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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The first attacks that exploit the zero-day Windows vulnerability install cryptominers and scan for targets rather than a worm with WannaCry potential. View the full article

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

You're reading SERPStack – Free, Real-Time Google Search API, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook! It is hard to neglect the importance of search engines. Almost anyone who uses the internet goes to Google and other search engines for what they need. You can’t remember or know all the URLs in the world, hence your … View the full article

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A simple attack on an unpatched server could have been catastrophic for the Utah-based utility. View the full article

A great mind never stops learning. So if you want to pick up a new skill or perhaps even branch out into a second career path, you'll want to check out these comprehensive training courses. The best laptops for graphic design in 2019 Covering everything from productivity to SEO and data analysis, these bundles will equip you with the capabilities to take your professional life to the next level. What's more, you can save an additional 20% on the massively reduced prices when you use these download codes. Project Management Professional Certification Training Suite Start leading your own team Learn how to become a brilliant project manager with this 5-course training suite. The 60-hour certification course teaches you various principles involved in managing a project effectively and guides you through each lesson to easily pass the required PMP exams. MSRP: $1,248 / Buy Now: $39 (96% OFF) Take an additional 20% off with code 20LEARN20 The Complete Computer Programmer Super Bundle If your dream is to become a computer programmer, this may be the bundle for you. You'll walk step-by-step through the world of programming fundamentals for programs such as Python, Linux Command Line, JavaScript, and so much more. The lifetime access 12-course bundle comes with exercises for each course so you can practice and finesse what you learn. MSRP: $2,400 / Buy Now: $45 (98% OFF) Take an additional 20% off with code 20LEARN20 The Data Science for Business Mastery Bundle Even beginners can boost their data skills Take your data analytics skills to the next stage with this all-inclusive data science for business 10-course bundle. Perfect for beginner-to-advanced students, lessons in data visualizations, econometrics, statistics, and so much more will help you master the fundamentals to boost your business. MSRP: $790 / Buy Now: $29 (96% OFF) Take an additional 20% off with code 20LEARN20 The 2019 Ethical Hacker Master Class Bundle Get hacking the right way With major businesses like Facebook and Equifax falling victim to cyberattacks, the demand for skills to protect businesses is rising. This 12-course bundle, complete with real-world scenarios, will teach you everything you need to know about ethical hacking and how to monetize on neutralizing threats. MSRP: $4,883 / Buy Now: $39 (99% OFF) Take an additional 20% off with code 20LEARN20 The Ultimate Productivity Bundle Tick off your to do list with this bundle Tired of not having enough time in the day to reach your daily goals? This 500+ lesson bundle teaches you tips and tools straight from the minds of some of the most successful people. Learn step-by-step techniques and frameworks in order to start taking control of your time and becoming a more productive individual. MSRP: $1,274 / Buy Now: $36 (97% OFF) Take an additional 20% off with code 20LEARN20 The Complete SEO & Digital Mega Marketing Bundle Start climbing Google Build your brand's digital marketing presence with 15 comprehensive courses and 900+ lessons of digital marketing tutorials. Straight from the minds of the experts, this bundle teaches you best practices in copywriting, SEO, social media, email marketing, and much more. Easy to follow instructions allow you to build your brand's digital footprint to its full potential and reach through essential digital outlets. MSRP: $2,330 / Buy Now: $49 (97% OFF) Take an additional 20% off with code 20LEARN20 The Learn to Become an Expert Photographer Bundle Get snap happy with this course This 9-course beginner-to-expert bundle brings you everything you need to know in order to become a successful photographer. Courses include best practices on capturing the best night shot, how to make money as a wedding photographer, DIY food photography tips, and so much more. There are even courses included for effective and stunning editing, making your images professional and unique. MSRP: $818 / Buy Now: $29 (96% OFF) Take an additional 20% off with code 20LEARN20 Related articles: 13 of the best creative resumés 6 foolproof ways to improve your graphic design skills 9 pro tips for successful creative collaboration View the full article

