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Today creative software giant Adobe reveals the latest iteration of its Creative Could service. As you would expect, some of the company's most popular apps have seen some significant updates, but the big news about town is Adobe's all-new, video editing app Project Rush. 6 best laptops for video editing 2018 Video dominates the internet - you know that, we know that, Adobe knows that, which is why its been busy working behind the scenes to develop a new tool that reimagines how we create and share online video. The Adobe blog describes Project Rush as "the first all-in-one, cross-device video editing app that makes creating and sharing online content easier than ever'. The integrated desktop and mobile solution means the days of not being near your PC no longer means you can't make video edits - your smartphone will now give you the access you need, providing simplified editing, colour, audio, and titling at your fingertips. Not only does Project Rush harness the power of Adobe's Premiere Pro and After Effects, it also features a direct sharing functionality – optimised across all channels – which makes it possible to share content on social media even faster. While there's no official release date for Project Rush at present, Adobe will be sneak previewing the software at VidCon US, the conference for those who love and make online video, in the next couple of days. In the meantime, if you can't wait to get your hands on Project Rush, you can apply for the beta and then let Adobe know what you think. We're impressed with what we've seen of Project Rush so far, and keen to get our hands on the new software, so watch this space for updates and reviews. Below are more details of some of the other apps affected by the latest CC update. Want to sign up? Make sure you check out these top Adobe deals first. Adobe Spark Post for Android (Beta) Adobe Spark Post is now available to Android users too! Adobe Spark Post is a free online social media graphic design software that enables you to add text, apply filters, resize, crop, and rotate photos. Adobe Spark Post was previously available on iOS devices and the web, but Android users will be pleased to learn that, as of today, they can finally join in the party. Lightroom CC This latest release of Lightroom CC includes additional new features to both the desktop and mobile apps The latest iteration of Adobe's image manipulation software Lightroom CC will be able to synchronise both presets and profiles, including custom-created presets, and third-party presets and profiles between Lightroom CC for Windows, Macintosh, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, as well as on the web. This gives users access to any preset purchased on any device, enabling photo editing anywhere and everywhere. This release also includes additional new features in the Windows and Mac desktop apps and iOS and Android mobile apps, two new Technology Previews, and an update to Lightroom Classic. Adobe XD Following the Adobe XD May release, including the launch of the free XD CC Starter plan, Adobe is updating the platform with Overlays and Fixed Elements (see video above); improvements to viewing, interacting and collaborating with shared prototypes and Design Specs; a new math calculations feature; and design feature enhancements. Read more: Edit videos with Adobe Premiere Pro CC 95 top Photoshop tutorials The 60 best free Photoshop brushes View the full article

Web development is a highly lucrative career path, and more job opportunities are opening up across the world all the time. If you want to launch a successful new career or just pick up some extra money in a side job, check out The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0. The comprehensive course goes deep into the world of coding, helping you build a solid foundation in such programming languages as HTML5, CSS3, and Python. You'll also practice building actual websites, such as a blogs and e-commerce sites, using tools like MySQL 5, Wordpress, and PHP 7. By the course's end, you'll be able to put your new knowledge into real-world scenarios. Try out The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 -- it's on sale now for only $25. Related articles: How to use Markdown in web development 20 useful tools for web developers 6 must-have skills for young web developers View the full article

You're reading How to Design a High Converting Email Newsletter [Infographic], originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! An email newsletter is an essential part of every website owner’s strategy. A good email allows you to better connect with an online audience, gather information about user wants and preferences and even sell products online. According to a report, … View the full article

If you want to get ahead in design, you need to think outside the box when you're looking for work. Sure, you won't get anywhere without a solid design portfolio and a decent CV, but sometimes you have to take a risk and make a grab for an unexpected opportunity; it might just get you noticed by the right people. We asked some designers about the most creative or unusual ways in which they'd found work. Here's what they had to say. 01. Instagram followers Louise Fili collects typography inspiration on her Instagram feed Art director Louise Fili reveals, "As a designer of restaurant identities, I had long been following the trajectory of Jody Williams, a celebrated chef who made a name for herself in New York restaurants including Il Buco, Morandi and Buvette. I was pleasantly surprised when I returned from Rome to find an email from her – she was opening a new restaurant called Via Carota and wanted to talk about the graphics. "When we met, I discovered how she had found me: she had been following me on Instagram (where I post Italian signs almost exclusively), and then Googled me to find that as a day job I happen to be a graphic designer for restaurants!" For more on this, take a look at our article on how to make money on Instagram as a creative, or for Insta-inspiration, check out our list of the graphic designers you should be following. 02. Hidden art "I sometimes leave little original artworks out in the city or at events for people to find and keep," says illustrator and graphic designer Stina Jones. "I pop my business card on the back for the recipient and also post clues on my social media feeds so anyone who already follows my work can find them if they're in the area. "From time to time the pieces (and my tweets about them) get picked up by someone unfamiliar with my work who has then gone on to either buy something from my store or contact me about a project." 03. From coffee to books Coffee proved to be a great way for illustrator Dylan Gibson to get noticed. "It started with an artwork of the deli where I buy coffee to help me start the day," he says. "I gave the deli a copy for their wall. The owner of a nearby toy shop saw it and commissioned me to do a shop front for her in a picture book style. I posted that on LinkedIn, and a publisher saw it and gave me two picture books to illustrate. The work from those two books is still getting me work today." 04. Experimental artwork Artist and designer Ari Weinkle dabbles in experimental design in his spare time. "A great way to attract new clients is to create personal work that's weird and experimental," he says. "For example, I've created several rather strange typographic experiments – one based on varicose veins, another on animal appendages. Both led to exciting projects from medical illustrations to features in films." 05. Cupcake design "When I was first starting out as a designer, I made a die-cut stencil of the logo of an agency I'd always wanted to work for so that I could create branded icing tops for some cupcakes I'd made," reveals creative director and designer, Luke Finch. "I then delivered them personally to the studio with a quirky illustrative note to the owner saying "The more you weigh, the harder you'll be to kidnap – stay safe, eat cake." The URL I put on there (Lets-Have-A-Luke) was a new one I'd bought that redirected to my WeLoveNoise portfolio." 06. Your own 'weaknesses' Sam Part turned his dyslexia into a killer self-promo campaign "I think when approaching interesting ways to get people involved and interested in your work, it's really important that you embrace your own work and what it is," says illustrator Michael Driver. "There was a really nice project a few years back by Sam Part – a Kingston design student who played on the fact he was dyslexic by making lollipop casts of his own head that acted as business cards. "The lollipops came with a tag that said 'I'm a lickable guy'. His tagline was about making his weaknesses his strengths, and I think that the project was brilliant and rang true to him." Read more about the project here. From the archive. This article was originally published in 2016 in Computer Arts magazine. Subscribe here. Read more: 7 ways to craft a killer self-promo campaign 10 good reasons for turning down work 5 things clients really want (but probably won't tell you) View the full article

Researchers were able to discover a way to hack the device in less than an hour. View the full article

Researchers were able to discover a way to hack the device in less than an hour. View the full article

