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Going freelance is simultaneously exciting and terrifying, and worrying about freelance finances is a big part of that. It pays to be prepared – largely because once you start freelancing, a single company will no longer be regularly paying you. We asked those who've made the leap for their advice on how to make it work, and their advice ranged from everything from being organised, whether or not you really need to learn how to network to getting to grips with tax. Here's what they said: 01. Set realistic expectations "You must think of your new business like a startup: savings are a 'runway' to transition you from the stability of a monthly salary," suggests strategist Christopher Murphy. It's therefore a good idea to build up at least three (preferably six) months of living expenses prior to going freelance. Also, have a plan to step back if things don't work out. "I told my wife we needed at least six months to discover whether my freelancing would work," recalls creative director, designer and developer Shane Mielke. "And if I wasn't successful, I'd immediately apply to whatever agency would have me, so we wouldn't cut deep into our savings." While that might sound negative, Mielke argues freelancing is anything but – as long as you're organised and know how to network. "I made a single tweet, received my first project, and haven't looked back since," he says. "Although people sometimes think freelancers sacrifice money for freedom, that's not necessarily the case – it can be very profitable and I've consistently made more money than when I worked as a salaried employee." How to be a thrifty freelancer 02. Manage your overheads Mielke's point about organisation is crucial. As Clearleft founder Andy Budd notes, a major challenge of freelancing is the uneven nature of income: "Even if you're lucky enough to immediately land a long-term contract, you'll probably work for a month before you can invoice. And many companies pay on 60- or 90-day cycles: miss a payment window and you'll have to wait until the next one." Even with smaller companies, you may find yourself chasing payments, hence why graphic and web designer Colm McCarthy recommends "mandating a 50-to-60 per cent deposit from new clients, with the remaining balance arriving in staged payments upon delivery of agreed work". Naturally, get this written into a contract. Income is at least broadly understood among most people considering freelancing. Outgoings… less so. When you've worked in a salaried environment, it's easy to forget what you're spending and then fritter money away. "You must track exactly what you need to be using in your business," recommends brand designer Rachel Shillcock. "I work with a lot of online tools and renewal bills quickly mount up. So I do an audit every quarter to ensure I cancel anything I'm not using." Murphy notes that such tracking should extend to everything: "Software. Pens and paper. Sticky notes. It all needs accounting for. When you're salaried, someone else pays for these things. As a freelancer, you cover it yourself. So log receipts and at the year's end you'll know how much ancillaries are costing. This can then be factored into invoices." 03. Be ready for the tax man Don't get caught out by unexpected tax demands Dealing with 'the man' may also be a shock to the system. "There's that fear of the unknown," says Mielke. "If you've never dealt with taxes, health insurance or forming an LLC, you can worry yourself to death and never make the move." He initially paid an accountant to navigate the process; on understanding about using a separate credit card to isolate expenses and setting aside money for tax and insurance, worries soon faded. Health insurance in particular is a cost to be mindful of in the US. Mielke notes it initially "feels like a huge additional burden," until you realise it was previously "automatically deducted by your employer". Since it's part of running a business, you may be able to write it off. Also, be aware in regions with a national health service rather than mandated private insurance that you may still be liable for some costs (such as national insurance contributions in the UK). Again, consult an accountant if unsure. One thing you can be sure about is tax. "It's almost always more than you'd expect, so don't get to the end of the year with a bill you can't pay," urges Budd. A smart idea, thinks Murphy, is to routinely set aside a percentage of income into a savings account. Budd advises this can also work in 'reverse': "Rather than seeing your income as a pool of money to dip into whenever you like, treat your bank account like a business and pay yourself a set monthly fee." This ensures you're covered for payments – and any troughs that come along. 04. Get the word out The inconsistent nature of work can affect any business but will be especially stressful to a freelancer looking at gaps in a calendar. Ideally, you'll hit the ground running, winning jobs before leaving salaried employment. The trick, though, is to keep that ball rolling rather than forgetting about it when waist-deep in deadlines. Too many people rely on recommendations and have no plan when the phone stops ringing Paul Boag Even having a shared office space can be helpful. "They're good value, sociable and a place to pick up work just by being there," says McCarthy. But direct action tends to be more fruitful. "You really need a proactive sales and marketing strategy," says digital strategy and user experience design expert Paul Boag. "Too many people rely on recommendations and have no plan when the phone stops ringing." For Mielke, "fear is a great motivator" and this drives his marketing strategy to get ahead and stay ahead. He does small things throughout the year to stay in clients' minds, rather than waiting until things get slow. "I do this by continually striving to create high-level work that gets me noticed, submitting personal projects for awards, keeping my portfolio updated and maintaining real friendships with people I've worked with," he explains. "It's a constant hustle and the ebb and flow of projects is ultimately out of your control. But when you're an expert in your area and at the top of the list of people that do certain types of projects, you'll get first pick of what's available." Shillcock admits this is something she's struggled with – not doing enough marketing during busy periods. "But you have to remind yourself during such times that you don't want to end up with a quiet season once it's all done," she says. Again, maintaining a financial reserve can help but she adds that it's often easier to retain clients than find new ones and so you should also consider introducing retainers. "This allows you to continue working on a long-term basis with clients once an initial project is finished," she says. It's rare the work is done once the last of the code is compiled: there's a whole host of ongoing maintenance work that needs to be carried out that can add up to a very meaningful revenue stream. "You can sell maintenance packages to agency customers, thereby generating a recurring revenue stream," Fabio Torlini, MD EMEA of WP Engine. "This will often include a hosting component but also assistance with plug-in updates, reports, responding to alerts and other tasks relating to operating a properly maintained website." This probably sounds like a lot of busywork. But although these things aren't wholly passive, they can be a win-win –high-margin for the freelancer and a weight off of a client's mind, knowing their site will be well looked after. 05. Take time off Don't forget to take a holiday – but warn your clients But no matter how carefully you plan your future workflow, you can't be active all the time and this means addressing time off – effectively a self-inflicted trough. We often hear of freelancers spending holidays bathed in the light of a screen. This isn't what you should aim for. "Taking time off isn't easy for freelancers but it is doable," says Boag. "Give clients as much notice as possible and remind them often. Also, realise you don't need to treat them all equally. When I go away, I disable email notifications and set an 'out of office' reply. But I tell my most important clients I've enabled notifications for their email addresses and will respond in a timely manner." 06. Have a backup plan Another way to deal with troughs is to ensure you're not reliant on a single income stream. "Diversify your offering," says Boag. "I run a lot of training and offer consultancy alongside my UX design services. When one goes quiet, I push the others." Effectively, focusing your energy in several different areas means it's easier to ensure you have some way of making hay while your other field lays fallow. "For years, I've told my students about the importance of developing a portfolio career," says Murphy. "I work half-time as a lecturer and half-time as a consultant. Those are two distinct income streams and they both help me to stay afloat." Even taking work on piecemeal can help fill the gaps during quieter times. "Freelancing in-house for design studios has been a big win for me," says McCarthy. "I can help out when someone goes on leave and the pay is pretty good." The key thing, says Mielke, is to challenge the notion that you should only be one thing. People within the industry have built up experience and skills in many areas and should use them. "Depending on the project, I work on UI design, front-end development, animation and even photography," he explains. "Sometimes I'm hired for one and other times for multiple skills and to handle an entire project. But my range of skills allows me to become involved in more projects, control my creative destiny, have more fun and ultimately make more money." 07. Develop your sidelines Got some wisdom to share? Why not write and self-publish a book And with time, many people find that this diversification can lead to very valuable additional revenue streams in their own right. For example, Mielke has written a book, the income from which is putting his daughters through college, and knows others in the industry who do very well selling things like illustrations, fonts, posters, stickers and all sorts of digital and physical products alongside client projects they're hired for. This is an avenue Shillcock has found success in. One reason she went freelance was due to having a chronic illness that causes pain and fatigue. But she began overworking and running herself into the ground – to the point she burned out twice in two years and found herself hospitalised. She then began looking for alternative ways to make money online. "Being freelance isn't always about trading time for money," she says. "Since those days of overwork, I've released online courses and self-published books and I'm currently creating digital products to make my branding methods more accessible to people that can't afford to work with me on a one-to-one basis." She has found this a rewarding and fun way of making money, which is why she urges talented designers to think more widely: "Write books! Create worksheets, online courses, apps and guides!" Should you want a guide to doing so, Murphy recommends Rachel Andrew's 'Profitable Side Project Handbook', which is "filled with useful advice – and is itself a good example of a profitable side project". However, while it's tempting to want to wear every hat you can get your hands on, it's worth remembering that launching a whole new side hustle can often take as much effort as launching your original career. "Everyone dreams of launching an app or selling a course but in truth it's a fantasy because you must still market the product and provide customer support, let alone develop it in the first place," offers Boag as a useful dose of reality. He reckons that unless you have the time to fully invest in such ventures, you're better off trying to push up the market and increase rates as you go, in order to ride out peaks and troughs. 08. Get your prices right The bread and butter of your freelancing will remain design and development work and so it's vital to get your rates right. The general consensus is to price at what the market will absorb. If you find the local market has "low fee expectations", Budd recommends you look to build a more national and international audience. When setting an initial baseline, Boag warns you should be mindful of various factors. "Too often people undercharge because they think they can charge out all of their time," he says. In truth, it's more like half when you consider weekends, public holidays and admin. And whatever rate you decide on should also be more guideline than fixed position. "If you're swamped, increase your rate," he says. "If you don't like the job, increase your price to a number that makes you willing to do it." Experience should also be a factor, as should where you're expected to work. "I charge more for stressful projects that might need speciality work like immersive WebGL development or unique UI design than I do for basic front end development or UX design," says Mielke. "If a project has an extreme deadline, needs me on-site or requires my exclusive attention, my prices increase." 09. Charge differently It's also worth considering moving away from traditional rates. "Charge by the hour and clients will try to beat you down, arguing different tasks will take less time," says Murphy. "To avoid a slippery slope of being paid less than I should be, I use a value-driven pricing model based on the client's budget and what they hope to achieve." Shillcock has a more controversial take. "I believe in pricing on value, but know those I usually work with have very specific needs. So I've created packages to give them items I'm continually asked about." The notion of fixed-pricing is anathema to some in the industry, but Shillcock says it's a good bet if you can make it work. "It made it so much easier for my ideal clients to get an idea of what I would charge, and increased my bookings." Again, remain flexible. Shillcock still offers custom pricing and retainers that don't fit into specific packages. But she doesn't regret 'packaging' work, nor think it devalues output. "If anything, it creates more value for people I want to work with and builds a huge amount of trust between myself and potential clients." Whatever your approach, Torlini says the goal should always be to deliver value to customers. "Anchor pricing relative to the benefit you deliver and you can better position the value of your services, escape the trap of being treated like a commodity and earn the right to demand higher fees." Offering value. Being creative. A decent income. That seems like the freelance dream right there. This article was originally published in issue 322 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 322 here or subscribe here. Related articles: Survey reveals how much freelancers are really charging How to balance money and happiness as a designer 9 tools to help you work remotely as a freelancer View the full article

