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Camera phones, with their ability to let you carry a genuinely superb camera in your pocket, have been a real game changer. And not just for social media accounts: the best camera phones in 2018 have the smarts to produce professional shots and video footage of a ridiculously high standard. Right now, the best camera phone is the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. We think it's the best smartphone with a camera you can choose thanks to its combination of powerful dual cameras, incredible main sensor and useful additional features. You can read more about our number one choice below. The best camera for photography The 10 best point-and-shoot cameras But there were plenty of contenders for the top spot: manufacturers are constantly pushing the barriers of what can be achieved with these portable snappers, and there's a lot of competition right now. So what features and specs should you look for while choosing the best camera phone for your budget? Sheer amount of megapixels is a good start, but – depending on your photography expertise – you may also want the functionality to change aperture speeds, as well as greater light detection, and consider extra storage for photo galleries and video. Our list of the best smartphones with a camera includes a rich variety of brands, price points and specialties. Read on to discover the best camera phone for your budget... The best camera phones right now Samsung Galaxy smartphones are now so good that the latest iterations generally struggle to make strides on the last. But camera quality is the exception to that rule, and Samsung's latest flagship Galaxy S9 Plus raises the bar again for camera phones. The dual 12MP cameras on the rear are the obvious place to start. They're no longer unique, but the remarkable f/1.5 aperture is, meaning you can take eye-popping shots even in low light. And you can tweak the aperture to the other end of the spectrum in sunnier climes. Samsung has also worked hard reduce noise, too. We love the super slow motion 960fps function for getting creative with videos and the bokeh-enable selfie snapper is impressive as well. But it's the amazing main camera that makes the Galaxy S9 Plus stand out from the crowd. We're not saying it makes standalone cameras defunct, but unless you're a professional photographer, you won't need much more than what this smartphone will give you. Frankly, the Huawei P20 Pro took us rather by surprise when it launched in the spring of 2018. It's proving to be the smartphone that's breaking the Samsung and Apple duopoly on the world phone market – and one of the headline features that has made it so popular is the incredible triple camera (yes, triple!) that you get on the rear of the handset. The combination of 40MP, 20MP and 8MP shooters combines powerfully with excellent image processing, noise reduction and super zoom features making the P20 Pro's overall photo taking prowess something very special indeed. And the thing that may make you go for this instead of the S9 Plus...? The price: P20 Pro deals are much cheaper than on the super-sized Samsung. Sorry folks. The cruel reality is that if you want the best camera possible on an iPhone, you're going to have to splash the cash on Apple's devilishly expensive iPhone X. (Although the good news is that with the new iPhone XS and XS Max due in shops at the end of September, the price of the iPhone X should drop.) Released to mark the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, Apple delighted fans by producing a new iPhone that makes genuine strides on what has come before. In terms of photography, we're talking about dual 12MP sensors on the rear (one for telephoto and both with astute optical image stabilisation) and a 7MP TrueDepth camera on the front in case dazzling selfies are what you need for your business or leisure pursuits. Low light shots are much better than on other iPhones, and we really admire the generally faster focusing and natural colours. Don't fancy parting with all that cash for an iPhone X? We can't say we blame you. You can shave a significant amount off the cost or monthly bills by going for the iPhone 8 instead. It builds on the brilliance of the iPhone 7's camera – so the 12MP main sensor, f/1.8 aperture, a 5X digital zoom and optical image stabilization are all present here – and then adds some handy features, such as 4K video shooting and 240fps slow motion recording at Full HD. As ever with the iOS camera app, the iPhone 8 is devilishly easy to use as a camera and ensure that you get the best of the images you snap. When Google relaunched its mobile phones under the Pixel moniker, it was clear that much of their focus (if you'll forgive the pun) was on the quality of the onboard cameras. Quite simply, camera phones don't come much better than the Google Pixel 2. On any normal day, you'll get colour-rich, natural photographs that can be used in your portfolio. But the f/1.8 aperture on that 12.2MP main camera means that you'll get splendid results in low light as well – much better than we found on some of the Pixel 2's 2017 contemporaries. And a strange thing happened with the Pixel 2, too. Prices reduced drastically quite quickly after release. And now, with the Pixel 3 not far away, they're really affordable. Of course with the phone comes Google's integrated ecosystem. Now that may be a plus or a minus, depending on your perspective. But if you're already enveloped in Gmail, Google Photos and the rest, then it makes sense to go for the Pixel 2 as well. If you want to improve your Insta-game, then you're probably not after the priciest smartphone on the market. That's why we've picked out the still-great-after-all-this-time Samsung Galaxy S8 as our choice camera phone for selfies. With its dedicated selfie mode, the S8 just makes taking photos with the 8MP front camera ridiculously easy. We found that you don't have to mess around taking multiple shots before this phone gets things right – it's on the ball straight away. The fact that it's a former Samsung flagship phone means you get the rest of the package, too: superb screen, premium design, equally impressive main camera. And as it was released over a year ago, you get an affordable price tag. Wileyfox may not be a manufacturer that you immediately recognise the name of, but its been on our radar for a while thanks to its conveyor belt of robustly made, affordable mobile phones. At the price, the Wileyfox Swift 2 Plus was never going to give you stunning shots in low light and tons of features. But you still get a 16MP camera and a 3L8 sensor shipped in from Samsung. This results in photos that are superior to the usual washed out, flat fare found in the albums of most cheap phones. Instead, the images produced by the Swift 2 Plus have rich colours and fine detail. Even the autofocus holds its own. This is easily the best cheap camera around. Ok, so the main reason why we've included the Moto G6 in this list is because we can't think of a better overall smartphone with a camera that you can currently buy for around the $200/£200-mark. It's an exceptional phone that seems even better when you see the price tag. But a big part of that is the camera. Somehow Motorola has been able to afford a dual camera set-up on the rear, with a 12MP and 5MP tag-team. The result? An auto mode that makes taking beautiful pictures really straightforward, and a genuinely useful portrait mode (if that's of use to you). The 8MP selfie snapper on the front is passable, but wouldn't be adequate for the needs of Kim Kardashian and the like. Related articles: 45 best photo apps and photo editing software These are the best smartphones available for designers Our top tips for taking better photos View the full article

