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Been waiting for a cheap pen tablet? Your patience has been rewarded. Wacom has dropped its Intuos Pro (Medium) tablet to just $299.99 – and is throwing in a free 2-month subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan to sweeten the deal. This is the cheapest price we've seen on the medium pen tablet this year – and this offer is not going to stick around long. Over Black Friday you could pick one up for $328.99, and if you decided to hold out for a better offer your patience has been rewarded. Right now you can get an extra $30 off – taking the total discount to $80. Not bad at all. Not sure if the Wacom Intuos Pro is the right tablet for you? Check out our guide to the best drawing tablet in 2020 for an in-depth look at your options. It's not super clear how to redeem the Adobe CC offer on the Best Buy site (read: it's not mentioned at all). That's because this part of the offer is being fulfilled via Wacom itself. For a limited time across the festive period, you can get a two-month subscription to the Photography Plan when you register any new Wacom tablet (more details of how to redeem the deal here). It's a great way to get started creating digital art immediately with your new pen tablet, but if you need apps such as Illustrator too, you might need to subscribe to the full Creative Cloud suite. Read more: Lightroom vs Photoshop: What's the difference? The best digital art software: a guide 10 top illustration trends for 2020 View the full article

For many years, web designers have strived to provide the optimal information people are searching for, quickly and effectively. It’s undeniable, when comparing websites from a decade ago to those of today, that the industry is getting better at this. But have we lost something along the way? "I think we’re in an age of user feedback that drives well-optimised but increasingly generic executions," argues Simon Gater, creative director and co-owner at Mad River. "The quality feedback we get from users makes it much easier to get a solid understanding of whether your work is 'fit for purpose' quickly, and ensures we achieve client goals at a statistical level. But as more and more people get similar feedback, we’re at risk of being filtered down the same design trend or path of execution. Because of this, we now need to work harder for that point of differentiation while maintaining the optimum user experience." So as we continue to walk the line between functionality and originality, usefulness and inspiration, what are the big trends we’ll need to take account of, in 2020 and beyond? In this article, we chat to some leading voices in the industry to find out. If you're after more web design help, see our web design tools roundup. 01. Sophisticated micro-interactions On Crowd’s website for Bournemouth Beach Lodges, hovering over buttons creates an animated wave effect Micro-interactions have been around for years, especially on social media; an example would be the red heart popping up when a post is liked on Instagram. But as attention spans continue to constrict, Lee Poynter, global head of design at Crowd, believes they’re going to become a bigger deal in 2020. "Micro-interactions and micro-animations are going to become more sophisticated until they become part of everyone’s interactivity," he predicts. "They are a way to signpost, feedback and ensure trust." His colleague, digital designer Vicky Kwan, agrees. "Micro-interactions are used to show the personality and the vibe of a brand," she explains. "For example, if a product wants to be presented in a sleek way, then the interactions will not be bouncy; instead, they’ll come in smoothly and slowly, so it gives the whole elegant feel when the person is looking at it." 02. Taller image crops Mountainguides.is, a website about adventure travel in Iceland, makes strong use of portrait, as opposed to landscape, images "I’ve noticed a real increase in the use of portrait imagery in desktop experiences this year," says Jake Young, senior digital designer at Mad River. "This is only going to become more prevalent as more and more people view content on their phones." And this trend is bigger than a case of lazy mobile-first designers with portrait crops scaling up to desktop, he adds; nor is it confined to the common 4:5 ratio. "We’re increasingly seeing taller and taller image crops on desktop experiences... and they’re beautiful. This image consideration is resulting in taller, but well-considered designs, be them carousel or card." 03. Dark mode design Instagram was one of several big sites to introduce dark mode in 2019 “Dark mode design has been a big topic of conversation this year,” notes Davide Barrata, design director at Impero. “We’ve seen pros and cons being discussed everywhere, notably asking if 'design' is being sacrificed over science. I expect the discussion to continue in 2020.” Consuela Onighi, UX designer at Illustrate Digital, sees the trend as a good thing. “Dark mode is a nice option to have for a more delightful UX, as it brings out the content and it's easier on the eye,” she argues. “I wouldn’t be surprised if most designers started switching to dark mode in the new year.” This concept isn’t new, of course. “However in 2019 we’ve seen brands like Pinterest, Slack and Instagram bring this into the mainstream, with Facebook and Whatsapp due to launch imminently,” points out Lee Hoddy, creative partner at Conran Design Group. And he heartily approves. “Beyond the more functional benefits that dark mode offers, such as increased battery life and low-light settings, aesthetically speaking it achieves the feat of creating the impression of a truly bezel-less, notch-less design, something which the majority of smartphone makers are clamouring towards from a product design perspective,” Hoddy argues. “It is going to be interesting to see how designers push dark mode further in 2020.” How to turn on Instagram's Dark Mode 04. The foldable web Designers will need to take account of foldable devices like the Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G going forward Many big trends in web design have been driven by new devices, most notably at the beginning of the 2010s by the rise of the iPad. And perhaps at the dawn of the 2020s, we’ll see a similar shift to respond to new foldable devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G. "The rise of a 'foldable web' will mean more and more designs will recognise and provide a unique experience for foldable phones and tablets,” predicts Adam Innes, senior software developer at 50,000feet. “I think you'll see some of the more unique and innovative designs go viral while the concept is fresh." 05. Typographic diversity A beautiful implementation of 3D animated type on the &Walsh website Will 2020 see more typographical experimentation on the web? “Bold lowercase sans-serif typefaces have been doing the rounds for years now and, as a result, lots of websites have begun to look a bit samey,” says James Wood, co-founder and creative director at ShopTalk. “But we’re seeing the seeds of change, and that’ll gain momentum in 2020. Handwritten type, retro fonts and animation typefaces are making a comeback. “We’re also seeing combinations – things that look as though they shouldn’t belong together but somehow work anyway," he continues. "‘Imperfections’ can add real personality. Look out, too, for a big push in immersive 3D elements. &Walsh’s rotating 3D metal ampersand is a great example of this.” 06. Minimalism goes further Even at Christmas, Apple.com keeps things sleek and minimal "One trend we’ve been seeing more and more of in 2019 is simple and minimalistic web page design," says Steve Sharp, director of Fat Cow Media. "Following in the footsteps of the Apples of this world, companies are looking for simple templates to land their brand message and showcase their products and services in a clear and concise way." And he’s a strong supporter of this approach. "It’s clean, modern and fresh and makes the user experience all the better. I’m excited to see this particular trend becoming more widely adopted into 2020.” Of course, minimalism is ultimately about providing an easier and better experience for the user, and that's just as much about functionality as it is aesthetics. Alex Schleifer, chief design officer at Airbnb, believes that's going to see big strides in 2020. "We’ll become accustomed to very low-friction, or zero-friction interfaces when it comes to things like sign-ups and payments," he predicts. "One-tap registration and instant payments will become the norm, while entering credit card numbers and passwords will start to feel archaic." We're looking forward to that! Read more: The biggest portfolio trends for 2020 Top illustration trends for 2020 Master minimalism in web design View the full article

During the year, email marketers conduct a considerable number of campaigns. Small, big, local, international, seasonal – there is a rich variety. Each month has its list of events that can be used as a perfect occasion to drive traffic …View the full article

HTML is the foundation of every website on the web. It defines where the visuals should be placed, what they look like and what behaviour they should have. It is the first thing a browser receives, making it a crucial piece to get right even before the CSS and JavaScript. It is the main driver of the Document Object Model that allows the browser to read the structure of the page and render its contents (see more about page layouts here). Elements are created by parsing the tags we write in the markup. Because of this, it’s important to make sure the HTML is correct. The language itself has been improved upon over the years to make sure the syntax used can describe the content within it accurately, and allow consumers to make sense of it. As HTML has evolved, things that were once recommended could now be considered bad practice. It’s important for us to keep on top of the language we use to make sure it best serves the visitors to our sites. Incorrect HTML can cause more harm than good. By ensuring we get the right structure in place we can be sure the content we create is set for the future. The <div> element is the most generic container in HTML. By default, it has no styling applied to it, no inherent meaning associated with it and every browser supports it. By applying our own styling, we make it look and behave however we like. While this may sound ideal for visitors in a browser, it comes at a cost to other users and consumers of that content. Read on to discover the basic HTML tags you should be using, and what underlying advantages using the right tags will bring to your builds. What are the basic HTML tags? In HTML tags, a semantic element is one that provides meaning to its contents e.g. <header>. A non-semantic element is typically used to apply styling and does not carry any meaning. Before HTML5 introduced a new set of semantic elements, developers would use <div> to achieve the same effect e.g. <div id="header">. Adding a descriptive class to that element makes it clear to the developer what that element contains, but a computer would not be able to understand it. We now have several semantic elements such as <nav> or <header> to help structure a page. We should be able to follow the structure by only looking at the tags being used – something that would not be possible with only non-semantic elements such as <div>. This guide will help you make sure you are always using the right semantic tags for the right job. And, you could create your own HTML boilerplate template, so that your tags are always right and ready to go every time you start a new build. The <header> tag The header normally contains some kind of repeated content not directly related to the rest of the page. The specification defines it as “a group of introductory or navigational aids”, which could include a logo, site-wide navigation or a search function. There can be multiple <header> elements on a page. For example, a blog’s home page could contain a <header> tag for each post it displays. The <nav> tag Most sites will have an area dedicated to navigation. This can include links to specific areas of the site or a breadcrumb style hierarchy. Not all links need to be within one. Only collections of links in other parts of the page would be candidates for their own <nav> element, but this is dependant on the context. A common pattern is to include links to a privacy policy or contact page in the footer. If this area makes use of the <footer> element, this is enough to identify these links as site navigation and there is no need to use a separate <nav> tag. The <main> tag The <main> element is the focal point of each page. Outside of the page’s header and footer, all other content should be inside here. There should only ever be one <main> on a page. Assistive technologies such as screen readers can detect this element and allow users to skip straight to the content. Semantic tags such as <header> help the browser recognise specific content The <aside> tag As the name suggests, the <aside> element contains information that is related to the main content of the page. The information inside this element could exist separate from everything else and not lose context. The most common use for this element is a sidebar navigation or to run adverts alongside the <footer>. The <footer> tag A <footer> element contains any summarising information about the page. For many websites, this includes an address, copyright information or links to supplementary pages. There is no requirement to always have a single footer at the bottom of the page. It can be placed anywhere – including inside other sections – or not included at all. The <article> and <section> tags The W3C specification defines <article> and <section> in a similar way. Both are designed to group distinct pieces of a page together. A key difference is composition. An <article> is designed to be self-contained. The contents inside of it would make sense as a standalone piece. Examples of this include a blog post, a user comment or an embedded tweet. In contrast, a <section> groups together multiple parts of a page together that would otherwise have no other semantic meaning. These would lose their meaning if separated. Examples of this include a group of related paragraphs, a chapter of a book or a single tab as part of a tabbed interface. It is worth noting that an <article> tag could be comprised of multiple <section> elements. Remember, semantic HTML is more than just the outline structure of a page. Almost every element provides some kind of meaning, which means there is often a good fit to be found. Only ever use <div> or <span> tags when nothing else will work. Why does proper HTML markup matter? Specific tags such as <summary> must contain the right content to be effective Getting the right HTML tags and markup is vital. Here's are three reasons why. 01. Improved discoverability Search engines such as Google are constantly crawling the web, finding sites and parsing their content. They do this by looking for certain tags such as <h1> and <article> and using the contents of those to inform their algorithm. For example, searching for tickets for a concert may involve looking for headings containing the name of the event, <p> elements discussing the artist and <time> for the correct date. If they cannot find what they are looking for, the site will not show up in those search results. Some browsers and services such as Pocket allow users to read websites in a distraction-free mode. These extract the heading, contents and media from the site and lays it out in a view that makes it easier to read. By using the correct elements to construct the page, it makes is easier for these tools to extract the right information and provide a better experience for the user. 02. Better for accessiblity Some elements have defined behaviours associated with them. A <button> element, for example, is expected to be interactive and perform an action when clicked. If a non-interactive element such as a <div> is used instead, a parser would not know it could click it without some added attributes. This affects those using accessible technologies as well. It can be slow to navigate a page without any visuals. These users may instead choose to navigate through websites by landmark or heading level. A landmark is created either by using a sectioning element such as <nav> or by applying an equivalent 'role' attribute. Without these, or by using them incorrectly, the user will not be able to find the content they need. 03. Plan for the future One of the primary principles of the web is backwards compatibility. All specifications are designed to be compatible with sites made many years ago and have considerations in place for changes that may happen in the future. By using the correct elements and tags now, we are ensuring our site has a chance to be understood, found and seen in the future. 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 Read more: How to use an HTML boilerplate: A guide Master minimalism in web design The best infographic tools from around the web View the full article

