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January 2020

  • Domestika Creatives: Jordi Labanda
    Illustration

    Domestika Creatives: Jordi Labanda

    The renowned illustrator opens the doors to his studio to talk to us about his universe and creative process His first job in Spain was for the newspaper La Vanguardia was "a dream come true". The paper was iconic to him, a place where great illustrators lined its pages. This collaboration started in 1994 and continues to this day in the paper’s Sunday supplement. Its beginning was a pivotal moment in Jordi’s career. From then on, his characters began to form part of the collective imagination, establishing the Jordi Labanda universe. After a professional career of 25 years, Jordi Labanda (Uruguay, 1968) defines himself as an artist by commission. He currently works with publications like Vogue Japan and Harper’s Bazaar and his illustrations have covered magazines like Vogue USA and The New York Times. He has also collaborated with huge companies such as Louis Vuitton and Tommy Hilfiger, to name a few. Sat in his studio, Jordi explains his trajectory, his working methods, his characters and the key to being a good illustrator.

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  • 10 Tips for Launching a Creative Podcast
    Music & Audio

    10 Tips for Launching a Creative Podcast

    Expand your audience and reach your community in a more intimate way with well-produced audio shows A podcast can be a fantastic way to expand the potential audience for your work or to explore topics that you are passionate about with other creatives and friends. Creating one is easy, and there are hundreds of apps that will help you do it. However, with almost a million podcasts available today, getting the potential audience to find yours can be hard. These 10 tips will help you create one that stands out from the very first episode.

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  • The Free Universal Measurements Guide We All Need
    Design

    The Free Universal Measurements Guide We All Need

    Dimensions.Guide is a platform that can make life easier for designers and architects Searching for information about the official dimensions and size of objects, vehicles, animals, even our cell phones, can be a very frustrating task, especially when time isn't on our side. To make it easier, Dimensions.Guide has been created, a free reference database with drawings that document the standard measurements and sizes of everyday objects and spaces. Created by Bryan Maddock as a public research project, and developed by Fantastic Offense, a collective focused on urbanism and architecture, the result can facilitate the designs of architects, designers, artists and anyone with a general curiosity about the world, to better communicate the basic properties, systems and logic of what surrounds us.

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  • What is Visual Merchandising and Window Dressing?
    Design

    What is Visual Merchandising and Window Dressing?

    Learn about the history of window dressing and how it can be used to make a brand stand out. Window shopping is a fusion of lots of different disciplines: art direction, crafts, architecture, sculpture, installation, and, of course, design. They are all strategies which are used to draw potential customers into a shop. It’s how the shop communicates with the consumer. Window shopping is directly linked to visual merchandising – a marketing and design strategy for displaying products and services in a way that is logical and attractive (both inside the shop and in the display windows) to create a great shopping experience and boost sales. Founders and directors of Kiosco Creativo, Carla and Laura, are experts in window dressing. They have created more than 20 window displays for Hermès, Swarovski, and Disney. Here they answer four key questions that will help you to better understand visual merchandising and window dressing:

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  • What Is a Creative Portfolio and What Should It Include?
    Illustration

    What Is a Creative Portfolio and What Should It Include?

    Discover how to create a portfolio that draws the attention of prospective clients In all creative fields—especially those that are visually-led—a good portfolio will open doors to new clients and employers. It is therefore essential that you present your work well, and that your portfolio is a good representation of what you can do. So, what exactly is a portfolio? What should it include? Here, Sandra López—one of the founders of the first-ever illustration agency in Spain, Pencil·Ilustradores (@pencil)—answers all of your questions and explains exactly what a creative portfolio sets out to achieve.

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December 2019

  • 5 Interior Design Trends from 2019
    Design

    5 Interior Design Trends from 2019

    We review the interior design trends that have defined the past year, summarized in five colors Design is the result of its time, and the design of the spaces in which we spend our time–be it hotels, restaurants or other public places–even more. Each year–each decade–has its favorite interior design trends, in terms of color, shape or materials, which respond to contemporary concerns in fashion and society. Ana Hernández and Christophe Penasse, from the interior design and product studio Masquespacio, are always up to date with the latest trends in this area of ​​design, so we decided to ask them about the five top trends in interior design that have marked this past 2019. As they point out, "our 2019 trend proposals are based on the use of color and the different representation that each one can have for a trend. Each of them, in addition, can be used both in the use of materials or the color itself." Go for it. Beige White: Natural / Craftsman The use of beige white colors is intended to represent an aesthetic that seeks to connect with the natural and the artisanal.

