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Are you an aspiring entrepreneur involved in the startup world? Then you must have come across the term “lean startup.” But, what exactly does it mean, and why do we think it’s vital for your business? Source: Amazon. What Is …View the full article

Despite only featuring in voice form in the latest Star Wars film, Yoda has been the talk of the internet lately. First, there was Baby Yoda and his tiny weeny toes. And now, there's been a resurgence of a character design from a few years ago: Yoda with human skin. This 3D masterpiece, created Andrea Eusebi, recently resurfaced after video game critic Olly Smith tweeted a photo of it (see below). This Yoda isn't green, which isn't that surprising. And there's something about the redness around his eyes and nose that makes him super-realistic. That and the ear hair and wrinkles, that is. (Perhaps Eusebi had been following our character design tips.) Eusebi details his concept on his blog, including what Yoda with human skin looks like from various angles. The angle below is particularly unsettling. Eek We should also note that considering Yoda is around 900 years old, he's in pretty good shape. We can only assume this is due to the strength of The Force. Sculpted from all angles it is. Yes What's interesting about this Yoda is that Yoda's designer, make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, actually based the original puppet on his own face, as well as Albert Einstein's. So this new character design feels like something of a hybrid between their faces and Yoda. You can find out more about Freeborn and Yoda in the video below. The internet seems to be going wild for alternative character designs at the moment. Baby Thanos and Baby Sonic appeared after all the Baby Yoda hype, so will we soon see a spate of characters with human skin? Is Sonic with human skin coming soon to an Instagram account near you? We sort of hope so. And if you've already created a fun new character, then be sure to share your designs with us via Twitter or Instagram. Read more: 7 free Star Wars fonts The Force is strong with this illustrated Star Wars poster Star Wars Lego sets are here! View the full article

The news of a change – however subtle – to any much-loved logo will inevitably spark reactions. Cadillac found this out when it decided to rethink the positioning of its emblem on its newest cars, baffling many fans. If the move has been bothering you, fear not, because the car manufacturer has provided a solid explanation to satisfy your curiosity. The Cadillac logo holds a special place in many car fans' hearts (to find out more about it, explore our guide to the best car logos – or see how it stacks up against the best logos of all time). Historically, it has always been positioned in the horizontal and vertical centre of the cars' grilles. However, in its newer fleet of vehicles, it's shifted towards the top of the grille. The Cadillac logo was originally positioned in the vertical centre of the grille The Cadillac Society spoke to designers at Cadillac to find out the reasoning behind the move. It all comes down to overall composition, and specifically the size of the grill and where the headlights sit on the front end of the vehicle. The latest iteration of Cadillac's design language features headlights that sit higher up on the front end of the car – as seen for example in the XT6, pictured above. The designers explained that visually, the headlamps form a kind of "bookend" to the grille. So if these are positioned higher up on the car, a vertically centred Cadillac logo will look like it's "falling". A higher placement that lines up with the headlamps creates a more balanced look to the front end of the vehicle. The Cadillac XT6 is one of many new vehicles to feature the repositioned logo So there you have it. The Cadillac logo change isn't a statement in itself, but part of an evolving design language for the car manufacturer. Mystery solved. [Via Cadillac Society] Read more: Have you seen Samsung's invisible keyboard? Designer unmasks the secret of the PS5 logo UAE waves goodbye to eagle with abstract new logo View the full article

We all know the saying that an image is worth a thousand words, but we could also say that it will take an image to get someone to read a thousand words. Images are powerful things. They add value to content not only by illustrating points made in the content but also make people read the content in the first place. Here we look at just how important images are adding value to digital content. Whatever your platform when you’re designing content for, you know you only have a short time to grab your audience’s attention. Research shows people form an impression in 50 milliseconds, and on social media in particular, there is huge competition for eyeballs. No matter how interesting the copy, an image can make the difference to whether it's read or ignored. Wouldn't you like to read what the article accompanying this image is about? iStock by Getty Images has found that articles with images get 94% more views than those without. We like to have something to look at, and this applies both online and in print. It perhaps shouldn’t be at all surprising when you consider that nearly two thirds of people self-identify as visual learners. This means that a meaty article on tackling environmental issues is much more likely to be read if it's accompanied by an image that makes an impact and gets us to sit up and take notice, and the audience will get further into marketing copy if it's led by an aspirational image that shows a goal to aim for. If you're struggling to get readers to pay attention to environmental issues, try an image like this But content with the right image isn’t only more likely to be read; it’s also more likely to be shared. iStock has found that Facebook posts with images get 2.3% more engagement than those without, and Twitter posts with images are shared 150% more than those with text only. A bright image like this one is more likely to be shared on social media The challenge is finding the right image. Instagram users post 49,380 images every minute, and 1 and 3 images used online is a stock image. Bright colours can get attention as can photos that show a sense of fun or something to strive for, while photos with people in them tend to gain more engagement. Use an image like this with both people and animals in it on social media, and you're much more likely to get shares and Likes At Getty’s iStock, they research trends to follow what images are connecting with audiences and use search technology to filter and find the most effective images. To take advantage and gain access to a vast selection of imagery that can add value to a wide range of content, visit iStock by Getty. View the full article