Suspira is a dark jewel of demonic delights from Dreadful Press, the independent publisher behind controversial witchcraft magazine Sabat. Investigating monsters of the invisible (imagined) and visible (real) worlds, this debut issue feels as if it was written and designed at night, in a fever dream of Jungian darkness. There's a macabre yet beautiful cabinet of curiosities hidden behind its blacker-than-black cover. 10 ways to make your magazine cover stand out Despite an obvious affection for B-movie exploitation flicks ("Enter if you dare..." the website warns), Suspira is no blood-junkie gorefest, but rather an esoteric collection of dispatches from the borderlands of the unconscious. For editor and creative director Valentina Egoavil Medina, "Fear is what we don’t know… the universal monster that is the reflection in the mirror." The shadow self looms large: mental illness as demonic possession is explored in Aviv Grimm’s intimate discussion of depression and sleep paralysis (This Unrest) and Susannah Russell’s essay on the representation of vampires and werewolves (Idols Cast In Our Likeness) dissects them to extract their all too human DNA. Elsewhere, Medina’s interview with Rue Morgue’s Andrea Subissati (Speaking of Monsters) examines the cinematic depiction of monsters from Dracula to The Shape Of Water, and finds them "100 per cent socially constructed … a reflection of our own anxieties and apprehensions." "Kiss me and I'll claw you to death" White space, type and image are perfectly balanced throughout What makes Suspira so refreshingly contemporary is its resolutely female perspective and determination to "dissect sinister subjects through a feminine lens." Well-worn male tropes are revitalised by Suspira’s female-centric agenda, which excels at making the familiar unfamiliar. "We wanted to erase the misconception that horror as a genre and as an industry is predominantly male," Medina explains. "To approach the genre with a sensitivity that it hasn't necessarily been granted in the past, partly due to a desire to please primarily a male audience." We wanted to erase the misconception that horror as a genre and as an industry is predominantly male Valentina Egoavil Medina, Suspira editor A critical study of the exposed pathological behaviour of men could hardly be more timely. In what Medina describes as, "this moment of monstrous men," Alexandra Furssedonn-Howard’s essay – The Monstrous Feminine – calls out mythological subjugations of women as thinly disguised reflections of men’s timeless fear of castrating woman, possessed by dark arts and exhibiting terrifying sexuality. “If (women) do not work within the patriarchy and do what is expected of them, they become the stuff of horror in the eyes of men,” she says. In lesser hands, Furssedonn-Howard’s piece might be dismissed as polemical, but her writing is so compelling, the only possible response is one of uncomfortable recognition. Fascinating as Furssedonn-Howard’s essay is, what raises it to the transcendent is the choice of accompanying photographs by French artist Patrick Jannin . Rather than simply illustrating the piece, Jannin’s disturbing stills of animal-masked sub/dom sex rituals complicate and subvert it, triggering a queasy confusion in the reader. This ambiguity is a defining characteristic of the whole magazine, which endlessly encourages complexity over dogma, asking questions rather than answering them. "Virgins, whores and mothers are all candidates to become monstrous, if they do not do what is expected of them." Alexandra Furssedonn-Howard’s essay cuts to the heart of Suspira’s philosophy. His dark materials While Suspira’s dark subject matter might be divisive, the design conjured up by German-based Studio FAX’s Dario Gracceva and Aldo D’Angelo are impossible to resist. The magazine looks wonderful, with endlessly inventive and ambitious treatments. "We were able to meet up regularly to discuss and brainstorm ideas,” Madina told us, “there was no single way of approaching the designs, instead, we focused on translating the written content into a visual context, deconstructing each topic and reconstructing it visually.” Notions of good and evil (good versus bad taste) blur throughout, but there’s an undeniable honesty to the magazine, which is clearly a passion project created with fierce integrity From sumptuous photography to pseudo-biblical type-only layouts – all deployed with a delicious variety of paper stocks and special inks – Suspira is perfectly paced, every turn of the page a step into the unknown. Slogan-satirising soundbytes of disruptive typography – YOU HAVE A THOUSAND THRILLS! – co-exist with medical diagrams of conjoined fetuses, the pages flickering past in a sensory overload of fearless WTF antagonism and analyst-couch angst. From beginning to end, the design refuses to settle into a recognisable template and that such an varied collection of treatments should still coalesce into a unified identity is testament to Studio Fax’s own dark arts. Despair, dread and desire Horacio Quiroz’s surreal artwork exploring the "boundaries and tensions between the beautiful and the grotesque" simmer with malevolence. But horror, like sex, is a deeply subjective realm, each individual responding (or not) according to their own pathology. The magazine’s title, although in part a nod towards Italian horror director Dario Argento’s Suspira, was primarily chosen due to Medina’s emotional attachment to the Spanish word suspirar: to sigh. “You can sigh from relief, sadness, arousal, infatuation and even fear,” she explains, “and in a way I wanted the magazine to be able to evoke all of those feelings, luring out a sigh here and there.” Her magazine more than meets these objectives, with intelligence (and chills) to spare. And while it’s an unfortunate reality that female voices need to be expressed more often and louder to be heard above the male status quo, Susipra’s stunning execution proves how vital and exhilarating this experience can be. Buy Suspira magazine here Read more: Graphic Design for... review View the full article

Watercolour is an incredible medium that, with the right art techniques can be used to make the most magical and unique images. It can create anything, from helping you with how to draw landscapes such as a bright sunny day as well as a deep dark night, or even with how to draw animals. Here, we'll create a mysterious starry night using watercolour and masking fluid. To create the randomness of stars, I will spray it onto paper using an old toothbrush. When this stage is done, I can colour the sky with dark shades and different tones. The branches of trees will then cover some parts of the sky, especially near the horizon. I'm using a wet-in-wet technique here, but note that masking fluid should be used on dry paper only. Any small details can be painted on the dry paper too. And, remember, to save time you can always use a hairdryer. A word of warning: before you start using masking fluid for watercolour, cover your brush with soap. This will prevent the masking fluid from sticking to your brush. However, as a precaution, it's best not to use your favourite brush for it. You can also use the end of brush handle to apply the fluid. 01. Place spots on watercolour paper The spatterings of masking fluid will become stars later on First, I place light yellow and blue spots on very wet watercolour paper. It will form the colour of the stars. I then dry the paper using a hairdryer. Then I add masking fluid using a toothbrush, as shown above. These spatters will soon be stars! I remove any unnecessary drops and let the paper dry. Note that the masking fluid should dry completely before starting the next step. 02. Paint around the masking fluid Mix dark and light colours together to create a striking sky I then wet the paper again, to paint a gradient. I place the dark colours on the top and mix them with warm tones near the horizon. I use Payne's Grey, Perylene Violet, Permanent Mauve, Manganese Blue Hue, Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Orange and Lemon-Yellow colours. Then, I add a yellow and blue glow around stars. They are still masked, so I paint around the masking fluid. 03. Remove the masking fluid Erase the masking fluid to reveal a starry sky It's now time to remove the masking fluid using an eraser. I paint tree branches using dark tones, and wash out a few branches with a wet flat synthetic brush so they are visible on the dark background. Every time I erase masking fluid it feels like a miracle! We are now done. Read more: Art techniques: top tutorials for painting and drawing How to draw: 98 tutorials 15 beautiful pencil drawings to inspire you View the full article

