The Cover Artist "Replenished" is a beautiful art piece created by the talented Wes Talbott.
"I come from a land called Ohio, where I spent the days of my youth in a small village called Johnstown. As a young lad I discovered that I had an eye for color and shape. When I grew to be a man I set out in search of a place where I could continue to study and improve my skills. I found myself at the doorstep of a wondrous school known as the Columbus College of Art & Design. I have remained here for three years time and have learned much. It was here that I discovered a fair maiden whom I have made my betrothed. Now that I am well within my fourth year, I seek to push my efforts to new heights and discover new ways to release my full potential." — Wes Talbott www.westalbott.com
Editor's note It’s been two years since I joined the Designn team, and with each edition I’m more and more impressed by the quality of articles, artwork and overall dedication offered by each of our contributors. It’s been an honour to work with everyone – especially Udara (our Founder) who puts so many hours into creating the layout of the magazine itself. His drive and passion are truly admirable. The launch of the sixth edition also heralds the start of our online presence in the form of the new online edition! Yes, I know, you could argue that all of our editions are online, but our new website has all of our magazine articles as individual posts for you to comment on and share individually! You can find this new site here: mag.designn.org Every sunny day comes with the possibility of rain, and this time is no different. This will be my last time working on the magazine. I’m truly grateful to be given this opportunity, and incredibly thankful to you, the readers, for looking at our product.
Natalie de Weerd Director of Publications
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The crew Founder & Managing Editor Udara Jayawardena udara@designn.org Director of Publications Natalie de Weerd natalie@designn.org Managers of Digital Edition Deanna Roberds deanna@designn.org
Lauren Leslie lauren@designn.org
Cristina Dumitrescu cristina@designn.org
Ulrikke Stendorf ulrikke@designn.org
Raveena Weerabahu raveena@designn.org
Pascalle Lo pascalle@designn.org
Vishmika Fernando vishmika@designn.org
Adam Lewis LaValley adam@designn.org
Grace Sabella grace@designn.org
Aileen Wu aileen@designn.org
Contributors Bliss Lokiev Ng bliss@designn.org
Ashley Valera ashley@designn.org
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01 02 03
04 05 Contents 07 You are here! 08 Why Developers should 10 Embrace Creativity 12 13 Why you need a Designer 14 Founder for your Startup They bring in a design-centric perspective to startups... 16 18 Interview with Jurikoii 20 Professional digital artist 26 The Best Advice you can give and get 30 as a Compulsive Creator 32 Photography Location Guide 36 (APP) ONEOFAKIND 37 40 41 42 43
Editorial The seventh edition
There’s no Art without Heart Creating a piece of art requires discipline, determination... A 301 word rant on generic web designs
5 Tips to Create Effective Infographics
The Importance of Thumbnails
Interview with TylerXY Professional digital artist
Interview with Ina Wong Professional digital artist
There’s no Art without Heart Creating a piece of art requires discipline, determination, and time. It’s so much more than just a pretty picture - it’s an expression of mind and body, and represents the artist’s personality and soul. The beautiful thing about art is that it's translingual; the passion and expression represented in a piece can be understood by different people in different continents. Art
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is a networking phenomena, and a potential we must grasp.
“Art is subjective, and true creativity sparks discussion and sometimes disagreement.” Creating a piece of art and sharing it is one of the highest forms of affection. You have taken a very personal part of yourself, a segment of your soul, and put it to paper to
share with someone else. Through sharing our art, we learn about one another; because of this art can bring two people together, from two opposite sides of the Earth, from two completely different cultures, and connect them. That is but one power of art. In other instances art inspires us, and this inspiration can spark much more than a traditional creative idea. Some
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That is but one power of art. In other instances art inspires us, and this inspiration can spark much more than a traditional creative idea. Some art can help you overcome a problem in real life by presenting a different viewpoint. Take the piece of artwork on the right by Stephen Bonser (http://sdbphoto. co.uk): This is a very poignant piece. Everything has been perfectly crafted in order to tackle a very difficult subject, self-harm; from the finger growing from the shadow of the scalpel, to the stark background giving a sense of emptiness and loneliness. Just seeing this piece sparks thoughts and questions around the issue. For someone who self-harms it could help them connect with others who suffer, and create a network of people helping and supporting one another.