There are few communities within 3D art as reverent or appreciative as the world of fan art. Each recreation or reinterpretation is a labour of love in which artists pay tribute to their favourite characters, comics, films, franchises and more. And these examples are particularly incredible examples of what you can create off the back of 3D movies or comic book characters. Below are some of our favourite creations, plus insight from the artists that made them. For more inspiration, explore our roundup of the best 3D art. Click the icon in the top right of each image to enlarge it 01. Venom Franco Carlesimo’s Venom fan art is a faithful and comic-accurate recreation Franco Carlesimo, who made this Venom character, has been creating fan art for as long as he can remember. "I was introduced to comics as a kid and used to copy or do my interpretations of all the characters I liked." Click the image to find out more and book your place 02. Spider-Man Carlesimo used ZBrush, 3ds Max and V-Ray to create this striking image of Spider-Man Carlesimo also created this incredible Spider-Man. "In 3D you have to try to make it look cool from several angles. I always try to have at least three good angles to look at it," says Carlesimo of his process. 03. Storm Queiroz based this project on one of his favourite designs for X-Men character Storm The recipe for great fan art, according to Victor Hugo Queiroz, who created this image of X-Men's Storm, is a respect for the source material and an acknowledgment of the technical challenge that it presents. “Fan art can be a tricky subject because it’s kind of easy to get positive feedback from the fanbase, which sometimes makes you less exigent about the quality of your work,” he explains. When it comes to capturing the attention of the industry, Queiroz stresses the importance of remembering that not everyone will recognise the source of your inspiration. “Not all recruiters watched that anime that you loved back in the '90s,” he adds. It’s important to make sure that your work is captivating, whether the viewer knows the source material or not." 04. Superman Superman, as you've never seen him before This personal project by Richie Mason depicts Superman facing off against Green Lantern. Mason has always loved comic books and the characters that inhabit them, and so was driven to create his own versions of them. 05. Super Sons Eduardo Silva’s Super Sons fan art is based on the art of comic book artist Jorge Jiménez This fan art by Eduardo Silva is based on DC Universe Rebirth cover, illustrated by super-talented artist Jorge Jiménez. "This cover has a great action scene with the characters in very dynamic poses and good elements to compose the base. The goal now was to make this illustration a statue that works from all angles," says Silva. "The biggest challenge was to make a simple light that would work from some angles and also in the 360," he continues. "After doing a lot of tests I found a setup that pleased me, something that brightened the scene but had hard and soft shadows at the same time, helping to make the scene more dramatic." 06. Spider-Gwen Spider-Gwen fan art by Eduardo Silva The goal of this Spider-Gwen fan art by Silva was to produce a statue with human proportions. Throughout the fan art development process, Silva pays close attention to the essential characteristics of the character he is working on: "the anatomy, accessories, environment in which this character lives, and what kind of story I’m trying to tell. Generally I try to make the characters as faithful as possible while respecting the original creation, adapting only what doesn’t work so well in 3D." For more 3D inspiration, subscribe to 3D World the world's best magazine on all things 3D. Read more: The 11 best Maya plugins These 3D portraits are unbelievably realistic Element 3D: What is it and how to use it View the full article

As January gets underway, the majority of people are trying to upgrade their lives for the new year ahead. Increased productivity is usually near the top of the list for most, and the mornings are super-important when it comes to setting the tone for the day in front of you. In fact, it's the first 10 minutes that could make or break your day, according to productivity experts. If that tiny window for success is inducing a sense of panic within you, don't fret because those same experts have created a handy infographic that will shake up your morning routine and increase your productivity. (See more of our favourite infographics here.) The infographic is full of information related to focusing and planning, like emptying your brain before you begin any work. But there's more. Make sure you're exposed to natural light, don't sit down straight away and, we're sorry to say it, but don't drink any coffee. We know that's a tough one. If you feel inspired to make your own infographic, check out our list of the best infographics tools around. Click the infographic to see it full-sized. For more productivity tips for the new year, see our time management tools or time management tips. Read more: The best infographics 10 productivity tools you can't be without in 2020 19 ways to streamline your workflow View the full article

Users of GnuPG, OpenSSL and Git could be in danger from an attack that's practical for ordinary attackers to carry out. View the full article

