I love Google Fonts! Not only do they have a huge selection, but there is also integration with many other applications like Web Flow. The con is the filtering system is no where granular as I would like it to be.
There are a lot of online sites where you can create scannable tickets, but often it is “freemium”. Meaning there are features that are free and there are other features that will cost money.
To make a scannable ticket yourself and manage it would require some knowledge of coding.
A low-tech way is to generate numbers and use an Excel sheet, then have someone (like a bouncer) check the ticket number code. A word of advice don’t use 001, 002, 003, etc. Like a strong password, use a combination of numbers and letters. That way it’s harder to counterfeit.
You may have downloaded and update Adobe Photoshop but haven’t seen the new AI tool. That’s because you have to download an entirely different program: Adobe Photoshop (Beta).
You will have two Adobe photoshop on your computer, one that’s the latest and another that’s experimental. The Beta version is where they test all the new tool tools. This goes for all of Adobe programs.
To get it, you have to have Adobe Creative Cloud. On the left size, choose “Beta Apps” under the categories section.
Then download the Photoshop beta verison.
And that’s it!
How to best use it
As an artist or designer, imagine having a tool at your disposal that could take your creative process to new heights by generating original content using advanced machine learning. Well, you don’t have to imagine anymore because that’s exactly what Adobe’s new generative AI tool offers. In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the steps to utilize this tool to its fullest.
Understand the Basics
The first step in any new tool is understanding what it is and how it works. Adobe’s new generative AI tool is an innovative machine learning application that’s designed to generate creative content. It can create images, designs, graphics, and more based on input parameters, helping to speed up the design process and inspire new ideas.
Familiarize Yourself with the User Interface
Adobe’s generative AI tool comes with a user-friendly interface that’s designed to make it easy for you to generate and modify content. Spend time getting to know the layout, the different settings and sliders, and the various options available. Understanding how to navigate the interface is key to efficient use of the tool.
Start with Templates
Adobe’s new tool comes with several templates for different kinds of content. Using these templates as a starting point is a great way to familiarize yourself with the tool’s capabilities. Pick a template that closely matches what you want to create, and then modify it to fit your vision.
Experiment with Parameters
One of the key features of the tool is the ability to adjust various parameters to change the output. The parameters might include color schemes, patterns, shapes, styles, and more. Play around with these settings to see how they affect the final result. Remember, the tool is built to learn from your inputs, so the more you experiment, the more you’ll understand what each parameter does.
Leverage the ‘Randomize’ Feature
Don’t underestimate the power of the ‘randomize’ feature. This can be a great way to generate fresh ideas and to discover combinations of parameters that you might not have thought of yourself. Just click the ‘randomize’ button and see what the AI comes up with.
Train the Tool with Your Style
Adobe’s generative AI tool can learn your style over time. By feeding it examples of your work or your preferences, you can train the tool to generate content that’s more in line with your aesthetic. The more you use it, the better it gets at anticipating your design choices.
Using AI for Feedback and Improvement
One of the most innovative features of Adobe’s new tool is its ability to provide constructive feedback on your designs. By analyzing your work against a database of professional designs, it can suggest areas of improvement and offer tips for enhancement.
Iterating and Refining
Remember, the tool is not intended to replace the creative process but to augment it. Take what it generates as a starting point and refine it using your own artistic judgment and design skills. The goal is to use the tool as a partner in the creative process, combining the efficiency and novelty of AI with the nuance and expertise of human creativity.
In conclusion, Adobe’s new generative AI tool is a powerful addition to any artist or designer’s toolkit. It offers a unique blend of efficiency and creativity, helping to spark new ideas, speed up the design process, and provide constructive feedback. By familiarizing yourself with the tool, experimenting with parameters, and using it to supplement your own creative process, you can harness the power of AI to take your designs to the next level.
With Adobe’s generative AI, the possibilities for creation are limited only by your imagination. So dive in, explore, experiment, and most importantly, have fun!
If you downloaded the transparent flat icon in a png format and want to change the colour in Figma. Well, that’s what we are going to do today.
First, insert the icon and then select it.
