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Sunday, April 26, 2015

12 tips for creating geometric vector graphics and art [kopipesediseng]

12 tips for creating geometric vector graphics and art

Leading illustrators share their tips for perfecting artworks and patterns based on geometric shapes. 


Create collections

"Build a file of geometric shapes from drawings you have created by hand. This gives you a collection of ideas to play with when you are working. Lately I have been scanning in a lot of geometric shapes drawn with rulers and other tools, and combining them into a single PSD work file to dive into when I am working. This process feels more natural and integrated with my other illustration work.
"An illustration I recently produced for Wrap Magazine was made with a combination of these shapes alongside curvy line work. The poster for Disko Vraiment is made completely with shapes from the work file without drawing anything beforehand."
Rick Hedof (NL)

 

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Dramatic Black & White By Rick Sammon [kopipesediseng]

Dramatic Black & White
By Rick SammonPublished in Quick Fix
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FINALFINAL
Making beautiful black-and-white images is easier than ever before, thanks to powerful adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop, as well as specialized conversion software like Google's Nik Silver Efex Pro, Perfect B&W from onOne Software, Tonality Pro from Macphun and B&W Effects from Topaz Labs.

You can play around with the sliders in these programs and in plug-ins, and you may wind up with good results. However, with a deeper understanding of black-and-white imaging, you can create a more powerful, more dramatic and more artistic image. I'll cover the basics in this column, showing just some of the endless possibilities that await you in black-and-white processing.

ORIGINAL
Here's the file (cropped from my RAW file) from which I created the iceberg image.
Before we get going, however, here are some important factors to think about as you're shooting when your goal is to create a great black-and-white image.


SEE VALUES
You need to see in values rather than seeing colors. You also need to envision how shadows and highlights will "play" in your black-and-white images. As you shoot, envision how the scene will look without color, which can be enamoring, as well as distracting (in a good way). With practice, you'll start to see in black-and-white.

SEE THE LIGHT

Dramatic lighting leads to a dramatic black-and-white image. In other words, strong shadows are very important in black-and-white photography. In fact, the expression "Shadows are the soul of the photograph" is especially important when it comes to black-and-white photography. 


Lightroom—which I used to create this image of an iceberg in a glacier lagoon in Iceland—offers awesome black-and-white capabilities, even when you don't use a plug-in. This screenshot of the Lightroom Develop module shows my enhancements to my original color file. First, I selected the B&W Contrast High preset. To add more impact to the image, I boosted the Contrast and Blacks, and then reduced the Highlights.



SEEK OUT TEXTURES

Textures are also very important in black-and-white photography. Textures are emphasized by shadows, usually created by side lighting.

FIND SHAPES, FORMS AND PATTERNS

When you combine shapes, forms, patterns and textures with dramatic lighting, you're on your way to creating a dramatic black-and-white image. 

Technically, here's something else to consider when it comes to black-and-white photography: Color files can have up to 16 million different colors, whereas a grayscale image has only 256 shades of gray. This is why considering and adjusting contrast—the difference between shadows and highlights—becomes more critical in black-and-white photography.

LEARN ABOUT COLOR FILTERS

Understanding the effect of color filters is very, very important in creating the black-and-white effect you desire. Basically, here are the effects of digital color filters on an image: 

Red: Darkens a blue sky for a more dramatic image.

Orange: Darkens the sky slightly more than a red filter. Like a red filter, it can also reduce atmospheric haze.

Yellow: Darkens the sky less than a red filter, which can be beneficial, depending on the desired effect.

Blue: Honestly, I've never found a use for a blue filter in black-and-white photography. In landscape photography, it often lightens the sky too much.

Green: Lightens foliage and slightly darkens the sky. 

Infrared: Simulates, somewhat, the effect of black-and-white infrared photography. 

Experiment with the effects of applying filters in your processing software. You may be surprised to see how an image changes as you switch between filters.


