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Researchers have identified a vulnerability in a Huawei home router model that is being exploited by an adversary to spread a variant of the Mirai malware called Okiku, also known as Satori. View the full article

I spent my early, bohemian years in fashion design amidst the best pencils, watercolours, markers and pens. I kind of miss those days, but once I made the choice to move to the Wacom Cintiq 13HD, there was no going back. My education started in an art institute, we’re talking ‘90s when all the internet was geek stuff, so my training was analogue. Also, after having obtained my fashion design degree in the early 2000s, I got my first job in the fashion industry without knowing anything about computer arts. Imagine a primitive woman looking at fire, that was me all those years looking at you Photoshop wizards. The truth is that anybody can handle a major change if they have the will to do so. In early 2016, I began shifting my career from fashion design to visual storytelling for advertising and editorial purposes, becoming a digital artist at the same time. Once I learned Photoshop basics such as layers, swatches and brushes, transitioning to digital was just a case of applying the number one rule for illustrators: just draw, draw, draw. 01. Do your research Cafforio’s digital working space. Research on current fashion and colour trends is vital before starting a piece Without an idea, preferably a good one, no digital nor analogue brush will help. My process is inextricably linked to research. This research usually generates a moodboard in the form of filling my working space with pictures from runways and Post-it notes, then the creation of one or more characters that I try to give a soul to, even before creating their physical features. I always try to tell an entire story in the single frame I have at my disposal, leaving the rest to the imagination of the viewer. Once I have my research and idea sorted, I get started on the more technical aspects of digital illustration. 02. Set up for online and print use Choose your specs wisely Unless otherwise specified by the client, I usually start my projects by creating an A1 canvas at 300dpi, which means 7016 x 9933 pixels. In terms of colour management, sRGB colour profile is a good starting point for all purposes: your work will be web/monitor ready and giclée/lithography adaptable. That’s because an illustration may have several lives that cannot be foreseen, as in the case of my award-winning piece Alice in Wonderland. Born for Instagram, it was subsequently lithographed on a number of magazines and on an art catalogue, fine art printed for a signed edition, reproduced on lenticular panels, and so on. 03. Build up a strong composition After the research stage, Cafforio digitally sketches directly on her Cintiq The first thing to do is avoid ‘white sheet panic’. How? I fill the background layer with colour, usually one picked out from the fashion palette of the season I’m working on. That coloured background will better bring out the black and white of my character’s complexion. After that, I select my favourite tools – the pressure and tilt sensitive tools of Wacom’s pens and Kyle T. Webster’s Photoshop brushes are simply incredible working together – then start to pencil sketch what I’ve got in mind, cutting and adjusting it to best fit the shooting angle. One of the first huge advantages of digital sketching directly on your Cintiq with the help of layers is repositioning at will. When I’m happy with the composition, I can give the client a first visualisation of what is going to be later highly refined. In minutes. And this also leaves me a lot of room to manoeuvre in case of disagreement, without having to start from scratch. 04. Use layers effectively Cafforio repositions layers to find the best fit throughout her workflow You might think an illustration seems like a big job, but actually it’s just hundreds of small jobs. Each of my illustrations can contain several hundred layers, depending on its complexity. The only limit is the hardware used. In my experience, working at high-resolution, a basic Apple Mac Mini can easily manage a couple of hundred layers without slowing down. My illustrations have a group of layers for each element of the illustration. The face, hair, arms, hands, eyes, neck, mouth, dress, accessories, and so on, are all folders containing a bunch of layers for the foundation, chiaroscuro (light and shade), and details. Working like this will allow you to go in to your image surgically on demand. This is important because small modifications are always around the corner and a happy client is a regular client. 05. Use 50 shades of everything Pantone colours form the basis of Cafforio’s colour spectrum, but she fine-tunes the colours at the end of the piece to add her own narrative Experience in fashion makes you realise how important understanding, and possibly forecasting, colour trends is. You might want to learn about how colour fidelity matters for a commercial artist, and will ideally become good at visualising products that customers will want. It’s really fun to mix analogue watercolours and other pigments, and this can be a good way to learn about colour. On the other hand, Pantone palettes, regularly published in .ASE format, are universally recognised as standard colour reproduction systems. In terms of rules about using colour, remember that nothing is set in stone. We live in the real world, not in a giant colour control cabinet that is ISO 3664 compliant. We are doing visual storytelling here, not designing a logo, and we’re not talking to machines after all. Learn the way, then find your own way. I start with Pantone colours as a foundation, then add chiaroscuro and details, generally with Kyle T. Webster’s watercolours. But in the final stages of the project, some global colour fine-tuning to add my vision of the narrative is required. 06. Resist shortcuts Cafforio tries to resist ‘Photoshop ominipetence’, preferring to make changes by deleting and redrawing layers Now that I’m done, I’ll probably want to make some small changes. For example, I don’t like the mouth because it’s looking a little crooked. But I don’t use the Liquify Filter, I hide the mouth Layers and draw it again. If I need to add shine to some jewels, I don’t even think of using Actions. I draw sparkles. There is nothing wrong with trying some Photoshop shortcuts, especially when dealing with tight deadlines, but it is essential to resist the temptation of Photoshop omnipotence. Here’s the thing: getting lazy and cutting corners won’t help you become the next Sergio Toppi. And this world already has enough Photoshop gurus. Just remember the first rule for illustrators: draw, draw, draw. This article originally appeared in issue 272 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 272 here or subscribe here. Related articles: The 9 best alternatives to Photoshop 100 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials The best drawing tablet: our pick of the best graphics tablets in 2017 View the full article

Breathtaking views, stunning skylines and beautiful cityscapes make great photographs, but can be rather daunting from the artist's point of view. The amount of details can be overwhelming and it is difficult to know how to draw and paint it all. Instead of capturing all of the detail, try to view the scene in an abstract way, as a series of shapes and colours, or patches of light and shadows. Squinting is one of the best things you can do to break down a busy scene. In this step by step oil painting tutorial, I'll show you how to simplify a complex cityscape and work layer on layer to build the painting. I painted this in plein air, but there's nothing stopping you from applying the same method when working from a photograph. When working outside, one of the greatest challenges is capturing the changing light. When I was painting, the clouds kept moving, so I had to choose which area I wanted to be in the sun, and then wait for the right moment to carry on. Finally, just remember to have fun and don't worry too much if you have forgotten a house here, a tree there or even an entire street! What matters is that you capture the essence of the place in a personal and convincing way. 01. Add ground colour The ochre ground colour matches the colour of the buildings As usual, I cover my blank board with a ground colour so I won't have to fill every gap at the end. This also helps achieve colour harmony in the piece. Make sure you pick a colour that is present in the scenery so it can be used in the final painting. The ochre here can be seen in the stone of the buildings. 02. Create a basic drawing Sketch out a very rough layout of the city The clue is in the word 'basic'. A cityscape is so complex that it would take hours to draw every single house and street. Instead, remember to approach the scenery in an abstract way and only lay down a few marks that will help you locate these elements. Here, I've drawn the placement of the green areas as simple blocks that will help show the limits between buildings and trees. 03. Block in the greens Use big bold strokes to roughly block in the greens Roughly fill in the outlines with various shades of greens. Have fun with big bold brushstrokes and don't worry about making it look neat or accurate. Just make sure you use more than one green to depict the variety of the vegetation and give a sense of distance too. The elements in the distance should be cooler, or bluer. The negative spaces left represent the sky and the buildings. 04. Paint the dark tones Paint in the dark areas of buildings and suggest some key elements I'm one of many artists who prefers working dark to light in oils. This is why I've decided to paint the dark areas of the buildings first. Look at the colour of the shadows in the cityscape and use this to cover most of the canvas with spontaneous brushstrokes. Loosely suggest some key elements (like a church or a street) with some stronger marks. 05. Add the middle tones Use a middle tone to depict large elements as solid blocks Load your brush with a middle tone present in the cityscape and start 'sculpting' your painting with directional brushstrokes. The aim is to depict large elements as solid blocks (such as a street or a row of houses). Remember to squint a lot to simplify the scene and detect what stands out. Don't worry if the painting doesn't look great at this stage, it will come to life in the next step. 06. Create highlights Use a small brush and your lightest tone to create highlights All the groundwork has paid off, this is now the fun part of the painting. Use a smaller detail brush and load it with the lightest colour seen on the buildings. Apply the paint where you can see the brightest highlights of the cityscape, where the sun hits the buildings. Try using and mixing various light colours (such as light yellow, pink and white) to bring interest and variety to the scene. 07. Block in the sky Try treating the sky as blocks of different colours It is now time to capture the sky and its moving clouds. My biggest tip is to avoid too much blending. Instead of filling the whole space with blue and then adding some clouds, I recommend treating the sky as blocks of different colours (white, pink, blue and grey) and applying the paint in each block without feeling the need to merge. This will convey a sense of structure and energy. 08. Brighten up greens Add more definition to the green blocks in your painting The previous steps have helped capture the essence of the scene. What the painting needs now is more details, structure and contrast. The green blocks painted at the start have been partly absorbed by the board surface and now look a bit dull. They need more definition. Look at the view, squint, spot the darkest green areas in the scenery and reproduce them on your painting. 09. Add light green Try to avoid blending the paint when adding highlights You can now do the same with the highlights of the greens. Add touches of light green where the sun hits the trees and the grass. Remember to use different greens depending on what you are painting – the colour of a patch of grass is usually more saturated than a group of trees. Avoid blending the paint too much and try to keep your brushstrokes fresh and spontaneous. 10. Work on shadows Sharp, directional marks will clearly define items in the shadows The aim of this step is to bring more contrast to the buildings and street, and redefine the drawing of the scenery. Use a small brush and make sharp, directional marks to clearly define items in the shadows, such as house facades and sections of streets. Don't forget to keep looking and squinting at the scenery to spot the darkest areas that need emphasising. 11. Take a step back Stand back and take a look at what needs a final touch It's time to stand back from the easel and assess the painting. All the elements in the scene have now been addressed and there is a satisfactory sense of composition, light and shadows. The painting could benefit from applying final touches, such as sharpening the spires on the churches, and adding finer details – the suggestion of chimneys and windows, for example. 12. Add final touches Let the paint dry a little before working on the finer details Adding finer details can sometimes be easier when the paint has dried a little, so I went back to the studio and applied those final touches later in the day with a steadier hand and fresher eyes. Only a few brushstrokes were needed to finish the painting. I like to keep my style loose and fresh, but there's nothing stopping you from adding more details if you prefer a more refined result. This article was originally published in issue 12 of Paint & Draw, the magazine offering tips and inspiration for artists everywhere. Buy issue 12 here. Related articles: Add vibrancy to your oil paintings with these top tips How to draw a landscape with pastels Improve your brushstrokes in oils View the full article

Speed painting is exactly what you'd imagine – creating art against the clock. Artists give themselves a limited time to finish a piece of work, from a few minutes to a couple of hours. It is a great way for beginners to learn how to paint and for more experienced artists to hone their painting techniques. It's also a load of fun. Unlike sketching, however, speed paintings are considered complete after the time is up – if you alter your work afterwards, it is no longer a speed painting. To help you become a speed painting master, artists who contributed to 3dtotal Publishing's Master the Art of Speed Painting have shared 10 top speed painting tips from the book. On your marks, get set, go! 01. Use custom shapes Some examples of Alex Olmedo's custom shapes Alex Olmedo says: "Custom shapes are super useful tools for artists and are often forgotten by a large majority. They are simple, fast, and fun to make, and are great time savers when designing and speed painting. On those days when you feel uninspired to make art, you can make these instead. "Simply scribble abstract shapes using a hard brush, then play with them; try copying, repeating, overlapping, and transforming the shapes and using them in your art." 02. Fill a blank canvas Don't think, just get some brushstrokes down Katy Grierson says "Use a big Brush tool to lay down some strokes of varying colour, tone, texture, and opacity. Try not to paint anything specific, just fill the canvas with colour and texture. You can switch brushes but try to keep the size quite large – this is good for speed and preventing the urge to paint something specific. "This initial letting go can be the hardest thing to master but the effects are worth it in the end. By starting this way there is less pressure to fill a blank white canvas, which can be a hindrance to creativity." 03. Warm up with brushes Try working with only a limited number of brushes to help you save time and not become distracted by different brush typesDonglu Yu says: "Before I start working on a speed-painting session I like to warm up with some custom brushes. Depending on the theme, try to limit your selection of brushes for the speed-painting process. Working with a limited range of brushes can force you to work more efficiently by thinking about shapes and design rather than brushstrokes. This may take a while to get used to but it will speed up your whole process." 04. Use the Gradient tool Use the Gradient tool to add a base colour Massimo Porcella says: "Once you have set the tonal values of your image you need to add a base colour. The Gradient tool is perfect here because you can choose the colour for every part of the sketch, starting from the ground, at the base of the buildings, moving to the skyline shade, and finally picking up a colour to define the shade between land and sky. For an even colour palette, use the Eraser tool to blend all the colours together." 05. Build your own photo library James Paick created monumental fantasy ruins in one hour using photo textures he found in his personal photo library James Paick says: "I can't stress enough the importance of having a good photo reference library. You can find plenty on the internet but nothing beats going out there and taking your own. You can get the right exposure, scenery, and contrast to work with your current piece, or just interesting landmarks or cloud formations which might spark a new idea and build the imagination. "Don't limit yourself to the natural world; there are so many fascinating and elaborate architectural elements on buildings and other human-made things." 06. Allow boredom to spark creativity Jesper Friis added and mixed the acrylic paint on his old scanner; the speed painting itself took two hours to completeJesper Friis says: "In a fit of boredom one day I decided I would drag out my old scanner I had sitting around and started painting on the glass with some watercolour. I closed the lid to see what would come out. Since then I have been making weird textures this way from time to time. "It might seem a little silly at first, but even a day spent experimenting with some of these methods for making textures can give you something in your library that you will keep coming back to, something that's uniquely yours and really can't be recreated." 07. Add complexity Explore with textures and custom brushesStephanie Cost says: "To add complexity to your painting you should make full use of textures and custom brushes – there are hundreds of free ones on the internet. Find yourself a nice variety such as a rounded lizard skin-esque one, a smooth chalk-like one, or maybe a chunky, rough gravel brush. They are great for breaking up the internal shapes of your composition. You can try using a soft flat brush with Hue Jitter on each stroke; this is good for harder edges and unexpected colours." Check out the 60 best free Photoshop brushes, the 30 best Procreate brushes and how to create your own custom brushes in Clip Studio Paint. 08. Select the right photos Choosing photos that blend well together is keyOlmedo says: "When making photobashing images it is very important to choose the right photos. Often if you try to include a photo with a totally different lighting source compared to others involved in the image you'll end up spending too much time trying to fix the problem and even dismissing the photo." 09. Experiment Compose your image by adding a background gradient, duplicating and transforming your shape assets Ian Jun Wei Chiew says: "The Transform, Clipping, and Smudge tools are essential to my workflow as I prefer to create a collage and find shapes, rather than painting right from the get go. I find this method to be more fun and experimental, which can lead to ideas and compositions you would never think of developing. "There are endless possibilities with Photoshop; you can find a new use for any existing tool. At the end of the day, what makes a good image is your own personal knowledge of the foundations such as composition, values, colour, and lighting." 10. Don't over-tell Stay with the most essential storytelling elements so you can have an iconic and impressive composition – this painting took Donglu Yu two hours Yu says: "My students often like to tell a very complex story with one image. My feedback is always that you should pick the top two or three things you want to tell through the image, and tell them really well. "When a story is too complex, you need to divide your canvas space into smaller portions to distribute it all to the different storytelling elements, making it difficult to come up with an iconic composition." These tips come from the book Master the Art of Speed Painting from 3dtotal Publishing, aimed at aspiring digital painters and concept artists. Related articles: Best iPad art apps for painting and sketching How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials The best drawing tablet: our pick of the best graphics tablets in 2017 View the full article