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  • 10 Tips for Designing Icons
    Design

    10 Tips for Designing Icons

    Art director Hermes Mazali shares his tips for designing any icon imaginable Creating icons that work well requires a number of skills: the ability to condense and summarize information, a flair for graphic design, an interest in the client you’re working for and an in-depth knowledge of the values and visual identity of their brand. Hermes Mazali (@hmazali)–an art director who has ample experience in icon design–has summed up his expertise in 10 essential points for you to bear in mind if you want to follow in his footsteps:

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  • Photography tutorial: how to freeze motion
    Teacher Photography

    Photography tutorial: how to freeze motion

    Learn how to capture subjects or objects that move very fast with Jesús G. Pastor's techniques for photographing objects in motion One of the endless possibilities that photography offers is to capture the movement, that is, capture objects or subjects that pass very fast in front of our camera. At first glance, it may seem like a challenge, but following some simple steps, we can freeze an entire scene or even just the most dynamic subject on a photograph. We will explain these two techniques, and how to use them on your SLR camera, guided by Spanish photographer Jesús G. Pastor (@jesus_g_pastor), who has worked for several Spanish national newspapers (La Vanguardia, Public, Metro, Avui, Interviu, Human Journalism, Huffington Post ) and international publications (Travel Africa Magazine, the Sunday Times, Corbis, Demotix, UNHCR), as well as companies, NGOs and of course Domestika, where he teaches the course Introduction to Digital Photography.

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  • How to Present Yourself
    Marketing

    How to Present Yourself

    Discover the best tips to market yourself in your professional website, with Flor Martina Being a creative freelancer requires us not only to develop a unique style that differentiates us from the competition but also to know how to "sell" or communicate and promote our work and skills in the clearest, most concise and interesting way possible. Our professional website is a perfect instrument for all this because it gives us more space than other social networks to explain exactly what we do. Martina Flor (@martinaflor), a freelance designer and illustrator, has been working with customers around the world and has summarized everything she has learned on how to present oneself so you have it easier next time you want to impress a prospective customer.

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  • 10 essential shortcuts to work in Adobe InDesign
    Design

    10 essential shortcuts to work in Adobe InDesign

    Learning and using these keyboard shortcuts for Adobe InDesign will improve your workflow InDesign is perhaps one of the most commonly used desktop publishing software these days. Numerous professionals and students use this tool every day to design and create both printed and digital documents but beyond the basic options for creating layouts, Adobe InDesign offers endless possibilities to create perfect publications. A great layout designer knows how to work seamlessly with InDesign and the secret to working faster in your projects is to know the essential keyboard shortcuts of this software. Download below a PDF file with these shortcuts for Mac and PC. These are the key shortcuts you have to learn to work with Adobe InDesign:

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  • Meet 10 of the Best Dog Photographers
    Photography

    Meet 10 of the Best Dog Photographers

    We asked the Instagram Domestika community what their favorite pet photographers are Instagram has always been a great place to find fun and creative photos of dogs. So some days ago, in our Instagram Stories, we asked for help in order to find the best pet photographers. And here it is. The full list of noses, tails, friendship, fun, and love. The Dogist (@thedogist) Armed with a digital high-speed camera and the desire to document the grace, beauty, and character of dogs, photojournalist Elias Weiss Friedman has focused on doing with dogs what The Sartorialist did with people: document the contemporary history of street style. Friedman has photographed more than 2,500 dogs of all breeds, and the most valuable lesson they have taught him is this: "There is nothing like the frankness that you find in a dog's face, they don't pose nor they are afraid of being photographed. A lesson for our whole society, in which vanity and constant social validation are the status quo".

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  • Domestika Creatives: Marly Gallardo
    Illustration

    Domestika Creatives: Marly Gallardo

    We chat with the vector artist about growing up, what inspires her, and her creative process Full of energy, charismatic, and open. Meet Marly Gallardo. Born in Ecuador and raised in New York, the artist says she’s addicted to metropolises and finds herself strangely drawn to them. She creates vector illustrations–a format which has become her trademark. Her work has appeared in campaigns and editorial publications for The New York Times, United Nations, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Adobe and more.

