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How would you describe creativity? Is it an innate way of thinking, or is it more like a muscle that can be developed with regular activity? The jury's out on this one, however what a lot of people do agree on is that creativity can work wonders for your life and career. In one of the best infographics we've seen about creativity, Davitt Corporate Partners breaks down how you can uncover your creative genius. 10 time-sucks for creatives and how to minimise them Starting off with a quick look at just what exactly creativity is (complete with a snappy quote from Alex Osborn you can impress your friends with at your next dinner party), this infographic goes on to examine techniques that could get your synapses firing in fresh and exciting ways. These include unwinding with a black cup of tea, going for a walk, or simply taking a shower, because who doesn't have great ideas while washing, right? Now before you turn your nose up at the idea of this pseudo-science, ask yourself: what have you got to lose by trying a few creative exercises? At worst you're left in the same position as you were before, but if the techniques covered in this infographic do in fact work, well... you can thank us later. Click the image to see the full size infographic Related articles: 13 incredible tools for creating infographics How to create amazing infographics Pro tips for creating interactive infographics View the full article

Straight from Black Hat 2018: How TRITON disrupted safety systems and changed the threat landscape of industrial control systems, forever. View the full article

More than a dozen flaws in smart-city gear could open the door to attackers bent on sowing public panic, according to IBM X-Force. View the full article

The Association of Photographers (AOP) fought tirelessly for the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act that thankfully came into force in 1988. But what does copyright actually mean for a commercial creative today? Copyright underpins the nature of how nearly all photographers make a living (the words ‘copyright’ and ‘licensing’ are equally applicable to all forms of creative output, not just photography). As a form of intellectual property and enshrined in legislation, it is a property right and gives creators the ability to generate income by licensing the use of their endeavours, as opposed to selling ‘units’ of work. This notion of selling use not unit is vital to making our businesses sustainable, as well as maintaining and safeguarding the creative industries. If you want to have a successful commercial career, you can't just rely on your photography skills, you need to have the business knowledge to back it up – and understanding copyright is a major part of this. It's no different to if you were to buy a music track: you do not own the content, but have purchased the right to use a copy for yourself Copyright – or, the right to prevent and control copying – gives us flexibility and gives our clients and buyers protection over the use of a creative piece of work. However, not enough clients and buyers understand that this creator’s right is enshrined in law, and that fees paid to us do not automatically confer ownership or title in the work to them. It's no different to if you were to buy a music track or a book: you do not own the content, but have purchased the right to use a copy for yourself. You might own the paper the book is printed on, but you do not own the words themselves. Likewise, you might own the hard drive or media the image sits on, but you do not own the image itself. Sign up to the Computer Arts newsletter The fees we charge cover our investment in skills, training, equipment such as cameras, insurance, some profit (we’re in business, after all) and generally also include some element of licensing. This helps keeps costs to the client lower than they would be if the client wished to own the work created outright. Unless a photographer assigns the copyright in their work in writing to someone or has accepted the terms of a contract that contain a copyright assignment, the ownership of the intellectual property rights, or copyright, remains firmly vested in the creator. Moral rights Sitting alongside the economic element of controlling copyright is a set of moral rights, enshrined in the same legislation. These are there to help protect us, in terms of reputation (and hence our ability to earn), as well as affording the client or commissioner some protection in the form of the right to prevent publication in certain circumstances. They are what’s called inalienable rights, so they cannot be sold or assigned, but they can be waived and often we will see contracts that seek an assignment of copyright as well as a waiver of moral rights. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that there are several exceptions to copyright law; instances when the law does not apply to certain uses of works protected by copyright. We might consider these to be important to balance the rights of the creator against the needs/desires of a potential user of a piece of work. Suffice to say that the copyright regime in the UK is one of the best there is. This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 280 or subscribe. Read more: 5 photography trends influencing designers in 2018 30 books every graphic designer should read 10 tools that could save you time right away View the full article