Facebook privacy settings may seem like a bit of a paradox. Facebook isn't exactly well-known for protecting its users’ privacy. The company seems to hop from privacy scandal to privacy scandal, with constant revelations appearing about the latest instance of it misusing user data. But that’s not the only reason why it’s a good idea to get on top of your Facebook privacy settings. If you don’t want the world and their dog browsing freely through your photos, you’ll want to tweak a few options. If you have a public or business profile and then a separate private one, you'll also want to make sure you keep your personal profile as private as possible. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t make it easy, with settings scattered all over the place. That’s where this guide comes in – follow our tips and you’ll be able to pry control away from Facebook’s grabbing tentacles. For more social media tips for creatives, see our guide to how to change the font in your Instagram bio and the best social media platforms for artists and designers. Click in the top-right corner of each image to enlarge it. Basic Facebook settings to change You can restrict who can see your photo albums, but have to do them one by one A lot of your Facebook content is publicly available to anyone, even people not on your friends list. If that’s not something you want, click the downward arrow on the right of Facebook’s top menu bar, then click Settings. Head to the Privacy section. Here you can adjust who can see your future and past posts, whether you appear in search engines, who can add you as a friend, and more. If you want to restrict who can see your photos, it’s a little more involved. Go to your profile, click Photos > Albums, then click the album you want to adjust. Click Edit, then under Privacy, choose who can see it. To do this for individual photos, go to the Your Photos section, click a picture, then click Edit and choose who it’s shared with. Your About section can reveal a lot about you, but you can stop strangers prying with a few settings Your Facebook About section can also reveal a lot about you, such as the city where you live, your contact info and relationship status. If you’d rather not have this information displayed to any and all who stumble upon your profile, you should restrict it. To do so, head to your profile, then click About underneath your cover photo. Select a section in the left-hand panel (for example, 'Places you’ve lived'), then hover your pointer over the info you want to adjust. Click the Edit button, then use the audience selector to choose who can see it. When you’re done, click Save Changes. Note that some information, such as your name, profile picture and username, is always public and can’t be hidden. How to adjust Facebook privacy settings for individual posts Each time you make a post, you can choose who will see it from a fairly customisable set of options When you make a post on Facebook, you can choose who should be able to see it. Underneath the options for tagging friends, attaching photos and setting an activity, there are two toggles: News Feed and Your story. Each has a dropdown menu on the right allowing you to choose who will see the post. Three options are displayed by default: 'Public', 'Friends' and 'Friends except…', the latter of which allows you to exclude certain friends from seeing your post. If you click 'More…' you get options to share the post with a handful of specific friends, or to only allow yourself to see it. It doesn’t end there, though. At the bottom of this list of options is a 'See all' button; click this and you can set custom rules for your post. This gives you the most control over your post, allowing you to include certain people and lists, exclude others, and choose whether friends of tagged people can see it too. It’s buried pretty deep, but it’s the option to go for if you want the most control. If you want your future posts to only be seen by a certain set of people, you can do so in Privacy settings To make your choice the default for posts going forward, click Privacy in Facebook’s settings, then Edit next to 'Who can see your future posts?' and choose an option. You can also change sharing options for posts after you’ve posted them. Just find the post, then click the audience button next to the date and time info. You get all the same options as when you create a new post. Note that if you shared something on a friend’s timeline, it’s governed by their sharing settings, not yours. Use Facebook lists for more control Creating lists of friends is a quick way to share content only with a select group Sometimes, you just want to share something with a specific group of friends. While you could select individual friends one by one, it’s much easier to create a list and share directly with those people. This also protects your privacy by not oversharing with people who are not the intended audience. Helpfully, Facebook creates a few lists for you. From your home page, click 'Friend lists' in the Explore section on the left-hand side (it may be hidden under 'See more…'). You’ll see three lists: Close friends, Acquaintances and Restricted. Each starts empty, allowing you to add people as needed. The Acquaintances list is for people you only share with occasionally, perhaps like your colleagues. When creating a post, you can choose to share with 'Friends except acquaintances' to exclude them. The Restricted list is for people you really don’t want to share everything with – like your boss – and these people will only see your public content and anything they’re tagged in. If you want a bit more control, just click 'Create List' and start adding friends to a new custom list. Extricate yourself from other people’s Facebook posts If someone tags you in a post, Timeline Review lets you block it from appearing on your timeline If a friend has tagged you in a post or picture that you’d rather not be associated with, there are ways to remove your name from it. On a photo, hover over it and click Options, then click 'Remove tag'. On a post, click the … button in the top right, then click 'Remove tag'. This won’t delete the picture, just your name from it. To do this for things before they’re posted on your page, turn on Timeline Review. Head to Facebook’s Settings section, then click 'Timeline and tagging' on the left; in the Review section, click Edit next to 'Review posts you're tagged in before the post appears on your timeline?'. Change this to Enabled. You can also use this section to review tags before they’re applied to you. There’s a catch, though – Timeline Review can only control what appears on your own timeline, not in people’s News Feed or search results. Read more: 5 tips for presenting your work on social media The ultimate guide to social media for creatives 8 best social media platforms for artists and designers View the full article

Our devices are getting smaller, lighter, and increasingly wire-free, but Samsung has gone step further in our quest for portable productivity: say hello to SelfieType, the first keyboardless keyboard. Sounds crackers, but it's true. The boffins at Samsung Electronics’ in-house incubation program C-Lab have developed AI software that analyses your finger movements and then translates them into QWERTY keyboard inputs on your device. All you need to make the magic happen is a front-facing camera (from a smartphone, tablet or laptop). To use the invisible keyboard, you simply place your device on any flat surface, hold your hands in the typing position and start typing. Take a look at the video below to see SelfieType in action – you will be impressed. (Looking for a more traditional option? See our pick of the best keyboards or the best tablet keyboards.) The more we look at the SelfieType the more we love it – the benefits, unlike the keyboard itself, are obvious for all to see. No more making do with a cut-down keyboard with tiny keys. You can type messages and emails on your smartphone easier and faster than any thumb technique. And, you won't need to lug around any clunky clip-on keyboards. Your keyboard will always be with wherever you are. If seems too good to be true, but they say seeing is believing (ahem). SelfieType is currently still at concept stage, and is being demoed at CES2020. Read more: The best iPad accessories for 2020 Wacom unveils its most affordable tablet yet Designer unmasks the secret of the PS5 logo View the full article

