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Sindhi-language characters can crash iPhones and other iOS/macOS devices if a victim views texts, Twitter posts or messages within various apps containing them. View the full article

During these strange times, it feels customary to mention these strange times at the start of an article. But it's the unavoidable context behind much of what's happening both in the real world and online right now – including the arrival of a new website that will self destruct when people stop posting messages to it. thiswebsitewillselfdestruct.com, created by artist Femme Android, features a single page with a message: "I’m a website. I’ll be gone soon, and that’s okay. If I go 24 hours without receiving a message, I’ll permanently self-destruct". Users can write an anonymous message in a box below, or select 'Read a message' to read a random message from someone else. That's about it – it's delightfully simple piece of web design (check out our best web design tools if you're thinking of creating your own). This is the message that greets you when visiting the page Oh, and there's timer. Counting down from 86,399 seconds, it refreshes every time a new message is added. If it hits zero, everything gets wiped from the site's database. But with new messages refreshing the countdown every few seconds, the page seems safe for now. An example message from the website The only instruction in the site's introduction is to "feel free to say what's on your mind – it's been a rough month," and the anonymous messages range from hilarious to heartbreaking (and everything in-between). For example, in the last five minutes we've learned that one stranger is "in love with Gordon and will some day will marry him", while another "really misses chicken nuggets right now". Perhaps the most common theme is missing friends and loved ones during this period of lockdown. The website was created as a project for Ludlum Dare, an online event "where games are made from scratch in a weekend". According to Femme Android (above), it has already received over 80,000 messages, which have been read by 6.5 million people. As many people have said in their messages, we hope the page doesn't self-destruct any time soon. Check out the site and leave your own message here. Related articles: Funny A-Z of quarantine life is unexpectedly good How not to live in creative isolation Iconic logos reimagined for the age of coronavirus View the full article

You might not be aware that it's possible to make your own stylus for your iPad or tablet, but we're here to tell you that it's a thing. Now, we're not saying that this DIY stylus is going to be better than a bonafide Apple Pencil or another legitimate stylus made for your tablet, but in times like these, you've got to improvise, right? All you'll need to create your very own stylus is a pen – a biro or ballpoint, one that you can take the ink cartridge out of – a cotton bud or Q-tip or cotton wool, some tin or aluminium foil and some tape. Below, we've listed two options to create your own stylus – one using a cotton bud/Q-tip, and the other using cotton wool. The first version is probably easiest, but if you decide to go for the second one because you don't have any cotton buds, it works best if you have a metal-cased pen or a pen with a metal tip (skip straight to the cotton wool method). Note that we are absolutely not responsible for any damage that you incur to either your pen, cotton wool, tablet, or yourself. So go steady and watch those fingers, and that tablet, and keep your homemade stylus away from the internal plugs of your tablet. If you'd rather have something a little less homemade, then see our picks for the best iPad stylus and best Android stylus. It's certainly cheaper than an Apple Pencil Make your own stylus using a cotton bud or Q-tip 01. Prepare your materials Get rid to create your stylus Remove the ink cartridge from your pen, leaving a hole where the pen nib would be. Take your cotton bud and cut diagonally about 100mm from the end of one of the buds with a pair of scissors or a craft knife (carefully). 02. Insert cotton bud tip into pen Insert the cotton bud where the nib of the pen would normally be With your ink cartridge removed from the pen, push the cotton bud into the tip of the pen where the nib normally sits. This can be tricky, so you may need to play around with the size of the remaining stem of the bud. 03. Reassemble the pen and wrap in foil We're still talking about making a stylus, promise Once secure, screw the pen back together. Wrap the tin or aluminium foil around the pen making sure the foil is making contact with the cotton bud tip. Use some tape to secure the foil. 04. Dampen the tip of your stylus Now you need to dampen the tip a little to make the pen conductive. Dip the tip in water and squeeze off the excess, you only need the tip to be damp, not soggy, and you don't want to get water on your tablet. And there you have it, your very own stylus! If it stops working and is dry to the touch, you can try dampening it again. Make your own stylus using cotton wool 01. Dismantle your pen and cover the casing in foil Gather your stylus ingredients Start by dismantling your pen. If the case of your pen isn’t metal, then cover the casing in tin foil, and secure with tape. Tear off a small piece of cotton wool and feed it through the pen nib hole. With the cotton wool poking through the hole, push the ink cartridge back into the tip of the pen – this will help secure the cotton wool. You may need to experiment with the amount of cotton wool you’re using, too much and you won’t be able to push the nib back in, too little and the pen nib won’t be covered and will break through the cotton wool. 02. Reassemble the pen Put it back together and you're done! Reassemble the pen, screwing the top back on and then the bottom. It’s better to have the tip of the pen fully secure and leave a gap at the bottom, otherwise the cotton wool causes a bit of an obstruction. You can always trim the cartridge if it's poking out of the bottom and the pen won't screw back together. Shape the cotton wool nib with scissors, dampen the tip with a small amount of water (not too much), and start using your very own stylus. If it stops working at any point and the tip is dry, you can dampen it again to revive it. Did this technique work for you? Share your homemade stylus creations with us via Twitter or Facebook. If you'd rather leave stylus making to the experts, see today's best deals below. Read more: The best tablets with a stylus for drawing and note-taking Forget the iPad Pro, everyone's talking about the iPad Air Draw Disney characters for FREE with these pro classes View the full article

