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Everyone has too many things to get done. There are, in any given person’s life, an almost endless amount of tasks, projects and things to do. They range from the boring (routine work tasks, mowing a lawn or doing homework) through to fun (a date, a game, playing with the kids) to the original (a challenging new project at work, getting to grips with a new website builder or planning a party). No matter what, though, you can create more free time if you think carefully about managing your time. Time management is almost no one’s favourite topic to discuss. It brings to mind schedules and lists, often triggers yawns and perhaps causes some of us to get out a buzzword bingo card or two. However, if you make it a goal to use some very basic tools and habits to manage your time, you can really change the way your day works. You can be more productive on the job and complete more tasks (using less time). There are several facets to time management that we can investigate. In this article, we'll explore some practical ways to improve your productivity and help you organise your days better. Click the image to find out more and pick up your tickets Tip #1: Track your working time (and your breaks) Make sure your breaks are real breaks, and not filled up with more work The key thing to focus on is actually keeping track of your working time and, just as importantly, your breaks. As the workday goes on, people generally begin to work less efficiently. Everyone has experienced the slow burn as they lose attention, become tired or simply find themselves less effective at their job the more hours they are 'on the clock'. This can also present itself in subtle, harder-to-identify ways: slower reaction times, less creative energy and other effects that can hinder you without raising red flags. You may not be falling asleep at your desk but your body and, more importantly, your mind, is recognising the strain anyway. This tendency to work 'harder' by working long hours without ceasing often simply results in low productivity and people who are no longer doing quality work. Focus can also be a challenge during the workday. Many of us try hard to multitask but science has shown us again and again that human brains are better at focusing on one task at a time. One way to combat this stress of constant work and stay focused on one thing at a time is to think of your time as if it were split up into two categories: Task-focused work: Blocks focused on getting a single task done Breaks from work: These allow you to disconnect, recharge and relax There are a couple of working methods that can help improve your ratio of work to breaks, as well as boosting your single-task focus throughout the day. Solution: The Pomodoro Technique The Pomodoro Technique is a simple way to break up your workday into chunks of productivity. You use a timer to clock the units of work (‘Pomodoros’). You can use a physical Pomodoro timer or download a phone app. You pick a single task and power through that task during a 25-minute working block (or customise the times to meet your needs). When done, you take a five- or 10-minute break, again with the timer, then start a new Pomodoro. You can concentrate on the same task again or pick a new one. At the end of four Pomodoros, you take a longer break of maybe 20 to 30 minutes. The important part about the breaks is that they need to be breaks. Get up, talk to someone, talk a short walk, stretch, look out the window, read a book. Breaks aren’t for doing other work. If you are interrupted during your Pomodoro, end the interruption as quickly as possible, jot down a note if there is another task you need to do because of it and continue with your work. Try not to get derailed: stay focused. Solution: The Flowtime Technique One thing that many people don’t like about Pomodoro is that the working blocks are so severely regimented. A consistent complaint is that you might finish a task in less time and not need the whole block or that you might be 'in the zone' when the timer goes off, which of course harms productivity rather than helping it. You can solve this by using what is called the Flowtime Technique. Instead of hard limits for the timers, you try to work in flexible blocks of, for example, 20 to 60 minutes. The goal is not for every block to be the same but rather for each block to be a unit of cohesive, focused work on one task, with a maximum length so that you don’t work on that task for hours without a break. With this technique, you will just be stopping for a break when you need a break and trying hard to be honest about that. Tip #2: Figure out where your time is going A second important facet of working smarter rather than harder involves knowing when you have been working, on what, and why. Time tracking is a handy way to, over time, build up an idea of what you have actually been doing. If you are using the Pomodoro or Flowtime techniques already mentioned, tracking your time will be that much easier. When you start a Pomodoro, you’ll just start a timer or jot down the time and when you finish, the same. Some Pomodoro apps can even do this for you and if you ever forget to write down starting or stopping times, the fact that you’re working in recorded chunks should make it easy to go back and grab that information later. You can see patterns of what distracts you and when; you can see what times of the day are your most productive and for what types of work Jeff Smith Once you can gather enough of this data, it becomes invaluable to you. You can see patterns of what distracts you and when; you can see what times of the day are your most productive and for what types of work. This will be your guide in restructuring the workday as much as possible to maximise your productivity – doing creative or complex work during your more productive times and filling the gaps between meetings, interruption-heavy time blocks and periods where you often have trouble focusing with more menial work. Solution: Try a time tracking tool There are low-energy solutions for tracking time spent in applications already for Windows, macOS and for the various phone platforms. You might use some of them already. These features enable you to see what applications you use and for how much time per day or week. What we want to do is similar but on a task level. Rather than knowing whether you had Chrome or Slack open this afternoon and for how long, we instead want to know if you were in meetings or writing code, preparing taxes or writing customer communications. One of the best free/cheap time tracking solutions out there is Toggl. Toggl has an app that is so-so for iOS and Android but the web service is superb and can be tied into services like Zapier or IFTTT for automation. Additionally, there are other time tracking tools that are integrated into the software you already use. Employee time-card systems, if you fill out line items for tasks, are one. Another is the invoicing tool you use, if you freelance – many of those contain time tracking features as well, to help with generating those invoices. Tip #3: Supercharge your to-do lists Last, but certainly not least, consider the use of some sort of task-management system. These can vary wildly, from pencil and paper setups (see our guide to the best notebooks for designers) to phone apps or computer software. The goal is to keep track of all the items you need to do in a given day or for a given project and ensure things don’t get forgotten. Task managers are useful in a lot of ways. You can simply use them as an organised to-do list if you wish but their real strength comes when you lean on them hard. Every new task that comes to mind gets dropped into an inbox, you sort tasks into projects, label them and you depend on the system absolutely. It can always be depended upon to guide you on what you should be doing, when and often where. The system does need to be reviewed on a daily or weekly basis to make sure that tasks don’t fall between the cracks, buried at the bottom of a project with perhaps no due date. In essence, the task manager can be a second memory for the things that you need to get done. An important distinction here is that we are looking at task management rather than project management. Project management tools, such as Trello, Basecamp, Asana and many others like them, are very different to task managers. When we manage tasks, we’re thinking of to-do lists – what tasks need to be done at work or at home. Project managers are a much wider scope and less focused on individual tasks than on the entire breadth of the work that needs doing. Solution: Keep a bullet journal Bullet journals can be used to manage entire projects, track daily tasks, capture notes and more Your first choice will be whether you want an analog (paper) or digital (mobile/computer) system. If you intend to keep track of your tasks on paper, one of the best methods to manage it all is via Bullet Journaling. It’s an amazing system that enables you to capture thoughts, notes and tasks and works quite well alongside focus-driven Pomodoros (and also provides a place to note times for time tracking). Solution: Use a digital time-tracker If you’d prefer a digital time-tracking system, the best overall recommendation for any platform is Todoist. Todoist is an amazing application that lets you sort tasks into projects, nested projects, subtasks, labels, due dates and a whole mess of other features, while still letting you have a single simple to-do list if you’d like. Power users can share tasks with others, sync with calendars or even use the API to integrate with thirdparty services such as Zapier or IFTTT. For Apple ecosystem users, the favourites are OmniFocus for serious task management with a more ‘Getting Things Done’ (GTD) flair and Things for everyone else. Both of these apps are amazing task managers and, for a macOS/iOS only user, can provide in some cases more useful features than even Todoist. Tip #4: Combine your time management tools These three parts of working smarter dovetail together very nicely. If you have a to-do list for the day, you can take an item off of that list, do a Pomodoro or two to complete it and then track the time you spent engaged with that task before picking another one. This can be a lot to get used to at once, so it is also perfectly acceptable to take one of these ideas and incorporate it into your daily routine, then – once you’re familiar with using it regularly – consider the idea of looking into one of the others. This article was originally published in issue 324 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 324 or subscribe to net today. Related articles: 5 ways a stylus will boost your productivity 21 ways to improve productivity with npm 8 powerful productivity apps to help you get things done View the full article

Want to add a second screen to your smartphone to improve your productivity and creativity? Then the nifty castAway case could be exactly what you're looking for. castAway works by where housing your phone in one side of its case, while a smartphone-sized Chromium-based tablet sits in the other side, allowing you to multitask on the go. The castAway tablet comes in three sizes, 5.8", 6.3" and 6.9", making it compatible with a host of popular Android and iOS devices, and some of the best smartphones available. A custom app allows users to connect to the second screen via Bluetooth or WiFi and creates a series of folders on the phone to store images and files. On the tablet, a Chrome extension will grab any files that are added to the folders – meaning you have access on both devices. There is no doubt that a second screen brings with it plenty of plus points, especially for designers. You can keep your tools panel on one screen and design in another. You can also work on one screen and keep an eye on your social media and email on the other. But the best bit is you are not tied to the double screen. You can pull apart the screens and use them separately, and then slip back together when you want to thanks to a magnetic hinge. The castAway is exciting stuff, but it's not available yet. It's currently at the Prototype stage on IndieGoGo, meaning there is a working version of the physical product, but it's not yet in production. Get more info on the castAway here. 13 creative free iPhone apps for designers How to Photoshop on the iPhone (yes, it’s a thing) 30 Chrome extensions for web designers and devs View the full article

Pepsi has a new US tagline, and it's...well... a bit odd. 'That's What I Like' is Pepsi's first permanent new slogan in two decades, and it'll be used to advertise all Pepsi varieties including regular Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Diet Pepsi. In fact, it's already appearing on a range of TV spots (more on that below). While it seems a sensible move to go back to one, permanent tagline, the choice of words from Pepsi has us baffled. 'That's What I Like' makes us think of several things. It reminds us strongly of McDonald's' 'I'm Lovin' It' (in fact, it's basically a longer, less catchy way to say the same thing). It also reminds us of that – dare we say it – Coke advert where the guy awkwardly announces: "I just love Coke". We're guessing that reminding its customers of its biggest rival probably wasn't what Pepsi was going for here. There's also a whiff of the much-loved, cheese-tastic '90s compilation albums: 'Now That's What I Call Music', which again can't have been what the drinks company was aiming for. Discover all you need to know about logo design with our guide. The slogan has been announced with a range of new adverts created with agency Alma and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which feature people busting some shapes in various situations including an airport, at a BBQ and on the tube. Interestingly, all of the English-language adverts feature men rather than women as the lead characters, which we're assuming must be some deliberate targeting, otherwise it seems like a pretty big oversight. All of the characters are laughed at for their dance moves, until they take a swig of Pepsi and voila! Everyone dances along with them. The new slogan then pops up on the screen to remind us all that it's okay to like Pepsi, and to dance in public. Thanks, Pepsi. "Pepsi drinkers are comfortable in their own skin, they enjoy their life unapologetically without really worrying about what other people think," says Pepsi’s VP of marketing, Todd Kaplan. According to Kaplan, people who like drinking Pepsi also like belting out karaoke numbers, binge-watching their favourite shows and are more likely to clap at the cinema, so presumably that explains the dancing videos. Look, there's even an infographic telling us just how 'wild' Pepsi drinkers are. So it must be true. Overall, this seems like a well thought-out move from Pepsi, but we're not really loving it. It's hard to imagine that 'That's What I Like' will have real staying power. Read more: Has Diet Coke lost the plot? The 10 best logos of all time 6 incredible design secrets you need to know View the full article

