Since color is the key to making your design relevant and appealing to the audience, staying up to date on the modern color trends is way more important than you think. The color trends for 2021 are amping to be a drastic response to a lot of trends that were slated to define the previous year. 

The colors trending this year are more calming and soothing. Instead of neon and crazy contrasts, the modern trend is softer and feels like that they are picked for humans and not for computers. 

Are you new to the design arena and are not sure about what color trend to follow? Keep reading to find out the modern color trends to get a headstart on your project. 

• Gradient colors

Long gone are the days when designers hesitated to use multi-color schemes in their designs. The mindset has changed now and using color palettes with vivid color schemes is highly encouraged. 

The gradient colors now stand for something meaningful than just choosing random colors that don’t make any sense. These colors have now become a popular choice among designers, especially when it comes to icon designs. Lots of famous brands are now choosing this color scheme such as Instagram, Mozilla Firefox, and many more. 

However, keep in mind that the gradient color scheme goes well with website designs and app interfaces only. You cannot adopt this color trend for products since it will look over the top. 

• Pastel colors

Pastel colors are the new trend since several big brands such as Dropbox and Bootstrap have adopted this and are being appreciated. The reason pastel color is growing in popularity is none other than the calming effect it has.

The basic colors still exist but are presented in washed-out or dusted shades which make them appealing to the naked eye. 

The serenity of pastels is indescribable and these are becoming the colors associated with self-care. Moreover, soft pastel hues look great when they are mixed. The most popular options to go for are millennial pink, baby blue, lavender, light peach, creamy mint, azure, and whimsey yellow. These pastel tones are splashed everywhere and generally found in various designer collections. 

• Duotone colors

The duotone color trend is not new and has been around us for many decades. However, it has recently gained hype and is gaining popularity in poster designs. Earlier it was used for music and DJ posters but now this trend has paved its way to posters and brand flyers as well. 

Duotone colors usually blend simplicity with boldness and thus look more pleasing to the eyes. These tones are used to create the rich tonal reproduction of black-and-white photography. Despite its limited color scheme, it can have hundreds of incarnations ranging from eclectic and understated. 

This trend has seen a resurgence in popularity in many ways that have more to do with aesthetic boldness and less to do with cost-cutting measures. 

• Retro neon colors

Amidst the soothing and relaxing colors, the retro hues are all set to make a strong comeback. The glowing neon colors with a mix of gradients look fantabulously appealing and have been gaining momentum in the logo designs. 

Unlike pastel colors and duotone, the retro neon color trend has an audience of its own since it doesn’t sync with all brandings and logo designs. This color palette goes well with technology and gaming and delivers more futuristic designs. 

2. Faded vintage colors

Many designers prefer using effects that remind them of the vintage period, such as classic images, faded and washed-up colors, etc. These vintage-themed color designs are gaining massive fame these days, especially for label designs. 

From clothing labels to coffee packaging, these are everywhere and look stunning and attractive. The major reason behind their popularity is that they look spectacular when used on paper bags and cardboard. 

This theme is influenced by other media forms of old times such as TV and magazines of that pre-internet era. These are the combination of artistic typography, classic shapes, and the faded colors that were popular in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. 

• Dark colors

Have you seen a dark mode update on your smartphones and Windows? To keep up with this interface, every app is turning to the dark mode practice. However, designers are way too creative with this trend and have taken it to another level by adding a color pop. 

Since a variety of dark colors are available in the palette, it doesn’t always have to be black and white. While soft pastel colors give a calming effect, these dark colors make your website bold and eye-catching. 

Moreover, this scheme is employed for those apps that are designed for heavy night-time use to avoid eye strain. 

• Monochrome plus one

Monochrome palettes are not a new trend and we have come across the same a lot in the last year but here is a twist. In 2020, monochrome designs relied on using tons of shades of the same color to create a visual intrigue; however, in 2021, designers prefer to drop a single contrast color into grayscale designs to produce the same effect. 

