Computer Arts magazine | Inspiration, Technique, Great Design

Blog

TYPO Berlin 2013: Paul Barnes

Q&A with the English designer

Interview

Pomme Chan: Ask yourself, what if?

How the Thai illustrator is becoming fashion’s favourite fabric designer

Feature

Showcase: Doméstico identity

Estudio Manifiesto Futura tapped the Mexican spirit in their identity work for a new bar

Tutorial

Add text to complex surfaces in Photoshop

Use Photoshop's Transform tools to manipulate perspective and add text to tricky surfaces

Latest articles

Tutorial

Building for speed, part two

March 28, 2007 | Be the first to comment

In the concluding part of 3D World's tutorial on creating a vehicle for a next-gen game, we look at the process of texturing the car and exporting the file ready for use.
Interview

Profile: Marguerite Sauvage

March 27, 2007 | Be the first to comment

She can capture character with just a few simple lines, and her eye for clever graphic elements is exemplary. No wonder French illustrator Marguerite Sauvage is in demand with the ever-restless fashion world.
Tutorial

The art of ornament

March 26, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Recent Computer Arts cover illustrator Tom Lane reveals how he uses Illustrator and Fontographer to create impressive decorative typefaces that can be used to inject something special into your work.
Feature

Design for Exhibitions

March 22, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Large-scale graphics and displays for exhibitions, expos and conferences used to have a staid image, but now, as Nick Spence discovers, it's a hotbed of creativity and a great opportunity to promote your work to a wider audience.
Tutorial

Design your own hand-drawn font

March 21, 2007 | Be the first to comment

You don't have to be a top typographer to create a customised font. Grab a pen and paper and away you go.
Feature

Reinvent yourself

March 20, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Like all creative fields, design is subject to fads and fashions, so how do the leading designers, illustrators and agencies evolve in order to stay ahead of the game? Sean Ashcroft speaks to the experts about the best way to keep your style fresh.
Feature

Craftwork

March 19, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Before graphics software and computers, designers had to use scalpels, T-squares, Rotring pens, Cow Gum and art-board to create physical artwork. Adrian Shaughnessy recalls the days when art demanded painstaking craft.
Tutorial

Hands-on design

March 19, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Combining traditional media with digital techniques is a fail-safe way to add an interesting new dimension to your artwork, but you must be prepared to get your hands dirty, as Mark Mayers explains.
Tutorial

Real-world collage

March 16, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Combat mediocrity by dusting off your old art supplies, photographing real objects, and using innovative methods to assemble things within.
Gallery

Computer Arts Gallery: March 2007

March 13, 2007 | Be the first to comment
Feature

Easy money?

March 13, 2007 | 1 comment

Taking an iconic image and manipulating it isn't particularly creative. And although it might be lucrative, it's almost certainly illegal. But how long will the prime suspects avoid the strong arm of the law?
Tutorial

Set up a stop-frame animation

March 09, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Switch off your computer, clear your desk, grab your stills camera and get ready to have some fun with an old-school stop-frame animation.
Interview

Q&A: Alex Jenkins

March 08, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Alex Jenkins trained as an animator before becoming an interactive designer at agency Unit9. Here he talks about his techniques and the influence his background as an animator has had on his work.
Feature

Hand made!

March 06, 2007 | 1 comment

Old-school, hand-crafted techniques are challenging today's most advanced digital technology. Illustrator and agent Lawrence Zeegen examines the graphic designer's shift towards using traditional art skills rather than slick computerised processes.
Feature

Behind the scenes: Is Not Magazine

March 05, 2007 | Be the first to comment

When is a magazine not a magazine? When the Is Not Collective turns its hand to it, that's when. Tom Dennis discovers why the writing's on the wall down under.
Tutorial

Animating scenery

March 05, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Flashmeister and regular Rex Crowle explains how to produce a travelling sequence - one that combines the animated movement of a main character, or object, with a continuously scrolling background.
Tutorial

Back to the drawing board

March 02, 2007 | Be the first to comment

If you're after realistic-looking sketch and paint effects, forget using filters. It's always best to begin with the real thing.
Tutorial

Create an image gallery

February 26, 2007 | Be the first to comment

In the second instalment of his three-part series, Pro Richard Guest reveals an easy way to display your work as thumbnail images, to make viewing the images in your online portfolio more enjoyable for users.
Tutorial

Interactive panoramas

February 23, 2007 | Be the first to comment

By creating a fully-formed interactive panorama you and anyone else can step inside the worlds you create. Design duo Peskimo show you how to use to view your illustrations from a different perspective.
Feature

Freelance survival guide

February 22, 2007 | Be the first to comment

A career as a designer or illustrator could mean working in a studio, as a specialist within a larger organisation or going freelance. Let's consider the practicalities of freelancing in this expert survival guide...
Tutorial

Fake global illumination

February 21, 2007 | Be the first to comment

Global illumination looks great, but it can push render times through the roof. Computer Arts shows you how to fake the same stylish soft lighting effects in a fraction of the time with the help of the celebrated spinning light trick.