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Looking at the best illustration tools and best art tools used by top pros can help artists to learn how to draw and paint their own masterpieces. And if there's one thing creatives are mad-keen on, it's the tools of their trade. Finding out about new pens and papers, brushes and paints can be the eureka moment for artists who have been struggling for ages to capture the right look with the wrong tools. To this end, we've caught up with designer, illustrator and visual thinker Eva-Lotta Lamm to see how she creates her characterful and popular sketch notes. 8 best pencils for designers and artistsHer main insight might come as a surprise to artists who like to blame their bad art on insufficient tools. "I always tell people, that 'Any pen is better than no pen,'" says Lamm. "The magic is not in the tool, but in the practised hand. But if you sketch a lot, of course you develop some preferences for certain tools." With this in mind, Lamm has shared some of her favourite pens for sketching. Best for: Line drawings The Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.4 is perfect for line drawingsThe top tool in Lamm's pen pantheon is the Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.4. She describes this super-thin pen as being "lovely for small writing and line drawings." Thanks to its slightly scratchy feel on paper, this pen has also won the coveted position of being Lamm's absolute favourite tool for sketchnoting. Best for: Large-format drawing Top to bottom: the Neuland No. One WorkshopMarker, Neuland No. BigOne and Neuland No. One ArtMarkerWhen it comes to working for a large format, Lamm tends to shun big names like Sharpie and Copic in favour of Neuland markers. These have the advantage of not having a strong smell that can make you dizzy, plus they come in over 20 colours – handy if you need to create vibrant artwork like Lamm's sketchnotes. Best for: Calligraphy Lamm uses the Pilot Parallel pen for playing with calligraphy and letteringFor playing around with calligraphy and lettering, one of Lamm's preferred tools is the Pilot Parallel pen. With four different nib widths ranging from 1.5mm to 6.0mm, it's no surprise that this refillable broad nib calligraphy pen is a popular choice when it comes to writing. Getting started with these pens Her main insight might come as a surprise to artists who like to blame their bad art on insufficient tools. "I always tell people, that 'Any pen is better than no pen,'" says Lamm. "The magic is not in the tool, but in the practised hand." If these tools have piqued your interest, or if you want to see which ones are a no-go, head over to Lamm's blog where she's put together a complete list of her favourite pens. Related articles: Watch this calligrapher create perfect script with just a Crayola pen How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials Why you should make time for creative side projects View the full article

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a million. Video can convey more information faster than print or static imagery. It can make otherwise staid documents engaging. The rising popularity of YouTube, Facebook Video and Facebook Live, is testament to the appeal of video. When video is only part of your content, it makes sense to include it in an format people can read [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] But when video is only part of your content – an explainer video in a marketing kit or press release, educational video in a step-by-step text guide – how do you deliver that? HTML web pages carrying video work in some circumstances, as do EPUB ebooks with video embedded. But many people overlook the most obvious mixed-media delivery format, one that is readable on 97 per cent of the world’s connected devices, a format so ubiquitous you probably already publish some of your company’s content to it. I’m speaking, of course, about PDF. PDFs can contain embedded audio and video, image galleries, popup content, and so much more. Below I’m going to show you how simple it is to add video to an InDesign CC document and export it to Interactive PDF. 01. Make space for the video Use a standard graphic frame to hold the video [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] My project is a PDF-format magazine layout. The article is about Ferrari supercars, cars that the magazine's readers will be thrilled by. Rather than load the article with mere static photographs, the editor has commissioned a video guaranteed to ramp up the excitement levels: footage of a Ferrari 360 zooming down a country road, filmed on a wheel-mounted camera. This video will go in the large space on the bottom of page two, so you'll need to create an empty graphic frame in the area the video will occupy. 02. Prepare the video Convert your video into H.264 MPEG-4 with Adobe Media Encoder [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] If your video is not already an MPEG-4 with H.264 encoding, you’ll want to convert it to that. InDesign will work with QuickTime MOV movies, but MOV is an ageing, inefficient video format, so it's best to avoid this. Converting common video formats to MPEG-4 is easy with the Adobe Media Encoder utility that comes packaged with Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and other Creative Cloud applications. Drag the video file into the large queue area of Adobe Media Encoder and choose H.264 from the first drop-down menu (see image above). Set the second drop-down to 'Match Source – High Bitrate' unless you want to alter the video size, quality or framerate. Click the green arrow button in the top-left corner to begin the conversion. When it’s finished, Adobe Media Encoder will have saved a new copy of the video with the MP4 extension. 03. Place the Video into InDesign Video media frames are indicated with diagonal striping and a play icon [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] Back in InDesign, select the empty frame you created a moment ago and choose 'File > Place'. Locate and select the MP4 video you’ve chosen to include and click Open. The video will be placed into the frame, as indicated by diagonal striping and a tiny video icon. 04. Preview your video InDesign’s Media panel allows you to preview and manage placed videos [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] Unlike images, InDesign won’t show the content of videos on the page. Instead, you need to use the Media panel, which you can open from 'Window > Interactive > Media'. Here you can preview the video, including sound. You can also set the poster and controls to appear when publishing to PDF and other formats. 05. Set your options My chosen video options – for the movie poster, I've used a custom image [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] The static image that appears when the video isn't playing is referred to as the 'movie poster'. From the Poster drop-down field on the Media panel you can choose from a range of options: Standard: Inserts a generic icon From current frame: InDesign will create a poster from whatever part of the video currently appears in the preview at the top of the panel Custom image: You choose an external image (preferably one with a play arrow to encourage readers to click) Once you've chosen your movie poster, you need to select SkinOverAll in the Controller drop-down field to give readers standard video player controls such as play, pause and volume adjustment. Optionally, you can check the box beside Show Controller on Rollover, which hides the player controls until the reader moves the mouse cursor over the video. 06. Export your document Select Adobe PDF (Interactive) as the export format [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] You're now ready to export your document. From InDesign’s File menu, choose Export. At the bottom of the Export dialog, set the Format to Adobe PDF (Interactive). Click Save. 07. Make it interactive The Adobe PDF (Interactive) Export Options dialog [click the icon in the top right to enlarge the image] You'll now find yourself on the Export to Interactive PDF dialog. In the Options section at the bottom, make sure you’ve selected the radio button beside Include All, next to Forms and Media. Selecting Appearance Only inside of Include All would omit the video, using the poster as a static, non-interactive image, just as if you’d chosen to export as Adobe PDF (Print) instead of Adobe PDF (Interactive). Also check the box beside View After Exporting, which will make the PDF automatically open in Acrobat or Adobe Reader. The rest of the options are at your discretion. Click Export, wait a moment, and enjoy your new PDF with embedded video! To learn about even more amazing things you can do with interactive PDFs, watch my Pluralsight video course InDesign CC Interactive PDF. About Pluralsight Pluralsight is an enterprise technology learning platform that delivers a unified, end to end learning experience for businesses across the globe. Through a subscription service, companies are empowered to move at the speed of technology, increasing proficiency, innovation, and efficiency. For a free trial and more information, visit www.pluralsight.com. Read more: Create special print finishes in InDesign 22 free ebooks for designers How to design a book in InDesign View the full article