One of the most fun things about web design is that no matter how many intricately-defined standards there are, you can never be sure that whatever you create is going to look the same in all browsers. Even the very latest versions of the most popular browsers have different ways of handling assorted web technologies, which can affect the way your site renders; that's why cross-platform testing is so important, especially if you're relying on cutting-edge CSS animation. While inconsistencies between browsers can be infuriating, every now and then they can throw up something utterly delightful, and here's one fantastic example: the pure CSS art of Diana Smith. She creates beautiful browser-based art inspired by classic paintings, using only hand-written HTML and CSS; her latest creation, Lace (in the style of Flemish and Baroque works) is a stunning piece. 8 state-of-the-art CSS features (and how to use them) This is incredible work, if you look at it on a recent version of Chrome At least, it is as long as you're looking at it in an up-to-date version of Chrome. CSS is one of those things that never quite works the same way across various browsers, and with an image like Lace that depends on certain CSS properties behaving in the way they do in Smith's browser, you can quickly spot the differences. Firefox Quantum makes a decent fist of it, but with some rough anti-aliasing and a lack of texture to the irises, while Safari loses the plot completely, layering stuff in the wrong order and ending up with a surrealistic nightmare vision, as seen above. It's exactly the sort of thing that makes us want to deliberately feed Lace into older browsers to see just how they mess it up; thankfully Andy Baio has saved us the trouble. Having already tried Smith's previous work, Francine, in older browsers – we particularly love the almost Mondrian-like abstract effort by Internet Explorer 5.1.7 for Mac - he's given Lace the older browser treatment, with similarly fabulous results. Don't mess with Safari 10.01 It's hard to beat the spectacular ruination that Safari has bestowed upon Lace; the weird thing is that if you go back a few versions to Safari 10.1 the results are a lot less random. However there's something weird going on with the shading, making the subject look severely bruised and beaten. "My theory is that Safari 10.01 tripped down some stairs, and two versions later, Safari 13 is feeling embarrassed about it," says Baio. We adore the naive flatness of this effort Going back to an old version of Chrome – in this case Chrome 45 from 2015 – yields excellent amusement, with the subject looking like a face painted onto a balloon. But the real joy's to be had from Internet Explorer 8, which renders Lace as a glorious piece of 8-bit neo-Cubism and loses every bit of detail, but still retains a certain degree of character and expression. Internet Explorer 8's attempt is simply magnificent in its hopelessness If you fancy trying out Lace in your own collection of ancient browsers, you can find it here. And to see more of Andy Baio's mistreatment of it, head to his blog post. Related articles: 10 best CSS frameworks in 2019 How to design with CSS shapes: An introduction 3 shiny new CSS properties for you to try today View the full article

What makes a good logo design can be subjective. But there's no doubt a good logo should be instantly recognisable, even if it's for a brand that you don't identify with. But how easy is it to identify the concept logos from the ones designed for clients? Reddit user u/Amtsag1980 has posted 20 logos (below) to test just that. The 'real logos' might not be for big brands but then that's what makes the whole scenario more intriguing, and there's been plenty of love for them. If you want to compare these logos to the best ones to ever come from a designer's hand, then check out our best logos post. 20 logos, but how many are for clients? Reddit user TheRudKing picked out the logo for Sunkids as a favourite, saying, "That sunkids one is absolutely perfect." theunbranded reinforced this choice with, "The sunkids logo is extremely well executed! My personal favourite." But Buenarf was showing the love for a couple of different choices, "R visualisation and vortex are my favourites. Simple, clever, and recognisable." All good choices, though should a logo tell us what the product or service is meant to be? The text and graphic combine well in the ORMASH logo, instantly suggesting something to do with sun. And Wavy Motion is a smart bringing together of text and graphic. So how many are for real clients? Five definites, plus two more depending on how you look at it. The three logos that have Hebrew letters in them, as well as CARMIT and Evergreen are the real deal. The ORMASH logo was a redesign for a real company but it's not in use. And then there's the AM logo, which u/Amtsag1980 says they, "designed for a friend who's an industrial designer." How did you do? See the original post on Reddit here. Read more: IKEA's latest logo tweak is "amazing" Logo memory challenge befuddles participants 6 of the most iconic drinks logos View the full article

Any day now, Apple will begin selling its much-vaunted and long-overdue Mac Pro. And designers and artists all over the globe will no doubt want to upgrade to the shiny new hardware. Macs have long been a popular choice among creatives, with everything from iMacs and iMac Pros, to iPads and MacBooks being used to create incredible 2D and 3D art. But a recent surge in new creative-focused hardware and developing operating systems has opened up a lot of new options you might not previously have considered. Windows, in particular, is not the operating system it was a few decades ago and – running buttery smooth on popular devices such as the Surface Pro and HP ZBook – is seeing more creatives make the switch from macOS to Windows. If you find yourself frustrated by your current Apple-centric set-up, maybe it's time to try something new. Maybe it's time to make the switch to Windows – here are six reasons it's worth considering. 01. Making the switch is easy Windows 10: doesn’t look that scary, does it? One of the biggest reasons for sticking with Macs is macOS. We won't try and argue which one is best, as everyone has their own specific requirements. macOS is certainly secure and very easy to use – but it also has limitations in terms of flexibility, and Windows isn't the OS you knew from the ’90s. The days of endless updates, missing drivers and malware may not have gone entirely, but it’s much improved. You can easily add apps to make Windows 10 look and act just like macOS, and once you’re your working in your app of choice, there’s very little visual difference. Making the switch isn’t as painful as you might imagine. 02. Catalina cuts too deep Apple’s latest OS, named Catalina, takes away more than it adds As well as being one of the buggiest OS launches from Apple, macOS Catalina also makes some pretty sweeping cuts. Gone is support for 32-bit apps, so you can bid sayonara to any old programs you had lying around that are no longer supported. If an app hasn’t been updated to 64-bit status it simply won't work, so a lot of artists who rely on older programs are forced to stick with Mojave for the time being. OpenCL and OpenGL have also been deprecated, which feels like an app-bricking time bomb waiting to go off at some point – just ask the guys who code Blender. PCs happily support the majority of open standards and software. 03. Metal is no CUDA TurbulenceFD is a fluid dynamics plugin for Cinema4D. It runs up to 12x faster under CUDA, but most Mac users are limited to using the CPU Apple is replacing OpenCL and OpenGL with a single API called Metal. An unwanted side-effect of that is the continuing spat between Apple and Nvidia, which means no Nvidia cards are shipped in Macs, no Nvidia drivers have been signed off since macOS High Sierra, and Mac users don’t have access to CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture), Nvidia’s popular GPU-acceleration API. Some of the bigger developers – Adobe, Maxon, OTOY – have agreed to port their code over to Metal, but a lot of smaller devs just don’t have the resources to do so, and are caught between spending additional time on a separate codebase or abandoning the Mac platform altogether. If you use apps that are CUDA-accelerated, you need to move to a PC. 04. PCs are flexible Nvidia’s Titan RTX is a colossus of a GPU, but the chances of seeing one in a Mac are practically non-existent The new Mac Pro is the first Apple hardware for a decade that can use off-the-shelf PCIe cards, while iMacs, MacBooks and Mac minis regularly come with last-gen GPUs and CPUs. And despite the constant drive to faster silicon, Apple is notorious for not updating its hardware for many months – and, in some cases, even years. Creatives need power to do what they do – whether it’s high-res multi-layered illustrations, billion-poly visual effects or compiling code for multiple devices. Buying a PC enables you to spec the very latest components, at a budget you can afford, with the power to deliver your vision without unnecessary compromise. 05. The majority of apps are coded for PC first Affinity Photo is one of the few apps developed initially for macOS, but popular demand saw it ported to it PC anyway This is a really old argument but it’s still relevant. Apart from a handful of Mac-specific programs and the occasional oddity, like Serif’s Affinity suite, apps are written for the PC and ported to the Mac later. Mac users often have to wait months for a native macOS version – which may well be feature-limited in some way – and with the increasing restrictions implemented by Apple, there might not be a Mac version at all. Working on PC gives you options. 06. You can take baby steps So if Windows isn’t such a hurdle any more, the hardware is cheaper and more powerful, you can use all your favourite old apps, GPU-acceleration is easy and you can use as many PCIe cards as you can afford, AND you can play all the latest games in your down time… what’s stopping you from simply adding an affordable PC to your arsenal and seeing how you get on? A second computer is always useful, and you never know, you might just like it. Read more: The best MacBook Pro alternatives for designers The 8 best external hard drives and SSDs for Mac and PC users Affinity Designer 1.7 review View the full article

An anaglyph effect is the proper name for the classic 3D style where you have to wear red and blue glasses to appreciate the content. Here, you'll learn how to achieve the classic 3D effect using base images, shading and textures. Before you start, get yourself some free textures to make your design just the way you want it. The Bride’, created in this tutorial, is an original piece that I created using a reference image as the base and employing the anaglyph effect. I often use this effect in my work to explore themes of duality, and also to pay homage to B-movies of the ’50s and ’60s. For more tutorials, see our Photoshop tutorials post. 01. Create the colour palette In order to achieve the effect, I need to use shades of blue and red. It can work with other colours as well, but these are the most traditional. Colour has been a challenge for me, especially in the digital medium, where literally any colour you can think of is at your disposal. This colour palette was taken from a vintage 3D poster that I found at an antiques store. I took a photo of it and sampled the colours in Photoshop to create the palette. I’ve made some tweaks to it since, but I find it works great with the 3D glasses which I always send out with my print orders. Get Adobe Creative Cloud here 02. Get the right reference image The original advertising image used as a reference Vintage advertising illustrations and photography give me endless inspiration. I love the idealised, dream-like and hopeful world in which these images take place. For me, finding the right reference image is key: I look for overall composition and facial expression. The reference image is important, but I always do a fair amount of editing in my sketches as I go. Most of the time I start seeing what will be happening in the under-layer as I start to block in the drawing of the upper layer. 03. Draw the upper layer Draw over – but don't slavishly trace – the original image to create the upper layer’s ink I block out the reference image to get the basic composition. I find that it is really important not to directly trace over the top of the image – direct traces can sometimes feel stilted and emotionless. Working this way allows me to give the drawing some movement. Once the image is blocked in, I move a small copy of the reference image to the corner of my canvas where I can see it easily. 04. Introduce linework Add a layer mask in red Next I digitally ‘ink’ the drawing. Typically, all of my linework is done in one go. Working in black and white helps ensure that I get the lines I want. I could, at this step, draw in a layer mask or ink in red, but that tends to slow me down. 05. Add a layer mask Set the opacity to around 20 per cent To colour the linework, I like to create a solid colour layer (red). Then I make a layer mask where I will paste my linework. At this point I’ll set it to Multiply and turn the opacity to around 20 per cent, just enough to see the red layer. 07. Sketch the under-layer Creating the under-layer is my favourite part of my process – this is where the piece really gets interesting. I usually try several different ideas and compositions. The skeleton is something I’ve drawn loads of times, so I feel pretty confident drawing it freehand. I will use the faint upper layer as a guide. For the crows and snakes, I use reference images the same way I did for the upper layer drawing (see step 03). I ink them before moving on to the skeleton. That way I can move things around if the composition isn’t working. 08. Define the figure’s ink Once I’m happy with the composition, I ink the remaining sketch and paste it into a mask, just as I did before. 09. Add shade and texture Add halftones and texture, but make it subtle Now that I have my red and blue layers where I want them, it’s time to add some shade and texture. I used to create my own custom brushes and textures for years, painstakingly scanning ink splatters and grainy textures. Then I discovered True Grit Texture Supply and haven’t looked back. True Grit has some of the best print-quality, high-resolution Photoshop brushes on the market. 10. Shade one layer at a time Shade the red layer with a half-tone brush. While shading, I like to focus on one layer at a time. This way I know that each layer is solid on its own. On the red layer I’m using one of True Grit’s half-tone shader brushes with 45-degree dots. I love how I can immediately achieve a vintage halftone texture. On the blue layer I use a 90-degree line half-tone brush, also from True Grit (I promise they aren’t paying me…). All of this takes place on the layer mask. 11. Add grit and texture When the shading values are looking great, it’s time to add some grit and texture. My goal is to create a worn-in and rugged appearance that mimics weather damage. I want the piece to feel like it has been forgotten about or lost to time. However, it’s important that I don’t go overboard on this step and that the distressing on both layers complement each other. The opacity of the layers has been played with a lot at this point, so I want to make sure things look random and not too planned-out. This article was originally published in issue 296 of Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 296 now or subscribe to Computer Arts. Read more: 54 free Photoshop actions All the best free Photoshop brushes 3D art: 28 amazing examples to inspire you View the full article