While Disney Parks remain closed worldwide, Disney animators are passing their skills on to creatives at home. This series of online tutorials gives you the chance to flex your artistic muscles and bring some Disney magic into your own home, by learning to sketch a host of Disney characters. With creatives everywhere on the hunt for new skills to add to their creative arsenal, this is a pretty satisfying project to get your teeth into. Plus, you'll be a hero to the small people in your life when you can nonchalantly whip up a convincing sketch of Mickey Mouse and the all-important Princess Elsa. Want to add more Disney to your lockdown life? Try Disney Plus for free for seven days. And if you'd like more drawing tutorials, check out our post on how to draw. You can try three versions of Mickey Mouse The tutorials take you through the process of creating well-known characters from Disney's animation history, in a thorough and technical way that is also straight-forward enough for the whole family to join in. You can even try out three different versions of Mickey Mouse: a contemporary Mickey (see the video below), as well as a 1920s version and a 'pie-eyed' Mickey from a 2013 TV series. As well as being a fun sketching exercise, this is an interesting comparison of how artists from different eras approached the same character. If the world's most famous mouse isn't your bag, there are also a bunch of characters to choose from, including Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh and Tinkerbell. And for Frozen fans, the guest appearance of the voice of Olaf's (Josh Gad) is a nice touch in a tutorial neatly titled 'Do you want to draw a snowman?' (below). The Animation Academy is a much-loved part of the Disney Park experience, and these tutorials are going down a storm online, with artists and budding artists sharing their own creations on Twitter. You can join the fun by using the hashtag #drawwithdisneyanimation. From Instagram quarantine art clubs to lessons from online illustrators, watching the creative community come together to share their work online is one bright side of lockdown. We hope the skill-sharing and project-supporting vibe is a trend that continues when normal life resumes. Try Disney Plus for free for seven days For a full list of tutorials, see the Disney Parks website, or go to the Disney Animation Twitter feed. And if you need to stock up on art materials, check out today's best deals below: Read more: Pencil shading techniques: 5 expert tips The best pencils for colouring, drawing and sketching Pencil drawing techniques: Pro tips to sharpen your skills View the full article

ImagineFX is the world’s number one magazine for digital artists. Featuring everything from inspirational workshops from leading fantasy and sci-fi artists and interviews, to community news and in-depth product reviews, it’s not hard to see why creatives dream of being featured in this world-class publication. If you’re one such creative, we’ve got good news, that dream could soon become a reality. In association with Corel® Painter®, ImagineFX will showcase a selection of work submitted by digital artists across the globe each month, from now until December 2020. Every issue, the editorial team will pick an Artist of the Month, from which an overall Artist of the Year will be chosen at the end of the year. The winner will then be celebrated at Vertex, the world-class conference for 2D and 3D artists, in February 2021. Achieve digital painting perfection If this sounds like the kind of project you want to get involved with, you’re going to need some quality digital art software to develop your artwork. And Corel Painter provides all the tools you could ever possibly need. The slickest version of the software to date includes Painter 2020's New Brush Accelerator™ tool. The impressive feature assesses a user's individual system and then applies optimal performance settings, allowing artists to paint up to 20-times faster. Unleash your creativity with 900+ included brushes and create with Painter’s revered traditional media and unique digital art brushes that bring that extra special something to your artwork. Want to give it a try? Corel Painter 2020 is available on a free 30-day, fully functional trial (for both Mac and Windows), with no strings attached or obligation to buy. So what are you waiting for? Download Corel Painter 2020 today and get on your way to becoming ImagineFX Artist of the Year. How to enter 01. Submit your work to ImagineFX to be featured in its FXPose showcase section. To do so, please send the following to fxpose@imaginefx.com: Your full (real) name, location, website A list of software you use A little info for your biog section (no more than 50 words) A photo of yourself 5 high-res (ideally 300 dpi) images of your work, with signatures and watermarks removed The title and a 30-word caption for each Please also outline any relevant copyright information 02. From these submissions, ImagineFX will choose its Artist of the Month for each issue. 03. This is an ongoing submission, with a final deadline of 31 Dec 2020. 04. The ImagineFX team will choose its Artist of the Year from each Artist of the Month winner. This will be announced at Vertex 2021 (25th-26th Feb) and in the February issue of ImagineFX. Terms and conditions In consideration for Future promoting you and/or the Material as agreed, you grant Future and its licensees a non-exclusive licence to use the Material in print and digital publications, and on associated websites, (including related, branded social media pages). **Any re-use of the Material in the formats set out above shall be in the same context for which the Material was originally supplied. You further agree that if you are chosen as 'Artist of the month' and subsequently selected as 'Artist of the year' your name and the Material may be used in association with Artist of the Year announcements at Future events and for promotional purposes on all media relating to such at Future events. View the full article