What motivates people to create art? People create art for many reasons: fame, money, leisure, expression.
Commonly, people become downcast if their art isn't receiving the attention, or sales, they believe it deserves. If your artwork is all about monetary gain, and you receive little enjoyment from creating it, or don't use it as a means to connect with people and grow as an individual, then you have to ask yourself: "Why am I doing it?"
friends, and express yourself in a way words cannot. Artists who are willing to put themselves forward in light of judgement will inevitably earn themselves lifelong friends. By Natalie de Weerd & Adam LaValley
Ultimately you should create art for your own benefit. Use it to learn about different cultures, make new
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Why Developers should Embrace Creativity By Natalie de Weerd
We often refer to artists or writers as being creative, but the actual definition of creativity is:
"the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness." So whilst artists and writers often gain their fame from writing something imaginative and unique, programmers also exhibit this skill, albeit in a slightly different way. Traditionally it was thought that the left side of the brain was for logical thinking, and that the right side was for creativity. Following this logic, you would assume that developers were left-brained, and that designers were
right-brained. Unfortunately this way of slicing the brain has since been debunked - we all use our brain in equal measure and it’s down to other aspects of our personality that dictate how creative or logical we are. So following this rationale, developers can have a lot of creativity! Yet in their day-today lives, they probably don't get to pursue creative outlets although there are exceptions; web developers can also double as web designers. If we take a moment to step away from websites, and consider only the nitty-gritty backend developers (and to be cruel, let’s take away any change they may have of
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building the user interface for their system). Even in this dark, seemingly uncreative environment, creativity can shine. Whilst the code itself may be completely logical, to be able to split the client’s requirements into sections for programming requires a certain level of creativity. Problem solving itself is a form of creativity, as you're forced to discover new ideas to overcome obstacles. As developers, we can increase our creativity not only through artistic outlets, but through problem solving. One simple task you could do is that every time you come across a problem, consider three different solutions. This not only improves your problem-solving skills, but also
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provides you with a bank of solutions which you can pull from when you need to. Ultimately having a creative outlet is so much more than creating an incredible piece of art, or writing a symphony; it allows you to see the world in a different way. It sparks your imagination and can open your eyes to different ways of figuring out issues.
“Creativity is the source to improvise solutions to problems for dominating complex systems such as software development.” – Daniel Graziotin — Additional Reading [1] http://www.theguardian.com/ commentisfree/2013/nov/16/leftright-brain-distinction-myth [2] http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/ papers/1305/1305.6045.pdf
A 301 word rant on generic web designs By Udara Jayawardena
My approach to designing anything is to just do what I feel. Firms and designers sometimes present their design process as an overly complex thought process (I do it sometimes too for the sake of presentation), but it always comes down to a random spark inspiration which gets the process going towards creating something original. I see two approaches to design - an evidence based approach, or simply go with your intuition and see what comes of it. I prefer the latter. Of course I adjust things like colours and typography carefully to suit the project, then work on developing the user experience.
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This can involve reviewing a lot of A/B testing stats, which helps produce an end product which not only looks good, but gets great results! There’s always one original spark or piece of inspiration which is the core of the whole design - something like the minimalistic approach that defines the whole project, the animations, the decision to just go black and white or to just use a monochromatic scheme. You’ll never find the next best thing by not doing something new. Design innovation comes from creating
things out of pure intuition. Forget the generic best performing design that could work just as well. This applies to things far beyond web design by the way. I’ve seen too many cheap web designs where the only focus is to shovel the information out. You could spot one from a mile away. Generic web fonts, no thoughtout typographic hierarchy, flawed proportions; in short these designs show a distinct lack of life, rhythm and taste. It’s like getting your full course dinner served as a single tasteless paste - because it still gets
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you the nutrients right? So here’s a thought for your next design project: think, inspire and daydream until you hit that idea jackpot (you’ll know when you do). Then just create it. Adjust later. Photo credits — www.splitshire.com
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Why you need a designer founder for your startup by Udara Jayawardena Designer founders aren’t unheard of there are many out there who’ve built very successful startups. They bring in a designcentric perspective to startups which ends up resonating throughout the products and companies they grow to become. As I see it, a designer is essential to a wellrounded founding team in a startup, and can bring in early success.