We all enjoy nerding out at a design sheet, and who doesn't love a good Olympic logo? This discovery from the Logo Smith combines the two: the design sheet for the Tokyo 1964 Olympic emblem. This logo was voted by design legend Milton Glaser as his favourite Olympic logo ever. The Tokyo 1964 Olympic logo was designed by Yusaku Kamekura and features a red sun representing the Japanese flag above the Olympic gold rings, with 'Tokyo 1964' written in Helvetica. Like all the best logos, it's simple, but extremely effective. And of course, drawing the logo required precise measurements in the days before the likes of Illustrator. You can see the Tokyo 1964 logo's design sheet below. The Logo Smith has attempted to painstakingly recreate the design sheet, and it turned out not to be easy: As we head towards the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics, we can't help but wonder how this year's logo will be remembered. The original first logo design was scrapped due to plagiarism accusations, the official logo was then unveiled to a mixed reaction, and a concept logo received a lot of praise, with many saying it was better than the official one. The official recycled medals went down a treat, though. The official Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic logos It remains to be seen just what the legacy of this particular logo is, but we do like the idea of people trying to painstakingly recreate it in years to come. Let's hope there's already a detailed design sheet in circulation. Read more: The controversial story behind the Tokyo 2020 logo Ridiculous tutorial reveals the 4 steps to logo design Paris 2024 Olympic logo is mercilessly mocked View the full article

It's January. This means it's time to google 'calendar 2020' with the intention of overhauling your organisational habits for the new year. Well, we've saved you the trouble of researching the wealth of systems to choose from by listing the best options right here. Maybe a standard wall calendar is enough for you? If so, we've found the most design-conscious options for your home or office. If you want something with more features, we've got you covered with our pick of the best wall and desk planners. Or, you could combine more than one option to make a super-system that's sure to see you smashing deadlines and going home without a head full of tasks. Keep reading for a roundup of the calendars available for you this year. And while you're overhauling your work habits, why not give your portfolio a refresh? Check out our portfolio examples post for some inspiration. 01. V&A – May Morris Wall Calendar 2020 Price: £9.99 Buy here The V&A do a beautiful line of calendars that include striking designs perfect for the wall of a creative. May Morris, daughter of William Morris, was a noted embroiderer, designer, jeweller and editor. This calendar focuses on her wallpaper designs, wall hangings and embroidery, featuring 12 stunning pieces. Not only aesthetically pleasing, this calendar has a well-organised format with large boxes, clear labelling and a handy previous/next month view. If May Morris isn't quite right for you, check out the V&A's Kimono Silks or Arts & Crafts calendars. 02. Boxclever Everyday Desk Calendar 2020 Price: £9.99 Buy here This desk calendar is compact enough to stay on your desk without taking up valuable workspace, but is still packed with useful features. It's month-to-view and has two handy notes sections as well as large boxes and a previous/next month view. But our favourite part is the super-useful 'To Do' flip page section – one for each month, with a tick box for each line. 03. Stendig Wall Calendar Price: $54.99 Buy here The Stendig calendar is chosen purely as a design statement. Lacking handy features but big on iconic style, the Stendig calendar is a modernist design classic and the only calendar in the collection of MoMA. We recommend using it in conjunction with a desk planner if you want to actually remember anything besides the date. 04. Blueline 2020 DoodlePlan Monthly Colouring Desk Pad Calendar Price: $10.59 Buy here This month-to-view desk tear-off desk pad is perfect for creative doodlers. Each page is adorned with black and white botanical designs you can colour in which is great for improving concentration and reducing anxiety. The paper is heavyweight so the the colour won't bleed through, and the back is reinforced so the calendar feels sturdy. It has a yearly calendar at the bottom of each sheet and roomy squares for each day. The calendar comes in three sizes and is made from 50 per cent recycled paper. 05. Busy B Desktop Calendar 2020 Price: £8.99 Buy here The Busy B desk calendar has a clear layout, bright design and space to add in notes, but best of all it has a pocket to stash all those little bits of paper that clutter up your desk and end up getting lost. Think bills, tickets and invites. It stands handily on your desk, taking up little space. 06. John Lewis & Partners Perpetual Calendar Price: £30 Buy here This perpetual calendar is another style piece that'll look seriously good on your desk. It's made using ash wood (known for its density) and features a line per day, date and month. Use it with a weekly planner. 07. Studio Henki – Spectrum 2020 Wall Planner Price: £9.99 Buy here This vibrant planner is A2 size and is great for viewing your entire year at a glance. Its vertical layout is cleverly formatted so its easier to scan the months than other yearly planners we've looked at, and the shape and size means it'll fit into any wall space you have available. We suggest using it in conjunction with coloured stickers if you want to really nail the organisation of different parts of your life. Studio Henki have a range of other designs if Spectrum isn't to your taste. 08. Desktop Weekly Planner Notepad Price: £12.99 Buy here We think that this tear-off planner is one of the best ways of organising your week. It is undated (there's a space to write the date) and has a week-to-view format that means you can expunge the contents of your brain into the different categories and have everything you need right in front of you. The sections on the sheet include lined columns for each day (with lots of space to scribble notes), a 'To Do' box, and even a doodle section. The ice cream design may not be up your street but there are plenty of alternatives out there. 09. teNeues Jack Vettriano Square Calendar 2020 Price: £10 Buy here With this calendar, you can display 12 works of art by one of the finest Scottish contemporary artists, Jack Vettriano. The striking images sit atop a calendar grid complete with public holidays, and in the bottom-right hand corner there is that all-important space for notes. If you like the calendar design but would prefer a different artist, teNeues also produces a Gustav Klimt calendar (among others). 10. Boxclever Press Family Home Planner 2020 Wall Calendar Price: £9.99 Buy here This may be a family calendar but, with a little repurposing, it's perfect for creatives with many projects on the go. Its month-to-view pages include six columns that come unlabelled so you can head them up with any particular labels you might need to utilise that month (for example, different companies you might be working for, or specific project headers). There's also a notes section at the bottom of each month and a roomy pocket for bits and pieces. Read more: The top design trends for 2020 10 top illustration trends The best art books for 2020 View the full article

Twelve Bootstrap columns, five breakpoints, and Flexbox are what underlies the iconic boilerplate’s bootstrap grid system. There are a dozen predefined classes, yet, these three stand behind the flexibility of the layout. They build a concrete foundation with responsive behavior …View the full article

WordPress began as a simple blogging platform but evolved into the content management system that now powers a large percentage of websites. As the most popular CMS, its rapid success is likely down to it being a fantastic general-purpose tool in the web development world. A low barrier for entry and large ecosystem of plugins and free WordPress themes allow less technically proficient users to build complex systems. But this can be a double-edged sword if a WordPress website gains traction, scaling beyond the occasional visitor and leading to problems. The best web hosting services in 2020 The first signs of trouble appear when a new user lands on the website: load times can be excruciating and elements jump around the page as separate stylesheets load, one by one. It isn't long before the server runs out of memory, causing the database to crash, requiring a server restart to bring the website back up. By default, when a user lands on a page provided by a WordPress website, the back end runs through the theme and any plugins before rendering the page. If lots of plugins are used or the theme is poorly written, this can result in lengthy database queries and inclusion of JavaScript and CSS where it isn't needed. Thankfully, many of the major issues causing slow speed can be addressed, and in this tutorial we will look at how you can optimise even the clunkiest of WordPress websites. To boost your skills further, take a look at our roundup of WordPress tutorials to try. 01. Test the current speed The first step in speeding up a website is to find out how well it's performing to start with. An array of tools exists to help with this, including Google's Pagespeed Insights and Pingdom's page load checker. We will be using GTmetrix as it combines several checks; go to the site and enter the URL for the website. 02. Examine the results GTmetrix gives you a quick analysis of your site's performance After a short delay GTmetrix will display the results of the check and give several scores from A – F. It will also give a fully loaded time and total page size. Below this, a breakdown of several elements is given. 03. Identify the largest files One of the most important metrics is the total page size. This is the filesize of all loaded elements on a page, such as images, video, CSS and any scripts that are included in the page. Using GTmetrix, open the Waterfall tab and sort the table by size to find the largest elements on the page. 04. Compress media to reduce size Bulk optimise your media to get a speed boost Images and video are usually the largest items on a page. Eliminate unnecessary background videos and ensure to encode video at a low bit-rate if it plays automatically. Install the plugin EWWW Image Optimizer. From the Media library, a new bulk optimise option is available. Run this. 05. Resize images Shrink those massive images that are getting scaled down in the browser Sometimes images added to a page are at a high resolution and then scaled down with CSS. This wastes bandwidth as the larger size is never used. Go to the dashboard > Settings > Ewww Image Optimiser and select resize. Tick "Resize detection". Now, pages viewed by an admin will highlight images that need to be resized. Resizing these images in an image editor or using a CDN with automatic sizing will fix this issue. 06. Minification of CSS, JS & HTML This is the process of removing the characters in code that make it human-readable to reduce the size of the page. When using a third-party theme, a plugin such as Autoptimize is perfect for this. Install it, go to settings > Autoptimize > scroll down to CSS options and tick "optimise CSS code". When working with a theme that has been custom-made, minification is done with build tools such as gulp. 07. Combine CSS & JS files When using a third-party theme, the Autoptimise plugin can cover most scenarios by enabling the "Aggregate CSS files" option. This combines all the CSS for each page into a single file instead of many smaller ones. 08. Defer external JavaScript Live chat, analytics and tracking tools can bundle large JavaScript files that add entire seconds to the time the page takes to become interactive. Add the defer attribute to these scripts so that they're not executed until the DOM has finished loading. 09. Examine the plugins Treat your site to a severe plugin audit Too many plugins can cripple WordPress. With so many plugins being free, developers are under pressure to push premium versions of their software and include unnecessary, bloated features such as pushing notifications to the admin dashboard. Disable and remove any plugins that aren't being used – they can be installed again later if needed again. 10. Check web server power Your server might be slowing things down; here's how to identify if that's the case The engine of a website is the server it runs on. If its cheap, underpowered and badly maintained it will run poorly. Go to Google PageSpeed Insights and enter the URL of the website. In the results look for "reduce server response time". If this appears on the report, it's likely that a slow server is to blame for the performance. 11. Enable Gzip compression Gzip can decrease the size of your website before it's sent to a user. The user's web browser then decompresses the data automatically and displays it to them. With no drawbacks, it's important to ensure Gzip is enabled. There are several tools to check whether Gzip is enabled; try GiftOfSpeed. 12. Upgrade to PHP 7 Within the WordPress dashboard open Tools > Site health and click the info tab. Open the "Server" accordion and check the value for the PHP version. If this is any less than 7.x.x it is highly recommended to upgrade to at least PHP 7.1. Tests show changing this allowed handling of over double the simulated visitors. 13. Set up page caching Use the cache enabler to render popular pages to a faster static HTML file Go to plugins > Add new plugin and search for "cache enabler". This lightweight plugin stores pages in a cache so a visitor browsing at the same time as another doesn't cause the website to render the page twice. Instead, the plugin renders the page to a static HTML file once then serves this file to subsequent users. 14. Photon Different devices render images at different sizes, making it difficult to size images exactly as they display. Using the free "photon" service, included in Jetpack, images are automatically served at the right size. 15. Set up browser caching Browser caching tells a user's browser that certain elements don't need to be re-downloaded every time they reload a page on the website or come back and visit again. This can be done manually in .htaccess, or alternatively a plugin such as "Leverage Browser Caching" can be used. 16. Load testing with virtual users Use a service like Loader to check your site can cope with high demand To simulate real users using the website and put the website under stress, load testing should be conducted. While monitoring the server for load impact, use a service such as Loader to send traffic to the website. The CPU and memory of the server should stay within safe limits. 17. Recheck performance Once the optimisations have been carried out, you should test and gauge the improvement to the website. Run GTmetrix again and use the history tab to see the difference in page load time. If caching has been enabled, make sure that you visit the website at least once in order to "prime" the cache before carrying out testing. This article was originally published in issue 292 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 292. Join us in April 2020 to see our lineup of JavaScript superstars at GenerateJS – the conference helping you build better JavaScript. Book now at generateconf.com Related articles: How to turn WordPress into a visual builder 26 top-quality WordPress portfolio themes View the full article