A Banksy mural in the mysterious street artist's native Bristol has received a rather topical makeover over the past few days, as spotted by various Twitter users. Girl With A Pierced Eardrum, on Albion Docks in Hanover Place, is now sporting a surgical face mask – presumably to protect her from the spread of coronavirus. Masks might be in short supply right now (take a look at our guide to where to buy a face mask), but the Girl With a Pierced Eardrum is clearly in the know. It's not clear when the mask was added, but photos began appearing on Twitter yesterday (below). It's also not clear whether Banksy is responsible for the update, or another would-be vigilante artist. But a recent update from Banksy himself suggests the face mask might not be his doing. In a post shared to Instagram last week, Banksy revealed that he had been "working from home" (much to his wife's chagrin – we didn't blame her). A series of photos (below) showed a mischievous pack of his signature painted rats wreaking havoc in his own bathroom. If Banksy is resorting to using his own home as a canvas during lockdown, we assume he isn't then roaming the streets adding masks to his existing artworks. Girl With a Pierced Eardrum, which first appeared in 2014, is a parody of 1655's Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer – in place of said pearl earring is a security alarm. Some Twitter users have expressed concern that the 2014 work could have been damaged by the addition of the mask. This wouldn't mark the first time the artist's work has been vandalised (his recent Valentine's Day piece was destroyed in mere days). Hopefully, like coronavirus itself, Girl With a Pierced Eardrum's mask is only temporary. No doubt we'll find out soon enough whether the artwork has been preserved underneath – it'll probably be unmasked long before Banksy is. Related articles Street art: 45 incredible examples to inspire you New Banksy artwork discovered in Birmingham 34 top free graffiti fonts View the full article

While the prospect of a built-in trackpad, backlit keys and floating design all caught our attention when the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro was announced last month, what really turned our heads was the price. At $299 and $349 for the 11 and 12.9-inch versions respectively, the cost is, if not magic, certainly out of this world. But one Twitter user has found an unexpected use for the keyboard which could make it a more enticing proposition for digital artists. The Magic Keyboard only began shipping last week but @TwoLivesLeft, clearly already bored with the basic laptop-style configuration, decided to flip it over onto its back. And lo and behold, he discovered (below) that the Magic Keyboard transforms into something completely different: an artists' easel. Handy for Apple Pencil-wielding creatives (check out our best iPad Pro apps for designers if that's you). Apple probably never intended the keyboard to be used this way, but we're all for a bit of creative improvisation. Does the extra viewing angle justify the price? Probably not. Not only does it look a little daft with the keys sticking up towards high heaven, but the angle appears pretty similar to one of the options you'd get from a Smart Folio (below) for a third of the price. That said, if you were already planning on buying the Magic Keyboard for the typing and trackpad experience, and are also prone to a bit of digital illustration, then this little hack might make the price a little more palatable. A similar effect for a smaller price If you'd prefer the real thing (ie. an easel that isn't an easel by accident), our best easels guide has options for every skill level and budget. Spoiler alert: they're all cheaper than the Magic Keyboard. And if you do fancy giving digital art a go, you can find the best iPad Pro and Apple Pencil deals below. Related articles: Forget the iPad Pro, everyone’s talking about the new iPad Air Apple's new iPhone SE has one BIG problem iPad Pro 2020: All there is to know about Apple's new tablet View the full article

Welcome to our guide on how to manage React form state with Formik. Form elements hold their values in their own internal state – at odds with React's state-driven approach. To make the two work together, we need a more involved solution, such as using controlled components for each field. But there are many more aspects to creating a form than just capturing data. We need to check the formatting is correct, all required fields have been set and that everything was sent successfully when submitted. That leads to a lot of complicated logic that can build up fast. This is where Formik can help. For more resources to help improve your web design skills, check out our rundown of web design tools. Download the source files What is Formik? Formik is a lightweight library that handles these problems. By wrapping a form with the supplied components, we get a lot of this behaviour for free. All we need to supply is the code to handle what makes our form unique. To help us explore what Formik can do, we will be building a small voting application. The user can enter their name and vote on one of the supplied options. If everything is fine, the form will submit but, if not, the user receives an error message. This content originally appeared in net magazine. Read more of our web design articles here. Read more: How to test React sites and apps 6 huge web design trends for 2020 Master minimalism in web design View the full article