The introduction of the HTML5 specification brought with it a host of new semantic tags, giving more meaning to HTML tags. This meant that web designers no longer needed to produce swatches of <div> tags to build their site structure. The basic semantic HTML tags such as <header>, <footer> and <nav> are almost self explanatory. But, there are a host of newer HTML tags that web designers need to be using as well. Here we pick eight HTML tags that you should be using right now and briefly explain how they should be used. Plus, you'll find five HTML tags that need to be replaced immediately if you are still using them. For more web design advice, see our web design tools roundup or our guide to how to make an app. 01. <picture> The <picture> tag is similar to <img>, the <picture> element provides flexibility by allowing multiple <source> elements for the same resource, which can adapt based on a media query or image type support. For example, it can supply WebP images to browsers that support the newer, smaller file size. 02. <datalist> The <datalist> tag provides an autocomplete interface for <input> elements. Each list contains a set of <option> elements that have an associated value. When linked to an <input> using the “list” attribute, it can provide a drop-down list or even display suggestions as the user types. 03. <dl> This description list, or <dl> tag, element serves as a container for groups of defined terms. Inside, each term (<dt>) and definition (<dd>) are grouped together to form a glossary-like structure. While it applies basic formatting by default, semantic HTML benefits screen readers and other automated tools such as crawlers. 04. <details> Accordions are a common design pattern when lots of data needs to be shown at once, such as a questions page. By using the <details> element alongside <summary>, we can achieve the same effect without JavaScript. Clicking the summary will toggle the rest of the content. 05. <dfn> Complex terms or abbreviations often need defining for those that are not familiar. A term wrapped in a <dfn> tag will be defined by the text that surrounds it. This is an inline element and is designed to be used to highlight definitions in human language. 06. <figure> A figure is defined as a unit of content that often appears in the main flow of a document but can be also interpreted separately. The <figure> element wraps an image or other reference content and can also include a description of its contents with <figcaption>. 07. <code> With technical writing, it can be useful to visually separate computer code from the rest of the sentence. By wrapping each occurrence in a <code> tag, the browser can apply some default formatting to display it more appropriately. Combine with <pre> for larger code blocks. 08. <time> We can write time values differently depending on the context or the language. By marking these values with the <time> tag, search engines and other automated tooling can quickly extract this information. Use the “datetime” attribute to supply a specific time in a more machine-friendly format. 5 HTML tags to avoid The HTML specification has a lot of legacy tags that can still be used, and will still work, but the simple fact is, there is usually a better alternative out there. And, if there is a better option then you really need to be using it. There is also the issue of browser support. Some tags will no longer be supported in every browser, but these can go unnoticed when looking at the design of a page. Again these need to be replaced. Below you will find five tags that should definitely not be sitting inside the HTML of any page. If you spot any of these in your code make sure they are replaced with a more suitable tag or removed altogether. 01. <font> Historically, the <font> tag was used to style a block of text, it’s now best to target and style text with CSS. According to Advanced Web Ranking, nearly 6.5 million websites still use the tag despite it being deprecated for many years. 02. <menuitem> When combined with <menu>, the <menuitem> tag would supply options and actions to perform inside context menus. This has now been removed from the specification as it did not receive much browser support. 03. <big> The <big> tag would have increased the size of the text inside the tag by one level. Its companion <small> is still valid HTML, but now has a more defined semantic meaning referring to small print. 04. <center> Previously the <center> tag was the only way to centralise both block and inline content, but it has now been replaced with “text-align: center” in CSS, which performs the same job. 05. <marquee> The <marquee> tag allowed the text inside the tag to move across the screen like a news ticker. While previously a popular feature of the web it has been classed as obsolete in favour of CSS-based animations. Do you want to learn more about web design? Then subscribe to net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Learn how to build better JavaScript at GenerateJS Join us in April 2020 with our lineup of JavaScript superstars at GenerateJS – the conference helping you build better JavaScript. Book now at generateconf.com How to use an HTML boilerplate: A guide 6 steps to writing better CSS 13 of the best JavaScript frameworks to try View the full article

The United Arab Emirates has announced a brand new logo (above), the country's first for 50 years. Named '7 Lines', the final product is the winner of a competition voted on by 10.6 million people from around the world. The logo is accompanied by a new slogan: Make It Happen, that apparently sums up the nation's journey since the unification of the seven countries 50 years ago. Alongside the rebrand that will carry the nation forward over the next 50 years, the UAE will be planting over 10 million trees in Nepal and Indonesia – one tree for every vote cast. The entire package aims to enhance the UAE's reputation with its global audience. (Compare this shiny new logo to our pick of the best ever in our best logos post.) The new logo was announced by HH Sheikh Mohammed with the above tweet. Seven designers were chosen from each of the seven regions to work on the potential design. The finished logo is comprised of seven multi-coloured lines, each one representing one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. This was especially important to the nation's rebrand due to global confusion about what the UAE actually means. “The world is going to know us now as seven emirates,” said Ms Al Hammadi who, at 21, is one of the youngest designers involved. She explained that people around the world think that Dubai and Abu Dhabi, for example, are separate countries and that the message of unification is incredibly important to the country. The final entries in the UAE's competition, voted on by 10.6 million people globally The competition winner certainly seems to speak a louder message than those of its competitors (above). Sass Brown, design expert and columnist for UAE publication, The National, explains that the format and direction of the lines are representative of more than just the seven emirates. “The gentle undulation of the form reminds me of the curve of a sand dune or the roll of a wave, both representative of the geography of the territory," says Brown. "The simple sans serif font is clean, modern and easy to read in a digital environment, representative of the stand the Emirates has taken on innovation, entrepreneurship and technology, which propels them into the future." And of course, the lines are also in the shape of the map of the UAE. Unusually, the The old UAE logo (left), and the rebranded version (right) The trees will be planted in West Papua, Indonesia, a centre for marine biodiversity, and at the Amaltaari planting site in Nawalparasi, Nepal to support the endangered species, such as the Bengal tiger, that live there. Whether or not the logo and tree planting drive will help shift the UAE’s global reputation remains to be seen, but, from a design point of view, the logo itself is a strong piece of design with a clear message. It's a clean and modern update on the imperialistic-looking eagle that was introduced way back in 1973, and holds very different connotations. Unlike the Dutch national logo update that came in the autumn of last year, this rebrand has been taken super-seriously, which is perhaps unsurprising given the overarching messages it is attempting to convey. Read more: Where to find logo design inspiration 8 of the biggest logo redesigns of 2019 5 big logo design trends for 2020 View the full article