University or online studies can’t teach you everything. Almost everyone gets a least a bit of a rude awakening when they dive into the big scary world of work, and the web industry is no exception – being able to create an awesome website layout using the latest responsive web design techniques is only half the job. We rounded up seven web professionals from different corners of the industry to ask them what they wish they’d known when they first started out. 01. Nothing ever stays still When Sally Lait (now a digital transformation consultant) started working a junior developer during a university year in industry, the rate of change in the web industry came as a shock. “Embracing changes in technology, user expectations and societal shifts – even my own interests – over time was something that I initially struggled with rather than welcomed,” she says. “Change often feels scary and tiring but it’s also really exciting to naturally keep evolving on your own personal journey and keep finding new things that you enjoy.” 02. You won’t get paid to experiment Billy Fagan started dabbling in code as a hobby before turning it into a profession. Initially, he didn’t realise he wouldn’t be able to put all the cool new things he found straight into his work. “You’re not doing this as a hobby any more; it’s a professional situation. This means the client is paying for your time,” he points out. “The client almost never has the budget for you to test out your new shiny thing on their project and why should they? You just need to try the shiny stuff on your personal projects.” 03. Big reveals mean big trouble You may be drawn to the idea of a ‘big reveal’ on client projects, but these can lead to unpleasant surprises, cautions freelance designer James Stiff. Clear communication throughout the design process will help keep things running smoothly. “Manage expectations and keep stakeholders actively engaged in the design process,” he says. “When presenting designs, remind stakeholders of the problem that they aim to solve.” Stiff also stresses the importance of backing this up with a contract or statement of work. Alternatively, if you’re in-house, make sure you have a brief (even if you write it yourself). 04. It’s not all about aesthetics When product designer and developer Catt Small was studying, most of her classes focused on aesthetics. However, in the real world you also need to consider usability. “By thinking about the people who will use the experience, understanding them deeply and considering their stories, I have become a much better designer,” she explains. “My favourite thing to do is create scenarios that help me understand when people would use my designs. This not only helps me identify potential pain points but also helps me communicate better with collaborators.” 05. Under-pricing can ruin your business No one wants to be ripped off, but designer and developer Diana Lopez discovered that pricing your services too low can also be damaging to your business, and repel good clients. “They can’t have confidence in you if you don’t have confidence in yourself,” she explains. “Too-low rates can severely affect your business and you can end up feeling frazzled at the end of every month, from overwork and empty pockets.” If you’re having trouble with this, Lopez suggests breaking your quotes into smaller chunks, and breaking down the price by line item in order to reassure clients. “When I started doing this, the scope of work became clearer so I could justify my quote easily,” she continues. “You stop feeling like clients will run away at the sight of your quote.” 06. Design or development is only half the job Don’t underestimate how important business skills – both hard and soft – will be to your career, advises SitePoint co-editor Maria Perna. “I didn’t realise how much I would need business skills and how much easier my professional life would be if I felt at ease building personal connections,” she says. “I took for granted that long-term professional development and continuing to be my usual geeky self would be enough. I had to understand the importance of building up bridges with other devs, both to stay on top of what happens in the industry and to learn about work opportunities. Not to mention getting to grips with marketing and business concepts.” 07. You can’t know everything “It is all too easy to fall into the trap of wanting to learn it all: all the frameworks, all the languages, everything,” says front end software engineer Marco Poletto. “After years in the field and a touch of ‘JavaScript fatigue’, I wish I’d known how to evaluate my options briefly, without wasting time on the array of choices in front of me and then invest my time on that and only that.” If you’re struggling to decide what to focus on, Poletto has a simple tip: follow what you like, and it’ll be much easier to learn. Web design event Generate London returns on 19-21 September 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. This article was originally published in net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 309 or subscribe. Read more: 18 things they didn't teach you at design school 6 must-have skills for young web developers How to collect payments as a freelancer View the full article

Today, River Island launched a new ad campaign with a refreshingly diverse lineup of models. It's part of the high street fashion brand's Labels Are For Clothes initiative, which aims to do away with fashion stereotypes and champion inclusivity. This particular campaign places particular focus on dispelling stereotypes associated with disability. Labels Are For Clothes launched earlier in the year to an overwhelmingly positive response, with a SS18 campaign garnering the brand over 56 million earned impressions and tens of thousands of comments. However, one criticism fired at the campaign was that disabled people weren't represented – something River Island has righted in its AW18 instalment, which includes a 50/50 mixed ability cast. The ads are a far cry from the typical cookie-cutter campaigns gracing shopfronts and billboards. Labels Are For Clothes champions inclusivity "Our mixed ability cast challenge the preconceived notions and labels applied to those with visible physical conditions and celebrate their potential, their personality and their beauty," comments Alistair Green, CSO at Studio Blvd. Integrated creative agency Studio Blvd created the campaign as part of a long-running partnership with River Island. The adverts star models with a range of disabilities, including Paralympian athlete Jordan Luce, who suffers from a condition that means he has to use a wheelchair daily, alongside Down Syndrome models Kathleen Humberstone and Harry Britton, blogger and motivational speaker Mama Cox, who lost her right leg to cancer, and dermatology student Ralph Souffrant, who has hyperpigmentation. Models include Paralympian athlete Jordan Luce (above left) River Island has also partnered with anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label to offer a selection of T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring the Labels Are for Clothes slogan. While the initiative is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for advertising, we're excited for a time when this kind of diversity becomes the norm, rather than the hook for a campaign. Read more: The new frontier of advertising 66 brilliant print adverts Debenhams gets a joyful rebrand from Mother Design View the full article

Radim Malinc’s first Book of Ideas was a surprise bestseller back in 2016, and Volume 2 doesn’t tamper with the winning formula of smart, jargon-free advice for ambitious creatives, generously illustrated by some of Malinc’s own best art direction. Czech-born Malinic has been running his successful London-based micro agency Brand Nu for well over a decade now. As well as his signature style of vividly coloured, exquisite 3D renders, he has worked across the whole gamut of design disciplines, from packaging design and branding to typography and web design. Buy Book of Ideas: Vol 2 on Amazon Malinic is a rare breed of illustrator who has a maintained a distinct style while also expanding his horizons and developing his craft. His insights into branding, design and living the life of a freelance creative are clearly based on many years of hard-earned experience. Malinic doesn’t just talk the talk, he’s also walked the walk. A modest approach Malinic is as confident working with photoshoots as designing complete brands With refreshing modesty (especially for a self-illustrated design publication), Malinic admits in his own foreword that the book “won’t teach you how to design”, but should show you how to “be a better and more thoughtful designer”. This breathless, excited tone – Malinic writes like he’s going to get pulled away from his computer at any moment – is infectious; his energy and enthusiasms palpable. When he confesses that, “Many years ago when I took stock of my career so far, I came to the realisation that I was mostly average in everything that I had done so far...”, it’s impossible not to warm to his modesty. But Malinic’s work and client list tell you all you need to know about his reputation. With clients such as Coke, Adobe and Nike, he is as prolific as he is talented, but as this book proves, it’s not just skill that has taken him so far in the industry – it’s understanding himself, his clients and his priorities. The book shows how lucky breaks, chance meetings and sparks of inspiration may provide brief flashes of success, but it's tenacity, determination and utter professionalism that can propel you to the Premier League. Self-help for designers Copy is kept to single-page entries, making the book endlessly browsable It would be no exaggeration to describe Malinic as a self-help fanatic. His prose seems to pour out, along with page after page of stunning work, to become nothing less than an instruction manual for emotional wellbeing combined with the agility of a ‘visual athlete’. The book is divided into three sections – Work, Creativity and Mind, with each chapter broken down into mini-essays and case studies, all generously studded with insights, advice and lessons learned. The mindfulness section of the book is especially intimate, and Malinic’s openness in addressing subjects like depression and anxiety are bound to strike a chord with many readers. These frank accounts of “the demons” in Malinic’s mind reveal a genuinely open soul – this is a designer who is unafraid to show the whole artist, as opposed to just the shiny, Instagram-friendly highlights. Unfussy, elegant design Malinic is known for his hypnotic colour work As you’d expect for a title designed by a designer, the book is well presented, with a beautifully foiled cover and unfussy, elegant design. There’s maybe an (inevitable) bias towards aesthetics over form: the endless reversed out (white on colour) body copy does look beautiful – Malinic is a master of colour theory – but can become wearing on the eye over time. Luckily, this is a book to be dipped into and savoured, and the copy is kept brief and to the point. The uncoated paper stock also seems a strange choice. It may be synonymous in consumers’ minds with heavy duty quality, but Malinic’s electrifying, hyper-real renders are drenched in light and detail, and the matte finish diminishes the luminous glow that defines his work. A glossy paper stock might have better simulated the illuminated screens so much of this work was designed for. But these are quibbles. With his fourth publication, Malinic continues to be his own best case study, proving that his strategies and philosophies really do work. This really is a lovely, heartwarming hybrid of self-help manual and art direction masterclass. Buy Book of Ideas: Vol 2 on Amazon Read more: Migrant 4: Dark Matters review View the full article

