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A high-severity flaw could give attackers full control of Cisco routers or switches. View the full article

Thanks to its pressure and tilt sensitivity, the Apple Pencil is one of the most popular stylus options. However its functionality could be set to change if Apple puts in place a patent it was recently granted. The patent, which covers future iPhones and iPads, could see Apple explore the possibility of proximity-based interfaces, aka hover screens. If the possibility of drawing on a screen without actually touching it sounds a little far-fetched, keep in mind that Apple made some fairly out-there launches last week. This is the company that launched its new Mac Pro alongside a monitor stand that almost costs $1,000 after all. But back to the patent. This news could potentially shake-up the user interfaces of the best drawing apps for iPad. In a similar vein to digital assistants like Siri, the patent aims to step in when it's unwise for users to constantly touch their screens, like when they have wet or dirty hands. If you're an artist who flits between using traditional mediums and digital tools, this could be a handy way to avoid getting paint on your iPad. Amazon Prime Day 2019: Where to get the best deals Picked up by AppleInsider, the patent is for: "Devices, methods, and user interfaces for interacting with user interface objects via proximity-based and contact-based inputs". Catchy. Thanks to the use of one or more sensors, Apple devices could be able to detect the proximity of an input object. This includes the Apple Pencil or even a finger. Not only could a device detect these inputs, it would also be able to register the intensity of the contact with the display. In layman's terms, we hazard a guess that this means an iPad or iPhone will be able to pick up how users are gesturing at the air above a screen. Hard jabs could indicate one command, while a smoother gesture could be translated into movement. Of course, this is just our speculation, Apple probably has plenty more innovative ideas up its sleeves. This flexibility means that the hover screen has some useful functionality options. For example, the interface could prompt menus to appear on the screen display when the stylus is held at a certain distance. A tap on the desired option would then select it. Depending on how it plays out, this could potentially streamline the workflow of digital artists when it comes to choosing brushes, colours and textures. Hovering over the screen could open up menu options [Image: AppleInsider] The hover screen also has some futuristic-sounding capabilities. By grabbing the air above an iPad, users could rearrange text and images, then drop them into a new place by releasing their grip. It's important to keep in mind though that this patent doesn't mean Apple is certainly going to put hover screens in place. However if it wants too, it now has all the approval it needs. And if you're on the lookout for an Apple Pencil bargain, head on over to our guide to the best cheap Apple Pencil deals and grab the popular stylus for less. Related articles: 19 best iPad Pro apps designed for Apple Pencil New iPad Air and Mini come with Apple Pencil support Is an Apple Paintbrush on its way? View the full article

Good user interface design improves overall user experience. It makes the user’s interaction with an app or site simple, intuitive, efficient and fluid, so much so that you when it works well, the user might not even notice it’s there. Many a team appreciates the apparently effortless simplicity of Trello’s lists to manage their pipelines, fantasy sports fans can attest to the easy digestibility of a huge amount of information in the ESPN Fantasy Sports app, and Artsy’s sleek lines and colour palettes make great design for a small handheld device look easy. But when it goes wrong, that’s when people really notice. Bad UI can dissuade, or directly prevent, users from continuing their experience. The ten bloopers below, some comical, some just plain annoying, can all teach us something, even if it's just what to avoid. It should also be noted that Bad UI is also often linked to a lack of testing – see our list of the best user testing software for our favourite testing tools. 34 web design tools to help you work smarter 01. Want 120 eggs with that? A fundamental of UI design is to choose the right tool for the job, which should normally mean respecting existing conventions and employing control elements in a way that users are already familiar with. So perhaps you’re training like Rocky Balboa and really do want to add an extraordinary number of eggs to your order, but checkboxes? The legend appears to prohibit the ordering of 120 eggs, because of course that would be ridiculous, but the fact that they’ve had to say that demonstrates that perhaps the wrong tool has been used. Checkboxes are used for when we can mark more than one option, and radio buttons for when only one choice is allowed, although perhaps here a plus and minus button may have worked better. Either way, we’re even more disappointed that there’s no discount for ordering 15 eggs. 02. Change your phone number to use our service Get a new number [Image: flyflair.com] There are cases when you may want to cater solely to users from one geographical region with its own specific formatting conventions, but the website of an airline operating out of several international airports is probably not one of them. In this example from Canada’s Flair Airlines, if you’re from a country where phone numbers have more or fewer than 10 digits, you have no choice but to enter a false number. Although, since there’s no field for a country code, they won’t be able to call you anyway. When designing a UI for anything that will have – or could gain – users from multiple regions, make sure use isn’t constrained by local naming and numbering conventions. Adapt to users rather than forcing them to adapt to your interface. 03. How do you say 'switch language' in Chinese? Mozilla’s website in Chinese [Image: Mozilla] So you go online during a trip abroad and you’re greeted by something like this. Where do you look first? Top right? Nothing there. Top left? Nope. Your third guess might have you scroll all the way down to the bottom in search for anything that looks like a dropdown menu, and in this case, that’s where you’ll find the language option. But considering that changing the language is the first thing you’re going to want to do if you end up on a site that you can’t read, it probably makes sense to make that option as easy to find as possible, and ideally selectable before having to perform any other action such as logging in. A globe icon or the language icon designed by Farhat Datta may help people find the option. Whatever you do, just don’t use flags to represent languages unless you want to upset an awful lot of people. 04. When clarification obscures We’re all perfectly used to marking checkboxes to add things, and clicking checkboxes to say we don’t want things is by no means beyond us, so on the face of it, there shouldn’t be much room to mess this up, but here, Homeburger’s attempt to explain the process just leaves us baffled. You have to uncheck the thing you don’t want in order to not get it? Beware of ambiguity, but also beware of attempts to avoid it that just make things more complex. 05. Can we fit anything else in here? iTunes' cluttered UI will be missed by few [Image: iTunes] There’s nothing like a cluttered interface to make a user feel from the outset that they’re in for a painful experience, and unfortunately, there’s no shortage of examples of big players with overly busy UI design that hurts the eyes and takes too long to navigate. Few people are mourning the death of Apple’s iTunes, while many big name online stores (including Amazon) continue to throw in everything and the kitchen sink on to their shopfront in a way that hardly facilitates navigation. Even the application of colour theory and wise use of contrast can do little to make an overly cluttered UI look more appealing, so make sure you pare it back. But don't go too far, there’s also danger in going to the other extreme of absolute minimalism. The options still need to be findable. 06. Death by dropdown This dropdown menu that makes anyone less than a knight feel inadequate [Image: Boden] Everyone hates dropdowns, so it’s perhaps strange that some UI designers still haven’t realised this. When it comes to filling in online forms, there are few things more frustrating than having to find your country if it’s at the bottom of the list, or choose your year of birth rather than simply type it in, which just seems a perverse form of torture for the young or old, and one that’s no more likely to prevent someone from making a mistake. This example from Boden is at least entertaining, if a little deflating to anyone lacking a fancy title – there’s not option of Mx we notice. Perhaps the broader lesson in this example is that sometimes you have to stop and ask, is this even necessary? Just pity all the wing commanders out there who have to scroll all the way down the bottom of the list. And if you want to know more about designing forms, see our post on 6 form patterns and when to use them. 07. Waiting around KLM's iFly50.com looks very nice but underestimates the reader's patience [Image: iFly50] Animation and novel ways of interaction have been heralded as a way of producing a delightful experiences, but let’s make sure they don’t become an excuse for designers to show off. Remember that while look and feel is important, the core of a great UI is function: Even something as innocent as Twitter’s 'like' button animation earned vitriol for being annoying and childish, and while a playful loading icon can raise a smile first time round, it will have people hating it if they have to see it too often. Any unnecessary interaction that creates friction in using the UI can be just as irksome. KLM’s iFly50.com showcase of 50 travel destinations has some great imagery but is anyone really going to hold down a button for several seconds each time they want to see more information? Avoid adding friction unless the point is to put users off performing an action. 08. Say what? Bright, and even fluorescent colours have become a bit of a trend in UIs and they can be very effective in making content look sharp and stand out, but remember that text needs to readable. Teamweek's mint green looks a treat, but it’s not so easy to read white text on a mint green button. Colour isn’t the only cause of readability fails. The trend towards lower contrast may aim to be easier on the eye, but it doesn’t help if you have to strain to read the type, while fine fonts and unresponsive sites can also hurt users’ eyes. Check text is easy to read, and check it can be read on different devices. And if you are looking for your dream font, then don't miss our list of free fonts. 09. Thinning out content The Grit has a lot to say about itself [Image: The Grit] Is someone really going to want to enter separately into 'about us', 'our values' AND 'our mission'? These might be separate concepts in the eyes of the company but it seems unlikely that a user would want to enter to one of them specifically, and why make the user go through five clicks to get the whole story? This example from The Grit immediately looks like thin content that would be better merged together, otherwise a user may not read any of it. 10. Shame on you! Paleo Flourish makes you feel bad for turning down an offer [Image: Paleo Flourish] Confirmation shaming is not big and it’s not clever. This example from Paleo Flourish is one of the more aggressive in a trend of shaming website modals. Occasionally, it can be done in a humorous way, but in general insulting your target audience by forcing them to choose between 'Go on then', or 'No, I prefer to remain a sad, lonely, loser, thanks' is no way to win them round. Read more: 20 best UI design tools 6 UI mistakes that are killing your conversion rates Create cool UI animations with CSS View the full article