While colours don’t change overnight when the bells strike midnight on 31 December, there are shifts and developments that can almost come to define each year. The last year has been dominated by bright vivid, almost electric colours, neons and continued use of duotones and colour gradients. While some classic colour palettes are here to stay, there are many design settings that will see new tendencies in the new year – both in the colours that designers use and the way they use them. Here we run through seven colour trends to keep a keen eye on in 2020. For how colours are classically used, see our colour theory explainer. 01. Muted palettes Dosist mutes its palette for a colourful but mature look The trend through 2019 has been largely bold, vivid colours, with many brands brightening up their branding with almost dayglow electric hues. When peer-to-peer lending company Ratesetter updated its branding mid-year, the biggest change was to up the saturation and intensity of its purple brand colour. But the counter movement has already begun. With vivid colours now so prevalent, 2020 will see a growing tendency to step back towards more muted tones. Some brands have already started to take the edge off colours, desaturating them by infusing them with black, white or a complementary colour to make them less abrasive and easier on the eye. Medical cannabis company Dosist show how muted colours can give a more mature look to stand out from competitors. By using muted colours, you also avoid creating a harsh contrast with the white background. LinkedIn has been using muted colours in marketing posts on social media to make its material stand out without shouting. The brand colours are still being used, but they’re toned, showing a possibility here to develop a secondary colour palette based on brand colours by adding some black or white. It feels modern and natural. Don’t be surprised to see the trend extend into imagery too, with designers opting for more subdued and natural-looking photography in place of oversaturated images. 02. Earthy colours 3 Ravens' use of earthy colours gives a homely retro feel Following on from the tendency towards more muted palettes, the recent penchant for vivid neon colours and a cyberpunk aesthetic is starting to give way to a return to more earthy tones. This can sometimes generate an even retro-looking effect conjuring up the homely feel of the 1960s and '70s. Melbourne’s Studio io has been specialising in this throwback look in its packaging designs for the city’s oldest brewery 3 Ravens. It turned to vintage juice and ice cream cartons and labels for the colour inspiration and the resulting labels feels nostalgic, but also fun and authentic. The Nike Hyper Court app in the Philippines went for similar earthy colours to appeal to youngsters and looked much cooler than it would have done had it gone for a more obvious neon-infused futuristic palette. Estudio Santa Rita’s artwork for Dropbox’s Spotify playlist also show earthy colours can give a sense of artisan craftsmanship to tech companies. 03. Monochrome Rappi puts the focus on a single brand colour The trend over recent years for the use of duotone and colour gradients is now getting even simpler as brands start to put the emphasis on a single brand colour. It’s another sign of a step back from so much colour, and an attempt to stand out from the noise with a simple, clear identity across all material. Latin American on-demand delivery startup Rappi uses tones of its brand orange through the landing page for its Rappi Pay payments service in Colombia, and Argentine insurance company Iúnigo adds colour accents in only its brand colour blue throughout its illustrations and UI (designed by DHNN). While monochrome filters may look old-fashioned in print materials, they’re getting a new lease of life online. Monochrome colour filters are being used once more in all or partial elements in graphic composition, like the purple filter on the imagery on this site for Intelligent Artifacts. 04. Metallics A copper effect gives an antique feel to Feletti chocolate While the previous trends all suggest colours being taken down a notch in 2020, we can still expect to see plenty of bling with a growing tendency for metallic looks and effects. For physical collateral like business cards, promotional brochures and invitations, designers are taking advantage of foiling and relief engraving to give a touch of class and luxury, while web designers are adding 3D metallic effects for an equivalent effect online and a sense of dimension. But even here the trend may be heading towards more subdued options, with copper and bronze rather than gold or silver. The packaging design for Feletti chocolates by Happy Centro Design Studio uses a warm copper/bronze to conjure up images of nautical adventures and old portholes – and it looks much better than a more glaring gold would have done. Iridescent metal effects are also being used in products like the Apple Card and By Haus’s branding for Cadabra (see below). 05. Colour gradients mature Cadabra’s identity uses a colour gradient to highlight text Colour gradients have defied all those who said they were the comeback that would never last. Their ability to add depth to an image has given them true staying power and they’re not likely to go anywhere yet. What we will see is their use maturing as designers start to use them as a standard design element rather than the main feature in a design. This can mean using gradients as backgrounds to graphics and to colour text in order to accentuate headlines or key words, like in the brand identity created for visual storytellers Cadabra by By Haus. These illustrations for for Twitter by Leo Natsume show how very subtle colour gradients can be used within illustrations to give depth without being the main focus. 06. Classic Blue Pantone believes this will be the colour of 2020 It’s almost impossible to talk about colour trends for the new year without mentioning the Pantone colour of the year. For 2020, the company behind the colour matching system has chosen 19-4052 Classic Blue, and it certainly is classic. It’s a timeless shade falls somewhere between mid-tone and deep blue. Why has Pantone matched this colour with the new year? Well, the company describes it as "Non-aggressive and easily relatable" and says it offers "the promise of protection". There is something honest and dependable about this shade, while it’s also soothing and relaxing. This may be a reason why so many brands choose blue for their colours and logos. Pantone thinks it captures a global need for greater trust, confidence and tranquility. It’s a great sentiment to enter the new decade. 07. Dark mode Dark mode is everywhere, including on Slack (see how to switch to Slack's dark mode) Not so much a colour, you might say but a lack of it, but dark mode is going to be influencing colour decisions across the board this year. Dark mode is a function in apps and websites that offers the user an interface which is predominantly black or grey instead of white. It’s gaining more and more adherents thanks to claims that it’s easier on the eyes and saves battery, but also because of aesthetics. The contrast of vivid colours against a dark background allows for interesting combinations with saturated colours that pop off the background. Outlook launched a dark mode in 2019, Gmail followed, and Google now has an experimental feature that allows Chrome users to effectively force any website into dark mode by inverting the colours. Many web and UI designers working in UI will be considering designing a specifically for dark mode but in 2020 dark colour schemes aren’t restricted to websites and apps – expect to see dark mode-inspired design appearing everywhere as designers mimic the effect and use dark backgrounds to allow saturated colours to stand out. For example, as seen in some of the work by Dark Design Studio.. While white space remains the definition of clean and crisp design, we might hear people talking more about black space. Watch this (ahem) space. Read more: The events every designer should know about in 2020 The top design trends for 2020 12 design fails that were so bad they were actually good View the full article

