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During the Virus Bulletin closing keynote, Brian Honan urged the security industry to share more, victim-shame less and work harder to establish trust. View the full article

Freelancers in just about every field love the freedom that comes with their career choice but hate the paperwork and extra time it takes to manage everything. And Co helps wrangle the business side of the freelance life, and you can get a lifetime membership to the Graphite Plan on sale now for 95% off the full retail price. Being your own boss is great until it comes to performing all the administrative tasks that you need to do. And Co helps freelancers finally get a handle on the biggest hassles presented by this career path. With this deal you'll get an app that helps you keep track of every aspect of your freelance career, plus access to a real human representative who can help you streamline the entire process – from sending invoices to accepting payments and preparing to file taxes. You can get lifetime access to the And Co Graphite Plan on sale now for just $39.99 (approx £30)! That's a saving of 95% off the full retail price for an essential tool that will make your freelance career operate smoothly, so grab this deal today. Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com Related articles: The 30 best iPhone apps for designers 4 ways to cash in as a freelancer 20 top tools for freelancers View the full article

Sketchable is a painting app for Windows 10. It enables you to paint large strokes on large images with no lag. Images are created in 'Journals', of which you can create any number at any size. It's like having multiple sketchbooks always open. This sophisticated app has a large set of features usually found only in expensive desktop programs. A few of the more obvious features found in the app are layer blending modes, customisable tools, importable brushes and paper textures, and more. 6 best digital art tools of 2017 so farThere are some features that aren't as obvious at first glance. One such gem is the ability to paint using Stencils. These give you the ability to constrain your brush stroke to a variety of different shapes. Each shape can be transformed, moved, scaled and rotated. Once you've tried painting with stencils, they will become integral to your work flow. 01. Get a stencil Find the stencil option in the FrisketsOpen the Explore the Masking, Snapping, and Symmetry options (Friskets) located on the left side of the Sketchable workspace. The icon looks like a triangle overlapping a ruler. A panel opens with Symmetry, Mask, Stencil, and Grid options. Choose Stencil. 02. Transform your stencil Use the control points to transform the default stencilAnother panel opens showing Stencil options. Turn the Eye icon on so that the Stencil is visible. It will be a blue colour. The default Stencil is a line with control points at the top, middle and bottom. You can click the control points to transform the stencil. 03. Paint precisely Now you can paint a stroke that's constrained to your stencilClick the Shape Selection icon and select a different shape. The Stencil updates to the chosen shape. Click the Stencil Gestures (padlock icon), choose a brush, and now you're able to paint a precise stroke that's constrained to your chosen Stencil. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 151; buy it here! Related articles: 10 digital artists you need to know about Create a painterly feel in your digital art How to paint convincing reflections View the full article

The events circuit is pretty full these days, with attendees knowing pretty much what to expect from any given conference. However, there is a handful of events that are breaking the traditional barriers of the stage, where a speaker will talk at a group, not with them. View conference, in Torino, Italy is one of these; recognising that in our ever more engaged world, having an expert talk through a slideshow isn't enough. With this in mind, Maria Elena Gutierrez, the organiser, has put a large emphasis on attendees getting up close and personal with the experts, speakers and tutors. You will find the event has a range of hands on workshops and mixers, where you can rub shoulders with your heroes, network to land your dream job, or simply to learn a few tips and tricks to improve your skills. That doesn't mean there's a lack of cutting-edge content, though. You'll find all manner of discussions and talks on the latest developments in VFX, games and VR, the latter of which has a special focus this year. There will be Paul Debevec's insights into how the future of VR and digital humans might work, Boabab Studio's Eric Darnell will be talking about narrative storytelling in VR, an area that still needs a lot of development, to define the syntax and help directors, as well as viewers, understand the best way to move the plot forward. There will also be talks on the latest films, from Guardians of the Galaxy 2, War for Planet of the Apes and many more. If you are looking to make a career change or move, then head to the job fair, for meetings, advice and to talk to the recruiters. All in all, the 18th annual View Conference is set to be the biggest and best yet. Related articles: Start your career in games Immerse yourself in VR podcasts What to see at Siggraph 2017 View the full article

So, you want to do something a little different this year and design a t-shirt – nice one. But, before you get started, there's a few things you need to consider. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to believe, the design process isn’t something that just anyone can dive into and immerse themselves in. It’s something that requires knowledge and planning. Foresight. Caution. It’s one of the reasons you see so many terrible T-shirts on the market – plenty of folks don’t understand this, and instead blunder their way into making a shirt that misses every single mark. You need to make sure you aren’t one of them. We've already covered some top tips for better t-shirt design, and we've also got some brilliant Illustrator tutorials to help you out, but before you get started, you should really ask yourself these questions... 50 amazing vector art tutorials01. Why am I designing this? Are you trying to promote awareness of a brand? Working to launch a clothing line? Just want to put together an awesome shirt to share with the public? You need to have some idea of your core message in mind before you design, as people with different goals are going to end up creating very different shirts. 02. Who am I designing this for? Your audience is every bit as important as the core message/purpose of your shirt. Something designed for 14-year-old kids, for example, is generally going to look very different from a shirt made for twenty-somethings. Focus on the audience whose attention you want to grab, and design with them in mind. Services like Blue Cotton allow the design of custom screen printed t-shirts in a special design studio03. Is there a market for my design? Here’s the most important question – and probably the most difficult to answer, as it’ll require some pretty extensive market research. You’ve got your audience well in mind, but are you certain they’ll be interested in what you’ve got to offer? Can you say beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’ll be filling a niche that hasn’t already been filled by a competitor? 04. Do I have the necessary expertise for this project? What sort of design experience do you have? Are you confident in your ability to put together a T-shirt that’s both aesthetically appealing and suited to your purpose? There’s no shame in bringing in an external designer if you’re uncertain you can make it on your own – as a matter of fact, I’d honestly recommend calling on an expert. 05. How will I handle production? Last but certainly not least, once you’ve got the design all figured out and finalised, how will you market it? How will you deliver it to your audience? Will it be in a physical, brick-and-mortar storefront, available as a prize at an event, or available to order at an online store? In the case of the latter two, how are you going to deliver it? More importantly, what sort of price point are you going to offer? What materials will you use? These are all questions that you need to answer before you even think about designing a shirt – but once you’ve answered them, you’re good to go! Lead image courtesy of HypeForType. Related articles: Spinning tops: where art meets engineering 20 stylish custom playing cards Creating new and innovative products: 4 expert tips View the full article