An attacker can use Rowhammer attack to induce bit flips, thereby leaking the victim's secret data. View the full article

If you're looking for a new camera, but aren't bothered about having the absolute latest model, you're in luck. Although the mirrorless Fujifilm X-T2 has now been super-seeded by the Fujifilm X-T3, the X-T2 is still a fantastic camera, with specs that will be more than enough for most. And in the run up to Amazon Prime Day 2019, we're starting to see deals on this model. It's currently on offer for half price, costing $799 rather than the usual $1,599, and there's even over $200 worth of accessories thrown in to Adorama's offer. What's so good about this particular camera? Let us explain... The Fujifilm X-T2 has a 24.3MP APS-C sensor, meaning it produces stunning stills. It can also record 4K video at 30fps, or 1080p at 60fps, and boasts impressive pro features such as focus peaking and Zebra shooting. The non-touch tilting three-inch screen has 1.04 million dots, there's a precise electronic viewfinder with 2.36 million dots, and best of all for adventurous photographers, it's also dust, moisture and low temperature resistant, meaning you can take photos rain or shine. If you'd like to compare it to your other options, then don't miss our post on the best cameras for creatives. If you'd like some lenses as well as a new camera (and let's face it, you'll need at least one lens if you don't have one already), then Adorama has another deal that might be of interest. In this offer, you get the same Fujifilm X-T2 camera body plus an 18-55mm lens, and the free accessories from the deal above. If you're in the UK, you won't get all those free accessories, but there's still a pretty sweet deal to be had on the Fujifilm X-T2 camera body from Amazon, it's down from £999 to £884, and with a lens included, costs £1,190, down from £1,349. Read more: The best cameras for beginners The best memory cards for your camera Get a bargain PS Pro 4 View the full article

With Progressive Web Apps and Single-Page Apps (PWAs and SPAs), developers have the technical tools to deliver fast and engaging web experiences, rivalling their native counterparts. But there exists a missing piece of the puzzle, a catalyst that can propel a high-performing web app to a hyper-performant, best-in-class user experience. This ingredient is found through considering performance a fundamental principle of the UX and visual design process. This is Performant Design. A delay between 300 and 1,000 milliseconds makes the user feel like a machine is working, but they begin to mentally context-switch above 1,000 milliseconds. Anything that provides the content faster will result in a more positive engagement. These tips will show you how to make an app along performant design principles; follow them to get your web apps flying. How to build a Progressive Web App 01. Use lazy loading Load times can be significantly reduced by Lazy Loading offscreen elements. This deconstructs the initial payload to render content that is in view first. Images and other heavy elements load later in the sequence, or as the user scrolls. Lighthouse is a Google tool full of actionable insights that help designers and developers optimise performance in fine detail across the loading spectrum. 02. Don't download fonts Downloading custom fonts cost around 200–500ms on 3G connections. Letting the device handle font rendering by using system fonts ensures text loads instantly, and using variable fonts offers typographic variation without forcing the user to download fonts in multiple weights. Check out variable fonts in action at v-fonts.com. 03. Optimise vector art This demo of SVGOMG shows 60 per cent+ savings from optimising artwork markup [Image: SVGOMG] Exporting vector icons and illustrations often adds a lot of unnecessary bloat to the file. This can be cleaned up considerably, reducing a site's image payload and giving the user quicker access to key icon-based navigation and signposting. Coming from Google's Development Team, SVGOMG is a useful tool to help optimise SVGs. 04. Optimise images Squoosh demonstrates how huge file savings can come without compromising image quality [Image: Squoosh] The task of optimising images is a job that holds space in both the design and development process. The art of image optimisation comes from the human eye judging the compression tool's impact on image quality. Several algorithms and rendering techniques can significantly reduce the size of an image in ways that are invisible to the naked eye. The Google Chrome team introduced Squoosh to help in both these processes. This powerful web-based image compression tool puts high-resolution visual comparison to the forefront, while giving users access to all the complex behind the scenes compression options. 05. Ensure it feels fast When motion is used effectively it helps inform users and guide the their next step Delays of less than 100 milliseconds still feel instant, but anything above that is perceptible. When it comes to optimising speed, it's what the user perceives that really matters, which is what makes designing for those in-between states integral to delivering hyper performance. Content placeholders, or skeletons, are used to construct a preloaded version of a page while content is loading. They not only prevent jagged and disruptive 'reflows' — where rendered elements are pushed out of view by subsequent items loading in their place — they can also make users believe the page is loading quicker than it really is. When implementing skeleton screens, content should be rendered as soon as it is ready, rather than blocking it until everything is ready to show. Which works best? Which one feels faster? An app where the user has no indication when the content is coming? Or one that uses staggered loading animations, skeleton screens, frosted images and metadata on content? These two examples may take the same amount of time to load, but the user perception of length is completely different. Using a spinner shows no indication of when the page will be finished loading. Brief animations, on the other hand, can mask the loading transition and imply that the system is 'progressing' rather than 'processing.' We all want to see reaction to our actions, and it's no different on the web. Smooth scrolling, silky animations and tap feedback states all help to increase a user's perception that the experience is responding immediately to their touch. Considering tap, hover, loading and passive states all help to simulate a performant experience, Google's Material Design provides guidance of how to effectively craft all these states. Today's user is impatient, and the more you make them think, the more likely they are to go elsewhere to get the job done. Clarity and simplicity are therefore key components of any highly performant web experience. Emphasised call to action (CTA) buttons allow users to move forward quickly in their task with confidence. Paying careful attention to CTA size, colour, placement and microcopy helps make the key actions more obvious and reduces thinking time. Patterns first seen in native apps, such the floating action button and fixed header bar, get the user moving quickly and translate well to any performant web app. A general rule of navigation is 'out of sight, out of mind'. Patterns such as a Bottom Navigation Bar and Tabs successfully put primary user actions front and centre, while the traditional 'hamburger' menu has a lower engagement rate. Facebook found that by moving from a hamburger menu to a tabbed approach improved engagement, satisfaction, revenue and perception of speed. Having a strategy of the type of content you want to promote is important, and simply treating all navigational items as equal will result in a decrease of engagement in the areas that you want to improve. Spotify found that by reducing the number of options in the tab bar to five increased the reach of Spotify's programmed content — a great example of how promoting certain navigation items over others can focus the user's experience. 06. Use one-tap payments and sign-in Digital wallets like GooglePay and upcoming automatic sign-in API both leverage data stored on the device to simplify friction-heavy user flows. GooglePay allows shoppers to complete multiple checkout steps in a single tap, while one-tap sign in gets users into their account in the same way. Results from early adopters show that removing the interruption of login screens and checkout forms, along with the mental friction of remembering and entering information, speeds up task completion and improves engagement. 07. Make it work everywhere Financial Times is one of the highest profile responsive PWAs, allowing desktop readers to consume articles offline and on the go. Today's user spends around six hours a day online with an average of 6.5 connected devices per person. Not only is it fundamentally important to design for a number of different devices, but to design for areas of low and no connectivity. Users often take multiple sessions to complete a task, and delivering performant experiences on each device ensures that entire process is smooth and satisfying. Desktop supports PWAs and designing performant responsive PWAs without the bloated code commonly associated with responsive websites, means designing mobile first. This brings the essentials to the forefront, adding more items only when the user agent can handle it. Service Workers allow PWAs to stand up when the network connection goes down. This opens the door to craft offline user experiences by use of clear network status messaging and disabling elements that would otherwise derail the experience. This article was originally published in issue 286 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 286 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: How to design app icons Performance UX: A primer How to make responsive web apps with container queries View the full article