It's a tough time for freelancers at the moment. In this uncertain global climate budgets are being cut and projects cancelled, and work that you may have been counting on might suddenly disappear. And while it's almost certainly a temporary state of affairs, if you want to ride it out then it would help to give your portfolio an update to paint yourself in the best possible light. We've found some of the best recent freelance portfolios from around the web to inspire you; all of them do a great job of showing off their owners' abilities and recent work, but they also go the extra mile to delight and intrigue visitors. Read on for some essential portfolio inspiration (also see our other portfolio examples if you just can't get enough). Tweak your portfolio for 2020 01. Ilithya Ilithya's right in your face with a swooping 3D scene Ilithya is a creative developer, designer and digital artist based in Hamburg, with a strong line in 3D and generative art that you can't miss if you visit her portfolio site. It opens with an eye-catching scene that features a block of 3D text floating within a constellation of cubes and toruses, all rendered in pearlescent tones and with the camera in constant motion – you can also use the mouse to zoom in and out of the scene to increase the dizzying effect. If that doesn't entice you to explore further and check out her code art and installations, we don't know what will. 02. Stef Ivanov We don't know why Stef Ivanov has a halo of bees, but we're glad he does Freelance UX and UI designer Stef Ivanov has worked for more than 100 companies over the course of a 13-year career, and there's a great selection of his work on show in his portfolio. What caught our attention, though, is the splash page, featuring a simple block of introductory text and a beautifully cross-hatched pen-and-ink portrait of Stef with, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, an animated halo of bees buzzing around his head. While it's important to show off your work in your portfolio, little extra touches like this are a fantastic way to show off your personality and pique visitors' interest. 03. Angela Milosevic Angela Milosevic has stunning typography and much more besides We love a strong typographic layout, and Angela Milosevic's new portfolio site presses all the right buttons for us. It mostly uses Ogg, a calligraphy-inspired serif typeface whose italic form slants at an extreme angle; Milosevic makes the most of it by using the Roman form in all-caps for much of her body copy, and the Slant form in lower case, mostly for links. It's not all Ogg; she also uses Attila Sans Sharp – again in all-caps – for body copy across her portfolio pages. And there are some fabulous extra touches across her site, such as the popup images that follow the pointer (and leave a smear trail) as you mouse over work links, and the floating eye that appears if you leave the site idle for too long. 04. Yoichi Kobayashi We don't normally care for flaming skulls, but this one has class Japanese developer Yoichi Kobayashi has been working on the web since 2006, and for the latest version of his portfolio site he didn't want it to be just a portfolio; instead he says that he explored is own identity and tried to express it as much as possible using web technology. The result is a stunning site that opens with an animated flaming 3D skull, with floating petals wafting up the screen and a gently undulating smoky background. That may sound like horrible overkill, but it works really well thanks to a restrained palette of blacks and golden tones. Kobayashi employs the flame effect again as you scroll down through his portfolio, using it as a wipe to bring in and fade out rippling thumbnails of each of his featured works. He says that he's proud to have been able to reflect his personality and physicality on this site; colour us impressed. 05. Erika Senft Miller Drift around Erika Senft Miller's meandering portfolio Erika Senft Miller is a multi-sensory artist specialising in site-specific performance projects, and her portfolio site is one that encourages exploration. It's presented as a lined page that you can scroll around by dragging with the mouse; you'll notice that as you move the pointer, the lines that make up the page deform around it, and when you come to a portfolio item – represented as a slowly morphing coloured blob that expands as you mouse over it – that too causes the lines to deform. Each portfolio page follows the same principle; you drag your way around to discover the story of the project, but rather than simply scroll down or across, you follow a more meandering path. It's a delightful way to engage visitors and encourage them to explore Miller's work. 06. Nathan Taylor Nathan Taylor's site is like a Fisher-Price activity centre for grown-ups. Another portfolio site that encourages exploration is Nathan Taylor's. A freelance interactive designer and developer based in Tokyo, he loves to make things that are a bit different and he's built a site that's a veritable toybox of cool web technologies, animation and microinteractions; each panel of the packed single-pager has something exciting going on. Naturally there are a good few projects to click through to, but it's the fun extras that really make this site worth a visit. Our favourite bit is a working synthesiser and sequencer that you can play around with to make your own tunes; give those knobs a twiddle and see what sounds you can get out of it! Related articles: 7 free portfolio hosting options for designers How to refine your design portfolio 7 things no one wants to see in your portfolio (and what to include instead) View the full article

While the spread of coronavirus has stopped countless aspects of life in their tracks, it hasn't stopped Apple from releasing all manner of new products in 2020. And if new rumours are anything to go by, the middle child of the iPad range could be next to see an update this year. According to China Times, the iPad Air will be getting an 11-inch display (a whole half inch more than the current 10.5-inch model), and enter production between July and September this year. How Apple will achieve the bigger screen, China Times doesn't say – but it could well mean a reduction in the size of the bezels, and maybe even an edge-to-edge display like the new iPad Pro. A bigger screen can only be good news for creatives (check out our best iPad apps for designers for inspiration on how to make use of all those pixels). The current iPad Air, released in 2019 These aren't the only rumours to emerge about an 11-inch iPad Air. Last month, Twitter user @L0vetodream (known to have leaked previous forthcoming Apple releases) suggested (below) that a new iPad Air could boast a Mini LED display as well as touch ID beneath the screen. These are two spectacular features that even the current iPad Pro isn't sporting – would Apple really release an Air that's more pro than the Pro? If Cult of Mac is to be believed, though, Apple's first LED iPad won't be ready until 2021. That means the LED iPad Air with under-display Touch ID is probably a slightly more distant fantasy than the 11-inch version rumoured by China Times. Sounds like we might have to just make do with the slightly bigger screen in 2020. We're big fans of the iPad Air – it's a great budget alternative to the iPad Pro (check out our review of the 2019 iPad Air), but there are still some more features we'd like to see, such as support for the second generation Apple Pencil. Time will tell what features Apple sees fit to give the iPad Pro's smaller and cheaper sibling, but we're sure it'll continue to be a great, budget tablet for creatives. Check out the best deals on the current model below. Related articles: Apple’s new Mac Pro Wheels Kit is utterly mind-boggling Apple's new iPhone SE has one BIG problem iPad Pro 2020: All there is to know about Apple's new tablet View the full article

