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We'll admit it. We haven't spent the last decade of our lives dreaming about how much better our lives would be if we were able to go to a live-action Nintendo utopia theme park where giant Marios appeared from nowhere and led us down big green pipes, and we were able to collect coins with our watches. But now that Super Nintendo World is soon to be part of Universal Studios Japan, and all of the above will soon become a reality (if the promo video is to believed), frankly, we're beside ourselves. Even if we never get to go to the new theme park that's set to open just ahead of the Tokyo Olympics this summer, we still love that it will exist. What's so special about this new park? Apart from being based on one of our favourite character designs of all time, Super Mario, Super Nintendo World also represents a big shift in theme park design, and interactive experiences in general. Don't believe us? Here are three reasons we're super-excited for Super Mario's theme park, including why we love the promo we've seen so far. 01. The Power Up Bands They might look like they were made for children, but these Power Up Bands are actually a technological feat So walking around a theme park is usually pretty fun. There are rides. There might be characters. There is overpriced junk food. But Super Nintendo World takes all this a step further. Visitors will be given a Power Up Band, which tracks their experience, and allows them to interact with the park, collect gold coins and compete against each other. It's not clear what you'll actually win with said coins. Perhaps they'll give you money off the junk food? Or, more likely, reward you with a little Mario memento. We also expect that they'll get people coming back to the park more than once, in a bid to beat their friends. Good thinking, Universal. Universal says these bands will bring the world of Nintendo to life "in a whole new way", and we're inclined to agree. Instead of just observing the game, visitors will actually be part of it. This sounds super-cool, and also a great use of all sorts of tech. We only hope it works. No one wants to collect a bunch of gold coins only for their Power Up Band to lose its erm, power, and its coins. 02. The joyful promo video If Super Nintendo World is anything like the promo video (above), then we are truly in for a treat. This is the gaming utopia Mario fans have been dreaming of. It manages to look both fun and utterly ridiculous at the same time, with the music providing the perfect soundtrack for all the joyful running around. This promo video makes it look like it would be impossible to be sad while at Super Nintendo World. Feeling a bit tired? Go jump on a mushroom! Standing a queue for too long? Touch a pole and it'll make a fun noise! Not winning any gold coins? Go ride on a Mario Kart, or jump on your opponent's head! (We really don't know how this one will work). While we hope that the park will indeed feature groups of dancing people throwing Super Stars at each other, with any luck the music on this particular video won't be accompanying you around the whole place. That might get a little tiresome after a while (anyone who's been on the It's a Small World ride at Disney will understand). 03. The sparse website Is the website basic, or broken? We kind of love it either way We can't quite figure out the website for Super Nintendo World. Did its owners get so excited by all the gold coins and watches that they forgot to design it properly? Or does it deliberately look like it's been sent from the yesteryear of web design? There are some parts that plain don't work, rather than having been deliberately styled this way (try clicking through to do, well, anything). If you can't read Japanese, the dodgy translations are also particularly enjoyable: "Furthermore, "power-up band" in hand, a vast area that consists of a number of layers , and challenge to a number of challenges with adventure, the world's first activity is born!" is probably our favourite. Anyway, all of this crude design doesn't seem to bother us somehow. It just makes us feel like the real theme park is going to be extra charming, although hopefully more technically adept, and more accessible for the linguistically challenged. The website also includes the presentation video, see below. If all of this has got you desperate to visit, then you may not have to travel all the way to Japan. Future parks are also planned for the US and Singapore. And in the meantime, you could always get your hands on a retro gaming console to get your Mario fix. Read more: Retro gaming stamps are an 8-bit nostalgic hit Designer unmasks the secret of the PS5 logo Designers go wild for minimalist UNO concept View the full article

Two proof-of-concept exploits were publicly released for the major Microsoft crypto-spoofing vulnerability. View the full article

When it comes to surprises, Google plays a good game. From brilliantly entertaining Google Doodles to the most genius Google Easter Eggs, the Google team clearly like to get creative and delight users with hidden gems. And this most recent offering is no exception. Google AR animals is a hidden augmented reality feature that allows users to view a 3D image of a search result. On AR-enabled devices, the tool is accessed using Google Search, with the question: How big is a wolf (for example). If the animal in question is available, Google will return the usual statistics – height, length, mass etc – above an arrow that users can click to reveal a 'meet a life-sized wolf up close' option. Press that and voila! A 3D version of the animal appears in the room. Click the arrow to reveal the 3D model The 3D models themselves are a little crude (see our free 3D models to compare with other examples) however, they provide a realistic sense of an animal's scale (seriously though, who knew a wolf was that big?) and movement. As an artist, this is a brilliant reference resource, offering insight to animal behaviour and movement (without the risk of losing any limbs, always a plus). Animals include a lion, tiger, bear, alpine goat, timberwolf, European hedgehogs, angler fish and Emperor penguin. Each carries out actions synonymous with the animal. For example, you can watch (and hear) a lion roar, wolf howl and giant panda enjoy a piece of bamboo. The feature was recently discovered by Vimeo co-founder Zach Klein, who referred to it as 'magical'. As highlighted above, not only is this tool a brilliant art resource, but a super-fun (and highly addictive) feature to be enjoyed by all the family. Read more: Illustration series depicts superheroes' bathroom habits – and it's genius Take a tour of the top logo trends for 2020 New Gucci logo is the most bizarre thing we've ever seen View the full article

