Many of these resources are free, and others are included in a subscription to Envato Elements. So there’s nothing stopping you from picking up a valuable new skill this month. Let’s get started…

1. Migrate a WordPress Site

Moving a WordPress site from one hosting provider to another can be tricky. In this useful tutorial, you’ll learn exactly how to do it correctly, so that all your data gets safely transferred and the site appears in all its glory in the new location.

2. Learn Adobe XD

This detailed 2.5-hour course takes you through everything you need to know to master Adobe XD. Join Adi Purdila and learn about artboards, components, responsive design, and much more.

3. Get Into Live-Streaming

Creating a live stream is a great way to get over the feeling of isolation that can come with enforced self-isolation. It’s also a good way to connect with fans, customers, colleagues, collaborators, and anyone else. See how it works in this tutorial by Melody Nieves.

4. Learn WordPress From Start to Finish

WordPress is the world’s most popular blogging platform, and it’s now used for much more than blogs—a quarter of the sites on the web are powered by WordPress. If you’re feeling left behind, watch this 2.3-hour YouTube video that covers absolutely everything you need to know, starting from zero and finishing with a professional-looking WordPress site.

5. Install an SSL Certificate to Secure WordPress

Once you’ve covered the WordPress essentials, there are still plenty of individual little tips and techniques to master. For example, how do you get your website to start with “https” instead of “http”? Security is very important these days, and even if you don’t handle customer data, an SSL certificate is a good thing to have because search engines and web browsers increasingly expect it and reward sites that have it. See how to get and install an SSL certificate in this post.

6. Draw a Rose

If you’re stuck at home, what better thing to do than learn a creative skill like drawing? This beautiful and easy-to-follow tutorial teaches you how to draw a rose, step by step.

7. Learn Adobe Illustrator in a Free Course

If you want to be a better designer or illustrator, you’ll love this course. Adobe Illustrator is such a powerful design and illustration software package, and this course takes you through the essentials of the program and how to use it. Start watching and learning today!

8. Learn PHP for WordPress

If you want to take your WordPress work to the next level and start customizing sites and building your own themes and plugins, you’ll need to master PHP, the WordPress programming language. In this completely free course, you’ll get to do exactly that, with detailed, practical video instruction.

9. Make a Slideshow Video in After Effects

We made this After Effects slideshow tutorial to celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, but you could use the techniques at any time of the year to create a professional-looking video slideshow with slick transitions and effects. See how it’s done!

10. Create Animated Slideshow Transitions in After Effects

If that tutorial whetted your appetite and you want to add even more After Effects skills to your repertoire, try this excellent course, in which you’ll learn to create modern, clean, and simple slideshow transitions for your video presentations.

Want to Learn More?

If these new courses and tutorials aren’t enough for you, check out the full Envato Tuts+ library of more than 1,250 courses and 28,000 free tutorials. There’s sure to be something there for you. Have a look at these recommendations from previous months to get some more inspiration. Jump to the sections below to find a topic that interests you.

• Photoshop Tutorials
• Print Design Tutorials
• Other Design & Illustration Tutorials
• WordPress Tutorials
• Accessibility Tutorials
• Other Web Design Tutorials
• Web & Mobile Development Tutorials
• Business Tutorials
• After Effects Tutorials
• Other Photography & Video Tutorials

Photoshop Tutorials

Learn Photoshop From Scratch

This free three-hour course will help you learn Photoshop from the ground up. Daniel Scott teaches you all the important features and tools you need to know to get the most out of this complex but powerful software. From the basics of layer styles and text through to expert retouching and working with smart objects, this course has it all.

Learn to “Photoshop” a Scene Convincingly

When you’ve mastered the skills of photo manipulation, the sky’s the limit. You can create completely imaginary scenes by stitching together several different photos and applying the right techniques to make them all blend together convincingly. Learn how to do it in this new course.

Resize Images en Masse

Resizing a single image in Photoshop is straighforward. But what if you have dozens of images to resize, or even hundreds? Save yourself a lot of time by reading this tutorial or watching the video below. You’ll discover how to create your own simple Photoshop action to resize multiple images with a single click.

Create an Elegant Japanese Brush Font in Photoshop

Check out this YouTube video, which takes you through the process of designing your own brush font in that iconic Japanese text style. It’s proven popular with the YouTube audience, and there’s also a written version of the tutorial if you prefer to follow along that way.

Create a Light Leak Effect

Back in the days of film photography, a light leak was a dreaded mistake. Now it’s a much sought-after digital effect to give your images a warm, nostalgic, retro look. Learn how to create it in this tutorial, or simply watch the video below.

Make an Image Sparkle

With the techniques you’ll learn in this tutorial, you’ll be able to add a magical sparkle to any photo. You’ll see the steps involved in producing the effect in the image below in Photoshop, and then you’ll see how to use a simple Photoshop action to apply the effect to any image of your choosing. Read the tutorial.

Learn Creative Compositing in Photoshop

Why wait for a post-apocalyptic dystopia when you can create it today? This wonderful little course shows you how to create a complex, believable scene in just 38 minutes of video instruction. You’ll see how to take disparate images and blend them together to create a cohesive, convincing scene. Take the course now.

Create Your Own Smartphone Mockup

Envato recently launched a new partnership with Placeit, which makes it easy to create photo-realistic mockups with no design skills at all. But if you want to create a mockup the old-school way, with smart objects and smart filters in Photoshop, then read this tutorial for the full lowdown on how to do it.

Brush Up on Photoshop Brushes

I included this course not just for its pun potential, but also because it’s a really useful guide to getting the most out of Photoshop brushes. If you do any kind of art, design or other creative work in Photoshop, you need to watch this video. Oh, did I mention it’s a free course? That’s another good reason to watch it.

Create Double Exposure Effects in Adobe Photoshop

Double exposure effects, where multiple images are blended together, can be very visually powerful. But there’s more to creating them than simply slapping one photo on top of another. This course takes you through three separate examples to give you a comprehensive understanding of the dos and don’ts of double exposures. Take the course to discover how it’s done.

Create a Shatter Effect in Photoshop

A shatter effect is a powerful visual metaphor that you can use in a range of designs to illustrate progress, change, or breaking through boundaries. This tutorial shows you how to create the effect easily in Photoshop, starting with a stock image and creating a special “shatter brush” to let you apply the effect, before making all the necessary adjustments so that it looks realistic. Get the full instructions here.

Create a Surreal Portrait in Photoshop

Some designs are so striking that you just think, “Wow, I could never create that.” Well, I do, anyway. But this tutorial breaks the whole process down into easily manageable steps. If you’ve got a copy of Photoshop and some time available, you can work your way through this and create a stunning photo manipulation with a stitching effect. Get the full set of instructions.

Master Photo Manipulation Techniques

The great thing about photo manipulation is that if, like me, you can’t draw to save your life, you can still create some amazing scenes like the one above, just by merging photos together and applying some effects. There’s a bit more to it than that, of course, but this tutorial breaks it all down into easy steps. So why not learn photo manipulation today?

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Print Design Tutorials

Learn the Basics of Print Design

People have been saying print is dead for decades now, and it’s still not true. A huge amount of the work you do as a designer will be in the realm of print: magazines, brochures, flyers, books, stationery, and so much more. This course teaches you all the essentials, from using typography creating impact in your designs right through to the nuts and bolts of getting your files ready to print. Get started today!

Master InDesign

This incredibly comprehensive introduction to Adobe InDesign was first published back in April and has been hugely popular, with 167,000 views and counting. If you want to learn InDesign from the ground up, this is the only video you need to watch. Get started now.

Design a Take-Out Menu

We often feature fun or inspiring designs here, but real-life graphic design work can sometimes be about creating something much more functional. This tutorial shows you how to create a simple but elegant take-out menu using Adobe InDesign. Learn how it’s done.

Design Creative Magazine Layouts

Too many magazine layouts end up looking the same. This course teaches you to break some of the “rules” and create attention-grabbing magazine layouts with a fresh, creative look. Take the course.

Make a Restaurant Menu Template in InDesign

Whether you’re a restaurateur looking to design your own menu or a graphic designer who’s been hired to create one, this tutorial has you covered. It takes you through the full process of creating not just a professional-looking menu, but an InDesign menu template that you can adapt to use again and again. Find out how it’s done.

Design a Winning Project Proposal

When you’re putting together a proposal, the design really matters. Your prospective client will probably have dozens of other proposals to look through, and grabbing their attention with a clean, elegant design will give you a crucial advantage. This course teaches you how to stand out from the crowd by putting together a great proposal in InDesign.

Design a Business Card

One of our most popular design courses is now free to watch! Learn how to design a business card in Photoshop in this free 45-minute course. You’ll see how to make three stunning designs inspired by minimalist, photographic, and artistic concepts.

