Ah, those were the days. Remember when a mobile phone could fit in a jean pocket, the battery could last four days, and you could drop the device from a height, and then drive over it with a tank, and it would still run Snake perfectly?

Nokia’s Golden Age

That’s not to say that iconic phones like the Nokia 3310 were merely utilitarian bricks either. They were considered sleek and modern-looking for the time – facets that helped change the way cell phones were seen and made them ubiquitous.

Decline and Legacy

Nokia’s failure to keep up with the emergence of the best camera phones from the likes of Apple and Samsung ultimately led to its decline, but its role in defining the design of mobile technology can’t be overlooked, which is why it’s so exciting to see plans for an online Nokia Design Archive.

The Nokia Design Archive

The Helsinki-based research school Aalto University is launching a digital repository of 20,000 items from Nokia’s glory days and beyond, from the mid-90s to 2017. We’re told there will be 959GB of materials in total and that they’ll include secret concepts and materials that haven’t been seen before, giving an insight into the company’s design process, from ideation to prototyping.

A Story of People

The focus was initially going to be on the objects themselves, but researchers say they discovered that the story of Nokia was more about the people. As such, it will also include interviews with designers.

What to Expect

The Nokia Design Archive opens on 15 January. Highlights are sure to include the legendary Nokia 3310 and the Nokia 8810 banana phone immortalised by Keanu Reaves in The Matrix. But while the Nokia Design Archive will be a trip back in time, the promise of the inclusion of unreleased concepts also suggests that it could be a glimpse at a retro future that could have been.

Conclusion

The Nokia Design Archive is a significant step in preserving the history of mobile technology and the people behind it. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come and how design has played a crucial role in shaping our daily lives.

FAQs

Q: What is the Nokia Design Archive?
A: The Nokia Design Archive is a digital repository of 20,000 items from Nokia’s glory days and beyond, from the mid-90s to 2017.

Q: What can I expect to see in the archive?
A: The archive will include secret concepts and materials that haven’t been seen before, giving an insight into the company’s design process, from ideation to prototyping.

Q: When does the Nokia Design Archive open?
A: The Nokia Design Archive opens on 15 January.

Q: How can I access the Nokia Design Archive?
A: You can visit Aalto University to learn more about the Nokia Design Archive and access the materials.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion Details

Publisher Microids
Developer Savage Level
Format PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Platform Unreal Engine 5
Release date 17 December 2024

The trend for pouncing upon out of copyright art, books and fiction continues apace with Flint: Treasure of Oblivion, a role-playing game that riffs on Robert Louis Stevenson’s world as described in Treasure Island. But this is no Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey shakedown, as developer Savage Level has gone to great lengths to craft a world of its own within Stevenson’s imagination.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion has comic appeal

The adventure begins in the dungeons of French city Saint-Malo, where Captain Flint and second-in-command Billy Bones stumble upon a treasure map and the tease of adventure, gifted by an old pirate who may be more than he seems.

The game is complex, detailed, and tactical

Upon escaping, gathering a crew and taking over a ship, the adventure begins in earnest and Flint: Treasure of Oblivion opens up and falls into a pattern of exploration to find fresh leads on that treasure island as well as new game cards – used to unlock unique abilities, obtain new skills, improve dice chances and more – and then battles, resulting in needed booty that can be used to upgrade your crew (neatly, a pirate’s ‘XP’ is measured in wealth).

Pirate Morale dictates a successful dice roll

Much of the game is absorbed in the battle system. For good and bad, Flint is complex, detailed and tactical. It’s a battle system built on hexagonal tiles with a points system that dictates movement and attacks, each pirate has a range of attribute cards to play that can affect statuses or directly influence the battle. Dice rolls dictate attack damage and can influence weapon effects, as well as movement (two dice are rolled, one for a pirate’s profession and one for their weapon; pirates can stumble, push or tackle enemies, and it’s not uncommon for dice to end in a fail state, ruining any carefully laid plans.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is complex to a fault

When exploring the game’s world for loot and new card abilities to aid future fights, Flint is great fun. The small-scale skirmishes work wonderfully and that sense of experimentation bubbles to the fore. However, when the larger battles ensue, with up to 15 characters on either side, Flint’s battles can become unwieldy, slow and its system a pain to muddle through. It can be hard to work out friend from foe against the detailed backgrounds and simply selecting hexagons, swapping between characters and managing the battle lags (on PS5 at least).

