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Whether you use it for work, entertainment or to shout about things from inside the White House, there's no denying that Twitter can be a quite a fiery place. The social media platform has recently been doubling down on the spread of misinformation and now, in an attempt to promote informed discussion, Twitter is testing a new prompt asking if users really want to share an article they haven't actually read yet. It's easy for articles to go viral on Twitter based on their headline alone, and while you'd hope most users actually read what they share, time is of the essence when there's an argument to be won (especially in 280 characters). If this tweak does help curb misinformation, perhaps it could finally nudge Twitter into our list of the best social media platforms for artists and designers. There are some limitations to the feature. Not only is it currently being tested exclusively on Android, but it can also only detect when an article has been opened within Twitter itself. This has already proved a point of contention for some users carrying multiple devices, or those (we assume there are still a few) who don't find all of their news on Twitter: One parody news website has found an amusing way to prove Twitter's point. The Science Post published an article with the headline: 70% of Facebook users only read the headline of science stories before commenting. It has currently been shared almost 130,000 times – despite the article itself being made up entirely of filler 'lorem ipsum' text. As you might expect (this is Twitter after all), the response to the feature has been heated. Those who disapprove have accused the social media platform of "playing God" and treating its users "like toddlers". Others have welcomed the proposal, calling it a "great initiative" and a "superb concept". Twitter's product lead Kayvon Beykpour expanded on the rationale behind the idea: Time will tell whether the feature will make it beyond Android testing. In the meantime, now that you've reached the end of this article, feel free to share it on Twitter. You could even use one of our favourite social media schedulers, if you're busy. Read more: Netflix swipes Space Force logo from the actual Space Force Punisher creator campaigns to reclaim controversial skull logo for Black Lives Matter Banksy reveals brilliant plan for Bristol’s toppled Colston Statue View the full article

Tonight, after much anticipation, Sony finally revealed its next generation Playstation 5 video game console (above). Hailed by CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan as "the most striking design console yet", the PS5 consists of a brilliant white outer case wrapped around a black core system, complete with blue LEDs. When you compare the PS5 design to the ever-so-drab PS4, its fair to say Ryan has a point. However not everyone, including us, is totally sold on this 'striking design'. As one might expect, Twitter was quick to react to the new console, with many users quick to point out – and mock – the PS5, saying it bares a striking resemblance to that of a wifi router: However there are some loving the PS5's 'sexy' new look: So what do we think? Honestly? We're not quite sure yet. There's no denying the PS5's design makes an impact, but we've got various questions about its build and functionality. For example, we've yet to see how the console looks laying down, or, indeed, if it even can (especially the one with the built-in disc drive – how does that work?). We do, however, admire the bold, brilliant white colour change after countless years of all-black designs, although how long it will stay shiny white out of the box remains to be seen. There's also something to be said for the PS5 being the polar opposite of the Xbox Series X. It would have been easy to follow the signature black console design, but Sony's brave move to stand out means there's certainly no confusing them. It's interesting how the Xbox also had its fair share of ridicule when it was released, with the likening of it to a fridge so relentless, Microsoft crafted a special tweet to clarify the situation (below). Right now the PS5 design feels very much like a marmite situation, people either love it or hate it, with very few in between. Except us, maybe. We can totally appreciate the amount of brave decision-making, time and effort that has gone into the design, we're just not 100% sold on the end product. We'll certainly never look at our wifi router the same again, that's for sure. When will Playstation 5 be released? The official PS5 reveal did not include or share any definitive launch dates or price for the console, however Ryan did confirm that the system is still on track to be released later this year. If you can't wait that long, or aren't bothered about getting your hands on the shiny new futuristic device, here are the best PS4 prices in your area: View the full article

A brand new series of Looney Tunes has begun airing on HBO MAX, with new episodes designed to capture the look and feel of the well-loved originals. But while classic characters such as Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd have returned, one detail hasn't survived the transition to streaming in 2020 – Elmer Fudd's gun. In fact, there are no guns whatsoever in the new series. "We're not doing guns," executive producer Peter Browngardt told the New York Times. That means along with Elmer Fudd's famous shotgun, Yosemite Sam's pistols won't make the cut either. Whether these weapons are part of the characters themselves is up to you (although our character design guide does prove that it's possible to design an iconic character sans guns). While guns might be disappearing, less realistic forms of violence will remain. "We can do cartoony violence," Browngardt told the Times. "TNT, the Acme stuff." (Acme is the cartoons' fictional corporation whose products often catastrophically backfire). With the show pretty much entirely based on animated characters fighting one another, we're unsurprised to hear that there'll still be some, you know, fighting. Still, it seems explosive TNT isn't enough for some people. Many fans were outraged to hear of Elmer Fudd's farewell to arms. "Sam and Elmer Fudd are nothing without their trademark weapons" one Twitter user argued, while another (above) claimed the missing gun was like Yosemite Sam losing his moustache. So, what has Elmer's gun been replaced with? A giant scythe. In some ways, you could argue that a huge, sharp scythe is just as terrifying as a gun – but it's probably worth remembering that, while gun culture is an actual thing, as far as we're aware, scythe crime isn't rife. One Looney Tunes artist recently clapped back (above) at those outraged, claiming that the potential for gun jokes is limited, and "the old guys" already had them covered. Michael Ruocco also took the opportunity to explain the decision: "Our show started production in late 2017, early 2018. Right on the heels of a record number of mass shootings." Whatever your views on the removal of the guns, it's refreshing to hear that the team are using it as an opportunity to get creative. If the lack of guns hasn't put you off (and to be honest, we hope it hasn't), you can catch Looney Tunes on HBO Max – but only if you're in the US. If you're not, you could do a lot worse than snapping up a free trial for that other brilliant, brand new streaming service, Disney Plus. Read more: Netflix swipes Space Force logo from the actual Space Force Punisher creator campaigns to reclaim controversial skull logo for Black Lives Matter Banksy reveals brilliant plan for Bristol’s toppled Colston Statue View the full article

In a twist that feels straight out of a sitcom, the US government has reportedly had global trademark rights for its new 'Space Force' swiped from right under its nose – by none other than the Netflix comedy of the same name. In case you've been living under an asteroid, the real Space Force is a new branch of the Armed Forces dedicated to, er, space. According to Popular Mechanics, Netflix began submitting applications for 'Space Force' in January 2019, long before the US Department of Defence. As a result, Netflix, whose parody series premiered on 29 May, now own rights to the official Space Force logo (below) in Europe, Australia, and Mexico and more. Conversely, the US government merely owns a pending application for rights to the logo in the US itself. Just goes to show it's not just the quality of your logo that matters (even if its one of the best logos of all time) – rights are equally important. The US Space Force logo In practice, this might not be a huge issue for the American government – US copyright law allows duplicate trademarks to coexist, as long as they're in "completely unrelated" fields. Nobody is likely to confuse a comedy show about a Space Force with an actual Space Force. Things could get more complicated, though, when it comes to merchandise. As The Hollywood Reporter says, if the logo ends up on an item of clothing, "who’s selling? The U.S. military or Netflix?". Basically, if the real Space Force decides to branch out into T-shirts, things could start to get messy. Branding-wise, the US Space Force has had a rather turbulent time. When the logo was first revealed this January, its similarity to Star Trek's Starfleet logo caused a furore online. Its Netflix namesake has had an equally rough ride, with some abysmal reviews (The Verge called it "an astonishingly bad show") – the show may have been aiming for the stars, but reviewers haven't been quick to hand them out. If you're looking for logo inspiration, our logo design guide will teach you everything you need to know before embarking on a brand identity project. Just make sure you get it trademarked. Read more: Punisher creator campaigns to reclaim controversial skull logo for Black Lives Matter Banksy reveals brilliant plan for Bristol’s toppled Colston Statue Fan ‘fixes’ video game logo – but is it better than the original? View the full article

