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  • What Is a Turnaround in Character Design and How To Draw One
    3D & Animation

    What Is a Turnaround in Character Design and How To Draw One

    A turnaround shows a character in different poses. Learn how to create one following these steps. If you work in illustration and animation, chances are that at some point, you'll be asked to create a turnaround. It is a vital tool for successfully modeling in 3D. As the name suggests, a turnaround is a 360-degree view of a character that gives us all the information we need to know. It can be tricky to do it correctly, but Laura Ewing Ferrer (@le_lauraewing) knows a lot about turnarounds. She is an illustrator and storyboarder who loves creating characters and has worked as a freelance artist for various documentaries, pilot series, and publishing houses. Today she will share with you the steps and tricks you should use when making a turnaround.

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  • What Is Voxel Art?
    3D & Animation

    What Is Voxel Art?

    Learn about the creative possibilities of voxel art, a technique connected to but different from pixel art To understand what voxel art is, we must first understand what a pixel is. In 2D graphics, a pixel is the smallest visible part of an image. If you zoom all the way into an image, you will notice a grid formed by hundreds of small squares. Each of these squares, all of them in a single blocked color, is what we call a pixel. A voxel is the equivalent of a pixel but in 3D. Think of the pixel as a square and the voxel as a cube. It's as simple as that, and the reason why many artists start their modeling and 3D animation careers by working in voxels. It represents, after all, a fun process for experimenting and creating.

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  • What Is a Counterbrief?
    Design

    What Is a Counterbrief?

    Andrea Galvez and Martín Bedoya, from FIBRA branding studio, show us the methodology they use to create an efficient counterbrief To understand the role of the counterbrief in a branding project, it is important to first remember the concept of the brief: a document or process with essential information and instructions on how to create a brand. From this document, the design process is born. The brief usually comes from the client, the counterbrief is the designers' answer to everything requested and, according to Andrea Galvez and Martín Bedoya from FIBRA branding studio (@fibra_branding), it is the most crucial step in their work process. It is through the counterbrief–the first delivery made to the client–that the project script and the refinement of the initial ideas are defined.

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  • What Is Zentangle?
    Illustration

    What Is Zentangle?

    Learn about the abstract pattern drawing style that will help you relax and refine your mark-making The term Zentangle comes from the words 'zen' (the Buddhist meditative philosophy for balancing the mind) and 'tangle'. The goal of this art practice is to achieve calm. It was developed as a concept in 2004 in the United States, from the minds of Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts. Zentangle is a style of drawing, mainly abstract, that uses repetitive patterns and represents an artistic method of relaxation for many.

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  • What Is Social Listening?
    Marketing

    What Is Social Listening?

    Get to know this marketing tool that will help your social media accounts grow Perhaps you have recently heard the term “social listening”–it’s becoming more and more popular in the world of social media. It offers a valuable view of your audience as well as the direction of your brand. Learn how to implement this practice in your digital marketing strategy to obtain positive results for your personal brand or your customers.

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  • What Is Your Worst Creative Nightmare?
    Teacher Illustration

    What Is Your Worst Creative Nightmare?

    5 illustrations of the scariest situations creatives face In this Halloween season, some enjoy horror movies, books or stories that may have to do with supernatural beings or monsters from other worlds. But in the world of creativity, there are everyday situations that are much more terrifying than a classic pop culture horror piece: facing the blank page, not having a backup of your precious information... Spooky! Now five illustrators share their take on some of these fears from the Domestika creative community that will make you tremble:

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  • What Is InDesign, and How Can It Help You?
    Design

    What Is InDesign, and How Can It Help You?

    This application underpins most of the magazines, books, newspapers, and printed ads you see every day. InDesign is one of Adobe's most versatile and advanced design programs, although it is not as well known as some of the other Adobe applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, or Premiere. It's a desktop publishing and typesetting app, aimed at designers and creatives who work with products that generally end up in printed form. It is often used to create magazines, books, or newspapers, but also promotional materials such as posters, flyers, and all kinds of signage and advertising.

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  • What Is and How to Create a Cinemagraph
    Photography

    What Is and How to Create a Cinemagraph

    Photography magic! We explain how to create movement in a static image step-by-step What is a cinemagraph? It's a fascinating combination of photos and videos. It usually consists of a small movement repeated in a loop within a picture, while the rest of the image remains entirely still. It results in a groundbreaking yet realistic effect. Nowadays, standing out in the digital world is necessary, and multimedia content is more than ever a visual experience. A fantastic moving image can help you achieve that distinguishing visual end product. Cinemagraphs, with their instantaneous visual elements, attract the viewer's attention. They are small, sophisticated works of art, subtle yet sufficiently attractive, that can capture our attention among the multitude of images we consume daily. Creating a cinemagraph is not difficult, and we’ll explain how, step by step. This is a short tutorial, and if you want to explore this technique, Mexican photographer Fernando Montiel Klint (@fernandomontielklint) teaches it in the Domestika course Creation of Cinemagraphs:

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  • What Is a UX Writer?
    Design

    What Is a UX Writer?