Researchers revealed two zero-day security vulnerabilities affecting Apple's stock Mail app on iOS devices. View the full article

Users should update their firmware for three popular smart-home hubs. View the full article

To download the accompanying files for 3D World issue 260, simply click this link and a zip file will automatically download the content to your Mac or PC. If you've missed this issue or other editions of 3D World start a subscription. If you have any problems downloading this content, please email: rob.redman@futurenet.com Read more The best cities for 3D artists OctaneRender: A beginner's guide 3D art: 27 stunning examples to inspire you View the full article

While the next generation of gaming consoles promises all sorts of advancements in hardware and processing power, there's one area where everything we've seen so far has left us underwhelmed: design. From the anticlimactic PS5 logo to the fridge-freezer shape of the Xbox Series X, it seems the class of 2020 won't be a pretty one. And if a newly leaked logo for the Xbox Series X is the real thing, the disappointing design trend isn't about to end. A trademark filing, found by Reddit users this morning, shows the new logo as well as a handy description: "The word SERIES in a vertical formation to the right of which appears a stylised letter X". There are no flourishes, no fun – it's a rather utilitarian affair, far too dull to get anywhere near our best logos list. The new logo does not Xceed our Xpectations Reddit users are divided, with some finding it "mean, sharp and clean", and others preferring the previous, spherical design (below) One issue we have with the new logo is that word 'SERIES' appears to have been slapped next to the 'X' as an afterthought – but there might be an explanation. Old (left) vs. new (right) "The fact 'series' is placed and sized as it is pretty much confirms some other letter," one Redditor suggests, while another adds: "Series S logo is coming'. According to Trusted Reviews, a second, budget version of the upcoming console might also be announced shortly, named the Xbox Series S. If that 'SERIES' is designed to work across multiple logos, perhaps it makes a little more sense that it sits next to the 'X' without any kind of meaningful (read: interesting) interaction. Arguably more exciting than the logo itself is the dizzying array of products the trademark filing suggests it might appear on: Games consoles (obviously)! Jewellery! Fanny packs! (Bum bags to us Brits) Lighting fixtures! Yo-yos! While Microsoft is no doubt trying to cover all bases in the listing, there could be a whole host of left-field Xbox merchandise coming our way over the next few years. If this does turn out to be the real Xbox logo, we'll be interested to see whether designers react with as much vitriol as they did to the PS5 logo. Microsoft's new console has already taken its fair share of heat, with many suggesting it wouldn't look out of place in the kitchen. But while the launch of both consoles this winter is an exciting prospect, what we really want to know is – when is that Xbox yo-yo arriving? New PlayStation ad has a gruesome surprise Designer unmasks the secret of the new PS5 logo The PS5 logo we all wanted is here View the full article

The flaws exist in Autodesk's FBX library, integrated in Microsoft's Office, Office 365 ProPlus and Paint 3D applications. View the full article

Photoshop for iPad had a bit of a bumpy start back in November, with creatives complaining that the tablet-specific app was lacking several key features of the desktop version. Thankfully, Adobe is continuing to enhance the app with software updates every month, and now it is improving another key aspect – the price. Adobe has decided to bundle Photoshop for iPad, and Adobe Fresco Premium (its painting and drawing app), for $9.99 per month. While not an outright price reduction to either app on its own, it's a tidy 50% discount for anyone who wants both, which were previously $9.99 per month each. The bundle isn't exactly a head-turner for existing Creative Cloud users (The Photoshop and All Apps plans already include both iOS apps), but it's a great deal for creatives who are only interested in the standalone iPad versions. Don't forget to check out our best iPad apps for designers for more essentials. Want the whole of Adobe Creative Cloud for almost half price? This amazing deal ends tomorrow (EMEA only) The bundle is great news for creatives working exclusively on an iPad In a blog post about the new bundle, Adobe waxes lyrical about how both apps work together. "Like peanut butter and jelly," it says, "cookies and milk, or sand and surf, some things are just better together." Beautiful. Adobe then provides two tutorials on how to use both apps together: how transform your photo into a painting (using Adobe Fresco's live brushes), and how to add watercolour splashes to a design (which Adobe describes as a "hot trend"). Things are looking up for Photoshop for iPad Giving users two apps for the monthly price of one is a generous move from Adobe, and the addition of Fresco's thousands of additional brushes should make Photoshop for iPad a more enticing proposition for creatives. While we were a little underwhelmed in our initial Photoshop for iPad review), this bundle, along with recent updates adding new features such as object selection and Adobe Fonts support, are moving the Creative Cloud experience on iPad in the right direction. And with Illustrator for iPad around the corner, it could be about to get even better. Better get on that almost-half-price Creative Cloud deal before it ends tomorrow, then (EMEA only). Related articles: Unmissable video explains all 50+ Adobe apps Top-class Photoshop tutorials to hone your skills The 13 best alternatives to Photoshop View the full article