The Lion King CGI has been much talked about since the release of the film last year. The film has hit headlines for its use of animation, from criticism that the animation was too realistic to show emotion, to deepfake technology being utilised to correct CGI mistakes. But controversy aside, it remains an incredible achievement in terms of photorealistic effects. When we spoke to the Elliot Newman, VFX Supervisor on MPC's Lion King production, he was all too aware of the epic creative venture he had completed. This interview explores how the film was shot, including the approach to animal inspiration and the tools utilised during the process. (For more inspiration, explore our guide to the best 3D movies, or browse our roundup of the 3D models you can use in your projects.) With The Lion King, MPC has further refined previous approaches to character work Based at MPC in London, Newman begins our conversation by noting that it served as the centre of the company's work on the movie. Assets for the film were built at the London studio and then made available to the production base in Los Angeles, where the virtual production work of 'shooting' the movie took place (under the lead of director Jon Favreau and production visual effects supervisor Rob Legato). Animation for the movie was then undertaken by Newman's team in London with input also provided by MPC's Los Angeles and Bangalore studios. Having broadly defined the setup for the work to be done, Newman starts by addressing the fundamental challenge in the appropriately epic journey of bringing this new version of The Lion King to the screen, saying that: "It was probably just the scale of it and that it's a remake of such a classic movie. It was enormous for us, just managing the fact that we're the sole facility. The expectations were incredibly high and it doesn't get much bigger. But it was super exciting and it's a special thing to be a part of. But there's always the pressure of expectations that were so high." MPC revisited the classic designs from the 1994 The Lion King, realising them as photorealistic animated characters Of his schedule on the project, Newman recalls,"I started about two and a half years ago, in January 2017, and we did some pitch work and had conversations about the process of shooting approval. My involvement began with preparing a teaser, comprising 25 shots, for D23 [the Disney fan club convention] which took place in August 2017. That teaser was 90 seconds of the opening scene, and every shot was a different location and involved different lighting conditions and was all done on a very rapid schedule." Newman explains his day-today schedule on the production. He would typically meet with two or three production staff taking notes, one CG supervisor and perhaps a lighting lead, for a series of regular agenda-based conversations. Additionally, at the start of the studio's work on the film, Newman would talk every day to lighting leads and to Legato. "It's quite challenging to work out how to manage resources," Newman observes, breaking down the scale of MPC's work on the movie. The volume of data being organised, shared and iterated between MPC and the production base in Los Angeles was immense. This work-in-progress shot indicates blocking and layout of character animation Critically, Newman explains that no motion capture was undertaken in making the movie and that the characters are all key-frame animated. As such, the film's foundation in long-standing traditions of animation has been reset within the context of virtual production. "The camera and focus-pulling moves were recorded from the virtual camera," Newman explains. "We built the master scenes and then Jon [Favreau] would put VR goggles on and they'd then work out their shots. Pre-animation was handled in Maya and then exported into Unity and, in converting reality into a render, we were always concentrating on simulating depth of field in the composition of a shot." This final shot showcases a live-action lighting sensibility applied to an environment and characters by MPC Of the virtual production process used for the project, Newman says, "It was fun to watch the filmmakers realise this freedom, that the physical constraints are gone." That said, the production would impose certain limits on creative choices in pursuit of consistent believability. Newman explains that MPC built the assets that were then imported into the game engine, within which layout and staging were then determined. Regarding the flexibility offered by the virtual production approach, Newman notes that it allowed MPC and their team in Los Angeles to make the most minute and subtle adjustments. "If they shot something and weren't happy with part of a camera move," Newman explains, "they can now work just with layers. It's like visual dubbing. You can correct just one part of a camera move. If a move was too exaggerated you could adjust it." The movie showcases MPC’s deployment of its proprietary Furtility software When talking about MPC's toolset, Newman catalogues the studio's use of Maya (see our rundown of the best Maya tutorials), Nuke (for compositing), Katana (for lighting and lookdev), RenderMan, and also the latest iteration of their proprietary fur-simulation tool, Furtility. As with MPC's work on its previous collaboration with Favreau, The Jungle Book, Newman notes that he and his team on The Lion King "realised that we had to research the colour of hair and fur, right down to the melanin." Newman continues, "We aren't a software company, but we do build and interface around the software that we use. We've written lots of deep compositing toolsets, for example. With Maya you open it up and there, within that, will be MPC-built stuff for how to get data in and out of our pipeline." Environment shots were informed by research visits to Kenya When it comes to accessing and organising material to review, discuss and develop further, Newman explains, with a wry laugh, that "it's all about data management." When reviewing shots, "I can filter a clip by shot number or discipline or artist," he states. Discussing the film's photorealistic visual language, Newman says, "Jon Favreau's modus operandi was 'don't fall into the trap where you over-beautify everything.' Sometimes the sky is blown-out, sometimes it's overcast and so on. We didn't overwork the shots and we made sure that Jon's realism- and documentary-quest was backed up with Caleb Deschanel [director of photography] and Legato's visual sensibilities." Newman then proceeds to detail some of the nuances that MPC brought to the plates that simulated environment and natural light, indicating the kinds of detail to which they worked. "If we wanted to, we could emulate real sun falloff and exposure and we put a virtual camera on it (the sunlight) to get the right kelvins. We got quite 'techy' and when we went to Africa we worked on capturing the feeling of the landscape there, and correctly profiled and calibrated our cameras to capture the exposure values of the sun." MPC built on its work for The Jungle Book The Kenya shoot provided Newman and his team with motion reference material, still images and records of animal behaviour. Additional reference footage of animals was then captured at Disney's Animal Kingdom. "No animal was put on a scanning stage," Newman adds, explaining that, for Favreau, it was essential to not interrupt the activity of the animals as they documented them. Given that a film like The Lion King has the potential to inherit and then push the envelope of earlier films' creative and technological achievements, MPC's work on the movie marks another watershed in the long-standing relationship between animation and VFX. The movie is a step towards a kind of filmmaking that continues to dissolve the lines between pre-production, production and post-production. Click the image to find out more and sign up This article was originally published in 3D Artist. Read more: 8 appalling CGI fails in recent years Greatest CGI movie moments of all time The best 3D apps View the full article

