reduce the impact of direct light with a translucent white curtain." 05. Get the angle right Vary your angle for interest in a series of shotsLogan recommends a tripod for taking your pictures: "Especially if you want to achieve a consistent vantage point, point of focus or angle – it's much easier to re-arrange the printed matter and get the shot you want once you have the setup locked down." Watson points out another advantage: "It also means you can shoot a few variations and comp them together afterwards if needed." There's no harm in hand-held shooting though; Barnabé prefers a variety of angles to keep things interesting: "Don't shoot all your set in the same 45 degree angle – it will end up becoming boring and predictable. Only use a tripod if you want to show different layers of a single piece, such as different spreads of a magazine, or different screenshots of a website." 06. Focus on the finishes Think about the textures you want to capture – shiny like Watson's book image under tip 4 or smooth like this identity by Barnabé?Capturing paper textures and print finishes can be done with close-up shots and some tweaks with your lighting. "Getting foil blocks on printed items to look metallic can be tricky," says Watson. "Use your tripod, and hold up a small piece of white or black card to create good reflections. Better still, ask someone else to hold the card so you can look through the camera to see how it is affecting the picture; this can give you that light-to-dark effect in the shiny surface that can be retouched back into your main image." 07. Use the right lens Using image stabilisation and a fast shutter speed will reduce the chance of blur up closeYou'll need to switch out your lens for the closer takes. "I use a Canon 60D and use a very basic 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for most of my shots, and a 50mm f/1.8 for close-up shots when I want to show paper texture, print finishes or small typography," says Barnabé. "For details and close-ups, choose a wider aperture that will decrease the depth of field – that's the amount of the scene which is in focus. Between f/1.4 and f/2.8 is good. For bigger general shots never go below f/4.0, otherwise you will end up with blurred parts in your picture." If you're having trouble with blurring or camera shake, Barnabé recommends using the image stabilisation feature of your lens and a shutter speed of at least 1/200. Following this advice should get you some great results, and with a little experimentation and practice you'll be shooting perfect images with relative ease. Related articles: Build your first in-house photo studio 10 ways to improve your photography skills 5 things every creative needs to know about print design View the full article

Thinking of striking out on your own and becoming a freelancer? It's a thought that crosses the minds of a lot of people in all sorts of industries. What holds people back though is the fear of the unknown (though maybe they should read our 9 things nobody tells you about going freelance post, in that case). Is being a freelancer as amazing as everyone says it is? Will you regret making the move shortly after handing in your notice? And perhaps most importantly of all, how much money can you expect to earn based on your sector? This infographic from online learning platform Zeqr answers all of these questions and also covers plenty of other stats to give you an impression of the state of freelancing in 2017. Encouragingly, it says 91% of freelancers found work in under two weeks, citing its source as Upwork's 2016 Freelancing in America Report. It even includes the best websites for finding freelance work. As you can see, it covers all industries but singles out graphic design and web design among the top industries for freelancers to make a living in, claiming they can earn $2-6K and $6K per month respectively. It also lists programming training and Adobe Creative Cloud training as viable alternative or side careers for new freelancers, based on sources including Glassdoor and LinkedIn Learning. Click the arrows in the top right to see the full size infographicFind out more on Zeqr. Related articles: Funny stickers celebrate small freelancer victories 25 tips for staying sane as a freelancer 20 top tools for freelancers View the full article

Are you a hipster-kinda guy?Whether your desk is messy or tidy, your walls adorned with pop culture posters or neatly framed art pieces, you could see yourself in one of these delightfully stereotypical designer character illustrations. The project was started by Serbian artist Dmitry Narozhny, who drew a new character each month for Devexperts' company calendar, with designs ranging from the hipster to the hippy, goth to the geek. So, can you spot someone resembling you among these designer stereotypes? Take a look through some of our favourite character designs by scrolling through the gallery below. Want to see more? Head to Dmitry Narozhny's Behance page to see the rest of the characters. Like this? Read these! 8 totally amazing design studio dogs How to generate new ideas for character designs How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials View the full article