The January sales are well underway, and we're seeing some amazing offers on hardware for creative professionals. This incredible MacBook Pro deal from John Lewis may be for an older product, but it's hard to pass up such a great saving on what is still a brilliant Apple laptop. Originally £1,569, John Lewis has the 13-inch, 2018 Apple MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD on sale for just £1,300. That's a whopping £269 off! Released just over a year ago, the 2018 MacBook Pro is still one of the best laptops you can buy, only superseded by the more recent MacBook Pro refresh, which is significantly more expensive. This 2018 model comes with a 6-core, 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, Apple's brilliant Retina display featuring True Tone technology, the customisable Touch Bar and Touch ID, 4GB of video memory and four USB-C ports. So there's enough power, connections, a great screen, and functionality for any aspiring creative professional. Be sure to take a look at our pick of the best deals in the Apple New Year sale, where you'll find cheap iPads, Pencils, iMacs and more. If you're looking for something with a little more room, you can make an even more impressive saving on this 15-inch MacBook Pro model over on Amazon... Over in the US, Best Buy has some top offers running on MacBook Pros, the best of which we've listed here. If you're not in the UK or US, never fear, below are the best MacBook Pro deals in your area. View the full article

So you want to create a logo quickly? Of course you do, time is a precious commodity in a designer's workflow and any assistance saving yourself hours of work is undoubtedly welcome. Well, all you need to do is draw a design, create some shapes and colour it in. It's as simple as that. Isn't it? Well, according to one Reddit post, this is pretty much all you need to do to get yourself a handsome-looking logo. (If you are looking for more comprehensive help with your next project make sure you check out our logo design inspiration post). According to the post, there's only four steps to logo design. You just import your sketch into your software of choice, add a pixel grid to the sketch, start building the logo using shapes and, finally, combine all the shapes and finish the logo. Voila. Four steps to... something It's possible that there may be a few flaws in the process and reactions to the post have been mixed. One responder pointed out the obvious: "What comes before step one is the hardest part." Quite. Other comments were even more scathing. If you want to fill some more of those knowledge gaps, then you might be better off taking a look at our logo design guide, or top typography tutorials post. Read more: 5 big logo design trends for 2020 Logo swap is surprisingly disturbing 6 of the most iconic drinks logos View the full article

The best travel laptops are designed help you get stuff done while you're out and about – whether that's attending to a design event, visiting clients, or just packing in some exploring around your day job. Almost everyone travels these days, and quite a few – especially creative professionals – travel full time while also working remotely. A laptop that's robust, extremely portable and very reliable is invaluable if you want to be able to work whilst on the move. To make the hunt for the best travel laptop a little easier, we've gathered the best options available now, factoring in everything that makes each one the perfect travel companion. Looking for a more general list? See our guide to the best laptops for graphic design or the best laptops for programming. If not, read on for some tips on what to look for, plus our roundup of the best travel laptops right now. How to pick the best travel laptop Not every laptop can be a good travel laptop. Some are powerful yet too heavy to go traipsing around with, while others just aren’t powerful enough to be reliable, especially for digital nomads whose computing demands are more intensive than that of regular users. The best travel laptops must combine portability with power and durability. They must be thin and light so you can easily slip them in your backpack or carry-on, and not have to worry too much about the added weight. Anything under 1.59kg (3.5lbs) is ideal. After all, traveling as light as possible is one of the key things for a more relaxing – and cheaper – trip. They must also be powerful enough to handle your needs, whatever those may be. If you’re just looking to do travel research, stream movies and chat with friends, a less powerful laptop will do. However, if you’re planning on working while traveling, not just any laptop will do. Luckily, there are excellent mobile workstations out there that are fitted with powerful processors and plenty of memory. The best travel laptops must also be extremely durable, robust enough to not only handle hard bumps, but also accidental drops. MacBook Pros, for example, are tough enough to survive a high fall. A long battery life is also extremely useful. While most cafes, airports, stations, trains and planes provide outlets for laptop users, a portable that will last you a while on a single charge is preferred in case you find yourself stuck in a place where charging just isn’t possible. It wouldn’t hurt to have plenty of storage space, either – although Cloud storage and external hard drives are readily available, if upgrading to a bigger storage space proves too pricey for you. The MacBook Pro 16-inch may have been the talk of the town when it launched in late 2019, but it’s still a bit too big for jet-setting Apple fans. Luckily, Apple has also updated its 13-inch MacBook Pros, making them better than ever. The thin and light 2019 MacBook Pro 13-inch is touting not just new specs, but also features like Apple’s Retina display and that convenient Touch ID. The non-Touch Bar models have been phased out, so fans of the Touch Bar feature will be happy to know that they won’t be paying extra to get it. Better yet, this 2019 model keeps its predecessor’s price tag, so you won’t be paying more for these fresh updates. Bear in mind though that the MacBook Pro 13-inch won’t be able to handle the more intensive tasks like video editing and AutoCAD design. Also, it only has Thunderbolt ports available. However, if you’re only looking to send emails, write up documents and stream videos – and maybe squeeze in some light photo editing every now and then – this is the best travel laptop for you. The new HP Spectre x360 13T is gorgeous, with its elegant gem-cut design that will be the envy of everyone on your train. However, this light and portable laptop isn’t just all looks. Designed to compete with MacBook users, it also boasts plenty of power – more than enough to convince hardcore Apple fans to switch over to Windows. Not only that, but the HP Spectre x360 13T is feature-rich as well, making it in many ways better than the newer MacBook Pro models. It offers a good variety of ports, for one, so you can connect all your non-Thunderbolt devices. It also boasts great Bang & Olufsen speakers, an exquisite touchscreen display and a whopping 12-hour battery life. More importantly, it has a hybrid design so you can work in traditional laptop mode, play games in tablet mode and stream your favourite shows in tent mode. This is one of our favourite laptops for 2020, and among the best travel laptops for creative professionals who prefer the Windows environment. The new Surface Laptop 3 continues Microsoft’s tradition of crafting excellent – albeit pricey – portables. This time around, the Surface Laptop 3 comes in both the 13-inch and 15-inch models, with the 15-inch touting the latest AMD processors. It’s the 13-inch, however, that we’re singing high praises for as far as Ultrabooks for traveling. These thin and light laptops come fitted with 10th-generation Intel Core processors, plenty of memory for most computing needs and decent storage options. It delivers such an excellent performance, and boasts Microsoft’s impressive keyboard and trackpad as well, although these might be a bit of a departure from the predecessor’s. However, what really makes this among the best travel laptops out there is its weight. At up to 1.27 kg, this is lighter than most of its 13-inch rivals, so if weight is a top priority for you, this must be at the top of your list of options. For more details read our Surface Laptop 3 review, or see how it compares to its predecessor in our Surface Laptop 2 review. For years, Dell’s XPS line has topped many best laptops list. The XPS laptops are simply some of the best in their class. And, the newest 2019 models don’t fall far from the tree. However, rocking 10th-generation Intel Core processors, as well as a battery boost from the previous model, the Dell XPS 13 is more powerful than ever for most computing tasks. More importantly, Dell has finally fixed that awful webcam placement under the display – the webcam, which has also been improved with four lens elements, is now sitting in its rightful place above the screen. When video chatting with friends and family back home, they won’t be looking up your nose any more. The InfinityEdge display has been updated as well, with thinner bezels so it looks fresher than ever. Speaking of looks, it now also comes in Frost for those who think black is boring. Finally, if size is a major concern, the Dell XPS 13 is one of the smallest laptops out there. It’s the perfect travel companion, if you prefer to jet-set with just a single travel bag. Razer is no stranger to excellent gaming laptops that boast mind-blowing power, but it’s the Razer Blade Stealth 13 that’s really impressed us. While most gaming laptops are big and bulky machines, this 13-inch model has fitted all that gaming prowess in an Ultrabook laptop, so you can play all those latest games smoothly at 1080p while on the go. This updated Razer Blade Stealth may not be the cheapest gaming machine out there, but thin does come at a price. If you’re willing to pay it, this delivers enough power and boasts a stunning display. It’s not just for games, mind you – it can handle creative tasks like photo and video editing as well. There’s even a 4K option for an even better image quality. And the sophisticated and sleek non-gaming aesthetic is a bonus. View the full article