Seventy percent of the U.S. population uses email daily. It comes as no surprise that every entrepreneur tries to involve email marketing in his or her business. Don’t make the same mistake as the majority of newcomers: Choosing Outlook or …View the full article

Because remote workers' devices are all connected to a home network, they don’t even need to be attacked directly. Instead, attackers have multiple avenues of attack that can be exploited. View the full article

Two critical flaws in Intel AMT, which could enable privilege escalation, were patched along with 20 other bugs in its June security update. View the full article

For digital creative, our workstation setups are incredibly important. They help us create our art, and offer the tools and performance we need to work comfortably. But, over the years, these workstations have evolved from big and bulky desktop computers, to thin, light and mobile laptops, like the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo, which give you all the features you need to unleash your creativity without being chained to a desk. So, let’s look back at the kind of workstations we used to use for our creative work, and how we’ve ended up with a powerful, mobile and feature-packed modern workstation that is the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo. Power and performance Throughout their history, workstations – especially ones designed for digital creatives – have represented the pinnacle of power. This means they’ve always been packed with some of the most cutting-edge components around – especially when it comes to processor, graphics and RAM. After all, the more powerful the workstation, the quicker it’s able to complete complex tasks, such as rendering 3D scenes and editing high-definition video. In the early days of workstations, these powerful PCs were large, power-hungry, devices. They needed large cases to fit in all the hardware, as well as allowing plenty of airflow to keep those powerful components cool. They were also fitted with loads of fans to help with the airflow. While these kept the hardware cool, it also meant they could be pretty noisy with all the fans kicking in at once. These PCs also needed plenty of electricity to keep everything going, which meant large and heavy PSUs (Power Supply Units), which again added to the size and weight of those older workstations. For anyone who had to move desks or change studios, you’ll remember how difficult these workstation PCs were to shift! A big workstation revolution happened with the creation of all-in-one PCs. These had their components built into their screens, which meant they are much more convenient. Their designs save you space on your desk, they are easier to move, and there are no ugly wires lying all over your desk. Over the years, all-in-one workstations have become ever more powerful, while also getting slimmer, though they have struggled to match the performance of traditional desktop PCs. Meanwhile, workstation laptops have also been growing in power, and many of them now can compete with desktop PCs when it comes to power, thanks to the continued evolution of mobile components. They also offer the portability that desktop and all-in-one workstations can only dream of. The ultimate mobile workstation, the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo, is a perfect example of this. It features a high-end 8-core 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i9 and can come with up to 32GB of RAM, which means it can give even the most powerful of desktop PCs a run for its money. It also comes with Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics cards, which allows the ZenBook Pro Duo to handle graphically-intensive tasks with ease. Digital artists can also use advanced ray-tracing lighting effects thanks to the GPU. Intel and Nvidia have both been working hard on getting their mobile components as small as possible, while offering performance that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Along with the advanced cooling technology Asus has included in the ZenBook Pro Duo, this is an impressively thin, light and powerful device that means it doesn’t just feel like an evolution of those big and bulky desktop workstations of yesteryear, but an entirely new species altogether. Sight and sound For most creatives, the workstations they used were only as good as the peripherals they plugged into them. Years ago, this meant having an expensive, professionally-calibrated, monitor for photographers and video editors who needed top-notch image quality and accurate colours. Meanwhile, if your main creative outlet is music, or working with sounds, then you’d need to plug in professional-grade speakers, so that you can hear your work the way it’s supposed to sound. These extra peripherals were essential, but they also meant spending more money – and they were yet more devices to cram on top of our increasingly-crowded desks. Fast-forward to today, and the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo does away with the need for expensive extra monitors and speakers, proving that it’s the ultimate all-in-one workstation. It features a gorgeous 15.6-inch 4K OLED display that supports 100% DCI-P3 colour space, as well as sRGB. It can handle HDR (High Dynamic Range) content for mind-blowingly vibrant images, and it’s Pantone validated as well. In short, it’s the ultimate screen for creative professionals, and it’s built right into the laptop. The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo’s no slouch when it comes to audio, either, with Harmon Kardon-certified speakers. The Asus audio team worked with Harmon Kardon to ensure the speakers in the ZenBook Pro Duo sound perfect, with smart amplifier technology that lets you whack up the volume without the sounds distorting, making this the laptop a formidable workstation for musicians and producers. Extra screen space It’s hard to believe, but not too long ago, we had to make do with cramped 3:2 aspect ratio monitors with our workstations. These boxy screens didn’t give us much room to work with, especially if you wanted multiple apps open at once. Thankfully, widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio monitors became more popular throughout the 2000’s, and this extra screen real estate was a blessing for creatives. However, what if you wanted even more space? Back then, the answer was clear: get another monitor. Hooking up two (or more) screens to your workstation is a revelation when it comes to productivity, as you’re able to have multiple windows open with ease, allowing you to quickly switch between the apps and tools you need. Extra screens come at a price, though, and we’re not just talking financially. The more screens you have plugged into a workstation, the more crowded your desk becomes. The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo is a unique workstation laptop because it actually comes with two screens built-in. Not only does it have that gorgeous 15.6-inch 4K screen up top, but there’s a second 14-inch 4K touch display, known as the Screenpad Plus, above the keyboard. By dragging apps and windows down to the second screen, you instantly free up the main screen so you have even more space to work with. The Screenpad Plus can also hold tools and menus from your creative apps, giving you quick and easy access to the features you use the most. Drawing tablets and digital canvases For digital artists, a workstation wasn’t complete without a drawing tablet hooked up to it. These devices allow you to draw with a stylus, and your pen-and-brush strokes will appear onscreen in the creative app of your choice. They are the ideal tool for anyone who wants to make the move from traditional drawing and painting to digital art. Drawing tablets aren’t just for drawing on, either; they let you write and annotate digitally as well, making them perfect for note taking. They’re great devices but – you’ve guessed it – they are also an additional gadget that can take up room on your desk. Modern workstations have evolved to include touchscreens that allow you to draw or write directly into your favourite apps, either using your finger or a stylus. Meanwhile, the ZenBook Pro Duo takes this even further. Not only is its main 15.6-inch screen a touchscreen, but so too is the Screenpad Plus. With the Screenpad Plus located on the bottom of the laptop, above the keyboard, it can be used like a drawing tablet, and it’s incredibly comfortable – and convenient – to use. Once again, the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo proves it’s the ultimate creative workstation by learning from the past and looking to the future. View the full article