Element 3D was born as, compared to its competitors, out-of-the-box After Effects lacks true 3D capabilities. The team at Video Copilot realised that this was a feature-gap they could fill, and so created Element 3D. Element 3D is effectively a 3D animation application within After Effects. It uses an advanced real-time render engine to make 3D objects look almost as good as if they were coming directly from a full 3D application. If you'd like to sharpen your After Effects skills, check out our roundup of the best After Effects tutorials. Element 3D's core features With advanced features such as motion blur and depth of field and the capability to play well with other 3D-enabled After Effects plugins, artists can (and do) use Element 3D for a range of work from corporate animation to full- feature VFX. Element 3D comes with a series of basic shapes that can be textured, sized and lit within the Element 3D interface. Then within the After Effects interface, an artist can animate and replicate these objects to their heart’s content. The proven production development shows itself in features such as the ability to attach models to After Effects nulls. This makes animating Element 3D objects much more straightforward than just using the application’s effects palette alone. Element 3D objects can be easily animated with other After Effects 3D plugins that can make particles, allowing the creation of a jet plume from a fighter jet without the need to touch a volumetric simulation. Element 3D can work with OBJ objects, including animated OBJ sequences that have been textured with UVs, and it also supports the basics of a PBR workflow. For Cinema 4D users, the news is even better, as Element 3D can open C4D files natively with textures attached. Let’s explore what it has to offer. 01. Access Element 3D Once Element 3D has been installed, it is applied to a 2D solid object then, in the effects palette, select the Scene Setup button to open the interface. In the main Element 3D window, objects can be added and adjusted. If one of the native procedural objects is added, it can be manipulated in various ways; for example, this tube can have its inner diameter modified. Extra Element 3D native model packs can be bought from Video Copilot and other vendors. 02. Add textures Element 3D makes it easy to add textures to a model. Materials are dragged and dropped onto the chosen object. Element 3D classifies objects into five groups, so make sure to use the Group dropdown in the scene palette to define the model’s group assignment. Materials can be adjusted in a variety of ways; for example, glossiness can be roughened in metals. An artist’s texture maps can be added to give bespoke looks to materials and shaders. 03. Modify the model in After Effects Once the model is ready to animate, close the Element 3D interface to work with the model in After Effects. Standard After Effects keyframing works with Element 3D properties, and After Effects expressions work as well. Element 3D allows easy replication of objects by increasing the 'particle' count, where the number of particles equates to the number of objects in a group. This can allow the creation of a range of complex animations very quickly. 04. Create 3D text After Effects is well regarded for its type control. Element 3D works with text layers to allow the creation of 3D text, which can have its depth adjusted and materials applied to it as well. As with other models in Element 3D, text can be animated. Groups can be parented to Element 3D-created nulls, which allow much easier animation than using the Effects controls, making Element 3D the favourite of title designers across the world. 05. Work with external models Element 3D works well with OBJ models with UVs applied, including OBJ sequences to allow complex 3D animations to be imported into After Effects. Cinema 4D files can be imported natively with the textures still applied. If the textures are not working to the artist’s taste in Element 3D, materials can be swapped to native shaders. Working within groups makes it easy to swap models without having to recreate complex animations. 06. Use advanced render effects Element 3D allows advanced features such as motion blur and depth of field to be applied in After Effects. After Effects lights also work with Element 3D, allowing a scene to be relit on the fly or as part of an animation. Element 3D is an ideal companion for After Effects artists who want to explore what 3D can do, and 3D artists who want a quick way to integrate their models with motion graphics and VFX. You can buy Element 3D or find out more on the Video Copilot website. This article originally appeared in issue 252 of 3D World the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 252 or subscribe here. Read more: 9 of the best 3D apps These 3D portraits are unbelievably realistic 12 amazing After Effects plugins View the full article

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday iPad deals were extremely popular. They were a lot better than anyone expected, in fact, with even some of the shiniest new models – such as iPad 10.2-inch – being knocked down in price. The Black Friday period is probably the best time of the year to make savings on iPads, and in this post, we'll be telling you everything you need to know about what to expect for Black Friday 2020 in terms of iPad deals. Whether you’re looking for a cheap iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air or iPad mini, you’ll find all you need to know here, as we analyse the biggest savings in 2019 and make some early predictions for next year. This year, the biggest price drops we saw were on the powerful iPad Pro, but there were also some really solid deals on the brand new iPad 2019. We've seen some decent discounts on the older iPad (from 2018 and 2017), iPad Air and iPad mini too, and some of these deals are still live right now. Scroll down to see the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday iPad deals. Browse all the Black Friday iPad deals Below are all the main retailers who offered the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday iPad deals in 2019. Click the links to browse their sites yourself and see our summary of the iPad deals they offered over Black Friday 2019, or scroll down for our curated list of the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday iPad deals from 2019. These will help you know what to expect from Black Friday 2020. Amazon: One of the best places to find big iPad discounts on products Best Buy: The best deals on every model of iPad John Lewis: Leading UK retailer had some strong iPad offers Very: Savings on iPad Pro, Air and much more Currys PC World: Offers on various iPad models AO: Big savings on a lot of a variety of iPads Walmart: Deals across a range of iPad models Laptops Direct: Strong offers across the iPad range If you’re not sure which iPad to buy, then don't worry. You’ll find our expert guide to choosing the best iPad at the bottom of this article, in a section called: Which iPad should i buy? Pro tip: if you’re looking for the cheapest iPad Black Friday deal, choose a Wi-Fi model. An iPad with a cellular connection – which enables you to use 3G or 4G when there's no Wi-Fi – will cost you more. (And once you've chosen your iPad, don't forget to browse the best Apple Pencil deals, or maybe you're after an Apple Watch? Read on for the best Black Friday iPad deals in 2019. Apple's newest and best iPad Pro device comes in two versions: the iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2018) and the iPad Pro 11-inch (2018). Both come with the powerful A12X Bionic processor, the same battery capabilities, and a variety of storage options. The larger version offers more screen real estate for creatives; while the smaller model is more portable and easier to take on the move. Here are the best iPad Pro Cyber Monday deals on the latest 2018 models. And we've also found some stonking discounts on the older 10.5-inch iPad Pro (2017)... iPad Pro Black Friday deals: US Jump to UK iPad Pro Cyber Monday deals iPad Pro Black Friday deals: UK The iPad is Apple's baseline tablet. The latest model, the iPad 10.2-inch (2019), raises the tablet's specs closer to those of the latest iPad Air, with the addition of Smart Keyboard support and a slightly larger screen. It boasts strong battery life, decent performance, and it's cheaper than the other iPads – giving you some of Apple’s best iPad features on a more limited budget. You'll find all the best iPad Cyber Monday deals from 2019 on the 10.2-inch model below. And there were also deals on the older (and slightly smaller) 9.7-inch, 6th-gen model from 2018. iPad Black Friday deals: US Jump to UK iPad Cyber Monday deals iPad Black Friday deals: UK Can't see what you're looking for? Take a look at some more offers in your area below. We weren't expecting to see many hefty discounts on the newest iPad Air this year, but there are some iPad Air Cyber Monday deals already available. Deals on older iPad Airs are also now much easier to come by. See below for some early deals, followed by today's best iPad Air prices. iPad Air Black Friday deals: US Jump to UK deals iPad Air Black Friday deals: UK iPad mini Black Friday deals: US Jump to UK iPad mini Cyber Monday deals iPad mini Black Friday deals: UK The best iPad Black Friday sales around the web Walmart: iPad Black Friday discounts of $100 or more in the US Amazon: Big savings on iPads in the US and UK Best Buy: Doorbusters knock up to $200 off select iPad models in the US John Lewis: Price matching other UK retailers – with a two-year guarantee Very: £50 off new iPad models in the UK Currys PC World: Up to £250 off iPads for Black Friday in the UK AO: £50 off iPads in the UK Argos.co.uk: Cheap iPad Black Friday deals in the UK After a different product? Take a look at our general guide to the best Apple Black Friday deals, or Black Friday and Cyber Monday MacBook deals. Alternatively, bookmark our Black Friday deals hub to see all the best offers on a range of creative kit. How much are iPads on Black Friday and Cyber Monday? As offers on Apple products are rare, we're likely to see iPad deals at an absolute maximum of around 40 per cent off in 2020. But that's still a fair amount off (especially when prices run into the several hundreds) – and even with smaller discounts, anything is better than paying full whack. In terms of where to look for deals, Apple itself isn't exactly renowned for rolling out massive price cuts on its gear – it usually offers gift cards, and 2019 was no exception. This year, iPad bargain hunters could pick up a discounted iPad at Walmart, Currys, Very, John Lewis and Amazon on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year, we saw discounts on the 2018 11 iPad Pro and 12.9 iPad Pro models and even the newer iPad Air, iPad mini and 10.2-inch iPad, which was both unexpected and very welcome. There were also some deals on Apple Pencils of both generations. If using a Pencil isn't high on your list of priorities then you'll be likely to save on a 2017 model. How to get the best iPad Black Friday deals Get ready to hunt for an iPad Black Friday deal If there's one thing you can be sure of when it comes to the best Black Friday iPad deals (and the best Cyber Monday iPad deals, of course), it's that they're going to be in short supply, and serious discounts are going to be even more rare, so you're going to need to be prepared to leap on a good deal as soon as you spot it. The best offers are likely to appear as lightning deals with limited stock available, so keep checking back here for news on them as soon as they come up. For the best chance of finding great Black Friday Apple iPad deals, you'll need to keep an eye on as many retailers as possible; Amazon had some good deals last year and you can expect some more this time around, but you're also likely to find savings from eBay and John Lewis as well as major electrical stores. If you're in the USA, watch out for iPad deals from Walmart and Best Buy, while in the UK firms such as Currys PC World and Very are likely to come up with the goods. Decide in advance roughly what model you're after; do you want a standard iPad, a Pro, a Mini or an Air? And watch out for retailers shifting older models at knock-down prices; they'll look pretty much the same but you'll have to make do with poorer performance than the latest iPads, especially if you're running the latest iOS on aged stock. Finally, try to overcome your Black Friday excitement and take the same care you would for any other major purchase. Check for cashback offers, make sure the guarantee's going to cover you if something goes wrong, and make sure you keep your receipt in case you need to return your shiny new purchase. Which iPad should I buy? You'll need a newer iPad for Apple Pencil support If you're likely to fill up your iPad with photos, videos and music then you should naturally opt for as much storage as you can comfortably afford (up to 1TB on the iPad Pro), but do you really need to pay the extra for a cellular model? The smarter option is to tether a Wi-Fi iPad to your iPhone, and use that for a mobile signal when you're out of range. If you want maximum power, specs and screen size, then go for the best iPad Pro money can buy – the iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2018), which boasts an A12X Bionic chip for super-speedy graphics, and 2732 x 2048 resolution. See our iPad Pro 12.9-inch review here. The slightly smaller (and cheaper) iPad Pro 11-inch (2018) is another excellent choice for creatives, and has the same super-charged A12X Bionic chip. Both the iPad Pro models work with the second generation Apple Pencil – although you'll have to buy that separately. The Apple Pencil 2 attaches magnetically to the iPad, where it also charges and pairs, and it's one of the best styluses available for drawing. Both models are available with 64GB. 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of memory. If you're not so fussed about screen size, or top specs, then the new 10.2-inch iPad (2019) could be for you. It's a lot cheaper than the 2018 models, and has a still impressive A10 chip and 2160 x 1620-pixel resolution. It supports the first generation Apple Pencil, and is available with 32GB or 128GB of memory. Other iPads include the iPad mini (see our iPad mini review here), which has a A12 chip and 7.9-inch screen. It's extra portable, as the name suggests, and is compatible with first generation Apple Pencil. There's also the iPad Air, which has 10.5-inch display and also has an A12 chip, plus several older models of the iPad. The 2017 versions have previously been on sale over Black Friday, so you may be able to pick up a Black Friday iPad deal on one of them. When looking at older iPads, remember that if you want to use your new iPad for drawing then be sure to plump for a model with Apple Pencil support. Related articles: The best iPad Pro deals Apple iPad Air 2019 review The best Surface Pro Black Friday deals View the full article