A big part of getting one of the best record players and collecting vinyl’s appeal lies in the collecting and displaying of your favourite albums in big, physical form, but the real reason you should give records (another) spin is for the warmer, richer, downright better sound they offer. Of course, if you want to do more than just look at your records, you’re going to need a record player – and choosing one is no easy task. Records are a technical, tweaky format that need to be handled and played with care, so while it might be tempting to buy one of those trendy suitcase style turntables, doing so won’t only massively undersell your vinyl, it could even ruin it entirely. So not a good look for your studio or home office (if you are wanting to kit out your studio, also see our post on the best office chair. The good news is that there are lots of great record players out there. Before buying one you should decide how involved you want to get. Many turntables are fiddly to set up and most require that you physically lower the stylus into the groove to begin a record and lift it at the end. For a lot of people, this is very much part of the charm, but for plenty of others this is a complete turn off. There are now turntables out there for those who don’t have a degree in audio engineering but do still care about sound quality. If you're looking to improve the sound quality of your life overall, you might want to also check the best noise cancelling headphones. What to look for in a record player So what should you look for when selecting the best record player for you? If it’s an easy life you’re after, look for a turntable that arrives as pre-assembled as possible – you’ll almost always need to place the platter and attach a belt, but for some the effort stops there, while for others it’s the tip of a tweaky iceberg. And if you don’t want to feel like a slave to your record player, it’s worth looking for an automatic or semi-automatic model: the latter will lift the stylus from your record at the end (a real godsend if you enjoying a an audio-infused siesta), while the former will also place the stylus at the start of a record for you. The other big consideration is the phono stage (also known as a phono amp). This is a component that amplifies the tiny signal from a turntable to a level that a traditional hi-fi amplifier can deal with. Every system with a turntable needs a phono stage, but sometimes they’re integrated into the turntable itself, while some stereo amps have one built-in. Standalone phono amps are available, too, and using one almost always results in better sound, but perhaps you’re someone who doesn’t want any more components than is strictly necessary. You’ll be pleased to hear that below we’ve listed the five best record players that you can buy right now, and every approach is covered. There’s a traditional turntable that sounds incredible but requires a fair amount of effort and plenty of other quality kit in order to shine, there’s a device that looks like a record player but is actually a complete system that includes Bluetooth, and there’s a high-tech deck that’s easy to use and will rip your records to digital files that you can take anywhere. Simply scroll down to find the perfect record player for you. If you really want to do vinyl properly, there isn’t a turntable in the world better suited to the task than this Rega Planar 3 Elys 2. Confused about the name? The record player itself is called the Planar 3, but it’s available with a number of different cartridges (the bit at the end of the tonearm that contains the stylus, or needle) and the Elys 2 is the one we’d recommend. The Planar 3 is available in white, red and black, and it combines traditional turntable design and elegance in exemplary fashion. This is a quality piece of modern classic hi-fi that’s a pleasure to look at. It’s also a pleasure to listen to, with a sound that no turntable costing under a thousand pounds can match. But this is also a turntable that only the dedicated vinyl fan should consider. Its operation is entirely manual, it doesn’t have a built-in phono stage and you’ll only make the most of it if the rest of your hi-fi is also excellent. As long as you’re entirely committed, this is more or less the only record player you should consider – and it may well be the last one you ever need to buy. This might look like a simple record player, but the Pro-Ject Juke Box E is actually a complete hi-fi in an old-school chassis. A combination of a traditional turntable, full stereo amplifier and Bluetooth receiver means all you need to add is a pair of standard stereo speakers – and many retailers will even sell you a package that includes those. True, the operation is manual, so you’ll need to place the stylus into the groove of your record and gently lift it at the end, but the Juke Box E also lets you send tunes from your phone via Bluetooth, making it a truly charming amalgam of analogue and digital. What’s more, it actually sounds like real hi-fi, rather than two wasps fighting over the last drops of sugary syrup at the bottom of a Coke can – which is what you’ll get if you buy that suitcase turntable on Amazon. If the Rega is a bit too traditional for your liking and the Pro-Ject a touch too all-inclusive, the Sony is an amazing option. It looks like a proper hi-fi turntable and it sounds like a proper hi-fi turntable, but it’s got the added convenience of an integrated phono stage and it will even rip your records to your computer via USB, so you can take that lovely, warm, analogue audio with you wherever you go. True, it’s not exactly extravagant in the styling department, but there’s a certain amount of workmanlike charm to the squared, matte black design, and a pleasure to be gleaned from this stealthy, wolf-in-sheeps clothing-like record player. It really does sound good. Believe it or not, this record player is actually considered 'entry-level' by Technics. That’s because the company is best known these days for its £3000 SL-1210 and the utterly incredible, very expensive SL-1000R. As you can probably tell from the way the thing looks, this is a thoroughly modern turntable that boasts direct drive (no belt to faff with), a built-in cartridge and integrated phono stage. It’s semi-automatic, too, so will lift the stylus at the end of the record - although you do need to place it in the groove at the start. It’s a delight to live with and use, then, but it also sounds absolutely fantastic. It’s almost digital in the way it digs up detail and performs so precisely, but it still has that lovely analogue warmth to the sound. In other words, it’s brilliant. If you can afford it and take vinyl seriously, you should buy it. If you’re looking to ease your way (back) into with a really simple, really affordable record player, the Lenco L-85 is the one to buy. Sure, it looks and feels a bit cheap, but that’s because it is cheap - exceptionally so. It comes in some funky colours, too. We’re particularly keen on the grey and red finishes. This is a semi-automatic, belt-driven turntable with a built-in phono stage and the ability to record via USB. in other words, it’s as plug-and-play as vinyl gets. It even comes with the cables you need to hook it straight up to your existing hi-fi. It even sounds good. Of course you’ll get better sound by spending more, but the Lenco comfortably outperforms its very low price tag. Read more: The best smart home devices for creative professionals The best art easels Animated music videos: 28 examples View the full article

It can't be easy, being Facebook. One minute you're the cool social network that everyone's signing up for, the next everyone's cross at you for avoiding tax, undermining democracy, playing fast and loose with users' data and even copying other company's logos. It's so unfair! But we all know what can change that, right? You got it, a shiny new rebrand is just the thing to turn around perceptions of your beleaguered multi-billion-dollar megacorporation, and that's exactly what Facebook's just unveiled. Let's be clear, here; the logo you see on Facebook itself isn't about to change; this new logo design is a corporate identity that, says Facebook, is, "designed to help us better represent the diversity of products we build, establish distinction from the Facebook app and communicate our purpose in the world." 8 brands that rule at social media It's all-caps! With colours and everything! So it's a bit like that time Google became Alphabet; obviously Alphabet's still there (or at least it was last time we checked), but nobody really paid that much attention and as far as most of the world is concerned, Google is still Google. The new Facebook logo is designed as an umbrella brand to unify its various brands such as the Facebook app, Instagram, WhatsApp and so on, and you're only likely to really notice it if you go looking for it. The apps themselves will retain their current branding, with the new logo tucked away further down. Like just about every other big name rebrand over the last couple of years, Facebook has plumped for an all-caps logotype for its design. And like all those other corporate rebrands, it looks fine. You'd have to work really hard to be at all offended by it, or to have any strong feelings about it whatsoever. In Facebook terms, it gets a Like; that's to say that we acknowledge that this thing exists but don't care enough about it to click on the heart or the cross face or whatever. Got to love a curved diagonal and a bit of horizontal emphasis Of course, Facebook itself has all the feels about it. "We designed the new company wordmark with clarity and openness in mind," it says, which we particularly love given Facebook's general lack of clarity and openness in the way it operates. But hey, maybe that means it's on a self-improvement trip from now on! Well, it's nice to hope. Facebook's particularly excited about the new logo's colour palette; rather than using a single colour, the wordmark's designed to take on the colour of individual brands, so if you see it in the Instagram app it'll be in that warm red gradient, and on WhatsApp it'll be green. It's also really proud of the curved diagonals on the 'A' and 'K' of the logo – to our minds the 'A' looks like it's been printed on the side of a balloon – and how it uses motion, opening the workmark up through tracking and fading. The new logo also reduces to handy monogram, so that's a thing It's not a bad logo, but however much Facebook tries to talk it up by going on about clarity and empathy and the hope that the branding can help it communicate the progress it's making, nobody's getting very excited about it. This is the bit where we'd normally embed some furious tweets, but the most on-point one we can find is from US Senator Elizabeth Warren, who rightly looks past the design and focuses instead on Facebook's size and power: It's hard to argue with that. From a design point of view, though, there's not a lot to get worked up about. We're kind of hoping that we've reached peak minimal logotype now; wouldn't it be nice to swing swing back towards ludicrously over-designed logos with far too much ornamentation? Related articles: 7 logos by famous designers and why they work How the world's biggest brands got their names 10 iconic logos with hidden meanings View the full article