A great logo, now more than ever, must cut through an awful lot of noise. The art lies in working out exactly how you do that. There's a lot of overlap in the logo design trends we've picked out here. Some logos – the best of them – used two or three trends. In 2017, a year of lots of noise and confusion, the very best logo designs offered a quiet, understated authority, something both familiar and new. "Evolution, not a revolution," is how one designer said it. That's not to say there was no room for the bold or the creative. The best logos of 2017 also took chances and dared to be different. 01. Simplicity and clarity Moonpig's new look is far more minimal Simplicity has been king for a while. Last year, we saw it in Pentagram's redesign of the Mastercard logo, in which the agency focused on "simplicity and clarity." At the beginning of the year, we saw it in Interbrand's bold redesign of the Juventus badge, "fearlessly embracing its potential as an identity brand." And we saw it towards the end of this year, with Moonpig, led by the brand's in-house creative director James Turner. Greetings card company Moonpig dropped the the .com from its name, and the cartoon pig that went with it, in favour of something a bit subtler. You could argue simplicity's offshoots include minimalism, black and white logos, and those with framed texts, which we've also seen a lot of. In noisy, confusing times, the trend towards making things neater and simpler looks set to continue. 02. Uppercasification The new Calvin Klein logo uses sleek all-caps typography This trend is perhaps based on principles opposite to simplicity. In noisy, confusing times, you could argue that it's necessary to be noisier than everybody else. At least, that's how logos created in all uppercase can appear. But done well – usually when paired with a simple design and a smart typeface – it gives a logo a certain authority. Done really well there's a quiet, understated authority to uppercase logos, with the typography feeling natural rather than forced and shouty. As a trend it's a bit of broad stroke, but an unavoidable one nonetheless, seen in new logos by brands such as Calvin Klein, Giraffe, Ebury and too many others to mention. 03. Modern retro The new F1 logo feels like a modern spin on a 1980s look Formula 1 recently unveiled its first new logo in 23 years. The design, led by Wieden + Kennedy London, aimed for a "modern-retro feel." It's dynamic, and a bit masculine, like the sport, but it also has a real 80s feel. You can see the idea of modern-retro logo design in new logos for brands such as SYFY, Fanta, and Nintendo. Again, you could argue that this trend is a sign of the times. With so much change going on around the world, brands want to tether themselves to the familiar, even when making a change of their own. 04. Evolution of established logos The new YouTube logo wasn't vastly different to the old one "It’s an evolution, not a revolution," said Christopher Bettig, head of YouTube’s art department, after the brand changed its logo earlier this year. The new YouTube logo incorporated the already iconic play button and moved the emphasis off the "Tube." Aside from that, subtlety is key here. Evolution not revolution was seen elsewhere this year in logo rethinks by similar brands. Pinterest's new look is a good example. But Dropbox had it both ways, with the evolution of its logo and a controversial revolution of everything else. 05. Flat design Audi's rings were flattened in its new logo When we looked at the best logos for startups in 2017, one trend stood out: among these innovative new companies, flatness ruled where logos were concerned – check out the designs for Mush, Monzo, and Uniplaces, for example. Perhaps the best use of flatness this year came in the redesign of Audi's logo. The car manufacturer has always been switched-on when it comes to branding and advertising, and this update is no exception. Not only is it flat, but it's simple, modern-retro, and an evolution, not a revolution. Vorsprung durch technik indeed! Related articles: 10 tools to make illustration easier in 2018 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 The 20 biggest logos of 2017 View the full article

What is it? YouTube is great, Patreon is making training inroads and DVD courses certainly have their place but there are times when you don't need step-by-step instruction to duplicate a project. You might need very specific guidance on a stumbling block that you've hit, even as a working pro. This is where 3D World's Q & A section comes in very handy. You can submit a question and we then find the member of our expert panel most suited to answering you. Well, imagine that on another level, with instant mentoring, help and advice from some of the best artists in their fields, and that is what you will find at Vertex 2018. Who will be there? We have a growing list of industry veterans and experts on hand at Vertex to answer your specific questions, from our very own Q&A writers Ant Ward and Maya Jermy, through to the likes of Peter Seager of DNeg, Joel Best of Framestore and Valentina Rosselli of MPC. They each bring vast pools of knowledge to the table and will happily help you work through your issue. This is a massive opportunity for you to cross bridges, take the next step in building your own skills and to tap into the mindsets of some incredible talent. This is unique to Vertex and not to be missed. More on Vertex Vertex 2018 is the event bringing together all areas of the VFX/3D community, for a day of presentations, workshops, recruitment and more. Some of the biggest names in the industry are coming to talk and share their skills and knowledge, from Chris Nichols and Brett Ineson, to Scott Ross. Tickets are available at the Vertex site, so head over to sign up for the latest news direct to your inbox and to buy tickets. The tickets themselves range from discounted student options, to free expo tickets and the access all areas passes. Related articles Scott Ross to talk at Vertex Network with industry experts at Vertex The ethics of digital humans View the full article

The Beginner's Guide to Sketching is a book that offers lots of inspiration and advice for anyone looking to take their first creative steps or wanting to add a new piece to their design portfolio. The comprehensive guide covers everything from choosing the right drawing tools to understanding shading and value, adding colour, and creating a finished scene. If you're a complete novice, you should have a look at our seven fundamental pencil drawing techniques and our 100 drawing and painting tips and tutorials. But if you're ready to go, here some of the artists that contributed to the Beginner's Guide to Sketching offer some expert advice to get you off to a flying start... 01. Avoid smudging Use an extra piece of paper under your hand to avoid smudging your work"When shading, use an extra piece of paper underneath your hand," advises artist Brun Croes. "This will minimise the amount your hand smudges your pencil lines. If you're right-handed, start shading from left to right; if you're left-handed, start at the right and move to the left. "There's nothing more frustrating than trying to make a clean-looking drawing that loses its brilliance and value thanks to smudging. Instead, use smudging to your advantage every now and then to smooth out shading. You can do this with several tools. I use a simple piece of tissue paper to get the job done." 02. Create curly hair with simple lines Drawing curly hair in four stepsWant to draw curly hair? Illustrator Eva Widermann suggests these sketching tips: "Draw two straight vertical lines; these will be your guidelines for the width and length of the curl. Now loosely draw a wavy line down between the two lines. "Double this wavy line a little below the first. You can already see a curly ribbon forming before you. Now connect the open parts on the sides, remove the guidelines, and add some details." 03. Keep some texture The final image of Patricia's KangahorseDesigner Patricia Ann Lewis-MacDougall suggests keeping some texture. "Some artists might find using watercolour pencils a little on the grainy side; however I like the added life the grain gives to a sketch. You don't have to add water over the whole image. Leave some areas untouched to add a bit of texture to your sketch." 04. Sketch a sky with smudges Create subtle shading by smudging large areas of soft charcoalIf you want to sketch a sky, artist Marisa Lewis has some advice: "Sometimes it's preferable for your shading to be less sketchy and more smooth and subtle. Pencil lines don't blend perfectly unless you're very careful. We don't want a sky full of scribbles, unless it's on purpose. "Instead, use spare paper to doodle a big swatch of soft graphite or charcoal pencil, then use a large blending stick to pick up the soft dust to use for your image. Keep using the blending stick and adding more scribbles as you need more graphite. Using the same technique, start darkening some areas of the sky to define the tops of the clouds." 05. Take control of your pencil Tripod (top) and extended tripod (bottom) gripsTake control of your pencil by holding it correctly, says illustrator Sylwia Bomba. "If you position your hand closer to the end of the pencil, you have more control and precision, but heavier strokes (darker markings). Gripping further up the pencil will give you less control and precision, but lighter strokes (lighter markings)." 06. Use varied lines Shifts in the width and darkness of your lines will create interestUse varied lines, says illustrator Rovina Cai. "Not all lines are equal. Subtle shifts in the width and darkness of your lines will create a dynamic, visually interesting drawing. Controlling the kind of mark you put down can be tricky in the beginning, but with practice you will be able to create a variety of marks that work together to make a cohesive image. Experiment with different pencil grades (from 3H to 6B) and with holding the pencil at different angles." 07. Make characters readable as silhouettes If you look at the examples here, it’s clear that the first girl is holding a mug, but what about the second one? It’s not as clear!"Have you ever noticed that every important character in an animation movie is recognisable from their shadow alone?", says artist Leonardo Sala. "This magic has a name: the silhouette. The purpose of finding a strong and interesting silhouette is to create an easily recognisable character that will remain clear in the visual memory of the viewer. "To test out whether your characters are readable as silhouettes, grab a piece of tracing paper and trace around your character, filling it in with a solid colour. A great way to test your silhouettes is to show them to your friends or colleagues and ask them what they see." 08. Flip your image with tracing paper Flipping the image can help highlight any problems"A benefit of tracing paper is that you can flip it over to see how your drawing looks from the reverse angle," advises artist Justin Gerard. "This can help reveal errors in proportion. As you work, take advantage of this in order to arrive at a more successful drawing." 09. Make it symmetrical (but not quite) Keep a nice contrast going between a finished look and a more of a sketchy feel"I like symmetrical drawings but they often look boring all too quickly," says Croes. "A good way to prevent this is to add some subtle changes and only keep the general lines symmetrical instead of mirroring every small part. Keeping some elements asymmetrical helps to avoid boring repetition." 10. Mix things up with irregular lines An example of an illustration using irregular lines"The use of irregular lines when shading adds a lot of dynamism to your sketch," Bomba says. "If you want to create a fresh and unique sketch of a portrait, architecture, or concept art, you should definitely use this technique. I use it to sketch loosely, flat backgrounds (if there is no texture, this technique will add some), bushes, or grass." Related articles: The secrets to painting like Matisse Create character art with maximum visual impact 10 top speed painting tips View the full article

When John Resig developed the jQuery library back in 2006, he can't have imagined that it would become the most popular JavaScript library on the web, or that it would have tens of thousands of plugins written for it. But it's true to say that jQuery, above all other libraries out there, has been embraced by the web design community. It is a fantastic library for designing and developing user interactions quickly. Whether it's an image gallery or form, content-revealing CSS animation or an explosion effect, the library provides the core building-blocks to allow you rapid prototyping and to deliver a unique user interface with the minimum of code and effort. This presents an interesting question, however. Just because you can roll your own solution to any given problem, does that mean you should? Of course not! There's absolutely no need to reinvent the wheel every time you want to create a bit of common functionality; use plugins to instantly add a behaviour. Doing so will save you even more time and effort! Here's our list. 01. Tilted page scroll Tilted page scroll adds a neat 3D effect to your pages This plugin from Pete R. is an excellent way to grab people's attention and add a little extra depth to your site. With it installed, items will tilt into view as they scroll up the page, and tilt again as they scroll out of the top of the page. It's a great-looking effect that's nice and easy to implement. 02. Focuspoint Say goodbye to badly-cropped responsive images The great thing about responsive web design is being able to create a single page that'll look good on any device. However if your site's automatically cropping images to fit certain viewports, it can often lose the focal point. But with Focuspoint you can make sure your image looks great in any container by specifying a focal point for each image, and the plugin will crop out unwanted parts before the important bits. 03. SVGMagic SVGMagic creates PNGs to replace SVGs where they are not supportedUsing SVG images is a good idea because they will look sharp at any size, and this plugin helps you to do that without having to worry about browsers that don't support them. It searches for SVG images and replaces them with PNG versions if SVG isn't supported. 04. Face Detection An easy way to use some powerful technologyDetect and get the coordinates of human faces in images, videos and canvases. 05. Round Slider The slider can be themed to suit your purposesThis circular slider enables the user to select a range of values by mousing over the circle. The full slider is the default setup, but you can also use it to get quarter-circle, half-circle and pie shapes. There are CSS styles you can adjust to theme it in various ways, for example, to look like a speedometer. No images are involved; it's all made with CSS and JavaScript. 06. jInvertScroll Get a parallax effect with easejInvertscroll makes it easy to implement horizontal scrolling with a parallax effect. Roll your scroll wheel on their demo site to whizz along sideways while two layers of landscape move at different speeds to create an illusion of depth. 07. Slinky A menu design that won't go out of style?Slinky is an elegant, timeless menu design that's useful for any scenario in which you've got a lot of sub-menus. Select an item and an animation slides the sub-menu over. There's a demo here. 08. TwentyTwenty ZURB's plugin helps you compare imagesInstead of placing two images side-by-side to show the differences between them, you can use this plugin which places one on top of the other. Users drag a slider so that the bottom image shows through, enabling them to see what has changed in a before-and-after situation. 09. Material design hierarchical display Animations can help to guide users' attentionHierarchical display animation effects can be used to guide users' attention and lead them from one point to the next in a process. This animation can be customised to suite your design, and has great documentation to get you going. 10. Tabslet Minimalist tab designAs the name suggests, Tabslet is a lightweight plugin for making tabs. It supports next/previous controls, rotation, custom events, deep linking and there’s lots of other useful functionality. Have a look at the demo to see if it suits your needs. Next: more essential jQuery plugins 11. Readable Set your text just rightReadable helps to make sure your text blocks stay within the optimum parameters for readability; too narrow or too wide makes your paragraphs harder to scan. There’s a great demo that shows you the edits made to running copy in order to make it easier on the eye. 12. nanoGALLERY2 A fully-featured, fast image gallerynanoGALLERY2 is designed to simplify your image galleries, and offers multi-level navigation in albums, lightbox, combinable hover effects on thumbnails, slideshow, fullscreen, pagination and image lazy load. It is touch-enabled, responsive, fast and it supports cloud storage. The newly released version 2 offers improved user experience, and new features such as filter by keywords, a shopping cart, social sharing, advanced hover effects, thumbnail display transitions, an info page with google maps location, and more. 13. Tooltipster Fancy tooltips with TooltipsterTooltipster is a modern take on the classic tool-tip, allowing you to present fully HTML-enabled tooltips in semantic markup with CSS used to control the display. There are a wide range of configuration options, making it customisable for any scenario. 14. Magnific Popup A lightweight, performant lightboxThis is a lightbox plugin for jQuery that focuses on being as lightweight and compatible as possible. The developer has concentrated on performance and user experience, so it doesn't have all the features of alternative lightbox plugins, but it is super-fast and works perfectly across a huge range of devices, including High-DPI (Retina) devices such as the MacBook Pro. 15. jQuery Knob Touch-friendly dials that also work on the desktopjQuery Knob takes input elements and converts them into touch-friendly dials that also work on the desktop. This is an excellent example of how you can tailor your content to suit new paradigms, and is worth a look for the technical approach if nothing else. 16. Typeahead.js Handy auto-complete tool built by Twitter's dev teamThe product of Twitter's development team, Type Ahead is an easy-to-implement tool that pulls from a local or external data source as your user types in to an input box, providing auto-complete suggestions as they go. 17. Lettering.js Get fine control over your typeLettering.js provides granular control over individual characters in your type, allowing you to apply kerning, colour individual letters, and apply event-listeners. It also plays nicely with FitText, giving you desktop-style control over your typography while remaining responsive. 18. FitText Automatically scale your text for responsive headlinesThis handy plugin allows you to fill your container's width with your type but automatically scaling the text size up or down to suit. Designed to facilitate responsive headlines, the plugin also integrates with Lettering.js to allow for granular per-character styling. This is an updated version of an article that first appeared on Creative Bloq. Related articles: 12 must-have code testing tools 30 Chrome extensions for web designers and devs The designer's guide to grid theory View the full article