So here we stand, at the beginning of the century's third decade, and for creative professionals, things have never looked more optimistic. The societal shift from analogue to digital means that design is increasingly seen as a central plank of every big company's success, and demand for skills like illustration, graphic design, web design, 3D and animation is hitting record highs. Of course, such global trends don't always translate instantly into rewarding, well-paid work for everyone, and so many creatives will continue to face challenges and struggles to establish themselves. But we're optimistic there's light at the end of the tunnel, and that with hard work, determination and plenty of grit, we can all achieve our creative dreams in the 2020s. To cheer you on your way, here's our list of things that all creatives can look forward to in 2020. From new tech and to make you more productive to cultural and artistic events such as 3D movies that will inspire you creatively, we present 20 reasons why 2020 promises to be an awesome year for creatives. 01. Illustrator on the iPad You’ll soon be able to use the full version of Adobe Illustrator on the iPad It’s been a whole decade since the iPad launched, but in all that time, creatives have been unable to use the full version of Adobe Illustrator on it. Sure, you could make some basic edits to your .ai files using a tool like Illustrator Draw, but that was about it. This left Serif, Adobe’s main competitor, able to pull off a coup by launching Affinity Designer for iPad in the summer of 2018. That seems to have spurred Adobe into action and finally, it announced last November that a full version of Illustrator would be coming to the iPad in 2020. (Check out our article outlining some of the super-cool things you’ll be able to do with it.) Serif, meanwhile, has upped the ante by announcing that a full version of its desktop publishing tool, Affinity Publisher, will be available for the iPad next year too; this will hopefully prompt Adobe to follow suit with InDesign. In short, the time when we’ll be able to seamlessly move from tablet to laptop with our creative work is coming... and not a moment too soon! 02. Foldable devices Microsoft’s Surface Duo offers "the perfect balance of productivity and mobility" The 2000s brought us the smartphone, the 2010s the tablet, and in the 2020s, it’s going to be about foldables. These new devices basically give you the flexibility to switch between a small screen and a larger one, and the industry is betting big that they'll be the next game-changer. With support built into Android 10, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is already here, and with Microsoft's Surface Duo, Huawei's Mate X and Motorola’s Razr coming soon, we’re sure to see Apple entering the foldable fray in 2020. We're expecting a shakeup of our best smartphones list very soon. Why is this good news for creatives? Well, if you take the optimistic line, then the added flexibility of foldable devices will open up huge potential to make us more creative and productive. Conversely, if you’re among the cynics, there’s at least going to be lots of extra work for designers rethinking websites and apps, and making them work better on foldable devices. So that’ll be a win-win, then. 03. Toyko Olympics The logos for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Every Olympics is special, of course. But the return of the Games to Tokyo, which first hosted them in 1964, promises to be very special indeed. From the country that brought the world everything from Studio Ghibli to Baby Metal, we can only imagine what weird and wonderful visual delights the opening and closing ceremonies will bring. And we can’t wait to see what new branding magic will be unveiled once the event gets closer. If the uber-cute mascots and winning idea of using recycled Olympic medals are anything to go by, we’re in for a flurry of colourful and creative treats. (Oh, and the actual sport will probably be fun, too.) 04. The 5G revolution T-Mobile is among the mobile networks now offering 5G to its customers Yes, we know: technically 5G launched in 2019, but initial coverage was pretty limited and smartphone makers are really only now getting started with it. So it’s 2020 that will be the real year of 5G, with availability broadening and new phones like the Pixel 5, iPhone 12 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S11 allowing us to take advantage of the superfast internet it offers. As consumers, that means we’ll be to use the web without all that stuttering latency, making for a smoother and more relaxing experience. As creatives, it means we’ll have more opportunities to, for example, progressively enhance our apps and websites for 5G users, providing richer visuals and more complex interactions, from 4K video to augmented reality features. If you want to know how to get on board with the next mobile revolution, check out our sister site TechRadar's guide to everything you need to know about 5G. 05. The Year of Raphael Although Raphael’s life was short, his work was prolific, and his legacy is immortal The year 2020 marks 500 years since the death of Raphael, the painter, draughtsman, architect, archaeologist, and poet whose shaped the Western world like few artists have, before or since. And this landmark anniversary will herald a ‘Year of Raphael’, with some spectacular shows across the world. The biggest will be held at Rome’s Scuderie del Quirinale in collaboration with Florence’s Gallerie degli Uffizi, while major Raphael works will also be on display at Milan’s Ambrosiana, and the National Gallery and the V&A in London, and the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Offering the chance to see rarely and never-before exhibited pieces by the great master, these events will offer an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in some of history’s greatest artworks, and get a blast of inspiration for your own creative projects. 06. Smartphone camera wars Smartphone cameras are going to get seriously good in 2020 Right now, there’s a war raging for the smartphone market, and the consumer is only going to benefit in 2020, not least when it comes to the increasingly quality of the cameras in our pockets. Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S11, for example, will come with a 108-megapixel sensor, an ultrawide-angle lens and 5x optical zoom. It’s a feisty response to the impressive advancements in the iPhone 11’s cameras, and we expect Apple, and other rivals like Huawei, to respond in kind. So whether you use your smartphone camera as part of your job, or just for fun and inspiration, expecting plenty of cool new photography tech to inspire and excite you in the year to come. For now, check out the best camera phones available on the current market. 07. Cyberpunk 2077 A RPG of the dark future from the makers of The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077 is due for release next year There are plenty of exciting new videogames coming our way in 2020, including Gods and Monsters, Doom Eternal, Occupy Mars and The Last of Us Part II. But we’ll be honest: the one we’re most thrilled about is Cyberpunk 2077, a story-driven, open world RPG of the dark future from CD PROJEKT RED, creators of The Witcher series. Not least because of the jaw-dropping art behind it, which suggests an elaborate futuristic world that’s not bright and gleaming but morbidly gritty. The gameplay trailer suggests it’s going to be brilliantly playable too, and early reports from the E3 videogames expo have been very positive. Finally, when Keanu Reeves made a surprise appearance in a game's trailer… well, you just know this game is going to be very special. 08. New gaming consoles Xbox Series X is due for release towards the end of 2020 Next year won’t just be about new games, but brand new games consoles. Xbox Series X, the next-generation Xbox, is scheduled for release in late 2020. With a tower design that makes it look more like a gaming PC than a console (which has spawned plenty of savage memes), the new Xbox promises to be super-powerful and able to run games at 60 FPS in 4K. And that’s not all. Around the same time we'll see the launch of the PS5, aka PlayStation 5, which is predicted to include 8K TV support and 3D audio. Beyond that, we really don’t know a lot about what these new consoles will offer yet, such as whether they’ll feature VR capabilities. But it’s almost certain they’ll take video gaming to a whole new level, and provide game designers and developers a whole new impetus to imagine a new worlds, characters and scenarios to enthral us in 2020 and beyond. 09. Generate JS Our London event will feature talks from JS experts Remy Sharp and Jeremy Keith More and more creatives are working from home and only interacting with colleagues and clients at a digital level. But while that makes for better efficiency and work-life balance, it’s no substitution for interacting and forming real relationships in the physical world. For this reason, we predict that creative conferences and events will be become both bigger and more numerous in the decade to come. If you're a web designer or web developer, then you should definitely check out our own event, held in association with net magazine, on Thursday 2 April. Generate.js is a one-day conference in Shoreditch, London that's essentially a concentrated shot of skills and insight from some of the UK’s biggest JavaScript superstars. You’ll be able to attend awesome talks, network with fellow professionals, grill JS experts, check out great web tech, and unwind with some of our activities in the breaks. So whether you’re just starting out on your JavaScript journey or a pro looking to polish your skills, buy your ticket today. 10. Tenet There are lots of great-looking movies to come in 2020 but most of them, inevitably, are reboots or sequels. And so while we’re still very much looking forward to Wonder Woman 1984, Bill & Ted Face the Music, A Quiet Place Part II, Top Gun Maverick, Bad Boys for Life, Ghostbusters: After Life and Coming 2 America, it’s good to know that there’ll also be plenty of original fare to save us from franchise fatigue. Top of our must-see list is Tenet from director Christopher Nolan. The film stars John David Washington of BlacKkKlansman fame, has been given a gigantic budget, and is set in the world of international espionage but “crossing a few different genres”, according to Nolan. The trailer (above) looks incredible and quite simply we can’t wait to see this film. 11. Aladdin City An artists’ impression of the Aladdin City development in Dubai There are many famous buildings around the world to inspire us creatively. But 2020 should see the completion of a new development that promises to really take your breath away. Designed by the International Design Studio (IDS) and under construction by Meinhardt World Wide, Aladdin City will feature three towers, designed to resemble Aladdin’s magic lamp, linked by bridges and walkways. The towers will reach the height of 24, 25 and 33 storeys, at an eye-watering cost of $15bn. And if the finished version looks anything like the artist’s impression shown above, the world is certain to come flocking. 12. Action on the environment Plastic straws will be outlawed in England in 2020 If the 2010s were the decade of heightened environmental awareness, the 2020s will hopefully be the decade of environmental solutions. As creatives, we have our own roles to play of course, especially in fields like packaging and product design. But every part of society needs to pull together, so it’s good news that governments are finally starting to push through practical measures too. For example, from April 2020, plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds with plastic stems will be banned from sale and use in England. Also in the coming year, Liberia will become the world’s first nation to completely stop cutting down its trees in return for development aid (Norway will pay it $150 million to halt deforestation in the West African nation). Such restrictions present big challenges to international business, but if anything designers thrive on pushing up against limitations and coming up with new creative solutions. So ideally, new environmental regulations won't just help save the planet, they'll help to further invigorate the design industry too! 13. Vertex 2020 Vertex is the must-attend event for 2D and 3D artists in the UK If you’re a 2D or 3D artist and can get to London on 27-28 February, then here’s an event to get excited about. Vertex, a conference hosted by Creative Bloq, 3D World and ImagineFX, brings together industry expertise across the world of CG, from video games, VFX and VR to concept art, real-time creation and more. You’ll get the opportunity to hone your skills with advice from leading industry artists and learn from the world’s best creative studios. Get your ticket today. 14. The Munch Museum The new Munch Museum offers a new reason to visit Norway’s capital in 2020 There are a lot of cool new museums due to launch in 2020, not least Giza’s Grand Egyptian Museum. But the one we’re most excited about is the relaunched Munch Museum in a new building on Oslo's waterfront, scheduled to open this spring. One of the world's largest museums dedicated to a single artist, it will feature an vast array of work by Edvard Munch, who’s most famous for The Scream, across 13 floors. Work by innovative contemporary artists will also be on show, plus the unusual building, designed by Spanish architecture firm Estudio Herreros, is something of a work of art itself. 15. Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener Anna Wiener’s memoir promises to be one of the most talked-about books of the year It doesn’t seem long ago since companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon were young upstarts, challenging business norms. But in just a few years, they’ve turned the world upside-down and increasingly dominate every aspect of life. Shedding light on what it was like to be in the eye of this storm, a new memoir promises to be the must-read of 2020. In her mid-twenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener left a job in book publishing in New York and headed to San Francisco, where she landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble. Her book, Uncanny Valley, charts a world of surreal extravagance, dubious success, and fresh-faced entrepreneurs hell-bent on glory. Due for release on 23 January, this looks like being one book that everyone in the creative industries will have an opinion on. 16. Quibli Will Quibi capture the heart's of the younger generations? If you thought we’d reach a peak number of streaming platforms in 2019, which saw the launch of Disney+, Apple TV and Britbox, then hold on to your hats. New services due to come online in 2020 include HBO Max, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Discovery Networks. But while all these offerings more or less ape the Netflix model, we’re more excited about Quibi, which is doing something a little different. In simple terms, the California-based platform is a streaming service for short-form mobile video. It’s targeted at younger viewers with premium content delivered in "quick bites" for viewing on the go. And this is no fly-by-night operation: the company has generated a billion dollars in funding from investors including Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony and WarnerMedia. While other streaming services are tightly focused on millennials, this new startup aims to win the hearts of the younger Generations Z and Alpha, and stake a claim to the future of streaming video. Will this lead to new and exciting opportunities for imaginative and inventive video creators? We’ve honestly no idea, but we’re looking forward to finding out. 17. Grimes goes nu-metal The cover art for Grimes’ forthcoming album, Miss_Anthrop0cene Whatever your creative work involves, most of us rely on a kickass soundtrack to keep us going. And there are a lot of new albums to look forward to in 2020, including the folk stylings of Agnes Obel’s Myopia, the indie sounds of Bombay Bicycle Club’s Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, the cosmic rap of GZA’s Dark Matter and the impassioned punk of IDLES Toneland. But the one we’re most looking forward to is the return of Canadian songwriter and visual artist Grimes. Known for effortlessly crossing genres across her four previous albums, including dream pop, R&B, electronic music, experimental music and hip hop, Grimes’s new release Miss_Anthrop0cene will feature what she’s described as “ethereal nu-metal”. She’s also describes it as "a concept album about the anthropomorphic goddess of climate change," and if that doesn’t intrigue you, we don’t know what will. 18. Brand Impact Awards The Brand Impact Awards 2020 opens for entries in February Is your studio producing world-class work, but not getting the recognition it deserves? Then it’s time to do something about it! The Brand Impact Awards is an international awards scheme that celebrates creative excellence and consistency across branding design. Brought to you by Computer Arts and Creative Bloq, the Awards are now in their seventh consecutive year, and the 2020 edition is open to all to enter. Check the highlights of last year’s ceremony . 19. The Photography Show The Photography Show is the premier UK event for amateur and professional photographers The UK’s biggest event of its kind, The Photography Show attracts 32,000 visitors to Birmingham’s NEC across four days, and for good reason. It offers a chance to try out the latest kit from over 300 brands, get practical advice from the experts, and hear tales from legends of photography and film-making. Whether you’re a seasoned professional photographer, keen enthusiast or anywhere in between, it’s a must-visit event for 2020. 20. Y: The Last Man Apocalyptic drama Y: The Last Man looks like being a must-watch You might love your creative work, but at some point you need to take a break and chill out in front of the TV. And just like at the cinema, there are a ton of great franchises returning in 2020, with highlights including Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, Monsters Inc spin-off Monsters at Work, Star Trek: Picard, season 11 of Doctor Who, season 3 of Killing Eve, season 2 of After Life, and many more. If you’re looking for something totally new, though, don’t fret: there are a lot of original shows coming our way that look pretty awesome. Our picks include Hunters, which follows a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York; January 22nd, a drama about sexual consent starring Michaela Coel; and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, a dramedy about a computer coder who hears other people’s inner monologues as songs. But we’re most excited about FX's Y: The Last Man, an adaptation of the comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published from 2002-2008. Starring Diane Lane, Barry Keoghan, Imogen Poots, Amber Tamblyn and Timothy Hutton, the story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event has killed every male mammal save for one lone human and his capuchin monkey. Exploring issues of gender, race, class and survival, if this show is half as good as the original comic, it’s going to be very good indeed. Read more: Baby Sonic is here to steal Baby Yoda's thunder The top design trends for 2020 The 10 best logos of all time View the full article