The addition of one contrasting color can take the overall design to the world of colors without making it too colorful. Monochrome plus one is a modern color trend to keep things subtle while being excessive at the same time. 

Conclusion

Think harmony, no dissonance - that is the 2021 color trend in the nutshell. Whether you are redesigning the current look of your website or launching the new one, use the above-mentioned color trends to give your brand a modern touch. If you are looking to start a new design project and wondering about the color palette and templates? Opt for the InVideo App and unlock the list of readymade templates that use each color trend.

There have been many famous painters who have created masterpieces that are reckoned with, even today. What made them great was not only their skill and passion but also the fact that they had great tutors and mentors throughout their journeys.

Let us see 10 famous artists which were good art tutors and mentors alike. Unsurprisingly, most of these tutors had a body of work that they boasted and they simply taught due to their comradery with fellow artists.

10. Albrecht Durer

Image Source: Wikipedia

As an elder, Durer took charge of his career sooner to take care of his family. He was a focused artist with a penchant to document his journals which made him famous for his craft. He was not only a tutor to selective aspiring artists but also his brother Hans Durer.

Durer rubbed shoulders with great artists like Leonardo, Raphel and discussed ideas with them. He focused on saints, Madonnas, and the Holy family as subjects. Durer also spent a lot of time teaching and learning from other artists during his travels.

9. Giovanni Bellini

Image Source: Wikipedia

Giovanni was born into the famous Bellini art family and was the best painter from his family that mastered soft contours and delicate colors. He has tutored professional artists like Albrecht Durer. Giovanni’s work was included in schools and it was also studied by scholars, for which the master received fancy commissions. Sadly, his work was eventually lost in transition but the man remains as famous today as ever.

8. Adam Van Noort

Image Source: Wikipedia

Adam was a master Flemish painter who had a stellar student line-up that made him a grandmaster. Names like Peter Paul Rubens and Jacob Jordaens, Hendrick van Balen, say something about the tutor. His famous artwork includes “The Final Battle of the siege of Troy” and “Moses strikes the rock”, among others. He was a successful tutor of 35 and made a good fortune in the city of Antwerp.

7. Charles Gleyre

Image Source: Wikipedia

Charles is a renowned Victorian-era painter who got instant fame with his work like “Diana in the bath”. As he gained fame and money over time, his desire to focus on his skills grew. He turned to training the youth to be great painters, for free and had students like Pierre Auguste Renoir.

Apart from painting, the man wanted to be a politician, however, he met with sudden death at an early age. His work includes “Ruth and Boaz” and “Hercules at the feet of Omphale”.

6. Salvador Dali

Image Source: Wikipedia

Dali was an off-beat artist with a focus on Surrealism and a penchant for “weird” images that became famous and brought his craftsmanship to the forefront of the art world in the 20th century. Dali actively taught Cubism to a set of students who admired him for his visionary work.

Some of the famous work from the artist include “The persistence of memory”, “Lobster Telephone”, “The Great Masterbator”. There are two museums devoted to the man, one in Spain and the other in America.

5. Claude Oscar Monet

Image Source: Wikipedia

Monet is one of the best-known French painters from the Impressionist era, for his accurate brushstrokes and his infatuation for nature. He has tutored his style to young artists as well as to students alike.

Monet’s contribution to modern art is so huge that fellow artists took to reproducing his work to learn the “best practices” of this genre of artwork. His series of work like “San Giorgio Maggiore At Dusk” is world-famous and relevant even today.

4. Pablo Picasso

Image Source: Wikipedia

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter best known for co-founding the Cubist movement in the 20th century. He is also the creator of the concept of collage that he taught to other young students starting their careers.

Some of his famous cubic-centric paintings are “Head of a Woman”, “Painter and Model”, “Figures at the SeaSide” and “Girl before a Mirror”. His work is studied today in most modern art schools.