3D portraits are difficult to create but astonishing when done right. Getting the hang of designing in 3D is especially tricky when you're trying to mimic objects from the real world, and one of the hardest things to recreate in 3D is a human. Your audience spends so much time looking at people that mistakes will be spotted quickly. That is what makes the following pieces of art so impressive. We've found some of the most jaw-dropping 3D portraits and collated them here for you. The artists that created these amazingly realistic portraits describe the techniques they used in the portraits that took months to complete. Scroll down to take a look at some of the most amazingly realistic 3D portraits we've ever seen. We'll hear from the artists that created them as they describe the techniques they used in their projects that took months to complete. If you would like to explore more amazing 3D art, and want to hone your own 3D skills, explore these tutorials for KeyShot , ZBrush and Blender. Or, take a look at what can be achieved without a computer in our roundup of incredibly realistic pencil drawings. Click on the icon at the top-right of the image to enlarge it. Register interest for VERTEX 2020, the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists 01. Abdelrahman Kubsi Kubsi is inspired by the challenge of mimicking nature [Image: Abdelrahman Kubsi] This awesome 3D portrait of Walter White took character and creature artist Abdelrahman Kubisi six weeks to complete, working in his spare time around his full time job at MPC. Discussing his technical approach Kubsi says: "I used the new Arnold 5 shader for the skin, and used Texturing.xyz maps for displacement detailing and colour textures." He continues: "I always start by collecting reference, it's the most important part in the job for me, then I start the digital sculpting inside ZBrush. I texture inside Mari, building layer upon layer to make the skin look real." When asked what inspires him to create, Kubsi says: "Mimicking nature, which in my opinion is very difficult, and trying to make things that look hyper-realistic. If I'm able to make people think my work is a photo, then I feel like I’ve done a good job." 02. Tsubasa Nakai Nakai's female face is made great by its celebration of fine details [Image: Tsubasa Nakai] Director and CG supervisor Tsubasa Nakai created this stunning female face using Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop, Mari and Substance Painter. The detail of the smudges of make-up, porous skin and freckles are astonishing. It's the imperfections that make this face so stunningly realistic, and the light in her eyes is breathtaking. "In order to create this beautiful CG woman, I tried using Multi-channel Faces texture from Texturing.xyz. The technical goal of this project was to express the fine details. Texturing.xyz and XGen really helped me to achieve this. I projected a Multi-channel Faces texture to the model, with a Photoshop UV workflow." You can see how to do this here. 03. István Vastag Vastag created hairs that grow from below the skin's surface [Image: István Vastag] This incredibly lifelike image took Digic Pictures environment supervisor István Vastag nine months of evenings and weekends to complete, using 3ds Max, ZBrush, Mari, V-Ray and Nuke. “There were several interesting issues that I had to face,” Vastag explains. “I paid great attention to where the face geometry meets the eyeball geometry. All the hairs are growing from below the skin surface so they are all correctly affecting the subsurface scattering. Textures were painted in Mari using simple brushes and adjustment layers.” 04. Jacques Defontaine Defontaine uses basic tools to capture the emotion on an individual face [Image: Jaques Defontaine] Freelance artist Jacques Defontaine is a master of hyper-realistic 3D portraits (take a look at his portfolio if you don't believe us). Before starting each new character, he likes to experiment and try out new skills. He insists that his approach to creating such lifelike images is actually fairly straightforward: “I have a little collection of stamps and stencils that I use for sculpting and painting textures, but apart from that it’s all basic tools. In ZBrush I always use the Geometry HD and Layers features, as I find those very powerful.” Having worked in the CG industry since 1996, Defontaine has years’ worth of experience to draw from. “Many things inspire me but the human face is my favourite, they can look so different and convey so many emotions. Being able, or at least to try, to capture that look and emotion is a real challenge, and that’s what drives me.” 05. Artur Tarnowski Tarnowski likes to have a lot of control over the skin, using masks for detail [Image: Artur Tarnowski] Artur Tarnowski is a character artist for Warsaw-based studio Layopi Games, with a wealth of experience in modelling. This image took him just a month and a half to complete. “I had almost everything done in two weeks,” he says. “The rest of the time was spent adjusting the model, hair shape, shader parameters, and lighting setup. All those little – some would say unnoticeable – details that make the final image look realistic.” During the process Tarnowski used a displacement shading network in Arnold to blend three types of maps. “The first is my secondary detail from ZBrush,” he explains. “The second is Texturing XYZ micro detail and the third is a tileable micro detail with pores, etc. The skin shader is also quite complex as I like to have a lot of control over the skin in Hypershade. That means a lot of masks for makeup or freckles as well as many remap nodes for adjusting roughness, specular and skin tones.” 06. Emerson Silva Silva enjoys creating texture and rendering [Image: Emerson Silva] 3D artist Emerson Silva began his career by creating low-poly models for mobile games back in 2004. “It was a very small area in Brazil, and few companies survived for more than two years,” he explains of his decision to advance in his artistry. His approach towards ‘Sadhu’ began by gathering references to build a mental image, right down to details like lighting and rendering. He continues: “My next step is to make a simple base mesh, I love working with low polygon because it’s easier to make changes. I always do this in 3ds Max before sending it to ZBrush.” It’s then that Silva creates the final look of his piece, setting the pose and getting the model ready for work in Substance Painter. “I currently use Substance Painter for the entire texturing process, I find it very enjoyable to create textures in. I usually do texturing and rendering at the same time, and always in sections. I start with the head and only go to the other part when I’m satisfied.” 07. Saurabh Jethani Jethani creates characters for video games [Image: Saurabh Jethani] When Saurabh Jethani's not living his dream of creating characters for video games, he lends his talents to making hair, clothes, hard-surface characters and creatures. With technical elements like the low-poly and UVs already in place, the artistic process for this particular portrait took Jethani just a week to complete. “I used TexturingXYZ displacement for pores and albedo for skin colour,” he explains. “Their separate displacements (secondary, tertiary and micros) can be combined in the RGB channel of an image to be projected together simultaneously. This allows me to separately control the value of each channel. I would recommend anyone going for realistic face information to try those maps out.” 08. Ian Spriggs Spriggs pays attention to personality when representing people [Image: Ian Spriggs] Ian Spriggs is a 3D portrait and character artist working in Maya, Mudbox, V-Ray and Photoshop. "I love trying to figure people out and work out what makes them who they are," he explains. "Portraits are like a window into the subject’s life; you really have to know someone to be able to represent them well – it's not only facial features you are representing, but also their personality." For this reason, he likes to create portraits of friends and family members. "Digital humans need a personality to make them believable; characters in a T-pose might look real, but we won’t connect with them," he adds. Find out how Spriggs created this portrait and have a go for yourself in this step by step guide. 09. João Victor Ferreira Ferreira uses light source to keep his art realistic [Image: João Victor Ferreira] “First, I took dozens of photos for reference in many different lightings, including daylight and interior light,” explains character modeller João Victor Ferreira. Using these photos for comparison, he then began to sculpt the head from a base mesh. He continues: “Importantly I created my 3D scene in an ambient with the light source being as close as possible to one of my reference photos. This gave me a sense of how close the model was to reality.” In fact, Ferreira believes that taking the time to gather reference is amongst the most important elements in creating great art, and he is motivated by the desire to better himself with every new piece. This article was originally published in 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Subscribe to 3D World . Content has also been included from issue 130 of 3D Artist. Buy issue 130 or subscribe to 3D Artist. Read more: The best free 3D models How to create 3D grass Cinema 4D tutorials to up your 3D skills View the full article