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In a world where people use beautifully designed products and applications going from the sleek iPhones to the beautifully smooth iOS interface they run; people tend to expect a better user experience out of everything. Good designers come out of the box ready to build better user experiences, and therefore are able to put the whole team in the right direction for better business. Off the shelf designers have many qualities that make them perfect entrepreneurs: an eye for detail, problem solving on multiple dimensions, and their process of creating (to name a few). Yet not all designers are cut out to make great founders. There are a few extra qualities in the “required" section. First and foremost they must be able to creatively connect two worlds. A good example of this would be something like technology and user experience. Successful designfounders have the ability to make complex technology work for the everyday person, helping a startup takeoff, and bringing in early success. The real problem is that there aren’t too many designers willing to turn entrepreneur! Most artistic types tend to be driven by their craft and want to preserve the freedom to explore it — hence they go into design agencies or work in
advertising. But this is not the type of entrepreneurship I want to talk about. I want to talk about designers being founding members of startups in which they have to do much more than just design. Being a founder of a brand new startup means bringing your design values to the table, but at the same
“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” - Scott Belsky time also taking in the bigger picture to walk the fine line away from creating, to keeping investors happy and making the overall business work. I think the best example of a startup
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(when it was founded) being lead by design oriented thinking was Apple (started by Steve Jobs) - But we’ve all heard that story. So let’s dig into a few more unheard of (yet still popular) products from designer founders. Starting with Vimeo. Zack Klein cofounded and designed it in 2004. It was founded at the time Zack was working with CollegeHumor. His friend Jake Lodwick (Co-founder of Vimeo) wanted to be able to share small video clips, and ended up creating a text-based page, which Zeck developed to create a more graphical version (similar to the design today). You can read a full interview at designerfounders.com where Zack specifically mentions “I wanted things to feel as if they were made by a human” which is exactly the type of thing a designer could bring to the table of a startup — specially for an internet-businesses. Behance was affected even more by its designer co-founder than Vimeo. Matias Corea was originally a print and brand designer who was approached by Scott Belsky (cofounder of Behance) to help build Behance; which everyone knows as the leading portfolio creator for creatives. Now if you read the full interview at designerfounders. com, you’ll understand that their partnership complimented each other perfectly — “I turned Scott into
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a designer, he turned me into an entrepreneur”. Designers typically turn a blind eye on the business end by focusing too much on the design. There are many times when the ‘less designed’ versions can perform better with the actual customers and learning to sacrifice perfect-design for overall success is one of the largest challenges a typical design-founder would have to master in order to
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become a successful entrepreneur. It’s often harder for designers to create a sustainable business by simply deciding to get into it head first. Most would simply put too much focus the design aspects, like getting into the branding of a product even before planning out the company or knowing what it’s going to be. If you want to become a successful designfounder you must do your research.
Learn every aspect of running a business from friends, other cofounders, and books. You must first learn the process of building a company and then draw on your design values to make it something inspiring and stunning!
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5 Tips to Create Effective Infographics by Lauren Leslie
Infographics are a fun, useful medium which are used to deliver a message by breaking down the important points into clever visualisations; using icons, fonts, and colour schemes to enhance the meaning. Most infographics are used for presenting statistics, describing processes, or contrasting and comparing ideas.
to solve a jigsaw puzzle with all the tiny pieces in a huge pile. I suggest setting a timer on your clock to keep you on track with the different stages of brainstorming and designing, and keep you from over thinking. Below are all of the stages you’ll want to cover in your brainstorming and initial design session.
There are a few key elements to making an effective infographic which can often make them a daunting and overwhelming prospect to graphic designers. It can be much like starting
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ONE
Establish your target audience. Before you even begin designing your infographic, make sure you know your client’s brand and to whom they will be presenting the infographic; keep in mind your target audience’s gender, age, and location. Knowing your target audience will help you ensure your infographic will connect with the audience.