Could Baby Sonic be the curve ball that saves the whole Sonic movie debacle? A new trailer and poster from Paramount Pictures Japan reveals that the upcoming movie will include Sonic's origin story... which of course means we get to see our hero when he was just a hoglet. The news follows a trend for young versions of iconic characters. At the end of last year, Baby Yoda became the nipper that spawned a thousand memes. There was also Baby Thanos, but the less said about him the better. Revealing your hero as a child seems to be an easy way to win over your audience with an instant shot of cuteness (you can also explore our character design tips). Check out the trailer above – the first glimpse of Baby Sonic appears around the 20s mark. In it, we see a young Sonic speeding happily through the hills, and in another scene, offering up a flower. The ridiculously cute critter also appears on a poster for the movie – although some of his adorableness is probably due to those anime eyes. The story of the Sonic movie has been one wild ride. When a branding deck was first leaked to the public, the design of Sonic sparked such a strong backlash that Paramount went back to the drawing board and redesigned the character completely. MPC Vancouver, the 3D studio that worked on the movie, later shut down. Although Baby Sonic's look is in line with the reimagined character design, we'd have been very intrigued to have seen the original version, if such a thing existed. So far, the public is very much on board with the design of Baby Sonic (phew), but we'll leave you with a couple of ideas of what he could have looked like. Read more: 20 top graphic design trends for 2020 Cheap Apple AirPods are the January sales deal we've been waiting for 3D news 2019 roundup: We look back at the biggest stories of the year View the full article

A new decade brings new trends, and the evolution of existing ones. Last year saw exciting developments across the spectrum of visual design that will develop and evolve in the new year. Here, we look at what’s hot in design right now and how we see it developing in 2020, covering everything from web design to fun fonts to graphic design and UI. Here are seven of our biggest predictions for what we’ll see happening in design this year. You heard it here first. 01. Branded animation With GIFs now part of how we communicate, anyone designing for digital knows that people love movement. Illustration has become big for social media and web design over the last few years, but there’s now growing demand for the illustrations to move as shorter attention spans need to be satisfied. GIFs can be a powerful way to bring brands to life. In 2020, we expect to see more fully branded motion graphics, from micro-interactions to moving logos to animated GIFs celebrating milestone events on social media. Animations will also get more continuous. The safety video from Delta Airlines (above) shows the direction branded animation is going in, with one scene rolling into the next through fluid dynamic transitions that evolve and tell a story. The trend to build each scene out of the previous one takes viewers on journeys through a transforming world. And animation doesn’t only live online or on a screen. Branded animations designed by London-based Animade were an integral part of Mailchimp’s rebranding in 2019, including the monkey logo that winks when you move the cursor over it, but the animators also created this interactive wall art. Interactive illustrations will offer a chance to reinvent communication and tools and engage with illustration in real-world environments. 02. Ultra minimalism Calendly’s ultra minimalist landing page focuses attention on the call to action Minimalism seems like it will never become passee. It looks clean, sleek and for websites, it reduces loading time and scores better in search results. Services like Slack, Monday and Calendly are aware of this and have been leading the trend for minimalist landing pages that put the focus on the call to action and conversions. With no distracting background elements, their sites are easy to navigate and make it easy to sign up. The trend is to complement the white space and simple message with an illustration - Calendly uses a modern looking line drawing to add to the clean feel, Monday opts for an animated demo with pots of colour to draw the eye, while Dropbox dispenses even with the illustration, dedicating half the screen to the sign up form. Other sectors are following the trend, opting for simple and direct approach, which will stay with us in 2020. 03. Combining realism and flat design Magdiel Lopez combines realism and flat design to stunning effect Recent years have seen a huge trend for flat design, and over the last year, isometric design has been the big thing, led especially by design for cryptocurrency sites, while 3D has been getting better and better. Now we’re starting to see more of a tendency to get the best of both worlds by layering elements of flat design and realistic 3D images. This can be through combining 3D design and flat design or through collages that combine flat design and photography like the beautiful dreamy posters created by Magdiel Lopez. His work bridges the gap between the simplicity of flat design and the complexity and authenticity of realism, and communicates interaction between the real and digital worlds. The combination of 3D and flat design can also be a way to bring goods to life, such as on the urban trekking shoe company Déplacé Maison website or highlight blended learning experiences like on the Ocean School website. 04. Playing with the elements Azure The Oceanic’s site offers an engaging sense of freedom with cursor-controlled play In web design, there’s a growing tendency to play with water, air and light to create engaging effects, which follows a trend in design in general towards rejecting rigid geometric lines and shapes in favour for soft, flowing lines. It’s fun and playful, approachable, easier on the eye and still feels new. The design and text on the Beyond Beauty project’s website seem to float around the space, conveying the sense of freedom that the project embodies. Expect to see a lot more free-floating elements in 2020 as we say goodbye to gravity. The theme for flowing shapes and lines is taken up also in the use of water and lights, for example, with cursor-controlled shimmer and ripple effects like in this site from property developers Azure The Oceanic. The Barovier & Toso website also uses cursor controlled liquid ripple and shimmer effects to give a sense of mystery and luxury to its products. 05. Heavy but simple fonts CPGD’s site is on trend for 2020 with bold simple text The trend for big and heavy fonts is not going to move easily. With people spending more of their time online on small screens, big fonts are practical, but it’s a trend that extends to the world of graphic design and even packaging, since they also look great and give personality to text. When it comes to thickness, the rule for 2020 will continue to be the bigger and bolder the better, with text taking centre stage and overtaking image and video as the main element. Designers are using bold or extra bold fonts paired with simple backgrounds or much lighter text to create interesting contrast in a design. Text may even go beyond a compositions edges, and be split into multiple lines. CPGD, a list of direct to consumer brands, is on trend with a site that uses bigger Helvetica Now Display much bolder than most ecommerce sites, which can often suffer from lots of small text. Large text is not only for headlines and titles, but sites like that of Germany agency Polar Gold show a trend to beef up the size of the text in paragraphs too, and expect to see more incorporation of movement too like in the bold and playful Piano Trio Fest site. 06. Dynamic live data visualisation The Economist showed lived data visualisation based on the reaction of fans during a football match Data visualisation has been a growing trend for years. And there’s much more to come. In 2020, complex live data – like dashboard stats – will become even more immediately available, and designers will need to showcase information in a way that adapts to changes and dynamically animates. In the past year, The Economist’s Reimagine the Game offers visualisation of fans' reactions in the stadium during football matches providing a kind of timeline of the match complete with goals and yellow cards. In 2020, expect data visualisations to go dynamic live, interactive and to cover everything. 07. AR and VR finally go mainstream AR and VR offer whole new design mediums It’s been a long time coming but VR is finally coming into the mainstream and is expected to become one of the most consumed technologies of the next few years. What's exciting for design is that more than being a trend, virtual reality offers a whole new medium to design for. UI and UX within VR is huge area in which to explore not only how we touch a screen but how we move around inside it. Expect big opportunities in holographic 3D design and virtual reality e-commerce solutions, while AR will increasingly offer more demand for digital animation, with magazines like The New Yorker bringing pages to life through our phones' cameras and Apple and Google introducing their own AR development platforms, ARKit and ARCore. And whatever happens in the areas of VR and AR is also bound to have an effect on wider design. Read more: 6 incredible design secrets you need to know 12 design fails that were so bad they were actually good 7 unexpected sources of inspiration all designers should consider View the full article