There are symbols all around us that we take for granted. We know their meaning, use them every day and never question them. Some have fairly obvious origins, such as the use of a lightning bolt to indicate high voltage or a flame to indicate that a material is flammable. But there are others whose stories are less apparent. Why does an 'S' with a line through it represent the US dollar? And why does a circle containing a vertical line and two angled lines signify peace? Here we trace the fascinating origin stories of eight everyday icons. (To get your hands on all manner of free icons for use in your design work, see our free icon sets post.) 01. The power icon We know what it does, but why? Thanks to the globalised distribution of electronics, many symbols used in technology are recognised all over the world, the 'play' symbol being an example. But the meaning of the power icon is less obvious. As a sign of how unintuitive it is, television remote controls for a long time came with 'power' or 'standby' printed alongside the icon for clarification. The 'O' and line '|' had previously been used separately to indicate 'on' and 'off' positions on rocker switches, so when advances made it possible to replace these with press buttons, a new icon combining the two positions emerged. The symbol showing a circle intersected by a vertical line was originally intended only to show a soft-off, or standby, rather than a hard-off, but it has been so misused and misinterpreted that the International Electrotechnical Commission, which regulates such things, now advocates its use as a power icon. Despite a widely shared theory that the symbol represents a '1' and a '0' in binary notation, the IEC says they are not numbers but a vertical bar and a circle. The vertical bar represents a closed circuit through which current will pass, and so the device is on. The 'O' represents an open circuit, meaning the device is off. 02. The ampersand We can thank Roman scribes for this elegant logogram’s existence The ampersand is adored by designers and typographers all over and offers a world of creative possibilities, but just why does this elegant logogram denote the conjunction 'and'? The symbol appears to date back to the tradition for scribes writing in old Roman cursive to use a ligature combining the letters in 'et', the Latin word for 'and', in the first century AD. It had already come close to reaching its current appearance by the time the Carolingian minuscule script had become the calligraphic standard in Europe in the 9th century. The symbol was apparently so often used that it was considered a letter in the alphabet in Latin, and this tradition was carried over into English in the early 1800s, the symbol being tagged on after the letter 'Z'. Schoolchildren would be made to recite, 'X, Y, Z, and per se and,' per se meaning by itself. The slurring of this final phrase by a generation of children gave the 'and per se and' its current name in English: the ampersand. 03. The peace sign Peace out. The peace sign began as the symbol for one specific movement It’s known all over as the peace symbol, but just what does a circle containing a vertical line and two angled lines have to do with world peace? The symbol was actually designed for one specific grassroots organisation, the UK’s Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC). It was put forward by a designer called Gerald Holtom as a symbol to be used on lollipop placards on the group’s protest march from Trafalgar Square to the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston in 1958. His inspiration? He based the design on the shape of a figure using flag semaphore to communicate the letters 'N' and 'D' (for nuclear disarmament). He also considered that the two downward angled arms that form the semaphore signal for 'N' represented a gesture of human despair at nuclear arms proliferation. The symbol is striking, easy to draw and doesn’t need to be straight, which made it perfectly adaptable to pin badges, patches and bumper stickers. It was adopted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) but never copyrighted and was soon picked up by groups in other countries, becoming a symbol of 1960s counterculture in general. Groovy! 04. The Smiley One unofficial version of the smiley face Another symbol that became a counter cultural icon, the smiley has its own intriguing story. Believe it or not something that became an icon of the 1980s acid house scene is actually the copyrighted property of the entirely real London-based Smiley Company. The first yellow smiley seems to have been created by graphic designer Harvey Ross Ball in 1963. He was commissioned to design a graphic to boost morale at a Massachusetts insurance company and came up with a smiley face with oval eyes and a slightly off-centre smile. He never copyrighted the image and it soon started appearing on badges, stickers and greetings cards in the US, especially after it was printed on 50 million pin badged by the owners of two Hallmark shops in Philadelphia in 1971. But meanwhile in France, journalist Franklin Loufrani began using an extremely similar smiley to flag up positive news stories in the newspaper France-Soir. Loufrani, however, saw the design’s potential and registered it with the French patent office. He actively promoted its use, printing it on stickers and handing them out for free to help it catch on. In 1996, he and his son Nicolas founded the Smiley Company in London and now own the symbol in around 100 countries. It’s reported to be one of the biggest-grossing licensing companies in the world, and has mounted legal challenges against Kumon, Walmart, Joe Boxer and others who have developed their own face symbols. 05. The @ sign Some symbols get a second lease of life Nowadays it’s almost impossible to imagine electronic communication without the @ symbol. Pronounced 'at' in English, but called the 'snail' in Italy and 'monkey tail' by the Dutch, it’s a symbol we use every time we send an email, tag someone in a group message or on social media. The symbol is perhaps also an unlikely survivor because not so long ago the majority of people would not have been able to say what purpose it served. The Spanish name for the symbol comes closest to its original meaning – they call it the 'arroba' after an old standard of measurement, and it seems that in the 1500s it was being used by European merchants to denote units of wine called amphorae. Both merchants and mathematicians continued to use it to signify 'at the rate of', but for most people the symbol was obscure and close to becoming obsolete. Its resurrection came in 1971 when computer scientist Ray Tomlinson sent the world’s first email via ARPANET. Needing a way to address a message to someone working at a different computers, he simply chose the key that was used the least, and gave the humble @ a whole new life. 06. The hash The hash is #backforgood The hash is another now ubiquitous symbol that was given a new chance by the social media age. Hashtags allow us follow trending topics on Twitter, find topics of interest on Instagram, and have even come to name political and social movements. But like the @, the hash was originally used for measurements, and had long fallen out of use. Previously known as the pound symbol, it derived as a simplified version of the ligature ℔ which was used as an abbreviation for 'libra pondo', or pound weight, in the 1800s. In Britain it became known as the 'number sign' to differentiate it from the pound sterling and because it would sometimes be used to mean number when added before rather than after a number. They symbol was added to telephone keypads by Bell Telephones in the 1960s but rarely used until voicemail services developed in the 1980s. More uses would be found for it later in computing. It was used to label groups and topics in internet relay chat in the 1980s, and this inspired Twitter’s adoption of it to allow users to tag topics of interest. 07. The heart The heart continues to receive love With Valentine’s Day approaching, we’ll soon be seeing a lot of this symbol. The heart is one of the most widely used symbols in graphic design. But with its two rounded lobes and pointed base, why does it look so unlike a human heart? There are many theories behind its origin, including those that say it was not intended to look like a heart at all, but the intertwined necks of two swans. Other theories say it represents other parts of the human body, the shape of ivy leaves – which were associated with fidelity – or silphium, a North African plant with heart-shaped seed pods. As for its ubiquity in graphic design today, part of that comes down its use by designer Milton Glaser as a logogram in his I Heart NY brand in the 1970s (listed as one of our best logos in the world). The incredible thing about the heart symbol is that despite being so used it never seems to become cliché. 08. The dollar sign A bag of dollars, or pesos? For greetings card companies and flower sellers, Valentine’s Day means $$$. But then this is another symbol with a mysterious origin. In English speaking countries, this glyph is most commonly referred to as the 'dollar sign', usually in reference to the US dollar although it’s also used for other dollar currencies. But the symbol is also used throughout much of Latin America to denote everything from the Argentinian peso to the Nicaraguan córdoba. There are various theories as to its origin. One is that it comes from an abbreviation of 'peso' as ps, which occurred in the 1770s when English-Americans had trading relations with the Spaniards. Read more: 7 famous logos that pass the silhouette test 6 of the most iconic drinks logos The ultimate typography cheat sheet View the full article

Authentication bypass bugs in WordPress plugins InfiniteWP Client and WP Time Capsule leave hundreds of thousands of sites open to attack. View the full article

Threatpost talks to Venafi about the recently-disclosed Microsoft vulnerability and whether the hype around the flaw was warranted. View the full article

