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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
    Photography Teacher

    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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  • Instagram Tutorial: Photographic Composition for Beginners
    Photography Teacher

    Instagram Tutorial: Photographic Composition for Beginners

    Discover expert tips to start taking good Instagram pictures by learning the basic rules of composition Mina Barrio (@minabarrio) is a product photographer who specializes in phone photography to take striking images for Instagram. She knows how to create expressive compositions that convey meaning and enhance the value of products showcased in the image. In this tutorial, she teaches five fundamental steps to improve your photo compositions with Instagram in mind.

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  • Illustration Tutorial: watercolor lettering
    Typography, Calligraphy and Lettering

    Illustration Tutorial: watercolor lettering

    5 practical exercises with brushes to learn how to write comfortably and find your personal style of lettering to apply to your watercolor projects Handmade lettering made with watercolors has a personal and natural quality that no other technique can imitate. By creating letters with our brush and some ink, we give them a unique texture that reveals how you are as an artist and contributes to boosting the customer's confidence in our personal style. If you want to get started in the world of watercolor lettering, painter and illustrator Ana Victoria Calderon (@anavictoriana) offers below 5 tips and practical exercises with brushes, to lose the fear of ink and get excited about one of the world's most beautiful techniques.

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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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  • Illustration Tutorial: How to Draw from Your Imagination
    Illustration

    Illustration Tutorial: How to Draw from Your Imagination

    Learn to draw flora and fauna using the imaginary as a reference to find your own style with Violeta Hernández The best way to learn to draw is to familiarize yourself with the technique through exercises that help us to experiment with different materials and visual references. Once you master the first phase, Violeta Hernández proposes that you go even further to find your own stamp: draw from your imagination. What does that mean? To create from what you remember and the sensations an animal or a bunch of flowers have made you feel, for example. In this process, memory, creativity and a desire to let yourself go, will be key. Below, designer and illustrator Violeta Hernández (@soyvioleta), will show you some key tips on how to draw from your memories and the results of her own adventures.

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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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  • The 20 essential keyboard shortcuts to boost your Cinema 4D productivity
    Web & App Design

    The 20 essential keyboard shortcuts to boost your Cinema 4D productivity

    Speed ​​up your workflow in any 3D project with these shortcuts for Cinema 4D The world of 3D has plenty of tools for almost anything you might need, from modeling, texturing and animating, illuminating, generating fluids, land or integrate advanced physical models in your designs. Cinema 4D is one of the most advanced programs for creating 3D graphics and animations, perhaps the most widely used and recognized by the worldwide creative community. True professionals know all the secrets of this software, but the first thing you must learn to become one and improve your workflow with Cinema 4D is the keyboard shortcuts for the most important tools. Here are a few essential ones you should know to be more efficient when working in your designs with Cinema 4D:

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