A business card can be the catalyst that leads to future clients picking up your design portfolio and giving you the job, or the scrubby paper that ends up in the bin or being used as a toothpick. Make yours the former by learning from these cautionary tales... 01. Out of shape This disc is crying out to get lost In our 10 commandments of business card design feature, we preached some vital rules: Don’t use a gimmick unless it’s a (really) good one. And don’t vary from common shapes. Now, while the design and imagery on this card is perfectly okay, the fact you have to take the card out of the sleeve to get contact details; and the fact that the contact card itself is round, is a mistake in our eyes. The record design is inventive, but it’s crying out to get lost. Which is a shame, because Vitor Bonates’ work is actually pretty good. 02. QR nightmare A rare sighting of a QR code in the wild This would be a lot of fun if it weren’t for the fact THERE’S NO CONTACT DETAILS ON THE CARD. Just a website. And a QR code. YES! A QR CODE! If there’s one thing you definitely shouldn’t do it’s use a QR code. No one cares about them. No one ever uses them. If the space was used for an email and phone number it would be perfectly acceptable. But a QR code? Come on! 03. A bit of a stretch How would you dial this number? Legibility is key on your business card – it’s hugely important that clients can see your details at a glance. Yes, this is a fun gimmick for a personal trainer – when you stretch it it reveals the logo and name. But you have to work for it to get the contact (we get it, but we still don’t like it). Say you want to call on your mobile? How do you stretch it with one hand? This feels like design for design’s sake. 04. Tools down As chunky as a real Swiss Army Knife, but much less useful Yes, we know you’re like a Swiss army knife – you’re obviously very creative and have a lot of different ‘tools’ in your armoury. But, whilst impressively made, this is another example of a gimmick taken a bit too far. As a concept it’s great, and is admittedly a talking point, but in reality it’ll probably sit on a clients’ desk for a while before being lost or binned. 05. Blown away A gimmick too far This is in the same realm as #3 on our list. And we can’t quite see the point of it. We get it’s for a chest doctor. But, do you blow up the balloon and tie it, only for it to get in the way and deflate before throwing it away? Or you blow it up and then get someone else to write the contact down and then throw the balloon away? 06. Just bad Google thinks this is the apex of rubbish business cards Okay, look up ‘bad business card’ on Google (that’s what we did) and this is pretty much the top result. It’s also the ultimate in rubbish design. For one, there’s a wolf. Why is there a wolf? Secondly, the jumble of typefaces is just wrong. And ‘when good is not good enough, call BAD’? WOW. 07. Meaty problem Deliciously ineffective These are business cards. Made out of meat. Only a jerky would want that, surely? I guess if you were really hungry you could eat the card at your desk. And then you’d have lost the contact. Oh well. 08. Booby prize Not big, not clever A prize goes to this one for trying to be funny. A BOOBY prize! But seriously, the designer behind this must have thought this was a good idea. Think about that for a second. The designer thought this was a good idea – and that clients of this plastic surgeon would genuinely stick their fingers through these holes. We bet this card lost more potential clients than it gained. It's not big or clever. 09. A simple approach Lack of hierarchy is the least of this card's problems Nothing says cutting-edge prototyping than an illegible mess of fonts and colour. It looks like a clown’s been sick. And then a bad typographer’s been sick. 10. Cookie cutter There's no way a template will show off your company to its best We’re not talking about this particular card here (although it’s awful), more about the reams of services out there that offer businesses templated cards. There’s nothing us designers hate more, right? If you’re running a business and have any respect for it, employ someone who knows what they’re doing when creating a card. It's a shame it’s so hard to convince some clients, who instead go for what they think is the easy route. Like this? Read these... How to design a business card: 10 top tips The 22 best business card designs The good, the bad and the WTF of brand apologies View the full article

You're reading Best Free HTML Email Templates of 2018, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Email campaigns are everywhere. Even if you have a website that represents a small local business, chances are that you have a list of your loyal subscribers to inform about happenings in your company. There are different approaches to generate … View the full article