Green UX is probably a term you'll hear more and more in the coming years. For all the benefits that technology brings, there is a dark cloud that hangs over all of us. This cloud chases us in newspapers every day and is felt across the entire world. It makes us fear for the future and question our habits – our youth is even skipping school to demand action. This cloud is mostly made up of CO2 and its name is climate change. Among the many culprits of rising carbon emissions is the IT sector. It embodies the very thing that has defined the 21st century and includes everyone from UX designers to tech giants such as Apple or Google. It connects the entire globe and, unsurprisingly, requires a lot of energy to operate. Data – and our growing need to send and receive it faster than ever before – are key pieces in understanding this puzzle. Each time we use data, be it by browsing ecommerce websites, using Facebook or sending an email to a coworker, we spark a chain of events that needs electricity to get us that data. With technologies like 5G being part of a near future for the market, we can no longer ignore the energy consumption linked to IT. More electricity-intensive demands for IT usually means coal burning. Fortunately, UX designers are doing their part to mitigate this trend of consuming more without worrying about the consequences: that's where green UX design comes in. 7 golden rules of UX What's the environmental impact of the internet? With the consequences of the climate crisis already being felt by many people in the world, global warming is on everyone's mind. It's usual for us to discuss Chinese or American emissions but we often overlook the role of specific industries. In all this, exactly where does the internet fit in? The internet, as pointed out by a 2017 report by Greenpeace, consumes 7 per cent of world electricity as it stands. That may not seem like much but it's the source of the electricity that raises concerns. Data centres alone are responsible for 2 per cent of carbon emissions – the same amount as the air travel sector, as reported by Adam Vaughan with The Guardian. As explained by Greenpeace, all this energy can be divided into four categories when it comes to energy consumption: data centres, communication networks, end user devices and the manufacturing that is needed to supply all three. All this need for energy represents a problem when we take into account the growing human population and the rise of new technologies, such as 5G, which uses up more electricity to deliver data faster. It is true that not everything is within our power to change. Big and powerful companies are still the ones who call the shots and decide on carbon emissions, with transparency and lack of access to renewable energy being the two main obstacles on this front. But we are not completely powerless in the face of this significant environmental threat. UX designers from all corners of the world are coming to realise that many things in the IT sector need to change – including the way we design and create. That is what green UX is all about: finding ways to deliver a truly great experience to users while also managing to mitigate energy consumption. Green UX: accounting for the environment in design So what is there to do? How can UX designers create products that are smart about their data and electricity consumption? You may be surprised to find that many of the tactics in green UX that work to make products more energy efficient also work to improve the user experience – and are reflected in common web performance indicators. When it comes to UX design, the main area where most energy is used is also the one with most room for improvement: data usage. This is a factor that is under our control and that we can monitor over time with ease. The key questions here are: how can we cut back on data usage? How much of the data we send is actually being consumed by our users? Is there a better way to transfer this data? A simple way to make sure you deliver the same experience while using up less energy is to simply send that data from a closer distance with a content delivery network (CDN). A CDN works, in very broad strokes, as a proxy server that stores a copy of data once users have requested that data once. This can be a handy tactic, as it tends to ease some of the pressure on your internal servers and results in a faster website for all users. The way CDNs work is that they avoid having to load data repeatedly, which inadvertently results in less data moving around and means less electricity is required to get to user's screens. Careful optimisation can help users have a better experience while considerably improving the carbon footprint of your product Another way to aim for efficiency is to consider the actual size of the pages we send to users, along with all the content that is in them. An interesting point made by Tammy Everts in her book Time is Money: The Business Value of Web Performance, is that the weight of pages has been growing over time (at an average of 16 per cent per year), which means more coal is needed to move them. Historically, the heaviest part of web pages has been images. However, more and more pages use videos, which are even heavier. In a 2016 report by Sandvine (Global Internet Phenomena: Latin American and North America), it was found that real-time entertainment platforms for video and audio streaming are the largest category of traffic on all examined networks. The takeaway here is that heavy content is becoming the norm – long web pages that require a lot of data to load properly. Careful optimisation can help users have a better experience while considerably improving the carbon footprint of your product. Performance budgets are a handy tool, so designers can check the maximum weight of each type of content for the pagespeed to reach the target goal. It works in a similar way to how governments try to assess the real impact of taxpayers' money in the budget – and can be a good guide on where optimisation is needed the most. Green UX won't save the world – we will Designing with sustainability in mind has an effect on the dirty energy the IT sector consumes but it is only a small part of a large and complex equation. Designers shouldn't assume that by changing the way we think about data and how we send it will, by itself, bring about an end to climate change. But it works as a positive philosophy to have in your design process: just as we want to design for the inclusion of visually impaired users, we want to account for our planet as we plan what a page will look and feel like. We depend on powers beyond our control, such as the infrastructure of our general location, but that is not to say we need to stick to our inefficient ways. Energy is a key concern in the climate crisis and we should think of it as a precious resource that cannot go to waste. Green UX is an invitation for designers to see the many benefits the internet brings us but, above all, to notice all that it requires to keep going. It encourages people to look for ways to use less, in an era when using more has dark omens for us all. This article was originally published in issue 322 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 322 here or subscribe here. Related articles: The best new UX books of 2019 13 design-led ways to tackle climate change at WDCD The 20 UX tips you need to know View the full article

