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Life as a designer doesn't always work out as you might have hoped. You might have your heart set on working within a particular area of design, but the realities of paying the bills often means that you spend most of your time on less thrilling corporate work. It all helps to hone your skills, but if you're not feeling the love for the day job then a good self-initiated side project can be a massive boon. A side project can provide an outlet for your own creative dreams and give you the chance to explore more experimental design, but it can also provide opportunities down the line. A good side project demonstrates your skills and your passion to potential clients and employers, and can add to your design portfolio. Side projects can lead to you getting the sort of work that you want to do, rather than the jobs you have to take to keep the money coming in, and in some cases a side project can grow into your main source of income. You may already have your own side project on the go; if you don't, these are sure to inspire you. 01. Tivit Like most of us, the team at Si Digital love a game of table tennis, but they're not so enamoured with the whole business of keeping track of scores and maintaining leaderboards. So they built an app to do that, leaving them free to concentrate on perfecting their spinning backhand shots. Tivit works as a virtual umpire, arranging matches, logging scores and feeding results through into leaderboards, and the team have made it available for anyone; since opening it up to the public, Tivit has logged nearly 14,000 games worldwide. 02. Rooki.design Rooki.design is all about inspiring and informing young designers Eduardo Rainoldi is an award-winning digital product designer from Italy, and in his spare time he's launched Rooki.design, an online magazine for young creatives. It features interviews with established designers, sharing their tips and tricks for getting ahead in the creative industries, and regularly showcases the work of up-and-coming designers. Most recently it's launched its own design awards, with the help of Awwwards and the FWA. 03. This is Non-Binary Learn what non-binary's all about with August Tang 'Non-binary' is one of those terms that you've probably heard but might not quite get what it means. Thankfully August Tang, a non-binary multidisciplinary creative from Phoenix, Arizona, is here to help with an informative and sometimes personal side project. This is Non-Binary explains what being non-binary actually means and what it's like to be non-binary, as well as explaining all those pronouns and their importance, plus how to be supportive to a non-binary person. The navigation's a little eccentric, but August says that they're planning to add page transition animations to make it more intuitive. 04. TypoStories If you love typography and the potential of interesting font pairings, this side project by Davide Baratta, design lead at Impero, is sure to delight you. TypoStories is an ongoing study of typefaces and font pairings, featuring an assortment of typographic illustrations inspired by Davide's need to explore typographic solutions and stay up to date with the latest releases from his favourite independent foundries. Vol. 1 is available now; he's currently working in Vol. 2. 05. Liam Neeson: Once More Into the Fray Oliver Gareis' massive Liam Neeson illustration took six months to complete Oliver Gareis is lead designer at Appico in Hamburg, and he's worked with top brands such as Volkswagen, Audi and EA Games over his design career. He's also a big fan of Liam Neeson, which has inspired him to create this massive, detailed illustration combining his favourite Neeson characters into a single digital artwork. Once More Into the Fray was created entirely in Illustrator CC, and between tracking down source imagery and finishing the digital piece, the process took him around six months. 06. Holarchy There's not a lot to it right now, but Holarchy looks fascinating Some side projects are big, finished projects, while others are works in progress, and the latter's the case for this project by Martin Silvertant, a Canadian graphic designer and sporadic type designer. Holarchy, he explains, is a layered modular typeface for a website that he's about design; it's in the early stages right now, but definitely looks promising. 07. Illustrated Tapes Mixtapes! Illustrations! Interviews! What's not to love? Who can resist a good mixtape? And if you also love great illustration then Sam Ailey, a London-based illustrator and designer, has a fantastic side project for you. Illustrated Tapes does exactly what it says on the tin: he gets creatives to curate their own Spotify playlists and supply their own artwork for them, and he also chats to them about their musical tastes and of course their work. It's the perfect way to hear some new sounds and discover some fantastic illustrators. 08. Illo Notes Taaryn Brench hopes to demystify the world of illustration Another illustration-based side project, Illo Notes is the work of Taaryn Brench, an illustrator and designer based in Leeds. It's an illustration blog that aims to showcase amazing illustrators and also demystify the illustration business, with a mix of interviews and tips. It's been up and running since April this year, and Brench is looking for more illustrators to interview; if you're interested, drop her a line. Related articles: How to start a side project: 21 pro tips 9 tips for better side projects How to self-publish a book View the full article

At least 26 people are dead and dozens have been left injured following a suspected arson attack on the Japanese anime studio, Kyoto Animation. In response to the tragic incident, fans of the popular studio have taken to social media to pay their respects, and launched an appeal to raise funds to support those affected by the attack. The incident took place at about 10.30am, with local residents living near the studio saying that they heard an explosion before seeing smoke emitting from the building. Roughly 30 fire engines and ambulances responded to the attack. According to local police, a man in his 40s was allegedly seen spraying petrol in multiple areas of the 1st Studio before igniting it. He is now in police custody. Over 70 people were in the building at the time, which is located in Fujimi ward, Kyoto. Currently there are 36 people in hospital as a result of the attack, some in a critical condition. In a tweet, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his sympathy to those injured and prayed for their quick recovery. Japanese television news network ANN captured this footage of the studio. Kyoto Animation was founded in 1981 by anime producer Yoko Hatta. It has produced several popular anime TV series and films, including A Silent Voice: The Movie, K-On!, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Unlike other studios, Kyoto Animation pays its animators a regular salary, instead of the industry standard of paying per frame. In response to the attack, the anime community has taken to social media to share their thoughts and pay their respects. Related articles: How to draw manga characters How to create an authentic manga comic strip Recreate a manga classic View the full article