It's the time when love is all around. Maybe you're thinking about asking out a designer you've had your eye on for a while now? Because everybody loves designers, right? How could they not? Well, if you really believe that, then it's time for a dose of unpalatable truth. From obsessing about the worst and best fonts, to caring more about our awesome tattoos than anything else; let's face it, designers can be 'difficult'. Here, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, we present some common designer bad habits that are bound to get you in trouble with your other half if you don't keep them in check. Be honest: does any of this sound like it might be you? 01. You analyse everything Why can't every menu be as elegant as this creation by Nuria Vila, paying homage to the Japanese folding fan?You're on romantic night out in a posh restaurant, away from the hustle and bustle and of everyday life. Your partner toasts to the day you met over a glass of your favourite wine. The waiter hands you the menu but while your other half decides what they're having quickly and efficiently, a mini-ice age passes while you study the choices. But it's not the comparative merits of the steak tartare and the confit duck that's bothering you – it's the kerning! And look at the choice of typeface! This menu design just isn't right, dammit! You wonder how your agency could do it better. Maybe we could make it smaller for a start? The colours need adjusting, too. And what about this awful stock? Appalling. Meanwhile your partner is lightly drumming their fingers, eyes raised, fully aware of what's going on. It's always the same. Can't you just go out for ONE night without over-analysing everything? Of course you can't. You're a designer. The best free graphic design software02. You know who did everything Design is everywhere – and you're sure to point it out every time. Every billboard, every poster, every theatre programme... you know who designed it, and you can't stop yourself from gleefully sharing the information, often with a side order of admiration or jealousy. Most people just want to enjoy what they're looking at without thinking about who made it or how. But can you help yourself? Of course not. You're a designer. 03. Nothing can be normal Why on earth would anyone want a normal lightbulb?"Why can't we just have a normal evening?" your partner cries, when instead of quickly knocking up supper, you start experimenting with the latest flavours and ingredients in a Heston-esque way. And what about the furniture? Why does that chair have no back? And why can't you just have a normal lightbulb rather than those weird Plumens? And what about buying all that food just because the packaging looks ace? All of this is normal, right? Normal to you maybe. But then, you're a designer. 04. You're never actually there You don't really have much time to spend with your partner. You have deadlines to meet, projects to discuss and pubs meetings to go to. If the big project hits, you may not even make it home some nights. What's more, you don't even complain to our boss, or consider getting another job, but take it all in your stride. The long hours are just part of the job – part of the lifestyle. That said, when you next arrive home at midnight to find your partner has packed their bags, will you still be thinking of your cool designer lifestyle? Probably not. 05. You constantly talk about other designers What do you mean, you've never heard of Neville Brody?Gushing over the time you passively inhaled Peter Saville's cigarette smoke at that ever-so-cool independent design festival in Prague is not going to win many hearts. And talking as though you're best buddies with Neville Brody is only going to elicit a shrug from most. In the real world, less than one person in 187* will have actually heard of these designers. But you can't help yourself. You're a designer. These are your heroes and you have to let everyone know just how cool they (and by osmosis, you) are. *This is a guess. Not a fact. 06. You can't stop tinkering When you're at home, you just can't help yourself. You and your partner are both watching a movie, but your mind wanders. You start thinking. Which is always a dangerous thing. Before long the MacBook is on your lap and you're experimenting with Muse and Typekit. You don't need to be, you just want to be. As your partner laughs at the endearing comedy you're both watching, you smile politely as you've just added the Typekit JavaScript into your Muse site prototype. Now that's a blockbuster evening! 07. You can't stop buying 'cool stuff' Where would you be without your Peter Fowler vinyl toy?You know that limited edition vinyl toy by that cool artist – the one you got signed and only cost you £200? It's cool isn't it? And your collection of comics? They are ace. And what about that old letterpress set you bought off eBay and had framed? That was a stroke of genius. And the new iPad Pro. And the iPhone 6S. And the list goes on. You, as a designer, just have to have the cool things you love, no matter the cost. Yes, it can be infuriating for your partner. But they can put up with it, right? 08. You're impossible to buy gifts for Buying gifts for you is a nightmare. You buy everything you want the moment you see it (see point 07). And any gifts you receive are subjected to a scrupulous examination and critique (see point 01). In all honesty, the only gift you'd truly be satisfied with would be a monograph from you favourite designer (the one you mention again and again) – not a reprint but an original of course, out of print but in perfect condition. And signed (even if the designer is dead). And dressed as a character from Star Wars. Yeah, that would work. 09. Everything has to look great. Always. If a things worth doing, it's worth doing with a cool retro fontYour partner is preparing a worksheet for their new teaching job. A cursory glance over their shoulder reveals they're creating it in Microsoft Word. And WHAT ON EARTH is the font they are using? You take it upon yourself to set up a grid in InDesign (which they struggle to use), purchase a display font and design the best ever worksheet on 'Learn your ABC' that there has ever been. The headline font is by Alex Trochut, the body is no longer Arial. It's Helvetica. You've added two hours to your partner's once quick and easy job. But don't worry, the six-year-olds will appreciate the subtle difference in glyphs between the two body fonts. They WILL! 10. Your clothes Look, there's nothing wrong with wanting to look good, and let's not put hipster and designer in the same sentence. Oh, we just did. Related articles: What NOT to get a graphic designer for Christmas The 9 most annoying things every designer does 26 books every graphic designer should read View the full article

When ecommerce software company Shopify moved to its new Ottawa, Canada headquarters in September 2014, we explored the halls like kids on a tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Six floors – totalling 102,000 square feet – are filled with coworking pods, cosy corners and places to put your feet up. Our team worked with a world-class architecture firm to ensure there were workplaces for extroverts and introverts alike. They poured more than 180,000 pounds of concrete to create custom staircases between floors that allow conversations to continue, instead of being cut off by closing elevator doors. Every floor has a different theme, including Canadiana and streetscapes. My favourite nook is the library, nestled on our speakeasy-themed floor. Each meeting room on this floor is named after a cocktail, the exception being the Studio, which is a sound-proof room meant for recording video footage. A new musical instrument seems to appear here each day, turning it into a de facto jam session space as well. Shopify's Director of Design Cynthia Savard Saucier will be presenting a Tragic Design session at Generate NY Sidecar is a pair programming room; a small space for two people to collaborate on a development project. Other rooms range from phone booths to Scandinavian sauna-style arenas. We’re able to book them using Google Calendar, and reservations show up on iPads outside the door. As a company looking to change the future of commerce, Shopify hold onto historical mementos like old-fashioned cash registers to remind us how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go. This room is one small pocket of a bustling office that includes a yoga studio, massage room and fully-staffed kitchen. A home-away-from-home encourages colleagues to engage in conversations that inspire innovation. Tickets for Generate New York 2018 are out now Feeling inspired? Shopify's Director of Design Cynthia Savard will be one of the speakers at our web design event, Generate New York, on 25-27 April 2018. You can view the full lineup in all its glory, and book your tickets now, at generateconf.com. Related articles: 10 inspiring eCommerce websites Advanced Shopify theming techniques you should be using 11 huge web design trends for 2018 View the full article

At the AOI we always say: 'If you don't ask, you don't get.' An initial offer from your client may seem considerable and tempting, but is it the best offer for the kind of work you're about to create? If the answer to that is no, then it might be time to raise the bar and negotiate. Asking questions and negotiating can seem daunting, but becoming confident in doing so is necessary in order to advance your career. And with guides like our one on How to get your pricing right, there's no reason not to feel confident about negotiating a fair price for the work. We asked AOI member Vic Lee to share his experience with negotiation, and why communication and building relationships with clients are so significant to him... 01. Build your confidence first Vic Lee is a London-based illustrator who works in print, packaging, murals and events I began my illustration career by selling screen prints at shows and events, and that gave me the opportunity to meet customers face to face and hear great feedback from them. This experience definitely gave me the confidence to communicate with clients and carry on with my work. Because my murals are bespoke, long-term artworks, I rarely have to negotiate. It's a strange one, as I often expect to do so on larger works, but murals are, I find, often agreed (or not) from a first quote, whereas commercial work is more negotiable. I do find that when some design agencies are quoting for a client, their budgets are low and non-negotiable, and that can be frustrating; it can feel like they don't fully recognise the skills involved when they are commissioning you. 02. Know when to walk away One of the most important aspects for me is the level of fulfilment on a project. If a job comes in and it's too tight or unreasonable, I will simply walk away. It's tough at the beginning to say no, as you think this will lose you work, or you will never earn anything ever again, but you have to value your own self-worth. Being able to hold my ground means other jobs come in that are even better. On average I get two or three requests for work a week, from packaging to murals, campaigns to tattoos. 03. Build a relationship For me, the most important thing is to have a relationship with a client. I am a chatty chap, so never just turn up and 'do the job'. For me it's about understanding a client and what they want. I also realise that in certain circumstances, it's not about money, but forming a relationship. You need to see the bigger picture rather than the here and now. 04. Follow the magic formula Vic's client list includes Virgin Atlantic, Nike, The Famous Grouse and, as seen here, Credit Karma I think the best way to achieve balance in general when working with clients is by using the following 'formula': client + usage + skills + honesty = great possibilities. Through this formula I have worked with some incredible clients who value my work, and I have been honoured to work with them. Unsure on how to negotiate with a client? The AOI can help; join today! This article was originally published in issue 272 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 272 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Related articles: The 23 best Illustrator brushes How to negotiate better fees 4 ways to cash in as a freelancer View the full article

Many of this month's tools focus on the little things: finding shortcuts, dealing with special characters, digitising your sketches, and improving collaboration between designers and developers. On top of that, there's a free video series on learning React, a hub for startup knowledge from Google, and a few other things that will generally make your life easier when building websites. Let's get started! 01. React starter kit from Glitch Learn React with this fantastic video series Free Thinking of learning React? This is a great way to get into it. Glitch is an app-building community that includes a browser-based code editor and instant hosting and deployment so you can get started making apps without worrying about any of those things. The React starter kit is a five-part video course with interactive code examples that helps you to learn React from within the Glitch environment. 02. Startup with Google Resource hub for startup founders, from Google Free If you're starting a business, this hub of information and resources from Google is well worth your attention. It will help you find the right software tools; give you information about best practices for hiring people, leading your team and marketing your product; offer inspiring insights from successful leaders; and connect you with communities that will help drive you forward. 03. Whatruns Every single bit of tech powering a site, laid bare Free Whatruns is a browser extension that gives you a detailed report of all the technologies that are running a particular website. That includes the CDN, WordPress theme, JavaScript frameworks... everything. Use it to find out what's popular right now, what's no longer in favour, and what's powering your favourite sites. 04. Shortcuts.design Bookmark this one so you'll never be stuck for shortcuts Free This extremely handy site lists every keyboard shortcut for all the commonly used tools. It's split into sections: design (covering Sketch, Photoshop, Illustrator, InVision et al), development (Sublime Text and WordPress so far, with more including GitHub in the pipeline) and miscellaneous (macOS, with Slack and Google Chrome coming soon). While there are lots of tools still to be added, there's a mine of handy shortcuts already listed. Well worth bookmarking. 05. Froala Design Blocks Throw a prototype together quickly using established design patterns Free There's a lot of talk right now about websites looking samey, but there is a strong case for using tried and tested design patterns – people know how to use them, and if your client wants evidence, there's plenty of user testing that shows them to be effective. With this is mind, resources like Froala Design Blocks are great for putting sites together quickly. There are over 170 design blocks that you can assemble into a great-looking, responsive site. It's completely free and based on Bootstrap. 06. CopyChar Another one for your bookmarks - it's the best place to grab special characters Free Bookmark this site and fire it up when you need a special character or glyph - just one click and it's on your clipboard. 07. Flow Lets designers export code, saving devs a task Pay What You Want Flow has been created to ease collaboration between designers and developers by providing a way to make animations by importing Sketch designs and then exporting code that can be handed over to a developer. It removes some of the potential for miscommunication and streamlines the handover process. 08. Mini Dot Grid Bullet Journal Great notebooks for professional sketchers £9 If you like to sketch ideas while you're out and about, you need a good notebook. The Mini Dot Grid Bullet Journal is created with professionals in mind; it's got thick pages so you can use ink without much show-through, it opens flat so it's comfortable to use and the cover is hard and water resistant. There is of course a range of sizes if you're looking for something a bit bigger. 09. Tracy Digitise paper sketches with your phone Free When it's time to transfer some wireframes from your notebook to your screen, this is quite a good way. Scan the QR code with your phone or tablet, then photograph the sketches you want to digitise. Tracy then converts your lines to vectors in SVG format. 10. Siftery Product Alternatives What do people switch to when they stop using your product? Free Siftery Product Alternatives uses a large dataset to tell you what products companies typically switch to when they stop using something. It's useful to help you understand the needs of customers switching away from your product, and might also be useful if you're looking for an alternative to a product you use that isn't meeting your requirements. Liked this? Read these: The best Christmas gifts for web designers 28 outstanding examples of CSS 3 ways to create website mockups View the full article

Creating exaggerated male characters is all about exaggeration, pushing the shapes, fun, motion and camera angle to the limit. A character design with cool shapes, interesting colour choices and fun silhouettes creates a strong first impression, which is going to make your image stand out from the crowd, drawing the audience in. Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to ImagineFX magazine If you focus too much on the little details, particularly the theme and story of your creation, then there's a chance of neglecting the importance of its overall appearance. In this workshop I'll talk about the methods I frequently use. In addition to the techniques I'll discuss, I'll also share my thought process while designing characters. I hope you'll be able to learn something from this. Watch the video below, then follow the written steps below that. Download the custom brushes for this tutorial. 01. Sketch and flip Flip your canvas to ensure that your composition works I decide to draw an archer. During sketching, I tend to prioritise the character's silhouette and pose. I prefer exploring it with line art instead of blocking out the shapes with solid colour brushes, so I can explore the details of the character at the same time. Remember to flip your canvas often to make sure the composition isn't off key. I use Photoshop's Wrap tool (Edit>Transform>Wrap) to make larger-scale shape adjustments. 02. Develop your idea Keep trying different ideas until you find a composition that works I think about how the sketch looks on a plain background, and try to create an interesting composition to sell the character. It often takes me quite a long time to find a pose/composition that I'm completely happy with. After finalising the character pose, it's mostly about applying more details and deciding what element to use in the execution. It's a lot of fun exploring the design of the headpiece during this stage. 03. Make a selection Photoshop's Polygonal Lasso tool works best with lots of straight lines Feel free to use whichever selection tool you're comfortable with: Lasso, Quick Selection, Magic Wand and so on. In this case, I use Photoshop's Polygonal Lasso tool because there are a lot of straight lines and hard edges in my character sketch. After the selection, I create another layer under my line art layer and fill the selected area with grey. Then I select Create Clipping Mask from the Layer drop-down menu. This makes the grey colour layer act as a mask. I keep the bow on a separate layer. 04. Define the base colour Creating separate base colour layers makes it easier to do colour variations later I then create layers for base colours (each layer consists of one or two similar colours) under the line art layer. After that, I make adjustments to each layer using the Hue/Saturation tool until I'm happy with the result. I find this method convenient and enjoyable, especially when you want to do colour variations for your character. 05. Add shadows and finalise colours Add shadows on a layer with the blending mode set to Multiply I create another layer on top of the base colour layers and set the blending mode to Multiply. I use a colour with 50 per cent Lightness and low saturation for this shadow layer. Using a brush with varied Opacity, I can create different shades of shadow. (You can always create another Multiply layer on top if you need more depth on the shadow.) After some adjustments on base colour layers, I merge all the layers together. Then I make another colour adjustment using Color Balance (Image>Adjustment>Color Balance). This is primarily to unify the overall colour. 06. Render the face first Start rendering the face first, as it can inform the rest of your image From here it's all about rendering the whole image. I love to start from the face because it's the most important part of a character. I think the face has the biggest influence over the art style and it determines the direction you are going for (funny, serious, cool, cute…). To lighten up a certain area, I use the Dodge tool with my Noise brush, which gives the area some noise texture. 07. Render masks and arms Hands are an important focal point, so pay close attention to them Because this is a Japanese-themed character, I emphasise the design of the ghost masks on his head and waist. I give the eyes on the mask top of his head a glossy surface to make the mask look lively. The mask on his waist is actually his belt buckle. To me, hands are important. Much like the face, they're the areas of a figure that the viewer will focus on, especially in a composition like this where most of the body parts are obscured. 08. Render further With your whole character on one layer you can lock transparent pixels for easier painting I render the rest of the character. At this stage I only focus on polishing the surfaces and cleaning the outlines. Having the whole character on a single layer enables me to make shape adjustment using the Warp and Liquify tools. Crucially, I can lock transparent pixels on it, which is a huge help, especially when I'm painting the sharp edges of my character. I use the Smudge tool to blend colours on bigger surfaces. 09. Duplicate the arrows Save time by duplicating repeated items - but make small changes to them Digital art comes into its own when it comes to repeated items (in this case, the arrow fletches). I simply paint the one that's on top of his head and duplicate it for the rest. But make sure you make some changes after duplicating them, so they're not identical. Furthermore, add some volume to the thin surfaces such as the feathers, fabric and strings so that they don't look too flat. 10. Be selective with small details Try not to overdo little elements like scratches and wrinkles Now that I have all the lines and rough surfaces cleaned up, it's time to apply smaller details and patterning to the character. Elements such as scratches on hard surfaces and wrinkles on fabric are useful, but try not to overdo them. It's fine to leave some big surfaces blank: these empty spaces will set the small details off, by making them more noticeable. 11. Cast a shadow or two Well-placed shadows will make your character look more solid and convincing Let's not forget about the shadows cast by the objects we just added. Correctly placed cast shadows are important because they help make your image look more convincing. Next, I divide the objects into different visual planes to create greater depth of field for the image. For example, the character's right arm is in the foreground so its colour should be more solid compared to his right leg. 12. Adjust the brightness Here's a clever way to bring out the focal points of your character At this stage I'm pretty satisfied with the character. But taking a step back from the image I realise that the focus of the image is no longer on the points that I originally had in mind. To fix this, first I duplicate the character layer and lower its brightness and saturation. After that, with a Soft-edge brush, I erase the areas that I want to pop. The same applies to the bow layer. 13. Add a simple background Add a simple background that draws attention to the face area To draw attention to the face area, I create a simple background with a bright circle behind his head. I also add cast shadows on the ground to solidify the image. 14. Finish up A few bits of final tweaking and you're done To wrap things up, I apply a bit of contrast and atmospheric lighting on the character to make the scene more interesting. I also rasterise the Layer style, use the Smudge tool to blur some areas at the back and apply a noise filter. This article was originally published in issue 153 of ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists – packed with workshops and interviews with fantasy and sci-fi artists, plus must-have kit reviews. Buy issue 153 here or subscribe to ImagineFX here. Special Christmas offer: Save up to 47% on a subscription to ImagineFX magazine for you or a friend for Christmas. It's a limited offer, so move quickly... Related articles: Draw a figure in under five minutes 5 key trends in character design How to draw manga characters View the full article