TWO
Figure out the key points of information. Whilst sometimes clients will be nice and send you the exact copy for the infographic, other times, they will just hand you an article and it will be up to you to break down the information. Get out your sketchpad and write down a summarised version of the key points of the article – make sure you include any statistics! This stage should take around 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the length of the article).
THREE
Visually interpret the information. Whilst you’re completing the previous step, you may have already begun to imagine how you’ll visualise the key points. Doodle these as soon as you think of them and make it clear which key points they relate to. This process should take 15-25 minutes, so quickly jot down or doodle whatever comes to your mind. All you’re doing at this stage is visually interpreting the details of the message.
FOUR
Take a step back. You’ve been focusing on the visuals of the details, so now it’s time to focus on what the big picture should look like in regards to theme and order. You might have had an idea about the visual organisation of information after step one, but after step two - examining the details - you will be able to determine if that organisation is best. This step can be tricky as sometimes you have to rearrange the information from the original article, because
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the translation of information from an article to a visual format influences how the reader reads the information. Thinking of this step like a comic book page helps; find out what the overall message is - whether it’s comparing, contrasting, or listing information - and this will help you determine the layout of all the details in the article. Sketching out different layouts in your sketchbook keeps you from wasting a lot of time. Spend around 25-30 minutes on this stage.
FIVE
Use design elements to help the visual flow of information. Use space on the infographic wisely. With all the statistics and icons, it’s easy for visual clutter to happen. Make sure the spacing between sections and elements is wisely divided, limit your colour palette, and use no more than two or three typefaces. While infographics should be visually appealing, they should also be practical.
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Interview with
Jurikoii Interviewed by Pascal Lo
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Tell us something about yourself! Who are you?
What was your first encounter with art in general?
Hello, my name is Jurgen. I am 19 and I live in Italy. I love to draw, paint and watch a lot of anime to distract myself.
I've been doodling random things such as houses being attacked from aliens since I was 4. But what I could call my "first encounter" with art I think happened when I was 12,
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when I just discovered videogames, anime, and manga. It may sound a bit clichĂŠ, but those were my biggest inspirations and motivations at the time. One of the first and last games I played was Devil May Cry and it has had a huge impact on me. It made want to draw and create my own
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stories and characters, so I started to practice every day. I always loved games for the art and story. Even now I love a lot of games even though I never really play them. My second major source of inspiration was Death Note; I really loved the story and mostly the art style. It’s a great balance between realism and manga. In fact Takeshi Obata is one of my very favourite artists now, alongside Jo Chen. How much time do you spend practising your craft? For the past year, I've been practising stuff such as anatomy, colours, volume etc. for 12 hours a day! Recently I realised that it's not fun at all. I sure gained a lot of skill but nothing more. What really makes you grow as an artist and makes you develop your style, is the experience of creating finished illustrations and from drawing stuff you love. So, I am going to invest all my time into that from now on. What do you value more, Fan Art or General Art? What does a TV series or similar need to push you into creating Fan Art of it? They have the same value to me even though Fan Art can give you more chances to get exposure. People may like the character and share it for that reason alone, or they may simply think it’s a great piece of art. Meanwhile with original art it's just
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because of the art, but it mostly depends on the quality of the piece, no matter whether it’s Fan Art or not. The only difference is that you're drawing an existing character instead of an original. You can still put a lot of your own personality and style on the piece. I draw fan art when I just feel like it, not because the show or game makes me.
Draw a lot! You can read tutorials all day but you only learn by doing.
the rain, a quote, and so much more. I never lack inspiration and I believe nobody ever does. You always have an image in your head that you can bring to the canvas. When I have "art blocks" it's not because I'm not inspired, but mostly because of my current mood or situation. What makes good art in your opinion? In the past, painting a realistic scene was enough to amaze the viewer. Nowadays it’s definitely not. You have to be somehow "unique". Draw beautiful things, put a story in your painting, get a great style, the more simplified and stylised the better. Those are the elements, in my opinion, that can make your art stand out today. What is more important when creating Fan Art: sticking to the series, or creating your own aspect of the fandom? The more important thing when creating Fan Art is to have fun! I personally would interpret the characters in my own way but still make them recognisable.