The macOS Photos app began life as iPhoto: a consumer app for managing digital photographs, with a few basic photo editing tools bolted on. As of macOS High Sierra, the Photos app has come of age, with powerful new editing features that make it worth another look – even if you’re a seasoned pro. The 5 best laptops for photo editingIs Photos for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac powerful to the point where you should delete your prized copy of Photoshop CC? Of course not. But when you need to make some quick adjustments, and fancy doing so with a user-friendly – yet surprisingly powerful – toolset, Apple’s Photos app is all you need. Get Adobe Creative CloudIn this guide we show you what you can do with Apple's Photos app and how to use Photos for Mac and iOS devices for quick and easy photo editing. 01. Quickly filter images Quickly get to edited images by filtering your library It’s worth remembering that Photos for Mac can store any flat bitmap – not just photos. So you can use it to stash screenshots, bits of research grabbed from the internet, and even animated GIFs. In all cases, you can use Get Info (Cmd/Ctrl+I) and assign descriptions and keywords to items so they’re easier to find later. The new sidebar provides single-click access to key content and media types (favourites, people, screenshots, animated content and so on). Each feed also includes a Showing menu, which defaults to All Photos. Click it and you can filter the current view by favourites, edited images, photos, videos, or keyword (or a combination thereof). 02. Edit your photos The revamped editor in Photos is far more usable and efficient Images selected in the library can be flagged as favourites or rotated by clicking the relevant toolbar button, or by using options/shortcuts in the Image menu. Hit Return and load the editing view. This differs radically from the macOS Sierra version of Photos, which required you to manually load sets of adjustment tools. Now, they’re all immediately accessible in the Adjust tab, housed in a scrolling pane. 03. Crop and rotate If all you want to do is crop photos, you don’t need another app Select the Crop tab to make quick adjustments to your image’s orientation. Use the drag handles for manual adjustment, and two-finger swipe your trackpad to adjust the rotation value. In the sidebar, horizontally flip an image by clicking the Flip icon. Expand the Aspect menu to access alternate cropping options beyond Freeform. When selecting an aspect that crops your image, click-drag or two-finger swipe to adjust your image’s position within the crop. 95 top Photoshop tutorials04. Make adjustments Grainy, moody black and white, by way of a click and a couple of drags When using the Light, Color, and Black & White adjustment tools in Photos, you’ve three approaches. Click Auto and the Photos app does what it thinks works best – and this is often a good starting point. You can then/alternatively drag the vertical bar left and right to change the strength and nature of the adjustment. You can drill down further, too. Click the triangle next to Options for sliders that enable you to fine-tune many aspects of these adjustment types, such as Saturation, Contrast and Cast for Color. 05. Edit levels and curves The new Curves tool is an excellent addition to Photos The Levels tool enables you to adjust an image’s black point, shadows, mid-tones, highlights, and white point. Using the tool’s pop-up menu, you can switch between Luminance or RGB values. Along with making changes to the image as a whole, you can individually adjust the Red, Green and Blue channels. Note that each drag handle moves individually; hold Option/Alt to move both at once. The Curves tool is new to Photos on macOS High Sierra, and works similarly to the one found in Photoshop. You can use the eyedropper tools to set white, grey and black points, manually adjust the curve and add new points, and target individual channels by selecting them from the RGB menu. 06. Use selective colour You can shift red to yellow by using Selective Color Another new tool in Photos on macOS High Sierra, Selective Color enables you to adjust the appearance of a particular hue. Either select one of the six displayed, or choose a custom hue with the eyedropper. Then use the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance sliders to make your changes, and Range to determine what colour range the effect should target. Compared to Photoshop, the Selective Color tool in Apple's Photos app is arguably faster and more usable. However, it’s restricted to a single colour in any one picture. It's good, then, for removing a cast but not so great for several required bouts of fine-tuning. 07. Work with effects in Photos The filter selection in Photos is small but tasteful Explore the Adjust sidebar to find more tools. Photos' Retouch tool works in a similar way to Photoshop’s Cloning tool, albeit without the ability to adjust the brush type – only its size. The Red-eye, White Balance, Noise Reduction, Sharpen and Vignette tools all do what you’d expect – either through Photos automating the application process or you manually fiddling with sliders. The Photos app also has a small selection of filters in its Filters tab. As of macOS High Sierra, the app’s ditched aping film, and instead offers three variants each on the Vivid, Dramatic, and Black and White filters. 08. Compare, share and revert photos You can send images to external apps for major edits All edits made within the Photos app are non-destructive. On making an edit, you’ll see an A/B button at the top-left of the window, which can be used to flip between your edit and the original shot. A Revert to Original button is adjacent; when clicked, this reverts your image to how it was when it was first imported. In the Adjust tab, you can toggle individual adjustments by turning the blue ticks on and off. You can use external apps to edit your images if Photos doesn’t meet your needs. In the library view, go to Image > Edit With and choose an editor. When you’re done, the edited image will be pulled back into Photos, and you’ll still be able to revert the image should you need to. (That said, this feature is new, so consider working with duplicates: Image > Duplicate or cmd+D makes a copy of a selected image.) 09. Use Photos on iPad On iPad, Photos is far more basic than the Mac app On iPad or iPad Pro, the Photos app is basic, its editing view resembling the older version of the Mac app. It’s centred on quick fixes, cropping, and light/colour/black and white adjustments. Should you use iCloud Photo Library, images and edits alike are synced across your devices, which is handy when making quick changes on iPad and then fine-tuning them on your desktop or laptop. But if you hanker for more power when on the move, consider Snapseed or Lightroom, or even full-fledged Photoshop equivalent Affinity Photo. 10. Use Photos on iPhone The Loop animation also automatically stabilises and crops your Live Photo Even the biggest iPhone isn’t geared towards photo editing. However, on the smaller screen, the stripped-back Photos app makes some sense. On iOS 11, you can also, when browsing Live Photos, flick up any snap and switch its animation/render type. Alternatives are endless loop/bounce animations, and a faked long exposure based on the video component of the Live Photo. For something beefier, again consider Snapseed and Lightroom for iPhone. It’s also worth checking out Pixelmator, which provides Photoshop-like tools in the palm of your hand. Related articles: 10 creative free iPhone apps for designers 10 ways to improve your photography skills 6 great video editing apps for mobile View the full article

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You're reading The Design Side Of Conversion Rate Optimization, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Conversions drive the web but most designers don’t think like this. Whenever you write an article and someone finds it in Google, their click is a conversion onto your site. If they keep reading and sign up for your newsletter that’s another conversion based on different goals. Web design is about usability but it’s also about KPIs and user […] View the full article

The human figure is one of the most challenging subjects for an artist to draw. After all, we're very familiar with how a human body looks: our eyes easily pick up if an arm looks too long here, or a leg seems too short there. But perhaps one of the most tricky parts of human body to illustrate are the hands. 10 steps to improve your figure drawingThanks to their bone structure and flexibility, there's a lot to consider – and get wrong – when drawing hands. Not only that, but hands communicate a lot of character; plus they have to stay in proportion with the rest of the body. It's no wonder so many illustrators dread drawing them. Comic artist and teacher PJ Holden has summed up the frustration of drawing hands with a witty comic that he shared on Twitter – which you can read below. Carefully, carefully... argh, time to start againHolden has tapped into a feeling a lot of artists can relate to with his witty comic. After taking a first pass at drawing a hand, his comic character tries to refine it and achieve perfection, only to be left with something that looks worse than what he started with. It's enough to make you snap your pencil in half. So what can you do if, like Holt, you're a frustrated artist who wants to improve your hand drawing skills? Well, you could take a look at our how to draw hands guide by artist Brynn Metheney for starters. The secret to hand illustration is breaking them down into componentsIn this brilliant seven-step tutorial, Metheney walks through the anatomy of a hand and shows you how to build it up in 3D. By the time you've finished, you'll have a greater understanding of how hands work and how the bones, tendons and muscles all move together. Related articles: How to draw a face Get better at figure drawing Drawing techniques: 7 fundamentals of pencil drawing View the full article