Before you think about where to buy a face mask, you need to consider whether you need to wear one. Advice in this area is a little conflicting – and that's an understatement. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that you wear a face mask if you are coughing or sneezing, or if you are looking after a person with COVID-19. However, the CDC, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, recommends wearing a face mask if you are in an area where it's hard to maintain social distancing – in the supermarket, for example. Check the latest advice for your area if you're still not sure. If you decide you do want a wear a face mask, then there are plenty of places to buy them. And creatives have come into their own by making all sorts of ingenious cloth face masks with different fastenings, features and designs. Those cool features are no good if your face mask isn't functional, however. It's especially important to ensure that your face mask covers your mouth and nose safely, with no gaps, so check the sizing of the mask before you buy it. How to work from home more productively Also consider comfort – some masks can be uncomfortable around your ears, depending on the material they are made of. The best face masks are also reusable and washable. And then of course, there are style considerations. That's where creatives have got a little, well, creative. Read on for our best face mask options. And if you're feeling inspired to give creating your own face mask a go, then also see our guide to making your own face mask, at the end of this list (jump to how to make a face mask here). Where to buy a face mask: US Where to buy a face mask: UK How to make your own face mask Making your own face mask is a viable alternative to purchasing a cloth one if you are a keen sewer – and even if you're not, it's a good chance to learn. Below are a few steps to follow to ensure you make the best mask possible. Note that the same as above applies, we are not saying that these face masks will necessarily protect you and other people, and the recommended hand washing and social distancing measures should still be followed: Find the right fabric: You can buy fabric on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk . You won't need a huge amount per face mask – the CDC recommends 10 x 6-inches per mask, or 25.4 x 15.24cm. Some pre-cut fabric squares will be big enough for this Find a pattern you like: The CDC has a pattern for making your own face masks here, and includes options to making bandanas and a quick T-shirt face covering. There are also plenty of alternative patterns about, including this one from Trend Patterns (video below). Consider adapting the pattern: You may want to adapt the pattern to better suit you or whoever you're making the mask for. Consider using wire to make the mask stiffer, and how comfortable and effective the elastic, string, ribbon or twine you're using will be. Read more: Free online resources for creatives stuck at home The best office chair right now The best streaming services right now View the full article