What or who serves you as inspiration? How do you prevent or overcome a lack of inspiration?
From your point of view which of your art gets more attention: Fan Art or General Art?
Everything can serve me as inspiration. A song, going out, other artists, games, shows, photos, a story,
When I really put effort into my original art, they mostly get as much attention as my Fan Art pieces, and
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I'm really glad because it means a lot to me.
What do you use to create your art?
You definitely know how to create high quality art. Do you work as a professional? And if so, can you make a living out of it?
I currently use Photoshop CC and a 14x9cm Wacom Bamboo tablet.
Thank you! I am definitely not a professional artist, if you go to my page it says I'm still a student. I don't go to school, it means that I'm still learning by myself. I sometimes accept freelance art job offers and take commissions but I don't make a living off of it yet. I still live with my parents, even though I pay for everything I need myself, and also help them economically. The people who contact me about my work is increasing with time and this makes me more confident about the idea of making a living by creating art! My next step is to build up a good portfolio, and move forward to start working full-time as an artist.
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What are your plans for the future? My future goal, as I mentioned before, is to start making a living by creating art. But my dream is to one day be able to work on a personal project such as a web-comic. It would be so great for me as an artist to accomplish something like that in life.
Does being an artist make your life more beautiful?
not supporting me with my choice of pursuing art‌ everyone told me that I would never get a job, have a life or a house since artists are not known for being rich. To me wasting your life with a job you hate is so much worse than ending up poor, starving, and homeless. Making art makes you feel you are accomplishing something in life - you're actually creating something that touches people and lasts forever. Do you have any hints or materials to offer to aspiring artists? Draw a lot! You can read tutorials all day but you only learn by doing. So grab the first pencil you find and go draw! Yes I do plan on making tutorials in the future.
It can make your life very painful, but much more beautiful. It takes a lot of courage, time, and hard work to make your own choices and follow your dreams, but it's totally worth it. My bigger difficulties were my family
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Addressing social injustice Reclaiming underrepresented histories Discovering our role in a broken built environment
Black in Design Organized by the Harvard GSD AASU
October 9-10, 2015 | Gund Hall | blackindesign.com
Register online until September 15th. For sponsorship inquiries, please email blackindesign@gsd.harvard.edu. 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
The Importance of Thumbnails By Deanna Roberds
When creating a new piece, I’ve always had a hard time drawing more than just the character. Often, I’ll create a character then throw them into a background. As this can look really good, I never saw it as an issue. I have, however, been delving deeper into this and have noticed the amount of improvement I’ve seen since I started to focus on creating stories, rather than just drawing a character. Generally, the most important part of this process is the thumbnail stage. Thumbnails are small, quick sketches meant to give you an idea of an image before you fully commit to it. When creating thumbnails, you
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generally have an idea of what you want, but don’t know where to go with it, or are working for an employer and they have asked for an image with many possibilities. In the case of the latter, I just follow their guidelines and go from there, but in the case of the former, I tend to work from a set of words that describe what I want. In this example, I chose the words beach, fun, sporty, and silly.
to the image more than you could believe! Take some time to research the Golden Mean, the Rule of Thirds, and any other types of composition rules you can get your hands on.
Fun Fact: Thumbnails are a great way to explore different styles of composition which add
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Image 1 shows the thumbnails I usually draw for myself, whilst Image 2 shows the thumbnails I draw for employers. Notice how the first image shows all of the main details, it’s a giant mess, but you get the general idea. The second one is a much cleaner version of the same mess. When I make thumbnails, I tend to work quickly in order to get the ideas down on paper, rather than focus on accuracy, then clean it up for the employer afterward. At this point, if I’m hired by someone, they usually choose which thumbnail they prefer and I move on from there.