Tables carry all kinds of advanced visual gimmicks intended to make them look better. Table rendering performance is more important than ever. Generating a few labels on the fly is not a problem, but doing so with complex tables containing images overloads systems. Tables intended for the web are best generated with the Tabulator framework. Just like all the best web design tools it's designed to streamline your workflow. This JavaScript framework contains an advanced implementation of the virtual document object programming paradigm. This means it only creates a few widgets, which it recycles as the user scrolls through your list. In addition, the framework also provides a wide range of convenience functions. Table sizes can be adjusted to the data which is currently being displayed. Element information can be obtained from a variety of sources including REST transfers. Developers interested in creating advanced table editing experiences can also rejoice. The product supports filtering, sorting and lets users edit table data. An optional data validation process then prevents mistakes. Given that Tabulator is completely open source, there is little reason for programming your own table rendering engine. Download the files that accompany this Tabulator tutorial here. 01. Load the files Tabulator consists of a CSS stylesheet and some JavaScript. The framework’s developers have a tight relationship with the UnPKG content delivery network. Our example code fetches resources there, and furthermore declares a tag responsible for displaying the table. 02. Generate example data Starting our demonstration with an Ajax loading process would make the code too long. Due to that, we limit ourselves to displaying static data. Create a script tag, which must be placed below the tag, and start out with an array of elements. 03. Initiate a code-behind class When the array is ready, we can proceed to kicking o the rendering process. Table widgets are represented by an instance of the Tabulator class - our first task is the creation of one. Tabulator expects both field declaration and a reference to the data at hand. 04. Analyse the results With just a few clicks, Tabulator can start sorting your data intelligently Open the program and feast your eyes on the table shown in the figure accompanying this step. The framework provides intelligence for sorting. This is shown in the second figure, which was created by clicking the header off the table a few times to trigger sorting. 05. Change colours during program execution Tabulator’s constructor offers a variety of parameters. While some of these parameters are limited to simply providing static data, we can also provide event handlers. rowFormatter gets invoked once for every row generated in the table. When run, the code will show the output shown in the figure accompanying this step. 06. Add example data Demonstrating advanced features of the framework requires additional data. This can easily be fixed: simply return to the declaration of the table data field, and add a bunch of additional entries. 07. On cell click event handlers Add event handlers on two levels: in addition to clicking handlers for the entity of the program, you can also target specific elements of the table. Both approaches have their merits: the code accompanying this step shows how global local event handlers are set up. 08. Analyse event parameters Event handlers receive two objects with further information about the trigger. Our first test involves trying to ind out more about their contents. This is best accomplished by outputting them into the browser’s command line. Now run the example code in Firefox to see how the output presents itself. 09. Target specific cells We can now motivate the user to pick a specific set. In principle, all we need to do is a string comparison. Tabulator makes this process a little bit more involved by not providing the value directly – instead, the object must be unwrapped before use. 10. Spruce up display Tabulator can create advanced display elements from data. This is done via helper classes known as formatters. These do exactly as you might expect and format a table. The development team provides a few right out of the box. 11. Deploy a formatter Widgets can display information automatically Add its declaration to the column array. The framework will automatically detect the assignment, and will use the generated widgets to display information. In the case of our example, values are transformed into a series of stars. 12. Set some options Default format settings can be worked around Our array contains values ranging from 1 to 6. By default, the formatter is limited to five stars. We can work around this problem by setting an attribute to modify rendering behaviour. 13. Add a button Demonstrating some of the advanced functions of the framework requires a button with which interaction can be triggered. Return to the mark-up part of the test harness, and add the button declaration as shown. Given that our table currently does not ill to expand the screen, the button will simply appear below the table. 14. Access the table instance Accessing the table instance requires us to store it in a public variable. Given that we are programming purely on the browser, the window object is a good place for storing the value. 15. Apply a filter Filters require three parameters Apply filters via the setFilter method. It takes three parameters - first, the ID of the column to be used. Secondarily, the comparison operator is passed in, and finally, a comparison value. In the case of our example program, click the button to make three lines disappear. 16. Use various filter operations That list of Tabulator operator functions in full Tabulator provides a total of seven operators which can be used by passing in their string. The figure accompanying this step was taken from the product documentation. It provides a description of the operator’s function. 17. Create custom lines – I Our final “big” task involves replacing the entire row with a bit of custom mark-up. For that, we must start out by setting up rowFormatter and providing it with a generator function. 18. Create custom lines - II The second part of the routine involves creating the actual DOM snippet. Our code creates a TD tag containing the information for the current line and returns it to the framework after that. 19. Modify data at runtime Tabulator is not limited to displaying static data. The code accompanying this step illustrates four ways how information can be changed during program execution. Keep in mind that changes to the actual array are not monitored — changing the values of the array does not lead to an automatic update. 20. Target framework elements When Excel first let users apply styles, clarity improved. Being based on the concept of virtual DOM, the product generates a set of display widgets. They have a set of predefined IDs which are conveniently listed here. 21. Learn more Tabulator’s documentation is structured in a slightly odd fashion. The gallery of examples found at here makes for a great first point of contact – click the Documentation links next to a header to be forwarded to a more detailed description of the API in question. This article was originally published in issue 292 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 292. Related articles: CSS art gets brilliantly ruined by old browsers Best pieces of user testing software Great UI designs View the full article

Whatever your discipline, calendar apps are something every creative needs. Let's face it, even if you have an amazing memory, it can still tricky to keep track of every single thing, day in day out. That all-important client meeting. Those multiple deadlines. That pub lunch with a long-time collaborator. That flight. That gig. That conference. That parcel you need to stay in for. The best calendar apps lay it all in front of you, whatever device you're using, and sends you reminders just in case you forgot to look. And that can mean the difference between a lost client and a retained one; a new job or a missed opportunity. For this reason, pretty much every device these days comes with a calendar app that covers all the basics. These include allowing you to create and edit events easily, view all your entries in day, week and month views, and set up reminders to make sure you never miss an appointment. But while these standard calendar apps are competent, some of us need a little more fine control, or something a bit more specialised, and so a number of rival third-party apps have sprung up to fill the gap. In this post, we've picked six of the best calendar apps around (be sure to check out our round up of the best iPad apps for designers too). The start of a new year is the perfect time to start forming good habits, so why not download one of these great calendar apps today, and start getting your life and work nicely organised for the next 12 months ahead? Fantastical 2 makes great use of natural language processing to speed up the creation of entries If you’re finding Apple’s inbuilt calendar a little buggy and clunky (as many do) then we’d heartily recommend splashing a little cash on Fantastical 2. It’s just so much more user-friendly, uncluttered and intuitive, whether you want to add new events to your calendar, edit existing events, or glance at what’s coming up in the next day, week, month or year. Beyond that, it uses natural language processing to figure out what you’re typing, often from just a few keystrokes. Reminders work in a logical and well-thought out fashion, and we love how it displays an inline map of an event's provided location. It integrates nicely with your iCloud and Google accounts, too, plus it has excellent voice support. Perhaps most importantly, Fantastical 2 works seamlessly across Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Note, however, that you do have to pay for and download separate apps for each of these, which can add up to a significant expense. That said, if you spend a lot of time inputting and editing calendar events, and all of your devices sit within Apple’s ecosystem, this should save you a lot of time, effort and frustration in return. Plus you can take out a 21-day free trial to find out if you like it before you commit. Customise the look and feel of your Android calendars with Business Calendar 2 The first thing we should say about Business Calendar 2 is that although it’s aimed at business use, there’s no reason you can’t use it for broader life events as well or instead. And indeed, we’d encourage you to do so if you’re an Android user because it really is very good; we’re argue it even has the edge over the very capable Google Calendar app. Why? Largely because, as well as expertly handling all the basics (providing a clear view of appointments, making it easy to manage multiple calendars, and providing support for Google, Outlook and Exchange calendars), it’s highly customisable. In other words, you can tweak the look and feel of your calendars using a variety of supplied themes and widgets that are very easy to use. While Business Calendar 2 comes at a (relatively small) fee, we’d argue that it’s worth the cost to have greater control over the presentation of your calendars to suit your own personal needs. And if you’re unsure, there’s a basic, ad-supported version that's free, so you can try before you buy. Timepage has a beautiful interface and offers a number of unique ways to view your calendar and other information If you're hunting for a calendar app with real aesthetic appeal, then check out iOS app Timepage. The brainchild of Moleskine, the Italian manufacturers of the world’s most stylish notebooks, it boasts a beautifully restrained, elegantly minimalist interface. And it's a pretty fabulous app in terms of functionality too. We especially love the flexibility of how you can view your dates. For instance, on mobile, split-screen mode allows you to simultaneously view your calendar and other apps. On desktop, you can expand the month view full-screen, enabling you to see up to six weeks at once. There are also double view options, allowing you to see things like your daily schedule and timeline, day weather and week weather, event details and timeline, side by side. Plus, you can personalise your timeline by choosing the number of days shown, and choose to shade alternate weeks, weekends or the past. As you’d expect from an iOS app, Timepage supports Siri, syncs with other calendars such as Google, Outlook, Exchange, Facebook and CalDAV, and integrates with Apple’s Today View widgets. If you schedule a lot of meetings, Woven should be your go-to calendar app Our favourite calendar app for organising meetings is relatively new on the scene. Woven was launched in 2018 by former Facebook execs Timothy Campos and Burc Arpat, who wanted to combine a calendar app with smart scheduling features, powered by AI and natural language processing. Dubbed “the calendar app for busy professionals”, Woven is completely free to download for Mac, iOS and Windows, and also works in the browser. The app integrates with Google's Gmail and G Suite accounts, while Microsoft Outlook and Office 365 integration are promised soon. Winner of the 2019 Appy Award for Productivity, this clever tool together every stage of the meeting life-cycle, from planning, scheduling and preparation, to the actual meeting and later follow-ups, in a way that makes perfect intuitive sense. For instance, it parses emails people send to you and allows you to agree to a suggestion and schedule the event in a single click. If you don’t schedule a lot of meetings, then Woven is probably not the best calendar app for you, but if you do, then it should save you a significant amount of time and energy. My Study Life is the perfect calendar app for anyone involved in education. If you’re either studying or teaching, and your main need for a calendar app is to keep on top of your academic schedule, then it makes sense to use one designed specifically for that purpose. And our favourite has to be My Study Life. Rotation schedules, assignment deadlines, revision timetables, exam dates, terms and semesters can all be difficult to track of. But this cross-platform app has all these concepts in its DNA, thus saving you from the kind of lengthy configuration you’d need to put into more vanilla calendar apps. My Study Life is available on the web or as a mobile app for Android, iOS and Windows phones. And best of all, it’s free to use. The biggest downside of My Study Life is that you can’t set reminders very far in advance, which is a much-complained about drawback we hope they fix soon. Any.Do is a combination of to-do list app and calendar app, and works across an eye-popping range of devices Finally, if your main reason for needing a calendar app is to keep on top of tasks, then we’d recommend you give Any.Do a try. This is essentially a productivity tool and calendar app in one, and does a great job of combining the two functions in a way that makes practical sense. Any.do started life as a to-do list app, then in 2016 it added a calendar, along with a personal assistant. The current version can be synced across multiple devices as well as existing calendar apps, including Google Calendar, iCloud and Outlook, enabling you to import events and organise your tasks, lists and reminders within a single app. The standout feature of Any.do is how many platforms it supports: not just Mac, Windows, iOS and Android but a range of next-gen devices, from Apple Watch to Amazon Alexa, and there’s even a Slack extension. There is a free version of Any.Do, but you need to upgrade to the premium plan, which is billed monthly, to unlock the best features. These include colour coding, so you can get the look and feel of your calendars and events just as you like it, as well as location-based reminders and unlimited attachments. Read more: The best web design tools to help you work smarter 22 best UI design tools The best iPad Pro apps to use with an Apple Pencil View the full article