When it comes to online video editing courses, there's a lot of choice out there, and all that can be overwhelming. In this post, we've gathered together the best video editing courses on the online market today, to help you decide. The best video editing laptops in 2018 But just like with any type of learning or tool for graphic designers, one size doesn't fit all, and the course that's right for you will depend on your preferred software, budget and favoured way of learning. In short, there's something for everyone here. So read on and we'll give you the info you need to find the right online video editing course for you. 01. Larry Jordan The best all rounder – learn about video editing from award-winning industry titan Larry Jordan Pros: Industry focused, expert insights Cons: Can’t download videos, 3 months minimum subscription Who better to learn about video editing than someone with a stellar career and reputation in the industry? Larry Jordan is an award-winning producer, director, editor, teacher and trainer who’s worked for US television for the last five decades. He launched a website offering online courses in 2003, specifically to enable editors, directors and producers to learn more about the evolving technology of media. Jordan's lessons explain the fundamentals of the software, then illustrate them with stories on how they're used in real-world projects. There's a big focus on updates to these tools, so that regular users can understand the latest features and what they can be used for. Software covered include Adobe tools (Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects, Audition, Encore, Media Encoder, Prelude) and Apple tools (Compressor, Final Cut Pro X, Motion). There are 2,000 courses in video editing to choose from, and you get access to all of them for $19.99 a month (for a minimum of three months on the basic plan) along with webinars, tutorials and newsletters. Alternatively, you can pay for courses and webinars individually. All lessons are streamed, but there's no option for subscribers to download videos. There’s also no free trial option, although there is a selection of free tutorials so you can see what kind of thing is on offer. 02. Inside the Edit Industry insights for working editors – Inside the Edit provides deep industry knowledge that you won't find elsewhere Pros: Creative focus, unique angle Cons: Can't download videos, doesn't teach software Are you already working as a video editor, or close to getting your first job? Need training that goes beyond the basics, and gets into the nitty-gritty of what’s really needed in the real world of video editing? Inside The Edit doesn't teach you any actual software skills. Instead, it describes itself as “the world’s first creative editing course”. Developed by professional editors working in the industry, it details hundreds of specific structural, journalistic and creative techniques used in documentary and entertainment television. The tutorials, then, are a mix of high-end editing theory, footage analysis and timeline demonstration, and you’ll get 35 hours of real-world rushes (raw footage) to practise on, plus 2,000 music tracks to score with. There are also lessons on the secondary skills needed by video editors; as “psychologists, diplomats and social chameleons”. In short, this course is not at all suitable for beginners at video editing. But for anyone working in (or close to working in) the narrative-based television found in documentaries, entertainment shows and reality TV, it could provide just the boost you need to reach the next level in your career. 03. Video editing courses with Udemy Decent training at reasonable prices – Udemy offers good quality courses at relatively low cost Pros: Cheap, videos can be downloaded Cons: Variable quality, some courses are quite short Udemy is an online learning platform aimed at digital professionals, containing more than 80,000 courses in total. Which means that if you need to master a particular tool, you’re very likely to find a course for your needs. There are around 100 video editing courses on the site, covering tools including Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas Pro, and Da Vinci Resolve. And you can narrow down the list further using the tabs at the top of the page, according to level, price, and language. You don’t need to take out a subscription; you just pay for the individual courses you take. And unlike some online course providers, Udemy allows you to download its videos for offline viewing via its mobile app. If you’re a beginner, we’d recommend checking out The Complete Video Production Bootcamp by Video School Online, in which Phil Ebener takes you through the basics of video editing, from program layout to final export, across nine hours of video training. (Note that this course is taught in Final Cut Pro 7, but if you're using another software like Premiere Pro, you'll still learn a lot from it in terms of general principles). Overall, the quality of courses on Udemy is good, but they can vary, so it’s always worth reading the customer reviews first before you commit yourself. 04. Learn video editing with Pluralsight Software training focused on Adobe tools – Pluralsight's video editing tutorials focus on Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere Pro Pros: Videos can be downloaded, learning checks keep you on track Cons: Some courses quite short, little use for non-Adobe software Pluralsight offers a number of online courses that will train you to use Adobe video editing software, including Premiere Pro, After Effects and Photoshop. These cover beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The Photoshop CC Video Editing course taught by Ana Mouyis, for example, cover how to edit videos, composite, and basic motion graphics. After this short course, you should be comfortable with video editing workflow and have the skills you need to embark on your own projects. One of the coolest features of Pluralsight is ‘learning checks’, which are short quizzes to help you check you’re understanding the material correctly. It's a small thing, but it really can be helpful in keeping your learning on track. If you wish to download videos for offline viewing you can do so via the mobile app. And note that Pluralsight offers a 10-day free trial, so you can ‘try before you buy’. 05. LinkedIn Learning (previously Lynda.com) High quality training from respected experts – Lynda.com is now known as LinkedIn Learning, and is integrated into the social network Pros: Can download videos, LinkedIn integration Cons: Academic approach may not suit, some videos feel over-long Founded in 1995, Lynda.com is the most established and respected source of software training on the internet. Recently rebranded as LinkedIn Learning, the service gives you access to all its courses once you take out a monthly subscription. Premium members can download entire courses and individual videos on most desktop, iOS and Android devices using the app. There are almost 200 courses to choose from when it comes to video editing, covering software including iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, Premiere Pro, and Media Composer. Because of this wide range, Lynda is worth looking at if you’re after something specific. For example, Premiere Pro Guru: Multi-Camera Video Editing by Richard Harrington is a two hour course that teaches you how to import, sync, and edit footage from multiple cameras with Premiere Pro. The style of tutorial is a little more formal and academic than most online course providers, which may be a positive or negative depending on what you're looking for. If you want to see the kind of thing you’re getting, then just check out the free video tutorials that come with every course. You can also take out a month’s free trial that will give you access to all the courses on the platform. One more thing: the move from Lynda.com to LinkedIn Learning is not just a name-change; there's some nice integration between the courses and LinkedIn too. For example, if you're logged into LinkedIn, the platform now uses the data it has on you to surface training content that’s relevant to your needs. Also, when you learn new skills from taking a course, it’s super-easy to add those skills to your LinkedIn profile. Don’t worry, though: if you’re not on LinkedIn you can ignore all of that, and just focus on taking the course. 06. Video editing courses with Skillshare Diverse range of courses and subjects – Skillshare is an open platform, so there's a wide variety of video editing tutorials to choose from Pros: Wide range of topics, videos can be downloaded Cons: Variable quality, some courses quite short Skillshare is an online training platform where anyone can create a course and sell it. This creative free-for-all means that it’s a good place to find relatively short and punchy video lessons on niche topics, and that applies to video editing as much as anything else. For example, if you’re a student who’s completely new to video editing, How to Vlog! Film, Edit & Upload to YouTube by Sara Dietschy is a snappy, no-nonsense guide to the basics of creating a vlog, across 32 minutes. Watch the first video, which you can access for free, and you’ll soon get the idea. Bite-sized video courses such as this are usually less academic and more casual when compared with, say, LinkedIn Learning. But if you just want to start getting your head around stuff quickly, that might actually be preferable. Plus, you can take out a month’s free trial first to see if it’s for you, before parting with any cash. And if you do decide to purchase, then videos are downloadable within the app for offline use. 07. American Graphics Institute Interactive courses with live teachers – The American Graphics Institute offers live lessons for an immediate, interactive experience Pros: Live lessons, interaction with tutors Cons: Expensive option, only available on certain dates Want to learn Premiere Pro? Looking for live instruction rather than pre-recorded videos? The American Graphics Institute, a publishing and training venture, is offering online classes led by live instructors. These regularly scheduled lessons range from introductory to advanced levels, and if you can get to Boston, New York or Philadelphia, there’s also the option of attending physical lessons too. You pay per course, and it’s not cheap. But the value of having interactive classes, in which you’re able to ask questions, hear and talk with the instructor, and even share your screen, means you really do get what you pay for. 08. Ripple Training video editing course Pro training in non-Adobe tools – Ripple Training has a good selection of courses for Final Cut Pro users Pros: Good quality tutorials, free taster lessons Cons: Only covers specific tools, some courses are quite expensive These days, most online training for video editors focuses on Adobe software. But if you’re using Final Cut Pro, Motion, or Da Vinci Resolve, you may be better heading to Ripple Training, a source of high quality, regularly updated tutorials in said software, as well as their own tools and plugins. Founded by experienced industry professionals Steve Martin, Jill Martin, and Mark Spencer in 2002, Ripple Training isn’t a particularly big name in the field. But their courses, which mirror the in-person classes they teach, are very good quality, and you can download the videos for offline viewing. To see what they’re about, check out the free ‘get started’ lessons at the bottom of their homepage. Read more: 16 top online coding courses Learn to animate for kids 5 top tips for speedy learning View the full article

Accessing a wealth of font styles has just got easier for Creative Cloud customers thanks to hundreds of new additions from Monotype. With over 665 new fonts from 41 different type families, including retro fonts such as ITC Benguiat seen in smash-hit Netflix series Stranger Things, there's plenty here to enjoy in this Adobe update. Plenty of the fonts in this collection were designed in the twentieth century and had a huge impact upon their release. In fact, many have gone on to inspire popular variations over the years, so having the source material on hand is sure to be a welcome extra to type designers' toolkits. Get 15% off Adobe Creative Cloud with our exclusive deal As well as launching these new fonts, Adobe will also soon release type innovation tools for Illustrator CC and InDesign that will allow users to seamlessly browse, filter and sort through the roughly 9,000 fonts on Adobe Typkit without the hassle of having to leave their canvas. With nearly 700 additional fonts to choose from, we won't run through them all, but you can browse the entire collection on Adobe Typekit. We've rounded up some of the standout fonts for your browsing pleasure below, simply click left to right through the gallery with the arrows. Related articles: Famous logos redesigned as fonts 20 top free brush fonts 21 perfect font pairings View the full article