    Mario Ferrer sheds some light on this role and how UX writers are key to creating an excellent interface UX Writing consists of creating, developing, and designing an interface’s content in an app using user experience design methodologies applied to words. UX designer Mario Ferrer (@marioferrer), the creator of the UX Writers España group, has worked on various mobile app games like Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes Saga, Bubble Witch 3, and is part of the product team at Skyscanner. In his own words, he ‘uses words as a design tool’ to collaborate with production teams to find solutions that deliver the best possible user experience. Yes, a person who is dedicated to UX Writing also designs. Read on as Mario defines the role of a UX writer, how it differs from other roles that also use writing as one of their main tools, and how a UX writer works within a product team.

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  • What Is Color Theory?
    Illustration

    What Is Color Theory?

    Learn the basic rules for creating colors so you can create color palettes more easily Color theory is a set of rules that apply to color, regardless of how color is applied. It helps us to understand how different colors are created, and how they complement one another.

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  • What Is the Best Place to Sell Your Clothes Online?
    Design

    What Is the Best Place to Sell Your Clothes Online?

    What is the best platform to sell your streetwear project? Smithe presents his favorite options You’ve just created a fantastic collection of t-shirts with your designs and illustrations, and now you need your audience to see it and buy it, correct? Which online shop should you choose to advertise your products if you don’t have a way to set up your website? Smithe (@smithe)–a Mexican urban artist, illustrator, and designer–has been working on his style, perfecting his images’ narrative, and working as a creative for fashion brand, Tony Delfino. Here he shows us the difference between the two leading e-commerce platforms, Big Cartel and Shopify.

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  • What is CGI Photomontage?
    Photography

    What is CGI Photomontage?

    Discover this method for creating impressive (and often unimaginable) images, as if by magic The initials CGI stand for “Computer Generated Imagery” and refer to any form of visual expression that uses a digital medium: digital photography, analog photography scanner, digitalizations, image banks, and 3D images, etc. Ricardo Salamanca (@ricardo_salamanca) is a designer and art director. He has worked on advertising campaigns that have won awards at festivals around the world. Ricardo describes CGI as “the result you create with an image that has been digitized,” which involves integrating photography shots, 3D images, or takes of actors performing against a green screen, as well as any other image generated using digital means.

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  • What Are Character and Paragraph Styles in InDesign?
    Design

    What Are Character and Paragraph Styles in InDesign?

    Learn how to apply character and paragraph styles in InDesign, a key step in editorial design While, among designers, it’s not as popular as Photoshop and Illustrator, InDesign is an essential program for those working specifically in editorial design. As a layout tool, it enables users to work with large bodies of text in an agile and simple way, making it a favorite for designers working on magazines, books, newspapers, brochures, or even posters. In other words: people who work with different types of text, such as titles or pull-quotes, that are repeated throughout the document. One of the most useful tools InDesign offers is character and paragraph styles; these allow you to create shortcuts for editing similar texts with just one click. Although this is one of the program’s most notable features, often people don’t know the difference between the two and therefore don’t make the most of what they can do. To help you speed up your editing and layout processes, here we explain everything you need to know about character and paragraph styles when working in InDesign.

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  • What Is Location Scouting, and Why Is It Important in Photography?
    Photography

    What Is Location Scouting, and Why Is It Important in Photography?

    Photographer Viridiana enlists the main aspects of this pre-production stage Preparation is crucial in all kinds of photography to determine the success of your images. Once you have a concept clear in your mind, it is time to move on to pre-production. This includes finding a place to shoot, in other words, location scouting. Photographer Viridiana (@holaviridiana) specializes in editorial fashion photography, and her work has appeared in magazines such as Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan. Read on as she explains why scouting a location is essential.

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  • What is Amigurumi and What do I Need to Start From Scratch?
    Craft

    What is Amigurumi and What do I Need to Start From Scratch?

    This crochet and knitting technique makes any day-to-day object irresistibly adorable While it’s practically impossible to pronounce this crochet technique’s name, anyone who tries falls in love with it. Amigurumi allows you to create sweet little characters and other items in a soft, adorable style. Something this kawaii and lovable had to come from Japan, but what is Amigurumi? And how can you start making such wonderful creations? We spoke to Leire Villar, aka Ameskeria (@ameskeria). This amigurumi and crochet specialist talked to us about the nature of her craft and revealed everything you need to give amigurumi a go. Discover her tips in the video.

