Happy Holidays + New Year!

Happy Holidays + New Year!


Wow. It has been a year. It’s been amazing, challenging, and exciting. We did so much! Took the Milk Stand international to Toronto and London. We launched a shop! We grew our team!


Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from all of us. We truly appreciate you and are super excited for 2020.


We’ll be posting lightly from now until January 2nd—check out our year in review and the best posts of 2019!


(shop the Color Stix crayons here)



http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk Wow. It has been a year. It’s been amazing, challenging, and exciting. We did so much! Took the Milk Stand international to Toronto and London. We launched a shop! We grew our team! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from all of us. We truly appreciate you and are super excited for 2020. Wow. It has been a year. It’s been amazing, challenging, and exciting. We did so

Popular Design News of the Week: November 25, 2019 – December 1, 2019

Popular Design News of the Week: November 25, 2019 – December 1, 2019

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 


The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.


Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.


Fascinating CSS Grid Layout Examples and Tutorials



 


The Defining Movie Poster Trend of the Decade



 


A Brutally Honest Landing Page



 


Hierarchy of Needs in UX



 


Developing a Website Redesign Strategy for 2020



 


Flowkit 3.0



 


Site Design: The Geek Designer



 


CSS Grid Layout Vs CSS Frameworks



 


The Third Generation of Interfaces



 


Buttons: Attention to Detail



 


Building Trust as a Designer



 


10 Essential UI (user-interface) Design Tips



 


WhoCanUse: Find Out Who Can Use your Color Combination



 


Shopify Vs WooCommerce Product Comparison



 


11 Christmas Icon Fonts Free for Commercial Use in 2019



 


7 Ways to Find a Niche for your Ecommerce Store



 


Tips for Choosing a Typeface (with Infographic)



 


Google Also A/B Tests the List Vs the Grid



 


Apple Pulls all Customer Reviews from Online Apple Store



 


How to Expand Globally as a Freelance Designer



 


Mouseless – Unleash your Keyboard’s Superpower



 


Designer Gift Guide 2019: The Best Holiday Gift Ideas for Designers



 


Good Design was Always Accessible



 


Can You Really Convey Luxury Through Digital Product Design?



 


Gratitude Goes a Long Way to Increase Creativity and Innovation



 


Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.


Source
http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News,

Canva for Enterprise: Redefining brand management and collaboration

Canva for Enterprise: Redefining brand management and collaboration

Since the beginning of the Canva journey, our goal was to empower the world to design and this has driven everything we have achieved.


And the world has noticed. Today Canva is used by more than 20 million users every month across 190 countries.


Globally recognized, fast-growing brands are coming to us, seeking a solution that will break them free from inefficiency and disconnect. In fact, Canva is used by different departments across 85 percent of the Fortune 500. What they’re looking for—and what we’re delivering—is a new way to design at scale.


Building a strong and consistent brand is the key to boosting brand perception and business growth.


This is especially true for businesses with a franchise model, like real estate companies, gyms, and restaurants. For instance, in the past real-estate company Realty Austin had a marketing team that was tasked with defining brand identity, but struggled to maintain it. Across 550 agents it’s not hard to see how designs with off-brand colors and fonts were produced.


The consequences of brand inconsistency are huge for these businesses and it leads to a breakdown in trust, not just with the local entity, but for the entire brand.


Corporations face similar challenges. Larger organizations with sales and marketing teams have aggressive targets and, despite their size, design resources remain limited.


Corporate designers face competing requests between high impact work – such as coming up with a new brand outlook or campaign – and low impact work, including switching out logos, changing colors, adjusting spelling, or changing the customer name on a presentation. Due to high demand, designers have to over-index on the latter. The consequences here mean less time working on what moves the needle to make that brand stand above the competition.


Enterprise customer, Skyscanner, know this all too well. Earlier this year they faced the daunting task of delivering a rebrand across their organization. Consistency and coherency across all touchpoints were essential. Everyone at the company had to buy into the new brand aesthetic and tone of voice and have the tools to execute on it at scale without the design team becoming a bottleneck.