Every summer in the UK, thousands of graphic design students graduate and start looking for jobs. It’s a massively competitive market, so if a student wants to get the best job, they need to stand out from the crowd. The best laptops for graphic design 2017This need for graduates to rise above the pack brings about an exciting challenge for educators, and we are constantly trying to find the best way to help our students. My most successful graduates have not always been the most technically accomplished. But they have been ambitious, able to pitch, eager to talk about their work, and with a design portfolio full of great ideas. A sense of ironic fun pervades Alexis Facca's portfolio InDesign is useless if you don’t have a good understanding of grids, typography and visual composition While I understand software skills are necessary, and the industry corroborates this, it’s important that educators prioritise ideas, a thorough knowledge of the principles of design and a good sense of how to conduct research. If you understand the principles of design, it should be easy to problem-solve a piece of software. Get Adobe Creative CloudFor example, InDesign CC is a pretty intuitive piece of kit, but it’s useless if you don’t have a good understanding of grid theory, typography and visual composition. To gain knowledge of such principles, you don’t need software, just an inquisitive mind and some time to do a bit of reading. Additionally, the skills learned through this problem-solving can also be applied to other creative tasks, such as responding to a brief. Once you have a concept and know what you need to achieve, that is the time to pick up the right tool – this may be software, or something else. Software problems The focus too many students have as they start graphic design degrees is to learn as much as possible about the associated software package. And while I would not discourage this, it needs to be just one part of a course’s focus. I ask students if they would prefer to spend three years learning something that might be completely overhauled in a month – or worse still, become redundant (think of the decline in the use of Flash). Or would they rather focus on ideas, and knowledge that never dates? With software, you never know what changes are around the cornerI’ve worked with students who have spent inordinate amounts of time working through tutorials to give typography a wood effect in Photoshop, and then give it realistic lighting and shadows to make it look ‘real’. Instead, I would propose spending 20 minutes in a woodwork studio and 20 more in a photography studio. Not only is the photographic approach quicker, but it will stand out more in a portfolio and show a greater sense of adventure and better problem-solving. If your projects are limited by the possibilities of the software you are using, the outcomes will never be innovative. Far too many portfolios look like a series of technical exercises, and this is missing the one thing the industry needs above anything else: great, innovative thinkers full of ideas. A seismic shift So, where does this idea that graphic design can be broken down into several easy-to-learn components come from? From the earliest years in education, students are sold the notion of building blocks to success. If they can learn the right answers, they will pass the test and proceed. However, in the design industry, there is no right answer – just the one you have the confidence to pitch. It’s a seismic shift for some students, but educators need to encourage their cohorts to embrace not knowing answers immediately, and then show them how to problem-solve. But how does an educator teach students the skills necessary to thrive in design, such as adaptability, resilience, efficiency and innovation? Educators need to encourage their cohorts to embrace not knowing answers immediately, and then show them how to problem-solve I would suggest that right from the first year, students should pitch, present and be encouraged to talk about their work as much as possible. Educators need to offer students as much access to the industry and live clients as possible. Real-world experience will help sharpen and focus a student’s ambitions, and meeting a cross-section of the industry will help them find the roles they want to apply for later. Many students are not aware that graphic design employment goes further than the person sitting on a Mac using Photoshop; they do not know about copywriters, strategists or account managers. While I do believe that graphic design courses should demonstrate the basics of each major software package (alongside offering inductions to Fab Labs, photography, sound recording, amongst other things), students can only innovate and show real ambition when they apply the skills they’ve learnt to solve real-world problems. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts magazine issue 270. Buy it here. Related articles: How to become a junior designer How to get into design without a degree 4 first-class ways to make your design education count View the full article

Apple rushed out an emergency patch that fixed an bug in High Sierra that revealed APFS volume passwords via the password hint feature. View the full article