2020 has arrived and the January sales have begun. This time of year offers a great opportunity to grab any creative kit you either didn't get from Santa, or have been saving for all year. Historically it's a time when retailers try to get a head start on the year and therefore drop prices staggeringly low. So if you've been holding out to get a new tablet, need a stylus for your new device or want some new creative software to kick the new year off, you've come to the right place. Here at Creative Bloq we're constantly scouring all the reputable retail sites for all the best offers across the January sales and New Year sales, and curating the best savings just for you. Read on to find out how and where to get the best deals on a range of creative kit for designers of all kinds, from illustrators to graphic designers to 3D artists. Scroll down for a detailed look at how to make the biggest savings, or if you know what you want, use the quick links below to jump to all the biggest sales happening right now! If you're on the hunt for creative kit, there are some retailers worth watching when it comes to the best January sales and New Year sales. Here are the best places to find the lowest prices on everything from creative software and hardware, office supplies and even a mattress to ensure a good night's sleep. Adobe Creative Cloud – Over 60% off Photoshop, Illustrator and more for students and teachers Amazon – Huge savings across the board Currys – Save up to 70% on laptops, monitors and more Best Buy – Holiday deals for all Walmart – Huge savings on iPads, monitors, Lego and much more John Lewis – Need some cheap Lego? This is the place to go Microsoft Store – Savings across the full Surface range Very – Unmissable deals on creative hardware AO – Huge discounts on a range of tech and electricals Argos.co.uk – top savings on monitors, electrical items and more for Christmas Simba Sleep – Huge savings on high-quality mattresses (because every creative needs a good night's sleep, right?) 01. Adobe January sale and New Year sale Adobe has offered huge savings throughout 2019 Adobe January sale – We're going out on a limb a little here as we don't actually know if Adobe has plans to get involved with the January sales. However, if the past 12 months are anything to go by, there's a high chance the creative software giant will come up with some kind of offer over the holiday period. Black Friday saw Adobe reduce it's annual Creative Cloud subscription plan by a whopping 40%, so here's hoping the company follows suit to see in the new year. As always, if it does, we'll be the first to let you know. 02. Amazon January sale and New Year sale Amazon January sale – Amazon is definitely a January sale to watch out for if you're on the hunt for some new, cheap creative kit. We're expecting big savings on everything from iPads, graphics tablets, external hard drives, art supplies, Surface Pros and much, much more. 03. Apple January sale and New Year sale Apple January sale – We used to liken finding a discounted Apple device used to stumbling across a unicorn. Impossible, basically. But the last couple of years we've been pleasantly surprised by the, frankly, impressive savings that have come up. Black Friday 2019 saw retailers place huge reductions on a plethora of Apple products, most notably the new 2019 iPad, AirPods and 16-inch MacBook Pro. We're super hopeful similar offers will surface in the January sales, so much so we've set up a dedicated Apple New Year sale post to help you find the biggest savings on your device of choice. 04. Microsoft January sale and New Year sale Microsoft January sale – Microsoft released a range of new products in October, many of which we were surprised to see included in many great Black Friday offers. The Surface Pro 7 is hugely popular among creative professionals, as is Microsoft's new and improved Surface Book 2. There's also the Surface Pro X, which has, unsurprisingly, had zero discounts applied so far this year. But being that we weren't expecting the new products to see any reductions either, maybe the tech giant is waiting for the New Year sale to release a deal on its powerful new device (although we're not holding our breath). If the recent Black Friday offers on other Microsoft devices are anything to go by, we can expect to see some huge savings in the Boxing Day sales. 05. Walmart January sale and New Year sale Walmart End-of-Year clearance – If you're in the US, you'll want to bookmark this page. Walmart has been knocking it out of the park for the last few months when it comes to price cuts, and, from the looks of it, there's much more in store. Expect some very attractive deals on iPads, MacBooks, monitors, headphones and much more. 06. John Lewis January sale and New Year sale John Lewis January sale – John Lewis' New Year sales are well underway with some great offers (you can currently save big on some of the best Lego sets for adults). When it comes to creative gear, these guys have it in abundance, selling everything from Apple and Microsoft hardware, to art supplies and office furniture (new chair, anyone?). As one of the UK's most trusted retailers, you can be safe in the knowledge that any purchase made at John Lewis comes with an excellent guarantee (on some tech it can last up to 5 years) and its 'never knowingly undersold' promise. This means if you find the same product for a lower price at a UK mainland high street competitor, you can make a price match request. Winner. 07. Best Buy January sale and New Year sale Best Buy January sale – Another one for those of you in the US, Best Buy was on fire with deals in the lead up to and all throughout Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The most impressive discounts for creatives were undoubtedly on the Surface Pro 6 and 7, and various MacBook Pro models (including the 16-inch version). Best Buy has continued it's impressive deal momentum since then, right now offering a whole host of attractive holiday deals. And all of this bodes very well for the Boxing Day sales, which we predict will see some of Best Buy's biggest savings of the year. Can't wait until then? Save up to $500 on select Surface devices right now. Happy shopping! View the full article

The Surface Pro 7 was released in October this year, much to the delight of Microsoft and Windows users. However if you'd told us then the shiny new device would play a major part in the January sales just a few months later, well, we'd have thought it wildly optimistic. But news just in sees an incredible offer on the Surface Pro 7 and Type Cover, which knocks a staggering £440 off the regular retail price. That means those of you in the UK can now get both for just £829! And if you're in the US, you can get the impressive bundle deal for just $799. The Surface Pro device has become hugely popular among the creative community in recent years. Able to run the full-fat version of Windows, the new Surface Pro is one of the best on-the-go laptops, offering the ability to run creative software without issue, all on a stunning PixelSense Display supporting the Surface Pen and touch. So if you've had your eye on the Surface Pro, there's never been a better time to invest. There's also more deals to be had on the rest of the Surface range, details of which can be found on our dedicated January sales article. If you're in the US, Best Buy also has an equally impressive Surface Pro 7 and Type Cover January sales deal running... Not in the UK or US? You can still take advantage of some great Surface Pro 7 deals. Here are the best prices in your area: View the full article

Use the seven points listed above to create an effective and efficient operational workflow and, importantly, happier analysts who aren't buried at the bottom of a pile of mostly irrelevant data. View the full article

Mobile becomes a prime phishing attack vector, hackers will increasingly employ machine learning in attacks and cloud will increasingly be seen as fertile ground for compromise. View the full article