As we know, using colour in branding effectively can be key to a campaign's success, but how can designers be sure which colours are suitable for which projects? A new infographic by Iconic Fox aims to demystify the science of colour by breaking down the rainbow into each colour's common associations, gender preferences and existing uses. The Colour in Branding Infographic is an easy reference guide to make sure that you make the right colour choices in your designs. It should help designers to avoid making any faux pas by splashing 'cheap' colours all over a luxury brand's business cards, for example. The designer’s guide to using colour in branding Green is apparently one of the more controversial colours, particularly among audiences who identify as femaleIf this wasn't enough, Iconic Fox brand creator Stephen Houraghan said that the quality content on Creative Bloq actually helped influence the infographic. He told us: "We’ve done a fair bit of research and your article is one of the better ones. "We didn’t find a really detailed, comprehensive infographic though, so once we gathered all of our info, we decided to design a comprehensive infographic. "Given your article was a stepping stone to its creation, we want to give you a heads up to see if its something you’d be interested in having a look at." Orange is used by some budget retailers and airlines, which is perhaps why it's associated with cheapnessWe were interested, and suitably impressed by the thorough research and detailed information in the infographic. The only thing missing is a breakdown of how each nuanced shade – as seen in the opening image of a Pantone chart wheel – affects consumers' perceptions. But that could end up being one ultra-long infographic. To see the full infographic, head over to the Iconic Fox site. The classic colour of sophistication, black can sometimes risk being perceived as menacingRelated articles: The world’s favourite colour revealed The designer’s guide to using colour in branding How to pick the perfect colour palette every time View the full article

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The release of iOS 11 is right around the corner. Now is the perfect time to freshen up your skills or start from scratch to master the art of app development. Get your start with the Complete iOS 11 and Swift Developer Course, on sale for 95% off the retail price. The Complete iOS 11 and Swift Developer Course allows you to go hands on with iOS and the coding languages that bring apps to life. Taught by expert Rob Percival, this course allows you to learn by doing. You'll work your way through 20 app-building projects to learn how to work with Apple's operating system. By the time you're finished, you'll be building your own apps from scratch! The Complete iOS 11 and Swift Developer Course usually retails for $200 but you can get it on sale now for just $10 (approx £8). That's a saving of 95% off the retail price for a can't miss course, so grab it today! View the full article

The BFX Competition for visual effects and animation students is back for another year, and is already underway. Launched on 10 July, industry experts from studios that have worked on projects including Dunkirk, The Jungle Book, Ex Machina, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ice Age, will be guiding and advising student teams over the coming weeks. 4 of the best animation showreels to inspire youThe Competition will see teams of five current and recently graduated students compete against one another to create stunning 2D or 3D VFX shorts for the charities DEBRA and Re-Cycle. Faced with just a script to go off, the teams will have to create the shorts in just seven weeks. Creative Bloq's sister magazine 3D Artist recently met with some of this year’s mentors from studios including Blue Zoo, MPC, Double Negative, Blind Pig and more at Bournemouth University. Find out what advice they have for the teams in the video below! The BFX Competition will announce its winners at the BFX Festival, Bournemouth’s visual effects, animation and games festival, which runs from 2-8 October 2017 in Bournemouth, UK. Find out more about BFX Festival here. Related links: 12 inspirational VFX artists you need to know Experimental VFX videos push limits of 3D animation How to break into the VFX industry View the full article