Learn how to start creating amazing concept art right from the start with the latest issue of ImagineFX magazine – on sale now. Inside issue 152 you'll also find plenty of tips and insights to help you break out of your artistic comfort zone and put some new techniques into practice. Buy issue 152 of ImagineFX here! Packed with outstanding artwork from our very own readers, the latest issue of ImagineFX is filled with all sorts of creative inspiration. On top of the latest news and product reviews from the world of digital art, we've got a whole host of headline features, which you can explore below. Click here to subscribe to ImagineFX Create a strong portfolio of concept work Finnian MacManus has worked on the likes of Rogue OneWho better to learn portfolio secrets from than an artist who worked on Rogue One? Here Finnian MacManus walks us through his tips for creating a strong portfolio of concept work that will catch the attention of film art directors. Enhance your gouache skills Create a harmonious colour scheme with these tipsIn the second part of our core skills series, artist Laura Bifano demonstrates how to mix a gouache colour palette to create a pleasing colour scheme. The process might require a bit of planning, but these techniques are sure to produce wonderful results. Meet video games powerhouse Volta As you can see, Volta can create distinctive charactersOver the years the rise of the videogame industry has led to more and more companies outsourcing their art requirements to specialist studios. We catch up with one such studio, Volta, to see how it has benefited from this trend. Visit Justin Kaufman's strange studio Strange beasts live in this bizarre studio...Fancy getting away from it all? That's what artist Justin Kaufman did when he moved from Seattle to the rural Pacific north west and set up shop in a barn. In our artist in residence feature he shows us around his new, unfinished studio. Related articles: 23 best iPad art apps for painting and sketching How to colour your manga art like a pro How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials View the full article

Garden Party is one of eight stunning examples of top animated shortsAnimated shorts are a booming category of animated 3D films, with a wealth of inspiring videos appearing regularly. DreamWorks' head of international outreach and international talent consultant, Shelley Page, is so passionate about animation that she founded Eye Candy to showcase the genre. "The origin of the Eye Candy Show was a series of regular screenings of the latest animation shorts, graduation films and TV commercials, collected during my travels around the world to present to my colleagues at DreamWorks Animation," says Page. "At first these were only shown at our studios in the USA but later, as the studio expanded to more distant locations, I also took these screenings to our animators in Bangalore, India and, more recently, Shanghai. "Some years ago, I was invited to make a special Eye Candy presentation at the FMX festival in Germany [now an annual part of this event] and since then I have presented my favourite films of each year to festival audiences and schools around the world." Best video editing softwarePage talks about the story of the making of each film before screening it, particularly when addressing student groups, as she admits she is is "always curious about the process behind the creation of these amazing works." About to set off for the latest series of graduation juries and screenings in the UK, Europe and further afield, Page says she is "excited about the great new films I know I will discover for my next Eye Candy selection!" From student projects to films voiced by Oscar-nominated actors, Page reveals eight of her favourite shorts. She also finds out how they were made, and shares advice for budding animators. So let's see her first choice. 01. Sur Sa Trace Director: Axel De LafforestThis charming student film, inspired by Robin Joseph's A Seagull on Mud illustration, was a challenge for then student film-maker Axel De Lafforest, and took six months to put together. "I had created another short film before, but this was my first film in 3D so it was technically very difficult," he says. "I had to create everything for this film, the hardest part was managing my time," he recalls. De Lafforest used 3ds Max to create the 3D characters and 2D background and is refreshingly modest about the film, despite it being one of Page's picks. "I don't think the animation is very good in my film… There's nothing technically impressive about it," he says. However, De Lafforest is proud of his work, "I'm very glad my film was shown in festivals like Très Court, Tournez Court and soon the Filmets Badalona Film Festival." Now working at Mikros Animation, he still sees the student project Sur Sa Trace as one of his most satisfying to work on as a director "because I was alone to make the decisions, and it was very clear in my head". His advice for budding 3D filmmakers? "Be daring, then work and work again." 