Video conferencing is nothing new, and certainly not for those working in the creative industry. But the last couple of months have transformed it from an optional tool to one that's essential, helping to keep businesses running as much of the world's workforce works from home. There are lots of great video conferencing tools available, many of which are helpfully built-in to our everyday devices. But have you ever stopped to consider whether your default video conferencing tool is really the best one for your needs? Here, we bring together the seven best video conferencing tools around right now (in no particular order), and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each. Each of them has either a free version or a free trial so you can give them a go before committing to buy. If you need to record your video calls, don't miss our round up of the best video editing software to help you give it that polished, professional look. 01. Zoom Zoom use has exploded around the world since lockdown began Pros: Up to 100 people free; customisable backgrounds Cons: Free meeting only 40 minutes; security issues Downloads and use of Zoom have exploded since lockdown began, from everyone to friends catching up to governments holding cabinet meetings. It’s not entirely obvious why, because most of its features are matched or exceeded by other apps, including those on this list. But anecdotal evidence suggests that people simply find Zoom easy to use, robust and dependable. That’s difficult to measure scientifically right now, with broadband speeds and connectivity being such a postcode lottery from day to day, but there’s something to be said for the wisdom of crowds. The free version of Zoom allows you to invite up to 100 people to your meeting, and up to 49 can appear on screen, which is not to be sniffed at. Attendees can join via the app, their web browser or a traditional phone call. You can hold unlimited meetings, with video up to 720p quality; you can record your meetings locally; and there’s 24/7 online support. If you want to add a touch of colour and fun to your meetings, you can also add Zoom backgrounds, which are becoming something of a cultural trend right now. There are, however, two big issues with Zoom. The first is that under the free plan, meetings can only last a maximum of 40 minutes. (That, of course, might be seen as a benefit rather than a drawback, preventing lengthy meetings eating into your day). The second is the number of security issues associated with Zoom, most notably the problem of ‘Zoom bombing’, where uninvited trolls disrupt meetings, often using obscenity and racist language. In recent weeks, Zoom has been scrambling to tighten up these security issues, and introduced new measures such as introducing password-protect entry to meetings. However, their efforts haven’t come soon enough to prevent many governments and large companies from banning its use. 02. Skype Meet Now Skype Meet Now lets you videoconference with up to 50 people, for free Pros: Unlimited meeting time; blur backgrounds Cons: Only 50 people under free plan One of the original video chat apps, Microsoft’s Skype is still going strong, and the main benefit of using the platform for videoconferencing, to be frank, is that most invitees will be familiar with it. But that’s not all it has going for it. Skype Meet Now offers some excellent video conferencing features, even in its free tier. These include group calls to up to 50 people, screen sharing options, and most notably, the ability to automatically blur backgrounds. You can also record calls, and add live subtitles to conversations. Attendees can access Skype via the web browser, or the dedicated desktop and mobile apps. Also note that if you’re an Office 365 user, then you’ll also get access to Skype for Business, which allows you to invite up to 250 people, includes 24/7 phone support, and has some nice integrations with the Office 365 suite. 03. Google Hangouts Google Hangouts makes video chatting super-easy Pros: Easy to use; free Cons: Light on features; only 10 people One of the companies to recently ban Zoom use internally has been Google, and that’s not hugely surprising, because it has its own platforms for videoconferencing already. For starters, you can conduct video calls with up to 10 people via it's own free IM platform, Google Hangouts. Nicely integrated into all the other main Google apps, such as Gmail and Google Calendar, Hangouts is very easy and intuitive to use, which means you can set up a meeting and start chatting to people with just a few clicks, either in your web browser or via the Android, iOS or Chrome apps. It doesn’t have many advanced features, but on the plus side, this keeps the interface really simple and easy to use. 04. Google Hangouts Meet Google Hangouts Meet offers pro features at a low price Pros: Up to 100 people; invitees can phone in or Skype Cons: Not free; lacks some advanced features If you like Google Hangouts but want some more advanced videoconferencing features, then Google also offers Google Hangouts Meet for users of G Suite for Business. The latter is a paid-for service, starting at $5/£3.30 per user per month. With Google Hangouts Meet, you can invite up to 100 people, record meetings, share your screen and stream HD video. Enterprise customers can record meetings to Google Drive and enable live-stream viewing to up to 100,000 viewers. Attendees can access your meeting via the web app, a special phone number, or even via rival services such as Skype for Business. If you want try Google Hangouts Meet before committing, there's a free 14-day trial for G Suite for Business. And depending on the features you’re looking for, you may find it a cheaper option than the other paid-for tools on this list. 05. GoToMeeting GoToMeeting is packed with professional videoconferencing features Pros: Business-oriented; advanced features Cons: Not cheap; can’t record on Starter Plan While some apps, such as Skype and Google Hangouts, are broadly aimed at anyone wanting to organise a group chat, GoToMeeting is laser-focused on being a ‘serious’ tool for business. Supporting between 150 and 3,000 invitees, depending on your pricing plan, this service is packed with features to make your meetings organised and professional. These include HD video, screen sharing, automatic transcription, unlimited cloud recording, whiteboard capabilities, support for note taking and 24/7 phone support. Hosts can launch meetings via their smartphones, and can even hand over control to another participant. Participants can join meetings via their browser, apps for Android, iOS or Windows Phone, or a phone call. Starting at £9.50 a month, there’s no free version of GoToMeeting, but there is a free trial. 06. Bluejeans Bluejeans has some advanced features around audio and meeting organisation Pros: Unique Dolby feature; annotation features Cons: Can’t blur out backgrounds; not cheap Starting at $9.99 a month, Bluejeans is another high-end videoconferencing service aimed squarely at business users. It’s both easy to set up meetings, and to scale them with the level of complexity that meets your needs. For example, hosts can create up to 20 breakout sessions, to arrange collaborations on subtasks, and meeting recordings can be divided into chapters, with segment highlights and task assignment attached accordingly. Also, you can not only share your screen but annotate it like a whiteboard. Uniquely, the service supports directional audio for Dolby Sound-enabled rooms. Ecryption-only access is available for improved security, and phone support is available 24/7. Meetings can be accessed via web browsers, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android, and you can host from 50-100 participants, depending on your pricing plan. There’s no free version of Bluejeans, but it is easy to set up a seven-day free trial. 07. Cisco Webex Meetings Cisco Webex is surprisingly powerful, even in its free tier Pros: Professional feel; 100 people free Cons: Less well known than other platforms Cisco is a major name in enterprise software, and its tools are usually very expensive. So it’s perhaps surprising that its premium quality video conferencing software, Cisco Webex, comes with a free tier. Especially as it’s one that will suit most people’s needs, enabling you to hold video meetings in HD with up to 100 people, share your screen, and even set up private chat rooms. Meetings can be accessed via the desktop apps or the iOS and Android apps, there’s no limit to meeting length, and you can make MP4 recordings of your meetings (1GB of cloud storage is provided with the free plan). You can access meetings via your web browser, desktop apps, iOS and Android apps, or via a phone call. In short, there’s not really anything we don’t like about Cisco Webex Meetings. The only thing that might potentially count against it is that many will be unfamiliar with it. Read more: The best video editing apps in 2020 The best project management software for designers Free online resources for creatives stuck at home View the full article