Finding the best code editor for your workflow can have a huge impact on your productivity. There's no shortage of code editors on the market and selecting the one that is right for your developer needs can transform your workflow. Typically, developers do not fit into a single type, and the same goes for code editors. While one editor might work for one developer it might not suit another. So it is critical you take some time to figure out which is the best code editor for you. A best-fit code editor will make any developer more efficient at writing code. It will be a personal assistant helping examine code for less mistakes and show where edits need to be made. And, just as importantly, it will need to be customisable, allowing for the creation of a custom UI and an intuitive user experience. This is critical as you will most likely be looking at your code editor screen for hours on end. The best laptop for programming With a host of text editors, code editors and IDEs out there, how do you decide which one is for you? Whether you are looking to try out your first editor, or are looking to switch to a new editor that has some hot new features you want. Then this guide is here to help. On this page, we'll take an in-depth look at what we think are the five best code editors for developers and designers. Page 2 offers some more options to try out if you don't get on with the tools on this page, then on page 3 you'll also find information on what is a code editor, and how to pick the right code editor. While you're considering your toolkit, check out our roundup of the best web design tools, and our guide to the best antivirus software to keep your precious programming safe. 5 best code editors for developers and designers Sublime Text is the editor that really changed the way code editors worked. It is lightweight, open and ready to edit your file almost as soon as you have managed to click the button. This responsiveness is one of the things that makes Sublime Text the best code editor in its class. If you want to open a file and make a quick edit, waiting for a few seconds for loading may not sound like much, but the delay can grow tedious. Another big benefit of Sublime Text is that it is crazily extensible, with a huge and ever-growing list of plugins available to install via the package manager. Options include themes with which to customise the editor’s appearance, code linters (which can assist with more quickly locating any errors in your code), Git plugins, colour pickers, and more. Sublime Text is free to download and start using, but for extended use you'll need to shell out $80 for a licence – and the programme will remind you fairly regularly about payment until you cough up. If you decide to pay, the same licence key can be used by you for any computer that you use, so you can enter the same code on all your machines to make the payment reminder popup go away. The paid licence, however, is perhaps Sublime Text’s biggest downside – there are a number of competitive products available to developers for no cost. Visual Studio Code is a code editor developed by Microsoft, and surprisingly, is open-source software. VS Code is perhaps the closest code editor in this list to being an IDE. It is very robust, and is also one of the slower programs when starting up. However, while using it, VS Code is quick and able to handle quite a few interesting tasks, such as quick Git commits or opening and sorting through multiple folders’ worth of content. VS Code has seen a meteoric rise in popularity – it is continually growing its user base and attracting developers away from other editors. VS Code has a built-in terminal, as well as built-in Git support, both of which are big winners for fans of this program. Its ‘IntelliSense’ feature offers autocompletion of code as well as information on the parameters of functions and known variable names. Atom is open source and developed by GitHub. In its initial development, it was heavily influenced by the new style of editor made popular by Sublime Text. However, there are key differences: Atom is free and open source, and offers easy out-of-box integration with Git and GitHub. Atom has historically had performance and stability problems, but those have diminished significantly as it has matured. It’s true that it still launches slower than some editors, but it’s just as reliable and quick to use as any of the rest after that. Further reading: Get more from Atom text editor Brackets is Adobe’s open-source editor, and seems to be a very well rounded software. It doesn’t natively support as many languages for syntax highlighting as some of the others (but it still has quite a few). Because of its focus on front end technologies, it also supports CSS preprocessors like Less and Sass. Brackets doesn’t come out on top on many of the usual speed and reliability metrics, but it does have several unique features worth investigating. It is mostly configurable via its menus, whereas most of the other editors in this list require you to edit configuration files (you can also edit the configuration file in Brackets if you prefer). There's also an interesting feature for quick CSS editing. You can use a hotkey to pop out a small section on an HTML page, then edit any CSS rules that are currently affecting the element that you have selected. This means you can quickly locate a styling problem and fix it without having to waste time searching around. An interesting design decision is that Brackets doesn’t use tabs at all for showing open files. Rather, there is an open files menu in the top left, above the file tree. If you’re using the split-window view, this open tabs list also splits ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ for easier location of the file you’re looking for. VS Code uses a similar open files menu, for example, but also uses tabs. In Brackets, this enables maximum screen real estate, but could be a jarring experience if you’re used to tab navigation. Vim is perhaps the most contentious code editor in this list. Vim is a command line software, included natively with Linux operating systems and macOS, and available for download for Windows. Vim is a favourite for many old-school programmers, and keyboard enthusiasts. The program is navigated entirely via the keyboard, making it much faster and more efficient – but only if you make the effort to learn how to operate it. It is also extremely customisable (to the extent that a command line program can be customised). You can use a number of keyboard shortcuts to speed up the code editing process, and even better, create customised commands to fit your own workflow. Vim earns the award for the steepest learning curve and perhaps one of the worst user experiences overall, due to its complete lack of UI. Learning how to navigate Vim isn’t all that challenging, but building the muscle memory of shortcuts and figuring out how best to customise the editor (which you needs to do to get the best from this programme) takes a lot longer. Vim is incredibly stable, fast, and a real joy to use for veteran command line aficionados and new, interested users alike. If you have the time to learn it, Vim can really increase your coding productivity, and it’s a nearly seamless cross-platform experience, with so little UI to consider. Next page: More great code editors 06. Notepad++ Price: Free Platform: Windows It's been around for a long time now, but Notepad++ deserves a place on this list, because it can still compete with the best text editors around. This option is for Windows users only, and is still being actively updated. For no money whatsoever, you get a capable (if sometimes workmanlike) editor with plenty of features, and you can also mess about with the interface to suit your preferences. It's the work of Paris-based software engineer Don Ho. 07. GNU Emacs Price: Free Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux There are various incarnations of Emacs but one of the most often-used is GNU Emacs; a free, extensible and customisable text editor. It's one of the most powerful editors out there and as such takes a while to learn your way around. Features include content-aware editing modes and full Unicode support for nearly all script types. 08. Komodo Edit Price: Free Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux Komodo Edit is a powerful but basic code editor. It offers multi-language support, multiple selections and autocomplete, plus the ability to track changes or view a Markdown version. There's also a more fully featured IDE, which you'll need to pay for. 09. Buffer Editor Price: $17.99 Platform: iOS If coding on the go is your thing (and you're an Apple fan), Buffer Editor could be a great option for you. This iOS app is designed to make it easy to make quick changes to your website via your iPhone or iPad. It offers split view or fullscreen modes, and you can quickly switch between tabs. It also connects with BitBucket, GitHub, GitLab, Dropbox, iCloud ,Google Drive, SFTP, SSH and FTP servers. 10. CoffeeCup HTML Editor Price: Free version, or $29 (free trial available) Platform: Windows CoffeeCup HTML Editor offers two different code editor options. There's a free version, which is great for beginners looking for a simple text editor. With it, you can create new HTML and CSS files from scratch or edit existing site files. Alternatively, there are a bunch of customisable responsive themes you can use to kick-start a new project. There's also a paid version, which includes a more features, such as HTML and CSS validation tools and a table designer. 11. Coda Platform: OS X Price: $99 Text editor Coda (now on version 2) is a OS X app that offers plenty of handy features. Alongside the usual code editor options, there are some interesting features – for example, Find and Replace includes a 'Wildcard' token that makes RegEx one-button simple, and Coda Pops enable you quickly create colours or gradients, using easy controls, as you type. 12. DroidEdit Pro Platform: Android Price: $2.49/£1.99 DroidEdit Pro is a slick code editor for Android tablets and phones. For the low price tag you get an app that looks great and works nicely for coding on the move. The simple interface gets out of the way, and the app supports syntax highlighting, bracket matching, Dropbox, and SFTP/FTP. There are also configurable shortcuts, to cut down on hunting and pecking on smaller Android device keyboards. 13. Textastic Platform: iOS Price: $9.99 Textastic is a code editor aimed specifically at coding on the iPad (although there are iPhone and Mac versions). Along with all the usual bits and bobs you'd expect (FTP/SFTP support, local and remote preview, syntax highlighting), you get a handy additional row of keys on the virtual keyboard that provides fast access to regularly used characters. There's also TextExpander support for working with and expanding snippets. Next page: How to choose the right code editor What is a code editor? Code editors are the bread and butter software of many developers, designers, and even writers. Complex integrated development environments (IDEs) are often too bloated and heavy for smaller tasks, such as working on a single project or file. On the other hand, basic text editors such as Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on macOS are underpowered for the tasks of editing code – too many necessary features are missing, making code editing cumbersome. The interim type of software is the code editor. They shine at just this task, editing single files or single projects, managing a folder’s worth of content. Crucially, even the slowest of main code editors in the out list are still much faster and more responsive than dealing with a fully-fledged IDE. Code editors sit between IDEs and text editors in terms of capabilities Code editors often used to be very different on each operating system, but many of the editors in this list are cross-platform and work to ensure that the experience on different operating systems is very similar. This enables programmers to shift between work and personal computers, or even shared devices, and still get things done without having to adjust to a different environment. In addition, many of the code editors here can have their behaviour modified via configuration option files (things like setting tab lengths, line lengths and wrapping, autocompletion, syntax highlighting, and more). This ability to dictate the program’s appearance and behaviour lets the programmer maximise the usefulness of the software, while the defaults enable a casual user to have a pleasant and useful ‘out of box’ experience. How do you pick a code editor? Picking a code editor can be a challenging task. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you know what you need. What features are most important to you? Keyboard shortcuts? Appearance? Speed? Stability? Cross-platform experience? Open source? Syntax highlighting options? Consider what you would like your editor to do for you. Do you enjoy autocompletion of function names, or automatic closing brackets or tags? Or do you find those things frustrating? Do you put a lot of stock in the ability to change the colour scheme of your UI often and easily, or are you a big fan of a simple light or dark mode? Do you wish to perform Git operations directly from your editor? The list of potential features is endless, so figure out which are most important to you The list of potential features is absolutely endless, and only you can say which are the ones that are the most important to you. Which make you more comfortable, efficient, and productive? Decide on your priorities, and then take a look around and find the editor software that ticks off all the boxes. Another important note about choosing a code editor is to allow time to invest yourself in the software. Take a moment to look through the available settings, plugins, or other extensions. Find out which things you can change or set up to ensure that the experience is the best that it can possibly be for you. Getting your editor customised to your needs and spending some time with it will give you a real taste for whether it is to your liking or not. This article was originally published in net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Subscribe now. Read more: The best monospace fonts for coding Coding for kids: 7 top toys How to code smart text effects with CSS View the full article