If you're looking at buying an iPad for drawing, designing, photo editing or anything else artistic, you'll surely be thinking of getting an Apple Pencil to pair with it. Apple's styluses are among the best sketching options out there, especially for drawing directly onto a display. In fact, we rate them so highly, the latest model made the top spot, along with the iPad Pro, in our round-up of the best tablets with a stylus. The thing is, there are two versions of the Apple Pencil. The original Apple Pencil 1st Gen was released in 2015, and is still on-sale today. The Apple Pencil 2 was released in late 2018, and is the most up-to-date model in this small line-up. So which one should you go for? That's what our Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2 article will help you determine. Once you've decided, be sure to head over to our best Apple Pencil Black Friday deals post for the lowest prices. Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2: Price and compatibility There’s a good chunk of difference when you look at the price of the Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2, though that’s just the start of the price gap overall. The Apple Pencil 1st gen costs £89/$99. The Apple Pencil 2 costs £119/$129. However, when we talk about choosing between which Apple Pencil you’ll go for, what we’re ultimately discussing is which iPad you’ll go for, because each iPad model supports only one of the two Pencil options. And that obviously affects the overall price hugely. The original Apple Pencil is supported by the iPad 10.2-inch (2019), iPad mini (2019) and iPad Air (2019) from the current line-up. It was also supported by previous iPads, including the iPad 9.7-inch (2018), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2017), iPad Pro 10.5-inch (2017), iPad Pro 9.7-inch (2016), and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2015). The Apple Pencil 2 is currently only supported by the iPad Pro 11-inch (2018) and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2018) – the most recent iPad Pros, basically. This gives the original Apple Pencil the broadest range of options for different screen sizes and budgets. The cheapest you can buy a new iPad plus Apple Pencil is £438/$428 – that’s the 10.2-inch iPad plus Apple Pencil 1st gen. To get an Apple Pencil 2, you’re looking at a minimum of £888/$928 – that’s for the 11-inch iPad Pro plus Apple Pencil 2nd gen. Of course, you get a much more powerful device for that extra cost, with vastly improved screen quality, and a USB Type-C port for attaching external storage or a 4K display easily. But our point here is still that the cost consideration goes beyond the price of the stylus. Here’s our verdicts on the various iPads, to help you choose which will work best for you: Apple iPad Pro (2018) review Apple iPad Air (2019) review Apple iPad mini (2019) review Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2: Design & ergonomics The two Apple Pencil models are very similar overall in design, but with a few tweaks worth knowing about. They’re both 8.9mm in diameter, though the original Apple Pencil is totally circular, while the Apple Pencil 2 has a flat edge. The flat edge obviously helps to avoid it rolling away. The original Apple Pencil actually had some weighting in it stop it rolling off, but it wasn’t a foolproof system – naturally, a flat edge does it better. The first Apple Pencil has a glossy plastic finish, much like the case of AirPods. And like other glossy plastics, it tends to pick up grease and fingerprints pretty strongly, which can affect the quality of your grip. The Apple Pencil 2 has a matte finish that feels a lot like a wooden Pencil – it’s nicer in the hand, and is easier to keep a good hold of even without a tight grip. The 8.9mm size of both is good for ergonomics, especially compared to the smaller stylus you get with Samsung’s tablets, for example. They’re easy to hold comfortably for fairly long periods, especially since they both weigh 20.7g. They feel, really, just like any other pencil. We know some may prefer the thicker units on offer from the likes of Wacom, though there are sleeves you can buy to convert the Apple Pencil to feel thicker, such as this affordable silicone grip holder. One small extra thing in the Apple Pencil 2’s favour: you can get it engraved for free if you order online. Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2: Performance The good news about both Apple Pencil models when it comes to drawing performance is that they’re identical, so you don’t miss out on drawing capability whichever one you go for. Apple hasn’t confirmed the level of pressure sensitivity in either Pencil model, which is a little frustrating, but neither has ever felt lacking for finessed and nuanced artwork, so we can live with a bit of ambiguity. They both support tilt and rotation detection while drawing, and when combined with the good pressure detection, they’re very versatile for different brush strokes and applications. When it comes to drawing performance, both Apple Pencil models are identical They also sample at the same rate, meaning they both have the same low-latency performance… except you do actually get guaranteed lower latency from the time you move your hand to the time you see the results on-screen when using Apple Pencil 2 with a compatible iPad Pro. But that’s because of the iPad Pro’s 120Hz screen (meaning that it refreshes the display 120 times per second), not because of anything the Apple Pencil does. Every other iPad currently sold by Apple has a 60Hz screen. The 2017 iPad Pro models also had 120Hz screens, and worked with the original Apple Pencil, so they also offer this lower latency, but they’re not on sale anymore. If you’re buying an iPad today, every iPad that supports the original Apple Pencil will have marginally higher latency due to their screens, while the iPad Pros offer the best possible drawing experience due to this advantage alone. The Apple Pencil 2 does actually have one technical advantage, but it’s not directly to do with drawing: it has a button. It’s not a physical button, but rather you can double-tap the flat edge with your finger. You can choose what this does by default: switch between current tool and eraser; switch between current tool and the last-used tool; show the colour palette; or nothing, if you prefer. That’s the default, as we said, though individual apps can give you different options within the app: art studio ProCreate and audio editor Ferrite both offer other handy functions you can apply there instead, that apply only within the app (see our round-up of the best iPad Pro apps for more). The original Apple Pencil has no equivalent option. Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2: Storage and charging The Apple Pencil 2 has a huge edge when it comes to storage. It attaches magnetically to the side of the iPad Pro, and connecting it this way also charges it wirelessly. It’s hard to overstate how much more usable this makes the Apple Pencil 2 than its predecessor purely from a usability point of view. Not only is it always to hand – if you’ve got your iPad within reach, you’ve got your Pencil within reach – but it’s been topping up its charge while it’s there, ready to go at a moment’s notice. It’s so seamless, and reduces friction, helping you get straight into being creative and productive before you lose your thread. For the Apple Pencil 1st gen, there’s no official storage solution directly on devices. It will attach magnetically to some covers, but not with a very strong grip. Apple made some iPad sleeves that include a storage section for the Pencil, which work well enough, but were very large and unwieldy overall. There are third party cases and folios too, of course, but you’ll have to see if there are any that suit you. The original Apple Pencil is also more annoying to keep charged. It has a male Lightning connector on the end (covered with a cap that can get lost, though it stays on fairly well), which can be plugged into your iPad’s Lightning port to charge (this is also how you pair it with the iPad). The strange, long shape this forms is the very definition of inelegance, and also leaves the Pencil prone to getting knocked and snapping its connector. However, it can charge quite quickly: about 15 seconds of charge time can get your around 30 minutes of use. The Pencil 1st gen does come with a charging adapter in the box, though: a converter, so that you can use a normal Lightning cable to charge the Pencil. As long you’re diligent about plugging it in regularly, this would be a much better way to go about it. Apple doesn’t give battery quotes for the Pencil models, but talked of the 1st-gen version offering around 12 hours. That model has also proven to hold its charge well when not in use, which is important, since it doesn’t get charged as easily. The 2nd-gen Apple Pencil hasn’t had any problems lasting for long drawing sessions for us, but its battery life is also less important, because it can be more easily topped up during the day simply by popping it back on the edge when you respond to emails or stop for a break. Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2: Tips Both Apple Pencil models use the same kind of tip, which is fairly hard, and taps firmly against the glass of the iPad. Depending on what kind of stylus you’re used to, you may find this a bit of an adjustment: it’s distinctly harder and louder. It’s not a problem in any way, but the difference from softer plastic tips or drawing surfaces is quite noticeable. You’d have to try one in an Apple Store to see if you majorly dislike it, but we doubt it would be a dealbreaker. This hardness does make the tips highly durable. Don’t expect to see much, if any, sign of wear within a year or so, unless you’re trying to use it to make fire. The 1st-gen Apple Pencil comes with a replacement tip in the box, further guaranteeing longevity from a single purchase. The Apple Pencil 2 does not come with a replacement tip, which seems a bit cheap of Apple, but then you won’t be needing one for a long time, as we mentioned. You can buy a replacement pack of tips from Apple: four for £19/$19. Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2: Which should you buy? When it comes down to it, the answer as to which stylus is better is simple: it's the Apple Pencil 2. The matte finish is better suited to being handled by sweaty hands than the original, the extra 'button' is useful, and the magnetic attachment with wireless charging is massively superior to the plugged charging of the 1st-gen version. However, because the actual drawing performance is on a par between them, and because of the major budget considerations around having to buy the most expensive iPad models to be able to use Apple Pencil 2, it's not such a clear-cut choice in practice. As is the case with any professional tool, the real answer is to buy the best one that you can afford. If you can justify the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil 2 combination, you absolutely should go for it. But any of the other iPad models is an excellent drawing instrument too, and though the original Apple Pencil is more unwieldy to charge, it'll still help you produce your best work, and that's what it's there for. Made your decision? Here are the best Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil 2 prices in your area: View the full article