Likes. Retweets. Upvotes. They’ve all become common ways to gauge the popularity of our thoughts, and for those in the creative industries, our work. But are sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram a blessing or a curse for artists? Art techniques: top tutorials for painting and drawing Just like any innovation, it all depends on how you use them. If you’re monitoring the performance of your latest status before you go to bed, it might be time to reassess your relationship with social media. However, when used right, these platforms can reap amazing rewards. “I’ve discovered so many new artists who inspire me every day just from their social media posts,” says illustrator and Marvel comic artist Jen Bartel, who also uses social media to get her work in front of potential clients. Jen Bartel strives to stay authentic online “Working on comics often means working long hours in isolation, and finding those connections online is such an amazing lifeline for many of us,” she says. For Art Camp founder Noah Bradley, social media has overtaken traditional routes to exposure. Through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook we can share in each others’ triumphs Nicola Scott “I benefited from social media in building a fanbase for my work and connecting with fellow creators,” Bradley says. “I think I’d have had a harder time becoming as well known as I am now without it.” It isn’t all about business, though. For Sydney-based Wonder Woman artist Nicola Scott, living on the other side of the planet to where the rest of the industry is located feels less isolating thanks to social media. “I get far fewer opportunities to meet or catch up with peers, mentors and fans,” Scott says, “but through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook we can share in each others’ triumphs and slumps, promote and share our work.” Taking time out Despite these benefits, freelance illustrator Charles Chaisson is keen to point out an important social media side-effect. “Social media prompts the release of dopamine, which is a chemical associated with pleasure in your brain,” he says. “I think it’s important to be cognizant of how that interaction affects us mentally.” Like many users, Chaisson is limiting his time on social media in reaction to this. “What I tend to do is make sure that my phone is out of my line of sight,” he says. “It’s pretty easy to forget about checking your phone once it’s not attached to your body, or sitting in front of you at all times.” Charles Chaisson reasons that social media has changed the industry landscape for the better However, there’s more to managing a social media presence than willpower alone. With online profiles blurring the line between where a person ends and their work begins, it’s important for artists to make clear the distinction between the two. Jen Bartel uses her Twitter account for both work and fun, but errs towards the professional end of the spectrum. “I view social media as part of my job,” she says. “I also have designated times when I’m more active on it.” Yet even the best intentions can slip after a while. For artists struggling to use social media constructively, there are a few options to consider. Scheduling updates through tools such as Hootsuite, TweetDeck or Buffer takes away the distraction of endlessly updating feeds. Users can simply plan their content in one batch and then check back in to take care of replies whenever suits them. Despite the advantages of social media, Noah Bradley is wary of prioritising it Another option is to set up a dedicated artist account across all platforms, while keeping personal profiles separate. This is a popular way to contain thoughts and opinions that don’t need to find a wider audience. Although a batch of accounts isn’t for everyone. “That felt like way too much work for my taste,” says Bradley, who decided to step away from social media completely. “It was a source of stress I didn’t need in my life.” It turned out to be a good choice for Bradley, with the cost of online popularity worth less than emotional wellbeing: “I’m free to dive right into my creations. There’s no tickling feeling of social media at my back.” Artist appeal Artistic productivity isn’t always hindered by social media. In fact, the platforms provide a useful way to work out a draft. “Sharing WIPs with followers usually gives me a sense of how people will respond to the final artwork,” says Chaisson. A love of work stops Nicola Scott from getting distracted by social media “If you’re friends with a lot of artists, sometimes they’ll point out something that looks odd or needs to be tweaked that maybe you didn’t notice while working on the image yourself.” “I love seeing other artists work,” says Scott. “It can be fascinating to discover where and when an artist chooses to ‘finish’ their work.” Drawn together Even with their tendency to play with algorithms and change how users see posts, social media sites remain popular with artists. “Social media gives artists publicity that enable us to show our art to people around the world – which is pretty incredible if you think about it,” says Chaisson. For artists, this publicity can be a revenue lifeline. “I think that just speaks to the fact that artists are being increasingly devalued in the internet age, so any potential revenue streams are worth exploring,” says comic book artist Staz Johnson. Like many artists, Staz Johnson has benefitted professionally from social media Nothing’s perfect though, and following a recent migration of artists to the promising new pastures of ad-free social media site Vero, Bartel thinks a chronological timeline is what creatives are crying out for. “Instagram’s new algorithms have hurt a lot of people and the minute there’s a comparable platform, they’re going to jump ship,” she says. “I’m not sure that platform is necessarily Vero, but fingers crossed something comparable will be released soon.” Ultimately, Bartel still thinks that social media can be a force for good. “Before social media, artists had to rely a lot more on getting their work published through official channels. Now we control how much content we put in front of our followers. Opener image: Nicola Scott This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 160; subscribe here. Related articles: 10 social media tricks you didn't know about 5 golden rules for social media strategy How to make social media work for you View the full article

Project Zero researcher highlights stubborn iOS bugs as an example of why Apple and the rest of the industry needs to take a fresh approach to securing systems. View the full article

If you're a graphic designer, blogger, or pretty much anyone who works in a virtual visual medium, you'll need stock photos at some point. With StockPop Lite Bundle: Lifetime Subscription, you're getting a huge collection of over 12,000 stock images – that's 10,000 high-quality stock photos and 2,500 clip art photos. This means you can use the pictures in any project that might come your way, without having to worry about royalties or copyright. You'll find photos covering a wide array of topics, from animals to yoga to advertising. Get all the stock photos you could ever need with the StockPop Lite Bundle: Lifetime Subscription – yours for only $19.99. Related articles: 18 top stock photo libraries The 14 best websites to download stock art Best collage maker tools for creating photo collages View the full article

Big fan of a bargain and keen to learn direct from cutting-edge web designers and developers? Well today is your lucky day: the Generate London 2018 flash sale has launched, meaning that you can grab two or three day conference tickets for a massive 50 per cent off – for 24 hours only. Returning to the UK capital for its sixth year, Generate London is packed full of inspiration and insight covering the latest in web design and frontend development. Bringing you 16 engaging and informative talks – see the full schedule here – from the industry’s best and brightest minds, Generate London will help you up your game in areas like CSS animation, JS frameworks, UX and AR and include speakers such as Clearleft co-founder Richard Rutter, designer and entrepreneur Sarah Parmenter and three.js creator Ricardo Cabello. On top of this, if you purchase a three-day pass for the half-price cost of just £297.50, you’ll also gain access to a day of hands-on, practical workshops to help you refine your design and dev skills, with four great full-day sessions to choose from: Front-end meets UX: designing & creating universal UI components with Sara Soueidan How to build a music player interface with Steven Roberts Learn how to 'think in React' with Kristijan Ristovski Responsive web typography with Richard Rutter If you can't make these workshops, a two-day ticket is also a cut-price bargain, at just £197.50. There’s so much first-class conference content on offer and yet only a short amount of time to grab your cut-price ticket: our flash sale expires tonight at 23:59 BST. So if you want to save yourself some dough on your Generate London ticket, you'd better buy one now. Read more: 9 ways to smash UX on a small budget Further web design royalty confirmed for Generate Top tips for building a WordPress theme View the full article

At Black Hat, Google's Parisa Tabriz discussed how to navigate the complex security environment with long-term thinking and a policy of open collaboration. View the full article

Rather than eliminating bugs, the idea is to add large numbers of non-exploitable bugs to software as decoys to waste cyber-criminals' time. View the full article