New year, new goals! Start the year off right by learning new tools to make you stand out in 2020. With The 2020 Full Stack Digital Marketing Certification Bundle, you'll find new, improved techniques in digital marketing to make this your best year yet. If you're aiming to grow your business this year, you'll want to make sure your business cards stand out – here's our roundup of the best business card templates around. And read on to learn more about some of the helpful courses included in the bundle, that is currently priced at only $39, a whopping 98 per cent discount. Learn top search tools It's no secret that the job market can be extremely competitive (if you're looking for a new one, check out our design jobs board for new career opportunities around the globe). With these 12 comprehensive courses, you'll be equipped with everything you need to learn new skills and market yourself and your brand, no matter your goals for 2020. You'll have lifetime access to tutorials on Google Analytics, the most widely used tool to grow a business, and gain a full understanding of the platform to analyze real-time audience and behavior reports. Learn the ins and out of Amazon SEO and advertising, create an online advertising campaign with Google PPC Ads, choose the right keywords that rank the highest and bring traffic to your site, and so much more. This course will teach you how to get any business to be seen online and flourish to its full potential in no time. Explore the power of social media The complete courses on Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, and LinkedIn allow you to use the power of social platforms to convert awareness, engagement, and sales. A 72-lecture course will teach you the proper way to use your personal Facebook profile, business pages, and Facebook's paid marketing to promote your business in the most efficient way possible. You'll soon learn how to generate valuable leads with a few clicks, produce profitable videos that sell, learn how to grow your subscribers on YouTube quickly, and so much more, making your resume thrive with useful skills for your next endeavour. Learn best practice With hundreds of lectures and lessons on digital marketing tools such as Mailchimp, one of the leading email marketing platforms, you'll be able to design and plan creative content in the best way to bring the most buzz. You'll learn the principles and strategies that work for email marketing, push notifications, digital advertising, and more, plus have access to examples and exercises that implement them with real-world scenarios. The bundle will equip you with industry best practices to convert more leads, and you'll even earn a certification of completion after you finish each course. Access to The 2020 Full Stack Digital Marketing Certification Bundle is valued at over $2,000. For a limited time, this bundle is price-dropped to only $39, a saving of 98 per cent. With all the content available 24/7, you'll be able to effortlessly finesse your digital marketing skills and bring valuable growth to every project in 2020. Read more: How to grow your design business The best business card designs The biggest portfolio trends for 2020 View the full article

The Asus ProArt PA90 mini workstation is part of a recent trend towards custom-designed, compact PCs that are properly equipped with the right hardware to tackle the most heavy duty software tasks. Inside its cylindrical chassis is a workstation that would deliver impressive 3D performance even in a traditional PC case, only here it’s been precisely designed to squeeze a powerful PC specification into a case that measures 176 x 176 x 365mm. It bears more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s current ‘trash can’ Mac Pro, the ageing black cylinder version, and it fills the same niche. It’s perfect if you want to be able to get on with proper 3D design (why not check our Blender tutorials for advice in this area) but don’t have a lot of space, or are simply fed up with big black PC boxes. It can be placed under, on, or next to a desk without getting in the way, hidden in a corner, or in any unobtrusive place you can think of. Asus ProArt PA90: Hardware specs The PA90 comes equipped with a six or eight-core 9th-generation Intel processor, up to a Core i9-9900K running at 3.6 GHz (4.7 GHz max), up to 64GB of DDR4 memory, an Nvidia Quadro P2000 or P4000, space for both an M.2 SSD and a SATA SSD up to 512GB each, and a 2.5-inch hard disk up to 1TB. The components are liquid cooled with air expelled through a removable grille at the top that’s illuminated with blue LEDs when the PA90 is turned on, as well as via a grille at the back. The case feels chunky, weighing a solid 5.8kg. There are plenty of ports, although fewer than on a typical desktop motherboard: two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, four DisplayPort outputs and Ethernet at the back, with two USB-A ports adorn the front below the power switch. There are also connectors for a bundled Wi-Fi antenna. And there’s a major design bummer. It needs two external power supply bricks, one of which uses a standard IEC (kettle) power lead and the other a three-prong lead. And, all of this is yours for just £3090. Asus ProArt PA90: Graphics Although it’s called a Mini PC, it’s only the desktop footprint that’s small. The 36.5cm height is necessary for the hardware and cooling, and it means the PA90 stands taller than most mini PC cases. An issue with the idea of custom-designed workstations like the PA90 is that not all components can be upgraded. You can upgrade the memory and storage, but graphics card and processor upgrades are pretty much impossible. That’s understandable, but it detracts from the overall value, especially when you’re spending over £3,000 on a workstation. A related question is whether Asus will continue releasing future versions as new generations of graphics and processor hardware become available. The P4000 has recently been superseded by Nvidia’s Quadro RTX 4000 for example, and the 10/14nm 10th-generation Intel processors are on the way. If not, the specification will age badly, making the PA90 a relatively worse-value purchase as the hardware ages. The PA90 is a great specification for 3D, CAD, audio and video editing. The Core i9-9900K is a brilliant CPU, with its 4.7 GHz clock frequency and eight CPU cores making short work of single or multi-threaded tasks. Although the graphics performance falls about 25% short of the Quadro RTX 4000 we’ve recently tested in a full-sized desktop PC, it still put in a really fantastic showing in SPECviewperf 13, with results that beat other desktop towers equipped with the same GPU. The gap widens in the OpenCL LuxMark and CUDA ArionBench tests, where P4000 performance in the Asus ProArt PA90 is approximately 50% under the RTX 4000, which is to be expected. Asus ProArt PA90: Should you buy it? Noise was only noticeable when the graphics card whirred up quickly at the start of an intensive 3D test, but went back to near-silent again afterwards. This could be a killer feature – the PA90 is very quiet, which is valuable for environments that are sensitive to noise. But despite the stellar performance, this all comes at a very high price. Proprietary board designs with a custom case and cooling elevates the cost of the PA90 beyond that of a standard desktop PC with the same components. Therefore, it’s filling a relatively small niche – those who are willing to dig deep into their wallet for a capable 3D system that won’t take up too much space. Trouble is, the PA90 faces tough competition. Asus’ rival Corsair has announced a similar system, the Corsair One Pro i180, but the real challenge is from Mini-ITX systems that are sold by pretty much all independent vendors. These can be configured with similar hardware, including water cooling, processors with eight (or more) cores and even more high-end Quadro graphics cards, including the RTX series. Like the PA90, these systems are squeezed into astonishingly tiny cases, but unlike the PA90, are built from off-the-shelf components, meaning a cheaper overall cost and better upgradability. Given £3,000 to spend on a computer with diminutive dimensions, we’d prefer that route over the PA90. This article originally appeared in 3D World. Subscribe here. View the full article