Remember when a movie budget topping $100 million was big news? Today, no one bats an eyelid at those sort of numbers. It's simply assumed that, to have good-enough CG to satisfy the multiplex masses, you have to spend the GDP of a small nation. How to get your first CG job Or do you? Every now and again, we'll spot something online that looks like a blockbuster, but was actually made by small team working on a shoestring. Admittedly, we're talking short films, not three-hour epics, but even so, the level of artistry on display can be mind-boggling. You often can't help wondering: just how on earth did they do that? We chatted to the teams behind four such projects to find out the answer. "We focused on reducing render time" The 'small team, big project' phenomenon is most often seen in film festival and competition entries, which every year just seem to get better and better. Take DREAVELER, an entry to 2018 Pause Fest, Australia's premier creative, tech and business event. It's a captivating, all-CG short, set in a future world where death only happens by means of euthanasia. The subject may be a little grim, but the CG dreamworlds are utterly awe-inspiring. So it's certainly a surprise to learn that its creators, Taehoon Park, Hyunsup Ahn and Jihoon Roh, made the project in their spare time and over the course of just three months. "We spent one month for the story and animatic, and two months for production," says Taehoon. "We mainly used Cinema 4D for animations and rendering, After Effects CC for colour correction and compositing, and Maya and Marvelous Designer for the character modelling." Using Octane meant that DREAVELER rendered super fast So how did they get it all done so quickly? "We focused strongly on scene optimisation and reducing render time," says Taehoon. "I used an awesome GPU-biased renderer called Octane, which is super fast and realistic – I'd totally recommend it to everyone." But more important than technical shortcuts was having the right mindset, he stresses. "I don't think you need a large number of people," he believes. "As long as they have the ability, two or three people can make great scenes. The important thing is good teamwork." "Embrace the restrictions" DREAVELER stands testament to just what can be achieved in your spare time, and that was exactly the thinking behind another inspiring short, created by a small team at Blue Zoo animation studio in London. VIA is a short animated film that tells the journey of life through the use of epic, beautiful environments and meaningful character animation. "I wanted a project that I could work on during spare moments between work projects," explains its originator, Izzy Burton. You might think that only being able to focus on a project during unpredictable, fragmented moments would prove frustrating. But, says Burton, it was actually helpful to the creative process. "The short took 18 months to complete," she recalls. "And the benefit of this stretched-out timeline meant that I could leave it – sometimes for a few weeks – and come back to it with fresh eyes and more advice from colleagues and friends, meaning the story and visuals had time to become the best they could be." VIA's environments are as important to its narrative as the characters Initially VIA had been planned as a one-woman-show project, but as the story became more elaborate and even more characters continued to be added, Blue Zoo brought in a team of 3D artists – Chris Rais, Pietro Licini, Anthony Delliste, Dane Winn and Phil Brooks – along with producer Tom Box and production manager Chantal Baldwin. Says Box: "One of the main ways we achieved such a high-quality project with such a small team was to embrace the restrictions and see how we could use them as a challenge to how they restricted the storytelling process. This resulted in using very small 3D characters to limit the 2D animation detail required, and forced the storytelling to use the environments instead of relying so much on character performance." "We just took the time to do it right" While "embrace the restrictions" is a great mantra for a personal project, there's one area where you may find yourself refreshingly free of restrictions. Unless you have a contest to enter, you could decide not to set a deadline – leaving you free to finesse and perfect your work in a way that just wouldn't be possible when working on a commercial production. And that's exactly what VFX artist Julien Vanhoenacker found when creating A Drop, a spectacular seven-minute short with shades of Inception, about a man plunging off a tall building into an unknown sci-fi world. Vanhoenacker started the project as a way of developing his skills as a director, and found the lack of ticking clock hugely liberating. "Most of my projects are TV scenes with tight deadlines," he explains. "Here, though, we just said: let's shoot it, then let's post-process it, and it's done when it's done. So that's how we achieved something that I think looks pretty good, with a small amount of people – because we just took the time to do it right." A Drop came in at a total cost of about $5,000 The film was shot in Bangkok, partly in a gym and partly in an abandoned building: you'll be astonished by what Vanhoenacker has created for so little money. That's largely due to most people working for free. "If we'd had to bill for it, it would have been, I don't know, $100,000 or something," he admits. "I think in the end we spent around $5,000, of which the post house kicked in a couple of thousand. We had to pay for the operators and the transportation, but got a camera for free. We had most of the gear for very cheap. I think all the actors combined was maybe $1,000." Going out and asking people to work for free, or for low rates, might sound like a tall order. But Vanhoenacker actually didn't need to; it just happened naturally. "I initially planned a much smaller project," he says, "But then more and more people got interested in joining in, friends of colleagues, friends of friends, and so on. The thing just developed, and suddenly these actors wanted to be in the movie, [and next] this guy wants to DOP it and is providing hardware. I had a whole stunt team that showed up and said, 'Okay, we are going to do it for free.' So the thing got bigger and bigger as it went." "Have a good, solid plan and stick to it" Another sci-fi short that people were champing at the bit to help on was SENTiNEL. That's largely because it was directed by Ryan Connolly, who is well known within the industry for his filmmaking web shows, Film Riot and Film State. In SENTiNEL, a man wakes up in an empty field and discovers that he's being chased by a flying drone, which sets off a desperate race for survival. The artist behind the drone was none other than Andrew Kramer. As the creator of the Video Copilot tutorial platform, After Effects plugin developer and an artist who has worked on JJ Abrams films like Star Trek and Super 8, Kramer certainly didn't need the exposure. But even the most celebrated artists can have their arms twisted for the right project, it seems. "Originally, when Ryan first told me about the short, I offered to help with the design of the ship," Kramer recalls. "At Video Copilot we'd been developing a new 3D model kit of objects that can be built into various sci-fi vehicles, Element 3D, so I thought it would be a good challenge to make something for a real short. Then, the day before Ryan planned to shoot, his long-time VFX guy took off unexpectedly and he was left trying to figure out a plan. I decided not to leave a friend hanging!" SENTiNEL's CG elements took just over two weeks to put together With the help of two colleagues, Dustin Hudson and Taylor Ellis, Kramer did the 3D ship design and compositing, along with all of the explosion impacts – which equates to over 25 total shots – in a little over two weeks. "Seeing how everything came together was really satisfying," he says. "Constraints on time can really help you solve interesting problems in a positive way, like using heat distortion instead of FumeFX. The key is to make an impact with the shots and I think it added a cool look as well. And for me as the developer of Element 3D, it's rewarding to see the kind of VFX that can come out of a simple plugin right inside After Effects in only a couple of weeks. And his advice for anyone wanting to emulate their success? "Even when the budget's low, you always want to do a good job," he stresses. "I knew going into it that we'd get inspired and that is a difficult place to try and fight against your own ambitions – especially when there is a deadline and limited resources. So having a good, solid plan and sticking to it as best you can is necessary. The more projects you work on, the better you understand what is possible and how well you can scale projects with additional help." This article was originally published in issue 234 of 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 234 here or subscribe to 3D World here. Related articles: 10 of the best productivity tools for CG artists The 27 greatest animated music videos Top animation tools for digital artists View the full article

The IP cameras have a slew of bugs allowing bad actors to control them, add them to a botnet, or render them useless. View the full article

The IP cameras have a slew of bugs allowing bad actors to control them, add them to a botnet, or render them useless. View the full article