Illustration can help give a brand personality. It can make a brand more playful, more charming, more accessible or more beautiful – perhaps even all of the above. But unfortunately, brands don't always get it right. Embracing the latest illustration trends is rarely enough to achieve standout – if anything, it'll achieve the opposite. And while more timeless illustration styles can be effective for some, it's all about picking what's appropriate for the brand. Read on for seven examples of brands that absolutely nailed it for different reasons, and how they used illustration to emphasise their own unique brand values... 01. Google shows its playful side Bee Grandinetti's charming animation demonstrates Google's Trusted Contacts app in a playful way When it comes to product design and UI, Google is the master of simplicity. Form follows function: it's primarily the effectiveness and ease of use of its now ubiquitous search engine that people love, after all, rather than its visual design per se. However, illustration has long played a role in giving Google a playful personality that goes beyond that trademark functionality. Google Doodles, for instance, have marked major holidays, events and achievements in a broad range of colourful, creative ways for years now. It's only within the last five years, however, that the brand has clarified its various illustrative expressions with a more coherent 'Google style' of art direction – demonstrating products and services in a colourful, playful way, while still keeping things beautifully simple and accessible. The charming example above, created by Bee Grandinetti in 2016, relates to Google's Trusted Contacts app – which helps you stay connected with your loved ones in case of an emergency. 02. Anna makes finance more fun Alice Bowsher created the quirky characters that give Anna its unique personality Currently in beta, Anna – which stands for Absolutely No Nonsense Admin – is a fintech service unlike any other. A hybrid digital assistant geared specifically at taking the headache out of admin and financial management for creative people, it combines an app, a bank card and a business account. In the pipeline are useful tools to send invoices, chase payments, analyse expenses and predict cashflow. NB Studio and Michael Wolff created an illustration-led brand for Anna that's perfectly balanced: playful yet practical, entertaining yet restrained. Charming, decidedly un-finance-like illustrations of various animals by Alice Bowsher lend a unique personality to the service, while the warm, terracotta brand colour challenges the conventions of the sector. 03. Battersea warms the heart Pentagram's identity for Battersea creates emotive characters with simple mark-making Many charities already occupy a place in people's hearts by virtue of their activities, and the social good they do – but their branding often struggles to match that sentiment. Pentagram's rebrand of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has a unique and very special charm to it, however. The 'family' of delightfully messy, hand-drawn watercolour illustrations at the heart of the identity feel warm, humane and, like the animals that the shelter rescues, packed with different personalities. That their expressiveness is achieved with just a few simple flicks of a pen makes them all the more appealing. 04. Fanta goes handmade Fanta's paper-cut-style branding scheme by Koto translates across 35 different fruit combinations Koto's global rebrand of Fanta was one of the studio's major breakthrough projects, and illustration was at the core of the new identity – in this case, a distinctive hand-constructed paper-cut style, which was then digitally recreated. Where the illustration really came into its own was when the two orange segments that accompanied the classic Fanta logo were expanded to cater to no less than 34 more fruity combinations, as shown above. Maintaining such a stylised approach across so many applications is no mean feat, but Koto nailed it, giving the brand a coherent, distinctive look and feel across all markets worldwide. 05. Dropbox raises a smile Dropbox has always made use of loose, hand-drawn illustration – its 2017 rebrand evolved the style further Dropbox has maintained savvy use of illustration since it was founded in 2007, using a loose, hand-drawn approach to add wit and warmth to its file-sharing and storage service. Over the years, these have included a range of different styles, often using simple characters to demonstrate particular features or benefits of the service in a charming, relatable way. Dropbox's 2017 rebrand – completed by its in-house team in conjunction with design studio Collins – gave the service a much bolder, more vibrant look, with photography juxtaposed with illustration in strikingly unusual colour palettes. However, the hand-drawn style remained – albeit in a slightly different guise. In examples such as the one above, rough graphite sketches meet colourful, abstract shapes to symbolise bringing the creative process to life. It's a brave evolution of a much-loved style that has helped define the brand over the past decade. 06. Piccolo has the artisan spirit Here Design's illustrations for artisan seed company Piccolo are based on a system of seed-like dots Specialising in "select seeds for the space-limited", Piccolo's range includes the Slim Jim Aubergine and Spacemaster Cucumber, both ideal for city balconies. The Italian company brought Here Design on board to appeal to a new generation of urban gardeners. Good things come in small packages, and Here's illustration-led branding scheme for Piccolo treats the seed packets like a collection of beautiful miniature books. In a fresh, contemporary way that's unique in the gardening sector, they're all tied together by a system of seed-like dots. The project was recently Highly Commended in the Artisan category at the Brand Impact Awards. 07. Ugly rebels against the system Ugly's provocative, rebellious spirit is communicated through H.Y.T. Studio's bright, bold character illustration Last but not least is jkr's D&AD Pencil-winning branding scheme for Ugly Drinks, the first 100 per cent natural, fruit-infused sparkling water. Flicking the finger at its artificially sweet mass-market competitors, the playful and provocative brand relies heavily on cheeky character illustration by H.Y.T. Studio to carry its message. Working with type designer and letterer Rob Clarke, jkr crafted a logo in which the 'U' of 'ugly' doubles as a stuck-out tongue, a motif that translates seamlessly across a whole family of characters that are fruity in both name and nature. In a campaign dubbed The Ugly Truth, the brand's rebellious spirit is expressed through slogans such as 'contains no ridiculous promises' and 'contains no unattainable lifestyles', all accompanied by those cheeky characters. This is a great example of illustration and copy going hand-in-hand to get a brand's values across. Related articles: 5 ways to go viral on Instagram 4 on-trend illustration styles for your next project 10 killer examples of illustrated ad campaigns View the full article

To the untrained eye, a small piece of design or artwork can look like it was created in just minutes. But designers and artists will recognise - and empathise with - the hours behind even the seemingly smallest of drawings. Few will ever see or understand the process, where all the work and magic happens. But LG gets it. Knowing the endless brain-strain and ideating that can go into a project is driving force behind LG’s UltraWide Festival; an initiative championing the efforts and skills of creatives all over the globe. Star participants This year’s LG UltraWide Festival theme is ‘My UltraWide Time’, which focuses on the long hours and tireless effort of passionate creators. One of the highlight participants of this year’s LG UltraWide Festival is Alan Walker, a multiple-platinum DJ and producer, who knows what it’s like to spend countless hours at work, wondering if his efforts would ever be rewarded. He still spends long nights composing on his UltraWide monitor. “Making music takes a lot of time and effort - it’s not something that just happens with a snap,” Walker comments. “It takes time, but the journey is lots of fun.” Also in attendance is YouTube sensation Daniel Hashimoto, creator of action web series Action Movie Kid. The popular series features Hashimoto’s son, James, as the main character, surrounded by eye-popping special effects. For this dad and son, ‘quality time’ is spent in front of a camera and computer. Hashimoto says: “My UltraWide Time is for imagination. Every afternoon we come up with something amazing.” Caring for creatives 2018 marks the fourth year of LG giving creatives a boost with its UltraWide Festival, but the company’s support for creatives extends far beyond this one event. LG equips world-class DJs with UltraWide monitors through the UltraWide Studio program. LG’s UltraWide Academy Sponsorship also nurtures the next generation of international artists, with the company decking out top design, art, and animation schools with state-of-the-art equipment and space for all things creative. Academy Sponsorship first sponsored a brand-new computer lab at Parsons School of Design in 2016, with the Royal College of Art receiving the LG treatment in 2017, and recently ranked the No.1 International Animation School Vancouver Film School set to get the LG treatment this year. Vancouver Film School’s Head of Animation Colin Giles says: “The possibilities with digital art are endless. The students will benefit from this strong partnership with LG and the LG UltraWide Monitor Academy Lab by having access to a literal canvas that removes any possible barrier to their imagination. With a wide, seamless screen that allows for a more immersive use of the software at hand and a colour range that meets their own imagination their creations will jump into reality. ‘The more you see, the better you create’ has never been truer than at VFS.” To see photos of the VFS Academy Lab, head over to @LG_UltraWide Instagram account. It's YOUR UltraWide time So if you want to experience a whole new level of creativity and be in with the chance of winning an incredible LG Ultrawide monitor, get involved with LG’s Ultrawide festival. It’s simple to enter. Take a short quiz, describe a moment, or share a story about your creative process. Get all the rules and details at LG UltraWide Festival event page, or simply do a search for ‘LG UltraWide’. What will you create with your UltraWide time? View the full article

The attack bypasses BIOS mitigations for cold-boot compromise on models from Apple, Dell, Lenovo and all others made in the last 10 years. View the full article

Third-party breaches have become an epidemic as cybercriminals target the weakest link. Organizations such as BestBuy, Sears, Delta and even NYU Medical Center are just a few that have felt the impact of cyberattacks through third-party vendors. The fallout from these breaches can be costly, as the average enterprise pays $1.23 million per incident, up […] View the full article

