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October 6, 2013

Supercharge your creative workflow

If your design studio is looking for lightning speed and watertight reliability in a high-spec storage drive, look no further than the My Book VelociRaptor Duo.

Offering both hefty capacity and high speed, the My Book Velociraptor Duo is a great tool for any design studio

When juggling multiple client projects, an in-demand design studio needs to manage and store a huge array of creative assets at any one time – reference materials, work-in-progress and high-res images and video, not to mention the final signed-off design work itself.

And there are few worse experiences as a pro designer than the devastating realisation that you’ve lost all those project files as deadline fast approaches. Everyone has heard a cringeworthy horror story of a backup drive that’s bitten the dust, and it’s an unenviable task to have to explain it to the client.

Reliability and speed

With this in mind, both reliability and speed are absolutely of the essence when choosing a pro-quality storage solution for your studio. A hefty capacity can’t hurt either; especially as modern design projects are demanding an ever-increasing range of assets to run across multiple formats and platforms.

In short, it’s about finding a device that’s highly efficient, saves you time and ultimately puts your mind at rest. As a world-leading manufacturer of external storage systems, Western Digital knows this only too well and its top-of-the-range offering of sophisticated, high-performance secure systems are perfectly tailored to the needs of busy creative professionals.

Render out processor-heavy artwork and store huge amounts of creative assets

The My Book VelociRaptor Duo is ideal both for storing creative assets, and for using as a super-fast scratch drive for rendering out processor-heavy artwork.

Inside the compact, stylish cage you’ll find a pair of 1TB WD VelociRaptor drives, each spinning at an eye-watering 10,000 rpm – almost 40 per cent faster than most of the competition with their combined power, putting even solid-state drives firmly in the shade.

Speedy interface

The My Book Velociraptor Duo drive also takes full advantage of the blisteringly fast Thunderbolt interface, which can theoretically handle data transfer of up to 10GB/s although Western Digital’s official performance figures for the drive are 380-400MB/s for writing/reading respectively.

To put that into context, it equates to 500x 5MB images in just over 30 seconds, or a 20GB HD movie in around one minute. It’s the kind of high-end performance that can literally shave hours off your workflow in the long run, freeing up more time to focus on the most important task: designing.

Expandable option

Best of all, if your storage needs escalate then using the dual Thunderbolt ports to daisy-chain several drives together will actually enhance their performance even further.

You get what you pay for when it comes to high-end storage solutions, and the My Book Velociraptor Duo certainly delivers plenty of power and performance. But despite all this, it’s still whisper-quiet even while data is being transferred.

The strong, silent type, the drive does a lot of processing without making a lot of noise

A simple touch-click mechanism pops the top panel open to expose the cage within, ideal for servicing or to replace one of the WD VelociRaptor drives when it’s full to the brim with all your project assets and work-in-progress files, ready for archiving.

Studio priorities

Of course, different studios will have different primary purposes for a high-end storage device. If secure backup isn’t top of the agenda, your studio can instead prioritise using the drive for additional temporary storage to speed up processor-intensive design tasks.

My Book Velociraptor Duo can be configured for maximum speed, or maximum data protection. Using a RAID 0 (striping) configuration, the entire 2TB capacity of the two drives combined is made available for storage, for times when both speed and capacity are of the essence.

If you’re rendering out a complex piece of artwork, or editing a large-format layout with multiple hi-res images, using this setup will enable you to allocate a super-fast scratch space on the drive – cutting out the pain of progress bar delays and banishing that dreaded whirling rainbow wheel to the Trash, so your creative juices can keep flowing.

The drive is easily configurable to fit in with your studio’s priorities

Alternatively, for more conventional file-storage purposes RAID 1 (mirroring) will provide a double-safe backup for up to 1TB of data, providing that extra peace of mind for storing those crucial project files, so you never let a client down on a deadline again.

Lightning boot-up

There’s also a third option, using the JBOD system this provides you with two separate 1TB drives, which is ideal if you want to boot up your system from one of them at lightning speed, wasting no time when you arrive at the studio in the morning before getting stuck into the next creative project.

All of these options can be configured through the WD Drive Utilities installer, where you can also set the security level, format the drive and set up a sleep timer useful to avoid unnecessary burnout if the network is up and running constantly.

The My Book Velociraptor Duo also works with Time Machine out of the box great news for design studios that swear by their suite of Thunderbolt-equipped, top-of-the-range iMacs, and will accept only the very best storage solution to match.

October 2, 2013

28 must-see examples of kinetic typography

See fonts come to life in these amazing kinetic typography animations, including music videos, movie tributes and more.

Kinetic typography can come in all shapes and forms. Whether it’s a homage to a famous movie speech or song or an exploration of the typography itself, these creations are a feast for the eyes. Here, we’ve picked 28 of our favourite kinetic typography animations including music videos, movie tributes and more…

01. Coldplay: Atlas

Set to feature on the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, this video for Coldplay‘s latest single ‘Atlas‘. was created by New York-based agency Blind Pig – sister company to Absolute Post – in collaboration with creative agency Hugo & Marie. The team effort has executed one of the best uses of kinetic typography we’ve come across in a while.
Directed by Mario Hugo, the illustrations are largely based around the celestial sky map and myth by Micah Lidberg. Animation creative directors Ric Comline and Jonny Bursnell ensured that the video would be a seamless animation sequence, with both agencies providing gorgeous inspiration.

02. The Dead Words

The Dead Words project was begun by Karen To in 2010 as a way to express her love of both words and type. The graphic designer, illustrator and letterer is driven to promote and commemorate no-longer-used words before they are forgotten forever.
The project has generated much interest in the design community with well over 100 contributions to the project and counting, including everything from handcrafted to kinetic typography. Here is just one of the beautiful submissions, with many more to see on the website.