Design a Book Cover

People used to dream of having their book published one day. Now, with services like Amazon and CreateSpace, it’s easy to skip the dreaming and go straight to the publishing. But as you’ll see if you browse any online bookstore, getting the cover right is easier said than done. So take this book cover design course to learn how to create a professional-looking book cover that will entice new readers to buy and read your book.

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Other Design & Illustration Tutorials

Make a 3D Text Effect

The isometric style is perennially popular, so why not master it in this free course? You’ll learn how to create this amazing 3D text effect in Adobe Illustrator, and you’ll pick up some valuable Illustrator skills along the way.

Master 60 Essential Design Terms

The design world has its own language, and it’s essential to master it if you want to be a successful designer. Even if you have the visual sense and software skills, you need to know how to explain your designs to clients—and how to understand what clients want from you. So here are 60 design terms you should know.

Learn Adobe Illustrator From Start to Finish

This course is a comprehensive guide for complete beginners to Adobe Illustrator. It starts with zero assumed knowledge and in over three hours of video lessons, it takes you up to the point where you can create finished illustrations using the Pen Tool, the Curvature Tool, brushes, and more. Take the course to go from zero to competent illustrator in a few hours!

Make Isometric Food Icons

The isometric style is perfect for making small, compact icons that are instantly recognisable. Learn how to use it to make these three cute food icons in Adobe Illustrator. Read the step-by-step instructions.

Find the Best Alternative to Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a great vector design package, but it’s not the only game in town. In recent years, new competitors have emerged that have a lot to offer. So why not explore some of the other options out there by watching the video above.

Master Affinity Designer

Here’s another comprehensive YouTube course for you. This one is 2 hours 45 minutes long, and it takes you through using the Affinity Designer app in all the detail you could possibly need. If you want to get started with this popular alternative to Adobe Illustrator, all you need to do is watch this video.

Choose the Right Typeface

Choosing the right typeface can make or break a design. But how do you know which one to pick? Many new designers just rely on gut instinct, but there’s a better way. Take this course to get clear on the different types of typefaces, the pros and cons of each, and when to use (or not use) each type.

Create Your Own Color Font

This tutorial teaches you how to create your very own color font using the latest version of Adobe Illustrator and the powerful Fontself extension. So why not learn this important new design skill?

Understand Basic Typography

Any designer will tell you that typography is crucial to good design. From company brands to newspaper headlines to advertisements to websites, you can see the power of typography in action everywhere. But, like any specialised field, typography has its own vocabulary, which can be confusing for beginners. Watch this 60-second typography video to learn how to tell your counters from your spines and your stems from your shoulders.

Learn the Quick Way to Create Professional Logos

Have you ever had one of those annoying clients who demands double the work in half the time? Of course you have. Here’s a trick for icon designers: have a few flexible logo kits ready to customise so that you can meet even the tightest deadline. Take this short course to learn how to create the three building blocks of a successful logo kit.

Make an Animated GIF

Discover Adobe Fresco

Have you tried the latest hot drawing and painting app? Adobe Fresco made a big splash when it was launched recently, but how does it compare with the more established Procreate app? Discover the answer by watching this free video comparison.

Create an Awesome Portrait on Your iPad

Can you believe that this stunning portrait was created on an iPad? And can you imagine creating it yourself with step-by-step instructions? That’s exactly what you’ll get in this tutorial. So view the instructions and start using your iPad for something other than Netflix!

Nail Instagram

If you want to get more Instagram followers, you’ll want to read this post, which summarises some of the key lessons from the newly launched School of Instagram. Find out how to write better captions, how to use the new Create Mode, and much more.

Compare Affinity Photo With Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop has ruled the roost for so long now that “photoshopping” has entered the language as a verb. But many people are switching to Affinity Photo, a viable competitor with some impressive features. Watch this video to discover eight features of Affinity Photo that might convince you to switch over from Photoshop.

Design in Memphis Style

Do you like bold colours and playful design elements? Then you’ll love the Memphis Style, created in the 1980s and now back in vogue. From three of our recent tutorials, you can learn what the Memphis Style is, and then make a text effect and a poster in Memphis Style.

Learn to Design for Colour-Blind People

If we’re putting something out into the world these days, it really should be accessible to everyone. What I like about this tutorial is that it explains in lots of scientific detail what colour blindness is and how things look to people with different kinds of colour blindness, and then it goes on to give tips on what you can do to make your designs easier for everyone to view. Read the tutorial to learn how to tell protanopia from deuteranomaly and cater for people with either of them.

Draw Hair in 4 Different Styles

Did you know that the average human head has about 100,000 individual hairs? What that means is that if you want to draw someone’s hair, you can’t draw separate lines for each strand—you need to learn some tricks to create the illusion of 100,000 hairs while using far fewer lines. Take this drawing tutorial to see how it’s done.

Whether you love them or hate them, animated GIFs are all over the web. This tutorial shows you an easy method of putting together an animated GIF in Adobe Photoshop. The example is of a wolf’s glowing eyes, but feel free to use the same techniques for laughing dogs, weird celebrity mashups, or whatever your heart desires. Start animating your GIFs here.

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WordPress Tutorials

Learn WordPress From the Ground Up

WordPress has become so ubiquitous that many online tutorials and courses assume some prior knowledge. This one doesn’t. It’s a course for complete WordPress beginners—or for those who want to go back to basics and get a comprehensive refresher. If you want to get the most out of WordPress, take this course to learn everything you need to know.

Master the Slider Revolution WordPress Plugin

A whole course on using a WordPress plugin? Well, yes. This particular plugin is packed with so many features that you should watch this course to make sure you’re getting the most out of it. By the end, you’ll be ready to create a wide range of stunning sliders on your site.

Make Your Own Custom Gutenberg Blocks

The WordPress Gutenberg editor caused howls of outrage from many quarters when it was first launched, but people are now realising the huge potential it offers. For example, why not create your own custom blocks to make it easy to add pricing tables, tabbed content and toggle content in WordPress? See how it’s done in this short course.

Build a WordPress Portfolio Site Quickly

Showcasing your work online doesn’t have to involve lots of work or expense. This free YouTube course shows you how to get a WordPress portfolio site up and running in just an hour. To make your work look beautiful without a lot of hassle, watch the course now.

Make a Competitive Premium WordPress Theme

We’ve all seen them, haven’t we? Those WordPress theme authors who rake in thousands of dollars from a single popular theme. How do they do it? You’ll get some great tips in this tutorial. Generally, articles only tackle one aspect of theme development: business strategy, technical quality, or marketing. This one covers all three. Read the tutorial to help you create the next hit WordPress theme.

Make a Website Using a Responsive WordPress Theme

If you’re a small business owner or freelancer who wants to set up a professional-looking website quickly and easily, this short course is perfect. You get to see the full process of creating a site using a premium WordPress theme. You’ll install and activate the theme, configure the options, and then create the home page, menu and hours page, contact page, and so on. Take the course to get started.

Code Your Own Blocks for WordPress Gutenberg

The new WordPress Gutenberg editor wasn’t universally popular when it was launched last year, but it does offer some huge potential for WordPress developers. Learn how to code your own custom blocks to offer your users new functionality in this newly updated course. Start here.

Make a Mega Menu in WordPress

If you have a site with complex navigation, a simple one-line menu just isn’t enough. Enter the “mega menu”, a useful solution that lets your visitors find their way around all your categories and sub-categories quickly and easily. You can buy mega menu plugins, but this free mega menu tutorial shows you how to do it yourself. Or this one helps you do it with a free WordPress plugin.

Create a Paid Section in Your WordPress Site

We’ve all seen them, haven’t we? Those “pay walls” that appear to section off particularly valuable content on a website and make you pay to access it. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a paid section in your own site, using a free WordPress membership plugin. Find out how.

Create a Simple WordPress Contact Form

Let’s get back to WordPress basics again with the simple tutorial that teaches you how to make a contact form using a free WordPress plugin. You’ll see how to set up the options you need and then display your form on your site. And you’ll also get recommendations for more advanced plugins if you need something specialised. Read the free tutorial.

Migrate a WordPress Site

Some things sound so simple, don’t they? What could possibly go wrong when moving a WordPress site from a local development machine to a live server? Plenty, actually. Take this course to let Rachel McCollin guide you around the pitfalls and follow the right process.

Add a Music Player to Your WordPress Site

WordPress has its own default media player these days, so why bother with a music player plugin? What do they give you that the standard WordPress option doesn’t? And what about directly embedding audio players from other sites? This article runs you through all the options, clearly explaining the pros and cons of each. Find out more.

Use Custom Post Types in WordPress

WordPress has so much flexibility built in, but many people never use it. For example, most people stick with the default post type, but you can create your own custom post types to include data that’s useful for your own website, saving you a lot of time. See how to use WordPress custom post types.