Fun Fact: Notice how you’re automatically drawn to the upper left image? It’s because I used the Golden Mean for composition. The roundness of her tentacles and placement of everyone in the image actually draws your eye to it and keeps your eyes continually moving around the image, which
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triggers your brain to find it more visually appealing. Seriously, the science behind art is cool stuff. Since I don’t have the luxury of having my choices made for me this time, I have a tough decision. I quickly rule out the lower left thumbnail because it lacks any dynamic posing or angling, but I really love the top left and lower right image. I work on them until I decide that the dynamics of the lower right image are also quite poor and ultimately choose the upper left image.
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Notice how the girls are Fun Fact: Your brain is also all a little to the lower attracted to asymmetrical left, yet there are still images. You actually try to objects at the upper right? find the balance in things This is also a part of the when you look at them, so trick. Even though we’re if an image has things a more drawn to asymmetry, little off-balance, you’re we also tend to find it less more likely to look at it. attractive than symmetry.
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The objects are different enough to make the image both imbalanced and balanced at the same time, making a person’s eyes more drawn to it. [IMAGE 4] At this point, my sketch is basically done for me. I resize it to fit the image and adjust it to have a
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slightly better composition, then start to sketch out the linework. You don’t need linework, but my style prefers it, so I tend to use it in a majority of my work.
[IMAGE 6] Now it looks much more interesting. The linework isn’t done, but it’s enough to give you a general idea of the composition.
[IMAGE 5] The basic linework is done, but it doesn’t really stand out. This is another trick. Everything is flat together so the objects don’t stand out to each other. I add some quick line weights and voila!
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the best advice you can give and get as a compulsive creator by Udara Jayawardena
Create something new everyday, no matter what - doesn’t matter if it isn’t any good or if it doesn’t serve any real purpose. Over time it’ll make you a master of your craft. That’s probably the best advice I’ve been given and can give to anyone who wants to create new things.
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Now I do agree that ‘create’ by itself is a rather broad category. But the beauty of this is that you should be able to practice this on any anything - if you’re a programmer write a snippet of code everyday or add to something big you’ve always wanted to create, if you’re a designer keep redesigning those everyday tools; you get the gist - just CREATE!
wouldn’t it simply be awesome if I would just take a moment, relax and learn from the boring basics?
There is always a sharp learning curve between being miserable trying to understand the concepts of your craft and coming to a point where you actually enjoy and get excited about the next thing you could create. This applies more to technical crafts such as programming, and if you’re not careful about your learning process you’ll most likely burnout and give up altogether.
The key is to take it in small sustainable doses.
I can tell you from my own little experience that I’ve given up learning a countless number languages (from Ruby to Python) by simply going at it too big; and by that I mean skipping the fundamental lessons and going straight to building apps. I used to go through this cycle of frustration again and again because I absolutely needed to learn these tools. If you’re a compulsive creator you’ll always want to find a way to make the things you dream — but
Easy enough for me to write - but I still deal with this cycle. Although now I consciously do my best to ease into it. The key is to take it in small
of sore muscles and probably a bit of disappointment in your fitness. But if you start with 5 and add 5 more every week then you’re muscles will gradually get stronger and closer to achieving that ideal 40 with ease. No soreness. No burnouts. So to recap this bite-sized article. Create something new everyday. Only do what you can sustain.
sustainable doses. Only do what you can sustain - otherwise it’ll all just be a big waste of time and more likely than not you’ll end up doing it all over again. Making it an even bigger waste of time. To give you an example – you want to start exercising and try to do 40 push-ups. But if you try that on the very first day you’d end up with a set
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Hi Tyler, could you give a brief introduction to our readers? My name is Tyler Blackburn, also known as TylerXy on DeviantArt. I am a digital artist in my spare time, but I also enjoy creating music. Unfortunately, being creative isn't a full time option for me - though I wish it were. My creative life started out by making my own desktop wallpapers. I didn't really think of it as "art" until someone said to me: "Wow that would make a really nice poster!" It wasn't something I'd considered until that point, but it was a brilliant idea. Computers have always intrigued me since I was very young, and when I learned that I could use Photoshop to create things from scratch, I became really excited! Overtime it's become a thing which I've grown to love doing.