03. Breaking Bad

American TV show Breaking Bad has won multiple awards since it first aired back in 2008. Which is hardly surprising when it includes brilliant monologues like ‘I am the danger’, in which school teacher-turned-criminal Walter White convinces his wife that he’s a dangerous man, capable of striking fear into hardened criminals.
Graphic designer, illustrator and animator Paul Cooper decided to pay homage to the infamous scene using kinetic typography. He visualises the intense scene through a series of black and white illustrations and text, all cleverly timed to each character’s lines.

04. The Hush Sound – Lions Roar

Part of a two man team, designer Mig Reyes worked on this typographical motion graphic piece to The Hush Sound’s Lions Roar song. Fan of the band, typography, design and heavily inspired by motion graphics studio MK12, the duo used After Effects to time the song’s lyrics to the brilliant typography and graphics.

05. Procrastination

This trailer for David McRaney‘s international bestselling book You are Not So Smart uses cleverly animated typography to sum up its contents. Animated, designed and produced by Plus3 productions, the perfectly timed animation is all about proscratination, which’ll have you nodding in agreement and smiling all the way through.

06. The Edge

Hunter S Thompson has influenced a generation of film-makers, writers and designers and this homage to the author by Piotr Kabat combines an array of design disciplines to showcase some of his finest words.

07. Bob

Oliver Smith is a 3D animator and compositor who can turn his hand at many aspects of the moving image. Inspired by ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s Bob Dylan parody ‘Bob’, the song features Yankovic’s signature style and comical lyrics. Although the amusing tune is the main influence for the video, it’s Oliver’s stunning array of graphic titles and typography that really stand out.

08. Anonymous

This super-cool infographic kinetic typography animation tells the story of how online hactivist group Anonymous came together in 2003 and subsequently went on to stage various protest actions. The 90-second animation, which uses 3D effects, electronics and text to convey the message, was created by multimedia designer Savva Tsekmas.

09. Shop Vac

Artist Jarrett Heather made this kinetic typography music video for Jonathan Coulton‘s Shop Vac. The humourous animation took Heather somewhere between 500 and 1000 hours to complete. At just under three-and-a-half-minutes long, the brilliant video features a number of different fonts, all perfectly suited to the story each tells.

10. Rolling Stones – Doom and Gloom

Celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series of comeback gigs last year, the old-time rock ‘n’ rollers even managed to release a new track that was pretty darned good. For the accompanying music video, Trunk Animation designed this great splatter style animation, which is reminiscent of Ralph Steadman’s typography artistry.

14. Make it better

Colour and morphing typography is wonderfully used in this video created by Climent Canal with animation by Sebastián Baptista. A beautiful video brings an inspiring message to vivid life.

15. ALQUIMIA Animated Type

Pavel Paratov has constructed a mesmerizing piece of golden kinetic typography here. The letterforms reshuffle to the electro beat by Satoshi Yoshitake, integrating abstract shapes into the mix.

16. Back to the Future

If you’re anything like us, you’ll already be a huge fan of Back to the Future. So, what could be better than kinetic typography of this priceless conversation between Marty McFly and his mother? Created by Melanie Burgess, the designer is still in her early days of kinetic typography. We love this original offering!

17. Alphagames

This inventive animation was only uploaded three weeks ago but it has already become one of the most popular kinetic typography videos on Vimeo. It was created by freelance editor and animator Evan Seitz, who has worked on commercials for Coca-Cola and the American Cancer Society – one of which went on to win a Telly Award at the 32nd Annual Convention.

18. Fight Club

There’s plenty of Fight Club kinetic typography hovering around the World Wide Web but this more recent offering from Adrian Moran is a belter. The visual FX, motion graphics, and 3D artist has created this animation to accompany Brad Pitt’s infamous Fight Club rule listing. We love the colours too!

19. Hello Hola Hallo Bonjour Ciao Ola

This adorable kinetic typography animation was made by Spanish graphic and motion designer, Daniel Moreno Cordero. Created using After Effects, Illustrator and some Photoshop, Daniel also used a typography entitled ‘Granaina Limpia.’

20. Wouldn’t it be nice

Joe Humpay created this kinetic typography animation accompainment to the Beach Boys’ ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ for his girlfriend last Christmas. He used After Effects CS5 for the animation and Illustrator and Photoshop CS5 for the graphics.

21. Elbow Grease – Habitat Promo

Motion design craftsman Joe Dunlap created this insightful promo for furniture giants Habitat. Through creative, kinetic typography and slick, dynamic animations this short public service announcement for Habitat for Humanity explains that it’s easy for anyone to achieve something big. It’s been getting a lot of love on Vimeo!

22. RocknRolla

Created by Siddharth Raj, this kinetic typography animation takes a speech from British action-thriller, ‘RocknRolla’ and brings it to life. We love how Siddharth has encorporated various font shapes and sizes to fit perfectly between each other.

23. Pulp Fiction

Gangster movie speeches seem to be cropping up a lot in this list but it’s that they are the perfect accompianment for great kinetic typography. This Pulp Fiction number was created by Norweigian motion designer Christian Gjerde. Watch for the particularly clever ‘car’ moment at the end of the video.

24. Fusion Design

This animation combines motion graphics with kinetic typography to a faultless execution. There’s not much information on this one by Dusan Tatalovic but we love the way he has managed to almost personify the typography throughout the musical accompianment.