If you’re looking to build a beautiful website, you’ll be glad to know that you don’t necessarily need lots of programming experience. With a lifetime subscription to Storeshock WordPress Themes and Elements, you can access a range of Wordpress design goodies for just $59. This platform makes building a website easy as pie. It provides countless themes, plugins, web elements, and templates that will make it super straightforward to get your dream website up and running. The drag-and-drop page builders are a breeze to use, and you can even convert PSD and Ai designs to layouts. Best of all, this awesome platform and everything that comes along with it are at your fingertips for life - all for just $59. Related articles: 34 web design tools to help you work smarter in 2019 The future of web design Introducing the WordPress Gutenberg editor View the full article

Want to launch a career as a programmer? If so, you'll need to know Ruby. The programming language is a crucial skill for coders to master. Luckily, with The Complete Ruby Programmer Course, you can pick it up in no time at all. With Ruby, you’ll be able to navigate Ruby on Rails, which is one of the most widely used and in-demand web development frameworks in the world. It’s powerful and can create all different kinds of applications, but it’s also relatively easy to learn in comparison to other programming languages. The best VPN service 2019 That’s what makes this course a great place to start as you set on your journey to become a coder. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to create entire interactive programs from scratch. What's more, you can now save 94% on its regular price! Related articles: 34 web design tools to help you work smarter in 2019 The best laptops for programming in 2019 The future of web design View the full article

Intel has patched seven high-severity vulnerabilities in its mini PC NUC kit firmware. View the full article

When you're choosing the best monitor for video editing, you'll want to make sure it delivers the best picture quality possible so you can be sure your work will look great played back on any screen. For great color reproduction and brightness, you'll need to look for a monitor with an IPS (in-plane switching) rather than TN (twisted nematic) display, so that's what we'll be looking at here. We're also focusing on 4K displays; although 8K screens are available, they're prohibitively expensive and overkill for even professional video editing. With that in mind, whether you're a pro or a keen hobbyist, read on to find the right monitor for you. Image credit: Dell For editing videos and all other creative work, the Dell Ultrasharp U3219Q is the monitor to beat. Its 32-inch display offers full sRGB and Rec. 709 coverage, with 95% DCI-P3 and excellent colour uniformity, all in a smart chassis with super-thin bezels. It lacks some of the professional-grade accoutrements you'll find in the Eizo ColorEdge CG319X a little further below, but you won't find a better monitor for video editing at such a reasonably price point. There's also an 8K version available (the Dell UltraSharp UP3218K), but at three times the cost of this model, there's no competition. Image credit: BenQ A monitor that's perfect for video editing doesn't have to break the bank, as the BenQ PD3200U proves. This 4K monitor lacks the stylistic flourishes of some more expensive alternatives, but its 32-inch display means you're getting a lot of screen for your money – and a good quality one at that. The PD3200U is made with creatives in mind, and includes several dedicated profiles that will be of particular interest for video editing, including animation and darkroom modes. Its color accuracy is excellent straight out of the box, avoiding the need for time-consuming calibration. Image credit: Eizo The Eizo ColorEdge CG319X is an outstanding 4K monitor that's ideally suited to video editing in a professional studio. Its color accuracy is remarkable, reproducing 98% of the DCI-P3 standard used in digital cinema – just one of many broadcast and cinema presets, which include the Rec. 2020 standard used for Ultra HD television broadcasts. Its 4096 x 2160 resolution is also optimized for video editing, matching the 4K standard used in video production. It also comes with a monitor hood to reduce glare, and a built-in AI-controlled system that automatically calibrates the display to compensate for changes in temperature of the monitor itself and its environment. Image credit: BenQ Although marketed as a gaming monitor, the BenQ EX3501R is also a great monitor for video editing thanks to its HDR support, fast refresh rate and impressive color reproduction. BenQ calls this a 'video enjoyment monitor', and has given it a muted design to match. The vast curved screen the star of the show, and at 2.35:1, it's proportioned for cinemascope films. The inclusion of a USB-C port means it's a great monitor for video editing on PC and Mac users alike (though bear in mind that HDR support in Windows is still patchy). Image credit: LG The LG 27MD5KA 27-inch UltraFine 5K USB-C Monitor is built with Macs in mind, as its input options show. With no HDMI and resolution capped at 4K in Windows (compared to 5K on Mac), it's a no-go for PC users. It covers 92 percent of the AdobeRGB spectrum, with impressive contrast and deep blacks. The 27MD5KA also includes speakers, though their quality isn't sufficient for video editing. It's perhaps no surprise that this monitor is promoted by Apple itself, and if you're looking for a second screen for video editing on a Macbook Pro, it's well worth consideration. View the full article

There's just over a year to go until the opening of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. To get ready for the biggest event in the sporting calendar, television network Eurosport recently unveiled its official logo and brand identity for the games. And in a distinctive bit of design, the identity takes its inspiration from Japan's signature art style: manga. The channel, which describes itself as the Home of the Olympics in Europe, settled on the logo (above) as a way to bring Eastern and Western cultures together. Thanks to its angular typography, which borrows from the comic books aimed at both adults and children, Eurosport's Tokyo 2020 logo also wants to usher manga into a new era. Given that plenty of artists around the world want to learn how to draw manga, it makes sense to target this aesthetic. The versatile identity was announced in a tweet (below) and is designed to smoothly integrate with the Eurosport logo and the image of the Olympic rings. In a blog post about the new identity, Eurosport's Vice President of Marketing, George Aivazoglou, said: "We wanted our Tokyo 2020 brand identity to create a unique symbol that incorporates and respects Japanese culture and the iconic Eurosport logo, to become instantly recognisable and resonate with millions of people watching the Games across Europe." And over the next 18 months, sports fans and viewers can expect the identity to underpin Eurosport's marketing campaign ahead of the opening of the games on 24 July 2020. "With this design we believe we have created a visual identity that is versatile, conveys the dynamic side of the Games and engages younger generations – truly visionary," Aivazoglou adds. Eurosport is confident its identity will make an impact [Image: Eurosport] Of course, it remains to be seen how the full marketing campaign will be put into action. However, we hope that as it progresses, the identity will include more overt manga allusions. As it is, we're struggling to see the link between the design and manga. The angular lettering is, at a push, reminiscent of the Japanese alphabets. And while this is a nice touch, it currently feels like a bit of a stretch to make the comic connection. The lettering also has legibility issues as the number '2' in 200 is easily mistaken for the letter 'r'. For a list of amazing typefaces that do nail their design both in terms of theme and appearance, why not check out our list of the best free fonts available to designers right now? Related articles: How to make it as a manga artist How to create an authentic manga comic strip Typography trends in 2019 to look out for View the full article