Would Apple be the world’s most valuable brand if it were named Banana? In branding, few things are more important than choosing the right name. If things go well, you’ll be stuck with it for a long time. If things go very well, you might just add a new word to your language, if not to several languages, as demonstrated by Hoover, Xerox, Kleenex, and, well, Portaloo. While logos play a major role in how we see a brand (see our guide to logo design), verbal communication means it’s still through a name that we usually first encounter a brand, spread it through word of mouth, ask for it, and look it up online. Names are “the primary constituents in the product’s signification system,” semiotician Marcel Danesi says in his book Brands. They’re also one of the things that makes a brand protectable in law. Here we’ll look at how some of the world’s biggest brands got their names and what lessons can be learned from their stories. Want more branding inspiration? See our post on the world's best logos. 01. Think familiar and accessible Apple’s everyday name doesn't usually appear as a word – it lent itself to the design of an instantly recognisable logo Startups might agonise endlessly over a name, while sometimes inspiration strikes in the most unlikely of places. According to his biographer Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs was visiting an apple farm while on a fruitarian diet when it occurred to him that this common fruit could provide a fun, accessible name for a computer company. It was short, catchy, un-intimidating, easy to turn into a logo, and the fact it had nothing to do with computers made it stand out from the coldness of the IT world – in contrast to other names Jobs was considering, such as the threatening sounding Executex. That the word is part of the existing vocabulary of many people also created a poetic resonance evoking associations Jobs probably never even considered back on that fruit farm – the tree of knowledge, the innocence of childhood, Newton’s apple (which provided an early logo), and even a urban legend that the brand was named as a tribute to Alan Turing, who committed suicide by biting into a cyanide-laced apple. Despite leading to almost 30 years of disputes with Apple Records, the name was perfect. If Jobs had gone gooseberry picking instead, it’s hard to imagine similar success. 02. Experiment with spelling Google was born when someone didn’t Google how to spell googol Sometimes names pop up more through accident than inspiration. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had been calling their initial search engine BackRub because it analysed backlinks, which made sense to the initiated but sounded like a massage device to anyone else, and might have been difficult to develop into the world’s second most valuable brand (Amazon is number one, see point 6). The words googolplex then googol, both very large numbers, came up during a brainstorming session, and the latter was then apparently misspelled when fellow Stanford grad student Sean Anderson checked whether the domain was available. It’s since become a verb used the world over, while we’ve yet to hear anyone tell us to 'Bing' something. It partly works so well because it almost seems to sound like it should mean what it’s come to mean, with an existing verb suffix (-le) and a similarity to 'goggle', which means to look. Here, the spelling change was accidental but there are plenty of companies that changed spelling intentionally to gain memorable, and legally protectable, names, though The Sci-Fi Channel’s heavily mocked transformation into SyFy should also serve as a warning to handle with care. 03. Sometimes literal works Facebook – it does what it says on the tin Some names are so literal that it would seem they couldn’t have taken much time to think up, whether they’re named after their founder or a descriptive summary of what they do. 'The Facebook', as it was originally known – the 'The' was later dropped only to be added back in by grandparents everywhere – was named after the physical paper directories distributed to freshmen at US universities, and it initially served the same purpose, first for Harvard then the Ivy League, and then overseas universities before opening to all in 2006. The name was literal and simple enough to quickly transcend boundaries. Another of the world’s biggest brands, Coca-Cola was similarly direct when it was named in 1886 after what were then two of the main ingredients, coca leaves and kola nuts, helped by the alliterative phono aesthetics of the repeated 'co' syllable. In both cases, distinctive fonts helped very literal names take on the personality to stand out as a brand (see our post on the fonts of big brands, or our guide to free fonts to create your own designs). 04. Be inspired by the Gods Whichever way you pronounce it, Nike’s name is a branding victory Hundreds of companies have turned to the classics, to Latinate words and to ancient mythology with an almost superstitious faith that they’ll bring luck, and the idea that they’re a universal part of the collective consciousness, even if most people have little idea of who they were or what they mean. Nike was the Greek goddess of victory, making it a great choice for a company that makes footwear for athletes, even people can’t agree on how to pronounce it, while the swoosh symbol perfectly renders the wind of victory to such a point that the logo alone is enough to identify the brand (as we examined in our post about textless logos). Just a few other brands to follow the same track include Oracle, Mazda, Alax, Argos, Olympus, Athena, Orion Pictures, Pandora jewellery, Subaru pickup trucks, Dionysus wine suppliers – and Isis Pharmaceuticals, which renamed itself Ionis to avoid trading under the ISIS ticker on the Nasdaq following the rise of the Islamic State. 05. Look out of the window Adobe is named after a creek in California Sometimes it pays to take a glance away from the whiteboard and look outside. There are many companies named after where they were founded, even if it’s not immediately apparent. Adobe was named not after the building material, which is a nice association, but after a creek that runs behind the area where founders John Warnock and Charles Geschke lived in Los Altos, California. Spot the bridge Cisco Systems meanwhile is simply a shortening of the name of tech city of San Francisco – take a look at its logo and you’ll see it’s actually the Golden Gate bridge. Oil and gas giant Shell, founded in 1897, is also named after something that had nothing to do with its business but which founder Sir Marcus Samuel had around him – his father, Marcus Samuel Senior, had run a business selling exotic seashells to collectors in London. 06. Think big, and think first Amazon comes early in alphabetical lists and also conveys scale Plenty of companies have chosen names that start with the letter 'A' purely to appear close to the top of alphabetical lists. Why that worked so well for Amazon was that choosing the name of the world’s largest jungle set out the scale of its ambition to become the biggest online store and to stock everything under the sun. It was a happy accident that there’s also a 'Z' in the name, allowing designers at Turner Duckworth to create the smile logo linking the A to the Z, perfectly re-emphasising the concept behind the name. According to Brad Stone’s The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, Bezos has his lawyer to thank for talking him out of his first choice of name – Cadabra – which he dropped after his lawyer misheard it as Cadaver. Branding experts and dabblers in the occult will tell you that certain letters have magical power, while 'A' gets you near the top of the list, 'K' – Kodak, Kraft, Kelloggs, Kmart – is considered to be a strong and incisive, while 'X' and 'Z' also appear in brand names much more than they do in general speech. 07. The shorter, the better It would be hard to fit Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd on the side of the store Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd is a bit of a mouthful and would be unlikely to make it as an international brand. IKEA on the other hand is short, snappy and sneaks into the top 40 most valuable brands in the world according to Forbes. Ingvar Kamprad was the founder of the company, Elmtaryd is the name of the farm where he grew up, and Agunnaryd the name of the village where the farm’s located. There’s no shortage of brands that amputated parts of their original name on the way to success. Sky Peer to Peer was shortened to Skype, Peter’s Super Submarines became Subway, Nintendo Playing Card Company became simply Nintendo. And it doesn’t only apply to English. Toyota Motor Corporation was founded by the Toyoda family but changed its name because 'Toyoda' takes ten strokes of a pen to write, while 'Toyota', in both the katakana and hiragana systems, uses only eight, which is considered a lucky number in Japanese culture. 08. Don't be afraid to change The familiar logo of Big Blue IBM While it can be difficult to change names after becoming established, it’s not impossible. Changes most often come due to mergers and buyouts or forays into new markets that needs a more international-friendly names that can be pronounced by customers in other countries. IBM stands for International Business Machines Corporation, which is more expansive than the original and awkwardly hyphenated Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. C-T-R was so named because a consolidation of several companies with different focuses, and IBM, adopted in 1924, proved to be a much better definition for the course the company would take and its global ambitions as it began to expand beyond the US. There’s also speculation that Thomas Watson, the man who led the expansion, wanted to get one up on his former employer National Cash Register Company – grudges can spawn creativity! Another lesson to learn from IBM is that it can pay to embrace your nickname. IBM accepted and used its Big Blue sobriquet which was seemingly coined by customers themselves owing to the large blue mainframe computers the company manufactured in the 1970s. 09. Work with what you have Zara’s new logo, which was revealed earlier this year The world’s most valuable general clothing brand after the self-named Louis Vuitton is Spain’s Zara. Founder Amancio Ortega Gaona originally planned to call his first shop Zorba after Zorba the Greek, but it turned out he wasn’t the only person in the town of La Coruña to have been inspired by the 1964 film, and a nearby bar with the same name complained. Ortega had already had the moulds made up for his signage, so he hastily rearranged what he had to come up with Zara. Yet another near miss, and like most of the names on this list, the result is concise, distinctive, memorable, and trips off the tongue (in several languages). Today high streets the world over would seem almost to be missing something without Zara’s logo (although its latest iteration contains some controversial kerning). Read more: Top TV logos of all time The best logos of all time 6 ways to turn a brand into a household name View the full article