Make Your Own WordPress Plugins

Often, the best way to learn something new is by rolling up your sleeves and doing it. And if you have the right guide, you can even get the practical experience without having to waste time on missteps. That’s what this course offers: you get to create a series of practical call-to-action WordPress plugins, with expert guidance to help you through the whole process from start to finish. Take the course to get started right away.

Learn PHP for WordPress

For me, the attraction of WordPress is that it lets you build sophisticated websites without having to understand PHP, the underlying programming language it’s built with. You can bolt together themes and plugins, tinker around with a few settings, and you’re good to go! But, of course, if you want to go to a deeper level of customization or become a WordPress developer, you will need to learn PHP eventually. This course is a great introduction, letting you take your first steps with PHP in the familiar environment of WordPress. No more flaking out and using the Customizer—go ahead and take the red pill to see what’s really happening under the hood.

Beef Up Your WordPress Security

If, like me, you run a WordPress site, you probably alternate between feeling good about the number of websites that use your chosen platform (currently 28% of the web and rising) and feeling worried about the constant security threats. Take this short course to learn the key steps you should take to make your WordPress site much more secure.

Understand How the WordPress Loop Works

If you’ve been working with WordPress for any length of time, you’ve probably heard about the Loop. But do you really understand what it is and how to use it? This short, ten-minute Coffee Break Course will get you fully up to speed. Start learning about the WordPress Loop.

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Accessibility Tutorials

Use Style Guides for Accessibility

Keeping your skills current is not just about learning new technologies. It’s also about important concepts like accessibility. Making your sites accessible to as many people as possible is not just the right thing to do; it also makes business sense. You work hard to attract visitors, so why turn some of them away because you’ve failed to make the simple changes that would allow them to view your site? I like this quick tutorial because it shows you how to create a style guide for accessibility, while also introducing you to some important accessibility concepts and techniques along the way.

Design for Visual Impairment

If you have a website or do any kind of design work for the web, you should be conscious of how to design sites that everyone can view easily—including the millions of people with color blindness, low vision, blindness, or other visual impairments. If you’re not, or if you need a refresher, then read this accessibility tutorial to make sure you’re not inadvertently excluding potential visitors and customers through simple but common design flaws.

Create Accessible WordPress Themes

Accessibility is crucial when designing WordPress themes in 2018. But how do you ensure your theme is fully accessible to everyone? This tutorial guides you through the essential steps, from using semantic HTML to checking for color contrast and avoiding repetitive link text and more. Read the tutorial to get up to speed.

Make Your Site Accessible for Keyboard-Only Users

Here’s the problem: most web interfaces are designed with mouse cursors and touch interaction in mind, but many users rely on the keyboard to navigate. This tutorial teaches you the important skill of designing for keyboard accessibility. You’ll learn some great techniques for assisting keyboard users and making your sites accessible to a broader audience. Read the full tutorial here.

Test Your Site for Accessibility

Yes, another accessibility post! Why? Because it’s an important subject that’s been neglected for too long. Envato Tuts+ Web Design just devoted a whole week to it—read more here. This post is about testing your site, and what better way to do that than by discovering how we actually do it an Envato? Get the inside scoop from Envato developer Luke Jones.

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Other Web Design Tutorials

Get Hands-On Practice With the CSS Flexbox Model

Flexbox is a relatively new layout mode in CSS3, and as the name suggests, it can give you some wonderful flexibility in your page layouts. This popular course lets you get your hands dirty by tackling six projects designed to help you learn Flexbox thoroughly. And now it’s been updated with two more bonus projects on modals and sliders, so it’s an even better way of getting up to speed.

Build Forms With CSS Grid

Yes, I know. Forms are not the most exciting topic in the world, are they? But the attraction of this tutorial is not the forms, but the way you create them—using the CSS Grid Layout Module, another quite recent addition to the web designer’s arsenal. It shows you how to create a form the “traditional” way, using floats, and then how to achieve the same end result using CSS Grid.

Tell Your “em” From Your “rem”

If you’ve even dabbled in web design, you’ve probably come across the “em” and “rem” units of measurement. But what are they? What’s the difference, and when might you want to use each one? This one-hour course will get you crystal clear.

Get Up and Running With Sketch

Most of these design tutorials and courses use Adobe software because it’s so popular and offers so many features. But Adobe is not the only game in town. Take this comprehensive, 17-part video course to get up and running with Sketch, a powerful digital design application that’s great for icon design, web design, and more.

Make Some Cool CSS Hover Effects

How would you like to make the text on your website more interactive, using just a few snippets of CSS? Learn how to do that in this tutorial, in which you’ll see how to make your text get circled, underlined, replaced with icons, and more. See the full instructions.

See the Pen
Exploring Hover Effects With SVG Animation ii by Envato Tuts+ (@tutsplus)
on CodePen.

Discover Some New CSS Units

We all know about pixels, and if you use CSS regularly, you probably know about em and rem too. But what about some of the more esoteric units of measurement, like vh, vmax, or ch? Discover seven different CSS units of measurement and find out how they work and when they’d be useful in this excellent free tutorial.

Design Better User Experiences for Global Audiences

Creating an engaging user experience (UX) is hard enough anyway, and it gets even tougher when you have to consider the different cultural contexts of people around the world. This short tutorial introduces you to some important best practices. It’s also worth reading up on what dark UI patterns are and why you should avoid them.

Overcome Your Cognitive Biases and Design Better Websites

If you want to be a great web designer, you probably think you need to learn all the latest CSS and JavaScript tricks and master the latest frameworks. While all of that is useful, you’ll also need to do something more important and often more difficult: know your own cognitive biases and work to overcome them. This fascinating tutorial digs into some of the weird biases lurking in our brains and shows how they can affect your work as a web designer. Read the tutorial to learn about your biases and master them so you can design better websites.

Switch From Font Icons to SVG

Icon fonts are popular among web designers, and for good reason. But did you know that SVG can sometimes be a better choice for handling icons? Take the course to find out why you should consider using SVG for icons and to learn the practical steps for switching from icon fonts to SVG.

Design a Mobile UI in Sketch

Sketch is a powerful digital design application, and it’s perfectly suited to those who design user interfaces for web or mobile apps. In this course, you’ll learn how to create a mobile UI design in Sketch, working from an initial wireframe all the way through to a completed design.

Break the Grid With CSS Grid Layout

Traditional grid-based layouts have a lot of advantages, but you also end up with a lot of websites that look pretty reminiscent of other websites. If you want to make an impression, try breaking the grid. This course shows you exactly how to do it using the CSS Grid Layout model. Learn the full process with video instructions here.

Design a Corporate Website the Easy Way

When you need to design a corporate website, there’s no sense starting from scratch. Instead, you can give yourself a solid head start by using a UI kit. This in-depth course will teach you what a UI kit is and how to use one to design a corporate website using Sketch. Find out more.

Animate SVGs

We all know about animated GIFs, but did you know that animated SVGs are a great alternative? You can even use them for things other than cute cat memes. Find out how to animate SVGs in this amazing tutorial by Adi Purdila.

Create High-Performance Web Animations

See the Pen
Animation sample – optimized by Envato Tuts+ (@tutsplus)
on CodePen.

Animations are a great way to make your website look professional and to provide subtle cues that help users navigate it. But you don’t want to slow down your site—nobody has the patience to wait for an animation to load. So watch this course to get a clear idea of how to create smooth, high-performance animations using the latest technology.

Get Up and Running With Sketch

Sketch is a hugely popular design app that can now fully compete with the Adobe suite. Take this free course on YouTube to get a comprehensive, 2.5-hour rundown of all its essential features and how to use them. There’s so much information packed into this course—you really can go from Sketch novice to pro if you watch it from start to finish and practise the lessons learned as you go.

Master Figma

Figma is taking the web design world by storm. Find out how to use Figma for things like UI design, UX design, app design, and even vector illustration in this newly released learning guide that connects you with a huge range of free tutorials and in-depth courses to learn more. Start learning Figma today. And you can also check out our new course, Advanced Typography Design in Figma.

Master the Basics of Web Typography in Figma

Web design is not just about beautiful graphics and layouts. The best web designers are also experts in typography, understanding how to select and pair fonts, create proper text layouts and spacing, and much more. Get up to speed by watching this detailed and fascinating course on web typography in Figma.

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Web & Mobile Development Tutorials

Learn Node.js From Scratch

What do you mean, you don’t know Node.js? It’s a massively popular open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that will take your JavaScript development to the next level. If you’re a Node.js beginner (or a more experienced developer who needs a refresher), this two-hour introductory course is perfect for you. It’ll take you through Node.js concepts from the ground up, while introducing you to some great tools for Node.js developers. Take the course here.