A Romanian national has been sentenced to 5 years in prison after racking up almost $400,000 in an ATM skimming scheme. View the full article

Project Zero vulnerability disclosures will now happen at 90 days, even if a patch becomes available before then. View the full article

Mozilla tackles high-severity bugs in its latest Firefox 72 and Firefox ESR 68.4 releases at the same time rolls a major privacy feature . View the full article

It's very rare that we get particularly excited about stamps, but the latest set of designs from the Royal Mail seems to have been laser-targeted directly at the soul of anyone who grew up within reach of a home computer within the past 30 or 40 years. This new set of pixel art stamps celebrates the golden age of UK video games in the 1980s and 1990s with designs based on some classic games from the era, and there's certain to be something in there that'll tickle your retro fancy. The stamps were designed by Supple Studio and Bitmap books and there are 12 in total; four of them dedicated to the Tomb Raider series that ruled the gaming roost from the mid-90s onwards, plus another eight stamps celebrating a selection of 8- and 16-bit gaming classics from the olden days. The 10 best stamp designs inspired by TV and movies The original Tomb Raider was great, but the series spent a long time being a bit rubbish The trouble with putting together a list of just eight titles is that you're going to annoy just about everyone on the internet who doesn't agree with every single pick on the list. However, this is a pretty strong selection with some great titles represented. The list kicks off back in 1984 with a gaming brand that's still going strong today: Elite, an epic game of space exploration, trading and combat set across a massive procedurally-generated galaxy. Its wireframe looks may not have aged well, but this was cutting-edge stuff back in the day, and we're pleased to note that the Royal Mail has used a shot of the original version on the BBC Micro. Elite: first class gaming on a second class stamp Other stone-cold classics in the collection include the all-conquering Lemmings, which arguably sowed the seeds of the Scottish games industry, and Wipeout, a high-speed racer for the Playstation that instantly established the platform's street cred with a thumping dance soundtrack and an impeccable visual identity crafted by The Designers Republic. Also represented are Populous, the first title from UK games legend Peter Molyneux, ace kickabout Sensible Soccer, adorable mini-racer Micro Machines, plus the surprisingly durable Worms and bafflingly successful egg-based effort, Dizzy. They can't all be zingers. We won't eggs-actly be scrambling to pay £1.60 for this While we could happily sit and bore you in the pub for hours about the outrageous omission of titles from companies such as Ultimate Play The Game, Llamasoft and Ocean, on the whole this is a pretty good selection, with strong imagery and fat, chunky pixels accurately conveying the experience of playing games way back in the mists of time. It's a shame that the silhouette of the Queen isn't pixellated, but we imagine there are special rules about that sort of thing. Our only real argument with the look of these stamps is with Wipeout, which definitely looks like it was taken on an emulator running at a much higher resolution than the original Playstation. But Wipeout's a game that looks much better in motion than it does as a static image, so we'll let that one pass. No way is that running on a PS1 These brilliantly retro stamps go on sale on 21 January; to find out more and pre-order all manner of special presentation packs, head for the Royal Mail's video games page. And if all this retro gaming talk has inspired you to try out some old-school gaming, the Internet Archive has a huge collection of titles you can play in the browser; head this way for a whole stack of ZX Spectrum classics. Related articles: Sleek new-age Game Boy looks better than the original How to break into pixel art The 8 best retro gaming consoles View the full article

However you feel about it, Sony's not-particularly-new logo for the PlayStation 5 has definitely got people talking. Revealed this week at CES 2020, the new logo (above) is remarkable for its similarity to the PS4 logo, and indeed the PS3 logo – prompting some savage but hilarious reactions from the design community. Obviously it's never going to make it into anyone's list of best logos, and somehow we doubt that Sony even cares. It's almost as if the designer simply opened up SONY_PS4_LOGO_FINAL.AI, deleted the '4', typed in a '5' and saved it as SONY_PS5_LOGO_FINAL.AI before going home early. And fair play to them. 5 big logo design trends for 2020 That explanation's just not cutting it for some people, though. And while we're with Occam and his trusty razor when it comes to divining the process behind the PS5 logo, we can take a certain delight in this particular theory of how it came about: Posted on Reddit by user DeBeard – we're not entirely sure if it's their work or not – this neat little animation surmises that the '5' in the PS 5 logo was created by copying, pasting, rotating and flipping the 'P'. And then drawing out an arm on the top, because that's definitely a lot less effort than hitting Backspace and pressing '5'. That said, though, we've all occasionally found ourselves in a position where, due to lack of the right fonts, we've had to cobble together the odd glyph from bits of other characters, right? Right. And just maybe Sony's been a little careless with its in-house assets, and someone really did have to make a '5' out of the 'P'. These things happen! Sorry, but no. Finding ourselves with just a little too much time on our hands this morning, we decided to try it for ourselves. And while it kind of fits, on closer inspection you can see that no, it doesn't quite fit enough. Take a look: It's good but it's not right The top logo is one made by flipping the 'P' and drawing out an arm to turn it into a 5. The middle logo is the actual logo, with slightly mode pleasing curves around the midsection. And at the bottom we've overlaid the two; the grey areas are where things don't quite match. So there you have it. Didn't happen. Sorry about that. To make up for it, here's a lovely tweet we found where someone remade the PS5 logo in the style of previous PlayStation designs. Related articles: Where to find logo design inspiration 8 of the biggest logo redesigns of 2019 Ridiculous tutorial reveals the 4 steps to logo design View the full article