If you're looking for the best power bank to keep your devices charged while you're out and about, we can help. We've pulled together this list of the best portable chargers right now, so you can be sure your phone, tablet or laptop will never run out of juice at that crucial moment ever again. After all, how many times have you been to a conference or a far-flung client meeting, and found you couldn't take notes, tweet or shoot pictures, because your phone, tablet or laptop had run out of juice? Even the best laptop for graphic design can't save you if you can't find a plug. The good news is there are a number of great, affordable portable chargers on the market to keep your devices topped up. Scroll down to discover the best power banks available at the moment. Which is the best brand for power banks? The best power bank brand, in our opinion and the first on our list, is the Anker PowerCore 20100 power bank. With its huge capacity, fast charging and excellent value, it's basically a no-brainer, unless you're looking for something specific from a power bank. How do you choose a power bank? The best power bank for you is going to depend on a number of factors. If you expect to be away from a power point for long periods of time, you'll be looking for a lot of battery capacity, so you can keep charging and recharging devices: this is measured in milliamp hours (mAh). If you're likely to want to charge more than one device at a time, then the number of charging points the power bank has will also be important. 10 essential tablet accessories If you don't want to lug around a lot of heavy gear, then the size and weight of the power bank are worth checking out too; although you're obviously going to have to strike a balance between lightness and power, as the two are normally in opposition. And finally, you'll of course need to check whether the power bank is actually compatible with your specific devices. We've set out all these stats to make it easy for you. And beyond that, we’ve categorised each the best power banks on this list according to their particular USP: for example, best budget power bank, best power bank for Apple devices, and so on. So read on to discover how you need never be out of power again, and all for a relatively small outlay. This fantastic device quite simply ticks all our most important boxes when it comes to choosing the best power bank. Long and slim, the Anker PowerCore 20100 power bank comes with two 2.4 Amp ports so you can charge two devices at once. It has a huge (20,100mAh) capacity, which means you can charge everything a few times during one trip; the iPhone 8, iPhone 7 and iPhone 6 around six times, the Samsung Galaxy S9, S8, S7, S6 four times. But perhaps most importantly, it’s very fast when you’re charging devices that use PowerIQ or VoltageBoost. (If you have a device that uses Qualcomm QuickCharge, there’s a separate version here). And all of this comes at a very reasonable price. As long as your device is compatible, and lightness/portability is not your main concern (it weighs about the same as a can of soup), buying this portable charger is a no-brainer. With an astounding six ports, the MAXOAK 50,000mAh Power Bank is one of te best portable chargers if you're on a trip with a bunch of colleagues who all need their phones and tablets charging at once (or you just have a lot of devices you need to charge yourself). And with a whopping 50,000mAh battery capacity, you’re certainly going to have enough power to do so, even multiple times. Sadly, you can’t use it to charge your MacBook, but there are plenty of laptops that are compatible from Fujitsu, Sony, Acer, Asus, IBM, Dell, HP, NEC, Samsung and Lenovo. The RAVPower Luster portable charger may be super-cheap, but it still offers a perfectly decent capacity of 6,700mAh, which is certainly enough to power up your smartphone from zero to 100 per cent at least once, and probably twice. This power bank is fairly light (about the same weight as your average mobile phone), will fit in most pockets nicely, and is compatible with a wide range of devices. In short, it’s a great choice for an evening or a weekend away in which you don’t expect to be using your devices mega-intensively. Also, if you find it difficult to find a small black device amongst all your other small, black devices, then this colourful portable charger has the benefit of being easy to spot. RAVPower doesn’t just do cheap and cheerful power banks (see number three on our list). This higher-end device of theirs – the RAVPower Universal Power Bank Travel Charger – is the ideal choice if you have a bit more cash to splash, and love the idea of being able to charge your MacBook or Surface Pro as well as your smartphone. In fact, with both a Type-C (5V/3A) port and iSmart USB (5V/2.4A) port, you’ll be able to charge both at the same time, as there’s plenty of battery capacity (20,100mAh). Alternatively, if you just want to charge one device you can do so over and over again: an iPhone 7 around five times, a Galaxy S7 four times, or the 12-in MacBook once, for example. If you mainly want a power bank to keep your iPhone and/or iPad juiced up, then the Mophie Powerstation Plus XL is the best device on the market for you. That’s mainly because it includes an dual-purpose charging cable with a Lightning adapter that charges your Apple devices. Handily, the adapter can easily be removed if you want to switch it to micro USB, to charge an Android phone, for example. The generous 12,000mAh battery capacity gives you more than four additional charges on your smartphone, or one extra charge for your tablet, while a second USB port lets you charge two devices at the same time. Yes, this is one of the more expensive options on our list. But if you often find your Apple devices dying when you’re away from home, and you’re impatient to get them topped up again quickly, the speed and flexibility this power bank offers may be well worth it. The Anker PowerCore II device doesn’t offer the biggest battery capacity on our list, and there’s only one port, so its usefulness is somewhat limited. But if you’re looking for a small and light device that can nonetheless charge your smartphone a couple of times during your trip away, this could be your perfect sweet spot between size and ability. Smaller than a deck of cards, this power bank is easy to carry around with you, but still packs a lot of punch, offering for example three iPhone 7 charges, 1.2 iPad Mini charges or 2.2 Galaxy S7 charges. It tops them up pretty speedily too. The AUKEY Power Bank 20,000mAh is an impressive bit of kit. With dual USB ports so you can charge two devices at the same time, the battery capacity is high, and it's cleverly tuned to support healthy battery life into the bargain. But the thing that most jumps out at us is the 24-month warranty, which is much more generous than any other device on this list. If you’re the kind of early adopter who upgrades their devices regularly, that sort of thing might be wholly irrelevant to you. But if you're planning to use your power bank throughout the next two years, it may well be an important factor in your buying decision. If money's no object, we recommend the Omni 20 USB-C Portable Power Bank If money is no object, then the Omni 20 USB-C Portable Power Bank is quite simply the Rolls Royce of power bank solutions. This high-powered device with four ports is both a laptop charger and a USB hub, so you can potentially charge two laptops and two smart devices simultaneously. There are two USB ports and two USC ports, the latter offering an individual max output of 60W and a total output of 100W. Plugged in by itself, the pack fully charges in just under three hours. Or you can even recharge the Omni 20 while your devices are still charging, which saves messing about with cables when you get to your hotel room. Granted, it’s much more expensive than the other power banks on our list, but you need to use your devices a lot when you're away, it could pay for itself in terms of the extra work you get completed. Read more: The best wireless headphones in 2018 20 tools that make freelancing easier The best iPad stylus in 2018 View the full article

If you're after a way to make your 3D models more interesting, making them walk or hold an object can work wonders. ZBrush has a wide range of tools to help with this, offering a few posing processes to choose from: Option 1: You can start your modelling right off with a pose, using ZSpheres. This one is useful when you are creating a model that does not need to be in an A-pose for rigging and animation purposes. It enables you to block out a silhouette before modelling and detailing. 10 things you didn't know you could do with ZBrush Option 2: Transpose Master. This one combines all subtools into one. Just like the generic Transform, it is a process of masking and repositioning the model bit by bit, which can be somewhat tedious but gives you a full control of the model. However, if you find yourself not so fond of a pose, you will basically have to start posing it again. Option 3: ZSphere Rig. This combines ZSpheres and Transpose Master, allowing a quick and very easy way to pose characters. It can be a little uneasy to control the skinning weight, but I find it way more enjoyable than masking. Repositioning with ZSphere Rig is much faster too. There is no reason to export your model to another application just to rig and pose it for an image. ZSphere Rig has been available in ZBrush for years, but if you have not tried it yet, follow these four steps and find out for yourself just how easy it is to use. 01. Prepare the model Make sure to drop your character down to the lowest subdivision level before rigging Before you start rigging the character, make sure you drop it down to the lowest subdivision level. If your lowest subdivision is very dense and uneven, for example due to Sculptris Pro mode, ZRemesher can bring it down. Rigging always works best on proper topology, so the edge loops and quads allow nice mesh deformation. 02. Activate ZSphere Rig Draw out a sphere chain/rig and position it within your model With your main subtool selected, go to the ZPlugin > Transpose Master menu and activate the ZSphere Rig, then click the TPoseMesh button. A red ZSphere should appear on screen and the model will go into ghost mode. Just like with the ZSphere modelling, draw out a sphere chain/rig and position it within your model. 03. Bind mesh Use the Move and Rotate tools in order to pose and position your character as desired Notice how activating Transpose Master changes some of the tabs in the Tool menu and some new options are made available. Navigate to Tool>Rigging and click on the Bind Mesh button. Your model should now be skinned to the rig. Next use the Move and Rotate tools in order to pose and position your character as desired. 04. Commit changes When you are happy with the pose, go back to the Transpose Master and commit changes To check how your pose is looking or to get a better idea of mesh deformation, go to Tool > Adaptive Skin > Preview. You can also update the density level to preview it at a higher subdivision level. When you are happy with the pose, go back to the Transpose Master and commit changes with the TPose|SubT button. This article originally appeared in 3D World magazine issue 236; subscribe here. Read more: Master ZBrush digital sculpting with 3D World Why 2D artists need to learn 3D CG Awards 2019: cast your votes now View the full article