3. Raphael

Image Source: Wikipedia

Raphael is known as one of the triads of the great painters of the Renaissance era. His work was known for being crisp, clear and had an ease of understanding for the viewers and art fans alike. He mostly taught his technique to the staff at his workshops so that he could focus on his bigger projects.

Throughout his mature professional life, he was invited to work on commissions like the project Stanza Della Segnetura. He ended up creating master frescos like Disputa and Parnassus. Due to his premature death at 37, his contemporaries like Michaelangelo gained more fame.

2. Michaelangelo

Image Source: Wikipedia

Michelangelo had two types of students, one that did not have any access to the great man and the other who was lucky enough to be tutored by Michelangelo himself! Some notable students include Francesco Granacci and Raffaello da Montelupo.

Michelangelo was known more for his sculpting skills than his brushwork and he is dubbed as the Renaissance Man whose notable work includes “David”, “The Last Judgement” and “Moses”.

1. Leonardo Da Vinci

Image Source: Wikipedia

Whether you have heard about art or love it, no name is bigger than Leonardo Da Vinci. If art was personified, it would probably look like the one above in the picture. Leonardo was a master of masters in his craft, especially for his creation of sfumato technique among other things.

The most iconic paintings like Mona Lisa and the Last Supper are his creation. Apart from mentoring artists, he also dedicated much of his career to writing papers in anatomy, engineering which were studied by generations to come.

Conclusion

https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/  is an online store that houses the work of old masters and their students in oil-based form. Visit their website, check out the customer reviews and speak to the professional staff for the right custom-sized paintings to decorate the living room of your house.

An incredible amount of people are dreaming about quitting their 9-5 job and pursuing their dream of becoming a creative. The very vast majority never pursue that dream and let it stay a dream throughout their entire life. “Why is that?” one may ask. Is it the uncertainty of not having a stable income to support the wellbeing of themselves and their loved ones? Is it the fear of discovering they did not have the talent or the passion they thought they had? Or is it simply because they prioritize other things in life and don’t think they have the time to pursue their dream as an creative? At creativeforce.io they are experts in helping people make their creative dreams come true. In this article we have talked with creativeforce.io to discover how those people who actually make it as a creative start out? Do they go full-time from day one? Do they work day and night? Do they even have time for friends and family? This and much more is revealed in this article for you to read and get inspired.

Consider if its a dream you really want to pursue

First of all, one of the things you should consider is - how much of a dream is this? Are you actually interested in spending the rest of your life doing this and making it a source of income. If the answer is no, then you should probably only pursue it as a hobby and spare-time interest. There’s a chance you will lose interest in your passion and become tired of it. This can only cause stress and anxiety - which can cause harm to your mental health. If the answer is yes on the other hand, you can start planning how you want to make the switch from normal worker at your regular job to becoming a full-time entrepreneurial creative.

Throw away everything and pursue your dream?

If you are young you have almost nothing to lose by pursuing your creative dream. If you are older you might have family and loved ones to support, which can make it more difficult to pursue your dream without securing financial stability first. Therefore you should adapt your jump form being worker to entrepreneur depending on your own speed and will. Design your own road to glory instead of just jumping head first into life as an entrepreneur. Pursue your dream for sure, but also think how you can do it in a smart way!

The virality of content is a curious phenomenon. Sometimes you write a simple article or you turn a video. You publish it and a few days later, your content triggered hundreds of shares.

Without knowing why, you have created viral content. Many entrepreneurs and marketers would like to know the secret of virality.

It's true anyway!

Which entrepreneur would not want to have more exposure for his brand, ideas or products quickly? In fact, virality is simply the best way to quickly gain visibility and traffic without necessarily paying for it or being an SEO wizard.