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Giles Colborne will present on designing for conversations at Generate London on 22 September. The co-founder and CEO of cxpartners will discuss both the opportunities and pitfalls presented by conversational interfaces. Whether we like to admit it or not, messaging interaction platforms are contributing to our daily mobile screen time. They are the only applications we allow into our lives intrusively through notifications, and the only type of application we truly want to spend our precious time in. We love our messaging platforms; they give us the opportunity to communicate in ways we normally would not when face to face – such as emojis, memes and atmospherics. The voice call as we know it is fading, and not just in personal use, but in business use also. Even voicemails are considered archaic and laborious, with a preference now to be text-based. Chatbots as a new paradigm The Cently Slack bot enables users to purchase from retail stores within SlackOver the past five decades we have experienced shifts in messaging, from ELIZA, DoS bots and gaming to MSN Messenger. The core of human connection to computing has been through the messaging paradigm. As we live through this current cycle, new messaging platforms with new usable and useful interfaces, and with much more personal user context, are being created. Platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Google Allo, WhatsApp, WeChat, Slack, Skype, kik, Twitter, Viber, Google Home and Amazon Echo – to name just a few – are all creating messaging, voice and bot experiences for their user bases. These experiences are being created for personal, commercial, enterprise and automated use. With 50 million business users, Facebook Messenger is exploding its commercial API capabilities weekly, allowing brands and services to order food, book a flight, contact local emergency services or send a payment through simulated bot services. Messaging platforms from Whatsapp to Telegram are all creating voice and bot experiences for their usersBots are maturing fast, as customer experience, service and marketing teams explore the potential of conversational UI for solving issues with self-serve processes (such as booking a hotel or changing flight details). And bots such as Cently enable users to purchase from retail stores within Slack. Bots do not solve all service requests, and human intervention is still needed to address more ambiguous tasks. As the user's pace of input and absorption of content within messaging windows increases, brands and services will need to meet this demand. A truly seamless, end-to-end ecommerce customer service bot experience is still a way off, but platforms such as Agent.ai are progressing fast in this area. The case for exploring purchasing simplification through conversational UI has never been so important. With the growth of online communities, shared resources, tools and APIs, a conversational UX design party has truly started. Now is an incredibly exciting time to be a UX/UI practitioner exploring bot and AI automation and machine learning in natural language messaging interfaces. As a designer, emphasis on the 'design of words' (natural language) and user intent within a messaging window will be at the fore of your work. To convey the pace and depth of practice emerging in this space, in this article I have covered only a few key areas for consideration when designing a successful bot user experience. Where to start when designing chatbots If you are considering designing a bot for your brand or service, there are a lot of factors involved. First you need to decide if a chatbot is the right option for your product. Consider the following: Can your core products and services translate into text in an organic and natural language paradigm? Will a bot speed up purchasing, ordering and customer service issues, and make things more convenient for your users compared to using your current website or app? Will your new bot align with current company business requirements and objectives? Can core services and product relationships be decoupled and broken down to function as micro-services within a messaging UI? What problem would a bot's information architecture attempt to solve? Creating a successful automated (end-to-end) chatbot is hard. Because it is a relatively new medium for organisations, best practice for implementation is learned, tested and evolving daily and globally. Be sure to spend time researching, testing and breaking bot flows across multiple platforms, like Messenger and Slack. Learn how different companies handle intent (mapping a phrase to an action), on-boarding, responses, suggestions, dead ends and natural language. You also need to make sure you have the ability to put this into practice. Skills such as natural language programming, conversational UX, and in-house technical competencies are vital, but you also must factor in the constant effort required to maintain a successful bot experience. What does it mean to design conversations? Find out at Generate London on 21/22 September Design a whole chatbot system We are still in the early days of building and interacting with automated commercial services. The assumption for users when interacting with an automated service is that their intentions will be misunderstood, and attempts to interact with the service will fail. As such, it's important to thoroughly consider your system dialogue flow. First, prototype your flow as information architecture. You are designing a systematic set of conversational flows that take a service from beginning to end. The flows need to be short and simple, with reduced interaction points – the aim is to enable users reach their intended result as easily as possible. If user intent is misunderstood or not achievable by the system, be honest and let them know they need to try a different approach. The chances of this happening can be reduced by including introductory contextual onboarding, which includes suggestions or prompts based on the capabilities of the system. It's vital to accommodate for any potential dead-end scenarios. Here are some tips: When designing your branching dialogue, document a matrix of possible dead-end situations, and establish alternate routes for each of them Users need an exit option when navigating the wrong branch of a conversational flow, otherwise they may drop off. Always pose an escape option to allow users to correct the situation To guide users in the right direction, your system needs to provide simple expected dialogue direction for their next steps, such as 'Browse latest sneakers' when attempting to view desired products, or 'Order Taxi' when booking a cab Use of natural human language within menus and micro-button options need to be contextually exact in meaning to allow swift progression and prevent 'guess selection and input'. This also prevents users starting the conversation a second time. Consider system responses and prompts Bots are primarily conceived to provide expertise, increase convenience and speed of interaction with a brand, service or general information request. There are some fundamental approaches to bot responses that need to be considered. First off, responses need to be short and concise, to avoid misunderstandings resulting in back-and-forth dialogue with the user. Always provide direct button option prompts, like 'Yes' and 'No' or 'Read this story' within a thread to help the dialogue progress. For a guide, take a look at the CNN bot service on Facebook Messenger. CNN's Facebook Messenger bot displays the latest articles, suggestions to progress, images and excerpts If a customer must input more than two or three times to correct intent or flow, the experience has failed. System responses such as 'Sorry I didn't get that' , 'Do you need help?' and 'Would you like to see our deals?' can be frustrating and misleading, depending on the user's task. If a user must seek help to establish the correct response that will rescue their position within a flow, they will become frustrated, restart or drop off. Finally, always confirm a user's input, be it right or wrong, before progressing the dialogue. Design your bot As a designer, your job is now to design words, while considering dialogue flow, voice and thread position. When designing bots on Facebook Messenger, you will find that customisation capabilities are limited. This is a good thing – if all brands implemented custom design for their bot experiences, the UX would become chaotic, distracting and inconsistent across different platforms. Customisation capabilities are limited to ensure consistency within a particular platform The design needs to be controlled and adaptable within the guidelines of the particular platform, as the user would expect it to be. As a result, you need to accept that your flows may look a little different across platforms. Here are some tips for designing your bot: Begin with sketching the branching flow dialogue of your bot, focusing on the key actions it will address for users Tools such as motion.ai, Twine and Mind Node can be useful for prototyping dialogue branching In your initial prototype, detail all dialogue relationship flows, sentences (verbs), subjects, user tasks, navigation and potential dead points The goal is to always steer the conversation forward using contextual suggestions, options and prompts based on understood user intent Although you will have little GUI design control, some messaging platforms allow you to add product photos, icons and menus, edit the colour palette, use animation, sound and video, and insert stickers and conversation landmarks. An example of solid use of main menu navigation within the conversational UI flowWhatever media you plan to use as part of your dialogue flow, make sure it is used sparingly, is on-brand and contextually relevant. Design elements should not interrupt the dialogue flow. Similarly, the design of selectable button options and prompts should act as a support to the dialogue, not overtake the UI. However, be sure to use interface elements such as animation and live typing indicators. Users are used to these interaction paradigms as part of conversational UI messaging windows. The future of chatbots As the area of automated conversational UI heats up, we are going to see a plethora of messaging platforms (commercial, personal and business), natural language integrations (Watson), machine learning, APIs, tools and UX and UI best practices explode. Platforms such as Facebook Messenger and Slack will attempt to spearhead the trend. Brands now need to ramp up and self-educate internally at pace. They will have to investigate whether their products and services can translate into conversational natural language experiences. Figuring out whether they can live within this window as a micro-service, and support users' expectations while reimagining internal services and products will be hard. Finding the talent to lead these endeavours may also be hard. For designers, we need to accept that the expectations of our role are broadening quickly. Automated and bot conversational UI is just one of many current trends in technology that we need to invest in, self-educating daily. The role of a user experience designer is increasingly an 'always on' practice, evolving daily. For more on designing conversations, come to Generate London on 20-22 September, where Giles Colborne will explain how to get started, introduce us to some easy-to-use tools and more. Get your ticket today. This article originally appeared in net magazine issue 289. Related articles: Create responsive forms and tables How the intelligent web will change our interactions Interview with Giles Colborne: how chatbots are learning View the full article