Commuters in London today may have noticed a major tube station looking a little different – Piccadilly station has been transformed into a Star Trek haven, complete with pun-tastic new name that we fully approve of. The enterprising new look is dedicated to Starfleet icon and franchise mainstay captain Jean-Luc Picard. The whole station has been given a makeover, from the Piccadilly roundels that have been replaced by Startfleet emblems, to the signage, which now reads 'Picardilly Station'. (For more ways to make a splash on a large scale, see our roundup of the best billboard advertising campaigns.) Get 39% off Adobe Creative Cloud (EMEA) The station takeover has been masterminded by Amazon Prime, in collaboration with Transport for London and Links Signs. It's all in order to create a buzz around the upcoming series Star Trek: Picard, which will be available on the popular streaming platform from 23 January. As you'd expect, it's only temporary – Trekkies who want to check out the intergalactic makeover will need to get there today or tomorrow (15 and 16 January). "The promotional overhaul allows Amazon to reach audiences to inform them about the release date in a creative way, celebrating a fictional character whose legacy will go down in history," says Paul Cox of Links Signs. "In the words of Captain Picard, we think it's really set to ‘engage’ the public!" The new series was unveiled at the recent New York Comic Con. It will focus on Captain Picard's later years, and see Sir Patrick Stewart returning to the iconic role. Check out the trailer above for a taste of what to expect. Read more: New Gucci logo is the most bizarre thing we've ever seen 27 top character design tips The best print adverts ever View the full article

A new year means if not out with the old, then at least in with the new. And that means it's the perfect opportunity to refresh your portfolio. To take a moment to check the fundamentals are in order, ensure it's up-to-date and includes only your best work, and there are no lurking errors that need to be fixed. Once all that's done, it's time to think about new tweaks and changes you can make to keep things looking fresh as we enter a new decade. In this article, we look at some of the latest trends in portfolio design that you can use to get your own portfolio looking razor-sharp in 2020. For some best-in-class inspiration, check out some of our favourite portfolio examples. 01. Break the grid Kwok Yin Mak’s asymmetrical portfolio surprises the viewer Offering a fresh and unexpected layout will grab a visitor's attention from the outset and shows your creativity. One great way to do that is to break free from conventional layouts with more open composition, asymmetrical grids or unusual text orientations that surprise the viewer. The horizontal, asymmetrical design of New York-based designer Kwok Yin Mak's portfolio includes menus in unusual places, moving elements, cursor effects and information spread all over the site. It leaves visitors surprised and even slightly disorientated at first, but in a very pleasing way that encourages you to explore more. Looped horizontal scrolling allows you to take in the whole site easily, white space keeps it clean, and clicks take you zipping across the page. The effect is all the more arresting for the beautiful blend of English and Chinese text in different orientations, showing how a bilingual site can work. Home Societe keeps things classy within its asymmetrical layout If you like this style, the business site Home Societe provides another inspiring example of how a horizontal, asymmetrical layout can make a big impact. For a more conventional approach but with elements of asymmetry, agency site Wokine uses a split screen to generate interest. 02. Go bold Olivier Guilleux presents bold colours and type, and even an image of himself No designer could have failed to note the popularity of big and bold colours and type in 2019. It’s a trend set to continue in the new year and with many prospects looking to emulate the style, it makes sense to show you speak the language. Beefed up type and saturated colours helps shout your portfolio claims loud and proud. Graphic designer Danilo De Marco makes maximum impact with large Neue Haas Unica type, which switches from black to electric green when the cursor moves over it. Tobias Ahlin uses big one-word headlines to clearly demarcate different the sections of his portfolio, and digital designer Thibaud Allie uses hugely oversized type that's impossible to ignore. You can't miss Danilo De Marco's outsize lettering and fluoro colour palette Olivier Guilleux puts the focus on his name with big type and a colour gradient, but also a bold image of his own face – we love the animated quiff that blows in the wind. Elsewhere, web designers like interactive developer Vincent Saisset are giving bold display text even more character with 3D, animated or manipulated fonts that make the letters seem alive. 03. Cut straight to the goods Peter Komierowski sets straight about showing his work The online world is a crowded space. We can sometimes feel we're in a virtual arms race of clever text and cursor effects. So sometimes a simple and straight-to-the-point approach can make viewers sit up and take notice. For a portfolio, that means showing the best examples of your work upfront. While flashy effects can make an impact, sometimes getting straight to the goods can be a relief for a prospective client. Illustrator and visual designer Peter Komierowski‘s portfolio takes us straight to a simple single-page collection of the logos he’s designed. It might feel like a cold introduction, but there's a link to the About section, where we find a natural-looking photograph and a down-to-earth personal description. The portfolio works well because it shows us what Peter does first, and if we like what we see and want to know more, it's backed up with a presentation that makes him seem like a guy we'd like to work with. 04. Create a video Dan Paris’ video showreel makes for an effective portfolio background In 2020, audiences want information more quickly than ever, which means video content is fast becoming a must for communication in any field. Creating a showreel is an obvious choice for animators and motion designers, even if it’s simply an embedded video like this showreel by Derek Panke. But designers of all kinds can take advantage of the power of video. It can make an impact on a portfolio as a background behind text as shown by Dan Paris, while agency showreels are becoming increasingly cinematic. French agency Septime Creation's showreel runs through UI designs for everything from video games to finance, accompanied by a bombastic film trailer soundtrack. For UI designers, video can show the experience of their work in a way that screenshots can’t capture. But still graphics can also be effectively presented in a showreel, like in this annual recap by 3rd floor shown above. Video is also a way to tell your story, where you’ve been and how you’ve evolved, or how you work in an engaging way, like in this example from Beauvoir. 05. Combine elements in collages Brand Affair stands out afar with 3D images on a flat background Flat design has been huge in recent years, and the trend now is to combine it with more realistic 3D imagery. Including this combination of elements in your portfolio is a great way to refresh things and show you're on trend for 2020. Russian agency Brand Affair uses the combination to stand out from the other animals out there, with 3D images of a flamingo, a giraffe and a chameleon floating on a flat background. Web design duo Dose Media offer more subtle edits on the image of themselves on their portfolio site. 06. Add a strong personal message Gloria Lo makes a personal statement that links to different sections of her portfolio Competition for the best design roles is so intense now that in 2020 you need to stand out not only in visual presentation but also in personality. More designers are opting for more personal pitches that sell their character, interests and story as well as their creative talents. If you can, say something about your ethos, attitude or overall world vision, to get hired for how you create as well as what you create. UI designer Vera Chen‘s profile uses a small text intervention to make a clear statement about how she sees her work: "I create better experience for users people". With her portfolio's simple colour palette and ample white space, the statement stands out. Frontend developer Iuri de Paula talks us through his CV step by step, and Gloria Lo makes an interactive statement by turning the four key verbs that describe what she does into links to different sections of her portfolio. Done with humour or simplicity, a meaningful personal introduction can make a memorable impact. 07. Go progressive Build in Amsterdam uses a PWA to offer the sleek UX of a native app It takes more work than building a standard responsive website, but for web designers in particular, 2020 may be the moment to consider making your profile a progressive web application. Touted by many as the future of the internet, progressive web apps (PWAs) are lightning fast and beautifully engaging. PWAs run on web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) like regular web apps but use JavaScript Service workers to provide the high performance and rich experience of native mobile apps, including almost instant feature likes push notifications and other extras that deliver great UX. Sticky headers and floating menus and navigation buttons can make your site more engaging as well as easy to use. The other advantage is that with more prospective clients opting for DIY drag and drop site builders, offering PWAs is a way to stay ahead. And there’s no better way to show a client why they should consider a PWA for their own website than being able to say "my website is a PWA", and providing it as an example of what can be done. Digital agency Build in Amsterdam’s PWA portfolio site offers the sleek user experience of a native app in which the case study feels like you're entering a new portal. Web designer Daniel Spatzek's portfolio site incorporates many of the elements mentioned above, including big type, a strong personal message and a surprising layout. The fact the site is a super smooth PWA makes the experience all the more impressive for visiting prospective clients. Read more: 7 colour trends to watch in 2020 The top design trends for 2020 The biggest portfolio trends in 2020 View the full article