Jony Ive – the man responsible for some of the tech world’s most iconic designs is leaving Apple to start his own design firm, LoveFrom, with Apple as a major client. So, what will this mean for the world’s largest tech company? Will its designs take a radical turn for the worse, or go on to reach new heights? Will its logo go back to its rainbow roots, as rumoured recently? Will the company ditch its 'i' now that it's got rid of iTunes? And you will you ever be able to get a decent Apple Pencil deal? We examine five of the most likely possibilities. 01. Apple’s design gets better Without Ive’s insanely strong obsession for thinness and lightness, Apple could become freer to explore new designs. Decisions like the one to make the MacBook Pro’s keyboard as thin as possible (at the ultimate expense of reliability) could be avoided. The balance of function vs form therefore may tilt a little more towards function. After Ive’s departure, he’ll be replaced by Evans Hankey (Apple’s industrial design chief) and Alan Dye (the company’s user interface head), who will report to operations lead Jeff Williams. That could mean less workload placed on one person’s shoulders, more opinions being given on design, and perhaps less of a one-track-minded approach. Without Steve Jobs, Ive had no-one on his level or above to temper his decisions. Now with Hankey and Dye working together, that process could be restored. Jony Ive was a hardware guy. Think about the videos he narrated: almost all of them were about the hardware aspects of the product. Now with two people in charge of design, one from hardware and one from software, there should be more passion for software design being added to the mix, ultimately improving the balance of Apple’s designs. 02. Apple’s design gets worse Without Ive’s insanely strong design talent, Apple could be left without inspiration. With its talismanic design chief departed, Apple’s position may slip as rivals catch up with stunning designs of their own. These days, Apple isn’t alone when it comes to amazing design in the tech world. The competition has seen how valuable inspiring, aspirational design can be, and companies like Huawei are coming out with some superb devices. Let’s, err, not talk about Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, though. But while its rivals are working hard, we wouldn’t bet the farm on Apple losing its design mojo. Jony Ive never worked alone, instead collaborating with a carefully curated team that was put together over many years. They all share similar design sensibilities and understand each other extremely well. Ive’s departure is not being followed by a mass exodus of these designers; the core of Apple’s design lab is staying put, even if its chief designer is on the way out. While we may see fewer flashes of Ive brilliance, that doesn’t mean the whole design philosophy is going down the pan. 03. A new design maestro emerges from inside Apple As we mentioned before, Apple’s design team is an incredibly talented bunch of people that works together closely every day. You don’t get hired by Apple unless you’re something special, and that’s especially true for its elite, exclusive design team. With so much talent on hand, it’s entirely possible that the next Jony Ive emerges from within Apple’s ranks and is already at the company right now. With Ive taking the spotlight, few people even know the names of his fellow design team members – could this be the time for one of them to step into the limelight? Ive took a break from managing Apple product design from 2015 to 2017 in order to oversee the design and creation of Apple Park; he stepped back to more of an oversight role with Apple’s devices, leaving his team in charge of day-to-day product design. That he was able to do this attests to the trust he placed in the abilities of his team, so we wouldn’t be surprised if one of them (or two, in the form of Hankey and Dye) steps into his shoes. 04. Apple hires a world-class replacement. Alternatively, Apple may instead decide to hire a replacement externally. There’s plenty of talent out there, and a lot of people who share Ive’s keen sense for design. Apple has deep pockets and could afford to pry away any designer they wanted. While this is possible, we don’t consider it too likely. Apple has hired famous names in the past, such as when it brought in Angela Ahrendts from Burberry, but in these cases it’s done so because it didn’t have anyone in the company ready to step up. With its legendary design studio, it most definitely does in this instance. Still, it’s not outside the realm of possibility. Neither Jony Ive nor Tim Cook will be short of contacts who they can consult for the biggest and brightest talent to bring to the company, so don’t be too shocked if an outside design luminary heads to Cupertino in Jony Ive’s stead. 05. Things stay more or less the same Apple will be one of Ive’s major clients, and the naming of his new company (LoveFrom, which was inspired by a Steve Jobs quote) suggests the link between the two will be strong. Few people (if any) understand Apple like he does today, and that’s a valuable asset the company won’t want to part with completely. As well as that, many of Ive’s projects are years from being released. Apple likes to spend a long time perfecting a product before it ever sees the light of day – just look at the iPhone X. With his influence continuing to course through the company, it could be years until we notice any significant shift in Apple’s designs. However, we’re a little sceptical of this angle. Although Apple has said it will remain a “major” client of Jony Ive, things won’t just continue as they are because Ive simply won’t have time. He’ll be taking on other clients for major projects of their own and will be up to his eyeballs in work. While he may work with Apple on a few big projects here and there (Apple’s rumoured smart glasses or self-driving car, for example), he won’t be active at Apple on day-to-day design issues. Whether that means Apple’s design will improve or slide downhill isn’t yet clear, but we’re sure things won’t just carry on as normal. Read more: The best Apple Pencil deals right now Is an Apple Paintbrush on the way? Epic Apple iPad deal blows Amazon Prime day out of the water View the full article

This issue, along with our usual reviews, inspiration and regular Q and A sections, we take you behind the scenes on the blockbuster Toy Story 4. More importantly we celebrate our 250th issue, a huge milestone for any magazine, so we decided to do something extra cool, by bringing you our biggest ever expert tips collection. 250 tips on every aspect of 3D. With a mix of features, interviews and training, you'll soon be on the road to mastering your own 3D projects. We take a look inside 3D World 250 to find out what else is in store... Buy issue 250 of 3D World here Feature: 250 issue of 3D Discover the past and future of CG In this feature, explore some of the highlights from the history of CG and of 3D World. Plus check out what our expert panel of CG veterans thinks about the future of CG. Tutorial: Our biggest ever tips collection! Discover the best tips to boost your skills To celebrate in style we talked to our tame 3D artist, plus industry experts and veterans from around the world and bring you their combined knowledge in the form of 250 top tips. Level up now! Tutorial: Megastructures Part two of our iPad kitbashing training Adam Dewhirst takes you on the second part of his training, showing you how to use kitbashed elements to create megastructures. Training: CAT rigging Part one of our new series on rigging. Rigging is a complex topic but fear not. We start a new series this issue showing you exactly how to master the dark arts! Subscribe to 3D World here Read more: Become a better 3D artist The 10 best 3D movies of 2019 The best new 3D tools for 2019 View the full article