02. Some Thing Director: Elena Walf Comp Lead: Matthias Bäuerle Some Thing's director, Elena Walf, wrote and animated the film, and although she didn't have much experience of making short films, her illustration background helped her with the design. Originally, Walf conceived Some Thing – about a mountain with a strange object – as a fairy tale-like children's book. "I guess that's why the compositions resemble the style of children's books. It was very important for me that everything looks kind of hand-drawn," she says. Matthias Bäuerle, who worked as comp lead on the film, was determined to help Walf achieve her vision. "It was very important to understand the level of detail Elena wanted to achieve. She was very specific about when and how a texture should move... "We used TVPaint as our backbone for animation and the colouring process. Then we exported the colour mattes and all the outline layers and used Nuke as our weapon for applying and animating the textures and final compositing." Bäuerle also offers some tips on making your way in the industry. "Listen carefully to the stories that are growing inside your head. Keep experimenting and check out lots of different tools." 03. Citipati Director: Andreas FelixCitipati, a tale about life and death from a prehistoric perspective, won the award for outstanding visual effects in a student project at the VES Awards 2016. Director Andreas Felix considers the film's most impressive technical achievement to be the secondary details added into the rig of the main character, on top of the base skeleton. "This was built using CAT, a crude muscular system that was attached based on a custom-developed setup using bones and springs. As a result, not only did it facilitate geometric deformations on the character's surface, but also produced jiggling tissue in real time, and the ease of access allowed for any oddities to be fixed on a per shot basis," he explains. The creature's tail movement was animated procedurally using a set of noise controllers and springs. "This saved a lot of time in animation as well, which was crucial, as the schedule dictated having all shots animated at a rate of 20-25 seconds per week," explains Felix. Felix points to Phoenix FD plugin and 3ds Max's Particle Flow when asked about his most useful tools. "As the film contains over 300 FX simulations, about 85 per cent were evenly split between fluid simulations and rigid body dynamics. Especially for doing a lot of secondary events and details, Phoenix FD proved to be easy to set up and recycle to create a large body of sims in a short amount of time… "The procedural toolset of Particle Flow allowed for easily creating small events like dynamic gravel and debris and to add detailed interactions with ease, which in turn could be fed into Phoenix FD to add more control and detail to the simulations." Felix is not one to shy away from unconventional solutions. "If you can offer a different solution out of the box, you may surprise your superiors and colleagues for good. It's never wrong to be a little bit rebellious, at the right time, of course," he says. Next page: 5 more great animated shorts 04. Asteria Directors: Alexandre Arpentinier, Mathieu Blanchys, Lola Grand, Tristan Lamarca, Thomas Lemaille, Jean-Charles LusseauThis short film set in space has won over hearts and minds, not just with the quality of animation, but with its sense of humour, something that was of great relief to one its directors, Alexandre Arpentinier. "One of the hardest tasks was to give a good rhythm to the film, find a good end stop, and make good gags. It's hard to know if all the jokes will make the spectators laugh when you work for several months on it and hear it dozens of times a day," he says. Student projects can often fall victim to unforeseen problems, but the Asteria team avoided this with careful planning and teamwork. "We didn't make any big mistakes during the production because we always did tests before we started in the different tasks," says Arpentinier, who adds that the team worked together to stay organised and on track. The team used a variety of tools to create Asteria, including Maya for modelling, rigging and animation; ZBrush and Mari for sculpting and texturing; Arnold for rendering; Nuke and Houdini for compositing and effects, Premiere for editing, and occasionally Photoshop for testing or small alterations. But Arpentinier doesn't think that one tool is more important than another. "There isn't a single software or tool that has helped us a lot during the production, but we think it's the combination of all the software that allowed us get good quality in every field," he explains. 