We all like to get comfortable with our preferred design tools; once you've learned a way of doing things and have been doing it for ages, you're going to be at least a little resistant to learning new tricks. This means, though, that it's easy to miss out on new tools and techniques that, actually, you might find really useful. If you've been using Photoshop CC for a few years and carried on doing things the same way as when you started out on CS6 or earlier, you've probably not noticed some developments that could make your life a lot easier. A 2020 update to Photoshop has just been announced, but you may not even be aware of the improvements to the previous version. Here are six new features from PS 2019 that might have passed you by, but which you'll be really grateful for. The 5 best laptops for Photoshop in 2019 01. Multiple Undo No more angrily stabbing at the History panel Traditionally, one of Photoshop's most irritating features has been its stubborn refusal to make Undo work in the same way as you'll find in just about every other app on the planet. In most apps, hitting Ctrl/Cmd+X undoes your previous action, hitting it again undoes the one before that and so on. Do that in Photoshop, though, and you find that the second go undoes your first undo, and if you want to step back through your work you need to go to the History panel to do it. You're probably so used to its non-standard way of handling Undo that you haven't noticed that as of Photoshop CC 2019, Adobe's fixed this. So if you're Photoshop's up to date, you can hit that Undo shortcut as many times as you like and step back to where it all went wrong. 02. Double-click to edit text Working with text is now approximately 76 per cent less of a nuisance Working with text in Photoshop can be fiddly, particularly when you're trying to move, style and edit your text at the same time to get it looking its best. You're constantly having to swap between the Type tool and the Move tool, and you never seem to have the one you need selected at any particular time. It's an annoyance that Adobe has addressed in Photoshop CC 2019; now if you simply double-click a type layer with the Move tool, you can instantly start editing the text in that layer without switching tools. It's a small fix, but one that should make most designers' day-to-day Photoshop life a little but less infuriating. 03. Transform proportionally Another weird legacy feature of Photoshop that everyone's simply got used to is the default setting of its Transform tool. Most of the time when you're using the Transform tool you want it to scale proportionally, but Photoshop defaults to non-proportional transform, so you spend a lot of time with a finger jammed down on the Shift key. Now, though, proportional transform is the default, something that annoyed a lot of users when they realised it had happened. People just don't like change, especially when it goes against deeply ingrained muscle memory. The new version makes a lot more sense (although the fact that Photoshop still defaults to non-proportional transformation for vectors and paths is potentially confusing), but if you're determined to do things the old way then Adobe has provided instructions on how to change it back. 04. Live blend mode preview A quick way to remind yourself what all the blend modes do Blend modes are a wonderful way to create impressive visual effects by stacking layers on top of each other, but it's not always easy to remember which mode does what. You generally know when you might want Multiply or Screen and you always avoid Dissolve, but beyond that it can all get a little vague, and you tend to end up cycling through all of them to find the one that looks best. It's not an ideal way of working, but Adobe's made things easier by adding a live blend mode preview in Photoshop CC 2019. Select your layer then click on the blend mode button, and a list of blend modes appears that you can mouse up and down, and as you do so you'll get an instant preview of how each blend mode will look. It's a great time-saver, especially when you think you want one of the weirder ones in the bottom half of the list but you can't remember which. 05. Symmetry mode Turn rough and ready scrawls into beautiful patterns Feeling low on inspiration? Here's a great way to conjure ideas out of nowhere: another recent addition to Photoshop CC is a Symmetry mode that works with the Paint Brush, Mixer Brush, Pencil and Eraser tools. Just click the butterfly icon in the Options bar and you can paint or draw with your strokes reflected live across various lines of symmetry, making it easy to quickly create detailed symmetrical patterns out of random scrawls. There are 10 types of symmetry to choose from – Vertical, Horizontal, Dual Axis, Diagonal, Wavy, Circle, Spiral, Parallel Lines, Radial and Mandala – giving you plenty of ways to fire your imagination. 06. Increase UI size Try this before you make an optician's appointment Moving up from an HD display to 4K or even bigger is a lovely feeling until you find that the UI on your favourite apps wasn't made to cope with massive screen resolutions. Photoshop's ready for your enormous new monitor, though, thanks to an option to scale the UI to match its font size. So once you've plugged in that fancy 5K panel, be sure to set the font size to large and tick the box to scale the UI to the font, and there'll be no need to squint. Related articles: The 23 best Photoshop plugins 61 top-class Photoshop tutorials to try The 10 best alternatives to Photoshop View the full article

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner, which means not long to go until you can grab a creative bargain. Right now, retailers all over the globe are busy getting ready for the big day, and Amazon is no exception. A one-stop-shop for almost anything you could ever want, Amazon's Black Friday 2019 bonanza looks set to be bigger and better than ever before. So what deals can we expect to see from Amazon UK? We know the main event kicks off on 29 November and culminates on the 2nd December with Cyber Monday, but we can now get even more specific with what to look out for on Amazon. Amazon’s UK Black Friday Sale will run for eight days from 00:01 on Friday 22 November until 23:59 on Friday 29 November. That's a whole lot of time to get a good deal, right? Let's take a closer look what type of Black Friday deals will be on offer. Amazon Black Friday deals Amazon will be running three types of deals during the course of the event. First, the Lightning Deals. These are usually heavily discounted items that are on offer for a super-short amount of time – often just a few hours. Then before you know it, it'll be gone. So it will pay to have your finger on the pulse for these. This year a press release from Amazon states: "New lightning deals will becoming available as often as every five minutes." Secondly, the Deals of the Day: a promotion that will last for 24 hours. These are slightly less frantic but still be prepared to be fast because products may sell out quickly. And lastly, the Best Deals. They do what they say on the tin, they're Amazon's pick of the best deals on the site, and will be included on Amazon's UK deals page. If all of this sounds exciting but like a lot of hard work, don't despair. We don't want you to have to spend your weekend glued to your laptop, waiting for the perfect deals to go live. Instead, why not bookmark our Black Friday hubs that will give you all the info on where to get the best deals around? We've got dedicated deals articles on a number of product and brands, including the best Apple Black Friday, Surface Pro Black Friday, Adobe Black Friday and Apple Pencil Black Friday deals. We'll be updating all these hubs with the best and latest deals as they go live. And one thing we've learned from previous events is not to hang around if you see what you want at the right price. These deals are likely to sell out fast, so you'll need to be quick to avoid missing out. See below for a range of deals currently available on products for creatives. Read more: How to win at Black Friday: Must-know insight for buyers and sellers Black Friday weekend: discover the best day to get the deal you want Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2019: how to make huge savings this year View the full article

Gavin Campbell is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and videographer who's spent the last 14 years working with global brands in fashion, lifestyle, editorials, advertising, conceptual, digital, portrait, branding and character development. His long list of clients include the likes of Pharrell Williams, Kravitz, Sony Music and RCA Records, as well as companies like Sky, McDonalds, Ferrari and Arsenal FC. Jealous, much? Us too. So wouldn’t it be great if we could see exactly how Gavin goes about creating his art, in real time, and learn some of his secrets? Well, the good news is, we can. In the video below, Gavin races against the clock to transform Adobe Stock imagery into an original work of art, using Photoshop CC, in just one hour. Throughout this time, Gavin chats through his creative process, explaining what he’s doing at every stage, right down to the specific shortcuts he’s using, as well as sharing his tips for creating unique pieces using stock imagery, and answering questions about his career success to date. Greater speed with Adobe Stock To create this stunning artwork in under an hour, Gavin naturally turns to Adobe Stock, which is smoothly integrated into the Creative Cloud, making the entire process quick and simple. “Obviously you can go to the web and use Adobe Stock from there,” he says. “But what I normally do is I go to the Libraries tab and I just do a quick search for whatever I need. It's a lot quicker." For this particular project, he first wanted to find an image of a female from a side view, so he simply typed “woman's side view” into the search box. Then, once he'd found the one he was looking for, he licensed it and saved it to a folder he'd created titled ‘Assets’. The first Adobe Stock image Gavin chooses to based his artwork around Handily, the whole process takes place in the blink of an eye. “I can just double click on that licensee and it goes straight into the folder, so it's really, really handy and saves a lot of time,” Gavin enthuses. By saving to the Creative Cloud Library, that image is now available to him wherever he goes and whatever device he uses. Plus if he’s collaborating with somebody else, he can also share that library folder as well. Gavin proceeds to create his artwork in Photoshop by combining his portrait of a woman with multiple dynamic background images from Adobe Stock, and it’s fascinating to see the range of powerful and eye-catching visuals that he unearths. As he works, Gavin takes in great depth about how he approaches each stage of his creative process, including how he tackles masking (6 min 30), how he creates a double exposure effect (8 min 30), his use of the Magic Wand tool (13 min 50), and more. Watch as Gavin Campbell creates this stunning artwork, and explains each step in real time While he’s working, Gavin also gives the benefit of his advice to young designers on developing their careers, including the importance of promoting yourself online (12 min) and the best equipment to use (39 min). He also chats openly about some of the highlights of his own glittering career, from meeting A-listers at Cannes (35 mins) to designing the Gladiators logo (42 mins 50). To discover how Gavin uses Adobe Stock and Photoshop to make phenomenal art watch the video above, which was produced as part of Adobe's Creative Collab series of livestreams. To see further Adobe livestreams, check out this YouTube playlist. Try Adobe Stock for free! In 2019, illustrators, designers and videographers like Gavin Campbell, at every level of the profession, are harnessing the power of Adobe Stock to make imaginative and eye-catching designs. If you haven't started using Adobe Stock, then it's high time you got on board, and here's a great offer to help persuade you. Try Adobe Stock for free for one month and you'll get 10 standard assets with your free 30-day trial! You've nothing to lose, and everything to gain, in terms of making you more efficient, productive and creative. So don't delay, get started with Adobe Stock today! View the full article

It's hard to believe its been 30 whole years since our Saturday evenings started with that trademark slow-mo run and Jimi Jamison's 'I'm Always Here' theme tune. Yes, Baywatch first aired three decades ago, and to celebrate the iconic '90s show, producers Fremantle and Pantone have teamed up to officially commemorate the anniversary. And what better way to do so than with that trademark bathing suit red. Enter: Baywatch Red. Pantone's newest addition to its colour library. Fearless, bold and eye-catching, the colour certainly plays to all we know about colour theory. It used to adorn the bodies of the high-energy lifeguards, reinforcing the dramatic nature of the action, and has resurfaced to bring its high energy to us in an official capacity. To prove just how visually impactful the colour is, and how iconic it proved to be for the show, Fremantle created this account (above) of how the red swimsuits came to be. Sorry to ruin the illusion, but Fremantle doctored these scenes, frame-by-frame to create this false history of the lifeguard's uniforms. Watching the blue swimsuits bounce (sorry) across the sand just doesn't have the same effect, does it? Laurie Pressman, vice president of Pantone Colour Institute says: “As a longtime Baywatch fan and lover of the emboldening red swimsuits and shorts, we were excited and honoured to participate in the creation of this special Pantone colour, Baywatch Red." She goes on to reinforce the importance of the bright red hue, pointing out that the red symbolises, "the passion and courage displayed by these brave and heroic life savers, the powerfully energising Baywatch Red instantly expresses a message of immediate action and fierce determination.” We're looking forward to finding out Pantone's colour of the year, and wonder if it'll be something so in-your-face. The colour of 2019 – Living Coral – had a more serious vibe than the Baywatch Red offering. Warm and nourishing, it was a reaction to the digital onslaught of modern life. However, Pantone has form in engaging with pop culture. 2018's colour of choice was Ultra Violet – a purple hue that represented icons such as David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix, it symbolised individuality. We think Santa has found his shade for Christmas 2019 (we can't wait to stay up to see him come down the chimney in Baywatch Red), but which Pantone colour matches your personality? You can try this fun quiz to find out. Read more: The best pencils for colouring, drawing and sketching Pantone launches a whopping 294 'trend relevant' colours How to use colour to shape UX View the full article

More exciting news from Adobe MAX 2019: in today's keynote, Adobe unveiled Photoshop Camera, an intelligent photo app that "brings the magic of photoshop directly to the point of capture". The impressive early preview showed how the app could be used to quickly create incredible photos – both realistic and imaginative – using the power of AI. The app is available now as a preview for iOS and Android device users, with general release slated for 2020. Photoshop Camera uses Sensei – Adobe's AI programme – to automatically enhance your images. It can be used to do something simple and realistic, like adjusting the tone and colour balance to liven up a dull photo or something more dramatic – such as turning day to night in a landscape photo. Alternatively, you can apply wild photo effects to transform your image completely. See it in action in the video below. There's an expansive library of different lenses and effects for Photoshop Camera, created by leading artists and influencers. Creatives will be able to get involved personally too, by designing and sharing their own filters. In his presentation, Adobe's Adhay Parasnis touched on how developments in the best cameraphones have fundamentally changed the way we we create and share our work. However, while we have some strong photo apps, there's still room to push things further on the software side of things. "We believe the world is ready for the next chapter, where it’s not just about more mega-pixels, but how you can tell your story in a unique way," he explained. "Leveraging Adobe Sensei intelligence, [Photoshop Camera] can instantly recognise the subject in your photo and provide recommendations, and automatically apply sophisticated, unique features at the moment of capture." Sign up for early access here, or read more about Photoshop Camera on the Adobe blog. Read more: Photoshop on iPad is finally here Lightroom vs Photoshop: What's the difference? Adobe Fresco is now available on Windows Illustrator is coming to iPad! View the full article