You don’t buy the iMac Pro because you want it; you buy it because you need it. And the only reason you need it is if having its huge power at your disposal literally and specifically makes you more money. And, as it goes, for this to be true, you’re likely to be a VAT-registered company, in which case, the hair-raising £9,188 spec we’re reviewing here actually works out at £7,657. The best cheap Apple laptop deals And if all that sounds like we’re trying to talk you into buying one, let us say right now that most creative pros, even those who consider that they put heavy demands on their hardware, don’t need the iMac Pro. It commands huge reserves of power, but there are few who can put enough pressure on it to capitalise on that power. The traditional Apple creative pro market – illustrators, image editors (even those doing heavy manipulation of raw files from anything short of medium-format digital backs), film editors working even in 4K up, even many 3D modellers – don’t need its power. They can’t access it. They can’t feed it enough work. But for a stealth make-over, the iMac Pro looks exactly the same as the 27-inch iMac 5K Bar the dark grey finish – which, aesthetic judgements aside, blends more sympathetically with many modern dark pro apps’ interfaces and the coming macOS’s Dark Mode – it looks just like any other recent iMac, but Apple has done lots of work inside to allow the high-end components to vent heat. This is important; powerful chips generate heat, and the iMac’s slim shape would normally be antithetical to this. It works hugely well; the fans aren’t silent under heavy load, but they can vent the heat so well that there’s almost no impact on performance even on hot summer days (as would happen with less well-designed systems, which throttle performance as heat builds), and perhaps just as important, they spin down as fast as they spin up once the load has passed. iMac Pro specs Build-to-order options let you specify from 8 to 18 cores at 3.2 to 2.3GHz respectively – we tested a ‘sweet spot’ 3GHz 10-core – with 32–128GB RAM, 1–4TB SSD, and either a Radeon Pro Vega 56 with 8GB RAM or a Radeon Pro Vega 64 with 16GB RAM. We’re talking a mix of configs from £4,899 to £12,279 including VAT, just for the core machine. The workstation-class CPUs are all preposterously powerful, and they support Intel’s AVX-512 tech which allows developers to squeeze even more performance per cycle out of the hardware; we’re likely to see this tech implemented in Apple’s own pro apps first. The 18-core option will likely be most useful in scientific contexts rather than creative. If it’s formal benchmarks you want, other folks have delved deep into that, but let us give you a flavour: a test we did of transcoding a 4:10-long 4K ProRes clip using Compressor’s Apple Devices 4K and Better Quality 1080p presets as well as its Blu-Ray mastering preset took 7:18 on the iMac Pro, and more than twice as long on a first-gen iMac 5K which was specced to the hilt and so itself no slouch. The SSD is silly-fast; in the region of 3GB – gigabytes, not gigabits – per second. This doesn’t just mean fast file operations such as reading untranscoded high-res raw video footage in Final Cut Pro, but also adds to the responsiveness – the perceived speed – of the machine. Apple has achieved this in part by using two SSDs together, controlled by its custom T2 chip (responsible for much else in the system), and though they won’t tell us exactly what they’re doing, only confirming it’s not using one of the RAID standards, we do have some un-answered concerns about data integrity. The Ethernet ports support 10Gb/sec speeds (10 times faster than the broadly adopted Gigabit Ethernet standard), which is significant if you frequently pull files off a server or SAN – so long as your network infrastructure matches it. iMac Pro display In addition to the built-in 5K display, you can add either four 4K displays or two 5K displays. The built-in display is nice, but it doesn’t support HDR (and so if you’re working with very high-end images or footage, you’ll be missing colours unless you add an external mastering monitor), and though it supports P3 colour, this focus on the kind of colour space dedicated to displaying images on screen does come at the cost of poorer colour performance for print-intent work in the Adobe RGB colour space. You can connect two 5K displays or four 4K displays, to augment the already huge pixel count of the iMac Pro’s built-in 5K Retina display. Frustratingly – not because anyone in their right mind would buy an iMac Pro just to use as a monitor, but because having the flexibility to do so now, or the option of retiring an iMac Pro to that role after it’s been superseded, is great – Apple hasn’t restored the pre-iMac 5K feature, Target Display Mode, on the iMac Pro. With the 5K, there was a bandwidth issue with Thunderbolt 2 that prevented you from connecting another machine to it and using it as a dumb monitor. But we understand that restriction is gone with the iMac Pro’s Thunderbolt 3, and Apple isn’t telling us if TDM’s absence here is due to technical, political or engineering priorities reasons. One literal footnote: where before you had to decide if you wanted a VESA mount to allow you add an iMac to a wall mount or adjustable arm (say, beside other displays), it was delivered with one fitted and couldn’t be switched back to use the more usual foot; with the iMac Pro, you can add or remove the foot and VESA mount yourself. Why designers shouldn't hack their Mac Pro And that’s in one sense the only upgrade you can make; it’s an iMac! That said, though the RAM is in practical terms not user-upgradable, you can have it upgraded for you post-purchase if you like. (It’s high-end ECC RAM, which is less susceptible to corruption and crashes, which is significant of you’re talking about the chance for a multi-hours render to screw up.) There is one more key upgrade thing to cover. Apple’s wager with the iMac Pro is that some people will value the simplicity and appeal of the all-in-one over the tinkerability of a traditional desktop. And given that CPUs are improving at a comparatively slow pace, mixed with the fact that there is a lot of headroom in the iMac Pro’s overall performance, this is probably a generally safe bet. There’s a problem, though: GPU performance is still advancing fast, and with lots of professional creative and scientific applications increasingly deputising compute-heavy tasks to the GPU, having an un-upgradeable GPU in the iMac is a pain. It’s deeply powerful, but don’t be lured into thinking that just because you’re a creative pro, you need an iMac Pro There’s a solution, though. MacOS now has built-in support for external GPUs connected over Thunderbolt, and though the hosting solutions are currently very expensive, this does at least technically provide a path by which the iMac Pro can avoid obsolescence in years to come as GPUs get more powerful. There is a bottleneck: though hugely fast in the context of transferring files, Thunderbolt 3’s bandwidth of about 40Gb/sec is significantly less than the bandwidth offered by the PCI-e ports you’d find inside computers. But depending on what you’re doing with the cards, this is unlikely to be an issue at least for the period we’re taking about here, in extending the useful life of an iMac Pro bought today. Should you buy the iMac Pro? The ‘trashcan’ Mac Pro was supposed to be Apple’s triumphant love letter to the pro market, but it didn’t work out; we know there’s another Mac Pro attempt in development – a modular system and an Apple-branded display – but in the meantime, we have this, the iMac Pro. Its demure good looks, even the very we’ve-seen-it-all-before basic design, belie the complete gut-and-remodel work Apple has done inside to create a thermal envelope that can shrug off in such a slim body the great gouts of heat the workstation-grade components kick out. It’s deeply powerful, but don’t be lured into thinking that just because you’re a creative pro, you need an iMac Pro. If you need it because it will let you do more extreme work in less time, it becomes not a question of whether you can afford it, but whether you afford not to have it; companies like this are likely to be VAT-registered and so can claim the VAT portion – significant in this case! – back. We know you want it. We want it too! But chances are it’s not for us. View the full article

Every business needs a marketing strategy, and MailChimp can help you achieve your marketing goals. With MailChimp 101: Learn Email Marketing, you'll learn how to build your brand effectively and reach your audience through the virtual world. This course will take the guesswork out of what's effective and what's not in the world of marketing, and you'll be able to effortlessly launch marketing campaigns that reach lots of eyeballs and boost your business. Learn how to optimise your content and build your brand effectively by using MailChimp metrics. Try out MailChimp 101: Learn Email Marketing for only $9.99. Related articles: Promote your brand with content marketing How to market yourself as a freelance designer: 7 top tips 8 great business cards for marketing professionals View the full article