In this environment, it’s easy for teams to feel overworked and frustrated. But as with And, whether there are systems in place to manage it all or not, there are unnecessary complexities in the whole process that still don’t solve the root problem: how do you prevent off-brand designs from getting out in the world?


A growing need in the market


Historically, Canva has been empowering the individual to design and collaborate with friends, colleagues or customers. We’re constantly developing new ways to democratize design, without sacrificing on performance and control. Our customers love how they can feel like they’re capable of anything. It lets countless people feel confident to start their dream side hustle, create engaging material for classrooms, or boost awareness of non-profits.


And as we began to grow in the market, more enterprise businesses approached us for solutions that could work for their complex needs. As our CEO Melanie Perkins revealed, “the way we think about the pain point these consumers have is that people are being inconsistent with the brand, resulting in huge inefficiencies within the organization, which is why people have been literally asking us to build this exact product.”


What these organizations loved about Canva is the ease of use and accessibility, but at the same time, it raised some questions, including:


  • “How can I ensure employees move quickly and design high-quality content while ensuring I have control over the fonts, colors, logos, and photo images used?”

  • “How can my marketers feel confident that our local offices are creating the right designs before they’re published?”

  • “How can I free up some of my designer’s time and help them collaborate more effectively with my marketers and sales reps, without losing brand control?”

It’s clear that fast-growing workforces need a collaboration platform that removes the complexity of traditional design software and easily integrates into the workflow of any large organization. And that’s where we come in.


Introducing Canva for Enterprise 



This month, I’m proud to say we’ve officially announced Canva for Enterprise to the world, alongside some of our earliest customers who already have a taste of the product.


It’s a huge milestone for us. And what it means for you and businesses like yours is even more significant.


When we look back at Skyscanner’s rebrand in September, we see how Canva enabled their team to go from concept to external launch in just 6 short months:


“Canva allowed us to create on-brand templates that our marketing experts across all of our 36 managed markets could use to self-serve their needs for social marketing. The time saved for the design team and for the marketing teams was immense. In order to achieve the same thing without Canva, it would’ve meant hiring another full-time designer – and even then they could only work in a single time zone at a set velocity. Canva enabled simultaneous delivery across all regions.” – Senior Designer Manager at Skyscanner, Judson Cowan


The results were a successful, on-time launch of the new brand with a public response that skewed positive – a rare thing for major rebrands, the negative backlash is often dominant and loudest.


Canva for Enterprise brings together what you know and love about Canva (think Magic Resize, advanced design publishing, social sharing, accessibility in +100 languages, the list goes on…) with tools designed specifically to serve the needs of enterprise customers.



Marketing leaders, like Kara Jones from Realty Austin, lean on us to maintain brand consistency at scale thanks to our brand controls. They’ve got 550 agents creating designs everyday. Now Kara and her brand managers can apply Realty Austin’s brand visual identity across any number of brand kits and set controls for what matters most. They can then take brand control to the next level by going into your templates to lock any desired element of your designs to prevent changes happening downstream.


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Brand control ensures your team only has access to your approved brand fonts, colors, images and assets.


Controls also extend to user management. You can easily manage your teams and encourage collaboration. Grant role specific permissions for your team and provision, or remove, access on-demand. Rely on built-in review and approval workflows to make collaboration efficient, stress-free, and, thanks to our intuitive design, enjoyable.
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Canva can fit right into your content creation operation too. You can plug Canva into your digital asset management system or image library and integrate seamlessly with popular applications, including Active Directory, Google Drive, Okta, Dropbox and OneLogin, with more on the way.







Canva for Enterprise-Integrations



We integrate with the tools your teams use everyday, whether it is pulling assets from a cloud-storage, publishing to your social media account or sharing your design via a chat app, Canva supports your team’s workflow.