The 5 ingredients to make viral content

1) The social value: Share what motivates your audience

Social value is the idea that people who discuss a subject, in public or on social networks, do so because they want to appear interesting, intelligent or "cool". If the mere fact of talking about a product or idea makes us look like someone interesting to others, then chances are we'll talk about it around us. It is the social value, the value we place on the information we share with others. In fact, this desire to share our thoughts and experiences is at the root of the phenomenal success of social networks.

2) Content

It's not just the titles that will help your content become viral, the content itself has a say.

Let's take an example.

You sell organic products and you would like to be a little more visible on the Internet?

For example, you could write an ultra-comprehensive blog post about the dangers of pesticides and share it on your social profiles. It is likely to be shared by others, because from the outside, it implies that they 1) care about their health and that of others and 2) care about the environment and the food brands they consume.

3) Emotion: Caring is sharing

This concept is simple and you surely know it. We share and discuss things that involve strong emotions. Whether positive or negative, it does not matter. Moreover, one of the emotions that sticks to our TV screens and triggers the word of mouth in a crazy way is fear.

Fear is selling. And that's true. Why do you think the media is constantly talking about the misfortune of others or the attacks? Because it makes talking! Because we read and share this kind of articles. For the greatest happiness of the media.

It's not just negative emotions that make you sell and trigger a monster word of mouth. Joy or hopes are emotions that trigger sharing.

4) The public: Become your own PR representative

People tend to mimic what others do. Rather than choosing ourselves, we prefer to emulate or be influenced by the choice of others. This is called social proof.

But you can’t imitate what you can’t observe. The idea here is to make your products or ideas more observable to others, making them easier to imitate, and therefore more likely to become popular. We want our products / ideas to do their advertising on their own.

Have you ever seen how many people use a Mac in a Starbucks?

There are many!

For several years, Apple has placed its logo on its laptops so that the user sees it when opening it.

The problem was that the logo was presented backwards for others when someone was using it, which posed a problem of recognizing the logo and could even harm the image of Apple. Steve Jobs, as a good marketer, made the decision to place the logo in such a way that it is visible to the public and not to the user. Today, in public places, the luminous apple is recognizable on all Apple computers. The visibility of a consumer choice by a large number of people triggers a well-known human behavior: imitation. If a lot of people use the Mac, then it's probably a good idea, and we should use one too.

How can this apply on your social networks?

On Facebook or Instagram, you can make your content more observable by the public via advertising. For example, if you have a Facebook page, you can boost your publications from $ 5 and show your content potentially in front of more than 1000 people. Or you can softwre related to Automatic Viral Alternative. Based on my experience, it works!

Keep in mind: can people see you using your product? How can you design your product so that it does its advertising itself (ex: MacBook)? Do you use an unconventional logo, sound or color for the public that could be highlighted?

5) The practical value: produce useful content for others!

Why would someone want to share your content if it does not add value?

This value is the utility. If we can talk about a product or content that can help others (i.e save money, save time, improve our health, etc.), then we will talk about it around us. It's something natural.

How to do on social media?

Here again, it's easy to set up. Your product is super useful and can improve people's lives. How to make people know it? The answer (and it's still the same): Create useful content. Why not make a video that explains the usefulness of your product or its new features? It's more and more common on social networks.

Hopefully the 5 tips above can help you to produce viral content.

Did you ever wonder what is that makes animated characters look so realistic to you and how you can relate so easily? Are you working on developing your animated video and are wondering how to keep all laws of physics in order? Twelve Basic Principles of Animation is a book published by Disney and written by his animators, trying to explore the keys to lifelike animation. These principles apply regardless of whether you draw by hand or, much more likely, are using computer animation. Here are the first six principles:

Squash and Stretch

Rule number one is the most important rule which talks about giving a sense of weight and flexibility to your objects - this is especially important for facial expressions, although if you want to create a comic effect you can take this stretch into an extreme.

Anticipation

When developing a situation on screen, try not to make sudden frames, but rather prepare the audience for an action - focus the attention on the keys in the lock, before the character unlocks the door.