The network configuration management utility has two unpatched critical remote code execution vulnerabilities. View the full article

Adobe launched Fresco, its dedicated tablet art app, earlier this year. The first release was for iPad users only, but at Adobe MAX 2019, it has been revealed that a Windows version is now available. At the moment it’s for users of Microsoft Surface Pro X devices and Wacom MobileStudio Pro hardware (read on for a full rundown of supported devices), but Adobe is working to add other devices to the list. Fresco is a versatile digital art tool that enables users to work with raster, vector and Live brushes – which are powered by Adobe Sensei to offer an impressively realistic digital art experience. Users can also sync in their favourite Photoshop brushes. Read our Adobe Fresco review for more details. The move is welcome – while iPads remain extremely popular for creatives, the Microsoft Surface is snapping at Apple’s heels (explore our guides to the best Surface Black Friday deals or iPad Black Friday deals if you’ve been convinced to pick one up). It’s about time we had more art apps that made the most of the Surface’s capabilities. The announcement marks part of a renewed focus on mobile creativity for Adobe. At MAX 2019, the company also launched Photoshop on the iPad, and announced that Illustrator on the iPad is also on its way. What’s included in Fresco for Windows? As we hoped, Adobe says that Fresco for Windows will match the experience offered on the iPad. It will similarly offer vector and raster tools, and Adobe has worked closely with Microsoft and Intel to optimise the Photoshop brushes so they perform as well as possible. The features list is not yet complete compared to the iOS version, but Adobe is working on getting the missing features added to Fresco for Windows as quickly as possible. Fresco also saves documents in Adobe’s new Cloud Documents format, which means designers and digital artists will be able to open and edit their Fresco documents in multiple different applications (including Photoshop and Illustrator). Artwork created on Fresco for Windows by Jessica Wong Which devices support Fresco for Windows? Support is currently for just 10 devices. They are: Microsoft Surface Pro 4, 5, 6 Microsoft Surface Book 1, 2 Microsoft Surface Studio 1, 2 Microsoft Surface Go Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13", 16" Adobe is working on expanding that list as it works with more Windows hardware partners. You can find more details on the official Adobe blog. Read more: 10 best design apps for Windows The 21 best iPhone apps for designers The best Adobe Black Friday deals in 2019 View the full article

Adobe has announced that the long-awaited Photoshop on the iPad is finally here. This is the big news from Adobe's annual conference (read all the updates from Adobe MAX 2019 here), and it's been a long time coming – the tool was first previewed at last year's MAX event. Photoshop on the iPad is a powerful, intuitive app that has been built from scratch specifically for tablets, and optimised for touch and for use with the Apple Pencil. It's included with all Creative Cloud subscriptions, and also available to download from the app store. However, it's not quite a complete version yet, with this first iteration focusing on core compositing and retouching workflows only. If you haven't yet signed up but are thinking of becoming a Creative Cloud user, you might want to bookmark our best Adobe Black Friday deals article, which will have all the best offers as they arrive over the next few weeks. With competitor products such as Serif's Affinity Photo for iPad edging in on Photoshop's hold on the market, it's about time Adobe came up with the goods when it comes to on-the-go creativity. It comes alongside news from MAX that Illustrator on the iPad is also in the works, and digital art app Fresco is now available for Windows too, so it certainly looks like things are moving in the right direction. So how does Photoshop on the iPad look? Will it be joining the ranks of the best iPad apps for designers? Here's what we know so far... What tools are included on Photoshop on iPad? First up, Photoshop on iPad isn't ready to replace desktop photoshop if you're a pro. Adobe describes it as a "complementary desktop companion for professionals" (or a "more accessible introduction to Photoshop for new users"). For the first release, Adobe has focused specifically on compositing and retouching workflows – so things like making selections, masking, blend modes, painting and adjustment layers. The team promise that more capabilities will be introduced with each subsequent release, but for now it seems like this one might be something of a work in progress. The first iteration of Photoshop on the iPad focuses on the core tools only That said, there is plenty of good stuff already on offer here. We were especially impressed by how powerful Photoshop on the iPad is. The demo we saw used a 1GB PSD file with 500 layers, so you don't shouldn't need to worry about over-taxing it. As mentioned, it's optimised for touch and use with the Apple Pencil. There's full PSD compatibility, which means you can switch between desktop and iPad while working on the same docs (there's also full compatibility with new drawing app Adobe Fresco). Cloud-based saving means you won't even need to import or convert your PSDs; so long as you're connected to the internet, you'll simply be able to pick up where you left off. You'll still be able to work on your docs when you're offline, and automatic syncing will kick in when you're back online to ensure your changes are saved. The app is designed to be a companion to the desktop app for creative professionals The UI will be nice and familiar to existing Photoshop users, so the learning curve shouldn't be too steep. Core tools are all available in the toolbar, and you can customise your UI to include how much you want to see, so you don't end up with an overly cluttered workspace – important with a more limited canvas space. What devices support Adobe Photoshop for the iPad? To use Photoshop for iPad, you'll need iPadOS 13.1. It also works with first and second-gen Apple Pencils. Currently, the supported devices are: iPad Pro (Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi + Cellular) iPad Pro 12.9-inch (and 2nd generation) iPad Pro 10.5-inch iPad Pro 9.7-inch iPad (5th generation) iPad mini 4 iPad Air 2 Photoshop for iPad is included in any Creative Cloud plan that includes Photoshop. Adobe is using community feedback to shape the product development roadmap, and you'll find places to share your thoughts within the app. If this is enough to sway you into to picking up an iPad, take a look at our guide to the best iPad Black Friday deals. Read more: Photoshop tutorials to hone your skills Lightroom vs Photoshop: What's the difference? Top free Photoshop actions View the full article

These days, even the most experienced and talented freelancers need some kind of social media presence, to keep their name and work out there, network with existing clients, and find new ones. But how much time and energy are you spending on your posts. New features are constantly being added to Instagram, Twitter et al, to make your use of them easier, more efficient, and more productive. But the companies involved often fail to publicise them properly, and even when they do, it's difficult to know how to even find them in the app menu. In this post, then, we round up eight significant changes to social media in recent months that freelancers should be aware of, whether they're available yet, and how to take advantage of them if they are. 01. Instagram: Checkout Instagram Checkout lets your followers buy products from you, directly within the app Instagram Checkout is big news for any freelancer who wants to sell their own physical products online. In short, it makes it easy to sell your books, prints, T-shirts or whatever on Instagram, via what are called "shoppable" posts. That's because you can tag products directly within said posts, allowing your followers to buy them directly within the app. Not everyone can use shoppable posts, though. You first need a business Instagram account, and you'll need to connect this to a Facebook Page associated with your business. (That might sound weird, but bear in mind that Facebook does own Instagram). You'll find all the details you need to get started in the 'Instagram for Business' section of the Help Pages. Also bear in mind, that while Instagram Shopping is available to businesses in a wide range of countries, at time of writing, the Checkout service is only available to Instagram users based in the USA. 02. Instagram: Create Mode Combine GiFs, text and more to create Instagram Stories: no photo required! Do you create a lot of Instagram Stories as part of your day-to-day? Then you need to be aware of Create Mode. Launched this month, this enables you to create content for your stories without requiring either photos or videos. Create Mode lets you combine drawings and text to create content instead, while the 'sticker' option also allows you to add interactive stickers, including quizzes, polls and countdowns. And there's more. Create Mode also offers you the 'On this Day' option, which allows you to resurface old posts, from the same calendar date in a different year, just like you've long been able to do on Facebook. Finally, you can also now choose any GIF from Giphy and set it as the background for your Instagram Story. 03. Twitter: ‘Hide Replies’ In general, Twitter's great for getting your work out there and finding new clients. But trolling and online abuse can be a huge time-suck from a busy freelance day, not to mention being a massive downer. The new 'Hide Replies' feature, which is currently being tested in the US, Canada and Japan, is its latest attempt to raise the standard of discussion on Twitter. Basically, if you think a reply to your tweet is offensive, it allows you to hide it; not just from yourself and your followers, but from everyone around the world. You can read the full details in this Twitter blog statement. Censorship, shutting down debate, or a sensible move to restore calm and promote a reasoned exchange of ideas? Either way, 'Hide Replies' is still very much in the testing stages, so we'll have to reserve judgement until Twitter decides to roll it out properly (if indeed they do). Worth keeping an eye on, though... 04. Twitter: add images to RTs Who needs words, when pictures of cats eating pizza exist? You know how, when you retweet someone's tweet, you get the choice to retweet with or without a comment? Well, if you're using a smartphone, Twitter now gives you a third option: to add a GIF, image or video instead of a comment. It's not super-obvious this option exists, because there's no new menu prompt. You just have to choose 'Retweet with comment' and then on the next screen, click the appropriate icon and insert your chosen pic, GIF or clip. Also note that this new feature is not available on desktop yet, and it's unclear when that will be, if ever. 05. Twitter: add multiple images to tweets You can now include up to four images per tweet If there was ever a sign that Instagram and Snapchat were stealing all the oxygen in social media right now, it's Twitter's sudden focus on posting images. Because not only can you add images to your retweets, as mentioned in number 4, you can also now add up to four images to your own tweets, too. Plus, excitingly, you can even rearrange your photos at will. To do so, just tap and hold a picture to select it, then drag it forward or back to change the order in which you want the images to be laid out. You can see the new feature in action in the GIF attached to this tweet. 06. Linkedin: Events planning You can now organise an event directly on LinkedIn LinkedIn is a platform most people either love or hate, but many freelancers make good use of it to generate new contacts, network with existing ones, and to generally hustle for work. Well, now freelancers who attend events, or organise them, have an extra reason to head to LinkedIn: its new events planning service. Currently rolling out across English-speaking countries, LinkedIn Events is a free feature that allows you to plan, announce and invite people to meetups and conferences in the "real world". You'll find all the details of what's on offer in this FAQ post. 07. Snapchat: Reddit integration Love Reddit? Love Snapchat? Then this news will make your day Do you make regular use of Reddit and Snapchat? Then you'll be overjoyed to discover that the two platforms - somewhat unexpectedly - have teamed up to make it easier for you to work across the two. Since 14 October, Reddit contributors (known, cutely, as 'redditors') have been able to share their favourite Reddit posts with their Snapchat friends seamlessly. To do so within the Snapchat app, just tap the Share icon on an image, text or link-based post on Reddit’s iOS app, and then select the Snapchat option. 08. TikTok: Pro accounts Find out what's happening with your TikTok videos in detail As we noted in our September article TikTok app: What is it? And why should you care?, the main appeal of TikTok is precisely that's it's silly, fun, chaotic, anarchic, and dominated by youngsters. However, TikTok's huge audiences mean that it's inevitably going to become as interesting to freelancers - eventually - as the other social media platforms. (If you're struggling to imagine what you might use it for, then marketing guru Gary Vee 's account is well worth checking out). And TikTok's owners are clearly thinking the same thing, as they've just launched Pro Accounts: "to offer avid creators greater visibility into how their videos are performing and resonating with fans". Right now, that means you get access to a lot of cool analytics and performance tools. And the best news is, it's free. To set one up from your profile page, open the Privacy and Settings tab, choose 'Manage My Account', tap 'Switch to Pro Account' and follow the steps from there. View the full article