Employees benefit from the speed, ease of use, and global accessibility that Canva is known for. And you can trust us to support you the whole way with unlimited cloud storage, 99.9% uptime SLA and a dedicated customer success manager with you at every step. You will have the enterprise-level support you need to keep growing.


Making the move to Canva for Enterprise will take your brand and team to the next level. But don’t just take my word for it. Ask Jennifer Engelhart from RE/MAX InStyle Realty:


“Since we started utilizing Canva, we no longer have to rely on pre-designed material for our listings. Canva has eliminated those issues by having great original content that is user friendly to brand our listings and saves us money in the long run. We now use Canva for everything. Announcements. Brochures. Invitations to client events, etc. Literally we utilize the system for everything now. For Real Estate professionals, Canva is a home run.”


Our continued promise 


We continue to challenge what it means to design. This requires constant innovation, which is the driving force behind what we’re building, so we stay true to our mission of empowering the world to design.


Canva for Enterprise has a place in every organization. And I believe there’s no better time to discover (or rediscover) what we can do for you. Join a growing number of enterprises that are redefining what it means to design.


Learn more about Canva for Enterprise and start your free trial here.


The post Canva for Enterprise: Redefining brand management and collaboration appeared first on Learn.

http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk Since the beginning of the Canva journey, our goal was to empower the world to design and this has driven everything we have achieved. And the world has noticed. Today Canva is used by more than 20 million users every month across 190 countries. Globally recognized, fast-growing brands are coming to us, seeking a solution that will break them free from inefficiency and disconnect. Since the beginning of the Canva journey, our goal was to empower the world to design and

Swastika Guilt Redux

Swastika Guilt Redux

(Author’s note: A longer version of this essay first ran as an “Introspectives” in Print magazine in 2001. This slightly revised version was originally published on July 14, 2011.)


When I was eight years old a friend gave me a Nazi flag that his father had brought back from the war as a souvenir. Despite my parents’ warnings not to upset my grandmother, whose family (I much later learned) perished in Auschwitz, I would often streak through the apartment in her presence wearing the flag as a kind of superman cape. At the time, I knew nothing about the holocaust except that Jews were not beloved in Germany, but since religious taunting was common in my Manhattan public school, this fact had little consequence. I was also addicted to watching movies on TV about World War II and, as a wannabe artist, drew more pictures of Nazis than Americans because their uniforms were better. The German steel helmets, with those menacing ear-covering brims, were a thousand times more threatening than the GI “pots” or Tommy “pans.”


As a designer I have long been fascinated by the unmitigated power of the swastika. Yet as a Jew I am embarrassed by my fascination. This paradox is one reason why I wrote the book The Swastika: A Symbol Beyond Redemption? Though working on it did not resolve my conflict. Indeed I have become even more obsessed with the symbol — more drawn to yet repulsed by it.


I still own that Nazi flag and have subsequently amassed a collection of over one hundred additional swastika artifacts, from buttons to banners of Nazi, neo-Nazi, and non-Nazi origin. And I feel guilty.


So over a decade ago I decided that I had to find out why this symbol (see video) had such hypnotic force for me (and others) particularly in light of the horrors it represents. I began researching the origins of the swastika as a Nazi symbol, which lead me to seek out even earlier historical roots dating back to antiquity (even prehistory) when it was ostensibly benign.


How Adolf Hitler created an aesthetic that millions of people willingly followed is, for me, a continual source of bewilderment. The swastika was his instrument, though not solely the mark of his political party. It was his personal emblem – his surrogate. Arguably, like any symbol it is only as good or bad as the ideas it represents. But as the icon of Nazism the swastika was transformed from a neutral vessel into monstrous criminality itself. A case can be made, and I try to make it, that the swastika is not the bottle in which an evil genie lived, it is the incarnation of that creature.