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There was once a time when, to be taken seriously as a creative agency, you had to be based in a capital city – ideally London, Paris, Berlin or New York. But in these digital days, it’s now perfectly possible to do quality work with big, global clients wherever you feel happiest and most comfortable. And with rents sky high in London, what UK-based designer wouldn’t want to branch out geographically? With your physical location now less important, the ‘shopfront’ of your business falls more and more to your portfolio website. We've already looked at the 7 best London agency websites of 2017 and 7 best New York agency websites of 2017, but these agencies, all based in Greater Manchester, England, have made their sites work brilliantly in attracting attention and new clients. And we can all learn something from what they’ve put together... 01. Music There’s a unique and original design sensibility to Music’s website Music is an award-winning branding and communications agency based on Lever Street, central Manchester. Launched in 2007, its clients include Nike, Triumph, The Brit Awards, NHS, Polaroid and Brew Dog. “We won’t follow due process or take the road well trodden,” it promises. “We won’t hide behind the agency/client divide and we won’t create work we’re not proud of.” And the design of its website provides evidence that these are not mere words, but a real philosophy that infuses its designs. We particularly love the confident, full-screen carousel that greets you on arrival; the day-glo rainbow coloured list that pops up on clicking the hamburger icon; and the artful, confident typography that finds the sweet spot between cocky and professional. 02. BGN New agency BGN’s site is beautifully put togetherFounded just this year, BGN is a strategic, brand-led agency based in Charlotte Street, central Manchester. It’s a small but perfectly formed team of six people, with 46 years of creative agency experience among them (plus, somewhat unusually, Business and Psychology degrees). Their clients to date include Brand Attic, Forse Cycling, Capo Juices and The Moorings. Their portfolio website is beautifully put together, with confident use of all-caps titles and an inspired palette of pale pink-on-black that really shouldn’t work but somehow does. As a new company, it’s a nice touch that they also list the clients they’ve worked with individually over the years, quickly conveying the depth of experience amongst them. And we love how clicking ‘Say Hi’ produces not the boring contact form you expect, but a lively looking conversational interface; a sign that these old dogs are still alive to new tricks. 03. WDC WDC Creative’s website draws on its interior design smartsWDC Creative is a boutique creative design studio specialising in commercial and retail interiors and graphic design. Founded in 2001, it’s based in Hilton Street in central Manchester with a client list including the likes of Asics, Godiva, Chelsea FC and P&O Ferries. Specialising as it does in interiors, you’d expect the design elements of WDC’s website to be perfectly balanced, with generous use of white space… and you won’t be disappointed. This elegant layout brings together some enticing photography with a lovely selection of fonts to produce a visual experience not unlike leafing through a high-end magazine. There’s a fascinating blog, too, with posts on topics such as ‘What Makes a Good Office Design?’ and ‘What Can Environmental Graphic Design Do for You?’ 04. AHOY AHOY makes clever use of geometric line drawings to draw everything togetherAHOY is an integrated branding agency offering brand strategy, ecommerce and digital marketing. Launched in 2008, it’s based in Heaton Moore, Stockport, Greater Manchester, and with clients including the likes of Greene King Beer, Barburrito, Pizza Hut, Lancashire Farm and Neighbourhood. AHOY’s slick website does an excellent job at presenting its extensive portfolio of work, usefully enabling you to filter projects by type or industry. Visually, a collection of geometric shapes, often subtly animated, brings it all together and provides a delightful visual consistency. And we love how, instead of containing a lot of waffle and jargon, the ‘About’ page gets straight on with introducing you to the members of the team. It’s a nice touch that gets to the heart of the matter of why a client might choose to work with them. 05. Flow Creative Flow Creative’s site presents a lot of images and information in a laid-back, easy to navigate wayFlow Creative is design-led production company made up of a small team of designers, illustrators, animators and directors. Founded in 2016, it's based in Lever Street, central Manchester (a few doors down from Music) and its clients include the BBC, Porsche, JD Sports, Apple, Manchester United and GlaxoSmithKline. There’s a beautiful sense of, er, flow to its website, which packs a ton of information and images into a one-page site that’s quick and easy to navigate around. Using icons to identify the multitude of services it offers is a genius move, as a plain list would have just become a blur of unwieldy text. The portfolio itself is nicely categorised into seven clear and understandable categories, making it easy to find what you’re looking for. Oh, and boy do we love that logo. 06. Instruct Studio Instruct’s website ditches visual trickery for good, solid designInstruct Studio is a multi-disciplinary communications studio working within the architectural, media and cultural sector. Founded in 2009, it’s based in Stevenson Square in central Manchester's Northern Quarter (just around the corner from Music and Flow Creative). Current clients include Bench, British Cycling, The National Football Museum, Manchester Airport Group and Universal Pictures. The studio’s homepage goes for a bold and colourful image grid, with minimal text, that seems perfectly positioned for the Instagram era. Across the rest of the site, there are no clever tricks or animations, but with original and inspired typography, powerful images and an artful, elegant layout, who needs them? 07. Tile Creative Tile Creative’s site is businesslike yet infused with a subtle sense of the dynamicTile Creative is a design studio specialising in strategy-led creative work across brand projects requiring elements of print, digital, moving image and physical design. Founded in 2012, it’s another one based in Lever Street, central Manchester (that street really is a hub of creativity) and its clients include Adidas, TalkTalk, Ryder Cup and SpaceZero. Its website is businesslike: with no overblown effects to distract you, you can get on with just finding the information you need quickly. That said, there are some little transitions and animation going on as you peruse the site that add a subtle sense of verve and dynamism to proceedings. That, along with the fun and friendly typography and bright and cheerful colours, make this a website that’s a delight to explore. Liked this? Then check out these related articles: 6 famous agency websites and what they can teach us 10 great uses of imagery on agency websites 5 uses for stock images you might not have thought of View the full article

You're reading How to Speed up the Design to Development Handoff: Use Justinmind, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Looking for a tool that designers and developers can agree on? Justinmind is made for web and mobile app prototypes and Hi-Fi website wireframes. It has all the capabilities expected in prototyping tools such as resizing, drag and drop placement, formatting and more. In addition, it features a lot of goodies including widget libraries, reusable […] View the full article

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If you're busy working from home or in the office and want a quick break, reading a comic is a great way to get some much-needed downtime and inspiration – and web comics are free and easily accessible. Some of the world's most well-known fictional characters were born through the medium of comics. The likes of Batman, Superman and Spider-Man have all won the hearts of successive generations of readers – to such an extent that, despite the rise of the internet, the printed comic industry is still booming. Best free WordPress themesThat doesn't mean the web is irrelevant to comics, though – far from it. Indeed, it's given birth to an array of inspirational online-only creations that have transported the medium into the modern age. Here, we pick 21 of our favourite web comics... 01. Webcomic Name Alex Norris' Webcomic Name is an actual good thing that happened in 2016The first and the newest web comic on this list, Webcomic Name first appeared in July 2016 and swiftly became a firm favourite. It's the work of UK-based artist Alex Norris and it never fails to amuse us with its excellently naive artwork, blobby characters and simple jokes, usually topped off with Webcomic Name's staple 'oh no' punchline. It shouldn't really work but it very much does, every single time. 100 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials02. Achewood There's so much brilliance to Achewood, especially Speaker SneakersFrom one of the newest to a venerable classic. Chris Onstad's Achewood first appeared in 2001 and focuses on the strange lives of a thoroughly diverse cast of stuffed toys, pets and robots. Absurd by nature and often thoroughly surreal, Achewood's simple artwork belies its complex storylines and often glorious use of the English language. There's a huge archive to work through; Onstad helpfully provides links to the big Achewood story arcs, but we'd honestly advise you to start at the beginning and just go with the flow. 03. Bird Boy Hellboy creator, Mike Magnola, is a fan of Bird BoyAnne Szabla's Bird Boy follows the story of Bali, a 10-year-old Nuru boy who is keen to prove his worth to his tribe. After being banned from the ceremony that would make him an adult, he stumbles upon a legendary weapon and must flee across a dangerous land of gods, men and beasts to prevent it falling into the wrong hands. The story was picked up by Darkhorse comics and has been compiled into graphic novels Bird Boy Volume 1: The Sword of Mali Mani and Bird Boy Volume 2: The Liminal Wood. With a thumbs up from Mike Mignola, it's definitely worth checking out. 04. Hark! A Vagrant Kate Beaton uses her comic to remind us of women's forgotten historyCanadian comic artist, Kate Beaton, blended her expertise in history and anthropology with a talent for visual storytelling to give us this popular webcomic. Kate started the web strip during her breaks from her day job and they were surprisingly all created in MS Paint (I know right?!) Her simple, whimsical style, caricaturing Western historical figures from James Joyce to Ada Lovelace make Hark! A Vagrant a particular favourite of ours, and won the artist multiple awards. Step Aside, Pops, a collection of her Hark! A Vagrant comics, topped The New York Times graphic novel bestseller list in October 2015 and in the same year, a poll ranked Beaton 14th among the top all-time female comics artists. 05. Necropolis Within a month of the comics online release, Image were already in talks to publish a print editionWritten and drawn by Jake Wyatt with a helping hand from Kathryn Wyatt, this ongoing fantasy web comic is the tale of one girl's quest for revenge. Updated every Wednesday, the duo have been painstakingly developing the story and stunning visuals for over a year. It is yet to be revealed when the comic will conclude, but there are already plans to release a graphic novel with none other than Image, when it finally finds its ending. 06. The Sad Ghost Club The Sad Ghost Club was created to be an outlet for anyone who's ever felt aloneRun by Lize Meddings and Laura Jayne Cox, The Sad Ghost Club is a web comic with a cult following. "The Sad Ghost Club is a club for anyone who’s ever felt sad or lost," they explain in their manifesto. "It's the club for those who don’t feel like they're part of any other club; we love creating comics and zines to highlight the issues that a lot of ghosties go through." Branching out into tote bags, beanies, tee-shirts, badges and more, the duo have come a long way with their tales of a lonely little ghost. Meddings' and Cox's approach ensures you'll be smiling through each story, knowing you're not alone in the world after all. 07. Oglaf Oglaf isn't for the faint hearted – this is one of the tamer offeringsCreated by Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne, Oglaf is often a very NSFW web comic centred on a medieval fantasy realm which is decidedly sexual in nature. Not for the faint-hearted, Cooper and Bayne bring their world to life through hilarious short stories and inspirational illustrations – just don't let your boss catch you reading it. 08. The Order of the Stick You'll love The Order of the Stick if you're into medieval shenanigansIf you've embarked on role-playing games or dipped your toes into the world of medieval fantasy stories, you'll know that people tend to take both very seriously. The Order of the Stick is a web comic that pokes fun at the subjects with a unique flair. Created by Rich Burlew, the artist brings the stick figure into the modern age. 09. Botched Spot Smack down! James Hornsby pokes fun at professional wrestlingArtist and writer James Hornsby has been parodying and lampooning professional wrestling culture with his hilarious Botched Spot ever since 2008. Creating his own characters including Olav Orlav and Rad Bad DeBone, this is one of those web comics that anyone can enjoy - whether you like wrestling or not. 10. Deathbulge Deathbulge hosts an array of hilarious heavy metal charactersDeathbulge was initially a comic series about a death metal band, but illustrator and writer Dan came to believe that was too limiting, so decided to draw whatever he felt like. It seems his change in direction worked, as the web comic has become a firm favourite among web comic fans. With out a new issue every Monday, there's always something fresh. 11. Bad Machinery Bad Machinery channels the wit and charm of our favourite '90s girl DariaBad Machinery, by John Allison, tells the stories of six young sleuths - three boys and three girls - attending Griswalds Grammar School in Keane End, Tackleford. An inventive web comic with colourful illustrations and witty dialogue that MTV favourite Daria would be proud of. 12. You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack Tom Gauld's hilariously witty comic strips have made him a favourite among fansTom Gauld is a hero of sorts among the illustrator and comic-loving crowd. Based in London, not only does he draw a regular cartoon for the Guardian newspaper, he's also created a number of comic books. Although You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack is indeed, a printed publication, you can sample its delights on his Tumblr. 13. Sketchbook Diaries Gemma Correll charts her 'mostly boring' life in her daily diariesGemma Correll describes herself as a cartoonist, writer, illustrator and all-round small person. It's arguable whether her sketchbook diaries technically count as a web comic, but they're so charming that we just had to include them here. Charting her 'mostly boring' life, cute illustrations teamed with refreshingly honest observations make for some delightful reading. Related articles: How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials 7 key typographic trends in Marvel movie logos How to create a comic page View the full article