Scalable Vector Graphics are now universally supported across all browsers (desktop and mobile) . Here's our guide to what they are, and how to design and implement them in your web design work. First, here are eight reasons why you should be using SVG: 01. Vectors are crisp SVG uses a coordinate plotting system to plot points and connect them to draw lines, shapes or paths. Vector graphics are drawn using mathematics, meaning they're sharp and crisp, not pixelating like other image formats, making them great for logos, icons and illustrations. SVG has a number of other features, too – with filters, patterns, gradients and masking and the 'viewBox' property for framing the scene – and they're all animatable. SVG is extremely versatile and supported by all browsers going all the way back to IE9. 02. It's got a navigable DOM SVG inside the browser has its own DOM. SVG is treated as a separate document by the browser and then positioned inside the normal DOM of the page. This is important for the 'viewBox' property as we can draw our image on a canvas of any size, but then display it in browser at another, all without updating the properties inside the SVG. This separate, navigable DOM is also how we interact with elements inside SVG using CSS and Javascript. 03. It's accessible SVG has tags built specifically for accessibility, the main one being the '<title>' tag. The title tag along with the '<desc>' tag should be used to provide fallback content for screen readers. The contents of these tags won't be displayed by the browser but they will be exposed to the browsers accessibility API. You can (and should) also use the correct ARIA properties where applicable, for example if you're hiding an SVG element. 04. It's resolution independent and responsive The classic Coca-Cola logo rendered at different adaptive sizes Due to the vector nature of SVG, the image is resolution independent. The image looks crisp on any display from the beautiful ~285 ppi pixel density displays found on new smart phones to the ~85 ppi of standard monitors. Using SVG we can stop creating '@2x.png' images (unless you need to support IE8) and create one file for all of our icons (more on this later). SVG images can also be scaled the same way we scale all other elements in responsive design. 05. It's animatable Elements inside SVG can be animated to create some truly amazing interactive experiences or the animation can be used to add nice little touches to an interface, image or icon. Animation can be created using CSS, the Web Animations API in Javascript or using the SVG's '<animate>' tag. SVG animation is at an interesting point in development. Google deprecated SMIL – SVG's animate tag – in Chrome 45 in favour of CSS animations and the Web Animations API but has since suspended the deprecation. 06. It's style-able Using class names or ID's you can style elements inside of SVG only using slightly different properties to those we would normally use; instead of 'color' we use 'fill', and instead of border we use 'stroke`. There are some limits to styling SVG these come from how you're using SVG in the page. If you use an SVG as an image tag you will not be able to style the elements inside in Internet Explorer, there is, however, a polyfill – svg4everybody – which will fix this problem. 07. It's interactive Using Javascript we can interact with elements inside of SVG, thanks to the navigable DOM. This allows us to create interactive elements using SVG the same way we would with HTML and CSS. We can also apply animations through Javascript using the new Web Animations API allowing both simple and complex interactions and animations to be programmed. There's also a number of Javascript libraries we can use, which have been created to speed up SVG workflows. 08. Its file sizes can be small A combination of intelligent hand-editing and post-production optimisation can reduce SVG file sizes markedly Due to the vector nature of SVG (being an image drawn from a set of coordinates) their file sizes when optimised are small when compared to almost any other image file type. There are a number of ways to optimise SVG from command line tools to manually removing points and groups but SVGOMG has a GUI and plenty of options to tweak showing you visually the changes being made during optimisation. Since SVG's can be responsive, animated and complex there's no reason you shouldn't use them for big hero images or images on a blog post or other online media. Next: How to use SVG How to use SVG There are a number of ways to use SVG on the web; browser support is very good with support only lacking in IE8 and below, and really early versions of the Android browser. It's safe to use it, so we should be using it! By using SVG you're sending the instructions of how to draw something to the browser instead of the drawn thing itself. There are plenty of sites where you can source SVG images; if you're after icons or logos, try SVG Porn The image tag You can embed an SVG image into the page the same way you do any other image using the HTML image tag; Embedding the image into the page this way will assume the size of original SVG file unless you specify a width and height attribute in HTML or via CSS. Using the image tag is good for logos and other content when you need screen readers to have access to the alt attribute. You can provide fallbacks for when SVG isn't supported using Modernizr to swap in a PNG. CSS Background Image You can also embed an SVG image into the page in CSS, using the same method as you would to attach any other kind of image to an element; By using the SVG this way we can take advantage of the other CSS background properties allowing us to size, position and repeat our image as the background of an element. To provide support we can use a trick in the way CSS is parsed by the browser and provide a fallback PNG right before we include our SVG. Inline SVG SVG can be written inline, straight into the document using the SVG tag; Since SVG is scalable (it's in the name) if we provide the tag without the width and height attributes the SVG will grow to the size of the container. By writing our SVG into the page we could remove the fill from the inline SVG and style it in CSS; Fallbacks for using this method again rely on providing a PNG fallback and using Modernizr to detect support. The only other disadvantage is that inline SVG – being markup – will not be cached by the browser. As an object You can also embed SVG as an object or iframe which will utilise the browsers cache but will maintain the style-ability of the SVG. Next: Writing SVG for the web Writing SVG for the web : a synchronised audio and graphic animation combining SVG, JavaScript and a simulated 'camera' As SVG is an XML language it looks very similar to HTML, where tags are nested, and it is written using those recognisable angled brackets. Even though most of the time you'll likely be using software to output your SVGs, it's still worth learning the basic tags. Learning these tags will allow you optimise and make quick adjustments to any element in your SVG. You'll likely need this knowledge to utilise filters, effects, patterns, masks and animation. SVG gives designers the abilities they once had with the soon-to-be-defunct Flash. But, this time around, the content is accessible to screen readers and supported natively within the browser. Basic Shape Tags SVG has tags for all of the basic shapes; rectangles and squares ('<rect>'), circles ('<circle>'), ellipse ('<ellipse>'), line ('<line>'), polyline ('<polyline>'), polygon ('<polygon>') and path ('<path>'). These tags are used to create most elements inside SVG. Text Tag The text tag ('<text>') is used to create text inside of SVG, which will be selectable and accessible just like any text in HTML. Accessibility Tags The title ('<title>') and description ('<desc>') tags are specifically for providing accessibility content and will not be rendered on the screen. Group Tag The group tag ('<g>') is very useful in SVG. This tag is used to group elements together allowing you to add class names and apply animations, filters, patterns and effects to a group of elements. Defs Tag The defs tag ('<defs>') is used to define elements for later reuse. This is where you create patterns, filters and masks to be reused later. This is also used to create icon systems. How to set SVG up for the web from Vincent Hardy combines SVG, web fonts and the audio tag to create a visually pleasing animation of lyrics 01. Export the SVG Export the file from your graphics editor, we'll be using a simple landscape drawing in SVG created by Steven Roberts. Both Sketch and Illustrator will export images as an SVG as well as many other editors. 02. Trim the fat After you've exported the file open it in your choice of IDE or text editor. From here you can remove the unwanted tags and comments and update the accessibility tags. 03. SVGO SVGO is a optimisation tool that runs on the command line, this tool is really useful and has a number of options available to the user to choose how to best optimise any given SVG. 04. SVGOMG The only problem with SVGO is that you cannot see if the changes you're making during optimisation are making visual changes to the image. SVGOMG runs in the browser and visually shows you the changes you're making. 05. Optimise Using the web app you need to import the SVG either the file or by copying the markup from the editor and pasting it in. From here you're presented with a multitude of options allowing you to quickly turn them on and off while visually seeing the changes being made. 06. Export the file again The more you play with SVG and depending on your intentions for any particular SVG you will want the settings to differ slightly. The editor shows you how much the file size has changed right next to the download button. Once you're happy with the settings click the download button to export the file. Next: SVG filters and effects SVG filters and effects Microsoft has created a site where you can try out SVG filters and effects live Filters in SVG are usually created inside the '<defs>' element and given an ID for referencing later, this can be as an attribute on an SVG element or defined in CSS. Filters in SVG are powerful and can be used to produce some truly stunning effects! In order to use a filter in SVG we use the '<filter>' element. Inside of this element we have a number of tools available to us; Blend, Colour Matrix, Component Transfer, Composite, Convolve Matrix, Diffuse Lighting, Displacement Map, Flood, Gaussian Blur, Image, Merge, Morphology, Offset, Specular Lighting, Tile and Turbulence. These are called filter primitives. An SVG filter is made up using a number of these filter primitives. A filter primitive has one or two inputs and one output. For the input we have a number of options available to us to due to browser support the main two are; SourceGraphic The whole source graphic (can be text, shapes, path, etc), another element inside SVG complete with colours, fills and other styles. SourceAlpha Only the opaque parts of the alpha channel from the source graphic (essentially the element but filled black without any styles). We'll take a look at a few of the filter primitives available to us below and cover basic usage. Filters in SVG can be complicated, we'll only be covering the basics. Blur The blur filter primitive can be used to apply blurring to an element. The filter primitive is created using the '<feGaussianBlur>' element and the amount of blurring is controlled using the 'stdDeviation' attribute. <feGaussianBlur stdDeviation="25" /> Offset The offset filter primitive can be used to position elements at an offset of their source. The filter primitive is created using the '<feOffset>' element and controlled using the 'dx' and 'dy' attributes. These attributes specify the x and y amounts of the offset. This filter is often combined with blurring to create a drop shadow. <feOffset dx="15" dy="15" /> Colour Matrix The colour matrix filter primitive can be used to perform a number of colour transformations. The filter primitive is created using the '<feColorMatrix>' element and controlled using the 'type' and 'values' attributes. <feColorMatrix type="hueRotate" values="171" /> Turbulence The turbulence filter primitive can be used to generate noise and artificial textures. The filter primitive is created using the '<feTurbulence>' element and controlled using a number of attributes. <feTurbulence type="turbulence" baseFrequency="0.05" numOctaves="2" result="turbulence"/> Morphology The morphology filter primitive can be used to erode or dilate an element. The filter primitive is created using the '<feMorphology>' elements and is controlled using the 'operator' and 'radius' attributes. This filter is often used for thinning or flattening. <feMorphology operator="erode" radius="1"/> <feMorphology operator="dilate" radius="1"/> How to create a filter 01. Find the moon In order to apply our filter once we've created it we need to find the moon in the DOM. We find the correct element using devtools then apply a class name to it. 02. Create the filter Inside the 'defs' tag we can create our filter using the filter element. Inside of our filter we'll use the feTurbulence element to generate our noise. 03. Create a pattern element In order to use our noise filter as a fill for an element we create a pattern element. We create this inside of the 'defs' tag making sure to give the pattern a unique ID. 04. Drawing the pattern Inside of our pattern element we need to crate some two rectangles. We'll start by creating the background. 05. Finish the pattern After our background rectangle we create a second one this time applying the filter and changing the opacity. 06. Apply pattern to the moon Now we've created the filter and applied it to our pattern, the only thing left to do is apply it to our chosen element. In this case we'll apply it using CSS but we could just as easily apply the filter inline. Next: Add animation to SVG Web Animations API Animation on the web has always been possible through the use of Flash, jQuery, CSS or SMIL. The Web Animations API aims to achieve a mixture of all of these by using the power and simplicity of CSS animations and the flexibility of Javascript to interact with elements on the page, including SVG, leaving the browser to deal with performance. Whether you're animating in CSS or Javascript, they will both harness the power of the same underlying engine. Complex animation For simple animations the Web Animations API in Javascript is sufficient and although it is capable of complex animations there are a number of libraries you can use to speed up your workflow and again easier cross browser support. The standard is GSAP; having been around for ten years now, these libraries are mature and battle tested with many award winning websites and animations utilising them. How to create SVG animation 01. Edit the SVG In order to target the stars to animate them we'll need to edit the SVG to add a class to the group containing the stars. We can identify this group using devtools. 02. Set the default opacity If we were to leave the opacity set to the default of 1 the stars would all be bright to begin with. Setting them to '0.3' will fade them by default and set a default opacity. 03. Create the animation Next, we need to create our animated blinking effect. Since we've already set the default opacity our keyframe animation will only need to change at the middle point. 04. Apply the animation In order to apply animation we target the stars group and then the path's inside of it and apply our animation. This will apply the same animation which is fine except they all blink at the same time. 05. nth:child To stop all of the stars blinking at the same time we can use nth-child to target groups of stars. We will use '8n' in order to target every eighth star. 06. Delays Since we're only targeting every 8th star with our nth-child selector we need to provide the remaining stars using the nth-child and then taking a number away all the way up to '- 7'. Each time we do this we increase the delay of the animation to stagger the blinking. Next: The power of sprites The power of sprites SVG allows us to create icons in a file format that is resolution independent, which is awesome, but due to the limitations of the HTTP protocol we don't want to make another file request for every icon in our website, this will soon be changing with the HTTP/2 protocol. In order to avoid having to make a separate request for each icon we can go back to our old friend the sprite, except this time in SVG. To create a sprite in SVG we use the '<symbol>' tag and apply an ID for referencing later and the 'viewBox' attribute for defining the canvas size. Inside of the symbol icon we create our shapes, text and any other elements that make up our icon. Inside of the symbol tag we can also add additional elements for accessibility, such as the '<title>' and '<desc>' tags. We create our icons inside of a '<defs>' tag in order to define them for later use and to ensure they're not output onto the page. There are a number of ways you can create sprites in SVG. They can be created using vector software – such as Adobe Illustrator or Sketch – by simply placing the icons onto an art board and exporting the file as an SVG. However, the code they produce needs some editing in order to use as an icon system. Another way is to create an icon system manually. This isn't too difficult and you have complete control over the markup. SVG sprites can also be incorporated into build systems like gulp or grunt, whereby you choose a folder containing SVG files and configure the build to output a single SVG sprite. Once we've created or generated our SVG sprite there's a couple ways we can use it. We could copy the contents of the file and put it at the top of our page, this is called inlining or if we're using php we could use the 'file_get_contents()' function to include the file globally. The only downside is that the file will not be cached because it's treated as code by the browser and not an image. How to create an SVG sprite 01. Create the framework For this tutorial we'll be placing the SVG inside the body of the website, but we'll see how it works using the file externally. The basic code requires an SVG tag and the empty '<defs>' tag. 02. Create our symbol Inside the '<defs>' tag we'll create our first icon using the symbol tag, we need to give the icon the ID and 'viewBox' attributes. Inside we'll provide a title and shapes to make up our icon. 03. Repeat Now we've created our first icon we'll do the same for the rest of them. Making sure to provide a unique ID and include the 'viewBox' attribute. 04. Use the icon Now we've defined all of our icons, we can pull them out and use them on the page wherever we need them. In order to use the sprite as an external file we need to update the use element to reference the file and then the ID. 05. Class names We can repeat the previous step in order to output all of our icons. If we wrap an '<a>' tag around the icon and add classes to both the '<a>' and '<svg>' we can style our icons with CSS. 06. The CSS Now we have our icons and they have individual class names we can apply different fill colours to each of our icons. This article was originally published in issue 267 of Web Designer, the creative web design magazine – offering expert tutorials, cutting-edge trends and free resources. Subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: Create and animate SVG polygons Supercharge SVG animations with GSAP Explore the exciting new features in SVG 2 View the full article