Google warns exploits in the wild against a Use After Free vulnerability in Chrome's audio component. View the full article

McDonald's has become one of the world's biggest brands thanks in no small part to its adverts. But while it might be behind some of the best print ads we've seen, a recent poster campaign spotted in its Portugal stores has provoked an online backlash so intense that it's been forced to remove them from display. The posters in question promote a Halloween-themed two-for-one offer on McDonald's strawberry sundaes with the phrase 'Sundae Bloody Sundae'. Considering that Bloody Sunday is a term used to refer to one of the worst days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, when 13 people were shot dead by the army, it's an unfortunate choice of words to say the least. 7 design fails – and what we can learn from them As is the case with these sorts of mistakes, the posters were promptly distributed online for everyone to pick apart and shame. Twitter user @bigmonsterlove shared an image of the posters taken by James Timoney with the caption: "Portugal is cancelled", which soon went viral. In the replies, Twitter users soon began the back-and-forth debate over whether or not the posters were an honest mistake. We think @bigmonsterlove summed things up well by saying, "I'm not pissed off, but like an ad agency clearly didn't do its homework, or did and maybe knew it would ruffle feathers." In response to the controversy, a spokeswoman for McDonald's Portugal told the BBC: "We sincerely apologise for any offence or distress this may have caused." She then explained that the campaign was intended as a celebration of Halloween, not as an insensitive reference to any historical event or to upset or insult anyone. This isn't the first design fail to strike McDonald's recently. Back in August thirsty patrons in McDonald's Japan spotted an accidentally smutty side to its summer romance themed cups. At least McDonald's France seems to be getting its posters right. In July it used minimalist ads inspired by French fries to guide motorists to the nearest store. Related articles: McDonald's is turning its billboards into bee hotels McDonald’s defaces classic artwork in new burger-selling low We can't stop watching these hypnotic McDonald's animations View the full article

Swedish furniture giant IKEA has had a bit of a thing this year for making little tweaks to its logo that you might not notice. Back in April it unveiled a brand new logo that looked almost exactly the same as the previous one, and now it's come up with a version that's surrounded by quotation marks. What's this new logo design all about? It's to promote IKEA's latest collaboration with top fashion designer Virgil Abloh. The founder of achingly hip label Off-White, and the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection, he's got together with IKEA to create the MARKERAD collection, a range of 15 pieces that, says IKEA, fuses functionality with street cred and high cultural references. 10 of the best logos ever The MARKERAD range is available now, if you're lucky And what exactly does that have to do with putting quotation marks around the logo? Well, as all the cool kids amongst you will know, Off-White often uses quotes around the names of its collections, and a few of the pieces in the MARKERAD collection do the same, such as the green high pile rug that reads "WET GRASS" in big white letters, and the wall clock with "TEMPORARY" printed across the face. Deep. Other pieces in the collection include a low pile rug in the form of an IKEA receipt, a pair of carrier bags decorated with the word "SCULPTURE", and a 17-piece tool set; prices start at £12 for the smaller of the carrier bags and for the tool set, while the most expensive item on offer is the solid wood MARKERAD table, a snip at £250. The collection launches today, and to mark the event, IKEA's Wembley branch boasts a temporary logo upgrade complete with quotation marks, making it look, really, like, ironic, yeah? And to go with the new look, the branch has also installed the world's comfiest queue for all the people clamouring to get their hands on some instant IKEA collector's items, complete with sofas, armchairs, blankets and cushions. "IKEA" has installed the world's comfiest queue at its Wembley store It's not going to be there for long, though; the event runs from today until Sunday 3 November at IKEA's Wembley, Croydon and Dublin stores, and if you fancy getting your hands on your own MARKERAD piece then you're almost certainly too late. Anticipating huge demand, IKEA is restricting access through a ticketing system that sold out last month in under five minutes. You snooze, you lose. If you have deep pockets, though, you can already find MARKERAD pieces on eBay at unsurprisingly massive markups. Happy shopping! Related articles: IKEA's free typeface is the 'comfiest font ever' 10 iconic logos with hidden meanings 7 logos by famous designers and why they work View the full article