For many artists and designers, the ultimate dream is to have a full-size Wacom Cintiq to draw, sketch and design on. But being arguably the best graphic tablets the market has to offer also means these heavyweight creative pen displays don't come cheap; they're usually within the reach of working designers who can offset the cost against tax, but for students and enthusiasts, they're just a bit too rich. However, there's now a more affordable alternative available. Wacom has just announced the latest addition to the Cintiq range, the Cintiq 22 – a 21.5-inch creative pen display. So if you love the features of the Cintiq 16 (see our Cintiq 16 review) but find it's not big enough to create on, then the Cintiq 22 could be for you. While the Cintiq 22 lacks the advanced features found at the expensive end of the Cintiq line, such as 4K resolution, pro colour performance and optical bonding, it delivers enough power to keep most creatives happy. There's vibrant colour, HD clarity and ergonomic design (more on that later). Best of all, it's yours for well under a grand: £869.99 or €999.90. The Wacom Cintiq 22 features a 1,920 x 1,080 full HD display with 1000:1 contrast ratio, 72 per cent NTSC colour, 96 per cent sRGB and a 22ms response time. Its hardened cover glass has an anti-glare treatment and a natural paper-like feel, making it ideal for sketching and drawing at any time, day or night, and it comes with an adjustable stand that gives you an 16-82 degree angle for ultimate ergonomic comfort. As with most other Wacom tablets, the Cintiq 22 works seamlessly with the Wacom Pro Pen 2, which provides 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and about 60 degrees of tilt response, and gives you incredible precision and accuracy. And thanks to Wacom's EMR technology, you don't need to put in a battery or recharge the Pro Pen 2; it simply draws its power electromagnetically from the Cintiq itself. The Pro Pen 2 never needs recharging If you've ever coveted a full-size Cintiq but haven't had the budget to make it a reality, the new Cintiq 22 could very well be the pen display you've been waiting for, and it's available to order now from the Wacom eStore. Not sure the Cintiq 22 is the right fit for you? Here are some other great pen display options... Related articles: Finally! The stylus Wacom users have been waiting for Is Apple about to bring back its rainbow logo? Wacom Cintiq 16 review View the full article

Two months after the alarm sounded warning of a WannaCry-level event, progress in patching exposed Windows systems varies by country and industry. View the full article

Lenovo, Acer and five additional server manufacturers are hit with supply-chain bugs buried in motherboard firmware. View the full article

Identifying tokens and random addresses, meant to create anonymity, do not change in sync on some devices -- opening an attack vector. View the full article

Do you want to create marketing material that gets results? The Silicon Valley Digital Marketers Bundle can teach you a whole lot for the low price of just $39.99. You'll learn how to write copywriting headlines that sell products, how to start marketing campaigns that are effective, and how to craft eye-catching Facebook ads. The best VPN service 2019 You'll also learn how to increase your Instagram following and how to use email to grow your business. Basically, by the end of your training, you'll know how to take any business from 0 to 10 efficiently and effectively. The Silicon Valley Digital Marketers Bundle is yours for just $39.99. Related articles: 5 ways to boost your website's SEO Facebook takes on Patreon, but its terms enrage artists 10 must-know SEO tools for search success View the full article

Apple's rainbow logo might be about to make a comeback, if a report from MacRumors is to be believed. The multi-coloured design, which served as Apple's logo from 1977, was replaced by a single colour version in 1999. If Apple does decide to bring back its old logo, it wouldn't be the first brand to rely on its heritage. Our guide to logo design takes a look at how 'retro branding' is a popular move for companies looking to reawaken affection in consumers. And according to MacRumors, the rainbow logo could be making a reappearance as early as this year. In its report, the site claims that a "well-connected MacRumors tipster" with a reliable track record sniffed out the possible design development. The site speculates which devices could be decked out in the rainbow logo, with the Mac leading the way, seeing as the original Macintosh sported the design. New lines of iPhones and iPads have also been cited as potential contenders. MacRumors even went and mocked up how the classic design would look on sleek new devices (see the images above and below). MacRumors has imagined how the rainbow logo would appear on new devices Would a return to the six-colour logo, which made its debut on the Apple II computer, be the right move for Apple though? After all, the company has always prided itself on doing things differently. The designer behind the rainbow logo, Rob Janoff, even explained in our interview that the colours were originally dropped so that Apple could keep ahead of the competition. Would a step back for the logo be a step back for the business? It would be tempting to think that this decision is part of the fallout from Jony Ive's decision to step down as Apple's chief design officer. However Apple has been embracing the essence of the design over the years, including a redesign of the Apple Park that saw its stairs and walkways decorated in the rainbow palette. Of course, this could all come to nothing. You know what rumours are like. In the meantime, if you're looking to create your own Apple artwork, check out our buying guide to the best Apple Pencil deals available right now. Related articles: The 10 most beautiful Apple products (and the 5 ugliest) Is Apple ditching its 'i'? Apple Card: Is this Apple's sleekest design yet? View the full article