Then go to the effects section in the right side panel, and choose the “Inner Shadow” effect.
Open the “Inner Shadow” panel by clicking the sun icon. These are the default options.
I’m changing it to red. So these are my settings. What you need to focus on are the spread, colour and opacity. You want to kick the spread as much as possible until the entire icon is filled.
This is the finished icon! Hope that helps. Happy creating!
I use Figma more often than Photoshop to create graphics than UX. It’s just a great tool all around. These are the most used Plugins that I highly recommend.
Sometimes you have an image you want to convert into a vector. There are two ways to do this:
One – Reoutline everything in Adobe Illustrator. Two – Use the Image tracing function in Adobe Illustrator.
The first method offers more control, but it is tedious. The second method is quicker. However, the results will vary depending on the contrast and cleanliness of the image you are converting. I will show you how to do the second method, which is my preferred way. I use method one when there is no other choice.
Let’s get to it.
Step 1: Open the Image in Adobe Illustrator. I used one of my drawings as an example. Fun fact, I sprained my knee when I was younger pretty severely. I’m all better now, although I have some lingering pain there. Hopefully, it goes away eventually!
Step 2: Click on the image and then go to the top. You should see the “Image Tracing” bar. If not, go to Windows > Image Trace
Choose your preset. Depending on the level of detail you want. I chose. High Fidelity Photo. Then click “Image Trace.”
Step 3: Then click “Expand”
You should see blue outlines now on your image.
Step 4: To clean up the image further, right-click the image and choose “Ungroup.” You can now delete any white parts of the image and clean up the lines.
*Tip: Make another layer and put a different colour. It helps to see what’s happening.
I love art in all its various forms. Here are some shows where the adrenaline gets high and the art surprises. Here are my top five shows in no particular order.
Ink Master
Tattooing is highly challenging. You cannot erase and fix your mistakes quickly. You are working on a human being which brings extra challenges. I love this show because of the different styles, ideas, and challenges brought to the show. It’s creative, and they tend to focus more on the tattoo than on the drama, although there are some.
Portrait Artist of the Year
In this show, artists have to do a live portrait painting. I can’t imagine the pressure of having people watch your every stroke! There is also a time limit which is even more stressful. The artists are quite the champs! I enjoy watching their process.
The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge
Sandi Toksvig and miniatures are something I didn’t know I needed in my life. Seeing miniatures being appreciated and the creation process is magical! There is nothing like this show, and it’s original!
School of Chocolate
Hosted by the amazing Amaury Guichon. He challenges pastry chefs to up their artistic and culinary skills. Renowned for making beautiful art out of chocolate, it’s incredible to watch.
Good with Wood/Handmade
It is humbling to see other art forms and know that there is still so much more to see. Woodworking is one of these. I love seeing people who are experts just do their thing. Also, it’s hosted by the lovely Mel Giedroyc!
Honourable mention goes to…
America’s Got Talent.
I would binge the art talent on youtube. It’s fantastic to see this mixture of entertainment, performance and art. It turns people’s perception that art is boring.
Technology today allows us to do some fantastic and heart-warming acts of service. One of these is the ability to restore old photos. Photoshop is one of the standard tools many use to do this. Here are some of the tools you can use within photoshop.
Clone tool and Content-aware Fill
The Clone tool has been around forever. It is a brush that copies one area and allows you to paste it. Here’s a quick guide on how to use it.
1. Click the clone icon on the menu or click “S” on your keyboard.
2. Hover over the section you want to copy and then left-click. Then hover over the part you want to fill with what you copy with the clone brush.
The content-aware tool is relatively new. Photoshop will attempt to read the file and fill it as best as possible through AI. Here’s a quick guide on how to use it.
1. Select the area you want to fill in. This can be done through the lasso tool, pen or polygon selection tool. Make sure you are close as possible you can.
2. You can go to the top menu, Edit > Content-Aware Fill, or you can click Fill. Either way, you will see the content-aware options.
You will see this one in the full content-aware fill menu. You can choose the sampling area you wish. Auto, the computer will calculate. Rectangular will look at just the rectangle, and custom is when you can specify the reference part.