Creative director at CBA Italy Giacomo Cesana recently said ‘3D modelling is the new frontier of graphic design’. Where 3D was once used mostly for pre-visualisation purposes, it’s now a growing design trend, with the creative industry paying much more attention to this exciting medium. Innovative brands including Apple, Nike, Squarespace and WIX have all realised the power of 3D, using it to create striking, vibrant geometric compositions in their most recent advertising campaigns. And with 3D’s capabilities also becoming fully realised with augmented and virtual reality, it’s rapidly becoming the skill to have on your creative resume. While the leap into the extra dimension might seem a little daunting for those currently working solely in 2D, the introduction of various graphic designer-friendly 3D tools and training in recent years has made mastering the art of 3D much easier than you might think. Investing a bit of time in mastering this new skill could be a seriously lucrative move, and there’s no better time to start. Are you already designing in 3D? If not, here’s a list of reasons why you probably should be. Everyone will want you If you’re wondering whether the move into 3D is really something you have time for or worth it, trust us when we say the answer is unequivocally, yes. Aside from the obvious benefits of developing your creative skillset, 3D is the foundational skill for motion design, augmented and virtual reality, 3D printing, visual effects and more, meaning you’ll be able to tap into a whole new client base. With forward thinking brands already exploring 3D space, this added skill set will also make you far more marketable than creatives working solely in 2D. It’s much easier to learn than you might think Mastering a new skill takes time and patience, especially one as vast and complex as 3D. But the introduction of new 3D tools in recent years has meant it’s no longer such a daunting prospect. Whether it’s awesome geometric 3D art, elements for your website, 3D typography or abstract 3D designs that you want to create, new graphic designer-friendly 3D software makes all of this possible in minutes. If you use a tool like Vectary, which provides editable templates, drag and drop options for objects, textures and lights, meaning you can create your very own 3D scene instantly. Vectary also provides the option to share a 3D scene with other artists in the design process and collaborate/comment in the same space. Gain greater control in your designs 2D images will always be crucial to the creative process, however it’s not always easy to envision the final shape of a 3D object with a 2D image, especially when you’re dealing with complex geometry. By creating a very basic 3D model, unexpected or unwanted results can very quickly be spotted and dealt with at the early concept stage, allowing a lot greater control and accuracy over your designs. Revive your mind Despite what others might think, working in the design industry isn’t all always exciting. In fact, for those who do it every day, it can be very easy to get stuck in a creative rut. A great way to combat this is by introducing new easy-to-use 3D tools and creative workflows to your daily schedule. Why not combine 2D and 3D techniques to help shake things up a little, or add some 3D renders to a 2D sketch to give it an element of realism? You could even use a 3D model to the inform dimensions, perspectives and shading on a 2D illustration. If nothing else, there’s a lot of fun to be had in 3D space. Even if you don’t ever plan on using the designs you create, it will certainly help creative sparks fly. For more inspiration on what you can make, head over to Vectary’s blog or Instagram. View the full article

Creating a 'viral campaign' may be a common client request, but it's rarely that simple – especially if that's the primary goal from the outset, and it ends up feeling forced and desperate. In short, people share infectious content with friends and family because they want to – not because you want them to. An image or piece of content may go viral when you least expect it, because it captures people's imagination or sense or humour at a given point in time, or stirs the kind of universal debate that can spread globally very quickly. Read on to discover nine lessons that can be learned from some of the most popular viral images of recent years, to help you use images more effectively in social campaigns for your clients... 01. Tricks of perspective can be hilarious Ride 'em, cowboy! Simple tricks of the eye make great virals Sometimes serendipity comes into play, and a perfectly unassuming, above-board holiday snap can be transformed into a shareable sensation. There are so many double-take perspective tricks amongst the world's most popular viral images, ranging from the lewd to the quite surreal. This particular example – in which a thoughtful-looking man reclining on a bench, hand on hip, is transformed effortlessly into a vertically-challenged cowboy riding on a woman's back – is all down to a perfectly placed black strip on her top. What can we learn from this? That tricks of perspective, and particularly those that require a double- or even triple-take, are infectiously shareable. But they're not always planned, and are usually funnier when they're not. 02. Everyone loves to challenge their friends Can you spot the mobile phone? Infuriating, isn't it... Another incredibly shareable type of viral image is the brain-teasing challenge, which often manifests itself in a 'can you spot?' format. The example above – in which a mobile phone in a dark, flowery case is artfully placed onto a very similarly patterned carpet – certainly proves the point. The lesson here is that optical illusions, particularly those that are infuriatingly challenging, get shared – and the chat between those smug few who solve it quickly, and the frustrated many who don't, keeps things going. 03. Animals with human emotions are addictive Grumpy Cat, one of the preeminent cat-based memes Who would have predicted that animals, and particularly cats, would mix so well with the internet? Thousands of memes later, the point has been proven. Grumpy Cat is nothing short of an internet phenomenon, who shares a manager – Ben Lashes – with fellow feline sensations/annoyances Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat. There's got to be a lesson in there, surely? One thing's for sure: anthropomorphic animals, particularly if they pair well with cute or snarky memes, spread like wildfire. But that sweet spot isn't easy to find, and it's crowded out there. 04. Sometimes a facial expression changes everything The smile that launched a thousand memes: Disaster Girl A photo of a building on fire is shocking, and newsworthy, in itself – but it's unlikely to go viral in and of itself, especially if it's a small fire that's seemingly under control, with the fire brigade doing their jobs. With a child in the foreground, that same shot may be transformed, depending on the context. It could become life-affirming, tragic, or heroic. But the subtlest change of facial expression could make all the difference. The young girl in the shot above has such a knowing, calculating, mischievous smile in the moment the photo was captured, that the whole tone of the image changes. Ironic twists, unexpected flashes of meaning and dark humour can make an image so much more shareable. 'Disaster Girl' became a meme, juxtaposed with famous tragedies the world over with her devilish grin. 05. Photobombs are a lot funnier with animals Being photobombed by a friendly manta ray is viral gold Rather like the tricks of perspective in lesson one, photobombs are always funnier and more shareable when they happen accidentally. With a few exceptions, no one wants to share a snap of someone deliberately sabotaging a shot with a goofy grin on their face – depending on who's doing the photobombing of course; celebrities are a different story. If your photobomber is an animal, you find yourself with the best bits of lessons one and three. Take the example above, where the hilariously human-looking face on a playful mantra ray, peeking over the shoulders of three terrified holidaymakers, makes the shot something truly special. The lesson here: look for natural, spontaneous and authentic humour to be found in totally random encounters, and treat anything that combines two or more of the lessons on this list like gold dust. 06. A single image can represent a powerful movement "Four more years" – the image of the Obamas embracing that nearly broke the internet When it comes to political campaigns, images are often designed to be persuasive – and in extreme cases, are little more than manipulative propaganda. A viral image with political roots is often shared to argue an overt point, or reinforce an ideology, rather than just because people enjoy it. So the fact that one of the most successful 'political' virals of all time depicts Barack and Michelle Obama sharing a loving embrace is all the more impressive. Circulated after it was beyond doubt that Obama had won "four more years", the image is filled with love, pride, determination and relief in equal measure – and it nearly broke the internet. The web is notoriously snarky and tends to favour dark humour and playfulness over sentimentality in viral images – but when there's enough groundswell behind a movement, something beautifully simple and authentic can be all it takes. 07. Anything that divides public opinion is sharable Blue and black, or white and gold? #TheDress Before 'Laurel or Yanny' there was The Dress, and it proved just how much attention can be drummed up by anything that splits public opinion down the middle. The fairly crude, lo-res snapshot at the heart of #TheDress phenomenon was originally posted on Tumblr by Caitlin McNeill, after she noticed how her friends saw different colours: either blue and black, or white and gold. Rather like lesson two, where the challenge to solve a near-impossible brainteaser is too great to resist, the notion that your own brain's perception will either put you in one camp or another is infectious. Once the A-Listers started getting involved – from Kim and Kanye to Taylor Swift – the image's viral credentials were well and truly cemented. 08. Visual illusions are hugely compelling Both of these images are the same colour? Mind. Blown. Hot on the heels of #TheDress came this similarly baffling visual illusion, which hooked you in with this confounding premise: both are the same colour. However, this time the viral nature of the image was fabricated, rather than relying on the varying colour perception of the human eye. Thanks, Photoshop. Twitter users were invited to click on the light pink image (left) to enlarge it, only for it to transform into a rich shade of burgundy (right). The trick? The image is semi-transparent, so a white or black background totally transforms its overall look. Play it right, and a smoke-and-mirrors, man-made optical illusion can be every bit as effective as a natural one. And people will share it in their thousands. 09. Don't underestimate simple visual wit Sometimes, simple is best We'll leave you with this ninth and final image, which above all else shows the power of simple visual wit to help an image go viral. Ostensibly just a snap of a rotund sunbather on the beach, the fact that his portly silhouette is perfectly echoed by the landscape behind makes it a keeper. Related articles: The designer's guide to using images more effectively How to create a killer social media campaign 4 on-trend illustration styles for your next project View the full article