Staging

This principle comes from techniques of staging from theater and film - simply know what is important and what needs to be in focus of each frame. Avoid unnecessary details that take the eye's attention from the point.

Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose

These are two different drawing techniques you can use in animation. Straight Ahead Action means that the process starts at the beginning and fluidly moves towards an end, drawing frame by frame, while Pose to Pose means that you start with some keyframes and then develop the story behind it. Most often the combination of these techniques is used, especially in computer animation, since the software removes the trouble of finding the right proportion and putting sequences together.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action

These two techniques are the ones that keep your character and objects under the rule of physics in real life. Follow through roughly means that arms of a walking character move while he is moving, and keep swinging just a little bit after he stops, in a synchronized movement. Overlapping Action considers that different body parts can move in a different rhythm, while a technique called "drag" does that well-known scene when a character starts the movement, but some body parts are catching up in the next frame.

Slow In and Slow Out

This is a notice that will help you make your scene look more real - when moving a character from one pose to another, draw this movement with many frames in the beginning and end of the action, with fewer frames in the middle. Try to make those frames full of details of the movement - facial expression, stretching of the body, etc.

Stay tuned to COLOURlovers to discover other six principles that guide the world’s most famous animators.

About the author:

Nina Petrov is an activist, poet, performer and mathematician. She communicates with the world mostly through words, movement and equations, but sometimes also by speaking very loudly. The only truth she could say about herself is that she keeps changing every day, never stops learning and interacting with her surroundings.

August and September's choices were quite unpredictable. We chose the colors that made us happy, reminded us of food, and matched our overall mood of the day.

We chose the best palette ever made on the platform and the best palette of all times made by a Colourlover.

We asked you to help us choose the best palettes on our Twitter channel, and you helped out. Thank you for being so collaborative and expressed your opinion Colourlovers! Let's review the questions that we asked and see the winning palettes again.

• Which was the best #lace inspired palette?
• Which was the best #volcano inspired palette?
• Which was the best #moon inspired palette?
• Which was the best #castle inspired palette?
• Which was the best #heart inspired palette?
• Which was the best palette of all times on COLOURlovers?
• Which was the best #makeup inspired palette?
• Which was the palette of the day (13/9/2018)?
• Which was the best ever of @sparrowandcompass' palettes?
• Which was the palette that made us #happy?
• Which was the palette of the day (24/9/2018)?
• Which was the best #pancake palette?
• Which was the best #pumpkin palette?

AUGUST

1. The best lace: Laces in Powder

https://t.co/CEt3O0mDDn

2. Best volcano palette: Eruption

https://t.co/20cdhnV87L

3. Best moon inspired palette: Luna Rosa Love

https://bit.ly/2MoGq1r

4. Best castle palette: CASTLE *

https://t.co/nw06uQyXEp

SEPTEMBER

1. Best heart palette: With All My Heart

https://bit.ly/2Ca5Nzt

2. Best of the best: Giant Goldfish

https://bit.ly/18BoiTc

3. Best makeup palette: makeup galore RC

https://bit.ly/2x2KKJd

4. The palette of the day (13/9/2018): it's better with you

https://bit.ly/2MtuHK3

5. Best @sparrowandcompass palette: {rose//gold}

https://bit.ly/2D1mNrX

6. The palette that made you happy: Happy Day !

https://bit.ly/2JAkCel

7. The palette of the day (24/9/2018): mumble.

https://bit.ly/2MXRfCU

8. The best pancake palette: Raspberry Pancake

https://bit.ly/2QeYqsP

9. The best pumpkin palette: pumpkin attack

bit.ly/2xW2LcE 

So, Colourlovers, what do you think about the palettes? Do you see any pattern? :D
Share which one is your favorite. We can't wait to hear from you!

About the author:

Ana Maksimovic is the community manager and editor at Colorlovers. She is a part-time traveler and part-time web and graphic designer working with sustainable brands. She is passionate about photography and nature -  a never-ending source of inspiration.