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  • Domestika Maestros: Colita
    Photography

    Domestika Maestros: Colita

    We speak to the photographer who has captured many of the 20th century’s most famous faces, stories, and personalities, and discover what defines great photography and makes a great photographer Isabel Steva Hernández (Barcelona, 1940) has always been known to those around her as Colita. While photography has had a big impact on her life, now, at almost 80 years old, it’s no longer at the center of it. She no longer needs what for decades was her way of life, her way of survival, her way to have fun. Here, she shares what defines great photography what makes a great photographer.

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  • 15 Essential Shortcuts for Mastering Illustrator
    Illustration

    15 Essential Shortcuts for Mastering Illustrator

    Learn the best shortcuts for speeding up and improving your workflow with Adobe Illustrator Most illustrators, designers, and artists will already be familiar with Adobe Illustrator. However, to really master the program, it’s important to learn these shortcuts. They will help you to move around the keyboard and interface quicker and increase your productivity. Adobe Illustrator also allows you to add and personalize shortcuts to fit your needs. Anyone who works with Illustrator should know these 15 shortcuts inside out. Download below a PDF with the shortcuts. Essential tools All of the following commands are activated at the touch of just one letter key, allowing you to execute them quickly. Resize: Free Transform tool (E) and Scale tool (S) These tools are for changing the size of selected objects. The first, the free transform tool, allows you to alter the proportions of the object in a way that distorts the original shape. The scale tool enlarges or reduces the size of the object horizontally (along the x axis), vertically (along the y axis), or both. Select: Direct Selection tool (A) and Selection tool (V) The first lets you select individual anchor points or path segments by clicking on them individually, or select an entire path or group by selecting any other point on the item. You can also select one or various objects from a group. The second shortcut lets you select objects and groups by clicking or dragging over them. You can also select groups within groups and objects within groups. Magic Wand tool (Y) This is a magic wand that can automatically select objects of the same color, stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending mode with one click. Rotate tool (R) This tool is for rotating an object around a fixed point. The default reference point is the center point of the object. To change the rotation point, you just have to click where you want to move it to. Live Paint Bucket tool (K) This is an intuitive way to create illustrations with color. It allows you to use the full range of Illustrator’s vector drawing tools, but treats all the paths you draw as though they are on the same flat surface. Pen tool (P) The Pen tool is the most useful and versatile vector drawing tool. You can use it to choose how many anchor points your path will have and their positions. You also can decide whether they have jagged or rounded corners. Hand tool (H) The hand tool is useful for moving around the area you are zoomed in on. It makes working much easier. Paintbrush tool (B) The paintbrush tool allows you to click and drag to create a pathway to which predefined vector artwork is applied.

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  • Domestika Creatives: Paula Bonet
    Art

    Domestika Creatives: Paula Bonet

    The noted author, painter, and writer–who has had nine books published–invites us into her studio to talk about her career, her journey as an artist, and her upcoming projects Paula Bonet (born 1980 in Villarreal, Spain) is a multidisciplinary artist who defies labels. Over the course of her career, she has worked with so many different techniques and styles that it is impossible to define her art in just a few words. She first received recognition for a style of drawing which she has now distanced herself from and says she no longer “trusts”. Moving away from that has enabled her to focus on what’s really important to her: finding her own identity.

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  • How to Create Basic Patterns in Photoshop
    Design

    How to Create Basic Patterns in Photoshop

    Juan Díaz-Faes explains how to create repeating patterns in Photoshop in four easy steps A pattern is an image or a graphic element that is infinitely repeated, or tiled, and can be applied to any surface. The image that is repeated to create the pattern can be referred to as a tile. The easiest tile to create is in the shape of a square, although you can make tiles that have different shapes. To understand how patterns work, you’ll need to get to grips with the basic rules of repetition through digital exercises. That’s where Juan Díaz-Faes steps in. An illustrator whose work is very detailed, both graphically and narratively, he has created patterns for clients such as Nickelodeon, Pepsi, El País–one of Spain’s national newspapers, and Harvard University. Here he explains how to create a basic pattern using Photoshop.