CONSIDER CONTRAST


My iceberg image has strong contrast—one of the elements, as I mentioned, that contributes to strong black-and-white photographs. Strong contrast is often desired, which is one reason to shoot in the early morning or late afternoon (as I did here) when strong shadows add contrast to a scene.

Enjoy your exploration of black-and-white photography. In doing so, think about black-and-white photographer Ansel Adams' philosophy: A picture is never really done. Go back again and again, and try different changes—even subtle ones.

Also keep in mind what another great black-and-white photographer, Ruth Bernhard, said, "There is no such thing as taking too much time, because your soul is in that picture."

Rick Sammon is a longtime friend of this magazine. See more of his work at ricksammon.com.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Pomade Tips for First Timers [kopipesediseng]

I use various types of pomades ranging from water-based, to petrolatum-based (which many are familiar with seeing an orange tin on the shelves), to old school (now) discontinued grease that was used to slick up the hairstyles which emulate today. And while I've used and loved several brands, Layrite has been one that has done my hair no wrong since the start!
Now, when you go to the supermarket, barber shop, or beauty supply store, you'll find yourself staring at a whole bunch of different hair products. Various types of: gels, creams, pastes, waxes, pomade, sprays, tonics! Then you've got the various finishes: matte, dry, natural, wet. Also, different textures! But, since we're focusing on pomade, let's just sort you out with that...

Thursday, April 16, 2015

12 hot design dates you can't afford to miss [kopipesediseng]

12 hot design dates you can't afford to miss

With events season in full swing, here are some cracking world-class conferences, festivals, exhibitions and more for April and May 2015.

April is a gloriously hectic month in the global design calendar, building up to a crescendo of world-class events in May.
Here's our pick of the key creative dates you need to know about over the coming weeks. Are you going to any? Let us know in the Comments below – we'll see you there…

01. Generate New York

  • 17 April 2015
  • New York, USA
At time of writing there were still a few tickets remaining for the design event of the year: Generate New York, which takes place this Friday.
net magazine and Creative Bloq's leading conference for web designers and developers features some of the biggest names in web design, including Mike Monteiro, Val Head and JoonYong Park as well as some fantastic new speakers, the two-track one-dayer promises inspiration, education and unparalleled networking opportunities. Here are 13 reasons why you need to attend...

02. Design Ranch

  • 16-19 April
  • Waldemar Guest Ranch 1005 FM 1340, Hunt, Texas, USA
An intimate, three-day, hands-on, workshop-driven design retreat on the rustic banks of the Guadalupe River, AIGA's Design Ranch is about reviving your creative spirit, putting away your mouse and getting your hands dirty. The ranch is open to people of all creative disciplines "seeking a recharge".

03. Deadline to enter:
Kyoorius Advertising and Digital Awards

  • 17 April
  • Work must have been published for a client in India or created by a studio in India for a client abroad
The final deadline for submitting entries to the 2015 KyooriusAdvertising and Digital Awards has been extended to Friday 17th April. This year Kyoorius has added a host of new categories to incorporate emerging areas in advertising, communication and digital design.
The nine-member advertising jury comprises of international and Indian agency representatives, and will be led by Nils Leonard, chairman and chief creative officer, Grey London, while the Kyoorius Digital Awards will be helmed by Andy Sandoz, creative partner, Havas Work Club and Deputy President of D&AD.

04. D&AD judging begins

  • 19 April
  • London, UK
 Judging for the prestigious D&AD Awards starts on 19 April 2015. The organisation will announce results as they are confirmed on the D&AD website. Winning work will be featured in the 2015 D&AD Annual and on the D&AD site. It'll also be showcased at D&AD's Awards Night, and at D&AD exhibitions and events internationally.

PROMOTION

05. Behance 99u conference

  • 30 April - 1 May
  • Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Centre, 1941 Broadway, New York, USA

"Get fired up to make sh*t happen" at Behance's annual conference, 99U, which is designed to shift the focus from idea generation to idea execution – in short, bringing ideas to life.
Talks inspire action, with everyone from comic artists to CEOs and directors sharing the secrets of their success. This year's line-up includes Christoph Niemann, MoMA's Paola Antonelli and Adobe's Scott Belsky.