Kaspersky Lab is a household-name, global cybersecurity company with over two decades of experience. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019 is their latest and greatest malware elimination tool. Does it keep up with the competition when looking for the best antivirus software around? There are plenty of features to keep users safe while online. A critical element is the core antivirus engine, which will block malware prior to it threatening you and your PC. Additionally, System Watcher seeks out undiscovered threats through behaviour monitoring technology. It uses multiple layers of protection against a full array of threats including network attacks, malicious email objects and phishing attacks. A selection of bonus features complete the package, including Kaspersky Secure Connection, an extremely basic VPN powered by Hotspot Shield. In general, we would certainly appreciate a VPN without a registration requirement, but its very low 200BMB daily limit sells itself short. The option for an upgrade for unlimited traffic at $4.99/£3.80 monthly is no bargain as there are tons of other VPN choices available at that price point. Norton Anti-Virus Basic review Kaspersky's ‘Secret sauce’ is an intelligent behavioural model which uses machine learning for identification of malware through behaviour, without relying on prewritten virus signatures. This suite slots into the OS, working hand in hand with Windows 10's own security tools, providing a higher level of protection to keep a full variety of malware threats at bay. There are also recently added detection capabilities to shut down outgoing requests for connections to servers known to be malicious. Adware is less likely to destroy your system than other threats, but is often annoying and Kapersky can delete it without issue. There are interface tweaks that optimise getting a protection status update. In addition, this software has undergone optimisation so it runs quickly, and uses fewer resources to get the job done. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019: Price The price of this software remains quite competitive. Kaspersky Anti-Virus currently costs $29.99/£23 to protect a single PC, with a one-year license. There is also the option to add devices and extend the subscription to a five device, two-year license which is only $79.99/£61, and averages to a low $7.99/£6 per device year, including a first year discount. For the protection of multiple platforms, Kaspersky Total Security is worth considering. There are additional elements that get added to secure PCs, Macs and mobile OS, for a mildly higher cost of $49/£38 for the protection of five devices, for the one-year license, or $99.99/£77 for the two year license, which averages approximately $10/£8 per device, for each year of coverage. Whatever the number of devices that need to be secured, all Kaspersky consumer products feature a full 30-day trial. It is 100% free to download and give it a test drive on your PC, without providing any payment details. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019: Setup Kaspersky has a simple, streamlined and fast installation process. The trial is found via download links located on their website, and the installer is a compact download. First, accept the license agreement, and the installation package will automatically download and proceed to set up. Even lacking a license, and not inputting our email address, the installation happened. We did have to go through a quick 'Activate Trial License' link, and our Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019 setup completed. Truthfully, it was not completely done, with Kapersky’s dashboard indicating an issue: to update the signatures and program files. Many competitors automatically perform this step during the installation, but having control over an update is an asset for some. Finally, with a single click, the program fully updates. Kaspersky Anti-Virus uses a reasonable 275MB (approximately) of hard drive space, with a mere two core processes running in the background, again requiring a relatively lightweight 90MB RAM. It’s safe to say that it runs light on system resources. An antivirus program has the requirement to secure itself from any malware, so we put it through its paces with some simple tests that tried to modify, or go further and delete, some of the Kaspersky files. Through this testing, the conclusion is that this package can more than take care of itself, and none of these attacks caused any harm to this antivirus software. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019: Features Kaspersky Anti-Virus features a simple interface which shows the current protection status through a clean visual display of a green indicator. There are four main buttons that cover the essential tasks: scan launch, database update, report viewing, and accessing the on-screen keyboard. The Scan panel launches into a quick or full system scan, and can also fully sanitize an entire external drive, or be targeted to specific files and folders. A shortcoming though is that more navigation is required in comparison to the competition; for instance it takes three clicks via the console for initiating a Quick Scan. But this system is easy enough to use, with more than enough available options. Kaspersky claims that their latest version is their quickest ever. Our tests do confirm this bold claim, as the Quick and Full Scans were both above the average for antivirus suites on our benchmarking on our review PC. There is also a simple scheduler to run various scan types on an automated basis, which can be specified to schedule scans on a daily (weekday or weekend), weekly or monthly basis. Also, a custom configuration can be employed for scheduling a scan for the next day in case the computer is turned off. This minimizes the performance impact by limiting scans to when the computer is locked, or the screensaver is engaged. Kaspersky Anti-Virus allows the user to finely control each scan type, such as specifics for the zone to be disinfected, the file type for examination, a detection engine choice, and the action for detected threats – disinfecting the file, deleting it, or asking for next steps. There are plenty of benefits to this higher level of flexibility, for example speeding up Quick Scans by configuring Kapersky to pass over old files, only scrubbing new and modified files. Or to limit Full System Scans to scrubbing only in certain, designated network folders. Being able to have this level of granular control does have some trade-offs, as optimizing the scans can certainly increase the speed, while reducing the level of anti-malware. For all the included options, we still would have liked to have seen even more choices to create truly novel, custom scan types. We would definitely like the option to create an 'Ultra Quick Scan' with just a few clicks, while still keeping the option for the original Quick Scan, thereby leaving us with the choice. We also note that major competitors such as Avast and Avira do provide these types of choice, so power users may be on the lookout for this, but Kaspersky users are limited to only the existing scan types. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019: Bonus features Kaspersky Anti-Virus does more than regular scanning via a generous helping of bonus features. These include the uncomplicated on-screen keyboard, always available to give protected logins for user credentials, account numbers and other sensitive details that benefit from a more secure approach. We pitted it against more than one commercial keylogger software, and none were able to record our keystrokes. The Vulnerability Scan can assess how secure your system is, assessing expired security patches, poorly configured Windows settings, and even more. On our PC, this scan found that the autorun for removable drives got enabled by default, thereby exposing a potential vulnerability to USB key-based malware, which was fixed with a few clicks. The Windows Troubleshooting Wizard searches for any non-standard operating systems, which has the potential to be malware, and fixes them up in a jiffy. While this sounds really useful, also realise that we are in the dark as to the number of issues this deals with. Firing it up on our review PC failed to discover any new issues, except for the autorun issue above that we were already aware of. The Browser Configuration Wizard again overpromises, which is a shame as this module limits itself to configuration issues with only a solitary browser – Internet Explorer – which is not even the browser of choice for most users. At worst, at least this browser engine is used by some other applications, so even for alternative browser users, fixing their IE issues can potentially raise the security of their system. The Privacy Cleaner works to locate and remove windows, and activity records, out of your browsing history, lists of cookies for Recent Documents, recent programs run, recent folders used, and so forth. There really nothing wrong with this software, but like others in this suite, it’s simply not a standout, which is exacerbated with the realisation that there are boatloads of dedicated freeware software available with identical functionality. Next up is the Kaspersky Rescue Disk, a bootable environment designed to detect and remove deeply embedded threats, which have the potential for corrupting Windows and can prevent it from booting. While this is a useful feature that most will welcome, power users know that this feature is entirely free for everybody to download on the Kaspersky website. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2018 is only giving the download link. In summary, Kaspersky is somewhat weak in the bonus feature department, and is behind its competition. To compare, Avast Free Antivirus has a free Wi-Fi Inspector to locate wireless vulnerabilities, weak passwords, and out of date software patches. Also, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers additional features that include a password manager, protection for online banking activities, and an integrated bootable rescue mode. We can say that most do not select their antivirus program only for the available bonus features, but we would like to see Kaspersky offer such additional features in the future. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019: Protection AV-Comparatives' Real-World Protection reports on the performance of the leading antivirus engines when sent up against a full panel of known, and yet to be identified malware threats. In their July 2018 report, Kaspersky gets ranked in first place among 18 antivirus suites. It also was the only suite to achieve this perfect score, neutralizing an uber-high 100% of tested malware, and equally impressive – with no false alarms. Reports do vary from month to month, so we sought another opinion, and looked at AV-Comparatives' February to June report, a summary of their 5 tests. For this round of testing, Kaspersky came in 4th place among 18 contenders, just behind Trend Micro, F-Secure and Bitdefender. We consider this result as strong, with an impressively high 99.7% of threats neutralized, along with just a single false positive. Trend Micro and F-Secure did block a tad more threats, but their downside is that they both had a higher number of false alerts, 38 and 111, respectively, which indicates some misidentification of the potential threats. AV-Test's June 2018 Windows testing is also quite positive for Kaspersky's suite. It was awarded top scores in multiple areas, which include protection, performance and ease of use. Out of the pack of eighteen antivirus suites that competed, only two, Avira and McAfee, are able to match the score that Kaspersky achieved. With these dedicated labs having a whole lot more time and resources to dedicate to testing, we cannot replicate what these leading testing labs are able to do. However, we want to go beyond just simply accepting their verdicts as fact. Therefore, utilizing some smaller scale testing of our own custom design, we independently ran Kaspersky’s suite through its paces. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 review We used Quttera, which is known for website scanning, and got their list of 600 newly suspected URLs. We then tested to see how many of these URLs would be blocked by Webroot SecureAnywhere, and Kaspersky Anti-Virus. We are aware that this is only a rough estimate of what these programs are capable of, these suspected URLs are only a few hours old and only a subset are really confirmed to be malicious. However, against those disclaimers, Webroot SecureAnywhere performed poorly with only 38 sites blocked, but Kaspersky Anti-Virus was stronger, blocking 61 sites. Finally, we tasked Kaspersky against our simple ransomware simulator of our own design. Although it is not particularly robust or complicated, from the homebrew design, there is absolutely no chance it can be a previously identified threat to Kaspersky, which makes it rely on behavior monitoring alone to identify this ransomware. The test ransomware was initiated, and the Kaspersky System Watcher module studied the simulated ransomware’s behavior. There was a rapid realization that this ransomware represented a threat and the process was shut down. Kaspersky then totally deleted the ransomware file. The simulator did encrypt some document files prior to Kaspersky neutralizing it but this was also no problem, as Kaspersky Anti-Virus efficiently decrypted and restored the original files. This performance is impressive, and demonstrates that Kaspersky protects against totally new and undiscovered threats with ease. View the full article