Learn the Fundamentals of JavaScript

There are lots of JavaScript tutorials and courses out there on the web, but many of them deal with a particular aspect of the language and assume some pre-existing general knowledge. It’s quite rare to find a systematic guide that teaches you the language from the ground up. This JavaScript Fundamentals course does exactly that. It starts with the basic concepts and builds slowly over the course of 7 hours and 61 separate lessons to teach you more complex topics and show you how to use JavaScript in practice. If you want to code for the web, you need a solid understanding of JavaScript, and this course is perfect. Take the course to start learning today!

Make Your First Android App

If you dream of being an app developer but don’t know where to start, this tutorial is for you. It takes you through the whole process of building a simple Android app from start to finish. It’s aimed at complete beginners, so you don’t need any special skills or knowhow for this. Just follow the steps, and you’ll have your own Android app in no time. See how it’s done.

Master PHP

Take a look at your favourite website. There’s a good chance that it was built with PHP. This powerful programming language created a big proportion of the web, and it’s easy to learn and easy to use for writing web applications. In this comprehensive, seven-hour video course, you’ll learn all the fundamentals of PHP, from the basics of using variables and writing loops and functions up to coding classes for simple object-oriented programming (OOP). Along the way, you’ll learn all the most important skills for writing apps for the web. Take the course to get started building your own web applications.

Use Swift Design Patterns

In the world of coding, design patterns are incredibly useful ways of solving common problems that arise in development. But they can be abstract and hard to grasp for beginners, and you can end up struggling to tell your factory from your facade. This comprehensive, 24-video, 3.5-hour course will set it all straight, with detailed explanations and examples of how each pattern can be used in the Swift programming language. Take the course here.

Make Faster Web Apps With the Svelte Framework

Web developers, take note! Svelte is a whole new approach to building user interfaces. Traditional frameworks like React and Vue do the bulk of their work in the browser, but Svelte shifts that work to build-time and drastically improves the performance of your applications. Take this course to learn Svelte from top to bottom.

Learn Advanced Vue.js Concepts

Component-oriented frameworks, such as Vue.js, have changed the way we think about and write web applications. In this course, instructor Jeremy McPeak will teach you some advanced Vue.js component concepts. Take this advanced course now.

Create a Modern Web App With Node, Express, and Vue.js

Follow along with Jeremy McPeak as he walks you through the steps of writing a modern, JavaScript-powered web app using Vue.js with Node, Express, and MongoDB. Take the course here.

Build Your Own Music Player

Well, this is just cool. I don’t know much about Vue.js, let alone Vuetify.js, but I love the idea of building my own music player. If you do too, and if you know a little bit more about progressive JavaScript frameworks than I do, you’ll love this tutorial. What are you waiting for? Get started already.

Code an Image Gallery Android App With Picasso

If you’re creating a mobile app, you’ll probably need to load images at some point. This tutorial teaches you how to do it quickly and easily with Picasso, a popular open-source Android library for loading both local and remote images. It gives you an introduction to what Picasso is and why you should use it, and then it takes you step by step through the process of using it to create an image gallery app. Get the full instructions and source code here.

Build a CMS With Laravel

Or for a very different kind of creativity, why not learn to build your very own content management system? This is a really comprehensive course that includes 23 video lessons with a total viewing time of over four hours. It’s recently been updated with brand new lessons to take advantage of the latest features in Laravel 5, so why not take this comprehensive course and learn pretty much everything there is to know about creating a CMS with Laravel.

Create an Android Instant App Feature

If you’re not up to speed with Android’s new Instant Apps feature yet, this tutorial is ideal for you. Instant Apps let people load entire sections of your app on demand, just by tapping a URL and without having to download the full app. This gives you a great opportunity to get your app in front of as many new users as possible. Learn how to create an Android instant app feature here.

Create an AI-Powered Chatbot

Artificial intelligence is here—and I’m not talking about those dumb social media algorithms that collect masses of data on you and yet still can’t arrange your feed in the right order. I’m talking about chatbots that can hold increasingly realistic conversations with us. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a simple conversational chatbot using the IBM Watson Conversation service. The best part, for me, is the way it serves up inspirational quotes. Get the step-by-step instructions here.

Learn React Through 5 Practical Examples

React is one of the most popular web frameworks, and if you want to learn to use it, what better way than through some practical examples? In this course, you’ll build a digital clock, an Ajax-powered navbar and more, and in the process you’ll learn all the basics of coding React components from JSX and managing state right through to higher-order components and lifecycle methods. Sign up for the course.

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Business Tutorials

Find a Profitable Business Model

Lots of people have business ideas, but sadly, many of those ideas come to nothing. Often, that’s because although people have talent and ambition, they focus more on what they’d like to do instead of getting clear on the business model, i.e. exactly how they’re going to make money. Read this tutorial for a guide to choosing a business model and a look at 15 different models to pick from.

Create a Small Business Branding Package the Fast Way

If you’re a small business owner or freelancer who wants to create professional branding materials quickly and efficiently, this quick ten-minute course is for you. You’ll learn how to select appropriate templates from Envato Elements and bring them together to form a cohesive brand identity that instantly builds customer trust. Take the course now.

Make Your Own Business Cards in Photoshop

If you want to make a solid first impression and spread your professional network, business cards are a great way to do that. And sure, you could use a template or get someone to design them for you, but why not get creative and make your own, from scratch. Watch this free video for full instructions on making your business cards in Adobe Photoshop.

Build a Marketing Plan in PowerPoint

If you’ve built a product or service and want to find customers, you’ll need a marketing plan. This course shows you the nuts and bolts of putting together a professional marketing plan in PowerPoint. Market info, demographics, SWOT analysis—it’s all here. Take the course!

Make a Winning PowerPoint Pitch Deck

Maybe you’re pitching an idea for a creative project, or maybe you’re after something more corporate. In either case, this half-hour course is just the ticket. You’ll come away from it knowing how to create a PowerPoint pitch deck that will convince more or less anyone to do more or less anything. Use this knowledge wisely.

Master PowerPoint Templates

We all know that a presentation looks smarter and more coherent when we use a well-designed template, don’t we? But getting the most out of a PowerPoint template is another story. This in-depth video course shows you how to create a polished presentation from start to finish, using the popular X Note template as an example. So take the course and move your presentations to the next level.

Weave Some Keynote Magic

Do you know how to use the power of the “Magic Move” feature in Apple’s Keynote presentation software? It’s a great way to give your presentations a distinctive, professional look by incorporating some slick animated transitions. Learn how it works in this quick video tutorial.

Make a Professional Resume in 10 Minutes

Along with making New Year’s resolutions, another popular activity at this time of year is making a new career move. If you need to update your resume to propel you towards that dream job in 2018, this short course is for you. Building on a professional template from Envato Elements, you’ll learn how to create a resume that is clean, targeted, and highlights your skills and abilities. Take the course to give your career a boost this month.

Make a Professional Invoice

I’ve been a freelancer for over a decade now, so I know the importance of getting paid on time. Even if you do all the creative stuff well, you still need to handle the invoicing properly so that your clients pay you before your bills are due. This quick, ten-minute course will help you create a professional invoice in either Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. Watch the course now.

Improve Your Email Open Rates

No matter what kind of work you do, I’m willing to bet that you send emails, and that you want people to open them. This tutorial shows you 10 simple steps you can take to improve your email open rates. Who knew that the way you capitalise your subject line can make more people open the email? I didn’t, but the data suggests it’s true. Read the tutorial to discover all 10 email tips.

Hit Inbox Zero

While we may love to be able to draw, paint, create apps or become a YouTube star, I think a lot of us would settle for an empty email inbox. This tutorial will teach you how to reach the “You have no messages” promised land. You can also grab a free eBook for more detailed email mastery tips.

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Adobe After Effects Tutorials

Learn After Effects

If you want to learn how to use Adobe After Effects, you can’t do better than this comprehensive six-hour video course. It teaches you everything you need to know, from the basic interface and tools right up to masking, text animation, motion tracking, and more. Best of all, it’s now completely free to watch. Start learning After Effects here.

Animate Text in After Effects

This spooky text animation was created for Halloween, but the techniques you’ll learn in this course will prove useful all year round. Learn how to animate text in Adobe After Effects and then add fractal noise, use different camera angles, and much more. Take the course!

Animate Handwriting

We covered animating text earlier, but what about animating handwriting? You can do that too, just by watching this informative YouTube tutorial by Dave Bode. Set aside half an hour to watch this one and you’ll be amazed at how much you learn!

Animate Icons!

Sometimes good design is eye-catching, but other times it’s almost unnoticeable. A well-designed icon may not win any great plaudits, but it’s one of the little details that adds up to a better user experience for your website, app, game, presentation, etc. So why not take things to the next level by adding animation. Take the short video-based course for full instructions on creating icons in Adobe Illustrator and then animating them in After Effects.