In the spirit of festive giving, a campaign has launched that offers fledgling creatives the chance to have their design portfolio roasted like a Christmas turkey by a leading industry pro. Merry Critmas invites designers (depending on their experience) to either submit their book for critique, or offer their expertise to review a budding creative's work – and it has already attracted some massive names. Father Critmas will see you now Among the picky elves already signed up are head creatives from agencies including BBH, Ogilvy & Mather, AKQA, Adweek and BBDO, as well as former D&AD president Bruce Duckworth himself. There's also an intriguing option to send your portfolio directly to Father Critmas (identity unconfirmed), which is apparently only for the 'extremely brave'. While you'll have spotted there are a lot of big advertising names in the pot, Critmas is open to undiscovered talent of all kinds – film-makers, designers, illustrators and more. You can sign up as a solo designer or as part of a team. You can't choose who you get paired up with, but the Critmas team is aiming to get everyone matched up. So barring a festive fiasco, if you submit your book, you'll have it critiqued. This campaign is in its second year (see what happened last year in this video), and it's the brainchild of Trunk, a global content agency based in Manchester. The team has thrown itself into the campaign with impressive enthusiasm, putting together (and we suspect, starring in) a chilling, It-referencing trailer video that asks fledgling designers: What are you afraid of? "We were amazed by the amount of sign-ups we had last year and the opportunities it helped to create for junior creatives," says Nick Entwistle, creative director of Trunk and founder of One Minute Briefs. "Due to public demand, we brought back Father Critmas in a bigger, badder and better way. "In his own kind way, he brutally murders creatives' portfolios to help better them for their future careers and he has got creative directors from the best agencies around the globe to help him (although they probably aren’t quite so harsh)." Do you dare sign up for a Christmas crit? If you need a few moments to muster up the courage to submit your work, you can also have a go at 'Critmas Tosser' – a short game of throwing designers' work into floating rubbish bins. Take a moment to appreciate the offensive in-game office decor and hang your head in shame at the abusive comments on your performance ('7: Awful. Absolutely awful.'). Over 100 senior and junior creatives are signed up already. If you're a designer keen to avoid serving up a turkey to your next client, or an established creative looking to give the gift of savage feedback this Christmas, get involved now. Read more: 10 best Christmas ads 2017 How to craft a standout portfolio The best boozy Christmas ad campaigns View the full article

Graphic designers know their way around Adobe's Creative Cloud apps Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. They are the applications experts rely on and are packed with tools to help make your work truly shine. You can master these programs with the Graphic Design Certification School. Get it on sale now for just $39 (approx. £29)! Adobe's suite of creative apps have become essential tools for bringing digital art to life, and you can learn why experts love these tools with the Graphic Design Certification School. This bundle of three courses will teach you how to make the most of Adobe's powerful design tools Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. You'll get lifetime access to expert-taught lessons that will show you how to take your ideas and bring them to life on screen. You can also get certifications to prove your skills after each course you complete. The Graphic Design Certification School is valued at over $1,197, but you can get this incredible bundle of courses on sale for just $39 (approx. £29). It's a deal you won't want to miss, so grab it while you can. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: 60 best free fonts for designers The best laptops for graphic design The best MacBook deals for Christmas 2017 View the full article

It used to be said that everyone has a book in them, but these days, it might be more appropriate to argue everyone has a viral blog post in them. Plenty of people retain a thirst for more thoughtful writing than a Tweet can afford, and these are the best blogging platforms to use. There's something about having a space that's properly yours, potentially free from the distractions of a billion adverts and countless competing status updates. And the best thing is, there are a load of free blog sites out there to get you started. In this round-up, we explore 14 of the best blogging platforms for newcomers who want to get a free blog up and running. 01. Wix Wix's drag-and-drop system is made with HTML5 in mindIf HTML5 matters to you then Wix is well worth a look; it claims to be the only drag-and-drop site-building platform with HTML5 capabilities. On top of that you'll find over 500 designer-made templates as well as plenty of additional features and apps, along top-grade hosting so you can rest assured your site will be there when you need it. You get 500MB storage and 1GB bandwidth with a free Wix account; if you need more – plus other features like your own domain, and online store and Google Analytics – then take a look at its premium plans. 02. Yola Yola boasts flexible layouts and no third-party adsYola limits you a bit if you have grand plans for your blog – you can only have two sites and three web pages with its free plan – but the upside is a healthy 1GB of storage and bandwidth, and your site won't be littered with unsightly third-party ads. Getting started is easy, with dozens of customisable templates to choose from, a straightforward site builder for putting everything together, flexible layouts and drag-and-drop widgets, and if you have the skills then you can edit your CSS in order to fine-tune your site's look. 03. Contentful Call your content into any design with the Contentful APINobody knows how they're going to want to display their articles a few years down the line, so Contentful provides a way to separate your content from your design. It calls this an "API-first" approach, so your content is stored on its servers and you can call it into any design or platform as you like. So if you want to build a completely different site in a few years time, it's easy to bring everything in as it's set up to be portable from the start. 04. Jekyll Make static sites with JekyllJekyll takes your raw text files, which may be written in Markdown, if you like, and turns them into a robust static site to host wherever you want. It's the engine behind GitHub Pages, which means you can host your blog on there for free. Making your blog with Jekyll avoids the need to work with technicalities such as databases, upgrades and so on, so there are fewer things to go wrong, and you can build something completely from scratch. 05. WordPress WordPress is the most popular free blogging platformIf the folks over at WordPress are to be believed (and they seem suitably trustworthy sorts), it now 'powers' over a fifth of the internet. It's easy to see why: on WordPress.com, you can rapidly create a new blog entirely for free, with a reasonable amount of customisation. Alternatively, most web hosts provide WordPress as a free single-click install, and more information on what's possible there can be found at WordPress.org. Newcomers might find WordPress a touch bewildering initially, but it's the best free option for anyone wanting a great mix of power, customisation and usability. To help you out, we've rounded up the best WordPress tutorials and the best free WordPress themes to get you started. 06. Tumblr Tumblr is one of the easiest free blogging platforms to useTo some extent, Tumblr feels a bit like a halfway house between WordPress and Twitter. It offers more scope than the latter, but tends to favour rather more succinct output than the former. Decent mobile apps make it easy to submit content to a Tumblr blog from anywhere, though, and it's reasonably easy to customise your theme to make it your own. Tumblr also has a strong social undercurrent, via a following model combined with notes and favourites. Although be mindful that the service has quite a few porn bots lumbering about, which may give the faint-of-heart a bit of a shock should they check every favourite off of their posts. 07. Blogger Blogger is one of the longest running free blogging platforms on the webYou'd hope with a name like 'Blogger' that Blogger would be a decent free service for blogging. Fortunately, it is. Sign in with your Google ID, and you can have a blog up and running in seconds, which can then be customised with new themes. It is, however, a Google service, so be a touch wary, given how abruptly that company sometimes shuts things down that millions of people were happily using. 08. Medium Medium is a free blogging platform set up by Twitter's foundersMedium is the brainchild of Twitter's founders, and appears to be their attempt to do for 'longreads' what they once did for microblogging. The result is a socially-oriented place that emphasises writing, although within an extremely locked-down set-up. It's a place to blog if you want your words to be taken seriously, and if you favour a polished, streamlined experience. But if you're big on customisation and control, look elsewhere. 09. Svbtle Svbtle is a stripped-back free blogging platform for longform writing Describing itself as a "blogging platform designed to help you think", Svbtle is fairly similar to Medium in approach. It again strips everything right back, resulting in a bold, stylish experience that pushes words to the fore. It could easily become your favourite blogging platform for the act of writing, but it again relies on you also wanting something extremely simple and not caring a jot about customisation. 10. LiveJournal LiveJournal combines blog and social networking One of the veterans of this list, LiveJournal (like Blogger) started life in 1999. Perhaps because of its age, it rather blurs the lines (the site says "wilfully") between blogging and social networking. The result is more of a community that affords you your own space, but that also very much encourages communal interaction. It is possible to fashion something more private, but to get the most out of LiveJournal, you need to be prepared to delve into discussion as much as writing. 11. Weebly Weebly is a website creation tool that includes free blogging templates Weebly bills itself more as a website-creation system than something for solely creating a blog. It's based around drag-and-drop components, which enable you to quickly create new pages. However, blogging is also part of the system, and you get access to customisable layouts, a bunch of free themes, and the usual sharing features you'd expect, to spread your words far and wide. 12. Postach.io Postach.io is a free blogging platform from the creators of Evernote Postach.io claims it's the "easiest way to blog". It's from the people behind Evernote, and, naturally, is deeply integrated into their system. Essentially, you just connect a notebook to Postach.io and then tag notes as 'published' to make them public. However, you get some customisation, too, including a bunch of themes, the means to embed content from other sites, Disqus commenting, and the option to instead use Dropbox for storing content. 13. Pen.io Pen.io is one of the only free blogging platforms you don't need a login forPen.io's approach is also rather different from its contemporaries. Unusually, it doesn't require a login – instead, you define a URL for a post and set a password. Images can be dragged into place, and you can create multi-page posts using a tag. And that's about it. Really, it's a stretch to call Pen.io a blog in the traditional sense, but it's a decent option for banging out the odd sporadic post, especially if you don't want any personal info stored. 14. Ghost Open source platform Ghost is free if you install it on your own system Something slightly different for our final entry. Unlike the others on this list, Ghost is only free if you download and install it yourself; use the Ghost site and you pay on the basis of traffic. However, this system differentiates itself in other important ways: it's entirely open source, and while writing you get a live preview of how your post will end up. You need to be technically minded for this one, then, but it's a worthy alternative to WordPress if you're happy to get your hands dirty and have your own web space that's awaiting a blog. Contributions: Jim McCauley Related articles: 21 top-quality WordPress portfolio themes The 40 best free web fonts 38 brilliantly designed 404 error pages View the full article

Design is a problem-solving process. It’s up to the creative to use their brain to come up with the best solution for the client’s brief, and if they can do that with their signature flourish, on time and on budget, everyone’s happy. Sometimes though, design ideas are just plain wrong for the brief that’s been set. Not just wrong, either, they’re so incorrect that you’re left wondering why the work got signed off in the first place. These are design fails, examples of creative misfires that are both hilarious and educational. After all, one designer’s misfortune is another designer’s free lesson on how not approach a creative problem. We’ve rounded up five catastrophic design fails to save you from future humiliation (and make you laugh). 01. Tesco buttermilk carton One to keep on the top shelf This is definitely one of those 'once you see it you can’t un-see it' design fails. It might look like a perfectly ordinary illustration for a piece of own-brand value packaging, but once you focus on the negative space in the image you see a certain body part you don’t want on a buttermilk carton. Created by Oisín Hurst, creative director at wondr.io, this mishap was one of his first commissions (read more about the mishap here). Crucially, Hurst designed it on a flat keyline and didn’t think to mock up the illustration. As he says, it’s only buttermilk, “what could go wrong?” Well, the carton could go down as one of the biggest packaging blunders to be picked up by the internet. The too-good-to-be-true packaging crease on the image above only serves to add insult to injury. To avoid the same fate as Hurst, remember to step back from your design occasionally (or get others to give it a once-over) and allow yourself enough time to revise the design before you send it off. Even an apparently everyday commission could come back to haunt you... 02. BelleChic tote bag Your favourite colour is... who? Whenever you’re working with typography it’s paramount that the message can't be misinterpreted (unless that's what you're going for, of course). Unfortunately, this tote bag for online fashion store BelleChic put design above functionality. The concept is there for sure, it just doesn’t stick the landing. Picking out the word ‘glitter’ with a suitably glittery piece of typography makes perfect sense in this context, however the unfortunate cursive font choice turns the design into something altogether more sinister. As the internet was keen to point out, this piece of word art makes the word glitter look a lot like the word Hitler if you read it quickly. Let this tote bag stand as a warning from design history: keep your typography clear by making sure you don’t compound an elaborate font with a tricky to read print material. 03. Ready Player One poster So right it's wrong Unlike the two designs above, it’s difficult to decide if this poster for Ready Player One fails or whether it’s too right for its own good. The problem has nothing to do with the logo, which itself does a good job of incorporating the theme of the film while still making the title clear - something BelleChic could learn from. Instead, there’s something a bit off about the character’s right leg as he scales the telegraph pole. Perhaps it’s the angle, or maybe it’s the climbing action, either way, the leg looks far too long. But is it? Life drawing experts were keen to take to social media to defend the poster and point out that technically the leg is the correct length. Even so, if it looks wrong to the eye, does a design have to stay true to life? Dodge a social media design backlash in the future by finding a balance between aesthetics and accuracy when it comes to character design and composition. 04. Pepsi ad Chances are you heard about this one when it was first unleashed upon an innocent viewing public at the start of 2017. Tapping into the charged political atmosphere of Black Lives Matter and Trump protests is a… brave move for a brand, but that’s just what Pepsi did with this misguided advert. 4 ads that tried to be cool but failedIt’s a brand manager’s job to treat their company like the most important and influential product on the face of the Earth. However, they’re usually clever enough to use nuanced sales techniques like subtlety and persuasion. Not so for Pepsi. In this tortuous marketing campaign we see Kendall Jenner bring together every demographic under the sun with a little help from metaphorical wigs and a can of Pepsi. It’s enough to make you buy Coke out of protest. As you’d imagine, a huge backlash ensued that makes the Ready Player One poster scandal look like peanuts. Tapping into cultural movements can be an effective marketing strategy, but brand managers need to know where the limit is. Shoppers are becoming increasingly keen to pay their money into what they believe in, as well as purchasing based solely on the quality of the product. A blunder on the scale of the Pepsi ad is sure to cost advertisers dearly. 05. Quit smoking bus poster Stay in school, kids This is a prime example of how even the most sincere of designs turn into a fail. Its position on the back of a school bus next to other bits of signage has unfortunately transformed the message of this well-meaning poster. Unlike the glitter/Hitler fiasco earlier in this list, this blunder is down to a problem of context rather than a design error. The quit smoking message is clear and concise enough that it would work perfectly on its own dedicated billboard, but the placement of the route name makes it look like an overly sincere call for kids to chuck in their education. When it comes to context, there’s only so much a designer can do to ensure their work doesn’t become a laughing stock. However if you’re working with a format that allows for some content variation here and there, it’s worth testing out the design with every available option to make sure you’re not setting your work up for a comedic fall. Related articles: 10 business card fails 8 ways to fail at logo design The top 5 reasons creative people fail View the full article