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  • What is Surface Pattern Design?
    Design

    What is Surface Pattern Design?

    Learn more about surface pattern design through these examples and discover the techniques used to create them Maybe you’ve heard of this term or come across it while scrolling through one of the many creative accounts you follow on Instagram. However, you’re still not 100% sure what surface pattern design consists of. And while you constantly encounter countless examples, you’ve not clocked that an object in front of you has been created by a surface pattern designer.

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  • What is Visual Storytelling?
    Photography

    What is Visual Storytelling?

    Photographer and designer Marioly Vázquez explains why visual storytelling is the best branding ally you can find Social networks were designed to make people connect to each other, but, according to Marioly Vázquez (@cestmaria), the way we use them now can often make us feel more isolated. In this context, how can you get your personal project or brand to truly connect with the audience? Marioly, an expert in creating creative online content, has the answer. Find out what visual storytelling is, how to build your brand, and how to create deep connections with your followers using this technique.

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  • What Is Social Selling?
    Marketing

    What Is Social Selling?

    Get to know the strategy that helps you improve your brand value, your content, and your sales through social media Online sales are becoming increasingly more important. The digital age has revolutionized practices, ideas, and marketability, offering opportunities to grow and adopt new strategies, while causing old ways to become obsolete. One of the new options is social selling, a new way of making the most of social media–such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram–and connecting with the market, branding, and identifying potential customers among users. Núria Mañé (@nuriacomunica) is passionate about digital communication, creativity, and technology. She has almost twenty years of experience working closely with companies and entrepreneurs and in this post she shares what she knows about social selling with Domestika: What is social selling? With the term “social selling”, we describe the use we make of social media to meet, connect, understand, and investigate sales prospects. It is a digital and very current way to develop meaningful relationships with potential clients. It's a sales strategy that offers us data about potential customers, including their areas of interest. Where do we find it? If you have a business page on Facebook or Instagram, a LinkedIn profile, or a professional account on Twitter, you are already involved in basic social selling. You may not have used this term before to describe your online activity, but if you present yourself within a digital environment, you are, in essence, already social selling.

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  • What Is an Art Director in a Design Studio?
    Design

    What Is an Art Director in a Design Studio?

    Understand the role of an art director and what part they play within a creative team Art directors have a significant role in the design industry. Linus Lohoff (@linus_lohoff), a freelance art director for clients like Adobe, Nike, and Comme des Garçons, helps us explore this role and tells us how an art director translates ideas into visual communication tools. In his Domestika course, he reveals a few secrets he gained from his career, working in different environments and industries.

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  • What Is Urban Sketching?
    Illustration

    What Is Urban Sketching?

    Lapin, urban sketcher, explains what this discipline that arises from everyday life consists of What is your main source of inspiration? For urban sketches, inspiration is everywhere and in all situations of everyday life. This is the case of Lapin (@lapinbarcelona), an expert in telling stories with his drawings based on observation, which has led him to work with clients such as Air France, Le Parisien Magazine, Peugeot, Porsche, and many more. If you like to observe everything around you and want to discover a new style to express yourself graphically, as well as to explore architectural illustration, learn more about urban sketching below.

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  • What is Needle Felting?
    Craft

    What is Needle Felting?

    Caro Indy answers some of the fundamental questions about the incredible world of needle felting These little furry characters have been created using only a needle and a ball of wool. The technique used to create them is called needle felting, and we talked to artist Carolina Alles–better known as Caro Indy (@caroindy)–, an expert on the subject, to find out more about what exactly needle felting is, what materials are needed to start, and what use they can have. Carolina has created countless characters out of wool fleece, many of which have starred in her various animation projects. They have answered our questions on needle felting for anyone who’s trying to get into the craft.

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  • What Is Copywriting and How Can I Become a Copywriter?
    Teacher Marketing

    What Is Copywriting and How Can I Become a Copywriter?

    Discover what makes a good copywriter and what is their main role in an advertising agency The copywriter shoulders a great deal of the creative responsibility behind an ad. Some of the best advertising campaigns in history have originated from the mind of a copywriter. Yet, for many people, it is still unclear what their role is within an advertising agency. It is also sometimes hard for them to explain it to anyone outside of the industry. We’ll explain who is a copywriter and their role in an advertising agency in this day and age.