Studying the swastika has been a means for me to ameliorate my guilt over being a voyeur. I often wonder how my grandmother would feel about my my book. She had emigrated from Galicia (Poland) in the early teens. Her father had left her and two siblings in New York while he returned to collect the rest of the family. The Great War prevented his own emigration and after it was over he remained in Poland with his ill wife and younger children. The only time my grandmother ever spoke about the Holocaust was when I was thirteen and she showed me a postcard from her father, which was dated 1940. She had received a few years after the War. It was stamped with three official Nazi seals that included the swastika. The postcard had a acrid smell, as though it had been in a moldy sack for all that time.


The short message said everything was fine. But the swastikas said otherwise. In 1946 my grandmother learned of their fate. I always remember that smell when I see a swastika.


The postcard piqued my interest to the extent that I read whatever I found on the Holocaust (and in 1963 there was not a lot on the subject). I could not get the idea out of my mind that my own flesh and blood was subjected to such cruelty. I often pictured myself in their situation, being continually in fear, constantly abused, and ultimately murdered. I developed a healthy hatred for Nazis. Yet I continued to be engrossed (perhaps even awestruck) by their regalia, especially the swastika.


I accumulate and write about swastika material because I believe the form must forever be remembered as a kind of portal to evil. Because if I can be seduced by the swastika as a form, and I know the legacy, then just think how younger generations will be engaged as memory of Nazis fade (and other atrocities supersede it).


My book is a way for me to address two things: How Adolf Hitler came to adopt the symbol for the Nazis and what it meant before it was appropriated. I knew that it had other incarnations within other cultures; I had seen it on old greeting cards and architectural decorations. But even when I stumbled across benign applications I felt as though it was a knife in my face. So I began to read many vintage histories of the swastika. I learned that it had a long heritage and that in the late nineteenth century a swastika cult emerged in Germany within a youth culture similar to the Hippies. I found that it was adopted by German racialist and nationalist cults, which imbued it with anti-Semitic connotations, and this filtered its way into the Nazi liturgy. I also learned that it had roots in various other lands where it was a sacred religious icon for Buddhists, Jains, Hindus, Native Americans, Africans, and many others, akin to the Cross, Star, and Crescent. When Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf about the mark’s symbolism, however, he ignored all these earlier representations. In the mythology of Nazism the swastika was immaculately conceived – it was Hitler’s sole invention. Although this was false, Nazi myth triumphed over reality.


Since the original volume was published in March 2000 I have received various letters from well meaning people accusing me of bias. A Native American wrote that the swastika is his people’s symbol and my assertion that it should never be revived in Western Culture is presumptuous and racist. He argues that the whites stole his land and now his icons. Another critic stated that no one remembers the logos of Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan, likewise in 1000 years or less who will remember the symbol of Hitler’s 12-Year Reich. He feels that the ancient meaning of the Swastika will ultimately triumph. Similarly, an Asian American wrote that in his culture, the red swastika is his emblem of good fortune, and described how his local green grocer displays it in his shop. Why, he asks, if the meaning is diametrically opposed to the Nazis should I care whether or not it is used in this cultural context?


My book has been called polemical. I agree. After laying down the circuitous history, I attack neo-Nazi uses of the swastika-like symbols and condemn racist imagery by ignorant graphic designers who incorporate it into their hip graphics. I also argue against those who want to reclaim, through art, the swastika in its benign form. It is too late for such righteous attempts. The atrocities committed under this magnificently designed form must never be forgotten. Because the swastika has such allure, and because memory is so fleeting, it functions as a mnemonic. I have revised and reconfigured the book as The Swastika and Symbols of Hate (Allworth Press) now that extremism, white nationalism and racism is again on the rise to recognize its enduring nature.


People for whom the swastika has spiritual import have a right to this symbol, nonetheless, I would feel even more guilty if I did not take a stand against its use in our cultural context as anything other than an icon of evil.


(Photo of Swastika Laundry provided by Rick Meyerowitz.)


