Oddly - A Font Is Born

Font design is something I've always wanted to try out; literally for years. So finally I went and made my very first font - Oddly.

It's a pretty simple font; only one weight, and pretty much just the neatest handwriting I could muster, but it feels fun and personal, so I like it. The whole purpose of the small project was to learn the design process behind putting a font together, and the programs for doing so.

I don't have access to the high-end font software (it's really quite expensive like everything semi-mandatory in the industry), so after looking through a few options I found Font Forge (which is Mac compatible and free).

After years of using the Adobe Creative Suite, the Font Forge software can feel a bit unwieldy, but it's functional where it matters (and did I mention it's free), and we have Illustrator for the actual design side.

I learned a lot, and I'm really happy with the result. Now I'm looking forward to putting together something a little more complex, maybe with multiple weights. 

Please feel free to check out the font here, and download and use to your heart's content. Please let me know if and where you use it, I'd love to see it in use!

Great Website for Royalty Free Stock Images.

If you're a graphic designer, web designer, or blogger you'll often need to use images to give your pages that something extra, but copyright can often be a concern.

Here's a website I use with great high-quality professional images; all with a CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license; meaning they're completely free to use, even on commercial projects:

www.pexels.com

The images are all high definition, and great quality. With 10 new images being uploaded per day. It's a great source to know for your projects.

You can see all of the details for yourself in the 'Learn More' section.

- Happy stock hunting.

5 Tips to Break Through Creative Block

We've all been there, but don't let your creative block get you down, there are lots of things you can do. Here's a few tips to break through the block and start being productive again:

1. Take a break. Hit a wall on a large project? Work on another project, doodle, make a brew, and come back to it with fresh ideas. Often you'll have a great idea for the project while doing something completely different.

2. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Struggling to get the details 'just right'? If the above tip doesn't help, ask a colleague or even a friend for their insight. Non-Designer friends will often surprise you.

3. Get away from your desk. Always being at the same desk can be stifling. Grab your laptop, or a sketchpad and get into a new space. Public places are a favourite of mine, the idea that people could be watching me work (although they probably aren't) gives me just the right kind of pressure to bring out some great work, and stop me procrastinating.

4. Let your ideas flow. While there are such things as bad ideas, sometimes the worst and wackiest ideas will give you a push towards something new. 

5. Go back to the beginning. I often find that looking back to my original concepts / brainstorms helps to refresh me if I've gone a little off-track. 

Surface Pro 2 vs Pencil and Paper

Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 is drawing a lot of attention from creative professionals such as myself, wanting to consolidate their digital tools into a single convenient, neat little box. While Microsoft have certainly succeeded in giving us a far more versatile tool than we have had access to previously (at a consumer level price range... I'm looking at you Modbook), have they provided a whole new tier of creative tool? I'm not so sure...

A lot of artists these days are moving more and more from traditional media to digital. It simply offers a lot of convenience, and versatility, and most importantly... The ability to undo, and adjust your work as needed. For quite some time now 'graphic tablets' have been completely indispensable to creative types who work digitally... 

Some work from beginning to end digitally, and some still choose to sketch traditionally and 'finish' digitally. The reason for this, is that a lot of artists simply feel more at home, and even more creative drawing naturally in a sketchbook.

The reason I took to the idea of the Surface Pro, and several other machines with 'active digitizer' screens... Is that it brings the 2 media much closer together, you can indeed treat the Surface like a little sketchbook, grab it out of your back, rest of on your lap and start sketching, and it's amazing to finally be able to do that. I've never even considered taking my laptop, graphics tablet, and power cable out to a cafe to have an out of the house creative session, but now it's a real possibility. The Surface is my new sketchbook, and I love it.

However, there are some small things that need to be tweaked before I'd consider the Surface truly invaluable, and I'm sure they're coming... And I think could possibly already exist in Wacom's Companion (which was ever so slightly edged out by the Surface for me... I may have to test one out though).