In total, 88 unique vulnerabilities were patched as part of Microsoft’s June Patch Tuesday security bulletin. View the full article

Mozilla has officially revealed its new Firefox logo, part of a new icon family for the browser. The launch of the designs, which have been more than 18 months in the making, coincides with a shift in brand positioning for Mozilla. Whereas before Firefox was often used to refer the browser, Mozilla wants to reposition the word to cover the entire family of Firefox apps and services. The road to these logos has been a long one. Mozilla previously invited the public to share their thoughts on potential ideas as part of the logo design process. We got a tantalising sneak peek of the designs last week, when Firefox's communication design leader Sean Martell tweeted a picture of a box of stickers that appeared to leak one of the final designs. This design appears in the new branding system (below) as the logo for the Firefox browser. Alongside this logo are three line-based graphics for other services including Send, Monitor, and Lockwise. The whole system comes under a general Firefox logo umbrella, which relies on the motif of a circular, swooshing fox tail. Firefox now refers to the umbrella of services [Image: Firefox] In a blog post announcing the designs, Mozilla says that the new brand "is about more than logos". To be specific, it's based on four key word pillars, namely 'Radical', 'Kind', 'Open' and 'Opinionated'. Notable designers have been linked to the development of these logos. Michael Johnson provided early inspiration, while the designer of the original Firefox logo, Jon Hicks, was on hand to give advice. Meanwhile Ramotion's Michael Chu has been credited as a driving force behind the new brand. Mozilla also adds that we can expect more from the rebrand: "We have to stretch our brand guidelines even further in the months ahead, so we’re interested in hearing your reaction to what we’ve done so far." Related articles: 18 controversial moments in logo design and branding 8 of the best free logo design tools 5 logo design apps for beginners View the full article

For all you fans of generate, the conference for web designers and developers, we have some exciting news: generate is returning to London on 26 September. Not only that but it’s coming to you in a radical new form. Brought to you by leading design brands net, Web Designer and Creative Bloq, generate CSS will bring you everything you’ve come to expect from previous years but this time as a concentrated single-day event focused on delivering skills and insight from some of the world’s biggest CSS superstars. 10 amazing new CSS techniques Taking place at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, generate CSS will bring you great sessions on everything CSS, covering everything including the latest specifications, creating revolutionary new layouts or assembling smooth UI animations. But that’s not all there is to enjoy: you’ll also get to meet fellow designers, pick the brains of CSS experts, get hands on with the latest tech and let off some steam with our light-hearted breakout activities. And even after the conference itself has drawn to a close, there’s still plenty of fun on offer: your ticket also secures your entry to the generate CSS after party – so make sure you don’t miss any of the revelries! So whether you’re a professional looking to polish your styling skills or a newcomer eager to learn one of the web’s most flexible languages, we look forward to seeing you there! generate CSS, the conference for web designers, takes place at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, London on 26 September 2019. SAVE £100 with a Super Early Bird Pass! Only £149+VAT when you book before 5pm on 15 July 2019. Related articles: The best web hosting services Cool CSS animation workshops to recreate How to avoid a Prime day rip off View the full article

The two CVEs allow bypasses to get around NTLM relay attack mitigations. View the full article

A bug impacting editors Vim and Neovim could allow a trojan code to escape sandbox mitigations. View the full article

Adobe issued patches for 11 vulnerabilities overall across its Flash, ColdFusion and Campaign products. View the full article

E3 2019 is well underway, and it's been a particularly exciting year. Xbox announced an absurdly powerful new console, hand-drawn indie game RPG The Legend of Wright caught artists' imaginations, and there was even a real-life Keanu Reeves, shipped in to promote Cyberpunk 2077. While Sony isn't attending the conference this year, it hasn't ducked out completely: as part of its Days of Play sale, the company has partnered with leading retailers to offer some amazing deals over the E3 period. So if all this excitement has reminded you how awesome gaming is, now's a good time to snap up a new console – right now, you can grab a PS 3 Pro with $50 off the usual price. If you can't find what you're looking for here, Amazon Prime Day 2019 is a great time to find a bargain – last year there were deals on various Playstation and Xbox consoles, and some awesome bundle offers too. The PlayStation 4 Pro is Sony's first 4K HDR console, and gives the Xbox One X a run for its money when it comes to crowning the best console around right now, and it's well grabbing one for the reduced price. You can find out more about this console in our sister site TechRadar's Sony PS4 Pro review. In the UK? Technically the Days of Play sale is US-only, but we've spotted some awesome deals for Brits too. AO.com has also dropped the price of its PS4 Pro to £339 – pick up the deal below. Read more: IKEA rips into Apple's Mac Pro in hilarious new ad The best web hosting services in 2019 Why everyone's wrong about Apple's $999 monitor stand View the full article