Conclusion

There’s a lot to enjoy in Flint: Treasure of Oblivion, and when it hits the mark this is a wonderfully involved tactical RPG set within a detailed world you’ll enjoy exploring. But sadly, the sheer complexity and pacing, in some moments, can overwhelm the enjoyment, leaving Flint (the game) struggling to keep its head above the rising waters while Flint (the character) optimistically convinces you there’s treasures ahead, if only you can just survive another dice roll.

FAQs

Q: What is the game about?
A: Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is a role-playing game that riffs on Robert Louis Stevenson’s world as described in Treasure Island.

Q: What is the gameplay like?
A: The game is complex, detailed, and tactical, with a battle system built on hexagonal tiles, points, and dice rolls.

Q: Is the game fun?
A: Yes, when exploring the game’s world for loot and new card abilities to aid future fights, Flint is great fun. However, larger battles can become unwieldy and slow.

Q: Is the game worth playing?
A: Yes, despite its complexity and pacing issues, there’s a lot to enjoy in Flint: Treasure of Oblivion.

Achieving Effective Character Design

01. Pick your colour palette

Choosing a primary colour palette that matches your character’s personality is crucial. Don’t hesitate to draw on existing colour palettes; there are millions available online, so why deprive yourself? They’re a great basis for developing colours that work well together in your designs.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

02. Add a touch of madness

Once you’ve found the basic colour scheme, it’s important to find a complementary, more intense palette to highlight the character’s main elements. In this case, that meant the head, hands, and shoes. These colours direct the eye straight to the most important elements.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

03. Separate different parts

To avoid getting lost in the hundreds of different layers, it’s important to segment parts of the character. Here, I’ve split the clothing up into four groups: the coat, the jacket and shirt, the trousers, and then everything else. The head is separate.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

04. Match stylised elements

For the character to fully function, surrounding elements such as smoke, light, and the ground must be stylised in the same manner as the character. For this chap, the design is semi-realistic with sharp shapes, so I worked the smoke and shadows in the same way using a textured brush.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

05. Create the Shapes

It’s important to be able to simplify the various subjects using easy, effective tricks. For example, with glossy materials, a simple white highlight will immediately give an impression of volume, seen here in the edge light (A) that gives volume to the glove, and in the highlight (B) and bounce light (C) that reflects the light onto the metal.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

06. Divert expectations

Here I’ve taken an old diving helmet and turned it into a machine that fills with beer, which swills around the character’s head. To accentuate the goofiness, I also attached beer bottles to the back of the device, as I think it’s important to add a touch of fun to my character designs.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

07. Create a sense of composition

Where the character looks is crucial, as it gives the viewer a sense of how to read the image. In general, to avoid blocking the composition, I’d advise having the character looking or turned towards the right (A) to let the drawing breathe. Conversely, if the character is looking to the left (B) then the atmosphere feels more closed off and less conducive to that sense of the image breathing that we’re looking to create.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

08. Find a focus

Focusing on the element you want to emphasize most is important to give meaning to the character and the image. Here, the focus is on the character’s face and eyes. The lower part of the body is hidden and therefore more mysterious.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

09. Pose the character

The pose and direction of the character’s gaze is important for the atmosphere. The character seen from a low angle and looking at us (A), gives the impression of being threatening. The next character (B) is contemplative, posed and looking towards the viewer, so the feeling is calmer. The final character (C) is just standing stoic, looking into the distance at something that we can only imagine.