There are a number of reasons why you might opt for a Huion tablet over a drawing tablet from Wacom or another maker – primarily the great drawing experience and more affordable price. Huion is a well-known brand in the graphics tablet space, with a reputation for responsive, reliable and solidly built devices. Huion tablets are also dramatically cheaper than Wacom drawing tablets, giving you fantastic value for money. There are a few different options out there, so to help you choose the right one, we’ve gathered together our pick of the best Huion drawing tablets you can buy. The Huion H610 Pro is a brilliant graphics tablet and our choice of the best overall Huion drawing tablet. It's a brilliantly versatile device, with plenty of features, though it doesn't quite have all the functionality that more expensive drawing tablets offer. For beginners, however, this is a brilliant option to get started with – especially at this price. The Huion 1060 Plus is an excellent drawing tablet if you're looking to get serious with your digital art but you're not able to splash loads of cash. It offer a great balance of responsiveness and features, while keeping the price low. It's not quite as accomplished as Wacom's finest – but it is much cheaper. The Huion H640P is a brilliant cheap Huion tablet, offering a great drawing experience and a set of shortcut keys for a very reasonable price. It's small and compact, which makes it easy to carry around with you as well – it measures just 10.2 x 5.8 inches and is no thicker than a smartphone. If you're looking for a large Huion drawing tablet, then the Huion Inspiroy Q11K Wireless is worth considering. It boasts a massive 13-inch diagonal size, and it's also wireless, which gives you more freedom if you don't want to be tethered to your computer. Build quality can feels a little cheap, but this is an excellent value Huion tablet that's worth checking out. If you’re just starting out with digital art, then it's understandable if you're wary of spending a lot of money. That's exactly why the H430P is the best Huion tablet for beginners: it gives you all the basics you need to get started, but without a high price tag. It's a little on the small size, but it's a great – and affordable – way to get started. Related articles: The best cheap Wacom tablet deals 2018 The best drawing tablet The best drawing tablet for kids View the full article

CSS and JavaScript are the key powers behind animation on the web. Together, and apart, they can produce stunning and impressive dynamic designs that will work across all browsers. Here we have put together a collection that will give you everything you need to start animating for the web today. 01. KUTE.js KUTE.js is a JavaScript animation framework, built with fast code execution and memory efficiency in mind. With everything from two and three dimensional transforms to SVG manipulation, KUTE.js is a strong contender for creating simple and lightweight animations. 02. Anime.js Anime.js is a JavaScript animation library packed full of features. The library is performant and produces beautiful, seamless animations. There’s detailed documentation on the website and a variety of demos produced by the developer Julian Garnier on his CodePen. 03. Blotter Create unconventional text effects with this JavaScript API Blotter is a JavaScript API for drawing unconventional text effects. Powered by three.js and underscore.js it is capable of producing some weird and wonderful animated text effects. The library offers five different material effects all of which can be customised. 04. Animate.css Animate.css is a small library of CSS animations, which can be used to add subtle (or not so subtle in some cases) animations to elements in your page. All you need to do is include the Animate.css code and then use the classes provided to animate elements in your application. 05. three.js three.js is a 3D animation library built for the web. three.js works by creating a three-dimensional scene in which objects are rendered, a camera is then placed inside this scene. Some of the best animated websites on the web utilise three.js. 06. Spirit Spirit shows results in real-time Spirit is a web animation timeline GUI currently in beta. The interface is intuitive and simple to use enabling you to make changes or additions and see the results in the browser in real time. Spirit could be a real game changer for web animation! 07. GSAP GSAP is a powerhouse when it comes to web animation. Starting life as a Flash animation plugin, it has since evolved to be one of the best web animation libraries available, enabling complex animations and time-based functions to be easily authored. Learn more about the power of CSS animation Generate London 2018. Be there We all know about the power of CSS transitions, we use them day in and day out to animate the state of a button or link; but CSS is capable of so much more when it comes to animation, especially when paired with SVG, and it’s about time we started utilising it. Get your ticket for Generate London 2018 and hear Steven Roberts reveal the best tools for recreating some of the best animations the web has to offer. Related articles: Create storyboards for web animations Web animation: No code required How to debug web animations View the full article