Swastika Playing cards


Swastika Thanksgiving Number


UBO des Nationaliozialismns



The post Swastika Guilt Redux appeared first on Print Magazine.

http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk (Author’s note: A longer version of this essay first ran as an “Introspectives” in Print magazine in 2001. This slightly revised version was originally published on July 14, 2011.) When I was eight years old a friend gave me a Nazi flag that his father had brought back from the war as a souvenir. (Author’s note: A longer version of this essay first ran as an “Introspectives” in

Our recommendations: essential gear for your winter photo adventures

Our recommendations: essential gear for your winter photo adventures

Winter travel gear for photographers



Whether you’re photographing wildlife at Yellowstone or your kids sledding at the neighborhood park, winter presents a lot of great photo opportunities. However, winter also has its own challenges due to the short days, cold weather and – in places like Seattle – a fair bit of rain. On the next few slides, we’ll take a look at some important gear to consider as you head out for your winter photography adventures.


Gloves



This one should be pretty obvious. If you’re shooting in very cold weather – especially when handing metal lenses or other gear – you’ll want to keep your hands warm. Otherwise, your camera will be about as useful as a brick in your numb, unresponsive fingers. Typical gloves are usually a poor match for photography as they limit dexterity, but there are some good options for photographers.


Look for gloves or mittens that fold back to expose your fingertips. These facilitate short periods of exposure to the cold without having to remove your gloves completely, and you can uncover just one or two fingers while keeping the rest of your hands insulated. Great options include gloves from Vallerret (pictured), Freehands and The Heat Company.


Sometimes, a pair of lightweight or liner gloves are all you’ll need, but not all liners are created equal. Look for gloves designed to work with a capacitive touchscreen, which will allow you to use your camera’s touch controls as well as other electronic devices like a smartphone. We like RucPac's professional tech gloves, but there are probably lots of options at your local outdoor store as well.


Hand warmers



Hand warmers are obviously designed to do a good job of warming your hands, but they’re good for other things as well. For example, I find them effective at keeping the non-photographer who's stuck outside with me a bit more patient while I get that one last shot before heading inside (yeah, right...). Of course, hot chocolate liberally spiked with Bailey's Irish cream seems to help as well, but your mileage may vary.


One of my favorite tricks is to gaff tape a hand warmer to the barrel of a lens. This can be useful when shooting in an environment where you’re at risk of dew or frost forming on the front lens element as the temperature drops. I’ve used this technique when photographing time-lapse sequences of the night sky or the aurora borealis. Sometimes, just a bit of warmth is all you need to avoid a ruined sequence.


Chemical hand warmers like those from HotHands (pictured) can be found everywhere from your favorite online outlet to the local hardware store. If you cringe at using disposable hand warmers, check out HotSnapZ reusable hand warmers, the EnergyFlux Enduro rechargeable warmer from Human Creations or the Zippo Hand Warmer which heats catalytically to produce flame-free heat.


Camera cover



Many cameras today include weather sealing to keep out the elements. However, the fact that you’ve got weather sealed equipment that doesn’t necessarily mean you want to get your camera soaking wet, despite all those manufacturer videos showing cameras getting sprayed by a garden hose.


Camera rain covers have been around for a long time, and while they may not be quite as necessary as they used to be, it’s still nice to have one when shooting in a complete downpour. You can find a variety of commercial models from companies like Think Tank Photo and Ruggard (pictured). There are lot of great DIY hacks as well – a hotel shower cap or plastic shopping bag with a few rubber bands can work miracles. It's good to have one of these stashed somewhere if you’re shooting in a rainy place. You know, like Seattle.


Tripod leg wraps



Other than a camera and lens, one of the largest, coldest objects many of us carry around in the winter is a tripod. If you’ve ever used a tripod with bare hands in really cold weather, particularly and aluminum model, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Of course, one solution is to use gloves. But there’s another solution as well: leg wraps. (For your tripod’s legs – not yours. That said, I make no judgements about fashion.)