25. 29 Ways to Stay Creative

Finally, we finish with an old favourite in the kinetic typography gang. Created by Japanese motion graphic design studio TO-FU the video is by far one of the most popular kinetic typography animations out there. It’s easy to see why with its inventive graphics and helpful content.

26. Kid President peptalk

Motion media student Taylor English is the artist behind this fun, animated typography project. Studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design, the video was created for her time-based typography class. The 90-second video is a visual representation of one of 9-year-old Robby Novak aka Kid President’s motivational speeches.

27. The Alphabet

Founder and director of multidisciplinary design studio n9ve Alessandro Novelli captures his love for typography and animation in this 60-second Alphabet video. The gorgeous animation spells letters A through to Z, with a different font featured for each. The dancing letterforms are accompanied by Si Tu N’étais Pas Là by Fréhel, a track used in the movie Amelie.

28. Husbands – Dream

This music video for Husbands’ latest single ‘Dream’ sees the lyrics light up as they’re sung. To make it, French design duo Cauboyz created individual boxes with each word placed on the front using laser cut and hand-cut stickers. Wires were then attached to each box, complete with a handy switch to press once the word came up.

September 30, 2013

Are your fellow freelancers rivals or allies?

We asked leading designers: “As a freelancer, do you see fellow freelancers as rivals or allies?” Here’s what they had to say.

Nikki Farquharson
Graphic artist
“If I had to choose between the two, I’d pick allies. Although the art and design industry is very competitive, it is still comradely. A network of support exists among professional creatives. Also, I am aware that my hand-drawn, graphic and abstract style suits a very specific kind of market and client. If you’re confident in your work and ability, you shouldn’t need to view your fellow peers as rivals.”

Steven Bonner
Illustrator and designer
“Rivalry is natural and helps you strive to improve, but you can’t let it make you become insular. I try to be friendly with other freelancers wherever I can as it’s good to have a network of people with a similar skillset who you can recommend to clients if you’re too busy. It’s something I’ve done quite a few times, and I know other people have done it for me too. If we can help each other out and create a friendlier industry, then why shouldn’t we?”

Ji Lee
Designer and art director
“I never see other creatives as rivals. I’m confident about my work and appreciate what others do. I have exchanged mostly helpful and inspiring information with other freelancers.”

Good Wives and Warriors
Artists and illustrators
“We have some really good friends who are illustrators in different countries, and are always exchanging info or asking for advice. Friends or allies, either way it is definitely a good thing to have contemporaries to turn to when you need a little help.”

Stuart Whitton
Illustrator
“The creatives that I have had the pleasure of getting to know have all been fantastic people. Many understand the situations you may be presented with as a freelancer, and are able to offer not just advice but share recommended services, bounce ideas around, promote your work on social networks, even recommend you to a potential client.”

Craig Redman
Graphic artist
“Definitely allies. We often chat with other illustrators about projects. I think a client is going to come to us for a specific look, so if we’re not the right fit for a project we’re always happy if it goes to a friend instead.”
This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 218

Liked this? Read these!

How to become an art director
Top examples of letterpress business cards
The designer’s guide to the Golden Ratio

Are fellow freelancers your friends or foes? Tell us in the comments!

September 29, 2013

Delight Humor With These Fishy And Artistic Diorama

You think you’ve already seen the weirdest things? Don’t conclude just yet. Because today you’ll see something unordinary. Indeed imagination and creativity are bound with no limits. And today we will witness something literally fishy that’s going on. As artistry, creative imagination, and humor come together, it creates some bizarre artworks you’ve not seen before.
The featured works we will show you today are creations of Anne-Catherine Becker-Echivard. She is a French artist who created a diorama series called Les Temps Modernes (The Modern Times). It is where different scenarios are portrayed by using dolls. But here’s the twist – the dolls have weird yet expressive fish heads. Also, what is artistically humorous about these dioramas is that it presents some of the common undertakings of our societies today with a mix of comedy. Scroll down and enjoy the artworks. Come, take a peek, and enjoy!

Conclusion

Truly her style for her art is unique and artistic. Check out Anne-Catherine Becker-Echivard on his website. You can share what you think on Anne-Catherine’s works by leaving a comment below.
Have something in mind related to web design, freelancing, and other awesome stuff? Let us know and maybe we’ll feature it on our next post. All your comments and opinions are appreciated. Let us hear em up in the comment box. Thank you and see you again mate!

September 28, 2013

Foodscapes: Feast Your Eyes on Painting-Like Food Art

Food is something that we place on our mouths to munch on every day. They keep us fueled for our everyday activities and these also give us the nutrition we need. Food comes in different types and each of them has varying tastes, colors, textures, sizes and shapes. Well, as you can see, food looks interesting that is why creative people make some interesting artworks from them. You can see that through creative plating, Bento boxes and other food presentations. But there is still a bigger scene that can be created with food that is way beyond the curves of a plate. It can form landscapes.

A London-based photographer makes foodscapes. Yes, these are landscapes made from food. It is indeed very creative on how he chooses the food to use and how he sets them up on a large table. The detail on every foodscape he creates is applauding. Aside from the good detailing, he also makes sure that they are of proper scale and that they have a perfect resemblance to real landscapes. This foodscape artist is Carl Warner.