The world of web design never stands still, with innovations constantly spicing up what's possible online (we're currently getting excited by the opportunities presented by variable fonts). But while we've been excited by some web design tools that are still in their infancy, practices that have been around for a while are also finding new leases of life. To give you a taste of how designers are finding creative ways to make the web a more enjoyable place to be, we've rounded up 5 sensational new sites that are sure to inspire you. These are all platforms that are shaking up the status quo, as well as proving to be useful and informative. 01. WWF Australia Stunning and informative – this site is a must-visit WWF Australia boasts a website worthy of its reputation. Celebrating wildlife and nature, the bold, colourful site invites users to become completely immersed in the natural world. Vibrant images showcase the beauty of amazing wildlife, and invite users to learn about different species. Videos enable visitors to understand the links between modern behaviours and the damage to some of the world’s most beautiful habitats. The website also sheds light on conditions of those working within the natural world. One video in particular opened our eyes to illegal fishing practices. We learnt about how common illegal, unregulated fishing vessels are and or how the food we eat may have been sourced through one of these practices. As we begin to gain awareness of the issues surrounding the world we live in, it’s great to see an organisation using its website to educate the public. 02. Sundae Sundae helps creators and brands collaborate The variety of websites and services available for recruitment today is extraordinary. However, in the creative sectors where freelancing is widespread, it can be difficult to find opportunities that enable you to pursue your interests and passions with other like-minded folk. Sundae is a platform that aims to enable creators to collaborate with brands and other makers to bring ideas to life. Whether you’re a choreographer, chef, mixologist, filmmaker, illustrator, coder or blogger, if you create, then this hub is for you. The concept itself is great, and the website quite simply makes you want to become part of a vibrant, creative community. The homepage video is a celebration of all things creative, and communicates the vast range of talent and possibility available within the creative industries. You’re invited to share details of what you care about, including issues such as education, equality, sustainability and health, in order for Sundae to connect you with the most suitable collaborators. As if that wasn’t enough, Sundae’s service also makes it possible for creators to connect with brands that share similar values. Sundae positions itself as a place ‘where creators and brands mix to make positive impact’. At a time where global issues are at the forefront of our minds, this is a fantastic opportunity for people in the creative industries to work together to drive positivity and change where it matters the most. 03. Fonterra: From here to anywhere Give this website (and globe) a spin Fonterra created a 3D experience using WebGL, to show how New Zealand dairy innovation has improved health and nutrition around the world. Visitors can explore the world by spinning and clicking the globe, to fully understand the ‘everywhere’ nature of Kiwi dairy innovation. It’s slick, easy to navigate, and most importantly, provides users with an interesting way of understanding more about global distribution. As well as providing a unique and creative way of engaging users, I think it’s a brilliant way to educate students and young people about the global economy. The UX is the best element of this platform. Giving users the choice of which countries to explore makes the experience more memorable. It’s grabbable, spinnable and zoomable – everything you need for a fully immersive experience. 04. Bitter Renter The rent is too damn high! The journey from teenager to adulthood is a rollercoaster of emotions. Before you know it, it’s time to start looking for your own place. It’s an exciting time, gaining independence and imagining all the fun you can have without anyone to nag you to clean up after yourself. But where do you start? Which area of your favourite city can you realistically afford to live in? Do you need to consider sharing for a while? There are so many questions in the minds of young property hunters. Luckily, for those in New York City, there’s a platform that takes the hassle out of the process. Bitter Renter is an interactive guide built by a New Yorker who had experienced the disheartening nature of apartment hunting in the city, from broker’s fees to surprise last-minute increases in rent. With a clean, user-friendly interface, the step-by-step guide carries the user through each stage of finding the ideal apartment. From starting at the very beginning at eligibility and sublet options, to working out your budget and finding a neighbourhood, narrowing down your options couldn’t be easier. You’re even invited to enter your expenses for consideration, to ensure the suggestions are as realistic as possible. An ‘Application Checklist’ is also provided, along with a list of property terms that are worth knowing. By the time you’re finished, you’re armed with an impressive selection of knowledge to impress any property manager or broker. We think this is a real gem in the world of renting, and hope something similar appears in the UK. 05. Essentially Geared Wine Co This entertaining site makes a great first impression Personality is one of the things you remember most prominently when you first meet someone, and it’s similar when you visit a website for the first time. The site for Essentially Geared Wine Co. makes a great first impression, using vibrant colours, bold fonts and videos to engage its audience within seconds of entering the site. The brand leverages its site to be the key communicator of its ethos: ‘We’re inspired by Mother Nature’. Packaging the wine in sustainable cans, Essentially Geared Wine Co. carries its ‘no fuss’ ethos through the site, implementing beautifully shot videos featuring people enjoying outdoor activities, quality time with friends or family, and the beauty of nature. A light-hearted and humorous persona is also evident through the way it recommends food pairings for the wines. Unlike many brands who might automatically attempt to name the most expensive-sounding dish on the planet, the suggestions appeal to the down-to-earth, unpretentious nature of the product and brand values. California Sauvignon Blanc with corn dogs? Okay! What’s most enjoyable about this website is how relaxed the experience makes you feel. Slow-motion videos with low saturation offer an almost nostalgic sense of longing for the simple pleasures life has to offer. The brand’s strapline – ‘Crafted to keep up with your everyday adventures’ – couldn’t be better illustrated. The selection of beautifully shot videos enable visitors to view how perfectly this product would fit into that idyllic lifestyle. This article was originally published in issue 305 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 305 here or subscribe here. Related articles: The web designer starter toolkit Beware the cutting edge of web design The future of web design is code-free View the full article

Neville Brody has launched a new type foundry, Brody Fonts. The venture is a partnership between Brody Associates and TypeNetwork. So far, there are two fonts available: BF Buffalo and BF Bonn. Brody Fonts promises new typefaces designed by Brody himself and other associates at his design studio. However, it will also offer updated versions of retro fonts from Brody's design portfolio. "The foundry... will revisit key moments in Brody’s typographic legacy, re-engineering, enhancing, and expanding some iconic font families for contemporary use" announces a blurb on the foundry's site. BF Bonn is a sharp, geometric sans-serif One such resurrected font is BF Bonn, Brody Fonts' first release. BF Bonn first appeared in 1991 on the signage and branding for exhibition hall Bonn Ausstellungshalle, which was itself inspired by Brody’s earlier work for Austrian national broadcaster ORF. The foundry describes this a sharp, open, geometric typeface, as "a 20th century sans-serif for the 21st century". BF Buffalo is described as 'streetwise and gritty' Type fans can also pick up BF Buffalo. This was initially created for a special issue of Arena Homme Plus, dedicated to 80s fashion designer Ray Petri and his group of stylists, creatives, musicians and photographers. Later it was adapted for London's Anti-Design Festival. The font comes in seven different weights, and the foundry describes it as "streetwise and gritty". The font was originally used for London's Anti-Design Festival To find out more, and pick up either of the two new typefaces for yourself, take a look at the Brody Fonts site. Read more: Define a brand with handmade type Adobe and Erik Spiekermann revive lost type sets How to design a handwriting font that isn't boring View the full article