Keeping bots out always is a numbers game – sadly, the availability of easy-to-use machine learning libraries made cracking many classic captcha types simple. Google stands at the forefront of the botting storm – after all, something only exists if it can be found (prominently) in Big G's indices. Due to this, Google engineers devote significant amounts of effort into designing anti-bot systems and solutions. They are made available to third parties via a product called reCAPTCHA, which we will go over together during the following steps. For more tools unrelated to bots, see our web design tools post. Before getting started, however, a few basic things must be cleared up. First of all: keeping bots out is always a server-side game. Inspecting the return values of your anti-bot measure on the client is idiotic. An attacker can analyse the source code or simply work around it by patching the return validation. Secondarily, keep in mind that not all bots are created equal. Locking out the GoogleBot, for example, leads to your web site not being indexed anymore. Similar problems can occur with other industry-specific bots which often to more good than harm. Finally, bots might be a lesser evil in some cases – when traffic is all you need, a bot click turns out to be just a click. 8 amazing Google APIs (and how to use them) 01. Sign-up a go-go! Use your Google account to sign into ReCAPTCHA Google keeps a close eye on reCAPTCHA users. Head here and use your Google account to sign in. Add "localhost" in addition to your favourite domain under Domains. Pick the "I'm not a robot" checkbox type as it is the most well-known anti-bot measure. 02. Store site and server keys Google rewards persistence in working through the setup process by displaying a server and a site key. While the latter can be shared with third parties, ensure that the secret key never leaves the confines of your server environment. 03. Understand site verification Google uses a variation of the challenge-response process to ensure result integrity. Captcha instances return a cryptographic value which the server is to "turn in" to a verification system hosted by Big G – if the results turn out to be valid, a correct HTTP response is returned to your back-end logic. 04. Set up Express.JS It's important to be demonstrating a turn-key solution showing the entire authentication flow. Due to this, we need to start out with a "server" of sorts – Express JS was a frequent topic recently, so deploy it to a newly-created project skeleton. 05. Prepare to serve Loading the well-known "I am not a robot" checkbox requires an HTML file. Given that this is a sample demonstrating the interaction flow, start out with a static document containing the mark-up shown accompanying this step. 06. Understand and test Run the code to see these results Google provides an API file containing the captcha logic. When api.js is loaded, the code contained in it analyses the DOM and replaces any <div> tags containing the correct class tag. <submit> tags are left alone as of this writing. Either way, run the code in a browser of choice to see the results shown above. 07. Load some elements Creating a delivery chain in Express.JS requires a bit of intelligence. One really useful helper is BodyParser. When embedded into a rendering workflow, the individual fields returned from the server can be accessed using object-oriented design patterns which greatly simplify handling them. 08. Prepare to verify... Google's checkbox does its magic in the background — when done, a new field called g-reCAPTCHA-response is added to the form attributes. This data must be sent to Google's servers for verification. The long string in the code accompanying this step is will be replaced with the one Google assigned to you. 09. ...and enquire at Google's servers The next act involves firing off the URL to the server. This is accomplished via a traditional JSON request based on address created in the previous step. Its results are then analysed – if an error is thrown, a failure will be returned to the client-side application. 10. Set it loose Express.JS's HTTP server needs to be unleashed. This is best accomplished by using the app.listen structure. Keep in mind that ports with a number that is smaller than 1024 are restricted to the root user on Unixoid operating systems – 3000 is therefore a safe bet. 11. Adjust the form Finally, our form needs to be put in touch with the local server running inside of Node.JS. This is best accomplished by adjusting the action string – be sure to point the target to a valid domain, especially if you don't use a local Express.JS server. 12. Bring it up! Use Python's quick HTTP server to test the client-server system Testing our client-server system requires two servers due to Google's origin verification. Fortunately, Python provides a quick HTTP server – use it to provide index.htm, while Express.JS gets enlisted to performing the verification of the returned response. 13. Perform a dry run Give your Captcha a test run When running, check the checkbox and fulfil any challenges Big G might throw at you. The server usually does not demand much in terms of verification, and proceeds to displaying the contents shown above. 14. Disable the submit button Disabling the submit button at startup is good for usability Google's examples ignore the client-side submit button as an attacker can always make it reappear with some JavaScript. While disabling the submit knob in relation to the Captcha does not improve security, it does have positive effects on usability. Let us start out by disabling the button after start-up. 15. Handle CAPTCHA events Now add an event handler Next up, an event handler must be added. Google's CAPTCHA API will invoke it whenever the user passed a verification attempt from its client-side point of view. 16. Excursion: dynamic CAPTCHA rendering Google does not limit developers to spawning reCAPTCHA elements during page load. The render() method found in the reCAPTCHA API lets you designate one or more <div> tags on the web site which are to be transformed into reCAPTCHA widgets. 17. Enable button if needed... With that, one main issue remains. The submit button must be re-enabled when the click event provided by reCAPTCHA arrives in our application code. Loading jQuery into such a simple example is unnecessary, so fall back to some plain JavaScript instead. 18. ...and clean up after us Google cannot store challenge response data forever. Due to that, verification times out quite fast – by default, our program does not find out about that. Fortunately, the API contains an additional field which can be used to notify. 19. Use additional attributes There are plenty of useful properties to play with Head here to find a list of properties included in the JavaScript API. They let you adjust various behaviours – for example, the reCAPTCHA widget can also be rendered in a night-friendly colour scheme! 20. Work transparently… Google recently introduced a third version of the reCAPTCHA API which does not require explicit user interaction. Instead, you simply load it during page initialisation – the code automatically monitors the behaviour of the user running wild on the web site. 21. ...and provide additional information The plug-in profits from further data about the action that is being performed on the website. The snippet accompanying this step will announce that the user currently visits your homepage. More information on the API can be found in the documentation. Join us at Rich Mix, Shoreditch on 26 September for Generate CSS, a bespoke conference for web designers brought to you by Creative Bloq, net and Web Designer. Book your Early Bird ticket before 15 August at www.generateconf.com. This article was originally published in issue 287 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 287 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: 8 essential WordPress security secrets How CodePen made itself secure 9 security tips to protect your website from hackers View the full article

The August issue of National Geographic is packed with features that shine a light on global migration patterns. And to help get its message across, the magazine has created a batch of powerful editorial designs that roam beyond borders themselves. For readers, the use of full-bleed photography and headlines that drift off the top of the page represent an impactful change of pace. And considering that the issue highlights the plight of refugees, it's a clever design choice that will make people pay attention to these pressing concerns. If you want to push your own lettering further, check out our typography tutorials. "The headlines on each of the main stories will run off the page, reflecting the issue's theme that there are no borders, that everything is fluid and that people migrate," the magazine revealed in a press release. With mainstream media outlets in the US choosing to focus on stories about domestic migration, National Geographic has broadened its scope to highlight that they're just part of a global trend. The August issue of the magazine includes features on the history of human migration, a report from the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, and an insight into the world's busiest land border crossing. As a commentary on these migration issues, National Graphic's creative director, Emmet Smith, decided to push the limits of magazine design. "We are living in a time where borders fail us," says Smith. "We wanted to reflect that notion in the headlining of our special issue on human migration, having the type move through the pages, rather than obeying traditional rules as to where it can-and can't-be. It is a signal to our readers that something is changing here." One thing that hasn't changed though is that National Geographic's familiar yellow border can still be seen on the cover of the August issue (below). This element is the magazine's most recognisable design asset, so we can't help but wonder if the editorial team considered removing the border for one issue only to help underline its migration message. The familiar yellow border still appears on the cover (Image: National Geographic) Either way, this is one of the most striking and worthy uses of typography and print design we've come across in a while. National Geographic has form when it comes to pushing boundaries in its reports and design choices – who could forget that distinctive iceberg cover – and we look forward to seeing what it will come up with next. See the complete set of features in the August 2019 issue of National Geographic by clicking here. Related articles: 10 ways to make your magazine cover stand out 15 top typography resources Typography rules and terms every designer must know View the full article