Originally designed in 1974 and launched internationally in 1980, Rubik's Cube is a design classic that's sold by the hundreds of millions. Over the years, it has delighted – not to mention infuriated – countless people around the globe. 11 inspiring design toys for your desk The original cube was an extremely clever piece of design and engineering that defied improvement; it's been refined so that speed-cubers can turn it even more times without the cube falling apart, but basically this is one of those situations where the design thinking was absolutely bang on the first time. Pick up any Rubik's Cube, or indeed any imitation cube, and you know exactly what to do with it – even if you don't know how to solve it. Who needs a high-tech update when the original just works? The GoCube - like the Rubik's Cube, only smarter Well, it turns out that lots of people do. Designed in Israel by Tel Aviv company Particula, the GoCube is pitched as the Rubik's Cube reimagined with brains. It still behaves the same as a standard Cube, but now has loads of clever high-tech features designed to help you learn how to solve it, improve your times and even race against friends online. The GoCube tracks its movements using built-in sensors, and connects via Bluetooth to an app that displays your cube on your phone or tablet, and also features various games and challenges to improve your cube handling and instincts. The GoCube app will help you solve the cube then improve your times It's set to retail from an eye-watering $119 for the basic GoCube, but if you want to get your hands on one at a substantial discount, you'd better hurry over to the GoCube Kickstarter, where you can save around 40 per cent on various GoCube packages. The GoCube might sound expensive but that's not holding anyone back; it's torn right through its original Kickstarter goal of $25,000 and has clocked up over $800,000 of pledges. There's now less than 24 hours left to run on the campaign. Related articles: Create your own art toys 10 ways to transform your creative thinking 8 must-have products for a smarter studio View the full article

Using a handcrafted element, such as bespoke typography or clever use of illustration, as a core part of a brand's visual identity is a trend that has been gaining momentum of late. The latter is enjoying a particular resurgence in food packaging design, but there are impressive and imaginative examples popping up in a range of different industries. For a closer look at the trend for illustration in branding, and why it's becoming so popular, take a look at our feature on how to bring a brand to life with illustration. Or read on for five brands that have used illustration to add some magic to their identity scheme. 01. Robot food for Vocation Brewery Representing each beer through pictures helped elevate this startup Leeds-based agency Robot Food created the naming, branding and packaging design for Vocation Brewery. According to design director Mike Johns, the project was "very much an open brief", and the approach looked to communicate something, "a bit gritty and new-school, in design terms." The solution was to use an intricate, tattoo-inspired illustration style created in-house with icons and graphics that subtly communicate the story of each brew. "We want to portray the tasting notes of each beer through the illustration, so the American Pale Ale is a celebration with fireworks, while Heart and Soul is more a heaven scene," says Johns. "We wanted to add elements and details that tell the story. The main thing about Vocation is getting across what each beer is about pictorially." 02. Together Design for Pearson Pearson used illustration to cross cultural barriers Together Design has worked with education brand Pearson for the last three years. As the lead agency for its global rebrand, Together Design "created hundreds of pages of guidance in many different languages," says creative director and founder Heidi Lightfoot. Illustration was a vital part of this new approach, enabling easy, direct communication across numerous languages and cultures for a company that has over 30,000 employees. Together commissioned five illustrators located in different parts of the world including Singapore, the US, Australia and the UK to create hero illustrations "for communicating big themes", as well as producing designs in-house for infographics, pictograms and patterns, to create a comprehensive "kit of parts" visual asset library for Pearson's global operations. "It was important to have different illustration artists around the world that the Pearson teams could commission directly," says Lightfoot. "So there may be imagery which is market- and product- specific, but it all ties in seamlessly with the global library that is accessible to all." 03. Silas Amos for Red Red A touch of the surreal gave flavour to this stew-pot brand Without the budget for a conventional ad campaign, African-inspired stew-pot Red Red's approach was to create a ‘design campaign' orchestrated by creative strategist and designer Silas Amos and based around the idea of ‘a lunch less ordinary'. Nigerian artist Dennis Osadebe was brought in for the punchy illustrations used across various brand touchpoints, creating slightly surreal characters that mix humour, nuance and subtle use of African patterns. Parent brand Unilever was looking for a key visual, an image that communicated the brand's essence while also showcasing the product. Sign up for the Computer Arts newsletter "We gave Dennis the brief to do his work in the mildly surreal way he does, but then we let him loose," says Amos. "He came back with an astronaut lady, a Caesar character…" Osadebe adds: "We knew exactly what the brand represented: it was then a case of finding how to best bring it to life, visually. This inspired me to work with the feeling that the brand gave me – a mixture of fun, vibrancy, innovation, timelessness and most importantly diversity, in the sense of merging of different cultures together." 05. Sid Lee for Blue Goose Illustration added an artisanal twist to a meat and fish company The Toronto studio of creative agency Sid Lee was briefed to create new packaging designs for Blue Goose, a range of meat and fish that prides itself on being ‘clean protein' – the brand's emphasis is on transparency and tracing the product back to its farming origin. Agency executive creative director and partner Tom Koukodimos says that going down the illustration route and commissioning Ben Kwok was perfect, as it allowed the agency to capture a complex story in its simplest form and "do it in a way that's unique and ownable, and visually distinct". The solution sets the brand apart from competitors, which often lean towards simple images showing potentially generic images of farms. "The illustration was meant to feel artisanal, but without leaning into artisanal visual shorthands," says Koukodimos. "It needed to be new and imaginative, and a little inventive. The style has a craft feel to it, but without getting into those dated cliches of craft." 05. Thirst Craft for Loch Lomond Brewery An updated look for an established brewery Glasgow-based agency Thirst Craft was brought in to create a new look for the relatively established beer Loch Lomond; and a key part of the brief was to refresh the look and feel without alienating existing customers. "If we made them unrecognisable, they'd have a drop in sales," says creative director Matt Burns. "So we wanted to keep what was working well and where they have strong equity, and that was in landscape illustration and unusual colour palettes." The agency brought in illustrator Jack Daly for the project. "The way he uses light and shadow is great," says Burns. "There's so much to explore there – he has a beautiful use of curves and colour. Also, it was great as he grew up [near Loch Lomand]. It's quite a subtle detail but we wanted to capture that sense of a whole day at the Loch." This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 279 or subscribe. Read more: The designer's guide to illustration The illustrator hotlist 2018 20 illustrators to follow on Instagram View the full article

A Black Hat talk demonstrates the ease of poking holes in firewalls: How to break, bypass and dismantle macOS firewall products. View the full article