The most popular design software is full of tricks and shortcuts that can speed up processes or provide new creative possibilities. The way these features work can be far from intuitive, leading to them to go unnoticed by designers. Sometimes you may find that you have been using a piece of software for years with your own defined processes that work only for someone to reveal a neat little productivity-boosting feature that you never knew about. Here, we round up six of our all-time favourite design tricks that users have discovered in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and beyond, many of which have been around for years and will seem basic for those in the know. However, they still continue to stun designers who discover them for the first time. If you want to learn more tips, see our Photoshop tutorials. 01. Learn the tilde trick in Illustrator Illustrator users continue to be bowled over when they discover this trick. The tilde key is the ~ symbol that often seems to serve little purpose other than to write a Spanish ñ. But in Illustrator, if you hold it down while using a shape tool from the tool palette, you can drag to create new instances of the shape that follow your cursor. This works with any of the shape tools in Illustrator, including the line tool, plus you can combine pressing the tilde key with Alt/Option, Shift/Command or Space to create interesting variations on the effect. Add to this the ability to alter the stroke weight and colour afterwards, and a whole host of possibilities opens up for creating incredible designs from repeated shapes. Some designers have got so excited when they’ve discovered this functionality that they’ve set about creating whole galleries of creative experiments using it. This function depends on the layout of your keyboard. If you find the tilde doesn’t work on your keyboard, try the @ key. 02. Get a bird's eye view in Photoshop Press H and drag for a quick bird’s eye view in Photoshop If you're working close in on an image at a high zoom level in Photoshop to carry out minute edge refinement or cloning, moving around the document can become a real pain, and it’s also easy to lose sight of the bigger picture developing. The bird's eye view feature is your answer. When zoomed in close, simultaneously press and hold the H on your keyboard, while you quickly left click and drag and the you’ll temporarily zoom out so you can see how the full image is looking. A rectangular box will also appear, which you can then move around the image. Let go of the left mouse button and you'll zoom back in to the level you were working at before wherever you place the box. This provides an easy way to check how things are looking and to jump around different parts of the image for detailed corrections. 03. Sample any colour with the eyedropper Hold down and drag out of the window to pick any colour on your screen We all know you can use the eyedropper tool to pick a colour within the application in which you’re working, but many people still find it a revelation when they discover that in many of the most popular Adobe products, you can use it to pick a colour from any image showing on your screen. This allows you to sample colours from a website or from any file that you have open. In Photoshop, Illustrator and Lightroom, reduce the size of the application window so you can see the colour that you want to sample. Then select the eyedropper tool, hold down the left button and drag. You’ll see that a circle appears showing your current stroke and fill colour selections. Keep dragging the cursor right out of the application window and the eyedropper tool will allow you to pick any colour on your screen. The trick also works in After Effects if you press the return or enter key instead of clicking the mouse button to make the selection. The trick can save a great deal of time and hassle for those who regularly take screenshots to sample colours that catch their eye on a website or elsewhere. 04. Easily identify fonts Identify fonts with the hover of the cursor with this Chrome Extension So you’ve stumbled across an awe-inspiring landing page with a great attention-grabbing headline in a killer font that can’t quite place. Well, there’s no need to the source and find the CSS because there’s an extension for that. WhatFont is a simple Google Chrome extension that can quickly identify fonts on the page before you so that you can find them to use in your own designs. Just install the Chrome extension and an icon will appear in your browser to the right of the address bar. Give it a click when you see a font that you like the look of and you’ll then be able to hover the cursor over the font to identify its name quicker than you can say 'Lato'. 05. Generate multiple assets in Photoshop Quickly generate multiple assets in Photoshop Sometimes a project requires a range of assets in different sizes and formats. Wouldn’t it be great to have a hassle-free way to create them instantly without having to interrupt your process? In Photoshop go to File > Generate > Image Assets, and Photoshop will automatically create an assets folder within the folder where your initial image is located. By changing the suffixes in the names of each layer within the project you’re working on, you can then automatically save layers in different formats. Add the .jpg suffix, and a JPG file of that layer will automatically be saved in the assets folder. Add a comma followed by a percentage to automatically save a version in a different size, for example to create a thumbnail. You can create control layers, different file types including GIF and PNG, and put layers together in groups to create combinations. Everything updates live as you edit the image. It’s a huge timesaver if you’re designing something like a website that requires images in multiple sizes. 06. Perfectly align type in InDesign Perfectly align type with a couple of clicks in InDesign A huge number of aesthetic considerations go into creating great looking type, including hung punctuation. By slightly extending lines of text that begin or end with punctuation over the margin, you can improve alignment and avoid creating an uneven-looking column. Adobe InDesign can do this quickly and effortlessly with Optical Margin Alignment, a powerful but lesser-known feature that lives burrowed away in the curiously named Story palette. Select your text, go to Window > Type & Tables > Story and check Optical Margin Alignment. Adjust the point size as needed and presto! A beautifully aligned margin. Punctuation plus serifs and the protruding edges of some characters have been pulled into the margin to make it look more even. You can set Optical Margin Alignment as a default for new documents if you check the box before you create a document. Read more: Photoshop 2020 review How to Photoshop someone into a picture The 5 best InDesign alternatives View the full article

Welcome to Creative Bloq's guide to the Apple New Year sale. If you held out over the pre-Christmas shopping events in the hopes of snapping up an even bigger discount in the New Year sales, now's the time to get shopping. In this article you'll find all the best offers from the Apple January sale. Digging out the best deals can be a daunting prospect – and let's face it, you're probably not functioning at your peak right now. We've split the deals into products, to make it much easier to navigate the Apple New Year sale as you struggle through your carb coma / eggnog hangover / Quality Street stupor. After all, there's nothing worse than making a mistake and ordering the wrong thing, or checking out before finding the same thing cheaper elsewhere. Use the jump links to go straight to the Apple device you're looking for. The Apple Store isn't likely to be the best place to shop the Apple January sale. You'll probably find bigger discounts at other retailers or – if you're not yet ready to leave you living room – online. Below is a list of the retailers that offered the biggest discounts over the pre-Christmas shopping events (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), so it's worth doing a quick check to see they're getting involved in the Apple New Year sale too. Use the quick links below to take a look yourself, or scroll down for sales guide, broken down into products. Amazon (US and UK) Best Buy Walmart Very Currys PC World AO Laptops Direct Apple January sale: iPad deals In the pre-Christmas sales, we saw plenty of excellent iPad discounts across a whole range of models – including the all-new 10.2‑inch iPad. Check out the best prices in your region – including any Apple January sale offers – using the widget below. Figuring out which is the best offer, taking into account the different models, storage options and features, can be difficult. Make sure you pay attention to the specs you're getting before you hit 'Add to cart'. Apple January sale: MacBook deals MacBooks are pretty much always in demand – mainly because, as designers will well know, this kind of top-quality kit doesn't come cheap. Luckily they're also often the target of big discounts, if you're on the ball and looking in the right places. Whether you're after a classic MacBook, a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, chances are you'll be able to pick up a discounted model right now. The price widgets below will display the best prices available right now, so you can see who's getting involved in the Apple January sale. Apple has recently released a new MacBook Pro (read our MacBook Pro 16-inch review). While we might see deals on that model, based on what we saw in the Black Friday sales, we'd expect the best discounts in the Apple January sale to be on slightly older models. If you're happy not having the latest, greatest MacBook then that's a good way to pick up a bargain. Another hot tip is to keep an eye out for refurbished models – there can be some hidden gems on pre-owned models. We saw some okay (but not amazing) discounts on Apple Pencils in the run-up to Christmas. Will Apple's January sale yield any better price cuts? Check out the widget below for the best prices right now. Not sure which version you need? Explore our Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2 comparison. Apple January sale: AirPods deals These are the headphones of the moment, and we saw a fair few good AirPod discounts in the run-up to Christmas, on both the original AirPods and the AirPods Pro. These true wireless earbuds aren't quite as new and exciting now (and there's a fair bit of competition hitting the market from people like Amazon and Microsoft). For the best prices in your area right now, including any gems from the Apple January sale, check out the price widget below. Alternatively, explore our dedicated Apple AirPod deals guide. There were plenty of Apple Watch offers in the run-up to the holidays, with the newly released Series 5 meaning retailers were happy to drop their prices to shift older stock. Check out the best prices right now – on the Series 5 as well as previous models – below. Apple January sale: iMac and Mac deals How to make the most of the Apple January sale To get the best deal possible, it's a good idea to plan ahead. Do your research and decide what product, model and specs will suit your needs. It's also best to have a price in mind that you're happy to spend. You don't want to end up being overwhelmed by the different Apple January sale options and making the wrong decision, or overpaying. Once you've decided on the product you're after, you can start tracking its price on various retailers – or even simpler, bookmark this page and keep checking it. Read more: Adobe deals: Where to get a Creative Cloud discount View the full article

Given that the average time to weaponizing a new bug is seven days, you effectively have 72 hours to harden your systems before you will see new exploits. View the full article

Cybercrime increasingly went mobile in 2019, with everything from Apple iPhone jailbreaks and rogue Android apps to 5G and mobile-first phishing dominating the news coverage. Here are Threatpost's Top 10 mobile security stories of 2019. View the full article

Anyone with a smartphone can be a photographer now, it seems. Yet just as being able to play three chords on a guitar doesn’t make you Keith Richards, so owning one of the best camera phones doesn’t make you a capable image-maker. Alongside skills in things such as typography, layout and strategic thinking, today’s brand designers need to harness the value of great photography, and know how, why and where to use it. When it comes to self-promotional photography across social media posts, such imagery should align with your values and personality as a studio or creative. Are you and your work, for instance, generally playful, modern, understated? Just as you’d include photography style in the brand guidelines you’d create for a client, your own photography style is a key part of your brand. Here we list five key things to consider when using photography on social media. For more advice, explore our ultimate guide to social media, or if you're inspired to get snapping, check out the best camera for creatives. And don't forget to follow Computer Arts on Instagram. 01. Consider context Consider the channels that your imagery will appear on. An image that works in a deck won’t always be one that flies on Instagram, or keeps people on your site long enough for them to want to hire you. 02. Embrace your playful side Consistency as a studio or creative is vital, but you have to carefully consider aspects including crops, use of colour and tone of voice. Platforms like Instagram allow for more playfulness than a straightforward portfolio site, for instance, and let you “speak” directly with your audience in a different way that’s more direct and lively – particularly with more ephemeral posts such as stories. 03. Remember, quality is key Quality is still key in showing off the very best of your work as dynamically as possible – especially since the vast majority of people will only see a maximum of around the first nine images on your feed. 04. Introduce some variety Consider how one project looks alongside another. Retain your own distinctive style, but remember to keep it exciting, too. Variety within limitations is key. Those limitations might be thematic use of colour palettes for instance, but don’t just keep posting the same sort of documentation and use a variety of angles for projects. 05. Go behind the scenes Pop in a few (well-shot) behind-the-scenes or process shots when you feel that they’re exciting enough. If you’re using interesting archive imagery for instance, or processes such as letterpress or screen printing, the build-up of a final image can be incredibly insightful for people and connect them with you as a studio. “There’s a realness, vibrancy and energy to the best work you see on Instagram,” says Superunion executive creative director Stuart Radford. This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 297 or subscribe. Read more: Street photography: pro tips Smartphone photography advice Photoshop 2020 review View the full article

Apple AirPods are an accessory that many Apple lovers would love to get their hands on, but they're not exactly cheap. Today, however, Laptops Direct has started the January sales early with this incredible deal, which sees the second generation AirPods with standard charging case reduced to just £125 – that's the lowest price we've ever seen. If you're after the wireless charging case version, Laptops Direct has shaved a whopping £40 off the retail price, meaning you can now get them for less than £160! In the US, Walmart is offering standard AirPods with charging case for just $139, knocking $20 off the original price. AirPods with the wireless charging case offer an even bigger saving, reduced from $199 to $169. We probably don't need to tell you discounts on Apple AirPods are rare, so if you want to get hold of these top Apple accessories, you need to snap these deals up now. And if you're looking for more tech to compliment your new Apple headphones, be sure to check out our best Apple January sales post too. Not in the UK or US? Here are the best Apple AirPods prices in your area: Read more: The best Apple Pencil deals in 2020 Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2: which should you buy? The best cheap Apple laptop deals in 2019 View the full article