Google Doodles weren't exactly born with the advent of Google. When Google first launched in the late 1990s, one of the things people liked most was the simplicity of its homepage: just a logo and a search bar. But then in 1998, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were going to the Burning Man festival, and wanted to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed. So they added a little Burning Man-style stick figure to the logo, as a kind of fun way of setting an out-of-office message. People loved the notion, and the Google Doodle was born. Subsequent Google Doodles were designed by an outside contractor until 2000, when Page and Brin asked PR guy Dennis Hwang to design a logo for Bastille Day. Since then, a team of employees called ‘Doodlers’ have organised and published Google Doodles on a regular basis. Over the years, Google Doodles have evolved from simple tweaks to the logo, to full-blown illustrations, animations and beyond. Read on, as we select the very best Google Doodle designs created since 1998... 01. The Great Wave of Kanagawa Hokusai's most famous painting is brilliantly integrated into the Google logo Google Doodles often combine iconic art with the Google logo in clever ways, and here’s one of the best examples. Celebrating the birthday of Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, this Google Doodle from 2010 remixed his most famous painting, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, to beautiful effect. 02. Moscow Metro Vintage Russian posters were the inspiration for this Google Doodle, celebrating the 80th anniversary of Moscow's Metro One of the biggest surprises for first-time tourists in Moscow is that its Metro stations are sumptuously ornate: like a cross between a palace and a museum. This Google Doodle from 2015 gives you a taste of what’s in store, with an evocative illustration inspired by vintage Russian posters. 03. International Women’s Day 2017 This inspiring Google Doodle highlights the pioneering work of 13 historical women In this Google Doodle a little girl’s grandmother tells her a bedtime story about her favourite heroines, from US journalist Ida Wells from Korean activist Lee Tai-young. 04. Birth of hip-hop There's a ton of stuff going on in this multimedia Google Doodle celebrating the birth of hip-hop In 2017, Google celebrated hip-hop's 44th anniversary with an ambitious Google Doodle that included a custom logo by graffiti artist Cey Adams, interactive turntables on which you could mix samples from classic tracks, and a serving of hip-hop history, with an emphasis on its founding pioneers. 05. Zaha Hadid An artful tribute to groundbreaking architect Zaha Hadid Born in Iraq in 1950, architect Zaha Hadid captured the world's attention and shattered stereotypes with her award-winning buildings. This Google Doodle from 2017 portrays her next to The Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan, which draws on many elements of classic Islamic design. 06. Georges Méliès This VR Google Doodle is a fitting tribute to the French illusionist and film director In 2018, the first-ever virtual reality Google Doodle, a collaboration with Cinémathèque Française, paid tribute to Georges Méliès, the trailblazing French film director celebrated in the movie Hugo. You can enjoy the full 360-degree experience using Google’s Cardboard or Daydream VR viewers. 07. Virginia Woolf This minimalist illustration matches the style of Virginia Woolf's narrative style British author Virginia Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style established her as both a great novelist and a feminist icon. This 2018 illustration by English illustrator Louise Pomeroy celebrates Woolf’s minimalist approach and incorporates falling leaves, a frequent visual theme in her work. 08. The hole punch This fun animation paid tribute to the hole punch on its 131st anniversary Google Doodles don’t just celebrate glamorous topics, but also the humble creations that have changed our lives in subtle ways. A perfect example is this fun animated doodle from 2017 paying tribute to the hole punch, an incredible feat of German engineering that deserves to be marvelled at. 09. Bach Compose your own melody with this AI-driven Google Doodle In March 2019, the world got its the first AI-powered Google Doodle. This interactive experience allows you to compose a two measure melody of your choice. With the press of a button, the Doodle then uses machine learning to harmonise the custom melody into Bach’s signature music style. 10. Lygia Clark This arty Google Doodle pays tribute to a Brazilian art legend Artist Lygia Clark was a Brazilian painter, sculptor and teacher who co-founded the Neo-Concrete movement, which sought to change art from a passive viewing experience to an engaging interaction. This captivating 3D Google Doodle from 2015 was a fitting tribute to this groundbreaking artist. 11. Sochi Olympics Google took a stand against Russia's anti-gay laws with this rainbow doodle The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi became the centre of worldwide protests against Russia's homophobic laws, and Google didn't sit on the fence. This rainbow-hued Google Doodle made a simple but powerful statement, while the quote from the Olympic Charter below spelled out exactly where it stood. 12. Robert Moog's 78th birthday Google loves to give its users something to play with from time to time One of Google's best-loved interactive doodles celebrated the 78th birthday of Robert Moog, the man who created the eponymous synthesiser, in 2012. His creation featuring heavily in songs by The Beatles, The Doors and others, and this clever Google Doodle lets you try it yourself. 13. Jules Verne Dive under and celebrate the birthday of Jules Verne with this Google doodle Google paid homage to sci-fi writer Jules Verne on what would have been his 183rd birthday, with this interactive Google Doodle in 2011. The logo showcases a view of the ocean from a submarine, inspired by his novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and you can explore it using the lever on the right. 14. Claude Debussy This magical animation gels beautifully with Debussy's Clair de Lune Popularised by the movie Oceans 11, Clair de Lune is one of the most hauntingly beautiful piano suites of all time. This animated Google Doodle, celebrating the 151st anniversary of its composer in 2013, uses it as the soundtrack to a Parisian riverside scene, and it's quite magical. 15. Saul Bass's 93rd birthday Google's doodle pays animated tribute to the iconic work of Saul Bass 8 May 2013 would have been graphic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass's 93rd birthday. And this cleverly animated Google Doodle cleverly recreated some of his best-known designs, including his work on Anatomy of a Murder, The Man with the Golden Arm, Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho. 16. Freddie Mercury In 2011, Queen guitarist Brian May collaborated with the Google Doodle team to pay tribute to his late friend and colleague Freddie Mercury. The result was this animated Google Doodle to celebrate Freddie's 65th birthday, accompanied by classic Queen track Don't Stop Me Now. 17. Charlie Chaplin From one moustachioed hero to another. This Google Doodle paid tribute to silent film star Charlie Chaplin, with a video for what would have been his 122nd birthday. It shows a Chaplin lookalike read a Google newspaper, interact with a Google logo and try to draw a Google Doodle, in typically shambolic fashion. 18. 8-bit Winter Wonderland This winter wonderland celebrated the birth of Frank Zamboni There's nothing like a Google Doodle that you can interact with, and this fun game is one of our faves. Dedicated to Frank Zamboni, the American inventor of the ice resurfacer, it features some pesky ice-skaters that create marks on the ice. It's your job to smooth things over, using the arrow keys. 19. 150 years of the London Underground A design classic gets the Google Doodle makeover London's Tube map, created by electric draughtsman Harry Beck in 1931, turned out to be one of the best design ideas in the world, and widely imitated everywhere. The design takes on a new form in this doodle, with 'Google' being spelt out within the rail lines. You need to look closely, but it is there! 20. Winsor McCay's Little Nemo Google's first interactive comic is a joy to behold Little Nemo in Slumberland, a comic strip about a small boy's adventures, ran in the New York Herald from 1905-1911. This 2012 Google doodle celebrated artist Winsor McCay's 107th anniversary through an interactive comic strip. You click the tab at the end of each animated section to move on to the next part. 21. The Brothers Grimm Google told the story of Red Riding Hood through a series of 22 illustrations Crafted to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the brothers Grimm, this Google Doodle from 2012 tells the tale of Red Riding Hood through 22 lovingly crafted flat-design illustrations. If you spend the time to click through them all, you're rewarded with an alternative ending to the classic story. 22. Halloween 2012 A fun Google Doodle for Halloween Halloween has seen many great offerings from Google, but it was this interactive Google Doodle from 2012 that we loved the most. With an eerie soundtrack, this fun animation features a spooky street, with a series of friendly monsters to discover behind each of the doors. Explore more Halloween Doodles, including the 2019 version in our dedicated Halloween Doodles post. 23. JFK 50th anniversary This typographical treat marked the anniversary of John F Kennedy's 1961 inauguration In 2011, a special Google Doodle marked the 50th anniversary of JFK's inaugural address, which included the famous line: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." The team took the words from Kennedy's speech and rearranged them to spell out the Google logo. 24. Will Eisner This comic book-inspired doodle was created in memory of graphic artist Will Eisner Graphic artist and comic writer Will Eisner is widely regarded as the father of the graphic novel. In 2011, this stylish Google doodle honoured what would have been his 94th birthday by combining a 3D comic-style rendering of the Google logo with Eisner's character The Spirit; a detective from beyond the grave. 25. Amelia Earhart Google celebrated pioneering female pilot Ameila Earhart with this lovely illustration In 2012, Google celebrate the life of pioneering female pilot Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, on what would have been her 115th birthday. This illustrated Google Doodle depicted her standing on an aeroplane, with 'Google' subtly painted on the underside of the wings. 26. Les Paul In 2011, to honour the late musician and inventor Les Paul, Google created this playable guitar as the day's Google Doodle. In just 48 hours, Americans used it to record 5.1 years worth of music (40 million songs), and those songs were played back 870,000 times. See it in action in the video above. 27. Robert Doisneau A rare photo-led approach to the Google Doodle Most Google Doodles have been illustrated or animated, but here's a notable exception. To mark what would have been the 100th birthday of French photographer Robert Doisneau, this Google doodle features four of his famous images: The Tugboat, The Three Children, Dog on Wheels and The Kiss. 28. Gideon Sundbäck It's not often Google makes you go 'wow', but here's a notable exception from 2012. Clicking the zipper on this special Google Doodle made the page split in two, revealing the doodle's inspiration: Gideon Sundbäck, the Swedish-American credited with developing the zipper. See it in action in the video above. 29. John Lennon A short music video of Imagine to commemorate what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday, this interactive illustration was created by the Google Doodle team's Mike Dutton, who said: "I hope a moving picture will help me adequately – and simply – thank John for the memories." 30. Live lunar eclipse Google marked the lunar eclipse by documenting the event (almost) in real-time online In 2011, an interactive Google Doodle represented the lunar eclipse in (almost) real-time. Astronomy website Slooh provided Google with images from cameras set up in South Africa, Dubai and the Canary Islands, and if you clicked on the slider underneath the Doodle, you could experience the eclipse in all its glory. 31. Martha Graham This dancing animation is utterly entrancing This animated Google Doodle is one of the most entrancing we've ever seen. Created to recognise what would have been the 117th birthday of American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham, it features five dancing ladies who spell out the world 'Google' with their movements. 32. Pac-Man Google's first interactive logo celebrated Pac-Man back in 2010 Google unveiled its first interactive doodle in 2010 to mark the 30th anniversary of classic arcade game Pac-Man, remains one of its best. Based on the original game logic, graphics and sounds, and even original bugs from the 1980s masterpiece, it's still an addictive treat to this day. 33. The Wizard of Oz This Wizard of Oz illustration incorporates the Google logo super-subtly In 2010, 71 years after Wizard of Oz burst onto cinema screens, Google honoured the classic movie with this loving tribute. Using the landscape to subtly spell out the logo, it depicts Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Tin Man and Toto the dog as they first spot the Emerald City. 34. Lego Lego's 50th anniversary was celebrated by the Google team with this awesome doodle This cool Lego doodle was created to mark the little toy brick's 50th anniversary in 2008. Fun fact: Lego art has a special place in Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin's hearts: they used the bricks as the casing for 4GB hard disks, for a server they were making when they were developing the search engine. Read more: A guide to Google's web tools 6 web design trends that've had their day 404 pages: Check out the best error pages View the full article