Create Stunning Video Brush Effects

Wouldn’t it be cool to reveal the star of your next video with a paintbrush effect like the one shown below? In this free YouTube video, Dave Bode shows you how it’s done in After Effects. There’s also an accompanying article where you can not only watch the video but also discover some other useful After Effects brush templates.

Create Video Openers the Easy Way

If you have half an hour to spare, why not spend it watching this amazing video tutorial on creating video openers? You’ll be using After Effects, but it’s OK if you’re a complete beginner—this technique uses ready-made templates and shows you how to customise them to get the effects you want. Simple! See how it’s done.

Save Time With After Effects Templates

Adobe After Effects is a powerful video editor and animation suite, but creating everything from scratch can be very time consuming. So why not save yourself some time by using elegant pre-made templates that you can customise to your heart’s content? Discover some wonderfully useful After Effects templates and see how you could use them in this video.

Create a Cinematic Text Animation

The cinema has its own instantly recognisable style of text animation: big, bold and shiny. Learn how to create those awesome moving titles with the light glinting off them in this free YouTube video course.

Create a Cool Ice Effect Animation

More animation for you in Adobe After Effects. Take this course to learn how to create a translucent ice animation that you can use for your animation and design projects, without needing any plugins.

Customize a Logo Sting in Adobe After Effects

Logo stings are those cool animated logo effects that you often see at the start of videos. They’re a great way to communicate your brand in a stylish way that even jaded YouTube viewers will remember. In this course, you’ll learn to create a complex logo sting the easy way, by downloading an awesome template and customising it. For a limited time, the Projection Mapping logo sting template is available for free for you to follow this course and learn. Simply create an account on Elements and then download it for free.

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Other Photography & Video Tutorials

Make Great Landscape Photographs With Your Smartphone

Smartphones are great for casual photography, but can they really compete with digital SLR cameras for shooting landscapes? The answer, as you’ll see in this tutorial, is a resounding yes. You’ll learn some tips and tricks that will take your landscape photography to the next level, with nothing more than the phone in your pocket (although a tripod and access to Photoshop will also help!). Get started here.

Learn About HDR Photography in 60 Seconds

Sometimes you just don’t have a lot of time to spend learning something new. But everyone can spare a minute, can’t they? That’s the idea behind the Tuts+ 60-second videos—you learn a new skill or technique in just one minute. In this one, you’ll get an introduction to HDR photography. Watch the 60-second video here.

Add Text to a Video in Final Cut Pro X

It sounds simple, and it’s a prerequisite of most video projects, but adding text to a video is sometimes not as easy as it should be. This free tutorial shows you how to add text to your videos in Final Cut Pro—plus it links to some useful resources for creating more advanced text effects. Read the tutorial.

Learn Drone Video Post-Production

Getting professional-looking drone video is about much more than just your flying skills. This free YouTube video course shows you how to get the most out of your video with post-production techniques designed specifically for drone video. You can also try the companion video on drone video production.

Produce Professional Drone Videos

Anyone can fly a drone, but it takes skill to produce beautiful, cinematic video that would belong in the opening scenes of a big-budget movie. This free course on drone video production shows you how to produce professional-looking drone videos without a Hollywood budget. Get started here.

Add Particle Animation Effects to Your Videos

Particle effects are everywhere, and for good reason. They are a great way of adding movement and dynamism to a website background or video transition. Read this article to find out how to create these effects and add them to your videos.

If you don’t have time to create the effect yourself, simply download one of our templates. Check out the top 10 particle effect templates for 2019 in the video below.

Learn Video Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro

This roundup is mostly about the latest releases, but sometimes an older course makes a comeback. This 2017 course on video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro was one of the most popular courses on Envato Tuts+ last month, and it’s easy to see why: it’s basically everything you need to know about Adobe Premiere Pro, with 3+ hours of detailed video instruction from industry expert Dave Bode. Click here to join in and watch.

Add Closed Captions to Social Media Videos

There are loads of good reasons to add captions to your social media videos. The most important, of course, is accessibility—you want to be able to reach the millions of people out there with hearing difficulties. But there are other reasons, too, which this article explains, before explaining how you go about adding those captions. Read about it here.

Start Colour Grading Your Video

Colour grading sounds like a dull, technical topic, but it can make a huge difference to how your videos look and how your viewers respond to them. So settle in for an hour and a quarter with Dave Bode and learn all the ins and outs of colour grading. Watch the free course on YouTube.

Edit Video With Adobe Rush

When Adobe comes out with a new app, it’s worth paying attention. While the company isn’t flawless, it does have a great track record at producing software that becomes the new industry standard. So take the time to have a look at Adobe’s new video editing app, Adobe Rush. Follow this tutorial to see how it works and get up and running quickly.

Colour Correct Video in Adobe Premiere

Don’t you just hate it when you shoot video that looks perfect in every way—except that the colour balance is off? Problems with tone, white balance and other colour settings are common when shooting video, and they can ruin the end result. So watch this free video to get instructions on salvaging your work by adjusting the colour in Adobe Premiere.

Stabilise Your Video Footage

Have you ever taken some great video footage, only to find that it is too shaky to be usable? Unless you use a tripod or have the steady hands of a neurosurgeon, the answer is probably yes. Luckily, Apple’s Final Cut Pro X has stabilization processing built in. Find out how to stabilise your video footage in this video tutorial.

Make an Explainer Video

Have you noticed that explainer videos are everywhere? And they all have the same annoyingly cheery music? In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to put together a good explainer video for your company or personal site. My one gripe is that it’s a written tutorial—being a fan of recursion, I’d have preferred an explainer video on how to make explainer videos. But it’s still a good post. Check it out.

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There’s More…

This post has just skimmed the surface of what Tuts+ has published recently, and in the full archives going back ten years, there’s even more. So if you don’t see what you’re looking for in this post, you can search the full Tuts+ library of more than 1,250 courses and 28,000 tutorials to find exactly what you need.

The post Master These Awesome New Skills in April 2020 appeared first on Envato.

For the team here at Envato, flexibility has long been at the heart of our day to day working life, and it’s certainly helped us become a better company for the global creative community.

There are now thousands of articles online with top tips, tricks and inspiration on how to make your time in social isolation work best – we quite liked Urban List’s tips on staying calm, Wired’s extensive gear and gadgets list – but one important aspect to consider is how do we keep our spirits up, and maintain social connectivity to our friends and peers in our jobs, even as our working lives shift to Slack, Google Hangouts, Zoom meetings and more. Unsurprisingly, happy employees often cite people as the reason they enjoy their job the most!

Changing the channel

Web Infrastructure Architect Andrew Humphrey knows more than most the challenges of connecting with a team, having been based in Bali for more than five years. While he’s a big fan of creating different ‘spaces’ at home for work and rest – “Remember that working from home doesn’t mean working all the time….find a separate space where its easier to switch off” – he also finds that there’s always a Slack channel he can dive into to find a social connection.

“While I’m in a privileged position of being on video calls for 3-4 hours a day, where I get a lot of face time with my colleagues, I still jump into (Slack) channels like #random and #dad-jokes to help keep myself sane. I also find #work-from-anywhere a great place to turn to for advice about dealing with some of the frustrations that arise from time to time.  Folks in there likely have faced a challenge I’m dealing with and readily share how they solved it. Then for the purely social catchup, I occasionally join in the virtual coffee catchup that runs out of that channel.”

For Envato’s marketing team, who are more used to regular coffee catchups and walking meetings than solo isolation, the shift to fully remote has brought its own challenges…and opportunities. “We’ve started hosting daily coffee and tea catchups; short video calls where we jump on and hang out while making a brew,” says Marketing Director Adam Noonan, “and we’re doing a number of group activities in our team Slack channel. This week we’re running a quiz to guess what people’s home working spaces look like!”

New problems, new opportunities

It’s these new opportunities for human connection that has Jay Hyett, Senior Delivery Coach, so excited, especially as his role has a strong focus on helping teams across Envato connect and deliver their best work. “We have a great headquarters and office setup, so its a challenge to try and keep that atmosphere alive online. We’re trying a number of different ideas, including virtual water coolers for teams, where people can bring to life that impromptu hangout experience. One of our teams is trialling a Friday night drinks session over Google Hangouts and another is seeing if they can do workouts together!”

“Icebreakers are proving to be another big thing for our teams,” continues Jay, “and something that asks people to lean in and connect a bit more than they probably would day-to-day in the office. So that’s asking people to share photos of life at their house and where they’re working from, or even simply ‘are you wearing tracksuit pants today?’. Another team just did a retro where everyone brought a stuffed animal to keep them company.”

“Yes, it relies on people having a sense of humour, but that’s what makes it human, people connecting and supporting each other at a time when we’re probably having less interaction in our daily lives than ever before.”