London's Science Museum has revealed its new look courtesy of top branding agency North Design – much to the annoyance of the team behind the museum's previous award-winning identity, Johnson Banks, which took to Twitter to voice its opinions. The rebrand was announced on the Science Museum's Twitter page this week, complete with an eight-second animation that showed off its new typographic logo. Typography is the centrepiece of the rebrand, with 'Science Museum' now spelt out in an all-caps, sans-serif font that becomes thinner and thinner as the letters go on. This echoes the gradient shading and colour palette that accompanies the redesign. How to choose the right typeface for a brandThe agency behind the rebrand, North Design, has been remarkably low-key about the rebrand so far. There's no mention (at the time of writing) of the work on its website, and the museum itself hasn't further explained the thinking behind the new identity. What we do know is that the rebrand covers the brick and mortar museum itself, plus the Science Museum website and social media platforms. And while the typography thins out in the name of the museum, this distinctive typographical quirk is saved only for one headline on the Science Museum's site. Perhaps this is for the best: if you were to type a sentence with that font it would vanish before you finished. Controversial rebrand The rebrand includes a new look for the Science Museum websiteSo why has the Science Museum rebranded? The old identity by Johnson Banks – with its angular font, which looked like it needed decoding – won a D&AD award in 2011, the year after it launched. Today, it’s firmly entrenched as a design favourite in the public eye. There are some similarities: Johnson Banks' branding for the Science Museum was also typographically playful, for example. Blocky and laid out in rows and columns, the logo took its cue from code and digital typefaces. The Science Museum's previous branding by Johnson Banks features a distinctive, angular typeface"It takes a little bit of working out, but ‘decoding and sharing’ seemed an apt analogy for the museum itself," Johnson Banks explained on its website. "It also provided [the Science Museum] with what they’ve never had – a unique wordmark to identify themselves which could be literally ‘stamped’ onto everything they do, and an immediate solution to their brand architecture issues, which were solved virtually overnight." There's no information currently available about North Design's brief. But one thing’s for sure: Johnson Banks isn’t impressed. So far, Johnson Banks' negative reaction to the new Science Museum identity hasn't quite hit Spiekermann levels of backlash, but it has invited other designers to weigh in with their opinions on the rebrand. The general consensus within the Twitter design community seems to side with Johnson Banks. But that's not surprising: we're hardwired to resist change. And sadly we see this initial knee-jerk reaction time and time again with rebrands. We're more interested in how opinions will sit in a few months' time, when the public have had time to digest the new design – and when we have more information on the brief given to North Design. North Design is remaining tight-lipped in the midst of all this drama. So we won't be seeing a bitter back and forth Twitter spat between Johnson Banks with the Science Museum caught in the middle. It's a family institution after all, won't somebody think of the children? Related articles: Have designers become lazy? 6 embarrassing examples of bad kerning 10 top tips for kerning type View the full article