The first artist in our "Featured artist" series is Ben The Illustrator!

Ben started exploring the world of illustration more than ten years ago. If someone knows what it means to be earning a living as a self-employed artist/business owner, he's the one to ask!

He currently specializes in travel and indoors illustrations but his portfolio is full of various work - from editorial illustrations to package designs. The colors he uses in his art are vivid and joyful and make his work easily recognizable.

Originally focusing on animation, Ben has always been obsessed with creating colourful things.  His first work was making independent music videos, which grew into creative direction on children's TV and advertising before an epiphany lead him to discover that illustration was the path for him.  Since then he has illustrated ad campaigns for Smart Cars and Berri Fruit Juice in Australia, worked on editorials for The Guardian, The New York Times and Buzzfeed, and created illustrations for everything from shoes to coffee packaging, record sleeves to X-Box Games.

He illustrates places; from cafe interiors and work spaces to busy cities and national landmarks.  He is hugely inspired by travel, the culture of people going from one place to the next and the changing nature, architecture and lighting.  His key inspirations have always been colourful, Pop Art and Graffiti, food packaging, pop music videos, street wear, Mid Century textiles and furniture and futuristic architecture.

Ben did an interesting research this year about illustrators, who they are, what they do, and how much they really earn. The results might surprise you. For all interested to find out more, check out this infographic on his website.

Connect with Ben on social media: Twitter | Instagram

What inspires you about Ben's art? The unique simplicity of his artwork that has the power to say more with less? Is it the beautiful color combinations he uses? Let us know in the comments.

Happy Valentines Day! Our community has created and named millions of user-named colors that help us create, innovate, and celebrate the joy of color itself.

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Some of the “most loved” include "
Color by COLOURlovers" target="_blank">Dutch Teal" by Skyblue2u, "Haunted milk" by alpen, "Vitamin C" by GreenLantern, "Chartreuse" by oeln, and "Juicy Pink" by MetteBB. It is almost too obvious to say that WE LOVE COLOR!

Color is infused into every aspect of our lives, especially those in our color bubble, so we thought it was time to devote a big Valentine to Color itself! Although we couldn’t include all the colors in the rainbow, here are some colors that really touch our hearts on Valentine’s Day.

So many great things have happened on COLOURlovers in 2011, but one major, behind the scenes project that only a very small portion of members have been aware of was a quilt project straight from the heart of the Group: COLOURlovers on Spoonflower.

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Group administrator, leader and very involved COLOURlover, Penina, wanted her group to be something more than just a group of people who loved the idea of fabric. So one fine day back in July 2011, after coordinating ideas to make a digital quilt from the group member creations, she had the thought, “What’s stopping us from making a real quilt?!”

Penina wanted this quilt project to have purpose and to involve as many group members as possible. This also meant that the final piece would need to have a good home at a single location; so who would get the quilt?

Can you remember a time when people used to write letters—by hand! Or, read books made of paper, glue and ink? As our increasingly digital world seems to be moving farther and farther away from traditional print media, companies like Paperlux step in to remind us that nothing can replace the touch, smell, weight, and color of a real hold-it-in-your-hands magazine.

Today's article is presented by the leading magazine and glossy booklet printing company, Next Day Flyers. Check them out for fast turnarounds and amazing prices.

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When the graphic design magazine Novum commissioned Paperlux to come up with an innovative magazine cover, the creative juices kicked into overdrive and the result is truly something spectacular to see and feel.

Paperlux, a design studio based in Hamburg, Germany, was seeking a way to focus on the palpable nature of paper. The result was a very tactile approach as a way to draw people to a colorful product sporting a geometric design that makes you ache to just reach out and feel it for yourself.

Geodesic sphere at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World (left - source)

The design was fashioned after what is called a geodesic dome (source). Although the magazine represents a much flatter version of the dome, it still has the texture and look of the real thing.