Sharing and caring

Senior Developer Mary-Anne Cosgrove helped pioneer Envato’s social catch up program for remote workers and women in engineering. “People like to socialise over food and drink, so I set up the monthly women’s catch-ups at morning tea and lunchtime. The remote workers catch up time was a little trickier because we’re in quite a few different time zones, but we’ve settled on an early afternoon tea time. So the idea is to grab your food and beverage of choice before coming into the hangout. I’ve often asked my team to have a virtual team lunch, and sometimes they’ve even gone out to a cafe or restaurant in Melbourne and taken a laptop so they could include me there. “

“When they’ve done that, it has really helped me feel like a valued member of the team,” continues Mary-Anne. “This social interaction is hugely important, and different people need different levels of it. I’ve seen remote working fail for a person when they didn’t have enough interaction with their team and felt isolated and alone. If a person is hanging out with their team a lot in meetings and on Slack anyway they may not feel the need for virtual coffees or lunches – but the less formal virtual catchups allow us to get to know each other better than meetings where we are mostly discussing work.”

Bringing people together

Office-based events are often a perfect chance to bring people together, so spare a thought for the social committees and event organisers around the world who are scrambling to reschedule or reshape their event calendars. Envato Office Manager Ruth Crespo and Office Coordinator Tamar Collins turned the cancellation of the company’s Harmony Day potluck gathering at the Melbourne HQ into an online-based talent show, not to mention essential recipe resource.

“It’s 100% possible and necessary to find online ways to still celebrate events. Social interaction is so vital for mental health, even if it’s from the screen. It’s better to create something and give people the option to participate and connect online, than to offer nothing.

“It’s fun taking on the challenge of pivoting to cater to the new norm, and I feel lucky to have a component of my role that helps create that culture,” adds Ruth. “We really love our jobs and bringing joy to Envato staff, so it was a bit of a sad realisation when months of planning and preparation for many different events went out the window – but it’s been fun to get together and brainstorm alternatives.”

Our Best Working From Home Tips

Some of Envato’s regular remote workforce share their top tips for making the most from working at home.

1. Create a dedicated workspace
“Have a dedicated space for work so you can walk away from it at the end of the day. A room with a closeable door is ace if you can manage it.” Ray Grasso, Engineering Manager – Envato Elements.

2. Establish a routine
“It’s easy to stay in your pyjamas and work from the lounge. Don’t do that, it doesn’t benefit you physically or mentally. Set a routine. I get dressed in the same outfit Monday to Friday; jeans and a black tee. They are my work clothes. I walk out to my mailbox in the morning, and when I come back, I’m “walking into the office” to make a coffee and start my workday”. Ben Vilnis, Junior DevOps Engineer.

3. Remember to take breaks
“Remember that working from home doesn’t mean working all the time.” Andrew Humphrey, Web Infrastructure Architect

“Schedule breaks that you’d usually take going for coffee, running into people in the halls, etc. Get up, stretch, take a few minutes to get away from the computer. Don’t take your breaks at your desk. Be mindful that without interruptions you’ll naturally spend more time at your computer and that ends up depleting your energy faster than working with others.”  Jacob Bednarz, Site Reliability Engineer

4. Get outside (when you can)
“I use the extra non-commute time or long lunch to get out in the sun. It keeps me sane and happy.” Damien Adermann, Developer

“Get outside and at least go for a walk each day. An activity tracker will show how sedentary you can be WFH, I try and turn commute-time into exercise time.” Lucas Parry, Lead Developer

The post Staying social during social isolation appeared first on Envato.

We are pleased with the improvements we made in these past 12 months, much of which can be attributed to the passion, advocacy and commitment of people across the business. We appreciate that delivering better diversity and inclusion outcomes is not a challenge that is ever ‘solved’. Rather, it’s a process we have committed to, knowing that every year we will need to take stock, respond and adjust our plans to ensure we’re delivering positively for all our employees. 

Our Out@Envato committee is an excellent example of demonstrating what a passionate group is capable of achieving in a small amount of time. From changing our gender options in our HR system, to petitioning the annual Great Place to Work Australia study to change their global demographic metrics to be more inclusive, the volunteers at Out did an amazing job to ensure we’re inclusive to non-binary folk. Their energy and momentum have inspired others across the business to see the same advocacy achieved for mental health inclusion, aiming to educate and support Envato folk in mental health-related topics.

Pleasingly, over the last 12 months, we saw further improvements in our gender balance across all position types across the business, while also introducing non-binary reporting metrics for the first time. Along the way we also adjusted our gender pay gap analysis reporting process,  meaning we can now report and act on any misalignments every quarter. And in our commitment to striving for gender equity, we’ve excitedly cheered on our third successfully graduating apprentice developer and have welcomed two more apprentices into the Envato Apprentice Developer Program.

Gender Equity

Headcount

Our gender balance increased 6% on 2018 figures, making it the fourth year in a row we’ve improved on this measure.  In the knowledge that individuals may identify as a gender other than the sex they were assigned at birth, or may not identify as exclusively male or female, we have changed our reporting demographics to man or woman. We’re also reporting on non-binary stats for the first time, with the inclusion of trans/gender diverse demographics. 

Note: for the purposes of our graphs above, the term trans/gender diverse includes those who choose to identify as trans, those with a trans history, and those who identify as gender diverse, bigender, agender, gender fluid, genderqueer, non-binary or other.

Industry Measures

For the fourth year in a row, we submitted Envato to the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), a non-profit organization who provide a benchmark and survey in relation to inclusion for the LGBTI community. With a revamp of the Out@Envato steering committee and its renewed focus on LGBTI inclusion initiatives, we saw an 8 point increase in our score this year. 

Code Like a Girl Sponsorship

Envato continues to be a Gold Partner for Code Like a Girl. It remains one of our longest-standing business-wide sponsorships and we’re extremely proud to be able to support Code Like a Girl in their efforts to empower more women and girls to embark on a successful coding career. 

International Women’s Day

This year’s IWD theme was all about #balanceforbetter; inspiring action to forge a more gender-balanced world.

Our guest speaker Kerryn Harvey shared her incredible story of courage and resilience after a horrific bike accident resulted in a full arm amputation. Kerryn inspired many of us to focus on what’s important and how to set goals to keep us progressing. 

LBGTI inclusion events

Our Out@Envato team hosted a number of events over the last 12 months, including : 

• International Trans Day of Visibility. An annual international celebration of trans pride and awareness, recognising trans and gender diverse experiences and achievements. 
• Wear it Purple Day:  A national day to raise awareness for LGBTI people – especially young people, across Australia with a simple message: you have the right to be proud of who you are 
• Two Out Tech meetups, which aim to bring together Melbourne tech industry workers who identify as LGBTI or Allies, with more meetups planned over the next year.

Our Out@Envato team also created our new look Envato Pride t-shirts which are now a staple wardrobe piece for many of our team, from Melbourne to Mexico!

Mental Health Inclusion Events

As part of World Autism Acceptance Month in April, we took part in the “Hoodies Up for Autism” campaign. We asked people to wear their hoodies to work to show a little more understanding of how we can support and embrace people with autism and celebrate the diversity autism brings to our world. Why hoodies?  Some people with autism experience sensory sensitivities and can become overloaded by stimuli in their environment; wearing their hoodie up means they can block out bright lights and busy environments which helps calm them.

And in October we celebrated Mental Health Week with a Health and Wellness Expo in our Melbourne HQ, which included a workshop on Mindfulness and Meditation including a practical session using Muse headsets, a mental health panel run by our Mental Health Inclusion group, and a Recognition BBQ acknowledging all the positive work our peers do to make Envato such a great place to work.

Improving our Parental Leave practices

We have been reflecting on how we support employees and managers through times of parental leave, acknowledging it’s an area we can continue to make positive improvements in. In the last 12 months, this has meant tangible changes to leave allowances, while setting clearer expectations internally around how we support individuals and their managers to ensure that everyone who takes parental leave has the best experience possible. As part of this, we are continuing to improve how we provide support, clarity and career development in the lead-up, throughout and after an individual’s parental leave.

Some of the improvements we’ve made so far include:

1. Primary carer leave has increased from 18 weeks to 20 weeks at full pay
2. Partner Leave has increased to 2 to 3 weeks, full pay
3. Formally including adoption and stillbirth leave into our policies 
4. Two professional coaching sessions offered to all those taking primary carer leave.
5. Superannuation will now be paid on the unpaid portion of parental leave for all primary caregivers up to 12 months

Equity and Inclusion Officers

We rolled out our Equity and Inclusion Officer program, providing all Envato employees with a number of trained employees who they can talk to about anything they need support with. This is something we’ve been aiming to achieve for some time now, as it goes a long way to ensuring that Envato can provide a genuinely safe space for people to have difficult conversations. Equity and Inclusion Officers provide this by offering Envato’s staff community another friendly face to talk to when they need support, on top of their Manager, People Partner and our EAP service. 