It's no secret that a career as a web developer is a pretty lucrative one, and you're unlikely to be out of a job if you can build the proper skill set. If you're looking to launch a new career, or perhaps brush up on your existing skills, check out The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0. This immersive, comprehensive course teaches you the fundamentals of everything from HTML5 to CSS3 to Python. You'll even gain hands-on experience by creating responsive websites using tools such as MySQL 5 and PHP 7. And if you're looking to create a real website for your personal or professional brand, you'll also get free unlimited web hosting for a whole year. Try out The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 for only $25. Related articles: 20 awesome books for web designers and developers Agile development: why and how to use it in your web and app workflow 6 must-have skills for young web developers View the full article

Cassidy Williams’ career path is a great example of the importance of learning how to network and the opportunities that can come your way if you put yourself out there and create a personal brand. It’s an especially inspiring story for young women wanting to get into the tech world, a community that Williams is very active in supporting. Read on to discover how Cassidy Williams came to work at both Amazon and CodePen, why she loves side projects, and how you can discover more about her CSS art. An enviable career path Straight after graduating from Iowa State University, Williams joined a New York startup as a software engineer and developer evangelist and was featured as one of ‘35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry’ in Glamour magazine. Two years later, she moved to the West Coast and, this February, Amazon approached her to head up its developer voice programs. “I’m basically the person between the third-party developers and the Amazon product teams,” she explains. “For example, I request feedback from the developers, give them surveys, show them demos, pass on their comments and suggest how the product teams should alter their roadmap.” Williams is also one of the first people to try new features as they’re being built at Amazon. She creates an application or Alexa skill with them and feeds back on her experience. “They refer to me as ‘developer zero’,” she laughs. “Once I’ve worked on those projects, I give them back to the product teams, they refine them and then we pass them to the developers.” The cutting edge of voice design Amazon’s user experience team establishes best practices for voice design and defines the rules for voice-first applications. Every Alexa skill, for example, should pass the one-breath test. If you can say the response out loud without taking a breath, the response is probably the right length. If you need to take a breath, the user might get overwhelmed, so think about how you could shorten your response or break it into chunks as the user progresses through the flow of your skill. “Designing and defining a conversation is very unique,” Williams admits. “Whenever I build a skill, I write out a script of how I expect it to go. So the user and Alexa are talking back and forth and it all makes sense when I type it, but when I actually build the skill, all of a sudden it’ll come off completely differently. I’ll have to rework it to sound more natural.” Love of side projects Williams co-hosted a video show, C+C Hacking Factory, with her sister Cami on Twitch and – over the course of eight episodes – they built an Alexa skill from the ground up. Although they loved doing the show, a second season is currently up in the air because, when we catch up with her, Williams has just decided to leave Amazon and move to front end developer playground CodePen. “One of the reasons I’m leaving is because I’ve really learned I like small companies,” she reveals. “I’m joining CodePen as a senior software engineer and will be their eighth employee. I’m really excited about going back to my web roots, building a lot of cool tools for developers and being able to work on some fun side projects on the site.” It also ties in with Williams’ upcoming Generate London talk on creating art with CSS. “A few years ago I decided I was going to practise my web skills by making cool things with HTML and CSS. I made as much as I could on CodePen and dabbled with new CSS features like Flexbox and Grid that stretch the imagination of what people realise you can do with these tools. Honestly, a lot of people just think that they’re easy and not real programming languages, but when you make very cool stuff with them, it blows their mind.” Williams has so many side projects on the go that it’s difficult to keep up. Apart from creating CSS art, she is in a couple of bands in Seattle, has put together a Udemy course on JavaScript and React for developers and designed, licensed and launched the official Scrabble mechanical keyboard Another side project is a to-do list with a progress bar called todometer. “I built that application purely because I needed more than just a calendar to make sure I get everything done and maintain my schedule,” she explains. “These projects are very time-consuming and can be exhausting at times but they keep me learning and excited about everything that I’m doing. All the projects flex different muscles in my brain that I wouldn’t usually get to play with. It expands my knowledge in different areas and helps me focus at work because I’m able to apply things that I’ve learned outside of work and bring them to the office.” This article was originally published in issue 311 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 311 or subscribe to net. Want to learn more from Cassidy Williams on creating captivating CSS art? If you're interested in learning more about how you can make striking CSS art, make sure you've picked up your ticket for Generate London from 19-21 September 2018. Senior software engineer making the web work at CodePen, Cassidy Williams will be delivering her talk – Creating Art with CSS – in which she will explore how creating art with CSS can strengthen your CSS skills, speed up your workflow and help you understand how designs are structured. Generate London takes place from 19-21 September 2018. Get your ticket now. Related articles: 6 tips for better side projects How to start a side project: 21 pro tips Why you really do have time for creative side projects View the full article

You're reading Huge Changes at Uber: Logo and App Redesign, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! This change was inevitable. As new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi became head of a company that was drowning, Uber was ready for a renaissance. They had to change their existing brand image to move in the right direction. The first step … View the full article

Affinity Photo for iPad is Apple's reigning iPad App of the Year, and it recently received an update (read on to find out more about the exciting improvements and new features). To celebrate, developer Serif is offering you the chance to pick up a copy of its top photo editing app with 30 per cent off the usual price. This flash sale will run until midday BST on Tuesday 18 September, and takes the price of this awesome photo editing tool down to £13.99 / $13.99 / 14,99€. US: Get 30% off Affinity Photo for iPad UK: Get 30% off Affinity Photo for iPad Affinity Photo for iPad received an enthusiastic response following its launch at Apple's WWDC last year. We gave it an almost-perfect four and a half stars in our Affinity Photo for iPad review, thanks to its ability to seamlessly switch between different drawing modes, extensive import and export options, and excellent all-round functionality. Version 1.6.9 builds on the success of the initial launch with some exciting improvements. There's hugely expanded support for touch gesture control, a refined interface, improved brush management and performance tweaks to help smooth out your workflow. It also introduces a new Export persona, which enables you to instantly export multiple slices and layers. Existing users can download the updated version of the tool free of charge at any time, but if you've been holding off buying a copy, now's the time to do so. Take a look at the video below to find out more about the updates. "We broke new ground in being the first to bring a desktop-class professional photo editing tool to iPad, and just this week we've reached a quarter of a million users," comments Serif MD Ashley Hewson. "As we've talked to our users, witnessed the inspirational work they create and understood more about their workflows, it's inspired us to keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible on a mobile device." It's been a busy month for Serif, with the long-awaited beta launch of Affinity Publisher generating plenty of excitement a couple of weeks ago. To find out more about Affinity Photo for iPad and Affinity Publisher, head to the Affinity website. Read more: Watch Affinity Designer for iPad in action The 5 best laptops for photo editing in 2018 How to draw with Affinity Photo for iPad View the full article