Welcome to Creative Bloq's guide to the Apple boxing Day sale. If you held out over the pre-Christmas shopping events in the hopes of snapping up an even bigger discount in January, now's the time to get shopping. In this article you'll find all the best offers from the Apple Boxing Day sale. Digging out the best deals can be a daunting prospect – and let's face it, you're probably not functioning at your peak right now. We've split the deals into products, to make it much easier to navigate the Apple Boxing Day sale as you struggle through your carb coma / eggnog hangover / Quality Street stupor. After all, there's nothing worse than making a mistake and ordering the wrong thing, or checking out before finding the same thing cheaper elsewhere. Use the jump links to go straight to the Apple device you're looking for. The Apple Store isn't likely to be the best place to shop the Apple Boxing Day sale. You'll probably find bigger discounts at other retailers or – if you're not yet ready to leave you living room – online. Below is a list of the retailers that offered the biggest discounts over the pre-Christmas shopping events (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), so it's worth doing a quick check to see they're getting involved in the Apple Boxing Day sale too. Use the quick links below to take a look yourself, or scroll down for sales guide, broken down into products. Amazon (US and UK) Best Buy Walmart Very Currys PC World AO Laptops Direct Apple Boxing Day sale: iPad deals In the pre-Christmas sales, we saw plenty of excellent iPad discounts across a whole range of models – including the all-new 10.2‑inch iPad. Check out the best prices in your region – including any Apple Boxing Day sale offers – using the widget below. Figuring out which is the best offer, taking into account the different models, storage options and features, can be difficult. Make sure you pay attention to the specs you're getting before you hit 'Add to cart'. Apple Boxing Day sale: MacBook deals MacBooks are pretty much always in demand – mainly because, as designers will well know, this kind of top-quality kit doesn't come cheap. Luckily they're also often the target of big discounts, if you're on the ball and looking in the right places. Whether you're after a classic MacBook, a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, chances are you'll be able to pick up a discounted model right now. The price widgets below will display the best prices available right now, so you can see who's getting involved in the Apple Boxing Day sale. Apple has recently released a new MacBook Pro (read our MacBook Pro 16-inch review). While we might see deals on that model, based on what we saw in the Black Friday sales, we'd expect the best discounts in the Apple Boxing Day sale to be on slightly older models. If you're happy not having the latest, greatest MacBook then that's a good way to pick up a bargain. Another hot tip is to keep an eye out for refurbished models – there can be some hidden gems on pre-owned models. We saw some okay (but not amazing) discounts on Apple Pencils in the run-up to Christmas. Will Apple's Boxing Day sale yield any better price cuts? Check out the widget below for the best prices right now. Not sure which version you need? Explore our Apple Pencil vs Apple Pencil 2 comparison. Apple Boxing Day sale: AirPods deals These are the headphones of the moment, and we saw a fair few good AirPod discounts in the run-up to Christmas, on both the original AirPods and the AirPods Pro. These true wireless earbuds aren't quite as new and exciting now (and there's a fair bit of competition hitting the market from people like Amazon and Microsoft). For the best prices in your area right now, including any gems from the Apple Boxing Day sale, check out the price widget below. Alternatively, explore our dedicated Apple AirPod deals guide. There were plenty of Apple Watch offers in the run-up to the holidays, with the newly released Series 5 meaning retailers were happy to drop their prices to shift older stock. Check out the best prices right now – on the Series 5 as well as previous models – below. Apple Boxing Day sale: iMac and Mac deals How to make the most of the Apple Boxing Day sale To get the best deal possible, it's a good idea to plan ahead. Do your research and decide what product, model and specs will suit your needs. It's also best to have a price in mind that you're happy to spend. You don't want to end up being overwhelmed by the different Apple Boxing Day sale options and making the wrong decision, or overpaying. Once you've decided on the product you're after, you can start tracking its price on various retailers – or even simpler, bookmark this page and keep checking it. Read more: Adobe deals: Where to get a Creative Cloud discount View the full article

If you're after a Surface Pro 7 but missed all the Black Friday deals, never fear, we've got you covered. In one of the biggest price drops we've seen this year, Microsoft is currently offering a staggering $380 off the combined price of a new Surface Pro 7, Type Cover and Pen. That means right now you can get all three items for less than $1,500! The Surface Pro 7 was released in October this year, and so to see such a huge discount on the new device comes as a very pleasant surprise. A firm listing in our round up of the best tablets with a stylus, the Surface Pro 7 is a popular choice among creatives. And with features like being able to run full-fat desktop software (think Adobe CC) without compromising on features or performance, and support for Microsoft's excellent Surface Pen, it's not hard to see why. If you're looking for a Surface Pro 7 with different specs, Microsoft is offering a number of great deals. Find full details below, plus some other excellent Surface Pro 7 offers. If it's just a Surface Pro 7 you're after, you'll be hard pushed to find better than this epic deal from Best Buy... If you're after a different device in the Surface range, here are the best prices on Microsoft's most popular products in your area: View the full article

Microsoft has revealed a new Windows logo and a total redesign across a huge 100 of its app icons. But the main thing that stands out about the entire project is how little the new Windows logo stands out. You'd think a brand new Windows logo would be big news in the tech/branding world (and might even be a contender for our best logos post), but the new design is just quietly slotted in there amongst the other icons. The new Windows logo actually typifies the overall design strategy – so could have been made into the poster child for the redesign. Colour gradients have replaced the flat blue/white, and softer, rounded edges have taken over the traditional squares that previously made up the window. The new logo (on the left) has been made over with colour gradients and rounded edges The redesign strategy is about the unification and connectedness of all of those icons across the visual library. This may be why the Windows icon is simply popped in the midst of the rest of the icons that share its colour gradients. Has Microsoft not gone big on the Windows logo because it didn't want to hold up just one logo above the rest? Maybe this was a deliberate choice, so as not to confuse the overall visual branding strategy (or enrage the whole of Twitter, who do love to criticise a logo in isolation). The concept does seem to rely heavily on the icons being visually in sync with each other. A full colour palette unifies and organises the app icon library The new icons use a range of colours and are unified under a sleek new aesthetic. This results in a striking overall visual as you can see in the above sample of the 365 range. Before, the app icon library was a bit of a hodge-podge. Some apps have icons dating back decades, whereas some have been updated pretty recently. So the unification of the library was much-needed. Jon Friedman, corporate vice president of design and research at Microsoft explains that, "we introduced rich gradients, broadened our spectrum of colours, and implemented a dynamic motion with ribbon-like qualities". According to Friedman, the Fluent Design System, "promotes building off the familiar," and the finished icon range shows this off, containing mostly tweaks of original designs rather than total overhauls. Those tweaks include gradient colours and rounded edges, as well as a scaling back on detail. The team had to consider innovation and change whilst retaining familiarity Friedman explains that the finished result needed to signal innovation and change while retaining familiarity for users. “We also had to develop a flexible and open design system to span a range of contexts while still being true to Microsoft", he says. As usual, reactions are mixed, although to be fair, there haven't been that many of them. No one seemed to really care too much, particularly about the Windows logo. What little reaction there was seemed to focus on the icons themselves. Some Twitter users think the scaling back may have gone too far: Others preferred the icons before... Whereas some were happy: Combining customer familiarity with a forward thinking design seems to be a winning strategy as we head into the new decade. Reebok recently utilised this approach, tweaking and streamlining an original vector logo. But the scale of Microsoft's overhaul is in a different league. Although the reaction to it has been in a league that Microsoft may not have anticipated. Read more: Where to find logo design inspiration Logo swap is surprisingly disturbing 7 famous logos that pass the silhouette test View the full article

If you’re a photographer, do you choose a conventional laptop, or do you think outside the box? When on the road you need the best gear you can get hold of. And that’s why you need a HP ZBook. There are many benefits with a convertible tablet PC, but chief among them is that you have one device to suit all purposes. If you’re processing photos on the train, you can use it as a conventional laptop. In the hand? With a stylus or your finger you can use it as a tablet thanks to a sensitive touch display. Showing a client content? Just use the screen and fold the keyboard back. And finally, if you’re at a desk, use the separately-available ZBook Dock to connect to an external display, keyboard and mouse all with a single cable thanks to Thunderbolt 3 technology. You can even connect to dual-4K displays should you wish to – the ZBook series is designed to handle high-resolution displays with aplomb. The ZBook series is ideally complemented by the HP DreamColor Z27x G2 QHD Studio Display which offers 98 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space. HP Dreamcolor Studio Display technology means your photo colours will look exactly as they should. The power to do more The HP ZBook x2 is fully worthy of its moniker as the "world’s most powerful detachable tablet". Running Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, the ZBook x2 has a full array of ports including HDMI, USB-C and also, importantly for photographers, an SD card reader. There are also the latest Intel quad-core processors up to Core i7. They won’t let you down, with up to 4.2GHz of Turbo Boost speed. HP’s Z Turbo Drive solid state storage drives (SSDs) are also four times faster than standard SATA SSDs for rapid-fire file access of even your biggest files. Plus, with up to 32GB of dual-channel memory, the ZBook x2 can handle all your intensive work in chunky apps. Fast charge tech will also help you ensure you never run out of charge when on the move. If you want a more traditional laptop but one that still boasts the ultimate in flexibility, check out the HP ZBook Studio X360. The screen can rotate a full 360 degrees, so you can use it in tent or stand modes as well as in standard laptop mode. In addition to all the power of the ZBook X2, it boasts up to Intel Xeon workstation processors for ultimate power and even faster PCIe NVMe storage of up to 4TB. The ZBook x2 has its own integrated stand and full-sized keyboard The ZBook x2 also boasts a full-size keyboard and integrated stand so as well as the powerful specs under the surface there’s little difference between using one in laptop mode and having a traditional clamshell laptop. Unlike some rivals, the Bluetooth-connected keyboard stays active even when it’s detached, meaning you can keep in control even if your display is across the table being used to show your work to colleagues or clients. Nvidia Quadro graphics ensure that your new ZBook will always have the power to perform graphically intensive edits as it powers the 15.6-inch (HP ZBook Studio X360) or 14-inch (HP ZBook x2) 4K IPS anti-glare multi-touch screen, the display also boasts HP Dreamcolor Studio Display technology, so your photo colours will look exactly as they should. The 10-bit colour display is chemically treated to feel like paper when you’re using the stylus and, what’s more, it supports 100 percent of the Adobe RGB colour gamut. Access the features you use most With HP Quick Keys on the ZBook x2, you can keep working in your favourite Adobe Creative Cloud apps without a keyboard; these are 18 handy shortcut keys located on the sides of the display which you can customise using the HP Create Control Panel. Just open the HP Create Control Panel and select Functions from the Tool list to customise them. You can even choose to customise them for a specific app like Photoshop should you wish. You can even select other keys to press to modify the functions you’ve created, too. You’re also able to control other features from the Create Control Panel, such as your HP ZBook x2 Pen’s tilt sensitivity, double-click distance, button action and other settings. We’ve covered the different types of stylus elsewhere, but the HP ZBook x2 Pen is a Wacom EMR model that can be used to quickly apply accurate photo edits thanks to 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. When teamed with the HP Quick Keys, you can quickly get into your most-used Photoshop and Lightroom functions, such as levels, filters or Camera Raw. Or you can easily pan and zoom or jump into a full-screen preview. You’ll quickly get used to the precision you’re able to have with tools in Creative Cloud. What’s more, the HP ZBook x2 Pen won’t let you down on the road – it doesn’t have a battery so unlike some digital pens and pencils, it never needs charging. The ZBook 360 comes with a Wacom AES pen for ultimate precision and low latency. But, whichever you choose as a photographer, you’ll get the right results every time. HP’s ZBook series of workstation PCs are designed from the ground-up for power, portability and creativity. Explore the HP ZBook range. View the full article