A focus on user experience is vital for a great product. Unfortunately, the catch-22 is that small businesses – a valuable part of our community – need to grow online and so still need to offer a relatively sleek experience to their users. However, there are ways to deliver a great UX for clients working with smaller budgets, which we'll explore here. We'll also look at some web design tools that can help you out. I once believed that a UX was a catch-all improvement for everything. That was until I started working with small businesses, where brand recognition and volume of traffic is lower; navigation, content and audience segments are simpler; and objectives are easier to distil. It became clear that the balance of return on investment against the cost of UX as a percentage increase in sales was negligible. UX increases performance by increments. Where traffic is high this generates considerable revenue on low percentage increases – but drop that traffic to less than 5000 visits a month and the sums just don’t add up. In this article, I'll run through nine ways to grab the low-hanging fruit in terms of UX. 01. Learn from bigger competitors Big businesses tend to spend considerable sums on user experience, so do some research on competitors and large corporations in your client’s line of business. Select five to carry out a competitor comparison, and try and get a good idea of the dos and don’ts. There’s often treasure to be found in these big brands' online reviews as well. Crayon is a great free tool to help with this. It showcases businesses (organised by sector or keyword) alongside previous versions of each website, so you can explore how they have improved over time. 02. Get UX experience Employing a designer who has plenty of experience in hands-on UX is a great asset to a small businesses and a key USP in your pitch. There are always ways to practice, study and shadow UX professionals, so do your homework. 03. Use Google Analytics With Google Analytics, we can gather information about customers' behaviour, location, devices, user flow and actions, without having to talk to them. There are plenty of ways to use this to improve your UX. For example, you can figure out where users are bailing – if it is halfway through a purchase or action, then what’s stopping them? Even knowing which blog posts get the most visits can help shape your client’s content strategy. 04. Look at heatmaps If you can’t watch a person using your site then heatmaps are a great alternative. Free sites such as Smartlook allow you to add tracking code to provide important information about user behaviour. Just remember to list them in the site’s cookie policy. 05. Organise a focus group Everyone likes a party, especially one where they get to air their views. Inviting five customers over with their laptops for a ‘lunch hour’, with nice food and perhaps a little going-home goodie, can result in some remarkable discoveries. It also helps create loyalty and a feel-good factor for your client. Plan meticulously and be clear in advance what will be involved and why. Allocate half an hour for the customers to individually complete set tasks on the website, documenting how they are doing and what they feel. Follow this up with lunch and a half-hour group discussion. 06. Ask the customers Most businesses have a mailing list, so why not ask their customers? Set five simple questions that will open up a discussion rather than just garnering yes/no answers. Think carefully what will give you most insight into the problems you are trying to solve. Mention all replies will be entered into a prize draw, creating goodwill whilst receiving valuable feedback from real users. To distil findings from your replies use a tool such as Survey Monkey. 07. Increase conversions Multivariate tests (MVT), conversion rate optimisation (CRO), and A/B testing are powerful tools in a UX designer's toolbox. But if you don’t have the traffic then the results will be inconclusive. Still, there are gains to be made by learning from the above methods and implementing small changes measured through analytics and heat mapping to increase visitor traction. 08. Focus on first impressions If the website doesn’t have a lot of traffic or you are still in the design phase, UseabilityHub’s Five Second Tests are a great little tool to get a snapshot of what people think. Ask a few short questions and get users' gut responses. 09. Sketch! Website mockups are a key stage in figuring out how users will interact with a site. These approaches can be used for a variety of UX tasks. What pages are needed, what your client’s goals are and what customers are looking for can all be brainstormed and sketched out with a pencil and pad to create a very usable site map, page map, actions, content structure and user flow. This article was originally published in net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 308 or subscribe. Read more: What are the main barriers to good UX today? 37 sets of free icons 6 trends that are changing the face of UX View the full article

In 2018, there are many ways to harness social media to benefit your career. You might use it to attract attention, make money, win clients, lure collaborators, get feedback on your design portfolio, or just spark conversations and creative ideas with like-minded professionals. Unfortunately, if you do a lot of social media posting, it can very quickly become mind-numbingly tedious. Feel like you're on a social media treadmill? Then ask yourself if any of the repetitive tasks that suck at your soul could be automated to make your life easier. In this post, we list 10 top tools that might provide a solution. 01. Hootsuite Schedule your social posts before your holiday using Hootsuite Launched in 2008, Hootsuite remains the go-to app if you want to set up and schedule social media posts in advance. The free plan allows you to manage up to three social profiles, and schedule up to 30 posts each month. You also get some decent analytics and follower-tracking tools, and two RSS feed integrations. Hootsuite supports more than 150 apps, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, WordPress, YouTube and Pinterest. Even with apps that are essentially mobile-only, such as Instagram, you can use Hootsuite to create posts and schedule them using your desktop computer (as long as you have an Instagram business account). Most importantly, you can set it to post automatically when you’re going to be away, or if you’re just too busy at work and don’t want to be distracted. Note, however, that Hootsuite can’t do everything you might want it to. For example, it doesn’t allow you to add a location or tag people on your scheduled Instagram posts. 02. Later Later enables you to line up your Instagram posts using a desktop computer If Instagram is your main jam, then you may want to consider Later (previously known as Latergramme) as an alternative to Hootsuite. As a bespoke tool for Instagram, it’s a much more visually focused platform than Hootsuite. For example, its calendar displays thumbnails of your posts to help you balance things out aesthetically over the month. Later also offers a handy media library, where you can store images in advance, ready to be turned into scheduled posts at a later date. Like Hootsuite, you can schedule up to 30 free posts a month with the free plan. Later also what it calls a Linkin.bio feature that enables you to link Instagram posts to pages or products, which is great if you sell your wares through Instagram. This is, however, not available until you sign up to the $16 per month plan. 03. Tweetdeck Although the mobile apps have been closed, Tweetdeck remains the best desktop tool for managing your Twitter streams Twitter can be a confusing, chaotic beast, and if you need a web app to help you make sense of it, we’d recommend the free app Tweetdeck. Its main uses are to enable you to schedule tweets, from multiple accounts, and to keep track of whatever you want to keep track of; whether that’s direct messages, mentions or just tweets containing a specific word, phrase or hashtag. The great thing about Tweetdeck is being able to add columns that contain the specific info you need. Basically, the more columns you add, the more useful it becomes, particularly if you’re using more than one Twitter account. That does mean it’s pretty useless on mobile, though. But on a wide screen with a good internet connection, Tweetdeck can save you a lot of time and effort compared to fiddling about in the normal Twitter app. 04. Storyheap Storyheap is used by celebs such as DJ Khaled So far, we’ve talked about scheduling posts, but increasingly, social media is about stories. Launched last year, Storyheap allows you to upload, schedule, and analyse your Instagram and Snapchat Stories. The app has a drag-and-drop interface that means you can build stories just as you would within Snapchat or Instagram, along with its own filters and photo editing tools to add some extra pizzazz. Then you can either post them immediately or schedule them; and most usefully, you can sync your Instagram Stories to your Snapchat and vice versa. Boosted by web entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk and celebrities such as DJ Khaled, Storyheap has made a big splash and seems to have cornered this niche market for now. It’s not cheap, though: plans start at $49 per profile per month. But if you have a big following, or are working for a client who does, it’s well worth checking out. 05. Botletter Send newsletters to your Facebook audience using Botletter You might think newsletters are just for email. But with more and more people living their online lives on Facebook, it can be much more effective to keep your followers up-to-date via Facebook Messenger. Botletter is a great app that enables you to send newsletters or updates on Facebook Messenger to an unlimited number of people. So it’s basically MailChimp, but for Facebook; with all the analytics tools and ability to customise your newsletters and subscribers lists you'd expect. You just need a Facebook Page, and it’s a pretty simple process to set up. You pay per message, and that can add up to quite a lot of money if you have more than a thousand fans. However, the open rate with Facebook newsletters does tend to be a lot higher than that of email newsletters (where the ‘delete spam’ impulse is much more ingrained), so it may well prove worth the investment. 06. Bit.ly Bit.ly makes your links simpler and more social media-friendly Bit.ly isn’t a social media tool as such, but it is an invaluable (and free) tool for anyone using social media. It does one thing, and does that thing very well: takes a long, cumbersome looking URL and turns it into a shorter, cleaner one. As a result, your posts look instantly more appealing than if they were cluttered up by a long and code-laden looking web address. Also, some social platforms, such as Instagram, don’t allow you to include clickable links in your posts, so a bit.ly link is much easier for your followers to type in manually. Finally, bit.ly allows you to see exactly how many people have used your link, along with info such as where they are, what site they were referred from, and so on. Once you’ve signed up for bit.ly, it’s very simple to use. You just paste in the long URL and then you get a shorter one back (eg. https://www.creativebloq.com/features/the-10-best-stamp-designs-inspired-by-tv-and-movies becomes bit.ly/2LKl0vB. You then have the choice to customise your URL to make it easier to read: we chose bit.ly/stamp-design. 07. AddThis Share buttons A free way to add social buttons to your site Let’s face it, even if people like your website content, most people are either too lazy or too busy to share it on social media. So make it easy for them, by adding a one-click share button. AddThis offers a variety of free website tools to download and use on your own sites, and its Share buttons are an excellent way to get your content shared around a possible 200 social networks. (We don’t recommend you add a button for each of these, but you get the idea). These buttons are all customisable, mobile-friendly and look pretty darned good too. 08. Refind Save your own links and browse those of other creative pros It’s astounding how you often you find a great link, think ‘this will make a killer social media’ post… but then three days later, can’t find it again for love nor money. Crawling through every single link in your Google history is like searching for a needle in a haystack, and you eventually give up, tired and cross. If this happens to you a lot, you might want to investigate Refind. It’s a free browser extension that makes it super-simple to store important links for when you need them. You save each one by clicking the extension button in the corner of your screen, and you can add tags if you like too. There are also Refind apps for iOS and Android. In recent years, Refind has started to extend its offering to become a bit of a social network in itself. So now, as well as saving your own links, it also offers to "deliver the most relevant stories from around the web to your homepage, app, or inbox" based on your interests and relevant links saved by its membership (which is invite-only, presumably to avoid people gaming the system). 09. IFTTT Automate your social apps using IFTTT Searching high and low for a social media tool that will do a very specific thing, but can’t find one? Chances are, IFTTT will be the answer. Standing for ‘If this, then that’, this free tool is a way of making all the apps you use talk to each other in a quite magical way. It does this via automated actions known as ‘recipes’. One recipe, for example, might be that all your Instagram photos get automatically stored to Dropbox. Or you could determine that every time your Facebook profile pic changes, your Twitter pic changes to the same image. Or that every post you recommend on Medium automatically gets posted to your Facebook page. Or… well, you get the idea. Note that IFTTT is not limited to social media: you can use it with anything web related, including smart home devices. But if you do a lot of boring repetitive tasks on social media, and like the idea of automating them instead, then you should definitely check it out. 10. Antisocial Save yourself from burnout with AntiSocial We've all done it. You fool yourself into thinking you’re spending useful, productive time on social media "for work", when you’re actually just scrolling blindly and wasting hours you could be spending designing stuff. So it’s important to keep track of how much time you’re actually spending on social media. And in fact, Facebook and Instagram have just released in-app tools to help you do so. But if you want to track your time spend across all social media platforms, our favourite tool has to be the free Android app AntiSocial, for its easy to use interface, low impact on your phone battery, and simple to understand reports. Read more: 10 social media tricks you didn't know about 6 Instagram hacks to transform your feed How to make social media work for you View the full article