With Apple's WWDC event just around the corner (albeit in online-only form this year), rumours are rife about what products might appear during the presentation on 22 June. With the focus of WWDC normally on software, we can safely expect to see our first glimpses of iOS 14 and macOS 10.16. But new leaks suggest some exciting hardware updates could also be coming our way. According to Apple leaker Sonny Dickson (below), the company plans to reveal a brand new iMac, with an updated design inspired by the iPad Pro. This suggests an all-screen design with much thinner bezels. The 2019 iMac is already our best computer for graphic design, but with an even more immersive display, this new model sounds guaranteed to bump it from the top spot. As well as the edge-to-edge display, Dickson says the new iMac will feature AMD Navi graphics and an Apple T2 Security Chip. It will also do away with the mechanical fusion hard drive, in favour of entirely flash storage. Browse Mac computers at Apple.com Could the new iMac resemble the Pro Display XDR? While we don't know what display size to expect, smaller bezels should mean more screen real estate, which will no doubt make the new iMac an enticing proposition for digital artists. "Don't be wrong about this," one Twitter user replied to Dickson, while another adds, "If this is real, my wallet is about to get lighter". Apple's Pro Display XDR for the Mac Pro also features tiny bezels, so perhaps the new iMac will resemble the 2019 monitor (above). At $4,999 (plus $999 for a stand), though, that monitor costs almost four times the price of the basic iMac, so we can't see its high dynamic range making its way to the 2020 iMac – not without a significant price jump, at least. While new products are usually announced during Apple's keynote presentation on the first day of WWDC, the online-only event will be taking place from 22 - 26 June, via the Apple Developer app. But you don't have to wait until then to get hold of an incredibly powerful iMac – check out today's best deals below. Read more: Is this Apple’s most ludicrous move yet? Apple iPhone 12 design finally revealed (and it’s not what we expected) Move over iPad Pro – the new iPad Air could be incredible View the full article

Marvel fans know the Punisher as a vigilante who first appeared in a Spiderman comic back in 1974. Since then, his image has controversially been co-opted by several groups as a political symbol – including during the Iraq war as an unofficial symbol of the U.S military and, most recently, by police officers protesting against the Black Lives Matter movement. With the aim of reclaiming the skull as a symbol of justice, rather than "lawless oppression", Gerry Conway, co-creator of the Punisher, launched Skulls for Justice, a charity t-shirt campaign, with all proceeds going to BLM. Skulls for Justice began after Conway sent a tweet asking asking young artists to lend their talents to a fundraising project, the results of which Conway shared yesterday. The BLM – Skulls for Justice project is now live, consisting of a range of t-shirts displaying redesigns of Frank Castle's iconic skull emblem alongside a Black Lives matter tagline. And as Conway said in another tweet, the set is also numbered – for the collectors out there. Responses on Twitter show the campaign struck a chord from the outset, with lots of artists praising the project and asking how to get involved. Many fans are grateful to have the skull brought back into the comic book domain, after years of seeing it used elsewhere. Some voices on Twitter questioned whether the Punisher can even be seen as a symbol of justice at all, to which Conway responded: "I agree that's an open question. What it must *not* be is a symbol of oppression. I want to deny police the use of the symbol by claiming it for BLM. Call it irony." Conway is not the first to take issue with the use of the skull insignia by the police. Last year, the plot of Punisher issue 13 saw Frank Castle tackling the police over the matter, and asking them to stop supporting him as the 'anti-hero'. Members of the comic book community have also been quick to point out that the Punisher is a mass murderer, with no concern for the law – not the most obvious choice for a police symbol. And Marvel themselves have recently stated that they are "taking seriously" any unauthorised use of the insignia. This issue has provoked an outpouring of support among the comic book community, a response we are seeing across the board. For more, see our post on how creatives are standing with the black community in the fight against racism. Read more: Brands show support for Black Lives Matter New Banksy artwork supports Black Lives Matter Banksy reveals brilliant plan for Bristol’s toppled Colston Statue View the full article