If you want to make a 3D meteor shower for a scene or project, you can easily render a photorealistic meteor shower in any 3D design application, such as 3ds Max and Sitni Sati's FumeFX, which we'll use here. It's a less deadly and far quicker approach than having to get a doctorate in theoretical physics, to invent a time machine to go forward in time to when humans are advanced enough to control the paths of meteors and space debris, to create a real meteor shower. In this tutorial, we'll make 3D meteors that are as realistic as possible – for example, as soon as meteors enter the atmosphere, they start burning, so the effect of friction means the front of the meteor becomes smoother than the back over time. Also, when we animate the rocks, using a straight path of travel will add to the realistic feel. Starting the simulation is easy, but you have to keep on tweaking in order to get the right look. Settings like Burn Rate and Turbulence really affect the overall look of the simulation. Keep tweaking these settings to get the right look for your simulation and simulate after every tweak to make sure nothing goes bonkers and ruins your simulation. Let's get started in 3ds Max and FumeFX... 01. Create some rocks Use the Rock Generator script to quickly sort some rocks out [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Once you've got the basics of 3ds Max and FumeFX, start by creating some rocks. Start by creating some spheres and applying some displacement maps to them. In 3ds Max, there's a modifier that can do that really nicely, and there are some really cool noise generation modifiers. Alternatively, you can use the free script online called Rock Generator, which is really good. You can also sculpt your rocks, smoothing the front with the Smooth Sculpting Brush. It's not very important to get it exactly right because it will be on fire, so a low-poly version will be fine. You just need to have something to burn in the scene. 02. Animate the rocks Animate your rocks going straight down to speed up the simulation [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Once you have the rocks set up, animate them to go on your desired path. I find that animating them diagonally doesn't work, since the FumeFX container gets too big and that requires a lot of processing power. So instead, just animate them going from a high altitude to a path straight down. This will make the container smaller and speed up the simulation. The next step is to set up a FumeFX container. Then, set up an Object Source, add that to the container and start the simulation. We'll go over this in detail in the steps that follow. 03. Set up the simulation Use FumeFX to set up the simulation [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Set up a FumeFX container (go to Create>Geometry>FumeFX>FumeFX) and an Object Source (go to Create>Helpers>FumeFX>Object Src). Add the rocks to the Object Source. Go to the FumeFX container and open the FumeFX UI. Under the obj/src tab, add the Object Source and you're good to go. Click the Play button to start. 04. Render settings Sort out your colours and gradients and you're ready to render [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Once the simulation is done, go to the FumeFX UI and under the Rend tab, edit the colours and textures of the simulation. Under the Fire group, go to Color, right-click the colour swatch and click Keyless Mode. Now, you can set up a gradient. From left to right, the colour of the particles is set. Often, going from dark brown to black works best. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 223. Buy it here! Related articles: 4 tips for creating depth of field in 3ds Max Best free 3D models 11 tips for creating a watery landscape in 3D View the full article

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'Less is more' is a principle that today's online designers are increasingly coming to appreciate. Minimalism benefits websites in the shape of faster loading times and better compatibility between screen sizes. What's more, a simple UI design is attuned to mobile browsing, without harming the desktop experience. The minimalist philosophy centres on the idea that you must design around the content. In web terms, the designer starts with rough content, then builds just enough interface for users to identify their goal and navigate to it easily. Web design inspiration: 28 outstanding examples of CSSThe minimalist aesthetic is the visual representation of that philosophy. Minimalism uses a lot of white – or at least uniformly coloured – space. But don't confuse uncluttered with boring. You must choose your layouts with care, otherwise your restricted palette of design elements will come across as dull instead of elegant. Below, we've collected our favourite minimalist sites to inspire you to do more by doing less. 01. Why we Explore Visitors drag across the page to discover more informationCreated by Swiss interaction designer Nicolas Lanthemann, Why We Explore is a blog about space that follows an interesting format. Although the topic is vast, the information is given plenty of space to breathe; each new theme being announced as the viewer scrolls horizontally across the page. 02. Tinker The UI for this watch retail site is stripped back to basicsTinker is a watch brand with a simple concept: customers can choose the face size, strap colour and metal, in any combination. No unnecessary features or detailing. The UI for the company's site makes the concept clear; users can easily select their ideal combination from the limited options available. No fuss. 03. iPad mini 4 Apple is no stranger to minimalist designApple is no stranger to minimalism. The webpage for the iPad mini 4 uses lots of literal whitespace to draw attention to the product's sleek design. The clear top bar, also featuring an abundance of space, helps the user to navigate. 04. ETQ The products have space to shine on the ETQ siteThe lack of borders around the product pictures on footwear brand ETQ's site frees up a lot of space for a more casual visual flow. The corners are occupied with the essential interface functions, leaving the majority of the screen for the product. 05. Callens Minimalism suits luxury brandsMinimalism creates an air of elegance and sophistication that lends itself to certain industries. This makes it the preferred choice for fashion websites and those selling luxury items, such as Italian brand Callens. 06. Derwent & Tamar Chambers Here minimalism creates a feeling of authorityThe elegance of minimalism also suggests professionalism, as barrister collective Derwent & Tamar Chambers demonstrates on its website. 07. The Outpost Typography is the standout feature on this homepageBeirut-based magazine The Outpost's site features dramatic typography: an integral part of minimalism. With a limited set of elements to work with, the designer must take full advantage of each one – and since words are almost always one of those elements, attention-grabbing typography is a useful tool. 08. Leen Heyne The jeweller directs the viewer's eye on its websiteBeside its jewellery, Leen Heyne's monochrome logo and company name are the only significant visual elements on its homepage. The surrounding expanse of whitespace makes it a safe bet the user's eyes will go back and forth between the two. 09. Velvet Hammer This site is minimalist, but still full of characterMusic management firm Velvet Hammer's site demonstrates the value of composition in minimalism. The two dominating visuals are poised symmetrically, all four corners are occupied, the entire scene is framed by a thick black border, and thin lines bisect the vertical and horizontal halves. At the centre of the screen – though not the composition – is the brand name. 10. We Ain't Plastic Contrast creates interest hereContrast is another useful visual tactic for keeping minimalist designs interesting. German UX engineer Roland Lösslein's website We Ain't Plastic sets up a stark contrast in size between the central image and the text and icons above. 11. Carlo Barberis There's little more than a hero image on each page of this siteItalian jewellers Carlo Barberis take advantage of the high-end attributes of minimalism, with little more than a hero image on each screen. 12. Mikiya Kobayashi Mikiya Kobayashi's designs are intricate, but his site is notFew nations know minimalism better than the Japanese. Product designer Mikiya Kobayashi's site features only his brand name and a call to action asking the user to scroll, placing the focus on the intricacies of the products. 13. Nua Bikes Nua Bikes balances the elements on its homepageNua Bikes' site is deceptively minimalist, because there are actually a lot of elements on the screen. However, by condensing the text and maximising the whitespace, the firm is able to draw attention to its product, the bike. 14. Elite Navigation is pared back to the absolute basics hereModelling agency Elite takes minimalist navigation to its extreme, with the focus on only two main pathways, and all the others tucked away in a hamburger menu. 15. Château d'Yquem Content is compartmentalised on this winemaker's siteWinemaker Château d'Yquem combines minimalism and compartmentalisation in its site. Each compartment follows the minimalist philosophy with only a few elements revolving around a single concept. When combined, the compartments' size and location on the screen create a visual hierarchy. 16. Sendamessage.to This site has one clear purposeAmusing, if possibly inane, Sendamessage.to lets people customise messages to friends with a hand gesture. The barren black background adds power to the main image and the bold white letters of the text. 17. Maaemo Atmospheric video sets the sceneThe website for double-Michelin-starred Norwegian restaurant Maaemo uses minimalism to create a sense of class. The visual treatment is perfect for storytelling, as the site demonstrates with HD photos of dishes being created. 18. Ava Converse with AI AvaThis black-and-white colour scheme and conformity of typography of this promotional site for sci-fi thriller Ex Machina keep the focus on the text – an interactive conversation with the film's star, the AI robot Ava. 19. Symbolset A colour-changing background livens up this minimalist siteIcon font vendor Symbolset attracts attention to the interactive area in the middle of its site by minimising the competing elements and adding a brightly coloured, ever-changing background. 20. NTN All eyes are drawn to the clock face on this watch retailer's minimal websiteWatch brand NTN uses the abundant whitespace and reduced number of elements that the minimalist style is known for. All the focus is on the central clock, which makes it clear what the brand is known for. Like this? Read these! 8 minimal UI designs and why they work Web design inspiration: 28 outstanding examples of CSS Choose a website builder: top tools View the full article