The video sharing app has fixed several flaws allowing partial account takeover and information exposure. View the full article

Much-loved toy brand Fisher-Price has had a rebrand courtesy of Pentagram. This new iteration feels more fun and playful, and covers everything from a refreshed logo down to bright animations, a new custom typeface that draws on the brand's heritage as well as messaging and merchandise. Headed up by Emily Oberman, Pentgram has tweaked Fisher-Price's existing logo, retaining the brand's classic colours, and changing the awning from four to three semicircles to represent the brand's three founders (Herman Fisher, Irving Price and Helen Schelle, who sadly didn't get her name in the brand). The switch from upper- to lower-case 'F' and 'P' adds a childlike hint to the logo, while the hyphen is now a smile or semicircle, echoing the awning and again hinting at fun. (See our best logos post for more logo inspiration.) The previous Fisher-Price logo There are several iterations of the new logo, a circular logo Pentagram is calling a "bubble" that contains 'fp', and a "flag tag" that includes the awning and abbreviation. The awning itself can also now be used as a graphic icon to decorate merchandise or in promotional photography (see below). There's something a little bit 'Lego' about this branding, but we like it After digging through Fisher-Price's archives, Pentagram found that the typeface Cheltenham was used extensively, and so type designer Jeremy Mickel drew on this when creating the brand's new custom typefaces, Let’s Be Glyphs and Let’s Be Glyphs Bouncy. The new type feels more appropriate for a kids' toy company, although the slightly jaunty angle of some of the letters will no doubt upset some. You can see the new logos and typefaces in use in the video below. There's also a range of playful animations, and while these don't feel quite so coherent as the refreshed logos, they still have that breezy, childlike feel to them. Overall, this feels like a solid brand update from Pentagram. It's one of those rebrands that looks like it's always been there, and it also feels like the designers had a lot of fun playing around with the brand (which is appropriate, considering Fisher-Price is all about play). The team have come up with just enough tweaks to make Fisher-Price feel fresh, while retaining all the good bits of the existing branding. Emily Oberman and team, we salute you. You can read more about the Fisher-Price rebrand via Pentagram's website. Read more: Designers react to the new PS5 logo (and it's not pretty) 12 must-try time management tools 2020 letterpress calendar is the most beautiful thing you'll see all day View the full article

Ready to make 2020 the year of the email for your marketing campaigns? Crafting an amazing message with a trendy design is the perfect combination for sending an email that demands clicks in the inbox. These email design trends for …View the full article

Feeling tense? Finding the back-to-work transition a little jarring? We have the app for you. New to the App Store this week is Sequin, a mesmersing ASMR triumph guaranteed to help you instantly recover your zen. The concept is based on those sequin-flip products that seem to be all the rage with youngsters right now, and the app comes complete with spine-tingling 'sensory audio' and soothing haptics. For something more practical, see our roundup of the best calendar apps. The sequins shimmer in response to your phone's movement, and you can use your finger to flip them up and down. That's about it really, but it's completely hypnotic. Hell, we've been watching this GIF for a good five minutes already, and we've never felt so chill. "You can toggle through presets, choose your own colors for both the front and back of each sequin and even import photos, but my favorite feature is the simple act of flipping a sequin," says Robbie Tildon, the man behind the app. "I tried to connect the haptics, visuals and audio to give it the most satisfying experience possible on an iPhone." Perhaps most intriguing feature for us is the ability to add a photo background... which opens up all kinds of exciting possibilities. Tilton has designed for both Apple and Google and now runs interactive design studio Situated. He tells Creative Bloq how the idea came to him "out of nowhere" on the morning of New Year's Day. "There used to be a fabric store that I would go to that had a big sheet of it on display for folks to play with," he explains. "I then realised I could try to re-create this digitally." Tilton created a quick prototype on social media, and it took off. He decided to turn it into a proper app, using Unity (see our guide to the best web design tools). "The code is very simple, but Unity's physical based rendering helped me achieve a refined look as there truly is a dynamic light hitting each reflective sequin (which happens to be a small 3D cylinder)," he says. "As you rotate your phone I use the gryo as input to dynamically rotate the scene in 3D space so the light adjusts as if it were connected to the real world." Sequins is new to the App Store, but there are already some extremely enthusiastic reviews. Example: "It will drop you into a magical relaxation trip as you dangle your fingers upon the virtual threads," says sloppysteven. It costs 99 cents and is available for both iPhone and iPad. Download Sequin here. Click the image to find out more and book your tickets Read more: 10 best design apps for Windows 7 apps that made us go 'wow' in 2019 The best drawing apps for iPad View the full article