Carl Warner started his career as a photographer even if he aimed to be an illustrator at first. But since he finds photography faster and easier, he focused more on it. After learning the ropes of photography as an assistant photographer, he established his own studio and worked on advertising, landscapes and people. But then he thought of doing something unique to rekindle his interest in photography and to bring in more clients for his business.
Foodscapes was born when Warner went to a food market and saw some portabello mushrooms. He thought that the mushrooms looked like trees from an alien world. He bought the mushrooms together with some rice seeds and beans. From that, he created his first foodscape called Mushroom Savanna. From then on, he made different foodscapes. Sometimes he would even need the help of food stylists to create the designs he wanted. He would start with a sketch and then they will work together to come up with the image. Proper lighting is always observed to make them look realistic. Now let us take a look at what Carl Warner came up with his Foodscapes.
Chinese Junk

Isn’t this a lovely scene? The lettuce leaves as the ocean looks fantastic as well as the details on the area which looked like a food market.
Bread Village

Well, if you’ll live in a village filled with bread like this one, you will never go hungry!
Candy Cottage

This cottage reminds me of the witch’s home in Hansel and Gretel. The colors are indeed sweet!
Coralscape

The island with pineapples is already a lovely creation but the coral like set up below is even more dashing.
Chocolate Express

Love chocolates? Then you will love this train made from chocolate! Everything you see from the railroad to the trees is all chocolate. Nom nom nom!
Cheesescape

What a serene scene this is. It’s like a place where you will be able to spend time alone to ponder on just anything while sitting on bridge made from crackers and breadsticks.
Salmon Sea

It would take time to debone a salmon and lay them all on a large table to appear like the sea. The sunset looks stunning!
Paris Boulevard

To Paris with love! A miniature foodscape of Eiffel tower which is meticulously done.
Crockerville

A yummy looking village where the homes are made with good detailing. Can you just imagine the time they spent in making this one?
Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal is a favorite when comes to photography because of its beautiful design. Not to mention its rich history. Warner also created his foodscape version of it.

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Stilton Cottage

Broccoli trees surround this silent dwelling in the heart of lush green trees. We love the lighting that looked like an early morning setting. Even the smoke from the chimney looks so real.
Tuscany Landscape

Another lovely setup of a hilly rural area with fields and trees around. The onions here are actually cargos for the cart.
Meat Cityscape

A cityscape of Ukraine using hotdogs, bacons and meat.
Rialto Bridge

One look at this one will actually make you think that it is a real painting because of the look of the buildings and the bridge itself. But once you see the pea boat, you’ll realize it is Warner’s foodscape!
Fishcape Landscape

A sea of fishes! Look at all those scales on it. Little boats were made from cucumber.
Cart Balloons

This is a lovely scene with onions and other fruits and vegetables that were made to look like hot air balloons.
Great Wall of Pineapple

China’s Great Wall was made into a foodscape using lots and lots of pineapples!
EA Cottage

What a cute cottage with yummy fruits all around it created into flowers and stone-like figures.
Cheese Volcano

If only a real volcano could give off melting cheese like this, everyone would rush to get a dip!.
Fairground

A miniature of an amusement park with merry-go-round and Ferris wheel made from sweets and fruits.
Lettuce Seascape

A beautiful scene of greens made from lettuce. This is the output of the first image you have seen above with Warner on the picture.
London Skyline

We love the detailing of this. Can you spot the different fruits and other food elements used here?

Find the Artist

With the brilliant work of Carl Warner, his Foodscapes had captured the hearts of the people around the globe. This greatly helped him with his photography business. As a matter of fact, he was able to create a book called “Carl Warner’s Food Landscapes” and “A World of Food. You can see more of Warner’s works in his website. He also has a new series of photography work called Bodyscapes where he used bodies instead of food to create landscapes.

September 26, 2013

How to Self-Critique Your Design Projects

Working on a design is not just as simple as putting lines, colors, shapes and type together. It entails creative thinking and deep understanding of a project’s concept. Hence, one has to give his heart to his work and also use his thinking skills really well along with his design skills. So when one is working on a design, he also has to check it for some flaws. It doesn’t mean that just because you have the skill that your work would always turn out perfectly. Humans are imperfect in nature and there really would be little flaws no matter how one tries to work on a perfect design. But with consistent self-critiquing and improvement of work, you will be able to arrive to the design that you wanted to achieve.

Self-critique is checking on your own design, searching for flaws and other points to improve. Wikipedia defines it as “auto-critique that refers to the pointing out of things critical/important to one’s own beliefs, thoughts, actions, behaviour or results; it can form part of private, personal reflection or a group discussion”. You have to think that others really do not have the heart for your design. It is you who have created it out of your imagination and talent. If you want to improve your work, the best pair of eyes you need is your own. So, try self-critiquing since you will find tons of advantages from doing it. But how can you self-critique your design? Here are 10 tips to help you.

1. Check if the concept is good.

Read the brief of the project and think on how you will work on it. See to it that the concept will be easy to understand by your target audience. If you think it is still ambiguous, try to refine it more so it can be easier to understand. Look at your design and think of what comes to your mind upon seeing it. Does it relay the right concept? Is your client’s goal to convey a message to a certain group being achieved? You can try drawing your design on paper first so you can think of better ways to make the concept clear and simple.

2. Look at design from a distance.

When you are designing, you tend to be focused on what you are doing. You seem to get so close to your design and what you see may not be how they actually look life from afar. That is where artistic distance is needed. When designers are too close to their designs, it could create a mental block and would hinder the designer to see the flaws of his own work. So, it is advisable to create artistic distance. This can be done by stepping away from the computer. Stand up, walk around and try to look at your design from a distance. Notice that there are really some things that you cannot see while you are looking at it closely. This is how you can see some flaws that would help you improve your design.

3. Look closely if the layout is neat and proportion.

The layout of a design is very much important. You cannot just place something anywhere around a design. Even scrapbooks consider what items should be placed in a certain part of their workspace. A good layout is always observed in every project. It can help the readers to have an easy time reading. Layout also makes it easier to relay the message of the design. With good proportion, the reader’s eyes will be able to get into the important points of your design and would be guided accordingly. So, check your layout if it is neat and is in proportion.