In this short Illustrator tutorial, designer Will Paterson walks through how to create a perfectly geometric logo design in Illustrator. Get Adobe IllustratorFrom creating an initial pattern using smart guides to removing areas from shapes using the Shape Builder tool or Pathfinder tool, adding gradients and using keyboards shortcuts, you’ll learn a host of handy techniques for working more efficiently in Illustrator – which you can apply to your own designs. You can either choose to follow the video tutorial here, or work through the written steps below. 01. Create a diamond shape Select the Rectangle tool from the Tools panel, and hold Shift to create a square shape. Select the square, choose the Rotate tool (or hit R) and hold Shift to rotate it 90 degrees. 02. Duplicate the shape Choose the Selection tool, highlight your shape and duplicate it by holding Shift and Alt/Opt. Without deselecting the shape, hold Cmd+D to duplicate the effect again. 03. Create a pattern Make sure your smart guides are on by using the Window menu, or hitting Cmd+U. Select your bottom shape, hit Alt/Opt and drag the new shape diagonally, placing it below the middle shape. Use Illustrator's smart guides (View>Guides>Show Guides) to help you. Repeat the process to build a larger diamond shape. 04. Create a new artboard Create a new artboard by clicking on the Artboard panel (Window>Artboard). Duplicate the larger shape and drag it onto your new artboard. Press Cmd+G to group the shape. Next, hold Alt/Opt+Shift and drag the new shape slightly to the right. (We’ll leave the original shape where it is, in case we need to come back to it later.) 05. Knock out the colour Select white from the Swatches palette with the duplicate shape still selected. This will knock out part of the original diamond shape, leaving you with an interesting, more complicated shape. Again, drag a duplicate to the top of the artboard by holding Alt/Opt and dragging and dropping it. (Leave it there in case you need to come back to that stage.) 06. Cut the shapes out with the Pathfinder tool… There are two methods you could use for cutting the shapes out of the main image. The first is the Pathfinder tool... Open the Pathfinder tool (Window>Pathfinder). Select your group of white shapes and hit Cmd+8 to make them into a compound path. Now select the group of black shapes and repeat the process. Highlight the two shapes, go to the Pathfinder panel and select minus front. 07. …or use the Shape Builder tool Highlight everything, select the Shape Builder tool from the Tool menu (or press Shift+M). This lets you merge shapes together by selecting them. Hit Opt, and drag the Selection tool through the shapes you want to remove. 08. Ungroup the duplication Duplicate your shape and ungroup the duplication by right-clicking it and selecting Release Compound Path. Now select the central shape, rotate (R) it 90 degrees and reposition it in the centre of the larger shape. 09. Add a gradient Highlight the shape, and hit G or go to Window>Gradient. Select two colours from the Swatch palette and drag them into the Gradient panel. This will give a gradient to all the individual elements in the shape. To apply the gradient to the larger shape as aa whole, hit G and pull the slider across the full width of the shape. And you're done. Related articles: The 23 best Illustrator brushes The 17 best Adobe Illustrator plugins 30 amazing vector art tutorials View the full article

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When you see or hear the word 'prototype', what comes to your mind? Perhaps a scale model made from low-cost material? Or maybe something that can be physically interacted with? 10 top prototyping toolsEither way, in many industries, prototypes are not the finished article – nor are they expected to be. In the web industry, prototypes are a huge part of our lives. They are incredibly useful and informative, but I fear that they are often misused and misunderstood. And this leads to "the perils of prototyping". Consider each of the following scenarios... Prototyping scenario one A project team is asked to investigate the feasibility of an idea for a new digital product. The developer uses a framework (or many) without justification or research, they take little care when coding and there are no code reviews or best practices. It is all hosted on a computer that is in no way near a mirror of a production environment. The developers declare it "pretty much ready" and equally the project manager sees it as "done". Stakeholders are led to believe it is ready, and sign it off to be launched immediately. It either goes straight into production with a huge amount of technical debt or takes much longer to launch than expected. Prototyping scenario two A project team is asked to demonstrate some new functionality for an existing digital product. The designer throws something together in the modern prototyping software of their choice. This shows interactions, transitions, animations and so on. It doesn't account for any performance considerations or how much complexity is involved in coding it. The designer declares it "pretty much ready", the PM/client/stakeholders believe it to be done and sign it off for an immediate go-live. The prototyping software may potentially be able to generate code, but there is no awareness of the quality of it or indeed how easy it would be to integrate into a real working codebase – it may well need to be written from scratch. Failure In both cases the projects are deemed a failure; the expectations of stakeholders, however, were completely disproportionate to the reality due to poor communication from all members in the project team. Can you see a pattern here? The problem isn't with prototyping per se; it is with those who do not communicate fully to their colleagues/clients about the status of their work at the early prototype stage, and what is still required to make it viable for production (be it an MVP initially or a fully fledged product). They assume that just because the prototype looks finished, there is no further work to be done. The solution to this problem comes down to taking responsibility. It is the designers' responsibility to understand and communicate that their prototype still needs to be coded (and with that, a whole raft of conversations and tasks need to take place). It is the developers' responsibility to communicate what is still needed technically, understanding that it may well require help from other teams. And it is the PM/clients' responsibility to not assume that the work has been finished at this very early stage and they can then start to work on a plan for resourcing the project appropriately. Taking responsibility In my opinion, it's a project managers' duty at this stage to clear the way for their team to have time and space to continue their investigations – because it is here that the prototype will really begin to take shape and help to drive the direction of an MVP and beyond. Ideas will be reworked, code will be rewritten, but a prototype should not be deemed finished until all pieces of the puzzle have been investigated. This should include infrastructure, security, performance, SEO, content strategy and everything in between. These are often forgotten during the product development process – sometimes until just before the go-live date – but why not start earlier? As long as we start to consider all aspects then the entire team (and client) will be given a much better indication of the feasibility of the product. This is what a prototype should really be about. As web professionals we shouldn't be afraid to say that something hasn't been finished. If we can all communicate in a better way, there will be less failed projects and more joy in developing great digital products for our users. This article originally appeared in net magazine issue 296. Buy it here. Related articles: 10 top prototyping tools How to choose the right prototyping tool How Netflix handles prototyping View the full article

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It can be difficult to keep focused and stay on task throughout the day, especially when you have tons of information to balance across numerous platforms. When you need to focus, you can trust Moo.do Premium to keep you going. You can get it on sale for just $59.99 (approx £45) for a lifetime subscription. There are tons of applications that hold vital information that you need throughout your day. The problem is, balancing them all can be a pain. That problem disappears with Moo.do Premium. This organisational tool integrates all of the services you need most into a single platform, minimising the amount of effort you need to put in to find what you need. Keep track of your emails, to-do lists, important documents, and more in a single app. You can get Moo.do Premium on sale right now for just $59.99 (approx £45) for a lifetime subscription. That's a 75% saving off the full retail price of $245. If you'd rather not go the whole hog, you could get a one-year subscription for $19.99 (59% off) or three years for $39.99 (72% off). All of these bargains are fantastic for an application that will keep you focused when you need it most, so grab this deal today. Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com Related articles: The 30 best iPhone apps for designers 10 of the best free Udemy courses for designers 20 top tools for freelancers View the full article