With over 700 million monthly active users, Instagram is one of the most effective social media networks for graphic designers. The image-based platform lets you capture and share the world around you, and gives you a sneaky peek into what others are up to, as well – including your favourite graphic designers. To help you find the best graphic designers to follow on Instagram, we've compiled a quick list of some of the most inspiring, interesting and forward-thinking creatives on the platform, creating everything from pixel art to experimental design. Follow these inspirational designers and illustrators and you can't go far wrong. 01. Leta Sobierajski Graphic designer Leta Sobierajski works with Wade Jeffree in BrooklynNew York-based graphic designer and art director Leta Sobierajski combines photography and art with more traditional design elements to create unique visuals across all kinds of media. Her Instagram feed is eclectic, bizarre and very inspiring. 02. Velvet Spectrum Instagram is a good way to keep up with the kaleidoscopic portfolio of Luke Choice, aka Velvet SpectrumAustralia-born, America-based designer Luke Choice specialises in stunning 3D work, typography and animation. Follow him on Instagram to stay up-to-date with his latest client work for the likes of Nike, not to mention his incredible personal work. 03. Seb Lester If there's such a thing as the Godfather of Instagram, Seb Lester is surely it. The British artist and designer stole the show with his hypnotic short videos showing him reinterpret the world's most famous logos – Nike, The Gap, Star Wars, The New York Times and more – using calligraphy. He aims to reward his one million-plus Instagram followers with a new post every day, so you'll always find something new. 04. Kelli Anderson Graphic designer and papercraft magician Kelli Anderson posts her latest work on Instagram You’ll get a whole lot more than just graphic design inspiration by following Kelli Anderson on Instagram. From interactive paper to layered websites, the artist, designer and tinkerer experiments across all manner of media. Her incredible pop-up pinhole camera is now on sale at MoMA - and she records her creative adventures on Instagram. 05. Steve Harrington Get your daily dose of cool California vibes by following Steve Harrington on Instagram Los Angeles–based artist and designer Steven Harrington is best known for his psychedelic-pop aesthetic. His work has a timeless quality, and his multimedia approach makes for an exciting Instagram feed. 06. Zeitguised Zeitguised's Instagram account is as vibrant as the studio's portfolio siteFor tantalising design, acute art, handmade algorithms and bespoke generative processes, try the Instragram account of award-winning Berlin-based studio Zeitguised – it's as bonkers as they are. If you like vibrant colour, beautiful textures and a healthy dose of just plain weird, you'll get a bucket-load of inspiration from this talented team. 07. Mike Kus Graphic designer Mike Kus was one of the first to adopt InstagramNo collection of the best graphic designers to follow on Instagram would be complete without UK-based designer and illustrator Mike Kus. With a staggering 849,000 followers, expect stunning shots of British beaches and countryside with lots of artistic shapes and geometric lines, plus some dramatic photography to add to your photo stream. 08. Daniel Aristizabal If you're not already following Daniel Aristizabal on Instagram, have a gander of his work nowColombian digital artist, graphic designer and illustrator describes his work as "pop surrealism". Saturated with science references, retro hues and bold, geometric patterns, if you're in the mood for the absurd – and his 76,500 followers suggest there's an interest – look no further. 09. Hey Studio Hey Studio updates its Instagram account with everything from work to photosHey Studio isn't one of Spain's most exciting practising graphic design studios for nothing. Ricardo Jorge, Veronica Fuerte and Mikel Romero have a cult following – and the studio's Instargam account shows why. Stunning geometric shapes from their latest works juxtapose snaps of the team in action: it's a great way to keep up with the action. 10. Annie Atkins Keep up with Annie Atkins on InstagramSpecialising in graphic design for film, Annie Atkins created the incredible graphic props for The Grand Budapest Hotel – as well as The Boxtrools, Penny Dreadful and more. Atkins posts insight into her working process on Instagram, plus candid shots of her daily surroundings. 11. Gmunk Atmospheric shots of Gmunk's surroundings offer an insight into his worldFrom imposing architecture to close-ups of condensation on a toilet cistern, American designer Gmunk's atmospheric Instagram account records his extensive work and travel adventures, while offering a glimpse into the mind of the man responsible for Tron's opening titles. 12. Jon Contino You'll find plenty to keep you occuped on Jon Contino's Instagram accountWell-known artist and designer Jon Contino uses his Instagram account to showcase his work, which is often done in collaboration with other NY brands. Whether you're interested in illustration, branding or product design, this is a great account to take inspiration from. Next page: 10 more inspiring designers to follow on Instagram 13. Stefan Sagmeister Stefan Sagmeister has inspired generations of creatives throughout his careerVoted in Computer Arts magazine as the most influential graphic designer of the last 20 years, Stefan Sagmeister is currently presenting his favourite daily vinyl artwork on Instagram – it's a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the most successful graphic designers of our time. 14. Anthony Burrill Make sure you check out Anthony Burrill's Instagram 'ball project'The work of well-known graphic artist, print-maker and designer Anthony Burrill is exhibited in museums around the world, but if you're looking to understand what inspires the man behind the art, give his Instagram account a follow. 15. Kate Moross You'll find inspiring images in abundance on Kate Moross' Instagram accountFor a hit of colour when creativity levels are dipping, try Kate Moross. The director of Studio Moross – and recently named within the three most inspiring graphic designers of the last 20 years by Computer Arts – is well-known for her bubblegum pop aesthetic and love of Japan. 16. Alex Trochut Spanish designer and artist Alex Trochut is one to watch on InstagramBarcelona-born, Brooklyn-based artist, graphic designer, illustrator and typographer Alex Trochut has won a devoted fanbase thanks to his unique brand of illustrated typography and geometric flair. He posts work updates and insights into his "permanent workaholidays" on Instagram – and his 36.3k followers love it. 17. Ryan Bosse Ryan Bosse is passionate about creating uniquely constructed brand identities, thought-provoking packaging and powerful print materialsDesigner for San Francisco-based agency Stout by day and freelance designer by night, Ryan Bosse posts a real mix of photos to his Instagram account. From snaps of Golden Gate Bridge to his chicken waffle breakfast, we love the variety of pictures he shares with his followers. 18. Kristian Hay Don't miss Kristian Hay on InstagramCanadian graphic designer Kristian Hay shares some really cool pictures of his life in Vancouver. From ice hockey to cars to travel, his account is an eclectic mix. We particularly love his sunset snaps. 19. Dan Mather Dan Mather is another graphic designer to keep an eye out for on InstagramScreenprinter and graphic designer Dan Mather captures some brilliant colour shots on his Instagram account. If you're a keen cyclist – particularly of the fixed kind – then make sure you give him a follow for some truly cool bike snaps. 20. Riley Cran There's a lot of lovely lettering on Riley Cran's InstagramPassionate about packaging design? Then make sure you follow US designer Riley Cran. Specialising in identity, packaging and illustration, Cran snaps his creative finds to an Instagram account that oozes cool. 21. Brenton Clarke Brenton's expressive work runs the gamut from crisp, bold graphics to inspiring nature photographyVisual designer for Verizon Wireless and artist for Tinker*Mobile, Brenton Clarke takes some brilliant and dramatic shots of the outdoors. With spectacular use of colour, make sure all you keen photographers give him a follow. 22. Erik Marinovich Erik Marinovich is a talented lettering artist and designer, and is a co-founder of Friends of TypeIf you're a typography fan, then make sure you're going to love Erik Marinovich's account. A letterist and designer based in San Francisco, Marinovich has worked for a roster of big name clients including New York Times, Wired and Nike. Next page: Discover 10 more great design accounts on Instagram 23. Mike Perry Keep up with Mike Perry on InstagramWith over 57,000 followers, Mike Perry is a man of many talents. He has extensive experience in the art and design worlds, and his Instagram account includes snapshots of his work and travels. 24. Alex Donne-Johnson Dazzle Ship founder Alex Donne-Johnson has some stunning work on InstagramFor beautiful 3D artwork, futuristic lettering and top-class photography, keep an eye on the Instagram account of Dazzle Ship studio founder and creative director Alex Donne-Johnson – also known as Vector Meldrew. His latest contribution to #36daysoftype was likened to a 'Saturn feather pillow pretzel' [pictured top-left] – an apt description, we're sure you'll agree. 25. Will Bryant For a hand-drawn feel, check out Will Bryant on InstagramWill Bryant is a designer, artist, illustrator and part-time graphic design lecturer in Portland. His Instagram account is a comic mix of his work, his inspirations and life in the city famous for arty hipster hangouts. 26. Lauren Hom California-born, formerly Brooklyn-based designer and letterer Lauren Hom is currently traveling the worldDesigner and letterer Lauren Hom is the founder of lettering blog DailyDishonesty.com. Her Instagram account shares some of the snippy sayings from the blog, as well as her passion for baking and travel snaps. 27. Kyle Wilkinson Kyle Wilkinson an award-winning British designer from Yorkshire, EnglandHacksaw founder and graphic designer Kyle Wilkinson is one to watch. As well as glimpses from his stunning portfolio of work, you'll find in-progress shots of the man at work alongside his product work too. 28. Tad Carpenter Follow the wonderful world of Tad Carpenter on InstagramDesigner, illustrator, author and teacher Tad Carpenter shares his passion for fun and colourful design on his Instagram account with snapshots of his work, as well as quirky design finds. A great one to follow if you're a fan of character design. 29. Anna Dorfman Anna Dorfman designs book covers and moreThe Instagram account of designer Anna Dorfman oozes cool. With snaps of her work, dogs and Brooklyn life, it's a fun and quirky account to add to your list. 30. Gavin Strange Gavin Strange is a Jack of all trades - and pretty good at them allSenior designer at Aardman by day and freelance designer working under the moniker of Jam Factory by night, Gavin Strange uses his account to share his passion for design and bikes. 31. Brand Nu For polished, slick artwork, follow Radim Malinic - Brand Nu - on InstagramSpeaking of #36daysoftype (see no 20), as we write this you'll find the latest contributions from British creative director Radim Malinic, aka Brand Nu, on his Instagram account. Keep up to date with his latest work and speaking adventures on Instagram. 32. Supermundane We’re big fans of Supermundane’s work, which can be seen on InstagramRob Lowe, aka Supermundane, is a graphic designer, artist, illustrator and typographer with over two decades of experience in the creative industry. His Instagram feed is a vibrant blaze of inspiration - definitely worth a follow if you’re into strong graphics and bold colour. Related articles: 10 inspirational design cities 12 typography accounts to follow on Instagram 30 graphic designers to follow on Behance View the full article

We all love a free font. But with so many new free fonts continually being released, it’s easy to get a little lost. So in this post, we’ve brought together our favourite new free fonts of the year. If you still can’t find you’re looking for, though, check out our list of free font resources and that should get you there. 01. IBM Plex IBM has open-sourced its alternative to Helvetica Neue, IBM Plex It’s taken a few decades, but this year IBM finally created its own bespoke typeface, IBM Plex, using it to replace Helvetica Neue on its software, websites, marketing and more, and save itself a lot of cash in the process. And as an early Christmas present for designers everywhere, it also made the font free and open source, so you could save some cash too. IBM Plex is available in 110 languages, in serif and sans serif versions, and in eight weights. Get it from IBM's GitHub site and start using it today. 02. Dubai The city state of Dubai has its own font, and you can use it for free Dubai is a free font created by the Middle Eastern city-state and tourist destination, essentially as a promotional tool. Featuring both Latin and Arabic characters, it was crafted in collaboration with Microsoft and initially released only to Office 365 subscribers, but has since been made free for everyone. Designed by Nadine Chahine of Monotype, this extra condensed display font is a good choice for titles and posters requiring big and bold lettering. You need to give your name and email address to download it, but there’s no verification, so if you’re paranoid about your details ending up on a government database, you could always use a fake one. If you have an Office 365 subscription, though, you don’t need to bother as it will have been installed automatically. 03. AtF Spark AtF Spark is a font that turns numbers into little data visualisations Now here’s something a bit different. AtF Spark bills itself as “the world's first code-free sparkline typeface”. In other words, this clever typeface turns the numbers you type into inline data visualisations. It’s all inspired by Edward Tufte’s sparklines, which are simple, word-sized graphics with typographic resolution. You can see some examples in orange, green and blue above. To use it, all you need is a font file, some text, and an application that can make use of OpenType Contextual Alternates, such as an up-to-date web browser, Adobe Illustrator or Microsoft Word. 04. Spectral Spectral can “shapeshift” to fit any responsive design Designed by Prototypo and its partner Production Type, Spectral is a parametric font, which means it can “shapeshift” to match any design. While responsive websites are its most obvious application, its makers invite you to: “Imagine shop windows that react according to the movements of passers-by. Think data visualisation mixing info and text or websites with a readability enhanced for visually impaired people.” You can learn more about this intriguing new typographical technology in this Prototypo blog post. 05. Hack Hack is specifically designed for displaying source code Hack is a free and open source typeface designed for the express purpose of displaying source code. It includes monospaced regular, bold, italic, and bold italic sets, so however you like to highlight your code, it should serve your needs. It’s also multilingual, with 1,567 glyphs at time of writing, including extended Latin, modern Greek, and Cyrillic character sets. 06. Bourbon Grotesque This beautifully retro sans-serif has a range of potential uses Bourbon Grotesque is a free sans serif typeface made available by Jeremy Vessey, a type designer and the founder of Hustle Supply Co. This versatile, vintage-style font is perfect for all your hipster-tinged projects. It’s available for free download on his website in return for your email address. 07. Pissjar Sans A deliberately disgusting font from a Swedish punk band Tired of beautiful, elegant-looking fonts? Well, here’s something that’s been designed to be deliberately ugly and off-putting. Pissjar is the creation of the Swedish punk band of the same name, which they crafted for the cover of their debut album, Apathy and Cheap Thrills. It’s free to download from their website (where you can also see a glimpse of how they made it, if you really want to). 08. Gilbert Gilbert is a tribute to the late Gilbert Baker, creator of the rainbow flag In March this year Gilbert Baker – the artist and activist who designed the rainbow flag, a universal symbol of gay pride – sadly passed away. To honour him, Ogilvy teamed up with type foundry Fontself and LGBTQI organisations NewFest and NYC Pride to create a cool new font in tribute. Baker designed the iconic flag in 1978, and so the font takes its palette choices from both the flag itself and the hues of that era. Its creators hope that it will be used for rally and protest banners. Two versions of Gilbert (a standard vector font and a colour font in OpenType-SVG format) are free to download from the Type with Pride site, along with accompanying artwork. The aim is to eventually develop it into a full font family, and you can keep an eye on progress towards this goal on this blog. 09. Zilla Slab Mozilla’s new branding came with a new font, which has since been released to the community as a free download Back in January, Mozilla released a striking new logo and branding for 2017. And more recently, it’s made the font used in its creation a free download for everyone to use. It was designed by Typotheque, which drew on its own slab serif font, Tesla, as the basis for its development. With smooth curves and true italics, Zilla Slab provides a business-like look and feel, as well as a high level of readability at all weights. The first free font to be provided by the Mozilla Foundation, Zilla Slab is also open source so you can contribute to its development on Github. 10. Noto Serif CJK The shape of particular characters in Noto Serif CJK adjust depending whether the text is vertical or horizontal If you’re creating designs that need to be translated into both Eastern and Western languages (or which combine different alphabets within the same design), you’ll be pleased to discover Noto Serif CJK, which was released in April. The result of a partnership between Google and Adobe, this font is designed to look consistent across Chinese, Japanese and and Korean (CJK) characters as well as the English, Cyrillic and Greek alphabets. It’s free to download from Google Fonts, Github or Adobe Typekit, where it’s titled Source Han Serif. Noto Serif CJK serves as a companion font to Noto Sans CJK (aka Source Han Sans), a sans serif released in 2014 that also maintains its style across CJK scripts. 11. Entra A new free font for 2017, Entra would work well in logos and headlinesEntra is an original and unusual looking font that’s designed for use in logos and eyecatching headlines. A modern looking caps-only font, its combination of sharp corners and rounded shapes is quite unique. Designed by Gatis Vilaks and Wild Ones Design, this font is free for personal and commercial use. 12. Aganè Top freebie Aganè was inspired by three classic fontsDesigned by Swiss graphic, UI and type designer Danilo De Marco, Aganè was inspired by Noorda Font by Bob Noorda, FF Transit by Erik Spiekermann, and Frutiger by Adrian Frutiger. Created for use in wayfinding signage, the inclinations in the terminals have been designed to optimise legibility from a variety of reading perspectives. This clean sans-serif would also work well in user interfaces. It’s free for personal and commercial use. 13. Cookit This tall and bold font is free for both personal and commercial useCookit is a fun display font designed by Sérgio Haruo of Jundiaí, Brazil. This tall, bold, caps-only font would work well in logos, branding and indeed any graphics that need to arrest the attention. It’s free for both personal and commercial use. 14. Leafy Use Leafy to give a handmade feel to your designsLeafy is a free, all-caps, brush font that’s useful for any design aiming at a personal, handmade feel. Brushed by Ieva Mezule and put together by Krisjanis Mezulis of Latvian agency Wild Ones Design, this font includes 95 unique, hand-crafted characters. It’s free for both personal and commercial use. 15. HK Nova HK Nova is inspired by Futura and Century GothicCreated by Dubai-based graphic designer Alfredo Marco Pradil, HK Nova is a free sans-serif font. Inspired by both Futura and Century Gothic, it’s supplied in three versions: Standard, Rounded and Narrow, and the creators urge you not to be afraid to display it “as large as possible”. This font is free for personal use only. 16. Womby Womby is a great free font for your personal design projectsWomby is a fun free font created by Cagri Kara, a multidisciplinary art director and graphic designer based out of Los Angeles. Great for graphic design, especially posters, and recently updated, this caps-only font is free for personal use only. 17. Ginora Sans Ginora Sans is a quirky and stylish sans-serifGinora Sans is a sans-serif with spacious characters and elegant circles. Decidedly quirky, it could be used in both logos and editorial design. Free for both personal and commercial use, this stylish font comes courtesy of Brazilian designer Matheus Gomes. 18. Cheque Cheque instantly summons up a vintage feelCheque is a free display font based on geometric shapes, which has a classic, vintage look to it. Designed by Mirela Belova of Sofia, Bulgaria, its Regular and Black versions are both free for personal and commercial use. 19. Manoyri Manoyri recreates the look of marker pen writingBased in Athens, Greece, Stergios Tsiamis and Iordanis Passas are the graphic designers behind this cool new free font. Manoyri recreates the look of handwriting using a marker pen, and would work well in advertising, branding, headlines and logos. It’s free for personal and commercial use. 20. Gritstone Script font Gritstone is ideal for logos and brandingGritstone is a bold display script font that features heavy, loopy characters. Ideal for logos, branding, badges, T-shirts and posters, this free font is the work of Canadian agency Pixel Surplus and is free for both personal and commercial use. Related articles: 8 great fonts to use for your portfolio The 7 best logos by design agencies in 2017 10 huge web design trends for 2018 View the full article