4. Patch-up a story.

Every design is like a story board. There is always a story behind it. One will be able to get the story at once if you were able to create a good design. One good way of self-critiquing your work is to look at the design and make your story out of it. If you realized that the story you can see is not the story you actually intend to tell, then you have to redo the design or just fix some part of it.

5. Turn your design upside down.

This is another good trick that you can do in order to check some errors in your work especially if it comes to layout and proportion. This can help you to look if the important elements of the design are noticeable. You will also be able to see if the design has good distribution of design elements.

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6. Make sure there is depth and texture.

$Make sure there is depth and texture$
It would be boring if your design is flat. So, even if you are actually working on a flat surface, give it some life by adding depth and texture. Look at your design if you have used these elements, if not, try to experiment with textures. A paper texture might look better instead of a mere color block. There are many design resources you can get in the internet which you can use to improve your design.

7. Look into your typography.

Type is a sensitive part of design. It isn’t just there to add appeal but it is there to convey a message and information. You have to make sure that your typography is readable and legible. If not, then you might as well change your font type or maybe increase it in size. Put yourself on the audience’s shoes. Can you read the text? Is the font style and color right? Every typography font has a different message same as how colors have different color psychology. So, choose well. You can also use simpler fonts and then have a good arrangement or layout to come up with interesting typography. See What Designers Need to Know About Typography and Reasons Why it is Important to Choose the Right Typography Font for more discussions on typography.

8. Spot elements with strong visual interest.

Check your design for some elements that have strong visual interest. It can be an interesting typography or a photograph. If you can see that everything has strong visual interest, you might need to tone down the others because it will make your design look crowded. When you notice that the design is just too muted, add more life to it by using a good photo or maybe by playing with good typography. A design without visual interest would end up in the trash bin.

9. Convert it to grayscale or monochromatic color.

For sure, you have done everything to make your design look good especially if it pertains to color. Your design would look great with all the colors in it but are you sure that it is right? One way to check that is to convert it into grayscale or in other monochromatic colors. Remember how black and white could let one see the unseen? What I mean is that black and white will make you look at the entire design equally, without getting attracted to a certain colorful point. This way, you will be able to check if the color and contrast needs to be changed. If you can see that everything is readable and clear in grayscale, it means that your design is good.

10. Let it sit on screen.

So, if you are done with your design, let it sit on screen. Well, we are not telling you to let it stay there for a long time because we do understand that every designer has deadlines to beat. When you are done, open the design and let it stay on the computer screen while you do other things like making calls, preparing your stuff and other activities that do not involve using the computer. Look at the design once in a while. This can help you see some aspects of the design which you haven’t seen while you were still working on it.

It’s Your Turn Now

Self-critiquing your design would be beneficial not just to come up with a good output but also to asses yourself on what you need to improve regarding your workflow and work strategies. This can sharpen your skills to become a better graphic designer or web designer. So, before you let your colleagues and friends see your design, self-critique your work first. Hope this post can help you to check on your own designs. How do you self-critique your work? Would you like to share it to us?

September 26, 2013

Digital colour mixing explained

Mixing colours digitally is not the same as mixing them physically – we explain what the difference is and how to go about it in practice.

Mixing colours to form hues and tints is a fundamental skill for every artist and designer, but there’s a difference between mixing in traditional media and digital paint.
In our formative years at school, most of us were taught how to mix three primary colours together to achieve others on the colour wheel. That the combination of blue and yellow poster paint generates a green, while blue and red create purple.
By mixing red, yellow and blue in varying amounts, a wide range of colours can be produced. However, mixing colour digitally works differently, and one of the most challenging aspects of creating digital art is learning how computers produce different colours.

Forget what you learned at school about mixing paint colours – digital’s different

The additive colour model

Screens use an additive colour model rather than the reflective model you learnt at school, so instead of the primary colours comprising Cyan (C), Magenta (M) and Yellow (Y) – which are the pure version of the blue, red and yellow you were taught at school – the additive primary colours are Red (R), Green (G) and Blue (B).
(If you need further explanation of why there are two different models used to create colour, check out this article on colour theory.)
The idea of mixing together different amounts of red, green and blue to achieve any colour and tint is quite simple in principle, but it takes some practice before you’ll understand what to expect when you start painting with just those three colours.

How to make your own colour wheel

The very best way to get to grips with digital colour mixing is to experience the effects of different combinations yourself. Follow these simple steps to create a rough colour wheel, and learn how different mixes create different colours.

Step 01

Create three coloured blobs in Photoshop

Start by creating a blank document in Photoshop, or your preferred digital painting software. Set your brush to 100% opacity, and to use the Lighten colour blending mode.
Fill the canvas with black, and set your brush to use 100% red, 0% green and 0% blue. Paint a blob of this colour at the top of an imaginary triangle.
Change your brush colour to use 0% red, 100% green and 0% blue. Paint a second blob on the left apex of the triangle.
Finally, set your brush to use 0% red, 0% green and 100% blue. Paint a blob on the right apex of the triangle.

Step 02

Place overlapping blobs of paint at the midpoint between the red and green points

Repeat the process, placing overlapping blobs of paint at the midpoint between the red and green points, in both red and green.
Do the same for the mid-point between red and blue, but painting with red and blue instead of red and green.
Finally, place a final pair of blobs between green and blue, using green and blue paint.
You should see the two sets of colours mixing to create yellow between red and green, cyan between green and blue, and magenta between blue and red.