As many freelance UX developers will testify, going it alone can be an exciting ride, but it can also be a little overwhelming at first. Not only will you have to manage all those clients you’ve been quietly nurturing over the years; you’ll also have to manage your accounts while working from home, organise your projects and stay up to date with UX trends and methodologies. All on your own! Luckily, technology comes to the rescue in the form of these 10 essential tools for freelance UX designers, including tools for user testing, user surveys, UX analytics, wireframing and prototyping tools, time management, accounting, producing proposals and more. These will cut down time wasted and let you focus on what you do best – user experience design. 01. Harvest Keep track of your hours with this reporting toolTime management is one of the biggest challenges facing new freelancers, who can get bogged down in too many projects (or too few!). Using Harvest you can track your hours, plus the hours of any fellow freelancers you might work with. The reporting tool lets you track both time and budget for projects and, most importantly, the future project estimation tool works beautifully. The interface is intuitive, and you can integrate Harvest with more complex tools like Asana or Quickbooks. 02. Zipbooks Quickbooks is crucial for keeping your accounts in checkSpeaking of QuickBooks, you’ll have to keep right on top of your accounts as a freelancer. Quickbooks is a classic accounting tool for freelancers, but it might be too powerful for new freelancers. Newcomer Zipbooks is a free alternative that will enable you to track your time (and put a price on the time you spend on a project), make invoices, monitor payments and track your expenses over time. What’s more, you can set up late payment reminders and send them out to clients – an effective stress reducer. Zipbooks is also incredibly easy on the eye, with the central dashboard collating all essential information into one user-friendly screen. 03. Proposify Want to win over clients? Proposify will help you land workProposify is a whistles and bells proposal building tool that will impress the heck out of potential clients. Based on design-leaning templates, you can create customised proposals that streamline the sign-up process with features like online signatures. You can save all your previous proposals as templates too, which will save time in the long run. While the Sales Team features (which track sales metrics) will probably be way too in-depth for the average UX freelancer, it never hurts to be able to track proposal success rates. Packs start at $25 per month. 04. Typeform Run surveys easily with TypeformWith your time and your accounts organised, you can get on to your actual job. Typeform is a neat little tool for running user surveys that will cut down on the time spent perfecting survey questions and answer choices. Use Typeform's interactive templates to create branded, engaging surveys for any device, even with custom logic and and notifications. The analytics have a reputation for being useful and actionable, and there’s a free version of the tool that allows you to send as many surveys as you like. If you need more powerful features, prices start from $30/£24 a month. 05. POP Sketch the old-fashioned way but on your screen with P.O.P. appNo matter how hi-tech our workflows become, some people still think better with a pen and paper in their hands. If you’re one of those people, then POP (Prototyping On Paper) is a simple tool that allows you to sketch ideas the old-fashioned way then convert them to linked prototypes. Just draw up the wireframes on paper, snap photos on your phone, then link them together with the basic transitions and gestures offered by POP. You can then share the mockups with clients or colleagues securely, and even carry out early user testing. While it’s not equipped to create high fidelity prototypes and lacks conditional logic, POP by Marvel is nevertheless simple and fun, and definitely a cool app for group brainstorms. 06. User Testing Record how visitors interact with your site by using User TestingUX freelancers looking for a testing tool that covers more than surveys can do little better than User Testing. The established tool makes it easy to video record users interacting with a website or app, so you can analyse results at your leisure. The tool has a database of over one million users - all you do is select the demographic you’re targeting and then either write the tasks or have User Testing handle task definition for you. This is a sound option for UX freelancers who don’t have the time or resources needed to do large-scale user testing solo, but still need to get up close to real users. Feedback can be ready in one hour as well, if projects are running short on time. Run up to 15 video sessions per year for $49 each. 07. Lookback Lookback gives you an insight into your visitor's emotionsWith the rise of chatbots and virtual assistants, the way we interact with devices is becoming increasingly “human”. So it makes sense that user testers make the most of tools that tap into our everything from how we talk when using an app to our facial expressions. Lookback aims to do just that: built by the UX guys from Spotify, the tool allows you to understand not just behaviour, but emotions and experiences as well. You can even record the full screen of a device, and use the reverse camera to record the user’s facial expressions at the same time. The recordings appear on Lookbacks dashboard, where a team of people can analyse the results. At $29 per person per month it’s not cheap in freelance terms, but if you plan to do lots of mobile app testing then it could be what you need. 08. Mixpanel Figure out your funnel pathways with MixpanelMixpanel has UX analytics covered. The comprehensive tool enables tracking of each individual user’s journey through a product, from engagement through retention to funnel pathways. And the best part is that you only pay for the metrics you use: Mixpanel automatically collects everything (making life a lot easier), but you’ll only be charged for those metrics when you start analysing them. Start out with the Free plan, on which you get 20M data points per month, so if you’re only freelancing on the side you this may prove enough for your needs. Otherwise, you’ll have to step up to $99 per month for unlimited and full core reports – a hefty price tag for many freelancers. 09. Balsamiq Balsamiq lets you whip up wireframes in an instantBalsamiq is a great little tool for putting together quick wireframes and mockups. It’s a good choice for all the traditional UXers out there, as the tool aims to reproduce the feeling of wireframing on a whiteboard, but digitally. Its cute, sketch-style interface and drag and drop UI elements make for super-fast UI building; the resultant mockups can then be used for basic user testing. From $12 a month for the paid version, it’s not a bad option for freelancers. You might also like to check out these other great wireframe tools. 10. Justinmind Justinmind is tailored towards more basic wireframesFor freelancers who need more than basic wireframing abilities, Justinmind is designed to cover both wireframing and interactive prototyping in one tool. The tool can create lo-fi mockups as easily as high fidelity prototypes with requirements tracking and multi-device simulation. Prototypes can be created from zero - just select the device you want to prototype for then drag the pre-baked UI elements to the canvas and add interactions. The tool gives you loads of flexibility in terms of interface design, and Sketch and Photoshop integrations make it possible to import already-started projects and add conditional logic and interactions to them. Justinmind is also a good option for freelancers working with big clients thanks to its teamwork features: clients can add their own comments and requirements to individual features and then track changes in the version history. The price point of $19 per user/month isn’t a bad deal, either. And finally... We couldn’t resist including these (probably) non-essential tools that will nevertheless improve your UX workflow, and your day. Coggle Share your thoughts with Coggle's mind map toolsCoggle is pretty use-specific, but it really does add something new to the usual arsenal of design and UX tools. The free tool lets you map out brainstorming sessions into beautiful mind-maps that can then be shared with friends and colleagues. Their examples will win over any design-savvy UXer. Figma Figma makes it easier to share and collaborate on projectsFigma is an awesome new tool that brings the handiness of Cloud-based collaboration to interface design. Kind of like Google docs, you can work on projects at the same time as multiple colleagues and the design updates in real-time. Work is saved in a version history automatically, and changes sent along to your mobile device as they happen. Prospero Prospero is a purpose built tool for polishing proposalsAlthough it’s designed for designers, Prospero proposal writer is a good option for UXers as well. The neat tool lets you create gorgeous proposals based on those of design agencies, and lets you know when clients open and sign them. The Prospero team also takes care of the copywriting, which is a big boost for time-poor freelancers. Related articles: Outstanding examples of CSS 3 top ways to build a website prototype 4 ways to cash in as a freelancer View the full article