Procreate 5 public beta is almost here, and if you want to be one of the first to test it, you can now sign up to be notified as soon as applications are open. This isn't the first we've heard of Procreate 5. Back in September, Serif revealed the exciting new features that are set to make the latest version of the iPad drawing app the best yet. And this isn't the only big news we're expecting today, as with Adobe MAX happening in LA, we're also hoping for news about the release of Photoshop for iPad. It seems it's gonna be a good day for iPad apps for designers. So what does Procreate 5 offer? (See our Procreate 5 post for a full rundown of the features.) Well, it has a new super-speedy graphics engine, named Valkyrie, some big changes to brushes and colours in the app, and even more useful tools. Creatives can also now import their favourite Photoshop brushes directly into Procreate. And you can also combine brushes to make custom Dual Brushes, with over 150 brush settings. There's now a floating Color Picker, so it's easier to play around with hues, improved Color Dynamics for easier transformation of colours, and a definite plus point is the option to import CMYK and RGB ICC profiles. The new Clone Tool also makes duplicating textures nice and easy, while the introduction of Animation Assist means working with animation is about to become a lot easier with features like instant playback and an animation essential, onion skinning. We're obviously excited, and we're not the only ones. Here's a snapshot of what Twitter had to say at Procreate's announcement. As you might expect, not everyone can be a beta tester, but all you need to do to be notified when applications open is sign up with your email address. So, with no time to waste go and get yourself signed up today. Read more: 34 of the best Procreate brushes Procreate tutorial: How to Paint like the Old Masters The best digital art software in 2019 View the full article

Creating striking custom images doesn't have to be costly or time-consuming. Canva, a simplified graphic design tool, helps you achieve your goals even if you don't have any design skills under your belt. And this course will show you how to use it. Taught by Matt Stevenson, a seasoned designer and Creative Director at the U.S. Department of Treasury, this Easy Graphic Design for Your Business with Canva course guides you through the ins and outs of Canva. Get to know the Canva interface and take full advantage of its robust features, such as combining images and text with an easy drag and drop functionality. You’ll have a look at basic design principles and step-by-step instructions on how to create graphics that are attention-grabbing and effective through the platform. With 17 lectures and guided directions, Canva can be used by non-designers and professionals alike to produce all types of creative content. Professionally-designed Canva templates include flyers, posters, business cards, invitations, infographics, and so much more. Each template is customisable, so you can edit them to fit your brand needs. There is even a whole section dedicated to social media graphics, easing the process of creating content on the go. Matt Stevenson will be on hand to offer tips on how you can use Canva-created graphics in business and how your designs can elevate and grow your brand. The lifetime access subscription will allow you to keep coming back whenever projects of any size arise. While this course is usually valued at $29, but you can currently get it for just $9.99 (that's an impressive 65% off). Get started on the next phase of your professional career with an easy to follow solution for creating beautiful graphics. Related articles: 25 eye-catching flyer designs 52 web design tools to help you work smarter in 2019 The best computer for graphic design in 2019 View the full article

User journeys are vital for understanding a business' customers and the journey they take when interacting with the business/product. In the same way as we use GPS maps to guide us when we travel, customer journey maps or user journeys help businesses to understand the user pain points and identify important things. This includes understanding various customer touchpoints and business needs at all the different stages in the sales funnel and identifying the logical stages and the gaps between the ideal customer experience and the current experience being offered. It can also help massively improve your landing page and the general user experience of your site. It could also include prioritising the development priorities and enabling the business to concentrate spending efforts on what features matter the most. Here, I will explain the essential parts of a user journey with the help of an example. 01. Choose the right persona No two journey maps are the same. They vary from business to business and the design varies depending on the product you are planning to map. The user journey can be designed for a single customer persona or it can be created for a segment of customers. Once a customer journey is designed for a persona, it can be applied to other customers by establishing a common understanding of customer stages, goals, touchpoints, opportunities, and so on. The two key things that should be focused on are motivations and emotions. Motivations include the actions that help the user to move forward in the experience. Emotions are powerful in determining whether the users love your experience or whether they want to abandon it. Let us consider the scenario of a potential video game buyer. For the purpose of the article, I will keep the stages simple. The persona we will consider for this journey map is John, who is a financial director. He is 42, living in NYC with a high income and is often super busy. You can go as detailed as possible for the persona. 02. Create the stages of a journey map Now that we have decided on the persona, let’s move on to the next important step of deciding what stages you want in the user journey. Each stage or phase is used to represent a vital goal your customer is trying to achieve as they progress through the journey. Stages can be high-level or they can be more detailed. The problem with being more detailed is that the user journey could turn into an internal process diagram, which is not our goal here. Most of the stages are linear but it all depends on the product or service. For this journey map of a newly launched video game, let’s start creating various stages that John goes through. A simple layout can be as follows: Previous experience with the games Awareness of our new video game (1st touchpoint) Choosing the video game Purchasing the video game Playing the video game Sharing the experience 03. Identify actions, mindsets and emotions Click the right-hand corner of the image to enlarge Each stage in the journey contains various key elements. All these are represented in vertical lanes and the stages are represented in horizontal lanes. All elements can be categorised under three zones. The first is actions, mindsets and emotions. Actions represent what the customer is doing at that particular stage of the journey. Mindsets include all the things going on in the customer’s head about the product or service. Emotions are to capture the predominant mood of the user as they move from one stage to another. This is important because a business can retain its customers and gain more if the user experience they deliver results in more positive emotions. Let’s look at our example and what these different elements can potentially look like. For the purpose of this journey map, let’s look at one of the six stages: ‘Choosing the videogame’. Actions by John include things like checking the rating of the game, checking the artwork, checking the price of the game, looking for deals, reading the description and playing the trailer Few thoughts in his mind could be: ‘Mmm, the price seems fair’; ‘Wow! Cool artwork’; ‘Ahh, this reminds me of the XYZ game’; or: ‘The trailer is amazing. I hope the game is too’ Emotions in this stage could be uncertainty, indecision, deception, surprise 04. Consider touchpoints and channels Touchpoints are the times when the customer interacts with the business or interface and channels usually refer to the methods of communication or service delivery. This can be anything, including a website, mobile app or physical store. This zone helps uncover any disconnected user experiences or inconsistencies in the brand. Coming back to the video game example, a few touchpoints and channels in these stages can include digital mediums such as a mobile app, gameplay store on Xbox, game review websites or they could be non-digital touchpoints, such as an advertisement in a gaming magazine or a friend talking to you about the new video game. 05. Look at opportunities and barriers This zone includes opportunities that will drive growth via investing in UX improvements. The business should always craft a journey map in a way that can be used for action planning, meaning it will uncover various opportunities, assess the potential impact and cost and further guide investing priorities for the business. A barrier is an optional feature that you can have at each stage. These will include all the pain points for a customer when interacting with the business at a particular stage. This can be used along with opportunities to fix the issues with the interface, business or product. A few opportunities in the case of the video game example are: Choosing the video game stage  – improve the user experience of the app store, improve the navigation and findability of the game, provide promotional discounts and deals to the new users. Sharing the video game stage – offer points when sharing moments of the game, sharing options on level completion, inviting friends to unlock new stages/levels. These are the key zones and the relevant features you must take care of when designing a user journey. Based on the type of journey, the depth and breadth can be tweaked. For making informed decisions on these, there are few considerations: What is the level of detail that is required for telling the complete story to the stakeholders of the business? What key elements will be necessary in order to provide the most truthful and meaningful narrative/journey? What is the purpose of the journey map? To diagnose the existing issues or create a whole new customer experience? What are the issues on the customer side (external) versus business organisation (internal)? Who are the primary users of this journey map? This article was originally published in issue 322 of net, the world's leading web design magazine Buy issue 322 or subscribe to net here. Read more: Can green UX save the world? 15 of the best online coding courses 6 web design trends that've had their day View the full article

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They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Well if that's true, there's a couple of design teams around the world right now that should be feeling pretty flattered following the unveiling of Microsoft's new Edge browser logo this weekend. Already under heavy criticism, the logo has been compared to the Firefox logo, and, even more embarrassingly, the swirling blue-and-green design of Tide Pods laundry detergent packs. And when you see them side-by-side (below), it's hard to argue otherwise. Maybe the design team should have referred to our guide to logo design for some pointers? The new design (above) combines the lowercase 'e' icon that dates back to Microsoft's Internet Explorer years, and morphs it into the shape of a swirling wave, which is presumably representative of surfing the web. Below are some of the early reactions. It's nothing new to see such harsh reactions in the early days of a logo, and, who knows, maybe in time people will appreciate the freshness of the new design (sorry, we couldn't resist). You can compare it to the old Edge logo below. Whatever you make of the new Edge logo, one thing is for sure, the ocean wave-inspired design bears precious little resemblance to Microsoft's original IE icon, which the company is so well known for. Moving away from such an iconic design is a brave move, so we'll be interested to read more on why the decision for a much more fluent design was made. Read more: IKEA's latest logo tweak is "amazing" Reimagined Helvetica is a hilarious horror story Finally! A logotype that people actually like View the full article

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