The second-most popular delivery method is CVE-2017-11882, a patched Microsoft vulnerability that allows the attacker to perform arbitrary code-execution. View the full article

There's a lot of opportunity on Instagram to market your business or brand. But first, you'll need to learn the tricks of the trade. That's where The Instagram Marketing Mastery Bundle comes into play. The five courses in this bundle will teach you all about building your Instagram marketing and strategising to create the most effective approach. You'll learn to use tools that will help you create and schedule content, you'll turn your page traffic into real profits, and you'll bring affiliate marketing to your page in no time at all. By not using Instagram properly, you could be missing out on a real money-making opportunity, so try out The Instagram Marketing Mastery Bundle to ensure success. Get yours for only $29. Related articles: Instagram developing ecommerce app How to make money on Instagram as a creative 20 illustrators to follow on Instagram View the full article

Google has announced a range of significant updates to its Analytics reporting platform, utilising its machine-learning capabilities to create a deeper understanding of individual users. This is music to marketers and website owner’s ears, since we are working hard to meet a resounding user demand for online experiences that are both relevant and personal. The more we know about our users’ behaviour, the better equipped we are to make smart choices about our website, mobile app and application development investments. 15 really useful responsive web design tutorials These critical updates comprise four new features: all of which will help us to measure customer journeys at a deeper level, while accurately understanding individual user experience and engagement across channels and devices. This tutorial highlights the latest four enhancements, which include: Lifetime Metrics and Dimensions; Audience Reporting; Conversion Probability; and User-focused Reporting. These are on top of existing Analytics tools, which should help in your search marketing analysis of website users and their behaviour. With Google continuing to improve the accuracy of user-level data and enabling more options for insights and targeting, the future is looking good for website owners. 01. User-focused reporting The standard reporting dashboard has been adapted, allowing user metrics to be at the forefront when reviewing users’ behaviour, as well as their journey to converting. This is a welcome shift from the historical focus on just sessions. Go to Admin > Property Settings > Enable Users in Reporting. 02. Audiences in reporting Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge We now have the option to create audiences within Google Analytics and publish them to our analytics reports. This enables you to set audiences as a primary and explore their behaviour and performance across different segments over time. Previously you were only able to activate audiences and publish them on Google platforms such as AdWords and DoubleClick. Being able to monitor the interactions of audience groups that matter to your business will provide insights and trends that you can actively take advantage of. Enable Demographics and Interests > Create Audiences > Publish. 03. Lifetime metrics and dimensions Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge Lifetime Metrics and Dimensions enables marketers to isolate user behaviour down to the session level. This allows you to view the lifetime metrics and dimensions at the individual user level (based on the lifetime of their cookie). This provides a detailed, holistic overview of individual user behaviour, giving valuable insights on: how many times they have visited; the total time spent on a site; what pages they are looking at; the total number of transactions made, and so on. We can effectively maximise the value of these insights, by delivering a better experience through tailored messaging and remarketing. 04. Demographics and interests As well as understanding your users’ journeys better, you can also understand more about them by enabling Demographics and Interests Reports. These provide valuable insights on age, gender and interest categories that will help to shape your ongoing marketing activities. Go to Audience > Demographics. 05. Behaviour flow See how users interact with your website via the Behaviour Flow report, by visualising the path they take from one page or event to the next. This helps you to discover which content keeps users engaged, as well as identifying potential usability issues. Go to Behaviour > Behaviour Flow. You can also use the Behaviour Flow report to investigate how engaged your users are with your site’s content: Is there an event that is always triggered first? Are there any patterns between desktop and mobile user pathways? 06. Frequency and recency Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge Gain insights on how many times users visit your website, and how many days there are between visits. This is particularly useful in planning your marketing campaigns when combined with a conversion segment, since it will reveal data on how many visits it takes a user to convert over a set amount of time. With these segments you can identify patterns to help you schedule remarketing campaigns, email marketing and other promotions. Go to Audience > Behavior > Frequency & Recency. 07. Real-time data Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge Real-Time is an invaluable resource within Analytics as you can review your user’s interactions and behaviour immediately, in real-time. This is particularly useful when launching a new website, design, or landing page. Go to Real-Time in your Analytics dashboard. 08. New vs. returning visitors Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge Understanding what content encourages users to return to your website is a primary insight in driving increased user engagement, dwell time and conversion. Returning visitors are more likely to convert into customers or brand followers. Go to Audience > Behavior > New vs Returning. 09. Google's mobile first index Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge The mobile version of your website will become the baseline for how Google ranks and indexes your website. It is therefore vital to understand your mobile traffic, in particular the impact of mobile devices on user journeys, as well as conversions across your website. Go to Audience > Mobile. 10. Conversion goals Understanding how visitor segments are performing (across micro and macro conversion goals) can be extremely powerful. If you don’t have the mechanisms in place to easily see how visitor segments perform, you won’t have an understanding in how your campaigns perform. Go to Conversions > Goals. 11. Multi-channel funnels Detail how your marketing channel traffic (direct, referral, organic, paid…) works together to create conversions. Understand what role prior website referrals, searches, and ads played in the final conversion. Without this, conversions are credited to the last touchpoint that referred the user. 12. Attribution models Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge Assign credit for sales and conversions to touchpoints in conversion paths with the Model Comparison Tool. Compare how different Attribution models impact the valuation of your marketing channels, and what’s the most effective use of your time. Go to Conversions > Attribution > Model Comparison Tool. 13. Conversion probability Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge This is perhaps the most exciting of the four major updates from Google, since it has the highest potential impact on conversion. An exciting opportunity to take advantage of predictive analytics, and machine learning to identify future customers. Go to Audience > Behaviour > Conversion Probability. 14. Site speed Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge The length of time your website takes to load not only affects your user experience, it also influences your website’s visibility in search. It is imperative to review your speed in Analytics and act upon the PageSpeed suggestions for each of your indexed pages. Go to Behaviour > Site Speed. 15. Utilise search console Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge By configuring Search Console within your Analytics, you will see a combination of user data that will help to optimise your website for the most profitable traffic. This unlocks data, such as identifying landing pages which have good click-through rates (CTR) but poor average positions in the search results – these could be pages that people want to see, but are having trouble finding. This is an opportunity to improve both the content and metas to encourage more visitors. Go to Acquisition > Search Console. 16. Benchmark against the competition Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge Set meaningful targets, gain insights into your industry trends and benchmark yourself against the competition. This report provides valuable context by comparing website performance (channel, location, device and user flow) to previous results and to industry averages. Go to Audience > Benchmarking. 17. Google optimise Click on the top-right corner of the image to enlarge A great way to understand user journeys better is to perform testing. Google Optimize is built on Analytics and enables you to discover the most engaging customer experiences by testing variations. You can then adapt your environment to deliver a personalised experience. This article was originally published in Web Designer magazine. Buy issue 276 or subscribe. Read more: Climb the Google rankings: How to master SEO 10 must-know tools for search success The 6 pillars of great UX View the full article