• The experience of drawing on the glossy screen of the Surface feels very different to paper (of course), there's a lot of palm grip, though I am starting to get used to it...
• The glass, although thin, does mean that there's a tiny, tiny gap between your pen nib, and where you're drawing. Only noticeable from various angles, but makes connecting up sketched lines a little more awkward than on traditional media.
• Compared to the digital set up you're probably used to, there are drawbacks too. The lack of modifier keys for example, is a huge loss. No more alt to colour grab and duplicate, no more quick c&p, no more shift to resize and move accurately... You can still achieve all of those things, but it's just a little but more difficult on a tablet screen.

These are the main problems I'm encountering when working on this device, and while I still haven't even glanced back at my old laptop, I can't help but look towards devices which could potentially fix these issues...

The Wacom Companion range for example, fixes all of the above issues in some way... Matte display - less grip and glare similar to the Cintiq, more advanced digitizer (same as Cintiq again), larger display, and most importantly (at least to me) a row of modifiable function keys.

May well be worth a look. 

In conclusion though, the Surface is a great tool for digital artists, or traditional artists looking to move to digital media. It bridges the gap between the 2, and provides a completely portable and (almost) fully featured digital tool to artists and designers wherever they are, and it's important not to forget, it's a full spec laptop... You CAN just continue to use your graphics tablet and use it exactly like a standard digital set up. Something easy to forget.

Illustrator / Graphic Designer - My First Week with a Surface Pro 2

It's been a week now since I bought the Surface Pro 2, and it hasn't all been awesome, but I have decided to keep what has become my new workstation, portable office, and bedtime tablet.

Coming to the Surface from a 15.6" non-touch Windows 8 laptop, I always considered the idea of a touch screen a novelty that would wear off after a few days of use... But let me say that my previous hatred for Windows 8, went away at the same time I got my Surface, and that's no coincidence... Everything in Windows 8, particularly the start menu works better with a touch screen.

There have been some teething problems... Primarily software based, and I'm sure that in time, especially as more tablets like this are released (which I will most likely be upgrading to from now on) the software issues will be fixed. If not, they're just small problems, and I honestly had no shortage of those with my previous machine.

Positives:

• I'm  more creative and more productive than I have ever been, owed largely to the fact I have one device I can do everything on, including the ability to get out of the house and do some work from a coffee shop if I feel the urge.
• It's quick as all hell. I have no idea how I have lived without a solid state drive for so long... So so very long.
• Everything I previously used on my workstation works here. (Full Windows 8).
• I LOVE typing on this keyboard... The Type Cover 2 is exactly the kind of keyboard I like to type on.
• Drawing direct on to the screen is a great way to sketch, much more natural feel for drawing, once you have the calibration right, and if you REALLY must use a graphic tab, you can just plug one in anyway.
• Great wireless card. Never drops WiFi, unlike my old bucket of bolts laptop...
• Screen colours are very vibrant, nice and bright display.
• Battery life lasts ages compared to a standard laptop, far longer than I've required it to so far.
• Touchscreen + Windows 8 is actually an enjoyable experience. Never thought I'd say that about Windows 8.

Negatives:

A list as long as my...

• Driver issues have been somewhat of an issue. Read about them previously, but expected them to be fixed by the time I bought mine... This was not the case (lol).
• Slightly less pressure accuracy on the low-end of the pressure spectrum, but only so since WinTab update, so it IS fixable...
• TINY trackpad, truly, TRULY awful to left and right click with... Needing to use the pen to drag and resize windows is NOT acceptable Microsoft. TUT TUT TUT. So I bought a mouse... Clever Microsoft tactic? Hmmm, but yes the trackpad is practically unusable.
• A few compatibility issues with various Windows programs not expecting to be run on a laptop. Screen orientation changes crash BitDefender for example.
• NO PEN SLOT. I am going to lose this pen... FACT.
• Power cable is short as hell... (Told you these were small issues).
• Could use one extra very shallow stand setting, easily remedied by propping on various objects... But I appreciate efficient design.