You're reading 10 Original Ways to Slide Out a Menu in Web Design, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! The slide out menu came to life right with as a popular option for mobile applications. Not only was it a nifty solution to gracefully flow the main menu into the small interface, but it was the only valid, rational … View the full article

If you want to take your photography skills to the next level, you'll want the Professional Photo Editing Bundle. This comprehensive training bundle will teach you how to use Lightroom like a pro – you'll learn how to edit photos so well that they'll look like they belong in a magazine. You'll gain hands-on practice by taking sunset shots and balancing them perfectly, and you'll also discover how to create time lapse effects for truly eye-catching photographs. You'll even learn the techniques behind taking great night photographs – it can be tricky, but you'll find out the secrets to success in this bundle. Get the Professional Photo Editing Bundle for just $19 – 88% off the regular price. Related articles: 45 best photo apps and photo editing software The 5 best laptops for photo editing in 2018 Create illustrated portraits from photos View the full article

As a designer, it's no secret that some tasks are a serious time-suck. And when all you want to do is crack on with actually designing something, that can be hugely frustrating. But it doesn't have to be that way. Whether your biggest bugbear is creating invoices, contracts and other admin paperwork, or you spend far too much of your day creating design mockups, or maybe you waste hours to-ing and fro-ing with clients on tiny amends – we hear you. There are plenty of tools for designers that can help you claw back some of that all-important creative time. For a start, you could automate common design tasks, or install useful design plugins to make your process easier. There are plenty of productivity tools and collaboration tools for designers to choose from too. If that's still not enough, read on to discover ten time-saving tools for specific design tasks, all of which could save you time right away. Most of these tools are also free, at least initially... 01. Design product mock-ups quickly with PlaceIt Mock up your latest app design on a phone with ease If you find yourself spending too many hours stitching screengrabs onto product images to show them off in situ, once you discover PlaceIt, you'll wonder what you've been doing with your life. With more than 2,500 Creative Commons images in its library to use as templates, this handy mockup generator might just prove a godsend when you need to show something on a phone, tablet or other device. 02. Find complementary colours with Impalette Generate a whole colour palette from a single image Wasting time with the Color Picker in Photoshop, trying to find the right palette to complement a particular image? This needs to stop. The wittily tiled Impalette (which features an impala in its logo, in case you missed it) has a simple but invaluable function: import an image, and it'll provide you with a Pantone-based grid of dominant colours, as well as a selection of complementary hues. 03. Keep track of expenses easily with Expensify Take the pain out of your expense reports Let's go ahead and assume that keeping track of your expense receipts isn't why you became a designer. So why are you wasting so much time doing it? Expensify makes the process easy, from receipt scanning through to reimbursement (if you're employed). If you're self-employed, you can import the data into third-party apps ready for every freelancer's favourite time of year: tax return season. 04. Create social graphics faster with iStock Editor Crop your chosen image to size right within iStock Stock images are great for creating graphics for social campaigns, but if you're bothering to download them, import them and crop them to different sizes, guess what? You're wasting time. With iStock Editor, you can create simple graphics quickly and effectively, right within the image library – it even has all the crop sizes you need for different social platforms ready and waiting. 05. Track down that typeface with What Font Is Upload an image to determine what fonts are used in it Do you keep seeing a distinctive typeface in use that would be ideal for your next project, but have no idea what it is? Sure, you could waste precious time on research, or ask around to see if anyone recognises it. Or you could cut out the hassle and use the aptly named What Font Is. Upload an image or specify a URL, and it'll generate a list of type matches for you to experiment with. 06. Make pattern design a breeze with Patterninja Turn any image into a pattern quickly and easily Sometimes single-purpose apps are the most fun to play with. Sure, you could fire up Illustrator and create all the pattern designs you need for your next design project, but why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Patterninja simply takes any image you give it and converts it into a pattern. There are a broad selection of vector shapes and icons in its free library to get you started, too. 07. Make client approval smoother with ProofHub Cut out the email tennis with clients over project feedback Be honest: how much time do you waste playing email tennis with clients, colleagues and collaborators as the agonising process of dealing with feedback and amends plays out? Project management tool ProofHub provides a central place for all project-based discussion, feedback and changes. There are various markup tools baked in, so you can highlight and annotate directly on the file. 08. Test out your chosen fonts with Type Anything Experiment with CSS type formatting on the fly to save time Your website design may look great on the mockups, but what happens when you get it into CSS and it doesn't work as planned? Rather than wasting time tinkering, or going back to the drawing board altogether, test it out in a live environment first using Type Anything. As well as exploring font combinations, you can adjust size, spacing, weight, opacity, margins and many other variables on the fly. 09. Simplify client proposals with Proposify Win over clients with effortlessly interactive proposals Designing client pitches and proposals is a drain on any studio or freelancer's time – and unless you win the work, you can't chalk it up as billable time either. But you still want a polished presentation, and Proposify is one solution. Using the tool, you can create an interactive, mobile-optimised, fully white-labelled experience quickly and easily – and there are plenty of templates to use. At $25/month for an individual, or $75/month for a small business, you have to pay for the privilege though. 10. Cut out the invoicing hassle with Invoice.to Collect payments quickly and easily through Stripe or PayPal Our final inclusion on this list is another very simple but effective single-purpose tool. While many project management apps will incorporate an invoicing system, if you're a freelancer who just wants something super-quick and easy to take the hassle out of invoicing, Invoice.to might be just the thing. Plug your Stripe or PayPal account into it, and you're away. Related articles: Essential guide to tools for designers 10 plugins to make your design process easier 8 simple productivity tools for designers View the full article