The NASA logo is probably the most controversial thing about the organisation. Millions in the US and around the world follow NASA’s story religiously, and it enjoys a position as one of America’s best-loved government agencies. It has helped underpin the country’s global scientific leadership and its superpower status. On 21 July 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong was the first person to step onto the surface of the Moon – the highest moment in the history of America’s space programme. Now, 50 years later, NASA is marking the occasion with events around the world under the strapline ‘Next Giant Leap’ (image below). Many in the design community would argue that to fulfil this forward-looking sentiment NASA could do with revamping its comms, starting with a new logo. (If you need logo help, too, see our guide to logo design.) If NASA is ever to regain the optimism that helped blast the Apollo 11 crew all the way to the moon, a trawl through the history of NASA’s logo points to the need for something new. Let's explore... The breaking dawn – or is it a sunset? – is also a theme in this design commemorating 50 years since the first moon landing Before NASA there was NACA Before NASA there was the NACA, and this is the refined form of its insignia used up until 1958 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formed in 1958 in response to the Soviet Union’s successful launch of the satellite, Sputnik. Well, we say formed, but NASA really evolved out of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. With roots dating back to 1915, the NACA didn’t have a logo per se, but used a variety of insignia based around a pair of eagle’s wings, along with a shield to signify its military potential. In the 1950s, the wings and shield were merged together to form an outline that surrounded the letters NACA in a tidy lock-up which probably had some bearing on how NASA’s future graphics would be approached. The NASA Seal – 1958 to present NASA’s official seal – the US government equivalent of a coat of arms for the Agency As a federal agency, once NASA was founded it needed an official seal. Federal seals are sometimes used in the same way as logos, but also hold heraldic and ceremonial significance. Working with other artists in NASA’s Lewis Research Center (now the Glenn Research Center), James Modarelli, head of the Research Reports Division, developed the NASA seal. Illustrative in nature, the key element of the NASA seal is a stylised pair of wings based on a supersonic wing concept designed by aeronautical engineer Clint Brown. Linking back to the NACA emblem, the wing shape straddles a spherical planet, which is orbited by an object, with a moon and stars in the background. Although they look like they might be constellations, the star patterns are artistic embellishments. The shadow the wing drops onto the planet cleverly gives it a three-dimensional aspect. After various officials within NASA had given their input, the seal went through several layers of stakeholder approval – something anyone who works in corporate branding can identify with. Firstly, it went to the Heraldic Branch of the Army Office of the Quartermaster General. Then to the Fine Arts Commission. At this stage, Clint Brown noticed that his wing design had been drawn upside down, so the artwork was sent back for amendments. After second looks by the Heraldic and Fine Arts bodies, the NASA Administrator Dr T Keith Glennan approved the design and it was sent to President Eisenhower for final sign-off. NASA’s first logo – 1959-75 NASA’s ‘meatball’ logo was derivative of the Agency’s seal and had a Buck Rogers feel to it Because the official seal is only really used on letterheads, awards and on NASA’s ceremonial, you might be wondering why we’ve gone into so much detail on its design. The reason is that rather than have a fresh logo designed for everyday communications, Glennan asked Modarelli to simplify the seal. This process took place alongside the development and approval of the seal and resulted in a design with a circular blue background (Pantone 286) to represent a planet, with the wing configuration central in red (Pantone 185) signifying aeronautics. This time, the wing straddles the acronym NASA in a high contrast serif type with stars in the background representing space and an orbiting object to symbolise space travel. NASA usually refers to this logo as an insignia, which gives it a bit of a military flavour. It was on Neil Armstrong’s space suit when he stepped onto the moon 50 years ago, and has appeared on spacecraft, airplanes, buildings, ground vehicles, signage and so on – never mind the fact that, with its little stars, it's tricky to render at small sizes and on certain media. The NASA logotype – 1975-92 Dubbed ‘the worm’, the NASA logotype had a modern feel that was hated by old-timers in the Agency In 1974 the controversy began. NASA’s leadership decided that the Agency needed a more contemporary look. The idea didn’t just come out of the blue. Between 1972 and 1981 nearly 50 government agencies looked at their identities and made changes with support from the Federal Graphics Improvement Program and the National Endowment for the Arts. NASA engaged the New York identity design firm Danne & Blackburn to create a more modern logo. They analysed the Agency and how the logo needed to be used. Danne & Blackburn noted that the round emblem really reflected an old fashioned sci-fi take on the space programme, and didn’t chime with the real science that NASA stood for. The fluid curving of the letters represented continuity, and there’s something aerodynamic about the design There is nothing pictorial about the modernist design Richard Danne and Bruce N Blackburn came up with. Their single width lettering symbolised the unity of NASA and of the US in general. The fluid curving of the letters represented continuity, and there’s something aerodynamic about the design. Without their horizontal strokes, the 'A's have a sense of vertical thrust. Though the actual changeover took years to implement, the way it was communicated may have been the reason why some NASA employees dug in an fought against what they called the ‘worm’ logo. Federal agencies are almost like feudal states and because news of the new logotype arrived on paper headed with the new, as yet unseen logotype, it landed as something of a surprise for middle managers across the organisation. It came with a 90-page standards manual, which is available to read on the NASA website. Younger staff tended to like the new logo, older staff didn’t. Danne & Blackburn’s logotype was implemented in 1975, with NASA Administrator Dr James C Fletcher commenting on how the Agency believed in progressive design. With its sleek, geometric logo and rigorous visual standards NASA won the 1984 Presidential Award for Design Excellence. Return of the meatball – 1992 to present Perhaps the battle lines were drawn when Frank ‘Red’ Rowsome, Head of Technical Publications at NASA, referred to the original round insignia as a ‘meatball’ during the introduction of the ‘worm’ logo. Or it could be that with the Challenger disaster in 1986 and other setbacks morale was low and something needed to change. Possibly, pressure from older employees was the main factor. Whatever the case, on his first day in the job in 1992, the new administrator Daniel S Goldin took the snap decision to reinstate NASA’s original logo. The move was just as controversial as the introduction of the logotype in 1975 and was the subject of widespread debate. This hybrid logo was suggested by meatball designer James Modarelli and others when the furore over the logotype broke The argument rages on to this day, and like so many issues at the moment it polarises progressive and conservative viewpoints. Debate was reignited in 2017 when NASA, for the first time, licensed the ‘worm’ logo to fashion firms to use on their products. This revived interest in the modernist logo. Perhaps, with some calling for NASA to keep its current logo, others saying the logotype should be reinstated, and the Agency looking like it needs fresh impetus, now is the time for a brand new NASA logo… the next giant leap. Read more: 10 of the best logos ever Top 10 TV logos of all time 5 logo redesigns that got it right View the full article