Social media tips from professional designers could be just what you need to advance your career. The way you use social media can have a huge impact on getting your work out there, but if you're not taking advantage you're not alone. For every designer or illustrator who gets their big break thanks to a post or tweet, there's a dozen with nothing but sore thumbs and a tension headache. So what's the secret to making social media work for you? To start with, in 2020 it's impossible to make good use of all the different social media platforms (see our social media platforms post for an in-depth rundown). There just aren't enough hours in the day, and it's much better for your productivity (and sanity) to focus on just one or two. But which ones? Well, while everyone's different, our research suggests there are four platforms that most designers will find useful at this present time. In this article we'll look at each in turn, explain what they have to offer, and how to make best use of them. Need something more specific to Instagram? Check out the pro tips on how to boost your instagram engagement and our guide to how to change the font on your Instagram bio. 01. Instagram Around 95 per cent of Haley Tippmann's assignments come from Instagram Design work that features a strong graphical element is probably best suited to appearing on Instagram. The most visually focused of all the social platforms, it's the go-to place to see work by artists, illustrators, animators and 3D artists. On the downside, you'll have to work around the default square image format, and you won't be able to add links to posts unless you sign up to the new Instagram Checkout service for selling goods. Illustrator Haley Tippman has been using Instagram to share her work since 2017, and around 95 per cent of her assignments originate from art directors finding it and contacting her – either through DMs (direct messages) or via the website she links to in her bio. Note, though, that this doesn't always happen instantly. "Usually, the client has been following me for a while, and then contacts me when there's an assignment my illustrations would work well for," she explains. Her account has 74.5K followers, but she doesn't think it's important for everyone to have such a high number. "If anything, I feel that working illustrators with fewer followers are like ‘little gems' and feel exclusive," she says. Being sociable is the best way to get success on Instagram, says Peter Clayton Indeed, while illustrator Peter Clayton has a more modest number of followers (1,343 at time of writing), he still receives a lot of work through his Instagram feed. "Most of my success has been through marketeers, studios and startups finding me because I've posted work on a regular basis, and hash-tagged the shit out of it," he explains. "I've even had clients find work from 2014 and want to use it! Beyond that, being sociable and commenting has helped massively: likes are good, but actual interaction through comments are better." Ollie Hirst says that doing speculative work is crucial But what if you're doing these things, and still coming up empty? Then perhaps you need to take a more proactive approach, by seeking out callouts and challenges. To take one example, conceptual illustrator Ollie Hirst recently responded to a callout from @GlowingGone, a global climate campaign. "They reposted the artwork on their account, then a few weeks later, I got a DM to say WeTransfer wanted my illustration for a campaign they were doing with Adobe," he explains. "It was then made into a WeTransfer wallpaper, promoting coral reef preservation across the US and Europe. All that from one Instagram post!" If you're not receiving much attention for your Instagram feed, Hirst encourages you to get out there and respond to similar challenges."I'm a big believer in doing speculative work that's rooted in real-world briefs," he says, "because it proves to art directors that if given a bespoke brief, you're the person for the job." 02. Twitter The Lavender Tree project originated from a tweet Lately, Twitter has started to offer a new level of flexibility when it comes to images: so for example, you can now add multiple images to tweets (up to four) and add images to retweets, too. But in general, it's clearly a less-visual medium than either Instagram or Behance, so you might think that creative professionals would find it less useful. In fact, though, many designers and illustrators today are harnessing the 280-character service to drive their careers forward. Artist Emmeline Pidgeon tends to post finished illustrations on Twitter, as well as sharing news of new books and projects. "At times, I've had about 70 per cent of my work come through the platform," she says. "Many commissions come through getting to know people there, or them spotting my work after it's been retweeted, commented on, or recommended by someone else." But it's not just about sitting back and waiting, Pidgeon stresses. Twitter is fundamentally about conversation, so the key is to get stuck in and network. She offers the example of The Lavender Tree, a picture book she worked on with Aidan Moffat. "That project came about because I saw a tweet from him seeking illustrators for a children's project," she recalls. "Replying and suggesting myself felt really cringey, but I put those feelings aside and introduced myself, adding a link to my portfolio. Aidan emailed me a few days later saying he loved my work, and got me on board." Another way of getting attention on Twitter is to take part in threads such as #artshare, #HourlyComicDay and #Inktober. This approach has helped illustrator and designer Nicola Robson, gain a significant amount of work over the past six months. "Without actively looking or promoting myself other than via artshare threads, I've won a lot of great design commissions, including a tabletop board game, a book cover, and icons for a Twitch profile," she reports. And if you really want to be proactive, there's no limits to how far you can go to grab people's attention. Graphic designer Greg Bunbury offers a somewhat outlandish example (see it above). "Having signed up for emails from my local basketball team, The London Lions, I received an email newsletter from the club in Comic Sans... so I took to Twitter to flame them," he recalls. He took a picture of the email, and posted it with the words: "Odd fonts, strange colours, random graphics & lens flares. London_Lions you deserve better #design! Call me – I can help. #basketball #BBL". "An hour later, I got a call from the club director, and was hired to create new brand guidelines for its identity, and to write and build a new website." 03. LinkedIn Freelance illustrator Tahgasa Bertram uses LinkedIn to find people she would like to work with Cluttered, text-heavy and, well, ugly, LinkedIn doesn't look like it would be fertile ground for creative professionals. Yet in 2020, many designers and illustrators are making good use of it to develop client and business relationships. This is most marked at the agency level. For example, Simon Dixon, co-founder of DixonBaxi, uses LinkedIn to find not just new clients, but the right clients. "We view how we look for clients as a kind of curation; finding the right ambitious people driving significant brand change at interesting companies," Dixon explains. "LinkedIn is excellent for understanding this." And you don't have to be a studio head to take advantage of LinkedIn's level of detail, he adds: "Anyone looking to develop broader prospective client and collaborator reach could benefit." Freelance illustrator Tahgasa Bertram is one of them. "I use LinkedIn to find people in specific roles, who work at companies I'd like to work with," he explains. "That sort of information is much more difficult to find on other social networks. Once I've found the right person, I send them examples of my work and a message explaining why I'd like to work with them. Most people don't message back when you send messages through LinkedIn, so I use the email address on their profile, if it's there." Even if you're not that pro-active, though, simply being on LinkedIn can be beneficial. "I've found it a great platform for finding work," says brand and UI designer Emily Jones. "I just keep my profile up to date, and interact with my feed every now and then. The only downside is that you get a lot of spam messages for random jobs." That said, LinkedIn's detection processes are improving, and in its November report it claimed to have removed 99.8 per cent of known spam automatically, with teams manually removing the rest. 04. Behance Lots of enquiries come through Behance for design director Davide Baratta While Instagram may get your work in front of a lot of eyeballs, most of those eyeballs won't be people working in the creative industries. In contrast, Behance is tailor-made for promoting yourself directly to agencies, clients and collaborators. "During the past eight years, I've lost count of the enquiries for freelance projects or interviews I've got through Behance," says Davide Baratta, design director at Impero. "It's enabled me to connect with the design community and collaborate with other designers all over the world." At first, Baratta just used it for inspiration, and was so intimidated by the quality of others' work, he was "genuinely scared" to post. But once he took the plunge, he realised the power of the platform. "It gives you way more exposure than just having a website," he says, "and its curatorial team and galleries system set it apart from the competition." Unlike Instagram, Behance posts aren't centred on one 'killer image', but make it possible for you show more of your process. "So it's very good for long- form case studies," notes Baratta. "My advice is to try to tell the story behind the project, rather than just upload a bunch of good-looking assets." That said, it's still important to take time to craft your cover image. "There are loads of cool projects out there that don't get the attention they deserve because the thumbnail isn't right," he notes. AJ Dimarucot landed a graphic design project for Nike through his Behance page AJ Dimarucot, a graphic designer whose clients include Nike, Jordan and Adidas, adds that Behance isn't just about the work you've done, but the work you'd like to do. Early in his career, for instance, he posted a piece of fan art for NBA basketball player Keith Garnett. "That led Nike to get in touch, and commission me to design some T-shirts," he recalls. Another project he posted was an experiment on Persian- style calligraphy. "That got me a book cover for Penguin Random House, even though I'd never done a book cover before," he says. "It even won an award in an AIGA book covers competition!" This content originally appeared in Computer Arts magazine. Read more: The best social media schedulers in 2020 The ultimate guide to social media for creatives 8 brands that rule at social media View the full article

It's no secret that video content is an effective medium in all industries. Editing videos doesn't have to be expensive, or an impossible feat to accomplish on your own. Master the art of the edit with The Comprehensive Video Editing in DaVinci Resolve 16 Bundle, now price-dropped to only $30.59. Compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux, DaVinci Resolve 16 is an industry-leading application that combines professional 8K editing, colour correction, visual effects, and audio post-production into one space. Whether you need to create a video for a marketing campaign or you're looking to edit a documentary project, DaVinci Resolve 16 brings you everything you need to conquer the final edit on a tight deadline — all without having to hop onto different design applications. Need new kit? See our roundup of the best laptops for video editing, and the best video editing apps around right now. What does the course contain? With seven courses and over 90 lessons, this dedicated bundle will allow you to dive into the video editing software and fully comprehend how to use each feature. You'll start with the basics and move your way into more advanced techniques such as screen compositing, adding music, colour correction, transitions and effects, and more. By the end of the courses, you'll be able to move seamlessly between editing, colour, effects, and audio, and feel confident in taking on your own projects. You can even join forces with other colleagues while working on the same project, taking video editing collaboration to a whole new level. Not only will you learn how to best leverage each feature of the software to produce quality content in a timely matter, but you'll also get to experience the tools hands-on. With mini projects included in the bundle, you'll be able to practice what you learn and get to know each feature by putting it to the test. You'll soon be able to grasp importing, editing, trimming, and more, and quickly export and upload your projects to YouTube, Vimeo, social media, or your desktop. The possibilities are endless. The Comprehensive Video Editing in DaVinci Resolve 16 Bundle brings you everything you need to get to know the platform and create streamlined edited videos without having to pay outrageous amounts of money on editing software. Many times priced at up to $700, you can master editing videos like a pro for only $30.59 (that's 95 per cent off). Add valuable skills and credibility to your ongoing creative portfolio and start editing your content from the comfort of your home. Prices subject to change. Read more: Video editing software: The 17 best tools for 2020 The best monitors for video editing 5 video editing tips to enhance your storytelling View the full article