The new strategy allows an attacker to instead lift ID information directly from the router, within minutes. View the full article

For a lot of people, owning a piece of art is an ambition that's always going to be out of reach. Not only is a lot of original artwork itself beyond most people's budgets, but even the cost of sourcing and framing high-quality prints can be unfeasible. Factor in the possibility that lives and tastes change – rendering investing in expensive artwork or prints a risk not wholly unlike adorning your body in tattoo art – and it's clear to see there's a problem that needs solving. Art techniques: top tutorials for painting and drawing Enter Canvia, a recently launched Kickstarter project that aims to bring art to the masses. Canvia is a smart digital display that wants to make the process of choosing, displaying and enjoying art easier than before. Canvia makes it easier and more accessible to display art Digital picture frames are nothing new, but often they aren't geared towards displaying the high level of detail that Canvia boasts. Thanks to cutting-edge hardware, proprietary image processing, and image-based sensors, Canvia presents and digital artwork as a high-quality painting or print. This means that viewers will be able to see original artwork details such as colour, texture, contrast and even individual brushstrokes. And ambient light sensors, which adjust the colours depending on the image's surroundings, ensure the artwork looks as fresh and sharp as its creator intended. Canvia captures the detail of individual brush strokes Artwork for Canvia can be selected from a massive online library app, cutting out the hassle and expense of sourcing and displaying new pictures. And once you start using Canvia, you'll get recommendations of what to hang up next. Users can also take a photo and chuck it up on the screen. Having worked closely with traditional artists, the team at Canvia understand how best to transfer painting from the canvas to the screen. The project has already smashed its goal on Kickstarter, with a week to go until its campaign ends. There's still time to donate though, so if you want to get in on the ground floor of this innovative device, be sure to head over to the Canvia Kickstarter page and make a pledge. Related articles: 8 inspiring digital art portfolios and why they work How to start your digital art journey Painter 2018 blurs the line between traditional and digital art View the full article

There's no point having a beautifully designed website if no one can find it. That's where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) comes in. SEO is both an art and a science, it's all about ensuring that when people search for a relevant term online – for example, 'cheap hotel in Birmingham' – your website appears high up the results page, in a way that grabs attention and encourages click-throughs. You might think SEO is something you can hand over to someone 'technical' once the website layout has been agreed on and the whole thing is designed. But rather than being bolted on after the event, it's increasingly baked into the design process from the start. "For brand new websites, SEO is definitely something clients want to discuss straight away," says Mark Stringer, managing director of Manchester agency AHOY. "And for those undertaking a refresh, it's usually the next question after the UI discussion." Exactly what's requested will vary from client to client. "Smaller businesses and sole traders tend to ask about marketing in general, or maybe even how to get on Google," says Eji Osigwe, head of design and development at Cedarwood Digital, also in Manchester. "Larger businesses seem more aware of the terminology and the kind of work involved, and so may ask for very specific work." How SEO works Cedarwood Digital worked to improve SEO on improvisational comedy group Impro Quo's website. This mainly involved research into what people are searching for, considered copywriting, and good use of headings There was a time when SEO was a dark art involving tricks like 'keyword stuffing', which meant visitors were often greeted by the mindless repetition of a phrase like 'cheap hotel' through a site. Thankfully, in 2018, search engines are more sophisticated, and so nowadays the most fundamental building block of SEO is, quite simply, to create a quality website people will love. "Strong, quality content that keeps visitors engaged – especially content informed by an up-to-date keyword strategy – will help you move higher in search results," says Eric Johnson, director of experience design at 50,000feet. "Think of the winning formula as visitor time spent + high-quality content + keywords." Techniques for boosting your SEO Fireworx rebuilt and redesigned the website of wealth management firm Edison; it was crucial to preserve the site's current link equity with a comprehensive plan for 301 redirects One is to structure the information on your site so it can be displayed as a separate section within your main listing. "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) is a good example of high-quality, useful content that will get included," notes Johnson. "The next time you search on Google, check out the 'People Also Ask' module, which displays questions that are similar to your search; this will help you get an idea of questions to include in your FAQ." Another important thing to consider, especially when it comes to refreshes and rebrands, is 301 redirects. These little bits of code send both site visitors and search engines to a different URL when, for example, a temporary campaign ends and you want people to visit the main site instead. Broken links will get you penalised on Google, so a solid 301 redirect strategy is vital to good SEO. SEO is not an exact science, though, because the algorithms used by search engines like Google to rank sites are both secret and constantly changing. For this reason, optimising the SEO of a site is not a 'one and done' deal, but something that needs constant attention. Thankfully, it's easy to gather data on how your strategy is working, and tweak accordingly. 35 brilliantly designed 404 error pages How to measure SEO "SEO is very easy to measure with analytics tools such as Google Analytics and a range of other platform tools," explains Adam Innes, technical architect at 50,000feet. "Insights gained from these tools include key search terms, visitors by type of device, and duration of visits – all of which are vital in continuing to optimise the experience for engagement and performance." It's also important to keep an eye on trends. For example, Google has made it a priority to measure the speed at which web pages load, with slow-loading sites getting demoted in the rankings. Google also puts huge stock on responsive web design – essentially whether your site adapts seamlessly to mobile or other devices. Innes, meanwhile, believes other factors will become important in future. "With a growing awareness of fake content, there will be more emphasis on a website's TrustRank and user security," he predicts. "Google has already taken steps to include a small bump in preference to sites using HTTPS. Providing not only quality and engaging content but also truthful and secure content will become more and more important." Learning about SEO Frontend and backend development helped support both topical browsing and targeted keyword searching on 50,000ft's website for Sappi Limited, a South African pulp and paper company (also featured in lead image) Regardless of the specifics, one thing is clear: SEO is something all creatives need to be aware of. So how can designers develop their awareness of it? Firstly, says Stringer, know your limitations. "Understand that this is not your forte, and it's hard enough for SEO specialists to keep up with Google's changing algorithm let alone a graphic designer." But at the same time, the more you can learn about SEO the better. "Take responsibility and get up to speed so you have a rough understanding of best practice," Stringer urges. "It's better for your career, your sanity and the team. I've always found that learning from your peers is the most useful way to gain new skills, and the digital sector is probably one of the most community focused sectors out there, so you’ll never find a shortage of people willing to help," he continues. "If you are lucky enough to work in a team that has a search specialist in house, or that comes in to help, don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions and don’t let the account manager or project manager do all the work for you," says Stringer. "As the sector grows, there will always be more and more people you can call upon for a skills swap." This article was originally published in issue 279 of Computer Arts, the world's leading design magazine. Buy issue 279 or subscribe here. Read more: The best laptops for graphic design in 2018 Why graphic designers need beautiful websites 6 hot new websites to be inspired by View the full article