The infosec community say California's IoT security bill is "nice," but doesn't hit on the important issues. View the full article

As director of innovation and technology at marketing and advertising agency WCRS, it’s Dino Burbidge’s job to jump on new technologies well before they make it into public consciousness. He spends his days figuring out the boundaries of what’s theoretically possible even when no one else has thought of trying something. Last week, Burbidge spoke at Reasons.to, an award-winning festival of creativity held annually in Brighton, about the weird science of super-creativity. We caught up with him afterwards to find out what’s going on at the cutting edge of tech in advertising … and if we’re ready to handle it. Face-tracking billboards The latest game-changer in billboard advertising is face tracking. You may not realise it, but most billboards will now have a little camera on them for this very purpose. These discreet cameras are used to assess if more men or more women are seeing the display, and thus target which adverts should be shown there. There’s no personally identifiable information, but it’s a technology that nevertheless requires a responsible approach. In 2015, WCRS made waves with a campaign for Women's Aid. The billboard showed a woman with a cut and bruised face. The tech registered when people were looking at the ad, and as they did so the injuries began to fade. The result was a powerful statement about not turning a blind eye to domestic abuse. “It’s a really interesting new thing,” Burbidge acknowledges. “That was using face tracking, and nobody questioned it because it was the right use.” Now, however, Google is thinking of getting into billboards. “Google, they know where you are, what you're doing all the time. So they're using all that data to modify things. And I think we don’t possess the knowledge to even know that we need to question what's happening.” I think we don’t possess the knowledge to even know that we need to question what's happening Ethical dilemmas aside, the progression could potentially solve one of the biggest problems in the advertising industry: attribution. Let’s say someone buys a product on Amazon, Burbidge says. At the moment, that sale will be credited to the website that sent them directly to the Amazon. However, if you’re able to prove the same person walked past a billboard ad for that product 10 weeks beforehand, because they had their phone in their pocket at the time and you can trace their movements, you then know that the start of the journey was with the billboard, and the sale can be credited to that advertising effort. “That attribution has been very vague up until this point,” he says. “So you're starting to see technology coming to advertising that can – if done brilliantly – it can help.” Making it worthwhile The key is in the value you exchange. If all the benefit is with the ad agencies, no one’s going to want to put their tracking data on all the time for that. Half of ‘millenials’, he says, want a website to be able to predict what they want. If it doesn’t, they’ll use an adblocker. “Help me out; don't be creepy”, is what we’re aiming for, Burbidge says. “It's interesting; we're just on that cusp.” On the flip side, older generations push back against personalisation and instinctively don’t trust brands that do this. At the same time, they won’t ask questions of it in the same way that younger consumers typically will, making it much easier for ad agencies to hoodwink them, should they decide to. We're not following technology; we are now dictating what technology, for us, is good technology So while cutting-edge technology is opening exciting new doors, it’s how humans interact with this tech that really interests Burbidge. “We've gone the last 30 years going 'technology is brilliant', and I think with Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, Trump, Brexit... we're now saying, ‘Hang on a minute, technology needs to work with humans a bit more’,” he says. “So we're not following technology; we are now dictating what technology, for us, is good technology. It's not how will technology affect creativity, it's how can we make sure that people value it as a tool and the audience value the human input into it.” He uses the example of the Next Rembrandt project, sponsored by ING. In it, AI was fed all the other Rembrandt portraits, and it produced what would be the ‘next’ one based on that information. If both were valueless, and you gave someone the choice of between the two, Burbidge argues that most people would choose to own the AI-generated one, because of the interesting story behind it. “The technology should be the thing that helps us as a tool,” he adds, “and not the thing that drives us into smaller corners.” Read more: 5 timeless illustration styles (and what to use them for) 66 brilliant print adverts How to get a million followers on Instagram View the full article

If something's struck you as not quite right about your phone's home screen this morning, here's the reason: Uber has just launched its second new logo design in under three years, and it's making waves, if not for the best reasons. 10 commandments of logo design On first sight, the new Uber logo looks like it's doggedly following the recent trend for wordmarks in bespoke fonts. It's the work of the ever-controversial Wolff Olins – who you'll remember for the 2012 Olympics logo and the similarly provocative Met rebrand – along with the Uber Brand Experience Team. Of course, it includes a bespoke font, Uber Move – a sans serif by MCKL Type Foundry, which was inspired by typefaces usually associated with transportation, and designed to look friendlier than the previous, more aggressive typeface, Clan Pro. If you've just found the new logo on your phone, you might find it hard to be pumped about this new design; it's the word 'Uber' in white on a black background, a style we've seen just a little too much of over the past year. Uber Move is designed for motion and works in every local alphabet where Uber has a presence Thankfully, however, there's more to this rebrand than a disappointing wordmark. It is, you'll doubtless be astounded to learn, part of a larger design system that's built to embody a sense of mobility and to look good and be understood in any of 660-plus cities in the world that Uber operates. As Wolff Olins explains, "instead of pursuing a complex system to be localised through colours and patterns, we moved towards a universal 'beyond-simple' global brand that teams on the ground could localise with content relevant to their audiences." The new design system has been built with simplicity in mind Naturally, a rebrand like this is never going to please everyone, and reaction to the Uber redesign has been deliciously mixed, ranging from cautious approval through to traditional designer rage. You can take a closer look at the new Uber logo and design system over at Wolff Olins. Related articles: 11 places to find logo design inspiration 5 fascinating stories behind unusual logo designs 11 brilliant resources for logo designers View the full article

Eight long years ago, Anton & Irene's innovative NU:RO watch (then known as Ozo) prototype picked up a Red Dot award for Best Concept. Now, the watch is finally available to buy, in a limited edition of 500. The cool design features two dials; hours at the top and minutes at the bottom, with an hourglass icon in the centre. As the dials rotate, the time is displayed within the hourglass. See it in action below, in the coolest product launch video we've seen in a while. Anton & Irene is a Brooklyn-based design studio run by Anton Repponen and Irene Pereyra. The duo specialise in digital experiences, and have worked with everyone from The Met to Balenciaga, Spotify and Netflix. The NU:RO is the first analogue addition to their design portfolio, and the project has been a real labour of love. “We could have easily produced more watches, but we deliberately wanted to release a limited edition of 500 so that owning one would feel more special, almost like we’re all part of the same family,” says Repponen. The studio is releasing just 500 of these innovative watches You can pick one up now on the NU:RO Kickstarter page, where they will be available until 10 October (after which they'll be gone forever). There's a choice of white leather, black leather, or (vegan-friendly) stainless steel mesh straps, and all backers who pledge $100 or more will also receive a NU:RO poster. Super-fans can shell out extra for a limited edition hand sculpture from Shantell Martin or even some of the original product design sketches. Read more: 5 questions to ask yourself before designing a T-shirt Famous logos become practical everyday objects Classic Rubik's Cube gets a high-tech twist View the full article