[Image: François Bourdin artwork]

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating effective character designs requires careful consideration of many factors, including colour palettes, stylised elements, and composition. By following these tips and staying focused, you can create characters that are engaging and memorable.

FAQs

Q: What is the most important step in creating a character design?

A: The most important step is choosing a colour palette that matches your character’s personality.

Q: How can I avoid getting lost in the hundreds of different layers in a character design?

A: Segment parts of the character, such as clothing and accessories, to simplify the design and make it easier to manage.

Q: How can I add a sense of composition to my character design?

A: Focus on the character’s gaze and pose to create a sense of direction and atmosphere.

GIMP 3.0: Key Facts

Publisher: GIMP.org
Developer: The GIMP Team
Price: Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
New Features: New version, 3.0 featuring new Non-Destructive Editing (NDE) tools, incremental UI improvements, plugin updates and additions.

GIMP 3.0 Review: What’s New?

While there was much work done "under the hood", let’s focus on the things that users can actually see. For example, one of the most asked for features/workflows arrives in this release with additional updates. Non-Destructive Editing (NDE) snuck into a recent previous release, and is now being further refined in v3. This is of course a very important addition, and allows attributes like Levels and other modifications to be applied, and later either removed or adjusted at will.

You will see a small "Fx" icon next to the layer in the Layer Pallet. When clicked it brings up options to turn the effect on/off, modify or delete. A "Merge filter" toggle will flatten the layer effects.

New plugins to GEGL include "GEGL Styles", which offers a wide range of new and needed effects. Such as a simple non-destructive stroke function that should have existed years earlier. In addition, Inner Glow and Bevels have been added. The extensive range of included filters and plugins are very impressive.

Still Missing from GIMP

While nice, there is still a lot missing that should not be missing from an almost 30-year-old image editing tool. For example, though we finally have some non-destructive tools, we still await something comparable to PS "Smart Objects". We are told that was intended for v3, but is now expected in v3.2, to be released who knows when.

Rarely discussed but painful interface design, resulting in its popularity exploding.

Despite continuing promises of an improved interface, GIMP 3.0 is still much of the same. With slightly cleaner icons, and better adaptation on 4k monitors (finally).

Conclusion

After years of us waiting and quietly cheering the GIMP team on, has version 3.0 brought this application in line with others in the market? Sadly, no. While projects like Blender and WordPress have set the bar for open-source tools, the GIMP team appear to still not have learned that part of software development, even for free software, must include reasonable ease of use, and reliable update schedules. Or your market will go elsewhere. As many have to Krita.

Has GIMP finally arrived? Sadly, no. But everything is fixable. They say the missing functionality is "on its way". Great, so deliver it sooner rather than later. And listen to your user base when they tell you – repeatedly – that the UI sucks. Because it does.

Who’s it for?

If you are on Linux the only options are Krita or GIMP. So you should download them both. Another alternative is the online Photopea. It has a lovely interface but some obvious limitations of being in the cloud.

User on Mac and Windows clearly have a few additional options, but not as many as we would expect to have in 2025.

If you are a fast learner or not as entrenched in the "Photoshop Way" of doing things, then give GIMP a whirl. Or if you need some tools or capabilities that Krita doesn’t have and GIMP does, much better typographic capabilities for example, then again GIMP is there for the taking.

FAQs

Q: Is GIMP a good alternative to Photoshop?
A: Yes, but it’s not perfect and still has some limitations.

Q: Is GIMP free?
A: Yes, GIMP is a free and open-source image editing software.

Q: Is GIMP available on all platforms?
A: Yes, GIMP is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Q: What are the new features in GIMP 3.0?
A: GIMP 3.0 features new Non-Destructive Editing (NDE) tools, incremental UI improvements, plugin updates and additions.

Q: Is GIMP 3.0 a significant improvement over previous versions?
A: Yes, but it’s still not perfect and has some limitations.

Q: Is Krita a better alternative to GIMP?
A: That depends on your specific needs and preferences. Krita has some advantages over GIMP, such as a more user-friendly interface and better support for certain file formats.