Half of breached firms say they were compromised due to a vulnerability for which a patch was available but not applied. View the full article

Although many creatives aren’t aware of it, you can actually get a qualification in software like Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC and InDesign CC. You just need to take the Adobe Certified Expert Exam (ACE). However, these qualifications are not (usually) necessary to get work as a designer, illustrator or animator. So why exactly should you bother? There are several reasons you might want to become Adobe certified. Your employer might insist on it, or suggest it will help you get a raise or promotion. Having an official ‘Certified’ badge on your website may help you win clients as a freelancer. You may wish to teach Adobe skills to others. Or you may just realise there’s a lot of things you’ve never learned to do within the software, and fancy a challenge. If you pass the test, you get a certificate and can put this badge on your site That’s exactly what spurred Jamie Carroll, a graphic artist based in Missouri, to pursue Adobe accreditation. “After working as a designer for many years, I knew I didn’t necessarily need the certification,” he recalls. “But I needed a new challenge at the time and I was ready to learn new things, and test my knowledge of the software.” (You can read about his experiences in detail in this blog post). It was a similar story for Garrett Scott Schue, a graphic designer for the marketing department of Liberty University in Virginia. “My reasoning for taking the test was to push myself to learn as much as I can,” he explains. “This test is the industry standard for design and I wanted to prove that I had mastered these programs.” In this post, we’ll explain how to go about becoming Adobe certified and offer tips on how to succeed. 01. What the test involves The Adobe training website is your first port of call to getting certified To become an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) in, say, Photoshop you need to pass a test that involves multiple choice questions about the different tools and functions within the software. Just to be clear then: you don’t actually have to do any creative work at all. You’re not tested on your ability to design, illustrate or animate; only your knowledge of the software. That means that even if you’ve spent many years using the software in question, you'll still need to read up on the tools and features you’ve never needed to use. To give you a flavour, here's a sample question from the Photoshop test. 'How could a user apply a non-destructive vignette to an image?' The possible answers are: A. Use the Burn Tool to selectively brush in image edge darkening B. Add a Photo Filter layer and adjust the vignette slider for each edge C. Apply a Black to Transparent Gradient to the edges of an overlaid empty layer D. Select the Multiply blending mode and use the Brush tool to paint the darker areas (To find the answer, scroll down to the bottom of the post). 02. How do I book a test? The website will point you towards your nearest test centre To book a test, you’ll need to create an Adobe ID if you don’t already have one; you can create one here. Then head to the Adobe Certification Exams website and scroll through the options to find the specific software you wish to take the test in and click on the blue ‘Schedule an exam’ button. You’ll be given the option of taking the test at a physical test centre, or taking the test online. If you choose the former, you just enter your address and will be presented with the nearest test centres and a list of available dates and times. If you opt for the latter, the website will check that your system is compatible, so it helps if you apply on the device that you’ll be using to take the test. Oh, and did we mention you have to pay? Right now, it costs $180 to book the Photoshop test, whether you are taking it online or in person. 03. What might trip you up? However well you know your software, there may be some traps along the way Desmond Du, a Singaporean currently studying motion media design in Georgia, found one thing particularly surprising about the test. “The most challenging part was the ambiguous phrasing of some of the questions and answers,” he recalls. “Based on how you interpret the questions, you might arrive at two plausible answers, but there can only be one correct choice.” Carroll agrees. “The most difficult part of the test is the way the questions are worded,” he notes. “The answers are generally similar and worded in a way that makes you second guess your choice.” For this reason, doing as many practice exam questions as possible in advance comes highly recommended. Also be aware that what you commonly use Adobe software for may not be the whole story. “When I took the tests the biggest surprise for me was that InDesign has a large part of the questions based on animation,” recalls Schue. “This completely caught me off guard.” One thing particularly struck Du when took the Photoshop exam (which he details in full in this blog post). “You have to know every nook and cranny of the software, such as the function of some shortcuts,” he stresses. “If you don’t, you’re bound to fail.” Schue takes a similar view. “You need to to study hard, and make sure you just know the full program,” he says. “It’s easy to master your day-to-day work flow, but it’s very challenging to master parts of a program you never use. This is not a test for beginners, and I would recommend many years of experience before taking the test.” “I have received a few personal messages from designers that have attempted the test and not passed,” adds Carroll. “My advice is to focus on preparation and diversify your training resources. I took the preparation very seriously and studied for several weeks leading up to the test, dedicating much of my free time to preparation. Many hours.” 04. How to prepare for the test You can't wing this test; you need to study How the best prepare for the exam will of course depend on the software in question, your level of expertise and experience, and your personal study pattern. But in general, Du offers the following tips. Examine the software. Open up the software which you will be tested for, and examine every single button in there. If something seems foreign and confusing, research and clarify your doubts about their functions. Read the manual. This might be a little extreme, but I actually printed the software manual PDF for After Effects and read it like a textbook to study for my exam. Having a hard copy to read was more comfortable for my learning than reading the PDF off the screen. Read a book. Of all books that I found, Adobe Photoshop CC on Demand is the perfect book to prepare you for taking the Photoshop exam, as it covers almost everything you need to know about Photoshop. It is detailed and concise with each spread covering one or two specific components of the software. Test the waters. Take the Photoshop exam first because it is the easiest compared to the ones for After Effects and Illustrator. That way, you can understand the structure of the exam and gauge your knowledge of the software." (Du has written separate guides to the Photoshop test, Illustrator test and After Effects test.) 05. The joy of passing Pass the test, and it can be a boost to your design career If all this sounds like a big headache for something you don’t necessarily need, then note that there are also many benefits to getting Adobe-certified. “Although I would always put more emphasis on a designer’s portfolio than credentials, the certification does set you apart,” believes Carroll. “Since getting the certification, people will contact me more frequently asking for freelance work,” reports Shue. And for Du, it was life changing. “In retrospect, studying for the Adobe Expert exams became my first step to rebuilding myself after being rejected by local universities,” he explains. “I would have never foreseen that it would someday help me get into one of the best art schools in the world [The Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia]. “On a technical level, studying for the exam made me realised there are so many hidden functions inside Photoshop that can improve my workflow, such as automation using Create Droplet," he adds. "On an interpersonal level, my peers respected me more and trusted my skills in the software, so much so that I even got offers to become a software instructor.” If you do decide to pursue Adobe certification, then we wish you the best of luck. Oh, and that sample question? The answer was C. 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