Interview with
TylerXY
I'm a trained mechanical draftsman, so whilst I can't draw anything traditionally "artsy" on paper, I can create blueprints for anything which needs to be made tangible. I must be quite good, as in my senior year at high school I took 2nd in state for architecture/drafting and design at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado.
Interviewed by Natalie de Weerd
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Obviously you're an incredible 3D Artist, but how do you think 3D art differs from its 2D brethren? Do you have to approach it differently? I would say there is definitely a more technical approach to working in 3D. Setting up any 3D scene requires a fair amount of pre-planning and tweaking things; lighting, models, materials, and cameras need to be set up before you can even consider rendering the final image. Patience is a necessity when working in 3D. Rendering a final image can take hours, and once it's rendered you may realise the camera or lighting needs to be tweaked; this process is sometimes called “render/ tweak/repeat�. One advantage to working on a computer, rather than traditionally, is that there are more opportunities to perfect your scene before it's finished; for example, if you are painting with a brush on canvas you pretty much need to do it right the first time. In a virtual environment, there is always a do-over option. Do you often go into your work not knowing how the final render will look? Or do you tend to plan ahead? Sometimes you have an image, or a rough draft in your mind... other times you just start tinkering with
shapes and things just seem to fall together. It's quite easy to get on a "creative roll" when modelling in 3D. Overall though I try and keep things simple. Once I'm happy with the shapes which I've created, I start to think about which materials I want to use; I'm quite partial to glass-like materials, and ones which are ultrashiny. I think this helps to make my work unique, as I tend to only use a handful of materials which I've saved over the years. Once I've completed a few test renders with different materials, I decide what type of environment I want to place the model in. For the most part this depends on the shapes I've used and my current mood.
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Then begins the tweaking and any pre-plans I had fall into place. I create and tweak the materials, lighting, and camera views as much as possible to get it as close to perfect as possible
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so that I don't waste computing time on trial and error (though I may do a few low-quality renders as tests). Most of these settings I change to ones I've used in the past, and that experience has taught me works.
take up to 72 hours to finish, but this allows me to really zoom in and see little details I hadn't noticed before.
When I think it's ready, I crank up the sampling rates, hit "go", and wait. Almost always it turns out way better than I expected!
I have printed and framed well over 200 pieces, and they are all my favourite!If I was forced to choose one though, it would have to be the one on the opposite page. I have it framed and hanging in my bedroom.
Do you tend to complete your pieces in one go, or do you often walk away and come back? I rarely spend more than one sitting on any piece. I'll start and not stop until it is finished (though I do often have to leave it overnight to render, as I render my final pieces at 3000x2000 pixels). Sometimes one of these highly detailed renders can
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Do you have a favourite piece? Why is it your favourite?
Sometimes I get caught up in the shapes that I'm creating and don't fully know what the final render will look like until it’s done. This one just looked like an angel by coincidence.
If you could suddenly become incredible in a different artistic area, what would you like to be awesome at? I've always been a huge music fan, and I've been playing guitar since I was about 15 (so about 28 years now). I spent 5 years in Ontario, Canada, as a music teacher and I loved every minute of it. So to answer the question, I'd love to be a rock star! Though I don't think it'll ever be possible at my age... but you never know - artistic expression comes in many forms. Links Facebook www.facebook.com/Tylerxy DeviantArt www.tylerxy.deviantart.com
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Many photographers know the problem: only when we’re on vacation can we visit interesting places and take amazing pictures. But is that really true? The smartphone app "OneOfAKind" proves you wrong!
What is the OneOfAKind app? This application is designed to find beautiful places right around your doorstep. It's basically a network of photographers sharing their beloved locations with others. So how does it actually work?
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The handling is simple: you search by name, subject, or photographer for great locations in your vicinity. A modern and clean user interface guarantees an easy approach. The app works with Google Maps and GPS data so you'll definitely find your destination.
Features of the app • You can "heart" a place to show everyone that the location has quality. • Locations are ranked based on the
number of hearts they have received. • Information can be shared about equipment, filters, weather, sun positions. • Hints can also be shared. • Places can be favourited so you can quickly return to it.