While lockdown rules are starting to loosen around the world, we’re still very much in the early stages of life returning to normal. And although many of us can technically work from home, being able to share files and have Zoom meetings over broadband is only half of the equation. Being creative requires a certain degree of inspiration and stimulation, and many of our favourite sources have now been shut off for several weeks. So if you’re feeling your creative energies starting to falter, perhaps it’s time to think outside the box. While virtual alternatives to your cancelled activities might not be your preferred choice, they’re well worth investigating, and in some ways may even be a superior experience. In this post, we look at five things designers are craving right now, and where you can go to get your virtual fix. 01. Take a live art class If you're missing live art classes, Art Studio NY can help fill the gap There have always been many ways to learn art via the web, and we round up the best online art classes on a regular basis. But what if on-demand videos don’t work for you, and you need the immediacy of a live class? The good news is that in these lockdown times, there are plenty of those too. London Drawing, for example, is running temporary online creative sessions via Zoom to keep people creating and connected. On the other side of the Atlantic (but open to the whole world), Art Studio New York is doing the same thing, across its six online studios. Alternatively, for a slightly more anarchic take on live art classes, check out the regular Facebook sessions of Dr Sketchy Live, in which two performer-models pose in extravagant costumes, and participants sketch them, before sharing their drawings with each other online. 02. Attend a creative conference Adobe's 99U conference will take place entirely online Hearing inspiring talks by your design heroes is a great way to recharge your batteries. Thankfully this year, many great creative events are moving online. Approaching soonest is Adobe’s 99U Conference, which will take place virtually via Behance, on 17 June. Speakers will include Anna Sale, Yancey Strickler, Kelli Anderson, John S Couch and Nishat Akhtar. Best of all, it's totally free to register for the event. Other events that will be free to attend online this year include Primer (22-27 June), the annual conference from the Design Futures Initiative; D&AD's New Blood Digital Festival 2020 (6-10 July), a virtual exhibition of student work and five days of digital talks and workshop; Pictoplasma’s In Isolation event (18-19 September), which will include talks from Dan Woodger, Genie Espinosa, Jing Wei and Hattie Stewart; and Adobe MAX (19-21 October), for which registration will open in late summer. 03. Visit an art gallery or museum Get your fix of culture by taking a virtual tour of the JP Getty Museum Being able to wander around an art gallery or museum is something a lot of us are missing right now. So it’s heartening that you can at least peruse many of the world’s most famous cultural institutions virtually, via Google Street View. These include the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, home to masterpieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer; the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which houses the collection of the famed de'Medici family; MASP in Sau Paulo, Brazil’s premiere modern art museum; the John Paul Getty Museum in California; the Guggenheim in New York; and plenty more besides. You can find a full list of museum street views on Google here. Meanwhile, many art galleries and museums not on Google Street View offer virtual tours via their own websites, including The Louvre in Paris, the Vatican Museum in Rome, and The Broad in Los Angeles. 04. Catch a show Shakespeare's Globe has a number of free and paid-for streams to watch online Since the lockdown began, we’ve seen a number of the world’s leading theatres share their shows for free online, including London's National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and many more. (For a full list, Whats on Stage has a list of free streams that it's constantly updating.) It’s amazing that these performances are available to watch for free, but ultimately they are all prerecorded, and so that special feeling of watching live is sadly missing. You can get that, though, from The Shows Must Go Online, in which a group of actors use video conferencing to perform a live Shakepeare play together every week. Okay, they’re performing in front of their individual webcams and not on a big stage, but it’s still a lot of fun. Meanwhile, ‘proper’ live theatre is on its way back shortly in the UK, with the government giving the go-ahead for cultural events to happen from this month onwards, albeit behind closed doors. The first will be a socially distanced version of Duncan MacMillan's play Lungs, with Claire Foy and Matt Smith. This will be live-streamed from London’s Old Vic, from 26 June to 4 July, with a stricly limited number of tickets on sale now. 05. Enjoy a film festival Charlene deGuzman's short I Know This Is Weird is part of the Quaratine Film Festival programme It’s great that we can sit at home right now and stream the latest movies to our TV screens (don’t miss our roundup of ways to stream TV and movies for free). But while watching movies on-demand, at a time and date of our choosing, is wonderful, it can’t match the communal buzz of watching something along with a big audience in the cinema. Sadly, the time when we’ll be able to head to the local Odeon again seems a long way off. But a number of virtual film festivals are aiming to recreate the spirit of live cinema during lockdown, by bringing together unreleased movies and organising mass viewings online. For example, there’s the ongoing Quarantine Film Festival being held by The Plaza Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, but available to viewers the world over. Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday they’re calling for the best short films to be submitted, and on Friday at 7pm local time, they have a streaming party on their Facebook page where they show that week's two winning shorts. Other forthcoming virtual film festivals are set to include Long Distance Film Fest, which takes place 19-21 June; Couch Film Festival, which is planned for 29 June, and the Melbourne International Film Festival, which will take place online from 6-23 August. Read more: Creatives stand with the black community in the fight against racism iPhone 12 design concept is the one we've been waiting for New Black Mirror Series 6 Netflix poster is terrifying yet genius View the full article

The Nintendo Switch might not be the first device that comes to mind when it comes to digital art tools, but a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign is determined to turn the gaming console into a fully-fledged digital sketching tablet. While there are lots of styluses available for tablets (check out our best iPad stylus guide), this isn't the case with the Nintendo Switch. Because the device doesn't support open bluetooth, styluses with features such as pressure sensitivity can't be used – until now. By connecting directly to the Switch's 3.5mm headphone jack, not only is the Colors SonarPen pressure sensitive, but it doesn't require a battery, or bluetooth. The stylus is designed to accompany a brand new digital painting app called Colors Live, a sequel to 2012's Colors! 3D for the Nintendo 3DS. While there are tons of brilliant drawing apps for the iPad, Colors Live will be the first for the Nintendo Switch. We can't be sure how it will compare to a tablet experience (the Switch's display is only 6.2 inches), but introducing more users to the wonderful world of digital art can only be a good thing. It's clear that there's an already excited community of would-be Switch artists. The Kickstarter campaign, started by original Colors designer Jens Andersson, smashed its original target of $16,000 in just one day, and is currently sitting pretty on over $130,000. There are just two days left to pledge, so if you want to be one of the first to own Colors Live and the Colors SonarPen (expected to ship this August), head over to Andersson's Kickstarter page. For a more traditional digital sketching experience, take a look at the best drawing tablets currently available. And if you want to grab a Nintendo Switch in time for the arrival of Colors Live, check out today's best deals below. Read more: Is this Apple’s most ludicrous move yet? Stunning PS5 UI concept is a minimal design dream Sega's new miniature Game Gear console makes zero sense View the full article

The June Patch Tuesday update included CVEs for 11 critical remote code-execution vulnerabilities and concerning SMB bugs. View the full article

Critical Adobe Flash Player and Framemaker flaws could enable arbitrary code execution. View the full article

Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been taking place across the world over the last few weeks, after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. In one of the most symbolic images from this weekend's protests, the statue of 18th century slave trader Edward Colston was toppled in Bristol, and pushed into the harbour. As debate rages over whether the statue should be reinstated, left in the harbour, or pulled out and put in the city's museum, the mysterious Bristol-based street artist Banksy has proposed a solution (below) to keep "everyone happy". He suggests putting the statue back on its plinth, but with the addition of other life-size statues of the protestors pulling it down. If you're a Banksy fan, don't miss our favourite street art examples. Banksy's proposal is certainly inventive, not only catering (albeit with his signature wry humour) to those who'd rather see the statue restored, but also paying tribute to the protestors on the "famous day" that saw it pulled down this weekend. This isn't Banksy's only response to the recent Black Lives Matter protests this week. He also shared a new artwork depicting a vigil with a candle setting fire to the American flag. Other artists have also taken inspiration from the toppling of Colston's statue, such as Pete Fowler, whose amusing take on David Hockney's 'A Bigger Splash' has been making waves on Instagram. Time will tell what happens to the empty plinth where Edward Colston once stood in Bristol. In the meantime, find out how Creatives everywhere are standing together in support of the Black Lives Matter movement right now, and how you can help. Read more: Brands show support for Black Lives Matter Did Banksy just add a face mask to one of his murals? 34 top free graffiti fonts View the full article