Step 03

Add more blobs at the mid-point between the pure mixed colours, and the original apex points

Paint a series of secondary blobs at the mid-point between your pure mixed colours, and the original apex points. Use 100% opacity for the colour closest to the point, and 50% opacity for the other colour on that side of the triangle.
For example, in between the yellow and red blobs, place a blob of red paint at 100% opacity, and overlay a blob of green paint at 50% opacity. Repeat for the remaining five spaces between the mixed and pure colours.
Paint a pure 100% version of each colour, overlapping in the centre of your triangle to see the effect of mixing all three colours together.

Creating different tints

Additive colour works so that the more light you add, the brighter the colour becomes. Mixing 100% opacity of red, green and blue together provides white, whereas mixing 0% of the three colours provides black.
It follows, then, that mixing 50% of each colour will give you a mid-grey. Similarly, if you want a dark magenta, you’d mix perhaps 50% red with 50% blue, or 25% of each to achieve an even darker version.
These different brightness values are referred to as ‘tints’ or ‘shades’ of the pure colour.

Colour mixing tools

Paper for iPad now offers a colour mixing tool

Web design formats

Once you’ve got a good grip on how the three principal colours in the additive model mix together, you’ll be able to make educated guesses at what colours notated in common web design formats such as hexadecimal and rgba are likely to be.
So, for example it will become second nature that #ffff00 is yellow, while rgba(127,255,0,1) is a fully opaque lime green.

Colour mixing tools

Understanding the basic principles of mixing colours in the additive colour model isn’t the be-all and end-all of digital colour mixing. There are many colour mixing tools available to help make good colour combination choices – here are a few…

Adobe Kuler

Perhaps the best-known colour scheme tool on the web, Kuler allows you to generate an entire colour scheme from a single base colour, upload a photo to extract colours from it, and store/share your colour schemes for later use. It even offers direct integration with the Creative Suite apps and downloadable palettes for sharing.

Colors on the Web

Colors on the Web accepts a single colour in hexadecimal or RGB, and outputs a set of schemes based on different mathematical equations, similar to Kuler. This won’t work on iPad or iPhone though as it uses Flash to power the schemer.

ColoRotate

Offering similar functionality to Kuler, but with a nice 3D visualisation of the colour wheels, and the ability to generate more than five colours in a single scheme, ColoRotate can also be integrated directly into some Creative Suite applications, and offers a nice alternative to Adobe’s own offering.

Toucan

Part of the Aviary suite of online tools, Toucan allows you to create palettes with up to 20 different colours, using the same core set of equations as you’ll find in all the tools here. Again this is powered by Flash, so not available on HTML5 devices such as the iPad.
Software developers are also creating their own approaches to providing intuitive colour mixing on digital devices. For instance, Paper for iPad, by developers FiftyThree, recently received an update that allows users to buy their new colour mixing tool.
This uses a custom-built colour mixing algorithm that doesn’t rely on the traditional RGB model, but instead plots natural colour mixes based on that original understanding you got at school – so that mixing yellow and blue provides a complementary green.
This colour mixing approach was inspired by the work of a German study from the 1930s that split colour into six different dimensions, including reflectivity and absorption. By adapting the work of the two scientists behind the study, Kubelka and Munk, and conducting extensive user testing, the team at FiftyThree came up with a natural-feeling, intuitive colour mixing palette. Their work was enough to convince Apple to feature the app when launching iPad mini.
Words: Sam Hampton-Smith

September 25, 2013

How Designers Can Develop Strong Attention to Detail Skills

Sure, we are aware that in order to come up with a good design, one has to learn different skills and be good at it. Design skills would always be number one but aside from that, there are also other skills that one needs to develop in order to be a better designer. We have already given you different articles about this and we are going to add one today. Another important skill that designers need is the attention to detail skill.

Some actually wonder why this is considered a skill but actually it is. Admit it, not all people are keen to details and meticulous enough to check on everything related to a design project. That would involve not just the output but the design process and even in dealing with clients. One should know how to look into every single thing the client says because this can give you the clue on how to get the client’s approval and what to avoid when transacting with him. So, having good attention to details has a wider scope than merely looking into the mistakes you might have done for your design.

What is Attention to Detail Skills?

When we talk about attention to detail skills, it refers to having a keen awareness to the tiniest details. It also means that a person is precise and accurate. This is considered as one of the easiest skills to learn but it can also be the commonly overlooked skill. Employers tend to look for this from their employees because this will give accurate and good results for the tasks given to them. People who have attention to detail skills are good in giving directions, editing, identifying errors in numeric data, proofreading and other tasks that require focus.
It is important that designers have good attention to details for this will help you to meticulously recheck your work for minor and major mistakes. Also, this will help you to focus more on your design projects. The lack of attention to details can lead to absentmindedness and you will tend to be out of the right path that you have set to achieve your goals. Developing good attention to detail could lead to a better life both personally and professionally.