If you're wondering how to improve Instagram engagement after the platform's controversial decision to start hiding Like counts, you're not alone. There was a cry of outrage among the Instagram community when the news was announced, with many creatives wondering how it would affect their engagement. Well, now that the dust has settled, we've discovered that it's possibly not the disaster it initially seemed to be. Creatives who are clever with their strategy can take advantage of the shift away from Like counts, and make use of the wealth of other features designed to measure and boost user engagement. If you're a creative who is just getting started on Insta, check out our comprehensive post on how to make money using Instagram, or see our Instagram fonts article. Are disappearing Like counts a bad thing? The designers we spoke to are unanimously in favour of Instagram's decision to ban the public view of Like counts. They are all already utilising other ways to engage with followers on Instagram. In fact, some feel relief that the Like stress will be over, and many even feel creatively freer now that they'll be able to be more experimental with posts. Stefan Sagmeister is "unconcerned" about Instagram's decision, and in fact can see some advantages to the decision. A prominent graphic designer, he boasts 394,000 followers and is co-founder of design firm Sagmeister&Walsh. He's not the only designer to see advantages to a life without Like counts, as will become clear throughout the advice given in this article. Sagmeister also points out the changeable nature of social media, asserting that he's "pretty sure that if it proves to be a terrible idea, the Likes will be reinstated". Graphic artist, print maker and designer Anthony Burrill has 90,500 followers and has never focused on Like counts. "For me, it's never been about how many ‘likes’ a post gets, it’s about how it engages with people." "Likes don't pay the bills", he adds. So if it's not Likes, what will create interest and engagement on Instagram? To find out how best to do this, we've spoken to industry pros who are having success on Instagram to discover their tips. 01. Share your process Content truly is king when it comes to engagement on Instagram. In fact, Sagmeister suspects that, "any account that people find helpful will be able to create a fairly large following". But what sort of content resonates with followers? For designers, Instagram shouldn't be used as a substitute for a shop window, so don't be tempted to only show the final product. Although a carefully curated feed of finished projects is beautiful to look at, it may not be the best way to spark engagement with your page – there is more you can do. "My advice is to share more of your creative process... Your sketching process, your display screen when you work on it, until the final result", says logo designer/illustrator Alfrey Davilla, who has 66,100 followers. Take full advantage of the platform's features to give people a unique insight into your design process. This access will inspire, educate and entertain your followers, but also keep them invested in you as a designer – and most importantly, keep them engaged. 02. Give behind the scenes access using Stories Anthony Burrill used a Story to show his work in progress, and displayed the finished design on his Instagram feed As 500 million accounts use Instagram Stories every day, Stories are the best way to show behind the scenes action, without interrupting your carefully curated feed. Their disappearing nature keeps followers checking back for more, and, done well, can make them feel they've experienced something authentic and personalised. Plus, increased consumer desire to understand the entire brand means Stories are a great way to present your backstory. Burrill agrees that "behind the scenes stuff on Stories is good... you can give your followers a glimpse of what’s happening in the studio or workshop and let them in on your working process". For designers, Stories offer a unique opportunity as there is so much work that's gone into a project that your followers can be party to. "It's always fascinating to see how people put their work together, it gives you a real insight into how things get made and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes," says Burrill. But make sure you keep your brand message in mind when you're creating this content. As Burrill advises, "keep it personal and relatable, but always with your slant on things, reinforcing your message constantly, [keeping] it consistent and interesting." Barbara Malagoli was recently featured at the 13rd Brazilian Biennial of Graphic Design, and shared images from the event in her Stories Barbara Malagoli is a graphic designer with 16,500 followers. She embraces the behind the scenes aspect of content posting and even recommends taking it one step further. "I like to mix my personal life with my work life, in a healthy and light dosage", she says. "I love seeing artists' lives beyond 'work content', especially when they don't take themselves that seriously." Allowing followers a glimpse into your personal life allows them to connect with you as a person. No one's advocating those 3am kebab shots, of course, but Stories are the perfect format to share something of the person behind the designer. Also note that tagging your location in a Story presents another way for followers to find and engage with your account. 03. Start a conversation Two recent stories from Kou, one showing what she's currently reading and another highlighting a giveaway on her page The conversation shouldn't be confined to comments and DMs. Lettering artist Belinda Kou has 12,600 followers and she uses her Stories in innovative ways that prompts conversation. "I like to use my Stories to share what I'm working on, what it's like behind the scenes, and what I'm learning", she says. "I also use polls and ask questions to get to know my audience better, and love it when it starts a convo in DMs." Polls and emoji sliders are useful features that have been introduced to Stories to boost engagement, and they can facilitate chat with your followers. Davilla regularly uses comments to ask for opinions, but he also creates Stories using polls and emoji sliders. "I do appreciate every feedback," he says, "even if it comes from non-designers." And the information that comes from polls and sliders tells you so much more than someone simply hitting Like ever would. "I don't do Stories," says Sagmeister. "I did do a poll here and there but only when I really needed the information (never in order to boost engagement), and find the fact that people are commenting super helpful." But Sagmeister innovates in other ways to engage with the design community, starting conversations that are meaningful and keep people invested in the page. As the post above demonstrates, Sagmeister uses his expertise to critique and assist other designers with their own graphic design. Designers are invited to send in their work, then a project is regularly showcased (currently almost every day), with Sagmeister reviewing it and commenting on its successes and could-do-betters. 04. ...and then engage with it "I think one of the easiest things one can do is have a conversation with your followers", says lettering artist Scott Biersacker who has 44,300 followers, and replies to almost every comment left for him (as you can see on his post, above). "Whether that is replying to the comments on an in-feed post, sharing a Story about your day/work, any method to have a dialogue is beneficial. People are following along for a reason – having that connection can establish relationships and even friendships with those that support your work." Kou points out that the dialogue should work both ways – you should be listening to your audience as well as posting content. "My advice to creatives who want to increase Instagram engagement is to try to get to know the people behind the username and figure out what you can do to make your content valuable to others." By listening to your followers, you can personalise your content further, and increase engagement. And pay close attention to your DMs, too. People do use them to reach out, and lack of response will only serve to put people off. 05. Use the right hashtags Since hashtags were introduced in 2007, they've become a stalwart of social media success. They make you more visible in the social media stratosphere, and you can even create branded hashtags. When using them for business engagement they need careful consideration, and there are strategies you can implement. Using the right hashtags transformed social media for Fabian Oberhammer, a 3D artist with 37,600 followers. "Once I started using them correctly," he says, "I boosted from less than 100 followers to over 1,000 within the first week. "I have different sets of 30 hashtags saved on my phone, and I use them depending on what type/style of render I upload," Oberhammer explains. "Look what hashtags similar IG accounts use and adapt your hashtags by that." Then you should use the Instagram search bar to find out how many other accounts are using them, and decide how many to use yourself. "I found that having 10 specific (less than 500 posts), 10 normal (about 10,000 posts) and 10 general (100,000+ posts) hashtags works out quite well," says Oberhammer. Make sure you check out every single hashtag you're going to use, so you know that the content is in line with your values. And hop over to Instagram Insights to check out their impact, so you can focus on the ones that are working best. 06. Consider your upload time Instagram has peak times, so make sure you upload or schedule posts at the right times for you Instagram has peak times of engagement, and it's crucial to success to understand when exactly is the best time to upload your content. According to Sprout Social, global engagement on Instagram is at its highest at Wednesday at 11 am and Friday at 10–11 am. Things go pretty quiet during the days at weekends, too. Oberhammer advises researching similar hashtags to your own to work out when would be the most successful upload times. "My advice is be consistent with posting, also regarding upload times, analyse where the most engagement is from and when they engage, and post around that time (preferably a little earlier)." You can schedule your posts to hit those peak times (you'll need extra software for this), and as you're creating them in advance you can make sure the content is perfect. There are a range of options for Instagram scheduling. Start by checking out Later, the aforementioned Sprout Social and Tailwind , which are all popular choices. If these don't hit the spot there are plenty of others, and all with different features aimed at growing your Instagram presence. 07. Measure your success Measure your engagement, and use the data wisely The strategies covered in this post are all way more measurable than Like counts. Despite the furore that entailed when users started seeing their Like counts disappear, they were never a great measure of true engagement with content because all they really do is tell you someone has seen your post – and there is so much more to measure than that. Instagram Insights is the first place to go to deep dive into your statistics. In order to use Insights, you must have a business page. You can switch your personal profile to a business one easily – just tap the settings wheel icon on your profile and hit 'switch to Professional Account', then tap 'Business'. Once this is done, you'll see a new 'bar chart' icon at the top of your profile. Press this to discover Insights (which are split into three sections: Account, Post and Stories). Instagram Account Insights covers five main areas of data: Impressions (how many screens your ads have appeared on), Reach (how many unique users have seen your posts), website clicks, profile visits and changes in numbers of followers. In Post Insights, you can dive even deeper into the stats generated by your posts by viewing how many Likes, comments and shares your posts have got. And in the Discovery section, you'll find out where your content was seen – on the user's feed, from your profile or if the view originated from a hashtag or location tag. Social Bakers has a multi-faceted data strategy to boost your Instagram account Like counts won't tell you if someone watched to the very end of your video – but Instagram Stories Insights can tell you if someone has watched your whole Story. You do this by scrolling down to the Stories section of Insights. You'll see data on a few areas but the Tap Forwards and Taps Back areas indicate who has skipped through the different parts of your Stories and who has watched the whole thing. Then there's the Swipe Away section – this part tells you who has swiped past your entire story. There are lots of free and paid-for tools that go even further than Insights, such as Stellation Media, with which you'll get a dedicated account manager, or AI-powered SocialBakers. Many of these platforms can manage the data across your many social media accounts, too in unified approach that could boost engagement across all your social media. Read more: 5 steps to an irresistible Instagram bio 9 agencies to follow on Instagram The ultimate guide to social media for creatives View the full article