Web developers are in high demand right now. You could be the perfect fit to fill a company's need for a web developer – all you need are fresh skills to get the job. Learn them all with the Interactive Web Developer Bootcamp, on sale now for 94% off the retail price! There's no better way to learn than to immerse yourself in the topic you're interested in, and the Interactive Web Developer Bootcamp allows you to dive right into the world of web development. Start building for the web with the coding languages that are essential to the platform including CSS3, HTML5, JavaScript, and more. There are over 180 training videos and a 20-page ebook to learn from. The Interactive Web Developer Bootcamp usually retails for $499. This comprehensive course that could land you a new job can be yours for just $29 (approx £22). That's 94% off a bundle that could launch your new career! View the full article

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The time-consuming and often tedious process of filling out paper model or property releases has been streamlined thanks to the latest innovation from Adobe. With Adobe Sign, creatives can fill out their crucial legal documents digitally and start selling their work faster than ever. As part of an update to the Adobe Stock Contributor Portal, Adobe Sign lets creators fill out their releases digitally, send them to the model or property owner via email, sign them electronically and return to the Contributor Portal all without having to print them off and scan them back in. The streamlined Adobe Stock Contributor Portal in all its simple gloryThis update is sure to be music to the ears of creatives who are used to completing the bulk of their work digitally. No more will they have to go through hours of drawn out paperwork and signing off – instead, the whole process can be completed in a matter of minutes. Creating a release is simple. Simply visit the Releases tab and click the Create a Release option. From there you can choose to generate a release with Adobe sign without the hassle of creating an account. After that, all you have to do is fill out the name and contact information for your model or property, attach a reference photo of the subject, and fire it off via email. Related articles: Review: Adobe Creative Cloud 2017 20 top tools for freelancers Why you should make time for creative side projects View the full article

Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) created many self-portraits in his career – though some of them are not so obviously self-portraits. For example, Irises, painted at the Saint Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the last year before his death, is a perfect example. A white flower stands alone and defiant in this very moving painting. The self-portrait can take many guises and gives the artist the opportunity to say something about who they are, what they are, and importantly, what and who they want to be. In this workshop we're going to go through the stages of developing a self-portrait from start to finish and also try to give it a hint of the great master, Vincent van Gogh. You can see some of our self-portrait techniques in action in the video below. Below are our 10 steps to create a self-portrait inspired by van Gogh's most famous self-portrait, Self-Portrait 1889. Follow these steps to paint a portrait that everyone will admire (click the four-way arrow icon one each image to see it bigger). 01. Set up your environment Make sure you can see both your mirror and your canvas without movingGet yourself comfortable and make sure you have everything close to hand. Spend time getting your mirror and easel in the correct position. You need to make sure you're facing the mirror or canvas and that you can see the other by simply moving your eyes, and not your whole head. 02. Start your charcoal sketch Sketch in the main features with charcoal [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Using a sharpened stick of willow charcoal, start to sketch the main features in. Remember to begin with the larger forms and add increasing levels of detail as you go. This is just a dress rehearsal, so don't worry about adding form shadows. However, it'll be helpful to add the extreme edges of cast shadows at this stage. 03. Fix the drawing in place Use a dark acrylic to fix the drawing in place [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Fix the drawing in place using a liquid acrylic marker. Here we've chosen a purple acrylic ink for the construction lines, but an earthy red or blue would work just as well. Just make sure the colour is dark enough to show through the tonal stage that's coming up next. 04. Build a tonal painting Build a tonal painting, not worrying about colour [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Creating a tonal stage helps break down the painting process. When you're thinking about tone – in this case using Alkyd Burnt Sienna thinned down with a little bit of turps – it's not about colour at all. Just concentrate on tone, which you'll use as a guide when you get to releasing the colour later. 05. Pre-mix your colours Time to get mixing [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Start by mixing a base tone for the skin – here we used Yellow Ochre and Scarlet Lake, along with a touch of Green Lake to knock the scarlet back. This orange-brown is then lightened for skin tones and darkened for shadows. You can also mix your own black from Alizarin Crimson, Blue Lake and Bright Yellow Lake and create greys to mix with the skin tones. 06. Block in the composition Start the painting proper by loosely blocking in areas of light and dark [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Begin to block in the main areas of light and dark. Squinting your eyes helps to keep this stage as loose as possible, to retain a feeling of spontaneity as colour goes on the panel. You'll be working more into this, but the brush marks you make now will inform the ones you make later, so start off on a good footing! 07. Add more detail There's still time to experiment in these early stages [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Once you've established the main areas of light and dark in the face, break them up into further areas of different tone and colour. At this point, start to block in the torso and look at a colour to use for the background. Allow yourself to experiment in these early stages. 08. Unify the elements Take care to ensure that all the elements of your painting work together [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]You should aim to have all of the canvas worked at this stage. Consider the painting as a whole and judge how the tone and colour of each area relates and affects the others, even if you still need to add further details to certain areas. 09. Add some van Gogh-inspired flourishes Start working in some van Gogh-style flourishes [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]Now that you have your base, it's time to bring in some touches of Vincent. As we said, this painting is mainly based on a self-portrait Vincent painted in 1889, heavily influenced by the Impressionists, and Pointillists in particular. Using the blocking-in as a guide, apply Vincent-style dabs of colour, allowing the brushmarks to follow and describe the form as you go. Pay close attention to areas of dramatic shift in tone, as they enable you to create some interesting and bold marks. Look out for colours that jump out at you, and don't be afraid to exaggerate these for effect. 10. Fine-tune and finish up If you make a mistake, scrape it off and have another go [click the icon in the top-right to enlarge the image]When adding details, knowing when to stop is an art in itself, so hold off adding highlights until the very end. Try not to work over areas too much. If there's a problem, just scrape it off and try again. You should have plenty of premixed colours left – just remember that you don't have to use them all! This article originally appeared in Paint & Draw issue 7. Buy it here! Related articles: Create a self-portrait with just 4 colours The secret to painting like Monet Make your own pop art portrait View the full article