Here we've put together the best iPhone 11 deals out there at the moment – including a huge $700 off the iPhone 11 Pro at AT&T and £135 off the iPhone 11 at EE in the UK (with code 10OFF). Released on 20 September 2019, the iPhone 11 has been out long enough for some amazing savings to be on offer, from various carriers and retailers – and these are our top picks. The Apple iPhone 11 and its bigger brother the iPhone 11 Pro come with a 6.1-inch LCD and Super Retina xDR OLED display respectively. As well as beautiful displays, they both boast fantastic quality cameras, perfect for the creative on the move, akin to having a standard iPhone camera, a GoPro wide angle, and a 50mm portrait lens all in one! For the starting price of $699 for the iPhone 11 and $999 for the Pro, you'll also get up to 17 or 20 hours of video playback with each model, and 64GB storage for all your media. And right now Apple is offering $250 off the new iPhone 11 if you trade in your old iPhone. Browse all iPhone discounts at Apple.com iPhone 11 & 11 Pro – the best US deals iPhone 11 & 11 Pro – the best UK deals More deals from around the world: Related articles: iPhone 12 design finally revealed (and it's not what we expected ... Forget the Apple iPhone 12, everyone's talking about the iPhone 13 ... Folding iPhone concept is jaw-droppingly good View the full article

While Apple isn't exactly known for the cheapness of its products, 2019's Mac Pro took its pricing to eye-watering heights. From its mind-bogglingly expensive accessories (more on those later) to the $53,000 price tag for the maxed-out model, this powerhouse machine is by no means an impulse buy for creatives. But now, you can save a whopping $9,000 on a refurbished model via Apple's Certified Refurbished store. Now, a $9,000 saving is of course huge – until you realise you'll still have to fork out $44,000. Spec-wise, the Mac Pro might be a shoo-in for the top spot of our best computers for graphic design (and best computers for video editing, for that matter) but at that price, it clearly isn't aimed at your average graphic designer or video editor. Still, $40k for a refurbished model feels pretty ludicrous. Bargain! With a 28-core, 2.5-GHz Intel Xeon W processor, 1.5TB of RAM, Radeon Pro Vega II Duo MPX modules (for connecting multiple monitors) and an Apple Afterburner card for faster video processing, this is a whopper of a machine – perfectly suited to high-spec production studios (with lots of cash to burn). But one thing this refurb model doesn't include is wheels. If we baulked at the price of the Mac Pro itself, the Mac Pro Wheels Kit made us, well, keep baulking. For just $699, you can give your Mac Pro the privilege of being able to roll around a bit. Oh, and while we're at it, the Mac Pro monitor stand costs $999. Bargain. Browse Mac computers at Apple.com Apple's wheels of fortune Still, if you do fancy bagging yourself the most powerful computer Apple currently offers, head over to the Apple Certified Refurbished store . All of Apple's refurbished products are "rigorously" tested, and include the same one-year warranty as brand new products. UPDATE: It seems the refurbished Mac Pro has already sold out. Someone clearly had a spare $40k ready to go. Don't worry, though – you can still bag a bargain with this incredible Apple sale. And if you're looking for a more portable (not to mention affordable) powerhouse, you could do a lot worse than the MacBook Pro. Check out the best deals below. Read more: Apple iPhone 12 design finally revealed (and it’s not what we expected) Move over iPad Pro – the new iPad Air could be incredible Apple's new MacBook Pro has an unexpected problem View the full article

Playstation fans itching to get their first glimpse of Sony's new console are having to wait a little longer, with the company deciding to postpone last week's launch in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. This does, at least, mean there's more time to enjoy fan-made concepts, such as this stunning new UI design. Designer Joshua Oluwagbemiga shared his concept (below) to Twitter last week, and it's already proved a huge hit. The super-clean, image-led interface is filled with sharp lines and and smooth transitions, and manages to display a ton of information in a surprisingly minimal aesthetic. A clear UI is an essential aspect of any software, app or website (our website mockup guide is full of brilliant examples) and this one gets it just right. Some of the myriad of information available for each game includes the latest checkpoint reached and trophy earned. One particularly nice touch is how Oluwagbemiga shows the interface in situ, on a TV mounted within a room straight out of an interior design catalogue, making the PS5 look like an essential addition to any aspirational home – perhaps even for non-gamers. Nice work. Oluwagbemiga's design has gone down a treat on Twitter. "I wish Sony cared this much about UI," one user laments, while several others comment that this beautiful interface looks less Sony and more Apple (check out this amazing sale to bag yourself some Apple design on the cheap). Both the PS5 logo and DualSense controller designs both left us a little cold, but we were blown away by recent demo of the console's graphics potential. While Sony was right to delay the launch amid Black Lives Matter protests (find out how creatives are supporting the movement), we can't wait to see what the company has in store when the time comes. Read more: iPhone 12 design finally revealed (and it’s not what we expected) Move over iPad Pro – the new iPad Air could be incredible Sega's new miniature Game Gear console makes zero sense View the full article