There we go, pretty much everything I can think of. If you're looking for a mobile device as an artist. I do highly recommend the Surface Pro 2. I love mine, and will be keeping it. If I get any issues with it (and subsequently find the fixes) I will post them to my blog.

Kind regards,

Happy Surface Pro 2 user.

Artist's Surface Pro 2 Diary - Day 4 - Driver Issues...

As the title suggests, going into day 3 I've started to encounter a few issues with my lovely new little gadget... Pretty much still out of the box.

• Intel HD 4000 driver crash. Happens often when I open up Photoshop CC. Which is a bit of an issue, automatically disables the GPU enhanced features. Driver restarts automatically but Photoshop requires a restart to enable features... Resulting in 2-3 restarts of Photoshop being required.
• Also, the WinTab driver is still not quite right... Sensitivity feels off ever since the update to the driver.On another note, my anti-virus program crashes when the device orientation changes. Going to give another program a try, shame it's an issue though... A strange one at that! Not a huge issue as I can just re-launch it, but frustrating... Searching for a fix to this to no avail... Could always disable the orientation sensor... Maybe...
• Photoshop UI size... Is miniscule. All the menus are at least 50% smaller than the rest of the creative suite... Why is it this way by default? Difficult to change as well. Can't find a single option in the preferences, and I don't like the idea of changing code.
• Glossy screen is a tad grippy on the palm...
• 128gb model is struggling to run Photoshop CC.

Positives:

• Still absolutely love typing on this thing! (Type Cover 2).
• Display is very sharp, colours display very well on it, viewing angle is great too.
• Drawing direct onto screen is great for sketching out ideas quickly.
• Battery life is great. Word processing easily get 6+ hours. Drawing... 3-4. Which is plenty for me.

If it all worked exactly as it should, this would be a dream machine for me. But all in all, I'm starting to miss my standard laptop and tablet combination. Quite an expensive machine to use just for a mobile sketchbook... May be returning this thing after all... We will see...

Creative's Surface Pro 2 Diary - Day 2 and 3

Well off to an admittedly quite disappointing start to my experience with the Surface Pro 2 as my all-singing-all-dancing mobile studio I must say that the Surface is really growing on me.

I've condensed day 2 and 3 together, as I recently travelled back home (to the great north), and had quite a bit of socialising to do... Anyway, back to the Surface.

I've managed to find out ways to fix the niggling issues I was facing from the beginning, which I will list at the bottom of the post for anyone interested or facing similar issues, and since fixing those issues my experience has been honestly quite excellent.

My little office in my favourite tea house.

My trip up north was a great opportunity to test out the device, as I had a 2+ hour train journey from London to fill, with a very limited amount of space in standard class seats. Not to worry, the Surface works perfectly in this situation and neatly fit on my lap, and wasn't so biog that the screen was touching the seat in front, I got the full and comfortable viewing angle, with the Type Cover rested on my lap as well - Mobility - TICK!

My experience with previous mobile devices, so far included a Macbook Pro (way back in the day) and a Windows gaming laptop, is that the battery life would very quickly be dipping into the 'I really ought to find a plug socket' range by the end of the 2 hour train journey. Not so with the Surface Pro 2. Running in 'balanced' power mode, I had been doing a power writing session on Google Docs, and as my train pulled into Manchester Piccadilly my battery was still over 70%. Safe to say that the machine can last long enough to do anything I need to do on the move, without having to worry about finding an outlet. I'm currently writing this blog from my favourite tea house, and I didn't even bring the power cable. I've been using the device here now for just about an hour, and am still sat on 93%, still in balanced mode.