How to Practice Attention to Details Skill When Designing

Attention to details skills is necessary for designers. So, if you find it hard to do it, we have prepared some tips on how you can practice it while working on your design projects.
1. Play with ideas.
There is always a better idea than what you have thought of at first. So, instead of sticking to one idea, try to think of what other design strategies and techniques you can use. You will also be able to choose on what design elements you can add to a certain project. This can develop your attention to detail since you will be comparing every draft that you will make. Sketch each idea on a separate paper then ponder on which one is better. Look into every detail of each one. Try to think of the good side and downside of each design.
2. Design and review.
Once you have chosen an idea, work on it. While working, see to it that you did not skip any important detail for the work. Once you are done, ALWAYS review it. Rechecking your work will make you see some mistakes that you have overlooked. Most of the time these mistakes include little details like a small white space to an area that doesn’t need it, a misspelled word, wrong alignment, shading and others. So, before you give your output to the client, review it. You can effectively do this by taking a break first. After taking a short break, you have already recharged your mind and this will allow you to see every detail of the project, especially the mistakes in it.
3. Create a work plan.
You should always a have a work plan. Create a list of what needs to be done first then the other steps needed to complete the project. Doing this will ensure you that you will not skip any of the important aspects. When you create a process, be sure that you will follow it. Designing is like baking a cake. There are certain measurements for ingredients and steps on which comes first. If you do not follow the right steps in baking a cake, your cake will surely fail. Don’t have a work plan? Know how at A Guide in Making Your Own Design Process.
4. Recheck and review more than once.
We have mentioned about reviewing your designs but you do not do it once. Do it many times. Doing this will give you a good output. A project will only be considered complete when no mistakes are seen in it and if it is already readily available for your client’s usage.

5. Consult a colleague.
Aside from repeatedly checking it, you can even ask other people to look at it because more eyes are better than two if we talk about rechecking details. This will also help you improve since you will get input of something that you haven’t thought of and hadn’t previously considered.
6. Break tasks in smaller ones.
Yes, you have a design process. You know what needs to done first then what follows next. But you will find it hard to work well if these are large tasks. So, break them into smaller tasks. Focus on the smaller ones because completing them will help you complete the large task too. You should also know when to do single-tasking and multi-tasking rightly.
7. Create lists.
Make it a habit to create lists. People who use lists tend to be more organized and more focused on what they are doing. This isn’t just a to-do list but it is can also be a list of materials you need and others. Lists show the details of what you are doing and you will be able to pay attention to them once you see them.
8. Increase your interest.
Sometimes, you will lose your interest to work. This will draw you away from the project you are doing and you will be out of focus. So, try to do something in order to increase your interest level for the task. You can motivate yourself by keeping your eyes on what you will be acquiring once you finish the project.

9. Take breaks.
It is important that you take breaks once in a while. This will let your mind rest. When you get back to work, you will be able to look into the details of it better. Breaks doesn’t need to be too long, a few minutes will do. You can stretch for a while or get some snacks too. Read more about this on Reasons Why One Should Consider Taking a Break from Freelancing.
10. Avoid rushing.
When you rush projects, you will no longer be able to look into the details of it because you will think of it as a waste of time. That is why you should always work on it early so you have enough time to review it.

How to Improve Attention to Details Skills

Aside from applying attention to details skills while designing, you can also do other things that would develop that skill. This will help you perform better.
1. Recognize that details matter.
This is the important thing. You have to tell yourself that details matter so that you will not just shrug it off. People who find attention to details as a real pain are not able to recognize the value of “details”. Convincing yourself of its relevance to your work will help you focus on the details that you once did not care about.
2. Exercise your brain.
How are you going to do this? Play games that need attention to details like puzzle games, spot the difference games, finding hidden objects, and others. You can also read books, watch challenging movies and other activities that could exercise your brain.
3. Rest well and get enough sleep.
This is important especially that it is your mind that does the work. Your brain will not be able to develop enzymes necessary to keep you focused if you lack sleep. Once you lack rest, you will become forgetful, have short attention span and would have diminished concentration. Hence, sleep at least seven hours every night and take some rest once in a while.
4. Do some physical activities.
It doesn’t mean that just because you are a designer, you will merely stay indoors and disregard physical activities. You also need to exercise for it can increase your ability to focus and concentrate. Your brain releases a chemical as a result of exercising that would improve your attention to detail and relieve stress.
5. Shut off distractions.
One big factor that hinders one to pay attention to details is the distractions around him. So, learn to shut off all types of distractions. You know well what these are.
The benefits are long lasting once you follow the above tips. Not just your attention to details skills will be developed but also other skills. You will surely become more productive, accurate and efficient too. You will also gather a lot of advantages once you work on your designs with attention to details. You will no longer deal with huge design revisions and your clients will also be happy that you deliver perfect results. This will surely profit your design business and improve you as a designer.

So, are you a designer who is struggling with paying attention to details? What steps do you take in order to develop that?

September 25, 2013

10 Tips on Sourcing Free Images For Your Blog

Guest post by: Marcela De Vivo, a freelance writer from Los Angeles who specializes in online marketing. She currently writes for HostPapa.com and covers a wide variety of topics, from social networking, search marketing, content development, and web analytics.

There’s no question about it – if you want to hold the attention of your readers, your blog needs great images. But where are you supposed to find all of these pictures, especially if you post every day?
Finding images can be easier than you think. Depending on what you are looking for, there are a variety of places to search. Over time, it will be easier to find the perfect photo and searching will become second nature.
Once you find your photos, editing might seem like a daunting task but becoming familiar with the best online editing tools will make the process easier.

Finding Images

Taking your own pictures for your blog is always the ideal option, but it’s not something you can always do for every post. That’s why being able to find quality images you can customize and use is essential. Start with these seven websites for finding high quality images.
1. Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is an excellent place to look for all types of photos and it is a goldmine for searching pictures of famous places, well-known events or current news-related photos.
Need a picture of the Eiffel Tower, a Washington protest or a painting by Picasso? Wikimedia Commons has you covered.