You're reading Best Examples of Websites That Use Slides Framework, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! By now, you’ve probably heard about Slides Framework, an easy-to-use website builder that helps you get a site up and running in no time. If you haven’t tried Slides yet, this dose of visual inspiration might be just the thing for you. All of the websites below are mini-case studies that show exactly what Slides […] View the full article

In the earlier years of my illustration career I shied away from having to illustrate figures, whether realistic or simplistic. It often held me back when it came to commissioned work. So I decided to start from scratch and train myself to illustrate figures that I could fit into the scenes and landscapes I was already illustrating. 100 amazing Adobe Illustrator tutorials This tutorial will take you through the same simple steps I went through, looking at body language, physical proportions and positioning different parts of the body. 01. Start with stick figures It can be helpful to use a photo as an aid at the startLet’s get right back to basics… stick figures! When I first started out, I found it useful to use a photo. You can try this sketching technique using a digital device, drawing directly onto a print-out or using a lightbox. Here I’m going to draw straight into Adobe Illustrator. You want a photo that includes two seats, with a figure in one of them (see my starting photo here). Draw a stick figure over the real person, then using their proportions as a guide, draw another figure in the second seat. Drawing over a photo enables you to learn proportions, while also playing with graphic style. 02. Keep it basic To create graphic characters you always need to take the tidiest, cleanest optionDon’t feel that you need to aim for realistic body shapes and clothing at this point. Limbs could be one or two straight lines, a head could be a perfect circle the torso needn’t be a solid shape, but could instead be just a spine. Play around with how a super-basic skeleton might fit into the scene. If your aim is to get proportions correct, use a horizontal line for the shoulders and across the hips, which the limbs then join on to. 03. Develop your figures A really simple character can still have body language and personalityWe need to start thinking about developing the stick figures into a usable graphic art style. A first simple approach you can simply thicken up the lines (consider the style of figures on street signs). I would add curved caps and corners (using the functions in the Stroke Panel) to keep it nice and smooth. Consider different line thicknesses, arms and legs could be the same thickness, but any torso/spine might be thicker. 04. Experiment with geometric shapes Build up your characters with geometric shapesAnother approach to stylising your stick figures is to build up more forms and shapes on the body. Again, don’t aim for realistic forms, but experiment with straight lines, geometric shapes and simple curves. You could start to build up the body by adding circles for knee and elbow joints, and triangles or semi-circles for feet and hands. In order to train your brains and hand to draw graphic figure shapes naturally, I would repeat steps 01-04 a few times, developing these stick figures into simplistic but stylised figures. 05. Set the scene Your scenery should work with your figure styleMoving away from photo-study exercises and start creating scenes or locations in a graphic illustration style. Your scenery should work with your figure style – my graphic worlds are predominantly a combination of straight lines and geometric shapes. A great Illustrator tip for this is to hold down the Shift key while using the Pen tool; this will only allow you to draw lines at 45-degrees and 90-degrees, ensuring you don’t stray into more realistic/wonky line territory. 06. Add your people Edit elements such as colours to add some varietyNow it’s time to add figures to your illustrated scenes. You can either sketch them on paper before tracing in Illustrator or draw everything digitally. Remember how the proportions and body language worked on the figures you traced from photos. If you’re working in Illustrator, you could even use the same shapes from one figure to the next, noting how the proportions of body parts shift as the body moves into different positions. You can also customise or recolour parts like heads or shoes from one figure to the next to create variety. Simplicity is key in a graphic world! 07. Represent! Note how the proportions and head size vary for the childEnsure you’re drawing a broad spectrum of figures with different ages and sizes. One key trick I work with is to use the same size circle for all heads, even children. Children’s heads may actually be smaller than adults’, but I find the proportions work well, and the figures instantly look like children if the head is a little over-sized (but obviously no bigger than an adult’s). 08. Build in detail Solidify the skeletal lines and add clothing artworkThe final step is to add detail onto your line figures, building up the limb lines, adding a simple shape for a torso and then dressing them with clothing on top. When I was developing my style I started to add a simple curve shape to the calf muscles, or if the leg was clothed I widened the leg outline until it looked more like a trouser leg. Again, we are not aiming for realism, so it’s fine to leave out the neck, or have an impossibly thin joint at the wrist or ankle. 09. Find your style I’m now able to sketch graphic figures into scenes in my sketchbookI now sketch figures within scenes in a sketchbook with a ruler and circle template to hand. This allows me to not only create observational drawings, but also means I have full concepts and scenes ready to be artworked in Illustrator. By basing my figures on real people, studying real life clothing choices and hairstyles, as well as the body language and proportions of different figures, my scenes now have far more style and individuality. 10. Add some personality Props and tonal variety add interestEven a graphic figure, built from geometric shapes, can have a personality. Don’t hold back on colours, gradients or textures. Use tonal differences on skin and clothing to evoke mood lighting, and add props to tell a story and really set the scene. Related articles: How to transform a pencil sketch in Photoshop Create product icons in Illustrator Create a busy city scene in Illustrator View the full article