If you missed all the January sales, never fear. Today Adobe has launched an amazing deal, shaving a huge 39% off an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription for users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The price reduction applies to the complete Adobe Creative Cloud suite, which encompasses over 20 different apps. That includes all the big players – photo editing favourite Photoshop, digital artists' go-to Illustrator, video editing software Premiere Pro, web prototyping tool Adobe XD and motion effects creator After Effects. You'll also be able to explore the new additions to the Adobe family, tablet-based art app Adobe Fresco, and Photoshop on iPad. If you need any extra encouragement, remember that when you buy Adobe's full All Apps package you're also getting 100GB of cloud storage (with the option to upgrade to 10TB) and premium features like Adobe Portfolio, Adobe Fonts, and Adobe Spark. Created on Illustrator by Karan Singh The programmes are fully integrated, so you can switch between them (and jump from one device to another) seamlessly – whether you’re out and about or in the studio. Built-in templates help you jump-start your designs, while step-by-step tutorials will help you sharpen your skills and get up to speed quickly. Not in EMEA regions? Be sure to check out our dedicated Adobe Creative Cloud discount page for all the best offers in your area. Related articles: Top-class Photoshop tutorials to hone your skills The 13 best alternatives to Photoshop The best web hosting services for designers View the full article

Superhero fan art is no new thing. From Spiderman and Wolverine to the Hulk and DeadPool, these popular characters have been reimagined by artists in all manner of ways over the years. But just when we think we've seen it all, a project like Bathroom Heroes comes along. The brainchild of artist JP "Pat" Huddleston, this series of illustrations depicts how superheroes might look while using the bathroom; and, more importantly, how they might manage their superpowers. This is the first 'superheroes in the bathroom' series we've seen, and while we don't really want to imagine anyone on the loo, we can't help but love the original take on such beloved characters. (Don't miss our character design tips article if you're in need of a little help with your own designs). Click the image to enlarge There's no denying the illustrative skill here from Huddleston, but what makes the series stand out is the level of attention to detail and humour weaved in.Each character’s personality traits have been explored just the right amount (these images are safe for work, thankfully), and put to good use. Just a glimpse of Wolverine's claws while he's sitting on the toilet was enough to make us shudder (imagine those slipping out at the wrong moment, yeesh), but that reaction quickly turned to laughter when we noticed the Deadpool-themed pants. Genius. Speaking of Deadpool, we weren't surprised to see the anti-hero engrossed in Playboy while doing his business, and the unicorn plushie has made us love him all the more. Batman, it seems, prefers to spend this private time flicking through an issue of Wonder Woman. Never going to happen, Caped Crusader. This whole series has hit on a winning recipe by combining a bucketload of talent and fun. You can see the full series of cheeky prints, which are also available to purchase, over on the Huddlestaff store. The question is, which character will soon be gracing your bathroom wall? For more superhero fan art, you can also check out our recent post on your favourite superheroes reimagined by 3D artists. Read more: An artist's guide to using reference images: 13 essential tips The best art easels in 2020 6 quick tips to improve your brush pen drawing View the full article

A new infographic runs down the biggest logo design trends from 2019 moving into 2020, complete with best-in-class examples to explore. This infographic is the final design in a three-part series on logo trends, and it goes beyond the basics to home in on more advanced techniques and experimental designs we're starting to see more and more of. For more inspiring data visualisation, check out our roundup of the best infographics – or if you feel inspired to create your own, explore our pick of the best infographic tools. Trends featured range from the experimental (glitched, generative and sliced-up logos) to the playful (animal-themed and pattern-based logos) to fresh versions of classic concepts (vintage and layered logo designs) and everything in-between. These logo design trends are the kind you'll have noticed coming from experimental design studios, but are likely to hit the mainstream this year. For a more in-depth look at what's going on in the world of branding, see our article on six huge logo trends 2019. Alternatively, check out the infographic below. Click anywhere on the image to see the full-sized version. [Infographic via LogoDesignGuru.com] Read more: 9 productivity mistakes you're making in the first 10 mins of your day Interactive Witcher map is truly a thing of beauty New Gucci logo is the most bizarre thing we've ever seen View the full article

The software giant patched 300+ bugs in its quarterly update. View the full article

The flaw, in Intel VTune Profiler, could enable privilege escalation. View the full article

Magecart groups using automated infection scans infected the site, which was running outdated Magento software. View the full article

January Patch Tuesday tackles 50 bugs, with eight rated critical, all as it pushes out its last regular Windows 7 patches. View the full article