Making your own canvas boards is fun, quick and saves you money. It also gives you a superior product and the flexibility to create whatever size or shape you need for any given project. You don’t need any specialist skills or tools and you can pick up everything you need from any hardware or DIY store. It's also a great way to explore new painting techniques without splashing loads on money on boards. 01. Gather the equipment All of your tools can be bought from the high streetTo start making your own canvas boards you will need 3mm thick MDF, a metal ruler, a pencil, a utility knife, canvas material, sandpaper, primer, a priming brush and a cutting mat. A good right angle is a handy tool for checking your corners are 90 degrees, but it isn’t essential as long as you take care with your measuring. 02. Cut the board to size A right angle can help here, but isn't essentialCheck you’re working from a good corner on your sheet of 3mm MDF and measure up the desired dimensions of your board. Once marked up you can cut the board with the knife, using the metal ruler as a guide. Start lightly and let your knife do the work. It will take a few runs to cut through the board. Take care, fingers don’t grow back! 03. Apply your canvas Stick the canvas to your board using primerOnce you’ve sanded down the cut edges (do this outside and wear a mask if possible as MDF dust is nasty), you’re ready to paint a coat of primer on the front of your panel. Take your canvas, apply it to the wet primer and press firmly. Take care to line up the weave of the material so it runs perpendicular to the edges of the board. Bonus tip: Painting onto a smooth board can give great results too, so you don’t even need to add the canvas to the board. Follow steps 01 and 02 then just prime the board a few times, giving it a light sanding between coats. 04. Add a coat of primer The number of coats will depend on how much of the weave you want to retainPaint another coat of primer on the canvas and allow it to dry thoroughly. Repeat this process a few times to create a really solid surface, depending on how much of the weave you want to retain. Once completely dry, flip the board over and trim the excess canvas to finish your hand-crafted canvas board. This article originally appeared in Paint & Draw magazine issue 10. Buy it here. Read more: 7 tips for smashing Inktober 2017 9 top tips for drawing in black and white Level up your painting skills with a mahlstick View the full article

Although we’re working in paperless offices more and more, the business card is still a mainstay of business. If you haven’t got a card that you can hand out to prospective clients or collaborators, you’re missing out on a key marketing opportunity. Not all business cards are created equal, however. We live in a world where the average small business can design their own cards and order them from well-known online printers for the price of a dinner. But these cards tend to be of an inferior weight, and typically use twee clipart to relate themselves to the business being advertised. 55 inspiring examples of letterpress business cards What this means is that there are a lot of poorly designed business cards out there. This is both a challenge and an opportunity: to stand out you need to create a design that looks fantastic, and helps you differentiate yourself. If you can make it tactile and feel pleasant in the hand, you’ll be well on your way. Create an effective card and you can elevate your business above your competitors before the prospective client has ever seen your website. So, with all that in mind we’ve brought together 10 of our top tips for creating effective, innovative business cards. 01. Remember basic design principles The basic principles of paper-based design apply to business cards It might seem obvious but it’s worth reiterating that a business card is a piece of printed material like any other. Because of this, the basic principles of paper-based design apply to business cards: Keep all your key copy at least 5mm from the trim edge Work at 300dpi for best image reproduction Ensure you maintain a minimum size for your typography to maintain legibility Design in CMYK unless you’re working exclusively with spot colours Many designers also find it helps to use a grid to lay out their cards, as this can help you to achieve the right hierarchy of information as well as ensure your alignment is sound (if you need a reminder, take a look at our guide to grid theory). 02. Get creative within the constraints Marine Laurent's cards use a portrait orientation to keep things fresh There are a couple of 'standard' sizes for business cards, depending on where you are in the world (perhaps because wallet sizes also vary slightly from country to country). One typical business card size is 55 x 85mm, although you'll see many other sizes quoted on the web. Even though you only have a tiny canvas, you can still get creative with the space. Start by considering the key information you want to include, which will typically be a name, phone number and email address, then work your design around presenting this information in a creative way. 03. Avoid common pitfalls Beware: a border like this one will show up any printing misalignments There are some common pitfalls to designing business cards that it helps to be aware of. The first and most obvious is to ensure you provide a bleed as specified by your printer. This is commonly 3mm, but can be 5mm, so check! For more information on bleeds and other printing needs, read our 5 things every creative needs to know about print design article for some tips. Just as important is to avoid using a straightforward border around the entire of the card, as this will show up any misalignment in the trim if the card isn't perfectly cut. 04. Use special finishes This guitar tutor’s card features a UV spot to highlight fret positionsAn instant way to add impact to your business card is to use a special finish. Special finishes include the likes of foil blocking, spot-UV and metallic inks, and can add significant cost to your print. What they offer, however, is the opportunity to make your card more tactile, visually impressive and memorable. If you're not sure how to approach this, take a look at our guide to creating special print finishes in InDesign. Different printers offer different options for finishes, so speak to them to find out what they can do for you, and don’t be afraid to go to a specialist if your usual printer only offers straight four-colour print. 05. Cut into your card Even just rounding the corners of your card can help it stand out A great way to make your card unique is to use a die-cut process to remove elements from the card stock, leaving a void. You can either use a die to change the shape of your card (by rounding the corners, for example), or you can cut shapes out of the centre. Dies are expensive to create the first time, although increasingly printers are offering laser-cut options that make it economical to create a die-cut look on shorter print-runs. There are some amazingly creative examples on the web, like this die-cut letterpress stationery, and when combined with creasing you can use the process to create architectural features in your card design. Also, don't overlook letterpress as an option. 06. Try out unusual materials This cheese company's business card doubles as a grater Most business cards are printed on card stock. This is the most cost-effective option for printing your cards. If you’re willing to get a little more creative, you can print onto all sorts of different materials including transparent plastics, metals, wood and even slate. Here dog treats have been used as a business card material, allowing the card to serve two purposes simultaneouslyKeep in mind that cards need to be portable, and easy to file away in a pocket or briefcase, but get creative with your choice of stock material and you'll instantly stand out from everyday business cards. 07. Make it useful This business card designed by Emily Berry converts into a chair for your phoneOne of the problems with paper is that it’s everywhere. Some people hold on to every bit of paper they receive, amassing a paper mountain, while others are far more ruthless and recycle things at the first opportunity. To avoid the risk of being recycled, make your business card work as more than simply a calling card. This card, by Jamie Wieck, includes a seed that sprouts after a few days of soakingSome of the most memorable designs incorporate function as well as form, ensuring they survive longer than most business cards. Examples include business card that act as a holder for hair clips or turn into a miniature armchair for your phone. 08. Make your own Design studio Lo Siento uses a stencil to create unique business cards If you’re feeling creative, why not make your own business cards? You can find letterpress kits on eBay at reasonable prices, allowing you to convert any card stock into your own business card with ease. Or you could use one of these beautiful free business card templates. Making your own is a time-consuming but very satisfying way of expressing yourself in a card. 09. Recycle old cards These cards were made by hand out of birthday cards, Christmas cards and screenprints that went wrong Old business cards, postcards or packaging can be repurposed and given a new life as your business card. Recycling is both environmentally sound and can allow you to express your creativity in new and exciting ways. There are some fantastic examples on the web like the one above, to get your creative juices flowing. The process can be as simple as getting some stickers printed, or as complex as hand-illustrating over the top of each old card to suit the recipient. 10. Double-check your artwork If your card has words, make sure they're spelled correctly This tip applies to every bit of print work you do, but it’s so crucial that it’s worth repeating for business card design. When sending your artwork off to the print shop, make sure you’ve double-checked every single detail. There’s nothing worse than getting back your cards and discovering a typo in the email address or name. Check twice, print once is a well learnt adage! Related articles: 10 business card fails 20 innovative business card designs 9 great business cards for type and lettering designers View the full article