The Type Cover 2 is awesome to type on (my girlfriend also agrees). As a veteran user of the old 2009 model Macbook Pro - the one with the gel-type keys, not the solid black plastic ones. This keyboard makes me think a lot of that. The feedback on the keys is surprisingly deep, and they key taps register without having to press too hard. Most important of all, I don't find myself accidentally typing the wrong letter every few taps, it's very natural to type on. I'm afraid I can't really speak for the Touch Cover keyboard though... My friend tells me good things about that too though (he uses it for all of his uni work, including his essay writing, which has to count for something).

Now as you probably already know if you're reading this article, the Surface Pro 2 has an active digitizer, which is the main reason I bought it, and it fails to disappoint. The device registers very light strokes, and has a much wider range of sensitivity than my Wacom Bamboo used to. 1,024 compared to the previous 512, and you can really tell, particularly at the lighter end of the pressure spectrum, which dropped off quite sharply on the bamboo.

The device works perfectly with Sketchbook Pro 6, which was designed for tablet devices, moving onto Photoshop I had an issue with compatibility, which I had been dreading after reading other reviews. No Microsoft haven't fixed it yet, but you can download a driver update from Wacom and it's all go again. Now the UI in Photoshop is clearly not designed with tablets in mind, the buttons are tiny but useable, the main problem is a problem I did not consider... There no keyboard shortcuts on a tablet surface. So scrolling, zooming, colour picking become slightly more tedious... Which I intent to fix by purchasing a new Bamboo Feel pen, and map the Alt and Space modifier to the pen buttons (the Surface pen only has one button). But overall the software worked as I expected, and it's awesome to use full-featured productivity software from anywhere. Creating professional level, FULLY finished work, on a mobile device. The key reason I wanted a full Windows 8 device, and I am NOT disappointed at all.

And just to clarify, no, there is no pen lag at all in Sketchbook Pro, though there is noticable lag (and sometime downright awful lag) with some of the dynamic brushes in Photoshop, but none with the basic brushes, which I use. My Surface spec is the i5-4200U, 4gb RAM, 128gb model.

Now onto the issues I spoke about:
Trackpad 
Well, it's still to small, it's tiny. But after just a day of use I have got accustomed to using the trackpad for editting text, and my finger for pretty much everything else. Dragging movements are tricky, but then the pen is great for that.

On-screen keyboard
Issue was that it was popping up when I 'touched' inside any text box, even with keyboard attached. An annoying issue. I fixed this by hitting Win + S, searching 'services', choosing 'view local services', scroll to 'Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Services', double click to open the properties, and disable. Now it's worth noting that this FULLY disables the on-screen keyboard, even clicking the button wouldn't force a pop-up, and after attempting to browse the net in tablet mode I realised this wasn't an option for me. I have since re-enabled the service, and learned to edit text with the keyboard arrows and trackpad instead... Not an issue any more, but still deserving of a fix from lazy Microsoft.

No pen holster / slot.
Still an issue... I've had the Surface 3 days now and have almost lost it on at least 10 occasions. The magnet is strong but not that strong... A knock in your bag will dislodge it, and it's very easy to not realise you haven't fully engaged the pen in the slot. I'm aware that the Surface is pretty packed full, but I'd be able to live with an extra cm on the side for an internal pen slot... And a better pen while you're at it Microsoft! 2 buttons is all I ask for, just 2! Or some hot-keys along the edge of the display if you're really feeling on the ball.

Pen and driver issues.
The new WinTab update, did indeed bork my pen a little... I lost a lot of the low-level sensitivity levels. Googling the issue provided no problems, but re-calibrating the device a few times seemed to fix the issue. I fixed the problem by calibrating the pointer to be down and right of where my pen sits, which brought the sensitivity right back... I think the WinTab update throws off the default Microsoft calibration (which was FANTASTIC)... Don't install the WinTab update unless you really can't live without Photoshop sensitivity.

That's everything for now, I'll hopefully get more time to practice the productivity software soon, mostly I've been using it for word-processing and sketching, will do a full finished project in the next few days and see how that goes.

You can view my first day here: http://matfrench.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/surface-pro-diary-day-one.html