Some tripods come factory equipped with leg wraps. However, if your tripod arrived, ummm… naked, a set of LegCoats (pictured) from LensCoat.com will run you about $50. Your hands will appreciate them.


Extra batteries



Cameras operate pretty well in cold weather, but even the best can be susceptible to power loss from cold batteries. In fact, with more photographers moving to mirrorless cameras our dependence on batteries is arguably greater than it was with DSLRs.


To keep shooting in the coldest conditions, consider some cold weather best practices for your batteries. Keep reserve batteries in your pocket so they stay warm rather than going into a deep freeze in your bag. When removing a battery that’s been in the camera for a while, consider putting it back in your pocket (a different one) for a few minutes to warm it up a bit. You may discover it has a fair amount of power left once it's back to a normal temperature.


Finally, if you've recently switched from a DSLR to a mirrorless camera, consider picking up a couple extra batteries before a big winter trip. Some newer models get impressive battery life, but they still require more power than most DSLRs.


Night sky apps



Winter brings with it short days and long nights. Why not take advantage of it by doing some night sky photography? When planning night shots, it helps to know things such as in what direction the Milky Way will rise, what time it will be visible, or even just the phase of the moon. There are a lot of apps to help you with this; I recommend Sky Guide for iOS (pictured) or Star Walk 2 for Android.


If you live far enough north to see the aurora borealis (the northern lights), consider downloading an app like Aurora Forecast Pro (iOS, Android) which can alert you when conditions are such that you might be able to see the aurora from your location. All it takes is a burst of solar activity for the aurora to be visible at lower than usual latitudes, including northern areas of the continental US.


Zip-lock bags



Zip-lock bags are a great all-around utility. If it’s wet outside, they keep gear dry. If your gear gets wet you can put it inside a bag with a desiccant to dry it out. A large zip-lock can even be adapted to serve as a rain cover for your camera.


However, one of the best winter uses for zip-lock bags is transferring equipment between cold and warm environments. If you’ve been out shooting in frosty temperatures and walk into a warm building with any humidity, you may find water vapor condensing on your equipment. Instead, seal your gear inside a zip-lock bag before going inside and let it equilibrate to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This makes it less likely that you’ll need the next item on our list.


Oh, right. Don't use the same bag that you used for pasta sauce. I always forget that part.


Silica desiccant beads



When camera gear gets wet on the outside we usually dry it off and keep going. However, if you make the mistake of getting moisture inside your gear, as may happen when you walk from a cold to a warm environment, you’ll need something other than a towel or microfiber cloth to get rid of the moisture.


When that happens – assuming you didn’t actually drop your whole camera into an ice-covered pond – silica gel beads, which acts as a desiccant, come to the rescue. Put the gear, along with a bunch of beads, into a zip-lock bag and seal it up. It may take some time, but eventually your gear will dry out. Silica beads can be purchased in bulk or in packets. In a pinch and don't have silica beads? Use instant white rice instead.


Silica gel beads can often be found at hardware stores, but if you have trouble finding them locally there are lots of options on Amazon.


Headlamp



While not – strictly speaking – photography equipment, a headlamp can be one of the most useful accessories when the short winter days get dark. Since most cameras don’t have illuminated buttons a headlamp is a great way to see them, along with your other gear, without giving up one hand to hold a flashlight. Consider a model that includes a red light to better preserve your night vision while working.


A headlamp should probably be part of your winter kit anyway, just in case you get stuck somewhere after dark; I keep one in my pack at all times. If you're not sure where to start check out options from companies like Petzl, Black Diamond, Princeton Tec or NiteCore (a company that, oddly enough, recently announced plans to manufacture full frame cinema lenses).


Personal locator beacon



This one applies to people whose winter photography takes them into the backcountry, away from roads, or anywhere else that might be inaccessible or cut off from mobile phone service. If you’re that kind of person and you don't want to become the next Aron Ralston, it’s a good idea to carry a personal locator beacon (PLB) like the SPOT Satellite Messenger or Garmin InReach. With many PLBs it’s now possible to communicate with someone remotely, and in a real emergency they can be used to set off a search and rescue by local authorities. It’s like insurance – you hope you don’t need it, but if you do you’re glad to have it.