Researchers suspect the cybercriminals attacked using an unpatched critical vulnerability in the company's seven Pulse Secure VPN servers. View the full article

For anyone interested in learning how to make video games, 3D Buzz has long been a really valuable resource. Over two decades the community produced a whole stack of helpful tutorials with a strong focus on 3D training and made them available to download at reasonable prices. However in 2017 3D Buzz's founder, Jason Busby, died, and without him at the helm the site has gone quiet; until now. Sadly, 3D Buzz isn't exactly back; quite the opposite, in fact. Instead the site has updated with an announcement that 3D Buzz has closed its doors, and all subscriptions and recurring payments have been suspended. But by way of a final gift to its community, 3D Buzz has decided to make all of its available material free to download, including plenty of material devoted to the best 3D modelling software. Blender tutorials: 28 ways to upgrade your skills 3D Buzz was a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to learn about 3D and game development What this means is that there's an enormous archive of tutorials ready and waiting for you, covering all manner of subjects related to game design and development. There's over 200GB of material to grab, and among it you'll find project-focused tutorials for 3ds Max, Blender, Houdini, Maya and ZBrush, as well as how-to videos for game engines such as Unreal and Unity. As well as 3D tutorials there's much more, including some great drawing courses You'll also find coding tutorials, a guide to Photoshop fundamentals, drawing tutorials and even an introduction to web design. Now, the downside is that not much of this is cutting edge material; it's been put together from material released over 20-odd years, so a lot of the tutorial videos are seriously dated. You can tell that much when you open one and get a tiny 4:3 window on your 4K desktop. Look, some of this stuff's been around a while, but there's plenty that's still relevant However if you're just starting out in 3D or game development and need to get to grips with some of the fundamentals, there's a whole load of useful stuff here that you won't want to miss. While the advanced features of 3D software tend to get updated all the time, the bare basics of 3D modelling and rendering that you need to get your head around first tend to stay the same. So while much of this content is well past its prime, it's definitely worth scrolling all the way down the page to see what's on offer. You can find the whole 3D Buzz archive here. 20 Cinema 4D tutorials to up your 3D skills The 17 best ZBrush tutorials 17 mighty Maya tutorials to try today View the full article

Wacom has unveiled a brand new tablet at CES 2020. The Wacom One is aimed at beginners and those creating content for social media, and it's supremely affordable at just $399.95 (£359.99/€399.99). The entry level 13-inch creative pen display is compatible with Mac, Windows as well as a surprising new addition: it works with some Android devices, too. There's no talk of iPhone compatibility, though perhaps that makes sense considering you could just get an iPad instead. The 1,920 x 1,080 full HD display offers a decent size of 13-inches, 72 per cent NTSC colour and an anti-glare treated film. It's got foldable legs, and it's definitely small enough to fit in most bags, making it ideal for working on the go. Could it be a new entry to our list of the best drawing tablets? Wacom's cheapest LCD tablet ever also comes with a cordless, battery-free pen that you never need to recharge, with an impressive 4,096 pressure levels, allowing for a natural feel and flow when designing. But, if you feel you need something different, the Wacom One is also compatible with pens from other leading makers, including LAMY, Samsung and STAEDTLER. Connect your Android smartphone for an extra digital canvas To kickstart the creative process, the Wacom One comes with a software bundle. Included in the line-up is Clip Studio Paint Pro and Wacom's own Bamboo Paper app, which transforms the Wacom One into a paper notebook. For those looking to produce some high-quality video there is Adobe Premiere Rush CC, and compatibility with the new Adobe Fresco is also in the pipeline (see our Adobe Fresco review). With its impressive compatibility and bargain price tag, it looks like the Wacom One could be the tablet to take on the iPad/Apple Pencil combo. We can't wait to get our hands on one (though Wacom's naming strategy is getting ever more confusing) to deliver our final verdict. If you can't wait to buy the Wacom One, it's available now from the online Wacom store for $399.95 (£359.99/€399.99). Read more: The best drawing tablet: Our pick of the best graphics tablets in 2020 Secret Adobe eyedropper trick will change your life The best monitors for video editing View the full article

The new Playstation 5 logo has been revealed, to much fanfare, at CES 2020. To say the moment was an anticlimax would be an understatement. In short the new PS5 logo looks exactly like the old PS4 logo. Which, to be fair, looked an awful lot like the PS3 logo. See it in all its glory above. Sony has been slowly releasing information about its next console over the past few months. It's due to be released "Holiday 2020". Sadly, this latest revelation wasn't quite as exciting as we might have hoped – Sony has clearly decided it wasn't broke, and no fixing was required (for more enduring brand marks, check out our guide to the best logos of all time). We quite like the new logo gives the impression that it's just the '2' of the PS2 logo reversed and flipped (it's not, incidentally, the PS2 logo was a whole lot more angular), but other than that there's not really much to say. Playstation logos through the years If Sony execs thought this was a safe design choice that wouldn't attract too much vitriol from the Playstation community, they were sorely mistaken. The claws are out and the memes are rolling in fast. Read on for our pick of the most savage takedowns so far (you might also want to check out Twitter's hilarious reaction to the Xbox Series X last month). Many commenters are calling out Sony for being lazy... ... but Mike Drucker's tweet is probably a little closer to the truth. Or are there hidden messages that we're missing? Hmm. Makes you think. Find out everything we know so far is our sister site GamesRadar+'s PS5 news and rumours roundup. The 8 best retro gaming consoles CES 2020: Is Samsung Sero's vertical screen the future of TV? New theory claims to reveal the real reason Cats flopped View the full article