As the year draws to a close, it’s a good time to consider the biggest packaging design trends of 2017 – and predict the big packaging design trends of 2018. Product packaging design is one of the most dynamic and interesting graphic arts niches. It is ubiquitous, yet it demands a high level of skilled design. It influences purchasing behaviour, and it has the potential to be truly beautiful art. These elements are constants, but the rest are always changing to meet the wants and needs to consumers, and to stay with the swiftly flowing current of our culture. What exciting packaging design trends can we expect in the new year? I teamed up with one of our top level designers here at 99designs, Martis Lupus, to share 10 top packaging design trends to look out for in 2018. Opening image: Constantin Bolimond 01. Vintage Old fashioned aesthetics by Mila Katagarova for Barncrofts of London Vintage packaging designs are ideal for brands that want to appeal to consumers using an ‘old school’ approach. This kind of vintage look tells onlookers that your brand offers artisanal quality that stands in opposition to the modern-era factory age. A vintage art label has an authentic feel and an exclusive vibe; it’s clear that this is a special product, something different and bespoke. 02. Hand-drawn A packaging design featuring doodles via Packaging of the world Graphic artists are talented, and most of their hand-drawn art looks pretty perfect. It takes a concerted effort to create packaging that looks ‘doodled’ and even deliberately childlike. This is a trend in package design that appeals to everyone, though, because we all doodle, and we were all kids once. These kinds of spirited, cheery designs send us back to those days. They also suggest a pure, honest product. 03. Unusual materials and shapes Nature inspired packaging via Marcel Sheishenov. Unusual materials and shapes in packaging design automatically grabs attention, but it does more than that. It also amuses, and it often suggests a high-end product without ever revealing anything about the product inside – after all, look at how much work went into the packaging. Unusual materials and shapes can also communicate more specific messages that rely on context. For example, juice in boxes that look like fruit skin says “fresh” or “natural”; tissues in the same kind of boxes says “playful” and “silly.” 04. Photography Photography used in a collage effect, via Mariane Silva Photography enables the most photogenic products to sell themselves. It also makes it possible for brands to make more personal connections with consumers by linking a face, a place, or an item with a brand identity. Photography can also be used to create stunning, creative collages for a modern, funky look. 05. Movie poster packaging A label design by Lucadia for Connecticut Valley Brewing Company We are, after all, a Hollywood-worshipping culture, and we love to be entertained. No wonder product packaging that looks like a movie poster is so appealing to us. Using a movie poster look on a package can instantly evoke suspense, action, romance, or other strong emotions in consumers, simply by association. 06. Feminine themes A nude colour selection for ice cream by Hive – Agency Although there will always be packaging designs in both masculine and feminine styles, the feminine look in particular is making a comeback in 2018. Soothing, soft designs featuring pastels and gentler fonts are a welcome visual relief from the jarring colours and explosive fonts that have been big in recent years. They also evoke comfort, coziness and relief from stress – something we could all probably use right about now. 07. Relatable minimalism A dark and elegant packaging design by O I O O I I O I for Zenji Matcha Minimalist design is still at the forefront of the industry; that isn't going to change in 2018. What may be slightly more novel is an increase in relatability. Minimalism works because it's simple, and as such the designer has to find a way to make us relate to the packaging – and what's in it – with the easy, broad strokes of our intuition. Throw in some striking colour contrast and an appealing font, and you've got a minimalist package that everyone understands and relates to. 08. Metallics, shiny materials and holographic effects Holographic effects via Parámetro Studio Pearlescent and metallic materials and holographic foil stamping can render any ordinary box or bag into something that just looks special. This kind of shiny, flashy effect suggests high value and elegance to consumers, and the three dimensionality and depth these materials add to any package bolster this effect. 09. Brilliant gradients Enchanting gradient sunset via Vlad Likh Striking gradients from one shade to the next are coming back in 2018, adding an element of depth and shadow back into design, which has been dominated by flat design for so long. Colourful gradients add form and dimensionality to packaging, and a layer of complexity to these designs. 10. Big text Big typography via lg2 Although typically in design showing is better than telling, sometimes telling with words can work perfectly. Bold fonts, especially sans serifs that are easier to read, are usually what you see here, and they add simplicity and sometimes even humour to a package design. Paired up with the right colours, well-chosen words can work wonders for many products. Countdown to 2018 Trends in product packaging design reflect larger artistic and cultural styles, changing tastes, and patterns in consumer spending. They are the place where science and art meet, and despite the notion that packaging design is a “throwaway” design niche, this kind of work always produces some of the most interesting, compelling, and original design work. Keep your eye out for these 2018 trends, and if you end up buying something just because of the cool package, join the club. Related articles: 15 online packaging design resources 10 creative uses of photography in packaging 25 logo design tips from the experts View the full article

For most people, New Year’s resolutions are a matter of willpower – eating, drinking and smoking less, going to the gym more often, saving money. And by their very nature, they’re unlikely to last beyond a couple of weeks in January. But the change to a new calendar can also mean something different for designers. It’s a season where you can take a step back, look at your life and work, and think about how doing things a little differently could reap huge rewards. Here we speak to some leading designers to discover how they plan to make a fresh start in 2018. Here are their resolutions for 2018. 01. Widen my skillset Shang Dat-Tang of Purple Creative plans to skill up in the VR sphere in 2018 The start of a new year is a great time to start thinking about learning a new skill, and it was the most popular resolution among the creatives we spoke to. “It’s really important to keep learning and growing as a designer, by trying new things and new ways of working,” says Karl Doran, creative director at Flow Creative. “I’m going to personally commit some time to learning more 3D animation techniques in Cinema 4D, and I’m planning to set some training time aside for the team to learn new skills too. Graphic designer Leanne Mallinder has a similar plan. “This January marks surviving two years of self-employment,” she explains. “Entering year two with regular clients and a more consistent workflow, it feels like a good time to learn some of the other Adobe Creative Cloud apps that I already pay for, practise hand lettering more and improve my photography skills. "It might not all be Instagram worthy but I want to keep learning and developing my work, as you never know where it might lead. I also need to just pick up a pencil or pen and draw more, even if nobody sees it but me.” Garth Lee, a designer and animation director at NERD Productions, is also determined to dedicate time to learning new skills in 2018. “Sometimes, as a freelancer, you get so busy and caught up in projects that you forget about the importance of bouncing ideas off of other people and learning from them,” he says. “Not taking the time to do this with other designers and like-minded people can hinder your artistic progression. Personally, I’m going to be getting more into the 3D side of motion graphics, and brushing up on my 3D modelling skills." Shang Dat-Tang, a designer at Purple Creative, is singing from the same hymn sheet. "I plan to expand my mindset from the relative restrictions of traditional design structures like print and rediscover inquisitive playfulness for a VR-focused future,” he says. “This means learning to think on a third axis for 3D experiences and about all the methods of interacting (not just clicking mice, turning pages or swiping with fingers)." 02. Be more productive Known for his multiple side projects, Gavin Strange is making productivity a priority this year We’d all like to get more of our work done in less time. And with multiple side projects on the go alongside his day job at Aardman, digital designer Gavin Strange is making that a priority this year. “2017 has been a year of being a grown-up; becoming a parent and buying a house,” he explains. “2018 will be figuring out the balance of being as productive as possible with personal projects and our business STRANGE, all while being the best parents we can be.” Similarly Tom Morris, partner and head of creative at Fiasco Design, wants to stay late at the studio less frequently in 2018. “My resolution is to find new ways to save time and make my hours count,” he says. “This includes sleeping more, and spending more time celebrating good work well done. I plan to encourage the team and learn thoroughly from each project. Not listen to music while designing, to promote clearer decision making and greater flow states.” Janne Egeland, design and marketing manager at Data Design System, has a simple plan to be more productive in 2018: spend less time watching TV. “My resolution is: less Netflix and chill, more design and thrill,” she explains. “I have to admit that I’ve been spending far too much time binge watching one series after the next over the past few years, and I really want to cut down and start putting my personal design projects first. “One of the things that I rarely get to do in my day job is animation, and it’s something I really miss doing,” she continues. “It’s work I’ve always found enjoyable and creatively revitalising. That’s why I’ve decided to set myself a doodle challenge for the next year, one animated doodle every month. Partly because I don’t want to lose the skills I already have, but more importantly to gain some new ones too.” 03. Strike a better work-life balance Matthew Tweddle, co-founder of Only, plans to take a step back in 2018 There’s no point in becoming more productive if all you do is work yourself into the grave. So many designers we spoke to plan to improve this thing we call work-life balance in 2018. “It’s very easy when you’re running a small studio to become completely consumed by the job you’re working on,” says Matthew Tweddle, co-founder and creative director of Only. “Often, weeks go by in a relentless pursuit for perfection as everything else is put on hold. One thing I’ve learnt over the last few years is that your best work rarely comes from working in this way. “So in 2018, I would like to remember to take a step back, even when the pressure is on. If something isn’t working, not to force it – and to give myself the time to make sure it’s right. To try to ensure this happens, I’m moving our daily studio catch ups to the end of the day – the idea being that this should act as a consistent reminder to go home and rest. Rick Landers, designer at FINE, is taking a similar approach to the year ahead. He plans to: “Spend more deliberate time away from the computer to think, ideate, and create for projects. This can include making time to write, read, and look to non-digital sources for inspiration and learning; sketching; talking a walk; sketch and chat sessions with collaborators. The bottom line is to avoid turning to digital sources for inspiration and instead use the time to think through ideas more naturally. “I also plan to use my weekend time to get away: change up where I spend my time and routine to breathe new life into each work-week rather than always waiting for the bigger, fewer breaks that I have been taking. I want to make time to draw more often and do it consistently – really practice and work on the art of seeing. And I want to dedicate more time to looking at and being inspired by art, especially by going to more shows and exhibits.” And most importantly: “I plan to make sure that down time is really down time and enjoy whatever it is that I choose to do with that time; be in the moment and not distracted by work-related tasks or activities; don't suspend or put off personal activities in favour of more work.” Meanwhile, Doran is taking a nuanced look at work-life balance going forward into 2018. “When design is your job, it’s also your hobby,” he reasons. “You’re always on Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest looking at other designers’ and animators’ work, and that’s fine, but you do need to disconnect every now and again and see something of the world, away from the screens. Or just make some time to see friends and family. “This is especially important when you have kids,” he adds. “I have two and I try to see them as much as possible but there’s always more you can do. I know I'm not going to wake up one day in 10 years and think, ‘I wish I’d spent more time in work’. And I really don’t want to wake up in 10 years and say, ‘I wish I’d spend more time with my kids.’” 04. Step out of my comfort zone Sean Thomas of Jones Knowles Ritchie has a clear plan for becoming more creative in 2018 Making a fresh start in 2018 means shaking off familiar patterns of behaviour and old assumptions, and Sean Thomas, executive creative director at Jones Knowles Ritchie, has a clear plan to achieve that. "My New Year’s resolution is to try to encourage more work that makes me feel uncomfortable,” he says. “Many of our most successful projects of late have made me nervous going into the presentation or at the point of release, so it’s something I’ll be trying to foster further in the studio. Going out of your comfort zone is always exciting." Holly Kielty, creative director of Brand Language at Design Bridge, is taking a similar approach. “I want 2018 to be the year of 'go bold or go home' – if it’s been seen before, I don’t want to create it. It feels like with the political climate as it is, design has a duty to be braver, more positive and more stirring to people’s angered and affronted souls. To steal from Michelle Obama; when they go low, we must go high.” Andrew King, executive creative director at CBA, also wants to push creative boundaries in the year ahead. “In his poem New Year’s Eve, Alfred Lord Tennyson writes: 'Ring out the old, ring in the new'. “I'm currently surfing the web looking for examples of glitch art while listening to Billie Holiday. It made me realise that I get inspired when I draw on the past and combine it with emerging and future influences to create new, distinctive design solutions. So my New Year’s resolution for 2018 is to do this more often: ‘ring in the old’ and ‘ring in the new’ too.” 05. Get away from the computer Shay Hamias of NERD Productions wants to do more analogue stuff in 2018 Most of us, in our heart of hearts, feel that we probably spend too much time starting at screens. And Shay Hamias of NERD Productions plans to do something about it in 2018. “My plan is to be more analogue and less digital,” he says. “I'll divide my studio into two tables, one where I can use materials and paints and see how it feeds back into my design work, and the other table will have my laptop and maybe a massive Cintiq to paint on digitally. I also want to formulate a plan to dedicate at least 20 per cent of my creative time to personal projects where I can experiment.” Purple Creative designer Chris Grace similarly plans to try to "break away from the computer. Design in a less digital way. Pick up a pencil again, rather than crafting on screen... I think that it's important to find ways to reduce the amount of screen time rather than relying on it.” 06. Share my knowledge Tom Morris of Fiasco Design has resolved to write more about design in the coming year When was the last time that you shared your thoughts about design (positively) with others online? Many designers resolve to do that more regularly in 2018. “I want to get back into writing a blog,” says Purple Creative designer Lyndsey Ellis. “To have and give an opinion instead of just posting pretty pictures on Instagram.” Similarly, Morris has resolved to “write more about good design online.” And for him, it’s not just about how much you write, but how you write. “There are so many branding projects that are met with knee-jerk reactions, surface-level criticism and arrogance,” he opines. “I think it’s time more people were educated about what it takes to produce good design. Sure, you can waste your time on a ‘this would have been better’ redesign, but you didn’t see the client feedback/budget/deadline.” “I have a plan to make some online tutorials to share my creative process with people because lots of people are requesting this,” says Ahmet Iltas, a designer and illustrator at NERD Productions. His colleague Alicja Jasina and Lucas Borrás, meanwhile, plan to make at least one short a year, going to more festivals (they have Annecy, Zagreb, Stuttgart and Hiroshima festival in mind) and hopefully bring home some awards. 07. Refresh my drawing skills Mitchell Nelson of Jazzbones plans to take up a drawing challenge in the New Year A lot of designers we spoke to plan to pick up a pencil more often in 2018. “When I was learning to draw portraits during school I created a portrait every day for one whole year, even if it was a little five-minute doodle,” says Mitchell Nelson, lead creative at Jazzbones Creative. ”After looking back on some of my old work the other day, it’s inspired me to take up the challenge again in the new year. Keeping a sketch pad is always a good way to keep your illustration skills sharp and top of your game.” 08. Broaden my creative horizons Martyn Garrod of Carter Wong is looking to expand his perspectives in 2018 Stepping away from the screen and getting fresh inspiration from the wider world was a common goal for 2018 among the designers we spoke to. “Although it’s great to be fully immersed in the world of design, it can sometimes be more restrictive than inspiring when tackling a brief,” reasons Martyn Garrod, creative director at Carter Wong. “So, my resolution for 2018 will be to continue expanding my perspective by looking beyond the design community for inspiration. “I plan to go to that art exhibition I always seem to miss by a week, take a different route when commuting home, talk to more people in the pub or take the dog for long walks in country at the weekends, leaving my phone behind. Hopefully this will help me push ideas outside my comfort zone.” Similarly, Darren Ammar, designer at Purple Creative, has resolved to "go to more exhibitions and talks around art and design, so I can be inspired and learn from the leading people in my industry.” While Hamias plans to “Explore more. Be it other forms of creating, like pottery or photography, and also check what other people are doing... Not just online, but actually going out to galleries, studios and places. Read more books, do more Yoga, eat less cake.” Meanwhile, Katie Cadwallader, designer at Supple Studio, has a very specific plan to inspire her creatively in 2018: to watch a film per week. “Lots of creatives get their inspiration, visual cues, general knowledge and pub chat from films but I’m far from a buff,” she says. “All the major series, cult classics and must-sees seemed to have passed me by. Plus I’m a bit fed up of the eye rolling my ignorance receives. So I’m asking for 52 film recommendations. “So far, I’ve put it out to the Supple crew and our studio mates. Next stop is an open call on Twitter and Instagram. I’m going to design a weekly calendar to take any decision making out of it, plus I work better to a deadline – classic designer. I’ll probably write a little review of each one to send to the sponsor.” Titles thus far include American Beauty, True Romance, In Bruges, Layer Cake, and Amelie. “It’s been amazing to see how passionate and protective people are over their favourite films, so I’m hoping I’ll feel the same at the end of the year,” she says. 09. Say no Dave Gee of Flow Creative plans to stay no (politely) more often in 2018 While so far our resolutions have been largely positive, here’s one that’s cast in the negative: learning to say no, politely. As we explained in our article 10 good reasons for turning down work, there are times when saying no is better for freelancers in particular, but there are other reasons for agencies to say no, too. “There is an art to saying no professionally,” says Dave Gee, creative director at Flow Creative. “It’s something we're still learning and being the great bunch we are, we’ll likely always struggle with this one. “As many agencies will have found over the years, you inevitably take on projects that aren't necessarily the 'right fit' for your core strengths. Taking on such projects could be down to money, the project brief changing part way through or even just making a poor judgement call at the outset. “Either way it's difficult to say no, as we creatives always want to help and create stunning work and campaigns but we have to start asking if the job is right for us and our skill set. If it’s not, and doesn’t feel 100% right, then we have to start declining. “2018 will see us undertaking tighter due diligence before jumping in with both feet and maybe seeing us saying: "this may not be the right fit for us at this time.” This considered approach will afford us more time to focus on what we do best on the campaigns we’re exceptional at.” 10. Listen and empathise better dn&co plans to fulfil its business goals by being more “in the room”, says founder Joy Nazzari Our last set of 2018 resolutions are about the broad aim of achieving business goals, and working better with clients and colleagues. But everyone, it seems, has a different plan for going about it. For Joy Nazzari, founder of dn&co, it goes pretty deep. “My resolution for next year is, simply but significantly, to ‘be in the room’. Be exactly where we are and with the people we are with, giving the benefit of our full and undivided attention to the moment. “Being in the room will inevitably mean getting better at organising our time, thoughts, to-do lists. We will probably have to say ‘no’ more often than we normally do. Yet if by doing so we can truly be there to listen and learn from those who inspire us – the people we work with and importantly, the people we work for – we will continue to develop transformative relationships and projects in 2018.” Claire Billesdon, studio manager at Jazzbones, also has an interesting business-related resolution for 2018. “Juggling the workload of a busy studio can get pretty hectic, but my resolution is to take a step back and appreciate that not everyone understands ‘designer speak’,” she says. “My resolution is to put myself in their shoes a little more. I am also making a pledge to eat fewer digestive biscuits; I’m on a pack a day at the moment!" For Fanny Krivoy, founder/creative director at Studio Analogous, 2018 will be about listening. “I believe anything we do at work and in our personal lives can make a big difference,” she says. “More than ever before, we want our work to help reach groups of people who are often excluded – regardless of their gender, nationality, ability, age – and give them a voice. “To do that, we need to listen better to those around us, especially to those we know less about. I’ve heard that even when we actively listen, we actually retain only 13% of what was said. In order to make real change, we need to do better than that.” Jazzbones founder Nathan Sandhu says: “My resolution for 2018 is to continue smashing it for our clients. There is nothing I enjoy more than creating engaging campaigns that deliver tangible results.” Finally, Steven Bewick, founding partner and creative director of Purple Creative, has a New Year’s resolution that's short and to the point: "Stop agreeing to make logos bigger!” As is that of the entire Together Design team, who’ve resolved to: “Remember to hit Save more regularly! Sigh.” Whether you follow any of these resolutions yourself or think up your own, all of us at Creative Bloq wish you the very best for the year ahead, and good luck in all of your creative endeavours. Related articles: 10 skills graphic designers need to get ahead in 2018 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 9 tools to make graphic design easier in 2018 View the full article