Indigenous education skills development 

The Envato Foundation continues to support Australia’s young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population through partnerships with organisations that focus on opportunity creation, education and skills development. This year we donated $255,000 to our foundation partners, with the money supporting everything from new books for children in remote communities, education, training and employment programs for school-aged children, as well as fully funded secondary school scholarships. In late 2019 we were excited to announce a new partner, Indigitek, which focuses on increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in tech roles. 

In Mexico, our donation efforts have focused on supporting Cres Estipac, a high school focussed on educating indigenous youth in a way that will assist them to support and transform their communities. Our donations this year helped to expand the girl’s dorm of the school. 

A Look Ahead 

There’s plenty more to be done building on our most recent diversity and inclusion roadmap, from, building out internal resources with a dedicated D&I intranet page to focussing on the initiatives that have been guided by our AWEI and WGEA submissions.

While our focus inside Envato continues to be primarily on gender, LGBTI and mental health, we remain committed to  improving any practices that maintain an inclusive workplace, be it training, reporting or other activities that help to foster an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

The post Understanding Envato’s commitment to diversity and inclusion appeared first on Envato.

While the original statement was directed at something akin to a genetically engineered koala (thanks Wikipedia), it’s also a phrase that could easily be adopted at Envato, given the number of family members we have working under the one roof at our Melbourne HQ…and no, that’s not including Collis and Cyan Ta’eed! 

Take brothers Vasko and Daniel Jovanoski. The latter was just five months into his role as a Development Team Lead last year when he encouraged his younger brother to apply for a Service Desk Specialist position. Far from having reservations about working so close together, Vasko said it was an easy decision to make. “Daniel told me about the role and the amazing culture and people at Envato, so applying for the role was an easy call to make.”

“There’s been a lot of positives, such as being able to catch up more regularly now and spend more time with him (Daniel), whether it be going for a coffee in the morning or grabbing lunch.”

“Also beating him at table-tennis has been quite enjoyable also! Sorry, Dan… I had to…” concludes Vasko with a laugh.

Despite having a torrid time on the table tennis table with his brother, Dan likewise has been a big fan of sharing his workday with family. “As we don’t live together anymore, it’s been great grabbing a coffee in the morning and catching up. I catch-up with Vasko more now than ever before…and I’ve even received credit for helping cook at the company BBQ when it was actually Vasko who volunteered!”

“There have been zero downsides, it’s been great.”

Likewise, it’s been all positive for the McKenna family. Sam McKenna, her husband Pat and his brother Alex have ensured that Envato has always had a McKenna in the building since 2013. “Pat started it,” says Sam. “He had this amazing opportunity with an awesome team which he’d tell me all about when he got home to find me still in my freelancing-PJs!”

Pat confirms he played a strong role in getting the rest of his family in the door. “I think I may have influenced Alex and Sam by constantly telling them about how nice it is to work at Envato, and that jealousy eventually morphed into job applications”

For Alex, having a familiar face in his brother Pat as he commenced in a new Customer Experience role made the transition to a new place of work so much smoother. “At the beginning of my time at Envato, Pat and I were working in different roles but on the same team. So while learning the ropes he was an amazing resource for learning why things were the way they were and I think it really helped me get up to speed in my job much faster.”

“And now with two other McKennas here there’s always someone to talk to and get a coffee or lunch with.”

However, there are downsides. “We end up talking about work constantly, even when we’re out at parties or family gatherings,” says Pat. “It can alienate everyone else a little bit.” It’s a sentiment Alex agrees with. “It does tend to come up, but we tend to have different opinions on things though so it’s usually quite good to hear their opinions on work topics,” he says. 

“I think we do talk a lot about achievements or frustrations, but I think Alex is really great at leaving work at work” counters Sam.

“Also, my Dad keeps demanding that we get him some Envato merchandise,” jumps in Pat, reflecting further on the challenges they face as a family.

“Sometimes when Pat and Sam are too lazy to come to the office they make me collect their mail and bring it home for them,” muses Alex. 

“Pat and I have been mistaken for brother and sister a couple of times, which is kind of funny but also concerning,” reflects Sam. 

But the very minor frustrations are made up for a whole lot of good experiences. “Ultimately, you’ve always got someone supportive to rant to when you’re having a bad day,” concludes Pat. 

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At Envato, we strive to take a long term view of our business and focus on creating value, so while we have a healthy appreciation for the bottom line, we are also invested in building a sustainable business that creates wealth for many, not just for some. 

Ultimately, we want to set Envato up with a purpose that lasts. We see our success in our community’s success, and we want to continue to align our core company values and operations with this purpose. That’s not always easy, and we don’t always get it right, but that’s our north star.

It’s a big part of the reason why we’re proud of the record payouts we’ve delivered to our author community over these past 12 months. And it’s why we’re also equally proud of confirming the Envato Foundation’s fourth charitable partner, Indigitek, with the launch of this year’s Public Impact Statement, available below.

Both were key achievements in a year that saw the company reach a number of milestones, launch new products and still deliver on the high standards we set for ourselves as members of the wider Envato community. I’d encourage everyone to take a few minutes to look through our 2019 Public Impact statement to get a more complete picture of what we’ve done, and where we are heading. 

It was this time last year when we published our inaugural Public Impact Statement to give our community better insight into our ambitions and achievements, and give everyone a chance to share ideas on how we could do better. The response was overwhelming and provided us with plenty of food for thought, inspiration…and, of course, a decent helping of positive reinforcement! 

I hope this second iteration will continue to inspire our community and prompt valuable discussions in equal measure. Thank you all for what you have contributed to Envato this year, and we look forward to what 2020 may bring! 

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Your business can only grow if your client base grows. So, how do you successfully engage a loyal, satisfied customers? One of the best ways is with a great email marketing strategy and some solid, engaging content to accompany it. MailChimp is one of the best systems out there when it comes to client email communications, so we’ve put together this list of the 10 best email marketing templates for MailChimp for 2019 to take the hard work out of creating engaging email marketing content for your prospective and existing audience. All items featured today are available with a subscription to Envato Elements.

10. Marquez – Email for Agencies 80+ Sections by ThemeMountain

Starting off our countdown is a versatile theme with 18 pre-built layouts and 80+ sections. Creating unique, immersive emails has never been so easy. Feature your best testimonials, introduce your team, highlight your products and put forward your best call to action to create a beautiful, modern email design using this template. 

9. Trend – Responsive Fashion Email + Online Builder by DynamicXX

Turn your eye for fashion to this sleek template design and bring all your hottest products to the forefront of your emails. A highly interactive design allows you to include information surrounding any item on your product line, with room for individual product details and click throughs directly to your website. It’s a fashionista’s best friend. 

8. Atellar – Responsive Email + StampReady Builder by LEVELII

The number 8 template on our list features a beautiful, modern design that can easily cater to any email marketing needs. This template allows businesses to promote their goods and services to clients in a super stylish way, minus the hassle.

7. Maverick – Responsive Email + StampReady Builder by LEVELII

Template number 7 on our list of Envato Elements top 10 email marketing templates for MailChimp is perfect for the creative mind wanting to showcase their products, brand or portfolio to their client base in an engaging way. Stylish features and room to provide stats and figures make this template stand out in the best possible way.

6. Emailo – Responsive Email and Newsletter Template by CastelLab

Designed specifically with writers in mind, this template features multiple text editing options with room for a portfolio feature and a “meet our team” section. Help your customers understand your business and let them connect with you and your team as you take them on a journey with this marketing email template.

5. Booster – Responsive Creative Business Email by DynamicXX

Our number 5 entry has amazing, easy to use online template builder features. You can instantly edit text, easily undo or redo actions and export your template file to your desktop. It also includes graphs and charts to show off your business’s stats. The best part is, when you send it off to your customers it will look striking and immediately grab their attention.

4. Moka – Responsive Email and Newsletter Template by MaestoMail

Share your business’s best features with this email template by MaestoMail. With varying text and image fields, you can mix words with visuals to show your customers how you can make their lives a little easier with your products and services. The bright colours and bold headings are editable, but the pre-existing options definitely stand out as they are.

3. Shop – Responsive Email + Online Template Builder by CastelLab

This fun and fancy-free template is a breath of fresh air. It screams “young and bold’ and will stand out from the competition. Link to your blog, your shop, your e-brochure or your “contact us” page and highlight the products on your “must sell” list to draw customers in.

2. Blade – Responsive Email + StampReady Builder by LEVELII

Extensive email compatibility and super easy editing features allow any creative, designer or marketing professional to take advantage of this modern, sophisticated template. This design will empower your clients to engage with you and your products. 