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Do you have an interest in photography, but haven't had the chance to hone in and master the art? With more time stuck at home, now is the time to pursue new opportunities from the comfort of your sofa. Learn how to take stunning professional-quality photographs with the Hollywood Art Institute Photography Course & Certification, a complete look into all things photography and design. With over 50 hours of content and 22 modules jam-packed with comprehensive tutorials, this certification bundle from the Hollywood Art Institute will teach you photography techniques for all types of photography. These techniques are used by some of the most talented photographers in the industry. Need a new camera? Here's our pick of the best cameras for creatives in 2020. Learn through video tutorials, ebooks and more No matter your level of expertise, you'll gain access to valuable tips and techniques with video tutorials, ebooks, professional article databases, flashcards, and more. You'll be exposed to Hollywood grade art education and it'll spark a new passion for capturing your memories beautifully. Your newfound appreciation for photography may even spur your desire to start your own successful business and start profiting from the stunning photos you learn to produce. Unlimited access to all the content allows you to come back and visit each concept or tutorial whenever a new project comes up or inspiration strikes. With streaming available on mobile and desktop, and pro tutorials accessible throughout the course, you'll soon be on your way to earning a certification of completion, adding valuable professional experience to your portfolio and creative career. While certification for the Hollywood Art Institute Photography Course is valued at over $2,500, it is currently price-dropped to only $19. With professional photographers covering everything you need to know about the art of photography, it's undoubtedly a great way to get started shooting impactful images for creative projects of all types. Read more: Portrait photography: How to take perfect portraits How to use photography in design The best laptops for photo editing in 2020 View the full article

If you're of a certain generation, you'll no doubt remember the joys of customising your MySpace profile to make it look rad, mega, or whatever word we were using back in the early noughties. Well, now it looks like Facebook is about to join the customisable profile party – and only 20 years too late. According to well-reputed hacker Jane Manchun Wong on Twitter (below), Facebook is working on an "adaptive colour background" feature for profile views. Wong's attached screenshot includes four colour examples, and we think it's fair to say that whoever at Facebook chose them is not a fan of, well, colour. The offerings are: dull green, dull blue, dull darker blue, and dull burgundy – four hues that wouldn't have cut it in 2005, let alone today. Our guide to colour theory could maybe teach Facebook's designers a thing or two. While there's no official word on the ugly colours above, if Wong found the feature, there's a good chance Facebook's testing it. And, unsurprisingly, we're not alone in our reaction to the four colours on display. In response to Wong's tweet, several users have suggested improvements, including using a gradient instead of solid colours, or adding brighter colours such as pink or purple. App designer Mike Rundle puts it most succinctly: This isn't the only colour-based experiment on Facebook's part lately. Dark mode was recently rolled out, kind of – you need to be rocking the Facebook Lite app to use it (anyone?). Only time will tell whether we get customisable profile colours, but based on the examples above, we'll be sticking to what we've got, thanks. Related articles: Slack reveals its biggest ever redesign How to repost on Instagram You'll want to join this joyful Instagram art club View the full article

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If you're spending a lot of time at home right now, the thought of starting a project or learning a new skill may have crossed your mind. It can be a daunting prospect though, and the pressure to use this lockdown period productively can feel overwhelming – especially when there are endless new Netflix shows also vying for your precious attention. If exploring your creativity in short, daily bursts sounds like a helpful place to start, Skillshare is currently offering two months of its Premium service for free. This gives you access to thousands of classes from illustrators, photographers, videographers and all sorts in between – with many videos clocking in at under fifteen minutes. So, if you've got a spare quarter of an hour, you could learn anything from writing to drawing (but don't forget to check out our best how to draw tutorials, of course). 'Visual Journaling' - a lesson by Jordan Sondler Among Skillshare's bite-size classes are New York-based illustrator Jordan Sondler's Visual Journaling series, which will help you "express yourself through art and connect more deeply with your feelings". These eight short exercises include drawing "What you want", "What you hate" and "What you fear", all with Sondler's unique, comic book style sense of humour. Another perfect short class for these locked down times could be 'Shooting at Home', with photographer Marte Marie Forsberg. One nice, community-focused feature of Skillshare is the ability to share what you create during the classes. Below Fosbergs videos are hundreds of photographs her students have taken at home (below). Some responses to Marte Marie Forsberg's 'Shooting at Home' class According to Skillshare's 'Become a teacher' page, top earning teachers on the platform make $100,000+ per year, "through monthly royalties based on the amount of minutes watched". While we can by no means promise you'll reach those heady heights, teaching on Skillshare could also be worth checking out if you're a creative pro looking for some extra cash. Head to Skillshare's website to grab those two free months of Premium right now. Whether you want to learn a new skill, or hone an existing one, we've no doubt you'll find a class (or 100). And if you're looking for more inspiration during these strange times, take a look at our list of the best free resources available for creatives stuck at home. Related articles: How to work from home more productively Iconic logos reimagined for the age of coronavirus Illustrator gives free drawing lessons to inspire kids stuck at home View the full article