What designers say and what they mean are sometimes two very different things. Let's say you sit down for a meeting with a client. Fresh coffee, snappy small talk. The conversation flows. No awkward silences. You crack a joke or two. Then the mood in the meeting room suddenly shifts … The best free fonts for designers The client clears their throat, fidgets in their seat, and stirs their coffee continuously even though they take it black and without sugar. The client has this look on their face, a look you've seen on the faces of many clients over the years. Here we go, you think. Here it comes. The client says: "About your quote…" This shit doesn’t just happen! Craig Oldham "What we probably all say," Craig Oldham says, "is this quote is an amalgamation of our time to create the work, manage it, come to meetings, feed back on it, produce it, and of course we have to factor in studio running costs as part of the fees as standard practice. There’s a lot to consider alongside just time taken." Oldham's new book, OH SH*T WHAT NOW?!, offers honest advice for new graphic designers. But when it comes to clients, you can be too honest. The Manchester designer says, "What we all mean: this shit doesn’t just happen!" "We may not be suitable for your requirements" Talking about money is always tricky. Mark Richardson – aka Superfried – recently created the branding for the Shark Conservation and Elephant Crisis funds – two animal preservation projects started by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Richardson generally likes to talk straight. But he might say to clients: "Unfortunately I tend to develop complete brand identities rather than just logos, so we may not be suitable for your requirements." What Richardson really means is: "Your budget is completely insufficient!" David Airey adopts a rule of complete honesty with clients. This is his rebrand for Wine Trading Company David Airey recently rebranded Wine Trading Company with a monogram based on the chemical formula for alcohol in its simplest form. The Northern Irish designer prefers to be 100 per cent honest with clients. It can save unnecessary hassle later. "If you disagree with clients, or if there’s something in a project you’re uneasy about, you need to be clear with those you’re working with – for the client’s sake, and your own." Caz Hildebrand agrees: "In our experience, honesty is generally the best policy." Hildebrand is creative partner at Here. The London studio designed the new brand identity for family caterers Rocket. The result is a riff on the rocket leaf symbol format of the company's previous identity. Here – the studio behind this new look for Rocket – is used to dealing with contrary clients "Some clients are quite contrary and will ask you for your preferred design and then choose a different option, but I have found that as long as you can genuinely get behind all the work you present to clients, it is easy to be honest and clear about what you think." That doesn't mean clients can't contribute: "If they make a suggestion that will improve a design," Hildebrand says, "then it's important to acknowledge that and act on it. But if they are asking you to incorporate something that doesn't really fit with a design then it is always good to be clear about why you don’t agree. As long as you can make a compelling case for your reasons, things generally go right in the end." "We can fix that!" Honesty isn't always the best policy, especially during the early stages: "Normally," Marta Yarza says, "when we have the first meeting with a client, we tell them that their current brand is not that bad, but that we should do a complete twist on it." Yarza Twins worked with HP and Smirnoff to create these limited edition bottles Yarza is creative director at Yarza Twins. This doesn't happen every time. The London studio has worked with brands that are already look pretty cool. Yarza Twins recently collaborated with HP and Smirnoff to create a limited edition bottle. The concept was diversity. Each bottle they designed is unique because of a HP plugin that easily allowed Yarza Twins to create millions of variations of 21 character designs. But when Yarza talks about a "complete twist", what she means is: "it's really shit and that they really need help… but obviously, we don't want to offend them or make them feel bad." When presented with challenges – such as how to brand Pallafour – NotOnSunday responds with confidence, then figures out the solution later NotOnSunday founder Mike Willows might say to a client: "We can fix that." The London studio created the identity and branding for outdoors apparel company Pallafour. The work was 'inspired by the great outdoors and designed for those who love to explore and lose themselves.' When Willows says they can "fix it" he might really be thinking: "We're not quite sure how we'll fix it just yet, but we love a challenge!" "Your current brand presents some opportunities" Sometimes, you need to take something negative and spin it into something positive. Fredrik Öst finds himself saying: "Your current visual identity has some challenges but it also has opportunities." Öst is founder and creative director of Snask. He means: "Fuck everything you have and let’s do a full remake." Snask had to be polite about the original branding for GET RAW Take the work Snask did for health bar GET RAW. "They contacted us and asked us to do a full rebrand to modernise their visual identity and tone of voice," Öst says. "They used to look horrible." The client is always right. But sometimes they need your help getting there. "It’s not about what we like or dislike," Sagi Haviv says to his clients. "It’s about what works." Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv – the studio behind the recent US Open rebrand – warns against putting too much stock in initial reactions Haviv is a partner at Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. The New York design firm recently rebranded the US Open, one of tennis's four biggest tournaments, a year event viewed by millions round the world. He says clients sometimes make choices based "irrational, subjective preferences." When this happens, Haviv tries to "redirect" the conversation. "Our experience is that the initial feelings and reactions about visual identity designs are meaningless because we are trying to establish something that can endure for many years and has the potential to become iconic." Read more: 5 design student stereotypes to avoid 10 indie mags you should read this summer 8 great creative hobbies to start in 2018 View the full article

Thanks to advances in technology and social attitudes, office dynamics have changed drastically over the years. We've come a long way since the days of employees hammering away on typewriters fuelled by cigarettes and alcohol, as this infographic from Hubble reveals. 13 incredible tools for creating infographics The Office Space Timeline is one of the best infographics we've seen when it comes to illustrating changes in the world of office work. Tracing the development of office spaces since the 1950s, this infographic is packed with sobering stats about employment ratios and wage gaps. By studying the history of office culture and speaking to expert futurists, the team at Hubble were also able to predict where office spaces are heading in the near future and beyond. Could we see an increased level of automation and a more balanced landscape in terms of gender pay and opportunity? Here's hoping. Check out the infographic below to see where we've been, and where we're hopefully heading (though we're not totally convinced by the 'body suits'). Click the magnifying glass in the top right to see the full size infographic If this infographic has piqued your interest, be sure to head over to the Hubble blog, where there are even more office insights to enjoy. You'll find more in-depth analysis of social and political issues surrounding the development of office culture, including a look at the development of the office cubicle and how attitudes to dress code have relaxed over the decades. Related articles: The best office chair of 2018 22 incredibly cool design office murals The five best desks in 2018 for your home office or studio View the full article

Animation is a powerful storytelling tool, as Pixar and Dreamworks have shown time and time again. And you can wield that same power for your business with the Animatron Studio Pro Plan. This platform gives you tools to create one-of-a-kind animations, graphics, and videos that your audience will love. And best of all, you don't need an ounce of coding experience in order to use it. Whether you need to create banners for your website, explainer videos for your clients, or put together visual presentations, Animatron Studio Pro Plan could really come in handy. The intuitive platform enables you to import and edit your own content, while splicing and annotating everything right in the software, making it a breeze for even total beginners to use. Get a lifetime subscription for just $49.99. Related articles: Create storyboards for web animations The dos and don'ts of animation showreels Explore the new frontier of CSS animation View the full article

Improve your manga skills and learn how to get your work seen with the latest issue of ImagineFX magazine – on sale today. Inside issue 163 you'll discover how to channel the style of a seminal manga classic, create better manga characters, and embellish your work in Photoshop. Buy issue 163 of ImagineFX here Elsewhere in issue 163, expert artists share how to use 3D bases as the foundation of a digital illustration. We also look at how you can improve an old piece of work once you've picked up new artistic skills. On top of this, we review the latest digital art training tools and take a look at the inspirational art books you need to get your nose stuck into. Never miss an issue: Subscribe to ImagineFX here Explore what's on offer by taking a peek at the lead features, below. Progress your manga art career Discover how social media could kick start your career Manga continues to be a popular medium for artists around the world, but with so many people turning to the style, how can anyone expect to get ahead in the industry? We talk to manga superstars to learn how they got their work out there and built a career – and how you can too. Channel the spirit of Akira Get influenced by the famous film Even those with fleeting knowledge of manga and anime will be aware of Akira. The landmark film has had a lasting effect both on cinema and artists. In this workshop we learn how to evoke the bold and lurid style of the film in terms of character design, vehicle design and colour. Illustrate with a 3D base 3D and VR came together to make this proud queen Worrying about anatomy and lighting can dramatically slow down an artist as they work. This stunning queen was created in less then a day with the help of a 3D base and VR tools. We explore how it was made and how you can benefit from these time-saving tools that don't cut corners. Create an original manga character Not as innocent as she appears Don't be deceived! This character and pose might appear simple, but there's a lot going on beneath the surface. In this character design workshop we learn how to get the most out of Copic markers and facial expressions to create someone you don't want to mess with. Learn watercolour brush techniques Get the most out of your watercolour brushes In the second part of our core skills workshop, Kelly McKernan takes us through how to use watercolour brushes to full effect. Covering everything from brush types to storage tips, this workshop is sure to tighten up your style and give you greater control over the medium. Related articles: How to create an authentic manga comic strip How to colour your manga art like a pro How to draw manga characters View the full article

You're reading Free and Beautifully-Designed Resume Templates, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Resume design matters. If you want to stand out from the competition, you need to take it seriously. It is not just a sheet of paper with your knowledge, skills and experience. It is a real presentation tool that should … View the full article

I recently returned from another successful FS-ISAC Spring summit where I shared our thoughts on the current state of software vulnerabilities with the advisory board, comprised of about 200 people. We put together dedicated and exclusive analysis from our Secunia Research, and mixed it with some highlights from our Annual … Source View the full article