1. James – Responsive Email + Online Template Builder by DynamicXX

Number 1 on our list is James by contributor DynamicXX. The hero banner alone packs a punch and draws the eye to whatever it is you need to promote. This template is perfect for photographers to showcase their images, working in harmony with descriptive text and links to websites or galleries.

Did any stand out to you as a template you’d use to increase your client base and communicate with your current customers? If so, make sure you share this list with any friends or colleagues who may benefit from using any of these templates in their marketing efforts. Make sure you don’t miss out on upcoming video content by subscribing to the Envato YouTube channel.

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If you were to look at the cover Key Concepts in VCE Business Management Units 1&2, you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find Envato inside. However, according to co-author Stephen Chapman, the company was a perfect example for the “Establish a Business” unit.

“Envato’s experiences reinforce the theoretical concepts discussed in the ‘Legal and Financial Considerations’ chapter. Students are exposed to the ‘real world’ workings of a business in order for them to understand how a business operates in reality.” 

The textbook examines Envato’s humble start in a Sydney-basement and the company’s subsequent journey to becoming one of Australia’s most successful tech startups, with more than $750 million USD paid out to its creative community during this time.

“The discussion as to Envato’s early beginnings and the financial requirements – a starting budget of $90,000 and the use of a credit card – provides a sense of realism,” continued Chapman. “The case study provides students with a clear understanding that there are different methods used to raise finance for the establishment of a business.” 

“I particularly liked how the case study showed the transition to other sources of funding as the business expanded as well as the payment methods for its contributors.”

A recent survey conducted by publisher Jacaranda of teachers who use the textbook in their classes found that many found the case studies to be one of the key reasons the book was such a success in their classrooms. Envato was a good fit for this because, as Chapman pointed out, the company’s success story contains all the ingredients to make it not just relevant, but inspiring too. 

“It’s a contemporary business that students can relate to. It contains a human aspect – Cyan and Collis’ goals and aspirations – that help create an engaging narrative, that’s highlighted by the growth and development of the business over time.”

So next time someone asks you for a textbook example of how to be flexible and responsive when establishing a business, look no further than Envato!

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Music in gaming videos can set the tone, raise energy, and punctuate epic moments. Today’s list counts down the 10 best gaming music tracks in 2019. All items featured today are available with a subscription to Envato Elements.

10. In EDM by OlexandrIgnatov

In EDM by OlexandrIgnatov kicks us off with an explosive package of synthy shredding and hard-hitting bass. This relentless tune will serve you well as a high-intensity background track.

9. Dirty Game Aggressive Action Big Beat by kornevmusic

Dirty Game Aggressive Action Big Beat by kornevmusic combines syncopated drum patterns with distorted guitar and a punchy synthesizer to create an aggressive all-around action track. The blaring background horns and industrial attitude feel like a modern EDM take on Nine Inch Nails.

8. Sport Action by OlexandrIgnatov

Sport Action by OlexandrIgnatov reverberates its way onto our list with its dark and infectious rhythm. The electrified, sizzling bass behind the echoing snare drum is reminiscent of the soundtrack to The Matrix – perfect for imbuing your gaming videos with a moody undercurrent.

7. Epic by TheStoryShop

Epic by TheStoryShop starts off like a re-imagination of The Mission Impossible soundtrack, then transitions to something more akin to Hans Zimmer’s Batman theme. The track is aptly named and ideal for dramatic introductions and buildups.

6. Adventure Epic Cinematic by MarbleSpace

Adventure Epic Cinematic by MarbleSpace is everything you’d expect from such a title, with motivating horn blares and rolling violin phrases aplenty. Viewers will expect something appropriately (or farcically) daring when this comes on, so use it wisely.

5. Relaxing Piano with Nature Sounds by AllenGrey

Closer to the opposite end of the energy spectrum, we have Relaxing Piano with Nature Sounds by AllenGrey. Bathe your listeners in these sentimental layers of sunlight, babbling brooks and chirping birds if you’re looking to bring the energy down a few notches.

4. Evolving Valley of Emotions by matsteiner

Evolving Valley of Emotions by matsteiner is there for you when you want your video to evoke maximum feels. Harness the tinkling bells, swelling strings and ethereal chants effectively, and by the end of your no-scope montage, there won’t be a dry eye in the house.

3. Suspense by TheStoryShop

Suspense by TheStoryShop is positively oozing with murky dread. Throw this on your stealth or horror-oriented gaming videos and your viewers will be gleefully white-knuckling it straight to subscriberdom.

2. Dance Power Drift by LoopsLab

Dance Power Drift by LoopsLab wastes no time with nuance, launching straight into a pounding bass line and rapid-fire synth notes. This belligerent bass-in-your-face banger will instantly let your audience know what they’re in for on your high-intensity gaming channel.

1. Dark Sci-Fi Trailer by AllenGrey

Right from the first echoing cello note, you know you’re in for a goosebump-inducing ride with Dark Sci-Fi Trailer. Author AllenGrey has managed to compose the sonic equivalent of a villain that you hate to love. Put simply, this track is Thanos, a Xenomorph from Alien, and Cthulhu all wrapped up in one terrifyingly awesome package.

That concludes our list of the 10 best gaming music tracks for 2019. Which track would you choose for your next gaming video? Don’t forget to subscribe to the Envato YouTube channel to check out our upcoming video content specifically designed for creatives like you. To journey further down the rabbit hole of gaming video creation, check out our list of the 10 Best Video Game Sounds for 2019:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMi83XVId-0

The post 10 Best Gaming Music Tracks for 2019 appeared first on Envato.

Video marketing templates are a godsend when you need to create engaging videos without blowing your budget. We’re counting down 2019’s 10 Best Video Marketing Templates for Premiere Pro. All items featured here are available with a subscription to Envato Elements. We also have a Video Marketing Guide that breaks down the process into manageable chunks. Be sure to check that out, too.

10. Brand Promo ID // Logo Reveals by Proskurovskiy

This template makes a statement with its simple and bold styling. Seven types of logo reveals and four types of animated text callouts will give you plenty to work with for a promo video or YouTube channel opener.

9. Universal Intro Pack by Igorilla_motioN

This pack is a bundle of five different intros, each with a unique flavor. Looking for an opener for your fashion or travel videos? Give the “Urban” option a whirl. Something with a bit more testosterone, you say? Try “Sports” on for size. Corporate, Grunge and Romantic options round out the rest of the pack.

8. Neat Titles by Space-Dog

Everyone needs animated typography at some point or another, and Neat Titles by Space-Dog fills the gap with 30 easily customizable motion graphics.  Load up these MOGRTs for nitty-gritty editing in After Effects, or mainline them straight into your Essential Graphics panel in Premiere Pro for instant drag-and-drop goodness.

7. Instagram Stories by IconsX

Take the headache out of your social media story creation with the Instagram Stories template. While this particular item is aimed at web and software developers, author IconsX also offers more than 20 other Instagram Stories templates with themes ranging from marketing and finance, to technology and education.

6. Intro by templatesbravo

Don’t let the name fool you – Intro by templatesbravo is more than just a jazzy opener. A subscribe button pop-up for YouTube, follow reminder for Instagram, and outro animation make for an excellent all-in-one motion graphic pack for your channel.

5. Vertical Event Promo by vals_valley

This is a dashingly designed Premiere Pro template made with event organisers in mind. Hype up your conference, lecture, or board meeting with videos that are primed and ready for your guests’ mobile devices.

4. Stylish Broadcast Pack | Essential Graphics | Mogrt by vooofka

Vooofka serves up ultramodern elegance with Stylish Broadcast Pack. These motion graphics are edgy – literally. Just look at the angles on those lower thirds. Breathtaking.

3. Collage – Premiere Promo by Mr_Free

If what you need is a polished, dynamic template for your corporate videos, Mr_Free has the goods with Collage. The smoothly animated image placeholders, text layers and transitions are sure to elicit some nods of approval and “hmm, not bad” faces at your next boardroom presentation.

2. Creative Process – Flat Design Concepts by Aquavitae

Creative Process – Flat Design Concepts by Aquavitae is a collection of 15 workspace scenes which cover just about every major niche of digital marketing and development. Switch individual elements on and off, change colors, play with scale, and add in text to compose scenes that are uniquely yours.

1. The Ultimate Story Pack by digitalproducts669

This pack  is a one-stop-shop for Instagrammers, social influencers, and digital marketers. This bundle is crammed full of enough pre-made scenes, transitions, titles, animated swipes, backgrounds and headers to keep your vertical video stories eternally fresh.

That wraps up our list of the 10 Best Video Marketing Templates for Premiere Pro. Which template engaged you the most? If you have any friends looking for easy ways to promote their products and services using video, make sure you share this list with them. 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Envato YouTube channel to check out our upcoming video content specifically designed for creatives like you and ,if your video marketing toolbox could use a few more templates, stick around and check out our list of the Top 10 Product Promo Templates for After Effects:

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