You can never have too many design books, and luckily there are fresh ones coming out all the time, providing everything from visual inspiration through to in-depth information across a wealth of design-related subjects. Not only that, a good thick design book is the ideal thing to put your monitor on to give it a bit of extra height. The only problem with design books is that they don't tend to come cheap, so you need to know which ones are worth your money. That's why we've rounded up some of the best we've seen this year, from graphic design books through to typography, branding and packaging; read on for some great design reading. 8 must-read books for design students 01. Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design Bask in the visual glory of the Jet Age There's a distinctive look to mid-20th century graphic design that still appeals today. Fuelled by a burst of post-war energy, artists and designers began creating work notable for experimental type, vivid colour palettes and energetic compositions, and Theo Inglis' Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design turns the spotlight on this lively visual movement. Featuring hundreds of colour illustrations showcasing the work of such luminaries as Ray Eames, Saul Bass, Elaine Lustig Cohen and Corita Kent, it's an essential guide to the the mid-century style, its development and how it still influences design today. 02. Pan Am: History, Design & Identity Pan Am's visual history is a high-flying compendium of great design It's hard to believe these days just how big Pan Am was in the 20th century. Right up to its collapse in 1991, it was the world's biggest and best-known airline, with an iconic blue globe logo and a knack for effective publicity campaigns featuring some of the best design and advertising in the business. The visual history of Pan Am is a design goldmine, and Pan Am: History, Design & Identity, featuring a stack of never-before-published images, is a must-have guide to it. The standard edition has already sold out, but a premium edition – featuring extra images, as well as spot varnishes and Pantone colours – is well worth investing in. 03. Now Try Something Weirder Exactly 233 design tips from Michael Johnson If you're looking for a book full of hints, tips and advice on how to work with clients, deal with design briefs, deliver fantastic presentations and generally improve your creative confidence, then look to Michael Johnson's Now Try Something Weirder. It features exactly 233 tips drawn from over 30 years in the creative industries, and promises to share Johnson's ultimate secrets to enviable success; sounds like a good deal to us, and it's now available in a more portable paperback format. 04. Queer X Design It's not all about the rainbow flag Starting long before the Stonewall riots and coming right up to the present day, Queer X Design highlights and celebrates the many inventive and subversive designs that have helped drive the LGBTQ movement over the years. You're doubtless familiar with Gilbert Baker's rainbow flag, but that's just a tiny part of a vast history of queer design that's covered here. From protest badges through to the AIDS quilts of the 1980s and beyond, it's an inspiring and colourful visual history of design harnessed to bring about political and societal change. 05. Jan Tschichold and the New Typography Discover one of the inventors of modern graphic design One of the most influential figures in modern graphic design, Jan Tschichold was a designer, writer and theorist who, inspired by the work of the Bauhaus school, helped bring about a revolution in visual culture between the two World Wars. Thanks to Tschichold's influence, print design in the 20th century became more dynamic and elemental, and Jan Tschichold and the New Typography by Paul Stirton expertly traces his impact as well as his own influences. 06. The Big Book of Font Combinations Stuck for a font combo? Find inspiration here Finding the perfect font pairing can be a nightmare, and it's one that gets ever bigger as the size of your font collection increases. So here's a much easier way to find the right font combination for your work without spending hours hunting down and fiddling with fonts. Over 370 pages, The Big Book of Font Combinations presents you with more than 350 typeface pairings that combine the most popular fonts in the business to stunning effect. It's perfect for inspiring browsing, it can save you time and it'll also help you work out your own font combinations in future. 07. The Graphic Design Reader A massive source of serious design reading Featuring writings by key design and cultural critics including Adrian Shaughnessy, Leslie Atzmon and Steven Heller, The Graphic Design Reader is pitched as an essential resource for students, researchers and practitioners of graphic design. Over the course of 800 pages – supplemented by 360 illustrations – this hefty volume covers is a treasure trove of scholarly and insightful writing that starts with the history of graphic design, moves through a number of topics including education, criticism and political and social issues, and finishing on the future – or futures – of graphic design. Enormous and wide-ranging, it's a must for anyone serious about the subject. 08. Own Label: Sainsbury's Design Studio 1962-1977 Explore the work of the Sainsbury's Design Studio Any lover of packaging design is certain to be delighted by this exhaustive collection, showcasing the revolutionary creative work behind Sainsbury's Own Label products in the 1960's and 70's. Headed up by Peter Dixon, the Sainsbury's Design Studio developed packaging that was simple, modern, stripped-back and thoroughly creative, and helped build the supermarket into the retail giant that it is today. More than a nostalgic trip down memory lane – although it's hard not to enjoy it from that perspective – Own Label: Sainsbury's Design Studio 1962-1977 is a beautiful and in-depth overview of an incredible body of work. Related articles: 11 books that changed designers' lives How to self-publish a book The 11 best drawing books View the full article

If you want to build a lucrative career in product management, get your hands on the Pay What You Want: The Lean Six Sigma Certification Training Bundle. And as its name suggests, it can be yours for whatever price you decide to pay! If your company is looking to get ahead of the competition, the Lean Six Sigma business process improvement methodology is a proven way to do that. At your organisation, Lean Six Sigma training can improve your career prospects, as it's sought after by many industries across the board. The best VPN service 2019 With this course, you'll gain a pretty impressive foundation in the principles and methodologies behind this system. And you'll pass certification exams that will prove your skills to potential employers. Pick up Pay What You Want: The Lean Six Sigma Certification Training Bundle today. Related articles: How to grow your design business The 21 best business card designs How to run a design business with just an iPad View the full article

Lenovo patches enterprise and SMB network attached storage devices for a vulnerability that leaked data to the public internet. View the full article

The issue, present on Android versions, is similar to the known man-in-the-disk attack vector. View the full article

Amazon Prime Day is winding down, but there's still time to grab some of the best Prime Day deals. And if you're after a massive saving on headphones, this Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 over-ear wireless headphones deal will be music to your ears. That's because Amazon has slashed its price by 54%. Not an Amazon Prime member? Sign up for a free trial to claim this discount. These Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 over-ear wireless headphones come in a sleek and stylish black, and use Bluetooth technology to give you wireless freedom. And thanks to NoiseGard hybrid active noise cancellation, you can listen to your music, podcasts or audiobooks without any disturbance. As is the case with all Prime Day deals, you need to be an Amazon Prime member to claim this bargain. The good news is that it's free and easy to sign up. And if you decide to close your subscription before the first fee kicks in, you're completely free to do so. So if you like the look of these headphones, you can click by then close your Prime account immediately. Alternatively, you can of course stay signed up to enjoy that sweet Prime service all year round. Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime: US | UK | Canada | Australia | India If you're after other deals on Sennheiser headphones, check out the ones we've listed below. Related articles: The best wireless headphones in 2019 The best noise-cancelling headphones for 2019 5 top tips for creating a productive workspace View the full article