User testing is an intricate part of UX design. Understanding how your user interacts with your design is crucial to crafting the best user experience to help visitors to achieve their task and overall to increase conversions. Running your own user testing lab, including finding and hiring your own target audience and setting up hardware can be expensive and time-consuming. Here we take a look at some of the most useful and popular user testing software to get you started. 01. Hotjar Hotjar contains a host of useful tools for analysing your site. Crazy Egg may be the one that springs to mind when you think of heat maps, but Hotjar has them too, so you can see which parts of your interface are getting the most clicks and taps. You can see recordings of people's mouse trails so you can get an idea of how they're navigating your site, and the Conversion Funnels utility lets you know at which point people are dropping out of a purchase or sign-up process. These can be really revealing - the funnel lets you know exactly which point needs tweaking in order to get better results from your design. There are a few other great tools in here, including form analysis and feedback polls, so Hotjar should definitely be on your shortlist of usability testing suites. 02. UX Recorder Capture every aspect of your users' behaviourThis iOS testing suite enables you to capture all the user data you could wish for: as well as detailing every tap and swipe, this software records the user's facial expressions using the iPhone camera, and anything they may mutter during the process via the microphone. The result is a complete picture that gives you the best chance of uncovering areas where people might struggle with your interface. Unfortunately you can't test native apps with this; it's for websites only. 28 outstanding examples of CSS03. UXPin UX suite UXPin has everything you needUX design suite UXPin now includes a usability testing tool that enables you to record user behaviour. You can listen to their comments via voice call, see every click, and even watch their facial expressions as they navigate through your design. UXPin also provides this usability testing kit which contains templates for your test reports, scripts, consent forms and more. 04. Reflector Stream your mobile screen to your computerScreen mirroring app Reflector isn't designed specifically for usability testing, but it's useful for mobile testing as it wirelessly sends your phone or tablet screen to your PC or Mac so you can watch how people use your app. The latest version includes recording capabilities so you can review your testing sessions later. 05. User Testing Easily hire and record a user interacting with your website using User Testing softwareOne of the best and most simple ways to record users interacting with your website and to record their response is on video using User Testing. You pick your target audience and assign this user a task to perform on your website or app – your test can be run on a desktop, tablet or mobile device. In return User Testing will record real people giving their thoughts whilst interacting with your website/app to truly understand why users do what they do. You can try out User Testing for free. 06. Crazy Egg Crazy Egg offers insightful heat maps to identify what users are actually doing on your websiteUncover how visitors interact with your website with x-ray glasses using Crazy Egg. Crazy Egg provides heat map software to understand what people are doing on your website and why they may not be converting. Heat maps identify which objects on your website are being clicked on and from which traffic source they were referred from. An extremely helpful tool is the scroll map, which identifies how far visitors scroll down a page before they abandon the page entirely. Other features include providing numbers of clicks on each element of a page. 07. Inspectlet Record active users using your website as if you're over looking their shouldersInspectlet is software that records your website visitors and monitors exactly what they are doing on your website, including what links they click on, mouse movement, scrolling and key-presses on your site. You can view each visitor as if you're overlooking their shoulder. Beyond recording user interaction on your website, Inspectlet includes a heat map, which allows you to see what visitors are paying attention to. The heat map also identifies eye tracking, what has been clicked on the most and how far visitors scroll. And as an added bonus, the form analytics tool highlights which form elements are the most troublesome for visitors and where they are failing the most. 08. A/B Testing with Optimizely Optimizely allows you to optimise the user experience on your website by perform A/B testingA/B testing is an extremely effective way to test changes on a web page compared to the existing design. To determine which one produces the highest level of positive results. Of course, Google Analytics offers Experiments to allow you to perform A/B testing on your website. However, a more robust software for A/B testing is Optimizely. Optimizely offers several easy-to-use features to help you build your tests including multivariate testing – a technique to test multiple variables on a given web page. You can create personalised experiences and target specific audiences when unveiling new designs to visitors including targeting different URLs, browsers and geography. 09. Usabilla Gather visual and critical feedback from your existing visitors using UsabillaIf you would like to gather customer feedback on your website, Usabilla is a great asset to gather visual feedback. It offers a customisable feedback button which you can place on your website. Visitors can actively select particular elements on a given webpage and provide detailed feedback for improvements or highlight any bugs. Usabilla also encompasses a slide out poll, which helps to gather 'emotional' rating. All this data is summarised and can be viewed with insightful graphs all within the Usabilia dashboard. 10. User Zoom User Zoom provides premium features for user experience research and is an analytics platformUser Zoom is a premium level, fully packaged user experience research and analytics platform. Besides capturing user interaction it also provides powerful analytics data. User Zoom contains a wealth of features for collecting user experience data. With User Zoom you may test websites and prototypes plus you can remotely record users testing on your website with their feedback. You can perform market research by evaluating multiple websites and competitor websites to provide UX benchmarking. The User Zoom dashboard contains insightful reports with user actions, number of clicks, unique views, heat maps and more. 11. Morae Morae allows you to record, analyse results, and easily share your researchMorae is a fantastic testing suite for anyone wanting to manage all the user testing in-house. Morae is provided by TechSmith who also offer screen recording software. Morae is a comprehensive testing application that resides on the practitioners computer. This software allows you to perform usability testing sessions by recording the user's interaction, incorporate surveys and analysing and editing the final result. Morae allows you to easily share your research with your team. Conclusion There are many pieces of software out there designed to help you understand user behaviour and provide helpful and insightful feedback to help further develope your website or app. However, which becomes your go-to user testing tool will depend very much on what your requirements are and which interface appeals most to you. I suggest trying out the free trial versions of the suggested software, where it's available, to see how well it suits your needs before taking the plunge. This is an expanded and updated version of an article by Steven Wu. Related articles: Countdown to Christmas with this UX themed advent calendar The 6 best new UX tools of 2016 40 sets of free icons View the full article

Sure, you've got your laptop and monitor sorted. But what's the best mouse for designers and creatives? The humble mouse is probably one of the most important tools you use each day, so it's essential to find one that is both responsive and comfortable. We've spoken to many designers who still prefer to use a mouse when working on digital projects despite the continued improvement of tablets and styluses. But there are thousands of variations of computer mouse out there – including trackpads – so how do you know you're using the right one? Here we list four of the best to help make your day more efficient. 01. Logitech MX Master Logitech produces some of the most responsive mice on the market, which is pretty handy when you need a tool with precision. Its cordless MX Master model is designed to fit comfortably in your hand over a long period of time, and includes a super responsive scroll wheel that lets you browse web pages or documents at your own speed, depending on how fast you flick the wheel. Buttons located on the side of the mouse also let you flit between windows without having to use the usual Alt+Tab, and can easily program your shortcuts. The only downside to the MX Master is the pretty hefty RRP price tag of around £80 – but there are great deals to be had. Prefer a new model? The Logitech MX Master 2S Wireless Bluetooth Mouse works with Mac and Windows. It boasts high-precision tracking, a rechargeable battery (that lasts long time between charges) and customisable buttons. 02. Apple Magic Mouse 2 Apple was late to join the innovative mouse party then it created the Magic Mouse. Its replacement, the imaginitively-titles Magic Mouse 2, has a super light design and laser tracking capabilities which make it easy to flick between InDesign pages and make even the smallest changes on practically any surface. However, the downside is that it’s perhaps a little too over-sensitive at times. The multi-touch area on the top of the mouse, which lets you scroll in any direction, can sometimes become frustrating when wanting to keep your finger in the same place for a long period of time. But for Magic Mouse evangelists, there is nothing to touch it. Alternatively, a lot of designers prefer the Apple Magic Trackpad, which brings Force Touch pressure-sensitive technology (as seen in the screen of the Apple Watch) and the trackpad of the 2015 12-inch MacBook. Or for a cheaper option, try the older Apple Magic Trackpad. 03. Anker Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse Sure, the Anker Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse looks weird. It’s vertically aligned to encourage healthy neutral "handshake" wrist and arm. But once you get used to it, it’s a cheap and very comfortable way to avoid RSI. 04. Razer Deathadder Chroma Just like designers, gamers need a mouse that is sensitive and accurate, so it stands to reason that gaming mice are a good option for designers too. And the Razer range of gaming mice is one of the most responsive out there. Razer mice have three types of sensors, dual, laser and optical, and its ergonomic shape is designed to support the flow of your hand. The Razer Deathadder mouse is the bestseller, as well as the cheapest, and features an optical sensor, rubber side grips and syncs all of your mouse settings stored in the Cloud. Related articles: The best drawing tablet 5 best laptops for video editing The best monitor calibrators for designers View the full article

Earlier this year, the BBC commissioned independent font foundry Dalton Maag to design a font family. Starting with Latin and Cyrillic character sets, BBC Reith had to support almost 100 languages from day one. The BBC wanted a font for everyone that would echo its typographic legacy, while balancing contemporary form with function. With a diverse audience to cater to across a plethora of services, it needed high performance and a range of expression. Here, we go behind the scenes on the creation of the BBC's new font. Rationale for a new typeface The calligraphic construction that formed the basis of the serif and sans serif versions David Bailey, creative director, GEL, BBC: We decided to commission a new typeface to directly benefit our audiences, first and foremost. Previously our shared design framework, GEL (Global Experience Language), offered Helvetica as our online reading font. Gill Sans (our corporate typeface) and Helvetica were both designed 100 years ago for the printed page. Thus, they don’t perform well on modern screens, resulting in poor legibility when set at smaller sizes. A digitally-optimised typeface solves these issues. And, because we buy licences to existing typefaces, having our own one will significantly reduce our costs. The aim was also to benefit our visual identity. Helvetica is a great-looking font, but it’s somewhat anonymous. Designers love it, hence its ubiquity. One could argue its anonymity makes it the perfect typeface for a neutral public service. But an internet-fit BBC needs to be more expressive and appealing to stay relevant in a competitive market. Having a typeface in a number of weights and styles provides a wider range of tonality and personality. Our brief asked for a typeface for everyone, something that would continue the BBC’s typographic tradition of functionality, but in a more contemporary form. We wanted a beautiful workhorse, so to speak. The name emerged once the project was underway: I suggested it to our steering group as a working title. John Charles Walsham Reith founded the BBC in 1922, with a vision to ‘educate the masses’. And since reading and writing, for most of us, is a core component of learning, naming the font after him seemed fitting. Plus Reith sounds rather elegant, don’t you think? Answering the brief Before the digital work begins, the type designers explored curves and proportions, here in lower case rounded letters Bruno Maag, founder, Dalton Maag: What really grabbed us about the brief were the unique problems that the BBC faces. Every custom client is trying to enhance their visual identity and trying to rationalise their licensing and logistics, but very few have so many output channels – from print to myriad devices – where the wrong font can compromise a whole design experience at the pixel level. We proposed a handful of completely different scopes and approaches, which we felt would meet the BBC’s needs and requirements. The options remained open until quite late into the pitching process. One approach we suggested was a typographic system where each channel and service would use only one font from an extended and related family. So there would be a family resemblance between all of the channels and services, and yet a distinctive voice for each. I liked such a strong typographic solution as part of a group of related visual identities, but ultimately the selected route was a multifunction typographic toolbox, which could do all of this, and more, with fewer fonts and at a lower cost. Once this route was chosen there were still questions on design route, weight ranges, and targeted functionality. Input and feedback from David, the UX team, and everyone else was there right from the very start – during the collaborative workshop. That’s what allowed us to establish the basic design parameters for the Ideation stage. In both the sans and the serif you’ll see a calligraphic construction, open counters and apertures, ascenders that project above the cap height, regularised proportions and sharp connections between bowl and stem. The aim is to contrast features. Some anchor the design in tradition, others give a modern and progressive outlook. Together you get BBC expressiveness, which still works on small screens. Implementation A complete solution, tested in different weights from light through to extra bold, with serifs and without David Bailey: This summer BBC Sport launched their newly-harmonised branding across broadcast and online. They chose to adopt BBC Reith Sans, and we understand that it’s been well received by audiences. Technically, it’s performing great. Needless to say our researchers and accessibility specialists are running user-testing sessions as we speak. Look closely and you’ll see the rigorous craftsmanship in of the each characters’ construction We’re delighted with BBC Reith. Look closely and you’ll see the rigorous craftsmanship in each character’s construction. It’s a thing of beauty. And performance-wise it’s ticking the boxes. Having a new typeface has created a palpable buzz among colleagues. Personally, I was blown away with how well the project ran. It’s been quite a journey, but the shared belief and support from colleagues right across the BBC has been fantastic. Plus, Dalton Maag are great teachers. They schooled us in type design; its history and craft, and not just from an aesthetic point of view but also the science behind reading and how our brains absorb and process type. It really is a fascinating topic. As a designer of some 20 years, I thought I knew this stuff. I didn’t. Now at least I know some of it. This article was originally published in issue 272 of Computer Arts, the global design magazine – helping you solve daily design challenges with insights, advice and inspiration. Buy issue 272 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Related articles: 50 top typography tutorials A designer's guide to typography and fonts The secrets of custom font development View the full article