Welcome to our guide to the must-have web development tools of 2020 so far. If you regularly write front-end code for web applications, then you probably have your go-to set of tools. A boilerplate that serves as a skeleton, a UI library that helps you make things dynamic and interactive, a build process that might include one or more tools to scaffold out the files and directories you'll need. You might even have a set of CSS and JavaScript utilities that you go back to time and again. Or maybe your tooling is a couple of blank files, your code editor and nothing more (which is absolutely fine, especially if you’re new to the scene). Whatever your toolset looks like, it's always beneficial to take a peek at what's out there and what’s new in front-end tooling. To that end, let's roll out 50 of the most interesting and practical web development tools that you should know about. Most of these are fairly new, having been released at some over the past year, while a few have been around for a little longer and have only started to gain traction during the last 12 months. Whatever the case, you'll most definitely find something in this list you can use in a project soon. We've organised the list into sections, to make it easier to navigate. You can use the links to jump straight to the section you're interested in, or just browse the whole list. Want even more? Here's another list of amazing web design tools, and be sure to check out our list of user testing software tools, too. 01. autoComplete.js Get it here A small library to add auto-complete functionality to a form field. Offers loose and strict search modes, customisable minimum number of characters before offering suggestions, optional callback functions and more. 02. indigo-player Get it here A modular, easy-to- customise JavaScript video player with advertisement support out-of-the-box so you can enable pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll sponsors for embedded videos. 03. Simple-keyboard Get it here An elegant, responsive virtual keyboard component that offers ready-to-use demos of both mobile- and desktop-style keyboards. The demo keyboards are gorgeous but you can also style one easily to suit your brand. 04. fslightbox.js Get it here A vanilla JavaScript lightbox plugin that can display images, HTML5 video and YouTube embeds in an attractive and usable overlay. Offers React and Vue versions and the ability to upgrade from the free version if you want to get your hands on more features. 05. Rallax.js Get it here Parallax shouldn’t be used heavily but a simple dependency-free solution like this one is a good option. This has good performance and an easy-to-use API for starting effects, stopping, speeding up and the ability to chain .when() methods for queuing actions. 06. FrenchKiss.js Get it here A super-fast internationalisation library with an extensive API. One example customisation it offers is the ability to deal with a language that has multiple pluralisation rules. 07. Moveable Get it here Make any element on the page draggable, resizable, scalable rotatable or even warpable (like the perspective tool in a graphics editor). You can also enable grouping and snap-to-guides functionality. 08. Hotkey Get it here Trigger an action on a specified element by means of a shortcut key, combination of keys or sequence of keys pressed by the user. The documentation has suggestions to ensure good accessibility. 09. Freezeframe.js Get it here Add play/pause functionality to animated GIFs on a page. Trigger play/pause via hover, click, touch event or by an external element that serves as a play/pause button. 10. pagemap Get it here Add a scrollable 'mini map' to long web pages, similar to what you find in the Sublime Text code editor. It’s arguable whether this is more usable than a scrollbar but you could implement this with the scrollbar disabled for a native feel. 11. lax.js Get it here Vanilla JavaScript plugin to add responsive and mobile-friendly. Add play/pause functionality to animated GIFs on a page. Trigger animations, transitions and parallax effects to pages while the user scrolls. Get started with the presets or create custom effects. 12. Project Wallace Get it here This is a CSS analysis tool with a dashboard that lets you track the complexity of your code, including the number of lines of code, amount of selectors, quantity of declarations, specificity, use of !important, performance bottlenecks and more. 13. DebuCSSer Get it here An unobtrusive CSS debugging tool that works as an option for manually adding an outline to one or more elements. Include the script, then hold the CTRL key to outline an element or CTRL-SHIFT to outline all. 14. Animated CSS Burgers Get it here A small library of animated mobile hamburger menus that should satisfy your needs should you require a slightly different menu style in each project. 15. DropCSS Get it here A fast JavaScript module that compares a page's HTML to the CSS, then returns the latter with unused code removed, saving valuable bytes in page load time. For more on unused CSS, see the accompanying box. 16. CSSFX Get it here Yet another useful and unique set of plug-and- play CSS animations and effects. This one includes a wide variety of effects – some require more than a single HTML element but they’re easy to add to a project. 17. CSS Grid Generator Get it here For anyone first getting into the CSS Grid standard, having a visual helper will be a huge boost. This generator is a great way to learn the features and create practical grid code for all your layouts. 18. Darkmode.js Get it here There seems to be a dark mode craze lately. This project lets you add a dark mode toggle to pages, utilising CSS’s mix-blend-mode property to handle the dark/light modes. 19. ARC Toolkit Get it here Chrome extension by the Paciello Group that integrates with DevTools to provide extensive accessibility testing as part of your development and testing workflow. 20. Clarity Dashboard Get it here A user-testing platform from Microsoft. Add a script to your page then replay user sessions to see how users interact with your site or app. 21. GraphQL Editor Get it here This is a useful online editor that enables you to speed up the creation of GraphQL schemas. GraphQL is a popular new technology that serves as a more efficient alternative to using REST. 22. jsonbox.io Get it here Free JSON storage that 22 offers users the ability to store, read and modify JSON data over HTTP APIs using various commands such as GET, POST, PUT and DELETE. 23. Accessibility Insights Get it here A Chrome extension, 23 Edge add-on or native Windows app to run accessibility testing. You can do a quick test for the most common problems or show visual overlays on a page to examine colour contrast, ARIA landmarks and more. 24. Measure Get it here This one is part of Google's new developer hub, providing a one-stop online tool to test your content for vital concerns such as performance, accessibility, best practices and SEO. 25. Chart.xkcd Get it here A quirky JavaScript charting library that generates charts in sketchy or hand-drawn manner in the style of xkcd, the popular web comic. Might be a great option as part of an informal app design. 26. useAnimations Get it here A collection of simple, customisable animated icons that you can plug into projects on mobile or web, offering a React version and the ability to edit the pre-made animations either in Lottie or Adobe After Effects. 27. Strikefree Music Get it here A growing library of audio clips you can use in things like videos and podcasts without fear of being penalised for copyright violations. You can optionally create your own custom beats or randomly select one that's already been created. 28. ZapChart Get it here A neat online tool to build shareable data in chart format. Just plug in the numbers for the x and y axes and this app will generate a bar chart downloadable as PNG or shareable via URL. 29. Optimole Get it here An image optimisation service and CDN for WordPress. Includes features for serving device-appropriate images with lossy or lossless compression, optional lazy loading and lots more. 30. Mixkit Get it here A collection of HD videos and illustrations, filterable by categories and free to use anywhere in commercial and non-commercial projects, without attribution. 31. Static Site Boilerplate Get it here A non-opinionated and feature-rich toolkit for building static sites. Offers automated builds, a local dev server, production-level optimisations (such as code minification and image processing) and has support for a number of modern front-end technologies (Sass, ES6, etc). 32. Base Web Get it here A React-based UI framework with a vast suite of components that range from complex functionality like a payment card component (ie input mask for different credit card types) to low-level features such as FlexGrid and Layer for composing your layouts. 33. Materialize Get it here A responsive front-end framework with a slew of CSS and JavaScript components. Includes components for form features, layouts, mobile-specific and more – all based on Google's Material Design. 34. Scene.js Get it here An extensive API for controlling things like animation timing, transitions and effects. Want some more? 35. Quasar Get it here A Vue-based UI library with components to help build single-page applications, progressive web apps, hybrid mobile apps and desktop apps with no unnecessary bloat. 36. React Simple Img Get it here A lazy-loading image solution for React projects that uses the IntersectionObserver API and the new Priority Hints standard for an elegant image-loading solution. 37. React Animation Get it here An easy-to-use animation library for React that lets you easily add unique pre-built animated effects to page elements based on content changes and loading or enables you to build your own. 38. React Redux Loading Bar Get it here A progressive animated loading indicator bar for React projects, with the ability to add multiple loading bars on a single page that indicate different items loading independently of each other. 39. react-image-magnifiers Get it here A set of responsive React components to magnify and zoom in to high-res images on mobile or desktop, similar to the zoom feature available on shopping sites like Amazon, which enables you to drag while zooming to examine specific parts of an image. 40. RIFM Get it here React component to convert any HTML form input into formatted input. For example, if a user types something in all lower case, you can force upper case (or just about any preferred format) as they type. 41. Remote Development Get it here An extension pack for Visual Studio Code that enables you to use VSCode's full set of features remotely by SSHing into any folder in a container, remote machine or Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL for short). 42. Fabulous Get it here This lets you edit CSS Properties in a sidebar in VSCode. Will display CSS from different sources including CSS-in-JS libraries, .scss files, <style> blocks in the HTML and styles tied to library components (Angular, Svelte, Vue). 43. packtracker.io Get it here A tool that tracks and analyses your webpack bundle on every commit. Helps to avoid oversized assets, npm package overuse and redundant content to ensure better overall app performance. 44. Flutter Get it here Google's UI development toolkit for creating natively compiled apps for web, desktop and mobile. Produces an app for all platforms from a single codebase, offering flexibly UI to boot. 45. Packem Get it here A JavaScript module bundler that purports to be twice as fast as its main competitor, Parcel. Still in alpha at the time of writing but a promising tool that could be your go-to bundler in the coming months. 46. Pika Get it here A multi-featured toolset that includes npm stats, package search, a CDN and Pika Web. The latter lets you add dependencies to a project directly in the browser without webpack, Browserify, etc. 47. Commento Get it here A lightweight, ad-free, privacy-focused commenting system you can embed in your web pages, usable via their cloud service or self-hosted. Includes Akismet spam detection, sticky comments, voting, Markdown support and more. 48. Just Get it here A build task library with an easy-to-use API to compose chained, parallel or nested tasks during your build process. 49. Git History Get it here Easily browse any file's history on GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket. Just select a file URL then replace github.com with github.githistory.xyz and an animated, visual history of the file will display. 50. Sublime Merge Get it here A fast, search-friendly Git client (Mac, Windows, Linux) from the makers of Sublime Text. Offers syntax highlighting, integrated merge tool, side-by-side diffs and more. This content originally appeared in net magazine. Read more: The next big thing in web design: 7 trends you need to know 11 amazing graphical JavaScript frameworks 11 CSS secrets you need to know in 2020 View the full article