Ahead of its SIGGRAPH 2017 conference, leader in 3D animation MAXON has today shared details of its Cinema 4D Release 19 (R19). Headline features of the latest release include tools catered towards motion graphics, VFX, VR/AR, general design and all types of visualisation. Debuting at the week-long Los Angeles event, Release 19 promises to offer a "fast, easy, stable and streamlined workflow to meet today's challenges in the content creation markets," Maxon says. It's set to deliver powerful tools and enhancements for both individual artists as well as large studio environments. New tools and developments include MoGraph enhancements, a 360-degree camera for VR, faster rendering and improved export for production formats. "For more than two decades, MAXON has been dedicated to delivering 3D graphics solutions with rock-solid stability, outstanding ease-of-use, a fast workflow, and cross platform capability," says Harald Egel, managing partner at MAXON. "Cinema 4D Release 19 expands on those core values with outstanding new features and a first look at foundations for the future." Users can expect Cinema 4D Release 19 to ship in September 2017. The full breakdown of new tools and enhancements is as follows: Viewport improvements - This provides artists with added support for screen-space reflections and OpenGL depth-of-field in addition to the screen-space ambient occlusion and tessellation features added in R18. Results are said to be so close to final render that client previews can be output using the new native MP4 video support. MoGraph enhancements - Expands on Cinema 4D’s toolset for motion graphics with faster results and added workflow capabilities in Voronoi Fracturing. Break objects progressively, add displaced noise details for improved realism or glue multiple fracture pieces together more quickly for complex shape creation. An all-new Sound Effector - Allows artists to create audio-reactive animations based on multiple frequencies from a single sound file. New spherical camera - Allows artists to render stereoscopic 360-degree virtual reality videos and dome projections. Artists can specify a latitude and longitude range, and render in equirectangular, cubic string, cubic cross or 3x2 cubic format. The new spherical camera also includes stereo rendering with pole smoothing to minimise distortion. New polygon reduction - Works as a generator, so it’s easy to reduce entire hierarchies. The reduction is pre-calculated, so adjusting the reduction strength or desired vertex count is extremely fast. The new Polygon Reduction preserves vertex maps, selection tags and UV coordinates, ensuring textures continue to map properly and providing control over areas where polygon detail is preserved. And more: Level of Detail object - Features a new interface element that lets customers define and manage settings to maximise viewport and render speed, create new types of animations or prepare optimised assets for game workflows. Level of Detail data exports via the FBX 3D file exchange format for use in popular game engines. AMD's Radeon ProRender - This technology is now seamlessly integrated into R19, providing artists a cross-platform GPU rendering solution. Though just the first phase of integration, it provides a useful glimpse into the power ProRender will eventually provide as more features and deeper Cinema 4D integration are added in future releases. Revamped media core - Delivers Cinema 4D R19 users with a completely rewritten software core to increase speed and memory efficiency for image, video and audio formats. Native support for MP4 video without QuickTime delivers advantages to preview renders, incorporate video as textures or motion track footage for a more robust workflow. Export for production formats, such as OpenEXR and DDS, has also been improved. Robust modelling - A new modelling core with improved support for edges and N-gons can be seen in the Align and Reverse Normals commands. More modelling tools and generators will directly use this new core in future versions. BodyPaint 3D - Now uses an OpenGL painting engine, enabling artists painting colour and adding surface details in film, game design and other workflows to see a real-time display of reflections, alpha, bump or normal, and even displacement. This brings improved visual feedback and texture painting. Redevelopment efforts to improve the UV editing toolset in Cinema 4D continue with the first fruits of this work available in R19 for faster and more efficient options to convert point and polygon selections, grow and shrink UV point selects, and more. Related articles: Behind the scenes on Transformers VFX How videogame graphics and movie VFX are converging Experimental VFX videos push limits of 3D animation View the full article

Google’s top Android engineer describes how the attack surface is shrinking on the mobile operating system. View the full article