You will see this if you click edit > Fill. A shortcut to reach here is “Shift + F5”. This is a simplified menu of the above. Click Okay, and the computer will automatically calculate the reference image and fill in the gaps. Photoshop does a pretty good job.
You can see here it filled it.
Using the paint tool
Sometimes the most straightforward tool is needed. Using the brush, you can paint areas. Here’s a quick guide on how to paint.
Taking body parts from other photos
There are times when the photo is degraded to the point that body parts aren’t seen. A fix is to grab the body part from another photo and use that piece. The tricky part is getting the toning and colour grading right to make it look like it was part of the picture. Here’s a quick guide on one way.
1. Cut out the body part you want and place it within the photo.
2. The added body part should be the top layer.
3. Go to menu “Image > Adjustments > Match color.”
4. In the Match color panel. In the Image Statistics section. The Source should be the body part. The Layer should be the background or what you are matching it to.
The luminance is how bright you want it to be, color intensity is the saturation, and fade is similar to opacity. Fiddle with the options to see how it looks. And that’s it!
Also, adding noise to the picture will merge it better into the picture. You can do this by going to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Fiddle around. The lower the number, the better. Just a little bit helps.
Sometimes all you need is a simple program to edit, and you don’t need anything heavy-duty. Here are some free, easy online options where you don’t have to download anything. You need an account, and you can start creating!
Although it is known for UX design, it is also handy for simple graphic design. There are a ton of tutorials out there, and you can pick them up quickly. I enjoy using it with my team to create work for clients as they can view and add notes. Best of all they have additional plugins that allow you to customize your canvas.
Suppose you want to get into digital painting, more advanced graphic design and manipulation. GIMP is the choice. There are also lots of tutorials too.
If social media is your Jam, then I highly suggest Canva. It has tons of free premade templates, and it also allows us to do animation! It takes out the stress of figuring out a design for social media. It has saved me time, even if you want to do simple graphic design such as adding text, cropping images, etc. Canva can do it.
It is best known for photo editing, animation, and design, and it is a great tool. I would say it is closer to GIMP. They are also have premade templates, and you can even try premium for free. This program does well in a pinch.
Infographics are one of the richest pieces of content out there. It is informative and is more easily digestible to the reader. Here is a simple guide to creating one.
Choose a topic
Some suggestions for topics are:
Statistics on a problem and how to solve it
Historical
Categorization
and more!
Gather actual stats
This can be found in various places, such as google scholar, other reputable sites, and universities.
Layout the information in a logical order
The purpose of an infographic and much visual content is to tell a story. Storyboard it out and see where the stats fit into it. It should flow in a natural order.
Create a draft
Time to design the infographic! Gather any illustrations you need, and this is the fun part.
Refine
Gather feedback and make the adjustments.
Promote
Let the world see your infographic. You can post them via social media, use them in your portfolio, or whatever else is appropriate.
Here are some inspirations from Lemonly, a company specializing in designing infographics.
Reddit is a fantastic place. It has something for everyone. Without further ado, here are recommendations for subreddits I think artists should be aware of.
This one subreddit honestly makes me laugh when I have a terrible day. Not everyone hires a designer, and we get some pretty funny moments. I suggest checking the top of all time for the top-rated laughs.
If you find yourself in the unenviable position of having no work for a Portfolio, there is a solution. Do fake projects. Here are some ideas you do yourself to start building your portfolio.
Social Media campaign for a brand you love
Pick a brand that is in the industry you want to work in. It can be makeup, fashion, construction, etc. Whatever you want you can build a social media campaign.
Examples are:
New or Relaunch of a Product
Contest
Spotlight on the company
Awards
Influencer collaboration strategy
The influencer economy is growing and you can show you have your finger on the pulse. Choose a well-known influencer in your industry and create a fake campaign collaboration. For marketing, you can outline a strategy to generate leads through the use of discount codes and show a fictitious strategy.
Develop a business pitch for stakeholders/clients
This can be a presentation deck you would create to show how you would pitch a fake company to an investor, partner, supplier, etc.