How do you visualise the year in your mind's eye? For some it might stretch ahead in a straight line, for others it's a straightforward calendar grid. But for those who see it as a circle, a serious 'wow' moment is coming your way. A circular calendar design has been shared on Reddit, and it's a revelation. The calendar works in a similar way to a clock, with January situated at the top of the circle (where the 12 would be on a conventional clock), and other months following the circle clockwise incrementally. Much like a clock, the longest unit of time is towards the centre of the circle, with the smallest out at the edge, so the year is at the middle, followed by the seasons, the signs of the zodiac, the months and finally the day and date (the moon cycles are also found around the edge). We're so taken by this calendar that we're already busy replacing our current, more traditional design. But if it doesn't float your boat, don't miss our calendar 2020 round up for options to suit all tastes. The way we view the year and how vividly our brains visualise the way the months are laid out can vary wildly from person to person. Even the creator, alexbonair, has a totally different concept of the direction the months should run in, "mine goes counterclockwise as well, but as most people prefer clockwise." If you disagree with alexbonair on direction (we do not), you can always adjust it, as he suggests: "I wrote a VanillaJS script that draws the calendar, based on some input param[e]ters. Year, language, direction and much more is easy changeable." The entire design Just how differently we all see the year is abundantly clear from reading the Reddit comments, which contain a lot of enthusiasm and some wildly different opinions. Livingchair, for example, sees the year as an oval, "Haha it's always fun to see how people imagine the concept of year in their heads. My year is oval shaped, but it goes counterclockwise and summer is on the top-side." However the year might appear in your head, this design concept is a winner. It's clean and functional (and actually presents what has been inside our heads all this time). It's a game-changer, just like this cascading ruler shared on Reddit not long ago. You can't ask for more than that. Except for spaces to write down important dates, but maybe we just need a more traditional calendar to go alongside it. Read more: 6 of the hottest gadgets for designers The 14 best iPad apps for designers Calendar 2020: The best wall calendars and desktop calendars for creatives View the full article

The release of a PoC for the Windows flaw known as "SMBGhost" could set off cyberattack waves, CISA warned. View the full article

The best 4th July sales 2020 are on their way and, just as in previous years, the bargains won't just be happening on the day. In fact, you'll be able to get a host of great savings in the weeks leading up to the 4th July and the week after it. As the US celebrates its independence, retailers from a raft of specialities will lay on savings to make your eyes water. And this is your one-stop shop for all the best 4th July sales – whether you're after a great deal on a new laptop, the latest accessories, a new mattress, 4K monitors or TVs. We've even found some pre-4th July savings already. If you want to browse online, use the quick links below to head to your favourite retailers. In the coming weeks we'll update this post with our pick of the best 4th July sales, and remember – this will be the last big US sale event until Amazon Prime Day 2020, so be sure to make the most of the deals while they last! The best 4th July sales 2020: quick links Adorama – laptops, monitors and more with up to $300 savings Amazon – big savings on home items and appliances Apple – save on your old iPhone with select trade-ins B&H Photo – loads of deals, including $200 off MacBook Pro Best Buy – save up to $250 on Windows laptops Dell – up to $250 off its brilliant range of laptops HP – $400 off HP Pavilion laptop, plus loads more Mattress Firm - get top-rated mattress brands for up to 50% off! Microsoft – save up to $500 on select Surface Pro models Nectar – amazing deals on mattresses, up to $300 savings Tomtops – up to 68% off smart phones, plus a huge range of accessories When do 4th July sales start? Retailers will start slashing prices of their goods mid-June, and in fact many of them will keep sales going until long after the 4th July day. In previous years, savings have been made live up until the end of July, so keep this page bookmarked and we'll be sure to let you know exactly what the best deals are, and when they'll run until. And remember – with Amazon Prime Day being pushed back to maybe September, this year's 4th July sales will probably be even more popular than ever before. Where are the best 4th July sales happening? There will be a lot of retailers from all sorts of backgrounds getting involved in the sales – from clothing to gadgets – but we here at Creative Bloq will be focussing on the more tech side of things (plus mattresses, because we all need a good sleep!) We're going to bring you the latest and best bargains on tablets, laptops, monitors, headphones, and TVs out there. So stay tuned! View the full article

We've seen lots of designers tackle existing logos, from complete redesigns to subtle fixes. This latest effort falls into the latter category – but proves that even the tiniest tweak can make a major difference. One Reddit user wasn't completely happy with the logo for Tripwire Interactive's Maneater, a brand new open-world video game in which the player assumes the role of, you guessed it, a shark. With a tiny bit of Photoshop magic, the shark's mouth has been reversed so that is now about to chomp on the 'MAN' section of the title, making it a much more logical logo for the game (check out our logo design inspiration guide for more innovative examples). It just goes to show that you don't always need a bunch of complex Photoshop actions to make a difference – sometimes a simple 'Flip' will suffice. Many Reddit users prefer the updated version, with several commenting that it makes more sense. Some, however, feel that the original version is more balanced with the jaws pointing the right – since we read from left to right. One user proposed yet another version (below), which several Redditors called "the best option by far". Could this be the ultimate version? For us, shockwave414's attempt (above) could be the ultimate version of the logo. Not only is the appropriate section of the title being 'eaten', but the correct sense balance and movement is created by the jaws pointing to the right. Removing the jaws from the middle also clears up any confusion over the title – this is clearly a logo for Maneater, not Man Eater. Whichever option you prefer, there's no doubt that when it comes to a successful logo, details matter – especially when there's an internet full of designers ready to pounce on any mistakes. One designer recently performed a public service by redesigning some of the most hilariously bad logos in existence. Indeed, if even the tiniest aspect of a logo would benefit from a redesign, it probably isn't going to make our list of the best logos of all time. Read more: New Adobe Creative Cloud logo is much more... creative iPhone 12 design finally revealed (and it’s not what we expected) New Black Mirror Series 6 Netflix poster is terrifying yet genius View the full article