2. Flickr’s The Commons Search
Flickr’s The Commons search is similar to Wikimedia Commons, but you will find pictures shared by everyday users that you can use freely. The Commons is a great source for photos that creatively depict scenes from everyday life. You’ll be more likely to find images of somebody washing their car or walking their dog with The Commons search than high-quality pictures of the Washington Monument.
3. iClipart.com
If you need clip art that you can’t find in your word processing program, iClipart.com is a great place to look. They have a wide variety of clipart and you’ll find images that are not quite as cheesy as what you would probably image when you hear the words ‘clipart.’ You do have to pay a subscription fee to get high quality versions of the images but you get a much bigger array of choices than what might be in stock on your standard word program.
4. Microsoft Office Images
Microsoft Office Images can be a hit-or-miss when it comes to finding a good image if you have something specific in mind. You’ll find a lot of images that look like basic stock images, but you can also find a good selection of higher quality ‘generic’ nature shots.
Images are categorized in an easy to use and navigate interface, which is also a big plus.
5. Google Images
Using Google Images might sound obvious, but it is likely you won’t be able to get the rights to an image if you just use a standard search. What you need to do is set up search filters that allow you to look only for images that can be altered and used for commercial purposes.
There are plenty of images available and you can use them as you wish as long as you credit the source.
6. Fotolia.com
Fotolia.com, like iClipart, also has paid service requirements to access their photos . However, you can find a huge amount of very high-quality images and they can be surprisingly affordable, especially if you buy in packages or groups.
Plus, you’ll actually have full rights to the photos allowing you to use them in any way you want.
7. Icons Etc.
If you need icons for your site, Google Images search may work. However, if you need a particular icon, Icons Etc, is a great site to find logos and icons from many different companies.
The icons are free, and you’ll find obscure ones that Google Images won’t show you – at least not with a license that allows you to freely use the image.

Customizing Images

Once you find an image you love, you need to customize it to fit your blog and to make it stand out from all of the other images on the net. Try these websites to help customize your pictures.
8. PicMonkey
PicMonkey is a really easy editing tool that lets you make quick edits at lightning speed. You can add watermarks, quotes and use different filters to alter your images.
9. Pixlr
Pixlr offers more depth and control of your image than PicMonkey, but it is still simple to use. If you need to make specific edits on a photo or do something a bit more technical than PicMonkey will allow, Pixlr is your best bet.
10. Don’t Forget to Optimize!
This doesn’t require a specific site, but optimizing your pictures with a caption, alt tag and title is essential. You’ll boost your traffic and make your image findable. If people pin your image to Pinterest, the images will be optimized and increase your likelihood of receiving clickthrough traffic.
With these sites, you should be able to find pretty much any image under the sun and edit it to your heart’s content. Providing images for your blog could not be easier and you now possess the knowledge of a cornucopia of resources to use and customize to your liking.

September 25, 2013

Font of the day: Graphique Pro

Every day we showcase the best fonts on the web. Today it’s Graphique Pro by Ralph M. Unger

We’re big fans of typography and we’re constantly on the hunt for new and exciting typefaces – especially free fonts. So, if you’re in need of a font for your latest design or just like to keep a collection so you’re prepared, we may be able to help out.
Every day, we’re running ‘Font of the day‘, where we’ll be posting the best best free and paid-for fonts the web has to offer.

Graphique Pro by Ralph M. Unger

Originally created by Swiss designer Hermann Edenbenz in 1945, Graphique was digitally remastered and expanded by German type designer Ralph M. Unger for digital type company profonts.
Comprised of more than 400 characters including the complete Latin and Cyrillic glyph sets, the font is described by type foundry YouWorkForThem as a ‘Caps-only font as outline shadow, very narrow, very economic, and thus, ideally suited for headlines, posters, signs, CD-covers, book titles and a lot more’.
Graphique Pro is available to purchase from YouWorkForThem.

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If your design studio is looking for lightning speed and watertight reliability in a high-spec storage drive, look no further than the My Book VelociRaptor Duo.

Reliability and speed

Speedy interface

Expandable option

Studio priorities

Lightning boot-up

See fonts come to life in these amazing kinetic typography animations, including music videos, movie tributes and more.

01. Coldplay: Atlas

02. The Dead Words

03. Breaking Bad

04. The Hush Sound – Lions Roar

05. Procrastination

06. The Edge

07. Bob

08. Anonymous

09. Shop Vac

10. Rolling Stones – Doom and Gloom

14. Make it better

15. ALQUIMIA Animated Type

16. Back to the Future

17. Alphagames

18. Fight Club

19. Hello Hola Hallo Bonjour Ciao Ola

20. Wouldn’t it be nice

21. Elbow Grease – Habitat Promo

22. RocknRolla

23. Pulp Fiction

24. Fusion Design

25. 29 Ways to Stay Creative

26. Kid President peptalk

27. The Alphabet

28. Husbands – Dream

We asked leading designers: “As a freelancer, do you see fellow freelancers as rivals or allies?” Here’s what they had to say.

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Conclusion

Find the Artist

1. Check if the concept is good.

2. Look at design from a distance.

3. Look closely if the layout is neat and proportion.

4. Patch-up a story.

5. Turn your design upside down.

6. Make sure there is depth and texture.

7. Look into your typography.

8. Spot elements with strong visual interest.

9. Convert it to grayscale or monochromatic color.

10. Let it sit on screen.

It’s Your Turn Now

Mixing colours digitally is not the same as mixing them physically – we explain what the difference is and how to go about it in practice.

The additive colour model

How to make your own colour wheel

Step 01

Step 02

Step 03

Creating different tints

Colour mixing tools

Web design formats

Colour mixing tools

What is Attention to Detail Skills?

How to Practice Attention to Details Skill When Designing

How to Improve Attention to Details Skills

So, are you a designer who is struggling with paying attention to details? What steps do you take in order to develop that?

Finding Images

Customizing Images

Every day we showcase the best fonts on the web. Today it’s Graphique Pro by Ralph M. Unger

Graphique Pro by Ralph M. Unger

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