06. Pictoplasma

  • 29 April - 3 May
  • Babylon, Platoon Kunsthalle, Urban Spree and numerous art spaces in Berlin, Germany
The world's largest conference and festival for contemporary character culture design and art, Pictoplasma unites artists from all realms of media and discipline with some of the world's leading graphic and games designers, animators and illustrators.
Full of lectures, presentations, screenings, workshops, performances and more, with confirmed speakers including Adventure Time's Andy Ristaino, Yves Geleyn, Hikari Shimoda and TADO.

 Pick Me Up

  • 23 April - 4 May
  • Embankment Galleries, 
South Wing, London, UK
The UK's original contemporary graphic arts festival is now in its sixth year. Subverting the norm of your traditional art fair, Pick Me Up showcases graphic art in all its forms.
A fun, quirky and informal festival with studio spaces where you can shop for affordable art, digital Q&As, competitions and workshops. Up-and-coming artists are celebrated, so get networking!

08. HOW Design Live

  • 4-8 May
  • Hyatt Regency Chicago, 
Chicago, USA
The 25th anniversary of HOW Design Live promises to be the biggest and best ever, with a bolder-than-ever speaker line-up including Jessica Walsh, Karim Rashid, Spin's Tony Brook and Mucca Design's Matteo Bologna. This is one of the biggest international design events, and this year will be merging five events into one experience.

09. F5

  • 17-18 May
  • Terminal 5, 610 W 56th St. 
New York, USA
F5 seeks to unite art, technology and design by bringing together the thinkers and doers that are breaking ground and shaping new standards in media and design.
The two-day festival gathers filmmakers, writers, digital artists, game designers, graphic designers, VFX experts and many more seeking to inspire and create. Speakers this year include Patrick Clair, Debbie Millman, Eddie Opara, Partik Moberg and Block & Tackle.

10. What Design Can Do

  • 21-22 May
  • Stadsschousburg, Amsterdam
What Design Can Do explores the impact that design can have across all creative disciplines, with 2015's speakers including the inimitable Stefan Sagmeister, johnson banks' Michael Johnson, Google Creative Lab's Steve Rura, and experimental artists Bompas & Parr.

11. TYPO Berlin

  • 21-23 May
  • Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-foster-Dulles-Allee 10, Berlin, Germany
The global design conference with a typographic flavour returns to Berlin with talks and workshops covering "design, culture, society – with a little bit of kerning."
With this year's theme of 'character', talks will present strategies against a culture of superficiality, with a view to building personality within your work. The myriad guest speakers include Aaron James Draplin, Matthias Frey, Jon Gray, Josh Higgins and Gemma O'Brien.
Here's a little taster of day three of TYPO Berlin 2014... 

12. OFFF Barcelona

London motion graphics studio Manvsmachine opted for a bit of performance art at OFFF Barcelona 2014...
  • 28-30 May
  • DHUB, Plaza de les Glories Catalanes 37, Barcelona, Spain
This year marks a milestone for OFFF Barcelona. It's the 15th anniversary of the epic three-day design conference, and plans are in place to make it a party to remember.
This year's featured artists include Laika, Michael Cina, Mirko Borsche, Stefan Sagmeister and Studio Blup. It promises to be an explosion of graphic design, web development, motion and sound design – and almost everything in between.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

5 Reasons Your Photography Isn't Improving [kopipesediseng]

5 Reasons Your Photography Isn't Improvingby 



5 Reasons Your Photography Isn't Improving


The evolution of a photographer is rarely a linear one. We get better, we get worse, we think we’re improving but we’re not, and then with some luck and a lot of patience and practice, we actually start to produce great images. For some that last point is never reached and it’s usually due to a few common mistakes. As a portrait and fashion photographer I struggle with these mistakes on a regular basis as much as anyone else, and have included a few of my own photos as retrospective of my personal progress.