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  • Dos and Don’ts for Writing Children’s Books
    Illustration

    Dos and Don’ts for Writing Children’s Books

    Tips from an expert in children’s literature to help you improve your stories for little ones They say that to write children’s books you need to revert to being a child, free your imagination, let yourself be surprised, and above all, play with the story. For more than 17 years, Natalia Méndez (@natumendez) has been transforming her ideas into books for children. She’s an expert at understanding how to create and edit wonderful stories through play; how to extract a story from an initial idea and develop it into a book. She has edited books since 2002. She is also an author, a professor specializing in children’s literature, and works for the children’s and young adult fiction department of the publishing house, Edelvives Argentina. Drawing on her vast experience and extensive knowledge, here Natalia Méndez shares some tips to help us think about why we want to write for children, how to better understand children’s literature, and some ideas for how to make your stories appeal to little ones.

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  • Domestika Maestros: Enric Huguet
    Design

    Domestika Maestros: Enric Huguet

    We got to know the human side of one of the design world’s most renowned pioneers, who defines the designer as a "poet of the world’s images". Enric Huguet Muixí (Barcelona, 1928) is one of the fathers of graphic design and illustration in Spain. He made his name creating some of the most iconic posters of the 50s and 60s and designing brands and other commercial communication, most often in the pharmaceutical sector.

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  • 3 Creative Retouching Techniques to Work Magic on Your Photos
    Photography

    3 Creative Retouching Techniques to Work Magic on Your Photos

    Create alternate realities with three simple creative retouching techniques in Photoshop that will transform your photos. Silvia Grav (@silviagrav) began making waves in international photography from a young age: this self-taught photographer has collaborated with brands like HBO, Lexus and Samsung, inspired the makers of the opening sequence of True Detective and has impacted half the world with her fascinating photographs. Her process begins behind the camera – and she is often the one who poses in front of it too – but a good part of the magic is made in post production, with different professional creative retouching techniques such as reshaping the image, painting with light, and blending images to create dreamlike visions that affect the viewer. Discover these three creative retouching techniques to transform your photos:

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  • 7 Habits of Effective Artists
    Art

    7 Habits of Effective Artists

    What separates successful artists from their fans? 3D artist and animator, Andrew Price, gives you some advice to improve your artistic development. In 2015, creator Andrew Pierce made a bet with his younger cousin: whoever managed to get 1000 likes for their painting work and 2D drawing would win $1000. Six months later, Andrew had done it. His bet inspired his Blender Conference 2016 talk, The Habits of Effective Artists. In it, he shares how to be a more effective artist, the habits and practices of the best artists in computer graphics and tricks and advice on how to improve your own work.

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  • Illustration Tutorial: 5 Basic Tips on How to Shade with Ink
    Illustration

    Illustration Tutorial: 5 Basic Tips on How to Shade with Ink

    5 basic tips from Sergio Bleda on how to shade with ink and take light into account Shading gives depth to your drawings: it makes something flat, three-dimensional. Inking and shading are fundamental components of the process of designing a comic. They help us place an object or character, illustrating the space in which they are found and helping the viewer understand where the light is coming from. Cartoonist and illustrator Sergio Bleda (@sergibleda) shares his tips and tricks on how to shade like an expert with India ink. All you need are: two synthetic brushes (number 1 and number 2), 300gsm Canson paper, and Winsor & Newton India ink.

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  • What Is a Mood Board and What Is It For?
    Design

    What Is a Mood Board and What Is It For?

    Learn how to create a mood board, the essential tool for the development of your design, photography or illustration projects, with Zita Chocarro, from Hamabi Design. Every designer and creative needs tools to inspire themselves and bring out their best ideas when they are developing their projects. Mood boards are a key part of the creative process: they serve as a reference to help find and coordinate the aesthetics, colors, textures, and materials you want to work with. What is a mood board? Also known as an inspiration board, a mood board consists of a digital or physical collage of ideas, a whole world of colors and shapes normally used in the fields of interior design, fashion and graphic design. These boards have everything you need to define the direction of your project: photographs, designs, illustrations, color palettes, textures or descriptive concepts.

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