We're finally getting to a stage where brands are recognising the power of web animation. We've already gathered together the best CSS animation examples and shown you how to code them, but in this article we're going to share some top tips for getting more from motion in your UI design projects. Lisi Linhart is a creative developer who specialises in creating interactive, moving things on the web. At Pixel Pioneers, she took to the stage to explain to the audience how to keep animations performant across browsers, and showcase the different animation options we have on the web today. We caught up with her afterwards to hear some more top tips. DO keep things consistent with design systems Linhart has noticed a rise in the use of design systems to help control the use of animation across a project. These systems outline and define the kinds of animation that appear in different types of page within a site – for example, on the product pages. "Consistency is getting more important, and having an overall view of all your animations is also important," Linhart summarises. DON'T include animations for the sake of it "A lot of people incorporate animations but they don't think about the usability of the animations," says Linhart. "Figuring out what goal an animation has and if it is actually useful is very important, instead of just building an animation to have an animation." Design systems can be beneficial in this regard, too. When you decide the different types of motion, they are linked to the different purposes within the interface. DO consider different devices Depending on the role animation is going to play in your product, you can introduce different approaches based on device used. For desktop experiences you could add effects that react to mouse events, for example, while a mobile experience might have animations triggered by the movement of the device. Alternatively, you might want to keep things simple, says Linhart, and create global animations that are tied to the workflow and are appropriate regardless of the device being used. DON'T force animations on users There are a number of reasons why a user might want to turn off motion – for example, parallax scrolling can cause motion sickness. Users that don't want UI animations can select a reduced motion experience in their browser. Thanks to the Web Animations API, it's now easy to provide an alternate experience using JavaScript; you can stop animations within your design, or skip them all animations to their ending state. Animations are great, but don't force them on people that don't want them! DO pay attention to existing mental models There are certain mental models, based on real-world physics, that dictate how we expect objects to behave and how we react to certain movements. For example, a wiggly motion will trigger a user's attention, while a slow fade will often go unnoticed. "Animation can be used in combination with mental models, and you can use them to make your animation look better or to explain something," says Linhart. A good place to start is with the classic 12 principles of animation. DON'T forget your audience The number of animations you include in your interface should be strongly influenced by the audience you're aiming for, says Linhart. While lots of bouncy motion might help keep a young audience engaged and excited by your product, an older audience might find it distracting and off-putting as they try to absorb the content at their own pace. DO stick to Transform and Opacity Linhart explains that there are four animation types that can be processed cheaply using CSS: changing an object's position, scaling it up or down, rotating it, and altering its changing opacity (fading in and out). Of these, CSS Transform and Opacity are the most performant. Bear this knowledge in mind when designing your UI animations, for smooth and user-friendly experiences. DON'T make animations too long Getting the timing of your animations right is all-important. "You shouldn't time animations too long, because your user is trying to do something, and if you have really long animation timings, that will hinder them," points our Linhart. "So keeping the animations short in interfaces is important." There's a caveat though: if you're animating a transition, you might go for a slower animation, so as not to attract unnecessary attention. Read more: Code smart text effects with CSS The best web design jobs in June 2019 How to create a chatbot that doesn't sound like a robot View the full article

You only get one link in your Instagram profile, so you want to make it count. And a new free service from Envato aims to help you do just that with an easy-to-build site that's designed to look its best within Instagram's own mobile web browser. Milkshake is a lightweight mobile website builder that's the work of Envato co-founder Cyan Ta'eed and her team, and grew out of a desire to help people, predominantly women, to build their own personal brands and at the same time start to monetise their social media presence (see our post on how to make money on Instagram for more tips). How to change the font in your Instagram bio Available now for iOS – with an Android version to follow – Milkshake is pitched as the perfect tool for anyone who needs a site without having to spend ages on it. Creating a Milkshake-powered Insta site takes just four steps: firstly you pick a Card, a basic template for your page layout. Next you add the content you'll need, and then you can instantly experiment with designs by hitting Milkshake's 'Shake it up', which applies a fresh on-trend look with every touch. And when you've built all the pages you need and you're finally happy with your site, simply publish it and add the link to your Instagram bio. Whether you just want a standalone site that's an extension to your Instagram account, or a handy platform that links to all your other sites, Milkshake looks like a great way to do it without too much effort. And as an added bonus, Milkshake sites are designed to be swiped through like Instagram Stories (see our guide to Insta Stories), so when visitors click on them within the Instagram app, they'll be presented with a friendly and familiar look and feel. Milkshake gives you heaps of ready made designs to try out Milkshake was conceived as a fun and empowering tool to help women turn their ideas, hobbies and ambitions into businesses, and to further help along these lines Envato has also launched its own School of Instagram. It shares tips and lessons from top influencers who have used Instagram to create their own brand, and aims to help people up their Instagram game so that they can create the best Milkshake site possible. Milkshake's available to download for free on iOS now; you can find out more over on the Milkshake website. Related articles: 9 agencies to follow on Instagram How to hack the Instagram algorithm The 5 best Instagram font generators View the full article

There was a time in the early 2000s when it was common to hear somebody answer the phone using the following greeting: 'Whasssssuuuup?!' For a while – far too long, actually – this tagline from a Budweiser commercial became more than a tool to sell beer. It became part of our culture. It changed the world – in it's own, small, weird way. Few industries have more access to our everyday lives than advertising. A lot of it – radio spots, TV commercials, billboards – is background noise (although see our list of the best billboard advertising for print ads that got it right) . But every now then an ad cuts through that noise and becomes, if only briefly, something greater than a tool to sell stuff. Below are five ads that did exactly that. Because really good ads make people answer the phone differently. But really great ads make people think differently. 01. Think Small (1959) It's not long after World War Two, and Americans are driving big muscular American-made cars. German company Volkswagen wants to break into the US market… with a car commissioned by Hitler. It's a tough sell – one of the toughest sells of all time. But DBB came up with arguably the greatest ad all time… The Think Small campaign showed a lot of empty space and a tiny VW Beetle. The followup, Lemon, took the piss out the Beetle as much as it bigged it up. Another ad promoted the Beetle as America's slowest car. The campaign was so layered, so full of cultural and historical subplots, that it featured in an episode of the most layered, most metaphorical TV show of all time, Mad Men. There was advertising before Think Small and there was advertising after Think Small. It changed things. It changed how ads were made. It changed the way ads were received. Ad Age voted it the greatest ad of the 20th century. It's also recently been repurposed for a new era of electric cars (see below). Then 1959 Lemon campaign compared to 2019's Lemonade ad [Image: Volkswagen] 02. Surfer (1999) Certain directors – Roy Andersson, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze – prove advertising can be a proper art form. Admittedly, it's an art form trying to persuade you to buy deodorant or biscuits, but that shouldn't detract from the work itself. Jonathan Glazer is another one of those directors. His ad 'Surfer' looked like no ad you'd ever seen. It was about surfers. The breaking waves were horses like in Walter Crane's painting Neptune's Horses. The narration was inspired by Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick (the surfer is monomaniacal about surfing like Melville's character Ahab is monomaniacal about killing the white whale). And it was soundtracked, devastatingly well, by British band Leftfield. This was an ad for stout that looked cooler than a French art house film and had better special effects than most blockbusters. Some called it pretentious. But, to this day, I watch it and the hairs go up on the back on my neck. Interestingly, research suggested audiences wouldn't get it. But ad agency BBDO and client Guinness held their nerve. And it paid off. Surfer won all the big awards in 1999 (Clio, D&AD, Cannes Lions) and won best ad of all time in a 2002 poll by Channel 4 and The Sunday Times. Love it or hate it, Surfer changed things by proving the humble TV commercial could be a proper art form. 03. Whassup? (1999) The first Budweiser Whassup? ad aired during NFL game one Monday night in December 1999. DDB's concept was deceptively simple: it was bunch of mates who liked talking on the phone, watching the game, having a Bud, and saying 'What's Up?' in increasingly daft ways. (The ad was based on a short film written and directed by Charles Stone III). But it did the thing ad agencies dream of: it took on a life of its own. There is a whole generation of people who at one time or another answered the phone using the ad's slurred, tongue-out tagline. The ad wasn't out to change minds. It didn't right any wrongs. But for a year or two, it became part of everyday language all over the world. You can count on one hand the number of ads that have done that. It was a campaign that knew it's target audience. Whether you like the ad or not, Whassup is one of the most successful, most memorable taglines every written. Whassup? won the Cannes Grand Prix and the Grand Clio and loads of other awards. In May 2006, the campaign was inducted into the Clio Hall of Fame. 04. Campaign for Real Beauty (2004-present) Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty aimed to change the way we think about body image. The campaign started with a billboards asking passerby to decide whether the women pictured, who weren't professional models, were 'flawed or flawless?' It was the beginnings of a movement in advertising to use men and women with normal bodies – as opposed to models or athletes with unusually thin or unusually muscular bodies. The project grew to take in everything from short films to workshops. Advertising isn't exactly known for being a tool for social change. Out of the project came the top five Campaigns of the Century, as rated by Advertising Age, and increased sales from $2 billion to $4 billion in three years. Critics said it still focused to much on surface appearances. But this campaign admitted advertising had to be more responsible when it came to portraying body image. It was a step in the right direction. Nancy Vonk put it best. She was part of the creative team at Ogilvy, Toronto, who worked on the campaign in the beginning. Vonk said: "Would I say it’s changed the world? No. "Would I say it’s had an impact? Yes." 05. Meet the Superhumans (2012) Marshall McLuhan (the philosopher who coined the phrased "the medium is the message") said this: "Historians and archaeologists will one day discover that the ads of our time are the richest and most faithful daily reflections any society ever made of its whole range of activities." If those historians were to watch 'Meet the Superhumans' then they would see a society trying to right some wrongs that had gone on far too long. Channel 4 won the UK television rights to the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, and it launched a big campaign about the Paralympics being a major event in their own right – not tacked on to the preceding Olympic Games. Part of this campaign showcased the superhuman abilities of Paralympic athletes. It was the start of a movement – that included everything from women's football to modest sportswear – that aimed to change our perceptions of what an athlete is supposed to look like. It's both a tearjerker and a fistpumper… And yet 4creative somehow missed on the Cannes Lions Grand Prix, which went to that irritating Dumb Ways to Die infomercial. Read more: 5 ads that tried to be cool but failed Why are there so few D&AD Pencils in design? 6 of the best free online graphic design courses View the full article