Instagram is a popular place for artists and designers to share their work and build a following. But it's also a platform where brands can engage audiences in creative ways. Just take the Chewy Channel, a new entertainment network from Haribo where its popular gummy bears are the stars. Proving that there are more ways to get noticed on the social media site than just playing around with personalised Instagram fonts, the Chewy Channel is the first-of-its-kind gummi-themed entertainment network. And it's made specially for Instagram's streaming platform, IGTV. A designer's guide to Instagram Stories Created in collaboration between Haribo and social creative agency Barkley, the Chewy Channel sees gummy bears become characters in a batch of short and quirky series. These include a workplace comedy called Bearly Corporate and a fantasy show named Sour Sorcerers. A new series is scheduled to drop on the Chewy Channel every month. But if you're still making your way through the top Netflix documentaries for graphic designers, fear not. Each series runs for just five minutes in total, making it incredibly easy to binge-watch the lot. Think of them as suitably snack-sized bites of content. To discuss the thought process behind the Chewy Channel, Katie Waller, vice president of marketing at Haribo, told Little Black Book that, "we know that when our fans open a bag of Haribo, they’re inspired to play with the gummies before enjoying a sweet treat. It’s part of the fun. “We’ve been creating moments of childlike happiness for nearly 100 years, and this mission of inspiring joy through treats and listening to our consumers is what fueled the thinking behind the Chewy Channel.” It's a cute idea, but will it hold the attention of audiences? Older viewers will surely skip it and the younger IGTV users, who we assume the Chewy Channel is targetting, have plenty more engaging online distractions to choose from. That's even before the launch of the behemoth that is Disney+. And while we can't quite get our head around why exactly the Chewy Channel exists, other than to function as a Haribo advert, although we kind of admire the amount of effort that's gone into the shows. Each series boasts handmade dioramas, and the cast of sweets are controlled by small wires, magnets and fishing lines. On occasion you can even see these tools in shot to keep the tone light. After all, these are fun little clips that are designed to appeal to your sense of humour as well as your tastebuds. “We wanted to build on the creativity that is inherent to HARIBO to build must-see content worth following,” adds Katy Hornaday, executive creative director at Barkley. “It seemed only right for the world’s first gummi bears to be the world’s first gummi IGTV stars.” Related articles: How to turn on Instagram's Dark Mode Instagram and WhatsApp get a rebrand How to download Instagram photos: a complete guide View the full article

For decades, creatives have been using Lego for everything from creating prototypes and amazing Lego art to spending hours engrossed in a themed set to relax. The ultimate creative tool, the humble little bricks can work wonders when it comes to design solutions and offering busy artists and design some creative downtime. Recent years have seen Lego sets for adults become increasingly intricate, detailed designs. And today the company has taken things up a notch once again, releasing a 5:1 upscaled wooden minifigure Lego set. The premium model (set no 853967) is handcrafted from FSC-certified oak, with adjustable yellow plastic hands, and measures over 7 inches (20cm) tall, 4 inches (11cm) wide and 3.5 inches (9cm) deep. Lego's wooden figures are larger than you're used to Those of you familiar with the Lego company will know the bricks weren't originally plastic. Founded in 1932, the first Lego toys were handcrafted from wood by founder and master carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen. After the Second World War, wood supplies became sparse, so Kristiansen began supplementing production with plastic, and the rest, as they say, is history. Until today. The over-sized minifigure model is the first Lego product to combine both wood and plastic since the 1130 Bedford firetruck 60 years ago in 1959 (got one, anyone?). And the thinking Lego's decision to mix the two materials again now is unclear at present. There are no obvious anniversaries or milestones to celebrate, which leaves us pondering the motivation behind the new hybrid set. We're hoping for more of these wooden creations Is it simply a case of a creative collaboration with Room Copenhagen, a design agency known for its links with Lego and playful Nordic designs. Or is this a bigger move by Lego as part of its commitment to use more sustainable materials by 2030? The press release for today’s unveiling mentioned 'a range of new products for dedicated Lego fans who love a bit of nostalgia', which suggests the minifigure isn't the only wooden set in the pipeline. Whatever the case may be, there's no denying the excitement and anticipation around this model, specifically the change of material chosen to create it. What's it like to build wooden Lego? Is it different, better, worse...? We'll let you know. Read more: Stranger Things Lego set available now – and it’s EPIC! How Lego reinvented itself as a super brand The Knight Bus Lego review View the full article