How to upgrade your design skills in 2016

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Get the design skills employers really want, find out 2016's hottest colour trends, and more.

What new design strings should you be adding to your bow in 2016? What do employers really want? And is it actually possible to design your life – as well as your career?

The latest issue of Computer Arts, 248, is packed with advice for becoming the best designer you can possibly be in the new year. On sale now, it's an essential read for the Christmas break.

Buy CA issue 248 now (opens in new tab)

Inside issue 248, leading designers and employers discuss how to develop your existing skills – and reveal the new skills you need to boost your career prospects next year.

Meanwhile, this month's special report explores 2016's biggest colour trends and looks at the role of brands as colour curators. Find out what's going to be big and how to harness the power of next year's top palettes in your design work.

Also inside CA 248

Frost* Collective (opens in new tab) founder Vince Frost explains how to design your life. From getting started to staying focused, his hard-won advice will help you change your design, career and life over the next 12 months.

Essential advice for improving your wellbeing as a designer

Essential advice for improving your wellbeing as a designer

Plus, stress doesn't have to be an inevitable part of life as a designer – find out what to do if you're feeling overwhelmed at work and how to boost your mental wellbeing.

Also:

  • Why branding is no longer about defining a set of inflexible regulations
  • Punch above your weight: take your studio to the next level with pro advice from Alphabetical (opens in new tab)
  • How Land's End (opens in new tab) was made: behind the scenes on ustwo's ambitious follow-up to Monument Valley
  • How one designer put a modern twist on classic motor racing
  • The best new design, illustration and motion graphics projects from around the world
  • Much, much more...

Get your copy of Computer Arts 248 (opens in new tab) now.

Creating the retro branding for the Mezzo 200 motor race

Creating the retro branding for the Mezzo 200 motor race

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Julia Sagar
Julia Sagar

Julia is editor-in-chief, retail at Future Ltd, where she works in e-commerce across a number of consumer lifestyle brands. A former editor of design website Creative Bloq, she’s also worked on a variety of print titles, and was part of the team that launched consumer tech website TechRadar. She's been writing about art, design and technology for over 15 years.

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