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  • What Are the Types of Photo Lenses and How to Use Them
    Photography

    What Are the Types of Photo Lenses and How to Use Them

    Find out how to maximize each click, as we explain the difference between macro, telephoto, and fisheye lenses There are a few differences between each of the five most popular photographic lenses that go beyond size and shape. Here are the keys to deciding which lens to use when and improve your photography skills. Fisheye Fisheye lenses have become very fashionable over the last few years and are characterized by minimal focal length (between 6 and 16 mm). This feature allows us to include massive areas of the space photographed with a view up to 180º or more, distorting straight lines. Recommended for: fisheye lenses are for photographers who do not want to capture the world as it appears, but rather as a bright, magnificent, and distorted place. Not recommended for: neutral-toned images without distortion.

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  • Hard Light and Diffused Light in Photography
    Photography

    Hard Light and Diffused Light in Photography

    Learn to use light in your photos to achieve the desired effect every time In photography, natural light is the most unpredictable element when we set up for a shoot. Until we are behind the camera, we cannot be sure what type of lighting we’ll be working with, so we need to know how light affects the scene. Zony Maya is a master of this skill. He explains the difference between a hard and a diffused light, and how to use these lighting conditions to achieve incredible pictures.

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  • What is a Fashion Stylist and How to Become One
    Photography

    What is a Fashion Stylist and How to Become One

    Learn about one of the most desirable and important jobs in fashion today and how to make it your own Clothes are the building blocks of fashion. How we put an outfit together is as important as each individual piece. Whether it’s on the runway, in a magazine, or in our day-to-day life, styling can transform how a person is seen, for better or for worse.

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  • Logocentric vs. Flexible: Two Approaches to Branding
    Design

    Logocentric vs. Flexible: Two Approaches to Branding

    Heavy design studio explains the characteristics, advantages, and risks of each approach As you probably already know, a brand's design and identity does not end with a logo. A logo is just the door to a world of branding elements that give each company its own character, voice, and personality. The Heavy (@heavy), a design studio that specializes in branding and corporate identity strategies, explains that when creating a brand identity, the logo is only the tip of the iceberg. Below, they share two branding approaches that explain the differences between brands that focus on their logo versus those that take a more versatile approach. Get to know these two approaches to find out which one is best for your next design project.

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  • What is a Scale Model and How Do You Create One?
    Craft

    What is a Scale Model and How Do You Create One?

    The scale model is used to represent an object in a different size to the original object, taking into account the proportions When we talk about models, tiny or huge representations of spaces or objects faithful to reality, the concept of scale is basic. Understanding this system is essential to achieve good results and ensure all elements, whether they are drawn or built with any type of material, are in harmony with the real measurements. Scale, when we talk about models, architectural projects, or representations of spaces or objects in different sizes, is the relationship of proportion between the real dimension and the drawing that represents it.

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  • What Is Fine Art Printing?
    Illustration

    What Is Fine Art Printing?

    Find out what fine art printing, also known as giclée, is and why you should use it in your art projects Fine art printing, also known as giclée printing, is a printing process that allows you to obtain much better image definition in photographs, illustrations, designs, collages, and any other type of graphic representation. A giclée or fine art print is made with an inkjet printer, on cotton or natural fiber paper (such as rice paper, or bamboo), with specially formulated inks. While printers typically compose the images mixing CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), fine art or giclée printers use other colors like light cyan, light magenta, three types of gray, and some less common tones, such as orange or green. The exact mix depends on the type of printer. Like inkjet printers, this printing process deposits the pigment in small drops on the paper, but patterns and shapes are drawn in a much more defined way. This results in a high-quality digitized printout that looks manually produced.

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  • What Are Spot (or Solid) Colors?
    Design

    What Are Spot (or Solid) Colors?

    Two design professionals explain what spot colors are and when and how to use them Both Chack Robles (@chackrobles) and John Naranjo (@jonaranjo) have spent over two decades in the worlds of advertising and editorials, respectively: this means they are experts in the world of printing. Throughout their careers, they’ve been able to work with spot colors on numerous occasions and are the perfect people to clear up any doubts over what spot or Pantone colors are and when to use them. What is a spot color? As John Naranjo tells us, colors, depending on their origin, can be differentiated into light colors—which are those derived from the decomposition of light and which, in screens and devices, compose light into RGB values—and pigment colors, created from the chemical mixture of pigments to create a color. Spot colors belong to this second group. Spot colors, also known as solid colors, "are used to select special colors that can be applied in a single run without the need to combine selection or offset colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) or four-color process", clarifies Chack Robles. The Pantone system, made up of flat colors, has managed to interpret multiple colors by mixing basic pigments. With it, says Naranjo, "you can achieve colors that are out of range and cannot be represented digitally, such as metallic colors, pastel colors, etc."

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