When was the last time you asked a plumber to re-fit an entire bathroom for free, just to prove they could do it, and so they might get to do the kitchen – despite having clearly run a successful business for years, and having been recommended by several happy customers? Never? Would you expect a restauranteur to give all their customers their first three-course meal and drinks free of charge, to show their team of chefs and waiting staff are worthy of future custom? No? All the best design jobs available right now People in these professions don’t have the time or inclination to do things for free, because their worth – their insight and expertise – is proven, or at the very least, implicit. People come to them with a degree of expectation, but they also expect to pay, unless there's a flood or food poisoning incident, or they completely ignore what they asked for and provide something wholly inappropriate. Infuriatingly, free pitching seems to still be accepted practice So why would any self-respecting creative business jump through hoops for nothing? People do it because it’s 'normal', or because its part of the 'pro bono pitch process'. They say it's all about 'great opportunities' or 'exposure'. Well, you know what? Screw that. Screw being screwed out of your great ideas, and not receiving a penny for their value, or the time, talent and resources that went into them. Why free pitching is still accepted It's easier said than done, though. Infuriatingly, free pitching seems to still be accepted practice. And for some reason it seems more prevalent among larger clients who have plenty of budget to invest in creative talent to further their cause. So many of these clients assume creatives will jump at the ‘opportunity’ and really want to work with them, they might even expect designers to feel privileged that they've even been asked. All of this would be more palatable if the carrot-danglers would just pay a fair price for the time and resources that go into a pitch. But they won’t, unless the design community takes a united stand. It also begs the question of whether playing creative agencies against each other is a good thing in the first place – especially to such lengths without selection. Competition is healthy, but going to such lengths without fair recompense is just wrong. And surely a brand owner’s selection criteria – in a day and age where we can share profiles, experience, portfolios and case studies online, thrash out briefs and ideas face-to-face via Zoom and its equivalents, and collaborate virtually – should consist of ticking just two boxes: Do I like these people and feel I can work with them? Can they do the work? That’s about it. Beyond an adult conversation and perhaps a spot of background research, asking for anything more without paying for it is, at best, disrespectful of people’s time, talent and resources. At worst, it’s a cynical harvesting of other people’s ideas with no regard for their worth, whether it’s ‘right for the project’ or not. And – let’s be brutally honest – it can often amount to a thinly veiled theft of intellectual property. This problem is nothing new. It’s a known issue, and a conversation most of us have had many times. So, what are we going to do about it? What can we do about free pitching? In cases where competitive pitching is still the preferred approach, at Brown&co, we think it’s time for a universal set of simple agency standards regarding payment for speculative work, complete with an industry-recognised qualifying symbol, which clients opt into by default. We also think it’s only fair that anyone opting out and persisting with the pro bono approach should have to make their decision clear and up-front. Let’s shame all those that perpetuate the piss-take! Brown&co has recently pulled out of two creative pitches because we simply weren’t being offered fair value for our creative expertise and intellectual property – and to be honest, even if we’d won the pitch, it would barely have been a financially viable project, taking into account the time and resources we’d already thrown at it. We think it’s time to take a collective stand against this absurd approach to business. If nothing more, it’ll soon tell us which clients really understand the value of what they’re investing in. We’ve been talking at some length with the DBA, and its in full agreement that something’s got to give. It's even asked us to support them in pioneering this much-needed change. Who’s with us? Tweet your support using the hashtags #dontbeapitchbitch #nofeenopitch #wedontfreepitch #notoprobono. Read more: How to be a better speaker: presenting and pitching tips 10 steps to getting a reluctant client to pay The 8 most disruptive apps of all time View the full article

The London Underground symbol is an iconic piece of logo design. The red and blue bar and circle roundel has been around since 1908. But visitors to London's Westminster Underground station can now see a reimagined version of the transit symbol courtesy of British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong. The eight new designs – under the banner Pan African Flag for the Relic Travellers’ Alliance 2019 – were commissioned by Art on the Underground, a visual arts showcase funded by Transport for London. The designs are part of the '2019 – On Edge' series and if you want to get a closer look at the artwork you have until the end of February 2020, when the project comes to an end. Achiampong chose to focus on Pan African colours – green, black, and red – that speak symbolically to various African identities. The colours represent the land, the people and the struggles that the African continent has endured, while gold was chosen to represent a new day and prosperity. Beyond the colour palette, the redesign builds on the artist’s concept of Sanko-time. For those who don't know, Sanko-time is based in the Ashanti word 'sankofa'. This alludes to using the past to prepare for the future. And, the project takes a closer look at African mythologies and their relationship to science fiction. It's an interesting concept, but what do people think of Achiampong's redesigns? Instagram account londonist_com asked, "Artist Larry Achiampong has given the roundels at Westminster a pan-African makeover. What do you make of them?" Some people made positive comments, others thought the designs had a Christmassy feel, while others weren't impressed at all. We think that a few may be missing the point. The redesign is a temporary piece of art. It's not a permanent move to a new look for the iconic design, it's just an interpretation of what it could be. Where to find logo design inspiration 8 of the biggest logo redesigns of 2019 6 of the most iconic drinks logos View the full article

Microsoft Black Friday 2019 saw some hugely impressive deals. From incredible offers on the new Surface Pro 7, right through to the Surface Book 2, the retail event was bigger and better than ever before. This makes us hugely excited for what Microsoft Black Friday 2020 holds in store. Some of the best deals we saw – and are still going – include great Xbox discounts (you can save up to $150 on Xbox in the US, and up to £150 on Xbox in the UK) and a there's a significant price drop on the new Surface Laptop 3. 2019 was a huge year for Microsoft in terms of hardware releases. The Fall hardware event brought us a number of new Surface products – with the Surface Pro 7 and Surface Pro X of particularly interest for designers. Unexpectedly, we've seen a few huge price drops on the new products, including this epic $360 discount on the Surface Pro 7 at Best Buy We've also saw some brilliant Microsoft Cyber Monday deals on the slightly older (but still very good) Surface Pro 6. The very cheapest Microsoft Black Friday deals didn't last long. But there were new ones popping up all the time, so if you missed out on a good saving don't despair. Bookmark this page and keep checking back to make sure you see all the best Microsoft Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals as soon as the start to arrive. In this article, we're going to take a look at some of the best product discounts we saw in 2019, plus make some predictions on what we might see in 2020 and provide details on how to get the very best Microsoft Black Friday deals. The best Surface Pro 2019 deals There's are two new Surface Pros in town: the Surface Pro 7 and the Surface Pro X. In terms of Microsoft Black Friday deals, this meant we saw some great offers on the Pro 6. Interestingly, there were also some pretty awesome savings on the brand new Surface Pro 7 too (in the US in particular). Read our Surface Pro 6 review, or check out our Surface Pro 7 vs Surface Pro 6 comparison for more information. The best Surface Book Black Friday deals In 2019 there were plenty of big discounts on the Surface Book 2, Microsoft's powerful laptop. There's a lot to recommend this device – take a look at our Surface Book 2 review for our thoughts (we awarded it 4.5 stars). So far, there's no news as to when the Surface Book 3 will appear; it wasn't included in the Fall Hardware Event at the start of October. In our original Surface Book review we awarded the device 5 stars, so if you don't mind an older model it might be worth keeping an eye out for any hot deals on that model too. The best Surface laptop Black Friday deals The Surface Laptop 3 was unveiled at Microsoft's Fall Hardware event in early October 2019, and was released on 22 October (see how it compares to the MacBook Air here). This means the Laptop 3 will likely be in line for some hot deals come late November 2020. The best Xbox Black Friday 2019 deals Games consoles traditionally get some mega discounts over Black Friday, and in 2019 Microsoft's Xbox One S and Xbox One X got some big price drops. We saw a lot of bundle deals, with Microsoft games consoles being packaged in with games from Playerunknown's Battlegrounds to Fallout 76 and Minecraft at a range of retailers. If it's a game you actually want, these can be great buys – if not you're looking at a whole lot of false economy. In 2019 we also saw a couple of great console-only deals on the Xbox One X in the US, both in the run-up to the event (from Walmart) and on the day itself (from Amazon). While we predict the best bargains will be appearing on Black Friday itself (and some deals to be had on Cyber Monday, there were bundles cropping up in early Black Friday offers last year, so keep your eyes peeled. The widget below pulls in the best current prices in your territory, including any offers. The best Microsoft Office Black Friday 2019 deals Microsoft Office has never been cheap, but we do usually see some Microsoft Black Friday and Microsoft Cyber Monday Office deals to take the sting out of shelling out for Word, Excel and the like. Here's an example of the best deal we saw in 2019. The best Surface Go Black Friday 2019 deals The Surface Go, Microsoft's reasonably priced 10-inch tablet also got some good discounts in 2019 over Cyber Monday/Black Friday. Take a look at our sister site TechRadar's review for more on this device, and check out the best Surface Go Black Friday 2019 deals below. Microsoft Black Friday sales: quick links US: Microsoft.com US: Walmart US: Amazon.com US: Best Buy UK: Microsoft.co.uk How to get the best Microsoft Black Friday deals in 2020 To start with, bookmark this page. We'll be updating this article with all the best Black Friday Microsoft 2020 deals and Cyber Monday Microsoft deals as soon as we hear about them, so make sure you check back. As well as the Microsoft Store itself, other major retailers are in on the action with some strong offers of their own. And while there'll undoubtedly be plenty of action on Cyber Monday, those aren't the only days you'll be able to snag a deal. We've seen eager retailers rolling out their deals earlier and earlier each year. In 2019, there were competitive deals appearing from early November. To make the most of the offers, it's worth checking for add-ons or gift cards that will make your deal even better. It's also worth considering refurbished models. The very best Black Friday Microsoft deals won't stick around forever (many will sell out on the day). If you're reading this post that means you're already ahead of the game – make the most of the run-up period to figure out which Microsoft products are right for you, so you know what to look out for and don't end up panic-buying the wrong thing. Microsoft Black Friday offers: Insights from 2019 The range everyone's interested in right now is Microsoft Surface, and retailers have been happy to oblige with impressive surface deals at various sales events. Last year's Microsoft Black Friday and Microsoft Cyber Monday saw particularly impressive offers on the Surface Pro 6 (see above) and Surface Laptop 2. Microsoft's Fall Hardware Event on 2 Oct brought with it some exciting hardware news. The tech giant announced several product updates in the Surface range: the Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro 7 and Surface Pro X (we're still waiting on the Surface Book 3, however). There were also some interesting additions, in the form of dual-screen tablet Surface Neo, foldable phone Surface Duo and true wireless Surface Earbuds. All this is likely to shake things up in terms of this year's Microsoft Black Friday deals. While big deals on new releases are unlikely (although not impossible), older versions of newly updated kit is ripe for discounts as retailers seek to shift stock. Read more: The best laptops for graphic design The best Surface Pro Black Friday deals Hands on: Microsoft Surface Pro X review View the full article