The cloud-focused program will pay out $10,000 as its top reward. View the full article

Web domain giant GoDaddy has a new logo and brand message. This dramatic redesign represents a new (and welcome) direction for the web hosting company, which was previously operating behind a somewhat quirky brand image, full of personality but projecting a confused aesthetic. One of our recommended web hosting services, GoDaddy has been operating since 1997 and is now entering a new era that aims to put all the focus on its users. Announced today in the above tweet, the new logo, known as the 'Go' is an interlocking G and O. The design steers in the same direction as the recent rebrand at airbnb, with a friendly, curvy heart-like shape and minimal noise. The new GoDaddy logo was created by GoDaddy's internal design team in collaboration with external branding firms Codo and Lippincott. The curvy logo is a world away from the kooky cartoon head of old (previous incarnations of the logo design) Many would say a new look is overdue for GoDaddy, which rose to popularity accompanied by an unsettling, in-your-face cartoon head. This icon was removed from the brand's website in 2018, and since then, GoDaddy has been operating without a logo, relying solely on its wordmark. The new logo marks a welcome shift in positioning for the company, and seeks to create a completely different kind of emotional response. The new website covers the real-life stories of the 'Everyday Entrepreneurs' that use the service Along with the new logo and identity comes a new website and new advertising campaigns, both of which are sleek, sparse and devoid of the sales pitches and cartoon images of old. The 'everyday entrepreneurs' mentioned in the brand message are at the centre of the new advertising strategy, which features real-life GoDaddy users telling their stories. The new billboards display the new brand aesthetic, which aims to 'get out of the way' of the user's journey "It represents the entrepreneurial spirit," GoDaddy chief brand officer Cameron Scott told Fast Company. "All of our customers have an idea, and they all have initiative. We are there to say, ‘We’re here with you for your first step. We’re here with you for your next step. And we’ve got your back every step of the way." The brand message clearly aims to be uplifting, but the wording (on the tweet at least) comes across as – dare we say it – a little bit twee. However, GoDaddy is deadly serious in its crossover to the new brand identity. The brand was conscious that is own personality was getting in the way of the user's story, and the streamlined design and user-centred message aims to put the customer firmly back in the driver's seat. GoDaddy is bucking the recent rebrand trend (see Reebok and Warner Bros), which has been to refresh rather than rebrand, to build on brand history with the aim of strengthening public attachment. But since the public doesn't have the same sort of emotional attachment to GoDaddy, a change in direction is definitely welcome in this case. Read more: Has branding become boring? The 6 best branding books right now Are trends any good for branding? View the full article

Overall Adobe patched nine flaws in Illustrator CC and Experience Manager. View the full article

If you're loving Netflix fantasy drama the series The Witcher, but can't quite get your head around what seems like a constantly jumping timeline, we have a solution. You need to check out the beautifully crafted 'Map of the Continent', the official companion website to the series. The site is packed with snippets of extra information that enhance the characters' back stories and draw you further into the world of the Witcher. However, what makes the site so enticing is the visual presentation. The site is a treasure trove of beautiful design elements, smart and engaging interactivity and CSS animation, all of which come together to provide a storytelling experience of the highest order. Drag the timeline to reveal key plotline points and event information The timeline is split into four tracks dedicated to different story elements: users can follow leading characters, Geralt, Yennefer or Ciri, or explore the general history of the magical world. All four tracks converge when the timeline is dragged to 1250, the birth of Ciri. Key points along the timeline animate to inform the user there is something to read: a pop-up window slides up to reveal an event, and more usefully for Witcher-lovers, what episode and what year a key plotline occurs in. Enhancing the timeline and embellishing the whole storytelling experience is a dynamic map that uses animation to add atmosphere by reflecting the weather. The map might boast a familiar feel as its underlying code is very much part of the Google Maps experience. Zoom in, zoom out and drag to wherever you want to go on the map. Search for information about your favourite characters Google's influence doesn't stop here. A well-timed, animated slide-out side panel reveals a search omnibox giving fans quick access to Witcher information when they want it. Completing the picture is the classic hamburger menu icon to reveal the essential company information. The Witcher's 'Map of the Continent' website is a perfect example of how to bring different media together to create a complete and compelling storytelling experience. The site uses subtle and smart UI animations to engage users, and give users the information they want. It borrows from well-known everyday elements (like Google Maps) to ensure an intuitive and vastly enjoyable experience. Visit the Witcher interactive map to explore for yourself. Learn how to build better JavaScript at GenerateJS Join us in April 2020 with our lineup of JavaScript superstars at GenerateJS – the conference helping you build better JavaScript. Book now at generateconf.com Read more: Epic ocean visualisation is strangely addictive 30 Chrome extensions for web designers and devs How to animate with the mo.js library View the full article

New year, new web design trends. We are already starting to see some design elements that will be hot in 2020 (and maybe beyond). Most of these trending web design themes are continuations of things that have been building in …View the full article

Videography is quickly becoming a valuable skill in all kinds of industries. If you want to master a new skill this month, these 10 comprehensive videography courses can help. Ease your way in by learning the basics or brush up on what you already know. Each bundle will give you tips and tricks for popular video editing programs such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Camtasia (see our roundup of the best video editing software for more on this. You can grab this bundle today for only $29.99. If you're looking to learn how to promote your brand through video, you've come to the right place. With over 45 hours of instruction, you'll be able to speed up your learning with tutorials for the video production software currently used in the industry. Although the software itself is not included in this bundle, the step-by-step instructions will guide you through the different equipment used to film videos for all sorts of projects. You'll learn how to create catchy and professional video intros for your brand in After Effects and take your video marketing to the next level with Camtasia 9, a software favorite for creating video tutorials and presentations directly via screencast, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Google. With 24/7 access to the content, you'll be able to come back whenever you need it. The best computer for video editing in 2020 Looking for ways to make your videos for your latest project stand out? Improve your presentations by learning to create professional motion graphics and visual effects. This bundle includes step-by-step guides for Adobe After Effects CC, the industry-standard tool for adding motion to your graphic designs and content (for more of these, explore our roundup of top After Effects tutorials). You'll learn how to animate infographics, and add music to your motion graphics. With over 80 lessons, you'll learn how to create real-world projects, with features such as lower thirds and bumpers, and use video effects and presets to speed up workflow. You don't need to hire a professional to do this for you — you'll soon be able to tackle it yourself. The idea of editing your video needn't fill you with dread, either. Get help for professional-level editing with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and more, and learn everything you need to start editing – no previous knowledge or video editing experience required. You’ll be able to master transitions and learn how to sync separate audio and video files together. By the end of the training, you’ll know how to correct and grade the colours of your videos to give them greater style, fix or hide additional video footage, export your videos for high-quality playback on any device, and so much more. While a lifetime membership to The Complete Videography Bundle: Beginner to Expert is valued at $1,990, it is currently price-dropped to only $29.99. It's certainly a great way to kick off your videography skills and get started on producing and editing impactful videos for projects of all sizes. Read more: The best laptops for video editing in 2019 Designers go wild for minimalist UNO concept design These unmissable iPad Pro deals are the best you'll see View the full article