Whether you're working as an illustrator or commissioning illustrations, it's important to keep an eye out for emerging talent. If you're the former, it's always useful to see what others are up to and pick up a little inspiration to help prevent yourself from getting stuck in a rut, while if you're the latter then you simply need to keep your finger on the pulse in order to publish work that excites rather than bores your audience. Every year the illustration market expands with a new crop of illustrators, many of them bringing exciting new drawing techniques, aesthetics and fresh ideas with them. Here are eight talented illustrators that have caught our eye this year, each of whom we expect to see much more of in the future. How to tell a story with your illustrations 01. Freya Betts Freya Betts learned her craft making film posters but is now developing a looser style [Image: Freya Betts] With a lifelong love of painting, drawing and films, Freya Betts left school at 18 to work for design agency XYi, where she created beautiful poster art with a strong helping of photorealism for a number of top studios. Now aged 22, she's shifted to freelancing full-time and has fallen in love with digital art, embracing Wacom and using the freedom granted by a digital setup to give her work a slightly less realistic but more 'fine art', painterly feel with looser brushstrokes. 02. Sammi Sammi's illustrations neatly combine the weird and the wonderful [Image: Sammi] Taiwan-based illustrator Hsian Hsia works under the name Sammi and creates wonderful and slightly surreal artwork inspired by a love of animals, plants and the natural world in general. With a look that echoes traditional Chinese art, but with an illustrative twist, Sammi's work is often based on inner emotions and usually features strange, unusual and expressive characters placed in weird and unexpected environments. 03. Eglantine Vittu Eglantine Vittu works across various styles including children's books [Image: Eglantine Vittu] Born in France and based in Paris, Eglantine Vittu has held various jobs over the past few years, working as a compositing artist at an animation studio, an art teacher and even as a prop designer. Now she divides her time between freelancing as a motion designer and an illustrator working in a range of styles, from digital painting through to silkscreen printing, gouache and papercut work. Recently she illustrated a children's book on the problems of plastic pollution for Petita Demas, and she's currently working on a children's graphic novel, Matcha, for Papitou. 04. Tom Guilnard Simple lines and flat colours help Tom Guilnard's work pack a punch [Image: Tom Guilnard] A graduate of the Camberwell College of Arts, Tom Guilnard is another illustrator signed to Jelly London's Futures scheme and has quickly made a name for himself with simple, playful work created with an eye for minimalism. He claims to have become an illustrator by accident – he has a wide creative palette but found that illustration was the quickest way to get his message across – and works mostly with simple black lines and bold, flat colours, with a liberal helping of basketballs. His work might look simplistic to some, but it's already been enough to earn him a D&AD Pencil. 05. Adam Latham Adam Latham's fine art background shines through in his illustrations [Image: Adam Latham] Adam Latham's background is in fine art – he has a BA in it from Byam Shaw School of Art, as well as an MA in Painting from London's RCA – but in recent years he's become drawn to illustration. Working with Indian ink fineliners and watercolour, his work is incredibly detailed thanks to his combination of observational drawing and the more intuitive techniques of cartooning. Taking influence from natural history illustration, auction house photography and mid-20th kitsch among other things, he loves to mix up exotic tropes in a way that feels slightly wrong. 06. Whooli Chen Whooli Chen's work is often whimsical, sometimes unsettling [Image: Whooli Chen] Another Taiwan-based illustrator, Whooli Chen studied an MA in Illustration at London's University of the Arts, where she found her mused in the form of an urban fox. Currently represented by Central Illustration, Whooli combines delicate palettes and painterly layers to create charming, whimsical work that's often found on the covers of Little White Lies magazine, amongst other places. 07. WRK WRK's unconventional tactile illustrations are bold and fun [Image: WRK] For a striking alternative to the illustrative norms, take a look at the work of German duo Andrea Weber and Damoun Tamir, who specialise in stunningly tactile illustrations under the name WRK. Drawing on a wide range of everyday materials to create their bold and colourful imagery, including paper, assorted foodstuffs and papier maché, they take an unconventional and playful approach to their work, producing end results with a real sense of solidity and charm. 08. Olga Zalite Olga Zalite is rising fast in the illustration world [Image: Olga Zalite] An illustrator from Saint Petersburg, Russia, who describes herself as a digital chef who turns ideas into delicious illustrations, Olga Zalite has hit the ground running in her illustration career. Previously employed in Russia as an interface designer, last year she decided to make the jump to working full-time as a freelance illustrator, telling stories through simple, fun and expressive vector characters. Having started out by finding work on Fiverr, she's since built up a following on Dribble and Instagram and has just relocated to San Francisco. Related articles: Boost your illustration career with these 6 tips 2019's illustration trends to know about How to promote your illustration business View the full article

When your brand is as big as Apple, people are going to make fun of you no matter what you do. That's exactly what happened last week when Apple announced its new Mac Pro. Despite the computer's impressive specs, people couldn't help but notice that its tower looked like a cheese grater. And to get in on the joke, IKEA Bulgaria has released this witty ad for its own lookalike product. Leading with the apparently innocent message "designed for apples", this tongue in cheek ad from the famous flatpack furniture shop is up there with some of the funniest and most impactful print ads we've ever seen. There's more than a passing resemblance to the new Mac Pro [Image: IKEA] Created by advertising company The Smarts, this ad doesn't end the fun there. If you look closely you'll see that there's a lower case letter "i" in the name of IKEA's meal preparation range, IDEALISK, in a subtle dig at Apple's camel case product names. It's a subtle but clever piece of copywriting from the studio. And it's all the more effective, because thanks to this ad we now know that you can pick up a stainless steel cheese grater form IKEA for just 3,99LV ($2.30). So if your budget won't stretch to an iPad Pro, this could be a bargain way to get the same aesthetic. The best Amazon Prime Day deals for artists and designers Another element that makes this ad so successful is that it taps into a wider conversation surrounding the new Apple Mac Pro. Once it was unveiled, people flocked to social media to crack the same gag that compared the computer's tower to a cheese grater. So as far as ads go, this one is a triple threat: it effectively mimics its target, it smoothly weaves its product into a general conversation, and it builds publicity for an item and a brand. And it does all this with a simple photograph and a lower case letter. Talk about making effective advertising look easy. The new Apple Mac Pro also made waves online last week as it was revealed that the computer required a monitor stand that cost a whopping $999. If this is a bit out of your price range though, don't worry. Check out our buying guide to the best monitor stands for your studio that will leave you with more cash to spare. Related articles: 5 ads that tried to be cool, but failed $999 Mac Pro stand: Has Apple lost the plot? View the full article