Black Friday 2019 has come and gone, and over the course the retail event we saw some amazing Surface Pro Black Friday deals. One of the best times to make huge savings on these powerful Microsoft devices, it's worth bookmarking this page as we'll be updating it as soon as the Surface Pro Black Friday 2020 deals arrive. It may seem a way off yet, but, trust us, it will come around quickly. So if you want to bag a great deal in the 2020 sales, now's the time to start saving. In this post we will curate all the best deals on every product in the Surface Pro range, which includes the Surface Pro 6, Surface Pro 7 and Surface Pro X. The 2019 saw some jaw-dropping deals on the latest Pro 7 device, which was a bit of a surprise. Below you'll find some of the best Surface Pro Black Friday deals from 2019, predictions on what we might see next year and how to find all the best offers. If you can't wait until next year to get your hands on one of these devices, be sure to take a look at our round up of the best Microsoft Surface deals right now. The best Surface Pro Black Friday deals To give you an idea of what you might expect from the Surface Pro Black Friday 2020 deals, here are the two best offers we saw in the US and UK in 2019 – both of which are still valid! The best Surface Pro 6 Black Friday deals Last year we saw plenty of strong Surface Pro 6 Cyber Monday deals. Retailers involved included Amazon and the Microsoft online store, plus Best Buy, Walmart and Costco in the US, and John Lewis, Very, AO and Currys in the UK. Check the deals and price widget below to see the best prices available right now in your region. The best Surface Book 2 Black Friday deals Okay so it's not exactly a Surface Pro. But the Surface Book 2 is another great machine, and there were some hot deals around in 2019. Which Surface Pro models will be getting a Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 discount? On Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day 2019, we saw a number of strong discounts on the Surface Pro, and we expect this to be the case for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020, too. At its Fall Hardware event on 2 October 2019, Microsoft unveiled two new Pro models: the Surface Pro 7 and the Surface Pro X, which was good news in terms of getting great deals on the Pro 6 in 2019. But we were pleasantly surprised to see the Pro 7 play a big part in Black Friday 2019. Typically retailers focus on slightly older stock for their sales, but the Pro 7 some incredible deals up for grabs. The Pro X, however, was nowhere to be seen, which was not a huge surprise. That said, if it's the X you want, 2020 is almost certainly going to see some discounts on the then 13-month old device. We'll collate all the deals here as soon as they're live. To help you decide which one's right for you, take a look at our Surface Pro 6 review, our Surface Pro review, or our hands-on Surface Pro X review. Is the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 worth the money? The short answer is yes, as our in-depth Microsoft Surface Pro 6 review will attest. Despite the introduction of the Surface Pro 7 in October, the Pro 6 is remains one of the best 2-in-1's around. And the good news is the new device launch will undoubtedly push some brilliant Surface Pro 6 Black Friday deals this year. So if you're in the market for a new tablet and not bothered about having the latest device, the Surface Pro 6 is a stellar option. Want to see how it compares to the newer model? Explore our Surface Pro 6 vs Surface Pro 7 comparison. How to get the best Surface Pro Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 deals If you've landed on this buying guide, you'll no doubt already be aware of some of the specs that make Surface Pros such a sought-after device. They're packed full of features creatives will love: there's a gorgeous screen, super-powerful specs, a stylish design, and they both running the full desktop version of Windows. But there's also a few under-the-radar features that you might not be aware of, including the ability to take screenshots with a Surface Pen, collaborate remotely in real time, and gaze correction. Add all of that up and it's no wonder these clever machines are so popular. It sounds extreme, but to make sure you get the best Surface Pro Black Friday (or Surface Pro Cyber Monday) deal in 2020, you need a game plan. Step one is to bookmark this page. We'll be keeping it updated with a curated list of the best offers from the most reliable retailers, in the run-up to Black Friday and during the event itself. While you'll likely find some good offers on the Microsoft online store itself, a number of other retailers will also be offering great discounts, from Walmart and Best Buy to John Lewis and Very. Keeping on top of all the different Surface Pro Black Friday deals is tricky, which is why we're taking the hard work out by collecting them in one place (you're welcome). Second, remember that while there'll plenty of hot offers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday themselves, those aren't the only days you'll be able to pick up a bargain machine. Eager retailers have been rolling out offers earlier and earlier each year – and with Black Friday falling relatively late this year, we definitely expect some good early deals. In 2019, there were competitive offers popping up from early November. To make the most of the offers, it's worth checking for add-ons such as software, keyboards and covers, or gift cards that will make your deal even better. It's also worth considering refurbished models – there are some great bargains to be had on pre-owned products. The very best deals won't stick around forever (many will sell out on the day). If you're reading this article, you're already ahead of the game – make the most of the weeks running up to the end of November to figure out which Surface Pro product is right for you (how much storage do you need? How powerful should it be?), so you know what to focus on and don't end up panic buying the wrong model. View the full article

Apple Black Friday may be over for the year, but it's never too early to start prepping for next year's event. Well – perhaps it is a little. But here we go anyway. In this article you'll find everything you need to know about the Apple Black Friday 2020 sale, including how to bag the best bargains, and a look back on the discounts we saw in 2019. When it gets to the big day(s) in November, we'll be busy curating the best deals for you so you don't miss out. First let's look at the burning questions everyone is asking. Will Apple have deals on Black Friday? There were a wide range of Apple Black Friday discounts in 2019, and 2020 is likely to look very similar, with impressive Apple Black Friday deals across a whole range of devices. However, unless you're dead set on shopping in the Apple Store itself, you're almost certain to find the best Apple Black Friday deals come from other retailers. In previous years, rather than discounting the products themselves, the tech giant offered money off further Apple spending, with gift cards given on purchases made over the shopping event. Are Apple Cyber Monday deals the same as Black Friday? There are Apple Cyber Monday offers every year, and they're unlikely to be the same as Black Friday. Retailers tend to bring out the highest concentration of bargains on Black Friday itself, and Cyber Monday is slightly less of a big deal. That said, Cyber Monday has historically been the time to bag a tech deal, so who knows? If you're wondering whether to hold off for a hot Apple Cyber Monday Apple deal, we'd probably advise against it. Some will be offering blanket deals across the whole long weekend, while other promotions will be live for a shorter period, and the best offers will likely sell out. That's a slightly frustrating answer, but our general advice is to think ahead on what you want to buy. Do you need particular specs or a specific model, or are you happy with whatever model the biggest Apple Black Friday discount happens to be on? Make a plan and if an offer crops up that matches your plans, snap it up then and there rather than waiting on the off chance something better will come around. Where are the best Apple Black Friday deals? The official Apple Store isn't usually the best place to grab a bargain in the Apple Black Friday sale. Below is a roundup of the retailers with the biggest discounts in the Apple Black Friday 2019 sale. And of course, don't forget to bookmark this page for a curated list of deals. Amazon: Discounts on a range of products, in the US and UK Best Buy: Deals on MacBooks, Apple Watches and AirPods John Lewis: Some strong offers on MacBooks, iPads, iPhones and more Very: Savings on MacBooks, iPads, AirPods, Apple TV and accessories Currys PC World: Offers on various Apple products AO: Some strong deals on iPhones Walmart: Deals across a range of Apple products Laptops Direct: Deals on MacBooks, iPads and iPhones How to get the best Apple Black Friday deal To get the best deal possible, it's best to have a product and a price in mind. You don't want to end up getting overwhelmed by the options and being unable to make a decision (or panicking and making the wrong decision), so start out with a clear plan. Once you've decided on the product you're after, you can start tracking its price on various retailers – or even simpler, bookmark this page and keep checking it. You could also set up a Google Alert for the prices you're after. Here are some more tips here on how to make the most of Black Friday. Apple Store Black Friday 2020 opening hours Will you have to queue up round the block to get the best Apple Black Friday deals? This seems unlikely, because most Apple Stores will operate their usual opening hours across this period. If you're in the US, check your local Apple Store opening times here. As mentioned, however, the Apple Store isn't likely to be the best place to bag yourself the best Apple Black Friday deals – you'll probably be better off going to another retailer or shopping online. Don't forget that we'll be reporting on deals as they come in, so you can keep checking this page to bag yourself an Apple Black Friday bargain. The best Apple Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals from 2019 To help you get a feel for some of the kind of discounts we see over the festive shopping event, here's a roundup of the best Apple Black Friday deals from 2019. And if you're quick, some of them might even still be available... Apple Black Friday: UK iPad deals Apple Black Friday: US MacBook deals Apple Cyber Monday: UK MacBook deals More offers in our guide to the best Cyber Monday MacBook deals. Get more insights in our guide to the Apple AirPods Black Friday sale. Apple Black Friday deals: iPad offers Tablets are always in demand on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and we saw a lot of good Black Friday iPad deals in 2018. Figuring out which is the best offer, taking into account the different models, storage options and features, can be difficult. We've sorted through the best options with this in mind. In terms of where to shop, in 2018 Walmart was the place to head for US shoppers, while in the UK, Very, John Lewis and eglobal central all had good deals. Take a look at the best iPad offers right now in the widget below. The best Cyber Monday MacBook deals MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Black Friday deals are in high demand every year – mainly because, as designers will know, this kind of top-quality kit doesn't come cheap. So how much does a MacBook cost on Cyber Monday? Short answer: it depends where you go and which model and spec you're interested in. As you might expect the best discounts are typically on slightly older machines, so if you don't mind not having the latest, greatest MacBook then that's often a good way to bag a bargain. Another hot tip is to keep an eye out for refurbished models – there can be some hidden gems on pre-owned models. In 2018 in the US, Jet, B&H and Adorama were the places to bag the best Black Friday Apple offers on MacBooks. In the UK, John Lewis, Very and Curry's came through with some good deals, and there was also a standout offer from Laptops Direct. Take a look at the best prices right now in the widget below. Cyber Monday Apple Airpods deals In 2018, everyone was after an Airpod deal. Retailers did not oblige. There were a few little discounts here and there, but nothing that really made a dent in the hefty price tag. Will AirPods go on sale for Black Friday or Cyber Monday 2019? Well, we think so. We're already starting to see some decent discounts on these true wireless earbuds (the price widget below will pull in the best offers in your region). These little devices aren't quite as new and exciting now (and there's a fair bit of competition hitting the market in the form of Amazon's Echo Buds and Microsoft's Surface Earbuds), so here's hoping this November brings some strong Black Friday Apple Airpods deals. Cyber Monday Apple Watch deals There were quite a few good Apple Watch deals on Black Friday 2018, with discounts on the Series 3 as well as older models. The newest model back then – the Apple Watch 4, released September 2018 – didn't get much Black Friday action. Apple has just launched its Apple Watch Series 5, so Black Friday 2019 might be the time to bag a bargain on a Series 4 Apple Watch. In the US, the best 2018 Black Friday Apple Watch deals came from B&H, Macy's and Amazon. In the UK, shoppers were better off heading to John Lewis or Very. Read more: Microsoft Cyber Monday deals Adobe deals: Where to get a Creative Cloud discount Wacom Cyber Monday deals View the full article