Umbrella



Finally, it’s not frozen everywhere in winter. In some places – Seattle comes to mind – it basically means a lot of rain, which is why our sample galleries often look grey enough to be mistaken for Log video footage this time of year. One simple technique to keeping rain off your camera and lens is to go old school and use an umbrella. “But, wait!” I hear you say, “I need both hands to use my camera.” I like to secure an umbrella to my pack so it just hovers above me. I’m sure it works better with some packs than others, so your mileage may vary on this one.


Hopefully, I don't need to tell you where to buy an umbrella, but before you do that let me suggest acquiring a used umbrella instead. Go to the Lost and Found desk at just about any large venue or destination and tell them you lost a black umbrella. Chances are good they'll bring out a box with a couple dozen to choose from. As you drive away in your 8-passenger SUV you'll have the joy of knowing that in some small way you're helping to save the planet.


Alternatively, you could just get the Nubrella (pictured).

http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk Winter travel gear for photographers Whether you’re photographing wildlife at Yellowstone or your kids sledding at the neighborhood park, winter presents a lot of great photo opportunities. However, winter also has its own challenges due to the short days, cold weather and – in places like Seattle – a fair bit of rain. Winter travel gear for photographers Whether you’re photographing wildlife at

Fine Lines and Dotwork Form Surreal Monochromatic Tattoos by Michele Volpi

Fine Lines and Dotwork Form Surreal Monochromatic Tattoos by Michele Volpi


Italian artist Michele Volpi tattoos highly detailed conceptual pieces using black ink and the negative space of her clients’ skin. With a surrealist style and a monochromatic palette, Volpi inks diagrams of insects, plants, and human anatomy that resemble vintage illustrations borrowed from science textbooks. With precise lines and controlled dotwork, each tattoo looks as if it were printed rather than done by hand.


Born in Sant’Elpidio a Mare, Italy in 1991, Volpi tells Colossal that she discovered the art tattooing 5 years ago and fell in love. While attending technical school, she also practiced various art styles to fulfill a desire to have her “fingers in many pies.” A friend recommended buying a tattooing starter kit, and Volpi said that it changed her life. After learning the basics and experimenting with techniques, the young tattoo artist found that line and dotwork were among her favorites. “My style was influenced by geometries, nature, surrealism, and the sciences,” she says. “I like to push my self every day finding inspiration from all around me and trying to go beyond the shallow in what I see. The world of art is endless and I can’t wait to discover it with my passion.”


Volpi also translates her sketches to paper to create handmade works of art. To see more tattoos and for appointment booking information, follow the artist on Instagram. To browse and buy her watercolor bookmarks, head over to her Etsy store.











http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk Italian artist Michele Volpi tattoos highly detailed conceptual pieces using black ink and the negative space of her clients’ skin. With a surrealist style and a monochromatic palette, Volpi inks diagrams of insects, plants, and human anatomy that resemble vintage illustrations borrowed from science textbooks. Italian artist Michele Volpi tattoos highly detailed conceptual pieces using black ink

Free Download: 60 Free Investment and RWD Icons

Free Download: 60 Free Investment and RWD Icons

Created by Design Bombs, these two fantastic sets of financial investment, and responsive design icons are perfect for apps and websites, especially in the fintech industry.


There are 60 different icons included, ranging from concepts like Designing an Investment Plan, to Customer Emails, from a Browser, to CSS.


Each icon is supplied as color, and outline versions, and in AI, EPS, PNG, and SVG formats, so no matter what your preferred workflow, the icons will be an easy addition.


You can download all of the files for free, below.






Please enter your email address below and click the download button. The download link will be sent to you by email, or if you have already subscribed, the download will begin immediately.