Not sure if you've heard, but it's Amazon Prime Day. Maybe you're not a Prime member, or maybe you just prefer shopping elsewhere, but either way we have some good news for you. This year a load of retailers – in the US as well as the UK – have got in on the act with offers of their own. Buckle in: these are the very best Prime Day deals that *don't* come from Amazon... (Or if you don't care where your bargains come from, check out our guide to the best Amazon Prime deals). View the full article

There's nothing like a redesign of a popular app or service to really get people's blood boiling. It's not so much that everybody fears change, more that enough people fear change to make a really loud noise about it when it happens. Considering how cross people get when a company unveils a new logo design, a whole new site redesign is bound to make waves. So given the news that Twitter is rolling out a completely revamped website with an updated look and feel, well, you can guess the rest. Folks aren't happy. And to be fair, there's a lot to dislike about new Twitter; everything that you hate about the app version is now there on the desktop. So for example, by default it'll show you a timeline based around 'top tweets' rather than a straightforward chronological list. You can opt for it to show you tweets chronologically, but sooner or later it'll dump you back into the 'top tweets' view, much the same as Facebook does with its 'top stories' and 'most recent' timelines. Combine PWA and AMP for ultra-fast mobile experiences There's some weird redundancy going on in the form of the new 'Bookmarks' feature, too. Up until now, virtually everyone used the 'Like' function as a bookmark; it did the job and as a bonus it also made people slightly happy. Not as happy as getting an actual retweet, but them's the breaks. Now, though, there's a new icon beneath every tweet, reminiscent of the iOS Share icon, that lets you add a tweet to the new Bookmarks section of your profile. In the same dropdown there's the option to copy the link to that tweet, something that used to appear in the dropdown at the top right of tweets, along with the option to embed a tweet, amongst other things. Weirdly, the embed option is still up there, even though it's in the same functional ballpark as the copy link option. It's all a bit of a UX nightmare; why are the embed and copy link options in separate dropdowns? It all feels like a bit of a mess; in its blog post, Twitter lists all the exciting new features that have been added, most of which are things we're pretty sure you've never wanted. It's all summarised in this little video: It's not all bad; the two dark mode options are a welcome addition, and the easy switching accounts will be a bonus for anyone with more than one account on the go. But those little benefits feel like less of a win next to that ludicrously fat sidebar menu and in-your-face trends, and the fact that when you're scrolling through your timeline, everything feels a bit sluggish and stuttery. The big win for Twitter here is that this new site is a PWA that'll work on everything, and that's designed to look amazing on most mobile devices. We suspect a part of the problem is that, like mobile-first sites, PWAs rarely look quite as good in a desktop browser. One advantage of PWAs is that they can be installed as stand-alone apps, which may result in better desktop performance. The big issue, though, is that people plain don't like change, and the #NewTwitter hashtag is overflowing with rage right now. Ultimately, though, we imagine everyone will get used to it sooner or later. Related articles: How to nail your social media strategy 6 ways to go viral on Twitter What web designers can learn from social media View the full article

You're reading Improve Your Email Campaigns with These Fantastic Tools, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook! Testing email newsletters is vital, even if it seems that nothing can go wrong with such a small amount of text and minimal design. Many traps await if you aren’t careful. The main problems that occur when you do not … View the full article

As part of Amazon's Prime Day deals, the company has launched a number of impressive lightning deals on products you wouldn't usually see discounted. One such offer is this MacBook Air discount, which sees the price of the popular Apple laptop dropped by $300! Usually listed at $999.99, this deal puts the price of the 13-inch MacBook Air down to a jaw-dropping $699.99. Haven't signed up to Prime yet? Sign up for a free trial now This silver 13" model comes a 1.8 GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Intel HD Graphics 6000, 8GB RAM and 128GB of SSP space. In terms of specs it might not be as cutting edge as the MacBook Pro, however the MacBook Air's strengths are its long battery life and massive storage capabilities. Keep in mind that you're buying from a third party with this discount. But if you want to pick up an Apple device for less, and you're happy to buy from a reseller, this Amazon Prime Day price crash is your golden opportunity. After some more amazing discounts on Apple products? Head on over to our guide on why right now is the best time to buy an iPad Pro. Because this is a Lightning Deal, it's only available while stocks last. And given that lots of people want Apple devices for less, these MacBook Airs are likely to sell out fast. Remember: like all Amazon Prime Day deals, you need to be a Prime subscriber to place your order. The good news is that you can sign up to Amazon Prime for free, and leave before the first subscription charge kicks in. Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime: US | UK | Canada | Australia | India If you're not in the US, don't worry, we've got you covered with the best MacBook Air deals near you, just check out the links below: View the full article

It's day two of the 2019 Amazon Prime Day event and the best Prime Day deals are quickly being snapped up. If you're after a monitor, you've come to the right place. We've got all the best monitor deals right here. We've got deals on ultra-wide monitors, such as the Samsung LC49HG90DMUXEN 49" for just £809.19 (that's £190 off) through to smaller, cheaper monitors such as the HP 23.8-inch FHD IPS Monitor for just under $100. Scroll down for our pick of the best bargains on Prime Day monitors, though hurry, as most of these deals end at midnight tonight. If you're not sure what you're looking for find out more about ultra-wide monitors with our guide to the best ultra-wide monitors, or see our best monitors post. To qualify for the Prime Day deals, you need to be an Amazon Prime member (sign up here), although not all of our deals are from Amazon, so there really is something for everyone here. Best monitor deals on Amazon Prime Day (US) Best monitor deals on Amazon Prime Day (UK) Not a Prime member yet? You can sign up easily for a 30-day trial and can cancel at any time, so you won't be tied into anything as long as you remember to cancel at the end of the 30 days (set a reminder if you're likely to forget). Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime: US | UK | Canada | Australia | India You can also check out more monitor deals below: Read more: The best monitors for programming The best monitors for photo editing The best monitor calibrators View the full article

It's day two of Amazon Prime Day, and the best Prime Day deals for creatives keep on coming. So if you're in the market for a new camera, today could be the day to pick one up because there are lots of photography-related discounts to be had. Amazon has already slashed £320 off the price of the Sony A7 III camera, but it's not the only retailer offering a good deal. Walmart has a generous deal on the Canon T6 EOS Rebel DSLR camera, which comes bundled with plenty of accessories at more than $700 less than the listing price. If Amazon's offers have got you reaching for your wallet, remember that you need to be an Amazon Prime member to claim the savings (sign up here). Without further ado, here are some of the best camera deals we've seen from Amazon. Best Amazon Prime Day camera deals (US) Best Amazon Prime Day camera deals (UK) Not signed up to Amazon Prime yet? Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime: US | UK | Canada | Australia | India If you're after more discounts on cameras, check out our list of the best point and shoot cameras, and these deals: Related articles: The best camera for creatives in 2019 The best cameras for beginners in 2019 The best camera phones in 2019 View the full article