The MacBook Pro 16-inch is Apple’s latest professional laptop, and it represents an exciting evolution for the MacBook Pro line, which we feel has seemed a little unambitious lately. While the 15-inch and 13-inch MacBook Pros that Apple launched earlier this year were only minor upgrades over previous models, the new MacBook Pro 16-inch is a far more revolutionary offering, and one which feels almost tailor-made for modern creatives. In fact, Apple has been keen to stress that it has listened to its customers when designing the MacBook Pro 16-inch, and has offered them “more of what they love.” The result is a drastically-improved MacBook Pro with some excellent new features that makes it one of the best laptops for graphic design. So, you get some of the most powerful mobile hardware in the world, as well as a gorgeous new larger screen – and increased resolution as well. While it does still have a few frustrating quirks we’ve come to expect from an Apple laptop – which we’ll get to in a moment – what you’re essentially getting is a larger, more powerful MacBook Pro. More of what you love, indeed, and also one of the best laptops for designers you can buy right now. Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch: Price When it comes to the price of the MacBook Pro 16-inch, there’s good news and bad news. First, the bad: as you’d expect from a high-end Apple product, the MacBook Pro 16-inch is a very expensive device, and represents a serious investment. However, the good news is that Apple hasn’t raised the price of the base model of the 16-inch MacBook Pro compared to the base model of the earlier 15-inch model. For £2,399 you get a 6-core Intel Core i7 processor, AMD Radeon Pro 5300M 4GB GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. This is the same price that Apple was asking for the 2019 model of the MacBook Pro 15-inch, which comes with a 6-core 9th generation Intel Core i7 processor, Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. That means the larger screen, plus double the storage and better graphics, all comes for effectively free. If you were conflicted about whether to get the 16-inch model or the 15-inch model, the answer is clear: get the 16-inch MacBook Pro. There is also a higher-end model that comes with a 2.3GHz 8-core Intel Core i9 processor, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD for £2,799, which is the same price as the high end 15-inch MacBook Pro. Now that the 16-inch MacBook Pro is out, we’ll likely see the price of the 15-inch model drop – though Apple itself has stopped selling the 15-inch model. In Apple’s view, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is now the high-end MacBook Pro offering, with the 13-inch MacBook Pro the more affordable option. For anyone who just bought the 15-inch MacBook Pro earlier this year, however, the news that their new purchase is now outdated, may not be too welcome. Apple also allows you to configure the MacBook Pro 16-inch to add more power if you need it. This is great for building a MacBook Pro that suits your needs (and budget), though it does add to the price quite quickly – the most powerful option for the MacBook Pro 16-inch will cost a huge £5,769! To justify the high price, the MacBook Pro 16-inch needs to be a seriously impressive performer. Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch: Power and performance So, how does the MacBook Pro 16-inch perform, and does it make it a good investment considering the price tag? The good news is that it performs brilliantly. The version we tried is the high-end base configuration, which comes with an 8-core Intel Core i9 processor and 16GB of RAM. This makes the laptop an excellent performer when it comes to multitasking. If you often work with lots of different applications open at once – for example if you’re rendering a video and want to fire off a few emails or create a presentation at the same time – then the MacBook Pro 16-inch can do this. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics card is also a very powerful professional-grade GPU. If you’re a video editor who works with high resolution footage, or a 3D designer, then you’ll find the performance of the MacBook Pro 16-inch to be seriously impressive. Apple has managed to fit the kind of performance we’d expect from a big, bulky, desktop PC into the impressively svelte body of the MacBook Pro. If you’re a video editor or a 3D designer, then you’ll find the performance of the MacBook Pro 16-inch to be seriously impressive. Of course, if you don’t need to do that kind of intensive work, then the MacBook Pro 16-inch is probably too overpowered for your needs. In this case, you’re better of buying a regular MacBook or laptop instead. When it comes to battery life, the MacBook Pro 16-inch really shines. Many laptops that offer this kind of power do so at the expense of battery life, which means you need to plug them in while you’re working. However, we’re pleased to say that the MacBook Pro 16-inch offers exceptional battery life. By Apple’s estimates, the MacBook Pro 16-inch gives around an hour more battery life compared to the 15-inch model, and in our tests we found that to be pretty accurate, with it lasting 11 hours and 41 minutes, with a looped 1080p video at 50% screen brightness. In contrast, the Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition managed just 5 hours and 28 minutes in the same test Apple has achieved this by including a 100-watt-hour battery (16 WH larger than the previous models). This is the largest capacity battery the FAA allows on flights, and thanks to the power efficiency of both Apple’s hardware and software, it means you’re unlikely to see better battery life in a powerful laptop. Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch: Display Perhaps the most noticeable change with the new MacBook Pro is the increased screen size. Recently, the largest screen you could get on a MacBook Pro was 15-inches, but Apple has bumped that up to 16-inches. The good news is that this hasn’t impacted image quality, as Apple has also increased the resolution as well, which is now 3,072 x 1,920 with a pixel density of 226 pixels per inch. Compared to the 15-inch model’s 2,880 x 1,800 resolution, which offered a pixel density of 220ppi, the new screen of the MacBook Pro 16-inch offers sharper image quality. It features the same P3 colour gamut, which is essential for photographers and video editors who rely on accurate colours, and means the screen of the MacBook Pro 16-inch is one of the most vibrant displays on a laptop. Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch: Key features Whilst the larger screen is the most noticeable change, another welcome new feature of the MacBook Pro 16-inch is an overhauled keyboard. The keyboards included in previous models of the MacBook Pro used Butterfly switches for the keys. While the aim of these was to allow the MacBook Pro to be as thin as possible by keeping the depth of the keyboard shallow, it lead to a number of complaints from users who found that the keys would become unresponsive, especially if debris, such as dust, went between the keys. It was enough of a problem that Apple started a returns service where its customers could send in their faulty MacBook Pros. Obviously, this resulted in quite a PR disaster for Apple, so we’re very pleased to see Apple finally replace the problematic Butterfly switch with Scissor switches found in the Magic Keyboard, Apple’s popular keyboard for iMacs. This has also made the keyboard of the MacBook Pro 16-inch feel much more responsive and tactile, offering an overall more pleasant typing experience. The MacBook Pro 16-inch runs macOS Catalina, Apple’s latest operating system. One of the best features of the new OS is Sidecar. This allows you to use an iPad as a second screen. So, you could draw on the iPad with the Apple Pencil stylus, and your doodles will appear on the MacBook Pro 16-inch. There are a number of creative apps that allow you to use the iPad along with the Apple Pencil stylus to control the apps via touch, and it’s one of the best new features for creatives. However, this is a feature that’s not exclusive to the new 16-inch model; any Mac that can run macOS Catalina can make use of this feature. Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch: Should you buy it? So, should you buy the MacBook Pro 16-inch? It’s a bit of a complex question, really. There’s no doubt that Apple has made the best MacBook Pro ever with its new device. It’s the most powerful laptop from Apple, and the new larger screen is a real sight to behold. The improved keyboard is a very welcome addition, hopefully eliminating the problems that plagued previous MacBooks, and it feels so much nicer to work on. Apple’s iconic design is also still present and correct, and while some people may have hoped for an all-new look, it’s still a gorgeously-designed laptop. However, it’s also very expensive, and the level of power on offer here won’t be for everyone. If you don’t need to perform heavy-duty graphical tasks like 3D rendering, then your money may be spent elsewhere. It’s also a shame that Apple is sticking to only including four Thunderbolt ports, which means for any creative professional that uses peripherals with a standard USB connection, like a graphics tablet or a memory card reader, then you’ll need to buy an adapter. View the full article

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One flaw found in WordPress plugins Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder and Ultimate Addons for Elementor is actively being exploited. View the full article

It's nearly Christmas, in case you hadn't noticed. And in the spirit of festive cheer, Supremo has updated its popular online game, Its Centered That with a seasonal new look. The game challenges users to decide whether dots are in the centre of shapes. Previously, these were the usual standard shapes, triangles and the like. But now, you get to guess whether or not the dot is in the centre of robins, reindeer and Christmas presents (really, still just a square, but there's a bow to liven things up). You even get to click on Rudolf the green-nosed reindeer to say 'yes', the dot is in the centre. Or Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer to say 'no'. The game doesn't state that his name is Rudolf, but we will assume so (see our Christmas vectors if you'd like some more seasonal shapes in your life). Supremo's quiz is harder than it sounds, but it's game over once you get one wrong (expressed in the somewhat upsetting form of a pooh emoji over your screen), so you may end up trying over and over again until you up your score. And even the most experienced among you with the sharpest eyes for proportions may not have finely tuned your skills when it comes to identifying the centre of a reindeer. Unless you've been really concentrating hard on making your Christmas cards, that is. Check out the Its Centered That seasonal game here and let us know how you do on Twitter or Facebook. If you're after more festive fun, then see our review of IKEA's festive advert, or our analysis of this year's John Lewis TV ad. Read more: MPC Vancouver closes doors after Sonic fiasco Controversial 'Cocaine Santa' Christmas jumper becomes this year's hottest seller Burger King trolls banana artwork with a French fry View the full article

Remember all the furore around the original Sonic redesign? It's hard to forget that weird human-like face and those teeth. There were so many complaints that it was back to the drawing board for a new-look Sonic. But, perhaps the damage had already been done, as Moving Picture Company Vancouver – the animation and VFX studio behind the Sonic design – has now closed. In an email (an unverified version has been posted on Imgur), the company says, "This decision has not been taken lightly." And goes on to say that, "increasing external market pressures in Vancouver and more attractive opportunities in other locations have created a challenging environment for us to sustain the studio." MPC, which has offices around the world, has worked on big-time 3D movies including The Lion King and Watchmen and even won an Oscar for its work on 2012’s Life of Pi. Oh, and it also played a part in Cats. Was the Sonic redesign the final nail in coffin for this branch of MPC? Fan reaction to the original Sonic design might have been scathing, but the new-look spiky speedster was well-received and definitely much improved. See the trailer below. But, it seems there was a much bigger problem at MPC Vancouver than just the Sonic redesign. A now deleted post on Reddit entitled: "As a recently let go employee of MPC Van" offers some intriguing insight to some of the problems at the studio. The original post from the disgruntled employee might not be there any more, but you can definitely gauge the feeling from the comments, which include angry commenter MPCdeserter (the name seems a bit of a giveaway), who mentions "horror stories to the point where they have had to settle out of court because of the way they treat artists". It's a sad day for any creative studio to shut one of its branches, but it looks like we can't really blame the loveable blue hedgehog this time. Well, not entirely. Read more: PSD to 3D: Turn Photoshop images into 3D scenes 9 of the best free 3D apps Paramount to redesign Sonic after overwhelming backlash View the full article

The Xbox Series X has been unveiled, and the design is already getting some serious heat on social media. Specs-wise, you can't knock it – this thing is four times more powerful than the Xbox One X – but the design of the console is something else. Microsoft has gone for a mighty, monolithic design that deviates pretty considerably from what we're used to. See it being unveiled below. While we'd expect kickback on any major new tech release, the memes this time are particularly brutal. Comparisons are coming in thick and fast. Is it a fridge-freezer? An aside here: we're not quite sure of the actual size, but we're assuming it's not quite this big. Others are getting more of a Spongebob vibe. Alternatively, if you're looking for an expensive coffee table, today could be your lucky day. Others have wondered if Microsoft got its inspiration from old-school PC towers. Whatever you think of the design of the new Xbox Series X, we think Charleyy Hodson has probably best summed up the situation – because let's face it, if it's really as good as it seems, we're all going to buy one anyway when it comes out (the release date is yet to be announced). This news also means we might be seeing some price drops on the older XBox One X. Check out the best prices in your territory below. Read more: Controversial 'Cocaine Santa' Christmas jumper becomes this year's hottest seller Burger King trolls banana artwork with a French fry This Apple Pencil is the cheapest we've ever seen View the full article

A Christmas jumper depicting Santa Claus holding a straw as he grins over what looks like three lines of cocaine and the tagline 'let it snow' was recently pulled from Walmart's Canadian store, with the company saying it did not represent its values. The jumper is now a top seller on Amazon.com. We've seen many a badly designed Christmas garment in recent years, as the trend for ugly jumpers seems to have taken hold, and the design of this particular Christmas garment is definitely not sophisticated. Although it is perhaps hard to reach sophistication when depicting Santa Claus about to start an (illegal) bender. (If you're after some more family-friendly seasonal cheer, see our Christmas vectors roundup). But if you're looking at the design from a 'does this get the message across?' kind of way, then it seems pretty clear. However, just in case it wasn't totally obvious that this is a Saint-Nick-doing-coke jumper, let's just have a little look at the wording next to Walmart's original description, which was pointed out by @HurrbaSousJohn on Twitter. "We all know how snow works. It's white, powdery and the the best snow comes straight from South America. "That’s bad news for jolly old St. Nick, who lives far away in the North Pole. That’s why Santa really likes to savour the moment when he gets his hands on some quality, grade A, Colombian snow." Wow. Just wow. Amazon has gone for a different approach and just named the jumper: 'Cocaine Santa let it snow Christmas sweater'. However, its description does point out that this jumper is "perfect for cosy days with your family!" Which is... interesting. Walmart had also pulled a number of other jumpers that depicted Santa in "uncompromising and sometimes sexually-suggestive positions", and said that such jumpers are sold by third-party sellers. Amazon doesn't seem so bothered by such matters. And the reviewers all seem pretty pleased with the $31.99 product too, although there are so far only three of them. You can check out the listing on Amazon here, or go to Let It Snow Sweaters website, which is revelling in the jumper's banned status. Read more: The 10 best Christmas ads of all time 8 best new Christmas fonts Reduced Lego sets make the perfect Christmas gifts View the full article