Source
http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk Created by Design Bombs, these two fantastic sets of financial investment, and responsive design icons are perfect for apps and websites, especially in the fintech industry. There are 60 different icons included, ranging from concepts like Designing an Investment Plan, to Customer Emails, from a Browser, to CSS. Created by Design Bombs, these two fantastic sets of financial investment, and

Updated Kitchen Flooring

Updated Kitchen Flooring

As new homeowners, renovations can be difficult, especially for the floors. Reichel Broussard of Copy Cat Chic was able to take advantage of  a few Home Depot products, showing how flooring made a huge difference in her kitchen.



When we first moved into our new house over a year ago, there was a laundry list of things that needed to be done ranging from purely cosmetic to completely necessary (ahem water leaking from the kitchen sink into the basement). BUT one of the major priorities, in my mind, was the kitchen flooring. The vinyl tile wasn’t terrible, BUT if you looked closer, you’d see that it was peeling in some places and bubbling up in others. And don’t get me started on the floor itself! It was like the rolling hills of Georgia in there. I think there was a 3 inch difference in height in some places. Pretty extreme, right?


The old floor was dark and I wanted a white floor to maximize the light in this space. After browsing around on HomeDepot.com, with so many great tile choices to choose from, I had a hard time choosing! I narrowed it down to three completely different white tiles. I was torn between a traditional herringbone pattern, a larger-scale hex tile and a picket-shaped tile. After posting a vote on Instagram, my readers helped me pick which tile to choose! In the end I went with the picket tiles because so many of you loved their unique shape!


Before


Updated Kitchen Flooring


It was easy to calculate the square footage of tile I needed by taking the room’s measurements and using Home Depot’s tile calculator. I placed the order online and had the tiles shipped directly to my house. The boxes arrived stacked on a pallet and ready to go. After picking up a few of those heavy tile boxes, I really came to appreciate the home shipping!


I chose a nice, neutral gray grout which is a nice mid-toned warm gray. It was the perfect amount of contrast with the white tile. I recommend doing a dry tile placement test before starting, so you can figure out where the tile will break at the beginning and end of your space. Especially in an old house like this one where the walls are never even. I also knew I wanted the tile to run long-ways with the length of the room to give the illusion that the space is longer than it actually is. It took a couple of different tile adjustments, but the prep-work was worth it.


Updated Kitchen Flooring


We removed all of the appliances and all of the cabinet baseboards so that we could tile underneath them, which I highly recommend doing. It’s not something that you’ll notice so much now, but you’ll thank yourself later when it comes time to replace appliances, because they’ll never fit exactly the same!


Updated Kitchen Flooring


Overall the whole project took about a week. Demo and removal of the previous flooring took a couple of days. Then there was leveling compound to get rid of the unevenness in the floor. After that dried, then the real fun began! Tile placement. That took 3 days and the grouting took another. Not bad for a week’s worth of work right?


After


Updated Kitchen Flooring


Updated Kitchen Flooring


Updated Kitchen Flooring


Updated Kitchen Flooring


Updated Kitchen Flooring


Updated Kitchen Flooring


Updated Kitchen Flooring


I know some of my readers were concerned that I chose white flooring for the kitchen, because it shows dirt easily. I really put a lot of consideration into that, but in the end, I decided I’m a-okay with it. You know why? Because then I can clean it up – instead of it sticking around and blending into the flooring. In my case the benefits out-weighed the consequences, because the way the light reflects on those white tiles and the warm wood of the cabinets really makes it all worth it!


Now for the rest of the kitchen! We’ll be changing everything but the cabinets, so there’s still lots to do. For now, I have my eye on some new cabinet hardware!


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http://weboffers.atspace.co.uk As new homeowners, renovations can be difficult, especially for the floors. Reichel Broussard of Copy Cat Chic was able to take advantage of  a few Home Depot products, showing how flooring made a huge difference in her kitchen. As new homeowners, renovations can be difficult, especially for the floors. Reichel