Breaking the branding mould with a bold, fresh approach can be tricky at the best of times. Throw in a conservative sector, or a market stuck in a rut filled with stereotypes and tried and tested formulae, and that challenge is multiplied. Lazy broad-brush targeting of complex demographics like ‘millennials’ under the guise of innovative design just doesn’t cut it. It takes a combination of a forward-thinking agency and a brave, risk-taking client to find a new approach, and ditch those tired trends. Read on to discover five projects that have torn up the rule book for all the right reasons, and found a new way of attracting consumers’ attention… Book your ticket to the Brand Impact Awards ceremony01. Provoke and tease the audience The Zhuck app jokily provokes users into actionAsk someone to pick a market sector known for dry, corporate stereotypes and predictable uses of colour, language and iconography, and chances are they’ll pick financial services. Banks and building societies have tried hard to shake off that image in recent years, particularly after the global credit crisis dented public trust in even the most established of institutions. Younger, fresher, more off-the-wall campaigns for the likes of First Direct are worthy of mention here. Making life a bit more fun for accountants is surely a worthy causePerhaps the most category-defying example, however, is Zhuck – a project by ELSE, Daljit Singh, Michael Wolff and NB Studio for leading Russian bank Bank24.ru, aimed at disillusioned entrepreneurs, accountants, managers and investors. The word ‘zhuck’ translates directly as 'beetle’, but its local significance is more similar to ‘shark’ – a person who can be aggressive, predatory, cunning and malicious, but also savvy, clever, entrepreneurial and driven. In short, someone you want on your side. The Zhuck app jokes, provokes and even playfully insults the user, cajoling them into action, making ‘doing nothing’ seem like the difficult option. It’s a brave, and totally original approach. 02. Celebrate the brand's past impact Dear World… Yours, Cambridge won two Brand Impact Awards in 2016Winner of Best of Show at the 2016 Brand Impact Awards, Dear World… Yours, Cambridge is a branded campaign for a university with a difference. Like banking, the education sector has plenty of ingrained tropes and techniques. In a climate where students have become consumers, recruitment campaigns often focus on pushing the individual value and desirability of the degree, quoting stats, league tables or employment prospects. Presented with a brief from the University of Cambridge, Johnson Banks took a totally different tack – exploring and celebrating the past, present and future impact that the institution’s notable graduates have had on the world at large, all framed as a series of open letters that begin ‘Dear World’ and end ‘Yours, Cambridge’. Simple but effective thinkingIt’s a wonderfully simple but totally original construct that puts the campaign head and shoulders above the rest of its sector, and establishes the 800-year-old institution as an outward-facing, thought-provoking ideas lab. For even more inspiration, take a look at the Brand Impact Awards 2017 shortlist. 03. Make even mundane products fun Making paper towels mysterious was a nice touchIn an environment driven by impulse purchasing, price wars and bulk buying, the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector is defined primarily by the need for shelf standout, and not an area famed for its innovative branding. It doesn’t get much more disposable than paper towels, but in 2016 Turner Duckworth took on a brief to rebrand much-loved American brand Brawny, with particular focus on its brand character – the Brawny man. The Brawny campaign became playful very quicklyTurner Duckworth reinvented its mascot as a strong, capable giant, tightly cropped with the top half of his head disappearing off the top of the pack to give him an air of mystery. Consumers found the urge to hold the pack in front of their faces to ‘become’ the Brawny giant irresistible, and shared the photos on social media in their droves. When was the last time you tweeted a picture of you holding up a paper towel? 04. Embrace authentic cultures Geometric letterforms reveal 'Tusk'The Partners’ 2015 rebrand for Tusk Trust of the Tusk Conservation Awards, a scheme that initiates community development and environmental programmes across Africa, is a masterclass in truly meaningful collaboration. At the core of the identity is an African-style pattern, subtly constructed from the letterforms T-U-S-K for a satisfying reveal when the word emerges from the background across a variety of touchpoints, from brochures to online. The Partners worked with the people in Enkiito, Kenya, to create bracelets with the brand's patternMany agencies attempt to appropriate the aesthetic of traditional cultures from around the world for their clients – from Mexican to Japanese and everything in between. But the authenticity is often dubious, and they run the risk of cheap pastiche. Not so The Partners, which after extensive research sought out local inspiration from the people of Enkiito, Kenya on the project. They created 50 traditional beaded wristbands in the brand’s signature pattern, which attracted 17.5 million online impressions for their photos. 05. Discard traditional genre imagery Avoiding glamorised images focused consumers on the skincare aspect of the brandA bold departure from traditional ‘beauty’ imagery of immaculate glamour models art directed within an inch of their lives, SomeOne’s rebrand of D.Thomas skincare is underpinned by a striking set of photos, created by imprinting mannequins in flour. With a particular focus on problem skin, D.Thomas specialises in improving first impressions for its customers, and SomeOne set out to represent those impressions visually. SomeOne used mannequins to make these abstract images100 bags of flour were poured into ‘impression tanks’, into which the agency pressed mannequins’ faces, hands and bodies to create brand imagery corresponding to the areas that D.Thomas caters to. With no traditional ‘spa’ images in sight, SomeOne’s rebrand is a radical departure in the beauty sector, and definitely makes an impression. Related articles: 4 vital brand strategy rules How to craft a brand voice The designer’s guide to using colour in branding View the full article

Learning HTML and CSS can feel like a bit of an uphill struggle, especially because there's almost too much information out there. Where do you even start? 10 best HTML5 template designsTo help you out, we've gathered together a selection of resources that will tell you what you need to know, help you when you're stuck, and get you expanding your skills in no time. 01. HTML Cheat Sheet The HTML cheat sheet acts like an A-Z of HTMLThis incredibly helpful HTML cheat sheet includes a full list of all HTML elements, along with descriptions, code examples and live previews. You can organise the tags alphabetically or by category, and even download it as a PDF to refer to later. Read our full post about it: Nail you HTML with this cheat sheet 02. CSS Cheat Sheet Confused by all those elements? Keep track with this cheat sheetIf you're just starting out with CSS, merely remembering all the many tags and technical terms can be hugely intimidating. Don't let that put you off, though; keep this helpful cheat sheet bookmarked, or just print it out, to quickly find the elements you need. 03. CSS-Tricks CSS-Tricks is the brainchild of Chris CoyierWhen it launched in 2007, this site was all about CSS. Now it's expanded quite a bit, but there's still plenty of helpful information and tutorials about CSS and HTML for you to get stuck into. It's definitely worth a visit. 04. CSS Wizardry Learn from CSS wizard Harry RobertsCSS is easy to learn but difficult to master. Harry Roberts' CSS Wizardry has some of the best articles on the nitty-gritty of writing scalable and maintainable CSS, like the BEM methodology and refactoring (which are among the hardest parts). 05. CodePen's Yearly Top Pens This annual CodePen collection is a great way to learn from the bestOne of the best ways to learn HTML/CSS is to dissect cool demos you discover, and CodePen's yearly Top Pens are great for that. The demos range from cool to 'I didn't even know that was possible'. CodePen's integrated UI for diving into the code is also convenient. In a similar vein, you might also like to check out our 8 CodePen features you didn't know about post. 06. Web Design Weekly Keep up to date with the latest CSS and HTML developmentsHTML and CSS are both constantly evolving. To stay up to date with the latest methodologies and features, we recommend this email newsletter. It comes once a week, which is just often enough that you'll actually read it. 07. Responsive Design Weekly Useful responsive tips delivered to your inbox every weekResponsive is a vital part of the web designer's toolkit these days, and to help you keep up to date, Justin Avery spends hours every week curating the best responsive web design content and interviewing industry leaders, and sends it out as a newsletter every Friday (You might also like our post on 10 really useful responsive web design tutorials.) 08. Create non-rectangular layouts with CSS shapes Soueidan's tutorial is clear and packed with examplesSara Soueidan is known for her clear and thorough teaching style. Here she perfectly explains how to use CSS shapes as well as addressing some of the challenges that you might face. It comes with examples to look through on GitHub. A must-read! 09. Jen Simmons Lab Jen Simmons explores new layout possibilities hereIn her experimental layout lab, Jen Simmons presents the latest CSS properties and uses them in practical ways. Take a look to see what's possible if you get creative with CSS. Related articles: How to use an HTML boilerplate What CSS framework should you use? CSS tricks to revolutionise your layouts View the full article