ZBrush retopology, or how to retopologise a model in general, is one thing that all 3D sculptors or 3D modellers have to master. Having a highly detailed model is only part of the process, and if you want to get that model out of ZBrush and over to an animation package, you're going to need a lower-polygon version of your model. That version also has to have topology that is good for rigging and will deform well enough to perform the required action. Even if you are making static items like rocks and trees, you will need good topology and accurate UV mapping to give you good texture maps. For 3D inspiration, see our favourite 3D art, and to keep on top of your workflow in ZBrush, see these ZBrush tips. ZBrush retopology methods Lots of programs have features now that allow you to create good underlying topology from a high-resolution mesh. We are going to look at ZBrush in this tutorial and look at the different ways that you can take your model and ‘retopo’ it. Firstly we will look at a very simple method of auto retopology using something called ZRemesher. It is now in its third iteration and the later version that came with ZBrush 2019 (see our ZBrush 2019 review) is more advanced and better at doing retopology on hard-surface models. Then we will explore how to use the Topology brush, which lets you draw your new mesh on top of your sculpt. Lastly, we will look at retopologising using the ZSphere tool, which gets a bit more complex. All three methods have their uses and you can choose the one you need depending on the type of project you are doing. Use ZRemesher 01. Start with automatic retopology The quickest and most simple way to retopologise a model is to use ZRemesher. It is as simple as telling ZBrush how many polygons you want and clicking the button. Find it in Tool > Geometry > ZRemesher. The input number is in 1,000s, so if you put five you will get roughly 5,000 polygons. It takes a minute to calculate based on how many polygons you are starting with. The results are often great for models that don’t need specific edge loops, like inanimate objects. The edge loops might not be where you need them, so we can address that in the next step. 02. Use ZRemesher guides To control the edge loops a little bit more you can use ZRemesher guides to tell ZBrush where to put specific loops. Type B, Z, R to access the ZRemesher Guide brush. Now with a small brush size draw rings around areas where you would like more accurate loops. Focus on areas like the eyes, the mouth, the ears and anywhere you might want a targeted loop. Once this is done you can change settings in the ZRemesher panel to improve things. The Adaptive sliders give you more regular shaped polygons. The Curve Strength slider makes ZBrush stick more closely to your guides. Use the Topology brush 01. Get started with the Topology brush The Topology brush is accessed using B, T, O. The basic idea is that you can now draw out lines on your mesh. Draw out four lines that intersect and ZBrush gives you a polygon shape. You can then continue to draw out lines by drawing through the ones you have already laid down or by continuing from the green points that are now visible. To clear away any overspill lines use Alt and drag on the model, and if you want to clear one specific line simply Alt-draw over that line. 02. Introduce topology brush detail Continue drawing geometry and building up your new low-poly mesh as needed. You can extract the geometry at any time but if you only want to have a single polygon thickness (which is essential for retopology) you need to keep your draw size to 1. Any higher and you will get geometry with progressively thicker walls based on the size you enter. Once you click on the mesh you will mask off the sculpted model. If you now go to SubTool > Split > Split Masked you can separate out your model from the new low-poly geometry. Use ZSphere 01. Append ZSphere The next method to try is the ZSphere retopology method. Make sure that your model is the active one in the SubTool panel. Use Insert to append a ZSphere (the red ball icon) below your model. Now look at Tool > Topology. You must be in Draw mode for this next step (Q). When you click on Edit Topology, the model changes to a state where you can add topology lines and build up your new low-polygon model. The model we are using is asymmetrical, but you can easily do a symmetrical retopo by hitting X on the keyboard to activate symmetry mode. 02. Move your points This is by far the most accurate way to retopologise your models and as such, it comes with lots of options. To add points simply click. To delete a point Alt-click on it. To begin a new starting point Ctrl-click on an existing point. You may need to move points once you have laid them down. To do this switch to Move mode (W) and then move the point as needed. If you want to move lots of points at the same time increase your Draw Size. Be sure to switch back to Draw mode to continue (Q). 03. Build good edge flow We can now begin to build up a set of geometry with good edge flow. Wherever you can see a need for animation be sure that you are making the correct judgment about laying down edge loops. Make sure to follow muscle rings around the eyes and mouth. If an eye needs to blink then the topology needs to be made to work just as a real eye would. Use Move mode as needed where topology hasn’t been laid down in the correct place. 04. Complete the geometry Work around the entire head and complete the geometry to suit your need. If you intend to project the high-resolution detail onto the new topology make sure you match the entire model. If you just need patches of geometry for other uses (a new face for another model for example) then just finish it as needed (see next step). This process is a great way to create new geometry for all sorts of uses, including making armour that follows the geometry of your character, clothing, straps etc. 05. Finish the topology process Unlike the Topology brush, the ZSphere Topology tool uses the Adaptive Skin panel to finish the process. Once you have gone as far as you need to and the retopology is all complete, go to Tool> Adaptive Skin. Set the Density to 1 and the DynaMesh Resolution to 0. That way the resulting mesh will be exactly as you drew it and not a high resolution. When you click Make Adaptive Skin the new topology is created as a new ZTool and you can click on it in the Tool panel. If you want to learn more about 3D subscribe to 3D World, the magazine for CG artists, today. Read more: 19 tips to master ZBrush ZBrush at the movies Work smart with your Zbrush UI View the full article

William Vaughan is a difficult artist to categorise. He's currently senior 3D production manager at multinational shoe firm New Balance, but he's also a prolific creator of 3D characters – his work has appeared in Hollywood movies, architectural visualisations, and even been turned into vinyl toys. An author and educator – he was previously academic director of The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School in Florida – his published output ranges from guides to 3D modelling to science-fiction novels. For the past decade, the thread uniting this varied career has been Modo: Foundry's creative 3D modelling software, and Vaughan's primary production tool. And what currently excites him about the application is the way that the latest Modo 13 Series of releases harness the power of modern GPUs, both through Radeon ProRender – AMD's powerful physically based render engine – and mPath, Foundry's ground-up redesign of the native Modo renderer. Modo for character modelling Vaughan first used Modo on Pixar's 2009 animated short, Partly Cloudy. He worked as a freelance character modeller on the project, teaching himself to use the software over the course of a single weekend. “I bought Modo on Friday, spent my weekend modelling two characters to get familiar with it, and I was ready to go on Monday,” he recalls. “The crazy thing was that I had two day jobs at the time, but there was no way that I was passing [an opportunity like that] up.” William Vaughan now uses Foundry’s Modo as his principal modelling and rendering software “At the time, what blew me away was how interactive everything was,” he continues. “I wasn't keying in numbers and seeing what happened: I was interacting with my model in real time. That and Modo's selection tools were the biggest selling points to me.” Over time, Modo would gradually replace other 3D software in Vaughan's workflow, both on his personal and professional projects. “It's a complete package: all of the tools are there, they're easy to use, and they're flexible,” he explains. “Although I model 3D characters, I think of myself more as a problem-solver – and Modo has everything I need to solve my problems.” Modo for product design Vaughan has also been instrumental in implementing Modo in the design pipeline at New Balance. Previously, the company's workflow involved creating designs in 2D, having them manufactured physically, then modifying the 2D designs accordingly. Now, New Balance uses Modo to create 3D prototypes. “One of the big driving forces for introducing 3D was to cut down on physical samples,” says Vaughan. “By doing that, we're cutting costs, but also reducing the impact on the environment.” All of New Balance's shoes, like the FuelCore Agility v2, are prototyped in 3D inside Modo New Balance has introduced Foundry software right through its production pipeline, with designers generating concepts in Modo, iterating on looks and generating technical documentation in Colorway (another tool that Vaughan describes as a “game-changer”) then taking the CAD files used for manufacturing and rendering them in Modo to produce marketing images. According to Vaughan, the new workflow enables New Balance to get to an accurate representation of how a shoe will look much earlier on in the production process, enabling the firm to make more informed decisions on new designs. “Whereas before, designers might have showed up [to the first design review] with Post-it notes and sketches, they’re showing up with full 3D models,” he says. Having now trained over 50 of New Balance designers to use Modo, Vaughan praises the software's shallow learning curve. “It's very artist-friendly,” he comments. “Most of New Balance's designers didn't have a background in 3D, but in Modo, you can get to a nice-looking render very quickly.” Modern GPUs for rendering Of all of the changes in this year's Modo 13 Series of updates, Vaughan is most excited about the way the software is taking advantage of the processing power of modern graphics cards; a process that began in Modo 13.0 with the integration of Radeon ProRender. AMD's physically accurate GPU renderer provides artists with fast, interactive, photorealistic previews of 3D models. The Modo 13 Series enables artists to use their GPUs to speed up renders, both for interactive previews and for final-quality output “Modo is known as a great modeller. People know that it produces good renders. But they have been waiting to take advantage of the GPU [to speed up rendering],” he says. “Radeon ProRender was the first taste of that in a Modo pipeline.” Since its introduction, Radeon ProRender has become more tightly integrated into standard Modo workflows with each successive release, with Modo 13.2 adding support for the Modo physical material's Specular and Dissolve properties, and the Film Offset controls of the Modo camera. In some cases, a scene that would normally take 24 minutes to render was done in nine. It's just insane. William Vaughan More recently, Vaughan has been testing mPath, the new path tracer introduced in Modo 13.2. mPath reinvents Modo's native render engine as a modern, hardware-agnostic renderer, able equally to take advantage of the processing power of massively multi-core CPUs like AMD's Ryzen Threadripper chips, and of professional GPUs. This new architecture brings with it a range of benefits, distilling Modo's render settings to a much smaller set of parameters and enabling artists to generate render passes more flexibly. But for New Balance, the main appeal of mPath is sheer, raw speed. In Vaughan's tests, existing New Balance production scenes rendered in mPath in Modo 13.2 in a fraction of the time achieved using the standard renderer in Modo 13.1. “In some cases, a scene that would normally take 24 minutes to render was done in nine,” he says. “It's just insane.” Time-saving new modelling and animation tools Modo 13.2 also brings with it updates to the powerful direct modelling tools that New Balance uses in production every day. The new Edge Chamfer tool creates rounded edges on geometry – essential in hard-surface modelling workflows like product design – generating better geometry and cleaner UVs than the existing Edge Bevel tool, which it is ultimately intended to replace. As well as its rendering features, Modo 13.2 adds new tools for character rigging and animation In addition, the update extends Modo's rigging and animation tools, both for technical visualisations and for the characters Vaughan creates in his personal work. He is particularly impressed with the new Planar IK system, which makes it easier to create soft or stretchy IK setups when rigging limbs. “I'm having to do less work to get nice soft transitions from when a limb is bent to when it is fully extended,” he says. “That affects something as simple as a walk cycle.” Other changes in Modo 13.2 include a new system of Gradient Layers and Gradient Modifiers, reducing the number of deformers required to create complex character rigs, and more streamlined workflow in the Graph Editor, with options to fit the Timeline range automatically to the animation curve selected, and to normalise the vertical ranges of a set of curves. A game-changer for Modo users But for New Balance, the key changes in Modo 13.2 are those new rendering tools. “We’re constantly spitting out renders,” Vaughan points out. “There isn’t a day where we don’t produce hundreds, if not thousands of frames.” Being able to use the GPU for rendering will transform artists’ workflows at companies like New Balance, says William Vaughan For Vaughan, the fact that Modo can now take advantage of the GPU to speed up rendering – whether as interactive previews with AMD's Radeon ProRender, or as final-quality output with mPath – is “one of the biggest pieces of news that Foundry could have for the software”. “I see myself primarily as a modeller, so the fact that it's the thing I'm most excited about speaks volumes to the importance of GPU rendering,” he says. “Modo is already a complete toolset for 3D artists – but if you can make our workflow faster, we'll be very happy.” You can see more of William Vaughan's work in his online gallery. To try the new rendering features in Modo 13.2 for yourself, download the free 30-day trial from Foundry’s website. View the full article