05. La Parfumerie de Monsieur Pompone Directors: Camille Ferrari, Axel De Lafforest, Florian Ratte, Yoann Demettre, Tanguy WeylanThis ambitious short from co-directors Axel de Lafforest, Florian Ratte, Yoann Demettre, Camille Ferrari and Tanguy Weyland follows the story of a perfume manufacturer in Paris and is influenced by the works of Roald Dahl. "We all had a different role to play in the creation of the movie," says Camille Ferrari. "I was in charge of most of the storyboard, texturing and editing. We all directed it, but Axel was at the heart of the project, so he had to write the basis for the story. Tanguy was our technical director, Yoann our lead modelling and Florian our lead animation." The team used 3ds Max mainly for the 3D, Mari for the texturing, Nuke for the compositing, and Avid for the editing. Nuke was also vital to realise the team's vision. "We wanted the 3D to look like 2D," says Ferrari. "Our main goal was to have a very graphic render with a lot of patterns on the textures." With the film winning awards at both the Panam Anim and the Beijing International Film Festival, it's no surprise that all of the former student directors are now gainfully employed in the industry. As far as wider animation goes, Ferrari has some thoughts on the future, "I think 3D animation is the future of animation. 2D is very nice but it needs more money and more time for production. I don't think we could have done a six or seven minute 2D animation film in one year. But I do sometimes work in 2D. Making a 3D movie doesn't mean giving up 2D animation." 06. Poles Apart Director: Paloma Baeza Dfx team: Gillian Simpson, Shivani Shah, Ollie Brummell Director Paloma Baeza started out as an actress before moving into writing and directing. Never one to shy away from a challenge, creating Poles Apart – which stars Helena Bonham Carter and Joseph May – was a new kind of experience for her. "I wrote, directed and partly animated. Animating is the hardest for me as I am very new to it... the biggest transition was learning about animation in the technical sense – animatics, the actual hands-on animating, as well as time-scales and the precision involved," she explains. As with any new medium, mistakes happen. "Early in the shoot we animated a long shot with focus pulls and puppet rigs, but I foolishly didn't get clean background the separate focus pulls. This made good rig removal and compositing very difficult. In the end, we had to re-shoot this sequence, but we didn't make that mistake again!" says Baeza. While Baeza prefers to focus on stop-motion, using Dragonframe, the digital FX experts on Poles Apart – Gillian Simpson, Shivani Shah and Ollie Brummell – were deep in other methods. "The CG icebergs were achieved using photogrammetry of the props made by our production designer, which allowed us to replicate an identical 3D asset that reduced time in modelling and sculpting, but also enabled us to create a range of diffuse and light baked textures for the motion control shot in particular," explains Baeza. 07. Garden Party Directors: Victor Cair, Théophile Dufresne, Vincent Bayoux, Florian Babikian, Gabriel Graperron, Lucas NavarroGarden Party's photo-real animation of amphibians has been showcased in many festivals, and earned a Grand Jury Prize at Nashville Film Festival, as well as Page's Eye Candy – Film of the Year 2017. The team used a wide range of software in production, but they also had to craft a hefty piece of hardware. "In order to obtain the realistic look we wanted, we had to build a 3D scanner in our garage, based on photogrammetry, to scan 3D assets. It was a huge challenge for us," says one of the six directors, Victor Caire. "We used the software RealityCapture to scan the objects, then all the scans were brought into ZBrush for remeshing," he adds. The team also developed a script in ZBrush to export colour, normal and displacement maps from the scans before moving into Maya, where the maps could then be plugged in automatically. Caire thinks that the fast pace of the industry means that new artists have to stay focused. "The most important thing is to have good composition and storytelling. It's not always about the software you use, think more about the result. There's always a way to do it." 08. Gokurōsama Directors: Clémentine Frère, Romain Salvini, Aurore Gal, Yukiko Meignien, Anna Mertz, Robin MigliorelliGokurōsama is a Studio Ghibli-inspired short film that follows the story of an old woman and her assistant just before a mall opens. "We really enjoy the contemplative quality you can find in many Japanese animation films like those of Studio Ghibli," says one of the directors, Clémentine Frère. "However, stylistically we wanted to stay away from being too anime-like... it was mostly a job of giving the environment that abundant feel (of a mall) while still keeping the characters silhouettes stand out using colour blocking." The project used 3ds Max (V-Ray) for modelling, lighting and rendering; Maya for rigging and animation and Mari to paint the textures on the characters. Working in Mari was particularly useful. "I think Mari was probably the most vital software to production because we were able to quickly and easily update the textures of each character, even during the rigging process," says Romain Salvini. Salvini believes that an inquisitive mind is vital for success. "You must be curious about new software and ways to make things. And keep watching movies, reading, looking for nice pictures, because these things can become an idea or reference for a project." This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 224. Buy it here! Related articles: 5 must-see short VR movies Killer tips for perfect animation portfolios Best video editing software The 25 greatest animated music videos View the full article