The faces behind OneOfAKind The OneOfAKind app is developed by the OneOfAKind Adventures team; the official founder is Timothy Pulton. They host small to midsized travel groups where they
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lead photographers to amazing locations, all while sharing their knowledge. Now they want to bring their experience of the landscape to the app - OneOfAKind teams up with professional photographers around the world to create a global map of interesting geodata which we can all profit from.
Get Involved! OneOfAKind is an app that is based upon a community. Photographers being part of that community is vital for its success. Currently more than 250 photographers have joined as contributors and marked over 1000 locations. Whilst this is clearly impressive, it’s not enough for a global app. Therefore founder Timothy Poulton encourages photographers to be contributors. You can contribute via oneofakind.net.au
By Pascal Lo
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By Larienne www.larienne.deviantart.com
By To-Ka-Ro www.to-ka-ro.deviantart.com
By ElyonBlackStar www.elyonblackstar.deviantart.com
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www.designn.org / August 2015 / magazine@designn.org
Saber McConnell portraitadoption.com/paartist.php?profile=16
Cold-Creature www.cold-creature.deviantart.com www.designn.org / August 2015 / magazine@designn.org
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Interview with
Ina Wong By Adam LaValley
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www.designn.org / August 2015 / magazine@designn.org
I’VE ALWAYS BEEN SERIOUS ABOUT CREATING ART SINCE I WAS YOUNG. ALMOST EVERY DAY I TRY TO IMPROVE MY SKILLS. Do you have a nickname in the art world?
Do you have a nickname in the art world?
My real name is Ina Murwani Prasetyaningrum, but my nickname is Ina Wong.
My real name is Ina Murwani Prasetyaningrum, but my nickname is Ina Wong.
How long have you been serious about creating art?
How long have you been serious about creating art?
Creating art has been my hobby since I was in kindergarten; I do not know exactly when I started to like it. Sadly, my parents didn't allow me to do it as more than a hobby, so I studied my other interest of Civil Engineering. My passion for art has never left me though, and I want to become a professional digital painter someday. I secretly started
Creating art has been my hobby since I was in kindergarten; I do not know exactly when I started to like it. Sadly, my parents didn't allow me to do it as more than a hobby, so I studied my other interest of Civil Engineering. My passion for art has never left me though, and I want to become a professional digital painter someday. I secretly started
opening commissions about 4-5 years ago. After my father passed away, my mother knew the secret‌ she allowed it as long as it did not interfere with my grades. I’ve always been serious about creating art since I was young. Almost every day I try to improve my skills. I usually discuss painting and my work with my boyfriend, who is also a digital painter, Bramasta Aji (aka unrealsmoker on DeviantArt). I learned about other artist techniques from tutorials, or I experiment in Photoshop by myself. I also learn from movies and manga. Now I have graduated from civil engineering, I can be more free and serious in creating art since my mother gives me approval to continue. Which art medium do you specialise in? Digital, especially Adobe Photoshop with Wacom Intuos4 medium size. Do you have any favourite artists? I do not have a specific favourite artist. All artists who can produce good art are my inspiration. Besides that, I get inspiration from movies,
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What is the name of the artwork you chose for this feature?
Is there anyone you would like to thank for everything you have accomplished so far, and expect to accomplish in the future?
My favourite piece is the one on the opposite page. It's called "Starry Night with my Friends" and represents both happiness and sadness. We have to be grateful for everything we have, even if so many miserable things happen to us.
Thank you so much to my father, who bought me an intuos4 and everything I wanted. My mother for the approval and chances, Bramasta Aji for the support, and everyone who critiques and helps me through my art ventures.
manga, and everything around me.
How would you like to be an inspiration to other aspiring artists? I am also still learning, many people praise me but I still feel that I am not that good and I need to practice more. So many artists are better than I am. Sometimes that feeling is good because it motivates me to practice more and more. Some people say that if you have no talent you cannot become a good artist. That is not true - just believe in yourself. As long as you practice and study diligently, you will win against those who are more talented than you are. It takes time and you have to be extra patient, but do not give up!
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